Apple spends a lot of time making sure it gets features just right before releasing an OS. iChat, the Enterprise Video Conferencing Solution you can Take Seriously. [gallery]

For some reason, the McCain campaign is trying to paint Obama as elitist and out of touch. So, there's a certain irony that, when recently asked how many homes he owned, McCain couldn't answer. He didn't know how many homes he owned. Smartly, the Obama campaign is capitalizing on this. However, given the recent response to any sort of attack on McCain, I fully expect the indignant response of "Obama is implying that John McCain, a former POW, is out of touch." Where Giuliani was renowned for his endless plugging of 9/11, we can be sure McCain will constantly be going to the well about his POW status. (And let's not even go into the fact that he acquiesced to the current administration, and voted to allow the US to do to its POWs what was done to him in Vietnam.) Mr. McCain, you're a sad, sad man.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. We went to a show at the Lakeshore Theater watching a lineup of some comedy music trio whose name escapes me, Hannibal Burress, Daniel Kinno, and Dan Levy. The show was great, but there were a few assholes in the audience who seem to think stand-up comedy is an interactive, audience-participation gig.

It's not. Trust me. Unless the comic asks you a question, keep your mouth shut and laugh at the funny stuff. It guarantees a good time for all.

But I digress. The comics were good, the show was good, but the end result is that we didn't get home until 1:30 or so, which means I didn't actually hit the pillow until 3. Yet, somehow, I still was up before 10 AM. Sigh.

So, instead of the traditional breakfast I tend to make for Tisha and I (a wicked egg & fake sausage scramble that rocks), we tried some Pancakes-In-A-Can.

It wasn't bad. Certainly little clean-up, but it took awhile to get the hang of making pancakes the right size. I'll probably try them in the little waffle-maker thingy my brother gave me for Christmas a couple of years back and see how it does in there.

Wow, okay, it's taking me a long time to cut to the chase, so I guess I'll just cut to the chase.

Instead of working in the back yard as planned, it was hot and I was tired, so I took a nap and decided to work on the bar area of the house this afternoon.

Yesterday, I picked up my kegs -- Belhaven Scottish Ale for the nitrogen tap and Unibroue Maudite for my smaller fridge. This afternoon, I did the Tap-The-Keg dance, which means a lot of sanitation to make sure all the components are microbe-free, then hooking everything up. Took a while, but was totally worth it.

The Maudite's still a bit foamy, but the Belhaven is glorious. Until I can get a keg of Kilkenny flowing (note the mirror above the taps), the Belhaven is a welcome addition to the bar.

And now, I'll rest up a bit, enjoy a pint or two, and finish cleaning the bar area.

Adieu.

In the hopes that I'll get off my ass and do something, I fiddled around with my web sites. This here will remain my spot for random writing and updates about things going on, but I wanted a site separate from my personal space to put up some of the stuff from my comedy writing and performing. Stace.com is going to be my "professional" site. Also, I started reworking little excerpts from the stand-up bits I've been working on and Admiral Sasquatch is where they'll go. You may see some stuff there that has already been touched on here. If that's the case, laugh harder. It'll make the elves happy. If you're reading this on facebook, it's all on the same feed and none of this makes any difference. So, for you, here's a dancing robot. I'm planning on going to the Edge Open Mic this week and try to shake the rust off again. Will post updates as warranted.

Last night, they released the new Pwnage tool, and this morning, I went and done did it. As in my prior post on the subject, this one was fairly straightforward. Only difference is this time I used Expert Mode, which allowed me to turn off the pineapple logo at boot (the logo always seemed cheesy to me), and pre-populate my phone with the Cydia apps I wanted. Also, I never have good luck getting into recovery mode, since my power button is kind of touchy (my iPhone's been dropped more than I'd like to admit). However, an easier way to get it into recovery mode is to power it off traditionally, then hold down the Home button while plugging the phone into the dock connector. Keep Home held until the recovery screen comes up. Now there's Installer and Cydia on my phone. I'm hoping I can get Pool and Lockbox working again, those are the apps I miss the most.

Sitting here in Montreal waiting for my connecting flight. I'm tired, since I only got 2 hours' sleep last night. I'm anxious because a tornado hit near Chicago, and it looks like my house was without power for well over 12 hours. Not sure what I'll face upon my return. I know work's going to be a bear on my return. I think I need to become a hobo. [Update: Everything seems cool at home, modulo any spoiled food in the refrigerator.]

The visit to the homeland is winding down. I've got a few more days here before I fly back to Chicago. It's been a blast so far. Friday night, we had a family reunion of sorts -- it's not often that I'm home visiting the same time my brother Fred is, and this is one of those times. So we had a great barbecue up at Darlene and Larry's. Good food, good drink, good music, crappy weather. Around 9:30 or so, the instruments came out, and there was much singing and playing. Great fun, I'll post pictures to Flickr and Facebook when I get home. Saturday night was our 20 year high school reunion. It was a small affair, but we had folks coming in from all over Canada and the US to be there. Some surprises, some faces I hadn't seen in 20 years. Just amazing. Today, relaxation is the order of the day. The Newfoundland weather is living up to what I remember it being when I was younger -- I ended up having to go buy a pair of jeans and a jacket since I didn't pack anything but shorts and short sleeved shirts. I am forever the optimist. Any of my former classmates reading this -- it was fun! Look me up if you find yourself in Chicago!