the ramblings, rantings, ravings, and readings of one eron g. being from the San Francisco Bay Area of foggy California, eron g is usually angry or confused about something.
warning: this blog is rated R for language, alcohol use, and sexual themes.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

The View From Up Here

So, the view from the 6th floor of a building in the financial district rarely affords any sort of excitement. Rarely, but not never.


Ah, the excitement of a fire scare.

The building's elevator lobbies all locked down and security got on the broadcast system and said, ever so reassuringly, that there was "a fire alarm in the lower part of the building." Gee... ya think?

We actually wound up having two ladder trucks, one pump truck and one EMT truck all parked out front. And... it wound up being one of the building's ventilation compressors blew. These things all have redundancies built in , so no one in the building noticed, but when the dead one died, it let off enough smoke to trip a sensor in the basement.

And much distraction was had by all.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

And so goes Chrysler

I'm guess that I am one of the few people who remember that, not so long ago, it was the Chrysler arm of DiamlerChrysler that was profitable and was carrying its other-shores counterpart.

And now that Chrysler is hurting, the folks on the other continent are more than happy to discuss selling. Et tu, Dieter?

Anyway, in today's post at Penny Arcade, Tycho, when commenting on Sony's hostility towards its own consumer base, had this to say:
They're completely severed from their customers.

And the same could be said of Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge.

For some deranged reason, CJD is clinging to the belief that consumers want fucking titanically immense pickup trucks, minivans the size of condos, and cars that make the 1961 Lincoln Continental look smallish.

I mean, it doesn't take a genius to stand up and LOOK AROUND.

Hmmm... that new Mini Cooper thing that BMW has out... It's been around for a few years now, and its still so popular that you can't walk into a dealership and drive one away.

Oh, look! VW has rebadged the Golf back to the "Rabbit" and in the scant 8 months that it's been on the market, it (like the Mini) does not offer immediate gratification as standard.

Those silly looking hybrid vehicles by Toyota and Honda are still selling like hotcakes...

And Chrysler sees the future of its company tethered to oversized fuel INefficient 4-cylinder engines and V6s and the testosterone laden HEMI.

Granted, I want a Dodge Challenger with a HEMI as much as the next guy, but that one car is NOT going to save a company. Especially not one that continues to crank out the large & unweildly Caravan and the supremely UGLY Durango. And that Jeep Liberty? COME ON! They KILLED the Cherokee line for that ugly thing?

The Neon was killed by the PT Cruiser. And the PT Cruiser is on the outs. There is no car that you can look to as being "uniquely Chrysler".

And there is not one single CJD product that's fuel efficient. And don't say the PT Cruiser! It's NOT. Compare it to the VW Rabbit, the Mini Cooper, the Honda Civic, even the VW Passat Wagon and you'll see (very quickly) what a JOKE the Chrysler 4-Cylinder is. A manual transmission PT Cruiser gets 21 city, 27 highway... an AUTOMATIC VW Passat gets 22 city, 31 highway.

Not to mention the fact that consumers get a LOT more bang for their buck on most other autos than on CJD vehicles.

Please, Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge... WAKE UP. You already killed my beloved Plymouth badge. Let's not see the whole MoPar line die.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Boston: 1/31/07, We Must Never Forget

So, you've heard all the hubbub surrounding these so-called "devices" that were found in the "supposed" City of Boston on Jan. 31.

Now, I'd like to say something as a person living in a city not run by folks with chips on their shoulders:

Dear Boston Public Officials,
You overreacted.
You are now the laughing stock of the U.S. of A.
Please calm down and realize that there were no similar "scares" in ANY other City where this promotional campaign was launched. Please cease your very frightening Orwellian actions now.
Thank you.

Now, it's specifically the City Officials who are "outraged" by the marketing campaign. Public officials in Boston were frightened by, what one Bostonian called, "a Lite Brite". I fail to see how a bunch of LEDs resembles a bomb. I'd imagine that most folks attempting to place bombs would NOT put a bunch of glowing lights on them... and would NOT place them where people could easily see them.

And if you're looking for proof that the City of Boston's officials are looking to shift blame from themselves and scapegoat those poor artists... here:

“It’s clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location,” Assistant Attorney General John Grossman
said at their arraignment.


What's clear, Mr. Grossman, is that you're a reactionary with no concept of reality. I did, however, find the comments made by "the defendent's" attourney particularly poignant:

Outside the courthouse, Michael Rich, a lawyer for both of the men, said the description of a bomb-like device could be used for any electronic device.
“If somebody had left a VCR on the ground it would have been a device with wires, electronic components and a power source,” he said.

Yawp. Bostonian Jennifer Mason has this comment:

“It’s almost too easy to be a terrorist these days. You stick a box on a corner and you can shut down a city.”


Well, she's right.


It's a frightening world we live in where posting electronic advertisements for your TV show can land you in jail with charges of terrorizm levelled at you. A very frightening world, indeed.

 Rated R