Robin over at Hearding Kittens has an amuising musing about child proof packaging. It got a chuckle out of me and is an interesting read. The short form is that perhaps things that are bad for grownups like high-sugar, high-fat foods should have adult-proof packaging.
Categories: Humor
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Child Proof Lid
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
A Brain Teaser
Here is one for you. How would you make a d6 that could be used on an overhead projector? That is to say, a random number die that, when rolled, will generate a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 with roughly equal likelihood and clearly display that result on the overhead. And my wife has one, so I know it exists. I'll post the answer after enough people have given it a try.
Categories: puzzle
Monday, March 13, 2006
Quote of the Day
See if you can guess where I heard this quote:
"Hey, brainwashing works. That's why we try to stop it."
Did I hear this quote on:
a) NPR
b) FOX News
c) The Daily Show
d) ESPN
Answer below the fold...
That's right! FOX News (b) is actively engaged in the prevention of brainwashing. This is true for all values where 'brainwashing' equals anything critical of President Bush. I heard it and actually laughed out loud. Fortunately, nobody was around to hear me at the time. I live in the Conservative part of California.
The story in question is one I'm sure you have all heard. A Colorado High School teacher was suspended for suggesting that the tone of some of Bush's State of the Union Address statements were eerily similar to things Hitler said. He has recently been reinstated.
Apparently, the teacher's main failing was in not presenting both sides. They have a "fair and balanced" policy in Colorado education. You can't present one side without the other regardless of how ludicrous those positions are. I wonder if they teach their students that the world is flat and that if you sail off the edge, the world serpent eats you.
Categories: politics, rant
Friday, March 03, 2006
Mister Worf, Triple Axel on my mark...
It's totally random, but I've seen some silly ones thus far.
BriWei Gold Medal Winner in...  Figure Skating while dressed up as your favourite Star Trek character 'What rejected olympic sport would you win gold in?' at QuizGalaxy.com |
Categories: Humor, Meme Read More......
More stupidity from FOX
I know, I know. Using stupidity in a description of FOX is like using hunger in a description of famine. But my occasional glimpses into their world chafe me so. And I have to share the pain. *grin* I was over at the cafeteria yesterday and saw the "headline" on the bottom of the screen. It was stationary, not a crawl, so I guess they were planning a lot of discussion on it. Was it about how Bush lied about awareness of all things Katrina? Of course not. Was it about how Bush and Rummy are in denial about the Iraqi civil war? Nah. Was it about the Dubai ports deal? Surprisingly, yes, but not in the way you think...
"Bill Clinton helping Dubai on ports deal while Hillary tries to block it?"
That's right, they found a way to tie the DP World fiasco to the Clintons! Aside from the fact that there is no good reason a husband and wife cannot be on different sides of an issue, they are not entirely in opposition. It's just another attempt to avoid the real issues of the day and paint everything as purely black and white. Clearly, the fact that the Clintons are not in total agreement on everything is far more newsworthy than anything the President could be doing.
Categories: Politics, Rant
Thursday, March 02, 2006
A Pleasant Surprise
So, last Thursday for Josh's birthday, my parents were supposed to pop in for a visit. My wife had been stressing and obsessing over the visit for the past week and more and I couldn't understand why. My parents have come before and it is always laid back. We usually take the kids somewhere and then send the kids with my folks and have some quiet time. Instead, she insisted I take the Friday and Monday off and was frantically cleaning and buying stuff at Costco. She got them a case of water and, a Pepperidge Farm snack assortment, and a dozen mega muffins. The water I could see, but Dad's a diabetic. He doesn't need the muffins and Mom won't eat them. I tried to argue the point, but she said "They'll want them. Trust me." You can see where this is going because I'm distilling the clues for you. But with everything going on, I was oblivious...
The morning of the arrival, I called to check in with Dad as they made their way from the airport. L had told me our lunch plans were off as Dad's blood sugar was low and he needed to get a bite to eat before they left Long Beach. So, I mentioned this to him and he said, "Yeah. We were all hungry." All? What do you mean all? "Well, Mom and I." We decided to meet at the hotel instead. They said they'd call when they got there. As we only live ten minutes or so from the hotel, no big deal.
I pulled into the hotel after getting the call and set about finding a parking space. I saw Dad standing over by a van, so I pulled up. As I approached, I thought I noticed a couple of people hurrying away from the van. I honked my horn. They didn't look up. They continued making a bee-line for the side door. I was positive I recognized them now. I honked again. I rolled down my window and shouted. Dad said, "It's no use. He sees you." Two of my three sisters stop dragging their bags and slunk over to my car. "What the heck are you two doing here?" "It was supposed to be a surprise!" Laurie said. "I knew we shouldn't have talked at the car!" Sara-Anne complained. They both looked at me. "Surprise!" And they went to put their things away. So, I went into the hotel to let the surprise play itself out. If Sara-Anne and Laurie were here, that meant Samantha probably was too. I went into Dad's suite and heard giggling. Sam, Iggy, Ian and Jonah jumped out at me. "Surprise!" They actually did surprise me because I couldn't see where they were hiding and they jumped out at me! It turns out the whole clan was there and L. was in on it from the get-go. All three sisters, my 2 brothers-in-law on that side, my three nephews, and my parents flew out together for a visit!
I'll post some of the highlights (and lowlights) later on, but suffice it to say that it was a great surprise and it made Josh's birthday weekend extra special.
Categories: Personal
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
That's NOT a Burrito
Courtesy of Wombat comes this WTF moment on AOL News. It's the story of a couple who tried to beat a drug test using a urine filled fake penis. They needed it warmed up so it would pass the temperature test. They made the brilliant choice to go to a convenience store where the microwave was behind the counter. So, they had to pass Mr. Happy over to the attendant to microwave it for them. It was wrapped in a napkin so she didn't see what it was at first. However, upon taking it out, she caught a glimpse and thought she had nuked a real, severed one! What makes the story most amusing to me is that it was the woman who had to take the drug test.
Categories: SocialCommentary, Humor
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Quiz time!
I'm in a foul mood, so I've decided to mock one of my favorite targets. No, not the President. Karma! I have created a little quiz called Are You Karma? It's a simple 10 question quiz where you are asked to try to determine how Karma would respond. So, a perfect score does not really mean that you ARE Karma. It just means that you know how she would respond in a variety of situations. Some of them are tricky because I've added some responses that she might have made, but she didn't. Good luck.
Categories: Poll, Karma
Friday, February 24, 2006
My Gamer Daughter
So, Maya saw me playing Kingdom of Loathing and wanted to try. I told her to give me a minute as I needed to get my turns down low enough that I wouldn't lose any at rollover. If you aren't following, go back and read the post "An Adventurer is You!". There's too much to cover here. Suffice it to say that it is an online adventure game that is turn based. You get a certain number of turns each day. If you don't use them, they are rolled over, but there is a limit. And I was pushing it. Once I was squared away, I decided it would be okay for her to have a turn. We made her a character and she played for a while and enjoyed herself thoroughly. So, thorughly, that it's all she wanted to talk about at dinner. She proudly announced, "Mom, I looted a corpse!" My wife's response? "You're grounded." But she meant ME! Maya tried to help. "Oh, don't worry. *I* didn't kill him. I just found the body in the forest and took his stuff."
Categories: Humor, Personal
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Hulk..er...Kong Smash!
So, it's Josh's Birthday. Happy Birthday little guy! Earlier in the week, he had a party at pre-school. He wanted a King Kong theme, or King Kond as he likes to say. So, my wife dutifully went to the party store and bought the plates, napkins, and such. Sadly, they were out of King Kong pinatas. She didn't have time to go to other stores, so she went a different way. She bought a Hulk pinata and told him that she got him Kong. She then instructed me to paint it black. "He'll never know the difference." So, I spray painted it to the best of my ability. It looked like the Hulk pained black. "No, it looks like King Kong," she insisted. Not sure if she was trying to convince me or herself. Josh came to have a look because he wanted to see his pinata. "See, Josh. It's King Kond" He started jumping for joy. "It is! It is!" He stopped. "It looks more like the Helk".
Categories: Personal, Humor
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Dubai or Not Dubai, that is the Question
Ok, time for BriWise to get political again. I'm sure that by now, you've all heard of the deal to allow a state owned company from the United Arab Emerates to run shipping operations in six major U.S. ports. These ports were previously controlled by British P&O shipping until Dubai ports made a bid to buy British P&O. So, we didn't actually sell the port access to the UAE so much as they bought the company that had the contract. Now much of Congress is in an uproar over the deal. They asked the Bush administration to postpone approval of the deal so they had time to study it. The President declined...
You can read the details here. I know I linked to FOX News, but I wanted to get their perspective as I figured it would be the most sympathetic to Dubya. And before we start, there is no truth to the rumor that he was pushing the deal because he misread Dubai and thought that he was going to get to take over the "place where all the boats go". You can also read this AP story on Yahoo to fill in some of the blanks. All my quotes come from these two stories.
The above opening more or less sets the stage for what is a very complicated issue. The visceral reaction is "We can't let the Middle East take over our ports!" But is there any substance to that fear? There are a number of factors here and many of them are politically or financially motivated. That makes it doubly difficult to find something closer to objective truth. Therefore most people are going to believe the person or group they already feel is looking after their best interests. If this were an issue typical of the recent political unrest, the Democrats would be on one side and the Republicans on the other. However, this one seems to be split between the Administration and their friends and everyone else.
There are some high profile Republicans lining up to take shots at Dubya on this one. Bill Frist wants to introduce legislation to delay the deal. Hastert and Bohner, the House Republican comedy duo announced they were going to be "flexing muscle" against the administration on this. Then there are the Republican Governors of New York and Maryland, Pataki and Ehrlich. They are concerned about due diligence as two of the ports are in their states. Ehrlich is willing to go so far as to void the contract between Baltimore and DP if he doesn't get some satisfaction.
Given all the high profile Republican opposition, you'd think the President would at least be willing to talk about it. Delay things for a month or so to give all concerned parties a chance to investigate. But, no. What was I thinking. This administration will not tolerate being questioned. They know what's best and we just have to trust them. According to King George, "they need to know that our government has looked at this issue and looked at it carefully." How many of us will sleep easier knowing that? And if Congress decided to legislate to get their way? Dubya has an answer for that, too. "They ought to listen to what I have to say to this. I'll deal with it with a veto."
How does that sit with the Republican leadership? "I will fight harder than ever for this legislation, and if it is vetoed I will fight as hard as I can to override it," said Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.
That's right, the Homeland Security Committee doesn't like it.
Muddying the waters are some financial interests. There is a Miami based port management company that is suing to overturn the deal. What do you suppose THEIR motives are?
And the Democrats have stepped in as well. Most of the criticism is similar to the Republican side. Senator Joe Biden isn't against the deal. "Sure, we have to link up with our Arab friends but ... we want to see and those in Congress want to know what ... safeguards are built in." Then of course, there are the usual suspects such as Senators Schumer and Rodham-Clinton.
The main concerns from both parties are that the administration did the oversight of the deal as they do most everything. In secret. So Congress has no way of assuring their constituents that the review process was faithfully followed other than "trust Bush". Given his approval ratings, I don't think many is Congress feel like trusting their re-elections to that. The other area of concern is the one that potentially has substance. Lawmakers from both parties have noted that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers used the United Arab Emirates as an operational and financial base. In addition, critics contend the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist.
Rep. Edward Markey, from Massachusetts is coming at this from another angle. He feels our cargo security is already inadequate and is capitalizing on this transaction to highlight the issue. He is not against DP so much as he is against all of our current procedures. "Cargo containers represent a cheap, deadly method for delivering (a) bomb on U.S. soil. We cannot afford to be lax in our oversight of the shipping and handling of these containers. This administration's scrutiny of this UAE deal is just like their treatment of tons of cargos at our door: insufficient, incomplete and incomprehensible, given the security threats we face," he added.
Lest you think we have covered all the bases in this morass, there is still at least one more. Let's add a conflict of interest for the President to spice things up. You see, he recently nominated David Sanborn to be U.S. Maritime Administrator. Sanborn testified before Congress earlier this month. Why is this a potential conflict? Oh, did I forget to mention that Sanborn is currently Director of Operations for Europe and Latin America at DP World? So DP would be overseen by a guy who used to work for them. Does he still have stock? What are his personal connections to DP World?
Every time I try to decide which way to come down on this issue, my head hurts. There are too many angles and I have no idea how we can shake this one out. I suspect I'd have an easier time mapping the topography of R'Lyeh. If it weren't so serious, I might enjoy the irony of Bush having 9/11 used against him or a change. The one thing I do feel certain about is that this deal needs to be held up until we sort this out. It may well be that there is no greater security risk in having DP take over than we presently face from our cargo security procedures. Perhaps that issue will surge to the fore and result in reform that makes the ownership of port management irrelevant. But given the way this administration handles dissent internally, what are the odds that this has gotten a fair review? We have no way to know at present. Is a month or two really that long to wait to ensure our safety and security?
Categories: Politics
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Closing Jinx -or- Bringing Down the House
Well, we closed out our show at Patio Playhouse. "Chicken Every Sunday" closed out to an oversold house. Apparently, we decided to sell the seats normally reserved for our concessions and box office volunteers. Fortunately, they had all seen it. This was by far the most eager to laugh audience we had during the run, so it was a good way to close it out. And, although nobody died or was even injured, we managed to keep our Sunday jinx run alive. There is a curtain that separates the lobby from the seating area. It also conceals the actors making stage right entrances. The former is important during matinees because, if anyone opens the door, sunlight streams in. The latter for obvious reasons. So, it was truly unfortunate that it came down halfway through Act II. It was not something easily fixed, so we had an assortment of volunteers hold the loose end of a fairly heavy and wide canvas backed curtain up as high as they could for the rest of Act II and all of Act III!
We have some set construction folks stopping by this week for the next show. A few of us got together and engineered a solution that ought to prevent a recurrence. We are going to have 3/4 inch pipe bracketed to the walls on either side of the entrance. The curtain will be hung with rings looped through grommets. Take that!
For my next trick, I will be in a musical review while co-directing a youth theater show. Both are listed on the front page of the Patio website. The challenging part is that the performances and rehearsals overlap! After that, I'm taking a break until the summer musical, "Guys and Dolls"! (I'm going for one of the Guys.)
Categories: Entertainment, Personal
Friday, February 17, 2006
Friday morning donuts
Ok, so it's an old Foliage tradition and I don't really work there any more, but it is still a fond memory. Every Friday, someone was tasked with picking up a couple dozen donuts and bagels, and a bucket o' munchkins. I even got to do it for a while. So, in memory of that, a donut quiz!
| You Are a Powdered Devil's Food Donut |
 A total sweetheart on the outside, you love to fool people with your innocent image. On the inside you're a little darker, richer, and more complex. You're a hedonist who demands more than one pleasure at a time. Decadent and daring, you test the limits of human indulgence. |
Categories: Poll, Meme Read More......
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Today's Exercise in Self Loathing
So, my friend Kerri pointed me to one of those self knowledge type applets. This one is called a Johari Window. It was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingram, hence the name. The way it works is that you select six adjectives for yourself from the grid. Then you have all your friends select six for you. Then we see how your self-knowledge matches with others' perceptions of you. There are four quadrants of results: Arena - the area of overlap, Facade - Things you believe about yourself that nobody else sees, Blind spots - Things others see that you don't, and Unknown - neither you nor any participants thus far have selected these. Here is my Johari window. By clicking the link, you will be taken to a page where your adjectives for me will be recorded. Then you will have a button to press to see how others voted.
There is also an insidious inversion of this. In the inverted version, you pick the person's weaknesses. I chose five for myself here. I think these are both masochistic in their own way. To contribute to the pain, click on my Nohari window.
Categories: Poll, Meme, Personal
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
This Week's Jinx
Well, we had a Sunday performance again this week and again something went awry. I am actually nervous about closing Sunday. I realize I'm being silly and superstitious, but that makes three Sundays in a row that things something screwy has happened to mess with the show. We've had a cancellation to illness, and actor not show, and now, we can add an elderly gentleman collapsing near the end of Act I. Fortunately, he seemed to be all right when the EMTs wheeled him out. They wheeled him in a sitting position and he was upright. They thing it was a diabetic low sugar reaction, but they took him to the hospital just to be safe. So, we had a 30 minute intermission instead of a 15. At least nobody died. We also got another good review!
Categories: Personal, Entertainment, SanDiego
Monday, February 13, 2006
Next Time We Do Christmas in Colorado...
I found the shirt I am going to wear. I'm going to wear it every day and to every event. I think it will settle, once and for all, the issue of whether or not I am saved. Observe:
Categories: Personal, Humor
Friday, February 10, 2006
Meet the new boss...
So, the GOP are cleaning house, eh? They have a new majority leader in the House. They have other new leaders as well, but the majority leader is the guy who has what it takes to clean things up in the House! Honest. Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, we salute you! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...
For those who don't want to follow the link, allow me to 'splain. No, there is no time. Allow me to sum up. Boehner is renting an apartment from a lobbyist. Read that again. You know those influence peddlers who he is planning to sweep out of Congress? He writes a check to one every month. It's not illegal as he is paying market rate for his rent, unlike Duke Cunningham and his defense contractor yacht. So, why am I upset? Oh, I don't know. His landlord happens to lobby on issues that come before the committee that Boehner is the chair of. Boehner's spokesperson insists that there is nothing unethical and that Milne, the landlord has not lobbied Boehner on any of his issues.
What a strange coincidence, then, that Boehner co-sponsored the Small Business Tax Fairness Act, which Milne was hired by Buca di Beppo to lobby for. He also helped write what evolved into the Economic Security and Worker Assistance Act. This was lobbied for by Fortis insurance, which is, surprise surprise, another Milne client. Now, while it is not always true that where there's smoke, there's fire, it's certainly a good place to look. And if Boehner really wants to clean things up, then he needs to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Sorry, John, but you're gonna have to find a new place to live.
Categories: Politics, Rant
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Another Openin', Another Show
Well, we're at it again. We've put two weekends behind us for our latest production, Chicken Every Sunday. So far, every show has been sold out. That's pretty unheard of for this theater. The show has not been without it's bumps and bruises, though. Much of the cast has gotten pretty ill during the run. We actually had to cancel the Sunday performance of opening weekend because our leading lady had no voice and we don't use understudies. Three performers even had to wear body microphones for the whole second weekend because their voices were so weak. Then, this past Sunday, one of our actors missed the show entirely. He thought it was an evening show, not a matinee. And he had his cell phone turned off, so all our calls to him went for naught. One of our props guys, who is actually a pretty talented actor in his own right had to go on. He studied his lines during Act I as he didn't come on until Act II. He had the script with him for two of his scenes, but he never looked at it. He did the character quite well, too. I have renamed the show "Jinxes Every Sunday" and am wondering what will happen this week. In spite of it all, we got a pretty good review! Maya got written up as a "scene stealer", while the wife and I just get mentions. But that is appropriate for our characters. None of us has terribly huge parts and the fact that the reviewer feels that we all add life to the show is a very good thing!
Categories: Personal, Entertainment
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Rainy Season? What Rainy Season?
Here in San Deigo, December to February is considered the rainy season. We're basically a desert climate with an average annual rainfall of about 5.6 inches from July to the beinning of February. Imagine my surprise when it seemed to always be raining during my first year here. Every time someone visited me, it was raining. "I thought you said the weather here was good!" they lamented. From July to January, we got 13.4 inches of rain. For the full year from July to June, we got 22.5 inches! I was told not to get used to it. I was told it was an aberration. And I'm beginning to believe them. The grand total thus far from July to now? 1.3 inches. The real test is coming, though. My folks are going to be here in a couple weeks. Any predictions as to how many inches of rain we get during their stay?
Categories: SanDiego, Personal
So, What'd I Miss?
I did not get to watch the Super Bowl this year. We had a matinee performance and then I had a youth theater rehearsal that I had to run that evening. In addition, I have bronchitis, my wife has bronchitis, and Josh has pink-eye. So, I haven't been online much since last Friday. C'est la guerre. So, tell me, what were the good commercials? I DVRd the game so I could watc the good ones, but I gotta know which ones they are.
Categories: Personal, Poll
Thursday, February 02, 2006
An Adventurer Is You!
I have a new addiction and I think some of you will, too. It's an incredibly silly online adventure game called Kingdom of Loathing. The name does not do it justice. If features silly stick figure art, lots of bad puns, and amusing cultural references. It also has some built in limitations to prevent you from playing constantly...
Categories: Humor, Gaming
There are six character classes in KoL, and these reveal much about the style and flavor of the game:
You only adventure one character at a time, but are allowed to have multiple characters, as long as you are not using them all to bulk up one character. To that end, I have thus far tried a Disco Bandit, a Sauceror, and a Pastamancer, in that order. There's always plenty of amusing stuff to read at every turn. Even the level descriptions are funny. I started out as a Funk Footpad, but have worked my way up to Sample Swindler with my Bandit. The levels are silly, the weapons are silly, and the monsters are especially silly. I've encountered Sabre Toothed Limes, Knob Goblins, Booze Giants, and Bread Golems.
This game does not use gold as its currency. Oh no. The way to buy things in game is with meat. Meat has other uses, as well. Mash 10 meat up and you've got meat paste. Meat paste can be used to stick thins together. I used several wads of meat paste and assorted items and made a Bitchin' Meatcar. (You need it so you can go on vacation.) Combine 100 meat and you get a meat stack. Meat stacks can be used in meatsmithing. 1000 meat is a dense meat stack, for those higher quality items.
Each encounter that has the chance to net you something costs 1 adventure. On your first day you get 80 adventures. After that, you get 40 per day. But it is possible to get more. Eating food gets you more adventures as well as possible stat gains. However, there is a limit to the amount of food you can eat daily. The more complex the food, the more adventures it yields. For example, eat a tomato and you'll only get one adventure. Combine that tomato with an EZ bake oven and awad of dough and you have a plain pizza, worth 3 adventures. Add a knob sausage to the pizza and bake, and you have a sausage pizza worth 10 adventures and a few points of strengthliness or muscleboundedness. All characters can bake simple food items. Saucerors and Pastamancers each have special foodmaking skills that enhance the basic food. They'll need to work together to make the pr0n chow mein which will net you 16-23 adventures plus some assorted substat bumps.
Don't worry if cooking ain't your thing. Booze also grants adventures as well as drunkenness. You can continue adventuring as long as your drunkenness is 14 or less. If you go over and try to adventure, bad things will happen to you. All characters can mix drinks, but you need to be a Disco Bandit or an Accordion Thief to mix the good stuff. Again, the benefits increase with the complexity. A beer will get you 1 adventure. Boxed wine will get you 3. Mix that wine with a strawberry and you get strawberry wine, worth 3-6 plus some Moxie. Put the strawberry wine in a coconut shell and you've got a pink pony, for 10-14 adventures, some muscle and some moxie. The descriptions of what happens when you use the item are pretty good, too. Here's what happens when you drink strawberry wine:
You drink the strawberry wine. You're reminded of the time Old Man Boone tried to touch you in an inappropriate way behind the granary.
Y'know, because it's totally inappropriate to touch somebody behind the granary.
If that doesn't make you laugh, then this is not the game for you.
The gear is equally silly. I'm currently stylin' with my disco fro pick and wielding a Gnollish plunger. I picked it up at Degrassi Knoll.
They also have clans in the game, though I haven't otten that far. Apparently, clans offer you various benfits in return for in game contributions. Perhaps if a bunch of us start playing we can form a silly clan of some sort or other.
This may sound overwhelming, but the extra adventures on day 1 are to help you get oriented. Just go to Mount Noob and visit the Toot Oriole. He'll give you step by step instructions to learn the game. There are also some help sites for the game. The two best I've found are The Kingdom of Loathing Coldfront and Visual KoL Wiki.
If you feel like joining me in the game, let me know what your character's names are. I have:
briwei - Disco Rogue
Gibletz - Sauceror
KidKugel - Pastamancer
I may try some others later, but that's enough for now. Join me. There's plenty of meat for everyone!
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!
Ok, these aren't particularly strange changes, but I've been starting to tweak the site. I've added tags, compressed the archive into a drop down menu, and moved the lengthy "About Me" behind a link. I'll probably put a "Categories" box in once I have caught up on my tags somewhat and maybe a "Favorite Posts" box. Any others thoughts or comments on layout by you, the consumer?
Read More......Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Coincidence? Yes.
Two significant events happened yesterday. I suppose they could be considered ironic. Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King died yesterday. On the same day, Samuel Alito was sworn in as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. We lost a great leader for civil rights and elevated a great opponent of civil rights. You know what? That's not ironic. It's tragic.
Categories: Politics, SocialCommentary
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Tag! You're it.
So, as you may have noticed in the last post, I have finally caught up to last year's cutting edge blog trend, category tags. I'm going to use them going forward and they'll appear at the end of the post under the clever heading "Categories". I'm also going to retrofit my older posts a little at a time. That way, when you need a dose of Karma, there's an easy link to collect all her exploits. In fact, I'll probably tackle those first! If you have category suggestions, fire away.
Categories: Blogging
Monday, January 30, 2006
Why Jews Hate Christmas
So, my friend Kerri had something amusing happen to her recently and we chatted about it over IM. It does relate to the subject line, really. But we don't hate Christmas, really. We'd just be justified if we did. Go read Kerri's tale and then come back here and tell me how amused you are. And how much you crave jello cheese.
Categories: Humor, Judaism
Friday, January 27, 2006
Wine Snobs Rejoice!
I know there are a few of you out there. You know how to taste wine and describe it in all the right terms. You have tasting parties and rate different varietals. You know when to have a Riesling and when to have a Chardonnay. You probably even think the bumper sticker "Life is a Cabernet" is funny. (Actually, I think that one is pretty funny myself.) Well, it's time to take it to the next level. Enter Crush Pad. They are a professional winery that lets individuals and groups come in and make their own wine in their facilities. This is a very high end operation. There are 30 wine making decisions you have control over during the process, but don't fret. You have access to a professional winemaker for consultation. Some of the questions you'll be answering are: What varietal do you want to make? Do you want to keep the free run juice separate from the press wine? Do you want to allow, encourage or block the malolactic fermentation? When all is said and done, you'll have 25 cases of wine with your own custom designed label. It'll run you between $13 and $23 a bottle, or about four to six grand. That's a pretty high price to pay to have Pat say "This tastes like ass!", but it might just be worth it.
Categories: Hobbies, Do-it-yourself
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Market Analysis Mumbo Jumbo
I really wish I understood the stock market better. It seems like the country is run by the market. Possibly even the world. We use it to justify all sorts of decisions. "We can't tax businesses because the market is down" or "We have to allow lenders to make loans that are almost certain to ruin people so because the market is down". And we have analysts who are supposed to keep close tabs on companies and make recommendations as to whether or not you should buy a stock. About two weeks ago, a report came out saying that analyst Stifel Nicolaus had downgraded a stock I'm interested in. Before the comment, the stock was at 40.19. After the announcement, there was no news out of the company or a week. The price crept down to 38.21. Since that day, news has come out of good performance in both the company and the sector. It's trading right now at 45 and they haven't even announced the fourth quarter numbers yet. So, I guess what I'm saying is WTF? In the absence of news, analysts influence the markets directly based on their secret formulas, but if this one was wrong, how many others were wrong? And people are making financial decisions based on this? Spaghetti-monster help us all.
Categories: Rant, SocialCommentary
Friday, January 20, 2006
ENoB Number 9. Number 9. Number 9.
You say you want a revolution? Well, you know. Today's weighty philosophical discussion comes from...me! Well, nobody had any suggestions, so I had to dredge my brain and come up with something to keep this regular feature alive. It's so hard to stay out of those minefields known as religion and politics in a feature like this. I mean, I could go the sports prediction route. You know, make a couple of football statistical predictions and then ask the magical ENoB. With that, you get to have a right and wrong. But who wants black and white? My world has infinite shades of gray. Let's go with entertainment this week. We've all heard the flap about "Brokeback Mountain". Hollywood is trying to turn us all gay. The outrage will probably only boost ticket sales. But I want you to answer to these statements. "I would like to see the movie." "I think the people protesting the movie need to get a life." Either, Neither, or Both. As always, I'll wait until we have a few responses before I weigh in. Wouldn't want to bias the poll with my overwhelming force of personality. ;-)
Categories: SocialCommentary, Poll
Thursday, January 19, 2006
The First BriWise Song Challenge?
Ok. I was thinking that, after the response to Deeply Irresponsible that I ought to have a contest here. But what should the prize be? If we are going to have a contest here at BriWise, there ought to be a decent prize. Is public adulation enough? Maybe the prize is that I will record and release the song onto the net. What do you think?
Categories: Contest, Poll
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Pandora Rocks!
Ok, this is review for most of you, but one or two of my readers don't read ULev or Aces Full. I know, it's hard to believe. But given that it is true, and given how cool Pandora is, I had to post about it myself. I'm not going to go into the same level of detail as Chuck does. Not when a link does just as nicely. The short form is that you enter an artist or a song and Pandora looks in its database for the song. Based on what it sees, it finds songs with similar characteristics. You can set a channel up with one or more artists or songs. As the station plays, you tell it which songs you like and which you don't. It analyzes the attributes of each and evolves to give you more of what you want and less of what you don't. It's not perfect. It doesn't have classical, latin, or world music. But what it does have, it does pretty well.
Categories: Entertainment, Website
Colorado Photos
So, my brother-in-law Daniel is much better at putting timely content on his blog than I am at putting timely content on mine. Many's the time I've posted about a picture I'm going to send or a story I'm going to write. You often don't see it for six months. Well, you are in luck. In spite of the fact that he took ten times as many photos as I did and maybe more, he has posted the photos from the family Colorado trip. There is some overlap, so you can look at his pictures and we can all pretend I was prompt. Follow this link to see the family oriented photographs. The link under each picture opens to a thumbnail gallery. Daniel is an excellent photographer. When you are done looking at those pictures, I encourage you to look at his urban wanderings photos. You're welcome.
Categories: Personal, Photos
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Thanks, Maya
So, we were sitting in the office Sunday night playing a game with the kids. The game is Gulo Gulo, by the way. Not important to the story, but a good game to play with kids and adults. Anyway, Josh was talking about his friend Jalen's birthday party which is coming up this weekend. There was no way we were going to have time to shop, so we hit upon the idea of giving Jalen one of Joshua's Hanukkah present duplicates. We hadn't returned them and we bought him a personal DVD player instead. He had forgotten about the gifts and the DVD more than made up for the returns, so, those were sort of in the gift pool. I said to Josh, "How about if we get Jalen a Spiderman lego set like the one you have?" Josh thought about it for a second and said "Wa-hoooooo!" He was in a bit of a hyper mood. And then Maya chimed in "You mean like the present of Josh's we returned?" I glared and shushed her. Somehow, she felt she hadn't quite been helpful enough yet. "Ohhhhhhh. You mean we haven't returned it yet." Thanks, Maya.
Categories: Personal, Kids
Friday, January 13, 2006
Hi, Fox News? I'm an idiot. Can I have a job?
Ok. I was walking out of the cafeteria here at work. They installed TVs so we can have FOX News piped in all day. I know. Yay. What would you guess they were running? The tragedy in Mecca? Sharon not coming out of his coma? The Alito hearings? Heck, even the emperor's reconstruction trip to New Orleans? Nope. They title on the bottom of the screen? "Kong V$ Gay Cowboys". That's right, the incredibly newsworthy issue of a movie about homosexuals doing well. Apparently, they are trying to say that Kong got unfair reviews and is not getting the buzz of Brokeback because of the secret homosexual agenda. I didn't stay for very long. Just long enough to watch the liberal fodder pointing out that the conservative expert was not using facts to defend his point. *sigh*
Categories: Rant, Politics
Fall Seven Times, ENoB Eight
This is getting to be a challenge. Feel free to private mail me with topics for this in the future. I'm a software engineer, which makes me lazy by nature, but I like the idea of a regular feature and want to keep it going. I hink I want to get away from religion for a bit. It's too controversial. Let's talk politics, instead! Samuel Alito is on his way to the Supreme Court unless something really shocking happens. There's a lot of posturing going on this week, but ever since Bork, nominees pretty much say little to sink themselves if they make it to the hearings. We've shifted from a burden of the nominee proving suitable to the Senate proving the nominee unsuitable. And in these days of blind party loyalty on both sides, it is increasingly less likely that either side is going to betray their own. So, what kind of ground rules should there be for a confirmation that is sure to have great impact on the lives of majority and minority alike? Should a nominee be required to answer specifics items about their background? Should hypotheticals be allowed in order to better understand a nominee's philosophy? Either. Neither. Or both?
Categories: Poll, Politics
Thursday, January 12, 2006
A Little More Hanukkah
At James' advice, I am forcing myself to leave the angst behind and see what happens. So, all of the holiday blogging has put a preponderance of Hanukkah and other Jewish words on my web page. This has had the effect of having all manner of Judaica being marketed in my Google Ads. I click on them from time to time to see what kind of stuff they have and today, I found one I am actually going to buy! The LeeVees are an indie band made up of Jewish members of a couple other indie bands. They have recorded an album of Hanukkah songs! This is not your average novelty album. While I love Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song", it is not particularly musical. The LeeVees are musicians first and comedians second. So, the gags aren't as overt, but the songs are better. They ask the musical question that Chuck over at ULev has lamented in "How Do You Spell Channukkahh". There's also an amusing comparison between celebratory styles called "My Goyim Friends". In all, there are four songs you can listen to on their site. They kind of remind me of Barenaked Ladies. I heartily recommend them.
Read More......Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Back in the Saddle
Ok. I've returned from vacation. I've caught up on work mail. I've caught up on personal mail. I've read through all the blog posts I missed whilst away. I've commented on many of them such that my friends cannot possibly miss the fact that I am in town. I've mostly caught up on work. So, why the hell haven't I blogged? It's a curious question and no doubt has many answers. I have plenty to say. How many of you have ever known me to be at a loss for words? Perhaps I have too much to say and can't decide where to start. That's undoubtedly true, but why should it be so hard to resume regardless. I've had too much to say before and managed to post. Some things fell by the wayside because they lost their relevance due to inaction, but still. I've posted. I think as I've typed this, I've hit upon the reason. Fear. Fear of what, you may ask? Well, this isn't exactly an anonymous forum for me. And some of the things I want most to blog about, to enlist the aid of my community on, probably shouldn't be on a public web page. Were I in a more joking mood, I suppose I might quip on the problems of celebrity. Sorry to return so melancholy, but there it is. When life gives you lemons, post an angst ridden cryptic message to your blog.
Read More......Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Lucky ENoB 7
I think it's time to lighten up the ENoB discussion for a bit. Let's talk Christmas. ;-) Everyone celebrates it in one fashion or another. The religious go to church and rejoice in the birth of their savior. The secular spend time with family and celebrate their blessings. The pagans have Yule. The Jews get together and go out for Chinese food. Fact is, the country more or less closes down and so people take time out from their normal grind, even if it is just for a couple of days. So, which is your preferred method of observance? Do you like to stay local and enjoy friends and immediate family? Do you like to travel and see those distant from you? And by travel, I mean spend at least one night sleeping away from home. Or do you prefer a combination? Split your celebration time between remote and local? Either, neither, or both?
Read More......Monday, December 19, 2005
The Most Famous Reindeer of All
So, we picked Josh up at school on Friday. He had some paper reindeer antlers on his head and his nose had some bright red face paint on it. "Who are you supposed to be?" I asked him, even though I knew the answer. He stuck his chin out proudly and told me. "I'm Redolph the rude nosed reindeer!"
Read More......Friday, December 16, 2005
The Difference Between Christmas and Hanukkah
Disclaimer: This is not meant to be serious. I realize there are real and substantive differences between the two holidays and faiths. I also realize some people are sensitive about this sort of thing. If you are offended, I apologize. If you are mock-offended, I mock-apologize.
1. Christmas is one day, same day every year, December 25. Jews also love December 25th. It's another paid day off work. We go to movies and out for Chinese food and Israeli dancing.
Chanukah is 8 days. It starts the evening of the 24th of Kislev, whenever that falls. No one is ever sure. Jews never know until a non-Jewish friend asks when Chanukah starts, forcing us to consult the calendar so we don't look like idiots. We all have the same calendar, provided free with a donation from the World Jewish Congress, the kosher butcher, the local Sinai Memorial Chapel (especially in Florida) or other Jewish funeral home.
2. Christmas is a major holiday. It's easily in the top 5 in Christianity.
Chanukah is a minor holiday that probably wouldn't crack the top ten. It has the same theme as most Jewish holidays. They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat.
3. Christians get wonderful presents such as jewelry, perfume, stereos.
Jews get practical presents such as underwear, socks, or the collected works of the Rambam, which looks impressive on the bookshelf.
4. There is only one way to spell Christmas.
No one can decide how to spell Chanukah, Chanukkah, Chanukka, Channukah, Hanukah, Hannukah, etc.
5. Christmas is a time of great pressure for husbands and boyfriends. Their partners expect special gifts.
Jewish men are relieved of that burden. No one expects a diamond ring on Chanukah.
6. Christmas brings enormous electric bills.
Candles are used for Chanukah. Not only are we spared enormous electric bills, but we get to feel good about not contributing to the energy crisis.
7. Christmas carols are beautiful...Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful.
Chanukah songs are about dreidels made from clay or having a party and dancing the hora. Of course, we are secretly pleased that many of the beautiful carols were composed and written by our tribal brethren. And don't Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond sing them beautifully?
8. A home preparing for Christmas smells wonderful. The sweet smell of cookies and cakes baking. Happy people are gathered around in festive moods.
A home preparing for Chanukah smells of oil, potatoes, and onions. The home, as always, is full of loud people all talking at once.
9. Christian women have fun baking Christmas cookies.
Jewish women burn their eyes and cut their hands grating potatoes and onions for latkas on Chanukah. Another reminder of our suffering through the ages.
10. The players in the Christmas story have easy to pronounce names such as Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.
The players in the Chanukah story are Antiochus, Judah Maccabee, and Matta whatever. No one can spell it or pronounce it. On the plus side, we can tell our friends anything and they believe we are wonderfully versed in our history.
11. Many Christians believe in the virgin birth.
Jews think, "Yossela, Bubela, snap out of it. Your woman is pregnant, you didn't sleep with her, and now you want to blame G-d? Here's the number of my shrink".
12. In recent years, Christmas has become more and more commercialized.
The same holds true for Chanukah, even though it is a minor holiday. It makes sense. How could we market a major holiday such as Yom Kippur? Forget about celebrating. Think observing. Come to synagogue, starve yourself for 27 hours, become one with your dehydrated soul, beat your chest, confess your sins, a guaranteed good time for you and your family. Tickets a mere $200 per person.
Better stick with Chanukah!
Thursday, December 15, 2005
The Injustice Department
Courtesy of the Washington Post comes this story about more of the administration's political appointees at work. Apparently, they have been stripping dissent out of voting rights issues that have come before the DoJ. States with a history of discrimination have to get voting rights legislation precleared before they can even vote on it. The DoJ is supposed to look at it and determine if minorities would be disenfranchised. Under the DoJ's watchful eye, the
Texas redistricting was allowed to move forward, as was a Georgia law requiring voters to show driver's licenses to be allowed to vote. These were sharply criticized by many DoJ employees who investigated them. Their dissent was stripped out of the final report, and the appointees OKed them. Fortunately, the courts have declared the Georgia one unconstitutional. Let's hope the judiciary committee takes up the Texas redistricting.
Back To The Front
I have returned from the wedding in Florida and caught up on work, e-mail, and blog reading. It was unseasonably cold and the wedding was outdoors, but a ood time was had by all! I'll write it up at some nebulous unspecified date. Which means you'll never see it. ;-) Now I can resume my personal War on Christmas. Sorry. I know I need to let it go. It's just become so pervasive. I'm tired of being told that I have some secret agenda to stomp out Jesus. Well, in another month, it'll all be over. Then we'll need a new reason why the Christian majority is being marginalized. Until then, Merry Christmas!
Read More......Friday, December 09, 2005
ENoB VI - Six neithers laying
Well, I'm off for the weekend and may or may not have any posts until Tuesday. I'm going to Orlando for my good friend Allen's (Rabbi Moyshe) wedding. No, he's not really a rabbi, but we have been know in years past as "The Rappin' Rabbis", so it fits. Feel free to keep the comment threads going and I'll weigh in when I can.
In the meantime, here is this week's ENoB... It's inspired by a somewhat scary bumper decal that I saw on my way in to work this morning. It had the silhouette of a cross and the words "Pray. Obey. And Trust." surrounding it. I searched the web for an image to no avail. It didn't scare me because of the cross. I have no problem with people displaying their faith or beliefs. There's nothing wrong with being proud of who you are. This is different however. By putting this on their car, they are hoping you will read it and somehow be transformed to their way of thinking. And this particular sentiment is creepy. Pray to God, obey those with authority over you, and trust unquestioningly. It's mindless sloganeering and more of the whole dissent is treason pap.
Now, it's not scary to me because I think it will convince someone. I don't. As a good friend once said, "You can't convince anyone from the back of your bumper." If you see it and agree, you'll likely honk in support or at least have a warm feeling inside. If you disagree, it'll make you mad or disgusted or somesuch. It's just another easy way for the puppeteers to foment division and polarization.
So, the question this week (which is not as well formed as I'd like it to be) is: Bumper stickers and window decals; Divisive? Entertaining? Either. Neither. Or Both.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
More Toilet Humor
Quite literally this time. I did a major bathroom cleaning over the weekend. Josh's accuracy still leaves a bit to be desired so I find I have to clean more often. I decided to make things a little easier on myself and got one of those in-the-tank cleansing tablets. I plopped them in the tank right before we went out and forgot about it.
When we got home I heard a shout from the bathroom. Maya came running out. "What happened to the toilet?" she asked. She ran to the other bathroom and flushed. "What happened to our toilets!" She was a little panicked. "What do you mean?" I asked her, having forgotten my cleaning activities. "The water," she began, "is all blue!" I barely managed to keep a straight face. "It wasn't." I lied. "What did you do to it?" She was frantic. "I didn't do anything, Daddy!" Her mother likewise kept up the ruse. "Oh my goodness! It wasn't like that when we left."
Maya looked from one to the other of us with real concern on her face. The toilets were blue. "Wait a minute," she said. She walked over to the sink and slowly turned the handle, peering very closely at the spout. Clear water came out. "Whew!" she said. I couldn't hold it any more and laughed. "What's so funny?" I motioned her over to the toilet and took the lid off the tank. "I put that blue tablet in earlier. It helps keep it clean."
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Religious Conflicts Start Early
I used to have hope for the future. I used to believe that much of the intolerance and hate was from the older generation and that as the younger generation came into their own, it would star to go away. I am less certain of that nowadays. Children seem to be indoctrinated into intolerance at an early age. Perhaps it is just another part of children establishing social hierarchy. Dunno. I'm seeing it more now because Maya is in public school. When she was homeschooled, she tended to be around children whose parents had a somewhat different mindset. Some of the encounters with her schoolmates have been amusing. The latest one has been very upsetting to her, though...
She was at school last week when a girl named Lynnette asked her if she believed in God. She knew Maya was Jewish. Maya said that she did. Lynnette asked, "Well, do you believe in Jesus Christ?" Maya said no. "Then you don't believe in God." Lynnette replied smugly. Maya insisted that she did, but Lynnette just reiterated her points.
When Maya told me about it, she was practically in tears. Having been picked on for a variety of reasons including my faith when I was a child, my heart went out to her. She was upset because she didn't like how Lynnette was treating her, but also because she had nobody there to stick up for her and she didn't know what to say. I had a few suggestions. "Tell her 'I don't poke holes in your mythology. Don't criticize mine.' or how about 'You are using an unproven premise to support your conclusion. Circular reasoning is a very ineffective debate technique.' " My wife stepped in with a less antagonistic suggestion, "Just ignore her. You don't need her permission to believe in God."
I hope that works, but I was struck by how young the proselytizing can start. I have no problem with anyone believing in their religion. However, just because YOU believe it does not make it a fact. And trying to control other people based on religion is why the world is as screwed up as it is right now. I think that is why I'm so reactionary to majority religions displaying symbology on public property. It's just one more thing to make kids want to conform. Now, a Christmas tree is a far cry from a frieze of the crucifixion, but how do you define the line?
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
It's another silly meme quiz!
| Sun King You scored 26 shyness, 13 bitterness, 62 moral, and 37 eccentric! |
| You are the Sun King, from Abbey Road! You are probably very popular within your circle of friends. You are calm, collected, and wise, but you also have a tremendous sense of humor. You party and have fun, but you don't neglect your responsibilities. "Here comes the sun king Everybody's laughing Everybody's happy Here comes the sun king" |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Beatles Song Character Test written by medical_cannoli. |
Monday, December 05, 2005
Chin up, lad
Just thought I'd post the latest in my health and fitness accomplishments. In addition to losing nearly 30 lbs, I am now able to do unaided chin-ups! In the past, I have needed to use a fitness machine that counters some of your weight so that you can do the exercise. I was only able to do three sets of two chin-ups, but I was able to do them. Never before in my life have I been able to do unaided chin-ups. So, woo hoo!
Read More......Remember the time we...
I'm swiping this off Wombat's blog, but he told me to, so it's ok. Today's fun assignment is to post a memory of you and me. The catch is that this memory must be of something that never happened! :) So, yeah, it's a silly writing exercise and a lazy cop-out of a blog post, but that's what I feel like today. So there!
Read More......Friday, December 02, 2005
ENoB V - One for the thumb
For this week's ENoB, we delve into that minefield that is the holiday season. We are living in a time when large groups of people are offended by the words "Merry Christmas" and an equal number feel oppressed by "Happy Holidays", yet both sides want to express good will and cheer. Quite a paradox. And it's pretty much everywhere. Check out this article in the Union Tribune. Now, in my mind, private businesses have the right to do whatever they want to do. The moment you bring government property or sponsorship into it, you are bound by the establishment clause. For example, my employer has a Christmas tree in the lobby of our offices. There is no menorah. No Kwanzaa symbols. And that is fine by me. It's his company. He can do as he sees fit. There is no law that says "wherever you find a Christian symbol, you must pair it with those of other religions". It does not harm me or my family in any tangible way. On the flip side, when the City of Encinitas holds a city parade, and calls it The Encinitas Christmas Parade, that is a problem. It suggests that Christianity has specific legal status over and above other religions. It uses public resources to celebrate a religious holiday. I think the problem is that we have two Christmases and they overlap. There is a secular one and a religious one, but it is impossible to separate them. But we need to narrow this phenomenon down to a single question. Tricky. I think secular, religious, or both is too easy. Let's go with the political angle. Are attempts to restrict the government's use of Christian religious symbology an "assault on Christianity"? A fair and reasonable enforcement of he separation of church and state? Either, neither, or both?
Read More......Thursday, December 01, 2005
So, You Wanna...
It doesn't matter what you wannna do. Odds are there is some documentation somewhere on it. And that's kind of the motif of this site. It's like an abridged "For Dummies" collection that is free and online. The topics are all over the map. There are fitness related ones, such as SoYouWanna Tone and Flatten Your Abs and SoYouWanna Run a Marathon. There are bizarre ones like SoYouWanna Get a Ferret. There are even career practical ones, like SoYouWanna Get a Short Story Published In the ones I sampled, the advice was simplistic and straightforward. This is not a place to go if you have already read extensively on the subject. But it does look like a good jumping off point. It will get you mind going in the right direction and sometimes give you links to more.
Read More......Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Interesting New IM Network
It's called IMVU. I'm posting about it because it reminds me of something a friend from the past had come up with as a business idea. She had wanted to create an IM< network built on cartoonish avatars with different emotions and animations. We were going to start a company. I think I still have the shares of stock somewhere. :) This one looks like a glorified teenage style hookup network from the style of the animations and the ones displayed prominently on the home page. However, for the graphically inclined, it may offer the possibility of a little income as the developers "sell" instances of the skins to anyone who finds them appealing. I may check it out from this angle. I think I'm past the "hot inernet hookup" phase of my life, assuming I ever had one.
Read More......Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Duke's Denouement
Well, it's official. Escondido's Representative to Congress, the guy I voted against, has resigned. This resignation came on the heels of his guilty plea to a raft of political corruption charges. I may have mentioned him some time back. He's the guy who sold his house to a defense contractor for hundreds of thousands of dollars over market value. The contractor then sold it at a loss. In exchange, Duke got the contractor's company some defense contracts. The contractor has since sold the company, likely recouping the loss and then some. Duke is probably going to jail and it's about damn time. He's been getting away with this for years. And who always got outraged when people called him on it. I'm most amused by the comments I saw in my local paper. A variety of on the street comments. The Democrat and Independent both viewed this as a sad thing, but also an 'about time' thing. The Republicans were all impressed with his character in coming clean. They were disappointed in his actions and in some cases surprised, but at least he was acting honorably. So, this thing dragged on for over a year. Someone else could have been representing us in his stead. He has been vociferously denying his guilt. And now that he has seen exactly how much evidence they have on him, he is willing to make a plea. He may get a lighter sentence if he gives up his co-conspirators. Yeah. That's some impressive character. Thbbbbbbbt!
Read More......Monday, November 28, 2005
Telling you more than you wanted to know...
We had an amusing exchange in the car with Maya last night as we drove back from a dinner party.
Maya: Mom? Dad? You know what I like about our family?
Me: What, honey?
Maya: When you fart, nobody makes a big deal out of it. Nobody says 'Ewwwwww! You farted.' And I think that's good.
This is what she likes about our family?!? *sigh*
Friday, November 25, 2005
ENoB IV - The Goblet of Ire
For this week's ENoB, we are going to delve into everyone's favorite punching bag, the pharmaceutical industry. This time we aren't looking for an adjective, we are assessing blame. Ironically, neither of the two targets I am offering up for blame is Glaxo, even though they are the root cause. Back in March, Glaxo ran afoul of the FDA for failing to adhere to the GMP (good manufacturing practices). Paxil CR was taken off the market until Glaxo could resolve the manufacturing issues. The FDA issued a press release. The first indication for many taking the medication that something was amiss was that they went to pick up a refill and were told that the pharmacy didn't have any. In fact, none of the local pharmacies had any. What's more, they didn't know why. You now have a patient who needs anxiety meds anxious about the fact that they can't get them. Patient calls doctor. Doctor is surprised, too. So, whose responsibility is it to notify the consumer? The doctor and pharmacy both have information what medications their customers are using. Shouldn't one of them have noticed the press release and taken steps to notify the people who could be detrimentally affected? Or perhaps you think Glaxo is responsible. Or the consumer. In that case, your vote is neither. Pharmacy? Doctor? Either, Neither, or both?
Read More......Wednesday, November 23, 2005
The One With The Thanks
Since I won't be internet enabled starting at 4pm today and going until some time Friday evening, I figured I ought to do my Thanksgving post today. We are heading out to the mountains in Julian for what will be our second annual Thanksgiving holiday camping trip. Last year's is chronicled here. So, in no particular order, I am thankful for:
- My wonderful family, both near and far
- Great friends who have not forgotten me though I moved 3000 miles away
- The loyal readers of my blog
- An extra thank you to those who comment regularly.
Your feedback helps spur me on. - The good health and prosperity we enjoy
- Patio Playhouse, for giving me an outlet to get creative again
- An excellent job at a great company
- Weight Watchers
- The capacity to realize how good my life is
- The compassion to realize that others lives may not be so good and sometimes need my help
- The fact that those I omitted unintentionally from this list are understanding enough to know I appreciate them even though I didn't by name.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Now THIS is cool
Check out this story from the New York Times. It appears Warner Brothers is going to launch an internet video on demand service for old and canceled TV shows. There is no mention in the article of whether it will be a free or a pay service, but one article I saw said that each half-hour show will have two minutes of commercials that will not be skippable. Some titles mentioned include "Welcome Back Kotter", "La Femme Nikita", and "Babylon 5". The alleged reason the network is doing this is because "It wants to use the Internet to reach viewers rather than depend on the whims of cable networks and local TV stations." I say it is because they want to make money. But this seems like a fan friendly way of making money, so I'm not opposed to it. Could this be the future of television? We here at BriWise are taking a hopeful, wait-and-see approach.
Read More......Friday, November 18, 2005
ENoB III...in 3D!!!
We're going to tackle a more serious topic in this week's Either, Neither, or Both. Moderate Republicans have dealt the Bush Administration some setbacks of late. The ANWAR drilling has been put off as have budget cuts for programs targeting poorer Americans. Is this due to some newfound courage that has enabled them to stand up to the bullying of the exterme right wing of their party? Or have they merely realized that their seats are not as safe as they once thought they were? What do you think? Courage? Fear? Courage inspired by Fear? Either. Neither. Or Both.
Read More......Thursday, November 17, 2005
Does Ecology Trump Economy?
Over at OmniNerd, there is a really good article on whether or not there is an economic savings to owning a hybrid vehicle. It turns out, if all you are interested in is saving money, an economy car like a Corolla is likely better. Even though you save money on gas per month, this is more than offset by the premium you are paying for the hybrid technology. If you assume 15,000 miles per year, then you can get the number of gallons of gas you would use. So, a Prius has an average mpg of 55 and a Corolla has 36. So, you are buying 273 gallons of gas per year with the Prius and 417 with the Corolla. This is actually plotted on the site for a range of gas prices from $2.50 per gallon up to $10. As you can see, if we climb back to the high watermark of $3 per gallon, you are saving less than $1000 a year. It would take you around 10 years to catch up to the difference in the sticker price. Possibly more when you consider that there are never dealer incentives to move the hybrids as they are on back order. I guess it comes down to your goal. Are you trying to save money, gas, or some combination of the two? A Corolla or a Scion xA seems like a good compromise. While mid 30s in gas mileage is not great, you are still decreasing your consumption. Mind you, I'm still probably going to get an Insight or maybe a scooter. For those advocating diesel, that's not yet and option for cars here in CA. We don't have low sulfur diesel yet and without it, cars can't meet the emission requirements necessary to be sold in CA.
Read More......Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Deeply Irresponsible
This post is inspired by James over at Aces Full of Links. In the linked post, he talks about how Dubya feels it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite history. And the words started echoing in my head. Deeply Irresponsible. Deeply Irresponsible. And the guitars started rocking out. And I found myself singing...
Deeply Irresponsible
(with apologies to Robert Palmer)
How can he be the President
When he is barely sentient, yeah yeah
Incompetence so mythical
Is anything but typical
He can beat a dead horse, he'll compel you with force
And he can't change his mind so he'll just stay the course
He used to just make me ill, now I find him
Deeply irresponsible
Deeply irresponsible
His leadership is questionable, huh
It's simply inexcusable
The truth is irrefutable
The man is so impeachable
We can't count all his flaws, though he's given us cause.
And he wants some applause, which makes us all drop our jaws.
He used to just make me ill, now I find him
Deeply irresponsible
Deeply irresponsible
(Deeply irresponsible) It's a crime,
he's just runnin' up a deficit
(Deeply irresponsible) Such a slime, I wish that he would just go
He's unethical, he's dragged us all to hell
He gives me ulcers and post traumatical stress
He's trashing the country, we'll be cleaning his mess
He used to just make me ill, now I find him
(Deeply irresponsible) It's a crime,
he's just runnin' up a deficit
(Deeply irresponsible) Such a slime, I wish that he would just go
Do not misunderestimate
His syntax is not all that great, Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
I wish we didn't have to wait, huh
For him to move out in '08
He's a friend to the rich, should be digging a ditch
And I think you'll agree he's a son-of-a-bitch!
He used to just make me ill, now I find him
Deeply irresponsible
Deeply irresponsible
It's a crime, he's just runnin' up a deficit
(Deeply irresponsible) Such a slime, I wish that he would just go
It's a crime, he's just runnin' up a deficit
(Deeply irresponsible) Such a slime, I wish that he would just go
Deeply irresponsible
Monday, November 14, 2005
Here's a Bad Idea
Check this out. There's a traffic congestion problem in Southern California. You may have heard about it. Well, it is particularly bad between Riverside and Orange counties. Here is one of the proposed solutions. They was to dig an 11 mile long tunnel through the earthquake prone mountains! The tunnel would start within a mile of a fault that produced a 6.0 quake recently. Haven't they been saying that we are due for another big quake soon? I'll pass on that tunnel, thanks. And the best part? It's going to take something on the order of 25 years to build. Anyone want to lay odds on whether or not we'll have a damaging quake in that time frame? Perhaps mass transit, telecommuting, and remote offices would be better solutions.
(Hat tip to Robin for the link.)
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Just found a couple of cool blogs
You'll never guess who they belong to. Don't you hate when people say "You'll never guess"? Of course you won't. In those situations, there are far too many parameters. And how are you supposed to respond. Do you guess? You've just been told you never will. So, are you a glutton for punishment? Or do you just resent the implication? Other people might guess, but you, never. So, you start guessing. Once in a blue moon, you get it right, but usually, you just end up giving in. So. Sorry to put you all on the spot like that. Do NOT guess. I beg of you. I'll just tell you and we'll pretend I never said "you'll never guess"...
One of these blogs I just found. The other was sent my way by Robin, proprietor of Hearding Kittens. Robin found a blog called The Boy Who Heard Music. It appears to be a work of serial fiction written by Pete Townshend of The Who. I've started to read it an it looks bizarre and interesting. If you like The Who, this is probably worth a read.
I found Dilbert creator Scott Adams' blog on my own. His looks to be the more typical journal style blog, but imbued with his humor. I laughed out loud at both posts I read. I particularly liked his post on immortality.
I'll be adding both blogs to the roll.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Either, Neither, or Both II
In this weeks ENoB, we are turning to a new habit that my wife has developed. She actually asked me if it was cool or just annoying? And I wondered. Is it cool? Is it annoying? Is it both? I will of course wait for your views before weighing in. My wife has been learning Spanish, and is getting pretty good at it. She is trying to work with the kids on their Spanish so they can be fluent as well. Then they can talk about me without my understanding. ;-) At any rate, from time to time she will translate what I said, just after I said it, to the children. This translation occurs almost as soon as the words are out of my mouth. I understand some of what she says, which I should, since she is translating, but some of it I can't seem to grasp. So, playing interpreter for people who don't need it; annoying or cool? Either. Neither. Or Both.
Read More......Thursday, November 10, 2005
Please Clean Up After Your ____________
Fill in the blank. You know you want to. No, this is not another BriWise interactive quiz. Just giving you a chance to mentally fill it in before I tell my tale. You're thinking "Dog". Some of you might be thinking "Child", but dog is probably the more common answer. If I added context to it, such as "I was rollerblading on a paved path in a public park", dog would be reinforced. That's because of all the signs on the trails say "Please clean up after your dog." Why then, are there no signs reminding people to "please clean up after your horse"? After all, their mess is much larger and less likely to fall in some out of the way place. A dog will try to find a grassy spot to do his thing. A horse won't even stop walking...
You're putting it together, aren't you? I'm using some foreshadowing here. Rollerblades. Paved trail. Horse droppings. This can't be good. You may even think you know how all the pieces fit together, but wait! Let me tell you how it happened.
We had decided to go to the park for a little family exercise and picnic. My wife went earlier in the morning as the park was having a program to promote their horse trails and hiking trails. So, she went on a hike. We were to meet her there later with bikes and rollerblades where we could all exercise together. The park has a nice paved loop that goes around a lake. The loop is only three quarters of a mile, so it is manageable for the kids. My wife stayed with the kids since her legs were tired from the hike while I did a little blading. Their pace is somewhat slower than mine and she wanted me to have a chance to really exercise.
I set off down the steeper path the to trail. It's not super steep, but it is steep enough for someone not very coordinated. Someone like me. I didn't die. I didn't even fall. I wobbled a little and made my wife nervous, but that was all. I did a couple of miles solo and then helped Maya roller blade for a lap and a half. No injuries and only one minor fall for Maya. As we skated, she asked about my wrist guards. She had elbow and knee pads, so they were no mystery. But she didn't understand why I had the wrist guards. I sagely explained, "A lot of times when you fall forward or to the side, you use your hands to break the fall. The wrist guards help reduce breaks and scrapes. The protective gear covers the areas most likely to be injured in a fall. You can still get hurt, it's just a lot harder."
Josh rode his bike for a bit and then had a meltdown. Seemed like a good moment for a lunch break. Have you ever tried to rollerblading up a hill while pushing a bike with sized for a four-year old. Now imagine the bike has training wheels. This is more challenging because they get in the way of your rollerblades. Now imagine the fit-throwing four-year old is trying to climb onto the bike while you are doing this. And yet, I still did not get hurt. I am pointing out all the challenging situations in which I did not get hurt because I want to underscore that I do have good balance and am reasonably capable with my rollerblades. I can't skate down railings or stairs. Nor can I do flips or other fancy tricks. But I can't do the most important trick. I know how to NOT FALL. This is important to the story.
Incidentally, the horses are important to the story as well. It may not seem that way yet, but stay with me. I can tell you, in a bit of foreshadowing, that the paved trail was dotted with horse piles here and there. My thought at the time was how annoying they were. They were easy to steer around and provided only slightly more of an obstacle than joggers or child bicyclists. I say slightly more because they always seemed to be right in the middle of the path.
But, for now, back to lunch. Once Josh served his time-out sentence, lunch was a pleasant affair. We picnicked in the grass under a tree, enjoying the beautiful southern California fall weather. For those not familiar, that often means warm, but not hot, temperatures and sunny blue skies with lazily drifting clouds. We digested as the children played in the park fountain. The fountain activates a few times a day and runs for fifteen minutes before draining back into the system. As fountains go, it's pretty sanitary. Once that was over, Josh decide it would be fun to play in the sand. I thought that, perhaps, it was time to go. "Aren't you going to go back out and do a few more laps?" my wife asked. "I'm kind of tired and stiffening up. I think I'll call it a day." I decided after some half-hearted consideration. "No, don't. Go out for another half hour. Just do a few more laps."
And that's how I find myself strapping my pads and helmet back on and getting ready to brave the steep slope back to the loop. "Go the other way" she requested, "that way's too steep. You'll hurt yourself." Now, as I have already mentioned, I have done nothing during this day to suggest that was true. But I didn't want her to worry, so I went the other way, the safer way. This had a hill, but was not as steep. It's main drawback was that you had to step over a railing attached to a gate onto some dirt and down off a curb. For some reason, she felt this was less dangerous, probably because you could use the gate to keep balance as you stepped over the railing. "Don't kill yourself," she commanded as I rolled away. And that is when I made my fatal mistake. "I haven't fallen all day!" I retorted. Everything else was preordained once the words escaped my lips. I think I knew it on some level, too. And yet, I pressed on.
I started down the safer hill leaning slightly on my brakes. The hill had a wooden bridge on it. I hadn't forgotten that. The slats paralleled the edges of the hill. All I had to do was steer myself onto the slats instead of the slight indentations between the gaps and I'd be fine. Well within my abilities. And then, as I expertly maneuvered myself safely onto the slats, I saw it. A horse pile. It stared at me from across the too short expanse of the bridge. It was right in my path. Right in the middle. It mocked me from its spot on the bridge. Five feet further away and I'd have been able to steer around it on the smooth pavement. I could think of any number of maneuvers that could have worked there. Five feet closer and it might have been in my field of vision as I was focusing on my approach to the slats. I couldn't go through it. That would almost certainly cause a fall AND be nasty to clean. I had only two options. Or rather, I could think of only two options. No, not the brakes. I am not good enough with them to stop that quickly while going downhill. I either had to do a lane change while speeding down the hill or jump over it. I didn't have much time to consider. In the split second I had to decide, I figured that taking entirely to the air was what I was trying to avoid. I went for the lane change. My left foot connected with slat. So far so good. My right foot hit slat, too, and then swerved. I got into the groove, and not in the good way. This wasn't bad in and of itself. It was bad combined with the groove meeting the slightly higher pavement as I was swerving. I started to topple forward and shifted my weight to compensate. I made a beautiful baseball slide. On coarse blacktop. Wearing shorts.
The road rash was impressive. It was about the size of a grapefruit. An oozing grapefruit. It was spectacular enough, as I suppose was my cry of "Dammit!", that the few walkers nearby felt the need to see if I was all right. I assured them that aside from the burning pain, I was great. I wasn't ready to face the I-told-you-so awaiting my cocksure self at the top of the hill, so I drowned my pain in endorphins. I raced around the three-quarter mile loop for about forty minutes. In that time, I managed to cover six miles. Six to go along with the four from earlier in the day. Then I dragged by burning grapefruit and my fatigued legs up the hill. That's when I saw the sign. "Please clean up after your dog."
Damn horses.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Either, Neither, or Both
I'm stealing this bit from a sports radio show I heard on the way to work this morning. This will be a new feature on BriWise. Unless of course nobody participates, in which case it will die the painless death it deserves. Anyway, the idea is that I throw a two non-exclusive choices out there and you tell me if you think either on or the other will occur or is true, if neither of them are/will, or both. You with me? On sports radio, they did it with two individual player performances on a team, but I'm going for a broader appeal. So, today's premise comes from my Brother-in-law Daniel's blog, which incidentally, is a very good read. They are building a transparent walkway that will loop out over the Grand Canyon. It looks like half a racetrack type oval. You'll be able to look four thousand feet STRAIGHT DOWN. So, your choices are: Incredibly Cool? Incredibly scary? Either, neither, or both?
Read More......Thursday, November 03, 2005
Someone Explain This to Me
The judge in the Tom DeLay money laundering case has been removed from the case. "DeLay's lawyers repeatedly said during the hearing that they were not accusing Perkins of doing anything wrong, but that there should not be a public perception of partiality in the case." This in spite of the fact that the judge in question has never been accused of bias in 30 years on the bench. They are also pushing for a venue change. The trial is set for Austin, "one of the last enclaves of the Democratic Party in Texas." So, a Republican can only be tried fairly by other Republicans? Perhaps the trial should be moved to DeLay's home district and jurors should be questioned on whether or not they donated to his campaign. Perhaps that means that defendants should be asked for their party affiliation and have the venues set accordingly. After all, we want to avoid even the appearance of impropriety when trying someone who has done been giving off at least the appearance of impropriety for years. And yet, he and his cronies had no problem defending the administrations right to conceal energy task force records, even though some were concerned about ethical issues there. They also disagreed with the calls for Scalia's recusal or removal when the energy task force case came before the Supreme Court, even though he had been on a hunting trip with Cheney and some other oil men. Cuz that doesn't appear biased at all. Arrrrrrgh!
Read More......Wednesday, November 02, 2005
You Know It's Time to Stop Trick or Treating When...
You have finished your neighborhood and just gotten in the car to drive to see a couple of friend's. You put the car in gear and you hear your four year old making repeated spitting noises in the back seat. Not choking noises. Definitely spitting. You turn to look back and notice his lips have a phosphorescent glow. There are also splotches of green glow on his costume and on the car set. And then you realize it. He's chewed through his glow stick. "Everyone out of the car!" Mom shouts, "Trick or Treating is over." The door is locked, so we send Maya in through the garage to let us in the front. We can tell exactly where in the house she is by following the shouts of "Call poison control! Call poison conrol!" We can't tell by other means because she is not letting us in.
"Maya. Open the door. Everything is going to be fine."
"Call poison Control! Call poison control!"
"Open THE DOOR"
"Call poison Control! Call poison control!"
"Maya!"
Finally, the door opens. We hustle Josh inside and Mom begins rinsing his mouth. Not with soap, though she is tempted. I walk calmly over to the light stick package. I'm sure it is non-toxic. I can't imagine them being allowed to market something to kids that would be poisonous. Sure enough, non-toxic, minor skin irritant. "It's all right," I announce, "The worst that can happen is some mild itching where it touched his skin. Oh, and some staining on fabric. Into the tub with him."
And so Josh is carted off by Mom to the tub, but she can't resist one parting sho as she goes by. "Way to not lose your cool, Maya."
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