At home:
At the office:
Monday, November 27, 2006
Bite your stiches, you get the cone...
Snickers the cat got a cat bite. It got infected. Snickers got stitches. Snickers bit out the stitches. So, Snickers got the cone.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Signs you'd rather not see along the path at the park you sometimes jog in...
Man, I gotta:
A) Steal this sign
B) Take it on a plane during my next trip
C) Take a photo of it on the plane.
Hmmmmm.....maybe I can Photoshop it.....
I [Heart] Georgia Navigator
I live 35 miles north of downtown Atlanta. I work in downtown Atlanta.
Thus, I commute.
Until recently, I had no use for http://www.georgia-navigator.com/ - the Web site for the Georgia Department of Transportation's Intelligent Transportation System. I used public transportation - or only had one route to choose from.
Now I drive, and I can choose three options. So, I use the Web site twice daily.
The Web site, and the "Intelligent Transportation System" is a typical weird, disjointed seeming IT driven communication system. There's traffic cams and trip times and maps and incident lists and dipictions of the traffic signs along the Interstates, etc.
Humans like to hear stories or have their questions answered in a straight forward manner. Humans using the "ITS" dig around for nuggests of facts in snippets that might give them an idea of how long it'll take them to get home and what routes they should avoid.
In the digging, I come across found objects that amuse me. Here are two of them I found this morning.
NASCAR is in town this weekend...
This could describe my life...
Thus, I commute.
Until recently, I had no use for http://www.georgia-navigator.com/ - the Web site for the Georgia Department of Transportation's Intelligent Transportation System. I used public transportation - or only had one route to choose from.
Now I drive, and I can choose three options. So, I use the Web site twice daily.
The Web site, and the "Intelligent Transportation System" is a typical weird, disjointed seeming IT driven communication system. There's traffic cams and trip times and maps and incident lists and dipictions of the traffic signs along the Interstates, etc.
Humans like to hear stories or have their questions answered in a straight forward manner. Humans using the "ITS" dig around for nuggests of facts in snippets that might give them an idea of how long it'll take them to get home and what routes they should avoid.
In the digging, I come across found objects that amuse me. Here are two of them I found this morning.
NASCAR is in town this weekend...
This could describe my life...
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Here comes Fall
Two things have happened around the house recently.
#1 – Windermere Parkway opened two weeks (approx.) ago.
#2 – Fall is here.
And I’m excited about both.
Windermere Parkway
Windermere Parkway runs by the entrance of my neighborhood. It’s a four-lane road with a tree-strewn median and sidewalks. It connects the busy Georgia State Highways of 141 (Peachtree Parkway) and 20 (Mall of Georgia), and rambles through various neighborhoods – Laurel Springs, James Creek, Windermere, and my neighborhood – Three Chimneys.
Why am I excited about a road? Well, it connects my neighborhood directly and quickly with 141 and 20. The shopping centers at both ends of the parkway are great.
It’s also a nice road to bicycle down, and it connects our neighborhood directly with the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area and Lake Lanier.
Now that it is more accessible, we’ve been driving down Windermere Parkway and over to 20 more often.
HATCHERY
This weekend, we went driving in the Chattahoochee River Club, which is right across highway 20 if you go straight after the Windermere Parkway ends, and discovered the Buford Trout Hatchery with its Family Fishing Pond.
How cool is that? Going down Windermere Parkway, there’s at least six subdivision playgrounds, a golf course and two parks (one is under construction), and if you follow the parkways across the street – it ends in a fish hatchery on the Chattahoochee River, with a little fishing pond.
I plan to bike down to the Hatchery soon. It’s about six miles or so. I had been biking about two miles down the Windermere Park, then taking a jog on the bike trail. But I like to mix things up. I'll just bike and bike from the house down to the hatchery. I suppose if I really went crazy, I could job around the hatchery, but biking 12 miles and running one seems like a bit much right now. We'll see...
Fall
Temperatures have been mild, and it’s been chilly from time to time. And we put up our Halloween decorations. They aren't much, but they are fun. I’ll post some pictures later...
#1 – Windermere Parkway opened two weeks (approx.) ago.
#2 – Fall is here.
And I’m excited about both.
Windermere Parkway
Windermere Parkway runs by the entrance of my neighborhood. It’s a four-lane road with a tree-strewn median and sidewalks. It connects the busy Georgia State Highways of 141 (Peachtree Parkway) and 20 (Mall of Georgia), and rambles through various neighborhoods – Laurel Springs, James Creek, Windermere, and my neighborhood – Three Chimneys.
Why am I excited about a road? Well, it connects my neighborhood directly and quickly with 141 and 20. The shopping centers at both ends of the parkway are great.
It’s also a nice road to bicycle down, and it connects our neighborhood directly with the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area and Lake Lanier.
Now that it is more accessible, we’ve been driving down Windermere Parkway and over to 20 more often.
HATCHERY
This weekend, we went driving in the Chattahoochee River Club, which is right across highway 20 if you go straight after the Windermere Parkway ends, and discovered the Buford Trout Hatchery with its Family Fishing Pond.
How cool is that? Going down Windermere Parkway, there’s at least six subdivision playgrounds, a golf course and two parks (one is under construction), and if you follow the parkways across the street – it ends in a fish hatchery on the Chattahoochee River, with a little fishing pond.
I plan to bike down to the Hatchery soon. It’s about six miles or so. I had been biking about two miles down the Windermere Park, then taking a jog on the bike trail. But I like to mix things up. I'll just bike and bike from the house down to the hatchery. I suppose if I really went crazy, I could job around the hatchery, but biking 12 miles and running one seems like a bit much right now. We'll see...
Fall
Temperatures have been mild, and it’s been chilly from time to time. And we put up our Halloween decorations. They aren't much, but they are fun. I’ll post some pictures later...
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Joke of the Day - Comfort food
Was talking with my friend Mark.
He's had a recent victory. His daughter Arden is now sleeping through the night.
Arden is 3. She would fall asleep with apple juice or milk. And she'd wake up during the night. And to get back to sleep - you guessed it - she had to have a drink.
Well, with some work, Arden's sleeping now. The go-to-night drink and midnights drinks have stopped, too.
I confided in Mark that we have a similar situation in my home.
"I know that I often wake up once or twice a night," I told him. "And I *have* to have a double chili cheeseburger to help me fall back to sleep."
"Happens at least two or three times a week."
True story.
He's had a recent victory. His daughter Arden is now sleeping through the night.
Arden is 3. She would fall asleep with apple juice or milk. And she'd wake up during the night. And to get back to sleep - you guessed it - she had to have a drink.
Well, with some work, Arden's sleeping now. The go-to-night drink and midnights drinks have stopped, too.
I confided in Mark that we have a similar situation in my home.
"I know that I often wake up once or twice a night," I told him. "And I *have* to have a double chili cheeseburger to help me fall back to sleep."
"Happens at least two or three times a week."
True story.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Summer's Over - Back to School
Spent the last week of the summer at Hilton Head...now it's back to school....
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
In Review...
A summary judgment from the court of my opinion in the matter of LOCAL ATLANTA BAND DUKE FAME and THEIR LATEST CD TOO PROUD TO PRACTICE.
If you walked into a bar and didn’t expect to see a band playing – and Duke Fame was there – you’d be pleasantly surprised. You’d dig a couple of the choruses and hooks. You’d find the fellows inviting and amusing.
If you listen to “Too Proud to Practice” you’ll find one or two of the tunes stuck in your head – and you’ll be glad they are.
This isn’t “oh-my-God, get-my-cousin-who-runs- the-indie-label-on-the-phone” praise – but Duke Fame is better than most of the part-time, weekend efforts you’ll hear.
A disclaimer: Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Brandon Firfer is a close colleague of mine. He sits a few couple cubes over – just far enough to make beaming him with a white board eraser an interesting challenge. We've talked about doing a parody rock song (lots of Anderson Cooper put-downs) if CNN ever brings back their talent show that was once their Christmas party. And even though Duke Fame’s lyrics are playful and fun, I find them less widely imaginative and quirky than Brandon himself. But that’s not a bad thing -- I wonder how rock-song accessible unfiltered Brandon might be.
But back to the matter at hand - here’s what Duke Fame will give you – straight-up, guitar-driven pop blended with sweetness and a touch of occasional crunch. Think early Who mixed with (Athens band) Five Eight, then churned with a Bit-O-Honey (uh, the candy, not a band) and Blink 182’s self-referential mocking humor -- red-shifted about 10 years down the age spectrum.
The tracks on Too Proud to Practice break down into a couple of categories:
1) Hook-driven, solid, catchy songs with interesting lyrics and bridges. This includes Serenity Now; Hurry Up Crow; Proctor, Gamble and Huff; and Hong Kong Rob and *maybe* Minor Chords.
2) A couple of near-misses – All Hail the Monument Club; Patterns.
3) A couple tracks I found bland: Roller Joe, Pin the Blame on the Donkey.
4) And two change ups – Memory Bucket – a slow track with a trumpet; and the bob-up-and-down with a hooting chorus (like an owl) 2nd Chance to Get It Right the First Time. Both are refreshing. I wish they lasted longer.
Mix the decent tunes, near misses and change-ups – and Duke Fame will keep you interested.
Things I particularly liked:
· Serenity Now’s bop-y carefree verses sweep along, in tension with the heartache of the song. Mixed with lines like “a total eclipse of your face” and “the edge of two-dimensional space” – I’m sold.
· Hurry Up, Crow’s I’m-just-a-flunky punk attitude mixed with verses that kick off with early Rush-like sounding guitar lines. There are a couple of these anthem-sounding breakdowns in the songs I particularly liked.
The songs are imaginative – the best of them combine Brandon’s lyrics humorous lyrics with interesting pop work that runs the spectrum of 60s-to-now references.
Sure, it’s been done before, but Duke Fame picks apart some interesting pieces and puts them together in a way that’s refreshing.
Some snap judgments for improvement:
1) The rhythm section – I want to hear ‘em! Cymbals washing through; a more raw and punctuated bass. I want the rhythm section to have more of an edge – and to have a greater voice in the songs. The hooks and guitar work is there – now let’s hear more bass!
2) The 100-percent Steve efforts are the least interesting. The lyrics are less-specific, less imaginative and for me the hooks fall a little flat. The interesting breakdowns and bridges of the other songs are gone – replaced by guitar solos – which I find to be the least interesting and most obligatory-sounding part of the band’s music. Replace these with more and longer change-up songs.
3) Leader singer Brandon seems to stretch for the high notes on some of the songs. Advice – channel Men at Work singer Colin Fey (no, don’t look at me that way, I’m serious). Fey’s got a similarly limited high range. The styles of music aren’t the same, but the ranges seem the same to me. What if the bridge in Serenity Now had the kind of emotional howl Colin could muster to contrast with the don’t-have-a-care-in-the-world sections? Or that kind of punch in Memory Bucket, (the theme of which reminds me of The Police’s ‘King of Pain’ – not the music, the lyrics).
But, as the album’s solid opener (Proctor, Gamble and Huff) goes - who really has the time?
Even if Duke Fame never gets the second first thing right the third time – or however that song goes – if they truly are only thinking about their next beer, like they portend to be – don’t worry, it’ll be OK – you won’t mind drinking and singing along with them.
If you walked into a bar and didn’t expect to see a band playing – and Duke Fame was there – you’d be pleasantly surprised. You’d dig a couple of the choruses and hooks. You’d find the fellows inviting and amusing.
If you listen to “Too Proud to Practice” you’ll find one or two of the tunes stuck in your head – and you’ll be glad they are.
This isn’t “oh-my-God, get-my-cousin-who-runs- the-indie-label-on-the-phone” praise – but Duke Fame is better than most of the part-time, weekend efforts you’ll hear.
A disclaimer: Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Brandon Firfer is a close colleague of mine. He sits a few couple cubes over – just far enough to make beaming him with a white board eraser an interesting challenge. We've talked about doing a parody rock song (lots of Anderson Cooper put-downs) if CNN ever brings back their talent show that was once their Christmas party. And even though Duke Fame’s lyrics are playful and fun, I find them less widely imaginative and quirky than Brandon himself. But that’s not a bad thing -- I wonder how rock-song accessible unfiltered Brandon might be.
But back to the matter at hand - here’s what Duke Fame will give you – straight-up, guitar-driven pop blended with sweetness and a touch of occasional crunch. Think early Who mixed with (Athens band) Five Eight, then churned with a Bit-O-Honey (uh, the candy, not a band) and Blink 182’s self-referential mocking humor -- red-shifted about 10 years down the age spectrum.
The tracks on Too Proud to Practice break down into a couple of categories:
1) Hook-driven, solid, catchy songs with interesting lyrics and bridges. This includes Serenity Now; Hurry Up Crow; Proctor, Gamble and Huff; and Hong Kong Rob and *maybe* Minor Chords.
2) A couple of near-misses – All Hail the Monument Club; Patterns.
3) A couple tracks I found bland: Roller Joe, Pin the Blame on the Donkey.
4) And two change ups – Memory Bucket – a slow track with a trumpet; and the bob-up-and-down with a hooting chorus (like an owl) 2nd Chance to Get It Right the First Time. Both are refreshing. I wish they lasted longer.
Mix the decent tunes, near misses and change-ups – and Duke Fame will keep you interested.
Things I particularly liked:
· Serenity Now’s bop-y carefree verses sweep along, in tension with the heartache of the song. Mixed with lines like “a total eclipse of your face” and “the edge of two-dimensional space” – I’m sold.
· Hurry Up, Crow’s I’m-just-a-flunky punk attitude mixed with verses that kick off with early Rush-like sounding guitar lines. There are a couple of these anthem-sounding breakdowns in the songs I particularly liked.
The songs are imaginative – the best of them combine Brandon’s lyrics humorous lyrics with interesting pop work that runs the spectrum of 60s-to-now references.
Sure, it’s been done before, but Duke Fame picks apart some interesting pieces and puts them together in a way that’s refreshing.
Some snap judgments for improvement:
1) The rhythm section – I want to hear ‘em! Cymbals washing through; a more raw and punctuated bass. I want the rhythm section to have more of an edge – and to have a greater voice in the songs. The hooks and guitar work is there – now let’s hear more bass!
2) The 100-percent Steve efforts are the least interesting. The lyrics are less-specific, less imaginative and for me the hooks fall a little flat. The interesting breakdowns and bridges of the other songs are gone – replaced by guitar solos – which I find to be the least interesting and most obligatory-sounding part of the band’s music. Replace these with more and longer change-up songs.
3) Leader singer Brandon seems to stretch for the high notes on some of the songs. Advice – channel Men at Work singer Colin Fey (no, don’t look at me that way, I’m serious). Fey’s got a similarly limited high range. The styles of music aren’t the same, but the ranges seem the same to me. What if the bridge in Serenity Now had the kind of emotional howl Colin could muster to contrast with the don’t-have-a-care-in-the-world sections? Or that kind of punch in Memory Bucket, (the theme of which reminds me of The Police’s ‘King of Pain’ – not the music, the lyrics).
But, as the album’s solid opener (Proctor, Gamble and Huff) goes - who really has the time?
Even if Duke Fame never gets the second first thing right the third time – or however that song goes – if they truly are only thinking about their next beer, like they portend to be – don’t worry, it’ll be OK – you won’t mind drinking and singing along with them.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Here Comes the Sun...
[Is this man really standing in my new cubical space?] In June, I’ll have spent six years working at the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta for Sports Illustrated’s Web site, via way of Turner Broadcasting and their Internet Technologies group.
During that time, I’ve worked in four different spaces. And for four of those six years, I’ve sat in cubicles or offices with no natural light nearby.
Currently, I sit in a cube in a great space – easy to get in and out of; lots of space; many meeting areas nearby – I couldn’t ask for anything more.
But there’s no natural light. I don’t care for that.
Well, word on the street is that’s all about to change. Below are some photos of a space that’s being built out that I’m told my group will occupy.
It overlooks Atlanta Centennial Park. It’s near the CNN.com newsroom; and is beside the Omni Hotel lobby. It is actually a rectangular space that juts out away from the building and has 12-foot tall windows on two sides.
Here are some more photos:
[A view overlooking the park]
[From the outside - the area juts out over the Omni Hotel Parking Area]
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Bert Loves VJ...
Bert (note the tie!) eagerly awaits Vijay Singh's arrival to the 10th tee at Augusta National Golf Club.
Elsewhere on the course, David Toms watches a drive descend.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Super Soccer (or, Pele's Melay)
Parker (age 6, in kindergarten) is playing spring soccer.
And it’s a new era for Parker in sports.
No longer is hard for him to concentrate on the action – or easy for him to sit down and play with the grass.
That little boy is gone.
Now he actually plays.
It’s sad, really.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Double Dutch Bus...
It's official...I decided to give up my parking pass downtown and take the Gwinnett County Bus back and forth to work (work pays the cost of the monthly bus ticket).
Commuting is such a weird science. What time to go to work; what time to come home (my hours are somewhat flexible). Carpool? Ride alone? Public transit? If so, what kind?
Well, I settled on the bus because:
--> I like reading or working better than listening to books on CD.
--> There's a bus about every 10 or 15 mins from 5.30-8.20am; then 3.30-6.45pm - so it's flexible. If you carpool or vanpool, it's not so flexible.
Commuting is such a weird science. What time to go to work; what time to come home (my hours are somewhat flexible). Carpool? Ride alone? Public transit? If so, what kind?
Well, I settled on the bus because:
--> I like reading or working better than listening to books on CD.
--> There's a bus about every 10 or 15 mins from 5.30-8.20am; then 3.30-6.45pm - so it's flexible. If you carpool or vanpool, it's not so flexible.
---------------------------
The Gwinnett County Bus: A mobile office
--------------------------------
I'm glad I did. For example, on Friday I brought my laptop. Some of the busses have tray tables like on an airplane. So, I had my Blackberry and PocketPC (for music w/headphones) hooked up to the window; had some of my work spread out, and I actually got some good non-interrupted work down, while listening to some tunes, and I can check/respond to email if I need to.
Good stuff.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Work, work and more work
===================
<----This is the plan?
We're in trouble.
====================
I’ve been pretty busy since September, when the SI.com scoreboard development team embarked on a program of work to redesign the site's NFL, College Football, NHL, NBA and College Basketball score, stats and players pages.
The redesign involved:- Changing data vendors, in some cases;
- Front-end HTML changes;
- Some front-end statistical enhancements;
- Changing from JSP publishing to XSLTs, for various reasons.
====================
A common question...->
(Brandon, aka,
Swimsuit XSLT man)
====================
It was challenging.
Then, the Winter Olympics and the SI.com online Swimsuit edition development ramped up, just as NBA and College Basketball were going out the door.
And, in October and November, I worked on selling my house in Grayson, Georgia, to move over to Cumming, Georgia, in early December.
It was tough there for a while.
But, I’m very happy to report that the Olympics and Swimsuit launched when they were supposed to with little launch drama.
You can check them out here:
> Olympics Medal Tracker
> Olympics Schedule and Results (Short Track, my favorite)
> Swimsuit Edition
On time and to spec, as they say.
Here are some photos I think are particularly exciting. They show the boredom what was the Olympics scoreboards launch day.
Unni is watching cricket on the tube. He's not worried about the Olympics results. He knows they're good.
Yuliya is playing Super Collapse! II. That's a good sign.
Linda and Kevin discuss the finer points of handling the SI DEV on-call Blackberry. It gets boring when things work as planned.
The first medals and news stories auto-magically updating.
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