9:15 PM PDT — MTV is 20 tomorrow. I've got to admit that I'll always have a soft spot for the channel because it pushed the obscure, largely Brit new wave-ish bands that my friends and I loved but couldn't hear on the moribund radio of the day. Odd to consider it's now an establishment institution. I still remember an article that appeared in an authoritative rag like Time or Newsweek that predicted the channel would never last.

Idiots.

7:39 AM PDT — Before you think I'm being hopeless geeky today, let me inject a cute boy side note. Where did CNN's Daniel Sieberg come from and how come I've never noticed him before?

7:23 AM PDT — While the popular media is in tizzy about the Code Red worm (ironic because it's not a threat to most individuals in the audience), TidBITS comes through with a lucid explanation of SirCam, the latest email virus that's been clogging my in box. Explain to me again why people continue to use Windows.

6:44 AM PDT — Fun factoid time. Eudora the trailblazing email program was named for Eudora Welty the recently-deceased, trailblazing author because the programmer had a fondness for the author's short story, "Why I Lived at the P.O." So charming and so refreshing after the bombardment of the stupid made up name-like objects such as Alero and Accenture from the shamans at the likes of Landor.

10:05 PM PDT — I hate Mondays of late. Meetings, meetings and more meetings. How can I get anything done?

10:40 PM PDT — Um. (Thanks[?], Shari.)

8:30 PM PDT — Wow. Two posts in a row at the precise half hour.

On to business. I may have found the perfect backpack for the new iBook. Old Navy calls it the E-Pack but padding, size and colors (white, gray and silver — imagine!) make it the perfect complement for the iBook. It's almost as if someone at Apple clued in someone at Gap. Wink, wink. Sadly it's not available online. I got mine at the SF Market Street store. Rush in.

9:30 AM PDT — Maserati returns to the US. Not that I'm in the market for a $90,000 two seater.

2:14 PM PDT — The media hysteria over drivers who use cell phones is starting to get on my nerves. Logically, using a cell phone would divert a driver's attention, I'll give you that. But come on. Most of the reports dealing with the issue act as if cell phones are the only culprit. Why is a cell phone conversation any more diverting than talking to a passenger while navigating the menus for a CD changer or trip computer?

9:47 AM PDT — I am an idiot sometimes. Last night's missing link has been fixed.

9:10 PM PDT — Interesting photo collection. Is that Jesse behind a monitor in one of the shots? (Thanks Jake.)

8:59 AM PDT — Another contacts calamity. While contacts in the shower can be a good thing (Wow, I can tell the difference between the shampoo and conditioner by reading the labels. Imagine.), contacts plus shampoo equals very, very bad.

10:56 PM PDT — "...the state government will need to look at changing the law in order to protect people too stupid to protect themselves," an Australian politician reacting to people who clamored over a dead whale in order to pet great white sharks. (Thanks Shari.)

12:15 AM PDT — A new feature debuts. (Aren't you just tingling?) Music of the Moment for your downloading pleasure. By popular request, an apparently rare treat from the Let's Active catalog, In Little Ways.

10:49 PM PDT — It's been a cinema weekend. Jurassic Park 3 then Hedwig and the Angry Inch in theaters, broken up by Saving Grace on Tivo. Thumbs down, up and up respectively.

Topped the evening off with the usual back-to-back joys of Sex and the City and Six Feet Under on HBO. Sadly for the studios, both are as, if not more, entertaining than any of the features that required tickets.

5:13 PM PDT — Don't faint. Something new appears under Newish Stuff to the left. Catching up with last year. Better late than never.

9:11 PM PDT — A new Harry Potter trailer. At least one I haven't seen before. I love the books — uncharacteristically. The caveat is because I have a tendency to develop a healthy disdain for overly popular pop culture. So I'm more than a little nervous about what the Hollywood machine will do to the stories. That said, I've got to admit that both the teaser and trailer strike me as uncannily faithful.

Dare I say that I'm excited?

8:44 PM PDT — Okay folks, time to welcome a new weblog. Meet Chris. A gifted illustrator, talented writer and damn cute Canadian. Visit frequently and often.

11:00 PM PDT — Linkslut. That's me. Notice the new lists to the left.

11:48 PM PDT — Musical time warp time. A discussion with Darren prompted me to dive into early R.E.M. again. The Mitch Easter years especially. Wonderfully dense sonic tapestries. I'm sure I'm a prejudiced old fart but the tracks seem to hold up to anything on today's alterna-pop scene.

Actually, is there even an alterna-pop scene anymore?

But I digress. My point, dull as it may be by now, is that I'm having fun tonight, sitting here with the headphones on. MP3 samples are available for the asking if anyone wants to join me.

3:17 PM PDT — There's an old adage about the effectiveness of advertising that says roughly, the quickest way to kill a bad product is to advertise it. Meaning that people will see the ad, be intrigued enough to buy the product, discover that it's bad and then never make that crucial repeat purchase. AdAge's Bob Garfield unwittingly proved that hoary maxim with his recent look at Red Lobster's new campaign. He says the ads are amusing. So much so that they tempted him sample the product at a real Red Lobster. I love the conclusion he came to and printed.

It all sucked.

11:28 AM PDT — Just about to compose a post about having time to catch my breath and relax when someone comes rushing in with the news that a client is unhappy with a layout and needs to discuss right away. Guess it's into the vortex again.

10:17 PM PDT — Continuing the personal health riff started yesterday, this morning's highlight was a six-month dental check. Standard cleaning and x-ray stuff. Notable only because the dentist gushed ridiculously. "It'd take a magnifying glass to find anything wrong in your mouth."

7:24 PM PDT — Are you doing your part to prop up the economy?

4:49 PM PDT — A reader from Texas comments on previous temperature musings:

Stop bragging about your weather, Mr. Smarty Pants. Heat can be rearranged into 'hate.' As in, "I hate that you have to have heat in July."

Thanks for the input. Your suggestions will be passed along to management for consideration.

4:04 PM PDT — I want that third cup of coffee. But do I need it?

3:07 PM PDT — Eating a late lunch of cheddar, avocado, olive and salsa filled crepe at cafe on Polk Street, while chatting with Chris who's four time zones away in the maritime provinces. Gotta love free AirPort links.

2:47 PM PDT — I've had contacts for a year now yet I still feel as if I'm getting used to the things. That vague, there's-something-in-my-eye feeling has never gone away completely. Then there are the regularly scheduled bone headed moves. This morning, for example, I reversed the right and left lenses; it took me a moment or two to figure out why the world remained impressionistic. Luckily my optometrist thought to put a big L and R on the appropriate boxes. Obviously I'm not the only fool out there.

11:56 AM PDT — The heat has been on since 8:30 or so and it's still 67° in the apartment.

1:48 PM PDT — Very slow start. Poured too much wine down the throat last night. The excuses were a gallery opening for my pal Melissa and a gathering at the apartment of Lance's boyfriend Scott. Many people were met, much wine consumed and a sex doll was blown up.

Let's leave at that for now.

11:14 PM PDT — Another long day ends on an up note. Dinner with Lance and Rich. Before that pleasure, the daylight was filled with juggling. Three plus hours at two different client locations. The like me, like the work dance. Back in the office, many discussions of budgets, projections, staffing levels, profit margins, etc. I hate dealing with financial people on the other coast. We're out of the red. Billings will increase over '00. The work, if I do say so, kills. Isn't that enough during this Bush Recession Revival?

8:16 PM PDT — Yes, the calendar says July but this is San Francisco. And that explains why I just turned on the heat. Brrrrrr.

7:58 PM PDT — I've slacked. Now I'm going to pay.

Put less cryptically, I haven't had a decent workout in months. Hit the weights this morning (after cardio yesterday, thank you) but I'm already starting to feel the sore. Tomorrow will hurt.

9:41 AM PDT — So I'm diligently reading the Sunday NY Times, coffee in hand, like any good quasi-media type. Yet instead of focusing on the tactics behind the latest battle in the ongoing struggle between the Daily News and the Post, all I can think is how hot Lachlan Murdoch looks in that little photo.

5:33 PM PDT — Since I've already broached the computer geekdom subject, I have to mention that this is being lovingly crafted and posted from under a palm tree on the edge of San Francisco Bay. Gotta love AirPort and open 802.11 networks.

9:39 AM PDT — Thank you Chris for prompting me to actually use programmable function keys. I've known about the feature since it was introduced of course but something else always seemed more urgent. And to think a couple of days ago I was mousing to the Control Strip to toggle my location from home to office wishing for a one-button solution.

Only trouble is that the new iBook has so many (seven) preprogrammed F keys that the remaining five aren't nearly enough. Anyone know how to override Apple's preprogramming?

11:07 PM PDT — Another work week for the books. Thank you.

Lately time at the office has felt more like running three marathons simultaneously. Which leaves me pretty much brain dead for all of you.

But I hardly have to point that out.

Wednesday, July 4, 2001

10:14 PM PDT — I almost forgot. Mark, a roommate from college, and his wife stopped in on Sunday during a 12 hour layover in transit to Dallas from China. Nice catching up and all that. But the real news is the gift they bestowed upon Rich and me. A genuine Mao lighter!

But wait there's more. Flip the lid and it plays a high-pitch, highly-irritating tune while you're torching your socialist cigs.

You can now be jealous.

9:56 PM PDT — Okay so it's a holiday. We celebrated by sleeping late. Whoa hoa. Also went to see Pearl Harbor during a so-called bargain matinee. I hate that the Metreon is my neighborhood theater. The NY Times review headline sums it up best, "War Is Hell, but Very Pretty." The story and script are absolute crap. However the cinematography and effects are worth seeing on the big screen if you appreciate that sort of technical expertise. And I caught only one continuity flaw. Not bad for a big budget holiday schlockfest. As a piece of technical film making, I rate it a solid A but as entertainment it's barely a C-. Your average HBO series offer far more bang for the buck.

Speaking of HBO series, I'm completely enthralled with Six Feet Under. If you have HBO you simply must watch it.

Previously