Web 2.0

My intentions in starting this blog was to help myself figure out my thoughts and opinions on Web 2.0. Before forming an opinion on anything, it goes without saying you at least need a fundamental understanding of what is you are actually trying to opine about. This video is the best illustration I've come across of what the second generation of the web is.



However, what really stuck me about that video was two responses to it. This one really embodies the dilemma I seemed to be faced with.



And this response (which I link to, lest this post becomes lost with video), embodies the title of this blog. The Internet and Web 2.0 have done wonders for enhancing communication globally, and giving people the opportunity to have a voice that's heard. However, I still maintain that a vast majority of these voices are talking just for the sake of being heard. Healthy discussion and debate are one thing, opening up your mind's sphincter for the sake of "participating is only contributing the Web 2.0 shit soup. Present company included.

Four is Greater Than Five

Three day weekends are always welcome, but the inevitable shit-storm that encompasses the hectic flow of the ensuing cram four days of work into five has beat me down.

Tough sledding at work these days. Aside from the regular urgency that is the PR world,we're still in the midst of '07 planning, which has its obvious stresses. Add in that it's also performance review season sprinkled with regular life, and you've got a craptastic bouillabaisse. Good times. Fortunately, I've had visits to the ever-satirical despair.com to humor. The idiom that it's difficult to comprehend how insane some people can be. Especially when you're insane, has been my guiding principle this week.

Remember that mini-controversy regarding the Massachusetts governor from below? You'll be happy to know it blossomed into a full-blown one this week. He's off to a great start.

Tuna at Outback...huh?

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to with this blog. In the meantime, and keeping in the spirit the true spirit of the blogging world, I thought I'd update you on some nonsense while I battle my annual winter bout of bronchitis.

Saw a commercial for Outback Steakhouse the other advertising their new Ahi Tuna. Ahi Tuna, now at the Outback. I always try to stick with the tried and true idiom of never eating seafood anywhere unless you can see the ocean. Sure, you can stray, but rare tuna at the Outback...I'd rather avoid the time on the throne that is sure to ensue.

I jumped on the Sirius bandwagon thanks to a wonderful Christmas gift from my wife. I'm not sure how I lived my daily commute without it For one, its nice to have the Howard Stern option again. I was never a huge Stern fan, but do find him assuming and have always respected what he does every morning. From what I've heard so far, he's better than ever in the satellite realm. What's really struck my chord lately comes from a recent programming update where the added a channel dedicated solely to 90s alternative/grunge...its been like a trip through the summer of 1994 for the last couple of days. Good times. Of course, it's also made me realize that I've reached an age where I'm listening to my generations version of classic rock.

There's a mini-controversy simmering in Boston around new Governor Deval Patrick's choice of transposition...a fully loaded Cadillac which is costing the tax payers $1200 a month. The irony of course comes from this promise on Patrick's website where he promises his administration will "As the state replaces its vehicle fleet, for example, new purchases will be hybrid or other fuel-efficient vehicles. "

Not even two months in, and he's already broken one promise. Still, he's better than the last guy, who recently shocked no one by kicking-off his presidential campaign in Michigan, with hardly any mention of his last job.

That' s all for now, but I'll leave with this wonderful story regarding a newborn and a mother's sweatpants.

I love Twister, but Bill Paxton is a tool...

Everybody has thier list of movies they will always watch when they come upon it while flipping through the channels. I have to imagine, I'm one of the few for which Twister fits the bill. Yes, I know this movie is nothing more than a glorified thrill-seeker movie, and not a very a good one at that. But, it hold meaning for me because of when I saw it.

My buddy and I took to seeing this in the theater when it came out in May of 1996. Normally, no big deal, aside from one small detail, it was the last movie I saw while still a college student.

We saw it the week before graduation, stoned to high hell as was often the case back then. See, having a few beers and getting stoned was an event in college. Part of the romanticism lied in the fact the dropping money on a movie was considered a big night out back then. But, it also represented the carefree nature that encapsulated the all the freedoms with none of the adult responsibilities that was college. And for me, this represented that last bastion of freedom.

So, when I came across it tonight, I watched it in its entirety because it allows me to live vicariously though myself 11 years ago. Good times indeed. And yes, Bill Paxtons dialogue sucks evens more with the time passed, but Phillip Seymor Hoffman still rules.