Wellums, there's plenty of reason to be curious as to why this space has seemingly shit the bed over the past two or so weeks. Most of same stem from our intent to migrate to a new server, which is a) faster; b) more capable of distributing content, like pics, video and even a planned weekly Pod-cast; and c) more reliable in terms of content and template delivery.
However, the flip-side of that coin is that none of these plans have any relevance if the site doesn't fucking work. Said relevance has not been lost on me, so I apologize for any of you who have been needing a fix of the HoB.
Please note that the bulk of the improvements herein have been transparent -- or at least I had hoped they would be -- and once they have been completed same will insure a better Booginacious experience for us all, or at least I am hopeful of same.
Meanwhile...I'll be addressing Mike Nifong, Michael Vick, Scooter Libby's pardon, Iran, North Korea and the resurgence of the New York Yankees in soon-to-be posted rants.
Until then, please be patient while we improve from the inside out in lieu of the other way around.
Thank you...
-B-
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
It's Like A Heatwave (Only Hotter)
Okay, while I officially agree with the GOP that there is absolutely no such thing as global warming and that Al Gore is really an animatronic Communist, I can -- and will -- admit privately that if it was any hotter this week in NYC I would have been forced to spend my outside-the-office, work-related duties nearly 100% naked. And even saying that, much less contemplating it, is and should be an indicator that, yeah, it was incredibly hot and humid this past week in NYC.
Kaia managed to escape on Monday to San Fran, and she did so right before it went from "really hot" to "holy shit, if it gets any hotter I'm calling Kevorkian" hot. I think it reached somewhere between 90 and 95 earlier this week through Wednesday, and luckily -- mercifully -- Thursday was downright lovely at somewhere around the high 70's/low 80's.
Before the reader opines that my life is so devoid of anything of interest beyond my innate, irascible fascination with the weather, please note that when it's this hot, a) people in New York really can't and don't focus on much of anything else; b) I spend about 40-50% of the workday downtown dealing with city agencies, city employees and people on the street; c) even if I wanted to spend the aforementioned hours downtown in reasonably comfortable clothing, the only way it would be comfortable dealing with 95 degrees and humidity would be poolside, cooling off or preparing for another dip in the pool. Oh, and d) the heat is so inescapable (at times) that I find myself crossing from one side of the street to the other to avoid the direct, painful glare of the sun (awnings and tall buildings help). This last point should not be relegated to insignificance; I wouldn't cross the street if I saw a maniacal killer sporting a machete and a chainsaw and a bodyless head dripping blood unless it was going to help me reach my destination, but thanks to that big yellow ball in the sky, I'm now dodging cars, bicyclists and the odd scooter in the street to stay out of the sun.
Go figure.
Okay, now that I've -- hopefully -- managed to convince you, the reader, exactly how awful it really was this past week in NYC, I will say that there is no question that on some level the summer in NYC always features a week or two that evokes prior summers and a week or two in which it was painful to do anything outdoors in the City other than jump into a pool of unevaporated water, and unless we're in for a nasty summer, this past weekend was definitely one for the books. Now that we're in the technology age and air conditioners can be had for a mere $100 and up, it makes me wonder how anyone could survive these types of summers -- in the 40's and 50's, etc. -- without adequate A/C. If I was a kid flitting about an apartment in this type of summer 50 years ago and had no A/C, I'd get a shitty, no-paying gig at a movie theater or take classes just to insure I was in A/C.
Of course, the "green" response to the above-offered observation would be that these types of intense summers didn't occur 50 or so years ago. The response would continue, in essence, by saying that thanks to global warming, our winters are reduced in their intensity and our summers are 50% worse.
Maybe so...but while we can and should change our habits now -- recycling plastic and paper, using less electricity when/if possible, etc. -- we didn't have a lot of things 50 years ago, including styrofoam, packing peanuts, cell-phones, high-performance/high-output V-12 engines, readily-available, consumer-friendly four-wheel drive vehicles, or for that matter, easily-workable automobile leases. In fact, we didn't have a lot of stuff. So while we can reverse-reminisce about the not-so-good-old days, we should keep in mind that the planet -- despite what Live Earth and its organizers might suggest -- is a lot better off these days. True, there's fighting and war over more than 60% of the face of the planet -- but I can go get a cheap-ass cell-phone and call more than 60% of the planet for 3,000 or more minutes a month and it won't cost me shit. So I not only have the option, as an American, to go shoot 60% of the world's inhabitants, I can also posture about making the planet safer for them or call them and discuss it one-on-one, that is assuming we spoke the same language ;-)
My point is that this planet-wide warming issue is not simply a New York City one, nor is it confined to hot downtown streets in Jerusalem, Baghdad, Moscow, London or Sydney. But as much as the heat from the sun affects us all universally, so does the heat from fighting, war and the breakdown of diplomacy. So inasmuch as I face this interminable heat with regularity, I'm just going to continue to do everything I can to handle it on my own, keep my A/C cranked to 60% (and my apartment at a cool 70) and call it a day.
So the next time someone comes up to me and warns me this is a sign from The Almighty that a biblical plague has befallen us and I must repent in order to save the world from becoming one giant ball of heat and fire, I'm going to take that free handout Jehovah's Witness Bible and see how far up that volunteer's ass it will go -- and then shove it a little further.
As we recall hearing from Bartles and James, thank you for your support.
Stay wet, happy and cool.
Kaia managed to escape on Monday to San Fran, and she did so right before it went from "really hot" to "holy shit, if it gets any hotter I'm calling Kevorkian" hot. I think it reached somewhere between 90 and 95 earlier this week through Wednesday, and luckily -- mercifully -- Thursday was downright lovely at somewhere around the high 70's/low 80's.
Before the reader opines that my life is so devoid of anything of interest beyond my innate, irascible fascination with the weather, please note that when it's this hot, a) people in New York really can't and don't focus on much of anything else; b) I spend about 40-50% of the workday downtown dealing with city agencies, city employees and people on the street; c) even if I wanted to spend the aforementioned hours downtown in reasonably comfortable clothing, the only way it would be comfortable dealing with 95 degrees and humidity would be poolside, cooling off or preparing for another dip in the pool. Oh, and d) the heat is so inescapable (at times) that I find myself crossing from one side of the street to the other to avoid the direct, painful glare of the sun (awnings and tall buildings help). This last point should not be relegated to insignificance; I wouldn't cross the street if I saw a maniacal killer sporting a machete and a chainsaw and a bodyless head dripping blood unless it was going to help me reach my destination, but thanks to that big yellow ball in the sky, I'm now dodging cars, bicyclists and the odd scooter in the street to stay out of the sun.
Go figure.
Okay, now that I've -- hopefully -- managed to convince you, the reader, exactly how awful it really was this past week in NYC, I will say that there is no question that on some level the summer in NYC always features a week or two that evokes prior summers and a week or two in which it was painful to do anything outdoors in the City other than jump into a pool of unevaporated water, and unless we're in for a nasty summer, this past weekend was definitely one for the books. Now that we're in the technology age and air conditioners can be had for a mere $100 and up, it makes me wonder how anyone could survive these types of summers -- in the 40's and 50's, etc. -- without adequate A/C. If I was a kid flitting about an apartment in this type of summer 50 years ago and had no A/C, I'd get a shitty, no-paying gig at a movie theater or take classes just to insure I was in A/C.
Of course, the "green" response to the above-offered observation would be that these types of intense summers didn't occur 50 or so years ago. The response would continue, in essence, by saying that thanks to global warming, our winters are reduced in their intensity and our summers are 50% worse.
Maybe so...but while we can and should change our habits now -- recycling plastic and paper, using less electricity when/if possible, etc. -- we didn't have a lot of things 50 years ago, including styrofoam, packing peanuts, cell-phones, high-performance/high-output V-12 engines, readily-available, consumer-friendly four-wheel drive vehicles, or for that matter, easily-workable automobile leases. In fact, we didn't have a lot of stuff. So while we can reverse-reminisce about the not-so-good-old days, we should keep in mind that the planet -- despite what Live Earth and its organizers might suggest -- is a lot better off these days. True, there's fighting and war over more than 60% of the face of the planet -- but I can go get a cheap-ass cell-phone and call more than 60% of the planet for 3,000 or more minutes a month and it won't cost me shit. So I not only have the option, as an American, to go shoot 60% of the world's inhabitants, I can also posture about making the planet safer for them or call them and discuss it one-on-one, that is assuming we spoke the same language ;-)
My point is that this planet-wide warming issue is not simply a New York City one, nor is it confined to hot downtown streets in Jerusalem, Baghdad, Moscow, London or Sydney. But as much as the heat from the sun affects us all universally, so does the heat from fighting, war and the breakdown of diplomacy. So inasmuch as I face this interminable heat with regularity, I'm just going to continue to do everything I can to handle it on my own, keep my A/C cranked to 60% (and my apartment at a cool 70) and call it a day.
So the next time someone comes up to me and warns me this is a sign from The Almighty that a biblical plague has befallen us and I must repent in order to save the world from becoming one giant ball of heat and fire, I'm going to take that free handout Jehovah's Witness Bible and see how far up that volunteer's ass it will go -- and then shove it a little further.
As we recall hearing from Bartles and James, thank you for your support.
Stay wet, happy and cool.
Monday, July 09, 2007
All I Need is...
So, between Live Earth this past weekend and a jaunt Kaia and I took to Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, I suppose heading out in a few to the office isn't exactly awful.
Actually, it is on some level, if only because I had off from Wednesday to today, first, second, we had a blast over the weekend, and third she's now jetting off to San Francisco, all I need is a time machine to return me to the evening of June 21st.
It all started as we planned, with friends in Connecticut, to hit the casino. The choice between Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun is, apparently, an easy one. I'd visited Mohegan Sun awhile back, but this time we -- rather, Kaia -- was going with an agenda: Win a shitload of money...
Well, we ended up doing fine, so no worries there; however, the real agenda was for/with our friend Heidi, who heard that Jack Wagner (former soap/pop star, current beau of Heather Locklear) was going to be performing at Mohegan Sun. Heidi brought a few Jack Wagner 45's and a picture circa 1982 of Jack and his mullet, and when we arrived in the actual casino -- a tad late after enjoying a delicious dinner care of our friend H2T and Heidi, natch -- we could smell the excitement in the air -- either that, or a combination of cigarette and cigar smoke, cheap perfume and desperation.
All in all, we had a great time. We all did well at Mohegan, we all had a blast, and we got to spend the entire day with H2T and Heidi. Earlier that day, we picked up a blue Nissan Altima rental, headed out to CT, arrived in good spirits (thankfully the car's A/C was strong and fully-functional) and we chilled out and enjoyed some relaxation at H2T's.
The Live Earth shows -- the concerts held this past weekend to raise awareness for global warming and the environment -- were, for the most part, incredible. Some of the bands playing around the sites aren't bands in which I'm interested, but I was more than satisfied seeing Dave Matthews, the Foo Fighters, The Police, and, yes, even Madonna. Last night we watched some of the concerts I recorded in High Definition and were absolutely blown away by the entire audio/visual experience.
All in all, it was an incredible weekend that ended far too quickly.
In retrospect, vis-a-vis the weekend, I can only appreciate the fact that we have great friends, I have cash to deposit in the bank this afternoon, and the weather -- which was relatively obnoxious, if not merely abhorrent -- cooperated and didn't rain very much, if at all...so overall we had a great time gambling with friends, poking around the casino, and, all in all, Kaia and I attempted yet another challenge -- the multi-hour car trip (with me driving, of course) without issues of any kind, even with her PMS on the near horizon.
And this morning she went (back) to SFO. We're still figuring out all the logistics of her moving here so, perhaps, the next time I reveal she has gone to San Fran, it can be for a visit rather than her returning home.
More on that and other fronts later.
On to work...
-B-
Actually, it is on some level, if only because I had off from Wednesday to today, first, second, we had a blast over the weekend, and third she's now jetting off to San Francisco, all I need is a time machine to return me to the evening of June 21st.
It all started as we planned, with friends in Connecticut, to hit the casino. The choice between Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun is, apparently, an easy one. I'd visited Mohegan Sun awhile back, but this time we -- rather, Kaia -- was going with an agenda: Win a shitload of money...
Well, we ended up doing fine, so no worries there; however, the real agenda was for/with our friend Heidi, who heard that Jack Wagner (former soap/pop star, current beau of Heather Locklear) was going to be performing at Mohegan Sun. Heidi brought a few Jack Wagner 45's and a picture circa 1982 of Jack and his mullet, and when we arrived in the actual casino -- a tad late after enjoying a delicious dinner care of our friend H2T and Heidi, natch -- we could smell the excitement in the air -- either that, or a combination of cigarette and cigar smoke, cheap perfume and desperation.
All in all, we had a great time. We all did well at Mohegan, we all had a blast, and we got to spend the entire day with H2T and Heidi. Earlier that day, we picked up a blue Nissan Altima rental, headed out to CT, arrived in good spirits (thankfully the car's A/C was strong and fully-functional) and we chilled out and enjoyed some relaxation at H2T's.
The Live Earth shows -- the concerts held this past weekend to raise awareness for global warming and the environment -- were, for the most part, incredible. Some of the bands playing around the sites aren't bands in which I'm interested, but I was more than satisfied seeing Dave Matthews, the Foo Fighters, The Police, and, yes, even Madonna. Last night we watched some of the concerts I recorded in High Definition and were absolutely blown away by the entire audio/visual experience.
All in all, it was an incredible weekend that ended far too quickly.
In retrospect, vis-a-vis the weekend, I can only appreciate the fact that we have great friends, I have cash to deposit in the bank this afternoon, and the weather -- which was relatively obnoxious, if not merely abhorrent -- cooperated and didn't rain very much, if at all...so overall we had a great time gambling with friends, poking around the casino, and, all in all, Kaia and I attempted yet another challenge -- the multi-hour car trip (with me driving, of course) without issues of any kind, even with her PMS on the near horizon.
And this morning she went (back) to SFO. We're still figuring out all the logistics of her moving here so, perhaps, the next time I reveal she has gone to San Fran, it can be for a visit rather than her returning home.
More on that and other fronts later.
On to work...
-B-
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Sheesh
Every time I find myself wandering farther and farther from these pages, I always have a good reason, and yet I still -- inevitably -- feel guilty and incomplete. It's not quite a month since I've graced -- or soiled -- these pages, and yet it feels like ages.
My bad.
First and foremost, happy belated-ish 4th of July. Kaia and I chilled out at home rather than go to a friend's. She wasn't feeling well and I was shot, so we chilled out and watched "An American Haunting" on Showtime -- how patriotic of us, natch -- before we caught the tail end of the bitchin' fireworks display over the East River. For those of you missed it, here's a net-based sample.
For those of you who did see the fireworks, I'm very happy for you and your family and your friends and all the people you'll yap about the fireworks about over the next 36 hours, which is approximately 15% longer than any human on this planet who cares about the 4th of July will care to hear about the fireworks.
To add to the excitement, on tonight's newscasts, they actually -- I shit you not -- had reporters live at the scene (by The Water Club) describe the fireworks. "It was magical," "it was exciting," "a lot of oohs and aahs from the assembled crowd..." Sorry, but I don't care too much about the ooh's and aah's and I even less care about what some bobble-head cares to say about said ooh's and aah's. I know it's about patriotism and excitement and being in America, but the truth is if you're spending the day/night with the one you love, the fireworks aren't nearly as meaningful as the ones between you and your other half. So pfffffffffffft :-D
In other news...aside from my writing project, which has continued to cook along at a steady pace, part of the reason for my absence herein had been a party I co-hosted with a friend on June 23rd here in NYC. We ended up getting everything just about perfect, aside from a little "what the hell is she doing here"-esque drama, and approximately 166 people, plus my co-host and I, had a bitchin' time. Until our next party, which we estimate to be called for October 20th, this was the topper. Then again, we've been saying that over the last three parties, so I'm hopeful this upcoming one continues the trend of steady improvement and -- to borrow from Lexus -- our relentless pursuit of perfection (and cleavage). We're getting there ;-)
Beyond that, Kaia's been in town since the 21st and all, as per usual, is well. We've been stuck in, stuck out, running around and hanging out, and in almost every situation our puzzle pieces match perfectly. Between spending time watching movies and the variety of items on my DVR, heading downtown to restaurants for drinks and eats, and just bouncing around the City, it's all good. The only caveat is that her family still resides in the Bay Area (ie San Fran) and she misses them while she's here, but again, like my co-host's and my party planning, every day gets better and it's just a matter of time before (unlike our party planning) we go pro.
Speaking of TV et al, since I last visited these parts my old venerable, 150-pound 27" Mitsubishi shit the bed, so I finagled me one o' them-thar new HD TV's, this one of the 32" Sharp Aquos widescreen variety. I'm not a big TV person -- or at least I wasn't prior to this bad boy's arrival -- but I'm seeing things on the screen I never did before. I think the most significant improvement in terms of quality can be seen when watching sports. Part of the reason I love visiting Yankee Stadium (besides the Yankees consistently winning, o' course) is stepping out from the tunnel to see the grass -- verdent, lush and the truest green I've ever seen -- and now, all I need to see that is to fire up the TV. Obviously going to the game will never quite be replaced, but the truth is that the HD reproduction of Yankee games is so superb that it's hard to justify spending $200 to go to the game when the broadcasts are so incredibly immaculate.
Of course, watching movies in 1080i through this doesn't hurt; but until the high definition format war (between Blu-Ray and HDDVD) is over, I don't need to see the pores in Denzel Washington's face whilst watching Crimson Tide. The quality is more than sufficient, and since I've been watching these things via a small, analog TV for so long, I will appreciate the next jump (ie to the winner of the format war) when/if I make it. Meanwhile, I'm watching DVD's I've owned for years and seeing more detail and jump than I ever did, so I'm still jazzed despite the fact it's been here about as long as has Kaia. Go figger.
Anyhoo...there's much more about which I could expound, but it's late, my lady's already sleeping and I'm ready for a few nice days without work.
I'll be back much sooner next time -- and despite saying that, this time I do indeed mean it -- so in the interim, happy post 4th of July. Hope you all enjoy(ed) the off day(s) and make good use of good summer weather and keep yourselves smiling for as long as possible :-D
Ciao fer now...
My bad.
First and foremost, happy belated-ish 4th of July. Kaia and I chilled out at home rather than go to a friend's. She wasn't feeling well and I was shot, so we chilled out and watched "An American Haunting" on Showtime -- how patriotic of us, natch -- before we caught the tail end of the bitchin' fireworks display over the East River. For those of you missed it, here's a net-based sample.
For those of you who did see the fireworks, I'm very happy for you and your family and your friends and all the people you'll yap about the fireworks about over the next 36 hours, which is approximately 15% longer than any human on this planet who cares about the 4th of July will care to hear about the fireworks.
To add to the excitement, on tonight's newscasts, they actually -- I shit you not -- had reporters live at the scene (by The Water Club) describe the fireworks. "It was magical," "it was exciting," "a lot of oohs and aahs from the assembled crowd..." Sorry, but I don't care too much about the ooh's and aah's and I even less care about what some bobble-head cares to say about said ooh's and aah's. I know it's about patriotism and excitement and being in America, but the truth is if you're spending the day/night with the one you love, the fireworks aren't nearly as meaningful as the ones between you and your other half. So pfffffffffffft :-D
In other news...aside from my writing project, which has continued to cook along at a steady pace, part of the reason for my absence herein had been a party I co-hosted with a friend on June 23rd here in NYC. We ended up getting everything just about perfect, aside from a little "what the hell is she doing here"-esque drama, and approximately 166 people, plus my co-host and I, had a bitchin' time. Until our next party, which we estimate to be called for October 20th, this was the topper. Then again, we've been saying that over the last three parties, so I'm hopeful this upcoming one continues the trend of steady improvement and -- to borrow from Lexus -- our relentless pursuit of perfection (and cleavage). We're getting there ;-)
Beyond that, Kaia's been in town since the 21st and all, as per usual, is well. We've been stuck in, stuck out, running around and hanging out, and in almost every situation our puzzle pieces match perfectly. Between spending time watching movies and the variety of items on my DVR, heading downtown to restaurants for drinks and eats, and just bouncing around the City, it's all good. The only caveat is that her family still resides in the Bay Area (ie San Fran) and she misses them while she's here, but again, like my co-host's and my party planning, every day gets better and it's just a matter of time before (unlike our party planning) we go pro.
Speaking of TV et al, since I last visited these parts my old venerable, 150-pound 27" Mitsubishi shit the bed, so I finagled me one o' them-thar new HD TV's, this one of the 32" Sharp Aquos widescreen variety. I'm not a big TV person -- or at least I wasn't prior to this bad boy's arrival -- but I'm seeing things on the screen I never did before. I think the most significant improvement in terms of quality can be seen when watching sports. Part of the reason I love visiting Yankee Stadium (besides the Yankees consistently winning, o' course) is stepping out from the tunnel to see the grass -- verdent, lush and the truest green I've ever seen -- and now, all I need to see that is to fire up the TV. Obviously going to the game will never quite be replaced, but the truth is that the HD reproduction of Yankee games is so superb that it's hard to justify spending $200 to go to the game when the broadcasts are so incredibly immaculate.
Of course, watching movies in 1080i through this doesn't hurt; but until the high definition format war (between Blu-Ray and HDDVD) is over, I don't need to see the pores in Denzel Washington's face whilst watching Crimson Tide. The quality is more than sufficient, and since I've been watching these things via a small, analog TV for so long, I will appreciate the next jump (ie to the winner of the format war) when/if I make it. Meanwhile, I'm watching DVD's I've owned for years and seeing more detail and jump than I ever did, so I'm still jazzed despite the fact it's been here about as long as has Kaia. Go figger.
Anyhoo...there's much more about which I could expound, but it's late, my lady's already sleeping and I'm ready for a few nice days without work.
I'll be back much sooner next time -- and despite saying that, this time I do indeed mean it -- so in the interim, happy post 4th of July. Hope you all enjoy(ed) the off day(s) and make good use of good summer weather and keep yourselves smiling for as long as possible :-D
Ciao fer now...
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