Month: February 2008

  • Leaping Back






    Since I got my Canon G9, I’m having trouble remembering to take it with me everywhere.  I used to carry my SD800 in my pocket wherever I went.  I could easily fit my camera, a small tripod, and everything I needed in my cargo pants pockets.  I need to find a casing for the G9, that’s durable and light.  Then, “Is that a G9 in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” will be the standard greeting I receive. 

    I won’t be on Xanga until at least next Tuesday or Wednesday.  After Tuesday, things should be back to normal, and I’ll be back home.  Since I won’t get to take pictures this leap year, I decided to post these photos from last February 29th when Eva was visiting and we went to an Annie Leibovitz exhibit at the Pacific Design Center.  Afterwards, we met some friends at the Sky Bar.  Hard to believe it was four years ago (or was it one??).  Have a great weekend everyone!













    THIS JUST IN:

     

    Happy Leap Day!  Oh, and don’t forget to set your calendars ahead one day!

  • Only in California

    I brought a garbage bag full of snail mail on this trip with me, as I have not opened mail since Christmas, and I had to find all of my tax forms to start doing my income tax returns.  I didn’t find any checks this time, but I did find this:

    Why the right hand side is in Russian, I have no idea.  Apparently there must be a lot of Russian IV drug users in my neighborhood?  Who knew.

    You may have seen these next photos in my weekend slideshow.  This guy was on Hollywood Blvd. dressed as a pot leaf, hawking medical marijuana with his buddy.  They gave us a $10 coupon and a lighter.  I had forgotten about it until I opened my glove department today.  Probably not the best thing to keep in my glove department.  LOL  (For the record, I don’t smoke pot or use IV drugs.  Just wanted to put that out there!)


    Even one eyed Buster’s got kush!


    What time is it Roxy? 4:20?


    Kush makes Buster tired

    Here’s a picture of my email Inbox.  The first email is from “Bill”, the second from Chelsea.  Being a registered California Democrat apparently gives Bill Clinton and his daughter access to my email address.  LOL

    And who could forget this classic California crazy bitch I snapped last fall talking on her cell phone and smoking, while driving with her foot out the window:

    IMG_0733 (Medium)

    As crazy as things can be in this wacky state, I still get to see this whenever I want, so I’m not complaining.

    ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
    “From 5:30 to
    8:30 [Tuesday night], every Starbucks was closed. Starbucks released a statement
    that said, ‘We understand that many of our loyal customers will be
    inconvenienced by the closings, but since they are all addicted to our products,
    we don’t care.’” — Comedian Jimmy Kimmel

  • Both Sides Now


     

    I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
    From up and down, and still somehow
    It’s cloud illusions I recall
    I really don’t know clouds at all.
    I’ve looked at life from both sides now
    From win and lose and still somehow
    It’s life’s illusions I recall
    I really don’t know life at all.

    I didn’t understand the metaphors in this song when I was a kid, but as an adult I really appreciate its genius.  Speaking of clouds, I’m getting pretty good at taking photos out of my sun roof while driving 80 mph on the freeway!  Check out these shots of clouds I took yesterday morning:













    While I’m on the subject of “both sides”, has anyone been following the John White story out of Long Island?  Calvin Trillin just wrote a fascinating piece in the New Yorker magazine if you’re interested.  Otherwise, here’s a synopsis from NPR.

    Late in 2007, John White of Miller Place, N.Y., was convicted of manslaughter.

    Whiteis African-American. Miller Place is a largely white community on Long Island, 60 miles from New York City. White commutes daily to the city for work.

    The story of how he shot Daniel “Dano” Cicciaro Jr., a white teenager, in front of the Whites’ spacious suburban house was all over the news in December — how White claimed it was accidental and how Cicciaro’s friends and family thought it was murder.

    Calvin Trillin, the author of an article in The New Yorker about the case, says the story illustrates how profoundly segregated a community such as Miller Place really is.

    Miller Place is 0.4 percent black, and a recent study concluded that Long Island is “the single most segregated suburban community in the United States,” Trillin says.

    “People saw what had happened completely differently according to what race they were. Some white people,including Dano’s parents, were outraged that John White wasn’t indicted for murder. And some supporters of White thought that if the races had been reversed — if it had been a white homeowner and four hostilet eenagers yelling at him — there wouldn’t have been any charge at all,”he says.

    Trillin discusses the events that led a group of white teenagers, including Cicciaro, to drive to the Whites’ house late on an August evening in 2006 and threaten White and his youngest son, Aaron, the shooting and its aftermath.

    White is appealing the guilty verdict and is awaiting sentencing, which is scheduled for March 19.


    From the New Yorker:

    What happened at the foot of the driveway at 40 Independence Way that hot August night in 2006 took less than three minutes. The police later managed to time it precisely, using a surveillance camera that points directly at the street from a house a couple of doors to the north. The readout on the surveillance tape said that it was 23:06:11 when two cars whizzed by going south, toward the cul-de-sac at the end of the street. At 23:09:06, the first car passed back in front of the camera, going north. A minute later, a second car passed in the same direction. In the back seat of that second car—a black Mustang Cobra convertible—was a seventeen-year-old boy named Daniel Cicciaro, Jr.,known to his friends as Dano. He was unconscious and bleeding profusely. He had been shot through the cheek. A .32-calibre bullet was lodged in his head.  Read more…




     

  • The New Hollywood Power Couple & The F Bomb

    It’s late…my guests are fast asleep and I’m heading out of town again for a week.  I don’t have time to do a “post Oscar post” tonight.  You can see how I did in the pool by my picks yesterday.  The best part of the Oscars this year though, was Jimmy Kimmel’s post show.  His long awaited response to his girlfriend f**king Matt Damon has finally arrived.  And everyone from Brad Pitt to Harrison Ford is thrilled. (Even Robin Williams, Cameron Diaz, McLovin, Pete Wentz, Perry Farrell (from Jane’s Addiction), Huey Lewis, Josh Groban and Macy Gray weigh in on this latest Hollywood coupling).  I’m out of here early tomorrow morning.  I hope everyone has a great week!

    Alternate video source
    Random Craigslist ad of the day:

  • ‘Twas the Night Before Oscar

    Apologies to Clement C. Moore:


    ‘Twas the night before Oscar

    And all through the “wood”,


    Celebrities were fasting,


    Making sure they’d look good.




    The statues were polished,

    Though wet on this day.

    Hoping Johnny or George,


    Would hold them Sunday.




    David and Hyun Ju,


    With Carey in tow.


    Braved the Hollywood rain,


    And to the
    Kodak did go.



    More rapid than eagles,


    The celebrities came.


    And they whistled and shouted,


    And called them by name.




    There’s Angie, there’s Brad,


    Ben Affleck and Matt,


    And there’s little Juno,

    Where’s her new baby at?



    We spoke not a word,


    But took lots of pics.


    Tomorrow’s the Oscars,


    And here are my picks:

    and my pics:


    Yes, my sweatshirt is made up of pi to the 50,000 digit.  Geek!


    The Los Angeles snow capped Alps


    Oscar’s rain poncho


    Nancy O’Dell from Access Hollywood, preparing for tomorrow


    Uh huh


    Hyun Ju cleverly jumped behind Spidey here for this cracktacular photo opp!


    Trying to fill Will Smith’s shoes.  Are you legend?

    Best of the rest:

  • Kimchi, Old Men & Dreadlocks

    David & Hyun Ju were nice enough to make me a delicious Korean rice cake and kimchi potsticker dinner tonight. 


    Fine dining at the Hotel Careyfornia

    After that, we went to see No Country For Old Men.  Not much to say about that movie that hasn’t already been said.  “Feel good picture of the year”?  LOL, not quite, but the Coen Brothers are great filmmakers, and we all really enjoyed the movie. 

    No, But We Saw the Movie (SPOILER ALERT!)

    by Nora Ephron

    November 26, 2007

    When
    they got home that night, she went to get the book. She’d ordered it
    earlier in the week and meant to read it before they went to the movie,
    but it was a hard week and things got away from her. This was happening
    more and more.

    Maybe if we look in the book we’ll be able to figure it out, she said.

    Maybe we’ll find out what happened at the motel, he said. Why did it skip forward like that?

    He said it’s the same in the book.

    Who said?

    I told you who. The guy I was standing with while I was waiting for
    you to come out of the men’s room. He read the book and he said it’s
    the same deal exactly. The sheriff pulls up and everybody’s dead. You
    never see the scene where they all get shot. Maybe it’s because Javier
    didnt kill them.

    Who’s Javier?

    Javier Bardem. The serial killer.

    I thought it was Benicio Del Toro.

    Well it wasnt. The guy outside the men’s room said there’s a scene
    in the book that’s not in the movie. He said Javier goes to see a total
    stranger in some office, who’s never been mentioned earlier. He gives
    him the satchel of money and he says, Here’s your money back, now maybe
    you’ll hire me to do things like this in the future.

    Why did they leave that out?

    How do I know? Write a letter to the Coen brothers.

    She opened the book and started reading from the end.

    He does this weird thing with contractions, she said. He uses
    apostrophes for words like that’s and it’s but he doesnt use them for
    dont and wasnt and wont. He doesnt use quotation marks, either.

    Who?

    Cormac McCarthy.

    How am I supposed to know what you’re talking about with all these pronouns? he said.

    He went to get ready for bed.

    I cant believe you didnt know Josh Brolin died, she said.

    Well I didnt.

    He was lying there in the parking lot.

    I didnt see him lying in the parking lot.

    Well I didnt see him either, but then his wife turned up and Tommy Lee Jones looked sad, so you knew he was dead.

    I thought he looked sad because the mother was dead.

    The mother? The mother doesnt die till later.

    I thought it was the mother in the swimming pool.

    How could you think it was the mother? It was the girl with the beer
    in the swimming pool. She was wearing a bikini. The mother was about a
    hundred years old. What would the mother be doing wearing a bikini? The
    mother dies of cancer. Jesus.

    What happened to the satchel of money?

    He gives it to a total stranger. I told you.

    But in the movie what happens to the money?

    She wondered if they’d ever know. Maybe the answers were buried in
    the caliche, along with some character who had figured in a story
    toward the end of the movie. She hadn’t been able to follow the story
    about the character who was buried in the caliche because she was busy
    trying to puzzle out what happened to the satchel of money, but the
    word caliche stuck in her head. It was pronounced ka-lee-chee. Since
    they lived in New York City and were not about to go dig a hole in
    Central Park, it didnt seem like a particularly useful word, but you
    never know.

    He got into bed.

    I cant believe you didnt know Josh Brolin died, she said. Who did you think was lying on that slab in the morgue?

    The mother, he said.

    The mother? she said. The mother?

    He was asleep.

    We came home and watched the Idol results show.  I still laugh every time I see Danny Noriega’s facial expressions for some reason.  He reminds me a lot of Daniel Kueblboeck from the German version of Idol who went on to quite a career for a while.  Looks like we have our new Sanjaya.  I think Danny can sing though, but I’m tone deaf, so what do I know.  LOL

     

     

    By the way, judging from iTunes popularity, it looks like the dreadlocks boy is the favorite so far. 

    Tomorrow will be weather dependent.  Hyun Ju’s not feeling well, so we may lay low.  Happy Oscar weekend everyone!

  • And the Academy Award for Best Over Acting Goes To…


    I’m back home for Oscar weekend.  David and Hyun Ju are still at the Hotel Careyfornia and tonight I had dinner with Lisa & Joel and the kids.  Tommy and I made our Oscar Short Subject submission, and, well, watch for me Sunday night: 

    oscaroscar

    What’s funny about these three takes is that Tommy kept asking me to put my hand in my sweatshirt at the end, and I didn’t figure out what he was talking about or why he wanted me to do it, until the third take.  He was, in reality, the director.  LOL.  Coincidentally, David & Hyun Ju went to Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight (which tapes across the street from the Kodak Theater) and his guest was Hayden Christensen.  If you watched the show, Jimmy even mentioned visitors in the audience from Germany!

  • Dogs & Dumplings

    No, not dog dumplings!  I saw this photo on the news tonight.  Apparently, the mother of a 13 year old snow boarder on Copper Mountain took the photo.  Now granted, I’ve been known to sacrifice personal danger to “get the shot”.  But if I was that kid’s mother…I’m not so sure I’d be “focusing” on my f-stop.  (Though if I was his father, I might.  LOL.)  Damn good picture though.

    Here’s a shot my brother took in Vancouver last year.  What a beautiful animal.

    From coyotes to wolves to huskies, today’s video of the day also comes from Canada:


    Here are last night’s photos.  I’m out of town this week (and next) and will be working long hours, so may not update much until the weekend.  Have a good week everyone.

  • It’s a Boy! (And More Shooting Ruminations)


    The PowerShot G9 is the best of both worlds, with the flexibility of a Point & Shoot and the power of an SLR:

        * 12.1 Megapixels (1/1.7” sensor) with RAW mode for maximum image control
        * 6x optical zoom lens with optical Image Stabilizer and SR coating*
        * DIGIC III and iSAPS for lightning fast response, superb image quality and advanced Noise Reduction*
        * Face Detection AF/AE/FE and Red-Eye Correction in playback
        * 3.0” high-resolution, PureColor LCD II with extra wide viewing angle
        * ISO 1600 and Auto ISO Shift
        * Compact body with dedicated ISO and Multi Control dials
        * 25 shooting modes including full manual control and 2 custom settings
        * Extra telephoto reach with Digital Tele-Converter and Safety Zoom*
        * Hot shoe support for Canon Speedlite flashes and optional lens accessories

    Well, I survived Friday without a camera (barely), but had to endure night sweats and a high fever.  By Saturday morning, my withdrawal symptoms were in full swing.  The methadone (my camera phone) was not doing the trick, so, after consulting with my Dad over the phone for a couple of hours and researching the best prices, I found this coupon at dealcatcher, coupled with a $50 off sale at Circuit City, and I placed an online order for in-store pick up.  (All told, I saved about $80.)  I mustered the energy to drive to Circuit City, where I got my fix. 

    When I went to Customer Service to pick it up, the box appeared to have been opened.  When I told the woman I wanted a NEW one, she got really bitchy with me.  She obviously had no idea who she was dealing with, and, long story short I got my new camera!

    After that I met Jessica at the Alcove Cafe in Los Feliz for lunch.  We both had a yummy Chicken Curry w/ Lychee wrap. 

    I’m charging the battery now, and have a LOT of reading to do.  I’m looking forward to trying it out next weekend.  David is coming from Germany tomorrow with his girlfriend for 3 weeks, but I’m going to be out of town starting Monday for 2 weeks, so they will have the Hotel Careyfornia all to themselves.  I’ll come back next weekend for the Oscars though!

    Finally, thanks for all of the nice messages that I received after posting the links to Sabine’s Virginia Tech stories.  It’s amazing how much traffic my site got after the Northern Illinois University shootings this week.  It’s nice to know that the posts I wrote after the Virginia Tech shootings are helping people find hope in the wake of this latest tragedy.  In just the last 9 hours, I’ve had visitors from all these places:

    United States Newhope, Arkansas 1,372 
    United States Rowland Heights, California 16*
    New Zealand Auckland 6,520 
    United States Aliso Viejo, California 16*
    United States Brooklyn, New York 2,440 
    Canada Vancouver, British Columbia 1,103 
    United States College Station, Texas 1,279 
    United States Las Vegas, Nevada 225 
    United States Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2,123 
    United States Los Angeles, California 30*
    United States San Francisco, California 376 
    United States Bedford, Massachusetts 2,570 
    United States Eau Claire, Wisconsin 1,592 
    Malaysia Petaling Jaya, Wilayah Persekutuan 8,812 
    Hong Kong Central District 7,266 
    United States Denton, Texas 1,196 
    United States Cherokee Village, Arkansas 1,495 
    Hong Kong Central District 7,266 
    Grenada Grenville, Saint Andrew 3,825 
    United States Franklin Square, New York 2,452 
    Australia Melbourne, Victoria 7,939 
    Hong Kong Central District 7,266 
    United States Los Angeles, California 30*
    United States Dekalb, Illinois 1,677 
    United States Dekallb, Illinois 1,203 
    United States Winter Park, Florida 2,176 
    United States Cherry Hill, New Jersey 2,386 
    Canada Vancouver, British Columbia 1,103 
    United States Elmont, New York 2,450 
    Canada Brampton, Ontario 2,144 
    United States Marietta, Georgia 1,906 
    United States San Diego, California 79 
    United States Montebello, California 22*
    United States Los Angeles, California 30*
    United States Aliso Viejo, California 16*
    United States Azusa, California 29*
    United States New York 2,438 
    United States Aliso Viejo, California 16*
    Canada Vancouver, British Columbia 1,103 
    United States Dallas, Texas 1,220 
    United States Dekallb, Illinois 1,677 
    United States New York 2,436 
    United States Chino, California 22*
    Hong Kong Central District 7,266 
    United States Athens, Ohio 2,011 
    United Kingdom Manchester 5,287 
    United States Elmont, New York 2,450 
    United States Virginia Beach, Virginia 2,349 
    Hong Kong Cheung Sha Lan 7,271 
    United States Montebello, California 22*
    United States Dekallb, Illinois 1,677 
    United States Reidsville, North Carolina 2,157 
    United States Irvine, California 11*
    United States Princeton, New Jersey 2,402 
    Canada Montreal, Quebec 2,457 
    United States Koleen, Indiana 1,755 
    United States Waukegan, Illinois 1,727 
    United States Aliso Viejo, California 16*
    United States Hayward, California 357 
    United States San Francisco, California 374 
    United States Los Angeles, California 30*
    United States Los Angeles, California 30*
    Canada Burnaby, British Columbia 1,101 
    United States New York 2,435 
    United States De Pere, Wisconsin 1,749 
    United States Chino, California 22*
    United States Portland, Oregon 851 
    Hong Kong Central District 7,266 
    Hong Kong Tai Po 7,273 
    Hong Kong Central District 7,266 
    United States Castro Valley, California 359 
    United States San Jose, California 331 
    United States Nanuet, New York 2,433 
    Hong Kong Central District 7,266 
    United States Quincy, Massachusetts 2,584 
    United States Howell, New Jersey 2,427 
    Hong Kong Central District 7,266 
    United States Honolulu, Hawaii 2,572 
    United States New York 2,436 
    United States Salt Lake City, Utah 584 
    United States Middletown, New York 2,409 
    United States Logan, Utah 647 
    United States New York 2,436 
    Canada Etobicoke, Ontario 2,154 
    United States San Mateo, California 361 
    Hong Kong Pa Tau Kwu 7,268 
    Hong Kong Central District 7,266 
    United States Holbrook, New York 2,483 
    Hong Kong Central District 7,266 
    Japan Tokyo  5,568 
    United States Salt Lake City, Utah 584 
    United States Surprise, Arizona 316 
    United States El Dorado, Kansas 1,212 
    United States San Lorenzo, California 361 
    Canada Kitchener, Ontario 2,106 
    United States Ithaca, New York 2,305 
    United States Fairfax, Virginia 2,266 
    United States Hopewell, New Jersey 2,395 
    Jordan Kingdom of Jordan 7584*
    All of this made me think about two recent Ted Talks I watched.  They’re really worth your time if you’re so inclined.  In the first one, Howard Rheingold talks about the coming world of collaboration, participatory media and collective action — and how Wikipedia is really an outgrowth of our natural human instinct to work as a group. As he points out, humans have been banding together to work collectively since our days of hunting mastodons.  The Internet, and social networking and blogging sites, play an important role in this group cohesion, especially in the wake of tragedies like the recent school shootings.

    In a preview of his next book, the second video features Steven Pinker’s take on violence. We live in violent times, an era of heightened warfare, genocide and senseless crime. Or so we’ve come to believe. Pinker charts a history of violence from Biblical times through the present, and says modern society has a little less to feel guilty about.  This really makes you think about the evolution of political movements like capitalism and socialism and the massive social changes that are happening around the world as a result of us all being linked together via the web.

    It’s amazing to think how truly small the world has become in just the last couple of years.  Blogging, Facebook, Wikipedia and other types of social networking, all contribute to our shared consciousness and common understanding of the human condition (which explains the exponential increase in traffic to my blog after the shootings).  I’m proud to play a small part in that collective.


    In an eerie twist of fate, one of the victims of the Valentine’s Day shooting had just updated her Myspace page.  RIP

    BTW, Freddy’s at it again.  Fred Phelps of www.godhatesfags.com and founder and Pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, fresh back from Heath Ledger’s funeral in Australia, will picket the funerals of the NIU shooting victims.  Keep it up Freddy!  Soon everyone will know what a sick fuck you are, and your filthy protests will surely backfire!

    Here’s The Scoop You NIU Seekers: GOD SENT THE SHOOTER!


    February 16th, 2008

    Dear Northern Today (Northern Illinois University) Editor,

    The only thing anyone is talking about on campus at NIU is the
    shooter. The only thing anyone is talking about in this wretched land
    is all the horrific woes that are happening every day.

    No one but us is telling you the truth.

    God sent the shooter. God is laughing at your calamities (Proverbs
    1:26). You have disobeyed him far too long – now it is time for God to
    open his armory and deal with you (Jeremiah 50:25). No other words
    apply; any other words are a lie.

    The college campuses of Doomed america are overflowing with
    impudent, arrogant, immodest, self-indulgent brats. They are the
    generation raised to mock God, his standard, and his messengers, by the
    parents, teachers, “preachers” and “leaders” of Doomed america. They
    taught them to despise the word of God. They taught them it’s OK to be
    gay. They taught them to fornicate like there’s no tomorrow. They
    taught them that divorce and remarriage is lovely, when God said it is
    adultery. They taught them to be greedy idolaters, and anything they
    want, pursue it with both fists.

    You can see the violent face of these undisciplined beasts in their
    reaction. Our phones are ringing off the hook and e-mail in-boxes
    filling up with their filthy violent words. They immediately mobilized
    to produce a video where they issue threats of warning to God’s
    prophets, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEtagtxgknI.
    (The little heathen need to get over themselves. We will be there when
    you put on a public pretense of mourning, and call it what it is –
    you’re raging against God. The prophets of God speak to current events,
    with plain words of truth. Those snot-nosed urchins came along way too
    late in the game to think they have any power over God’s prophets.)

    Adding insult to injury, you pile up so-called “clergy” on your
    campuses, so now when you’re in crisis, big-mouth females emerge
    calling themselves preachers. They are the picture of this verse: “For
    they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,
    saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace,” Jeremiah 8:11. If it’s
    not a crop-haired pushy woman – who has no Bible basis whatsoever
    calling herself a preacher – it’s some simpering coward of a “man,” or
    some out-of-the-closet fag. Great comfort at this hour – NOT! They have
    no answers and no explanations. We do! God sent the shooter! Stop
    sinning, and they’ll stop shooting.

    This nation has made proud sin its mores. At every level in every
    major institution – especially the education system – this nation lifts
    its middle finger to God, and literally expects him to wink, nod and
    heel to their depraved wills. It’s grotesque beyond description in how
    wrong it all is. Every human is duty bound to fear, obey and keep the
    commandments of God. None of you are doing it. Your so-called
    “Christianity” is an ugly shiny pink flower purse that you swing around
    on your arm, on your way to fornicate, commit adultery, engage in
    homosexuality, and worship your idols. Ugh!

    The fact is, if any of you ever cracked a Bible open for just one
    short minute, you’d find a simple and crystal clear standard: If you
    obey God, he will bless you; if you disobey him, he will curse you. As
    to this nation, Doomed america is your name, proud vulgar sin is your
    game. You disobey God with every breath you take.

    So now, God has sent the shooter. There is an epidemic of shooters
    in this nation. All the gun nuts are screaming for everyone to arm
    themselves. Soon, it will be one giant shoot out – on campuses, in
    restaurants, at the movies, at the sports events, in the churches, and
    on the streets. Blood flowing; talking heads yammering; false prophets
    lying; doom, doom, doom!

    That is what you call the curse of God.

    If you have the slightest bit of genuine compassion for the children
    on that campus, tell them the truth. Tell them if they get in sackcloth
    and ashes, shut their me-centered mouths, get a Bible, read it, and
    obey it, this will stop.

    You won’t; they won’t; the destruction is drawing nigh. “Fear God,
    and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and
    worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains
    of waters,” Revelation 14:7.

    God sent the shooter.

    Margie Phelps
    Westboro Baptist Church
    , home of www.godhatesfags.com and www.signmovies.net, where the judgments of God are roaring out of Zion
    Topeka, KS


    vt_ribbon_small
    Virginia Tech Days 1-3

    vt_ribbon_small

    Virginia Tech Days 4-7

    vt_ribbon_small

    Virginia Tech Week 2

    We Are One

    Would You Die For Your Faith?

    GLY!

    RENT!


  • Valentines, Hurricanes, Kiddy Porn & an Obituary

    If you live in the U.S. you have to try this great service called:

    It’s completely free voice mail, and you can set it up in seconds.  (There’s no obligation, and you can always switch back to your regular voice mail if you want).  It allows you to have different voice mail greetings for anyone you want.  Personalize your own greeting for different people or groups, or use choose from hundreds of hilarious greeting that you can change at any time, online or on your phone.  You can even set up nasty greetings for telemarketers and toll free #’s.  Also, it’s easy to make someone you don’t want to talk to anymore think your phone’s been disconnected.  LOL.

    So right now, if you call my phone, you’ll hear this:

    Now, since we don’t get hurricanes in Southern California, I thought it was pretty funny, right?  If it said “Due to the earthquake in the area…”, that might be pushing the envelope (Ryan!).  LOL.  One of the neatest things about YouMail though is that I can listen to the messages on my phone, or online.  AND, I can embed them in my blog.  I guess I should probably change the hurricane message though.  Case in point, take a listen to these:
    Voicemail You’ll Love
    Share this …

    Holy shit!  Call your Dad!

    Voicemail You’ll Love
    Share this …

    You friggin’ dork!

    Voicemail You’ll Love
    Share this …
    Survived the hurricane!

    I got some cute Valentine’s messages from Tommy though:

    Voicemail You’ll Love
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    What kind of shoes do you make out of banana peels??

    Voicemail You’ll Love
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    How do you make an elephant float??

    Speaking of Tommy, tonight when I went over there for dinner he asked me if I could look on the computer to “track Cupid”.  You see, every Christmas Eve, we use the Santa NORAD Tracker to trace Santa Claus as he delivers presents around the world.  I thought it was really cute that he wanted me to use the same “technology” to track Cupid on Valentine’s Day.

    So after dinner I sat at the computer with him and typed this into Google with no luck:

    Next, I typed this, and got this:

    Looks innocuous enough, right???  WRONG!!  With a six year old at my side, I clicked the second link only to be confronted with seven gay tongues a rimmin’.


    CENSORED!!  (If you like gay porn, go for it)

    As I fumbled to quickly close the browser, Tommy started laughing at the “not bashful” naked people.  I can see the therapy bills now!

    So that was my Valentine’s Day.  How pathetic am I that my only Valentines this year came from my little cousins and my college Finance professor (who I’m good friends with now, LOL)?  Here are some historic photos:

    Why are these photos historic you ask?  Well, they’re the last photos that will ever be taken with my poor little Canon SD850.  It got some sand in it at the beach last weekend, and tonight the lens got stuck, and broke. 

    (All due respect and credits to Jeff M.)

    On February 14, 2008 at
    approximately 8:00 PM,
    Carey’s Canon SD850 was pronounced dead after a short battle with beach
    sand.  Last weekend, the camera was busily snapping away at its usual
    pace, when unbeknownst to Carey, some grains of sand nefariously crept into his pocket, invading the most delicate lens
    orifice and taking root.  The cough began Sunday night, and by Monday the
    camera’s breathing was heavy and labored.  Screws were loosened to
    relieve some pressure and a high powered air can was brought in from
    Culver City.  Despite a dedicated international team consulting with
    Carey around the clock, the camera succumbed to the gritty nemesis
    Thursday evening, surrounded by family.  His last picture in fact was
    of Carey’s cousin Darlene and his Aunty LuLu kissing his cousin Tommy. 

    The SD850 was preceded in death by his older brother SD800 and
    grandparents Canon AE1 Program and Canon EOS Elan IIE.  In lieu of
    flowers, the family respectfully requests Paypal donations to a new
    Canon G9 Fund set up in Carey’s name.  Burial arrangements have not
    been made public, for fear of intrusive paparazzi.  Rest in pieces.


    I took this picture of the Valentine Lisa gave me with my cell.  Cute huh?

    And finally two Valentine videos.  One is of little Colin and his Daddy.  I could watch him wiggle down this slide all  day.  This little boy is PURE LOVE.  The second well, just watch. 



    Post Script:  I spoke to Sabine via Skype last night and was reminded that the Virginia Tech anniversary was coming up in two months.  Then today, it happened again.  Being from Chicago, I had many friends who went to Northern 20 years ago, and we used to visit there occasionally (I went to Eastern).  Just knowing what Sabine went thru last year, my heart goes out to the folks back home affected by this.  I went back and read her first hand accounts I first published last year, and they still give me chills. 

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    Virginia Tech Days 1-3

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     Virginia Tech Days 4-7