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Test post from ping.fm, another droll webish thing I'll undoubtedly ignore after 72 hours

You might have noticed that I've ditched this place. I'll maintain it for my friends list, but people who want to follow what I get up to should take a look at http://www.apotheos.net

So we saw Angels in America : A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, Part I: Millenium Approaches last night. It was performed by the local University theatre department. Good god, what a fucking mouthful that name is.

It was surprisingly competently acted for University theatre, but the star performer was without a doubt the script which was ascerbic and witty and clever as you would expect a Pulitzer winning script to be. It was a bit anticlimactic as, plot wise, the fucking thing didn't make any sense having stopped half way through the narrative. I'm not sure how the play made the splash it did back in the early eighties as this is how it was originally performed, with a giant obnoxious cliffhanger.

I can accept cliffhangers in episodic television. It sucks so much punch out of a dramatic performance.

This must be the sign of the apocalypse we have all been dreading.

Yes. That is actually BNL. Yes. That is the language "Simlish" from The Sims videogames.

Despite conspicuous tequila consumption, I did not die in Mexico. Internet access on the boat was slow and fifty cents a minute so I couldn't communicate freely.

Mardi Gras isn't nearly as seedy as Girls Gone Wild paints it out to be. If I was the City of New Orleans, I'd sue them for slander or something. There is basically one street that has the capacity to degrade into drunken debauchery, but on a night like last night - a Thursday, locals presumably at home - it was pretty tame. Yes, there were some tits, not much. More to be found if you went out looking for it. But 80% of people on Bourbon Street were not the sort to leer at the ladies. The other 20% were, and were kind of disgusting looking, and most of the ladies ignored them completely. The only place I saw beads being thrown from a balcony was at a strip club trying to drive up business. All in all, kind of sad.

However the rest of New Orleans is definitely festive, if not really fucking cold (3 degrees C last night). Parades flow down the city streets and beads fly around everywhere. 99% of beads I've seen have been unconnected with acts of exhibitionism, which gives me some hope for humanity.

Dinner was excellent last night, although finding a place to eat was a bit of a challenge. Ended up at an almost-bar type place that created some very satisfying creole/cajun food that seemed entirely home cooked, although I can't say much about its authenticity although it was yummy. Unfortunately their bar prices are pretty ridiculous and the bill was considerable. ($8 for a single, $10 for a double, but only $3 for a beer. Don't ask me to explain the logic behind this pricing)

Last day in NOLA today, more tours booked and planned. The Gray Line "Ghost Tour" last night was mostly if not entirely retarded, even if we did get to see a haunted house that Nicolas Cage just bought. All that made me do was think about how lame lame lame Ghost Rider is going to be, yet simultaneously how someone I know is going to love it (for reasons unknown).

In body, but not in spirit.

We did a Hurricane Katrina tour and while I don't have time to process the images I can share some thoughts.

I was completely taken aback by the level of devastation found over a year later. Neighborhoods that were 70% abandoned and tilting wrecks with a few families eking out a living amidst the rubble. The stain of the water line on the buildings was a constant companion as we toured areas of all income levels. The guide taught us how to interpret the symbol left on the buildings by the rescuers to indicate a structure had been cleared. Very few of these documented civilian casualties, but many indicated dead cats and dogs. Some buildings had painted-on cell phone numbers as a calling card for the residents that had permanently deserted the dwelling.

The tale told of how/why Katrina happened (the Federal Government has always been assholes) and why there is so much damage left unrepaired (the Federal Government is still being assholes) is subject to interpretation of the bias of the presenters. However, the evidence of the situation is undeniable and extremely substantial. Vast areas of the city bore the look of a woman having just been sexually assaulted and then had the police tell her it was her fault for having been/done something. Very tragic.

I hope to get some images up, perhaps I'll just do a dump, so you can see what I saw. But I'm a shitty photographer so don't hold your breath waiting for it. Certainly there must be better evidence of the situation out there already online.

Personal Note: I was born in the same city as the founder of New Orleans.

So hot on the heels of my Vancouver adventure (fully funded by work) we are on a family vacation to The Big Easy. Not just my wife, but most of my inlaws and some of their family as well. We departed yesterday and as you can see we don't pack lightly.




Note the princess decor of my 11 year old daughter. She lives with her mom, so her room doubles as a luggage staging area.

We flew through Houston, Texas, so now I can say I've officially been to Texas, the place where dildos are illegal. Awesome. No photos of that though, its just another god damned airport.

So we are here now, and waiting for the inlaws to arrive. Here is what it looks like from the 24th floor of the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.



That there is the Mississippi, the river with the oddest name that everyone everywhere can spell perfectly every time. I don't know why the public school systems are so fond of the alliterative capacities of its name, but at least I didn't need to Wikipedia it to get it right. Bonus.

Nothing much to report yet despite it being the middle of Mardi Gras. We got in at 11 and promptly had no end of trouble finding a place to eat. The all-day dining restaurant in the hotel was closed, which makes one question their definition of all-day. It was the remains of Valentines Day when we got back from the casino where we "enjoyed" thoroughly average sandwiches that cost too much so we proceeded to enjoy the merits of a king sized bed. I'm not going to blog about that.

But I did ask Jen to show me some Mardi Gras spirit this morning.



She doesn't know I'm posting that. Don't tell her. (pro tip: I'm kidding. She knows)

We've got 2 days of tours lined up. First is a tour of Hurricane Katrina damage. Yes, pretentious tourists busing through the Ninth Ward. I wonder if I should get some singles to throw out the window to ease my guilt. I hope the tour company gives the locals a cut of the proceeds but I bet they don't.

So welcome to Vancouver. We're here for Web Directions North and its 2 in the morning local time (3 my time) and I can't fucking sleep. I can't remember the last time I was this far away from my wife. I wish she was here.

The city was foggy when we arrived and has been foggy since. I wish I'd taken more photos, but this will have to do. Its the view from the arrivals bus stop.

(right click -> view image for larger)



My room is pretty much the most mediocre room I've stayed in in ages. Check out its mediocrity.



Indeed, it features an obnoxious grate in the ceiling that rattles when the cooling is on. I found with a little pressure on the grate from below it would shut the hell up. It was time to brainstorm up a more permanent solution so I could get some sleep.




I really can't wait to go home. Thats a pretty lame way to start such a trip, huh?

The only reason I keep this livejournal is to keep tabs on Akolade and Phenyx in one convenient location. I have nothing interesting to write here. I have lots interesting to write, but I fear rejection if I reveal my inner thoughts. So I will die having them unspoken and unread.

In unrelated news, this is the funniest thing I've seen in a while:

Looking for a Mac OS X password manager? Check out 1passwd.

Looking for a kick as way to kill some time and get some free Mac apps? Check out Macheist. Email me if you need an invite.

Conversation at our house:

Me: "Do you think Paul hates me?"
Wife: "No, I think he hates me."

...on the occasion of the delivery of a 10 day guest pass to World of Warcraft.

So, don't know if you follow My Dream App (http://www.mydreamapp.com), so the summary is that it pitted conceptual ideas against each other with the winner to have their product actually developed.

The winner is a fucking desktop widget for weather. YAY WEATHER. I look out the fucking window for that.

Indeed, the top 3 were all shit.

What a disgraceful waste of time.

(Yes I Know Its Old)

While out for dinner with my wife and her best friend...

Me: Said or did something silly, as per ususal.
Best Friend: "You know, I'm starting to get the idea how wierd it must be to live with you."
Me: "Sweetheart, thats like finding a dead Jew in a closet and thinking you understand the holocaust"
Women: ...

*peals of laughter ensue*

Still awesome 30 years later.

Chapters was having a sale on Marvel graphic novels. While I've gotten into the Sandman and Alan Moore "serious business" novels I've really avoided the realms of mainstream comicdom as I find them convoluted and a bit silly.

But following a name I know I did snatch up the paperback of this since it seemed like a safe diversionary sidestory authored by Gaiman:

Marvel 1602

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_1602

I was also interested in the Whedon-authored X-Men books, but only volume 2 was on sale. Way to go, stupid Chapters.