Digital Chum - Virtual fish guts and other nonsense

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Hello, Pot? This is Kettle.

Feb 16th, 2009
by Dan.
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Republican Sermon

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I’ve been following the shenanigans regarding the new stimulus bill, and have been shaking my head in dismay. I see the usual accusations of pork (which are almost always warranted) and the sniping by both sides about how something is or isn’t going to work… the usual ideological tripe from both sides.

What I find most amazing, though, is the hypocrisy. Isn’t that always the case? The Republicans are screaming about all the spending and unanimously voted against it in the House. However, for the original “bailout” when there was a Republican administration in the White House, fully half of the House Republicans voted for it, pushing it out so fast that the promised “oversight” of the companies receiving taxpayer money basically flew out the window with our 800+ billion dollar commitment.

Now that there’s a Democratic administration in the White House, though, the thought of spending all that money for a bailout somehow offends Republicans. They claim that it’s because of the pork and the faulty ideology behind the bailout plan, but make no mention of the fact that the plan they previously voted for did virtually nothing. Far be it from them to give a different set of ideas a fighting chance.

Given some time to look into the proposed new bailout, I have no doubt that I could find a lot of things that I’d think were absurd, wasteful, and irresponsible. I would, however, probably find a lot of things that sound promising. Despite my distaste for partisan politicking, I understand the reality that the political process is one big (probably corrupt) negotiation and if both sides don’t come to the table with the mutual goal of doing beneficial things for this country and a flexibility to listen to contrasting opinions, Congress might as well just close its doors.

Republicans, seemingly unwilling to do that, have their “We Love Rush” blinders on and their pouty bottom lips out in a hypocritical, childish display of misplaced solidarity.

Wells Fargo CEO doesn’t get it

Feb 11th, 2009
by Dan.
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Yesterday, CNN’s Campbell Brown took Wells Fargo to task, not for canceling their lavish Vegas shindig, but for taking out two full-page ads in newspapers as a “thank you” to employees and to blame the media for the cancellation of their extravagant employee recognition festivities.

In the ads, Wells Fargo’s CEO announced all of its big employee events for the year have now been canceled. He then blamed the media and said that our one-sided reporting on this subject makes every employee recognition event sound like a boondoggle. And that ultimately, our misleading reports have hurt Wells Fargo employees who deserve a pat on the back, and hurt the tourism industry since they aren’t taking these trips anymore.

I echo Campbell Brown’s reply of “Give me a break.” Wells Fargo shouldn’t be whining and complaining that the big, mean media is trashing them for a flagrant waste of taxpayer money. They should be thanking the media for setting them straight and reminding them that, without that taxpayer bailout money, they wouldn’t have jobs to appreciate in the first place.

She continues.

And do you really think the best use of your money right now is to buy full page newspapers ads trashing the media, disguising the ads as thank you notes to your employees?

You want to thank your workers, try e-mail. Put the letter on your Web site instead. It won’t cost a dime.

Exactly. If they really were just concerned about thanking their employees, that’s what they would have done… used email or their website. Taking out full-page ads just shows that what they’re interested in is playing the victim. They want to portray themselves as “poor Wells Fargo” because they can’t properly thank their employees. They’re pouting because they can’t throw their big, extravagant, 12-day party this year because of that damned media. Then they have the gall to say that they “hope Americans will understand when a company tries to do the right thing by honoring its employees.”

Yes. I think Americans will understand when a company honors its employees. But I don’t think Americans will understand, or more importantly sympathize with, a company who takes taxpayer bailout money and then wants to spend it in irresponsible, unproductive, and outlandish ways. Once that bailout money is paid back in full with interest, they can do whatever they want with their income.

To add insult to injury, the Wells Fargo CEO evidently has warned of possible job cuts this year.

If they’re strapped for cash and need to lay people off, spending bailout money on parties is even more reprehensible.

I think it’s time for their CEO to step down… with no parachute.

Lunch Bag Art

Feb 11th, 2009
by Dan.
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Lunch Bag ArtI just found this website while checking out PvP, a web comic that I follow.

It’s a dad who creates new artwork on his kids’ lunchbags every day and he’s got a bunch of the bags on display on his website. Check them out. They’re pretty amazing… and it’s such a fun thing for a dad to do for his kids!

Cool dads rock.

Wells Fargo Cancels

Feb 6th, 2009
by Dan.
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It seems that Wells Fargo canceled it’s all-expense-paid employee extravaganza in Vegas very shortly after the Associated Press article hit the news.

The company initially defended the trip after The Associated Press reported it had booked 12 nights beginning Friday at the Wynn Las Vegas and the Encore Las Vegas. But within hours, investigators and lawmakers on Capitol Hill had scorned the bank, and the company canceled.

I’m stunned and impressed by lawmakers actually commenting on this so quickly and laying the smack down. It’s refreshing… and surprising.

What did Wells Fargo have to say about the whole thing?

“In light of the current environment, we have now decided to cancel this event as well,” the company said Tuesday night in a news release that also said the it had never planned to use taxpayer bailout money for the trip.

“The current environment” must mean the environment where everyone in the entire country, including investigators and lawmakers,  is screaming obscenities at their absurd lack of judgement.

And what’s this about never planning to use taxpayer bailout money for the trip? Until they pay back the full amount they were given via the bailout, every penny in that company is taxpayer bailout money. It’s not like they were given a loan to make some improvements to their facilities. They were given bailout money to keep their company from going under due to poor management and bad business decisions. Without the bailout money, they’d be done… finished… game over.

So until they demonstrate they can be fiscally and managerially responsible by paying back all the bailout money and making a profit without government assistance, they’ve got no money that isn’t taxpayer bailout money. Until that point, every single cent of expenditure should be watched with a proverbial magnifying glass to make sure they don’t try, once again, to bilk their customers… and their country… out of billions of dollars.

Buying some extra staples is fine. Buying a  12-day, all-expense-paid, hedonistic party for the employees… not so much.

No, no, no, no, NO!!!!

Feb 3rd, 2009
by Dan.
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Filled with stolen taxpayer money

Filled with stolen taxpayer money

According to this article on MSNBC, Wells Fargo, which received about $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money,  is planning on having a “series of corporate junkets” to Las Vegas casinos this month.

From the article…

Wells Fargo, once among the nation’s top writers of sub prime mortgages, has booked 12 nights at the Wynn Las Vegas and its sister hotel, the Encore Las Vegas beginning Friday, said Wynn spokeswoman Michelle Loosbrock. The hotels will host the annual conference for company’s top mortgage officers.

The conference is a Wells Fargo tradition. Previous years have included all-expense-paid helicopter rides, wine tasting, horseback riding in Puerto Rico and a private Jimmy Buffett concert in the Bahamas for more than 1,000 employees and guests.

Other banks have cancelled their “employee recognition” outings due to financial cutbacks, but not Wells Fargo. Evidently, they feel it’s okay to spend all this taxpayer bailout money on parties and “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” shenanigans.

“I was amazed with just how lavish it was,” said Debra Rickard, a former Wells Fargo mortgage employee from Colorado who attended the events regularly until she left the company in 2004. “We stayed in top hotels, the entertainment was just unbelievable, and there were awards — you got plaques or trophies.”

What’s the excuse for continuing this lavish event even though the company needed (and received) bailout money to stay afloat?

“Recognition events are still part of our culture,” spokeswoman Melissa Murray said. “It’s really important that our team members are still valued and recognized.”

“Part of our culture?” Is poor management to the point of bankruptcy part of your culture, too? Is misusing public funds part of your culture? Is destroying the public trust part of your culture? Is lavish excess funded by taxpayer money part of your culture?

Evidently, it is now.

If they actually hold this event, I think all their bailout money should be returned… forcibly if necessary. Let them fail because they certainly aren’t doing anything to succeed. They are just taking in public funds for their own grand, hedonistic enjoyment, flushing the money down the financial toilet of delusional entitlement.

There was supposed to be some pretty stringent oversight attached to this bailout money. I hope Congress steps in and puts the smack down on this Wells Fargo fiasco, but I sadly fear that they won’t.

Murray did not immediately have details about the size or cost of the events or what was planned.

No surprise there. The MSNBC article provides this detail, though.

Rooms at the Wynn and the Encore are consistently among the most expensive in Las Vegas. The $2.3 billion Encore opened in December as sister hotel to the Wynn. Its decor includes a 27-foot Asian dragon made from 90,000 Swarovski crystals and artwork by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. One of the restaurants features Frank Sinatra’s 1953 Oscar.

I guess the Red Roof Inn is out of the question.

Farewell, Ricardo Montalban

Jan 15th, 2009
by Dan.
1 comment
Welcome to Fantasy Island!

Welcome to Fantasy Island!

I was saddened to hear that Ricardo Montalban died yesterday. When I was growing up, I always watched Fantasy Island every Saturday at my grandparents’ house and Mr. Rourke was always so cool, debonair, and mysterious. I so wanted to be just like him.

Then, later in life, after having a daughter, she and I would watch the animated Disney show Kim Possible and Ricardo Montalban voiced the character of Señor Senior, Sr., one of the main villains on the show. That simply added a sense of fun to my impression of him, so then he was cool, debonair, mysterious, AND fun.

Reading about his real life, it seems he was all those things (except for maybe the mysterious part) in addition to being humble and gracious, and was well-loved by both business associates and family. It’s always nice to hear that an actor you looked up to as a child turns out to be a good person in real life.

Almost as if it was a fantasy granted.

(On a lighter note, I now picture him hanging out with Raul Julia and partying it up in some post-life Mexican cabana with lots of liquor and scantily clad island women. Shots are on the house, Ricardo! You’ll be missed!)

One Year in 40 Seconds

Jan 11th, 2009
by Dan.
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I just saw this video on YouTube and thought I’d share. It’s about 46 seconds and is a time-lapse movie of a woodsy area for an entire year. Very cool.

Time to Relax

Dec 29th, 2008
by Dan.
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Well, almost all of the Christmas festivities have ended around here. We have a little more gift exchanging to do tonight and then I think all the focus goes to New Year’s Eve.

It’s a very quiet day today. I can almost hear Bill O’Reilly’s blood pressure dropping as he packages up his imaginary “War on Christmas” for next year. The various frenzies over religious displays are beginning to wind down, with people on all sides of the issue meandering off shaking their heads in disgust or dismay (or both). Christmas seems to bring out the best in some people and the worst in others.

Here at our house, however, Christmas just rocked. Everyone at the various family gatherings got along wonderfully and there wasn’t even an inkling of tension or annoyance (that I noticed, anyway). The people were fun, the food was great, the gifts were wonderful and, once again, my wife did phenomenol job with the decorations and the cooking… and all the other stuff that she does behind the scenes to make things go smoothly.

Now if I can just keep from gaining 10 pounds from all the leftovers in the fridge…

Kitty Video!

Nov 24th, 2008
by Dan.
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My daughter’s new kitten started doing a begging thing with her paws and it was so cute that we just had to encourage it. Here’s a video of her doing it for treats.

And yes, the other cats did get treats, too… just not during the video. ;-)

Dr. Horrible Soundtrack on Amazon

Nov 21st, 2008
by Dan.
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Get the soundtrack now!

Get the soundtrack now!

By the way, the Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog soundtrack is now available via an MP3 download at Amazon.com. This is important for folks like me who don’t use iTunes and never will. The Amazon MP3′s are not DRM protected, so you can play them on any MP3 player, which is one of the major benefits of purchasing your MP3′s somewhere other than iTunes (in my opinion, of course). So have at it! If the songs aren’t already stuck in your head, they really should be.

Oh… and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you really need to go watch now. Just click here and sit back for some really great entertainment. It’s about 45 minutes long, so make sure you block it off in your schedule before you get started.

…in a galaxy far, far away…

Nov 14th, 2008
by Dan.
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Artist's interpretation of Fomalhaut

Artist's interpretation of Fomalhaut

Yesterday, I read that astronomers had actually photographed planets outside our solar system for the first time. Planets had been detected before, but always by methods other than direct visuals. This is the first time they’ve actually seen an object this cool (temperature-wise) and this small outside our own solar system, according to aBBC article (linked below).

To me, that’s just phenomenally cool. Astronomers viewing other galaxies and deep space features like gas clouds and nebulae has produced images that are just fundamentally awe-inspiring, showing a universe that is at once beautiful, mysterious, and scientifically enthralling. Seeing actual planets gives spine-tingling shivers to those of us who have imaginations that love to wander around the speculative playground of extraterrestrial life.

I never got to see Star Trek much as a kid, but Science Fiction has always fascinated me from an early age. Seeing images of space from astronomers’ telescopes always ignites a feeling of wonder and appreciation for the vastness of the universe and gets my imagination soaring around space travel, exploration, alien life, terra-forming, and all kinds of other fantastical ideas. It also piques my scientific curiosity about how the universe works, how it formed, and where it’s headed.

Kudos to the astronomers who made this new planetary discovery. Keep up the great work and know that you’re not only making leaps of scientific progress, but you’re providing inspiration and joy to those of us who step into the images of your discoveries… if only in our minds.

Here’s a link to an article about the discovery: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7725584.stm

C’mon, November 4th!

Oct 23rd, 2008
by Dan.
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It will be so nice once November 4th has come and gone. It’ll be even nicer after all the legal challenges and recount demands and accusations of voting irregularities are finished, too.

I haven’t seen many of the TV ads because I don’t watch much television, but I’ve seen a few. I think I may even have seen one or two that were not misleading… but I may have only dreamt that. Most of what I see, from both candidates’ sides, is misleading at best and blatantly incorrect at worst. The few that have not been terribly misleading were ones where the candidate doesn’t talk about his opponent. They’re refreshing… sort of.

Presidential elections seem to bring out the worst in people… emotionally and intellectually. Once the election is done and the winners cheer and the losers sigh, perhaps things can get civil again. They usually have in the past. I hope this year is no exception.

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