Month: July 2010

Wednesday various

Batman and Harvey Pekar
  • If you’re out of work, it’s not because the economy’s bad, it’s because you’re a bad person. Or at least so says Ben Stein. Remember when he seemed like kind of a nice guy? [via]
  • “There’s a human tendency to resent anyone who disagrees with our pleasures. The less mature interpret that as a personal attack on themselves. They’re looking for support and vindication.” – Roger Ebert
  • It gets a little repetitive after awhile without the rest of the track, but there’s something fascinating about this isolated audio of Keith Moon playing drums on “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
  • I love these re-imagined Batman covers [via]
  • And finally, every Doctor Who villain since 1963.

Elevator recall tests

I had some kind of weird dreams last night, starting out in a video arcade-slash-hotel (where I think my wallet was stolen), and then having a conversation of sorts with my grandfather. I think it might have been going to the funeral home last night, which as it happens was the same one where we waked both of my father’s parents in 2005. (Separately, in March and October. And I was shocked, when I went to double-check that against the blog, that it was five whole years ago.) It wasn’t a particularly sad dream, but it was pretty odd.

Meanwhile, they conducted something called “elevator recall tests” at work today, and I have absolutely no idea what that is supposed to mean. They announced it by saying they would be testing the building’s fire alarms, which is something they do, like, every seven seconds where I work, but I guess they changed their minds midway through. Whatever. Aside from that, it was a pretty quiet day at the office. Our e-mail server seems to be clawing its way back to life, and I managed to finish proofing those PowerPoint slides I was working on yesterday.

Pretty much just your typical Tuesday.

I did take this short video on my way home this evening, mostly because the car I was in emptied out and I didn’t feel too weird pointing my camera at the train’s window. This is the view from the dirty windows of the Long Island Railroad, between Merrilon Avenue and Mineloa. Enjoy.

Song of the day

I was going to go with “Sun Comes Up, It’s Tuesday Morning” by Cowboy Junkies because, well, it’s Tuesday. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I simply like this song better. It’s “This Street, That Man, This Life.” And while it’s not exactly cheery, I happen to think it’s beautiful.

Not so sure about the video, but it’s the only one I could find.

Tuesday various

  • Last Thursday, I posted this image to Capper Blog, and I planned to follow up with the original source article here. Better late than never. The pictures there actually give you a better sense of these so-called infinity pools, and moreover just how high up and close to the edge they are. I think I’d be terrified to swim in one these. [via]
  • Going back even further on things I forgot to follow up on: back in June I posted about a link that was going around, suggesting that every actor reads the same newspaper. Well, Slate followed up on that link and found out the story behind the ubiquitous prop. [via]
  • The world really is a poorer place without Jim Henson, isn’t it? [via]
  • I can’t say I’ll miss Blockbuster all that much, but Matt Zoller Seitz makes a compelling argument that we’ve lost something with the company’s (now almost certain) passing [via]:

    I’m talking about the pre-Internet experience of daily life, which was more immediate, more truly interactive: in a word, real. Bland and aloof as it was, Blockbuster was a part of that — and for certain types of people, it was a big part. There was nothing special about Blockbuster as a business, but special moments did happen there, simply by virtue of the fact that the stores were everywhere, and they stocked a lot of movies, and people who wanted to see movies went there regularly, sometimes alone but more often in the company of relatives or friends. You’d go through the front door and pass the front counter — where an employee was checking in a pile of returned videos (when opened, the boxes went whuck!) and check out the new releases wall (Seventy-five copies of “Hard Target?” Seriously?). Then you’d fan out among the aisles and try your luck.

  • And finally, some video game-related links:

Scrambled eggs

My father called me at work this morning to let me know that an old friend of the family (and one-time neighbor) had passed away and was being waked this evening. This now makes three wakes I’ve attended in as many weeks, and I think I’d appreciate if people we know would stop dying for a little while. It’s all getting to be a little too sad.

In this case, he’d been sick for quite a long time, and it was largely a mercy at the end. My mother, who sees his wife more often through church, is going to the funeral tomorrow morning.

Otherwise, not much to report. I spent the day wading through PowerPoint slides that I agreed to proofread on Friday. And I’m rediscovering why I hate proofreading PowerPoint slides, and moreover just how time-consuming it can be. I never thought I’d actual miss Microsoft’s grammar check. (Seriously, why isn’t there a grammar check in PowerPoint? And, while I’m on the subject, why can’t you “close group” when multiple PowerPoint files are open? Or Excel files? Or open two Excel files of the same name? Or open another Excel document if you don’t first save the first? In other words, why is MS Office so dumb?) These slides also have lots of notes attached, so I have to read through those as well. I think I can finish by tomorrow, after which I’ll forward them to the UK…assuming our e-mail is still working at that point. It’s been pretty iffy lately, thanks to some kind of problem on the server end in Florida. As the IT guy told me this morning, the server is still “scrambled eggs.”

At least I got to leave at 5 this afternoon instead of 5:15. (I got in at 8:15.) These summer hours are a whole lot less fun when it isn’t Friday.