Off To Philly
Wednesday, June 27, 2007

We are off to Philly for a few days and onto Delaware for a wedding so postings may be sparce or non existent until Monday. Lets hope Northwest have their act together and don't cancel our flight, they have been doing so for the last 4 days.

Posted by mardenhill 6/27/2007 09:12:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Travel

iPhone Specs

- $499 for 4GB, $599 for 8GB iPhone
- 2-year service agreement required
- iPhone is not eligible for Wireless Phone Insurance; iPhone is covered by Apple Warranty
- No business discounts
- iPhone must be activated before it can be used. Pre-installed SIM card.
- Activates "within a few minutes"
- 14 day return policy. If opened, there is a 10% restocking fee.
- Existing AT&T wireless customers will need to add an iPhone Data Plan.

Apple has released details of the service plans that will be available for the iPhone. Six special monthly plans are available:

- $59.99 for 450 voice minutes
- $79.99 for 900 voice minutes
- $99.99 for 1,350 voice minutes
- $119.99 for 2000 voice minutes
- $169.99 for 4000 voice minutes
- $219.99 for 6000 voice minutes

All six plans include unlimited data (email & web), Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll over minutes and unlimited mobile to mobile calling. Plans have a $36 one-time activation fee and are two year contracts. Family plans are shown on Apple's site. In addition, any standard AT&T service plan may be chosen.
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Here is everything you need to know about the new iPhone before you purchase one. They go on sale this Friday and people are already camping out for them. Most of the reviews have been very positive execpt they bash the AT&T network for coverage. I have been an AT&T/Cingular customer since 2000 and don't have any problems with my service. You may be wondering if I will be buying one of these phones, well the answer is no. I have no plans on buying the iPhone anytime soon. A couple of reasons, one its still too damn expensive. 2nd, no corporate email support. 3rd, the iPhone is not running on the 3G network the new highspeed that most of the new AT&T phones run on. I will wait until next year to see if there is a price break and all the features/bugs worked out. Rumors are that if Apple wants to sell the phone in Europe it will have to support the 3G network. Maybe the next revision will have this and by then corporate email will have a home as well. I am still planning on buying a Samsung Blackjack as my next phone.

Posted by mardenhill 6/27/2007 09:01:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Technology

Updated: The Verve
Tuesday, June 26, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjBBS17iECw

I would like to thank my friend Ted for the link, he had the US version of "Lucky Man" bookmarked so now all of us are able to watch it. Unfortunately I cannot get it embedded into my blog, it keeps erroring, oh well........

Posted by mardenhill 6/26/2007 11:24:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Music

The Verve Are Back!!!!!!

The Verve reunite for tour
Richard Ashcroft and co write new songs


The Verve are set to reunite for a winter tour. The original band of Richard Ashcroft, Nick McCabe,Simon Jones and Pete Sailsbury have got together for the first time in almost a decade. In a statement, the band have announced they were: "Getting back together for the joy of the music." It is believed they will take a summer break and then return to the studio to complete their next album. The band broke up in 1999, with the tumultuous relationship between Ashcroft and McCabe being well documented with the two exiting the band repeatedly since they began in 1993.
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One of the greatest Brit Rock bands of the 90s have decided to reform and give it another shot. After the Verve broke up, we were left with 3 Richard Ashcroft solos which became progressively worse over time. I saw them live a few times and the best show was at St Andrews back in 97 after McCabe left but came back and only to leave again. If you remember the US video for "Lucky Man", Ashcroft had a retro t-shirt on that featured Detroit. He had bought it before the St Andrews show and had it on that nite. He talked about how he found it in this cool 2nd hand store and the next thing you know its in the video. Unfortunately YouTube only has the UK version of the song so I was unable to link to it. Anyways, I really hope they can continue where they left off and not just record some lame cd just to have one out there. If you listen to the reformed Suede i.e The Tears you will now what I mean. There were a couple good songs but for the most part it sucked. Lets hope for the best and a US tour within the next year.

Posted by mardenhill 6/26/2007 09:42:00 AM 1 comments    

Labels: Music

No Woxy Today

Day Of Silence Today

The future of Internet radio is in immediate danger. Royalty rates for webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent ruling and are due to go into effect on July 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!).

To protest these rates and encourage you to take action and contact your Congressional representatives, WOXY.com is taking part in the Day of Silence by silencing both our main channel and WOXY Vintage for today. Don't fret, the rock returns at Midnight EDT this evening.

Please call your Congressional Representatives today to ensure the future of Internet radio. Click this link for instructions how. For more background and information, check out KurtHanson.com and SaveNetRadio.org.

Thanks for your support of this important issue - Bryan Jay, Mike, Shiv and Joe
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I have written about this issue before and also have a link on the right side of my blog. I couldn't imagine my life without it, I would have to pay $12 a month for Satellite which I think is a rip off. Terrestrial radio blows, there are 1 and a half good stations in Detroit, if I were forced to listen to them all day I would go insane. Woxy has given me access to a number of new bands and great memories of older ones who are no longer together. Its important that we keep Internet Radio alive because it gives global access to bands who would have to rely on program managers in every market to promote them.

Posted by mardenhill 6/26/2007 09:04:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Music, Technology

The Cure
Sunday, June 24, 2007

The Cure Announce Tour, Ready New Album

The Cure have just announced the North American leg of their 2007 world tour, which means that Asians and Australians won't be the only ones treated to a healthy dose of makeup and mood this summer and fall.

The band are also readying their 13th studio album, the as-yet-untitled follow-up to their 2004 self-titled record, for a fall release on Suretone/Geffen.

Frontman Robert Smith, guitarist Porl Thompson, bassist Simon Gallup, and drummer Jason Cooper will begin their jaunt in Fuji, Japan on July 27, and they have shows scheduled through October 17 in Dallas at the oh-so-goth American Airlines Center.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/43803-the-cure-announce-tour-ready-new-album
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This would be great news except that The Cure are skipping Detroit on this tour. They are playing Toronto then the next date is Chicago. What gives? Detroit has sold out shows for the Cure for years. Remember that live cd Show, well that was recorded in Detroit. I have been at every Cure show for the last 16 years and this is how they repay me? As for the new cd, I have no idea if its going to be a stripped down, no keyboard sound. The last dvd was recorded as a 4 piece and suffered mixed reviews because of it. I happened to like the raw sound, would I enjoy a whole album, probably not but it was a nice change of pace. With Robert Smith it could be anything so I guess we will have to sit back and wait to see what's instore.

Posted by mardenhill 6/24/2007 11:44:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Music

Robertson Winery - Gewurtzaminer Late Harvest
Friday, June 22, 2007

Posted by mardenhill 6/22/2007 10:05:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Wine

New Box Set Coming This Fall
Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Rhino Records will be releasing a new box set The Brit Box: U.K. Indie, Shoegaze, and Brit Pop Gems of the Last Millennium October 2nd. This set will rival my other fave Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The 80's Underground. Not to be outdone, Rhino also has A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box, another set I would like to get my hands on. The Brit Box will start off with the mid 80s UK scene with bands like The Smiths, The Cure, Cocteau Twins, JAMC, Happy Mondays and Echo. From there it will dive into the Shoegazer scene made popular by bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Pale Saints and Lush. CD 3 captures the 90s Britpop revival with Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Supergrass and Elastica. Finally it finishes off with the late 90s bands that closed the door on what we like to call Britpop scene. You have Ash, Babybird, Mansun, Bluetones, The Verve, Placebo, Kula Shaker and Spiritualized to name a few. There are a total of 78 songs with an 80 page booklet in this set. I have about 95% of the songs already but I think it would still be cool to have it in physical and not just digital form. Besides the bands I already mentioned there are countless others that helped shape the scene and are worth noting. There were only a few songs that I felt didn't belong and could only think of a few other bands that were not included. You can see the list of songs below. Its about time some of the greatest music in the last 20+ years ever recorded is recognized.

http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/43724-mbv-smiths-blur-cure-new-order-jamc-in-brit-box

Posted by mardenhill 6/20/2007 05:10:00 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Music

The National On NPR

Posted by mardenhill 6/20/2007 09:50:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Music

The Assault On Reason
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

I started reading Al Gore's The Assault On Reason and highly recommend it. The book goes into detail how politician's use fear and propaganda to spread their message. Al talks about how tv has taken away the public square and transformed knowledge of current events into a money race. Yes tv has done a lot for our society but it has also made us lazy and complacent. I am not one of those blow up your tv because I love it just as much as the next person. If I couldn't watch my handful of shows, 24 hour news channels and discovery programs I would not be a happy camper. I do see his point tho, consolidation of stations into fewer and fewer owners increases the chances for propaganda. This goes for papers and radio as well. That is why the internet is so important, its still a free for all and anyone can participate. The entry barriers are very low and anyone can start a discussion.

This morning while on my way to work I heard a great story on NPR. They were talking about the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy and how it has come into bloom. For years the right built think tanks, coalitions and PACs used to lobby congress to pass their agenda. The dems sat on the sidelines and did nothing to counteract the onlslaught of the conservative message. It wasn't until democratic activists stood up and took matters into their own hands. They organized by themselves then brought the politicans in, not the other way around. Either the politicans work with the netroots or they face the consequences. Needless to say, herding democrats is like the EDS cat commerical, its nearly impossible but it can be done. The internet is anarchy with little structure and guidelines. This fits the dems thinking much more than that on the right. Although there is a lack of so called traditional leadership on the net, there are still rules and common decency that is expected to be practiced. The right may own talk radio but the left owns the internet and this is one of the things Al talks about.

If you are a fan of Al Gore or just politics in general, pick up this book you will not be disappointed.

Posted by mardenhill 6/19/2007 10:06:00 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Books, Politics

iPod Scare
Sunday, June 17, 2007

I had an iPod scare this weekend and thought I may be shelling out some bucks for a new one. For the last few weeks my iPod always reverts back to the select language when I power it on. I thought this was strange but it was still playing so I left it at that. I wanted to add a few new songs yesterday and everything came crashing down. The iPod would detect on the mac but stated it was corrupt and needed to be restored. It took me hours to program the best selection of music but if it was needed to save my player I would do it. Needless to say many restores later I was still stuck with a broken iPod. I checked some forums and found out others were experiencing the same problem. Apple didn't test the 4th gen iPods very well with the latest firmware updates since these are the ones blowing up. The fixes were to roll back to iTunes version 6 or sync to a pc. I decided to try the pc route and grabbed my laptop. It was looking promising but then crashed again. A couple restores later on the pc and my iPod was alive. I hate having to sync my iPod on the pc since my external hard drive is mac formatted and contains my music. I have to pull it thru a share which will slow down the copying time but if it works then I will do it. I just want my iPod to hold out til the end of the year when I am hoping Apple updates the latest player. Now I will have to endure all the heckling of using my pc for my iPod since I have been carrying Apple's water for years. Oh well, you do what you gotta do.....

Posted by mardenhill 6/17/2007 10:34:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Technology

Why I Hate Sears

Once the patio was finished we needed lounge chairs and the quest began. We checked Home Depot, Lowes, English Gardens, Target, Crate & Barrel and finally Sears. We found chairs that were very cool but over $300 a piece and everything below $200 was very uncomfortable and cheap. Friday nite after work I went to Sears and found the perfect lounger but they only had 1 in stock. I bought it but had to wait until Saturday to pick it up since it wouldn't fit in the back of my Ford Focus ZX3. I debated about strapping it down to my roof rack, I have done this before with a bed frame but waited since I wasn't sure I would be able to find a match. I spent over an hour that night calling 7 different stores plus the catalog number and all came up short. Either they didn't have the chair or they had no clue what I was talking about. Something about typing in an 8 digit number into a computer seemed to be too much for some of the stores. It amazed me how inept some of these people were and it blew me away that Sears does not link their stores inventories.

Finally Saturday morning I called the Novi store and they had one. I told them to put my name on it and I would be by in a few hours. I show up go to the counter and tell the guy that I have a chair on hold but I havn't paid for it. He sent me over to the customer service pickup where I told him I would need a receipt but he said don't worry they will find it for you. I went over and spoke the guy who just looked at me like I was some crazy fool and sent me back to the counter. I go back and the same guy was there. I asked him to go look in the back to see if my box is there. He did so, came back and said no. I told him there is one in stock so he looked it up and said "why yes there is, let me go see if I can find it". 5 minutes later he is back and said "would you like it". Um yeah, its why I am here, why I spent 20 minutes trying to get the box that should have had my name on it. Why he didn't see the box the 1st time, I have no clue he had the number in his hand and somehow missed it.

So the moral of the story is: If you put something on hold at Sears pretend you are a new customer and just go buy it, your name will not be on the box even if they told you it would.

Posted by mardenhill 6/17/2007 09:26:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Garden, Misc

New Oasis On The Way, Well Sorta
Friday, June 15, 2007

Posted by mardenhill 6/15/2007 01:34:00 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Music

New Stamped Concrete Patio
Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Click on the photos for a bigger picture....

They just finished our new patio today and its amazing. We went with a stamped concrete instead of paver stones and I am really happy with it. We were not planning on making it as big but I am glad we did since it will allow us more room for entertaining. The walkway rocks and we will line it with solar lamps and landscaping. Now we need to find some loungers, the big dilemma is between wood/metal/mesh/cushion.

I know the grass looks like crap but I will fix what I can this year and contemplate new stuff at a later date.

Below is the website of our contractor.

http://eurodesigncement.com/

Posted by mardenhill 6/13/2007 07:45:00 PM 35 comments    

Labels: House

New Restaurants In Detroit

Detroit has 3 casinos and the largest of them MGM is in the process of building a new hotel/casino slated to open next year. I just read about the Vegas style restaurants coming to town and I am pretty excited. Within MGM, Wolfgang Puck will open a contemporary bar & grill and fine dining establishment. Another big name is Michael Mina who will have 2 restaurants both high end. Saltwater will focus on seafood and Bourban Stake, a stakehouse.

Not to be outdone, Motorcity is revamping their star restaurant and moving it up to the 18th floor of the new hotel tower with glass windows for an excellent view of the city. The Windsor casino will also get a Nero's stakehouse opening this weekend. This is another Vegas brand coming to Detroit/Windsor.

Moving on from the casinos, a great little tapas restaurant by the name of Small Plates is expanding. Its not tapas in the true sense, nothing really Spanish about the place except for the size of the food. The old Mongolian BBQ will be the new location of Small Plates in Royal Oak come September.

Posted by mardenhill 6/13/2007 10:16:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Detroit

Not Since '84
Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Not since 1984 have the Tigers pitched a No Hitter. The last person was Jack Morris and that was the year they went on to win the World Series. I will stop it right there and everyone else can draw their own conclusions. BTW, the lucky guy was none other than 24 year old Justin Verlander.

Tigers No-Hitters
June 12, 2007: Justin Verlander vs. Milwaukee Brewers, 4-0
April 7, 1984: Jack Morris at Chicago, 4-0
July 20, 1958: Jim Bunning at Boston, 3-0
Aug. 25, 1952: Virgil Trucks at New York, 1-0
May 15 1952: Virgil Trucks vs. Washington, 1-0
July 4, 1912: George Mullin vs. St. Louis, 7-0, second game

Posted by mardenhill 6/12/2007 11:00:00 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Tigers

The White Stripes

As proof that they will go to great lengths to get Icky Thump into fans' headphones and onto their hard drives, the White Stripes have announced that they will release the forthcoming full-length in USB drive format.

The 512 MB USB 2.0 flash drives will come in two editions of 3,333 apiece. Half of them will creepily look like Meg, and the other half will creepily look like Jack (both are pictured). The drives are available separately or as a pair, and all of them will come pre-loaded with Icky Thump in Apple Lossless format (aka .m4a). They will ship the week of June 19, which is, not coincidentally, the album's U.S. release date (June 18 in the UK).

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/43589-the-white-stripes-iicky-thumpi-due-on-usb-drive
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I love this concept, its pure marketing at its finest. I do find it a bit hypocritical tho, think back to Elephant and Jack's insistance that the record be recorded 100% analog. Now Jack and Meg have embraced the digital revolution and are willing to exploit it anyway possible. Jack has always been on top of the game when it comes to selling his brand. He does so in a way as to not cheapen his image or destroy his credibility. The jump drives will become collector items and many people will still buy the cd. I fell for this in the past, I bought 2 copies of Elephant on vinyl and still have 1 sealed.

Posted by mardenhill 6/12/2007 03:26:00 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Music, Technology

Smoking Ban In MI

This is a hard one for me right now, MI has been punched in the gut over and over the last number of years and I don't see it getting much better anytime soon. I have faith that Jenny (our Gov, yeah we are on a 1st name basis) will bring new business but not enough to replace what we lost. To hit Michiganders while they are down is just down right rude. Hell they did it to us over Memorial Day weekend. MI reported the highest gas prices in the country sans Hawaii, even higher than California and Oregon which is unheard of. Well that lasted a couple days, once CNN reported it the prices dropped faster than Bush's poll numbers. Now to hit the state with a smoking ban may just drive everyone here completely insane.

I am not a smoker and would love to go into a bar that was smoke free but our nightlife and restaurants may be the only thing holding our economy together. I was out in San Francisco for 3 weeks a couple years ago for work and they were smoke free. It was the greatest thing and I wished it would happen here in MI. Well that time is here and although I really want it, I am afraid it may be too much to handle at this time. Maybe I am over reacting and people really want this. Most restaurants are already smoke free but its the bars that would be the problem. I see the restaurants/bars side where they want to make the decision but with my luck all the places I frequent would never change and I would be screwed.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070612/NEWS06/70612015

Posted by mardenhill 6/12/2007 01:50:00 PM 1 comments    

Labels: Detroit

Time To Go....
Friday, June 08, 2007

Posted by mardenhill 6/08/2007 11:27:00 AM 0 comments    

Labels: Detroit

The National
Thursday, June 07, 2007

I went and saw The National last nite and it was an amazing show. Unfortunately it was all ages something I didn't realize until 7:45pm. I didn't have a ticket and was just going to pay at the door but got spooked when I saw that kiddies would be there. So I headed downtown and got in about 9:30pm. The place was packed with a bunch of backpack wearing, bad haircut emo kids with X's on their hands. To make matters worse the opening band was awful and I still had to make it thru another one. I found a seat at the bar and watched the Tigers game for a while and eavesdropped on a pair of guys picking up some suburban girls which was quite funny. The conversation drifted from European summer travel to books they read. The one girl was a school teacher and said she loves to read Kurt Vonnegut and Maya Angelou. The guy said yeah he loves Kurt as well. Now they may have been serious but it was pretty funny to see 2 people swapping literary authors while sucking down PBRs. I will admit it, I am not a pretentious book reader, I like my novels full of crime, detectives, CIA, FBI, espionage and doomsday scenarios. I have a few authors that I read who are more on the literary side but for the most part those books bore me. I figure if I read pretentious books as well as drink pretentious wine and listen to pretentious music, I would be an insufferable bore. Being that I read bargin table books, drink good wine (not pretentious there is a difference) and listen to good indie rock, brit rock, electronic, alt country etc I would never end up as one of "Those People".

Getting back to the show, The National came on about 11pm and the place was about 3/4ths full and the grownups had arrived. They played a good number of songs from Alligator which surprised me since Boxer just came out. By the end of the night they had play 4 songs from the new cd and a mix of others from the previous cds. The highlight was when they played "Murder Me Rachel" the song that turned me onto the band. A few years ago I heard the song on Woxy and was blown away. I picked up Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers but didn't really get into the band until Alligator came out. There were a couple songs they didn't play which I was hoping for but for the most part it was a great setlist. "Fake Empire" and "Mistaken For Strangers" were excellent live, better than I expected. Check your local concert listings and if The National are playing your city head down to the show, you won't be disappointed.

Posted by mardenhill 6/07/2007 08:43:00 AM 1 comments    

Labels: Music

2.5 YEARS!!!!!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Scooter's off to the pokey, he was just sentenced for his obstruction of justice and perjury. The right wing talking heads will no doubt be out in full force condeming the sentence and will try and belittle the charges while defending their views on Clinton and perjury. They will just look like tools once again saying poor Libby just forgot, he was too busy and its too harsh of a sentence. They will continue to slander Valerie Plame and stress that she wasn't undercover. Blah Blah Blah, justice was served and the pathetic scumbag known as I Lewis "Scooter" Libby will be heading to jail......

Posted by mardenhill 6/05/2007 12:25:00 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Politics

Jonathan Stone - The Heat Of Lies
Sunday, June 03, 2007

http://www.jonathanstonebooks.com/

Funny story about this book. About a year ago I picked up Jonathan Stone's 1st book The Cold Truth on the bargin table and thought it was pretty good. Its your classic detective/thriller novel involving a murder, deception and plenty of twists and turns. While in Oregon at the coolest bookstore in the world Powells Books (the main store is whole city block in size) I picked up his 2nd book in the series. I was wandering around the mystery section of store trying to figure out what the name of the author was and I couldn't. I started in the A's and made it to J and gave up. I went to the counter and tried to describe the 1st book even though I had no name or author to give them. Luckily they had internet access and I had blogged about it because I was able to read my review and remember who it was I was looking for. Powells always has new and used copies of books and sometimes it can be hit and miss on certain ones. You can go in with a list and only come out with 1 or 2 on it but still have a stack of others you never would have considered. They had The Heat Of Lies used for $7 hardcover so I picked up a copy. The book is great and I am about 3/4ths of the way done. Jonathan Stone has 2 more books 1 more in the series and his last one a separate novel. So the moral of the story, write reviews of books you read on your blog because you never know when you will draw a blank in the coolest bookstore in the world.

http://www.powells.com/

Posted by mardenhill 6/03/2007 08:58:00 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Books

L. Mawby Blanc de Blanc

Blanc de Blanc
BRUT
Methode Champenoise
Leelanau Peninsula Sparkling Wine

'Spiced apple aromas... zesty and crisp... finishes in a complex, mature manner. Stylish.'

Chiefly chardonnay grapes that are hand picked and carefully whole-cluster pressed. The juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks, then blended with reserve wines and fermented a second time in this bottle and aged en tirage before degorgement.

$18 / 750 ml --- $10 / 375 ml

http://www.lmawby.com/index.asp

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If you have access to this stuff, I highly recommend picking up a bottle. Its from Michigan, I know sparkling not from California or France but it is still good, trust me. Upon opening you can smell the yeast permeating from the bottle and your glass. The wine itself is creamy and sweet. Not like an Asti but just a hint of sweetness for those who do not prefer the bone dry brut style. I find Domaine Chandon's Brut more along the lines of a classic French Champagne but this one can still appease those purists. Price wise you are a bit higher than most comparable bottles but you are supporting a local MI vineyard. Their tasting room is by far one of the best up north, it feels like a person's garage but full of great bubbly just waiting to be consumed.

Posted by mardenhill 6/03/2007 02:25:00 PM 1 comments    

Labels: Wine

Playoff Blues

First it was the Red Wings now the Pistons. Both teams made it to the 3rd round of their respective playoffs and lost. Both teams beat by ones viewed as inferior. Now its time to look back at our own players, which ones should stay and which should go. Both the Wings and Pistons had some great wins but collapsed the same way leaving the city bruised and broken. For the Wings it was the first time without the old guard and the Pistons were intact except for one.

I would like to thank both teams for a great playoff season and all the exciting games over the last two months. But the ride has come to an end and its time to switch gears and cheer our beloved Tigers on to another World Series appearance. BTW, the Tigers did beat the Cleveland Indians yesterday to give some credibility back to our city.

Posted by mardenhill 6/03/2007 01:48:00 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Detroit, Pistons, Red Wings

Goin Down, Down
Saturday, June 02, 2007

Dubya's poll numbers are dropping fast and his base are running like rats from a sinking ship. Yeah we all know he has done many dumb things but this immigration bill has really pissed off the party. The talking heads are thru the roof and I don't know if Fox news will be able to provide damage control.

Last week Bush basically called everyone who disagrees with his Immigration policy Anti American. Now this is nothing new to those of us who have had everything but the kitchen sink thrown at us over the last 7 years but this one was directed at his own kind. The Republican base wants to kick all illegals out but Bush doesn't think its a good idea. He likes the thought of cheap labor and if he listened to his base well all his corporate whores wouldn't be able to make the billions they are currently doing. As usual money talks and this time Bush is sticking it to all of those who voted for him. He is providing the new nominees fresh meat to distance themselves from this admin but they can't run too far since they are tied to the hip on the war. I have been having a field day watching the fallout over this. I really hope there is an all out war within the party and it breaks into two. The wild card would be the Religious Right, which side will they choose?

...........................................
In a May 28 speech at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, Bush crossed a line, effectively accusing an entire segment of the conservative movement of disloyalty and a lack of patriotism.

"If you want to kill the bill," Bush said, "if you don't want to do what's right for America, you can pick one little aspect out of it, you can use it to frighten people. Or you can show leadership and solve this problem once and for all, so the people who wear the uniform in this crowd can do the job we expect them to do."

Posted by mardenhill 6/02/2007 09:01:00 PM 1 comments    

Price Drop

Cingular is tempting me again, they dropped the coolest phone on the market down to $75 and I really want one. If you are not familar with the Samsung Blackjack you are missing out. It may be cheap but it runs Windows Mobile, can handle corporate email, internet access, mp3 player, digital camera etc. It doesn't have a touchscreen but I don't care about that, the Moto Q doesn't have one either and that used to be the coolest phone, well until I played with one and realized how much it sucked (Verizon has a lot to do with it). I don't care much for the Treo's they are too big and the phone tends to die on them. As a data device, they win hands down but for an all in one the Blackjack is it.

Possibly this month or next will be the release of the iPhone so Cingular will have their hands full. It might be a good time to swoop in and snag one of these beauties. You can get as low as $50 for a refurb but I don't want to go down that road. It would mean another 2 year contract but seeing that I have been with ATT/Cingular/ATT since 2000, whats another 2 years.

Posted by mardenhill 6/02/2007 08:34:00 PM 0 comments    

Labels: Technology