tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31937392011-04-21T21:15:22.678-07:00tj hookerA child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five - GrouchoMichaelnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2721100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-87638396373531842472007-08-21T16:21:00.000-07:002007-08-21T17:03:54.700-07:00My first post in a while, I guess I was amused by the new Dahlia Lithwick piece where she takes apart the Bush Administration's handbook for smothering demonstrations. It's sad to see how bad things have gotten, where things we would have thought completely un-American in the Nixon days are now somewhat tolerated.And I hate people who make statements that unconsciously end in a question mark.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1165018050914807552006-12-01T16:07:00.000-08:002006-12-01T16:07:30.920-08:00Not thinking too muchNot thinking too much about how this will all work out. But I’m learning a lot. And I’m getting older.Went to a “geek lunch” today, and it was nice talking to people.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1154025260220854632006-07-27T11:34:00.000-07:002006-07-27T11:35:49.880-07:00Almost Civil WarOK, so the White House admits sectarian violence is the number one thing threatening stability in Iraq (they are re-deploying troops to Baghdad), they also had Maliki come and repeat the “the American occupation is really a war against al-Quaeda” garbage to congress. Things are just as poised for civil war as they always were, but Bush is still trying to control the debate by saying any criticismMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1144865698649929522006-04-12T11:14:00.000-07:002006-04-12T11:14:58.703-07:00Its hard to let goIt’s hard to let goWhen you want something and you don’t get it it’s hard to let go. I’d been visualizing the Thing for so long I thought it was really going to come through. I told S that I was letting it go, but I was trying to convince myself more than anything else. Now that I’m hitting reality, I find myself more tired and less motivated than I was before the thing came into my life. But I’mMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1142537523514854282006-03-16T11:32:00.000-08:002006-03-16T11:32:03.553-08:00What Im trying to saWhat I’m trying to say is that I’m working towards goals but with diminished faith. I want to learn more programming. I did set up my Linux machine; I’m teaching myself Java and Emacs on it. I took jazz guitar lessons for a good spell, and this year I know a ton more than I did last year. But I feel like there’s so much farther to go, it’s like there’s all this ground to cover and dude’s getting Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1142536605758263622006-03-16T11:16:00.000-08:002006-03-16T11:16:45.816-08:00ConfidenceSometimes your level of confidence is inversely proportional to the amount of knowledge you actually hold on the subject that inspires that confidence. I’m thinking about the next career move and it looks like an insurmountable issue. How will I get anywhere without having years of Java experience? AJAX? I’m coming upon some issues of capacity: I’m just not as able to learn new things as I used Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1132614392830835952005-11-21T15:06:00.000-08:002005-11-21T15:06:32.836-08:00So I actually did itSo I actually did it. I bought a Micron TransPort GX3 for a relative pittance, and set it up with a Cisco wireless NIC. And I’m wireless. I’m lucky because where I live it’s more or less geek central and there are several hot spots. I couldn’t get the NetGear wireless router to work, but now I can probably eBay it. So: learning Python on my new laptop in bed. Pretty cool. How is it that you can Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1131744705257784532005-11-11T13:31:00.000-08:002005-11-11T13:34:41.886-08:00my OS challengeI’ve been worried that I have no Linux chops at all. So I’m buying a second-hand laptop, I’m going to install Linux on it, and I’m going to configure it for wireless Ethernet. When I told all this to the guy at the Used Computer Store, he sort of chuckled. Hubris? I’ve been checking out Linux on Laptops for some advice, and it looks like many other people have tried it and documented their Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1131672576978267332005-11-10T17:28:00.000-08:002005-11-10T17:29:36.990-08:00You wonder if something that made people happy is a good enough reason to develop. You see inefficient drudgery and you want to relieve it. It's a good impulse, but sometimes it's the wrong way to look at a problem.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1129828609399340282005-10-20T10:07:00.000-07:002005-10-20T10:16:49.406-07:00Funny piece by Jess Row about the Marcus vs. Franzen thing in Harpers. I recall reading Franzen's thing years ago (and Tom Wolfe's thing before that), calling for fiction that actually spoke to readers and not academe. I'm in that camp, I think the most experimental writer I actually like is Burroughs, and he's really not that "experimental." Naked Lunch is, under the insanity, a novel. When I Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1129747286650654372005-10-19T11:40:00.000-07:002005-10-19T11:41:26.656-07:00Dick Morris is really rolling the dice on this weird book. What if Condi was telling the truth and doesn't to run? I don't really get who the market would be... do conservatives read Dick Morris? I mean, why would they? Maybe anything works when you use a cover image of Hillary looking pissed.I was thinking about the Karl Rove thing, and now I actually hope that he doesn't get indicted. Judith Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1126200463932519062005-09-08T10:26:00.000-07:002005-09-08T10:27:53.583-07:00Celebration turned chaotic for friendsAfter Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans early Aug. 29, Patti Melton and sisters Mary and Kate Millosovich — three lifelong friends from Alameda — opened up two champagne bottles to celebrate Kate's upcoming wedding...Read it!Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1126198550873195742005-09-08T09:48:00.000-07:002005-09-08T09:57:36.086-07:00The Jacob Weisberg piece on race and Katrina is definitely a must-read. He lays out the grim Rove-ism of Bush's ignoring blacks mainly because blacks don't help the GOP win votes. He doesn't care because his political self-interest requires him not to:Compare what happened when hurricanes Charley and Frances hit Florida in 2004. Though the damage from those storms was negligible in relation to Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1126122886076899412005-09-07T12:50:00.000-07:002005-09-07T12:54:46.083-07:00My counterpart at work just gave notice. Better job, closer to her experience, better money, closer to home. Good for her. But her leaving reminded me that the main thing keeping me here is salary. I'm uneasy when I think about this. I got here during the boom, and my salary reflects that. A fluke. But the fact that I X locks me in to staying, to get X. I can sense that in some ways my moment Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1124474399193324322005-08-19T10:47:00.000-07:002005-08-19T10:59:59.200-07:00The Guardian UK points to a question that sort of plagues me: why do people feel guilty about not reading? It sort of goes back to the whole "dead white men" culture war that was so hot during the 80s. Back then, conservatives treated books like flossing or vitamin E, something that must be "good for you" because it's not really pleasant in itself. The Guardian thing is more about middlebrow Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1112902175894752002005-04-07T12:09:00.001-07:002005-04-07T12:29:35.896-07:00There's something to all this mediation that makes me completely lost and depressed. It's really a hopeless place, and I recall it pretty well. Then something happens that wakes you up. You're part of a network, no matter how hard you tried to get off that grid. You can't make the choice to go away, hide behind a text editor. It might take a pedestrian's four-letter words to get you to that Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1112901016116323012005-04-07T12:09:00.000-07:002005-04-07T12:10:16.116-07:00As I walk throughThis wicked worldSearchin’ for light in the darkness of insanity.I ask myselfIs all hope lost?Is there only pain and hatred and misery?And each time I feel like this inside,There’s one thing I wanna know:What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? ohhhhWhat’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1108601691144988362005-02-16T16:54:00.000-08:002005-02-16T16:54:51.146-08:00Tired of the negativity, but always interested in the outcome of the insane act.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1107892419384850782005-02-08T11:53:00.000-08:002005-02-08T11:53:39.383-08:00The new microprocessor also is expected to be able to run multiple operating systems and programs at the same time while ensuring each has enough resources. In the home, that could allow for a device that's capable of handling a video game, television and general-purpose computer at once.
"It's very flexible," said Jim Kahle, an IBM fellow. "We support many operating systems with our Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1107890311449136812005-02-08T11:17:00.000-08:002005-02-08T11:18:31.450-08:00It occurred to me that one day Chris will stop blogging his mixes. A dark day that will be.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1107887319236992892005-02-08T10:25:00.000-08:002005-02-08T10:28:39.236-08:00I have mixed feelings about Snow Patrol. On the one hand When It's All Over is good. But the more recent one is kind of annoying in a huge, commercial ballad-y way that is almost unforgivable. There's a weird echo of Coldplay in all this.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1107884470615817592005-02-08T09:40:00.000-08:002005-02-08T09:41:10.616-08:00Willing to hold out. The benefit of a doubt is good. Unwilling to see it any other way. Getting used to the notion of thinking like this. You get used to things. The boiler broke and the temperature is around 55 degrees. I had a cup of tea. Restless and unwilling to do gruntwork.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1107373881713937342005-02-02T11:49:00.000-08:002005-02-02T11:51:21.713-08:00Strange malaise. Feeling sad and unmotivated. I doubt things that once appeared certain. And I need to read a lot about C# and get a handle on Test::More.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1091424010012852002004-08-01T22:15:00.000-07:002004-08-01T22:20:10.013-07:00What we missed in boston from the NYT.
Instead of scorning the event, the networks would do better by working with convention planners more closely. Both have plenty to gain... Ratings for cable news and PBS increased over the convention. If the broadcast networks had provided more coverage and given a sleeker presentation, millions more viewers might have been tempted to tune in. Conventions Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1082676151064987962004-04-22T16:19:00.000-07:002004-04-22T16:25:30.420-07:00Isn't it weird how the Woodward thing has sort of slid off Bush entirely? But everything has been sliding off.... just when I think they are missing the point, it turns out that the President is "strong on the war on terror" whether we see results or not. I still think that Iraq could hurt him, things could get worse (though I would prefer they get better and endure 4 More Years of Cheney). And Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1081460628040972682004-04-08T14:42:00.000-07:002004-04-08T14:47:12.420-07:00To do: A recent flurry of questions to the Perl-XML mailing list points to the need for a document that gives new users a quick, how-to overview of the various Perl XML modules. For the next few months I will be devoting this column solely to that purpose. -- XML.com's Perl XML Quickstart: The Perl XML InterfacesMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1080752226424292412004-03-31T08:56:00.000-08:002004-03-31T09:03:38.093-08:00A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows a remarkable turnaround in 17 battleground states where polls and historic trends indicate the race will be close, and where the Bush campaign has aired TV ads. Those ads say Bush has provided "steady leadership in times of change" while portraying Kerry as a tax-hiking, flip-flopping liberal...
I worried about this. To win elective office, you need name Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1080248765849720032004-03-25T13:05:00.000-08:002004-03-25T13:08:37.246-08:00NPR Executive Vice President Ken Stern told The Post that the firing of Edwards was part of a "natural evolution" that had "to do with the changing needs of our listeners." What "natural evolution"? What does that mean? And what "changing needs"? Listen, Ken, my needs haven't changed. I still want news in the morning. I still want smart features. - from Cohen in the WaPo's "Empty Talk at NPR"Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1080146306940110172004-03-24T08:36:00.000-08:002004-03-24T08:40:56.840-08:00So I haven't posted for a million years, but then when I read that Bob Edwards is leaving Morning Edition, I have to say I was shocked and dismayed. I remember his shows with Red Barber. He's sort of the epitome of the NPR sound: folksy (in a good way and bad), and very old-school radio. So I'll miss him, ok?Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1077647437317040562004-02-24T10:30:00.000-08:002004-02-24T10:54:18.013-08:00I'm still undecided about the legal aspects of Grey Tuesday. I think if you wrote the beat, you should be compensated. Now, I know that Danger Mouse made it for fun, and wasn't trying to make money, but now, after all the hoo-ha, he could. So the posturing about how this is "art" rather than "commerce" is of a relative nature. (And I know EMI could put it under Creative Commons, but they haven't)Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1077644358136256642004-02-24T09:39:00.000-08:002004-02-24T09:43:29.106-08:00Ron Paige says disagreeing with Bush = terrorism. Are these guys all complete tools? And why does the media allow Bushies to rant about "lobbyists" without a reality check?
"It was an inappropriate choice of words to describe the obstructionist scare tactics the NEA's Washington lobbyists have employed against No Child Left Behind's historic education reforms."Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1077580788019160502004-02-23T15:59:00.000-08:002004-02-23T16:01:47.810-08:00No, Ralph, stop. I'm quite disapointed that chose to run. Will he actually build a movement? Will he form a coalition made of Greens and young Dean supporters? Will he change the political landscape? Well, no, actually. Super-lefts want a candidate that lets them feel morally superior to Dems, but their litmus-test ideology actually accomplishes the destruction of the very things about which theyMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1077146830700013982004-02-18T15:27:00.000-08:002004-02-18T15:29:06.030-08:00This hit pretty close to home:
Another human dream was crushed by the uncompromising forces of reality Monday, when the restaurant day job of 29-year-old former aspiring cartoonist Mark Seversen officially became his actual job.
-- the Onion "Day Job Officially Becomes Job"Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1076358714111138282004-02-09T12:31:00.000-08:002004-02-09T12:33:40.186-08:00Great piece by the always suprising Michael Lind in the new Nation:
For at least two decades, in foreign policy the neocons have been wrong about everything. When the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse, the hawks of Team B and the Committee on the Present Danger declared that it was on the verge of world domination. In the 1990s they exaggerated the power and threat of China, once again Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1076024924401671092004-02-05T15:48:00.000-08:002004-02-05T15:50:26.233-08:00 Saw the Shins last night. The lead singer sings with humorless rigidity, in a David Byrne sort of way, but they put on a good show. Something about their airy/poppy sound reminds me of Men At Work, I don't know why. Maybe it's because their lyrics are kind of bitter, while the sound is bright and clean. Also noticed that the eyeglass frames I wear resemble frames worn by music geeks around the Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1075940314998464182004-02-04T16:18:00.000-08:002004-02-04T16:20:16.263-08:00I'm learning a lot from Near A Thousand Tables: A History of Food. I'm learning that I have this internal faith that certain foods "balance" each other, that eating greens balances meats, that eating grains balances greens, etc., a faith that is both ridiculous and time-honored: "The notion that diet should serve to preserve a balance between yin and yang is, essentially, a humoral theory: we Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1075845771610474252004-02-03T14:02:00.000-08:002004-02-03T14:04:32.000-08:00Yes, yes, yes:
Identification and profiling don't provide very good security, and they do so at an enormous cost. Dropping ID checks completely, and engaging in random screening where appropriate, is a far better security trade-off. People who know they're being watched, and that their innocent actions can result in police scrutiny, are people who become scared to step out of line. They know Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1075752007698983362004-02-02T12:00:00.000-08:002004-02-05T15:44:29.390-08:00So we saw the new Lord of the Rings, and realized about half way through that although the LOTR films are spectacular, wonderfully-rendered, and tasteful as hell, they are not really great films. No one is going to watch them twenty years from now. They'll resemble Bible epics of the fifties, or big-budget musicals of the late sixties: craftsmanlike but hopelessly tethered to their era. I mean, Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1075511193286312492004-01-30T17:06:00.000-08:002004-01-30T17:08:09.750-08:00Since Georgia is about to ban the use of "evolution" in school ("replacing it with the phrase 'biological changes over time.'"), I have taken the time to highlight some other terms that America can do without, and the text that can replace them:
instead of gravity: "altitude change because there's a magnet inside the earth"
instead of star: "twinkling diamond in God's crown"
instead of horizon: "Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1074896601694822892004-01-23T14:23:00.000-08:002004-01-23T14:24:50.936-08:00O'Reilly Network: Does Perl Have a Future? [Jan. 16, 2004] Good question.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1073596602249108882004-01-08T13:16:00.000-08:002004-01-08T13:27:07.373-08:00Things I need to learn more about in 2004:
Use of primary keys to prevent duplicates
HTTP and TCP/IP
Creating mySQL index types of the right size
Importing and exporting mySQL data (i.e. without using a GUI)
Screen scraping with Perl
Drawing graphs with Perl
Database-generated DHTML menus
And I want to learn a lot more Linux, that sort of goes without saying. And configuring my mia soundcard so Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1073501447978677852004-01-07T10:50:00.000-08:002004-01-07T10:52:00.793-08:00I'm suprised that Grover Norquist's "taxation = Holocaust" thing that Richard Cohen writes about today wasn't more widely reported. I definitely missed it.
We've seen a lot of "my enemy is looking like Hitler today" lately. I recall that the idea of containing Saddam was likened to the Munich appeasement. But now it's getting a little wackier. Of course, Howard Dean supporters are brownshirts (Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1073341194210321672004-01-05T14:19:00.000-08:002004-01-05T14:21:05.576-08:00I am finding the Guided By Voices Database to be very handy these days. They recorded a lot of songs; trying to keep them straight is pretty tough.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1073337393952836542004-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:002004-01-05T13:17:45.390-08:00The more I learn about John Lennon, the more I find myself obsessing about his drug use, specifically where and when. Was he high when he recorded the vocal on "Tomorrow Never Knows"? Yeah, probably. He was definitely high when he met the queen. And during most of his adulterous courtship with Yoko. And while the recording White Album. And for most of the early seventies. OK, so most of his adultMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1072203809479499322003-12-23T10:23:00.000-08:002003-12-23T10:24:27.796-08:00Sometimes it's hard to restrain yourself when a person behaves badly. Sometimes it's worth pointing it out; some people can be helped, and help is sometimes worth the effort. But some people are so stupid and self-destructive, nothing will allow them to see themselves as fallible. Or self-destructive. Or stupid. Think about it: the stupid, self-destructive person has a problem seeing herself Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1072203554616608872003-12-23T10:19:00.000-08:002003-12-23T10:25:40.076-08:005ives is my new favorite thing. A very simple comedic concept -- the list -- done well in a short space. Plus the writer's biographical glimpses make me recall my own (past drug use, suburban music fixations, crushes). This one was my favorite:
Five places that make me nervous
1. Hooters
2. 'Just stopping by this one guy's house for a minute'
3. Bars where women sell shots in test tubes
4. Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1071853475369238942003-12-19T09:04:00.000-08:002003-12-19T09:06:16.903-08:00I am afraid the sight of people with personal stereos plugged into their head depresses me terribly. They strike me as individuals who are not sufficiently mentally dextrous to pass occasional silent moments in the contemplation of higher things. -- a Prof. Gideon Garter, quoted in iPod is the new sonic boom in The Guardian Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1071595140384030622003-12-16T09:19:00.000-08:002003-12-16T09:19:51.796-08:00I love these sorts of details:
Personal care products sat atop a mini-refrigerator: a cake of Palmolive Naturals soap, a bottle of Dove moisturizing shampoo, a pot of moisturizing cream and a stick of Lacoste deodorant 'pour homme.' Hussein wasn't starving. The kitchen held a bounty of food: brown eggs, cucumbers, carrots, apples, kiwis and flatbread, plus orange marmalade, canned meat, a jar of Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1070404485017133642003-12-02T14:34:00.000-08:002003-12-02T14:37:14.436-08:00The paradox of the celebrity age is that the more you see of movie stars, the less you learn about them. The modern gantlet of tabloid shows, talk shows, game shows, reality shows, awards shows, TV biographies and 24-hour entertainment cable stations has trained performers to package themselves airtightly around whatever project they are promoting. Only something as dramatic as an arrest or an Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1069919451418790802003-11-26T23:50:00.000-08:002003-12-19T09:07:09.140-08:00I love the show a lot too, but do devote an entire weblog to Arrested Development, a show that is never gonna make it on Fox... seems a little weird. TV devotion of that kind always seems a little overkill-ish.
Update: It looks to be "the official weblog," so some flack from Fox is probably doing it.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1069437033134240382003-11-21T09:50:00.000-08:002003-11-21T09:54:07.670-08:00I was thinking about the Massachusetts Supreme Court's decision this last week, and what I thought about it all. In some ways I think the "pro-marriage" arguments are a little retrograde. Were things better in the day when divorce was more difficult? We can recall that America was once a world (one not unlike modern Saudi Arabia?) where divorce is nigh on impossible if you were a woman. Spousal Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1069266444293875302003-11-19T10:27:00.000-08:002003-11-19T10:27:49.030-08:00I noticed that when I am doing something that matters, the pressure of it mattering so much makes me reluctant to breathe.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1069088367380761392003-11-17T08:59:00.000-08:002003-11-17T08:59:49.576-08:00A perfect weekend. Perfect. No one has ever been more in love than me.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1068762523677678712003-11-13T14:28:00.000-08:002003-11-13T14:29:02.733-08:00You read these harsh reviews of the new Sunny Day Real Estate cd, and it's hard. There's nothing really aggressive and good out there. (Besides the Distillers, I mean.) In some way, I want to support a lot of the new "punk" bands. The current hipness of punk is kind of what kids like us would have welcomed in the late 80s. But the popularity of it annoys me because of the sameness bands like Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1068486218382703412003-11-10T09:43:00.000-08:002003-11-10T09:43:35.673-08:00Rumsfeld has a memory lapse. Again.
"Before the war in Iraq, you stated the case very eloquently and you said . . . they would welcome us with open arms," Sinclair Broadcasting anchor Morris Jones said to Rumsfeld as the prelude to a question.
The defense chief quickly cut him off.
"Never said that," he said. "Never did. You may remember it well, but you're thinking of somebody else. You can'tMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1067533283787765872003-10-30T09:01:00.000-08:002003-10-30T09:01:11.780-08:00Have you joined the NRA blacklist?Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1067361825982153172003-10-28T09:23:00.000-08:002003-10-28T09:23:45.286-08:00Listening to this morning's press conference, I was struck by the miserable failure's lack of articulate rhetoric, but also by the fact that no one calls him on the fact that he pretty much repeats the same things over and over. "Iraq is a dangerous place." Oh, ok. Is that the argument?
I guess what frustrates me is that, by the standards levelled against the Palestinian authority (that they doMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1067301897541862332003-10-27T16:44:00.000-08:002003-10-27T16:53:16.000-08:00Had a strange dream last night, where I was counseling a woman on how she could be successful in music, based what I imagined was my sound knowledge of music history. She listened very patiently, and then said, "ok, your ideas are good... if I led a guitar-oriented band with its roots in the Beatles and the Stones." She pointed out that she was an R&B artist who was mainly influenced by hip-hop, Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1066926752010613852003-10-23T09:32:00.000-07:002003-10-23T09:32:31.690-07:00Asked once by New Musical Express what his idea of heaven was, [Elliott] Smith replied, "George Jones would be singing all the time. It would be like New York in reverse. People would be nice to each other for no reason at all. And it would smell good." Today, it seems like the least we could wish for him. -- from Slate's obit for ElliottMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1066759312952973602003-10-21T11:01:00.000-07:002003-10-21T11:01:53.046-07:00This is just plain dumb.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1065640468972880432003-10-08T12:14:00.000-07:002003-10-08T12:20:12.990-07:00My post-election-day rant:
Kottke points to this interview, where GWB admits, yeah, he doesn't read anything. At all:
Bush said he insulates himself from the "opinions" that seep into news coverage by getting his news from his own aides. He said he scans headlines, but rarely reads news stories.
Yesterday's election results, combined with the entire Bush presidency, has reinforced my cynicism Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1065567216418696312003-10-07T15:53:00.000-07:002003-10-07T15:53:46.590-07:00"Arnold Schwarzenegger should not be judged on past improper advances towards women but as the devoted husband he is today." (Gee, why didn't Clinton think of this brilliant "devoted husband I am today" defense?) Moreover, Hatch already feels strongly enough that Schwarzenegger is of United States presidential caliber that he cites him as an argument for amending the Constitution, so that Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1065203142877325612003-10-03T10:45:00.000-07:002003-10-03T10:45:42.343-07:00As if in answer to my prayers, Elizabeth Spiers' new shock and awe has started.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1065037889030080702003-10-01T12:51:00.000-07:002003-10-01T12:51:28.396-07:00Bill was quoting this Salon thing about Jack Black, how
[a]n MTV interviewer asked him if there are any rock stars today and he said "Yeah, of course -- you've got your White Stripes, your Strokes. You got your, uh [pauses] -- OK, that's it."
I was thinking about this just yesterday. I think Oasis was the last band to be rock stars in an unapologetic, un-ironic way. They abused drugs, sneered, Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1064870921612212162003-09-29T14:28:00.000-07:002003-09-29T14:28:41.476-07:00Listening to the new Strokes cd. Yeah, I got it from... somewhere. At any rate, it's good, if not exactly a huge step in some new, amazing direction. It sounds like the Strokes. Some of it is quite funny. However, it evokes a world of parties and 40-ouncers and young people trying to find their way, something I'm pretty removed from (as in the lyric "We could go and get 40s/Fuck the Winterland Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1064853757230759262003-09-29T09:42:00.000-07:002003-09-29T09:43:33.176-07:00This is becoming a bit of a story.
At CIA Director George J. Tenet's request, the Justice Department is looking into an allegation that administration officials leaked the name of an undercover CIA officer to a journalist, government sources said yesterday.
At first I didn't give it much currency; it seemed like a minor thing to me. But apparently someone senior -- very senior -- in the Bush Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1064598339360561632003-09-26T10:45:00.000-07:002003-09-29T09:42:44.566-07:00It's gotta be said: gawker.com is worse now since the departure of Spiers. Where once the meanness was leavened with wit, now the meanness is leavened with meanness. New editor Choire Sicha has already dissed the recent deaths of Robert Palmer and John Ritter, called PETA "a retard convention," and takes multiple posts to slam Dave Matthews. I mean: Dave Matthews? He's not exactly hot NYC gossip Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1064262386004389062003-09-22T13:26:00.000-07:002003-09-22T13:29:20.440-07:00We missed the county fair this year. Then again, I really stopped enjoying it after the early nineties. Taking kids to the fair is not as much fun as enjoying the freakishness with other adults. Last time I spent a lot of time encouraging my daughter to not be afraid of all the weirdness. Like mulleted, Raiders-jerseyed adults hooting while playing first-person-shooter video games. Or the fact Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1064037700366838212003-09-19T23:01:00.000-07:002003-09-19T23:04:38.093-07:00Bill Moyers made a clearheaded editorial on NOW, about the American and French soldiers who died together at Marne. Read it and realize that idiots like Tom Friedman should not be listened to.
The more history I learn, the more convinced I am that the conservative lame-os currently occupying the White House are wrong, and they don't even know they are wrong because they are ignorant.
Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063996047950591792003-09-19T11:27:00.000-07:002003-09-19T11:28:26.233-07:00The Unsexy List has a couple of good entries:
32. Tongue Rings. You having a tongue ring in 2003 is like us prancing around in eight-ball jackets. After four drinks you'll slur that it makes oral sex feel amazing. It doesn't!
33. Lower-back tattooes. Lately, it seems that if there's no faux-Celtic design between your low-rise jeans and your baby tee, something's missing. Recently, we've been Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063992837896367862003-09-19T10:33:00.000-07:002003-09-19T10:33:57.543-07:00My pirate name is Red William Cash. "Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!"Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063990026339879892003-09-19T09:47:00.000-07:002003-09-19T09:47:05.830-07:00Arrrrrrr. Shiver me timbers.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063834676028270602003-09-17T14:37:00.000-07:002003-09-17T14:37:55.663-07:00Writing specs should get easier, but the older I get the harder they are to write. I think it's harder for me to live with the "not knowing" state that specs require. You have to surrender to it, to not knowing the answer. And that's hard.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063667748482407212003-09-15T16:15:00.000-07:002003-09-15T16:23:41.230-07:00You mean Cheney lied? He never does that! Well, yeah, I guess he does. Here's the Washington Post on just a piece of the all-spin zone called BushCo:
An FBI investigation concluded that Atta was apparently in Florida at the time of the alleged meeting [with Iraqi intelligence five months before 9/11], and the CIA has always doubted it took place. Czech authorities, who first mentioned the Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063323891848624472003-09-11T16:44:00.000-07:002003-09-11T16:44:51.800-07:00Handy index of current neoconservative thinkers, courtesy of the CSMonitor. Helps to understand what they're trying to do us.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063315356472760482003-09-11T14:22:00.000-07:002003-09-11T14:27:34.160-07:00Strategists in both parties agree that the memory of the attacks has served a powerful purpose for Bush, but the political landscape may be shifting. A spate of recent polls has shown voters becoming more concerned about the economy than about terrorism. Bush's earlier popularity for his handling of the attacks' aftermath never translated to approval for his domestic policies, and now his overallMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063300956581035862003-09-11T10:22:00.000-07:002003-09-11T10:22:36.590-07:00What your president has done in the last couple of years.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063233110667785012003-09-10T15:31:00.000-07:002003-09-10T15:31:50.710-07:00Jesus louise-us, the Pixies are going on tour!Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063124642691316652003-09-09T09:24:00.000-07:002003-09-09T09:25:53.063-07:00In the latest Paul Krugman, the Krug gets all medieval on Dubya's ass:
If Mr. Bush had admitted from the start that the postwar occupation might cost this much, he would never have gotten that last tax cut. Now he says, 'We will do what is necessary, we will spend what is necessary. . . .' What does he mean, 'we'? Is he prepared to roll back some of those tax cuts, now that the costs of war Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063063920430227982003-09-08T16:32:00.000-07:002003-09-08T16:32:24.780-07:00Mission Creep - Bush's perversion of the "war on terror," a biting piece of work from Saletan in Slate:
To justify this burden, Bush tells us it's still about 9/11. He tells us terrorists are trying to 'inflict harm on Americans' to make us 'run from a challenge' in Iraq. He tells us we must be 'resolute in our own defense.' He tells us we must 'spend what is necessary to achieve this essentialMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1063001985046471262003-09-07T23:19:00.000-07:002003-09-07T23:21:00.310-07:00Sen. Clinton to Block Bush EPA Nominee Good on ya Hillary.
So I'm reading the new Al Franken book and though it's a little thin in the middle, damned if I'm not laughing on every page. And I was also embarrased to say that I bought all the GOP bullshit about the Wellstone memorial last year. So shame on me. Thanks, Al. I really wish I could have been there when you pissed Wolfowitz off.
Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1062692238274907272003-09-04T09:17:00.000-07:002003-09-04T09:19:14.403-07:00This is good: TicketSatan will now auction concert tickets to highest bidders. "[T]here would be no limit on how high prices could go - it would be simply a matter of how much people were willing to pay." Sort of a program to help disadvantaged Eddie-Bauer-clad 50-year olds buy their Eagles tickets.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1062631503290407212003-09-03T16:25:00.000-07:002003-09-03T16:25:03.310-07:00What a freaky headline:SCO bills first 1,000 Linux users.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1062621190447549362003-09-03T13:33:00.000-07:002003-09-03T13:33:10.410-07:00It happened today: I got a Howard Dean email from a friend:
This next month is critical to our campaign. During the next 29 days, we are
going to prove the staying power of the grassroots- prove that you have the
power to change the way politics is done in our country-- and we are going
to create the September to Remember.
Who writes that stuff? The September to Remember?Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1062620715242505262003-09-03T13:25:00.000-07:002003-09-03T13:29:23.673-07:00The gawker folks mention the The New Sincerity: Kidults thing in the NYT this last weekend. (I love that NYT sociological tone-of-gravity thing: "Most have busy lives with adult responsibilities, respectable jobs and children of their own. They are not stunted adolescents. They are something else: grown-ups who cultivate juvenile tastes in products and entertainment. Call them rejuveniles.")
I Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1062196417529444212003-08-29T15:33:00.000-07:002003-08-29T15:37:34.423-07:00Skateboarding thus brings together a concern to live out an idealised present, trying to live outside of society while being simultaneously within its very heart. But for skateboarders to produce themselves in this way, their activity must take place in the streets of the city. -- from A Performative Critique of the American City: the Urban Practice of Skateboarding, 1958-1998
Is that true? Is Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1062179975092589852003-08-29T10:59:00.000-07:002003-08-29T10:59:35.190-07:00The WaPo has a Fairly balanced piece on Al Franken, a man who has emerged as a partisan, squabbling, immature commenter who virtually guarantees an annoying soundbite. For which we should all be thankful.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1059074491580011152003-07-24T12:21:00.000-07:002003-07-24T12:21:31.593-07:00The Supergrass song "Can't Get Up" is pretty much the best song ever written. At least I think so right now. (You can find it on Life on Other Planets.)Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1059001496384148672003-07-23T16:04:00.000-07:002003-07-23T16:14:52.560-07:00Forrester Research, a high-technology consulting group, estimates that the number of service sector jobs newly located overseas, many of them tied to the information technology industry, will climb to 3.3 million in 2015 from about 400,000 this year. This shift of 3 million jobs represents about 2 percent of all American jobs.
"It's a very important, fundamental transition in the I.T. service Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1058988325476031762003-07-23T12:25:00.000-07:002003-07-23T12:35:21.670-07:00Miriam Rainsford has a very cogent and thoughtful piece about the effect of mp3 filesharing on music sales.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1057773110456742762003-07-09T10:51:00.000-07:002003-07-09T10:52:23.720-07:00Fascinating piece in the Post about George Mason grad student Sean Gorman, whose geography dissertation maps North America's critical information infrastructure, that is, the fiber optic interdependence of American businesses in total. He got all of the information on the web, none of it is classified, still the Dept of Homeland Security wants it shut down or classified. Or, as the case will mostMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1057683202649338152003-07-08T09:53:00.000-07:002003-07-08T09:54:13.423-07:00Thanks for using the SelectSmart.com 2004 Presidential Candidate Selector.... Your responses determined the order of the list below. The results are scored on a curve. The highest score, 100%, represents the closest match to your responses. This does not mean that this or any candidate shares all your views. However, the candidate at the top of your list shares more of your selected views than Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1057301838548465982003-07-03T23:57:00.000-07:002003-07-03T23:57:18.410-07:00You know, trying to configure my home Apache configuration to look like my work setup was bugging me. Then, when I Google the error "denied for user: 'ODBC@localhost'", I see I'm not alone in the world. So many broken PHP sites, it's a wonder anyone fixes anything.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1057273078018871162003-07-03T15:57:00.000-07:002003-07-03T16:02:07.170-07:00I love language-bashing too. I tried Java and it seemed kooky to me. Lots of OO, but you never actually touch the machine. Besides, I script, I don't utilize "real langages." Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1057257995246224362003-07-03T11:46:00.000-07:002003-07-03T11:48:15.870-07:00"Bellwether. This is the leading sheep of a flock, on whose neck a bell is hung. It is nothing to do with climate, prevailing winds or the like." I always wondered what bellwether meant, and now I know. As a writer, I like style guides and usage guides, Kottke's remainders list points to one I haven't seen, from the Economist. There are others, right? Like Strunk, the American Heritage, Oxford, Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1057123282099378112003-07-01T22:21:00.000-07:002003-07-01T22:21:22.143-07:00I have mixed feelings about Nader going after the White House again. On the one hand, I think anything that gets actual issues onto the tv and into the faces of people eating their TV dinners... good. But did Ralph hurt Gore? And if he did, should we blame Ralph for war, bad government, right-wing judgeships? Now that I said it, it seems too simple. I mean, when I voted for Gore, I wasn't voting Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1057123003429277432003-07-01T22:16:00.000-07:002003-07-01T22:16:43.490-07:00Buddy Hackett, who broke into comedy as a young waiter-performer in New York's Catskill Mountains and went on to achieve iconic status as a raunchy nightclub performer and rubber-faced clown in movies including "The Music Man" and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," died Monday at his home in Malibu. He was 78.
Is it strange that I'm touched by the death of Buddy Hackett?Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1056745686269205862003-06-27T13:28:00.000-07:002003-07-03T16:03:16.853-07:00So what is the conservatives' next move? The main argument -- that gay marriage puts marriage "under attack" -- is such utter and total bullshit. Yet it persists. The amusing thing is that these same GOPers have no problem with the horrible problems like homeless families, unaffordable childcare, or underfunded k-12 schools, things that really and truly hurt kids and families, but rant on and on Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1056745206558097542003-06-27T13:20:00.000-07:002003-06-27T13:20:50.156-07:00Ghostbuster quote for today:
Dr. Raymond Stantz: Personally, I liked the university. They gave us money and facilities, we didn't have to produce anything. You've never been in the private sector. They expect results.Michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3193739.post-1056692358133075152003-06-26T22:39:00.000-07:002003-06-26T22:39:18.143-07:00"You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering."
-Doctor Who [via baron]Michaelnoreply@blogger.com