Aaron Adams’s Blowhard Blog

My friends at Your Mac Life have a new URL: http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com. Shawn and I spent a large part of the day setting up the new site with the new CMS, so be advised that there may be a rough edge or two, and we’ll smooth those out as we go along.

Additionally, my previous post about the upcoming lunar eclipse piqued Shawn’s interest, so I’ll be a guest Wednesday at approximately 9:20 PM EST to talk about the eclipse, astrophotography, some general astrophotography concepts, and how you can use your Mac for amateur astronomy.

I’ll admit it: I have a problem.

I’m a grown man. I have a job and a mortgage and a relationship and an IQ well above normal. And yet, I’ve developed a borderline obsession with a character on a TV show. Is that normal?

That’s him. I don’t have a shrine in my bedroom with candles, and I don’t daydream about him or any of that fucked up crap, but I do get all giddy when it’s time for the show. (Three times a week - Fox Tuesday at 9:00, and USA Friday and Saturday at 11:00.) I bought the DVDs for myself this past Christmas, and I literally spent all day watching them. What is it I like so much? I mean, in real life, this guy would have been fired and had his ass kicked to a pulp about a thousand times by now. Maybe it’s because he’s living my dream. I’ll admit we have some attitude in common, but I’ve developed the ability to pretend to be nice, and I’m sure it’s causing me to develop multiple ulcers as I write this.

If I’m ever really sick, I want this guy to work on me. Even though he’s not a real doctor, I think I’d feel better immediately when he smacked his cane on the hospital bed rail to wake me up and say something rude.

It’s a joke people! Sheesh. I’m not that deluded. There’s so little TV I enjoy and I suppose when I find something really good, I cling to it. Interesting people are even more rare than good TV. Interesting people on TV may only happen a handful of times during the life of the universe.

I have my great grandmother’s cane hanging on a coat hook in the front room. Hmmm…

This past week at Macworld Expo, I finally had the chance to meet Phil Schiller, the funniest guy at every keynote.

He remembered me right away and he listened politely while I told a story about something that happened some years ago while I was under Apple’s employ. Then we posed for a pic and he shook my hand. He couldn’t have been nicer. And that was my close encounter with Phil.

Like many people, I caught the Expo crud mid-week and just this morning was I able to get some real drugs from the doctor, so I’m feeling semi-lucid right now. Later in the week, I’ll trickle out my thoughts about the VoIP idea I was wrong about, about the iPhone-that-will-solve-all-the-world’s-problems, and Apple’s quiet introduction of AirPort with 802.11n.

In a post a few months back, I gave my reasons for not attending the upcoming Macworld 2007 festivities in San Francisco. In summary, I’ve been there and done that, the user conferences either don’t apply to my area of expertise or are below my skill level, I didn’t have a decent presentation idea, and I’m paying for a kitchen remodel.

Things changed a few weeks ago when my friend and host of Your Mac Life, Shawn King, asked me to tag along as his segment producer and assistant, compensation included. That gave me a purpose for going, something to do each day, on someone else’s dime. I’ll be at Macworld this coming January preparing audio and video media for posting on the YML site.

So if you happen to see me on the show floor, please say hi. I’ve met quite a number of people (sometimes in weird places) who recognize me from TV, people who read the blog, and even Apple employees, over the past several years at Macworld. It’s a weird sort of pseudo-celebrity that’s hard to understand or describe, but I have fun with it. Have your people call my people and we’ll do lunch.

Me and my two dogs, Dumb and Dumber.

Compliments of John Gebhardt Photography.