Hanna blows in and out again

Tropical storm Hanna came ashore early this morning and has now reached the Raleigh area. It looks like the eye (such as it is) is just to the east of us. There’s a 15 MPH wind and some occasional gusts of around 25 to 30 MPH but not much more. I’m warily eyeing the handful of tall pine trees in the yard of the neighbor across the street, each of which is swaying 30 degrees in opposite directions. They look the most vulnerable of the trees I can see from the house.

We’ve got a flash flood warning here, and a couple of inches of rain have fallen. Our “river” in the back yard has a bit of a small lake at the end, but nothing too serious. I’m also pleased the gutter guards are doing their job. Its also good news that Hurricane Ike is heading farther west and into the Gulf, though I wouldn’t want to meet that storm in a dark alley.

I’ve got to set up my home weather station again sometime soon.

Pandora schwag

When my buddy Ben blogged about how awesome Pandora is, I decided they needed to know about it. They’re sending me some schwag in return! In a week I should have a sweet Pandora T-shirt to show off.

I can’t count how many bands I’ve discovered thanks to Pandora, and many of my friends have, too. That’s a company I don’t mind advertising about!

(And just so you know they’re hooking Ben up, too.)

Raleigh now Wide Open

Raleigh is officially Wide Open now as the city’s festivities have begun. I couldn’t help but notice as Big Mama E and The Cool took the Cherry Bounce stage, 50 yards from my office window. The music is kicking but quite distracting while we’re working to finish up a big project before the weekend starts. Still, its good to see all the people wandering downtown. I think officials made the right call in deciding the show must go on.

Here’s a map of festivities so you can know where to get down with thy bad self.

Atari and the suits in the record industry

My friend Chris O’Donnell linked to a wonderful online history of the Atari company, makers of the first wildly-popular home video games. It tells of how Nolan Bushnell, Silicon Valley legend and founder of Atari, sold the company to Warner Communications and then regretted the move when he was forced out. Warner went on to squeeze billions of dollars out of Atari but also squeezed the creativity out of it too, chiefly by not giving game developers a cut of their creations’ huge profits.
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Lighting Raiders


While I was learning how to stuff video onto our new iPod I practiced with my Raiders Of The Lost Ark DVD. After repeatedly watching the opening sequence, I noticed something I hadn’t appreciated before in the 27 years (!) the film has been out: the lighting is outstanding! In the opening scene, Indiana Jones goes from deep into the jungle and into the dark tomb, then gets chased out by the boulder and races to the river to escape. There are so many scenes here with challenging lighting yet every one is perfect. The lighting practically tells the story itself.

Raiders cinematographer Douglas Slocombe is said to have never used a light meter on the Raiders set. How is it this man never won an Oscar?

Perfect Circle

This is one of my all-time favorite R.E.M. songs.

Perfect Circle
R.E.M.
(Youtube video)

Put your hair back, we get to leave
Eleven gallows on your sleeve
Shallow figure, winner’s paid
Eleven shadows way out of place
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room
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N&O shrinks staff yet again

Last weekend I couldn’t help but notice the Lowe’s sales circular which normally arrives in the Sunday paper came instead by First Class mail. I don’t know if Lowe’s wanted to put it in the hands of its customers earlier to take advantage of the Labor Day weekend or if Lowe’s simply didn’t find the News and Observer up to the task. Either way, that’s revenue the N&O would’ve banked but didn’t.

Decisions like Lowe’s don’t bode well for the N&O, as yesterday the beleaguered paper announced more buyout packages in an effort to reduce staff (I was going to say “headcount,” but they’re people, dammit). I wonder if McClatchy’s 2006 decision to buy Knight Ridder seems so prudent in the face of today’s economy.

Shrinking product or no, I still enjoy my morning paper and I hope things settle down there soon.