37th Frame

Dancing fools

2009-11-19T13:29:00.005-05:00

Two things come to mind when I watch this video of employees at a new Microsoft store dancing a la Texas Roadhouse:

First, Microsoft will never be 'cool.' They should stop trying. It always ends in disaster (remember the SongSmith video?). Apple wins; you're still bigger; get over it.

Second, in-store dancing is bad for inventory control. Check out the woman in the white shirt at 2:14 as she appears to work a five-fingered discount into her dance routine.

Sunrise at Stony Creek

2009-11-03T12:14:00.004-05:00

A few early-morning photos in Stony Creek Park, Lansdale, starting with a setting moon and ending at sunrise.

That old Boston feeling

2009-11-02T15:02:00.004-05:00

I listened to most of Game 4 of the World Series while driving home from North Jersey with my family Sunday night, on NYC station WCBS-AM. At about Flemington I switched to Philly's WPHT-AM and a wave of fresh air swept into the car. At that point the Phillies were losing 4-2, but just around when I crossed the bridge into New Hope, Pedro Feliz clocked in the game-tying home run and two of my passengers, who had been sleeping for several innings, woke up at the sound of screaming announcers.

Then Lidge took the mound.

Well, I suppose I can thank him for keeping us safe on a late-night journey dark Bucks County roads, because there certainly was no danger of falling asleep at the wheel with all that tension pouring out of the radio. Top of the ninth...one out, two outs...strike one, strike two....well, if you read this far you know what happened next.

We wheeled into our driveway just in time to watch that disaster wrap up on TV.

Despite the fact that I did nothing but sit in a car for two hours, I felt worn out.

Many years ago, I lived in another east coast city and watched their beleaguered team excel every year, only to fall apart at very inopportune times in October.

The Red Sox eventually overcame their 'curse' and won a Series or two. But back in the 80's, it was a very different story.

I have thought about the Red Sox lately, especially since Philadelphia now has the dislike of the Yankees in common with our colonial-era neighbor to the north.

Sunday night's game felt a lot like one of those old Sox games...so much promise, so much disappointment.

There is still at least one more game to go, and though the winds of fate are whipping against us at hurricane speed, as one ex-Yankee put it, 'it ain't over until it's over.'

Hope springs eternal.

Pulitzer material?

2009-10-28T10:59:00.006-04:00

It took 3 NY Post writers to write eight paragraphs trashing the Philly Phanatic? Wow, if they has all those extra 'journalists,' we could sure use them down here. We have a groundhog scandal that needs to be covered.

Street View in the burbs

2009-10-22T10:53:00.004-04:00

The sometimes controversial Internet time-killer Street View from Google finally made its way into our little slice of suburbia. So far, only the main roads (like Orvilla Road, Sumneytown Pike, Route 309, etc.) are covered, with a few exceptions.

View Larger Map

Hopefully (or not, if you like your privacy) they will be extending their coverage to the side streets.

Frost on the car

2009-10-19T09:23:00.003-04:00

The Phillies are still pounding out the hits, but winter will be here before we know it, and I have to remember to leave extra time in the morning to scrape little holes in the frost on the car windows so I can see the other cars with frost-covered windows swerving over the yellow line early in the morning.

Note the unraked leaves.

Helicopter boyz

2009-10-15T11:46:00.001-04:00

Interesting, creative use of new Nikon cameras that feature a built-in projector. Very, very Japanese.

Late score

2009-10-12T08:52:00.003-04:00

Since school was out on Monday for Columbus Day, we let our kids stay up and watch the Phillies game, which started at 10:07 pm Sunday night. 7-year-old Ben wanted to keep score...he made it to the fourth inning before passing out.
Note to MLB: PLEASE schedule our games at a time that people outside of Manhattan can tolerate.

Ghost in the machine

2009-10-06T11:18:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure what to make of this mobile phone app. It's eery.

Wikitude Augmented Reality: WTC - Its not there but its there from Wikitude on Vimeo.

Fluperbole

2009-09-30T14:21:00.002-04:00

Vaccinations for the H1N1 flu (yes, the Swine Flu) will be given out starting next week to school children. I fully expect a pandemic of media coverage complete with multi-colored maps and hours of televised talking heads explaining why we shouldn't go around kissing pigs.

At least we will be spared the spectacle of watching TV footage of screaming children as they are injected with 8-inch needles by Nurse Diesel - this vaccine is to be administered through a nasal solution.

Drink orange juice, sneeze into your sleeve and avoid kindergartners (if you can).

Baby names from the spam file

2009-09-28T08:41:00.005-04:00

I am constantly amazed (and even impressed) with some of the names my personal spammers have come up with while trying to entice me to purchase various relationship-enhancing pharmaceuticals from their 'safe and secure' online shops. Consider these for your next baby (or pet):

Wanetta, Drucilla, Davina, Maack (wasn't that one of the characters in 'Make Way for Ducklings'?), Delia, Larribeau, Bertram, Laurice, Johana Tombs, Vicki Ikysaxyr (you try pronouncing that), Afua Alford (bless you), Theaux, Emmaline Uxahao, Izola Lank, Yasmine Ripjasy, Raminta Tsopelas, Matilde, Utash, Aubrey Dumpe, Mando Xjhifo, and don't forget Floretta Michlich.

Apologies to anybody who actually has one of these names. You are ahead of the curve.

TV's Lansdale

2009-09-24T22:49:00.002-04:00

I don't follow the FOX show Fringe, but from what I gather it involves a group of Boston investigators that seek out the supernatural.
But now I know, thanks to a tip, Thursday night's episode took place in Lansdale. Yes, Lansdale, Pennsylvania.

Of course, this is Hollywood, and in their eyes, apparently Lansdale looks a whole like the middle of Nebraska, corn and all.

The plot involved a mad scientist, a half-human, half-something else baby he had created but given up for dead, and some havoc this baby created while living in a zombie-like state underground in this fictitious version of our fair borough. It will take some more viewings to figure out what really was going on in this show, like why this investigator kept having flashbacks:

In this version of Lansdale, the police department was replaced by a sheriff. Unfortunately his car was swallowed up by the many holes the baby-mole-zombie thing had dug in the yard of his Lansdale home.

You might notice that the colors of the car are correct for the real Lansdale. Sources tell me this is because the producers of the show requested a photo of a real Lansdale police car, just so they could get the details right.
Now if I could only find the corn fields, the sweeping midwest vistas, and say 'howdy' to the local sheriff in our suburban, un-corned version of Lansdale.
The zombie thing I just might believe.

2009-09-17T13:15:00.002-04:00

Saw the Phillies smash the Nationals Wednesday evening. Great game, great weather (despite a forecast for rain, which never happened), great grand slam by Jayson Werth. I know, it's just the Nats, but the Phils looked like a playoff team.
Here's a video of the Harry Kalas tribute at the end of the game. It's great to hear his voice booming in the park, even if it's just a recording.

A view to a sumo match

2009-09-15T11:14:00.002-04:00

Eight candidates. Two inflatable sumo suits. One inflatable ring.
This is how things are decided in Lansdale.
Three newspapers produced videos, each very different. First, the competition:
Allentown Morning Call

Philadelphia Inquirer

My wife

And finally, my own version. I wanted to do something different with this...I hope it succeeded.

Back to school, not?

2009-09-04T11:19:00.007-04:00

As the North Penn teacher contract situation quickly heads nowhere, I am often asked what is going to happen next. Short answer - I don't know. One of the negotiators told me HE doesn't know, and he's sitting at the bargaining table.

Being in the media these days does not automatically give you a red phone hooked up to every meeting room and kitchen in the area. While there is more information out there than ever, public entities (such as municipalities, corporations, sports leagues and even the police) like to control the information that is out there, and thanks to the internet have the ability to do so. So where phone calls were once made to gather breaking news, now sources often simply tell us (and the world) to check their web page. They'll post something when they are ready.

Pro sports leagues are on the front lines of this movement. You can now get baseball news directly from the Phillies or the Red Sox, or whatever team you want (they're all similar sites under the auspices of Major League Baseball). You can watch football on the NFL channel. Take this to the extreme, and why would you need ESPN or ABC or the Daily News? If a team can control their own publicity and image, don't you think they will want to?

By the same token government bodies could go the same route, 'directly to the people.' The school board and the union post their positions every day on their web sites, and North Penn SD has even taken to writing a Q&A column, answering reader questions. Luckily for us, both sides have so far been very willing to keep up the conversation with the press. The district's new 'image consultant' may not like the tone of the conversation in the newspapers or our web sites, but an outside presentation of both sides is still a vital part of life in this community and this country. Even when things are not going well, openness and honesty and a willingness to be examined in a public forum are the best images any public entity could embrace.

Have you seen this?

2009-09-01T15:00:00.002-04:00

www.youshouldhaveseenthis.com
Not a bad collection of time-killers and bandwidth-suckers...

Privilege

2009-08-15T09:12:00.008-04:00

While I was out gathering 'fan-on-the-street' reaction to the Michael Vick story Friday, one of my interviewees asked me what I thought about the issue. Normally I don't answer such requests, mostly because I don't want to taint their responses, or get into a lengthy conversation.

But this time, I did answer the question. I had been thinking about this since I heard the news late Thursday.
Forgiveness is a virtue which can save relationships, communities, countries and even lives.

Whether Michael Vick is truly remorseful, and deserves our forgiveness remains to be seen. He says all the right things, has put his money and time into the right things, and seems ready to move on to a better life. He served his time, paid his debt to the judicial system, and is ready to move on.

So why not let him do the job he is best at?

Playing in the NFL, or MLB or NBA is a privilege. It is not like other jobs. Thousands, even millions of kids dream of playing professional sports, but very few actually get there. Whether athletes think so or not, a big part of the job description is 'role model.' For better or worse, athletes are worshipped in our society in a manner formerly reserved for patriots and visionaries.

Michael Vick does not yet deserve the privilege of pro athletics. The brutal nature of his crimes, perpetrated over a long period of time, should not entitle him to a quick return to the pedestal. There are many ways he could use his name - and story - to redeem himself, and even earn a scaled-down living doing so.

But playing pro football for millions of dollars, just weeks after finishing his prison term, should not one of them.

Evil nanobots

2009-08-05T11:38:00.003-04:00

Useful information: How to take over the world with some help from evil nanobots.
From Mental Floss

Take a number

2009-08-04T23:32:00.002-04:00

I need one of these.

Roller babies

2009-07-09T14:16:00.001-04:00

I'm not a fan of bottled water (big waste of money, resources) but this ad is a riot:

Blanket coverage

2009-07-06T15:25:00.003-04:00

In case you were wondering how the Associated Press plans to cover the MJ memorial, here is just part of what they have planned:

From a content perspective, the LIVE coverage will include at least six AP crews in LA as well as a series of additional camera locations. LIVE camera locations are expected to include: inside and outside the Staples Center, aerial coverage, Jackson Encino family home, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, fans gathered in various locations in LA and possibly other cities, various pool cameras.

When exactly was his last hit song?

2009-07-06T09:27:00.002-04:00

Quote from a Dr. in a KYW-1060 story about a new weight loss program:

"Behavior modification is focusing on caloric restriction and improving and promoting physical activity through some cognitive restructuring with some patients to get them to identity and modify distorted thinking about food and activity and body image.”

Translation: "We need to convince people to eat less and exercise more to feel better about themselves."

Blimp

2009-06-29T16:09:00.001-04:00

Flew over Lansdale at 4pm Monday.

Farrah wins

2009-06-27T09:19:00.002-04:00

I posted two headlines on TheReporterOnline.com next to each other, equal size, similar wording. One was a link to a Michael Jackson photo gallery, the other a link to a Farrah Fawcett photo gallery.
The Farrah gallery got nearly 3 times as many hits on Friday. Perhaps everybody was overloaded on MJ news?

Around town: Lansdale

2009-06-24T09:49:00.003-04:00

Whites Road Park

Deer crossing on Hancock Street near Line Street
(blurry because it was dark)