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On Friday, June 20th at approximately 5:15 p.m., our Camry died a quiet death. It was very old and it was time for it to go. When something has lived a long full life, it is not a thing of sadness when it goes softly into the long sleep. The Camry was originally my parents' and I had been driving it for almost half of my life. It was model year 1994 and had 214,000 miles on it.

Recently, it had stopped working and was out of commission for several months. When he was finally able to revive it, my mechanic friend told me that the cooling system was rusting, the transmission was going and that massive timing belt failure was imminent. The coolant was a deep orange/copper color. I took it in and had a life-extending radiator flush performed. After what seemed like an agonizing eternity, but was really an agonizing two hours, the mechanic performing the flush came to me and told me that he had done all he could; he had flushed the radiator twelve times with little effect. I thanked him and took my ailing car home.

I put in some transmission fluid, and after that it performed beautifully--almost like it used to. I drove it every day with no problems. I could almost pretend that the inevitable was not near. Then, the window died and wouldn't close. I took it into the shop and they told me the cost and asked if I really wanted to spend that much on a car that is obviously on its way out. They were able to close the window and advised I not open it again. I thanked him and took my ailing car home again.

A few weeks later, I accidentally pressed the wrong button and opened the window a smidge. I couldn't get it back up, so I performed a little open-door surgery of my own. I cut the wires that are responsible for raising and lowering the window and attached a rope to the window sled. This way, I could close the window simply by pulling on the rope and then tying it onto the door handle. It was not an elegant sight.

We, the Camry and I, went on this way for a couple months until that fateful Friday, two weeks ago. It is only now that I can bring myself to speak of it.

The day was unremarkable, unlike any other. I had driven a couple slugs to work and a couple others home. Upon arriving home, I left again to take Elise to gymnastics. I dropper her off and started home. About two miles down the road the engine cut out and I drifted over the side of the road, knowing this was it--the Camry would never move of its own accord again.

There was much discussion of whether it even made sense to pay someone to tow it to the shop. In the end, we decided we should do so, just in case. We all knew it was futile, but still we hoped. Within hours, the shop called with the cause of death; the timing belt had given out. It gave its all right up to the last. It ensured that the slugs made it home and that Elise arrived safely at gymnastics. But then it could give no more and was gone.

Farewell, Camry. We thank you.

Have I ever mentioned that?

Here's the preview from his upcoming 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog':


Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

In other Joss news, he will be returning to TV (his true home) with 'Dollhouse,' which also looks excellent.

And lastly, Cyndi & I are slowly rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We're nearing the end of season 2. It's truly the perfect TV show. Way better than that crap JK mentioned years ago when I told him he should watch it, but he wouldn't because he doesn't like 'that kind of show.'


Update 7/1/08: There's a comic to introduce the characters here.

I posted recently about the presidential candidates' usage of new tech, including twitter.

I'm still following both McCain & Obama (Clinton, too, but that's just because I haven't removed her yet). The stats in that previous post have continued along the same trajectories. McCain continues to tweet 2.5 times for each Obama tweet (M:343 , O:138; Obama still has about 29 times as many followers (M: 1,482, O:42,557).

I still can't decide who is using twitter to it's fullest potential. Obviously, Obama's tweets are spreading much faster than McCain's due to his overwhelming follower count, but McCain is using it more. Also, McCain will often reply to a direct message, showing that someone is actually reading the feed of people he's following. I haven't seen any replies from Obama, which indicates that he's using it more as a soapbox and less as an interactive communications medium. So, McCain probably wins on actually embracing twitter, while Obama is probably getting the most benefit from it.

While analyzing the statistics like this is interesting, it's obviously only a side note. What's far more important is the message that each candidate is putting out. To that end, here are a few recent tweets that I think are illustrative of each canidate's use of twitter. These are all pulled from the tweets currently showing on their twitter page, which shows the most recent twenty or so tweets. In case you think that my selections are biased, I invite you to visit either candiate's twitter page and see for yourself. I've linked them to their names in the second paragraph above. I'm certain that whenever you do this, even months from now, you'll see a similar tenor on each feed.

McCain:

New book "fleeced" by Dick Morris http://twurl.nl/iiayyc What would Obama do to country as President?

Obama with more endorsments: http://twurl.nl/vlexa4 from North Korean and Libyan Dictators, next Zimbabwe?

What do you think, has the surge worked? http://tinyurl.com/5vss6a

@MrBabyMan sorry I don't. Do you happen to know any dem leaders willing to help us lower oil prices by allowing drilling? Just looking

@MargaretSchaut Naw, that's not the case, ask average Joe who works all week to gain a Saturday with family, does he want Obama, nope

More hypocrisy http://twurl.nl/8y67d6 Obama manipulating patriotic images though he says there's too much manipulation of patriotism

Why are the Democrats working so hard to increase the price of gas?

Mitt Romney on Obama's problem http://tinyurl.com/6f7xsc

Israel taking precautions to protect themselves if Obama wins http://twurl.nl/1vsi3i and tries to force them to concede

Obama:

In Chicago,holding an economic discussion with the Democratic governors. Watch it live now at http://my.barackobama.com/l...

Made an important decision today and wanted to share it with you. Visit http://my.barackobama.com/m...

Honored to be endorsed by Al Gore in Michigan tonight. Watch live streaming video at 8:30pm EST at http://my.barackobama.com/l...

Wishing everyone a Happy Father's Day. Spoke today at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago. Read remarks at http://my.barackobama.com/dad

Pleased with today's Supreme Court decision to bring terrorists to justice while also protecting our core values. http://www.barackobama.com

Kicking-off a two week tour focusing on the current economic crisis & the need for new economic policy: http://my.barackobama.com/N...

IN St Paul, MN speaking after securing the nomination. Watch the speech live on TV tonight or streamed http://my.barackobama.com/n...

In Middletown, CT. Pinch-hitting for Senator Kennedy and delivering the commencement address for Wesleyan University.

In MI, unveiling my manufacturing agenda. It's time to recapture the spirit of innovation that has always fueled America's economic success.

So, McCain is on the attack, while Obama is spreading ideas (wow, that doesn't sound at all like I'm drinking the Obama Kool-Aid, does it? ). Seriously, though, McCain's feed is filled with vitriol and sarcasm, while Obama is talking about his platform and campaign. You have to go back to April 3 to see a tweet that mentions McCain, and it's not the silly fear-mongering (next Zimbabwe?) coming from McCain:

Troubled by today's unemployment figures, the latest indicator of how badly America needs fundamental change from Bush-McCain policies.

While, the fact is that Obama will probably win due to Republican's current unpopularity (unless he royally screws something up, of course) this difference in attitude or strategy sure won't help McCain. It really shows him to be the same old politician that we all know and hate. It's really too bad, because for a long time, he was the only Republican a Democrat or left-leaning hater-of-all-parties like myself, could respect. But, just as Romney sold his previously-more-centrist political soul to the right-wing, so has McCain.

Update 6/23 2:00: Apparently, I'm not the only one thinking about politics & twitter: Twitter As a Campaigning Tool and How Twitter Can Change the Presidential Debate.

A while ago, security expert and all-around common sense advocate Bruce Schneier wrote the following essay. He posted it to his blog the day before Lori was born; thus the delay in my posting about it.

The War on Photography

Since 9/11, there has been an increasing war on photography. Photographers have been harassed, questioned, detained, arrested or worse, and declared to be unwelcome. We've been repeatedly told to watch out for photographers, especially suspicious ones. Clearly any terrorist is going to first photograph his target, so vigilance is required.

Except that it's nonsense. The 9/11 terrorists didn't photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn't photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn't photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren't being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn't known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about -- the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 -- no photography.

It's quick and a must-read for anyone interested in photography or the erosion of our rights.

This brings to mind a couple of recent cases of security over-stepping their authority at DC's Union Station. First, was an NPR photographer who was testing some new equipment there when he was almost arrested. And then, while doing a report on photographers being hassled at Union Station, the camera crew of our local Fox affiliate was hassled by Union Station security.

I've posted a bunch of photos of Lori & miscellaneous family members on my family photos site. Click the screaming baby if you'd like to check them out: