Suprising reactions

There have been 2 notable retirements lately -- Rosie from The View, and Cindy Sheehan from the Movement. I first heard of both these little tidbits on msn.com, and the affiliated msnbc.com. Now I think it's probably safe to say these 2 sites are fairly main stream media -- you wouldn't be confusing them with Fox News and the like. Still, when I read the comments section about these articles (The Rosie article was specifically about her saying she'd never talk to Elizabeth Hasselback again, the Sheehan article was about her quitting the movement and trying to regain her private life again), it seemed that the average response was a very right wing "about time". I read the the Rosie comments, and 70% of the responses were strongly against Rosie, 10% were unreasonably hostile to Rosie, and the other 20% were split between reasonable support and fanatical worship of Rosie. Cindy Sheehan did a little better, maybe 60% strongly opposed to her, 30% sympathetic to her but still disagreeing, and 10% Bush is the Antichrist/Cindy is the Virgin Mary reincarnated. This surprised me -- usually people on the web lean more to the liberal side, especially when posting to media sites like this.

The more interesting thought is, if these opinions reflect the average jane and joe on the streets, then the Democrats better stop assuming the next election is in the bag.

Oh the howoww of it aww

Here's a scary thought, Rudy Guliani vs. Hilary Clinton for the presidency. They are like the same person, just different sex and party (although I've heard people say that it was always Hillary that had the balls in the family, and we all know how Guliani likes to wear dresses).

Missed the train...almost

We were too late -- they don't have the sleeping car space for us to go out to Reno, but I did manage to find space coming back, so we'll do our scenery watching on the way back, instead of the way out. I would have preferred it the other way around, but what can you do...

F1

I work for a store that sells Nextel, and so I have a lot of apparel that has the NASCAR Nextel Cup logo on it (shirts, a jacket, a hat..). People see this and think I'm a NASCAR fan -- not really, I prefer my races to have left and right turns. I have followed Formula One on and off for probably 20 years now, even when I can't find where the races are on TV to watch them. This season I find myself in a bit of a quandary, I always cheered for Michael Schumacher in the past, but he's retired now, and I need a new favorite. I considered staying with Ferrari and rooting for Kimi Raikonnen, but he's been doing lousy -- he's the lead driver on the team, and trailing his teammate Felipe Massa in the points! The real standout this year seems to be Lewis Hamilton -- his first year in F1, the junior teammate to the current world champion Fernando Alonso, and he's the one in the point's lead! He hasn't won a race yet, but he is consistently scoring podium finishes, and is 2 points ahead of his teammate after 4 races. If McLaren can keep the cars running well this year, this guy could have a shot at greatness. If not, Massa is in 3rd, with 2 wins out of the first 4 races (like Hamilton, if Ferrari can keep the cars running well, he could do great as well).

Should be an interesting year.

Henhouse...

Yep, I saw the Rosie/Elizabeth war o' words - or at least as much as showed up on MSNBC and read the inevitable choosing of sides in the comments section. Personally, I'd have to take Mrs. Hasselback's side on this one. Rosie's a grownup woman, and is responsible for what comes out of her own mouth. Just because she got hired to be on the View doesn't mean that suddenly everyone else's opinions didn't matter. She was talking to Elizabeth as if Rosie was boss, and Elizabeth was her little "yes man". Aparently to work with Rosie you have to agree with and defend whatever bit of nonsense comes out of her mouth.

And she's better than Imus how?

Vacation time...

We'll be leaving soon on a vacation -- we're going out west to visit Sharon's uncle and aunt in Carson City. It's been almost 10 years since we last went (see here), and this will probably be the last time we go -- so it's a pretty big deal for us. It will also be the first time Alex will travel on an airplane, so there's always the chances for major disasters in that. To make it a little easier for us we'll be taking the train out there. It should be interesting -- most people don't even consider taking a train anymore -- 2 days travel time, eating meals in the dining car, sleeping in the pull down bunks. In a plane, they seal you in a tube and fling you across the country. Yeah, they may feed you on a longer flight, but you're so high in the air you don't get to see much. It certainly is faster, but usually more stressful. You can get up and roam around a train -- the scenery is right there where you are -- we think the kids will love it. I'll keep a running blog of our trip, just like I did for our Branson trip and the previous trip way back when.

I just hope we don't deal with Northwest Airlines again...

Friends?

Activity for me on myspace has slowed down to a crawl. I guess part of it is my age -- most of the people I'm looking for have computers as necessary evils. That, and they don't seem interested in using myspace for entertainment -- it's strictly business, even if it is of a personal nature. I go looking for people I know, or knew -- hoping to make a connection, even if it's just the most casual of one. Yet people I knew fairly well cancel out my requests, apparently without even looking to see who I am. I've been sending messages with the requests in hopes of not getting ignored, but even that's not working very often.

Maybe I should go ahead and be friends with SyNdeE...

To boldly blog....

I've been spending a lot of bandwidth lately downloading Star Trek off of the Usenet. Yeah I know, how evil of me to do that. You know what, there are close to 400 titles in my DVD collection (and probably another 300 unique titles in the VHS collection), all bought and properly paid for. I have no problem paying for my entertainment -- I just refuse to pay an inflated amount for said entertainment. Some TV has been very reasonable -- '70s Show, Family Guy, the entire Monty Python for less than $90. And while I'm really annoyed that MGM/UA didn't release the 007 flicks separately, the box sets weren't bad. Generally I like to pay less than $19 for a movie, so I usually try to catch them in the first week when they're promo priced. Movie sets I usually go for if the individual films are less than $10 a pop (the Mel Brooks set was a very nice bargain, especially if you like some of the older films like Young Frankenstien, Blazing Saddles, and High Anxiety). TV seasons have to be between $30 and $40, entire series would depend on the number of show -- along with the Flying Circus set, I also have the entire series of Coupling, The Vicar of Dibley, Are You Being Served Again, and Sportsnight. While my wife and I enjoy Are you Being Served, As Time Goes By, and Keeping up Appearances, the price tags on those series are still too high (although $159 for all 13 years of Are you Being Served is not at all unreasonable). But as much as I really liked Star Trek: Voyager, I'm not spending $700 for the complete set -- thats $60 more per season than I'm willing to pay.

Now, the 20 disk set of the 10 Star Trek films for $89.99...

Self execution

I've been listening to Lithium24 on the satelite radio lately (alt/grunge) and was a little intrigued by a song I heard the other day. I think it was Tori Amos (the car radio doesn't show title/artist info) and she was singing a lot about finding a saviour in the streets, and in these dirty sheets, and how she was crucifying herself. I thought about that, and could not think of any way you could actually crucify yourself. Oh sure, there's plenty of other execution methods you can perform on yourself: You can hang yourself, shoot yourself, electrocute yourself, gas yourself. Given a guillotine and a length of string you could behead yourself; Japanese daggers are good for disemboweling yourself. You could burn yourself at the stake, and with the help of a ladder you could impale yourself. Now, being fed to hungry lions could be difficult, especially in this country -- and stoning yourself would probably require an accident at a gravel quarry. Crucifixion though -- sure you could nail the feet and one hand, but the other hand would be really hard. Then there's the whole lifting the cross up and dropping it in the hole process.

Nope, I can't really see someone crucifying themselves, that's something other people are always happy enough to do for you...

R.I.P. Jerry Falwell

Well, Jerry Falwell has gone to meet his maker. I was never a big fan of the man, but at least he wasn't as revolting as certain other hypocritical ministers who continually grab as much media attention as possible. What I find disturbing is the hatred and venom people are spewing now that he's gone. The resident atheists at Slate.com are commenting on how he's rotting in hell, which is the peak of hate-fueled stupidity. If there is no God, then there is no hell. If he is in hell, then all the atheists better start getting ready to join him there when they die. I also decided to quit following a person on one of my twitter lists, because she just wouldn't shut up about him. You'd think he came over to her house when she was little and killed her puppy!! Why such hatred and anger? You know who should be glad he's gone home? All of us Christians who lose our credibility every time those televangelists say something stupid! Jerry Falwell says a Teletubby is gay and suddenly all Christians think a Teletubby is gay. Pat Robertson says some 3rd world tyrant should be assassinated, and suddenly all Christians think some 3rd world tyrant should be assassinated. Incidentally, while we may not approve of some of the activities that go on there, we don't think New Orleans got hit by Katrina as punishment for it's sins.

So unless Falwell killed your puppy when you were a child, give him a break and let him rest in peace...

Should have left well enough alone...

Like many people these days, I have a wireless network at home (and so do at least 3 of my neighbors). I had things set up fairly securely -- SSID broadcasting turned off, WPA encryption, all that good stuff. It worked well with the matching card for my old notebook, the built-in card for the new Dell notebook, the little Zonet USB adaptor for my desktop, and my trusty PSP. The only dim spot was the creaky old CF card for my Pocket PC, and since I seldom use it anymore, it didn't matter.

So, into this harmonious situation I introduce a bit of chaos, an older Microsoft adaptor. I'm setting up a computer to run sequencer software for my studio, and decide to use the Microsoft card in the notebook (the notebook has only 1 USB port, and I need that for the MIDI interface, so I can't use the Zonet adaptor). The Microsoft card doesn't do WPA -- I look for updated software and/or drivers. No luck. So I downgrade the security on the router to WEP and set up the long string of hex numbers for the encryption key. I enter that nonsense into the notebook with the Microsoft card, and every thing's happy there. I edit the profile in the PSP -- the good times keep rolling. I get out my Dell laptop, tweak it's settings, and it's golden. Then I grab the wife's notebook that has the card that matches the router, and my night takes a sudden turn for the worse. This thing sees every other network around but mine -- even when I tell it specifically where to find it. I struggle with it for a half hour or so, until I finally turn the SSID broadcast back on. Then, it worked. So much for my advanced security measures.

I'm hoping now that everything is set up and working, that it will stay that way when if I turn the SSID broadcasting off. On the plus side though, my Pocket PC can link up to the Internet now too.

But have you ever tried to web surf with a Pocket PC?

Home Sweet Home

We've been in our new house for about 8 months now, and I must say that it feels more like home than our old house ever did. Oh sure, we put time and effort into the old house, we updated the deck, got a swingset, a shed, planted a tree, even fenced in the yard for the dog. But it was always just the house we lived in.

The old house was on a (very busy) street, our new house is in a neighborhood. There are kids riding bikes past the house, adults walking and jogging (with and without baby strollers). Cars drive past slow enough to actually see who's driving and wave as they pass by. There's still new construction going on, so you'll see kids (including mine) playing on the small man made mountains that dot the area. It seems like there's always extra kids in the house, and strange bikes parked in the yard. Since it's a single developer subdivision, a lot of neighbors have similar houses -- if you didn't snoop around the house while it was being constructed, you've visited a similar one during an open house. Everyone knows our house -- it's the biggest one in the neighborhood (oh yeah, you folks live in the big yellow house, don't you). We all try to keep our yards looking good (more difficult to do if the lot next to yours is still undeveloped). Since there are no real trees to speak of in the area, most smells wafting on the breeze are of the delicious variety. It is a stereotypical, middle class, suburban neighborhood...

and it's home.

Little Einstiens

We got news this week that my niece Stephanie will be starting 2nd grade this fall. This is unusual, because she's in kindergarten now, but she's so advanced that they're going to skip her over the first grade. Such a precocious child -- she takes after her uncle...

I didn't skip first grade -- well, at least not all of it. I stayed in first grade until a number of aptitude tests showed that I was a lot further along than my classmates. So a couple of months into the school year, my parents drove me out to a couple of schools and asked which one I wanted to go to -- I picked, then started mid year in second grade. It wasn't a big deal for me at the time -- I went to church with one of my classmates, and my aunt was a few grades ahead of me at the same school. After a year or two, my mysterious disappearance at one school, and appearance at another was forgotten by my classmates. It wasn't until 8th grade that I became reacquainted with my past, when i met up with the girl I had a crush on in kindergarten. The only time my accelerated schooling left me behind was when everyone else in the class got their drivers licenses but me (and Mary Ruppert, who skipped 4th grade). I didn't get left behind my new classmates (I was 35 out of 235, Mary was the valedictorian), I had a B+ average while doing little or no studying, and I still scored at least 95 on all aptitude tests at my new grade level. I would have done better, but I found school to be boring most of the time.

My daughter Laura also has phenomenally high test scores, but in the years since I've been there, the district has developed programs to keep children at grade level without them getting bored -- Laura has been in accelerated versions of most of her classes since the 2nd grade. Her grades have been straight A's for the most part, except for band (she didn't like to practice, so she was getting B's -- the last semester she did practice, got an A, and made first chair). Now her pre-algebra grade is in danger of being a B -- according to her midterm report, she has an A+ average on the exams, but isn't doing the homework at all, it's boring.

Just like her old man...

Redshirtsquad Redux

I went ahead and added the "badge" for the Redshirtsquad microblog to the side. It's popularity seems to be growing -- it has more followers than tuesdaynite. I've noticed that when you're trying to keep some sort of narrative going, it works better not to add all your followers as friends. When you get a lot of other messages in between your posts, you have to go back and forth more to get your train of thought going. I will try to incorporate the followers into the story as a way of "shouting out" to them.

Gotta love it when people pay attention to you for a change...

Redshirtsquad

That's the title on the twitter thread I've been writing (see about 3 articles below). It's been interesting going, but I've run into a few minor complications...

The shows aren't exactly in order -- which for the most part shouldn't cause too much trouble. There will be times though when the animated series will creep in on the original series, which means accommodating M'ress (the feline alien who works communications) and Arex (the multi-limbed alien who took over for Chekov). The real problems come up soon though -- The episode The Man Trap occurs during the episode The Corbomite Maneuver. I've already thought up an excuse for that -- the other problem is with the animated series episode The Magiks of Megas Tu. According to the star date, it occurs before Where No Man has Gone Before -- the first original series episode (not to mention clashing with a few other odds and ends). I'm sure I'll think of something.

The other problem I'm coming across is how to fill the gaps. Sure, it's easy to make witty comments on a show that -- let's be honest -- is just a little bit cheesy at times. But what does the average "never given a name" guy on the show do between Rigel XII and Space Station K7? Once I get through the witticisms in store for Mudd's Women, I have 182.4 stardates to fill before The Corbomite Maneuver. Let's face it, the show seldom went into the hum-drum boring routines that normally occur on a "military" vessel (not exactly exciting Television).

I suppose I'll just have to keep watching episodes, and scouring Memory Alpha for ideas to keep the saga of Lt. A.T. Peabody going as he boldly fills out personnel reports that no one has has filled out before...

Alec Badman

You know, I can sympathize with a guy who has a hard time seeing his kids -- I missed mine whenever they went down to visit Grandma and Grandpa, or go up to visit their cousins in Wisconsin. Of course, I know they'll be back soon enough, and that I should enjoy the quiet while I have the chance. Of course, Alec Baldwin doesn't know that his daughter will be back in just a week or two -- and worst, there's an ex-wife who is reluctant to let him see her much at all. So I could completely understand a verbal tirade called into his ex wife's phone telling her how awful and useless she is. I could even almost understand a call to his daughter's telephone telling her how awful and useless her mother is. But I would rather rip the tongue right out of my skull than call my daughter and say what he said to his daughter. Frustration is no excuse -- in fact it makes Kim Bassinger's claims against him all the more believable. Of course, since Alec is a left-wing, liberal darling, Rosie and company had him on The View trying to sooth his tortured and abused soul. He did this to bring attention to "Parental Alienation Syndrome" where the custodial parent (mom) badmouths the other one (dad) to cause the child to not want to see them. Of course, whether this is a real syndrome or just another example of the Woe is Me victimization culture has yet to be determined.

Besides, with behaviour like that, Kim Bassinger wouldn't have to do anything. Not anything at all...