Monday, July 26, 2004

DNC Convention: Day One

I wasn’t planning to say much about the Democratic Convention in Boston. Mostly because I knew that I wouldn’t like most, if not all, of what I’m going to be hearing in the next four nights. We haven’t even gotten to the Clintons tonight and I have to vent a few thoughts.

1. I thought the tone was supposed to be positive this week? No Bush bashing? Uh huh. Somehow I mistakenly thought that there would be the new addition of actual substance to the rhetoric. So far it’s just much of what we’ve been hearing up to this point in the campaign.

2. Al Gore managed to keep his cool, but really he needs to get over 2000. You’re snarky little jokes are wearing thin, Mr. Gore. Stop it, because you’re looking like a sore, sore loser.

3. Those poor kids.  They sang beautifully, but I’m sure people all over America were thinking of This Land instead of Your Land.

4. President Carter, your veiled and overt remarks about President Bush are beneath you. You should be ashamed.

So when does the positivity start?

UPDATE (10:35pm): I missed Senator Clinton, sort of on purpose. I did catch a couple of seconds, but her speaking style just annoys me, so I turned back to What Not to Wear (love that Clinton). I tried to watch President Clinton, but when he started talking about Al Gore’s grace under pressure and that “this time we’ll make sure every vote is counted,” I returned back to WNtW, because I really, really do not like that man and I just cannot listen to him. Besides, WNtW Clinton makes me happy.

Posted by at 11:13 PM
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Clueless

Via Craig, in Tony’s comments, is this photo of protesters in Boston outside of the DNC convention today. Go take a good look at the photo. I’ll wait.

...

OK, did you see it? As Craig said in his comment:

Did you notice the “KERRY=BUSH-HITLER” sign?

They can’t even keep their candidate math straight.

After all if BUSH=HITLER, everyone knows that the result of subtracting something from itself is zero.

So, it stands to reason that if KERRY=BUSH-HITLER, then KERRY = 0.

Not a ringing endorsement.

Posted by at 10:34 PM
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The 5th Set of Neighbors In the Apartment Below

I’ve lived in my apartment for three and a half years. I’ve had 5 sets of neighbors in the apartment below mine.

1. The couple I don’t remember from when I first moved in.
2. The cute young family who had frequent gatherings with friends on their balcony.
3. The deadbeat college boys who smoked like chimneys and were evicted skipped out.
4. The cute young family who visited my church (they moved to South Carolina last month - very quick, unexpected job transfer).
5. The 20-something young men who moved in a couple of weeks ago.

I met the 5th set of neighbors on their move in day. They seem nice and are definitely quiet. Until tonight - there’s much hammering going on below me. I’m hoping they quit before I head to bed.

Posted by at 10:02 PM
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Things to Read

The latest TWoP TAR5 recap is up. Woo! The quote of the week from page 1 (because really, I’m sure there are better quotes later, but this is a teaser, right? Plus, I haven’t gotten past page 1 without wanting to quote. So...there.):

We nervously observe various parts of Buenos Aires, as Phil explains that in the “lush countryside” surrounding the city, you will find the teams “relaxing” at La Portena, a “traditional Argentine estate.” You know, I have seen some of these people, and I think it’s unlikely that they’re “relaxing.” I promise you, whatever Mirna is doing, she is not relaxing. I imagine something like, “Why isn’t anybody helping us eat and sleep? Pequeno bella, is impossible! No can mingle-o!” Elsewhere, Phil is strolling—man, did Phil get hotter all of a sudden? I’ve always thought Phil was cute, but they really have gotten a much better bead on how to dress him or something so he doesn’t look like such a sixth-grade science teacher, because...yeah. If they ever get the jeans to fit right, Jeff Probst is going to have to go in for chin implants or something just to keep up.

I almost didn’t include the stuff about Phil, but then she mentioned Probst and it had to be done. Heh.

Via Dean Abbott is a Christianity today article about Donnie Darko.

When asked about the film’s devoted following among teenagers and young adults, director Kelly remarked, “Young people aren’t stupid. They want thoughtful films, but they don’t want to be told what to think. This is a film based on some of the ideas of Stephen Hawking, and kids are interested.” Mary McDonnell, who plays Donnie’s mother, added, “I think kids are smart. My daughter saw it with her classmates and they continue to talk about it. Boys and girls are equally drawn to it.” Malone agreed: “I’m nineteen, and I want films that will challenge me. I want films that are about people like me who are thinking. But I look around and I can’t find them.”

This seems to be the big drawing card for Donnie Darko. Young people see themselves and their own struggles in this movie. The time/space/meaning questions are similar to the ones they are asking as they grow into adulthood.

Donny Darko shouldn’t be pegged as merely a “teen” film, though. It is a wild ride for anyone who wants to think a bit while watching a delightfully entertaining movie. It’s the kind of film that Quentin Tarantino would make if he were a better filmmaker. Like Kill Bill, it is full of interwoven plots and seemingly random story lines. But unlike Kill Bill, it all comes together. It’s about the Big Ideas. It’s not just a bag of cinematic tricks. Donnie Darko runs on a great premise, exceptional writing and solid performances. It’s a terrific film. Why it failed in its first release is a mystery.

Love the dig at Tarantino. Heh. Posted by at 09:49 PM
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It Felt Like An Unproductive Day

I spent the first few hours putting my newly wallpapered office back together. It’s all sparkling clean and the old furniture even seems to look a bit better now. The shame of it is that I still have the piles of stuff on my desktop. Oh, well, nothing I can do about that since it’s all stuff to be worked on.

I need some nice office-y artwork for the walls now. I have a bulletin board that has already been put back in it’s original position. And I have one of those typical government three-month perpetual calendar things that will be put up. But the rest of the stuff that was hanging in here is gone, finito (motivational posters and a dated picture of the “new” courthouse from 1996). But that’s a project for another day…

Once I was set back up and ready to get to work, I did a quick check of the blog to find that it was wonky. The previous post covers that.

I did manage to get some work done, but not much. Moving, even not fully and only temporarily, is a pain in the rear end. My boss and I had talked about getting new furniture for my office in the next fiscal year. I’m thinking not because it’s so disruptive. I’ll make do…

Tommrow will be better by necessity - payroll! And I already know of two people who “forgot” to turn in their timesheets, even though I reminded them both of it on Friday. *sigh* It’s so tempting to not do anything and see how they react when they don’t get paid. But I won’t do that because I know how I’d react if I didn’t get my direct deposit as I expected. They’d learn the lesson, though, wouldn’t they?

Posted by at 06:54 PM
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Database Issues

Monday, July 26: Well, there seems to be a problem here. I’m having one of those days, folks. I can’t login to my pMachine control panel and you can see the problem with the missing entries. I’ve posted an inquiry with my host tech support. I’m fast losing patience with my host given the series of problems I’ve been having for the past few months. I’m not a happy customer.

UPDATE (3:45pm): I called tech support at my host a couple of hours ago. I figured it would help me more to explain that this is an exact repeat of the problem I had in May, especially since I’m no techie and I often get confused by what the gurus write to me in the trouble tickets.

So I hung up with the techie after he tried a few things with me on the phone and he assured me he would work on it and send me a note in my trouble ticket thread to let me know when he thought he had it fixed. Still no word. *sigh*

UPDATE (3:52pm): FREAKY! I had no sooner posted the above update and reloaded the main blog page when I saw that it’s working again! Woo! Now I’m curious if the comment problem that occurred last time will this time too.

Posted by at 05:52 PM
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Sunday, July 25, 2004

(Movie) News for Nerds

Item #1: Star Wars Episode 3 to be called Revenge of the Sith. *underwhelmed* Woo! */underwhelmed* I didn’t hate the first prequel. I almost hated the second prequel. You can imagine my expectations for the third.

[via OTB]

Item #2: LOTR: Return of the King, Extended Edition DVD spoilers revealed. *totally excited* Woo! */totally excited* But we have to wait until December for this one to be released. Come on, PJ - November, like the other two, November!

[via twisted spinster]

Posted by at 10:42 PM
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Silent Sunday

Not much to say today, which seems to be true of most of the blogosphere.

Church was good. Our worship team seems to have gotten into a groove lately. What’s interesting is that our A-Team drummer and bass player have been out so a couple of our teenagers have been playing and I think they’re almost better. Plus they’re just fun to have hanging with us. We did another new song today, which seemed to be well received.

Our practice this morning went so well that we had about 30 minutes before the first service started, so we did a quick run to Starbucks for coffee. While we waited for the baristas to make our lattes we were chatting and ended up talking politics. Fortunately we were all on the same page, so it was quite agreeable, although I noticed some sketchy glances from a few of the other patrons. Anyway, at one point our pastor’s eldest chimed in with his assessment of Senator Kerry. It wasn’t very flattering (it was something like “he’s a retard” - ok, it wasn’t something like that, it was that) but it made me burst out laughing in surprise. Have I mentioned that I like having them hang around?

After church, my parents and I went for our usual Sunday lunch, which was fun. We spent a long time just catching up with each other at the restaurant. When I got home I downloaded the update to Thunderbird (I downloaded the update to Firefox yesterday) and spent a little time looking at and installing some new extensions. Then I watched Windtalkers, which was OK, but not noteworthy enough to merit a review post of it’s own.

And now here I am, sitting at the computer...blog reading shall commence now.

Posted by at 10:19 PM
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Saturday, July 24, 2004

Coffee Tawk

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe But don’t think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You’re a low maintenance kind of girl… who can hang with the guys Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that’s you: the friend everyone invites. And you’re dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear. What Kind Of Coffee Are You? Take This Quiz Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

Not an unexpected result. I wonder if anything would have changed if I chose Starbucks as my place to get coffee instead of at home.

[via lawren]

Posted by at 10:37 PM
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Saturday Linkfest

It’s slow in the blogosphere, but I have found a few noteworthy posts out there that I thought I’d share with you.

1. Lawren wins for funniest post title with There Was An Old Lady Who Gave Birth to a Shoe, which is about Erykah Badu’s new daughter Puma.

2. Molly (Lemonlye) has this interesting post about sleep.

I recently finished reading a very interesting book about the subject by a sleep specialist: Dr. William Dement’s The Promise of Sleep. If he’s to be believed, I now understand more about sleep and sleeping disorders than most primary-care physicians. Here are just a couple interesting things I learned:

Contrary to what I used to believe, it is not possible to “sleep too much”. Granted, there are diseases like narcolepsy where it could be argued that the sufferers sleep too much, but I’m talking about the case where you sleep 11 hours on the weekend, and drag yourself around groggily the next day complaining that you “slept too much.” Well, what actually happened was you started paying off the sleep debt you accumulated over the busy week, and the reason you’re still tired is because you haven’t paid it all off yet - and there’s no stressful work stuff keeping you alert. When there are no outside causes to wake you up, you sleep as long as you need to. Then your brain wakes you up. If you’ve gotten all the sleep you need, you won’t be able to sleep any more. Simple as that!

Caffeine does work, of course, to perk you up when you’re feeling tired during the day. Taking a nap works too--even a 15-minute nap can improve your alertness for the next six hours. But caffeine takes 15-30 minutes to start kicking in; and, similarly, after a nap you’re groggy for about 15 minutes before its effects kick in. So here’s a cool thing you can do: drink a cup of coffee (or cola or tea), then lie down and take your nap. 15 to 30 minutes later, the caffeine will awaken you, and erase the grogginess you’d ordinarily have after a nap. So you synergistically get the effects of the caffeine and the nap. This suggested by a bona fide sleep M.D. Neat, huh?

Interesting. Get some sleep, people!

3. Jared has penned an open letter to fathers and sons. There’s some good stuff there, as usual.

4. Bryan has a spiffy new look and a very thought-provoking post about the inverted church.

5. Bill @ Thinklings commemmorated the 35th anniversary of the moon landing this week with a transcript of the last three minutes of radio communications between the lunar module and Houston mission control before the module landed on the lunar surface. Cool stuff.

Posted by at 10:02 PM
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UBL’s Trojan Virus

Like we don’t have enough to worry about already, apparently there’s a scam going around that may look good but is actually not good.

Thousands of messages have been posted on internet chat-rooms with a subject line suggesting that journalists have discovered that the leader of al-Qaida has been found hanged.

One version of the message says in the subject line: “Osama bin Laden captured”.

Then follows the exciting news: “Hey, Just got this from CNN, Osama Bin Laden has been captured! A video and some pictures have been released. Go to the link below for pictures, I will update the page with the video as soon as I can.”

Another version suggests, with some sloppy syntax, that the reporters themselves may have carried out the execution: “Osama bin Laden was found hanged by two CNN journalists early Wednesday evening. As evidence they took several photos, some of which I have included here.

“As yet, this information has not hit the headlines due to Bush wanting confirmation of his identity but the journalists have released some early photos over the internet.”

Stories of Bin Laden’s death have turned out to be exaggerated and the messages are the latest in a long line of urban myths - but this one has a vicious cyber-twist.

Those who click a link are directed to a website to view pictures. But viewers curious to glimpse the corpse of the world’s most wanted man will find that attempts to load the pictures get nowhere.

What they may not realise is that their computer might have been infected with a piece of malicious software, a Trojan horse, named because it uses a back-door method of infection and is programmed to steal sensitive information such as bank details. It may also spread spam.

Experts are warning users to ensure they have up-to-date anti-virus software. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at the anti-virus software company Sophos, said: “Hackers and virus writers will try all kinds of tricks to entice people into downloading their malicious code.

“It seems this time that the hacker has focused on the public’s appetite for news on the war against terror.”

Use your common sense, people. The article only mentions chat rooms, but email can’t be far behind. I rarely believe anything I get in a mass email, even if it’s from someone I know and trust. For news like that you’re better off checking the radio, TV, or news websites to confirm the information. Clicking on links and attachments in an email that you didn’t ask for is courting computer trouble. Just don’t do it. ‘Kay?

[via Joe Gandelman @ Dean’s World]

Posted by at 04:05 PM
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Mork & The Jump the Shark Moment

Channel surfing. I happened upon an episode of Happy Days. Mork is visiting, making inquiries about human stuff, which enabled the producers to wimp by making it a clip show. So Richie is talking about how great The Fonz is and how he can do anything:

1. Turn on a jukebox simply by knocking on it.
2. Have a Murphy bed fall out of the wall merely by knocking on the wall.

Hmmm...I’m seeing a pattern here…

3. His amazing ability to break up a fight just by showing up.

And the piece de resistance ...

4. Jumping a shark tank while waterskiing.

I had a good chuckle, of course.

Posted by at 03:55 PM
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Cleanin’ Up

Despite my attempts to put her off, Annie-the-dog insisted that we awake at our usual 5:30am. She couldn’t care less that it’s Saturday. It’s time to get up in her highly scheduled mind. The morning walk was wet and icky - it decided to start raining after I’d already gotten to the ground level and I didn’t want to go back up for an umbrella. Also, the in-ground sprinklers were going full force, which kind of cracked me up. The icky part is an entemologist’s dream - the breezeway to my building is a haven for all manner of flying and crawling insect. The like to cluster around the safety lights, one of which is right outside my door.  *sarcasm* I love that. */sarcasm*

But enough complaining...I’ve had a busy morning.

1. I cleaned my oven, which is not a self-cleaning oven. I had a pizza dropping incident a few months ago and then a spill-over last week. I haven’t used my oven since the spill-over because of the smoke problem - I didn’t want to set off the smoke detector. So I checked this can of foaming cleaner I have to see if it’s safe for ovens and it is.  Now my oven is sparkly clean, my kitchen smells of oranges, and I can use the oven again. I’m baking biscuits as I type this post.

2. I changed the sheets on my bed - not just pulling off the dirty ones and laying the nicely laundered and folded stack of fresh ones on the unmade bed, but actually putting the new linens on the bed. I also vacuumed the coverlet that’s been folded on the floor for a few months now because it needs to be taken to the cleaners (the dog sleeps on the bed, I think that explains the necessity of laundering the coverlet, no?). It’s too big to fit in my washing machine, unfortunately. Anyway, I folded it in thirds and it’s now laying decoratively at the foot of the bed until I actually do take it to the cleaners.

3. I’ve already done three loads of laundry - sheets, towels, blankets. Clothes are next.

4. I need to vacuum, but I really hate that.

5. I need to clean up my desk and file my paid bills. I hate that, too. I am very good administrator, but I loathe filing.

6. I need to pick up my mail from yesterday because I should have a NetFlix movie in there. It’s one my mother wants to see, so I need to watch it today in order to take it to her tomorrow at church.

*pause to check biscuits*

Mmmmmm...biscuits.

Side note: I have CMT on the TV - Josh Grayson (the singing Marine) of American Idol fame has a really good video/song. Country is definitely where he’s suited and will do well. Good for him.

I have no plans for today and it’s supposed to rain anyway. I’m thinking I’ll read my Spider-Man comic book (borrowed from the library) and watch movies. Maybe take a nap.

Posted by at 12:18 PM
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Friday, July 23, 2004

Yeah, Me Too

I have to consider myself to be an Eowyn voter, too.

I suppose a good way to describe me, actually, would be as an Eowyn voter. For those of you who aren’t rabid Tolkeinites, Eowyn is the niece of a king who’s kingdom is under attack, and she chooses to fight rather than to stay back with the women and children. She fears neither death nor pain and chooses to defy the Nazgul (big scary way-evil thing) which stands between her and her “lord and kin.” You mess with me and the people I love—I take offense to that. You stand aside and let other people mess with me and the people I love—I take offense to that too. I’m not a fan of war, I have no great desire to be a warblogger, but it is because I long for peace, true peace, that I choose to fight the war that is upon us. I choose to fight by blogging, I choose to fight by voting, and if I ever find myself in a situation where I have to physically fight for my life or for those around me, I will choose that as well. Terrorists would do well to remember the old adage, “If captured, don’t let them give you to the women.” Because we will protect ourselves and our families, and it won’t be pretty.

Katie is being added to my blogroll today. Go visit her at Resplendent Mango. Posted by at 03:54 PM
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Reason #25981 Why I Don’t Ride METRO

I heard this nutty news on the radio this morning and had a good belly laugh.

Less than a month after switching to a cashless system that requires commuters to buy SmarTrip cards to pay for parking at Metro lots, Metro officials are temporarily switching back because they didn’t have enough cards on hand.

Metro officials said they will temporarily halt sales of SmarTrip cards beginning Monday because they’re running out of cards.

Classic, just classic.

Officials credit the heavy demand to the switch to cashless parking, the planned deployment of buses equipped with SmarTrip fare boxes, and an unexpected spike in summer in tourism that has pushed ridership to record highs.

On Monday, motorists who do not already have a SmarTrip card will have to purchase a traditional paper fare card before leaving the station for the exact cost of the parking and hand it to a garage attendant on the way out.

At yesterday’s meeting, board members were dismayed that Metro officials were caught off guard by the demand.

Gladys W. Mack, second vice chairman, called the shortage a “tremendous inconvenience” to riders.

First, I’m surprised at their surprise. Second, it’s the understatement of the year that riders will be inconvienced. I’m sure it will really impress the tourists, who are usually clueless about the whole card-buying scheme anyway.

The level of incompetence with the leadership at Metro is astounding. What adds to the ridiculousness of this story is that the SmarTrip card came about because of the parking attendant thefts.

More than 65,000 cards have been sold since June 28, when Metro converted to cashless parking. The conversion came after an internal audit claimed cashiers hired by former Metro parking contractor Penn Parking were stealing up to $1 million a year.

It makes me ever more thankful that I get free and easy parking here at the courthouse, otherwise I’d have to take Metro. I shudder at the thought. Posted by at 03:27 PM
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