Damon Condemns Palin

Actor Matt Damon speaks out on the Republicans' choice of hockey-mom Sarah Palin for VP. Damon compares her rise to a 'really bad Disney movie' and says it's crazy that this woman could become President. (Sept. 10)

MBTA Back Bay Station - Entrance Across the Street

MBTA Back Bay Station - Entrance Across the Street, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

If you head to the Back Bay MBTA stop on Columbus ave, on one side of hte street the signs say, "Entrance Across the Street." Look across the street at hte other Back Bay Station and hte sign says, "Entrance Across the Street."





Confusing.

Google Maps:
maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF...

No Maverick

Four Flat Tires at the Copley Square Hotel

Last night after having dinner in Boston, I got back to my VW New Beetle and started to drive out of my parking space.

It was a great space too. Just in front of the Copley Square Hotel at 47 Huntington Ave. It's marked for valet aprking, but the hotel seems to be closed for renovations so no valet parking was happening.

As I pulled away from the space, the car seemed funny. I got out and saw that I had a left rear flat tire. Oh oh. Then I looked around hte side and saw that I had a right rear flat tire. Yikes. The I saw both front tires were flat too. Hmm. That's bad. Some one was not happy with my tires.

The VW emblem was also twisted off the trunk.



I wasn't sure if all the tires were slashed, so I got out my cigarette lighter powered tire inflator, and tried to inflate a tire. It worked. I then inflated the rest of the tires and drive back to my neighborhood and dropped the car off at the local garage.

This morning I got a call that all the car needed was four valve stems replaced.

Next up, figuring out how to file an incident report with the Boston Police Department.

User interface experts, get ready...

Update:

I called in and was directed to call the 911 emergency #, 617-343-4911, to file a report. I gave some preliminary information and someone is going to call me back.

Sounds like it's best to call 911 from the scene so an officer can take the report then.

Update #2:

Police called and took report. Very efficient. Nice job.

Update 3:

I filed an online claim with my insurance company, AMICA. When entering the claim form I got an error:

Server Error in '/claimsOnLine' Application.

Runtime Error

Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.

Details: To enable the details of this specific error message to be viewable on remote machines, please create a tag within a "web.config" configuration file located in the root directory of the current web application. This tag should then have its "mode" attribute set to "Off".

I got this error after trying to submit the form three times.

On the forth time the form was submitted, and within the hour I got a call from Amica. Great call. I also told them about the website error and feel confident taht they actually will let someone know about it.

They are the best. Thanks Amica!

Slideshow: Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue Torah Sunday September 7, 2008

A 150-year-old Torah found its way to Nehar Shalom—and now that major restoration work is complete.

The scribe who repaired the scroll entered letters into the torah on Sunday September 7th.

Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue
43 Lochstead Avenue, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Slideshow: Boston Media Makers Sunday September 7, 2008

Visit the Boston Media Makers site for more info.

Boylston Street: Worst Crosswalk Signal Ever

Boylston Street: Worst Crosswalk Signal Ever, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

They installed these crosswalk buttons incorrecltly and tried to make it better by using sineage. If they installed the buttons the right way in the first place, the signs would not be necessary.

The button needs to be pointed in the direction of the street. This is the worst installation I have ever seen!

Boston Media Makers This Sunday: Brunch at Doyle's

Boston Media Makers, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Join us at Doyle's on Sunday September 7th at 10:00 AM for Boston Media Makers!

ATM Envelope Art

ATM Envelope Art, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

I just created a new group over on flickr, ATM Envelope Art.

I saw this art on an ATM envlope yesterday at the Bank of America on Centre Street. I thought it was cool so I took a picture and uploaded it to flickr.

Then I wondered, has anyone else seen or made ATM Envelope Art?

The search is on.

Join the group, ATM Envelope Art.

I'd love to find out who drew this too. ;-)

What Sarah Palin Stands For

Gov. Sarah Palin by buddhakiwi, on Flickr CC BY ND

MadeByMark.com: What Sarah Palin Stands For:

"The other night, we found ourselves engaged in a political conversation with a chatty waiter, a young gay man who had just watched the Republican primary. 'Did you see Sarah Palin's speech?' he asked us. 'She's really pretty, and I loved her attitude. Maybe she's just what this country needs.'

For him, it wasn't relevant that Ms. Palin was ignorant of the world, an advocate of censorship, a person who does not hesitate to borrow God's authority for herself and her causes, a person incapable of distinguishing between the personal and the political, and an inexperienced (and, apparently, fiscally irresponsible) leader. It didn't matter, either, that Palin is a member of a church that advocates that gay people need to be cured of their homosexuality in order to be considered acceptable to God [Source - AP Wire Reports].

All that mattered to this young man was her looks and her attitude. 'She seems spunky,' he said.

In the end, as responsible citizens, I suggest we need to focus less on a candidate's apparent spunk and sparkle, and more on what she has achieved ... and how she has achieved it."

Head over to Mark's blog to read more on Sarah Palin's Ignorance of the Outside World, Censorship, Borrowing Authority from God, Making the Personal Political, and Inexperience.

Very clearly written. Scary.

God's Will

20080903, originally uploaded by Chris Piascik All rights reserved

Sarah Palin: "God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that" [ source ]

Visit Chris Piascik's Website.

Twittering about Sarah Palin

I've been twittering about Sarah Palin:

Sarah Palin's workout pitfall: “Being pregnant every few years." WSJ Magazine Fall 2008 http://twurl.nl/obaysi

Sarah Palin likes to eat "wild Alaskan seafood, moose, caribou and fresh fruit." WSJ Magazine Fall 2008 http://twurl.nl/obaysi

Pictures Proof Positive Sarah Palin visited Ireland. http://tinyurl.com/6fwu92

Exclusive: MAD Magazine's Election Coverage, Sarah Palin Edition. http://twurl.nl/yyog6b

"Palin Made a Bet With Her Husband About Whether Murkowski Would Get Into the Race—the Loser Had to Get a Tattoo."

"Palin Said “Under God” Would Be Taken Away From Her “When [Her] Cold, Dead Lips” Could No Longer Utter Them."

"Palin Was an “Ardent Supporter” Of Plan to Allow Snowmobiles on Wasilla Sidewalks and Parking Lots." What? No skateboards Yes snowmobiles?

"Palin Supported Penalties for Using Skateboards on Public or Private Property in Wasilla." ;-)

"Palin Left Behind Almost $19 Million In Long-Term Debt, Compared to None Before She Was Mayor." Sounds like Bush.

Sarah Palin Vetting Document 63 pages from 2006: http://tinyurl.com/6kklsv [PDF]

Heart to McCain-Palin: Stop playing 'Barracuda' http://tinyurl.com/68qbxb

"Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her"

Palin opposes physician-assisted suicide, embryonic stem-cell research, same-sex marriage, + decriminalization of marijuana.

Video teaser of Bre Pettis' new show History Hacker.

History Hacker is going to air on the History channel on Friday September 26th.

http://brepettis.com/blog/

RNC: Video Bloggers on CNN featuring Chuck Olsen

Here's my friend Chuck Olsen being interviewed live on CNN about The UpTake's RNC coverage. This would have been me, except for the fact that I wasn't in St. Paul.

The interview with me was all set up for yesterday, except for the specifics of the location. I was waiting to get the deatails on what remote studio I needed to go to.

I asked the producer if they wanted to also interview Chuck since he was in St. Paul. They said they only wanted me for this one, maybe next time.

Then when they told me the location was the Excel Center, we figured out that somewhere along the line they thought I was in Minnesota.

So yesterday morning the search was on to find Chuck and get him there in time for the interview. Emails, phone calls and tweets were sent out. Where in the world was Chuck? He made it. I think it was supposed to be on at 11:00, but I didn't see it live.

Here is it, on tape. Good job Chuck.

On the set of History Hacker

On the set of History Hacker, originally uploaded by bre pettis.

My friend Bre writes:

"I'm really excited. I just found out that my TV show pilot, called History Hacker is going to air on the History Channel on Friday, September 26th at 9PM. This photograph, which is also the current header of my blog was shot during filming of the show. I'm working up a blog post right now all about it at brepettis.com/blog."

Just in case

Just in case, originally uploaded by ijustine.

Independent Reporter Tear Gassed! Raw footage - RNC

In a world where protestors and police clash in the streets, independent reporter Marta Costello of the Gnooze ( the g is silent ) gets tear gassed on the streets of St. Paul.

via [ Epic Fu ]

CNN: Tucker Bounds On Palin Foreign Policy Experience

C-Span: RNC Convention Conversations with Journalists

C-Span: RNC Convention Conversations with Journalists, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Journalists talked about political convention and media coverage of campaign 2008.

This is a great discussion about journalism with ariana huffington, peggy noonan, tucker carlson, rick klein , and politico :

Product ID:280833-1
Format:Forum
Last Airing:09/01/2008
Event Date:09/01/2008
Length:1 hour
Location:St. Paul, Minnesota

Watch RNC Convention Conversations with Journalists at C-Span.

Obama has demonstrated distinct evidence of a first-class intelligence and a first-class temperament

New Yorker: Obama versus JFK - The New Yorker- msnbc.com:

"For eight years, we’ve had a President who has a faith-based relationship with his own “gut,” a serene confidence undisturbed by reality. Obama, emerging as a candidate to succeed him, has demonstrated distinct evidence of a first-class intelligence and a first-class temperament. That seemed to leave experience—the length of Obama’s resume—as a Republican angle of attack. Then came Friday morning. On his seventy-second birthday, John McCain selected as his running mate Sarah Palin, a social conservative who spent the nineties embroiled in the civic affairs of Wasilla, Alaska (pop. 6,715), won the Alaska governorship only two years ago, and has zero experience in national politics and world affairs—a baffling rejoinder to the assuring nomination of Joe Biden and to the historic achievement of Barack Obama."