Archive for 2011

The famous Nighthawks (1942) by Edward Hopper.

Bartender: “I can’t believe you’re back in town! Never thought I’d live to see the day John McKempoll strolled back into Phillies again. And with a lady too! Hold on, let me get you two a couple of drinks, on the house.” *Reaches for drinks under the cupboard* “What’ll it be?”

John: *Chuckles* “Glad to see you never change Tom. I’ll have a coffee, black. And this is Karla by the way.”

Karla: “Nice to meet you Tom. I’ll have what John’s having.”

John: *Looks at Karla* “Really? Never met a woman who takes her coffee black.”

Karla: “Well, I do…”

Tom: “Come on John, shouldn’t you know your lady’s preferences by now?”

John: “Actually we just met. Gave her a ride coming here.”

Tom: *Pause* “And why did you come here?”

John: *Silence*

Tom: *Shakes head* “Same old John, looking for trouble again.”

John: “That’s not why I came back.”

Tom: “Good, because Clyde’s still in town.” Continue Reading →

Yesterday I saw the future.

Not just once, not twice, but thrice.

Do you remember that scene from Minority Report where Tom Cruise walks past an ad and it recognizes him personally and talks to him directly? What about Johny Mnemonic, where Keanu Reeves surfs the web in a virtual reality environment? In a sense, that’s exactly where we’re headed. And frankly, I can’t wait.

But I can’t go about yelling “This is the future” all willy nilly. Don’t want to be compared to that guy on that corner downtown saying the same thing now do I?

So let’s look at the details of this whole interactive video thingy we have going on here. Continue Reading →

“You are a victim of the rules you live by.” ~ Anonymous

Remember the first time you crossed the empty street when the do not walk sign was still flashing red?

I do. And I’ll never forget that feeling I got from doing so that first time. That feeling as exhilarating as stepping on the moon, of going where no man has gone before (I thought so at the time). That euphoric feeling in which I realized that the constraints I once thought physical and unbreakable were in fact mental and fragile.

Sometimes the simplest of childhood moments changes your life forever. For some it’s seeing someone on television receiving bewildering amounts of praise from girls of all kinds (John Lennon seeing Elvis Presley), and for others it’s hearing classical or jazz music. For me, this was it – crossing the street illegally at age 7.

My views on rules, authority, and society were forever changed! It was as if I had taken the red pill and finally seen the world for what it truly was. The world was not as almighty and unchangeable as I once thought it was.

Rules didn’t have to be followed!

With those few illegal steps I had unknowingly altered my own future drastically.

I had unknowingly uncovered something about the world that the majority of people never do. At that moment I realized that we all live by a set of rules. Continue Reading →