One good thing that is coming out of it is that there's more discussion going on about what becomes of folks' websites after they die. I'm still so sad that I didn't archive Leslie Harpold's sites when they were still up. I'd made a note to somehow pull down all of the Bradlands that I could, but his hosting bill is now paid up for another year and his domains are paid up through 2014 and there's talk of getting it all archived somewhere so that's good.
I'm so sad about what's happened with Leslie Harpold's sites. I've been missing her Advent calendars like crazy recently. I should pull what I can from archive.org and elsewhere.
Here's just one of many reasons why Brad was loved. His thoughts on why he doesn't tell people "I'm so sorry" when they lose a loved one.
Folks remember Brad:
- Joe Clark
- Judith Newmark of the St. Louis Post-DIspatch
- Jeff Jarvis on Brad's coining of 'blogosphere'
Memorial fund.
First time I've read anything on twitter in weeks and this is the news that pops up. Gah. The news is spreading there right now; I imagine more details and many tributes will be posted tonight and tomorrow.
Brad was among the first 50 webloggers, back in the day. Like many of that first genration of bloggers, he was inspired by Robot Wisdom and Raphael Carter's Honeyguide. He's an old skool web guy, yo. Influential. Funny. I read his weblog every day and he read mine (as well as the TV Picks) and he said lots of kind things about my sites over the years. We had quite a few shared interests. A quick search shows that he probably linked to and plugged my sites at least twenty times in his blog. His links and kind words always made my day and helped keep me going. (He and the late Anita Rowland were two of that bunch of bloggers that I heard from the most with comments and links. Their encouragement meant so much to me.)
He was also a very social guy who met a lot of bloggers and other net peeps at SXSW and at conferences and such things; whenever he'd travel somewhere, he'd arrange a gathering ("Break Bread With Brad" being one such thing). I'm sad that we never managed to meet up in person.
He's going to be missed by a lot of people.
Edited to add: Metafilter/Metatalk thread. Searching twitter for mentions of thebrad pulls up lots too.
Guiding Light was cancelled and ended this past September.
Today CBS announced that they're canceling As The World Turns and the last episodes will air in September 2010.
It's hard to convey the familiarity that comes from watching specific characters/actors five days a week (or almost that) for more than thirty years. Even when I haven't watched in ages, I could tune in and it was familiar. And there are so many memories attached to the shows. And, of course, these were the shows I watched and discussed with my Mom for my whole life and sometimes with my grandparents and great aunts.
Some nifty people are putting classic clips of both shows on YouTube (and even some entire episodes) and those are fun to look at and sad, too.
Earlier this year I had to say goodbye to the Bauers, Spauldings, and Coopers; next year I have to say goodbye to the Hughes and Snyders. Feh.
I can think of five or six actors who have been on As The World Turns my whole life, some since the '50s and '60s.
They're giving him IV antibiotics for an infection in his leg.
He also has fluid in his lungs due to congestive heart failure, so they'll be treating that as well.
I talked to him a little while ago and he sounded tired, but also very glad they went to the ER last night and that he's in the hospital where they can really keep an eye on the infection and deal with everything else.
I updated his CaringBridge site.
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rsstvpicksnet.)
for just $79. Previously the cheapest I'd seen it is $99 and yesterday it would've cost you $122 at Amazon. List price is closer to $200. (Were I not broke, I'd be tempted to buy the set for myself as I suspect the improved picture quality and extras would make it worth it for moi.)At long last, this quirky David E. Kelley series hits DVD in the U.S. I bought single season sets from the UK (or was it Australia?) a couple of years ago. I'm really glad to see it get a proper release in the U.S. with all of the original music intact plus some extras.
The show got a bad rap in a lot of ways, I always felt. Sometimes it went a bit too far or ran off the rails, but a lot of the time it was really fun. There were definite elements of fantasy in the show, possibly more so than in any other Kelley series. If your impression of the show is based on commercials, articles, reviews, and clips-- well, you've probably gotten the wrong idea about it.
As with most Kelley shows, this one made me laugh and also brought tears to my eyes at times. And it made me think about some tough issues, too. And, of course, it was fun. And there's his trademark affection for oddballs, because that's just how he rolls. Peter MacNicol really gets to shine here too.
The first two episodes are available for free right now on iTunes. And Amazon has the first episode available for free right now. In case you want to check those out.
Text is king here, though you can view pictures attachments on it. It's been fun reacquainting myself with the many things you can do via plain text emails. Posting to LJ is one, of course.
The lovely thing is that unlimited texting and emailing costs $20/month or $250-300 lifetime (lifetime of the unit). Compared to how much a smart phone with a data or texting plan can cost, it's cheap. Also cheap way to get email for those who lack internet access or a computer at home. I still carry a cell phone, but it's on my folks family plan. I may switch to a cheap pay as you go plan as I prefer texting/emailing to talking voice most of the time.
The Peek (and other variants) runs on the TMobile Network, though one never has to deal with TMobile and there are no contracts; this all goes through Peek.
The new TwitterPeek is just for twitter-- doesn't have email or texting, just twitter. And you can only use one account with it. Is an interesting use of the Peek though. The monthly rate for it is cheaper.
Here are the models available currently at Amazon:
- Peek Pronto Mobile Messaging Device with Lifetime Service Included (Grey)
($299)
- Peek Pronto Mobile Messaging Device with One Year of Service Included (Grey)
($229)</l>
- Peek Mobile Email Device
(comes in grey or aqua or black cherry, $20 on sale, sometimes as much as $50) These are Peek Classics, running the older software. They can be upgraded to Peek Prontos, but you'd need to mail them to Peek or have someone upgrade the software using an upgrade cable. I have one and have done upgrades before. There are charts on the peek site and in the amazon info about the differences between Peek Pronto and Peek Classic software.)
- Peek Pronto Mobile Messaging Device (Grey)
($50 - 80). For some inexplicable reason, it seems like Peek Prontos only come in grey. So if you want one in another color, you'll need to buy a Peek Classic and have it upgraded. Peek doesn't charge for the upgrades on unactivated Peek Classics or on ones with really old software.)
I have a few spare Peeks in Aqua which have been upgraded to the Peek Pronto software (by yours truly) so if anyone local is interested in giving one a try, let me know and I can sell you one for cheap or loan you one to try out. You can sign up for a month at the $20 rate and cancel after a month. There aren't any set-up fees or contracts. Also if anyone signs up and mentions me as referring them, I get some months free service (not sure how many) and you may get a deal too. I'll have a look and see what the current offers are. So if you decide to give a Peek a try, get in touch with me and I'll give you the skinny on it. Pester me if you have questions, too.
TwitterPeeks are the same hardware, but with different software I'm guessing. They do twitter and only twitter, but in a very easy fashion.
- TwitterPeek Mobile Tweeting Device with Lifetime Service Included
(comes in grey or aqua, $199)
- TwitterPeek Mobile Tweeting Device with 6 Months of Service Included
(comes in grey or aqua, $99)
We purchased our Peeks at Target on clearance when they cleared out the Peek Classics. They now sell grey ones at most Targets.
If you poke around the Peek website you'll find links to their blog and to forums where peek users talk about how they use theirs.
(And yes, those are referral links from ours truly to amazon. If you shop for anything via those links, I get a cut of what you spend.)
- Location:Minneapolis, MN
But now, I just want to link to Joe Posnanski's "Riding the Metrodome" blog posting as it's awesome. Or at least captures a certain essential qualities of the Dome and Twins fans relationship with it:
But it’s probably fair to say that no park in a half century has been quite as despised as the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. I suspect the Metrodome itself would consider that a point of honor. Even people who love it, hate it. Well, how else can you feel about playing baseball in a football stadium with plastic grass, a baseball-colored roof, an echo and a giant glad trash bags just beyond the fence? How else can you feel about going to the ballpark on a beautiful July day in Minneapolis — there aren’t many seasons in America as beautiful as Minnesota summers — and then finding yourself watching something resembling baseball in this dank building with all the romance of a bank vault. It’s like playing Monopoly in your friends basement when it’s 70 degrees and sunny outside.
“What’s wrong with you kids,” our mothers would yell. “Go play outside!”
And that’s what I always wanted to yell — I sensed that’s what EVERYBODY wanted to yell — while watching games in the Metrodome. You know what Dan Quisenberry said about the place when he first saw it, right? “I don’t think there are any good uses for nuclear weapons but, then, this might be one.” He said that about the Dome back in the mid 1980s. John Schuerholz, when he was GM of the Royals, said something similar — something about nuclear weapons and blowing the place up. The Metrodome did bring out violent wishes. Billy Martin, who knew a little something about violent wishes, was direct: “This place stinks,” he said. “It’s a shame a great guy like HHH had to be named after it.”
A person could probably fill a book with quotes bashing the Metrodome. I can envision a book that's half positive and half negative about the place. Could have two covers.
Here's my other favorite part of the piece, after discussing how it was really past time the Dome was retired (as far as baseball goes):
Finally, there was inertia. Are you going to fix your drive or drive around the pothole? Truth is, after a while, you might even kind of learn to love that pothole. After all, it’s yours. And the Dome belonged to the Twins, belonged to Minnesota baseball fans. It was theirs: The worst stadium in baseball. Sure, that means something. It was something to COMPLAIN about. And stuff to complain about brings people together. In the South, it’s the humidity. Hot enough for you? In Buffalo, it’s the snow. In St. Louis, it’s the construction. In New York, maybe it’s the tourists., in Los Angeles the traffic, in Cleveland the Browns. In Miami, it’s the drivers. In Chicago, it’s the Bears quarterback. In Kansas City, it was for many years Carl Peterson … and I think people around Kansas City can’t help but miss him because it’s just not as much fun to complain about Scott Pioli.
The Metrodome would bring everyone together during baseball season. It was so dreadful, so indefensible, so anti-baseball that in a weird way it became the opposite of those things. My suspicion was always that Twins fans could take some pride in it.
How many games did you sit through at the Dome?
Oh man. Probably. Fifty?
Wow. You’re a stronger man than I am.
Yup, that about sums it up.
Some non-sports fan and non-baseball fan friends of mine have been befuddled when I told them the Metrodome is not a baseball stadium. But the thing is . . . it isn't. Dave St. Peter of the Twins has lately referred to it as "playing baseball in the corner of a football stadium" and that's somewhat apt.
The biggest issue for fans seeing games there is that the seats don't face the baseball diamond. They're oriented to face a big long rectangular space of a football field. Now, my family has been going to games since the Dome opened and have figured out which seats actually face the correct way. But there are thousands of seats in the Dome that face the wrong way so if you sit in them, you have to sit sideways in your seat or have your head turned for almost the entire game. Seriously, not fun.
Of course the biggest issue for players is the fact that the roof of the Dome is the color of a baseball. So when the ball is flying through the air and a player is down below attempting to catch it . . . it's really really damn hard to see the ball because it matches the ceiling.
Those were the two things that were probably most hostile toward the game of baseball in the Dome, though there are others too.
I grew to love the place, in a way, but it is a love/hate thing to be sure.
Waiting for visiting hours to start in cardio ICU. My Dad will need bypass surgery. Waiting to see him & on more info.
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laurel- Laurel Krahn
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