31 December 2005
chill for now
I'm a student on christmas vacation. Like I don't have anything better to do than stay the hell away from the computer.
21 December 2005
Friends, Part I
There are many many many kinds of friends - certinly you could say that there are as many kinds of friends as there are actual friends. But you can also try to group pretty much anything you want in any way you want, so I am going to embark on a multi-part series describing types of friends.
The first one I will describe is one of the more traditional types. You meet someone, you have something in common, and slowly over time you get to know them. They start as an aquaintence, and then like an onion you peel pff layers and get to know them better. You also peel off layers of yourself and they get to know you better. With each layer comes greater trust and a stronger friendship and eventually you get down to the core where a bond is forged that will survive anything.
These friendships take a lot of time, but if and when they reach full maturity, they last forever. Even if one person or the other changes, or you lose touch, or you can't relate to each other any more - the friendship is still there. You still care and you would still do anything to help your friend, even if you question whether they could do the same.
The first one I will describe is one of the more traditional types. You meet someone, you have something in common, and slowly over time you get to know them. They start as an aquaintence, and then like an onion you peel pff layers and get to know them better. You also peel off layers of yourself and they get to know you better. With each layer comes greater trust and a stronger friendship and eventually you get down to the core where a bond is forged that will survive anything.
These friendships take a lot of time, but if and when they reach full maturity, they last forever. Even if one person or the other changes, or you lose touch, or you can't relate to each other any more - the friendship is still there. You still care and you would still do anything to help your friend, even if you question whether they could do the same.
19 December 2005
there's no cure for life, either
Exerpt from a Larry King Interview With Johnny Cash on CNN, Tuesday, November 26, 2002:
KING: ...All right, Johnny, first and foremost, how are you doing? How's your health?
CASH: Good. Good.... I have had some tough times. I have had pneumonia three times in the last three years -- four times in the last three years. And it debilitates you. It takes the strength away. Took the life out of my legs and I can walk, but not very well.
KING: Now, is this pneumonia related to that autonamic neuropathy (ph), which you have.
CASH: Autonomic neuropathy.
KING: Which is what?
CASH: Well it's kind of -- the way I understand it, it's a deadening of the nerve cells of the nerve endings in the lower extremities and sometimes the hands and other extremities.
And for me that's really about the only thing it's really affected a lot. I'm not sure that it's affected my lung power but I don't have the lung power I did. But of course, pneumonia will take that away too..... And I'm pretty well resolved to the fact that that's what it is. And it's a slow process of the nerve endings.
KING: No cure?
CASH: No, I don't think so. But that's all right. There's no cure for life either.
KING: ...All right, Johnny, first and foremost, how are you doing? How's your health?
CASH: Good. Good.... I have had some tough times. I have had pneumonia three times in the last three years -- four times in the last three years. And it debilitates you. It takes the strength away. Took the life out of my legs and I can walk, but not very well.
KING: Now, is this pneumonia related to that autonamic neuropathy (ph), which you have.
CASH: Autonomic neuropathy.
KING: Which is what?
CASH: Well it's kind of -- the way I understand it, it's a deadening of the nerve cells of the nerve endings in the lower extremities and sometimes the hands and other extremities.
And for me that's really about the only thing it's really affected a lot. I'm not sure that it's affected my lung power but I don't have the lung power I did. But of course, pneumonia will take that away too..... And I'm pretty well resolved to the fact that that's what it is. And it's a slow process of the nerve endings.
KING: No cure?
CASH: No, I don't think so. But that's all right. There's no cure for life either.
NYC 1
As I have already posted, I like pizza. Access to real pizza is an essential ingredient to a good life.
I spent this weekend in NYC with a good friend I hadn't seen in too long. We didn't do a whole lot - mostly just hanging out. We did go to MOMA, which was awesome.
He lives in the West Village and the only real goal of the weekend was to eat pizza. I don't know how many slices I had, but I know we went for pie 6 times to 5 different places. I had (in order of appearance) Joe's, Ben's, John's, Joe's, and some other place I can't remember the name of. They were all leagues ahead of what you can get anywhere else in the world, but Joe's was my favorite - thinner crispier crust, not as sweet with more fresh tomato flavor comming through in the sauce. John's was equally as good, but a little chewier and sweeter, which is not my style. The place I can't remember had potential, but the slice wasn't in the oven long enough.
Between Friday night and this morning, the only thing I ate that wasn't pizza was 1/2 a plate of leftover cashew chicken for early breakfast on Sunday and a bagel, lox & egg brunch later that day.
I don't go to the city too often, but I have been more times than I can count. This was the first time that I wasn't ready to leave. This is the first time that I can't wait to get back.
I spent this weekend in NYC with a good friend I hadn't seen in too long. We didn't do a whole lot - mostly just hanging out. We did go to MOMA, which was awesome.
He lives in the West Village and the only real goal of the weekend was to eat pizza. I don't know how many slices I had, but I know we went for pie 6 times to 5 different places. I had (in order of appearance) Joe's, Ben's, John's, Joe's, and some other place I can't remember the name of. They were all leagues ahead of what you can get anywhere else in the world, but Joe's was my favorite - thinner crispier crust, not as sweet with more fresh tomato flavor comming through in the sauce. John's was equally as good, but a little chewier and sweeter, which is not my style. The place I can't remember had potential, but the slice wasn't in the oven long enough.
Between Friday night and this morning, the only thing I ate that wasn't pizza was 1/2 a plate of leftover cashew chicken for early breakfast on Sunday and a bagel, lox & egg brunch later that day.
I don't go to the city too often, but I have been more times than I can count. This was the first time that I wasn't ready to leave. This is the first time that I can't wait to get back.
15 December 2005
choking toilets & the sub-optimal flush
This e-mail came from my school's administration - it is funny to me:
To: school community
From: ___, Associate Dean
We are working with the university to troubleshoot the flushing problems
with the toilets in the bathrooms. I need your help with
two matters. First, when you flush the toilets, make sure that you
press the flush handle all the way down (or pull it all the way up).
Pressing the handle only part of the way will result in a sub-optimal
flush. Second, we need to collect more detailed information about which
toilets aren't flushing properly and where those toilets are located.
Please report problems with the toilets to the Director of
Administrative Services and provide her with
specific information about which toilets in which bathrooms aren't
flushing properly.
To: school community
From: ___, Associate Dean
We are working with the university to troubleshoot the flushing problems
with the toilets in the bathrooms. I need your help with
two matters. First, when you flush the toilets, make sure that you
press the flush handle all the way down (or pull it all the way up).
Pressing the handle only part of the way will result in a sub-optimal
flush. Second, we need to collect more detailed information about which
toilets aren't flushing properly and where those toilets are located.
Please report problems with the toilets to the Director of
Administrative Services and provide her with
specific information about which toilets in which bathrooms aren't
flushing properly.
little things, part 3
Sometimes I like putting just a bit too much strawberry jelly on my toast. Along those lines, I often like putting way too much fresh shredded parmesan cheese on my pasta.
14 December 2005
Intergalactic
A friend of mine joined the military shortly after September 11th, 2001. We weren't real close, but we were in the same core group of friends who would go to bat for one another at the droop of a hat. I haven't seen him since. In highschool he was probably one of the first people I learned to respect in a real way - respect that you see someone and admire their good soul and kind heart and sense of what is right. Aside from the obvious shock that he was enlisting, I was not surprised that he is the kind of person that makes sacrifices and does what he thinks is right.
Our paths will finally cross back in our home town this holiday season and I am excited almost to tears. A mutual friend of ours who he is close with has promised an "intergalactic kegger."
Our paths will finally cross back in our home town this holiday season and I am excited almost to tears. A mutual friend of ours who he is close with has promised an "intergalactic kegger."
12 December 2005
typical cd collection
I was looking for a CD the other day and flipped through an old booklet that I must not have touched in years (I switched back to jewel cases a while ago). This is what was in it, inter alia:
Primus, Sailing the Sea of Cheese
Nirvana, Unplugged
Tool, Undertow
Rage Against the Machine, 1st record
Guns & Roses, Lies
Smashing Pumpkins, Siamise Dream and Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness
Soul Asylum, Gravedancer's Union
...and Drew's Famous Luau Dance Party Favorites, which my roommate & I secured for the famous Beach Party when we put over half a ton of sand in our living room my junior year of college.
If you have none of those, I would say that the Nirvana record is the most essential and probably the best. The best cover art, in my mind, is a tie between the Rage album & Soul Asylum:
Primus, Sailing the Sea of Cheese
Nirvana, Unplugged
Tool, Undertow
Rage Against the Machine, 1st record
Guns & Roses, Lies
Smashing Pumpkins, Siamise Dream and Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness
Soul Asylum, Gravedancer's Union
...and Drew's Famous Luau Dance Party Favorites, which my roommate & I secured for the famous Beach Party when we put over half a ton of sand in our living room my junior year of college.
If you have none of those, I would say that the Nirvana record is the most essential and probably the best. The best cover art, in my mind, is a tie between the Rage album & Soul Asylum:
09 December 2005
Buy, Play, Trade, Repeat
I generally do not support burning CDs en masse. If people want to trade mixes etc, that to me is different than just stealing an entire album. Of course, we are all hypocrites and I am no perfect soul.
One of the keys for me is that I still like to have the physical disc, with liner notes etc. And if you like the record, you should buy it. Maybe I'll use my law degree to help stop the record companies from sticking it to the little guy musician's.
I have friends in a band who said they wished people were trading their stuff on Napster (back when Napster was Napster). They weren't alone.
Here's another musician's take:
Buy, Play, Trade, Repeat
By DAMIAN KULASH Jr.
Published: December 6, 2005
Los Angeles
THE record company Sony BMG recently got in trouble after attempting to stem piracy by encoding its CD's with software meant to limit how many copies can be made of the discs. It turned out that the copy-protection software exposed consumers' computers to Internet viruses, forcing Sony BMG to recall the CD's.
This technological disaster aside, though, Sony BMG and the other major labels need to face reality: copy-protection software is bad for everyone, consumers, musicians and labels alike. It's much better to have copies of albums on lots of iPods, even if only half of them have been paid for, than to have a few CD's sitting on a shelf and not being played.
The Sony BMG debacle revealed the privacy issues and security risks tied to the spyware that many copy-protection programs install on users' computers. But even if these problems are solved, copy protection is guaranteed to fail because it's a house of cards. No matter how sophisticated the software, it takes only one person to break it, once, and the music is free to roam and multiply on the peer-to-peer file-trading networks.
Meanwhile, music lovers get pushed away. Tech-savvy fans won't go to the trouble of buying a strings-attached record when they can get a better version free. Less Net-knowledgeable fans (those who don't know the simple tricks to get around the copy-protection software or don't use peer-to-peer networks) are punished by discs that often won't load onto their MP3 players (the copy-protection programs are incompatible with Apple's iPods, for example) and sometimes won't even play in their computers.
Conscientious fans, who buy music legally because it's the right thing to do, just get insulted. They've made the choice not to steal their music, and the labels thank them by giving them an inferior product hampered by software that's at best a nuisance, and at worst a security threat.
As for musicians, we are left to wonder how many more people could be listening to our music if it weren't such a hassle, and how many more iPods might have our albums on them if our labels hadn't sabotaged our releases with cumbersome software.
The truth is that the more a record gets listened to, the more successful it is. This is not just our megalomania, it's Marketing 101: the more times a song gets played, the more of a chance it has to catch the ear of someone new. It doesn't do us much good if people buy our records and promptly shelve them; we need them to fall in love with our songs and listen to them over and over. A record that you can't transfer to your iPod is a record you're less likely to listen to, less likely to get obsessed with and less likely to tell your friends about.
Luckily, my band's recently released album, "Oh No," escaped copy control, but only narrowly. When our album came out, our label's parent company, EMI, was testing protective software and thought we were a good candidate for it. Record company executives reasoned that because we appeal to college students who have the high-bandwidth connections necessary for getting access to peer-to-peer networks, we're the kind of band that gets traded instead of bought.
That may be true, but we are also the sort of band that hasn't yet gotten the full attention of MTV and major commercial radio stations, so those college students are our only window onto the world. They are our best chance for success, and we desperately need them to be listening to us, talking about us, coming to our shows and yes, trading us.
To be clear, I certainly don't encourage people to pirate our music. I have poured my life into my band, and after two major label records, our accountants can tell you that we're not real rock stars yet. But before a million people can buy our record, a million people have to hear our music and like it enough to go looking for it. That won't happen without a lot of people playing us for their friends, which, in turn, won't happen without a fair amount of file sharing.
As it happened, for a variety of reasons, our label didn't put copy-protection software on our album. What a shame, though, that so many bands aren't as fortunate.
Damian Kulash Jr. is the lead singer for OK Go.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/opinion/06kulash.html
One of the keys for me is that I still like to have the physical disc, with liner notes etc. And if you like the record, you should buy it. Maybe I'll use my law degree to help stop the record companies from sticking it to the little guy musician's.
I have friends in a band who said they wished people were trading their stuff on Napster (back when Napster was Napster). They weren't alone.
Here's another musician's take:
Buy, Play, Trade, Repeat
By DAMIAN KULASH Jr.
Published: December 6, 2005
Los Angeles
THE record company Sony BMG recently got in trouble after attempting to stem piracy by encoding its CD's with software meant to limit how many copies can be made of the discs. It turned out that the copy-protection software exposed consumers' computers to Internet viruses, forcing Sony BMG to recall the CD's.
This technological disaster aside, though, Sony BMG and the other major labels need to face reality: copy-protection software is bad for everyone, consumers, musicians and labels alike. It's much better to have copies of albums on lots of iPods, even if only half of them have been paid for, than to have a few CD's sitting on a shelf and not being played.
The Sony BMG debacle revealed the privacy issues and security risks tied to the spyware that many copy-protection programs install on users' computers. But even if these problems are solved, copy protection is guaranteed to fail because it's a house of cards. No matter how sophisticated the software, it takes only one person to break it, once, and the music is free to roam and multiply on the peer-to-peer file-trading networks.
Meanwhile, music lovers get pushed away. Tech-savvy fans won't go to the trouble of buying a strings-attached record when they can get a better version free. Less Net-knowledgeable fans (those who don't know the simple tricks to get around the copy-protection software or don't use peer-to-peer networks) are punished by discs that often won't load onto their MP3 players (the copy-protection programs are incompatible with Apple's iPods, for example) and sometimes won't even play in their computers.
Conscientious fans, who buy music legally because it's the right thing to do, just get insulted. They've made the choice not to steal their music, and the labels thank them by giving them an inferior product hampered by software that's at best a nuisance, and at worst a security threat.
As for musicians, we are left to wonder how many more people could be listening to our music if it weren't such a hassle, and how many more iPods might have our albums on them if our labels hadn't sabotaged our releases with cumbersome software.
The truth is that the more a record gets listened to, the more successful it is. This is not just our megalomania, it's Marketing 101: the more times a song gets played, the more of a chance it has to catch the ear of someone new. It doesn't do us much good if people buy our records and promptly shelve them; we need them to fall in love with our songs and listen to them over and over. A record that you can't transfer to your iPod is a record you're less likely to listen to, less likely to get obsessed with and less likely to tell your friends about.
Luckily, my band's recently released album, "Oh No," escaped copy control, but only narrowly. When our album came out, our label's parent company, EMI, was testing protective software and thought we were a good candidate for it. Record company executives reasoned that because we appeal to college students who have the high-bandwidth connections necessary for getting access to peer-to-peer networks, we're the kind of band that gets traded instead of bought.
That may be true, but we are also the sort of band that hasn't yet gotten the full attention of MTV and major commercial radio stations, so those college students are our only window onto the world. They are our best chance for success, and we desperately need them to be listening to us, talking about us, coming to our shows and yes, trading us.
To be clear, I certainly don't encourage people to pirate our music. I have poured my life into my band, and after two major label records, our accountants can tell you that we're not real rock stars yet. But before a million people can buy our record, a million people have to hear our music and like it enough to go looking for it. That won't happen without a lot of people playing us for their friends, which, in turn, won't happen without a fair amount of file sharing.
As it happened, for a variety of reasons, our label didn't put copy-protection software on our album. What a shame, though, that so many bands aren't as fortunate.
Damian Kulash Jr. is the lead singer for OK Go.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/opinion/06kulash.html
07 December 2005
fishing for something
Jane's Addiction is not what I would consider under appreciated or underrated - I think most people know what they are and how influential they were to pop music. If you have seen them live, there is no deying it. My favorite album is Nothing Shocking - and not because of Jane Says, and not because of Mountain Song. Because of the first 2 tracks, which I do think are often overlooked. Up the Beach > Ocean Size. I tend to buy into the idea that there are summer people & winter people.
Summer people can generally be divided into lake people, mountain people, and beach people. I am a beach person. I long for the feel of sand between my toes; for salt water wind in my hair; for the violent calm that is swimming underwater in the surf. I am never ever ever as at ease as I am at the ocean.
I wish I was ocean size.
"Ocean Size"
Wish I was ocean size
They cannot move you
No one tries
No one pulls you
Out from your hole
Like a tooth aching a jawbone...
I was made with a heart of stone
To be broken
With one hard blow
I've seen the ocean
Break on the shore
Come together with no harm done...
It ain't easy living...
I want to be
As deep
As the ocean
Mother ocean
Some people tell me
Home is in the sky
In the sky lives a spy
I want to be more like the ocean
No talking
All action...
No talking
All action...
Summer people can generally be divided into lake people, mountain people, and beach people. I am a beach person. I long for the feel of sand between my toes; for salt water wind in my hair; for the violent calm that is swimming underwater in the surf. I am never ever ever as at ease as I am at the ocean.
I wish I was ocean size.
"Ocean Size"
Wish I was ocean size
They cannot move you
No one tries
No one pulls you
Out from your hole
Like a tooth aching a jawbone...
I was made with a heart of stone
To be broken
With one hard blow
I've seen the ocean
Break on the shore
Come together with no harm done...
It ain't easy living...
I want to be
As deep
As the ocean
Mother ocean
Some people tell me
Home is in the sky
In the sky lives a spy
I want to be more like the ocean
No talking
All action...
No talking
All action...
tonight, tonight
tonight I say we must move forward, not backward! Upward, not forward! And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!!!"
Jimmy V
It's the start of basketball season, and that means the Men's and Women's Jimmy V Classic. I love it.
You should know who Jim Valvano is. If you don't, look it up yourself because I couldn't do him justice. The short is that he coached NC State to a National Title in basketball, perhaps winning the biggest upset in the history of the final four - bigger than Duke over UNLV.
He died of cancer, but before he did he left us with the greatest speech of at least the last 20 years, perhaps the most memorable since Martin Luther King Jr.'s on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. His words "Don't give up, don't ever give up" water my eyes just typing them.
Check out The Jimmy V Foundation.
You can listen to his entire ESPY speech here.
Here are some highlights, but you really should read & listen to the whole thing here:
"I can't tell you what an honor it is, to even be mentioned in the same breath with Arthur Ashe. This is something I certainly will treasure forever. But, as it was said on the tape, and I also don't have one of those things going with the cue cards, so I'm going to speak longer than anybody else has spoken tonight. That's the way it goes. Time is very precious to me. I don't know how much I have left, and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I'll have something that will be important to other people too....
It's so important to know where you are. And I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you wanna be? And I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. And you have to be willing to work for it.
...And...that screen is flashing up there thirty seconds like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body. I'm worried about some guy in the back going thirty seconds, huh? You got a lot, hey va fa napoli, buddy. You got a lot.
I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and [as] Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm" -- to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality.
...I know, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I got one last thing and I said it before, and I'm gonna say it again: Cancer can take away all my physical ability. It cannot touch my mind; it cannot touch my heart; and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.
You should know who Jim Valvano is. If you don't, look it up yourself because I couldn't do him justice. The short is that he coached NC State to a National Title in basketball, perhaps winning the biggest upset in the history of the final four - bigger than Duke over UNLV.
He died of cancer, but before he did he left us with the greatest speech of at least the last 20 years, perhaps the most memorable since Martin Luther King Jr.'s on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. His words "Don't give up, don't ever give up" water my eyes just typing them.
Check out The Jimmy V Foundation.
You can listen to his entire ESPY speech here.
Here are some highlights, but you really should read & listen to the whole thing here:
"I can't tell you what an honor it is, to even be mentioned in the same breath with Arthur Ashe. This is something I certainly will treasure forever. But, as it was said on the tape, and I also don't have one of those things going with the cue cards, so I'm going to speak longer than anybody else has spoken tonight. That's the way it goes. Time is very precious to me. I don't know how much I have left, and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I'll have something that will be important to other people too....
It's so important to know where you are. And I know where I am right now. How do you go from where you are to where you wanna be? And I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. And you have to be willing to work for it.
...And...that screen is flashing up there thirty seconds like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body. I'm worried about some guy in the back going thirty seconds, huh? You got a lot, hey va fa napoli, buddy. You got a lot.
I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and [as] Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm" -- to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality.
...I know, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I got one last thing and I said it before, and I'm gonna say it again: Cancer can take away all my physical ability. It cannot touch my mind; it cannot touch my heart; and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.
05 December 2005
Homewrecker
There is a great new show on MTv called Homewrecker where they renovate peoples rooms to get them back for pranks they played in the past.
One time when I was a teenager we were riding in my friend's volvo (affectionately named 'the vulva') and he was in the gas station paying for gas or something & his brother & I decided it would be funny to put a huge glob of sunblock all across the back of his steering wheel. We put it across the bottom part so he wouldn't grab it right at first, so when we turned out onto the street he slid his hand around the wheel and into the greasy white glob of warm nastiness.
There is nothing worse than a greasy steering wheel. He was about pissedoffeder than a toothless elephant at in a game of dominoes, but I claimed "you can't get mad at me, he did it" and his brother claimed "you can't get mad at me, he did it."
Fortunately for me, we are still great friends - and Mello, I hope you look back on those days fondly b/c we did it all out of love.
One time when I was a teenager we were riding in my friend's volvo (affectionately named 'the vulva') and he was in the gas station paying for gas or something & his brother & I decided it would be funny to put a huge glob of sunblock all across the back of his steering wheel. We put it across the bottom part so he wouldn't grab it right at first, so when we turned out onto the street he slid his hand around the wheel and into the greasy white glob of warm nastiness.
There is nothing worse than a greasy steering wheel. He was about pissedoffeder than a toothless elephant at in a game of dominoes, but I claimed "you can't get mad at me, he did it" and his brother claimed "you can't get mad at me, he did it."
Fortunately for me, we are still great friends - and Mello, I hope you look back on those days fondly b/c we did it all out of love.
04 December 2005
red staplers
The NYT had an article yesterday about the impending Blackberry shutdown because of a patent dispute. As a preliminary matter, I think absolute hilarity would ensue if the X number of people who have come to rely on the things all of a suddenly got shut down (disclaimer: you should know that I just got my first cell phone this week). There are 3.65 million BlackBerry users worldwide, but only the ones in the U.S. are in danger of losing service
But more importantly, or at least the thing that bugged me the most after reading the article was the comment that "many corporations prefer BlackBerry because its software offers a high level of security and its devices cannot be used by employees for non-work-related tasks like listening to downloaded music."
Who cares? Many corporations need to suck it. Are CEOs really spending their time worrying about whether Johnny in cubicle 38 is humming along to the latest Beonce record while he puts the cover sheet on his TPX report? The same thing goes for internet blocking software and rules about checking your e-mail etc. If the worker bee is making honey, then who cares what else he is doing? The emphasis should be on productivity, not on how time is actually spent.
No wonder Milton is going to burn the building down.
But more importantly, or at least the thing that bugged me the most after reading the article was the comment that "many corporations prefer BlackBerry because its software offers a high level of security and its devices cannot be used by employees for non-work-related tasks like listening to downloaded music."
Who cares? Many corporations need to suck it. Are CEOs really spending their time worrying about whether Johnny in cubicle 38 is humming along to the latest Beonce record while he puts the cover sheet on his TPX report? The same thing goes for internet blocking software and rules about checking your e-mail etc. If the worker bee is making honey, then who cares what else he is doing? The emphasis should be on productivity, not on how time is actually spent.
No wonder Milton is going to burn the building down.
03 December 2005
typical
I don't think anyone on the entire planet is surprised to learn that the U.S. military bought positive 'news' coverage in Iraqi papers. Rather than just moan and groan about the corrupt administration, I have a different question - does it work?
In today's age, these things invarriably get found out and people act liek it does more harm than good - but does it really? I mean, no one believes or trusts the U.S. anymore anyway - does this really undermine our credibility more than having Whitehouse officials indited for outing a CIA agent as retribution for uncovering their lies about Iraqi intelligence?
Aside from the moral issue, maybe this kind of approach is worth it. Maybe the short term advantage gained by planting the story is more significant than the longer term harm done when we eventually get caught. I'm not saying it IS worth it, I'm wondering if there have been studies etc.
In today's age, these things invarriably get found out and people act liek it does more harm than good - but does it really? I mean, no one believes or trusts the U.S. anymore anyway - does this really undermine our credibility more than having Whitehouse officials indited for outing a CIA agent as retribution for uncovering their lies about Iraqi intelligence?
Aside from the moral issue, maybe this kind of approach is worth it. Maybe the short term advantage gained by planting the story is more significant than the longer term harm done when we eventually get caught. I'm not saying it IS worth it, I'm wondering if there have been studies etc.
Military Says It Paid Iraq Papers for News
Possible 'Improprieties' to Be Investigated
By Josh White and Bradley GrahamWashington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, December 3, 2005; Page A01
02 December 2005
chalkdust torture
I love exams.
"But who can unlearn all the facts that I've learned
As I sat in their chairs and my synapses burned
And the torture of chalk dust collects on my tongue
Thoughts follow my vision and dance in the sun
All my vasoconstrictors they come slowly undone
Can't this wait till I'm old? Can't I live while I'm young?
-Phish
"But who can unlearn all the facts that I've learned
As I sat in their chairs and my synapses burned
And the torture of chalk dust collects on my tongue
Thoughts follow my vision and dance in the sun
All my vasoconstrictors they come slowly undone
Can't this wait till I'm old? Can't I live while I'm young?
-Phish
qualifications
Andrew Natsios, the (now) former head of the United States Agency for International Development, resigned today. Some people liked him, some didn't - the same old story. But this is what I find most interesting:
"Before joining the Bush administration, Natsios was chairman and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, where he managed the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, or 'Big Dig.'"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/02/AR2005120200557.html
The Big Dig is widely know to have been the biggest example of corruption and ineptitude in local government in the history of the world. It cost at least twice as much as it was supposed to and took at least twice as long as it was supposed to. The Big Dig was completed last year and already leaks and has problems.
So how exactly does overseeing the biggest disaster of public spending in history qualify you to oversee other projects?
"Before joining the Bush administration, Natsios was chairman and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, where he managed the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, or 'Big Dig.'"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/02/AR2005120200557.html
The Big Dig is widely know to have been the biggest example of corruption and ineptitude in local government in the history of the world. It cost at least twice as much as it was supposed to and took at least twice as long as it was supposed to. The Big Dig was completed last year and already leaks and has problems.
So how exactly does overseeing the biggest disaster of public spending in history qualify you to oversee other projects?
01 December 2005
a good start
I was sitting at a stop light today with my music cranked trying to shake off the morning funk when I looked up in my rearview mirror to see the woman behind me totally rocking out to whatever she had cranked, presumably also trying to shake off the morning funk.
That's when you know there is hope in the world, and your day will be a good one.
That's when you know there is hope in the world, and your day will be a good one.
30 November 2005
musical jumbalaya
It would be pretty cool if you ask me (and since you are reading my blog, I guess you kind of did) if some really neat new creative musical experiments come out of the hurricane aftermath. Not that the New Orleans musicians were likely unaware of what goes down in Austin, or vise versa - but being forced into the same confines could change their outlook somewhat. Lord knows the players from New Orleans, no matter what their life story has been thus far, have a new outlook on singin the blues. Being thrust into a city that was already crowded with musicians also means ther is more opportunity etc for spontaneous, and in some ways forced, collabration between people that otherwise would have been cities apart.
It would be neat to look back in 50 years and trace a line of musical influence that is directly attributable to hurricane. Doubtless there is at least one musical genuis-to-be in Austin who is sneaking in the back door of clubs because she is underage and will become enthrawled by this new sound that would otherwise have been left undiscovered...and somewhere down the line upon receipt of her first Grammy, or in an interview on Fresh Air, she will be able to recount these experiences that never would have happened if it werent for such a huge disaster.
Big Easy's Musicians Move Their Acts to Austin
Lively Arts Scene In Texas Capital Suits Evacuees
It would be neat to look back in 50 years and trace a line of musical influence that is directly attributable to hurricane. Doubtless there is at least one musical genuis-to-be in Austin who is sneaking in the back door of clubs because she is underage and will become enthrawled by this new sound that would otherwise have been left undiscovered...and somewhere down the line upon receipt of her first Grammy, or in an interview on Fresh Air, she will be able to recount these experiences that never would have happened if it werent for such a huge disaster.
Big Easy's Musicians Move Their Acts to Austin
Lively Arts Scene In Texas Capital Suits Evacuees
By Sylvia Moreno
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 30, 2005; A03
AUSTIN -- The self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the World, the place that gave rock-and-roll superstar Janis Joplin her start in the 1960s, is sounding a little funkier these days. The chili, as one of the famed Neville Brothers sings in his new regular gig, has met the gumbo.
Among the estimated 1 million Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina are musicians trying to reestablish New Orleans's distinct second-line beat in a city better known for folk and roots, rhythm and blues, indie rock and country rock.
The city's population of more than 8,700 musicians has not only grown a bit but also diversified racially and ethnically. Relocated here indefinitely, among others, are Cyril Neville and Tribe 13, Ivan Neville and Dumpsta Funk, the Hot Eight Brass Band, the Iguanas, the Caesar Brothers Funk Box, the Radiators, and Big Chief Kevin Goodman of the Flaming Arrows Mardi Gras Indian tribe. Some of them have even created an ad hoc band with a name that sums up who they are today, post-Katrina: "The Texiles."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/29/AR2005112901383.html28 November 2005
an Apple a day
In my book, Fiona Apple is under rated or at least underappreciated by the people I know who dig music. Sure, "Criminal" (off her 1996 debut Tidal) was over played - but don't try to tell me you ever got sick of the video.
Her sultry & dark voice cary the album and it has a place on everyone's shelf. It is not an "any mood" record that you can pop in the car stereo on a warm spring day and go tearing down country roads with the windows rolled down singing along & puffing a joint...but who wants to listen to that stuff all the time anyway?
There are apparently Fiona Apple freaks - such as this website - and she has released two records since Tidal (one just this fall), but I have honestly never hear a single track off either one of them. All I know is that she was in my ear on the way to school today and it's hard not to shudder when she sings.
If you have other records that fit that mood - post 'em.
P.S. - yes, she can see through you with those eyes...
Her sultry & dark voice cary the album and it has a place on everyone's shelf. It is not an "any mood" record that you can pop in the car stereo on a warm spring day and go tearing down country roads with the windows rolled down singing along & puffing a joint...but who wants to listen to that stuff all the time anyway?
There are apparently Fiona Apple freaks - such as this website - and she has released two records since Tidal (one just this fall), but I have honestly never hear a single track off either one of them. All I know is that she was in my ear on the way to school today and it's hard not to shudder when she sings.
If you have other records that fit that mood - post 'em.
P.S. - yes, she can see through you with those eyes...
27 November 2005
little things, part 2
Pizza is good. There are several pizza joints in the ATL that serve up quality pie. I don't mean Papa Johns or Pizza Hut thin crust - I mean real made from scratch dough tossin' pizza. NYC obviously is the Champion of pizza. I've only found one place that has good pie around here - The Italian Store. It is quite good. Honestly there is such a derth of quality in the area that my standards may have lowered...but I don't think so.
I am generally a 2 topping guy. I don't know why, but you get much more than that and everything blends together and you lose the subtle accent. In general, I think I prefer simple cooking though. There is something to be said for just getting the pure good fresh tastes without a lot of fullamazoo.
A nice fresh tomato deserves nothing more than 2 slices of white bread, some salt, pepper and mayo. I have also been known to eat them like apples leaning over the kitchen sink with juice running down my elbow. Pizza with just fresh sliced tomatoes is good.
Life with honest good pizza is good.
I am generally a 2 topping guy. I don't know why, but you get much more than that and everything blends together and you lose the subtle accent. In general, I think I prefer simple cooking though. There is something to be said for just getting the pure good fresh tastes without a lot of fullamazoo.
A nice fresh tomato deserves nothing more than 2 slices of white bread, some salt, pepper and mayo. I have also been known to eat them like apples leaning over the kitchen sink with juice running down my elbow. Pizza with just fresh sliced tomatoes is good.
Life with honest good pizza is good.
26 November 2005
good eats
Below you will see the bacon wrapped filet topped with a pan fried blue cheese fritta, home made MD crab cake, smoked gouda mash & Al's old batch o' collard greens.
Where is the turkey? We timed it to come out of the oven aprox. 1.5 hours after the first dinner. Mimi's secret recipe cranberry sauce is in the fridge (although my first attempt left a little to be desired).
Where is the turkey? We timed it to come out of the oven aprox. 1.5 hours after the first dinner. Mimi's secret recipe cranberry sauce is in the fridge (although my first attempt left a little to be desired).
23 November 2005
"I've had all that I wanted...
...of a lot of things I've had
[I saw Walk the Line last night. If you were on the fence, get off the fence and go]
And a lot more than I needed of some things that turned out bad"
[I saw Walk the Line last night. If you were on the fence, get off the fence and go]
And a lot more than I needed of some things that turned out bad"
22 November 2005
"Ready or not...
...here I come, you can't hide..."
On the same trip to Target that furnished The Chronic I also secured the Fugees second record "The Score"
Car stereos and 6x9s were invented so that I could sing along with Lauren Hill on the remake of Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly." Roberta was actually not the first to do this number - but her version does include a verse that the Fugees sadly omitted:
He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there.
But he just came to singing, singing clear and strong.
There is also a B Movie thriller called "Killing Me Softly" that came out in 2002. IMDb gives the following plot summary: "A woman faces deadly consequences for abandoning her loving relationship with her boyfriend to pursue exciting sexual scenarios with a mysterious celebrity mountaineer." Thank god for Netflix.
In case you are wondering whatever happened to Lauren Hill, there are rumors that the Fugees are getting back together - but I can tell you that she is doing just fine. We have been living happily together for some time now and she sings to me every night.
Have a good Thanksgiving. I may not post until next week, but the odds are at least 50/50 that I will tie one on Thursday and tell you the story about my Grandfather & cranberry sauce and talk about how Thanksgiving is my favorite of all the holidays.
On the same trip to Target that furnished The Chronic I also secured the Fugees second record "The Score"
Car stereos and 6x9s were invented so that I could sing along with Lauren Hill on the remake of Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly." Roberta was actually not the first to do this number - but her version does include a verse that the Fugees sadly omitted:
He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there.
But he just came to singing, singing clear and strong.
There is also a B Movie thriller called "Killing Me Softly" that came out in 2002. IMDb gives the following plot summary: "A woman faces deadly consequences for abandoning her loving relationship with her boyfriend to pursue exciting sexual scenarios with a mysterious celebrity mountaineer." Thank god for Netflix.
In case you are wondering whatever happened to Lauren Hill, there are rumors that the Fugees are getting back together - but I can tell you that she is doing just fine. We have been living happily together for some time now and she sings to me every night.
Have a good Thanksgiving. I may not post until next week, but the odds are at least 50/50 that I will tie one on Thursday and tell you the story about my Grandfather & cranberry sauce and talk about how Thanksgiving is my favorite of all the holidays.
money talks
I don't think you can expect get-rich minded corporations to just adopt corporate responsibility because they are nice people. But, you can use the loudest voice you have - money. I buy more expensive products that are organic, natural, or whatever partly because I want to eat that stuff, but also because I want to send a signal (however faint) to the market that people like me will spend a little more for stuff like that, so keep it comming.
Eventually (hopefully) enough congomerates will respond and competition will drive the price down some - although we also have to realize that it really does cost more to raise/grow organic food that is covered with pestacides or pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones.
Eventually (hopefully) enough congomerates will respond and competition will drive the price down some - although we also have to realize that it really does cost more to raise/grow organic food that is covered with pestacides or pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones.
Saving the Environment, One Quarterly Earnings Report at a Time
A few years ago, scientists at Cargill Inc. learned how to make rigid, transparent plastics from corn sugars. There was just one problem: they cost a lot more than the oil-based plastics they would replace.
But that was before the price of oil shot up and companies came under pressure from consumers and investors to find economically sound ways to adopt "green" packaging and other environmentally friendly products and processes. This year, Wal-Mart, Wild Oats Market and many other retailers, as well as food suppliers like Del Monte and Newman's Own Organics, all embraced corn-based packaging for fresh produce.
Sales at NatureWorks, the Cargill subsidiary that makes the plastic, grew 200 percent in the first half of this year over the period last year. "The early adopters were more influenced by environmental concerns than costs," said Kathleen M. Bader, chairwoman of NatureWorks. "But now we're competitive with petrochemicals, too."
Cargill is one of several companies profiting from the concerns - of shareholders, communities and consumers - about global warming, leaking landfills and other potential environmental hazards. Huge companies like General Electric and Chevron now have separate businesses to market what they are calling environment-friendly products.
Read the rest here: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/22/business/22enviro.html?th&emc=th21 November 2005
American Idiot
I have said, and I may have posted, that I thought Green Day's "American Idiot" was a let down. I think a large part of that is that I had very very high expectations - I was expecting the latest great rock-opera a'la Tommy, Dark Side of the Moon, and the New Album.
I was initially disapointed. I have continued, however, to keep it in rotation and it has grown on me. The latest greatest concept album? No - but still well worth having in the collection. It does rise to the level of being better than the sum of its singles.
I was initially disapointed. I have continued, however, to keep it in rotation and it has grown on me. The latest greatest concept album? No - but still well worth having in the collection. It does rise to the level of being better than the sum of its singles.
19 November 2005
little things, part 1
Life is too short to use anything but the best tissues when you have to blow your nose once every 5 minutes. Kleenex has just come out with a moist tissue. It seems a little creepy to me, but I suppose it's worth a try. I'll let you know how things go.
And if any of you out there thought that Claritin is just for alergy sufferers - think again. That stuff is awesome. It clears my sinuses and doesn't make me feel all hopped up on goofballs the way Dayquil and other cold medicines do. If you've known that for years, then you are a bad friend for not telling me sooner.
And if any of you out there thought that Claritin is just for alergy sufferers - think again. That stuff is awesome. It clears my sinuses and doesn't make me feel all hopped up on goofballs the way Dayquil and other cold medicines do. If you've known that for years, then you are a bad friend for not telling me sooner.
18 November 2005
one of those days
I hate it when people post to their blog about what they did that day - who caes? It is usually some boring b.s. about brushing your hair or walking your dog or getting in a fight with your significant other. That being said - this is what my day was like yesterday. I think it was funny. At least, sometimes all you can do is laugh:
I bailed on my evening class to go home and rest to battle the evil forces - although I felt a little guilty because I didn't feel that bad. On the way home, I stopped at the post office and couldn't think of a better time or place, so I locked my keys in the car. Fortunately there was a dry cleaner a few blocks away that gave me a coat hanger - and since I just put new speakers in the door, I am all to familiar with the locking mechanism. After 15 minutes of weird looks from people in the parking lot, I was on my way home.
Home is where I discovered that I left the power cable for my laptop at school. SWEET! No biggie - I call my buddie and he agrees to go up to the room and secure it for me. I tried calling him after class, but he didn't answer until he got home...with my power cable.
Normally that would have been good - except that I had since remembered that I have a 5:00 meeting at school and, since my laptop is dead, I can't send an e-mail to cancel. So I go to the meeting and try to set up some exchange with to pick up my power cable and then I wait outside in the cold for 15 minutes for my buddie to drop it off because he is on his way some where else.
The up shot of all this was that I figured it was conclusive evidence that my brain was not functioning and there was no reason for me to be at in class at school...even though I was there anyway.
I bailed on my evening class to go home and rest to battle the evil forces - although I felt a little guilty because I didn't feel that bad. On the way home, I stopped at the post office and couldn't think of a better time or place, so I locked my keys in the car. Fortunately there was a dry cleaner a few blocks away that gave me a coat hanger - and since I just put new speakers in the door, I am all to familiar with the locking mechanism. After 15 minutes of weird looks from people in the parking lot, I was on my way home.
Home is where I discovered that I left the power cable for my laptop at school. SWEET! No biggie - I call my buddie and he agrees to go up to the room and secure it for me. I tried calling him after class, but he didn't answer until he got home...with my power cable.
Normally that would have been good - except that I had since remembered that I have a 5:00 meeting at school and, since my laptop is dead, I can't send an e-mail to cancel. So I go to the meeting and try to set up some exchange with to pick up my power cable and then I wait outside in the cold for 15 minutes for my buddie to drop it off because he is on his way some where else.
The up shot of all this was that I figured it was conclusive evidence that my brain was not functioning and there was no reason for me to be at in class at school...even though I was there anyway.
17 November 2005
Night #3
I bailed on my evening class last night to go home & sleep. I still felt like i had the upperhand against the invading forces, but I wanted to keep it that way - and the a/c at school was broken so sitting through class in 90 degree heat was not exactly appealing. I hit whole foods to restock on some juice & fruit & grabbed ingredients for chicken barley stew. I made the stew but it wasn't ready till 1am so I didn't eat any.
I did drop the screwdrivers from my regmine and I skipped the nyquill just to see how sleepy I would be after a 2 hour nap. I still fell asleep at around 10:30. I woke up this morning suffering from a blitzkreig directed at my sinuses, which had previously escaped attack. I have class from 10 - 12, but then I'm returning to the home front to reassemble the troops and launch a counter attack. I don't have class again until Monday at 6pm, so even if this is not a swift victory, I have the staying power. I also have the elimination rounds of our frisbee tournament on Saturday, so if I need to break out the "sweat it out" approach, I can. Victory shall be mine.
I did drop the screwdrivers from my regmine and I skipped the nyquill just to see how sleepy I would be after a 2 hour nap. I still fell asleep at around 10:30. I woke up this morning suffering from a blitzkreig directed at my sinuses, which had previously escaped attack. I have class from 10 - 12, but then I'm returning to the home front to reassemble the troops and launch a counter attack. I don't have class again until Monday at 6pm, so even if this is not a swift victory, I have the staying power. I also have the elimination rounds of our frisbee tournament on Saturday, so if I need to break out the "sweat it out" approach, I can. Victory shall be mine.
16 November 2005
cold remedy
I'm sick - well, only half sick. I managed to get emergency rest before the full on cold set in, but I also am still battling the invasion.
I first started feeling it at about 4 or 5 on Monday, but still toughed ot out and went to my 6:15 class. After my trip to the grocer I adopted my old college remedy. It requires the following:
1)- eat as much as you possibly can. I go with Campbell's chicken noodle supplemented with crushed ramen noodles. I ate 2 of those.
2)- drink as much as you can. Particularly if you are eating sodium packed soup, you need water - and you need juice. Not from concentrate.
3)- take vitamins. I start with an Emergen-C, then add liquid echinacia & goldenseal. I use that to wash down a multi-vitamin & some zinc.
4)- Nyquil. I have the generic stuff, and it doesn't seem to be as good.
5)- after you take the nyquil, you start drinking the following concoction until you pass out - guaranteeing plenty of sleep:
Place 3 ice cubes in a pint glass. Add 3/4 oz of vodka. Then add equal parts Orange Juice, Grapefruit Juice, and Seltzer water. I usually get about three of these down before collapsing into a deep sleep - over nine hours each of the last two nights, and I think I am winning the battle.
I first started feeling it at about 4 or 5 on Monday, but still toughed ot out and went to my 6:15 class. After my trip to the grocer I adopted my old college remedy. It requires the following:
1)- eat as much as you possibly can. I go with Campbell's chicken noodle supplemented with crushed ramen noodles. I ate 2 of those.
2)- drink as much as you can. Particularly if you are eating sodium packed soup, you need water - and you need juice. Not from concentrate.
3)- take vitamins. I start with an Emergen-C, then add liquid echinacia & goldenseal. I use that to wash down a multi-vitamin & some zinc.
4)- Nyquil. I have the generic stuff, and it doesn't seem to be as good.
5)- after you take the nyquil, you start drinking the following concoction until you pass out - guaranteeing plenty of sleep:
Place 3 ice cubes in a pint glass. Add 3/4 oz of vodka. Then add equal parts Orange Juice, Grapefruit Juice, and Seltzer water. I usually get about three of these down before collapsing into a deep sleep - over nine hours each of the last two nights, and I think I am winning the battle.
15 November 2005
too good
I think the main reason why I hate people - not particular people, but people in general - is that they all think they are too good.
I was at the grocery store last night and they were totally slammed - every checkout was backed up and it took forever to get through. The guy in front of me was being all huffy & puffy that he had to stand in line like his time is too precious and he is the only one who matters in this world. He had a full cart (of like 10 things of egg beaters...weird) and because the place was so slammed there were no bag-boys, so the guy just stood there and watched his groceries pile up at the end of the conveyor belt. Then he stood there watching for 10 minutes while this poor 50 year old asian dude tried to bag them. Meanwhile - that's 10 minutes that I have to stand there and watch this jerk off watch someone bag his groceries when he could have been doing it on his own while the other dude scanned the items.
That is why I hate people. If he is in such a big hurry, then he should be bagging his own groceries. He should also think about the fact that if he bags his own groceries, I will get out of here faster. He should also think about making this asian dude's life a little easier. But no, he is too good to bag groceries. As precious as his time is, it is not precious enough for him to stoop to the level of bagging groceries. If I had seen what car was his, I would have keyed it to the metal from bumper to bumper.
Next time you are at the grocer, bag your own fucking groceries.
UPDATE:
Triton Unleashed, which is a blog linked at right, posted today about manners that compliments my point, as does the article he links to, although he leaves out the negativity & cuss words that I use.
I was at the grocery store last night and they were totally slammed - every checkout was backed up and it took forever to get through. The guy in front of me was being all huffy & puffy that he had to stand in line like his time is too precious and he is the only one who matters in this world. He had a full cart (of like 10 things of egg beaters...weird) and because the place was so slammed there were no bag-boys, so the guy just stood there and watched his groceries pile up at the end of the conveyor belt. Then he stood there watching for 10 minutes while this poor 50 year old asian dude tried to bag them. Meanwhile - that's 10 minutes that I have to stand there and watch this jerk off watch someone bag his groceries when he could have been doing it on his own while the other dude scanned the items.
That is why I hate people. If he is in such a big hurry, then he should be bagging his own groceries. He should also think about the fact that if he bags his own groceries, I will get out of here faster. He should also think about making this asian dude's life a little easier. But no, he is too good to bag groceries. As precious as his time is, it is not precious enough for him to stoop to the level of bagging groceries. If I had seen what car was his, I would have keyed it to the metal from bumper to bumper.
Next time you are at the grocer, bag your own fucking groceries.
UPDATE:
Triton Unleashed, which is a blog linked at right, posted today about manners that compliments my point, as does the article he links to, although he leaves out the negativity & cuss words that I use.
14 November 2005
changed the world
The Chronic - brought hip-hop rap culture to every 13 year old white boy who never latched on to NWA because his mom wouldn't let him get records with bad words. It introduced Snoop & his izzle fuschnizzle. It popularized the rebirth of deez nutz. It invigorated interest in George Clinton with use of some of the best samples out there. And, not to make you feel old - but it was released almost fourteen years ago.Equally as important, it contains one of my favorite "Dumb Lyrics that Rhyme":
"So would you just walk on by, cuz I'm too hard to lift, and no this ain't Aerosmith" -- Really? Are you sure? Because for a second there I thought it was Aerosmith.
I purchased what is actually the first copy I have ever owned late last week. I was amazed at how well I remembered the lyrics after not hearing some of the songs for 5 years or so. I was also amazed at how much it made me feel like "the man" (as in part of the system, not as in bad ass) to roll down the street with it cranked. I mean, here I am an almost 30 year white male old law student driving an 81 volvo with the windows rolled down and Dr. Dre thumpin on my 6x9s. What a joke.
Things felt different when I had long hair & a gotee that was so long it didn't fit in my drivers license picture. Things were different when I felt like part of the white counterculture, even if it was sometimes cheezy hippie love fest.
Now I'm left grasping at little ways to stick it to the man, which pretty much means I'm just stickin it to myself.
11 November 2005
veterinarians day
Whan I was a kid, I was very happy that there were peole who could fix my pets when they got sick, but I never understood why they got their own holiday.
Did you know that the WW II vets were older this year when the White Sox won the World Series than the Civil War vets were last time they won it?
Both my grandfathers were veterans; probably most people's grandfathers were veterans. I miss them. My mom's dad died in 2000, so he fortunately did not have to see all this crap we have gotten into. My dad's dad died a year and a half ago. When we were going through his things I found the begining of a hand written letter to the editor of VFW magazine expressing his outrage at the military action in Iraq. "This is not what I fought for" he said. It made me sad to know that when he died, he felt like one of his biggest sacrifices was being dishonored. It made me happy to know that the week before he died he was bragging to his neighbors that I was going to law school. He dropped out of school in the 5th grade to support 6 younger siblings when his father split and his moter got sick & died.
Did you know that the WW II vets were older this year when the White Sox won the World Series than the Civil War vets were last time they won it?
Both my grandfathers were veterans; probably most people's grandfathers were veterans. I miss them. My mom's dad died in 2000, so he fortunately did not have to see all this crap we have gotten into. My dad's dad died a year and a half ago. When we were going through his things I found the begining of a hand written letter to the editor of VFW magazine expressing his outrage at the military action in Iraq. "This is not what I fought for" he said. It made me sad to know that when he died, he felt like one of his biggest sacrifices was being dishonored. It made me happy to know that the week before he died he was bragging to his neighbors that I was going to law school. He dropped out of school in the 5th grade to support 6 younger siblings when his father split and his moter got sick & died.
This is a picture of my grandfather living in Germany in the late 40s to help rebuild the country.
10 November 2005
The CSI Effect
Some commentators, and indeed prosecutors & judges, have coined the phrase "CSI effect" to refer to juries that expect evidence comparable to what you see on TV in order to deliver a conviction. "Surely, if the defendant is guilty" they think "there is a roll of duct tape with fibres whose tear pattern matches the grid on the ball of their shoe that left a fibre in the stomach of the victim when she made a drink using the same ice scoop that was used last week when the crime took place in back of the neighborhood Baskin Robbins." That is not how evidence works in the real world.
I have decided that the CSI effect is something entirely different - it is when you are home on a Thursday night & have decided to leave the books on the shelf & just chill out and watch some crappy tv, but even the crappy tv is too crappy because none of the networks even try to put on good shows on the same night as CSI.
I have decided that the CSI effect is something entirely different - it is when you are home on a Thursday night & have decided to leave the books on the shelf & just chill out and watch some crappy tv, but even the crappy tv is too crappy because none of the networks even try to put on good shows on the same night as CSI.
tempting fate
So far so good - I paid the $100 to have the wiring replaced on the Houride's oil switch, and that seems to have been the problem. I hate to say that too loudly and I'm still waiting for the oil light to come back on.
The bad news is that the whole wiring harnes will need to be replaced at some point, but such is life. That is one of the common failing components of pre 86 Volvos, and frankly I am shocked that mine is still the original. I assumed that since I haven't had problems with it before now, it must have been replaced.
Next on the list is a new paint-job. I would go with the original color, but then I would want to get all the crhrome & trim fixed, and that will be hard to do since they stopped making the coupes in 1983. Instead, I might get creative, and I'm leaning toward something like this:
The bad news is that the whole wiring harnes will need to be replaced at some point, but such is life. That is one of the common failing components of pre 86 Volvos, and frankly I am shocked that mine is still the original. I assumed that since I haven't had problems with it before now, it must have been replaced.
Next on the list is a new paint-job. I would go with the original color, but then I would want to get all the crhrome & trim fixed, and that will be hard to do since they stopped making the coupes in 1983. Instead, I might get creative, and I'm leaning toward something like this:
09 November 2005
hours of fun
Today in class our Con Law professor commented that he was just looking at a bunch of blank faces. Little did he know we were scoping out the "Magic Eye Image of the Week"
08 November 2005
this just in...
In a shocking turn of events, Texas has approved a constitutional ban on gay marrige.
Meanwhile, since the police have been ineffective, a French town has decided to debate violence. Gwen Ifill will moderate.
Meanwhile, since the police have been ineffective, a French town has decided to debate violence. Gwen Ifill will moderate.
I like you man, but you're crazy
You got a dart in your neck.
For whatever reason, I've had a little trouble feeling inspired about posting this week. Sometimes I go on tears where I have 3 or 4 post ideas a day - right now, without my car woes, I would be dry.
And I just figured it out - Nolege & The U.S. of Cuda had both been on long hiatus without a post. They don't know each other, but they both came back last week, within two days of each other. They must have sapped my strength.
Have you ever worn a head/sweat band and played 4 games of ultimate frisbee on an unseasonably warm & sunny november day and forgot to use sunblock and ended up with sunburn & a white stripe across your forehead? No? Me neither - but I know this one guy ...
For whatever reason, I've had a little trouble feeling inspired about posting this week. Sometimes I go on tears where I have 3 or 4 post ideas a day - right now, without my car woes, I would be dry.
And I just figured it out - Nolege & The U.S. of Cuda had both been on long hiatus without a post. They don't know each other, but they both came back last week, within two days of each other. They must have sapped my strength.
Have you ever worn a head/sweat band and played 4 games of ultimate frisbee on an unseasonably warm & sunny november day and forgot to use sunblock and ended up with sunburn & a white stripe across your forehead? No? Me neither - but I know this one guy ...
07 November 2005
terminal
After about a year of dealing with some symptoms of poor fuel/air mixture, things have been running great for the past while few months. But the Houride has developed an intermittent "check oil" light. I took it to the Dr. today and he is not optimistic. There are three likely problems. There is no way to tell which problem it is without fixing the others. Trial and error is not a cheap way to take car of a car.
The first remedy (which is under way right now) is $120 to test the oil pressure switch and replace the section of the wiring harness that runs to the dash & idiot light.
The second is to replace the oil pump. That will require dropping the front suspension & oil pan. $400 in labor alone. I love my car enough to consider this option if the first try didn't work, but I would need to know that it would solve the problem - and there is no way to know that.
The third possibility, which you can only come to after dealing with the first 2, is that the bearings in the crank case are bad. I didn't even ask how much that would be.
I've had some good times with the Houride - 11 years worth. She is the only car I've ever loved, and if it's time to move on I will do so with a heavy heart... But she has been on the brink of death before. She has drifted down the golden highway headed for the sunset on more than one occasion, but we have nursed her back to health and this time may be no different.
The first remedy (which is under way right now) is $120 to test the oil pressure switch and replace the section of the wiring harness that runs to the dash & idiot light.
The second is to replace the oil pump. That will require dropping the front suspension & oil pan. $400 in labor alone. I love my car enough to consider this option if the first try didn't work, but I would need to know that it would solve the problem - and there is no way to know that.
The third possibility, which you can only come to after dealing with the first 2, is that the bearings in the crank case are bad. I didn't even ask how much that would be.
I've had some good times with the Houride - 11 years worth. She is the only car I've ever loved, and if it's time to move on I will do so with a heavy heart... But she has been on the brink of death before. She has drifted down the golden highway headed for the sunset on more than one occasion, but we have nursed her back to health and this time may be no different.
06 November 2005
03 November 2005
peanuts
...I also used to take a handful of peanuts and close my hand and try to make a Snickers bar when I opened it. That never worked either.
Then I developed a serious crush on Sally, Charlie Brown's little sister, because she gave up Halloween in order to be with Linus. But of course, she ended up whining & crying about it in the end when the Great Pumpkin never showed. Crushed me.
Then I developed a serious crush on Sally, Charlie Brown's little sister, because she gave up Halloween in order to be with Linus. But of course, she ended up whining & crying about it in the end when the Great Pumpkin never showed. Crushed me.
02 November 2005
SNAP!
When I was a little kid, I thought Rice Krispies would actually enunciate "snap crackle pop" and I was crushed when I had my first bowl and they just made noise.
01 November 2005
WHAT!
I went to an 'Irish' bar last night and they were out of Guinness. When the waitress told me, I literally yelled - without meaning to.
It reminded me of the time that I was at Waffle House in Pelham AL at 3am on the second night of an epic three night run by the boys at Oak Mt. and the manager announced she was closing because they were out of food and hadn't cleaned in hours. They had been on a wait for literally 13 hours straight.
Some guy came in with his camera and started taking pictures. She was pissed and asked him what the hell he was doing. He said he had never heard of a Waffle House closing and wanted to get a picture of it.
It reminded me of the time that I was at Waffle House in Pelham AL at 3am on the second night of an epic three night run by the boys at Oak Mt. and the manager announced she was closing because they were out of food and hadn't cleaned in hours. They had been on a wait for literally 13 hours straight.
Some guy came in with his camera and started taking pictures. She was pissed and asked him what the hell he was doing. He said he had never heard of a Waffle House closing and wanted to get a picture of it.
31 October 2005
schmaylight schmavings
WHY!!
Why does the sun come up before I wake up and go down before I even get home? I hate this crap.
Why does the sun come up before I wake up and go down before I even get home? I hate this crap.
28 October 2005
craving
some people get cravings for choclate. I get cravings for music. I've had "In the Light" stuck in my head for three days. Yesterday I went to the local record store, but the only Zeppelin they had was the 2 disk greatest hits release. Who the hell wants that? No wonder local record stores are dieing. I mean, I want to support locally owned everything - like teh coffee shop near school rather than Starbucks - but if you don't have what people want, what do you expect them to do? While I was there I bought Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsies, so it wasn't a total loss.
The problem is that no matter how loud you play Machine Gun over & over, it still isn't "In the Light." The same thing goes for chocolate or food or whatever. No matter how many budwisers you swill back, they won't fill that deep down thirst for the season's first Guiness.
So this morning I went to Barnes & Noble and grabbed Physical Graffiti. This is actually the first copy I have ever owned, and I feel much better.
The problem is that no matter how loud you play Machine Gun over & over, it still isn't "In the Light." The same thing goes for chocolate or food or whatever. No matter how many budwisers you swill back, they won't fill that deep down thirst for the season's first Guiness.
So this morning I went to Barnes & Noble and grabbed Physical Graffiti. This is actually the first copy I have ever owned, and I feel much better.
(sorry for the lack of links - no time today. But that is why god invended google. There is a reason both words start with G O you know.)
27 October 2005
rearviewmirror
Rather than get straight to the point, or mention the one-hit-wonder pop tune I heard on the radio that inspired my earlier post that was taken over by Tom Cochrane, I will beat around the bush a little more.
I was crankin' Pearl Jam's sophmore release "Vs." on the way home last night and thought to myself "man, this is/was one of the most underrated albums of all time." Then it occured to me that I didn't finish the sentance. I should have said "this is album has for years been greatly underappreciated by ME." Tons of people love(d) the album, and it was all over the radio when
it came out.
Why didn't I dig it then? Because 1)- I was too concerned with Pearl Jam changing their sound from Ten and "selling out" and 2)- I was too worried about all the 'posers' who were latching on to the radio friendly version when they didn't even know what the song Porch is about, that I didn't recognize that by rejecting something just because other people liked it, I was equally as guilty of being a poser.
I could go on about my preference for Pearl Jam over Nirvana, respect for teh artistic integrity Pearl Jam showed by makig music that almost no one liked (and not giving a shit), how their suit against Ticketmaster marked a jumping-off point for concert goers, and the politically active roll they have played in trying to make the world better; but I won't. I'll just say always play it loud, it is good:
i took a drive today
time to emancipate
i guess it was the beatings made me wise
but i'm not about to give thanks, or apologize
i couldn't breathe, holdin' me down
hand on my face, pushed to the ground
enmity gauged, united by fear
forced to endure what i could not forgive...
i seem to look away
wounds in the mirror waved
it wasn't my surface most defiled
head at your feet, fool to your crown
fist on my plate, swallowed it down
enmity gauged, united by fear
tried to endure what i could not forgive
saw things, saw things
clearer, clearer
once you, were in my...
rearview mirror...
i gather speed from you fucking with me
once and for all i'm far away
i hardly believe, finally the shades...are raised...
saw things so much clearer
once you, once you...
rearviewmirror...
saw things so much clearer
once you, once you...
rearviewmirror...
I was crankin' Pearl Jam's sophmore release "Vs." on the way home last night and thought to myself "man, this is/was one of the most underrated albums of all time." Then it occured to me that I didn't finish the sentance. I should have said "this is album has for years been greatly underappreciated by ME." Tons of people love(d) the album, and it was all over the radio when
it came out.Why didn't I dig it then? Because 1)- I was too concerned with Pearl Jam changing their sound from Ten and "selling out" and 2)- I was too worried about all the 'posers' who were latching on to the radio friendly version when they didn't even know what the song Porch is about, that I didn't recognize that by rejecting something just because other people liked it, I was equally as guilty of being a poser.
I could go on about my preference for Pearl Jam over Nirvana, respect for teh artistic integrity Pearl Jam showed by makig music that almost no one liked (and not giving a shit), how their suit against Ticketmaster marked a jumping-off point for concert goers, and the politically active roll they have played in trying to make the world better; but I won't. I'll just say always play it loud, it is good:
i took a drive today
time to emancipate
i guess it was the beatings made me wise
but i'm not about to give thanks, or apologize
i couldn't breathe, holdin' me down
hand on my face, pushed to the ground
enmity gauged, united by fear
forced to endure what i could not forgive...
i seem to look away
wounds in the mirror waved
it wasn't my surface most defiled
head at your feet, fool to your crown
fist on my plate, swallowed it down
enmity gauged, united by fear
tried to endure what i could not forgive
saw things, saw things
clearer, clearer
once you, were in my...
rearview mirror...
i gather speed from you fucking with me
once and for all i'm far away
i hardly believe, finally the shades...are raised...
saw things so much clearer
once you, once you...
rearviewmirror...
saw things so much clearer
once you, once you...
rearviewmirror...
26 October 2005
Kahn v. Department of Motor Vehicles, 16 Cal. App. 4th 159
Surely this is good for a laugh...
"Petitioner is a certified court reporter employed by the Culver City Municipal Court. In approximately 1972, when petitioner received her shorthand reporting license and launched [***2] a new career in midlife, her nieces and nephews asked her to show them the court reporting shorthand symbols for the phrase, "if you can." This phrase had great personal meaning to petitioner, in that her mother had adapted a [**8] song using the phrase from the story of "The Little Engine That Could." Petitioner had used this phrase as a motivator throughout her life. Her nieces and nephews purchased a personalized license plate for petitioner which bore the court reporting symbols "TP U BG," which can be translated as "if you can." She used this license plate thereafter on a series of automobiles.
In 1989, Pamela Reed completed a "customer inquiry form" at the state fair in which she registered a complaint concerning the following license plates: TPUBG, TPUBGIT, TPUBGOF, TPUBGU and TPUBGUP. She noted: "In stenographic shorthand TP=F [and] BG=CK." She demonstrated that "TP U BG" thus would read as "F." "U." "CK" or "K." and stated that this was "not exactly what should be on our roads." After the DMV received this information, it asked petitioner to surrender her license plates.
...Petitioner argues it is not enough that the translation of the court reporting symbols as the four-letter epithet be offensive; there must also have been [*170] evidence that "TP U BG" in itself is offensive. This is the equivalent of arguing that, in [**13] order to be rejected as a license identification symbol, "puta" must be understood as offensive in that form by all those who know no Spanish and thus cannot translate it as "whore."
"Petitioner is a certified court reporter employed by the Culver City Municipal Court. In approximately 1972, when petitioner received her shorthand reporting license and launched [***2] a new career in midlife, her nieces and nephews asked her to show them the court reporting shorthand symbols for the phrase, "if you can." This phrase had great personal meaning to petitioner, in that her mother had adapted a [**8] song using the phrase from the story of "The Little Engine That Could." Petitioner had used this phrase as a motivator throughout her life. Her nieces and nephews purchased a personalized license plate for petitioner which bore the court reporting symbols "TP U BG," which can be translated as "if you can." She used this license plate thereafter on a series of automobiles.
In 1989, Pamela Reed completed a "customer inquiry form" at the state fair in which she registered a complaint concerning the following license plates: TPUBG, TPUBGIT, TPUBGOF, TPUBGU and TPUBGUP. She noted: "In stenographic shorthand TP=F [and] BG=CK." She demonstrated that "TP U BG" thus would read as "F." "U." "CK" or "K." and stated that this was "not exactly what should be on our roads." After the DMV received this information, it asked petitioner to surrender her license plates.
...Petitioner argues it is not enough that the translation of the court reporting symbols as the four-letter epithet be offensive; there must also have been [*170] evidence that "TP U BG" in itself is offensive. This is the equivalent of arguing that, in [**13] order to be rejected as a license identification symbol, "puta" must be understood as offensive in that form by all those who know no Spanish and thus cannot translate it as "whore."
25 October 2005
down the drain
One day, when I own a house & convert the basement into a Carolina Panthers sports bar theme, I think I'll remodel the bathroom just like it's s a real bar. I plan on 2 urinals & one stall (of course with the door ripped off) and I'll frame newspaper above the urinals so you can read it while you take a leak.
And I won't go with those newfangled small urinals- hell nah. I'll have the old school ones that go all the way to the floor, just like we used to have at Eastover Elementary.
Or maybe I'll just go straight up trough style...
And I won't go with those newfangled small urinals- hell nah. I'll have the old school ones that go all the way to the floor, just like we used to have at Eastover Elementary.
Or maybe I'll just go straight up trough style...
24 October 2005
Hey zeus Kriste'
I just heard on the radio that an ass load of Katrina evacuees are facing eviction from the apartments they have been relocated to because FEMA mailed relief checks to their old New Orleans addresses. What a bunch of Morans.
After the extent of damage because evident, I said I thought the government should rebuild New Orleans. In theory I still think this is the kind of disaster they should address - the problem is simply too large for private free market forces to be effective. There are houses in Pensacola FLA that still have tarped roofs from last year's hurricane.
But it has become painfully clear that the government, as currently structured, is wholly inept and incapable of such a task - at least FEMA is. I heard of a proposal to move responsibility from FEMA to HUDD. The E in FEMA stands for "emergency," not "long term" and they clearly can't keep up.
From the Winston-Salem Journal:
After the extent of damage because evident, I said I thought the government should rebuild New Orleans. In theory I still think this is the kind of disaster they should address - the problem is simply too large for private free market forces to be effective. There are houses in Pensacola FLA that still have tarped roofs from last year's hurricane.
But it has become painfully clear that the government, as currently structured, is wholly inept and incapable of such a task - at least FEMA is. I heard of a proposal to move responsibility from FEMA to HUDD. The E in FEMA stands for "emergency," not "long term" and they clearly can't keep up.
From the Winston-Salem Journal:
Katrina evacuees face eviction without checks
CHARLOTTE - Hundreds of Hurricane Katrina evacuees face possible eviction because their federal relief checks haven't arrived - four weeks after the money was promised.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was to send checks of $2,358 to cover three months' housing. But evacuees said that FEMA has mailed checks to former addresses in New Orleans or to the wrong address in Charlotte, which never reached their recipients.
Social workers fear that the delay may leave many hurricane evacuees homeless when there is a shortage of affordable housing. Social workers estimate that hundreds of the 4,000 evacuees in the area are at risk of eviction.
FEMA has dispatched teams of workers to North Carolina to investigate the problem.
Those who have visited Charlotte said that half of the storm victims they have assisted in North Carolina have not received rental-assistance checks.
23 October 2005
sweaty palms
It is incredibly hard to get a band-aid to stick to any part of your body that moves - knees, elbows, fingers - but the most annoying I have experienced is the palm. It doesn't help that the only band-aids CVS carries are big enough to cover my gaping wound (which finally scabbed pver yesterday) are plastic rather than cloth, so your hand starts sweating - destroying whatever effectiveness the adhesive would have had.
22 October 2005
frankenstein (Bad Music 1)
This was going to be a post about how I consider myself fortunate to be able to enjoy one hit wonder crappy radio music.
But after doing a little prep work, the post has taken over and commands me to focus on a particular one hit wonder - well, 2 hits really. These days everyone out there will turn up the radio and roll down the window when they're drivin down the road and a little Tom Cochrane comes on - doesn't matter if it's "Life is a Highway" or his first break through - the semi-psycadelic 80s rock song you used to listen to in highschool with 8 of your buddies crammed into the back of a minivan that looked like the mystery machine leaking pot smoke from every crevice - "Lunatic Fringe."
Do you remember in what years those songs were released? Answers at the bottom.
But throuogh your reminicing sing along or stoned introspection, did you ever really think about the words that he is singing? This dude is singing about Jesus & the Rapture.
But after doing a little prep work, the post has taken over and commands me to focus on a particular one hit wonder - well, 2 hits really. These days everyone out there will turn up the radio and roll down the window when they're drivin down the road and a little Tom Cochrane comes on - doesn't matter if it's "Life is a Highway" or his first break through - the semi-psycadelic 80s rock song you used to listen to in highschool with 8 of your buddies crammed into the back of a minivan that looked like the mystery machine leaking pot smoke from every crevice - "Lunatic Fringe."
Do you remember in what years those songs were released? Answers at the bottom.
But throuogh your reminicing sing along or stoned introspection, did you ever really think about the words that he is singing? This dude is singing about Jesus & the Rapture.
Lunatic Fringe: 1981
Life is a Highway: 1991
Life is a Highway: 1991
21 October 2005
Lucky
Sometimes I think internet radio could change the world.
Bill & Rebecca Goldsmith started Radio Paradise years ago and just did it for free, accepting donations. Within a few years the donations were pouring in at a pace that allowed them to do this full time. But rater than take the money & run, they invest an adequate amount in upgrades to the site. For more history / background, click on their "Info" tab.
The top right of the webpage shows the recent playlist and if you click on a song, you can rate it, request it, and find out the discography information - as well as buy the album.
When I first got turned onto the station, the guy was traveling with a webcam & broadcasting from his laptop. Now that's the fuckin life. Maybe internet radio won't change the whole world, but it sure did change Bill & Rebecca's world. And if you listen, maybe it can change your's.
Radiohead song of the day (inspiration courtesy RP):
I'm on a roll,
I'm on a roll this time
I feel my luck could change.
Kill me Sarah,
kill me again with love,
it's gonna be a glorious day.
Pull me out of the aircrash,
Pull me out of the lake,
I'm your superhero,
we are standing on the edge.
The head of state has called for me by name
but I don't have time for him.
It's gonna be a glorious day!
I feel my luck could change.
Pull me out of the aircrash,
Pull me out of the lake,
I'm your superhero,
we are standing on the edge.
We are standing on the edge.
Bill & Rebecca Goldsmith started Radio Paradise years ago and just did it for free, accepting donations. Within a few years the donations were pouring in at a pace that allowed them to do this full time. But rater than take the money & run, they invest an adequate amount in upgrades to the site. For more history / background, click on their "Info" tab.
The top right of the webpage shows the recent playlist and if you click on a song, you can rate it, request it, and find out the discography information - as well as buy the album.
When I first got turned onto the station, the guy was traveling with a webcam & broadcasting from his laptop. Now that's the fuckin life. Maybe internet radio won't change the whole world, but it sure did change Bill & Rebecca's world. And if you listen, maybe it can change your's.
Radiohead song of the day (inspiration courtesy RP):
I'm on a roll,
I'm on a roll this time
I feel my luck could change.
Kill me Sarah,
kill me again with love,
it's gonna be a glorious day.
Pull me out of the aircrash,
Pull me out of the lake,
I'm your superhero,
we are standing on the edge.
The head of state has called for me by name
but I don't have time for him.
It's gonna be a glorious day!
I feel my luck could change.
Pull me out of the aircrash,
Pull me out of the lake,
I'm your superhero,
we are standing on the edge.
We are standing on the edge.
20 October 2005
Once it hits your lips...
There are few things as polarizing as what octane milk people drink. If you are a 2% guy or gal, you wouldn't be caught dead with a glass of that white-water skim stuff. People also rarely shift levels. If you were raised on whole milk, there is simply no substitute, and you won't trade down. Probably the only people who shift are those who were raised on powdered milk.
Well yesterday I showed up at the grocery store to grab a few things - including of course milk - and they were out of 2%. How could they be out? I asked a guy to check in the back. No dice. I guess that is what I get for going to the grocery store at 9:00 on a Wednesday when I should be at the bar. So, those people who know me know that I was paralized with indecision. They had cholate milk, whole milk, 1% milk, and of course I had the option of going to a different store. The different store grabbed me first, but I decided to indulge myself and bought the whole milk.
Let's just say that my cherios have never been so filling, my coffee never so creamy. Yummmm. I probably won't stick with whole milk (which actually only has 38% more fat that 2%, even though you'd think that whole milk would be 98% more than 2%). But I will go home and mix up some Nestle's Quick in a frozen mug and enjoy it with a double decker PB&J for snack.
...it's just so good.
Well yesterday I showed up at the grocery store to grab a few things - including of course milk - and they were out of 2%. How could they be out? I asked a guy to check in the back. No dice. I guess that is what I get for going to the grocery store at 9:00 on a Wednesday when I should be at the bar. So, those people who know me know that I was paralized with indecision. They had cholate milk, whole milk, 1% milk, and of course I had the option of going to a different store. The different store grabbed me first, but I decided to indulge myself and bought the whole milk.
Let's just say that my cherios have never been so filling, my coffee never so creamy. Yummmm. I probably won't stick with whole milk (which actually only has 38% more fat that 2%, even though you'd think that whole milk would be 98% more than 2%). But I will go home and mix up some Nestle's Quick in a frozen mug and enjoy it with a double decker PB&J for snack.
...it's just so good.
19 October 2005
Oh, to be fifteen again...
I was talking with one of my fellow students who has an 11 yearold son and she mentioned that he came home the other day and asked what "gay sex" is. Apparently it's all the rage on the playground to accuse people of gay sex. The conversation took its course and I reminded her that kids are getting younger and younger when they have first sexual experiences. The thought that her 7 year old daughter is almost half way there was quite shocking for both of us, although obviously to her more than me.
The vast majority of girls that were having sex when I was in highschool were seeking approval and popularity. The guys were just seeking a good time. I don't have kids yet, but I would rather my daughter have sex at 15 because it feels good than wait until she's 18 or 21 or whatever and do it because all her friends were making fun of her and she wants some boy to like her.
Sexual activity increases among youth
Studies show adolescents have intercourse earlier without feeling guilt
By Stephanie Nehmens, Senior Staff Writer
The vast majority of girls that were having sex when I was in highschool were seeking approval and popularity. The guys were just seeking a good time. I don't have kids yet, but I would rather my daughter have sex at 15 because it feels good than wait until she's 18 or 21 or whatever and do it because all her friends were making fun of her and she wants some boy to like her.
Sexual activity increases among youth
Studies show adolescents have intercourse earlier without feeling guilt
By Stephanie Nehmens, Senior Staff Writer
People are having more sex, and they like it. An analysis, based on 530 studies, shows an increase in premarital intercourse and oral sex at significantly younger ages than ever before without a feeling of guilt.
The average age of one's first intercourse has dropped from 19 to 15 for females and 18 to 15 for males between 1943 and 1999, San Diego State associate psychology professor and co-author of the analysis Jean Twenge said.
"Sexual guilt among young people has gone down considerably, especially among young women," Twenge said. "I think women are feeling more comfortable sexually and it's part of the trend of men and women becoming more equal.
"What's really happening is that young women are doing the same thing as young men have always done."
The availability of birth control and legal abortion has probably made a large difference in that women feel they can have sex and not have to worry about getting pregnant, which makes a huge difference, Twenge said.
"If you start having sex when you're younger, then you're going to have the chances of you getting pregnant and having either an abortion or a baby at a very young age go up," business administration senior Corey Travis said. "So the overall equalization is OK, but women are ultimately responsible for the decisions they make, and it puts a lot of weight on young minds that are a lot of times still in the adolescent stage."
Women now hold professional career roles and aren't so confined to the house and home, said Brooke Wells, who holds a master's degree in psychology from SDSU and co-authored the sex analysis.
Women's personalities are also changing. Studies show women's assertiveness has gone up over the years, and that includes in the bedroom, Wells said.
"By the late 1980s, 80 percent of people said ... it was OK for two people who aren't married, who are consenting adults, to have sex," Twenge said. "People stopped asking the question after the late 1980s because it kind of topped out."
Liberal studies senior Kristen Dan said she comes from a religious area and a lot of people wait until they're married.
"I think the age this is happening is too young now..." Dan said. "It's taking kids' innocence at a lot younger ages."
The study also found an increase in oral sex, Twenge said. People didn't start asking questions about oral sex until the '70s because before that it wasn't quite as common, she said.
"In the '70s, about 50 percent of people engaged in that behavior (and) by the 1990s it was 75 percent, so that's another behavior that has gone up in popularity," Twenge said. "A lot of previous generations of people, people now in their 60s, viewed oral sex as not proper.
"They thought it was disgusting, but of course young people now see that as something that is a pleasurable activity."
Dan said it depends on the individual and what they believe is acceptable.
"I know some people think it's a lot bigger deal than other people and so it just depends how you look at it." Dan said. "I'm not opposed."
Twenge said what people think now is if it's a pleasurable thing, then it's worth pursuing and there's no reason to listen to rules about what one is supposed to do and what one is not.
18 October 2005
friendly reminders
Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Don't know what you've got till it's gone.
Don't piss into the wind.
Don't stop thinkin about tomorrow.
Don't wanna be a bum, you better chew gum.
Don't play bump & run coverage when the football field is concrete.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Don't know what you've got till it's gone.
Don't piss into the wind.
Don't stop thinkin about tomorrow.
Don't wanna be a bum, you better chew gum.
Don't play bump & run coverage when the football field is concrete.
17 October 2005
long cold lonely winter
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right
Little darlin' it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darlin' it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right
Little darlin' the smiles returning to their faces
Little darlin' it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Little darlin' I feel the ice is slowly meltin'
Little darlin' it seems like years since it's been clear
Here come the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right
Here come the sun, here comes the sun
It's all right, it's all right
And I say it's all right
Little darlin' it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darlin' it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right
Little darlin' the smiles returning to their faces
Little darlin' it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Little darlin' I feel the ice is slowly meltin'
Little darlin' it seems like years since it's been clear
Here come the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right
Here come the sun, here comes the sun
It's all right, it's all right
14 October 2005
Just like Tom Thumb's Blues
I know I've been leaning on the music lyrics a little too hard lately, but I am sticking with the rain theme until the sun comes out - besides, this is a pretty upbeat feel good song. The best version I've ever heard was not Dylan, but Neil Young shredding it at the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert. That collection also includes Eddie Vedder doing Masters of War acoustic and Clapton's incindary version of Don't Think Twice.Incidentally, one of the best pages on the entire web is here, where you can do a word search of every Dylan song ever published.
When you're lost in the rain in Juarez
And it's Eastertime too
And your gravity fails
And negativity don't pull you through
Don't put on any airs
When you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there
And they really make a mess outa you
Now if you see Saint Annie
Please tell her thanks a lot
I cannot move
My fingers are all in a knot
I don't have the strength
To get up and take another shot
And my best friend, my doctor
Won't even say what it is I've got
Sweet Melinda
The peasants call her the goddess of gloom
She speaks good English
And she invites you up into her room
And you're so kind
And careful not to go to her too soon
And she takes your voice
And leaves you howling at the moon
Up on Housing Project Hill
It's either fortune or fame
You must pick up one or the other
Though neither of them are to be what they claim
If you're lookin' to get silly
You better go back to from where you came
Because the cops don't need you
And man they expect the same
Now all the authorities
They just stand around and boast
How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms
Into leaving his post
And picking up Angel who
Just arrived here from the coast
Who looked so fine at first
But left looking just like a ghost
I started out on burgundy
But soon hit the harder stuff
Everybody said they'd stand behind me
When the game got rough
But the joke was on me
There was nobody even there to call my bluff
I'm going back to New York City
I do believe I've had enough
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