Zap Your PRAM, the cicada of conferences, is back. After five years of hiatus we're doing it again.
Zap Your PRAM is much more like a songwriters circle than a conference. The formula is quite simple: Excellent secluded venue (Dalvay-by-the-sea) + interesting & talented people + amazing food & drink = Zap.
We're intentionally making it small, intimate, and relaxing. Currently it is invite only. If you think you should be invited then please let us know.
Price: $4.99
Meat: Reminded me of Swanson's Hungry Man steaks (not good).
Size: Tiny.
Sloppy: Very.
Vegetables: A tomato slice and some depressing mushrooms.
Sauce: Horseradish tinged gravy. I'm still not sure if it was supposed to taste like horseradish or if it was just a little ripe.
Overall: Horrible. Avoid it at all costs. Better to eat nothing at all.
Last week the Provincial Government announced a new statutory holiday in February for Prince Edward Island. It will be observed/celebrated/taken starting on the second Monday of February 2009.
Some businesses, in fact a giant group of business, are complaining about this new holiday. Their point is that the extra holiday is now another expense in a long list of rising expenses (i.e fuel costs, minimum wage, etc).
While I can sympathize with the rising costs (we heat three 100+ year old houses) I'm not against the new holiday. I, for one, welcome this new day of rest and shopping at The Home Depot. In this part of the world February sucks and anything anyone can do to make it better is worth it.
The only real issue I have with this new holiday is the name: Islander Day. I propose we hijack the name and call it "Day Off". It would be much better during conversation:
Bill: "Hey Jimmy, you doing anything special on your Day Off?"
Jimmy: "Nah. Just going to head down to Walmart cause they're always open. Must suck to not get the Day Off."
Once again I find myself on the sunny west coast. I'm in San Francisco this week for meetings and a little bit of touristing. It has been a horribly long and bitter winter on PEI. We've had a near record number of storms, school has been canceled more times than in recent memory, and it generally has been soul crushingly crappy.
Becky and I arrived in San Francisco yesterday to sunshine and 18 degree (Celsius) temperatures. Today is a repeat of yesterday. Already we feel better and feel the SADs draining out of our systems. PEI is a wonderful place to live from May to November. Not so much in the other months...
Today was the first official day of winter. It also wrapped up what has been the busiest fall on record for silverorange.
We usually launch a few websites a year. Sometimes just one depending on how existing client work is going. This fall we've launched, or been involved in a launch, of five websites. That's a drastic increase.
They are:
We're taking a well deserved break for Christmas then we are planning to start the New Year off with a bang and launch another major site during our first week back to work... stay tuned.
So Conrad Black was sentenced to 6.5 years in jail today for defrauding shareholders of 60 million dollars. He was also fined 6 million dollars.
I haven't been following the case and know shockingly little about the details, but it seems Mr. Black really did quite well all things considered.
I doubt he'll do the full 6.5 years. He'll probably organize a credit counseling group in the jail library and maybe do some life-coaching on the side. That will get him out in half the time.
3.25 years in jail is 1186 days which is 28,470 hours. 60 Million - 6 Million fine = 54 Million*. 54 Million / 28,470 hours = $1,897.00/hour.
Well played Mr. Black, well played.
* Apparently the company will have to sue him for the 60 Million... Remember, a civil trial can turn out a little different from the criminal one. Right OJ?
Now that your Desperate Housewives will be over before Christmas why not start watching some new good shows. Most of them have a few seasons under their belts or are finished entirely so you should still have lots of TV to watch while good, honest, and fair people fight for respect.
#1: The Wire - A phenomenal people vs the man drama set in Baltimore showing the good and bad sides of the common people and the institutions that loom over them. I watched all four seasons in two weeks. HIGHLY recommended.
#2: Battlestar Galactica - I came to this show much like C.S. Lewis came to Christianity. Reluctantly, skeptical, and almost hostile. I AM A BELIEVER! Forgive me of my sins! This show has nothing to do with Star Trek like I feared. The character development is fantastic and after each show I find myself wanting to vote for politicians who run on a space-faring platform.
#3: Six Feet Under - Becky and I are four seasons into this show and it has us hooked. Don't expect to feel good about yourself or enjoy it in the same way you'd enjoy Hereos. We strongly recommend watching something light after each episode (especially if you watch it before going to bed). Maybe chase it with an Everyone Loves Raymond or something.. .
#4: 30 Rock - 22 minutes of hilarious melt-in-your-mouth comedy. Brilliant and addictive. You've only got one season to catch up on so probably best to savour it.
It's all over folks. It will be breezy and chilly for the rest of the day but the Noel action is officially over. This blog will return to its sporadically updated self.
