Tattoo: “Do Not Resuscitate”

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A great grandmother wants to make it absolutely clear where she stands should she ever become incapacitated. So, at age 80, Mary Wohlford of Decorah, Iowa, has had the phrase “DO NOT RESUSCITATE” tattooed on her chest. In addition to the tattoo on her chest, Wohlford has a more binding document in a prominent place. She has signed a living will and has hung it on the side of her refrigerator.

Sorry, Mary, but it doesn’t matter what you want. The Pope and Jerry Falwell and some dicks in Washington will decide this matter for you.

JPod

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The flyleaf describes Douglas Coupland’s new novel as “a lethal joyride into today’s new breed of technogeeks.” I very much enjoyed two of his earlier works, Microserfs and Girlfriend in a Coma, and offer these nuggets from the introduction to his latest novel:

Life is a contest between you and everyone else.

Workshops and seminars are basically financial speed dating for clueless poor people.

TV and the Internet are good because they keep stupid people from spending too much time out in public.

You can’t fake creativity, competence or sexual arousal.

Nobody has ever been happy in a job they obtained by first handing in a resume.

After a week of intense googling, we’ve started to burn out on knowing the answer to everything. God must feel that way all the time. I think people in the year 2020 are going be nostalgic for the sensation of feeling clueless. — pg. 248

I think computers ought to have a key called I’M DRUNK, and when you push it, it prevents you from sending email for twelve hours. — pg. 386

The Notorious J.E.F. (Jeff McVey)

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Jeff McVey is the son of long-time friends Terry and Nancy McVey. Like many young men his age, Jeff has kicked around and tried a few things. His latest is studying martial arts in China. From his MySpace page:

Deborah and I got into China on May 12. … We’ve found our new home at a martial arts academy in a remote mountain village. I’m pretty sure it used to be some sort of industrial complex, and to call our accomidations meager would be a huge understatement. However, we do have a place to live and good food to eat. We live here with about a dozen other students from all over the world.  There are people from America, England, Germany, Indonesia, Scotland, New Zealand, and other countries (I haven’t quite met everyone).  Fortunately, all the students I have met speak English, which makes a nice little oasis in a land where I can’t comunicate with anyone.  So, we’ve been treated quite well, and we start our training tomorrow.  Everything seems a little daunting right now, but at the same time more than a little exciting.

His mom says this is something he has always wanted to do…and he’s doing it. Now, the person I want to meet is his wife, Deborah.

Jeff: “You know, I’ve always wanted to study martial arts in a remote mountain village in China. Whadya say?”

Deborah: “Cool. I’ll go pack.”

Trent Tomlinson performs for the hometown crowd

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Charles Jolliff shares some pix from last night’s concert by Kennett hometown boy Trent Tomlinson. I’m not a country music fan but like Trent’s stuff and he doesn’t seem to be your typical CW artist (if there is such a thing anymore). Charles reports Tomlinson performed Purple Rain. I dare say that is the first time the song has been performed at the Kennett Fairgrounds.

Update: This might be old news but sources in Kennett tell us Mr. Tomlinson recently did a deal with ESPN to allow them to use his song, “Hey batter, batter.”

iMovie vs. Studio 9

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I created a little video this afternoon, primarily to get some experience with Apple’s iMovie (on the MacBook). I’ve been using Pinnacle’s Studio 9 (Windows) for a few years and like it a lot. And I’m comfortable with it. And I can’t say the same for iMovie (Mac) so this really wasn’t a fair comparison.

Having said all of that, I find that I can do more with Studio 9. There are probably features in iMovie that I haven’t discovered yet. But my sense is that iMovie is great for making a little DVD of the Easter Egg Hunt or some after-work fetch with your pups (below), but if you want to do much more than a title, some transitions and a music bed… you’ll want something a little more feature-rich. Which I find Studio 9 to be.

But like I said, I’m just groping around here. The video runs 14 minutes and the file is a hefty 21 meg. I optimized for very small screen (about the size of the image to the right). If you expand this to full screen it will look like shit. Keep it small for best results.

Mark Cuban: “Blogging is personal, traditional media is corporate.”

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“Traditional media has become almost exclusively corporate while blogging remains almost exclusively personal. (People in traditional media) get hired for a specific job and they have to do that job. They get hired by a corporation that is most likely public, which means their senior management , the people they ultimately report to, have to put getting the stock price up above all else. That is really what blogging vs traditional media in 2006 has come down to. Bloggers drive blogs, share price drives traditional media. Blogging is personal, traditional media is corporate. Which is exactly why blog readership is going up, while traditional media is consolidating, if not contracting. Traditional media goes to work, bloggers live their work.”

I encourage you to read Mr. Cuban’s full post. Say what you will, Mark Cuban has always been about five minutes ahead on the old “Information Highway.” And he understands blogging as only a blogger can. [via Scripting.com]

Jon Stewart wails on former Learfielder

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“First, host Jon Stewart mocked WTWO-TV (Terre Haute) GM Duane Lammers for his reaction to Stewart’s earlier mocking of a WTWO promo for its weather team. Stewart had made fun Monday of the ad, which bragged that WTWO’s weather team had 45 years of combined weathercasting experience vs. 30 years for competitor WTHI. Stewart marveled at a weather “attack ad.” Lammers, who came up with the spot, apparently responded in a local paper to the mocking, saying people in the industry love the ad, though he said that Thursday’s airing will be its last because it has run its course.

Wednesday, Stewart reiterated his earlier comment that the ad was “fucking retarded,” and then called Lammers the cable equivalent of a wussy for not airing NBC’s Book of Daniel in January.” — Broadcasting & Cable

I only mention because Duane worked at Learfield (the company I work for) many years ago. Just down the hall.