You People Are So Demanding!

Bah Humbug!

Happy Frickin' Holidays, Jerks!

Nate Robinson is My Boy

OK. I admit it. I am a huge Nate Robinson fan. There are three reasons for this.

1. He's small (for an NBA player).


2. He's a Knick (until Isaiah trades him).


3. He's an incredibly talented player.

He also just got suspended for 10 games for his role in the Garden Brawl. Which is fine. He was on the court, he got in a fight with another player (J.R. Smith) and that's not what the NBA is about (yet). Both were suspended for ten games, which is appropriate. The problem is this description in the Times.

The Knicks’ Nate Robinson, who escalated the fight by grabbing J.R. Smith and spinning him into the front row of the stands, received a 10-game suspension.

Picture that scene in your mind (Nate Robinson gives up about a foot on J.R. Smith). Got it? Now watch the video (it's on YouTube now). That's not what happened.

Apparently the Times has decided that they hate the Knicks. Not just the team and the players and the coaches, managers, and owners, they also apparently have a great disdain for the announcers.

Wikipedia Jumps the Shark?

The Fed has it's own Wikipedia page now. Doesn't this mean that the wikipedia is officially no longer cool? I would also like to mention that there's a Fed alumni email list which every week or two suddenly springs to life with angsty "I don't like the way the Fed is now" sorts of posts. I know that 90% of these people don't even know who I am, but it warms the cockles. You know what I am saying?

Robert Gates

Robert Gates is most likely going to be confirmed in the next couple days as Bush's new Secretary of Defense. Personally, I feel like the president should be able to pick his cabinet, so I don't see the point in getting upset about this person or that.

I just want to take a moment to point out that a new face in the Pentagon probably wont change anything. That's because the man in charge of this circus is the President.

Which would be a good thing in most circumstances, but in this case is a disaster. Our president, as we've known for some time, is completely detached from reality. Moreover, as his advisers fall away, it's becoming increasingly clear that the war in Iraq is Bush's baby.

Rumsfeld got the ax because he lost the faith, and not because of the political beating his party took this November. The neo-cons may have wanted Iraq's oil or a forceful effort to confront terrorism and despotism in the Middle East. But the President just wanted to do what his daddy couldn't.

Robert Gates (with his oily slick -- "I'll tell you what you want to hear" -- confirmation hearing yesterday) isn't going to confront his new boss on the realities of the situation on the ground.

I bought my first present

Yeah. So I totally bought my first Christmas present. But shhhh! Don't tell Nelly!

"Western-Backed"?

Maybe you've heard about the protest going on in Lebanon right now. So far I have heard the current government of Lebanon (the one being protested) referred to as "western-backed" about a half-dozen times. This is from the New York Times and NPR (my main news sources).

I wonder why they don't refer to the ruling coalition in Lebanon as the "democratically elected government". Yes, they're also backed by France and the USA, but that's not why they are currently in power.

Hezbollah is making a power-grab in Lebanon. They couldn't get power in the elections (possibly because the system is set up so that no one group will dominate; possibly because the majority of the electorate doesn't want them to...) so now they're trying to take power by mob rule. This isn't about the west. This is about Hezbollah vs. the rule of law in Lebanon.

Holiday Shopping

Okay, I've denied it long enough. The holiday shopping season is upon us! Run for your lives.

This season (as with many before) I am struck by a vicious ennui. I really don't want to go shopping for presents. I also don't want to pick out presents. Because picking out things that I want is very difficult for me.

Secretly, I want a Wii. And the Zelda game. Oh, and might as well toss in an XBox 360 with Gears of War. Because, you know, that's what I am into.

The problem is that what I really want is a bunch of video games and I feel like I really can't ask for a bunch of video games. (I seriously can't ask for a Wii as they are apparently sold out everywhere). So then I have to think, what do I want that's not a video game/video game system/video game system accesory? Which is where it gets difficult.

Meanwhile, you people out there who want gifts need to get busy on figuring out the stuff that you want and letting me know. Cause I am not psychic. And, when confronted with the dizzying array of stuff at the local Bed Bath & Beyond, I cannot be trusted to make a rational choice regarding your present.

"Casino Royale" and "Stranger Than Fiction"

I recently saw "Casino Royale" (the new James Bond) and "Stranger Than Fiction". I really enjoyed both.

Stranger Than Fiction is a nice movie which despite being a one-trick pony plot-wise is actually very entertaining. The premise (a relatively staid man hears his life narrated by an unseen omniscient voice), while original doesn't really provide for much of a drive. Fortunately the cast is so strong that you don't notice that there's really no movie there. Will Farrel has followed Jim Carry's path from course funny-man to Leading Actor.

Casino Royale takes the Bond film back to the future. Based on Ian Flemming's first Bond book, this film takes the liberty to completely break with tradition. Of course, it is still Bond, so the standards (sex, pistols, gadgets, cards) are still present. It's just that the man in the middle is finally portrayed as a human. With frailties, desires, and (the thing that makes him most endearing) an almost indomitable will.

The stakes are not quite End-Of-The-World, but the script is so tight (except for a pointless and bizarre torture scene) that you don't notice the only thing in danger is the stock-market.

Bond pictures are always PG-13 and this one is no exception. They seem to have worked very hard to remove the sexuality. Bizarrely, there's a lot of violence, more than you would expect from a PG-13 movie. I don't really understand why they bother working on the lower rating (or why the rating system allows it). Especially since this may be the most mature Bond film ever, why not just take the R-rating... I guess what I am saying is that there wasn't enough nudity.

I'm Back

Many of you will be glad to know that I made it home safely. Hooray. I had a wonderful time in California. I will post some pictures maybe later. And once again I have made the observation that it is unclear to me why Continental even bothers to provide food on the plane. It's uniformly disgusting and I just don't believe that anyone would eat this food voluntarily.

Traveling

I am going to San Diego, CA tomorrow for a long weekend. There might be some blogging going on while I am there, I cannot guarantee it, but there might be.

I'll be back on Tuesday.

New Phone Madness

Well, my father and I share a cell-phone plan. This has saved us a small amount of money overall, but has led to more than its fare share of headaches. Right now we're caught up in the mix of upgrading our phones.

So, the way it works is this... every two years the main phone on the line (my father's phone number) becomes eligible for a free upgrade. Which is very nice. However, I am the person that needs a new phone. I text-message, I could conceivably download ring-tones or even play music from my cellphone (although I can't really think of a reason why I would want to do that). Never in a million years would my father even think of doing something like that.

Meanwhile, my phone number (for reasons unknown to me) is only eligible for a dinky phone. Bizarrely, the cost savings on buying the dinky new phone are exactly the same as the cost savings for the fancy new phone ($100).

So my father and I went over to the Verizon store in Nanuet to see if they could do anything. They tried to be helpful, but in the end, we're back where we started. Tomorrow, supposedly, I should be able to switch the phones online (I am pretty skeptical of this). Otherwise I have to decide if I am going to stick with the dinky phone or if I'll just straight up buy a new phone for myself. Stupid Verizon.

Java Did It!

I can't believe I forgot to mention that Java (of previous blog post fame) ran and completed the 2006 New York Marathon.  Way to go!

He didn't win, though.  Nor did he get mentioned on tv again (as far as we know).  You might be able to see his results here.  But there's really only one stat required, he finished the race in 3 hours 48 minutes and 7 seconds.

I, meanwhile, attended a baby shower.  I feel like our levels of exertion this past sunday are comparable.

Lost It's Way

The "fall season finale" of Lost aired tonight.  Nothing interesting happened.  This is increasingly the case with this show.  There was a time where the writers had succesfully built up some suspense and intrigue.  But now the show has become Seinfeld on an island.

Oh sure, things happen.  Some characters even die.  But the story never changes.  And the more we learn (as each episode reveals the tiniest scraps of info) the more it begins to seem that there's nothing to learn.  The people are just people.  The bears are just bears.

I'm willing to dub tonight's episode as the episode when the show Jumped the Shark.  Not that I wont continue to watch it, hoping for a resurgence of interesting plot-lines and character interactions.  But I think, more and more, that the writers have only a handful of ideas to stretch out between 16 episodes (the remainder of this season).

Big American Party!

One time long ago Laurie saw an animated tv show which she then tried to describe to me. She had difficulty describing it, but she remembered some funny lines. Like "Big American Party!" and "Who is driving? Bear is driving! This cannot be!"

I found it hard to believe something like this existed. And there really wasn't any evidence of it. It faded into the annals of Tom & Laurie lore. And then there was YouTube... Big American Party!

(I'm sure some major studio has the copyright for this video, so could be taken down at any minute).

How Things Work Now

Read this Editorial in the New York Times.  Among the other disasters the neo-cons have brought upon this country, the dissolution of the governments role in protecting its citizens is one of the more reprehensible.

(There's some more info on the Leandro Andrade case here.)

Now, it's highly probably that Mr. Andrade did not have the kind of legal counsel available to State Farm Insurance or BMW.  And so he couldn't make as sophisticated a case to the Supreme Court.  Even still it's hard to imagine how anyone could sentence a man to 50 years in prison for shoplifting.

The problem of corporate bias is not so much in the "conservative" judges on the Supreme Court.  (Though that's certainly a problem).  The problem lies in the fact that the law-making process of this country is directly controlled by corporations.

Making the Move

You might have noticed a change in the appearance of the blog the past couple days. (You might notice that it's better now.) I moved the blog to blogger beta. Which has certain advantages (Notice the recent comments at the top?).

I apologize for any stress this transition is causing my users. I promise it's for the best!

The Magic That Is Google Ads

For all those who wondered where to get a tub of wrestling jello...

This website was advertised on gmail today. (Not sure how it got linked to a conversation between me and my girlfriend. But if she gets the same ads and those ads give her ideas, you know, I'm not complaining.)

I can only imagine that these people are doing a heck of a business.

The Weekend: New Kicks

I had a pretty good weekend. Went into the city on Friday and met Nelly's NYU Law friends. On Saturday Nelly and I went to see the Redbulls lose to DC United in the first leg of their playoff matchup. The Redbulls have a losing record and have been atrocious all year, but they made a good game of it and really had the momentum and more good chances. However, it's only the number of times the ball goes into the net that matter, so DC United stole away from the Meadowlands with a 1-point advantage.

As an aside, I need to say once again that the Redbulls are a great ticket. You can walk up to the teller with 15 minutes to game time and buy tickets for excellent seats (we were down on the 50 yard line) for $25. The game is brisk and lots of fun, even if the Redbulls aren't dominant. They play a good game and it is very entertaining.

After the soccer game, we headed up to the Garden State Plaza for some shopping. Our main goal was to get Nelly some new jeans. But I also got some sweet new shoes.

My old shoes were something like 2-3 years old. And while they are still ok, I was due for a replacement. My new shoes are Vans (like my old shoes). Thus affirming my street cred. Or maybe not.

Sunday we went into Soho to have brunch with Nelly's friend Erica (visiting from DC). We ate at this very nice (and very trendy) bistro that's tucked away inside an alley. The food was delicious and the company was great. And then we headed back out, me to play ultimate with the Your Mom crowd, she to play study-budy with her friend Eileen.

Is This Wedding Pants-Optional?

This past weekend, my good friend Kari got married to Ashton Lamont in beautiful Colchester, VT. It was a nice ceremony and the whole thing went by in a rush. Kari's dress was beautiful and everyone was in good spirits. It was great to see Kari again as she has been living in far-distant Milwaukee for a few years now.

I was pretty excited to get to wear my nice Brooks Brother's suit to the occasion. It's rare that I have an opportunity to wear nice clothing (usually I walk around in pajamas). So I grabbed the suit from the closet (it was wrapped up in a nice Brooks Brother's garment bag) and Nelly and I got in the car and drove for 5 hours.

The best way to get to the Burlington, VT area is to take the thruway up towards Montreal and then take the ferry at Essex, NY. It's actually a very pleasant way to travel and it saves time!

While we were on the ferry I turned to Nelly and said, "How funny would it be if I forgot my pants." And she was like, "Well, why don't you check now?"

So I got out of the car and opened up the garment bag and I was like, "Yup. Pants." And then I got back in the car and said something to the effect of, "How funny would it be if I brought your suit. Thankfully you don't have a Brooks Brother's suit." And Nelly said, "In fact, I do have a Brooks Brother's suit."

And then I thought, "Well that explains where that nice Brooks Brother's garment bag came from." And I went out and opened up the garment bag again and this time I checked the tag. Now I don't know much about sizes, but I am damn sure I am not a size 2. ARRRRGH!

So there we were, in the middle of Lake Champlain, the evening before Kari's wedding and I didn't have squat to wear. Fortunately we knew how to call for free information (1-800-FREE-411) and got the listing for a Men's Wearhouse in Williston, VT. We were able to get over there just before they closed and I picked up a nice blazer and slacks. No one at the party was the wiser. You know, I did like the way I looked.

Ultimate Update

Thought I might take a moment to update you all on how this past weekend went. My team, Crafty, did fairly well. We came in as the 9th seed (after coming in 2nd in our section) and we held that seed. We went 3-3, beating one team that was seeded higher than ourselves (the 7th seeded Dis'Chords) and held our seed, finishing the tournament in 9th place. There were a couple tight losses and some good play.

You can see the full results for yourself.

One notable mystery was that some anonymous person comped our dinner bill (for ~18 people). The list of suspects is long.

I would have liked to have played better and more often, but I am very proud of the team and glad to have been a part of it.

Vast Stretches of Time

Nothing is happening faster than ever before! Actually, that's not entirely true. I can think of one interesting thing to share. In case you don't bother to check the links in the side-panel: Laurie is in Germany. She's there to study deviant germans in the early 20th century (And possibly deviant germans in the early 21st century).

Meanwhile, people are shooting children, North Korea is going to blow itself up, Iran declared its intent to follow in North Korea's footsteps, Bush is still infuriatingly low-brow, and Congress has officially been replaced by the Roman Senate.

And yet, somehow, the human race continues. Honestly, it gives me hope.

Fun things in the future, I think. Regionals. Halloween. I hope you're planning on voting. Not that it matters all that much.

Ultimate Success!

This weekend was Sectionals, the first round of pre-qualifiers for the 2006 national club ultimate frisbee tournament (organized by the UPA). You can see a chart of the regions (and their sections) here. We're in the "Metro New York" section which is part of the "Northeast" region.

The team I am on is called Crafty, most of the players are based in Brooklyn (around Prospect Park). As you might be able to tell from the above link, we did pretty well last weekend. Here are the results for our section.

Taking second place behind Puppet Regime (a really powerful and well-put-together team that's bound for Nationals) is an impressive result for us. And I think everyone on the team is pretty elated to be heading into Regionals second in our section.

As of right now they haven't posted the seedings for Regionals; they just have a list of the teams that made it).

There's a ton of quality on that list, we've got a lot of work to do if we want to make an impression there.

But in the meantime, I think we'll bask in the glow of our performance this weekend. Second place is the first loser, indeed!

Nobody Mourns the Wicked!

Last night, Nelly and I took in a broadway musical. Namely, Wicked. It was a really fun show. Tickets are rather expensive; it's not something I would spring for every week, but the experience of a broadway show makes it worth the occasional indulgence. Nelly and I had a wonderful time. It's a great show.

Wicked is a lively look at the background to the "Wizard of Oz": the motivations, histories and connections between the people that were in Oz before Dorothy arrived and who remained after she left. The imagination involved in the story, the knowing winks to the audience, and the revisitation (now that we're older) of a hallowed childrens' tale all combine to make a fantastic experience.

However, by comitting to cover such a large scope, the show end up running like a race. No scene gets the full amount of attention it deserves (although the actors will occasionally wrestle a memorable scene out of the grips of the musical's frantic direction). And I constantly felt like they'd skipped over the part I was waiting to see.

The cast is incredibly talented (especially the two leading ladies) and the writing is witty and incredibly enjoyable. The music is modern and fits the mood and bracing speed of the story. But the songs don't stick with you and, except for the lines the chorus sings over and over again, I don't really remember any of them.

While the musical has its short-comings, the strength of the story and the talented cast ensure that Wicked's frantic pace is a dizzying, breathtaking romp.

Agh! Child Pornography!

The Attorney General anounced yesterday that child pornographers are overrunning the internet. Indeed this menace is growing! So he's asking Congress to pass legislation which will require ISPs (the companies which provide internet access) to store records of their users online behavior possibly 2 years maybe more (the quote is "for a period of time").

He makes it sound so reasonable. And yet...

Would a government regulation that all cars record the detailed behavior (where they go, how fast they drive, how many passengers) of the driver be acceptable? After all, child molesters use cars to get access to children who are further away than they can reasonably walk! It would be so much easier for the government to prosecute these cases if they had a record of where every car in the country has been in the last two years.

The executive branch is trying to set up a huge database of personal information about every person in the country. Since the answer can't be Terrorism, I guess it has to be Child Pornography (An even more fictional threat).

Gonzalez sees a desperate need for new weaponry to fight the thousands of people online (out of an estimated 1.08 billion) right now browsing "child pornography". This is terrible because as we're told, those who consume this stuff are just bound to act on it. There's no actual evidence of that, but it's just, you know, that's what they said on Law & Order that one time.

Child abuse is terrible. A civilized society cannot accept such behavior and must do everything in its power to stop it. We're all in agreement on that point.

Which is why making a big show of "cracking down" on people who access this stuff online makes such a good smoke screen. These people are being tempted by the things they see on the screen and if we don't act now they'll soon be gangs of molesters wandering our streets.

The implication is that the majority of cases of child abuse are committed by strangers; unknown pervs who stalk our children! See here take a look at the statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services! They made a chart, so you can really understand the numbers they're talking about. And if that's not specific enough, they made a table where the numbers are even further broken down.

Well look at that. 90% of child abuse cases are perpetrated by parents/legal guardians. Dang. Well, that doesn't really support the argument. Better to not mention any numbers at all. Better to just say the threat is growing.

Child pornography is the straw man here. What Gonzalez is after is an online record of everyone's behavior. It's hard to really imagine what the federal government could reasonably want with this information.

The paranoid response is that they want it so they can weed out the political dissidents and intimidate the people who might try to stop them (You spent how many hours on what website? Well Congressman, you wouldn't want that to become public now would you?). I'm not going to say that the current administration is really that evil and corrupt, but the paranoids are not too far from the truth.

Gonzalez slyly lets the cat out of the bag: "We need information. Information helps us makes cases."

Information is power. I don't think they know specifically what they want to do with it. But if they had it, then they would use it. And they would use it however they liked.

You Know What Sept 19th Is, Dontcha?

It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Wooohoo! So don't be afraid to bust out with a "scallywag" or "dubloons". Maybe toss in a "lubber" or a "me hardies" while you're at it. If you're concerned that your pirate lexicon is a little lacking, there are some helpful How-To videos.

Also, apparently last night there was a pirate-themed Wife Swap. Yikes!

Keep in mind also, that this is not International Act Like A Pirate Day. So no skewering, raping, pillaging, mindlessly attacking innocents, cutting out tongues etc... It's okay to threaten to do such things, though, because you are talking like a pirate. Just try not to get carried away.

Y'arrrr!

Popes Will Be Popes

I assume that by now everyone's heard about the Pope's inflamatory statements. In truth, I don't know how to refer to it. It would seem that the muslim world is in an uproar. They're angry that the pope quoted a 14th century emporer stating, essentially, that Islam is a religion of violence. Here's the quote:

‘Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached’

The Pope says he was trying to start a dialog and that he was merely quoting this obscure source to get people to think about the importance of reason. And certainly, that's what the body of his speech is about. He only spent three paragraphs talking about Islam. And of that mostly he was saying that the concept of "Jihad" was against God's will. Which, on the face of it, doesn't seem that inflamatory.

Now the Pope has officially apologized. Considering how long it took the Pope to apologize for the inaction of Catholic Church during the Holocaust, it's a pretty impressive about-face.

So far, the majority of the protest (and there's been a lot of it) has been peaceful, if heavily political. But the Times is reporting threats against the Catholic Church and christians in general, as well as attacks on churches in Palestine and the drive-by shooting of a nun in Somalia. All of this linked to the Pope's statement.

It seems almost hard to believe, but some small part of the reaction to the Pope's statement seems to have been a rash of violent attacks against christian and Catholic churches. I mean, how's that for a rebuttal? How much irony is too much?

I really can't believe the Pope apologized. It seems like the Pope is always saying the most crazy things. Not just because he's Catholic. People think he's the Voice Of God On Earth (his security team calls him "VOGOE"). People seriously believe that (I think). And he's the (not-just-figurative) leader of a gigantic (and seriously old) religion. His house has it's own TLD! I think it's fair to say that this guy is not operating on the same mental plane as the rest of us. It's amazing he can speak in full sentences.

But as we've seen before, the Islamic world does not play around with this stuff. If you say "Muhammed" you better follow it up with "...was one awesome dude!" Otherwise, you know, people will die. No excuses.

New Fake Tooth

Yesterday the dentist removed my fake fake tooth and replaced it with a nice new fake tooth. Instead of plastic, this one is crafted out of ceramic and metal. It's much stronger.

Also, the cement used to hold it in place is much more permanent. It feels, for the most part, exactly like any of my other teeth. It actually fits together in my mouth quite a bit better than my filed-down post-root-canal tooth. So it's pretty much an all-around improvement.

It looks just like the fake fake tooth, though. It's completely unbling-a-blinged.

Sigh.

The Six Hour Practice

Yesterday, my new frisbee team (aka Crafty) had a practice out on Long Island. Somewhere on the island. Honestly, it was pretty far away. But Nelly and I are committed people and we got out on the road early, and despite getting lost for about an hour, we managed to make it to practice on time.

What a practice! Practice started at 11:30 and didn't end until 5pm. Plenty of stuff: running, stretching, drilling, practicing, and scrimaging. We crammed a good deal of practice into that one session.

It's a good thing we did too as Sectionals is coming up this weekend (Sept 16-17). Hopefully, we'll play up to our ability and get a bid into Regionals. At which point, I expect, we'll all be pretty satisfied.

I am officially a big fan of the long practice. I'm definately hoping that in the layover between Sectionals and Regionals, maybe we can get another one in.

Surprise Surprise

El Presidente made waves yesterday by officially admitting that the CIA is running secret prisons around the world. He admitted this because he's having the CIA transfer some high-level prisoners from those "detention centers" to the one everyone knows about.

And he's transfering these formerly invisible prisoners there so that they can be tried and found guilty and probably killed. (Revenge is a dish best served cold.)

All of this has gotten a lot of people talking. Mostly they're talking about the proposed legislation for wackadoo military tribunals (we could call them something else, but we reserve that kind of label for things other countries do).

Quickly:
- hearsay evidence (I wonder if Bush has read the Crucible)
- evidence garnered through torture
- not allowing the defense to see the evidence against it.
in sum, completely ludicrous. But of course, the man's very serious.

I would like, for just a moment, to take you back to your 9th grade civics class and the Three Branches of Government. The executive branch does not get to make up its own laws. This is very basic. They have to work inside the bounds of the laws set up by Congress. If the executive branch acts outside of those bounds, then what should happen? What is the Congress' check on over-reaching executive power?

Hmmmm...

Oh. Right.

Now, you could make an argument that the executive branch, in times of great crisis, should not be handcuffed from performing vital and neccesary (and heretofore unseen) services. And there's certainly some validity in that.

But what is the current crisis? We're approaching the five-year anniversary of 9/11. And something like 3 years in Iraq. So it's hard to see what impending crisis prevented the current administration from going to Congress and asking for new laws... to legalize wiretapping without a warrant... to legalize extraordinary rendition... to legalize Bush's cockamamie tribunal scheme.

They've had years to ask Congress to make new laws, but they didn't. Instead they ignored the law (both federal and international), ignored Congress, ignored the president's duties to the country and the consitution. Because they didn't want to take the chance that Congress might not give them everything they wanted (though it's hard to believe they wouldn't have -- spineless cowards).

They impeached and censured Clinton for lying about an extra-marital affair. Why wont they consider impeaching Bush for usurping the power of the legislative and judicial branches? For undermining the very foundations of our government?

Do Music Videos Suck Now?

With my thoughts turning to bling, I read with interest an article in the Times about the MTV Video Music Awards. Because why have bling if you can't show it to all the kids on MTV?

Sadly, though, according to the article, the music video as I remember it is going the way of the Dodo. It would appear that the epic, multi-million dollar mini-movie is fading into oblivion. Replacing it, apparently, are home-made movies.

It makes sense, considering that seeing a music video on television is increasingly rare. The majority of videos, so I hear, are viewed on the web. So what? That doesn't mean they have to suck... right? Right?

But wait. Look at this heinous piece of crap (L'il John -- you dissapoint me in so many ways). It almost makes me want to despair.

And just when I've lost all hope, something amazing happens. Like this. And then, you know, to top that, the same band (OK Go) does this. Crazy!

But the best thing about the offloading of video playing responsibilities onto the internet, is that you can pick what you watch.

Root Canal: Opportunity For Bling?

Today I went to see a dentist in Montclair. Some of my readers may remember a time before this blog when I got emergency root canal surgery. It was fun! While it was harrowing, the surgery saved my tooth. But it's been a while since then and now the time has come to sure up that tooth.

I didn't realize that, as part of the process of fitting the crown (a porcelain & metal piece replacement tooth which is glued over the post) they basically have to drill away most of the remaining tooth. Sounds a lot worse than it was.

The beauty of root canal surgery is that the nerve of the tooth is gone. So they can do whatever they want and there's no pain.

Anyways, so now I have a temporary crown. It's made of hard plastic. In a couple weeks my new tooth should be ready. There was some talk of matching it to the color of the other teeth, but the only way to do that would be to paint in a filling. (How braces supremely screwed up my teeth is a story for another time).

It occurred to me, after my visit to the dentist, that I could have requested a gold/silver/platinum tooth. Too bad it's a back molar and not something more visible. My rap career is going nowhere until I get some sweet bling bling.

We're Back!

The trip was a success! Travel is expensive, but it's well worth it. Pictures later!

We're Off!

Nelly and I are going to South Carolina (Pawleys Island, actually) for the week. We're flying out tomorrow and coming back next Sunday. We should have some pictures as well.

See you later!

Watch out Neocons!

So, this Lamont v. Lieberman thing has been getting a great deal of press. Lamont won and Senate democrats quickly gave him their support. Of course, that's not what interests me. See, there's this picture in the article...


Oh damn. Watch out Neocons! The newly energized left is coming to get you! With their bad haircuts, gnashed teeth and squinty eyes.

Beware!

Bombs, Missiles, & Rockets

Hezbollah and Israel are in a "war" of sorts. Every day on my ride to work I listen as the news anchors describe the number of rockets that Hezbollah has launched into Israel (nearly 100, between 100 and 200, over 200, more than a bushel, etc...). Always, the anouncer will "balance" this information by anouncing that Israel continues its "missile strikes in Lebanon". (They never give a number, presumably because it's uncountable.)

They always use the same words, Hezbollah launches "rockets". Israel launches "missiles". So I began to wonder, is there a particular nomenclature just for explosive armaments? "Rocket" and "missile" seem awfully similar words. Is there really that significant a difference?

Apparently, there is. The good people at AnswerBag.com have already tackled this question.

Seems awfully arbitrary to me. Certainly, in the current conflict, there is the implication that Israel's missiles are far more potent and sophisticated than Hezbollah's rockets. Essentially, though, we're talking about the same thing in terms of operation and the outcome achieved (e.g. death).

Another Weekend At the Beach

Last weekend (that would be July 29-30th) Nelly and I went down to Wildwood, NJ for the 14th annual Wildwood Beach Ultimate tournament. Apparently, the largest ultimate tournament in the world!


Our team was called "I Lost My Pickle". Mainly a collection of friends and people we know. We did okay, going 3-3 over the weekend and winning whatever pool we ended up in. It was rediculously hot over the weekend, with some scorching sands. Playing right on the beach, just a short walk from the ocean, certainly helped mitigate the staggering weather.

Nelly and I both had a wonderful time. Special thanks to Su May who took care of the organizational details (tourney bid, hotel, rides, etc...). And thanks to [Top Row] Meghan, (Me), Nelly, Seth, Chris, Java, Ken, [Bottom Row] Sue, Jen, and (again) Su May for playing great ultimate and being generally fun people!

Hey! I lost my pickle!

Those Comcast Bastards

Guess what, everybody! I'm pissed at Comcast again. This time it's because they're randomly charging me $1.99 for a "Change of Service". Namely, I signed up for HBO. It's pretty easy for me to tell that they're already gouging me on cable, and now they're gouging me for HBO service.

The idea that they would try to charge me for signing up for HBO is so mind-bloggling to me. But it's really just a function of the disdane that Comcast has for its customers.

I actually called Comcast and talked with an unpleasant young woman who informed me that the $1.99 charge is standard. I asked her if there was someone else I could talk to, she told me there weren't any managers around (hah!). I asked when there would be managers, she told me she couldn't say a specific time. She took down my phone number and said a manager would call later. Can't wait for that.

I am eager for the day that Verizon finally gets high-speed internet running to me. Though apparently Verizon's roll-out is stalled on Corzinne's desk. Although, it's possible that Verizon will by-pass Montclair altogether and I'll be stuck with Comcast forever. ARRRGH!

We're Back

We have returned. Our San Diego trip was a blast. We got to the beaches. We got to the Wild Animal Park. I even took in a Padres game. All of which was a wonderful time. But the crux of the vacation was the time I got to spend with my family. I want to give a special shout-out to Karen & Rodger, Jeff, Cathy, Garrett and Zoe for being so gracious and spending so much time with Nelly and I.

I can't wait for the next visit. Though rumor has it that some of the West Coast Bellins might be considering a trip east!?! Definately something I am looking forward to.

I'm in SD

I have a little downtime today. So I figured I'd post a couple pictures from yesterday. It's been really hot in San Diego (as in the whole country, or so it seems). So we've been mainly staying inside when we can and going out after the sun starts to go down. Jeff, Cathy, Zoe, Garrett and myself went to the park around 6pm. Though it only really cooled off around 7pm.















Not that I'm complaining. Since last night it's stayed pretty cool. And right now it's 95^o in Montclair, NJ.; it's 75^o in San Diego.

Traveling

I will be in San Diego for the next week. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to post some messages about my trip.

See you on the flip side.

Remember Kids: Practice Your Headbutt

Nelly beat me to the post on Zidane's headbutt. Laurie mentioned it as well. And I thought I could satisfy my endless need for public expression by commenting on their blogs.

However, this headbutt story has gained a lot of traction and I am wondering why. Everyone has an opinion. Generally they break down like this:

Italy Fan: "Zidane is completely insane! He should be locked up in a mental institution forever! Italy won the World Cup! We kicked a bajillion penalty kicks! Why don't we get any respect?"
French Fan: "Zidane is our national hero! He won us the cup in '98; he got us to the final this year. Le headbutt cost us dearly and we're saddened that he didn't come through, but we still love Zidane."
Everyone Else: "Holy Crap! Did that just happen? Zidane is such a badass."

There was something elegant, beautiful about the way Zidane layed into Materazzi. The way he so efficiently humbled Italy's loud-mouthed schoolyard bully. In that moment Zidane elevated himself above mere soccer-great and became (unless you're an Italy fan) something heroic.

The only way Zidanne could have played it better was if, after spearing Materazzi, he had just walked off the field in disgust. However, like a good soccer player he went to the ref and pleaded his case, and was justly thrown out of the game. Fifa should also fine him a great deal and suspend him from international play.

I would like to be disgusted by what Zidane did. If the tables had been reversed and Materazzi had speared Zidane, I would have been absolutely enraged. But Zidane's long-held reputation for good, spirited play (and Materazzi's reputation for being slime) changes the equation. Sometimes good people commit acts of violence and sacrifice to defend themselves and those they love, and sometimes that's the right thing to do.

Also, Materazzi flopped on the headbutt! Even as I am generally disgusted by his antics, I am impressed at his cunning. How very Machievellian.

The Space Shuttle! It Goes to Space!

Wow! It's awfully easy to be blasé about the fact that we can pretty consistently put a whole bunch of people and machinery into space. I mean, the word "space" isn't even that long. So how big a deal is it really?

Here's a video of the Space Shuttle's latest takeoff.

Um... pretty rediculous. Honestly. NASA, you're blowing my mind right now.

Apparently they added a bunch of cameras to watch for foam (see, the biggest problem going into space is falling foam. Foam? Foam's not dangerous!). And this is the footage from one of the booster rockets.

Everybody watch out!

Nellys got a blog! And she knows (sorta) how to use it.

Happy Independence Day

Well, the day is almost over. I think the NYC fireworks show is going to start pretty soon. That will be the first official celebration of the holiday that we witness. Well, other than taking a four-day weekend. I'm glad our forefathers broke ties with England on such a nice weekend.

To celebrate the day, Nelly and I watched Italy defeat Germany by scoring two goals in the last minute of overtime. Ouch. After the second goal, they cut to a german girl crying. Take that, national pride!

Nelly and I spent the last two days at family's lakehouse in Connecticut. That was very nice, though not as relaxing as it normally is. Still, the weather was great and we had a nice time. I started and finished The Tender Bar while I was up there. Nelly loaned it to me after getting it from her mother. And while I enjoyed it, I couldn't help but notice that it's basically a slightly myopic story about how one's life can be ruined by alcohol.

The blog has been quiet for a while. So I missed the chance to post that thursday was Nelly's birthday. Happy birthday baby! We partied in the city. There are some pictures floating around somewhere. Perhaps one day I will get my hands on them and post them here.

Who To Root For (Redux)

So, now that England's tepid kickers have limped off the field in defeat, none of the teams I decided to root for is left in the World Cup. Who should I root for now? Well, my picks for the finals are still in it, but I don't particularly like either Brazil or Germany.

Sigh. Woe is me.

Still, there's some promising matches upcoming. Brazil v. France should be exciting (though by the time most of you read this it will be over). Pleny of soccer left to play. From now on, I will be rooting for a good game played by all.

Hopefully, I wont be dissapointed.

Who To Root For?

Now that the US is out (I'm not sure why everyone is surprised -- it's supposed to be hard) of the World Cup, I am having a hard time knowing who to root for. I thought the South Koreans would be a fun team, but they didn't make it through either.

I was primed to root for Ghana. It's their first time in the World Cup, they're speedy, resilient and they believe in themselves. However, watching their players flop all over the field kinda made me disgusted. So unless they show more class in their next match, I can't route for them.

The Brazillians are always fun, but they're also too much the favorite. Same with the Portugese. Italy are just blech. Same with France. If France didn't have Henri, I wouldn't even care about their games. (Their game against Spain should be a good match, now that France has discovered that the ball goes in the back of the net.)

Switzerland, meh. Ecuador, meh.

The German team looks pretty dominant and I like their coach, but I just can't root for the Germans. Especially seeing the havoc it's causing for Laurie in Berlin. The Argentinians squeaked by Mexico yesterday, but I wasn't too excited by that game.

Is it wrong that I really want to root for the two english speaking teams still in the tournament? England has Beckham and Rooney who are always fun to watch. And the Aussies, like Ghana (without the flopping), are playing way past expectations.

So my list of teams to route for: England, Australia, Spain

My expectations for the finals: Brazil v. Germany. Germany's goal keeper more than makes up for their weak defense. Brazil's defense cannot contain Germany's strikers. In a very exciting game (even for a World Cup final), Germany wins 3-1.

Ref Envy

The NBA Finals concluded last night. I'm a little annoyed at the outcome. Not particularly because I don't like the Heat. Mostly because they didn't deserve to win. I have been busy and so I wasn't able to catch all the games. I did manage to sit through most of games 5 and 6.

After game 5 it was clear to me (and to other people) that the league had decided that Dwayne Wade was going to be the next Jordan. They weren't going to allow teams to do shut down their new marqué player by smotherering him. Putting a hand in his face, or a body against his. Pushing Wade out of his comfort zone so he can't dictate, so he's putting up the shot you want, not the shot he wants.

The league has seen fit to bless Wade with the "you touch me, you foul me" attribute. Which means, if he takes a shot and falls down, the refs blow the whistle. If he bricks it off the rim and there's anyone standing around him, the refs blow the whistle. So his defenders back off, because they don't want to give him freebies. And Wade is too good to have that much space.

And yet, giving Wade the advantage wasn't enough. Sometimes, in critical junctures, the Mavs actually were able to shut him down, keep him from taking his shot. And in those situations, at least in the games I saw, the refs came to Wade's rescue.

In game 5, the refs bailed him out in the last 3 seconds. With the Heat down by 1, Wade dribbled aimlessly all over the floor, the Mavs cut off his angles and Nowitzki stepped over to contest his last ditch heave at the basket. They called a phantom foul (on Nowitzki) which got Wade to the line. The resulting free throws determined the outcome of that game. (Did anyone catch in the into sequence before Game 6 showing overlapping clips of Jordan and Wade, they showed Jordan put up an underhanded scoop where it went in. Then they showed that sequence from game 5 of Wade flipping the ball up, but they cut the clip before the ball bricked off the rim.)

In game 6, with the 26 seconds left, the Mavs had closed to be within 1 point. Wade was again shut down, dribbling around the top of the 3-point arch. Nowitzki came over on the double team and closed down the lane. Wade, in frustration or just instinct, pushed out a forearm shiver into Nowitzki's chest. Whistle. Foul. On Nowitzki? Wade hits both free throws and the Heat go on to win the game by 3.

Another rediculous call ensures that this game will be decided by foul shots. Whee! And in that final game Wade had more free throws (21) than shots (18).

So is Wade a good player? Does he make great plays? Yes. He's definately one of the best players in the league. Is he the next coming of Michael Jordan? He wasn't in this series. And we wont be able to compare the two unless the league and the refs are willing to let Wade win the games on his own.

I understand that foul shots are part of the game. And in that sense the Heat deserved to win. Foul shots are boring. Hitting foul shots in the final seconds of the final game is the most boring outcome I can imagine. Curling is more exciting than foul shots. Bad curling. Junior high-school curling.

Sigh. Thank god for the World Cup.

Cars is A Movie About Cars

Yesterday, through the heat and the air stagnation advisory Nelly and I went to see Cars. It was an okay movie. There's nothing really to complain about with Cars. But nothing all that grand about it either. The reviews are mostly positive, ranging from "not bad" to "best since Toy Story". I think I fall into the lower edge of the "not bad" spectrum.

I'll admit there some touching moments. I got a kick out of seeing the car-talk guys doing their schtick. And the automotive prowess (and thick accents) of Luigi (Tony Schaloub) and his Italian only helper Guido (Guido Quaroni) were endearing. But, I gotta say, the most lighthearted and truly fun moment in the whole film came after the credits started to roll.

I read a glowing review of Cars that made a big deal of the way Pixar captures the beauty of those drive-across-america views. And if you can remember driving down Route 66 in the back-seat of the family station-wagon, you might enjoy reminiscing along with Cars. Me, I don't have that experience, I am too young. And I think, so are the kids being brought to see this movie.

It should be noted that while we were watching the movie a family of six was struggling to reign in their two 4-year old twin boys. I can't decide if it's significant that the children in the theater weren't all that interested in the movie. If it was only those two rambuctious kids in front of us, or if other toddlers were getting bored with the dialogue and waiting for something squishy to jump out from behind all the boring, endlessly talking cars.

Now This is A Quality Film

The Times had a little blurb on their website about "Cemetary Man" coming out on DVD. I remember watching this movie in college. I think we'd been surfing channels after midnight and found it playing on public access. All I can say is "Wow".

I am really glad that it's out on DVD. There are very few movies I'd actually like to own, this is one of them.

I Don't Want to Know!

Some of you may know that I am recording the World Cup games so I can watch them after work. As such, I have developed a whole new web-based game that I can play with myself. It's called "Don't Learn the Score!!!"

I have quickly learned that The New York Times loves to post the latest results with a big picture on their website (recently Nelly fell prey to this viscious ploy). Many sports-blogs also like to explicitly post the score as soon as it is available (or even in REAL TIME!!). On my ride home, NPR likes to spring the results on the unwary listener about ten times every hour.

Now, as much as I enjoy this new game, I have to admit, finding out the score before I can watch the game really really sucks!

Look, news outlets, I appreciate that you are trying to communicate the day's news, but you're really ruining it for for me. Cover up the score! Just say "if you want to know who won, click here!" If you're speaking the news, say "I am about to reveal the scores of today's world cup matches..." So that I have time to turn the radio off before you ruin the whole thing for me.

Are you a campaign donator?

The current dust-up in the Senate over the repeal of the Estate Tax (which fortunately failed) and an insightful op-ed piece by Paul Krugman got me thinking on an issue of constant bemusement. Why do a large number of people (mainly republican voters) support a repeal of a tax they will never pay? Why would they vote for senators and representatives that don't actually pay attention to their needs?

According to the poll linked above (which could easily be completely made-up) 68% of americans support the repeal of the estate tax. Only about 1% of Americans will ever actually have to deal with an estate tax. There's a huge disparity there.

I think that if a person who had never heard about the estate tax and heard it explained as a tax on "property left by people who die" he would (quite reasonably) assume that it's a tax his children will have to pay after he dies. And if the question is "How would you like to not have to pay taxes ever again?" I think they'd get a 100% positive response rate.

As a general principle, getting people to say they don't like taxes is a pretty easy thing to do. Starting with that it's pretty easy to see why the repeal of the estate tax is "popular".

But if we accept the premise that many supporters of the estate tax don't understand anything about it, then one wonders, why the estate tax is even an issue? If it only affects half-a-percent of the country, why are the republicans (and some democrats) in congress stomping around and treating this as a major issue?

Krugman's article makes it quite obvious that the repeal of the estate tax is all about paying back campaign donors. If, for example, you're the family that owns Walmart (the Waltons, I believe) the estate tax is a real pain in your ass. Fortunately, you are the richest family in the world and so you can afford to have a team of lawyers and accountants shuttle your wealth into tax-shelters and pay only a small portion of the taxes you actually owe. And once the accountants have done all they can, then it's time for the politicians to take their cut. And instead of paying the billions of dollars you owe, maybe you can squeak by without paying a dime.

So, ask yourself, "Am I a major campaign donor? Do I give hundreds of thousands of dollars to politicians and their political parties every year?" If the answer is yes, congratulations, you are actually represented in our system of government. If the answer is no, well, like the other 99.5% of american, you can be assured that whatever the government is doing, it's not doing it for your benefit.

Java's in the Race!

The NYC NBC affiliate broadcast the first three names for the NYC Marathon lottery. There are 37,000 spots and over 90,000 people applied.

You can watch the video (skip ahead to about 3:20 to see the part of importance).

Christopher Bracconeri == Java. His brush with fame. Of course, the dude mangled his name. But still, I'm sure all the ladies will be impressed.

Good article in the Times

I was reading the New York Times' sunday business section (as is my wont) and found a very nice piece explaining why all the economic statistics in the world wont make the Bush's approval ratings go up. You should be able to read it here (free registration, perhaps, required). It's fairly short and to the point.

(read it now!)

Okay, you're not going to read it. So suffice it to say that despite the economy's signs of growth the majority of people are not benefitting. And yet the Bushies are able to quote statistics that seem to suggest that the entire population has seen an improvement in earnings and net-worth. In fact, according to the article, while the average family's net-worth increased by 6.3% between 2001 and 2004, the bottom 40% of families (by income) saw a decrease in net-worth during that period. You'll hear a lot of that first part from the White House. Not so much about the second part.

Bush's economic policies are working exactly as they're designed to. His tax cutting and regulation castrating has really helped America's fabulously wealthy become... er... fabulously wealthier. The problem is the theory behind the formulation of those policies isn't actually working. The rich are getting richer, the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider and the fluctuations of the national economy are increasingly disconnected from the lives of the majority of this country's citizens.

Supply-side/trickle-down doesn't work because rich people don't spend money locally; they spend money globally. And they don't spend their earnings; they invest earnings and live off their dividends. Our economy is mature/stagnant; everyone knows that the big profits are overseas in "emerging markets". So smart money flows out of the country and the economy flounders because there's no money being spent here.

I think it's fairly clear that federal government (when not abused) is not a weight on the economy. Whatever they take in from taxes they send out in the form of public works, employee payroll, military contracts, etc... Taxes are immediately pumped back into the national economy.

Which is why the current administration is borrowing recklessly; the uber-rich just aren't coming through. Surprise, surprise!

My sister posted photos

She made a Flickr Photo Gallery.

Highlites:

1. I like Karen's haircut.
   
2. Roshambo Vineyards!?! Might there also be, somewhere in the California countryside, a Bear-Ninja-Cowboy Ranch? One can only hope.
3. The engagement! No close-ups of the ring, unfortunately. It's probably far to sparkly and so shorted out the camera's sensor.

Sounds like they had a wonderful time. Huzzah!

Quite an Eventful Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is usually a time when nothing really happens. Because everyone goes off on little jaunts here and there. The whole point, in my opinion, is to do nothing and have nothing happen so that you can't relax and unwind.

Nelly and I did our part. We went up to her parent's lakehouse in far north-western CT. It's a very nice house on a very nice lake and I must say we are very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit and enjoy the lake. It's very reminiscent of my summers in New Hampshire at Laurel Lake. And I tend to go on-and-on about how great that was, until Nelly tells me to shut-up about Laurel Lake. But she's very sweet about it.

The weather couldn't have been nicer and Nelly and I had an absolutely fantastic time. Except for almost being killed by a reckless and careless motor-boat driver, it was an absolutely perfect weekend.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, people were doing some crazy stuff:

1. My sister got engaged! She called with the good news last night. Her boyfriend (now Fiancé), Rodger proposed to her while they were vacationing in Northern California. Apparently they were in the Redwood Forrest. Very romantic and memorable. The entire Bellin family is aflutter with this exciting news.
2. Laurie flew out to Germany. She's only out there for a month (but what a month to be in Germany). She says that it's difficult (or impossible) to get tickets to see the soccer, but I think she's not being adventurous enough. We'll see. But how can you go to Berlin when Germany is hosting the world cup and not take in a game? There's gotta be tickets. Maybe to the Tunisia v. Saudi Arabia game.

Memorial Day! Very very exciting.

A "DaVinci Code" Stupor

I went to see DaVinci Code last night. The theater was absolutely packed. There was a palpable tension in the air... and then they played twenty minutes of ads and trailers. And I forgot what movie we were actually there to see.

I had heard some of the criticisms of the movie, but hoped that since I didn't ever even consider reading the book, I would be able to enjoy the film on its own merits. Unfortunately, it really doesn't have that many merits.

Other than making the audience laugh at inappropriate times, Ron Howard manages to remove any emotion from the performances of Tom Hanks or Audrey Tautou. The script banks on their growing affection for each other, but neither character ever exhibits anything more than a passing interest in the other.

The movie plays as almost a direct rip-off of National Treasure which was itself a play on the popularity of the "DaVinci Code" book. The movies have obvious similarities (e.g. pasty, unappealing lead actors) but National Treasure is much livelier and more interesting.

I say that and I didn't even really like National Treasure. But it seems like a gleaming masterpiece after seeing this plodding, pointless and pedantic picture.

Yogurt Battle!

As many of you know, Nelly and I have been living together for a few months now. Overall it has been a wonderful experience. However, while this arrangement has been blissful for the two of us, there are signs that some sectarian strife may be bubbling under the surface.

Take for example, this shocking scene which I witnessed in the fridge the other day.

I am fortunate that I had a camera available to document this brutality. The Yoplaits, apparently used to dominating Nelly's fridge, weren't willing to put up with sharing space with my Dannon coffee yogurts. And once they had numerical superiority (due to the irresistable deliciousness of Dannon coffee yogurt) they mercilessly attacked the one remaining cup.

Clearly the Yoplait Whips! was the firebrand of this gang of yogurt thugs. And I am glad to say that she has since received a just punishment.

Everyone knows that Dannon and Yoplait have fundamental differences, but why can't they focus on the things that bring them together? Like that they are yogurt? I mean, isn't surviving in this crazy world hard enough? When yogurt turns on yogurt, can the end be far behind?

It may just be the conspiracy theorist in me, but isn't it suspicious to see the Arm & Hammer box peeking out from behind the box of strawberries. Arm & Hammer has been in the fridge since nearly day-one. And I would say that nothing happens in that space that he is not aware of. Could he have goaded the Yoplaits, whipped them into a frenzy (pun intended?) and sent them after the upstart Dannons? Were the Dannons getting cocky, muscling in on his territory. Is this what the Arm & Hammer people mean when they say "odor control"?

And I have to say that I feel terribly conflicted seeing the Baby Bell cow laughing merrily at this scene. As though it was concocted for the cow's enjoyment. Does she feel no compassion for her fellow fridge-dweller? They are both dairy products, after all. And one day, perhaps, Arm & Hammer will be coming after her as well.

New Glasses

On saturday, Nelly and I stopped by the Lens Crafters in Paramus (it's conveniently located on my way to work). I purchased my current pair of glasses in Sophomore year of high school (HIGH SCHOOL). So, by my calculations, that was something like 12 years ago. Which seems so outrageous, but I think it's absolutely true.

So suffice it to say that my glasses (and as it turns out, my self) are completely out of touch with the latest trends in fashion opticals. Nelly was very helpful on this front. We looked at several frames that were very similar to my old ones (made by the always classy Brooks Brothers). Any of those would have been fine. But we were not going for "fine". We were going for "You buy glasses once a decade, so these had better be some pretty fantastic frames."

And so we continued to look. We wandered over to the center display, where the trendier & more pricey frames are located under lock-and-key. And in that place Nelly and I discovered, as though put there by some force beyond our comprehension (perhaps the store manager?), my new glasses.

They are Versace. (Woooooooooooooo)


I am moving up in the world, but I haven't changed. My love don' cost a thing. I'm still Jenny from the block.

Let it not be said that I do not listen to my fans.

bonus

Thank You, Frank Rich

It may well be that I am not reading the right articles at the right time, but I have found the new coverage from all corners on the Porter Goss resignation very dissapointing. As I stated here previously, the problem is the gross incompetence of officials in our government, up to the very highest levels.

However, news coverage is either matter-of-fact reporting or a focus on the more salacious tidbits.

Frank Rich finally took the time in Sunday's Week In Review to step back and refocus on the actual problems (Times Select subscription required), the root causes.

From the article:

What really angers the White House and its defenders about both the Post and Times scoops are not the legal questions the stories raise about unregulated gulags and unconstitutional domestic snooping, but the unmasking of yet more administration failures in a war effort riddled with ineptitude. It's the recklessness at the top of our government, not the press's exposure of it, that has truly aided the enemy, put American lives at risk and potentially sabotaged national security.

And later...

Besides driving out career employees, underperforming on Iran intelligence and scaling back a daily cross-agency meeting on terrorism, Mr. Goss's only other apparent accomplishment at the C.I.A. was his war on those traitorous leakers. Intriguingly, this was a new cause for him. "There's a leak every day in the paper," he told The Sarasota Herald-Tribune when the identity of the officer Valerie Wilson was exposed in 2003. He argued then that there was no point in tracking leaks down because "that's all we'd do."

Also, I hadn't heard this, but apparently:

The Qaeda cell that hijacked American Flight 77 and plowed into the Pentagon was based in the same town, Laurel, Md., as the N.S.A., and "for months, the terrorists and the N.S.A. employees exercised in some of the same local health clubs and shopped in the same grocery stores."

(Frank Rich attributes that last piece to James Bamford in The Washington Post)

So thank you so much Mr. Rich for finally saying what no one else has seemed to be willing.

This is gross

My friend Jon sent me this link to the (perhaps a tall and certainly incredibly gross) tale of a man who cured his serious adult-onset asthma by contracting Hookworm in Cameroon. He did this mainly by walking barefoot through public latreens.

His theory goes that in the western world asthma and other auto-immune system diseases (such as Crohn's -- thus my interest in this article) are becoming increasingly prevelant because we are increasingly avoiding the dirty world. Our immune systems, built up over tens of thousands of years to deal with the worst nature can throw at us, are now bored and so take to picking on healthy tissue rather than just going on vacation.

Hookworms, in order to avoid being destroyed by the body, produce a compound that suppresses the immune system's response (by sending it a free all-expense paid ticket to the destination of its choice, perhaps?). And lo, the symptoms of the auto-immune disease go away... Hookworm's die off and do not breed in the body so the benefits of this treatment are dependent on a continuing vector for hookworm infection.

While I salute this man's gung-ho attitude, and I appreciate the desperation that led him to this course of action, I must say that I most certainly do not want this hookworm treatment. It's really just gross.

There's a couple articles on the BBC: here's a pretty old one, and here's one that's even older. (The BBC sure loves it's close-up pictures of hookworm.) And here's a pretty recent reference in The Observer. Note how none of these articles understands (or even discusses) the mechanism hookworm uses to suppress the immune system. As they say in Legend of Zelda, It's a mystery to everyone.

GateGate-Gate

You may have heard: the head of the CIA, Porter Goss, is stepping down after a notably brief career. A related story hasn't been getting as much ink, but plenty of bytes & pixels are being filled in the blogosphere.

It's Hookergate. Oh... wait... no. I mean, "Hookergate".

Clearly it's a scandal, because the bloggers have chosen to add the suffix "gate" to the dirty word "hooker".

First of all, Watergate is the name of a hotel that was burglarized by Nixon's cronies searching for dirt on the happless DNC. You can read about it in the wikipedia (thank god for the wikipedia) if you need to, but clearly the scandal that drove Nixon out of the White House did not involve him using excessive amounts of water.

If only the hotel had been the Hilton/Best Western. Then we wouldn't be saddled with this meaningless suffix.

My second gripe about the name is that it puts the emphasis for the scandal on the hookers that were supposedly sometimes used in the influence peddling. As though influence peddling not involving prostitution would be fine.

Can't we have moral outrage stemming from the fact that Bush appoints lackies to key positions in government. And then those unqualified hacks, demoralize and deflate the angencies they're supposed to be leading. Which leads us to a disaster.

Isn't it enough that Porter Goss may have done to the CIA what Michael Brown did to FEMA?

But his swift and surprising resignation wasn't due to the fact that he was incompetent. It was because Bush & company couldn't keep this story under wraps any longer. (The scandalous behavior has apparently been going on for a decade or more)

So how about a new scandal? You can call it Competencegate.

The Rav Saga: Epilogue

So on our trip to Lewes, DE this weekend, Nelly and I finally caught the Rav making some funny noises at the gas station and had a chance to investigate. It turns out the muffler was rubbing up against the rear mudflap, and had actually burned a hole for itself through the hard-plastic.

Last night, after we got back, I removed all the mudflaps. I think that a lot of the odd noises that the Rav has been generating over the past 2-3 years are due to these crappy mudflaps. The screws and bolts used to hold them on were rusting or had already fallen out or had been removed and improperly replaced over the years. So taking them off led to a startlingly smooth and quiet ride in the Rav.

I'm hoping that removing the mud flaps will increase the fuel efficiency of the car (at least a little bit). I know that the weight + drag of the flaps isn't that significant, but I have to wonder if we removed all the mud flaps from all the SUVs that never go offroad in this country, maybe we'd save some gas.

Ah well, just pie in the sky.

As a bonus, here's a picture of the bottom of the Rav after I removed the flaps. Note where the plastic has bonded to the muffler.

He's a trooper, that Rav o'mine.

The Soreness Begins

It's spring-time once again. The birds are signing, the trees are blooming, and the children are behaving like animals. Also, ultimate season has officially started for Nelly and I.

This weekend, we went down to Delaware to play in the Beth Coltman Memorial tournament in Lewes, DE. We went down with my old team "Your Mom" because they were going and they promised that no one on our team would really try that hard.

Now, one might argue that half of the team drinking heavily on the sideline is not a recipe for success. In this case, that argument would have been the correct one. We lost all our games, getting blown out in most of them. Our last two games we made close, so it wasn't a complete travesty (except if you were to look at just the win-loss column).

Cape Henlopen State Park is right at the horn of Delaware's northern coast. It's pretty, um, windy there. Which makes for some ugly ugly ultimate. Mostly involving trying to throw the disk as far downfield as possible and then setting up what basically amounts to a wall of people to stand in front of the throwers. Nobody was winning any pretty points. But it was good cover for the fact that everyone on our team was out of shape and hadn't practiced in months.

So, now it's monday morning. I am exhausted, my face is sunburned, my hands are sunburned, my back is sore, my neck is sore, my legs are sore and my entire right arm is sore. And I feel great!

Nelly's Travels

I had been meaning to blog a bit about this past weekend, but I never got around to it. Myself, I didn't do very much interesting. But Nelly went down to Charlotte to visit her sister who is currently completing her first year at Davidson. She had a wonderful time down there, while I was miserable and lonely the whole weekend.

Except for when I was hanging out with Laurie. Laurie, you rock! But even when I was having fun I was still missing her a ton.

But, my dear readers, I did not despair, because I knew that she would return to me (despite the trials and tribulations of flying into Newark Airport). And yesterday she came back. And there was much rejoicing. Hooooray!

Hmmm, maybe the reason I didn't blog about this was that it turns out I don't have much to say. Well, I just want to get it down in writing that I really really missed her and when she came back I was super-duper ecstatic.

And Now the Conclusion of the Rav Saga

I worked from home yesterday, anticipating that the Rav would be out of the shop that afternoon. Indeed, at 9:15 Tom from Caldwell Toyota called and informed me (through choppy cell reception) that my car was ready to go.

Not only that, but Tom informed me that they were able to save the muffler which chopped $300 off the price. Final cost to me (including tax), $1024. Not so bad, Rav. Not so bad.

The car drives like it always has, but it doesn't make a loud rumbling noise anymore. Just a quiet, comforting put-put-put. It has shiny new piping on its underside. I think secretly the Rav is proud of that; it's like a surgical scar. I have to make sure I convince the Rav not to roll over and show off.

The Rav Continues to Sit in the Shop

So, they put the Rav up to begin replacing the piping today. And surprise! The pipe with the catalytic converter needs to be replaced as well. Very dissapointing. Anyways, so now the price jumps from $600 to $1200. Sigh. Woe is my car.

Rav Update

the toyota dealership called. the repairs will not be as costly as they could have been. So for about $600 they'll replace the piping. They need to order the part, but if all goes well, I should be able to retrieve my car tomorrow.

Rav Down, But Not Out

This weekend was rather interesting. On friday we had some friends over to warm our apartment. It wasn't a big thing, but many fabulous people came and there was some joyous celebrating.

While all this was going on, my car (a dependable Toyota Rav4) decided that it's exhaust pipe was too heavy to hold and so it was just going to let it lie on the ground. I only found this out when I was driving guests to catch the last train out of Montclair. Along with the tell-tale no-muffler engine sound there was a sickening screech. After dropping off guests at the train station, I looked under the car to find the exhaust pipe hanging onto the car by the muffler. It apparently had rusted through where the pipe met the engine. Quality!

Geico, of course, wouldn't cover it. So I called AAA in the morning to schedule a tow. The tow-truck arrived 40 minutes later, except it was the wrong tow-truck. The Rav4, being a n all-time four-wheel drive vehicle cannot be towed by a standard tow-truck. It requires a flat-bed. The tow-truck guy said the flat-bed would be there in 20 minutes. 50 minutes later I decided to call AAA again and see what the deal was. They said that the truck was coming and would be there within a half-hour.

Exactly a half-hour later, the truck arrived. The driver was friendly enough, and hauled my car to the toyota dealership in West Caldwell. Where it has been sitting since. They didn't look at it on Saturday and, as far as I know, they haven't looked at it today.

Meanwhile, I was able to rent a car from Enterprise (10% AAA Discount) for the weekend. We got a Chevy Cobalt. The tow-truck fiasco kept us from getting to ultimate practice, but Nelly and I were able to attend a bar-b-q in Long Island. And then head up to Connecticut to do Easter with her mother's family. Whee!

Happy Easter!

Happy birthday Paul!

Bad Reception

I am working from home today and I would like to use my blog as a platform to complain about the terrible cell phone coverage in my apartment. I just noticed, after going to the kitchen to get a glass of water, that my connection is so tenuous that mearly walking in front of the phone can cause it to drop coverage completely.

It's the 21st century. I live in densely populated New Jersey. I should have better coverage than this. It's a travesty! Can someone please think of the children!

Where to Stick Your Money

I was looking at my Fidelity account today and I discovered something most interesting.

I was looking into moving some money out of Fidelity's equivalent of a savings account and into my cash account so I could, theoretically, buy a mutual fund I have been looking at.

I noticed, in the side-bar, that the fund was giving something of a rediculous number as it's Compound Yield. Interest and such numbers confuse me, so I went and looked at the actual amount of money deposited as interest last month. As a percentage of the total amount, it was more than three times more than Chase's EXTREME SUPER PLUS SAVINGS ACCOUNT.

So I am like, wow! If only they did Bill Pay. And lo: they do bill pay!
So I am like, wow wow! If only you could do direct deposit. And lo: you can do direct deposit!
If only they offered and ATM card. And lo: they offer an ATM card! Holy crap!

Who knew Fidelity does all the stuff that a regular bank does. What the hell am I doing my banking with Chase for?! Argh, I bet that's why the woman who opened my account at Chase was looking at me funny the whole time. She was probably thinking, "If you have a Fidelity account, what do you need with a Chase account?"

Anyways, so this advertisement for Fidelity was brought to you by my own reluctance to do actual work.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

I finally finished this book. Thanks Laurie!

It wont the Pulitzer Prize and deservedly so in my opinion. Very smart, very thorough. It covers the birth of nuclear weapons from E=MC² to the devlopment of the first thermo-nuclear weapon.

It's a fascinating tale of the emergence of science as a weapon in nationalist wars. And, if you buy the book's thesis, the eventual dominance of science over nationalism. Humans designed a bomb so big that it made world war impossible (though whether it worked still remains to be seen).

Fortunately, the author (Richard Rhodes), spends very little time waxing philosophic. Most of the book's 800 pages are dedicated to following the long, winding and often arduous treck from the idea that mass and energy are the same to the creation of a physical weapon utilizing that idea. The physics isn't intimidating and the story is mesmerizing.

A+

(put that on your book cover!)

ps. I forgot to mention the book does a good job sorting out explanations/motivations for the individuals involved (from Leo Szilard to Oppenheimer to General Groves to Harry Truman) and why they chose to develop, prioritize, build, weaponize and use the atomic bomb.

Apparently, there was a lot of confusion over whether the Germans might have been working on a bomb of their own. And certainly they were, but the eventual dominance of allied air power over Europe, and the ensuing bombing, shut down any hope of large-scale production. So though the Nazis were experimenting with nuclear power, they weren't very close to making a weapon when the war ended.

The book also discusses, but does not pass judgement, on the prevaling opinion amoung allied forces that an invasion of mainland Japan would cost millions of allied lives and an even greater number of civilian Japanese. Whether or not that justifies dropping WMD on two major population centers is up in the air. But it seems that the real motivation (for both the military and scientist types) was to show the world what sort of devastation this bomb could cause.

How far was that run?

In my brain I have been thinking that there has to be a Google Maps mashup that you can use to calculate the distance you have run. Something that might be called a Google Pedometer, perhaps?

Lo and behold, it does exist! This is an excellent tool for estimating how the distance of that run you just went on. (Note: once you've found your starting point, click on the "Start Recording" button and then double-click on the map to set waypoints)

In looking for such a tool, I found a blog that lists various Google Mashups. So if you're looking for some other useful mashup, maybe you can find it there.

Coldplay Concert

This past Saturday, Nelly and I headed over to the Continental Arena in the Meadowlands to take in a Coldplay concert there. We skipped the opening act because I needed a nap and got there with just enough time to buy a diet-pepsi and find out seats. Our seats, I must say, were something like a million miles from the stage.

Fortunately the lead singer of Coldplay is a very frenetic performer. His gyrations and spasms and other random acts of spontaneous energy were easily distinguishable even from our nose-bleed seats.

The show was actually spectacular. Sometimes the bass overpowered the rest of the music and drowned out the lyrics (no great loss). But even with that, the music was fantastic.

It took a little while for us to get into the vibe of the show. After three or four songs, the crowd was back into it and really going crazy. They did a bunch of hits as well as new stuff and tossed in a Johny Cash cover for good measure. They closed their set with "Speed of Sound" which brought the house down. Though how birds can "show you where it all began", I have no idea. And what were they doing in the underground in the first place?

The band went away for five minutes and then came back and performed a couple more songs. And then the crowds filed out. It's amazing how quickly 15,000 people can leave a place (Although getting out of the parking complex took a while.)

It was a really amazing concert. I hadn't been to a live concert like that in quite a while so it was pretty impressive. And I really enjoyed it. The perfect present for two people to share.

One Fantastic Year

After 11 Monthiversaries, it's finally time for Nelly and I to celebrate our first anniversary together. It's been a wonderful year. We have come a long way. And it's been all good.

Today we celebrated by sitting around and doing nothing. We indulged ourselves with some breakfast pastries from Whole Foods. Tonight we celebrated by going to a nice restaurant in the city. It's called Apizz (but it's pronounced Abeets). Fine italian dining.

Now we are back and the plan is to relax on the couch and watch a little college hoops.

I am totally dominating my family's March Madness pool!

Happy anniversary, my love!