ramblings of a wannabe rockstar

This very-cool-looking product was announced today: Microsoft Surface

It seems somewhat gimmicky and not quite consumer friendly…yet…but it sure does look dang cool. I’m a Microsoft guy by trade but think that most of what they put out is more or less too little too late ending up completely useless (see the Zune), but I’m thinking they may be doing something right here. It will be interesting to see what Steve’s response to this is. As far as I’m concerned, he can do no wrong.

Technorati Tags: microsoft, apple, steve jobs, bill gates, surface, tech stuff

I would just like to point out how awesome the Akismet blog spam blocker is. This is kind of like driving down the road and watching the odometer turn one notch to the next row of a number followed by all zeros. Nearly forty thousand comments blocked. I don’t get a single spam comment through here anymore. Too effin cool! Akismet, you rock.

Technorati Tags: spam, antispam, spam blocker, akisment, tribute

My dang DVR cut off before the winner was announced. Did it run long last night? I hate reading about this stuff on teh internets.

Well, in an unsurprising finish to a lackluster season of American Idol, Jordin Sparks is the new champ. This is fine. She was the best. I will watch to see what happens with Blake Lewis though. He has the potential to do something good.

Technorati Tags: american idol, ai, jordin sparks, blake lewis, fox, ryan seacrest

And now, a moment of pop culture commentary:

Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis. WHO…will be the next….American Idol? You’d think this would be a tough decision given how pop-trendy he is…or at least how he plays himself off as. Earlier in the season, I thought he had potential to be a finalist, but I didn’t think he would be. But he made it to the final two, despite the clear fact that he was far from being the best of the final three.

But Jordan Sparks blew it out of the water last night. As one of the judges so eloquently said, she wiped the floor clean with him. If she doesn’t walk home tonight as the newly crowned Idol, I will have been convinced that this thing is rigged. I did my part though. She received several votes from me last night. I’d be lying if I said my eyes didn’t get a little misty at the end of her last performance last night. Does that make me a pansy?

It should be interesting to see how this plays out. DialIdol.com has Jordin winning in a landslide so, that’s good. They’ve been accurate in predicting the last few seasons worth of winners.

Set your DVR’s. It’s on FOX tonight, 8E/7C, brought to you by the new AT&T.

(sorry for the endorsements…just trying to bump up blog traffic…it worked on the Spiderman 3 post)

Technorati Tags: american idol, ai, jordin sparks, blake lewis, fox, ryan seacrest

My cousin, Jason, stayed with us this past weekend. He rode his Harley down from Denver, arrived on Thursday afternoon and departed yesterday morning to head home.

Man…what a great time. Those who know me well that there’s no shortage of love and appreciation for my extended family. Every chance I get to spend some time with them, I take full grasp of the opportunity and love every moment.

< --journal entry mode-->

It was a pretty full weekend. Friday we went to the Sixth Floor Museum (where JFK was shot) and the Dallas World Aquarium (pics here), had dinner out with Raquel, and watched our favorite movie, The Big Lebowski (from which the title of this post comes, in case you were wondering).

Saturday was a pretty lazy day, spent at home with Raquel mostly playing on the computers and running errands. We checked out the Parade of Homes (incredible!) and caught Shrek The Third (fun, but forgettable).

Sunday was a very full day spent at church in the morning, out on the lake with good friends (pics here) in the afternoon, and out for an outstanding sushi dinner with Drew Mitchell. When we got home, Raquel was home from her meeting and we talked until the wee hours of Monday morning about theology, beliefs, philosophy, and really enjoying each other.

< / --journal entry mode-->

I am so pleased to be able to have such great relationships with my family. Now, if I can get more of them to get down here.

Technorati Tags: carpet pissers, the big lebowski, family, friends, religion, beliefs, philosophy, genesis metro church

So, I think my iPod died. This disresses me. This thing has served me well for three years completely revolutionizing the way I listen to music. Life won’t be the same without it.

Maybe I should take up a collection to get this thing replaced. Would anyone donate to that cause?

UPDATE: Resurrection! No crashing yet. Booyah!

So, my boss saved Spidey. Yeah, a bit of a geek article, but cool that small little InterStructure is getting some recognition.

read more | digg story

By the way…help us out by Digging this using the link above. You may have to register but, we’d appreciate the assist.

Alrighty, fellow music fans, time to step up again. Until last week I’ve been without a decent computer with which to manage my music collection for nearly three months. But the wait is over. I have acquired a very nice, fast Dell Optiplex 745 with Vista Business (it’s good…not a Mac, but it’s good) and am ready to start humming again. However given my aforementioned lack of a computer, I, the consummate fan of music that I am, have been very out of touch with what is happening in the music world this year…which, I am sure, will cause problems at the end of the year when it comes to putting together a top ten.

I have a $25 gift card to blow at the iTMS thanks to a very nice birthday gift from good friends Michael and Erin Purdum and it’s been burning a hole on my computer desk since then, so I need suggestions on how to spend it.

I am thinking of picking up the new offering by the John Butler Trio. Judging from what I’ve heard of it and from reviews, this sounds like it could be a very good choice. But what else do I need to consider? Recommendations, please?

For those of you who need a reference point as to what not to recommend, you may refer to this post from last year.

Thankya.

Last night I caught the the suckfest that is Spiderman 3 with good friends Tim, Carrie, Sonya, Nick, and Jordan and then read this article this morning. Amusing.

Read the rest of this entry »

A rare bit of international political commentary from me here, for a moment.

A Hamas children’s television show has created a Mikey Mouse look-alike character named “Farfour” that that encourages children to take up arms and engage in violent acts against Israel and America. [article]

My thoughts: If they’re using Western marketing to promote backwards, radically-conservative values, hasn’t the West already won?