")) { $ctr++; } } } if ($ctr > 0) return("(".$ctr.")");} ?>
You are cool.

Monday, June 30, 2003

over the weekend: tattoos and piercings
To continue my departure from swankiness, the next night I found myself at a heavy metal show in damn Alsip. So loud. It's cool that my friend Ron's band is doing well, but that show was so loud. The highlight: seeing someone wearing a shirt that said, "Slytherin." Apparently, the Harry Potter reference is a Chicago metal band made up of 12- to 16-year-olds. How very cute, in a Satanic kind of way.
erik 3:19 PM | permalink | yap

over the weekend: graham crackers and a nap
Nothing makes you feel so swanky as sipping a cocktail at a hip little lounge and discussing fashion over the DJ's very loud set.
Following that, nothing disrupts the swankiness, blows your mind, and makes you talk about kindergarten so much as discovering the person you're talking to went to the same elementary school as you two states away in Toledo, OH. Freaky.
erik 3:10 PM | permalink | yap

You are cool.

Thursday, June 26, 2003

Urk: Mac kbase
Whither the sad Mac? The frowny Macintosh and the bomb of yesteryear have been replaced with the grey screen, the blue screen with spinning cursor, and the prohibitory sign (that's a funny name for a universal symbol). My heart skipped a beat when my Mac wouldn't startup after installing the new iChat AV. Since I haven't had a single darn problem with it since upgrading to OS X, I didn't even know how to go about fixing it! Luckily, the Apple knowledge base suggests all sorts of useful strategies for troubleshooting a startup issue, and they're even less scary than they sound. In fact, after starting up off of my OS 9 CD, the problem fixed itself. How bout that!
After all the fussing, I have iChat AV installed, but no one to talk to. Sorry little me. Whither the sad Mac? Right here, buddy.
erik 3:19 PM | permalink | yap

You are cool.

Thursday, June 19, 2003

bullshit: Salon: iTunes--The "i" Doesn't Stand for Innovation
Sahar Akhtar's article is full of crap, so I'll save you from watching Microsoft's "15 second" commercial to access it. iTunes does not mean the end of the album or the B-side; they've cycled before. Unbundled songs won't stifle creativity and experimentation; record contracts do that. The 30-second preview doesn't start at the start of the song, it doesn't reinforce accessibility and catchiness (as if those are universally bad), and, fundamentally, is more a tool of recognition than browsing; real fans will work to hear all the material instead of just buying the MTV single. To top it off, John Lennon wasn't experimental for the reason that Paul McCartney "subsidized" his songs with radio ballads; Lennon was experimental cuz he was on drugs.
Real music exists in your local scene. Worry less about Mac users buying the songs they want and more about going out to a club to have fun.
erik 3:22 PM | permalink | yap

the money pays off: Blogger
After weeks of that teasing message, I've finally been shunted to the new blogger interface. Woo, that Google money is doing some good. Fer instance, my archive links are finally back to their correct appearance, without any gaps. The RSS is feeding again. And the BloggerPro interface is slick.
Now I just need something to write about. Poop.
erik 10:12 AM | permalink | yap

You are cool.

Tuesday, June 17, 2003

uptake time improving: Chicago Fire
Slightly faster than my pick-up of the Olive Oyl homophone, today I realized that the Chicago MLS team name refers to the great Chicago fire of 1871. I will continue to refine my recognition of pop-culture references in the hopes of attaining post-post-modern Devo status.
Pickle bridge! DRINN!
erik 1:29 PM | permalink | yap

You are cool.

Tuesday, June 10, 2003

reality tv comes true: MTV.com - Surf Girls
In the wake of Liz and me running into a Joe Millionaire contestant in NYC in January, we have this further proof that the casts of reality shows are not two-dimensional automatons constructed of pasteboard and spit (at least as much proof as can be gathered in a two-minute encounter).
Supposed real person Heidi, as seen on MTV's Surf Girls, currently showing Monday nights:
Still from the Surf Girls TV show
Verified actual human Heidi, as seen with me:
Photo in Hawaii taken by my lovely, lovely wife
Actually, maybe this is simply proof that I will not let this picture slide off the front page.
erik 3:34 PM | permalink | yap

You are cool.

Thursday, June 05, 2003

okay, this is the last time I'll talk about revolving doors, then I'll shut up.
OMG, my amazement at the misuse of revolving doors knows no bounds. Walking to get a soda, I witnessed a group of boisterous youths (read: hooligans) enter the Hancock Center on their way to the observatory. This one set of kids managed to set an impressive number of records: six double-ups, four triple-ups, and even a quadruple-up, along with two double-arounds. I'm not even going to start counting these new odd statistics. I'm just sick to death of this lack of portal politeness.
Instead, go look at the funny guy standing at the podium at this website. Also, check out the cool coloring-book pages they offer--including non-packaged ice cream cones and ice cream bars sitting on a pile of what appears to be garbage (they're in the Kids' Club).
erik 3:24 PM | permalink | yap

banner day
Jeez, not counting the triple-up, I've seen four more revolving door double-ups today, going to and coming from lunch.
Seriously, this can't be engrossing blog-fare. Go read someone with something funny to say.
erik 1:50 PM | permalink | yap

a new turn at the revolving door
It's a first for the revolving door double-up count: a triple-up. It's getting silly over here, like a college stuff-the-phonebooth stunt from the fourties; what's next, goldfish eating and flagpole sitting? Two ladies and a little girl all managed to squeeze their way through a revolving door here at the Hancock Center today, and managed to retain their composure as if there were nothing odd about it and this is the way people go through doors and you can stop staring at us now. Bonus: the little girl (maybe about three years old) was on a leash! I guess this counts as one and a half double-ups on the counter.
erik 12:26 PM | permalink | yap

You are cool.

Monday, June 02, 2003

blogs around: 1moredork online
Ken's archives do not work, so hurry over there to read his excellent run-down of the candidates currently runing for president in 2004. He's dug up the best stuff on a bunch of crazies from both major parties and some excellent third-party candidates (such as Michael Ross Tunick Strauss, candidate for Mike's Party). I took a look over at vote-smart.org, the resource Ken so hilariously mined. As much as I admire the man, I figure vote-smart.org's "Fun Facts" page for Ralph Nader was doomed from the start--it's just not a peanut butter/chocolate kind of pairing.
erik 12:26 PM | permalink | yap

you will be assimilated. resistance is futile: Segway
The invasion has begun, albeit with slightly less intensity than the Borg. Yesterday, biking down the Lake Shore Path, I saw my first human transport cyborg, zipping along the path powered by his own sense of self-satisfaction. Geez, look at the lady in the picture at this website--how can you tell a happy Segway HT rider? By the bugs in their teeth. Also, calling it "HT" is a grating example of needless acronymization. Keep those jargon hounds at bay!
erik 12:08 PM | permalink | yap