A SECRET blueprint for US global domination reveals that President Bush and his cabinet were planning a premeditated attack on Iraq to secure 'regime change' even before he took power in January 2001.

The plan, which among other things, calls for the US to 'fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theatre wars', was penned by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), who's members include Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Jeb Bush and others. This article gives us details on the devilish plans.

If you doubt the existance of the PNAC, or its agenda, check out the PNAC web site.

Back to work... grrrrr. Now I appreciate the 2 weeks off. Recap... Mystic Aquarium, Rach's SB tourny, Rockport overnight, CT Sun BBall game, Mohegan Sun (won some $$). Home stuff accomplished; fixed Cable TV connectors, replaced broken house fan, had 4 trees cut down (good job PD), stacked wood. Not bad.

Came back to HELL at work. 'puter problems all over the place. Biggest prob, companies FTP server (also used for networked apps and my Postal Sorting DB app) was acting real funky. The more I tried to work with it, the worse it was getting. After several days of troubleshooting, I am convinced that we were victims of Denial of Service (DOS) attack. What'd I do to plug the security holes? Checked Winblows update site to find I needed Win2000 Service pack and 33 SECURITY PATCHES!!! Yikes! Spent 2 1/2 days tearing my hair out (what little is left) dealing with the problem. Meanwhile, company FTP is down, and work keeps piling up. Thankfully the patches worked, and everything seems to be copasetic. Now I can get back to catching up for the 2 weeks off.

Guess what? Not one Mac computer problem at work while I was gone! Hmmmm.

Woa! Got my Powerbook back from AppleCare Service in less than 48 hours. Incredible. Sent it in just Tuesday afternoon (overnight shipping prepaid), and Thursday, its back, all the way from Texas. Apple Rocks!

Fun weekend, the annual summer NCGSL softball tourny. Rach played 5 games over 2 days. Vernon girls won the tournament (as well as regular season champs). I LOVE this game, and love watchin' Rachy play. Lots of great pics.

Halfway through my couple-a weeks off. Not doin' much.

One thing I've done with my "way-to-much-time" is create this Web page to celebrate my MS-Free computing on my new Powerbook. Check it out. Even if you don't care about the content, you have to see the movie clip, I've included (Dance Monkeyboy). Its a hoot, if you haven't seen it before.

I also bought this book, to learn Unix during my vacation. And another book for Hackin' the Mac.

Yes... I am geeking out to the max. Beginning to scare myself!

Now... the disaster of the week. The hinges on my brand new powerbook lid busted. Damn... brand new, thankfully it will be fixed under warranty, but it still means that I have to send it back to Apple for a week or so. Well, its not like we don't have any 'puters around here to keep me geekin out on while its being fixed.

Got my new Powerbook. Woohoo! My goal is to make it a Microsuck free computer. Trying OpenOffice, an Open Source Office suite to replace MS Office and Apple's Safari in place of IE for my web browser. So far... so good. Sweeeet!

Obscuring the truth - Making the CIA and George Tennet the fall guys for Bush's Iraq folly is nothing more than this administration's (and the Republicans) efforts to obscure the truth and escape its own responsibilities. It is obvious that from the beginning, Bush pressured the CIA to come up with intelligence to support its intentions to invade Iraq. There were several reports before the invasion that Bush cherry-picked his information, slanted intelligence, and ignored other information in order to support going to war. Just recall Collin Powell's address to the United Nations. Powell showed dozens of satalite images of WMD research facilities, storage depots, missle sites, even possible nuclear accelerators. Each and every one of these has been uncovered as something other than what Powell claimed. This was not evidence of WMD... it was all a fabrication of the truth. The world didn't buy it then, and defeated the US resolutions authorizing military actions. However, with Bush's relentlessness in his desire to have his war, for his own political and economic agenda, the US public was Bushwacked into going along with his devilish scheme. Now the truth is coming out, and Bush and the Republicans will try to hang the CIA, rather than do the right thing; face up the their responsibilities and admit the truth.

Back to work after nice holiday weekend. A classic 4th of July holiday. Fireworks in downtown Rockville. Community Concert band performed in the streets of Rockville, Aaron Copeland suite, 1812 overture, followed by fireworks. Went to New Britain Rockcats minor-league baseball, followed by fireworks. Then, went to Hartford Riverefest... followed by fireworks. Finished off the long weekend on Sunday with a trip down to the shore for a New England Lobster dinner at Abbott's. Ah!!! Thats the way to spend the Fourth of July.

My running career might be over. Every time I've run recently, I've gotten bad pains in my hip. Each time I've given it a rest before running again, but each time its taken longer to recover. Now I've got another bruise on my heal thats bothering me. Can't stand not getting my running time in, so I've started with some bike riding. Not quite as intense a workout, but its something.

Earlier this week, attended forum sponsored by the Green Party in town. It was about the proposal in front of the Zoning board for Walmart and Home Depot coming to town. Several speakers talked about the impact of such a move on the community in terms of the community, economy and environment. It was a real eye opener. I especially learned much from a UCONN professor from NEMO. I had no idea of the impact of these Big Box Developments on the wetlands, and its affect on our water supply. Her presentation was scientific, well researched, and relevant with slides showing the impact of similar development in other Connecticut towns and cities using satalite imagery.

I think this is a great local issue to get involved in. This town is definetly at a crossroads, and the community needs to be heard. We don't want to see our town become victims of commercial sprawl. It is obvious that any tax benefits will be negated by increased expenses in town services and lowering of property values if the Zoning board gives in to these large corporate interests.

Another week gone by... seemed like an eternity. I think another The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is in order:

The Good - Nephew Martin G. graduates Rockville High. Always great to see these kids pass another important milestone. Eventful ceremonies, as the sky opened up to monsoon like rains midway through the handing out of the diplomas. Congrats to you, Mawty... great, great job!

The Bad - Dad's heart attack on Tuesday, followed by hospital stay and surgery. Mom ends up in a care unit, dazed, confused and upset.

The Ugly - Dad gets placed in a hospital that cannot perform the necessary procedures we all know he will need. They put him on the operating table anyway, only to make the decision to transfer him elsewhere. He gets transfered to Bridgeport Hosp, but we are told by the nurse that he was transfered to St Raphael in New Haven. Of course we are calling St Raphy's for hours, and Pops never arives. In our minds he is lost for hours, until a lot of detective work uncovers his true location. Dad's arteries get invaded once again which has since caused much pain and aggravation. What a mess!

Lots of traveling from work to Bridgeport to Southbury over the next couple of days with lots of stress, worry and lost sleep. Hopefully Sis and I gave some aid and comfort to M&D during this difficult time.

In the end, Mom and Pop are reunited. Their incredible Love for each other sustained them and gave them the strength needed to make it through.

Saturday eve... picked up C after work. Just walked on into a concert midway through. Watched the last set of incredible bassist Stanley Clarke. Played an amazing acoustic upright bass. What a sound, and what a soft touch. His big ole fingers just danced over those strings. Encore was a rockin rendition of his famous School Days on electric bass. Sunday after only 3 hours sleep, drive Rae and And to airport for their journey to Fla.

Man, I am completly beat. Its been a helluva week.

Full weekend. Saturday family get-together at our house. All families represented, M&D, Last, Gag, Press, Bergs...good to see the cousins together. Sure did miss Laura though.

Sunday ran my 3rd 5K race. I did really well... at least for me, improving my time by another couple of minutes. Hips are hurtin' today though. Rach ran with me. She just did it for me... I'm sure she didn't really want to run. She finished, did good, better than me in my first attempt.

Found these paragraphs buried deep within another unrelated story on CNN's web site today. Interesting how this never found its way into a network newscast or on the front page of the newspapers.

Civilian deaths
At least 3,240 civilians were killed in the U.S.-led war in Iraq, including 1,896 in Baghdad, according to a study of hospital records and death certificates conducted by The Associated Press.

The report was based on records from 60 of Iraq's 124 hospitals from March 20, when the war began, to April 20. The 64 hospitals that were not visited were in dangerous or inaccessible areas, the AP said.

The news agency said the actual number of civilian deaths was probably "significantly higher" because it did not include figures from hospitals that did not distinguish between civilian and military deaths and because some hospitals' records were incomplete or damaged in the fighting.

U.S. and British officials told the AP that coalition forces tried to minimize civilian casualties and that they did not count civilian deaths.

Happy days... Claire landed a teaching job. She has been working towards this for at least 5 years, and has finally achieved it. A real career, regular hours, good benny's. Profesionally, something that she can get some real satisfaction in.

Dave came through again with a couple of tix for Aretha Franklin tomorrow night. $100 a seat VIP tickets! Since C is working, and D can't make it, its just Rach and me... dinner and a concert. Should be a fun night out.

All Matrixed out - a couple of weeks ago, saw Matrix Reloaded. I was blown away by the action and special effects, but was totally lost over the story line. I figured I had to watch Matirx 1 again. Rented it... watched it twice. The original Matrix is an incredible work of Sci-Fi. Great, great story, tremendous depth of philisophical issues (e.g. what is reality, matters of choice, computer AI simulations, etc.). Then saw Matrix Reloaded a second time. This time, I could make some sense of the story, but they really took things to a rediculous level that goes beyond the realm of reason, even for science fiction. So, besides my original screening of Matrix Reloaded, I sat through Matix twice, then Reloaded for the second time. That is enough of Matrix for a lifetime (oh yeah, Matrix 3 is due out later this year).

Here is my take on what happened. **** Warning - Spoiler below**** Have to write this down, or I'll forget it. The Architect states it all near the end. In order to make the Matrix a true simulation based on the human experience, he had to give humans the ability to make choices. Since Humans inevitably make the wrong decisions which ultimately results in their own destruction, the program, over time will fail. In fact, it has failed 5 previous times, and this is the 6th version of the Matrix. The System chose Neo to be the One. He was given a choice to go through the door on the left to go back to Zion and pick 11 men and 11 women to rebuild Zion after the machines destroy it, or he can take the door to the right and save Trinity, but the Matrix will be destroyed... of course he makes the Human decision and saves Trinity for the sake of love, and now we must wait for Matrix 3 to see the conclusion. (BTW, in the middle of the film, Neo asks the Chancelor why there are no young people on the Council. The Council members are the 23 people chosen to rebuild Zion, thus they are all part of the System, and the Council must know the fate of Zion and the purpose of the One.) And, yes, there are more holes in this story line than in a block of swiss cheese.

Been three weeks or so since last entry and a lot's been happenin'.

• Ran my second 5K race. Improved time by 2 full minutes... time still sucks, but I'm into training to improve it. Next race is Fathers day.
  
• Dave got us VIP seats to the opening game of Connecticut Sun WNBA game at Mohegan Sun. Lotsa fun, Chaka Khan sang at halftime. Dave is working for the team prepping music and doing video editing. way cool, Dave.
  
• Followed that by great weekend at Rockport MA. Been going there for about 13 years. Sadly, Gunter and Renata are selling Rocky Shores Inn, so this may be the last time to stay there. Weather wasn't the best, but had a great time. Long walks by the shoreline, good eats, took a great morning run. Read a great book.
  
• Read *Into Thin Air* by Jon Krakaur. Great read, real page turner. It's about climbing Mt. Everest and the incredible disaster of 1996 that claimed 8 lives. Just happens to be 50 anniversary of Hillary/Norgay expedition that was the first successful climb, so lots of current stuff about Everest in the news.
  
• Work's been goin pretty good too... good year to date, negotiated new contract on equipment that will save company over $100K/yr. Forcasts, though, are for some rough times during the summer.

At the moment, things are pretty good. Biorythms must be all at their peaks. Course, that can all come crashing down at a moments notice!

Ran first road race. The Mother's Day Dash is a 5K (3.1 mi.) race. Great fun. I'll be doing more of these for sure. My time sucked, but it was my first race. Now I have something to train for. Can't wait for next one.

Work- Brutally stressful last week due to an invasion of a computer virus that took over our servers, gateway, and many workstations. Huge effort to irradicate the problem, including completely rebuilding the NT server that is our Internet Gateway. This time, have installed anti-virus and firewall. I lost many hours of sleep over this one. PC's are so vulnerable to this stuff. Another reason to Love Your Macs.

Ah... Fantasy Baseball (FBB). America's Favorite Pastime... for geeks. FBB is why the Internet was invented. Stats, Stats, Stats. Real-time stats available for endless player analysis. Manage your line-ups, negotiate trades, Constant banter and trash talk on-line. Anticipation of how your team performs. The Thrll of Victory (someday I'll experience), the Agony of Defeat (much more familiar).

Poor Rach... cracked her thumb during a softball game. Required going under the knife. Emotionally trying day for us all. Man, its tough to see your baby suffer.

Talkin' about my baby. She turned 16. That means DRIVING. Though the above injury will keep her off the road for a while, the girl did quite good for a newbie at the wheel. Getting the license is the first step towards a kids independence. Found that out with Dave. Once he got his car... he was lost to us. So it goes, such is life. You raise 'em, and they leave you for a life of their own. Car, college...

Nice Easter weekend in Rochester NY with C's family. Went clubbin' late Fri. night. Saw hot fusion band. Roch is a happenin place. Saturday, big family party. Place was crawlin with little ones. Whole new generation has cropped up. Funny how we used to horse around with our nephews, then our nephews... with our kids, now our kids play with our nephews kids. It just keeps goin' round and round. Of course, I got some pics.

UCONN Lady Huskies - National Champions... what a wild ride, again. Woohooo! And, there are no seniors, they will all be back next year!

Last night, saw Bela Fleck and the Flecktones live... just incredible. Comp tickets from Dave. Enjoying the concert with him made it one great night. Thanks, Dave.

Tonite, I watched American Masters-Joni Mitchell. Joni evokes so many feelings and memories. Listening to each and every album with my sisters Laura and Diana, her anthem to Woodstock, in later years, her collaborations with my heroes of Jazz (Jaco, Wayne Shorter, Herbie, Mingus, Metheny). What an inspiring musician, poet and artist. This TV production gave me incite into her life and art. A great documentary on this incredible woman. Public TV... amazing how they can consistently turn out such high quality productions.

I believe the saying is "The first casualty of war is the truth". This war is no exception. Weren't we led to believe that the Shock and Awe campaign would demoralize the Iraqi army and leaders into giving up this war quickly? Weren't we told that Iraqi military would be laying down their weapons and surrendering in droves? Weren't we told that Iraqi civilians would welcome our forces with open arms? It appears to me that our government seriously miscalculated almost everything about the Iraqi response. Shock and Awe has had little effect. Iraqi military is putting up signifcant resistance. I think the jury is still out on whether our presence is welcomed by the citizens of Iraq, but the initial appearance is that we are viewed as an occupying force. All of this makes me very skeptical of anything our government tells us. Propaganda is a powerful weapon, and it is used extensively by both sides.

I keep seeing images in this war that remind me of Vietnam. I realize that this war is nothing like Vietnam... and god forbid it should ever become that. However, these pentagon briefing, with military officials desperatly trying to set realistic expectations, and bragging about the effectiveness of bombing or ground conflicts, the reporting of casualties, are scary reminders of those awful days. This really hit home as I watched a plane delivering the remains of deceased soldiers back to Britain with full military regalia.

Please, God, make this war end soon. the longer this goes on, the greater risk that this will escalate beyond our control. There are so many opportunities for bad things to happen; terrorism, Syria, Kurds and Turks, Israeli engagement, launch of chemical weapons, just to name a few.

The reality is we are in this war up to our armpits. There is no turning back. I support our troops, I want us to prevail, I want Saddam to leave Iraq... I just want this over quickly.

Seems like one of those significant milestones... traded in the ole' Family Minivan for a hip new (well, used) Jeep Grand Cherokee. The days of Soccer Mom/Dad, are begining to fade away.

Saw George McGovern on Larry King last night. What a great man (and a WWII decorated figher pilot); a reminder of how the Democratic Party once was, and should be. He was very articulate against the war, and what he said rang so true. There are so many motives that have resulted in this war beyond those that we are being told; oil, money, revenge, our inability to capture Osama, politics, economics, etc. The reality is that Iraq has not been a threat to anyone in the last 10 years, the inspectors have not uncovered any chemo-bio weapons, and thus far, our troops have not either.

The best way to support our troops is to get them home and put an end to the death and destruction that is going on en mass. Shock and Awe has begun, the destruction is horrific, and one can only hope that this conflict will conclude quickly before this escalates into a situation that is totally unpredictable and out of control.

Listening to GW Bush's address and ultimatum for war was a bone-chilling experience last night. War is upon us, and that is a serious and sobering thought. I have definetly been staunchly anti-war... but I gotta admit, Bush made an effective argument for the actions to come. Also, following the speech I watched PBS Frontline. They did an in-depth report on Saddam Hussein, and the history of this conflict. This guy really IS a dangerous son-of-a-bitch. He holds Stalin as his hero and mentor, and models his leadership after him. I trust PBS news for delivering the facts, and this Frontline production has tempered my view to the point of accepting the events that are likely to come. Don't get me wrong... my greatest hope is that significant worldwide pressure will come to bear on Saddam in the next 40 hours, and that he will leave the country, and the war will be over before the first bomb is to fall.

Posted my old Palm V and MP3 player on ebay. Put 'em together as a bundle. Hope it sells.

Lovin' my Sony Clie, Personal Entertainment Organizer. Way cool. Palm OS PDA, combined with MP3 player, Memory Stick, HiRes full color screen. Also got Missing-Sync which integrates the Clie with Apple's iLife apps. Specifically it lets you load up tunes from iTunes, and photo's from iPhoto, as well as mounting the Memory Stick as a hard drive on the desktop. Sorry 'bout the geekspeak, but its a great combination of products well integrated for the maximum coolness factor.

Its March... that's one full year that I've maintained my 45 lb. weightloss.

The Pianist - These Holocaust movies just rip at my heart and soul. They are painful to watch, yet I am compelled to watch them. The darkest most demonic works of fiction could not equal the horrors of living through the Nazi occupation of Warsaw as a Jew. Roman Polanski does an incredible job of bringing this true story (based on the autobiography of Wladyslaw Szpilman) to life. You feel the terror, humiliation and despair of Szpilman, as he narrowly escapes the deathly fate of his family and fellow jews of Warsaw. An incredible set design recreates the scene of the Warsaw ghetto during the Nazi occupation.

This is a movie that should be seen be everyone, especially as we find ourselves on the eve of sensless war. It is a reminder of the brutality of War and its effect on the lives of innocent families that must endure such horror. War must be avoided at all costs.

Just ordered myself a Sony Clie. My Palm is on the blink, and I always liked these PDA's. Price just dropped, free shipping and 0% financing from Best Buy, so I bought on-line. Hope it comes soon!

.Mac - Apple's controversial service, once a free perk for all Mac users... now costs significant bucks. Like most users, I didn't like shelling out the scratch, but I have to say, .Mac has evolved into a very useful set of tools, well worth the price, IMHO. I use Homepage to publish my photo galleries with just a few clicks in iPhoto, and iCal calendaring, and iDisk gives me internet based file storage and sharing. Webmail is a great email app and a kenl@mac.com email address. iSync keeps all my contacts and calendaring in-sync between my various Macs and palm PDA as well as making it all available over the Web. There are even more services I have yet to tap into. All beautifully integrated into Mac OS X.... Winblows users just can't appreciate the coolness of all this!

Life is harsh. The economy is in the dumper. There is no security for me and my family. Its freezing cold, the skies are gray, the snow is crusty and filthy. People are nasty, relationships are difficult, friends are hard to find. I can't remember the last time I had a really good time, or laughed out loud. Recently, I've been ripped-off, deceived and disrespected. We are about to engage in a senseless war. I think I need a vacation... bad.

Its nearly the end of January, and I have only posted twice this month. Just nuttin' much to say, I guess. Work is picking up... that's a good thing. Kid's are back to school. Dave made dean's list his first semester... way to go, kid.

Saw some good movies worth mentioning. 1- Focus (rental), good lesson in prejudice and bigotry. Special meaning for us Jewish folk. 2- Adaptation (playing at a theater near you), Excellent, wild and crazy ride for the brain. That was one of those movies I really didn't want to see... went along for the wife's sake... but, Woa! this was really different (in a good way). I like that... when you have no expectaions of seeing something special, and then you are really WOWed.

Tryin' to keep the weight thing under control. Started to gain some weight after the holidays so I've buckled down, took some WW points off the range, back to the gym, and I think I'm back on track.

MacWorld Expo SF. Always cause for celebration for those of us Mac heads. Great announcements of incredible products. I am posting this blog from the new Safari web browser... lean, mean, gorgeous looking, and fast as hell. And those new Powerbooks, big and small, full featured with stuff you won't see on a Winblows laptop for years... like a fibre-optic backlit keyboard that illuminates by an autosensor that measures the ambient light.... whew! Gotta see it to believe it. Much, much more... Damn, I love Apple Computer!!

Women's Basketball. Connecticut is crazy over its UCONN Women's Huskey BBall team. And it doesn't get any better than the Uconn/Tennesee rivalry. Yesterdays game was one of the greatest I have seen... in any sport at any time. Diana Taurasi's 3/4 court shot at the half time buzzer... come back from an 8 pt deficit with 3 minutes to go to tie it up... winning by one point in OT. These girls showed an incredible amount of heart to tough it out for the big win. woohooo!

The holidays have come and gone. Its the last day of the year 2002. To that I say good riddance. Lets face it... this year was a real stinker. Lets review (thats what everyone does this time of year, right?). We grieved the death of my Sister, than got the news that friend Bob B died in a tragic though heroic skydiving accident. My work situation was intollerable. When new management came in, I was forced to drop the axe on a good freind and co-worker, than realized that I had to make a change myself. Going through all that was hell. To make the situation worse, I am still fighting for some of my retirement money that was "with-held" (I am stating that nicer than the situation actually should be described... grrrr). Well, I landed up in a much better professional situation, but the fact is that the economy just plain sucks, and my industry in particular (printing) is spiraling downward. That weighs heavy on our minds, and no one in this business is feeling too secure. My dear wife suspended her dream of going into teaching, and went back to her former profession, lab tech, on 2nd shift. That is a great disappointment, but necessity won out. My folks health is of great concern (particularly Mom's). It has been a trying year for them to be sure, but they have showed courage and determination in facing a lot of adversity.

There are some hilites. Son started college and is doing great, Daughter is smart, happy and excels in her sports. I lost over 40 lbs. this year and got into decent physical shape. It was my way of coping with all the crap going on around me. Thats about it... but I guess that is important stuff.

What does 2003 hold in store? Only time will tell. I have to say, that I am NOT very optimistic. Economy continues to suck, political climate is worse than ever, world situation is reaching critical mass... OYE! I am starting to depress myself, so I will end this commentary here.

To anyone who may be reading this... Have a great, happy and safe New Years. Will see you on the Brain Drain in Year 2003.

Tis the season for shopping... hate it! Luckily, I took Rach along with me. This girl can shop. Like a professional, she approached it with a plan... a stratagy. She executed this plan with adroit efficiency, confidently moving from store to store... just takin' care of business. Left on my own, I would have floundered around for hours, getting the wrong stuff at the wrong places... just like all the other Dad's I saw this evening... Glad I had the pro along this evening.

All 3 of the Laster's Macs now boot up in OS X. (4 including my Mac at work)

****Warning! Obnoxious Parental Bragging follows ******
Just got back from RHS Volleyball Banquet. Rachel did herself proud! Here we go... Varsity Letter, All Academic Team, CCC East Championship plaque, JV Most Valuable Player Trophy... AND she emceed the JV paper plate awards... quite a public speaker. Pops was proud! oh yeah, her paper plate award was "asian obsessor"... but let's not go there.

The new and improved LasterCam! Man, it ain't easy getting that picture in the middle of that TV!

LOL - Ya gotta love Ellen Feiss. Lotsa fan sites... ellenfeiss.net is the best... check out every one of the links on that page. I even talked Rach into using the ad for a school video project!

Just back from Rochester. Its been over 1 year since last visit. Here is pix of Kids with Ma and Pa Diaczenko. Nice visit. Claires's folks are getting on in years, but are generally in excellent health. Mom prepared a complete Turkey dinner with all the trimmings... nice job, Baba!

Thanksgiving is always a challenge on the weight control scene. I ate generously, now I realize there is no need to eat till you're ready to burst. First round of the Battle of the Holidays... Ken-1 Thanksgiving-0

Max Amore's
Incredible dinner tonite at Max Amore's. Hot Artichoke Dip, Arugula salad with orange slices and toasted almonds, Veal Saltamboca with baby carrots and roasted potatoes, Ganash Torte with Rasberry Sauce. Top it off with warmed Courvasier. Claire had a GREAT pan seared tuna... barely cooked... melt in your mouth good! David joined us for dinner... a very nice evening indeed!

Saw an excellent movie on Wed. night. Bowling for Columbine is a documentary about gun violence in America. Here are the stats on gun deaths for these countries (avg. per year?): Germany 381, France 255, Canada 165, UK 68, Australia 65, Japan 39, US 11,127. This film tries to find an answer as to the huge disparity between the USA and the rest of the civilized world. Is it violence in TV and movies? Fact is, our violent action movies are hugely popular in Europe and Asia... Video games? Most of those are made in Japan, and are widely bought by Japanese youth (only 39 gun deaths). Don't play the race card, ghettos or unemployment, because all these countries have urban centers with poverty, unemployment and racially diverse populations. This movie does not really have the answers, but does explore many of the possibilities. Do yourself a favor and check out the Website and the flick.

Yesterday was an emotionally trying day. Visited Laura's grave site with family and friends. I have always been a non-believer in things spiritual, but if there was ever evidence that there is a spirit from the departed, we experienced it Sunday. We all felt Laura's presence that day. Maybe it was generated by the intense energy of our combined yearning to remember, honor and have her back with us... but it sure felt like she was there. That wind... it was surrounding us, caressing us in an erie yet comforting way. The day was filled with intense grief, as well as a sense of peace in the knowledge that she remains with us forever.

I got a call from a classmate from New Milford H.S. She gave me the sad news that my HS friend Glen Abraham died September 1. Glen was a good friend at a time when good friends were hard for me to find. After HS, 1971, Glen and I spent 3 weeks traveling together in Israel... backpacking, hitch-hiking, youth hostels. It was a great experience. Those were the great hippy days. I remember Glen mostly by his effusive smile and love of life. He saw good in everything and every being, and that feeling was contageous when you were around him. I feel bad that I never kept in contact with Glen after our trip when I moved to Rochester. Sad, sad news.

Legal experts say Microsoft got off easy. Excerpted from this article:
"The clear message is that monopolists get a free ride, at least in this administration," said Donald Falk, a partner with the law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, in Palo Alto, California, who specializes in antitrust law.

"I thought there was some chance that (the judge) might have entered a decree that actually tried to undo some of the harm that was done," Falk said. "What the opinion said basically was, 'You robbed a bank, you can keep the money, and you can do it again, but don't use exactly the same method.'"

Another legal expert said the judge's wordy opinion does little to ensure that Microsoft will be prevented from using its monopoly on the market for desktop operating systems to illegally harm competitors in new markets.

A far cry from the original decision that would have broken up Micro$loth into seperate OS and Application companies. That is what should have happened.

Thank God they caught the bastard. Let's hope the killing has stopped. My guess is that the media frenzy will continue for months.

Dave and I scored a couple dozen Krispy Kremes tonite at the new Connecticut store. Big traffic, long lines, cops directing traffic..."Hot Doughnuts Now" light was on, and those Original Glazed were hot off the conveyor. Melt-in-your-mouth good!

At least there is one good piece of news today. Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This is a man I have always admired. In my mind he is the example how a great President should conduct himself both during and after his Presidency. This is a great, great man, who unfortunatly got a bad rap due to the Iran hostage situation and the oil crisis in the 80's. He did more for the Arab-Israeli conflict than any other President, and brought honor and honesty to his office. Since leaving office he has devoted his life to helping the poor and the oppressed, and has promoted peace and democracy through both words and actions. Congrats to Jimmy.

I was on the road today, and listened in the car to that asshole Rush Limbaugh completely lambast the Nobel Committee and Jimmy Carter. What a jerk!!! Carter has done more to make this world a better place, than Limbaugh could even dream of doing. Limbaugh made a complete fool of himself... as usual.

My sis lent me October's Harpers Magazine with an article entitled Programming the Post-Human. Its one of those high-brow, scholarly pieces. It's written in that complex academic style, where perhaps you can understand about 1/2 of what is written... hell, probably the author only understood 1/2 of what was written! The thesis was the age old argument, will computer intelligence (AI) ever reach the level of human thinking. This article cites such revered minds as Asimov, Minsky, Turing, and Kurzweil. Attempts to create machines with emotion, sense of community, and bias based on life experience are explored. Then, 3/4 through the article, the author states that what really distinguishes humans from machines is the human drive to Eat and Shit. Is that a hoot or what?? This author must have some of that Laster blood!!!! To quote:

"there are huge swaths of existence that would be impenetrable, indescribable, unprogrammable utterly unable to be represented - to a creature that could not eat or shit"

ROTFLMAO - Reading that in the middle of this intellectual diatribe made me laugh out loud...

Nothing like scoring a couple of Geek Gadgets to pick you up from life's doldrums. Went to the Apple Store yesterday and picked up the Fire-i Digital WebCam and a DiskOnKey tiny portable storage device.

Soooo... The LasterCam is back!

Its the end of the Baseball season. Beloved Mets end up in last place... Manager Bobby V gets the boot. This time its deserved. Mets acquired an array of "talent", and its up to the manager to get the boys to play up to their abilities and to play as a team. Just didn't happen. Now for post-season. Watched a couple games last night. Go Twins! Let's see anyone get to the World Series except Yanks and Braves.

End of season also means end of Fantasy Baseball league. It was a good year with a photo-finish. Unfortunately, my team tanked in September, after spending a good portion of the year in-the-money. It will kill me to pay off the evil-doer. Maybe I'll just sit on the money for a few months...I think that is fitting under the current circumstances (state of my 401K).

Right now, I feel like crap. Too many bad things going on. Concerned about health and well being of my folks. Professionally, my entire industry has a very poor outlook, and that puts everyone on edge. Wife is unhappy with her professional situation. Economy as a whole is tanking, and my kids college funds are dwindling along with the stock market. My ex-employer has ripped off megabucks from my retirement fund. To top everything off, I get nabbed for a speeding ticket a couple blocks from my own home... humiliating and costly. Right now, all I can say is I am pissed off... big time.

As a dedicated Mac OS X user, and one struck with Unix Envy, I really enjoyed reading this article. These guys have been as fiercly anti-Windows as us Mac dudes, and now they have good reason to join forces.

Birthday... #49. Do I feel older... no way! I am in the best shape in my life.

What's with George Bush's obsession with going to war against Iraq? I just don't see the justification for this. Really, I know Saddam is an evil man. There's no shortage of those throughout the world. But, since the last war, over 10 years ago, has he invaded his neighbors? Has he been directly tied to al-Queda or terrorist acts against the US or our allies? Has there been any evidence that he possesses nuclear weapons? Listening to the Bush administration statements, they are careful to say that Sadam possesses the capacity to develop nuclear or chemical weapons... well so do the Saudi's, Iranians, Soviets, and many other countries.

IMHO, Bush is too quick to sacrifice the lives of Americans and others in an obsessive quest to settle the score of Bush Sr.'s war. If Saddam were to be overthrown, who will rule? What government is ready to take Saddam's place and keep the peace? I say keep the diplomatic and economic pressure on with sanctions, boycotts etc. Those efforts are close to yielding the return of weapons inspectors. Our efforts should be focused on the war on terror. We can keep Sadam in check without the heavy costs of all-out war.

Saw the movie One Hour Photo last night. Excellent thought provoking movie. Read my review here. Second consecutive movie that Robin Willliams has played a dark psychotic character. I guess no more Mork and Mindy for him. The way the movie ended was a lot like Hitchcocks classic Psycho. Hey, as long as you are checking out the Movie Review page... how about submitting one.

My son just landed a job at The Daily Campus, UConn's daily newspaper, doing desktop publishing on the Macs and Quark Xpress. Only two weeks at college, and he found the perfect job for himself. This kid is so resourceful and productive. It will be great experience, a good use of his time, chance to meet new people, and some extra cash to boot. Once again Dave has impressed me. He makes such good choices and takes advantage of opportunities to better himself. This kid will succeed at whatever he sets out to do. Dave... YOU DA MAN!

I hate baseball. Yeah, ... right now, I hate the game, hate the players, hate the owners. Don't really care that a strike was averted... doesn't really matter. These selfish, egotistical babies have ruined the season for me. Right now, I hate the game. Ask me again next week...

Dave's gone away to college. A big milestone in his life as he moves towards adulthood and independence. All the thoughts and images of my son's childhood and growing up come back at times like these.

Little League World Series. What a joy to watch. Tonite, the classic matchup... New York vrs. Massachussets. More specifically, Harlem v Worcester. Can't wait to watch. Sad, I would rather watch a game of 12 year olds than Major League Baseball. Considering what is going on with the NY Mets (10 game loosing streak), and strike talks, I'll gladly watch LL World Series.

Its been downright sickening to watch the Mets overpayed "Stars" play piss poor baseball (talkin' bout Mo, Mike, Roberto, Jeremy, Roger....). On top of that, the players are moaning about the owners taking away their opportunity to make more money with the proposed Luxury Tax on big market teams. OH COME ON!!! How greedy can these guys get!! With an average salary of 2.4 million, and stars making tens of millions... I just don't have any sympathy. As a result of this, us fans will most likely not have a finish to this season, maybe no playoffs and world series. Hundreds of ballpark vendors, office workers, ticket agents and parking attendents, small businesses, etc., will be out of work. Shame, shame shame.

Kids away doin' their own thing, so Wife and I get to have a little overnight getaway. Stayed at the Seaward Inn , Rockport Massachusetts. Perfect little mini-vaca. Really relaxed and enjoyed the scenery, lobsta, beaches. Ahhhh!

There is a new Apple Power Mac G4 in the family! Always cause for celebration... yes, I am a certified geek. The day it was announced Dave ran down to the Apple store and picked it up (courtesy of insurance claim from damaging thunderstorm). Awesome Machine! With that comes something for me... Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). Disks with new Mac used to upgrade my iBook. Cool - I get to upgrade 10 days before the official release.

Another weekend, another Softball Tournament. This time came home without trophy. That's OK, cause it was a great tournament, and the girls played exceptionally well. We made it to the semifinal round, but got smitten in extra-innings in a great close game. Venon U-16 team had a record of only 2 wins and 8 losses in the regular season, yet made it to the final four in the tournament. Go Vernon Girls Softball. We are proud of ya.

Woa! Won free tix to a Yellowjackets concert. Put my name in for a drawing at the Jazz Fest... and won! I never win stuff! A pair of $45 VIP 6th row seats... hot damn! Love this group, too!

I do lust for an iPod.

I had a great time this weekend relaxing in the hot sun and watching Rachel's softball tournament for girls 14 and under. It was all day Sat and Sun - 6 games in 2 days in the 90 degree summer heat. Maybe that doesn't sound like fun... but to me, it doesn't get any better. Something about girls softball... these kids had so much fun, good competition, and they really came together as a team. They just struck that perfect balance between being competitive, and having a good time. It was an absolute JOY to watch this event all weekend long. Vernon U-14 Girls won the championship, and my girl Rach won the throwing competition to boot!

Oh yeah... we get to do this all over again next weekend for the Girls 16 and under league. yipee! Pics here.

Got this email today from *Robyn*... just somebody surfin the Web that came across my page... "Dropped by unexpectedly while looking for a link to the Litchfield Jazz fest.  Cute page......looks like a nice family and happy life you have.  Congratulations.  What more could you want?" Damn straight. Sometimes it takes a total stranger to make you realize how lucky you are. That note gave me a nice little pick me up for the day! Thanks, Robyn!

How cool is this! Listenin' to The Dave Matthews Band concert live from Hartford over the Net with streaming audio. Piped through my stereo... sounds real gooood.

Hartford is still alive and kickin'... barely. Just returned from the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz. Very hip. Patricia Barber- pianist and singer from Chicago. Damn good piano, and unique vocal style (she has lots of mp3's on her web site, check it out). The great Phil Woods tight, swingin quintet. And the Joe Sample Trio - What a full deep sound for just three cats. Dude played swing, funk, r&b, ballads... he did it all and really rocked. Great summer evening downtown.

So much has happened, so little time to post. Job - excellent. Presented technology plan... plan approved... now, lots to do. Macworld Expo - yearly gathering of Geeks, Artists, Musicians. Good time had by all. Great crowd, lots of vendors, New stuff? ho-hum. It's like... its all been done. There is nothing left to show that will knock your socks off. Apple - no more free ride. $$ Upgrades, $$ iTools (now .Mac)... guess it is to be expected in these economic times.... but it really sucks. Family Ties - Angst in the extended family. Laura lives on in her sibling. Amazing how strong the pull of bloodlines are on your emotions. 'Nuff said on that one.

The great baseball legend Ted Williams passed away Friday. Twice a triple crown winner and last player to achieve a 400 batting average. Now... this is a bit strange. *On Saturday, Williams' estranged daughter accused her half brother, John Henry Williams, of planning to cryogenically freeze their father's body and preserve his DNA, perhaps to sell in the future.* (from CNN)... and I just watched Vanilla Sky!

Woa! Very cool web applet.

It's been a week since I have journaled here. A lot has happened, but I will try to keep this note brief.

Work - first week on the new job. With that comes anxiety, anticipation, meeting so many people and trying to remember their names, figuring out what my priorities should be when so much needs to be done. As with anywhere, there are some obstacles to overcome, but, I think I'm going to like this place. Some good people here including some old friends. It'll take a few weeks to get all this straight in my head, but with every day, I feel more and more comfortable.

Play - Chilled out after the intensity of my first work week. Saw the movie Minority Report with Tom Cruise. Great flick. Sorta Sci-fi with an incredible vision of the future. Then today, went to NY Mets game. Incredible, exciting game with the Mets winning 5-4 in a come from behind victory.

Other - Dave's graduation! He did it. Graduated HS with honors. Finished up on a high note. Very proud of him. Mom and Dad came up to attend, and so did sister Di and Andrea. Nice to have the family close to celebrate. They put on a huge party for the graduation class. Kids partied from 10PM to 4 AM. See pics here.

Finally, the damn DSL is down again, and I am fed up with SNET taking their sweet-ass time to keep this up and running. We were down for an entire week a couple of weeks ago, and we have been down all weekend, and they haven't even returned my call. Soooo.... it'll be out with DSL, and in with Cable modem. We'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, trying to get along with the dial-up modem speeds. Grrrrr....

For at least a week now, NY City has been salivating over the prospect of Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens coming to bat against the New York Mets. Mets fans were hoping to see Clemens get beaned as retaliation for throwing at Mets star Piazza two years ago! Its been a circus for a week as that has been the big talk of the town. Today, it was like a scene from Gladiator, as the crowd cheered as Clemens walked to the plate... everyone hoping to see blood drawn in the batters box.

Well, what happened was Mets pitcher Shawn Estes threw at him, all right... threw so far inside, that the pitch actually went behind Clemens fat ass... missed him completely! I've got to wonder if that was done intentionally... show the fans and teamates that he was willing to throw at Clemens... yet do the right thing, and not actually try to hurt him. Then the Mets did the right thing and beat the crap out of Clemens on the baseball field. With Estes and Piazza hitting HR's, and having Clemens leave the field injured after sliding into 2nd base. Mets beat Yanks 8-0.

Ahh, Vacation this week, before starting the new gig. To Do's... Read a book, excersize my ass off at the gym, see a couple of movies, go down to the shoreline with wife one day, have lunch with M&D and some friends, learn a new programming skill that I can use at work (PHP), prepare myself for my new job which starts one week from today. That should fill up the week just fine. Wish there was some baseball in town.

Went to see the great Wayne Shorter Quartet in Hartford last night. For those who do not know, this Jazz master made his mark as the saxaphonist and main composer for Miles Davis's most innovative band in the '60's, followed by the co-leader of the great Weather Report fusion group in the 70's.

His current quartet consisted of an incredibly fluent pianist Danillo Perez (first time I have heard him), the great John Pattitucci on bass, and Brian Blades playing drums. They played only about 4 or 5 extended compositions, for less than 1 1/2 hour. Leaving us yearning for more. The musicianship was just incredible. Perez in constant motion on piano, laying the groundwork for Shorters sparse yet perfect playing (especially his beautiful stoccato phrasing on soprano sax). Pattitucci's pyrotechnics and melodic acoustic bass added a full deep tone to the quartet, and Blades wild playing of his entire set, constantly changing between sticks, mallots, and even bare hands. It seemed they were all always soloing, yet never soloing...Very free, "out there" playing, yet within a compositional framework that often blended jazz, ballads and classical influences.

We ended up at Black-Eyed Sallys... a blues club in Hartford. Good food and drink. The group played a so-so blues set, that got a little tiring after a while. I guess it would be pretty difficult to follow up musically, after the incredible performance of Shorter's Quartet.

Yes! My DSL is back. Last Friday, a thunderstorm took out our DSL... fried some wiring in the house. Also smoked a microwave oven, DVD player, an ethernet hub, maybe screwed up Dave's computers, a telephone, a lamp, some light switches... whew! Loosin' the DSL, though really sucked. Had to live with dial-up connection for 4 days... thought I was gonna die!!! Mother Nature took away my geek toys... life's tough!

Guess its safe to talk of it now. The nightmare of the last couple of months is nearly over. I'm talking about my employment at Miller Johnson Printing. The company has been in a financial downward spiral. Its been an extremely unpleasant place to work. New management will come in shortly, and it was obvious that I was not going to play a role in the companies future.

The search for a new job was long and difficult, but at last a deal was struck. I was offered a position as Vice President of Technology at Sweet Waverly Printing. A fine company of good people, making sound business decisions, in need of getting to the next technological level... and I'm the guy to do it!

Good bye and good ridence to (the new) Miller Johnson... Hello, Sweet Waverly. I anxiously await meeting the challenge ahead. Its a new beginning for me, and I intend to make the best of it!

The full story has yet to be told. Perhaps it is best to wait till a clean break has been made... Stay tuned to the Brain Drain for further details!

Rolled my own Sushi this morning for a Memorial day party this afternoon. I knew those techniques perfected in the '70s would come in handy!! Made California rolls, smoked salmon rolls and Brooklyn rolls (lox 'n cream cheese). A new experience!

Me used to be angry young man
Me hiding me head in the sand
You gave me the word
I finally heard
I'm doing the best that I can
I've got to admit it's getting better
A little better all the time (can't get no worse)

Lennon, McCartney - Beatles - Getting Better

Very likely will get some good news today...been patiently working towards this for a long time. I feel great sense of anticipation.

There must be some kinda way outta here.
Said the joker to the thief.
There's too much confusion.
I can't get no relief.

Bob Dylan - "All Along The Watchtower"

How about my Mom. An incredible woman. Suffered two strokes. Last one less than a month ago. According to Dad's last report, she is already up and walking on her own with a cane. She fought back like a prize fighter... down but not out. Just worked her butt off, excersize, physical therapy. She did it quietly, unassumingly, no complaints, no self-pity, never looking for sympathy. Through all this Mom has kept her great sense of humor, upbeat demeanor...a real inspiration. Love you Mom!

Time to rant on the Catholic church, and the service we attended. At the mass for Bobby's funeral yesterday, the priest conducted his service with a complete lack of emotion. He delivered his prayers and sermon in a monotoned drone. There was no attempt to memorialize Bob, no gesture to console the family, no spiritual message relating to Bob's life or death (and there were many opportunities to do so). Just a dull verbatum reciting of biblical verses and prayers. The alter boys (one of which I consider a friend) went about their work in an emotionless robotic like trance, while the paritioners knealt on cue and marched single-file to the alter to receive communion like hypnotized cult members. It was all so uninspired and lacked any spirituality. It was just appauling.

Start with this as my impression of Catholisism... add to that what we have learned about Priest's passions for violating young boys... and, I can't for the life of me understand why Catholisism remains so popular! I guess they have just mastered the art of brain-washing the masses, generation after generation. I will probably burn in hell for eternity for such blasphemous statements. Forgive me.

Bobby's wake... absolutely incredible. Maybe 1500 attendees. Everyone came out to pay tribute to Bob. The Union, the runners, the parachutests. All who knew him wanted to be there and pay their respects. He was that kind of guy.

Funeral... The priest really blew this one! This guy knew nothing about the family, of Bob's heroics, of what Bob meant to others (obviously, not even caring enough to find out beforehand). There was no tribute to Bobby in this ceremony, only sanctimoneous evangelizing of Jesus Christ. Thankfully Bobby's sister gave a heartfealt eulogy at the end of the service. It was a beautiful day at the cemetery, and his parachuting buddies did a flyover at the grave site. Touching and sad moment.

My tribute (and my way of dealing with the sadness) was to run in solitude, and push myself to the limit. I think that's what Bob would do in a similar situation. Can't get over that we will never see him again. So sad for Lisa and the Kids.

Good friend Bob Bonadies died suddenly when his parachute failed to open. He fell 12,000 feet to his death. This may have happened while trying to help his student deploy her own chute. Bob lived life to the max, and perished doing what he loved most. We will always remember you, Bob. We love you Lisa.

Isn't it strange how the warm glow of vacation quickly vanishes and gives way to the harsh reality of day to day making a living grrrrrrrr!

Regarding that its getting more and more intollerable. I have a strategy for dealing with the situation, and I am dogedly pursuing that endeavor. I am being cryptic at the moment, but maybe someday the tale will be told on the Brain Drain.

I think my obsession with weight loss has been a mental diversion from the stress of my work situation. Now that I have reached my weight goal (and way beyond), I can't seem to let go... it has been a struggle to stop loosing weight, and go back to eating normally. Damn, a strange problem deal with.

Ahhh! Vacation. Just what the doctor ordered. Having a great time. Barbs place is great! Hittin' the fitness center daily for a hard workout... then the pool. Then the beach, then out to dinner... you get the idea! Caught a great Fla. Marlins game. Couldn't be better. Off to the beach again...

Put up my weight loss web page. Lots of referals to my web site are from people searching for info on calculating Weight Watcher food points. That info is now here.

Its been a real stressful couple of days. Not going into detail here, but I just barely saved my job, and I was forced cut someone elses. A close associate and friend. Sometimes, making a living can suck.

Been stepping up the excersize. Ran 2 miles, power-walked 2 more. I have found that this is the best stress reliever. Eating only lasts while your doing it, and drinking can provide relief untill you crash... but excersize really does melt away that stress.

Long time, no post. Been extremely busy. Feel good, feel healthy, feel upbeat. Been excersizing, eating good, feel like I am at the top of my game (right now, anyway... all that could change in a heartbeat). Seen some good movies. Finished up the dreaded taxes. Still feel optimistic about possible changes comin' down the road, maybe for me and the wifey (more on that later, maybe).

Of course, Fantasy Baseball in full swing. I am in 3 leagues, and commish 2 of them. Even started one up with all my Internet WW friends from the GoaD BBS. At the moment I am in 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 3 leagues... pretty cool.

ONE MORE WEEK till Vacation. Boy, I am looking forward to that. Already gettin ready. Bought some luggage, took out some clothes and bathing suits. Gotta cop some tix for a Marlins game. Wooooohoooo.

Haven't posted here in many days. A lot has been happening, some good, some bad, some not meant for posting here (at least not at this time). Here is some of the good.

Attended a breakfast at Rockville High to celebrate, as the principal said "The best and brightest" of RHS - Kids that made High Honors. And, do you believe it? Both our kids were being honored! Here is a picture from the event.

Took the afternoon off friday to go to Quinnipiac University. We were all impressed by the school. The small class size and community, the well equipped communications lab, the emphasis on student development. As opposed to UCONN, the large student population and class sizes, not really having the Communications program that Dave wants... maybe Quinny is a better fit for Dave. Quinny would be VERY expensive, it would be much more difficult to fund for 4 years. But, this might be the most important investment that we can make. This experience could shape his entire adult life.

Toot-toot... sorry, but I gotta toot my own horn. Got my Lifetime Key from Weight Watchers. The best reward is setting out to make a difficult goal, and seeing it through to the end. Not only do I feel that pride of accomplishment... but I have a healthier lifestyle for myself and my family. NOW, the trick is... can I make it last a lifetime!

Saw a phenomenal movie - Himalayas. Read my review here. Sure would be nice if others posted their reviews once in a while!

Just one of those lousy stinkin' days. Lots of negative energies. Nothing seems to be going our way (me or SO). I'm in one bad mood... so watch out! I've been snapping at everyone today.

Maybe... the upcoming vacation is what we need to snap out of this funk. I am really looking forward to it. Gotta wait another month though.

Whoopie! I lost 40 lbs., in 16 weeks, and here are the pictures to prove it. Thanks to Weight Watchers, it really works.

Went to Film Fridays International at UCONN this weekend and saw the film Calle 54. As described in the program,

Director Fernando Truebaâ's tribute to Latin Jazz is a joyous celebration of musicmaking by Paquito D'Rivera, Elaine Elias, Gato Barbieri, Tito Puente and many more. Sponsored by the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center. "This is one of the most infectiously joyous celebrations of musicmaking ever committed to film." TV Guide MovieGuide "A brilliantly conceived and elegantly realized documentary tribute to Latin jazz, it packs more drama into each of its 12 musical tableaux than most feature films manage in two hours." Washington Post, "it simply sizzles with sophisticated passion" Ottawa Citizen.

Really enjoyed this flick... went out and bought the soundtrack the next day, and have been groovin' to it all day.

This article is a real hoot. An excerpt: Like all new Apple gear, it belongs in a museum and shouldn't be touched (fingerprints). I'm pretty sure it's as close to sex as you can get with a machine. I mean look at this photo. Scarry thing is... I can really relate!