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REVIEW: Madonna Obsessive Support Group

What: A play. A comedy (sort of)
Where: Dad’s Garage, 280 Elizabeth Street
When: 12 April – 11 May 2002
Website: http://www.dadsgarage.com

Dita and I were heading north on Buford Highway when she stumbled across the ad in the Creative Loafing:

“Look, here’s something for you – the Madonna Obsessive Support Group…”
“Gee, thanks. I know I’m a bit obsessed and all, but…”
“No, it’s a play… at Dad’s Garage.”

I completely forgot about it by the time I got home, but Dita emailed me a reminder shortly thereafter. I hadn’t been to Dad’s Garage since I was in college. Back then it was called “Actors’ Express”. How would Dad’s fare given the somewhat recent gentrification of Little Five Points? I went to the website and checked it out. And then I thought “what the hell – why not”? Was there ever a play more tailor-made for me?

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General Travel Tips

I had so much fun doing the London Tips page that I decided to branch out into general travel tips! Although most of these are about preparation, packing, and air travel, I hope they come in handy for all travelers! As always, this page will undoubtedly grow as I learn new tips from my own travels or from the helpful bunch of jimcofer.com readers… so check back often!

Check Your Travel Documents I – Many countries will not permit you to enter their nation if your passport expires within three to six months of your dates of travel. Here is a partial list of such countries: Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Paraguay, Romania, Singapore (six months); Cambodia, Denmark (including Greenland), Fiji, Switzerland (three months). To make matters even more confusing, some countries date their requirement from the day you enter their country whilst others date it from when you leave their country. And Denmark applies its three-month rule to your stay in any of the core 15 EU countries, so even if you pass Denmark’s requirements at the time and pass to to a country that doesn’t have such a rule (say, Italy), Denmark will still refuse you entry if your passport would enter the three-month zone after you’ve left their country!

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Of the Ecclesia Anglicana

Part 1 in a continuing series about the Anglican faith.

The “Anglican Church” is a collection of churches worldwide that are “in communion” with the See of Canterbury (The Church of England). How the Church of England came to be is an exciting story in itself.

It’s a common mistake that is repeated in textbooks and classrooms everywhere: most of us were taught that England’s King Henry VIII wanted to get a divorce from his wife Katherine of Aragon. The truth is, Henry sought an annulment from her. In case you don’t know the difference, a divorce is a legal instrument that ends a marriage but an annulment is a legal declaration that a valid marriage never took place. Back in Henry’s day, it was quite common for the Roman Catholic Church to grant such annulments – especially for Europe’s royal families.

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Guide to Columbia House DVD Club

“Psssssst! Hey buddy! Want brand-new, shrink-wrapped, first-run DVDs for only $7.79? Come on, the first five are free!”

No, it’s not a drug dealer or gangster selling DVDs that “fell off a truck”. It’s just Columbia House. It seems as if everyone in America has been a member of Columbia House (hereafter referred to as “CH”) at some point in their lives. Many of you might have taped a penny to a postcard that had “stamps” for the vinyl albums you wanted – or maybe cassettes or even 8-tracks! Many of you might have a bad taste in your mouth from those days, and I can’t say that I blame you. As Homer Simpson once said, “the first five were only a penny… then they jacked up the price!!”

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Odd Asian Products

Back in 2002, I decided to take a trip down to Buford Highway. Buford Highway is an area in Atlanta often disparagingly called “Chambodia”, which is a combination of the name of the city part of Buford Highway runs through (Chamblee, pronounced almost like the wine Chablis, only with an m and without the pretentiousness) and (of course) Cambodia. The area used to be populated by mostly middle-class folks that worked in the nearby GM plant. As an aside, the somewhat popular 70s band Atlanta Rhythm Section wrote a song called “Doraville”, about one of Chamblee’s neighboring towns. The song touts the good ol’ boy mentality and the reassuring comforts of the town: “Doraville, touch of country in the city/Doraville, it ain’t much, but it’s home“.

How things change! In the early 1980s, the white folks moved out and the Asians moved in. It’s what passes for a Chinatown in Atlanta, although that’s not entirely accurate. Not only did Asians move in, but so too did Mexicans and other Central and South Americans, which is why this same area is also sometimes called “Little Tijuana”. Go figure! Anyway, I picked up a lot of stuff and here are some pics of the BEST of the lot.

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See? I’m Not Crazy!

For years, conservatives railed against what they called the “liberal media”. The liberals were strangely quiet about it… that is, until the birth of Fox News. Now they lampoon the idea that a “liberal media” even exists. Imagine my surprise a few days ago when MSNBC published this list of political contributions by journalists. There are dozens upon dozens of names on the list, and guess what? Most of them have a “D” by their name! Surprise, surprise surprise! In fact, if you remove the few names on the list from “known conservative” publications like the Washington Times or New York Post, and if you remove the names from journalists so high up on the food chain that they feel compelled to give to both parties… what you have left is a sea of Democratic campaign contributions.

Come on folks – you can’t tell me that a bunch of people, 85-90% of whom contributed to the Democratic party, can’t make up a “liberal media”. That just doesn’t make any sense! So read the list and tell me what you think.

For the record, I’m a registered Republican, but am actually more of a Libertarian. I was actually a card-carrying Libertarian for several years, but got sick of being lonely on election night. In any case, I’d side with fiscal conservatives of any party before I’d side with the socially liberal ones.

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My Letter to Fox

From 2004, when Fox canceled Wonderfalls:

Well, Fox has done it again! I have been a loyal viewer of the Fox Network for years, mainly due to their edgy comedies and “non-stuffy” dramas. Of course, my loyalty has been tested for the past couple of years, as Fox seems determined to become the “bad reality TV channel”. I enjoy a lot of their footage-based reality shows like World’s Wildest Police Chases and World’s Stupidest People Caught on Tape, but some of the “original” reality shows they offer – like Who Wants To Marry A Gay Midget Millionaire? and When Animals Attack Magicians – just push the envelope into bad taste instead of edgy television.

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Guide to Buying and Selling on EBay

EBay and other online auction sites are great places to find rare and collectible items, clothing, electronics and a million other things. But even the eBay website itself will tell you… caveat emptor: buyer beware. You as the bidder enter the auction place with visions of buying things for pennies on the dollar. The sellers know this and work it to their advantage. Certainly there are bargains to be had, but if you’re not careful you’ll end up paying more than retail for an item. Case in point – I once bid in an auction for a copy of this book. It is not rare; in fact, it can be bought at just about any Barnes and Noble or Borders anywhere for $6.99. But someone decided to top my bid and paid $8.50 for it, plus $2.00 shipping – that’s $10.50 for a used $6.99 book. I paid $7.47 with tax the following day at my local B&N and didn’t have to wait 5 days to get it.

Anyway, since I understand online auctions like some people understand poker, I’ve decided to whip up a quick buying and selling guide that distills my years of experience in online horse-trading. Tips for buyers are immediately below. Scroll down to see the tips for sellers!

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All About Screen Resolution

Do me a favor, will ya? Minimize this window and right-click on your desktop. Select “Properties” and then click on the “Settings” tab. OK, do you see a slider on the left hand side of the window? It’ll probably say something like 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×1024 and so on. Slide it back and forth and see your screen resolution. When you’re done playing, click “cancel” and come back to this page.

Here’s why I asked you to do that: your computer’s monitor is a fixed size. Statistically, it’s probably 17″ or 19″ across diagonally, but it could be a bit smaller or larger. Whether you have an “old school” CRT monitor or a “new school” LCD monitor, it’s all a piece of glass that can’t be made any larger or smaller.

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