Blog Master G

Aron Ralston has balls of steel. He is my new hero. Stranded under a 1,000-pound boulder, he saved his own life by amputing his own arm with a pocket knife. I can’t imagine. Then he scaled 75 feet down the cliff and walked into the emergency room on his own.

I’m sure he’ll soon be rich after he sells the movie rights. I’d rather have my arm, thank you very much. But poor guy. That’s some serious bravery. I’m sure it’s better than dying under a rock, though.

Which would you rather do? Exist as a conjoined twin or carry inside you the dead fetus of your unborn twin for 7 years and have it feed from your body only to be surgically removed when doctors realize that what they thought was a tumor was actually not?

BBC NEWS | Health | Boy ‘pregnant’ with twin brother

Both scenarios are pretty uncomfortable, I would say, but, having seen quite a few of those Discovery Health shows about conjoined twins, I’d have to choose the latter, especially if I didn’t know that my dead unborn twin was inside my body.

I’m glad I already ate my lunch. And count my blessings that I fall into neither of these scenarios (insofar as I can tell, anyway).

[via NextDraft]

Why is it that most companies that provide customer service via email never actually answer your questions, forcing you either to seek answers yourself or to engage in a never-ending back-and-forth email exchange?

Take this recent example related to my experience in placing a series of orders via Amazon and Alibris for my Dad’s first book, 100 Faces of Marin:

Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 16:07:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gabe
To: Alibris Customer Service
Subject: RE:{Alibris#002-130-559}Your order 4333149-1

I’d just like to point out that my original question was not answered in
this response.

I did figure out the billing on my own, but it would have been nice to
have my question answered instead of telling me what I already know: “You
were not charged for this cancelled order.”

Thanks,
Gabe

http://gabeanderson.com

On Fri, 2 May 2003, Alibris Customer Service wrote:

> Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 12:58:25 -0700
> From: Alibris Customer Service
> To: Gabe
> Subject: RE:{Alibris#002-130-559}Your order 4333149-1
>
> Hello,
>
> Thank you for your inquiry. I’m sorry that your order was cancelled.
> You were not charged for this cancelled order.
> If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact me.
>
>
> Best Regards,
> Jolene
> FIND IT AT ALIBRIS
> Alibris connects you to thousands of independent books, music
> and movie sellers around the world. With over 30 million used,
> new and hard-to-find titles, we have what you^Òre looking for!
> http://www.alibris.com
>
>
> —–Original Message—–
> From: ga_nospam_valid_address@fastmail.fm (ga_nospam_valid_address@fastmail.fm)
> Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 12:13 PM
> To: info@alibris.com (info@alibris.com)
> Subject: Your order 4333149-1
>
> I received notice that this order was cancelled. What was the amount of this order? I placed a couple other orders through you and via Amazon, too.
I want to confirm that I wasn’t charged for this order. I’ve sent 2 separate emails on the topic to “CS” and have yet to
receive a reply.Thanks,Gabe

Last April when Jen and I went to Italy, we spent the final few days of our trip in the magical water city of Venice, an incredibly romantic place, to say the least. I proposed to Jen on a gondola in Venice, so the city will always hold a special place in my heart. This aerial photo of the sinking city comes from the Space Imaging Gallery. Be sure to view the supersize 2000×2000-pixel version, too. This image is currently the background photo on my computer.

I’m in the market for a new world wall map but can’t decide which one I want. This satellite map is by far my favorite — a joint effort by the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and National Geographic. But it does not have country names; only the continents are labeled. So my runners-up are this one by the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency, and this one by Gabelli.

I want to hang it in my office at work. I love maps and want to get better with world geography.

Down with Love hits theaters May 16. It’s a cute movie that reminds me of a 1960s version of the Brady Bunch movies — chock-full of sexual innuendos and gags. It was a fun movie to watch on a Tuesday night, especially since it was free.

Every once in a while, Jen and I end up with a pass to the sneak preview of a new movie. There’s usually a long line we have to stand in beforehand. But that’s OK. You get what you pay for.

Last night’s preview was funny because Fox was so paranoid about people trying to sneak recording devices into the theater. There were security guards who inspected your bag once or twice and scanned you up and down with a broken metal detector. My jacket pocket set off the metal detector, but the guy waved me through as he held the detector to his ear and explained to me that it was broken. Hmm. Seems to me that that undermines the strict security. For all he knew, I could’ve had a digital camcorder or camera in my pocket and could be posting illegal clips from the movie right now. Don’t worry, Fox, I didn’t and I’m not. The photo herein is one I snaked from Yahoo. Besides, the picture quality would suck if I had been sitting in the theater trying to take pictures of the screen. It cracks me up that people do that and that it’s such a big market in Asian countries and on the streets of Manhattan. It goes against the whole DVD obsession that I and many others have these days.

In any case, Down with Love was a fairly good movie. Nothing blockbustering (yes, that is a made-up word), but fun to watch nonetheless. Renee’s not going to win any Oscars for her performance this time.

Today it struck me that it would kick ass to have a portable dishwasher. Living as I now do without a dishwasher has made me appreciate the great invention that is the automatic dishwasher. Yes, I live in a small San Francisco apartment, but it just so happens that my kitchen has this neat little area under the counter that’s currently being used to house the dog food container, paper bags, and the step stool. This area is just screaming for a portable dishwasher. And for somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 or so, I could satisfy the screaming urge of this space. Damn would that make my life easier.

You see, prior to living in our current apartment, Jen and I have always had a dishwasher. And I always took it for granted. Now I want one again. Ahh, automatic washing of dishes. What a concept. Our rent includes water, so why the heck not take advantage of that?

Yet again the Bush administration tries to prevent something good — heaven forbid — from happening in the world. Why? What the hell is his problem? Does he like that 5 million people die every year from tobacco-related diseases? Does he like that that number will double in 3 years? Has he ever seen someone he loves die of a tobacco-related disease? I sure as hell doubt it. What possible good could come out of trying to stop tobacco prevention? Wake up, Dubya, and get a clue.

Bush tries to weaken tobacco treaty / Its controversial terms include world ban on advertising

A snippet from this story:

“Instead of leading international efforts to reduce tobacco use, the Bush administration has repeatedly obstructed the development of a tough international tobacco control agreement,” Pelosi said Tuesday in response to the position paper. “That is unacceptable. We can and must do better.”

Amen, sister.

Frank Boosman has an excellent play-by-play commentary on the full, unedited transcript of Sen. Santorum‘s conversation with the AP.

Meanwhile, here are some hilarious and oh-so-deep thoughts from the conservative rag Town Hall:

Gays are citizens and human beings; you don’t have to like everything they do behind closed doors to appreciate the fact that kicking down those doors to make them stop is not the best use of our police forces.

Um, right. What he said. Leave them gays alone ’cause they is people, too. And our cops should be out watching the backs of corrupt politicians anyway.

Santorum’s rationale for keeping the laws is that they protect families from harmful behavior. Well, if that’s the standard then adultery should be an even greater crime, and we should add reason 9,147 to the list of reasons why Bill Clinton should have been impeached.

As Jen often and rightly questions: Why is it that every conservative arguing any topic always goes back to Clinton?

You know you live in America when a war has barely ended and already companies are trying to capitalize on it. Gotta love it. Pop-up browser windows displaying the above image and taking you here to order your very own kitschy Iraq’s most wanted playing cards for only $5.95. That cracks me up. It also cracks me up that the things were created for U.S. soldiers in the first place. Just goes to show the cavalier attitude of the administration — that this whole “liberate Iraq” thing is almost like a game to them. It might as well be. I’m sure the actual video game version of Operation Iraqi Freedom will be out soon, too.