January 31, 2006
EFF's Class-Action Lawsuit Against AT&T for Collaboration with Illegal Domestic Spying Program
From the EFF...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T on January 31, 2006, accusing the telecom giant of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications.Posted by JB at 10:03 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
January 30, 2006
HIV Drug Ad
I remember being surprised when I saw my first herpes drug ad on television and thought that things had come along way.
Today while doing some stock research on Gilead Sciences, I saw a web ad for an HIV maintenance drug. Wow, we really have come along way. Turns out that the ad was well targeted as Gilead Sciences makes Truvada, which is what the subject of the article I was reading and what the ad was about. If you didn't watch the whole flash ad through to the end you might think it was for a heartburn pill as for most of the ad you see the tagline: 'Just Once A Day!' and HIV isn't mentioned until the last frame. I have been trying to get the ad to come back so I can post a pic but to no avail. I'll keep trying.
Posted by JB at 9:19 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)January 29, 2006
Stowaway
This impatien and some others, stowed away in the fern's pot over the summer. Now they are blooming.
Micky likes them. Micky is easily pleased.
Posted by JB at 6:20 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)Spotted
It's sad to think that in some parts of the world, this would not be funny...
January 26, 2006
Adam and Eve on a Log
I was listening to Tom Waits' The Ghosts of Saturday Night (After Hours at Napaleone's Pizza House), enjoying the diner setting in the lyrics. 'Pigs in a blanket, sixty-nine cents', okay I know what 'pigs in a blanket' are. 'Eggs - roll 'em over', that's eggs over easy. Then there is 'Adam and Eve on a log'. What the heck is that?
Through the wonders of Google, a group of swing dancers from Washington D.C. have saved the day by compiling Diner Talk. Adam and Eve on a log are two poached eggs with link sausage, but there are plenty of other short order cook gems like 'Bowl of Red', 'Cats Heads and Easy Diggins', 'Eve With a Moldy Lid' and 'Zeppelins In A Fog'. Somewhere in this world, there is a short order grill near the railroad tracks where it always lightly rains, where these phrases are alive and well.
Posted by JB at 10:49 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)January 25, 2006
Office
January 24, 2006
Refs Fall Down On The Job
It's easier to blindly follow the rules than to think a little bit, especially for Conference USA basketball referees.
Case in point, Saturday's Houston vs. UAB game. With 56 seconds left in the game, Houston coach Tom Penders collapsed on the court due to a heart condition. Thinking that he was dramatically protesting a call against his team, the referees charged Coach Penders with a technical foul. Medical staff arrived on the scene and took Coach Penders away on a stretcher. Even though it was obvious at this point that there was a medical emergency going on, the referees refused to rescind the technical foul. UAB successfully shot two free-throws and won the game by three points.
Tom Penders is okay. Conference USA says 'appropriate actions will be taken' in regards to the referees.
How about a pink slip?
Source: Deadspin
Posted by JB at 3:22 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)January 22, 2006
Alan Greenspan / Arlington Heights connection
Found this little piece of Arlington Heights and Alan Greenspan trivia on the Forbes Magazine website in a story called "Greenspan - Economist as Pop Culture Phenom"
Alan Greenspan Way. For one month in 2000, the Fed chief had a street named after him in Arlington Heights, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. The honor was the brainchild of 75-year-old Al Smith, a retired bank liquidator who was miffed that the city of Chicago had named a street after Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.Posted by JB at 10:24 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Bedbug Epidemic
Call me dumb, but I always figured bedbugs were in the category of the sandman and the tooth-fairy: nighttime children myth. "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite" was a saying to freak kids out. Boy. was I wrong.
According to the AP there is a worldwide bedbug epidemic and the American epicenter is New York City.
The elusive critters avoid light and attack in the middle of the night. About the size of an apple seed, a bedbug hides among cracks and crevices in furniture and walls, and can disappear into the edge of a picture frame or between buttons on an alarm clock.
People who have bedbugs often never see them alive. The only signs are pepper-like spots of their fecal matter, specks of dried blood on bedsheets, and of course, the bites. The scourge is nearly impossible to eradicate; the creatures can go a year without feeding, they reproduce rapidly and don't die easily.
I am officially freaked out and ready to live in a bubble...
Posted by JB at 6:04 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)Pizza In A Bowl / Pizza For Adults
I like to stick to Arlington Heights restaurants, but this is right on the edge of town, so I'll include it anyway.
Last night, looking for a change, we tried the new Chicago Pizza Company, on 1657 Algonquin Rd (near Golf Rd in the shopping complex with Sam's Club and Wal-mart). They advertise that they are the home of 'Pizza In A Bowl'. When I told Inga about this, she said "It sounds like lasagna". When we walked in, the host asked us if we had been there before and explained what a 'pizza in a bowl' is. The host explained that they don't have thin crust / thick crust and that turns some people off. Undeterred we went in.
The interior is dark and woody with tall booths that offer privacy from the other tables. The bar looks nice and would be a fine place to wait for a table, if necessary.
So this 'pizza in a bowl' thing, what is it. Basically I decided the best way to describe it is pizza for adults. They offer three types of pizza: sausage, vegetarian and spinach. The pizza ingredients are put in a bowl, capped with dough, and baked. The pizza comes to your table looking like a delicious golden brown mushroom or dome. The bowl gets obscured by the dome-cap. The server takes the pizza-bowl flips it upside-down on your plate, taps and removes the bowl. The dough cap relaxes and the ingredients fill the dough. The result is a pizza that is not greasy and doesn't make you feel too guilty eating. You also have to use a fork and knife, no hands with this one. The fillings are basic, but the quality of the fillings is high. The sauce is tangy-sweet from good tomatoes, not sugar, the whole mushrooms were fresh and cheese was good without being to much. Personally, I am a fan of th taste and texture of the dough-cap.
Chicago Pizza Company doesn't cater to kids and that is fine because I think most kids would hate that it is different. It also is not for the pizza and a pitcher of beer crowd or the people who think more is better (We all know how the size of portions at restaurants has gotten out of hand.) This is more in the league of wood-fired pizza crowd. Pizza taken up a level for adults to enjoy a night out. Quality over quantity.
The menu is simple but also includes sandwiches (which also looked good going by) and salads. One full size pizza-bowl with a salad I think would be fine for a couple who doesn't want to feel over stuffed when leaving. I could see myself being able to finish off a whole one by myself if motivated and in a mood to do some damage to my diet.
Posted by JB at 10:17 AM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)January 19, 2006
Where Bad T-Shirts Go To Die
Now that the Bears are knocked out of the playoffs, where do all the NFC Championship t-shirts that were printed ahead of time go? Salon answers this age old question. In reality, not that many shirts are printed ahead of time; just a couple of hundred in general. After a team wins, the elves work late into the night to get you your overpriced commemoritive cap and hat.
Come to think of it, I still haven't gotten any White Sox World Series caps or shirts yet. Maybe now? Why rush it...they are champs all year.
Thanks - Deadspin
Posted by JB at 11:35 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
January 18, 2006
Wise words
"By all means marry: If you get a good wife, you'll become happy;
if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher."
-- Socrates
Posted by JB at 9:54 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)Went to the vet...
Robert Crumb's take on Philip K. Dick
An icon's take on an icon. It doesn't get any better than that.
Back in 1986, Robert Crumb did a piece called 'The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick' which illustrated Mr. Dick's 'Valis' experience. Very interesting...
For those who don't know Philip K. Dick, you can learn more here.
Source: BoingBoing
January 17, 2006
Gunnelpumpers Show At Muse Cafe
The Gunnelpumpers are playing this Friday at the Muse Cafe.
Where and When:
Muse Cafe
817 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago
Friday, Jan 20th
6-8 p.m.
No cover, BYOB.
The Muse Cafe has a fine assortment of caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages, as well as some good eats.
Who:
Gunnelpumpers, consisting of:
Douglas Johnson - upright electric bass
Michael Hovnanian - upright bass
Matthew Golombisky - bass guitar
Randy Farr - percussion
Michael Aieta - percussion
John Meyer - electric guitar
January 13, 2006
Snow Day
It was over 50 degrees yesterday. Today, a nice coating of wet sticky snow...
Posted by JB at 9:20 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
January 11, 2006
Northwest Community Hospital Makes Fortune Magazine List
Our very own Arlington Heights medical institution, Northwest Community Hospital, has made Fortune Magazine's '100 Best Companies To Work For' for 2006!
According to Fortune Magazine:
What makes it [Northwest Community Hospital] so great?Posted by JB at 5:41 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Work and family happily coexist here. Flextime options range from one-day-a-week shifts to nine or ten days every two weeks. Part-timers can also opt for weekend programs and compressed workweeks.
January 9, 2006
The Joy of Forgotten Tickets
With the headphones on this weekend, listening to my music files shuffle along, I was hit with a sudden feeling of dread. Did I miss the Poi Dog Pondering show at the Metropolis? Panicked, I rifled through my desk drawer and found the tickets. Phew...January 20th!
When you buy tickets so far in advance, you forget about the show and it comes back to sneak up on you months later. The postmark on the ticket envelope is mid-June, so a seven month gap. Time to get pumped about the show! Look at the Poi Dog website, it looks like they took 2005 off and this will be the second show of the year after a New Years show. Considering the very intimate venue, it should be an awesome show!
Posted by JB at 11:34 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)January 8, 2006
Arlington Heights Toys 'R Us To Close
The Toys 'R Us in Arlington Heights (on Rand Road), along with 4 others in Illinois, will close it doors this spring. Toys 'R Us which was purchased by a private investment group last year, is closing 73 stores in the U.S. and converting other stores to Babies 'R Us.
A liquidation sale was supposed to begin this weekend. Bargin hunters attack!!!
Posted by JB at 10:23 AM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)January 3, 2006
'Other Planets' Show and Radio Appearance Tomorrow!
Passing along this announcement from New Orleans musician currently residing in Chicago and friend of Harvard Avenue, Matthew Golombisky.
check out The Other Planets (from New Orleans with Matthew Golombisky on bass) at the Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western Ave. Chicago), on Wednesday, Jan. 4th with CrapEngine and My Were They. 9pm. Earlier on the 4th, listen to The Other Planets play live on WNUR 89.3FM at 2pm.Posted by JB at 12:12 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
January 2, 2006
Stabilized Zapruder and Bigfoot Films
Two 'stabilized' versions of famous but jerky amateur videos are making the web rounds. The first is the Zapruder film (John F. Kennedy assassination) and the second is the Patterson-Gimlin bigfoot footage (you'll recognize it when you see it).
There is some question as to whether these are real stabilized videos or a well-made hoax. Granted I'm no video editing expert, but it seems feasible to do in theory. Break the films into frames, focus on a fixed point or axis and line up the frames on that point/line. It's interesting at the very least and the debate will go on for awhile.
Source: BoingBoing (zapruder) and again BoingBoing (bigfoot)
Best Wishes For 2006
I want to wish everyone a great 2006.
The only resolution I've made is for things to be better than they were in 2005. In some areas that will be easy and in others hard, but I'm up for the challenge. New Years resolutions are becoming passe anyway.
Best Wishes.
JB
