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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Soooo... The LasterCam is back!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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