Moderately Annoying

I hate networks with over-active password policies :

1. You have to change your password every 2 months.
2. Must have at least 6 letters, at least one of which must be capitalized.
3. Must not be a regular English word.
4. Must have at least 2 numerical digits.
   

I doubt any of this really improves security. It makes it impossible to remember what your password is and so you write it down on paper and put under the monitor.

Daylight Savings time. Move the clock 1/2 an hour one way or the other and leave it there. (They are thinking of adjusting this again, 8 months of DST 4 months standard. Thanks for nothing.)

Lessons For Rookies in Bushwick (circa 1977).

1. Don't walk too close to the buildings (someone might drop a brick on you).
2. Don't let neighborhood kids wear your hat (lice).
3. Always check the earpiece on a call box before using it (dog shit).
The above instructions come from the book "Ladies and Gentlemen the Bronx is Burning 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City". Good reading.

2nd City

Fuck flash. I am just now trying to check out the web site for lallopalooza (sp?) 2005. What I get is a 'loading ...' message. Sorry dude, I got dial up. And I only really wanted a list of acts. Let's see what the hi-tech web guys offer....
A lot of cutesy-poo graphics. Yea.
Oh well. Lollapalooza 2005 was in Chicago this weekend. Some of my favorite peeps were there. Liz Phair, in particular, on her home turf! Damn. Im sorry I missed that. I have never been to Chi-town. But I bet this was the time to be there (aside from the 115 degree heat I guess.) Too bad, but the pics look great. I bet it was a great time.

Urban Dissonance

Scene - Denver. 17th and Pennsylvania.
Time - Saturday Night ~ 9 PM. July 23.(After a week of record setting heat in the Mile High City.)

Summary of Events -
Officer E. is walking to Uptown Liquors. An altercation is in progress on the sidewalk. One black male, approx 25-35 is engaged in argument with 2 white males approx 25-35. Nature of argument could not be ascertained. Terms of abuse along the lines of "You messing with me?" are exchanged repeatedly as suspects walk in and out of each others personal space. A few innocent bystanders hang out to gawk. One 40 oz beer is destroyed in what may best be termed a semi-fight. At some point 3 more individuals become involved in semi-fight. 1 black woman approx 35, and 2 black males of similar age. Relation to other individuals unknown. Punches are thrown (poorly). The 2 white males appear to attempt de-escalation of semi-fight by walking away. Following and more indecipherable discussion ensue in middle of 17th avenue. Officer E. goes into Uptown liquor and purchases 6 pack Pabst Blue Ribbon and Vodka w/o incident. No individuals were arrested and no firearms were discharged.

Lance Armstrong.

I admire Arstrong cause he is so good at what he does, and he came back from cancer. It's an inspiring story. But to be honest, I don't much care for bicycle racing as a sport. I don't find watching any races particularly exciting. And car racing is more engineering than sport. I don't know why anyone watches that stuff.

Denver's Pit Bull Ban.

I think this is kind of bullshit. They outlawed pit bulls in town here. Just cause some cause trouble you shouldn't blame the whole group. Thats blatant speciesism, anti-pit-bull bias, and its just wrong to boot. Good thing City Hall is handling all the important shit.

Wedding Crashers.

It was good. I can only hope Dukes of Hazzard is equally well-done. Ill let you know how it is.

Google Maps

Another cool thing from google. Here is the map of my hood according to google:MAP TO E'S PLACE. I live on Grant, work (at the moment) at 1670 Broadway. Go to the Y at 16-something and Lincoln. Duffy's is at Court and 17th, and Safeway is at 20th and Emerson.
Location, Location, Location.

Cleaning up the apt.

I was cleaning up my apt the other day. I cleared out my shelves in the dresser in particular. I had copies of Windows 95 and Borland C++ 5. Old, nasty shit. Yuck.

HP Layoffs.

Looks like HP is going to be laying off about 14,500 people. Ouch. They merged with Compaq a few years ago. I think it was another of those deals that looks good to Wall Street but doesn't do any real good. Think of the Time Warner/AOL thing as an example. HP's head honcho Carli Fiorina split earlier this year (I think.) Took like 20 some million as a parting gift..... I still like their calculators though, I will give them that.

Too Hot

It reached 104 here in Denver today. Too damn hot!

How Not to Deal with the Police.

I was walking home one day last week(I forget which exactly). Going by 17th and Sherman I saw a guy getting busted by a cop. The guy was handcuffed with his arms behind his back, on the ground, with the cops knee in his back. The perp/dumb-ass kept saying "You're a dead man!" And the cop was, sort of like slapping the guy in the back of the head. Didn't seem to shut him up though. My advice when dealing with cops is: BE POLITE. If you are acting like an idiot and get the Rodney King treatment, don't come crying to me.

Reviewer, critique thyself.

I haven't seen any movies too great recently. Perhaps my expectations are too high? Perhaps! There are a couple of movies I am pretty set on seeing:
1. Wedding Crashers
2. Dukes of Hazard.
Both look like good, juvenile comedies with some reasonably reliable actors. I liked Old School, which Vince Vaughn was in, quite a bit. So, I am thinking these movies should be B/B+ grade stuff. I have heard a few people say that Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg is a dubious choice. O Yea of Little Faith. (Do not mess with Burt Reynolds.) Ill consider these movies successfull if they are better than Dodgeball or Anchorman which were marginally ok (as best I can recall).

A Miracle has Occured

Speaking of the Runway bride, some dude on ebay had this to offer:
" Jennifer Wilbanks found on my morning breakfast toast. I still think her fiance did it !!! This is the one and only Toast Depicting The Scam Artict of the year Jennifer Wilbanks. Look at the eyes its her. Dont be fooled by others. Sold to high bidder shipping priority$3.85 Ebay tossed me off but im back!!! Just like Jen."
Truly, will wonders never cease? Also, it's ALWAYS the fiance or the husband until proven otherwise.

So Ed, What Did You Think Of 'Dark Water'?

Good question. I thought it was pretty lame. It did have good 'production values' but it was a dumb ass script.

That girl missing in Aruba.

I don't generally watch tv news. I catch it at the gym some. They seem to be spending a lot of time on this girl who went to Aruba and is now missing (and presumably dead.) A while back it was 'The Runaway Bride.' Why is this news? Its too bad, but you'd think there are more important stories. Oh well, I guess they got some free time now that Michael Jacksons trial is over.

London

Whoever bombed London needs to be killed. I was just thinking about what Ward Churchill would have to say to this. Fuck Ward Churchill and bitches like him.

Shish Kabob

There is a Middle Eastern restaraunt called Shish Kabob in my hood. I have been going there for a few months now on an as needed basis. I had some lentil soup and hummus and such like there. Good stuff. Im not sure about how long they will last though. They are on the corner of Grant and Colfax. I have seen that space be vacant, get a pizza place, pizza place dies, be vacant, now ShishKabob. Maybe it's not a good location. Its not really downtown. There is a plethora of nice places in the area too, so there is rather heavy competition. Plus, you get the impression that the place wants to be a regular sit-down resteraunt instead of a good take out place, which is what it really should be.

Movie Reviews

George Romero's Land of the Dead. B
War of the World. B
Both were decent action movies. Neither of them particularly impressed me. The Zombies were cool. No big surprises in either, but Land of the Dead had a couple of laughs.
In sum, thumbs modestly up for both. Go if you are in the mood to get out of the house or if you like action movies more than I do.

News in Review.

Apparently they are deciding where the next Summer Olympics will be held and they should have an answer in few days. I can see why some city would want it because it would stir development. But to me, I wouldn't want them in Denver. (Not that I think it would happen.) It would be more traffic, hassle and the Olympics are boring. The Greeks practically had to beg people to show up. Let someone else have it.