Election Ads

With the Virginia elections right around the corner, the Campaign Ads are in full force. Most of them, I tune them out because they are utter nonsense. Really, imagine trying to sell any other product the way that Politicians sell themselves.

There is one type of ad that really cracks me up. If a candidate has served in the military, inevitably the line “he will fight for Norfolk they way he fought for America” just makes me giggle.

So, let’s carry this out. Literally.

Say the politician has been elected and sworn in. Then, one day things aren’t going so well for him. Now, it’s time to fight for Norfolk the way he fought for America…Out comes the grenade and the pin is pulled - “Fire in the hole” Boom!!

Only a couple of more weeks and we will finally be able to wash the mud off of the TV.

Cease and Desist

I really thought several times about posting this article because I have to admit, it involves me picking and choosing my morals at the buffet of life.

About a year ago, I discovered that I could download Television programs rather easily using a program called TED and uTorrent. TED acts like the TV Guide on your DVR and uTorrent is the mechanism by which the program is downloaded to your computer.

For the most part, I have kept to downloading programs that are from the major networks. Personally, I had no problems with this. For me, it was akin to my Father-In-Law recording Deep Space 9 and sending it to me when I was stationed in Japan. Justification, maybe.

This setup worked very well until I discovered PlayOn and Hulu. PlayOn acts as a Video Streaming service that will take streams from Hulu and distribute to either my Xbox 360 or my Archos TV+. This became my “preferred” method because I was playing within the confines of copyright laws.

However, PlayOn is sometimes spotty, so I still used the other method as a “Backup.” That is, until I got this email from my internet provider:

Dear ****** Online Customer:

 

We are writing to advise you that ****** recently received a notification from a copyright owner of a possible copyright violation that appears to involve your ****** Online account (the "Complaint"). The work(s) identified by the copyright owner in its Complaint are listed below.

We are contacting you because our records indicate that the Internet protocol (IP) address provided to us by the copyright owner was assigned to your service on the date and time identified by the copyright owner. While this activity may have occurred without your permission or knowledge by an unauthorized user, or perhaps by a minor who may not fully understand the copyright laws, as the primary account holder, you are legally responsible for all activity originating from your account.

Copyright work(s) identified in the Complaint:

Copyright infringement level: 1
Notice ID: 19168235
Title: Parks and Recreation (TV)
Protocol: BitTorrent
IP Address: **.***.***.*
DNS: pool-**-***-***-*.nrflva.fios.******.net
File Name: Parks.and.Recreation.S02E03.Beauty.Pageant.HDTV.XviD-FQM.avi
File Size: 183265068
Timestamp: 10-03-2009 07:38:14 UTC

Copyright infringement is a serious matter that violates U.S. copyright law and subjects infringers to criminal and civil liability. It also violates our Acceptable Use Policy (http://www2.******.net/policies/acceptable_use.asp) and Terms of Service (http://www2.******.net/policies/tos.asp). If you, or someone using your Internet connection, are engaged in the conduct alleged by the copyright owner, we urge you to stop (and ensure that anyone else who might have access to your Internet connection also stops).

Protecting Your Privacy: The copyright owner has not asked ****** to identify you, and ****** will NOT provide your identity without a lawful subpoena or other lawful process. However, if the copyright owner does issue a lawful subpoena or other lawful process that seeks information about your identity or account, ****** will be legally required to provide the requested information to the copyright owner.

If you have questions regarding this notice or would like to view Frequently Asked Questions about copyrights and piracy please visit us at www.******.net/copyrightfaq.

We appreciate your cooperation on this matter.

Sincerely,

****** Online

 

I have removed all of the activity from my Network as I do not want to deal with this. Unfortunately, Hulu will become a subscription service in 2010. I believe now, my new goal is to create a Media Center PC. 

Unsocialized

We homeschool our kids.

To be more accurate, Cindy teaches the kids, and I support them in whichever way will not screw them up. My oldest is in sixth grade with her sister a year behind.

I have to tell this story, because I thought it was funny.

At a Pony Club event, one of the girls was talking about her recent break up with a boy. Another girl stated that perhaps they shouldn’t be talking about the subject in front of my oldest because she was homeschooled, and not socialized. This girl did not realize that the broken hearted friend was also homeschooled.

Well, I thought it was funny anyways.

Songs I learned from USC Marching Band

This weekend is Alumni Band weekend, and to kick it off, I have several posts about my time in the USC Marching Band.

Tonight’s topic – Song Lyrics that have been stuck in my head for twenty years. Not a complete list, but hopefully, fairly clean.

Wild Thing…You make my heart sing…you in the red shirt…wild thing.

At some point, the lyrics of any song will inadvertently get changed. Case in point, while playing the song Wild Thing, a young, attractive student was dancing in the stands along with the song. She was wearing a red shirt, and well, she got worked into the song.

Hummala bebhuhla zeebuhla boobuhla
hummala bebhuhla zeebuhla bop

I think this was from my freshman year (1986) and is from the (then) popular song “Just a Gigolo” as sung by David Lee Roth. We played the song, but, when we came to the scat, we put our horns down and sung the words. Of course, to really sell this, we had to all pronounce it the same way. There was a great TA who was assigned to teach us. I am not sure if his heart was in it, but, to this day, I can still sing along with David.

She was a…

Riding to a from the games on the Trombone bus, there were tons of bawdy songs. I want to say that someone complained once and we were asked to stop.

We all love, the old one

Ok, not sure if those are the lyrics, but it is from the Wizard of Oz show. At some point, we put our horns down while marching in a circle singing these lyrics.

We hail thee Carolina

The singing of the Alma Mater by the USC Marching Band always signified the end of either a practice or a performance. We practiced three times a week and finished with the Alma Mater. When all of the fans had filed out of Williams Brice Stadium, we sung the Alma Mater. In good weather, and foul, hot or warm we never left the field without paying our tribute to USC.

Fantasy Football – Let’s Give a Cheer!

This is my first year playing in a Fantasy Football league. There was an automated draft last night, and my team is as follows:

I know Warner and Owens, but, I am clueless about everyone else. So, what should I do next?

Friday Morning, Toast and Coffee

I am up unusually early for a particular Friday when I have the day off. I made that decision in light of the fact that the kids still have home school today.

I’ve scanned the usual suspects in my blog reader, and have sat down to enjoy a bit of writing, reading, toast and coffee.

mmmmm….

Conversation with No one

I am sitting in Barnes and Nobles cafe, trying to finish a little bit of work left over from yesterday. Nothing strenuous, but, maybe a bit repetitious. The cafe americano is helping pass the time.

When I arrived, I noticed an elderly black gentleman sitting at a table. In front of him, was an empty cup of coffee and a yellow legal pad. He was leaning over, talking to a couple that was situated diagonally from his table.

They were not listening. Standing in line, I took quick, furtive glances to see if he had a blue tooth headset attached, but, if he did, it was not visible to me.

The couple at the table left the cafe, and the man continues to lean over and talk to the now empty space.

As I finished my work (and my americano), he has kept the ongoing conversation. Pausing as if listening to a reply, he chuckles at something that I could not quite hear. He has given directions to Gloucester Virginia, pontificated about the state of the church and shared a memory about going to a water park.

I wonder if I could ever have a prayer life with my Father, like the one this man is having with no one.