Archive for October, 2009

Baseball scorekeeping app for iPhone

Friday, October 30th, 2009
iScore Baseball Scorekeeper app description in iPhone app store
I don’t remember who asked me whether there were any baseball scorekeeping apps for the iPhone, but a quick search shows that there are several, including a highly-rated one called “iScore Baseball Scorekeeper”.1

Were I a journalist, I’d note the existence of this and other such apps and would try to spot some pattern that said something about the pace of technological progress, society, our selves. Something about holding fast to old traditions while updating them to take advantage of the devices on which we increasingly depend in this day and age. I can almost hear the report, the calm NPR-commentator-voice, talking with old folk in the stands at Wrigley Field, the sound of peanut vendors hawking their wares carefully mixed into the background to provide a sense of place to underscore the sounds of pencils scratching away, recording the last play.

Since this is a blog, I can and prefer to take the path of cynicism, of snark, and instead I’ll say the following: “Can apps for dedicated trainspotters be far behind?”23

  1. If you’re curious about Baseball Scorekeeping, this Wikipedia article may be of use. [↩]
  2. If you’re curious about Trainspotting, there’s a Wikipedia article for that. [↩]
  3. OK, I admit that in the past I’ve thought that it might be enjoyable to learn how to mark up a baseball scorecard, but that was just the OCD talking. [↩]

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Crossing Michigan off my list, for now

Friday, October 30th, 2009
removing "lowell, Michigan" from the iPhone weather application

The winds of change. They feel like the Santa Anas.

Note to friends and family: I am officially back in Los Angeles. Working in Burbank for the moment. Hope to see y’all soon.

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Experiments in hanging with Jews

Sunday, October 25th, 2009
I encountered a new food item this morning. See if you can identify it. Yes, it really is considered a food item by some. I challenge you to find another sour-cream-laden foodstuff that has the chutzpah to emblazoned itself with any manner of healthy heart icon. Omega3 my donkey. I had a piece, it was all right.

See the full gallery on posterous

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In first class, you get to demonstrate seat belt use to yourself

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

That’s the conclusion I draw from the fact that there’s a seat belt demo unit in the seat-back pocket in front of me.

If I could demo any airplane safety technology to the rest of the passengers, i’d choose the breathing masks that, I’m told, will fall from the ceiling in the event of a MUMBLE. The stewardesses who always demonstrate that device never give a very convinvlcing performance. I think I could better represent the terror that a passenger would feel at such a moment.

“I’ve pulled and pulled, and the bag just won’t inflate!”

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Business Class!

Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Ed was right about the meaning of my seat number for the second leg of my trip, the 1hr flight from Atlanta to Sarasota. I’m in first class, or business class, whatever it’s called when they charge double for the ticket and supply you with booze and enough space to actually open a hinged cellular telephone without hitting the next passenger in the back of the head.

I like to imagine that, were the plane to hit an iceberg and begin to sink, the lifeboats would be given to us upperclassmen, while the froshes packed into the rest of the plane wait their never-to-come turn. Like in that movie Jim Cameron made before he went all technicolor and 3D.

All this luxury makes me feel slightly better about having wet cold feet due to Michigan’s going away present.

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Flight from Grand Rapids, MI to Atlanta, GA

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

When Ed saw my itinerary, he figured the fact that I was sitting in seat 2B meant I was flying business class. He filled my head with visions of the high life. As it turns out, I was just in the second row of a tiny and semi-cramped CRJ-200.

I’ll be posting a new installment in my “Airplane Bathroom Sink Review” series about this Delta CRJ-200. But that’ll come later. Right now I’ve gotta catch my connecting flight to Sarasota, Florida.

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Travelling

Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Thanks, Michigan weather!

See the full gallery on posterous

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Leaving Michigan

Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Montcalm road
Montcalm road, Lowell, Michigan
My server’s been offline the better part of the last month due to the fact that I’ve been out of town and some errant process filled up my swap partition1. So I’ll be backtracking in subsequent posts and filling in some details of my Michigan sojourn that I haven’t yet had the ability to post.

Mg 1289
When the traffic signs are riddled with gunshot, it’s probably best to wear orange clothing and remove your bambi costume.
But here’s a bit of news from the present, surrounded by photos from my last drive into the countryside2: I’ve been in Michigan for a couple of months working on a film, and today I’ll be heading back to LA to continue working on the film for another month. My plan then entails relaxing for a couple of days with nothing to do, then a freak out and mad scramble to find another gig. I’ll be back in Los Angeles come Monday 10/26/2009. Let the wild rumpus begin3.

Mg 1386
Does the windmill at the center of this field really serve any function at all? And what crop is that? It’s not corn, not wheat. Everything in this photo might represent form without function. I’d have trudged further out into this field to get you a better view, but the wacko crop made it difficult and I was worried the farmer would appear and shoot me.
I will miss some things about this town. I’ll save them for a later post, which would have been an earlier post but for the problem noted in paragraph 1 of this post. Ah well, life goes on. It’s nice to be back online, and will be nice to be back home.
Mg 1243
Oh hey, a cat. Who doesn’t love cats?

  1. Yeah, one would think that swapping partitions was a “Free Love” era tradition, but it continues in all modern operating systems. There are even key exchanges. [↩]
  2. Photos shot on 10/18/2009, click any of them to see them writ large. [↩]
  3. “Begin” is an anagram for “being”. Think about it. Stop thinking about it. [↩]

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