A Blog by Chris

This is so cool.

Someone graphed all the Twitter chatter during the Super Bowl and animated it.

Just watch it. I can’t even really explain.

My favorite: click on Player Names and watch. Just wait for the Cardinal’s last touchdown…

(via Daring Fireball)

Virgin: the world’s best passenger complaint letter?

Well you’ll be fascinated to hear that it wasn’t custard. It was a sour gel with a clear oil on top. It’s only redeeming feature was that it managed to be so alien to my palette that it took away the taste of the curry emanating from our miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter. Perhaps the meal on the left might be the desert after all.

Hmm… Maybe that tiny packet of peanuts isn’t so bad after all.

Obama Rolls In An Armored Cadillac Stagecoach

Still, despite being at least as secure as a hardened missile silo, GM says Caddy One features the same hand-sewn leather interior you’d find in the CTS at your local dealership, and supposedly it’s got a 10-disc CD player. And, of course, it’s packed with the latest communications technology.

Good to know that Obama can rock the 10-disc CD player while he’s running the free world.

Not much to say about this one, but I do have one funny story about my stay in Des Moines.

I was sitting at the hotel bar, drinking a club soda, and there at the bar were two ladies having a girls night out of sorts. They were locals. Apparently, West Des Moines is the money area of town where all the rich folks live, but they were complaining about how hard it is to make ends meet. After all, they only make $300,000 per year, and it doesn’t go far, even in Iowa. And what’s going to happen to them if Obama gets elected (this was, obviously, pre November 4) and raises taxes?

When they found out I was from California, they automatically assumed I could relate. After all, everyone in California is rich right? I didn’t bother correcting them.

It’s funny how people get so used to their situation they can’t conceive of life any other way.

On an unrelated related note, I really wish I could open the window at these hotels, but they’re all bolted, screwed, and/or painted shut. It seems that only fleabag hotels let you open windows anymore. It really hinders my photography.

This trip was a grind. I didn’t do anything interesting at all. I spent most of the time by myself driving across the eastern part of the state. You see, I was solo that week, and I had to be in Muskogee, then Oklahoma City, then Tulsa.

But work was good. I’m pretty sure I sold some software, so I guess it was worth me going out there…

This one is from the Oklahoma City Marriott.

(What an amazing view, right?)

And here’s from the Marriott in Tulsa.

All I can say is, “Finally!!!” It’s about time someone distilled this whole complex financial crisis to a cartoon I can understand. (Rated R for Language. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

All joking aside, I can’t believe how many layers of screw-ups it took to get to where we are now. And how much unabashed greed. Obviously Wall Street is greedy. Hell, it’s a job requirement. But when everyone, from the credit rating agencies, to the mortgage brokers, to the investment bankers, to the investors, to the home buyers themselves are so uncontrollably greedy you have to wonder, when does it cross the line and become plain foolishness and stupidity. And where are all the people who are supposed to be paying attention to this and stopping it from happening in the first place? I guess they were all too busy giving the crappy mortgage backed bonds AAA ratings.

Oh well, this whole thing makes my head hurt. I’m going to go get another cup of coffee…

Lacey’s friend Bridget got a Time Machine for her birthday and traveled to the future with a VCR. Here’s what she came back with.

John McCain is going to bomb that poor man’s goats.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m way behind on my blog. I’ve only had this thing for a few months so this is a bad sign. But it’s actually worse; I’m changing positions at work so I won’t be traveling near as much anymore. This is actually good news for my marriage and personal life, but not so good for my stupid website experiment. I suppose I have a decision to make and I’m not sure if I’ll actually blog about something else, or just let this thing wither and die. We’ll have to wait and see.

Until then, I’ve got a few more photos in the pipeline just waiting to burst out of my camera and on to the Interweb.

Why look, here’s one now:

This was from the Doubletree by the airport in Atlanta. I was there for a quick trade-show last month (yeah, yeah, I should have posted this thing a long time ago, I know). There’s not much to say about the hotel (except that Doubletree cookies are awesomely delicious in that fake plastic food kind of way) or the show, but you can see the restaurant where I had some great ribs one night.

Michon’s is kind of cool. It’s on the second floor and as you climb the stairs you have to be careful to keep yourself from tripping over the oak logs that they store on the steps and walkway. But by the time you get to the door you can smell the smoke and spices wafting in the air. Right next to the front door and just inside the building they have big windows into the kitchen so you can see the cooks in there smoking the meat. I’m a sucker for that sort of thing. They also double as a jazz/dance club, but I didn’t stay late enough for the music. If I ever go back, I’ll have to try the smoked chicken wings.

Well, that’s all for now. Thanks for watching (reading) and be sure to stay tuned for another exciting episode of “Room With A View”. If you’re lucky, you might not even have to wait a whole month for it this time.

Every once in a while Youtube just comes through with the goodness.

I actually really like that guitar solo…

Last night in St. Paul at the Republican National Convention, John McCain gave a speech to thousands of people and millions of TV viewers. The night before, Sarah Palin did the same. They told us why we should vote for McCain. Last week the scene was Denver at the Democratic National Convention where Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and others told us why Obama was the best choice for America.

Of course, I don’t have the slightest idea what any of them actually said.

I didn’t watch a single speech. I haven’t watched a political speech since my Speech 1A class at BC where we got to see lots of tape of Regan and JFK. That was 1999. The only reason I know who any of these people are is from newspaper headlines (I don’t read the articles). I also sometimes turn on NPR on my way home from work. It’s a 10 minute drive and I mostly zone out, but I do manage to pick up names. Sometimes.

I couldn’t tell you where either of the candidates stand on a single issue. I’m not sure what the big issues even are. Iraq obviously, and the economy, there’s something about offshore oil drilling, foreign relations (I suspect those are all really the same issue). Then there are the old standards like health care, education, the environment. They might be talking about gun control and abortion too – I don’t really know.

And that, my friends and countrymen, is why I’m a bad American.

It’s not just that I don’t know about the issues or candidates, it’s that I don’t care about them. Sometimes I try to care, but it just ends up making me angry. I never know who to believe about anything. Every time one side makes a stand about something, the other side is right there telling you why it’s all bullshit. Both sides usually sound believable to me, which makes me think that both sides are usually lying.

I just don’t have the energy to decipher everybody’s lies calculated political statements. In the end, maybe I’m too much of a cynic to care about politics. But what gets me is that deep down I suspect it’s apathetic people like me who are going to be the downfall of our country.

What to do…what to do… Oh well, can’t think about it too much. I’ve got a life to live.