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Back to current entries
| September 18, 2006 |
YouTube Tip (been going around, must share):
Sister
Rosetta Tharpe, an extraordinary gospel singer
performing "Down By The Riverside" with an electric
guiter and all-male backup choir. Hope your system's
up to playing it; she'll grow on you. (An excerpt of
this video was in "Amélie" but even though I
saw that film twice, I don't recall this.)
In this weekend's
show
Garrison mentioned a new campaign called RASH, Reading
Ain't So Hard. It would encourage politicians to read the
newspaper. "If the leaders would read we might think
about following."
|
| September 13, 2006 |
Out of the blue yesterday, one of my Persian students
gave me a 10,000 Rial note (she said was worth about a
dollar), which is so intricate and beautiful I had to
share -- adorned with the once-familar face of Ayatollah
Khomeini, the Islamic boogie-man of the late Carter and
Reagan administrations. Click for the full-size detail,
cropped to omit a blank watermark area. The reverse shows
their mountain,
Damavand,
the highest peak in the Middle East. Its crater must
be smaller because it looks more pointy than the other
sacred volcano I know from foreign currency, Fuji.
Highlights
of Burning Man '06. That waffle musta been amazing.
Also in the Chronicle,
When
the cable car fare rose to $5, many riders hopped off.
I've resisted riding
the
system since its '84 upgrade, after which separate,
special tickets were required 'stead of just a Muni
transfer. By comparison, the cars run infrequently
now, and they're just for the tourists.
Drivers
Give Helmeted Cyclists Less Room or in other words, that
helmet may be making you less safe. (Always a point of
contention with me, who's forced to wear one just to get on
base, and yet in all my bike accidents it's not the head, but
hands, hips, knees, elbows and shoulders which
bear the brunt of impact.)
In
"We
Have Not Forgotten, Mr. President" Keith Olbermann
invokes Rod Serling's "Monsters on Maple Street." When
MSNBC didn't get the desired result from their 9-11 'Question
of the Day' online poll,
they
changed the question. And a depressing reflection on the anniversary,
Twin
Tragedies.
|
| September 11, 2006 |
In Newsweek:
This
is the New (multi-ethnic)
Japan -- Immigrants
are transforming a once insular society, and
more of them are on their way.
One of the classes I took for my TESL certificate
was "English Teaching Through Popular Music" and today
I got to use its technique. Our current financial unit's
vocabulary includes "shop around" so I played Smokey
Robinson and the Miracles' first big hit from 1960
while passing around lyrics sheets, and this turned out
to be a sensation. "Play it again, Teacher!"
|
| September 8, 2006 |
Eventually I'll post a group photo of my class, but at this
point all you're getting is Keiko's hands. Many of my students
have these electronic dictionaries, which don't just
translate -- they can also play recordings of the words. This
means every so often while I'm droning away, covering
the white-board with vocab, I'll hear a tinny machine-voice
out in the peanut gallery repeating a word I'd used a few
moments previously (reminding me of the Speak-and-Spell
vocal effects in
Genetic
Engineering by the mid-80s synth-pop band, OMD).
A recent column by Robert Freeman --
Rehabilitating
Fascism: How Would We Know It If We Saw It? More
in a 2004 essay by Thom Hartmann,
the
Ghost of Vice President Wallace Warns: "It Can Happen Here"
which is of course a nod to Sinclair Lewis, who said
When fascism
comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying a cross.
|
| September 6, 2006 |
New addition to the blogroll:
Deconsumption.
Great rejoicing in Japan as Princess Kiko gives
birth to a boy. At long last, the Chrysanthemum Throne
has a suitable heir. What will it be like during this
future Emperor's reign?
|
| September 4, 2006 |
Derilect Deco factory-office bldg in the center of a
chain-linked field, spotted in south San Jose Saturday.
Recent
Brighton
photos (from the seaside UK resort).
Tokyo
Night Walker, a flickr photo
set. What a cliche -- next I'll be linking to YouTube. Okay,
just this once, for the holiday -- it's
Safe
to Dance!
Synergy
discography at Larry Fast's site.
|
| August 31, 2006 |
For many months now Paul Krugman's columns have
been locked away behind TimesSelect but fortunately,
somebody's posting 'em blog-style -- here's two recent:
Wages,
Wealth and Politics and
Hoping
for Fear.
Speaking
of Harpo... an excellent review of his autobiography, by
Robert Wilfred Franson.
|
| August 29, 2006 |
The quote making the rounds today came from Sheriff
Jack Strain of St Tammany, who
complained
to a TV reporter about the influx of "thugs and trash
from New Orleans" and warned people with dreadlocks or
"chee wee" hairstyles to stay out of his town. (Chee
Wees apparently being a cajun Cheetos variant. Another
Crescent City snack, no longer available, was
Dr Nut,
mentioned in Anthony Qualin's
Virtual
Tour of A Confederacy of Dunces.)
A Slate slideshow:
Trainspotters
of Google Earth. I've yet to play wth this software
application, although its output is popping up many places now.
Giant yellowjacket nests in south Alabama
perplex
experts -- like the Argentine ants, another social
insect being observed building multiple-queen mega-colonies.
|
| August 28, 2006 |
So yeah, I flew last weekend, just after the latest "War
on Moisture" regulations were foisted upon the travelling public.
Fortunately, my flights were uneventful, unlike the
recent
incident involving the iPod in the airliner's head.
That
perpetrator's account of what happened has the
Captain saying
We think it's probably nothing, but in this day and
age ... you can never be too careful.
And there's the problem, why any incident triggers a
wasteful, heavy-handed over-reaction. I submit that
we can be too careful. Patrick Smith put it
this way in
his most recent 'Ask the Pilot' column in Salon:
We seem to be losing our grip, sliding from a state of
reasonable anxiety to one of mass hysteria. At this rate,
we're making the task of the terrorist easier by the day;
nobody needs to actually destroy a plane anymore to ignite
a debilitating plague of panic and foolishness.
Details don't matter, and it's your patriotic duty as an
American not to allow logic, facts or clear thinking to
dampen the perverse psychodrama of our "war on terror."
In
What the Terrorists Want, Bruce Schneier reiterates.
...objection to ridiculous new rulings are now forbidden
in our over-authoritarian society. Our politicians help the
terrorists every time they use fear as a campaign tactic.
Contrast those politicos with our great Democratic president who
led the nation to victory in WWII -- he said we were fighting
that war to preserve Four Freedoms, including Freedom
from Fear. Are 'liquids' something to be afraid of?
According to
Mass
Murder in the Skies -- was the plot feasible? the
answer is -- no. Finally, Ryan Air illustrates the
New
Airport Security Procedure, a coming attraction.
In this brief
Q&A
with Noam Chomskey he labels him "de facto President"
which I think is a practice we should all adapt -- more at
the
Cheney presidency by Robert Kuttner.
|
| August 24, 2006 |
An astro headline made the news today, a fairly infrequent
phenomenon, all about a terrestrial decision: the
demotion of Pluto. Now, it's merely a "dwarf planet",
like the asteroid Ceres. An NPR voice about the distress
this is causing gave a WTF reason involving the Walt
Disney cartoon dog. I could care less, it's just
taxonomy, but the most amusing expression of this grief
I've seen online is the first half of a very
short
film Scalzi posted capturing his daughter's reaction.
Don't miss
Hear
the Voices of 9/11 by Garrison Keillor. He mentions what
helicopter pilots saw -- from a set of hi-res aerial photos,
this
one shows one of the WTC towers collapsing.
Pray
Ball concerns a new trend: Faith Nights in the minor
leagues.
|
| August 21, 2006 |
Ten
Strangest iPod Accessories. #2 is the
iLounge Toilet Paper Dispenser.
Muppets
wiki
So -- my class; went well. The ethnic distribution this
first day was six Chinese, an Indian, seven Japanese (six
with names ending in -ko), an Ethiopean, a Vietnamese,
two inseparable Persian ladies from Iran, a Korean, and
the one guy, a smart-aleck from Hong Kong. Also met a couple
co-workers, mostly my counterpart 'round the corner,
wearily showing me the ropes. There's no bells in this
high school -- instead, the PA speaker abruptly emits
these sharp, achtung! buzzing tones to signal
class changes, which are all irrelevant to our own schedule.
A few more statistics:
According to a recent report from the Pew Internet and
American Life Project, 8% of Internet users (about 12
million American adults) keep a blog, while 39% of
Internet users (about 57 million) read them.
|
| August 20, 2006 |
Home from a long weekend getaway to the Seattle area
where I snapped this yesterday, a view familiar from
"Twin Peaks" : Salish Lodge overlooking Snoqualmie
Falls. The visit included the Sybaritic luxury of
Tony's new wood-fired hot tub, as well as a Boeing
factory tour.
Man
survives chocolate ordeal.
|
| August 16, 2006 |
Zeon
Attack! is a Newsweek web-only report by Brad
Stone about video arcades in Japan -- certain games now
utilize smart cards. Also, there's
hanko trouble brewing -- that's
the little stamp (also known as inkan) which
every Japanese uses for an official signature. This
custom originated in China, where the practice is now
obsolete -- the
Wikipedia
entry on seals explains the term "chop."
Hoarders
vs. Deleters: What your inbox says about you, by
Jeffrey Zaslow, reprinted from the WSJ.
Loss
of Belief is a still-relevant post from last
month by Douglas Rushkoff.
Tourist
Zones by Rolf Potts. I recently read most of
his Vagabonding book while making myself
comfortable in a Borders & Noble.
|
| August 13, 2006 |
San Jose's new City Hall rotunda was being illuminated all
week, an Akira Hasegawa installation snapped here on Friday night,
part of the
ZeroOne
San Jose whatever.
Happy Slapping in the road, with traffic,
in
Spain.
|
| August 10, 2006 |
Yesterday, the man I've identified previously here
as my co-worker/supervisor passed through the office
on a brief visit -- in a career shift, he's opening
a Mexican restaurant in his current Arizona
location. Part of our discussion revolved around
retirement, and he was stunned to learn I was 52
years old -- thought I was much younger. My glib
explanation, gesturing at the familiar open container
on my desk: "Must be the carrots." And speaking of
new careers: today, I put on my lucky Alfani brown-leather
shoes, and a yellow 'power' neck-tie, went to the
interview, and got the job. I'll start teaching
professionally in a couple weeks (and subsequently
requested a shift to part-time status on my "real"
job, at thirty hrs/week, which is just enough to
retain all my current benefits). Yowza!
Hiroshima
Stories We Can't Tell, an essay by Tom Engelhardt. In
commemoration of Nagasaki Day yesterday, a Yahoo!News
Slideshow:
Japan
marks atomic bombings. Another slideshow, unrelated,
at Slate --
Dud
on Arrival concerns iconic buildings.
In Esquire,
Seventy-one
Things a Man Should Know About Drinking.
#31: There
is no upside to karaoke.
Rocketbelts:
High Time For New Technology.
|
| August 8, 2006 |
Rare treat this evening, a free concert in a nearby
Palo Alto park by -- Los Straitjackets! I know this
surf band from their version of "My Heart Will Go On"
(from "Titanic") which I'd hear on
KFJC. Also aware
that they perform in Mexican wrestling
luchador masks, more easily discernable in
this additional
view, taken straight on. Note how they're
all wearing black Chucks -- in a show of solidarity,
I'll be wearing mine tomorrow, too, although
compared to running shoes, Chuck Taylors can
be uncomfortable (but always stylish). For
more about the group, who put on a great show, check
their
site, which is very well-designed.
After 40 years of burrowing, William Lyttle,
the
Mole Man of Hackney, was ordered to stop. Seems his
wine cellar hobby got out of control, but there's no
photos -- unlike
this
set of a very different house, whose occupants dug
an escape tunnel. Not clear if they got away, but
their grow operation has definitely been compromised.
Musty Man writes about being an expatriate (Guatemala,
in his case) and
Hating
America -- long, but well worth the read.
|
| August 7, 2006 |
Sometimes I really detest modern journalism. Whatever
happened to the four W's and the H(ow)? Instead, every
story must begin with some individual's part in it.
For example, take
Thousands
of Troops Say They Won't Fight in the Air
Force Times. One must wade through the first
third of the article (about some gyrene's story)
before getting to the details of interest:
Since 2000, about 40,000 troops from all branches of the
military have deserted, the Pentagon says. More than half
served in the Army.
And don't get me started about those irritating
Tom
Swifty headline puns, which newspaper editors seem
incapable of resisting -- they add nothing to the
story, and IMO lessen the paper's crediblity. (But
then, I'm not their audience -- I haven't paid
for a newspaper in years, decades even. Oh, I read
stray bits of left-behind newsprint at the gym, the
coffee shop, on public transportation, etc; but
NPR and the
wwweb are where I receive my news-fix.)
Now that they're updating again, a link to
gullible.info,
a group weblog of fascinating trivia.
Great
Image
of the Day at We Make Money Not Art, featuring a man
modeling a pair of ear boosters -- reminds me of
Acoustic
Location and Sound Mirrors (with its amazing photo
of the Japanese Battle Tubas).
|
| August 4, 2006 |
Berlin, Indirection, and Pink -- a
posting
at Click Opera. If you want to see a picture of
those pink pentagons, there's more info on the
Telespargel's
Wikipedia page.
Time for another periodic review of the new stuff.
More soccer balls: Barier
houses. Inside the home,
Plug-In is a stylish electrical outlet for
the elderly, but I see no reason their appeal wouldn't be
universal. As an alternate to that rechargeable emergency
torch pugged in at all times, adding to your electric bill,
why not park a
Solar
Flashlight on a sunny window-sill? A pair of Space
Age cooking appliances for you campers:
The
BakePacker, and the battery-powered
Spenton
wood gas camp stove. And how about an
Ultraviolet
Water Purifier? For the wrist, Nooka offers
a
new way to look at time. Judi Patson has a line of
jewelry
incorporating carpenter levels. A pair of new ideas
in footware: for the ladies, I've heard this
Miuccia
Prada creation described as the "post modern" shoe -- and
for the boys who love noise,
Dada
'Code M' shoes have built-in speakers. Your cell phone
may soon provide
real-time
Chinese-English translation. Software you can use
right now, at the office:
Work
Friendly takes a URL input and launches a browser
which looks like an innocuous Microsoft Word window. Finally,
Tesla
Motors' Roadster will be manufactured just up
the 101 here in San Carlos -- but
are
Lithium-Ion Electric Cars Safe?
A few days ago I mentioned a new Muslim team of
Superheroes -- turns out they already have something called
The
99, in England -- it's a soft-serve ice cream cone
that comes with a Flake bar.
|
| August 1, 2006 |
Kitty-chan
as Darth Vader (or vice versa) -- imagine this photo
was taken at the just-ended Comic-Con in San Diego.
My new toy is a legal, Class IIIa green laser,
unlike the higher-end pointers available at
Wicked Lasers,
a Chinese company selling even "Extreme" blue models for
$500 -- hard for me to believe they squeeze that much
power out of two AAA batteries -- claims you can light a
match with 'em!
Laser
Pointer 411 has more info and ideas, plus
DIY
Laser Light Show shows how to create an at-home
Laserium. In my
experience, doing similar displays in the 1970s with
a Helium-Neon laser, finding mirrors light-weight
enough is a challenge (I used small pieces of a silicon
wafer).
A while back, a photo of a custom, jet-propelled New
Beetle was making the rounds. Ron Patrick's
full
explanation has many photos; claims it's street
legal. Also jet-powered:
the Switchblade, an unmanned swing-wing
supersonic bomber, under development by Northrop Grumman.
Concept
Cars -- look at these machines! So much to comment
on, don't know where to begin -- except, check those
dagmars
on the Cadillac Cyclone! And the stern of the
Ford
X-2000 looks like it was an inspiration for the
Starship Enterprise.
|
| July 31, 2006 |
A while back, you may recall how I'd decided to move,
adjacent tenents making my apartment's environment
unpleasant; but no subsequent updates were logged on
this issue (since I couldn't locate anything acceptable
and was frankly kinda burned out, searching). But as
of last month, the urge for going disapated all of a
sudden when the noisy neighbors all moved away! The
worst was next door, a young guy who'd ironically
replaced another dude with the same name, both of whom
would host annoying, weekly gatherings on the patio, and
the more recent Dave also had inconsiderate stereo
manners (and terrible taste, in music). But this weekend,
a new man moved in there, who so far has been agreeably
quiet. Hooray!
Observed my nephew playing a Harry Potter video game
with a couple of his pals a couple years ago, and had
to stiffle my inadvertant laughter when I peered closely
at their screen and saw boys holding broomsticks in
their crotches, angling upward. The kids were young
enough to be oblivious to the suggestive nature of this
imagery, unlike your humble narrator. So,
How
Did Witches Come To Ride Brooms? Prepare to be amazed
(ergot
was involved).
Here's something new -- Islamicomics! "The 99"
is a Muslim super-hero team created by Naif al-Mutawa's
Teshkeel
Comics -- read the first part of the 'origins'
first issue
here.
More info at
adherants.com
and
Newsarama,
which features more preview pages.
|
| July 29, 2006 |
Discovered a real (as opposed to the 2005) Buffalo Nickel
in my pocket change today. Typically, its minting year
was completely worn away, but it has to be over 68
years old. Related:
Hobo
Nickels.
Why 'the internet' is superior to Mainstream Media: contrast the
AP's
way-too-sympathetic report of Mel Gibson's DUI with
TMZ.com's.
|
| July 26, 2006 |
Website
Flags -- proposals for vexilollogy in cyberspace.
How
to adjust your mirrors. I've been canting my side
mirrors out like this since reading a similar article in
Popular Mechanics about fifteen years ago, which
used from-above diagrams showing the angular range of each
mirror. This one uses photos to convey the same info,
subjectively.
Riding the new
train
to Lhasa, in Tibet.
Big
Hole in Russia -- says it's the biggest open mine
in the world, and even though the followup comments
disagree, well worth a look.
|
| July 24, 2006 |
Open
letter to the shrub, from Ralph Nader.
Make
Way for the Sidewalk SUV is an article about those
electric carts (like I'd use at the Safeway during my recent
broken leg recuperation), and how lazy Americans are
appropriating what some apparently call electric
"scooters" even though they're able-bodied. Note that
like a bicycle, an actual scooter is a
'two wheels good' -- and there are
real
electric scooters available, now.
From last month's Harper's,
A
Foreign Affair -- on tour with American
bride-seekers in Kiev. Also, Peter Reitsma's
Hitchhiking Russia, Summer 2004.
Excellent: Kristen Brennan's huge
Star
Wars Origins.
|
| July 23, 2006 |
Packed the tube into the Tercel last weekend & drove up
to the City to bicycle around and through Golden Gate Park
and explore the 'new Chinatown' of
Clement
Street in the Richmond District, a few blocks
north of the park and home also to the
counter-cultural Green Apple used book store. The
exploration style was so successful, did it again
yesterday down to Santa Cruz, leaving early to ensure
parking at the free structure downtown, just off Front St.
Changes everything, having a bike down there, so easy to
get around -- eliminates the trudge between the beach and
Pacific Ave. Out on the wharf, there's several restaurants,
including Stagnaro's, seen here, at the very end (never eaten
at any, but I hear Riva's is the best).
|
| July 20 - Moon Day |
The
25
Biggest Wusses in Rock, and the
32
Worst Lyrics of all time. The latter begins with "My
Humps" which I've heard of, but fortunately never heard.
Except for the America song, "MacArthur Park" and the Genesis
(both too-easy targets), the Year 2525, Bloodrock's "DOA"
(really?) "Muskrat Love" and "We Built This City", none of
these are familiar. My own candidate for worst lyrics
in a recent oldie would be Deep Blue Something's "Breakfast
at Tiffany's."
From
Zero to Hero -- Tintin as Literature. Also,
How
to tell Thompson from Thomson.
Readers of "Doonesbury" were entertained last week by Republican
apparatchiks' attempt to stage a flag-burning media event, and
discovering they're nowadays most often made of a durable
synthetic, which doesn't easily ignite. That sequence begins
here.
Myself, I don't follow the Trudeau; given the funny papers, I
check only "Dilbert" and "For Better or Worse." Curiously, the
former has become optional (although it's always relevant) but
I catch up on the latter via the
monthly
strip fix. Lynn Johnston, who's threatening to retire in a
year or so, has discovered the animated GIF, as of June 19th,
mostly manifest by her characters blinking (and 'bubbling'
thought balloons). But regarding the flag, out in the heartland,
Arrest
and Death Threats for people flying it upside down.
|
| July 18, 2006 |
A
page
of many strange vehicles, including the
McLean
V8 Monowheel -- says it's street-legal, but not where.
The radio news was babbling about something overseas and
I kept hearing an amusing word -- ha-Dude. They were
talkng about Pakistan and the word is more typically
spelled "Hudood" as in the
Hudood
Ordinance. What a ghastly culture!
Ever had one of those alpha males in your workplace
who'd do the creepy shoulder-massage thing to certain
of the females? I recall being shown a Sexual Harrassment
video using this as an example of inappropriate,
undesired touching. Turns out (to nobody's surprise)
the
shrub does it, too -- with the German Chancellor!
But it's okay, because
"the
President is always right." Glad we have
that settled.
|
| July 13, 2006 |
Brian Eno, from 2001:
the
Big Here and the Long Now. The latter concept's
familar from various articles about Stewart Brand's
10,000 year clock project but I first encountered the
former yesterday, in
this
test (which I gave up on; no way would I be
getting even a passing grade). For some fresh Eno,
The
Fahrenheit Twins is a short story by Michel Faber with
new background music. That link's an almost 8M MP3;
fascinating but leaves one wanting more. The
story has a Boris who lives on the tundra.
Unlike Morgenfrosch, this one 's named Fahrenheit.
Another
interview with Shannon about his forthcoming Too
Much Coffee Man opera, among other things. For those
fans of that other most popular hot caffeinated beverage,
A
Nice Cup of Tea is a George Orwell essay from
1946 with eleven rules for brewing the perfect cuppa.
|
| July 12, 2006 |
Discovered the new
Dumb
Angel Gazette yesterday -- this issue, #4 (their
first since '89) is a major upgrade from their previously
crude 'zine format, and it has a '60s Surf Teen Culture
Meets Tiki' theme. Among its myriad of period illustrations
is an ad for the
Hawk
"Silly Surfer" models. I had the Beach Bunny and the
Hodad -- where'd they go? Lost in an early '70s cleaning
purge, I suppose... but should be able to replace them now,
if I were so inclined, since they were re-released in
the mid-90s.
The
Four Most Overpaid White House Staffers. The
Director for Lessons Learned pulls down a salary of
over a $100K -- what do you suppose he really does?
This week's Slate travelog is
A
Nuclear Family Vacation in Russia. In this first
installment they visit the communist equivalent to the
Trinity Test Site. One more Soviet sight:
photo
of one of their huge submarines, cruising past a beach.
In Gaza,
"Never
Again" Gone Mad.
|
| July 10, 2006 |
Paused yesterday along the 101 north of Palo Alto to snap
this photo; it's a memorial for those who died in a crash
last Thursday, a catastrophe for the South Pacific monarchy
of Tonga -- two members of their royal family died just
after their California arrival. An 18-year-old (awarded
her license just a few months ago, and unharmed) speeding
on the freeway in her Mustang collided with their SUV, which
rolled, killing all of its occupants (although they were
all straped in). More info,
SJ Mercury
News article.
Nattering
Nabobs:
David Remnick in the latest New Yorker, from Spiro Agnew,
to the current administration's war against the press.
In the Wilson Quarterly,
The
Resurrection of Pearl S. Buck by Sheila Melvin.
One of these days I've gotta read The Good
Earth.
My green laser pointer arrived today -- $38
all together, new via eBay.
|
| July 7, 2006 |
"It's a series of tubes."
This is the latest laughable assessment of cyberspace
by an ancient politician, in this case, Ted
Stevens (R-Alaska).
Your
Own Personal Internet is a transcript of what he
said in the Senate, and
Net
Neutrality Has a Spokesperson is Dvorak's
reaction (which has more background).
The
Rise and Fall of the Hit is an excerpt
from the new book by Chris Anderson, The Long
Tail.
I've been avoiding Boing Boing for a while, but a post titled
Blast
From the Past is exceptional. It's about a set
of six photos documenting how atomic bomb testing in
Nevada illuminated downtown LA's night sky, in the 1950s.
#2 shows the late, lamented Richfield building -- before
my time, but familiar from a book I acquired just after
moving there, LA Lost and Found, which has a
striking color photo of this Art Deco structure at night.
The caption says it was replaced by the gray Arco Towers
in 1972.
One-page
Furry
Freak Brothers comic, their first new adventure
in ten years.
|
| July 5, 2006 |
Why
Conservatives Can't Govern by Alan Wolfe --
Americans have learned something about the consequences
of conservative ideas during the Bush years that they
never had to confront in the more amiable Reagan period.
As a way of governing, conservatism is another name for
disaster. And the disasters will continue, year after
year, as long as conservatives, whose political tactics
are frequently as brilliant as their policy-making is
inept, find ways to perpetuate their power.
The film was so dumb, vulgar and/or boring, you walked
out before it ended, hoping to salvage at least part
of the evening -- but then you're curious, how did it
turn out? Most reviews don't give it away, so instead,
check the
Movie
Spoiler -- the film may have an entry in their
archive.
|
| June 30, 2006 |
|
Strolling 'round the neighborhood the other night,
I was suddenly struck & momentarily dazzled by the
beam of a green laser pointer. Dredged up a couple of
memories -- first, my initial sighting of coherent green
light, in 1974 (thankfully, not head on). David bid
me accompany him downtown to see a wonderful, short-lived
installation by the artist Rockne Krebs -- three very
powerful green lasers, beamed across the Potamac onto the
marble paneling of the Kennedy Center's façade. And
it was a splendid June evening. Krebs is still doing these:
New
Orleans, 2001. In the early, Dada phases of his career he
signed the screen of one of
this
kind of TVs -- I saw it in an art show.
The other memory was -- I want one of those
pointers. Trouble is, they're expensive
(orders of magnitude more'n the red ones).
But dropping in price, I see...
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| June 28, 2006 |
The
Complete Tom Swift Jr. Home Page is one of
the best sort of online cyber-shrines, chock full of
amazing details. After the usual summary, each book's
entry has discussion questions like
How
feasible is it to build
a Triphibian Atomicar? and
How
much impact would a Duratherm Wing have on
civilization? More TS Jr:
an
appreciation by Jeff Duntemann.
Interview with Shannon Wheeler --
It
Ain't Over Till Too Much Coffee Man Sings.
I've been with TMCM from the very beginning,
but his new direction (an opera)
is perplexing. Shannon's
latest
blog entry shows a fan's illustration
of how this might turn out. (Update: sorry,
this last one disappeared, for some reason.
It was a purple and yellow TMCM in a tutu, singing.)
Never knew about this one:
Repatriation -- the
Dark Side of World War II by Jacob Hornberger,
president of the Future of Freedom Foundation. Important
reading.
Carey Voss reports on the troops dealing with the current conflict:
Hacking
Iraq -- hajjinets and Morale Welfare Recreation Cafés.
|
| June 25, 2006 |
Jacaranda Time
Once again the trees are blooming, and dropping
their lavendar blossoms. We don't have these
back east so they make this time of year
special, and their purple heralds the summer
produce season. The cherries are here, and the
sweet corn, too -- soon, the peaches! (I've
learned to ignore the latter until July 1.)
Cheshire
Crossing is a new comic book about Wendy,
Alice and Dorothy getting together with Miss
Poppins and Ernest Rutherford, and it's wholly
available on-line. In other comic news, after a
year's hiatus, Jason Little is updating his new
Bee
series again. (I find access via
its
directory more conwenient). One more comic,
by Neil Swaab: Mr Wiggles wonders,
What
kind of blogger are you?
It's time once again for the Control Voice to take us to --
The
Outer Limits. Two guys (brothers?) named Holcomb have
produced a great site devoted to the series, with in-depth
studies of seventeen of the programs considered
critical. Don't miss the
Fun
and Games section which not only addresses the
bubble-gum cards, but also presents four new ones. There's
been previous mention here of the "Mars Attacks" cards; I also collected
these, somewhat out of habit, 'cause they weren't near
as good.
(Here
is the complete set, all together, in order to apprehend
their lurid coloring and ridiculous texts -- and just for
reference,
the
first ten years of Monster cards catalogs all the
collectibles from this era we were all buying down at
the dime store.) After a session reviewing my archival
videotapes, I'm wondering -- is the last sentence of the
Control Voice's greeting correct, grammatically? Since
we're about to experience awe AND mystery, shouldn't it
reach from the inner mind to the Outer Limits?
|
| June 21, 2006 |
Foot
Fashion is a short page on what they wear in Japan,
traditionally, with a focus on the split-toed socks
called tabi that're like foot-mittens. The
heavy-duty version with rubberized soles are called
jikatabi and they're allegedly worn by
construction workers 'stead of boots. (If you're
into some of these oriental kicks,
Amazon
has 'em.) And according to
this
New Scientist article, the Japanese company
Asics, in partnership with the Japanese space agency JAXA,
has created jikatabi sneakers for zero-G.
Rare
"rainbow" spotted over Idaho.
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