Join us today if you dare, as we embark on the dark journey through Austin known as Beerwalk 7. Bring a silly hat, comfy walking shoes and a spare liver and see if you can make it all the way to the taxi stand at the end. If not, at least visit the pretty cool website.
I really used to be able to recall significant events in my life, like my friend Marty's birthday. (It's on D-Day--how hard is that?) Now, and even more so since I have been out of the 9-5 life, I can't seem to get it together in time to wish people I care about a happy day. What the heck happened to my memory?
I have enough battery-powered gadgets to weigh down a pack mule. I need to program one of them as a stunt-brain, standing in for mine, which is hiding back at the trailer to avoid injury apparently. So let me say this:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTY!
Meeting you is one of the best things that has happened to me since moving to Austin, even if I don't tell you that often enough. Seeing you happy, seeing you with Jerry, (not to mention seeing you every 6 weeks to ensure that my hair looks fabulous) makes me very happy, and helps make Austin the special place it is.
.. particularly at a major tech company, attributing the action to 'empire building' isn't quite out of the realm of possibilities. I'm sure this will be well speculated in the news in the next few days. Whether this is something that is really needed in the war on terrorism is doubtful in my mind certainly, since as many of us are aware, tactical decisions may not necessarily further the strategic goals of the entity. Certainly I'm put off at the sense of urgency implied in the speech - getting this done during this congress... elections looming. And I really didn't think much of the 'office' being green-screened in behind either. Were any of you inspired to lobby?
I'm wondering -- is it a good thing, proof of a higher power, that someone has the time to write a brilliant seventeen page synopsis of a Six Feet Under episode? Or is it another sign that we could be curing AIDS and cancer and finding clean energy sources if our heads weren't full of celebrity trivia and Leo Sayer lyrics? Hmmmmm... dunno. Can't write, Entertainment Tonight is on... :>
Boston Phoenix Neswpaper Posts Pearl Photos, Video Link When I lived back East, I used to read the Phoenix, Boston's alternative news equivalent of the (NY) Village Voice, or a beefed-up version of the Austin Chronicle. I was surprised to learn that the current Phoenix includes photos of the murdered journalist Daniel Pearl and a link to a website hosting the entire videotape made by his kidnappers and murders
I watched it.
I am not sure what that says about me, but I simply could not resist viewing it--the (apparently dictated or scripted) last words and statements, and ultimately the death of a kidnapped writer for the Wall Street Journal. This is someone's husband, and father, and his last minutes alive are now broadcast.
The video is small, grainy and delivered via the web, no doubt loses some impact, but it is horrifying, vile, shockingly graphic and terribly sad. It ends with an image of Pearl's severed head held aloft by an unseen hand. Judging from the website response, it appears I am not alone in wanting to see this.
Should the Phoenix have published the photos? Should the webhosting company have posted the entire video? Should today's news reports on CNN, MSNBC and others have broadcast that this newspaper website includes both photos and a URL for the video? Tough questions. But I watched it, so I have my answer.
Yes, folks, I've gone and done it again. This time around, I hope the greater color contrasts and bigger fonts for posts make the site a little easier on the eyes.
I did a lot more convoluted table and graphics work this time. It looks great on Mac in IE 5.1 and NS 4.78. But in this Windows-dominated world, that's certainly not enough QA to guarantee it will look fine on most peoples' monitors. So, if some lines look funky, some images don't seem to match up, there are glaringly obvious spacing problems ... please let me know. And if you know how to take a screenshot, feel free to send it along to me so I can eyeball the same problems you're seeing.
Oh, and the archives index page is still the old flavor. Blogger is having issues with granting access to archive templates. Once that clears up, I'll spruce up the archive page, too.
My new boss threw a party at a house in Malibu last Sunday. It's on the beach and is exactly what you would expect: beautiful home, 4 stories, the most amazing view of the ocean, etc. She's good friends with Lionel's wife so they were hanging out. There was about 20 people there including kids. For about an hour, I sat next to Lionel eating dinner and chatting. Evidently, he gets seasick very easily so he doesn't go fishing very often. Also, he doesn't like baiting hooks. I wanted to call him a pussy, but I just nodded and said something especially LA: "Well, there's people on the boat that do that." The second I said that, I wanted to scream. But, he nodded his head and said, "That's right. They do have people that do that." He's a pretty cool guy, though. He made a point to say goodbye and shake my hand before he left. Now my Mom is pissed that I didn't get his autograph. . .
