Tikkabik

I promised to bring James to see Kung Fu Panda this weekend. I figured (rightly, as it turned out) that the theater would be almost empty for everyone seeing Wall•E, the new Pixar movie.

I can't say that I was a big Jack Black fan from the start. I didn't really "get" Tenacious D the first time I saw it, and some of his over-the-top shtick wears thin on me after a while. But as Po the Panda he's great, and the movie has a surprisingly rich voice acting cast made up of a-list talent. Unfortunately, with the exception of Ian McShane as the bad guy, the snow leopard Ty Lung, and Dustin Hoffman as Shifu, the kung fu master, most of the actors are wasted -- there's not enough dialogue to go around, and a few of them -- like Angelina Jolie as Master Tigress -- don't have a distinct enough voice to really make a difference either way.

Regardless, the production quality is top notch. Dreamworks has, with a few exceptions, become a great competitor to Pixar as a premier studio to turn out computer-animated movies, though they are, by all accounts, still playing second fiddle for the most part. In this one they really nailed the look and feel of the setting, creating an epic, mystical, storybook Chinese backdrop for the action. And we didn't have to suffer through the inevitable schmaltzy cover of Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" (sung by Jack Black, of course) until the end credits rolled.

Anyway, the kids loved it and it got us out of the rain (and into an air-conditioned theater) for a couple of hours, and James was happy, specifically, so it was time well spent.

Posted by flargh at 06:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's only in the mid-70s today in Mashpee, but thanks to an oppressive amount of humidity -- 75 percent, and a dew point of 66 degrees -- it feels much warmer.

Alas, I've been putting off yard work for a while now that I absolutely have to do -- I'm not looking forward to it, but have no choice now. Bah.

Posted by flargh at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

James has had a long struggle with tonsils that were too big for his throat. Since he was a toddler he's breathed very heavily when he slept, snoring loud and often waking up several times a night. A springtime trip to an ear nose throat specialist revealed that his tonsils needed to come out -- pretty unusual these days, though totally routine surgery.

Anyway, yesterday was the day. James went into the hospital at 7:00 AM, went into the OR at about 9:30 and by 11:00 was waking up from the procedure. It took us most of the afternoon to convince him to drink enough fluid to convince the nursing staff to discharge him, but he finally, begrudgingly did.

He's doing well -- no sign of fever, but he's very, very uncomfortable and doesn't want to talk. He's also eating very little and drinking very little, which the nurses told us is to be expected. Still, we've stocked the house with all the things he asked for prior to the procedure -- ice cream, popsicles, jell-o, kool-aid and the like. So when he's ready, there will be plenty for him to get down his throat.

He's not totally out of it, though -- he's got a good sense of humor, still, and has smiled at funny jokes and even chuckled a bit (though it hurts his throat to do it).

It's weird having James around without hearing his steady stream of chatter. Of my three kids James is easily the most talkative, so to all of a sudden have him here but not talking is a real cultural shift. Of course, I know it's only temporary, and that's a good thing.

Posted by flargh at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Among the many things that irritate the living hell out of me living on Cape Cod is the absolutely wretched communication infrastructure available to us here. Cable TV/internet is adequate, but FIOS is nowhere in sight. But this blog post will be about cell service.

I've been an AT&T customer for many years -- first suffering through years of subpar AT&T Wireless service using their TDMA (analog, craptastic) service and then more recently as a Cingular/AT&T customer using an EDGE-equipped phone (yes, my beloved iPhone). In between I spent a couple of years tithing to Verizon wireless.

Having a cell phone is, by most measures, a pretty important thing these days. Although I don't need it, strictly speaking, to survive, it makes life a lot easier. Probably 90 percent of my business calls come in through my cell line -- it's printed on my business card and I give it to whomever asks for it. A great deal of my personal calls are also made on my cell phone -- calls to the wife to let her know that I'll be out late or picking her up from work, calls to and from personal associates who work with me on the special ed parent's advisory council, calls to and from friends and so on. There's also the off chance that I'll need it for some emergency.

Despite this, my experience with cell service living on Cape Cod has been nothing short of wretched. I experience few dropped calls, so I guess there's a modest truth to AT&T's claims, but the actual voice quality of the calls is fucking vile. I get drop outs and breakups damn near constantly, and I can't remember the last time I had a conversation where, at some point, either I or the person with whom I am speaking says, "Can you repeat that? You just broke up."

Now AT&T is on the cusp of offering the iPhone 3G, which I can get for laying out another $199 and extending my contract another two years. As I've written about recently on Macworld, I'm not planning on rushing out and buying it -- part of the reason, as I've convinced myself, is that I think the actual technical improvements on the new iPhone are pretty mild. But really, what it comes down to, is thinking that AT&T's cell service is total shit.

Looking at their coverage area map, they say that 3G coverage blankets the Cape. But I have a very hard time believing that given how lousy their 2G coverage has been. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" seems to be the operative way to go here.

Posted by flargh at 02:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WCVB: Pregnant Teen: There Was No Pact

All of a sudden the principal of Gloucester High School has a fuzzy memory, now that the national spotlight is on him, a week after Time magazine published an interview with him in which he said more than a dozen teens at his school formed some sort of "pregnancy pact." Turns out that the story is total horseshit.

A girl at the school who's pregnant was recently interviewed, and she confirmed that there was no such pact in place. She told WCVB that the school not handing out contraceptives is a bigger problem, as teens are having sex anyway.

I think it's awful that 16 or 17 teenage girls in Gloucester are having babies before they're even finished with high school, but I think it's more ridiculous that this has turned into a bloody national circus because of some incompetent town bureaucrats and administrators who don't know when to shut the hell up.

Posted by flargh at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Watching "When We Left Earth" on Discovery, awesome stuff. Anything about NASA -- well, at least how it isn't getting dorked by Congress and is actually doing good science. It always makes me proud that our country pays for what it does for NASA and gets what it does -- I think the exploration of space is pretty damn important.

But regardless, is there anyone cooler in NASA than Gene Kranz? I don't think so.

Posted by flargh at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey, Web site publishers: Take it easy on the video. And on the podcasts. Some of us prefer to absorb information the old-fashioned way, by actually reading words.

I've noticed that CNN.com and other Web sites that I visit on a regular basis to get my fix of news are relying more and more on video and podcasts to convey information. And I find it irritating.

For one thing, video and audio takes a lot longer to load than text on a page. For another thing, I can't scan video and audio information as quickly. And for another thing -- and believe me, it's not lost on me that this is why they do it -- video and audio holds me hostage to in-line advertising.

Posted by flargh at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My mom took the boys for an overnight last weekend, so after I got back from my trip to SF, it was just Bonnie, Emme and me. I decided to take it easy and take us out for dinner. Emme's tastes tend to run to the exotic so we all agreed on Asian, and I decided to try a place in Hyannis I hadn't been before.

Parking was a bit of a chore, so I circled around for a bit before I found a spot and was stuck at a light. On the corner was a crowd of pedestrians who, at first glance, seemed to be waiting for the light to change.

In a fit of collective ignorance, they all decided to cross the street against the light, when the "Don't Walk" sign was clearly visible in their direction, including a couple pushing a toddler in a stroller. I realized what they were doing and stomped on the brakes to avoid killing anyone.

"That's what happens when you don't pay attention to signs," Bonnie warned.

Emmeline and I, perfectly on cue: "No, that's what happens when you're stupid."

Posted by flargh at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our kids are enjoying their last few hours of the 2007-2008 academic year today -- by lunch time, the last one will be done with school and on his way home.

By all three accounts, this week has been a waste of time for the kids. Absolutely no schoolwork was done -- the kids have spent their week playing board games, going on field trips, and watching movies in class. Which makes me wonder, frankly, why the schools didn't just end the academic year last week.

I can appreciate that it takes some time to wind down the curriculum and clear out the classroom, but I'm no more interested in seeing the public schools act as glorified babysitters for my kids as I'm sure the teachers are in same. And given how many complaints I've heard over the past couple of years about what little time there is in the school day thanks to MCAS testing (here in Mass.) and No Child Left Behind, I'm a little disappointed that the faculty and staff couldn't find a more constructive way to end the year.

Having said that, I'm also glad that all three kids made it out in one piece. Now I just have to get through the summer with them being underfoot for most of it.

Posted by flargh at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Auto manufacturers are hawking "hybrid" vehicles that dramatically improve fuel economy, but in many cases they're still wasteful, hulking things. Chrysler, for example, introduced new editions of its 2009 Durango and Aspen SUVs that improve city mileage by up to 40 percent -- up to a total of 20 jaw-dropping miles per gallon.

Americans who think this is "going green" need to wake up, smell the hydrocarbons and get off their bloated asses.

I think it's great that the average 2009 Dodge Durango HEMI Hybrid user will "reduce fuel consumption by several hundred gallons a year," but my improving their vehicles to 20 MPG, that just shows you how damnably wasteful auto manufacturers -- and by extension, the consumers who buy these vehicles -- have been. It's shameful.

Meanwhile, decade-old Geo Metro LSI's -- GM-branded subcompacts that get between 35-40 miles to the gallon, still -- are going for several times their Kelley Blue Book value on eBay as commuters pinched in the pocket by high gas prices are trying desperately to find something, anything, that will defray the cost of $4 a gallon gasoline.

I just paid $2.99 for a gallon of milk. Too bad cars can't run on that.

Posted by flargh at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just FYI, if I'm not following you on Twitter, it's probably for one of these reasons:

a) I don't know you're on Twitter;
b) I've seen your Twitter page and found your comments to be inexcusably boring and pointless; or
c) I visited your Twitter page and found that you're following thousands of other people, and probably really don't care whether I follow you or not.

Posted by flargh at 03:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm back just in time for the kids' final week of their academic '08 year. They get out of school on the 20th.

Near as I can tell, they're doing ok for the last term -- their teachers haven't alerted us to any major issues, so that's a good thing. And I think they're just looking forward to being able to sleep in and lounge around. So am I, for that matter -- I'm tired of waking up at the crack of dawn every morning to crack the whip and make sure they're ready for the buses.

Posted by flargh at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry for the dearth of postings last week, but I was pretty busy, and too wiped out yesterday to do much of anything after I got home. Anyway, a very successful trip -- met with a lot of developers, networked, saw my father, spent time with friends.

Posted by flargh at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got a call on Sunday morning from United Airlines to tell me my flight to SF for Apple's developer conference had been cancelled due to mechanical difficulties. The rep I spoke with offered to book me on a flight connecting through Chicago later that afternoon. I'd get into SF at about 10:30; I figured that was ok -- I'd be checked in to the hotel and asleep by midnight with any luck.

My new flight was expected to leave at 5:11, so I got to the airport at about 3:00. Plenty of time, I thought.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. I checked my luggage in curbside only to find a line of a couple hundred people wrapping part-way around United's ticket counter. Turns out severe weather in Chicago had delayed and cancelled flights, so many of the passengers booked for that same flight I was on were left stranded without any way to get to San Francisco. Unfortunately, with most airlines flying at or near capacity on all flights, there were precious few extra seats for United to book us on.

While I was in line I gave our own corporate travel agency's emergency number a call, and after explaining my situation the agent told me that I was, indeed, stuck in Boston for the night, but suggested that she could put me on an American Airlines flight early the next day. All I'd need, she said, was for United to endorse the ticket.

So I waited an hour and a half in line as each and every person in front of me pled their case as to why they absolutely, positively had to be in San Francisco that evening. To no avail, of course. Some folks apparently thought that the more strident and shrill they got, the better chances they'd have of a) breaking the laws of physics, b) revamping the American airline industry and c) changing the weather.

By the time I got up to the counter the agents were pretty shell-shocked, so I told the woman straightaway that all I needed was for her to endorse the AA ticket and give me a hotel voucher -- she was relieved to do it. Alas, my luggage did, indeed, make it onto the plane without me, so I was stuck in Boston without my clothes or toiletries.

The AA flight did get off the ground -- almost an hour later than expected -- and I was stuck in the middle row the entire way. It was a bumpy ride, too, with storms still going on across the midwest, so it wasn't the best cross-country flight experience.

Unfortunately, today was the keynote day for WWDC, so I was of absolutely no help to Macworld in covering the event. But I've meetings lined up with vendors for the next few days and with any luck will be able to attend a few of the conference sessions myself, so I'm still glad to be out here.

Posted by flargh at 03:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I leave for WWDC tomorrow afternoon, and I have a ton of stuff to do before then -- gotta do a dump run, mow the lawn, put in air conditioners and screen doors, go grocery shopping, pick up a few clothing items. These are some of the many reasons I hate traveling...

Posted by flargh at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let me say at the outset that Indiana is a state that I'd never move to -- Bonnie and I have already heard from plenty of families who home-school their kids because of all the crap they've been put through by the public school system there.

But this story blows my mind and infuriates me. In short, the parents of a kindergartner who complained all year that his teacher was being mean to him stuck a tape recorder in his pants and were shocked to hear her berate him in front of the class, calling him ignorant and self-absorbed.

A five-year-old. A kid whose parents had tried to get a behavior plan put together, but whose teacher told them that she didn't have the time (to do something that is indisputably part of her job, by the way).

Long story short, the administration suspended the teacher, and the parents are trying to figure out what to do next -- put the kid in another school, and whether to sue the living shit the district into the bronze age (which is precisely what I'd do in their shoes, given the choice).

But here's where it turns weird. The Associated Press reports that the Indiana State Teachers Union has filed a grievance against the district, claiming that it violated the terms of the teacher's contract by suspending her, as it doesn't treating her with "respect and human dignity."

Apparently the teacher's union holds school administrators to a different standard than it expects teachers to show to students.

Listen, I'm not against teachers or their unions, but when I see stuff like this, it makes me sick.

Posted by flargh at 02:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My mother gave us a rope hammock a while back that we weren't able to hang up, because we've been reducing the number of large enough oak trees in our yard to support the weight of such a device. I guess she figured that it would have been wasted if something wasn't done about that, so she unexpectedly showed up last week with a hammock frame as well. She tells us she got an excellent deal on it.

It was simple to put together -- no tools required, just snap together -- so when I had a few spare moments yesterday I did just that. After a quick trip to the hardware store to buy some chains, I got the hammock hanging.

It's lovely. I found a nice spot underneath a copse of trees in the back yard that's covered in shade for most of the day, and spent a bit of time in the hammock myself. But the big win is for the kids; James and Emme, in particular, love it, and are delighted that the rope hammock is big enough to accommodate them both simultaneously.

James, in particular, seems taken with the idea of wiling away the summer months in the hammock, and is petitioning me to extend our household Wi-Fi to the backyard so he can play online using his Nintendo DS from the hammock. Of course, if I did so, I'd be able to work from the backyard as well, so there's some benefit to his idea.

Now to figure out where to put the hot tub I've always wanted...

Posted by flargh at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm mentally preparing myself to take off in a week for the west coast to go to Apple's annual developer conference. I don't anticipate spending a lot of time at the event itself, as I'm not a developer and Apple won't allow reporters to attend (officially) after the keynote, but it should be an interesting time nonetheless. I'm lining up interviews with developers attending the show to catch up with them and find out how they're doing.

It comes at both a good time and a bad time, as usual. It's just as well that it happens now rather than in a few weeks, because the kids are still in school. While it'll still be disruptive to Bonnie's schedule, I'm optimistic that she'll be able to work around at least some of the issues.

What the event will actually hold for us remains to be seen. All of us accept as a foregone conclusion that the iPhone will get front-and-center attention. After all, Apple is expected to release iPhone 2.0 software by the end of this month, with a new App Store to let third-party developers sell software for the device. But what else will be featured is really a crapshoot at this point. There are rumors, for example, that Apple will rebadge its .Mac online service with new features and a new name. But no one except a precious few in Cupertino who aren't talking at this point know for certain.

Posted by flargh at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)