A Night In Minneapolis, With Pictures!

I'm in Minneapolis for the night. I have a business meeting tomorrow, but tonight I had the opportunity Minnesota had to offer. That is, all Minneapolis had to offer on a Sunday night with 8 inches of snow on the ground and when you are by yourself because your coworker is stranded in Dallas.

But, lucky for me, there is a real great jazz club just a few blocks away called Dakotas, and tonight I had the pleasure of enjoying the beautiful sounds of Saxophonist Frank Morgan and pianist Joanne Brackeen perform together. It was a real treat. Here are some pictures I took between the hotel and the club:
(click images for larger views)















Minneapolis with 8 inches+ of snow on the ground




















The Wells Fargo Center




















Mary Tyler Moore in the snow

Oh, Snap! Isn't That Annoying?

If you visit any websites where when you scroll over a link, a picture of the website it links to is displayed by Snap Preview, and you're like me and find that really annoying, there is a really simple way to disable the feature: Just go to this page and Click Where it says to disable Snap Preview Anywhere. Then, when you go back to the offending site, you'll have to click refresh to get rid of the function.

And there you have it.

Helping Hershey

Last week, after reading that Hershey announced plans to cut their workforce by 1,500 people, I immediately posted an angry article on this blog, and called for a boycott of Hershey products.

The next day, I embarked on a business trip, and while at the airport I stopped to grab a magazine and a bottle of water. At the counter, were limited edition Hershey's Dark Chocolate bars with Macadamia and Raspberries called "Mauna Loa." I am a total sucker for limited edition candy bars, and really, any new flavor of junk food. So I impulsively bought the bar, and as I'm munching on it, I suddenly realized I had just bought a Hershey's product, mere hours after I called for a boycott!

"Whatever," I thought,"nobody would listen to me anyway." I caught myself, and realized that was just a defense mechanism, trying to make up for my hypocritical action. Then I thought, that maybe a boycott would hurt Hershey sales, and that would only justify their reason for scaling back U.S. production. And, maybe a boycott was the complete opposite way to go aboput this. Instead, we should persuade everyone to "eat more chocolate," and promise Hershey that we would continue to support the company, if they would in turn promise not to go forward with the layoff plans.

My wife and I have set up a website, www.kissesforhershey.com, where we've laid out our plans, and set up a petition for people to sign. We plan on sending one Hershey's Kiss to CEO Richard Lenny for every person who signs the petition by July 7th (Chocolate Day). We also hope to start a letter writing campaign, where people send letters to Richard Lenny, pledging our support as a valued customer, enclosing a Hershey's proof of purchase, and asking him not to go forward with the layoffs.

Please check out the site, sign the petition, and tell five friends about this movement. It turns out 3,000 jobs are at stake!!

It's Electric! Boogie uggie uggie

The creator of the electric slide, Richard Silver, says that party goers at weddings and bar mitzvahs, etc. are doing the dance, all wrong. He says the dance he created has 22 steps, and that people are only doing 18. Specifically, dancers should be touching their toes twice, in succession, instead of just once, and he's considering legal action! You need to listen to this nutjob get interviewed on NPR. Seeing people at parties dance incorrectly gets him very upset, and he's hired a lawyer to explore all options.

After paying my way through college as a wedding DJ, I am permanently scarred from enjoying "The Electric Slide." I can no longer bring myself to do this dance at parties, in fact just hearing the song gives me painful flashbacks, so news that the creator wants to have people who dance it be fined is actually music to my ears! Ric Silver (official website) is out of his gourd but he's got my support.

Now, what can we have done about that cha cha slide or the chicken dance?

Happy Banks and Post Offices Are Closed Day!

According to an article in The New Yorker, officially today is not President's Day, Presidents' Day, or even Presidents Day, but actually only (officially) is George Washington's Birthday Day. See for yourself: http://www.opm.gov/fedhol/2007.asp !

Other things I learned from reading The New Yorker on flights to and fro Miami this weekend:

*The creator and driving force behind '24' is a self-proclaimed "right-wing nut job,"

*The former owner of the Detroit Tigers and creator of the Domino's empire is on a Catholic crusade. He sold Domino's, in part so he could build what he envisions as a truly great, Catholic university.

*Grey Goose has a new pear flavored vodka called La Poire.

Milton Hershey Just Rolled Over In His Grave

Hershey Co. is cutting 1,500 jobs over three years as part of a plan to scale back production lines and move some manufacturing to Mexico, the candy maker announced Thursday.

During The Great Depression, instead of laying off workers, Milton Hershey employed workers to build such structures such as The Hotel Hershey, a community center, a theatre, a sports arena and a stadium in the chocolate factory's town in Pennsylvania.

To mark this sad day, I suggest everyone go out and buy an American-made chocolate product, such as from Ghirardelli or The San Francisco Chocolate Factory.

Politics As Unususal

Self-loathing black man? South Carolina state senator Robert Ford, who is black, says that if Barack Obama won the presidential primary, “Every Democratic candidate running on that ticket would lose because he’s black and he’s at the top of the ticket — we’d lose the House, the Senate and the governors and everything.” Way to fight the power, Bobby.

Meanwhile, Obama issues his first apology of his campaign for the White House. He's also going to have to apologize to Oprah at some point. He promised her he's announce his campaign intentions on her show, and instead chose the Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, the same place where Lincoln delivered a famous anti-slavery speech. My guess is that Oprah will forgive, but she'll expect a spot in his cabinet.

Stuart Smalley is running for the Senate.

Stephen Colbert is trying to correct the "well known liberal agenda" that exists in desserts, with his Americone Dream ice cream. My wife doesn't think she'd like the flavor, vanilla with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and caramel. I would love Ben & Jerry's to come out with a mint ice cream with coconut, chocolate and puffed rice.

Speaking of mint, the U.S. Mint will try one more time to get the public to accept a $1.00 coin. These new coins will be the same shape, color and metal content as the last failed version, but apparently the gov't is blaming Sacagawea's image for the failure, and instead they're trusting that presidential images on the coins will be better received. The first coins, available tomorrow, will feature George Washington on the head side. Brilliant. One of the most common complaints about the dollar coin is that it is too similar to a quarter, so the geniuses decided to stick Washington's face on it. That should do it. Every three months though, a new president will be honored (in the order they served) - a series that as of now will run into 2016. Can't wait for that Taft coin. Our leaders prove once again that they've got more dollars than sense.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Preview

Mookie Of The Month - February 2007

Mookie during her blue period

Update: Billy Joel's New Single To Be Released Soon

Earlier this month I posted news that Billy Joel had recorded a new pop song for the first time in 13 years, and I also espoused my hateful (and, to date, unsubstantiated) theory as to why it's been so damn long. Today we learn that the new song, titled "All My Life," will first be heard on Feb 7th, exclusively and inexplicably on People.com, followed by its release for sale on iTunes on February 20th.

Billy Joel will sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday, kicking off a tour on which he'll perform the pop music he'd become "weary of," I guess until now?

Why Yes, Perhaps the Pen IS Mighter Than The Sword, After All!

From the BBC:

US woman fights off lion with pen

A 65-year-old Californian woman has saved the life of her husband, 70, by fighting off an attacking mountain lion with a small log and his pen.

Jim and Nell Hamm were walking in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park when the cougar wrestled Jim to the ground.

Nell started hitting the animal with the log but it kept hold of Jim's head. She then tried to stick the pen in its eye. The cougar eventually let go.

full story

Hell Cat!

Greatest Inventions Of All Time

The four greatest inventions of all time are, in order:

1. Fire
2. Internet
3. Wheel
4. Sandwich

An excellent website all about sandwiches is The Sandwich Project. If you add it to your Google homepage, you'll get updated on the "Sandwich Of The Day"

Today's Sandwich Of The Day (sounds delicious!):

The Notch

What’s in it? Garlic and herb cream cheese and slices of really rare roast beef, red onion and juicy, ripe tomatoes. Oh, and a liberal sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper.

What should we know? This sandwich is sold at the Tailgate Picnic deli across the road from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. Variations of the sandwich using ham or turkey (or alfalfa sprouts and cucumbers for a veggie version) are also extremely tasty.

Bread Type? Crusty rolls or baguette

The Gift That Says "I Hate You"

The Staples Easy Button, the gift that says "I Hate You."

I should have posted this during the holiday season, but we were in Staples this weekend buying some cable and they had their "easy button" on sale.

I was trying to think why someone would buy it. Then I realized, it's a great gift to give someone you hate. You spend five bucks, give someone the "easy button," and you instantly tell them you despise them, without doing so overtly. You are telling them, "I know you have a stressful job that you hate, so the next time you are faced with a difficult stressful problem at work, just hit this button, which will say 'That was easy,' and instantly your problems will be exactly as stressful and unresolved as before, but now you will think of me and how much I hate you."

Perfect!

And you thought it was a useless product.

Mookie Of The Month January 2007

A Little Something To Help You Sleep Easier...

Just in case the return of 24 didn't have your heart pounding in fear before you went to sleep Sunday and Monday nights, here's a real world news item that might do the trick. Here's the full article, but here are my favorite excerpts:

Venezuela, Iran to finance opposition to U.S.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- fiery anti-American leaders whose moves to extend their influence have alarmed Washington -- said Saturday they would help finance investment projects in other countries seeking to thwart U.S. domination.

"Death to U.S. imperialism!" Chavez said.

Iran and Venezuela are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and Chavez said Saturday that they had agreed to back a further oil production cut in the cartel to stem a recent fall in crude prices.

"We know today there is too much crude in the market," Chavez said. "We have agreed to join our forces within OPEC ... to support a production cut and save the price of oil."

Chavez and Ahmadinejad have been increasingly united by their deep-seated antagonism toward the Bush administration. Chavez has become a leading defender of Iran's nuclear ambitions, accusing the Washington of using the issue as a pretext to attack Tehran.

Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, has called Chavez "the champion of the struggle against imperialism."

U.S. officials have accused Chavez -- a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro -- of authoritarian tendencies, and National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said recently in an annual review of global threats that Venezuela's democracy was at risk.

The U.S. also believes Iran is seeking to use its nuclear program to develop an atomic bomb.

OK, if that doesn't want to make you want to run out and buy a hybrid or a thermal blanket for your hot water tank, I don't know what will...

My Review: Rocky Balboa

Caution: Spoilers follow...

Rocky Balboa is not a great movie, or even a really good movie, but it is not a terrible movie, or even a really bad movie, so it is not hard to draw the parallels between the character Sylvester Stallone plays in the sixth installment of the Rocky franchise and Sylvester Stallone himself, a character who was successful in getting this movie made, sixteen years after the last one was released.

Rocky V was an awful, forgettable film. It tainted the legacy of the franchise, and as the years passed, helped turn Sylvester Stallone into somewhat of a joke. Not since 1997's Cop Land has Sly starred in a film of much consequence, and we all laughed whenever we heard rumblings that he wanted to revive Rocky, as he neared closer and closer to age 60.

Sylvester Stallone turned 60 in 2006, and indeed saw the release of Rocky Balboa in the same year. My friends and I made plans to see it, as an excuse to get together and laugh, the same way we laughed at Snakes On A Plane a few months earlier. Tentative plans to see it opening weekend were pushed back, and then firmer plans to see it last week fell apart too. But this Saturday we did make it to the theater. On the way, we talked about how we heard it had surprisingly been met with good reviews.

The dialogue in Rocky Balboa is a bit silly at times - you're never more than a few frames away from an inspirational if comically ineloquent speech by Rocky - and by the time the fight sequence finally came around, you almost didn't care anymore. Rocky doesn't win the fight, but he silenced the peanut gallery and put together a solid, inspiring effort for boxing fans. Rocky Balboa won't take home any Oscars, and may not be as inspirational as Stallone pictured, but the story of Sylvester Stallone defying those who poked fun, creating a solid, credible picture, may be inspiration enough.

Grade: B-

Sign That Wal-Mart Isn't Evil? They May Go Solar!

It's not often you can write something nice about Wal-Mart, but when an opportunity comes along to give them credit, it's only fair to do so. According to an article in this week's issue of Business Week, the mega merchandiser is taking steps to "go solar," to install solar panels on the roofs of many of it's warehouse stores.

The retail behemoth last month put out a request for proposals to install solar panels at stores and distribution centers in five states, according to people who have seen the RFP. The project could take into account as many as 300 buildings and produce 150 megawatts of power, making the Wal-Mart (WMT ) installation the largest in the world, according to a solar industry executive who is one of the bidders.

...[Even] installing panels on just 40% of company buildings would... dwarf other corporate solar installation efforts, including the biggest in the U.S.: Google's (GOOG ) 1.6 megawatt project.

It doesn't take much of a cynic to suspect that Wal-Mart's efforts are purely a public relations move, but ulterior motivations or not, this would be a commendable thing to do, and a good example-setter for other corporations. With all the available space on roofs of buildings just going to waste, just imagine all the energy that could be produced if other companies followed suit. Great idea, Wal-Mart. Now all you need to do is follow through and maybe we won't hate you so much!

Meeting The 2007 Mets

I was in a great mood yesterday, because I scored tickets to Opening Day at Shea Stadium. I know in some corners of the world "opening day" refers to something related to shooting deer, but for me it only means one thing: The first day of baseball. The Mets kick off the 2007 Major League Baseball season with a Sunday night game on the road in St. Louis on April 1st (sadly, seeing the Cardinals raise their 2006 World Series Champions banner isn't a joke), and their home opener is Monday, April 9th, hosting the Phillies. I don't even remember the last time I didn't go to Opening Day at Shea.

Opening Day is a hard ticket to come by, and so for the last two seasons my friends and I have had to purchase a multiple-game package, just to ensure getting into the home opener. Yesterday I bought a seven-pack of games called the Opener Pack, a group of seven games pre-selected by the Mets, even though I in all likelihood won't be able to go to any of the other six games (living in Greensboro, and all).

But as soon as I got the confirmation from Mets.com, I put in my request to HR to take Monday, April 9th as a "Floating Holiday." Not a vacation day, and not a personal day. Opening Day is as big a holiday as it gets for me. And lucky for me Opening Day falls the Monday after Good Friday this year, so I'll be able to make it a four day trip up to New York to see the Mets play the Phillies in Shea Stadium's penultimate home opener.

By the way, penultimate is my word of the year for 2007.

For more on the Mets, please visit my other blog, Tales Of A Transplanted Mets Fan.

Wanted: Ideas For Film Title

My buddy Ralphy is making a movie, and he's set up a blog to tell the story of his progress. Thus far the movie has no title, so he looking for suggestions. Help him out by posting a comment! Or, help him out even more by donating some funds! Oh, and tell him I should be in the movie, too!

Kottke: Distant Sequels

Jason Kottke posts a hilarious list of some upcoming and recently released sequels which are released a long time after the previous movie in the series, some real and some imagined. My favorite: Beverly Hills Cop IV. Axel does paperwork at his desk all day. Eddie Murphy does double duty by playing a elderly, sassy, obese black woman.