Money matters not

Washington Mutual (which is often cutely referred to as "WaMu") went under overnight and was bought up by JP Morgan Chase. I have a secondary checking account with WaMu so I consulted a story on Marketwatch to see what the deal was going to be with my funds.

There is a list of questions people might ask including, "I just wrote a check out. Will it clear?"and "What about my debit card?" Both are fine and basically nothing different will happen. One question stood out from the others by asking, "I already had an account with J.P. Morgan Chase and now my combined balances exceed the $100,000 FDIC insured limit. What do I do?"

... This, sadly, was not one of my concerns.

Anatomy of a scam

This 2 bed 2 bath was just posted on Craigslist. Let's take a look to see why it can't exist. Note the balcony entrance that doesn't exist, the "dark wood" cabinets and the distant view of downtown from near Van Ness.



Also, it was listed as $1200, which should have been a dead giveaway.

Note: Does this shape look like the Iberian Peninsula to anyone else?

Censorship and mass market video games

It's payday, so at lunch today I bought Rock Band 2 because it came out yesterday and I wanted it (see previous post about delayed-gratification Zac being dead).

I've obviously yet to play it at all, as I am sitting at my desk in my office, but aside from "Livin on a Prayer," "Go Your Own Way," songs by Dylan and Pearl Jam, I'm most looking forward to "You Oughta Know" by the young angry Canadian Alanis Morissette.

At one point, as you most likely know, Alanis asks in the song if her former lover is thinking of her during a specific activity he does with his new girlfriend. One thing I have to wonder is, what will Alanis, and those who are singing along with her in the game, wonder about her former lover in the video game that censors song lyrics? When will we, the singers, wonder if he thinks about her?

It's one of the absolute best lines in the song and really nails (heh) the source of the anger and hurt. In the digital, XBOX 360-version of Alanis, does she wonder if he's thinking of her while he "loves" his new girl? "Kiss her"?

"Hug" actually fits pretty well, but only in meter and rhyme and not so much in tone, meaning or fury. Cause really, would she care if Joey from "Full House" is hugging some chick and wonder if he's thinking of his little under-aged bitter songwriter ex-girlfriend?

For that matter, when the Chili Peppers release the entire "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" album next month, most "whats" will not give a damn? And most "whats" have a cold-what stare? I don't even want to think what happened to Kedis after his eyes popped out and before he dropped his jaw in "Apache Rose Peacock."

Like "Creep," these songs are "so very special" if you know the actual words that the artists used while crafting their, you know... art; and not the words that soccer moms are ok with their children singing along to.

The downside of public transit

Upside: Read a book, take a nap, see the city from the water (I love being on or in the water), avoid traffic, spare the air, don't have to change tires or oil as often, feel more urban and less suburban... etc.

Downside: When the Internet I work on breaks at 5:33 and it takes 20 minutes to fix I miss the 5:49 bus back to the ferry station and city leaving only the last bus of the night for me to catch in my attempts to get to my desired destination of pants shopping and home. The last bus leaves an hour after the bus I wanted, which makes for an extra long day.

I'm still not quite giving up though.

Euro Trashed

This is a little project I just started. It's roughly a third of all of my pictures from my trip that started almost exactly a year ago. I think it's pretty cool (the song definitely is).

Look for more installments soonish