Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Alinghi wins the 32nd America's Cup

Well, the America's Cup is finally over, and Alinghi have won it by only 1 second in the final race!

The Kiwis had a good lead on the third leg of the race, but at the top mark they were penalized for not tacking away in the "dial-down." Alinghi got the advantage downwind, but something happened with their spinnaker within 150m of the finish. The slowed to 3.5 knots, and the Kiwis got the lead. They had to execute their penalty tack, and almost won it, but in the end Alinghi passed them at the last second.

Read the article here:

[America's Cup] Alinghi wins the 32nd America's Cup

Forget 23m America's Cup Yachts

This boat, dubbed the Maltese Falcon by it's creator Tom Perkins, is huge:

[Wired] Extreme Sailing: The Biggest Boat in the World

It's 289 feet long, weighs 1,367 tons, has 26,000 square footage of sail area, is opulently be-decked with appointments, and all the cost of a mere $130 million.

***Update***

As it turns out, the boat has its own website:

The Maltese Falcon

Friday, June 29, 2007

Fox Sports Net to avoid covering Pirates fan protest

After the 3rd inning of the Pirates home game vs. the Washington Nationals tomorrow, there is a scheduled walkout by Pirates fans to protest the team's horrible record... And FSN and MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network), the rights holders, have said in advance they would refuse to cover any of the live action. Only in press conferences will they give it airtime.

From Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Walkout by Pirates fans gets blacked out

C'mon, baseball is boring, and its viewership is fading. This would at least give the sport some much needed attention, and help goad the Pirates' management into action.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

On the Pros and Cons of living in Annapolis

I became convinced to come live in Annapolis after spending time with my boss and his wife one evening, whilst "trawling" along in Spa Creek in his little river boat, dubbed "Luv Tub II." We ate shrimp, and drank Coronas, and discussed my future at the company I had just been hired to work for. It was fascinating being on the water again. Slipping through the brackish spray; sliding past the gorgeous water-front homes; the piers, slips, and sailboats tied to their moorings. I felt as though someday I might become a part of that. We docked at Pusser's Landing, a local bar/restaurant located in the famed "Ego Alley" of Annapolis Harbor, and had a lovely dinner on the pier, while watching the boats come and go. The concert of Sea-Rays and Four-Winns, doing their elaborate pirouettes as they were paraded past the people, who gawk and stare, and comment to their families, "now that's a big boat!" It was an intriguing evening, one which initially put the thought in my head.

When I initially moved back to Maryland, nearly five years ago now, I chose to begin again in Columbia, where I had spent a good portion of my youth. It so happens that the apartment I chose to live in was a mere street away (and in the same development) from the townhouse my parents had started off in, when I was just an infant. It was affordable for the time, and despite the "planned community" that the rest of Columbia coexisted in, Hannibal Grove (now called the Berkshires) was not a nice place to live. I never quite felt safe there (and now knowing that recently, someone had been shot at the 7-Eleven across the street two months ago, I know why.)

Needless to say, I only lived there for a year before finding a similarly affordable place in Annapolis. Now, when I say affordable, I mean by Annapolis standards. Nothing in Annapolis (aside from the subsidized homes in designated areas -- yes, there is subsidized housing in one of the most expensive cities on the east coast) is affordable. Regardless, I lived at Harbour Gates Apartments for two years. Admittedly the apartment was a nice one. But, things got rocky with the girl I was living with, and I subsequently moved to Shipwright St., and have been there since, renting part of a house on the water... For LESS than the Harbour Gates place, which is no where near the water.

I will attest to the allure of living in a waterfront place, in a town that has so much to offer. Part of the attraction to Annapolis is the nightlife. There is a plethora of above-average pubs, restaurants, and nightclubs. For someone who lives in the heart of it, it's all a mere walk away. This was a definite plus at a time when I was going out constantly, trying to meet people, and just keep myself occupied. I don't know how many times I've stumbled home after a night of heavy imbibing. Probably not a good thing, but that was before finally meeting someone worth staying home for (and so much more). Again, I will reiterate that affordability is dwindling in this place. In terms of food and drinks, it hasn't gotten out of hand (yet!), like perhaps DC (where you can easily pay $10 for a rail rum-n-coke). Annapolis is also well known for its seafood joints. There are a few gems, like Cantler's, or Mike's Crab House (definitely not Buddy's right in the heart of town, seriously, don't waste your time). The Ram's Head Tavern is a personal favorite, serving Fordham beer from the brewery just next door, and also hosting a unique music scene weekly. There are some more upscale establishments up and down Main Street, as well as some trendier bars and eateries along West Street.

Aside from the drinking and eating, Annapolis has a host of historical sites to visit, and most of them are involved in local historical tours of one sort or another. This can be cool for the history buffs out there. A lot of it deals with early American aristocracy and government, some dealing with slavery (after all, City Dock is host to the Kunta-Kinte Memorial). You've got the Naval Academy, the State House, City Dock, West Street (which is now referred to as the "uptown district???"), Severn River, Spa Creek, South River, St. John's College (the no-curriculum trust-fund-kid school), King George St., Maryland Ave., St. Mary's Church, The Carroll House, J-World Sailing School, the new Bestgate Mall, and way too much more to mention.

Next to Spa Creek and prior to the Eastport Bridge, sits the Annapolis Yacht Club and Marina. This is an elite bunch who proudly bear their parking stickers on SUVs and Mercedes. I had the privilege of knowing some people who crewed a 50-some foot yacht berthed in this marina, and whose owners were only there a minimal amount of time. They would take guests out to private islands for weekend retreats, or take week-long journeys up-and-down the coast. If you are fortunate enough to become friendly with people who have access to such amenities, it's well worth it. Across the Eastport Bridge lies, of course, Eastport, a once-questionable area that has now become probably one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Eastport is known also for its dining, but more known for some of the business that calls it home, such as major name sail manufacturers and yacht brokers.

Some might say that Annapolis is also conveniently located between Baltimore and DC. This is nice if you live in Annapolis, accessing either city is (relatively) easy. But because of all the wonder that Annapolis brings, there are quite a few issues associated with it, and they are getting worse as I write this. I say this because accessing either city can be quite frustrating at times. I feel especially bad for the folks who call this place home, and commute to work in either of these places on a daily basis. True, traffic in Maryland in general is getting atrocious, but sometimes even getting into and out of this town can be nerve-wracking. The entire 3 mile stretch of West Street can take up to 45 mins. to traverse, depending on the time of day, and this is a major artery to the town. The lack of traffic lights in the commercial portion of this drive make it worse, with traffic stopping just for people waiting to turn left, waiting for a break in oncoming traffic. If you're fortunate enough to live in one of the downtown districts, not only do you have to cope with the heavier traffic, but most of the side streets (being that they are historical, and having been paved is the only change since being originally constructed) are narrow, with cars parked along both sides. I can't illustrate this easily, but try driving a pickup truck around State Circle at around 1:00pm on a Thursday, and you'll understand what I mean. This will be exacerbated by the fact that there are several new condo complexes going up along West St., Cathedral St., and over by Riva. When people being living in these developments, traffic is going to become a nightmare.

Also, if you've been blessed with the extreme fortune of living near St. Mary's Parish Church or School, you have to be extremely precise about when you're coming or going, even if it's to your own home. During the school year, it is inadvisable to leave for work anytime between 7:30 and 8:30am, because you will be fighting a never-ceasing torrent of vehicles (most of them unnecessarily large) on most of the roads west of Duke of Gloucester St. And don't expect to find parking near your house during mass.

Which brings up a good point, parking is probably the biggest problem in Annapolis. You would assume that you would be able to park in front of your own house for a good majority of the time, but this isn't necessarily the case. Each district has a designated parking number and sticker, for which you have to apply every year (at a cost of $30-50 per vehicle), and for which you have to present a host of extraneous information: proof of tenancy, proof of insurance, proof of ownership, proof of existence, etc. Some families have multiple vehicles and don't always have off-street parking available to them, which is nice for them, but makes it more difficult for the rest of us. Even with the sticker, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to park anywhere near your own house. At the height of tourist season, people will look for places to park anywhere, no matter if they are taking a spot from a resident. They will get ticketed, however, and parking fines here are a hefty $25 ea.

These are small prices to pay for such a wonderful place to live, correct? Then factor in the average home cost for Annapolis, which Truila reports for Mar-May of this year is a whopping $550,325. This is quite steep, and also happens to be the starting cost of some of the new condos being constructed. There are people who can afford it, and they generally commute 1hr+ to work every day. Is that really worth the effort? Wouldn't people much rather be able to spend more time with their families than having a home that they don't get to enjoy? The current homes on the market in the Annapolis ZIP codes run the gamut from $214,000 for a 1br. 1ba. in a not-so-nice area of Annapolis, to a $7.9M estate overlooking the Severn River. My better half just made the remark, "That's probably someone's effing summer home." Which is probably spot-on. There are actually several new, large condominium complexes being built currently, which are touted as being luxury, and also come at a steep cost. I can't imagine who would want to live in them. There are TONS of homes on the market now in Annapolis; single-family detached homes, going for similar prices. Given the choice, I think the homes are a better buy.

Sure, it's a sailing town, and people here have nice boats. But have you ever looked at the Chesapeake water in these harbors and tributaries? It really is disgusting. I see folks out kayaking in Spa Creek every day. I would require some intense cleaning after that. The water is heavily polluted with trash, diesel fuel, oil, runoff and other chemicals. I actually saw a bloated, hairless, small dog (or large cat), floating dead down by my pier one afternoon. Who could say whether the things died before it made it into the water... People swim in that. Sure they don't do it in the harbor, they go further out, but it can't be that much cleaner. I did it once and got stung by several river jellies on my legs. Not a big deal, but they have their season too.

My jellyfish stings aside, Annapolis is a nice place, and definitely has its perks. But they come at such high costs, of inconvenience, and of frustration. I foresee it getting worse or crashing in the coming years. Such is growth. Needless to say, I'm looking at homes in other areas now, and the luster of living here has definitely dwindled.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Longer While Yet

Whew! Have I been gone for a while or what?? Try again to make a comeback.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Warning Flares

Holding this flame high
acting on impulse
in wont of oxygen
seeking the energy
of combustion,
maneuvering slightly
tendrils shimmering
flaring into
the daylit sky.

This flame is comsuming;
a plasma envelope
message container
can't be handled
and left to burn.

This flame is fading...
but with confidence
that I might win your heart
I will set myself ablaze
cobalt with fire
and run, laughing,
into the darkness.

smw [02.24.06]

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Your Lullabye

When you came,
shimmering and unabated like a raging fire
in a tall stand of autumn oak,
(like a reflection on a choppy sea)
your graceful ambiance was an esoteric blue
like the eyes that light your face --
charged with the phosphorescence of your longing
and whose filtered, viscous glass
displayed a transposed image of myself
while we hovered within
the hushed hours of an unexpected evening.
Exchanging affection like quanta of energy:
invisible/infinitesimal,
and quickly building structure as if
pixel by pixel,
the immediate world was but an image
glancing across a screen.
And all that you were was tangible.
There in front of me,
smiling with the kind of warmth
that could only exist in a single instant,
radiating with raw honesty
from such a beautiful face.

When these photographic imprints appear,
flashed into memory without color or time,
yet contoured (like a line drawing) and spatially infinite,
pivoting on impossible angles
and just as deftly disappearing
along with my focused, good-natured intentions.
My thought becomes staggered,
and yet the imagery,
re-occurring in perfect chronological order,
frames enduring for a fraction of a second,
contain such annunciated cues to haunt me perpetually.
Sharing the truth loudly
and cautious to take each step,
for fear that I become selfish
and proceed much too quickly
to have all of you in one instant.

When I awoke this morning, early,
and even before the dawn,
the brisk winter air
was forcing its way into my room.
I was cold and empty with overwhelming desire,
met as though I were lying in nervous wait,
to have you here beside me again.
Laying together and gracefully interwoven,
like the very fabric of space
that ceased to exist between us,
when we could not possibly
be closer to one another,
and this falling rain; this minimalist lullaby
could be singing us back to sleep
while the cycle of your quiet breathing
and the subsidence of your heartbeat
softly hums the melody in canon.

When you turn to go
in the moment I have been preparing myself for,
that only exists in my imagination,
and yet so vividly it were as though
I was predicting future events,
like some love-bound prophet --
know that always I speak honestly of this,
where I would do nothing less
than smile, while watching you walk away,
having you believe that I'm okay.
When every fiber of my being
is longing to explode,
in a supernova of emotional intemperance,
exhausting my final ounce of energy;
gratuitously exploiting gravity
to pull you to me.
What this expression instead is hiding
is the focus of a deep concentration,
as I have begun to count the seconds
until I see you again.
But for here and now
before the generated vacuum of your departure
I wish it to be without abandon or concern
marked with simple veracity and unfettered
that sadness may never have a place to express itself.
Even if you should go,
forever into the ill-choreographed dance of life,
I wish you to keep dancing
and I will forever play the music.

. smw . 020706 . 2351 .

Monday, October 24, 2005

Finding Land

Like light leaving the room;
Leaves from their branches,
Departing without departure.
Wordlessly and lacking compassion,
Dissipating; dispersing,
To return in sporadic fashion.
As in bursts and perpendicularity,
Ever the more confusing to existence.
Like streams and swirled eddies
Intermeshing dynamically.
So, too, does the spirit leave the center
Ringed and shackled
To this bitter, facetious memory.
Falling across the grassy hillock,
Freshly trimmed
Like polished glass.
No friction, no counterweight.
Only paper and silicon
To pull mind to future.
To the apathetic condition.
Embracing comfort in logic,
In reason of the artificial.
Fighting like arguing
With your favorite friend.

.smw. [06.29.2003]

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Holdoff

So close to the tips of the fingers
And the depth of the heart
And the depth of unity
Arduous is the road of the burden
Without navigation without sound
At a blanket's distance sewn and threadbare
Overshadowing the pathlet
Forever cringing forward
Edging, gravitating, mind-bending
Asking the impossible of the soul
Inhaling the cast energy
So that the rest is not just a reservoir
For the trickling still backwards
Affection
And the gushing flashing sideways
Attention
Not sorry
Not ruining it
And always forever motivated by your defiance

.smw.06.29.03.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Quagmire

Oh how consistently woeful, you do survive;
Treading in your perpetual sea of sadness,
You sit in a trance.
Do not sulk in your ever-dying standards.
To seek aid from the closest personal space
In a limited universe of conundrums
Is not where the freedom lies.
Like a kindred wayfarer I am, waltzing
Through your quagmire of moral quandaries;
Dilemmas and Consequences.
You with your tortuous ambiguity:
Expressions and innuendos.
Hints, suggestions and allegations.
Would that I would give you what you desire;
That of which you would deserve much more.
For what you are truly in wont of;
In careless desire for...
Is something of which I cannot offer:
Heedless affection and dauntless attention,
Coolest of warmth and most perilous of searing fires.
To have your being perched and heralded
Upon the most grandiose of love's peaks.
If only there were a soul to personify
Your emotions; your essence...
Only then would it seem in perfect tandem arrangement.
Only if the present circumstances
Approached us in a slightly different manner,
Wishes and charity would not be so unrealistic.
If it was easy to add or subtract years
Of wisdom and insecurity,
Then it would be simply so.
To have the equations of happenstance
So easily unmodulated
Would be a gift and a curse at once.
Instead, attrition will wear faith thin,
And the intended, meaningless thoughts
Will sentimentally fade
With passing seconds;
Passing laughter.

-SMW [06_17_02]

Monday, October 03, 2005

Aether

We are the guardians of truth;
The overseers of honorable life.
Fumbling around in a shadowless universe,
Through space and time
Like lost ingenuity.
Laying hands and guiding hope
Saddeningly ignoring our own itineraries.
We stretch to the seams,
Brimming with our own losses;
Only to explode one frail day,
Modicums of starfire.
Nuclear is our enlightenment;
Our rage a stream of fermions.
In mythril silver,
Inelastic and tarnished;
And opalescent gold,
Pliable and methodical
Like the aether through which we glide.

We are the rhythm and the reason;
A claque for the cosmological acts.
Tools for the mundane.
Interested in nothing, soulless...
Nothing more than filaments,
For the sole purpose of photo-kinetics.
Every photon a bit-stream of beautiful thought.
Packets of quanta,
Interchangeable and exchangeable,
Subtracting from the downward spiral of entropy.
Motivated by causal infraction.
Seeking far-sought goals;
Using them as a potential difference.
Using those goals as a foundation
To counteract the absolute sadness
Of being who we are.

We are the march of infidels.
Standing in every doorway,
Sharpening our skills
For the next patron of destruction.
We loathe ignorance and self-deceit,
Abolishing all messengers of sour intent.
Intricate ploys of cyanide and guerrilla tactics,
All meager adversaries to our faith.

We are the harbingers of great intellect.
We are the youth and the central populous.
Absorbing knowledge by every means,
Osmosis to experience
To pleas of manufactured stupidity.
Every synapse and neural network
Firing on pure will alone.
Electrochemical responses
Based on sheer gusto;
A drive to be more than our opponent.
We worship intellect as divine right.
Longing for pi and supersymmetry,
Quantum mechanics and Chaos theory.
Hoping to find the Higgs boson
In some darkened corner of the physical world;
Hovering in the oblivion
That comes by way of hallucination.
Violating text and the laws of nature,
Finding meaning in 1's and 0's.
So shall we process every frame;
Every checksum!
Until we reach heavily encrypted information
And KNOW the answer lies therein.

We are the fulcrum and the pendulum.
We are neglected and passed-over.
Singularities in the modest universe,
We travel beyond the event horizons
Of antipathy and apathy.
Weakened with the lack of feeling,
Always seeing the intrinsic good in everything.
On the backs of dragons;
On the bristles of a broom,
Walking along the eggshells of humanity.
Methodically, we strive to gain new insight
Into the psyche of this world.
Pained by the violence
And the fear of living...
The fear of dying.
Cold is the water
Drip drip dripping
From the faucet;
From the river.

We are the guidance.
We are hiding the truth.
Somewhere within the quantum foam,
Speaking in the language of mathematics.
Interpreted by the few,
Missed by the many.
A pillow of science,
A pellicle from vision.
Swimming and crying out
In a frenzy of spin and charge.

smw [12.19.2000]

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Springtime in the Void

for eleven years have i quenched the inferno
that originates fearful at the mention
of your fiery name
rolling off of lips as mountains and tendrils
tracing sunlight through the branches
falling on ever-softening grace.

rival of the soul
dancing in the shallows
forever lurking along the murky strait
never more than a handbreadth's distance
and always so forever arcing
in the distance that falls between
idle madness and intrigue and selfishness

like earth in the hands
glistening and motionless
forever you are slipping; trickling
cutting the air with edges so dull
a maelstrom hovering
in your localized circumference

always flowing
reaching out in streambeds
erosion forever unmasking
the creeping roots
formed of years in silence
without laughter
without mutual comprehension

sides superimposed
the left side null and numb
from streaming without cease
finally winning out of contention
and sparking haphazardly
out of mortal fear

now i stare openly
while rational thought flies transparent
while you speak
following with rain and wind and snow
and speaking in the cipher of time
where loneliness stopped existing
if but for one fleeting instance
when you called upon the flaring moon
and sitting there before me
you became smoke
and forever i inhaled you
'til my lungs thought to burst

and in the imminent explosion
i realized
that night should never come
in your coma of solar windfall
spinning at tangents to your destination
and orbiting in a haze about
my nucleus; my good intention
where the contingent vacuum
was filled with dreaming
of archetypes and monarchy
and your laughter was a collision
of fear and love
and wrenching sadness

for eleven centuries have i
stood in your downpour
with knees buckled in fright
head folded into the gaping emptiness
of my hands
where rain became salty
and stung like sweltering heat
falling from cheekbones
and joining the gathering mire beneath me

and now i stand
raised once again
as if from an afterlife
rejuvenated by your illustrious voice
chords and harmonies
and ever so real smiling
to be there as the mist clears
and standing in the field of your vision

:: smw :: 08.04.03 :: 9.49

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Expansion

after moderately basking in your presence
the lack of your being here is a cold, vaporous expanse.
speech is so meaningless to follow the waning vortex of your departure.
gathering impulse on your inconsequential absence,
this momentum may send me quickly towards the breaking waves,
and past, to be dragged down by the undertow.
so you a siren, unintentionally luring me out
with the silence of those words that fall between
that i do not hear except for their echoing in my own mind.

:: smw :: 080803 :: late.early.tired

Friday, September 23, 2005

Worth it?

where do i draw the line?

like a tiger stalking forward,
ever faced with that invisible boundary;
careful not to rustle the brush
in fear that the prey will bolt.

but i do not blend with the grass.
i have no stealth,
and my joints are rusty:
squealing and creaking
with every step i'm not taking.

speaking with a comma
at the end of every sentence,
waiting for the silence...
but always there is noise.
white noise
frothy and silted.

when the night returns,
the monotonous curtain of space
like words saving you from solar rapture,
i will be there
melting, luminescent
(thick film of course).
for i cannot change my skin;
i will never soak up midnight
so well as you.

always in a bubble.
in that static cushion
of misplaced sentences
and misused vocabulary;
in that kingdom of bogs,
foxholes and trenches.

carried away
by a thread of semantics.

there is no future,
only moments
thrown on top of one another
like sacks of concrete
or potting soil.

:: smw :: 090303 :: 2154 ::

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Round Corner

as dusk deteriorates
and reality strikes like a matchbook
i'm hit with a squall of coldness
sitting outside in a t-shirt

night is condescending here
and i am amazed that i can see stars
choked by sodium twilight
against the dark blue womb of the sky
and the clouds folded into the backdrop

it's a silent evening
and i am probably the only one awake
everyone else
huddled under their blankets
of misconceptions

it's rare to see stars here
i can actually see orion this night
angled towards the horizon
flying like superman

the stars are here for now
but not like in the country
but i can't go back to the country
not anytime soon
for comfort is not an option

i realize i'll probably die of cancer
and that now i am just wasting time
since i started my life incorrectly
so i must again start anew
why did i used to smoke again?

i remember where i was three hours ago
laying on my bed
sharing my thoughts
and not sharing my thoughts
it's so hard to speak when limited by confusion
but time is well spent
with someone who makes you forget

there i was
staring into your eyes
and time didn't matter
and life didn't matter
and night didn't matter
and cold didn't matter
there were no limitations

i have no faith
except in love
all that matters

i remember where i was
twenty-four hours ago
and now return there

.. smw . 10.05.03 . 0238 ..

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