No crop shot – Zone 30

Most of the photos that I shoot eventually get cropped. Not this one.

- Amsterdam, Sept. 05

Martin Luther King mash-up of 1968 “Drum Major” speech

Below is my mash-up of an excerpt from the famous Martin Luther King Drum Major Instinct speech delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on 4 February 1968 that I created in Soundtrack.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The French wave the white flag again.
Way to go Jacques Chirac!

For a long time, the French have been the butt end of countless jokes. When you would google “French Military Victories” google would return “You mean french Military defeats“. There’s the French military in a nutshell, any Monte Python episode, etc.

The youth unemployment in France is a stagering 20%. In an attempt to decrease unemployment amongst the youth and create a more competitive marketplace, Mr. Chirac and his protege Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin drafted a new law. Here’s an excerpt from a BBC article:

The law introduced a new work contract, known as the First Employment Contract or CPE for under-26s. It was to allow a two-year trial period, during which employers could end a contract without explanation.

Of course the plan was shelved after the worst protests in 40 years. The kids protested and our man Chirac listened. Of course Prime Minister Dom De Villepin is the favorite successor for the presidency. Easy to understand why a speedy change was made especially after De Villepin’s approval rating fell from 49% to an uncomfortable 25%. OUCH.

Of course President Bush’s approval rating has fallen. I believe it may have dropped below 25% as I’ve been writing this. That’s the difference between a leader and a sheep herder. The leader makes tough decisions in the best interest of all people, the sheep herder listens to a few of the sheep and makes a decision at the expense of the rest of the people.

I really thought the French might be on to something worthwhile by creating some competition in the workplace. Actually doing the right thing for a change. Once again very predictable. Keep waving that white flag my fine frenchmen. Way to go Jacques Chirac!

Do Starbucks corporate employees get free coffee?

Does Starbucks corporate have a kitchen where employees deposit their lunches inside the community refrigerator? Do they have the regular coffee office brew stations with Starbucks coffee? Or, do they have a Starbucks store inside corporate headquarters. If they have a corporate store… is the coffee FREE? I mean do employees pay for coffee at the corporate headquarters? If they get the coffee FREE, how many cups are they rationed to per day?

In Cuba, its well known in most cigar factories employees can smoke as many cigars as they wish during the course of a day. They are also allowed to take home three cigars per day. So we know that nicotine is an addictive substance. Consequently, the employees who smoke are hooked. Not a bad thing, just an observation.

If coffee contains caffeine, another addictive substance, how many Starbucks employees drink the coffee? I once worked for a General Motors subsidiary at the Tech Center in Detroit. One of the persons in my department drove a Honda. She was not looked upon very favorably for obvious reasons. This brings me to my next question. What if some of the Starbucks corporate employees do not drink the coffee. Better yet, what if there’s a rebel running around Starbucks corporate drinking Dunkin Donuts coffee? That can’t be good. Or does that person disguise the fact by drinking from a thermos?

Junk mail. A Bigger Problem than Spam

Everyone is so concerned about spam. Every time you open your e-mail just take a look in the inbox all the unwanted mail. There are Spam filters, programs, everything under the sun to keep this pesky mail from entering our inboxes.

My friends, there is a bigger problem than spam. What to do about all the paper junk mail that’s waiting for us everyday in our mailbox. No one seems to really be bothered by all the junk mail we receive on a daily basis.

Everyone is very concerned about spam though. With spam, you may have to actually click on the email and hit the delete key. Of course I would love to have a delete key that worked for my junk mail. But no, I have to go through my snail mail using the following steps:

1. Grab all mail lingering in my mailbox
2. Attempt to carry without dropping any mail
3. Carefully screen into three piles:

A) The “I know this is junk mail” pile
B) The “This might be something actually worthwhile” pile
C) The “Definitely keep because it’s important” pile

4. Open and go through the B and C pile
5. Screen the B pile and put important mail into C pile
6. Discard the A and screened B piles
7. Get rid of all envelopes and keep only necessary inserts from C pile

So this is quite a daily chore. There is no simple delete key for my junk mail. Where are all the wack jobs complaining about all the wasted trees that were used to create the paper my junk mail is printed on. They are nowhere to be found. Rest assured, these are the same people complaining about their spam filters not working correctly. Somebody please explain this to me.
Imagine all the wasted paper that is shipped daily to U.S. residences. I’m no numbers expert but I can only imagine how big this number must be. Multiply that number by 365 days and I believe we have entered into a danger zone. Frightening isn’t it. But hey, I can always revel in the fact that I have a delete key for my spam. Big deal.

There is a do not call registry for unsolicited phone calls.

There are filters and spam software for unsolicited emails.

Where is the “DO NOT MAIL ME CRAP THAT I DIDN”T ASK FOR” registry? Huh? Anybody?

Why the Long Face

I told you it was addictive!

Strip Generator is addictive

So I’m cruising around the internet reading my blogs and such and I happen upon this cool little site called Strip Generator. It’s basically a Flash comic strip generator hence the name. They have a cast of characters pre-built and ready to use. I just started clicking and dragging. I didn’t know where I was going. It’s a interesting way to create. It’s very similiar to how I write music and lyrics. Give it a try…. It’s addictive. At least for some of us!

Strip Generator

The Microsoft Ipod

Here’s a look at what would happen if Microsoft designed… or should I say re-designed the box for the ipod. It’s as predictable as you would expect but funny none the less.

The Microsoft Ipod

The latest oxymoron – Cingular customer service

After purchasing a new mobile phone a couple days ago, I quickly realized that the new service that I ordered wasn’t functioning.

Let me start at the beginning. I switched my service last year from Sprint to Cingular. The main reason that I switched is because my phone no longer worked at home or the office. That only left the car and that accounted for only 30 minutes per day. I was long overdo for a new phone service.

Continue reading »