Michael Montez Online

Setting goals and writing them down helps them to get done. Here are my goals for the week of Aug 25 - 31st.

• Walk/run 4 times this week (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs)
• Finish the SatPurush Project I have been working on for way too long
• Play in the Conway’s No Limit Hold ‘Em Tournament at Commerce Casino this week - sign up now
• Read 100 pages of Watchmen
• Read 100 pages of Super System 2 (need to work on my H.O.R.S.E. game)

Feel free to list some of you weekly goals for all the world (not really) to see.

Regular running slows the effects of aging, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine that has tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. Elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as aging nonrunners to die early deaths, the research found.

Aerobic exercise is good for you and allows you to live forever…duh.

Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at the National Stadium, also known as the “Bird’s Nest”, on August 8, 2008. The three-hour show at Beijing’s iconic national stadium was set to see more than 15,000 performers showcase the nation’s ancient history and its rise as a modern power. (AFP PHOTO / Olivier Morin)

So the opening ceremony was amazing. Good luck to London, home of the 2012 games, you have  quite a show to try and top.

I have been watching the games on a 60″ LCD HD TV with full surround (thank you Jon) and I must admit that if you have the means, I highly recommend it. It’s the only way to watch live events.

Undated handout proof of one of Greyhound’s ads that the bus company recently pulled. The company made the move in response to the gruesome beheading murder on an eastbound Greyhound bus near Portage la Prairie, Man., which claimed the life of 22-year-old Tim McLean July 30, 2008.
Photograph by : Handout photo, Greyhound Lines, Inc.

When I was in college, they taught us a few things that stick with me. 1) You don’t want to be everything to everybody, 2) Nothing kills loyalty better than broken promises, and 3) shit happens only after the client says ‘YES’. After you spend months developing a great ad campaign for Greyhound, the client is ready to move with the ad, the presses are inked up, the pixels are getting pushed around by the web developers, and you are reworking the ad for TV and online video. Then some nut takes the head off some kid on one of your Greyhound buses.

Back to the drawing board because shit happens.

NASA’s Phoenix Lander has discovered water on Mars. We now have a place to go once we destroy this planet. If NASA wants to pay for itself, they should consider mining the water and selling it here on Earth.

“NASA’s Mars Phoenix Lander quenched a longtime scientific thirst yesterday when it detected water in a soil sample—the first time liquid water has been touched or “tasted” on another planet.

The craft obtained water by heating an icy soil sample in its “bake and sniff” oven, called the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer. “TEGA” identifies substances by heating them and analyzing the resulting vapors.

“We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for TEGA.

“We’ve now finally touched it and tasted it—and from my standpoint it tastes very fine.”"

So Obama’s recent trip to the Middle East did nothing for his ratings. Some people think that Obama would be a not-so-great leader during war-time, others think that Obama does not have enough experience in general. Is it possible that the alternate to George Bush may be more George Bush in an older package? How can this election be so close with only 100 days till the big vote? We, and I mean WE the educated and informed, know that anything is better than four more years of Bush. Unfortunately, WE is a smaller group than THEY.

So what can WE do to get Obama elected in a landslide (and after 2000, I prefer a landslide to a close call). Here is what I propose:

WE take the reverse approach. By that I mean, Obama, you say what you need to say to THEM to make THEM vote for you. We will know that you really mean the opposite. For example, if Obama says gay’s should not be allowed to marry, WE will know that he is for gay rights. If Obama says everyone should have a gun and be allowed to purchase fully-automatic weapons, WE will know that your are for gun control. If Obama says there should be troops in Iraq until the Middle East is peaceful, WE will know that you are ready to move them out and there will never be peace in the Middle East until strip clubs open over there. When Obama says there should be drilling in the La Brea Tar Pit because it’s black and liquid, WE will know that solar and wind power are on the way.

So we will tell THEM what they want to hear, but because WE are WE (and WE stay informed), WE will know what is really happening. I look forward to a comfortable November.

So it’s been a week with the itouch and I am still loving it. The best part (aside from having my music on my pocket again) is the apps store. Using these apps with the wi-fi is awesome. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Pandora - allows me to listen to my favorite music and also finds music similar to my favorite music. Streams from the Music Genome Project and friends can share music stations. All for free.
2. Wordpress - allows me to blog to several blogs from the device. I am writing this from my itouch. Images can be sent with the post.
3. Urbanspoon - start the app and it finds your location. Shake the device, and the screen spins like a slot machine. The reels include cities, food types, and price ( in dollar signs) and the result is a restaurant. You can read review, call for reservations, or map directions from your location.

Those are three of my favorite so far. Grab am iPhone or an iPod touch and try it yourself.