Today color me F*cking annoyed

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So today is Monday all over again. For no apparent reason I woke up in a very bad mood. Sondra left for NY this morning and I’m sure my mood came off as something to do with here. Sorry.

But my day has not gotten better.

So to the guys behind me at Starbucks, who does not know the definition of personal space. Who wants to yell in my ear while carrying on a conversation with someone on his cellphone about how wasted he got last night while we stand in a line to get cups of coffee…

And to the tourists who seem to have taken over the city this week. Who cannot drive in their own lane or the speed limit while sightseeing during lunch-time traffic and for some reason I’m ALWAYS behind them…

Piss off! I’m in a bad mood so don’t f*ck with me today!.

Super Agent/Hero Reboot

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Sondra and I caught the latest James Bond Franchise effort this afternoon. In a word I was very impressed. I know this is a movie that came out a few weeks ago. We generally don’t try and fight our way through the crowd to see new movies. Well on special occasions like this year’s Pirates of the Caribbean.

Anyway, back to Mr. Bond. Overall we both liked the story line and the new bond actor. I’m not really sure I agree with the whole blowup in the press when the movie opened about how the new bond just didn’t live up to the Bond franchise expectations. I thought the action in the movie was excellent. And as compared to previous Bonds I thought it brought something fresh to the franchise overall. This new Bond seems to be more hands on. Comparing him to say Roger Moore who I liked but never really thought of him as a hard-nosed, get your hands dirty 007.

What I find really interesting is the other Super Agent/Hero icons that are going under a re-branding. Take Batman. When I was growing up the new Michael Keaton Batman was bid. But it also was kind or corny. Like the Dick Tracy movie. Seemed sort of too much like a comic book. I like the new Batman begins story. More real. Same with Superman. I didn’t see the movie but I did see the trailers. I know its probably very hard to follow in the late great shoes of Christopher Reeve. But I did hear from any friends they like the refreshed re branding of the franchise. Another is Spiderman. It’s been around for a few year. Spiddy III is coming out soon. I like the character and the direction of the movie. A lot better than the corny version from the 70s. Just my opinion I’m sure.

I look forward to more Bond movies from Mr. Craig. Welcome!

An Event Apart comes to Austin

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I’ve know for more than a month about AEA coming to Austin. Though for the price of the single-day session I was not sure I found the value over other upcoming events like SXSWi coming in March 2007. I first tried to get my employer to pony up for the cost. No luck. I didn’t press this too far. So come November 1 I put up my own card and paid my way to attend AEA Austin.

So Monday, November 6, I was in attendance at An Event Apart Austin. I was so glad to be there. I was not sold out like previous events but it was probably 80% full. Then again the Alamo Drafthouse is a large venue to fill.

Highlights

  • Seeing Eric Meyer code CSS in his head in front of a couple hundred people. This occurred twice. During his two sessions “Hardcore CSS” and “One True Layout”. What a treat to see a true master at work.
  • Jason Santa Maria gave a wonderful presentation on the redesign of ALA. It was very revealing to see the ideas start in his sketchbook and evolve into the final state of the site.
  • Molly E. Holzschla presented a very provocative session on “From the Content Out”.
  • And last but not least the ever wonderful Mr. Jeffrey Seldman who presented on multiple topics including “Selling Design” and “Writing the User Interface” which was a nice overview of content type used for presentation.

My Thoughts

Overall I did like the one-day session. Though rather expensive for the single day. These are the true masters of our profession. They set the bar for Web Design that we attempt to follow.

Thank you Jeff, Eric, Jason and Molly for the great time at AEA Austin.

Also there was an after party hosted by Knowbility at the Belmont. The pics from myself and other are hosted on Flickr Flickr group AEA Austin.

Toll Roads in Austin

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So I know this is an old issue. They (the local city government) have been pitching Toll roads here in central Texas for as long as I’ve lived here. We seem to always win the fight. Recently I’ve noticed a little commercial on TV that really just disturbs me. The commercial itself is a few cars stuck in traffic. One of the cars is going on about options or something to the effect that if we had Toll roads there would be less traffic. WTF!!!

So in other words putting up a Toll plaza down on South MoPac between Davis Ln. and William Cannon will somehow, magically reduce traffic. Please tell me how. Tell me putting a Toll plaza on an existing road system will reduce the overall traffic in the city. This is total crap. It would be like adding a traffic light in the same location. All it will do it create a backup of cars waiting to pay the Toll. Oh, wait I heard they wanted to all cars to have the electronic sensors to auto-pay the toll. And what about people from out of town? How will they know before they ride down the freeway they need to stop and purchase this device? Dumb-ass, you still need to have the paying Toll plaza options

The only way I see this working is building new roads. Something central Texas needs anyway. Sure, I’m all for building new roads around here. We all know that is the biggest problem, you just don’t have enough road for the people who live here. Build new roads like up North of Austin, FM24 going through Round Rock. That I can understand. Just like the Beltway 8 in Houston. Everyone knows the Beltway is a Toll road. You have other options around the city. You have the money and want to travel fast, take the beltway.

But here in Austin they are trying to sell the idea that putting a Toll plaza on an existing road will reduce traffic. That is just stupid. Or frankly, people who believe that are the stupid ones.

My solution for reducing traffic is to get more employers to allow folks to work from home or work a modified work day. My only issue with that is I don’t like waking up at 5am to get on the road before traffic backups. Many employers here in Austin want the staff to come in early. I would rather work something like 10-7. Then I can sleep a little late. But this beats sitting for an hour in my car in the morning or afternoon. I know, Austin actually has it good as compared to other cities. I have some friends in Boston or San Francisco where an hour commute in the morning is a ‘good’ day. OMG. I would not last long there.

Clifford Antone we will miss you

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A sad time here in Austin. Clifford Antone was found dead this past Tuesday afternoon by APD. Mr. Antone is world famous for his support of Blues musician and their music. He played a key roll in launching the careers of many Blues artists including Austin’s own Stevie Ray Vaughn.  Personally I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Mr. Antone. But we shared on thing. We are both from the same SE Texas town as Janis Joplin, Port Arthur. Read more about Clifford Antone’s life http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/stories/xl/2006/05/25music.htmlÂ