US Airways Plane Crash

I just wanted to make a quick note of what's going on. It's my last day at St Louis. David, Dennis, Duane, Josh, Doug and I went to Bandanna's for lunch.

Right before I left there was a news flash that a US Airways plane went down in the Hudson River. I left the office and by the time I made it to the hotel it looked like everyone is alive. There was an amusing phone interview with one of the survivors, Jeff. You could hear the excitement, relief and adrenaline about ready to make him explode. He actually complimented Brian Williams on his show.

The photos are pretty amazing in their uniqueness. The best part is it sounds like everyone made it out alive. Actually, the best part is Brian Williams has explained where the term balls to the wall comes from, and as Brian pointed out, it's not profane at all. Apparently it means pushing the throttle of a plane to the firewall (dash) of the cockpit where two white balls at the base of the throttle prevent the throttle from touching the dash. Still sounds a little naughty to me.

More Video - WTF?

Interesting

I found this video on The Pentagon Channel. I thought it was interesting, there are a lot of these for both Iraq and Afghanistan. These clips, coming from the Pentagon as they do, could be considered propaganda but they do offer stories you don't get on the evening news. And check out the Grill Sargent. Kind of amusing except for the fact that it's probably tax payer funded.

Man Crush #1

I feel sorry for generations brought up on Johnny Depp.

The Golden Globes

Some thoughts while watching,

• Going green is still as important as ever but...
• I now want to be a "social activist". I'm not sure what the requirement is, I think you just have to be an actor.
• Clint Eastwood did not loose best song award to Miley Cyrus. I'm relieved because tracking down all the voting members of the Foreign Press and killing them would have been tiring. I can take him loosing to the Boss.
  
• Finally, a black man that doesn't look good with a shaved head, Don Cheadle.
• I don't really know who the Jonas Brothers are but they seem cute and I hear they are virgins, good for them.
• I've never heard of In Bruges but now I want to see it.
• Tina Fey's eyes are set quite far apart.
• Tracy Morgan is a funny m***** f*****. (My Mom reads the blog now)
• The economic hard times are the new Iraq War
  
• Thank God Obama won and everyone is leaving the politics out of the speeches.
• Darren Aronofsky gave the finger, that means we'll have to hear about that for the next couple of months.
  

And my final thought...my God I must be bored.

Told You I Had A Lot Of Time

I found out that Neil Gaiman's dog, Cabal, looks like Moon.

A Goodbye

As my time here in St Charles is drawing to a close I'm really not getting too sentimental. The InTown Suites is on the other side of town from our house so I haven't been in the old neighbor. I decided to run by the Quik Trip for some gas (and a blue Mountain Dew). Since the QT is right around the corner from the old homestead I did a quick drive by. Very briefly I was hit with a sense of nostalgia, or maybe nostalgia implies something long past. Obviously everything has happened in the last seven months here and I've lived in hotels longer than that. Whatever the case, I had a flash of the times Lisa and I walked Moon around the neighborhood, that's probably the memory that will stay with me over time even as the details begin to fade.

I also went to my favorite place in town, Mark Twain Hobby Center. I wanted to load up on a few hard to find kits and this is the place to go. I talked to the owner briefly and told him how much I was going to miss his store. I wouldn't say I was getting sentimental over the place but model building isn't the hobby it once was, so it's hard to find a good local hobby store. And as I mentioned in a past post it was right around the corner from the house. I'll have a busy week coming up so it was nice to say so long one final time (I promise, no more posts on how I'll miss the place).

Mark Twain Hobby Center on W Clay St, St Charles, MO

My Day In Boredom

I finally got a day off today. My schedule was changed this week and it worked out so I had to work eight days straight. I figured I would be fine but was surprised when on about the sixth or seventh day I didn't want to get out of bed and I started to loose things (and I'm not sure if it's related but I was getting a little dizzy). So to celebrate my time off, I'm sitting around with nothing to do, which by the way is AWESOME! I can't remember the last time I could just sit at the computer and visit all the stupid links and weird sites. And as you can see I played around with a graphic for LBGTMSF. It doesn't really reflect the nature of the site but it was the only thing I had set up close to what would fit on the banner. You would have thought having a computer guru brother, I would have picked up a few things. Same goes for basketball. Nada. The new picture is a screenshot from Gran Turismo 4 and is only temporary. I hope to have something more appropriate sometime, although given the number of times I have absolutely nothing to do it may be a while.

And as always, I'm eco-friendly.

Tales From The In Town Suites

It's not really tales so much as a general wondering. The In Town Suites is an intriguing take on hotels. After years of living in hotels in my old job and the company (or actually Uncle Sam) paying for it, I've had to find a cheap place to stay for the three weeks before I go to Colorado. This place offered the cheapest weekly rates and seemed pretty clean on the outside. It is apparently ran differently than a hotel. Smoking is allowed everywhere but the hallways and common areas which means every room smells like boiled cat's ass. On top of which the cleaning crew uses industrial strength cleaning compounds to cover the odor, so now it smells like boiled cat's ass sautéed in concentrated lemon acid. The room has an air of mold to it and I find myself with a headache the more time I spend here. I can handle that all for three weeks though.

What I'm curious about is the people that live here, there seem to be families actually living here instead of an apartment or house. I'm curious why? I don't think on a monthly basis it's cheaper than a house, let alone an apartment. A flyer posted in the office has some bullet points listing the advantages. There are no utilities to pay and you get room service (once a week). There are some other advantages but none seem to offset the boiled cat ass. Two advantages are the kitchenette but there are no utensils or cookware, you still need your own stuff.

Are the people staying here military waiting for base housing? That doesn't seem logical. There aren't any bases close by. Maybe they're just adventure lovers. There are several utility and work trucks so I bet there are contractors, ones not lucky enough to have Uncle Sam pay (or taking advantage of per diem in hand). Maybe some are member's of a sixties radical group like the Weather Underground and they've been on the run with their kids since the early seventies, like Judd Hirsch and River Phoenix. That's one of those notions that sounds more romantic in theory than in reality.

Whatever the case is I hope they're all happier here than I am. Although there's always been a demented side of me that likes living in dives. Oh and you get to keep the towels when you leave, so it's got that going for it.

News You Can't Use

Apparently, out of sleazy politicians, crooked used car dealers and sexual predators, news magazines have decided to start turning the hidden cameras on you and me in a "social experiment" which is little more than Alan Funt without the nostalgic charm. On What Would You Do?, hosted by John Quiñones the premise is to put ordinary citizens in morally charged situations and film the reaction. The experiments were much less sophisticated than the "elevator morality test" Jack Donaghy pulled on Kenneth on a recent episode of 30 Rock. The first segment placed two Hispanic actors in a deli with a racist actor behind the counter refusing to serve them. Before the first commercials there was ass after ass customer agreeing with the waiter. A few were down right scary. One guy apologized and seemed to learn a lesson, and through his lesson there was a little lesson for us all. Of course after the commercials we get to feel a little better about ourselves. Now we get the people that stand up to the racist. So far it's playing out like you would expect. ABC News has shown that some people are racist asses and some are decent. The wrap up at the end said that of the 88 people tested 40% did nothing 6 people, a little more than 6% joined in the bad behavior and the rest stood up and took up for the Hispanic actors. If you had just stopped me on the street and asked me, I may have come up with those numbers by SWAG (scientific wild ass guess).

The second segment takes two American actors and puts them in France as the idea of the ugly Americans. In the first segment we have people sticking up for the ugly stereotype of the non-English speaking, immigrant worker. In the second segment we're treated to the ugly stereotype of the redneck, white trash Texans. Am I wrong in thinking an ugly stereotype is an ugly stereotype?

The Americans show up at fancy French restaurants and irritate other patrons. I feel like I've already gone on too long about this dumb-ass show so I'll cut to the chase. It turns out the people that had the biggest problem with the Americans were other American tourists. In this wrap up most of the French victims of the ruse all had a good laugh and found the couple amusing and interesting. They showed an amazing sense of humor. As over the top ridiculous as ABC made these people I can't help but think everyone knew it was a joke but the other American tourists. Of course there were several dirty looks from the French but honestly if they had behaved that way in any country the result would have been the same. By way of justification John Quiñones points out that in a recent survey it wasn't the ugly Americans rated as the worst tourists but the...wait for it...French! Hah, take that you calm, good natured bastards!

Eco friendly products used

Green Initiative Ideas 2

You go Google.

Eco Loco

That's a term I coined a few days ago. Mark my words, you will be seeing it everywhere in the coming months. And that's not just the Carlsberg beer talking. Which by the way comes in a GREEN bottle.



I should copywrite Eco Loco.

Green Initiative Ideas

Here's a way to incorporate Green into your office routine - Polycom Go Green.

I am especially fond of their simple philosophy which is as easy as 123. One, they build green products, two, they show customers how said customer can be greener on day one with their solutions and finally as a global company located in forty countries, they minimize their own environmental impact. And their wonderful Green Initiative product? Why teleconferencing solutions of course. If you don't have to travel to a meeting you aren't using fossil fuels are you? It's simple and brilliant.

My New Improved Green Blog

I'm sad and a little ashamed to say that my blog isn't very popular. I don't have exact numbers but it isn't pretty. So in an effort to gain readership and win over popular support I've decided to "GO GREEN!!!" Now what exactly will that entail you ask? Good question I answer. For starters I use 80% recycled materials (including my stories and jokes). What I'm trying to do is create a paradigm shift, one with the goal of perserving green for the children. Green is not just a way of life, it's a life style. Once you go green you never go back. I've started the Green Initiative in the hopes of saving green, going green and getting green. UPS asks "What can brown do for you?" To which I reply "What is it that green can't not do for you?"

It turns out I should have copywrited my Green Initiative. Nuts! At least I'm not this woman and her partner.