Do you remember that software app. a few years ago that would allow the user to “deface” the homepage of Websites?  What was it called? … can’t find it on Google … The only people who could see the damage were the ones who had the software app.  So, I don’t think it actually damaged the site at all like a hacker might … it just appeared to do so, for those who were in on the joke.  If your site had been vandalized in this fashion, I suppose you would never know unless you had the app. also. What was it called?

Ha! If PingWi-Fi.com was hit, would anyone know … what with our rust grafitti motif and all? …

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Light and Shadow

… Sitting in “the evil” Starbucks in Santa Fe … It seems to be doing great business.  The line is almost out the door … So the people who shun the green giant — only supporting local shops — must be losing the war. (I support them all, if they have Wi-Fi.)

This Starbucks got every-little-ting — a faster, more robust hotspot than most Bux these days. I am listening to The Flaming Lips channel on Pandora, and the stream hasn’t rebuffered once … As I blog and do the social media thing as well. Ping be all multi-taskin …

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It is difficult to return to one’s old stomping grounds without thinking of the old days.  There are reminders everywhere … the school, the cafe where high school kids congregated, the football field on the first street off the highway.  I remember all so well. Black and gold streamers, hanging from the goal posts,  blowing in the wind on an autumn night … the loud clang of the team’s victory bell when points were scored … the ceremonial walk off the field with your best girl after a hardfought victory … the words of the school song.

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Helmet

Well this is fun. Something cool came from something crappy. My motorcycle helmet was stolen from my bike — one day after I gushed over my new bike in the blog.

I was livid. The nerve … and to steal it at my home away from home — Starbucks, duh. Thank goodness the guy who almost ran over me in the parking lot later, as I rode home helmet free, wouldn’t stop when I chased him. He might have felt wrath intended for someone else. LOL

… As I posted on Facebook: “To the thief: If I see the helmet on you, you will need protection from my steel-toe boot … a little lower:)”

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Before this blog, we compiled another road trip site called The Wi-Fi Guy, and as with any successful endeavor, there were discussions on how to keep the momentum … how to keep the content fresh … how to remain relevant and so on.

Among the more interesting was an idea proposed by a woman who specialized in motorsports PR. “How about doing your Wi-Fi blog and travels on the back of a motorcycle?”

I liked the idea, but at the time, I was the motor for the bike I rode. (Small detail …)

Flash forward a few years. This blogger has driven an SUV to every major city in the contiguous United States — getting complaints from a few tree huggers about guzzling gas along the way … and made a few flights overseas … the most recent of which was topped off with a spree on a motorbike in Thailand. It got me to thinking … Ha! … and itching … for a bike.

So, One’ (pronounced “Oh-Nay”), queen of all motorsports PR, this blog’s for you. (I guess you could call her an “One’ percenter” … motorcycle club joke …)

Like I was saying, in this and an earlier blog, Thailand gave me a fever I couldn’t shake … motorcycle-itis-is-is.

It was a gradual affliction. First, there was that local Thai guy and his girl back in Ayutthaya, at my favorite coffee shop, who always wanted me to see their Harley-Davidson, one of very few “hogs” in a city of hundreds of thousands of bikes.

That brings up a big issue — American-made versus Asian bikes … or “rice burners” as the nickname goes … Your thoughts? … More on that later.

Oh, the Thai guy on the Harley also gave me some sort of Thai charm … some sort of good luck blessing from an ancient king, and he offered me a ride on his bike. Riding double, of course, is taboo among two adult males in the world of cycles. So, I pocketed the charm and passed on the “pump seat.”

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Today … a blog about nothing.
I like to enter contests, especially ones where the players conjure names for new products and such. For instance, Advertising Age magazine once had a monthly contest — TNT, or The Next Trend — a few years back in which readers would submit names and made-up ad campaigns for imaginary products.

By the names and occupations of the winners listed, people from major ad agencies up and down Madison Avenue would enter. There was some pretty creative caca.

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The Nelsons -- Donnie and Don, "The Other Dream Team"

How often do two of your favorite worlds collide before your eyes, with a positive result?

Ha! I was in a rock ‘n’ roll/basketball nirvana yesterday at The Dallas International Film Festival’s red carpet as Dallas Mavericks brain trust The Nelsons took center stage. What’s that got to do with rock ‘n’ roll? … Now, now … don’t get your tie-dyes all in an iWad … just hang on.

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The guys who have lived through it will tell you, “War is hell.”

South Korean filmmaker Kang Je-kyu brings it … brings hell to the big screen in a big way … a long way … an epic two-hour+ kinda way in The Dallas International Film Festival’s Centerpiece Screening of “My Way.”

But “My Way” is so packed with action and twists … and even a love story … I think Je-kyu actually has a bloody mini-series on his hands. (I find my self wanting to pronounce his name “GQ” … come to think of it, he was a sharp dresser on the red carpet … I digress …)

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QWERTY - Pupkin, Sebastian, composer Ricardo Veiga

Word nerds, rejoice.

There is a magical place where ESPN covers Scrabble tournaments … a place where pencil-neck geeks put fear in the hearts of the office stud … a place where the oppressed librarian-kinda-gal gets 15 minutes of fame.

That place is in film, “QWERTY” to be exact. If you are considering Googling that, it is the name of a fun little film — our most recent selection from the offerings over at The Dallas International Film Festival … and of course a set of letters from the left side of the keyboard.

A self-confessed word nerd, I put QWERTY high on my list of films to see at the festival, but then was even more persuaded, after meeting director Bill Sebastian and leading lady (on film and in his life) Dana Pupkin on the red carpet the other night. (See red carpet photos below …)

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Once again I found myself with a tough decision at The Dallas International Film Festival — two interesting films beginning at the same time. The one with father/son relationship building won out … glad it did.

So, up next at The PingWi-fi: “Father’s Chair,” an international festival entry in the narrative category, brought to us by Director Luciano Moura. It’s a film with a lot of things we love … the afore mentioned father/son thing … a believable birthing event … a gratuitous hallucinogen scene … equestrian art and horsemanship … teen angst … relationship rebuilding … and YES, a road trip.

Father’s Chair

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