I Can't Drive 55

Ever wonder what would happen if everyone actually drove no faster than the posted speed limit on a freeway? Then you'll want to check this video out. Amazing stuff.

55: A Meditation On the Speed Limit Around the Perimeter

(contains PG-13 language)

My instant video library

The local video store is closing up soon, which saddens me greatly, because it's one of those local, independent (sort of) stores. The last day to rent was last Monday, and all movies had to be returned by Wednesday night.

On Thursday, the frenzy began. All of the stores movies were for sale. Large numbers of people crammed into the store and bought literally boxes of movies for an average of six or seven bucks apiece. VHS tapes were usually four bucks. I wasn't able to make it into the store when the sale began, but int he evening, there were plenty of good movies left to buy. I will admit that I spent more money on movies than I ought to have, but much, much less than I would have spent paying full price.

Yesterday Katie asked me which movies I ended up buying (becuase I had called her from the store to see if there were any movies she wanted me to look for for her, which there weren't), and the funny thing is, I couldn't remember more than three titles. I said that I'd have to make a list and tell her later. Here, then, is what I bought:

VHS:
12 Angry Men (1997)
All the President's Men (1976)
Don Quixote (2000)
The Game (1997)
The General (1998)
Jackie Chan's Police Story (1985)
Sleepers (1996)
The Spanish Prisoner (1997)
The Wild Bunch (1969)

DVD:
Apollo 13 (1995)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Blue Streak (1999)
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Danny Deckchair (2003)
Dear Frankie (2004)
Empire Falls (2005)
eXistenZ (1999)
The Good Girl (2002)
Intermission (2003)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
Millions (2004)
National Security (2003)
One Hour Photo (2002)
Ong Bak: Thai Warrior (2003)
Out of Sight (1998)
The Quiet American (2002)
The Replacements (2000)
Runaway Jury (2003)
Something the Lord Made (2004)
Spellbound (2002)
Sunshine (1999)
Superman II (1980)
Superman III (1983)
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Team America: World Police (2004)

Most of these I've seen already. A few, however, I'll admit I'm taking a chance on.

Sorry about my absence; I was busy having my @&^%# identity stolen

Hey, I'm still alive, but I'm relegated to only posting from home, since I no longer have access to the Internet while at work—including on my own time. (And I'm working overtime again, so that's just less time at home.)

I haven't only been neglecting my blogging. I've also been procrastinating my bill paying, too, since I do all of it online. Tonight, as I was preparing to pay a credit card statement, I noticed some activity on the card that I knew wasn't mine.

For starters, I haven't used the card in more than three months. It sits in a hidden location in my house...I don't carry it around with me.

Second, and most ironically, there were two transactions on the same day (3/19), of more than $500 each, from...Victoria's Secret. Make all the jokes you want to, but the fact is that I have never been into a Victoria's Secret store in my life—heck, when I walk by one, I intentionally look the other direction! I have no wife or girlfriend to buy lingerie for (not that I would need to buy lingerie for a girlfriend anyway), nor do I have any other reason to step onto their real estate. So there.

Third, the purchases made (four in total before I called the fraud department) put my account balance over the credit limit for the card. Not by tens, but by hundreds of dollars. I may not have the brightest mind out there (sometimes I'm about as sharp as a cue ball) but I know not to go over my limit on my credit cards by hundreds of dollars.

This whole thing really came as a shock to me because I believe I have taken many steps to protect myself against this type of fraud. My mailing address is a locked post office box. I don't carry my cards on my person. I do receive those annoying, useless "convenience checks" but I always (cross-cut) shred them. My statements are kept inside of my locked house and I only keep a year's worth, after which I shred them. I rarely make purchases online, and when I do, it's always on a secure site with an https: URL.

Whoever stole my identity was able to manufacture a new card in my name. I know this because the credit card company said that the purchases were swiped, not made online or with a convenience check. This means that there is a fake card out there with my name and number on it, with a forged signature (in case the merchants actually bother to check the signature). Fortunately, the credit card company noticed the unusual activity and stopped a $950 transaction from paying. So sorry, Nordstrom. I'm sure the clothes were nice.

The account is now closed, but I still need to call another fraud office tomorrow to individually dispute the transactions. So there goes my lunch break. Guess I'll have to read my Grisham novel while driving again.

Recent photos

The wacky painting on the wall at the office where I pay for my parking.

Might want to think about buying some curb feelers, there.

The ominous evening sky.

Trying for artistic motion blur, facing east...

...and again, facing the west.

It actually snowed last night. Interesting, considering the weather was warm enough to mow the lawn on Saturday.

Anothr rejected McSweeney's List

WHAT JAMES BROWN
MIGHT HAVE PUT
IT ON IF HE
HADN'T PUT IT
"ON THE ONE".

The four

The nine

His tab

The eight

The two

The Ritz

The seven

A train to visit its aunt in Oklahoma

The six

Grabbing the shirttails of another blogger...

Imagine the intro to "The Simpsons" done with live actors. Well, it's been done, and it's awesome.

Because I found this through another blogger, I'll make you go to his blog, Gone Ronin, to get the link. Thanks Ghost Dog!

Still fizzed out

I can't believe it's been a whole year since I last drank any kind of soda. This calls for a celebration!

I'm gonna have a Coke and a smile.

Wow, two modern wonders in one day?

Well, three, technically, if you count the two items I talk about in this post.

Øresund Link

This is a bridge/tunnel that carries motor and rail traffic between Sweden and Denmark. It cost DKK 12 billion (US$1.94 billion) to build, and took several years to complete! Google Maps link

-------------------------

Trevipark Underground Car Park

This is pretty darned cool, unless you are claustrophobic. You drive into a loading bay, and an elevator lowers your car to the level of an open parking slot, rotating as necessary. It reminds me of those sandwich vending machines, the ones with the sliding door. Pretty nifty!

So I'm guessing those aren't chocolate chips

In my Inbox this morning:

That's right, they used a picture of Sesame Street's Oscar the Grouch to encourage people to come to the company cookie bake-off. No, not the Cookie Monster. Oscar. The character who lives in a garbage can and eats garbage.

"Come on down to the Cookie Bake-Off! Our cookies taste like garbage*!"

*For the record, the cookies baked by the nice lady in my department do not taste like garbage.

Wonders of the modern world

Check this out, it's now possible to get hard-packed ice cream, made on-the-spot...from a vending machine! That's insane!!!

MooBella

A little blog design talk

You may have noticed that I made a few new title banners in the last couple of days. I also changed the rotation from eleven images to just ten. So now, all but one of the current banners features a photo that I took.

I'm thinking that in the next round of banners, I might start introducing color photos instead of black and white. It's tricky, because I create the banners at home, where I have an LCD screen, which displays a little brighter and less color-saturated than regular monitors; so there's the risk that the new banners could be too dark. But it might be fun to try, anyway. What do you think?

Actually, I'm starting to get the redesign bug again, for the whole blog. I think I'm getting tired of this color scheme. I think I'd like something overall lighter. Not pastel lighter, but just not with so many heavy colors. A white or light grey background might be nice.

So, any ideas? Anyone?

More cowbell?

This is not highbrow comedy

So I guess I'm going to become one of those old guys with insanely long eyebrows. I don't want it to be so, but I'm already showing signs. I have one or two eyebrow hairs on each side of my face that are like an inch long. I have to yank them out because I can't stand them. Imagine how long they'll grow to when I'm 70.

On the other hand, since my eyebrows and I are already in the habit of providing entertaining observational commentary, you could be looking at the next Andy Rooney.

It zips! It clips!

About a two months ago, the plastic strip that attached to my coat's zipper pull broke off. A week later, fed up with having nearly nothing to grip when I wanted to zip my jacket, I attached a large paperclip to the pull.

It really stands out. But to this day, nobody's noticed.