The Return Of Mechasmack

Yesterday I was reminded of a certain condition I seem to have which disables my sense of direction anytime someone asks me for directions in the city. For some reason, if I'm walking and someone stops me and asks me how to get somewhere, I just blank. Then of course after I give them the wrong directions and start to walk away it occurs to me that they just need to go one block in the opposite direction.

Hopefully, I'm not the only one that suffers from this condition. Maybe it's being put on the spot that hinders my directional sense. And it happened again yesterday on the train. I gave out the wrong directions yet again. Luckily I was able to correct myself before sending this woman with baby in stroller roaming around the city.

Important data that could save your live one day.

Enter your date of birth (or any other date for that matter!) to discover what was at Number One at any week in the past 60 years.

You'll also see a list of eminent musicians who share your special day.

everyhit.com/dates/

Speaking of important information, I caught a bit of the World Series of Pop Culture this morning on VH1. Why didn't someone tell me about this show earlier!? I owned those so-called contestants. OK, maybe I didn't own them, but I think I got 26 out of 30 questions correct while I was watching. Then it got too frustrating to watch cuz I just kept thinking about all the money I could have won.

I just saw the trailer for Rocky VI aka Rocky Balboa. You can check it out here:

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/rockybalboa.html

Has Rambo IV started filming yet? And what's going on with Terminator 4? And don't think I forgot about Indiana Jones: The Escape From The Retirement Home.

I may have already complained about this, but I was reminded of it again yesterday on the train ride home.

People yakking loudly on their cell phones!!!

Again, as one who is almost never without their cell phone,I don't want to sound like a hypocrite. But I am very conscience of how loud I'm talking in public with it. I think I even talk lower than normal simply for the sake of some privacy. I don't need complete strangers all up in my kool-aid. And txt msging is perf 4 when u just need 2 tell some1 ur almost there or gonna b l8.

A couple of weeks ago some teenager was on the phone, blabbering away to someone name Caroline. I know this for sure because it seems they had a bad connection so there would be extended periods of her yelling "Caroline? Caroline? Caroline?" This girl was planning to have some friends over that evening. And she kept getting louder and louder. People actually moved to the other end of the car. Her friend sitting next to her even shushed her a bunch of times because she was practically yelling on the phone. So now everyone on that side of the car knew she was having friends over, who was and who was not invited, that her friend was grounded because his grades were bad the last quarter, and way too much other information.

Yesterday this woman was just yakking away the most of the ride home. This woman next to me gets this disgusted look on her face and moves to the other end of the car, only to pull out her cell phone and start yakking. Luckily I was able to escape into the 32-bit world of my GameBoy.

And now the CTA is going to install transmitters in the subway so people can blab away on their phones underground. Anybody who's ridden the trains underground in Chicago knows it's so loud you can barely hear the person next you. I can only imagine the yelling people will have to do on their cell phones. I guess I just need to invest in a new pair of headphones for my iPod. Not those weak-ass little white ear-buds that are pretty much only good for announcing to the rest of the world that you're super cool because you have an iPod. I need to get those big-ass headphones like the ones I use to DJ. Make fun of me if you want, but I won't have to hear you yakking about whatever crap you must yak about on the train.

Obviously I wasn't quite awake during my commute this morning as I chose to sit next to this guy chatting on his phone. But I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. I started reading my paper and immediately forgot about him. I could barely hear him talking. Even when I was done reading and just closed my eyes for a bit, I still didn't even notice him talking on the phone. It wasn't until I noticed him close his phone as we got close to downtown that I remembered he was talking the entire time. It was such a sharp contrast from the usual braying that you encounter with people talking on cell phones in public. It was a nice reminder of how we all should talk on our phones in public. I will definitely be thinking about that next time I have to talk on the train.

So the recording industry is continuing their campaign to alienate their customers. Don't think they've stopped suing grandmothers and dead people. And now they're coming after you hippies who have the nerve to actually post the lyrics to songs on the web without paying them for it. How dare you steal money from the artist like that. Do you realized how much money the recording artists lose every time someone obtains the lyrics to a song without paying for it? I suppose I'm contributing to the problem so they'll be coming after me soon.

Seriously, do they think people are going to pay for lyrics? I suppose they might have a case since they've conviced people to pay $2.50 for a ringtone when they could buy the entire song for 99 cents. Seems like it's only a matter of time before they start charging people for singing along with the radio, especially in front of other people because then it's a pubic performance and the artist is losing money.

But what did you do?
What did you say?
Did you walk or did you run away?
Where are you now?
Where have you been?
Did you come alone or did you bring a friend?

I need to know this cause I noticed you're smiling
Out in the sun, having fun and feeling free
And I can tell you know how hard this life can be
But you keep on smiling for me

Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces

I am the stone that the builder refused
I am the visual, the inspiration
That made Lady Sing the Blues

I'm the spark that makes your idea bright
The same spark that lights the dark
So that you can know your left from your right

I am the ballot in the box, the bullet in the gun
The innerglow that lets you know
To call your brother sun

The story that just begun
The promise of what's to come
And I'm a remain a soldier 'til the war is won

Asheru - Boondocks Theme

How dare they mess with Mr. T. Along with Mr. T, I pity the fools that used him image without permission.

I don't really like the new series of Mac ads that make Windows look all nerdy. While I love the Mac OS and their laptops are the coolest looking laptops on the market, I feel like the ads are just preaching to the choir. It's not really going to convince most people to switch to a Mac. Most people use computers about as much as they need to. And they don't want to spend time learning how to use software or having to go back and forth between what they use at home and what they use at work. Having said all that, this spoof of those ads is pretty funny.

The 4 of you who read my blog may have noticed the new look. Don't worry, the robots will be back. Our server has become unstable and I don't have time to figure out what's wrong so we chose the easy route - move to a newer server. Now the arduous task of moving all these web sites. Yee Haw!!

I finally got around to getting a wireless network adapter for my Tivo unit. I have to say I was impressed with how easy it was to set up. If you're thinking of going wireless with your Tivo, you should get the Linksys WUSB12. You can find it on eBay for about $10. And it's pretty much plug-and-play. The only drawback is that Tivo hasn't released the full-featured desktop software for OS X yet. But now I can program the unit online. I'm all set for the 2nd season of Flavor Of Love. Yeeaaahhh Boyeeee!!

Since we've gone from hot to freakin' hot here in Chicago, it's nice to know that Matt Groening has the solution for global warming.