Obama back to normal

My old boss used to say that even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.

As so it is with President Obama, with the recent slaying of Osama bin Laden. Kudos all around.

But today, he says that Israel must return to its 1967 borders, to return land it seized as a buffer after being attacked by Arab nations.

The man has had some issue with Israel since he's been on the national stage, but I don't understand why.

Maybe, with someone like the president, it's best to use what is sometimes called "tough love." Treat him (and the United Stares) badly, and he responds positively, or at least doesn't try to push you around, like he did today with Israel.

Shameful. Better to provide more foreign aid to autocracies. Go figure.

Netflix Dominance Continues

For a while now, streaming and on-demand video has been becoming the go-to way for many people across the country to watch their favorite movies and T.V. shows. For a while now, Netflix has had more subscribers than cable giant and now NBC owner Kabletown Comcast. Now, according to a report by Sandvine Global, what they call "Real-Time entertainment" or streaming videos, live TV such as the NCAA Tournament or on-demand services like Netflix and Hulu comprise around 50% of all bandwidth used in North America. According to the study, Netflix itself takes up around 30% of all bandwidth and prime-time hours.
We here at Heritage, as part of the media, have been turning our focus to online stories posted daily, videos, and other interactive and Web 2.0 style storytelling techniques to reach more reader. With this information, I have a question to pose to the readers of this blog: What do you prefer when it comes to taking in media? Do you prefer to read your news with a cup of coffee and the paper, or at a computer screen? Do you like to watch T.V. shows when the air or do you record them to watch later/watch on demand or on Hulu? Do you go to a video store to rent movies or do you utilize the expansive library offered by Netflix Instant?
Personally, utilize all of these things. I like the feeling of sitting down and making a ritual out of watching a T.V show, especially something that hooks me in each week a la Lost or Showtime's Dexter. But I also enjoy the convenience of being able to watch a show I missed on Hulu a few days later whenever I feel like it in my pajamas with a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. One way that i feel I'll want to hold onto the old times is with book, however. I've read on Kindles and it is not a totally unpleasant experience. but I still feel myself missing the feeling of the pages between my fingers, or ear-marking my favorite passages so that the book will never close again. But this is just one man's feelings, what do you think?

My Experience at Discover Milan Day

Discover Milan Day 2011 on PhotoPeach



As of January, I had never been to Milan. Over the past few months I have gotten more and more familiar with the city, its people and how they feel about their community. I was excited to go to Discover Milan Day this year, hoping to see a small celebration of everything Milan has to offer, put on and supported by the people who care about it the most. While it may not have been what it possibly could have due to rain, I still enjoyed myself while there.
Luckily, when it did rain it remained warm enough so that while I was getting wet, it was never to the point where I was beginning to feel like it may begin to freeze to my shivering body. I was also kept warm by the spirits of the people who stuck around, or those who sowed up once the rain ceased. Everybody there was happy to be supporting the city they call home, or supporting a city that feels like home if they weren't actually from Milan. I look forward to more events like this in the future and hope that you enjoy some of these pictures I was able to get throughout the day.

P.S. I ended my last post with a Youtube video of a song that fit the theme of my post, so I think I'm going to make that my thing for all of these blog posts

A great day, yesterday

I had my birthday party yesterday with my family. We went to play miniature golf, ate some delicious wings, and went to 4:30 Mass with Matthew, Crystal and Noah.

It was the first time that Noah had been in our church, and he was great - into everything, but well-behaved.

Last night, I watched the movie "The Electric Horseman" on TV with my wife Jan. I've watched it many times, but it still impresses and touches - a fun movie.