Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Post 199

This is my 199th post. I don't know what I'm going to do for my 200th post, but I want it to be something cool, so I'm going to get this out of the way right now.

Casper just hotboxed me. His kitty-farts are rank.

(^^)b

Monday, July 26, 2004

Summerfest!

It's Summerfest in Vana'diel, and the three major cities of Bastok, San d'Oria, and Windurst are putting on a fireworks display for their citizens every evening for the next few weeks. It's the little things like this that make FFXI so addictive to me :)




Cool Stuff That Happened

Like my imaginative title?

Anyway last Tuesday Royale and her boyfriend Chris were in town so I took the day off work to hang out with them. It was a fun day, we started off by going to Kopps for cheeseburgers and milkshakes, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Then I took them both to Potawatami for their first gambling experience - Chris broke even and Royale and I both came out 50 bucks up.

Lee - you'll no doubt be amused to know that I was 50 bucks down and made my winnings by dropping a c-note on red, just like in Vegas :)

After that we went to a barbecue at the Steinberger's house on Lake Drive, where much tasty meat was eaten. Annie was there, looking good, and a bunch of the kids were there too. I got to engage in a little pyromania because Chickie (my aunt) had bought a bunch of sparklers and fireworks for the kids.

Over the weekend me and the Riggs got together to see Napoleon Dynamite. I enjoyed myself but had some reservations about the piece. It struck me as mostly an ambiance piece, more about mood and theme than plot per se, as nothing really happened. The timing was kind of long in some places, and then there were 20 second shorts that were pure brilliance. It also reminded me of Andy Kauffman in that I got the impression that a lot of what happened in the film was more for the ensemble's amusement than that of the audience. In any case, I look forward to the filmmakers next work.

Ben also mentioned that he might be starting a tabletop game on alternate mondays, so you might be getting some über-geekiness from me in the near future about saving rolls and congress authorizing me to grant myself charisma+5 (hail bush!).


Monday, July 19, 2004

Iraqthemodel

"Who said there are no WMDs in Iraq? The most dangerous WMD exists and the American troops captured it. It’s the weapon that exterminated five million Iraqis and hundreds of thousands from our neighbors impoverished, detained and tortured. Saddam Hussain is the WMD in Iraq. Isn’t a weapon with such capabilities worth to go for a war to (disarm it)? Saving twenty million people from that weapon, isn’t that worth the effort?" Hasan Al-Shammari-Baghdad.

I read Iraqthemodel pretty much every day. It's run by 3 iraqi brothers, one of whom is a doctor. It is absolutely fascinating and never fails to report stories the big media don't care about, and it always gives me something to think about. If you are conflicted about the Iraq war, read this site. Regardless of the justifications given by the Bush and Blair administrations, faulty intelligence, whatever; after reading this site you will understand why this war was absolutely necessary and just.
 

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

FMA Status

The Senate just voted down a motion for cloture 48-50, meaning that Santorum and his far right cronys will be able to filibuster. Since it's looking more and more like they are heading for a humiliating defeat this afternoon, they probably will. More as the situation progresses.

Update: I misunderstood the significance of the afore-mentioned vote. Because the motion was shot down, debate will continue. For years. Essentially the senate voted down the amendment itself. Hooray!

Update 2: After further wikipedia perusal I now understand what I got wrong. Basically, in motioning for cloture, the Santorumites were moving to force a vote. The people who could have filibustered would actually be the democrats, in a move to prevent the vote taking place. But they would only do that if they didn't have the votes to shoot the amendment down, which they overwhelmingly did. Several key republican senators who disagreed with the amendment on federalist principals (notably John McCain) voted for cloture anyway because they knew they were going down 48-50 and it was better for the party to lose the motion for cloture than to lose 36 - 64 on an actual amendment vote.

New Kid On The Blog

"Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; but he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed."

There's someone else with a good name new to my blogroll - welcome, Willow, to the blogosphere. Prepare to be addicted.

Monday, July 12, 2004

Übergeeks Unite!

OMFG,

What's better than an officially sanctioned short film about Spiderman available free on the web*?

One made with stop-motion animation and legos.


*No pun intended.

Friday, July 09, 2004

Media Irresponsibility

Has there ever been a letter Americans needed more than this one?

Why was this not published free of charge on the front of the Times, the Cape Codder, the Tribune, etc.?

*frustrated*

Monday, July 05, 2004

Hello From LaLa Land!

Just a quick hello from LA, specifically Studio City, Lee and Stu's apt. More on the trip when I get back, but P-Saudi took all the digital piccies so you'll have to check his site for visual aids (see blogroll).

:)

Thursday, July 01, 2004

IntraOffice Amusements

So there's this woman in my office who (thank god) sits nowhere near me, my floor taking up approximately 5000 square feet, but whom I walk past probably 5 to 6 times a day on my way to the elevator / bathroom / whatever.

Note: the following is not an exaggeration.

For the past two months, every time I walk past her she is playing, at a somewhat reasonable volume, Evanescence's Fallen. She doesn't listen to anything else. It's just Evanescence on permanent repeat, 24/7, and it's been that way for at least 9 weeks.

Don't get me wrong, Fallen is a fun album to listen to. Some of the songs sound the same but Amy Lee is a good vocalist and it's a strong first effort. But I imagine the people in a 3-cube radius around her must want to murder her in cruel and unusual ways.

Sheesh.