The Morning After: The Obama Democratic Convention Speech

The speech lived up to my expectations. It was a more partisan or blue state focused speech than his primary speeches, but that
is what you do at your parties convention. My favorite moments are the
ones where he directly addressed the McCain/Rove fear nonsense. He
didn't look rattled by their weeks of non-stop attacks. He seemed
energized (fired up?) by the task at hand. The contrast of his energy
and quiet confidence with the nervous/awkward/grumpy energy of McCain at
the Republican convention will be interesting for the country to behold. May the best man win.

A Genius Poster: "Those Were The Droids You Were Looking For"

Seasons Change

In the Chicago area the seasons change. This is a good thing. I like to look forward to the first snow or the first warm Spring day. This morning I awoke to a chilly house for the first time since probably May and that is a little preview of what is to come in September. This week is back to school week too so the Summer is all but over and thoughts now turn to school buses and (dare I say it) Halloween decorations. Oh and the new Fall TV season. A season that this year will be supported by a brand new Tivo HD. I have been testing it out now for about 2 weeks and (excluding the Comcast piece of the puzzle) the experience has been extremely positive. I will write up my review in the days to come.

Luke, Han, Chewie: Star Wars Tribute in an Office Building

Vimeo Tribute: Star Wars from Casey D on Vimeo.

Chocolate Rain

Picture 031, originally uploaded by Maxo.

TIVO Upgrade:

I've finally decided to take the plunge and upgrade our Series 2.0 Tivo to a Tivo HD. Watch this space for a review in the next week or two.

Remember That Texas UFO Flap From January? The radar tapes are in and...

Something indeed was moving about in the sky. A hat tip to the Wonkette Blog for this story. Researchers have acquired the radar tapes from the date in question. The same radar reliably used to safely manage air traffic around the world everyday confirms what the Texas locals were saying. An unknown object (UFO) moved as slow as 49 mph and as fast as 2,100 mph through Texas airspace. And military traffic was in the area too.

Don't look for any follow-up from the big media but do read the MUFON report (PDF) because it is rather interesting. A large, unidentified, radar and visually confirmed something was heading towards the President of the United States Texas ranch. Does that mean it was little green men? Nope. It means something we can't explain happened and our response to that should be more interest not less. Something tells me the media will just move on for fear of being painted as part of the lunatic fringe but what if instead they started asking questions. I won't hold my breath but that would be nice.

New Job, New President... The Back To School Experience

When you leave school you imagine you are saying goodbye to so many experiences. At 38 it is clear to me that you are not so much saying goodbye to those school experiences as living them again and again in new settings. Take for example this new job I started. The first day at a new job is like heading off to a new school. Will the kids like me? Will the teacher (boss) be a jerk? As you get older maybe you get better at these experiences but regardless they keep on coming. Two weeks into this gig I find myself hoping I won't have too much "homework" and wondering if I will ever fit in with the other "kids" at work?

Presidential politics is not that far removed from the schoolyard either. Just ask McCain and Obama who have been having an epic popularity contest in the lunch room that is the modern media over the past week. Obama is all "I'm the new kid but I am cool." and McCain is all "He's the new kid you can't like him and I'm tough." It's a heck of a way to pick a president but such is life.

A Storm Rolls In

IMG_2867, originally uploaded by Maxo.

This storm roared through the Chicago metro area in early July and I had to move quickly to capture the leading edge. No hail but lots of rain and wind.