Sanctuary

"Persons Unknown": the credibility misstep

2010-08-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

"Persons Unknown" started out strong: a fascinating mystery, a guarantee of answers by the end of summer, an interesting cast, and lots of questions. I was really enjoying this summer series.

Unfortunately, the last few episodes have damaged the credibility of the premise. Supposedly, there's this omnipotent and omniscient Program behind everything. We don't know its purpose and we don't understand its methods; we see only this tiny segment of its actions, these terrified people disappeared to an abandoned town. But the last few episodes have shown us the minds behind the program.

The Director, a peevish woman. A guy who seems to be a manager from the mold of "The Office" with a really weird accent who bullies everyone below him and kisses the Director's butt without hiding his distaste. And a bunch of robotic call center drones.

THIS is an organization that can exert such power? That can vanish people without reprisal? That can completely control information in the media? That can snap and an ambassador crawls? These mediocrities?!? I don't buy it. Poor casting, poor writing, poor characterization.

There are only four episodes left, and I'll watch them to see how they attempt to pull it all together, but they manned their "Program" with such incompetents that I can no longer pretend to believe in their story.

This story doesn't make sense

2010-05-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

Cheap, ultra-pure heroin kills instantly

It doesn't make sense because dealers want long-term users, repeat customers. If I were a conspiracy theorist, this article would raise all sorts of red flags for me.

"Survivor" key to economic crisis

2009-12-30T23:35:00.000-08:00

I'm watching "Survivor: Pearl Islands" on dvd. The Morgan tribe is discussing moving their camp because their initial spot was too close to the water and they've noticed the tideline moving closer. Osten (the one who quits) tells the camera that there's no need to go to all the trouble of moving the camp yet, because it hasn't gotten wet; wait till it gets wet to deal with it. Who has that short-sighted an outlook?

Osten is an equity trade manager.

Are physical descriptions needed?

2009-11-26T22:05:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis. (Delightful book, as I've found all of hers to be.) And when I closed the back cover, it struck me that there hadn't been a single description of physical appearance in the whole novella.

How could that be? I started paging back through it again. Okay, we have a single mention that the aliens could be mistaken for plants "[I]f it hadn't been for the expression on their faces". That's almost a description, except that plants don't have faces.

Further on, the choir director is tall and skinny.

That's it. No descriptions of figures, features, attractiveness, skin color, hair color, eye color, build...

And it worked. Not once while I was reading it did I wonder what anybody looked like. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, being able to picture it however I wanted to, without being jarred by the author limiting me to specific characteristics. Refreshing. And yet I didn't even notice until I was done. Skillful.

It reminded me of reading Dolores Clairborne many years ago. I was totally caught up in the story while I was reading. When I was done, it hit me that the entire book was written in first person dialogue. "No way", I muttered, and began leafing back through it to find where it switched. But it never did. The whole book was one person speaking. Damn, that's talent.

"The Last Olympian" and "Freebird"

2009-08-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series is fantastic, btw. I just finished the final book, "The Last Olympian". No spoilers -- just a weird experience. In the last quarter of the book, I read this line:

Besides, we know this drakon they cannot beat.

"We know this drakon they cannot beat" -- there was something familiar about the cadence of that sentence. I was sure it was some song lyric, with "drakon" fitting in the place of some other word or words. I kept rereading it, and tada! my brain suddenly decided that it was from Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird (popup warning).

Except it isn't. There's really no similarity between "We know this drakon they cannot beat" and "And this bird you cannot change". But there it was, stuck in my head. I could go no further down that path.

But honestly, if you need a song in the back of your head as a soundtrack to the battle of Olympus, "Freebird" rocks.

Are we human or are we dancer?

2009-08-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

The lyrics to The Killers' "Human" generated quite a bit of discussion...

...a search will find many more sites. What seems to be definitive (from the writer's mouth!) is that "the lyrics were inspired by a disparaging comment made by Hunter S. Thompson about how America was raising a generation of dancers." I had no luck finding the original quote by Thompson (looking for context) and no mention of it other than in connection to this song.

I've considered all of the interpretations I read and haven't really been satisfied with any of the theories. So I made up my own.

Human = physical; dancer = spiritual. Treating them as a dichotomy is the puzzle and "both" is the answer.

HuffPo writer offended by mirror

2009-07-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach posted an article today about the damage divorce does to children. I wrote a comment to his article, pointing out that the inevitable damages he lists are not actually inevitable and that not all children are "scarred" by divorce. I pointed out that he himself writes "I was always puzzled at how so many of my friends, whose parents were divorced, were either neutral on the topic or actually happy that their parents divorced, thinking that everyone was better off" after stating that his parents' divorce "scarred me so deeply that I thought I would never fully recover".

He hurt, therefore every child of divorced parents must feel the same. He enumerates the damages in the second person: you will suffer these consequence. I wrote that no, he suffered those consequences; not all children do, and that his point might have been stronger had he written in the first person and not projected his experiences onto everyone else.

Comment deleted.

Since I made no attack, offered no insult, and carefully used only the words he himself wrote, I'm left wondering if he really needs to believe that every child suffers the pain that he did, and the fact that they don't is too threatening to his worldview to even allow it in print...

Chateau Ste. Michelle concerts

2009-07-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Chateau Ste. Michelle is our favorite concert venue. But every year, I have to try to recall what our "routine" was, so I decided to blog it so I can just look it up next time.

Last night was our first concert of the summer, Tears for Fears (TFF). The concert start time was 7:00 pm. We left Bellevue at 2:30 and arrived at the winery by 3:00. The winery has expanded its on-site parking area but now charges $5 for onsite parking. There were maybe 10 cars already parked in the field when we arrived.

Carried our chairs and cooler to the line. The line forms on the grass alongside the sidewalk, most of it in direct sun. (The front of the line has shade.) We set up our stuff in the line, then moved over the deeply shaded grass to relax and read while waiting. (We could see our stuff so no problem.)

Shade, good company, and a good book - nice relaxing wait. During part of the wait, we got to hear TFF rehearsing. (The crowd applauded after one bit, and whoever was on the microphone imitated Elvis saying "Thank you very much", then the band did a snippet of "Suspicious Minds", which was amusing.) When they were done, they walked back to the manor, but they could see the line of people camped out on the other side of the taped barrier, and Curt and Roland went up to the tape where a gaggle of enthusiastic fans rushed up, and they all got kisses from Roland.)

We snacked a bit while waiting. At 5, the gate usually opens, but on this day Ticketmaster was late delivering the Will Call tickets so opening was delayed a bit.

Gate opens. Show ticket, get hand stamped. Head for our favorite spot (stage right, with the walking lane directly behind us). Spread out blanket, set up chairs and cooler, sit back and have dinner. Read our books, watch the crowd.

We're reconsidering our favorite location though, because when TFF began playing, the entire crowd was on its feet dancing - couldn't see a thing but bobbing butts. At the Chateau, the entire center section out from the stage is roped off with plastic chairs (the "reserved" seating, though who would prefer a hard plastic chair in a sea of chairs to a gorgeous lawn picnic?). We're thinking for our next concert (Moody Blues), we'll try a spot immediately by the roped off area on our side of the stage. The downside is we'll have people on all sides of us, which we don't much care for, so we'll see if it's a worthwhile trade-off for being able to see the stage instead of inebriates "dancing". (I know inebriate isn't properly a noun; deal.)

Tears for Fears did a wonderful show, btw. Some of the songs, I knew, and others I hadn't heard before but really enjoyed, particularly "Memories Fade".

If you live in the Seattle area and haven't tried a concert at Chateau Ste. Michelle, I highly recommend it. Dress and pack for a picnic, relax on the beautiful grounds, and enjoy wonderful music as the sun sets.

(When the gate opened at 5, the line behind us was extremely long. Camping in line for 2 hours may seem excessive, but the pay-off of being one of the first ones in the parking lot and in line, getting spot of choice to set up when the gate opens, and not shuffling along in the long line just to get in makes it worth it!)

Upside-down flag: free speech?

2009-07-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

I read in the AF Times Online today about an US flag, flown upside-down by a restaurant owner to signify "distress" at not being granted a liquor license, being taken by police.

The restaurant owner calls it theft; the ACLU calls it a violation of free speech.

I don't think the owner's situation meets the US Code's definition of distress: "The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property."

Frankly, I think the owner's actions more in line with a 911 call about a fast food order than "exercising free speech" (which the 911 caller was also doing).

G1 phone: forward messages

2009-06-13T21:01:00.001-07:00

Another G-1 tip! My brother just sent me a brief video message that was hilarious, so I wanted to forward it to my daughter. I tried Menu, no luck. I thought maybe incoming videos might be in my Gallery, where I could send it from, but nope, not there.

Before I gave up completely, I Binged it and there was the answer: touch and hold the message -- a menu that includes Forward appears. Very cool.

2010 Census Reveals Frightening Data

2009-06-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

17 Feb 2011

National census proves that opinion polls are invalid

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Census Bureau today announced that responses to the set of opinion questions included in the 2010 national census prove that opinion polls, which purport to quantify public opinion by gathering data from small sets of representative individuals, have no basis in reality.

"We included these questions to validate opinion polls," said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. "Poll results are used to influence legislation, form policy, determine the networks' fall schedules -- the impact over the past few decades is enormous. Since the 2010 census was our opportunity to 'listen' to every citizen, we asked a few key questions that we could then evaluate against the more traditional phone polling results."

Locke appeared distressed and befuddled as he read from his report: "Do you believe that the military's policy against homosexuals serving should be repealed? 95% answered yes. Do you believe that the United States is a Christian nation? 17% answered yes. Do you believe that Paris Hilton is a good role model for young girls? 72% answered yes."

Locke went on to say that the census questions send a clear message that nobody in Washington knows what the general population thinks about anything.

When asked for comment, Gallup.com declined to respond.

T-Mobile G1 phone: extended battery

2009-05-15T18:16:00.001-07:00

What good is a phone with tons of great apps and features, if you can't use most of them because they drain your inadequate battery too quickly? Running my phone minimally (a few calls & texts, no GPS, no apps), I only had to charge it every night. That's as opposed to a few times a day. Totally unacceptable.

For months, I'd been hearing rumors that T-Mobile was going to be sending customers a better battery. But I finally gave up waiting and bought my own.

Seidio has an extended G1 battery that had pretty good reviews, so I ordered one. The initial charge took about 4 hours (the paperwork said allow 8). Then I (finally!) got to turn on GPS, play games, mess around with apps. About 24 hours later, I thought I'd plug in the charger just to top it off. But the charging light immediately went to green -- still fully charged after 24 hours!

I don't know yet how long it will last on a charge. I just know that finally I can get full use of my phone without worrying. The new battery is so worth it!

Susan Boyle and redemption

2009-04-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen Susan Boyle's performance, you must.

Why did I refer to "redemption"? Because I think that's the gift Miss Boyle gave the audience, both those physically present and those of us watching online.

As the video starts and the scene is set up, one expects what one blogger called "a female William Hung". You can see it in the faces of audience members as the camera pans through, and in the vaguely bored expressions of the judges. Everyone is ready to snicker, cringe, groan, and laugh. Everyone is expecting a humiliating spectacle.

Then she sings.

What I see in the reactions of those watching is the redemption that I refer to: on every face, in the cheers and applause, in the spontaneous standing ovations, is each person casting aside their preconceptions and allowing themselves to feel genuine and heartfelt appreciation. And that's when we remember what it's like to feel that way, unguarded and honest.

Bless you, Susan Boyle, and may only good come to you from this.

Somehow I missed the shampooing memo

2009-03-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Lifehacker's article on an NPR report on shampooing stunned me. I saw this line: "National Public Radio's story, available in text and audio, details the history of the social ideal of washing one's hair every day" and boggled -- daily shampooing is a social ideal? Why wasn't I told? When did that happen?

I've never (nor needed to) washed my hair every day. I had no idea I was transgressing an ideal. Personally, I have no objection to a deliberate transgression of social ideals (which are seldom ideal), but I at least like to know when I'm doing it.

Where do I live online

2009-03-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

Miriam Heddy asks that question in the context of RaceFail (aka RaceFail'09).

I used to be into SF/F fandom, back when fanzines arrived in snailmail and cons were primarily about books and the L5 Society had a phonetree. Fast forward a few decades and I still read science fiction and fantasy, but I'm not involved in any community. I published a few short stories years ago, but I haven't written fiction since then. I subscribe to 26 blogs that are specifically by writers or about writing, and 178 blogs in total. None are on LiveJournal. I don't see any RSS feeds on the LiveJournal pages I've recently encountered, and using a feed reader is the only way I can possibly keep up. When there's a controversy in the SF/F communities, I'll only know about it by some mention in one of the blogs that I subscribe to, and even then only if it catches my attention so that I go searching to see what's going on (such as the Harlan/Connie incident).

One of the writing blogs I subscribe to is John Scalzi's Whatever. He recently invited Mary Anne Mohanraj to post, and her post was the first I'd heard of RaceFail. Her posts provided a number of links. I have put in 40 hours over the past 5 days following links. I've read as many posts as I could find, the entirety of comments on each post (which is a pain on LJ pages, I might add, having to constantly click expand), the papers/articles referenced, the posts on the posts, the timelines.

I haven't commented on any of the posts because I have nothing to contribute and everything to learn. And I'm answering the question on my own blog because the post that asks that question restricts comments to LiveJournal users.

(Edited to add (or ETA as they use on LiveJournal) - I forgot to explain the contradiction: why answer where the questioner will never see the answers? Nobody in this whole deal knows me and nobody will know that I wandered through without answering. I'm doing it here just for myself. To see what I'd say. Because to be honest, the first time I read through her list of questions, I had some indignant self-righteous reactions. I wanted to see if I could get past that.)

For some of Miriam's other questions:

Do you realize that this conversation has been going on, in LJ and in blogs, in media fandom and in pro sci fi fandom, since January?
I do now. It hit my little corner of the universe on March 12th.
Do you realize that, prior to this latest round, there were other conversations about racism on the internet? Did you participate in those? Did you lurk?
I assume there are conversations about every possible topic under the sun on the internet every minute. I'm unaware of most of them, and I haven't encountered any on racism. But I've been out of newsgroups and chat rooms and message boards this century -- I spent too much time there the previous one.
Do you recognize that the fact that the only reason to call it "RaceFail" is to distinguish it from all the other full-of-Fail conversations about racism that've occurred before this one? Do you recognize that specifying it as "09" suggests both a need to distinguish it from the one that happened in 08, and from the one that will almost certainly happen in 2010? Where do you live on the internet that you missed this?
I grouped those because they're related, and because the combination is a scream of frustration. But the fact is, there are huge immense vast regions of the Internet. There are screams of frustration in countless rooms, and we only hear them if we happen to be in range. When we do hear them, we can pass by or we can investigate. I wandered in to RaceFail and stayed to investigate.
Do you see participation in anti-racist conversation and activism as some sort of elective course, or a hobby, or do you see it as a necessary and important part of your life?
On March 12th, I was first exposed to anti-racism, and I've barely scratched the surface of learning its vocabulary and framework. I'm saying that in the view of anti-racism as a formal school of thought, as opposed to the general non-racist teachings taught in schools and workplaces.

"In space, no one can hear you scream."

Chuck Norris wants to take his marbles and go home

2009-03-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

I've always had a soft spot for Chuck Norris, maybe because he's a fellow USAF vet. And I really liked Lone Wolf McQuade. But his article on WorldNetDaily reminds me that the roles actors play aren't the people that the actors are, and the guise of celebrity isn't necessarily a hallmark of good character.

Chuck Norris is joining the chorus of tea partiers and those going Galt who are mad at reality, musing that Texas may (should?) secede.

He states, "Anyone who has been around Texas for any length of time knows exactly what we'd do if the going got rough in America." Um...cut and run for $200, Alex?

Seriously, Chuck, those are your words: "If the going got rough." I'm glad you weren't by my side in the military.

USAF retiree "exercise"

2009-02-13T22:18:00.000-08:00

My email today contained the press release on the Air Reserve Personnel Center's "push pull" exercise.

"For the first time, retired active-duty majors and master sergeants are being asked by Air Reserve Personnel Center officials to participate in the biennial "Push-Pull" exercise, an end-to-end test of key mobilization systems and processes."

I thought, dude, that's me! (Retired active duty master sergeant) I read further and found that if I'd been part of the "preselected population", I would have received an invitation to apply. Which I didn't. But it made me wonder, would I have applied if I had?

"Airmen selected to participate will be "pushed" to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, for re-orientation training. This training increases participants' situational awareness of current Air Force issues and activities."

A trip to Texas is none too appealing. Although April isn't that bad of a month to go there (if you have to go). I'm sort of curious about how things have changed since '97. I know the uniforms are different, and the sergeant (E-4) is no more. Instead of AFR (Air Force regulations), they have AFI (Air Force instructions) - they were starting that transition when I was still in, and I still don't like it. It's a stupid word change that didn't seem to do anything except cost money. Like renaming units. They changed the AFSC system (Air Force specialty code) too, but I only remember my old ones...207x2, 732x0, and a special duty one that I forgot...and I'm sure procedures have changed so much as to make everything I knew how to do useless.

It would have been an adventure to go, though. So I guess I probably would have applied. I wish I knew someone who was going so I could find out what it was like afterward.

CEO pay - my modest proposal

2009-02-06T10:44:00.000-08:00

Slate has an article discussing Wall Street CEO compensation that advocates binding shareholder votes on pay for company executives. And of course, salary caps for execs at companies that have received federal "bail out" money is mentioned all over the news pages and blogs.

I have a different thought.

Years ago, I read a paper on the role of corporations in the young United States. I can't find that same paper now, but here's a quote from The Uncooling of America that is similar to what I read:

"Early American charters were created literally by the people, for the people as a legal convenience. Corporations were "artificial, invisible, intangible," mere financial tools. They were chartered by individual states, not the federal government, which meant they could be kept under close local scrutiny. They were automatically dissolved if they engaged in activities that violated their charter. Limits were placed on how big and powerful companies could become. Even railroad magnate J. P. Morgan, the consummate capitalist, understood that corporations must never become so big that they "inhibit freedom to the point where efficiency [is] endangered."

The two hundred or so corporations operating in the US by the year 1800 were each kept on fairly short leashes. They weren't allowed to participate in the political process. They couldn't buy stock in other corporations. And if one of them acted improperly, the consequences were severe. In 1832, President Andrew Jackson vetoed a motion to extend the charter of the corrupt and tyrannical Second Bank of the United States, and was widely applauded for doing so. That same year the state of Pennsylvania revoked the charters of ten banks for operating contrary to the public interest. Even the enormous industry trusts, formed to protect member corporations from external competitors and provide barriers to entry, eventually proved no match for the state. By the mid-1800s, antitrust legislation was widely in place.

In the early history of America, the corporation played an important but subordinate role. The people -- not the corporations -- were in control."

I think we need to roll back definitions of corporations toward that early standard, with its emphasis on good citizenship and public interest. And as part of the redefinition of their roles in society, the compensation (not just salary) of the highest level officers in a corporation be expressed as a multiple of the compensation of the employees.

For example, for a corporation to retain its charter, its officers can receive compensation at a rate no greater than...what would be reasonable? No greater than 5times the median compensation paid to employees? 25 times? 100? Average, rather than median?

Well, those are details for econonomic experts and policy makers. But this would do much to rectify the obscene imbalance in salary between the CEOs and workers, and it would also be an incentive for improving employee compensation at all levels.

Why I didn't buy a new computer from Dell

2009-01-30T13:21:00.000-08:00

I like Dell computers. It's easy to work inside the box. We've had a number of Dell computers in our family over the years and no problems from any of them.

I got Oblivion for Christmas. My current system isn't adequate to play it. So, when I got the regular Dell flyer in the mail, I took a look. There was a system on sale that seemed just right for my needs.

I went to Dell.com and navigated in through Home Users, desktops, to the model in the flyer. But the configuration was less than the one in the flyer (smaller hard drive, no upgraded video card). I went through Customization and the price went up when I set it to the configuration in the flyer.

Confused, I went back to the flyer and typed in the url listed there. That took me to a special 'catalog' section of the site, and there was the same model in the advertised configuration at the price of the lesser configuration on the "regular" page.

As a consumer, my expectation is that when a company offers a sale price on an item, it's on that item -- not on "that item only if you go to a special page but if you go in the front door not knowing about the sale, we're not going to offer it".

I think it's sneaky and disrespectful.

David Cook's eponymous CD

2009-01-06T20:50:00.003-08:00

Apparently most of Cook's diehard fans don't mind 8 minutes of dead air in the middle of a track, but I'm not a "fan" -- I heard a song I liked on the radio and so I bought the CD. Sorry, kids, but 8 minutes of dead air is excessive, unnecessary, and rude.

Commander in Chief - a West Wing quibble

2008-12-29T13:25:00.000-08:00

I never watched West Wing when it was on the air, but I bought the seven seasons on DVD to watch over the holidays on a whim. (I caught a rerun on TV of the episode that had the shooting in Roslyn and got interested.)

I'm up to season 6 now. President Bartlet is on the plane to China, paralyzed. His staff is making noises about landing in Alaska, and he hollers that the plane is going to China. Quote: "That's a direct order from your Commander in Chief."

This isn't the only time the series has made such inaccurate references. If I may direct you to the Constitution: "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States." The President is not Commander in Chief of civilians, cabinet, staff, or any other body or individual; he is their President.

Smothers Brothers: best of season 3 dvd

2008-11-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

Tonight I put on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: The Best of Season 3. I was about 9 when these episodes were on the air, so I vaguely remembered the show. (Although I grew up listening to their albums, so I know most of their routines and songs by heart.)

I watched about six episodes. There were some interesting moments -- until George Carlin spoke, I didn't believe that young man was really him! -- and great music. But, much of the comedy sketches were...off-putting.

(A major aside: off-putting is in the dictionary, "Tending to disconcert or repel", but doesn't it seem like an odd construction? Like a Yoda phrase.)

Back to the comedy. Much of it was really heavy-handed. Those were dark and ugly times in our country, and the sketches were battles in the war against the darkness and ugliness. But it really became too much for me after awhile.

And I think it may be because of Obama. I think maybe this election has induced just enough cautious optimism that I want to leave the past in the past for a change.

Still, I'm happy that Tommy finally received his Emmy.

Change.gov, the blog

2008-11-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

So far, much of what's been posted on Change.gov is the press-release type of update. But today's entry reads like an actual living (interesting) blog:

President-elect Barack Obama visited Manny's Cafeteria and Deli in Chicago today to pick up two cherry pies and three corned beef sandwiches -- including one for himself and one for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

President-elect Obama ordered his sandwich on rye bread with mustard.

Don't ask why that tickles me -- it just does.

Do you know your myths?

2008-11-21T10:57:00.001-08:00

Michael Turner delighted me this morning with his comment to the blog post End of the beginning, which links to a Reuters article in which someone states, "Even though the Fed has done everything it possibly could to support the banks it seems like they are rolling a rock up a hill."

Mr. Turner subtly highlights the sad state of cultural literacy indicated by the speaker referring to the punishment of Sisyphus without actually mentioning Sisyphus. In his comment, he offers a number of other statements that allude to mythology yet avoid clear references (that might confuse those who know nothing of mythology). See if you can match up the mythological figure with Mr. Turner's descriptions:

"Treasury, in opening a massive liquidity conduit last year, was diverting a river in the hope that it would clean a lot of horseshit out of a huge stables."
"Phil Gramm et al., in deregulating the banking sector, opened up this box that held a whole lot of bad things on wings that then flew out all over the world, plaguing everyone."
"If Ben Bernanke applies the wisdom accumulated from his deep study of the Great Depression, and somehow saves the day, the way he saves it will leave him so hated by certain Powers That Be that they will chain him to side of that mountain down which that rock rolled and smashed those stables (which then got swept away in splinters in that river). And he will lie there, struggling, helpless, in agony, as his ever-regenerating liver is torn in perpetuity by flying Republican attack monkeys."

Did you get them all?

About gay marriage

2008-11-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

I don't have a dog in this fight. Personally, I feel a vague discomfort that government/society is at all involved in defining personal relationships, however I acknowledge that there are a myriad of economic and legal issues, particularly in the areas of children and property, that require some form of regulation.

So be it, specific forms of personal relationships incur contractual obligations that must be legislated.

That given, I see no valid reason why two men or two women shouldn't be able to incur those same obligations. As this protestor neatly prints on her sign, "Against gay marriage? Then don't have one"**. Makes sense to me.

But being unencumbered by structural dogma, I also see no valid reason why the contract should be restricted to two parties. Heinlein certainly made good arguments for more than two adults in a familial relationship.

I know this stance angers those who are fighting for gay marriage, because it appears to play into the slippery slope fears of their opponents (who do argue that a reason to oppose gay marriage is that it could lead to polygamy) (they also argue that it could lead to bestiality, which is a ridiculous misapplication of logic). However, if we can cast off historical precedent in western culture by substituting gender in the traditionally accepted marital relationship, what argument can there be against substituting number as well? Personally, I think both would be good things.

(Anyway, it's not like group marriages would be recognized anytime soon -- culture would have to change first, as it has over several decades with homosexuality being brought out into the open. Unfortunately, the sole model publically acknowledged at this time involves creepy old men, females who are too young, and cult-like environments. Not what I have in mind.)

**That statement reflects my view on another sticky issue: against abortion? Then don't have one.

"24" and torture

2008-11-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

I adore 24. Watching it isn't a pleasant or soothing experience, but the questions it raises fascinate me. Season 4 and Season 5 particularly, because of the way they highlighted the role of the president through Charles Logan. One of his first "presidential" lines was an outraged "You did that without asking me?" I watch Logan and listen to his claims of omnipotence and, even scarier, the blind deference exhibited by other characters and the cowed submission of the rest -- and I wonder, does anyone really buy all that? (But I'm afraid in reality some do.)

Not the point of my post, however. I come not to praise 24, but to condemn it for its pervasive use of torture.

I think the way the show is initially presented cushions the impact, lulls us into an uneasy acceptance of alleged necessity. When you watch one hour a week over a TV season, a single scene in a single episode isn't overwhelming. And they do an excellent job (usually) of providing a context that permits excusal of the excesses.

That's not how I watch the show. I watch it on DVD, episode after episode, through the entire "day", and season by season up to the present. And viewed in that way, it's clear that, too often, the pretext for torture is unreasonable, inadequate, and morally wrong. Even the "ticking bomb" frameworks often fail to justify the actions CTU takes.

Sometimes, they torture the right person and get the magic clue to proceed to the next scene. And it's those "successes" that has the unfortunate result of convincing us, the audience, that torture is morally neutral and that it can be "right" in some situations.

The characters themselves never question the ethics of torture. The only character that I recall who sort of challenged it was Audrey in Season 4, but I think she was more upset at it being done (1) in front of her, (2) to her husband and brother, (3) by her boyfriend. Not so much against torture itself. And Daddy made it alright with "It's a dirty job but someone has to do it, so don't hold it against him."

It's a dirty job because it is wrong. Torture is wrong. Torture is never right, even for "the greater good".

I'll still watch 24. But I repeat: torture is wrong.

Election night with the Obamas

2008-11-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

Another one of those elegant touches that the Obama campaign so frequently produces: behind-the-scenes photos on flickr, documenting election night. Try the slide show.

G1 phone: alarm clock

2008-11-04T19:04:00.001-08:00

My old phone died (the display) and when I went in to the T-Mobile store to browse, I talked myself into the G1. (I confess, PacMan was the irresistable feature, although the ShopSavvy and map features were also compelling.) But the handbook is lacking. So, as I figure out the little things that aren't mentioned in the book, I'm going to post them.

I use my cell phone for my alarm clock. The G1 offers three separate alarm settings. You can set the time, the sound, whether to vibrate, and which days to repeat the alarm, for three configurations. My question was - does it have a snooze? Yes, it does. When the alarm goes off, two buttons appear on the screen: Snooze and Dismiss. It will snooze for 10 minutes.

Bill, Joe, Rashid...am I next?

2008-10-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

I don't mind telling you that I am really worried about this. The most coincidental and meaningless of encounters with Barack Obama can catapult one unwillingly into the glaring spotlight of international attention. And frankly, there is much of my life that I would prefer be kept entirely private. But those reporters and bloggers are nefarious at uncovering the most tightly held secrets, and how terrible it would be if any lapses from my past tarnished the campaign of the man I hope is our next President.

I can only attempt Peter's feat, and state I do not know Barack Obama. I have never met Barack Obama. I have never been in the presence of Barack Obama.

Should any information to the contrary be uncovered, please -- I just put in new sod out front, keep the camera crew on the driveway. Thank you.

A unique retrospective

2008-10-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm a sap, but it made me happy seeing Andy and Opie fishing again, and Richie and Fonz talking about girls again.

Comparisons to 1929

2008-10-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

David Leonhardt begins his New York Times article with this sentence:

In 1929, Meyer Mishkin owned a shop in New York that sold silk shirts to workingmen.

Doesn't anyone else find it incongruous that workingmen in 1929 would be buying enough silk shirts to support a shop?

Hulu happiness

2008-09-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

Hulu.com is great. I gave the first three episodes of Fringe a shot, and Joshua Jackson hooked me. Then I revisited Studio 60 on Sunset Strip, starting with the first episode, and damn - it was even better than I remembered. I really wish they'd kept it on the air. But in the meantime, this Hulu site is cool.

How many shooters not voting for Palin?

2008-09-04T15:54:00.001-07:00

Me, for one.

Viva la vida (Coldplay)

2008-08-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it. Just the sound of it makes me happy, despite the decidedly odd scansion of some of the lines. And I found myself pondering the lyrics, trying to figure out the backstory.

I finally decided that it was an elegy for christianity. The biblical references are obvious, of course, but the story just didn't come together for me until I cast the voice telling the story as the institution itself and the story itself covering more than a thousand years. Everything made sense to me then.

Hickman's horse, Peter Rabbit

2008-08-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

The Yahoo! odd news feed today brings up a touching story of an old horse in a pasture and a cruel town being inflexible and unfeeling. Fortunately, the story also included a link to the town's website.

I'm guessing that Hickman, NE has been inundated with inquiries about the situation. Somebody intelligent took the initiative to turn their city's homepage into "The Rest of the Story".

The rest of the story is...the 1988 ordinance wasn't applied until now because that land wasn't part of the incorporated city until 2006. That answered my first question - why was this just now happening?

More of the rest of the story...after incorporating the land, the city immediately began dealing with the livestock issue with the owners who, it appears, intransigently refuse any compromise whatsoever, no matter how reasonable. For example:

City Council discussed options of allowing Harleys Horse to stay but to require the Horse Owners to have a Certified Veterinarian perform a Annual Health Checkup and present the findings to the City Offices along with a licensing and processing fee, similar to the ones required by dogs in the city limits. This solution was not acceptable to the Scotts who voiced their intent not to comply with any such regulation.

Numerous other properties in the area, outside the incorporated area, have offered to give Peter Rabbit (the horse) a home, so I have to hope that when the Scotts lose their battle, they relocate the horse properly.

I was going to email the city council in Hickman to thank them for "the rest of the story" but they've disabled "Contact us" for the time being -- I don't blame them.

Die Hard: a quibble

2008-08-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

I'm at the scene where the initial squad of keystone cops are trying to enter the building. When the lock-picking fails, they pull out the blowtorch. These are huge glass doors, in a huge glass wall. Glass breaks, dude - easy entry.

Well done, China

2008-08-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

I watch very little of the Olympics in any year, but I enjoy the parade of athletes, so I'm watching this year's opening ceremonies. The 2008 drummers were incredible. Even more so were the grey boxes which whipped up and down in hypnotic patterns, at one point forming the Great Wall. I was so impressed by their technology that my jaw literally dropped when the boxes opened up to reveal the people inside who had actually been performing those amazing patterns. What precision! Well done, China. (Now, back to the show...)

Book fans are the greatest

2008-07-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

This article on the fans of the "Twilight" book series converging on the small town of Forks tickles me, especially the way the town has engaged in the enthusiasm.

I haven't read the "Twilight" books and probably won't. Not because they're YA -- I still reread the books I read when I was young, and I thoroughly enjoyed Harry Potter -- but because vampire books are just so pervasive that they're beyond cliché. They've taken over the SF shelves at the bookstore. And honestly, I find the whole vampire mythos boring.

I've said it. Vampires are boring.

For originality and creativity, I think the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books are outstanding. These are also YA, in the line of Potter and Twilight. They're written in the first person, and the narrator's voice is impeccable. The characters are rich and believable, although my daughter was a bit miffed that Ares wasn't handsome and noble. (Personally, I think Riordan did a great job characterizing Ares. And wow, did he nail Hera!)

I'm not sure where Percy fans would congregate, since the stories don't have a single locale like Twilight does. But fans are inventive - they'll think of something.

My many tribes

2008-07-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

The first hit for "define tribe" on google is "a social division of (usually preliterate) people". I'm using it without the parenthetical condescension. It evokes the feel of the many cultures I've belonged to throughout my life.

I don't think it's possible to enumerate all of the tribes in this country (the US) alone, much less the world. Tribes are no longer a mere reflection of geographical proximity and the resulting community; they may or may not have any connection to the ethnicity of the members. Today's tribes are formal and informal, official and unofficial. People seek out their like, and as the groups expand, their own special language and rituals evolve.

It was this post on Whatever and following one of its links that started me thinking about it. I didn't realize there was a ChildFree tribe ("CF" is the shorthand). And that's part of the point about tribes: meeting the defining criterion doesn't make you a member. You don't belong to the CF tribe by not having children. Tribe membership results from identifying, engaging, participating, accepting, and claiming.

Briefly, I wondered why not having children would be important enough (other than as a simple choice) to jell a tribe. "Well, that's pretty judgmental," I criticized myself. "Have the tribes you've belonged to been any more important?"

So I have to list my tribes. I don't belong to most of them anymore, although there's still a fond nostalgia that is common to alumni.

Campfire Girls and 4-H, children's organizations.

Air Force Junior ROTC. Granted, it was a high school class, but it also formed my social circle and (since this was the early 70s) was my first tribe with a true "us vs them" context.

US Air Force. Twenty years, so I also could join the Retiree tribe, except I don't engage or participate.

Science fiction conventions. Con-goers are a tribe within the much wider fandom world which is within the readership world. (Then there are the graphic novel tribes and the film tribes and the art tribes and many more I never even noticed.)

L-5 Society. Partially overlapping fandom.

Society for Creative Anachronism.
:::side-thought...belonging to a tribe helps you define, even create, your immediate world. Without a tribe, without fellows in the same mind contributing their thought energy to holding that world vision together, you're only day-dreaming:::

The Trivians. In the days of pay-by-the-minute dial-up AOL. I first found the trivia club in 1991, and thus discovered the social potential of the internet.

The Zoomie crowd at Keflavik. On the third floor of the senior NCO barracks at Kef, the dayroom had been refurbished as a bar, called the Zoomie, which became home-away-from-home for an amazing yearlong tribe.

I've wandered the periphery of numerous other tribes, but not fully entered because it becomes a commitment. A tribe is the core of what is popularly called communities. Community is casual; tribal membership is deep.

User-friendly DVD: 24

2008-07-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

I need to mention that, by season 5, 24 finally figured out how to do a great DVD set. No more multiple clicks to return to the main menu (and hoping you can remember exactly which hour episode you just finished) -- now, they offer the lovely Play All option. They also improved their packaging: individual cases in a cardboard holder, instead of the cumbersome unfold-six-times method.

I'm much happier.

Visiting other realms

2008-07-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

I'm reading The Traveller books by John Twelve Hawks. If you're not familiar with them, they're about a dystopian near-future (not too different than the present) and Travellers, "prophets able to journey to different realms of consciousness". Which got me thinking...if I had the ability to travel to other realms, would I?

I surprised myself by concluding, finally, that I wouldn't. Here's the reasoning I went through:

If the other realm was terrible, I wouldn't want to be there.
If the other realm was wonderful, I wouldn't want to return, and I belong here.
If the other realm resembled ours--both terrible and wonderful and everything in between--well, I haven't finished exploring this one yet.

24: season five

2008-07-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

I'm marathoning season 5 of 24 and, just like the last time I watched it, I'm absolutely frustrated by the last quarter of the season. Why isn't Jack playing the tape for everyone he's speaking to? "Here, Karen, listen....Chloe, record this as I play it....make copies and post them to YouTube..."

We know Jack isn't stupid - why is he being stupid now?

Teens should be less selective sexually?

2008-06-16T17:49:00.000-07:00

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach thinks a major advantage to single-gender education is that it will result in hornier teenagers.

Seriously.

I can only surmise that there is a great deal of projection occurring when he claims "It is incredible how at even an early age, when teenagers are so hormonally charged, they are erotically desensitized to the vast majority of other teenagers, feeling attracted only to about ten percent of the class." (I don't know his source; he only cites movies and the propensity of yearbooks to focus on the "Most" type of categories, like "Most Popular".) It may not make it to the movies, or even the archival yearbooks, but plenty of pairing and mating occurs amidst that invisible 90%, and not with what he calls "the superlatives".

He also cites the supercharged sexual tension of Victorian-style movies as support for more rigid segregation of the genders. Personally, the last thing I think we should encourage is the overwrought reaction to the opposite sex driven by lack of familiarity.

Whether you consider gender integration at an early age as knowledge (my view) or desensitization (the Rabbi's view), the benefit in my opinion is that the youngster learns that desire and attraction can happen with multiple individuals, even unsuitable ones, and that there should be more. Whereas, from a segregated upbringing, that youngster could easily mistake the first encounter and resulting feelings and urges as something so unique and special that the object of desire simply must be their perfect partner.

Not ready for primetime: Explore Walt Disney World in 3D

2008-06-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

I came across the Official Google Blog: Explore Walt Disney World Resort in 3D and was really excited to try it out. Granted, it's Disney World rather than Disneyland (my favorite), but it still seemed like such a cool addition to Google Earth.

Unfortunately, the kinks aren't quite worked out yet. The layer was unresponsive, then when it finally began to work it was erratic and sluggish. Then it crashed Google Earth (fatal error).

Maybe I'll try it again next month.

Why is Add/Remove Programs stupid?

2008-04-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging for something to do while I wait for Add/Remove Programs to populate itself. This has irritated me for years, and now I'm going to express my frustration publically: why is Add/Remove Programs stupid??

The way it appears to work, each time I open Add/Remove Programs, it acts like this is the first time it's ever visited this computer, so it leisurely trolls through the registry and program files to see what interesting items are in the neighborhood (or however it does its thing). When it's done taking a census, it displays the list.

My expectation: you live in this neighborhood too, A/RP, so pay attention. When neighbors move out or new neighbors move in, make note of it. Then, when I visit you, you should know exactly what's going on in the neighborhood and tell me. Immediately.

Hmpf. I could have searched for the darn program I'm checking on myself quicker than you could tell me. Stupid A/RP.

Reporters twist things

2008-04-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

Secretary of Defense Gates, in a speech today:

"My concern is that our services are still not moving aggressively in wartime to provide resources needed now on the battlefield. I’ve been wrestling for months to get more intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets into the theatre. Because people were stuck in old ways of doing business, it’s been like pulling teeth."

The Associated Press interpretation:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday the Air Force is not doing enough to help in the Iraq and Afghanistan war effort, complaining that some military leaders are "stuck in old ways of doing business."

Gates said in a speech at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., that getting the Air Force to send more surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to Iraq and Afghanistan has been "like pulling teeth."

4/23: added - Gates responds to AP:

Gates said that a close reading of his speech shows "it's not a dig at the Air Force at all. In fact, a significant part of the speech was full of praise at what the Air Force has done in the Middle East, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and the whole theater." Gates pointed to his specific comments about how USAF cargo aircraft have gotten convoys off the road, as well as USAF's "total control of the air, the medevac capabilities, and so on. So, there was a lot in that speech that praised the Air Force." Gates said his remark that it's been like "pulling teeth" to get more intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets in-theater was "focused on all the services." He added that he was trying to jab the "bureaucracy in ...the Department of Defense as a whole" and "really had nothing to do with the people downrange. They're doing an incredible job."

"When all you have is a hammer..."

2008-04-21T18:48:00.001-07:00

"...everything looks like a nail."

That's what came to mind when I stumbled across a "live blog session" with John Cusack on Crooks and Liars.

I'm looking forward to his new movie, War, Inc. so I thought I'd check it out, although I wasn't too sure what exactly "live blog session" meant. Turns out they attempted a chat, using blog comments. I wasn't there when it was "live", but at a minimum, that would have to consist of type...submit....refresh...find where you left off reading and catch up. Rinse and repeat.

Dudes, IRC might be ancient, but it's a good tool for what you were trying to do. And there are plenty of other online chat solutions. You can log chats, y'know, and then post the log for those who missed it. Blog comments have got to be one of the most inefficient, inadequate substitutes for a chat solution.

Just 'cuz you have a blog doesn't mean you can't communicate using other methods as well.

CEO of Spirit Air admits it's a bad airline

2007-08-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

Ben Baldanza himself, in an email, says "Let him tell the world how bad we are" (referring to a dissatisfied customer).

Not an airline I want to take a chance on, how about you?

A look at celebreality

2007-08-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

VH1 has added a touch of...something...to its celebreality shows that puts them a step above watching a train wreck.

I mean that as a compliment. In general, I get a feeling of prurient creepiness when I've seen episodes of some shows, and it's much like the morbid curiousity that makes you look at the remains of a disaster. But VH1 has three shows now that I'm watching regularly.

Mission Man Band

Scott Baio is 45 and Single

Rock of Love

Bryan, Chris, Jeff, Rich, Scott, and Bret all come across as genuine, likable people. Except for Bret, they each have real problems and issues that they're dealing with, and I'm rooting for them and want them to succeed. I don't want the "man band" concept to be just a tv gimmick that gets pulled out from under them when the show is over. I'm really hoping Scott can grow up (they did a great job filming when Scott leaves the restaurant after "breaking up" with Johnny V). As for Bret - it takes a real suspension of disbelief to think he needs a show to find a girlfriend; but he's just so darn nice and sincere that I can't help enjoying his contest.

"Rock of Love" pushes it the most, but the other two shows maintain a level of dignity that I respect. And even Rock avoids dwelling on the sleazier aspects. None of the shows is trying to humiliate anyone or make them look ridiculous. Shows like "Surreal Life" and the ones with Flav could learn a lesson here.

New England: "Turn Out the Lights" lyrics

2007-07-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

I've always had good luck finding lyrics online; in fact, I'd started to believe I'd never come across a song that somebody somewhere hadn't posted the lyrics for on a website somewhere. Then, tonight, to my amazement, I was reminded of one of my favorite songs from the late 70s and, when I searched, the lyrics were nowhere to be found.

So, here they are, my contribution to the global network of information that we call the web, the lyrics to "Turn Out the Lights" by New England, as best I can recall...

Can you imagine what it would be like
if for just one minute I could turn out the lights
and go back to the days when all of us were younger
and so much stronger - free of any strife?
Please don't misunderstand me. It's not that I'm unhappy.
I've got no regrets - it's just a fantasy.
(chorus)
Do you know - do you know - do you know we'll never
Turn them out - turn them out - turn out the lights
Yes, I know - yes, I know - yes, I know we'll never
Turn them out - turn them out - turn out the lights.
But can you imagine how it would feel
if I could - if I could - if I could turn out the lights...

"So You Think You Can Dance": the auditions

2007-05-31T22:57:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that I wish Idol had even half the dignity that Dance does in the tryouts? Granted, with both, we're only seeing the tiniest portion, highly edited. But where Idol seems to pander to the lowest denominator of the viewing audience, Dance seems to care about those trying out.

I watch this show because I enjoy dance, not to witness humiliation. So I appreciate the high road they've taken with these early episodes this season. Much better job than their previous seasons, even.

And when Shane offered that young man a spot in a movie, it was so touching!

Recognizing crazy

2007-04-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

The conversations are everywhere: Should NBC have aired Cho Seung-Hui's video? The concerns that the public airing encourages copycats are compelling, although for anyone predisposed to be "inspired" by such a thing, the murders themselves could likely have been enough.

But I think one useful purpose of making his video publically available is showing crazy. Being confronted with raw genuine crazy is an experience many people have never encountered, and no secondhand account or dramatization or written transcript can convey the same impact as seeing and hearing it for yourself.

Many years ago, a young man who worked for me disappeared. Several days after, "Joe" walked in the office. I asked him questions; I listened; I tried to make sense of his tale. It took me awhile -- much longer than it should have -- to realize I was faced with crazy. He had snapped. A colleague discreetly left to summon help, and we continued our rambling, nonsensical conversation until the authorities arrived.

You know why it took me so long to grasp the situation with Joe? Because I kept trying to make sense of things. I probed for reasons for the utterly irrational actions he'd taken during his absence. Obviously, Joe was disturbed, anxious, depressed -- but he was there talking with me, a seemingly normal, functional human. So I tried harder to make it all make sense. I couldn't recognize crazy.

Kevin Drum wrote a thoughtful post about not reacting too quickly, to avoid frantic grasping at fixes that do nothing and do it poorly. And he's probably right, that there will be hysterical overreactions now toward any peculiar or alarming behavior (or persons). No person's crazy is exactly like another's, but still, I think it helps that we can all hear for ourselves -- this is Cho Seung-Hui's crazy; this is the voice and words and thoughts and expression of a man who killed.

Stoned and complicit

2007-04-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying Sixty Days and Counting by Kim Stanley Robinson, (also author of the delightful Escape From Kathmandu), although not as much as the first two books in the climatic disaster series, Forty Signs of Rain and Fifty Degrees Below. Robinson's books spend a lot of time in the character's heads, and this one is mostly in Frank's head which is not quite stable or functional. Unfortunately, Frank's dysfunctions result in circular obsessions, and I'm as tired of his indecisiveness as he is.

Back to the point though: Robinson has a passage in a chapter prologue that I think is the best description ever of the legacy of what is imprecisely called "the sixties":

"...you old hippie, you got lucky and were born in the right little window and got to grab all the surplus of happiness that history ever produced, and you blew it, you stood around and did nothing while the right reaganed back into power and shut down all possibility of change for an entire generation, you blew it in a ten-year party and staggered off stoned and complicit. You neither learned to do machine politics nor dismantled the machine. Not one of you imagined what had to be done. And so the backlash came down, the reactionary power structure, stronger than ever."

Studio 60 and plagiarism

2006-10-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

I enjoy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I never watched Saturday Night Live, so there are surely some inside jokes and references that I don't get, but I don't miss them. I like the characters. And I'm really impressed at how non-Chandleresque Matthew Perry is.

This week's episode bothered me though. Left a sour taste. All because of one line, spoken by Danny (Bradley Whitford)...something like, "Now you've got my respect."

Why??? Because two guys refuse to admit which writer stole the material that they submitted.

It doesn't matter that eventually the copyright turned out to belong to the show after all. The writer didn't know that when he claimed to have written it, when he offered it for the show. He knew he was stealing; he knew he was risking his own reputation and livelihood; he knew he was putting the entire cast and crew, not to mention the network, in jeopardy. Yet without any regard for anyone else, he took the gamble because he was worried that he hadn't been producing enough funny lately.

So Danny respects that the guys who are covering up for him? Look, just because Congress thinks covering up is the appropriate and respectable response to knowledge of wrong-doing doesn't mean it is.

I used to like Danny. Now he just seems...sleazy.

Free hugs campaign - go for it!

2006-10-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

This is the most smile-making video I've seen...

Folding, revealed

2006-10-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

This is a very cool video. Clothes-folding, the simple, Japanese, and cardboard-machine methods.

Left- or Right-brained?

2006-10-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

Came across this quiz link on Gigi's Behind the Seams blog, so of course I had to see where I fell. (I really dislike binary questions though - sometimes both answers suit equally, and it's annoying to have to choose.)

You Are 50% Left Brained, 50% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.

Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.

If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.

Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.

The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.

Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.

If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.

Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

The young Bob Shane - a shock

2006-09-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'm watching The Kingston Trio Story: Wherever We May Go" on our local PBS station. It's an excellent documentary, but I had quite a shock watching the films of the early trio performing. The young Bob Shane looks just like the young George W. Bush.

Damn, that's disturbing.

I grew up on the Kingston Trio's music, from the cradle on. My parents, when they were newly married, could only afford a single record album, and that's who they bought. Many decades later, Mom and I had the wonderful pleasure of going on an Alaskan cruise with the Kingston Trio, the Limelighters, and many folk music fans. And the music sounded just the same; it was amazing. (The cruise ended on Sep 10th, 2001...there went the world I used to know.)

I've had a fairly peripatetic life. A good life, but one that lends itself to poignant nostalgia late at night. In one of those moods, it occurred to me that their music was just about the only constant, the only thread that stretched through all the years. They created the soundtrack for my life, in a way. So I dug around on the 'net, found their email address, and wrote them a letter telling them so, and thanking them. I got a personal reply from Bob (who was always my favorite Trio member).

So it's hell now to watch him years ago and see Bush...

Cultural changes as boomers age

2006-09-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

Some brilliant marketing genius has realized that aging issues will now be the next big opportunity. Instead of artificial holidays created around jobs and roles*, now we're getting things like Menopause Awareness Month. Because we just noticed???

And what are those cards going to look like? I can picture one with Maxine..."They think it's global warming...(flip)...it's really just all of us having hot flashes at the same time."

National Boss Day
National Doctors Day
National Nurses Day
Administrative Professionals Day
National Clergy Appreciation Day
World Teacher Day
Neighbors Day (in Ohio, but "growing nationally in popularity"
...

Geez, dead already?

2006-09-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

I'd hate to think my faint praise resulted in the first casualty of the new fall shows...but the coincidence cannot be overlooked.

New fall shows: Happy Hour

2006-09-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

I think Amanda (Beth Lacke) is a younger, more vulnerable version of Will and Grace's Karen (Megan Mullally). This is not a bad thing. Amanda is the most compelling character on Fox's Happy Hour.

Running a close second is Larry (Lex Medlin), who is skillfully revealing the depths of a two-dimensional role.

They both make me laugh. I'm not too sure about the rest of the cast or the show itself, but I find Amanda and Larry oddly compelling. I'll keep watching Happy Hour, for now...

New fall shows: Men In Trees

2006-09-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

Two of my favorite shows are Friends and ER -- both of which I didn't begin following until they'd been on for several seasons. In an effort to find new favorites without waiting several years to see how they do, I'm watching nearly a dozen new shows this fall from the pilot on. (Although that tactic did burn me last fall, when Threshold disappeared without warning.)

My first review, after a whole two episodes, is Men In Trees, which I'm sure was pitched as "picture Six Days and Seven Nights in Alaska". Fortunately, I adored Six Days and Seven Nights, particularly Anne Heche's character, Marin, and since she's playing the same character in Men In Trees...

But it works. She softens the edges of the Manhattan-based celeb-author just enough to be likable. The characters of Elmo are quirky enough to be interesting and earthbound enough to be plausible. The role of Annie (Emily Bergl) is especially challenging -- be an absolutely nutso stalker-style fan without being scary. (Her meeting with Patrick when they realize they 'met' previously in online chat is charming.)

I pretty much like everyone in Elmo already. Who could resist the gallantry of an entire town insisting they'd all slept with Marin...?

To Maher Arar

2006-09-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry.

We were wrong to do that to you.

There is no excuse.

MTV's Video Music Awards

2006-09-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

I watched the 2006 VMA show today (Tivo) and enjoyed it much more than I expected to. (Possibly due to Tivo...I FF'd through the acceptance speeches.) Somebody at MTV did an amazing job with the graphics that accompanied the presentation of the nominees -- I especially liked the anatomical charting overlay in the dance category.

Still, the high point of the show, for me, was four guys and eight treadmills live.

Like a million others, I had voted on MTV's site in various categories. It's fun to register an opinion, but how did they come up with the nominees? In each category, I could think of several more deserving who weren't even allowed to compete.

Plus I'm still not reconciled to MTV Overdrive's recent (poor) redesign and the loss of customized playlists.

Broder's overlooked possibility

2006-09-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

Amidst David Broder's rant against the changes to the Democratic primary calendar, he brings out the likely problem:

In the early primaries, eight or 10 people may be vying. What is most needed is time -- and a place -- for them to be carefully examined.

Historically, New Hampshire has fulfilled that responsibility. Voters there -- in both parties and especially among the numerous independents who also vote in the primary -- take their role seriously. They turn up at town meetings and they ask probing questions. So do the interviewers at local papers and broadcast stations. So do high school students.

New Hampshire voters don't need -- or particularly want -- guidance from Iowa, and frequently they ignore the Iowa results. But they are stuck with Iowa. Now, thanks to the Democrats, they may be stuck with Nevada as well, and crowded from behind by South Carolina.

...but manages to overlook that, apparently, the rest of the party is dissatisfied with the results they've gotten by relying on New Hampshire.

Bless Keith Olbermann

2006-09-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

We listened to recordings of "great speeches of history" in school. And they were very historical, since there was nothing in our present that ever equalled any of them. I never expected to hear one in my lifetime.

Mr. Olbermann proved my expectations wrong.

The transcript:

The man who sees absolutes, where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning, is either a prophet, or a quack. Donald H. Rumsfeld is not a prophet.

We end the countdown where we began, our #1 story. with a special comment on Mr. Rumsfeld’s remarkable speech to the American Legion yesterday. It demands the deep analysis - and the sober contemplation - of every American. For it did not merely serve to impugn the morality or intelligence - indeed, the loyalty - of the majority of Americans who oppose the transient occupants of the highest offices in the land; Worse, still, it credits those same transient occupants - our employees - with a total omniscience; a total omniscience which neither common sense, nor this administration’s track record at home or abroad, suggests they deserve.

Dissent and disagreement with government is the life’s blood of human freedom; And not merely because it is the first roadblock against the kind of tyranny the men Mr. Rumsfeld likes to think of as "his" troops still fight, this very evening, in Iraq. It is also essential. Because just every once in awhile… it is right - and the power to which it speaks, is wrong.

In a small irony, however, Mr. Rumsfeld’s speechwriter was adroit in invoking the memory of the appeasement of the Nazis. For, in their time, there was another government faced with true peril - with a growing evil - powerful and remorseless. That government, like Mr. Rumsfeld’s, had a monopoly on all the facts. It, too, had the secret information. It alone had the true picture of the threat. It too dismissed and insulted its critics in terms like Mr. Rumsfeld’s - questioning their intellect and their morality.

That government was England’s, in the 1930’s.

It knew Hitler posed no true threat to Europe, let alone to England. It knew Germany was not re-arming, in violation of all treaties and accords. It knew that the hard evidence it had received, which contradicted it’s own policies, it’s own conclusions - it’s own omniscience - needed to be dismissed.

The English government of Neville Chamberlain already knew the truth. Most relevant of all - it "knew" that its staunchest critics needed to be marginalized and isolated. In fact, it portrayed the foremost of them as a blood-thirsty war-monger who was, if not truly senile - at best morally or intellectually confused. That critic’s name… was Winston Churchill.

Sadly, we have no Winston Churchills evident among us this evening. We have only Donald Rumsfelds, demonizing disagreement, the way Neville Chamberlain demonized Winston Churchill.

History - and 163 million pounds of Luftwaffe bombs over England - had taught us that all Mr. Chamberlain had was his certainty - and his own confusion. A confusion that suggested that the office can not only make the man, but that the office can also make the facts. Thus did Mr. Rumsfeld make an apt historical analogy excepting the fact that he has the battery plugged in backwards.

His government, absolute and exclusive in its knowledge, is not the modern version of the one which stood up to the Nazis. It is the modern version of the government… of Neville Chamberlain.

But back to today’s Omniscient Ones. That about which Mr. Rumsfeld is confused is simply this: This is a Democracy. Still. Sometimes just barely. And as such, all voices count - not just his. Had he or his president perhaps proven any of their prior claims of omniscience - about Osama Bin Laden’s plans five years ago - about Saddam Hussein’s weapons four years ago - about Hurricane Katrina’s impact one year ago - we all might be able to swallow hard, and accept their omniscience as a bearable, even useful recipe, of fact, plus ego.

But, to date, this government has proved little besides its own arrogance, and its own hubris.

Mr. Rumsfeld is also personally confused, morally or intellectually, about his own standing in this matter. From Iraq to Katrina, to flu vaccine shortages, to the entire "Fog of Fear" which continues to envelope this nation - he, Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and their cronies, have - inadvertently or intentionally - profited and benefited, both personally, and politically. And yet he can stand up in public, and question the morality and the intellect of those of us who dare ask just for the receipt for the Emporer’s New Clothes.

In what country was Mr. Rumsfeld raised? As a child, of whose heroism did he read? On what side of the battle for freedom did he dream one day to fight? With what country has he confused… the United States of America? –

The confusion we - as its citizens - must now address, is stark and forbidding. But variations of it have faced our forefathers, when men like Nixon and McCarthy and Curtis LeMay have darkened our skies and obscured our flag. Note - with hope in your heart - that those earlier Americans always found their way to the light and we can too.

The confusion is about whether this Secretary of Defense, and this Administration, are in fact now accomplishing what they claim the terrorists seek: The destruction of our freedoms, the very ones for which the same veterans Mr. Rumsfeld addressed yesterday in Salt Lake City, so valiantly fought. –

And about Mr. Rumsfeld’s other main assertion, that this country faces a "new type of fascism." As he was correct to remind us how a government that knew everything could get everything wrong, so too was he right when he said that - though probably not in the way he thought he meant it. This country faces a new type of fascism - indeed. –

Although I presumptuously use his sign-off each night, in feeble tribute… I have utterly no claim to the words of the exemplary journalist Edward R. Murrow. But never in the trial of a thousand years of writing could come close to matching how he phrased a warning to an earlier generation of us, at a time when other politicians thought they (and they alone) knew everything, and branded those who disagreed, "confused" or "immoral."

Thus forgive me for reading Murrow in full: "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty," he said, in 1954. "We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear - one, of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of un-reason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men; Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were - for the moment - unpopular."

And so, good night, and good luck.

Remodeling: meeting with the contractor

2006-09-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Everyone will tell you that you have to get multiple bids. Why did I decide to only talk to one contractor?

Because of the ugly tale of the downstairs bathroom that I hinted at before.

Even now, I hate remembering the details of that project, but the end result was that when the contractor vanished with thousands of dollars and materials with the job half-done (and the half-done was piss-poorly done), J.W. came to my rescue. I know he's ethical, reliable, and does good work. That's worth more than gambling any money I might save with someone else, when it means risking a repeat of my previous experience.

So we only met with J.W. We told him our ideas, he told us his, and basically we're going to gut the downstairs (except that bathroom! and except for the load-bearing walls) and build it all back better than new.

To the tune of $85,000...

The Survivor controversy

2006-08-31T17:41:00.000-07:00

Seems to me that recognition of different races and cultures is what the whole focus on celebration of diversity is about. So why the fuss over Survivor's new approach? There wasn't such an uproar when it was divided by sex or age.

Doug and Dave's exchange in the comments here nicely summarize the divide in reactions, I think, though obviously I lean toward Doug's POV.

I think the following season should divide the teams into political beliefs: republicans, democrats, libertarians, and "package deals are for travel agents" voters.

Remodeling: before the bid

2006-08-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

Getting my daughter's bathroom remodeled was a project from hell. So traumatic, I didn't think I'd ever go through anything like that again. But, time clouds the memory, yes?

Actually, it's just a case of necessity. My daughter has moved out, and the downstairs rooms that were hers need to be fixed up so my mother can move in.

The fun part was diagramming out the spaces and wish-listing the project. (The gardener's sketch pads I got last spring really came in handy for that.)

Here are some of the things we'd like to do to the downstairs:

New wiring
Remove two closets
Build new closet
New carpet
New ceiling
New walls
Remove bar, mirrors on wall, windowseat, homemade shelves
New cupboards in laundry room
Kitchenette area

(think our plans are grandiose enough?)

Gladiators, lions, and such images

2006-01-11T11:46:00.000-08:00

One can vote for or against a person or issue. One can vote "yes" or "no", which are merely synonyms for "for" and "against", in this context. But one does not vote "up" or "down". The closest might be a group in an elevator, voting for or against going up. Or for or against going down.

This is why the recent prevalence of "up or down vote" references in the media irritates me to no end. I don't know where this phrase originated; I don't recall ever hearing it until the past few years, mostly in discussion of presidential nominees. Now it's everywhere: "The El Tejon district's Board of Trustees approved the course 3-2 with a revised syllabus in a Jan. 1 session, during which board members had to vote up or down on the entire winter session curriculum."

I dislike the phrase. It evokes a caligulish dictator turning his thumb up or down to grant life or death...

The Conversation, or Rationalizing Her Absence

2005-12-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

"Do you know what a blog is?"

"Why, yes, I do."

"Have you ever...uh...blogged?"

"Why, yes, I have."

"The director thinks every team should have a blog." [meaningful pause in which I fail to take the cue...manager sighs and becomes explicit] "So what do you think about doing a blog for our team?"

[blog as part of my job...hmmm...]

Glypho

2005-11-14T19:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know if this interactive cooperative novel-writing site, Glypho, will be more than a flash in the pan, but it looks like a fun place to poke around and play. Thanks to the great Lifehacker for pointing it out!

The Trolley post

2005-10-30T19:38:00.000-08:00

Tonight I came across Peggy Noonan's article, A Separate Peace.

I actually don't know who Peggy Noonan is. I've heard the name, of course, I think she's a columnist of some sort, but that's about it. No clue whether she's a "wingnut" or "moonbat", which "them" she camps out with. Don't want to know.

Because it's a good, thoughtful article. It feels honest. To summarize, "there's a disturbance in the force." Something's coming. It's cusp time, ladies and germs.

And there's a note of apprehension in her words that rings true and genuine.

Admirable company: SixApart

2005-10-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

Mena's post yesterday on the problems they've been having with TypePad is honest, forthright, and caring. This is the type of transparency that helps build customer loyalty. I'm impressed.

"Since the dawn of time..."

2005-09-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

I caught the most delightful exchange on talk radio this afternoon. The topic on the show was about a man murdering three cops (back in 2003) and how he was a fan of "Grand Theft Auto".

The delightful part was a caller who began by saying, "There have been violent video games since the dawn of time..."

Host, interrupting, "There have been violent video games since the dawn of time???"

Caller: "Yes. Even back in the days of Atari..."

At that point, I changed the station to avoid the verbal bloodshed I have no doubt was about to occur.

The gender changer arrives

2005-09-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

But it doesn't work. My cable box won't recognize the signal. :::sigh:::

I had to default to IR. Next week, I'll exchange the cable box -- I'd rather do without high-def than Tivo.

The hunt for a gender changer

2005-09-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

I spent an hour at Fry's, sitting on the floor, combing through loose items in a box. That seems to be their main storage system.

I found a 9-pin serial gender changer. But male. All the female gender changers were 15-pin. Then, in a bag labelled RJ45 adapter, there was a large piece of something with wires protruding and what looked to be a 9-pin serial gender changer female!

I get home. It is a 9-pin gender changer, but only one side is serial...the other, the holes are too large for the pins on the connector. I can't begin to figure out what this thing is for.

Phone book. Calls. Nobody has one. Finally, I log on and order it from CompUSA. $2.95 for the adapter, $18 for next day shipping. Argh...

Entering the big screen world

2005-09-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

I've thought about getting a big screen tv for months but not obsessively - it's been easy to talk myself back out of it. Then we did dinner & a movie at my brother's so he could show off his monstrously big new tv. Mine looked so much smaller than before after that. And then the replacement for my stolen tax refund check (a story for another day) came in the mail.

So I bought one last night. It was delivered this morning. After work, I tackled the connections -- cable box, Tivo, and DVD.

Unfortunately, I also swapped my cable box today for the HDTV version, and it lacks the serial port that the digital box had. Without the serial port, the only other option for communication between Tivo and cable is IR...ugh! (Slow and only works sometimes.)

Off to Fry's. Surely there's a serial-to-USB adapter (because the cable box does have a USB port). Well, Fry's had the adapter but the serial end is male. So is the connector. So I hunted for a gender changer. Finally found a female serial gender changer (is Fry's known for terrible floor service or is it just our store where they hide from the customers?). Get home...damn, forgot to count the pins. The connector is 9-pin, the gender changer is 15.

Back to Fry's tomorrow.

Oh, and only now do I discover that Tivo can't handle HDTV. Could have kept my old cable box. (Hmmm, that's a solution...return the HDTV box...)

Too late for "do-over"

2005-09-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

I respect General Clark, but his Washington Post article, "Before It's Too Late in Iraq" does too good a job in the opening, when he establishes how we should have approached the post-invasion period, to support his arguments for what we should do now. The mixed tenses give the game away:

"...we need a strategy to create a stable, democratizing and peaceful state in Iraq...
From the outset of the U.S. post-invasion efforts, we needed a three-pronged strategy: diplomatic, political and military."

He's right about what we needed; he's right when he describes the results of not developing and implementing the correct strategy; so I'm afraid he's unconvincing when he attempts to show how to reassemble Humpty Dumpty. The strategy we should have had is not the strategy for getting us out of the mess we put ourselves in.

It's like a road trip, General. When you head west from Salt Lake and realize after several hours that this route won't get you to Boise, you stop worrying about how to get to Boise from Salt Lake -- time to figure out how to get to Boise from Reno. And as part of the reevaluation, ask yourself: Is Boise where I really want to go now?

"Doonesbury" fans speak out

2005-09-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

What a delight to read the pleading comments from readers in the UK, in response to the Guardian dropping the Doonesbury comic strip from its pages. It's gratifying to find fellow devotees.

I've been reading Doonesbury since junior high school. I love its intelligent commentary on the U.S. And the idea of an annotated Doonesbury-history wiki would create a resource to be treasured.

Feeding my dog in an emergency

2005-09-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

Sometime in our pup's first year, I came across a mention of B.A.R.F., (an acronym both for Biologically appropriate raw food and Bones and raw food, depending on who you read). Did a lot of research, because at that time I had no idea there was any controversy over pet foods, and had never thought of there being an alternative to commercial dog food. (I thought the choices were dry or canned...)

But once I actually thought about it and began examining ingredient labels, commercial dog food didn't look so hot. So I dug deeper into the raw food movement. (Aside: I find it amazing that food choices for pets are almost as polarizing as politics...) And the home-cooked movement. And gradually changed over our pup's food, using a mix of raw meat & bones and home-cooked recipes...

Anyway, going on 7 years now, she's still a "perfect canine specimen", according to our vet, who adds "whatever you're doing, keep doing it." Beautiful teeth, soft shiny coat that is never unpleasant to touch, a fresh outdoorsy odor, energetic and in great health.

Katrina. Well, I thought about emergencies before Katrina, she just motivated me to get even more serious about our water and food stockpiles. There's no good way, though, to stockpile raw meat or home-cooked dog meals. So I'm really grateful there are companies like Halo, which makes Spot's Stew. It's canned food, but that's what I need for stockpiling; has reassuring ingredients (human-grade chicken, zucchini, carrots, etc); and our dog loves it! And Katrina reminded me that it's time to pick up another case...

Minimum wage waived?!?

2005-09-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

TAPPED: September 2005 Archives: "Meanwhile, the president has suspended minimum-wage rules for the reconstruction effort, arguing in a proclamation that 'The wage rates imposed by section 3142 of title 40, United States Code, increase the cost to the Federal Government of providing Federal assistance to these areas.' "

:::speechless:::

A Tale of Two Paramedics

2005-09-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky, two paramedics from California, document their experiences in New Orleans. Caught in the city while attending an EMS conference, they were unable to escape for days, trapped more by cruel and inhumane "law enforcement" than physical conditions...

"...In short order, the police commander came across the street to address our group. He told us he had a solution: we should walk to the Pontchartrain Expressway and cross the greater New Orleans Bridge where the police had buses lined up to take us out of the City. The crowed cheered and began to move. We called everyone back and explained to the commander that there had been lots of misinformation and wrong information and was he sure that there were buses waiting for us. The commander turned to the crowd and stated emphatically, "I swear to you that the buses are there."

We organized ourselves and the 200 of us set off for the bridge with great excitement and hope. As we marched pasted the convention center, many locals saw our determined and optimistic group and asked where we were headed. We told them about the great news. Families immediately grabbed their few belongings and quickly our numbers doubled and then doubled again. Babies in strollers now joined us, people using crutches, elderly clasping walkers and others people in wheelchairs. We marched the 2-3 miles to the freeway and up the steep incline to the Bridge. It now began to pour down rain, but it did not dampen our enthusiasm.

As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads...."

Mexico sends first ever aid convoy to U.S. - Hurricane Katrina - MSNBC.com

2005-09-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

Mexico sends first ever aid convoy to U.S. - Hurricane Katrina - MSNBC.com: "Radio talk shows and newspapers in Mexico buzzed with excitement over news that this country, long on the receiving end of U.S. disaster relief, was sending a hurricane aid convoy north."

I've felt bad about how seemingly ungracious the U.S.'s responses to offers of foreign aid have been, so I enjoyed reading this story. I felt good for Mexico. It is healthy for countries to help each other as needed, instead of one always being the recipient.

This analogy coming up is not intended to extrapolate to the political relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, but only to describe the psychological dynamic of Mexico giving us assistance: it reminds me of when I was old enough and financially settled enough that my parents finally accepted help from me. That they let me help them, after a lifetime of the reverse, was the ultimate validation.

I hope we make the Mexican troops welcome and feel appreciated and needed.

Newsweek tries to answer "what went wrong?"

2005-09-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

The lengthy article The Lost City tries to identify the many problems that contributed to the Katrina disaster without blaming any person or organization. Evan Thomas clearly establishes that nobody was in control, as this snippet illustrates...

The skies in New Orleans gradually filled with search-and-rescue helicopters, but there was no central command to coordinate them. A NEWSWEEK reporter on a helo flown by the Arizona Air Reserve heard this conversation as the crew readied to leave New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport after dropping off two evacuees. FIRST CREWMAN: "F---, is he hearing us?" (referring to the air-traffic controller). LIEUTENANT: "I don't know, we should just take off." ENGINEER: "We just got back from Afghanistan. Organization's a lot better there."

...but he cannot (or did not) pinpoint who should have been in charge.
Probably too early for that, anyway. As the article puts it, the failures reach "from city hall to the White House".

I think one of the peripheral problems created by the situation is a feeling of helplessness throughout the country. Disasters happen: local emergency infrastructures mobilize, and FEMA and the Red Cross will be there. That was how it always seemed to happen before. Now, the citizens of the United States are seeing in haunting, graphic images that we're all on our own now...maybe there will be help from the government...eventually...

Blogging for Katrina - TruthLaidBear

2005-09-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

One of my selected charities wasn't even on the list, so I had the pleasure of adding North Shore Animal League to the roster at TruthLaidBear.com and recording my donation. NSALA is already in Alabama, desperately working to save animals. I just wish someone had been able to help this situation,

Many people had dogs and they cannot take them on the bus. A police officer took one from a little boy, who cried until he vomited. "Snowball, snowball," he cried. The policeman told a reporter he didn’t know what would happen to the dog. (The Brandon Sun)

I also added my donation to the list of those giving to the Salvation Army, whose valiant efforts may not be enough if "donor fatigue" sets in: Salvation Army says food, supplies running out.

Donating money isn't enough to dispel my feelings of impotence but it helps those who can do more. Please contribute.

Also, check out the roundup page at InstaPundit.com.

What use was Hurricane Pam?

2005-09-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

Just over a year ago, FEMA and state agencies concluded a "successful" catastrophic hurricane exercise, Hurricane Pam. It was nearly prescient in predicting the Katrina scenario.

What good did it do? When this is over, I'm genuinely curious about several questions:

Were the plans created for and after "Pam" followed?
Were the plans only workable on paper?
Did the plans work but were inadequate to the reality of the situation?
Were the plans not even followed, and if not, why?

Federal response to Katrina: be heard!

2005-09-01T22:44:00.000-07:00

Do you have an opinion about how the aftermath of Katrina has been handled? Seems it's the purview of the Department of Homeland Security:

In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st [2003] for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort.

So use their Contact us button and express yourself!

I had to go to Melbourne for this...

2005-09-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

20 countries offer Katrina aid [02sep05]

I've seen nothing in the news nor heard on the radio any mention of this. But something said in a chat room provoked me to google - and there it was. Not in our media, but in Australia's.

The State Department said offers so far had come from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Russia, Japan, France, Germany, Britain, China, Jamaica, Honduras, Greece, Venezuela, the Organisation of American States, NATO, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, South Korea, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

This genuinely touched me. Even if we can manage the needed resources ourselves for recovery and even if we're the bully of the world in too many eyes, human kindness is global.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, a close Chavez ally, led a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims of Katrina in parliament on today. The parliament then returned to normal business with a resolution attacking Mr Bush over the Iraq war.

RollingStone.com: Four Amendments & a Funeral : Politics

2005-08-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

This is the most depressing article I've ever read.

RollingStone.com: Four Amendments & a Funeral : Politics: "Four Amendments & a Funeral
A month inside the house of horrors that is Congress
By MATT TAIBBI"

Who should declare war

2005-08-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

In his first novel, "For Us, The Living", discovered and published posthumously, Heinlein proposes an interesting approach to war by inventing a future constitutional amendment that declares, in effect:

Except in case of invasion of the United States, Congress shall not have the power to declare war without submitting the matter to a referendum.

As a novel, "For Us, The Living" is....really bad. (There's a good reason Heinlein never published it!) The idea of declaring war only by referendum intrigued me, though.

Let's use Iraq as an example. In Heinlein's future, the authority to invade Iraq would have been put to public referendum. Only those eligible for military duty vote on war. Those who voted for the war would be the first group drafted, if the referendum passed, and would report for duty immediately. Those who did not vote would be the second group drafted, if needed. Those who voted against the war would be the last group drafted, if needed.

I disagree with his notion that those already serving in the military would not be permitted to vote, but otherwise, I think it would be an interesting experiment.

Degrees of Familiarity

2005-08-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

"We've howdied but never shook."

That saying delights me each time I read it. I wish I could remember who said it; I think it was in a chat room.

My first thought was to work from that saying into an exploration of degrees of familiarity. But there are enough versions of that sort of thing, from sociologists and anthropologists and psychologists and psychics. And nothing I write equals the simple charm of:

"We've howdied but never shook."

Malapropisms

2005-08-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

At The Great Startup Game is a great collection of malapropisms. I'd like to add another that appeared in an email at work. The writer was recommending an architect, and I don't think this was intentional -- rather, a case of having heard but never read a word.

"He's not a pre-Madonna like most architects."

The "great divide" on Iraq

2005-08-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Blog | David Swanson: Sheehan Breakthroughs, Unbridgeable Divides, and Taboos Unbroken | The Huffington Post: "The big divide here is between those who believe the war was based on good reasons and those who believe it was based on blatant lies that have been extensively documented. "

This is binary thinking. It makes for neater graphs. Easier to report when every issue is shoved onto a Home vs Visitors scoreboard.

I confess that one of my favorite t-shirts says "There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don't". My favorite college class was Logic 101, where statements are X or non-X (with the added twists of some and all). And Swanson's premise neatly follows that pattern, although my professor would have made him rewrite it as: No people who believe the war was based on good reasons are people who believe it was based on blatant lies that have been extensively documented.

Well, except for those who believe...

The reasons given to the public do not accurately reflect the reasons that the individuals involved pursued this course

The reasons given to the public may be good but do not justify military action

The "real" reasons may be good but do not justify military action

The reasons given to the public, accurate or inaccurate, do not justify military action; however, the "real" reasons do

...shall I go on?

I suppose it is difficult to take sides on a polyhedral issue.

Free software from Microsoft?

2005-08-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's free, and it's actually cool. Photo Story 3 for Windows is elegant in that you can go with the defaults as an absolute neophyte and get a great output...yet you can also tweak and play to get a really great output.

That output is a Windows media file (.wmv) that uses motion effects on a set of digital images to create a photo display that is actually interesting to watch. (Plus you can add a soundtrack!) And it's fun.

One tip that I learned the hard way: if you're doing a photo-story of more than half a dozen images, add each photo to the project individually in the order you want the images displayed (or close to it). I added 45 images to a project at one time; they appear in the project in the same order they were listed in Explorer (alphabetically), and trying to get all those images rearranged using the thumbnails in the filmstrip was a PAIN.

Should I let you leave my window...

2005-08-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately. I've decided I prefer the focused posts to bloggers who seem to simply dump as many links in per post as possible.

Not that I dislike links; they have been the paths to some of my most enjoyable pong searches. (That's what I call following intriguing clicks that send me off in impulsive directions, and the object of the search is wherever I end up. Pong sounded better than "shiny object"...)

In a good pong search, you never go backwards. But when I'm reading blogs, I'm generally interested in both exploring the target of a link and finishing the post I'm reading. Too often, the link loads in the same window and may also contain an intriguing link that I want to follow, taking me further from the remainder of the first post. I guess I could finish reading the post, and then go back to the start and begin clicking, but that's not how I like to do it.

Since I can't depend on the blog owner giving each link a new window, I settle for right-click, Open in New Window.

And that started me thinking about what should be the default for blog-etiquette. I haven't discovered if there is such a default or, if there is, whether I violate it each time I add target=new to a link. I do know my preferences aren't universal. Some users may abhor multiple open windows - I know it confuses my mother.

So given two groups - A wants new targets, B wants one window - which default is least dissatisfying to all users?

New target: A is satisfied, B is dissatisfied and must perform three actions (click link, return to first window, close first window)

One window: B is satisfied; A is dissatisfied and must perform two actions (right-click, click Open in New Window)

For lack of any other compelling argument, I'll go with motion economy. One window. But because this is my blog, you're just going to have to close me.

Disposing of the body

2005-08-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Most of my gardens only demand manual watering in July and August - one of the advantages of living in the pacific northwest. My tiny handmade pond beneath the willow tree needs to be replenished most frequently, but I tend to forget which works out for the best because then it's nearly empty by the end of August and I can clean it out. (No fish, just a water feature that my dog believes is her private drinking pool.)

So yesterday evening, I check on the pond to see if it's at a good cleaning level yet. The fountain and pump at the shallow end are completely exposed; the deep end still has some water but not much...and what's that? Some large dark lump poking out of the remaining water - did one of the large rocks fall in?

Grab a plastic rake to get the "rock" out. One poke...it rolls over, and I realize that I'm looking at a dead animal. A possum, probably, but I'm too grossed out to look closely to tell.

Several moments of "omg, my puppy drinks here...what do I DO with it...I'll run and get Dave across the street to help...no, I'll call my brother", but eventually I face the fact that I'm a grown adult and should be able to handle this situation on my own.

Shovel. Heavy gloves. Many industrial-strength garbage bags. Terrified that I'll slip and fall in the water while flashing back to that horrid movie we saw in school, "Red Badge of Courage", where John-Boy is running and falls headfirst into a cow's corpse.

But I manage without disaster and don't throw up.

And when it's thoroughly packaged and the pond covered up, I dump it in the garbage can. "Can I do that?" I wonder. "Will the garbage police report me for improperly disposing of an animal carcass?"

But a web search reassures me. In our county, to dispose of a dead animal under 15 pounds: place it in several plastic garbage bags and put it in the household garbage can. Who would have guessed...

The Armbands

2004-12-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

Was this the first armband he'd seen? He noticed the cream fabric wrapped around the clerk's upper arm, was conscious of noticing it and at the same time certain that he'd been seeing armbands like this elsewhere. Seeing unconsciously, then, but now he was aware, so by the laws of the universe he would now see armbands everywhere.

And so it was. Not every person was wearing one, not even most; perhaps 1 in 10? Quite a number, actually, for some strange new badge. But a badge of what? He got no answers: a slight shake of the head, fingertips lightly and briefly to the lips, no more than that.

So he settled on a bench, studying those passing through the crowded square and watching what the banded ones did. Again, he saw long before he noticed. It was subtle, the manner in which they marked each other; barely a nod and barely a smile, but each of those recognizances added a lift to the posture, and soon he could spot a banded one merely by their walk, from a distance.

Imprinting

2004-11-19T23:27:00.000-08:00

We've all heard of baby ducks imprinting on another animal and believing it's their mother. And there's a popular theory about "beauty maps", the psychological perception of beauty impressed upon an infant by its earliest caretakers.

Which may explain why I so dislike this DVD.

I bought the Andrew Lloyd Webber "Broadway Favorites Collection" -- Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and an old favorite, Jesus Christ Superstar.

But it is a staged version, not the Jewison film I grew up with. And I guess I imprinted on the film version. The film isn't perfect, I've never thought it was. This, though...

I enjoyed Renee Castle's Mary Magdalene. Jerome Pradon's acting of Judas was intriguing; his singing was erratic. The guy who played Simon Zealot, though unnamed on the Cast portion of the DVD, did a great job with his song. Glenn Carter, however, is not Jesus and Fred Johanson is not Pilate. The acting and singing of those two ruined the performance for me. (Though the Star Wars-inspired costuming and the weak performances of Caiaphas and his council contributed as well...)

Most of the song renditions might as well have had subtitles proclaiming "We really want to be sure you know this is not the movie version" - songs were not so much interpreted differently as merely altered purely for the sake of difference, and quite incongruously.

But the worst flaw, the unredeemable weakness, is that nobody would have followed that Jesus, and thus the entire story becomes implausible.

From Baghdad

2004-10-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

Poynter Online - Romenesko: "Little by little, day-by-day, being based in Iraq has defied all those reasons. I am house bound. I leave when I have a very good reason to and a scheduled interview. I avoid going to people's homes and never walk in the streets. I can't go grocery shopping any more, can't eat in restaurants, can't strike a conversation with strangers, can't look for stories, can't drive in any thing but a full armored car, can't go to scenes of breaking news stories, can't be stuck in traffic, can't speak English outside, can't take a road trip, can't say I'm an American, can't linger at checkpoints, can't be curious about what people are saying, doing, feeling. And can't and can't."

Although the remainder of the (article? essay? email?) paints a dire picture of what's going on in Iraq, I found myself reading it with quite a bit of skepticism. For if the above, part of the writer's opening, is true, how can this journalist have the information in the rest of the piece? And if not true, if hyperbole, well...there goes credibility to be replaced by agenda.

(WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2004, WSJ reporter Fassihi's e-mail to friends, 9/29/2004 2:58:10 PM)