Blog # 156: Apple's Mystery Meeting, etc.

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Apple’s Mystery Meeting?

Guesses galore as to the subject of an upcoming meeting called by Apple to exhibit a new product. As usual it is shrouded in secrecy, hottest rumors swirl around a newly priced AppleTv, renamed iTv, linked to the iTunes store and boasting tv program rentals for .99 cents. But why would Apple link such a product with so distinctive a guitar? What could possibly cause Apple to feature a guitar in its runup to the announcement? Maybe the Beatles are finally coming to the iTunes Store? Well, we can dream, can’t we?

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While we’re being open and honest, here’s the real reason why we’ve been retreading our early writings these past few weeks. We have been living through a heat wave, our air conditioning unit has just barely made the indoor air liveable, and the only way we could produce was to explore early writings, and bringing them to a second life, as it were. There is no way we could be creative with new materials under those unholy conditions.

Most Irritating Current TV Ads

Speaking of ads, what are the most irritating television ads we’re seeing these days? Well, in my book it’s those incessant bp advertisements where good, ordinary people dripping with heavy Louisiana accents are telling the world how concerned they are about the damage to the Gulf of Mexico bp’s blown out well has done, and how bp is going to foot the entire cleanup bill, and so not to worry. bp is wasting tons of money just bringing these ads to television, money they should be spending on the actual clean up of the Gulf, not in telling us how well they are planning to clean up the Gulf. Get real, bpeople.

Favorite Commercial?

Of the current crop of commercials my absolute favorite belongs to Subaru. But then again Subaru has always been a very special and beautifully made automobile, designed with the owner in mind. One would expect that their selling powers would be superior, and with their newest offering one is not destined to be disappointed.

At any rate the ad shows a little girl curled up in the driver’s seat of a Subaru, she doesn’t look a day over nine or ten, curled up on the driver’s seat of the automobile. Her concerned father is standing outside the automobile, questioning her through the window, concerned that she can see (she does not seem to be tall enough to properly steer the automobile). Finally, seemingly convinced, he tosses her the keys. It is at that point that we see an entirely different girl, this one fully tall enough to steer the automobile. She waves to her dad as she drives off, and suddenly it became clear that the father had been seeing the girl through younger eyes, and as the commercial ends he is heard very quietly saying to himself, “we knew this day was coming, that’s why we bought a Subaru.”

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Where There’re Signs of Life . . .

There Must be Basketball in Our Future!

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Houston Rockets center Yao Ming talks to reporters after a basketball workout in Houston. The smile that lights up his face is caused by the medical evaluation he had just undergone Monday, one which revealed that the hairline fracture in his surgically repaired left foot has fully healed. He has been cleared to take part in normal basketball activities, causing Rockets’ fans the city over to once again dream of playoff runs and championships. Denver’s Carmello Anthony is the latest NBA star to wish for a trade to the Rockets, so that he can play alongside Yao. Unfortunately no deal will be possible until Denver gets itself a new director of Basketball Operations, a position that is needed to be filled before any talk of a trade becomes possible. But it’s an intriguing thought, isn’t it? Photo: David J. Phillip-AP

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”Seeing a Whole Lot of Red . . .”

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People pelted one another with tomatoes during the Tomatina Festival in Spain's Valencia region. Tens of thousands of revelers from around the world participated in this year's mushy festivities. A bloody mess prevailed, for sure. Photo: Biel Alino-AFP/Getty Images

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If you’re a boy, one of the many forces driving your world this time of year is the World Series of Little Leagues.

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Waipahu, Hawaii's, Matthew Campos rounds third after hitting a three-run home run off Hamilton, Ohio, pitcher Brooks Robinson in the fourth inning of a game at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa. Hawaii won 6-4. Photo: Gene J. Puskar-AP

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Ed a "no show" during Hurricane Katrina

During the actual appearance of Hurricane Katrina at the end of August, 2005, I was having my own internal hurricane. I awoke that morning with bloody diahrea, I was weak and scared enough to allow my housemates to call 911. and I spent the next few days coming in and out of consciousness in Spring Branch Hospital. In fact, my condition was serious enough in the eyes of those around me that son Daniel was encouraged to fly down for what might have been a last visit.

And so it came to pass that I missed Hurricane Katrina as it was happening live, so to speak. Joel tried to bring it to life by later describing the television reports of the dead bodies rotting away in the flooded streets of New Orleans after the fact. And nothing speaks to the eloquence of failure like that photograph of George Bush looking down at the devastation of Hurricane Katrina through the window of Air Force One.

Now, five years down the pike, I am finally getting an idea of Hurricane Katrina’s enormity thanks to msnbc’s five year’s after coverage.

Katrina spoke eloquently to George W.'s failure as a steward to the federal government. Should the vast resources of the federal government be used to humor the foreign policy whims of the regime in power, or should our nation's resources be used to come to the aid of Americans who are wiped out in a real tragedy. Bush was obsesseds with Iraq and Sadam Hussein. Many failures dogged the Bush/Cheney administration. Iraq, Afghanistan, the "Donut Hole," but none spoke the word failure louder than Katrina. It ended up defining a Presidency.

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Getting into Heaven with the help of a Cow

A child dressed as a cow participates in the Cow Festival "Gai Jatra" procession in Kathmandu, Nepal. During the festival, families who have lost a relative during the year parade a cow through the city. The cow, a sacred animal in Nepal, is supposed to help the departed soul to enter the afterlife. Photo: Prakash Mathema-AFP/Getty Images

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With the exception of the Apple Mystery Guitar, this week’s photographs have come from the Washington Post, and appeared on Wednesday of this week. I found it interesting that Yao Ming, who is a Houston phenemonen was featured in the Post’s photos, as if a nation, as well as the city of Houston, was interested in the state of Yao Ming’s playing health.

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This week’s doctor report continues with the idea of less equals more. Dr. Rakkhit reports that my white count is down, and consequently at the present time he is ordering no special treatment for my condition. In fact my next visit is set for 2 months, with the middle of November in my sights.

And so does this edition of Little Eddy’s Blog, seeking to prove “less equals more,” mercifully comes to an end. It was a thrill to relive Katrina five years after the fact. However five years have passed and only a fraction of Katrina's devastation has been rebuilt. Five years have passed, and we're nowhere near to rebuilding. And we as Americans are still faced with the problems Katrina raised. What kind of country are we? Are we going to support a federal government which comes to the aid of its citizens, as the Democrats support? Or are we going to run our federal bureaucracy in the interests of the very rich, as the Republicans would have us do? November will tell a most important tale, I guess. I can think of nothing that makes the current issues more clearly drawn.

Meantime we've run another of Little Eddy's Blog aground. We hope you’ll find your way back to these parts anytime next week, for an idea of what next week’s edition will bring. Meantime, bye now, and don’t forget to sell your Republican friends short. The shorter the better.

The Real Little Eddy § eddybad@gmail.com