2008-04-26

A Beautiful Mind

This guy has an amazing ability!!



I've heard of photographic memories before, but that's over the top.

2008-04-24

Bumper Stickers

I don't know why I read bumper stickers. Most of them are, well I guess I should just say it, dumb. Occasionally you find a gem, but generally they're just pretty goofy. I don't know why I continue to read them. I guess it's a bit like gold panning, usually you don't find anything but there's always the chance you could bring home a nugget.

The other day I saw one that went beyond dumb, it was offensive. The guy was driving a mid-1980's Camaro. My folks used to have one of these cars. An OK car, not the best GM ever put out, but not the worst either. On the back of this particular Camaro was a Chevy bow-tie sticker. So far so good. Above the bow-tie sticker it said, "This car was made with tools" and below the bow-tie it said "not with chopsticks." What?! Did he really put that on his car?

I'm usually not a big fan of being PC (Politically Correct). I think we are too sensitive about too much stuff. However even I found that bumper sticker offensive. I'm sure all those Asian workers are putting together inferior products with their chopsticks. They're too stupid to even use tools. Crazy! Can you imagine an import car with the sticker "This car was made with tools, not with forks"? Me neither. Although it would make a lot more sense given the average weight of Americans verse the average weight of Asians.

The really interesting thing is if the sticker had said, "I support American products" or "Buy American". I probably would have agreed with him. No problem. I guess it's all in how you phrase it. There can be a fine line between providing support for something vs tearing the other thing down.

Today I choose to be positive. To build things up. What will you choose?

That's worth pondering about.

2008-04-22

NBA Playoffs!

I love me some NBA Playoffs! Win or Go Home! It's great. I'm very happy this year because the Celtics have a great chance of doing very well. That just makes me so happy I can't even see straight.

I'm a little bummed about one thing. I enjoy watching the Suns and the Spurs play. This year they face each other in the opening round. That means that either way, a good team that I enjoy watching is going home early. Bummer...

But other than that... I'm very, very happy!

2008-04-16

The Front Fell Off

I saw this video and it made me laugh. This is a comedy duo from Australia.



This kind of reminds me of the political speeches and interviews that are happening right now in the US as the race for the presidency heats up - much of the rhetoric is pretty bizarre.


[ht BrokenHeadStock]

2008-04-15

Commercial Technology

With all of the technology we have in the world, you'd think someone would fix commercials. I'm not talking about stupid commercials. There's no technology that can fix the amazing stupidity shown in some of the commercials. I'm talking about showing commercials to a completely wrong audience.

I was watching a program on TV last night and they kept showing all these DR commercials. You've probably seen them. They make the most awesome chipper shredders, roto-a-tillers and brush whackers. These are the most amazing things ever made for the home owner - at least according to the commercial. The problem is you need to own like 20 acres of untamed wilderness to put these tools to use. I'm sure somewhere in the US there are people who have these untamed wildernesses that need these high powered tools to control the thick brush that threatens their family homestead. Those folks just don't live within a few hundred miles of here. Actually the nearest one maybe a few states away.

I live in Los Angeles. No one has huge yards with thick underbrush that needs these types of tools. It seems like the DR company is wasting advertising dollars and wasting my time showing me these commercials. Why isn't there a technology that would only show commercials to a locale if there was a need? The Sonic commercials are another example. There aren't any Sonics within miles of here, but boy they sure do show a lot of commercials. Why?

If you could invite such a technology, I sure would appreciate it. If you get rich from it, a 2% idea fee would be much appreciated too.

2008-04-13

Assuming the Worst

Have you ever noticed that sometimes we assume the worst?

The other day as I finished my shower, I could hear a sound that didn't sound good. I'm always leary of unidentified sounds in the bathroom, they can mean plumbing problems - and I HATE plumbing problems. The sound I could hear sounded like a pinhole in water pipe. There was a ssssssssss sound, like water leaking under pressure. Terror struck my heart.

I turned off the lights in the bathroom, so the fan would go off and it would be quieter and I could identify which pipe was leaking. As I fumbled around the dark trying to determine where the sound was coming from, I could picture how badly my day was going to go. Visions of sledgehammers, breaking tile and drywall filled my mind. What a great day this was going to be. Not!

As I continued searching for the source of the sound, I noticed that it seemed to be coming from the wrong end of the shower. The end without water pipes. There I found a pressurized can of lotion that my wife uses. It looked like a plastic bottle, but closer inspection revealed that it was a steel can coated in plastic. Apparently it had developed a leak and the contents were bubbling out. What a relief!

I quickly emptied the can to relieve the pressure. Visions of exploding steel cans aren't pretty either. I started to realize that it was going to be an ordinary, regular, even boring day. And that was a good thing!

Why do we look for the hardest, most difficult solution to the issues we face? Why does a noise in the bathroom equal leaking pipes instead of just a defective can? Have you ever wondered if something dreadful happened to someone you were waiting for when they were late? We don't wonder if something simple happened like they are just running late because they were visiting with friends, we often think of the worst case scenario. Why?

How much less stress would you have if you looked for the simplest, easiest, best solutions instead of the most complex, hardest, worst solutions? I'm guessing that would be a big improvement.