Posts

Quick reactions to the Vice Presidential debate last night: Edwards: Sharp, smooth, and effective throughout, thought at times he came across as the Southern Snake Oil Salesman. He spoke directly to Cheney, toe to toe, and his closing remarks were moving and they’ve stayed with me. He scored several blows, particluarly on health care, Iraq, Halliburton, and jobs, but none was a knockout. Honestly, I’d like to live in the America he described, a place of strong middle-class, consensus, health-care, good environment, and progress. ...

Book of James in one sentence: “Have some self control, and do God’s work”. I don’t know why, but I got up this morning with an urge to read the Bible. I made myself some coffee, turned off the radio + tv, and sat down to read whatever struck me. My marker from the last time I was at church was in James, so I began reading this tidy, direct book and it just floored me. ...

Great…that annoying Mr. Dyson who invented the vacuum with per-fect suckshion was inspired by the Mini

Haven’t been able to post from work for the past two days…so here goes. Cool Article on a MINI in a rally

I think they’ve blocked me from posting to blogger at work…or else blogger is down. Testing 1…2…3….4…

Joe, have a look at this. Basically, it’s Kodak (KODAK!) suing Sun Microsystems over a horribly generic patent they bought from Wang computers back in the 1990’s. It also means (depending how you read it) that every software system that uses dynamic-linked libraries, e.g. ALL OF THEM, infringe upon this patent. Software patents are insanity.

Rant I saw on slashdot this morning while I tried to avoid thinking about how utterly dead our project is: _ What it does meen is I now have a legal basis for beating the cr@p out of the Starbucks clerk when he doesn’t understand I just want plain black coffee. It’s worse here in Israel, where the idea of coffee is synonymous with milk. Every time I go somewhere for coffee it’s a 5 minuet ordeal, that I am not caffinated enough to deal with. ...

viciously stolen from Fark: Alabama: Yes, We Have Electricity Alaska: 11,623 Eskimos Can’t Be Wrong! Arizona: But It’s A Dry Heat Arkansas: Literacy Ain’t Everything California: By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda Colorado: If You Don’t Ski, Don’t Bother Connecticut: Like Massachusetts, Only The Kennedys Don’t Own It Yet Delaware: We Really Do Like The Chemicals In Our Water Florida: Ask Us About Our Grandkids Georgia: We Put The “Fun” In Fundamentalist Extremism ...

Moved to wretch about the latest TV disaster, LAX It’s AWFUL! It’d be one thing if they played it kitschy like they do on “Las Vegas” (Baywatch in a Casino, table for one?), but they’re playing this “drama” like it’s CSI or something… Okay, let’s look at the facts: - Heather Locklear is past her prime, and couldn’t act when she was in her prime. And this material is just a bit heavier than “Melrose Place” ...

Quote of the YEAR from the past weekend’s autocross: Since when do they invite 15 year old hookers to our events? Andrew Buck…the man, the myth, the legend. Incriminating video of Mr. Coleman with said trollops * * * This actually reminds me of something I wanted to Blog on: The differences between the three regions of SCCA I attend. Don’t worry, this will be to the point, I promise. Lexington (CKR): A bunch of overgrown frat boys who are out for a good time. Mostly guys fleeing from their wives, jobs, and all responsibility to let it all hang out in their miatas. Laid-back, in general. Wives and gf’s only…no groupies. ...

Finally watched Tennessee Williams’s opus A Streetcar Named Desire. Highly affecting film. I’m calloused to drama these days: It takes an amazing story and great acting to hold my interest for long, because dramas are so darn depressing. I can make an exception. “Streetcar” was spellbinding. Brando is sheer masculinity, and Vivien Leigh embodies insanity. The movie’s not easy to watch, dealing as it does with rough people, obsession, prostitution, insanity, and rape, but it did hold me locked in place, awaiting Blanche’s next broken soliloquy and fearing Stanley’s next violent act. ...

You know what’s depressing? Working at something you have no control over whatsoever, really, and realizing part of the way through it, it’s not going to work and you should’ve known better to begin with.

Drew won… Dear goodness…make sure this is not the next MINI:

Jennifer / Nakomis shirt on the Jury: “What happens in Kentucky stays in Kentucky” :-) My money’s on Cowboy.

Okay, it’s a Swedish movie (with subtitles) that describes a budding romance between two lesbian teenagers, but for some reason I love Show Me Love The film’s a grainy wisp of a story, shot hand-held with no budget, but I find both the main characters captivating in their own way: Agnes, the misfit who’s a hopeless romantic, and the instensely beautiful, utterly bored Elin. I guess the film hits home with me because of the way I fell in love with my darling, on a long cold night nearly 5 years ago. We were from two intensely different worlds, destined for two different (yet reconvergent) paths, but I can still remember the shockwave that went through me when she told me she loved me. ...

Me paying the Stupid Tax: While taking my contacts out last night, I lost the right contact down the drain. Yup, had the water running for no good reason. I figured I’d do this at some point this year…I’m a klutz. Didn’t think it’d be this soon, though. That leaves me with 3 spares for my left eye, but only 1 for my right. :-) Fun times.

Two Old Folks’ Sausage buscuits and two cups of Sumatran later, I’m awake. My object of lust du jour: The new John Cooper Works Suspension kit, available from MINI USA Basically, it’s a set of coil-over-shock units (springs and shocks in a single package), combined with heightened swaybars. Installing it would may my MINI handle even better than it does now, as well as lowering it the car 1 inch all around. ...

This has been probably the best literary week of my life, at least since I left college: I’ve read two software books and one pure pleasure book, a light football-theme paperback called The Way We Played the Game. The book describes football in a small Michigan town in 1903, when it really was a deadly game: No pads, no face guards, no hard helmets, no neutral zone, no forward pass. It was a pure running sport, with a few lateral passes thrown-in. People died all the time from internal injuries, concussions, and the game itself was probably the most violent ‘sport’ since the ancient Greek pankration. ...

Ahh…the weekend. First, a hand-clap of praise. Bella’s sister is better, but by no means is she certainly going to make it. As ever, it’s in God’s hands. Lots of driving this weekend, over 500 miles’ worth. Moved Bella’s parents temporarily into a tenement over in Ashland. Place reeks of cheap cigars and the scuz of years of neglect. It’s not in an awful neighborhood, but i still feel for them. Still, as a place to crash, it’s okay. ...

WOOHOO, I’m published! Actually, I just contributed some technical feasibility to this; none of the words there are mine. Still, good to see one’s name in lights, even if it is one the Evil Empire’s website.