everybody reads raymond

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My name is Raymond and I (used to) live on the top floor of a railroad brownstone in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn, NY. Outside my back window is (was) the lower Manhattan skyline.

Now, I'm in sunny, south Florida - playing golf, tennis and surfing.

Quick Contact Information:

e-mail: mail at RaymondTBrown.com
AIM: ReadRaymond

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My name is Raymond and I live on the top floor of a railroad brownstone in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn, NY. Outside my back window is the lower Manhattan skyline.

So, I am set for Halloween. I have my rather tall pumpkin, the kind ready for a handlebar mustache and a cowboy hat vs. the traditional jack-o-lantern. I my car parked down at the end of the block, away from the main thoroughfare, crazy kids and egg throwing. And, of course, I have my sugar-free candy � not to give out to the little buggers. Screw them; they can buy their own candy. No, I jest. In this neighborhood, nobody ever comes ringing at a house unless you know the occupant. It�s kind�a sad if you grew up in a suburban environment. But, I guess if its all you know then you�re probably fine with the concept.

As for me: I�m getting out more, living life like a semi-normal person. I still have to home by 10:30 - 11PM to "Lantusize" and I am sometimes the only one in the group ordering food. Reference Adam�s birthday party on Tuesday. Everyone watched me eat my bowl of chili with corn chips, staring like they wanted some (or wanted me to offer it out for a taste). Again, I say, "Let �em buy their own damn food". I have to eat a particular amount to match the insulin I just took. If they want some of my food, let them go stab a needle in their stomach first. Again, I jest. I�m just happy to be out and I have grown rather adept at glancing off to the restroom to "stab-an-ab". Or checking my blood sugar before the food comes. It�s a amazing what people don�t see even though its happening right in front of them.

Anyway,.. Happy Halloween. Have a Crunch bar for me. They were always my favorite.

OK. So I haven't been updating all that much as of late - not so much as a Christmas post with a picture of a sweater. Well here's why:

I broke my hand on the 21st of December. Ugh! 30+ and falling apart. The break was to the 5th metacarpal on my right hand, just below the knuckle. In fact it was a bit more grizzly than that as the knuckle went under the bone - ouch!

But the "real" pain came when the doctor set it. No pain killers, no whiskey, no stick to bite on: just dark ages "I'll pull, you scream." Truth is, I nearly passed out after my cries to heaven echoed through the hospital unanswered.

How did it happen, you ask? Here are your choices:

a) I got into a fight with a biker when he tried to steal my girl.
b) Bad tennis accident while vacationing in St. Bart's.
c) Tripped down the stairs while carrying christmas presents to the car - saved the gifts, sacrificed hand.
d) Fell out of a tree while studying moss in the Costa Rican rain-forest.
e) Owed somebody (bent nose) money.

Whatever the answer, I have a little trouble doing the normal, everyday things - like eating, peeing or typing. The cast comes off in a week or two & I'll be back to normal (and the gym). Peace & Happy New Year!

The season finally started, for me anyway. After a rained out practice on March 30th, a circle-jerk practice April 6th where three teams tried to share two fields, a canceled exhibition game April 15th because the lights were broken & the umpire didn't show, and another canceled game April 23rd because it was supposed to be played on the same field with the broken lights which still weren't fixed, the Fordham Pikers finally got a start tonight May 1st at 8:30PM on Randall's Island.

I played Right Field. While it is not exactly a prestegious start, I'm lucky to be filling a spot in the too-many-players-not-enough-teams league known as the Yorkville Sports Association Leagues who sponsor play in Central Park (and the many surrounding fields like those on Randall's Island). Plus, as it is Fast-Pitch Softball, I am lucky to be playing at all as I walked on with zero fast-pitch experience. (Turns out, they don't throw that hard.)

So tonight, in the warming weather and setting sun - a backdrop for the too-dim glow of stadium lighting - I took my place on the field, adjusted my cap and popped my well oiled glove with my throwing hand in a "Here, batter, batter, batter..." sort of way I learned years before. It was great.

By the time the game was finished I hit 2 for 4 with 2RBIs & a RUN. This was marked by a lead off single in the second inning, later scoring a RUN, a fly out (infield :-p) in the 3rd, a ground out RBI to tie the game in the 5th and a RBI single in the 6th.

As for fielding I made an ERROR when I slipped on the damp grass and didn't catch a fly ball that I was surly capable of fielding. But that was soon over looked when I threw to a play at the plate resulting in an OUT and later a play at 2nd, which didn't. But it held the runner.

We won the game 23 to 17 - its a hitter's league, apparently. I had fun.

This is just a counter

This too is just a counter. Pay no attention to this.

Its August 25 and I woke this morning with a "this is the first day of the rest of your life" kind of feeling. Today, the early morning air was cool and autumn like, foreshadowing the sweater weather to come. It felt good to wrap myself around a hot cup of tea and watch the sun's appearance as it hit the buildings across the river - making them shiny and copper.

I just spent the last two days redoing the roof of my apartment (again). But this time I made sure to do a proper job, complete with 5 gallon cans of tar and 125lb rolls of roofing paper that had to be carried up the ladder and through the escape hatch. In the past, I had only patched the roof here or there and as a result, encouraged the water to move to new leaks here or there. Now there's a completely redone surface and my living room will hopefully remain dry.

It was backbreaking work and I truly felt age for the first time in my life. But, even though I was physically exhausted, I just couldn't sleep past 5AM today.

I think I'll make another cup of tea, pop on up to the roof to inspect the splendid job I did and ponder over what it all means.

Well,..without much fanfare, I actually managed to get Kung-Log to work properly with MovableType. What a dumb-ass thing! I had to completely reset Safari - clearing all the cookies, history, stored passwords and such. Then I had to "teach" IE to login - reseting my password and undoing the case sensitive user name. Now, I don't know if I'll ever be able to login via Safari, but at least I got it working! A nod goes out to Adam for suggesting that I go the "reset" route.

While I wrote this, iTunes played: Clocks from the album "A Rush of Blood to the Head" by Coldplay.

Why do SOME people insist on posting comments with bad e-mail addresses? Its like poking your head in the room and saying, "...what about the your thoughts on [insert subject]...?" and then running away before hearing the answer.

I fully understand some anonymous person wanting to say, "your site sucks", "I think you're stupid", or "my penis is enormous" and wanting to do this without leaving opportunity for my reply. That sort of thing is going to happen by the very nature of a public weblog and the proliferation of cheap PCs for the uneducated masses. Honestly, I find these comments to be quick fun as the erroneous e-mail addresses are occasionally creative. Some of my favorites are:

butt @ muncher.com
jack @ off.com
think @ about it.com
smell @ your fear.com
johnson @ is large.com

What I don't get is the anonymous question - that which appears to be seeking a response, yet the return address is bogus. This occurred again quite recently when someone asked me why I chose a particular software application over other offerings. Dutifully, I wrote out a kind response detailing my reasons for using Kung-Log and the benefits it offered for me. When I sent it out I got a mail error informing me that the recipient [icekitten94@hotmail] didn't exist. Now, why bother Ice Kitten? Its not even a particularly creative address. [check above for more thoughtful offerings]. If you didn't want to know, why ask? If you did want to know, why run away? If you only wanted to dine-and-dash or promote a competitive software selection, why not simply include the link? My comments section is "open" to HTML code (for the moment). For those not familiar with adding code to a post, it works as such:

Replace "[ ]" with "< >" as appropriate.

[a href="http://www.website.com"] Title [/a]

Either way, thank you to all who take the time to post a comment, including Butt Muncher.

Its been a long while, I know. But I am back and this represents my first post since packing up and moving to sunny, south Florida. Man, I love it. Sure I miss NY - the friends and the food. But a beach and an enormous kitchen kind'a ease the pain. So here's a snap of my desktop while I work at bringing all my web-stuff up-to-date.

Snog 'ya later.

This is number 100. Kind'a neat. It's actually more like number 700, but I tossed a bunch and moved this blog so many times that I'd probably be shocked at the number. This is the last time, I mean it - the last rebuild, the last export/import, the last spring cleaning of unwanted archives. Yeah, right. That's half the fun. But, this is here to remind me what this is all about.

So we're sitting this one out and hoping for the best. I'm speaking of hurricane Jeanne, of course. I'm trying to get a bit of work done today in the chance that we have no power come Monday. Weather doesn't care if there is business to be done, so its best to tend to the pressing matters while she gives you the chance. Fun, fun, where is the sun in this “lack-of-sunshine” state?

While writing this and temporily avoiding the work that needs to be completed, iTunes is playing: Electrical Storm from the album “B-Sides 1990-2000” by U2.

After hurricane #4 whipped through here the other day, I feel glad to be living in Deerfield Beach as it never seems to have any issues, including power, but concerned about moving to Delray Beach, as is and was a mess after Jeanne and Francis. Trees everywhere. Power: out. People: hot, unbathed, and in need of warm food and cold beer.

So, we jumped over to Belgium for the Kempen Trophy this month.  In the spirit of the "roaming gnome"; we brought along Alli (as seen in the picture).  She went everywhere - even places she shouldn't have been - getting her picture taken with local famous people, found partaking libation in the tavern.  She also managed to be seen amongst a few dead royals buried in the crypts of the cathedrals and castles that Europe seems to have on every corner.

Later in the trip she found herself in Dublin as it was our point of entry and departure.  There she stayed in U2's posh hotel, The Clarence.  Those boys, whom I thought were representative of the common man of Ireland, sure know how to live in up in the swanky south-side of Dublin.  Just a block away, in the Temple Bar section, was a host of traditional Irish bars and music.  :-P  Oh, yeah...we also toured the Guinness Brewery.  It was capped with a hearty pint atop the window bar, located at Dublin's highest point.

April eighth was a happy day.  I bought the house.  She's a big sucker, much more than I imagined.  The argument is still open on the square footage as the realtor's brief contradicts with the other various descriptions - each of which states a different number.  But, she's mine.  And while I didn't have time to savor a poolside, tropical cocktail as I was moving and closing on two business deals, there was no need for a bazooka.  I'm happy.

Having been here for 3 days + a week, I must reflect on the advice of a dear friend who once told me to never buy the "big house" as its a pain to clean and maintain.  He's right.  For argument's sake, lets call my place X thousand square feet.  Well I'll be damned if it isn't $2 a sq/ft just to maintain.  That's outrageous.  The pool heater alone sucks 80 gallons of propane every ten days, for goodness sake.  And that's just one aspect of the back yard.  We haven't even entered the house yet!  But, I'm happy.  And she's mine.

I really got the wake up call when the decorator spoke in simple figures like, "... replacing the chandelier shouldn't cost more than five (5) ... or ... the fixtures and lighting can be done for two (2) ..."  This means thousands, not hundreds.  She didn't even mention the hundreds.  She only spoke in twos, fives and eights.  Ugh!  But, I'm happy.  And the house is mine.

I reflect further on what another friend of mine said, "That's what you get for buying a gazillion dollar house on the water."  And maybe he's right.  But as I write this, I'm looking across the South Grand Canal - the tributary to the Intercostal waterway - to houses that could swallow me whole and I wonder how they managed the sticker shock.  Poor, rich bastards.  But, I'm happy.  And she's mine.

The cats like it, so it must be cool.

A little while ago, I heard Cush talk about Robert Downey, Jr., whereby he was quoted as saying, "Life's great.  But 70% maintenance."  Or something like that.  A perfect quote need not be there to bring home the point.  And that is:  Life requires effort.  Its a simple concept, yes.  But sometimes we need to be reminded of the simple things.

Health, wealth, love and that box in the garage.  Maybe not in that order; but they all need attention.  And when you find yourself a little "off" its probably because you forgot about one of those items.  Or you moved too far from your starting-point without time for reflection, refreshment and rejuvenation.

I'm an employer, a friend, a lover, a homeowner, and an individual.  Among them, I have forgotten all but one.  And I feel loopy as a result.  Without balance.  Strange that a "former" drug-addict's epiphany could remind the sane of their grounding.  Humph.

By-the-by, Cush is probably the best pod-cast I've heard and I highly recommend it to anyone: especially to those who have forgotten how cool they once were; to those who still dream about karma's big gift; and to those who resent the machine but quietly believe that the artist will someday overcome and prevail - if only for a moment.

While writing this, I played:  Sorrow from the album "Pulse - Disc 1" by Pink Floyd

Its my birthday.  And again, October marks a period of change for me as it has done so frequently in the past.

AstrologyZone says: Rarely will the cosmos shower you with as many radiant fireworks as the ones it will this month! It will be twelve years until you see anything to match the display of cosmic beauty that you are about to see now. With a solar eclipse on October 3 in your sign, along with the Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter all lining up in Libra, you'll shine brightly and you will be a step closer to a long-held dream.

...Eclipses also bring events from the outside world into play, conditions over which you have no control, and that you might assume have nothing to do with you - until they do! As you see, this will be a month of crazy events and unbelievable twists and turns.

On my birthday, I played pool with a few friends and kept it all very simple.  It was a fair day, but I was happy.

While writing this I considered:  Forever Young by Alphaville.

I've been wondering, "Now what?"

A few years back, I thought about moving to Europe for a stint.  Why not?  There was nothing holding me back.  And the idea that I could do what I do from Europe made for a good idea.  Being a big fish in a little pond is what I do in terms of business.  Applying that to a foreign market has appeal.  I could offer a very specialized service to my clients, old and new.

Again, I'm thinking about that idea.  Why not?  I could sell the house and make a move.  OK, I do have an office and employees, but there is no reason to assume it could not continue as normal - just me being "a man on the street" in Europe.  Plus, George and I have been talking about him taking the helm, allowing me to focus on trading.  It could work.

While considering this I played: Sin Of the City from the album "Duran Duran" by Duran Duran

The stars are a very strange, indeed.  If you ask, they'll answer, sometimes louder than you imagined.

There might be something to this Europe thing after all.  Humm....

Swiss Portal & Swissworld.org are great general starting points.  Then there's SECO Standort about setting up you business to do business in Switzerland.

Played: Rack Em Up from the album "Lie To Me" by Jonny Lang

I've had a fairly mixed couple of weeks.  Life changes rapidly when you give it a chance.  It happens even wilder if you don't - only you find yourself not on the ride.  You get one spin in the great cosmos, peeps.  Use it.  Make it count.  It reminds me of my most loved poem by Herrick.  Carpe Diem!

TO THE VIRGINS, TO MAKE MUCH OF TIME
~ by Robert Herrick

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
    Old time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
    To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
    The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
    And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
    When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
    Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
    And while ye may go marry:
For having lost but once your prime
    You may for ever tarry.

While writing this I played: American Idiot from the album "American Idiot" by Green Day, which doesn't fit the sentiment of the poem, but does fit my mood.

I've been traveling so much lately that I'm looking forward to Christmas not as a time of celebration, but as a time to sleep and relax.  In the last six weeks, I've been overnight in Miami twice, Maryland once, Switzerland once, DC for a quick one day meeting and I'm  heading back to the land of chocolate again next week.  Its been go-go for so long I don't know if the milk in the fridge is old or new.  Come Christmas its old movies and lots of sleep.

While writing this I played: Show #20 Drugs, Sex, and The Last Man Standing from the Podcast "Cush:Things I Say" by Cush.

Hey guys, just in case you missed the memo, "Its my time."  To my family, friends, loved ones (past & present), co-workers and vendors:  I will be taking a short break in December that will run through the first part of January.  I need it and I want it.  I may not deserve it, but I'm taking it.  See you when I return.  Hugs and kisses.

~ yours truly:  raymond

While thinking of my holiday I played: Give Me Novacaine / She's a Rebel from the album "American Idiot" by Green Day.

Since business is going so well (swimmingly in fact) , I thought I'd treat myself to a expensive, fucking watch.  That's right, I put the verb and the adjective in the right places.  Its a !@#$ing watch - and the most expensive I've ever seen, as far as watches of that sort go.  But it wasn't an expensive watch by any means.  It was a fair price for a "nice piece" of art.

I went to the premiere of an exhibition/sale of a local collector's artwork: 1000-objekte.  It was nice, something to do; and a break from the cold weather outside.  The proprietor/collector, Peter Grunbaum, was very cheerful and immediately noticed my interest in his collection of watches - one of which clearly stood out, or rather looked out of place as it was a Franck Muller sitting along side a few designer Swatches and an old pocket watch.  Had I stumbled upon a garage-sale find?  Then again, this is Switzerland and I wouldn't have been surprised if he had said, "That's two-hundred thousand swiss francs."  But he didn't.  When I asked if it was real, he said, "No.  Its a fuck watch."  What was that?  Surly he meant a "fake" watch, but it got lost in translation.

At my confusion, and with much delight, he removed the watch from it's box and opened it to reveal the reverse side.  Ah!  While, indeed this was a perfect replica, the forger had a sense of humor, as did Peter - as did I.  So I bought it.

In the spirit of remakes, I'm playing:  Just Like Heaven from the album "Piece By Piece" by Katie Melua.

Happy New Year!

Still in Zurich.  This is my view today - one of the few clear days in a couple of weeks.  Even last night with the fireworks celebrating the turn of the calendar, the "soup"/fog rolled in about 11:30PM, just in time to completely block my view of the festivities.  And then, in perfect timing, the fog evaporated around 12:45AM, giving me a great view of what was probably the coolest fireworks show I never saw.  But, it sounded great.

While looking at this I played: Fingerprints from the album "Fingerprints" by Larry Carlton.

Going up Mt. Pilatus, Luzern was unreal.  7,000+ FT in total altitude above sea level.  Its a medium sized mountain by Swiss standards, but it was the first time I have been above the clouds and not in an airplane.  The lifts alone took three (3) to get to the summit, each about 15-25 minutes apiece.  Of course, I couldn't see jack on the ride up - most of it was in the "soup" and if that were not the case my breath fogged up the windows.

But at the top, holy crap!  What the heck was I doing at 7,000+ FT?  Getting blinded by the sunlight, is what.  I need sunglasses in FL most of the time as my eyes are used to living behind shades in the bright light.  Now, I know that you need them at altitude too.

Anyway, it was possibly the most beautiful sight I've ever experienced.  The Swiss don't know what they have.  And unless you have experienced the western peaks of the US, you're missing an amazing experience.

I was ABOVE the clouds!  And I didn't want to go down.  Seriously!  That fucking ride up should have caused a heart attack to anyone under the age of 25 - the last leg being at a 50+ degree incline and at several thousand feet.  I had to pay for it, but I wonder if the lift operators get hazard pay.  I have to admit that among the beauty of being ABOVE the clouds I was never truly able to relax as I had to remember that eventually, I had to go back down, or learn to eat snow.  I can't wait to do it again!  What a rush!

In the spirit of Europe, the culture, the experiences and such, while writing and remembering this, I listened to: Dieser Weg (Radio Edit) from the album "Dieser Weg - EP" by Xavier Naidoo.  He's cool to my American ear.  Probably a hack to the Euro crew, but this song talks about "This Way" being a rough road - the one less traveled by, and how it makes all the difference.

Did some skiing in Switzerland in January, took a quick trip over to St. Moritz - a mini-break from the business in London.  What a fun place; although I was sick for half the time I was there.  My legs were like Jello and my head was a brick, but the weather was perfect and the skiing was amazing - mountains that peeked at almost 11K feet.  Corvatsch was the first and the highest, but the best was Corviglia.

The snow wasn't "great" according to the locals - in fact most of it was man-made, but I didn't care.  It had been 10+ years since I had skis strapped on, so I was happy.

Day one was all about skiing.  I was on a mission.  Ski, ski, ski.  Day two was another story:  I figured out that there is more to the Swiss Alps than making runs.  Its a lifestyle.  The skis are as much a transportation device as is the lift.  The mountain is a giant park with all sorts of resting spots where you stop and enjoy the weather, the sun and the friendlies.  Drink some mulled wine, have a bit of fondue and live.  That's what its about.  Next time I won't waste the first day trying to ski every trail.

I watched the "Heist" many years ago; and when I did, I listened to the best version of "I Did it My Way" ever.  I tried to find this version, with no luck.  After many years, I found it!  Forgive me if you all knew all along.  By the way, the last minute and then the final 30 seconds is worth it, alone.

While reminiscing on this I played (very loudly): A Mi Manera (My Way) from the album "Gipsy Kings" by Gipsy Kings.

I have been thinking of getting a new (mobile) phone for months. I like the Sony Ericsson UI - always have. But I have been thinking about moving to the Motorola V3i for form over function reasoning, and so that I might make the switch to flip vs. candy-bar. BTW - a great review site lives here: Mobile-Phones-Uk.org

But the problems over which phone to pick only grows from there. For example: I would rather have the SE UI vs. the RAZR version. I would also prefer the functions of the SE (K800i) vs the RAZR, but I don't want to be carrying around a "brick" that occasionally "self opens" the camera lid when in your pocket. Which brings me back to the RAZR,..but I hate the UI and I cannot believe that Motorola still doesn't have a multi-numbered concept per entry. (What's with that? Its 2006/7, already!) I have several hundred contacts in my phone directory - each with 1, 2, 3 or 4 numbers and a couple of extras like email addresses. That adds up. The scroll "nipple" on my old SE is already well worn from scanning down the list. That would multiply by 2-6 times with the RAZR UI.

But,...still: my old SE phone is a bit bothersome due to the candy-bar form and it likes to call people from my pocket (because its bored, I guess) - despite the key-lock being engaged. A colleague of mine named Aaron is continuously the recipient of unwanted (and empty) text messages send by my bored, pocket residing and "supposedly" key-locked phone. A clamshell would solve this. Give me a K800i in a clamshell model and I'd jump, but the problem is that it would measure 3 inches thick.

What I really want to know is: Don't Sony Ericsson and Motorola know this? They assuredly use their own phones and have secret labs where they investigate the competition's, don't they? Doesn't the CEO of Motorola carry a RAZR? If he does, how the fuck does he not notice that it takes 20 minutes to find the right number because it lists them one-at-a-time-in-a-single-file-fashion-that-lists-Aaron's/cell-Aaron's/home-Aaron's/work-Aaron's/fax-Aaron's/email-Aaron's/beachhouse, etc? And how does the CEO of SonyEricsson not notice that his phone is dead because the camera has been filming the inside of his coat pocket for the last 3 hours (with sound) while he was attending a VIP brunch at the "happy ending" Sushi House? Come on guys! As a friend of mine loves to say, "have your people call my people"...but the problem is that they either have dead phones or can't find the number.

The verdict is still out.

While rummaging for the cellphone hiding in my pocket, it played (to its own contented happiness): Bitch Called Jealousy from the album "Sky Daddy" by Alan St. Jon.

According to Madison Avenue, Gillette represents “The Best a Man Can Get”.  But Madison Avenue only stretches a few miles along Manhattan's east side and doesn't reach through to the rest of the world or their (as seen by the eyes of an American) quirky advertising laws.

For example, in Germany and the rest of Europe that speaks German, Gillette represents, “Für das Beste im Mann” which translates as, “For the Best in the Man”.  That's not quite the same now, is it?  And don't be fooled into thinking that its a funny translation thing, as its not.  Its a “truth in advertising” thing.  You're simply not allowed to say things like your product is the “best” in the EU - or at least in Switzerland, which is where I get to see German broadcast and/or German-language commercials.

What's funny is that the “PC” version just doesn't make much sense to my American ears.  I come from the land of everything being: BIG, GRAND, the BEST.  I want that and more of it.  I don't want a product that brings out the “potential” best of me.  I want the best there is.  Or do I?  I don't know anymore.

While rubbing my face, I played: Skin Feeling from the album “Together Alone” by Crowded House.

I took a lazy Sunday today.  Woke up mid-morning.  Brushed my teeth and crawled back into a warm bed until noon.  Had some naked time with my lover and later shared an omelet and bacon (the real stuff) while the fall air drifted through the windows.  Afterward, it was time for her to pick up her studies and for me to do some work - research mostly for a new project.  But then I got the latest email message from MacWorld saying that my new issue was ready for download.  I said to Sybille, “You get sports on Sunday in Switzerland?”  I explained that I wanted to skip work and have a lazy, fall Sunday - the kind where you sit on the couch, reading a book (or on-line magazine) with the sun on your shoulders while high priced athletes do acts representing physical activity on the TV...that  you don't watch it but know that its somewhere in view, with the sound turned down to a “background” level.  I also explained that the sun and the warmth of the laptop in your lap combined into a sort of slumber-like elixir that Sundays were meant to be.

At any rate, this is Europe and there isn't baseball.  And there isn't football.  There's racing and there's snooker.  But it did the trick.  So what did I learn while I electronically flipped through my magazine subscriptions?

• That Google isn't really the king of the hill, but they're trying.  Check out David Vise's book.
• That Americans buy more books than anyone, but that we don't read them...that Thailand watches more television, surfs more web and reads more than anyone (do they work?)...that the titles of Harry Potter pirated copycats are funny:  “Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-up-to-Dragon”, from China, wherein Harry becomes a hobbit at Hogwarts and it sprinkles sweet-and-sour rain.
• That in January, Western Union gave up on the telegram service, having gone from 200MM in 1929 to less than 20K in 2005 - and I'm surprised it was that many.  But if you are still keen on them, use: iTelegram.
• That FON is still alive - so signup and start sharing your broadband.
• That non-pc blogs are worth the read...Back Seat Drivers - BSD speaks of stories that'll never make the US main-stream news and Awful Plastic Surgery says it all.
• That they don't give MacWorld UK away, but that its better content than the “lite” version called MacWorld.
• That I don't want a subscription to either AmericanPhoto or PopularPhotography as they are full of fluff, but that the Nikon sponsored MentorSeries of photographic and educational vacations looks like a lot of fun.
• That I would love an new camera and management software - Aperture.
• ...and that there really is an advantage to the Apple: MagSafe Power Adapter as I accidentally pulled it out 3 times while writing this list.  Watch the ad.

Hope you had a good Sunday, too.  Enjoy your week.  I'm off to Frankfurt to see about the future of business.  While reading and writing, I played nothing on iTunes but listened to snooker.

With the aid of thankful foresight by a loved one, yesterday, I decided to book my flight to see my folks over the Thanksgiving holiday.  I'm glad I did.  I wasn't sure I had the schedule to make it to see them this year, but as I will surly be elsewhere over Christmas, I decided to make the time.  Family is always more important than the hell that is last-minute travel.

That is true - to a point.  I was lucky to book yesterday, as I got one of the last two seats there, and the only one left on the way back - both middle row seats.  There was a flight that had two seats remaining  - and was $15 cheeper - but I refrained from that choice.  Take a look.  Which one would you choose?

While writing this, I listened to: NYT: Wine Update for 11/09/2006 from the album “New York Times Wine Update” by Eric Asimov of The New York Times, and thought of a nice $15 wine the people on flight 3347 would surly want at the end of their holiday travel.

I'm trying to get the MTSomeDays tags to work correctly but I lost the manual for proper coding.  This sucks as a result.  Too much trial and error.  Plus it looks as if I have to rebuild the index template each time I want it to work.  Maybe I have the dynamic publishing set wrong.

Opps! I just found out that this site was getting huge traffic, and I didn't know why. OK, there are a lot of old entries that people could be searching for, and maybe they liked what they found. But it still didn't make sense. Then I found the culprit - trackbacks and link spamming. Well, turning it off. Ugh. I hate web advertising.