Michael Ruff. There are moments when music transcends into truth. Last night was one of those moments. Its difficult to put into words, because its truly about that one moment in time. Suffice to say, there are two things I never thought I'd see Michael do - cut his hair, or pray. Last night opened my eyes up to new possibilities and a new perspective on those so-called "mysterious ways"...

On a more personal note: Good music, good friends - its a rare treat and a welcome combination. Thanks Kevin for introducing us to Brooke and Monique. Next time you and Shelle will have to join us.

Clever Advertising. Mitsubishi car commercials always seem to hit the right note when it comes to catchy jingles. The advertising agency that handles the campaign has a good sense of what will spark interest with both the commercial and the music tracks. If you've been curious about the music and would like to know the history and artists, here's a list of the commercials and their appropriate musical talent...

Song Title / Artist / Automobile

"Ready to go" / Republica / 1999 Galant
"Lust for Life" / Iggy Pop / 1999 Galant
"Crazy Train" / Ozzy Ozborne / 1999 Montero Sport
"Pick up the Pieces" / Average White Band / 2000 Eclipse
"In the Meantime" / Spacehog / 2000 Eclipse
"Spybreak" / Propellerheads / 2000 Galant
"Superfly" / Curtis Mayfield / 2001 Montero Sport
"Ladyshave" / Gus Gus / 2001 Eclipse
"I See You Baby" / Groove Armada / 2001 Eclipse
"Shaft" / Isaac Hayes / 2001 Eclipse Spyder
"Get what you give" / New Radicals / 2001 Montero
"20th Century Boy" / T-Rex / 2001 Montero Sport
"Start the Commotion" / Wiseguys / 2001 Eclipse
"Ooh La La" / (Re-Recorded) Rod Stewart / 2001 Galant
"One Week" / Barenaked Ladies / 2002 Lancer
"Days Go By" / Dirty Vegas / 2003 Eclipse
"Breathe" / Telepopmusik / 2003 Outlander
"Ooh La La" / Rod Stewart / 2003 Galant
"Horn Dog" / Overseer / 2004 Endeavor SUV

Random Link . DVD-R Help

Appreciate . Blurbism - Photography

Random Link . Hydra

Alive and Kicking. I know I've been remiss of late in updating the log. Being busy isn't a real good excuse but I must say that it is a definite change for me. I can't even remember the last time I was busy at work so its a nice feeling because it makes the day go quicker and it serves to remind me that I'm learning new things at a pretty rapid pace. In any case, things at work continue in a positive fashion and I have my first business travel looming in the near future. Its nice to have perks, its even better to enjoy your work. I think I've found a happy compromise.

Karen and I spent a nice quiet weekend at home and I spent a small part of my bonus on some DVDs I've been meaning to get. I've begun to realize that at this point in the game I really need to enter our collection into a database or Excel spreadsheet to keep track of them. I never know what I have and don't have when I'm looking for older titles. Also, I just realized that I never got my hands on "They Live" or "Prince of Darkness"... come to find out - these titles are now out of print, sigh. John Carpenter movies are some of my favorites and those two were definitely on my radar so I don't know how they slipped through the cracks but they did. Rumors are they won't be getting re-print but we've heard that before. I guess I just have to make a better effort to stay on top of the release dates.

I know its a Monday but we'll just have to make the best of it, the week should go pretty fast all things considered... Remember, all you Michael Ruff fans out there, we've got live dates tonight and tomorrow night - I hope to see some of you there. Karen and I have out of town visitors that will be accompanying us to tomorrow night's show. Its definitely the highlight of our week...

Random Link . Snopes

Final Vinyl. Sigh, today the oldest record that I have in my collection is 23 years old. Even worse is that my niece and nephew don't even know what records are. On the other hand, I never thought I'd hang on to stuff that long. The only thing that I own that's older is my Steve Austin doll (yes, with the bionic grip) are my original Kenner Star Wars figures (complete with original weapons). One of these days, when I have some extra time I will have to add some of these pieces of nostalgia to my eBay fire sale... Do you have your own treasure trove from childhood or adolescence?

The Cog. This is probably one of the most creative ads I have ever seen. Let's see if you can figure out what its all about...

Random Link . Pokia

Appreciate . Michael Cole

Tax Day. It blows - nuff said.

Experience . The Matrix Reloaded (Final Trailer)

Back from the dead. Well, if you could hear me talk I would sound like I have marbles in my nostrils. I just spent the last four days hoping that the ringing in my ears and the headache was just a dream. Of course the upside was that I got to spend the time at home being cranky and medicated. In retrospect, the worse thing (in my opinion) is getting sick while its warm and sunny outside. It just seems that the weather was brought in to taunt you and remind you that you can't enjoy the sun.

So what did I do while I was sick? Well, for the first time since we got digital cable last year I was finally able to watch a movie on a pay channel from the beginning... You'd think this would be an easy feat but I can't tell you how many times I've caught the same show at the same time break somewhere in the middle - how annoying. I also had the wildest and most lucid dreams that I've had in a while. Some involving government plots and others involving conspiracy theories and the martial arts. To that end, I have my friend Nyquil to thank for those...

There's not much more to note for now - Karen and I will be attending Bimmerfest and the Toyota Grand Prix this weekend so that means our weekend is pretty much "shot"... I finally caved in and paid for full membership to Classmates and as it turns out I've already made contact with an old friend and last but not least one of my New Years resolutions have come to pass - I have reached a new rank in my LimaLama studies...

So there you have it - still recuperating but back in the game...

Random Link . XTR

Random Link . Fav Icon

The boob tube. I've noticed a disturbing trend on television lately. I'd say the problem is really two-fold and it also seems to be escalating... There are two dominant themes pervading our television channels - The first of course, if obvious - "reality TV". At last count there were approximately 12 shows that deal with "reality", even though being from the advertising world I know that what we see on television is nowhere near reality. There is no way a network or network executive is going to allow us to see us stripped of everything that makes us presentable on the screen. These so called reality shows are so tightly controlled that we can only hope that the entire thing isn't orchestrated completely.

Despite the inroads that this type of programming has made there is an equally popular type of programming looming just under the radar... the family show. I've noticed a huge resurgence in this trend - even more to the point that the WB and UPN now have their versions of the nuclear family and its comedic diatribe. I made a count last night and realized that reality TV is actually outgunned by the family show. The funny thing is that the trend is so popular right now, the networks are continuing to create new shows under the same banner of "television for the whole family". Everything from Romano to Wayans and everybody in between it seems that the only reprise we have is to hang out with Wil and Grace or Anna Nicole Smith.

I'm not sure how much longer this is going to go on, but at some point I hope everyone realizes that neither trend is worth anything on its own when the channel is flooded. Besides, if we really wanted "reality TV" we'd see a lot more broken homes, latch key kids, lower wages and a lot more use of the bathroom...

Traitor. Haven't we all had enough of Geraldo Rivera?

Film Critics. It appears that after his first acquital Jon Johansen will be appearing in court again to defend his activities - mainly, that he managed to circumvent DVD encryption protection which allowed him to play his DVDs on a UNIX operating system. Even though Johansen has managed to be acquitted when he appeared in court earlier this year it appears that Hollywood is going to try again. Claiming that video piracy is costing the studios 3 Billion dollars a year, the Motion Picture Association of America will be represented in this case and Hollywood will be watching the outcome closely.

The case may be important in many ways but it just goes to show how behind the times the justice system is when it comes to technology and its policing. As of today its already possible to copy DVDs and the process will only get easier. I don't think the outcome of the court case will have any effect on the latter.