Land of Oz

Iron Mike is Rusted

It's finally happened. I feel sorry for Mike Tyson. I just read where he was busted for cocaine possession and DUI out in Arizona. Let's face it - this guy isn't the brightest person ever to become a star. And a lot of people have taken advantage of him. Can you believe an ex-heavyweight champion with a 50-4 record and is bankrupt? A guy who was once paid millions to beat the crap out of others is now debased to the point he's thinking about either fighting other washed up celebrities or even becoming a prostitute in Nevada.

Boxing really needs to clean up its act. It seems like its history is built on promoters who take advantage of not-too-bright fighters. "I could a been a contendah" says one famous film role. How many real life boxers have gone the same route? Sure, you have the occasional success story but far too often you get guys like Tyson fighting women to make a buck or even guys like Ali whose brains have been spattered once too often against the inside of their heads. Punch drunk isn't from drinking too much Hi-C and vodka. It's from getting smashed in the head hundreds and thousands of times by guys who are trying to knock you out.

Yes, I've heard the argument that it's skill and scientific technique. No doubt it is, but the goal is still to smash the other person's face and knock them out. Remember the last time you bumped your head? Maybe you walked into a cabinet door or smacked a low pipe in the basement; remember the stars and the hurt? And that was once. Repeat that a hundred or so times across ten or fifteen, three minute time periods. You can't tell me that doesn't affect a person.

Boxing - with or without skates and a stick - is just plain stupid. People put two dogs or two chickens into a ring and there's no end of how bad and inhumane it is. In the USofA you can even go to jail. But put two guys or girls into a ring and it's $39.95 on pay per view!

Dr. Kay Scarpetta

This is a character in a series of books written by Patricia Cornwell. I'm going through the entire series now. Dr. Scarpetta is a medical examiner for Virginia, so this is something that CSI could have been based on. The stories are about murders - usually gruesome - and who is doing them.

I can't say I really enjoy reading these things, but they do grow on you. I've been steadily working my way through the entire series, so there's something there that grabs. The problem is that there's a whole lot that is pretty strange. The doc comes across as one with the physical and mental skills of a god and the emotional skills of a five-year old. For example, in the last books she learned how to fly a helicopter, not only in a couple of hours of flight, but well enough to take over the controls later while the bad guys in their own helicopter were dogfighting her's.

She's designed her own home, shoots like Matt Dillon, and cooks like the French Chef. She's kinda like a uber-Martha Stewart with a law and medical degree. I'm lousy at relationships, but she's worse. These two things just don't add up. Oh, and everyone is after HER. It seems like every super-criminal in the book decides to come after her, which is probably the main thing that annoys me - why after her?

And she has a niece who's probably more intelligent and more stupid than she is. Thier antics make horror movie cliches seem unique. There's an empty tunnel the bad guy is in and all the cops are across the city - guess who goes in the tunnel? It's dark and there's prowlers outside - guess where she's going?

I know there's supposed to be conflict in characters, but this goes to the extreme. It makes it hard to accept that a character can be so super-perfect and super-stupid at the same time. You can accept that to a certain extent, but not to the extremes these books go to. I can't really recommend this series, but then again, I am reading the stupid books which says something about my stupidity.

Barely a fine

Some idiot football player from Texas (he's gotten way too much publicity to mention his name here) was recently fined $35,000 for spitting in another player's face. At first that sounds pretty high - and to me it is - it's almost what I make for the year. For this player, it's not much more than a real soft tap on the wrist.

This guy is making $10,000,000 (that's 10 million) this year. And of that, he's paying $35,000 (that's 35 thousand). $35K is .0035 of $10 mil. If I had to pay that same percentage it'd cost me $140 which is what I paid for a Christmas dinner a couple of weeks ago. Is $140 going to teach me a lesson - I doubt it. So is $35K going to teach this loudmouth a lesson - I definitely doubt it. Especially since the added publicity he's getting will probably mean that some "sporting" goods company will sign him up to endorse their latest and greatest product - maybe Kleenex would be a good choice. You know, how it's good for cleaning spit off your face.

Random Thoughts

What do you do when you lose your GPS?
Why do people put their turn signal on after they make the turn?
Why does sausage sound better than hot dog?
If you haven't figured out cigarettes are bad, sue your parents, not big tobacco.
Why bitch about a taser when a .45 is the alternative?
Why do car drivers wander left when making a right hand turn?
When's the last time you saw a pedestrian crossing light that gave you enough time to cross?
Why are supporters of the first amendment so often at odds with supporters of the second amendment?
Why should I feel nervous when returning to the USofA after visiting abroad?
What wine goes with a Twinkie?

Religious Nuts

What is it about Christmas that brings out the worst in religious people? Do you think your god really gives a crap about what is being displayed in a yard or store window or airport? Is the Jewish god going to end the world because a tree is displayed in an airport and not a menorah? Is Odin going to deny you entry to Valhalla because there's a baby Jesus in a crib at the city hall? Is Allah going to reward you with three less virgins because there's a cross instead or along side a crescent on some poster? And I won't even begin to try to figure out what kind of religious icon is or isn't correct for Kwanza.

Religion just seems to be getting worse and worse. We have a president who has a Crusade going on in Iraq and Afghanistan. There's a bunch of whatevers, Imans, Prime Ministers, presidents, and more, who have Jihads going on everywhere. We've got a major museum in Ohio that thinks the correct historical diorama of dinosaurs has more in common with the Flintstones that what 100 years of fossil evidence and common sense show. There's other people who say you are at fault for being raped because the Koran says so, and that slavery is cool because the bible says so.

You have priest who use naive altar boys for their own playthings and other religious leaders who think girls should be locked in the home and twelve-year olds should carry bombs into coffee shops full of women and kids - and not carry them out.

I gotta tell you, if your gods are really this infantile, judgmental and just plain screwed up, they really, really don't deserve your respect, let alone your devotion. Get a life and learn to live on your own. You don't need some god to tell you what is right and wrong, because they obviously don't know or care to know. Use some common sense. Rape is wrong. Using twelve-year olds for sex toys is wrong. Setting off bombs in coffee shops and markets is wrong. Seeing a woman's elbow is not wrong. Eating a slice of bacon is not wrong. Wearing your hat in a church is not wrong. Get some priorities in your life already.

Management Monkeyshines

I'm not the only one who's bothered by stuff like this. I was talking business to someone today during lunch about stuff and this came up. Lately one of the managers sent out an email to those under him "suggesting" a donation to a local charity drive their company is pushing. He not only suggested donating, but let them know what he considered a minimum amount and that the minimum should be accompanied by appropriate additional amount. I guess the amounts are fairly low, but that is besides the point.

This to me is much worse than the never-ending whines that fellow workers have for buying candy and cookies their kids, church groups, kids groups, sports teams, etc. want to sell. Then there's the folks who want you to support one or another of their favorite charities. It's bad enough when they put down flyers and stuff on your desk, but now they even send you emails using the company's mail service.

I know I'm not alone, but perhaps it bugs me more than most about stuff like this. I think the workplace should be kept the workplace. If the company wants to support a certain charity, they should make it known what it is, but shouldn't send you specific amount that they want you to pay. To me this is defeating the purpose of what a charity is supposed to be about. Maybe I'm making too much about this kind of thing, but I don't happen to like it. Bah, humbug.

Papa Vino's

This weekend we had our family Christmas dinner and once again we had it at the Papa Vino's restaurant in Mishawaka, IN. This is the only one of the chain we've gone to, but for three years now, it's been a great place to eat. I bitch so much here, that on the rare occasion something goes well, I like to mention it as well.

This place does what any restaurant should do, it has good food, great service and fair prices. We had dinner for five including a bottle of wine, appetizers, entrees, and desserts and the bill was about $135. As you might have guessed, the food is Italian in style. I would not hesitate to recommend this place to anyone. We had:
SCAMPI AGLIO
Shrimp Sauteed in Garlic, Parsley and White Wine; Served with a Slice of Grilled Garlic Bread $8.99
STUFFED PORTOBELLA
Marinated Portobella Mushroom Stuffed with Fennel Sausage, Four Cheeses and Marinara Sauce $6.99
STEAK PIZZAIOLA
A Center-Cut Sirloin over Fresh Tomato Relish with Garlic, Olives and Olive Oil; Served with Fresh Broccoli and Garlic Parsley Potatoes for $14.99,
SALMON FESTIVA
Atlantic Salmon, Artichokes, Roma Tomatoes and a Tangy Lemon and Dill White Wine Sauce Tossed with Spinach Fettuccine $12.99
CHICKEN ARRABIATA
Grilled Chicken Breast with Spicy Marinara over Angel Hair Pasta
$10.59
SPAGHETTI MARINARA
Spaghetti with Spicy Marinara sauce
$7.99
SALMONE ALLA GRIGLIA
Grilled Fillet of Salmon in a Sage and Roasted Pepper Sauce with Roma Tomatoes over Linguini $14.99
Along with some wine and desserts. OK - I'm in the minority of our family and don't think the desserts are all that special, but they aren't bad.

The service is what sets this place apart - it's been great every time we've been there. We had some special needs for seating and they were filled perfectly. Last year, we made a last minute reservation and they still fit us in and helped us out. This time, they put us in a booth at first, but quickly changed that to the table we needed. And I might add at the time the place was packed - SRO. The management and serving staff bent over backwards to make it a great visit. Even my brother, who does a lot of business traveling and is pretty critical of restaurants likes this place.

The only unenjoyable time was when we were leaving and I couldn't find my car keys - that is a bad feeling. I went out and my car was locked, so the keys weren't inside. I crawled around under our table and no keys there and management asked the folks at our first booth if they'd seen them there - which they didn't. I went back to ask once more and after one of the women sitting there explored the dark underbody of the booth, she turned up my car keys - my hero! So even after a few minutes flirting with panic, all was well.

If you're ever passing through the South Bend/Mishawaka, Indiana area take a night to stop for dinner at Papa Vino's. It's a little south of 80/90 just off Grape Road.

Santa 2006

Don't you wish you could go back to a time when Santa wasn't quite so improbable as he seems now. I don't know much about kids, but it has to be a lot harder these days to believe in a Santa like I think of from way back when. Think about how much has been ruined by us adults for the little kids.

Back in my day, as seen through my rose colored glasses, Santa was a fat, happy guy with a big beard and red suit who came down chimneys - even if you didn't have one - ate some cookies and drank some milk you left out and put some goodies under the tree if you were good and a lump of coal if you weren't. Finishing, he'd get back on the roof - no matter how slanted - and jumped into his sled pulled by eight tiny reindeer. And then with a laugh, he'd head to the next house, managing to visit all the good little boys and girl in the world before dawn - sigh...

Now filter that view through our 21th century puke colored glasses:

You got this severely obese guy in disguise who has an unnatural attraction to little kids. He sneaks across the border smuggling in gray market goods that have probably been made by illegal aliens working in his sweatshop - that coincidently is located in an out-of-the-way place so authorities can't enforce labor and environmental regulations.

After dark, he sneaks around neighborhoods, breaking in to houses and leaves booty that he probably hasn't paid licensing fees on. He partakes of high calorie snacks, probably containing trans-fats, and imbibes milk, regardless of organic concerns. After reviewing his extensive database on the personal habits of minors, he leaves the appropriate gifts (does he pay local taxes on this stuff) and goes to the roof. He then makes sure his endangered reindeer are still chained to his sled - which has never met any Transportation Safety standards and goes off to terrorize the next batch of children.

'tis the Season

Traffic. It's not just the roads. Traffic in stores is even more scary this close to Christmas. Many people have undoubtably gone mad. People seem to lose their minds when they go shopping. One of the biggest things is shopping carts. Why do so many people stop their cart in the middle of an aisle intersection? It's bad enough, people will stop in the middle of one aisle, but they seem to pick the intersection so they can annoy four aisles of people. Pull over to the side and get in one aisle or the other. Is that really so hard?

And why is it that women (yes, in general) always grab a shopping cart? I've lost track of the number times I've seen some woman - rarely a man - with one or two items or even none in their cart. Often they just seem to use them for a care blanket.

What bugs me even more is when they leave their carts in the middle of the parking lot. If you're going to drag a cart around, at least take the 30 seconds needed to either put it back or park it in the shopping cart corral. Parking lots aren't flat and the wind blows, and I can't count the number of times I've watched some idiot's cart rolling across the lot aimed at a fender. By the way, these are the same lots that you can't get to roll across the smooth tile floor inside the store. I almost stood up and cheered one day when I watched an old beat-up pickup truck smoosh one of those rolling carts into a ditch - better the ditch than my car.

And as an afterthought, up here where I live, there's snow and ice on the road. It's SLIPPERY! Is that so hard to remember from one year to the next? I don't care if you have two, four or six wheel drive, the road is slippery. You're not going to stop on ice like you do on pavement - unless you pick a tree or lamp post to use as a break. Slow down and don't run into my ass again this year.

Just one reminder - it's white, it's under 32 degrees, it's slippery!!

Spaced Out - Out of Space?

BBC News: US plans permanent base on Moon.
Here goes NASA again talking about putting a base on the moon. It seems Prez Bush told them to do it - not in the manner of Kennedy, but in his own "style." Here's my uneducated opinion of that. NASA no longer has "the right stuff." Somewhere after Yeager busting the sound barrier and not too long after Apollo 13's bubble gum and wax paper repair job, the right stuff got up and left.

The Shuttle has been a burden since it first took off. It works nothing like it was planned to. A reusable low-cost pickup truck into orbit has become a massively overpriced, fragile elephant, similar to using a Rolls-Royce limo for hauling empty beer cans to a recycle center.

Now we're talking about a station on the moon and we can't even run a station in near earth orbit. We strand three poor folks out there, whose duty, at least to me, seems nothing more than patching and survival (and the occasional orbiting golf ball). This thing was supposed to be completed this year (2006). From what I can figure out, it about's at 30% of what it's supposed to be. And if it wasn't for the Russians and their simple and reliable, 60's technology spacecraft, I'm guessing the ISS would be a slag heap at the bottom of the ocean by now.

As much as I would like to see us go "boldly where no man has gone before," I think we really need to rethink how to do it. The current process isn't going to do it. Why can't we just get together with some of the other big players of the world and make a real Intentional Space Station. That's the only way it's going to work. Instead of everyone going their own way fiddling with this and that, we need to get some inspired politician/bureaucrat and make a real International effort on this. Space is way to big for any one or two countries to get a handle on it.

Video iPod

Hype can be deceiving. OK, while I'm not the hippest digital guru around, I am fairly handy tossing around computer files. I know the difference between a .gif and a .bmp and an .mp3 and know that to the point that I'm aware a gif will compress in dramatically different percentages depending on if it has vertical or horizontal stripes.

In spite of all that, the Apple video iPod was a bit too much to deal with. It's become quite obvious that Apple wants you to buy from iTunes - pure and simple. I probably should have done more research on all this, but didn't. We wanted a video iPod to view, not surprisingly, videos. It seems however, and it's not all that much emphasized, that an iPod (and iTunes) is very picky about what it will display. Basically it want's its own version of an .mp3 or .mov format. In fact, iTunes won't even recognize other formats.

The main thing we wanted to watch was some videos in .rmvb format. To get this into an iPod, you need to buy (freeware is seemingly non-existent for this process) a video conversion program. You then have to convert from .rmvb (or rm, or basically anything other than QT or mov) to mp4. This isn't instantaneous. On my computer, granted, it's older, but still pentium based with 512MB, it took about 40 minutes to convert a 40 minute video. Granted the software would let you batch convert, perhaps overnight, but still... Now I could load it into iTunes, but surprisingly, not into the iPod.

Now you have to use iTunes to convert the .mp4 into iPod format which takes another 40 minutes (I think longer, but left the computer to go shopping). And of course after all that you're still viewing this video on a screen which would be hard pressed to display some stamps full size. (But I'll agree the size issue is my personal problem).

Would a Mac have made the process a lot easier? Perhaps, but from what I can guess, you'll still be converting conversions to let the iPod deal with what it wants. Of course the easiest course, both legally and logistically, is to just buy from iTunes. But why should I have to re-buy videos I already own just to watch them at my convenience. I know this is whole different kettle of fish, but one that isn't going away.

The bottom line was that after a week of me and my wife fiddling with and reading about the iPod, we gave up. The folks at Best Buy were great with our return giving us no hassle and no stress. We ended up buying a Zenith DVD portable player we noticed on our way out for $80 and it's working just fine.

Labels: apple, computers, gripes, tech