Gary Burton/Makoto Ozone concert

Went to this incredible Gary Burton, Makoto Ozone concert last night. A beautiful night to see a show in an outdoor venue. The music was spectacular. Probably the best musicianship I have ever seen live, in concert... and I have seen some of the best jazz musicians around. These cats had just incredible chops. Just a duet; Gary Burton, probably the worlds best vibe player, and Makoto Ozone, whom I had never seen nor heard of before last night, blew me away with his virtuosity on piano. For just two players, these guys had a fullness of sound that at times sounded like a full orchestra. They displayed an intensity in their solos, as well as great empathy for each other's playing. They played classical, swing, and ballads with incredible skill. Here is a sampling.

MacWorld Boston 2004

Macworld Conference & Expo was once one of those events that I most looked forward to every year. In its hay-day, it was the largest expo in the city of Boston, often occupying 3 different buildings simultaneously. Fast forward to circa 1999. Apple's market share dropped from around 20% to below 5%; they had lost a foothold in big business and are now a niche player in the creative markets and home computing and a few other niches. MacWorld Boston moved to NYC, the Media and Advertising capitol, in order to re-invigorate excitement for the Mac platform. It worked for a couple of years, but after 9/11, and because of the competitive market and economy, the show continued to decline.

As I understand the rumors, after the 2003 show IDG, the company that produces the Expo, got an offer from Boston that was too good to pass up to move the show back to that city. They signed up to be the first Exposition in the spankin' new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Apple got pissed off because they wished to keep the show in NYC. IDG was committed to Boston and refused to change plans. Sooooo.... Apple pulled out of MacWorld Expo, and furthermore stated that they would no longer participate in a MacWorld on the East Coast, though they would continue to have the San Francisco Exposition.

What kind of Expo was MacWorld Boston without Apple Computer???. It was rather small and pathetic in this big new Expo center. There were only a couple of big players (e.g. Quark, Xerox). But it was actually pretty fun. The big cool new applications being shown were mostly Music. A niche that suits my tastes just fine. iPods and accessories were everywhere. Berkley College of Music put on some great presentations on how to set up a music studio, Logic Audio digital sound editing apps were amazing, and Guitar Rigg is an incredible program to add special EFX to your guitar. There were other innovative new applications and hardware being shown. Telephony, animation, 3D modeling and Graphics... Remember when MacWorld was almost entirely Printing and Graphics?

After all is said and done, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the last MacWorld Expo to be held on the east coast. Too bad. It will be the end of an era.

But don't worry about Apple Computer. they just released their Quarterly results, and its all good. $61 million in profits, 30% increase in revenues, and the stock price at its highest point in many years. Some great new products will be announced later this year including a new line of G5 iMacs. iPod sales increased 163% and the iTunes Music store has sold over 100 million songs and made a profit. Best of all, Apple still leads the industry in innovation and has the coolest and best computer hardware and OS that money can buy. Apple iRocks!

Random

Enjoyable weekend. First, went to see the flick Fahrenheit 9/11 on opening night (see previous post). Went to Rose garden at Elizabeth park and took some good pics. Best of all, CL (with a little of my influence) bought herself a new blue iPod mini! Nothing like bringing home a spankin' new Apple gizmo. This baby rocks! An absolutly gorgeous piece of engineering. We are now a 2 iPod family. Also, bought tix for Summerwind Jazz series (Gary Burton, Count Basie, Wynton Marsalis) to keep us swingin' through the summer.

Fahrenheit 9/11

This is a must see movie. The latest Documentary from filmmaker Michael Moore, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a powerful anti-war movie and an indictment of the Bush presidency. Unfortunately, I am afraid that in most cases the theater will be filled with those that have similar anti-war anti-bush tendencies, so he will be preaching to the choir.

The film does a great job of showing Bush's close family ties with the Saudi's, and how the US government went to great lengths to protect the Saudi Royal family and even the Bin Laden family after the 9/11 disaster. It also shows how Bush, Cheeny and their cronies have a lot to gain ($$$) from this war.

Perhaps the most powerful images are those of the Iraq war. There is nothing quite like seeing bodies blown to pieces, innocent families searching through the rubble of thier destroyed homes looking for loved ones, and soldiers with their limbs amputed, to make you see the horror and recklessness of what we have gotten into. The movie follows a woman who is a flag-waving American and mother of veterans of the first Iraq war. At first she encourages her son to join the army, and then after her son's death is transformed into one that sees the utter uselessness of this war and becomes a strong critic of George W. Bush. She reads her son's last letter, where her son expresses what most soldiers must feel. In his letter, he states; Why are we here? The Iraqi people hate us and don't want us here. Rumsfeld should resign for the terrible job he has done. I don't think anyone could listen to this letter from this now dead soldier, and believe that this is where our young men and women should be dying and being wounded.

Of course Moore partakes of his usual shenanigans of making our revered leaders from the President to the Congress look laughable... but this is no laughing matter to be sure, and Michael Moore rightly gives the levity a back seat to the seriousness of his message. A great documentary.

Radio for the People

My newest obsession... Radio for the people, 91.7 WHUS Storrs CT. I've jumped in headfirst after being turned on to it by my son. If I can get through the 6 weeks of classes and lab requirements and cut a demo tape, I will get my own radio show. Besides all the cool geeky stuff with the control boards and all the technology involved in radio broadcast, the socio-political aspect of college radio is just as fascinating.

Only 1/5 (87-92mHz) of the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum known as FM radio is designated as Non-Commercial radio. All points to the right of that frequency, 80% of the FM band, has become a vast wastland of broadcast air. In this day of mass media marketing, commercial radio is no more than a conduit for pushing products to the 18-24 year old demographic. What is worse, is that all the radio stations are owned by the same 5 or 6 media conglomerates that control the music, news and commentary. So, every station basically plays the same music, sells the same products and controls your entertainment choices and BTW will dare not use the airwaves to present alternative viewpoints that may offend its advertisers or the political-economic system in general.

Then there is non-commercial radio. An alternative voice. The left side of the dial is an oasis of free speech, alternative news and music of every variety and taste. If I make it through the program, and get my own show of Jazz, Fusion, Electronic and beyond, it will be an honor and a priviledge to serve the listening audience (what little of it there may be!). It will also be a lot of fun, access to tons of music, and an association with many cool folks that are dedicated to Radio For The People. thanks Dave!

Farewell to Ray Charles

Yesterday Ray Charles passed away at age 73. A great musical artist and a legend. His impact on American Music cannot be overstated. His voice and intonation makes his music immediatly recognizable. I first remember hearing Ray Charles from my father playing 'Georgia' on his reel to reel. Then of course the hit 'What'd I Say' that I remember spinning on a 45 rpm record till I wore out the grooves. See da girl wit the red dress on... man, great stuff. I had the pleasure of seeing Ray Charles perform live, probably in the late '80s. I remember the concert well. It was the first time I heard a performer with a 12 or 15 piece band, and the Rayettes. It rocked! If Aretha is the queen of R&B, surely Ray Charles is the King! He also had an incredible range of material. R&B, Soul, Jazz, Blues... even country.

Looks like this is the official Ray Charles web site. Don't think it has been kept up to date, but check out the Autobiography and 'Ray Reflects' links. Good reading.

If you don't mind... I'll honor the memory of Ray Charles rather than the other passing (RR) that's been on the front pages all week.

Music downloading, the way it ought to be

I am so impressed with this eMusic, legal music downloading service. I have been a member for about 6 months now. Apple iTunes... I love ya, and occasionally still cop a tune now and again, but my main source of new music has been this wonderful eMusic service. Yes, it requires a subscription of $9.99/month, but that entitles you to 40 tunes. That is a mere $.25 each, compared with a buck each from iTunes Music Store (ITMS). That's $2.50 for an average 10 track album compared with $9.99 and up at ITMS. If the music industry is serious at putting a dent in the illegal downloading trade, they must lower the price point of legal music and a quarter a song seems like the appropriate price to me. After all, digital music does not require CD production, packaging, printing, distribution, warehousing, etc. $.99 is simply outrageous, in my humble opinion.

The selection at eMusic is eclectic to say the least. You won't find the latest Brittney, Beyonce,or Coldplay here. The collection is a unique blend of old often out of print classics, and new indie material that will expand your musical horizons, and constantly surprise you with new quality creative artists that you will never see on ITMS or other similar sites. It never fails that just when I think I have exhausted the selections from eMusic that fit my taste, I discover several new albums to stash away in my account for next months downloads.

If you are a hardcore Jazz fan like myself, eMusic's jazz collection is a bounty of riches! Trane, Miles, Monk, Holiday, Sarah, Bud, Wes, Pass... the list goes on and on. eMusic is populated with hundreds of out of print classics from the Prestige/Milestone/Pablo/Fantasy labels, supplemented by many great independent recordings that provide a publishing outlet for great jazz artists that have since been shunned by the money grubbing greedy major recording labels that now make up the evil RIAA.

As an added bonus, I have been 'turned on' to many great artists, new and old that I never would have discovered by flipping through CD racks at the mall. These are artists such as Art Pepper, Steve Davis, and Eric Alexander to name just a few. I also have downloaded great new music in other genres like world music and electronic.

Do yourself a favor and check it out. If the offer is still out there, you can try it out with no obligation, and your first 50 tunes are free. That's how I got hooked. By the way, the music files are all high quality unprotected MP3's. Yep plain ole' MP3's, playable on all platforms, all portable devices, with no restrictions. Like I said, a Music Service the way it ought to be!!

Questions to ponder

Imagine if the shoe were on the other foot. What if the US did not have the military might that we have today? What if we didn't have hundreds of billions of dollars for defense? What if a coalition of Arabic Muslim nations decided that our form of government has led to a godless society with rampant racism, greed, crime and pornography. What if this Coalition felt that the US nuclear arsenal and capabilities to produce chemical or biological weapons posed a threat to other countries of the world? What if this Coalition overstated, or misled the world with evidence of this threat to justify a preemptive military strike against our nation? What if they invaded our cities, dismantled our federal, state and city governments and put in a Governing Council made up of Muslim clerics and others sympathetic to their cause. What if this Coalition dissolved our police departments and utility companies, and replaced them with their military, paid militia, and workers from the Arabic countries?

Would actions that our US citizens take to resist and sabotage this Coalitions efforts be justified? Would you consider men and women participating in such a resistance be terrorists?

The most terrible affliction

Alzheimers disease has hit home. If any affliction deserves the research funding to find a cure, this is the one. This disease touches us all. If not directly, than a family member or someone you care about. 1 in 10 over age 65, and nearly half of those over 85 have Alzheimers. I have read the symptoms, and sadly Mom mirrors those to a 'T'. It weighs heavy on my heart, and is a tremendous burden on Dad. Luckily, he was prepared and the living conditions are as good as can be expected for those in this situation. Dad, your children are here for you and Mom. You are not alone.

Though not likely to be a help for Mom, a cure needs to be found for the future. According to the American Journal of Public Health, finding a treatment that could delay the onset of Alzheimers disease by five years could reduce the number of individuals with the disease by nearly 50 percent.

I would urge everyone to learn as much as you can about Alzheimers. Learn what you can do to prevent or delay its onset, contribute to research for a treatment, and support those who are afflicted or those who are caring for a loved one with the disease.

The Year of Living Dangerously

My nephew Jason returned from his second tour of duty in Iraq. First time was during the 92 conflict. Unfortunately he had the honor of being called back a second time, another year stint, to fight Bush Junior's war. He was taken from his young family, two young children and one on the way, and sent to the very dangerous region of Al Ramadi and Falluja. His job was to detonate unexploded mines and shells left behind from Iraqi stockpiles and conflicts. His pictures and stories were incredible. Too much to explain here, but suffice it to say, I have the utmost respect and admiration for Jason, Erin and family for having to endure such a hardship. This weekend, we celebrated his return in Rochester NY.

Listening to Jay's stories just reinforced my feeling about this reckless action; the lies and misrepresentations that got us here, and the tragedy of lives lost, homes, families and properties destroyed. And for what? What good can possibly become of this action (other than the profits that may result by some diabolical few). You can't force a country into a Democracy. They need to want it and fight for it on their own. You also can't assume that a country with such a different culture and religious heritage even desires a western style, secular form of government like our own. IMHO, a US enforced democracy just won't work. Sadly, it is futile and tragic to even try.

Claire made a wise statement this evening while watching the news. The politicians that vote for these wars should be required to send their own sons and relatives first, before committing the rest of our youth to fight our battles.

College Basketball Capital of the World

Incredible week for the UConn Huskies. First time EVER that one college captures the NCAA championship in both Men's and Women's tournament. That makes Connecticut the Center of the Universe of college hoops. A very exciting time for the State of CT. This was a great, great Tournament. Now that it is over, I will surely miss it. It'll be tough to top this one next year.

As for the Laster clan... we got cuz Mawty traveling cross country with the Men's teams, warming them up for the games... and Dave providing the Audio/Visual for the pep rallies at Gample and hilite films shown on Statewide and ESPN networks. WooHoo!!!

Billy's Big Adventure

Bill Driggs is my co-worker with whom I share some office space at work. He is a Tri-Athalon athlete and adventurer. He has joined the Connecticut Everest Expedition, a group of 7 CT residents that are climbing Mt. Everest. They left this week. One of the climbers is a Hartford Courant Photographer, and the Courant is reporting on their trip with weblogs and video's being sent back almost daily (requires registering with CTNow). It's a great read. Sitting next to Bill at the office, its been mind blowing listening to him making preparations; making travel arrangements to Banghkok, Katmandu, Nepal; getting funding and sponsorship for the expensive gear. Having read accounts of climbing Mt Everest from the book Into Thin Air, I have some knowledge of what Billy is in for. Your crazy, man! Billy, be safe, don't take chances, come back healthy!!

My part in his preparation?.... Bill bought a mini-iPod, and I loaded it up with tunes. He'll be bringing up Miles, Trane, Jimi, Methany and a bunch of other tunes I gave him to the top of the world. Cool.

Fantasy Baseball has begun

Last night was Draft Night for the Fantasy Baseball league that I run. I look forward to this night all year long. Big fun last night at Rookies Sports Bar. A dozen baseball geeks, friends and co-workers, chuggin' beer, picking major league ballplayers for 3 hours straight. It is intense to say the least. Yeah, I made some bonehead picks, but I ended up with Bonds, Chipper, Griffey, I-Rod, Mussina. Not a bad draft.

Fantasy Baseball is what the Internet must have been invented for. It's is the killer-app on the World Wide Web, IMHO. Got home from Rookies, and worked till midnight inputting all 250 or so names into the 12 teams on Yahoo's Fantasy Baseball site. Now the fun begins.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Woa! this is one wild, crazy and great movie by the writer of Adaptation, Charile Kaufmann. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind explores a love relationship through the visualization of interconnected memories, as Joel (Jim Carrey) is undertaking a procedure to erase the memories of Clemintine (Kate Winslett). If you saw the trailer for this movie, you really don't have any idea of what this flick is really about. You gotta see this film. Read more about this film on my movie review page.

Our Anniversary...
Married for 29 years. She is my wife, best friend, confidant, lover, partner in just about everything we do. Some say marriage has its ups and downs... can honestly say that this ride has been just about all up-sides; no big downside comes to mind.

Best couple of weeks in Sports

Gotta admit - March Madness, is the best time in Sports. The Superbowl rarely lives up to the hype. Does anyone really care about hockey's Stanley Cup, or NBA Championship? Baseball's World Series is near and dear to my heart, but baseball ain't what it used to be. Something about college hoops and the NCAA Tournament. Face it, 99% of these kids will never see that NBA big money contract. They are in it for the glory of their school, the thrill of victory. They are playing with all their heart. One loss, and pack your bags. Everybody has that office pool going, so we all have something on the line to root for, and somewhere along the road to the final four, some underdog upsets a top rank team.

Of course being from Connecticut, we have our UCONN Huskies, 2nd seeds for both Men and Women, not to mention our man Mawty workin' out with the team. This years NCAA's are da bomb. GO HUSKIES!

Enough already...

I have had it with the snow for this winter. C'mon Spring weather. Time for baseball.

Kerry-McCain Ticket?

I have read several comments about this on various news blogs, but today I heard on the radio that Senator McCain acknowledged on a TV news interview, that he would actually consider running as VP on the Kerry ticket! Now that would renew my faith in the Dems if such a thing could happen. It's unlikely, but just think about it. It's a dream ticket. McCain would definitely draw in the Independents, disenchanted Dems and Repubs and veterans. We know McCain HATES Bush and he is a free thinking reformer. Now this gets me excited about the Presidential race again. A Democrat-Republican ticket; Do the Democrats have the balls to break from tradition and let such a radical thing happen! I doubt it...even if though it just about guarantees a win in November.

Scamper, no more

A painful and sad evening, last night. Sat down to dinner, when the doorbell rang. Our neighbor came to tell us she saw our cat get hit by a car. Searched around, and finally saw Scamper go under our deck in the backyard. It was dark, and at first couldn't see what his condition was. Through our basement window, we saw him curled up against the outside wall under the deck. He was barely moving, just lying there. After a while he looked completely motionless, I saw one last gasp for breath, than all life had left him. In the dark, I pulled the lattice work off the base of the deck, and slithered underneath to retrieve the lifeless body of our cat that had been with our family for 13 years. We put him in a box and brought him to the vet for cremation. Scamper was a great cat. He loved to snuggle up to you and stretch out on your lap, just begging to be petted and stroked.

God Hates Shrimp

Why stop at protesting gay marriage? Bring all of God's law unto the heathens and the sodomites

Ralph Nader to run for president

Now this makes things interesting. This is supposed to be a Democracy, not a country run by the duopoly that is the American political system. Not a country run by two parties, both funded, and in the pockets of the same corporate interests. Nader's voice in the debate can only be good for the country. Let's bring into the debate a voice for REAL election reform. Let's bring into the debate the issue of a bloated pentagon budget. Let's bring into the debate the issue of Corporate welfare. I am not saying I will vote Nader at this point in time... but let us begin to put a third party, a political outsider, an anti-politician into the equation. It can only be healthy for our political system.

I say to the Democrats... stop whining about Nader being a spoiler. The Dems have been wimps for too long. Put up a candidate that can attract the disenchanted, that can have the same kind of passion and conviction that we have seen with Dean and Nader. Don't nominate another tired old mainstream Politician, propped up by corporate contributitors. Don't nominate a candidate that has a voting record contrary to the issues that he is now campaigning on.

Democrats should welcome Nader into the debate. Be secure enough about your candidate and your message to say you are not afraid of openning the debate to all voices that desire to be heard. I don't recall ever hearing the Republicans complain that Buchanan or Libertarians or Pat Robertson was stealing their votes! To Kerry and the Democratic leadership... STOP BEING WIMPS and put up or shut up!

Dean is done

Damn. Once again, the Dems best candidate, Howard Dean falls victim to the candy-ass democrats that shun their liberal convictions for a middle of the road, seemingly more 'electable' candidate like John Kerry. At least, we can give Dean credit for changing the tone of the presidential debate. If it were not for Dean's rants, calling the Pres to task on WMD's and the war in Iraq, and showing that you can be MAD AS HELL at this administration, and still raise money and become the frontrunner... Kerry and Edwards would still be tiptoeing around the issues and trying to appeal to the center.

Kerry still will have to reconcile his voting record with his rhetoric. He states he is pro-union and anti-NAFTA, yet voted for NAFTA. He says we should not have gone into Iraq, yet voted for the war. He is against 'No Child Left Behind', yet voted for it. He says he is for Election Reform, yet has taken more money from special interest groups than anyone in congress.

Well, Dean may be out of the race, but the election is still a ways off. Who knows what may happen between now and the Democratic Convention. Oh yeah... that endorsement from Al Gore really helped Dean! And, damn, the media sure had a field day with that scream speach. Incredible how one little pep-rally can be turned around into a public relations disaster when the media smells a little blood.

Biggest trade since the Babe?

This is getting rediculous! Can the Yankees be allowed to buy up all of the best talent in baseball? Look at this team! Except for the 2nd base slot, this team is an entire all-star squad. Next they are going to get Barry Bonds, for Christ sakes. Ya got Posada, Giambi, Jeter, ARod, Matsui, Williams, Sheffield, Lofton. YIKES. No other team can stand a chance. This is NOT good for baseball, IMHO.

Hey... first baseball post of the season! Spring must be near.

The Grammy Awards - Back to the Future

Woa! Grammy Awards were actually watchable this year! Things are looking up in the music biz. Didn't see much Hip-Hop. Not much baggy pants, crotch grabbin', foul talkin', ghetto gestures, bling-bling, floppy crooked hat wearin', gangsta, simulated sex on stage. What we saw was some great hard rockin', funkified, R&B, psychedelic, talented singers and musicians... just like the old days! I heard some real creative acts like Outkast and White Stripes, Black Eyed Peas, and more.

Wasn't all good though. Who's idea was it to pair up jazz great Chick Corea with Foo Fighters? Both can play, but not on the same stage, please. And that Suit from the RIAA talking about downloading. Really, give it up. Just put out a good alternative, at a REASONABLE PRICE (much less than $.99/song), and illegal downloads will go away. Meanwhile, stop whining about it. You just piss off the kids.

See George Squirm

On Meet the Press this morning, we got to see President Bush really squirm... as well he should. The truth is about to be revealed like Janet Jackson's... well you get the picture. There were no WMD's, there was no imminent threat, Iraq was not the source of 9/11 terrorists. UN sanctions and weapon inspections were working. Saddam did not even have the fire power to launch a single ground to air missile against our planes, let alone launch chemical or nuclear weapons against its neighbors or the US forces. Bush was determined to go to war, for his own reasons (US expansion, oil, revenge?), and would say and do anything to get his way, including invent evidence of WMD's. The tragic cost is hundreds of US deaths, thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians deaths, destruction of cities, property, etc. Is the world safer because of our actions in Iraq? I see US interests under attack, more suicide bombings, terror alerts increasing, commercial flights grounded, and the World's distrust of America's intentions.

Democratic Party Nomination Process
Why is the press and the Dems trying to treat this process as if it were all over? Only a small handful of states have had their caucuses and primaries! Don't we all get to have our votes count? I am standing firm in the Howard Dean camp. The Dems best chance for real change is to have a political outsider, a maverick, run and beat George Bush. Kerry voted for this War. Kerry voted for the Patriot Act and he voted for Bush programs like No Child Left Behind. Dean stood against all these policies when others were politically afraid to do so. We need and Anti-Politician nominee. One who does not have a history of being beholden to special interests. One that can garner the support and raise money from the grass roots. Come'on... Lets keep the debate alive. For once, I see a great field of candidates. This thing can't be over till the fat lady sings at the Democratic Convention!!

Dude Where's My Country?

Just finished an incredible book by Michael Moore. A surprising expose about what Dubya has done to this country, and why Regime Change in Washington must happen. The book details the WMD lies, fear mongering, and usurping of civil rights that have been written about here and elsewhere. The book also has chapters on the following subjects:

• Bush's close family ties with Saudi Prince Bandar and other Saudi's in high places. These connections and Saudi oil money has enabled Saudi Arabia to gain influence and favor from this Administration despite many years supporting terrorst organizations and activities worldwide. In fact James Baker (close Bush family friend, ex-Secretary of State, and council to GWB during Florida recounts) is now defending the Saudi Government in a law suit filed by the families of 9/11 victims!
• In the days following 9/11, the FBI went to extrordinary measures to assist the Bin Laden family in fleeing the country, even though they may have had valuable information that could lead to Osama and other Al Qaeda operatives.
• Democrats are wimps. We have been afraid to speak out in an environment where questioning the governments actions is treated as unpatriotic. We have been consumed with political correctness which detracts from effectively communicating our message.
• An entire chapter on how to win over that mis-informed right-wing conservative brother-in-law!

... and much much more. Required reading for all Americans.

Wardrobe Malfunction?

As for last nights Superbowl... a great game but...anyone who believes that this was a wardrobe malfunction should get their head examined. This thing was definitely planned and choreographed. These pop-superstars have no limits when it comes to self promotion. Between that and all the erectile dysfunction ads, it was pretty bad to watch the Super-Bowl in a room full of kids. When will the madness end... when will the entertainers, marketers and the media learn to exercise some self-control.

And to think that CBS refused to air this political ad by moveon.org protesting Bush's deficit spending because they felt it was too controversial... WTF??

Lasternet search

Discovered neat code to add Google search to Lasternet. Try it out above! I added it to several Lasternet pages.

Happy 20th Birthday Apple Macintosh

20 years ago, my life was profoundly impacted by this technology. Happy Birthday Mac... its been a wild ride.

Steve Jobs on the Mac's 20th anniversary - Macworld

Celebrating 20 Years of the Mac - NPR

The Mac that roared - San Jose Mercury News

Looking Back on the Mac - Macworld

We're All Mac Users Now - Wired

20 crazy years later, a new direction for Apple - CBS Marketwatch

Apple's core: The Mac turns 20 - CNN

The machine that changed the world - San Francisco Chronicle

The Mac Turns 20 - PC World

Apple bytes: The Mac at 20 - Silicon.com

Apple's groundbreaking computer marks 20th anniversary - Seattle Times

These links shamelessly copied from MacMinute... hope they don't mind! ;-}

Lies, lies, lies

Bush, in his State of the Union speech continues to lie and mislead the American people, in order to promote his right wing agenda, snuggle up to the religious right, and continue his imperialistic expansion of American interests in the Middle East. Unfortunately, most Americans will swallow this crap... hook, line and sinker. Do people forget last years State of the Union, where Bush lied about Iraqs purchasing of nuclear material from an African nation? Do people forget Colin Powell's lies to the UN by showing bogus satelite imagery of supposed stockpiles, research facilities and deployment capabilities of chemical weapons? Yet Bush continued to perpetuate the myth with misleading statements like, we have "identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities.". What crap! He continues to try to convince us that Sadam Hussein was a terrorist threat to the US, despite this administrations admission that their was no link between Iraq and Al Qida or 9/11. More crap!

If that is not enough, we had to listen to to Bush's plans to outlaw gay spousal rights, propose government funding of religious programs, extend the so-called Patriot Act (taking away civil rights), and extend tax cuts that benefit the rich and run up the deficits. This guy has got to go.

We will have to see if Howard Dean has completely blown his chances of coming up with the nomination by going ballistic after coming in third in Iowa. How many times did that have to be shown on TV? I still think that Dean is best suited to going toe-to-toe with Bush. I WANT to see an angry democrat. Hell, I am angry over what Bush has done to this country. I will be disapointed to see a man like Kerry get the nomination. He has voted for the war, for the so-called Patriot Act, and for additional $87 billion in Iraq... basically a play-it-safe middle-of-the-road Washington bred politician. Dean is still The Man in my book.

Common Sense

Recommended reading - Common sense for a New Century. Finally, a Democrat that can bring back idealism to the party... and hopefully the Presidency. Howard Dean has what it takes to take this country back for the people. George Bush has sold out this country to the corporate elite, special interests and his cronies. Dean is able to communicate a strong populist message. He is willing to take chances, and not play the safe, centrist politics of Democrats of recent elections. I just listened to stump speeches on C-Span from several Democratic candidates. Dean distinguished himself heads and shoulders above the others, giving a strong, clear, liberal and passionate message. Take back the country from Cheney's Haliburton, the drug and insurance companies, the oil industry. Internationalize the Iraq situation and develop an exit strategy. Make the large corporations and those with the highest income pay their fair share of the tax burden. Dean is the man. Check out Howard Dean's website.

Happy New Year

Just got back home after a great vacation at Sanibel Island. Wish I could say it's good to be back home... but I think I rather just hang out on the beach every day for the rest of my life.

Real Media alleges monopoly abuse

Yes, I know I sound like a broken record but this is an important issue that those concerned with protecting freedom and openness on the Internet need to be aware of.

From a statement by RealNetworks: "We're accusing Microsoft of engaging in a broad range of predatory practices to protect their operating system monopoly and to try to create a new monopoly in the digital media space," said David Stewart, deputy general counsel for RealNetworks, in an interview. Full story....

Combined with this information from the newly re-designed MSNBC website:

"To use MSNBC Video, your computer must have Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later on a Windows operating system," the site now says. "The Netscape internet browser is not sufficiently compatible with Windows Media Player 9 to play MSNBC Video content and no plug-in software is available. MSNBC video is unable to support the Macintosh or other operation systems." ref: MacMinute

It is apparent that Micro$oft is trying to control how you will receive your news, how you will view video and listen to music. Once they have control of the software, it is easy to see how they can control the commerce (where and how you purchase music and video) and even the content.

The Federal Courts let Microshorts off the hook with an Anti-Trust settlement that has no teeth, and M$ is taking full advantage of that. Support Alternative OS's and Software... it is important to our future as more of our information, news and entertainment is derived from computer driven sources!

Farewell to a legend of the Internet

At the end of the year JenniCam will be shutting down. Those who haven't been long-time enthusiasts of the Internet probably cannot appreciate the impact of JenniCam on the history of the Internet. She is indeed a Legend. The first famous webcam was the 'FishCam', than there were others. The Webcam trend, as one might expect, became exploited for sexual purposes. But JenniCam was different. Jennifer Ringley created a visual live artform. This was LIFE ONLINE. Yeah... OK, once in a while you caught her nekkid... but 99 out of 100 times you would see her watching TV, chatting on the computer, eating take-out chinese, sitting around with friends... or mostly, nothing at all. Yet you were compelled to check in on Jenni, read her journal (the original Blog), find out what was going on in her life; her interests, lovers, jobs, apartments. I actually learned a lot from Jenni, much of which influenced this website. Some of the things I can thank Jenni for are:
-got a webcam going on my personal web site
-Blogger and this weblog
-a Photo Gallery
-an appreciation of Peter Gabriels music
-I have my own little life-online... though no one is really interested in an old man computer geek with no life.

Jenni-cam got an incredible amount of notoriety. There were articles in several major publications, webby awards, Internet conventions, interviews on radio and TV. It was an incredible ride. Jenni, you are a Legend.

PowerPoint Makes You Dumb

How true...

A defining moment for Iraq

Fantastic, momentous news; The capture of Saddam. Truly a defining moment for our mission. Now, perhaps we will see celebration and appreciation by the Iraqi people for the US actions. I am anxious to see how this will change our mission. Will the US now wind down our presence and turn over security and government back to the Iraqi people? This should be the beginning of the END GAME for our mission in Iraq. (if it is not, it will be an indication of our real intentions are in the region). Congratulations to our troops and to the people of Iraq!

Of great interest will be to follow the blogs coming from Iraq

Benjamin Franklin: Blogger

If Benjamin Franklin was alive today, he most certainly would be a Blogger. Just finished reading the autobiography of Franklin by Walter Isaacson. He was an amazing figure, and had all the makings of a true blogger. He was an opinionated individual with a penchant for publishing. His politics were firmly against the elite establishment. As a printer he believed strongly in a free press. He often wrote under anonymous names, was fond of publishing satire and hoaxes. His roots were that of a populist and a common man who was most proud of being an Artisan and a Printer (I can relate). His philosophy, writing style and politics were often snubbed by many as being common and lacking intellectualism. His biographer at one point even described Franklin as being 'Geeky' in his obsessive attention to detail in many of his writings, which could range from designing a ship's hull, to descriptions of how to reduce the odor of farts (really!). Check out this editorial, Apology For Printers. The writing style of a true Blogger... for sure.

While on the topic, I have to give credit to BF's other contributions to civilization. This was one great man.
Scientist and inventor- He was a practical scientist, not a great mathematician or theorist. Yet his scientific work with electricity was renowned and resulted in practical inventions that tamed the destructive force of lightning (lightning rods). He also invented bifocal lenses, and the Franklin Stove.
Philanthropist and Public Servant- Franklin started or contributed to many great civic institutions. He founded the University of Pennsylvania, hospitals, fire departments, libraries and post-offices. He served two terms as 'President' of Pennsylvania after being nominated by both political factions and nearly unanimously elected into that office. Franklin edited Jefferson's wording on the Declaration of Independence to read 'We hold these truths to be self-evident...', rather than the original text that had religious overtones. As a member of the Constitutional Congress, Franklin's compromise of two houses (senate with equal representation and House of Reps with varied representation based on population) broke a stalemate between large and small states that threatened to break up the convention.
Diplomat - Ben Franklin was among this countries greatest diplomats, negotiating the peace with England and treaties with France and Spain. He tried desperately to avoid war with England, by fighting for American self rule and independence from the British parliament while remaining loyal to the King. It was only after being publicly vilified by the British government as a traitor that he favored the revolution. He forged an alliance with France, without which we may have not won the Revolutionary War. As a diplomat he had the star-power of Henry Kissinger, and the admiration of leaders throughout the world. One of his famous quotes is 'there is no good war and no bad peace'.

BONSAI !

Neat little trip to New England Bonsai Gardens in MA yesterday. Lots of greenhouses with Bonsai of many varieties. They had a Saikai demonstration (bonsai landscapes) and free sushi. Thought I would give it a shot. Bought 2 plants, pots, soil, etc. Here are my first Bonsai creations. Figured I'd put up a pic right away... cause these puppies are likely to be dead in a couple of weeks ;-)

TG, Day after

Great Thanksgiving Day. Yeah, Family, Food... etc. But the thrill for the day was running the 5 mi. Manchester Road Race along with 11,000 other runners, and thousands of spectators. It was a BLAST! The whole scene made it an incredible experience. Top runners from all over the world are there, but the crowds, the cheers, the bands really spurred you on. I felt I could have run another 5 miles, I was so pumped. I didn't even feel the aches and pains that I usually get with a long run like this. What a way to start Thanksgiving Day. WooHoo! Next year I better improve my time by 4-5 minutes.

As for TG dinner. It was great to have the family together. Sorry Barb and family wasn't there.. Then, there was another no show - (wtf?). Anyway, the food came out great, I've got to give the obligatory mention that we have SOOOOO much to be thankful for; Parents can still make the drive, and are relatively healthy, we have a good life, roof over head, food on table... most of all we have happy healthy kids. It was a joy to have the Laster and Gagne children (Teens) all together, and have some Q time with the three generations all together.

But man... we have so many leftovers. Damn, Turkey Dinners every night for the forseeable future.

Big Race

Entered the 5 mile Manchester Road Race. Its a big race. It is run on Thanksgiving day morning and should be lots of fun. Last couple of years, over 11,000 runners registered. It is one of the oldest races going... this is the is the 67th running. Some of the top runners in the world compete. I will not be one of those. My time during training pretty much sucks, but I just started running this year, and I am 50 years old.

Been training, and lately running has been giving me pain in hips, knees and heals. So why do I do it?? Don't know. I like to keep in shape, and I guess that Runner's High kicks in. Actually just the feeling of accomplishment from running a certain distance, or time, or just getting out there and doin' it feels great.

I think I have beaten the pain problem (at least temporarily). Got some great running shoes (Asics 2080 gels), gel heal inserts, arch supports, Glucosimine/Condroiten/MSM supplements, lots of Ibuprofen daily... maybe I should just enter the wheelchair competion!

Well, wish me luck.

Bill *Copy Cat* Gates... does it again.

Is Micro$oft capable of ANY innovation of its own making? Microsloth has announced its intention to launch a music download service during 2004. Once again, Microsuck will steal Apple's revolutionary idea, and benefit from the negotiating that Steve Jobs has done with the Record Industry. Through Windoze Operating System, Microshit has the lone advantage of leveraging their monopoly to place their virtual music store on the desktops of 95% of computer users. This has the potential to squeeze out any competition whatsoever.

Will the major record labels show any loyalty to Steve Jobs for breaking the ice and creating an environment for legitimized legal music downloading? Can any other service compete with the marketing advantage, capital ($$), and industry muscle that Microshorts can apply to this venture? Will Microstink's entry into this market allow for a fair playing field for the competition? I THINK NOT?

This is exactly why the courts were WRONG to overturn the appropriate penalties issued by Judge Jackson (under pressure from the Bush Administration, IMHO). But that is what happens when Bill Gates and Company is the third largest contributor to Bush's presidential campaign. This is a classic case of Anti-Trust. MicroSlop, though convicted of Anti-Trust, was given a mere slap on the wrist, with virtually no penalty, and nothing to prevent their monopolistic actions to continue.

Computer users need to be educated as to the importance of this issue, and the need to support alternative operating systems and application software.

November 11 is a most significant day for me and my family, as it is the birthday of our dearly departed sister Laura. It is also within a few days of the anniversary of her death. Diana and I traveled to Sharon MA yesterday to visit her grave site. This time, it was not the gut wrenching emotional upheaval of previous visits. It was a time of reflection and rememberence of when she was alive, and how we miss her. It was a beautiful sunny, brisk day a lot like last year when we gathered to honor her memorial exactly 1 year before.

Veterans Day
Nov 11 is also veterans day. On this day, my thoughts are with the servicemen that are risking their lives for the mission in Iraq. A sensless war to be sure. As I see it, nothing is being accomplished there. The purported justification for this war has turned out to be completely false (no WMD, no Al Qida links, no threat of nuclear weapons, etc), the region is now more ripe for terrorist activity than before the occupation, American casualties have surpassed those during the invasion, there is no sign of self-government or free elections for the Iraqi people, anti-American sentiment is as bad as it has ever been in the region. Yet we will commit 87 billion more dollars and untold loss of life to this war.

Some would say that such statements are unpatriotic, and that I am not supporting our soldiers. On the contrary, I think about the soldiers daily (perhaps because I have a close nephew stationed near Fajulla, Iraq). Getting the soldiers out of Iraq and back home is the surrest way to show concern for our soldiers health, safety and well being. I think that those phony flag waving so-called patriots are not nearly as concerned about soldiers as those with the courage to speak out about this travesty.

To be a college student

Dave just called from Madison Wisconson. He is attending the Free Press: National Conference on Media Reform. Now that is what being a University Student should be all about. Dave has the wonderful opportunity to attend this conference and learn the importance of Free Speech from an incredible array of speakers. He will hear Bill Moyers, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader, Al Franken and many others. I have to give him credit for seizing the opportunity to take advantage of such a great learning experience.

I hope David learns how important our free press is and how in these times there are forces in power trying to control the news. That has been evidenced recently by the pressure to take the Ronald Regan documentary off the air, the embedded war coverage which let the administration control the news, and by Bush's banning of media coverage of the return of soldiers coffins.

There is a lot for Dave to learn at this conference, and I hope he comes back informed, and can then inform me as well as his peers.

Pat Metheny Concert

Had the extreme pleasure of attending a Pat Metheny Trio concert last night. Concert started out with a solo acoustic guitar set. Man, I have never heard such a full, orchestral sound coming from one solitary instrument. He played about 4 solo numbers and then was joined by Christian McBride on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums. The trio played a real eclectic set with acoustic, electric, synth... lots of free improvisational stuff. Great evening of music. Pat played 2.5 hours or more without a break.

After the concert, did some on-line research about Pat's guitars. That led me to the Manzer Guitars page. This is where Metheny's guitars are made. Check out the Pikasso 42 string custom guitar that Pat played on one number. Woa!

The Young, the Old and the Frugal - New Word Series Champs

Hey Yankees... You can't always just buy a World Series Championship. The Marlins win with less than 1/3 the payroll of the NY Yankees. What an incredible pitching performance by 23 year old Josh Beckett. The youngest to pitch a shutout in the October Classic since 1971, and the oldest manager in baseball (Jack McKeon, 71). Thrilling!!

Is iTunes a good thing for musicians?

Woa, bet you never thought you could see a link to an Anti-iTunes web site from me... but here it is. All Apple is doing with iTunes Music Store is putting a new high-tech face on the old corrupt business model. A model that screws the musicians, while giving the the lion's share of the revenues to the big 5 record companies. As this site points out, there are several other feasable models. One that could reduce the price of music, while rewarding the artists in a more equitable manner. This site really gives you something to think about.

Baseball and Apple pie

There is a curse
All rational thinking would lead you to believe that there is no curse... no baseball god directing events on the field of dreams. But this post season has indeed confirmed... the curse is real. There can be no other explanation. The Cubs and the Red Sox have taken what appeared to be excellent chances to reverse the course of history, and unexplainably blew it. The Cubs with a 3-1 lead heading back to home turf for the final games, then losing 3 in a row. The Sox, with Baseballs best pitcher in the 7th game and a 4-0 lead, only to blow it when manager Grady Little makes the bonehead decision to leave Martinez in after 125 pitches and the game unravelling. A Florida v. Yankees World Series?? Not much interest as far as I am concerned. If there is a god, a miracle will befall us, and the Fish will prevail.

Apple and Music
Apple computer's announcements regarding iTunes and iPod. Uber coolness. Apple again changes the world as we know it. The music industry will change based on the model that Apple has created with iTunes Music Store (ITMS) and the iPod. Hell Froze Over (as Steve Jobs put it). In creating iTunes (and the Music Store) for Windoze, Apple has written the best software for Windoze ever. ITMS in the last quarter had 70 percent Market Share of all legal music downloads... and that was with Mac clients only (barely 5 percent of computer users). Now Apple has set the stage for changing the way music is sold, distributed and shared forever. To really appreciate what Apple is doing, you must view this event in streaming QT. These Steve Jobs presentations are always a ball to watch. Let's face it... Steve Jobs IS Apple Computer. When he goes, it all goes down the tubes.

On the Radio

The Dave gave me an hour spot on WHUS radio to do a Jazz show. Way cool. Fun, but a bit scary. Playlist was Yellow Jackets, Jeff Lorber, Jaco Pastorius Big Band, Mike Stern, Scofield, MM&W, Danillo Perez. Gotta do it again soon. Line me up for another spot, Dave! My DJ name... Pops!

The New World of Music - iPod

For any music lover, the iPod is a life altering device. Yes, I laughed at Dave's friend Eric for making a similar statement, but now that I am a proud owner of one of these babies, I understand completely. Sorry, RIAA, the day of the CD is over... they better stop fighting digital distribution, and learn to adapt. To be able to have a huge music collection (I currently have near 1300 songs, and growing, in my iPod) at my fingertips at all times to easily plug into earphones, your bedside stereo, your entertainment center and car stereo is incredibly convenient. I find myself listening to music of all genres at all times. I have gained an even greater appreciation for diverse artists from the hip Billy Holiday to swingin' Art Blakely to haunting Joni Mitchell to the techno Crystal Method.

As for the iPod itself. It is one of those devices that is a piece of Art in and of itself. Just the correct weight and balance in the palm of your hand... the cool silvery metallic back, and the snow white smooth face and the incredibly sensitive touch controls... it is perfectly designed in its aesthetics as well as its function. Teamed with Apples iTunes, it is so simple and natural to load this baby up with your entire music collection. You can rate your collection, make playlists, legally buy music... just incredibly impressive what Apple has done with music.

The Big Five-O

Turned 50 yrs old this weekend. Bummer. Thought it wouldn't affect me... just another birthday. Reality is, it is a big one. Half Century. Yikes. Kinda felt down about the whole thing, but Claire did me right. She threw a real nice party for me. Dinner and cake with our good friends. Went to out dinner, opened gifts, cake, the works. Really eased the pain! Next day met folks in W Hartford, checked out the Cows and had a lovely dinner at Max's to top off the weekend.

Last 10 years, were for bringing up family... that's what it's all about. I can feel good about how that turned out. Kids are almost grown up, have good values, and will be responsible adults, I'm sure. Next 10 years will be for helping them transition to adulthood, and for C and I to prepare for retirement, and to create a good life for the balance of our years. I've had a fairly good career, and we have been able to acquire the things that are important to us, so I can't complain. I don't see myself as old. I am probably in the best shape of my life, and I feel healthy, but damn, I feel the stigma of being 50+ years. I know it can hurt me in my career. Not too many older folks being hired as IT Professionals. Just gotta hang in there for 10 years or so. Also, I just can't get out of my mind that sister L's 50th was her last. There is a lesson to be learned from that sobering thought... but enough of getting heavy on the matter.

Family got together and bought me an AWSOME iPod. Is that great or what! This little device is a marvel of engineering and design. My entire MP3 collection, thousands of tunes from every genre will be on this beauty to be with me wherever I go. A music lovers delight, to be sure. Thanks Di, M & D, C, B... you guys are the best!

Random

Letter from Jason in Iraq. Heart wrenching to say the least. He is in Al-Ramadi. Looked it up in the Net, and it is just west of Bagdhad near Fajulla where recent anti-american uprisings have taken place. Also reports of sniper action in that vacinity. Jay says that they set up a soccer field for the kids there. Had to clear the field of land mines first.

Damn! Less than 2 months after getting my new G4 Powerbook, Apple upgrades the models, adding lots of drool-worthy features (bluetooth, airport extreme, cool backlit keyboard, etc.). Tried to swing a deal to exchange, but dealer wanted too much. That's OK, happy with my TiBook as is.


Rach... crash... ouch... grrrrr

Dave called. He was invited to a dinner (as a student leader!) to honor Prime Minister of Ireland. He wants to buy a suit for the event. Imagine that. A 19 year old kid wants to buy a suit???

What has become of this world?

On this tragic anniversary of September 11, its interesting to go back to my blogger entries of that day and the days that followed. It is horrifying to think of the atrocities of WTC attacks, and the events that have grown out of that tragedy over the last two years. I mourn not only for the thousands of deaths from that senseless act, but for the hundreds of US soldiers that have died because of Bush's recklessness in committing our country to War. I also mourn for the thousands of Iraqi civilians that perished from our bombs and weapons. I mourn for the deaths of innocent Israeli and Palestinians citizens that have been victims of increased hostilities since 9/11.

It makes you wonder... what good can become of pouring $87 billion more dollars, more soldiers, more weapons into this war? A war that was waged on a premise that was essentially lie. What has become of this world?

New Blogger stuff!

Lots'o new features for Blogger users for free! Starting to use them here. Like Title Fields (see the title at the top of the post?), and some other more teckie stuff thats not real apparent (weblog.com pings, file uploads, post dating...etc). Love free geeky stuff!

Too bad commenting isn't included, but I finally found a free service (one that works after trying several that either didn't work, or were unreliable). So I now have a slick new Comments feature linked to the bottom of each post.

Okay, here is something you can comment on, if you wish. Been thinkin' abt making a Family blog. A single blog that all Fam members can post to and express... whatever! I think it would be pretty cool, but not sure if it would really be used.

Just back from a nice family labor day BBQ in Rochester NY. Celebrated upcoming Mom-in-Laws, 80th (and my 50th). Conspicuously missing from the event was nephew Jay, off in Iraq. He's been away from family nearly 1 year, and overseas since Easter. Two young kids and one on the way. A cryin' shame. Forced to miss some of the best years of being with his young family. Though not much was said about it... he was in everyones thoughts. Missed you Jay. Come home soon, man!

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.