the frig blig

Besides the obvious constant nags and slow-as-a-slug login time, Vista sucks for the following two dumb behaviors:

1. right-click a file in explorer, select ‘open with’ and if you don’t like the measly choice of apps Vista presents you with, your only other option is ‘choose default program’. Hey, what if I want to open the file using an unlisted program but don’t want it made default? Ever think of that, Microsoft?

2. open a photo with the default ‘Windows Photo Gallery’, click the Fix button and make any change (like crop, for instance). Now select ‘File -> Make a Copy’. Without asking, and before making the copy, Vista saves the change to the original file. Hope you didn’t need that original file for anything important, or had a backup! Lesson: make a copy first, and then make changes to the copy.

Somewhere in Washington state … the leaves are leaving.

It has been unofficially reported that president-elect Obama has offered the post of Secretary of State to Senator Clinton, D-Herself. This is a bad idea for at least two reasons:

1. Clinton is not a peacemaker, and in fact desperately wants to prove her ‘toughness’. I can totally envison her provoking a war with Venezuala or Iran or just about whoever she wants, and this position makes it easier for her.
2. Clinton may appear to take orders from the Obama administration, but in fact she will be working for herself — she is at least as much a maverick as McCain. This is only good if her goals are better than the administration she’s working for, and this is questionable to say the least.

Came upon this scene on my morning walk to the Lighthouse. Not gruesome exactly but…grue-inspiring and gruiously stopped me in my tracks.

BBC news article

While I wasn’t playing in the tournament or visiting my friends I pulled out my camera and snapped these photos in Portland last month. Just now transferred them from my camera and figured I’d share some with the loyal bloghood…hope u like. Here’s the gallery link: Portland

The rainy season has begun here in the Pacific northwest, so today it seems appropriate to rain on somebody’s parade.

Once the aura of Feeling Good About Ourselves for Overcoming Racism in America wears off, we’re left with the fact of Democrats taking control of national policies. The scam of the two-party system as it works in this country has the Dems looking like saviors compared to the GOP. But in fact Democrats are beholden to the same corporate interests as Republicans, they’re just not as blatant about it.

Every four years our citizens get the choice of two evils. Make no mistake, the lesser of two evils is preferable to the greater of two evils. But imagine a country in which the government put its citizens’ interests above those of big business and the oligarchy. This is something the Dems have not truly offered (at least in my lifetime). Third parties are pretty much locked out of any real chance of election due to open-ended campaign funding and timetables, and conglomerate-owned mass media. It can be frustrating, so we resort to exercising our freedoms of speech, religion and firearms.

Bush did well for the oil companies, and Cheney did well for the military-industrial complex, so they’re leaving happy. What interests is Obama beholden to? An analysis of his record reveals [researcher: insert analysis of O’s senatorial record here]. Clearly O’s idealism, if any remains, is subservient to his politics. Time will tell which interests he will serve as President.

If O devises a viable fix for the economy he’ll gain status and earn political capital. That must be his top priority. How much of the $700,000,000,000 of the bailout bill will be left when Obama takes office? Will his administration have different ideas on how to spend it? Will his administration continue to bail out banks and financial firms? How will his administration prevent another meltdown? And what kind of puppy will he get?

Thanks to the many bloggers who posted images of newspaper front pages from across the globe reporting the result of Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election. This one from the Hamburg (Germany) Morgenpost is my favorite. One cool thing about it is, they could print it regardless of who won.

As to this country’s future, we’ll see. Hopes are high and straits are dire. Once the honeymoon is over it could be difficult work. But I have to admit feeling a little proud of my fellow citizens at this moment. For a more eloquent elucidation see Michael Moore’s ‘Pinch Me’ message.

While last year if it wasn’t a Pink Lady I wasn’t interested, this year S and I have bitten into the amazingly great Honeycrisp — this season’s apple of choice in our crib. Just the right combo of sweet and tart, wonderfully crisp and juicy, and pretty to boot. What more could anyone ask in an apple?

Disclaimer: you may not like what I like.