Archive for October, 2006

Robocop vs. Terminator

So, you’ve already heard of Jason vs. Freddie, Alien vs. Predator…personally, I’ve been waiting for Chucky vs. The Leprechaun. I’ve sorta grown attached to Warwick Davis since he did Willow. Ladies and gentleman. I present Robocop vs. Terminator.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Halloween: Myths and Legends in Your City

Today’s water cooler gossip around the office about Halloween - last weekend’s costume parties, what will your kids be, urban legends and lore - led to more reminiscent conversations about the many myths and legends in our fair city…and how those were part of the theme of Halloween for us in high school and college.

I’ve chosen a few that are considered to be the most popular during Halloween…and I’ve been to each of these.

The Donkey Lady Bridge
The story of the Donkey Lady, like most legends, has a number of interpretations. The quick version of the story I heard growing up and most often referred to went like this: an old lady had a donkey for which she depply cared. Fast forward…she was protecting her donkey from some men she encountered on a bridge while walking the donkey. A misunderstanding and a small skirmish resulted in the donkey’s demise…into the water below. The men mimicked the donkey’s cry as it drowned. The lady retaliated by pelting them with rocks, and they reacted by tossing her into the river. Her body never surfaced.

Today, it is said that if you park on the bridge at night (of course), you can hear the hoofs of the donkey followed by barage of rocks from all directions. If you’re interested in more detail, this is the best version of the story I could scrounge up. Here’s an image and map of the bridge on Google Maps.

Midget Mansion
Sure its not politically correct, but this legend is perhaps the most debated. The location of the Midget Mansion has resulted in many differences of opinion. A map of the real location can be found below.

It was thought that in the early 1900s, a wealthy businessman who was himself a little person, lived in this estate. He arrived at the home and murdered his family…and himself. Whether or not this is the case and how it was done becomes lost in translation, although I’m sure the answer is out there somewhere. If you didn’t have the opportunity to visit the site, you’re out of luck. Sitting on the property is a large apartment complex called Promontory Pointe. Prior to its construction all that was left was the winding driveway (access from Donore as seen in red on the map) and the foundations of the mansion and adjacent living quarters, complete with a stone well (which one of my friends fell into on Halloween during my junior year of high school), the huge double stairway, which led down to a fountain in the front yard. It was definitely a great place for Halloween. This account is by far the most accurate I’ve found on the Internet especially with regard to the various locations it is believed to have been.

Children of the Tracks (aka. Ghost Tracks)
Also located on the Southside of San Antonio by Mission San Juan are the ghost tracks. A schoolbus full of children were killed in a tragic accident when the bus stalled on the tracks. The legend says that any car stopping on these tracks will be pushed across by the children. Nonsense? Maybe. I remember trying this one Halloween (there’s usually a line to do this, by the way). You’re supposed to put talcum powder on your trunk and rear bumper, and place the car in neutral, which we did. And the car did roll across the tracks. Well, I’m no rocket surgeon. But the prints in the talcum powder are simply your own oils absorbing the powder to recreate the pattern of fingerprints. Although some claimed to have seen small handprints on their car. Of course, the slight incline of the road explains the car’s tendency forward. The picture below was taken awhile back, but I can only imagine it is a spot on the lens of the camera or a good Photoshop.

Photo: Andy & Debi Chesney

The authenticity of the picture isn’t the only thing questioned with regard to this story. There are no records of the accident ever taking place. Using this argument against someone telling you the story usually results with a “they didn’t keep records back then” rationalization. Either way, this is by far the most popular of the three, especially this time of year. Once upon a time there was even a phone number for the donkey lady. I used to make my brother listen to it when we were younger. It was only a poor computer (midi) recreation of a donkey neigh followed by trotting. Pretty scary!

I’m interested in hearing similar myths and legends in your cities or towns. Share your story with us by leaving a comment…and have a Happy [and safe] Halloween. In the meantime, enjoy this post at thoughtfulconsideration.com titled, Trick or Treat Doggie Style.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I Shot A 72!

Friday, some friends and I played a little golf at one of our nicer courses in San Antonio, Silverhorn Golf Club. Weather was beautiful (about 75 degrees, a little windy, not a cloud in the sky). Just to give you an idea of my previous golfing experience: I took golf as a Phys Ed credit in college; they only allow so many credits of football to count toward your Phys Ed requirement. I was ok, nothing special…but not bad. Well, it has been about 4 years since I’ve played consistently. And like most things, if you stop doing it, you get rusty. This was painfully evident on Friday. My outing was so ridiculous that I decided by the end of the 3rd hole to keep track of my ACTUAL strokes (as opposed to limiting strokes to just double par) and diagram my tee shot for each hole. So if I played so poorly, how did I shoot a 72? Allow me to demonstrate.

As you can see, I shot a 72 on the front 9. On the scorecard, each tee shot path is traced in red. In some cases, I decided to track the ball beyond the first one. Some notable holes include:

• #3: I aimed left since I’ve got a nice banana, and ended up hitting it straight…over the water and barely cleared it. Possibly my best drive of the day
• #9: As you can see on the scorecard, I drove the ball far right…right into the driving range. Good luck finding that ball.
• #10: This was my best hole, in my humble opinion. I took pics with my camera phone of my progress.

• #11: Grounder into the creek
• #14: Took two shots off the tee. Good thing. The second one went further out of bounds (OB) than the first one.
• #15: My ball never saw anything but the OB until the green. I did manage to get there in 3, but 7 putted to finish with 10 strokes…so I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.
• #18: I landed the ball in the adjacent creek (more like a river). Then, after a drop that was certainly against the rules…in the middle of the fairway, I proceeded to knock the crap out of the ball, which landed about 9 feet from the clubhouse.

So, in conclusion…well, there’s not much to say. I’m just a really bad golfer, but I enjoy getting out there esp on days this beautiful. I obviously need to practice…and I will get better. Hopefully next time I post, it’ll be about shooting a 72…at least 2/3 through the course this time.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Domain Names Can Translate Into Big Bucks

I own a few dozen domains. About 2/3 of those are typos (misspellings of existing websites), which are my best performers to date…performers meaning traffic-wise as well as how much revenue they generate. I park my domains using sedo.com, which is free of charge. Domain parking is simply a way to monetize your undeveloped domain name. Sedo features several tools you can use to beef up your parked domain including an aftermarket sales campaign. Their fee, I believe, is 10% of the sale price or $50, whichever is greater…but that’s if you decide to sell it. Fellow blogger, John Chow, recently posted about this practice in his blog…and how it has been successful for others. I recommend using GoDaddy.com since they have a few good tools for searching for domains, such as making suggestions based on your original search criteria. And they are among the cheapest as well.

There still seems to be a decent market out there for domain parking or speculative buying. And although the market isn’t as “available” as it once was…with a little dedication, you can find some good ones still available. In just about 2 months of parking, I’ve paid for all of the domains I bought…just 2 months ago. I have to say, though, that about 10% of my domains are unproductive; the rest carry the load as far as traffic/revenues.

The one beef I have is against those folks that “taste” domains. Sure it is currently legal, and a way to get ahead of the game. But those “tasters” simply register a domain for a few days (I believe 5 is the maximum holding period before they aren’t charged for the domain name), measure the traffic to determine whether or not its worthwhile, and then either release or purchase the domain at or toward the end of the grace period. This makes things too easy. For example, I backordered my blog domain, derrich.com, on GoDaddy for about 19 bucks. These guys had it for 4 days paid nothing for it. I guess I just proved that the greater fool theory is in fact true. Either way, I think something should be done about this to keep people on their toes.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Michael J. Fox Ripped By Rush Limbaugh.

First Donovan McNabb, now Teen Wolf? Geez, Rush. C’mon, man! Michael J. Fox recently did two very similar ads for Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Maryland candidate Ben Cardin. As with any controversial topic, there are always two very strong points of view, but one thing is certain: Rush was out of line. I mean watching those commercials was uncomfortable for me. I can’t recall seeing Michael J. Fox in that condition; I had no idea it had progressed (probably due to the meds he takes to help control it). The last thing that even crossed my mind is that he pulled a quick one on us, or “did a good job of acting”. As for the argument that Michael J. Fox exploited his condition selfishly (for him and other Parkinsons victims)…uh…if only you were in his shoes (and I’m not suggesting that it was selfish). See for yourself.

See the video followed by Rush Limbaugh’s commentary.
Michael J. Fox on ABC’s Good Morning America earlier this year.

Rush has since apologized, but it hasn’t stopped others from reacting swiftly:

One reader/writer from FreeRepublic.com

Jim Caviezel, Jeff Suppan, Kurt Warner, Patricia Heaton, and Mike Sweeney in this video

Jon Stewart

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Weird Al Yankovic, What Have You Done?

Who said Weird Al Yankovic fell off the face of the earth? He was just mustering up his next big hit. Weird Al’s new album, Straight Outta Lynwood, debuted at #10 on the Billboard charts (currently sits at #29). His hit White & Nerdy, which is a parody of Chamillionaire’s hit, Ridin’ Dirty, is apparently the reason for this success. No doubt you’ve already seen the video already. If you haven’t, you’ve been living under a rock (or you’re my dad); it’s pasted all over the Internet.

However, my personal favorite is his version of James Blunt’s, You’re Beautiful. “You’re Pitiful” does not appear on the new album. But you can download it on his website…or here…or you can hear it on Weird Al’s MySpace page. Although he received Blunt’s blessing to do the song, Atlantic Records (James Blunt’s label) refused to allow Weird Al to release the song. Of course, Yankovic is no stranger to opposition from labels. There was that whole Coolio thing with Gangsta’s Paradise. And if I recall correctly, Coolio was the one that wasn’t happy about it.

Weird Al has countless disciples (see YouTube). One of the more recent and more notable in my opinion is The Grey Kid, who ain’t too bad in non-parody format. Along with his buddy, Daniel Stessen, they’ve nailed a parody for Justin Timberlake’s, Bringin’ Sexy Back, with “PaxilBack”. See for yourself.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Upromise® and Saving Money for College

How often do you shop online, or dine out? Often? Occasionally? The point is…you do it, and you could be saving money for your child’s college education. Upromise offers a way for you to shop and save at the same time. With a network of over 70,000 retail stores, restaurants, and services; grocery & drugs stores; and online retailers, you are sure to find a way to save money for college.

Upromise was launched in April of 2001. Its mission is simple: “to make college more affordable for American families”. How? Well, everytime you make “eligible purchases” through the Upromise website or dine at one of the Upromise participating restaurants, you receive a percentage back of your purchases (we’ll call them rebates). Those rebates are pre-determined on the website, and the percentages vary from company to company. There’s no catch. It is free to join, and the rebates are paid by the participating company. In fact, many of them offer discounts as well; rebates are not secretly (in my experience) built into your purchases.

You register one or more credit, debit, and/or grocery cards so that Upromise can keep track of the purchases. Your progress is tracked through the website and is updated fairly often. The contributions that are approved are then deposited into a 529 plan (I use Vanguard) that you can setup through Upromise Investments.

There is a trick to making this a more successful undertaking. Network. By inviting friends and family to join Upromise, you can link grandma’s account activity to little Johnny’s account, and so on. Her purchases translate into rebates for her grandson…or granddaughter, but I guess her name wouldn’t be Johnny.

Mastercard recently announced a plan for financial institutions to offer cardholders a way to save for college. The first issuers for Upromise MasterCard Debit Rewards Program include BancorpSouth, BankAtlantic, BECU, and Provident Bank. For some time now, a Citi® Upromise® Card has been available to offer similar rewards.

With tuition costs rising (certainly outpacing inflation), this is a great way for you to help your children save now rather than having to worry about it later. Student loans are no fun and financial aid doesn’t always cover all of the expenses. Maybe your child will be like mine and become an elite athlete. Take a tour at Upromise today.

Popularity: 4% [?]

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