The spill

I have a pocket in my suitcase that is exclusively for spills. Shampoo, salt, jelly, salsa, sunscreen.

Schilling's post worth reading

#38 must've started this before the win, or written it very drunk.

Won't you be my neighbor, world series 2007 MVP and Jeff Katz of the Red Sox Mike Lowell?

Watched the series last night at a quaint place called Brewsky's in the middle of the country. In that place, the prairie, it is acceptable to have a TV projector hung the wrong way so that a batsman runs from home plate to third base and plays to the plate are an acid dream of left handed fielding and spiraling baserunning. Also, the score is nearly impossible to read in reverse. Also, they don't have ginger ale in these places, or drink specials. But the regular priced drinks are ALL between 3-3.75 USD, which is special. At the end of the game there were 15 people in the bar, two Rockies fans and 8 Red Sox fans and a family fit for Steinbeck spanning many generations. I got to say "hey barkeep, what's happening with the sound?" when he allowed a song with the refrain "it's a beautiful life, oh" to eclipse the post-game speeches and useless-car giving. I tipped him because I felt bad, and he does not live within 200 miles of any sports team save college football.

Long time blog

It's been a while, we know. The bus has been on the move recently. One of our chiefs came out yesterday to give us an orientation and indicated that we are his fastest moving products this year. Sweet.

We realized through the following interaction that I'm a yuppie in the midwest:

I: why do you use styrofoam to go cups, paper is so much nicer

she: because they are cheaper and we like when people use their own mugs here, and most people have stuff for-here in this place.

I: well, that seems kind of cheap of you, paper is a nicer coffee experience.

she: why are you ordering espresso to go anyway, are you some kind of freaky fugitive that you can't sit for five minutes and drink 2oz of liquid?

I: yeah, I guess that is pretty stupid. I'm cool with styrofoam.

Tonight while we watch the baseball game I will be in a 4-out hate-trade routine with a coworker who is upset that she has no Red Sox paraphernalia, and is also very strange. We'll be at Brewsky's on Prescott st if you want to come down.

OTB

Air assaults have been suspended in Northern San Diego county, but militaristic metaphors are still everywhere.

How's Your News

Interesting group of people from a camp in New Hampshire.

here

I like using Nature's Gate products because it sounds like a cult.

Is it safe for, you know...us?

No. It is not safe for us. Walking home last night from a charming event congratulating our lot for our supreme entertainment value we were stopped by a psycho once and followed into our hotel by an obvious mugger, who actually told the manager he was our guest. This was not as amusing as it sounds. I have a feeling that a certain duo of shitheads followed the vague train of youths the 4 blocks from the stage door back to our hotel in the 30 minutes after the show ended, and attempted to rob us as we left for the party a couple minutes later. Cute. They better be ready for a fight tonight is all I can say. While I'm horrified the rash of youths beating up sleeping homeless people on the streets, I'm sort of ready for action if they're on foot and following me.

The audience here though is fantastic and we thank them for their patronage and kind words.

On a higher (class) note, the new 7 series BMW is really amazing looking.

new iphone ads: it's not just for gays and geeks

also: I just realized that Garko looks like the Duke of Urbino. Weird.

what?

Time was when people were bonded by having kids together, living near each other, playing sports together. Now we are also held together by having licensed mutually agreeable music via the iTunes store. You see, when you pay for a song on iTunes, you are really paying to play the song on 5 computers and unlimited ipods. If one of those computers is shared with an acquaintance, you have just confirmed your relationship in the eyes of Carly Simon, Stan Getz and John Mayer via Apple’s FairPlay DRM system. You are forever not to be more than 4 computers or unknown numbers of ipods distant from this person.

This milestone passes unnoticed for many, though it can become important later on down the road. People who are actually married will create user IDs that are combinations of their names (LinJim, danreina) in a natural devolution of the relationship to the virtual world. If their names appear on a bank statement together, it’s not such a big deal to be sharing 128kbps Madonna Immaculate collection listening rights. If the bricks and mortar relationship dissolves, the tacit agreement to share itunes will remain until someone decides to burn the music to a cd and re-import it as a way of breaking froo of both the FairPlay rights and the decidedly unfair situation their social life has become.

TSA

Trying to leave St. Louis last week I wound up showing a photo ID to a TSA agent who was not about to let just anyone get on a plane. His nametag read John 43000, an indication of his status within the organization. To his left stood a rookie, and John’s foil, Tom 23417. 43000’s upright stance and creased jowls broadcast two things: ex-marine and never-been-kissed-(by a boy). John was green-lighting about 1/3 as many passengers as Tom, resulting in the common and strange phenomenon of two lines of grossly disproportionate length. I chose the longer line, John’s line, interested more in the deliberate robotics of 43000’s method than the pleasant compliments and well-wishes of 23417.

The photographs of each potential-terrorist were wrung out for all identifying marks, and the passenger need display each of these features – a lazy eyelid, particularly fashionable eyewear, an upturned collar, a confident wink, coquettish head tilt. To let a terrorist through is out of the question; John closes the sieve more, squelching the travel fantasies of chronic weight-gainers, the non-photogenic, the shifty, the punk, the weight-losers, the Lasik patients, the balding, anyone who’s accessories or flesh has changed from the photo they offer as ID. Though I had my passport in my bag I enjoyed the couple minutes of scrutinizing and scowling as 43000 decided how many tasers it would take to floor me and whether the threat I presented was clear enough to summon his Walter Mathau colleague eating a sandwich behind a nearby curtain because the charming 23417 has a trigger shy history of letting people through who may have gotten highlights since last their license expired. I didn’t respond to his parries “there is no resemblence” and “do you have another ID?” because I wanted this obvious outcast of the St. Louis TSA squad to admit to a colleague that he couldn’t identify me from my photo. Meanwhile, Wayne Brady in the next line had complimented 5 pairs of shoes, acknowledged 2 new hairstyles and asked if anyone could grab him a coffee on their way to the plane as he allowed 8 people with a glance at their names and the relationship of their nose to their pupils. Apparently this trick didn’t exist when 43000 was trained.

They’re still wearing the Tom Ridge Fashion Contusion Memorial navy blue epaulets and and black ties. You’d think that with the modernization of our armed forces and the era in which the TSA was created, the outfit could resemble a Fighter Pilot, or a riot squad more than a recovering alcoholic police chief two days from retirement. I will combine a lot of patterns and colors, but I try to stay away from two things: (1) gray pants and a gray shirt (pajama-phobia) and (2) navy blue and black accessories on white with Gold piping and red accents. These outfits are the unknown victims of the war on terror.

Funny Video

this is amazing

Comment Card

Many of our company of 55 persons left the hotel and went to the Quality Suites around the corner, preferring to pay a little more rather than give this sub-standard hotel any business. Some of our rooms leaked, had broken fixtures and dirty carpets and sheets. The hotel bar had broken glass and has the environment of a rec room.

As a consequence of living in the flight line for Charelston airport, I got to see a 747 Large Cargo Freighter about 400 feet above my motel room today. As far as I can tell there are only three of these in the world, and they're huge. I noticed it on a separate piece of asphalt as we landed the other day.

As though on cue...

Starbucks started a free itunes song of the day today. We walked there this "morning" and thought, "well, I do wish the hotel was closer to Wal-Mart, but the Bojangles Express sure does a good sandwich." Then I thought I couldn't be more of a corpororate shill if I were paid by the word. If I ad-sensed this blog, I would be appalled at the crap I'm selling you all. Hemp, Fair Trade, Local Beer, Universal Healthcare, Car-Free Living, Informed, Moderate Consumerism, Create Less Trash through Buying Less and paying more for it. That last sentence is an effort to have something other than big-boxers show up if I ever do ad-sense it.

Charleston, SC is a nice little town near what I consider the center of culture, North Charleston, SC. This is where the airport and the North Charleston Inn are, and the Wal-Mart. Charleston has the advantage of history and architecture and community, but North Charleston has Interstate 26 and the new Starbucks. By new Starbucks, I mean the one with the Corian counters and the low Beverage Delivering Slabular Smile Surface to the employee's right hand. We got pitched by a very earnest, and unfortunately Gen-X looking timeshare man last night, and were told we could have $75 at a restaurant or something.

Broadway is freaking out because they can't get anyone but 14 year old girls to see Legally Blonde, and there are only so many dad's in New Jersey to shell out $248 for Jennie and her bff to go to the big city once a month to see it. Well, unless there are sax lines you need someone (eg bari flanagan to ignite.