After being on and off again since June 2004, I’m done with renting DVDs from Netflix. I can remember when I signed up like it was yesterday: I just graduated high school, and received my first debit card. So what did I do with my newfound way to spend money? I signed up for Netflix.
Continue reading “Saying Goodbye to Netflix DVDs”The Air Force Loves DMX
Did you know that that the Air Force’s 124th Fighter Wing loves DMX?
Here’s how I feel about the 124’s DMX love. I enjoy late 90s and early 2000s hip-hop as much as the next person, and the Ruff Ryders have a sweet spot in my heart. “Double R What” slaps so hard. And then when the Pink Floyd sample comes in, it’s just magical. DMX is just ok, but he’s got some real club bangers.
But then it dawned on me that while the 124th Fighter Wing may love DMX, the intent of their comment is pride that a stealth bomber can murder people like DMX does in his songs. Genius.com confirms this.
This probably isn’t the first time songs are being misappropriated. The legend goes that in the first Gulf War, the fighter pilots played “Rock the Casbah” in their cockpits; upon learning of this Joe Strummer cried.
I find it in poor taste that a verified account of the Air Force is openly using the lyrics of a song about drive-by shootings to boast about their air power prowess. But I’m not sure that using jingoistic songs instead would be any better.
Tales from Adolescence: New Year’s at Jewel with Stoner Kelly
I don’t remember when I met Stoner Kelly. Jewel was full of colorful characters and I recall there were some silly nicknames, but nobody had a name like Stoner Kelly.
My first recollection of him was as I walked to the break room one day and saw this tall, hirsute, mouth breathing man, with large bags under his eyes, wearing a butcher’s apron and staring into space behind the meat counter. In other words, he looked stoned. All the time.
Continue reading “Tales from Adolescence: New Year’s at Jewel with Stoner Kelly”
The Little Things
I build a lot of demos for customers. To keep things interesting for myself and also for the customer’s keen eyes, I like sprinkling in little Easter Eggs. In this case, for a customer in England, I couldn’t help but create a New Order / Madchester reference on the account hierarchy.
The Year of Susan
I was once eating lunch at a financial services client, with whom I’m a customer. The entire customer and consulting team shared a table. The client bragged about how their lunches are free. And there were right to brag; there was an impressive spread of food: a salad bar, sushi bar, pizza bar, sandwich station, and more. It was one of the best stocked cafeterias I’ve seen in my career and also had some of the best natural light I’ve experienced in a cafeteria. But I soon had the realization that I, as a customer, made this lunch possible. I did everything to control myself to not retort, “My policy holder dollars paid for that pizza and Diet Coke – you’re welcome.”
But the food spread and my jealousy of said spread were not the most interesting part of the conversation.