May 2001 Archives

I know, I know. i am supposed to be working on that cool new Jarrepalooza site. Unfortunately, I have a short attention span. I am, however, dusting off the website for one of my clients. Look for a new version of Concorde Travel Management soon.


Question of the week: Is French Polynesia on Seacam or what?

The US Government is the largest E-Commerce site out there according to MSNBC. My personal favorite is their site at bid4assets.com which sells everything from property to copyrights. I'm disappointed I missed out on some choice Grand Canyon-adjacent property.


I am sooooooooooooo ready for vacation.

Back from the Grand Canyon and points beyond safe, but a bit redder. The trip got off to a bizarre start when I was assigned the lucky seat on the plane next to a guy who was several tacos short of a combination. Despite how much I detest America West Airlines, we were fortunate to be flying them because we were running late. If we would have been on Southwest, we would have been stuck in the middle.


The trip to the GC from Phoenix wasn't as bad as I thought. A mere four hours and we were at the hotel in Tusayan. I'm glad we got up when we did on Sunday. As it was, we had to wait a good 20 minutes in line to pay our fees to get into the park. As spectacular as the canyon is, I really think that a major redo of the South Rim needs to be done. Get rid of the cars, increase the train service, and push over all of the dilapidated historic houses that have been turned into gaudy gift shops. Its time to take back the National Parks, especially the overused ones like the poor Grand Canyon. It looks like they are on their way to improving the area with the new visitor's center and rehabilitations of some trails, but for Pete's sake people - STOP throwing money into the canyon. It's not Nature's biggest wishing well. Donate the money to the restoration fund or something. I did have a great time though, and I am glad I finally got to see the canyon as an adult. As far as anyone could tell, no one threw their dog into the canyon on this trip.


The rest of the weekend was spent socializing with the family, playing diaper-patrol in the pool (it doesn't involve real diapers, just straddling rafts and trying to knock others off), and generally B-B-Q'ing my shoulders. I guess I am just getting ready for Tahiti. The other great highlight was seeing who could dive through a small-ish inflatable ring. Amazing as it was, I was surprised that Kevin and I made it through head-first and feet-first and almost fell over laughing when Wes got stuck - both ways. It took some practice for me to get all the way through, and Kevin managed to do some stylized dives.

Hotel and Airline reservations are confirmed. I still think it is humorous the amount of money I am spending to get three free nights in a hotel. What is truly amazing is that even though the trip is in two weeks, airfare is just as cheap as if I were to go later in the year.


Off to the Grand Canyon, and the Daily Update will be back on Tuesday with a full roundup. Until then, have a safe and sane Memorial Day. To all you Veterans out there, thanks for all the hard work and guts.

Whew. I made it. Two years. Wow.


Last night's Voyager was pretty darn good. I liked it so much I watched it a second time after Roger got back from class. As good as Susanna Thompson was as the Borg Queen, Alice Krige inhabits the role. In her few scenes, she was a joy to watch. I think more character development was done in those two hours than during the last seven years.


It's official! We're off to Tahiti in June!!! Still no Bora Bora yet, but I'm working on it.


Reminder: The Gorn is going to the Grand Canyon this weekend so tune in next week!

Tonight is the season finale of Star Trek Voyager. I know a lot of people dislike the show, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. I don't think it was as good as it's potential, but be honest, how often do TV shows live up to expectations. Voyager came along at a tough time in my life when I was heartbroken, jobless, and penniless and I felt like I was along for the ride searching for my own "home". Seven years later, I think I am real close. Will Voyager make it? Find out tonight.


Well, Bora Bora is proving to be elusive. It looks like Tahiti will be no problem, but we might have to just do a day trip to Bora Bora instead of spending the night. I'll find out more in the next week or so.

My new favorite website is http://www.menwholooklikekennyrogers.com/. A quick view of their hitbox stats (the same company that I use) shows that since they launched the site on May 9th, their projected monthly traffic is about 220,000 users. That's pretty impressive considering my almost six year old website attracts roughly 5,000 hits a month.


Today I also found out that according to the MTA schedule, it would only take me 1 hour 8 minutes to take the bus to my work. It takes me 30 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. On a particularly nasty traffic day it would be worth it. However, I get the feeling that if its bad in a car, it is probably much worse in a bus. We just need a nice light rail train.


Alex is 29 today! I missed his shindig at Chevy's on Saturday, but have promised to spoil him at Chevy's the next time we get together.

Celebrity sighting of the weekend: Terri Irwin, wife of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was spotted doing a signing at the Discovery Channel Store at South Coast Plaza. Speaking of South Coast, they finally opened the Garden Walkway to the Crystal Court section of the mall. Not much going on in that portion of the mall, but I just love the fact that the mall is so big it has another mall across the street.


The Grand Canyon is just around the corner. Look for some new Gorn photos next week-ish.

Snippets of the official Club Josh song have been added to the tellme site.


Today has always been a cosmic day for me. I don't know what it is about the date, but a lion share of memorable events seem to happen around this date. 21 years ago today, Mount Saint Helens exploded. Several times on this day, I have had to go to the emergency room due to bad allergy attacks. I met Matt on this day 7 years ago. Two years ago, I began to move to LA. Must be something in the stars. What does this year hold? Maybe I'll hear good news from Bora Bora.


Speaking of French Polynesia. If I do get to go, maybe I'll never come back. I already have several people willing to relocate and open a CyberBar/Cafe. Maybe I'll call it Club Josh.

<rant>

I am completely over websites that are run by people who have think they have something to prove by going out of their way to rag on something. It is bad enough when the forum on a particular site is dominated by people whose idea of constructive criticism and opinion is "Man (fill in name of media company/site/person/etc.) Sucks." I remember when Usenet degenerated many moons ago for the same reason. I guess it has finally saturated on the web as more people "learn" html. I now find myself turning to official sites more rather than fan sites. I might not get spoilers as fast as before, but at least I can get information without all the bull. I know some fan sites see themselves as "guardians" of some strange ideal that they think exists for a show or theme park or whatever, but in reality, they are fans. They don't create the show or even have a clue as to what goes on to make a show, including the BS that comes from companies who set unrealistic expectations (hint: its just like any job no matter where you work). So memo to fans: If you are really ticked off about something, don't watch it. Don't buy that annual pass, don't buy that collectible CD, don't go see the movie and for pete's sake DON'T make a fan page. You are just wasting my time. I will make my voice heard not by getting into a heated board discussion, but by going somewhere else.

</rant>


I feel much better now. Did I mention there is a song in India about me? Listen

Still recovering from yesterday. I did do a minor update to the Cyber Surfin' Safari. As noted last week, some Jarre pages are closing down so I decided to remove links to them. I also added some misc. links that I had in my work browser, but not on the site.


With Dave's assistance, I hope to have the official josh song on the Tellme site soon.

I found out that I am worshipped by a billion people in India. Ok, maybe not a billion. Here is the story: Apparently Ford Motor Company calls its new Ford IKON 'the josh machine'. It has even set up a website for the josh machine at www.thejoshclub.com. You can get screensavers and desktop wallpapers galore. It gets even weirder. To celebrate the one year anniversary of the car, Ford commissioned a song called Aao Josh Mein by Shankar Mahadevan and Javed Akhtar.


Read lyrics and listen to a clip

Watch the video


Cartoday.com and Business Standard also have articles about the josh phenomenon.


So I'm thinking that I should try and get one.


Meanwhile, back in reality, Mandel lent me his way cool "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" CD from the UK. It contains all the music and effects from the show (that are identical to the US ones). I wish they would release something like this for The Price Is Right. Now whenever someone comes into my office to ask me a question, I have the appropriate music cue ready to go.

I really need to get around to a better system of doing the daily updates. I need a more automated system like Blogger so I can post to all the versions at the same time. I realized this because in order to make a Tellme application work dynamically, I need something that can output VXML on a regular basis. I think if I hone my programmer skills I might be able to figure something out. The flip side is that I do not want to be dependent on a third party software to get my update posted.


In the meantime, I have posted for your approval, a Beta of the Tellme version of the Daily update.


1. Dial 1-800-555-TELL (1-800-555-8355)

2. At the Tellme Menu prompt, dial 1-12138

3. Enjoy.


Mondo thanks to Hit or Miss.org. I promise to read the tutorials and do it for real soon. Really. I promise.

I finally have begun working on a new version of jarrepalooza. I'm still playing with the colors and stuffs, but I am well on my way. I was inspired because today I found some more MP3's online for my collection that I didn't have before. Also, I found new versions of some that I did have before but were not of good quality.


Fresh from that internet find, I was also shocked that I actually came up with a topic that I could not get any good results from any search engine. I had lunch at Wienerschnitzel which begged the question: "Who invented Corn Dogs? I tried and the best I could get is quoted below. Now I don't know if this is legit or not, but its the best I can find.


From State Fair Foods website:

Legend has it that two brothers, Carl and Neil Fletcher, were responsible for the first corn dogs. In 1938, the Fletchers were offered a booth at the Texas State Fair in Dallas and needed a product to sell.


The brothers had seen a Dallas street vendor selling hot dogs coated in cornmeal batter that were baked in molds shaped like ears of corn. This generated the idea to put the hot dogs on sticks, dip them in batter, and deep fry them a much faster process and far more convenient to eat. At this point a legend was born corn dogs on a stick!


If anyone has more info, let me know!

I need a vacation. It has been 8 months since I have been anywhere significant - i.e. require extensive air travel. I was thinking about Europe, but was also thinking that that would be nicer in October. I also have been to Hawaii recently, but there are islands that I still want to visit - namely the big island Hawaii. So I looked up the airfares, and for only an extra $400, I can fly to Tahiti instead. You might say, "But Josh, $400 is a lot of money!" and I would agree. however, here is where the creative math comes into play.


If I stay on Hawaii for 6 days, it will probably run me at least $600, if not more. If I stay on Bora Bora and Tahiti (3 days on each), I can stay for free. Add in a $130 round trip Island hopper, and I say its a wash. So you tell me. If it cost the same, where would you rather go? Bora Bora and Tahiti or Hawaii?


My vote is French Polynesia.


Then again, there is always Syndey for $900...

From the Xterra log, I have noticed that gas prices in my neighborhood have risen 40 cents since April 5th. That's pretty darn steep considering the previous 10 months saw gas fluctuate between $1.41 and 1.61. I certainly hope in the next few years that some more hybrid vehicles start hitting the scene.


I now have a new favorite band: Icy Hot Stuntaz.

Avoid daily updates that start off with "Well things are right in the world". After posting that update: A tree fell over and hit a bunch of people in Frontierland, I got a sunburn at DCA on Saturday, and to top it off, I missed work yesterday thanks to some fine food poisoning. Nothing like waking up with the urge to vomit.


Diamonds Are Forever is cheesy, but when infirmed, its fun to watch. Why is it listed in the Sci-Fi category on IMDB? The moon rover? The diamond satellite? Moonraker I can understand. But if DAF is sci-fi, shouldn't You Only Live Twice be listed as sci-fi as well? They have a satellite/rocket thing as a major plot point. The mind boggles and then shuts down for a nap.

Tina won, the Kings have made it into the second round, and the family is going to California Adventure this weekend.


Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo. Two years ago, I began the one month dash to relocate to SoCal. A lot has changed in the last two years, and it sure has flown by fast. It is also amazing we are still living in the same apartment. Why is it amazing? We found the place in the Apartments for Rent magazine and had to outbid someone at the last minute to get the place. Who knows where we might have ended up? They do say some of your best decisions are made at the last minute.


Interesting note: Kevin just called from Disneyland and said that a tree just fell over onto some people near the Mark Twain dock. Interesting to see how this one plays out in the media.

A hissyfit/brouhaha has erupted in the online Jarre community over Jarre's lack of updates/responsiveness to people running his official site. It really makes no sense to me. Jarre has never been one to have ready communication with the fans. He has always said he wants to improve the relationship, but it has never worked out so far. On the other hand, I think fans have an unrealistic expectation that just because an artist has a website that they will give regular information. Sometimes there just isn't anything to report. I never have this problem. Even when there is nothing interesting to say, I'll at least mention something. :)


Tonight is the finale of Survivor 2: Electric Boogaloo. My money's on Tina. I also am pleased that my gut instincts (see Jan 29 Update) were right from the beginning.

With Dell Refurbished systems, you have to be quick to get your system. Ones that I have been looking at appear and disappear at an amazing rate. The same computer that was the nice price last Friday now costs more, when it appears. It is really frustrating trying to get a system these days. Buying a computer is almost as bad as buying a car. The moment you buy it, it depreciates incredibly in the nanoseconds you take it home.


TPIR rocks. That's all I have to say.

I tried in vain to adapt a webmail system for SeaGranite use. Unfortunately my knowledge of PERL and CGI and compiling et. al. leaves something to be desired. I have hope that Dave will somehow figure it all out.


This weekend's gathering of family members at DCA to see my niece perform is rapidly approaching. Hilarity has already began to ensue. We'll have to wait and see who will be left standing this time next week.