Mississippi

From Woldenberg Park, across from Algiers Point in the French Quarter

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Jazz Brunch

At Mojito's for jalapeno grits, bloody mary, and live jazz on patio. Nice.

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The Latest in Nigerian Scam Storytelling

This is a type of scam that I've not seen previously. Still not very clever, but it makes use of an attention-getting email subject line and includes a humorous twist on the stories that accompany most 419 scam emails.  While this ploy still relies upon the greed of the stupid, the twist is that the issue of a scam is central to the email.  More interesting is that for the recipient to go after the promised large payout, he must believe that he has to scam someone else (in this case, a London police detective!) to prevent a third party from completing a different scam, thereby laying claim to the unearned prize before the recipient.

No, I still can't see anybody who possesses a reasonable level of intelligence and wariness falling for this (even beyond the preposterous story, the email suffers from the same ludicrous grammar and punctuation problems that plague most of these messages), but it seems to indicate a sense of humor on the part of the scammer, and I can sort of appreciate that.

From: METROPOLITAN POLICE UK
Date: 2011/5/13
Subject: ARE YOU STILL ALIVE
To:


Attention; Beneficiary,

My names are INSPECTOR WALMSLEY GEOFFREY ROBERT from METROPOLITAN POLICE UK, there is presently a counter
claims on your funds by one MR.JOHN LEWIS, who is presently trying to make us believe that you are dead
and even explained that you entered into an agreement with him before your death, to help you in receiving your fund US$ 2,000,000.00 So here comes the big question.

Did you sign any Deed of Assignment in favor of ( JOHN LEWIS ),He further claimed that you died on the 24/06/2006 and you have been buried , thereby making him the current beneficiary with his following account details:


MR JOHN LEWIS,
AC/NUMBER: 6503809428.
ROUTING/122006743,
B/NAME:Bank Of American ( B.O.A ),
ADDRESS:NEW YORK,USA,


We shall proceed to issue all payments details to the said Mr. john lewis, if we do not hear from you within the next two working days from today.


Thanks

INSPECTOR WALMSLEY GEOFFREY ROBERT

Email : ukpol@post.com

Post-a-pic test #2: email post

This is a picture of a ceiling fan.  It's a fan.  It's on the ceiling.  I took a picture of it.

Post-a-pic test #1: Blogger for Droid

Negative
Phil Cook and His Feat: Hungry Mother Blues

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Test 1 - Blogger App

Can you read me now?

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Testing email postings

The camdacus of overly florid nonsensicalities will be the downfall of this once great kennel.

Tale of a Recently Converted Walker

As friends and co-workers are undoubtedly sick of hearing me describe, six months ago I moved into the city and have since discovered the joys of walking following decades of suburban living.

This neighborhood of mine -- as with many of the 120-some neighborhoods in Durham, North Carolina -- is situated and developed (part purposefully, part by happenstance) such that many of my neighbors and I are able to walk to most everyplace we need or want to go, including work, shopping, meals, and entertainment.   I love it.  In addition to the convenience and the ability to be a part of a vibrant city scene -- Durham may be small, but it's got more life than you might expect -- this new habit has been a boon for my health, both physical and mental, I believe.

In fact, I was just out walking this morning, having taken care of an errand at the mall and enjoying the last bit of halfway decent weather before the predicted heavy rains start. As I was climbing up the steep driveway behind the house upon my return, I noted that one of my neighbors' cars was gone (we live in the duplex, so the driveway is shared). After half a second, I realized that no, both neighbors' cars are there. Hmm, something seemed odd. Oh, well, yes, of course, and may I add an "Oh crap!", too, please?  I realized that the missing car was mine and that I'd left the damn thing at the mall after having had to make a rare drive to finish chores earlier in the morning.

After completing business at the mall, I'd put my mind on autopilot and did what's become second nature: walk the half mile back home.  Of course, the walk back to the mall to retrieve the car was pleasant enough: it's always good to get out more.

The Darkest Hour

Megafaun: Gather, Form, and Fly.  It's an amazing record, and I don't know when I last happened upon music that effected me so.

Pitchfork review (grade 8.1/10)
AV Club review (grade A: "the ethereal Gather, Form & Fly is far too extraterrestrial-sounding to be bound to this planet")
Independent review

A Day in the Life (of a Durham Resident)

8:30 AM: Walk to Joe Van Gogh for 20oz red eye (known at JVG as a stout). Sit outside drinking coffee and reading book.

9:00 AM: Head back into JVG for desired (but wholly unnecessary) 2nd 20oz red eye. Stand in line behind woman who complains that her coffee "tastes funny." Encounter woman again moments at sugar and cream station where she declares that her replacement cup of coffee tastes equally bad. Suggest that perhaps there's nothing wrong with the coffee but that, instead, she's coming down sick. Return to my previous spot outdoors to continue my caffeine and Vonnegut infusions.

10:30 AM: Walk to Northgate Mall to buy slacks from Macy's (on good sale) and sport shirts from Sears* (on incredible clearance sale).  Opt not to wait in the crowd for haircut at Flashlight Barber Shop.

[*This link has almost nothing to the commercialization of the Internet as it is currently considered; instead, it's a nearly prehistoric concept [i.e., 1990] that makes for a pretty cool read, assuming you're a nerdy geek].

1:00 PM: Walk to A-1 Stop Mail to return card of some sort sent by a former co-worker to some unknown couple but at my address.

1:20 PM: Having completed mailing, stop at Dain's Place for a beer and a burger while I read more of my book. Dain's possibly has the best burgers that I've yet tried (which is to say that if you know better, you need to tell me asap: I'll be dubious regarding your claim but happy to be corrected).

1:40 PM: Having eaten most of my burger (excellent burger but too big), decide to head out for a long walk in direction of Duke Hospital.

2:20 PM: In midst of walk, decide to visit the Sarah Duke Gardens. Agree to take picture of a group of four friends (four friends or a disturbingly close family). Find a bench in a nice sunny spot far away from the busiest areas and get in a good 30 minutes of more Vonnegut and his description of The Protocols of the Elders of Tralfamadore.

3:00 PM: On post-Gardens walk home, pass by Nasher Museum and decide to check out newest exhibit, The Jazz Loft Project.  Excellent - I even bought the book.  Much better than the previous special exhibit, which was seemingly loved by everybody but me.  But as for The Jazz Loft Project, I urge folks to get down here to view it.

4:30 PM: Stop by Bean Traders for another outdoor caffeine and Vonnegut session, this time featuring iced latte.

6:10 PM: After coming home and taking care of a couple of quick errands, it's back out again, this time walking to Warehouse District.

6:45 PM: Enjoy excellent square slice of Klaussie's pepperoni and sausage pizza outside Fullsteam Brewery.

7:00 PM: Head across street to Motorco Music Hall and drink two pints of Oatmeal Porter.  Read more Vonnegut.

7:40 PM: Walk over to Manbites Dog Theater to attend fourth and final segment of the 2011 Strange Beauty Film Festival.  One of the short films -- "For the Birds" by Lilli Carré -- was quite good (and somewhat sad, although that might have just been me) but I was otherwise perfectly bored and finally decided to leave short of the 45 minute mark.  I guess film festivals and I aren't made for one another, a discovery which probably surprises no one, least of all me.

8:50 PM: Return to Motorco where I'm immediately given a pint of the newest beer on tap which I find to be excellent.  I think it was 13 Rebels ESB by French Broad Brewery, but I could be wrong on that.  Whatever it was, it was quite good and I had three of them.

10:30 PM: Still at Motorco, watched local band Justin Robinson & the Mary Annettes perform a killer set of folk-rock (JR had been with Carolina Chocolate Drops, recipients of the Grammy last week for Best Traditional Folk Album).  I'd seen JR & the MAs perform back in November on opening night for the Troika Festival when I'd found them good but not great: I don't know if they'd improved since then or if I was simply more receptive to their unusual sound tonight; whatever the case, they put on a good show and I happily put in a few bucks to buy their CD EP (which was offered free but  donations accepted).

11:30 PM: And STILL at Motorco.  If only the second band had been half as good as JR & MAs.  I won't name names -- easy enough to find out, of course -- but only a minute or two into their second song, I decided to go back to reading the Vonnegut book and soon finished it ("Just because some of us can read and write and do a little math, that doesn't mean that we deserve to conquer the Universe.  THE END").  I would have returned to the book during the first song but was fascinated by the fact that the band featured a xylophone; no, that alone didn't interest me so much as the fact that this was the third band I'd seen since Thursday that included that instrument.  Interestingly (?) although perhaps not surprisingly, I didn't much care for any of them.

11:50 PM: As the band started into their fourth song, I decide that it's time to call it a day and walk back home, making a quick stop at the Family Fare to pick up some juice for Sunday breakfast). 

Xylophone aside, it was yet another fine day to be a Durhamite.