Quinn is the New Tetris for Mac OS X

The Tetris Story.

Why the Miller Beer 'Dominoes' Spot Falls Down.

I just saw the Miller Lite commercial where all those people are standing in line and fall over just like dominoes.

It's a cool ad, but the punchline where the guy steps out of line and orders a beer was weird.

Not what I expected.

I'm not sure that the first beer I would think of ordering, to be different, would be a Miller Lite.

How about those Patriots?

Willis McGinest describes the play:

McGinest re-entered the game after his knee settled down. He lined up at outside linebacker on the final play, fully intent on stopping the run. But when the Colts came out with a slot receiver to his side he decided to try a little of what Don King would call "trickeration."

McGinest walked out toward the slot as if he was dropping into coverage. He faced that receiver, giving Manning the illusion he was there to jam the receiver at the line. Manning noticed and did something McGinest had seen before, a small action that convinced the wise old linebacker what was coming.

"I saw him tap his backside," McGinest said. "That usually means it's a run. I was never dropping into coverage but I wanted him to think I was. I flew inside and he [running back Edgerrin James] was right there."

Soon after, he was right there on the ground, losing both a yard and the game as McGinest hog-tied him.

Go Pats!

Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer

This former model ( Elle, Victoria’s Secret) earned big notices after playing a robot on an episode of CSI. She now continues that theme by playing Number Six, a hot robot chick in the upcoming Sci-Fi Channel miniseries remake of ’70s space favorite Battlestar Galactica.

Six is the new Seven of Nine.

Luxury Travel at Cheap Rates

Travel is never going to be the same. I stayed in a deluxe hotel on the peninsula, in a plush room that has to rent for $300 a night. But I paid $65 a night. This is because I used a computer network to do my bidding.

"Computer Network, go grab me a cold beer."

Why, Why, Why, Why, Why?

When you are faced with a problem it is useful to stop and ask why five times. It is easy to do but few people do it.

Why?
via [ geekman ]

FHM's 100 Sexiest Women of 2003

This list is all wrong.

They've got Mila Jovovich at #100, Natalie Portman at #97 and Jill Halfpenny at #62.

That's crazy.

It doesn't seem right and I don't even know who Jill Halfpenny is! Although I'd like to get to know her.

Britney Spears, Carmen Electra and Anna Kournikova in the Top 10?

Where are their priotities?

I'll give them some credit for putting Jolene Blalock in at #10 though.


A much better list is the Sexiest 100 where you have a voice in the final outcome.

Over there Mila Jovovich is #54 and Natalie Portman is #2.

Baseball considering Boston Expos

If the Expos relocated to Boston, people would go to the games.
via [ Triptych Cryptic ]

Puerto Rico Expos?

The Theory of 1,000 Marbles

I ended up having to visit three toy stores to roundup 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and have thrown it away.

I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

Just heard this story for the first time today.

Sam Adams Preview: Chocolate Boc

Just came back from a tour of the Sam Adams Brewery Tour in Jamaica Plain and had a sample of a beer that's not available to the public, Sam Adams Chocolate Boc.

Amazing!

They are planning to have it available for Valenties Day.

I hope I get it as a gift!

Fred Backs Wes.

Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist in New York City has posted an entry to his blog endorsing Wes Clark.

Last night we had about 70 people at our house to meet Wes Clark. He was everything I expected him to be. He is serious and funny, straight and compassionate, smart and warm, proud and humble, a great man and a regular guy.

Excellent post highlighting Wesley Clark's strengths.
via [ Clark Community Network ]

Buy Something Day

Roche Brothers - West Roxbury : The Self Sevice Check Out is sometimes a pain in the neck. There was someone there to help me through it though. The register kept saying to me, "Please place your item in the bag." So I put the eggs at the bottom of the bag to shut her up! It's ok though, the eggs made it safely home. They were free by the way. It was free breakfast day at Roche Brothers. Free eggs, orange juice and english muffins, with a coupon!

Grade = A for customer service.

Lens Crafters - Dedham : Everybody knows your name. What a great feeling it was to walk in there and have everyone say hi, and recognize me. They say it's like Cheers in there where everybody knows your name.

Grade = A for customer service.

Costco - Dedham : Hot Girls are giving out free samples of meatball subs. All the retired people are there giving out free food too, but today there's a special stand set up where there are five young people giving out free samples. The highlight is the beautiful blonde.

Grade = A for customer service.

Stop and Shop - VFW Parkway : The express lane checkout boy was half asleep. He didn't say hi, didn't tell me the total purchase price and silently gave me my change.

Grade = F for customer service.

NewYorkish

Thanks for the link!

We've got similar interests!

I think I'm Bostonish to their NewYorkish. :-)

Elin Nordegren has a twin sister

Meet Josephin Nordegren!

Sexy Chick

via [ instapundit ]

Everything Cured!

Bad blood out, good blood in!

Letter From Badhdad

A long letter I didn't read.

Swedish model Elin Nordegren to marry American Golfer

Elin Nordegren - Wire Image.

Over on Fark they're all talking about 'today'.

I found a hot girl dancing, in the discussion.

Alizee - Official Site.

StripperWeb - The online strippers community.

Now there's a community that my Google visitors will want to visit!
via [ Grow-a-Brain ]

Buy Nothing Day!

Turducken or a Tofurkey?

When I heard the desk clerk on ER talk about the Turducken last week, I thought about looking it up on Google, but now CNN did a story on the Turducken, a turkey that's stuffed with a duck that's been stuffed with a chicken.

Our Turkey: It was a free one that our neighbor won at a turkey shoot!
No. You don't win them by shooting them.

Our turkey came out great. It was a simple roasted turkey that was basted every thirty minutes for 3 1/2 hours.

My mom said it was the best turkey she's ever had with the moistest white meat.

Our TiVo: Why is the football game being interupted by a message asking if it's ok to change the channel?
Oh, that's TiVo.

I explained my TiVo to the family and gave them a demonstration. They'd never seen a TiVo before and loved the fact that they could get a Season Pass to Everybody Loves Raymond!

Politics: Don't talk politics with the family.
We got into a little discussion about politics.

Here's a rundown of the some of my relative's feelings on the candidates:

Leiberman - Smart, can't win.

Dean - Don't know anything about him other than the people of his state didn't like him and were glad to see him go.

Clark - A smart former military man they need to learn more about.

Bush - Not too smart but surrounds himself with smart people.

Kerry - Used to be seen with attractive blondes. Now married to an unattractive rich lady.

Hi. It's me.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Please send money.

NORML Testifies In Jamaica In Support Of Marijuana Law Reform Proposal

"Responsible adult marijuana smokers present no legitimate threat or danger to society, and must not be treated as criminals."

Average Joe's Dennis and Tareq are actors

Hmm.

That Tareq had me going. I really thought he was a professor.

And Dennis, I thought he was really a nerd.

But check out this photo.

Drainspotting

via [ Boston Online ]

What Neil Bush Does.

Not that there's anything wrong with it.

I think Dire Straits wrote a song about it: Money For Nothing.

Money for nothin' and chicks for free.

Ha Ha.

London Taxis of North America

Driving down the street today, I saw one of these in my neighbor's driveway.

In yellow! Whoa!

That made me do a doubletake.

Turns out that these London taxis just went on sale in North America in July.

I think I'll go over and ask him to show it to me.

I mean, if you buy one of these cars in yellow, you must crave attention.

A Google for video news?

That's Terry Heaton's brilliant idea . "One day, video news on demand (VNOD) portal companies will offer an organized form of multimedia news clips produced by a variety of journalists , similar to what Google News offers via its computerized text editorial system," Heaton writes. "The business model will be advertising, and independent VJs will get paid based on the number of times their work is viewed."

I'm in.

Michelle Trachtenberg stars in some movie.

Let's go skiing in Chamonix!

Well, let's go skiing, stop, have lunch, drink beer, drink more beer.

Chowhound.com: A Quick Intro

It's all about eating out.

The Eugene Mirman Interview

What kind of jokes or ideas do you use for video, and which do you reserve for standup?

Alphabetically. M and below I use for video. You'll notice all my written jokes start with a letter between N and Z. This is a lie. Or is it?

I love Eugene!
via [ Lindsay ] someone else who is in love with Eugene!

Allergic to People

Rusty Ward is a StandUp Comic in NY City. The following postings are the slightly misguided and wholly uncrafted raw materials that will later be honed, chiseled, performed, re-chiseled and finally inserted into my standup act. If you don't find the first thing you read to be utterly hilarious please scroll down. I guarantee you'll find at least 2 out of 9 postings to be undeniably half-funny.

Ha.

The Adium Icons

Adium Website.
Adium is an instant messaging client for Mac OS X.

The First Christmas Joke of the Season

Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates. "In honor of this holy season," Saint Peter said, "you must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven."

The first and only joke Joshua ever sent me.

LOL!

What Should I Do If The Internet Goes Down?

via [ The Presurfer ]

Chuck's Blogumentary: BLOGS SAVE LIVES

"It's people! Blogs are peeeoppple!"

Witchblade Star Falls Off Wagon

Yancy, Yancy, Yancy.

I'm so sorry to hear you fell off that wagon.

I bet your pretty eyes are all bloodshot too.

Please get well soon.

Democrats Debate in Iowa (washingtonpost.com)

Eight of the nine Democratic presidential candidates participated in a forum Monday in Des Moines, Iowa, broadcast on MSNBC. Sens. John Edwards (N.C.) and John F. Kerry (Mass.) participated via satellite from Washington. Sen. Joeseph Lieberman did not participate. Here is a transcript of the debate.

Clark Said this: We want to be ahead of the software revolution. Let them do the software in India; we'll do other things in this country.

I hope he addresses this one today.

Clark Said this too:

We need leadership. We're in a mess in Iraq.

I've got a plan, and I'll get us out of that mess; that's why I'm running

I didn't even know that there was a debate last night.

I was too busy watching the New Joe Millionaire.

For those of you who missed it, they came through with an amazing ending. I loved it!

I won't give it away here, for those of you who might have TiVo and haven't watched it yet.

The ended couldn't have been better if it was scripted.

Hmm. I don't think it was scripted.

I heard Bob The Bachelor say yesterday that everything thing he said on The Bachelor was his own words. None of the speeches he gave were written for him like they were on the previous series.

Whaaat!

The other bachelors had their speeches written for them!

Oh my!

Boston Radio Goes All-Christmas

In a shocking move, every Boston radio station has changed to an all-Christmas format from now till Dec. 26! It's an "Olde Time Country Christmas" at WKLB, "A Dope Christmas Hype, PEACE!!" at WJMN, "Enough Carpenters Yuletide Tunes To Make Your Head spin" on WMJX, and "The Greatest Christmas Talk Show Topics" on WRKO ("I want to hear your Christmas shopping gripes," says Howie Carr.)

Ho Ho Ho!

ING MONEYMENTOR

Enjoy learning about your money.

ANCHORMAN - July 9th, 2004

Will Ferrell's new movie got picked up by Dreamworks after the success of Elf.

Duality

Two guys made a movie where nothing is real except the actors.

General Wesley K. Clark Calls on President Bush to Start Honoring Soldiers who Died in Iraq

Last Spring, immediately prior to the war in Iraq, the Pentagon issued a directive stating: "There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein Airbase or Dover base." President Bush has strictly enforced this directive throughout the war.

"This is absolutely unacceptable. The brave men and women who've lost their lives in Iraq deserve proper public ceremonies to honor their service. And the American people should know the consequences of the Bush Administration's reckless war," General Wes Clark said. "Many of the men I served with in Vietnam came home in coffins. The government started bringing them back in the middle of the night to hide the casualties from the American people. I never thought anything like that would happen again. Apparently, I was wrong."

President Bush has also refused to attend a single military funeral of any soldier killed in Iraq. Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush (Sr.), and Clinton all attended funerals for soldiers who were killed in conflicts under their command.

"Part of being a leader is facing the consequences of your actions, no matter how hard or painful that is," said Clark. "President Bush owes more to the families of our soldiers. They should not be mourning alone."

Didn't you wonder why you could see the funeral for the Italian soldiers who died in the war on TV, but haven't seen anything like it over here in the US?

FindSounds - Search the Web for Sounds

Worth pointing to again.

Pause Technology, Inc.

To pause live TV you need to license a Patent?

You will be able to get a Sony PSX to pause live TV sometime next year.

Or maybe this technology from Myrio will end up on my set top box some day?

'Bachelor 4's Meredith Phillips to star in ABC's next 'The Bachelorette' series

According to a "reliable source", the star of the next Bachelorette series will be the woman who finished fourth during Guiney's Bachelor edition -- Meredith Phillips.

Phillips, a 29-year-old model/ makeup artist currently residing in West Hollywood, CA, is a native of Beaverton, Oregon and graduate of Oregon State University. An aspiring chef hoping to attend culinary school, Meredith is likely best remembered for the scene in the third episode of Guniey's The Bachelor series in which she learned of her grandmother's passing only moments before her big solo date with Guiney.

Nice choice.

I'm very interested in hearing more about her career.

While she's wearing a bikini! :-)

Sun 'protects against cancer'

Hello.

Make up your mind.
via [ newsbot ]

Clark Faces the Nation

Rush transcript of Clark on Face the Nation.

Chortler -- Bush Personally Thanks Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton and Prince Charles For Keeping Iraq Out Of Headlines

At this crucial time in our history, when keeping people uninformed has never been more important, these celebrities stood up and performed shocking deeds which shifted attention away from what really matters, President Bush stated.

via [ Adam Curry and his thoughts on Michael Jackson ] by way of [ Halley ] from [ Jack ] who now has Halley on his blogroll.

D.R.U.M.

I took drum lessons in elementry school.

My parents made me.

I didn't want to.

So I figured, what was the most non-musical, easiest instrument that I could learn.

I picked the drums.

It turns out that the drums are not easy to learn. You've got to learn to read music and learn different drum beats.

I got a wooden drum pad to practice at home.

Hitting the drumsticks on that pad was no fun. The pad made a little 'thud' when you hit it with the drumstick. So I turned the pad over nad his the drumsticks on the wooden base. Ahhh. That made some noise.

I don't remember much about drum lessons other than the fact that I quit soon after starting.

Boom. Boom.
via [ Jaggle ]

mama2jude: Further Proof Mormons Are The Enemy

"Somehow this person got hold of my card number and PIN, and must have made a dummy card using a blank. This is pretty damned sophisticated thieving; I will grant them that (my theory is that to get both the card # and the PIN, they must have hacked into some computer system somewhere--most likely a POS system, such as the ones we use at the grocery store or gas station, if not the bank's system itself)."

Yikes!

Buy liquor and beer on Sunday!

The new law that will allow Sunday alcohol sales starts next year, but a 1992 law allows alcohol sales on Sundays, up to New Years.

So get out there and show your support.

Buy some beer today!

The Truth Uncovered

The whole truth about the Iraq war.

Index of /pub/mozilla.org/firebird/nightly/latest-trunk

That's where you get the lastest nightly build of Mozilla Firebird.

If you download this one for Mac OS X, make sure you go into Preferences/Fonts and change your minimum font size to 9 or the tiny text on this page will not display nicely for you.

This build was supposed to fix my 'open a new window on click' bug, but didn't.

The TiVo Revolution

Richard Santee says, 'Omigod, you can have my TiVo when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers!'

Which means that you can't have it.

Lack of Arabic Translators Hurting U.S.

In contrast, many members of each British military regiment sent to Iraq spend 10 weeks of schooling in Arabic. Nearly 200 soldiers have attended since January, according to Col. Anthony Rabbitt, the school's commanding officer.

Hello?

washingtonpost.com: Faces of the Fallen

U.S. Fatalities in Iraq.

The Blogging of the President: 2004

Google Search: hot girls

Welcome Google visitors.

I'm #1 on Google if you search for hot girls.

Scroll down and you'll find some hot girls among the fresh links and cold beer!

Enjoy!

Clark details foreign policy

Nice article showing how smart Clark is, and how silly Kerry is being.

John, focus on your own message and defeating Bush, not on what Wesley Clark is saying.

Dukakis: Bush Stinks

This is the worst national administration I've ever lived under, bar none. I want this guy out of there.

Clark/Dukakis. :-)

The Comcast Broken Link Saga Continues: http://www.comcast.com/payonline.

Hi Comcast,
The operations depart has not gotten the message.

This link in your last email to me is still broken:

To view your latest Comcast billing statement, go to http://www.comcast.com/payonline.

How many months does this error have to go on, and how many emails do I have to write to get anything fixed?

Please, send this to someone who can do something about it.

Again, this error effects thousands of people not just me.

I'm just trying to help you guys out to provide better customer service and this continual string of emails back and forth is not making you guys look good. I'd like to make sure this time someone looks at this issue and someone, somewhere in Comcast follows up on this.

Thanks,
--Steve

---

Update:
Their reply:

Dear Steve Garfield:

Thank you for writing.

Please attempt to use this link:

https://www.comcast.com/membership/Login.asp

Sincerely,
Jim

---

My response to their reply:

Thanks for your reply Jim.

I know how to get to the page.

I take the link in your email http://www.comcast.com/payonline. and remove the trailing '.' to then use http://www.comcast.com/payonline to get to the right screen.

Your answer does not address my complaint, that the link in your email is broken.

I want to know if next month's email will have link that is not broken.

Can you send this to anyone who can resolve the issue?
Thank you,
--Steve

Is anyone else annoyed by this, or is it just me?

CBS Homepage: DO NOT GO THERE!

If you have Survivor on tiVo and haven't watched it yet, do not go to the stupid CBS homepage!

D'oh!

I should have locked my self in a room until I watched the most recent Survivor.

And don't get me started about The Bachelor. I haven't finished watching hte final show yet and now have no idea who he is going to choose.

I know one thing though: I want to go visit Bob on his lake house next summer.

I'm in love with his family and want to make them mine!

bt: Character Assassination by E-mail

George Bush waved at blind musician Stevie Wonder during a performance. FALSE.

Goerge Bush has the lowest I.Q. of all presidents during the last 50 years. FALSE.

Don't believe everything you read in emails.

Go to snopes first, to see if it's true.

Find the best cell phone plan with TeleBright.com

Cell phone number portability starts on Monday in the top 100 markets.

Use this cool tool to determine which cell phone plan is best for you.

I just tried it and based on my needs, the verizon plan I'm currently on is still the best one for me.

The best deals will probably come out after January 1st.

PMS Alert -- Mood level meter, fertilometer, event reminder

via [ Ryan's Lair ]

Sunday hours for packies!

Yay!

We win!

Packie: A package store; wheah you buy beah.

Hefner, 'Bunnies' and Burgers.

Hugh Hefner and some 'Bunnies' are selling hamburgers for the fast food outlet Carl's Jr.

Ensures that the bottle can't be opened!

The NEW! Convenient, Reclosable, Plastic Bottle! of Ensure can't be opened easily by 78 year old people!

The current can is hard enough for old people to open. They need to open the flip top and can't do it with their hand, so they need to use some type pf tool to get the can open.

You'd think that by going to a twist off cap, I'd be easier to open.

Nope!

It's harder.

COMEDY TRAFFIC SCHOOL

All of our classes are taught by state certified instructors who are also professional comedians.

This is no joke!

General Wesley Clark on 60 Minutes II - Transcript

A glimpse at the man behind the resume.

He believes in accountablilty, responsibilty and duty.

"When you can do good, you should."

General Wesley Clark on 60 Minutes II - Video. [ Windows Media ]

Note: The transcript is of the complete interview, not everything made it into the video.

The American Ireland Fund - Boston

Last night I went to the 22nd Anniversary dinner of the The American Ireland Fund - Boston.

Whoa! They sure know how to throw a party!

I'm not going to end up in the Boston Globe's Names and Faces page this morning, but some of my fellow party goers might.

Look for John Silber, Brian Leary, Natalie Jacobson, Robert Kraft, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.

Natalie Jacobson is a great dancer. She knows how to party and have a good time!

As do I!

Celebrate goods times, come on!

Adam Graham handicaps tonight's The Bachelor

'Kelly Jo Guiney" has quite a ring to it, more so than, say, "Estella Guiney." But things could go either way on tonight's season finale of "The Bachelor," when Ferndale's Bob Guiney chooses between Kalamazoo's Kelly Jo and Beverly Hills, Calif.'s Estella, the two remaining bachelorettes from what began as a pool of 25.

Hey!

Wait a minute here.

Adam writes for the Detroit News.

Bob is from Ferndale and Kelly Jo is from Kalamazoo?

The author didn't put another state after those cities, like for example, Ferndale, Calif. Ha Ha! So, they must both be from Michigan!

How far away do they live from each other? Let's see.

The answer:
Distance: 140.8 miles
Approximate Travel Time: 2 hours 13 mins

Hello!

I think we have a winner.
via [ whatevs ]

Bar Mitzvah Disco News

Bar Mitzvah Disco News includes a list of the TOP 10 Bar and Bat Mitzvah songs.

Do you have any old Bar Mitzvah photos lying around? Send them in and they might end up on the Bar Mitzvah Disco web site or imortalized in the upcoming book.
via [ Alan Corey ] who was on both The Restaurant and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Boston.com: Time will tell with Welsch

Jiri is happy in Boston.

I'm happy that he's happy.

What Wesley Clark Really Said About Time Travel

Brian McWilliams corrects the record.

Due to a faulty understanding of physics on my part, I originally reported that Clark had professed a belief in the possibility of time travel. While some experts have previously said that travelling faster than light implies time travel, Clark in fact did not specifically profess an interest in time travel.

There's an mp3 file of Clark too.

I'll listen to it when I have time.

Gotta go check out stock prices in 2008.

Be right back!

LiveTypeCentral

LiveTypeCentral is the ultimate source of royalty free content built specifically for LiveType, Final Cut Pro 4's title generation tool.

[ Background=Moving through stars and planets ]
[ Start scroll ]
[ Live Font=light saber drawing letters ]
Coming Soon
To A Macintosh
Near You
[ End Live Font ]
[ End Scroll ]
[ End Background ]

Guerrilla Admakers Try to Buy U.S. TV Airtime

Guerrilla Admakers Try to Buy U.S. TV Airtime
Gabriel Packard

NEW YORK, Nov 22 (IPS) - Independent film producer Steve Garfield says there are two reasons he is planning to enter MoveOn.org's 'Bush in 30 Seconds' commercial competition.

"First, I'm feeling really lied to about the reasons we went into the (Iraq) war," he says.

"And second, I'm just doing corporate and music videos at the moment, but I want to get into TV production. This will be good practice."

What I really want to do is direct. :-)

Can Teflon make you sick?

Big news story out of KATU in Portland, Oregon. They cooked bacon. That's when everything went wrong. Horribly wrong.

When a Teflon coated pan reaches 554-degrees, ultra-fine particles start coming off the pan. The particles can imbed in the lungs and lead to "Teflon Flu."

The illness causes flu-like symptoms, including headache, backache, and a temperature between 100 and 104 degrees.

The hotter a Teflon pan gets, the more chemicals are released and at 680 degrees, six toxic gases can begin to come off of heated Teflon.

ABC News is on the story.

For the love of everything that is good and pure, please cook on MEDIUM! Or MEDIUM/HIGH, if you must.

You could also try using the microwave.

How Can I Open A New Window?

Here's a question for my Macintosh friends:

When I click on Safari, in the dock, it opens up a new window.

When I click on Mozilla Firebird, it just opens the application by displaying it's menu, but does not open a new window.

How can I get Mozilla Firebird to open up a new window when clicking the icon in the dock?

What's all this Rukus?

Today's Globe has a story about the rising popularity of scooters. I love to drive them around while on vacation, but you'd have to be very careful driving them around the streets of Boston. And no matter how careful you are, there's always some yo-yo driving around on his/her cell phone, drinking coffee, and trying to change lanes at the same time. I guess I'd prefer to have my 2004 Buick LeSabre Land Yacht wraped around me for now.

Oh yeah, that picture is the Honda Ruckus. Looks like it's the Hummer of scooters.

In Rome, feeling the pain of war

The sight was extraordinary, but less so than the sound, or rather the lack of it. Although thousands upon thousands of people filled one of this city's most chaotic squares during the evening rush hour Monday, the decibel level seldom rose above a whisper's.

While back at home we aren't even seeing photos.

While we have your attention, Mr President...

Here's one of 60 letters to George Bush, published in today's Guardian Unlimited:

Dear George,

I hate to wake you up from that dream you are having, the one in which you are a superhero bringing democracy and freedom to underdeveloped, oppressed countries. But you really need to check things out in one of the countries you have recently bombed to freedom. Georgie, I am kind of worried that things are going a bit bad in Iraq and you don't seem to care that much. You might want it to appear as if things are going well and sign Iraq off as a job well done, but I am afraid this is not the case.

Listen, habibi, it is not over yet. Let me explain this in simple terms. You have spilled a glass full of tomato juice on an already dirty carpet and now you have to clean up the whole room. Not all of the mess is your fault but you volunteered to clean it up. I bet if someone had explained it to you like that you would have been less hasty going on our Rambo-in-Baghdad trip.

To tell you the truth, I am glad that someone is doing the cleaning up, and thank you for getting rid of that scary guy with the hideous moustache that we had for president. But I have to say that the advertisements you were dropping from your B52s before the bombs fell promised a much more efficient and speedy service. We are a bit disappointed. So would you please, pretty please, with sugar on top, get your act together and stop telling people you have Iraq all figured out when you are giving us the trial-and-error approach?

Anyway, I hope this doesn't disturb you too much. Have a nice stay in London, wave hello to the demonstrators, and give my regards to your spin doctors. I bet they are having a hell of a job making you look good.

Regards,
Salam Pax
The Baghdad Blogger

George W. Bush - Welcome to London

"Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, launched a stinging attack on President George Bush last night, denouncing him as the 'greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen'."

Tim Ireland's new website Chasing Bush, is in full swing today with reports of the president's London schedule and planned protests. Tim's done a bang up job of pulling this all together.

On the other hand, maybe pinpointing his actual position isn't such a good idea.

BBC News reports.
via [ Chasing Bush ]

Linda's back!

Ok. So maybe I'm the only one still watching Joe Millionaire, but I'm watching it on TiVo, so it goes real fast. Linda, Linda, Linda. Why didn't you kiss David on the bridge? Hmm.

I guess it didn't matter since he picked you as one of the finalists, along with Cat.

I wonder if it was the cute little angel gift that turned the tide. I'm so glad that you kissed him after he gave you that diamond bracelet.

Now we'll see what happens next week during your alone time. I think you might make it all the way to the end, especially if David discusses his final selection with Hurricaine. I think Hurricaine likes you.

Logging on to My Account at comcast.com

This is now a trick question because they are changing your logon user name to the email they have on file for you.

Enter your user name:
(Either your complete e-mail address or the Login ID you created the first time you accessed your account information on Comcast.com)

Be aware that in my case, the email address they had on file for me, even though I switched over to comcast.net, was my old one from ATT ending in attbi.com.

Good luck.

Chumworth Met John McCain in the Mens Room

I wonder if they shook hands?

Comcast New England: HBO Price Increase $13.99 to $18.95

Here we go again.

I just got a letter from Comcast that says, "As of December 16, 2003, the a la carte price for this premium channel will change from $13.99 to $18.95 per month in a effort to align our rate structure across New England."

Excuse me for questionioning this as the reason for a rate increase, but how about considering aligning your rate structure across New England to the lower $13.99 price?

I guess that's not really an option.

OK, so if you got the letter that I got it has a bunch of confusing words and numbers on it as all communications from Comcast have. Remember the attbi.com to comcast.net fiasco?

Well, this time I'm here to help you. Forget the first paragraph, where they offer you a special on HBO for $15.99/month. That's just a smokescreen!

Bottom line is that you should take advantage of their offer to go to the Digital Silver package. You'll get a few more standard channels that you never knew why you weren't getting, if you're like me and was on an old relic package called Digital Bronze. Yeah, I was mistakenly living in the Bronze age without MTV2 or VH1 Classic!

So based on my numbers, had to create a speadsheet to figure it all out, you'll save money.

$4.95/month I figure of you take the Digital Silver special outlined in the letter.

The Comcast rep said, "you sure seem to know your stuff." I told him that I had to create a whole spreadsheet to figure out their rate structure.

"Yeah'" he replied, "I've heard that it's confusing."

BBC - The Office - Final Episode?

If this was the final episode of The Office, what a way to go.

I know I said that last week's episode was the best ever, but now I take it back.

Back, back, back!

This episode had everything. I laughed, I cried.

I didn't want it to end.

"Hello, The Office, please don't end!"

I promise you this, I am going to cry through the US version. Cry from sadness at how they are going to ruin the best comedy on television.

How could they ever do anything as good?

Boston Globe: Why readers' e-mails aren't always answered

"...newspapers weren't designed to be interactive; leave that to chat rooms and talk shows."

Ouch.

That hurts.

Delp and Goudreau

Brad Delp and Barry Goudreau just released a new CD.

Just listened to a few clips, and yup, sounds like Boston.

Will Markson for President: Will's Campaign Journal

A new voice in the presidential race.

Time Magazine is caught trying to unwrite history.

Time Warner’s flagship corporate editorial product, Time magazine, has apparently censored itself in a blatant attempt to re-write history and curry favor with the administration of Bush II.

The original article: The Memory Hole >Reasons Not to Invade Iraq, by George Bush Sr.

via [ Jack ]

Stolen E-ZPass?

Ha!

Great story.
via [ samablog ]

The Buzz About Charles Shaw Wines

Just heard that my new friend Dan, is going to buy a case of '2 buck Chuck'.

It's a great Merlot for $2.99 at Trader Joe's!

Such a deal.

Small Values of Cool

His dad was a founding member of Fleetwood Mac.

Thanks Tim for that fact.

Shoot To Kill?

ARMED US Secret Service agents will have the right to 'shoot to kill' when they provide the bodyguard for President George W Bush on his controversial state visit to the United Kingdom this week.

Be careful Tim.

Meet the Press: Transcript for Nov. 16 with Wesley Clark.
Good reading if you missed it.

"Blink" is gone from WNEW (102.7 New York), replaced by "The New 102.7" and nonstop holiday music.

Ho Ho Ho!

Someone needs to tell them to change the title tag on their home page.
via [ Northeast Radio Watch ]

Stars, Stripes, and Union Jacks - Ian Anderson Responds.

In an interview with a US newspaper, I expressed my concerns regarding the “flag-waving” mind-set - not only of some Americans - but across the world.

I now regret the tone of these statements and offer my belated apologies to those offended by any perceived slur on the Stars and Stripes. I really didn’t understand - even after 35 years of visiting the USA on a regular basis - that this symbol had such fierce resonance for so many people as is now apparent to me.

While I can’t support the international policies of either the current US administration or the UK government, I will always stand up to defend the honour and integrity of the American people, anytime, anywhere and in the face of anyone’s criticism.

I'm cool with that.

Mini-KISS: Atlanta photographer Frank Mullen / Matteblack.
Tonight's musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live will be Mini Kiss -- an all-dwarf Kiss cover band.
via [ Punmaster's Musicwire ]

mylastemail.com

Death is a difficult and often taboo subject. It's rarely discussed - however, it touches all of us and for most people, is usually totally unexpected.

Please do not reply to this email.

I am unable to respond.

Web Page Analyzer.
This website speed test will show you how long it takes to download your web page, how many graphics you have on your page, and basically how anyone still using a modem will have time to go make a sandwich while waiting for your page to load.

I've got to look into speeding this page up.

Too bad I love adding images to each post. Most are only 4K though.

4 Foot Brightest Light Outdoor Tree.
This tree can be used indoors too!

This is a possibility...

Upside-Down Christmas Tree.
My wife doesn't want to see this in the living room.

I like it!

It's a space saver.

Conan O'Brien Goes Back to High School.

'Like a lot of you, I wasn't sure where I fit into high school,' he said. 'I wasn't a good athlete, I sucked in math, I wasn't very good in science. In a lot of ways I was an insecure person when I went to Brookline High School.'

Then he went on to write for the Harvard Lampoon, Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons.

Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Boston.com: Spy vs. spy

'Alias' is just good old carefree escapism, and proud of it. None of the plot complications much matters, as the writers give us weekly jolts of action and suspense, with Sydney flying to Rome or Madrid dressed as a hooker, a maid, or a bohemian, able to speak the local tongue, smack down an army of enemies, and carry some wicked gadgetry.

I was watching Sydney's fight scene last week, saying that it was one of the most amazing fights scenes I'd ever seen on TV, and it just kept going and going.

Good stuff.

Boston.com: The Wesley Clark Story - Part 1

Clark once wore his large glasses upside-down when the lenses were installed incorrectly.

Ha.

I hope he did that only once, and then had the lenses fixed!

Which Author's Fiction are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

A: William Gibson wrote my book. It seems that technology terrifies and delights me.

Maybe it's because I'm always drinking the most cutting-edge new microbrew I can find.
via [ Jack ]

"The road to a friend's house is never long."
My new friend Maureen told us that over dinner last night at Ten Tables in Jamaica Plain.

Her mom used to always say it.

Turns out that it's a Danish Proverb.

We had an amazing time at dinner. It's true, the restuarant actually has only ten tables.

This is the place to go if you want to have a special night out. It's a little version of the 5 Star restaurants you'd find in town.

We shared a nice bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape.

I never thought I'd be ordering a bottle of that in JP!

Herald review: Matt Schaffer.

Boston Magazine review: Annie B. Copps.


Boston Phoenix review: Robert Nadeau.

Boston.com: User reviews.

Found Photos.
This one was found by Rob Phillip from Deventer, The Netherlands.

Tons more at time tales.

a collection of found photographs. found at fleamarkets, thriftshops, some are scooped up from streets and alleyways, fallen from an overstuffed bag or torn pocket. others turn up in a cabinet’s hidden compartment, found while wandering the rooms of an abandoned house.

via [ Sore Eyes ]

http://www.comcast.com.
Comcast just sent me another email with a broken link.

I first reported this problem to them in July.

They say:

On November 9, we changed the way you access the online billing features of http://www.comcast.com. Instead of having to remember a Login ID for yet another Web site, you can now simply log in with the e-mail address that was listed in your profile. Your password remains unchanged.

There are two things wrong with this sentence.

Can you find them?

1. The link is broken.

2. I already memorized my username for your billing system, and now that you've changed it, I have to memorize another username.

D'oh.

Update:
When I just tried this broken link again, it worked with a mysterious '/' added at the end of the URL, like this http://www.comcast.com./

What's up with that?

iPod for the holidays.
Apple has a new website, www.ipodrocks.com, to promote the iPod.

It gives kids convenient iCards they can email mom and dad..

I promise not to pierce myself. At least this week if you buy me the new iPod.

I wonder what other kinds of cards they could come up with?

BBC - The Office: Corporate Christmas Card Gallery - Have a PC Christmas.

That's one of the designs entered into the BBC America Christmas Card contest for The Office.

Corporate Christmas Cards are notoriously drab. Can you design the most boring corporate card ever for Wernham Hogg?

And don't get me started on this week's episode. I'm not going to spoil it for you.

It the Comic Relief Day episode. It's right up there at the top of the list as one of the funniest shows I've seen.

All 19 stone of Keith is squeezed into a bright yellow Ali G costume, Sheila has become Wonder Woman and Gareth is hopping on one leg.


The hilarity climaxes when Neil and Rachel stage a truly impressive dance sequence from Saturday Night Fever in the reception area. David, desperate to outdo them, embarks on his own spontaneous dance.

Unbelievable!

At 41, Flutie Is Giving a Stiff-Arm to Age.
Never count Doug Flutie out.

Go Doug!

Chumworth on the News - Real Headlines, Real Funny

I saw on the news yesterday that the world's oldest person died earlier this week in Japan at the age of 114. I could've sworn I just read about the world's oldest person dying about two weeks ago. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I saw the same story a few weeks before that. Yes, in fact, I am sure about that.

The world's oldest person title is fleeting.

Me and My 2004 Buick LeSabre.
Yup.

I'm tooling around in a 2004 Buick LeSabre that has 11K miles on it.

Thanks to Enterprise Rental.

They delivered it to my house today.

It's the third car I've had from them since last week.

The first one, a Chevy Mailbu, was swapped out right away because front bumper and turn signal were smashed in when I took delivery and they didn't have any other cars on the lot at the time.

The second car, a Ford Taurus, had a dead battery when I tried to start it up yesterday. Enterprise came right over and I helped them push the car out into the street. It couldn't be jump started, so we left it in the street until today.

This morning the dead Taurus was started up and I was given an upgrade to the LeSabre. I didn't know the LeSabre was America's best-selling full-size car for 11 straight years.

Who knew?

Driving this car around is truly like driving a boat. It actually cruises along the road.

Watch for me driving all around Boston in it.

Gotta go get a sailors cap.

Bye.

HBO Documentaries: Born Rich.
Loved it.

These poor rich kids have problems.

I feel richer after having watched this show. :-)

New Doctor Who Animated Flash Series.
via [ lazylaces ]

Powerski Jetboards.
It's a self-powered surf board for a lake.
via [ Jeff ]

Adland
A commercial-laden delirium of heaven and hell for advertising addicts 'round the world'.

This is great since I don't watch many ads on TiVo.

FREEWAYBLOGGER.com.
Someone is blogging the freeways of Southern California.
via [ random abstract ]

Dustin Screech Diamond: Reality TV is Fake.

Q: How did things work out with you and that bodybuilder from the show 'Star Dates' [in which celebrities supposedly date regular people on camera]?

A: They were actresses. The audience was supposed to believe it was real. They gave me $10,000 for three hours a day. I just had to smile and look like I was interested. Why not? What they didn't show on camera was me calling my girlfriend every 20 minutes telling her everything was cool.

Ah ha.
via [ Sarah Weinman ]

indieWIRE.

Let them sing it for you. [ crank up your speakers ]
We have the best hot girls and cold beer!

This is the greatest link I've seen in a long time.
via [ J-Walk ]

Hang up the phone!
W. Ian Blanton of Tech Superpowers, Inc. told this story at this week's Boston Macintosh Users Group meeting.

While watching the World Series on TiVo, the phone rings.

She answers the phone.

It's her parents.

"Hang up the phone! They're calling from the future!" he screams.

Ha Ha.

I love that.

Britney Spears has Hungry Fans.

A Hungarian journalist seizes the chance to ask if she has a special message for 'your fans in Hungary.' Eager to please, Spears promptly pipes, 'Hi, all my hungry fans!'

Ha.
via [ information leafblower ]

Bush is Pedro Martinez - A baseball metaphor that scores! By Mickey Kaus.
via [ information leafblower ]

Yahoo! News - US War Dead in Iraq Exceeds Early Vietnam Years

The U.S. death toll in Iraq has surpassed the number of American soldiers killed during the first three years of the Vietnam War.

via [ Random Abstract ]

Hot Girls and Beer!. [ QuickTime Video ]

Hahn Brewery Australia.
via [ Jack ]

Chasing Bush - Tracking George W. Bush throughout his UK visit.

The Hebrew Hammer Came to Town Last Night.
I can't believe I missed him!

Oy vey!

The Boston Herald review.

Download the Hebrew Hammer Theme. [ mp3 ]
via [ Riba ]

IFP.org
The source for independent filmmakers.

Music from the Movies.

"Let It Be.. Half-Naked" on ODS

Well, don't judge the production on 'Let It Be - Naked' by what you heard on WODS, if that's what you were listening to.

WODS only aired the right stereo channel into both channels (R to L R) through about the first seven songs.

I wondered why you couldn't hear all the instruments.

D'oh!

Paris Hilton's 21st Birthday bash at Studio 54.
via [ The Great Team ]

WorkingForChange.
I'm being interviewed, for an article for Working For Change, tomorrow.

More interest from the media about my entry in the Bush in 30 Seconds commercial contest!

Cool.

BEATLES.COM.
Listening to LET IT BE... NAKED.

Right now.

For free.

On the radio.

The Onion | Mom Finds Out About Blog.
Hey! My mom just found my blog too.

Really! I'm not kidding you.

I recently set her up with a blog of her own.

She just started it and is wondering why she should keep it up.

I told her that she could make friends.

If you go over to her blog, please make a comment.

Comments would give her some positive feedback.

Thanks.

Covering Iraq.

Are American media reporting the story in Iraq accurately and fully? How does their coverage compare with that of the media in Britain or the rest of Europe? Or with the coverage offered by Arab news sources? Are there significant differences in the tone or content of the television version of the American occupation of Iraq as compared with newspapers or radio?

You still have time to catch this over at MIT.

Featuring Danny Schechter, the News Dissector.

IPS - Inter Press Service, The Global News Agency.
Gabriel Packard just interviewed me about the Bush in 30 Seconds commercial that I'm producing.

He told me that he'll send me a copy of the article when it's done and that I can look for the article in Google, to find out where it gets published.

It's a German Girl eBay Beer Mob.
If you're the lucky winner, from what I can make out, they'll bring the beer party to you!

I think you'd have to meet them in Germany though.
via [ Bryant ]