How concerned IS Chick-Fil-A about their newspaper holder?

They would appear to be this concerned:



Is their concern warranted? Consider this: strange men are casing the joint, pulling out their digital cameras while in line at the drive-through.

On the other hand, it looks like any previous attempts at taking the newspaper holder haven't been very successful. At least, the would-be thieves didn't get very far. And they haven't gone to the trouble of bolting it back down.

Maybe we should all be concerned.

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Camera frustrations

Wow, I've been having a lot of technology-related frustration lately. This time it's about cameras.

My current camera is pretty crappy, so I've been considering getting a new one. The question is, what kind should I get?

The true camera-type-person (I wish there was a special word to describe people who take pictures... maybe I should come up with one) would probably get a digital SLR camera. All things being equal I wouldn't mind having that level of equipment, but I'm not nearly willing to pay for it. So that brings me back to the level of the various digital cameras: subcompacts, compacts, and superzooms.

That narrows it down somewhat. I suspect that I don't want a subcompact, so that leaves compact and superzoom. But there's a bewildering array of brands and models. There's a ton of web sites that have reviews and recommendations, but for every positive review of a particular model, there's a negative review. What's a brother to do?

This is where our Consumer Reports subscription is supposed to come in handy. They give "quick picks" for various categories, which is nice, except for two problems. First, as with other web site, there are user ratings, and for every positive review there's a negative one. Or, more often than not, there's just a negative review. Second, the ratings are a little behind the times. Lots of cameras have come out that do not have CR reviews. So their "top picks" might end up having "limited retail availability".

I think this is a wait-and-see situation. Surely cameras can't be coming out all the time - it must come in waves. Sooner or later CR will catch up and I'll have a better picture of the options currently on the market. Until then, my crappy camera and I will just have to keep on keepin' on.

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Weekend in review / looking ahead

I decided to take last Friday off, as I was feeling increasingly frazzled at work. Turns out this was the third day (excluding holidays) I'd taken off so far this year. The other two days were a sick day in January, and two half-days, one in April and one in May. So this was the first restful day off I've taken this year.

I didn't do much on Friday, which was kind of the point. I had some movies playing, did some house work, etc. I did NOT check work e-mail or even think about work. By the end of the day I had achieved a sort of Zen tranquility, although I should have taken a nap at some point. That would have completed the circle.

The main event Saturday was going to be meeting some friends for dinner, and then going swimming. As we were eating dinner, however, some thunderstorms rolled in. We've been practically rainless for two months, and the day we decide to go swimming, it storms. Instead, the group called an audible and we went to see 'Wall-E'. Mrs. Bart was feeling headache-y, and headed home. It's too bad, because the movie was great. I can't recommend it enough - it was just the right mix of cute, sweet, fanciful, funny, and interesting. Calling it a kid's movie is a stretch. It's an everybody movie.

Sunday night was the big event of the weekend: Mrs. Bart and I saw 'Spamalot' in Ft. Worth. AWESOME. My socks were officially rocked off. That was way too much quality entertainment for one weekend, people. I'm officially spoiled.

I held off on buying any merchandise at the show, reasoning that since this is an ongoing, worldwide enterprise (showing in New York, London and Las Vegas not to mention the traveling show), there would be an online store where the 'Spamalot' folks could peddle their wares. Turns out I was right.

In planning to see 'Spamalot', I had expressed my concern that after catching the late show on Sunday night, it would be a bit of a whipping for us to drive home, get home late, and I'd then have to get up early Monday morning and drive back to Ft. Worth. Instead, we hammered some Hilton points and got a room last night. I was able to get up relatively late (6:30), have a leisurely morning and breakfast, and make a short, albeit low-speed, drive to work. All in all, not a bad weekend and start to the week.

Unfortunately, it's going to get a lot more stressful. The in-laws are coming into town Tuesday, and will be staying at least through Saturday. I don't mind the in-laws, but there is that unavoidable stress that is caused when we have additional people in the house. And the in-laws will invariably cause some stress for Mrs. Bart, because when dealing with one's own parents one tends to experience stress, which then leads to stress on one's spouse (a.k.a. me). Plus they're getting a little deaf so they leave the TV on LOUD.

I guess tonight I'll be prepping the house for visitors. And when I get home tomorrow... it will well and truly begin.

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iPhone 3G consternation

The more I read about the new iPhone release, the less I want in. It's all about uncertainty, and I'm not a fan.

Sure, the hardware looks awesome. But here's the problem: no one knows how it's going to work. Not the phone itself, but the phone buying process. I read a lot of Apple-themed websites, and the unifying theme I'm seeing, based on reports of people talking to employees at Apple stores and at AT&T, is that no one knows exactly how this iPhone 3G thing is going to work.

Here's some pretty standard questions with no clear answer:

-Who is eligible for the "upgrade" price?
-What is the non-"upgrade" price?
-What kinds of plans (besides the $30 / month data package) are eligible / would be required?
-How will the activation process work at Apple stores, if at all?
-How will international roaming work?
-Will these be available as prepaid phones, as (it appears) is the case in other countries? Good countries, even. England good.

The last thing I'm going to do is walk into an AT&T or Apple store to buy the phone and then get this information for the first time. I need to have all the facts in advance so I can decide how I'm going to proceed.

Hey, AT&T? Your strategy of waiting until the last minute to tell us how pricing, activation, etc. is going to work? Not helping. Even if I ultimately decide to get this phone, I have no intention of waiting in line for hours while people ahead of me agonize over what kind plan to get, figure out if they're eligible for the promotional price, etc. Because we all know there is no way in hell that buying this kind of equipment is going to be a 3-minute per customer experience. And this kind of crap is going to go on for months after "release" day.

Then again, maybe AT&T isn't after the "think things through" set. Maybe they're after the "buy whatever I want and to hell with the cost" set. It does seem like that set would have higher profit margins.

So, I'm officially undecided until Apple and AT&T get off their duffs and let us know exactly how this crap is going to work.

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Best 'Onion News' ever

Mrs. Bart and I just about lost our shit watching this on TiVo:


Supreme Court Rules Death Penalty Is 'Totally Badass'

I am the law.

Three movie must-sees

Today Adam Carolla's 'The Hammer' came out on DVD, and I ran out to get my copy. I only paid $15, and considering there's commentary and quite a few other extras, I felt it was a good deal. But I've already discussed how much I like the movie. Now you're out of excuses - buy it.

What else is out that I like? I have two additional recommendations that might be off the beaten path:

Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show - just plain funny. It's got Buck Owens, for God's sake!

Super High Me - documentary about when uber-stoner comedian Doug Bensen quits the weed cold for 30 days, then gets super-stoned for 30 days. Funny and topical.

Remembering George Carlin my own way

With the passing of George Carlin, I decided to remember him the only way I know how: my own way. I popped in my copy of 'Dogma' so I could watch him in a Cardinal's outfit. And if I had 'Jersey Girl' on DVD I would have watched that too.

He was 71, but I'm guessing that a cursory examination of his treads would have revealed at least 130 years' worth of living.

I got to see him for free at a beginning-of-the-year concert at the University of Illinois. Yes, I may have missed seeing Johnny Cash, but I saw Carol Channing and George Carlin. At different times. During the concert, Carlin said that he enjoyed doing free concerts because he could test out new material. He made some joke about the (then-) recent Tokyo subway ricin attack... somebody in the crowd yelled "racist!" (I assume because he mentioned another country? Ah, campus life)... Carlin tore him a new one. "Hey, asshole, pick up a fucking newspaper!" Niiiice.

Jumbo! Shrimp!

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