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A blog epiphany

I have reached a point of understanding in my bloggedness.

Defining blog, aside from the literal denotation of "abbreviation of 'web log,'" tends to meander in several directions. In this little endeavor of my own, I've wondered in type about the forms of blogging and what "it" is.

Here's my take: it's a personal web page.

Please pause here so the shrill cacophony of disagreement can envelope the earth as bloggers everywhere take up keyboard and web connection to counter my assertion.

Now allow me to explain how I got here.

In my professional life, I've attended professional association meetings on the topic of blogging. Corporate blogs are usually at the center of the discussion. And, like anything in this world, a virtual cottage industry has formed to jump all over the trend. There are companies willing to monitor your blog, host your blog, count the hits on your blog, pay you to advertise on your blog, and even promote or defend your blog when things get really interesting.

But the idea that finally struck me, and this is the epiphany my title describes, is that the true essence of blogging is simply the ability of an individual to easily post information and especially opinion, on the Internet. Corporate 'blogs' really aren't blogs. They are just more corporate web pages masquerading as blogs.

See, that's what makes blogs different. Read the ideas of Thomas Friedman in his much acclaimed book "The World Is Flat" and see what seeded some of this epiphany. He suggests that the ability of individuals to freely express ideas and connect has been one of the catalysts in flattening the world and ushering in a new era of life as we know it.

Used to be, if you wanted to have a web page, you at least had to know HTML and get some web space rented. In the last couple years, all that has gotten easier and cheaper. Anyone can create a blog now using free software and free storage space. All you gotta have is a connection and a way to type and click buttons. Once created, you can even post via cell phone.

And when you study what the hardcore bloggers, those who live and breathe this stuff, seem to defend about blogging, is the purely personal nature of it. Sure, it may be some a-hole from Jerkoria complaining about how he just got ripped off at some retail giant's store, but that's a personal experience and perspective on the world.

When you've got some executive from Boeing posting a 'blog' that in at least some way is promoting the Boeing brand, then he's not blogging - he's marketing.

Understand there are plenty of blogs out there that are trying to sell, promote something, etc., but I'd argue they're really just individuals or organizations taking advantage of the free-ness of blogging. If they weren't so cheap-assed, they'd actually buy space and pay someone to make a page to promote their agenda.

Blogging is interesting because it gives a personal perspective, even if it is uninteresting, uninformed or unbelievably stupid.

Blogs that purport to being a news organization, political organization, or sales front are just those things - not blogs.

So that's my take anyway. There's a whole other discussion beyond this about what that means, a la Friedman's assertions and the effect of blogging on journalism. I've written elsewhere on a variation of that topic before and because I don't feel like making the effort tonight, I'll simply preview it with a synopsis: Ride-along journalism lacks the editorial process.

More on this later.

You Can't Get There From Here

I spent my birthday working at a special event for my job. Big celebration - for other people. But I then jetted off to NYC for a separate work event that would put me near my favorite hockey team (the New Jersey Devils) as they began the NHL playoffs.

I watched for more than a week as the playoff picture took until the final game of the season to finally take form and know what the actual game schedule would be for Round 1 of the playoffs. Good news - New Jersey won its division after winning like 10-straight games to end the season; bad news - they were playing the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. While I hate the Rangers like any Devils fan should, I was more concerned that getting game tickets would be more difficult than if they played, say, Edmonton.

My trip to NYC would be only three days and my free nights would be even fewer. So I waited anxiously for the playoff schedule to be published. Then I found out that the only game while I was in town would be on a night when I was scheduled to work. Bummer. Even more of a bummer when I learned, two hours before the game, that the night event had been canceled and I was free to do what I wanted.

Except that I had not bought tickets, planned transportation from Manhattan to NJ, and hadn't brought appropriate game attire. I ended up watching from my hotel room as one of the Devils scored a hat trick and beat the Rangers.

I celebrated my birthday the next weekend by making a trip to Austin with the sole purpose of seeing Bruce Robison perform. We made it. And thanks to the hospitality of someone in the Robison organization, the show was very special for us. (see previous blog entry).

We arrived early and claimed some of the best seats in the house. Drank lots of Shiner Bock beer and bought our obligatory T-shirts. I even got to say hi to the singer-songwriter (aka author of Angry All the Time, Travelin Soldier and Desperately) and tell him how much I enjoyed a particular song.

As we drove home that next day, I listened to a song that Bruce wrote called "You Can't Get There From Here" and thought how funny that, in my worklife, I couldn't even find joy in the big city when it was right under my nose. Yet, come home to Texas and have a fantastic, laid back weekend full of relaxation and Bruce Robison. It was a great concert. He didn't play my favorite song, but he did consider it.

As Bruce wrote, "Of all the things that I can't touch, I've wanted them so much; why's it always got to be so hard?"

My sentiments exactly.

Overpromising and under-delivering

Customer relationship marketing is a complex term for a simple idea: take care of your customers and they'll come back.

So you can imagine the level of piss-tivity for me when something that should have been oh-so-right turned oh-so-bad this week.

Attentive "Somewhere Between..." readers will know how excited I was for the new Bruce Robison CD to be released this week. Like many music fans, I went to the artists website for details and found a glamorous offer to "Pre-order" the CD. Not only that, but I'd also get a free Mp3 from the new album that could be downloaded immediately. Well, hell, who couldn't pass that up?

So I quickly tap out my credit card info into the online form and hit the send before there's a chance for the site to say, "Sorry, sold out."

The first omen came when the Mp3 download didn't work. Sigh. I submitted an email to the website to see why I got an error when I tried to download the song. I also was wondering if the term "pre-ordered" meant they would send immediately, or time it to arrive on the national release date, which for music is usually on a Tuesday.

I got an email back that AllAccessToday, the company that apparently administers the web commerce sales for Bruce Robison, was working the problem and I should be able to download the song very soon. And, by the way, pre-ordered means they'll ship it as soon as they get it which should be maybe a few days early, but I should receive no later than the day of release.

Fair enough, I figured.

Yeah.... until release day came and went with no CD arriving in my mailbox. I emailed the good folk who had previously emailed me. I had never bothered to email them again after the Mp3 wouldn't download on several attempts. Wrote that off as a casualty of hype and cruddy web development. The answer I got back was interesting.

"I am sorry you are dissatisfied. I would be happy to issue you a refund for your purchase."

Well, that would make a big difference, I replied, noting I had finally received the CD the day AFTER national release and looked forward to hearing the album. It was post-marked on the day of release so they couldn't use the excuse that the mail held it up. I asked what I'd need to do to get such a refund back - perhaps send the CD back - figuring they would probably just say "No, keep it. We just want you to be satisfied."

Ha. Here's their actual response: "If the cd has been opened, we cannot accept the return, nor issue a refund. If it is unopened, feel free to send it back to us for a refund."

What a bunch of, well, marketing dorks. They thought I would not open the CD and wait for them to email me (the back-and-forth was taking a day each way as I sent an email at night, they'd open and reply the next day, etc.) What kind of music fan who orders a brand new release would not open the CD as soon as they get it to hear how it sounded? Further, what was I going to do - pirate the CD. When they already had my name and number?

Here's the crux of my beef, and something I quickly listed for the company in a response email that for some reason hasn't been answered. I paid a premium price for the album to: 1) get it a day later than I could have going to the local record store, 2) pay additional shipping cost on top of that, and 3) not get the free MP3 download offered as an added lure.

Then when I voice dissatisfaction, they give me the Wal-Martian excuse that they can't accept an opened CD. Umm, they are an agent for the artist directly. They could easily repackage it - but even if they couldn't because of some legal industry red tape - it would be cheaper to eat the cost of one CD vs. what it's going to cost them in a damaged relationship between their client, Bruce Robison, and one of his fans, a person willing to spend disposable income on the man's music and merchandise and who is passionate about it that he tends to tell people about his experiences.

So if Bruce Robison, his PR agency, label or even AllAccessToday use any of the available blog monitoring services to look for references to his new album "Eleven Stories" - please know you're not being represented well by AllAccessToday. (They even misspelled the title of one of the songs on his website where the songs scroll when snippets play on the site.)

Customer relationship management means developing a perceived personalized brand experience with the consumer. Underpromise and overdeliver. AllAccessToday had the opportunity to make up for their own miscues... and blew it.

RIP Buck

Just saw the news that Buck Owens died today. He was 76. One of my early musical influences - having co-hosted Hee Haw. That show was a Sunday evening staple in my house growing up in the '70s.

We lose yet another great.

What you think when you're standing in a place where life and death happens in Technicolor

Yesterday, I got a tour of a local hospital's catheterization lab where they save people's lives by performing heart procedures such as balloons in an artery, insertion of a stent, installing pacemakers and defibrillators. They call it a cath lab. It was especially difficult for me because my dad died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 50. He didn't make it to the hospital.

I've written about it before and will certainly write about it again. It affected my way-of-thinking more than almost anything in my life to date. The only others that compare are the births of my children and my marriage, though each of those tend to have more affect as time passes. With my dad's death, the affect was sudden and remains constant where the others continue to grow.

I do rue upon it more than I probably should. But it does give me some perspective. My world changed that day. There's plenty written and said about not becoming a prisoner of your past and similar notions. All of that is true. I can sit around and mope anytime. But that don't get me anywhere.

But I do try to gain energy from it ... OK, not the death itself, but from the spirit of my father. I find that comforting in many ways. When my son acknowledges his existance, having never known him, it's comforting. When I do something I know he would be proud of, it's rewarding. When I do something and despair for help, I think about what my father might have done in a similar situation.

I feel perverse in some ways for feeling lucky that my dad died at 50. I'll always remember my father as he was at 50 -- strong, wise, stoic, and funny. I'll not be tortured by nursing homes, ICU visits, and progressive loss of his memory and senses.

But I rationalize it with the fact that I traded that pain for a different one -- the pain from not having more time, not seeing my son with his grampa, not hearing more stories about his youth, not having him tell me he is proud of what I've accomplished with my life, not having his opinion of my next career move.

It truly is a tradeoff. So when I start to feel bad about feeling lucky he was gone so suddenly, I let it go. I get my share of sad at other times -- when people celebrate life milestones past 50, when my kids do something I'm proud of, when I need someone's ear to hear my woes, and especially, when I visit hospital cath labs.

What this world needs is....

more:

• Time for families
• Neighbors who know each other well enough to help one another
• Companies that invest in their people
• Kids who can read well
• Companies that actually underpromise and overdeliver
• Shoes that fit just right
• People compelled to give something to their community beyond taxes
• Tolerance for diverse opinion
• Chimpanzees (the funniest of the monkey species)
• Affordable technology
• Justice
• Simpsons episodes

and fewer:

• Hypocrites
• Capitalists
• Selfish bastards
• Suffering innocents
• Excuses
• Religionists
• Unsolicited emails
• Sham TV stations that are fronts for some ministry
• New flavors of Coca Cola
• School fundraisers where the school gets pennies on the dollar
• Fire ants
• Scams.

Memory test

OK. More riches from the Next Blog> button.... Honest attribution goes to a guy named Lenin who runs the blog where I found this (http://new-perception.blogspot.com/). This reads like it was a chain-like email that gets forwarded all over. Maybe it is. The message still resonates.

The people who make a difference in your life
You don't actually have to take the quiz. Just read this straight through and you'll get the point. It is trying to make a nice point.

Here's the quiz:
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for bestactor/actresses.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?
The facts are, none of us remember the headliners ofyesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best intheir fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements areforgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier? The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care, that love and that affect you intheir own subtle way.

Defining poignant

I ask my son what he wants to be when he grows up. He casually tells me he wants to be a "movie maker." A discussion ensues as to why. It's a nice discussion. Then, without asking, he tells me about a question his after-school 'teacher' asked the class that day.

She asked, "If you could wish for anything to happen, what would it be?"

"And what did you say?" I asked him.

"For my grampa to still be alive."

My dad died at the age of 50, three years before my son was born. He's only heard stories and seen pictures of him. So to hear -- with me nowhere around and absolutely no prompting -- that his one wish would be to meet his grampa, it tore me up inside. But through that sorrow, a tinge of happiness struck that I had been successful - I've kept his memory alive.

That's something I need on days, and in months, like these. Thank God for children.

The World's About to Change

OK, I bought an Apple. Well, just an iPod. But it's Apple.

I actually started my career an Apple man. There's a weird dichotomy of people who use modern computers: PC people and Apple people, and seldome the twain dothey meet. When I originally started using computers in college, and eventually in the workplace, the machines available to me were Apples, er, Macs, though technically Mac was really only a product but that's a whole other blog.

It was when I went to buy my first personal computer (OK, second, though the Commodore 64 didn't function too well by the mid-'90s) that I switched parties. I went with a PC.

It went against all I had been taught up to that point. The simpleness of the one-button mouse. The intuitive nature of the Mac operating system (which Gates and company emulated in a little product called Windows to eventually take over the world). I was a heretic among my Mac addict co-workers.

But I, for once in my life, was not on the path less traveled. That path, while always a nice way to express your disdain for establishment, peer pressure, the Joneses or whatever pushes you to choose something 'different,' always tends to be a pain in the ass. Say you buy the unique, non-standard car. You end up paying more for parts and labor because few people carry that brand or model. Same with so many products in life. I was at a point where I didn't want my choices for software and compatibility on the Internet (it was burgeoning in American households at the time) to be limited to what I might find in the back of some Mac fan magazine. The local electronics and software stores sold all things PC and usually only reserved one shelf for Mac products... not unlike the shelf of guessing-game prize toys Steve Martin gave away during his stint in the carnival in the movie "The Jerk."

So I bought a PC and never looked back. My jobs eventually migrated to using PCs and the transition was smooth, especially as Windows contineud to steal (I mean imitate) more and more features from Mac OS. Hell, the Two-button mouse really has some cool uses.

But I finally went back over to the good side and bought me an iPod. Big, black 60GB, video-capable beast. I'm expecting the world to change. My wife thinks it a waste of money for a 'radio' as she puts it, when most of my spare time is already spent on the computer and I can play music on it. I keep throwing up those examples of doctors appointments and anywhere else I have to wait around as reasons I needed this made-in-China hole in the head.

No, I didn't really need it. I *wanted* it.

It was supposed to be a Father's Day present last year. But we didn't have the money. So when the taxman came this year, I asked if I could plus-up my gift from last year and the wife agreed. Now she's having second thoughts - after I unwrapped it and started downloading my music onto it. Too late, though, because they won't take engraved iPods back. Ha.

Now all I have to do is convince her how cool it is and make her want one. Then... maybe she'll lay off. If not, I'll just put the ear buds in and nod politely. He he.

The happy list

The topic lately has been happiness. So let's continue to run that into the ground.

I remembered a fun little exercise I used to do with some co-workers on a non-regular basis: We'd create happy lists.

The happy list was an enumerated list of things we had reason to be happy about at that particular time. One person would start by writing their list, and then email it to the other two who participated. We'd all review each list together when finished to decipher the not-so-obvious entries to one another.

Hokie? Oh yes. Contrived? Maybe. But it sure helped to redirect our thoughts from those of being malconteded corporate gears to realizing there sure was a lot to be happy about in our lives. It was also a good way to cultivate good friendships, too. I wouldn't doubt if ignudo still had some or all of those archived somewhere. He's like that.

But for old time's sake (and the need to be positive for a change), here goes...the explanations are added for blog readers who otherwise won't get the opportunity to interrogate me later abour specific entries:

1. My family - the kids and the queen all are great wonders in my life.
2. My friends - Both of them. lol. No, really, my friends as diverse and geographically spread out as they are, all add something to who I am. And that's a good thing.
3. Eleven Stories - Bruce Robison's new album comes out first week of April. Sneak preview on his record label's website. Go to Artists and select Bruce Robison.
4. Tax refund - thank God, we don't have to pay again AND we should be able to buy some sorely needed items and a fun one or two
5. iPod - last year's Father's Day gift about to come to fruition (Thanks IRS! - ref. no. 4)
6. "Far Exceeds Expectations" - my annual performance review was rated highest level possible
7. Next Blog>> I frequently hit the Next Blog button to find out what's happening with other random individuals around the world. Often it's a bust. Sometimes, it's a lucky find. Reference this 'found' blog that turned into one I check frequently
8. Karma - "My Name is Earl" is a fantastic show that combines the spirit of my favorite movie of all time with the grand notion of karma.
9. Nostromo n52 GamePad - the coolest second-choice I could have ever gotten for a Christmas present. I had wanted a keyboard-based product, but my best friend got one and I didn't want to be the bandwagon boy. So I found a review that mentioned the n52, and decided to try it. I love it.
10. Sight words - my son is learning to read and brings home from school a set of 8 words to read each night. He was doing well with each set to I asked the teacher to start sending two sets a night, and so far, we're keeping up. Hooray! My son may not end up illiterate. Half my work will be done by the time he's 8.

I now return you to you regularly scheduled Internet surfing.

Blame Jessica for this one. She had a link to this on her blog. It amused me. I'm really excited it determined my life story would be similar to a Coen Brothers movie. I can die now.

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Cult Classic

Quirky, offbeat, and even a little campy - your life appeals to a select few. But if someone's obsessed with you, look out! Your fans are downright freaky. Your best movie matches: Office Space, Showgirls, The Big Lebowski

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

Is happiness all it's cracked up to be?

The subject of happiness continues to vex me lately. As previously reported, I've got two friends amidst major life changes, one moving to LA for a new life and new job and the other potentially headed to Bermuda for same.

I've had some truly happy moments lately and they're nothing like I'd thought they would be. The most striking was so ordinary. There was an evening when my son started taking karate lessons. He's had trouble at school staying focused: think Chatty Cathy as a 6-year-old kindergarten boy and that would be my son. So when he went to his first official lesson of karate and was focused intently on what the instructor was saying, followed directions and didn't let the kids around him distract his attention, I was blown away. We went home and even had an unusually nice family dinner. The conversation was pleasant, if uneventful, and I remember a distinct moment when my toddler daughter did something funny and everyone laughed. It was like a scene from a friggin' Norman Rockwell.

Driving has always been a release for me - a chance to listen to music and escape, to a limited extent, that which bogs me down in the swamp of life. With a father who drove cross country for a living, there's a certain amount of wanderlust in me. Oddly, though, it's almost always something I've experienced by myself as an adult. When the family is along, it's point A to point B. Anything more is considered lost. And the music, well, let's just say it's not as good.

During a recent 2.5-hour drive for work, I had some opportunity to think. So the topic of happiness floated back to the top of my mind, like a turd that just won't flush. I continued think about my own idea that progress is good, but happiness is best.

Perhaps that's the obvious here ... of course happiness is better than some predecided, or even suddenly identified, milestone. It's the trip stupid, some would say with indignance, or at least a heavy dose of "duh" in their tone.

Beyond that, I have no further revelations. Just some thoughts I've had and this is a place where I can document some of them. Perhaps some day they will give me more clarity. Some day they may be useful. Some day, just knowing I documented some things could actually make me happy. Imagine that.

Concert listing

Gonna use this as a space to capture the concerts attended by me. Since I can edit this, will allow me the means to update the list as I remember those fuzzy moments. It should get visually better as time goes by and I have time to pretty it up. Those in the know are welcome to add comments or clarification for my bad memory.


Brazil - local Texas band (attended with Marcus Boney - RIP)
Steppenwolf and The Guess Who (Attended with MB)
.38 Special (Saw at Dallas Alley free concert)
Steppenwolf (Saw again at Dallas Alley free concert)
Kingdom Come, Dokken, Scorpions, Metallica, Van Halen (went on a package deal - bus and tix from Tyler to the Dallas Cotton Bowl with Militant, Hagar's voice crapped out and they promised free show, made up several years later in Dallas Alley as a free for all event, i didn't go)
Warrant and Motley Crue (second time's the charm, with Militant, Reunion Arena, Kick Start My Heart was recorded live at that show for Decade of Decadance album)
Pantera (at the After Dark Club in Houston in a New Year's Eve show, I stage dove, Rocky George from Suicidal made a guest appearance)
LA Guns, AC/DC (Can't remember much of this one, seems like Sepultura may have played, too. Was at the Starplex)
Bad English, Whitesnake (Reunion Arena, featured Steve Vai and Adrian Vandenberg as dual guitarists for Whitesnake)
Faith No More, Guns N Roses, Metallica (Texas Stadium)
Winger, The Scorpions (Starplex - very special show)
Coal Chamber, Danzig (at a club in Deep Ellum - with Skippy, turned us on to Coal Chamber, Danzig was awesome)
Suicidal Tendencies, Queensryche (saw with Militant and the magician, turned me on to Suicidal AND got to see Mindcrime in entirety as a show within the show)
Coal Chamber, Sevendust (Powerman 5000 was headliner and we disliked them so much we left just after they started, saw with Skippy)
Coal Chamber, Megadeth (at the Bronco Bowl, great showm saw with Skippy)
Robert Plant, Alannah Miles (saw with Militant, did cover of my fave Zep song, Nobody's Fault But Mine)
Quicksand?, White Zombie, Anthrax (saw with Skippy and Militant, Al Jourgenson of Ministry waved to me when I yelled at him after the show - he was a guest of the band and was walking across the stage)
Motorhead, Dio, Iron Maiden (with Skippy, Awesome show, especially Dio and Maiden - rode in Chevy SST before they were publicly available)
Queensryche, Judas Priest (saw with Militant & Skippy, the reunion tour with Rob Halford)

Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold and Volbeat (turned me on to Volbeat)
Iron Maiden, Ghost (This thing called Ghost - awesome!)

Scorpions & Ratt (T-Bucket's first concert) Grand Prairie
Queensryche at Grand Prairie
Iron Maiden and Coheed and Cambria (Dallas Starplex)
Iron Maiden and Megadeth, Austin at the racetrack
Sum41 at Houston House of Blues with T-Bucket
Third Eye Blind, Bad Bad Hats, Oklahoma City Criterion
Third Eye Blind, Dallas Starplex
Deep Purple, Alice Cooper at Starplex


DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, JJ Fadd, Public Enemy, Run DMC (with Javiez lol)
Dottie West or Tammy Wynette- I'm hazy on this, could have been another early 70s country star, but she played a small high school in my area that my family went to see when I was a kid)
Jerry Reed (at Billy Bob's when my grandma and aunt visited Texas, whole family went, I remember it not being a great place to see the concert)
Dwight Yoakum (with the Queen, at Starplex, couldn't understand any of the talking, but songs were OK)
Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks (with the Queen - one of his last big arena tours, big multi-night gig)
Deryl Dodd (at several venues in Texas, with the Queen)
Mark Chestnut, Tracy Lawrence, George Strait (A New Year's Eve show in Dallas with the Queen)
Bruce Robison (At a special acoustic concert opening for Guy Clark, with the Queen, blew me away and I saw him solo at Austin's Broken Spoke later)
Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis more times than I can remember now
Bruce Robison, Charlie Robison & Jack Ingram - Dallas Hard Rock, Unleashed Reunion
Charlie Robison multiple times, first in Lampasas, also Belton
Max Stalling multiple times, Belton twice, Lampasas, The Colony, Waco fair
Slaid Cleaves multiple times - Saxon Pub, Waxahachie theatre, Washington, DC, Tomball, Belton
Chris Knight multiple times - Belton, Waco Hippodrome, Belton intimate show, Waco Lakeside
Warren Hood, multiple times, opening for Bruce/Kelly, at Waco
Courtney Patton, Belton multiple times, our backyard, New Braunfels area, Waxhachie with and without Jason Eady

Junior Brown (multiple times, once at Gypsy Tea Room in Dallas, second time at Southern Junction and said hi to him near the merch table, and again at a Deep Ellum Club) also at Waco
Johnny Gimble and Hank Thompson in Waco at MCC, one of Hank's last shows

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is not

I stole the title of this post from a bumper sticker I read. Love that saying.

I still laugh at vulgar jokes. The sight gag is still appreciated here. And, hell, I still play video games.

Recent events happening with a couple of my friends has me pondering growth. Not long ago, a co-worker of mine announced she was engaged to be married. This woman, divorced with a child, had dated a guy and gone through a long series of he-loves-me, he-loves-me-not episodes that had many convinced it wouldn't never work out. I sent her a note how happy I was for her and made a comment that, after writing it, seemed profound in some ways: "Progress is good; happiness is best."

Ok. It seemed profound to me. I'm easily impressed. Point being that many people looked favorably on this announcement of her engagement as an overdue progress point on the journey of love. My sentiment is that while it's nice to progress through someone's pre-conceived wickets of progress in the croquet game of love, that being happy with where you are really produces a hell of a lot more satisfaction.

And so it comes to this: the two friends I mentioned are both on the verge of moving to very far lands. One is certain, heading within the month to Los Angeles; the other's got a standing offer for a job in Bermuda. These are both great opportunities for people who highly deserve a fantasticly refreshing change of pace in their lives. And while I might whimper about the fact that two friends will likely be off the choices of day-trip visits, I'm really excited that they have the opportunities ahead of them. These guys deserve success.

Further, I have a reservation about both because they're each going to a situation that appears to be a 'dream' job kind of setup. If not that tailored, maybe they could be considered at least highly ideal jobs for their interests. My big hope is that they find more than progress -- they both deserve happiness.

For me, I often find myself happy when I can be a kid. Give me a good radio station or my video game and I'm set. So maybe I'm not progressing in some regards, but I can sometimes find happiness in the simple things.

No greater point here. Just some thoughts and feelings on the subject. I still like that bumper sticker, though.

Camaro may be coming back!

General Motors today unveiled a Camaro concept car after discontinuing the muscle car just a few years back.

My first reaction -- as a Camaro enthusiast -- was WOW! The new concept actually takes the lead of Ford and incorporates an old-is-new design theme that mixes modern automotive design with distinct design elements from first-generation cars.

Here's a photo I gleaned from the Internet.

Read more at Chevy's performance website.

My second reaction, after thinking about this a while, is maybe this is too little, too late. As much as I love the first-gen Camaros, especially a '68 Super Sport with 427, seeing it now seems a little adulterated. It says, "We're Chevy and we couldn't come up with anything new that was cool, so we went back to this popular design."

And while I can be all high and mighty like that, I also admit that the recent generation Ford Mustangs that do the same thing I like even more than the originals. Of course, I have grudging admiration for the early Mustangs, though I'd take an early Camaro over a Mustang seven days a week. Not sure I'd do the same if buying new versions today. That's what I'll have to sort out.

Part of the reluctance is in the fact that Chevy seems to be so day-late and dollar-short. I mean Ford's, what, 5 years ahead of them on this whole retro-is-the-new-black thing?

I reserve the right to change my opinion on this once I see them actually produce this car. I've certainly seen Chevy shop around a concept car only for it to never see the light of day (a '57 Chevy Nomad clone comes to mind that I saw at an auto show.) Hell, Dodge seemed to get closer to that with its Magnum than Chevy ever got.

I also go off on a tangent to bemoan how horribly Chevy has tended to adulterate the Super Sport (SS) packaging in the last couple decades. The only exception to that was the Impala SS that was built on the Caprice-sized body, before the most-recent design. Everything else I've seen with SS badging has been underwhelming, most especially the SS pickup. Yuck. Ford's Lightning pickups made those look like Little Tykes cars.

Enough for now.

Marriage made in....heaven

So I'm reading about Bill O'Reilly and David Letterman having a little back and forth on Letterman's show. Letterman, in unusual fashion in my opinion since he usually throws softballs at most of his guests.

I wasn't aware, but the Associated Press reports that O'Reilly was a catalyst in the whole don't-take-Christ-out-of-Christmas movement. That was an issue Letterman disagreed with O'Reilly about and the two went back and forth.

So the media picked up on it and made it into a story. O'Reilly, in subsequent interviews has said he enjoyed the opportunity to spar and had no issue with being ambushed. Third-party analysts said that the whole issue may be backfiring on O'Reilly because he's suggested he may retire in a couple years. They even used the term 'jumping the shark' to describe him making such a big fuss about Christmas. Happy Days fans should remember Jumping the Shark - a term from when a show gets on its last legs and incorporates some kind of stunt to pull in a bigger audience. In Happy Days' case, they had Fonzie literally jump a shark for a TV thrill show.

So if O'Reilly is in his twilight and has nothing else to do, I've got a plan for him.

He needs to get into politics. And I've got the perfect conservative to run with him. It would be like a Magic 8 Ball of politics: you never know what's going to come out of their mouths on any given day.

Bill O'Reilly and Pat Robertson. The same Pat Robertson who this past week said Ariel Sharon was struck down by God for dividing God's land by agreeing to give the Gaza Strip to Palestine. The same Pat Robertson who also said the Hurricane and terrorist attacks on America was God's punishment for the U.S. abortion rate. Uh huhhhh.

Did I mention that Robertson recently also suggested Hugo Chavez, the outspoken leader of Venezuela, be assassinated?

What a dream ticket. A marriage made only in ... heaven.

Heisman in two hands - worth one Bush?

Someone asked me today how I felt about the national championship game last night featuring USC vs. Texas. "Good for Texas," I said, "But now we'll have to listen to all the Texas fans for a while."

I think you know what I mean... the incessant braggadochios and their chest-beating. It just gets kinda old - I mean, I have lived in Texas long enough to hear that ad nauseum from Cowboys fans.

Beyond that, though, I'm glad. It was good to finally see the two undefeated teams go head-to-head so that we wouldn't have weeks and weeks of speculation about which team was really better and did the sports writers of America really get the rankings right.

This game was great - no doubt about it. It featured high scoring, a lead that changed several times and a game-winning play in the final minute from a fourth-and-short-yardage situation. Did I mention the game featured three Heisman Trophy finalists (USC QB Matt Leinart, USC RB Reggie Bush, UT QB Vince Young), two actual Heisman winners (Leinart and Bush) and a seemingly home field advantage for USC?

After USC lost the game, Leinart was quoted as saying that he basically thought USC still had a better team, but that Texas just made more plays in the game. Uh, that's kinda like saying, my car's faster, I just didn't beat you in the race. The whole point of the teams playing is to determine which team is better. Hence the buildup of this game as a true Bowl Championship Series title game.

Yes, you can talk about the Any Given Sunday corollary which states that on any given day, one football team can beat another if things go just right. Everyone can have a bad day and unfortunate circumstances to lose to a team they shouldn't have lost to. In this case, that excuse doesn't fly. There was too much on the line.

Now, USC has a legitimate gripe about a play where Texas scored when the ball should have been down. The play wasn't reviewed on instant replay when it should have and wasn't reversed. So some could say that Texas might never have won if that had been called back. But it wasn't called back so it's only conjecture at this point. Maybe they would have just been more resolved to score and it wouldn't have been as close as it was. We'll never know and we can't go back.

Regardless, UT overcame the public perception that No. 1 USC was a better team than the No. 2 Longhorns despite matching undefeated records. They had to play in the Rose Bowl, which is in USC's back yard. Texas' Heisman finalist had to face USC's two Heisman winners. On paper, so many people had USC picked to win that playing the game seemed a formality.

But somewhere along the line, Vince Young put it on them. And that's kinda cool.