Conforming and the world of Technology or would that be Conforming to the world of Technology?

The comic above is a definite reflection of our current society. We all know the MP3 has changed the state of music. This change can be seen from a corporate standpoint down to the solo artist, band or dj turning out tracks in their garage. [for more on turning out tracks in your garage, i suggest this because it is an absolute no-brainer to use and is pretty decent for the amateur.]OK, back on topic here....I find it to be crazy that someone would embrace an aspect of technology and not want to know more about it; they are only embracing this technology because others are doing it. How ridiculous. Example: MP3 Players. Some people have no clue about how MP3s can have different bit rates; measured in kilobits per second. This of course is pretty important if you care about the quality of the music file in your player and wonder why you hear "scratching" and "pops" when you listen to a song. A 64kbps track is going to sound much different than a 160kbps track. Sheesh.....I realize that there are learning curves for technology and that several generations of people are exposed to such technologies, but come on!

Maybe I am the only one who thinks about things like this, but seriously. Think of it in terms of autos. You know you have that friend who has gone 15K miles without getting an oil change or has NEVER gotten their tires rotated. I know some people embrace chaos in their lives. Some people feed off this, but why put yourself through it? It's quite counterproductive and drives me crazy when I have to here the occasional moronic question from a friend or I overhear a conversation ...Read your stupid manual!! Oh, how about this idea--GOOGLE!! Ok, I feel better know. ;)

Living in harmony...Is it possible? Ok, just on my street....

Let me explain this soap opera. Sheesh....We like the street we live on. We've been here long enough to pretty much know the whole street of neighbors. Allow me to provide you some insight into the ethnic makeup of our street. Basically, it's the United Nations and then some....haha. Seriously. I would have to say by the numbers, it seems as though Middle Eastern would be the dominant group on this street. 3-4 houses. Then, I would have to say Albanian. 2-3 houses. Oh, I almost forgot, we also have 3-4 houses of people from India. Excellent, so far, right? We have a house of Philipinos, Russians, Polish, South Africans and us (Puerto Rican and Italian)....Oh, there about 3-4 American families. The really nice part is that there are lots of kids and to hear all the languages on the street is a trip...Bi and Tri-lingual children make me smile. I think it's something that American children (and even adults) can never identify with unless they are forced to learn a language in school or become interested in foreign cultures / languages when they become of age to decide that the world does not solely consist of the US and everyone else is the footstool....Anyway, my real reason for this post was to mention that there is some SERIOUS drama happening on our street. Man, we live in the middle and get along with everyone. "Hi and Bye" and usually some BS small talk. No issues. No fighting. No staring. Well, down the street is a guy (let's call him 'S') who seems to eventually find ways to annoy anyone because he's a KIA (KNOW IT ALL) and is not the sharpest knife in the drawer to begin with. Put it this way, this clown was arguing with several of the 10yo boys on our street about politics. What does a 10yo kid know or care about an election? Especially when the kid is just riding his bike up and down the street or playing basketball in his driveway? Give me a break! I suppose 'S' figured it was an even meeting of the minds and he could "learn the boy a thing or two"..Sheesh, my description cannot even do this clown any justice. As a child, I am sure 'S' was the one on the playground who would never really fight, but would be behind one of the other kids who was about to throw a punch and would just hop around like an idiot to instigate a fight.."Come on..Come on...Come on..." Idiot. Anyway, 'S' has become good friends with one of the newest families on the block (Polish; still learning English) and he wants to fight all the Polish guy's battles because I guess he is just trying to show what a good friend he is, but since we are all grown people, he might want to take the kid gloves off and let the guy deal with his own neighbor situations; they are not even that serious....The Polish guy lives next to one of the American families on the street and the guy is a mechanic by day (and sometimes night). This guy is nice. He has a wife and some grown kids who are out of the house. He's cool with us. I talk with him every few weeks. No big deal. I also talk to the Polish guy....occasionally. In fact, I helped him move his refrigerator into his house. Anyway, him and the American guy are ALWAYS getting into it. The Polish guy complains of loud generator noises from the mechanic's impact wrenches and overspray from paint prep on cars. That turned out to just be a major pollen accumulation, but the Polish guy and 'S' decided to call the city on the American guy 2-3mos ago and that REALLY started ish...Man, I am not kidding you....Every 2-3 weeks now there is a city inspector checking out the neibourhood and the cops were there 2 nights ago talking with 'S' and rumor is they served someone down there a personal protection situation to stay X amount of feet away from certain houses....I mean, the American guy and the Polish guy even threw punches...although I hear it was the mechanic who launched a punch to the Polish guy's chest...Ladies and Gentlemen, we are talking middle-aged people here!! Come on people. The Rican and Italian just worry about their own situation and don't get in the middle of neighborhood squabbles.....I feel like our street should be a reality show...Classic TV that would be better than some of the poor excuses for "reality" seen on TV today...

Pinch him, I think he's dreamin'.

Well, well, well....He will finally have his dream job now. CongratuFRIGGINlations!Don't get me wrong, I have serious respect for Larry Brown in terms of his record and how he swoops in to fix NBA teams and puts them on the map, but the guy really annoyed me by taking the Knickerbockers job after swearing that he would only be coaching the Pistons as his final coaching job of his amazing career. I really thought he was going to take a year off and end up in the front office somewhere of an NBA team, but then again, a contract for 5yrs worth 50-60million could easily persude anyone to forget what they said in regards to accepting another job. I wonder how that conversation went at the Brown house.

LB: Do you guys think I should accept the Knicks job?
Family: How much will they pay you?
LB: 50-60mil.
Family: When's the next flight to NYC?

I appreciate the fact that LB took the Pistons over the hump and got that title in 2004, but maybe I am slightly bitter....just maybe.

Good luck working with Zeke LB...He is THE worst GM in the Association....

I love to hate Flash!

How can a technology be so useful and yet shred the fabric of my being simply for being misused? Over-reaction? I think not. Flash is the kryptonite to good web design. In the wrong hands it can be deadly! The foundation of web content is for communication. That communication can come in the form of informational content, e-commerce and several other forms. Why should I have to wait for more than two seconds for your stupid Flash animation because you think it's impressive and represents the essence of your company. That's garbage. I don't mind a few Flash buttons or maybe a properly placed ad on a site, but when entire sites are dominated by Flash, it really annoys me. See two below of some of the offenders:
NIKE
Metalarte
I still sleep at night, but happened to just be bothered by sites who overuse Flash. Used properly (or minimally; or not at all), it can really be a great asset. Ok, enough of my rant.........for now.

7X is the charm

Congratulations to Lance Armstrong! He took his 7th (in a row!) Tour De France today. I am not really a cycling fan per se, but I do keep up with the Tour De France and appreciate Lance Armstrong and the fact that he came back from cancer to continue his dominance in the sport. Plus, the LIVESTRONG bracelets started an explosion in those fashion accessories that you can find everywhere from non-profits to pro sports teams. I think dominant athletes like Lance come along once a generation. I am glad that I was able to witness his dominance. The other thing that I appreciate about him is the fact that he remained so level-headed and focused when so many people tried to say he was doping. He is probably THE most tested athlete in the world and has never tested positive for any banned substances. Today his critics probably have more reasons to scrutinize him, but the victory is probably that much sweeter for him. The good guys like Lance unfortunately don't get as much pub as "Baroid" Bonds, but such is the world of sports reporting.

"El Cantante de los Cantantes"

So, it's a crisp Saturday morning and I am about to hit the treadmill; I know, i know...I should be running outside, but the treadmill keeps me honest. Anyway, I decided to attach my favorite MP3 player to myself and run for the hills. I have the 1GB shuffle and for running, it's quite enough since I am not a supermarathon runner. 2-3miles is it for my stints. So, I don't have to worry about playlists or anything like that--total randomness, therefore, if there are songs on this thing that piss me off, it's my own fault and so, I don't include songs that piss me off.

Ok, back to the title of this post and why I included songs from El Cantante on my list. The name Hector Lavoe may not mean anything to most of you, but it has significant meaning to me. As a proud Puerto Rican, I place a high value on music in my life. Not just traditional music of the island, but many types of music (but, that will follow many other posts). I think the beats and rhythms just live in the soul...sound weird? Maybe, but I really believe it. So, back to Lavoe. He was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. By the way, I have never been to Ponce; it's on the southwest side of the island. I take that back, I believe I was there as a child, but of course, that experience cannot be appreciated now. I'll have to check Ponce out when I go back. Anyway, Lavoe was born there and in a land where there are almost as many singers as there are people, Lavoe’s uniqueness is nothing short of amazing (especially being from Ponce renowned as the city of singers). In pre-Lavoe days, Puerto Rican singers were generally grouped into neat little subdivisions. There were the die-hard Jibaro stylists like Ramito, Chuito and Odilio Gonzalez, the Romanticists like Felipe Rodriguez and Salseros such as Cheo Feliciano and Ismael Rivera. Lavoe showed up on the scene and the neat little groups toppled in disorder. How exactly do you classify a singer whose repertoire included everything from Salsa and Merengue to Rancheras, Baladas and pure Puerto Rican Jibaro music? To totally upset the status quo, Lavoe’s unprecedented popularity reaches across all national, economic and age barriers, making Lavoe's name a household word in a good portion of Latin America.

The unfortunate thing were the drug-related issues that lead to the demise of Lavoe. Why is it that so many artists succumb to drugs? Singers, painters and many others in the creative arts. I don't know...it's crazy. Is it an issue of the mighty right hemisphere taking over and allowing a person to just implode? I mean, the right hemisphere is the main driving force for creative actions. Is it a bit of narcissim gone horribly wrong? Could be....I know many artists portray (or really are) narcissistic and I can agree that some is needed, but when the scales tip to unhealthy levels, that whole death thing gets in the way....

Anyway, my point is I love Hector Lavoe's music and if you have not heard of him or his music, you should. Rumor is that Marc Anthony will be playing Lavoe in a movie slated to come out in 2006 titled "Who Killed Hector Lavoe?". I hope it does Lavoe's life justice and has mass appeal. I'll be pissed if its one of those 'straight to video' films....Ok...gotta run.

The garden is going crazy!!!

We expanded the garden this year from 6' x 8' to 6' x 15'. Quite a substantial increase. As the pictures prove, I think I underestimated the power of truly organic soil! Sheesh! Seriously, I babied the heck out of the soil before planting anything. I put about 20bags of top soil, compost that I had in a bin from last year and sporadic composting from a local area. I used several small cans of coffee grounds and the manure of a few cows.

The plants appeared to be spaced with adequate room several weeks ago, but POW!!! I will really approach this garden systematically next year so that it actually "looks" good. The main goal is the harvest though, right? So far, we have gotten 4 zucchinis, 4 cucumbers and 4 sweet banana peppers and 3 tomatoes. Maybe '4' is the lucky number with this garden. Who knows. Anyway, the harvest has been decent thus far. I cannot wait for more of the tomatoes to rippen up so that we can make a nice tomato salad. I have a bad feeling that there are going to be a ridiculous amount of tomatoes though. No problem. We have several family members and friends who will take the donation. I also have four eggplant plants that I cannot wait for. Two American varieties and two Rosa Bianca varieties. They take longer than most of the other plants. I really should have segregated my herbs a bit better, but the excitement of getting everything planted prevented a more organized approach. I really have to dig for the herbs. I have Italian parsley and two types of Thyme. Make sure to segregate cucumbers! Sheesh! They choke and climb on everything near them.
I really placed the zucchini plant in a bad spot...THE MIDDLE. Idiot!!! I have to climb in there like I am playing twister and cut the zucchinis paying special attention to the foliage as to not break any of the stems or leaves....As you can see within the pics, I used old CD-R discs to try and scare off the birds that felt like snacking on the garden. Initially these things worked great, but then the foliage began the ungodly growth spurt that blocked the discs from reflecting the sun's rays and keeping the birds away. For the most part, they have stayed away because I have not really noticed any half-eaten fruit or leaves...I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Well, That's the garden.

Fresh espresso...Mmmmmmmmm!

As my previous post mentioned, we just got back from Italia. Did I sample several espressos while we were there? You bet I did! Well, to be honest, I really only had 2-3 since I typically drink my coffee with milk. The pure untouched (other than sugar, of course) nature of espresso is much too bold for me, therefore I must blend my coffee with milk. In Italia I consistenly ordered a Latte Macchiato and this drink was just excellent. In the states in my house I usually just use a high quality stove top coffee maker (like the Bialetti Class; 6cup) and then warm up some milk (whole is the best kind, but I'll suffer with skim if I must) and that does it for me. I occassionaly use a liquid form of Coffee-Mate to lighten up the brew, but I am pretty selective about which ones because I just want the subtle hint of flavor and not an overpowering effect in the coffee.

Today was nice because I only had a little bit of Yaucono left from the package I opened two weeks ago. By the way, Puerto Rican coffee does not get much national pub, but it is an excellent brew and should be sampled by those of you who like to venture out into different flavors/intensities of coffee. This should roll into another post, but I cannot help myself...When we were in Puerto Rico earlier this year for my grandfather's surprise 80th birthday party, I was truly amazed at the Costco in Puerto Rico. It had so much local products. Yaucono was there, of course. Also, one of my personal favorite coffee blends was there--Alto Grande
. I highly recommend sampling this roast. Mmmmmmm. The following exerpt comes from the site: "Puerto Rican coffee was one of the favorites of the Vatican and European Royal Courts. "Caracolillo"-type beans were the "creme de la creme" of Puerto Rican coffee." Interesting. Wow...I am somewhat off track from my point here.....Blogs are great.....Ok, back on track. So, I decided to open up a bag of a Starbucks roast. I would much rather grind and brew Starbucks beans at home rather than cut off my left arm and sell it on the black market to have enough cash to consistently buy coffee from an actual Starbucks location. Well, it is not that bad, but I would rather brew it at home. Anyway, I had a bag of Caffe Verona and I ground some beans and brewed on the stovetop. Oh....It was excellent! The funny thing about my reality with coffee is I drink it strictly for the taste. I do not rely on caffeine for anything. I cannot drink coffee in the morning either! Yuck! 99% of the time I will have just one cup after dinner and that's it, but it is such a great experience for the senses. Anyway....until next time.....

Trip to Italia

Today is Monday and we are back to reality. Reality is not so bad....really, it's not. We went to Italia for about two weeks. I have so many things to say about Italy.

#1, it was everything I thought it would be. It is one of the places I told myself that I wanted to visit in my lifetime. Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Australia (In that order) being some of the other main countries I would like to visit.

I must clarify that we only spent two days in Roma. We also went to the Vatican and saw just about all the major historical sights within Roma. The rest of the trip we spent in the small coastal town of Vieste in the region of Puglia; the upper heel portion of the country. It was lovely and I would go back for sure.

Roma has the worst drivers I have ever seen!!

In the World of RANDOM....

Ok, I am going to try really, really hard to keep up on this blog due to my consistent jealousy of many blogs out there on the web I read on a weekly basis. At this moment, the order in which I see this blog heading is one of random experiences or thoughts in my daily life. It's possible I will try to consolidate categories so there is some type of logical order, but we'll see how it goes. I fear this is my final attempt to prove myself wrong and see if I am a REAL blogger or not....If not, I suppose I will just join the witness protection program or something exciting like that....Adios.