Today is my Friday! A few months ago my boss gave us a production goal and said that if we met it, our department would get a Friday off. We came quite close to meeting it, but we’re getting tomorrow off anyway (with the stipulation that our next goal will increase to take the shortfall into account).
So yes, another three-day weekend. A full week of work come Monday now seems interminable.
Anyone remember The Computer Chronicles, hosted by Stewart Cheifet? I totally used to watch that. Turns out the Internet Archive has a bunch of episodes online, including one on the Mac, which aired in 1985. (Link via Foreword.)
Speaking of computers and the aforementioned platform specifically, should I make the switch? (I have a feeling I know what the majority of your responses will be.) I’m not in the market for a new laptop just yet, but the Gateway which has served me admirably for three and a half years is showing signs of age. For one thing, it’s having battery and power issues, which, yes, can probably be solved with some new parts, but… I want a new computer! There, I’ve said it. My consumerism is laid bare. I haven’t made a major tech purchase in a few years and I want new stuff.
I had been looking at the Dell website (my company has some discount deal with them), but then I naïvely wandered over to the Apple site–a somewhat potentially dangerous detour, for my pocketbook at least–and began to fall under the dreamy Apple spell. We’ll see. I shall weigh my options and bide my time. It’s taking every ounce of self-control I can muster.
I floated my consideration of a PowerBook to the boyfriend, and he says if I get one, he’ll be “insanely jealous.” That’s right, I could be fooling around on the side with one sexy, powerful 15-inch machine.
TiVo note: tonight Bravo is airing an episode from the British version of Queer Eye, but it’s listed separately in the TiVo program guide under the title Queer Eye for the Straight Guy UK, which means your Season Pass won’t automatically pick it up. (At least ours didn’t, as I noticed yesterday when perusing the To Do List.) If you miss the usual 10 p.m. slot, not to worry, of course; it’ll be rerun a few times in the coming days.
President Bush devoted last Saturday’s radio address to the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA). He’s sticking to his guns, spouting the same old hateful, misguided rhetoric. I’m probably preaching to the choir with this blog, so I won’t get all into it. The text of the radio address is available at the White House website, as well as the audio, if you can stomach it.
Tell your senators now to oppose the FMA. Senate debate on this issue began last Friday and can be found in the Congressional Record, listed on its web page of the day’s proceedings under articles 7, 9, 12, and 14 (beginning on p. S7871). Debate continues this afternoon.
Thom and I just spent a suprisingly large amount of time watching Australian Rules Football on TV. Since neither of us knows exactly what is going on, it’s kind of bewildering–I’m going to look up some of these so-called rules–but it’s actually entertaining as well. And no, it’s not just the guys in uniform. Though that is a definite plus.
It occurred to me, as it does occasionally, that despite my website having being inspired by Rufus Wainwright, in practice it isn’t much of a Rufus blog, is it? (Not that it was meant to be, really.) Anyway, here are a few bits to chew on: he is currently in Boston and will be interviewed tonight on WBUR’s On Point. Listen to the live audio stream at 8 p.m., or the archive when it becomes available.
He’s been touring with Ben Folds and Guster, and via the Rufus message board, I found an MP3, recorded last week at Wolf Trap, of him joining Ben for “Careless Whisper.” Everyone, sing along: “I’m never gonna dance again / Guilty feet have got no rhythm…”
Also last week he released a four-song EP called Waiting for a Want, which includes “The Art Teacher,” “Gay Messiah” (he’s been performing this song on tour for a while now, and it’s good to see it released finally), “The Love Affair,” and “Waiting for a Dream.” Last night Thom got the songs from iTunes, and I’ll be giving them a listen ASAP.
I’ve seen this linked on a few blogs, and rightly so: Spider-Man: The Peril of Doc Ock, an animated short from a production company called Spite Your Face, commisioned by Sony Pictures, Marvel Studios, and Lego. It’s hilarious, amazingly well-done, and, oh yes, made of Lego. Check it out at the Spite Your Face website or at Yahoo.
Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane (who, by the way, is young, adorable, and super-talented; thus I love/hate him) is profiled in yesterday’s Times. Interesting personal tidbit I hadn’t known about:
On Sept. 11, 2001, he was booked to fly from Boston to Los Angeles on American Airlines Flight 11. But his travel agent had mistakenly told him that the flight left at 8:15 a.m., not 7:45 a.m. “And I had a hangover from the night before,” he said. He missed the flight, now notorious for its role in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
Although shaken by his brush with death, Mr. MacFarlane said: “I think I still pretty much approach everything the same way. There are probably 100 close calls for all of us every year, and we don’t even realize it.”
New episodes of Family Guy will air on Fox starting summer 2005 (yay!), followed by his new series, American Dad, which “involves a conservative agent with the Central Intelligence Agency; his ultra-liberal daughter; a sarcastic, campy space alien with a voice like that of the comic actor Paul Lynde; and a lascivious, German-speaking goldfish, the result of a C.I.A. experiment gone wrong.”