Wow!

I just realized I have gone almost an entire month without posting. Sheesh. To those of you wondering what is going on with my life, here are some details, in reverse order...

The weather sucked yesterday, and as a result, our custom-built (by my father-in-law) ginormous solid walnut entertainment center could not be delivered. Which is actually ok since we have a little bit of painting work yet to be completed in the living room. Three days to do it now...

Spam sucks, but I'm glad I have Gmail--over 130 messages in the Spam folder, and all I had to do was delete them permanently.

Last weekend Ashley and I went to Memphis Friday/Saturday for the INXS show at the Orpheum. It was hella-fun and they were better than I had anticipated. I knew the music would be good, but I wasn't so sure that JD's voice was going to hold up through a lengthy tour--I am very happy to say that it has. If any of you fair readers have reason to stay overnight in Memphis and want to splurge on the hotel, I highly recommend The Madison--beautiful architecture and decor and great service. This place is the quirkiest hotel I have seen. Pictures of our hotel room can be found here; I would have taken more photos, but I apparently broke the LCD on the camera and wasn't too sure that it was still working at all. As it turns out, I could have taken the camera into the concert and taken pics with reckless abandon . Must fix camera ASAP.

Three weeks ago I flew out to Charlotte mid-week for a quick business trip. Charlotte traffic sucks, and I mean sucks. I am convinced that I could never live in a big city unless I lived in a developed downtown/uptown and worked there, too. Driving in that kind of traffic would destroy my soul.

Before that Jessica and Ken had a fondue party. I got, well, erm, drunk, but I took some nifty photos.

Other than that, work, work, and, oh, work. I hope to blog more, but I am now a bit more limited about when/how I can post.

Wired News: 30 Years of Apple Products

More Apple Fun from Wired!

Wired: Apple Ad History

Courtesy of Wired comes this neat retrospective of Apple ads throughout their now 30 (!) year history. Even though I am currently not a Mac user I have always admired their innovative turns, even if some were absolute flops (see Newton and G4 Cube) or over-priced new tech (see Lisa). Apple has always been as much about the vibe as it has been the tech, and that's something that simply continues to confound the folks in Redmond; for that alone, I love what Apple has done over the years.

Nine Inch Nails Concert

Tuesday night my wonderful wife and I attended the Nine Inch Nails concert in Little Rock along with our friend Bryan and a friend of his. Before the concert Ashley and I ate dinner at PF Chang's, which I am convinced is operated by the devil--it's been quite some time since I have had consistently good and unique Chinese-style food; I don't care if it's a commercial chain designed to appeal to American palates--they are good at what they do.

On to the NIN show... Saul Williams, a poet and hip-hop historian, opened up the show with his interesting blend of rap and slam-style poetry; his DJ was stellar. Saul seemed very down-to-earth and sensitive. I know that's an odd thing to write about someone who I have not met personally, but he really connected with the majority of the audience by sharing personal stories and thoughts about his travels through the South (he is from New York). The only problem with his performance is that it was too short. Incredible booming beats, too!

Next up, NIN. I have been a fan since the beginning; shortly after Pretty Hate Machine was released in 1989, I was at Wal-Mart purchasing it (back when Wal-Mart would carry a diversity of music, even if an album had "dirty" lyrics). PHM was instrumental in the development of my musical tastes, and I am forever grateful for that. It opened up my mind to accepting music outside of the norm; in that pre-internet era it was difficult to hear non-mainstream music in Hot Springs, AR, so I began buying tapes, sound unheard, based on what I read in Spin magazine and correspondence from friends in other parts of the state. PHM was the first such purchase.

Trent Reznor (the man behind NIN, if you didn't know) is seemingly an eternally dark person, but he has been clean and sober for about four years now, so his demons are a little different now. Sporting a buzz cut and looking like he's been hanging out at the gym a lot over the past few years, Trent took to the stage and immediately controlled it. Our seats were the closest to the stage without being on the floor, and that position allowed us to see behind the curtains that were holding in vast amounts of smoke during the opening songs (Pilgrimage and Love Is Not Enough). Even though he was hidden from the majority of the audience, it was clear from our view that Reznor and his band were focused and ready to perform; they delivered a show with emotion ranging from quiet vulnerability to unbridled fury.

The visuals were completely complimentary to the music; the back of the stage was dominated by LCD screens and LED strips that resembled city skylines, some of which were turned on their heads. The LCD screens displayed a range of images to match the mood of the music. About half of the way through the show, the front curtain dropped again and served as a film screen for some primal images of animal instinct and human destruction. The crowning moment for the crowd was a shot of George and Laura Bush dancing overlayed by the music and lyrics of Eraser:

need you
dream you
find you
taste you
fuck you
use you
scar you
break you
lose me
hate me
smash me
erase me

I can't get over how tight the band was and how strong Trent's vocals and performance were. He had a couple of minor screw-ups with lyrics, but considering how vastly different the set lists are from night to night on this tour, it doesn't surprise me, and they weren't so bad that performance was ruined. I also got quite a kick out of seeing Trent using a tambourine during several songs; he looked like he was having a lot of fun performing and interacting with the audience.

Here is the set list, with my favorite performances marked with asterisks; the album each song is from is in parentheses. Thanks to schwilj for posting this on echoing the sound, a Nine Inch Nails discussion board. The discussion pertaining to this show can be found here.

Pilgrimage (The Fragile)
*Love is Not Enough (With Teeth)
You Know What You Are? (With Teeth)
*Terrible Lie (Pretty Hate Machine)
The Line Begins to Blur (With Teeth)
*March of The Pigs (The Downward Spiral)--an extended version filled with venom
Something I Can Never Have (Pretty Hate Machine)--I did not expect to hear this!
The Big Come Down (The Fragile)
Closer (The Downward Spiral)--this had a different, more mellow feel to it at first, then exploded
Burn (Natural Born Killers soundtrack)--another I did not expect to hear
*Gave Up (Broken)
*Eraser (The Downward Spiral)--simply incredible buildup throughout the song
Right Where It Belongs (With Teeth)
*Beside You In Time (With Teeth)
With Teeth (With Teeth, duh)--with-a teeth-ah
Deep (Tomb Raider soundtrack)--the only song I don't own and don't really like all that much
*Only (With Teeth)
Wish (Broken)--loud, loud, loud
*Every Day is Exactly the Same (With Teeth)
*Hurt (The Downward Spiral)--I had gotten tired of hearing the NIN version, especially with how Johnny Cash turned this into his own song so very well, but the performance was raw and built slowly into the final last twisted chords
*The Hand That Feeds (With Teeth)
*Head Like A Hole (Pretty Hate Machine)--wow! This was an incredible way to end the show and it is great to hear how Trent and co. have rewritten and rearranged classic NIN songs to make them fresh and relevant while remaining true to the original idea of the song.

This was a great show; if I have the chance to see NIN again on this tour I will not hesitate to buy tickets.

The Importance of Math Education

I really hope that this web page is seen by educators and parents. Our country desperately needs more engineers and research scientists, and math is the key to those career paths. Even though I am more right-brained and have a B.A. in English, math was an integral part of my education and has truly served me well in every aspect of my life.

The Brick Testament

I'm sure The Brick Testament has been blogged about quite extensively by now, and many of you may have already seen it, but this is just to bizarre not to note on my blog. Frank, if you're reading this, you particularly will enjoy it. If you aren't willing to click the link yet, just let me write these two words:

LEGO
Bible

You do the logic.

The Hombre 2006

Last weekend I, along with 12 of my fellow CAWS (Central Arkansas Warhammer Society) members traveled to the unlikely location of Killeen, TX for the Hombre, a Warhammer Indy GT tournament.

These tournaments are really just an excuse to play with little plastic and metal miniatures, ooh and ahh over the painting skills of some people, drink beer, and generally act juvenile. It is quite an interesting sub-culture; it's comprised of varying degrees of gamer geeks. Some of these guys are simply hardcore wargamers, some are enthusiastic modelers/painters, and some come to the game with a lengthy role-playing background. But we all enjoy rolling dice and having fun.

I played six games over the course of the weekend (1 pickup game and 5 tourney games), and went 4-2 (3-2 in the actual tourney). 3-2 continues to be my best showing at an Indy GT, which is getting a little frustrating, but I recently changed armies from Orcs and Goblins to High Elves in order to keep the game fresh and present me with a different set of challenges, both from the gaming and painting standpoints.

Here is a Flickr set of pictures I took during the weekend. I hope it helps explain the tourney scene.

The Future is Now!

Courtesy of Wired News comes this little gem about flushless urinals. I know, I know, odd topic to be posting on my blog (well, maybe not), but the part that really cracked me up was a national plumber union's response:

"We oppose waterless urinals and feel that these fixtures are a step backwards in health," says Mike Arndt, director of training with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters. "We understand there's a water conservation problem, but there are plenty of other options Â? such as dual-flush toilets or timed flushing devices."

Are you kidding me?!?!? Anyway, go read the article.

Hells Angels in Sweden

I had no idea that the most notorious biker gang ever thrives in Sweden. Nice little scam they have going there.

TechEBlog » Top 10 Strangest MP3 Players

Who needs/wants an iPod when you could have one of these?

TechEBlog » Top 10 Strangest MP3 Players

Or not.

Must See?

I know I will probably be disappointed by Night Watch because of the story problems it supposedly has, but it really appeals to me visually. Any takers, should it hit Little Rock?

My Flickr Sets

The title states it all; if you don't know what Flickr is, just click the link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twd3lr/

Laughing Squid » Pillow Fight! New York

All I can really say is "why?"

Laughing Squid » Pillow Fight! New York

IPod on the Tracks - New York Times

This column scared the heck out of me. The $399 spent for my iPod wasn't exactly disposable income, and Beller's column is a solemn reminder of why I spent the extra dough on the extended warranty and a nicely padded leather case with a belt clip. Oh, and it is also why I don't wear coats with holes in the pockets. ;) Thank god I also don't have the opportunity to have to decide whether or not to jump down onto the subway tracks!

In the Words of Napoleon Dynamite, "Idiot!"

This is a sure sign that some telecom execs are complete morons. Boo-freakin' hoo, someone else is generating revenue from utilizing Verizon's network. When are these guys going to learn that the cable/satellite TV paradigm does not work for the internet? It is pretty apparent that people are willing to pay what they do for internet access because of the sheer volume and diversity of choices available on it, otherwise AOL would be the model everyone else would have followed. Verizon should be more concerned with providing a stable, high-speed network; if they want more of the pie, they should become a content and/or ad provider themselves.

Web 2.0

Over the last few months I have become increasingly obsessed with web 2.0 sites. If you aren't familiar with web 2.0, it is time you get on the bus; you probably are actually already climbing aboard, but may not know it. Do you blog? Do you use RSS? Do you use Ajax pages, such as Google Personalized Home, Microsoft's Start.com, or my favorite, Netvibes.com? Wiki addict? Like Pandora? Are you a Firefox user? Do you know what a tag is? If you answered yes to any of these you are already familiar with some of the advancements that web 2.0 brings. For most of us, web 2.0 is the next step of web-as-platform, giving us wonderful applications that run off the web, usually for little to no cost for us. Oh, and you can thank Google's advancements in web ads for that.

Here are some of my favorite (or need-to-check-out-now) web 2.0 sites, in addition to Netvibes, which totally rocks, by the way.

BillMonk is a site I have not really gotten into yet, but it is sure to appeal to the tightwad in all of us. BillMonk is billed as "making social money painless." Just go look at it.

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site (the link is to my part of del.icio.us); it is just a site to compile all of your bookmarks, tag them, and access them from wherever you want. Tagging is just a way of grouping bookmarks using single-word tags to describe what the site is about, e.g. foxsoccer.com is tagged with soccer and sports; click the tag within my del.icio.us and you can see what other sites are tagged similarly--think of it as Six Degrees of Separation for the web. The social aspect of it is that your bookmarks are, by default, shared with the rest of the delicious community. Bookmarks also include links for other users who have saved the same bookmark, allowing people to discover the web in this manner. Where delicious really takes off is on the front page of the entire site, which lists the most recent posts, which aren't necessarily standard run-of-the-mill bookmarks, but links to hot topics and sites. Sites similar to del.icio.us include digg.com, which is very tech oriented and not as straight-forward as del.icio.us.

Airset.com is an awesome calendar site. I have my personal calendar, as well as a calendar for an organization I belong to, set up on this site. The flexibility offered by it is mind-boggling, and the folks running it are always working to improve it.

My favorite and the most useful 2.0 site, though, has to be Gmail. Let me know if you need an invite, I've got 100! ;)

iLounge Blog: Your senator needs an iPod

From a post on one of my favorite iPod-related sites, this is an absolutely brilliant idea. For the sake of all of us who are techheads we need to support ideas like this, not so that lawmakers get a bunch of free swag, but so that we know an effort is being made to educate these people about how tech-related legislation affects us all. It's all about innovation, baby, not protecting outmoded businesses.

Is the saying "Beer before liquor, never sicker, liquor before beer, never fear" physiologically accurate?

Awesome! I just knew that the idiots I went to college with were complete idiots!

Ahh, Eminent Domain Rears its Ugly Head Again

Is this the wrong way to engage in civil protest? Sure, it is radical and, from far away, a bit comedic. However, the fact that this action helps bring the issue further into the spotlight, not allowing it to fade away, is positive. People living in areas bordering commercial properties, in particular, should work to ensure that state legislatures try to do the right thing for everyone.

Coffee of the Week...

...for my coffee press at work is Ethiopian Harrar, courtesy (well, not really since I bought it) of River City Coffee and Tea. I made the first pot just after lunch; it was pretty good, definitely the dry-processed variety--pretty dry grounds, very earthy, some chocolate overtones, but not as much as I expected. I think I will chalk that up to the water not being quite hot enough, but I am afraid that the roast is just not dark enough to bring out the best in the coffee. We shall see.

The Quest for Democracy

In tiny Arab state, Web takes on ruling elite | CNET News.com. It is refreshing to see some of the citizens of Bahrain have a go at creating a democratic movement, even in the face of a certain government's hypocrisy.

The RIAA Makes Me Laugh

I was never a Grokster user, but the RIAA's feeble attempt at trying to threaten Grokster users makes me laugh and laugh and laugh some more.

So Wrong It Hurts

Computer Monitor Jacob's Ladder. Good luck with this if you try it.

Wikipedia

Joho has an excellent entry in the discussion regarding how Wikipedia has become the universal dartboard for traditional media in the us vs. them, finger-pointing campaign that some in the traditional media have embarked on lately. It really is sickening; from the reaction to Wikipedia's public statement about self-monitoring and self-correcting and the recent changes it has made to its creation policy, one would think these journalists work for good editors whose publications are monitored by truly honorable ombudsmen. But who are we kidding?

Finally!

I freaking managed to dismantle the thick code that Blogger and Halo Scan conspired to create for my blog and now have everything working. Who cares that the Permalink link is permanently embedded on the page, even the permalinked page itself? Not I, though I could probably obsess about it like I did the Halo Scan commenting not appearing on my Permalinked pages. ARRRGGGGGGGH! I had forgotten how painful it can be to scour through web code. I thank my lucky stars every day that I am not a programmer/architect. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I Love My Coffee...

...but seriously, some people go a bit too far to enjoy a connoisseur's experience. This is just wrong.

Now for some other coffee stuff. Thanks to my wife Ashley for getting me an iPod for Christmas, I have now officially become a podcast addict (I'll have to post on that later), but one of the podcast discoveries I have made is coffeegeek.com's podcast. Mark Prince knows his stuff and is pretty humorous and sarcastic at the same time, even if he is a coffee snob. I am just getting into the accompanying website, so I will let you know, faithful readers, if the snobbery is too much to stand. Right now I am happy with my pre-ground (gasp) Starbucks and my French Press.

Also, another site I will be checking out is coffeereview.com, a self-described "Wine Spectator for coffee lovers". The site is written and edited by Kenneth Davids, one of the pioneers of the specialty coffee industry in North America (I learned that from listening to episode 11 of the Coffee Geek podcast, which contains the first in a three-part series of interviews with Mr. Davids). He is a big proponent of home roasting, which does not really interest me, but the site is really devoted to reviewing different coffees that are commercially available in North America, which does interest me.

Hmm, time to make some coffee!

This Is Only a Test

I changed out the template and forgot to add in Haloscan commenting. Hopefully this has now been resolved...

PCWorld.com - The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years

This is a pretty neat list of gadgets. Many of them were introduced during my lifetime, so either I am getting old or all the cool stuff has been created in the last 30 or so years. ;) A few of these are items I had never seen or heard of previously, but many of them are either items I or friends of mine have owned. A good time-killer nostalgia trip.

And the Stockings...

 ...were hung by the chimney with care.
 

Christmas Bliss

  Is there any other way of describing this?
 

Louis...

 
...the Christmas Demon, thinking of bad things to do.
 

Firefox

Love it, until I notice that it gags on things that Internet Explorer digests properly. This one is minor, but the only reason I am posting right now is to add more length to the left side of my blog, so that maybe, maybe, maybe all of the things that are supposed to be on the right side of the page (instead of beneath my last post) will appear correctly. Grr. Bad Firefox, bad.

Christmas Weekend

Good times with both sides of the family, and I didn't have to drive more than a few minutes, to boot (viva la Tom!).

Christmas Eve was spent with my side of the family at our house. I am extremely pleased that we all made it through the serious conversations without getting inappropriately emotional (except for one moment when I started yelling about McCarthyism and "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance). It was amusing seeing my aunt, mom, dad, and grandmother (!) getting schnockered on eggnog. Took lots of candids with my wife's new digital camera (score one for me), and came away with some good memories. Christmas Eve service would have been nice had we not all been packed in like sardines. Some jerkwad sat behind us with his two misbehaving toddlers, one of whom kept kicking the pew and grabbing Ashley. Not a fun time. All in all, though, it was a good day.

On Christmas Day we went over to Ashley's childhood home, all of roughly 5 blocks away from our house. Excellent food was eaten and gifts exchanged. After letting our food settle a bit, Gene (father-in-law) and I went through a storage room in his shop, searching through old boxes and miscellaneous items for two old arm chairs and an all-wood World War II era filing cabinet that Ashley wants to restore for our house. Along the way I saw/handled several pieces of furniture and "stuff" from the Moss and Gipson families' histories. I always get a kick out of this kind of backyard social anthropology.

I am off work for the rest of the week but I fully expect to receive a few phone calls related to a major project that is due for completion the first week of February. I hope I do not get sucked into any lengthy conference calls (ugh).

It's Been Awhile...

...but I am posting once again. At the request of my good friend Ken (he who delisted me from his blog list--jerk! ;) ) I have decided to re-embark (is that a word?) on my quest for enlightenment through this writing exercise known as the blog. Changes shall be made to the blog; new words shall be written in new and exciting sentences. Erm. Hmm. Dunno about that last bit, but I digress.

Ashley and I ate dinner with friends Friday night at the Oyster Bar--good food, but perhaps a little less fried goodness will be better next time. Followed that up with a DVD rental--Batman Begins. I missed it in the theatre so this was my first viewing. It was also the first movie I have watched at full volume on the new stereo--very, very nice, but I really need a new TV--I have my eye on a 32" HDTV; we will see if it can be afforded in the new year.

Last night Ashley and I watched Garden Stateon DISH DVR--it had been recorded in mid-November, so it was about time. Heck, we have about a dozen movies that we DVR'd but have not watched dating back to May. Sheesh, you'd think we had a bigtime social life and never watched TV by looking at the volume of unwatched programming on the DVR. Funny how things work sometimes--

"Yeah, I think that would be good to record so we can watch it at a normal hour."

"Ok, sounds good."

"Hey, you know we still have to watch, right?"

"Yeah, I know, but I really want to see this."

"Ok."

Ahh, technology. Bliss.

Hitting the giant reset button.

The Armstrong Williams NewsHour - New York Times

Frank Rich may be espousing a Doom's Day prophecy in today's column, but it usually takes a little yelling to get people to pay attention.

Fight the good fight.

The Internet Will Eat Us All

I am eating my breakfast (over-easy eggs, toast, coffee), listening to iTunes (party shuffle--old Peter Gabriel song is on at the moment), and reading through my morning's email, which includes my favorite email of the day, every day--New York Times Daily Headlines. My ritual is to read through the different sections' headlines and abstracts, picking the articles I would like to read by clicking on each link, opening new windows for each. Yes, I end up with a crudload of IE windows (no, I cannot bring myself to like the supposedly superior FireFox), but that isn't too bothersome. I sort of consider this to be the equivalent of writing out some goals for myself and then setting out to accomplish them, which is antithetical to how newspapers are/were read. It is amazing how lazy we are compared to my grandparents' generation; they would just pick up the paper and start reading, or so I was led to believe. Maybe they have their own news reader programs to selectively read what really interests them. ;)

But I digress from the original point that I had in mind when I started typing this morning. Why is it that just because more folks have high-speed access, every commercial website out there thinks that their readers want media-rich ad content displayed inline on seemingly every page? Here is what got me going this morning. I'm culling through the NY Times Daily Headlines, grooving to iTunes with a bite of toast in my mouth when I click on a link; within seconds, my groove is disturbed by some awful noise coming from an inline Flash ad for Mamma Mia! the musical, which is also advertising a contest for a trip to Las Vegas. Sure, there is a little stop button that I was able to click to cut the pain short, but the damage was already done.

I do not need this crap destroying my Sunday morning ritual. Dammit.

Bush the Head-Patter

This is too, too funny not to link to, regardless of how you feel about the man. Damn, I'm still laughing.

Geo-Greens

Today's Friedman column is something else. I have been a proponent of this type of fast-track technology for awhile; I do not understand why others who have no economic ties to oil companies do not as well.

On another note, I hope to blog more consistently now that things on the homefront are calming down.

Fight the good fight.

Great Column: Beyond Viagra Politics - New York Times

Beyond Viagra Politics - New York Times

Color by Numbers

Excellent op-ed column by Stephen E. Flynn in today's Times. This is the kind of approach I have heard advocated before; I can only hope that Homeland Security is paying attention.

Bush on Embryonic Stem Cell Cloning--Moron Alert

I usually don't get apoplectic about anything Bush says anymore, just because it absolutely wears me out doing so every day, but this particular quote from this morning's article in the New York Times just fills me with vitriol because it displays, yet again, Bush's unwillingness to read and comprehend in order to gain a better understanding of the issues that he faces as President.

"I've made my position very clear on embryonic stem cells," he said. "I'm a strong supporter of adult stem cell research, of course. But I have made it very clear to the Congress that the use of federal money, taxpayers' money, to promote science which destroys life in order to save life is - I'm against that."

What the hell is he talking about? This "culture of life" madness has got to stop, or at least they need to grow some stones and quit being so damned hypocritical, e.g. the death penalty and the genocide in Darfur.

At least Reagan surrounded himself with people who had a strong desire to take facts and create policy based around their interpretations of those facts, even if the interpretations were often flawed. Bush, though, has to be the least curious and most presumptive President in our nation's history, and he has a political madman (Rove) who could less about anything but playing sock monkey with Bush.

Fight the good fight.

Piano Man

This fascinates me, though I know it should not. Is this a media stunt or is the man mentally ill? Unlike most sensationalist crap out there that the cable news channels turn into "news" this is really interesting to me. I feel dirty because of it. Damn you, CNN, MSNBC, et al.

On The Border, off the menu....

My better half and I decided we wanted to try a new place to eat (well.. new to us). We drove around a bit and ended up at On The Border, a Tex-Mex place. When we drove in it looked rather busy, and there wasn't much parking. The wait was surprising short, only 15 minutes on a Friday night at 8 PM. The overall look and feel of the place was nice. Decorations made it very festive and colorful.

Our waitress was pleasant enough, but not much past that. She provided average service, but nothing outstanding. The food however.. The food was not even average. When one goes to a Tex-Mex restaurant one would expect spicy food... So much for what I expected. I ordered a "Red Chile Steak" hoping it would be hot and spicy. My better half ordered enchiladas. When the steak arrived it looks like there was spice on it, but after one bite I was let down. This steak was dull, with no bite. No spices at all.. I've had better steaks at Chili's and quite a few other places. It was so bland I was forced to use A1 steak sauce to get any flavor from it. The veggies that came along with the steak were just barely average... The mashed potatoes with "hot" jack cheese were dull much like the steak. My better half ate some of her dinner before becoming sick. A quick trip to the bathroom and she was unable to eat any more of her food.

The one bright spot was the white cheese dip. It was actually decent, but couldn't save the rest of the meal. Overall, I would not recommend On The Border to anyone. The food was bland, service was so-so, and the prices weren't great considering the quality of food. It only gets a 2, and it was looking at a 1.5 but the cheese dips brings it to a 2 out of 5. Eat there at your own risk of being bored to sleep with their less than spicy food.

Kingdom of Boredom

Well, I once again ventured out into the world on a Friday night with my better half to take in a high budget movie on its opening weekend. Aside from fighting the usual crowd of pre-teens and annoying prices (3.50 for a bottle of water?!), I was hoping to be entertained. We picked Kingdom of Heaven. I'm a fan of Orlando Bloom and Liam Neison is pretty good too (i enjoyed Rob Roy a lot). Alas, entertainment was not what this movie delivered.

The movie begins grimly enough with Bloom's character working at a forge while his wife is buried after committing suicide. Along rides a knight who just happens to be his father. Bloom suddenly finds he's the bastard son of a noble with a nice plot of land and title waiting for him once Neison's character dies. O-k... Sounds like a bad role playing game right off the bat. But I still have some hopes for a story or at least one character who has more than one dimension.

Through out the movie, I was let down. The characters are weak and never develop past one aspect of their characteristic (Bloom was noble and "knightly" through out). The story really never takes off and grabs you, nor do the characters who just spit out their lines and seem to be praying for the next time they can stop talking and start swinging a sword. Where there could have been more political intrigue, Director Ridley Scott left me hanging. The affair was barely explored between Bloom's character and a Templar Knight's wife.

You find yourself not sure if you should root for the wise and noble Saladin as he leads the Muslims to regain Jerusalem after the Templar Knights slaughtered Muslims, or if you should root for the noble to a fault Bloom. Where there was room for a story you're given a half-assed attempt at the banter between kings. The computer effects weren't nearly as impressive as The Return of the King. Scott tries to gives you a siege equal to Mordor assaulting the White City.. But you're left with lacking graphics and less inspiring speeches.

Overall it just wasn't that entertaining. It gets a 2.5 our of 5. Average acting, so-so effects, horrible character development left me bored and ready to write this review.

Corruption at its Finest

Paul Krugman delivers a column that tears apart the notion that Congress has America's best interests in mind, unless your concept of America is one of a country of corporate citizens whose right to make money is more important than the same right granted to individual citizens.

baltimoresun.com - All the food in China

baltimoresun.com - All the food in China Tales of culinary exploration from around the world always fascinate me. I long for future days when I have enough money to travel extensively.

"Preparing for the next pandemic." | MetaFilter

"Preparing for the next pandemic." | MetaFilter This would be scary beyond reason.

Blog--Michael Bérubé, Anti-Horowitz

Michael Bérubé Online This guy is good, especially his slam on David Horowitz, moron extraordinaire. God knows all those liberal professors are turning college students into a bunch of mindless liberal yahoos. I have so little use for people like Horowitz who use poorly constructed arguments to extend their "careers".

Fight the good fight.

Movie reviews

Rented two movies this past weekend. "Saw" and "Finding Neverland." Got some short reviews that hopefully will move you to see one and consider passing on the other.

First, "Saw," a psychological horror/thriller. Cary Elwes, the main character, a a doctor who doesn't appreciate his family, and there's a twisted man who decides it's up to him to teach Elwes' character the love his family by locking him in an underground bathroom chained to a pipe. But he's not alone. There is a younger man, who's been taking photos of him, chained to the other side of the room. A dead body lays in the center, blood pooled around the head and a gun in hand. Things flash back often to explain how the "killer" works. He kidnaps individuals and places them in traps forcing them to try and work their way out. O-k..... Semi-interesting plot gets filled with too much blood and gore. Not very scary, and more disgusting. The attempts to scare end up being nothing more than just what is grosser than the last "scare." Acting is ok, with Danny Glover as a cop (not a stretch for him there. see Lethal Weapon 1-4). Over all, not an impressive movie and at best a rental. Shocking ending, but ruined by Elwes' character's stupidity.

"Finding Neverland," with Jonny Depp, Kate Winslett, and Dustin Hoffman. I had never heard anything about this movie except from critics saying it was good. And this time, I agree with the critics. This movie begins slowly, with Depp playing the role of James M. Barrie, watching one of his plays flop. His life is slightly sad and lacking. But his imagination inspires the children of Winslett's character. The acting is very good from all parties in this movie, even the child actors. The plot pulls you in, slowly and into Barrie's world where you can enjoy the thought of never truly growing up. Depp meshes well with the children actors and you can watch them inspire his own imagination to write Peter Pan. This movie should make you smile and laugh, especially the out takes. But there are some very sad parts allowing you to lose track of that star as you head on to morning. Gets a thumbs up from yours truly.

Rage returns..

Ok, I've been on a break of sorts.. Letting the world settle and watching the vultures circle before I let fly with more verbal eviscerations (not a word known by blogger's spellchecker. go figure) . I've tolerated the annoyances of tax season, enjoyed (look up sarcasm if you think i actually enjoyed any of this) getting the news that I owed personal property taxes from 03. For the record.. You taxing me for something I own and already paid taxes on is rather crappy. Why am I paying taxes on a new car when I buy it only to keep paying year after year? To give money to a government who spends it hand over fist on less than useful items. I'm giving money to the same people who decided that there had to be a law your headlights must be on if your windshield wipers are on? Excuse me if I fail to give a vote of confidence to you half-wits in the Arkansas government.

On to my real rage.. There's a monkey on my TV and I can't get away from it. GWB has decided to interrupt scheduled programming to gives us more of his pre-cooked BS. My message to GWB: step away from the social security and find a issue we give a squat about. You wan to reform the UN? Get someone who isn't quoted as saying we could remove floors from the building (meaning we could remove nations) and no one would know. Mr. Bolton, remove the bad hairpiece, trim the stache and fade away so we can stop hearing about your bully tactics.

Why does he feel that Social Security should have "voluntary personal savings?" Umm.. Lets look at that.. Voluntary personal savings accounts. Mutual funds, bonds, stocks, CDs. Yup, those look like voluntary personal savings. You control when to buy or sell, how much to put in, and how much to take out. "You can go from bonds and stocks to bonds as you get older." I can't do that without it being part of social security? Lets move on...

I applaud the efforts going on Iraq (yup, I said it. i'm still a left leaning liberal independent though!). The ground work is being set for democracy. The way we went there, very wrong. The way we've conducted everything, not so great. But there has been progress. I don't think the government Bushco put in place will last, but maybe the system will take hold. Even with all the dreary nay-sayers in our Liberal party, we still must look at this as something we're in and we damn sure need to do what we can to make it better. I don't say lay down for the Repub thugs, but I say work on cleaning their mess up. Dude, it's still my country, damnit!

Nick Anderson, Pulitzer Prize-winning Political Cartoonist

This is Nick Anderson's prize-winning portfolio. Very nice work. I listened to a few minutes of an interview that he did with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air today. He is a very insightful person who is unashamed of being labeled a liberal. (Ooh, ooh, what a dirty word that is.) I could not imagine the amount of heat he takes from his readership; Louisville, Kentucky is not exactly like San Francisco.

Greenspan Back-tracking

To be fair, I do remember the Chief invoking a warning that triggers should be implemented should certain budget goals not be met, but damn, it sure took him long enough to quit sounding like a personal campaigner for Bush's tax cuts.

Second thoughts / Fed chief acknowledges 2001 tax cuts encouraged deficit

House Update

As some of you may know, my wife and I have recently come into ownership of a house that has been in her family for several years. For the last 15 years or so it has been a rental house, which means a lot of work to do before it is suitable for our high-falutin' lifestyle. It is extremely exciting and gratifying being a home owner, but damn, this is a lot of work!

Thus far I have destroyed a closet, pulled up hardwood flooring in order to use it to patch flooring in other parts of the house that were in need of repair, pulled up a crapload of old nasty carpet, and been a go-fer for my father-in-law, who is project manager extraordinaire for this remodel job. The next step is scrubbing several walls and painting them. After that the floors will be refinished (we are hiring someone to do that, thank you very much!), then some serious cleaning, appliance delivery, and then, finally, moving in to the house. We have finally set a deadline of May 27th for moving day.

This coming fall the major remodeling effort will take place. More on that later.

If anyone would like to donate a digital camera for me to use to record these events, please email me. ;)

David Brooks: Roe's Birth, and Death

I wonder if Brooks thinks that the Equal Rights Amendment should remain buried, too.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Roe's Birth, and Death

Boring Update

Here I am, eating a Lean Pocket (yes, Lean) and some baked Cool Ranch Doritos, drinking a Sam Adams Boston Lager (it is always important to note exactly what beer one is drinking--Sam Adams in and of itself is not an adequate descriptor), listening to Interpol's "Evil" at the moment, and blogging.

This is night #3 alone with me, myself, and the cats. Ashley is in Benton, working on the new house. "New house?" you ask. Yes, new house. Well, actually it is an old house, built in 1931 (Craftsman brick), and it has been in her family for twenty-plus years now, but she and I now officially own it, so it is new to my ownership. I am extremely excited at the prospect of home ownership, especially of a house for which I do not have to have a mortgage, but at the same time it is rather nerve-wracking. We are currently doing some remodeling work that has to be finished before we can move in--painting walls, patching and refinishing the floors, buying and installing appliances, that sort of thing. We should be finished with our bit (the floors will be done by hired help) in a few weeks. Then it will just be a matter of living with orange Formica kitchen counter tops and without the services of our to-be-remodeled master bedroom and our to-be-built master bathroom for a few months. Then the real fun begins...

So far I have learned how to tear up a linoleum floor (kitchen) to find the treasured hardwood floor beneath, destroy a closet while salvaging the cedar lining, and pull up hardwood (the master bedroom will be carpeted--maybe a mistake) in order to use it to patch the dining room's bay window floor, the old floor furnace hole between the living and dining rooms, and part of the kitchen/breakfast room floor. I also just about broke my neck cleaning pine needles out of gutters and roof valleys.

The work has been delayed twice now. My father-in-law, master craftsman extraordinaire, is in charge of the project, but suffered for well over a week from a pinched nerve. About the time he started feeling a little better, my long-ailing grandfather died. Life goes on, however.

P.S. Blogger's spell check dictionary is just about worthless.

Housecleaning

Or maybe this should be called culling. In an effort to keep things fresh I have deleted a few (and added more) BlogRolling links (to the right of the screen). The deleted links are effectively links to blogs that have gone dead. In an effort to avoid becoming a dead blog, I will rededicate myself to actual writing instead of just throwing up random links (or any other regurgitative matter).

EFF: Let the Sun Set on PATRIOT

EFF: Let the Sun Set on PATRIOT

This is a great resource site for what needs to be eliminated from the Patriot Act ASAP. These provisions do little to prevent terrorism. It is up to law enforcement agencies to work within the framework of the Bill of Rights. It offends my sensibilities to think that there are citizens who believe we should live in a police state, and I hope the majority feels the same. Say no thank you to Big Brother and write your Congressional Representatives.

Fight the good fight.

The New York Times > Business > Hybrid-Car Tinkerers Scoff at No-Plug-In Rule

Good for them!
Hybrid-Car Tinkerers Scoff at No-Plug-In Rule

Fight the good fight.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: A Party Inverted

Bill Bradley hits the nail on the head. Fortunately, this kind of effort is beginning with a group led by George Soros. I only hope that it isn't as cynical and devoid of real solutions to real problems as the Republican machine is.

Fight the good fight.

Danforth Writes of Sanity

John Danforth's guest column in today's New York Times expresses what so many of us are asking for--a return of focus on the real issues that face our country. It is sad how every day shows how mainstream the once-extreme right has become in the Republican party and our federal government in general. Do these people live in a vacuum? I ask that because it sure seems like the Republicans at the state level (including here in Arkansas) realize that religion-based legislation tends to divide people while ignoring the real issues at hand. But the guys running the show in our federal government do not reflect the will of the majority.

Oh well, that just means the Democrats will make some serious gains in 2006 and 2008, which suits me just fine.

Fight the good fight.

Today's Kristof Column

It is pathetic how some people let their own ideas of morality get in the way of being moral, but I suppose that is what happens when people cannot think outside of their own little lily-white corner of the world.

Fight the good fight.

MSNBC - The Culture of Each Life

This is an extremely well-written column that sums up how I feel about the Terri Schiavo case, but it is written much more eloquently than I can write, so I will spare you the time.

Sorry I have been absent from posting lately, but my life has been a whirlwind. I will try to post some about it later.

Because Congress sucks..

I'm beginning to lose faith in even our Democrat reps. After the Alaska drilling and the bankruptcy crap I'm not sure any of these spineless twits deserve our support.

Interesting cartoon over here.

Wolcott's still hitting that nail..

He's hitting the nail on the head here.

Although it's about as subtle as using a sledge hammer pound a nail into your dry wall to hang a picture of the friend from college who would drink his beer from anything other than the can and light his farts.

I agree with him though (simply because the past week has just been one example of failure after another). America won't wake up as it sleep walks down the path of the Roman empire. We've got two countries we run, aside from our own. Democracy in the Middle East is great only so far that it's better than the government it replaced. When the leaders in these countries are placed in power by a foreign government they will probably fail.

Our dollar is sliding down hill faster than Greenspan's wrinkled claw of a hand can grasp. When you've out sourced, over spent budgets year after year, continued spending on a giant military budget going out of control, and proposed asinine reform to programs that aren't on their last legs.. Well.. You'll find a few problems. Since before I could vote we were heading down this path.. GWB has only furthered our decent with his policies. I wonder how long it will be before we wake up and see how we've painted ourselves into that corner.. Hopefully before it's too late, but I doubt it.

You can feel it in the air...

That's right.. A rant. But this is a rant on professionalism. Recently I applied to a Public Relations job in Indianapolis, IN. The email I received was very promising. My resume was praised (thank you to the great individual who brought my jumbled thoughts together), and I was asked to come up to have an interview. I suggested a date (March 18th for those keeping up) to meet with what I was hoping was my soon-to-be-boss. She confirmed that the date would be ok and asked me what time I would be available. I set 1 PM and emailed her to make sure everything would be ok and set for this time. This email was sent March 10th to make sure there was plenty of time in case whatever.. I even called her the Monday before the interview (a full 5 days before the interview), I left a message. No response to my emails or call. We drove up to Round Lake, IL on the 17th (12 hour drive with no internet, but a cell phone that worked). Thursday (the 17th) night I finally reached a computer to check my email and low and behold.. An email. I quickly opened it only to find a serious disappointment and lack of professionalism. For all the world to read here is it:

"I will calll you this afternoon also, I had an internal candidate apply
for the position and I am going to offer it to him on Monday, I apologize for
the late notice, you had a very impressive resume with great experience."

The day before the interview, with no responses to previous contact, and still no phone calls even when told she would call? I was beyond mad.. This woman suddenly gets an internal applicant and brushes me aside at the very last moment. If only karma was real...

Add to the fact that Indy has a great amount of apartments, 90% of which really suck. We returned home to find great news in the mail.. Those useless sacks of rancid ferret dung we call our government decided it was time for me to pay my personal property taxes.. So now I owe those sick twisted assclowns another 300+ pushing the total to above $1000. I guess I'm the only one who didn't get the notice that if you're pulling a whooping 8.84 an hour you're on the IRS hit list. Bastards....

Google is the Devil

Well, not really, but this guy caught a hard break. Be sure to read both links in this Meta-Filter post.

I'm Sick...

...but I went into work today because I'm going out of town on Friday and won't be back at work until Tuesday. Oh, and my annual performance review was today, too, though I already knew what my job rating is (Solid Performer) and what my raise is because boss-man waited a little long to perform the reviews, for which the end results are readable on our personal HR intranet page. Sheesh, talk about killing the suspense and anxiety. Actually, I'm quite glad that I found out ahead of time because the old job has been a little murky for the past few months. Not necessarily in a bad way, mind you, but just in that uncomfortable, not-really-certain-what's-going-on-here kind of way.

Yeah, so I am going out of town to my first big Warhammer tournament of the year--the Hombre, in Killeen, Texas. There are seven of us CAWS-ites* going down there for the shindig, which will have about 60 folks in attendance. Pretty good turnout for a military town in the middle of nowhere (anywhere in Texas that it isn't Austin, Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio). I am looking forward to it, though I will miss my wife dearly while I am away, until I get drunk that is, but then that only lasts for an hour. Getting back at 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning Sunday night/Monday morning will suck, but it will be nice.


*CAWS-ite: a member of CAWS (Central Arkansas Warhammer Society, aka a group of 20- and 30-something guys with nothing better to do than paint and play games with 28mm fantasy miniatures)

Is this what al Qaeda has come to?

I'm sorry, but this is too damn funny to me.

Russel Crowe is a target for al Qaeda kidnapping... As part of "cultural destabilization plot." Is anyone else finding this as totally off the wall as I am?

Seriously.. Couldn't they have picked someone a little more.. I dunno.. Powerful?

Link to "Why we don't mourn"

While checking out Walcott's site I found this linked. This link lead me to a story that I'm finding a little bothersome to say the least. We all know our troops in Iraq are on edge 24/7.. But why are we receiving conflicting reports on the shooting of Giuliana Sgrena's body guard while they traveled to the airport? The US military says they tried to stop the car, and Sqrena has stated otherwise. Makes you wonder if there was any truth to the claims of US military targeting journalists....

Many thanks to Mr. Walcott for linking to Tom Watson's blog. It seems to have some pretty interesting stuff.

On a lighter note.. Hulk's blog should update more often, it is hilarious! HULK SMASH!!

A Scanner Darkly

Woah, this looks hella-cool. I am a fan of Phillip K. Dick, and have seen almost all of the movie adaptations of his stuff (except for Paycheck) and have liked them all in one way or another--Total Recall was total camp, but fun, Minority Report gets undeserved criticisms as a "Spielberg" film, and Blade Runner (the director's cut) is a classic.

Daily Kos :: FEC Regulating Political Blogs? GOP Commissioners Want To

This absolutely scares the crap out of me. This would stunt the burgeoning blog community like nothing else. Good luck to them trying to actually enforce any changes to the law.

Fight the good fight.

The Moose on "political hack"

The Moose speaks the truth--more Dems need to get behind Harry Reid.

Fight the good fight.

One of My Favorites

This is a great NY Times Sunday Magazine article about Beck and the work he did to record his new CD, Guero, which should be out soon. I can not wait to hear it.

Fueling the fire under Greenspan's chair.

Well, Tom, I found this. Found more from Mr. Walcott's site. As usual, Walcott amuses and still hits the nail on the head.

A nice little article about Greenspan and his ever so brilliant ideas. How is it exactly this man, who ran a pension management firm into the ground because of his investments is allowed to speak on the Social Security issue? Seems like asking a crack head to hold you wallet while you go use the bathroom...

Students that went a little too far..

At Sana Rosa Junior College a group of Repubs decided that some of their professors were too liberal.. Too left leaning. Interesting.. I thought that's why it was called a liberal arts education (i'm here all night folks.. try the veal.). Ok, so enough of bad jokes..

This is what these Repub students did. On the doors of ten faculty members the students posted red stars and referenced communist indoctrination. This was done because, as one of these students claimed, "The opinion of the far left is presented as fact, with no alternative." Jeez... This is so open to all kinds of angles for me to break down and destruct.. Lets start, shall we?

First, you are in college, try to act like it. If you don't agree with the teacher, no one is making you take that class. You are allowed to get up, walk out, and drop the class. You may also speak with the teacher after class, in private, in their office about your concerns. You can even discuss your issues with the dean, providing you make an appointment. This is after all college, where you prepare for the "real world," where it would indeed NOT be good to post red stars on your fellow worker's cubicles.. I foresee many many firings in your future should you do this to every co-worker you don't agree with.

Second, free speech is allowed in college. If this was not true.. Well.. It would be high school, you wouldn't have the chance to protest something you feel is wrong and actually have an opinion.

Third, I haven't really seen too much of the far right presenting their "facts" while still acknowledging any alternatives. Hello, pot? This is kettle.. You're black.

Fourth, why is it that most of the problems seem to be from liberal professors? Is it because that's all there are? Do we even have any conservative professors, or are the conservatives not up to the challenges of higher education? I see stats here and there about how many liberal professors there are at Ivy league colleges, but never any stats about conservative profs. What's up with that?

Fifth, if you're going to go around marking people's door claiming they're commies.. Don't be pissed when some people call you and your group/party/etc etc fascists. Not Nazis, fascists. It all smacks of McCarthyism (sic).

All in all.. Here is the story about it. We really shouldn't allow our professors to be treated like criminals because they offer views different to yours. College is where you are suppose to learn and be exposed to different cultures and ideas. If you don't want to be exposed to these things and consider there could be other ways of life than yours and people aren't going to hell because they don't share your vision of God/politics/etc etc don't go to college.

What. The. HELL?!?!

Blumenthal: Recycled rhetoric

Here is another great take on the origins of Bush's Social Security hack plan. Does BushCo really honestly believe that there is a crisis? Or are they just a bunch of greedy bastards who want to have their cake and eat it too? I am tired of them purporting to do good things for the American people when all of the evidence is to the contrary.

Fight the good fight.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Deficits and Deceit

Great column from Paul Krugman today about the "starve the beast" tactics of the right. Pretty pathetic how they take the majority of citizens for idiots. Way to go, guys!

Fight the good fight.

Greenspan: "Consumption Tax"

Greenspan is off his rocker. The biggest problem with a national consumption tax that doesn't tax items that would negatively impact the poor is that in times of crisis people will stop buying items they don't need (FYI, I am not advocating that food and basic services be taxed by a national sales tax). This happened post-9/11, and the economy (in terms of sales of goods and services) took two years to recover. Meanwhile, states and municipalities that rely heavily on sales taxes for revenue took a major hit. Unless there is an outbreak of unemployment tied to such a crisis, the one constant about the income tax is that people will generally still pull in the same levels of income.

Fight the good fight.

The New York Times > Washington > New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans

I'm so happy we re-elected this guy; he's such a great president and is so in tune with the average American. Wow, how could I have ever said anything bad about him at all? And it's amazing that he wasn't re-elected by a greater margin seeing that so many people agree with him on the major points. Oh, yeah, that's right, he was re-elected because Karl Rove is a political genius, not because of any substance.

The New York Times > Washington > New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans

Ankle bracelets on immigrants?

Holy poop on a stick, Batman! Is this for real!? Are we taggin legal immigrants with the same devices we use on criminals? I'm not so sure this is good idea.. It feels like it could lead to the next thing.. Next thing you know, our kids will have them so we'll "know where they are." Followed by the government needing to keep a track of all its "citizens."

The Department of Homeland Security (that STILL sounds like something sinister.. like the Fatherland or the Motherland...) is becoming more of threat to real freedoms than a tool to protect our freedom.

This was on NPR and it's rather.. Disturbing.

Moss finds a new home in silver and black.

Yup.. The Vikes got rid of the biggest example of what's wrong and what's right with the NFL. Moss was traded to the Raiders and will receive a base salary of 7.5 mil a year. Vikes receive linebacker Napoleon Harris and a first round pick.

I think Moss will fit into a club that has a reputation as being a little over the top. I've never been a Raiders fan, and now I've got more reason not to be one. Randy Moss' skill is only overshadowed by his immature antics on and off the field. I can respect the skills, but not the crap attitude. As far as I'm concerned.. The Raiders got exactly what the deserved.. A great player with a piss poor attitude who won't perform to expectations until he stops believing his own hype.

Here's the link to the full story.

I Love Political Cartoons...

This is pretty mean, but damn it made me laugh.

Fight the good fight.

It's Avoid a Question Barbie.

Ms. Coulter strikes again.. Or maybe gets struck again. You would think someone would lend her a shove to dig that hole she's sinking into in this clip.

If she can't answer a question or at the very least admit to not really having an answer, why does she just keep babbling like someone pulled the string in her back for another one liner attack on Dems? Why not just say you have no opinion on the question or give a real answer?

edit: A tad more just for good measure, and to once more add fuel to the fire that the bleech job had passed through the insanly think skull of her's and into her small brain.

Stop complaining and change the channel..

I'm really getting sick and tired of all these parent groups and watchdog groups complaining about everything on tv. Here's a damn clue, you don't like what's on, find it offensive, or don't want your kids to view it.. CHANGE THE CHANNEL!

Not that hard is it? Why should someone else be responsible for what your kids view? If all you do is let your kids sit in front of the tv until dinner, then have dinner in front of the tv while Saving Private Ryan is on.. Deal with it. Last I checked no one is forcing you or your kids to view anything on tv. Stop patrolling the airwaves and start controlling your kids. This is the state of our society.. "I'm not responsible for my kid visiting that porn site or seeing that ultra violent movie on tv, someone else is."

Want another example of people not taking responsibility? I work for an apartment complex. There is one cable connection per apartment (just one.. not one per room). Our cable company can't come run wires in the apartments because if the resident trips the cable company can be sued.... Somewhere, someone is laughing their asses off at how stupid we've let things get over here.

At least the FCC ruled Saving Private Ryan wasn't a violation this time these great "parent" groups complained.

An Interesting Point for Debate

In his New York Times Op-Ed column today, Robert Reich makes the case for having a public debate about the impact of consumerism and the downward pressures it places on our economy. That this isn't already an issue being seriously debated is rather troubling to me. One core idea behind capitalism is that the economy grows in order to produce more consumers to buy the goods and services that they create; our economy isn't heading in that direction though--eventually there has to be a tipping point at which the economy declines because there aren't enough consumers willing or able to pay the price to purchase those goods and services. What happens then? Would we suddenly develop a conscience or would our country spiral completely out of control?

There seems to be a bit too much of the "me-first" attitude running rampant in this country, and it has me worried.

Fight the good fight.

Movie night at my place.

Well, we rented three movies this weekend and I'll give you the low down on them in this post. Our first selection was The Forgotten.

The Forgotten is about abduction and tampering with memories. Julianne Moore was ok, nothing too special here. She starts out playing the mom who loses her child decently enough, but things quickly fall apart from there. It becomes more of a long episode of X-Files than a full feature length movie. It comes in at just around 91 minutes and goes about 20 to 30 minutes too long. There are some loose ends that just kinda don't get addressed, like where do the people go when they get sucked into the horizon. Over all the film was just barely interesting enough to hold my attention until my cats decided to fight over which of them got to sleep on my paintball gear bag. It's a middle of the road movie with nothing to really stand out through the whole 90+ minutes, and it gets a rating of 2.5 on a scale of 5.

Second movie was Ray. I have wanted to see this movie since it was released in theaters, but I'm lazy and hate going to the movies (thanks everyone who can't mute their cell phones, chews pop corn loudly, kicks my chair, or just in general is a pain in the ass in an otherwise quiet place). This movie was very enjoyable. Jamie Fox was great in his role as Ray Charles. I've watched quite a few movies with Fox in them and this was his best performance. His walk, manner of speech, and overall study of Ray Charles garnered him an Oscar as best male actor, and he earned it. This movie does an excellent job of drawing you in and keeping you in, watching his triumphs and downfalls. I highly recommend this movie and give it a 4.5 out of 5 (mainly cause I don't know if any movie can get a 5 since that's perfect.. but this one is damn close!)

Third movie of the weekend was Vanity Fair. This was one of those "do something nice for the woman who puts up with your crap 24/7 and doesn't kill you." The scenes in this movie were very rich and beautiful. Reese Witherspoon is a good actress and puts her talents to good use in this movie, but it just can't quite save what turns out to be over 150 minutes of a movie about her character's attempt at rising from her lowly status to that of a noble. It just doesn't quite draw you in and get you to care about the characters as well as it needs to and leaves you feeling a little indifferent when the ending credits begin to role. It overall was an ok movie, visually it was very nice, but acting and story left me a little bored. This movie gets a 3 out of 5.

Hey, Tom, how bout a review of Million Dollar Baby?

And the award goes to...

Well, certainly not us here at tweedler, but there was some justice tonight at the Oscars (yup, the light of my life had the remote and decided Oscars over Independence Day.. so I didn't argue.. just read the post). Jamie Fox won thanks to a brilliant performance from Ray, and Million Dollar Baby took home 4 awards including Best Picture. All political statements aside (yea, stop whining about the ending or Rock's GWB jokes ya prudes), I have yet to meet someone who has not spoken highly of Million Dollar Baby (or as our host Tom likes to call it M$B.. you're getting ghetto on me here Tommy Boy). I must admit, I do like Eastwood and his work. He's becoming one of my fav directors (which really doesn't say much I suppose since I don't really think on the directors when I watch the movies).

The only issue I had was that Don Cheadle couldn't take home an award for his work in Hotel Rowanda. But if anyone else should win, Jamie Fox was definitely a good candidate. We watched Ray just the other night and I must say it was very good (review to follow.. i think).

I could, however, done without Beyonce being nearly the only performer. We have how many great singers out there and we are given her for almost all of the songs. Blah.. Per usual, Rock was funny, and it wasn't too bad of a show.

Survey and the cell phone generation

We all know that there were issues with the polling from this past election. Those of us who use cell phones exclusively were ignored (whether by choice or by lack of a method to contact us). Like many of these people I don't want to have my cell number out "there." I don't want people to have access to it unless I've given it to them. This puts a serious cramp on how reliable the polls are, and this population is only growing as we increase the use of cable internet.

The main problem I see with this is the polls are inaccurate (whether for Dem or Rep.), but I don't see any viable solution without letting these pollsters call our cell phones. Do I want them calling me? No. Unless they are willing to pay for my minutes they've used just to ask me who I support and whatever else they want to know. You add in that the person being called could be driving or some other activity that could lead to an accident and it just doesn't seem worth it. There's an article on cnn.com about it.

Robertson: God "will remove judges from the Supreme Court..." [Media Matters for America]

People like this guy scare the hell out of me. I do not want to live in a theocracy, dammit. The worst thing that could possibly happen is for the courts to be filled with neo-cons hell-bent on telling people what they can't do with their own friggin' lives. Whatever happened to the conservative ideal of leaving people alone? I am growing weary of being preached to by my government.

Fight the good fight.

BEST BLOG THERE IS

BEST BLOG THERE IS Well, I don't know about that, but if you're even somewhat of a fan of Marvel Comics' The Hulk, you should get a kick out of this. Thanks to Sam for the link.

Think Progress: How to Talk to a Conservative About Social Security (If You Must)

This is a great source of line-by-line refutations of BushCo's claims that Social Security is in crisis. Oh, wait, that's not the new reason for why we must fundamentally change one of the most successful programs of the New Deal. God forbid people who have worked their entire lives to provide for themselves and their families get a little supplemental income that is guaranteed.

Fight the good fight.

Father Knows Best

This is the kind of crap that pisses me off the most about the Bush administration and social conservatives in general.

Fight the good fight.

A cold hard reality...

Another year of taxes to be filed.. And I'm royally screwed. My first year to file with an accountant and I've got to pay. My poor wage slave arse has to pay in right around $700. Is it not demeaning enough that I don't make more than 19k a year in wages? Or would you like to add in my bonus to push me up to a whooping 20k a year? They you add insult to injury and tell me while you're wage sucks and you're scraping bottom to survive.. We're gonna need you to shell out seven hundred more bucks, thanks for playing, you lose again. Damn.

If ever you wonder why there are crazy people in Montana who revolt against the government... I've got one glaring reason.. TAXES!!!

It's like getting beamed in the head by Randy Johnson.. Watching on that computer screen as the accountant goes over it and realizing somewhere you're gonna have to find 700 dollars to pay Uncle Sam just so he can lose it investing in some third world nation or a useless missile defense system that will never work.

Bah... I would like to now flip the collective bird to the US Government.. And inform them, the check will be in the mail shortly, you money grubbing, twisted, sycophants...

This rant has been brought to you by the IRS, the spend happy governments of our world, and the letter Y.

I need to rant!

I'm worn out and pissed off, and damnit I'm gonna post about it!

Today was a great day until I came home from lunch to find our beautiful 52 inch HDTV not wanting to work. I admit it.. I panicked a bit. The thing's not paid off yet! After I eat and calmed down I examined the problem.. Not the TV. The cold sweat left me and my urge to shoot myself before my fiance returned home abated (somewhat...). So the cable was the problem.. Lovely. Comcast strikes again. The great invention known as HDTV/DVR our as I seem to always call it "our cable box," was out. Broken, dead, without life. This meant a call to the evil and twisted idiots at Comcast. So I call and they actually tell me they will come out today. The sound of angels singing filled the air. After 40+ minutes of work, the techs determine the box itself is broken and there isn't anything I can do. They apologize and tell me to hold on while they find the closest service station with a replacement box. They find one within 10 minutes that has them in stock. I thank them, they leave, I go back to work slightly ruffled by not without hope. Work ends, I rush home, I unplug box, I haul arse to Comcast. Enter the building and I have a choice of two customer service reps, the cute and bubbly 20-something girl, or the bitter looking, grouchy old lady. Easy choice, right? Well, as I plead my case to the young lady, the evil lunch lady's twin leans over and informs me they are out of HDTV/DVRs and won't have any for 3 days. Long story short, they had them, gave them out, and basically said screw you when I came in. How did I come up with that last part?

As I'm walking out, evil Doris (I don't know her real name, she was scary looking so I didn't ask!) lets fly with the "You should have called before you came here."

........ I'm sorry, I was unaware we were in a shortage of HDTV/DVRs. Someone call the President! Now, I was pissed. A little at myself, too. So I called Comcast's main office to plead my case and inform them of my location. I received this answer at 5:50. "You can come get one at our downtown office. We stay open till six." I'm nearly 30 minutes away, without the traffic from rush hour and I get more taunting. You ever wonder why people switch to freakin satelite?! Well, here's your damn answer!

Damn, I hate when Tom's right...

Postgame thoughts...

Super Bowl's done.. Put it in the history books. Pats are a dynasty, good for them. Browns' fans should be (if they aren't) kicking themselves for letting Belichick leave. But we'll let Tom stew on that later.. Let me give my pointless thoughts on this game..

First, I missed the whole first half so I could get my hair cut (i found that to be a more useful waste of my time.. i was right in my assumption seeing that the score was 7 to 7 at half). I was not in the least impressed with the "highlights" from the first half. Good defense, but that's about all. Slightly to be expected that one team would have a better defense than the other, but it was nice to see two teams with good defenses playing in the big game.

I did, however, make the mistake of turning the tv on during the halftime show. What the hell inspired them to get an out of date and lame performer as Paul Macratny is beyond me. I decided the time he was belting out his horribly boring dribble and while everyone in the stands decided to go to the bathroom or get some food, I would go shower and get the loose hair off me. I feel this was time well spent considering the utter lack of excitement the halftime show was bringing. Yes, I know they didn't want another "wardrobe malfunction." But could we have at least gotten someone who doesn't suck? Yea, I said it. One of the Beetles sucks. He's old, his music is old, and he's not all that popular. Bah! Who the hell watches the Super Bowl for the halftime shows anyway?!

The second half was much better, even though McNabb couldn't find a receiver wearing green very often. All in all this game was just kind of average to me. After the last punt that pinned the Eagles behind the 5 yard line, you could feel it was completely over. For the most part the Eagles just didn't seem to want to win or hustle to the line when they had the ball. Their defense should be pissed at their offense for the lack of effort when attempting to run a two minute drill.

Not as good as New England vs. Carolina last year... But what can ya do when the NFC is a conference full of only half talented teams and the AFC is just getting better and better. Eh, anyway.. Just my .02 about the game. Oh, and the commercials, they were rather lame. Sorry, but our military is being over hyped as heroes.. Yes, they're sacrificing for us, but we're beginning to over look our other heroes. Police officers, who everyday make OUR streets safer, not the streets of a country half way around the globe where we have no business, our firefighters who run into burning buildings to save lives, and our nations teachers (all of these professions are highly underpaid, over worked, and under funded). So when I see a commercial with some actors dressed like military personnel being applauded in an airport it makes me wonder why we don't celebrate our other heroes like that. Also, the new mustang commercials are not funny.

The game gets a flat B.
Commercials get a C-.
Halftime show an F.

Overall Super Bowl watching experience.. C-.

Teens Having Sex in Texas

It is just sad that the people who support abstinence-only "sex" education programs will totally ignore empirical evidence about the failures of such programs. At what point will scientific evidence ever make a dent in their reality?

Fight the good fight.

Damn, some people are dumb..

Why is this idiot even in any kind of position of power?

Followed by.. Why is it always the repubs and Texans?

Another Case of 'That Guy'

How is it that there are some people in life who for no particular reason end up being 'that guy'? You know, the guy who is just some average schmo who stumbles across something that makes him instantly famous or wealthy or just plain ass lucky? Well, here's the latest in a seemingly endless line of 'those guys'.

More Fun With Picasa 2

Let me be the first to say that Comcast's personal web servers are slower than frozen molasses, but this was something I threw together with Picasa 2, my newly found, fun, *free*, time-wasting software. Here are several pictures of miniatures that I have painted. Be patient with the thumbnails; once they load, the individual pics don't take long to load up at all (which is odd, considering that the thumbnails are not the original images resized by HTML--they are truly thumbnails). Hmmm. If I keep this up long enough I'll have to buy some webspace somewhere.