Yesterday I attended the Kentucky Press Associaton Convention in Lexington and myself and my editor and our boss attended some seminars. On of them was on blogs, podcasting and RSS and how they are "invading our office space".
This particular seminar was conducted by a fairly well known syndicated columnist named Don McNay. His web site is linked in the title. The seminar was attended by many young people and a few "suits" that were looking at how to stay ahead of the game.
Anyway, the discussion of RSS(Really Simple Syndication) was focused mainly on text and I think that it's just silly to use RSS to go out and pull in your news so you don't have to visit a web site. Many news web sites offer RSS feeds so that you can "subscribe" to online news articles and have them pulled into one place for you to read. No pictures, no ads, no visiting a web site, just the text.
The advantage is that you get only what you want to get. However, in my opinion this is just overkill. My editor and I talked to a few people about RSS for news and the analogy I came up with was the history of cooking.
We started out cooking over an open flame. Then the stove top and oven were invented and finally we got the microwave oven.
In news, the newspaper is the open flame, TV is the oven and the internet is the microwave. So what RSS feeds are doing for text-based news is satisfying the few crazy people in this world who believe they don't have time for the endless seconds of a microwave. So they want something that can pop some popcorn in 2 seconds instead of 2 minutes.
While it would be great for grabbing the stories or columns done by a favorite writer, grabbing the top stories from large daily newspapers and CNN.com will bring you in nothing but the same AP story over and over again for 70 percent of the news. I'm sure you could refine your choices down to getting only local stories from different newspapers, but just visit the stinkin' website. You never know when you might stumble across something good. And besides, photos, design and color make getting the news enjoyable. Straight text is so early-1900s.
RSS simply paved the way for citizen journalism and especially podcasting. You know that newspapers are going to have news on the net every morning, news websites update by the minute, but people like you and I who have blogs or podcasts don't always get to update that frequently. And either way, most people don't have tons of blogs they have to visit so most just click their bookmarks and if sites are updated they'll read, if not they'll leave.
A few people will use it, but even though it's a "buzz-term" and really hot right now, few use it for grabbing news.
In fact, if any web site ever set up most or all of their content to be subscribed to through RSS is probably setting themselves up for a problem later on. How exactly can you guarantee advertisers that people will visit your site if you are offering them all of your content through RSS?
With RSS they don't have to, you are offering them a way to not visit your site.
Even with that being said, the bottom line is that RSS will forever be linked with podcasting and using it to get text will be a footnote, at best, in its history.
Unless they radically change it somehow. Then I reserve the right to change my opinion.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Yamma hamma, its fright night
I know that everyone pretty much knows that Whitney Houston had/has a healthy drug habit, but I at least wish she would stay out of the public eye. I'm the kind of person that gets embarrassed for people who have no idea that they should be really embarrassed. If you click on the title of this post, you'll see that I'm tremendously embarrassed for Whitney Houston. This photo ranks above Nick Nolte's mugshot photo in my opinion because at least he was in jail after doing God-knows-what. This photo is just Whitney running out for gas and chocolate.
Whitney is photographed at a local Atlanta gas station in a $50,000 fur coat and pajamas. Her hair appears to look like a Yorkshire terrier hanging on for dear life, but she has that smile on her face like she couldn't be happier to see the photographer. Like Winona Judd after she got picked up for a DUI.
I guess the good news for Whitney is that she'll be receiving more checks from Bravo since "Being Bobby Brown" (a.k.a. Watching Whitney Crash & Burn) has been picked up for another season. Apparently, the Browns are blowing through their money faster than the royalty checks can come in. Funny how the checks get smaller the more you make fools of yourself on national television.
The other problem they are having is that allegedly they are losing a lot of money paying for their "posse" of hangers-on.
Does that really surprise anyone?
Whitney is photographed at a local Atlanta gas station in a $50,000 fur coat and pajamas. Her hair appears to look like a Yorkshire terrier hanging on for dear life, but she has that smile on her face like she couldn't be happier to see the photographer. Like Winona Judd after she got picked up for a DUI.
I guess the good news for Whitney is that she'll be receiving more checks from Bravo since "Being Bobby Brown" (a.k.a. Watching Whitney Crash & Burn) has been picked up for another season. Apparently, the Browns are blowing through their money faster than the royalty checks can come in. Funny how the checks get smaller the more you make fools of yourself on national television.
The other problem they are having is that allegedly they are losing a lot of money paying for their "posse" of hangers-on.
Does that really surprise anyone?
Friday, January 20, 2006
Kentucky, Louisville, and Western?
The writing is all over the wall. Western Kentucky will be transitioning into IA football competition. That sounds minor, but it's a major, major move. It will allow WKU the chance to perhaps move into a bigger athletic conference like CUSA or the MAC. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's review some of the signs.
1. WKU announces renovation and expansion of the football stadium. WKU has put a LOT of money into football in the last ten years. It's paid off with several trips to the IAA playoffs (only 16 teams make it nationally) and a national championship in 2002. Now the word comes that a 30+ million dollar renovation/expansion project that will include a new athletic/academic complex, new seats, possible luxury suites, and enclosure of the stadium.
2. WKU has long talks with the MAC about possibly joining the league.
3. WKU is asked by the Sun Belt to join in football (necessetating a move up to IA)
4. Head Coach David Elson receives an 8 year contract extension, raise, and the contract includes a provision to give Elson an addittional raise IF WKU goes IA.
5. A WKU recruit from Louisville Ballard mentions in interview with the Courier Journal that WKU is appealing because they're "going DI."
So could this change the perception of WKU statewide? Could this change the landscape of college sports in the state? Clearly my pipedream of WKU, UofL and UK all competing in the same conference will never happen since UofL is in the Bloated East, and UK is in the elite SEC. But if this happens will this mean WKU gets more chances to compete against UK and UofL in football, basketball and other sports? Let's hope so. It works well in other states like Indiana (IU, Purdue, Notre Dame) North Carolina (UNC, NCState, Duke, Wake Forest) and Tennessee (UT, Memphis, Vandy.) There's no reason we can't have those kinds of rivalries within Kentucky.
WKU's move to IA will likely not take place until 2007 or 2008, but it certainly appears to be a fast moving train.
1. WKU announces renovation and expansion of the football stadium. WKU has put a LOT of money into football in the last ten years. It's paid off with several trips to the IAA playoffs (only 16 teams make it nationally) and a national championship in 2002. Now the word comes that a 30+ million dollar renovation/expansion project that will include a new athletic/academic complex, new seats, possible luxury suites, and enclosure of the stadium.
2. WKU has long talks with the MAC about possibly joining the league.
3. WKU is asked by the Sun Belt to join in football (necessetating a move up to IA)
4. Head Coach David Elson receives an 8 year contract extension, raise, and the contract includes a provision to give Elson an addittional raise IF WKU goes IA.
5. A WKU recruit from Louisville Ballard mentions in interview with the Courier Journal that WKU is appealing because they're "going DI."
So could this change the perception of WKU statewide? Could this change the landscape of college sports in the state? Clearly my pipedream of WKU, UofL and UK all competing in the same conference will never happen since UofL is in the Bloated East, and UK is in the elite SEC. But if this happens will this mean WKU gets more chances to compete against UK and UofL in football, basketball and other sports? Let's hope so. It works well in other states like Indiana (IU, Purdue, Notre Dame) North Carolina (UNC, NCState, Duke, Wake Forest) and Tennessee (UT, Memphis, Vandy.) There's no reason we can't have those kinds of rivalries within Kentucky.
WKU's move to IA will likely not take place until 2007 or 2008, but it certainly appears to be a fast moving train.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Antonio Davis, while not Ron Artest, should be made into an example for the future.
Antonio Davis a forward for the New York Knicks went into the stands on Wednesday night to help his wife, Kendra, who to him appeared to be in distress. There are many reports as to what led to this incident. Some fans have said that a drunken fan had been yelling derogatory things about Davis all night and his wife asked him to refrain because she was there with kids and just wanted to enjoy the game. The fan then got into an argument with her and it got out of hand.
Another report has Kendra Davis yelling and standing during the game and a fan asked her to sit down so he could enjoy the game. She said no, the fan cussed her, and then she started standing directly in front of the fan to be a bit of a witch with a b. Whatever the case, the two of them got into a heated situation and Antonio Davis saw the trouble and went into the stands to help his wife or perhaps to help calm his wife down.
I am not sure what happened, but I do know that Antonio Davis should be suspended and should be suspended for more than just a couple of games. I realize that this is a totally different situation than that of Ron Artest in Detroit, but because of that situation, you have to come down hard on anyone who goes into the stands.
Davis did not appear to go into the stands for any other reason but to protect his wife or perhaps, to protect the fan from his wife. I do believe that because of this he should be shown some leniency. Davis should not be suspended for 60 games or 30 games like Artest and Stephen Jackson, but I would expect 10 to 15 games and I believe that is more than enough to get the message across. The message is under no circumstances should a player go into the stands.
I understand what Davis did and many of us would have done the same thing, but being on a rival team, going into a visiting crowd, and alcohol mixing in the crowd could have led to a much worse outcome than occurred. I believe that much like Artest was made into an example; Davis also needs to be made into an example so that no player will think of going into the stands.
Another report has Kendra Davis yelling and standing during the game and a fan asked her to sit down so he could enjoy the game. She said no, the fan cussed her, and then she started standing directly in front of the fan to be a bit of a witch with a b. Whatever the case, the two of them got into a heated situation and Antonio Davis saw the trouble and went into the stands to help his wife or perhaps to help calm his wife down.
I am not sure what happened, but I do know that Antonio Davis should be suspended and should be suspended for more than just a couple of games. I realize that this is a totally different situation than that of Ron Artest in Detroit, but because of that situation, you have to come down hard on anyone who goes into the stands.
Davis did not appear to go into the stands for any other reason but to protect his wife or perhaps, to protect the fan from his wife. I do believe that because of this he should be shown some leniency. Davis should not be suspended for 60 games or 30 games like Artest and Stephen Jackson, but I would expect 10 to 15 games and I believe that is more than enough to get the message across. The message is under no circumstances should a player go into the stands.
I understand what Davis did and many of us would have done the same thing, but being on a rival team, going into a visiting crowd, and alcohol mixing in the crowd could have led to a much worse outcome than occurred. I believe that much like Artest was made into an example; Davis also needs to be made into an example so that no player will think of going into the stands.
"The Man Who Conned Oprah"
This one is for the Lady Bird. If you read Lady Bird's review on a "A Million Little Pieces," an Oprah Winfrey Book-of-the-Month club pick, you'll read that she really dislikes that book to a degree that it amazes me that she finished it. To Oprah it's a tear-jerker, but to Lady Bird its rear-wiper.
Luckily the good people over at The Smoking Gun did a little searching into the criminal records of James Frey, the author. From what I've read about the book, it's pretty detailed right down to the intricate details of Frey's own vomit and The Smoking Gun wanted to see if anything was... Let's just say embellished.
Maybe if Oprah has a good cry about it she can purchase Frey a better rap sheet made of fried gold. I'm wondering if Lady Bird's hatred for this book is due to the fact that it is a little too unbelievable. And to be honest, I find it hard to believe that someone in as much trouble as Frey seemed to be, that he didn't admit to any help from anyone. I know of people that have quit doing things cold turkey, but they weren't wanted in three states with a healthy crack addiction either. If God doesn't make an appearance, someone certainly did.
But remember all of you fledgling writers out there, the best fiction is always in the section labeled "nonfiction". And to quote George Costanza, "It's not a lie if you believe it."
Luckily the good people over at The Smoking Gun did a little searching into the criminal records of James Frey, the author. From what I've read about the book, it's pretty detailed right down to the intricate details of Frey's own vomit and The Smoking Gun wanted to see if anything was... Let's just say embellished.
Maybe if Oprah has a good cry about it she can purchase Frey a better rap sheet made of fried gold. I'm wondering if Lady Bird's hatred for this book is due to the fact that it is a little too unbelievable. And to be honest, I find it hard to believe that someone in as much trouble as Frey seemed to be, that he didn't admit to any help from anyone. I know of people that have quit doing things cold turkey, but they weren't wanted in three states with a healthy crack addiction either. If God doesn't make an appearance, someone certainly did.
But remember all of you fledgling writers out there, the best fiction is always in the section labeled "nonfiction". And to quote George Costanza, "It's not a lie if you believe it."
Eat these jelly beans, if you got the guts.
I meant to write about this earlier but I forgot about it until a few minutes ago. This weekend I gathered with friends and family for a child’s birthday party. Before the party, Bratch and I went to the same residence for the horrible UK game. On the way there we stopped at the local bodega to pick up some lunch. We got some pretty good pizza and as I was approaching the check out, I noticed a display of jelly beans. These were not just ordinary jelly beans; these were Harry Potter jelly beans.
If you do not know the significance of that or have never seen the movies or read the books then you would not know that these jelly beans are not all good. Some of the jelly beans have different flavors than you might be used too. By that I mean jelly beans that taste like dirt, ear wax, earthworm, vomit and the worst by far, rotten eggs. I had seen these before, but never bought any. This time I did. I bought two boxes, simply for the fact that I knew I was going to be at a party with some kids and what better fun could a person have than to trick a child into eating a vomit flavored jelly bean.
During the UK game Bratch and I decided to try out the jelly beans, to really see if they did indeed taste like they were supposed to. There were 20 to 30 different flavors including those I mentioned earlier as well as, cherry, lemon, blueberry, soap, sardines, grass, green apple, booger, cinnamon, and more. We both started to just take one and eat it and see if the flavors were true. We found out pretty quickly they did in fact tasted like they were supposed to taste. In taste testing I decided to make a game of it by asking Bratch if he wanted the first or the second bean I shook out of the box. That seemed to work out better for him because as he was getting lemon and apple, I was getting sardines, vomit, soap, and dirt. I stopped the game because I couldn’t go on. I guess Bratch won that round.
Party time and I am ready to make kids cry. Instead, it’s the adults who want to eat the jelly beans. We get a community spit cup in case you get bad one and we start. Me, Bratch, LadyBird, Lil’ Bird and Lil’ Bird’s 7 year old daughter all got involved and all wanted to taste the worst as well as the best of the box. I believe most of us tasted them all and all agreed that rotten egg was the worst, followed closely by bacon and vomit. Only one child was tricked into eating a rotten egg jelly bean and that was by her sister, not me. If you want to try this out for yourself and you have a strong stomach and gag reflex look for Harry Potter Bertie Bott’s jelly beans in the candy aisle or click the link provided. Enjoy!!!!!
If you do not know the significance of that or have never seen the movies or read the books then you would not know that these jelly beans are not all good. Some of the jelly beans have different flavors than you might be used too. By that I mean jelly beans that taste like dirt, ear wax, earthworm, vomit and the worst by far, rotten eggs. I had seen these before, but never bought any. This time I did. I bought two boxes, simply for the fact that I knew I was going to be at a party with some kids and what better fun could a person have than to trick a child into eating a vomit flavored jelly bean.
During the UK game Bratch and I decided to try out the jelly beans, to really see if they did indeed taste like they were supposed to. There were 20 to 30 different flavors including those I mentioned earlier as well as, cherry, lemon, blueberry, soap, sardines, grass, green apple, booger, cinnamon, and more. We both started to just take one and eat it and see if the flavors were true. We found out pretty quickly they did in fact tasted like they were supposed to taste. In taste testing I decided to make a game of it by asking Bratch if he wanted the first or the second bean I shook out of the box. That seemed to work out better for him because as he was getting lemon and apple, I was getting sardines, vomit, soap, and dirt. I stopped the game because I couldn’t go on. I guess Bratch won that round.
Party time and I am ready to make kids cry. Instead, it’s the adults who want to eat the jelly beans. We get a community spit cup in case you get bad one and we start. Me, Bratch, LadyBird, Lil’ Bird and Lil’ Bird’s 7 year old daughter all got involved and all wanted to taste the worst as well as the best of the box. I believe most of us tasted them all and all agreed that rotten egg was the worst, followed closely by bacon and vomit. Only one child was tricked into eating a rotten egg jelly bean and that was by her sister, not me. If you want to try this out for yourself and you have a strong stomach and gag reflex look for Harry Potter Bertie Bott’s jelly beans in the candy aisle or click the link provided. Enjoy!!!!!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Incredible!! Another Hulk movie on the way?
Can it be true? According to imdb.com, David Duchovny is set to take over for Eric Bana in the sequel to The Incredible Hulk. If I remember correctly, The Incredible Hulk was a bomb and there was never much talk about a sequel. That was premature according to the link.
The sequel will supposedly be a straight to DVD project which means that it will suck. Has there ever been a good straight to video movie? Why would David Duchovny want to be a part of what sounds to be a full blown fiasco in the making?
I am a fan of the Hulk. In fact the Hulk is my favorite comic superhero. I loved the old show with Bill Bixby. I even kinda enjoyed the movie. I do not however want to see a straight to DVD release that would kill any chance of another “real” attempt to make the Hulk into a feature film. I hope Duchovny does the same thing as Bana did when he learned it was a direct to DVD project, run away.
The sequel will supposedly be a straight to DVD project which means that it will suck. Has there ever been a good straight to video movie? Why would David Duchovny want to be a part of what sounds to be a full blown fiasco in the making?
I am a fan of the Hulk. In fact the Hulk is my favorite comic superhero. I loved the old show with Bill Bixby. I even kinda enjoyed the movie. I do not however want to see a straight to DVD release that would kill any chance of another “real” attempt to make the Hulk into a feature film. I hope Duchovny does the same thing as Bana did when he learned it was a direct to DVD project, run away.
Fox's American Idol returns to dominate TV.
Fox has thrown the second of their late season one-two punch as American Idol season 206 premiered last night. It will also be on tonight (Wednesday) at 7 central. The first few shows are the audition phase of American Idol and my personal favorite of the season. You get to see the worst of the worst. Like Mr. Tony Kornheiser said earlier today on his radio show, when it gets down to the final 6 to 8 singers, they are all pretty good. Sure there may be one that stands out, but many of them will have their own record deal before the end of the show.
Last night was a two hour show and the audition took place in Chicago, my kind of town, Chicago. All three judges were there, Randy “Dog, Dude” Jackson, Paula Abdul, and the star of the show, Simon Cowell. Cowell is the star, especially during the audition phase because he likes to destroy bad singers. And last night was no exception. In fact, I almost could not take the abuse. It seemed like Idol had become extra mean. Don’t get me wrong, if a person comes on there and thinks they can sing, but they peel paint off walls, then they deserve to get some abuse, but last night it seemed to go over the edge. Even Randy and Paula seemed to be extra prickly during some moments of the show.
The best and worst moment was when a ditzy 16 year old girl who looked as though Paris Hilton was her American idol walked in. Right off the bat, Cowell started to make fun of the way she looked. Granted she had one of the worst spray on tans I have ever seen, but he just kept going on. After her horrible audition, Cowell continued to make fun of her and then asked to see her mother and proceeded to make fun of both of them. I thought that was a little over the edge, but as I said earlier, if you come on and do horribly then you should get some abuse. That is why the show is so good.
Other than some of the more uncomfortable moments like that, it was a good show. Quite a few singers were good, but that is not what you watch for. There were a couple of firsts on Idol last night. One was a person sang a song that had to have some words bleeped out. I have never seen a singer audition with a song filled with profanity. It suited the young lady who sang it because after she was told no, she cussed and cussed and cussed all the way out into the street. It was very entertaining.
Then we had some crazy bare footed farm boy who claimed to be able to talk to animals was really horrible. Randy for some crazy reason said yes, Cowell said never and then crazy old Paula said yes and sent this half a moron to Hollywood. Cowell actually looked p*&%^ed off and I thought he was going to walk off. All in all, the show was pretty good though much like Survivor, I am starting to get tired of it all. Surely this can’t last for much longer. I guess as long as there are idiots who will do anything to get on TV, we will continue to have shows like this.
Last night was a two hour show and the audition took place in Chicago, my kind of town, Chicago. All three judges were there, Randy “Dog, Dude” Jackson, Paula Abdul, and the star of the show, Simon Cowell. Cowell is the star, especially during the audition phase because he likes to destroy bad singers. And last night was no exception. In fact, I almost could not take the abuse. It seemed like Idol had become extra mean. Don’t get me wrong, if a person comes on there and thinks they can sing, but they peel paint off walls, then they deserve to get some abuse, but last night it seemed to go over the edge. Even Randy and Paula seemed to be extra prickly during some moments of the show.
The best and worst moment was when a ditzy 16 year old girl who looked as though Paris Hilton was her American idol walked in. Right off the bat, Cowell started to make fun of the way she looked. Granted she had one of the worst spray on tans I have ever seen, but he just kept going on. After her horrible audition, Cowell continued to make fun of her and then asked to see her mother and proceeded to make fun of both of them. I thought that was a little over the edge, but as I said earlier, if you come on and do horribly then you should get some abuse. That is why the show is so good.
Other than some of the more uncomfortable moments like that, it was a good show. Quite a few singers were good, but that is not what you watch for. There were a couple of firsts on Idol last night. One was a person sang a song that had to have some words bleeped out. I have never seen a singer audition with a song filled with profanity. It suited the young lady who sang it because after she was told no, she cussed and cussed and cussed all the way out into the street. It was very entertaining.
Then we had some crazy bare footed farm boy who claimed to be able to talk to animals was really horrible. Randy for some crazy reason said yes, Cowell said never and then crazy old Paula said yes and sent this half a moron to Hollywood. Cowell actually looked p*&%^ed off and I thought he was going to walk off. All in all, the show was pretty good though much like Survivor, I am starting to get tired of it all. Surely this can’t last for much longer. I guess as long as there are idiots who will do anything to get on TV, we will continue to have shows like this.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
More Old School songs...
The link is to my second installment which is linked to the first installment so feel free to look back at the explanations, but here is the list so far.
I Was Made To Love Her -- Stevie Wonder
Lay Down(Candles In the Rain) -- Melanie
Ain't No Sunshine -- Bill Withers
The Letter(LIVE) -- Joe Cocker
You Keep me Hangin' On -- Diana Ross & The Supremes
Along Comes Mary -- The Association
With A Little Help From My Friends -- Joe Cocker
Elenore -- The Turtles
Those are in no particular order in case you wondered. Actually that how they show up in iTunes.
I have a few more songs I added to old school list.
The first song is "Lightning Strikes" by Lou Christie. Who is Lou Christie you ask? Well, do you remember hearing songs from back in the day with some dude that could sing notes so high that Mariah Carey would be jealous? The Lion Sleeps Tonight-high? Granted Mariah can sing higher but her testosterone levels are considerable lower... For now anyway.
Anyway this song is great because of the horns and woodwinds. Also, how this dude can go from regular singing voice to curl-your-hair high pitches is truly amazing. And since the song is about his uncontrollable urges, when he switches over the high voice that is him losing control. Pretty cool if you ask me.
I actually learned of this song from the radio station Piccu and I used to work for. In case some of you don't know, small radio stations rarely put live DJs on because live DJs require live pay. So computers and satellite feeds are the tricks of the trade. The computers play the commercials at specified breaks when the satellite feed kicks off for the local commercial spots. However, when you don't have any commercials, much like we did back then, you would put a song or two in to fill the 4 minute gap. It just so happened that Lightning Strikes was a filler and it played 20 minutes past the hour every other hour.
My next song is a favorite for those of us who dig The Big Lebowski. The song is "Just Dropped In (to see what condition my condition was in)" by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition. What makes this song cool is the effects on the voices and the utter spacey-ness, to make up a word. It's just nuts. Background vocals along with the bass and bells are cool. It has some good guitar work as well and creepy organ which was a 60's stamp of approval.
The third song of this group is "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas and Papas. You've heard it, you know why. It's a sing-a-long song really. In one of the half million ways Piccu and I can scare our father, Piccu did it by coming in hard on the "GOT DOWN ON MY KNEES" line and Dad has hated him ever since.
The last some I'm going to talk about really isn't obscure, but it follows the kind of music I'm looking for in that it has some emotion and rocks even though most of emotion is created with the music and not as much with vocals. The song is "Hush" by Deep Purple.
This song is a bonafied hit, but when you listen to it you can get the feeling that they just made it up as they went. Sure they probably planned it out a bit, but it has a sound like one of them said, "Screw it, let's just lay it down, or I'm quitting the band." It's like a big jam session and the drums and organ hook me. The drummer really orchestrates when the song moves and it builds through the drums until music builds up to the explosion. Best Deep Purple song EVER.
I Was Made To Love Her -- Stevie Wonder
Lay Down(Candles In the Rain) -- Melanie
Ain't No Sunshine -- Bill Withers
The Letter(LIVE) -- Joe Cocker
You Keep me Hangin' On -- Diana Ross & The Supremes
Along Comes Mary -- The Association
With A Little Help From My Friends -- Joe Cocker
Elenore -- The Turtles
Those are in no particular order in case you wondered. Actually that how they show up in iTunes.
I have a few more songs I added to old school list.
The first song is "Lightning Strikes" by Lou Christie. Who is Lou Christie you ask? Well, do you remember hearing songs from back in the day with some dude that could sing notes so high that Mariah Carey would be jealous? The Lion Sleeps Tonight-high? Granted Mariah can sing higher but her testosterone levels are considerable lower... For now anyway.
Anyway this song is great because of the horns and woodwinds. Also, how this dude can go from regular singing voice to curl-your-hair high pitches is truly amazing. And since the song is about his uncontrollable urges, when he switches over the high voice that is him losing control. Pretty cool if you ask me.
I actually learned of this song from the radio station Piccu and I used to work for. In case some of you don't know, small radio stations rarely put live DJs on because live DJs require live pay. So computers and satellite feeds are the tricks of the trade. The computers play the commercials at specified breaks when the satellite feed kicks off for the local commercial spots. However, when you don't have any commercials, much like we did back then, you would put a song or two in to fill the 4 minute gap. It just so happened that Lightning Strikes was a filler and it played 20 minutes past the hour every other hour.
My next song is a favorite for those of us who dig The Big Lebowski. The song is "Just Dropped In (to see what condition my condition was in)" by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition. What makes this song cool is the effects on the voices and the utter spacey-ness, to make up a word. It's just nuts. Background vocals along with the bass and bells are cool. It has some good guitar work as well and creepy organ which was a 60's stamp of approval.
The third song of this group is "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas and Papas. You've heard it, you know why. It's a sing-a-long song really. In one of the half million ways Piccu and I can scare our father, Piccu did it by coming in hard on the "GOT DOWN ON MY KNEES" line and Dad has hated him ever since.
The last some I'm going to talk about really isn't obscure, but it follows the kind of music I'm looking for in that it has some emotion and rocks even though most of emotion is created with the music and not as much with vocals. The song is "Hush" by Deep Purple.
This song is a bonafied hit, but when you listen to it you can get the feeling that they just made it up as they went. Sure they probably planned it out a bit, but it has a sound like one of them said, "Screw it, let's just lay it down, or I'm quitting the band." It's like a big jam session and the drums and organ hook me. The drummer really orchestrates when the song moves and it builds through the drums until music builds up to the explosion. Best Deep Purple song EVER.
Jack is back from the dead and 24 has never been better.
Jack is back. The new season of Fox’s 24 kicked off this past Sunday with a 2 hour premiere and continued on Monday with another 2 hours. It appears that I am not the only one fired up about this season. The ratings have been good and Bob and Tom and Tony Kornheiser has been raving about the new season on the radio.
I have been a fan of 24 since the beginning and except for Jack Bauer’s daughter Kim fighting a panther in Season 2, most of the seasons have been good. This season has started of with a bang, literally. If you have DVRed and not watched it yet stop reading……..NOW.
Former President Palmer has been assassinated and Michelle Dessler has been killed and Tony Almaida is on death’s door. All three very good friends of Jack Bauer. Jack seems to be the one set up for it all and he is back from the dead to find out what is going on and avenge his friends' death.
Jack, if you do not remember, faked his death to get out of a life sentence in a Chinese prison for a mission that got out of hand at the Chinese embassy in LA. He was contacted by his friend Chloe and the she is the only one left alive or conscious who knows his death was faked. Jack tracked down the Palmer assassin and shot him in the face.
That was all in the first two hours. I didn’t even tell you about the new president’s wife being crazy and how the Russian president might be in danger. I have not watched the second part from Monday but I can’t wait to check it out.
If you have been a fan and dropped off, start back up again. I am not sure you can catch the first four episodes again, but check your local listings on Fox and FX. Jack is back and 24 is only getting better.
I have been a fan of 24 since the beginning and except for Jack Bauer’s daughter Kim fighting a panther in Season 2, most of the seasons have been good. This season has started of with a bang, literally. If you have DVRed and not watched it yet stop reading……..NOW.
Former President Palmer has been assassinated and Michelle Dessler has been killed and Tony Almaida is on death’s door. All three very good friends of Jack Bauer. Jack seems to be the one set up for it all and he is back from the dead to find out what is going on and avenge his friends' death.
Jack, if you do not remember, faked his death to get out of a life sentence in a Chinese prison for a mission that got out of hand at the Chinese embassy in LA. He was contacted by his friend Chloe and the she is the only one left alive or conscious who knows his death was faked. Jack tracked down the Palmer assassin and shot him in the face.
That was all in the first two hours. I didn’t even tell you about the new president’s wife being crazy and how the Russian president might be in danger. I have not watched the second part from Monday but I can’t wait to check it out.
If you have been a fan and dropped off, start back up again. I am not sure you can catch the first four episodes again, but check your local listings on Fox and FX. Jack is back and 24 is only getting better.
Did God forsake the Indianapolis Colts?
The Colts-Steelers game was without a doubt the craziest game this weekend with the interception-fumble-incomplete pass, Vanderjagt’s miss, Harper’s horrendous runback, and the refs cheating. The one thing I left out of my column this week (because I forgot about it and I’m not sure how it would have gone over in this neck of the woods) is how the Lord forgot about the Colts and allowed them to lose.
Where am I getting this? Well after the loss the Colts’ kicker Mike Vanderjagt said, “I guess the Lord forgot about the football team.” So why did the Lord forsake the Colts? Did the Lord forsake the Colts? Does the Lord really care who wins a football game? I have always wondered this because you will hear players on winning teams thank the Lord for their victory or for being “on their side.” Is this really how it works? Does God pick a team and help “His” team win the game?
I have a hard time believing that with all the things going on in the world that God would spend too much time worrying about a football game. I am sure he is capable of concentrating on billions and billions of different things at one time, but I think some things would be more important. I do believe that God gave the players the talent and ability to play the games and I like to believe that God would be with them when they play if only to keep them safe from injury. I think that the game is totally left up to the players and coaches.
What do you think? Do you think that God is with your team win they win? Do you also think He is against your team when they lose? Do you find yourself praying that your team will win a game? Is it alright to pray for a victory for your team? The Bible just does not make things clear when it comes to God and sporting events.
Where am I getting this? Well after the loss the Colts’ kicker Mike Vanderjagt said, “I guess the Lord forgot about the football team.” So why did the Lord forsake the Colts? Did the Lord forsake the Colts? Does the Lord really care who wins a football game? I have always wondered this because you will hear players on winning teams thank the Lord for their victory or for being “on their side.” Is this really how it works? Does God pick a team and help “His” team win the game?
I have a hard time believing that with all the things going on in the world that God would spend too much time worrying about a football game. I am sure he is capable of concentrating on billions and billions of different things at one time, but I think some things would be more important. I do believe that God gave the players the talent and ability to play the games and I like to believe that God would be with them when they play if only to keep them safe from injury. I think that the game is totally left up to the players and coaches.
What do you think? Do you think that God is with your team win they win? Do you also think He is against your team when they lose? Do you find yourself praying that your team will win a game? Is it alright to pray for a victory for your team? The Bible just does not make things clear when it comes to God and sporting events.
The NFL is heating up this winter.
In my defense, I wasn’t the only one who liked the New England Patriots. So, we have our final four in the NFL Playoffs. Seattle beat a hot Washington team this past Saturday. When I saw running back Shaun Alexander go down for the Seattle Seahawks, I was sure that would be the opening the Washington Redskins would need, but the Seahawks showed some heart and kept after them and put the game away.
The Seahawks will face the Carolina Panthers, a team that seems to play better on the road than most teams do at home. The Panthers beat a very defensive Chicago Bears team, at least up until last Sunday’s game the Bears were a defensive team. The Bears switched philosophies and put up points instead of keeping the other team from scoring them. Wide receiver Steve Smith is a monster for the Panthers, he will not be stopped. I have never seen so many defenders get twisted and tangled trying to cover one man. It makes you wonder why only one man was trying to stop Steve Smith.
The NFC championship game is at Seattle and for those of you who don’t know, Seattle has not lost a home game this season. The Carolina Panthers on the other hand do not seem to be worried about playing on the road. Ask New York and Chicago how the home field advantage worked out. I have questions about Seattle, mainly, “How can Seattle be trusted to win this big of a game?” They are the Seahags for crying out loud.
I would have more confidence in the Panthers if it were not for the fact that their two best running backs will be out for this game on Sunday. Deshaun Foster who was the primary back against the Bears broke his ankle and will not be able to compete; leaving someone named Nick Goings to be the man. This means that Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith are going to have to be brilliant again.
If Seattle watches any game tape, I have to believe that they will try to come up with a plan to stop or at least contain Smith, unlike the Bears. I am also concerned about an injury to Carolina’s defensive end Julius Peppers. He is a big part of that Panther defense and if he is not 100% then that should cause some concern for Carolina.
In the end I see the Seattle Seahawks finally putting the nail into the coffin of the Carolina Panthers and moving on to the Super Bowl. I know they are still the Seahawks and they are known for not doing anything, ever, but I believe this is their year. Shaun Alexander is almost certain to play and quarterback Matt Hasselback has shown himself to be a very good quarterback.
While Seattle has both a great running back and a very good quarterback, we are not sure about Carolina’s running back situation. I also believe that Seattle will be ready for Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith, which could be the Panthers’ only way of scoring. I still believe that game will be close because of the Panthers defense. Seattle 21 Carolina 17
In other games this past weekend we had some questionable calls made by the referees. In my big game of the week, New England at Denver was not a very good game to watch or to play in if you were a Patriots fan. Had I known that the Patriots would turn the ball over 33 times I would have never picked them to be my Super Bowl champion. That was their fault, the referees helped out by making some questionable calls including a pass interference call that probably should have been a no call. That being said, Denver proved they were the better team and showed why they have also gone undefeated at home this year.
In the other game, the Pittsburgh Steelers went into the dome in Indianapolis to take on the Colts in a game most people gave the Steelers no shot in winning. I had my doubts about the Colts but I thought they would win and apparently so did the referees. I have never seen a bigger blown call than the interception and fumble play by safety Troy Polamalu.
The referee watched the same tape we all did and determined that it was an incomplete pass and not an interception and fumble, overturning the call on the field. I am not saying the refs were “cheating” for the Colts, but this wasn’t just a blown call, this was a call that was so insane you had to question the motives of the officials. I couldn’t believe what I saw and a little piece of me hoped that the Colts would win the game just to see the fallout over this whole thing, but that did not happen.
The Steelers made the Colts, especially Peyton Manning, look rushed and hurried and got them out of their comfort zone. Unfortunately for the Colts, their coaching staff didn’t make the necessary adjustments until it was too late. That more than cornerback Nick Harper’s boneheaded fumble return and kicker Mike Vanderjagt’s miss was what decided the game. The Steelers adapted and changed their gameplan after their first meeting with Indianapolis and the Colts did not.
This brings up what I believe will be the best game this coming Sunday, Pittsburgh at Denver. Denver as I said earlier has not lost at home this season and Pittsburgh much like Carolina has won all their playoff games on the road. I know I should pick Denver; I already made a fool of myself by continuing to drink the New England clam chowder Kool-Aid. I will however pick the Pittsburgh Steelers. I have several reasons for this, none of which are really football reasons.
The Steelers beat my team, the Cincinnati Bengals, and I am of the belief that if the team that knocks you out of the playoffs wins it all, it doesn’t hurt so bad to lose to the eventual world champs. I also like running back Jerome “The Bus” Bettis. I would like to see him go out with a Super Bowl win as it is rumored he will retire at the end of the season.
As for real reasons I think they will win? I believe that Pittsburgh is the tougher team. I think that Troy Polamalu makes plays every game and this game will not be different. I think that Pittsburgh’s run, run, and run again style will keep Denver’s defense on the field a long time while the Steelers’ defense can grab extra rest. I believe that it is Bill Cowher’s time and he will show why he is one of the best in the game. While I do think Denver quarterback Jake Plummer has a better beard than Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, he will do something that will make Denver fans scream and pull their hair out.
Pittsburgh 28 Denver 20
This gives us a Pittsburgh and Seattle Super Bowl. I am holding off on my thoughts on this game because I have a feeling that those two teams may not even be in the game by looking at my past performance. I will predict that this year’s game will be better than the commercials and that’s all anyone really cares about.
The Seahawks will face the Carolina Panthers, a team that seems to play better on the road than most teams do at home. The Panthers beat a very defensive Chicago Bears team, at least up until last Sunday’s game the Bears were a defensive team. The Bears switched philosophies and put up points instead of keeping the other team from scoring them. Wide receiver Steve Smith is a monster for the Panthers, he will not be stopped. I have never seen so many defenders get twisted and tangled trying to cover one man. It makes you wonder why only one man was trying to stop Steve Smith.
The NFC championship game is at Seattle and for those of you who don’t know, Seattle has not lost a home game this season. The Carolina Panthers on the other hand do not seem to be worried about playing on the road. Ask New York and Chicago how the home field advantage worked out. I have questions about Seattle, mainly, “How can Seattle be trusted to win this big of a game?” They are the Seahags for crying out loud.
I would have more confidence in the Panthers if it were not for the fact that their two best running backs will be out for this game on Sunday. Deshaun Foster who was the primary back against the Bears broke his ankle and will not be able to compete; leaving someone named Nick Goings to be the man. This means that Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith are going to have to be brilliant again.
If Seattle watches any game tape, I have to believe that they will try to come up with a plan to stop or at least contain Smith, unlike the Bears. I am also concerned about an injury to Carolina’s defensive end Julius Peppers. He is a big part of that Panther defense and if he is not 100% then that should cause some concern for Carolina.
In the end I see the Seattle Seahawks finally putting the nail into the coffin of the Carolina Panthers and moving on to the Super Bowl. I know they are still the Seahawks and they are known for not doing anything, ever, but I believe this is their year. Shaun Alexander is almost certain to play and quarterback Matt Hasselback has shown himself to be a very good quarterback.
While Seattle has both a great running back and a very good quarterback, we are not sure about Carolina’s running back situation. I also believe that Seattle will be ready for Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith, which could be the Panthers’ only way of scoring. I still believe that game will be close because of the Panthers defense. Seattle 21 Carolina 17
In other games this past weekend we had some questionable calls made by the referees. In my big game of the week, New England at Denver was not a very good game to watch or to play in if you were a Patriots fan. Had I known that the Patriots would turn the ball over 33 times I would have never picked them to be my Super Bowl champion. That was their fault, the referees helped out by making some questionable calls including a pass interference call that probably should have been a no call. That being said, Denver proved they were the better team and showed why they have also gone undefeated at home this year.
In the other game, the Pittsburgh Steelers went into the dome in Indianapolis to take on the Colts in a game most people gave the Steelers no shot in winning. I had my doubts about the Colts but I thought they would win and apparently so did the referees. I have never seen a bigger blown call than the interception and fumble play by safety Troy Polamalu.
The referee watched the same tape we all did and determined that it was an incomplete pass and not an interception and fumble, overturning the call on the field. I am not saying the refs were “cheating” for the Colts, but this wasn’t just a blown call, this was a call that was so insane you had to question the motives of the officials. I couldn’t believe what I saw and a little piece of me hoped that the Colts would win the game just to see the fallout over this whole thing, but that did not happen.
The Steelers made the Colts, especially Peyton Manning, look rushed and hurried and got them out of their comfort zone. Unfortunately for the Colts, their coaching staff didn’t make the necessary adjustments until it was too late. That more than cornerback Nick Harper’s boneheaded fumble return and kicker Mike Vanderjagt’s miss was what decided the game. The Steelers adapted and changed their gameplan after their first meeting with Indianapolis and the Colts did not.
This brings up what I believe will be the best game this coming Sunday, Pittsburgh at Denver. Denver as I said earlier has not lost at home this season and Pittsburgh much like Carolina has won all their playoff games on the road. I know I should pick Denver; I already made a fool of myself by continuing to drink the New England clam chowder Kool-Aid. I will however pick the Pittsburgh Steelers. I have several reasons for this, none of which are really football reasons.
The Steelers beat my team, the Cincinnati Bengals, and I am of the belief that if the team that knocks you out of the playoffs wins it all, it doesn’t hurt so bad to lose to the eventual world champs. I also like running back Jerome “The Bus” Bettis. I would like to see him go out with a Super Bowl win as it is rumored he will retire at the end of the season.
As for real reasons I think they will win? I believe that Pittsburgh is the tougher team. I think that Troy Polamalu makes plays every game and this game will not be different. I think that Pittsburgh’s run, run, and run again style will keep Denver’s defense on the field a long time while the Steelers’ defense can grab extra rest. I believe that it is Bill Cowher’s time and he will show why he is one of the best in the game. While I do think Denver quarterback Jake Plummer has a better beard than Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, he will do something that will make Denver fans scream and pull their hair out.
Pittsburgh 28 Denver 20
This gives us a Pittsburgh and Seattle Super Bowl. I am holding off on my thoughts on this game because I have a feeling that those two teams may not even be in the game by looking at my past performance. I will predict that this year’s game will be better than the commercials and that’s all anyone really cares about.
UK's Spiral May Keep Them N.I.T.
According to Cortney Basham of the Bracket Board blog (and Dan Lunardi of ESPN agrees) if the NCAA tournament field were picked today, the University of Kentucky would not be dancing. They would be "Not In Tournament." What an impressive demise. This team made the Elite Eight last year, lost two players of significance, and now are staring an NIT birth in the face.
It's still VERY early in conference play, but UK is 0-2 in the SEC after two games at Rupp Arena. That's put the Mildcats into an early hole that the team may not climb out of. The return of forward Randolph Morris looks to make the team more potent than pond water, but not much more. Tubby Smith is searching for answer and UK fans are contemplating suicide. It is possible that this season Western Kentucky, Louisville (have yet to prove much more than UK has), and Murray State may all make the dance while the Kitties stay home. An unprecedented turn of events.
So why do I bring this up? Because I'm a Western fan and we're 12-4 with the highest RPI in the state of Kentucky. Succintly, we have the best resume of any team in the Commonwealth.
It's still VERY early in conference play, but UK is 0-2 in the SEC after two games at Rupp Arena. That's put the Mildcats into an early hole that the team may not climb out of. The return of forward Randolph Morris looks to make the team more potent than pond water, but not much more. Tubby Smith is searching for answer and UK fans are contemplating suicide. It is possible that this season Western Kentucky, Louisville (have yet to prove much more than UK has), and Murray State may all make the dance while the Kitties stay home. An unprecedented turn of events.
So why do I bring this up? Because I'm a Western fan and we're 12-4 with the highest RPI in the state of Kentucky. Succintly, we have the best resume of any team in the Commonwealth.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Shelter Insurance, XM Radio, Wells Fargo and my love/hate relationship
I am currently involved in several love/hate relationship with all of these companies. I love them for different reasons, but hate them for a common reason. And that reason is that they want to make it hard for me to give them money. If you can actually believe that. Sounds stupid, right?
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I'll start with XM radio. As you all know, Piccu and I love us some XM radio. It's something that I should have had a long time ago. I have 4 XM radio receivers on my account because some of my friends and family are getting a discount on my account and XM gets its payment through an automatic debit from my bank account. So they don't have any problem with getting their money, but it's completely random to me when they get the money. If I had them send me a bill that adds another $2 to the charge. And that might compound since I have 4 radios on my account, but who knows?
So I guess if I did the math I could somewhat figure out what is going on, but one time I had a random $12 and change taken from my account for what seemed like no reason. When I called them about it, they literally told me that they didn't know what it was for and that I wasn't going to get a bill or be informed about any charges unless I paid for a paper bill to be mailed of which they would be making an extra $1.61 for.
You can pay XM online, but when you do, all it does is pop up a screen for you to enter in all of your information and the amount of money you would like to give them. It doesn't tell you how much you owe, but you can give them as much as you want.
So if anyone affiliated with XM radio is reading this, why not step into the 20th century(yes the 20th) and actually have a computer generate an email to be sent to me informing me of what I'm about to be charged before the charge is made. Everything you do is online so technically your customers are doing all of your work, how about have a computer do some work for customers like myself.
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Wells Fargo is even worse than XM radio in my book because Wells Fargo is probably a multi-billion dollar company. Piccu and I are linked to them through the awesome 2 years of free financing for our 62 inch wide screen HDTV. The payments are cheap, but every time I want to make a payment I have to do a check by phone. While it is certainly more convenient and informative than XM radio, shouldn't Wells Fargo have an online system set up? I mean, it's Wells Fargo for Pete's sake.
When it was time to make the first payment I called up customer service and asked a representative if I could make an online payment and she said that they "were looking into that", but had not implemented it yet. She then asked me if I understood the terms of my agreement and I told her that I most certainly did, but common sense told me that if Pete's Pawn Shop in Podunk, KY could have an online payment option that Wells Fargo could too.
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Shelter Insurance is perhaps the most frustrating because it's a necessity since it is my auto insurance company. My insurance premium is due on Sunday. So yesterday I called up my agent to see if I could do a check over the phone since online payment isn't an option(of course) and every time I drive 30 minutes to his office all he does is run the check through a computer and hand it back to me.
I call and I get the answering machine. I kept calling and calling and I left a message and continued to call all day. Finally, I was ready to leave work and I was prepared to drive 30 minutes to his office, but then realized that if he was there he would have returned my call so he's obviously not there.
I thought maybe I could call the local Shelter Insurance agent in town and see if I could make my payment there. I was told by a friend that it wasn't possible, but it didn't matter because the local agent wasn't in her office either.
So finally I called the home office in Missouri to see if there was some way for me to give them $400. I can't tell you how stupid I felt and how stupid the customer service rep must have felt that I was almost pleading at this point for them to take my money, but there was no way for them to take it. I asked her about a check by phone and again they "are looking into it, but haven't decided if they are going to yet".
At that point I was just angry because if I couldn't pay them my coverage was going to be dropped by Monday all because I couldn't get anyone to take my stinkin' money. How stupid is that? Then she told me that I actually had a 10-day grace period after my deadline before I absolutely had to have the payment in or had to pay the $20 reactivation fee. Which I'm sure they make a lot of money on after this fiasco.
Shelter Insurance, XM Radio and Wells Fargo... Catch up with the times and try to make the receiving of payment a priority. Maybe not the top priority because we wouldn't want to inconvenience you, you morons.
P.S. Also, Blogger.com, how about offering some Mac support, you a-holes. How much do you think it sucks when Safari crashes 80 percent of the time I try to login? Wordpress is looking awfully tempting for the impending podcast.
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I'll start with XM radio. As you all know, Piccu and I love us some XM radio. It's something that I should have had a long time ago. I have 4 XM radio receivers on my account because some of my friends and family are getting a discount on my account and XM gets its payment through an automatic debit from my bank account. So they don't have any problem with getting their money, but it's completely random to me when they get the money. If I had them send me a bill that adds another $2 to the charge. And that might compound since I have 4 radios on my account, but who knows?
So I guess if I did the math I could somewhat figure out what is going on, but one time I had a random $12 and change taken from my account for what seemed like no reason. When I called them about it, they literally told me that they didn't know what it was for and that I wasn't going to get a bill or be informed about any charges unless I paid for a paper bill to be mailed of which they would be making an extra $1.61 for.
You can pay XM online, but when you do, all it does is pop up a screen for you to enter in all of your information and the amount of money you would like to give them. It doesn't tell you how much you owe, but you can give them as much as you want.
So if anyone affiliated with XM radio is reading this, why not step into the 20th century(yes the 20th) and actually have a computer generate an email to be sent to me informing me of what I'm about to be charged before the charge is made. Everything you do is online so technically your customers are doing all of your work, how about have a computer do some work for customers like myself.
________________________________________
Wells Fargo is even worse than XM radio in my book because Wells Fargo is probably a multi-billion dollar company. Piccu and I are linked to them through the awesome 2 years of free financing for our 62 inch wide screen HDTV. The payments are cheap, but every time I want to make a payment I have to do a check by phone. While it is certainly more convenient and informative than XM radio, shouldn't Wells Fargo have an online system set up? I mean, it's Wells Fargo for Pete's sake.
When it was time to make the first payment I called up customer service and asked a representative if I could make an online payment and she said that they "were looking into that", but had not implemented it yet. She then asked me if I understood the terms of my agreement and I told her that I most certainly did, but common sense told me that if Pete's Pawn Shop in Podunk, KY could have an online payment option that Wells Fargo could too.
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Shelter Insurance is perhaps the most frustrating because it's a necessity since it is my auto insurance company. My insurance premium is due on Sunday. So yesterday I called up my agent to see if I could do a check over the phone since online payment isn't an option(of course) and every time I drive 30 minutes to his office all he does is run the check through a computer and hand it back to me.
I call and I get the answering machine. I kept calling and calling and I left a message and continued to call all day. Finally, I was ready to leave work and I was prepared to drive 30 minutes to his office, but then realized that if he was there he would have returned my call so he's obviously not there.
I thought maybe I could call the local Shelter Insurance agent in town and see if I could make my payment there. I was told by a friend that it wasn't possible, but it didn't matter because the local agent wasn't in her office either.
So finally I called the home office in Missouri to see if there was some way for me to give them $400. I can't tell you how stupid I felt and how stupid the customer service rep must have felt that I was almost pleading at this point for them to take my money, but there was no way for them to take it. I asked her about a check by phone and again they "are looking into it, but haven't decided if they are going to yet".
At that point I was just angry because if I couldn't pay them my coverage was going to be dropped by Monday all because I couldn't get anyone to take my stinkin' money. How stupid is that? Then she told me that I actually had a 10-day grace period after my deadline before I absolutely had to have the payment in or had to pay the $20 reactivation fee. Which I'm sure they make a lot of money on after this fiasco.
Shelter Insurance, XM Radio and Wells Fargo... Catch up with the times and try to make the receiving of payment a priority. Maybe not the top priority because we wouldn't want to inconvenience you, you morons.
P.S. Also, Blogger.com, how about offering some Mac support, you a-holes. How much do you think it sucks when Safari crashes 80 percent of the time I try to login? Wordpress is looking awfully tempting for the impending podcast.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Pigs can't fly, but at least we won't trip over them in the night.
Check this pic out. Taiwan has successfully bred a transgenic fluorescent green pig. Thank goodness we have done it. I thought it would never get done. Second on the list is a cure for cancer. The pigs glow in the dark.
We might need to find the pig in this pic and make sure he just hasn’t been colored with a Hi-Liter. The last big genetic discovery turned out to be perpetrated by a man of questionable ethics, although he was Korean.
We might need to find the pig in this pic and make sure he just hasn’t been colored with a Hi-Liter. The last big genetic discovery turned out to be perpetrated by a man of questionable ethics, although he was Korean.
Steven Colbert steamed at the AP
I don’t usually watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and I have never watched the Colbert Report, but I saw something today on Yahoo that is pretty funny. It seems that Steven Colbert is calling for a jihad against the Associated Press (AP). Colbert has taken credit for making up the word truthiness and the American Dialect Society named truthiness the word of the year. The AP did a story on this and never gave credit to Colbert for the word and Colbert is steamed. Colbert placed the AP at the top of his list as the “No. 1 threat facing America.” No.2 of course was bears.
What does truthiness mean? Colbert defined it as truth that wouldn’t be held back by the facts. The Oxford English Dictionary has a definition for truthy dating back into the 1800s. So the AP said that Colbert is not the originator. Colbert says that the AP doesn’t get the concept of truthiness, “You don’t look up truthiness in a book, you look it up in your gut.” Brilliant. Maybe I should check this Colbert report out more often.
What does truthiness mean? Colbert defined it as truth that wouldn’t be held back by the facts. The Oxford English Dictionary has a definition for truthy dating back into the 1800s. So the AP said that Colbert is not the originator. Colbert says that the AP doesn’t get the concept of truthiness, “You don’t look up truthiness in a book, you look it up in your gut.” Brilliant. Maybe I should check this Colbert report out more often.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
A couple of humorous tales...
When dealing with the public you can always run into a funny story and two things happened this week that made me chuckle.
When you are in the newspaper business people always want something for nothing. While some say any publicity is good publicity, around here the only good publicity is free publicity.
Monday morning the manager of one of our local banks called me up and wanted me to come take what is commonly referred to as a "grip and grin" photo. They were "making a donation to a charity" and if I wasn't busy he wanted me to come get a photo of them handing over the BIG check. I wasn't really into anything right then since nothing is going on in January because everyone is sitting still until their bank accounts get back into acceptable range after the Christmas hit.
I jumped in the truck and headed to this bank to meet up with everyone and I got there a little early. The bank manager comes out and greets me and is getting everything ready since the recipient of the check is running a little late.
He brings in the BIG check and set it up against a chair so he'll have it ready. This is one of those giant dry erase checks that everyone has seen before. They are like 4 feet wide and 2 feet tall or something like that, with the bank logos on them and all of that good stuff.
So I take a glance at the charity to which they are making the proud donation and then a glanced at the amount. Needless to say, I was bit surprised because banks, even small ones, can have as much as $100 million in assets and cash etc., and this particular bank was giving this very worthy charity $100.
I made a double take when I saw it. This bank has more than one branch in the county and all they could come up with was 100 bucks? And on top of that, they thought that this would be good publicity?
I realize that something is better than nothing, but I'm so strapped for cash right now I can barely breathe and I could have wiped off the big check and had the bank manager take my photo giving 100 bucks right then. So I got a good laugh out of that later.
The second funny thing that happened this week happened while at a basketball game. My editor and I went over to check out a local high school basketball game so we could get a photo or two. I love going to this venue because it's so big and no one sits on the floor. I can walk all around the court and get any photo I can dream of since there is probably 7 or 8 feet of wide open concrete floor around the actual hardwood court itself.
Unfortunately, cheerleaders were there and that sort of meant the endzones were kind of off limits, so I had to get into the corners. Anyway, my editor and I were chatting about the game as I snapped away some photos and there were a couple of guys watching the game in folding metal chairs on the floor.
Again, since I couldn't get into the endzone areas under the basket, we had worked our way around the court and we ended up blocking these guys' view which happened to be the place I needed to be in for the photo I actually got. While I'm working to get a photo one of them gets up and asks us to move because he can't see the game.
I kind of looked around and surveyed the empty seats and politely moved on since I'm used to people like that because they don't know any better and they just want to look important down on the floor anyway. What makes this funny is that he absolutely needed us to move because he couldn't watch the game from any other seat in that 5,000 seat arena we were in. But I guess we shouldn't put that kind of pressure on people like him because since there were probably 600+ people packed into that place, having to pick a single seat out of 4,400 seats is tough.
They all look so good.
When you are in the newspaper business people always want something for nothing. While some say any publicity is good publicity, around here the only good publicity is free publicity.
Monday morning the manager of one of our local banks called me up and wanted me to come take what is commonly referred to as a "grip and grin" photo. They were "making a donation to a charity" and if I wasn't busy he wanted me to come get a photo of them handing over the BIG check. I wasn't really into anything right then since nothing is going on in January because everyone is sitting still until their bank accounts get back into acceptable range after the Christmas hit.
I jumped in the truck and headed to this bank to meet up with everyone and I got there a little early. The bank manager comes out and greets me and is getting everything ready since the recipient of the check is running a little late.
He brings in the BIG check and set it up against a chair so he'll have it ready. This is one of those giant dry erase checks that everyone has seen before. They are like 4 feet wide and 2 feet tall or something like that, with the bank logos on them and all of that good stuff.
So I take a glance at the charity to which they are making the proud donation and then a glanced at the amount. Needless to say, I was bit surprised because banks, even small ones, can have as much as $100 million in assets and cash etc., and this particular bank was giving this very worthy charity $100.
I made a double take when I saw it. This bank has more than one branch in the county and all they could come up with was 100 bucks? And on top of that, they thought that this would be good publicity?
I realize that something is better than nothing, but I'm so strapped for cash right now I can barely breathe and I could have wiped off the big check and had the bank manager take my photo giving 100 bucks right then. So I got a good laugh out of that later.
The second funny thing that happened this week happened while at a basketball game. My editor and I went over to check out a local high school basketball game so we could get a photo or two. I love going to this venue because it's so big and no one sits on the floor. I can walk all around the court and get any photo I can dream of since there is probably 7 or 8 feet of wide open concrete floor around the actual hardwood court itself.
Unfortunately, cheerleaders were there and that sort of meant the endzones were kind of off limits, so I had to get into the corners. Anyway, my editor and I were chatting about the game as I snapped away some photos and there were a couple of guys watching the game in folding metal chairs on the floor.
Again, since I couldn't get into the endzone areas under the basket, we had worked our way around the court and we ended up blocking these guys' view which happened to be the place I needed to be in for the photo I actually got. While I'm working to get a photo one of them gets up and asks us to move because he can't see the game.
I kind of looked around and surveyed the empty seats and politely moved on since I'm used to people like that because they don't know any better and they just want to look important down on the floor anyway. What makes this funny is that he absolutely needed us to move because he couldn't watch the game from any other seat in that 5,000 seat arena we were in. But I guess we shouldn't put that kind of pressure on people like him because since there were probably 600+ people packed into that place, having to pick a single seat out of 4,400 seats is tough.
They all look so good.
Fugitve caught in Ohio County after worldwide manhunt and a story about me.
Yesterday or the day before there was a daring escape from the Green River Correctional Facility. Apparently somewhere between the hours of 9 PM and 12 AM a convict slipped out of the facility. A manhunt was on. This guy wasn’t in prison for anything crazy, I believe it was burglary. The convict made it to the little town of McHenry and started knocking on doors. He found some helpful people who let him make a couple of collect calls to Ohio, the state, not the county. The cops somehow found out he was at this certain house and tried to capture him but he was a slippery one. He escaped into the woods for the night.
Today I come in to work and the courthouse is abuzz with the news that we caught the escaped convict. It seems that Smarty McSmarty had continued his door knocking, as if he were a girl scout peddling her macaroons. He was given some refreshments at one house before heading back out to continue his walk to, I am assuming, Ohio. Some nice people even stopped and gave him directions to Beaver Dam. Unfortunately for this loser, the daughter of a person whose home he chilled at heard the news about him being on the loose and called the law and he was picked up and returned to his home. Bratch can add anything he knows to this case because I am just writing this from scuttlebutt around the courthouse.
This fool got long distance calls, food and drink, and some directions as he was in the midst of escaping. I dare anyone to say that the nicest people in the world don’t reside in Kentucky.
This reminds me of a time my cousin and I met a special someone at the local bowling alley. We used to hang out there and shoot pool and just loiter when we were younger, basically because there is nothing to do in this town if you are a teen. We started talking to this dude who was in town working construction. He wanted to play some pool, so my cousin, the better player of the two of us, said he would play him a dollar a game. Our new friend whipped him pretty good a couple of games and then we headed outside for a few minutes and then he left. My cousin and I entered the bowling alley minutes later.
We spent so much time there over our lives at this point, that we knew the owner and his wife pretty well. The owner comes up to us and is looking around and he asks us where the guy we were hanging out with had gone. We said we didn’t know. He had just left.
Even though this is a pretty run down looking bowling alley, it did have security cameras and one of them just happened to be in the pool room. We were in there pretty late and Bill, the owner, had been watching the 10 PM news on channel 14. Channel 14 used to have a segment where they would list and show the most wanted fugitives in the state of Indiana. They would pick one or two and give the story on them and give a number to call.
It turns out that on this night they profiled the most wanted fugitive in Indiana. As Bill was watching the TV, but he also kept an eye on the security cams monitors. He then realizes that Mr. Most Wanted is on both of the monitors he is watching. The guy shooting pool with us was the most wanted man in Indiana. Bill had already called the law and I guess when he was talking with them, we and our new best friend finished shooting and went outside. Mr. Most Wanted was an alright guy, didn’t seem like the most wanted man in Indiana. He was full of crap. I remember him telling us about things that you knew he had never done or things he didn’t have, but there are a lot of people like that around. To me he just seemed like good people. I guess Indiana felt differently. What do you expect from a bunch of Yankee Hoosiers?
Today I come in to work and the courthouse is abuzz with the news that we caught the escaped convict. It seems that Smarty McSmarty had continued his door knocking, as if he were a girl scout peddling her macaroons. He was given some refreshments at one house before heading back out to continue his walk to, I am assuming, Ohio. Some nice people even stopped and gave him directions to Beaver Dam. Unfortunately for this loser, the daughter of a person whose home he chilled at heard the news about him being on the loose and called the law and he was picked up and returned to his home. Bratch can add anything he knows to this case because I am just writing this from scuttlebutt around the courthouse.
This fool got long distance calls, food and drink, and some directions as he was in the midst of escaping. I dare anyone to say that the nicest people in the world don’t reside in Kentucky.
This reminds me of a time my cousin and I met a special someone at the local bowling alley. We used to hang out there and shoot pool and just loiter when we were younger, basically because there is nothing to do in this town if you are a teen. We started talking to this dude who was in town working construction. He wanted to play some pool, so my cousin, the better player of the two of us, said he would play him a dollar a game. Our new friend whipped him pretty good a couple of games and then we headed outside for a few minutes and then he left. My cousin and I entered the bowling alley minutes later.
We spent so much time there over our lives at this point, that we knew the owner and his wife pretty well. The owner comes up to us and is looking around and he asks us where the guy we were hanging out with had gone. We said we didn’t know. He had just left.
Even though this is a pretty run down looking bowling alley, it did have security cameras and one of them just happened to be in the pool room. We were in there pretty late and Bill, the owner, had been watching the 10 PM news on channel 14. Channel 14 used to have a segment where they would list and show the most wanted fugitives in the state of Indiana. They would pick one or two and give the story on them and give a number to call.
It turns out that on this night they profiled the most wanted fugitive in Indiana. As Bill was watching the TV, but he also kept an eye on the security cams monitors. He then realizes that Mr. Most Wanted is on both of the monitors he is watching. The guy shooting pool with us was the most wanted man in Indiana. Bill had already called the law and I guess when he was talking with them, we and our new best friend finished shooting and went outside. Mr. Most Wanted was an alright guy, didn’t seem like the most wanted man in Indiana. He was full of crap. I remember him telling us about things that you knew he had never done or things he didn’t have, but there are a lot of people like that around. To me he just seemed like good people. I guess Indiana felt differently. What do you expect from a bunch of Yankee Hoosiers?
Convergence Culture Consortium - C3
I've linked the title to the weblog of the Convergence Culture Consortium(C3) website. This is something that I learned about from a columnist and friend at the newspaper I work for. He is currently a grad student at MIT in the comparative media studies program there.
C3 is hard to explain. In fact, all I'm going to really say about it is that this hand full of grad students at MIT are blogging about what they see in advertising right now. Good things and bad things. They are attempting to shape the way we see advertising.
I guess the best way to explain it is that they are trying to help companies like Turner Broadcasting and MTV try to figure out how advertise in a way that reaches the viewer. For TV they are trying to figure how to combat TiVo and DVR(which are the same thing, TiVo is a brand name).
They are delving into all media though and are trying to shape advertising for this digital age we live in where timeshifting is all the rage. Piccu watches tons of TV, but rarely ever sees a commercial because his DVR has a 5 second skip button meaning for a 30 second commercial, 6 little clicks is a quick and easy bypass.
Hot momma, hot momma!!!... Sorry, my office is mostly glass.
What was I saying? Oh yeah, while the boys and girls at MIT are trying to shape advertising for the digital age, they should also think about the content as well. I hear Piccu saying all of the time that there are certain shows that might be an hour long and he can watch them in 20 minutes. So you can factor in just as much actual content as far as the TV show goes along with all of the commercial breaks. So the shows aren't as good either.
ITunes and podcasting are changing music and radio is just dead anyway unless you dig sports or talk, but I've already discussed that. Satellite radio is the only way to go.
So check out the C3 blog and Sam Ford's posts. If you ask me, he covers the widest range of subjects. From magazine ads to soap operas to professional wrestling and more.
C3 is hard to explain. In fact, all I'm going to really say about it is that this hand full of grad students at MIT are blogging about what they see in advertising right now. Good things and bad things. They are attempting to shape the way we see advertising.
I guess the best way to explain it is that they are trying to help companies like Turner Broadcasting and MTV try to figure out how advertise in a way that reaches the viewer. For TV they are trying to figure how to combat TiVo and DVR(which are the same thing, TiVo is a brand name).
They are delving into all media though and are trying to shape advertising for this digital age we live in where timeshifting is all the rage. Piccu watches tons of TV, but rarely ever sees a commercial because his DVR has a 5 second skip button meaning for a 30 second commercial, 6 little clicks is a quick and easy bypass.
Hot momma, hot momma!!!... Sorry, my office is mostly glass.
What was I saying? Oh yeah, while the boys and girls at MIT are trying to shape advertising for the digital age, they should also think about the content as well. I hear Piccu saying all of the time that there are certain shows that might be an hour long and he can watch them in 20 minutes. So you can factor in just as much actual content as far as the TV show goes along with all of the commercial breaks. So the shows aren't as good either.
ITunes and podcasting are changing music and radio is just dead anyway unless you dig sports or talk, but I've already discussed that. Satellite radio is the only way to go.
So check out the C3 blog and Sam Ford's posts. If you ask me, he covers the widest range of subjects. From magazine ads to soap operas to professional wrestling and more.
A Million Little Pieces Should be Ripped into a Million Little Pieces
Good Morning Bloggers!
Before I get into my main topic, I'd like to say that I finally found a decent morning show. This morning I steered clear of Good Morning America, and tried a new one: Today. Although it still wasn't chalked full of political news (thank goodness, as too much of that crap sends my brain into overload), it did encompass a sufficient amount of it before launching into lighter headlines. There were two that interested me more than the others. The first was a short segment discussing the possibility that dogs may some day be used in detecting cancer in humans by smelling their breath. They even had some truly compelling research to support this notion. In almost 90% of test studies, dogs had REALLY been able to smell several breath samples (don't ask me how they got it into those containers)and detect which one belonged to that of the cancer patient. WOW!! I will be interested in seeing this research progress.
"A Million Little Pieces" (of Crap)
Now--for the second topic that interested me and proof of my BIG mistake! I fell for it, just as millions of other people around the world. I fell into the "Oprah Trap"! Oh-I am so embarrassed to admit it. Just how I feel about Oprah and her show (my opinions between the those two entities lie on opposite ends of the spectrums, a topic to be discussed at a later date) I will refrain from at this point, at least directly. However, as an avid reader, I was recently attracted to a book that she'd spend considerable time promoting. She even went as far as to spend a large part of another show interviewing her "entire staff" about how great this book was. Long story short: they were all riveted, moved to tears at times, an so intensely committed to reading this book that they did not put it down from the time they read the first page until they had read the last word. What book lover couldn't be intrigued, right? I mean, hey, Oprah herself said she'd stayed up ALL night reading this inspiring book.
Well, the first time I called BAM, a day or two after A Million Little Pieces and its author were the premiere feature (as it had been talked about several days ahead of time), not surprisingly, they were sold out. A week or two later they were completely re-stocked and I spent ten hard earned dollars on that book. I jumped into the book right away, hardly able to get home before I wanted to get right into this book. Let's just say that I won't bore you with the horrible details of this crappy book. I don't think it even had a SINGLE quotation mark around any of the dialogue, making it difficult to know when someone was speaking and who that was. However, I could excuse this foe pa, had it not been for the fact that I hated the main character--he was an ass who took ungrateful advantage of all that was freely offered or given to him. Because I'd seen him on Oprah, I could put a face to the author who was spilling out his memoir right before my eyes, and I guess that made it a little more personal to me. I won't say that there weren't some interesting parts to this book, but I also won't pretend that I didn't skim through some of the paragraphs and paragraphs of seemingly self-gloating details about how he overcame this pain (caused indirectly by his own addictions to drug and alcohol). Apparently Oprah ate up this great perseverance when all the odds were against him, but I found him to arrogant, pompous, and as a person perceiving himself above the help offered to him.
He painted a picture of himself as a person who didn't need a twelve step program or the help of any person affiliated with the top clinic HIS PARENTS paid to send him to. He only needed his own will and some twisted alliances with other loyal degenerates (patients of the clinic) to pull him through. Oh, what a hero he is! This jackass has the gall to act as if the Center itself, nor his parents, family (and by the way--his family is normal, providing every opportunity for him, yet not creating the over privileged environment that often lead children wayward) or "outside" friends, who supported him regardless of all the nasty, horrible things he'd done to them in the past---had nothing to do with his recuperation.
The whole time I was reading this book, I was frustrated with this character, and if there was ever a book that I would have quit reading, it would have been this one--but I can read about anything. However, Oprah suggested that if addiction has ever affected you or anyone you know (and who doesn't know someone), READ THIS BOOK! Well--shame on her. All this book does is support the resistance to twelve step programs that are so successful with most people that really do overcome addiction, AND perhaps most offensive, the ideas of the agnostic. Neither of these ideas are ones that I want instilled in my loved one that may be suffering from an addiction (even if he did do it this way--most would fail). The author of this book constantly cursed a God that he refuses to believe to exists (which in itself is ironic)---and even goes so far to write words before God's name, that I couldn't bring myself to quote either in print or vocally.
This book isn't worth the paper it's printed on and I shouldn't be wasting my time writing about it, but if only one person doesn't read this blasphemous book because of this review--then my job here is done. And further more, it is a shame that Oprah is using her power of popularity to promote such a poor (to put it kindly) piece of literature.
I know many of you, in this blog, may not be novel readers or Oprah watchers--so in this respect--you are the lucky ones, but if you know someone contemplating reading this book because of its sudden fame, let them read this so that they may be persuaded to reconsider. It's to late for me, I have already been trapped, but it may not be too late for your loved ones (okay, that's a little melodramatic).
And if it is the power of such a riveting autobiography that compels them, well as was reported on the Today show and CNN on Larry King, apparently there is a great controversy surrounding the authenticity of the book in the first place. Apparently the author "took liberties" in the details of this book--perhaps dealing with the extremity of his addition and the crimes for which he'd been charged. Therefore, since the book itself is crappy, and the authenticity of this man's experiences can't be trusted--why read it. Don't be trapped by Oprah or the controversial media coverage this book is getting! Don't support the ideas this book represents.
I hope all has a great day!
Ladybird
Before I get into my main topic, I'd like to say that I finally found a decent morning show. This morning I steered clear of Good Morning America, and tried a new one: Today. Although it still wasn't chalked full of political news (thank goodness, as too much of that crap sends my brain into overload), it did encompass a sufficient amount of it before launching into lighter headlines. There were two that interested me more than the others. The first was a short segment discussing the possibility that dogs may some day be used in detecting cancer in humans by smelling their breath. They even had some truly compelling research to support this notion. In almost 90% of test studies, dogs had REALLY been able to smell several breath samples (don't ask me how they got it into those containers)and detect which one belonged to that of the cancer patient. WOW!! I will be interested in seeing this research progress.
"A Million Little Pieces" (of Crap)
Now--for the second topic that interested me and proof of my BIG mistake! I fell for it, just as millions of other people around the world. I fell into the "Oprah Trap"! Oh-I am so embarrassed to admit it. Just how I feel about Oprah and her show (my opinions between the those two entities lie on opposite ends of the spectrums, a topic to be discussed at a later date) I will refrain from at this point, at least directly. However, as an avid reader, I was recently attracted to a book that she'd spend considerable time promoting. She even went as far as to spend a large part of another show interviewing her "entire staff" about how great this book was. Long story short: they were all riveted, moved to tears at times, an so intensely committed to reading this book that they did not put it down from the time they read the first page until they had read the last word. What book lover couldn't be intrigued, right? I mean, hey, Oprah herself said she'd stayed up ALL night reading this inspiring book.
Well, the first time I called BAM, a day or two after A Million Little Pieces and its author were the premiere feature (as it had been talked about several days ahead of time), not surprisingly, they were sold out. A week or two later they were completely re-stocked and I spent ten hard earned dollars on that book. I jumped into the book right away, hardly able to get home before I wanted to get right into this book. Let's just say that I won't bore you with the horrible details of this crappy book. I don't think it even had a SINGLE quotation mark around any of the dialogue, making it difficult to know when someone was speaking and who that was. However, I could excuse this foe pa, had it not been for the fact that I hated the main character--he was an ass who took ungrateful advantage of all that was freely offered or given to him. Because I'd seen him on Oprah, I could put a face to the author who was spilling out his memoir right before my eyes, and I guess that made it a little more personal to me. I won't say that there weren't some interesting parts to this book, but I also won't pretend that I didn't skim through some of the paragraphs and paragraphs of seemingly self-gloating details about how he overcame this pain (caused indirectly by his own addictions to drug and alcohol). Apparently Oprah ate up this great perseverance when all the odds were against him, but I found him to arrogant, pompous, and as a person perceiving himself above the help offered to him.
He painted a picture of himself as a person who didn't need a twelve step program or the help of any person affiliated with the top clinic HIS PARENTS paid to send him to. He only needed his own will and some twisted alliances with other loyal degenerates (patients of the clinic) to pull him through. Oh, what a hero he is! This jackass has the gall to act as if the Center itself, nor his parents, family (and by the way--his family is normal, providing every opportunity for him, yet not creating the over privileged environment that often lead children wayward) or "outside" friends, who supported him regardless of all the nasty, horrible things he'd done to them in the past---had nothing to do with his recuperation.
The whole time I was reading this book, I was frustrated with this character, and if there was ever a book that I would have quit reading, it would have been this one--but I can read about anything. However, Oprah suggested that if addiction has ever affected you or anyone you know (and who doesn't know someone), READ THIS BOOK! Well--shame on her. All this book does is support the resistance to twelve step programs that are so successful with most people that really do overcome addiction, AND perhaps most offensive, the ideas of the agnostic. Neither of these ideas are ones that I want instilled in my loved one that may be suffering from an addiction (even if he did do it this way--most would fail). The author of this book constantly cursed a God that he refuses to believe to exists (which in itself is ironic)---and even goes so far to write words before God's name, that I couldn't bring myself to quote either in print or vocally.
This book isn't worth the paper it's printed on and I shouldn't be wasting my time writing about it, but if only one person doesn't read this blasphemous book because of this review--then my job here is done. And further more, it is a shame that Oprah is using her power of popularity to promote such a poor (to put it kindly) piece of literature.
I know many of you, in this blog, may not be novel readers or Oprah watchers--so in this respect--you are the lucky ones, but if you know someone contemplating reading this book because of its sudden fame, let them read this so that they may be persuaded to reconsider. It's to late for me, I have already been trapped, but it may not be too late for your loved ones (okay, that's a little melodramatic).
And if it is the power of such a riveting autobiography that compels them, well as was reported on the Today show and CNN on Larry King, apparently there is a great controversy surrounding the authenticity of the book in the first place. Apparently the author "took liberties" in the details of this book--perhaps dealing with the extremity of his addition and the crimes for which he'd been charged. Therefore, since the book itself is crappy, and the authenticity of this man's experiences can't be trusted--why read it. Don't be trapped by Oprah or the controversial media coverage this book is getting! Don't support the ideas this book represents.
I hope all has a great day!
Ladybird
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