Now is the time...

to let the seeds of peace in the Middle East take root. It is not often that I find this administration 'getting it right', but listening to Condeleeza Rice express US policy regarding the Israel/Lebanon conflict, I am heartened to see us pursue an aggressive and balanced approach towards a cease fire. Thus far we have held fast to the primary objectives in agreeing to a cease fire. First and foremost, Hezbollah, clearly a terrorist organization, must be disarmed before a cease fire can be agreed to.

It is now up to Israel to make a move to halt the escalation of violence and killing. Why must Israel make such a move? Because Israel, as the western style democracy represents what is good and just. Israel says they do not wish harm to come to civilians. Israel holds the overwhelming military might to cause death and destruction, and with such power to destroy, comes the responsibility not to use it.

A severe blow has been given to Hezbollah, and a lesson has been taught to the Lebanese government. Israel has accomplished all they can by military means. Any further incursion into Lebanon, such as attacks on Beirut, or other densely populated areas, will not help the Israeli cause, but will only embolden its enemies (which includes Syria and Iran). Continued bombing by Israel, only intensifies that support, and encourages legions of misguided youth to join in Hezbollah's terrorist cause. The reality is that continued violence will only make it more difficult to disarm the terrorists.

Yes, the world owes Israel a debt of gratitude for killing Hezbollah terrorists and destroying their weapons. They have done what the US and other peace loving countries have been unable or unwilling to accomplish. This is why I say that it is in Israel's best interest at this juncture to begin to de-escalate its attacks in Lebanon, and use this draft resolution as a stepping stone to a cease fire and some measure of security for Israel.

Let us not delude ourselves...

The Bush administration must take on much of the blame for the current situation in the mid-east. The misrepresentation and deception that brought us into a military occupation in the region has only increased the mistrust and heightened the adversary relationship between the US and the Muslim world. This has resulted in more violence, more terrorism, and heightened aggression throughout the region that has spiraled out of control. Now it appears, god forbid, we are on the brink of world war. Should Syria and Iran engage their troops in this conflict, will the US be able to stand back and watch? Can the US effectively broker a diplomatic solution when it is reviled and distrusted throughout the Arab world? It is not easy to see any way that the situation can come to an end game without all out war. I hope and pray that I am wrong. (and it is not often you will here me use the word 'pray').

Perhaps Israel has done what the US should have done. Israel went directly after the terrorist organization that threatened their security. They did it swiftly and directly against those that threatened them. Contrast that to the US action in Iraq. If we had been sincere in our actions, we would have gone after the terrorist infrastructure in Saudi and Syria, rather than the deception and ulterior motives that led us to a war in Iraq.

Who Killed the Electric Car
GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! A great, great flick. One of the best documentaries I have seen. Quite different than the Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth. While that was more or less a classroom lecture, Electric Car is an engaging look, not only into this important technology that was tragically squashed by corporate interests, but it is also a look into how government and commerce works. It shows the importance of government regulation in the protection of the environment AND the advancement of technology. When the government abdicates its responsibility and gives in to corporate bullying, citizens will suffer. The automakers realized that Electric Vehicles not only will cut into sales of expensive, profitable combustion engine cars (like SUV;s), it will devastate aftermarket industries for repairs parts, oil filters, mufflers, spark plugs, fueling stations.... A typical maintenance on an electric car is rotate the tires and top off the windshield washer fluid.

What made the movie great in my opinion was (unlike the Gore flick), this movie ended in such enthusiastic optimism. The technology exists and is improving with newer and better batteries. Gas prices are getting ridiculously higher, evidence of global warming is becoming evident. The growing success of hybrid vehicles has proven the demand is there. Given these conditions, and the human spirit to embrace new technology, the demand for Plug-In Electric cars is bound to grow, and some entrepreneur within or beyond the auto industry will step up and prevail. It just makes too much sense.

Fantasy Baseball Heaven

A sure sign that spring is here. Not only is the weather getting nice... great, last night was Fantasy Baseball (FBB) Draft night. Look forward to this night all winter long. 4 hours of hanging at Rookies Bar & Grill, drinkin' suds and talkin' baseball. Pretty damn pleased with my picks. Got some power (Helton), speed (Juan Pierre), and pitching (Santana). Now the excrutiating wait till opening day. Hey, we get to watch our favorite players in World Baseball Classic action. Whoopie... we get to see our FBB players pull hamstrings, tear shoulder muscles and get hit by pitches... oye.

I've played FBB for a decade now. How it has changed since the Internet took hold of it. Now its huge, its interactive, its a blast. THIS IS WHAT THE INTERNET WAS INVENTED FOR.

Hilarious article in the Onion.

back from paradise

sucks to be back. rather be here.

Stupid is as Stupid does.

Dick Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter. How stupid is this. Stupid people engaged in a stupid sport (shooting birds), get into a stupid accident and shoot each other. This couldn't happen to more deserving people.

From CNN: "The vice president didn't see him," she continued. "The covey (of birds) flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by God, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good."

This sounds like they are talking about some stupid trailer trash hicks.. and these are people that we entrust to protect our country. How pathetic!

And the Press... As Lou Dobbs pointed out, at today's press briefing 65 questions from the media were about this accidental shooting, and only 17 on other subjects. We are in the midst of a War based on lies and deception, we have a huge trade deficit, we have incompetence at highest levels of our intelligence agencies, and FEMA. We are surrounded by hatred and terror in the world... and our press is preoccupied by a STUPID HUNTING ACCIDENT! How stupid is that.

Still Blogging after all these years

Woa! This month marks the Fifth Year of the Brain Drain Blog. Been at it since February 2001. Blogger was a lot different then, and this blog shows it. Different archiving system, no built in commenting, just a couple simple templates. But Blogger started a revolution in personal publishing, and I feel like I was in it on the ground floor. Its fun to go back and read those early posts.

My most favorite project, In The Groove Podcast now also runs off of Blogger. I see even Roger has gotten into the act.

Damn Sudoku

Got hooked. Wasted most of this weekend.

On the other hand, my powers of deductive reasoning should be greater than most mortal men!

A Big Day for us Apple geeks

Its like Xmass, New Years, birthday all rolled up into one, when Steve makes his MacWorld Keynote speech. Us cult members are frothing at the bit when Jobs takes the stage. This years big announcement was Intel chips in the iMac and Powerbook... er... MacBook Pro. Way cool. Probably the only thing I will open the wallet for at this point in time is iLife 06. Upgrades to iPhoto, Garage Band (podcast features) and the new iWeb look droolworthy.

Maybe the coolest thing on stage was that jazzy iPod ad featuring Wynton.

New Years Blahs

The holidays are over with and I feel like crap. Too much eating, drinking, late nights, and a big fall on my head, so now I look like this. Don't ask.


Gotta heal my wounds, diet and clean up my act.

Duke Ellington on Acid

The Sun Ra Arkestra performed at UCONN last Friday, hosted by WHUS. Amazing and outrageous concert. Orchestrated chaos, 18 piece band, jazz, voice, strange instrumentation, costumes, acrobatics, interplanetary travel. Sun Ra passed away over a decade ago, but the music lives on under the direction of Marshall Allen.

From the Sun Ra website:
Eclectic, outrageous, sometimes mystifying but always imbued with a powerful jazz consciousness, the music of Sun Ra has withstood its skeptics and detractors for nearly three generations. Sun Ra was the first jazz musician to perform on electronic keyboards (56), the first to pursue full-scale collective improvisation in a big band setting, and his preoccupation with space travel as a compositional subject predated bands like Weather Report by about 15 years.All this from someone who refuses to even cite the earth as his home planet and prefers to have arrived from Saturn. As Sun Ra once explained it, "I never wanted to be a part of planet Earth, but I am compelled to be here, so anything I do for this planet is because the Master-Creator of the Universe is making me do it. I am of another dimension. I am on this planet because people need me".
Catch the Sun Ra Arkestra, but you gotta see them live.

Bad, Bad Blogger

I just gotta make more entries into this thing. How can I expect anyone to read this if I don't post. duh!! In reality, why would anyone read it even if I posted... well, strangely, R's freinds at college actually do... more reasons to post. Hey Ali and Julia... nice meetin' up with you at NEU.

Actually, Lasternet.com has seen mad traffic this month due to Thanksgiving Turducken. Nov 11 brought 1100 visitors and 1400 page views!

Kids home for TG day. Nice couple of days, great to have them around. Our lives seem to revolve around the success and failures (haven't really been any) of our kids. This must mean, I have no life of my own.

That fact is evident by the way too much time and energy spent on my radio show and podcast. CHECK IT OUT!! I think its way cool. But DAMN Apple computer for not listing it in the iTunes directory. Still workin' on it, though. It's in about every other podcast directory, including Yahoo's podcast listings. I think it's a blast.

!!!GO RED SOX!!!

Gotta love this game when it comes down to Sox v Yanks in the last weekend of the baseball season.

Bad Blogger

Not good to ignore your blog for so long. Sooo much has been happening that the blog has been put on the back burner, I guess.

Fam - So much has been goin' on. Big transitions for whole family. Wife and i work situation was, to put it delicately, very tenuous. Turns out both of us have brand new positions, and everything is working out well (links for K and C). Dave is working and living in NYC. Making a good life for himself, diving head first into new situations and every time meeting the challenges and being successful at whatever he does (not that I ever doubted his considerable abilities). NYC, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. As for Rach... she graduated HS with top honors, and fulfilled her ambition of going to Northeastern in Boston. She worked sooooo very hard and put it all together including winning many scholarships and making all the arrangements for college on her own. Now she has gone off to school, showing her independence, maturity and all her smarts. What an impressive young lady she is. Now me and C are home alone. WOW, its been a momentous and stressful couple of months for sure, but everything as fallen into place as well as one could hope for. Ain't life grand.

Radio - My jazz radio show, In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond, has been renewed for another semester (Saturday evening 7-9PM). That makes it one full year. Also, got the Podcast thing goin' on. It's probably the one activity in my life that gives me the most pleasure, and I look forward to it all week long. CHECK IT OUT!

Ella!

Just when you think there is no hope for Hartford, you find something new and great goin' on. Theaterworks is a tiny playhouse just like those cool off-broadway stages in NYC. From a non-descript doorway, you decend a small stairwell to a tiny dark theater with a small stage, no curtains surrounded by at most a couple of hundred seats. We saw a GREAT performance called Ella! Off the Record about Ella Fitzgerald. Mostly a jazz concert; An actress playing Ella with 4 backup musicians. But it was theater also with two sets (recording studio and a concert setting), clever lighting, and her story interjected between some great swingin' tunes. A great production and a fine night out in Hartford.

The Jeep saga

Dave's jeep has passed on. It was a fine vehicle when purchased in August of 2001. Since then it has been hacked up, crashed, vandalized, violated and now it just died. First its interior was hacked as a ridiculous boomin' stereo was installed. It had been in several crashes (I even backed into it in the driveway). It had been victimized by thievery a couple of times, wrecking the door locks, windows and other body parts. In the end, just sitting unused in the driveway, lacking any human contact it began to deteriorate. It seemed to loose its will to live. Windshield cracked, tires deflated, battery ran dry. It died of old age. All we could do is have it carted away, donated to the Diabetes Foundation... finally being chopped up for reselling its parts. It has died but perhaps lives on as an organ donor (auto parts donor?). Good bye Jeep.

My Podcast

I have spent way too many hours this Fourth of July weekend, setting up my radio show, In The Groove, Jazz and Beyond to be an official Podcast. I have made my show available as .mp3 downloads for a while, but with the all the talk of Podcasts and the ability post them in iTunes, I completly geeked out and learned the XML code necessary to publish my show as an RSS news feed. Then I played around with various RSS Newsreaders and Podcast programs for a few more hours... like till 2 AM. I am totally geeking out. Its getting too freaking wierd.

Geek News Flash!

Apple to Use Intel Microprocessors Beginning in 2006 - Incredible news. I was stunned when the rumors started to fly... and now, they are all true. At first, it was a heartfelt disapointment. The IBM PPC with its RISC architecture was one of those things that made the mac Different. That is part of the allure of the platform. It is counter-culture. It goes against the grain. Intel has always been half of that un-holy alliance with the evil Microsoft Windows (WinTel). However, there is no denying that over the last couple of years IBM has been unable to keep up with the processor advances of the Intel world. In order to compete with WinTel's speedy 3+ GHz processors, Apple has needed to ship dual processors in their pro models. They have been unable to ship G5 laptops because of the heavy power requirements and excessive heat from G5 PPC chips. There have been constant delays in Mac shipments because of IBM's inability to produce an ample supply of G5 processor chips... and they are more costly. So, if moving to Intel means better price/performance and access to all the technology advancements that Intel brings to the table, so be it. Bring on the Macs with 'Intel Inside'.

If you still have that uncomfortable feeling about this... I URGE you to view Steve Jobs address to the WWDC. This will set your mind at ease. He has his act together as usual with a transition strategy that is very painless, with tools to compile Universal Binaries that run on both platforms, and Rosetta code that allows for fast dynamic translation of existing software to the Intel processor that is transparent to the user.

The only question that remains, is how will they continue to sell PPC Macs during the next couple of years until this transition to Intel is complete. Will Mac sales be in the dumper until the Intel Macs are released?

Gotta have at least 1 post...

for the month of May. Yes, I have been slacking off in the Blogosphere, but a lot has been going on. Here are the highlights.

Job - Took a little while to get into the swing of things, but after a year or so of my old company in a downward spiral, and a month unemployed, it took a bit to get on track, understand my role as owner of this product line, know what needs to be done, and formulate a plan on how to do it. It all sounds a little cryptic, but I am feeling great about this opportunity and my new company.

Family - Dave Graduates College. Tremendous job, son! Got the degree in 3 years, already secured a luxury apartment in NYC (hope you're not in too deep), and has several job opportunities. I have absolute faith that Dave will succeed big time in whatever he pursues. Congratulations. (one down, one to go).

Radio - Still groovin' on WHUS FM with my radio show. It was renewed at the same time slot for the Summer semester. Nice routine on Saturday eve. Play Jazz DJ from 7-9 PM, then meet my honey for eats and drinks at Margueritas. Doesn't get any better than that.

Mac stuff - Installed Tiger on my PowerBook. Way cool. I like how they handled the Sync'ing function, as I need to sync info on Palm, multiple Macs, iPod, Internet, .Mac account... way too many toys! More on Tiger on a future post.

Back to work.

I have accepted a job offer with Merritt Graphics as Director of Digital Printing Operations. An exciting new adventure with a progressive digital printing firm, well managed, financially healthy. Its an environment unlike any I have worked for in the past. Imagine this: No Offset Printing! Pure Digital! With a state of the art new Xerox iGen Digital printer.

SWP seemed like a good gig at the start, but it went south in a heartbeat. Looks like I have landed back on my feet. Its going to be a real challenge, but its one that I look forward to with great anticipation.

April Fools... not so funny

Cruel day, this April 1. Sweet Waverly Printing shuts its doors. Let's just say, I'm between jobs.