i get it, big logo means you spent a lot

what's up with this latest line of Ralph Lauren Polo shirts with the giant logo? i thought high-end items projected a sense of being refined and understated. is this the end of the world? probably not but those shirts don't help. ok, ok, i can tell from 2 blocks away you over-spent on some clothing. stop it already, you are embarrassing yourself. same thing goes for some of the sportier Mercedes out there - the ones with the over-sized logo on the hood. perhaps it's just the difference between 'old money' and 'new money'.

i bake so i'm gonna kick your ass

what's up with everyone, i mean EVERYONE in promotional vehicles these days (ads/tv shows etc) looks like they want to kick your ass? reading an issue of the new yorker® this morning on the way into work and staring back at me in an ad are a group of male models looking for a fight. c'mon guys, you are male models fer cripes sake- i'm not buying it. but you'll be the best looking toughies in the alley. same goes for guy singers who glare back at you menacingly from a CD cover - you sing boys - SING for god's sake- what's more girlie than that? i have absolutely no issues with guys that sing but when they are packaged like thugs i have to chuckle. while i'm on this jag i think i've seen a bus stop poster promoting a reality show about cake bakers with, again, these bakers guys glaring back at you. can't we all just get along?

bikers, what's up with bikers?

as in cyclists - as i'm waiting at a red light this morning on my way into work no fewer than a half dozen bicyclists just blow through the intersection. yep, the same ones that have a fit if a car is doing something they don't like. sure they look both ways and all but it seems to me that if you want cars to share the road you should play by the same rules. the percentage of these 'rebel' bike riders has got to top 75%. my least favorite example of this behavior was a dude last summer who was swerving around the intersection (with a red light) waiting for cars to pass - as he towed his kid in one of those trailer thingies. nice. hopefully he got to work 3 minutes earlier than he would have.

too perfect pancakes

having twin 4-year olds means occasionally eating at McDonalds. i try to watch what i eat so it's always a challenge to eat decently there - without ingesting a ton of fat and/or salt. so we're in need to eat one morning a few weeks ago. decide to go with the pancakes - straight-up - no sides. what's crazy about McD's pancakes is that they are all perfectly the same size and shape. now i get if anyone has figured out a process to streamline preparing food it's McDonalds. but shouldn't they at least attempt to make it look like someone cooked them to your order? maybe each pancake is a slightly different size with a pre-determined imperfection? taste aside, as it is now i felt like i was eating some sort of industrial product.

the toe dips in the water

this whole thing seems narcissistic (because it is.)

but i do have idle thoughts i need to get down.

i've started this blog even though it seems starting a blog isn't 'the thing to do' that it once was. i tend to get on a band wagon long after it left the station. in fact that band wagon tends to be a mere speck on the horizon when i begin chasing after it. perhaps one day i'll blog about 'discovering' Pearl Jam back in 2003 - or Steely Dan in 1986.

the name of this blog refers to me being referred to as an 'old man' - probably since my high school years - apparently based on comments, suggestions, viewpoints that belie my tender age - however, even back in grade school, teachers had a habit of calling me 'Mr. Bayshore' as they called all the other kids by their first names. "Frank! Bruce! Mr. Bayshore! get down here right now!"

ok, background - check. now what? i guess i'll just start to spout off.