I got into San Diego at 10:35am PST this morning. The weather was beautiful when I arrived. 72 degrees I would say. And it felt incredibly warm in the sun.
I am now home with Cathy, Garrett and Zoe. The kids are a joy. Garrett wants me to come play with him. So I am going to wrap this up early.
Everything is well.
The city has gone totally insane. Just in time for my trip to San Diego.
I say to you TWU and MTA. Cut it out and get back to work.
I'm going to go to San Diego for a week. When I get back I want the two of you to be getting along. The trains will be running. The buses will be stopping and picking people up.
And none of this.
In James Bond movies (or Orwellian stories), the evil mastermind (or ruling party) only reveals its secret plans when he deems himself to be insulated from the repurcussions. He has already subjegated all his opponents, or he has convinced everyone around him of the rightness of his actions. In any event, we are assured, the outcome is (I'm afraid) in-ev-it-able.
Usually, it's only our protaganist (James) in chains and we (the audience) who know just how evil this man really is. In this desperate moment, our hopes are bouyed by the knowledge that somehow (and only at the last minute) James will find a way to stop him. Usually, the mastermind's own hubris (and english pluck) is his downfall.
That thought popped into my head as I was perusing some of the reaction to George W Bush's acknowledgement of authorizing illegal wiretaps on Americans.
My first reaction was, "Aha! Caught red handed!"
But now, I am beginning to think that perhaps George wanted to be caught. He wants an opportunity to gloat. Because without the grandstanding, no one will remember that it was he who changed the way America is governed. That it was he, and no else, who re-established the strength of the Presidency.
Which, I am sure, is how he and his advisors think about what they're doing. They are the executive body of government, after all. While Congress bickers and the courts dicker, someone has to be out there protecting our great country from the bad men. The evil men. The forces led by the ever-present and yet rarely encountered Man With The Arab Name (currently Zarqawi).
The current administration has set up a major power-grab for the position of the Presidency. War & occupation without cause. Unlimited detention without trial or charges being brought. Extraordinary Rendition. Torture and abuse of prisoners. Warrant-free wiretaps. All under the guise of "keeping America safe". All legal and within the law, according to Bush's lap-dogs.
Bush isn't standing up there saying "I'm sorry I abused my position of authority to illegally listen in on the conversations of individual Americans." He's saying, "I did it and I'll do it again." because he isn't sorry; he's proud of it.
Which is where the evil mastermind comes in. Maybe the reason that so much information is coming out about the bad behavior of this administration isn't because they're getting sloppy.
The problem with the perfect crime is that no one knows you did it. George wants his victims, his opponents and his allies to see what he's doing. He wants to unveil his masterpiece to the world.
It's important that we recognize him now, so that, in ten years, when the government is intercepting and scanning everyone's email and phone conversations, monitoring they're television, kidnapping... er... detaining "suspects", marching soldiers down our streets to prevent an "insurgency", we'll all remember that it wouldn't be this way if George W Bush hadn't taken the first steps.
Muwahahahahaa!
The flaw in the Evil Mastermind metaphor is that there's no James Bond in our current situation. There's just the mastermind and the audience and the creepy music.
You guys remember Nelly? My girlfriend? Know how she's the most amazing girl ever?
Right. Not only that, now she's on the radio. She was a guest caller on NPR's news quiz Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me this week. She played the "Bluff the Listener" game. In which the panel makes up two fake news stories to go along with one real (and weird) news story. And then Nelly had to guess which one was the real one.
She guessed it! Cool as a cucumber on the radio.
You can hear for yourself. If that link doesn't work, you can listen to the whole show at their Archives page (look for the Dec. 17 2005).
Well, the deep dark secrets of the Narwal are slowly being exposed. I'll admit that I'm a little less intimidated by the Narwal now that I know that the tusk is just a sense organ.
I bet they don't spear stuff with it, because I bet it's really annoying to have something stuck to your horn-nose.
Anyways, they're still the animal battle champion.
Here's a little snippet of the sport I play. Now, I'm not saying that I do all the things on the video, but I have at one time or another, done all those things. Except that weird sit-up thing those two girls do. I've never done that.
Ultimate girls are weird. Who am I kidding? Ultimate players are weird.
I have to admit that I did enjoy the 4th Harry Potter movie (Goblet of Fire! OOOOOH). It moves briskly from place to place and keeps that same pace of discovery that has made the Potter books and films so popular. There's always something new, some new spell, some new creature/object/book/person to discover. And the visual presentation of Potter's world is, as always, stunning.
While there are elements of the story that might be disturbing to small children, it's actually a pleasant reprieve from the gore and ludeness of many other films.
All of that led to an enjoyable movie experience. Though this film, like the other Potter movies, left me with an uneasy feeling.
The story is... um... colorful (read forced). Due to a technical malfunction, Potter is selected as the fourth competitor in what the film's characters consistently refer to (without irony) as the Tri-Wizard tournament. While the four of them undertake inane magical contests in the quest for the... er... Tri-Wizard Cup, Harry's also facing veiled threats from Voldemort (bad-guy) and dealing with the problems of being a Tween. His friends hate him, no one understands him, and all he wants is to be left alone.
Also, Hermione (12) starts dating some russian dude (18+). And creepily, all the guy wants to do is "watch her study". Yah. Right. These kids are in need of some serious parental oversite.
In a nice change of pace, they've added some bit parts for ethnicities. Including an Irish-Asian girl who Harry is sweet on, and two Indian girls who Harry and Ron take to a dance. Now that's inclusiveness.
Harry muddles his way through the competition and his social life, blindly, awkwardly and idiotically. All the while complaining that he doesn't want to be special. But everyone around him winks and smiles. He is special, you see! So very special they say as they smile! Yay, Harry Potter! You've done it again!
But, and here lies the hidden creepiness of this movie, Harry's actually not special. His character isn't flawed, it's non-existant. When the movie demands that he cower, he cowers. When it demands that he be brave, he's brave. When he needs amazing magical powers? Bam! Amazing magical powers. When he needs to be magically weak? Bam! No magical powers to speak of. Hmmm...
The only ability he consistently has in this movie is ultra-sonic whining.
And that's the problem with this movie. Harry's not a hero. He's a perpetual victim of circumstance. The people around him worship him, they're enthalled by his successes. But we know that he's just a kid and his successes have more to do with happenstance than anything else.
Harry doesn't do things; things happen to him. Kinda sucks for Harry, but it really sucks for the viewership. Maybe it's the English-ness of the films, with their strange turns of phrase and stiff-upper-lip mentality. Maybe that's how the like their stories told.
Perhaps it's small-minded of me, but I really do prefer my movies to have a hero. Or at least a protaganist. Harry Potter's films (and quite possibly the books as well) don't have a protagnist. Despite having his name of the cover, Harry doesn't move the story.
Still, the Potter movies have an excellent combination of steady direction and solid character acting. And the success of the Potter books has opened up a wonderland, where the old horses of fantasy fiction are set free and wild on the screen. Which is a treat in and of itself and something I, personally, hope I never tire of.
But, in the end, when everything has turned out right and everyone is back where they started, you can't help but wonder if anything actually happened.
The transition to blogger is coming along smoothly. You should be automatically redirected to this page if you try to go to http://tom.castoday.com/tomog. Which, is the way it should be.
If you've been using an RSS reader to read my feed, you should probably modify your settings to point to my new RSS feed here. It's in Atom format, which is different, but should work fine on any major news reader.
Meanwhile, the transition is moving along smoothly. Only missing the busy months of March-May 2005. But now I am going to do that.
Working hard?
Whatever had been plaguing my blog has been resolved. I believe that somehow my hosting service was mirroring my website on two different computers. Changes to one didn't end up showing up on the other, or showed up only partially. It was very strange.
And frustrating... So frustrating that I have given up on self-hosting my blog and moved over to blogspot. I've begun moving my posts (starting in January '05) over. The move's been surprisingly easy.
I'm a little apprehensive about moving my blog into the maintstream blogosphere. What if something happens? Blogger is owned by Google who, so far, have turned out to be pretty good. So though I still despair over this transition I do feel a little less uncomfortable.
Also, Blogger has some nice tools. They have inline editing, which is really great. They have comment moderation and CAPTCHA. Both of which were lacking on my other site. I think you can also search. And they do all the hosting.
The thing that Blogger doesn't do is categories. And they don't do directory-style grouping the way Bloxsom does. Good ol' Bloxsom. On Bloxsom I can get all the articles from 2005. All the articles from a specific Month or Day. All the articles on a particularly subject. Ohhhh... I miss my Bloxsom already.
But mainly, Blogger is taking away the responsibility of maintaining my own blog and scripts. All I have to do is come up with inane chatter. Phew!
My blog is dooomed! Doooooomed!
This is so much nicer. And you know, what can I do?
I'll work on transfering over all my old content soon. Whee!
Yaaaay!
Despite the threat of violence, the good citizens of the Rutgers History Department came out in large numbers to elect their head TA. These stalwart citizens showed their commitment to the promise of freedom. They risked their lives in support of the ideals of democracy.
Their voices have been heard.
Laurie is Head TA of the Rutgers History Department!
There will be a press conference in the green room at 2:30pm local time. No questions will be answered at this time.
Laurie is running for head TA of the history department. She's got a super bike of justice which has streamers. So make sure, if you're associated with the history department of Rutgers, that you go and vote for Laurie. She's sure to be the best head TA ever!
And way way way better than her competitors (a neo-nazi and an underground socialist respectively -- or so I've heard).
GOOOOO LAURIE!
Okay, this is kinda weird. And you know, if it inspires me to post on my blog, it's gotta be a strange event.
Apparently, some of the dolphins that the Navy trains to defend its ships against terrorists and mines were released by the Hurrican Katrina. The article tries to play up the danger to "Windsurfers" because the dolphins may be equipped with "toxic darts". So you know, take that with a grain of salt.
While I don't doubt the possibility that some of the animals may have been released into the wild, I'm intensely skeptical they were armed at the time. So, the danger to the human population is minimal...
... Until! They Return to Get Their Revenge. Drop your land-anchor kids, I think the Call is coming!
Hey, figured I should note in my blog that yesterday, Friday the 23rd of September was my 27th birthday. Nelly made me delicious dinner with potato pancakes and marinated chicken. Which made me feel very special. I had a great birthday, let me tell you.
I came home to a friendly notice on my door this evening. Don't drink the water in Ramsey.
I thought it was tasting kinda funny lately.
Actually, it's tough to figure out the seriousness of this. I think it's likely that they're being super-cautious until they can figure out where the bacteria is coming from. And that most of the water is okay to drink (though I don't think it's gonna win any taste tests).
So, if you come to visit... no drinking out of the tap, okay.
The latest issue of the Fed (Columbia's Subversive Newspaper) is out and about.
I should also mention that I have some quotes in there. Some intrepid Fed reporter interviewed a bunch of us post-Feddies. The results are compiled under the title "Columbia's Least Employable Grads". Check it out!
One more tournament in the books. The last tournament before Sectionals (September 17-18). Chowdafest takes place in Seekonk, MA (right next to Providence, RI -- or, as I like to call it, Ass Town) at these beautifully maintained fields for the Wheeler School.
I took a couple pictures of the aftermath (and the beforemath).
How'd my team (Redrum) do? Well... not so well. You can see the results for yourself. We wont only one game, but we managed to maintain the #3 seed in the pool because we lost so many tight games. We went up with, comparatively, a very small number of players. And that may have been the biggest factor in our performance. You can be assured that we'll be coming out all guns blazing at Sectionals.
An interesting thing the UPA has been doing just in the couple years is keeping track of the performances of the various teams throughout the season. They call their system score-reporter. It contains information about tournaments as well as individual teams. And, by the time the Fall Series rolls around, it can give you a pretty good idea of the relative strength of each team.
As for Redrum: you can see our brief history in UPA sanctioned events. Eventually, Sectionals and Regionals will fill in and be lit up with little Green boxes. Redrum! Redrum!
A friend of mine pointed me recently to this blog. It's all about ultimate: strategies, culture, life.
Now if you're not that into ultimate, you can be excused for not being very much interested in some random dudes mullings on the sport. But, for those of us embroiled in the thing, it's kinda interesting. This Zaz dude is fairly insightful.
It's a little taste of what ultimate players experience every weekend. And what we talk about over dinner/beers.
Yeah.
We're kinda lame like that.
Busy busy busy.
I'm gonna change my name to Mr. Busy
Well, maybe not.
But I am really busy lately. My weekends are completely booked up with ultimate things. This weekend I am going to Hingham, MA for more frisbee.
Next week I am headed to South Carolina with the Nellster. I'll be gone from Wednesday to Sunday.
Plus I play summer league every Monday and Wednesday. Though that all ends on the 20th. Woohoo. My summer league team is awful. Which is a bummer. We're charging towards the bottom of the heap. You can check it out. Click on "Standings". I'm on the Purple team.
Anyways, I just wanted to gripe a little bit about the busy-ness.
Well, the people that read this blog should already know this, but today I am in San Diego. I'm going to be out here for approx 10 days. And then after that it's back to the east coast and back to work.
I have a rental car. It's sunny, beautiful and I have no obligations whatsoever. I plan to make the most of it.
To celebrate our country's birth, Nelly and I went to Mars this weekend. It's an ultimate tournament in Pittsburgh. Oddly enough, even though it's in Pittsburgh, it's rather well attended by a wide cross-section of people. We picked up with some ultimate friends from around the area.
The drive out there was horrendous. Someone please remind me that Route 80 is not a good way to get out to Pittsburgh. It looks good on a map, but it's a tangle of construction and delays. If you're going from northern new jersey, take 287 to 78 to 81 to the Penn Tpk. It's so much better.
Things other than ultimate went on. Two nights of partying. One of the women on our team had relatives in the Pittsburgh area, so we were able to crash at their place. And use their pool! which was very refreshing and invigorating.
The team we played on was pretty strong. We struggled early, each of us learning the other team members styles on the fly. But by Sunday we'd pretty much gotten the hang of it. And after the end of the day we were ranked 10th out of 30 teams.
We lost a couple players between Sunday and Monday (the final day of the tournament). So of course, when Monday rolled around it was the hottest of the three days. We started ranked 2nd in the B-Pool. By the second game we were completely fried and our opponents (Tea and Strumpetts) had six extra subs. Not to make excuses. We gave them a good run, taking the lead at half, and then pushing them all the way, losing 15-13.
So while we didn't win the B-Pool, we did do pretty well. I was happy with my team and my own performance. And I had a great time.
Go me...
I saw Batman Begins last night with a bunch of friends and I have to say it was intensely good. I would say it was excellent, but Katie Holmes' random character/performance keeps it from hitting that mark.
As my friend Laurie said, Batman Begins is the best Crime-fighting Super-hero Action Movie ever. It's the best Batman movie yet. And it's better than either Spiderman, for sure. War of the Worlds is going to have to be really impressive to outslug Batman for the early summer blockbuster.
Christian Bale makes a fantastic Bruce Wayne and a very good Batman. And he blends the two identities in a way that none of the three other Batman actors have been able to accomplish. That feat alone is worth the price of admission.
The action scenes were all shot in seemingly too-close in. Some have criticized this. In my opinion, it lends a kind of chaotic motion to the action scenes. We've become so used to the choreographed dance-fu of Crouching Tiger/Flying Daggers (or even Kung Fu Hustle) that it's become expected. In this movie, however, it seems innapropriate. And Batman's close-in struggles are vivid, exciting and give the grimier, grittier impression of an all-out melee.
The movie is almost 2-and-a-half hours long. I wasn't bothered by the length. They took the time to tell this story, pacing it beautifully and developing both Wayne and the Batman character.
Batman Begins is well acted, shot and directed. The characters are endearing, the storyline flows beautifully together. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie.
(I really hope that they can get Christian Bale and director
Watching the Spurs two nights ago, and then the Heat last night, I was struck by one thing the two teams have in common. No, not their dominant big-men. And not their playmaking guards. No, it was their star players' tendency to flop, to over-act and draw the foul.
The Heat used the flop to great effect last night in shutting down Rasheed Wallace under the basket. The refs were all too inclined to call fouls when the Heat players hit the floor. 6 offensive fouls called on the Pistons; 3 on Rasheed Wallace alone.
The result was predictable. The Pistons players became hesitant on offense and the Heat became much more aggressive, sensing that the refs were out to control the Pistons hard-pounding inside game. In one particular stretch of the 2nd quarter (with the pistons down by 3 points) three straight Pistons possesions were ended by whistles. And instead of the Pistons tying the game up, the Heat pushed the lead out to 9.
The games in this series have been great until last night. The difference last night was the refs.
Usually refs are pretty good about smelling the flop. But they've been particularly lack-luster in these playoffs. Maybe I'm watching the games more closely. Maybe, seeing the same players day-in-day-out makes me more aware of their tendencies. Maybe the players themselves are the best of the best of the floppers. Or some combination of these elements.
Regardless, the NBA needs to outlaw the flop. League officials should review tapes of games and levy fines against players who are exagerating contact and falling to the ground to draw fouls.
Give players motivation to stay upright and play defense. That's what the fans want and that's true to the spirit of the game of basketball.
Miriam-Webster have a list of the most popular words not in the dictionary. "Woot" (an exclamation of joy or excitement) is third in the list.
It would clearly be first, in my opinion. As I very rarely use the word "ginormous" and have only heard one person say "confuzzled". Whereas, "woot" I use all the time.
For example: "Woot" is the #3 most popular word not in the dictionary! WOOOOT!
Hmmm, maybe MW didn't take into account the many spellings of Woot that are out there in the wild. Some people use 'O's some people use zeroes. Sometimes it appears with two O's, but it can have many many more.
I should write them a letter.
At least two people I know have been visibly frustrated by the limitations of the iTunes software that comes with the iPod. One of the major limitations is that there's no simple way to copy music from a friend's iPod to your own (Or from one computer to another) using the iPod.
The WinAmp plugin talked about in this Wired Article should fix that issue. Along with probably some other issues you might have encountered (but the copying files thing is the main one).
The iPod is a portable firewire/USB2-enabled hard drive. And it should be easy to use it as such, to carry around your songs and to move songs from one computer to another. But, because of the filesharing paranoia, the iTunes software doesn't allow this.
It should be noted that this plugin doesn't remove the DRM (copy-protection) from the files. But it will work with music you ripped from CDs or your MP3 collection.
Here's a direct link to the plugin Here. You will need WinAmp as well, but WinAmp (and the plugin) is free.
Okay, well the blog has been silent for a while. And I mean, there's a backlog of things I want to talk about. But I just don't really feel the need. And I've been BUSY.
Busy doing what? you might ask.
Busy falling in love with a girl.
Her name's Nelly. She lives in Manhattan. (A Manahattanite born and raised.) She plays ultimate. She's sweet, smart, beautiful, charming... Well, I can gush about her for a while. But I wont. You'll have to meet her.
We've been together 2 months today. So Happy Monthiversary to us!
Here's another picture
Things are good here.
Okay, well the blog has been silent for a while. And I mean, there's a backlog of things I want to talk about. But I just don't really feel the need. And I've been BUSY.
Busy doing what? you might ask.
Busy falling in love with a girl.
Her name's Nelly. She lives in Manhattan. (A Manahattanite born and raised.) She plays ultimate. She's sweet, smart, beautiful, charming... Well, I can gush about her for a while. But I wont. You'll have to meet her.
We've been together 2 months today. So Happy Monthiversary to us!
Here's another picture
Things are good here.
Some friends and I have begun something they call the "Tuesday Night Movie Club". Which, to be clear, leads me to see a new movie every tuesday (or every other tuesday, depending on the availability of quality movies).
Two tuesdays ago I saw, The Interpreter. It was just okay. Not dissapointing and not any worse than I had anticipated. Which is not to say that it was great.
It suffered from Bizarrely Winding Plot disease, where the story twists and turns for no apparent reason. Nichole Kidmann is funny looking and her accent is, well, obviously an accent. Sean Penn doesn't sizzle and the sparks between these two mega-stars do not fly at all.
The movie leaves you waiting for some engagement on the issues of brutal African dictatorships, their origins, goals and the UN's role. I'd even have settled for some sexual tension between Penn and Kidmann. But in the end, it's just an excuse to put mega-stars (and the UN) on the big screen.
Of course, I am just assuming that's what it does. There aren't links to the sources for its information, just the stock phrases. Which is a shame. And it's vocabulary seems impressively deep.
- Peanut Butter
- Thailand
- The Best Game
- A Polar Bear
- God
Try it yourself!
You know, my intenstines have an interesting history. So it could be expected that they would act up when confronted with new and unusual foods. In fact, I must say, they have been, over the past year or so, very well behaved.
But last Thursday, I stepped up to the plate of impossible foods, by going to a Turkish restaurant. This is a place that was supposed to be awesome, turned out to be kinda lame. But I mean, hey, that's the city for you.
And I have been quite gassy since then.
"Gassy since last thursday?" you say incredulously. Yes! But otherwise fine. Even for me that's odd. But it's not uncomfortable, I've been feeling fine. It's as though, the Turkish shiskebob of lamb and beef that I consumed has taken a more permanent residence than other foods.
Perhaps because, like bubble-gum or laffy-taffy, it is indigestable. They really should put a warning on their menu. Though I guess that would be déclassé.
Meamwhile, it's those around me who must suffer the consequences.
Spent the weekend in bizarro-world (aka Delaware) playing ultimate at Cape Henlopen in Lewes, DE. Delaware is a weird state. It seems to consist of two highways and nothing else. Gotta be weird to live there. But it's always a nice place to have a tournament.
The weather was supposed to be miserable so I left my camera at home. Otherwise I might have a picture or two to share.
It was a fun tournament. The fields are some of the best we get to play on throughout the year, which makes this tournament a pleasure. The weather was not nearly as bad as they had predicted. Instead of thunderstorms on Saturday, we had a sprinkle or two and a fairly strong breeze. But the sun came out on both days (if only for a minute at a time) and the camera would have been fine.
My team did not do all that well. Considering that we never practiced together and this was our first time playing, we did pretty well. By sunday, we had coalesced nicely into something resembling a team.
We had a good time and played against some spirited teams (with one exception). I played all the ultimate I wanted. Considering that I was going in with a strained right shoulder (throwing arm), I think I played pretty well. Overall, I give it three and a half stars.
Your Mom has a new captain, a lot of new players and that same old "whatever, let's drink some beers" attitude. Maybe, with some practicing and a little luck, we'll actually be able to build up a competitive team. But you know, there are worse fates than drinking a beer between points on a beautiful sunday afternoon.
The apartment is finally starting to come together. My new couch was delivered yesterday. It's still pretty staticky from the plastic it was wrapped in. I haven't had a chance to really use it, but it's definately a solid piece of furniture.
It needs a little breaking in. It's really, definately brand new. It's still got the tags on it. I haven't tried the fold-out bed yet either. But I am sure it's going to be nice.
Here's another angle which gives you an idea of what my apartment looks like with the couch.
I saw this last night with Laurie and all I can say is: Wow, Sin City is awful. It's a gritty film-noir, but film-noir has been done better in just about every way. The best word to describe it might be "grueling", but "insulting" and "worrying" are just as apt.
In the middle of the movie Laurie blurted out, "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" (or something to that effect). And rightfully so. Later on, as Bruce Willis was punching a prone man's skull into pulp, Laurie leaned over to mention, "There's something seriously wrong with our society."
I don't really know what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn't prepared for the stilted dialog, misogynistic overtones, gratuitous violence and fractured story-line. In many of the film's fade-to-black moments, I found myself praying for the closing credits to roll. Unfortunately, I wouldn't get my reprieve until more than 2 hours had passed.
It has a glittering cast, every major role is played by a recognizable star, but the only good performance comes from Mickey Rourke. The script is stilted and the dialog is plastic. They tried to stay close to the comic book and, predictably, the characters are flat and uninteresting. I feel for the actors who for the most part muddle through (The women especially aren't given very much of anything to work with). It doesn't help that they all seem to have studied at the Keanu Reeves School of Acting.
The press that I've seen on this movie has been mostly focused on the cinematography, which I must admit was impressive. Movie reviewers seem to be so bored with run-of-the-mill live-action films, so starved for a new interpretation of the medium, that they are willing to overlook glaring, often offensive, flaws in this movie.
If you're curious to see the effect of technology on the film industry, you might find Sin City slightly interesting. The film was shot completely with digital cameras. The actors worked in front of green-screen with the backgrounds, colors and action were all added later as special effects. There are some genuinely impressive shots which emulate the gritty tone of the comic, which is mildly impressive considering the differences between the mediums.
But in fully embracing the comic-book, Robert Rodriguez, sacrifices all the elements of film that have made the industry succesful. And the movie (along with everyone watching it) suffers terribly under these artificial constraints.
If you're looking for fun, escape, enjoyment, or stimulation (other than gore and softcore porn) there have got to be other, better movies out now. Then again, maybe it's better if you just stay home a read a book.
Well, poop.
I went to see the fine people at TLC Laser Eye Centers today. Free consultations are great.
Unfortunately, I am not a candidate for LASIK. I cannot enjoy the benefits of 20/20 vision without glasses or contacts. Well, honestly, I can't enjoy those benefits with glasses or contacts. Regardless, it's very frustrating.
I am amblyopic: I have a "Lazy Eye". And the Federal Gov't doesn't allow LASIK surgery on people with amblyopia. The freakin' bastards!
But otherwise, I am perfectly elligible for laser corrective surgery. And, if you're considering it, you should do yourself a favor and go in for the free consultation. It doesn't take too long and once you're done you'll know if its a good option for you.
Very exciting news today! My brother just called to inform me that my niece, Zoe, was born today at approximately 10:30 PST. Healthy and happy. Not crying or making much noise, reportedly just kinda cooing.
Hooray!
I will post any cute pictures I receive
That's the best thing I've seen this April Fool's Day.
Ahhhh, the Japanese are the best.
Also, on this, the first day in April, there's news that Bloxsom has been purchased. Surely, the end of the universe is nigh!
No April Fool's joke here, unfortunately. Mitch Hedberg, the comedian, died last night in a hotel in New Jersey. You can read about it here. Still no word from the medical examiner, so we don't know why he died. But they're saying that it's heart failure.
It would be a shame if he died of a drug overdose or something like that. I don't think that's going to turn out to be the case. But it's suggested in the articles.
He was a funny funny guy.
"An escalator can never break. It can only become stairs. You would never see an 'Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order' sign, just 'Escalator Temporarily Stairs'. Sorry for the convenience.""I opened-up a yogurt, underneath the lid it said, 'Please try again.' because they were having a contest that I was unaware of. I thought maybe I opened the yogurt wrong. ...Or maybe Yoplait was trying to inspire me... 'Come on Mitchell, don't give up!' An inspirational message from your friends at Yoplait, fruit on the bottom, hope on top."
"I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughnut... I don't need a receipt for the doughnut. I give you money and you give me the doughnut, end of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario that I would have to prove that I bought a doughnut. To some skeptical friend, Don't even act like I didn't buy a doughnut, I've got the documentation right here... It's in my file at home. ...Under 'D'."
"My friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana, I said 'No, but I want a regular banana later, so, Yeah.'"
Man, is it just me or are famous people dropping like flies lately? I mean, Johnny Cochran, Mitch, the Pope... where will it end?
playing around with Thunderbird's RSS news aggregator.
What's an RSS news aggregator, you say? Why not ask the Wikipedia? Stunningly not all that informative on why you'd want to use a news aggregator.
Say you're like me and you're interested in what goes on in the VFP community. There are sites you can check out to see what's new. And there are many foxpro gurus who post to their own blogs. Only, as with most blogs, they post irregularly. And the only way to know if there's a new post is to go and look at all those sites.
Wouldn't it be nice if you had a program that kept track of all the blog entries you'd seen and would let you know when a new one came along? Well, yeah, they have stuff like that. They call them News Aggregators.
Take that, Wikipedia!
This was a pretty senseless post. But i just want to see how Thunderbird handles me posting a new entry to my blog.
(Also, I like the wikipedia. But it is a little lacking in detail on this subject.)
I went over Mr Kol Kuts today, to get my usual sandwich for lunch. They had a sign on the door that said they would be closed for the whole of next week (Sunday to Sunday) for renovations.
While I'm excited for renovations to my absolute favorite deli, I'm not prepared for them to be closed for an entire week. It's going to be a terrible trial.
So if you see me lying in the gutter, shaking with bloodshot eyes, I'm not normally like that. It's just, you see, I need my fix.
Perhaps I will get on the news. Governor Pataki can fight in the courts for my right to have really tasty deli sandwiches made for me for reasonable prices. Congress will pass a bill giving me (and only me) the right to appeal Mr Kol Kuts' closing to the federal court.
Myself, I was born in the Year of the BeeGees! My birth-song is "Boogie Oogie Oogie". Which, you know, as disco songs go, is one of the better ones.
Now what does this tell me about myself?
Nothing. But it's kinda funny.
I found this on Slashdot, thought I'd reference it here.
New Scientist has an article up with a brief synopsis of a variety of recent (or not so recent) scientific conundrums. You can read the article: Thirteen Things That Do Not Make Sense
The missing question is, "Why thirteen questions? Why not twelve or fourteen?" Certainly there are more mysteries in the universe, more things that don't jive with the common conception of the world.
Note that the Homeopathy thing might just be bunk.
Also, I heard about this on NPR yesterday. Apparently, we've screwed up the world good and proper. The effects of human activity will continue to be felt for hundreds of years. Even if we cut off all fossil fuel use and reduced emmissions to zero, the earth will continue to warm and the seas will rise for hundreds of years. That's the conclusion of new research on global warming.
NPR has the interview I heard on their website, here.
I am going to vent a little about Foxpro right here. So, if you're not really interested in what I do for a living, you can probably skip this post. And you know, depending on how cathartic this post is for me, I may be putting more technical stuff on this blog.
A WINDOW is one of the elements of the Visual Foxpro UI. We use it quite often in CATS. One instance in which we use the WINDOW widget is something we call "Anyscan". It looks like this. We use it to display records to the user so they can quickly and easily scan the data.
Normally, in foxpro these WINDOW things are very simple. They're easy to use and uncomplicated. That is, until I get my hands on them. I torture them, I make them into freakish mutants with super-powers. And they get me back by not behaving properly.
I have a window that wont go away. The commands which would shut down a normal window have no effect. I am the bank-robber shooting bullets at superman. My commands run and return with no errors, but the window remains, impervious. My creation is out of control.
The problem, I think, is that the window has an outstanding reference floating around somewhere in the code. Unfortunately for me, VFP provides few tools for determining where such a reference might be. I've used them all, to no avail. I'm not sure what the next step might be.
But in 40 minutes I get to go home. And my frankenstein window can run amok for another day.
God! What the hell is wrong with the president? What could he possibly be thinking on the issue of privitizing social security. It just doesn't make sense!
Have I mentioned that I think he's a lunatic? Cause he's totally nuts and it shows.
I will write more later. But it's after 2am. I need to get to sleep.
Well, I honestly didn't mean for this blog to be all about my apartment and furniture, but you know, that's what's taking up most of my attention right now. Just be greatfull I'm not talking about work. I promise to mix it up a little in the future.
Java and Mike came by the house this morning to help me move the tv. I cannot thank them enough. They are the best. Rewards of an as yet undetermined variety (perhaps a cornucopia) will be provided.
It was a team effort, but the television (all 160 lbs) of it, is now in place in my apartment. And it looks marvelous!
Can you guess what show I'm watching?
The first quality thing I watched was A View To A Kill and believe me, if there's an argument for big-screen televisions, it's Christopher Walkin punching Roger Moore. It was worth the weight.
As an extra special bonus, the cable-box comes with a PVR (like TiVo). So it's all very exciting. Now we need the couch to get here and we'll really be in business.
Ah, the wonders of modern technology. I'm in my apartment, I'm using the internet. Woooooha!
More later, gotta get back to work.
I'm gonna call this my last official night at the old Bellin homestead. The cable guy comes tomorrow. And even if I don't have a tv, I'll still have internet. And that should be enough to keep me entertained.
For the last six weeks or so, we have known that there is a mouse in the house. I witnessed it scurrying across the room and under a door in the basement. Since then it has attacked a spider plant (throwing dirt all over), eaten half a chocolate train, shorted out the oven, and done other assorted damage.
Today, I came across this animal in the kitchen. Making its way to who knows where. I looked at it and said, "I see you! I see you, mouse!" To which, if it could speak, it would have replied, "I am quite obviously a rat."
I continued calling it a mouse (thus taunting and confusing it) and it sidled off into the living room. There it hid behind the love-seat and I prowled around.
We may never have recovered from this dead-locked position, except that reinforcements in the form of my father arrived carrying a broom and a Swiffer. He gave me the broom and orders to terminate with prejudice. To which I replied, "I don't want to kill it. You kill it."
But the rat was flushed out by my father and it fell to me to finish the job. I felt very very terrible. But the deed was done. And the rat, like the parrot, is no more.
I would like to thank Wack-a-Mole for providing me with the skills required. As Densel Washington's character in Man On Fire (the movie my father and I were watching at the time) says, "There's no such thing as tough. There's trained and untrained."
Well, I spent my first official night at the apartment last night. My bed was due to arrive at 7am this morning, so I needed to be there. I wasn't gonna try to wake up at 6:30 to meet them.
It worked out well though, because they came promptly at 7:15 with my brand new mattress. (It's not much to look at, right now. I don't even have sheets.)
I hung out with a couple friends during the evening (they gave me a present), and then spent the rest of my free time banging together pieces of wood. The result, well, you can judge for yourself.
I am nowhere near ready to move in. I need to collect all my stuff from here to be transported. And I still need to buy about 1000 things. And even a couple more serious pieces of furniture. Plus, there's no food, no soap, no shower-curtain in the bathroom. I also need a hair cut.
But I am very happy with the way the place is turning out. As you can tell.
And finally, I present the beautiful stairway. Those are my stairs.
I went out today with definite intentions on buying a bed. But the malarkey the idiots in the mattress industry have foisted upon us unsuspecting public people was just too much. I ended up almost buying a bed, but they didn't have it in stock. So instead I just walked out.
Good thing too, because I probably wouldn't have gotten a bed I liked. But it was an experience in feeling like an idiot. And it got me wondering about what the hell these guys are up to.
Google coughed up a very decent article on Slate about The Mattress Trade. Everything in there rings true to me.
I actually had the following conversation with the mattress sales-person (an aging man named Walter).
Walter: I can let you have either of these models for $599. Just pick out the one that you think is more comfortable.
Me: So these beds are the same price and quality
Walter: Yes. It's just a matter of chosing the one you prefer.
Me: Okay. So then why is this one labeled "Silver" and this one labeled "Bronze"?
Walter: Well, that's just a rating system they have. They say some mattresses are bronze, some are silver, it goes all the way up to "Solid Gold".
Me: So the one labeled "Silver" is better than the one labeled "Bronze"?
Walter: It's a scale. A measurement of quality. Bronze is good. And silver is good. It's a scale they have.
Me: Um. Okay. So the Silver is higher-quality?
Walter: Not neccesarily. They're very similar in quality, these two beds. They have the same warranty. It's just a scale, and you should really just see which one you like better.
Me: Right.
Me: So what makes this one "Silver"?
Walter: They decided it was worth a silver rating.
Me: You're very good at this.
You can read the official non-information information about the Sleepy's mattress rating system here. Here's a good quote "Platinum Plus mattresses make every night a night to remember and look forward to, for the gift of tranquil, deep and deeper drifting sleep."
But I mean, as the Slate article points out, there's really no need to go the traditional box-spring & mattress route. If you find a mattress with the appropriate firmness for you, then you shouldn't need a box-spring.
How will this melodrama play out? I don't know. I have to go to Ikea and see if they can hook me up with a sweet, stylish and comfortable bed. I have a lot of hope that something like this mattress and this bed-frame will be just the ticket for me.
I took some photos. I'm afraid I could never get a job working as a photographer for a real-estate agent. But I mean, they get the general idea. I should have taken a photo of the stairs leading up into the apartment.
Here's a rough idea of the layout of the apartment.
There's plenty of storage in the apartment (lots of closets and attic storage). There are two nice large windows in the living room, one small one in the bathroom (above the tub), and another large one in the bedroom. There seems to be a good amount of light that spilling into the apartment.
Everything seems to be in good condition. I'm really looking forward to March 1 when I move in
But, sports-fans, it was not a disaster. It was a rowsing success. I had a fantastic time.
Images and short writeup below:
The weather was beautiful. The sun was shining, and the temperature got above 70 on both days. The fields were soft and covered in green grass. We played on Saturday at Forsythe Park and then on Sunday, the co-ed teams joined everyone else to play in Dafin Park.
There were no public restrooms at Forsythe and that was a problem. But otherwise, the tournament was a rousing success.
It took us a while to shake off the rust from several months without competitive ultimate. We were the only team from up-north, so most of the teams we played had been practicing and competing throughout the winter. Predictably, we came out flat and tanked all our games on Saturday.
Sunday, however was another matter altogether. We came out stiff and tight, despite the efforts of the fantastic hot-tub and heated pool at the Doubletree. Once we'd loosened up, we were able to wrestle the chumpionship trophy all for ourselves, an official 5th place finish. But that number can't capture the quality of our Sunday play.
Walking to the fields
Hutch & Sweaty (me) posing for the camera
Trying to play some defense in the 2nd game
Courtney leading a rousing game of Cowboy/Stripper-Pole/Spoon
The Cowboy/Stripper-Pole/Spoon Movie
Lee's Pictures on iPhoto
Daniel's Pictures on iPhoto
Not too many photos (currently) of the drinking and whatnot that went on off the fields. A good time was had by all, and Savannah is a very gracious host.
I am now very sore and stiff, especially my legs. The lesson being that there's no amount of off-season training you can do to prepare yourself for the stresses and strains of actual ultimate.
And I can't wait to do it again.
Well, it's officially Friday which means I can say that this very afternoon I am headed to Savannah, GA. The beautiful flower of the south. But I am not going for any stupid touristy reason. No sir! I'm going to play the greatest sport ever created.
Ultimate frisbee.
And if you didn't know I was going to say that, who are you and how did you find this page?
The tournament is called Spring Fever. I'm playing with a team traveling under the name "Traffic". Traffic is a local NY co-ed team, but their members actually comprise only a small fraction of the people who I'm playing with. I'm not in charge of naming the team, or running this show in any way. My major responsibility is getting my butt down to Georgia.
Which, hopefully, I can handle. The weather, by the way, is supposed to be beautiful.
See y'all on the other side of President's Day! I should have some pictures, and hopefully a nice tan.
It's a sad day in professional sports when a player's strike keeps the season from starting on time. These things need to be worked out in the off-season, seriously guys, what are you doing? But, you know, it happens. What has never happened before in professional American sports (a narrow category, I know) is a strike causing the cancelation of an entire season.
Until now.
This is kinda sad for me. I enjoy watching hockey. And the hockey playoffs are a pretty spectacular phenomenon. Somehow, during the playoffs, the game is elevated to a higher level. There's a serious level of tension for every game. Oddly, by the time you get to the Stanley Cup, it's a bit of a let-down. But that's neither here nor there... no season, no playoffs.
Other than the hardcore fans, the people that are going to most affected by this have to be those teams in markets where ice-hockey is an anachronism. Like the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Dallas Stars (and lest we forget the expansion Nashville Predators). These teams have a hard enough time convincing locals that hockey exists.
Ah well. This should be good for the NBA and minor league hockey teams all across North America.
As an aside... Does anyone else think it's more than coincidence that the hockey strike came at around the same time that high-definition televisions were becoming popular and widely available? Perhaps there was a little performance anxiety now that they knew that the people at home would be able to see the puck. Or perhaps hockey as a sport is an illusion and high-def would reveal that there is no puck. Just a bunch of loons on skates!
Seriously, I'm not really advocating copyright violation. You can use it to share files between people you know. Regardless of where they are, what firewalls they're behind. It's completely secure, as long as everyone on the network can be trusted.
Which means that all my friends who want to send me files through AIM better get their crap together and set up WASTE.
I have my server set up at atnas.gotdns.org:51337. To connect, you need my public key (and I need yours).
Of course, Cablevision will randomly switch my IP every 3 days or so. Which kinda funks up the whole deal.
But that's what's great about DynDNS.org. Free Dynamic DNS! Sweet.
I should clarify. Dynamic DNS allows you to use the string "atnas.gotdns.org" which is then translated to whatever my current IP is (as long as I keep it updated). Since it's free, DynDNS could just pull up stakes and disappear. And then we're back to the stone-ages of raw IP addresses.
Who could possibly enjoy this holiday?
We're forced by societal pressures to confirm that the person we love (positing that there is such a person) is the person we love. It's important that we each do this in a way that is as vocal and gaudy (and preferably expensive) as possible. If we fail to deliver, the results can be devastating.
What were we supposed to be doing on every other day? Does our good work on this one day excuse us from showing love and affection on other, unlabeled days? On tuesday can we go back to ignoring our significant other without a guilty-conscience? Of course we can!
The result: we have a variety of public displays of affection. One big national PDA that makes everyone uncomfortable (even the participants). It's not an expression of genuine feeling, it's Valentines Day. And we're supposed to do it.
These gifts and confesions of feeling are given under duress. And so, technically, they do not count.
My advice, There are 365 days in a year. Two of them are your birthdays and one of them is your anniversary. If that's not enough, pick any day other than Feb 14 and celebrate the death of St. Valentine in your own way (e.g. don't buy a card).
Yay! Everyone say happy birthday to Laurie!
This is Laurie! She is so awesome.
I can't believe it's her birthday.
She's so the best ever. 
Yeah, wasn't it worth it to click on that link and see more? See more of Laurie! And her hotness!
Google must be doing something right in their hiring practices. 'Cause they are churning out great things at a steady clip.
The latest Googl-ism to catch the attention of the myriad of web-geeks (myself included) is the slick Google Maps. Other than having a very cool interface for scrolling/zooming the map, it also challenges Mapquest & Yahoo maps:
You can find a place like Portland, ORYou can get directions to New Brunswick, NJ
you can also do a search for things in a specific area:
Skiing in San Diego
Surfing in Suffern
But I mean, regardless of the utility of the thing, it's amazing they can do what they do. No constantly reloading the page. A quick and responsive interface. I don't know if it works on other browsers. It works on mine just fine.
George W Bush. George F*cking Bush! ARRRRRRGH!
The Guardian (a UK paper) has a little writeup on the President's proposed budget. He's following up on his pledge to "cut the deficit in half" by gouging into government programs, foreign aid & the environment.
Fortunately for all of us freedom loving people, he's upping the budget for the Defense Department and the Dept of Homeland Security.
It appears his math is a little shady, as in this case halving the budget deficit requires pushing the deficit estimate up. Also worth noting, Bush's "halving" of the deficit doesn't account for the cost of the Iraq war, the borrowing for the proposed overhaul of social security, or making his tax-cuts permanent. All three things to which he is firmly com-mit-ted.
But my favorite part of the article is this quote from the Pres himself:
"It's a budget that sets priorities," Mr Bush said. "It's a budget that reduces and eliminates redundancy. It's a budget that's a lean budget."
Talk about redundancy. He used the phrase "It's a budget that" three times in a row. It's like he's singing the chorus to a dumb pop song. But it's going to work. Because not even Paul Krugman can explain all that's wrong with Bush's schemes in less than 1000 words.
Dammit!
There's so much I could say about yesterday's superbowl. Where to start? Should I start by noting that Donnovan McNabb somehow both overperformed and underperformed in his first Super Bowl? Should I start by dissing Tom Brady and the Patriots offense?
No, I'll start with the silly commentators and analysis. Going into half-time, tied 7-7 in a game where the Eagles had turned the ball over twice already, the commentators all started talking about the things the Patriots needed to do to take over the game. No one mentioned the stifling Eagles defense, nor the way McNabb seemed to be trying too hard on every throw.
After the game, the talk was all about how the Pats were a "Dynasty". How impressive they were in these past two seasons. How dominant a performance they'd put on.
Hey guys, I hate to break it to you, but 24-21 isn't dominance. It's eeking out a win. But that's the way the Pats play. That's why I hate them.
It's taken me a while to formulate this concept. I've known for the better part of two years that the one team in all of pro-football that I really really don't like is the New England Patriots. (And it's not just that they aren't named after a city.) They play ugly. (And not ugly in the smash-mouth, down in the trenches and the mud way). They make football gross.
They win by making their opponents play badly. And for those of us who appreciate the skill of the game, the effortless grace with which these tremendous athletes perform incredible feats, it's really kinda depressing. (See the Patriots absolute trouncings of P. Manning and the dazzling Colts)
It gave me hope to see Terrel Owens shake off ankle surgery (is it possible that the eagles intentionally exegerated TO's injury?) and have his way all over the field. And for most of the first half, as the stifling Eagles defense shut down, fluster and confuse Tom Brady, I started to believe that skill and determination would win out.
Even in the second half, down by two scores, the Eagles wide receivers were keeping that spark alive. Down until the Eagles, unexplainably, let the punt fall and roll down to the four yard line I still held out hope that the Eagles just had so much of the beautiful game that the Patriots couldn't uglify the game enough to win.
But no. Alas.
Using my keen intellect, I've discerned that the only way I am going to move out of the house is if I find myself an apartment. Much like the Iraqis fumbling towards democracy, I took my first awkward step towards escaping my childhood home (again).
I went to look at an apartment in the Wayne Village apartment complex. (It's in Wayne, NJ). Not a bad place. I could live there. There's a kinda difficult left-turn to get out of the complex. And the NY State Thruway is just a tangled mess. But the apartments are spacious, the neighborhood is not completely dead, and the management seems active. (There's a roller-rink right across the street!)
I'm going to be calling some more places over the next couple days. I'd really love to find a place in Ridgewood, say. Somewhere within 15-20 minutes from Suffern. But, those places are harder to find (on the internet).
This is one reason why I could never be an archeologist. If Google doesn't know where it is, I don't know where it is.
Okay... standard warnings here.
Flash
Sound
Random Fat Kid
Foruntately, there's nothing seriously disturbing or pornographic. Just a kid singing a song.
I have to say, whoever this kid is, he seriously committed to the song. He really worked out a whole choreography. And then he made a video of himself.
Don't actually know if he's French or if the song's French. There may be absolutely zero French-ness. It's definately european and weird. Which easily lends itself to being French.
Well, I don't know if that means anything. But it looks like the winter will drag on.
There is, as always, a little controversy (brought to us by the excellent spellers at Canadian Television). Some Groundhogs see their shadow, some do not.
I had a dream last night that I was the democratic nominee for president. That was a pretty good dream.
The thumb is not very flexible and repetitive use of it can lead to damage to the tendon on the outside of the thumb. -- Professor Alan Hedge
According to the article there aren't any known instances of much worse than sore thumbs. If you remember mashing the buttons for the Nintendo or Commodore 64 joystick, it's apparently a similar scare.
So I suppose the news is that if your thumbs hurt, stop doing whatever it is that makes them hurt. Also many top scientists believe that consuming a whole lot of blackberries gives you sticky fingers and stains them a purplish color.
Well, we're dealing with it. With CATS there are always work-arounds. And perhaps that's what He had in mind all along. His evil plan to get this particular client to leave behind the toys and games of childhood and enter the world of adults. Adults who use the program the way it's supposed to be used.
But don't get me started on that.
Only an hour of this left and I can sleep. Or something. An hours not so long...
I just added a handy-dandy RSS feed to the blog here. Pretty damn easy to do actually. Dare I say it again, Blosxom is fantastic!
There's a link to the RSS feed itself to the right. The feed is also connected to the page. So if you have a reasonably intelligent web browser you should have an option to subscribe to my feed.
The RSS feed gives a short and sweet look at the top page of the blog. To see what fun can be had with RSS, check out my Friendster page. The latest posts to the page are listed on the left.
I'm glad to anounce that I've added the ability to edit the blog interactively online. This means, for one thing, that it's easier for me to post. The other benefit is that I can let other people post their news.
Also I added the navigation bar on the rightside and cleaned up some of the CSS that was causing me problems.
There are more improvements in the works. But right now I'm kinda tired of working on the blog. But I'm looking forward to having fellow contributors and not just my own miserable self doing this stuff.
Well, I find it unlikely that anyone would require my confirmation on this. But the Postman is maybe the suckiest movie ever made. There needs to be a law against Kevin Costner reciting Shakespeare.
It snowed a lot this weekend. I didn't get anything done. I blame the snow. Cause you know, I had to shovel and there was football on TV.
Spent the weekend at Bolton Valley, a small, but beautiful ski resort in Vermont (the Cheddar Cheese on your Apple Pie state).
What was I doing there? Other than lookin' pretty and frosting my hair, I was skiing and snowshoeing.
Skiing was fun. It definately makes a difference to have a Ski-Buddy (not to be confused with a Ski Bunny). And the trails at Bolton were fun, the ski-lift lines were short and the slopes weren't crowded at all. Plenty of room to be reckless and endanger only myself. Just the way I like it.
Snowshoeing was fun. Grueling, but my initial awkwardness on the snowshoes was replaced by a sort of grudging acceptance. Thank you snowshoes, for keeping me from falling in the river.
Two warnings about Bolton.
Now class. What do we know about the Swedish?
That last link is the reason for this post.(thanks K)
Gotta respect their commitment to traffic safety. That's some pretty detailed stuff. And the animations are top-notch.
A long-time DC/Baltimore area radio station switched from Alternative (good) to Spanish Soft-Rock (bad) today. And, of course, they forgot to tell anyone about it. I guess it's hard to sell advertisement space when your demographic is aging hippies and punk rockers.
But it's still really sad. My man, Paul, says they were his favorite night-time radio station. And now they're gone.
Radio is a tough business, it would seem. But Paul and I have a long tradition of liking radio stations and watching them go down in flames. It can't just be coincidence, can it? All the best radio stations, the ones dedicated to great music (that you might not have heard of) fail and the annoying/commercial/pop-oriented keep going and going.
I, for one, blame the President.
My webhost balked at some of MovableType's requirements. So I decided to continue looking for alternative blogging tools. Lo-and-behold, I discovered Bloxsom.
Very simple to use, simple to set up, and quick to get going. Doesn't require much besides Perl. It's completely customizable. With community-built plugins out the wazzoo.
Note the blog-calendar on the right. Fancy, eh?
Turns out there are too many plugins (at least for the moment) for me to check them all out. It's gonna be a process while I play around and see which plguins I want to use.
For example, the comments API is there (visitors can post commments), but it looks awful. Gotta go and spend a couple hours tweaking that layout... See if I can't get it to display some comments on the main page... Try to make it resistant to spamming (good luck)... Allow users to login (there's a plugin) and maybe make it so only logged in users can post...
Plenty of new nifty features on the way, folks.
-tom
