Half-demolished Kitchen of the Soul

Speaking of music

There are songs in my collection that are sort of on the B or C list. I like them well enough, but I don't get all excited when they come up in rotation.

But sometimes I'll hear one of those lower level songs being used in a new context—in a move, for example—and it becomes fresh and interesting. 

Oh yeah, that song. Hmmmm. I never thought of it that way before. It's better than I thought.

Meanwhile, some A-list songs get demoted as the emotions attached to them fade to irrelevance. I'm not an angst-ridden teen anymore. I'm not an overly-optimistic college student. I'm not pining for the girl who broke my heart. I'm not an angry guy running from a failed marriage and oppressive job. So off to the iPod file cabinet for songs that used to be so important.

Old fogey music

When I was a kid, the old people (my parents) liked music from the 1930s and 40s . Big bands, crooners, vocal trios... How very ancient.

As a song from my college years played over Muzak today I realized all that stuff from my teens and twenties is as far in the dusty past to young people today as my parents' music was to me. These days the Rolling Stones playing the Super Bowl halftime show might as well have been Frank Sinatra.

That's not news. I know the past recedes just as quickly as the present disappears (where the hell did June go?) and the future rushes toward us (another damn birthday again?). But that reality hadn't smacked me up side the head the way it did today.

What I like to believe separates me and my old music from my parents and their old music is that I like some current music too.

Moonlight Serenade / The Glenn Miller Orchestra

Time, the cruel master

Take away the makeup and heavy retouching and add thirty years and you have former "Three's Company" cutie, Joyce DeWitt today. Or, more precisely, as she was when she was busted for drunk driving recently.

Since she's an actor, perhaps she was just doing her Phil Spector impersonation. But without the murder part.

TED Tuesday: 4:00 AM

Music Video Monday: Randy Newman

Once in a while I really miss California. I left because the place was becoming harder and harder to deal with, but there were moments that truly felt like this song.   

What's the point?

The east side of my street is posted as a no parking zone. The sign threatens towing. But it's never enforced, so every nice weekend it looks like this.

Let your freak flag fly

Today is probably the most fitting day to display the flag. It's also a good time for my rant about the irony of flag desecration.

Here we have a photo of Abbie Hoffman at the 1968 Democratic convention and a shot of an unidentified McCain supporter at a rally last year. Many of the same people who were outraged by Hoffman's shirt would say the other guy is showing his love of the United States of America.

What makes one shirt an act of desecration and the other an act of patriotic zeal? Hint: it's not vertical stripes versus horizontal ones. It's whether the wearer is on your side. That means desecration is really about opinions and words, not the actual flag.

The flag is a symbol. Symbols are secondary to the things they symbolize, like, oh, freedom of speech. Banning flag desecration would diminish the symbol you're trying to protect.

Some people don't see it that way because they believe freedom of speech protects only opinions they agree with, not those of their opponents. But popular speech doesn't need protection. The flag doesn't need protection. What it stands for does.

Curmudgeon's Driving Handbook: Green Means GO!

Today's lesson (and others to follow) is grounded in the belief that you and I are not the only people on the road. I know, it's a shockingly alien concept for some. 

This lesson is also about the social lubricant that makes civilized life possible: reciprocity. You know, treating others as you would like to be treated. You don't want clueless, self-centered drivers clogging the road ahead? Then start by not being one yourself. That means being aware of traffic behind you and giving a rat's ass about it.

So there you are, first in line at a red light. What should you do when the light turns green? 

Go, right?

Yes, but in what way?

If there's little traffic, it doesn't matter much. But if there's a line vehicles behind you (you know this because you use your mirror for something other than checking your own wonderfulness) then it's time (once again) to offend those who preach the gospel of gradual acceleration. Step on it. Move out with gusto so more drivers can make it through the light.

This is particularly true if you're in a left turn lane. (Let us pause a moment to give thanks for properly constructed left turn lanes with adequately timed signals.) You know those jerks who keep turning left even after their light has turned red? It's usually the result of slow pokes at the head of the line. (That doesn't mean I condone running red lights, just that I understand.)

Of course, all of this assumes traffic isn't so thick and the lights so badly timed that there's no room for you or anyone else on the other side of the intersection. Then it's time for zen-like patience, even if those behind you honk. But once there is room, GO!

Until next time, pull your head out of your butt, put down the phone, and drive like you mean it.

Quitter

Evidently, when the going gets tough, Real Americans® suddenly throw in the towel. And offer excuses that don't ring true.

On her way out, Palin whined about the media and critics. Well, sweetie, everyone but you understands you can't win "American Idol" without taking what Simon dishes out.

Palin has talked a lot about God opening doors. I guess this one was labeled "exit."

Professional thoughts on Billy Mays

Being in the advertising business, I know right now a bunch of advertisers are in a panic over what to do now that their pitchman is dead. The sensitive thing would be to pull all commercials featuring Billy Mays. But that means no ads until you can produce new ones. And it means spending more money. Rats.

I'm waiting to see if anyone is crass enough to keep running their Mays commercials. Or if someone tries to turn their spot into some kind of memorial—one that still shills their product.

NC cars look cooler now

I got my car inspected today. (Nothing like putting it off to the last day, dude.) As of this year the state no longer uses inspection stickers. They just keep the data on their computers and I keep a receipt in my glove box.  No unsightly square on the windshield anymore. Cool.

On the road again

When we were in Erie, the client said we might be shooting a builder interview in Kentucky in about a week. I learned today that we'll be doing it tomorrow. Um, okay. At least it's more work in these hard economic times.

UPDATE: Oops, postponed.

What I saw

Okay, here's my report on my experience on the set of a "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" project in Erie.

The house is in a low income part of town. There are a couple of boarded up houses nearby and several of the occupied ones were in serious need of repair.

There was a parking and sign-in area a few blocks from the site. That's where we got our vendor VIP credentials and the mandatory EM:HE T-shirt and white hardhat that would allow us inside the crowd control barricade and onto the actual job site. We were also given a printed page of rules, including not to tape the show personalities.

The old house had been demolished and completely hauled away in a matter of hours. When we got there they were finishing excavation for the basement. 

It looked like the show had temporarily relocated the residents of the adjoining houses, and there were probably payments made to them that allowed the show to trample their property. There was also an empty lot across the street from the project house. That's where the VIP area was set up.

There's an old industrial zone immediately behind the project. That became the access area for heavy equipment and the staging point for piles of building materials. I tried to imagine how the show pulled off the logistics in other neighborhoods.

Our client's product wouldn't be installed until after the foundation and basement were finished. That would be delayed because one of the trucks hauling the pre-cast concrete basement walls had tipped over. New panels were being rushed from New York. We went to the hotel, took naps, had dinner and then returned to the project to see how things were progressing. A lot had been done but our product still wouldn't be used until late morning of the next day.

When we arrived the next morning, crews of non-construction volunteers were at work beautifying the surrounding neighborhood. They were hauling away trash, trimming bushes, digging weeds and such. I don't know if it was simply part of giving to the neighborhood or if it was to make the area look less bleak for the big reveal. The main contractor was also donating repairs to the community center, so maybe the cleanup was more philanthropic than self-serving.

I heard that the first day they had something like 300 building trade people show up to volunteer. The show had to turn a lot of them away. Even so, there were times when it seemed there were too many people on the job. About a quarter of the men at any one time were looking for a way to help.

Whenever we were out on the site we were supposed to have a production assistant with us to make sure we stayed out of the way and didn't tape anything we weren't supposed to. That never happened. We went wherever we wanted, avoided heavy equipment and didn't get in the way of people doing actual work. It was easy to blend in since we all had the same T-shirts and hardhats. Just act like you know what you're doing and you're supposed to be there.

Because the house was to be built in five days, things that would ordinarily happen sequentially were happening simultaneously. What looked like chaos was actually rather coordinated. I was impressed, especially since the crews were conglomerates of volunteers who don't ordinarily work together.

It was raining by the time the first of our client's products was installed, but that was a fortuitous thing, since moisture resistance is one of the product's main selling points.

The interviews with the CEO went well. He's good on camera like modern executives should be. We also interviewed the lead contractor. He joked how he'd become expert at it from all the interviews he'd done in the past couple of days. We also shot the CEO helping with the construction. He started out as a builder, so he knew what he was doing.

We had to pause in our shooting whenever the official video crew shot a segment with their construction phase on-camera talent, Paige Hemmis (in pink hardhat and matching boots) or Paul DiMeo. Ty Pennington is only there to tell the lucky homeowner the good news and for the big reveal at the end.

Our other product wouldn't be installed until sometime in the middle of the night. We were back at 2:30 AM. (Even then there were onlookers.) The exterior walls were up, the windows were in, the plumbers and HVAC guys were installing their stuff, a crew carried in pre-assembled stairs, and the roofers were hard at work. We shot our stuff and called it a wrap. It might have been nice to see the rest of the process. Guess I'll catch it on TV sometime in October.

Peace at last

I only wish death on truly evil people, not the merely annoying ones. Nonetheless, I'm relieved I won't have Billy Mays interrupting my viewing pleasure anymore. I would have been satisfied if he'd just gone into some other line of work, but I'll take what I get.

What I dread, though, is they'll just find someone to replace him, someone with more aggression and less charm.

Super skeeters

I got a few mosquito bites while taping in the mountains last week. No big deal. They itch for about a day and that's it. Usually.

These mosquitoes, though, must have had exceptionally potent venom. The bites itched all week and are still red. 

It makes me wonder about the evolutionary disadvantage of pain-inducing venom. Wouldn't mosquitoes be able to suck more blood if they didn't annoy their victims? Wouldn't fewer of them be swatted or sprayed to death? 

I guess mosquitoes in the mountains, where the human population is far less dense, haven't been subjected to extensive anti-mosquito warfare like suburban mosquitoes have. Maybe that means there's no evolutionary disadvantage to them being extra painful. Maybe the less painful mosquitoes we have in the 'burbs are the product of human-created evolutionary forces. The less potent, less annoying ones tend to survive.

No Coke. Pepsi.

I guess Erie must be hard core Pepsi country. Only Pepsi in the airport. Only Pepsi at the hotel. Only Pepsi at the restaurant. Only Pepsi on the set.

On the other hand, it was odd being in a part of the country where none of the airline, hotel or restaurant people, or the people we interviewed, spoke with a Southern accent.

Back from a 5-city tour

When a client approves the project estimate the day before you're supposed to be in a city 565 miles away, your flight choices are severely limited. They're doubly limited when your destination is served by a small airport.

That's how I ended up flying to Erie via Chicago and Cleveland. And it's how I ended up flying home via Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

Because of ticket counter understaffing and resultant chaos at check-in, I didn't get boarding passes for the Cleveland and Erie legs of the trip, which were on different airlines. I discovered this at O'Hare, which meant running back and forth between terminals, standing in r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-w lines staffed by what must have been retired DMV employees, and going through security again. But I eventually got to Erie, and so did the four cases of video equipment.

I got the last rental car (like I said, it's a small airport) and got to the hotel—a new Sheraton on the lakefront. The reservation was screwed up, but they moved me up to the VIP floor. Very nice room. Very comfortable bed. Some things work out.

One advantage of a small airport is that it can be ridiculously simple to use. I happened to hit it at exactly the right time so I was the only one returning a car, the only one checking baggage and the only one going through security.

But Philadelphia was a different story. (I've had nothing but bad experiences at that airport.) The door had just closed on our plane when a guy across the aisle who didn't speak much English said to me, "I want to cancel. How do I cancel? I want to get off. My head hurts."

I pointed to the flight attendant and said, "You'll have to talk to her." He seemed confused or panicky so I pushed the call button. 

I should have told him to just tough it out, because it triggers a security procedure when someone wants to get off a flight. We all had to get off the plane and identify our luggage. And officials had to be called. And people talked to. And paperwork filled out. 

Good thing it was only a small 48-passenger plane or I would have missed my connecting flight. I had visions of having to be rerouted to yet another city while my equipment went somewhere else. But we got home together. At least I think so. It feels like part of me is still somewhere en route.

Not a big fan

You can't turn on the TV or radio without being bombarded with Michael Jackson, past and present. As colossal a force he once was in the entertainment world, I never really got into his music. I have only two of his songs in my iTunes library: "Dancing Machine" with the Jackson 5 and this mash-up of "Bad" and "The Ghostbusters Theme."

Bad VS Ghostbusters Theme / Michael Jackson & Ray Parker

All over nothing

The FBI interrogations of Saddam Hussein have been released. He said his WMD arsenal was all a bluff to keep Iran at bay. If UN inspectors were to find out he had no WMDs, then Iran would find out. If that were to happen, he'd have to cut some sort of deal with the US.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration was doing its own faking. The UN inspectors were discovering no WMDs, French and Russian intelligence said there were no WMDs, but, well, you know what happened.

Things get extreme

Looks like I'll be in Erie, Pennsylvania this weekend videotaping a client's CEO on site at an "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" project. The client signed a deal to supply their construction materials to the show. We're supposed to shoot the CEO in action because he claims to be a hands-on guy. Then we tape whatever it is he has to say about things.

My concerns are the logistics of trying to do our little part without getting in the way of the construction and TV crews. Their job isn't to help us. They're not even obliged to cooperate. I don't know how much has been worked out with them and how much is just the client's pie-in-the-sky idea. The short notice makes me suspect there are a lot of loose ends. Guess we'll fund out Sunday morning.

Kind of saw that coming

When the governor of the state down the road went missing from the public radar, I was willing to accept the explanation he went hiking to clear his head. 

When his wife said she didn't know where he was and didn't care, I thought either they had a unique marriage or one that's all too typical.

When his car turned up at the Columbia airport with a sleeping bag and other hiking supplies inside, something was obviously up. 

When he was discovered stepping off a flight from Buenos Aires to Atlanta, something started to stink. Oh, it's possible someone would start for the mountains, change his mind and head to the airport, but it's not likely he'd just happen to have his passport with him.

So now he admits he was with his girlfriend in Argentina. Now his wife admits she knew what was going on. And now another politician has blown his career.

How was it that a governor taking a long weekend alone to who-knows-where became a story? And how was it someone happened to spot him in the massive Atlanta airport? I suspect someone acting on his wife's behalf dropped a comment or two in the right ears. 

"Gee, does anyone know where the governor is? He seems to have left town without telling anyone where he was going. I need to talk to him about something."

UPDATE: Now we know some anonymous source had been leaking to the press selections from the governor's e-mail love letters. Hmmm, now who would have reason to go poking around in his e-mail?

And it wasn't that someone happened to see him getting off a plane from Argentina. A reporter who knew about the e-mails put two and two together (lover in Argentina...Flights from there come into Atlanta... He's supposed to be back Tuesday...) and was staking out the airport. 

If Sanford hadn't been such a fiscal conservative, he might have been more deceptive with his travel route. He might have flown to some easily explained US city, like Washington, DC (governors are always going to Washington) and connected to a separate flight to Buenos Aires. But that would have cost more.

TED Wednesday: The new media changes everything

This lecture was delivered just three days before the election in Iran.

Off schedule

Didn't have time to post TED Tuesday this morning. I was off in the mountains shooting video of some interviews. Now I'm back and I'm beat. I'll post it tomorrow. A break in routine is a good thing.

Return of the rabbit

I pulled into my driveway this evening and saw a rabbit sitting on the sidewalk. It hopped leisurely away when I got out of the car. I had to run another errand, and the rabbit was there again when I returned. I managed to get this crappy picture with my aging cell phone.

Music Video Monday: Journey

The feathered hair, the girl shirts, the power ballads... Ah, the early '80s.