Archive for August, 2006

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A site about the ‘boken

August 10th, 2006

Since Miss Possible and I moved here a little over a year ago, we’ve often struggled to find a decent site about the goings on in The ‘Boken. There was always but that was just a site used for reviews, for the most part. Some of which were fairly out of date.

On my way down Washington Street this morning, I happened to spot a sticker that promoting . After getting settled into work, I decided to go check it out, and I must say I’m pretty impressed.

First off, the site is extremely well designed. Very Web2.0ish with a Yahoo Maps mash-up of crime in the town. A lot of great reviews, plus the ability to rate and review specific posts. Considering that the site is probably maintained by one (or a few) people, it has quite a lot of news updates throughout the day, which I found very impressive. I’ve already added it to the list of RSS feeds that I subscribe to, in hopes of being the first to know about the disorderly conduct that might occur at First and Hudson.

Personally, I think my favorite feature is the Doomed business listings. There’s a number of recently-closed businesses and Hoboken411 covers them all. Considering it’s such a small town, everyone pretty much knows everything that goes on here.. and this site does a great job of covering it.

In other Hoboken-related news, the town has recently made national attention with the dispute surrounding the robotic employees of a parking structure located at “midtown.” It was recently covered by Wired magazine, and I recommend the read. This is the most action we get around these parts..

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Posted in Hoboken, Internet

Deford Pumps up for Commentary

August 10th, 2006


One of my favorite weekly segments on NPR is Frank Deford’s sports commentaries available each Wednesday morning.

I’ll admit that for quite some time, I actually thought they were saying “Frank Gifford,” the former football player and Monday Night Football announcer. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t he have a similar voice? I just couldn’t understand why they were pronouncing his name wrong.

This past week, after learning about the steroid scandal, Deford decided to speak out on the issue. His latest commentary is an amusing look at the excuses people give when they are thought to be using the substance by asking listeners to keep an open mind about his own doping scandal.

Take a listen

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Posted in Nonsense

Buttons

August 8th, 2006

As a newlywed, the benefits of marriage are unfolding on a daily basis. It’s a whole different ballgame than even living together before marriage. Chores are shared. Dinners are cooked. Important dates are remembered so I don’t have to. I dare say that marriage could make me a lazy person. I’ve been an independent adult-type person since I was a kid. I was about nine years old when my mother decided to stop making my lunch for school. I think it was a combination of my mother being busy, me complaining about her sandwiches (mayonaise on ham – really?), and her wanting to make me independent. In due time, I was quite comfortable with doing laundry, ironing clothes, and cleaning the house from floor to ceiling. If only my dad had taken the same route with me, then I might not have to rely on AAA for car problems and my landlord for apartment repairs.

Anyway, about that fear of growing lazy…well, I have these summer weight cargo pants that I bought last year. Toward the end of the summer, one of the buttons fell off and I hadn’t replaced it since. It only took me a mere 12 months to get around to it. So, the other night, I brought out the pants, the button, and my ramshackle collection of thread, needles, and other sewing implements. I can’t do much with a needle, but I can sew on a button and I can sew up a hole like no one’s business.

Just at that moment, Swedish Girl said, “Want me to do it? I’ll do it.” I protested mildly, but gave in. I left the room for a moment, returned, and she was done. As solid as I am in the field of button-sewing, I am slow. That one button would have taken me longer, much longer. I don’t want to embarrass myself too much by estimating how long, but Swedish Girl saved me time and bloody fingertips. Just chalk up buttons to that list of benefits of marriage that unfold on a daily basis.

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Posted in Life at Home, Relationships

An evening with ‘Madame’

August 8th, 2006

Kim and I at the Cutting RoomJust last night, Miss Possible and I ventured into the city to go to a show with one of her co-workers and a few friends. We got the invite last week, but I neglected to read through the description — didn’t really matter, I knew we’d have a good time. The show was called “Madame: A comeback from abroad” featuring the “puppet” shown to the right.

I knew I recognized this character from the get-go, but couldn’t place her. Turns out, she used to be on Hollywood Squares as well as Solid Gold. Perhaps you remember her? In any event, it’s actually an interesting story. The original Puppeteer, Wayland Flowers, passed away in 1988 of AIDS and so too went Madame. Eighteen years later, the Flowers estate decided to revive the character and held try-outs for various puppeteers to take over. Joe Kovacs was chosen, and thus began the revived life of Madame.

The show was extraordinarily entertaining. Despite not really being a ventriliquist, after a few brief minutes you soon forget that he is even there and get fully engrossed in Madame’s character. She’s a feisty, bitter and perverse old woman with a ton of great one-liners. Overall, we had a fantastic time at this performance, and unfortunately is the last one on the series for Madame. She’s off touring for a while around the country, but will probably be back sometime. We definitely recommend checking her out, as the show was fantastic.

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Posted in Life, New York

My Summer Treat

August 3rd, 2006

A few weeks back, while I was at the grocery store I stumbled upon a treat that I hadn’t had since I was a kid. They come 24 in a box, and they’re the simplest frozen treat you can find — Fla-Vor-Ice.

When I first brought them home, I’d have one or two a night.. but it’s become an out-of-control problem. I’m now up to 4,5,6 popsicles per night — especially with the latest heat wave that’s hit the New York area. I’ve practically worn a path between the couch and the freezer, during my many trips back and forth to get (yet another) popsicle.

The best thing about this, though, is that there’s nothing to these things. I used to have a bowl of Soy Ice Cream for dessert (450 Calories, 26g of Fat). Fla-Vor-Ice pops (even 6 of them) are still so much better for you than ice cream. These things are 25 calories per popsicle, and 0 grams of fat. What a nice treat!

Just the other night, MP asked me “Hey, why is it that every time I come into the kitchen, the scissors are out on the counter?” To this, I had no response — just a guilty smile. She eventually figured it out. But that’s how bad these things have gotten.

My only concern is that the last time I was at the store, they only had two boxes left. I should’ve bought both of them while I had the chance. I just hope that they still have them when I head back this on Sunday. If not, I might need to scour the city of Hoboken on a Fla-Vor-Ice rampage.

Now, if you’ll excuse me.. I’ve got to make another run to the kitchen.

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Posted in Food, Health

We get no respect

August 1st, 2006

I don’t write about my job — neither current nor past employers. I feel as though there’s enough things to write about that I don’t need to get into any trouble writing about a specific company or organization. So with that in mind, I’m going to take a second to write about my career.

First off, I work in Internet Advertising. Let me take this a little bit further and say that my department (Advertising Operations) is responsible for developing new advertising models for publishers as well as putting these ads online. Now, before you start booing and hissing, hear me out.

The Advertising Operations departmnent for most online publishers has the same primary role — to support the sales team in developing successful advertising strategies, implement the ads that have been sold across the site, but at the same time (and most importantly) developing and adhering to advertising standards.

It’s this last part that I think most people don’t quite understand. When I think about the Ad Ops department, I feel as though we kind of get a bum rap by just about everyone. Editorial or Content dislikes us because we’re pro-advertising (that’s a given). Sales dislikes us because (even though we help them out tremendously) we’re always shooting down their ideas or trying to hold some sort of line. We’re not that good friends with the tech department either, as they typically view us as the troublesome pro-advertising department that is always looking for help to implement another cockamamie advertising intiative dreamed up by the sales team.
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Posted in Internet, Marketing, Technology