The thrill is gone

So it looks like a week is all it took. Looking at my Contacts list in Adium, only three people are still bothering with Google Talk. Everyone’s back to AIM or .Mac on iChat.

Iosis

No, not oasis, Iosis. And it’s from, of all companies, Ford. With the exception of the neo-retro Mustang, this is probably the best concept to come out of the Blue Oval in quite a while.

Esquivalience

Via Gruber via Kottke, the low-down on a fake word.

My wife finds the positive

My wife grew up in Kenner, in Jefferson Parish. For you geographical neophytes, Jefferson is due west of Orleans Parish. If you’ve ever driven in to New Orleans from the west, or flown in to New Orleans International Airport, you’ve driven through Kenner and Jefferson Parish. My wife’s childhood home is certainly under a good bit of water at this point. Though we have no word from him yet, her father is north of Lake Pontchartrain, at his horse farm in Franklinton, so hopefully, we have no family worries, post-Katrina.
She has been very distressed, however. This was where she grew up. We lived in the area for six years. I grew up sixty-odd miles away in the Baton Rouge area. We have ties. We have friends. We feel despondent. I confessed to Tom earlier today that my heart aches.
My wife comes in to the study a few moments ago, to browse online news, and says:

“The only positive thing about all of this is that we haven’t heard Cindy Sheehan’s name in the past three days.”
Crap.

Promotion

Congratulations to Michael Hyatt, who is going to have to change the graphic on his blog after his promotion yesterday.
(What Mr. Hyatt doesn’t know, is that when I finally get around to writing my Christian-worldview technothriller, I will relentlessly harass him to publish it. So keep that between us, okay?)
Seriously, though, Mr. Hyatt has big shoes to fill, and we wish him the best and will keep him in our prayers. Sure, all businesses exist to make money, but my view is that Christian businesses, and notably in this case, a publishing house, exist for a higher purpose as well.

“All things bad are America’s fault.”

So sayeth the Sheehan’s professionally choreographed media frenzy, as reported by someone who was at Camp Casey.
[Wave of the phin to my favorite Toad.]

Do you name your car?

I read this and thought of Tom and Tiffany.
For the record, I do not name my automobiles. Macs, firearms, yes. Autos, no.

Fall ball

The fall softball season began yesterday for the co-ed church league I participate in. We opened against the sophomore contenders of First United Methodist of Lewisville. (Their rookie season was earlier this year, during the spring.) A lot of youngsters on the FUMC team, but that can cut both ways.
We had a full complement of players show up, and then some. We had three-way and two-way rotations going, as well as outright substitutes. I managed to play three of the six innings, squatting behind the plate and taking the hurls from Heather, our second pitcher of the game. So not much fielding work for me during the first game.
My time in the batter’s box showed the results of not putting bat to ball in four months. I went 0-2, sending out grounders that resulted in fielder’s choices, getting my teammates plugged at second. Definitely time to hit the cages, and friends for company be damned.
Everyone else did well at the plate, and our pitching and defense were superb. The final tally was 17-1, and we begin the season with a win. No play Labor Day weekend, and Katrina has seen fit to deny our trip to the New Orleans area to finish clearing out my wife’s childhood home. So I’ll try to take advantage of the off-week. Anyone for the batting cages and throwing around?

About that Safari update

Dear Apple,
Is it really and truly necessary for a x.0.x upgrade of a web browser to force an full-blown system restart? Think of the minutes of productivity lost for this single user. Think of the total hours lost by large corporate entities.
Oh, Safari is closely tied to Mac OS X? How very Microsoft of you, Steve.
Get your act together, gang. It’s a web browser. Updates and upgrades shouldn’t force restarts.
Thanks,
Annoyed Retrophisch™

Hi, we’re from the government and we have nothing better to do

Chicago Tribune:

The Tennessee attorney general wants the country singer who made the song “Redneck Woman” a hit to stop “glamorizing” the use of smokeless tobacco at her concerts.
Retrophisch Nutshell Version™:
+ singer is Gretchen Wilson, song in question is “Skoal Ring,” the title of which refers to the imprint made in the back pocket of blue jeans from a can of Skoal
+ Tennessee AG is worried about a tobacco settlement signed by the state and tobacco manufacturers, including the maker of Skoal
+ Ms. Wilson is not paid by The U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, maker of Skoal
+ people pay to get in to her concerts, and Ms. Wilson is not on the Skoal payroll, so exactly how is her video moment being construed as an “advertisement”?
Conclusion: more Big Brothering and posturing by a politician who should just keep his mouth shut.
(For the record, I have a few cousins who engage in the chewing of smokeless tobacco, but like cigarette smoking, I have always found it a disgusting habit and in no way endorse it.)