septa strikes out

2005.10.31 10.06

This morning SEPTA went on strike due to a labor union dispute. It means that I have to walk from 2nd and Spring Garden to 11th and Market. This isn't too bad. The SEPTA Regional Rail service is still operating and will take me to Ft. Washington. Once there, however, I'm on my own to travel the last two miles to the client office. A fellow co-worker picked me up this morning. My train was running 20 minutes late. I'm planning on riding an earlier train just to be safe tomorrow. Daylight savings time couldn't have finished up at a better time.

Today I'll tell you a story about a Halloween pamphlet I found at a grocery store in Houston years ago. I don't know why I haven't mentioned these things in my blog before because this is such a good story. One fine day, I was perusing the supermarket candy aisle when I came upon a tiny little pamphlet. Someone had tucked it into an obvious location on the shelf. ''What's this?'' I thought. It appeared to be a cute little comic book about Halloween! ''I loves the comics,'' I said out loud. The comic starts off with these cute little kids excitedly talking about going trick or treating that evening. The story then quickly shifts to these adults that live nearby who are busy putting poisons and needles into candy. They're also busy praying to their Lord Satan and hoping that he'll be appeased by their actions. They actually get pretty in depth with how excited they are to be killing little children. Woo hoo! Of course, they practically ignore any logic that would suggest that police forensics team will eventually catch them and throw their asses into the slammer. I guess the comic was written before CSI emphasized the power of forensic pathologists. So, anyway, these kids take some candy from the evil adult people and they die terrible, horrible, bloody deaths later that evening. Awwww! The end of the pamphlet goes on to say that you should have just stayed home and read the bible instead of trekking into the neighborhood. See? Now you're dead. Doesn't that suck? The last few panels question whether or not you were saved, of course. Gotta make that pitch to protect your soul. And of course, if you weren't saved, you're gonna burn in hell for all eternity for now and ever. Way to go, Satanists. It's Miller Time! Yeah, we do stuff like that in The South. Isn't that nice? Why don't ya'll come down and visit us sometime?

the past revisited

2005.10.28 7.01

A few interesting things happening in the last few days. I was interviewed by Dru Sefton, a correspondent for Newhouse News Service. The Topic? My Favorite Pillow, a blog entry I made a couple of years ago about my nineteen year old pillow and how I was finally giving it up. It's a little bizarre that blog entries from 2003 are suddenly getting me in touch with interesting people (and you know who you are). Dru is writing an article about the findings of a UK researcher who opened up old pillows and found all sorts of disgusting goodies inside (fungus, etc). Mmmm. Makes me wonder if I was sleeping on muck. To the girl(s) that want to sleep on my pillow(s): I do not own the aforementioned My Favorite Pillow any more! I swear I have four brand new pillows purchased this past July. I'll show you the receipts. No, really.

In other news, I'm going to post the rest of my Longfellow Elementary School photos. I'll post student line-ups as best as I can remember them later this weekend. This is an excellent way to see me turn into a cute little nerd in a matter of seconds. Scroll down and be amazed.

(front)Lisa Newton, John Greenslate, Kim ?, ?, Elizabeth ?, Perry Paleramo, ?, ?, Jimmy ?, Mrs. Bergeron.
(back) Senta Butler, Benjamin Savage, Mark Arcos, Dewayne ?, ?, Yogi ?, Ira ?, Mark Shields, Adrian Van Ness.

(front) Tina ?, ?, John Greenslate, Mark ''Can't Tuck In His Shirt'' Shields, ?, ?, Jimmy ?, Mrs. ''Pure Evil' Metoyer
(middle) Adrian Van Ness, Tina ?, Kevin Miller, Benjamin Savage, ?, Irene ?.
(back) Andrew Mushler, Dewayne ?, ?, Marie ?, Jeffrey Maxwell, Carol Fariss.

(front) John Greenslate, Mark Shields, ?, Andrew Mushler, ?, Eric Solis, Emil ?, ?, ?, Mark Arcos, ?, Mrs. Benefield
(middle) ?, ?, ?, Dewayne ?, ?, ?, ?, Colleen Russo, Karen ?, Lisa N?.
(back) ?, Perry Paleramo, ?, ?, ?, ?, Carol Fariss, ?, Stacy ?, ?, ?.

Looks like I barely remember any of my third grade classmate names. Did I ever mention the time that Emil (first row) convinced me that it'd be a great idea if we sneaked out of school instead of going to the office for talking in the lunchline? Wow. Bad idea!

john the revelator

2005.10.27 9.44

Depeche Mode is baaaack. I'm really impressed by their new album. So impressed, in fact, that I'm going to post the lyrics for a cover they're doing of John the Revelator. I've heard the blues song John The Revelator covered many times before, although this appears to be a new work based on the same ideas. You can listen to four of the tracks on the upcoming album by clicking here. Good music!

John the Revelator Put him in an elevator Take him up to the highest high Take him up to the top Where the mountains stop Let him tell his book of lies John the Revelator He's a smooth operator It’s time we cut him down to size Take him by the hand And put him on the stand Let us hear his alibis By claiming God As his only right He's stealing a god From the Israelites Stealing a god From a Muslim, too There is only one god through and through

Seven lies, multiplied by seven, Multiplied by seven again Seven angels with seven trumpets Send them home on the morning train Well who's that shouting? John the Revelator! All he ever gives us is pain Well who's that shouting? John the Revelator! He should bow his head in shame By and by By and by By and by By and by

american ham

2005.10.24 13.15

I was dared to post this photo on the internet. Seeking to avoid the dreaded Double Dog Dare, I put it up right away. If you'd like to see a microfiche spool copied newspaper article associated with this photograph then click here. If you think I look weird here, you should know that the photographer originally wanted these two girls to give me a smooch on the cheek. I believe I would have freaked out if that had happened. It was second grade. Hadn't this guy heard of cooties?

last week catch up

2005.10.23 8.24

The following blog entry was written early last week only to be posted now. No need to adjust your watch.

As I sit down to write this blog entry, the words "Office Center and Virginia Drives!" shriek thanks to a pre-recorded female voice. I'm starting this entry on the bus on my first leg of the journey heading back to Houston for my monthly weekend tryst with all things home. I'm hoping to spend some quality time with my parents, my cars, cute girls, and possibly Astroworld. I'd like to at least try to go to Number's tonight, although I've been slacking in my late night party abilities. Blame my 8 AM to 5 PM day job. Blame it on Rio, the rain, and the bellboy, while you're at it.

My week has been somewhat uneventful. During one particular evening I was treated to a shouting match between two groups of people down the street from me. I didn't quite what triggered the spat, but the variations on the phrase "Move your friggin' car or else!" were frequently exchanged. Was someone trying to stake a claim on the last available parking spot? Who cares? I opened my window and, in my best Philadelphian manner, yelled, "SHUDDUP!" The immediate response was "What!? Do you think you own this street?" I saw that my location was not immediately obvious to the groups because they started looked up in random locations intently searching every window on the block. My subterfuge was courtesy of two giant maple trees outside my window. The groups got back into it with each other after being briefly distracted by my request for silence. Someone else yelled something from another window, so I figured I'd had enough participation and would listen to the rest of the proceedings from behind my (now) closed window. Someone eventually drove off in a mad huff and nearly blew past the red light at 2nd and Brown. Everything then returned to normal and the street was at peace again.

On Friday, my plane to Philadelphia was delayed by an hour. I arrived in Houston and decided to bypass Terminal C passenger pick-up in lieu of the sexier Terminal E passenger pick-up. Aside that the latter is newer and sleeker is the other fact that almost nobody uses the it. My dad scooped me from the desolated pick-up area and we were on our way to Lostville. We got off track while trying to avoid some construction work on Beltway 8. We eventually found our way back with only one near accident to show for it. Good times. We had the traditional dinner with my house-sitting roommate at Texas Land and Cattle. As usual, I had the jalapeno pork chops. Mmmm! I don't know how they infuse the jalapeno into the pork chop. Syringe? Pump? Deal with the devil? Our server Bethany gave us a good round of I'll Be Flirty With You So You'll Tip Me Better. She got the traditional tip that we leave there. We're trying to be known as The Big Tipper Guys although there is so much turnover in the employment that nobody seems to recognize us.

After dinner I went home to freshen up before going out. Instead of the usual Number's jaunt, I hit up a club called Chrome located off Shepherd and Alabama. The most attractive thing about the club was that it was smoke-free inside. I wasn't impressed by the music (too typical), the décor (a couple of chromed pimped out motorcycles) or the crowd (too fugly). I got at home at 2 AM and eventually went to sleep by 3 AM. Not bad considering it was 4 AM in Philadelphia. I only had one beer early in the evening so I was the designated driver, only providing further evidence that I'm The Good Guy!

Saturday and Sunday will be briefly summarized by copying and pasting an email I sent to Heather last Monday morning. I know, I know -- I'm behind by a whole week. Stay with me on this.

Next day did some DeLorean maintenance. Daniel took me to the mall and bought me some birthday clothes from a store called Buckle. All I gave him was one month's free rent. Shweet. I got my hotel voucher for the Hyatt that I hadn't used and set up the room with dinner for two. The voucher expires on the 19th so it was do or die. I met up with Adriana in the evening and we went around a few bars and talked it up. We then hit up the hotel and had the dinner. We had filet mignon. Adriana had a case of motion sickness on the side. We were on the SpindleTop above the Hyatt. Did I not mention this? Adriana had to turn in early so I got her home by 1 AM. Daniel then showed up at the hotel after 1:30 AM from partying in downtown Houston. He ordered an extra cot and we crashed at the hotel. On Sunday, I did the sushi buffet with my parents and sister and niece. We then went to the mall as a family -- which we haven't done for forever. Afterwards at home, I did some scanning of old elementary school and college photos in my archives. Later at the airport, my flight was overbooked so they made the "hey we'll give you a $300 travel voucher and pay for your dinner and a hotel if you give up your need for a seat" offer -- so I did it. I got in today (Monday) after 11 AM and decided to just pick up my dog and ask if I could work from home. Nobody replied to my request, so I guess that was a yes? I worked out tonight and did back and biceps. My strength is improving again. Very unusual. I got my cardio time in by running to and from the gym -- a three mile roundtrip. Now I'm finishing up some work and listening to Madonna's Erotica album which I just bought off iTunes. I'll hit the bed after brushing my teeth and washing my face. The End.

[the super genius takes a bow, then runs off]

childhood on the grid

2005.10.19 23.41

(front row left to right) Hortensia (Tensia) ?, Kevin Miller or Keeble?, ?, Michael King, Lisa Newton, Chris Carter, ?. (second row) Mark Arcos, Sharon Crowe, Perry Paleramo, Mark Shields (me!), Irene ?, ?, Colleen Russo. (third row) Jonelle ?, Alexis ?, Laura ?, Charlene Fouke, Carol Fariss, Colleen Harrell, Andrew Mushler. (back row) Benjamin ''Ben'' Savage, ?, Jeffrey ''Jeff'' Maxwell, Mark Hayden, Wendell ?, ?, John Greenslate.

Above is a photo of my favorite elementary school class from second grade. I was quite surprised last week to get back in touch with one of my childhood acquaintances from the above photo thanks to a blog entry I posted in 2003 and the magic of Google. I loved these friends like brothers and sisters. Let me categorize a few of my stronger childhood friend influences that I attribute to this class in no particular order.

• The studious friends who made me want to make my brain more smarter
• The kind friends who accepted me for who I was (or wasn't)
• The comedic friends / acquaintances who taught me that humor is a great power to have

I feel like they inspired me to be a better person as a result. I think I realized how cool my friends were when I was nine years old. Unfortunately, this happened after my family moved to Northwest Houston in 1978 when I became The New Kid At School. Post Elementary was definitely not the same as Longfellow Elementary. To start off with, I'd never met kids that cursed like sailors before. Second, I was subjected to differential treatment by being called ''Mork'' and ''Four Eyes'' as a sort of cruel mutual group welcome. Third, Longfellow classes were taught in enclosed classrooms whereas Post classes were taught in wide open-areas with no walls. It wasn't all bad, I'm sure, but trauma seems to have a way of sticking with you like gum under your shoe. Like a bee's stinger in your skin. Like, uh, okay I ran out of analogies. Still, that's all over with and it made me who I am today. I'm content. Don't expect me to go on a shotgun rampage to find the mean kids from Post anytime soon. Hmmm. Well, maybe I could egg and t.p. their houses? Hmmmm.

houston rockets 1994

2005.10.16 19.09

In honor of the Astros doing so well in the playoffs today, I thought I'd revisit another Houston sports team that did well in the past. The Houston Rockets used to practice at my college and since I was chief photographer there I was able to take pictures at will. Here's a photo I took in 1994 of players Sam Cassell and Vernon Maxwell. Sam is administering the choking on Vernon. How often do you get to see one guy balancing on another guy's neck? You may recall that Vernon wasn't exactly a darling with the press back then thanks to getting in a fight with a fan only weeks earlier. I've also posted my contact sheets for the entire photo shoot. Just click on the thumb and the contact sheet will open a new window. Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwan, Sam and Vernon and other teammates are all present. Essentially you'll see the team signing balls at a table followed by some practice with the occasional bout of horseplay.

about last night...

2005.10.11 22.37

I'm terribly behind on posting my lastest update from my 2003 Prague trip as I've been very busy as of late. A couple of highlights were that one of my childhood friends wrote me last night thanks to the power of Google. So cool! Also, tonight I saw singer Jonathon Richmond perform here in Philadelphia. What a great show! He's so carefree that he must own boxes and boxes of Carefree sugarless gum. [ducks flying tomato]. Wait! I have more. Watch today's edition of The Super Genius Prague-icals and you'll find out that I ate eight peanuts one evening in lieu of dinner. As you may recall in my blog entry from 2003, I was drinking many beers at a bar called Chateau with Katherine and someone sitting near me purchased a canister of peanuts. Being that in America there are peanuts on the bar for people to munch on, I proceeded to munch. Violation! Violation! They were someone else's, although this person said he set up a peanut loan and I could pay him back when I had some peanuts to return. Riiiight. Like that'll ever happen.

bomb scares suck

2005.10.07 14.42

Market East Reopens After Rush Hour Scare

Police have cleared the scene and SEPTA said regional rail service is again rolling through Market East station in Philadelphia.

The station was evacuated and service temporarily suspended Friday morning for an investigation into a suspicious package.

"A transit canine dog was called in, made a hit on a large backpack this individual had. They took this very seriously, called in the Philadelphia bomb squad. They opened it up after a period of time and determined they had a small propane connector for a camper's propane and determined it to be safe," said Richard Maloney, SEPTA spokesman.

A number of streets around the station at Eighth and Market were also blocked off.

The travel disruptions came at the height of the morning rush hour in Philadelphia.

Source: http://www.nbc10.com/news/5069573/detail.html

I thought I was going to get to work early and have some nice breakfast, but noooooo. Instead, I slowly made my way North over the course of three hours.

1. I got on the 69th St. train at 8:05 AM. I was happy.
2. I walked into 11st Street Terminal (Market East) to find it closed. I was sad.
3. I got back on the 69th St. train and took it to 15th. I was happy.
4. I transferred to the Broad St. train and took it to Fern Rock. Still happy.
5. I got on an R3 train heading north but had to get off at Jenkintown. Ditto.
6. One hour passed. I was bored.
7. An R5 train finally came but wouldn't let me on cuz they were ''discharging only.'' I was pissed.
8. A second R5 train came and whisked me to Ft. Washington. I was mildly happy.
9. The bus returned and made a special trip for us. That guy rocks. Super happy.
10. I arrived at work at nearly 11 AM. Ugh. Work, Mark, Work.

redesign fever

2005.10.06 9.41

I'm working on a new look and feel for the site here. I also intend to include easier links to my XML feeds as well as make some room for a possible for micro-advertising space akin to what MillionDollarHomePage did, but on a more feasible level for a normal site. I plan to write that software in PHP this weekend. Woo. And in other news -- I'm training at a new gym. Pictures will soon follow to show off how swanky it is.

google site search, take 2

2005.10.04 12.54

Below is the code that Google AdSense for Search generates. The code I'm using for my search is from an older version before the AdSense stuff started taking off so I must do some surgery to the site in order to take advantage of this. I think I may revamp my navigation as it has stayed relatively the same since its first incarnation back in 1996. I can do MUCH better than this. Try it out and let me know if you hate it or couldn't possibly care.

milliondollarhomepage.com

2005.10.01 12.53

Alex Tew had a fascinating thought this summer: What if he set up a home page and sold advertising space for $1 a pixel to offset his upcoming costs for college? One pixel isn't big enough to do anything with, so he figured he'd sell them in 10x10 blocks. He contacted the UK media about his plan. At first he was selling a few blocks a day. After word spread about the idea the site took off like wildfire. Viral marketing has caused other bloggers such as myself to spread word about this idea and caused MillionDollarHomePage.com. Check it out and keep a look out for my icon in the middle. 20x20, baby. I tried making do within a 10x10 box but I ended up looking like a guy with ketchup and mustard on his shirt.