October 29, 2004
Thoughts On Tuesday
with the election just days away, there is plenty for every u.s. citizen to think about. most, i believe, will be casting their vote based on just a few issues such as civil rights, national security, international relations, the fight against terrorism, and certainly others. this election, in my opinion, is the epitome of having to pick between the lesser of two evils. i am not confident that kerry can do any better than bush, but at the same time, the thought of four more years of bush scares me, especially since he can't be elected for a third term, so he may as well push the envelope with the power he has obtained.
there are plenty of things on my mind and bruce schneier wrote one of them up eloquently in his non-partisan article called The Security of Checks and Balances. he makes it clear in his post that whether bush or kerry take the whitehouse, the concern is the same -- the executive branch's power grab. it's a short article, worth the read, and thankfully isn't spinning anything for one candidate or another. another thing that came up recently was the failing health of chief justice rehnquist and the fact that the next president is going to be nominating one or more supreme court justices as well as pushing an existing member of the court into the chief justice role.
rehnquist is a more conservative justice, so replacing him with one isn't all that bad, and that is what bush would do; however, i few it as an opportunity to add another moderate justice into the mix. you should read that as i want a court that will continue to uphold rowe v. wade, uphold individual rights, and ideally one that will put to rest the same-sex marriage issue by declaring them equivalent to opposite-sex marriages.
while i view george bush more as a napoleon type, i'm also not that keen on john kerry. i can't put my finger on it, but as others have said to me -- something just doesn't seem right about him. he would be the one that gets elected and then pulls off his head exposing himself as a leader from another planet or something sci-fi like. sure, that's not realistic, but there is something just not kosher about him.
go with someone your not comfortable with or go with someone you are all but certain is going to drive the country further into the ground. tough one. being in california makes it a little easier, because if i want, i can vote for nader and then declare "i didn't vote for him" regardless of who wins. well, unless ralph does, and boy would that upset the political applecart, because it would be even more obvious there was some vote rigging going on.
i'm seriously thinking of writing in a name. colin powell comes to mine. i think he would make a fine president. he's conservative, but doesn't hang his hat on religious beliefs. he understand the military because he served -- really served! and thats a knock on bush and kerry. i believe he has a better sense of international relations, he speaks well and comes across as being not only a respected and strong leader, but dignified. problem is, he's too smart to run and is apparently just not power hungry. perfect reason to elect him.
right now we have two candidates spending more energy calling each other names and pointing out flaws in the other instead of standing up tall and explaining why they are the right man for the job. clearly both of them aim and the low easy targets.
October 28, 2004
American Rhetoric
inspirational speeches, inflammatory rants, and words of wisdom. we've all heard them and thanks to american rhetoric many of them are on-line including mp3 and video where possible. what initially caught my eye was their top 100 speeches of all time. take a look.
October 27, 2004
most important albums ever
over on asmallvictory, michele has a mini-rant about wanting to see a more honest music critic, one that doesn't carry the normal music industry spiel prattling on about bass-lines, smooth transitions, and tunes that make you want to dance. lets talk about the albums conjur up good (or bad) memories and otherwise made an impression in your life. it is about albums that are important to you and why, not the industry and it's mega-million dollar sales targets.
in semi-chronological order, i reveal to you some of the albums that find their way onto my list of important albums and a little bit about why.
Love At First Sting, Scorpions
this was the album that i listened to (loudly) as a teen when i was upset. i'd pop the cassette into the tape player of my car and drive. and drive. and drive faster with the music playing as loud as my stereo and speakers could handle (250 watts). between the engine roar, music blasting, and wind blowing in through the windows as i approached what i would now consider a wrecklessly high rate of speed -- i was left not being able to hear myself think. and that was half the point.
Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi
after a long drive over to virginia beach, this was played on the jukebox at pizza hut far too many times to count as we sat eating, chatting, and being the nervous kids that we were.
Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd
laying in the back of my mustang late at night in the back parking lot of a ponderosa steakhouse. waiting. the music was certainly not new to me, but it was to her and will now always be attached to her in my memory. a reminder of more innocent times.
Behind the Gardens..., Andreas Vollenweider
funny thing about this cd is i've listened to it only a handful of times. why is it important to is because it was a gift from arguably one of my favorite college instructors and eventual first boss. i'd say professor, but he'd remind me that he wasn't one of those. he gave me the cd as a going away gift when i left the company and area.
Silhouette, Kenny G
i don't feel right calling it important, but it is memorable. early 1990-ish, i listened to this cd every night to fall asleep while i was away in philadelphia at a technical conference. scarey.
i was trying to think of some recent albums (like in the last 10 years), but it seems that over time, as it has become easier to create mix tapes and cds, my memories tend to be attached more to individual tracks than entire albums. perhaps some day i'll reveal the most important songs ever, but not until the world is ready. or me for that matter.
October 24, 2004
Word Association, Week 90
it's that time of the week again... word association.
- Blackout:: i don't remember
- Platinum:: blonde
- Leather and lace:: crimson and clover
- Court:: case
- Mind your own business:: ok
- Gambling:: loss
- Lily:: munster
- Evasive:: procedure
- Turn-on:: you
- Suspect:: unusual
Killing Time
finishing phase-2 of a large project required me to literally sit around for things to happen. a half-hour here, 90 minutes there. by midnight i was much more occupied and finally finished things off by 0430. what this left me with was a few things to share.
- the obligatory flash game -- road blocks where you use the arrow keys to guide a ball to it's goal. sounds easy? several of the levels take a bit of thought. a good puzzler sort of game to occupy your time. there are 22 levels to make your way through.
- ever want to slap bush or kerry? now's your chance. i got 10's on both of em! :)
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October 22, 2004
October 21, 2004
The Infinite Sadness
And that's when i figured out that tears couldn't make somebody who was dead alive again. There's another thing about tears, they can't make somebody that doesn't love you anymore love you again. It's the same with prayers. I wonder how much of their lives people waste crying and praying to God. If you ask me, the devil makes more sense than God does. I can see why people would want him around. It's good to have somebody to blame for all the bad stuff they do. Maybe God's there because people get scared of all the bad stuff they do. They figure that God and the Devil ae always playing this game of tug-of-war game with them. And they never know which side their gonna wind up on. I guess that tug-of-war idea explains how sometimes, even when people try and do something good, it still turns out bad.
-- Leland P. Fitzgerald
October 20, 2004
Words Keep Me Quiet
after reading "say it out loud" over at braincrayons, i had to nod my head in understanding. in fact, it wasn't that long ago i was explaining that i used this blog space to do that very thing -- say things out loud (albeit in a virtual sense). i generally don't expect it to be heard, but there is a certain amount of relief by getting words, thoughts, and feelings out of one's head and placed somewhere else. anywhere else. the idea that they are out there where they can possibly be heard only adds to the theraputic value.
well, until they are heard by someone for whom those very words cause a world of pain and anguish. and the not so funny thing about it, as guilt and array of other emotions set in, you're left with nowhere to express yourself. sometimes that is good, i suppose, as i've found myself writing things, tucking them away and later thankful i didn't post them. not because i wasn't feeling/thinking that way at the moment, but they were impulsive and simply not meant for being consumed by others.
perhaps by simply writing this i'll find my voice again. anything can happen! case in point -- the red sox just beat the yankees in game 7 after being down 3 games to none in the series. now if i can just follow their lead...
October 16, 2004
Word Association, Week 89
what time is it? word association time! yeah, i must gotten knocked in the head with a few too many pucks tonight. played defense as always for my team, and a friends team's goalie didn't show up, so i filled in and took up a bit of space between the pipes. there were probably 20 shots on goal... 5 went in. not bad for a guy that doesn't suit up in that position. in fact, it was the second time ever. it was kinda fun actually. i'd say i played in the billy smith mold... except for the save percentage, technique, ...
- Dimension:: fourth
- Roger:: over and out
- CSI:: law and order
- Passenger:: train
- Thankful:: appreciative
- Has-been:: once-was
- Bambino:: babe ruth
- Wrinkles:: in time
- Cable TV:: channel
- Voicemail:: system
Not Just Chocolate
finally! yesterday the two cds i ordered arrived. the only place i could find to purchase these were from an on-line retailer (proxis.be) located in belgium. they cost me a whopping 30 euros including the shipping, but now they are in my hot little hands and of course in my iPod. for those that have never heard of lunascape or the voice of kyoko baertsoen there is an excellent review at musicaldiscoveries.com.
i've dropped the first track (praise me) on their latest cd (mindstalking) over in my jukebox to the right.
couldn't be adored
in every way ignored
couldn't be divine
and never be alive
October 14, 2004
It's All About Meme
i've been pretty good of late not doing every meme and quiz i run across, but today ... i dunno ... just feels like a good day to not resist that urge. i guess it's because i'm knocking a lot of little things off my todo list preparing for the bigger todos.
The List of Five
i actually tracked this one back to the source because i was rather surprised the list was 5. i'm sure we've all had that conversation with a significant other -- you know, the one where you tell your SO that if so-and-so knocked on the door and offered themselves up... there'd be no question, i'd be going for it. the typical choice is someone famous, but the idea is that they are at the very least untouchable... meaning, it ain't happenin'. and if it did, it would be a miracle of biblical proportions that well... your spousal-unit would just have to accept it so the universe doesn't instantly implode.
so the meme is to list out five (i always thought it was one) celebrities that you simply could not reject, so starting with my one and listed four others that would certainly get more than their due consideration...
- olivia newton-john [link]
- sandra bullock [link]
- nicole kidman [link]
- bitty schram [link]
- shania twain [link]
...ago today, i...
found over at jodi's who found it elsewhere, essentially it's a quick look back (and forward) in time.
15 years ago today, I would have been…
1. still been working at nasa
2. thinking, wow, i have a daughter that is already one year old.
3. still hacking away on my commodore 64.
10 years ago today, I would have been…
1. busy co-founding my first company.
2. getting my first data line installed to the house (a ds0 circuit).
3. doing a fair amount of moonlighting as a consultant.
5 years ago today, I would have been…
1. thinking i have a hockey game tonight. -- an eventual 6-4 loss to "What The Puck".
2. driving to fremont to eat lunch at uno mas with a friend.
3. watching er on tv.
3 years ago today, I would have been…
1. getting annoyed at the bureaucracy that was creeping in at work.
2. frantically rescheduling practices for teams after the ice rink's chiller died.
3. in the midst of switching from a sun workstation (sunos) to a pc (windows) as my main desktop.
1 year ago today, I was…
1. i was obviously still doing memes.
2. very depressed and just beginning to learn how to communicate my feelings better.
3. in complete denial.
So far this year, I have…
1. continued dealing with emotional issues more openly.
2. had a scare regarding tuberculosis.
3. finally gotten to play hockey with my son in a league.
Yesterday, I…
1. finished editing a video for my wife.
2. cooked hot dogs on the grill for dinner.
3. watched "the day after tomorrow"
Today, I…
1. have been working frantically in preparation for the rollout of phase-1 of a major upgrade project this weekend.
2. probably spent too much time doing this post!
3. plan to watch "raising helen" on dvd.
Tomorrow, I…
1. go to the main office.
2. will try and endure whatever catered lunch they pick this time.
3. start moving databases to a new server.
6620, 1049, on 2. Break.
with my new 6620 in hand, things like airblogging have become more interesting. in fact, my phone has a voice recorder, so i could possibly combine mobile blogging with ipodding to produce a moble podcast. imagine making that post while stuck in traffic or during the long commute. that could produce some rather different entries like here's a picture of the car of the guy that cut me off and what i had to say about it.
while at the market yesterday they had a table set up for the boy scouts, i managed to go in the other door and not be hassled. don't get me wrong, for the most part i'm ok with the bsa, but i was in just one of those moods. had i been asked to buy some of their crap to support them, i think i might have gone off on one of those "i don't support homophobes" rants and i really wasn't up for it. ok, well that seems out of the blue, but i was reminded of it when i saw a post that talks about some of the 1,049 federal rights depend on marital status. they also include the gao report that lists them all. the issue, obviously, isn't that married couples have some additional rights -- it is that the u.s. still does not recognize same-sex marriages.
on a lighter note -- google quietly announced search for the desktop. it google-izes your email, im converstations, word/excel documents, and a variety of other document types. interesting stuff. ars technica has a short article on it as well. let the privacy concerns begin!
Don't Be A Tool
recently i was added to the e.mailing list for the board of directors of a major technical organization. while there are a few other tweaks on it, most are what i'd call "suits" from companies such as cisco, dell, intel, microsoft, nokia, sony, and many others i'm sure you've heard of. what i have found particularly amusing is the endless banter and posturing from the representatives. eventually one piped up and suggested everyone simply follow the plan already agreed to and to stop wasting time.
the inevitable came when a member just had to reply to agree and added in "time is money" to which another member responded "by the way, time is life, money is only a tool".
i'm so tempted to reply with "heh heh-heh heh -- he said tool", but i just don't think they'd get it. in some ways, this made today's dilbert that much more apropos.
October 13, 2004
Back In The Day
it is always a good find when someone expresses thoughts that have rattled around in your head, unable to escape in any useful manner. michele channels grandpa simpson in a recent post that talks about how today's kids are essentially coddled far too much in the name of political correctness and in a misguided attempt to not hurt feelings.
A Guy And His Symbian
why yes, that is a phone in my pocket.
recently i upgraded my phone to the nokia 6620 which is a symbian powered phone -- that thought gives me quite the chuckle. i've been jonesing for a kyocera 7135 because of it running palm-os and the fact that it could take over all the functionality of my palm vx as well, but alas it wasn't meant to be. essentially i'm giving up palm-os to get a non-flip phone, bluetooth compatability, and this nokia supports edge which in a nutshell means 118kb access to the net.
i have a lot to learn about this phone and i look forward to tailoring it to my personal needs over the next few days. who knows, i might have to learn about the symbian api and cobble up some applications on my own. since the phone ha bluetooth, a keyboard is a very viable option -- ssh for symbian anybody? already done!
October 11, 2004
Happy Birthday
i debated saying it here, because what's the point? you'll definitely not see it here today and to a certain degree i hope you'll never see this weblog. less expected things in life have happened, so i decided to say it here too where my words can echo in this world as well.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
this day will be one i'm certain you will always remember. it won't have all the traditional fanfare, but knowing you as i do -- you being far too much like me even for my own tastes -- it will be much the way you like it. so today begins a new chapter, it won't be the last, but this page will be dog earred as life goes on.
if you do ever come across this, know with all certainty i was thinking about you today -- happy thoughts.
In The News
as most people know by now, christopher reeve died last night after suffering a heart attack on saturday. he was an incredible man and as it turns out well deserves the title superman for his strength to live and inspiration for others to do the same. may he rest in peace.
one of the more interesting bloggers out there, mark cuban, has donated $100,000 to the eff. a great cause indeed. mark, you rock!!!!
who on earth eletrifies their pool? i read this today and all i could think was, wtf? in a nutshell, relatives of yankess pitcher mariano rivera died at his home in panama when one jumped into mariano's electrified pool. the other dived in to save the first.
October 10, 2004
Word Association, Week 88
yes, it is indeed time for word association again. i'm reminded doubly today of this...
This guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, my brother's crazy. He thinks he's a chicken." And, the doctor says, "Well, why don't you turn him in?" And the guy says, "I would, but I need the eggs.
--Alvy Singer
- Spacious:: skies and amber waves of grain...
- Crash:: and burn
- Autobiography:: memoires
- Sparkly:: and shiney
- Wild Thing:: you make my heart sing
- Haagen-Das:: ice cream
- Sci-fi:: channel
- Voice:: in my head
- Boy Scouts:: girl scouts
- Grief:: stricken
October 09, 2004
OK, Call Me Stupid
looking at the calendar, i just have to post something today, making it a full week of posts. yeah, i know it sounds stupid. i get compulsive that way sometimes. so here we have it.
i rented fahrenhype 9/11 today, it will be interesting to see how it tears apart michael moore's movie. fair is fair ya know. it'll be in my next movie review post. and thinking of distractions, here is a silly flash game to try -- pixel field -- it took a couple turns to get the gist. bummer is it will take far to long to get a high score. me, i got bored after 100 points.
there, a complete week. i haven't done that in quite some time.
October 08, 2004
Improv Everywhere
a friend sent me a link this morning -- this is so high-school-ish and smells like flash-mob, but you know what... i love it. they used imagination, nobody got hurt, and it left a police officer asking the question "why are we here? and if you liked that one, start at the home page and dive in. pun not intended.
October 07, 2004
Fahrenheit 9/11
so i watched michael moore's fahrenheit 9/11 last night. as most reviewers pointed out when the film was originally released, there was little new information, but i must admit that moore brought up a number of points worth giving thought to. was the film bias? oh yes, very much so! where things taken out of context? absolutely? were some legitimate concerns raised? affirmative.
moore certainly works hard to cast a negative light on bush -- not hard given gwb's track record, but lets face it questions need to be raised. sure, he provided anti-bush ideas on what some of these things could mean; however, in a time where bush and the administration have been unwilling to be honestly introspective i give it a big "so what". this movie is no more worth accepting as fact as the political propoganda dispensed by the current administration.
coincidently two interesting links popped up in my rss feeds today. one is a metafilter blurb that points out problems in a george w. bush resume form. very michael.moore-esque. but far more interesting is a post called footnote fahrenheit which goes through the points the movie raised. while i haven't gone through all the points, it does show how moore himself used FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) to sensationalize his film and push his bias. it's a bit hypocritical, but i guess we can chalk that up to artistic licence?!?
i do recommend watching the movie, but also go check out footnote fahrenheit afterwards to get more complete facts or at least ones that provide more detail on how they were derived.
update: i was thinking when i read the footnote fahrenheit site that it would be cool if someone responded in documentary form ala moore himself. well, it seems someone has -- dick morris created fahrenHYPE 9/11 to unravel it all. it apparently came out on dvd october 5th.
October 06, 2004
Death By Country
i've heard it before, i've almost certainly said it before -- country music makes me want to kill myself -- and thanks to clive thompson's post does country music cause suicide? where he adds his typical amusing commentary to this year's ignobel award winning paper.
i should note, however, that it does mention that new country is far less depressing than the older stuff. of course that could be because more guys (and gals i suppose) would be more willing to kill for the likes of shania twain or faith hill, but i digress.
October 05, 2004
Mystery Solved
i was getting crawled by a bot (despite my robots.txt that requests otherwise) and in the user agent it said "aggregator:Rojo; http://rojo.org/", but that url led nowhere. it wasn't really a big deal, but it is nice to now know what rojo is all about now. it's still not open for the public -- like gmail, it's invite only.
Rodney Dangerfield 1921 - 2004
he was best known for his one-liners and self-purported lack of respect, today rodney dangerfield passed away at the age of 82.
Quote Of The Day
Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.
-- Aldous Huxley
October 04, 2004
I Was Asked The Other Day
i was asked the other day how i felt. unlike the common answer often given by me and most people (fine, good, not bad, or ok), my answer was peaceful. see, it has been said that confession is good for the soul and i'll have to agree. while it may have caused more short-term problems to be dealt with, i'm hopeful that it is best for the longer term. that those i have hurt can heal and somewhere along the line i might heal too.
i'm definitely out of my comfort zone and maybe that's not so bad afterall. julia grey had an interesting response to a fellow in her post, in the comfort zone and it struck a few chords and has, if nothing else, given me a few things to chew on for a while.
Denny Crane
originally, the spin-off of the practice was going to be called fleet street (note the url), but they smartly renamed it boston legal. the last season of the practice focused more on james spader's character (alan shore) and the spin-off will be following through with that effort. it took me some time before i could seperate in my head alan shore from spader's other attorney character e. edward grey in secretary where he plays an equally as quirky lawyer and clearly because the right choice of actor to play shore.
the debut has shore in typical form -- doing the right things, but in ways that often offend everyone around him. his ability to be ok with that is admirable in a strange sort of way. as the show progresses, i fully expect that he'll partner up at the firm, perhaps taking over for the firms infamous leader played by william shatner (denny crane). they are quite the duo.
so i'm back to watching broadcast television and can hopefully avoid missing too many episodes. i used to enjoy la law and was thankful when the practice came along to fill that void. this time i didn't have to wait long for the next show to take over.
denny crane ac
October 03, 2004
On The Screen
working away on some database loads, i sit in anticipation of watching boston legal, the spin-off from the practice. this will add to the list of shows i actively watch on tv -- bringing the total up to one.
it also occurred to me that i haven't listed out the movies i've watched for about a month. not as many as usual, but still a few worth noting i think.
How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
-- Alexander Pope
- taking sides -- a story about the controversial conductor wilhelm furtwangler. was he helping with the nazi war effort or was he helping jewish musicians escape? you decide.
- zardoz -- classic flick, 'nuf said.
- dogville -- i was on a run of nicole kidman movies and this one killed it. this movie was definitely for the dogs.
- snow white: a tale of terror -- a weird remake of the fairy tale, without the sugar coating. it has it's moments, but isn't going to scare or shock you.
- twisted -- several movies go by this title it seems, but i saw the 2004/I release. definitely worth watching. predictable at times, but leaves enough loose ends to keep some guessing until the end. good rental fodder!
- man on fire -- this wasn't exactly what i was expecting after reading the dustcover, but i definitely give it a thumbs up.
- the punisher -- i had no idea this was based on a comic book. the movie itself was ok, but somehow i was expecting a bit more. it's the classice revenge story with little added.
- soul plane -- i have a difficult time saying the title without mocking soul train. the movie wasn't nearly as witty as the classic airplane, but it was amusing.
- practical magic -- kidman and bullock. as a guy, need i say more? i didn't think so.
- mean girls -- i found parts of this movie very funny. dunno, if i were a girl i may have identified with more, but it's a decent movie if you're looking for a laugh.
- the bone snatcher -- yawn. very, very disappointing. ants? oh, come on.
- connie and carla -- this movie was much better than i expected. rent it!
- envy -- "where does the poo go?" clearly, it went into this movie. vaPOOrize is about the most clever thing in the movie.
- taxi driver -- classic de niro. not as creep as i remember. go figure.
- nora jones: live in new orleans -- it was interesting to see her perform. she definitely has one of those few voices that my ears could stand to listen to for a long time.
- eternal sunshine of the spotless mind -- interesting plot and makes good use of jumping time references. kate winslet shows she can look as cute as ever in a variety of hair color (blue, orange, and red) as the rather quirky clementine.
Word Association, Week 87
what would sunday be without word association? much sadder, so here goes...
- Courage:: red badge of
- Stamina:: endurance
- Leader:: of the free world
- Idea:: i've got an
- Rockstar:: red bull
- Dew:: mountain
- Guards:: tackles
- Lenny:: and squigy
- Alliance:: team
- Cigarettes:: cancer sticks
October 02, 2004
Fake or Real
i ran across this interesting little test called fake or foto where you have to decide whether the picture is a photograph or a computer generated image. sadly, i only got 4 out of 10 right.
speaking of which, boobiethon is on again this year and from a quick peek at what has been posted, things look pretty real. monies raised go to the fight against breast cancer which is an excellent cause to say the least. not only do i consider myself an admirer of breasts (*snicker*), i had an aunt that passed away after suffering many years with breast cancer. i know what it did to her physically and emotionally and fully support efforts to make this a thing of the past. and fellas, while we generally associate this as a woman's disease, men can get breast cancer too. do it for the girls, do it for yourself, do it now. lets help make breasts last forever!