What's Going On?

Fred Durst:
Somebody tell me what's going on
(what's going on)
We got human beings using humans for a bomb
But everyone wanna live
Don't nobody really want to die
You feeling me right
I can't be watching people die
(die)
And watching people cry
Let me break it down for a minute
If there's enough room here for you and me
There's plenty of room for some humanity

Tears Down the West Side Highway

Frankly, I don't want to be on anybody's TV show no matter where they are from, but I cannot help but feel this sinking feeling in my gut that the rest of the world wants to hear what I have to say, yet in my own country, I am to have no voice in the media (other than through these letters on the Web).

This is MY country. I love MY country. Every channel and it's the same damn repetitive drumbeat WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR...

Michael Moore made it back to New York after driving cross country and has something to say.

For those of you looking for Osama bin Laden jokes and spoofs, Barry Crimmins has a slew of timely Osama bin Laden quips here.

If the reports that bin Laden left Afghanistan five days ago are true, now that Bush has issued an ultimatum it's likely the Taliban will coax him to return just so they can not turn him over.

Roger Avary's Journal

If you're an aspiring young girl who wants to get naked in a real Hollywood production, email me your picture. You must have natural breasts, look like you're in college, have a positive attitude, and be available to work in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 3rd.

This could be your big break!

metacritic is your one-stop website to find a summary of movie reviews. Warning to Mariah Carey: Do not follow this link!

Glitter: Reviewed

Miami Herald / Rene Rodriguez:
Glitter, the kind of movie only 11-year-old girls who dot their i's with hearts would find bearable.


USA Today / Claudia Puig:
Even the soundtrack doesn't rescue the movie from its tedious banality.


TV Guide / Steve Simels:
A butt-numbing exercise in tedium, sporadically redeemed by moments of unintentional hilarity.


Mr. Showbiz / Kevin Maynard:
Take the G out of Glitter and it's litter.

via [ a fire inside ]

This is your captain speaking.

Sometimes a potential hijacker will announce that he has a bomb. There are no bombs on this aircraft and if someone were to get up and make that claim, don't believe him.

Our world has changed.
via [ scripting news ]

FEDERAL FLAG CODE

It is the universal custom to display the Flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the Flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day, IF properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.

When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the Union should be uppermost and to the Flag's own right; that is, to the observer's left.

I felt that it was a good time to fly the US Flag, I got at my father's funeral, off our second floor porch.

The blue field of stars is on the top left, if you are looking at the flag from the street. I also have the flag lit up at night. I got an outdoor spotlight at Home Depot.

Flying the flag makes me feel better.

Random Stuff
Jim Gilliam has a weblog that's worth taking a look at. Find breaking news about TV at TV Barn.

I was watching Star Trek: The Voyage Home yesterday and thought I saw Jeremy Piven at the helm of a starship, why didn't he get a credit? I enjoyed watching it, especially after having seen Galaxy Quest and reading Wil Wheaton's Weblog, the movie's even more comical now.

The Morning News is still publishing even though most of their computers were stolen.

Watched Cast Away last night on Pay Per View. Why isn't it called Castaway? Tom Hanks was amazing.

Barry Crimmins: Political Satirist.

Parade Rout.

In the coming days as the rubble is cleared and the bodies are counted Americans will be offered simple solutions to complex problems. To accept these easy answers will mean there will be more carnage inflicted upon innocents. Without thoughtfulness, outrage will ferment into madness.

Quips.

Bush is calling this "the first war of the 21st Century." It's reassuring to know we have another century of wars to look forward to.

Osama bin Laden aced the collateral damage section of his CIA training.

Replica of World Trade Center wall built at MIT as place for reflections, flowers.

All The Kings Horses

Our friends, our families have been blown to bits. Our friends, our families now pick up the bits.

Back in 1984 when the Macintosh first came out, I was one of the founding members of the Boston Computer Society's Macintosh Users Group. It was a very exciting time. Steve Jobs unveiled the Mac to our users group. We were in an auditorium that held over 500 people.

The first to speak was the Macintosh itself. "Hello, I am Macintosh," it said. That was sooo cool. We all cheered. That meeting was the best compter presentation I have ever been to. It was like a revival meeting. Steve Jobs rocked the house.

Everything was so new back then. You could actually see the fonts on the screen, you could paint pictures, you could even copy and paste a picture in to a letter. Wow!

Here's a story that reminds me of the excitement of the early days of the Mac.
via [ a fire inside ]

"Let's roll."

A hero's last words.

Share your words of hope on the ABC News Times Square ticker.

UPDATE: 9/28/2001 Dan Kennedy from the Boston Phoenix looked into this story and found out that Scheer drew the wrong conclusion. Proves that you can't beleive everything you read!

Bush's Faustian Deal With the Taliban
By Robert Scheer
Published May 22, 2001 in the Los Angeles Times

Enslave your girls and women, harbor anti-U.S. terrorists, destroy every vestige of civilization in your homeland, and the Bush administration will embrace you. All that matters is that you line up as an ally in the drug war, the only international cause that this nation still takes seriously.

That's the message sent with the recent gift of $43 million to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, the most virulent anti-American violators of human rights in the world today. The gift, announced last Thursday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, in addition to other recent aid, makes the U.S. the main sponsor of the Taliban and rewards that "rogue regime" for declaring that opium growing is against the will of God. So, too, by the Taliban's estimation, are most human activities, but it's the ban on drugs that catches this administration's attention.

It's probably too late to put a stop on this check. Bummer. Maybe we can make a withdrawal?

Too Much God?

Should there be so much God in these public expressions of loss and remembrance? Should a secular country gather its political leaders in the National Cathedral to pray?

How come there wasn't a Humanist up there?

How to defeat bin Laden

The deliberate murder of innocents is a crime and an abomination in all societies -- Islamic ones no less than any others.

Across America Tonight

GET A GRIP, man. "Declare war?" War against whom? One guy in the desert whom we can never seem to find?

A Letter

The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who captured Afghanistan in 1997 and have been holding the country in bondage ever since. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a master plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps."

I wonder what Colin Powell and the Generals are planning?

The Tower.

I'll be filling in for Tracey on Mass Ave and Beyond, the local music show on WZBC Boston 90.3 FM today at 4:00 PM EST. You can listen online here.

Dave Winer thinks this picture of firemen raising the American flag is destined for the history books.

It looks like war.

I wasn't aware that Boston was a hotbed of terrorist activity until this week. I guess that's the way they like to keep it. Quiet.

I subscribe to the theory that 'worry is a worthless emotion', but after seeing the World Trade Center tradegy in New York on TV and the recent activity in the Boston area, I feel that being cautious is a good thing.

I drove my wife to work in downtown Boston yesterday. When I looked up at the John Hancock Tower and the Prudential Center Tower, my mind saw an image of a Boeing 747 flying into them. Strange, it wasn't a concious thought, but it was there.

On my way home, I stopped in Kenmore Square to workout at my health club. After getting out of my car, two fire engines, two ambulances and a few police cars drove up to a nearby building with sirens blaring. Normally I wouldn't think anything of it, but yesterday I did. It made me pause.

After returning home, I saw that the Westin hotel, right in downtown Boston, was being surrounded by SWAT teams and Bomb Squads. My wife was working just a few blocks from there.

I called her to tell her that I'd be picking her up, she had planned to take the bus.

When I picked her up, I asked her if she had looked at the Hancock or Prudential towers during the day.

"Yes" she replied, "and in my mind, I saw a plane crash into them ."

Not being able to sleep this morning, I decided to post the highlights from our trip to Rome.

Capri
Our trip from Rome to Carpri took us on a taxi, train, boat and funiculare.

Eurostar - 10:45
Rome Termini to Naples (Napoli Centrale)

When making reservations, make sure you ask for non-smoking if you want it. There is plenty of room to take your luggage with you. Sometimes the trains are really crowded, sometimes they aren't. Make a reservation prior to the day you want to travel to make sure you get a seat.

Our taxi ride from Naples to the port could have been filmed and made into a video game. You know how if you're playing a video game, people walk out in front of you and you aren't supposed to hit them? Well our cab driver got a good score, he didn't hit any people, or other cars!

The cab driver put a finger to his eye, pulled down on the eyelid and pinted to his watch. At first we thought he meant to watch the time so we didn't miss our boat, but later we figured out he meant to watch out for pick pockets who might steal our watch off our arms. We took off all watches and jewlery and put them in our pockets.

We took the LN - Navigazione Libera Del Golfo hydrofoil, $10.00, from Naples to Capri. It was a nice ride with open air seating up top.

After landing in Capri, you need to take the Funicolare from the port, up to the main part of Capri.

The Funicolare is a little train that climbs up the island at a 45 degree angle. The cars are built at an angle to go up to Capri. There is room to take your luggage in the car too. Here's a picture of the Funiculare that I took for you, because prior to going to Capri, I had no clue as to what it was and what it looked like..

We stayed at what I feel is the best hotel on Capri, the Hotel Luna, 011-39-81-837-0433. We had an amzing room with an ocean view.

Ristorante Pizzaria Aurora
Via Fuorlovado
Tel 837-0181

Down a narrow street this restaurant wasn't too busy at 7:00, but by 8:00 all the tables were full. Make a reservation if you plan to eat late. Grilled vegetables to start $8, eggplant and pasta $15, Amorone Wine costs 10 times more than the meal, but was a nice Italian wine. It seemed like a local clientele until we founds our those eating next to us were from Belgium and Russia. The people from Belgium told us they checked out of the Quissisana because it was too impersonal and large. We are used to impersonal and large, but could get used to personal and small.

La Capannia
Via Le Botteghe 12 B

Many rooms make up this authentic restaurant. We enjoyed the veal with a light oil and vegetables.

Ristorante "da Paolino"
di De Martino Michele
Via Palazzo a Mare
Tel 081 837 61 02

One of the highlights of Capri, this reatuarant is in the middle of a lemon grove. YOu dine at a table with lemons hanging over your head.

Take the Funicular down to Marina Grande. After getting off the Funicular, tkae a left and follow the street until you start to see signs for da Paolino.

Before you order, take a look at the Antipasto salad bar and desert bar. You might want to make that your meal.

Start with a Bomba. It's a homemade pasta ball with a brown crust filled with cheese. It seemed more like bread than pasta. Awesome!

Linguini with Large Scampi. Wow! The shrimp were the size of Twin Lobsters!

At the end of the meal they served a local drink called Limonella. Lemony...

Grotta Azzura
There are boat tours of the island which take you to the big tourist attraction, Grotto Azzura. We think a better way to get to Grotto Azzura, also known as Blue Grotto, is to take the bus. Get a 24 hour bus pass that also includes two trips on the Funiculare.

Here's my step by step instructions for you take the bus to the Blue Grotto.
1. Take the bus from Capri to Anacapri
2. Walk down Via DeTommaso to the bus stop on the left.
3. Get on a bus to G. Azzura
4. Once there, take the staircase down, where a rowboat will pick you up.
5. A small rowboat will pull up and take four people at a time.
6. The row boat will pull up to a floating cashier where you pay a fee.
7. After you pay, you'll lie flat down and prepare to enter the grotto.
8. Once inside you'll float around and experience the amazing clear blue water inside the cave lit up by the reflected outside sunlight.
9. After you leave, you'll be pulled back to the same staircase you entered on. Make sure you are careful leaving the boat by placing you foot firmly on the dock.


SNAV hydrofoil - 11:10 AM
Capri to Napoli
$10.00

Here are my step by step instructions for getting from the SNAV dock to the Mergellina Train station.

1, After getting off the boat, go straight up the hill to the train station.
2. Once in the station, watch the monitors for your track number. There's only about four tracks, so it won't be hard for you to get to your track.

This is both a local train station and a high speed rail stop. Don't be concerned when a local train shows up where you Eurostar high speed train should be. The trains run on time, so make sure you are on time.

Eurostar - 1:06 PM
Napoli Mergellina to Rome Termini

Once you get on the train, luggage can be stored at the rnd of hte train car if it won't fit on top. You might also be able to fit the luggage between two back to back seats.

Florence
The Leather School is inside the Convento di Santa Croce.

coin is a department store in the middle of town.

Galleria dell'Academy is the museum where David is.

Rome
St. Regis Grand
Via V.E. Orlando 3
011-39-06-47091

www.easyeverything.com is on
Via Barberini. It has over 200 internet terminals for hourly use at a great price.

Changing money in Rome is easy. Depending where you change it you might pay a service charge and/or a commission.

Little change booths charge both a sevice charge and a percentage commission. Thier exchage rates might look good at first but you need to figure out the service charge.

Banks only charge a flat service charge when you get in an go to a teller. I did this a couple of times. Here's how you do it:

1. Remove metal objects and put htem in a keyed safe outside the front door.
2. Push button to enter a tube. The tube is a person sized test tube that opens after you press the button.
3. Once inside the tube, the opposite side will open if your scan for metal objects is clean, otherwise the rear door will open and you'll need to remove metal objects.
4. You to the teller and say Bojourno, change US?
5. After taking a puff of his cigarette, he'll change your money for you and give you a reciept.

ATM's don't charge a service charge or a commission. Your bank might charge you though for using a really foreign ATM.

Eating In Rome
Eating in Rome is a done at a leisurely pace. You order a bottle of water as aqua con gas which means water with bubbles. If you don't want bubble you can get water without gas.

The portions are smaller than American size. I'd say just enough for a typical eater. It's great because you can have an appetizer and also the meal without getting full.

Dolce Vita is a nice open air restaurant on the Piazza Navona.

The Spanish Steps neighborbood is a maze of twisty little streets all looking alike. This is a nice area for walking around, seeing adn being seens. The most popular street in Rome from 6-8 PM for walking.

La Fontanella
Via Fontanella di Borghese
Tel - 687-1582 Call first for reservations

You eat outside just off Via del Corso. Homemade fresh pasta was a highlight.

In Trastevere, Birreria della Scala On Piazza Santa Maria della Scala is a great place for a beer. They have Leffe Blonde on tap, a nice Belgian beer.

Report: Five Suspects Identified in NYC Attack

Authorities in Massachusetts have identified five Arab men as suspects in Tuesday's attack on New York City and have seized a rental car containing Arabic-language flight training manuals at Logan International Airport.

This started very close to home.

Whew! I'm back from a vacation to Rome. Got in last night from an 11 hour, multiple connection flight back. I have lots to tell you about, so I'll start with a small post and add more later.

We took a bus tour to Florence and saw Michaelangelo's David. It's a statue of David who slew Goliath. Funny... the things you learn on vacation. Michaelangelo didn't represent David as circumsised. It seems that he only used Catholics as models. An old lady in our tour pointed this out. She was all embarrased about it, but she did have a sharp eye.

Our tour guide in Florence was amazing. She went to Florence as a college student, met someone, and got married and stayed. She really made it a great experience. Her name is Cynthia Black and her number is (055) 641625. She says it's best to book ahead.

The bus tour also took us to Orvieto, It's little small town on a hill in the middle of wine and olive country. This is the kind of town you think about when you think, 'little Italian town'. We had a great little dinner at Ristorante Maurizio.

We toured the Colosseum and The Forum, where we got the true story of the vestal virgins, they had the life. No really. They did. Most of them didn't get burrried alive either.

They showed a movie at the Colosseum of how modern day fighting in sports resembles that which was going on in Rome years ago, I was wondering why Terry O'Reilly from the big bad Boston Bruins wasn't included. I'll have to write a letter. While on the tour it started raining so we had to seek shelter. Too bad it wasn't Roman times. Back then they'd close the retractable roof in case of bad weather, actually it was a velarium.

We went to Trastevere, a little quaint part of Rome, like Cambridge is to Boston. We saw a small little bakery where it looked like they made cookie for restuarants. We went in and a little old lady sold us a delicious assortment of cookies. She looked at us and asked, 'Boston', ha ha. We said yes and she told us her family was from Boston. Well, she didn't actually 'tell' us, she said, "Family, Boston, Disney", we got the idea. She started making hand motions like planes flying back and forth to and from Italy and Boston. I think she took non-stop flights. But I can't be sure because of the language differences.

I could have used this half baked post about how to communicate in foreign countries on the trip.

While I take a short break from blogging, I'll leave you with a detailed list of the sites I visit daily. Enjoy!

A Fire Inside usually has a few top stories of the day with insightful commentary. You'll also get a peak into another person's life.

Roger Avary is making a movie and talking about all the behind the scenes stuff. It's really cool if you're interested in movie making.

Evhead is Blogger's daddy and has quality links.

The Web Today features Outrage, Pop and What.

gleanings comes to me in the mail, you can get it too. Everything's also in the weblog. I usually like the random bits at the end.

NetWatch has tech stuff from a Boston Globe reporter.

parallaxview let's you look into the life of someone from England. They like beer and girls too.

Scripting News has writings of David Winer. Lots of techie XMLweblogs stuff here with some fun links thrown in.

Signal vs. Noise features quality postings with space for comments.

The Ultimate Insult is a great place to visit if you want to waste some time looking at weird websites.

WFT is What's Funny Today. Funny always comes in threes over there.

Wil Wheaton is my new hero.

A book: The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World's Most Animated Family.

"God, if you really are God, you'll get me tickets to that game. Why do you mock me O Lord?" --Homer

A web site: The Simpsons Archive has it all. The have really cool things like episode capsules which give you everything you ever wanted to know about a Simpsons episode and more.

A favorite episode of mine is Dancin' Homer. I saw it in a movie theatre. Oh yeah. It was the best way to watch a Simpsons episode. Imagine sitting in a theatre with others who are laughing at the same silly references that you thought no one else got. The theatre was in the Museum of Television & Radio where you can watch and listen to over 100,000 television and radio programs. Next month they are showing, "From Albert Brooks to the TV Funhouse: Selected Short Films from Saturday Night Live." If you go there you can also sign up to personally view almost any TV show ever made. I watched the first episode of The Odd Couple. It was still funny. It even included the original commercials.

I wonder how long it'll take for major media outlets to start covering the Free TV's Wil Wheaton campaign?

...on a recent trip to Russia, TV's WIL WHEATON was arrested by KGB agents for Acts Against the Soviet State.

I hope he's all right because I'm addicted to his weblog.

It's alive. It's alive. Daypop searches the living web.

Movie-A-Minute.

Titanic
Leonardo DiCaprio
Your social class is stuffy. Let's dance with the ship's rats and have fun.

Kate Winslet
You have captured my heart. Let's run around the ship and giggle.
(The ship SINKS.)

Leonardo DiCaprio
Never let go.

Kate Winslet
I promise.
(lets go)

via [ 3bruces ], two in a row. They rock!

Virtual Strippers.
via [ 3bruces ]

I just got AT&T Broadband Digital Cable installed. First impressions, A Dating Story and A Wedding Story are still there! Whew. I think I have a little addiction problem going on. The Dating Story has a much nicer tone than Blind Date.

The on screen guide has 1/3 of the screen taken up by ads. What a waste. When you change channels there's a delay before the station displays. What's that all about?

With six versions of HBO and a ton of new stations I'll need to spend some time researching all my new options.

While I'm away watching TV, you can have fun at the new Alan Thicke weblog or you could just get serious and go see the Wil Wheaton weblog. It's holding up after days of continued viewing.

Bill Simmons reviews Summer Catch.

Jessica Biel ...is... the token "ravenously attractive rich chick who's also really nice and doesn't exist in real life in any way, shape or form"

I love Bill Simmons... I mean Jessica Biel... D'oh... You know what I mean.

Eightball Magazine says:

Fact: 6 out of 10 Americans believe Joan of Arc is Noah's Wife.

via [ skomsvold ], an interesting guy who, if I'm reading his writings correctly and making the correct assumptions, replaced his Drug Addiction with Coffee.

We love Nomar Garciaparra in Boston. We love him so much that a local ice cream store, JP Licks, has named a flavor after him, Cherry Garciaparra. It's Vanilla, Cherry Chunks and Chocolate bits!

It's their local take on Cherry Garcia, which was Ben & Jerry's #1 flavor for July 2001!

Kevin Smith's First Kiss Comic.

I read this in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday and found the online link at the always amusing The Ultimate Insult.

I showed the comic to my wife, who took one look at it and gave me a look that said, "you want me to read a comic?" I keep telling her that if she just gave The Simpsons a chance, she'd like it. Then again, maybe not.

Kenny Kramer is running for Mayor of New York.

THE SPORTS CLUB/LA - Boston

The Sports Club/LA in Boston is a 100,000 square foot luxury sports and fitness complex designed to fulfill your every fitness need.

Last night we went to the grand opening of the Sports Club/LA - Boston. Wow! What a place. It's located just across from the Boston Common. As we entered the club there were models in black dresses serving champagne. Nice touch. We took a tour through the club. The main exercise room has a beautiful view of Boston including the State House.

The tour included the woman's locker room. Guess what? They don't have ski lifts in there!

At the conclusion of the tour we ended up in the basketball court, which was transformed into a tropical island. They did a lot better dressing up the gym than my high school class did back in the day. And back in high school we certainly didn't have an open bar, chicken, salmon, etc...

Guys, this is the club to join if you want to meet some beautiful women. Of course you'll need to have gotten over your high school fear of asking girls out. Try just talking to them first. If that doesn't work, you still have the excersise equipment with personal cable TV.

Judas Priest Distances Themselves From Rock Star

The New York Times' headline read, "Metal-Head becomes Metal-God." The August 1997 story by Andrew C. Revkin was about Tim "Ripper" Owens, a devout Judas Priest follower from Ohio who played in a Priest cover band. When original Priest vocalist Rob Halford quit the band in 1992, two fans sent the group a grainy videotape of Owens, whose singing voice bears an uncanny resemblance to Halford's. After viewing the tape, the band auditioned, and subsequently hired, the young American to be their new vocalist.

The Rock Star Soundtrack comes out today and has a great song by Everclear.

The Ultimate Internet Mind Virus

I know this guy whose neighbor, a young man, was home recovering from having been served a rat in his bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. So anyway, one day he went to sleep and when he awoke he was in his bathtub and it was full of ice and he was sore all over.

Here's the antidote.

Roger Avary's Journal has all the behind the scenes info you'd ever want to read about and more for his movie The Rules of Attraction.

via [ parallax view ]

Last night I saw Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, and Graham Parker at a free concert in Boston.

You know how you go to these things hoping to hear all the old songs from the 80's, and all they want to do is play you new stuff from their soon to be released album? There's Graham Parker singing, "My Kids Go Through Clothes". Geesh.

I guess the best thing to do would be to buy a record player and just listen to the old stuff when I'm down in the basement.

Teacher finds an island of talent.

''These shows have a kind of simplicity and purity that has to do with the people who live here,'' said Andre Bishop, the director of New York City's Lincoln Center, who has a summer house across the harbor and saw the musical Thursday night. ''There is a kind of truthfulness that would be the envy of many highly trained and gifted actors.''

Cindy Bullens did the music.

Rageboy brought his weblog back from the dead. You might find some interesting and humorous content there. We'll see.

He calls it The EGR Weblog.

Wil Wheaton's Weblog.

A woman dies leaping through her car's sunroof when events convince her that Jesus has returned.

via [ Rageboy ]

Just got in from a sneak preview of Rockstar. It Rocked! The movie stars Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston. Wahlberg was at the Fenway General Cinema tonight to introduce the movie. He said that he thinks it's his best movie yet. Jeff Pilson was there too.

The story takes place in the 80's and features Mark as the lead singer of BloodPollution, a tribute band for Steel Dragon. The movie shows what happens when he gets the chance to take the place of Steel Dragon's lead singer.

If you're into 80's music, humor, a love story, sex, drugs and rock and roll, this movie is for you!

Nina and Samantha are a couple of groupies that have lots more info for you.

If you go to the movie, make sure you stay for the credits!

Joe Lavin's Humor Column

Wherever I go, I hear a constant chatter of strange greetings -- "Hello, Sir," "Hello, friend," "Hello, sneaker," and the particularly hard-to-resist "Hello, lookie, lookie!"

Joe has more amusing stories from his trip to China, take a lookie.

What do You Think?

Wired Magazine needs your votes for the Rave Awards.

The Cultural Innovator category has Ang Lee,Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon vs. David Chase and James Gandolfini, The Sopranos vs. Evan Williams, Blogger vs. Hironobu Sakaguchi, Final Fantasy vs. Thomas Krens, Director of Guggenheim Museums Worldwide.

Vote Evan! Vote Evan!

37signals has designed the ultimate online banking interface at 37FAKEBANK.

It's Liz McLarnon Day over at Wacky Brit. Liz is an Atomic Kitten.

They are charging Brian K. West with downloading a Perl script which they value at $5,000. Paragraph 17 of the affadavit talks about West gaining access to 1st National Bank of McAlester on at least three occations, with the ability to look at customer's checking and savings accounts.

Jimformation on Marilyn Manson and B'rynnformation.

TNN has a couple of new shows featuring real people. Small Shots is casting local people in 3 minute spoofs of major theatrical films. Lifegame features an improv troupe that acts out an audience member's life story.

Everything you know is wrong.

NASA faked the moon landings!

This is what musical theatre in Boston is all about!
I saw Mamma Mia! last night at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. The cast was exceptional! I'm probably an average fan of ABBA, whose songs the musical is based on. I knew maybe half the songs, but some people around me knew all of them. It was funny when an actor would start singing an ABBA song and there would be murmurs in the audience of recognition and smiles at how well the song fit into the story line.

Dee Hoty as the mother stole the show. She rocks. It really seemed like she had a great time performing. Michelle Aravena as the daughter also had a beautiful voice. My wife enjoyed all the young men with their washboard abs. Craig Bennett looks a lot like the guy who played the desk clerk on ER.

If you have a chance to see this play, do it.

Did you ever want to throw balloons off the top of the Golden Gate bridge? Well, now you can.

Superman Lives!

Superman would've been dead as white weddings if it weren't for the fact that he's from Krypton -- whatever the hell that is -- which means he can't be killed.

I was reading all about one man's vision of Kevin Smith's script at heygregory.com and decided to take a look at it. It's funny. I'll warn you though, once you start reading, it'll be hard for you to stop.
via [ Drew's Script-O-Rama ]

I really don't have anything to protest against but I like the idea.

Gallery: New Top 10 Offenders

Simply gratuitous use of naked female body to sell high-end electronic gizmo to gullible (mostly male) public.

Shocking.

The entire text of the Cluetrain Manifesto is now online.

A new book from its co-author, Chris Locke, has it's own Gonzo website.
Note: This page says, "Gonzo" when you load it.

I once heard a talk on aircraft design in which the speaker explained the aerodynamic basis for a scene in a movie I saw as a kid. I can't recall the name of the film, but I've often used this scenario as an analogy for solving critical problems by going against "the rules" dictated by the sort of sanity and logic that would apply under normal conditions. In the movie, various test pilots attempt to fly an experimental plane capable of supersonic speed. As the plane approaches Mach 1, something strange happens to the controls. Instead of causing the plane to climb, pulling back on the stick puts it into a dive, with terminal consequences for both plane and pilot. Finally, our hero, Chuck Yeager, breaks the sound barrier and lives to tell about it by reversing the normal procedure. As the plane begins to bore in, he pushes forward on the stick instead of pulling it back. The story may be apocryphal, but the point is that the pilot never would have survived unless he did something that was -- according to all available evidence up until that time -- a little crazy.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder looks like he knows how to have a good time!

It's one of yesterday's Day in Photos.

Did you know that you can use Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on any Palm?

THESTINGRAY.NET
Uncovers Evidence of Rigging on "MANHUNT,"
Another VIACOM Reality T.V. Game Show

"The allegations of rigging in the (Manhunt) production and the post production re-cutting to include phony scenes, story lines and a misrepresentation to viewers of the game's rules, raise some of the most serious questions of programming practices in recent memory," said Steve Beverly, Professor of Broadcasting at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.

Manhunt is a gameshow on TV?

I put up a direct link to Late Night Jokes over there on the right hand side of the page. This makes it easy for you to check out those jokes you might have missed on Leno and Letterman.

So You Wanna be a movie extra?
via [ 3bruces ] via [ Funky Helix ]

Has this ever happened to you?

You're sitting at your desk, calmly plugging through the work you've got to do that day, when all of the sudden you realize that the work is meaningless. Not just to you, but will contribute nothing to the end goal - what you're building, what you're creating, whatever. It's just an endless list of "to do's" that get forwarded day after day.

Time to decide what you want out of life. Maybe it's cheese?

Word is that Jamie-Lynn Sigler, she plays Meadow Soprano, is going to join the Girls of Maxim.

Seven Habits of Sensitive, Celibate Men.
It seems that these are bad habits meant to be broken .

Don't Eat The Marshmallow Right Away

The ones who had resisted the marshmallow were clearly more socially competent than the others. ``They were less likely to go to pieces, freeze or regress under stress, or become rattled and disorganized when pressured; they embraced challenges and pursued them instead of giving up even in the face of difficulties; they were self-reliant and confident, trustworthy and dependable.''

via [ Signal vs. Noise ]

The Library of Congress is doing some amazing work. Making Color Images from Prokudin-Gorskii's Negatives explains the process of restoring these of images from Russia.

Outfitted with a specially equipped railroad car darkroom provided by Tsar Nicholas II, and in possession of two permits that granted him access to restricted areas and cooperation from the empire's bureaucracy, Prokudin-Gorskii documented the Russian Empire around 1907 through 1915.

via [ Scripting News ]

Everyone searching for Charlotte Hobrough nude, will happy happy to hear about the new Survivor UK behind the scenes tape. It sounds better than the Survivor we saw here in the US. They should make it an HBO Special.
via [ parallax view ]

Larry Ellison declares war!

Ellison's declaration of a "war on complexity" urges enterprise users to end application customization by changing their business processes to fit Oracle's technology—in other words, no customization, particularly with applications in the company's year-old 11i e-business suite.
"You shouldn't be writing C code. You shouldn't be writing custom sets of programs and, my God, you shouldn't be changing our computer programs," Ellison told an auditorium packed with Oracle customers at the Oracle AppsWorld user conference in New Orleans this spring.

I have been thinking this way for years. I agree with Larry. Instead of generating an RFP with a million pages of detailed desires and needs based on the way things have always been done or how you think they should be done, why not use some exisiting software that closely meets your needs? Software that has a support and an upgrade structure in place? We use Word, Excel, Internet Explorer and Quicken without any trouble. How different can your Order Entry be?

I dream in color. Do you?

I just woke up from the most amazing dream.

I dreamt that I was looking out the window and saw trees flying by in the sky. I was so lifelike. They were dark green evergreens. I think I might have been thinking about the Tornado that hit Danvers two days ago. My friend Bill T. was telling me about it and said that he had never seen anything like it in his life. He was so excited about telling me about it.

Also in the dream I saw cats with dog heads and dogs with chicken head hands. What's that all about?

Real Beer Page: BeerLog
Mmmmm Beer.

This page is a weblog about beer news.

Today I went ot a cookout and there was an Ipswich IPA in the cooler, so I tried it. Hey, when you go to a cookout and the host says, go get a beer in the cooler, I figure that it means I can take any beer. Any beer I put in there are free for anyone else to take.

Anyways, I liked it. It was a beer full of flavor. I can't tell you what all the flavors were, but there were flavors in there.

Later on I went to an anniversary party and had a Samuel Adams Boston Lager. You can't go wrong with a Sam Adams.

Look for Samuel Adams Light in a bar near you. I saw it up in Maine a few days ago.

For Boston readers, here's a bumper sticker for you to put on your car to welcome Opie and Anthony back to Boston.

Opie and Anthony had a Siberian Tiger on their show today.

I'm so happy they are back in Boston.

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Inboxer Rebellion (Shark Attack)
THE UNCLE THAT WRESTLED THE SHARK ASHORE WAS FISHING FOR SHARKS, HAD IT ON A LINE AND HAD BEEN FIGHTING IT FOR TWO HOURS PLUS.

Not!

Just a heads up to another urban legend that might be in your inbox some day soon. I just got this one in an email. I forwarded the urban legend link along, so the person who sent it to me won't send me any more stupid emails.

It took a while, but I found the 2001-2002 Fall Primetime Schedule in grid format.

I always love to read the new Fall TV schedule when it comes out. I usually have a pretty good eye for finding the shows that will make it.

Here are some of the shows I'll be taking a look at:

Sundays are for Futurama and The Simpsons. I don't know what Alias is, but if it's anything like Alias Smith and Jones, I'll be watching.

Monday I'll be watching Boston Public at 8:00 with renewed interest because Jerri Ryan is joining the cast. 9:00 Ally McBeal. 10:00 Crossing Jordan. It takes place in Boston and has Ken Howard from The White Shadow in it. What's not to like? Ha, Ha.

Tuesday at 9:00 will be tough unless you have a VCR. Bob Patterson starring George from Seinfeld is up against Smallville, the Superboy series. Scrubs comes in at 9:30, which looks like a slapstick ER. I guess I'll watch Smallville live and tape the two others. Also at 9:00 is 24, which I don't think is a look at Store 24 surveilance tapes, so maybe I'll look at it during commercials. 10:00 Philly with Kim Delaney is up against Judging Amy, which I never watched anyways. Easy choice - Go Philly!

Wednesday at 8:00. What have they done! Ed is scheduled against Enterprise. Scott Bakula is going to be awesome as the Captain of the new Enterprise, but I'm already hooked on Ed. VCR comes into play again for Ed, or should I say record. 9:00 West Wing, I guess I'm getting hooked on this one (9:30 VCR for The Job, Lenny Clarke is the best.), 10:00 I'll give Wolf Lake a try.

Thursday. This looks like a big night. This kind of night makes me wish they could split Thursday into two nights. OK, so I'll be watching Survivor 3, Tempation Island 2, and ER live. I'll have to tape Popstars 2, so much better than Making the Band, and Inside Schwartz, the previews look funny, I hope the show is as funny.

Friday and Saturday look pretty pathetic. Maybe there's something on cable.

Grilling Them For Answers

Did Frito-Lay scientists find a way to dehydrate KC Masterpiece sauce?

I like the idea behind this site. Write letters to corporations asking about stupid stuff. I read a book like this once. I called M&M Candy to tell them I found a square M&M, they sent me a coupon for a free bag.
via [ Parallax View ]

I just read a great recap, of that HBO series that goes behind the scenes of the Baltimore Ravens training camp, by my new favorite sports writer Bill Simmons. I agree with most of his article except the parts about Tony Siragusa, I think what we're seeing is the real Tony. Tony rocks! The show is on again tonite at 11:00 on HBO.

'We'll Be Dancing Again,' Shark Victim's Wife Says

``Once the shark pulled him under, to start punching the shark and to grab his own leg out of the shark's mouth, who thinks of that?'' she said. ``...And the determination, the resilience to swim back to shore with his leg bleeding. It's amazing.''

There are conflicting reports about the lifeguards on the beach. The victims' wife says that the lifeguards wouldn't swim out to help him, but the hotel manager says they did. I'll be very interested to hear more about this story.

Clint Howard is cool. He has a really big part on the HBO mini-series, To The Moon.

Over 100 Harvard students and graduates have contributed to SparkNotes. You can even use them in your reports as long as you cite them.

British 3 year old swims in pool.

The Seattle Times: One man's notes from inside the inferno

Then I felt as if I were being pelted by a thousand snowballs as a barrage of embers, broken tree branches and ash pelted the shelter. It came in several intense waves and at one point I thought surely I would be dead before this was all over. I thought about my family and friends and got lost momentarily in desperation.

via [ a fire inside ]

The new CNN Headline news debuts tomorrow, featuring Andrea Thompson as an anchor.

Thompson starred for four years on ABC's award-winning drama NYPD Blue as detective Jill Kirkendall. She has extensive film and television credits to her name, including roles on Bablylon 5 and Jag.

Maybe if Kim Delaney's new show Philly doesn't work out, she'll get a shot at the anchor desk too. We can only hope.

Hasbro Unleashes POX On Children of Chicago.

Now you can rent a married priest.

Ed and Julie have traveled to Europe over 40 times and put all their knowledge up on a web site for free. It looks like a lot of people enjoy what they are doing because there are lots of submissions from people on the site who are not Ed and Julie.

Last night I caught the HBO show, Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Baltimore Ravens. It's a cinema verite series that follows the Ravens through this years' training camp. NFL Films is involved, so the production is really well done.

Tony Siragusa is my new favorite NFL player. I love how he tells it like it is and enjoys telling the interns and rookies what to do. I used to be an intern once, so I know what it's like. They're lucky to have Tony telling them what to do.

Do I have anything left?

I shattered the land-speed record getting there in time for Seaver's arrival; he seemed friendly enough when we were introduced, despite the fact I was staring at him with one of those "HOLY CRAP! IT'S TOM SEAVER!" expressions on my face. We made some small talk ... and then it happened.

"Hey, why don't you grab a bat and come outside with us?" Seaver asked me. "You can pretend you're a batter. I want to gauge what it's like to pitch with somebody standing there."

Follow the link to read the whole story by Bill Simmons who just made it to the big time and is writing three columns a week for espn.com's Page 2.

Now you can put the president in your pocket!

KEVIN SMITH SAYS HE'S "KNEE-DEEP IN GAYNESS".

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Here's a Clerks drinking game for you Vanilla Soy Milk drinkers. My doctor says that Silk is the best Soy Milk. I agree. It tastes great in coffee. You can use it in a bland type of cereal like Total, and it sweetens it up. It's good for you too.

Note: Even though a carton of Soy Milk, that you buy today, has an expiration date of October, you need to use the milk up within 7-10 days of opening the carton.

She just slipped and broke some dishes in her hotel room.

BLOODSOAKED Mariah Carey was wearing just a black slip and high heels when she slashed her wrist, it emerged last night.

via [ Drudge Report ]

www.oreilly.com -- In Memory of Frank Willison

"This morning, the ever-vigilant Boston Herald reported that, on the Riverway, right on my commuting route, a motorist had been attacked by a squirrel, which had leapt out of a tree, through her open sunroof, and onto her head. (Throwing off journalistic restraints, the Herald ran a front-page teaser: 'Psycho Squirrel: crazed critter drops in on pregnant driver.') If this attack was a harbinger of a larger Emerald-Necklace rodent uprising, how much more attractive would I be, with my large reflective head and hunched-over, fully-exposed back, traveling at the speed of easy prey? In spite of these worries, I pressed ahead. God gave Man dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth, and I wasn't going to be the guy who gave it back because of one psycho squirrel."

When I'm dead, please link to my writings at Humor in the News.

Watching Baseball Song by Ryanne (2 yrs old)

We're watching the man catch the ball
and then he throws the ball
and then another man swings his stick...and he misses
so he has to go away and play with somebody else...

There must be more to life than this.

Follow Norman on his quest to find the meaning of his life.

Now you can hook a Homer Simpson Dot Pal up to your computer and have him say "Doh" when you make a typo. He says other stuff too. You know, funny Homer Simpson stuff.

Make sure you have headphones on for this page if you're in an office that frowns upon Homer Simpson talking out loud.