Chuck Mangione, ‘Feels So Good.’ Followed shortly by the ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ soundtrack. After that, I discovered AOR, that long-forgotten and fondly-missed radio format. And I bought The Police and Genesis (‘Ghost in the Machine’ and ‘Duke’).

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

Schmap wants me to license them the use of a photo that’s on my flickr account.

See, this is Web 2.0. Invite people to add value to your web site, and then profit from their effort for free. Yay! I love being used…. twice. (I’m lookin’ at you, Xanga….)

Anyway. I said yes. It’s a nice photo, it’s a non-exclusive use, and it’s to promote one of my favorite places on the planet, the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary. Memorial Bend REPRESENT!

It’s funny. Turn off the ads by clicking on the tiny, tiny X in a circle.

Just wanted to point out that searching for ‘xanga’ on Second Life yields only one result: Someone’s profile with two xanga links.

Can it be true that with 1.2 million plus accounts and 40-plus thousand logins a day, only one person on Second Life besides myself has a Xanga ‘blog?

Of course, Xanga’s own search function is fuxored so you can’t make literal search terms (searching for ‘second life’ yields ‘second’ and ‘life’ results, regardless of whether you put it in quotes), which makes it difficult to find Second Life users on Xanga.

One search result of note is LaurelSolutions, who is trying to position themselves as business consultants within SL. A glance at their promotional material yields little hope for competence, however. Best of luck, guys…. but…. If you want people to attend your open house, you have to include a SLURL.

Also there are three Second Life Xanga blogrings/groups/nomenclature-du-jour. 25 members in the biggest one. How can there not be more crossover?

Possibly the Greatest Movie Evar. Possibly a total waste of time. Hard to tell. If this had been directed by P. T. Anderson, I’d probably be weeping with joy.

Many of the ideas are spot-on, and there are some gags that I had to rewind and watch again (neo-Marxists fighting fascism by tasering random people, for instance). But how many musical numbers do we need, and where’s the FUNNY?

I so completely want to love this movie. Maybe I will one day.

How are you today? Hope all is well with you and family?,You may not understand why this mail came to you.We have been having a meeting for the passed 7 months which ended 3 days ago with the then secretary to the UNITED NATIONS file Code 00112.

This email is to all the people that have been scammed in any part of the world, the UNITED NATIONA have agreed to compensate them with the sum of US$ 150,000. This includes every foriegn contractors that may have not received their contract sum, and people that have had an unfinished transaction or international businesses that failed due to Government probelms etc.

We found your name in our list and that is why we are contacting you,this have been agreed upon and have been signed.

You are advised to contact Mr. Jim Ovia of ZENITH BANK NIGERIA PLC, as he is our representative in Nigeria, contact him immediately for your Cheque/International Bank Draft of USD$ 150,000. This funds are in a Bank Draft for security purpose ok? so he will send it to you and you can clear it in any bank of your choice.

Therefore, you should send him your full Name and telephone
number/your correct mailing address where you want him to send the Draft to you.

Conatct Mr. Jim Ovia immediately for your Cheque:
Person to Contact Mr. Jim Ovia
Email: jimoviaa009@yahoo.com
Phone: 234-806-611-4333

Thanks and God bless you and your family.Hoping to hear from you as soon as you cash your Bank Draft.

Making the world a better place

Regards,

Mr. Kofi Anan.
Former Secretary(UNITED NATIONS)

On St. Patrick’s Day, I wear purple, because that’s just How I Am.

Home, home again.

I like to be here when I can.

I can say I’m in Washington state. Last night was spent in Twin Falls, Idaho. Today I made the excellent decision to go north on ID-55 and then from there north on US 95 to Lewiston/Clarkston.

I thought it would be mostly desert on ID-55, but it climbs up into the mountains through some lovely twisty roads along the Payette River.

Weather conditions: Patchy snow. Which is almost more wonderful than if it were clear. But something weird happened just as I entered the Nez Perce reservation… It was like a visual joke from a cartoon or something. On the white people side of the boundary, a snow storm and blankets of snow on the ground. On the Nez Perce side, no snow, and none on the ground. Do the Nez Perce know something we don’t?

On arrival in Lewiston/Clarkston, I decided I had to spend the night in Clarkston, which is in Washington. That way I could say I made it out of Idaho. Well, just after crossing the bridge over the mighty Snake River, I found a burger joint called Sharpy’s. It wasn’t until later that I figured out why that name was disquieting… It reminded me of medical waste. Also, once inside, I learned that their featured cheeseburger is called Whackacheese. Seriously. It’s not bad. Just not good, either.

Here’s something that travel does to you:

I’m in a motel room, in bed, typing on my laptop right now. I just got through trying to find the Weather Channel on the TV, to no avail. Now I want to go get my complimentary coffee in the lobby. It is 9:23 AM. The coffee ends at 10 AM (no, really, they’re too cheap to keep it flowing after that).

So I could walk down there and get some coffee and then walk back here. Or I could just pack up and get the coffee while I leave. And somehow, this decision seems huge. Like the success of the rest of the day depends on it.

I’ll get there, and it will be cheap coffee, with only non-dairy creamer to put in. It will make me want to pee and poo, and leave an aftertaste of styrofoam hanging in my mouth.

There has to be a real coffeehouse in this town…