Big Media's Worst Nightmare

We're coming to get you...

Spike Jonze on Al Gore

Back in the mid-90s, I thought Tipper Gore was evil incarnate for the work she was doing with the P.M.R.C. to censor music (I still disagree with her on that). In 2000, I, like many folks, just couldn't relate to Al Gore at all (though I'm please to say I didn't vote for Bush!).

I know George Bush won a lot of votes because people liked his "folksiness" while the public perception of Gore was that he was "stiff." You have wonder if this Spike Jonze documentary on Al Gore had been released during that election (if only Al had invented YouTube earlier), how many people could have related to him more...and perhaps changed the course of our history for decades to come.

Bizarre Public Art

I stumbled across this blog entry of bizarre public art today. Check it out.

In particular, item 39 is almost identical to some statues I noticed in the Time Warner center in New York City. And just like in the picture here, the statue in NYC had a certain part of his anatomy that had been fondled so many times that it was actually a different color from the rest of the statue.

I guess some folks just can resist the urge.

RailHawks 'Til I Die

The new pro soccer team here in Cary announced their name this week -- Carolina RailHawks FC. The name was selected as part of a name-the-team contest and, as luck would have it, RailHawks was the name that me and my buddy Jonathan submitted into the contest. Although I've been taking a lot of abuse from some folks on the internet that don't see the brilliance of the name, it'll all be worth it as I have won 2 lifetime season tickets to all the club's games!

To find out exactly what is a RailHawk and why that's the name we came up with, read the story over on my soccer blog or the coverage in The Cary News.

Duke Gardens

The Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham are a beautiful, serene oasis here in the Triangle and a wonderful backdrop for photographing the kids.

Click here for the full album of pictures from the Gardens on Flickr.

Stateside

I had to get up Friday morning in Prague at 4:25am to make my flight to Brussels, en route home...before most of my friends back in the States even went to bed. When I got to Brussels, all the newspapers were screaming about the pending doping scandal that was threatening to tear the 2006 Tour de France apart. By the time I reached New York 10 hours later, it was confirmed...the riders that finished 2nd - 4th in last year's Tour de France are OUT for being linked to Operación Puerto. With Armstrong in retirement, that leaves American's Floyd Landis, George Hincapie, and Levi Leipheimer all eyeing podium places in Paris.

I managed to make it back home withough finding out the details of the Germany v. Argentina match (although I did overhear someone saying Germany had advanced) so I watched it when I got back home on Tivo. After a pretty good night's sleep I watched the Italy v. Ukraine match from yesterday and now I'm settling in on the sofa to watch the Le Tour's Prologue and the two WC semis today. Should be a nice day to relax, play with the kids, and get back on Eastern time.