Who The Hell Is Joe Wong?

Yet as soon as he began to speak the audience roared–and this is a very tough crowd!

My buddy Farrell shot me an email Thursday. Here’s the gist:

I attended the Radio & Television Correspondents Dinner last night at the DC Convention Center. Joe Biden was the main speaker. A couple of funny lines in the beginning of his speech. Also, look for Joe Wong, a comedian, who wrapped up the evening. He has a final line about global warming. I thought of you.

First, I’m impressed Farrell was at the dinner. He is the International Man of Mystery&#153, but he’s never been a correspondent. At least he hasn’t been in the nearly thirty years I know him¹!

Second, who the hell is Joe Wong? Am I that far behind on comedians? I went to the C-SPAN site to look at the video. That’s when I found out this broadcast wasn’t even on ‘real’ C-SPAN, but C-SPAN 2–The Deuce.

Joe was introduced as having been on Letterman and Ellen Degeneres. That’s OK on a resume, but not great. He walked to the podium. If you were looking for a comedian he is not what you would have been looking for! Yet as soon as he began to speak the audience roared–and this is a very tough crowd!

Joe Wong is Chinese born, Rice educated. His accent is strong. His observations of our, now his, culture are dead on.

This was a great surprise–a wonderful surprise. I am now a Joe Wong fan.

Here’s the video from C-SPAN 2.

¹ – I met Farrell on the phone about 15 minutes before I knocked over and then met Helaine. That was a VERY good day!

What’s Frustrating About The Web

I’d done all my dev work on Firefox where the site was perfect. Google’s Chrome browser also showed the site as designed. Internet Explorer…. grrrrrrrrrr.

I know a few of you who read this blog do some coding and web development. Me too–though usually only as a favor to friends who will then have to suffer through my partial knowledge of what makes the web tick. A case in point today with my friend Farrell’s website&#185.

Farrell gave me my first job in TV and we’ve been friends ever since. I’m not sure how the guy who gave me my first job is younger than me, but he actually is. It seems unfair.

I worked on Farrell’s site with his input modifying a WordPress theme until it did what it was told and Farrell was happy. WordPress is blogging software, but it’s also great to build non-blog sites.

You know what? The site looks pretty damned good. We patted each other on the back and got set to let it fly in the ‘real world.’

At work I wanted to show what I’d done to a co-worker whose site I’d also helped. I opened up Internet Explorer, called the site and…. OMFG it was broken! It looked awful. It was the first time I’d used IE with the site and there was obviously a big problem.

I’d done all my dev work on Firefox where the site was perfect. Google’s Chrome browser also showed the site as designed. Internet Explorer…. grrrrrrrrrr.

Designers know IE is an awful, standards non-compliant browser. The fact that it’s on virtually EVERY computer makes that academic. You have to design for IE–period. That I hadn’t run the site through IE was a big mistake on my part–inexcusable really.

I’ve been working through the problem little-by-little examining the site with diagnostic tools now built into IE and added-on to Firefox. Tonight I found the problem. It was “–!>” placed a few characters from where it should have been. That combination of characters “–!>” tells the browser it’s come to the end of a disregarded area (like comments or, in this case, old code I didn’t want to use and was afraid to delete).

I know Farrell wanted the site last week. It was frustrating to be so close and yet so far and unable to find this teeny little problem. Now it’s good to go.

I suspect most devs have similar stories.

&#185 – It can take 24-48 hours for the website’s DNS listing to float through the Internet. If you get some sort of ‘not found’ error, try later.

A Night With Farrell and Vered

Farrell is the person who gave me my first fulltime job on television We have been friends nearly 30 years.

It’s 11:52 PM. I just realized–nothing posted. Uh oh. I’ve prided myself on blogging every day, really, I just forgot! Missing today could have been forgiven. As I tweeted earlier (replicated on Facebook) “I assume if I drank this is what a hangover would feel like.”

My own gluttony was rejected by my body!

My friend Farrell and his wife Vered were in from Palm Springs to visit his mom. They invited me to join them for dinner at Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse.

geoff-farrell.jpgConsidering everything I’ve heard about revenues being down I was surprised to see the restaurant was plenty busy, but we went right in with our 7:30 reservation.

Farrell is the person who gave me my first fulltime job on television We have been friends nearly 30 years. In that intervening time he has lived all over the world. Vered is from Israel and very ‘international’ as well.

IMG00020-2.jpgThis was a huge meal! I had the Lobster Chowder (Applewood Smoked Bacon, Maine Lobster, Brandy Cream) followed by MJ’S Delmonico Steak with Balsamic-Ginger Jus and then split a dessert with Farrell–23 Layer Chocolate Cake.

Maybe I should stop eating for the rest of the week!

I was surprised on leaving the complex to be stopped while leaving the garage. Police were stopping cars, checking seat belts and alcohol. Saying “I don’t drink” always works in this situation. Having the officer then call you by your first name doesn’t hurt either.

Off To Mohegan Sun

Helaine and Stef are away. My friend Farrell and his wife have come east, to Mohegan Sun. I’m going for dinner.

At home, alone, my life is boring.

One Week Past The Bahamas

I’m working up the coordinates for the ICBM.

A tweet from my friend Farrell a few moments ago:

“fmeisel: due to the weather conditions, working from my home office rear patio/pool. Currently 86f (30c); real feel temperatures 90f (32c). (51 seconds ago from TwitterBerry)

I’m working up the coordinates for the ICBM.

Last week at this time Helaine and I were strolling the streets of Nassau. Without fear of contradiction, it IS better in the Bahamas.

Our Busy Weekend

We found out his Mac notebook doesn’t have a VGA out port. He couldn’t plug in to the projector. Seriously–no VGA plug? I am surprised even though my friends with Mac always tell me how much they like their machines and how frustrated they are by some tasks they can’t perform or programs they can’t run.

For the Foxes this was a busy weekend. We had events Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday evening was spent with Harvey and Sandy in Woodbridge. They have an annual Chanukah party. We’ve been going most years for as long as I can remember. Ages ranged from 11 weeks to too old to gracefully ask.

We get to Wodbridge totally on smaller secondary roads. At one point we take a narrow 2-lane road twisting along the shore of a reservoir. There’s water on one side and a fence on the other. Saturday evening was extremely foogy. No fun driving in that.

menorahs-w250-h250.jpgDuring Chanukah Jewish families light the menorah each night at sundown. The tradition at Harvey and Sandy’s party is all the families bring their own menorahs and light them at once–which was great because the party used to be early in Chanukah.

Saturday each family lit seven candles plus an additional ‘helper’ candle. Helaine and I discussed standing by with 9-1 dialed on the cellphone. The dining room was noticably warmed by all those candles.

We look forward to the “pigs in blankets” served each year. As we walked in someone was carrying them to the basement. That’s where the kids usually hang out. Did we go downstairs just for the pigs? I’ll never tell.

Harvey always has fun toys to play with. This time he had X-Plane installed. Running on his Mac with a flight yoke and pedals it was amazingly fun to fly. It was impossible for me to easily control.

One of their three grown, daughters&#185 was home. She works in New York as a production assistant on some Bravo productions. Both Helaine and Stef were impressed she was working on Top Chef, which they enjoy and I’ve never seen.

Sunday the occasion was totally different. It was my friend Farrell’s mother’s 90th birthday. Being 90 is a difficult job. Ruth is equal to the task.

I wrote about Ruth in August 2005. She was about to get caught up in one of the biggest news stories of the decade.

I just got off the phone with my friend’s mom in New Orleans.

We’ve never met in person, but she knows me. I’ve fixed her computer by remote control. She’s seen me on TV while visiting her daughter in Connecticut. I’ve known her son for over 25 years and he’s a trusted friend.

She understands I’m looking out for her.

“Leave,” I said. “Leave now.”

ruth_meisel.jpgRuth lives in Connecticut now, near her daughter. Her home was flooded and destroyed in Katrina’s aftermath.

A few days ago Farrell sent me an email, looking for a way to make a slideshow of family photographs. I suggested Animoto. Farrell came with the slideshow in his laptop…his Mac laptop.

That’s when we found out his Mac notebook doesn’t have a VGA out port. He couldn’t plug in to the projector. Seriously–no VGA plug? I am surprised even though my friends with Mac always tell me how much they like their machines and how frustrated they are by some tasks they can’t perform or programs they can’t run.

I found a way to convert the slideshow video to an m4v file (never heard of it before) which was somehow compatible with another laptop–a Dell. We used ‘sneaker net’ in the form of a USB stick to move it. The slideshow did go on.

At age 90 you get a note from your congressman (Rep. Rosa DeLauro) and a proclamation from the governor declaring your birthday as Ruth Meisel Day in Connecticut.

Ruth wore a crown. It’s good to be Queen.

&#185 – Sandy went to the hospital to give birth to their second child. It was only after the delivery they discovered there was one more child in there. Really.

Stooges With Shoes Iraqi Style

From my friend Farrell, international man of mystery and cigar smoking bon vivant comes the attached ‘video.’ It’s just more proof he spends too much time on the Internet!

stooges-shoe.gif

Whole Lotta Quaking

“Didya feel it?” I wrote.

I shudder to think how many alerts my friend Farrell in Palm Springs has sent to his Blackberry. I know for sure one of them comes from a local TV station.

Subject: Breaking News – 3.2 Earthquake Near Borrego Spring

Live from KESQ the Desert’s News Leader.

A magnitude-3.2 earthquake struck eight miles north of Borrego Springs and about 32 miles south-southeast of Palm Springs at 7:37 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There are no reports of injuries or damage at this time. For the latest details watch KESQ Newschannel 3 at 5 PM, 6 PM and 11 PM and stay up to date with breaking news from KESQ.com

http://www.kesq.com

24 hours a day.

I’d be down on my knees praying for forgiveness, but a 3.2 is pretty puny in shaky California. I can’t imagine the locals will lose any sleep.

“Didya feel it?” I wrote.

“No,” he answered. “The only vibration I felt was the BlackBerry notification.”

Tonight’s top story from the desert and you heard it first on geofffox.com

Intrade’s VP Scoop–We’ll See

I am paying attention because I sense Intrade is insightful.

The New York Observer’s website has “Intrade Loves Pawlenty’s Chances” as a headline this evening.

What kind of day has Tim Pawlenty had? The kind where your value on the Intrade Republican vice-presidential future markets shoots up by more than 50 points — while your chief opponent’s stock plummets by 31. The Minnesota governor is now trading roughly where Joe Biden was just before word of his selection by Barack Obama broke.

I don’t know a lot about Tim Pawlenty. Oh, who am I kidding? I don’t know anything about Tim Pawlenty. However, I am paying attention because I sense Intrade is insightful. It’s a conversation I had online last night with my friend Farrell. Intrade now has Tim Pawlenty as the prohibitive favorite to be John McCain’s vice presidential running mate.

We’ll know more tomorrow or over the weekend. Can you beat the wisdom of crowds? In the Internet era, can 60 million Frenchmen still be wrong?

Skype To Turkey

I’ve never really been impressed by Skype before, but it was mainly good tonight.

fm-skype.jpgI was just chatting with my friend Farrell on IM. The “International Man of Mystery,” is currently in Turkey. Our conversation got a little cumbersome for texting, so we decided to shift to Skype video.

I fetched a webcam from my office, brought it downstairs and plugged it into a USB port on the laptop. When I started Skype, it recognized the camera. As soon as I hit the ‘send video’ link, it did. This is reasonably painless.

I’ve never really been impressed by Skype before, but it was mainly good tonight. We briefly disconnected, but linked up again quickly. Mostly, it was as if Farrell was actually in the room.

He has a Mac with a built-in camera. Set-up and operation was even easier for him.

Is Skype used much for business video conferencing? How high do airfares need to go before this program catches fire? There’s a lot more potential here and I’m probably only scratching the surface.

Bill O’Reilly

I was disappointed in what I saw on the web clip.

I have been trading emails back in forth with Woody, who is starting to rival my friend Farrell (International Man of Mystery) in miles traveled and places seen. We’ve been talking about oil speculation. Woody’s family business is home heating oil.

If you’re not in the Northeast, this may surprise you. We have trucks that drive around and deliver fuel oil (exactly the same as automobile diesel) to big basement tanks. Woody’s family has kept us warm for nearly twenty years.

I told him about a story on futures trading by speculators and the possible implications on the price of oil, that ran on MSNBC. I’ve watched three packages on this subject, and I still don’t totally understand.

Woody sent me a link. Bill O’Reilly was on and agreeing with the point made in the MSNBC report. I took a look.

I don’t watch Bill O’Reilly often. He is a very charismatic broadcaster. He’s a great reader whose inflection can sell a story. He has an extremely well developed on-air persona, which is more important to his success than whatever political point he’s currently making.

I was disappointed in what I saw on the web clip. To me, it seemed he was cold reading his Talking Points Memo. A few times, he read words, but used the wrong inflection. That’s the giveaway.

I know he doesn’t write everything he reads (maybe anything he reads) – that’s OK. But I expect him to do the broadcasting equivalent of basketball shootarounds and take a look at his copy before he’s in the studio.

It is only fair to note. I might have just caught him on a bad night. I have bad nights. Everyone does. The average of all your work, by definition, is average. Hopefully the excellent outweighs the mediocre.

Something Special In The Air

The part of this that upsets me the most, is the way the airlines look at customers. Airline ticketing policies and contracts are one-sided, and often arbitrary and unreasonable (like one way fares often costing more than roundtrip). Their advertising does its best to hide full disclosure.

“We’re American Airlines, something special in the air.”

For years, that jingle played incessantly on radio and TV. No more.

If American has a slogan now, I don’t know it. There’s none on their website’s homepage. They surely don’t have the balls to dust off ‘something special’ right now.

Aircraft Inspections Affect Some AA Travel

We are very sorry for inconveniencing you with the cancellation of a portion of American Airlines’ flights which started on April 8. Additional inspections of our MD-80 fleet are being conducted to ensure precise and complete compliance with the FAA’s directive related to wiring in the aircraft’s wheel wells. For more information about the progress of the inspections, please check our Press Releases. Please be assured that safety of our customers is, and always will be, American’s first priority.

You know how companies that put you on hold often say, “Your call is important to us,” even when you know it’s not? I feel the same way&#185 about, “Please be assured that safety of our customers is, and always will be, American’s first priority.”

Do they really think I’m buying into that gratuitous throwaway?

My friend Farrell’s relatives, visiting from Israel, were scheduled to fly AA from New York to Palm Springs. They got as far as Dallas… took a long pregnant pause at DFW… then continued to LAX (a few hours drive from Palm Springs).

Their bags? Right. This isn’t a fair tale. They followed two days later.

When I last left them, my sister-in-law and her friend were arguing with the AA clerk because AA promised $100 p/day p/person for clothing or necessities. AA since retracted that. In the meantime, Vered (Farrell’s wife) had taken the four of them to shop yesterday since they only had carry-on (my advice was to pack as much as possible in their carry-on’s).

I think we’re in the process of watching a meltdown of the so-called “legacy” airlines. With Frontier going bust, since its creditor would not support the majority of their cash, and the merger chatter going on, it’s a matter of time before prices continue to rise and consolidation becomes an actuality.

Please don’t think it’s only American I’m upset with. I’m still smarting from Southwest’s cavalier attitude toward safety inspections, and they’ve been my airline of choice for years.

The part of this that upsets me the most, is the way the airlines look at customers. Airline ticketing policies and contracts are one-sided, and often arbitrary and unreasonable (like one way fares often costing more than roundtrip). Their advertising does its best to hide full disclosure.

Why would they expect us to respect them or have brand loyalty when they so obviously dislike us?

&#185 – “I take full responsibility” goes on that list as well, especially when said by a CEO taking non responsibility.

Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up

My friend Howard, a show biz manager, says you should never meet the entertainers you admire. He’s probably right. I’d still like to meet Steve Martin, though I’m probably not capable of carrying it off.

Last week, after reading an article by Steve Martin in Smithsonian Magazine, I sent an email to my friend Farrell:

“I want to be Steve Martin… except for his unhappiness.”

He responded:

“He is a great writer, too. Be Geoff.”

Nice sentiment. I appreciated it. This is why you have friends.

I went on to write about Martin in the blog, leading regular reader Jim&#185 in Truckee, CA to comment:

Thanks for mentioning the Steve Martin article. I’m right in the middle of his latest book, Born Standing Up, A Comics Life. If you liked that article in the Smithsonian, you’ll enjoy the book…

Five minutes later I was on Amazon. The book came yesterday.

I can’t tell you why, but when I came home from work tonight, I sat down and read the book – the whole book. I could not stop.

My friend Howard, a show biz manager, says you should never meet the entertainers you admire. He’s probably right. I’d still like to meet Steve Martin, though I’m probably not capable of carrying it off.

We share nothing in our background. He came from a family with little warmth. My family heated our whole apartment building. He had the chutzpah to perform live. I did my comedy on the radio where I was well hidden.

We’ve learned many of the same lessons.

I find him bright and witty – a Renaissance man in a world filled with people who eschew knowledge or any historical perspective. He followed a complex route to get there. He wasn’t as smart or observant in his twenties as he is now in his (shudder) sixties.

It’s good to see age does have some payoff.

When stand-up was no longer satisfying, he stopped. He was huge. He just stopped.

At first I was not famous enough. then I was too famous, now I am just right.

Steve Martin’s “Born Standing Up is in hard cover.

&#185 – It should be noted, there are a bunch of regulars who comment on this blog from time-to-time. Jim in Truckee, for instance.

These are mostly people I don’t know.

I’m not sure why you’re here or what you find so compelling. I am flattered you find what I say interesting enough to come back on a steady basis and I’m always thrilled when you post a comment.

In real life, experience has shown the more you know me, the less scintillating I am.

The Long Journey Ends

This is it. Today is my last ‘in-a-row’ day at the TV station.

It’s funny. I love my job, but after working 20 of 21 days, I’m ready to leave it for a little while. My short term goal is to lay back and do nothing. I’m not sure that’s in the cards.

When you forecast the weather, it’s tough to get away from it. This afternoon I got calls from my friend Farrell, flying from Palm Springs, CA to Warsaw, Poland via Chicago.

Chicago… December… Doh!

He made his connection and is sipping champagne somewhere over the murky Atlantic on LOT Airlines Flight 2.

My sister, brother-in-law, niece and her husband weren’t so lucky. They called from DTW (Detroit Wayne County), on their way from Ft. Lauderdale to Milwaukee.

Again: Detroit… December… hello!

MKE was closed for plowing and their flight was cancelled! Later, Detroit would get a taste of winter.

While I was answering some weather question, my niece (who I easily could have dropped as an infant) made a snide comment about my forecasting abilities.

God is good. She’s stuck in Detroit atoning for her sins.

Snow is coming here Sunday night. I intend on observing while wearing pajamas.

Blogger’s addendum: Farrell, upon arrival at Frederic Chopin Airport in Warsaw, sent this correction:

Thank you for including me in your blog entry. It’s always fun to see my name in print!

I’d like to make one small correction, while commending you on your PinPoint (TM) forecast. Over the “murky Atlantic,” I was sipping Chateauneuf du Pape, which is the most famous Cotes du Rhone wine in France. It was delicious.

HBD 2 TXT MSG

From my friend Farrell today (sent from his Blackberry):

R top story 4 2day,

Txt msgs r 15 yrs old

Actually, the news was broken in the International Herald Tribune this morning.

I send text messages, both IM and on my cellphone. I’m not quite sure why? Speaking seems much more versatile. Stef, on the other hand, ‘texts’ on a constant basis.

What I can’t figure out is, how can the cellphone companies get away with charging what they charge for messaging plans? A text message uses so many fewer resources yet is billed at a premium to a voice call.