While we still have power…

So far this well touted blizzard has been very well mannered.  Two PM was its scheduled time.

I find seeing questions on the various weather related sites as to the “scheduled” time for this natural phenomenon to arrive.

We are so attuned to seeing the world through the eyes of one lens or another, and there are SO many more lenses out there of late, that we have come to see the world as a scheduled event. 

The close-by passage of an asteroid in the very near future is being posted with the times it will be visible with hand held magnification.

It takes away a little of the wonder, a little of the mystery of the world. Consider the mythology that would be written if our less electronically connected ancestors looked up and saw a rock flying really close to the earth. Now our reference point is it will pass inside not only the orbit of the moon but inside the orbit of communications satellites.

The glad tidings reported is that it isn’t “scheduled” to hit either the earth, the moon, and most important, any communications satellite. And we go about our business sure in the veracity of that information.

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On this bright but very cold morning I am riding the Amtrak Acela; going south to The City.

I am meeting friends there for a exotic lunch followed by attending the performance of Fiorello at the City Center.  It is somewhat sad to go watch a musical about one of NYC's greatest mayors so soon after the death of another.

Edward I Koch &  I closely interacted twice when I lived in NYC.

We bumped into each other several times, from when he was a congressman not supporting Eugene McCarthy to the day I retired from city service but those moments weren't all that memorable for either of us.i

The first time we interacted more profoundly was in the rear of an Italian restaurant on Pleasant Avenue, an enclave surrounded by Spanish Harlem.

The second time he came to visit me with a box of cookies and to ask, paradoxically, how I was doing instead of himself.

Both of hiz honors were heroes of a sort to me. The first because Fiorella read the funnies to the children of the city on WNYC radio during a newspaper strike and the second, I will admit selfishly, for the cookies.

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Rarely does a movie disturb me

Rarely does a movie disturb me enough to warrant a comment on Belltower News.

Django did.

Christophe Waltz’s performance was worthy of praise. If only…

If only there wasn’t an amount of violence and blood that would make Sam Pekinpah blanche.

As Billy Crash, Walton Googins was worthy of praise in demonstrating a broad character repertoire going from Shane Vendrell to Boyd Crowder to Wells Hutchins in Lincoln to this castrating character.

The scene with the glowing Bowie knife was another stretch taken by Tarantino. I said if he does that, I’m leaving.  I don’t know what kept me in the theater. 

The fascination of watching the scene of a horrible disaster, I suppose.
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Going back through my OhLife.com entries for the past few years I found that I have had an upper respiratory malfunction of some sort every year around this time. This year is no different. Well, it is in that it's a weird kind of cough only and only once and a while kind of thing.  I don't recall having something like this before.

My son has the exact same thing. We seem to have both caught it from the same source.  Another wonderful   holiday tradition!
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This is the first Christmas in many years where the family didn't come to our house. Instead, we are gathered in Maine, along the rocky coast thereof. It is currently a balmy 29 degrees F.

Our friends from Sydney send us photos of the visits to the beach, suffering scalding sunburns and having Christmas dinner dressed for a luau.

Our friends in Westchester complain or rejoice about the coming snow.

The pjs have been exchanged and it is off to nyquil induced sugar-plum land we go.

We'll always have Cuenca!

Merry Christmas.
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Done

It's always the little stocking stuffers that give me the hardest time.  We finished with gathering them just now.

After a moments relaxation, it's on to the wrapping!
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Following the Patriots-Texans Game on Google

Without having to explain why, just understand I have to follow each Patriots game on Google before we can watch it on TiVo.

I am listening to Dean Martin singing Ain’t That a Kick in the Head? on Pandora at the same time. 

If you know the score at this time, 2333, you would see how this is the most ironic song I could be hearing right now.

Two minute warning!  It looks like we have a chance to win…

No. Wait. The Texans scored? Nail biter?

Not yet…

Nope! Now we can watch it.  Wait… where did everyone go?

Oh, to bed.

There’s always tomorrow.

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#Blogchat

A hashtag on twitter is an indexing tool that allows users who don’t normally follow each other to open a discussion, add to a poll, or just add to the graffiti/noise. Don’t get me wrong here. Graffiti can be art and noise can be music when mindfully created and presented.

Paper.li is promoting the ongoing hashtag #Blogchat on twitter this month. They’ve broken the topics down starting each Sunday. The one beginning this Sunday  is” Email + Blogging – This is always a fun topic, we’ll explore ways that email can help us grow our blogs.”

The one thing this hashtag has done is inspire us to take a poke at setting up a Paper.li newsletter.  We did that at Belltowernews Daily.

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Skipped September??

When I just posted the semi-rant on Apple support, I noticed in the left hand column that there were no entries in Belltowernews.com for the month of September, in 2012. 

Wow!

It has been a long time since I have not at least made one blog entry in an entire month.  I’ll try to be better.

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After Two Hours with Apple Support

I am inclined to through the one MAC computer we have in the house in the trash can. 

They instructed me to download this, and then that because I needed that installed before this would work.

Then this said I needed this other that before this would work.  Finally I went to chat support.

They asked me a zillion questions and finally said, oh, you have THAT mac.  You have to buy an entirely new machine for this and that to work. GAHHHHHH!  No where did it say anything about what machine or other would support this and than, only I couldn’t get this to work without that, but once I had that, then this would work.

All of the above was just to get the bleeping iCloud to work. A posh on iCloud.  I’m sticking with SkyDrive.

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I think they should change the day after Thanksgiving from Black Friday to You're Welcome Day to honor all of the caregivers out there.

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Happy Birthday

I was on the road and was unable to wish the United States Marine Corps a happy birthday.  We take the birthday very seriously.

Semper Fi.
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Windows Live Writer Updates

The good news is it didn’t loose the previous settings.  It did unpin the icon from my Windows 7 screen but I can live with that.

And while we’re up here, we would like to remind you to change your Amazon password.

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Very Distracting, This Nexus 7

The Nexus 7 has pretty much parked my Google Fire on my nightstand. 
Except for work related activity; it's pretty much replaced my laptop as well.

We will be ensconced at our summer retreat in Maine next week. I intend only to bring my Nexus 7 & no other technologies.
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It arrived.

Windsor Locks gave up the goods. At 1745 the UPS man came up the pathway with a small box in his hand and a tired beaten look on his face. I wouldn't want to be driving in those open dark brown trucks in the over 90 °F. weather we've been suffering the past few days.

This is being written with my new toy.
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Windsor Locks, CT.

It’s a town near I-91 between Hartford and Springfield.  I have probably driven though it on the Interstate no less than a hundred times, maybe a lot more.  I never noticed it.  Never needed to.  Now UPS tells me my Nexus 7 is sitting in their depot there.  All of a sudden I have noticed Windsor Locks, CT.

Are they waiting for the canal boat?   It’s about 4 hours from my house.

Just saying…

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An Awkward Fourth

Now that most holidays have been cornered on Mondays having a “You must take the day off” holiday on Wednesday is a tad confusing. Not confusing as to whether or not to take off on that day, but to which weekend it should be associated.

The previous weekend, which started in June, was called the “July 4th Weekend” by many in the media.  But now, the day before Independence Day, the same media is referring to next weekend as “July 4th Weekend”.

As I think of it, perhaps having a holiday on a Wednesday is not that bad an idea after all.  Instead of one, you get two weekends.

But…

That means you have to take Monday and Friday off.  Which leaves your work days as Tuesday and Thursday… Oh, dear…

Happy Independence Day!!

LiveJournal Tags: Holiday

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A Few Thoughts About Facebook

Time stamping expressions of good will.  I just sent Anniversary and Birthday wishes to my two sisters on Facebook
. 
One, I know has a page but never looks at it. The other may have one but hasn't invited me to it and her married name brings up way too many choices.

But, I did express positive emotions about this day in their general direction.  And it's dated and time-stamped to show I was thinking about them.

As a person who generally avoids the company of human beings, this is such a  happy medium. It beats the mail, the telephone and even email in general.

It's a can of spray paint on the digital wall.  If you happen to walk by and see these nice things about you it should make you smile.  If you missed it, you may
hear about it from a friend.  If you don't at least the positive thought is out there enriching the galactic dharma.

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Back to Opera.

This jumping back and forth from Chrome to Opera is making me a little dizzy.

We're back to Opera now that the version 12 has become stable. It's much faster than Chrome and the screen UI is much more intuitive

The more important thing is Scribefire is now working again. It wasn't for a while.

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On Which One Does it Have a Greater Effect?

It is of course monumental to the HS Senior, the last June of his Secondary education. But is it more so to their parents?  In this culture to advance to adulthood really starts when one leaves High School, whether by graduation or quitting.

My three brothers all left early, each for their own reason. It is without doubt their adult lives began at that moment,  They needed to find work or go into the military.  One even started his family upon leaving.  I stuck it out and finished before going into the military.  I know I, and am pretty sure my brothers, didn’t think for a moment how our leaving school mattered at all to our parents. They were done parenting us.  Very done.

That was 43 years ago. Things have changed.  Though we’ll be attending a graduation in two weeks, or so, I don’t feel there will be that abrupt disengagement.  No “Thanks for all the fish” song.  But still, there will be the change.

Neil Gaiman’s recent speech was to a college audience.  I think this recording of it should be mandatory viewing for all High School graduates as well.

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