Saturday, June 21, 2003
I'll have to flip a coin. I'm not sure which to care less about: the hyper-hyped Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and its frenzied midnight release, or The Hulk and its CGI-apologist propaganda campaign. (How the former is worth $43 and the latter $13.50 is beyond me.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:49 [ link | top | home ]
Thursday, June 19, 2003
They're alive! It took only three days for the Pyroogle staff to respond to the Dano issues I reported to BloggerControl. If being told that the issues would be forwarded to the development team wasn't shocking enough, I was thanked for bringing them to their attention. Wow! Did someone spike their Corn Flakes or something?
posted by media_dystopia @ 08:27 [ link | top | home ]
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Ram this! I'm going to call my local Dodge dealerships and ask them why it takes their 5.7-liter HEMI® Magnum® V8-equipped customers a kilometer and a half to accelerate to 80 in the passing lane of West Hunt Club. To quote George Carlin: "Step on all the pedals -- maybe one of them means GO!"
posted by media_dystopia @ 12:16 [ link | top | home ]
BOB's a strange animal. Any radio station that plays Gowan's "Moonlight Desires" can't be all bad. In fact, it's worth tuning in to 93.9 BOB FM just for the Canadian nostalgia.
posted by media_dystopia @ 11:56 [ link | top | home ]
Monday, June 16, 2003
Hi there! Welcome to my new readers (you know who you are). Enjoy your visit!
posted by media_dystopia @ 13:41 [ link | top | home ]
Link gratitude. Many thanks to The Snakepit of Bweezy's Mind for the linkage in his "Other Blogs" list.
posted by media_dystopia @ 08:24 [ link | top | home ]
Saturday, June 14, 2003
Link gratitude. Many thanks to Sky Watching My World for the linkage in her "Oh Canada!" list.
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:45 [ link | top | home ]
"Googlelization": a euphemism for "slow progress." The good news is, my archives are fixed. (Halle-fucking-lujah!) The bad news is, it took over half a year to fix them. (No comment.) For the record, here's what the archives section looked like until today (picture it in the left sidebar):
09/01/2002 - 09/30/2002
10/01/2002 - 10/31/2002
12/01/2002 - 12/31/2002
01/01/2003 - 01/31/2003
02/01/2003 - 02/28/2003
03/01/2003 - 03/31/2003
04/01/2003 - 04/30/2003
06/01/2003 - 06/30/2003
Apparently, the Googlelization of
Blogger does not include fixing
missing or mislabeled archives:
- October is November;
the real October is here. - February is March;
the real February is here. - March is April.
- April is May.
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:47 [ link | top | home ]
Click here to be ignored. I've only used Dano for two hours, and yet I've accumulated three issues to report to BloggerControl. If I report them now, they might be addressed in six months. Then again, the issues I reported six months ago have yet to be addressed. Did I mention that BloggerControl is the black hole of Pyroogle's tech support system? Sigh.
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:27 [ link | top | home ]
Friday, June 13, 2003
What stain remover does Jared use? I want someone at Subway to explain to me what part of its fat-free sweet onion sauce permanently stains a shirt.
To be specific, one of my dressier shirts with a perfect fit and sentimental value. In lieu of dry-cleaning -- a no-no, according to the tag -- the shirt was thoroughly treated with four stain removers, including an industrial-strength oil- and grease-fighter, and washed twice over a 24-hour period. Sadly, to no avail, thus consigning my beloved shirt to the "wear only around close friends" section of my closet. Shit.
I'm going to fill out Subway's online customer service form and see what the company says. Maybe it can provide an ingredient list so that when this happens again -- and happen again it will; I am a slob, after all -- I'll know what stain remover to use and how long I have until the clothing is ruined.
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:23 [ link | top | home ]
Heeere's Dano! It's official: I've been migrated to Dano, the new version of Blogger. If all goes well -- pardon me while I stifle a snicker -- I should be able to add the new non-JavaScript archive tags to my template and have a fully functional archive list for the first time this year.
posted by media_dystopia @ 22:29 [ link | top | home ]
Thursday, June 12, 2003
BOB's better. On second thought, 93.9 BOB FM's playlist doesn't completely suck. I've now heard four songs I like, including the Canadian classics "Wave Babies," by Honeymoon Suite, and "Inside My Heart," by The Box. I owned both those albums back when my music collection consisted of things called "cassettes." (Insert shuddering here.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:26 [ link | top | home ]
Bleeding money. Ever have one of those days where you're hemorrhaging cash? You start the day off with a $14.99 oil-lube-filter coupon and end it with a full month's rent blown on car repairs and other essentials. I hate that!
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:14 [ link | top | home ]
This does not bode well for BOB. I've been doing my best to give Ottawa's newest radio station, 93.9 BOB FM, a chance. I've even programmed the frequency into my car radio and home stereo. Sadly, I have yet to hear a single song I like. Sorry, BOB, but your playlist sucks. (This coming from someone who alternates between 101.1 XFM, 106.9 The BEAR, and CHEZ 106.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:17 [ link | top | home ]
How do you spell "marketing"? P-O-T-T-E-R. The Canadian list price of the soon-to-be-released Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is $43. Are you kidding me? For that price -- don't forget the tax -- I better get both the hardcover and paperback editions, autographed, with gift-wrapping and delivery thrown in to boot. (Why spell "marketing" when you can spell "price gouging"?)
posted by media_dystopia @ 01:00 [ link | top | home ]
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Censoring blah. Egypt claims to have banned The Matrix Reloaded because of the movie's handling of existence and creation -- "Such religious issues, raised in previous times, caused crises," said the censorship committee -- but I think it had more to do with the film sucking and the country's cultural elite fearing that movie-goers, provoked by strict no-refund policies, would riot.
Just a thought.
posted by media_dystopia @ 17:01 [ link | top | home ]
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Questions and answers. "Blogcount asks: How big is the blogosphere? What is its shape, color, true nature? Blogcount catalogs efforts to answer these questions. We collect and organize the best reports and analyses on this subject." (Via The Presurfer.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 03:10 [ link | top | home ]
Monday, June 09, 2003
Wow. I just drooled on my keyboard.
posted by media_dystopia @ 11:48 [ link | top | home ]
Et tu, BOB? KOOL-FM 93dot9, "Ottawa's best mix of hits and fun," has reinvented itself as 93.9 BOB FM and flipped formats to "80's...90's...& Whatever" (to quote its tagline). Meanwhile, parent company CHUM Limited has launched what can only be described as an "overweight, middle-aged guy" ad campaign in the city to promote the remade station. (Any connection to that telephone survey I participated in in April?)
By the way, the best part of writing this post was stumbling across Ottawa's own Milkman UnLimited, "Canadian Radio's Ultimate Resource," while researching it. Talk about a great site!
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:00 [ link | top | home ]
Sunday, June 08, 2003
Praying at the alter of Sandy McTire. Whatever would I do without Canadian Tire's effervescent husband and wife team informing me of all the newfangled products I can buy down the street? It's a wonder I lasted three weeks in the U.S. without those ubiquitous television commercials and the actors' indefatigable optimism. (It's an even greater wonder I didn't accidentally tip a waitress with Canadian Tire Money -- but I digress...) Three weeks and not a single ad extolling the virtues of a Simoniz pressure washer. Imagine that!
posted by media_dystopia @ 07:18 [ link | top | home ]
It must be the light. Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's resident redhead, appears on the cover of this month's FHM, part of the U.S. edition's "The Girls of Buffy Tribute!"
Regrettably, I've been cringing ever since the issue hit the newsstands. Don't get me wrong, I think Hannigan is one of the most beautiful women in the world. It's just that the cover image is hideous -- so much so that I refused to believe that it was her. Hell, it doesn't even look like her! What were they thinking?
posted by media_dystopia @ 00:16 [ link | top | home ]
Saturday, June 07, 2003
Catching up on my digital thank-you notes.
Many thanks to in.flux for the linkage. Apparently, we agree about Canadian World Domination.
Many thanks to Cyberbeggar -- of Cyberbeggar.biz; "helping the cyberbeggar community" -- for the June 1 linkage. Apparently, we disagree about cyberbegging. (However, if you're into that kind of thing, her site appears to be a great resource.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 05:48 [ link | top | home ]
The New BNN (Badly Named Network). On June 16, TNN becomes Spike TV, the "First Network for Men." For some reason, after all that effort to promote "The New TNN" -- I developed an affinity for Jesse, the unmotivated employee, and his exasperated boss -- they go and give the network a crappy name and an even crappier image. Sheesh. (Insert eye-rolling here.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 05:30 [ link | top | home ]
Who me typical male pig? Congratulations to carpenter Andrew Dan-Jumbo of TLC's While You Were Out for making People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" list for 2003.
I would, however, like to point out that it was an oversight on the part of the magazine's editors not to include Dan-Jumbo's attractive carpentry-mate Leslie Segrete on the list. Shame on them!
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:41 [ link | top | home ]
Volcanic ash and dragon's breath. Crazy Shirts makes the best damn T-shirts in the world, bar none. That's my gratuitous plug for the day. (Feel free to send swag.)
posted by media_dystopia @ 02:32 [ link | top | home ]
Friday, June 06, 2003
Sometimes you hear things that are just begging to be blogged. You can't have a boutique in Waikiki unless you sell overpriced kitsch to Japanese tourists. That's a given. What isn't is that you sell a petite T-shirt featuring the ironed-on image of an ugly Boston Terrier -- no offense to owners everywhere -- for $110 (American).
Huh?
Unless the Emperor of Japan's beloved pooch was shoved into a blender and the resulting DNA-rich goo was used to dye the shirt -- my apologies for the mental image -- then there's some beachfront price gouging going on. Please, before spending your hard-earned yen, ask yourselves: "Would Duke wear obscenely expensive ugly-dog clothing?"
posted by media_dystopia @ 13:17 [ link | top | home ]
What goes with prison-bar gray? www.marthatalks.com. Because it puts a smile on my face.
posted by media_dystopia @ 12:51 [ link | top | home ]
Thursday, June 05, 2003
Return and epiphany. I'm back from my trip and I bring with me a profound (for me, at least) realization: stenoblogging the news is a real drag.
Sustained writing about SARS, mad cow disease, Canada-U.S. relations, Canadian politics, American politics, the "liberation" of Iraq, right-wing rhetoric, and a myriad of other negative subjects, many laden with bovine excrement, has become depressing and frustrating. I've turned news consumption into a mental minefield by creating a precedence of seemingly obligatory discourse: "I wrote about this news when it was bad, so I have to write about it now that it's worse."
Therefore, it should come to no surprise that the trip-necessitated absence from the Blogosphere was both a welcome relief and a blessing in disguise. It made me realize that, for my own sanity, it's time to pull a paradigm shift and change the focus of my writing. To what, I'm not sure. I'll ponder the issue -- once I get some sleep.
Stay tuned...
posted by media_dystopia @ 23:25 [ link | top | home ]
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
Could it be? Was that Anna Bocci ordering home delivery of The New York Times? I think so! Hallelujah!
Here's hoping the blonde cutie gets cast in more commercials. Since she was replaced as host of TLC's While You Were Out, my Bocci fixes have been few and far between.
posted by media_dystopia @ 06:15 [ link | top | home ]