SWAT Team in our parking lot

Late in the afternoon (yesterday), around 3pm or so, I was awakened from sleep working and heard the sounds of multiple helicopters hovering over our building. As you might imagine this is not a normal occurrence. I went out to investigate and saw five helicopters. Four news copters and one police helicopter. They were actually a block away and it just sounded like they were overhead. I realized they were right near the MetroRail stop at Okeechobee Road which is just under two blocks from my office. I went to the CBS local affiliate to see what was going on. There was some sort of carjacking in progress with a hostage at the local MetroRail station. Quite exciting stuff.

I went to the "executive conference room" for a "meeting" and was washing my hands when I heard a lot of sirens coming down our street. There's a window so I peeked out and the SWAT team was flying down the block along with all the support vehicles. Just before quitting time at around 430 or so, I learned that the car, the child inside the car were safe but the suspect escaped. As I was going to my car this was evident because there were lots of uniformed police, SWAT members in fatigues searching our parking lot and behind the building, as well as our neighbours' buildings. Like most news stories, as facts emerge, the story changes. The final report is here.

Plenty exciting, really.

Heroes vs Lost v2

A long time ago, I compared these two shows. May 2007 to be exact. Two years on, where are we?

Heroes just concluded its fourth season. Lost does in a few weeks. More importantly, when Heroes returns for season five, and it will, I will not be returning with it. While there were some good moments, this season the only redeeming characters were Mama Petrelli and Danko. I liked that one kid who went on the road trip with Sylar, but he was a bit player. Oh, and Rebel is still cool. But the story became more and more absurd. Hiro turned into a prick and fucked with Ando. They made the one character I really loved into an arse. And they played time-travel and lost. Heroes is over, I am sorry to say. This concludes me watching it.

Lost is not as good as it was. But, except for those few weeks of shame, it's been consistently better. The characters are better, the story's more interesting, and I just like it better. They, too, took the dangerous steps in to the waters of time-travel but they mucked it up less. It's been doing everything (mostly) right while Heroes just got everything (mostly) wrong. Lost will return for its fifth and final season next year, and I will be along with it.

In an unrelated tangent, one of the most searched on terms to hit this blog in the last few weeks is "how many double decker busses can fit in the O2" -- I'm ranked second in search on that, and oddly the O2 isn't ranked at all. The answer is 18,000 -- must have been a trivia question at a radio station or something. Dunno.

And thanks, as always, to Jose for putting up with my questions and supplying the answers anyway. Off to see Beatlemania at HRC with Karen tomorrow and then bowling Friday with John after work. I continue to contemplate doing something that may or may not be stupid. Oh, and I've got a haddock. Thanks for caring.

Shout Out to Friends v2.0

Shout out to Jace, who gave me some advice which I took. Not that it worked well. Still he gave me advice that nobody else I trust could have reliably provided.

Also a very special shout out to Maury who gave me the heads up on this top-secret project which I am working on. Everything's done and on its way to the application processing centre. Now it's a waiting game of 2 to 18 months if there are no issues which cause the application to be kicked back.

A shout out to Karen with whom I'm going to Beatlemania on Thursday night. The added side bonus means another possible meal at the Hard Rock. Renegade or Tatu are the likely victims. Either way is okay by me.

Had fun watching Erin work Saturday (see last post) because I learned a little more about what she does. Yay. Speaking of people who make me smile every single team, a very sincere hello to B who should be working and not reading this.

I installed Google Friend Connect (left side, 3/4 of the way down) for those who use it. A few people had asked. Now that I went to the trouble to install it, watch, nobody will use it. Yay. I don't care so much.

I am forcing myself to meet new people. It's something I really, really, really hate to do. I don't like people as a rule and meeting new ones is what I consider a very high stress activity. I have a very small comfort zone at this stage of my life and meeting new people takes me way, way out of that zone. We'll see how this works for me. I am pensive and/or skeptical about this. Or something. However I do think I want a few more friends: real friends. The kind that take work. I forgot how making friends works :/

I'm writing again. This is a good thing.

A Very Busy Day

First, and foremost, a fond farewell to Emmy Award winning actress Bea Arthur best known as Maude in the spin-off from All In The Family and also as Dorothy in the Golden Girls. She was one of my favourite actresses of all time. She was 86 and died of cancer. Many of her fans suspected something was up when she was unable to attend the funeral of Estelle Getty recently.

Today was a busy day. First up, I got my special photos for my top-secret project. I hope to be able to tell you what transpires before the end of the year. I'm very excited. Once I've done it, I will share all details and have a small celebratory dinner and invite my local friends who think it's as awesome as I do. Something I've always wanted.

Came home, and found out the AT&T has U-Verse fibre optic Internet in my neighbourhood starting this month. I've ordered it. My 6MBPS which tops out at around 3.8 will nearly triple. Upload speeds still hover around 1MPBPS. ETA for installation is the first week in May.

Went to Erin's and watched the Flyers v Penguins game. Stupid Crosby. Die. Die. Die. Afterwards we went to Hard Rock, met Karen, ate at Renegade which was excellent as always. Brisket for me, Bison Burger for Erin, and baby back Ribs for Karen. Oak Smoked, of course. Sides were shared. We went and gambled. Then ate Ben and Jerry's before calling it a night.

Weirdness of Today

Today was take your kids to work day or some variant of that depending on what part of the country you live in. We've allowed this for quite a few years now though it does cause some slowdown at work. Maybe it's the economy but we only had two kids this year: the regulars. Anyway, as is tradition I bought pizza and Coke for everyone. Dominos was the winner because of the on-line coupons. Eleven pizzas, six Cokes, bread sticks, for $108 including tax and tip. Not bad. The kids were happy and most of the adults too. I was bad and had three slices instead of the zero I should have had. This is why I am fat -- when it comes to food I've got no will-power.

I woke up, ate my usual breakfast, (bowl of Raisin Bran cereal with skim milk and two teaspoons -- levelled -- of sugar) read the paper and filed off to work. At work got up and was oddly dizzy. Maybe not dizzy but certainly light headed and had to grab the wall. This is not usual for me, and except for that post-drinking hangover, never really experienced it before. I was also out-of-sorts which is unusual for me (thanks for the smart-ass comments I can hear you all thinking). Not sure it was related to the spell or not. If you've ever been hung-over from a hard night and then received a call at 8am when you were hoping to wake just in time for lunch, you know how I felt: foggy, a little confused, and, well, out-of-sorts.

I am overly preoccupied with some things lately so the out-of-sorts bit may be unrelated. Several friends suggested it might be that nasty bout of meningitis going around but I lack some of the very key symptoms. Oddly, I thought Erin might have it but again same thing. Which is good. So if the Red Wings lose, we may do dinner together Saturday night.

A special shout out to Tara who's going through a rough patch. Not sure she reads here, but nonetheless she gets the shout out anyway.

Skating and breakfast Sunday. Saturday AM must run to Fort Lauderdale for an hour for a secret project. I hope to share the details with you one day. It'll be cool. I'm guessing long about Xmas. A few of you will think I'm nuts, but most of you will think it was a good thing to do. I'll give you a hint: it involves lots of forms.

Lastly, I won't embed this video but will link to it. It's a vide of model trains from a company called Miniatur Wunderland of the largest model railroad in the world. Worth the 4m51s to watch if you're into that thing.

Weekend Nears End

To start off, I am so glad Jace and Grant came to visit. It's just been too long since I've seen them. It was when the last Harry Potter movie came out. Really unacceptable. We all accepted the blame for this and we have mutually resolved to not let it happen again. I felt bad blowing off skating and my Aunt for it, but this was important to me (and I think them). Do the right thing and all that.

We had fun. The arrived very late Friday night. We went and had dinner at Fuegovivo and the food was pretty good. Adrian had mentioned it to me and they wanted something different. We went to the location on Bird Road. Service was excellent and the food was good (not great) but the atmosphere was lacking. It was too bright and that made the messy decor all the more noticeable. Next to our table was an electrical outlet that was removed and not properly covered. There were quite a few. The carpet wasn't so clean and in a higher end restaurant that isn't acceptable. We're not talking one spot, I mean overall just not clean. Beware, though, service is included on the bill: don't double tip. We came back and watch KungFu Panda on my BluRay player.

The next morning we ate at OHP by my house and then went to the mall, swung by my office to get them one of our legendary BitKit100 sets, and also toured Tiger Direct. None of that is listed in order. That evening, we hauled off to the Hard Rock to give them a tour of the facilities, provide a lesson in selecting a less-sucky slot machine, and whatnot. We then ate at Renegade which they loved and lived up to its usual standards except for the delay in obtaining our check. I managed to finish my food -- first time ever, though I couldn't make it through the sides. Jace didn't and so I have leftovers for tonight. Both of us got the brisket, albeit with different sides. Grant got the ribs and ate them all except for one or two which, I believe, are in my doggie bag. Bark, bark. We came back, walked around a different mall to work off a bit of dinner, and then came home and watched television. We went to bed pretty early.

Woke up, went to La Caretta for breakfast, Best Buy, then Barnes & Nobles. I bought them a copy of Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer to share. We came home, they packed, and left for home. I'm doing laundry right now, and then am off to Publix because I have no food in my house. I ate way too much this weekend. Sort of gross in quantity.

As a lovely parting gift, Grant sent me this URL about Concorde which pissed me off. I hope BA doesn't do it. I think this unique peice of British Aviation belongs in British hands. Cutting it up and selling it? Heavens no.

I am just on my computer after the weekend off. I needed the break, though I did miss a few people for sure. I'm really tired. I don't sleep well when I have company. Hell, I'm sure most of you know, I don't even like company. But there are some people I enjoy having but I still can't sleep when I have visitors. Ugh. And, Jace, if you read this, remember good friends are forever: it's not just words. Don't forget that.

Friday Randomness and PirateBay

First, from CNET, we have the confirmation of the long-awaited and long-rumoured Lord of the Rings on Blu-Ray. Woot. This excites me on so many levels. The actual report is about the boom in Blu-Ray sales which are, no matter what anyone says, the result of HD-DVD's collapse which caused player prices to plummet.

Second, also from CNET, is a story about how PirateBay was convicted today for piracy. That is to say the people who operated the site were convicted to both jail and subjected to multi-million dollar fines. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand I am vehementy anti-piracy despite the fact the RIAA and MPAA deserve everything bad that happens to them. I believe artists should be compensated for the work and as an ex-software author, I also believe those who create software are entitled to recompense. On the other hands, posting a list of links enabling people to download stuff doesn't make you a criminal. The logic is faulty. If I link to PirateBay, then doesn't that, by the court's logic, make me just as guilty? It's foolish because I know where to buy a gun, know where to get information to build an atomic weapon, that doesn't mean I will. The information is on WikiPedia. The sole people they need to go after are the people actually serving up the files. Going after users fails (see previous posts) -- they're never going to win this battle, nor should they. I hate to be on the side of PirateBay but ultimately, I have to be. They are not offering files but rather telling you where you can get the files. Get the ones offering the files: those are the criminals -- and make no mistake it's theft. (And if you download that stuff, you're a thief too: it's stolen property.)

I'm excited that both Jace and Grant are coming for a visit: YAY -- it's been too long, guys. Someone's mad at me for the last post but I stand my ground. Twittering is interesting but I am not sure how I feel about it.

I'm sad that I probably will miss Sunday skating but at least it's a good reason. I have a headache. And I'm trying to clean my house before my guests arrive. I re-did my MySpace page after not signing in for ages.

Jersey Boys (Third Viewing)

I was Karen's emergency backup date for Jersey Boys after her regular date had a last minute cancellation.

We were going to the Hard Rock to eat at Renegade for dinner, but they were closed (a previous visit to Renegade for my birthday can be found in this post). They have new hours and are closed Monday/Tuesday. Based on the crowds, I can see why. It was a wasteland of nothing there. So we ended up at Tatu instead. Renegade is a great BBQ restaurant and she's never been so I was excited to take her there, but Tatu (Asian Fusion) wasn't bad. But if you thought Renegade was overpriced, it's got nothing on Tatu. For a relatively casual Tuesday night dinner with no drinks (tap water only) it was nearly $80 with tip. But the flavours were quite enjoyable: I had crispy orange beef and she had Shanghai Sirloin. I gave up on chopsticks quarter of the way through and went to silverware as did she. We were a bit hurried due to the time of picking a new restaurant and they did a good job to accommodate us. The service was excellent and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Tatu to anyone. It's sort of like Chinois in Vegas, actually and that's a good thing.

So, we got to Jersey Boys a few minutes early, Karen gave her car to Valet. (Oh, yeah, I met her at her place and we went in one car). The play was really good. The lead Valli guy was the same one I saw in Las Vegas the first time I saw the show. He was good. In fact the entire cast was good except the red-head who had a good voice but it didn't meld well with Valli's and it was noticeable. The second time I saw Jersey Boys, was sitting near David Beckham and that was in this report.

The cast was, how shall I put this delicately, a bit gayer than your typical cast. There's nothing wrong with that but it's hard to believe a limp wristed Mafia Boss. It's an acting job, so maybe try to act straight? It didn't ruin my enjoyment of the play at all, but it was noticeable because a number of the actors were affected by this.

This play was well received by the audience, but I am reminded why I eschew theatre here: the crowds are "yokels" at best and talk to each other way too much during the show. They also sing along which is not acceptable in most musicals, and it's not acceptable in this one. The clapping along can go either way, though I'm not a fan. The crowds in Vegas and London (and I assume New York) know better. This show got the obligatory standing ovation but it was well deserved. The Playbill for this version of the show was neat because it listed the songs scheduled for inclusion but that didn't make the cut. Two thumbs up, maybe three.

And a special shout out to JMJ who I'm not giving up on yet :)

And a sad shake of the head to the idiots of the world who use poor excuses to justify inexcusable actions. I won't embarrass the person by mentioning his name, but you're smart enough to know better. Shame on you.

Worst Movie Ever

I have frequently mentioned that the worst movie EVER made was a film called LaserBlast that I saw in 1978 in Key West, Florida where I lived at the time. It may have absolutely no redeeming value whatsoever even as a footnote to history. It was trying to cash in on the Star Wars craze. Years later, sometimes I'd ask friends what the worst movie they ever saw was. Anyone who has ever seen this "film" has also given it top prize for biggest piece of shit ever made.

I happened to be on IMDB today and noticed their "bottom 100" list and looked out of curiosity sake. What did I find? LaserBlast is one of the worst movies ever made. See for yourself here: http://www.imdb.com/chart/bottom -- they list others movies that are marginally worse, but I've never heard of them and in fact on the whole list have only seen one and heard of three.

They have a "top 250" list too but I am generally displeased with the ordering of films. Wall*E is not better than Clockwork Orange in any world I know. There are many other anomolies, but almost all are accounted for by too much credence being given to recent films.

Had a great time today with John and Liz at the deserted skating rink. Yay. And a nice leisurely breakfast for which Mister Higgins joined us.

Dear Tech Support (Firefox Woe)

Who is good at mystery issues. I run Firefox at both work and home. We have three PCs running Firefox at work. They all appear to be set the same except for font size. The one in my office has stopped saving history -- the "awesome bar" as it's called, has the same search stuff in it from MONTHS ago but nothing new. My HISTORY sidebar only has the current session, so if I quit and re-start it's empty. So it shows the dohs.gov page I went to months ago, but doesn't show alibaba.com which I have visited every day for a year. That's just really, really, really weird. I have no explanation. Does anyone have an idea what's gone wonky?

Today, I'm lonely but since I'm at work, I'm at least occupied. Blech.

Nom nom tonight anyone?