A Travesty

A travesty on an immense scale!!

Eye Strain

Clever these. The first one gave me the most difficulty: Can you find the C? (Good exercise for the eyes!) OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Once you’ve found the C………. Find the 6! 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999699999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 9999999999999999999999999999999999 Once you’ve found the 6… Find the N! (it’s hard!!) MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Thanks Wastrel On! (Listening to Awkward Buildings by J. Dimenna)

Underdog the Movie

No, oh no, ohhhh no!!! As a child, I adored Underdog. In fact, to this day I have both an Underdog and a Polly Purebred PVC figure sitting on my desk at the office. This movie looks to be a travesty and almost certainly did not need to be made. Movieblog talks about it IMDB says it's in post-production with a tentative target date in 2007. The movie has some names attached to it, but most of them I don't recognize:

• Some kid named Alex Neuberger will be playing Jack, the boy that Shoeshine (Underdog) befriends.
• Amy Adams is the voice of 'Sweet' Polly Purebred
• Peter Dinklage will be Simon Barsinister (one of the most delightful villains ever!)
• James Belushi is listed in the credits, but I'm unclear why.
• and Jason Lee is the voice of Shoeshine, the Underdog himself.

You'll know Jason Lee as Earl Hickey from My Name is Earl or as the voice of Syndrome in The Incredibles, so at least we have some acting talent behind the embodiment of Underdog. Alex Neuberger is brand new on the acting scene, this being only his second movie despite being 14 years of age. Amy Adams you might recognize as Susan from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby or as Ashley in the acclaimed Junebug. Lastly, Peter Dinklage you will recognize without even necessarily knowing you've done so. He's a dwarf and has developed quite a CV over the past 11 years. Perhaps you saw him as Miles Fince in Elf or as Finbar McBride in The Station Agent? He's a decent actor and will bring a new spin to Simon Barsinister.

All that being said, this movie better not wreck my memories of a perfect childhood hero.

Wastrel On! (Listening to: Parallel You by Valve)

Because the World's an Odd Place

Every so often you run across a site that just requires a bit of discussion. From the day I was born, on Halloween, I've been intrigued (some might label it obsession) by the strange, the weird, the supernatural, the unexplainable & the downright bizarre. It's true that I, in no way, match Charles Fort's -- from whom we garner the term fortean -- massive obsession that led to cult phenomena. No, I'm just a borderline obsessive geek that seeks out and devours stories of the oddities in our world. This newly-discovered site gathers together a few of the odd bits & bobs of our world and places them in one easily digested location for your entertainment. This particular page is the one that captured my attention because I've read about & discussed these folk for many years. Now, everyone else can, too. Wastrel On! Listening to: The Novaks by the Novaks

New Jersey has a shore?

As my delusional friend over at the Beautiful Tornado says, "This will humble you," as you attempt to match country names with their location on a world map. How well can you do?

and why the hell not...

this platform worked for "W".

A New Job

After much waffling, much discussion and much wringing of hands, I'm taking a new position. It was not, by any means, an easy choice. I truly enjoy my current position, the people I work with (except for three, whom I truly loathe), my boss (great lady!) and the work. Really; I do enjoy the work. It's consistently challenging and enjoyable. So, why the need for change? Well, money is the primary motivator here. It pretty much had to be. In the transportation industry a 6% raise (as some would have you believe) is pretty much a thing of the past. Our cost of living raise was delivered this past April at a sparkling 1.5%. That doesn't compete with my cost of living. Oh no, it doesn't. My house payment has risen more than $200 in the last 5 years. If it continues in that vein, I'll be stacking a second cardboard box on top of the first just so I can have a second floor. Yes, money was primary. The job should come with a monetary raise even though the move is lateral; and I have a commitment for a review in 6 months to a year that could result in both a promotion and another raise. Thse were key factors in my decision. Then there's the job itself. I'm fearful, but jubilant. Either way, as a friend recently said to me, "fate has a way of whizzing on those who wait." So, it's in my hands now. I've lept from the cliff edge, I just hope my wings are strong enough to hold me aloft. Wastrel On! (Listening to: Even When I'm Blue by Steve Earle)

Guinness, Arsenal & Photography

There's an economic law out there that makes an immense amount of sense, but that chaps me at the same time. Simply put, he who has what the market wants may charge what the market will bear. What the market will bear, in an airport however, is so far out of line with reality it's infuriating. I had the opportunity to sit at an excellent Irish bar in the newly opened D terminal of DFW airport yesterday. An Irish bar that charges nearly $8.00 per pint of Guinness. Is it because the Guinness is that much better? No. Is it because they have to pay more to the beer distributor to get it there? No. It's simply because they have Guinness AND they have a captive audience. When a flight from DFW to FRA gets delayed by 4+ hours, where are the poor folk who are stranded going to go? To the bar, or restaurant or similar place to while away a bit of time. He who has what the market wants, may charge what the market will bear. It's that simple; it's that infuriating. More infuriating than having a perfectly legitimate goal disallowed for a perceived handball? Probably not. Especially when that goal is by Thierry Henry in a Champion's League match in Moscow. The Arsenal failed to continue their fine run and lost 1-nil this afternoon in the very cold, inhospital clime of Moscow. CSKA Moscow will go into the second leg at the Emirates with a one-goal advantage and sitting on top of the table in Group G of the Champion's League. In other games today, Lyon beat Dynamo Kieve 3-0, Celtic got the better of Benfica also 3-0, and Manchester United towered over FC Copenhagen with a yet another 3-0 result. Changing the scoreline a little, but not the goal difference, Real Madrid managed 4 past Steaua Bucuresti, but gave 1 up to the home team. FC Porto, likewise, got 4 past Hamburg SV but gave one up in the final throes to achieve a 4-1 scoreline at the Estadio do Dragao. AC Milan, despite playing with 10 men for most of the second half did manage to beat Anderlecht while AEK Athens lost to Lille at the Stadium Lille Metropole. Tomorrow, Chelese will host Barcelona with Hilario tending the net for Chelsea. Let's hope that no further bad luck befalls Chelsea keepers. Liverpool travel to Bordeaux and the rest of the days games are blah for me. Meaning, i don't follow the teams, and couldn't tell you how to pronounce the manager's name. Now, in Photography news, I've (when I say, "I've," I really mean "we've," but since I'm doing it and will teach Marita Beth how later, it becomes "I've") just launched a new personal journal where, starting on November 1, 2006, we will endeavour to post one photo each per day for an entire year. Marita Beth will be doing this with me, so there should be two new photos every day. Some may have commentary, some may stand on their own. There may be days when we can't decide which to post so we send up several. There may even be days when we don't post, by accident or by design; however should that occur, expect double the amount the next day. The goal is to take a minimum of one photograph per day for an entire year. With digital cameras, that's easy. The purpose, is to become better photographers and do something together. I'm looking forward to it. The new blog is at krmb.wordpress.com. Yes, it's not at blogger, but that's 'cause I'm not overly enamoured of the blogger methodologies. Not sure I'll like WordPress any more, but I decided to give it a go before condemning it, wot? So, anyway, check over there come All Saint's Day and let's see where it goes in a year. So, that's that for the day. I'll be off soon and headed home. Until next time. Wastrel On! (Listening to: Psycho Killer by Talking Heads)

TRF and a Juggling Monkey

TRF was NOT fun. I mean, well, ok...I had fun. But, only because of the companionship. It was too hot and muggy to be comfortable; and with the exception of the fabulous Iris & Rose ( I love you, girls!) the musical entertainment is seriously lacking. All of the groups that I've been going to see for years are gone. No more Queen Anne's Lace, Bard O'Neill, Shantyman, Flying Fish Sailors or Rogues. What we have left is the overhyped Tartanic, Jim Hancock (who's worth seeing, really), Gypsy Guerilla Band and a very loud e Muziki. *bah* In fact, I was so frustrated with the entertainment, I composed and sent a letter to TRF. Then I thought, hey, I'm a programmer, let's make this available for others. So, a little bit of quick coding and here's a letter that you, too, can send to TRF to voice your concern. Please send a copy. TRF needs to know how negatively they have impacted the faire. Arsenal did win over the weekend on a brace from RVP. However, they had to come from behind to do it. Had an interview two hours ago. Went well, I think. Will find out in a week or two. Until then, amuse yourself with some monkey football. Wastrel On! (Listening to: New Year's Prayer by Jeff Buckley)

TRF, Arsenal & Flickr

It's that time of year again. Yep, TRF starts tomorrow morning. (You can check out their hideous website for more info). This will be the first time in years that I'm not going down every weekend. Although Marita Beth is working it, I'm not and thus don't feel quite the need to be there. The reasons are many-fold.

• The TRF managmeent has so dramatically reduced the entertainment budget that I fear I won't be adequately, well, entertained. As much as I love Iris and Rose, I don't really see myself spending all day every day at the Sea Devil Tavern.
• Marita Beth is working. Kelly is working. Hell, nearly all my friends are working; which means they won't have time to hang out & drink with me.
• The drive is damned long.
• Boarding my Border Collies, 'Tia and Cormac, is getting prohibitively expensive. I can justify it a few times during the run, but if I do it every weekend, there goes the disposable income that I'm trying to set aside for Dickens on the Strand in December.

What a pickle, wot? Flagrant Disregard is brilliant! The Flickr tools built here are simply wonderful. I'm sure much of it is due to some SDK or other that Flickr/Yahoo has released, but the result is amazing. Below is my profile, as built by the FD Profile Tool.

Arsenal are going into the weekend without (again) their core defence. We sold Ashley to those fucks on the other side of London Chelsea and in return we got Gallas who's now out for a number of weeks with a hamstring injury. Senderos got injured at the World Cup and still isn't back and his compatriot Djourou is now facing a late fitness test. Arsene, for some weird reason, still has faith in that useless Song kid, and is talking about putting him or Gilberto in that centre-half spot. Gilberto I can deal with, he's capable enough, but Song *shudder*. If he plays Gilberto there, then hat could leave the door open to place Baptista and Fabregas in the middle of the pitch; that's a pairing I can't wait to see work. But, 10 years at the helm and he's not made that many mistakes. I've got to keep my faith with the man. Come on the Arsenal. That's it for today. Wastrel On! (Listening to: )Louie's Return by Brother)

Happy Anniversary, Arsene

Arsene Wenger celebrates 10 years at the Arsenal today. And what a ten years it's been. The man, now the legend, arrived from relatively unknown Nagoya Grampus Eight and brought with him unique insights and philosophies of the world's game. He brought with him dieticians and psychologists and a training regime that other English clubs have since adopted. It can be argued that Arsene has had the greatest impact on English football of any football manager in the history of the sport. He certainly is the most effective of the long string of Arsenal managers. Have some footy of my own tonight, but aside from that it's right dull around here. That all for now, Wastrel On! (Listening to Susan Tedeschi)

3 Points to the Arsenal

Arsenal took 3 more points and a giant step toward topping the group with a nice win over Porto at the Emirates. Thierry Henry scored his second header in as many games, that goal also being his 50th in European competition. Here's to 51. Alexander Hleb also stuck the onion in the bag with a long-range shot making the game a 2-Nil victory on the papers, but a massive morale boost in the heads of the lads. Elsewhere, but still Arsenal-centric, the FA passed down a nine-month immediate ban with a further nine-month suspended ban for Jonathan Barnett, the cheeky bastard agent that authored the move of Ashley Cole from Arsenal to Chelsea. I maintain, though, that Arsenal got the better end of that deal by acquiring William Gallas and £5 million. Although, sadly, it appears that Gallas is out having suffered an injury in the Porto game last evening. Apparently, a hamstring injury that looks serious enough that Arsene is a bit worried. Fine way to spend your 10th anniversary with the club, eh? Oh, and what do you know, but I finally agree with something that that banausic, greedy, self-effacing head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter said. He wants to get rid of penalties as a deciding factor in World Cup finals. I can't agree more. In fact, I've always considered a game in any competition ending in penalties or "sudden death" to be a "tragedy" (that's Blatter's word, too). In the case of penalties, it reduces a team-game to a one-on-one situation; there's no call for that. In the "golden goal" or "sudden death" game, one stroke of good, or bad luck can destroy the dreams of millions with no hope of recovery because all of a sudden the game is over. I hate this solution even more than penalties. Now, were I as vain or pompous as Blatter, I might think that someone was spying on me and my emails. I had a fantastic email correspondance with my father recently where he, too, was decrying the penalty system. He put forth a system wherein you would gradually reduce the number of players on a pitch over a period of time. This is exactly what Sepp Blatter is proposing. Blatter has indicated that serious discussion will begin very soon and that a solution will be in place in time for the South African games in 2004. Let's hope so, because once again, the current system of deciding a game on penalties is a "tragedy" and cant' be allowed to continue. Spelunkers unite! That's it for now, kids. Wastrel On! (Listening to: Moses (Live) by Coldplay)

Looking forward

Hamburg is behind us, and it's time to cast our eyes to the weekend. Here's hoping we can capture some of that sparkle we had in Germany and use it on domestic soil. The weekend is fairly shimmering with mounting excitement. Arsenal travel to The Theatre of Stains to take on Fergie and his boys while the Reds from Liverpool make a journey south to tackle Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. I think it's a no-brainer as to which teams I'd like to see emerge on top of the blood-stained bodies of their opponents. The last time ManU(re) went 5 games winning, they went on to a full 10 games with out a loss or a draw. We'd really like to not see that again, because at the moment, ManU(re) are definitely the horse to stop. Of course, everyone wants to see Chelsea slip up. You're the man Liam! Back to Arsenal now; the Gunners make the trip to OT with both TH and RVP listed as doubts. Henry is still struggling with the knock he picked up on international duty, while van Persie gathered some sort of hip problem in the game against Hamburg the other night. Perhaps during his dive? On the otherhand, it appears as though Toure will be included in the squad even though he hobbled off the pitch barely 30 minutes in on Wednesday night. That's good news, because Fergie reckons that stocky little shit, Rooney will come to full maturity in the game and slip 20 goals past Lehmann. Whatever. Climb back inside your wine bottle, SAF, you belong there. That's it for now. I'm done being sick and back at work listening to Pandora's Music Genome. and feel free to send me any White Buffalos you run across.

Champion's League and bits and bobs

Champion's League, phase one of the group stage and Arsenal have found themselves in what appears to be an easy group, on paper anyway. We'll see Hamburg later today followed by FC Porto on the 26th of September (I'm a bit worred about this one) and then the last match of the first round of Group G against CSKA Moscow on October 17th. Then the reverse legs kick in. On paper, the Gunners are the best of the four teams; but the proof is on the pitch, or so they say. It sure could have been worse, though. ManU(re) are playing the Celtics today at Old Trafford in Group F, a group that also includes Benfica and FC Copenhagen. Yeah, I'd have not wanted the Arsenal in that group this year. Nor, I think, would I have wanted Group A which includes both Barcelona (last year's winners) and Chelski. I'll take our Group G opponents thank you very much. It turns out that Henry's injury is actually a foot injury that he picked up in the French international match last week. They doped him up with injections for the M'Borough game, but are choosing to rest him for this first CL match away to Hamburg. That, however, could throw some confidence in the path of a young Theo Walcott or perhaps to newcomer, Baptista both of whom have travelled with the team to Germany. And truthfully, I feel that he will be much more needed Sunday against ManU(re) than he will be today. So, good on you, boss. Right call. In other bits and bobs, it seems that Hoyte thinks he's good enough to replace Ashley. Whatever, Justin. You're deluded. You're not nearly the player that Ashley was and keep talking to the press like this, folks will start comparing you unfavourably to that wanker over at Chelsea. Gallas is a better option in the left-back role. Hell, Flamini is a better option. Give it up, son. I think that's all the important bits today, because frankly no one really cares who threw that pizza at Fergie, so long as it hit the bastard. Still sick, but hanging in there. So, perhaps a beer or a $17 million baby bigfoot is on the tap for me today. Until then, Wastrel On! (Listening to: Zealots by the Fugees)

Three games in...

It's three games into the season for the Arsenal (4 for nearly everyone else) and the boys still have not managed a win. They've not won at home, they've not won away; within the EPL that is. On the European stage, they're doing just fine having slotted Dinamo Zagreb to a 2-1 loss at the Emirates. Yes, just fine on the European front. But, if you can't win the EPL, where does that leave you? I'm positive it's not the announcer's fault. I'm equally positive it's not the length of the grass, although Wenger is just as unhappy about the height & depth of the pitch (so fix it already, it's your damn stadium, correct the issue and move on; this is a no whinging zone). So what is it? The Cole saga? Which, by the way, continues as the wanker serialises his "book" in the Times. The Reyes/Baptista swap-a-roo? The Walcott & Denilson hype? Maybe, the Arsenal just aren't as good as they used to be? Now, as I started this, we are only 3 games in; there are 35 more games to go in the Premiership and we will make up the ground. But, for my money, Mr. Wenger needs to get his team gelling on and off the pitch in ENGLAND. I realize the monetary need for Champion's League football and sure as hell not advocating a slow down of our progress on that stage, but dammit, the boys need to win a game in the Premiership. The game this upcoming weekend against ManU(re) would a great way to do that. That being said, the Arsenal are on their way to Hamburg to take a bite out of that little team in the first leg of this round. They are, however, making the trip sans Henry who picked up a mysterious foot injury in training yesterday. Yikes! Of course, since he's only scored once for us in the EPL and is still looking for his form, maybe the injury and subsequent rest from football duty is a good thing. Furthermore, it would appear that Arsene Wenger is not a fan of Ashley Cole's writing style while Fabulous Fabregas has agreed, verbally, to put pen to paper on a new 8-year contract with the Arsenal. In a radio interview, Cesc said: 'Everything with my new contract is agreed and next week I will sign it. ' That, my good friends, is excellent news for the Gunners. Fabregas will, no doubt, be one of the forces in EPL in a few short years. The boy has already gone from a no-starter, no-name to a star in the Spanish side. That's damned impressive. Right, that's all for now. I'm sick, my head feels like it's a mile wide and i don't believe in 6000 year old dinosaurs. Right. Ohh, and feel free to send killer frisbees my way. Wastrel On. (Listening to: Guilty by Tora Tora)