News

However you slice it, I have returned. Back from the wild that is the hometown of Encinitas, CA. It’s a great place and a great place to have grown up (as much as I did grow up). It has all the small town charm combined with great weather and pristine beaches. All in all, one of the best.

Although I have not officially lived in Encinitas since 1989, I still have a soft spot for the little beach town where I first learned to swim in the ocean, kiss a girl, drink a beer, smoke a joint, drive a car and get in a fight. Not necessarily in that order or all at the same time, however. I’m sure we all think back fondly on the places where we learned the important early lessons of life like don’t try to mix rum, beer and tequila or that those street vendors selling hot dogs on Aveneda De La Revolution in downtown Tijuana are to be avoided at all costs.

The proximity of Encinitas to Mexico (only about on hour drive) was another reason it was such as great place to grow up. When you are only eighteen or nineteen and want to go to a bar, you need to head south of the border. I still remember a little place called The Long Bar where you could get a 24 oz giant Corona for only a buck. Such a deal.

That’s not to say that all we did was drink. Although, it did occupy much of our weekends. Every weekend it seemed that we would pile into the car looking for that elusive party with three kegs and two bands on streets with named like Alga or Mozart. Once in awhile, we actually found it too. And a few times, we threw one ourselves. We even made a few bucks in the process.

As we could not actually sell beer, we gave the beer away for free and charged five bucks for a plastic cup to put it in. Capitalism at its best. How come none of us have ever gone into politics I wonder? Those juvenile records are sealed after all.

I could go on as I am feeling particularly nostalgic of late. I like to remember the times when everything seemed possible and we had all the time in the world. When it seemed summer lasted forever, even if it was only three months. A good time was had by all.

In other news, we reached a milestone in the War. Our 1000th U.S. casualty. I find it a little odd that we refer to the people who did this as “insurgents”. After all, they live there, we don’t. If you think about it, are we really the “insurgents”? Dictionary.com defines “Insurgent” as:

in·sur·gent     P   Pronunciation Key  (n-sûrjnt)
adj.
1. Rising in revolt against established authority, especially a government.
2. Rebelling against the leadership of a political party.

Mmm. I guess we are the established authority now (Sorry, I mean the Government of Iraq is) so the people that do the attacking are the insurgents. Although, when we first went to war, we were in revolt against the established authority, or at least helping the process along by destroying the established authority, so I am still confused. Oh well, I don’t really have to understand it do I? After all, I voted for the other guy.

Please don’t send email or post comments about how I don’t support our troops or that I hate America or that I love Saddam Hussein. That’s bullshit. He was an evil man who tortured and killed thousands. He deserves the same in return. And, I fully support our troops who go out and do their jobs under extreme conditions. Willing to fight and die as ordered. They are to be commended. I don’t think I would want to be there. I’m sure our President and VP sure would not want to be there. They did everything to avoid it, didn’t they?

To be honest, when I first saw evidence presented that Saddam had WMD’s and that he had a clear link to Al Queda I didn’t have a problem with us going over there and taking care of business. Now that we know that their were no WMD’s or any link to Al Queda and that it was all a “mistake”, I feel like we were duped. I’m just disappointed that they had to drag Colin Powell out to paint the picture. I’m sure he feels bad about it. At least I hope he does.

Maybe its because I don’t like President Bush or the VP or Rumsfeld or any of those other people. I just don’t feel like they are honest people and I don’t feel like we went to war for the right reason. I do think we need to finish the job and move on. As soon as possible. I don’t want to see us with a permanent base in Iraq. I don’t think that will go very far towards President Bush’s plan of “peace in the greater Middle East”. Or any peace for that matter.

At some point Iraq will have to be able to govern itself and we will need to get the hell out. No other countries in the “Greater Middle East”, at least the Arab ones, are going to give us the time of day until that happens. Luckily, their aren’t too many of those. Or, could I be mistaken? I wonder?

Lastly, I would like to suggest something radical. Or a couple things. What the hell? Here goes. What if we gave the Palestinians their own country? We did it for Israel, why not Palestine? Give it a minute.

Also, I think its time for Russia to let Chechnya go. Give it up already. I know that may seem like giving in to terrorism or whatever but someone, somewhere has finally got to say “enough of this bullshit” and make the first step. Life is full of compromises, get used to it.

Try doing something for the greater good for a change. You might like it and it might just work. Ok, sermon and lecture over. I am officially off the soapbox. We now return you to our program of dance music.

I promise, more upbeat posts about butterflies and puppies soon. I’m not dark, dammit. It just turns out that way.

Later.

Happy LD everyone. I for one will not be laboring at all on this day. I think I will spend my time deciding between beer, wine or rum. Well, I guess that could be considered work too.

Have a good one.

Later.

I had several what I like to call “LA moments” lately. First, I was almost killed be not one, not two but three different drivers. It seems that when people move to Los Angeles, they either forget how to drive or perhaps they just never knew how in the first place.

In all fairness, LA is not the easiest place to drive in. We have some of the worst traffic and some of the worst drivers anywhere. I have driven in many major cities that claim to have bad traffic like Seattle, New York or even Tijuana but LA really has the worst.

Also, many people are moving here ever day chasing their dreams of stardom or whatever and they often bring cars with them or end up buying one quickly so that adds to the traffic. Also, if they have come from New York or something and never drove there, they are definitely not used to driving here. So, that makes it even worse.

My other “LA moments” were in the form of celeb sightings. If you live here long enough, you will see famous people. They live and work here so you really can’t avoid them. I usually see them in one of three places: Starbucks (or Coffee Bean), Whole Foods Market (celebs like their organic stuff) or in traffic, stopped at a stoplight or something.

If you spend as much time at Starbucks as I do, you will see famous people. They have hectic lives and as such, need caffeine as much, or more, than I do. In the last week or so, I saw several famous people including Ben Affleck (who I seem to run into quite a bit. He may be stalking me) Slash from “Guns and Roses” and now “Velvet Revolver”, Michael Richards (Kramer from “Seinfeld”), Gary Oldman (a bunch of stuff you’ve seen), Tim Allen (from “Home Improvement”) and the guy who did the voice of “Roger Rabbit” in the movie, Charles Fleisher.

That’s not all but that’s the ones I remember right now. If you see famous people all the time you start not to notice them as much. Really, they are just like everyone else you know, only shorter with bigger heads.

If you do come to LA, here are a few places you can go to see famous people and also interesting stuff. We actually have culture here, so be sure to visit The Getty Museum. Also, got to Whole Foods Market in Santa Monica, Brentwood or on Coldwater Canyon Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. Also, try Starbucks in Studio City at Laurel Canyon and Vantage, Starbucks atop Beverly Glen in the Hollywood Hills or Coffee Bean on Sunset Blvd. next to Mel’s Diner.

Also, you can try other clubs and bars on Sunset Blvd. like Bar Marmont, right next to The Chateau Marmont Hotel . Also, the Skybar at the Mondrian Hotel is another celeb spot. However, its not easy to get into the Skybar so stay at the hotel or know someone at the door.

Ok, that’s enough of that for now. I don’t want these posts to get so big that people get bored and stop reading. Plus, there are so many things that are great about LA that I couldn’t possible cover it all here. I will try though and will do this at least once a week. It will be a nice break from the rants and raves.

Besides, some of you may travel to LA someday and will want to know where to go and what to do. I’ll help if I can. As long as you promise not to stay too long. We have enough people here already.

Later.

Apple introduced the new G5 iMac. It’s very nice.

Speaking of Apple. These guys made an interesting little sci-fi epic using Apple technology. It’s amazing what some people can do with a little money and a lot of sweat.

More Later. So,

Later.

I’m going to reserve any comments on the Republican National Convention until either the end, after the President speaks, or if something really interesting happens. Today, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain did the heavy lifting. They mostly talked about President Bush’s “courage” and how much of a great leader he is and that kind of thing.

Again, I will reserve comment and instead, will look to John Stewart and “The Daily Show” to shed light and commentary on the events that are going on in New York. I’m sure they will have a great deal of insight into the players and the process as only a fake news show can. I’m looking forward to it.

In other news:

In a recent interview with Wired Magazine, Microsoft Security Program Manager Stephen Toulouse, when asked about their now 2 year old focus on security, comments “it’s more of a 10-year timeline.” He also reveals that he runs Firefox.

Sorry to all the Windows users if this is really true. Every day I am happy to be using a Mac for 95% of my work and play. Also, Firefox is a great browser, especially if you use Windows. I still tend to prefer Safari for the Mac but I also use Firefox sometimes.

San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other California cities and counties are suing Microsoft. The class action suit attacks Microsoft for it’s monopolistic business practices. SF City Attorney Dennis Herrera says, “It’s anticompetitive, it’s predatory, and it denies consumers, and in this case taxpayers, the benefits of innovation that a free marketplace should provide.” The local governments are seeking millions in damages.

Not a good week to be a Windows user or to be Bill Gates. Really, he probably doesn’t even notice that he is being sued. It happens so frequently. People really like to sue Microsoft. I guess that’s where the money is so why not?

Don’t worry, its not all about Windows or Microsoft, Michael Moore got a negative reception at the RNC, boos. What a shocker that they don’t like him very much. And those crazy NASA guys are going to announce a new class of planets any day now. The fact that we have had four new planets discovered recently is pretty extraordinary. I think it does warrant a new class of planet. Kudos to them.

Ok, I feel that this entry had gone on long enough for now. Time to put it to bed. And me too. I am actually tired and I think I will be able to sleep. Or, I will be back up in a few hours watching reruns of “Combat” on the Action Channel. What a cool show. Vic Morrow was a stud.

Later.

Is this the new G5 iMac that everyone is talking about? I guess we will find out next week as that’s when the announcement is supposed to come. Although, it may be the week after that.

Looks cool. It seems like a logical evolution of the computer. Although, I do like the lampshade look of the current iMac. It’s still pretty innovative. Or, will the iMac look like this:

Which is also a pretty interesting design. I think it will probably be more like the first one. But, you never know what Steve J. has up his sleeve. Whatever it is, I’ll bet it’s something cool. The worst part is I have a friend who is doing the new Apple commercials and he can’t tell me exactly what is what.

He did let slip that their were some boxes of the new stuff around the office that the add agency folks were checking out but he couldn’t elaborate further. We were at his office after all so I can understand. The walls have ears and all that.

Should be an interesting week what with the Republican National Convention, new Macs and I might hear about a new thing for me. We shall see.

Later.

I don’t understand. Why is it that we need to have guns? Oh yeah, its not guns that kill people, its people that kill people. Well, now it’s 10-year old boys that kill people.

Let me say it one more time. As a former gun owner who is very much concerned with civil liberties and freedom I support any law that would take guns out of the hands of 10-year old boys who kill. I know, it wasn’t his gun. But if parents can’t keep their guns under control, they don’t deserve to have them at all.

Of course, we could be French journalists working in Iraq. Or any Journalists working in Iraq for that matter. Not the best place to be.

But, I guess you can get killed almost anywhere. Even right here in the good old USA. I don’t want to end on a sour note so here’s something nice to look at:

People exercising their rights in New York. I should have gone there too. Well, I can always protest in my own way. Right here on this blog.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Later.

Is a good day for cleaning the house and then waiting for the cleaning people to arrive and clean the house. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that we clean up the house before people come to clean up the house but what do I know, I’m just a man. I just do what I am told, no matter the logic (or lack thereof).

Apparently, freedom from censorship is still something we shouldn’t take for granted as the ALA (American Library Association) recently published the new 100 most frequently challenged books list of the last few years. Of the challenged books, Harry Potter was in the number 7th place in the most frequently challenged.

Also included were ‘Where’s Waldo’ and ‘The Giver’ along with ‘Goosebumps’ and ‘How to Eat Fried Worms.’ These books were challenged, and in some cases, banned from various public institutions. This means mostly public libraries and public schools. They also have the most frequently challenged books of 2003.

Challenged means that a group or individual took exception to something in the book and challenged its suitability to be on public shelves for all to see. Not quite as bad as banning a book, but its in the same neighborhood. So, if you think this kind of thing is wrong, perhaps you will participate in the ALA’s “Banned Books Week” and read a book on the banned list.

Also, here’s a tech-related story about two guys using their brains and their computers to organize protests against Republican National Convention.

Finally, as a counter my last rant against the men’s Olympic hoops team, the women have won the gold. Congrats to them. They showed what a team of determined professionals can do. And they did it with style. We could all learn something from them (I know I could. Especially the style part).

Later.

Although, it isn’t actually Friday night anymore. It’s Saturday morning. If you want to get technical about it. Had a pretty good day today. Things came together pretty well with a big project I’m working on, so that’s good. At least I can relax a little bit this weekend and not think about it so much.

Next week will be shorter as it will be Labor Day Weekend. We will be heading down to Encinitas for some festivities and such with some of the old gang. A BBQ here, a BBQ there, everywhere a BBQ. Food, drink, fun. What more could you ask for? Piece in the middle east? Come on.

Speaking of the middle east, here’s a feel-good one. It seems that their may be a spy in the pentagon. Does he work for some Arab terrorist organization you may ask? No, he’s a spy for out good friend Israel. Isn’t that special?

Some sources say that this “mole” could have been in a position to influence policy during the planning stages before the Iraq war. So that explains it. I was beginning to wonder.

In other news, this is pretty bizarre. Just another reason that I will never smoke or use dip. No funky growths on my back if you please and I will keep the jaw I already have, thank you. I’m quite attached to it.

Last but not least, I really don’t know what to say about this except in a way, I’m glad it happened. Now we can finally put all this “dream team” shit to rest. Those guys were not a team. Just a bunch of spoiled jerks.

I don’t feel sorry for them at all. I feel sorry for the fans who watched this disappointing display. Why they allow professional athletes to compete in the Olympics I still don’t understand. Maybe someone will explain it to me. But for now, let’s all get on with our lives.

Besides, we have more important things to worry about. Kobe’s trial is coming up soon.

Later.