I don’t know how it happened, but I have been truly blessed. I run a local Palm OS User Group here in Nashville called NPUG – The Nashville Palm Users Group. Running a PUG, or any volunteer is a real challenge. You have no money, so if you need some it comes out of your […]
Month / June 2003
My Little Oasis
After all my difficulty on Thursday to find a decent connection, I stumbled onto a little oasis called Perk Central on Friday. I was done for the day and heading back to the house. I had an NPUG Meeting to prepare for the next day and I really wanted somewhere other than home so that I could prepare without distractions. I went by my favorite cigar store, because awhile back I had convinced them to get an Internet connection in their store. They never went Wi-Fi, but at least I would have a reliable connection. I bought a cigar and was just getting setup when I asked, “Where’d the Internet connection go?” That’s when they informed me that they dropped their connection.
It seems that their ISP really jacked up their price and they didn’t find the Internet crucial to their business. Of course they never really marketed it, but that’s another story and beside the point. I was SOL on another connection. With no Internet access, I decided to pack it up and head home. That’s when I remembered “Hey, wasn’t there a coffee shop on my list that had a location in Antioch?” There was only one way to find out, so I passed my regular turn off and headed about 5 miles further east to Murfreesboro road and then turned south until I found it.
Beating My Head Against An Invisible Wall
I have a love hate relationship with technology. I love it when it works, but oh how I hate it when it doesn’t. Today was one of those days where I couldn’t catch a break and my disdain for all things tech reached a new low.
What started this whole escapade was the fact that I decided to get out of my office and work remotely today. Since my office is based out of my home there are a lot of distractions and I thought working someplace else might help me stay more focused today. So I did my homework and created a list of wireless “hot spots” that I compiled off of the Internet and after lunch went in search for remote Internet access.
The first place I tried, Fido Coffee House, didn’t seem to exist. I drove around and around, but couldn’t seem to find it. The next place on my list was Bongo Java and although I found it, parking seemed non-existent. It was located near Belmont University and most of their traffic must be walk up, so I went in search of other locations. JJ’s Market was a small deli, so parking was limited and the place was small. I was planning on staying awhile and JJ’s seemed to be a little too small to hang out for an extended period. The other places on my list had their share of issues, so I gave up on my list and decided to head to a Starbucks near Vanderbilt. I’ve had good success there in the past, so I headed there like it was my oasis in the desert.
My God, It’s Full Of Stars
I was sitting in a cafe late this afternoon in between West End and Vanderbilt University called Bean Central. I was waiting for Holly to get off work and I was catching up on some work with my AlphaSmart Dana. I was sipping on a Bass pale ale looking out the window when I saw […]
Punk’d
The Matrix Reloaded was finally released in IMAX format, so yesterday after church, we headed over to Opry Mills to the Regal Cinema Opry Mills 20 IMAX theatre. It happened on a bit of a lark, I just happened to notice that there was a 2:15 showing while glancing at the Nashville Scene as I rode in the back seat of my Mother’s car. We got out of Church at 1:00pm, so it seemed like a perfect fit. Go to church and then go see the movie.
We arrived at Opry Mills at about 1:15pm, so we had about 30 minutes before they began seating. We took the opportunity to browse Barnes & Nobel. Going in I couldn’t think of anything that I wanted. I had purchased all my magazines for the month and I’m already reading 3 books, so I didn’t need another. That’s before I found out that they sold DVDs as well. :). I ended up purchasing the The Animatrix Boxed Set, which includes the Animatrix DVD and the Animatrix soundtrack. It was turning into a Matrix day.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an IMAX movie. The last one I saw was “The Alamo” when Holly and I were celebrating our 2nd Anniversary in San Antonio. I’ve certainly never seen a feature film released in the format, so I was VERY excited and intrigued in what the differences would be between the 35mm experience and the IMAX Experience.
$@#*ing Commercials
If there is one thing that has reared its ugly head in American cinema in the past year that just sticks in my craw are movie theatres showing commercials. Don’t get me wrong, I love commercials and dearly miss AdCritic and wish it would come back to its “Internet Bubble” heyday. But I don’t mind commercials on TV because they are subsidizing what I’m watching. I don’t pay for network TV so I understand the role that commercials play. However when I go to a movie and pay $8.50 a person the last thing that I expect to see is a freakin’ commercial. I paid a fee to watch commercials? I don’t think so. Yet with each movie that I go to see, more and more commercials are appearing prior to the previews. I saw the Italian Job today and was subjected to no less than 7 commercials.
Some people might argue that previews are really just commercials for movies. Well, that’s true, but its part of the movie experience, ads for Degree antiperspirant are not. Or you might argue that commercials are defraying the cost of movies. Bollocks. When was the last time you saw a movie theatre go out of business? Besides, movie attendance is higher than ever and when the Matrix Reloaded can pull in over 200 million in one weekend I don’t think theatres are hurting. Also, don’t forget that the gross movie sales do not include the cost of popcorn and other snacks. By my own rough estimation, I’d say that for every two tickets at $8.50 there’s at least $8.50 spent at the concession stand. So, when a movie pulls in $200 million, there’s roughly $100 million that goes straight to the movie theatre. That’s not counting the money made from the Coca-Cola ads, etc.
Starbucks Millionaires Club
All this week I have been on a bit of a coffee binge. You see, I pretty much gave up coffee a few months back and switched to tea. I did it because tea is supposed to be healthier for you than coffee. It wasn’t that I felt I was drinking too much, or had health problems; I just thought it would be a healthier choice and help me to maintain my “relaxed state” after my morning yoga. I love the taste of coffee though, so even when I wasn’t drinking it as my morning beverage, I would still have a cup every now and then.
Anyway, this week I got the hankering for the taste of coffee, so I was stopping by my local Starbucks every morning on my way to my client site visits. I would order a doppio (aka double) espresso and a Venti (aka large) Coffee Of The Day. I joked one day with the Barista that I was ordering the coffee equivalent of a shot of tequila with a beer chaser. 😛 I would drink the espresso immediately and then sip the drip coffee the rest of the day after it cooled off for about 20 minutes. I find their drip coffee too freaking hot when it’s first handed to me, but that’s another story.
The Prodigal Son Returns
It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then a piece of news comes along that just rocks your world. Today my world was rocked by the announcement that Palm is acquiring Handspring. No one saw this coming and even with all the contacts that I have in the Palm OS community, I didn’t hear […]