I finished setting up my latest project today…Experato.com. It is the latest and greatest web directory. It has a really great rating and review system as well. This is actually the reason I set this up…I was looking for a review website.
I found one script that was for reviews only, but it was just in its infancy. I decided to go with a much more robust script that offered many more features. It had the review portion as well as many other things. This script has been in the making for over six years, so I would say that it is mature.
For some reason, the title of this book is spelled, “The Traveler” on Wikipedia, but the cover of the book has it spelled, “The Traveller.” Odd, isn’t it?
This audiobook started off kind of slowly. I was used to the other one I was listening to, which was all nature-like. This one was much darker and more wrapped in suspense. I have to say, it is coming along nicely. It has heated up quite a bit and I look forward to getting in the car. The audiobook has five CDs and I am on the fifth. I am hoping to have it finished by the end of my ride home from work today. Once this is finished, I am going to start learning Spanish while driving. I have the whole kit. This should be good. The only problem is that I have no one to practice on. I have to practice in order to maintain my Spanishness. I will have to figure that one out.
My mother emailed me a few days (or weeks) ago and told me that I should be receiving a box from Amazon. She told me not to open it, and I didn’t…until last night. I was so proud of myself too. I even called her up just to tell her that I didn’t open it.
The box was just looking at me. It was kind of like that box of donuts looking at Mickey from all the way up there on the counter. What am I…a robot? I have feelings. Of course I am going to open the box!!! I felt like this venue would be the best way to break the news to my mother. I am a horrible person.
Anyway, for some time now, I have been aware that I have not been using my frontal lobe. It is kind of like mush. This has been hindering my thought process and decision making. The lack of activity, I suspect, is due to my lack of reading and continued education. I am nowhere near the level I used to be. I even have trouble writing these days.
Good thing I opened my birthday present early. It was just in the nick of time. In the box, I found two very interesting books. The first one is a thick paperback entitled, “1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die.” I started reading this last night. It felt very good up there in my frontal lobe. I am not sure if it was from reading the book or the thirty push ups I did. Yeah, that’s right.
What’s interesting about this book is that the author, Patricia Schultz, grew up in Beacon, NY. She even mentions Walnut Street. I thought that was pretty cool, since I eat lunch in Beacon quite a bit.
I read the first few sections…right now, we are in Connecticut, somewhere near the Connecticut River. It seems like a very interesting book and it feels very good to sit on the couch and read.
The second book is entitled, “The World Without Us,” written by Alan Weisman. I haven’t read anything in this book yet, but I am sure it will be good. If my mother ordered it from Amazon, she surely read the reviews. That’s just the way she rolls.
Anyway, since I opened my present early, it might be a good idea to get me something else that I can open on my actual birthday. Ok, just think about it.
And finally, THANK YOU!!! The gift was very thoughtful. Also, don’t feel too bad, I opened Stephanie’s gift early too.
If I woke up last night not knowing where I was, I would’ve thought I was on another planet and all the people around me were aliens. If you haven’t guessed, I was in Connecticut. Things are strange in Connecticut. It’s amazing how many variations of cultures we have in this country, even ones that are quite close to one another.
We pulled in to Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT. Of course, the traffic was filling up the parking lots. We were guided to a nice spot in a back lot. Right after we shut the car off, most of the other cars and trucks around us started popping their trunks and setting up BBQs, tables and food. We didn’t have anything but our bodies. Since we were early, we sat in the car for a while, just to watch what was going on around us. The crowd was like a big white mass of insurance workers. I saw a lot of blond hair and I can imagine many of the guys were named, “Tom.” They all had this look about them…they kind of all looked like Pilgrims. I guess they were cool…just different. Odd crowd. I was eavesdropping on a conversation to the right of us and heard this little exchange…”Yeah, put that in an Excel spreadsheet.” “Yeah…DOUBLE UNDERLINE!!!” I just love dorky work talk among coworkers.
So, the show started off with Fiction Plane. These guys were really good. I thought the lead singer sounded strikingly like Sting. Laura kept saying that he could be a mini-Sting. She mentioned that when Sting kicks the bucket, this might have to be her replacement. Well, as it turns out, the lead singer of Fiction Plane is Joe Sumner…Gordon Sumner’s son…AKA, Sting. How cool is that? I am sure I am going to hear about this from Laura because if there was one man she would leave me for, it would be Sting. Geeesh, now there are two. I guess I gotta clamp down.
A funny little story about Joe Sumner and Laura. As we were sitting there last night waiting for The Police to set up, Laura told me a little something about Fiction Plane. She said that they had opened up for Sting during another concert. After the concert, she was out getting a t-shirt or something and someone asked if she wanted a Fiction Plane autograph. She said (out loud), “I don’t want an autograph, unless it’s Sting’s.” She told me that she thought the Fiction Plane guy heard her. Well Laura, watcha got to say now?
Fiction Plane was really good. They played for about a half hour…from 8PM to 8:30PM. It took about 45 minutes for The Police to set up, but it was worth the wait. The Police played the first song without the big video screens on. I think Laura was getting nervous. Then, after the first song and a little in to the second…WHAM, the colors from the Synchronicity albumn came up and faded to the live action. Pretty cool stuff.
Yeah, the concert was pretty cool. Nice loud sound and great visuals. They played all the good old stuff, obviously. The bad part is that I was taking pictures with my cell phone, which I would not even waste posting here. The lady next to us had a digital camera and was taking shots the whole time. I was waiting for the end, so I could hand her my business card and ask her to email the photos to me. Towards the end of the show, I looked over and they were gone. Man!!! I would’ve loved to post them up to show here.
So, if anyone has original photos and you are willing to allow me to post them here, please let me know. Thank you.
Here is what they played -
1. Message in a Bottle
2. Synchronicity II
3. Walking on the Moon
4. Voices Inside My Head
5. When the World is Running Down
6. Don’t Stand So Close to Me
7. Driven to Tears
8. Truth Hits Everybody/Regatta de Blanc
9. The Bed’s Too Big Without You
10. Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
11. Wrapped Around Your Finger
12. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
13. Invisible Sun
14. Walking in Your Footsteps
15. Can’t Stand Losing You
16. Roxanne
Encore
17. King of Pain
18. So Lonely
19. Every Breath You Take
A really nice guy, Jack White of “Segway of the Hudson Valley,” stopped by work today to show us some of his good stuff.
Jack owns a few companies that sell high-end mobility products. He is quite informative and really knows his stuff. Anyway, today was the day of the Segway.
When Paul and I were leaving to go to lunch, we noticed a truck in the parking lot. I ran over to the truck because there was a Segway sitting on a trailer type thing on the back of it. I was so excited…I have always wanted to ride one of those things. I kept looking around for the person the Segway belonged to, but couldn’t find them. We were getting hungry, so we hopped in the car and left.
So, we ate and had a nice lunch. We hung out on Main Street, Beacon. Then, we drove back to work and pulled in the parking lot. We saw a few people standing around the back of the truck with the Segway nearby…but wait, there were two!!! Man oh man, it was our lucky day. Jack kindly offered to let Paul and me take both Segways for a ride around the parking lot. I have to say, those things are quite handy. They can be quick or just stay slow and they turn on a dime. They are really easy to learn too. Within about 2 minutes, I was up and at ‘em.
Here are a few Segway pictures for you to enjoy…
Notice the two different Segways…one with the smaller tires and one with the bigger tires. I like the one with the bigger tires better. I would like to go on a ramp or hit a jump or something.
Here is a good plug for Jack - If you are interested in contacing Segway of the Hudson Valley, you can call them at 845-255-7867. Go for it…have some fun.
I found something pretty interesting this morning while reading my latest issue of “Revenue Magazine.” I really don’t have too much to say about it, besides that it’s an interesting idea.
Like.com has launched a new type of search…a search based on images. Well, they call it “Visual Search.” Basically, their techology recognizes image features and allows you to drill down on those features to find exactly what you are looking for. Probably good for those of us who sometimes can’t put things into words.
I gave it a try on a pair of sneakers on their homepage. I refined my search on a design on the side of the sneakers. The results were mixed…I was offered various textures and designs, but nothing exactly like the design I was looking for. I suppose they have some work to do, but I offer them the best of luck.
Last night was movie night at my house. I recommended that we see “Red Dawn.” I was excited to see a thriller like this. After sitting patiently through the movie, I decided to very, very short review on it.
First, here is the story:
“The film’s plot involves a Soviet and Cuban/Latin American invasion of the United States in the year 1984, igniting a world war. The story is about young people resisting military occupation.
The film is set in a small Colorado town, where a group of teenagers flee to the hills first to escape the Soviets, and eventually begin an insurgency against Soviet occupational forces. The Colorado high school students call themselves the Wolverines after their school’s mascot and proceed to launch raids, set ambushes, use sniper attacks, plant bombs and even execute a prisoner of war and one of their own American members who tried to betray them to the Soviets during their campaign.
The film’s epilogue suggests that the United States won the war several years later; a plaque is displayed with “Partisan Rock” in the background, which pays tribute to the Wolverines killed in action, and reveals that the events in the film occurred during the early days of World War III.”
I have to say that I expected more out of this movie. It was pretty one dimensional. While the makers of the film had a huge story to work with, they really kept it very basic. I can describe it like this: People invade; townspeople hide in the mountains and fight back. Damn, that was hot. Now, I know this movie was made a while ago back in the 80’s, but I have seen movies from that era with great storylines and special effects. Oh well…I guess I could recommend this movie only if you are really bored and have seen all the other movies out there.
I am getting pretty excited about Halloween. Hands down, one of the best things about this season is “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” The other great thing is the chill in the air.
As I was driving in this morning, NPR had a story on this classic. It got me thinking about if I could find a good picture of this show to put up in a post. Like 99% of blog posts out there, this is pretty random. Anyway, here is the best picture I could find.
Here is a great description of this show:
“As Linus and Charlie Brown’s little sister, Sally Brown, sit in the pumpkin patch, the gang of Charlie Brown, Lucy Van Pelt, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, Patty and Violet go trick-or-treating. Everyone gets candy (except for Charlie Brown, who for some reason always gets a rock in his bag). Meanwhile, Charlie Brown’s dog Snoopy, dressed up as the famous World War I flying ace, goes on his Sopwith Camel (which is his doghouse) to shoot down the infamous Red Baron. Linus, missing out on trick-or-treating, also misses out on the Halloween party at Violet’s house. At the pumpkin patch, Linus thinks he finally sees his mysterious hero, but instead he sees a silhouette of Snoopy in his World War I Flying Ace outfit. Sally is outraged and threatens to “sue” Linus. She leaves him alone in the pumpkin patch, where he stays late into the night. Lucy later finds him shivering on the ground, covered in his blanket and helps him into the house. Linus vows to Charlie Brown at the rock wall that the Great Pumpkin will return next year.”
I think they said this show is on NBC tonight. I know what I am doing…
This is my blog. Welcome to it. I write a lot of stuff that doesn't pertain to anything in particular, but you may find a common theme in here somewhere. Enjoy. More
