Blog, Jvstin Style

Birthdays today

It's the birthday of the Czech dramatist and president Vaclav Havel, born in Prague (1936). In the 1960s, he wrote a series of absurdist plays that attacked the Communist Party, including The Garden Party (1964) and The Memorandum (1965). He said, "If you want to see your plays performed the way you wrote them, become President."

It's the birthday of the architect Maya Lin, born in Athens, Ohio (1959), who was an architecture student at Yale when she entered the national competition for the design of a Vietnam Memorial, and won it. She beat out her own professor, who gave her a B- in his class. Today, more than a million people travel from across the country to see it each year.

Today is the birthday of actress Kate Winslet. Forget Titanic, she has done much better work in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Quills

Today is also the birthday of my friend Kris Keegan. Happy Birthday, Kriz! Mazel tov!

Today was the birthday of my late father.

(And yes, today is,um, my birthday, too.)

Vacation Photos Day 1: Badlands

Badlands
Originally uploaded by Jvstin

Vacation to South Dakota: Stats and Facts

Stats and Facts from my Vacation:

Total Mileage: 2975 miles
Amount of Gas bought: 98.098 Gallons
Average MPG: 30.32
Number of Batteries changed in my car: 1
Number of Engine Overheats: 4 (all homeward bound)
Number of Wind Turbine Trucks Passed on the Highway: 4
Number of States Visited: 3 (South Dakota; Wyoming, Iowa)
Number of Interstates Clinched: 1 (I-90 in South Dakota, drove its entire length)
Number of National Parks Visited: 7 (Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Minuteman Missile Site, Pipestone)
Number of Scenic Byways Driven:3 (Spearfish Canyon, Needles Highway, Badlands Loop)
Number of State Parks Visited: 1 (Custer State Park)
Number of City Parks Visited: 2 (Memorial Park, Rapid City; Falls Park, Sioux Falls)
Number of Cabela's Passed: 3 (Owatonna, MN; Mitchell, SD, Rapid City, SD)
Number of State Capitols Visited: 1 (Pierre, SD)
Number of Museums Visited: 2 (SD Air and Space; Museum of Geology on campus of SD School of Mines)
Highest City Reached: Custer, SD (Elevation 5300 feet).
Highest Elevation Reached: Not sure, some of the points on the Highway were higher than Custer. It's less than 6300, I never got a chance to go up to a driveable peak because the gravel road looked poor after the storm...
Number of Hailstorms Witnessed: 1 (it left deposited hail that looked like snow in the morning!)

Off on Vacation...

Okay, off to South Dakota. See you all at the end of the month.

Happy Holidays

Happy Fourth of July

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

Pictures from my Vacation

Pictures from my Vacation are now available:

Paul's Canadian Adventure

Lake Louise
Originally uploaded by Jvstin

Home again, Safe

Home again, safe and sound.

Off on vacation...

Hopefully we'll get off on time. And I'll see you all on June 11th...

The city where you can change countries 5 times in a walk

52 - The Enclaves and Counter-enclaves of Baarle (B/NL) strange maps

Via the blog Strange Maps, the strange town of Baarle, on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. Its not what you would call a *smooth* border by any means...

Happy Holidays

Readers of Blog Jvstin Style
Originally uploaded by Jvstin.

September 4, 476 AD

On September 4, 476 AD, the barbarian Odoacer, former mercenary leader for the Western Roman Empire, deposed the last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus, and proclaimed himself King of Italy.

The (Western) Roman Empire was at an end. The Eastern Roman Empire, of course, would last nearly 1000 years longer.

The Maquis

Maquis (World War II) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fun Fact of the Day. The Maquis from the Star Trek Universe were not sui generis, but in fact were named after the French resistance forces during WW II.

I had no idea until today that the two groups shared the same name.

Minor Fame

The Washington Monthly

Kevin Drum mentions some ideas for "minor fame".

I know that I wouldn't mind being tuckerized, even under a pseudonym of some sort, into someone's novel or short story. I know that if I actually ever did write a novel (with all of those ideas running through my head), I'd be strongly tempted to do it to other people.

Augustus' birthplace found?

Augustus' birthplace believed found - Yahoo! News

Wow!

A team of archaeologists announced they have uncovered part of what they believe is the birthplace of Rome's first emperor Augustus, up on the Palatine hill.

Shine on you Crazy Diamond

Pharyngula: Shine on, you crazy diamond

Seminal founding member of Pink Floyd Syd Barrett has passed away.

Coal Miner's Grandson

Liz has an excellent entryon Coal Mining, OSHA, and how it ties into her own family history.

My grandfather was a coal miner, too, in Wilkes Barre, Pa. My mother IS a coal miner's daughter.

Now, in the somber light of a day where I am down and depressed, I realize just how, if things had turned out different, my grandfather might have been claimed by a tragedy much like the horrible ones in coal mines recently.

And with that...its possible that my mother, and thus myself, would not even exist today.

Advertainment

MPR: Launch of advertainment assailed by Twin Cities critics

This spring KARE-11 will be the first in the nation to convert its long-running morning news show into a long-running commercial, called "Showcase Minnesota." You'll see anchor hosts sitting in comfy chairs, with guests snuggled next to them, to talk up the latest in food, fashion and gadgets.

They are doing a sort of preliminary version, called "Holiday Showcase Minnesota" now.

It's really a return to the first days of TV, writ large, when advertised products were worked into the shows in a blatant manner. Everything old is new again...

R.I.P. Richard Pryor and Eugene McCarthy

The controversial, convention-breaking comedian Richard Pryor died yesterday, at the age of 65.

In addition, former Minnesota senator and presidential candidate, the anti-war, convention breaking Eugene McCarthy also died yesterday. His run for President, against fellow democrat Lyndon Johnson was widely thought as a major reason why Johnson in the end did not seek re-election.

Rest in Peace, the both of them.

Rest in Peace, my Father

FREDERICK WEIMER, 80
WW II veteran worked at Bayley Seton for 45 years

Lifelong Staten Islander Frederick (Freddy) Weimer, 80, a retired hospital employee, died Monday at his Oakwood home, following a long illness.

Born in Tompkinsville, he was brought to Rosebank as a child and lived there for 35 years. He also lived in several other Island communities before moving to Oakwood 11 years ago.

Mr. Weimer graduated from St. Mary's High School in 1942, just before entering the U.S. Navy. He served as a seaman second class aboard the USS Block Island, the only American aircraft carrier sunk by the Germans during World War II.

Six sailors perished in the torpedo attack on the Block Island by a U-boat patrolling the Atlantic Ocean near the Canary Islands on May 29, 1944. But the remaining 951 Navy personnel, including Mr. Weimer, were evacuated safely to other vessels. He was discharged in 1946.

When he was younger, Mr. Weimer loved riding and kept a horse named Domino at stables on the South Shore.

"Horses were his love before we fell in love," said his wife of 42 years, the former Maryann Hrywniak.

Mr. Weimer was a longtime support staff employee at Bayley Seton Hospital, Clifton, working in building security, housekeeping, and the hospital kitchen. He retired in 1985 after about 45 years with the hospital.

He enjoyed watching television and the company of his family, including a nephew and niece, and his grandson, Gavin.

In addition to his wife, Maryann, and his grandson, Mr. Weimer is survived by his sons, Michael and Paul.

The arrangements, including cremation, are being handled by the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, Tottenville.

Shades of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade!

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Photo Gallery (Grand Canyon Skywalk)

Via my friend Bridgette, a Grand Canyon Skywalk is planned to be opened in 2006 in the Hualapai Indian Reservation.

It will have glass bottom and sides...and that so reminds me of the glass bridge in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I am not sure, with vertigo, that I could manage walking this thing.

Amazon Phishers

Perverse Access Memory: It Was Only a Matter of Time

Just like Ginger did not long ago, this morning I received an amazon version of a phishing email.

I hate thieves. Its scary that I am becoming nostalgic for the days when spam was just annoying, not a potential route to identity theft, viruses and trojans.

Ruins to be flooded

NPR : Dam Project Threatens Roman Ruins in Turkey

A Dam project in Turkey, although behind, threatens to submerge the ruins of the Roman city of Allianoi forever. Unlike the removal of lots of buildings and stuff when the Aswan Dam flooded areas in Egypt, here, the Archaeologists aren't so fortunate or funded.

Thus, they are racing to finish excavating and getting "snapshots" of what the ancient town looked like before it disappears beneath the water, forever.

It's a shame, really, because what we know already suggests that this was a hub of commerce, trade and activity in the Eastern Roman Empire.

Disneyland and Wrong Way Corrigan

Today is a fine, fine day in history.

In 1955, Disneyland, in Anaheim California opened, to disastrous results. Rides broke down, concession stands ran out of food, and Walt Disney must have briefly regretted the gamble to open a theme park.

In 1938, Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, took off from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, ostensibly to fly back to Long Beach, California. However, claiming fog and navigational troubles, he managed to land in Dublin, Ireland. Although he never admitted it, it is widely believed that Corrigan flew to Ireland on purpose, since he was unable to get official permission to do so.

Songs of Guernsey

NPR : Songs of Guernsey, Ancient and Authentic

A fascinating story on NPR about the Island of Guernsey, and the music derived from this unique English Channel island.

EPIC

EPIC 2014

A creepy multimedia presentation of a possible future of our media industry.

I recall, vaguely, an SF story, whose name and author I cannot recall, where a time traveller from our time goes to the future, only to find a future somewhat like EPIC's. Most people's media content is filled with conjectures, trivia, gossip and no one pays attention to hard news anymore.

Oh, I wish I could see these...

NPR : Yosemite Cliffs Put on a Water Show

According to NPR, the waterfalls this year at Yosemite National Park are particularly spectacular.

Mongolian Anti-Bankruptcy Law

Horseman of the apocalypse - Weekend Review - Times Online

It emerges that Genghis Khan prescribed the death penalty for merchants who declared bankruptcy for the third time.

As bad as the recent bankruptcy bill was, at least we haven't descended to *that* standard!

Ides of March

CAESAR
Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear.

Soothsayer
Beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
What man is that?

BRUTUS
A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
Set him before me; let me see his face.

CASSIUS
Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.

CAESAR
What say'st thou to me now? speak once again.

Soothsayer
Beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass.

Julius Ceasar, Act I Scene II

Disturbing credit card scam

MSNBC - Feds probe mysterious credit card charges

Via MSNBC, a disquieting report about how one company used small charges to people's cards in an effort to leverage and allow larger charges, with less possibility of detection by fraud agencies.

I'm going to have to check my statements and cards carefully.

Ad Blast from the Past

Whatever: Asimov and the Cleti

John Scalzi has a blog entry with a picture of an old ad from the early 1980's where Issac Asimov shills for a TRS-80.

It reminds me of a television commercial I recall from the same era, where Arthur C. Clarke was shilling for a new and exciting science/science fiction magazine called Omni.

As I recall, the production values for the commercial were pretty low, just like the ad that John has put up. And of course, Omni is long gone and I don't foresee Greg Bear doing a TV commercial anytime soon.

Oh, no, he invented Rover!

NPR : The Orb, Keeping a Robotic Eye Out for Trouble

Heard on NPR this weekend, a swedish company has invented a robotic ball. What I immediately thought of, as did Scott Simon, the NPR host, was the deadly globular ball Rover, from the Prisoner series by Patrick McGoohan.

Funny enough, Nils Hulth, the CEO of Rotundus, had never seen the show and had no idea what the NPR host was talking about. Still, it was cute to hear NPR play a few seconds of the Prisoner theme at the end of the story.

Thirteen things I miss about NYC

Inspired by Ginger's post about missing Houston, I will provide thirteen things that I miss about New York City.

1. Food
Real New York bagels, crispy on the outside, soft inside. Brueggers is all right, but its not quite the same. Nathan's hot dogs. Gyro from a cart on the street (although Holy Land is VERY good...). Sicilian style Pizza. Good rye bread.
2. Museums
The Twin cities have some good ones, but they can't compare to the Museum of Natural History or the MET. There's nothing like the Cloisters or the Tibetian Art Museum or the S.I. Chinese Scholar's Garden, either.
3.Subways.
Yes, I miss subways. The light rail here is...ok, its better than Los Angeles' one at any rate. But I miss the ability to cross town easily and comfortably with a book. Even with the smells and the unusual denizens of the underground
4.The Strand used bookstore in the Village.
5.The Angelika. I saw the weirdest independent films there, and there doesn't seem to be a Minneapolis equivalent.
6 The Compleat Strategist game store
--Although the Source is a damn good substitute for it, though. But then, again, there is nothing like Jim Henley's here, either.
7.The Staten Island Ferry
I've not ridden a water vehicle since leaving New York. I'd love it if they had a water taxi from Minneapolis to St. Paul. I'd ride it.
8. Coney Island
Yeah, its dorky, but still, its a rite of passage to visit Coney Island, have a Nathan's hot dog, ride the dangerously unrepaired rides.
9. Skyscrapers
There are no such tall buildings here. If you transplanted the Empire State Building here, it would dwarf everything.
10.Times Square (not on New Year's Eve).
The people, the stuff. It's come a long way from its seedy past.
11.Soda.
They call it "Pop" here and give me strange looks when I don't.
12. The Ocean
Lake Superior looks like an ocean...but the smell isn't right. No salt in the air.
13.The friends I left behind, and the friends I've discovered and become better friends which live or have moved to the "tri-state area".

Transit Map of the NYC Area

Homemade New York Subway Map - The Map Room: A Weblog About Maps

The Map Room points us to a Although I l now live a kilomile away, it was still nostaglic, and its a very well done map.

In Memoriam

December 7, 1941.

A Day that will live in Infamy.

I really want to go and see the Arizona memorial. Someday.

But does he live in a condo made of stone-a?

Everyone has heard the song: "King Tut"

Ginger references the song in her entry about the King Tut exhibit that will be touring the U.S. next year.

But who wrote the song?

Hint: He's written books, and a wonderful novella called Shopgirl.

No?

Okay, he's also been in such movies ranging from The Man with Two Brains to The Spanish Prisoner to Looney Tunes Back In Action

He's hosted the Oscars.

He's written screenplays (including working on one right now for an adaptation of Shopgirl).

The answer...

Steve Martin. He has an humorous opinion piece in the NY Times today talking about the song and the forthcoming exhibit.

Steve Martin. Far more talented than any of us knew, eh? Not just a comedy actor or an actor, period, eh?

Least Successful Holiday Specials of all time

Whatever: The 10 Least Successful Holiday Specials of All Time

Via Crooked Timber, author John Scalzi lists the least successful Christmas Holiday specials of all time.

The scary thing is, compared to this fictional list, the actually-aired animated Star Wars Christmas Special fits right in with it...

King Tut Redux

Perverse Access Memory: Born in Arizona, Moved to Babylonia

Ginger informs us about the forthcoming tour of the Egyptian King Tut exhibit that will come to the US next year, and the debate over where to hold it in the NYC area.

From what I read of the NY Times article that she links to, the nearest stop for me on the tour is going to be way over in Chicago.

It might prove incentive enough for me to visit the Windy City at last. I missed it when I was young, I don't want to miss it again, especially since I do miss the wonderful Egyptian stuff available in the two museums in NY.

Three Deaths on 11/22/63

In the Agora: The Deaths of '63

Trivia Question.

What two other famous people died on Nov 22, 1963, the date of Kennedy's Assassination?

I didn't know it either before reading the linked page, but apparently C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley, along with JFK, died on that fateful November day.

I also found out this weekend that Dr. Strangelove, which debuted that winter, had contextual changes to the movie in light of the asssassination--the line about the personnel kit and "a pretty good time in Vegas" on the plane originally was a "pretty good time in Dallas".

And, there was apparently a pratfall of the President, whereupon one of the Generals comments. "Our young president has fallen". That scene, understandably, was snipped.

Verrazano Narrows Bridge

Verrazano Bridge Opened to Traffic

Today is the 40th Anniversary of the opening of the longest suspension bridge in the US, the Verrazano Narrows.

Old timers in Staten Island will tell you that it was the date that Staten Island started to go wrong because it made immigration to the forgotten borough practical and easy, since you no longer needed to use the ferry, or cut through Jersey, to get to "the city".

Happy Birthday to the Earth(?)

Today, October 23rd, is theoretically the birthday of the Earth, if you follow the calculations of 17th century Bishop James Ussher.

According to him, the Earth was created on October 23rd, 4004 BC..

I have to admit that, for a wrongheaded approach, he certainly put a lot of thought and reasoning into getting this figure. And it was in the ballpark, at the time, that other biblical scholars accepted.

Of course, not long thereafter, the new science of Geology soon made hay of Ussher's patient but highly incorrect diligent work.

The Car Bug

I must be hit by the car ownership bug after all.

Because, I look at a picture of a car like this one mentioned at Sadly No and I look at the car with unfeigned lust.

Mind you, I still appreciate the reading time on the express bus ;) This car, though, would be absolutely cool to own.

Juneteenth

Ginger talks about a Texas-specific Civil War holiday called Juneteenth, and remarks about its relative obscurity in that weird new state of residence of hers called New Jersey.

It's briefly mentioned in papers and the radio and I remember mentions of it in NY, CA and here in Minnesota, but its not a real celebration per se. You have to admit that it IS Texas specific as far as the date itself. June 19, 1865 doesn't really register on the national consciousness.

What it represents, though, is universal: Freedom, and the end of Slavery. On those grounds, I wouldn't mind its observance spreading outward from Texas.

World Connections Map

Via Uggabugga, a "Mud-like" Map of the World, showing how countries are connected with each other.

World Connection Map

These people have other diagrams on their site, including (Hey, Ginger!) a War of the Roses diagram.

Soda versus Pop versus Coke

Via the Gamer's Nook and Neil Gaiman, a map that breaks down the percentage of people who call soft drinks by various slang terms.

I myself have started to convert to the local slang. I called soft drinks "soda" for years, since I lived in NY, which is nearly universally "Soda" country, and then in California, which is mostly "Soda country".

Now, though, everyone here calls it pop, as shown on the map. I've noticed that I have started "slipping" and doing the same, just so I can be understood better.

The Titanic

Titanic

Today, April 15, in 1912, the Titanic sank off of Newfoundland, after striking an iceberg. The idea of the "unsinkable" ship being felled is a powerful one, wrapping up ambition, hubris and many other powerful themes. It's almost ironic that the hugely popular movie about the ship nearly avoids these entirely in favor of a love story.

It would also make a really good Monday Mashup, IMO.

Free Giant Shrimp

Via Apostropher
That promotion Long John Silver's was going to do involving oceans on Mars and giant shrimp is going to happen, after all.

On May 10th, you can get a piece of giant shrimp, free, at Long John Silver's.

Gimmick aside, I do support the spirit of the promotion. Trying to excite more interest in science, via the Mars Probes, is a good thing.

(Okay, so I am weird. My first blog entry upon returning back from ACUS is about shrimp...)

Californian view of geography

While surfing, I came across this very funny Californian's Conception of the United States

Having lived there for 10 months, I can say its true. It's all true.

California is, topographically, a beautiful place. But the people, by and large, have a benighted view of the rest of the country, especially when it comes to weather.

Or in the words of my former girlfriend:

"Snow is something you visit"

FCC takes a look at indecency on cable channels

Congress, FCC, Focus on pay channel indecency

"When any government, or any person for that matter, undertakes to say to you: This you may not read, this you may not see, this you are forbidden to know, then the end result no matter how holy the motives, is tyranny."

(Emphasis mine)

--"If this goes On", Robert Heinlein

Mouse trap!

Apparently, Comcast has launched a hostile takeover bid of a company you might have heard of. Its entirely possible you will have heard of the target.

Disney.

End of a musical era

According to one of the contributors on Volokh, Tower Records is filing for bankruptcy.

I bought many, many CDs and other things from them, mainly their store in Greenwich Village, but also the uptown one, and even the one in Washington, D.C.

Sad.

"Mp3s killed the CD Star"

Amusing Blog post title of the day

Although its a couple of days old, it goes to Brad Delong and "The Sindarin word for AWOL"

Dorothea? David? How did he do, anyway, on the translation? (He makes it out to be GED, gwarth ego dagor)

Learn Sindarin

David, the "better half" of Dorothea from Caveat Lector, is going to be teaching a mini course in Sindarin.
I don't think that anyone who reads this is unaware of his work in that little trio of movies that have come out, yes?

Wow. If only I lived in Madison (and met the other requirements, apparently these things are only open to U of W alumni and such).

Ginger and Michael's time together

For those who have not seen it as yet, Michael has put up a summary of what he and Ginger did when she went up to visit him.

I do miss the Met.

Maybe I can con Ginger and Michael to go with me the next (first!) time I visit NYC again.

I am so very glad they had a good time. I like it when my friends are happy.

Ctrl-Alt-Delete Inventor Retires

The programmer who came up with the three fingered salute, Ctrl-Alt-Delete, is retiring from his IBM job.

Virus Alert

I don't normally shout out about this sort of thing, but since I read a news article about it this morning, I thought I'd share.

Someone sent me a copy of this nasty one last night, but
fortunately my paranoia just made me delete it.

Be careful, friends.

Friends Moving Northeast

As highlighted on one of their fellow Houstonians, what is Houston's loss will be New Jersey's gain, as Ginger and Michael will be moving from the Gulf Coast...to the East Coast.

I have lots of friends and acquaintances up in the ol' Northeast and I am sure Ginger and Michael will get a real welcome.

Note to self: Come up with lists of things for Ginger and Michael to learn about, see and do in their soon to be new stomping grounds.

Depressing Faculty Politics at CUNY BC

Depressing faculty politics at my alma mater:

Brooklyn College's death wish

Sure I know colleges can be vipers nest of politics and agendas, but this sounds even worse than usual.

How low my alma mater has fallen. College should be the last place where conformity to opinion, subservience to authority and a lack of critical thinking are encouraged, in faculty OR students.

A thought for the day

I was talking with Jim about myself. And he explained some stuff that makes sense and has, well, stunned me by self-realization.

I won't quote him directly, but I will share the money quote of my summary of what he said, that I said back to him:

"So you are saying my propensity for self-flagellation hurts my relationships by making people feel guilty about it."

Uncultured!

Well, on this turkey day, I've learned that I have something in common with George W. Bush, President of the United States

We both mispronounce Nevada, at least according to the way the natives pronounce it.

I read on one of the news sites that in a visit Tuesday to Las Vegas, Bush repeatedly mispronounced the name of the state. Smugly, I continued to read on, until I discovered the horror.

Bush mispronounces the state's name as "Nev-ahh-da".

I had thought that WAS the way you pronounced the State's name. I did a little research, and it seems that the official pronounciation among residents of the state is "Nev-aa-da"

Now, if I do visit the state, I'll know better.

Enough!

Enough is enough...

Shoot. Me. Now

I'm sick of this.

My posts don't post properly (that idiotic 500 error), comments are flaky, my categories are hosed.

I'm tempted just to do a bloody clean install...but I still think half of this is powweb, at least half.

:sigh:

Test

Yes, one of those. I have a bad suspicion...

test

an infamous test post

Anatomy of a Depressive Mood

Although its Halloween, the unofficial holiday for Roleplayers (and a real holiday for at least one of my friends...), I am not in the best of spirits today.

I can feel it trying to creep on the borders of my waking mind.

Depressive mood.

I've mentioned once, on my blog, that at least I can recognize when these things are happening. I'm not completely defenseless.

Think of the Country of the Mind (my mind). It's a concept I've made good use of in my RPGs. Anyway, think of my mental landscape.

There is a gray and iron fortress-prison there in one part of my mind. Multilayered, imposing, evil. That's where the dark thoughts are, bottled up.

Every so often, something happens that opens up a crack in the walls, or the door, and one of these dark thoughts escapes. Around my landscape this dark thought will go, trying to infect every thought I have with darkness, depression and thinking the worst.

Fighting this is hard. Losing is even worse...because once I start that road, the deeper, even more vile things in the fortress then try to and sometimes escape. You know the ones. The ones that whisper of nihilism and despair, of hopelessness.

The strongest and most dangerous one is in the center of that place, chained like Fernis Wolf. He is the last one, the last of the dark thoughts.

He is the one who desires my extinction. He's only been truly out a very few times. Thankfully, or else I would not be here now.

But today, right now? One of the lesser, the earlier dark thoughts is in my head, using its poisons on me. Thinking about my loneliness, in an SOA post, was the earthquake which moved the stones of the fortress enough to let it escape. The dreary weather is not helping me any.

But the stronger dark things are still chained up.

Wildfires

You have no doubt heard and seen pictures of the fires in Southern California. And I am personally glad not to be there. But I can tell you what its like, mentally, to be in the cities, away from the fires, and having them dominate the news.

It's a siege mentality. In my experience, Californians are blase about Earthquakes, but Wildfires scare the piss out of everyone. Worse, the air of Southern California, especially when the Santa Anas pick up, is conducive to bringing the burning smell for 40, 50 miles away from the fires. That is to say, straight into the downtown, urbanized areas.

I can imagine what the air must smell and taste like right now. For asthmatics and the like, So Cal is not the place to be, even far away from the fires.

Digital Latin Database

Now this is cool...The Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum.

A digital database of Latin texts, some are translated, others are not.

Doubtless Dorothea at Caveat Lector (she of the latin dates for her Blog entries) has long since known about it.

Ferry Crash

You've probably seen the news of the S.I. Ferry crash on your local news.

I'm just stunned and in shock, myself. I rode this several times a week when I was going to College, and at least once a week otherwise. That 5 mile, 25 minute ride is something with which I am all too familiar.

To hear of this disaster just strikes me to the core. No, neither Michael nor anyone else of my family was on the boat, it was too early in the afternoon.

Tragic.

Birthday Thank-you

Thanks to the well-wishes of those who have wished me a happy birthday via this blog, emails, and other forms.

And I don't know who it is, or what it is (since I didn't peek that much) but a big thank you (and "why did you spend the money" nag!) to whoever bought me something off of my amazon wishlist. I've crossed off the usual suspects--my family gave me money already as a gift(for a *real* winter coat), the Olsons gave me a microwave for my new apartment (yes, that means the Olsons are now responsible for the two major kitchen appliances I own--a microwave and a slow cooker)...so I might guess or at least theorize that the secret birthday santa was one of my friends here.

In any case, whoever you are, and whatever shows up at my doorstep (even one of the paperbacks listed on my seemingly infinite wish list), I thank you.

What I really want for my birthday though, more than anything is a stable full-time job...

A busy weekend

Yesterday was the first day that I haven't put a blog entry up for over a month, and with good reason.

First things first, Scott and I went over to what is going to soon be my new apartment. A tiny matchbox sized studio over in Circle Pines will shortly become home sweet home, since the whole baby thing is coming closer and closer. The downstairs bedroom (where I am now) will become the office (which it once was), and the office will turn into a nursery. So even with a temp job (although a fairly stable one) its time for me to risk a place of my own, and it was high time I left from being underfoot at the Olsons anyway.

Scott and I also mapped out and drove the route to a place that I have a job interview for on Monday. Yes, a real life job interview, finally. The job market has been tighter than, well, something better mentioned in A Grand Affair. So I realize that I have a fair amount of competition, so I am neither overconfident, nor am I "counting" on getting this job. It would be a fair commute, too, about 30 miles each way in a car.

But for a real, full time job, is it worth it? As they say here in Minnesota...you betcha. I got some badly needed driving practice on Interstates, even if I don't get the job.

On the way back, we stopped in the high-end grocery store Byerly's, which looked a lot like Zabar's back in NYC. Unable to find them elsewhere, it was here that I finally found good old Nathan's hot dogs, and I bought a package, naturally.

Scott and I also went to Big Bowl, even if save for the appetizer we didn't stray from our favorites. Scott went for a Thai inspired dish, I went for the equally spicy "Blazing flat noodles". As an appetizer, since I had not had them in quite some time, we had lettuce wraps (ground beef, scallions, rice noodles to which you add sauce and put in bibb lettuce, fold and eat).

And today, well, on Oct 5, 1971 at 1:35 PM EST, I was born.

No major plans for today...maybe buy stuff for the apartment, a few other minor chores and things. Last year I spent hours on a bus, bus, train, bus trip from my apartment in Anaheim all the way to the Getty Center and back. It was a long and exhausting trip but a lot of fun.

Well, if I were to be so lucky as to get this job, I probably will "celebrate"...otherwise I will be relatively frugal about the matter.

Temp jobs and the economy

Slate has an interesting article detailing how a flux in temp jobs can be a bellweather for the economy, both in good and bad times.

Naturally this is an issue near and dear to me, considering my own situation.

October

And now we reach the threshold of October. A month of many things to many people. Fall starts to come into its own, although this morning it feels more like a Minnesota November, with morning temperatures below freezing.

Still, there is much to commend to October... Leaves change, Halloween sits perched at the end of the month, on the brink of November. My birthday. Columbus Day. The winter constellations begin to wheel into view. Apples become ripe and ready for picking. (Recall that a couple of years ago, my former Boss took me apple picking in upstate New York--yum!).

It's my favorite month of the year.

No longer "GOLD"en

George Plimpton has passed away.

Although he was an author and a man of letters, I know and remember him for something relatively small, but important to me.

In the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, in its Gem and Mineral Room is a tiny theater which has been showing the same short movie for (assuming its still playing) for over 15 years. That movie is "GOLD", and tells the story of Gold, from its origins in the earth to its modern-day uses.

Nearly every time I went to the Museum, be it by myself, with my family, or with friends, I insisted on seeing the movie. I probably can to this day recite the movie from start to finish, since I've seen it well over a hundred times.

The voice of the narration for this short subject is...was George Plimpton.

Rest in Peace.

Driving sucks

Well, I am not going to be picking up Scott from the airport today, as planned. And in fact my weekend plans are shot to pieces.

Why? I managed to destroy the driver-side side-view mirror coming out of the garage yesterday. A classic case of not watching what I was doing, and not seeing that my angle exiting the garage was askew, and *crunch*. What's worse is that this is the second time in a month that the side-view mirror has taken a bullet (Scott did it in August).

Needless to say, though, Scott is not going to be a very happy camper when he gets in tonight, and without Felicia here as a buffer...I think I am going to be in a modern-day Ice Age...and that's if I am LUCKY.

Felicia was a bit concilatory on the phone today, but today sounded perfunctory and brief. Hopefully the rest of her drive down to Florida will be without incident.

I hate driving. And driving hates me.

Of course I am going to pay for this, and I am going to also pay for the cab ride that Scott by necessity now needs to take to get home.

Shoot. Me. Now.

Another song for the soundtrack of my life

I was listening to my Yahoo Launchcast at work today, and it picked for me a song that I never really listened to before...

Matchbox 20's "Last Beautiful Girl"

It gave me eerie flashbacks to my relationship with Bonnie.

I put the lyrics in the extended entry, if you're not familiar with the song.

Anyway, I've been playing with my Launchcast at work today. It's nice to have some music to listen.

Last Beautiful Girl
matchbox twenty

This will all fall down
Like everything else that was
This too shall pass
And all of the words we said
We can't take back

Now every fool in town
Would've left by now
I can't replace
All the wasted days
The memory of your face - I can't help thinkin'

Maybe if we ever coulda kept it all together
Where would we be
A thousand lost forevers
And the promises you never were giving me
Here's what I'm thinking

It won't be the first - heart that you break
It won't be the last - beautiful girl
The one that you wrecked - won't take you back
If you were the last beautiful girl in the world

So tell me one more time
How you're sorry about the way
This all went down
You needed to find your space
You needed to still be friends

You needed me to
Call you if I ever couldn't keep it all together
You'd comfort me
Tell me bout forever
And the promises I never should have believed in
Here's what I'm thinking

It won't be the first - heart that you break
It won't be the last - beautiful girl
The one that you wrecked - won't take you back
If you were the last beautiful girl in the world
Last beautiful girl in the world

It's over now - And I've gone without
Cuz you're everybody else's girl
And it seems to me - you'll always be
Everyone else's girl
Everyone else's girl

This will all fall down
Like everything in the world
This too must end
And all of the words we said
We can't take back

It won't be the first - heart that you break
It won't be the last - beautiful girl
The one that you wrecked - won't take you back
If you were the last beautiful girl

It won't be the first - heart that you break
It won't be the last - beautiful girl
The one that you wrecked - won't take you back
If you were the last beautiful girl in the world
Last beautiful girl in the world
If you are the last beautiful girl in the world

Beautiful girl

The Edifice of Non Confidence

One of my achilles' heels, perhaps one of the root ones in my psyche...

Non Confidence.

Even with a track record of success, I can be terribly insecure about my own abilities. It's a poison that I've not managed to leech out of my bloodstream.

I'm always thinking that I don't measure up. At work or at play, its one of those things which make up who and what I am. And I do it entirely to myself.

Consider, when I was recruited to join A Grand Affair...my first reaction was: Why would you ask me?

Or more recently, the business of Chaos interpretations. Ginger's points on the non-alienness of Chaos were not meant in derision to what Arref, Chris and I came up with...and yet a portion in me immediately thought. "Of course, its logical that my Chaos isn't good enough, it doesn't measure up to what other people have done." That was hardly the point Ginger was trying to make.

Even if, as Meera pointed out in a comment, its patently NOT true. Logically and intellectually, I know its utter bullshit, pardon my Aramaic. And yet my emotions want to run with the "Nothing you do is worth anything" meme.

At least I recognize some of my own psychological problems these days. It's an improvement that I am, after 31 years, beginning to see the traps I set for myself. Now I need to stop stepping in quite so many.

Yes Minister

Crooked Timber, a blog that has rapidly reached "daily read" status, has a post about the old British TV series Yes, Minister.

I've watched the show recently, since it turns out Scott is a fan of the series. He bought the complete DVD collection of Yes, Minister some time ago, and more recently, Yes, Prime Minister, its shorter-lived sequel.

I find it quite funny. But then, that is no surprise. I love another British series, The Prisoner, too, and I do have the complete collection of that on DVD. To say nothing of Clockwise, or Monty Python...

UPDATE: Fixed broken link. Thanks Mike!

David Letterman's Monologue 9-17-2003

I'm not sure if it was copyrighted, and I am sure that no one really cares too much...but Crooked Timber has the text of the speech Letterman gave a few days after Nine-Eleven.

Two years, and now a thousand miles away, it still moves me.

In Memorial 9-11-2001

Birth Announcement

I am proud to announce that Bridgette Ruggles, well known in Amber circles as Egwenna (and my RPG partner here at All-Roads-Lead), has given birth to a bouncing baby boy.

Baby name is forthcoming, as Bridgette and her husband Brian did not elect to even know the gender of the baby in advance. Mother and baby are said to be doing just fine.

UPDATE: The baby has been named Issac Luis Ruggles Altman.

September the Fourth

Today is not exactly a red letter day in the calendar of my life.

Besides it being the birthday of my brother (sometimes seen commenting on this blog. Happy Birthday, brother), its also the birthday of the first real love of my life, one Lisa Shandler.

It is, also, the day that she passed away.

I'm all right. Last year, now, was no picnic, the breakup of my relationship with Bonnie was another stone on the pile. And I will try and keep in mind the happy memories of the short time I was able to spend with her. It's the best thing I can do.

We truly do love our cars...

Since there is a new report that states that there now are more cars than licensed drivers in the United States...

To be noted without further recognition

Today, August 24th, is Bonnie Roe's birthday.

I will not speak ill of her today.

A hard candy's journey into night

Remember the original 5-flavor Life Savers? Around since the 30's, Kraft foods has decided to retire three of the five flavors. Gone from the roll are Orange, Lemon and Lime (Pineapple and Cherry are staying put). Replacing them are the "breathtaking" flavors of Watermelon, Raspberry and Blackberry.

Personally, I think this is as stupid as "New Coke" was, even if I prefer things like Spree to Life Savers. And even if hard candies are losing market share to mints and sours, which are in these days.

Read all about it.

I discovered this from one of the new AOL Journals.. (And found that via Calpundit) One of the most annoying things, right off, as a visitor to one of these things is that you have to sign in with an AOL screen name to leave comments.
Once again, AOL seems to be trying to put a moat around itself and its users.

Insomnia and other unpleasantries

People who know me know that I can often sleep through everything. I've joked that if there is the End of the World or something, someone had better wake me up, or else I will miss it.

When I am upset, though, my usually sound sleeping goes right out the window. I don't consider this unusual, I expect that every reader of this blog has had a bad night's tossing and turning like I did last night.

However, one peculiarity of nights like last night is one that I haven't heard people admit to--panic attacks.

When I am emotionally upset and go to sleep, I will sometimes wake up in the middle of the night in an absolute panic. Usually, this is due to a (false) sense that I am late for work, overslept, etc. One time, in California, I managed to wake up, grab my clothes and make it into the bathroom to turn the water on before I realized it was 1 am. Last night, I woke up in a false panic that I didn't know what time it was and that my clock was wrong. I looked on my arm for my watch and got upset that it wasn't there--even though I broke the band some time before and haven't yet replaced it.

These sorts of nocturnal things are just--odd. But I thought that I would share. I'm exhausted, working slowly at work, my appetite is shot, but I am still here.

The Stress of her Car

(Yes, a pun on the title of a book).

Seriously, I'm stressed today.

During the BJS blackout last year, at one point, some of you are aware that I caused damage to Bonnie's car (those damned poles in parking places). I told her that I would make it right, and I was soon out of her house and in my own apartment anyway.

The matter has been quiescent until today, when she has emailed me with what happened. Instead of repairing the car, she decided to trade it in. According to her email, she received $1500 less than the trade in value she thought she was going to get ($500 versus $2000).

She never did repair the car, she just decided to get a new one. She expects me to pay half of the reduction in trade-in cost.

Is this fair?

I had thought to pay the deductible (or even a little more) for repair of the car...this is much higher. Worse, $750 isn't something I can throw around with impunity.

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. Email me privately, if you wish. Naturally, my first reaction was to simply scrape the money together and pay her, but I think that's born of a fear of confrontation, and a desire to "wash my hands" of her.

UPDATE: This is starting to turn ugly. And thus a public discussion of this is not such a good idea.

One last thing for now on Fair and Balanced

Weblog Entry - 08/12/2003: "Fair & Balanced! Fair & Balanced!!"

The above link, to blah3, is a list of all the blogs which became part of the F&B approach. Far from being political blogs only, the blogs range from Eschaton (politics) through Ginger's, to mine.

Stupid lawsuits designed to chill speech can't get enough attention and disdain.

A not so Fair and Balanced editorial

(Yes, if you don't get it already, I am part of Fair and Balanced Friday).

Anyway, this Washington Post editorial about the heat wave in Europe is anything about fair and balanced. It seems to be telling the Europeans to "suck it up" when it comes to their climate woes.

Of course, the Post forgets to mention that most places in Europe do not have air-conditioning, nor the fact that Paris and a lot of the inland cities don't even have a nice sea breeze like, say, Washington, to moderate matters.

And there is something to be said for acclimatization. After all, in California, people thought it was the end of the world if the temperature dipped into the 40's. And they didn't like any humidity at all.

It would be snarky of me to have the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (or even better yet, a Berlin or Moscow paper) snap similarly at Washington if they get hit with a cold snap this winter and plunge down toward 0 degrees or lower (on the farenheit scale)

Power Outage in the East

Wow! Major power outages in the East and Northeast, and not on the coolest of days, either.

Hopefully everyone I know within the area will be safe and all right. Blackouts are fun when you are child...but only out of ignorance.

UPDATE: My Mom, Dad and brother are all right (although Michael was caught in Manhattan when this hit). My nephew and his family are out of the zone of outage...up in the NE of Pennsylvania, some of my relatives have power, others do not.

Blog, Jvstin Style: Fair and Balanced

Just to annoy Fox News, who is suing Al Franken for the title of his new book:
"Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right."

I don't get how Fox News can trademark a phrase like "Fair and Balanced."...and Al Franken doesn't even use the phrase by itself, its imbedded in the title. And its probably a parody.

So much for "tort reform", eh? This is as frivolous a lawsuit as they come.

Aerial photos on Mapquest

Kathryn Cramer: Habitats: Compare & Contrast

Kathryn Cramer points out something I never really noticed before. Mapquest now provides the ability to see aerial photos of the location that you are mapping.

Very very cool!

Another Quiet Weekend

Yep, yet another "House Alone" for me this weekend is in the cards...since the Olsons leave early this afternoon to drive Damion back to his biological father in Alabama.

Which means, of course, more driving of Scott's truck, as distasteful as it is to maneuver the kludgy vehicle. It could be worse, though--it coulda been a stick shift.

Thanks for the Memories

Bob Hope has passed on.

Spammer in Russia gets his

Don't Spam This Deputy Minister

Got this via Jerry Pournelle's not-called-one-but-really-a-blog.

A deputy minister in Russia did what many of us would like to do--took matters into his own hands from being overly spammed...

Getting into the Country

Ginger points us to an excellent Newsweek International article online about the new frustrations that foreigners are facing entering the country. New rules on visas and passports has made an obstacle course for people to get into the US, and there are horror stories out there.

And I will point to my post about the Canada trip for the Olsons. Yes, a passport is not *necessary* for US Citizens to get back into the US from Canada, but it seems to be getting that way.

I just hope that the idea of internal passports does not get floated anytime soon.
"Quo Vadis"

Hoax...or are things this bad?

Creative Loafing Atlanta | NEWS & VIEWS | CAREFUL: THE FB-EYE MAY BE WATCHING

I've seen this linked to from a number of disparate places now. I have no idea of its veracity. I'd like to think this is either a hoax, mistake or deliberate obfuscation of some sort.

To paraphrase one of Heinlein's protagonists:

"If any government, or any one for that matter, undertakes to say to you: This you may not read, this you may not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result no matter how holy the motives is tyranny."

V

One of the advantages (such as it is) to having the house to myself is that I can watch anything I want, to my own taste.

A few weeks ago, in Wally World, aka Walmart, I picked up, cheaply, a copy of the original TV miniseries V . I've watched it over the last couple of days.

If you are older than, say, 28, you'll remember V. Aliens arrive in miles-wide flying saucers, ostensibly coming in peace, and looking very much like ourselves (except for odd vocal patterns). But of course, underneath the facade...

...of the series is a parable of fascism. I saw V for the first time when I was twelve, and I quite frankly didn't get much of the subtext, but this time it was crystal clear what the story was really about. From the Holocaust survivor recognizing very well what the Visitors are doing, to the artistic parallels between the opening scenes in El Salvador and the climatic battle at the mountain camp, its a cautionary tale, about the dangers of ostracism, anti-intellectualism, and wielding too much power.

Oh, sure, the scientific howlers in the series are legion. Aliens seeking water? Why not mine the Kuiper belt, moons of the Gas Giants or other places in the solar system, where Humans can't blow up your spacecraft. The screw-up on their explanation of the effects of the K-T extinction event meteorite impact. The fact that reptiles would go torpid and die in -300 degrees farenheit conditions. Not to mention the implication of cross-species physical attraction, and implied cross-species pregnancy,

Still, the story of V is not about alien invasion, that's just a facade for the real story. The dangers of corrupting power, and singling out those perceived to be different than us, and the dangers of standing by and doing nothing as this occurs. Sure, the second series of V and the TV series went downhill. But the original series message still holds.

Quiet Weekend on the Ranch II

Once again, I am alone this weekend. The Olsons three have decided to go visit our neighbor to the North, Canada, for the next 3-4 days.

Why have I not accompanied them? Several reasons:

1. Still working on the job thing and money is tightening

2. This is an Olson family vacation.

3. My passport is expired. Yes, I can hear your protestations, but Scott has rightly pointed out that its not a matter of going into Canada, but (in the sadly more paranoid post 9-11 environment), getting back into the US which a passport makes less of a hassle.

Oh well. Now that I live not only in a Canadian Border State but within spitting distance, I am sure I will have opportunities in the future--but I do need to renew my passport.

More questions than answers

Blog :: Gary Hart :: Restoring the American Republic

I've cut way back on political opinions and observations as of late, but I decided to link here to a piece that former Senator Gary Hart wrote on his own blog the other day.

Yes,*that* Gary Hart--the Hart that got in trouble so many years ago, but more recently, produced a report on terrorism that eerily preceded the events of 9/11/2001.

Anyway, this entry talks about the ever growing mess in Iraq, and the obfuscation around the reasons for our war against Hussein in the first place.

AOL getting into the Weblog act.

AOL 9 to include Weblog tools

Most tellingly, the Blogs are going to be called AOL Journals because AOL claims its users are confused by the term blog.

Moving Comments and other things

I am still quite in turmoil and roiled by things, which is why I've not commented on Djinn's comment. I left that entry uncommentable because it was more exhortation, than anything else. I do appreciate your words, Djinn, and am still thinking about a response. I may not have any at this time.

I couldn't find a way to move comments, perhaps its not possible in this build of MT. But I am not sure, either way.

Keyword of the day

Emotional Immaturity

I am less than I should be, weaker than I need to be, and exasperating to all of those around me and in my life.

It's all coming clear, now. A clarity that I will try to hold and keep, a vision of what has gone wrong, a rubric for explaining the deficiencies, the failures of my life.

Just one of those days

My apologies to Djinn and to Ginger for my callousness, stupidity and short-sightedness.

Makes you wonder how I can even run a game and keep it going.

Sorry to all

Paul

Happy Fourth of July

I wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy Fourth of July. It is actually something of a big deal here, since Scott DOES do work for the Department of Defense. In point of fact, the four of us have patriotic t-shirts on as we speak.

And to quote our founding fathers:

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
(Congress, July 4, 1776)

Yes, yes I've been quiet

I know, I know, its been pretty quiet here for a few days. Not that it was a hugely busy weekend, but we did do some things--including visiting Como Park and its charming, small zoo down in St. Paul.

My Amazon order came in, and one of the books is going to be the subject of the next entry...

Trackbacks are now Follow-ups

Taking Ginger's good idea, I've delved into the templates here and renamed Trackbacks into Follow-ups.

I don't get many, if any trackbacks to BJS, but I think that's more a function of the fact that people who would have a propensity to do so, have blogger blogs.

So who DOES read my blog?

In a comment, Ginger posited:

You might be surprised to find out who reads your blog if you asked the same question. (I'm surprised and interested by some of the entries so far, and expect I will continue to be.)

So, let me ask, then. Who are you people, who read my Blog, and why? I can bet just about no one reads the football entries, but what do you read my Blog for, anyhow? (considering its a veritable trail mix of things). And what do you think about me, Paul "Jvstin" Weimer, based on this thing that I call Blog, Jvstin Style?

Just a couple of thoughts

A pretty busy day here at my office; there was not a lot of time between things to hop on and blog, or even surf blogs.

The weather has been extraordinarily and uncannily good here thus far in June...a fact not lost on the meteorologist in the newspaper.

I didn't mention that the TIVO did indeed die two weekends ago when I was "home alone", and the Olsons have not had the opportunity to repair it. Consequently, we've been without TV for that long, relying on our computers, the Xbox (with the DVD attachment) and the antics of Damion to keep us entertained in the evenings.

Days are really long here at this latitude. The only time I dealt with more extreme day lengths was during my trip to England (as referenced by my brother in a comment). The day is 15 hours 36 minutes long today, a half hour longer than NYC and an hour longer than Los Angeles.

Of course these will be reversed come the Winter solstice.

Top public high schools in the country

Newsweek in one of their recent issues has rated the top public high schools in the country, or at least according to their criteria. The criterion is based on a formula that uses the number of graduating seniors, and the number of those who took advanced placement courses. They have a web page with an expanded list of top schools.

Fair? Probably not, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to come up with a all-around "Best".

Anyway, my alma mater, Susan E. Wagner makes the list at #711. I was a bit surprised, though, that Port Richmond High School was far higher ranked, at #493. In my day, Port Richmond was considered one of the lesser public high schools on Staten Island, with Wagner and Tottenville (not even on the list) competing with each other. How times change!

Traveling, Jvstin Style

Perverse Access Memory: Planeblogging

Ginger talks about Planes and her thoughts on air flight, I thought that I would talk about travel and me.

It's no secret to many readers of this Blog (ranging from Black Sheep on down) that motion sickness is one of my eternal enemies.

I like to travel far more than I actually manage to do so. Planes and automobiles are my two worst, followed by long distance ferries. (The short Staten Island Ferry never bothered me). Buses aren't bad, thankfully, and Trains I seem to survive without incident.

But low-lights of my battles with transportation include getting sick on the way down from Idyllwild with TGFKAB, getting sick 30 minutes after getting off of the plane when visiting Minnesota for the first time, getting sick on the Lewes, Delaware to Cape May, NJ Ferry and other less spectacular times too many to count.

I like to see new places, visit them, and so forth. My body, however, usually has other ideas.

I feel inordinately proud of the fact that, save for the beginning (and I blame that on the plane ride), I did *not* get sick on the "Super Trip" I took with Felicia and Daimon from the twin cities to Louisiana.

But speaking of air travel, I know its a pipedream, I think that a Zeppelin might be more tolerable than a plane ride for me. And the food *has* to be better, plane food (and the lack thereof) can't possibly be worse.
The novel Harry Turtledove wrote with Richard Dreyfuss (yes, the actor) features a British dominated America where Dirigibles are the principal means of air transport. It's just...civilized.

But, then again, they would be slow and easy targets for some terrorist or nut with a SAM.

Oh well.

Crosswalk to Nowhere

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/06/09/offbeat.crosswalk.ap/index.html

Talking Heads fans will remember the song "Road to Nowhere". Here, we have a Crosswalk to Nowhere, in Rhode Island...

Upgraded version of MT

I decided to take the time and upgrade my version of Movable Type this weekend. I should be up to 2.64 now, although I got a bit confused on the whole thing with the Database (I had forgotten what type of DB I originally went with).

Problems and such, please do let me know via email.

Quiet Weekend on the Ranch

It's a rather quiet weekend in store for me. I have the entire house to myself, because this weekend, the Olsons are driving down and back to retrieve her son Daimon for the summer.

An upshot of this was that, rather than getting the customary ride to the Park-and-Ride for the Express Bus, I needed to drive myself to it (and back) on Friday.

...In Scott's Truck (Dodge 4x4) . Now, mind you, my driving experience is still thin, and until yesterday, I never had driven a truck before (aside from a little practice run last weekend at Scott's suggestion). It was a rather unnerving experience handling such a big vehicle. A further complication was that they closed half of the parking lot to repave it. It wasn't bad finding a spot in the morning, but when I got off the bus yesterday evening, I was aghast to find myself rather boxed in. It took a fair amount of work and a lot of care not to hit anything to escape my automotive prison.

One additional factor, though, making things quiet here is that it seems the Tivo/Satellite Dish is on the fritz. Even a call to their cell phone this morning did not clear up the problems. So, I have no TV, no one to talk to, and only the dogs for company, and only a clumsy, unfamiliar truck if I did dare go somewhere.

Oh well, time to do turns, or play some more Rise of Nations. I'm doing rather well, I'm slowly trying all of the Civs to see which I like best.
The Spanish definitely have a nice advantage with their exploration capability, but nothing really else going for them. The Egyptian can build Wonders like no one's buisness. The Roman legions are pretty potent, and even in later tech Ages, they get bonuses for forts, and extra troops too. The Koreans get extra builders when you build new cities--instant workforce!

The perishability of electronic communication

History's paperless trail

Interesting article on MSNBC this morning on how email, powerpoint and the like are removing the "paper trail" from military (and other!) decisions. All of those little documents which historians today use to decipher the past are gradually being replaced with electronic, more perishable versions.

I recall that in the Star Trek Universe that records were "Fragmentary" around the "Third World War". I never understood, at the time, how that could be when we have records dating back so far in history, but now it makes a kind of sense. There is little history to be written if there are no witnesses, and few documents to be had.

Just a quick ping from work

I've been reticent in blogging the last few days, so I decided to post a quick hi during my lunch hour.

Go read Shadowthriller today. Thanks for the mention, Arref. I still get creeped out thinking about that nightmare!

Oh, and Rise of Nations came in the mail yesterday, although I haven't had time to install it. I owe people turns for SB...

Scrupulous Honesty

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been closing out my California based checking and savings account, in favor of a bank closer to my new home. I had thought that I had removed all of the money, so that Washington Mutual would not need to bother with any remitter checks.

It turns out that I was wrong. I received a remitter check yesterday for the balance of my closed out W.A. Account...

...it was a grand total of $0.01.

I wouldn't have missed it. Talk about scrupulous honesty!

It's all about me

in the Shadow of Greatness

Inspired by Arref Mak's entry, who was himself inspired by Dave, I present a short "all about me". I understand that I can be opaque to those who have never met me, or clear as glass...

I am not quite sure if I like me. This is progress, I used to not like me at all

I'm older than I look, and older than I sometimes realize.

I have no significant other; my last and greatest attempt at the same went down in flames.

One day I will really detail the tragic loss of yet another significant other

My degree is Biology, although I have not yet made use of it

I've now lived in three very different states...of the union, that is.

I read voraciously. In fiction, its 95% SF and Fantasy, in nonfiction, science with strong infusions of history.

I like to go watch movies. I trend toward SFish films, but have watched everything from horror to romantic comedy.

My brother got me into Role playing games when I was in my teens, and I haven't stopped. I began GMing early, and some might argue I GM better than I play.

I love to watch the nighttime sky. Thank Carl Sagan for that.

I don't cook well, but I am trying to learn.

I want to see a Glacier up close and personal.

I am a strong believer in the rights to free speech and thought.

I am shy with strangers, and gregarious with people that I know well.

The most common words I say are "I'm sorry"

I never give myself enough credit. Everyone that knows me well tells me so.

I wish that I could write well.

I love to explain things to you. Get me started, and getting me to shut up is the trick.

Somewhere, in some bizarre alternate distant universe, this is all a television show. Not that it makes any difference.

A punny joke

At Heathrow Airport today, an individual, later discovered to be a public
school teacher, was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession
of a compass, a protractor, and a graphic calculator. Authorities believe
he is a member of the notorious al-Gebra movement.

He is being charged with carrying weapons of math instruction.

Rube Goldberg/Mousetrap Honda Commercial

Honda

Well worth the time it takes to load, this is a Honda commercial that employs a seemingly endless Rube Goldberg set of contraptions. Or, for those who don't know who that is, think of the old board game Mousetrap...

Test

Test

A new reason to Visit Seattle for me...

Locus Online: News Log, April 2003, p3

Seattle is high on the places I want to visit list, not the least because of the proximity of Mt. Rainier, which I do wish to see. Now, however, Paul Allen (the co-founder of Microsoft) and Greg Bear (whom I've mentioned on my blog as one of my five favorite current SF writers) are going to create an Science Fiction museum in Seattle, to open next year.

A convergence of museums and SF. Good grief, this place sounds like heaven.

A little fun with Latin

As I mentioned in an earlier entry, I picked up a bargain book at B&N a little while ago that is an introduction to Latin. Called Learn Latin, by Peter Jones, it purports to be a lively introduction to reading the language.

Languages are one of those things I wish I was better at doing. Its not a failure at scholarship, but I've never picked up languages well at all, even while simultaneously tackling what I would consider to be much harder subjects. So I've been slowly working on this book, assimilating the first few chapters until I get them right. I've made progress, though, I've found my years of Spanish have helped somewhat, although Latin is an language with quirks of its own.

What do I mean? Well, for example, word order does not determine the subject or object noun in a sentence...the ending does.

Thus:

Felicia Scottum amat
Felicia loves Scott

On the other hand, change the endings but keep the word order:

Feliciam Scottus amat
Scott loves Felicia

Felicia et Scottus coquere amant
Felicia and Scott love to cook

And not to leave me out...

Paulus lunam videt
Paul sees the Moon

Paulum serva ducit
The slave-girl leads Paul

(note for the latin experts--I've assumed Felicia is a first declension noun, and Scott and myself are second declension. I'm not up to third declension yet)

New $20 bill

U.S. adds a little color to $20 bills

Doubtless many of you have heard this, or seen them, but I thought that I would give a link to a news article. I think that probably I'd have to see the bills for myself before passing judgement. I do recognize, though, that the US was one of the few major nations with monochromatic currency. This will break that.

Happy Mother's Day

To all of my friends and readers who are, a happy Mother's Day to all of you.

Books Vs Blogs

Weblog central

I just saw this article linked above on MSNBC. It's a few days old and it discusses blogging and the blogging world...

...and our very own Ginger is quoted in the article. Way to go, Ginger!

One year ago today

One year ago today, at roughly this moment in time (adjusted for West Coast time) began my great failure--my attempt at a life in California, with Bonnie.

One year ago today I uprooted myself from New York for California.

One year ago today I eschewed my usual pessimism for optimism

For all the good it did, one year ago I began my great attempt.

Spam Hell

This makes me mad, and part of the reason why I am migrating away from AOL.

Today, I did a flashsession (for those who have never entered AOL, its basically where you log on, download your email automatically and log off).

Among the other things I had were more than two dozen copies of the exact same piece of spam, from a dozen AOL screen names. So most of those screen names sent me multiple copies of the exact same piece of trash.

What was it? Basically an advertisement for "free prescriptions". Even if I was interested in this nonsense, sending it to me 26 times is not going to make me more likely to respond.

Dante's Inferno Test

Dante's Inferno Test - Impurity, Sin, and Damnation

Came across this first thanks to Arref...and I wound up in the Seventh Hell, the Violent? (Just like Arref). And just like Arref, I am confused. Very odd.

Navigation

Bridgette, copied this out of her SCUBA course. It's just funny how this is described, and I had to share it with you all. It will give you a chuckle.

Section 5: Basic Navigation
the intro --

"Navigation can seem pretty overwhelming when you consider that you're trying to keep up with where the rest of the world is. And that's without mentioning how it feels to get lost and realize you just lost track of an entire planet. By learning to navigate underwater you'll minimize how often you get disoriented, and if it does happen, you'll more quickly figure out where you mislaid the whole of existence. ..... "