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Flying Shrubbery

January 31, 2008 By

The President is visiting Las Vegas.  Unlike most visitors to this town, his will not be a visit filled with debauchery,  but like most visitors, he is here to try and make some money.

Enough about politics.  I really hate political discussions.  What I’m here to talk about tonite is some plane spotting.  I’ve talked about how easy it is to spot airplanes coming and going from McCarran International Airport here, and honestly, even though the majority of the planes I see are the Southwest Airlines 737s, I still never get tired of seeing the planes.  I drive along the 7/25 runways on my way to and from work every day, and since Las Vegas is a world famous destination, I do get to see some nice foreign airlines.  Tonite, however, I was eager to see Air Force One.  This is the 747 that the US Air Force keeps and maintains, and it is called Air Force One whenever the President is on board.

Security is predictably tight.  Normally, tower communications for traffic on the 7/25 runways is broadcast over an FM radio station, which I can tune into while I am driving along the center and eastern portion of the runways.  Typical conversations are pilots looking for landing clearance, getting taxi instructions to get off the runways, and the tower giving takeoff clearance.  Tonight, however, there was a sense of urgency.  All departures were routed off runway 1R, which sits at the western end of the airport and since it uses a different radio frequency, I was unable to monitor radio transmissions.  I was able to hear air traffic control demanding that all traffic switch to the other frequency, so I knew Air Force One was close.

Normally incoming traffic lands on runway 25L, which is closer to Sunset Road, where I was watching for the plane.  Planes then get taxi instructions to cross 25R, which normally has outgoing traffic on it.  Since there was no traffic on 25R, I had a feeling that 1) they were keeping 25R clear so as to move the few incoming planes off the active runway and to their gates as soon as possible, and 2) Air Force One would be directed to land on 25R.  Like I said, 25R is further away from the road, and therefore the public, so it would be less of a security risk.  Point 1 is just a theory, but I was correct on point 2.  The flight was due to land around 8pm, and ended up being about 45 minutes late.  The observation parking lot on the north side of Sunset Road was closed off, so Boyfriend and I parked across the street at an industrial park.  Boyfriend brought the camera and tried to get pictures, but since it was dark and the aircraft was still moving rather fast, he did not get to capture the image he wanted, or anything close for that matter.  It was still a memorable sight.  I could vaguely make out the blue and white paint, but I did (almost) clearly see the US flag that is on the tail.

One more note on security.  In the parking lot of the industrial building, there were a number of people with cameras, sitting in their cars listening to the radio.  It was really no more than a dozen people.  As soon as the plane touched down, a nondescript, tan, older model SUV went speeding out of the parking lot, heading west, presumably towards the executive terminal.  I believe that the President gets off the plane near the executive terminal, which is the place where all the rich people go to take a limo directly to their private plane.  Trying to coordinate security so the Prez can pull up to a gate would be a logistical nightmare, and the news did report that commercial aviation would not be affected by the speical flight plans.  Private flights are grounded, though – at least out of McCarran.

I haven’t read about the President’s departure plans, but since he has a speech and luncheon planned for tomorrow, I assume he will be taking off sometime around the time I leave work.  I’ll check the news tomorrow to see if there’s anything, because it could always affect my commute in some way, but if I’m lucky I can see it take off.  I’ll have to remember to bring my camera to work, so I can have the possibility of taking a bad picture of a tiny plane (no way will Boyfriend let me take the DSLR to work, so I’ll be stuck with my point and shoot.  Wait, that sounds bad considering it’s a matter of national security.  I’ll be stuck with my regular, not so magnificent camera).

So that is the highlight of my extremely casual plane spotting.  What is your favorite plane-spotting experience?

Filed Under: Las Vegas

Ping!

January 29, 2008 By

Something that is a new experience for me since moving to WordPress is pingbacks and trackbacks. For those who don’t know, these are, to the best of my knowledge, links to your content on another website. I’m not talking about blogrolls – no, this is when your work is quoted, in part or in full, on another website and links back to your site, which is how it gets picked up in your comments as a trackback.

My Music on Mondays posts seem to be the most popular posts for this. Yesterday I checked my comments to see 3 of these, my highest number yet. I’m sure they will spiral out of control as I get more and more popular. Check this out:

Screenshot of Trackbacks


Now, I always check these out, just to make sure that at the very least there is a link in there and I don’t have to bitch-slap anyone. But what I don’t get is the name. It’s always different. See those bottom two? Despite the URL, they are the exact same website, yet on one I am “The Gossip Girls” and on another I am “Barbara”. I don’t get that. I mean, I can see how the first one is a trick to get more people to the site with the name of a tv show, but Barbara? Not sure about that one. In all cases, though, the links to go my site.Right now this is a slight annoyance and also somewhat amusing, but at least (to my knowledge) no one has copied my site. Sites like Copyscape can help you figure out if someone has.

Filed Under: On the Internet

Music on Mondays – Felicity

January 28, 2008 By

One of the first TV shows I really remember being influential in helping shape my musical taste was Felicity. It was a show that debuted in 1998, about 4 years after I had given up on college but still while in the midst of my wanderlust and general dissatisfaction with my place in life, at least, geographically speaking. Felicity was a young woman about to start college who threw away the sensible plans and followed her crush to a school all the way across the country. I could never relate to the following your crush thing, but the moving cross country thing struck a chord with me. I watched that show and lived vicariously through her. The show was on for four years, one for each year of college, and a year after the show ended I finally packed up and followed my dream.

There have been TV shows on in the past that featured popular music of the day. Felicity was, in my mind, a bit of a trendsetter because it not only featured the music, but did so prominently. At the end of each episode, there would be an announcement that showed the artists and albums where one could find the music. The show produced not one, but two soundtracks – Freshman Year and Senior Year. These two albums don’t even come close to the tip of the iceberg as far as music that was featured on the show.

Now I know, some of you will argue with me about which show really was the first to put music in the forefront like this. But Felicity was the first show that I can remember watching that made such a musical impression, and this is my blog, so my memories rule here.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, the music. The music set the theme for the show, or scenes within the show. I think like that a lot – depending on the situation, I might have a song in my head that goes along with that scene in my life. Often times, music in a scene, be it theater, tv, or a movie, helps cement the mood of the scene and make it that much more memorable. Unlike the days of yore, music is no longer just a means of entertainment or a way to show off some talent. It is so intertwined with our lives. Can you imagine life without music? Try watching some of the deleted scenes on one of your favorite DVDs. You’ll notice that many times, the special effects are missing but so is the music. It’s a bit odd watching the deleted scenes right after watching the movie, having the song or background music in your head, and not hearing it from the speakers. My life without music would be…flat.

I’ve found some sites online that claim to have complete listings of all the songs played during the course of the Felicity series. One is here and the other is here. There are some discrepancies between the two lists, and some of that may be owing to the fact that when the DVDs came out, some songs were replaced because of licensing issues. Just look at it this way: it’s that many more songs you can check out for your collection.

Filed Under: Music

Open Letter to AARP

January 27, 2008 By

Dear AARP:

Earlier this week my boyfriend, insert Boyfriend’s name here, received an invitation to membership in your organization.  Mr. Boyfriend will not reach the minimum age for eligibility until 2016, so we respectfully request that you stop sending literature until that time.  For your reference, the authorization code on the literature you sent is 1234567890.  I will also be returning the form in the postage paid envelope you so conveniently provided, so that there is no mistake that he does not want to receive any communications from you until which time he is eligible.

Sincerely,

KirstenL4W
on behalf of Boyfriend

Can you believe this stuff?  Boyfriend is only 41 years young.  He is not old.  I can see sending out literature a few months in advance of membership eligibility, but honestly, who is sitting there saying, “Gosh, in 8½ years I’ll be able to join AARP.  I can’t wait!”  Come on now, AARP.  Lighten up a bit.  Boyfriend has already hit his 40′s and thinks he’s old, which he is NOT.  Thanks for the blow to his self esteem.  Now I have to spend at least the next week trying to convince him that he is not old and does not need the blue pills.

Filed Under: Grrr

Australia Day

January 26, 2008 By

I don’t often blog about holidays, especially foreign holidays that I don’t know a heck of a lot about. Ok, honestly, I had a vague idea that there was a holiday called Australia Day, but thanks to all my Aussie blogger friends over at the Aussie Bloggers Blog, I’m learning more about the land down under. I may not know any more about the history of Australia, but by reading their blogs I’m learning more about the most important thing a country can have – its people. I have found Aussie Bloggers to be some of the friendliest people I have (n)ever met.

In fact, a bunch of them have got themselves together and started a forum to help ordinary bloggers who may not know so much about blogging, but really want to have the blog of their dreams. The Aussie Bloggers Forum is not just for bloggers from Australia. Oh no, don’t let that hold you back. They speak English and use all the same blog platforms that you do, so they are not only capable but willing to answer any questions you can throw at them. I’ve been on the blogosphere for nearly 2 years now, and have been perusing message forums for nearly 10 years, and this is the first forum I have come across that not only caters to bloggers, but is extremely friendly and helpful. I have another forum on my blogroll that I never really got into because all the posts are titled “Please Help” or something equally vague. Not here. The friendliness of everyone involved makes it much easier to get the answers you’re looking for, whether you’re looking through older threads or posting a new question.

So stop by the Aussie Blog or Forum and wish some friendly Aussie bloggers a Happy Australia Day!

Filed Under: Holidays