April 2006 Archives

Click on the picture, which links to a song which "speaks" for itself.

I really do know the difference between cite and sight.  "A Bumper Sticker Citing" is intended to be a play on words, not a misspelling.  Grant you, a misspelling is entirely possible with me, but it was cleverness this time.  :o)

"Defoliate Bush!"

Fran is always such a witty, engaging conversationalist.  One of the things she said tonight in her sardonic style, "When the folks in Darfur push back from the table and say, 'No, no thanks.  I'm just a little too full to have any more.' then we can focus our money and resources on the silly and absurd things like animal rights and passing laws banning smoking in public buildings.  Am I missing something?  Have we finished all of the really important things, and I just don't know about it?"

I also appreciated her comments about protecting the environment.  She spoke of the hypocrisy of protecting the inside air and not the outside air as if the one didn't come from the other and was systemically different air.  There's only air.  She stated that if we are to be so concerned about second hand cigarette smoke then we need to focus equally strict attention to environmental air quality control.

who thinks that "W" is the worst president in history!  Hah!!  Smarter people than I see the light as well.  I have never really read this magazine, but maybe it's time to start!  This article by Sean Wilentz nails PODUS for what he is.

Source:  Rolling Stone : The Worst President in History?

The Worst President in History?
One of America's leading historians assesses George W. Bush

George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. And that may be the best-case scenario. Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history.

"Torture is not a
Christian value."

"I Embarrass
My Offspring!"

Better late than never I guess. I am posting some pictures I took during Spring Break, 2006, in the mountains of North Carolina. The air was so fresh up there! You can visit the picture album by clicking on this link. I posted a single entry to my weblog while in the mountains. You can read the post at this permalink.

I found this hard to believe! Today I was driving down a 5 lane road which is notorious for traffic congestion. Much to my disbelief, before my very eyes, I saw 3 guys pushing a car down the road. What was incomprehensible about this view?

• Not the fact that it was a relatively new American-engineered and built car (We expect those to break down.)...but the fact that:
• 2 men were pushing from behind while another man had the driver's door open and was steering with 1 hand while talking on his cell phone on the other!
• These guys could have pulled the car off of the road and into parking lots in at least 6 places, but the driver seemed to insist on their pushing it up the hill to the nearest gas station!
• They were holding up traffic behind them for blocks!

Conclusion? Idiots! Just plane idiots!

Apple has never announced or even mentioned the much rumored, much discussed new video iPod complete with full face touch screen, but it will be delayed until just before the holiday shopping season. :o)

If you can believe the rumor sites, and my friend, Mark, Apple patented this amazing new touch screen technology feature in this cool movie.

Go ahead, make your video iPod wish it were next generation! Once you click on the movie above to play it, you can click on the right down arrow, save the QuickTime movie to your desktop, open the file in iTunes, and then sync it to your video iPod. It's an mp4!

Rep. Cynthia McKinney is so disappointing!

By now the whole world knows what happened yesterday in Bush's so-called "town hall meeting." But just in case you don't... !

I bet someone lost his job over this. My favorite is the utter look of "shock and awe" on the faces of the faithful sitting next to Mr. Taylor as he spoke. But let's be realistic and a tad sympathetic. I mean, how in the world do we actually expect the Bush pushers to find enough of the loyal, righteous, faithful to fill one of these staged "town hall meetings?" It's got to be a tough job!

I am proud that a courageous voice of sanity was heard amidst the roar of lies and spin! While I don't exactly agree with everything Mr. Taylor said, I thank him for speaking truth to power.

"I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administraiton," Taylor said, standing in a balcony seat and looking down at Bush on stage. "And I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and grace to be ashamed of yourself."

Source: USAToday

Watch the video from CNN and read a transcript of what was said by clicking on the link below.

You don't always know why a person makes it to your "Top People I Like" list. There is just some energy about them that you think is good. Somehow you sense that the person just has a good soul.

One of my favorite people is a waitress at Evans, a local, mom and pop restaurant near my house where I like to eat. I had breakfast this morning at Evans. As usual, I made sure to sit in her section. Each of the waiters/waitresses has his/her own following, and their sections change every day.

As I was leaving, paying my bill, my favorite waitress was standing at the register talking to the cashier. Yes, this is an old fashioned place where you pay the cashier when you leave. She was saying to him, "He says he really wants it, but he doesn't have enough money. I guess I'll just buy it for him." She was referring to one of the senior citizens in her section this morning.

Sending Mandisa home? Dear God! Is nothing sacred any more?! I think it was a conspiracy to keep people talking about American Idol.

So, what's the car that stays on the dealer's lot the shortest period of time before it is sold? In fact, the overwhelming majority of these cars are pre-sold--in other words, they don't stay on the lot long enough to be counted as "on the lot". No doubt, you have guessed already: the Toyota Prius--my little Watts, which was, by the way, on the lot less than 4 hours before I picked it up! It is considered the "hottest selling car" on the market. Interestingly, Toyota makes 7 out of the top 10 "hottest cars" as measured by time on lot until sold. Number two, however, is that cute little Miini Cooper.

I am posting this at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, so that the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

I traveled to Denver, Colorado, last October. I absolutely love the Rocky Mountains! Estes Park is so dramatic, and, before I die, I want to attend a concert of someone whose music I love, in the Red Rock Amphitheater. I took several hundred pictures the weekend I was in Estes Park and Red Rocks. Today, I finally created my latest photo book. Unlike the previous ones I've made, this one was made with Aperture.

Aperture is like iPhoto on steroids. I really like the book design tools in it better than those in iPhoto, which are themselves awesome. Aperture has greater flexibility. I must confess to editing some of the pictures I publish. I took several people out of one of the grand scenic mountain-scapes. Somehow seeing a person with a cell phone to his ear against the majestic snow-capped mountains seemed sacrilegious. (Could he even get a signal?!) He had to go! Poof!

At any rate, I am amused by the fact that I made the Rockies book today in the Smoky Mountains and, interestingly and unplanned, shampooed my hair this morning with a free shampoo from the hotel at which I stayed in the Rocky Mountains.

Things are always interconnected somehow.

I decided to spend the first few days of my Spring Break in the Smoky Mountains. I am amazed at how fresh the air smells up here. It smells like it just rained, even when it hasn't, though it has many times already. I guess the air in Atlanta is so polluted it doesn't smell fresh and clean any more.

In a nearby lake I have seen literally hundreds of giant tadpoles. They are so large they are starting to look "frogesque" and should start to develop legs soon. I am fascinated by frogs which start life breathing water and then develop lungs--just such an odd thing.

While staying in the mountains, I have been working on the Best Picture category of the 5th annual film festival. Some excellent entries were received this year. Now that task is completed!

I was walking down the hall at work when a 6th grader passed me. When he was about 20 feet behind me, I heard him say, "Happy Birthday, Apple." Amused by his mutterings, I turned to look back at him. He too was looking back at me. I replied, "No, that's not until tomorrow." He said, "Yes, I know."

I met this student back at the beginning of the school year, when he was 11 years old. A teacher brought him to my office to introduce us. This young man came to his teacher's attention because of a book he was reading during silent reading time at school. The book was on programming with Xcode for the Apple OS X platform. At that time I decided to do a podcast with the student. Now was a good time to do it.

During the podcast, when asked how he knew about Apple's 30th birthday, he said that he had seen it on a sign when he watched Steve Jobs' keynote address back in January. When asked what he wants to do when he grows up, he replied that he wanted to make commercials for Apple computer because they are so cool. I asked him why he liked his new Mac Mini so well. He actually used the words "elegance," and "simplicity" in his answer!

Yes, I am impressed with this little guy. He's smart and has good taste in computers.