Catching Up…

I guess you can call it a summer lull, or I’ve just been very busy with travels of late, and as a result things have been pretty darn quiet here in the Casey blog. Sosumi.

Let me try and offer some quick catching up, and some random thoughts on my mind…

Company Retreat – For the third summer in a row, I’ve spent a weekend at a company retreat in Vermont, and as before, it was a blast. Bonfires, backhoes, and corporate bonding… good times. We suffered a six-hour delay on our return flight, but hey, shit happens.

Fat B-Roll –

There was a news story recently about obesity being contagious (which is of course old news and was reported in The Onion years ago, right here). What struck me about this story and others like it is the b-roll video that is always used, showing fat people from the neck down, minding their own business walking down the street, eating a couple hot dogs, or sitting on a bench. Who are the cameramen who gather this stuff? I’m on the lookout. Beware any camera that won’t look you in the face. And I better start doing some sit-ups, or I’ll be starring in an fat-story sometime soon.

Tech Turmoil – It seems like when my technology fails me, it all happens at once. My iPod has been freezing up periodically freezing up, and now it seems to be completely dead. This is the second iPod photo of mine that has died after little more than a year, and the Apple Care coverage I bought the second time around will do me no good, as it expired in February. And the month-old Phillips Plasma TV I bought for the basement manspace suddenly has nothing more to offer than a little blue light, no picture, sound, or anything else. It’s under warranty, but finding a Philips rep who will make the promised house call is proving challenging.

Chicago – I recently visited Chicago to attend the 2nd Yearly Kos Convention. It was a good time and notably larger than last years first one in Vegas. Once again I came back with an armload of signed books, and a head full of energy for heading into 2008 Election battles. It was very impressive to see almost every Presidential campaign (except Biden) show up to participate. I went to Bill Richardson’s breakout session and he did much to re-inforce my feelings that he ought to be among the top tier candidates. When his staffer tried to cut off his Q&A with the audience, he replied, “I’m at 13%, I can answer a few more questions!”.

I read Mike Royko’s biography of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Boss, while on the trip. It’s an eye-opening education in machine politics of the 50s & 60s. And it wouldn’t be a trip to Chicago without a visit with my Great Aunt Margaret, a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, and some Casey Family grave hunting.

OK, so while that still leaves me far from caught up, it’s a least a little slice of summer offered here in the Casey blog. More to come…