Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
Turning a Corner?
Perhaps I'm turning a corner this week. Either I'm feeling a euphoria from a lack of caloric intake or I'm turning a bit of a corner with my decades long war with myself. I'm not ready to jinx it so you'll have to wait for more detail.
There was no Shawn Pyfrom or Ryan Carnes in Housewives this past week. Wait. That's not entirely true. Shawn appeared in a split second recap of a moment from season 1.
I happened to realize last evening that an overarching reason I haven't visited folks Down Under (nor much anywhere) is trust. Not of outside forces and folks as much as myself. Who, how, what do I behave like? Am I really repressed? Am I satisfied being a relative square? Would I find myself flirting too much with danger? Danger as in a tease? It's a bit like an email I got from another frustrated soul: To Date or Not To Date. Seems to be on many minds these days. What's the point if you know you're not going to settle down with that person? What's the point if you're not self-assured enough not to be wrestling your own moods while working on a relationship foundation? What's the point of dating women or men, men or women if you're not going to have sex with them? I've been hearing laments about the oversexed nature of homosexuals. It makes me sigh with sympathy and comprehension. I know just as many who are self-loathing after brief encounters as those who have gone on the public bath and gym shower circuits. Neither have seemed particularly happy.
There's a lot of discontent in life. Expectations we create for ourselves, about life and living. We don't live up to them. Or sometimes we do and find our imaginations exceeded what reality was able to provide. Pain in the ass, really.
I'm developing a 'thing' (I don't know what kind of thing so don't ask) for accented English. Brits, Scots, Irish, Aussies, Canucks… That about covers it. Wait! I forgot the Kiwis. (Oops! Sorry Drew!) Jus' iz long as it ain't Am'rican ghetto talk, dawg.
There's this character on CSI:NY, Danny Messer, with this NY accent which makes me want to take a potato peeler to my spinal column. I thought it was just a really bad bogus accent but IMDB assures me he's from Staten Island NY. Maybe he's self conscious about it. I'll pause here because Duckie is begging me to give him attention.
There was no Shawn Pyfrom or Ryan Carnes in Housewives this past week. Wait. That's not entirely true. Shawn appeared in a split second recap of a moment from season 1.
I happened to realize last evening that an overarching reason I haven't visited folks Down Under (nor much anywhere) is trust. Not of outside forces and folks as much as myself. Who, how, what do I behave like? Am I really repressed? Am I satisfied being a relative square? Would I find myself flirting too much with danger? Danger as in a tease? It's a bit like an email I got from another frustrated soul: To Date or Not To Date. Seems to be on many minds these days. What's the point if you know you're not going to settle down with that person? What's the point if you're not self-assured enough not to be wrestling your own moods while working on a relationship foundation? What's the point of dating women or men, men or women if you're not going to have sex with them? I've been hearing laments about the oversexed nature of homosexuals. It makes me sigh with sympathy and comprehension. I know just as many who are self-loathing after brief encounters as those who have gone on the public bath and gym shower circuits. Neither have seemed particularly happy.
There's a lot of discontent in life. Expectations we create for ourselves, about life and living. We don't live up to them. Or sometimes we do and find our imaginations exceeded what reality was able to provide. Pain in the ass, really.
I'm developing a 'thing' (I don't know what kind of thing so don't ask) for accented English. Brits, Scots, Irish, Aussies, Canucks… That about covers it. Wait! I forgot the Kiwis. (Oops! Sorry Drew!) Jus' iz long as it ain't Am'rican ghetto talk, dawg.
There's this character on CSI:NY, Danny Messer, with this NY accent which makes me want to take a potato peeler to my spinal column. I thought it was just a really bad bogus accent but IMDB assures me he's from Staten Island NY. Maybe he's self conscious about it. I'll pause here because Duckie is begging me to give him attention.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Five Button Mouse on a Mac?
So do you want more buttons but have trouble finding one that looks right with your Mac? Have you gone to your Apple Store and tried the four-button MightyMouse (US$49) only to find its pea-sized scrolling ball feels creepy? Well, how would you feel about five (5) buttons and scroll wheel for ten bucks less?
The white and silver HP Optical 5 Button Mouse looks good with Apple's white keyboards. You get five buttons and a scroll wheel (glows blue when you move the mouse). Ok, you give up the 360˚ feature of the MightyMouse but you gain an extra button! The mouse is wired (I don't do wireless) but is under US$20.
WAIT! Why did I say US$39 above?
Well, the mouse is Windows-only in the box. However Mac folks are a ingenious lot and thanks to "USB Overdrive" (shareware) the HP Mouse works great with Mac OS (MacOS 9 or later). All five buttons worth and scroll wheel are configurable. Works in Tiger (both PowerPC & Intel) and works with mice, joysticks and other USB pointing devices. You can even configure the buttons on a per-app basis.
If you want to set the 4th & 5th buttons to Exposè or Dashboard, don't use the System Settings' Mouse panel. Instead, use the USB Overdrive panel (in System Settings) and set the buttons to the keyboard equivalents for activating those features. For example, to get "F12" (default hot key for Dashboard in System Settings) set as a button in the USB Overdrive settings, hold down Option and tab the F12 key.
The white and silver HP Optical 5 Button Mouse looks good with Apple's white keyboards. You get five buttons and a scroll wheel (glows blue when you move the mouse). Ok, you give up the 360˚ feature of the MightyMouse but you gain an extra button! The mouse is wired (I don't do wireless) but is under US$20.
WAIT! Why did I say US$39 above?
Well, the mouse is Windows-only in the box. However Mac folks are a ingenious lot and thanks to "USB Overdrive" (shareware) the HP Mouse works great with Mac OS (MacOS 9 or later). All five buttons worth and scroll wheel are configurable. Works in Tiger (both PowerPC & Intel) and works with mice, joysticks and other USB pointing devices. You can even configure the buttons on a per-app basis.
If you want to set the 4th & 5th buttons to Exposè or Dashboard, don't use the System Settings' Mouse panel. Instead, use the USB Overdrive panel (in System Settings) and set the buttons to the keyboard equivalents for activating those features. For example, to get "F12" (default hot key for Dashboard in System Settings) set as a button in the USB Overdrive settings, hold down Option and tab the F12 key.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Lance Bass is simply phenominal...
So he's done it again. Apparently. Just yesterday it was announced he and Joey Fatone would star in a new pseudo-reality show for UPN (United Paramount Network) this fall. It is described as being like "The Odd Couple" with Lance playing the uptight neat-freak and Joey the slob. Here's what UPN's network president Dawn Ostroff said in Monday's news stories: "Joey and Lance are such fun, interesting people and they truly are an odd couple — even if you sit in a room with them, it's Felix and Oscar in many ways." Ostroff called the idea a "classic kind of story" that could resonate for a new generation."
TODAY, the announcement comes that The WB network and UPN will cease to exist in the fall of 2006. From the ash heap of half-baked programs and ethnic pandering comes the CW Network from Warner Bros. and Paramount.
Lance Bass has become the Jessica Fletcher* of Hollywood projects: going into space for MTV, redoing Grease, at least one tv series, a remake of Great Gatsby, a Holocaust film and now this!
I have a feeling Everwood's going to get the ax as there's really no indication any programs are moving from either UPN or WB to the new CW.
* Fictional mystery writing best seller of TV's "Murder She Wrote" who solved murders every show for some 12 seasons. Dead people just seemed to happen everywhere she went.
TODAY, the announcement comes that The WB network and UPN will cease to exist in the fall of 2006. From the ash heap of half-baked programs and ethnic pandering comes the CW Network from Warner Bros. and Paramount.
Lance Bass has become the Jessica Fletcher* of Hollywood projects: going into space for MTV, redoing Grease, at least one tv series, a remake of Great Gatsby, a Holocaust film and now this!
I have a feeling Everwood's going to get the ax as there's really no indication any programs are moving from either UPN or WB to the new CW.
* Fictional mystery writing best seller of TV's "Murder She Wrote" who solved murders every show for some 12 seasons. Dead people just seemed to happen everywhere she went.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Many bits to talk about
First off I've been sick a bit this week which annoys me. I hate communing with the porceline throne. Maybe if I installed an LCD-TV... anyway, MacWorld was this past week. I was disappointed with the Keynote. If you're eager for the Intel-based Macs, wait. Some features that were in the Powerbooks before are gone like S-Video and no one is clear what the battery time will be like. MacBook Pro is a ****house product name. Powerbook was the Mac notebook line before they ever moved to PowerPC processors. If you're in the market for a Mac, why not get today's tech instead of going to the first of the next generation which will obsolete by the time most of the Mac user base moved to the Intel-based systems? Seems reasonable to wait close to a year.
College friend from Las Vegas phoned for my birthday. We haven't talked in a year because, well, I hate telephones. It was a nice surprise. He's well.
There might be another nephew on offer. A newborn! He's due this month. I think this is a study in insanity considering the financial strain. I've joked with others that someone's bound to be marked for assassination. Or someone won a big pot of dough. My excitement for this is on lifesupport.
What else? I haven't seen Brokeback Mtn. but just might. If it's still playing when I'm feeling mostly human again.
The Shield started this week. It was OK. Not spectacular but not exactly bad. I'm cautiously optimistic. Desperate Housewives has continued to show scantily clad Shawn Pyfrom (as Bree's bad seed Andrew) and Ryan Carnes (his 'friend with benefits'). There's little else to recommend continued viewership of that show at this time. Another episode is coming tomorrow so maybe it'll improve.
There's damn little else on TV I bother with. It's more filled with cliches or obvious plot twists or marginal acting while not being escapist entertainment than at any time in memory. "Bah," I say.
I'm tired; I want a nap. Brother's supposed to come by so I can't really sleep. No dinner out. The street is finally wet, I guess there's been a bit of rain.
More when I'm feeling healthy enough to type.
College friend from Las Vegas phoned for my birthday. We haven't talked in a year because, well, I hate telephones. It was a nice surprise. He's well.
There might be another nephew on offer. A newborn! He's due this month. I think this is a study in insanity considering the financial strain. I've joked with others that someone's bound to be marked for assassination. Or someone won a big pot of dough. My excitement for this is on lifesupport.
What else? I haven't seen Brokeback Mtn. but just might. If it's still playing when I'm feeling mostly human again.
The Shield started this week. It was OK. Not spectacular but not exactly bad. I'm cautiously optimistic. Desperate Housewives has continued to show scantily clad Shawn Pyfrom (as Bree's bad seed Andrew) and Ryan Carnes (his 'friend with benefits'). There's little else to recommend continued viewership of that show at this time. Another episode is coming tomorrow so maybe it'll improve.
There's damn little else on TV I bother with. It's more filled with cliches or obvious plot twists or marginal acting while not being escapist entertainment than at any time in memory. "Bah," I say.
I'm tired; I want a nap. Brother's supposed to come by so I can't really sleep. No dinner out. The street is finally wet, I guess there's been a bit of rain.
More when I'm feeling healthy enough to type.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Hello... Dolly?
Yes, this is my first live post of the new year. I'll probably add a few things later on and do some 'serious' blogging in the next week. Well, I'll try!
But I've got to ask: how many drugs were abused in deciding "The Producers" would be worth a $45 million budget? This musical is a remake of a Mel Brooks classic featuring the song "Springtime for Hitler and Germany." I sat through most of the original. It wasn't that funny and I've actually liked some (parts of?) musicals* and Mel Brooks is reasonably capable of writing humor but it just didn't do it for me.
* Ok, give me time to think of some filmed musicals... uh... "The Sound of Music" sucked. "Hello Dolly" has one number I'd cut (painfully long number at the gazebo) but the huge title production with Louis Armstrong makes up for it. I guess "Mary Poppins" is a musical but I can't stand Dick Van Dyke and wish his chimney sweep fell off the roof! "The Music Man" is brilliantly done by Robert Preston (forget the Matthew Broderick remake). Every copy of "Mame" with Lucile Ball should be burnt. Go see the outrageous non-musical comedy "Autie Mame" with Ros Russell or if you really want to sample the original Broadway show "Mame" pick up the cast album with Angela Lansbury in the title roll. Elton John & Tim Rice's "Aida" is an enjoyable stage musical. The cast album is hurt by the pathetic male lead. I saw it with a stronger performer cast.
But I've got to ask: how many drugs were abused in deciding "The Producers" would be worth a $45 million budget? This musical is a remake of a Mel Brooks classic featuring the song "Springtime for Hitler and Germany." I sat through most of the original. It wasn't that funny and I've actually liked some (parts of?) musicals* and Mel Brooks is reasonably capable of writing humor but it just didn't do it for me.
* Ok, give me time to think of some filmed musicals... uh... "The Sound of Music" sucked. "Hello Dolly" has one number I'd cut (painfully long number at the gazebo) but the huge title production with Louis Armstrong makes up for it. I guess "Mary Poppins" is a musical but I can't stand Dick Van Dyke and wish his chimney sweep fell off the roof! "The Music Man" is brilliantly done by Robert Preston (forget the Matthew Broderick remake). Every copy of "Mame" with Lucile Ball should be burnt. Go see the outrageous non-musical comedy "Autie Mame" with Ros Russell or if you really want to sample the original Broadway show "Mame" pick up the cast album with Angela Lansbury in the title roll. Elton John & Tim Rice's "Aida" is an enjoyable stage musical. The cast album is hurt by the pathetic male lead. I saw it with a stronger performer cast.
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