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Stuff + nonsense. Updated daily. So far. Pretty much. Overwrought by Scott Knaster.
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Thursday, November 10, 2005
Test 2
Hello
Test
Green to green
Red to red
Yellow to yellow in the light.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Do not read this.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Deb's BookBlog
Whatzis?
Monday, May 10, 2004
Nothing to see here.
Move along.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
*ahem* **whffff**
Is this thing on?
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Get out!
This blog moved -- like, last November, dude. Come join us here.
Sunday, November 23, 2003
NY Times: "Some have said that Republicans were violating a presidential promise not to use the campaign against terrorism for political gain." (from Dave Winer)
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Moving out
This blog is on the move to http://foodisworse.typepad.com/this. I realize this fractures my already-scant readership, but it's time to go. See you over there.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Joe Shmo Show ends
Joe Schmo, basically what would happen if Truman Burbank went on a reality show, finished last night when the lead character found out what was going on. It was fun.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Weight & eating blog
There's a bunch of fresh posts in my new blog about weight and eating. Joe Bob says check 'em out. Plus, I'm trying TypePad. It's cool! It has comments built-in! They seem to actually work, so leave a comment!
NFL game for free
The terrible wildfires in San Diego forced the NFL to move its Monday night game to Tempe, Arizona at the last minute. This led to some interesting stories.
Andy Griffith statue
There's going to be a statue of Andy Griffith and Ron Howard (actually, Sheriff Andy and Opie) in Raleigh, North Carolina. As Gomer might say, "Goll-ee!".
Monday, October 27, 2003
Eating and weight
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I'm spending time right now on a writing project about my experiences with gaining and losing weight. I started a blog here for posts and links about that.
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Alternate universe World Series: games 6 and 7
Here. Occasionally brilliant. READ ALL THE WAY TO THE END. Favorite sentence:Meanwhile, with both teams one victory from a world championship, Lucifer kicked Uday and Qusay Hussein out of Hell to relieve the massive overcrowding that has resulted from the glaciers advancing into the farthest reaches of the underworld.
Friday, October 24, 2003
Rip City
The recent iTunes/iPod activity has inspired me to resume my CD-ripping project. I'm now up to 1140 CDs and 11,800 songs ripped. iTunes continues to perform OK. I'm sure there are folks with many tens of thousands of songs in their iTunes databases, but I wonder what the limit is.
Thursday, October 23, 2003
The Other World Series
In an alternate universe (thanks, Gardner Fox), the Cubs and Red Sox are playing the World Series. ESPN.com is there. See part one and part two. I can't wait to see how it ends!
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Guster Meow Mix
The poppy Boston band Guster has released a version of its latest album with all the vocals wiped and replaced by somebody saying "meow" over and over, in the proper melody. It's pretty amusing. Check it out here (requires free iTunes).
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Nobody in Boston is watching
As explained here.
Who am I? Why am I here?
Now that the work of handling my mom's estate is winding down, I'm taking the next few weeks to write down a bunch of words about something I've done a lot of: gaining and losing weight. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time. Once I'm done writing, I'll try to figure out what to do with what I've written ;-) .
Monday, October 20, 2003
Judge writes rap in Eminem decision
Here.
Voight-Kampff Test for SF Mayoral Candidates
The Wave magazine used a technique from Blade Runner to find out if the San Francisco candidates for mayor are human or replicants. It's brilliant. Too bad these guys weren't around for the goober recall election. However, there's plenty of time left for the presidential election!
World Series, yawn
I love baseball, and I'm trying to watch the World Series, but sorry, the thrill is gone. It's Yankees vs. Marlins: the boring rich guys who have it all against the boring spoiled kids and their 10,000 fans. There are a few intriguing subplots, like 72-year-old Jack McKeon, but when it comes to actually rooting for one of these teams, I just can't do it.
iTunes Linkmaker
One of the little-mentioned but cool new features in iTunes is the ability to copy and paste (or drag and drop) a link to an item in the iTunes Music Store. Here's something related: use iTunes Linkmaker to create a URL, or even a web badge, that links to a music store item.
Friday, October 17, 2003
iTunes for Windows
Apple announced and shipped iTunes for Windows yesterday. It's remarkably like the terrific Mac version, including support for the iTunes Music Store. In fact, I'm surprised they didn't leave out a feature or two, just to remind folks to use Macs instead of Windows. Maybe in the future, new features will come to the Mac version first. Or maybe Apple is so into selling iPods now that they're willing to have application parity on Windows and Macs. Also, it plays nice with the Macs on my 802.11 network, letting me share music across platforms effortlessly. And it knows about my account at the Music Store, even warning me when I'm about to buy a song that I already bought on a Mac.
Thursday, October 16, 2003
No joy in Cubdom
Once again I refer you to Jayson Stark for the explanation.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
These are the Cubs, masters of the unthinkable
The Billy Goat Curse is real. I know, because I watched it happen on TV last night. Last night's Cubs-Marlins game was going as expected -- the Cubs were on their way to their first pennant in 58 years, leading 3-0 in the 8th -- when the game suddenly moved into the Twilight Zone, or maybe the Curse script kicked in. Cubs left fielder Moises Alou (son of Giants manager Felipe) was prevented from catching a foul fly in the first row of the stands when a fan deflected the ball -- a Cubs fan. That's when thousands of Cubs followers knew it was all going wacky. Soon thereafter, the Cubs shortstop, Alex Gonzalez -- probably their best defensive player -- saw his glove turn to iron as an easy ground ball clanked off it for an error. Next, Cubs starter Mark Prior, who was almost unhittable before that, turned into toast. In minutes, the Marlins had scored 8 runs and the incredible (but inevitable?) had happened. Cubs fans, I feel for you. Hang in there. You have another chance today.
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Goodbye to Pacific Bell Park
Bleh.
Good weight news
Some rare positive news about overweight in the U.S.
Flyby
Yikes.
In Dusty We Trusty
I ordered my In Dusty We Trust t-shirt yesterday, because I like the man and the team. I hope it gets here before the Cubs are done. ;-)
Monday, October 13, 2003
Lots more Americans are getting really fat
The number of obese Americans doubled from 1986 to 200 -- but the number of extremely obese Americans was up 500%. The whole story is here.
Rush Limbaugh's drug addiction
In case you missed it over the weekend, radio guy Rush Limbaugh came out as a drug addict on Friday. Here's an opinion on this announcement.
Saturday, October 11, 2003
Boston Brawl
The Red Sox - Yankees series took an ugly turn today: the Yankees won. Oh, and also, weird bad stuff happened.
Cubs and red ivy
Jayson Stark writes about it here. More about red ivy here.
Friday, October 10, 2003
Customers as thieves, enhanced
A maker of really lame copy protection for audio CDs is suing a college student who pointed out just how lame their copy protection is (so lame that you can defeat it by holding down the shift key when you insert the CD, or turning off auto-run, or simply putting the CD into a Mac). The doublespeak coming from the company is breathtaking. This is wrong in so many ways, but no more so than in disrespecting customers in the first place by copy-protecting an audio CD.
iTunes for Windows
Is Apple going to release iTunes for Windows next week? Maybe.
Big Thunder Mountain info
Chuq points to new information about the Big Thunder Mountain crash.
Jumpers
Here is a sad, fascinating story about the Golden Gate Bridge and suicide.
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Pat Robertson favors terrorism
Pat Robertson has suggested blowing up the U.S. State Department with a nuclear bomb.
Walking Directions: Bag End to Mount Doom
Here. (Thanks to Adam.)
Would you like to super-size that coffin?
Swanson now has "Hungry Man XXL" frozen dinners, featuring around 1000 calories and 40 grams of fat or more (note to those unclear: THAT'S TOO MUCH FOR ONE MEAL). There's even a grotesque "Hungry Man All-Day Breakfast" with over 1000 calories and 231% of your daily requirement of cholesterol! For breakfast! Mark Morford in the SF Chronicle rants about this trash food and its relationship to a new growth industry, enormous caskets.
Curse of the Billy Goat
Cubs fans are still trying to get rid of their curse. That was me on KFOG this morning (6:15 AM -- you were listening, weren't you?) explaining this curse to the KFOG Morning Show.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Shoot Britney Spears
The wife of Maryland's governor said she would like to do that. Eh?
Another instant classic
We baseball fans have been blessed by great playoff games this year (the Giants' performance notwithstanding), and last night was another one. Jayson Stark does his usual terrific job of writing about it as a reporter, fan, and baseball nerd.
Gov. Schwarzenegger
Hi, I live in a state that just recalled its governor and elected a man with little relevant experience. Talk about out of touch: I cannot figure this out. Why did so many people vote for Schwarzenegger? I assume they have figured out something I haven't about the guy. I hope he does a great job of making the state a better place.
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Angry Moroccan teacher throws pupils out of window
Here.
Don't try this
The most disturbing Google search in my referrer log: root canal airplane. Hmmm.
Punch a chad
It's election day, and soon I'll go vote against the recall. Why? Because it's the worst, most cynical example of partisan politics I've ever seen. For Darrell Issa and the recall mongers, this is not about what Davis did wrong -- it's all about getting a Republican in office. The reason elected officials have terms in office is so they're not constantly running for re-election. If this recall succeeds, good luck to whichever sucker replaces him.
Let's go, Oakland
The A's are finished, incredibly. They have played 9 games over four years in which they could have won a playoff series; they have lost all 9. I'm not sure why I root against the A's. Probably the 1989 World Series is a big part of it. And, I like the Red Sox. But for me, the A's losing takes the edge off the Giants losing.
Monday, October 06, 2003
Another perspective on baseball fan pain
You can skip the top 2/3rds of this and just read the list at the bottom.
Another take on Cubs & Sox
Funny.
Is that all there is?
The Giants season is over too soon, following two remarkable games in Miami. This series has proven to me that baseball is unanalyzable. Were the Marlins simply the better team? How does the best defensive Giants team in history make 7 errors in 4 games? I dunno. Random thoughts about that series and some of the other amazing games in the division series:What's going on with all the errors, dropped fly balls, hit batsmen, weird plays in the division series? I have a theory: they've changed the baseball. The worst part of baseball is after a disappointing end to the season, the gutless wonders and naysayers crawl out. For example, Ann Killion has uncovered communication problems in the Giants clubhouse. Where was she all season? And Larry Krueger, the guy KNBR keeps around to piss off Giants fans, announces that they had too many pitchers on the roster. Why didn't he say that a week ago? Here's another thing: this stupid macho bit about "playing hurt". If you're too injured to play, it hurts your team, not helps. Another bright guy: immediately after the game, Bobby Valentine popped up on ESPN to criticize the Giants for not using Jose Cruz Jr. as a pinch-runner and putting in Andres Galarraga to play first base. Only problem: both those players were already out of the game. No wonder Valentine is a grinning idiot on TV instead of still managing. Anybody see the end of game 3 and think that Pudge Rodriguez interfered after scoring the go-ahead run? He was exulting with his arms in the air and Torrealba had to go through him to get the ball while the winning run scored. Giants baseball of the past: this series provided strange echoes of 2000 (losing 3-1 to the wild card), 1997 (losing to the Marlins, two 1-run losses in Miami), and even 1912 (dropped fly ball in extra innings helps blow lead). The Giants finally wised up and figured out how to sell tickets by lottery, instead of browser reload hell. They were planning to do that for World Series seats. Maybe next year. The Sox-A's game 3 was the weirdest baseball game I ever saw. Jerome Williams pitching game 4 was the right call.
Friday, October 03, 2003
Zoom!
These guys flew right overhead as we were standing on the BART platform Wednesday. It was like getting a pitchfork to the eardrums.
Somebody's keeping score
If you want to know what I'm usually doing at a baseball game, check this out.
Double-header, guest entry
The baseball gods laid it out for us: both the Giants and A's had home playoff games on Wednesday. Hmmm, could I go to both games? Hey -- the starting times are 6 hours apart! This can be done! And so, I asked urban adventurer Mark "the Red" Harlan to join me, and...well, I'll let Mark tell the story (with a few of my own comments):when scott "special k" knaster mentioned he was interested in seeing 2 major league ballgames in the same day, i immediately thought "i wonder if you could do 'em both for $25?" when he followed it with the fact that it wasn't even possible to do this (in one geography, that is) until just a couple of years ago, i became intrigued. scott was playing to my ego ... the reason he was talking to me in the first place was because i have a reputation for getting good deals on tickets, but scott was worried because the giants were sold out ... it took him 2 full sentences before he asked if i was interested in joining him. of course. of course i'm interested in joing him, because i feel exactly like anyone my age without kids feels ... life is nothing more than a set of disjoint adventures, and the the time in between? nothing more than planning, resting, studying, or earning time for those adventures.[Scott:]Mark and I have somewhat different perspectives on this. I'm a big Giants fan, and a baseball fan. I MUST get in to the Giants and see the whole game. I'm not an A's fan, and I won't spend a lot for tickets there. Plus, I need to see Mark's legendary ticket-acquisition skills in action.the a's won't be a problem. for some reason the world, the bay area and the san jose mercury news in particular, either hate or ignore the a's. face value there will probably get you seats on the owners' lap. the tickets might be a problem for the giants, though, because these are the playoffs and the game is sold out. of course the world series was sold out and that didn't keep me from getting a *free* ticket. (something that particularly bugs bryan "stearno" stearns, although i don't know why; naturally i bring it up at every possible opportunity.) *** special k shows up promptly at 10:00. of course i'm not ready, but I get there in a matter of minutes ... he drops the key piece of information which is craigslist is showing more sellers than buyers ... this looks good for the kutrate koncert klub (kkk), a spiritual organization of the mind made up of mark "solid" goldstein (weirdly, a shirttail cousin of special k's -- not too surprising since they're both jewish and from denver, but still spooky) and myself.[Scott:]Officially, Mark G. and I are 4th cousins, on my mother's side.the idea is to park at millbrae (using my caltrain parking pass that i normally abusively use for free long term parking when i fly out of town [i'm also not eligible to own the pass, but that's another story]), take caltrain to pacbell park, bart to oakland, and then bart back to millbrae. we get to the s.f. train station around noon, an hour before game time, and i hit a scalper immediately. "what is the face value of your ticket and how much do you want?" he shows me a $31 ticket. "40." great. this is the high end of the spectrum. buying from a train station scalper is like paying sticker price for a car. only the stupid, the rich, and those not spending their own money are so foolhardy. so i definitely WILL be getting in ... it's just a question of when and for how much. i set a mental price of $20 or half price, whichever is cheaper. no "standing room only" tickets and i'd prefer seats to bleachers because i like the back support. special k and his i've-grown-into-a-monster son already have tickets. i only need 1. this will be a snap.[Scott:]I managed to acquire 2 decent tickets at face value when I was at the game the day before.we get to the ballpark, i get some cash, search a little for paper to make a sign and get to work. the sign is very important because it: 1. keeps you from having to walk around everywhere and lets people come to you. 2. indicates immediately if you're a buyer or a seller. 3. subconsciously establishes that you are NOT a scalper, because scalpers never use signs. (the kkk almost never deals with scalpers and vice versa.) 4. gives people a level of assurance. when you walk around saying "i need 1 ticket," or holding a finger up, it makes people uncomfortable ... "does he want a ticket or is he going to rob me?" that's always in the backs of people's minds. it's worse after dark, but it's always the case. but wording is important here. it's still 45 minutes to game time and most people will be expecting face value or more for their tickets. some will get it from dopes that aren't thinking things through, or those that are simply not willing to ask their fellow man to share the financial burden of the ticket; but most will not. you need something small, succinct. need 1 cheap perfect.[Scott:]Later, in Oakland, a scalper will summon Mark by hollering "Hey, Mr. Cheap!".i chat to special k while i hold my sign up, rotating it slowly once, and it takes about 90 seconds to get a response. "i've got a reserved. $40." "what's the face value?" "$40." "I'll give you 20." he looks incredulous. i've seen this exact look 1000 times in my life. in the early days of the kkk it used to bother me -- now i just think it's funny. he shakes his head and walks away. another seconds later. "i have bleachers." "what's the face value?" "$25." "i'll give you 10." he just walks away.[Scott:]During this whole process, while we're standing in Willie Mays Plaza, the few cops walking around pretty much ignore this illegal ticket market.another immediately. "i've got one for $40. that's what i paid." "i'll give you 20." "20?! dude, you insult me!" can't have angry citizens here ... he could cause a ruckus for other customers, and there's always an outside chance he'll still sell. most people would disengage at this point, but that couldn't be more wrong. i start up, "i have $23 on me," which is true, but i also have $280 in the *other* pocket, "i need money to get home. i'm out of work right now," which is not exactly right, i'm working, i'm just not getting paid AND i'm paying others, "i guarantee that you made more money this week than i did." i'm staring at the spider web he has tatooted on his hand as i say this. he looks a bit like ceasar rosas from los lobos, only even more pockmarked in the face, as hard as that is to imagine. he stops and considers. i can tell this was exactly the right thing to say. he shakes his head, but is muttering in a conspiratory way now, "no dude, i lost a lot of money this week." but it's said in the you're-forgiven tone of voice. it wouldn't surprise me if he came back. i look at scott and he's looking a little embarrassed. like the way the *other* person looks at a restaurant when one person of the couple launches on a waitress. no time to calm him. the next possibility is immediate: a thin, older white guy. he looks at my sign before speaking. "do you just want a ticket to get in the stadium, or do you want a good seat?" "i'm just trying to get in." he hands me a ticket, "i'll sell you this one for $15." it's got a face value of $31. i look at it and hand it to special k, "does this look right to you?" before he can even answer, the guy just nods, "yeah, it's good. i'll walk in with you if you want." i've bought, probably 100 tickets this way in my life. i know in the very pit of my soul he's right. this is where solid g and i differ. solid would counter offer here, but this is well within my tolerance AND i'll get in before the game starts ... not always a certainty with the kkk. "sure." the deal's done. from sign complete to ticket in hand it was about 3 minutes, tops. i turn to scott, "let's go in," and look up to see him quasi-stunned. he considers then speaks, "my third eye has just opened. i've been going to sporting events my whole life ... and now ... now i feel like a whole new world has been opened up to me." right.[Scott:]Yup. Most of my experience is going with Barbara and our kids, and we need more certainty that we're going to get in. Watching Mark was like entering a parallel dimension.the seat itself is amazing. it's section 336, row 11, seat 12. it is, literally, half way up the topmost section, immediately in front of the 3rd base foul pole, and on the very end of the section. if i look to my left, i see a 4 story direct drop. i love it. if there's an earthquake, i am THE very first to die. to my left is mccovey cove, almost straight left is the scoreboard (still readable) and below and behind me is coca cola slide, in front of that, the mini kid baseball diamond where they occasionally whack whiffle balls out of the tiny park. it's a foggy day, with patches of sun. almost cold, but not too windy. in other words, a great day for half priced baseball. at this very moment, the giants are down 9 to 5 at the bottom of the 8th. my double header day, in the baseball sense, is almost half over. and i couldn't be happier. giants lose and it makes no difference ...[Scott:]There's that difference of philosophy I mentioned... ;-)we make our way to the bart station, stopping by a chinese deli as part of the journey. the bart train is crowded to the point of uncomfortable and once we get to the station it's a steady stream. we get to the oakland stadium 75 minutes before gametime. the traditional oakland scalpers are working the bridge in their overly aggressive style ... we set up a sign and start working it. and nothing. and nothing. and nothing. we're still about an hour from the game but it's become clear that, weirdly, tickets are going to be harder to get here ... even though they still have some for sale. solid g shows up and we decide to try for single tickets instead of a block of three. we score a $20 ticket for 10 almost immediately and then go cold. the game starts, jets scream overhead and we still don't have our quota. one inning passes, then another ... i finally cajole g and k into buying the $15 mount davis seats and going in ...[Scott:]These are the football seats 500 feet from home plate that are only opened when the rest of the park is sold out. And as a bonus, you can't see the deep half of the outfield from there.we play musical seats for an inning and a half, trying to better our nosebleed seats and finally settle in a row above the cheapie press seats. we get a full eagle eye view from above home plate, and by watching the tv monitors in the press seats we're able to see both the live broadcast and instant replays of the game. i eat pretzels, special k eats his diet cowpie cookies and solid peels red grapes. it's now top of the 8th, the home team is losing 3 to 4 and the world is very very good.[Scott:]The A's tied things up in the last of the 9th, and as the contest wore on toward midnight, we wondered what would happen if the game was still going on past BART's midnight closing time. We had a brief discussion and unanimously agreed that we we NOT going to leave the game early. That's just wrong. As it happened, the game ended at 11:47, so the urban crisis didn't happen. We got back to Millbrae at 1:00 AM after an awesome day featuring 21 innings and 8 hours of baseball. Seeing that no more games were scheduled at that time, we headed home.
Fish fry part 2
...in which the Fish fry the Giants, 9-5. In a grotesque bullpen/defense implosion, the Marlins evened the series at 1-1. The interesting and maddening thing about these best-of-5 series is that they can turn with every game. The Giants are in some trouble now, but if they win today, the Marlins are on the brink of elimination.
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
Fish fry part 1
The Giants squeaked past the Marlins yesterday 2-0 in an amazing pitchers' duel that had only 6 base hits, and only two of those hit to the outfield. You can read all about it here. Other stuff:
- I wonder if Marlins manager Jack "I'll walk him every time" McKeon realizes how much Barry Bonds is in his head. Worrying about him affected Josh Beckett's pitching to Rich Aurilia in the fateful 4th inning.
- Another absolutely gorgeous day at Pacific Bell Park. The fans were too riveted and nervous to get into big chants and cheers.
- Aside from three terrible misplays (two by the Giants), the defense was impressive. Naturally, the game turned on the Marlins' one error.
- Barry Bonds, frustrated at being walked and aching to contribute, was picked off in the 8th inning when the Derrek Lee bobbled Chad Fox's low throw, allowing Bonds to get to 2nd base. Of course, Bonds then scored, so misplays led to both of the games' runs.
- Felipe Alou is priming the second-guessers by pitching Sidney Ponson today instead of Kirk Rueter. Alou has usually been right about those things this year.
- The Giants are advertising the hell out of their "I See Orange People" t-shirts, but they're sold out. BOO! I did score a very cool post-season media guide, which includes recaps of every 2003 Giants game and box scores of all Giants post-season games ever.
- Whole teams introduced on the foul lines, flyby, fireworks, bunting, Huey Lewis and the News singing the anthem: I love the playoffs.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Fish fry today
The Giants start the National League Division Series today at home. Thanks to CJ, I have a ticket! Most of the "experts" are picking the Giants to win. Ahhh, whadda they know. Oft-forgotten factor: the current Marlins owner used to own the Expos, and he lamely fired Giants manager Felipe Alou a couple of years ago. Felipe didn't like that, although he downplays it now.
Drive-by eating
Ah, the drive-thru fast food experience. You sit in your car and yell at a billboard, then get nasty food thrown at you by someone who usually doesn't even look at you. Here is an industry magazine report that ranks the joints.
Monday, September 29, 2003
Springsteen exorcises Bambino?
It takes one Boss to triumph another. Ceej, could this be the year?
The Man Who Saved Baseball
Giants fans, don't miss this interview with head honcho Peter Magowan, one of the coolest owners ever and the reason there are no Tampa Bay Giants.
There we go again
If this poll (which gives results that are very different from other polls) is right, California is about to void an election and install a glib, inexperienced mega-rich guy as governor who usually doesn't even bother to vote, to replace our boring, experienced kinda rich guy. We'll either get 3 years of reducing state problems to movie sound bites, or else recall after recall. Hmm, I wonder what other states I could run away to.
Google News
I use Google News all the time and it's great. But why, when I search for a story that's been picked up by a bunch of different sites, do I get page after page listing all 47 million copies of the exact same story? Google, please fix. Thank you. That is all.
Antici-pation
We went the the last Giants game of the regular season yesterday, and it was a great tune-up as the G's whacked the hell out of the Dodgies, 12-3. After early fog, it turned out to be another perfect day at Pacific Bell Park, where the wind stops when you enter, the Cha-Cha Bowls are delicious, and all the children are above average. The Giants ended up conceding the best record to Atlanta so that they wouldn't have to fly cross-country and back on the eve of their playoff opener. I hope that turns out to be a good decision. I'm cautiously (no woofing here) excited about the Giants chances this year. This time, they're entering the playoffs with a great team, high expectations, and the pang of unfinished business from last year. That's a formula that worked great for the A's in 1989.
Saturday, September 27, 2003
Playmakers
I've been watching the drama series Playmakers on ESPN and I'm hooked by its writing, acting, and verisimilitude. It's an over-the-top portrayal of an NFL team and some of the shenanigans that go on in its orbit, including drugs, sex, and violence. Some NFL players think this is unfair, because the show exaggerates the bad stuff. Dear NFL players: this is FICTION. That means it's MADE UP, like ER and NYPD Blue. I like the theme song, which you can download here. Another catchy tune used in the show is Get Busy by Sean Paul (thanks to my son for identifying that one).
Friday, September 26, 2003
Bye, music
I decided to check out BuyMusic.com, the music-for-sale site that makes fun of Apple's iTunes Music Store ads and only works with Windows. There is stuff that Apple doesn't have, such as Radiohead's "Kid A", although it does cost an absurd $16.69. I decided to buy a track for .79, "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow. Searching wasn't bad, and signing up for an account was only a little annoying. Unlike Apple's store, there's no one-click to buy, so you have to "check out". When I did, I was informed that BuyMusic would have to do further checking on my credit card before allowing me to download my song -- "for my protection", of course. This process would probably take about one day, it said! I would be notified by e-mail when it was done. Three and a half days later, I got the e-mail saying my purchase was ready. I went back to BuyMusic and downloaded the track, which came in Windows Media Audio protected format. When I tried to play the track, Windows Media Player informed me that I needed to download a license for the track first. So I went through another step -- does this happen every time you buy a song? Finally, I played the track. All in all, it was a lousy customer experience. I have always appreciated Apple's ability to making things easy, but I have a new appreciation for the way the iTunes Music Store hides the details, including one-click purchase, credit card authorization, and digital rights management. Bow wow! Lots of other folks seem to have issues with BuyMusic.com.
Rare feat
Carlos Delgado of Toronto hit four home runs in one game yesterday. That's one of baseball's classic records. How rare is it? Delgado is only the 15th player in the 128-year history of Major League Baseball to do it.
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Wrong number
The RIAA sued a 65-year-old woman for sharing music via KaZaA. But she has a Mac, which doesn't run KaZaA. What happened? Bad IP snitching by Comcast? Did dynamic IP addressing screw up the identification?
People are gonna come from all over
Major League Baseball players, organized by state or country of birth here. 1698 from California, 8 from Alaska. 5 from Italy, but none since 1962.
Tracking baseball online
You can watch baseball play-by-play on ESPN, Fox, MLB, and Yahoo (others too?). They're all OK. ESPN's is unreliable with Safari, and Yahoo's seems to switch among games most quickly. It would be cool to be able to set up audio alerts when something happens, like a run scoring (in games you really care about) or the lead changing hands. Much work remains to be done on game trackers.
Giants fan diary
Another day, another slightly important game. This one was a 2-1 loss to Houston. The most important fact about this game is that Sidney Ponson pitched very well, but just well enough to lose, unfortunately. The regulars had the day off, although Barry Bonds pinch hit and struck out against Billy Wagner. Off day today, then four more of these bleh games against the Dodgers until the PLAYOFFS.
New administration
The West Wing started up again last night, with a whole new creative team. It's still good, but different, more dramatic, more melodramatic, less nerdy. I myself, being a nerd, don't like it as much so far.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Good day!
You can listen to Paul Harvey whenever you want!
Ten-Run Field
The Giants kicked Astros 10-3 last night, scoring all 10 runs in the second inning thanks to some timely hitting, lousy pitching, shaky defense, and those wacky Crawford Boxes. Jason Schmidt and the bullpen pitched well for the G's. Over in Oakland, the A's did exactly what the Giants did last Wednesday: won their game, then waited for good news from Southern California before clinching the division title. Eerily similar, except, why were there only 23,000 people in Oakland for this game?
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Neil, Neil, Neal
Three of my favorites, Neil Young, Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson, all releasing new work at about the same time. Coincidence?
Something's up with Barry
...Bonds, that is. He looked mortal last night in taking an 0-fer, grounding into a double play with the bases loaded and breaking a 58-game on-base streak. In the past, a visit from his dad would fix him right up. Now, I dunno. In other Giants news, Pedro Feliz and Ray Durham unloaded 9th-inning homers on practically untouchable Houston closer Billy Wagner as the G's topped the Astros 6-3. Playoffs, please start soon!
A cooler day around the bay
I'm sitting here enjoying a lovely cool breeze wafting the scent of Gilroy garlic in through my window. Nice!
Monday, September 22, 2003
Last week of the regular season
The Giants took two of three from the Dodgies at their place over the weekend, dropping Sunday's game in which they had a 5-2 lead and started only one regular. Kevin Correia gave up 3 straight home runs in the game's notable meltdown. We listened to much of this game on the Dodgers station. The Dodgers broadcast, led by Vin Scully, is unique and highly stylized. All Dodgers broadcasters must say the team nickname the same way, the Vin way, roughly "Dodyers" (very light on the "g"), and with a lilt in the first syllable. Vin tells little anecdotes about each player, and his ad libs are precious and sometimes brilliant. Here's what we learned:And when Todd Linden homered with two men on, Vin ad-libbed: "If I remember my German, 'Linden' means 'tree', and Todd Linden just hit a 'tree-run homer'". Fun.
- Andres Galarraga was once known as "El Gordito".
- Nobody calls Eric "E.Y." Young by his given name, except his mother, when she's mad.
- Pedro Feliz went to spring training two years ago and got his wisdom teeth pulled, "so he wasn't eating any steak".
- Neifi Perez's brothers and sisters are physicians, but of course, "you think any of them is making $4 million a year, like Neifi?"
Friday, September 19, 2003
Dost thee want an iPod?
Maybe you haven't heard about the Silicon Valley-Amish connection.
Inspirational and incredible
Neil Parry is a football player for San Jose State who suffered a horrific injury 3 years ago that led to the amputation of part of his leg. Yesterday he played in a major college football game for the first time since that happened. Way to go, Neil!
Shut your mouth
Here is the story of a man who was singing along with the radio while driving, got a bee in his mouth, and crashed his car. The lesson here is obvious: it's unhealthy to eat while you drive.
Hung over
The Giants played the first of nearly two weeks of sorta-meaningless games yesterday, losing 7-3 to San Diego. Sidney Ponson had another mediocre-bad game. He seemed unmotivated, and he had a lot of second-stringers behind him. I hope he knows how to turn it on for the playoffs. Playoff tickets go on sale this morning at 10:00. It's reload city -- wish me luck!
Not letting it be
There's going to be a new version of Let it Be by The Beatles. This one will be stripped of the Phil Spector production and will reveal "the noise we made in the studio", according to Paul McCartney.
Baseball in a hurricane
Do you think baseball games are stopped when the weather gets bad? Not always.
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Foregone conclusion is concluded
On a lovely San Francisco night, everything went as planned and the good guys won the National League Western Division. The weather was supposed to be chilly, but it was in the 70s with no wind all night. We managed to get terrific seats halfway up the view level right behind home plate. As we found our seats, we took in the fabulous view of China Basin, the bay beyond, and the sunlight glinting gold off the windows and buildings of the East Bay. Giants ace Jason Schmidt started without his usual fastball and was hammered, batting-practice-like, for 3 runs in the first two innings. He suddenly found his stride in the 3rd and became Jason Schmidt, while Andres Galarraga woke up the rest of the team and the crowd with a 2-run homer. When Marquis Grissom's 2-run shot in the gave the Giants the lead, there was no looking back. Meanwhile, the Dodgers' bats were sleeping in LA, as Arizona held onto a 2-0 lead. As the Giants wrapped up their 8-3 win, the Dodgers were just coming to bat in the last of the 9th. The usual big Pac Bell crowd and the Giants put celebration on hold as the video screen came to life with the Dodger broadcast, complete with the venerable Vin Scully calling the action. In an increasingly fabulous and surreal scene, we saw the Dodgies go down meekly, as Vin announced that we were watching "in San Diego". (OK, Vin is awsome: when 85 years old you are, broadcast this well, you will not!) Then, with 2 outs, the Dodger broadcast put up a shot of the crowd in San Francisco. So, we were at the ballpark in SF, watching the Dodgers game from LA, which showed us in SF watching ourselves watching the Dodgers. Only the Dodgers' lack of offense prevented an infinite loop from trapping the ballpark forever. When the Dodgers finished losing, our place went nuts. Fireworks shot from the scoreboard, players started jumping around and doing the champagne bath thing, and the fans hollered and slapped hands. The train home was a festive blast. Praise Peter Magowan, the Giants now have a couple of weeks to get everything just right for the Division Series. Playoffs, yippee!
Big storm
Hurricane Isabel comes ashore. Good luck to you if you're dealing with that. I wonder what would happen if we could predict earthquakes a few days ahead of time.
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
A cleaner, smoother win
The Giants looked a bit better in smacking the Padres 4-1 last night. They managed a single run on a bases-loaded-none-out in the first, two more on a 2-out rally in the fourth featuring hits by Cruz, Durham, and Grissom, and the last on another Barry Bonds homer, his 656th. Jerome Williams pitched himself into the playoff rotation, allowing just four hits and one run, a Khalil Greene homer in the 7th (and how cool is it to have a shortstop named Khalil?). The magic number is now 2. I'll be there tonight. Go D-Backs!
Not nice...
...but really funny.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
I can't complain, but sometimes I still do
The Giants slogged through another mess of a win last night, 8-7 over San Diego. Sketchy pitching, sloppy defense, and a lack of clutch hitting led to a 7-5 deficit in the 8th inning, when some even crappier play by the Padres helped the Giants to a 3-run rally. The "highlights" included Gary Matthews Jr. forgetting how many outs there were, and the go-ahead run scoring on a wild pitch. Two earlier Giants runs scored on a bungled sac bunt. Still, it's the Giants at Pacific Bell Park, so they found a way to win. And good things happened: Bonds homered (#655), Rueter pitched well, Worrell got the save, Snow homered and reached base 5 times. Clinching the division (magic number is now 4) can't come soon enough. The team itself seems sluggish and impatient, and I feel that way, too. This September is turning into a long month for Giants fans. I only hope October is long, too! This must be what it feels like to be a Braves fan. ;-)
Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
Last night I read the first two issues of this new 8-issue Neil Gaiman mini-series. This comic revives the old concept of reconstructing the Marvel Universe in a different time, but instead of 2099, the year is 1602, a very Gaiman-esque choice. Don't expect Sandman when you read Marvel 1602 -- this is much lighter-weight stuff, and a very pleasant read. The plot is coming together nicely, and most of the fun so far has been in recognizing Marvel folks in slightly unfamiliar guises. It's usually not hard: Carlos Javier is a guy with a school for talented youngsters, Sir Nicholas Fury is the queen's intelligence agent, his assistant Peter Parquah is fascinated by spiders, and so on. Matthew Murdoch, Dr. Stephen Strange, and plenty of others are in there too. But there are some twists and mysteries: why is Master John Grey so effeminate? Why is Virginia Dare on her way from the colonies? Who is the Grand Inquisitor? Gaiman has fun fitting his new Marvel Universe in with historical fact and speculation. Oh, and the Andy Kubert art is lovely to look at.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Diary of a Giants fan
The Giants won another slightly odd game against the hapless Brewers yesterday. Starter Kevin Correia couldn't find his control and was yanked in the 3rd inning after a walk-and-hit-batsmen fest. The game plodded to a 3-3 tie in the 8th when Barry Bonds was ejected for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout, at which point he charged out and went cap-to-cap with the home plate umpire. Because Bonds was already out of the game, it didn't really matter, but, weird. Things looked grim when the Brews took the lead in the 9th, but the Giants tied it with 2 outs in the bottom of the inning on a triple by Pedro Feliz that was almost a game-winning homer. Then, in the 11th, rookie Todd Linden won the game with a timely base hit. Magic number: 5! Andres Galarraga is a little pouty because he was removed for a pinch-hitter. I predict he'll get over it. In other baseball news, Tony Larussa is getting cranky as the Cardinals drop out of sight.
Whiny whine
I've had a PowerBook G4 for about six months now, ever since I switched back from Windows. The fan basically runs all the time the computer is awake. In my quiet office, the sound is annoying. After some Googling research, and asking some friends, this seems to be normal and expected behavior. Yuck. Apple has always been bipolar about quiet computers. I've had computers from Apple that were dead silent (yay) and I've had and heard others than scream, such as the famous "wind tunnel" G4s.
Friday, September 12, 2003
It's hot
How hot is it? According to KFOG radio, it's so hot, the Goths on Haight Street are spontaneously combusting. More "it's so hot" jokes here. These are supposed to be about Arizona. They know from heat.
Thursday, September 11, 2003
What I remember
The first news I heard was after the first crash but before the second one. I was mad at the radio news guy for sensationalizing when he speculated that it was probably a terrorist attack. The first reports I heard said a small plane had crashed into the tower. Of course, it was a jumbo jet. I wonder if this mistake was because the towers were so large that they made a big plane look small, or that people couldn't comprehend what had actually happened. When I saw the towers burning on TV, I thought "man, it's going to be a lot of work to fix those." I never imagined they would fall. Who did? I watched the first tower fall on TV and heard a reporter describe it, but it didn't penetrate into my brain until several minutes later. In the days following, I expected everybody to be more open and friendly, like they were after the big earthquake in 1989. But I was disappointed when most people I saw in public avoided making eye contact. An all-sports radio station ran talk shows 24/7 for several days, and the hosts were remarkably intelligent and comforting. I imagined a scenario in which, if another big attack took place within a few days, when we were still raw, public order in our country would collapse. There was a big benefit concert that was on every channel a few days later -- even many cable channels, like HBO. The atmosphere was eerie, with no audience, no narration, no subtitled credits. The concert was at a secret location. I wondered if everything was going to be like that from then on. There were no commercials on radio or TV for many days. It was very exciting when, a couple of days later, planes returned to the skies.
9/10/01
Today I'm remembering 9/10/01, a great day. I was visiting my mother on the eve of her knee replacement surgery. We had a wonderful time driving all over town, joyriding and visiting old haunts, having a couple of good meals. We finished the day by watching the first Monday night football game of the season and going to sleep early so I could get her to the hospital for her surgery the next morning. Her doctors had tremendous powers of concentration, and the surgery was a success.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Elite Computers -- mystery solved
Courtesy of Wolf, here.
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
3733t?
What's up with Elite Computers in Cupertino, across the street from Apple? The store was closed, then reopened as a Computerware or something, then closed again. Now the OPEN sign is on again and the sign says "G5 in stock". Is it back? Is it a joke?
Monday, September 08, 2003
Call me the curse (baseball)
The family and I went to the Giants-Diamondbacks game yesterday, courtesy of CJ. An ugly bullpen performance led to a 9-6 Giants defeat. In a year in which the Giants have the best home record in baseball, I have seen 3 grotesque losses at Pacific Bell Park. I am probably not allowed to attend any more games.
His ride's here
Warren Zevon is dead. He was a fabulous songwriter, and he handled his illness and death with grace.
Sunday, September 07, 2003
Movie night
I watched two pretty good movies last night: The Time Machine and Panic Room. I was skeptical about The Time Machine, especially because I really like the classic George Pal version, but I was pleasantly surprised. I like Guy Pearce, and the lightweight love story was sweet. The Machine itself is wonderfully to look at. The scenery, set in various times over a span of 800,000 years, is nifty. The special effects were very cool -- I replayed the first extended time travel scene for my son and then for my wife, and I enjoyed it all three times. The movie bogged down during the opening, in the library in 2030, and during the uber-Morlock exposition-plus-fight scene near the end. But overall, it was a fun 103 minutes of my life. Panic Room was good suspense and lots of neat camera effects. I don't think I've ever been disappointed by a Jodi Foster movie.
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Reentering my life
After six weeks away from home and dealing with tragedy, I'm trying to remember stuff, such as, when do I get up in the morning? What do I do all day? Etc. It's coming back to me a little at a time. Soon I hope to resume almost-daily updates here.
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Shirley Knaster, 1929-2003
My mom passed away a few days ago. It already feels like ages since she was alive. Although she was sick with lung cancer, she had just finished a successful treatment and her death was devastating and very unexpected. My brother and I spend her last days with her in at Rose Medical Center in Denver, where she received wonderful care. When the inevitable outcome became apparent, the doctors and nurses there worked to make her comfortable and to dignify her death. She was born and grew up in the wonderful immigrant Jewish community of Denver's West Side. She lived her whole life in Denver and leaves family and a wide circle of friends. Here's what I read at her funeral:What can we say about mom in just a few minutes? When I was 6 years old, trying to figure out the world rationally, I remember thinking: My dad goes to work every day. But what does mom do? Not much, I thought. I pondered this as I put on my clean clothes – the ones she bought and picked out – ate breakfast that she made for me, walked through the spotless house that she kept running, and had her drive me to school, camp, the swimming pool, the doctor, or anywhere else I needed or wanted to go. It wasn’t until years later, after Kenny and I were grown and we had moved far away, that I became a parent myself and I began to understand what my mom and dad had done for us. But her work wasn’t finished after she raised us. She cared for and comforted our grandfather, then our dad, and finally our grandmother, as each of them grew ill and passed away. Each time she suffered a terrible loss, we worried about how she would continue. But she surprised us: with the help of family and friends, she grew stronger, not weaker, as the years passed. She truly believed, and we agreed, that the best part of her life was the last part. She was independent and strong. In recent years we often heard her say “I like my life.” She traveled, saw movies and plays, went out with friends and family. We joked that she was more active than many people half her age – such as her children. She loved to drive herself around town, although she was not fond of driving on the highway. I remember the day two years ago when she asked me to find her a way to drive to Park Meadows without using the highway – so we did. She liked that so much that we then proceeded to drive to Flatirons Crossing – without getting on the highway. Last year her adventures reached the pinnacle when, at age 73, she got her first computer, took classes, and joined the Internet generation. We loved to e-mail and chat with her, and she greatly enjoyed exploring this new hobby as long as she was able. When she was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year, she faced it head on. She confronted the grueling treatments with incredible courage and dignity. We were never prouder of her than when she was going to the clinic every day, often driving herself, or being taken by beloved family and friends who were such a comfort to her and to us. The family and friends who were there for her provided an awesome expression of the continuing power of the West Side. Her doctors were the best and were optimistic, but it wasn’t to be. She was not ready to go, and we were not ready to lose her, but we’ll go on, and we will try to gain strength from the experience, as she would. So I recall my age-6 thoughts: what did mom do? Not much, really. Just everything her family needed or wanted, everything her life offered, and more than she ever imagined she could.Rest in peace, mom.
Thursday, July 31, 2003
Nerds take over baseball
I bought Moneyball on a whim at San Francisco airport and I was hooked on it until I finished it. A great read, highly recommended. The book details how the Oakland A's management, led by GM Billy Beane, outsmarts richer teams. At the very least, it's proof of the absurdity of Bud Selig's "small-market" baloney. As a Giants fan, though, I still can't like the A's. ;-)
Rocky
Well, I unexpectedly find myself in Denver, visiting my mom who is very sick. A trivial side effect of this fact is that my blogging activities will be greatly reduced for some days.
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
California, here I am
I'm back home after a lovely two-week vacation in Pennsylvania. Every few years, we pick a state that's filled with history, baseball, and roller coasters, then spend a couple of weeks driving around and seeing stuff. This time I planned to blog the whole trip, but our hotels' Internet access was so lousy and we were so busy, we ended up with a paper log (plog?) instead of a weblog. So watch for little bits of the vacation to appear here in the coming days -- sort of a TiVo-delayed weblog.
Friday, July 25, 2003
The Bong Bong Hotel
We're staying at the Holiday Inn Independence Mall in Philadelphia. The elevators here have an interesting bug. The "going up" and "going down" chimes sound on every floor as the elevators pass, whether they're stopping at that floor or not. And the chimes are very loud. And our room is not far from the elevators. So, when two of us wake in the night and hear the chime, we echo "bong" (if it's going up) or "bong bong" (if it's going down). It's funny, but you have to be there. Then you fall back to sleep.
Sunday, July 20, 2003
Aglow
We avoid the turnpike and main roads whenever possible. While driving down Pennsylvania State Route 441 outside Harrisburg yesterday, on our way to the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Barbara spotted several large conical familiar-looking buildings nearby. "Where's Three Mile Island?" she asked. None of us knew. Jess was using the hiptop to Google it when I drove right past one of the buildings and a sign: Three Mile Island Power Generating Facility. "Roll up the windows, kids!"
Saturday, July 19, 2003
I yet live
Hello. I am not dead. I am in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. Much more to come about: Baltimore, Gettysburg, Flight 93, Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob, Pittsburgh, Hershey, and more. Thank you for your patience.
Friday, July 11, 2003
A nearby sausage also went down
One of the most endearing and wacky promotions in sports is the sausage race held between innings at Milwaukee Brewers home games. In this bizarre event, people dress up as hot dogs, Italian sausages, bratwurst, and the like, and run around the track at the edge of the field. The scene got even more surreal a couple of nights ago when a visiting player, Randall Simon of the Pittsburgh Pirates, smacked the Italian sausage with a baseball bat, knocking her down and causing a two-meat pileup near the Pirates dugout. Watch the video by clicking the link under "Trouble is brewing" on the right side of the page.
Thursday, July 10, 2003
no more Luftwaffe
I saw a plane at San Jose Airport recently that said Luftwaffe on it. I guess this is why.
Wednesday, July 09, 2003
Dodger Dog debate
Here. I have always thought Dodger Dogs were lousy. Of course, I'm a Giants fan, but still. It's all show, and no go...how very L.A.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
I'm caught up in the hype for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which opens this Friday. The movie is based on an awesome Alan Moore comic book (hmm, "awesome Alan Moore comic" -- isn't that redundant?) and the trailers look really cool. The movie has a soundtrack that includes two new songs by Ladysmith Black Mambazo (also awesome). You can only buy the soundtrack from the iTunes Music Store -- there are no physical CDs for sale.
Tuesday, July 08, 2003
Throw strikes: Babe Ruth is dead
This annual survey of baseball players contains some fascinating info. Tony LaRussa is on both the best and worst managers lists. Tampa Bay has the best visiting locker room. Safeco Field and Pacific Bell Park are the favorite ballparks. And my favorite stat, 1.5% of players who responded think Babe Ruth is the "greatest living player". Uh. Not since 1948, dudes.
Like an Inca
Did the Inca use binary-encoded knotted strings to store information? That's what a new book says. Binary states in the strings are expressed by choices including the type of material in the strings, spin and ply direction, and direction (forward or reversed) of the knot.
Monday, July 07, 2003
Kobe Bryant
Lakers star Kobe Bryant has been accused of felony sexual assault in Colorado. After an investigation that included a review of physical evidence, a judge ordered Bryant arrested. He turned himself in and charges might be filed. Few professional athletes have better reputations than Bryant. Lakers General Manager said "These allegations are completely out of character of the Kobe Bryant we know". Other statements of support will likely appear today. Obviously, I have no idea what happened with Kobe Bryant in Colorado. But ever since the destruction of the Kirby Puckett myth, I'm highly skeptical whenever I hear about the public reputation of any famous person.
Saturday, July 05, 2003
Radiohead on DirecTV
DirecTV is showing a Radiohead concert on channel 103 (that's in the pay-channel range, but this is one of their "freeview" concerts). It's flashing lights, small club, high energy -- looks pretty cool. It also includes (kinda tedious) interviews about the new CD, Hail to the Thief.
Thursday, July 03, 2003
Hacking a telemarketer
It's a lot of trouble to go to, but it was effective.
Tuesday, July 01, 2003
Quixotic dreams
Two adjacent stories in today's San Francisco Chronicle tell about big longshot ideas: turning the former U.S. Mint into a museum, and saving San Mateo's Bay Meadows racetrack. Go, dreamers! I hope you succeed!
Hollywood sign
The world-famous Hollywood sign has a web site, just like everybody else. Here are the webcams. You can even send an e-mail -- excuse me, a fan letter -- to the sign. Okey doke.
A Fire Upon The Deep
A recent pair of long airplane rides led me to seek out a long SF book to read in the air. Numerous cow-orkers pointed me at A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge. It was a great read, a story of the far future and the collision between various remnants of a human civilization, a hive-mind race of doglike creatures, and a sort of uber-computer-virus that enslaves and destroys. Other fun elements are a race of sentient plantlike creatures that live connected to smart scooters and laws of physics that permit greater speed (faster than light) and computing power as you get farther out from the center of the galaxy. Recommended (and I'll even send my copy to the first person who asks). In a bit of galactic surreality, while reading the book I found myself sitting next to Gordon Garb, who is listed in the book's acknowledgments.
Worst picture ever of Bill Gates
This is the most incredibly unflattering picture of Bill Gates ever. I know he's gained a little weight, but really now.
Friday, June 27, 2003
Hotter than Cuba
So hot in the Bay Area! We usually get one or two of these heat waves every year. After 3 days, the fog comes in and everybody enjoys the cooling relief. My iTunes random playlist commemorated the weather by choosing to play a song by Hot Hot Heat.
Thursday, June 26, 2003
Slumber party at Pacific Bell Park
The Giants let fans sleep on the field at the ballpark last night for $300 a head. It's a pretty cool idea, if a bit pricey. They showed Field of Dreams on the Jumbotron, provided bounce houses and pitching machines, and brought in Hall-of-Famer Orlando Cepeda to serve breakfast. The party got off to a stinky start as the Giants lost the final game of their series to the Dodgers. But early reports indicate that nobody slept much and fans had a great time at this unusual event.
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
MacHack stops
It turns out that it's only this year's MacHack that was unstoppable. Next year is a leap into the unknown, because the conference is changing names (ADHOC: Advanced Developers Hands-on Conference) and one of its guiding lights, Hack Show producer Scott Boyd, will no longer be involved. However, lots of incredibly capable folks are working hard to ensure the future of the conference, so I'm optimistic. After all, Apple has been going out of business for about 20 years now, and it hasn't gotten there yet, so why should MacHack be any different?
Friday, June 20, 2003
MacHack is unlikely
I love MacHack, probably the unlikeliest conference ever invented. People stay up all night hacking, storytelling, eating, and drinking. Keynotes start at midnight and go for hours and hours. Maids are instructed not to knock on doors lest they awaken people sleeping until noon. This year, MacHack was challenged by Apple's WWDC, but MacHack proved to be unstoppable and it has prevailed!
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Orrin Hatch is off his nut
He thinks people who download music should have their computers destroyed.
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Soldier Field
In Chicago, Solder Field is being remodeled by adding glass and steel to the original neo-Classical building. Even though the stadium is a historical landmark, its character is being drastically changed by this rebuild. Lots of folks are complaining. From the pictures, it looks like the complainers have a point.
Monday, June 16, 2003
Crime: flying while David Nelson
This story shows what can happen when secret justice gets out of hand. Yes, law enforcement agencies sometimes need tools for concealment and secrecy, but they also must be accountable when innocent people are stepped on. The scariest part are the 1984-esque quotes from the TSA guy.
Friday, June 13, 2003
President Bush falls off a Segway
Yep, I thought it was a joke, too, until I saw the pictures.
Commencement
Yesterday my son Jess graduated from high school. This, of course, is impossible, as he was just born recently some time (the exact year escapes me), and I'm clearly far too young to be the parent of a high school graduate. Some of you out there might even remember when Jess was born, so you'll agree with me on this. Seriously, congratulations, Jess! You did it!
T-Mobile Sidekick Wins
The T-Mobile Sidekick, which just keeps getting incredibly good press, has won PC World's Product of the Year award.
Missing Seattle
Last night I was watching the Mariners-Expos baseball game from Seattle's Safeco Field, one of my favorite ballparks. In my previous life, I visited Seattle (well, Redmond, anyway) for two days and a night every month, and I never stopped enjoying it. I had the easiest flying commute in history. I got up early in the morning and Barbara dropped me off at San Jose International (aka Dinky Airport), a 15-minute drive from our house. My flight always left from gate C-15, an old part of the airport that has a security check for just 2 gates, so there was never a line. I could leave my house 30 minutes before a flight and still make it. Once in Seattle (about an hour and a half flight), I rented a car, which at Seattle's airport is still on-site, and drove to campus in Redmond. There I got to spend two full days meeting with cool folks learning what was going on (instead of doing any work) and having dinner with my friends before returning home on the evening of the second day. Those monthly visits were definitely the best part of working at Microsoft, and I miss them. Well, the food at Cafe 9 was lousy, so I don't miss that. ;-)
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Radio mystery
In the U.S., call letters of radio stations in the east start with "W", and those in the west start with "K". But why those letters? Who thought them up and who assigned them? Why not one letter for the whole country? (To avoid name collisions?) If you know, add a comment or send me mail.
ReplayTV becomes even less relevant
The latest owners of ReplayTV have announced that the next version will drop the commercial-skip and send-show features that got them sued. Brilliant move, guys! You've managed to remove the only reasons anybody had for buying your product instead of the competition.
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Bob Dylan quiz answers
Five songs that mention Bob Dylan in the lyrics:1. The Who, The Seeker ("I asked Bobby Dylan...") 2. Jesus Jones, Right Here Right Now ("Bob Dylan didn't have this to sing about") 3. John Lennon, Give Peace a Chance ("Tommy smothers, Bob Dylan, Tommy Cooper, Derek Tayor") 4. Billy Joel, We Didn't Start the Fire ("Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion") 5. Counting Crows, Mr. Jones ("I want to be Bob Dylan")Here are a whole bunch more.
Monday, June 09, 2003
System of a Down name origin
Where does the band name name System of a Down come from? Here's a little (very little) insight. (See The Name Game about halfway down the page.)
Bob Dylan quiz
Can you name five songs with Bob Dylan's name in the lyrics? This morning KFOG radio had a quiz that featured tiny sound clips from five such tunes. I'll post KFOG's list of songs tomorrow.
Fish, plankton, sea greens...protein from the sea!
This is the time of year when classes of preschoolers, kindergartners, etc., take CalTrain from San Jose to Palo Alto, spend a few hours at a park, then ride back. Almost every morning for the past few weeks, my train has included a carload full of excited little kids taking their first train ride. Today as I was walking through the tunnel to the platform, 40 or 50 kids swarmed around me, giddy with life. I felt like Peter Ustinov at the end of Logan's Run.
Friday, June 06, 2003
More Sosa
Baseball checked 76 bats found in his locker, and they were untainted. Big deal...they didn't seize the bats until an hour after the incident, giving somebody ample time to remove any corkers. The Hall of Fame X-rayed 5 Sosa bats they have, and they were clean, too. Does that convince you of his innocence? OK, imagine you're Sammy, and you just hit homer #60 with a corked bat. The Hall of Fame asks for the bat. You gonna give 'em the doctored stick, or substitute a legal one? During home run record chases, Baseball puts authentication stickers on the balls, because fans end up with those, but they have no way (as far as I know) to make sure the bats players give them are what they claim to be. Baseball is taking a long time to figure out Sosa's punishment. I wonder if there's disagreement about just what should be done, or if they're somehow investigating further to see how long he's been cheating. UPDATE: He's suspended for 8 games, which he will appeal. That's a fair sentence, in line with precedent established by other corked bat incidents. Meanwhile, this guy clearly has a personal vendetta against Sosa.
MacHack
I get to give midnight keynote #2 at MacHack 2003, an incredibly great conference you should attend if you're any kind of cool geek at all. Hey, non-Mac nerds: come see how awesome a geekcon can be! Get your company to pay for it! My speech will be my hack. Any suggestions on what I should talk about or do? Send 'em along.
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
Sammy, how could you?
Any way you look at it, Sammy Sosa screwed up majorly by using a corked bat yesterday. He says he didn't realize it was corked. I find that hard to believe. One of the reasons you cork a bat is to make it lighter. How could Sosa pick up the bat and not realize it was different? But then, why would a guy who can hit the ball as far and hard as Sosa need a corked bat to begin with? Maybe his confidence needed a boost after all the troubles he's had this season. I don't think this taints his records. Hitting 500 homers is an incredible feat: corking a bat doesn't help you that much. But if he did it on purpose, it does taint his humanity.
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
New Blue
Blue Man Group has a new CD entitled The Complex. It's a departure for them, because most of the songs feature guest vocals, some from famous folks like Dave Matthews. Still, the music is the familiar and catchy Blue Man stuff with lots of percussion and invented instruments. I say: two blue thumbs up.
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Technology vs. umpires
Baseball is messing around with the strike zone by imposing technological masters on home plate umpires. Sounds like it's not working perfectly just yet. Dan Patrick comments about this.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Ruben Rivera's stupid baserunning
Rivera missed second base twice on a play that included 2 errors by Arizona. On the radio, Jon Miller called it "the worst baserunning in the history of the game." See here.
Home openers rock
Minor league baseball is really cool. In some ways, it's even better than the big leagues: cheap seats and food, wacky promotions between innings, and relaxing atmosphere. Even if you don't like baseball, you can have a blast at a minor league game, because most folks are there just for fun and don't get as caught up in whether the home team wins or not. If you live in Silicon Valley, check out the San Jose Giants.
SARS Instant Message smileys
From Boing Boing.
Jacko goes Spidey
I don't usually get into the Michael Jackson frenzy, but this one is just too wacky to pass up. P.S. I've been to Solvang -- it's a big fake.
Friday, May 23, 2003
List #4: order of streets in Palo Alto from Middlefield west This is from memory (I just went for a walk).Middlefield Webster Tasso Cowper Kipling Waverley Florence Bryant Ramona Emerson High Alma
If dogs were people...
...they might enjoy this sign too.
Annika Sorenstam shot-by-shot
Follow her progress here. Go Annika!
Thursday, May 22, 2003
List #3: restaurants I have lunched at in downtown Palo Alto
While working in downtown PA for the past 10 weeks, I have eaten lunch at:1. Darbar 2. Caffe Verona 3. Andale 4. Jing Jing 5. Taxi's 6. Peninsula Creamery 7. Pluto's 8. Rangoon 9. Bamboo 10. N.Y. Pizza 11. Royal Thai 12. the other Thai place, on Lytton 13. Fratelli Deli 14. Mango Cafe 15. Rose & Crown 16. Cafe Renaissance 17. the Korean barbecue place 18. Zibibbo 19. Il FornaioI've probably forgotten a few, too.
Something new
Welcome to the planet, Bella Golda Cooperman! What, were you born yesterday? (Yes, she was.)
Endangered languages
The Foundation for Endangered Languages is cool. Some languages are only spoken by one human being.
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Oi! Vay! Let's go!
In the late '70s, you couldn't get much more counter-culture than The Ramones. And now, there's a commercial for AT&T cell phones that features the classic Ramones tune "Blitzkrieg Bop". This is how rebellious youth moves to the mainstream over time.
Monday, May 19, 2003
NFL in LA
Nearly a decade after the NFL fled Los Angeles, folks are still trying to figure out how to get a team back there. Probably, taxpayers will end paying for some rich guy's stadium, which is the way it usually works.
Napster's coming back
Roxio owns the name "Napster" and is acquiring Pressplay, one of the stinky online music services. Roxio is expected to rename the service Napster and relaunch it, hopefully with new and better features. Let's see if they can make it any more interesting than the previous owners did.
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Bay to Breakers vs. Cousin Marshall
Today is the big, fun Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco. It's also the day I'm meeting my cousin Marshall at the Giants game. Yow, and I told him there wouldn't be any traffic coming into town. I hope he gets in late enough that that's true.
Friday, May 16, 2003
The Matrix Reloaded
If Morpheus were asked to review The Matrix Reloaded (the Morpheus of this movie, not the original), he might say something like "It is as good a movie as it is, because that is what it is supposed to be." Well, it didn't suck, and it's not stunning or genre-defining. This time, the element of surprise provided by all the goodies in the original movie is lost, and really, that was bound to happen. The fights, explosions, flying, and other special effects are fun to watch, but they sometimes go on too long. The philosophizing is endless and devoid of the minimalist pop magic and mysticism the first movie provided. Some of the dialog is bad, bad, bad. Councilors pontificate, Morpheus makes an embarrassing speech in Zion, and the movie absolutely screeches to a halt during a ponderous scene with the Matrix's architect. During that scene, I watched people in the theater shift in their seats and check their watches. There's too much going on here, too many little subplots. Few of these pay off, as they're apparently just setups for The Matrix Revolutions. They had too much money, spent too much time trying to live up to expectations. The Matrix was clever and original, but now it's a franchise. The non-ending is a title reading "TO BE CONCLUDED", but even without that predictable disappointment, the movie is good but unsatisfying. It's "merely" a really good action/science-fiction blockbuster with awesome effects, which isn't really so bad, but the experience doesn't come close to The Matrix. This LA Times review comes pretty close to describing how I feel.
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
There is no spoon
Gonna watch The Matrix tonight with friends: the original, in preparation for seeing Matrix Reloaded tomorrow night.Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.Geeks rule!
Weird play in Giants-Expos game
It was a dark and windy night at Pacific Bell Park. With bases loaded and one out, Barry Bonds popped up between the mound and home. The umpires immediately and clearly called the infield fly rule, rendering Bonds out. Three Expos tracked the wind-blown popup, which eventually fell untouched on the infield. Then, brain cramps broke out all around. Baserunner Neifi Perez was about halfway home from third base, trying to figure out what to do, when the genius Expos decided to pick up the ball and step on home for a force out. Of course, with the batter out on the infield fly, there was no force. As the 'spos congratulated themselves for this difficult feat of baseballing, Perez hilariously and nonchalantly snuck in behind them, puffed his cheeks as if in resignation, then stuck his foot on the plate, looking at the umpire for confirmation that he had scored. The umpire stayed with the play all the way and made the "safe" call. The Expos briefly argued, but they were wrong: on an infield fly, runners can advance, as Perez did. If the Expos had simply taken a few steps and tagged Perez, he would have been out. This one goes in my mental collection of weird baseball plays, along with the infield fly triple play and other fun.
RIAA apologizes for erroneous letters
The RIAA sent cease-and-desist letters to folks who apparently were doing nothing wrong. It later apologized for the letters.
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Ronald McDonald captures kid
Here is the story of a 4-year-old kid who climbed up on a statue of Ronald McDonald and got his head stuck between Ronald's legs. The interesting thing about the story is the unstated subtext of the irresponsible parent, and a part of the story that seems to have vanished. Throughout the story, the reporter's writing paints the parent as taking no responsibility for what happened. In the printed version, I remember reading that the reporter asked the parent point-blank whether he was responsible at all, and he said no. Curiously, this exchange is missing from the web version. That's too bad, because it was the best part of the story, as the reporter smelled what the parent was saying and went in for the kill. I e-mailed the reporter to ask why they edited that part out on the web. I'll let you know what he says.
Monday, May 12, 2003
Carol Channing gets married
This is pretty cool: 82-year-old Carol Channing married her junior high school sweetheart, Harry Kullijian, over the weekend. They hadn't seen each other for decades until earlier this year when a friend of Harry's noticed that Carol had mentioned him in her autobiography. At the time, Harry said "I thought she was dead."
Saturday, May 10, 2003
The Matrix: comedy?
Last night I watched some of The Matrix on FOX TV (commercials -- whoa). I had forgotten some of the really funny stuff in there, such as the sprinklers coming on and drenching the agents during the building assault scene, and the two agents looking at each other, then running away rather than face Neo near the end. Also, I love the funny/ultracool lines, like this:Neo: Do you know how to fly a helicopter? Trinity: Not yet.Next week will be fun: watching The Matrix (off DVD, no commercials, thank you) with friends on Wednesday night, then seeing Matrix Reloaded with friends on Thursday. There is no spoon.
Friday, May 09, 2003
Old Man of New Hampshire
The giant rock face that has come to symbolize New Hampshire and is one of its most popular attractions has collapsed into rubble. They're thinking of restoring the thing, but it seems like that would be just wrong. It was made by nature, and nature has taken it back, so let it be. This is very serious business in New Hampshire. Here's what Daniel Webster said about the Old Man:Men hang out signs indicative of their respective trades; shoe makers hang out a gigantic shoe; watchmakers a monster watch. But up in the mountain of New Hampshire, God Almighty Himself has hung a sign to show that here in New Hampshire, He makes men.I wonder what John Linnell thinks of this?
Thursday, May 08, 2003
A great mystery solved
I have always been vague on what constitues being a "removed" cousin, as in "first cousin, once removed". Thanks to this site, now I know. So, Marshall, welcome to California: you are my second cousin once removed. (My grandfather and his great-grandmother were brother and sister.)
Speaking of the TiVo...
We have a TiVo, which is actually an UltimateTV, but TiVo is such a better word, and it's much easier to verb. Due to us being insanely busy lately, the TiVo is full to bursting. If we don't watch some shows soon, I think it will start emitting smoke and hollering at us.
Ali G
I heard some of this guy on the radio, and it's hilarious. Looks like it's going to be on one more time, next Sunday, and then not for awhile. Gotta clear some space on the bulging TiVo to record it.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Doors
I have really bad door karma. I always have trouble with doors. Our house went through three different front doors, and all of them were sticky, or scraped, or squeaked, or had locks that were hard to operate. Last year's remodel moved the location of the door by about 10 feet, and we carefully selected a nice new front door. At first, it swung freely and quietly, but now, it has succumbed to bad door karma: the lock and the door are both getting annoying. Also, we have a window with a sliding mechanism breaks easily. I guess that's probably related. Most of our interior doors are troubled, too. And my car door handles have a habit of coming loose every couple of years or so, eventually coming off in my hand. Maybe in a past life I was really mean to a door, and now the doors are getting even. Or now that I think of it, it could be because I kicked a hole in a closet door during a tantrum I had when I was 8 years old.
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
comments, anyone?
I added the ability to leave comments, so let the flaming begin. I had about 14 seconds to do it, so I lucked into a super-easy service called Enetation. I'm going to give them money.
Batmobile
Here are some cool photos of the original Batmobile. When I was about 12 years old I had a Batmobile HO slot car. It was slow and fishtailed like crazy, but it looked great.
Monday, May 05, 2003
Subversive Cheerios
Here at work we have an enormous industrial sized box of Cheerios. Imprinted on the Cheerios box is the following:The real pleasure is not in doing nothing, but in having lots to do and not doing it.O what is the world coming to, when even our cherished breakfast cereals espouse the slacker ethic?
Friday, May 02, 2003
Steve Jobs in Time magazine
Here is an interview with Steve Jobs about Apple's new music stuff. He likes it! Some high-bandwidth RDF manages to seep through, even in the printed word.
Coke pulls swastika robots
In Hong Kong, Coca-Cola has stopped distributing toys with swastika-like symbols. Oops. It was likely an innocent, trans-cultural, non-Nazi-related mistake. No sign of them on eBay yet.
Thursday, May 01, 2003
Incredibly, the worms survived
See here.
They Might Be Giants
This week I got to see my favorite band, They Might Be Giants, perform twice. The were in fine form, the best I've ever seen them. Last night they had a great vibe going with the audience, and they really seemed to feed off it. They blew the doors off "Why Does The Sun Shine?", "Man, It's So Loud In Here", and "Birdhouse In Your Soul". They're awesome as a tightly rehearsed band, but their improvisations are amazing. For part of the show, John Flansburgh hooks up an FM radio to the speakers, twirls the dial, then the band goofs on what they hear. Last night that led to an improvised bit of The Beatles' "Tax Man", which led Them to play the next song, "Particle Man", with the "Tax Man" bass line behind it all. It worked beautifully. They are perhaps the most misunderstood, hard-to-describe band I've ever loved. They're nerds who rock, and they know they're nerds and also that they rock, so they don't take themselves too seriously, except that they know they are serious. I'm hoping the new documentary, Gigantic, will explain what they're all about to the rest of the world.
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Video games in the potty
In the great tradition of "sink the cigarette", here is a game men can play while peeing.
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
No Timmy Thomas; otherwise, good start
Apple's music store is pretty much right on. No subscriptions, focus on downloading rather than streaming, and of course, it's nice to look at and darn easy to use. Reasonable restrictions: unlimited CD burns, songs can travel to up to 3 Macs. Free 30 second previews are addictively cool. Apparently, they helped keep the service practically inaccessible on the first day because they were so popular. Searching is a little broken: the main search function returns a maximum of 100 songs, so you might get the impression there's less music than you think. For example, if you search for Johnny Cash, you only see 4 CDs and 100 songs. But if you use the big eyeball Browse button and dive into Country, then Johnny Cash, you see 28 CDs and 236 songs for the man in black. That's confusing -- they gotta fix it. As for the catalog, it's a start, but it's far from the selection of the free services. It's hit or miss: no Led Zep, Beatles, Stones; plenty of Elton John, Paul Simon, Alan Parsons Project; a little Elvis Costello and They Might Be Giants. Limited new hits. Lots of artists have their b-stuff only. Lacks old obscure or wacky stuff I looked for (no Left Banke, Dave & Ansil Collins, Crazy World of Arthur Brown). I guess a lot of artists and companies are testing the waters, and if it works, they'll sign up later. That's crucial. But basically, Apple got it right!
Monday, April 28, 2003
Giants: ugh
Yesterday was the fourth time I've seen or heard the Giants get no hit: Mike "Scuffy" Scott in '86 (which clinched the division for Houston), Terry Mulholland (former Giant), Kevin Gross, and Kevin Brown (major nemesis and nearly a perfect game) were the others. Yuck. I hate when that happens. On the other hand, I've never seen the Giants no-hit anybody else, because their last no-hitter was in 1976, before I started following the team. No-hitters are scarce -- most years, there are only a couple. Yesterday's by Kevin Millwood was a 1-0 loss, which is the worst kind to lose. Hmm, it's the the third time the Giants have been no-hit by a Kevin in recent years. Coincidence? Why, yes!
Saturday, April 26, 2003
Apple's music service
Just in case Apple's music service, probably to be announced Monday, is exactly what I want it to be -- no subscription, emphasis on downloads rather than streaming, pay per download, free of DRM hassles that prevent me from moving music among my computers and devices -- I just want to point out I ranted it here first. The first song I'm looking for is Timmy Thomas's Why Can't We Live Together.
Friday, April 25, 2003
Radio Cluefree
Yesterday I heard a commercial for Radio Shack on the, er, radio. The premise was that a smart customer was being punished for going into the wrong store (that is, NOT Radio Shack) and having to deal with idiots working there. The customer asked for a "USB hub for wireless networking", and the store employee just repeated it back at her. So, head on over to Radio Shack and get your USB hubs for wireless networking! P.S. When I was 16 I worked at Radio Shack for a couple months. I had to take a lie detector test as part of the interview process. My manager left the store for an hour every day to smoke pot and was fired after he was caught robbing his own store in the middle of the night.
Thursday, April 24, 2003
The Producers: it sucked
...because we never got in the door. Yesterday Barbara and I went to the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco to see Jason Alexander and Martin Short in The Producers. We were part of a group of 47 drama kids and parents from our son's high school. When we got to the theatre, we discovered that the theatre had resold our tickets, despite the fact that they (a) apparently charged the drama teacher's credit card and (b) assured him on the phone the day before that the tickets were waiting at will call. Apparently the theatre management has decided to apply Max Bialystock's plan in the real world. A woman representing the theatre was apologetic and accommodating, offering tickets to any other show (The Producers closes in SF on Saturday and it's sold out). She ended up getting the group free tickets to a bay cruise, and arranging dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. As our drama teacher says, "They're not done accommodating us yet."
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
The Producers
Today Barbara and I are going to see The Producers with our son's drama class. These final performances in San Francisco star Jason Alexander and Martin Short (guess which one plays which role) as a tuneup for their run in LA. I hope the stars don't take the matinee off!
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Just Born
Peeps, those disgusting and/or fabulously wonderful little blobs of sugar shaped like chicks, are made by the Just Born candy company. Is the company name a cute play on the faux life form it sells? Nope. It's named for company founder Sam Born, of course.
Monday, April 21, 2003
Lucky to be alive
Sammy Sosa was hit in the head (or helmet) by a pitch yesterday. This is the most remarkable baseball picture I've ever seen. If the picture alone doesn't help you understand why batters wear helmets, read the unfortunate story of Carl Mays, who played in the pre-helmet era.
Saturday, April 19, 2003
Soldiers find $650,000,000 in cash
That's six hundred fifty million dollars, U.S., in metal boxes, in Iraq. That is an absolutely incredible amount of cash. If somebody left this behind, imagine how much they got away with.
Friday, April 18, 2003
Soggy day at the ballpark
Our family went to the see the Giants play the Astros on Wednesday. The game was scheduled for 4:05, but a steady rain delayed the start until about 5:15. We sat out in the rain and watched the Giants take a 5-0 lead, only to see them blow it in a big hurry and lose 8-5 in 9 wet innings. Still, we had a great time, as we got goofy from the rain and enjoyed the general ambience of the beautiful ballpark. And after all, the team is 13-2 -- hard to complain about that. Tonight: the Dodgies!
Disney tribute
This site has a ton of cool stuff all about Pirates of the Caribbean (the ride, not the new movie). Hours of fun time-wasting!
Thursday, April 17, 2003
Dictionary edict
Another eating-related item: can we please kill the obsolete word "fattening"? It's imprecise and confusing. Weight comes from calories in and calories out. Foods can be calorically dense, you can crave them or tend to overeat them, they can cause you to eat more or less of other foods, but please: no more "fattening".
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
The consequences of overweight
Because of soaring rates of overweight and obesity, today's children could become the first generation to die before their parents.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
More floppy origami
Got more floppies you want to destroy/make into art? Check out this link to see how to turn old floppy disks into other kinds of fictional alien spacecraft.
Monday, April 14, 2003
The smells of Palo Alto
On Page Mill Road this morning was the proverbial dead skunk in the middle of the road, stinkin' to high heaven. Walking to my office, a thoughtful cigar smoker had marked the tunnel under the CalTrain tracks with his scent. On University Avenue, an unfortunate fellow with a shopping cart was in need of a bath.
Friday, April 11, 2003
Music corner
Yesterday while I was working, my iPod decided to play Subdivisions by Rush for me. I hadn't heard that song in awhile, and I really love it. I started rocking out (silently, of course -- we're in close quarters at Danger). When it comes to the Jewish Canadian nerd rock genre, there's nobody better than Rush.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
Old catch phrases never die
This is strangely surreal, funny, scary, and moving.
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
Great debate
If your company provides morning goodies -- bagels, donuts, pastries -- at work one day a week, which is the right day? Monday, to ease the blow of returning to work? Friday, to start that weekend feeling a little early? Or Wednesday, to get over the mid-week hump? I vote for Wednesday, although I try hard to avoid eating this stuff.
