Game, Set, Match!

Big ups to Lauren on her first victory in the new tennis league. Jorge and I were the only two fans in attendance. Both sets started with Lauren losing the first 3 games in a row. But in both she came back to take the lead and finish off her opponent. Watch her blow an ace by Donna, below. Her second ace in two serves, I might add.




Way to go Lauren!

What is the What

Not sure why it took me so long to realize this but all the books for Lauren's book club(s) could be borrowed for free at a library instead of bought at a store.

Yesterday I walked into Emory's main library and searched for Dave Eggers latest (2006 or 7) in the huge online catalog without much luck. Probably because I was searching for the word 'what.' I thought, "Maybe they don't carry too much new fiction here," but then tried the reference desk.

The first question out of the guy's mouth was, "what is the title?"

Without thinking I replied, "What Is the What."

He looked at me and said, "the title... of the book."

It took me a second to figure out what had happened but we all got a good laugh out of that.

Just throwing it out there.

Came across this yesterday on the sidewalk at Georgia Tech. Wanted to see what you guys thought.

Kurt Cobain Alive! and in Atlanta!

(guest post by Jorge Sefair)
After the Nirvana leader-singer was found dead in April of 1994, many histories appeared around Cobain's death. Similar to the rock/pop star Elvis Presley and Cobain's contemporaries, Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (Notorious BIG), loyal fans dispute the mortality of their hero. Today some people assure that they have seen the young singer alive! It is true he lives in each of his songs, but this is more than that. Some sources says that his death was a market strategy to fuel even more sales of the rock band's recordings. Also, Cobain stated that he was bored of the fancy life and posed people, wanting a quiet and peaceful life. He was seen here in Atlanta, seeding a new hope for the grunge rock movement and making us to think about our real life purposes. Money, fame, maybe not!?! Just roooooooooockkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom and Ronald Reagan

Happy Birthday Mom!

One of things I always remember about this day is that you share your birthday with the late president Reagan. Coincidentally yesterday, in a conversation with a friend about super Tuesday and all the new presidential candidates, I came up with a hypothetical gift for you and for all Americans. And, it's presidentially themed! It's a way to select your candidate by integrating them into part of your daily routine: breakfast. Simply put, it's a toaster, but more than that it's your personal pundit.

This toaster (tentatively called the Pollster Toaster) will sear the faces of the front running candidates from both parties onto your morning toast and/or bagel. It toasts four slices at a time and provides two candidates from each party (sorry, Huckabee). Now you can choose who to vote for based on your own unique tastes (literally). I recommend using the Pollster Toaster for an extended period of time, forming your 'informed' opinions of the candidates over time rather than from a single encounter. Also, enhance your integration into the democratic process by coupling your tasted grain with the traditional toppings from each candidate's region of the country. Or color code; blueberries for the Dems and something red for the GOP.
Mom, if we begin shipping, you'll receive your's for free in 4-6 business days. I hope you enjoy this conceptual gift and have a great birthday. And you too, Ronald Reagan.

SalesGenie

I'm sure some we're calling it the 'Best Super Bowl Ever' but the ads from SalesGenie had to be two of the worst ever. The premise of each featured some ailing salespeople looking for ways to boost their performance. Also, each featured very heavy ethnic stereotypes. The first to air featured a South Asian salesman who when yelled at about his low numbers relies to his boss "but, boss, I have 7 kids." The second was more explicit, featuring a family of panda bears with Asian-American accents. They ran a bamboo furniture store. It seems that a commercial like this takes very little thought but really to create something like this takes a bit of time to come up with. To make so many stereotypes explicit in thirty seconds takes some effort. Below (for the time being) is the ad.


How does this happen? How does something like this, some company like this, get in front of the Super Bowl audience? I think SalesGenie blew their budget on ad time and had nothing left with which to develop a creative, yet sensitive, ad. Also, they opted to go with cartoon format, which I think says they lacked budget for actors, HD filming equipment, script, and maybe even a product to sell. Instead it appears that their peddling our names, addresses, and telephone numbers, perhaps obtained from our grocery store clubs, to marketers. The commercial was unsettling all around, but here I am still talking about it.

Super Bowl Ads
others agree

Che

About a month ago we got some new neighbors in the house next door to us. It was vacant for a month while the owner located a new renter. We found out that the couple that moved in was recently engaged, newly transplanted from Savannah and had a huge English Mastiff named Che. About a week after they moved in we had the chance to put Che and Mali in the yard together for a play date. Mali seemed uninterested as did Che, but it gave me the chance to get up close to the second biggest of our new neighbors.

Mali is a constantly questioned mix of multiple breeds while Che is pedigree. Mali is quick and energetic, Che is big and conservative with his energy. Mali weighs less than 50 pounds and Che's up into 3 figures. Though over the course of the last few weeks Che has been losing weight; a sign that, despite his size, he was vulnerable. On Sunday we left for brunch at a friend's and came home to fins that Che had passed away at the young age of two years.

We found out that Che had many problems stemming from his incestuous bloodline. He suffered seizures and his owners had been advised to put him down earlier. On Sunday they put him down (into the ground). They buried him in the backyard near our fence line.

I should back up a bit. We found out about all this via an email from our neighbor on the other side. He said that he saw the huge hole in the ground and saw them carry the body out and cover it. Sure enough when we went out to check it out there was a large spot of Georgia red clay turned up with a cross made from two sticks stuck in it and a tennis ball resting upon it. When we first heard this we couldn't believe this was happening (and we wondered what their landlord thought). Lauren talked to them today and got the whole story. It's hard not to feel bad for them, but at the same time I think that logistically they handled this poorly. I am nervous about the large dead animal buried in the yard next door. They told us they're keeping an eye on, watching and sniffing for signs of anything exhumed. Luckily we've had about two days of slow rain. Here is the relevant section of the Atlanta Municipal Ordinance.

Sec. 18-2. Removal of carcasses of small animals.
(a) Authority. The director, bureau of sanitary services shall deliver to the city dumping grounds the carcasses of small animals, such as sheep, dogs and the like.
(b) Notice of death, existence of carcass. Any person owning the carcass of any small animal or any person on whose premises a small animal should die or be found dead, within three hours of its death or the discovery thereof, shall notify the sanitation inspector of the district wherein the dead animal may be found or the director, bureau of sanitation services of the location of the animal, unless the owner within that time shall remove or cause or procure the removal of the carcass to a place designated by the director, bureau of sanitation services.
(c) Charges established. Any collection or disposal of dead animal carcass received from private agencies providing care and treatment to animals shall be accompanied by payment of the required fee, which shall cover the cost of such service to be rendered.
(d) Determination of amounts. The rates referred to in subsection (c) of this section shall be determined annually by the commissioner of public works and shall be based on the current cost of collection and disposal of dead animals. A schedule of the charges shall be filed with the municipal clerk by the commissioner of public works not later than the second week following adoption of the annual budget and shall be made effective January 1 of each year.
(e) Payment. Payment of collection and disposal shall be made by coupons purchased from the city before the dead animal is collected and transported to the disposal facility.
(Code 1977, § 14-4017)
Cross references: Municipal solid waste collection and disposal system, § 130-36 et seq.

Sec. 18-3. Disposal of carcasses of large animals.
The police chief or the director, bureau of sanitary services, upon becoming informed of any dead horse, mule, cow or other large animal within the city limits, shall cause the carcass to be properly buried or disposed of so as not to create a nuisance. No person other than those employed to do so shall remove the carcass of the animal, provided that the owner or the owner's authorized agent may remove the carcass from the city under the direction of a sanitation inspector, but no one other than a sanitation inspector shall bury the animal within the city limits.
(Code 1977, § 14-4018)

I'm not sure what do to, but I will keep you posted. In any event, peace be with you Che.

Campus Greenings

Today I walked up to Jazzman's at Rollins to find a new hot pink sign glaring me in the face. It promoted an idea that had come to mind before and hence I thought was long overdue. I mean if I can come up with it then someone else surely should have awhile ago. It said that patrons that buy coffe and provide their own mug would receive $0.15 off the regular price. This is a great strategy to reduce waste from the operation, but when I asked what made them start this they could only say that it was for the same reason that they started using the frequent combo cards (buy 8 get one free). The cards are actually extra paper that ends up in the garbage so I figured that they do these things to make more money, by getting people to come back over and over in the latter case and by saving the cost of cup they would otherwise go through faster. Interestingly it seems the cost of cups is what is really driving this change, since everyone knows coffee (water) is basically free around here and prices don't shift even during severe shortage, such as the one we have now.

Georgia Tech's highlights are certainly focused on water. The first has been around for awhile and is worth noting again. That is, the flushless/waterless urinals in many on the men's bathrooms on campus. The second is a bit newer and more subtle and that is the new faucet heads on all the sinks. Now the water comes out of the sinks more like a watering can than an open hose. I first noticed this strategy last weekend at the cabin when everytime I went to the kitchen sink the water came out in this 'shower' fashion as opposed to the 'cylinder' of H2O to which I have become accustomed. I must say it works. If you want proof you need only try to fill a water bottle. You'll notice that it takes significantly longer to fill the volume. So in the brief seconds you need to get handwashing water you're not losing as much water down the drain. Well done engineers.

Caucuses Primarily

I am not good at keeping up with politics. I picked up the New York Times today and learned more about Johnny Greenwood's classical composition for strings than the results of Michigan's primary. I like to watch results but know little about what's going on behind it all. If you want to read a review of the Democratic race that is considerably well researched I recommend this from Ben and Katy.

One of the first questions I have about the whole political game is what is the difference between the primary and a caucus and why do we have them. I guess that a caucus is a meeting that you are invited to by the party at which you choose who you want to support, while a primary is an actual election. But why do we let the people of Iowa and New Hampshire make early decisions that have important effects for us all? I am not so sure that the populations of the two are representative of the rest of the country. In terms of race/ethnicity they certainly are different from the US composition. They are both far more white and less everything else, especially Latino. This also includes foreign born persons and immigration is an issue of the day. New Hampshire also seems significantly better educated and wealthier than most of the US. However even if they were right on the averages of the US, that is not a reason to have them choose which candidates we'll ultimately have a choice on.

I would do some more research but like I said I am not good at (interested in) all things political. I AM American enough to state that this is exactly what's wrong with this country.


Iowa's Stats

New Hampshire's Stats

New Year's Resolutions

My New Year's Resoultion is 1280 x 960.

I know it's already the 11th but now is as good a time as any to make my intentions for the new year known. I thought long and hard about some of these and since October wrote down some of the best actions I could take in 2008 to improve my condition in the world.

First and most important on the list was my resolution to stop farting near/around Lauren. It started horribly with a real loungefest in front of a football-filled tv on New Year's Day, but when I saw that she would help hold me to my commitment I really made the change. I was/am dissappointed that I tried to get away with it for awhile but now I am making real progress. Even though this only applies to Lauren it is disappointing that neither her or anyone else notices my efforts. It is like some many other horrible things the world has endured; we only notice them when we are forced to deal with them and do not comment on our delight of their absence as often as we should. I'm glad that Khmer Rouge is gone forever. It works the other way for things of beauty and grace; in their absence we long for their presence. MLK, wish you were here.

My second resoultion strays from the ethic of the whole practice but I like it. I plan to use the phrase "my wife works in __________" to reinforce my opinions/knowledge of certain topics. I will only use this in casual settings, and obviously it will only work on those who do not Lauren and for jobs that she could fill. Nobody is going to buy "My wife plays in the NFL", but "my wife works in the Falcon's front office" might help others form a little trust in the trade rumors I start spreading. Of course telling all of you hurts the efficacy of this ruse but I will still find my opportunities.

Thirdly, I would like to change the way I eat. This stared out as a goal to eat seasonally even though I hardly know what that means. The idea was that seasonal foods would be fresher, grow outside naturally, come from places nearer to where I eat and hence require less energy to produce and to get them to me. It has expanded into considering more vegetarian options. This requires less knowledge than the eating seasonal thing. I guess I'm trying all this in an effort to ease my personal impact on the ecology of the planet. This has to do with the energy, land, and the other food required to raise animals for food. Getting away from the huge animals, like cow, are the easist way to make a dent in that food production bar of the graph.

Email me (or Lauren in the case of #1) to find out how we progress as 2008 continues. Happy New Year!

What food is in season (in the UK) now
Seasonal Food Calendar (UK)
The Cheeseburger Footprint