The only thing that drives me more nuts than getting spam with ridiculous subject lines is the horrible punctuation, formatting, and grammar that those same spam contain... The subject lines can be amusing - only one of those is a real word, right?? Who are they trolling for? Would someone go, "Oh cool, geodesy!" and quickly open this email? Or, "Maybe this is that vampire I met in Europe a few years back - Cyril - the one who lives in a dome. What's he up to?"
These messages typically contain pixelated graphics, multiple fonts and colors, and horrible grammar. And, let's say, imaginative punctuation. The worst offender in imaginary punctuation land is the use of apostrophes to indicate a plural. Or should I say, "apostrophe's"... "Get your prescription's here!" Didn't we learn this is an evil mistake as far back as second grade? Or am I just really lucky to have an English teacher as a mom??? Perhaps I just can't separate what I learned in school from the brainwashing I received at home. And I mean that in a good way, Mom. Maybe Mom knows what Cyril is doing.
So, if you are using spam to market a product, at least get your marketing emails right. I am not offended by spam so much as I am offended by ignorance and laziness. Don't even get me started on "your" versus "you're."
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Happy Memorial Day
Chimes of Freedom - Bob Dylan
Far between sundown's finish and midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on their unarmed road of flight
And for each and every underdog soldier in the night
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden here while the walls were tightening
And as the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain
Dissolved into the wild bells of the lightning
Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the raked
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned and forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burning constantly at stake
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail
The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder
That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze
Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder
Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind
Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind
And the unpawned painter beyond his rightful time
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Through the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales
For the disrobed faceless forms of no position
Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
All down in taken-for-granted situations
Tolling for the deaf an' blind, tolling for the mute
Tolling for the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased and cheated by pursuit
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
And through a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed
The hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
And for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Starry-eyed and laughing as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
As we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look
Spellbound and swallowed 'til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse
And for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Far between sundown's finish and midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on their unarmed road of flight
And for each and every underdog soldier in the night
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden here while the walls were tightening
And as the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain
Dissolved into the wild bells of the lightning
Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the raked
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned and forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burning constantly at stake
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail
The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder
That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze
Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder
Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind
Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind
And the unpawned painter beyond his rightful time
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Through the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales
For the disrobed faceless forms of no position
Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
All down in taken-for-granted situations
Tolling for the deaf an' blind, tolling for the mute
Tolling for the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased and cheated by pursuit
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
And through a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed
The hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
And for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Starry-eyed and laughing as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
As we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look
Spellbound and swallowed 'til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse
And for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Good stuff
The sky was an unusual color last night, even for Phoenix. I swear it was turquoise, fading into royal blue. Amazing.
Found out rather than removing stained saltillo tile that neanderthal installer did not seal properly, I can etch them with tri-sodium phosphate and re-seal them. Yea! No need to jackhammer them out.
Discovered pesto and tuna through Lara - really good - mix pesto, oil, and some pepper w/ tuna for a healthy alternative to tuna/mayo.
Finished the porch mural - only took a year and a month... still need to grout the floor... pics later...
Have realized I have such an antipathy now for microsoft that even tho my new laptop arrived on Tuesday, I have not opened the box. I have Vista Fear.
Have been experimenting with thinking about people to see if they call me and it's worked twice this week. So it's confirmed, I control everything. :-)
Found a lost hammer - was looking for a wire brush which is still missing, but finding a missing hammer after about 3 months was exciting in a way that only nerds would understand.
Found out from a neighbor that even though it's over 100 degrees in May, rather than the norm, which is June, that is not part of a changing weather pattern. Also, we should still boycott France, and Hillary Clinton is the anti-Christ. On the positive side, yes, he will loan me his electric sander. It is never boring in this neighborhood.
There is a pair of ducks that have decided to stay in the park - they discovered irrigation two weeks ago and have never left. The neighbors are all feeding them to get them to stay. Once the pool is filled the ducks will never leave.
And finally, the series finale of the Gilmore Girls was tasteful and true to the spirit of the show. No neatly sewn up happy endings, just a couple of cool surprises and a pretty realistic conclusion. I realize I'm outting myself for watching this show, which I have been doing for 6 of the 7 years it was on. Sue me, it's funny.
Found out rather than removing stained saltillo tile that neanderthal installer did not seal properly, I can etch them with tri-sodium phosphate and re-seal them. Yea! No need to jackhammer them out.
Discovered pesto and tuna through Lara - really good - mix pesto, oil, and some pepper w/ tuna for a healthy alternative to tuna/mayo.
Finished the porch mural - only took a year and a month... still need to grout the floor... pics later...
Have realized I have such an antipathy now for microsoft that even tho my new laptop arrived on Tuesday, I have not opened the box. I have Vista Fear.
Have been experimenting with thinking about people to see if they call me and it's worked twice this week. So it's confirmed, I control everything. :-)
Found a lost hammer - was looking for a wire brush which is still missing, but finding a missing hammer after about 3 months was exciting in a way that only nerds would understand.
Found out from a neighbor that even though it's over 100 degrees in May, rather than the norm, which is June, that is not part of a changing weather pattern. Also, we should still boycott France, and Hillary Clinton is the anti-Christ. On the positive side, yes, he will loan me his electric sander. It is never boring in this neighborhood.
There is a pair of ducks that have decided to stay in the park - they discovered irrigation two weeks ago and have never left. The neighbors are all feeding them to get them to stay. Once the pool is filled the ducks will never leave.
And finally, the series finale of the Gilmore Girls was tasteful and true to the spirit of the show. No neatly sewn up happy endings, just a couple of cool surprises and a pretty realistic conclusion. I realize I'm outting myself for watching this show, which I have been doing for 6 of the 7 years it was on. Sue me, it's funny.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Ruined Music - click for site
Cool new site:
"Most people have a song that’s been ruined.
A breakup turns “our song” into “the one song I can never hear again.” A crush goes downhill and takes your favorite record with it. A best friend vanishes, leaving you holding the mixtape. Talent show disasters, high school humiliations, family crises… somehow there’s always a song playing in the background.
Ruined Music collects essays about these songs we’ve lost. If music is the soundtrack to our lives, here are the scenes when it all went wrong.
Read. Write. Reclaim your record collection."
Nice. Any takers? Wanna rant here?
"Most people have a song that’s been ruined.
A breakup turns “our song” into “the one song I can never hear again.” A crush goes downhill and takes your favorite record with it. A best friend vanishes, leaving you holding the mixtape. Talent show disasters, high school humiliations, family crises… somehow there’s always a song playing in the background.
Ruined Music collects essays about these songs we’ve lost. If music is the soundtrack to our lives, here are the scenes when it all went wrong.
Read. Write. Reclaim your record collection."
Nice. Any takers? Wanna rant here?
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Body Exhibition - click for info
So I finally went to the Body Exhibition after being convinced by the marketing (LAST WEEKS! GO NOW!) which made it seem like it would take a week to go through it, a day or two to drive there, and then the recovery period. Why not "last days"? Or event ends ... " " ... So it goes. Here's my previous post about my dread and nausea anticipation - and I was right... Thank god the exhibit didn't really take weeks because I was nauseous the whole time. I don't have any problem with the moral implications; apparently, some are offended by the actual process by which the bodies are made into displays. The participants gave consent for their bodies to be used following death - we don't know how informed that consent was, but it was given... And initially I was shocked by the price of the exhibit, which was $22... the Met and the Modern are hovering around $25, so c'mon - but when you see the labor and the time it takes to make this art, it's more understandable. It takes teams of people weeks or months to do one body...
No, the nausea was just caused by the reality of it - and wondering how they twisted the bodies into these poses and the minute detail rendered by much slicing and dicing. It was just gross... I'm not saying it had no artistic value - it was very artistically presented, and whoever developed the exhibit (one can't really say curated unless there are these plasticized bodies to choose from all over the world) made an effort to mitigate the purely scientific approach by including philosophical, historical, artistic, and biblical references to the body and the study of anatomy in beautifully lit displays on all the walls behind the pieces.
And people who know me know I am very elastic in what I like in art. I did not like it, although it was very interesting - like a really well done gross-out film or book that is not softened with humor or a happy ending... I am just glad it was at the science center and not the art museum... And I'm glad I went in with an empty stomach.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Tempe Mosaic project
Last night I got a call to help out with grouting a mural that's part of the 1% for the Arts program in Tempe - this one was designed and developed by Nina Solomon and Heidi Dauphin, local artists. Isn't it cool?
Luckily we were finished with two sections before the heat of the day, and we had the canopy to work under...
Luckily we were finished with two sections before the heat of the day, and we had the canopy to work under...
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Mural
I've been contracting but not yet working full-time, so I was lucky enough to get a mural commissioned by my new friends, Heather and Scott. I am going to post pics of it as I do it because it will help keep me focused knowing other people are watching.... It looks pretty normal now, but it's going to get quite wild by the end...
So here are days 1 and 2 (Tuesday and Friday). Click the images for a larger view.
So here are days 1 and 2 (Tuesday and Friday). Click the images for a larger view.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Back yard progress so far
So last week my landscaper dude proposed improving my back yard which looked like it had been through at least a civil war if not a nuclear explosion. I can't even really print the original before pics, which was before they removed the grass and leveled it. It's just too scary. Not as scary as the old guesthouse, but scary.
Still left to do: stucco the short wall, tile the top, add some cactus, and finish the stepping stones.
Still left to do: stucco the short wall, tile the top, add some cactus, and finish the stepping stones.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Save Internet Radio
Subject: Increasing Royalties on Internet Radio
Dear Mr. Elected Official,
Do you remember when you were young and how great radio was? Did you ever get a chance to hear WNEW in the 60s or 70s, or WMMS? There was such a great diversity of music then, unprogrammed for the most part, when you never knew what you were going to get. On a rainy day, you may get the Beatles for 6 hours in a row. DJs were creative, responsive to the culture, and you were constantly exposed to new and different music, which then, actually (gasp) SOLD.
Not so today. In the era of ClearChannel, DJs are just hired monkeys, driven by corporate executives who only care about scads and scads of profit, who do not pass it on to their clients, the music artists, who have already sold their creative souls to focus groups rather than following their instincts. And then you're left with Christine Aguilera.
Internet radio is the last bastion of creativity. There aren't going to be profits made if all of them go out of business - you can't get royalties off nothing. Yet, this is where I hear all my new music, and then go and buy it. Sure, not everyone buys it, but that will just drive corporate radio to find new ways to sell it. But this way? This is lose-lose for everyone.
Please don't kill Internet radio.
Dear Mr. Elected Official,
Do you remember when you were young and how great radio was? Did you ever get a chance to hear WNEW in the 60s or 70s, or WMMS? There was such a great diversity of music then, unprogrammed for the most part, when you never knew what you were going to get. On a rainy day, you may get the Beatles for 6 hours in a row. DJs were creative, responsive to the culture, and you were constantly exposed to new and different music, which then, actually (gasp) SOLD.
Not so today. In the era of ClearChannel, DJs are just hired monkeys, driven by corporate executives who only care about scads and scads of profit, who do not pass it on to their clients, the music artists, who have already sold their creative souls to focus groups rather than following their instincts. And then you're left with Christine Aguilera.
Internet radio is the last bastion of creativity. There aren't going to be profits made if all of them go out of business - you can't get royalties off nothing. Yet, this is where I hear all my new music, and then go and buy it. Sure, not everyone buys it, but that will just drive corporate radio to find new ways to sell it. But this way? This is lose-lose for everyone.
Please don't kill Internet radio.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Jeromeian is back!
Thank god Greg is posting again so I can get my Jerome fix. He started working as a waiter after oh, 20 years in the social service field (that's where we met) and he has some hilarious stories to tell. I don't think he would mind if I re-post my favorites from his recent post.
Q: What time does your little town close?
A: At 5:00p.m. when the gates go up at the bottom of the hill. After 5:00p.m. you can only get to Prescott, not to Cottonwood and if you are staying in town you must be in your hotel room by 5:30p.m.
Q: Really?(with very serious looks on their faces)
A: No. Our town doesn't close. We are not an amusement park.
Q: At what elevation up here do the deer turn into elk?
A: (blank look)-Do you want fries or tater tots with your sandwich?
Q: Why do you live here?
A: Because it's close to work.
Q: So you moved all the way up the mountain to be near work?
A: Yes.
Q: Do people really live here?
A: No. Everyone in town are all paid actors and we go home each night and return in the morning to start the show again.
Q: Why don't you have any gas stations in Jerome?
A: Because we don't want them and not having them sets us apart from other towns.
Response: Well I am almost out of gas, what happens if I run out?
A: Most people I know make sure they have enough gas when they start driving up a mountain. If you run out, you are stuck here and you have to work, probably in the kitchen, hope you have triple A. Or you can coast all the way down the hill to the gas station, you know, the one you passed on your way up here?
Q: Why do you close at 4:00p.m.?
A: Because the owners wanted it that way. Come back on Friday and you can stay late.
Response: Well, 4pm is too early, you should stay open until at least 6p.m.
Q: How much is that one house down the hill?
A: Which one?
Q: The big gray one, where the road splits?
A: Last I heard it was reduced to $800K.
Q: Why?
A: I don't sell real estate, I have no idea.
Q: But why hasn't anyone bought it?
A: I really have no idea about the house or any property in Jerome. What can I get you to drink?
Q: What is there to do at night in Jerome?
A: Go to the Spirit Room and watch the alcoholics.
Q: What do people do at night in Jerome?
A: Drink
Response: Oh, ha ha, that was funny. But what do they really do at night?
A: Drink. Can I get you anything else?
Q: What time does your little town close?
A: At 5:00p.m. when the gates go up at the bottom of the hill. After 5:00p.m. you can only get to Prescott, not to Cottonwood and if you are staying in town you must be in your hotel room by 5:30p.m.
Q: Really?(with very serious looks on their faces)
A: No. Our town doesn't close. We are not an amusement park.
Q: At what elevation up here do the deer turn into elk?
A: (blank look)-Do you want fries or tater tots with your sandwich?
Q: Why do you live here?
A: Because it's close to work.
Q: So you moved all the way up the mountain to be near work?
A: Yes.
Q: Do people really live here?
A: No. Everyone in town are all paid actors and we go home each night and return in the morning to start the show again.
Q: Why don't you have any gas stations in Jerome?
A: Because we don't want them and not having them sets us apart from other towns.
Response: Well I am almost out of gas, what happens if I run out?
A: Most people I know make sure they have enough gas when they start driving up a mountain. If you run out, you are stuck here and you have to work, probably in the kitchen, hope you have triple A. Or you can coast all the way down the hill to the gas station, you know, the one you passed on your way up here?
Q: Why do you close at 4:00p.m.?
A: Because the owners wanted it that way. Come back on Friday and you can stay late.
Response: Well, 4pm is too early, you should stay open until at least 6p.m.
Q: How much is that one house down the hill?
A: Which one?
Q: The big gray one, where the road splits?
A: Last I heard it was reduced to $800K.
Q: Why?
A: I don't sell real estate, I have no idea.
Q: But why hasn't anyone bought it?
A: I really have no idea about the house or any property in Jerome. What can I get you to drink?
Q: What is there to do at night in Jerome?
A: Go to the Spirit Room and watch the alcoholics.
Q: What do people do at night in Jerome?
A: Drink
Response: Oh, ha ha, that was funny. But what do they really do at night?
A: Drink. Can I get you anything else?
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Cactus pics
I took these yesterday on a hike up behind Piestewa Peak. It's so unbelievably gorgeous right now - I don't ever remember a better April. Cool, breezy, some rain. Amazing.
Click for a larger view.
Click for a larger view.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Scott Zimmer's site
Scott is a saxophone and woodwinds player here in Phoenix. Please vote on which design Scott should pick for his new site. (He's trying to decide.)
Monday, April 16, 2007
Superstition Mountains
I took this on Saturday at the top of the Peralta Trail at the Superstitions (about 40 miles east of Phoenix)... It's the best trail yet, and the hardest. About 2 miles up. A "2.5" hour trail took Gillian and me 3.5 hours. And coming down is NOT easier. Puts the hike down the Grand Canyon in perspective. Had to go to yoga Sunday morning just to be able to walk like a normal person again. :-) TOTALLY worth it. Lots of flowers, a little pond with tadpoles in it, amazing views. We made it up to see Weaver's Needle. Will post more pics later.
Click on the image to get a better view.
Click on the image to get a better view.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Oprah: Midwife of the Apocalypse
Unless you live under a rock or have no TV (and Zoe says, who's Oprah?), you've heard that Oprah has chosen Cormac McCarthy's The Road for her next book club. Now, this guy is not as reclusive as J.D. Salinger, but he's pretty darned private. That part is interesting for those of us who follow authors and have many opinions. So that's causing a boatload of discussion for McCarthy followers. The David Foster Wallace list I'm on sent so many emails the day it was announced that I turned off the sound for all the beeping alerts. And, as per usual, when Oprah chooses a book outside her normal Lifetime Channel parameters, there is much talk about her power to increase sales of literature and get the housewives of America reading. So that old discussion is also burning up bandwidth.
So I won't bore you with all that - I don't care about the Oprah-watching, non-reading, soccer moms of this country. It's just that the books she chooses that cause the murmuring, like The Corrections, or rather, the Corrections' author, may be a little out there or hard to take for people used to Bridges of Madison County. But they are nowhere near as devastating or haunting as The Road... She may as well ask her audience to watch her butcher a bunny on live TV.
I know I'm rambling a bit but there is just so much to say regarding this pop cultural mashup that I can't really keep my thoughts straight. I had a strange moment at Best Buy the other day, when I was standing behind this, what we used to call a valley girl (what are they called now?), who was wearing a flared, ruffled miniskirt, short, belly-baring top, piled-high hair, and way too much makeup, reading the The Road - IN LINE. Because she couldn't wait to get it home and begin living through the apocalypse. I can't shake this image. And then, I imagine Oprah's audience sitting there with dark circles under their eyes, dirty hair, and perhaps a bunch of pitforks, having turned into a posse like the one chasing Frankenstein, for introducing thoughts into their empty little heads that now will never leave and dammit, won't let them sleep either.
"And everyone gets - A FREE COPY OF THE ROAD!!!!" Audience just sits there, silent. "And now... "CORMAC MC CARTHYYYYYYYYY!"
See? It just goes on and on. It's just not right. This is No Program for Old Men. And yet, I will be there with bells on. Can anyone tell me when it is airing?
And now, to make this blog worthwhile - I found out that a film is being made of The Road, directed by John Hillcoat, who just did the outstanding "The Proposition." How many Oprah fans do you think saw The Proposition? And how excited are the film producers that Oprah chose The Road? Very. How many Oprah fans that read The Road will also see the movie? 0. Well, Deejah, so 1.
So I won't bore you with all that - I don't care about the Oprah-watching, non-reading, soccer moms of this country. It's just that the books she chooses that cause the murmuring, like The Corrections, or rather, the Corrections' author, may be a little out there or hard to take for people used to Bridges of Madison County. But they are nowhere near as devastating or haunting as The Road... She may as well ask her audience to watch her butcher a bunny on live TV.
I know I'm rambling a bit but there is just so much to say regarding this pop cultural mashup that I can't really keep my thoughts straight. I had a strange moment at Best Buy the other day, when I was standing behind this, what we used to call a valley girl (what are they called now?), who was wearing a flared, ruffled miniskirt, short, belly-baring top, piled-high hair, and way too much makeup, reading the The Road - IN LINE. Because she couldn't wait to get it home and begin living through the apocalypse. I can't shake this image. And then, I imagine Oprah's audience sitting there with dark circles under their eyes, dirty hair, and perhaps a bunch of pitforks, having turned into a posse like the one chasing Frankenstein, for introducing thoughts into their empty little heads that now will never leave and dammit, won't let them sleep either.
"And everyone gets - A FREE COPY OF THE ROAD!!!!" Audience just sits there, silent. "And now... "CORMAC MC CARTHYYYYYYYYY!"
See? It just goes on and on. It's just not right. This is No Program for Old Men. And yet, I will be there with bells on. Can anyone tell me when it is airing?
And now, to make this blog worthwhile - I found out that a film is being made of The Road, directed by John Hillcoat, who just did the outstanding "The Proposition." How many Oprah fans do you think saw The Proposition? And how excited are the film producers that Oprah chose The Road? Very. How many Oprah fans that read The Road will also see the movie? 0. Well, Deejah, so 1.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Happy Birthday, Claudia
I made this birdbath for Claud's birthday, which she won't see before I give it to her b/c she doesn't have time to read blogs anymore. It's made of travertine marble tile shards and handcrafted ceramic leaves.
See! I can do conversative too.
See! I can do conversative too.
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