ABBA? Really?

Last night was the induction ceremony for the 2010 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees and I've got to say: really? This is the best they could come up with?

I don't know a few of the inductees - Jimmy Cliff and most of the behind-the-scenes guys are mysteries to me - and I'm not going to argue with the Hollies' or the Stooges' places in rock history, and I can at least understand what they were thinking with Genesis. But I am going to argue about ABBA. How, exactly, did they have a significant effect on the genre?

Yes, ABBA was extremely popular in their respective heydays. But popularity is not the same thing as influence. ABBA's music was lightweight, superficial - they're fun to dance to, but that's about it. Struggle as I might, I can't think of any group on which ABBA had a demonstrable influence, or really anything they did that was unique. I have to think their induction basically breaks down to "A lot of people liked Mama Mia!, so they must have been important."

Lazy-Ass Spammers

I'm starting to get annoyed at some of the spam I'm getting. It's not that they're trying to rip me off - I've come to expect that - it's rather how little effort they're putting into it. Here's one I just received:

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Sunday, September 20, 2009 6:28:01 AM
From: Vlad Vikenti
To:
Subject: RE:

I SEEK YOUR PARTNERSHIP IN CLAIMING A LARGE SUM. YOU'ILL BE REWARDED WITH THIRTY PERCENT. PLEASE REPLY FOR MORE INFORMATION IF INTERESTED.

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That's it, in its entirety. This guy couldn't even be bothered to make up an amount or a decent backstory. Now, you can call me a perfectionist, but when someone is trying to scam me I expect them to put at least a little bit of effort into it - pretend to be a distant relative, or give me a line about being referred to me by a friend. Sending a message that says, essentially, "Call me if you want money" insults me.

I'd be angrier if there was a chance in hell of anyone losing money to this twit. However, the spam is so incompetent that the only people likely to fall for it are so stupid that they've already lost all their money to numerous more competent scam artists.

Is Erie really the worst place to campaign?

OK, I know my hometown isn't the most exciting place in the world. But I still feel a bit defensive when someone insults it for no reason, as Sen. Thad Cochran apparently did today after Sen. Arlen Specter left the Republican Party.

I don't understand why people say things like this. Obviously, there's not much downside to Sen. Cochran insulting Erie - he's never going to run for President or run for office in Pennsylvania. Still, it tends to turn off Erieites toward the Republican Party; though the city is trending Democratic, insulting any voters should be high on the list of "Don't Do These Things" for any politician.

Just because it's for a good cause doesn't mean it's not stupid

Now, I'm a person who greatly respects the traditions and history of baseball. That is why I get annoyed when baseball teams (often but not always at the prompting of the Commissioner's Office) do things that are monumentally stupid. Today was one of those days. For another year, Major League Baseball has continued what is possibly the stupidest tribute ever in professional sports; namely, having every player on the field wear the number 42.

This has been going on for several years now - it started two years ago when MLB decided (in a significantly less stupid move) to allow one player on each team to wear the universally retired number as a tribute. Apparently some teams had multiple players that wanted to wear the number and the Commissioner's Office said "we'll let EVERYONE wear it! That way, there will be 25 times as much recognition for Robinson! Hooray!" Sure, they could have figured some way to moderate things - have the second basemen (Robinson's primary position) wear 42, for example - but apparently the voice of reason was completely missing that day.

The part that really pisses me off is how completely oblivious they all seem about this. Pretty much every team has a self-congratulatory promo piece on their web site about doing this, completely ignoring that the "tribute" makes a mockery of even having numbers. Then you watch the game, and you're not sure who's batting, or which infielder made a play, or when the teams make a switch. I was watching the Astros-Pirates game, and there were about half a dozen times when the announcers made mistakes because of the numbering (which was exacerbated by the lack of player names on the jerseys) - not being able to tell which pitcher was warming up in the bullpen, not noticing when a defensive switch had been made, and so on. And these are professionals who are paid to pay attention - keeping a scorecard if you're sitting in the upper deck and can't see players' faces would be impossible.

Robinson's accomplishment deserves recognition - but it deserved such recognition in a way that doesn't diminish the sport as a whole.

Manly Things I Did Today - 4/8

Today I changed the oil in the lawn tractor, lawn mower, wood chipper, and rototiller. For good measure, the lawn tractor also got a new oil filter.

A message to shoppers everywhere

Your shopping cart does not need to follow you everywhere in the store. It won't get lonely and miss you if you leave it at the end of a narrow aisle or outside a crowded section of the store. Nobody is going to take that package of socks or bag of apples or anything else (none of which you've actually purchased yet anyhow) from your cart if you take your eyes off it for a minute.

Sincerely,
the guy who'd like to get down the same aisle as you but can't because you cannot be separated from your precious cart which, from the way you're clinging to it, apparently is hooked up to a bomb that will explode if you let go

Stupid Fees

I was just on the State of Colorado's web site because the registration for the Subaru Baja of Love expires at the end of the month. When I went to do the renewal online, however, I found that the state is charging an additional fee to renew online rather than by mail. For my car, the fee is almost $5 for the convenience of "providing this service online". Being thrifty, I decided instead to spend 42¢ on a stamp and mail it in.

It's the stupidity of charging this fee that bothers me. I acknowledge that credit card companies charge a fee that costs the state a couple bucks - but they would charge that same fee if I went to my friendly neighborhood Motor Vehicle department office and paid there. Beyond that, they also have to pay a person to work at the DMV office to take the payments - plus the rent for having that office. If you look at all the costs, it is more expensive for them to take my money in person than on the internet - yet they seem to think that charging people for a service they provide cheaper is somehow a sensible thing to do.