August 2010 Archives

I normally don't like emails that are circulated, but this one, from my FC was cute.

• We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
• I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.
• The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.
• Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
• Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
• If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.
• To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
• If God is watching us, the least we can do is be entertaining.
• I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted pay checks.
• A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don't need it.
• Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR". What's my mother going to do?
• I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
• Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
• You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive again.
• Hospitality: making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.
• I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.
• There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.
• When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.
• To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

 

These folks don't seem to understand what's gone wrong in America. They just know something has gone really wrong. They are trying to make sense of it. I suspect that we all are.

I guess Glenn Beck offers some bizarre and simplistic way for them to vent that frustration and to have hope that things will get better if they believe in empty slogans that they repeat through out the interviews: "restore honor," "take back America," "work for freedom," "bring this country back together."

For Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin and FOX to create such a divisive, ill-informed nation is just shameful and unpatriotic. All self-proclaimed news organizations have a duty to journalistic integrity that informs citizenry. FOX perpetuates an unfair and unbalanced, propagandized, limited world view that promotes ignorance, fear, angst, powerlessness, and a class-based society that preys on the less fortunate.  It's just wrong!

Related articles:

• 'America Is Better Than Glenn Beck' (newser.com)
• Judge H. Lee Sarokin: Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin Are Restoring Dishonor to America (huffingtonpost.com)

I found this TEDtalk, on the Happy Planet Index, by Nick Marks, to be deeply inspiring and brilliantly on target.  It is absolutely worth 17 minutes of your time!  He talks about creating the world we all want to live in without costing the earth in the process.  He claims our current policy and cultural focus on productivity and materialism is flawed for measuring the well-being of a country and its people.

Nick sites these 5 things we should reflect on in our daily lives enrich our personal happiness without costing the earth.  His entire talk is fantastic and has significant implications far beyond saving the earth but could inform our policy on economics, education, health, etc.

1. Connect
2. Be Active
3. Take Notice
4. Keep Learning
5. Give

Related articles:

• TED Global 2010: Nic Marks and Happiness that Doesn't Cost the Earth (worldchanging.com)
• nic marks: the happy planet index (toomanytribbles.blogspot.com)
• The Happy Planet Index: Nic Marks on TED.com (ted.com)
• Building a Greener World through Marketplace Economics and Radical Transparency (worldchanging.com)

I already posted a time lapse of the installation at this link.  But the lighting and the camera settings were a huge challenge.  So you really didn't get to see what the shutters look like, until now.   They are 4" shutters made by Avalon.  The top of the top shutter is 18' from the floor.

I really like going to the El Segundo Antique Car show, held each year near the end of August.  It's free and is sponsored by the El Segundo Police Department, which I think is also cool.  I first went in 2008. I was out of town last year on business and missed it.  This year's show was a little different from the first one I attended.

When I first arrived the sky was overcast with the marine layer which makes for a very nice, diffuse lighting on the cars, perfect for photography.  The sun came out about half way through my visit.  Yikes.  Hot spots reflecting off the vehicles.

At any rate, I had a blast and am getting better and better at shooting cars (or, so I think, anyway—smile).

For this post I am including only a few shots of  hood ornaments, not grills, trunks, engines, or full cars.  To check out my entire collection of photos of automobiles, three albums, click on this link and then select the album(s) you wish to view.  Be sure to click the full screen button in order to view them in full screen, no matter how big your screen is.  (They do look awesome on the huge monitors!)

Click any image below to see a larger version.

About a month ago they measured. This week they installed.

The shutters completely change the feeling of the living room.  Tim likes.

Here you have about 4 hours of worked distilled into 1 minute and 20 seconds. Enjoy.

When the lights dimmed, she looked at me from across the room.  When I approached her, a single spotlight from heaven filled our hearts.  We were in love.  The Oar House, Pensacola, FL.

Related articles:

• P'cola or Bust (timtyson.us)

And I hate it that the front door to the house isn't private property.  Daily, people leave fliers and business cards and unsolicited junk on the door!

This week's big news story:  the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that the government can, without a warrant, sneak onto your property, your driveway, and place a GPS tracking device on your car that tracks everywhere you go.  We no longer have a reasonable expectation of privacy for our driveways, which even delivery people can use.

Shockingly, this ruling is actually getting some media coverage.

Plenty of liberals have objected to this kind of spying, but it is the conservative Chief Judge Kozinski who has done so most passionately. "1984 may have come a bit later than predicted, but it's here at last," he lamented in his dissent. And invoking Orwell's totalitarian dystopia where privacy is essentially nonexistent, he warned: "Some day, soon, we may wake up and find we're living in Oceania."

Source:  Time

Some have pointed out that if you are wealthy, you probably live in a gated community or have gates around your property that would extend your zone of reasonable expectation of privacy.  So only the poor people have less privacy.  But that's OK, isn't it?  I mean, wealthy people don't commit crimes.  Wealthy people don't bilk billions, even trillions out of the unsuspecting.  Enron never happened.  No Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme.  No Wall Street bail out while the captains of capitalism lived off the slaughtered fatted cow.

Besides, privacy died long ago in this country — during the George W. Bush administration, I do believe.  His cronies called it The Patriot Act.  Just the name says "Run!  Don't walk!"  During his administration and the Republican rein of terror, not only were hundreds of thousands of surveillance cameras installed all over this nation, but warrantless wiretaps, "enhanced interrogations," and god knows what else were made the order of the day.

And who are we kidding?  I'd bet my last dollar that the US government routinely snags the GPS satellite data from specific cars at will.  There really is no need to place anything on the cars of serious criminals.  That's so last century.  Only puny local police departments have to actually walk onto someone's driveway to plant a GPS under their car.  The big time crooks already have GPS as part of the most fashionable bling package.

The totalitarian state is here.  Is now.  We live it.  The Constitution and Bill of Rights are just window dressing from a time gone by.

Related articles

• Court allows agents to secretly put GPS trackers on cars (cnn.com)
• Warrentless GPS Tracking Of Your Car Is Legal If You're Not Wealthy Enough To Protect It (dvorak.org)
• The Government Can Use GPS to Track Your Moves (time.com)
• The Government's New Right to Track Your Every Move With GPS (time.com)
• Judge Kozinski Doesn't Track with the Ninth Circuit on GPS and the Fourth AmendmentCalls his fellow judges 'cultural elitists' when it comes to privacy. (abovethelaw.com)

Amazingly, people were swimming in the Gulf before, during, and probably after this storm.  But maybe, it was ok.  I never went down to the water.  If any oil or dispersant were around, it wasn't visible from the hotel room balcony.  Sunday night, the last night of the visit, a big thunderstorm came from the north.  I shot this short video of the storm moving out to sea.

Unfortunately, the progress bar does not show while downloading this HD video. Be patient. It is working. If you have a slow connection to the internet, be very patient.

We just returned from a very short visit to my hometown of Pensacola.  My FC, favorite cousin, Susan, came down for the visit as well.  We had a wonderful time filled with laughter, good seafood, and great political talk (the FC and I are on the same side of the political coin).  I don't know, it seems the dispersants used in the Gulf, made all of the seafood especially flavorful.  Actually, we made sure none of the seafood we ate came from the Gulf.  This picture, click to enlarge, was taken by the HU at the Oar House, one of my favorite Pensacola establishments.

I've had all of the Tea Party insanity I can stomach.  They now want a Constitutional Renaissance.  What kind of horse shit is that?!

They want to revisit the 1st amendment, the 14th amendment, and states rights.

Freedom of religion only will apply to the religions they want it to apply to.  The 14th amendment should only apply when they want it to apply.  When civil rights gets in the way of what they want, they want the states to be able to vote civil rights back into the stone age when you just grabbed you a woman by the hair of the head.  And no more income taxes!  (But what of their precious military budget?!)

These people aren't just racists.  Their "movement" isn't just a well-funded marketing stunt to hinder the elected government.  They are dangerous.  They are home grown terrorists with deep roots in religious extremism — probably not much different than the beginnings of the Taliban.  They are the ignorant puppets of the super wealthy.

The day these fools get elected and start mucking up the US constitution is the day I leave the USA.

And while I'm venting my disgust for the sell out of America, I've decided to boycott Target because of their recent large contributions to radical extremist conservatives.  And then we have Fox so-called-news that just donated $1,000,000 to GOP gubernatorial candidates.  Fair and balanced my ass!  Are they going to disclose these contributions when they cover matters related to those races?!

We will soon have the best laws money can buy.

Related articles:

• Exposing Tea Party frauds (thehill.com)
• Constitution à la carte (dailykos.com)
• Tea Party: It's Not Just Taxes, It's The Constitution (npr.org)

I recently was in a very large church facility.  My visit had nothing to do with the church.  The event managers had simply secured this facility for the event.  I was sickened by what I saw.

The people of this church have built a mega-multi-million dollar facility.  It was beyond enormous.  The power bill alone would be beyond the entire budgets of the churches I attended as a child.  The facility was so large, I felt as though I were in one of the super malls:  one section had a two story (at least) plexiglass enclosed children's play area with the largest set of the tubes kids can crawl around in I've ever seen in my life, one section was bigger than several Starbucks combined and had that wonderful freshly ground coffee bean smell, large living trees were all about, the "sanctuary" could easily stage any contemporary rock concert, broadway show, or symphony, the gym facilities and enclosed olympic pool were stunning.  And I only walked in and later walked out.  I didn't go exploring the vast hallways to see where they led.

As I walked in, along the right side of a large corridor was at least 12 wireless credit card-based cash registers on rolling carts.  They could be wheeled anywhere in the enormous facility to take your payments.  Who knows what the church sells on Sundays besides their mocha lattes.

I was devastated.  This "place of worship" is a testimony to greed and selfishness, part of the "it's all about me" philosophy that has brought our nation's economy to brink of bankruptcy.

I found this organization to be revolting.  I felt tainted for having been in it.

This is not a church.  It's an enormous business enterprise.  It was built from the ground up with tax-except dollars that gave each contributor a tax benefit.  It can therefore offer its "services" at below market value.

I can't imagine the people of this organization (I can’t bear to call it a church.) living the beatitudes that the savior they claim to follow taught from his own lips.  Instead, I see their Jesus, the Christ, coming into that place and, in a complete rage, ripping out the wireless cash registers and money-making ventures.

How have they so lost touch with the teachings they claim to follow?!  This isn't just hypocrisy or big tax-free business.  This is evil!

And, tragically, I am confident that the vast majority of the people who attend and support this mega-enterprise are good people.  But their organization has lost touch with what the church is all about.

Related articles:

• Anne Rice discusses her decision to quit Christianity (knoxnews.com)

The most unexpected thing: you immediately forget your look at a child, because what you are hearing is the rapturous soprano voice of an adult. Then, at then end, when the host announces her prize, and the tears flow, you realize that she is indeed a 10 year old child.  Jackie Evancho's voice is astounding.

Related articles:

• Meet Jackie Evancho, Your Next Susan Boyle, Sort of (observer.com)
• 10 Year Old Jackie Evancho Possessed By Adult Singing Voice (bestweekever.tv)
• Jackie Evancho Brings Down The House On America's Got Talent [Video] (realestateradiousa.com)
• Jackie Evancho: America's Got Talent Superstar Is Just 10 Years Old (VIDEO) (blippitt.com)

Yesterday I purchased a pair of Vibram FiveFingers, which are all the rage here in Los Angeles. As you can see, they fit like a glove, with each toe in a separate enclosure to enhance dexterity, stability, and balance.  They are made from kangaroo leather, which I didn't even know existed.  To check out these shoes, simply click on the image to the right.

Conrad the Kat was very jealous and then insisted on starring in an epic feature film in which he modeled his own stylish and fashionable footwear.  To watch Conrad the Kat's latest world debut, simply click on the image below.

Related articles:

• Vibram Fivefingers Review (socyberty.com)
• High Five to FiveFingers (ries.typepad.com)
• Barefoot Walking (fitfiend.com)

I just came across the photography and video work of Shaun Reeder. Wow!!

At his site, he comes across as one free-spirited human soul that isn't bound by the force of gravity.  His adventures are stunning.  His music, photography, and videos will probably take you places you will otherwise never go.  In fact, watching his death-defying video work just makes me nervous — to be so balanced, so aware of your location in space, so certain of your center, in such great physical shape.  Even the banner on his site is way cool.

You have to check out his videos which are linked to the image below.  Awesome work!

I have always argued that, if you are funded with the public's money, the public has a right to know what you're up to with that money.  Transparency in a democracy is essential.  It prevents such hideous excess as the city manager of Bell, CA, making over $1.5 million in publicly funded salary and bonuses, which in my mind is a criminal act.

I've become so critical of the current "system," which I personally consider completely broken, that when I read or see/hear any news coverage, I immediately wonder, "Who is paying for me to receive this message?  Who is behind trying to influence my thinking in this way?"  And now that corporations can contribute any amount of money they want to our political system, the political influence peddling even gets more convoluted.

The Sunlight Foundation is working to peel back the layers of hidden influence.  They have designed a cool tool, Poligraft, such a clever name, to assist in disclosing who is funding what in Congress.  So when you read something on line, the hidden connections are just a click away.

Check it out by watching this short video.

Related articles:

• Sunlight Foundation Launches Poligraft, Bringing New Transparency To Political Reporting (huffingtonpost.com)
• Poligraft Tracks Influence on Government (readwriteweb.com)
• Poligraft Adds Level of Campaign Finance Analysis to News Articles (news.firedoglake.com)
• Poligraft Tool for Journalists, Politicos, Voters (currentbuzz.org)

A few weeks ago I was in Saratoga, NY.  I had landed in Albany and took a cab to the wonderful inn in which I staid.  My cab driver was a young man from Afghanistan, of all places.  We had an interesting conversation about the whole Afghanistan mess.

He echoed what I had heard in the news:  that suitcases literally filled with millions of US dollars (in cash) are flown out of the Kabul airport every day.  This, he says is common knowledge.  It's business as usual.  No one asks any questions.

Juxtapose this against the lavish inequities of poverty and extreme wealth in the city.  It's insanity.  Then, add to this mix the fact that 96% of the $9.1 billion dollars designated for reconstruction in Iraq is unaccounted for.  That's &8.7 billion with a "b" dollars that has vaporized into thin air.  (Read this Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction pdf report.)

Now I realize we are talking about two different countries, but how much has been designated for Afghanistan?  How much is accounted for?

This should be a scandal of the highest order!  This should be bleeding from every headlines in this country. Why do we so rarely hear about this in our media?!  I'm a fiscal conservative.  The Republican party is wailing about the deficit.  Wail about $8.7 billion in missing government funds!!!!  Those are deficit bucks, baby!

But that's not the only interesting part of our conversation.  I expressed to the young cab driver that I didn't know why we were really in their country.  He asked me politely if I wanted to hear his ideas on the matter.  Certainly!

1.  The drug trade coming out of Afghanistan is powerful and lucrative.  He was unsure of the US roll in the drug trade but thought it indeed was involved.

2.  The country is sitting on a fortune in rare minerals the world wants, even needs.  The oil is pretty meaningless.  He thinks this is why Russia was there for a decade and now the US.  Interesting that this has been common knowledge among the people of Afghanistan but only recently has surfaced in the western media.

Our government is out of control and a direct part of the problem!

EVER!

I swear.  I've never had a summer in which I was so cold!

Well, a good friend purchased a 4 door Porsche Panamera for his family. They picked us up as we headed off to Flemings Steakhouse for dinner a couple weeks back. Very nice car.

Today, in the grocery store parking lot I saw my first Telsa. It looks great. Of course, being all electric, it makes no sound at all. Maybe someone I know will buy one of those so Io can ride in it, though it seemed very low to the ground. I guess sports cars generally are.

The fact that this can be done, in total, from storyboard (if they had chosen to) all the way to upload to YouTube, on a $299 device, the iPhone 4, that also happens to make phone calls, is astounding. When Apple makes this all possible on an iPhone Touch and the iPad, they will rock the education market! Be sure to watch it in full screen.

I have been fascinated for much of my adult life with what people say they believe and value versus what people actually do in their lives.  I include myself in this observation of values versus behaviors.  I have always believed we are our most powerful selves, we are authentic, when we do what we say we believe — when our beliefs and our behaviors are aligned.  Seldom does this seem to happen.

Notable, thoughtful, and widely-respected christian author, Ann Rice, recently posted on her Facebook page that she has "quite christianity."  She is publicly abandoning what christianity has come to mean today.  She is not abandoning her faith.  But the Christ of her faith practice is being so grotesquely misrepresented by the church of today, she feels compelled by her Christ to leave that church.  She has stated that she is going into the wilderness.

In other words, Ann Rice finds such a tremendous disconnect between what she believes as a person of faith in Christ and the organized church that purports to follow that Christ, she is compelled to do what she believes, which is requiring her to quit organized christianity which she believes no longer represents her God.  I find this very significant.  To live what she believes is the work of Christ, she feels she must abandon organized christianity which has so seriously lost its way.

I must say, I have new found respect and admiration for Ann Rice!  You can hear her speak of her concerns in this short video interview.

Richard T. Hughes, Distinguished Professor of Religion at Messiah College and author of Christian America and the Kingdom of God, recently wrote this:

... 83% of the American people claim to be Christians. If those Christians lived as they are taught to live by the teacher they claim to follow, the American public square would be a very different kind of place.

If one reads the New Testament—the charter for the Christian religion—one can discover rather quickly what that tradition is all about

• Jesus tells his followers to tell the truth
• Jesus tells his followers to make peace.
• Jesus tells his followers to turn the other cheek.
• Jesus tells his followers to bless those who persecute them and pray for those who misuse them
• Jesus tells his followers to extend justice, especially to the poor and the dispossessed.
• Jesus tells his followers to serve as bridge-builders and agents of reconciliation
• And Jesus tells his followers to love one another, even their enemies

But based on their words and behavior, we may safely conclude that many of the Christians who dominate America’s public square routinely reject the teachings of Jesus, in spite of their claims to the contrary.

...  After all, since 83% of the American population identifies with the Christian religion, that 83% could make an enormous difference in the tone of American politics if those Christians actually practiced what they profess to believe. They could also make a positive difference in American politics if they held other Christians accountable when they engage in deception and slander in order to score political points.

America’s churches and their pastors therefore have a grave responsibility: to urge their members to serve the public square as peacemakers, as truth-tellers, as people devoted to justice, and as men and women who are actually willing to practice what Jesus taught. If America’s churches refuse to take up this task—which, after all, is a task that is central to the Christian calling—the consequences for our country could be dire, indeed.

Source:  Belief Blog

The entire article, linked above, is well worth reading.

In my lifetime I have seen the self-proclaimed follows of Christ become anything but Christ-like.  I have seen the influence this misconstrued  faith practice has had in our corrupt political system.  I have witnessed people who label themselves as believers clutch a self-serving agenda that has little to do with how Jesus actually said we should live our lives.

What 83% of Americans say they believe and what they do with their lives is stunningly out of sync.  We are living in an ill-informed, dysfunctional, disillusioned state where our hearts and our minds are no longer aligned.  We have stopped being our best selves.

Ann Rice and Richard T. Hughes have had the courage to say, "Enough, already!"  Hopefully they are among the first prophets to lead our nation back to a life of genuine, authentic faith practice.

Related articles:

• Anne Rice Quits Christianity (beliefnet.com)
• Anne Rice Abandons Christianity, But Not Christ [EvolutionBlog] (scienceblogs.com)
• Writer Anne Rice: 'Today I Quit Being A Christian' : NPR (daddyhogwash.com)
• Anne Rice and organized religion (beliefnet.com)

These pencil tip sculptures were all carved by hand by Dalton Ghetti.  Click on any thumbnail to open a slide show of all of the photos.

 

Source:  Damn Cool Pics

So nicely done. Be sure to check out Phil's post on the setup for this time lapse. He includes a 12 minute audio podcast about it as well at: Phil's Blog Post.  Oh, and watch this in full screen mode!

I have made no secret of my support of Larry Lessig's Change Congress effort. In his TED presentation, he clearly articulates the need for it, stating that government of, for, and by the people has certainly withered in our lifetimes. He presents a reasoned case for why changing the way we fund campaigns is essential to the survival of the US democracy!

If this TED talk by toxicologist Susan Shaw isn't depressing and a powerful call to arms, then nothing is.

She begins by mentioning the chemical industry, which is all but completely unregulated, and how many chemicals can be found in our bodies.  In Europe, the numbers are vastly, vastly lower.  The worst offender:  flame retardant.  It's in everything you can imagine (your clothes, cars, furniture...), including your blood stream now!  At least we are less likely than the rest of the world to spontaneously combust!

But her talk is on the deadly cocktail that is the chemical dispersants and the oil combination designed to cause the oil to drop to the bottom of the Gulf so we don't see the damage it is doing.  Apparently the deadly dispersants make the oil vastly more likely to enter the organs of body through the skin.  We don't even know all of the compounds in the dispersants because the chemical industry is not required to disclose them by law.  What a revolting shock!

Our US government has completely failed to protect people.  What good is it?!

I just get so angry at what we as Americans tolerate without a second thought!  Such short-sighted, live for the comfort of the moment idiocy!

I find it so unspeakably maddening that important, reflective, intelligent voices of reason such as Susan Shaw's, are ignored in mainstream media because the influence peddlers would prefer we receive a steady diet of buffoons like Sarah Palin!  Dear god!

Related articles:

• TEDTalks: Susan Shaw: The oil spill's toxic trade-off (huffingtonpost.com)
• "Toxic Chemicals Industry Designs PR Campaign for Survival: Exclusive Leaked Footage!" and related posts (naturalpapa.com)
• Cancer panel: Unregulated chemicals pose serious risk (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Periodically, the wealthy Republicans begin salivating over all of the money in the Social Security system. They want to dump it into the free market because, as everyone knows, when we privatize non-profit administered funds into a for profit model, the wealthy can get even wealthier. (I personally believe that's why the Republics are pushing the "charter school" movement too — all of that money in the education budget could be lining the pockets of wealthy entrepreneurs.)

Just imagine: Where would today's elderly Americans be if the Republican party had gotten its way during the hideous Bush/Cheney years (the later stating that "deficits don't matter") and pushed the Social Security system funds into Wall Street!? What idiots! MoveOn.org has a great response to the top 5 Social Security myths, since the Republicans are at it again. The 5 myths they address are listed below. Check out the facts about each myth at MoveOn.org's article.

1. Myth: Social Security is going broke.
2. Myth: We have to raise the retirement age because people are living longer.
3. Myth: Benefit cuts are the only way to fix Social Security.
4. Myth: The Social Security Trust Fund has been raided and is full of IOUs
5. Myth: Social Security adds to the deficit

Senior citizen's, don't let the shameless Republicans lie their way into convincing you to lose your benefits. Vote Democrat in the November elections.

The level of detail is amazing.  Notice the earring on the ear on the top helmet.  Click the picture to view other equally amazing helmets.

Source:  LaughingSquid

Normally, when I travel, I keep pretty busy.  But this past trip, when I arrived at the hotel, I did a quick digital checkin and then flipped on the TV —a rare thing. I couldn't find anything of interest; so, I left the TV on HBO with some crazy vampire thing, TrueBlood, about to start. I had some passive knowledge that HBO had a series about vampires and thought it ridiculous.

They played two episodes back to back. So awesome! I'm now completely hooked! I bought the first two seasons at the iTunes store (Season One, Season Two) and have now caught up.  Unfortunately, HBO has not released any episodes in the current season (three).  Season four has been scheduled for production.

HBO has a brilliant marketing campaign for the series, including bottles of "TrueBlood" that can be purchased. I particularly like this iPhone wallpaper, a special bandage just for vampire bites for "fang bangers." If they sold these, I think I would purchase a box as a conversation starter!

Alan Ball, of American Beauty and Six Feet Under (both of which I loved!) is the creator and producer of the series. I think he also is one of the screenwriters for this series, which is based on the book series by Charlaine Harris. However, a quick internet search reveals that the HBO series includes at least one additional character not found in the novels.

The intro to the HBO series is fantastically evocative and exquisitely sets the tone for the series! The music, with its cajun influence, is awesome.  I bought some of the tracks at the iTunes store.  The small town setting in Louisiana is compelling and authentically done. The symbolism is nothing short of brilliant. The religious overtones are, as they should be, nothing short of disturbing. The set design, lighting, casting, and costume design are flawless. This series is exceptionally well done!

Related articles:

• HBO's 'True Blood': Season 3 Goes 'Twilight' (with a twist) (beliefnet.com)
• How HBO has pushed back the boundaries of modern television (guardian.co.uk)
• HBO Gets More Sookie (observer.com)
• HBO "True Blood" Season 4 (popcrunch.com)

I haven't posted much to my blog lately because I have been intensely busy, mostly with traveling, writing, and physical therapy.  And I have made some minuscule effort to avoid the computer as typing at the keyboard seems to train wreck my bad shoulder!

Recently, well, over the past several days, I used my Navigon application on the new iPhone as I traveled.  This application is awesome on its own.  On the iPhone 4, the app looks beyond gorgeous and functions with a level of smooth precision I had not noticed before.  I love it!

I use the app with the TomTom car kit.  I didn't give a second thought to using the car kit with my new phone, just assuming it would work fine.  Wrong!  The iPhone 4 is not as thick as the iPhone 3Gs, and this fact caused some connection issues.  Apparently the car kit needs the extra thickness to snap the phone firmly into the connector.  I even noticed a "rocking lever" that seems to need pressure to deliver electricity to the iPhone 4, which is not thick enough to press the lever.

The iPhone 4 appears to snap into the car kit fine.  But it does not get an electrical charge from the connector.  After some wiggling/pressing, each time I used it, I managed to get the phone to seat itself enough to get the charge.  Having electricity is essential as running a GPS app on the phone would otherwise very quickly deplete the battery.

I also noticed some wonderful updates to the Navigon application since last I used it.  I downloaded the panoramic 3D map information which adds more realistic display information.  And, for those who are not familiar with the Navigon app, I totally love how it implements highway signage information as you approach the signage.  It looks so realistic, just as the signs actually look when you arrive at them.  This feature takes so much guesswork out of navigating complex junctions.

The applications functions fantastically well in the background with the new multitasking iOS4.  And I also completely love the intuitive interface and GUI design.

On my recent trip to the Atlanta metropolitan area, I confess to finding the speed limit warning a bit annoying.  You can set the interval to 5, 10, 15, etc. miles per hour over the speed limit.  The application knows the speed limits and will say "Warning" while displaying an exclamation mark in a yellow triangle at the bottom corner of the speed limit sign indicating the actual speed limit.  In the top center I have the app showing my current, realtime speed.  This is invaluable information when traveling in unfamiliar areas.  But I knew the speed limits in the Atlanta area, had the interval set to 5mph, and the traffic was, as the traffic tends to do in Atlanta, speeding maniacally down the intestates.  So I heard "Warning!" every minute or so as I drove.  With my shoulder, I couldn't reach to adjust the interval while driving.

I'll have to update my TomTom car kit when they make one designed for the new iPhone 4.  But, I highly recommend the Navigon GPS application!

Related articles:

• On the road with the latest Navigon MobileNavigator (tuaw.com)
• Best iPhone Navigation Apps (brighthub.com)

I really don't like Apple's use of the word "magic" in their advertising campaigns.  To me, personally, it's a stupid choice of adjective:  the "Magic Mouse," the "Magic Trackpad," and how "Magical" the iPad is.  I wish they would ditch the "M" word.  It just sounds childish to me.

That said, the new trackpad keyboard accessory is awesome!  Aesthetically, it beautifully accompanies the Apple keyboard.

I do not like a mouse, of any kind.  The "Magic Mouse" was the best mouse I've used, but it constantly had connectivity issues!  I have always preferred to use a trackball.  I don't enjoy moving my hand all over a desktop surface.  In this regard, the "Magic Trackpad' is a dream.

Here are the things I like about it:

• I've yet to come across anything a mouse does that this trackpad will not do.  In fact it does more things than any mouse I've ever used will do.
• I love they way it feels to the touch.
• While it is larger than the trackpad on my MacBook Pro, it still has a small footprint.
• I can easily move my cursor anywhere on my large 27" monitors (2560 x 1600) , from corner to corner.
• I can rotate, pinch and zoom, zoom the screen, page back and forth, bring up the application switcher, scroll, and activate Exposé using the trackpad.  I can also point, click, double click, right click, as well as click and drag so easily with intuitive touches and finger slides.

I find the new trackpad vastly superior to the "Magic Mouse" and even my Kennsington trackball.  In fact, I like it more than any mouse-type device I've ever used.  This baby rocks!

Related articles:

• Magic Trackpad review (engadget.com)
• Apple Magic Trackpad first impressions (boygeniusreport.com)
• Apple Unveils Its Magic Trackpad (shoppingblog.com)
• Apple Magic Trackpad unboxing (unboxing.gearlive.com)
• Apple's Magic Trackpad Signals The End Of The Mouse Era (MG Siegler/TechCrunch) (techmeme.com)