November 25, 2005
Dollar Bills Dry Quickly
Cash is mostly dry. Bags are mostly packed. I'm mostly tired.
It at least looks like the weather's going to be nice and clear.
Argh!
Went to my parents' for Thanksgiving, got back tonight, washing some clothes in anticipation of the road trip tomorrow.
I ran my freakin wallet through the laundry. So, my cash is on the table, hopefully drying. I think the wallet itself is dead. I just hope the magnetic strip on my cards didn't get screwed up, otherwise I don't know if I can leave tomorrow. Bleh.
November 20, 2005
How To Vanish
A fairly extensive guide on how to vanish in the US. Perhaps best aimed at a guy in an abusive relationship, as a woman in an abusive relationship has some more resouces to turn to.
H/T: Completely Naked [site NSFW, contains R rated pics and XXX descriptions] [hot, though]
A few thoughts: I cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of planning these kinds of things. Plus, cash is always a good thing. And we haven't gotten to the point of a society where paying with cash will draw attention, except in extreme cases, which of course you will avoid.
And, of course, don't keep a blog, either before or after.
Other interesting links included this paper on surfing from work. Use at your own risk.
November 18, 2005
Carnival of Liberty
Number 20 is up. Good stuff including this post that has a political reason to homebrew! Yay!
St. Arnold's Pub Crawl
Going on it tonight. I'm wearing a brown corduroy shirt, with a Christmas Ale T-shirt under it. Could be cold, dress warmly.
Starts at 6, come to Rice Village and look for the mob of people dressed oddly.
And, tomorrow, I'm heading to the Texas Renaissance Festival. Last weekend, the theme is a Celtic Christmas. Lots of photo opportunities.
Lone Star Rally Pictures
Some pictures I took of the rally, so that my gentle readers can get a sense of the numbers of motorcycles that descended upon our fair isle.
Or, something like that.
And, by the way, I have no idea who any of these people are, so don't assume anything about their sexuality, ok?
Parents Are Insane
Downtown Lad knows a gay guy who stands to inherit some money if he is married to a woman for a year. This was, apparently, at best, a way to help the guy not be gay.
I say, go through with it, in a way that'll really piss off his family. Maybe, a pre-op female to male transsexual?
November 16, 2005
Peanuts Quiz
Via The Anarchangel:
You are Rerun!
Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
November 15, 2005
Middle Earth Race Quiz
Seen several places, including LlamaButchers:
Rohirrim
To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla
Carnival of Recipes
#65 is up.
A Red, White, and Blue theme, in honor of Veteran's Day.
And the perfect example: Red Beans, White Rice, and the Blues.
And remember last week's Taco Soup? I made it, substituting a large can of Ranch style beans with jalapenos, a can diced tomatos with chilis, using about half the container of V8, and adding some extra spices: about 1 tsp cumin and chili powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper and paprika [in addition to the taco seasoning]. It turned out great. Served with fresh cilanto, a little sour cream or cheddar cheese... Good stuff. I think you could cut down a little on the beef if you wanted, without any evil effects. [1 1/2 lbs, maybe 1 lb.] And a small can of diced black olives, which I don't think added much.
St. Arnold's Christmas Ale Pub Crawl
So, the first of the Christmas Ale Pub Crawls is this Friday, starting in Rice Village. [Because of state laws, they can't advertise specific bars. If you need help interpreting, just email me.]
I'm going to this one, and probably not going to the one in December [heading off to LA]. So, if my hoards of rabid fans were upset at not getting to meet me at the Lone Star Times blogmeet, come to the pub crawl. I'll be wearing a Christmas Ale T-shirt and my Pinky and the Brain baseball cap if I can find it.
And no, not the Klingon version: K'Pinky and The Brain.
November 14, 2005
RightGoth
Yes, it's true- a website for conservative and libertarian goths. You have to wonder how big that subpopulation is, but whatever.
Not much going on, but some interesting threads in the forum.
H/T: Never Yet Melted.
Carnival of Music #21
Welcome to the Carnival of Music. As usual, we have a very eclectic selection for your enjoyment.
The first submission comes from T.A.N., as he calls it, a hip hop blog song inspired by Andrew Krucoff [don't know who he is? read the post.]
Elisa Camahort presents a review of her most recent iTunes purchases.
Andrew Ian Dodge has been writing about putting together some songs for his band, Growing Old Disgracefully. They've put together a 4 song CD for CD Baby, and have been using the web to spread their music. They're having some confusion among reviewers, who don't know how to pigeonhole the music. I don't think anyone's going to confuse them with Donnie & Marie, though.
Brian Sacawa of Sounds Like Now has some thoughts on how spaces on the web are connecting musicians and fans.
And Geemodo has some thoughts on Sony's [aka The Evil Empire's] rootkit, including a link giving a pretty detailed, non-geekspeak explanation for how to tell if your computer is infected, and how to get rid of the rootkit if it is. There are several other posts on Sony over there, as well.
And by the way, if after reading his posts, you want to boycott Sony, you can sign this petition. I have.
The last time I hosted, I did something of a roundup of previous posters from Carnivals 1-5. So let's take a look at 6-9.
The Fredosphere is wondering about Robert Ashley and thinking about rules in art.
Musical Perceptions has some thoughts on Countertenors, and a list of 10 dissertation titles that should never exist.
A Sweet, Familiar Dissonance tries to remember "What was the name of that song?" and has found some more music blogs.
Jessica Duchen has some CD recommendations and writes extensively about ORCHESTRAL LIFE: THE FULL STORY.
On An Overgrown Path has several interesting posts, but I like the quote in Culture is Remix.
oboeinsight is having some reed problems.
Sequenza21 has a review of The Kronos Quartet's performance in Sandiego.
TexasBestGrok has some thoughts on Neil Diamond.
uTopianTurtleTop has some thoughts on the connection between poems and music.
The LlamaButchers have thoughts on Classical Composer Action Figures.
The Bookish Gardender likes her her childrens' music practice.
Mixolydian Mode also notes Sony's mischief, and has a fun piece on trombones.
PostClassic has just gotten back from a toy piano conference, and has a wrapup of interesting things.
Think Denk has thoughts connecting fortune cookies and a question: "How do you rehearse?"
A Monk's Musical Musings has been musing on Mechanical Efficiency and music.
solitude.in.music discusses mesmerising huge works. From Bach, of course.
And finally, a musical request of my own.
The permanent home of the Carnival of Music is here, at TexasBestGrok. Next week's Carnival will be at Sounds Like Now.
Top 10 M-M and Top 10 F-F Kisses
Top 10 Male-Male kisses in movies here, Female-Female here.
More Fark.
A Humble Request
Since I'm hosting the Carnival of Music this week, I thought I would make a musical request of the blogosphere.
Maybe 10 years ago, I was driving to work, listening to a radio station [mainstream, Top 40 or Alternative format]. A song came on that I thought was pretty cool, that I've never heard again. It was a full retelling of the Frog Prince fairy tale [Princess plays with a golden ball, drops it in the pool, frog says he'll get it in exchange for a kiss, princess agrees but goes back on her word, frog nearly dies, princess kisses frog, frog was an enchanted prince]. It was sung by a male voice. It was not Enya. The band STAGE has a song named somewhat similarly, but that isn't it.
Anyone have any ideas? Either for the song itself, or for other places I might look?
November 13, 2005
Anime for Me
|
November 11, 2005
Lone Star Times Gettogether
I was strongly thinking of going to this gettogether at the Stag's Head - as noted by Laurence Simon.
Until I noted LST was quite happy about the passage of Proposition 2. Eek. Nevermind.
Have fun anyway.
November 10, 2005
Free Speech Online
The usual suspects in Congress are trying to regulate speech on the internet. See here for details.
SDB Back
Woohoo! Steven Den Beste is writing political type posts at RedState, rather than just bloging about Anime. This is good news. Here's hoping he feels well enough to continue.
His thoughts on France are here, possible long term effects, and how it might stop.
H/T: Instapundit.
Boycott Sony
Due to Sony's CYA response to the discovery of their malware, I am going to boycott them. Petition here.
November 09, 2005
This Week's Carnivals
Poor job of publicity, on my part.
Specifically, soup week. Including another version of Tortilla Soup. The last batch I made didn't have enough flavor, I'll try this one.
There's also a recipe for a crock pot Taco Soup, which seems almost a chili. Interesting though, it uses V8 for an ingredient.
From the Libercontrarian, a list of 12 planks sufficient to give any career politician a heart attack. And the People's Republic of Seabrook has a fun post on Proposition 2.
With, as usual, a wide range of music related posts, from iTunes addiction, to UK based reality TV, to how to handle the business side of music.
And I'm hosting the next Carnival of Music, so send in your posts. Please.
Sony Sucks
I had read about Sony's seemingly illegal DRM protection of some music CDs [ie, when you try to copy your music to your computer's hard drive, from a CD you bought in the store, it secretly installs malware files that take an 18th level computer geek to find and eliminate]. I wasn't that surprised, and I wasn't that bothered, since I buy extremely little music these days [I don't illegally steal music either, I just listen to stuff created by unknowns, like Brad Sucks].
But, Stryker points to an article pointing to Sony's acquiring a patent that would allow it to rent or buy used games for the playstation 3.
And I thought Microsoft was an Evil Empire. Remind me never to buy another Sony product, until they stop this crap.
Proposition 2
Yes, the amendment to the Texas Constitution baning at least gay marriage passed, with >70% of the vote. I recommend any married couples in Texas get at least a will and a durable power of attorney for health care [not a bad idea in general, more important if people start legally challenging things in marriage normally taken for granted.]
Pete is unhappy and unsurprised.
There's been a discussion going on in JohnL's comments. One guy has been commenting for the amendment, several people have been commenting against it [including me].
The last exchange didn't go so well, I guess. But the basic concept still stands: someone who thinks homosexuality is a sin against God is going to view the story of the dead gay couple as a morality play- 2 fun loving guys did something wrong and now they're dead. I can only view it as a tragedy and a useless loss.
Pixy Misa mentions Hanlon's Law ["Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."] in context of Kansas' Board of Education's actions. [He makes a pretty good case it doesn't apply, BTW].
I can only say there are elements in some flavors of Christianity that make it difficult for me to take Christianity as a whole seriously, the ex-Gay movement and the Intelligent Design movement for example. Both [to me] market themselves in lying, twisted ways, to try to reconcile what the Bible says and what we know about the world.
Who, me, bitter? Yeah, a tad.
November 08, 2005
Burma Moves Capital on Advice from Astrologer
People are strange. Especially the mention of: the leader was worried about an invasion by the US, so villagers were trained with sharpened bamboo sticks. [As standins for guns, or are they planning on using weapons that wouldn't have bothered Roman legions?]
How to Set Fire to a Car
Wondering just how vandals in France are setting fire to cars? Slate spells it all out [and no, a car's gas tank won't explode].
H/T: Fark
War of Media
The Vodkapundit has a long post describing the War on Islamic Terror, how we won the previous World Wars, and how we're losing this one. Go read it.
Which brings up a thought: what if Kerry had won? He clearly would have spent less effort/gold/warriors/political capital fighting the war, but maybe the media would have been less constantly against the president. Would we be in a better position for the long haul?
November 07, 2005
The Wikablog
I made an entry for me. There's already a Munu category [and use Munu, not MuNu].
The Devil's Kitchen has made a burning man graphic for it:
Inspired by fellow sheep Rocket Jones.
Pixel Party
Wondering where the pixels come for the Blue Screen of Death? Now you know.
[music plays at link, be careful at work]
H/T: Dodgeblogium, the only blog currently listed in the cthullu category at wikiblog. For now.
Action Hero Quiz
Via William Wallace:
You scored as Captain Jack Sparrow. Roguish,quick-witted, and incredibly lucky, Jack Sparrow is a pirate who sometimes ends up being a hero, against his better judgement. Captain Jack looks out for #1, but he can be counted on (usually) to do the right thing. He has an incredibly persuasive tongue, a mind that borders on genius or insanity, and an incredible talent for getting into trouble and getting out of it. Maybe its brains, maybe its genius, or maybe its just plain luck. Or maybe a mixture of all three.
Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com |
Newspapers Going Manga!
Newspapers are losing readers hand over fist, but now a Bold New Idea has come!
Some idiot noticed that Manga have a following in younger people, so they think they can get more readers if they offer a couple of Manga strips in the comics section.
Hey, guys, give it up. Your current business model is failing, and will only get worse. Sales that would in the past go into the classifieds are going on eBay, lonely men looking for lonely women/men/houseplants go to a zillion different web sites, and the people that once read your paper, without fail, every day, are now reading blogs and online news sources. And all of those things work better online than they do with the dead tree edition.
A few bells and whistles aren't going to do the job. Transform or get left behind. Or hope that the UN takes over the internet, and essentially destroys it.
Arrgh! Pirates!
Disney's entering a pirate ship in a 'round the world sailing contest. Fun, and an advertising gimmick for their next pirate movie, coming out in July '06.
H/T: Pirates' Cove
November 06, 2005
Life, and Death
Sounds like RP's having a hard time, with the impending death of his grandfather. Keep him in your thoughts.
Ernie Cline
Some stuff on a mailing list reminded me of poetry slam performer Ernest Cline.
If you haven't heard Nerd Porn Auteur or Airwolf, go listen now.
November 05, 2005
Proposition 2
Tuesday, November 8, there will be a vote on an amendment to the Texas Constitution [well, ok, more than one, but only one is really screwed up].
JohnL at TexasBestGrok does an indepth post on what it might actually do.
Paul at The Right Side of the Rainbow also thinks Prop 2 will ban straight marriage, and has language from other states for comparison.
Pete at A Perfectly Cromulent Blog posts a letter from TX State Representative Glen Maxey(D).
So, a straight pro-war small L libertarian, a straight Democrat, and a gay Republican. And me.
For the record, I think this is a horrible piece of crap. The crazy thing is, my preference would be to get the state out of marriage entirely, I just don't think this will do it. Instead, it will make some messy legal cases, when people for one reason or another try to argue in court that Texas can't recognize marriages. Someone will get a divorce, or someone will die without a will, and it will be argued that there never was a marriage.
Anyway, vote NO.
November 04, 2005
St Arnold's Divine Reserve
St. Arnold's, the microbrewery in Houston, came out with their Divine Reserve, essentially a barley wine. Mentioned by Luxist here.
Only 327 cases made. Release November 1st. The big Specs Liquor store in downtown Houston got 30 cases. Apparently, all 30 cases were gone in 13 minutes.
I went to about 5 different places yesterday looking for it. [curiosity, could have made a good Christmas present] No dice. My friend ended up with a case, only because his father was willing to go to the local Specs several times on the 1st, waiting for the beer to be stocked.
The beer itself won't make the brewery much profit [way expensive ingredients], but I suspect it will drive sales of the rest of their beers. One place had completely sold out of their Christmas ale and IPA, which seemed unusual.
November 03, 2005
Katie Wernecke
If the name doesn't strike a bell, she's a 13 year old Hodgkin's lymphoma patient in Houston, who went through chemotherapy but her family didn't want her to have followup radiation therapy. Houston Chronicle article here.
She was in CPS custody for a while, not getting court ordered treatment. Now she's apparently being returned to her family, but ordered to go through with treatment. Doesn't make sense to me, but whatever. The docs estimate her chances of surviving as going from 80-85% if she had gotten radiation therapy as recommended, to 20-25% now, if she goes through with it.
The dad wants to do IV Vitamin C therapy. Which to me sounds as useful as oral chocolate therapy.
I had previously writen about the case here. I still don't know what the doctors told the family originally, but it wouldn't surprise me if combination therapy was what was recommended in the beginning.
At this point, it looks like the child will die, because of decisions made by her family. The libertarian in me says "ok, that was their choice, now live with it." The doctor says things not appropriate for polite company.
Update: She's being returned to her family, with no restrictions.
Lone Star Rally 2005
And in much more exciting news, today's the first day of the Lone Star Rally. I'll try to find my digital camera to take some pics [it's still packed away from the evacuation].
And if you want to know where to find the music, go here.
Update: some pics here.
Riots in France, World Yawns
Seventh straight day of riots in Paris, the violence seems to be getting worse, not better, and absolutely nothing about it on the NYT or Houston Chroncle's web pages.
Googleing, I come up with this AP story. "Acts ranging from clashing with police to torching vehicles were reported in at least 10 Paris-region towns." Seems newsworthy to me.
Instapundit and LGF, of course, have linkage.
November 02, 2005
The Bible in Public Schools
Via Ogre, comes this week's Christian Views Symposium.
The Questions:
1. Should the Bible be taught in Public Schools? If so, how?
2. Should prayer be returned to Public Schools?
1: My basic thought is that there's a huge amount of crap that gets taught in public schools, which has little to do with my idea of their basic purpose- to give kids the tools needed to act as citizens, and to get a job beyond slinging burgers. Teaching what's in the Bible, to me, would not be part of that basic mission. Teaching what the basic tenants of the major world religions, as part of world history, could be.
No matter where you are in the US, there is a church relatively close that would love to teach your children in Sunday School, if that is something you want for your kids.
2: I wouldn't have much of a problem with, for example, a prayer to be said before lunch. I think it could be done as a way to teach kids about different religions and cultures. It should not always be Christian based.
As an addendum, Ogre's concept seems to be that we should get the feds out of public schools entirely, let the local school boards make such decisions, and then let people vote with their feet if they want a different kind of schooling. I have some qualms about such a plan, most based around a tyrany of a majority, or even a vocal minority. What I have heard about education in the Middle East, based around learning the Koran, makes me concerned.
Late for Halloween
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alt="Offensive Wimp-Lacerating Investigator-Snatching Horror"
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Via the Livestock-Devouring Horror
Music list
Via LDH:
| The Cure Shares Your Taste in Music |
 See their whole playlist here (iTunes required) |
We're the Chipmunkz
Perhaps the strangest flash film I've seen in a while. The chipmunks as gangsta rappers, eventually killing their manager. I can't decide if it's funny or just twisted. Rather unsafe for work.
H/T: Madfish Willie.
Christmas Caption
Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax has decided on a picture for their Christmas card, but wants some sort of caption. Go help them out. And remember, it has to be G rated- don't want any relatives dying of shock.
Machiavelli Rocks
Via The Colossus:
| You Are Somewhat Machiavellian |
 But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place. You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to! |
November 01, 2005
Average American
I've seen this in other places, but JohnL did it, then the Llamaboys, so...
This is from a book about the average american, a list of things that apply. Ones that don't apply to me are struck through.
# Eats peanut butter at least once a week [usually, anyway]
# Prefers smooth peanut butter over chunky
# Can name all Three Stooges
# Lives within a 20-minute drive of a Wal-Mart
# Eats at McDonald’s at least once a year [Not my favorite fast food, by a longshot]
# Takes a shower for approximately 10.4 minutes a day [I suspect longer- I also shave in the shower.
# Never sings in the shower
# Lives in a house, not an apartment or condominium
# Has a home valued between $100,000 and $300,000
# Has fired a gun
# Is between 5 feet and 6 feet tall
# Weighs 135 to 205 pounds [working on it]
# Is between the ages of 18 and 53 [Updated, I was an idiot and struck this. Soon to be 39]
# Believes gambling is an acceptable entertainment option [I don't get it, but I don't mind it either.]
# Grew up within 50 miles of current home
Postmodernist quiz
Via CalTechGirl:
You are a Cyberculture Floozie. The theoretical
aspects of postmodernism interest you only
insofar as they can be used to make cool blinky
things. You probably take psychedelics and
know at least one programming language (HTML
counts!). Other postmodernists call you a
corporate whore. They're probably just jealous
because you make more money than them.
What kind of postmodernist are you!?
brought to you by Quizilla
True Child Abuse
In the category of things that ought to be punishable by death, we have an eight year old boy with his arm being crushed. Apparently, because he was caught stealing bread. [link goes to the pics, as LGF says, "disturbing but not gory"].
Anyone want to explain "Islam means peace" after seeing those pics?
H/T: Emperor Misha. Who isn't happy.
Carnival of Liberty
Sorry Kids, Halloween is evil. The name says it all, political correctness gone wrong.
And in the CPS is evil category, we have this post from Soldier's Angel.
The Watchful Investor has a post on the US prison population, noting a guy that got "3 strikes" and is in jail for 50 to life for stealing 4 videos.
Lest Darkness Fall [cool name, by the way], has a post on Libertarian Myth #1, namely the false belief that libertarians are pro drug use.
Lots of other interesting reading, check 'em out.
Carnival of Music
#19 is up. The Ministry of Minor Perfidity does a great job collecting Halloween related music links.
In other news, Alternate Option listened to the Batman Begins soundtrack 26 times.
And set your wayback machine, cause November Musings has a list of 10 Greatest Unsung Guitar Solos In Rock History.
Musical Perceptions points to an article claiming that music was developed before speech.
Carnival of Recipes
The Trick or Treat issue of the Carnival of Recipes went up over the weekend.
The Glittering Eye has a couple of recipes for chowder.
In the really tricky section, Mock Apple Pie [with Ritz crackers]. I'm fairly sure this recipe was created by Lucifer.
And Chicken Cobb Salad. Just about everything I like in a green dinner salad. I don't know if I believe it serves 6 though.
Halloween Costumes
Stephen Green's costume sounds cool, but Antigravitas' costume is pretty durn inventive, and won first prize!