tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50612732012-01-25T09:37:50.180-07:00Third Level Digression<b>to depart from the text in endless digression </b><br>
by<br>
YahmdallahYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.comBlogger10201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-24997036599327524452011-12-29T16:16:00.000-07:002011-12-30T09:02:06.995-07:00At the end of 2011
As we head into the final year of the Mayan calendar, I think we find the world somewhat adrift. Protests foam in many countries including the USA, dictators are being dispatched to the void with welcome regularity, the middle east looks like it might give representational government a try, media companies continue to implode because the market has shifted (again) to personalYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-58128718224900955792011-11-17T08:36:00.002-07:002011-11-17T09:28:49.424-07:00ROFLMAOSo, I was looking for inspiration yesterday, something to break some thought blockage (like writer's block but slightly larger scale) and cycling through random images has almost always worked to jar things loose; then I come across this:I was in my cube at work and had anyone seen me, they might have thought I was having convulsions. I couldn't contain some of my sniggers and tears were Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-87616204569886327622011-11-11T09:10:00.002-07:002011-11-11T09:16:30.005-07:00Veteran's DayI want to send out a heartfelt thank you to all the men and women who have served our country, who are currently serving our country, and kept us safe.I also want to offer condolences to those who have lost someone who gave the ultimate sacrifice and express my inexpressible gratitude that we have those brave and honorable souls who died in our place.Thank you.Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-80428924243436603782011-10-27T17:36:00.001-06:002011-10-27T17:36:57.143-06:00Bad Parenting at the MultiplexI didn't realize that someone was revisiting the world of John Carpenter's The Thing until I saw the preview a few weeks ago. That was a good thing because like all fanboys who have a handful of sacred favorites, I don't like seeing my babies messed with.But, they had the music, they had the look, and they had Mary Elizabeth Winstead, probably one of the most Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-42091676940583366782011-10-27T17:35:00.001-06:002011-10-29T19:04:51.923-06:00PrecognitionI had pretty significant asthma as a kid and have not suffered from it so much as an adult until recently. All the stuff the doctor threw at me has staved it off a bit, but I keep trying to find an off-the-shelf supplement to try to get complete relief because it's unpleasant and a bit scary to be on the edge of not being able to take a deep breath. Mucinex has proven to be a wonderYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-10705721821999650662011-10-27T17:32:00.001-06:002011-10-30T10:02:48.743-06:00HalloweeniesAlas, a student group in Ohio has launched a campaign that tries to make the argument that dressing up as a pimp/gangsta or terrorist or Mexican for Halloween is racist. Even anything that could possibly be construed as such, like this illegal alien costume, is suspect, they say.Here's the CNN story that brought national attention to bear, the site itself, and the tumbler post of theYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-67751465417612487132011-10-27T17:31:00.000-06:002011-10-27T17:32:16.511-06:00The Latest CanarySo, among the top ten banned books this year is Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich, which reports the results of her experiments of trying to work for and live on minimum wage jobs. (Nother link.) Why would such a book be BANNED? (As pointed out elsewhere, the books aren't banned so much as someone challenged their appropriateness for a school bookshelf.) Well, besides Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-62692461888176417802011-08-05T14:53:00.000-06:002011-08-05T14:54:14.791-06:00Sleeping with Techo-LustIt's been a LONG time since I've been really intrigued by a new techie device. The last was this pocket PC thing called a Jornada which came out in about 2000 - yes over a decade ago. It had this nifty fold-out keyboard you could dock it to, and boy did you look like a geek using it - which I considered a good thing. Its fatal flaw was when its battery drained, it lostYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-40571224550663294902011-07-29T15:24:00.002-06:002011-07-29T15:32:46.031-06:00Way to Spliff It, AberdeenWow. Kurt Cobain's hometown of Aberdeen, Washington has decided to not name a bridge after him because "because many on the city council were afraid that the memorial would glorify Cobain's drug use and suicide." As if his life is completely defined by that tragedy, forget that he changed the world. Or that some kid would cross that bridge some day, look up and read Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-69004622858982396082011-07-29T15:13:00.003-06:002011-07-29T15:17:35.904-06:00BonerI resist and resist putting up political posts because I'm so bad at articulating things; I just tend to rant. Nearly invariably, when I re-read them weeks later, I tend to roll my eyes at myself.One of my college roommates was a decent cartoonist with a one-of-a-kind sense of humor. My favorite of his was a picture of a Catholic priest awash in sweat with a thought balloon hovering near Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-47239291282865623052011-07-21T14:47:00.004-06:002011-07-21T14:52:02.886-06:00Harry Potter and other entertainmentsOf course, saw the final Harry Potter movie, and it was nice to see the end.Cathartic? No. The book was. Well, a couple of the iconic scenes were awesome to finally see, especially the final shot. It was a couple hours of fun and simple closure for someone who'd read the wondrous series.Reports from fellow parents whose kids grew up with Potter are Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-52371845226876717712011-07-15T15:55:00.012-06:002011-07-15T17:54:48.850-06:00Old FriendsToday my family went to the zoo whilst I sat at me desk and pondered how to describe the data relationships between people and the things they can be assigned in the system (oh, the glory of IT work). My wife and daughters send me pictures of their adventures throughout the day, letting me enjoy things vicariously.Today, they sent me a particularly good one. Click for larger Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-20566167211406149742011-07-15T15:38:00.006-06:002011-07-15T16:23:50.612-06:00The Big TVSo, we have finally joined the modern age by getting a flat-screen, Hi-Def TV.For way too long, they were way too expensive, and I just didn't see that much of an upgrade in picture quality. And certainly not thousands of dollars worth of picture quality. Recently they have dipped close to $500, which is more like it. Plus, our old tube TV had developed this faint line that danced Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-21529664672752748432011-07-15T15:31:00.003-06:002011-07-15T16:21:55.976-06:00I Like ThisI'll admit that I've been a bit glum the last few months. Contributing factors were a death in the family, friends with lots of troubles losing jobs and houses and spouses, acquaintances with terminal cancer, home town folks fighting floods and living in hotels, 'Merica's in a depression (let's just say it), and so on.* All that grey can tend to make the world seem darker than it is,Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-68199606995216979032011-06-28T11:30:00.000-06:002011-06-28T11:31:10.499-06:00When Will It Ever End?Saw the documentary Inside Job about the causes behind the economic collapse we find ourselves in the midst of.This is what the documentary form is for. It lays out, clearly, what Wall Street and its enablers did to, well, fuck the global economy. It names names, is non-partisan, goes to the trouble of finding the news footage of the official hearings, and nails a few Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-60158280980316296342011-06-26T12:12:00.000-06:002011-06-26T12:13:23.775-06:00Catfish, plus other movies and ephemeraNote: Absolutely no spoilers in this post. If this is the first thing you're reading about the documentary Catfish, make sure you read nothing else. See it cold. Do not have anything spoiled for you if you've manage to avoid any thus far. I didn't link to any other info about it for that reason. If you hunt for Catfish the documentary, chances are you'llYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-13174247489956814962011-06-20T15:38:00.001-06:002011-06-20T15:39:45.562-06:00Fun Meme - Your First Album1 - Go to wikipedia and hit random. The title of the first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. 2 - Go to quotationspage.com and hit random. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. 3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”. Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-48597145058147222882011-06-01T14:49:00.000-06:002011-06-01T14:50:10.687-06:00Trivial Post on Pop TriviaCame across some new rock/pop trivia - and being the Cliff Claven of the same, thought I'd share it with you:- Paul Simon took the phrase of “Mother and Child Reunion” (for both song title and lyric) from a menu selection on a Chinatown restaurant where chicken and eggs were served together. [RS 1130, pp. 63.] Fitting for a happy-sounding song about a dark thing: "this Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-51763854128359324052011-04-12T15:04:00.003-06:002011-04-19T12:24:56.537-06:00More movies and less computerWell, dammit, my favorite computer hauled off and died on my ass. I'd made a Xubuntu box from a decrepit laptop a while ago and came to love it. It was the best internet computer evar. I would follow links with impunity knowing that it wouldn't suddenly get all borked up from some damn script running, or some stupid hacker trap. On a Windows box, half the time I Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-75069499826590383802011-03-11T11:52:00.003-07:002011-03-11T11:57:49.677-07:00Drive-by Reviews of Recent ViewingsCold Souls Paul Giamatti brings his particular gift of infusing potentially repugnant characters with a bit of grace and charisma to this low-budget rumination on what it might mean to possess a soul. (I suspect he's a very charming IRL.)Here, he plays "himself" - an actor named Paul Giamatti - who's currently starring in a Chekov play where, after seeing an adYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-46983075589026092152011-03-10T17:42:00.002-07:002011-03-10T17:44:58.445-07:00From bad to worseWarning: a political post, which I suck at.So, it’s been a glorious week for America.- Wisconsin Republicans manage to bust the public sector union.- The Republicans in the House go after net neutrality, so that corporations can fuck us all over with “preferential treatment [to large corporations] in the form of tiered services”.- And, via a sting orchestrated by James O'Keefe, aYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-13785131854165367172011-03-09T17:32:00.004-07:002011-03-09T17:36:42.261-07:00RangoThis post is kind of a spoiler; if you intend to go to Rango (the new cartoon starring Johnny Depp as a chameleon), skip it.Ebert gives the film a glowing review, and as a family we had a deep need to get everyone into the theatre, so there we were. We loves ourselves some cinema.The general family review was "cute, but've seen better." The six-year-old appeared bored at times.I've got toYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-79019626900432685362011-03-04T18:02:00.002-07:002011-03-04T18:33:30.478-07:00My New Favorite Piece of TriviaWe've all heard the phrase, "Does not compute."Who's the one who made it a meme? Julie Newmar, aka Catwoman (the one all of our loins remember - no disrespect to the lovely Eartha Kitt). See, there was this show called My Living Doll that premiered in 1964 on CBS, created and produced by Desilu and the creative staff behind My Favorite Martian. The premise was Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-83244726932431220612011-02-24T14:05:00.003-07:002011-02-24T14:12:56.058-07:00Too Funny Not to ShareFound this glorious mashup via ffffound.com: Alice in Wonderland (the Disney version) provides an interpretation of most major illicit substances (save for the truly, literally drunk doormouse, oddly).Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-17191375081575839392011-02-19T10:42:00.000-07:002011-02-19T10:43:03.282-07:00Guilty guilty guilty pleasure and source of deep shameOne of my favorite things to do on the weekends, especially after a long week at work dealing with small-minded, mean-spirited f-tards, is early in the morning before the troops descend the stairs and start requesting waffles and cartoons I go to TED and watch a couple vids. One of my favorites is J.J. Abrams'.It was there I saw Christopher Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-348285302117680632011-02-18T13:51:00.002-07:002011-02-18T13:57:03.226-07:00Ephemera and Chuckles - dateline 02-18-2011In the "What a world! What a world!" category (from the dying screams of the Wicked Witch of the West), I found a couple head-scratchers on Slashdot.org recently.As an advertising stunt, Samsung glued their memory chips unto a bunch of paper airplanes and put them into a weather balloon to disperse them at a high altitude; instructions on the planes ask Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-72769475939756012542011-01-30T15:24:00.000-07:002011-01-30T15:25:04.809-07:00Well, halloooo!Talk about blogger's block, oy!I have been pecking around on pieces of posts these two whole months, but nothing gelled. Hopefully I can salvage something from them, but they may be some of those proverbial babies you have to kill. What tripped me up were Whoopi Goldberg, Phil Collins, Gerry Rafferty, and an attempt at a "best of 2010" which, to quote band Drivin' and Cryin' that Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-19099560099402169182010-11-01T15:29:00.007-06:002010-12-12T07:43:51.860-07:00Bad behavior on goodreads Recently experimented with a social network site that seemed designed just for someone like me: goodreads (yes, all lowercase). You review books, indicate what you've read, are reading, will read, and "friend" people who are either real friends, or strangers who have similar tastes, presumably to garner ideas on what to read next. Since my post on my distrust of social Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-89919102689575056442010-10-29T16:05:00.003-06:002010-10-29T23:10:18.685-06:003 Songs for the SeasonWhile trusty Whisky has been kickin' out the jams with several album recomendations lately, I've only got three single songs for ya.But, they're pretty damned awesome, imho.First of all is Cee-Lo Green's "Fuck You." Cee-Lo is one half of Gnarls Barkley.Catchy and profane as hell, it makes me grin every time I hear it (alone in the car or privately on the MP3 player, this Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-25791179535281056492010-10-26T23:51:00.000-06:002010-10-26T23:52:38.582-06:00Entertainments while facing the voidHey there, few readers I have left after not posting for a month! [Three paragraphs of bitching and moaning excised. No one needs to read that shite.]So, amongst all this, one still attempts to stave off the demons and the boredom with entertainments. Stumbled through Lucy by Laurence Gonzales, which was festooned with some of the clumsiest writing I've come Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-63775896993745264182010-09-14T16:06:00.001-06:002010-09-15T09:23:05.485-06:00The Year the Music DiedIn Whisky's post "Album Of The Year," the comments veered into a discussion of when popular music - the charts, radio, etc. - lost their appeal for them. (I began to craft a simple answer for the comments, but my researching for it morphed it into a post.)I've always known I'd had "that moment of egress from the larger gestalt," but until now, I didn't really try to Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-57868775330500016112010-09-03T16:04:00.002-06:002010-09-03T16:12:44.848-06:00Ebert Continues His Transformation into a National TreasureAs I await his new book on the apparent miracle appliance that is the rice cooker (and expanding my cooking repertoire), I love how he articulates those important things that need saying: Put Up or Shut Up.Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-46198705395637105712010-09-02T13:23:00.001-06:002010-09-02T13:23:19.665-06:00The 4-hour work weekRecently read The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated by Timothy Ferriss. It's much like Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter (ghost writer) in that if you follow the exact advice (provided you even can), you will most likely get the results quasi-promised.But I doubt that most people can or would want to do what these guys do, particularly if you Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-49198312204981249872010-08-31T16:06:00.005-06:002010-09-10T13:45:52.843-06:00I love this pictureThe cast of Star Wars._______________Update:Whisky pointed out that Anthony Daniels / C3P0 isn't in this shot, so here's what he looked like back then:Here's a fun article with more shots from back in the day. Just to be that way, here's my post / review on the book these shots came from. I've requested the book from the library again to get a scan of that pic I talk about, Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-72945806791573171352010-08-20T16:22:00.000-06:002010-08-20T16:23:14.661-06:00Little Guides to LifeI'd seen the book at the library and didn't give it a second thought beyond grinning at the title. Since blogs arose in prominence, I've inadvertantly picked up a couple books that were compiled from blogs, and while they were entertaining, there's something about something crafted for a blog that just doesn't work as well when it's rendered as symbols smeared on flattened Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-34358313268034011722010-08-20T13:49:00.003-06:002010-09-03T13:54:33.044-06:00I LOL'dApparently this is one of the most re-blogged (a new term for me) gifs of all time now. How could I not join in? Fwiw, clicking the image will take you to the source which will than take you to where you can buy the whole book.___________Update:Got the book from the library, and while it's cute, the best stuff is in this little GIF you see above.Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-90160245457905142372010-08-19T14:03:00.003-06:002010-08-20T09:34:30.423-06:00Music - 08-19-2010Welder by Elizabeth CookWhisky recommended Elizabeth Cook's Welder, and thus far our musical tastes align perhaps more than with anyone I've ever known, so on the list it went.When it arrived, in the player it went. Out of the speakers came the twangiest country pickin' I've ever heard, which was quickly joined by the thickest, backwater (American) southern accent I've Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-64527609833686697162010-08-19T14:03:00.001-06:002010-08-19T14:03:37.748-06:00Cat PeopleA long-standing and mountainously silly human debate about "cat people" versus "dog people" is not a concern of my household because we love and have both. (Plus a revolving supporting cast of rats, fish, tadpoles and then frogs, a hermit crab, and assorted bugs; the notables being a praying mantis and a female desert beetle named "Alice" that both lived for a year. In case you have Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-72259602463224898022010-08-19T13:58:00.000-06:002010-08-19T14:03:11.202-06:00Completely Spoiler-Laden Quasi-rant About the Movies Chloe and Kick-AssChloe is precisely the kind of movie I hate. (Though, I suspect it's the very kind of movie Ray Sawhill would like, and I mean that in a nice way. Seriously.)The premise is a woman (Julianne Moore) thinks her college prof hubby (Liam Neeson) is cheating on her with college nubiles, so hires a hooker (Amanda Seyfried) to pose Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-11701505017382482642010-07-27T16:26:00.001-06:002010-08-19T14:06:36.595-06:00In Your FaceWarning: rant ho.__________Update:Even the Google guys think there's a problem.__________I've never been a fan of social-networking sites. I dislike them more as time goes by.For starters, I don't like their policies, which can be usually summed up like this: we own everything you post on our site(s) and will use it for marketing purposes, many of which you wouldn't like if you knew.Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-30786916120123253062010-07-23T16:41:00.001-06:002010-07-23T16:45:34.848-06:00Inception Inception is the new high-water mark in movies. For reference, that last one that gob-smacked audiences like this was The Matrix (1999).*Inception has some similarities to The Matrix and What Dreams May Come, but that's like saying Star Wars has similarities to The Hidden Fortress and the Buck Rogers serials. Yeah, seeds of ideas and some of the film vocabulary are borrowed from theseYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-53122632881613883692010-07-19T15:50:00.002-06:002010-07-19T15:56:13.233-06:00More than a little scaryNot that paranoids like myself weren't aware that something was going on, but to come across proof that our own military is paying companies to make propaganda aimed at Americans is chilling. From: "The Real U.S. Government" By Glenn Greenwald:This superb article by Mark Prendergast, the Ombudsman for Stars & Stripes, details the billions of dollars secretly (and probablyYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-53488474929105672502010-07-15T12:53:00.001-06:002010-07-15T12:53:36.756-06:00What a take-downIf you're not a follower of kottke.org and haven't already read the vicious scathing that Pat Metheny visited on Kenny G, go read it now. Man, what a take-down! Kind of the verbal equivalent of that scene in Monty Python's Meaning of Life where a phalanx of topless, but inexplicably helmeted, women chase a man off the edge of a cliff into his literal grave. For me, though, after Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-87530441262493414302010-07-14T11:10:00.001-06:002010-07-14T11:10:42.243-06:00Picky EatersSyaffolee has a post about picky eaters.As a veteran picky eater, brother of one, husband of one, and father of two, I have some random thoughts to share on the issue. (Btw, I agree with Sya's basic assertions.) As as kid, I was probably the worst kind of picky eater to be. I hated hated hated hot dogs and pizza. Guess what moms serve every single freakin time little boys ever Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-34370232628427834022010-07-12T16:49:00.003-06:002010-07-12T16:51:34.968-06:00Recent Viewings, July 2010Ok, let's see... Gad, been awhile again... Where does the time...? Ah, screw it. Been busy and lazy; I have no real excuse.Saw some flicks; here's what I thought.In The Theatre (a more common occurrence since MPC 2 is 5 and MPC 1 can babysit):PredatorsAn OK popcorn movie, but to me it was just another retread of the Aliens/Predator franchises: get a group of badasses Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-14558020994120102562010-06-06T11:09:00.001-06:002010-06-06T11:09:48.832-06:00Dead PeasantsSaw Micheal Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story.Even though I find the obligatory maudlin portions of his movies hard to endure - where he speaks in defeated, sorrowful tones as he's outlining an injustice - I do like the information he brings to light. And he's usually got his facts right. Most debunkers of his movies argue on ideological terms, not factual.I started this movie with Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-89599064445775699342010-06-04T14:30:00.001-06:002010-06-04T14:34:45.893-06:00Astro Boy Astro SucksAgain the currents of life have kept me away from the playtime keyboard, thus the dearth of posts. I'll try harder.Even though I still really should be applying any time I have to more pressing issues, I just gotta put this one out there, even if it keeps just one parent from letting their young child watch Astro Boy. FWIW, it's a re-make of a '60s Japanese Anime (sorta Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-61221806795217341372010-06-04T14:29:00.003-06:002010-06-04T15:31:04.123-06:00Independents? Really?Or, continued adventures in Tea BaggingSalon reprinted a blog post called "Rethinking the origins of the Tea Party" which does a fine, fun job of "debunking" (as if it were needed) the BS supposition - that the three network news organizations pretend to believe - that the Tea (Bagging) Party is composed of "independents" who are simply tired of taxation and big government. Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-89049381729439846702010-05-24T12:18:00.001-06:002010-06-04T14:37:41.805-06:00So it ends in Unitarian heaven?I totally didn't see THAT coming.__________Update: This refers to the series finale of "Lost".Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-81758207142831861522010-05-18T19:59:00.002-06:002010-05-18T20:02:59.524-06:00but of course...Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-43715260122438025522010-05-06T09:47:00.000-06:002010-05-06T09:48:19.129-06:00Marry Him by Lori GottliebI don't recall the article that spurred me to put Marry Him on reserve at the library, and thus was a bit puzzled when it arrived. Took it home anyway, trusting my former self's selection of reading material.I'm glad I did because Marry Him is a joyous waltz with Schadenfreude (for a guy, at least).The primary topic is how a certain amount of women end up alone and/or Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-37050947647317505542010-05-06T09:46:00.003-06:002010-05-06T09:51:56.850-06:00Naked Lunch Does SuckMost of my friends are avid readers, and to my puzzlement, many of them have loved the odious Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs. Especially back in the mid-80s when we were immersed in the Minneapolis music scene, where quite a few artists and musicians were adherents to the turgid tome.I was never able to get beyond a few chapters (or pages, don't recall which), and at Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-85378073025023305502010-05-06T09:44:00.000-06:002010-05-06T09:46:48.322-06:00Taking NotesI usually avoid writing about work because I think it can be dangerous (Dooced anyone), and it can just be deadly dull (not that we've shied away from that around here). Ask the wife about having to listen rants about work.Anyway, I was in the bizarre, nay surreal, position lately where it was suggested to me that I take notes in a different fashion. (For the second time - read on.)Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05545827690728295373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-85685020660776450742010-05-01T08:37:00.002-06:002010-05-01T08:41:41.378-06:00More Trivia from the Special FeaturesAs noted below, I'm going through the special features on DVDs from the library, since they're all later or deluxe editions.Here's a great one from Lilo and Stitch. In the actual film, they use a spaceship that the aliens used to come to earth to rescue Lilo. This is the original sequence, which as you can see was finished for the most part, but then 9/11 Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-77759313738132783262010-04-21T13:53:00.000-06:002010-04-21T13:54:04.876-06:00Shock the MonkeyYes, I'm still here. Have several posts I'm pecking on.In the meantime I wanted to alert you to some trivia I picked up recently, and it's about something I wondered about for a long time.One of my favorite movies from childhood - I still love it and watch it about every 2 years - is the original version of The Andromeda Strain. It's such a wonderful geeky sci-fi flick that's Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-793798834169278902010-03-26T15:16:00.000-06:002010-03-26T15:18:53.333-06:00PowerfulRead Howie Mandel's bio this week. Great fun. Great read. Wouldn't want to know the guy in person though - his pranks are waaaaaay too extreme. This part about Richard Pryor and a bit he did is pretty cool, wanted to share it with ya:- From Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me ~ Howie Mandel and Josh Young, pp. 87-88Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-11352738753323777802010-03-25T16:10:00.000-06:002010-03-25T16:11:03.038-06:00Big Dude in the Sky jokesI got one of those chain emails with a bunch of jokes in them (though mercifully lacking those Godd... those accursed cutesy wiggling GIFs), and I thought they were funny enough to post. Yeah, some bloggers have strict rules about what they'll post, and would consider this a lazy post. Well, screw'em. My only quasi-rules are I will not delete posts unless I deem it so Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-8649406374067330972010-03-25T16:08:00.000-06:002010-03-25T16:10:26.834-06:00The Opposite of ComplainingConstant readers might recall how I wailed and gnashed my teeth during the Bush II monarchy. Or maybe they don't; they were the most skippable posts. I am not an articulate political commentator.Recusal out of the way, I gotta say these two things:I am thrilled the Health Care Bill passed. I was one who hoped for a public option, but I hold out hope that it will be Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-35573062528018063492010-03-20T19:36:00.001-06:002010-03-20T19:37:38.138-06:00Just WonderingDo atheists get annoyed when their lovers scream, "Oh God!"?Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-40251406934334640032010-03-20T19:24:00.001-06:002010-04-27T06:58:18.165-06:00VickiI was in a class the other day and one of the women there caught my attention for a reason I couldn't quite put my finger on for at least half the day. Then it dawned on me: she looked and sounded just like this girl who was a senior when the boys and I were sophomores. All of us had a grinding crush on her. It didn't help that we were all cast in a play where she played a cat. Her Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-16850800568618594952010-03-20T19:22:00.002-06:002010-03-20T19:26:23.000-06:00Movies - Reviewed, Dissed, Petted and Called 'George'The Invention of Lying Saw this trifle of a movie. The premise is fun, and it starts off promisingly, but dammit it lapses into a riff on religion (and Judeo-Christian religion as usual) that's yer basic atheist 101 stuff. If you enjoy that sort of thing, you will dig this movie. If you don't, you may or may not dislike it.I did get a Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-84454121675312832492010-02-22T16:09:00.001-07:002010-02-22T16:09:49.820-07:00Sucker-punched and bitch-slapped all at onceSo I sit down with MPC1 to watch Testament - a made-for-TV movie from 1983 that actually got theatrical release because the studio heads liked it so much - and was devastated. (She was moved, but OK. Certainly not as messed up as I was.)Here's the deal: I thought it was an apocalyptic movie with a HAPPY ending, based on my misreading of this little Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-39210377002416871282010-02-11T14:14:00.000-07:002010-02-11T14:15:00.409-07:00Standing Close to Andy SummersAs promised, here's my report on One Train Later by Andy Summers.Copeland's book is still the best of the lot, but this really was a fun read, too. For instance, I love this part about having money. Having money, one realizes after a while, is very nice, but you need to develop a razor-edged awareness if you want to hang onto it. There is a large number of thieves Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-26816905163896223842010-02-04T14:11:00.001-07:002010-02-04T14:11:15.374-07:00Thanks, but, ah, no....So most of the "best of" lists for the last decade have Synecdoche, New York in there somewhere. And, hey!, it was written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, whose movies I have loved so far, and it stars Phillip Seymour Hoffman, an actor I really dig (perhaps the only one besides DeNiro and Pacino who can play an icky character as well as an awesome one and have you believeYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-54491655466819773962010-01-22T15:09:00.001-07:002010-01-22T15:09:21.531-07:00BlushSo, I made a new mix CD recently that I've been passing around to buddies and kin. I do try to avoid including anything risqué assuming that there will be kids in the car at some point, but boy did I FAIL. One of the songs I put on there was Britney Spears' latest song "3", and a couple mornings ago while I was waiting in a drive-thru, I tuned into the lyrics. Slowly it dawned on me that Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-57530922289125163882010-01-22T15:08:00.001-07:002010-01-22T15:08:59.834-07:00Go To HellI don't remember where I encountered this link anymore, I just had this info stored in my "future blogs" bucket. But anyway if you want to take an internet quiz that cheerfully and arrogantly inform you that you are going straight to hell, here ya go.It's put together by Kirk Cameron of the 80s sitcom "Family Ties" and his fundie buddies. As it states on the site:This test is designed Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-40432631352955598612010-01-22T15:07:00.000-07:002010-01-22T15:08:13.426-07:00No Country For Old MenFinally watched this recently and my reaction when the credits rolled was: WTF?I went out to The Movie Spoiler to see if what I'd actually seen what I thought I saw.And, yes, it turns out*** SPOILER ALERT ***that the movie really does end with everyone the bad guy was hunting being slaughtered and Tommy Lee Jones telling a weird story about someone carrying a fire in a horn*Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-42902777407073680062010-01-21T16:10:00.002-07:002010-01-22T15:09:55.217-07:00Don't Stand So Close to Me(I must point out that this title is ironic, because The Police have to be the best self-documented band that I'm aware of.)Had the happy accident of happing across Stewart Copeland's Strange Things Happen: A Life with The Police, Polo and Pygmies, which is a sheer joy. It's even a great companion piece to his must-see insider's documentary: The Police - Everyone StaresYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-13757891861099419162010-01-21T15:14:00.001-07:002010-01-21T15:17:56.566-07:00This just in…Obama still President, apparently for three more years at least. Democrats still have the majority in House and Senate.So why is there all this (practically uniform) media crowing about how DaBomba has failed?As usual, "The Daily Show" provides some actual perspective; the whole thing is funny, but the real fun starts at the 6:35 mark - "Democrats, Meet Me at Camera Three":The DailyYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-49891924656251902582010-01-08T16:16:00.003-07:002010-01-09T12:38:59.412-07:00Yet, there's hopeI complained in this post about how pathetic, pathetic, the bestseller charts in music are anymore.Then I happened across one of the Denver radio stations that's kind of reinvented itself lately to play the best in modern rock - No Lady Ga Ga, no Black Eyed Peas, no Rob Thomas (all good music mind you), just rock, thank you. It reminds me of my favorite stations from the 70s andYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-19486448705586002712010-01-08T16:14:00.000-07:002010-01-08T16:16:17.825-07:00SurpriseSo, I didn't even consider seeing Terminator Salvation given the critical response, but there it was at the library. Insomnia struck on a weekend night, so I got up and fired it up.I enjoyed it a lot. It was much better than the third flick, for sure. If you like the franchise, do check it out.**** Tiny Spoiler ****Even the Ahnold Terminator makes an appearance, but it's completely Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-59421163407842193692010-01-03T01:09:00.001-07:002010-01-03T01:09:30.561-07:00Well, that was niceI slogged to the end of the year bone-tired, dropped into a week of vacation around the house (as wife's job does not allow vacation), living in jams and losing track of the transition from morn to noon to night. Been a tough year at work; probably facing a worse one. The bad economy turned nearly everyone into a bad contestant on Survivor, so half of everyone's time is Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-22681467876223830952009-12-21T16:25:00.001-07:002009-12-21T16:30:12.587-07:002009 - The Year the Music DiedAbout once a month I comb Amazon's bestseller lists (music and books) to look for new stuff.Today's perusal ended in dismay over the state of the charts. Since Amazon represents only that company's sales (and I've noticed they are skewed towards web people's tastes), I hopped over to Billboard and ran the numbers on types of music selling (for the first 100).Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-53244229187806053902009-12-07T16:06:00.000-07:002009-12-07T16:07:08.176-07:00Music These DaysGad, another month (or so) without a post. I sure know how to keep a blog lively, don't I?Happed across this oddity: "The Beatles Never Broke Up"The story is this guy passes out in the desert somewhere and is rescued by an inter-dimensional explorer who happens to come from a parallel world where the Beatles never broke up, so before the guy is dropped back in our dimension, he Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-85723262466526424422009-12-07T16:05:00.000-07:002009-12-07T16:06:44.572-07:00Some ExcitementI've recently gotten a bang out of these:2012 in which John Cusack stars in the end of the world where stuff blows up real good. Just a popcorn movie, but one that has actual suspense to offer (as long as no one you know has given up some spoilers). My wife, a tough critic, liked it too. Date movie!Dan Brown's The Lost Seal, in which Tom Hanks, I mean Robert Langdon is drafted Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-51281376414492603002009-10-29T15:59:00.003-06:002009-10-29T16:13:35.969-06:00Since You've Been GoneSorry about the dearth of posts. Life and work got in the way for a while. As the holidays approach, and Colorado gets buried by a freak pre-Halloween snowstorm, I hope to find more time to find stuff to blather about here.One of the things that happened while I wasn't posting was my wife won tickets to a Jason Mraz concert at Red Rocks, which is everything they say it is.Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-41166948963826942612009-10-29T15:40:00.002-06:002009-10-29T15:45:37.449-06:00Scary MovieI've nearly completely stopped enjoying horror movies - at least the ones that intend to scare the hell out of you, so the new release Zombieland doesn't count.When this first dawned on me, I wondered if it was just another aspect of aging, like my once deep love for roller coasters (why is that two words?) morphing into dread once I passed the age of thirtysomething. Gallagher Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-56373636199787257882009-09-16T15:14:00.005-06:002009-10-29T16:12:19.422-06:00This will be the death of us if we believe it.Another great Ebert discovery from his blog is the following preview from the new George Clooney movie where he plays the guy corporations hire to come in an perform huge layoffs (what a career, eh?). This is his "backpack" speech.Isn't that just pure evil in a nutshell? The corporation telling you that desiring or having a life is essentially wrongYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-7501099326746212882009-09-16T15:14:00.004-06:002009-09-16T15:15:04.284-06:00Not that you didn't already know thisRoger Ebert's blog has become his latter-day opus. Since his recovery (and just barely at that) from cancer, some folks, including myself, view his movie reviews as different animals than his previous ones - after all this is a different man on this other side of his life. (A brush with mortality does that, they say.)Ebert recently put his finger on what's Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-34991129399480286072009-09-16T15:14:00.001-06:002009-09-16T15:14:33.542-06:00Speaking of moviesHaven't seen a stinker like this in a while: Duplicity with Clive Owen and Julia Roberts.*** NOTHIN BUT SPOILERS ***It amazes me when this much money is spent on stars and production value when the script has such an obvious flaw.The premise is Owen and Roberts are super-spies who fall in love after she rolls him on an assignment, so they become corporate spies who are Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-3631032794047227142009-09-14T09:38:00.002-06:002009-09-14T09:40:04.562-06:00Graphic ContentThis is a thing of beauty, a thing of joy: Information is Beautiful.Graphs and charts of consequence and ephemera. You'll lose a couple hours here.Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-27093247776885327522009-09-12T10:03:00.001-06:002009-09-12T10:03:21.663-06:00The Fly in the Ghetto and The HangoverActually found time to see District 9 and The Hangover in the theatres.The main story of District 9 is that a huge alien mothership slides to a stop over Johannesburg and when we finally manage to open the ship, the aliens inside are seemingly worker-bee types living in squalor, so we relocate them to a ghetto outside the city. A Monty-python-esque Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-23815981525929666182009-09-07T10:14:00.001-06:002009-09-07T10:14:32.276-06:00An hour of lost sleepAfter 8 years of being mildly pissed off all the time, it's been a relief to have Obama in office. Every time I see the bumper sticker "How's that hope and change working out for ya?" I'm tempted to chase them down to their next stop and say "Just great! Thanks for asking!" But I don't want to get shot or arrested over some mere emotional fulfillment. So, it's become rarer Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-50859330329923461812009-09-07T10:13:00.004-06:002009-09-08T04:38:17.975-06:00Best Biography Title Thus FarMy Booky WookPersonally, I wouldn't spend a moment reading the book itself, but the title cracks me up. You can almost feel through The Force other biographers crying out in pain "DAMMIT! Why didn't I think of that?"Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-30977771891215359182009-09-07T10:13:00.003-06:002009-09-07T10:13:58.862-06:00John Hughes Had One MoreWhen John Huges died in August, out trotted the rote celebrations of his career, which was cool, because he did make some awesome films. The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles came out at the end of my college years, so I was still close enough to being a teen to really enjoy the films. Sixteen Candles was especially funny to me because of Anthony Michael Hall's characterYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-51438276155958276132009-09-04T10:45:00.003-06:002009-09-05T12:15:28.242-06:00The Spectator’s 50 Essential FilmsThis entry shows how far behind I am in posting these days.Way back in July, Roger Ebert blogged about the list created by Spectator magazine. I diligently went through and noted which ones I've seen, and added some others to the "to see" list. The ones in bold I've seen. (List is "title, director". And I didn't have the energy to italicize the titles.)1. The Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-33870203700319753732009-09-04T10:44:00.000-06:002009-09-04T10:45:00.274-06:00Like a fine wineIf you don't like cartoons, surf away now, save those precious minutes of your life for something else.My beloved MPC2 (for those not familiar with the acronym, it's: "Most Precious Child" lifted from a good buddy who coined the term, "2" indicating child 2 in terms of birth order), who's 4, LOVES herself some loony tunes (though she requests "Bugs Bunny" like southerners request Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-7700553789193691812009-09-02T13:24:00.002-06:002009-09-02T13:25:39.705-06:00To Your HealthWhile Camille Paglia, a columnist I still enjoy and used to agree with for the most part, continues her slide into becoming a neocon replete with raging denial, others are doing a much better job at defining the issues and problems in regards to the current healthcare debate.The first paragraph of "Can Obama give 'em hell before it's too late?" by Michael Lind gives me goosebumps:"Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-74107780468787980192009-08-25T15:01:00.001-06:002009-08-25T16:42:37.042-06:00The BookThe opening sentence to this great article (linked to by Kottke.org) reads: "It may be, as offline readership continues to decline, that the mere fact of a bound, printed book with a paper dust jacket is something to celebrate."The article then veers of onto its real topic - book designs not chosen - but that sentence struck me because I don't agree with it at all. While newspapers may beYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-3705434216997092262009-08-24T16:11:00.001-06:002009-08-24T16:11:22.467-06:00WisdomBeen reading Bios like crazy lately. I'm a bit of an impulse shopper at the library (wonderful when it's free) and they've had this bio section by the front lately.Tom Bergeron - the host of Hollywood Squares, America's Funniest Home Videos, and Dancing with the Stars (which I think of as "Dancing with the Scars") - has a rather amusing bio. What's cool is that it as much about how to Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-20343718730316396602009-08-06T15:47:00.002-06:002009-08-06T15:51:15.249-06:00My current music crushI have slowly fallen in love with the site "The Ultimate Bootleg Experience" (aka T.U.B.E.).They offer (illegal, I'm sure) complete downloads of bootlegs of concerts and concert video. At times I have been really impressed by the quality of the sound. They usually spell out if it's from a soundboard connection, broadcast over FM or if it's a crowd recording (which usually Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-5750363499799895452009-08-06T15:46:00.001-06:002009-08-06T15:51:37.982-06:00ChangesJust some housekeeping. You'll notice that some blog bros and sisters are gone from the right, they done retired. (Dropping like flies anymore. Have we passed into a new age on the web and no one noticed?)I'll miss you Opinionated Home Schooler and Redwood Dragon. Also, the link to my old vanity site will be coming down sometime in Oct. because Geocities/Yahoo is discontinuing their freeYahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-6560546295686983262009-07-28T16:50:00.002-06:002009-07-28T16:50:39.283-06:00It's like asking a Xeriscaper how to grow Kentucky BluegrassThe wife and I agreed a long time ago, after I had been given some sage advice from a teacher way before we had kids, not to allow video games in the house. They can play them at friends' houses, but not at home.The few exceptions have all been games you can play on a computer, don't cost over $30, and specifically games that require Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-64056138483648439652009-07-07T15:52:00.001-06:002009-07-07T15:52:48.582-06:00ColumbineI was mere blocks away when the massacre at Columbine high school occurred. We heard of it over the police band or something, so got wind of it just as the first kids started spilling out of the school.I recall being deeply frustrated with the media reports at the time because the police had (appropriately) kept a lot of information out of the news, so the hours and hours of local Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-930586981170343242009-07-07T12:58:00.001-06:002009-07-07T12:58:14.417-06:00Academia Decides to Join the Clan M. Blowhard linked to "feministx," a deeply conflicted young lady (and college student) who's mulling over (among many things) "Human Biodiversity" (aka "HBD", aka "evo-bio") which is the identity-politics code term for, well, a bastard cousin of eugenics, meaning that there is not a movement to improve humans through selective breeding (and killing), but a Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-29122934340198767062009-07-07T12:57:00.001-06:002009-07-07T12:57:56.337-06:00EwwwwwwWhen Entertainment Weekly first came out, it was a snarky, helluvah fun read. Then at some point after one of the big media conglomeration cycles, they moved to not really covering entertainment, but merely being a shill.I stopped my subscription a few years ago, but while researching something a couple weeks ago I came upon a "get 4 issues free, then cancel" offer, so signed up to see Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-51098988830268793462009-07-01T15:00:00.001-06:002009-07-01T15:00:26.877-06:00Fidelity"Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers,You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers.Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anywaysIts still rock and roll to me."- Billy JoelThe first time I heard those lines I knew from experience that they were true. Stereo wars in the college dorm rooms only confirmed this awesome truth. TLD: Stereo wars occurred when someone would toss Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-21226734613417144972009-07-01T14:59:00.000-06:002009-07-01T15:00:01.577-06:00Just in case you've never seen itThis is probably one of the funniest bits evar. Robin Williams channels a drunk Scot in the midst of inventing golf:Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-69659688569998031672009-06-26T16:36:00.000-06:002009-06-26T16:37:40.915-06:00PerksSo, watching one of the news summaries of Farrah Fawcett's life, which was pocked with a generous sprinkling of clips from "Charlie's Angels," I began to wonder: did her nipples ever stand down?I'd always thought that "Friends" took the award for most breasts at full attention, but Farah may have been the unbreakable record setter - the Elvis of pokies, if you will.Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061273.post-77569599063918981182009-06-26T16:34:00.000-06:002009-06-26T16:36:12.843-06:00Without PermissionI have beloved a phrase coined by a college roomate: "Look out, they're trying to touch your heart without your permission!" - said during a movie we didn't expect to be so emotionally stirring. He was a renowned cynic and when his eyes started welling up, he had to come up with something I guess, and that was it. Brilliant.The rule about entertainments that do that (the Yahmdallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04486390319031344611noreply@blogger.com5