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Thursday, July 04, 2002
1:00 PM      

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

This is a day that's always associated with sweltering heat, barbecues, and fireworks for me. Everybody gets into the act of blowing things up, even if it's just a few bottle rockets. For several years, it was also associated with the birthday of Ms. Rosa Jackson, a girl I dated a few times in high school.

4th of July is a holiday that's resistant to hype. A lot of people thought they were going to make a mint on the Bicentennial, but folks mostly stayed home with their own grills, and didn't bother to buy the T-shirt either.

It's a funny holiday, because in a way it's perhaps a bit more contrived than most. There are several dates that could have represented the "birth" of America - from the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the day that the Brits retreated. The 4th is also a day that's celebrated in much the same way, no matter what your station in life. It's not an expensive day. It's not a gift or card day. It's a knock back some brews and eat some chicken / hamburgers / hot dogs with friends kind of day.

It's also the day that a bunch of crazy people try to wolf down as many hot dogs as they can in Coney Island. Last year, a 131-pound Japanese kid consumed 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes. I wonder how you prepare for an event like that, although I think it's stretching a bit to refer to hotdog eating as "athleticism"... Considering that one of the prizes is a year's supply of hot dogs, I wonder if the Nathan's people base the idea of a "year's supply" on a higher-than-average rate of consumption.

Here's hoping you enjoy your Fourth, however you celebrate it!

:::

I also associate the 4th of July with the start of one of the most amazing sporting events in the world - the Tour de France. 2500 miles on a bike in three weeks. Teams compete for position. The person with the shortest overall time wins, and no one can win it on their own.

This year the course features a week of racing on the flats in the North of France, followed by two weeks of mountains of the South (the Pyrenees and the Alps).

If you have cable or Satellite TV, OLN has good coverage.

Even if you've never watched, there's a good chance you know who Lance Armstrong is. His chances for a 4th straight victory are good. Not many men have won the Tour more than once, and there have only been five "hat trick" winners.

Another American, Greg LeMond, did win it three times against incredible odds, just not three times in a row. Greg has retired from bike racing, but has taken up auto racing, and started several business ventures, including a fitness company, a bike manufacturing company, and a chain of bagel shops. The fitness company page lists many of the racing innovations contributed by Greg LeMond. Among those innovations, Greg pioneered the aero bars that are now standard fare for time trial riders.

Now that Lance has won three times, the next plateau is matching the record of Miguel "Big Mig" Indurain, who won the race an incredible five times in a row. There were other five- timers, including Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault, but Indurain is the only consecutive 5-timer. BBC News has an interesting "Clash of the Titans" piece on Armstrong vs. Indurain.

Even though Lance points out clearly that "it's not about the bike", there is a lot of interest in the tools these elite athletes use to give them even the slightest edge. BBC has a good piece on the make-up of a Tour de France bike. Of course, it's in UK English: "tyres" instead of "tires", and pounds instead of dollars.

:::

All this talk of the Tour, which always finishes in Paris, has me thinking about places to see in Paris. If you're into cams, you might be interested in these.

On a related matter, you've probably seen one of those pop-under ads for the X10 wireless security camera. If you haven't, it's probably because you don't get around the web much — they're seemingly everywhere! Two interesting things about these ads: X10 pioneered the pop-under ad technique, which generates an outrageously effective "click-through" rate (something advertisers care very much about — now, everybody's doing pop-unders ) AND these ads are dripping with voyeuristic sexual innuendo. Is X10 really advertising security with their "tiny wireless remote camera"? Their site seems to indicate that, but the ads really seem to appeal to another crowd.

:::

Apple's XServe ships

Why it's a big deal: "... even now, several days removed from Steve-speak, I remain impressed with the server and with its potential for both improving Apple's future and making Unix, finally, a tool for the masses...."

:::

What's in a name?

I always thought that the name "Buttafuoco" was an unfortunate name, although in Joey's case something like "Adulter-Pedophilio" would have been more fitting. Standing on the corner the other day, I could have sworn I heard a mother address her son more than once as "Lucifer." I tried hard to imagine she was saying something else: if his name was really, perhaps, "Mustapha", that was a really odd pronunciation (moo - stuff - a). In the bodega on the corner, a father clearly addressed his daughter as "Genesis." There's a lot to live up to in that name. Grace Slick of Airplane / Starship fame bowed to eithr pressure or clarity, when she renamed her recently-born child. At first she'd dubbed her offspring "God." It's a little like walking around with a sign on your back that says "Kick me." Activist / Comedian Dick Gregory named one of his daughters "Miss," so that "...people would always know how to address her properly".

Then last night, I went to the movies. The woman behind the concession counter was wearing a name tag that read "Pernice." I don't know if she pronounced it "per - niss" or "per - nees," but I think it has to be one of the all-time unfortunate names. One glance at that tag, and the first word that came to mind was "pernicious." Interested in a definition? Here are a few:

Pernicious:
adj.
1.
a. Tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly: a pernicious virus.
b. Causing great harm; destructive: pernicious rumors.

2. Archaic. Evil; wicked.

Middle English, from Old French pernicios, from Latin pernicisus, from pernicis, destruction ? per-, per- + nex, nec-, violent death...

L. perniciosus, from pernicies destruction, from pernecare to kill or slay outright; per + necare to kill, slay...Having the quality of injuring or killing; destructive; very mischievous; baleful; malicious; wicked.

...exceedingly harmful [syn: baneful, deadly, pestilent] 2: working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; "a subtle poison" [syn: insidious, subtle]

... so by her name, the lady behind the counter seemed to be advertising herself as a subtle killer: an understated Nikita of sorts...

:::

The 2.0 version
You might be wondering what we saw at the movies last night: "Men in Black II." It was a good sequel, and an enjoyable popcorn movie. We had a number of good laughs. The Baha Men may be one-hit-wonders, but they've done wonders with their one hit. The song has a prominent part in one of the movie's best gags.

All of my favorite characters from the first movie (except the under-used Linda Fiorentino and,of course, "the bug") are back in this movie. The combination of quirky characters and out-of-this-world plot make this movie work well.

There was a missing ingredient - novelty. In the first movie, Will Smith's character was essentially a stand-in for us in the audience. He didn't know what was going to happen next, and our amazement was reflected on-screen in his face. In this movie, we know the parameters of that world, and Will is downright jaded.

The plot has enough twists, turns, and bumps to keep it interesting to the end, but there wasn't as much to sink your teeth into, as the first movie. Still, we didn't feel cheated when we left, and that's a lot to say about the sophomore offering of something that has all the earmarks of a Hollywood franchise offering.

and...
There was a nice touch about last night's screening. A short animated film appeared before the main movie. It was fun, even though they went a little overboard with one of the gags. I'm able to say I'm old enough to remember when they used to show cartoons before the main feature at movie theaters. This was a throw-back to those times, and I hope it turns out to be the start of a trend.


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