29 June, 2007

Toy

Man, don't think I've seen this kind of madness since Cabbage Patch. The iphone. A small, rounded rectangle of metal and plastic capable of causing lines not seen since the Depression Era.
Call me skeptical. No, really, call me that cause I am.
I have a cell phone, an old one, so old the kid behind the counter at the cell phone shop probably wasn't born when my phone was launched. But, it works. I love it when I need it, when it works, but then I don't love it anymore because it is just a small, rounded piece of metal and plastic.
In many cases I love the people on the other end of the magical cordless line, but I'm not sure how much credit I can give the phone. After all, it is just a small, rounded piece of metal and plastic.
I'm starting to think we are gadget happy. No, correction, I KNOW we are gadget happy, but in the long run is this a sustainable trend? Do you detest me for even questioning the great Apple father in the sky? If are asleep in the parking lot at Fashion Island, portable radio in hand, fending off hordes of line cutters you probably do detest me, but my question remains.
Cause remember, I'm skeptical. When I hear iphone 1.0, I'm already thinking iphone 2.0. Just like high-def tv. I'm already over it. I dont' even need to buy one. I have a TV, an old one, so old the kid behind the counter in the TV shop probably wasn't born when my tv was launched. You get where I'm going here?

24 June, 2007

Customer Service

Okay, in contention for worst customer service.....cell phone companies.......office supply companies..........neck and neck, too close to call.

19 June, 2007

View

http://www.pdn-pix.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003600302

15 June, 2007

Spurs Win AGAIN

I think we owe this entire "feeling" of the finals to the sports media, who never seem to want to work for there stories anymore, and to the league for producing a product that is getting worse and worse every single year. Check the ratings numbers and you will see, on the DECLINE.

The celebration last night was the perfect ending to the year for the NBA, the sportswriters and fans. It was the worst thing I have ever seen, and exactly what everyone deserved. We didn't deserve a game seven, with a high scoring shootout, but the league didn't produce that all year long. Why expect it now? The those ten people who hung around to boo the Spurs, those guys, and gals perhaps, were fantastic, and just made Cleveland look more like a sore loser than ever before. (I am a Saints fan, however this year my secret AFC team is Browns, so I know something about loser teams.)
The league doesn't produce good basketball, it produces a lot of sloppy, lazy games because players have guaranteed money. There are MAYBE a handful of teams that play defense, the Spurs being one, and a handful of teams that play as a team, the Spurs being one.

Dynasty? Of course not, the sportswriters, who have to work with the Spurs to get stories, no court cases, contract holdouts, infighting to make their days go easily, will not allow the Spurs to be a dynasty. In fact, they have already started. Two minutes after the game, one commentator said, "Well they have to win back to back to be a dynasty."

You have a team of unselfish players who only care about winning, and in today's NBA that is just not what people want. People want controversy, entertainment, celebrity and 120 point games.

What I love is when the series started, and the sportswriters said, "Oh this is going to be boring," it appeared as if most people just took that at face value and said, "Okay, this is going to be boring."
I didn't watch much NBA all year, but I did watch at least part of three or four of these finals. I didn't seem a boring game at all. I saw one team who was a supreme, well oiled, disciplined machine, dismantling a lesser team. How can you call what Tony Parker did boring? Manu? Even Duncan, who isn't flashy, but who possesses BASIC skills that allow him to be one of, if not the most dominant player at his position in the history of the game.

The Spurs had no weakness other than their 4th quarter lapse, which has been a trademark for a long while.

As for the Cavaliers, they are just fortunate to play in the East, and could have been easily handled by at least four, perhaps six teams in the West. Lebron? He just isn't that good at this point in his career. I'm not saying he isn't a good player, he is , and has the entire team and city on his back, but he is too rightside heavy, turns the ball over, shoots too much, and does not have a consistent jumper. I think he WILL be a great player, at some point, but he surely isn't a Dwayne Wade type guy at this point in his career, and the team needs to surround him with at least a better point guard, and big man. Otherwise, I don't see them returning to the finals, not with the Heat, Bulls and Pistons hanging around.

And now we head into the off season with the "boring" Spurs polishing yet another trophy, and for the sports media it only gets worse. There will be no domestic disputes, no DUI's, no ego or money issues, no trade demands, no trade retractions and probably no interviews. They will just disappear.

13 June, 2007

Gaza

I wrote something today for BBC World Have Your Say. Well, I wrote a comment to them regarding the piece they were doing on the recent events in Gaza. It wasn't like I was called and asked to write someting, just sent an email and asked to comment if I felt like it.
I wrote it on another computer, which I could turn on, then copy and paste, but I'm too lazy to even cross the room, so now I sit here telling you what I wrote.
My point was, "What else is there to do in Gaza but fight?" If you are twenty-five and have been fighting for five years, ten perhaps, then what else are you reallly qualified to do? Is it easier to fight than to build for a better Gaza in the future. I have never been there, so I'm just talking and wondering, not pointing the fingers at those living in Gaza. It doesn't appear that there is much infrastucture, industry, education, jobs or opportunity, besides linking up with one side or the other and squeezing your trigger finger.
If you watch the footage, it appears to be total chaos. What I'm saying is that yes there are supposed to be two main factions fighting, but within each faction there appears many splinter groups, conflicts, opportunists and a lot of people just standing around.
I began to wonder if conflict will become a part of the DNA of this culture, or maybe it already has. Afghanistan, Colombia, etc, places that just grind on, year after year, war, famine, war, corruption, etc.
I think these places, in some ways, fail to exist to most people because this drama has been so "normal" for so long it no longer has much of an impact, unless you have a personal connection. I think it proves there is an intanglible aspect of humanity that almost needs war. And war is good business, for the people on the fringes, and it sure seems to be, in some ways, an "easy" way out.
Mabye I'm wrong, but each day I see more and more that makes me wonder.

My First Camera Bag


I still have it. A Domke F2 I think it is called.

11 June, 2007

The Slammer

I think we have reached a new collective low. Paris in jail. What is next? How is it possible that this little angel did anything foul enough to visit old county lockup? This girl has had a difficult life, battled expense accounts too large to handle efficiently, somehow found a way to fill days, months, years of free time, and most importantly, contributed so much to society in general.
And now, after her special treatment, oops, I mean her release, we found out she now cares and wants to help wounded animals, or was it missing kids, or perhaps others with excess money issues.
We are all pulling for you Paris, stay strong.