The latter film had enough of a hook to make me want to know what was going to happen next… It nagged at me. I didn’t care for the film as much as Prisoner of Azkaban when I first saw it because it ran so long and had so much going on… But it grew on me. Repeated watchings made me appreciate it more and the ending compelled me to return to Potter literature.

Cal it a Wrath of Khan/Empire Strikes Back negative closing and how it makes you ponder where the story goes from there. Goblet of Fire pulled it off (even if the film lacked the multiple side stories that J.K. Rowling worked into the book).

So I picked up Order of the Phoenix and read it through – finding Rowling’s narration exquisite and the story compelling just as I found the first book to be. While I’ve read about the new movie (due out this summer) through Entertainment Weekly and about which side stories are shelved (Ron playing quidditch, Dobby the house-elf making a return, etc) there is enough going on to keep you interested.

And after seeing the International trailer for the film — I’m dying to see this adaption:

Last year, I purchased a couple domain names – TampaBayRail.com and TampaBayRail.net. I intended to launch a web site on mass-transit and address the Tampa Bay area as one region. Not a separate-but-equal take that local government has had in the past on transit solutions. But those plans were soon forgotten as other issues worked into my life (including hand surgery, political campaigns and walking the dog).

Now, for those of you aware of what the local blogosphere has to offer, you already know David Pinero has Tampa Rail.org up and running. Pinero’s site is a great civic orientated pro-rail web site. The plan in my noggin’ with my own blog/site were just to ride the “rail” names but talk about all transit issues in general. But all of this is really beside the point, so let’s move on.

Basically, time goes by, the seasons change, the Gators were champs and John Grahame sucks. A few weeks ago I got notification from my domain registration company that both domain names were soon going to expire. I could renew the domain names for however-many-years I’d like or I could simply let them disappear into the digital tumbleweeds of the interweb. They’d likely be snatched up by a spammer or domain-name broker with no interest in Tampa, Tampa Bay, transit in Tampa Bay or rail in the region.

The whole thought reminded me of what happened to the previous official website that the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County operated regarding a rail system. A few years back (2002), those governments held the rights to TampaRail.com (check the wayback machine). For some reason, the powers that be (City of Tampa? Hillsborough County?) let that domain name expire around 2003. The name was quickly snatched up and exploited by a Russian domain name broker. The web site and url shifted to BlueHeronMedia.com, then ended up drifting into oblivion before being removed from their servers. Tampa’s official rail website was as dead as the pro-rail movement in the region. But the movement is now stirring again.

This past summer, we were all witness to the grand spectacle of the Hillsborough Expressway Authority trying to launch a new sprawlway through the region. Along with Mayor Pam Iorio (and the Tampa Bay Partnership and Tampa International Airport) renewing a push for a regional rail system through the Tampa Bay area. Emphasis on the Tampa Bay regionalism of their presented interest.

So, what’s a guy to do? I have control of TampaBayRail.com and .net. I could sell them and possibly recoup some of the costs of the domain names — eventually. Instead, I decided to do some good. I offered both domains to the City of Tampa. You entrepreneurs may see this as a waste of money on my part, but just consider it a good deed.

Suffice to say, the city was receptive of the idea, so both names are now controlled by Mayor Pam. I don’t expect you to see a regional rail website any time soon, but there is the possibility for a united Tampa Bay rail effort on the web — with TampaBayRail.com potentially it’s base location on the web.

And it’s an Apple.

As someoen who’s been a PC user since his old man bought one about 15 years ago, I’ve only had brief interludes with Mac’s. Not just that but I’ve had zero to no experience with laptops as well. I’ve wanted to try out laptop technology but I haven’t. I’ve wanted to take advantage of wireless access points when traveling but I haven’t had the chance.

With plans on doing Press stuff at the St. Pete Times Forum this year, having a laptop will be a necessity. i’m just hoping this little baby is going to work out great.

So now I have several Laurel Oak sapplings in pots and don’t know what to do with them or where to plant them. I’d be more than willing to sell them off — but they are still very young (all less than 8 months) and very small.

To plant them on public property is to suscept them to being mowed over. To keep them is to simply put off their dying. I’d like to move some of these (the tallest ones i have are 18 inches or so) but where and how – I am not sure.

Now if only I had a safe place to plant the damn things… Somewhere they wouldn’t be mowed over and yet someplace that isn’t in the middle of nowhere which cna use a tree.

I always thought that somewhere along the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal woudl be a good spot but I’m not sure aobut that any more.

Eric Rosell, one of my best friends growing up – the kid aroudn the corner – got married in a small ceremony at a local church. It was the first time I had seen his parents in a few months, the first time I had seen his brother in a few years and the first time I had seen his sister in more years. It was amazing I was attending Eric’s wedding, surreal even. (sidenote – is it bad luck if a Catholic is married on teh day the Pope dies? I hope not)

I grew up playing or hanging out at Eric’s house. I was the one that was first notably enamoured with someone of the opposite sex… Or at least the first to make a big deal otu of love and romance and stuff like that. This, that and the other thing – I saw my childhood before me — even as it disappeared further.

The nostalgia didn’t end there as I heard from Danae – the girl who live ddownt eh block for a time who I was flipped out for. I had sent her an email wishing her a happy birthday — strange how sometimes you feel like it’s not yoru place to say soemthing like that and yet you have no problem with doing so with other people who are almost complete strangers. She got to breaking me the news her grandmother – who lives down the block – had passed away at Christmas (which I wasn’t aware of) and other things. I remembered being smitten with the saphire-eyed girl who lived at the corner… I thought of the memory of the past – and the awkwardness and malignance the relationship had in general.

But of all negatives in the past – they’ve been forgiven. If not forgotten by me.

Ahoja from the frosty north. John checking in to give a little bit of news that isn’t very important but sorta sad personal news all the same. My T900 TalkAbout Pager — ruby red — has gone missing and is in all likelyhood gone. I lost it yesterday (thus the title and the lyric) when out in Massapequa on a quick stop before venturing to see family in Jackson Heights.

It’s another end of an Era… O, Discordia….

Yet, John is a self described “sap” who is spending tonight watching both the final episode, and tear-jerking retrospective.

What a sissy.

Feel free to flame him mercilessly. >:)

(Hey, I need to get even)

Mike’s a smart guy, shrewd and to the point –

“You have to answer for Santino, Carlo”

“Today I settle all family business, so don’t tell me you’re innocent Carlo…. you’re out of the Family business, that’s your punishment. You’re finished. I’m putting you on a plane to Vegas and I want you to stay there, understand? Only don’t tell me you’re innocent, because it insults my intelligence, and makes me very angry.”

Not only is Michael Corleone cleaning up family business, but he is to avenging for his brothers murder.

Now what the hell is on my mind that brings up Michael Corleone and one of his first actions as Don of the Corleone family?

I guess it’s because of answering for things you’ve done. Wrong turns you’ve made and treating people like shit who you want to be friends with. Things don’t blow over years later unless someone steps up and apologizes or forgives… And some people aren’t going to forgive and forget when they’re constantly the one asked to let things slide and go a little farther to meet someone on there terms.

I’ve made a brief entry about a friend of mine who came back into my life a few weeks back. It was a total shock to me and there was an underlying bitterness from me – admittedly – when the girl disappeared and never answered snail mail to me and such… What was one of the first things that she did when we started talking again?

She apologized for everything before I even made mention having a problem. I’m a big hearted guy, and someone stepping up goes a long way with me.

When you finally have to answer for something you’ve done, you either have a shit time or you get everything worked out and both sides can move on. Life is not the one-track social deal of take and take. It’s better to fess up to things early instead of avoiding and dragging on, or things will just feaster I’d been trying to drill that into someone’s head and they took it as an insult the last time I did it and generally bitched me out. Of course there was more since that event to add to this resume of bullshit but I won’t repost it here.

You still have to answer for Santino… Some people don’t let attitudes and malignancies blow over after a 2 week vacation, or a couple of months. Especially if they’ve been lied to and abused before.

McDonald’s Salad Has More Fat Than Cheeseburger

LONDON (Reuters) – Global hamburger giant McDonald’s latest line in healthy looking salads may contain more fat than its hamburgers, according to the company’s Web Site.

McDonald’s, plagued by health critics and flattening sales, has launched the biggest change to its menu in 30 years with its plans to get into the multi-million pound prepared salad market.

“You can choose your salad, topping and dressing. You can mix and match to suit your diet and lifestyle,” said a McDonald’s spokeswoman.

However, consumers hoping to lose weight by switching from burgers to salads may be disappointed, according to the Interactive Nutrition Counter on the McDonald’s Web site.

For example, on the new menu to be launched at the end of this month, a “Caesar salad with Chicken Premiere” contains 18.4 grams of fat compared with 11.5 grams of fat in a standard cheeseburger.

The British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) told Reuters it welcomed the salad menu but warned that salad dressings bought in fast-food outlets or supermarkets could be very high in fat and calories.

BNF said the recommended daily fat intake for men is 95 grams per day and for women 70 grams per day.

Good thing I avoid McDonalds — that shit just ain’t healthy… For ANYONE

I got word Monday morning that my little bundle of joy is going to be returned to me this week. Yes after more than a month I will get my Playstation 2 back. *a warm and contented sigh is issued by John*.

Meanwhile, I also blew a wad of cash on 3 DVD’s — 3 special DVD’s because they are non Special Edition DVD’s. Yes they are PIRATED DVD’s but they are special none-the-less because HAN SHOOTS FIRST! What the hell am I talking about? The original Star Wars Trilogy on DVD which I bought off Ebay. Yes, the Special Edition/ official release of films will be on DVD this fall but I didn’t care for the Special Editions to begin with.

Han shoots first and no girlie screams when Luke and the Emperor fall to their respected dooms. *a warm and contented sigh is issued by John*

:smile

And now The Bush administration is using renewed public interest in the space program to help it’s 2004 re-election campaign.

George W. Bush is set to announce plans for Americans (or humans in general?) to return to the moon and establish a lunar colony…. Also, he will propose a manned mission to Mars. In exploration terms and in the excitement of the space program — this is outstanding. In terms of sound economics and sound politics – this is appalling.

Make no mistake, I am a firm believer in the space program and believe we should be trying to expand our reach in our own solar system. I’m all for going back tot he moon. I am in favor of trying to reach mars within the next 10 to 15 years… My problems lie with the backer of these new space missions: Money. Where is it going to come from? How much is it going to cost? How the hell are we going to pay for it?

You see, George W. Bush and those in power have cut taxes, preached more tax cuts, expanded government instead of stream-lined it, have two ongoing military missions costing billions of dollars a month, have an ongoing war with a terrorist network that further saps financial resources. We have failing schools, degrading infrastructure, rising domestic costs and yet… Bush proposes missions to space that will cost half a trillion dollars or more when it’s all said and done?

Please :rolleyes:

The US is in an economic crisis of sorts and we’re prepared to keep spending? That makes no sense. Bush will not be implementing any new taxes, nor will he propose a repeal of his tax cuts from the last 4 years… Instead? The national deficit will continue to grow and the national debt will balloon and — soon enough, if nothing stops it — tear down the very fabric of this great nation….

Economic responsibility is needed now or we’re all going to get it in the end…

For the few out there that have no clue who he is at first mention of the name, he was one of the teenage heart-throbs of the early 1990′s. He was a guy who was coveted for TV and movie roles – a tee4n that was coveted for those roles at least – and he was someone who got the BOP covers and stuff like that.

Well, Jonathan is dead.

It came as a shock for me to see this bit of news. I had been wondering whatever happened to him and things like that – he had starred with Rodney Dangerfield in Ladybugs, had some NBC adventures in Seaquest DSV but basically disappeared once he reached that peculiar age of being a teen and a young adult. You know, sort of like Macaulay Culkin and how he disappeared for a bunch of years and stuff like that.

But Brandis, though I haven’t cared to look up details on anything about him since his Seaquest Days, was so down on life that he committed suicide or was believed to have committed suicide which ended his life the week before at the age of 27.

I don’t know why I get chills thinking about that, or why I am so disturbed by this, I guess it’s to see a part of my childhood end his life tragically like this, and with barely any acknowledgment that just…. bothers me. He was bigger than a brief mention in Entertainment Weekly, though he could be poster boy for queer from what anyone growing up around you would tell you… he just looked too pretty boy to believe… but he was the It boy and… Well, I salute him here — Rest in Peace Jonathan. You did have some fans out there and they will not forget you.

**UPDATE** 4-09-04
I’d like to point site visitors to http://jonathanbrandis.org/ I am not sure if they are officially tied to Brandis but it sure as hell looks official while my little rag tag blog has nothing to do with Jonathan besides being a fan who spoke out on Brandis’ death while the Media overlooked it

And all of them have fallen out of my head and become chewing gum on the sidewalk of life — unable to be resurrected.

SO why am I typing up these trivial journal entries right now? I’m wondering that myself, I know others wondered that during their tenures on Der Stonegauge and I know others that read this journal probably get to that point where they wonder “What the hell is supposed to be entertaining about this?”

Well, it’s not for you (depending who is reading this), it’s for me.

That’s something I keep forgetting when it comes to writing down stuff — it was an escape from a lot of vileness and a lot of pain for a time and I am indulged by the pain and the vileness once again. The only problem is my collected thoughts that should make up something entertaining when amassed as written words amount to jack shit right now. And I hate Jack Shit, his breath smells.

I watched The Two Towers today and I was fairly disappointed at how the story turned. I mean, certain suspicions of mine were confirmed and other parts of the story just didn’t hold me like The Fellowship Of The Ring did. SO much going on, spread out, and so little time to tell the tale…

Then again, maybe I am just too f’n harsh on movies?

I also saw another Occupational Therapist today. I’ve seen 3 who have critiqued me in certain things since I got out of the hospital last week. This guy had me doing routine, trivial stuff and you know what? My legs couldn’t take it. Shortly after he left, I collapsed on the floor — my leg giving out much like it had just after I saw The Matrix Reloaded.

But in a lot of ways — it was GOOD that happened. Every time I’ve been working with someone, the tasks put in front of me have failed to challenge me. This guy made it difficult in a assessing way and I needed to put myself to task with his requests.

Question for anyone who wants to answer: Do you do something that another person seems fickle in response to, or wait until they show more enthusiasm (if ever) about the idea?