February 2006

Like many, many people in the U.S., last night Earl and I watched “American Idol”, where 12 guys did their best to earn a spot in the final dozen contestants (six girls and six guys). Going into last night’s episode, I wasn’t really sure what to expect of the guys and while there were some really bad performances (Bobby Bennett’s rendition of “Copacabana” was absolutely dreadful), I was thoroughly impressed by four performances. They would be Ace Young’s “Father Figure” (he makes Earl swoon), Chris Daughtry’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” (he gets a “woof”), Elliott Yamin’s “If You Really Love Me” (excellent performance) and my absolute favorite, Taylor Hicks’s “Levon”. While this was not Taylor’s best performance of the show thus far, it was an excellent, entertaining and memorable rendition of the Elton John classic. What I especially enjoyed was Taylor’s banter with the ever-present Ryan Seacrest after the performance. Taylor is absolutely consumed by his passion for music. It is a mighty rare thing to see someone so engulfed by what they love. His body is ever-moving to his own rhythm. He feels joy while he sings and he conveys that to those that he’s performing for. It’s obvious that he loves being in front of an audience. And he’s great at it.

I don’t know if Taylor is going to be the next American Idol. In many ways, he doesn’t fit the image painted by today’s pop music demands. He’s all real, there’s no façade and he’s extremely talented. I would hate to see the pop music machine get it’s hooks into him and try to cookie cutter him into something he’s not.

He’s too good for that.

Last month, Gillette released the latest in shaving technology to the consumer masses. Introducing the Gillette Fusion, five blades packed really close together with a sixth blade on the back so you can trim under your nose or around your stylish goatee.

It clocks in at $11.99 for just the razor. As a plus, the razor is powered to vibrate so that you can really get in close.

Five blades. Wow. Isn’t that a bit much?

When the Mach III came out a number of years ago, I was hesitant to pick one up. After all, my trusty Sensor (without the Excel part) had done wonders for me for a number of years and why did I need an extra blade? Then I started shaving my head and admittedly the Mach III made the task a little bit easier. I’ve been content for the most part with the Mach III ever since. The price does throw one into slight sticker shock, but once you grow a beard so that you use the blades as little as possible, it’s not too bad on the budget. For the most part I’m happy with the Mach III.

But five blades? I don’t think my head could take it. Refills for the new Fusion are $13.29 for four blades. They say a blade lasts three or four shaves, so that’s over $100.00 a month for a clean, close shave. Not including shaving cream. One has to wonder if the money would be better spent by going to a barbershop with a really hot barber doing the honors.

In an effort to make this marketing campaign successful, Gillette has also released a new line of shaving gels, foams and other accessories with the “Fusion” name. Has shaving gel or shaving foam changed that much over the years that there needs to be more and more versions of it? I mean, it’s either a foam, or a shaving gel that turns to foam when rubbed. How hard can it be? As a teenager I borrowed my father’s Barbasol and found that to be more than sufficient. I was a diehard Barbasol user for many years and still use it on occasion. I must admit that as I’ve grown older I’ve expanded to an environmentally safe shaving cream for my head. Have you ever looked at the ingredients in a can of shaving cream? Small wonder my face always felt like it was on fire after shaving.

I think I’ll keep the beard.

Sweetheart Corner.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

This sign has stood at the corner of Route 11 and Taft Rd. in North Syracuse, N.Y. for at least 60 years. At this location was a locally owned grocery store, Sweetheart Market, that closed in 2003 due to competition from the big, corporate owned supermarkets. If you listen to the traffic reports on the radio, it’s Sweetheart Corner. If you’re going to one of the area businesses, you’re going to Sweetheart Corner. It’s a landmark of the Syracuse area.

Shortly after the closing of Sweetheart Market, the building was demolished and Eckerd built a brand new store on the site. I believe Eckerd had a store next to the original Sweetheart Market, most likely it was a Carl’s Drugs that became a Fays Drugs that was bought by Eckerd in the 1990s. I was happy to see that they decided to let the landmark live and they kept the original sign from the grocery store.

It shall always be “Sweetheart Corner.”

I’m making like a real internet café junkie today and hanging out at a local Barnes and Noble, enjoying a Tazo Chai and a granola bar. The internet connection is acceptably fast.

One of the things that I love about hanging out in a café like this is the people watching. I’m fascinated, and often frustrated by the general public. The folks seem rather tame in this Barnes and Noble though, there obnoxiousness level is at a minimum.

Three tables ahead of me there are two women, which I would describe as “two old broads” because that’s what I do, who are wearing a lot of hairspray, a week’s worth of makeup and those fancy coats that look like floor length ponchos. They carry an air of “old money”. Not the regal type, but the “we just dragged those old two dollar bills out from under the mattress” type old money. They’ve rearranged their chairs twice, moved the table east and west a couple of times, knocking their neighbor, who was content reading his book entitled “The Emperors’ New Mind”, and now they’re cackling more than the hens I heard at last year’s State Fair. The blonde (not really) woman is reading a book called “The Jell-O Collection”. I bet tonight she is going to make one of those jello concoctions where they put lettuce salad in clear jello. Just like in high school. You know the type of salad, it’s a few shreds of lettuce, a hunk of carrot and radish, all engulfed in a clear or green colored jello, suspended right there in mid-air, suspending your belief that anything like that could taste good.

They just turned their table counter-clockwise 90 degrees. Ponchos are swaying and the Emperor guy just gave them a nasty look. They’ve now left the building and have mounted their brooms parallel parked outside, ready for take-off.

Meow. I’m vicious.

To my right is a very good looking bearded young man. He’s very intellectual looking. I would upgrade his “very good” to an “exceptional” if it wasn’t for his floor length pony tail hanging behind him. Oh well, there’s always scissors.

Straight ahead is a young student banging on his laptop keyboard in a seemingly frustrated way. Let me check again, yep, it’s a Dell running Windows.

Gosh, I love my PowerBook. Have I mentioned that recently?

I see another woman in the far corner using an IBM ThinkPad. I don’t think I’ve seen one of those in use for a while. Every PC-centric person in this area seems hell bent on owning a Dell.

Sip check. Tazo Chai made with soy milk, not as sexy as whole milk. But a whole lot healthier.

A group of four older women have installed themselves in the back corner and have set up a Scrabble game. They look to be having a good time. I hope to be able to retire someday to do the same. I’m pretty good at Scrabble.

Jones The Owl.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

While we were visiting Rick and Helen today, getting ready for our trip to Atlantic City, our nephew Jones decided to entertain his Uncle J.P. by doing animal impersonations.

“But Jones, you are an animal”, I said to him, feeling the need to point out the obvious.

“But Uncle J.P., actually we are all animals”, he responded.

Since he felt so wise (and I agreed with him after thinking about it), he decided to do an impersonation of an owl.