Yes, let's be more like Europe

Rioters rampage, protesters block French airports

We really, really need to be more like France. Where the idea that you might actually have to work a bit leads people to stop working, block traffic, and eventually smash and steal things.

Reason # 5674329 why I hate the French.

Not just

a terrorist loving, self-righteous, incompetent schmuck, but a delusional terrorist loving, self-righteous, incompetent schmuck:

Carter declares his superiority to other presidents

In other Presidential fantasy news, Bill Clinton has respect for women, George W. Bush is beloved in New York City, and Barack Obama believes in free markets and limited government.

For a NotBlogger

Mr. Possum is pretty funny.

Before I Forget

Shana Tovah, everybody.

This is really starting to get old

Tiger escapes enclosure at Jungle Island

He's the most famous golfer in the world, rich beyond belief, and he can't just stay out of the news, can he?

Wha? Not that Tiger? Never mind.

A Secret Revealed

Mr. Possum has an alter ego

I'm surprised it wasn't grilled squirrel, but a secret ID isn't worth much if you can't throw them off the scent.

This place is still here?

Wow. What a mess. Empty seltzer cans, pastrami sandwich wrappers, and it hasn't been dusted in AGES. It's like someone abandoned the place, and it was too low-rent even for the squatters.

I suppose I should pick up a bit around here, but...

So where the heck have I been? Facebook, mostly, but up way, way past my eyebrows in work. When we last bloggified back in March, it was Passover. Now it's almost Rosh Hashana. I'm starting to feel like a three times a year blogging Jew.

While the world has moved on to critical topics of the day like:

• how the Tea Party is the home for Nazi Skinhead KKK Rich White European Male Neanderthal Troglodyte Homophobic Dumb Redneck Mean People (TM)
• any oil leaking (including teenage pimples) and uncleaned up is clearly the work of racists hating on the President, and we all know it's Bush's fault
• Brett Favre has retired. Brett Favre has unretired. Brett Favre has retired again. Brett Favre has...
• The US economy is as strong and vibrant as ever, assuming you meant as strong and vibrant as the economy of Burkina Faso.

I, on the other hand, have been buried in the details of launching an e-learning program across an organization that now boasts 42,000 employees and about 10,000 docs.

Oh - did I mention that we launched the first piece of content in early June, and we've had over 14,000 successful views since then? Did I mention that they still have me doing a million other things besides? So the short answer to the blogging conundrum that has bedeviled all of my legions of fans (yes, both of you) is that I'm too bloody tired to blog, and short of interesting things to write about. Not that this ever stopped me before, but...

Anyway, I take my lead as usual from the Master Possum hisself, and if he can not-blog, so can I.

Busy Busy Busy

Not cleaning for Passover, of course. That's for last minuting like usual. I do, however, have the perfect retelling of the Passover experience for this modern age:

The 2010 Facebook Haggadah

Enjoy whilst you eat your leavened or unleavened bread!

Is it just me?

Or is this a bit messed up?

Brooklyn brewhaha: Babies in bars

Does it actually need to be said that there should be adult spaces and kid spaces? Adult behaviors and kid behaviors? I sympathize with the stir-crazy guy, but that's life. You wanted a kid (I hope), you deal with the consequences. I have no problem bringing a kid out to a more adult-oriented space, but a bar is not my idea of the right spot.

If I think there's something wrong with the mindset of people, it's the inability to draw lines of appropriate and inappropriate behavior. I don't honestly think children should be exposed to alcohol at a young age (beyond ritual alcohol like communion wine), and not as part of the social experience. I also think grownups have a right to spaces that don't involve kids.

Sometimes I just don't understand the world.

Last Day of Lockdown

I took this week to lock down - no meetings, no projects other than the big, honkin', major video delivery portal I've been up to my eyeballs in. I started with a punchlist long as your arm that has since grown even as some things got removed from it. But it was nice to be able to focus on nothing but this project.

Oh, and the latest storm of the millenium that honked things up for two days. Mucho shoveling, and yes I'm sick of winter.

That said, I had my laptop and one of my portable hard drives, so I was all set to work from home. Thanks to a boss who thought it was a great idea. The children were not as compliant - more interruptions than I really wanted.

Still, progress is being made and I have a half a hope that we'll be in reasonable shape by our departmental deadline of March 1. This is going to dramatically change how we deliver online media, especially online education, and I'm hoping to make some important people fall out of their chairs when they see this thing in action.

Of course, next week I have to go back to talking to people.

PS Had to go through the haloscan switchover. Not sure how much I like the new commenting system, but I also backed up my comments in case somebody figures out how I can import them into blogger. Whaddaya think?

Project Management

I'm posting this everywhere. Courtesy of Rick Brookhiser over at National Review:

The Six Stages of a Project

1. Enthusiasm

2. Disillusionment

3. Panic

4. The Search for the Guilty

5. The Punishment of the Innocent

6. Praise and Honor to Non-Participants

This describes so many, many of the projects I have been involved with. I'm thinking I should add it to the planning documents of every project I am part of.

In other news

I saw this headline on ESPN.com

Top two females are sole Horse of Year finalists

and couldn't help thinking it was about time Julia Roberts and Sarah Jessica Parker got the recognition they deserve.