I LOVE WIDGETS!

This is the greatest thing in the history of mankind! Ok, not really, but it is definitely cool. Or, um, cool for people who are interested in this kind of stuff. Apple amazes me yet again, this time with the built-in program Dashboard. I emailed David Benesch about getting a widget that would allow me to simply add content to a blogger web log, and low and behold, one exists! This sure makes it easier to post stuff.

As you can see below, I'm an infrequent poster to my own blog - for any number of reasons. However, I think the main reason is that the blogger interface sucks. There are too many steps, and it's slow in actually publishing material to the site. Using this Dashboard widget allows me to forego going onto the blogger site and just click "post" to get stuff online. SOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier.

Now this'll put a little more pressure on me to actually post more frequently, but I've got plenty of stuff going on that should be of interest - wedding, Julie, house, cat, job, numismatics.

What I need to figure out now is how easy it is to post pictures using the Dashboard interface. If that's as easy as posting text, then I'll be in good shape.

One more test before I'm done!

Well, wanted to try this once more, basically to show off to my dad who is standing next to me that Dashboard is a great tool.

Let's try this widget!

This is a test of the blogger widget that I've added to Dashboard on OSX Tiger.... hopefully it works and I set it up right!

Pralines

Trying something new... making pralines! If you've never had one of these sugary concoctions, you're missing out! Now, this is my first attempt, so god only knows if they'll come out right, but they LOOK right. Now they just gotta cool, and hopefully they'll taste as good as they look. The recipe came from the High Calorie Cookbook (one of the greatest cookbooks ever) by Leonard Louis Levinson. The book is noted for it's collection of famous recipes from long-gone restaurants mostly from New York City and around France. Ever hear of Lindy's? Well, if not, I'll have to make the Lindy's cheescake just so you can see what a cheesecake is all about! Being in a household with a baker means I don't often get a chance to bake, or make desserts, but since I had some time, why the heck not? I can always bring the rest into Infotonics for people to sample.

Post Josh Visit

Well, the money's all gone and the food is consumed and Josh is back in Atlanta, so how did things go? Let's see... Dinosaur as always was great. I think we spent about an hour waiting for a table, but it was a little complicated as we were a group of seven - not as easy to seat as six. But the meal itself was great. I almost always get the same thing, Cuban Platter with some sort of sides. This time around, they had a special veggie side that I ordered, only to find they didn't have it. So they put this carrot thing on my platter as a side and offered me another one (so I got fries). Well, let me tell you, if they ever have these honey glazed carrots as a side again, say YES! They were fantastic!

Next day was the Public Market for breakfast, and as always, very tasty. We did end up going to Nick's for plates that evening, followed by bowling at this little place in the city with two alleys, one above the other, and a nice bar. Following the men's humilation (it was boys vs. girls) we all drove over to Phillips for dessert. Mmmmmmmm...... Phillips!

Sunday we got off to a late start and got to Highland Park Diner around 10:30 or so. Josh and Rob each had the Highland Skillet, Julie had the belgian waffle with strawberries and sweet cheese, Chris had SOMETHING (but I don't remember what it was!) and I got the corned beef hash with poached eggs, potatoes and toast.

That night we did a dinner at home with Josh (just the three of us) to kindof recouperate from all the feasting. It was an okay meal - not up to my standards - mainly because of this lousy chicken we had. This was the smallest chicken I've ever cooked, apparently. Looking at it, you'd have thought it was ok... but ultimately, it was mostly bones. Oh well!

Otherwise, I think it was a successful weekend! We did end up throwing away Josh's old Overdale candy bag, but also got to enjoy all sorts of other goodies. Anyone who attended any of this want to comment?

An exciting evening tonight!

Getting all set for an exciting evening/weekend. Our friend Josh Liller is coming to Rochester for the weekend to take his NYS Teachers Certification exam on Saturday. So, as a result, we have a weekend of eating and drinking planned. Here's the agenda so far:

Friday, February 25, 2005:

Pick up Josh at airport around 5pm and take him to the house. Why? To prepare for...

DINOSAUR BAR-B-CUE!!! Woo-hoo! I love that place. I'm thinking of getting a Cuban sandwich (pulled pork, ham, pickles, and sauce... Mmmmmmm!). Of course, their ribs are amazing... their half-chickens are amazing... EVERYTHING is amazing.

Following that, I'm not sure what we're going to do... maybe back to our house... maybe over to Shannons... we'll figure that out.

Satuday:

Early morning start... over to the Rochester Public Market for empanadas and coffee. Then, I think I'm driving Josh to Brockport to take the test.

Dinner... plates. Maybe Nick's, maybe Mark's... then Phillips European for desserts! Woo-hoo! I can feel my gut growing from all this excess! (oh wait, we're not done yet!).

Sunday:

Breakfast at the Highland Park Diner. Why? The Highland Skillet of course! We're talking about a bowl, lined with fried eggs, filled with sausage gravy and homefries, and served with buttermilk biscuits. Add some hollandaise sauce if you don't want to make it to Monday.

Lunch? Probably not.. what we're thinking is, skip the lunch and around 2 or 3 o'clock go to Corkey's Craving Parlor for ice-cream. While it is true Josh can get ice cream in his new adopted home of Atlanta, Corkey's successfully combines low prices with excess. That's $3.75 for more ice-cream than I can eat in a single sitting. But that's why this is lunch!

Dinner - probably something late, and probably at my house, as there's only so much someone can do in one weekend.

Hmm... i seem to be missing something. Dinosaur - check. Phillips - check. Highland Diner - check. Corkeys - check. Garbage Plates - check. Empanadas - check. Well, if I am missing anything, I'll be sure to post it here once we're done with all this gluttany. Check back later for details and maybe pictures? (noooo!)

Nothing too interesting

I'm writing this with Woody Allen's voice in my mind... mainly because I'm sitting here listening to guitar great Django Reinhardt who is featured in so many of Allen's films. But to describe it in that way really puts a lot of pressure on me to write something that somehow compares, and considering my writing is in general fairly wretched, I'm not going to try!

So, it's been a while, and there's not a whole lot of news to report. My wedding planning is nearly done. Julie has been fantastic - making sure everything actually happens! I would probably still be thinking about location if it weren't for her! Basically we've got everything but flowers confirmed. Oh, and we need to work on our music playlist. And we still need to pick what meals there'll be. I'm thinking a beef filet, chicken french, and swordfish (possibly grilled?).

The music should make for an interesting experience. I'm a fan of techno, electronica, that sort of stuff... which Julie can't stand! On the other hand, she's a big 98PXY fan. I know there'll be some compromises, but I've got to have at least one Beastie Boys song played that night!

Now she's standing here reading as I type, so I better be careful! (Just kidding!) Though I must say, the cookies she's eating right now look awfully tasty... maybe she could share?! Hmmmmm... the words "fat chance" come to mind!

Well, I'm being kicked off... I have tons of stuff to write about, but I'll just have to wait till tomorrow. Cheers'

Headquarters relocation...

Just a quick thought before I head out for the day... but I'm a Xerox shareholder. Now, I don't have thousands of shares, only 100, but I wonder how many people in Rochester do hold Xerox shares? Is it a majority of the company? A couple of years ago, when Xerox was really struggling, there were rumors that they might move their corporate headquarters from Stamford Connecticut back to Rochester. People in the know said, "You crazy!" And, as it turns out, they were right. Xerox has turned itself around, and all seems to be going well. Granted, they're not at $70 a share like in the good ol' days, but at $15.50, that's a heck of a lot better than a miserable $4.50!

Now, here in Rochester, we have a bit of an economic development problem... not much economic growth really happens here. Yeah, we have some great successes, particularly with Paychex, but otherwise things are kindof slow. This brings me back to the Xerox shareholder question... if the majority of Xerox shareholders were from Rochester, might we not put something up for vote by the shareholders to relocate the headquarters back here? Unless I'm wrong, that's about 500 jobs right off the bat. Couldn't we do this with a whole bunch of companies? I mean, what's stopping me from becoming a majority shareholder in all sorts of public companies and then turning around and moving them here? Seek out undervalued stocks for firms with high value and do it! Xerox is a perfect example. With annual revenues of about $18-20 billion, their stock is "only" about $15.50. How hard could it be to get a majority stake? Or, perhaps, get a team together to pull together existing stockholders to control a majority stake?

Maybe I'm crazy, but if a community could target just a couple companies, it would seem like we could add a few thousand high paying, corporate level jobs to the community without much problem. It might cost a few billion dollars, but the return on investment would be huge!

Cover the Inner-Loop

If you're from Rochester, you know what the Inner-Loop is. For those who don't know, it's basically an expressway that circles around the central business district of Rochester. It's very convienient for those of us who use it daily, but it's also responsible for separating the business district from the rest of the city. In fact, it's kindof like having a moat around the castle. For years there has been talk about filling up the Inner-Loop with dirt... or maybe converting it into a canal, encircling the city. Those seem like very big, expensive projects which don't really do a whole lot. The existing canal is struggling to make money as a tourist attraction, and it seems unlikely that a downtown canal would work. Filling it with dirt might give the city more area to expand, but the city isn't expanding a whole lot, so what have we gained?

I suppose I should just add here that the reason people are talking about the Inner-Loop is because it's in a state of decay. It gets mowed a couple times a year, and the street surfaces are crumbling. It's a shame, because I do use it every day, and it could be a whole lot better! So, here's my suggestion, which I came to in discussions with one of my partners at the office: turn it into a tunnel! Maybe not the whole thing, because again, that results in a big area that we don't really need... but cover up strategically important areas - making pedestrian and parklike areas which connect the two areas. This would also benefit the roadways below because they would be protected against the elements thus increasing the life of the roads. Now, this doesn't guarantee that the Inner-Loop will be traveled more, but it is a realistic solution to a growing problem.

So, what do you think? Leave me some comments, and maybe I'll follow up on this. I think it's a worthwhile proposition, and I'd love to send off the suggestions to the NYSDOT!

I HATE Front Row Joe

I've got a few minutes here, as it's the lunch hour, so I thought I'd post my thoughts on something that irritates the hell out of me: Front Row Joe (or, FRJ). Have you been to a movie recently? If not, congratulations! You are smarter for not having done so! I have been to several in the past couple weeks alone, thanks in large part to the local dollar theatre. Now, anyone who's been to a movie recently knows that we are now under siege by advertising. It was one thing when you were riding on that damn Coca-Cola/popcorn roller coaster... but at least you knew you were close to getting to the feature film! Now we get what seems like an eternity of ads. It has gotten to the point where I'm close to boycotting anyone who advertising at the movies.

Well, the straw has finally broken... with Front Row Joe. If you don't know who that is, again... I envy you. FRJ is a walking cat creature wearing a tuxedo used by Cinemark as some sort of promotional tool. He's in all the "Welcome to Cinemark!" ads that run before movies. There are huge posters of him when you enter the theatre. But here's what really pisses me off.... before about a year ago, there was NO FRJ. He did not exist. Sometime in the recent past, a bunch of marketing gurus sat around and said to themselves... we need an image, and that image is at cartoon cat named FRJ. Apparently, Cinemark was too cheap to go out and buy the rights to an existing animated animal, so they came up with this monstrosity. Kind of like when advertisers don't want to pay to use certain popular music, so they create something that sounds awfully similar... to the point of irritating the hell out of you, cause you know what it's supposed to sound like, but here we are!

You may be saying to yourself, "Well, advertisers create stuff like this all the time... why does this particular fellow piss you off so much?!" Well, here's my answer... Cinemark knows moviegoers are stupid, and as a result, they're stuffing this shit down your throat. Oh wait, that's only part of my problem, because again, this is the case with lots of advertising. No, Cinemark wants you to believe that FRJ is this amazing cat thing that everyone just loves. I mean, just watch when he gets out of his limo to his screaming fans clamoring for an autograph! Clamoring fans? How could he have clamoring fans?? What could this recent addition to pre-movie mania have done to have CLAMORING FANS!?!? They're jumping up and down... like some pop star is walking down the aisle. In fact, some might say that Front Row Joe is bigger that the BEATLES EVER WERE!!!

Ok... must breathe... must take a deeeeep breath... better.

Oh, and now top it all off with the FRJ now has his own CALENDAR. Yes, just ante up a buck and you can get the FRJ calendar... full of images of FRJ... doing whatever it is he does when he's not working. But there's the hitch... other than in a few little instances, like the opening commercial in the movie, when else do you see FRJ? The fact is, you don't. Yet Cinemark treats it like everyone LOVES FRJ, to the point of needing to own the FRJ calendar! Now, maybe if they had bought the rights to use, oh, say, Garfield... I'd buy THAT calendar for a dollar. But FRJ??? Why? To enjoy his popcorny goodness? So I can remember the exciting time he walked out of his limo and down the red carpet to his screaming fans? I don't need a damn calendar to remember that!

Ok, once again... must breathe... ahhhhh.... feels soooo good!

I'm sure there's more to why I hate FRJ, but my lunchtime is nearly up. In fact, maybe I'll write again later today, if more reasons pop into my head. Or, maybe I can tell you why at least one of the movies I saw this weekend was wretched, and the other was just plain bad.

Board Meeting Tonight!

The Rochester Numismatic Association (www.the-rna.com) is having a Board Meeting tonight. I'm sure it will be thrilling! Oh wait, just kidding. Actually, I have a bunch of stuff on the agenda to talk about, but I really want to get through it quickly. I have no interest in sitting at a meeting and spinning my wheels for hours. I think I'll wait to write anything more, and instead post more after that meeting, as I'm sure I'll be in a better state of mind. As it is, right now I'm focused on grant applications for a new NIST program. Exciting stuff. Anywho... will write again later!

Ugh

Apparently there was a problem posting here... guess I'll just post nothing.

Back from Rome!

No, not Rome Italy, but Rome, New York! Oy' what a way to spend a morning. Up at 5am, on the road at 6am, and in Rome by 9am. On the bright side, the meeting was well worth it and upon arriving back in Rochester, I was treated to a very nice lunch at 2 Vine thanks to the Canadian Consulate! All in all, not a bad day. It's 3pm as I write this, and I'm about ready to call it a day (which is kind of sad) as I'm almost out of it.

I've got a couple meetings tomorrow, but neither will require too much on my part. Of course, if the second meeting results in a nice $3000 check, that would sure be nice. That would really wrap up a fantastic week so far. And if the first meeting results in anything, that would be nice too!

Otherwise, nothing else too interesting to report. I've got to buy my flight tickets for NYC today or I'm not going (yeah, right). That should be interesting. I've never been to Brookhaven National Lab before, and the project we're going down to discuss should be interesting. I'll post more when I get a chance.

One more for today...

I didn't like that first post, but for the sake of honesty, I'm not going to take it down. It read like one of those "Ispo facto" style texts that you find in some pre-formed template! As I'm typing this I'm also talking to my dad on IM about our excellent meetings of the day. Things are really coming along great with our company, it seems... just a couple things need to fall into place and it looks like we'll be in great shape. There are soooooo many good pieces coming into place, it just needs one to fall and the rest will slide in.

Anyway, other than business, there's a lot of neato' stuff going on. If you didn't happen to catch it from the description of this weblog, I'm engaged!
I'm engaged to the best women in the world! As soon as I get my scanner back, I'll be sure to post pictures. We scheduled our wedding date for next October, to be held at the Inn on Broadway. We've got the place and a floor of rooms set aside already, plus catering and the cake are taken care of. Now we just need to deal with about a million OTHER things to get this whole thing planned. Of course, I'm kindof enjoying the whole thing... even if there are about a million little things to think about. Julie and I went to a wedding show a couple days ago and had a great time blasting the horrible dresses in their fashion show. LOL

What an ordeal to get to the show, I might add... It was about 48 degrees outside.. the wind was blowing like crazy, and almost every street was blocked off downtown due to a charity cancer walk that was going on. I figured it would result in light attendance at the wedding show, but, um, apparently these women were intent on getting in! We practically had to push our way through all the brides-to-be, mothers, and a few grooms to get around the circuit.

Well, I'm sure a whole bunch of other exciting stuff will happen and will get posted in the not-too-distant future. I've got to get to bed early tonight. Going to Rome, NY tomorrow and the meeting starts at 9am. UGH... that means I have to be ON THE ROAD at 6:30am. Which mean I have to be out of the house at 6am... which means I have to be up and in the shower at 5am. Maybe for some people that's no big fucking deal, but for me, that's a big fucking pain in the ass!

Cheers'

First message!

Well, I've finally managed to join the rest of the universe and set up my own Weblog. If you're here already, you probably know me - lucky you! What should you expect here? Well, for the time being, nothing much. But hopefully over time there'll be plenty of photos of me, my fiancee', my house, my cat, and all sorts of other good stuff. If you're wondering why this is the Absinthe Weblog, well, I'm a big fan of the stuff, and my AIM personality is either AbsintheBleu or AbsintheOrange. Bleu is a reference to LaBleu, which is one of the best from Switzerland. Orange is really a play on Agent Orange, or perhaps Kubrick's Clockwork Orange. Eitherway, I couldn't get AbsintheGreen... which would have been ideal. Oh well.

Guess it's now time to post this first message and get to formatting this darn thing. Cheers'