A busy day: Deaths and Cars and such This blog has moved to http://quagmire.darsys.net

First, RIP to Karl Malden a fine veteran actor who died today at 97. RIP to another from one of my all-time favourite shows, Mollie Sugden -- the legendary Mrs Slocombe -- who died today at 87: she was one of the highlights of the legendary Britcom Are You Being Served. A sad day and the number of celebrities dying in the past few weeks is phenomenal.

My car is back. I cannot say if they fixed the mechanical stuff but they did find some major computer errors. It was set in 'transportation mode' -- something that was supposed to be fixed before it left the dealer, apparently. This isn't something an owner can turn on or off. They claim it is responsible for my long litany of problems with the car. The basic premise that iDrive still sucks donkey balls even when it works remains unchanged. My car has 12007 miles on it and they feel the brakes (under warranty) will need to be replaced at 13671 miles. Um.... Why not just do it while it was there? So I have to come back. I am not impressed with South Motors.

Every car I've ever owned that was serviced by a dealer is cleaned thoroughly inside before being returned to its owner. Apparently BMW doesn't do this -- though they did offer to drive it through the car wash for me to clean the outside (as it was pouring rain, I declined politely.) Oh, and BTW, BMW corporate has never called me back. They suck too. [BTW, South Motors didn't open the repair ticket until 26 June 09 at 1026 am -- that's how long my car was "lost" while I was paying rental fees. I've not been in my car since around 9 June or thereabouts.]

The body work appears to be fine and everything seems to work well. Though it would have been nice if they body shop cleaned the blood stains from the inside of the rear tailgate where someone obviously cut himself while installing it. I cleaned it myself.

My XM on Sirius package never worked right. Still didn't when I got the car back. I thought it was one of the problems with the car. I called Sirius for the fifth time and got someone smart and we managed to get the damned thing working. She had to call her technical department to get a special reset code which we had to send while the car was running. Yes, smart people in foreign call centres do exist. Yay. Do I get a refund for the one month of missed extra channels? As if.

Eventually, I will send Enterprise as very nasty letter -- not sure if I complained about the rental from hell (two flat tires, faulty transmission, broken key, filthy car with lipstick all over the rear view mirror, and smelling like twin packs of cigarettes). Probably BMW too.

Oh, and my right knee is killing me and am wondering if it's accident related or not. It was hurting a bit before but now one spot is sore to the touch. ::mutter:: And the two teeth the dentist fixed have started hurting again. He warned me he wasn't sure if replacing the fillings was going to work and if it didn't I might need some root canals. Damn it all to hell.

I am trying to find fun stuff to do this weekend but so far Sunday AM skating is all that's up. Am looking to see Ice Age 3D. Maybe visit with some people. Etc. Fireworks don't interest me so much though.

Corporate Identity Theft, Losing an SUV, Celebrity Deaths This blog has moved to http://quagmire.darsys.net

First, RIP to ex-heartthrob Farrah Fawcett of Charlies Angels fame who died earlier today of cancer. Many of my friends and I were fond of looking at her iconic poster from the late 1970s / early 1980s.
The poster is one of the most iconic, if not the most iconic one of its era. She'll be missed by many for a long list of reasons. She had a long and distinguished career.

(As I write this news is breaking that he died.) Best wishes also to Michael Jackson is in critical condition following a heart attack. He was found unconscious in his Los Angeles home. He was attempting a comeback tour at the O2 in London, which now appears unlikely. The singer's father, Joe, has told TMZ he is "not doing well" while another family member said he is "in really bad shape." Having met Mr. Jackson, briefly, I extend my condolences and best wishes to his family.

Next up, I must report on a true oddity. My BMW X5 was taken to South Motors body shop for repair after the accident. Two days ago it was taken to South Motors service shop for mechanical work and its regularly scheduled service. I called today to find out what the story was with my car. South Motors service first said they didn't have my car, but the body shop told me who got it. South Motors service then admitted yes, they did get it, but could find no record of me or the car in their computer and the car was missing. Photo here.

They asked for my VIN# because they can't find the car or any record of it. I also sent them a description and then the Flickr photo above. I am paying $40 per day for a stupid-ass rental. So for two days they did not work on it because they couldn't find the damned car. Inexcusable, yes? They have yet to call me back. Tomorrow, I am going to insist that we file a police report for a stolen vehicle. I'll also have to sue them for my out of pocket on the repairs -- why should I pay for repairs on a car I never got. I would hope they find the car which "might be in the lease return lot." I am very, very, very unhappy with South Motors and BMW corporate offices will receive an eviscerating letter the likes of which they may have never seen.

How the hell do you lose an entire SUV? Morons.

Lastly, and in sympathy with Evan, I need to report on some corporate identity theft. A few weeks ago AT&T called me and said someone was trying to forward our fax lines to an alternate number. That person pretended to be me, and then to be my father. They were a Hispanic male (which neither of us are). They were suspicious because of reasons I do not wish to disclose at this time so they called our main billing number, spoke to me to ask if I was doing it and I said no and asked them to note everything in the account. AT&T wrote lots of notes but refused to release information to me -- only to a law enforcement agency. I called the Hialeh Police and filed a report which they reluctantly took -- only over the phone and didn't send a detective. The report said "Someone tried to change the phone number" -- that's it. No mention of rerouting, imperonsating me, etc. Messing with phone lines is a federal felony. I also called my lawywer who referred it to the State Attorney General's Office.

I come into work today from having my MRI and my receptionists says I have a call and I tell her "I'm not in yet, let me get settled" but she insists. It's AT&T. Someone's trying to order some Wireless Network cards for laptops to have shipped somewhere. She's also suspicious because the caller said we have no corporate email addresses and refused to supply one. Thanks to AT&T represenative Terressa Williams for being on the ball and also recording notes.

(Right here in the middle of this is when I found out my car was AWOL.)

Then later in the day I get a call from Kathy in the AT&T Fraud Department telling me my number had been forwarded to a 'suspicious number' and also had been unblocked to allow collect prison calls(!!!). She said I would have to call the business office to fix it and that she couldn't do it. She did give up to the two numbers our lines were forwarded to: 305-299-0499 amd 305-332-9119. I e-mailed my attorney immediately. He's trying to get this straightened out.

I called AT&T business office and had a password put on our account. I had the name on the account changed to me from Dad. The person who called in to do this had our federal ID number as well as our AT&T account number and specifically targeted our fax lines. This is very, very unusual. I have a suspicion that I won't share here, but more on that later. I'd discuss it with the police but they don't seem to give a shit. I am not impressed with the Hialeah Police, let me tell you what.

Michael Jackson This blog has moved to http://quagmire.darsys.net

I've decided to blog about Michael Jackson briefly. Why so? He's auctioning off tons of his stuff. I realize nobody I know would actually want it, but still. Looking through the online auction catalog is utterly fascinating. You can order one for $100 or $500 with autograph. As if.

I met Michael Jackson once when on Concorde -- whilst exiting the on-board bathroom. Really. He was married to Lisa Marie Presley at the time. The story's recounted in my personal website's Concorde pages so I won't repeat it here. I can't find the story anywhere.

Anyway it was the same flight on which David Bowie and Iman were on. The return flight had Robert DeNiro. Anyway, I will skip all the details for now -- but I wonder where I wrote about this -- maybe a long ago email to friends. I am thinking this was in an email way back in 1993 after Labour Day weekend when this all happened. Maybe I have a copy archived on one of my Apple II disks that I can no longer read. No idea. If any of you have a copy of that old email, forward it to me and I'll post it.

Anyway, he was in the waiting room for the flight but in a secluded side room. On board he was in the back of the aircraft with Lisa Marie. They appeared, in all honestly, to be very much in love. Anyway, nature called mid-flight, and I went to use the lavatory. I took a whizz, washed my hands, opened the door, and who should be standing in front of me? Michael Jackson. He's taller than you might think. I smiled, said excuse me, he muttered something, and went in. That concluded my interaction. Concorde is always fun and that was my very first trip (and only one on Air France). It was memorable because it was celebrity packed.

This auction made me think of it.

Why Cal Still Rocks This blog has moved to http://quagmire.darsys.net

I am no apologist when it comes to homerism and the University of California at Berkeley. It is widely regarded as one of the best schools in the world, and on many of those lists it is declared the best university in the world beating out the rest, so says even the London Times. I blogged this previously.

It bears saying again: Berkeley is better than your school. First, with sixty (60_ Nobel laureates and counting, no other university comes close, not to mention a small collection of Turing Award laureates. The list of distinguished Cal alumni is absurdly long and Wikipedia has an entire article listing a small selection. If you want the best education you can get, then Cal is your school. Good luck getting in because it's not easy. But Cal is special inspiring fierce loyalty, giving an unparalleled education, and teaching beyond education by giving a special sense of community found nowhere else on earth. Not to mention, it's near San Francisco, one of the best cities there is.

Here is a small list of Berkeley Alumni (or attendees in a few instances) to give you an idea of what Cal can produce:

Technology amd Science: Nine (9) astronauts, and so many people in the computer industry it’s impossible to calculate. But Cal grads are responsible for Xerox, Intel, Apple, Atari, Rambus, Sybase, and others. Dozens of mathematicians and physicists. Douglas C. Engelbart (inventor of the computer mouse), Steve Wozniak (Apple Computer) are some of the more recognizable names.

Fiction: Philip K. Dick, Robert Baer, Jack London, Terry McMillan, Vikram Chandra, and Amy Tan.

Music: Stewart Copland (drummer for the Police), Susanna Hoffs (Bangles), Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind), and Adam Durtiz (Counting Crows).

Journalism: Scott Adams (Dilbert), Pauline Esther Friedman (Dear Abby), Jann Wenner (Rolling Stone), Peter Chernin (CEO Fox and President of News Corporation), and William Randolph Hearst, Jr. Conservative talk show hos Michael Savage was a Berkeley liberal hanging out with his former friend Alan Ginsberg before his brains were scrambled and he went further right than Bush.

Actors: Bill Bixby, Jeff Cohen (Chunk in the cult classic film The Goonies), William Hung (sorry), Stacy Keach, Jerry Mathers (The Beaver), Gregory Peck, George Takei, and John Cho.

Business and Finance: Stephen D. Bechtel (Founder Bechtel), Jean Paul Getty, Donald Fisher (founder The Gap), Walter A. Haas (Co-founder Levi Strauss & Co), Edgar F. Kaiser (founder Kaiser Permanente), Howard Lincoln (chairman Nintendo America, retired), Thomas J. Long (fonder Longs Drugs), Sanjay Mehrotra (co-founder SanDisk), Michael Milken (rogue trader), Paul Otellini (CEO Intel), John Riccitiello (CEO Electronic Arts), Arun Sarin (CEO Vodafone UK), John Scharffenberger (dounder of world famous chocolatier), Ralph Warner (founder Nolo Press), and Dean Witter himself. Cal’s first master’s degree was awarded in 1865 to Gardner F. Williams, the first manager of DeBeers Consolidated Mines.

Heads of State and Government and Politics: At least seven (7) presidents, prime ministers, princes, princesses, prime ministers, and at least nine (9) governors. The crown prince of Norway is currently in attendance. Over a dozen secretaries of various governmental departments including Dean Rusk former Secretary of State were loyal Bears. Legislators and mayors (including Ron Dellums) too numerous to list belong to this elite club. As of today there are eight Cal grads in Congress. Jerry Brown is a Cal grad but that may count as a negative. Even historical figures such as Hiram Johnson are Cal grads -- he in 1888, for Cal is historic if nothing else.

Judiciary: Earl Warren, chief justice of the US Supreme Court. Lance Ito of OJ Simpson fame, and others many others far more distinguished but not as famous.

Athletes: Again so many including Jason Kidd, Kevin Johnson (with whom I attended classes), Kyle Boller, Steve Bartkowski, Joe Kapp, Joe Roth, Joe Rose, Russell White, and Chuck Muncie. There are over two dozen Cal Olympians as well, of which Matt Biondi is perhaps the best known. The Cal Rugby team is the best in the NCAA winning 22 out of the past 27 titles including 12 in a row from 1991.

And More: Alice Waters (Chef), Timothy Leary (counter-culture icon), Ted Kazcynski (the Unabomber), and the universally famous Rube Goldberg. And let us not forget Jay Ward, creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, and others. In an interesting side-note many fictional characters are Cal grads too from Jack Bauer on 24, to Monk, to Mrs. Robinson in the legendary film the Graduate.

GO BEARS!

Anna Nicole Smith Dead This blog has moved to http://quagmire.darsys.net

Yeah. I realize it's a sad time for her troubled family. I am not criticizing her in this post nor am I judging her. I just have one question. Why is this national news? It's a tragedy when one of my relatives dies, but why does anyone care -- it certainly doesn't make the paper. She has no real claim to fame. Why are we being besieged with news about it?

Almost Famous This blog has moved to http://quagmire.darsys.net

Someone had asked me last week if I was 'friends' with anyone famous. That's interesting because everyone defines 'friend' differently. We drifted off into the do you know anyone famous, and then would anyone famous recognize you discussions? So I decided to compile a list of sorts. Feel free to us the comments field to post your lists.

First, we have the Pro-Entropy brigade. Pro-Entropy had three celebrities: Dave Barry, Terry Pratchett, and Douglas Adams. As sysop I did get to interact with them from time to time on technical issues. A pretty literary group I suppose. I've only actually met Dave though. Via e-mail I've corresponded with a number of people over the years, but that doesn't necessarily mean we're friends or even that they know who I am: Orson Scott Card, Terry Pratchett, and Douglas Adams, the most significant. And, back in the days before email, when paper ruled the world, Herb Caen and I exchanged letters.

Then we have the 'celebrities who would recognize your name' collection: Dave Barry, Philip Michael Thomas, and Rocky Frisco. I know these three would recognize my name for sure -- but that doesn't mean I'm friends with them. Okay, I'm friends with Rocky and we've never even met. But, although I know more celebrities, I can't imagine they'd remember who I am. My ego isn't big enough to pretend otherwise.

We also have the semi-famous as well. John Charles, I feel, is a celebrity. I know him well, but I don't know if he counts based on the fact not everyone knows him. Everyone should know him.

In terms of famous people I've actually met (that means there was an introduction and a conversation) there's a long list. Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, Olivia Brown, Edward James Olmos, John Diehl, Michael Talbot, and Saundra Santiago (the entire cast of Miami Vice) where my mother was part of the OCB Detective extra brigade. Philip and I both went to Berkeley and I even have a nice little booklet he authored back in his school days which he wrote a poem on and gave to me. He's an awesome guy. I also spent some time talking to EJO right before the Oscars when he won for Stand And Deliver: that was at the cast season wrap part for Vice. I also met Michael Mann at one of the cast parties along with Melanie Griffin when she was still with Don. Melanie was really sweet to me -- I was still a teenager and very impressed with her. (Come on, teen guy meets hot babe.....)

On airplanes I've briefly encountered: Jimmy Johnson (thrice), Don King, Jerry Lewis, Richard Kiel, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley (whilst they were married), Robert Di Niro, David Bowie, and Iman. I also sat near John Grisham -- I don't know him, didn't meet him, and didn't even say hi. I knew it was him because the person behind him was reading one of his books and his face was on the back of the book jacket and it was a bit surreal seeing someone sitting in the front row and the person behind him reading a book with his face on it.

I've briefly encountered some famous musicians as well: Eddie Veder, Neil Young, and Jimmy Buffett.

I've been less than 10 feet away from several presidents: Clinton (four times in two cities), Bush Sr, and Bush Jr (thrice). I've never met them, though I secretly wish my fist could meet the face of Bush Jr to thank him for all he's done for this country. (That isn't a threat, just a secret fantasy for all you secret service types). I ran into Ernesto Zedillo the former president of Mexico and had a very brief conversation, but I won't count that since I had no idea who he was until after I had met him.

Although I never met her, DAR Systems had Joan Collins as a customer. I still have a copy of the first order she placed.