February 13, 2010
You need kindling to start a fire
Amazon Kindle 2, originally uploaded by JingleFly.
I saw one of the more absurd articles in yesterday's New York Times. It seems there is a revolution afoot in the electronic world, because Amazon and other retailers are raising the price of electronic books from $9.99 to $14.99. Additionally, some publishers are getting dinged because they delay the electronic release of a book until the print version has been out a few months. And the men and women who devour e-books on their Kindles are none too pleased.
These practices have led to several hilarious episodes where readers give 1-star reviews to books in retaliation. Some of the angrier customers even berate the authors via e-mail, and vow to never again purchase that author's work. They argue an electronic book should be cheaper than a print edition, and obviously the publishing companies are gouging.
The publishers, meanwhile, assert there is more to making a book than the printing cost and paying the author. Unsurprisingly, I tend to think there is a bit of truth to each side's argument. An electronic book is cheaper than a print book, just like music on iTunes is cheaper than a CD. You don't need all that packaging, the physical media, the cost of materials. Yet, a book is not the product of a single author - I don't know the exact details of how a major book is completed, but there's a lot of work involved. That costs money.
However, the real reason I'm writing about this is because of the goofy lengths people go to express their displeasure. Writing a 1-star review? Seeking out an author to tell him he's a filthy, money-grubbing whore? Aren't there more productive ways to use one's time? $14.99 is not a whole to pay for a book, especially a brand new one. Simple logic declares a new, more popular book should cost more than one that's been out for awhile.
Kindles, however, don't strike me as especially elegant devices. Yes, it's nice to carry around tons of books in a tiny little package, but is reading off a screen really the same thing? Half the enjoyment from reading a book is the feel of the pages, the shape of the type, the way an old book smells. A Kindle has none of those things. I suppose I felt the same way about iPods, and those run my life now. Yet, I still feel a book is different. That's why I'd rather pay $25 for an actual book, rather than $9.99 or $14.99 for an electronic book.
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February 11, 2010
Don't trust a dad
Frankfurt Airport, originally uploaded by Kid Gibson.
Back when I was at the Norfolk airport, a 5 year old boy kept setting off the metal detector. His dad couldn't figure out what it was; neither could the TSA folks. Finally they determined it was the buttons on his pants that kept setting off the alarm.
Now, I don't know what the proper next step is in this situation, but I know the dad's solution wasn't it. You see, the dad says, "take off your pants!"
So the boy takes off his pants in full view of 50 people, and goes through the detector without a problem. Even for a 5 year old boy, showing an airport your dinosaur undies has to be mortifying.
I can only assume that when those two get home, and the mom finds out what happened, she is gonna be pisssssssed. "You did *what*!?" And then she hits him with a rolling pin. At least I hope that's what happened...
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Snowmageddon
The Day After, originally uploaded by andertho.
Hi everyone. So, last Thursday I found myself in Richmond, Va. as the so-called "snowmageddon" was lumbering towards the Mid-Atlantic. There's no denying that was one nasty storm, but I sure had to snicker at the newscasters who predicted doom and gloom. It also made me a little wistful for Ohio, where a couple inches of snow guaranteed a day off from school. Chicago, of course, has an arsenal of snow plows, and it would have to be The Day After Tomorrow before school was canceled.
Lucky for me, Social Security also snow days of sorts: if I, as the representative, am unable to get to the hearing because of the weather, it *must* be postponed. How dope is that!?
Today was one of those snow days, as Chicago took 14 inches of the white stuff in the chin. I only experienced part of it, because I ended up stuck in Atlanta. I could have done without that.
Back to Richmond: I drove the next morning to Norfolk, where the snow had turned to slush. It was pure, unadulterated misery driving in that slush. It was slow-going, but I made it. So, no matter how incompetent you think the city of Chicago is, at least they usually get the streets plowed.
The storm also convinced me that they ought to move the capital to Buffalo. Buffalo may even be better than Chicago when it comes to plowing snow. I can guarantee the capital won't shut down because it snows 3 feet.
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January 15, 2010
Oh George Clooney
UP IN THE AIR (AMOR SIN ESCALAS), originally uploaded by Vamos al Cine.
When I first heard about "Up In The Air," I was pretty much sold on seeing it. In the movie, George Clooney is a fellow who works for a company that fires people for companies who are unwilling to do it themselves. I was interested because Clooney's character spends 300 nights in hotels, is constantly on airplanes, and rarely sees home.
Now, for the past year, I've had a somewhat similar lifestyle. I have spent nowhere close to 300 days in a hotel. More like 30 or 40, but I've racked up the frequent flyer miles. I even flew Southwest so much that I have a pass that lets me take a person of my choosing with me, wherever I go, for free.
So, as a fellow airport dweller, I have a few quibbles with the movie. First of all, I'm dying to know how Clooney keeps his suits so clean and wrinkle free, despite toting a suitcase that looks like it holds a day's worth of clothes. If there is one thing I constantly struggle with, it's being able to carry all my stuff that I need - client files, computer, etc. - in a bag, and not keep my suit from getting messed up. Either Clooney has a great folding system, or he spends buku bucks on dry cleaners. [One respondent on Facebook suggested that because he's Clooney, he does whatever he wants. I can't quibble with that.]
Then, there's the idea that he seems to have no work with him when he goes places. Does he just show up somewhere, wing it, and then off he goes? I don't get it. Doesn't he need to study? Doesn't he have notes? It bothers me.
Anyway, as for the movie, I enjoyed it. It had an interesting twist at the end, and didn't get saddled down with a traditional Hollywood ending. I don't think it was good as Jason Reitman's first escapade, Thank You For Smoking. He also directed Juno, which I enjoyed, but at the same time found grating. I mean, no teenage girl is that cool. Maybe I should watch it again.
Also, when I went to see the movie, I answered a trivia question correctly and got an official soundtrack album as a prize. It contains a great version of "This Land Is Your Land," by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Woody Guthrie = awesome.
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January 13, 2010
Avatarded
Avatar movie image (4), originally uploaded by tamilbluefilm2009.
Did you see Avatar? I myself have not yet, but plan to. Chances are, you did, because the movie is now the 3rd highest-grossing movie of all time. Would you still see it if you knew that every single interest group has something in the movie to ridicule?
Republicans hate it. Democrats hate it. The Catholic Church hates it. Word it, even Switzerland is not impressed. The truth it, they're all a bunch of nitwits.
Conservatives are aghast because the movie appears to be anti-military. (Yes, I know Ald. Balcer is a Democrat, but he'd never be mistaken for Barney Frank.) Meanwhile, some liberals say the movie glorifies imperialism and genocide. The Vatican claims it directs people to worship nature as a god.
My favorite has to be the anti-smoking lobby. Sigourney Weaver's character smokes, and some tobacco foes see this as billions in free advertising for Joe Camel:
Having caught up with James Cameron’s 3-D science fiction thriller, “Avatar,” over the holidays, Stanton A. Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, said his Smoke Free Movies initiative would soon come out swinging with an informational campaign aimed at what he saw as the movie’s pro-smoking message.
“This is like someone just put a bunch of plutonium in the water supply,” Mr. Glantz said in a telephone interview last week. He was referring to scenes in which an environmental scientist played by Sigourney Weaver drags lovingly on a cigarette as she works to save the moon Pandora sometime in the 22nd century.
Oh Jesus H. Christ. The idea that no movie character can smoke is patently absurd. I know movies are hugely influential, but I also know most people don't seriously take movie characters as role models, especially a villain. People in real life smoke, so should people in movies. If movies were happy little places without racism, killing, bad role models, smoking and drug use, I have a nagging suspicion nobody would watch!
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January 12, 2010
Into the wild blue yonder
Being at this job, I fly to a lot of out of the way places. As you'd see from my previous entry, today I was in Albany, Georgia. Albany, it seems, has an airport. I gleefully flew to it, considering the closest major airport was 182 miles away in Atlanta.
However, this airport was the very epitome of tiny. It had one small departure area. Waiting in security, I learned that area had no bathroom. After I make an emergency bathroom run and went through security, I had a good two-minute long conversation with the TSA man about my Buffalo Bills t-shirt, and how the Bills sucked. It was positively delightful.
When I walked out to the plane, I was greeted with the staircase, and not the modern jetway. Now, I am no prima donna. I don't mind walking out to the staircase. In fact, I found it sort of romantic. This is, after all, how people back in the 30's and 40's boarded airplanes - out on a windswept tarmac, as engines blew hot air around the passengers. I'd probably think differently if there was a driving rain.
The downside to this was the airplane was so small, I had nowhere to fit my roller bag, so I had to check it. If there is a way to feel useless, it's to be on an airplane without that bag. Even if I had no intention of using it, and it would only crowd my feet, there's a certain safety to it, like if we suddenly became stranded on an island (a highly unlikely scenario for a flight entirely over land), at least i'd have my laptop and some paper. I'm sure there'd be outlets.
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Georgia on my mind
Ray Charles statue, originally uploaded by snoopoz.
Well hello my friends, it's 2010. Can you believe it? Two-thousand-and-f'ing-ten. My how times flies.
Anyway, the past week or so, I've had quite the travails through Georgia. Last week I was in Macon, home to the dearly-departed Macon Whoopee. Today, I was in Albany, a little city near the Florida border that is home to a Marine supply depot. It's also the birthplace of Ray Charles.
I have to say, if I hadn't wikipediaed Albany before I went there, I wouldn't have had an inkling Ray Charles was born here. Yes, there's a statue, but otherwise his name seems to be largely absent from the town. I didn't see a Ray Charles Street, or something else named after him. Most towns, when they have a famous native, go crazy and name everything after that person. For example, my hometown loves to drum up its ties to William Tecumseh Sherman, the Civil War general who famously vowed to "make Georgia howl."
I mean, New Orleans named its airport after Louis Armstrong, of all people. I don't know. Seems excessive.
Anyhow, Albany was a nice town. I had time to go for a quick 4-mile jaunt, and I was impressed with some of the old-fashioned houses and typical Southern charm. Everyone was extremely nice, even if I was clearly a Yankee, or as a judge in Florida called me, a carpetbagger.
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December 24, 2009
Airing a grievance
33/365: Festivus for the Rest of Us, originally uploaded by bubbly toes.
So, apparently there's a big to do down in Springfield. The Freedom from Religion Foundation, after finding out there was a Christmas tree and nativity scene in the state Capitol, got permission to erect a display of their own. It said:
"At the time of the winter solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is just myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."
Then, a conservative candidate for the State Comptroller job took offense:
William J. Kelly announced Tuesday that he planned to take down the sign put up by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and on Wednesday, he tried to make good on his plan.
But Kelly said when he turned the sign around so it was face down, state Capitol police were quick to escort him away.
...
But Kelly called the sign "hate speech," and said he does not believe it is appropriate for a sign that "mocks" religion to be placed next to a Christmas tree and also near a nativity scene.
All I can say about this is, both sides are acting like idiots. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is delusional if it doesn't think this sign is insulting, and Mr. Kelly is grandstanding. I'm a firmly non-religious person, and it makes me uncomfortable when my fellow agnostics and atheists try to wind up religious folk. At the same time, religious people don't do themselves any favors when they view every slight as an attack on 8 pound, 6 ounce Baby Jesus.
Now here's where I think things get absurd. Check out what else is in the Capitol:
Haupt said in addition to the sign, the Nativity Scene and the Christmas tree, there is also a Soldiers' Angels wreath, and a tabletop display from the American Civil Liberties Union that says the group "defends freedom of religion." A Hanukkah menorah had also been on display until the Jewish Festival of Lights ended on Saturday.
For the second year in a row, the Capitol also has an aluminum Festivus pole commemorating the fictional holiday created in "Seinfeld."
A Festivus pole? Really? Festivus isn't even a religious holiday. It's a "holiday," but I have a hard time saying it's rooted in actual religion. I think it's fairly obvious to me the solution to this. If there's going to be a Christmas display, the Constitution requires other religious displays be allowed. Thus, don't allow any religious displays. So what if Christians are angry? This is clearly more trouble than it is worth.
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December 23, 2009
Blinded with science
I'm happy to say my hearing today ended with a positive outcome, and so afterwards I walked around downtown Toledo, where I happened upon the local science museum. Back in the day, the museum was known as COSI, and there was another COSI in downtown Columbus. That one was right next to the original Wendy's, which finally closed a few years ago. But that's another story.
The COSI in Columbus was a magical place. My family and I would go there all the time, even though they had basically the same exhibits every time. There was a replica Mercury capsule. There was the fake coal mine, like the one at the Museum of Science and Industry here in chicago. There was a giant model of the human heart; a bee colony; a pendulum that knocked down evenly spaced pegs every five minutes; Johnny Five from Short Circuit; and all sorts of other amazing things. There was also the Time Tunnel, which featured scenes from all throughout human history, including the Black Death, the Huns' sacking of Rome, the Civil War and other events. Looking back, it wasn't very positive, which probably explains my twisted worldview nowadays.
About ten or fifteen years ago, someone had the bright idea to move COSI to a bigger and better location. Many of the exhibits that enthralled me did not make the switch. I can't tell you if today's children enjoy the new COSI, but I think it sucks. The old COSI ruled.
Anyway, at the entrance to the original museum there was this Rube Goldbergesque contraption where rubber balls were plucked from a bin, moved along conveyor belts, and through all other kinds of obstacles until eventually rolling to the other end of the exhibit, before finally ending up back into the bin of balls. It was the sort of silly science experiment that fascinated children, including myself.
Wouldn't you know, the museum in Toledo had almost the exact same thing. Their's was more elaborate, but it was the same spirit. The balls started at the top, bounced on platforms, rang bells, and moved along conveyor belts before repeating the process all over again. It was amazing. I must have watched those stupid balls for a good fifteen minutes, figuring out all the ways they were moving in that machine. I didn't much care that I was the only adult, surrounded by children. It was a blast. Who says science isn't fun?
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December 01, 2009
Don't know what to think
Doggone it! Say it ain't so, Joe, originally uploaded by Pink Pearl 2012.
Unless you are completely and utterly isolated, and because you are reading this web site you most likely aren't, you've heard about the Salahis, who showed up at President Obama's recent state dinner without an invitation. Despite their protestations, this is a couple with a long history of sneaking into places and other dubious claims. Knowing that, I don't see how anyone is going to believe their protestations that this is all a big misunderstanding.
Sadly, I am torn about what to think of these two. I have two competing instincts: one is to smack these knuckleheads on the noggin and ask them, WTF are you doing? This is the President of the United States. You can't be sneaking into the god damn White House. That part of me sincerely would revel in them getting thrown in jail or fined.
On the other hand, another part of me snickers at the fun-loving intrigue of it all. Who *wouldn't* want to crash a party at the White House? There's a human urge to bend the rules, to be where one is not supposed to be. For that, I have to admire the Salahis. I once was attending a wedding, and noticed that another reception was down the hall. Some friends and I snuck in, mingled with the guests, and had a few drinks. Then I nailed the maid of honor. Just kidding, I was seeing if you were paying attention. It was the mother of the bride.
Until the Salahis went and posted it all over the internet, they were getting away with it, too. And that's where my instinct to see them get punished kicks in - they're not simply a fun-loving couple. They're trying to get on a reality show. The wife posed as a Redskins cheerleader. The husband is a publicity hound. If these were two people who otherwise had no history of buffoonery, I'd feel much more sympathetic.
I'm just getting worked up about people doing outrageous things to get on a reality show. The Salahis, one would think, should have taken the lesson from Balloon Boy's parents, one of whom is soon to be a convicted felon. Way to go, champ. It'd be cruel-hearted of me to want the Salahis to get thrown out on the street, but I would be most pleased if they suffered the full consequences of their schmuckery.
But they won't. I'm convinced that after this, the Salahis, who are trying to get on the Real Housewives of D.C. show, are now shoe-ins. Bravo would be stupid if they didn't put her on the show - the ratings boost from seeing her will be too hard to resist. Then other people will see the reward in doing something looney to get on TV, and the cycle will go on and on.
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