Archive for October, 2007

Road Trip and Rolling Rally

Published at October 30, 2007 in Friends and Life. 0 Comments
“One can’t enjoy life with a job, without experiencing life without a job.“
- Alfredo V

1 post, 2 subjects, deal with it.

Webster and I took a road trip to Toronto, Ontario, Canada last Thursday. We left in the wee hours of Friday morning and arrived in Niagara Falls around 10AM. I lost $40 at the Casino Niagara, so the job hunt continues. But all was not lost, as it was Webster’s first time at the falls, we took the opportunity to stroll the boardwalk and take some photos.

As you can see here:
Niagara Falls Road Trip

Why did we go to Toronto? Because Justin and the boys needed a ride back to Cranston, after parting ways with the band they had been touring with and the tour bus that drove them around. It was a fun, tiring trip, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Issue #2

The Red Sox won the 2007 World Series. That’s great, awesome, I enjoyed every minute of it. But, and look at this as a curse or a blessing, I will forever compare any subsequent World Series victories to 2004. A curse because 2004 was so special, so cathartic for so many people, generations of people, no other victory could hold a torch. A blessing because I was old enough to remember it, watching it at Sharkz with Paul G, running with the parade in Boston a few days later ( capturing it on DVD ). We might even say that the dismal choke job by the Yankees in the ‘04 ALCS was the closing of their chapter in baseball history, and the opening of ours. Like so much in this crazy world of ours, only time will tell.

For the moment, please enjoy the pictures from today!

I also took a little video of Jonathan Papelbon playing with The Dropkick Murphys while they played “The State of Massachusetts”.



“2 Dogs, a Bag of Popcorn, and a Beer – Shaken, not Stirred”

Published at October 22, 2007 in Life. 0 Comments
“America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.“

Last night was awesome. The Sox beat the Indians 11-2 to advance to the World Series. Apparently the score was not reminiscent of the game. The score reflected the fact that the Sox can beat the Indians, they might not look like it ( but they will ), and the fact that the Sox can outlast the Indians, that we are more than Ramirez and Ortiz, and the fact that the Sox are now ( by definition ) a better team than the Indians. But the score didn’t reflect the game. Whatever you need to sleep at night I guess!

But this post isn’t so much about the game, great as it was. This post is about a man. Not a player, not a coach, but a fan. Someone I saw on TV for 1.395 seconds, flash by in the background as the camera panned from first to the pitcher. John Carson of Belmont, MA.

John Carson in Tux

Thankfully Boston.com photographer Steve Silva snapped this pic of John at the game last night, or I might not have believed myself the next day. Why would Carson wear a tux? Was he in a wedding before the game? Orchestra musician perhaps? Short of me calling the guy, I might never find out. Strangely, that would be fine with me.

For me, Carson is displaying the class in baseball. He is trying to bring back the days when gentlemen sat in the stands in full suits to watch a baseball game. For whatever reason he decided to wear his tux, I applaud him! Thank you John Carson and GO SOX!

Don’t Rape My Planet

Published at October 15, 2007 in Life. 1 Comment
“Yeah, yeah, well, you know who else is facing five Goliaths? America: Al Qaeda, global warming, sex predators… mercury poisoning…“

Welcome to the 21st century. When activists want to spread their message, they don’t protest anymore, no marches on Washington, no throwing blood on people wearing furs, and I can’t remember the last time I saw someone ties themselves to a tree. No, this is The Future! ( Well, not until 2015, but close enough. ) And in The Future, people use the Internet to spread their message! Hence today. Blog Action Day.

I know I don’t have legions of readers waiting to read every post I make, but I thought I would be remiss if I didn’t at least try to do my part.

Almost 10 years ago I was in high school, in the Environmental Club, and I couldn’t care less about the environment, Mother Earth, Gaia or Captain Planet. I didn’t go out of my way to litter, but if I dropped a soda can, I wasn’t exactly running to pick it up either. And so, when I was convinced to go to Boston to protest something or another with some friends, I ended up with the infamous “Don’t Rape My Planet” sign you see below.

Don’t Rape My Planet

At any event, as the years went by, the environment became a heated topic, and newer technologies were developed that could help out. The movement is growing, there have been sections of the newspaper devoted to alternative energies in your home, electric cars, hybrid cars, better light bulbs, better thermostats, federal government tax credits for some of this stuff. As people become more aware of the problem, some people are making huge efforts to cut down their own effect on the environment ( Like This guy ). But some people are just trying to do what they can.

My own father introduced me to the CFL, compact fluorescent light bulb. Granted there is some mercury in them, but easily properly disposed of. It’s a bulb that instead of taking 60W of power, only uses 15W. They come in as little as 10W I think. Giving off the same amount of light, but at a fraction of the electric usage. You save electricity ( $$ ) and a little bit of the environment. When I moved into a new apartment, the first thing I do is change all the bulbs to these CFLs. ( The bulbs ) They are usually found at your local hardware store for $1-$2, but are guaranteed to last for 5 years. Ive also changed out the old thermostats in my parent’s house and the 2 apartments I’ve lived in to programmable ones. $30-$40, but you’ll save that in heating costs, and saves a little more of the environment. ( Froogle Search )

I like to think that if everyone made changes like these, we might be in a much better place. Ive also seen things like baseball stadiums installing solar panels, green office buildings, cities and towns trying to produce electricity more cleanly. Can we save the environment in our lifetime? Maybe not, but if we make some change now, teach the next generation to do the same, they can continue what we’ve started and finish the job. This is our planet, we should save it. Until that is we can join up with other intelligent beings and start conquering planets in the name of the Empire of Earth… but that’s another story.

Stickney on Politics

Published at October 12, 2007 in Geeky and Life. 0 Comments
“Politicians are a lot like diapers. They should be changed frequently, and for the same reasons.“

I’ve never been much of a politico. I’m part of this whole “disenfranchised 18-25″ demographic of voters. But, as I exit my 25th year, I am starting to think about politics more and more, sometimes in a good light. Rhode Island state primaries are in March ‘08.

RI is in the third tier of primaries knows as “The Rest of the Race”. So in March, I have to decide who I want to run for president. This is presumably the same person I want to BE president. Now, I am not going to name names here, I think that will detract from my rant. But needless to say, I dont think there’s any ONE candidate that shares all my values. Furthermore, I dont think it’s any of the “Top Tier” candidates, the ones you read about in the papers, and get all the 6:00 news coverage.

I do find it unfortunate that some of the second tier candidates dont get that news coverage. So because no one sees them on the news, no one thinks about them come primary time and they dont even get to run. And in the end we are stuck with 2 middle of the road candidates, and are forced to choose the lesser of two evils as leader of our country. That just sucks.

But I still have to figure out who I like. Enter my old friend, the Internet. That collection of tubes that provides me with all the answers to all the questions I have had, and all the questions I haven’t had yet. ( Paul F ). Not only does every candidate have a website, but one of the most popular sites ever has lent a hand in helping people in my disenfranchised demographic choose a candidate. ( Youtube You Choose ). You can view videos of all the candidates on a few of the major topics, Health, Education, Energy, Iraq, etc. etc. I saw one video the other night of one of the candidates being interviewed by a college kid in his DORM room! I thought this was amazing. Not only does it show that some of the youth of this country are interested in politics, but it shows that one of the candidate was actually willing to sit, listen and talk with the kid, and in a college dorm room to boot.

I can only hope that the Internet can light some political fires under the youth of this country and get them involved. As long as candidates keep embracing the Internet for their own campaigns, it’s a win-win for politicians and the 18-25 demo.

Random Update

Published at October 10, 2007 in Life. 1 Comment

A list of occurrences, accomplishments, thoughts and ideas, in no particular order:
I probably could’ve written an entire post on each and everyone of these items, but damn, that would’ve required a lot of work. I will make a concerned effort to do so more in the future.

  • I taught a lesson at Cranston West on Linux
  • The Burmese government does not strike me as a fun one
  • The Redsox are going to the ALCS, God willing, the World Series
  • The Yankees are going to neither
  • Summer is ending, as it should be in mid-October
  • The Job Hunt is progressing
  • The apartment is a work in progress
  • My friend Dave is being stalked, irony knows no bounds
  • Replaced Fedora Core with Ubuntu on Dan’s laptop
  • I look forward to HonkFest next year
  • I have almost officially lost the pulse on the youth of America, vis a vis myspace
  • Public buses are the Chariots of the People
  • The best way to get through a day is to make a list of small accomplishments and achieve everyone of them before the day is out. But no worries if you dont get to all of them, there’s always tomorrow.
  • Streaming TV from station websites is better than downloading the show
  • There is a function on most laptops to disable the touchpad
  • You should seize what you want, when you want it. No, I speak not of a long lost love, or a great missed opportunity to do something really special. I am talking about 75% off all carpets at Shaw’s