Damage Control
If you have been reading this blog for any length of time you know what
side of the bread on which I butter. No, I'm not referring to my sexual
orientation. I'm talking about my political views. Funny thing about
this country. We are aloud to complain about our current politicians.
We are aloud to complain about other governments. We are aloud to be
annoying and obnoxious. As long as we do not cause harm to others and
allow them to do the same. Well something like that anyway.
I freak out a lot about the Middle East in general. This week it is
Iran. Last week (and still this week really) it was Syria. Before that
it was Iran again and before that it was some other country. Sometimes
it is China that I complain about. Lets face it, I'm paranoid. I accept
that. I have not been diagnosed, but I have all the symptoms of
paranoia. Oh, then 9/11 happened. Before that it was the ship that was
manually torpedoed in a foreign port. Oh, there were some plane
hijackings. Let's face it. The U. S. is a target. Why, I have some
ideas, but I cannot prove anything.
I have chosen sides. One must choose a side before one can properly
argue a point. It is kind of required in a true debate to have chosen a
side. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I choose the United States of America. There, it is done. I can be just
as open as any one else in the world. I can be just a
accommodating. I could forgive a man who picks up a speer to proverbial
home against whomever. That is, I can be all these things as long as
the U. S. is winning. You see, I've chosen sides. That will conflict
with every single person on the planet who has chosen a different side.
Since the population of the U. S. is only like 2% or so of the Earth,
that is a gaggle of folks out there who will not agree with me on most
topics.
So, what prompts this gross of rhetoric? There is an intelligent
concerned woman who is a Palestinian who I know. She has a
diametrically opposite viewpoint from mine. She asked me about some of
the points that I covered in my blog and wanted to try to communicate
her feelings to me. I asked her to comment on the blog entry in
question. For all I know she is typing her response to my sometimes
damning words aimed toward the vicinity in question. That is wonderful
in my book. I found someone who believes perhaps more strongly than I
in the opposite direction. She is intelligent. She is well spoken as
far as I can tell. I cannot wait to read what she has to say.
I am proud to live in a country where two people on opposite sides of
the very catalyst that might start WWIII have a venue and yes, the
right, to face off and try to convince each other of our points of
view. We do not have to hide our debate. We do not need to sneak off to
some small corner where no one will hear. We can stand on the mountain
top and shout to the world. We have the freedom.
2005-12-15
2005-12-14
Iran
Wholly-shit! Have you heard what is going on in Iran? Iran is clearly attempting to acquire nuclear technology. The supreme leader (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) of Iran said he wants to wipe Israel off the map. Then the psycho says the Holocaust is a myth. All Europe and the UN do is sit on their hands and bitch at each other for pissing off the madman. The UN is fare more interested in Toyota Land Cruisers and expensive cigars. These fools don't realize they are staring WWIII right in the gullet.
North Korea is behind this. They are prodding Iran "Go on, you are not going to let the U. S. and Europe get away with making you look like a sucker are you?" The only consolation in the latest blathering wafting from the leadership of Iran lately is they are including Canada between the hate filled hissing. It is about time Canada stood up with the rest of the West and took it on the chin.
Wholly-shit! Have you heard what is going on in Iran? Iran is clearly attempting to acquire nuclear technology. The supreme leader (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) of Iran said he wants to wipe Israel off the map. Then the psycho says the Holocaust is a myth. All Europe and the UN do is sit on their hands and bitch at each other for pissing off the madman. The UN is fare more interested in Toyota Land Cruisers and expensive cigars. These fools don't realize they are staring WWIII right in the gullet.
North Korea is behind this. They are prodding Iran "Go on, you are not going to let the U. S. and Europe get away with making you look like a sucker are you?" The only consolation in the latest blathering wafting from the leadership of Iran lately is they are including Canada between the hate filled hissing. It is about time Canada stood up with the rest of the West and took it on the chin.
Pictures
You know, I don't have to publish my pictures at all. I took a bunch of pictures at the party. I had multiple requests for removing pictures of specific things from specific people. I tried to remove the pictures in question. It appears I missed something and people are complaining. Whatever. I give up I don't have to publish them at all. The pictures are really for me anyway.
You know, I don't have to publish my pictures at all. I took a bunch of pictures at the party. I had multiple requests for removing pictures of specific things from specific people. I tried to remove the pictures in question. It appears I missed something and people are complaining. Whatever. I give up I don't have to publish them at all. The pictures are really for me anyway.
Nat's Cooking
Nat cooked Monday evening, Tuesday evening and breakfast this morning. Everything she cooked tasted great. She didn't like the carrots in one of the dishes. They tasted like every other frozen cooked carrot I've ever eaten. The waffles, yes, waffles, she cooked this morning tasted great. The automatic waffle maker we got for the wedding either screwed up or has some quark we need to learn because the waffles came out in pieces. So what! She made waffles. I'm happy. Oh, then she drove me to work on a rainy day. Hazaaah!
Nat cooked Monday evening, Tuesday evening and breakfast this morning. Everything she cooked tasted great. She didn't like the carrots in one of the dishes. They tasted like every other frozen cooked carrot I've ever eaten. The waffles, yes, waffles, she cooked this morning tasted great. The automatic waffle maker we got for the wedding either screwed up or has some quark we need to learn because the waffles came out in pieces. So what! She made waffles. I'm happy. Oh, then she drove me to work on a rainy day. Hazaaah!
2005-12-13
Pictures
I've put up some pictures from last weekend's party. There are actually some black boxes on some of these photos. This is the first time I've had to do that sort of thing. No biggie. I also had to use a new page generator. It looks OK. I've already gone over why I had to switch.
This group is a cool bunch of folks. I want to sit down and go through the pictures one by one to explain what is going on. I will spare you. I did enjoy taking the pictures. I'm worried about upsetting any one. This is new ground and a new group. If I've upset any one in the pictures then let me know. If I've offended any one outside the pictures, then grow some thicker skin. This is the 21st century for God's sake.
I remember when I was about thirteen or so, my parents got cable TV. I'm not kidding, the guy hooked it up and some B movie came on that was the cheese aliens raping women and killing people all over the place. The Show was not on three minutes before some woman got naked. My mom said "We already discussed this. We are not going to hide it from him." to the cable guy.
Works for me.
I've put up some pictures from last weekend's party. There are actually some black boxes on some of these photos. This is the first time I've had to do that sort of thing. No biggie. I also had to use a new page generator. It looks OK. I've already gone over why I had to switch.
This group is a cool bunch of folks. I want to sit down and go through the pictures one by one to explain what is going on. I will spare you. I did enjoy taking the pictures. I'm worried about upsetting any one. This is new ground and a new group. If I've upset any one in the pictures then let me know. If I've offended any one outside the pictures, then grow some thicker skin. This is the 21st century for God's sake.
I remember when I was about thirteen or so, my parents got cable TV. I'm not kidding, the guy hooked it up and some B movie came on that was the cheese aliens raping women and killing people all over the place. The Show was not on three minutes before some woman got naked. My mom said "We already discussed this. We are not going to hide it from him." to the cable guy.
Works for me.
2005-12-12
Day
I worked on an old project most of the day at work. I cannot wait to move to a new assignment soon. Every time I go through knowledge transfer at work I fear training my replacement. This time it is a bit more disembodied. I'm training some IT zombie over seas to do some of the tasks that I've performed. Honestly, what I have been doing over the last couple of years is not that complicated. It is, however, based purely on experience. You have to have an idea what is going on behind the curtain in order to make things happen as planned. The reason I fear the KT is that I fear training someone and then loosing my job.
Natalie finally got me on MySpace. She has been trying to get me to sign up for a long time. I'm not impressed really. It is a venue for advertisers to peddle their products to groups instead of one web surfer at a time. Several of my friends are there. it looks like I can avoid most of the crap. It was kind of cool that Natalie had to help me configure my site to not look dork. Well to look less like a dork anyway.
I worked on an old project most of the day at work. I cannot wait to move to a new assignment soon. Every time I go through knowledge transfer at work I fear training my replacement. This time it is a bit more disembodied. I'm training some IT zombie over seas to do some of the tasks that I've performed. Honestly, what I have been doing over the last couple of years is not that complicated. It is, however, based purely on experience. You have to have an idea what is going on behind the curtain in order to make things happen as planned. The reason I fear the KT is that I fear training someone and then loosing my job.
Natalie finally got me on MySpace. She has been trying to get me to sign up for a long time. I'm not impressed really. It is a venue for advertisers to peddle their products to groups instead of one web surfer at a time. Several of my friends are there. it looks like I can avoid most of the crap. It was kind of cool that Natalie had to help me configure my site to not look dork. Well to look less like a dork anyway.
2005-12-11
Day After
Nat and I went to a Goblin Nation party last night. It was a blast. I have to get approval for the pictures so they will be posted soon. it was a ton of fun.
* There was great food. I'm not talking party food, though there was plenty of that there too. I'm talking cheese cake and good sausage. Any time Scott shows up, there is good food it seems. Abaddon had the most amazing stir-fry.
* Thee was a contest called a "Peck-off". I'm not going to go into it. Let your imagination run wild.
* I met some wonderful people. These are people who have bright warm souls. They are worth the time to learn their world and a joy to join in with a proud "hazaaaa!!"
* I took a bunch of pictures. They are not up yet. I'm waiting for the King's approval.
* We had a fire in a barbecue pit out back. That gave it a definite Faire feeling. I've noticed that open fires, or in this case one in a pit, give a gathering a different calling.
* I have a cut on my right hand, I have no idea how it goth there. I only had one gulp of mead. Nat had to stitch Keven up after a broken bottle incident.
* This was the first Goblin Nation family party. I'm glad to have made it. Several people could not make it. They were toasted by those who did.
I sat down at my computer and figured out that I had not figured out how to make web pages to do display the pictures I take. You have surely seen the old pages. I was using a program called JAlbum to put those together. For some reason, when I attempt to install JAlbum, it gives me some kind of freaky binary error. If I can figure out how in the hell to get it installed, those pages will probably come back. Until then, I'm going to use a program called GThumb. It comes with the Ubuntu install. It doesn't do a half bad job of resizing and wrapping the images. I tried about five different programs and ended up back at GThumb. It was the first one I tried. I thought it was terrible until I tried to get the other five programs to work. All of a sudden, after about three hours of messing with other programs, it's output was acceptable.
Nat and I went to a Goblin Nation party last night. It was a blast. I have to get approval for the pictures so they will be posted soon. it was a ton of fun.
* There was great food. I'm not talking party food, though there was plenty of that there too. I'm talking cheese cake and good sausage. Any time Scott shows up, there is good food it seems. Abaddon had the most amazing stir-fry.
* Thee was a contest called a "Peck-off". I'm not going to go into it. Let your imagination run wild.
* I met some wonderful people. These are people who have bright warm souls. They are worth the time to learn their world and a joy to join in with a proud "hazaaaa!!"
* I took a bunch of pictures. They are not up yet. I'm waiting for the King's approval.
* We had a fire in a barbecue pit out back. That gave it a definite Faire feeling. I've noticed that open fires, or in this case one in a pit, give a gathering a different calling.
* I have a cut on my right hand, I have no idea how it goth there. I only had one gulp of mead. Nat had to stitch Keven up after a broken bottle incident.
* This was the first Goblin Nation family party. I'm glad to have made it. Several people could not make it. They were toasted by those who did.
I sat down at my computer and figured out that I had not figured out how to make web pages to do display the pictures I take. You have surely seen the old pages. I was using a program called JAlbum to put those together. For some reason, when I attempt to install JAlbum, it gives me some kind of freaky binary error. If I can figure out how in the hell to get it installed, those pages will probably come back. Until then, I'm going to use a program called GThumb. It comes with the Ubuntu install. It doesn't do a half bad job of resizing and wrapping the images. I tried about five different programs and ended up back at GThumb. It was the first one I tried. I thought it was terrible until I tried to get the other five programs to work. All of a sudden, after about three hours of messing with other programs, it's output was acceptable.
2005-12-10
Movie
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
We went to the Alamo Draft house of course. However, I left my credit card at the house by mistake and we had to run back to the house to get it. When you buy the tickets online, they track you via your credit card. We ended up sitting on the very front row. I could only watch one half the screen at a time. I started to get a headache during the previews. I knew it was coming. It really kept me from enjoying the movie. I bet it was spectacular. I did look up during the battle scenes They had the grand feel that I felt in the Lord of the Rings series.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
We went to the Alamo Draft house of course. However, I left my credit card at the house by mistake and we had to run back to the house to get it. When you buy the tickets online, they track you via your credit card. We ended up sitting on the very front row. I could only watch one half the screen at a time. I started to get a headache during the previews. I knew it was coming. It really kept me from enjoying the movie. I bet it was spectacular. I did look up during the battle scenes They had the grand feel that I felt in the Lord of the Rings series.
2005-12-09
Best Comeback .. Ever
OK, I'm quoting a blog that is quoting NPR, but this is kind of weird because it is an audio interview. Normally, I would quote the original source and give the hat-tip to the blogger. They probably have a link to a transcript or something that I missed. Anyway, here is the whole thing. (sorry Israpundit)
Statistically, I bet the most dangerous thing you can teach your child
is how to drive. I'm willing to bet teaching someone safe gun use
reduces the likely hood of being hurt via a firearm. However, I'm
willing to double that bet that teaching a child how to drive increases
their chances of dying or being injured in a car crash. How ironic
would that be?
OK, I'm quoting a blog that is quoting NPR, but this is kind of weird because it is an audio interview. Normally, I would quote the original source and give the hat-tip to the blogger. They probably have a link to a transcript or something that I missed. Anyway, here is the whole thing. (sorry Israpundit)
| Max
Strange reports Marine Corp's General Reinwald was interviewed on the radio the other day and you have to read his reply to the lady who interviewed him concerning guns and children. Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you gotta love this!!!! This is one of the best comeback lines of all time. It is a portion of National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster and US Marine Corps General Reinwald who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military installation. FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base? GENERAL REINWALD: We're going to teach them climbing, canoing, archery, and shooting. FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it? GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range. FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children? GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm. FEMALE INTERVIEWER: But you're equipping them to become violent killers. GENERAL REINWALD: Well, Ma'am, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you? The radio went silent and the interview ended. |
Music News
If you criminalize music, only criminals will have music. They still
don't get it. They need to evolve, not sue their own customers and
people who understand change. I suppose a race of animal that realizes
it is on the way out has the opportunity to eat all the animals that
are evolving it out of existence. It is a battle for survival after
all. I hope the new guys get a chance to thrive.
| Song Sites Face Legal Crackdown CaptainPotato writes "According to the BBC, the Music Publishers' Association is stepping up to launch the next phase in the music industry's battle against online music. The MPA is demanding jail time for the maintainers of websites offering unlicensed song scores and lyrics. The MPA President has stated that closing websites and imposing fines is not enough, stating that by 'throw [ing]in some jail time I think we'll be a little more effective' in its crusade." We just recently reported on the pearLyrics cease-and-desist order as well. |
Another Survey
I got a 20. I missed the Campbell's soup and lowest number on an FM
dial.
| The
average person only gets 7 right. This is based on U.S. info, so use all lobes of your brain. This can be more difficult than it looks - it just shows how little most of us really see! There are 25 questions about things we see every day or have known about all our lives. How many can you get right? These little simple questions are harder than you think-- it just shows you how little we pay attention to the commonplace things of life. Put your thinking caps on. No cheating! No looking around! No getting out of your chair! No using anything on or in your desk or computer! Can you beat 20?? It is nearly impossible for any normal person to get higher than a 20 (The average is 7). Write down your answers and check answers (on the bottom) AFTER completing all the questions. REMEMBER - NO CHEATING!!! BE HONEST!!! That means no looking at your phone or anything on your desk... Then, before you repost this, change the number on the subject line to show how many you got correct. LET'S JUST SEE HOW OBSERVANT YOU REALLY ARE. - If not, just have fun! Here we go! 1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom? 2. How many states are there in the USA? (Don't laugh, some people don't know) 3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch? 4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label? 5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them? 6. When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg? (Don't you dare get up to see!) 7. How many matches are in a standard pack? 8. On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white? 9. What is the lowest number on the FM dial? 10. Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise? 11. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run? 12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial? 13. On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons? 14. Which way do fans rotate? 15. How many sides does a stop sign have? 16. Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side? 17. How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel? 18. How many sides are there on a standard pencil? 19. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing? 20. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package? 21. On which playing card is the card maker's trademark? 22. On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats? 23. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits? 24. How many curves are there in the standard paper clip? 25. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise? ANSWERS 1. Bottom 2. 50 3. Right 4. Blue, red, white, yellow, black, & gold 5. 1, 0 6. Right 7. 20 8. Red 9. 87.7 10. Clockwise (north of the equator) 11. Towards bottom right (left top to right bottom) 12. 12 (no number 1) 13. Left 14. Clockwise as you look at it 15. 8 16. Left 17. 5 18. 6 19. Bashful 20. 8 21. Ace of spades 22. Left 23. *, pound (..) 24. 3 25. Counter-clockwise NOW REPOST WITH THE NUMBER YOU GOT CORRECT IN THE SUBJECT LINE! |
Another Survey That Goes Nowhere
You know, I refuse to fill out surveys that do any one any good. The surveys that are just for the heck of it I take. How messed up is that?
I got 217. That is not the most.
If you only got 80%, you are not paying attention or your are not living in America.
You know, I refuse to fill out surveys that do any one any good. The surveys that are just for the heck of it I take. How messed up is that?
| Put
an X by the movies you've seen. If you get more than 70, you're a movie junkie. (X) Pirates of the Caribbean (X) Boondock Saints (X) The Mexican (X) Fight Club (X) Starsky and Hutch (X) Neverending Story (X) Blazing Saddles ( ) Garden State (X) The Princess Bride (X) Young Frankenstien (X) AnchorMan (X) Napoleon Dynamite (X) Saw (and Saw II) ( ) White noise (X) White Oleander (X) Anger Management Total here: 14 (X) 50 First Dates (X) Jason X (X) Scream (X) Scream 2 (X) Scream 3 (X) Scary Movie (X) Scary Movie 2 (X) Scary Movie 3 (X) American Pie (X) American Pie 2 (X) American Wedding (X) Harry Potter (X) Harry Potter 2 (X) Harry Potter 3 (X) Harry Potter 4 (X) Resident Evil I (X) Resident Evil 2 (X) The Wedding Singer ( ) Little Black Book Total Here: 18 (X) The Village (X) Donnie Darko (X) Lilo & Stitch (and II and the other thing I can't remember the title of, and the daytime cartoon) (X) Finding Nemo (X) Finding Neverland (X) 13 Ghosts (X) Signs (X) The Grinch (X) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (old and new) ( ) White Chicks (I refuse to watch this one) (X) Butterfly Effect ( ) Thirteen going on 30 (X) I Robot (X) Dodgeball (X) Universal Soldier (X) Limony Snickets A Series Of Unfortunate Events ( ) Along Came Polly (X) Deep impact Total here: 15 (X) KingPin (X) Never Been Kissed (X) Meet The Parents (X) Meet the Fockers (+ II) (X) Eight Crazy Nights (X) A Cinderella Story (X) The Terminal (X) The Lizzie McGuire Movie ( ) Passport to Paris (X) Dumb & Dumber (X) Dumb & Dumberer (X) Final Destination (X) Final Destination 2 (X) Halloween (X) The Ring (X) The Ring 2 ( ) Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (X) Practical Magic (X) Chicago (X) Ghost Ship (and Ghosts of Mars) (X) From Hell (X) Hellboy (X) Secret Window (X) I Am Sam (X) The Whole Nine Yards (X) The Whole Ten Yards (X) The Day After Tomorrow ( ) Child's Play (X) Bride of Chucky (X) Ten Things I Hate About You (X) Just Married (X) Gothika (X) Nightmare on Elm Street (X) Sixteen Candles (X) Bad Boys (X) Bad Boys 2 ( ) Joy Ride (X) Seven (SE7EN) (X) Oceans Eleven (X) Oceans Twelve (X) Identity Total here: 39 (X) Lone Star (X) Predator I (X) Predator II (I thought I saw III. Is there a III?) (X) Independence day (X) Cujo (X) A Bronx Tale (X) Darkness Falls (X) Christine (X) ET (X) Children of the Corn (X) My Boss' Daughter (X) Maid in Manhattan (X) Frailty ( ) Best bet (X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days ( ) She's All That ( ) Calendar Girls (X) Sideways (X) Mars Attacks Total here: 16 (X) Event Horizon (Could have been so much better) (X) Ever After (X) Forrest Gump (X) Big Trouble in Little China (Of all movies that didn't have a sequel) (X) X-men 1 (X) X-men 2 (X) Catch Me If You Can (X) The Others (X) Freaky Friday (X) Reign of Fire (X) The Hot Chick ( ) Swimfan ( ) Miracle (X) Old School (X) Ray (X) The Notebook (X) K-Pax (lame) Total here: 15 (X) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (X) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (X) A Walk to Remember (X) Boogeyman (X) Hitch (X) The Fifth Element (X) Star Wars episode I The Phantom Menace (X) Star Wars episode II Attack of The Clones (X) Star Wars episode III Revenge of The Sith (X) Star Wars episode IV A New Hope (X) Star Wars episode V The Empire Strikes Back (X) Star Wars episode VI Return of The Jedi (X) Troop Beverly Hills ( ) Swimming with Sharks (X) Air Force One (X) For Richer or Poorer (X) Trainspotting (X) People under the stairs (X) Blue Velvet (X) Sound of music (X) Parent Trap (X) The Burbs (X) The Terminator (II & III) ( ) Empire Records ( ) SLC Punk (X) Meet Joe Black (X) Wild girls (X) A Clockwork Orange (X) The Order (X) Spiderman (X) Spiderman 2 (X)Amelie Total here: 30 (X) Mean Girls (X) Shrek (X) Shrek 2 (X) The Incredibles (X) Collateral (X) The Fast & The Furious (X) 2 Fast 2 Furious (X) Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow (X) Closer Total here: 9 (X) Titanic (X) Saved ( ) Bowling For Columbine (X) Farenheit 9/11 (X) The Sixth Sense (X) Artificial intelligence (AI) (X) Love actually ( ) Shutter ( ) Ella Enchanted (X) Princess diaries 1 (Elle movie) (X) Princess diaries 2 (X) Constantine (X) Million Dollar Baby (X) Envy (X) Eurotrip (X) Malibu's Most wanted (X) Big Daddy (X) Black Sheep (X) The Breakfast Club (X) West side story Total here: 18 (X) A Christmas Story (X) Spanglish (X) Pulp Fiction (X) Sleepover (X) The Evil Dead (I've seen all six or so versions of this movie.) (X) Killer Klowns From Outer Space (X) The Seed of chucky (X) Vanilla Sky (X) Nightmare Before Christmas (X) Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (X) Interview With The Vampire (X) The Crow (X) Purple Rain (waist of celluloid) (X) Reservoir Dogs (X) Wayne's World Total here: 15 (X) Wayne's World 2 (X) 21 Grams (X) Blow (X) Edward Scissorhands (X) Clerks (X) Beauty and the Beast (X) Guess who (X) Monster In-Law (X) Elf (X) Stuart Little (X) Stuart Little 2 (and the cartoon version) (X) Mall Rats (X) Chasing Amy (X) Dogma (X) Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (I've seen about four of the Jay and Silent Bob movies now) Total here: 15 (X) Beetlejuice (X) The Last Samurai (movie and an Anime version) (X) The Amityville Horror (X) The Aviator (X) Romeo and Juliet (X) Barbershop (X) Barbershop 2 (X) Beauty Shop (X) Legally Blond (X) Legally Blond 2 (X) The Forgotten (X) Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen (X) Grudge Total here: 13 |
If you only got 80%, you are not paying attention or your are not living in America.
2005-12-08
Christmas
Christmas is for the kids. Elle gets all the attention this year. If you feel like giving me something, get something for Elle. Give me a card. It will make me happy to make sure Elle is happy.
Christmas is for the kids. Elle gets all the attention this year. If you feel like giving me something, get something for Elle. Give me a card. It will make me happy to make sure Elle is happy.
2005-12-07
More Balls than Brains
Well, there may be more to the old adage than one might think.
How many of my tax dollars are spent studying things like this. I make
myself think that in order to reduce our dependencies on chemical
pesticides, we study the natural answers to infestation in order to
better take advantage of it. Still, some intern is getting paid, either
directly or indirectly, to hold a bat still and measure its
reproductive organs. Someone else is quantifying the promiscuity of the
females. A manager type is sitting there racking his/her brain trying
to figure out how to keep these people focused and motivated. Someone
is mopping the floor too. And all on my tax nickel.
Now, as far as which is more taxing on the brain, I fully understand that a female that sleeps around does not require a lot of thought to bed. I'm no expert at this, but pleasing a monogamous female is far more challenging. You cannot just perform the same tasks over and over to please the same female again and again. You must be creative. You must think.
I've always prided myself on being smart. I was not able to get a degree. The more I learn the more I realize I need to learn. I consistently tested one standard deviation above average on intelligence tests in school. As for the other, ask Nat.
More
I heard this story on the BBC. I have to give credit to the announcer who said the words out loud with grace and didn't crack up once. The interview with the expert was professional and I did not hear one jab at the ridiculousness of the subject. The next story though was started out by saying "I don't think I can follow that."
Well, there may be more to the old adage than one might think.
| The
brainier male bats are, the smaller their testicles, according to a new
study. Researchers suggest the correlation exists because both organs
require a lot of energy to grow and maintain, leading individual
species to find the optimum balance. ... Pitnick and his colleagues had predicted that, in species with promiscuous females, males would require bigger brains in order avoid being cuckolded. So they were surprised to find the opposite: ?Perhaps monogamy is more neurologically demanding.? |
Now, as far as which is more taxing on the brain, I fully understand that a female that sleeps around does not require a lot of thought to bed. I'm no expert at this, but pleasing a monogamous female is far more challenging. You cannot just perform the same tasks over and over to please the same female again and again. You must be creative. You must think.
I've always prided myself on being smart. I was not able to get a degree. The more I learn the more I realize I need to learn. I consistently tested one standard deviation above average on intelligence tests in school. As for the other, ask Nat.
More
I heard this story on the BBC. I have to give credit to the announcer who said the words out loud with grace and didn't crack up once. The interview with the expert was professional and I did not hear one jab at the ridiculousness of the subject. The next story though was started out by saying "I don't think I can follow that."
Christmas Spirit
I'm finding myself in the Christmas Spirit. I haven't felt this way in a long while. It is a good thing I'm broke or I'd blow all kinds of money on decorations and toys for Elle. Well, I'm still going to get some toys for Elle, mostly things that can say are educational in some way. Natalie is a big Christmas freak. I have to say that I like that about her. She picked up a small Christmas tree and some battery lights for the wreath that she already had in a box. We don't have the little lights up yet. I want to get a picture of them when they are up.
The last time I felt any Christmas spirit was a couple of years ago when I bought a PlayStation II and a remote control truck for my parents. They had expressed how this was going to be a light Christmas due to some problems with business. I decided that was the perfect time to get a bit crazy. They plaid the ATV game that came with the PS II for a couple of hours and chased the dogs around with the RC truck. All in all, it was a capital occasion.
This year we (as in Nat, myself, and all the grandparents) will have Elle and at least one other grandchild to enjoy the season with. Elle is a great kid to have around when presents are passed out. She loves receiving. I'm sure as she matures, she will appreciate the joys of giving too. I've only known her for a short while, but she seems to have a deep personality.
I'm finding myself in the Christmas Spirit. I haven't felt this way in a long while. It is a good thing I'm broke or I'd blow all kinds of money on decorations and toys for Elle. Well, I'm still going to get some toys for Elle, mostly things that can say are educational in some way. Natalie is a big Christmas freak. I have to say that I like that about her. She picked up a small Christmas tree and some battery lights for the wreath that she already had in a box. We don't have the little lights up yet. I want to get a picture of them when they are up.
The last time I felt any Christmas spirit was a couple of years ago when I bought a PlayStation II and a remote control truck for my parents. They had expressed how this was going to be a light Christmas due to some problems with business. I decided that was the perfect time to get a bit crazy. They plaid the ATV game that came with the PS II for a couple of hours and chased the dogs around with the RC truck. All in all, it was a capital occasion.
This year we (as in Nat, myself, and all the grandparents) will have Elle and at least one other grandchild to enjoy the season with. Elle is a great kid to have around when presents are passed out. She loves receiving. I'm sure as she matures, she will appreciate the joys of giving too. I've only known her for a short while, but she seems to have a deep personality.
2005-12-06
Switch
At my day job, I'm changing what I do. I'm amazed how many times I have completely changed what I do at this job. I started out doing a job that was just a bit more complex than data entry. Then, after some well placed complaining, I became the proprietor of a database that controls material specifications. From there I fell into several small programming stints. At some point I was drug into packaging software. That is, I set it up to install from the network without much user input. That isn't supposed to be a full time job, but it kind of works out that way. Now, I'm off to another task. I'll still have some of the same responsibilities. No pay raise I bet. It is more programming oriented and I like that.
Wish me luck.
At my day job, I'm changing what I do. I'm amazed how many times I have completely changed what I do at this job. I started out doing a job that was just a bit more complex than data entry. Then, after some well placed complaining, I became the proprietor of a database that controls material specifications. From there I fell into several small programming stints. At some point I was drug into packaging software. That is, I set it up to install from the network without much user input. That isn't supposed to be a full time job, but it kind of works out that way. Now, I'm off to another task. I'll still have some of the same responsibilities. No pay raise I bet. It is more programming oriented and I like that.
Wish me luck.
2005-12-04
Day
We got Elle back around noon. Her grandfather Bill had taken her over night after her birthday party on Saturday. We ran out to Monica's (Nat's natural mother) to let her have a chance to talk to Elle because Monica could not make the party due to her new job requirements. We had noticed a bump on Elle's left thumb that grandpa pointed out when he dropped her, but it didn't make swelling go down. We ended up in the emergency room. Fortunately, they saw us in less than two hours and we got a prescription for some antibiotics. Ted's insurance paid for the visit and the antibiotics. Good deal too because I'm not sure I could have covered it this month.
Nat just called me into Elle's room and pointed something pretty interesting out to me. There was a dead fire ant on Elle's pillow. There are no signs of ants since the last fumigation at our apartment. I wonder if she picked up the ant walking around in the grass.
Something told me when we left that a) I needed to go for some reason and b) This was going to take all day.
We got Elle back around noon. Her grandfather Bill had taken her over night after her birthday party on Saturday. We ran out to Monica's (Nat's natural mother) to let her have a chance to talk to Elle because Monica could not make the party due to her new job requirements. We had noticed a bump on Elle's left thumb that grandpa pointed out when he dropped her, but it didn't make swelling go down. We ended up in the emergency room. Fortunately, they saw us in less than two hours and we got a prescription for some antibiotics. Ted's insurance paid for the visit and the antibiotics. Good deal too because I'm not sure I could have covered it this month.
Nat just called me into Elle's room and pointed something pretty interesting out to me. There was a dead fire ant on Elle's pillow. There are no signs of ants since the last fumigation at our apartment. I wonder if she picked up the ant walking around in the grass.
Something told me when we left that a) I needed to go for some reason and b) This was going to take all day.
2005-12-03
Day
Today was Elle's birthday. She really seemed to enjoy herself. Nat rented a room at First Colony Mall. I originally thought that would not work out, but it worked out well. The room was big enough to hold every one and closing off the doors made it easier to corral the kids.
Bill took some pictures.
I was in a really crabby mood all day. I don't know why. Some people were upset by it. I ended up throwing $4.40 worth of cash on the floor and waling away from one person who pissed me off.
We went and saw Aeon Flux. It was OK. Nat seemed to enjoy it. I didn't think it was nearly as eclectic as the comic or cartoon on MTV. It wasn't bad though. They cut the fight scenes to ribbons. I'm not saying they left things out, I'm saying the bounced around from angle to angle so much to make the illusion of a magnificent ballet of violence going on that it was distracting.
I got Linux to mount the FAT32 drive in my computer. I've been able to mount it manually, but that had to happen each time I wanted to access the drive. I got the fstab to work this time. Now I have a bridge between my Windows boot and the Linux system.
Earlier this week I attempted to convert the partition in question from NTFS to FAT32 in order to use it read/write from both Windows and Linux. I used a program called Partition Magic to do this. Something happened and the software crashed. I lost everything on the partition. It was just a bunch of otherwise useless data. Still, I wish I could have saved it. I feel like I failed somehow.
Today was Elle's birthday. She really seemed to enjoy herself. Nat rented a room at First Colony Mall. I originally thought that would not work out, but it worked out well. The room was big enough to hold every one and closing off the doors made it easier to corral the kids.
Bill took some pictures.
I was in a really crabby mood all day. I don't know why. Some people were upset by it. I ended up throwing $4.40 worth of cash on the floor and waling away from one person who pissed me off.
We went and saw Aeon Flux. It was OK. Nat seemed to enjoy it. I didn't think it was nearly as eclectic as the comic or cartoon on MTV. It wasn't bad though. They cut the fight scenes to ribbons. I'm not saying they left things out, I'm saying the bounced around from angle to angle so much to make the illusion of a magnificent ballet of violence going on that it was distracting.
I got Linux to mount the FAT32 drive in my computer. I've been able to mount it manually, but that had to happen each time I wanted to access the drive. I got the fstab to work this time. Now I have a bridge between my Windows boot and the Linux system.
Earlier this week I attempted to convert the partition in question from NTFS to FAT32 in order to use it read/write from both Windows and Linux. I used a program called Partition Magic to do this. Something happened and the software crashed. I lost everything on the partition. It was just a bunch of otherwise useless data. Still, I wish I could have saved it. I feel like I failed somehow.
 |
| This
is what my parents did all day. Pretty. |
2005-12-02
Cute
There are those times in parenthood when things kind of work. This is one of those times.
I emailed a link out to several friends of mine and received the
following feedback. They are in the order that I received them.
Id say that is a consensus. Nat couldn't help but snap that picture
with her phone and send it to me. I could not help but send it out to
the world.
There are those times in parenthood when things kind of work. This is one of those times.
 |
| Elle's
morning. |
| Woody | Very
Cute |
| Josh |
Very
Cute |
| Anna |
I
want a orange kitty! |
| Wes |
Cute! |
| Melissa |
What
angles. |
| Sylvia |
Very
cool. Isn't it wonderful - how kids (and cats) can relax so completely,
and sleep so deeply. Fun photo, with all those pastel colors. |
| Judi |
Very
cute :) |
| Crispin |
Pretty damn cute. |
Quiz
This is a picture taken at the Texas Renaissance Festival. I took it on the last weekend this year (2005). If you can identify where the picture was taken, I'll give you a cookie the next time I run into you. Nat is disqualified because I told her where the picture was taken. lick the image for a slightly larger version.
This is a picture taken at the Texas Renaissance Festival. I took it on the last weekend this year (2005). If you can identify where the picture was taken, I'll give you a cookie the next time I run into you. Nat is disqualified because I told her where the picture was taken. lick the image for a slightly larger version.
 |
| Quiz
Photo |
2005-12-01
Dream
So, when I was a kid I remember watching a show about a group of folks camping out in Florida. They were waiting for the Space Shuttle to launch. I remember during the interview you could see campers and tents in the background. Camping at Faire must have reminded me of this because I had a dream last night of Natalie, Kim Dana and I out at that camp ground waiting for the Shuttle to go up. We all took pictures of people and the launch. The funny thing is, we were in Faire garb. It was kind of fun.
So, when I was a kid I remember watching a show about a group of folks camping out in Florida. They were waiting for the Space Shuttle to launch. I remember during the interview you could see campers and tents in the background. Camping at Faire must have reminded me of this because I had a dream last night of Natalie, Kim Dana and I out at that camp ground waiting for the Shuttle to go up. We all took pictures of people and the launch. The funny thing is, we were in Faire garb. It was kind of fun.
 |
| Kim
(left) and Dana (right)
from Faire. They are married. They are both photographers. Dana has a
nearly identical camera around his neck. They are two of the wonderful
folks who took pictures at our wedding. |
2005-11-30
Time Out
I had to give Elle a time out a little bit ago. She was throwing paper at Tiger (our cat) in a mean way. When I confronted her, she yelled at me. I picked her up and took her to her room and made her sit down (and thus cry) four a measly minute and a half. You would have thought the world was coming to an end. When the minute and a half was over I told her in a very calm manor that she had to be nice to Tiger, and we both walked out of the room. I went back to the computer and the Aoen Flux movie trailer. Elle ran in to mom screaming her head off and loads of crocodile tears. Nat wasn't buying it. Elle is quite the attention hog. I've noticed the time out structure kind of works. It is better than popping her in the butt, but it still doesn't stop her from doing stupid stuff. I have a lot to learn.
I had to give Elle a time out a little bit ago. She was throwing paper at Tiger (our cat) in a mean way. When I confronted her, she yelled at me. I picked her up and took her to her room and made her sit down (and thus cry) four a measly minute and a half. You would have thought the world was coming to an end. When the minute and a half was over I told her in a very calm manor that she had to be nice to Tiger, and we both walked out of the room. I went back to the computer and the Aoen Flux movie trailer. Elle ran in to mom screaming her head off and loads of crocodile tears. Nat wasn't buying it. Elle is quite the attention hog. I've noticed the time out structure kind of works. It is better than popping her in the butt, but it still doesn't stop her from doing stupid stuff. I have a lot to learn.
2005-11-29
Linux update
Just for the heck of it I installed a new mouse pointer theme that mimics Mac pointers. I don't particularly like mat pointers, but I wanted to do it to learn how. I also got my old Sony Clie working with jPilot. The trick is you have to start the palm sync first, then kick off the desktop. I added Pimsleur Spanish MP3s to my MP3 player. That was a no brainer because I plugged it in and it worked. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm quite proud of myself. I should be proud of the Ubuntu folks. They created a situation where a user like me could get so much done.
Check out the links below for Ubuntu and general Linux information.
This is the guy who got me to look at Ubuntu in the first place. He
seems keep up on the topic.
Just for the heck of it I installed a new mouse pointer theme that mimics Mac pointers. I don't particularly like mat pointers, but I wanted to do it to learn how. I also got my old Sony Clie working with jPilot. The trick is you have to start the palm sync first, then kick off the desktop. I added Pimsleur Spanish MP3s to my MP3 player. That was a no brainer because I plugged it in and it worked. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm quite proud of myself. I should be proud of the Ubuntu folks. They created a situation where a user like me could get so much done.
Check out the links below for Ubuntu and general Linux information.
|
Switchers Documentation Customization Community GUI Tweaks Hat tip: Blogs
of War
|
Portable, low maintenance energy
So, this thing is the size of a tractor trailer. It is designed to put
out 150 kilowatts max. That is enough to run a couple of houses. What
is the one thing that has happened to ALL technology in the history of
mankind? It has gotten smaller and cheaper on a daily basis. I picture
a day when they build these things into the attic of the house. I mean,
why would I be bothered about a couple of panels or a windmill on the
roof if it is the norm in the neighborhood?
You know, nothing says we have to buy electricity at all. Nothing says we have to hook to the grid. I daydream of a house on a hill with panels on the roof and a well for water. We live our lives attached to a phone tower far away or a satellite. We eat as much as we can off the land. The world knows we are here. We know he world. We are just happier in the woods, away from so many others.
I have been waiting for years for a better battery, or a better generator. The thing that will free us from so many wires and so many monthly bills.. This is one tool. fuel-cell phone batteries are another step. A tinny turbine engine for running electronics has been tested. There is a battery charging pad that you lay your devices on (no plug) to charge. I know the researchers that be, are feverishly looking for materials that will hold more energy for longer shelf times. The trouble with bottling up energy is that it wants to achieve a state of balance, in other words, explode.
I like self powered devices like the old windup flashlights and the like. I've recently looked at generators just for the hell of it. I remember someone designing a pair of shoes that charged a phone while you walked, but I cannot Google it. Now, they have drop-anywhere solar panels. Not too shabby. "shiiiiinyyyyy" as they say.
| What
if you had a power unit that generated substantial electrical energy
with no fuel? What if it were so rugged that you could parachute it out
of an airplane? What if it were so easy to set up that two people could
have it running in just a few hours? ... SkyBuilt Power Inc. has begun building electricity-generating units fueled mostly by solar and wind energy. The units, which use a battery backup system when the sun is down and the wind is calm, are designed to run for years with little maintenance. Depending upon its configuration, SkyBuilt's Mobile Power Station (MPS) can generate up to 150 kilowatts of electricity, says David Muchow, the firm's president and CEO. That's enough to power an emergency operations center, an Army field kitchen, or a small medical facility. ... It works this way: Parts for each Skybuilt unit are packed into standard-size shipping containers. The containers, specially modified and strengthened, can be moved by ship, truck, train, or even dropped by a laser-guided parachute to the most remote location. Once on-site, the container is opened, and arms and poles are attached to the outside to hold solar cells and wind turbines. A prototype built here in Arlington has been running steadily for more than a year without repairs or maintenance. |
You know, nothing says we have to buy electricity at all. Nothing says we have to hook to the grid. I daydream of a house on a hill with panels on the roof and a well for water. We live our lives attached to a phone tower far away or a satellite. We eat as much as we can off the land. The world knows we are here. We know he world. We are just happier in the woods, away from so many others.
I have been waiting for years for a better battery, or a better generator. The thing that will free us from so many wires and so many monthly bills.. This is one tool. fuel-cell phone batteries are another step. A tinny turbine engine for running electronics has been tested. There is a battery charging pad that you lay your devices on (no plug) to charge. I know the researchers that be, are feverishly looking for materials that will hold more energy for longer shelf times. The trouble with bottling up energy is that it wants to achieve a state of balance, in other words, explode.
I like self powered devices like the old windup flashlights and the like. I've recently looked at generators just for the hell of it. I remember someone designing a pair of shoes that charged a phone while you walked, but I cannot Google it. Now, they have drop-anywhere solar panels. Not too shabby. "shiiiiinyyyyy" as they say.
2005-11-28
Family Adventures
Email # 1
Well, I got on the stick and emailed her back with something to the
effect "WTF happened?!?" Or maybe it was more like "Our prayers are
with you as always. What happened?"
Email # 2
I'm still hurting for details. It kind of reminds me of the movie Captain Ron. All my
Uncle needs in an eye patch. I will try to give some more details if
they come up. It definitely sounds like someone in my family is having
the real kind of adventures.
Email # 1
| Hi
All Ron is in Cabo San Lucas, the transmission went out on the boat about 85 miles north of Cabo on Wednesday Night, he then had the adventure of his life and by the grace of God he and the crew survived. It's his story to tell and I'll not take the time now. His email address is <ZZZ@ZZZ.com>. He will be in Cabo until the transmission is fixed and then will take the boat on to La Paz. I don't know if that is days or could be weeks. I'm staying at Kerri's house in Long Beach and Boomer and I are doing fine. I'm still recovering from the shock of what happened and I hope and pray he decides to give this up. Love ya Judi |
Email # 2
| They
ran into a storm, 15-20 knot winds, no engine, couldn't use the sails in that high of seas. Waves 12-15 feet high. One of the crew called the Mexican Navy and lied about being sick, they came out and took him off the boat but couldn't help Ron. That left Ron with 2 crew. They finally made Cabo and anchored at night in the fog, one of the crew fell asleep on watch and they drug anchor 9 miles back out to sea. Finally had to be rescued by the Mexican Navy, seas were so rough, a large fishing boat finally went out to bring them in. One crew member was a diabetic and he had run out of meds and was going in and out of trances, the other a green sailor (he's the one who fell asleep on watch). I guess Ron had made peace with God and said goodbye to everyone in his prayers. It is a miracle they made it out alive...I'm still trying to figure out what he thinks is so great about this. Thanks for the prayers Judi |
Big Brother (continued)
The above comment is from a dear friend of mine Let's say, that
he know what he is talking about. The "WOPR" comment comes from the
movie War
Games. Will the symbolism in that movie never end? If it were a big
machine keeping watch over me, I don't think I would have a problem
with so much information sitting around. The trouble is, it is people
who get the information. I understand all too well the frailties and
vulnerabilities of humans. Nobody has a problem with security cameras
until it is their twelve year old daughter being watched by some forty
three year old security guard who still lives in his parent's basement.
That is when I want a little bit of control over the situation.
| People
think that if the government is going to "spy" on them that there is
some great big machine named "WOPR" that is recording everything they
do. That is simply not the case. The government is made up of people just like you and me who have no interest in the mundane details of your life. That said, I don't want people poking their nose in my business. It's more the principle of the thing, not the actual thing itself. I know, I kinda went round and round on this response -- but so did you. :) |
2005-11-27
XBox 360
I'm glad I didn't buy into this train wreck. There are a bunch of stores out there about crashes and over heating power supplies. I don't much like the $499 price tag either. MS still looses money each box. They make it up on the games and rights. I don't play enough games, or watch enough TV to make this thing worth while. I'm just old I suppose. I want something that works. I want something that has at least been tested not to burn my house down.
I'm glad I didn't buy into this train wreck. There are a bunch of stores out there about crashes and over heating power supplies. I don't much like the $499 price tag either. MS still looses money each box. They make it up on the games and rights. I don't play enough games, or watch enough TV to make this thing worth while. I'm just old I suppose. I want something that works. I want something that has at least been tested not to burn my house down.
Big Brother is Watching
I'm getting board with this whole right to privacy thing. The powers
that be have skirted around it so much that it really doesn't mean
anything any more. We should decide as a nation whether or not we want
it any more. It ends up getting in the way of law and not protecting
any one but the criminals anyway. I give up.
Next, we should consider getting rid of the first amendment so people like me can't bitch about things like our rights anymore. What do you think?
| "We
are deputizing the military to spy on law-abiding Americans in America.
This is a huge leap without even a [congressional] hearing," Sen. Ron
Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence, said in a recent interview. Wyden has since persuaded lawmakers to change the legislation, attached to the fiscal 2006 intelligence authorization bill, to address some of his concerns, but he still believes hearings should be held. Among the changes was the elimination of a provision to let Defense Intelligence Agency officers hide the fact that they work for the government when they approach people who are possible sources of intelligence in the United States. |
Next, we should consider getting rid of the first amendment so people like me can't bitch about things like our rights anymore. What do you think?
2005-11-26
Ubuntu (continued)
Well, I got mp3s to play. It involved installing GStreamer0.8-Lame as a module. After that, GXime would play mp3s fine, including streams from web pages.
Most of the movies play in Totem as long as I don't attempt to fast forward.
Flash works, except there is no sound. A bunch of stuff works half-assed.
I had to try about five different RSS aggregaters before I found one that only kind of sucks. They all worked, but one would not support categories. Another would not allow copy and paste. There were things missing in every single programs including the one I went with called Liferea Reader.
For reading out loud, I use Kttsmgr. It seems to require the generic screen reader and magnifier system from Ubuntu to work. It takes about twice as long to get used to as the others I've tried in the MS world. I suppose it is just the "voice" I chose, but I would swayer it has an Irish accent.
I'm still working on burning DVDs. I did get the NTFS partition mounted read only. I've heard there are ways to mount it read write, but I'm not that interested. Once I get those files burned, I'm not sure how long I'm going to keep that partition.
More to come later.
Well, I got mp3s to play. It involved installing GStreamer0.8-Lame as a module. After that, GXime would play mp3s fine, including streams from web pages.
Most of the movies play in Totem as long as I don't attempt to fast forward.
Flash works, except there is no sound. A bunch of stuff works half-assed.
I had to try about five different RSS aggregaters before I found one that only kind of sucks. They all worked, but one would not support categories. Another would not allow copy and paste. There were things missing in every single programs including the one I went with called Liferea Reader.
For reading out loud, I use Kttsmgr. It seems to require the generic screen reader and magnifier system from Ubuntu to work. It takes about twice as long to get used to as the others I've tried in the MS world. I suppose it is just the "voice" I chose, but I would swayer it has an Irish accent.
I'm still working on burning DVDs. I did get the NTFS partition mounted read only. I've heard there are ways to mount it read write, but I'm not that interested. Once I get those files burned, I'm not sure how long I'm going to keep that partition.
More to come later.
Saturday after Thanksgiving
Bill picked Elle up at around noon. I've been sitting in front of the computer daydreaming and reading blogs. I wish I had something wonderful to say. I wish I had some news to tell. Nat is asleep at 3:00 in the afternoon. She was up all night reading her book by flashlight. She says she read until she collapsed. We are broke, but I still think we should hit the movies or something tonight. We need some fun while we have the babysitter.
Wish us luck.
Bill picked Elle up at around noon. I've been sitting in front of the computer daydreaming and reading blogs. I wish I had something wonderful to say. I wish I had some news to tell. Nat is asleep at 3:00 in the afternoon. She was up all night reading her book by flashlight. She says she read until she collapsed. We are broke, but I still think we should hit the movies or something tonight. We need some fun while we have the babysitter.
Wish us luck.
2005-11-25
Ubuntu
So, Ubuntu is the Linux I settled on. It is just easier to use and makes sense from the user's stand point. My previous complaint was about Apache server hiding in the configuration somewhere, but I've found it and it appears to be up and running. It had something to do with hitting "advanced" in the add programs application. I also complained about most codec systems not installing properly. I found the GStreamer libraries. They seem to work with at least older versions of DivX and XviD. I can play file MP3s now, but streams like Radio Paradise still don't get off the ground. It is all on my end. I had it working on the test hard drive. Give me time.
Let's see, I have the following stuff at least kind of working.
* VNC.
* Apache (www).
* FTP.
* Accessibility (reading to me).
* Mozilla Composer with spell checker.
* Some Media support.
I have not yet tried DVD burning or the like.
It is all going well actually. I've never had this much stuff working in Linux before. Only a little part of that statement has anything to do with my learning how to get things done. If I really knew what was going on, I bet I could get the vast majority of programs working under this OS with the exception of Games designed specifically for Windows.
Convert today.
So, Ubuntu is the Linux I settled on. It is just easier to use and makes sense from the user's stand point. My previous complaint was about Apache server hiding in the configuration somewhere, but I've found it and it appears to be up and running. It had something to do with hitting "advanced" in the add programs application. I also complained about most codec systems not installing properly. I found the GStreamer libraries. They seem to work with at least older versions of DivX and XviD. I can play file MP3s now, but streams like Radio Paradise still don't get off the ground. It is all on my end. I had it working on the test hard drive. Give me time.
Let's see, I have the following stuff at least kind of working.
* VNC.
* Apache (www).
* FTP.
* Accessibility (reading to me).
* Mozilla Composer with spell checker.
* Some Media support.
I have not yet tried DVD burning or the like.
It is all going well actually. I've never had this much stuff working in Linux before. Only a little part of that statement has anything to do with my learning how to get things done. If I really knew what was going on, I bet I could get the vast majority of programs working under this OS with the exception of Games designed specifically for Windows.
Convert today.
2005-11-24
Thanksgiving
No pictures. I’m just not in the mood. We got up and came over to my parent’s place for dinner. Most of the discussions have centered around Elle. She is at that Terrible Two stage. She constantly craves attention if only to tell you to go away and try to take over everything you are doing. “What’s that?” “What’s that?” “What’s that?” “What’s that?” “What’s that?” “What’s that?” All while pointing at the same thing that you just defined three minutes ago. She wants to eat. She wants to get up and go play. She called me Daddy this morning and then went in and pointed to Ted’s picture and asked “who is that?” I told her that was her dad. She is starting to show some confusion on the issue.
Dinner was great. It seemed short while trying to maneuver Elle around. Now, I’m in the computer room at my parent’s place typing away in Word tapping away while Nat and Elle play behind me. My mom is cleaning the kitchen. My dad is out in the garage doing something. My friends are all with their families as far as I know.
No pictures. I’m just not in the mood. We got up and came over to my parent’s place for dinner. Most of the discussions have centered around Elle. She is at that Terrible Two stage. She constantly craves attention if only to tell you to go away and try to take over everything you are doing. “What’s that?” “What’s that?” “What’s that?” “What’s that?” “What’s that?” “What’s that?” All while pointing at the same thing that you just defined three minutes ago. She wants to eat. She wants to get up and go play. She called me Daddy this morning and then went in and pointed to Ted’s picture and asked “who is that?” I told her that was her dad. She is starting to show some confusion on the issue.
Dinner was great. It seemed short while trying to maneuver Elle around. Now, I’m in the computer room at my parent’s place typing away in Word tapping away while Nat and Elle play behind me. My mom is cleaning the kitchen. My dad is out in the garage doing something. My friends are all with their families as far as I know.
2005-11-23
Pictures
I have a ton of pictures up from the last weekend of The Texas Renaissance Festival. I'm looking in to changing my frame set for the page to allow me to load specific images with the surrounding frames in place. Right now, if I link to an HTML file that contains a picture, only that HTML page comes up. There is no link back to my home page. It would be much easier to just ad a link to the template that points there, but that is now the proper way of doing it.
I have a ton of pictures up from the last weekend of The Texas Renaissance Festival. I'm looking in to changing my frame set for the page to allow me to load specific images with the surrounding frames in place. Right now, if I link to an HTML file that contains a picture, only that HTML page comes up. There is no link back to my home page. It would be much easier to just ad a link to the template that points there, but that is now the proper way of doing it.
2005-11-22
Natalie gets a cookie
Natalie has been annoyed enough by my "misspelling" of the word Fair when referring to the Texas Renaissance Festival. I vowed to spell the word as "fare" until a source could be found to prove that the spelling all the web sites have is the proper way of spelling the word in the given circumstances. Well It is a French spelling. as in laissez-faire or savoir-fare. She found it in more than one place.
I will, from this point forward, as long as I remember, and baring dementia, spell term used as an abbreviation for TRF as "Faire". Thanks Sweetie.
Natalie has been annoyed enough by my "misspelling" of the word Fair when referring to the Texas Renaissance Festival. I vowed to spell the word as "fare" until a source could be found to prove that the spelling all the web sites have is the proper way of spelling the word in the given circumstances. Well It is a French spelling. as in laissez-faire or savoir-fare. She found it in more than one place.
I will, from this point forward, as long as I remember, and baring dementia, spell term used as an abbreviation for TRF as "Faire". Thanks Sweetie.
2005-11-21
Last Weekend of Fair
I have got to figure out a way to write blog entries at fair. Ken has a laptop with an internet connection, but I feel like I'm imposing for some reason. He would smack me in the back of the had if he read that. (when he reads it) I just know I would be in the truck for hours trying to publish everything and missing more cool things to blog about. Oh,well, maybe I'll invest in one of those industrial closed laptops that can be flung from a truck without a scratch. (not)
I was not prepared for the attitude of last weekend. I had heard people discuss the days like it was a separate event from the rest of the fair. It was not a continuous Animal House or Frat party or anything. It was a bunch of people from all over the place drinking a lot of alcohol and all acting rather nice to each other. Jen nearly had to beat some guy's ass for swiping a bunch of sodas out of a cooler. Fortunately, a stern warning that we will in fact call the cops was all that was needed. It's funny that people don't know cops patrol out there. That was about the worst thing that happened that I remember off hand. One guy was carried into the camp by a young woman who was quite a bit smaller than he was. We thought he had alcohol poisoning for a minute, but he was sorted out as just being very drunk. One of the guys bought about $200 worth of boos. He had five different flavors of Rum. I'm not a big pineapple fan, but that was the best rum, barely over taking the vanilla.
I was late to work this morning. I was not hung over. Somehow, I had messed up the setting of the alarm. I must have messed with it at some point because it was not set for any coherent time. The Sun woke me. I'm like "crap!" Nat is like "What?" I'm like "The Sun is up." She is like "oops." Well my day went OK for being two hours late to work. I still managed to put in a full day.
Tons of pictures, trying new things, rebate first
I took a ton of pictures, but I have promised myself that I will not put them up until I do a certain rebate's paperwork. I refuse to let the bastards get my $20. I refrained from taking the real camera until this weekend because it is such a distraction while walking around. I do enjoy it so. Nat was an angel and supported my habit while we went from place to place. She forgave me for wondering off and stepping on her toes when I was moving around without looking to get that "perfect" shot that was just out of frame, or just a bit too close. If I ever jump off a cliff, look for the camera nearby that I was looking through when I stumbled off the precipice.
I was trying to do a bunch of semi-candid portrait shots this time around. Most of the photographers who I have met a fair do an amazing job of catching emotion and that depth of being, that I'm lacking. I'm not too bad at framing a shot and getting it recognizable. I have not found the magic that lets me reflect the sole yet. I'm quite sure that about five of the four hundred or so I took are pretty good. I'm going to go through them at length and weed out the really horrible ones, so stay tuned.
There were a bunch of politics this season at Fair. I'm sure those of you who go to the event are saying "Welcome to camp, Kelly." I'm just not used to all that stuff. Having been a loner for so long, this he said - she said stuff is getting on my nerves. I need to grow a thicker skin and learn who to listen to a bit better.
Words learned this year at fair
Fuck-Tard - More politically correct form of retard.
Prosti-tot - When a very young girl with too much chest for her own good dresses like a whore because she thinks it will get her attention.
Fair-bookers - The black kryptonite one removes from the upper respiratory system after camping at fair. Brought on by the dust stirred up by all the fuck-tards who didn't read the rules about open fires. Added are the sea of tiki-torches, Colman lanterns, propane heaters, propane stoves, propane showers, exhaust from generators, cars, RVs and general human wofts that occur in such a gathering.
I have got to figure out a way to write blog entries at fair. Ken has a laptop with an internet connection, but I feel like I'm imposing for some reason. He would smack me in the back of the had if he read that. (when he reads it) I just know I would be in the truck for hours trying to publish everything and missing more cool things to blog about. Oh,well, maybe I'll invest in one of those industrial closed laptops that can be flung from a truck without a scratch. (not)
I was not prepared for the attitude of last weekend. I had heard people discuss the days like it was a separate event from the rest of the fair. It was not a continuous Animal House or Frat party or anything. It was a bunch of people from all over the place drinking a lot of alcohol and all acting rather nice to each other. Jen nearly had to beat some guy's ass for swiping a bunch of sodas out of a cooler. Fortunately, a stern warning that we will in fact call the cops was all that was needed. It's funny that people don't know cops patrol out there. That was about the worst thing that happened that I remember off hand. One guy was carried into the camp by a young woman who was quite a bit smaller than he was. We thought he had alcohol poisoning for a minute, but he was sorted out as just being very drunk. One of the guys bought about $200 worth of boos. He had five different flavors of Rum. I'm not a big pineapple fan, but that was the best rum, barely over taking the vanilla.
I was late to work this morning. I was not hung over. Somehow, I had messed up the setting of the alarm. I must have messed with it at some point because it was not set for any coherent time. The Sun woke me. I'm like "crap!" Nat is like "What?" I'm like "The Sun is up." She is like "oops." Well my day went OK for being two hours late to work. I still managed to put in a full day.
Tons of pictures, trying new things, rebate first
I took a ton of pictures, but I have promised myself that I will not put them up until I do a certain rebate's paperwork. I refuse to let the bastards get my $20. I refrained from taking the real camera until this weekend because it is such a distraction while walking around. I do enjoy it so. Nat was an angel and supported my habit while we went from place to place. She forgave me for wondering off and stepping on her toes when I was moving around without looking to get that "perfect" shot that was just out of frame, or just a bit too close. If I ever jump off a cliff, look for the camera nearby that I was looking through when I stumbled off the precipice.
I was trying to do a bunch of semi-candid portrait shots this time around. Most of the photographers who I have met a fair do an amazing job of catching emotion and that depth of being, that I'm lacking. I'm not too bad at framing a shot and getting it recognizable. I have not found the magic that lets me reflect the sole yet. I'm quite sure that about five of the four hundred or so I took are pretty good. I'm going to go through them at length and weed out the really horrible ones, so stay tuned.
There were a bunch of politics this season at Fair. I'm sure those of you who go to the event are saying "Welcome to camp, Kelly." I'm just not used to all that stuff. Having been a loner for so long, this he said - she said stuff is getting on my nerves. I need to grow a thicker skin and learn who to listen to a bit better.
Words learned this year at fair
Fuck-Tard - More politically correct form of retard.
Prosti-tot - When a very young girl with too much chest for her own good dresses like a whore because she thinks it will get her attention.
Fair-bookers - The black kryptonite one removes from the upper respiratory system after camping at fair. Brought on by the dust stirred up by all the fuck-tards who didn't read the rules about open fires. Added are the sea of tiki-torches, Colman lanterns, propane heaters, propane stoves, propane showers, exhaust from generators, cars, RVs and general human wofts that occur in such a gathering.
2005-11-18
Linux
I've touted using Linux. I've bitched about getting things to work in Linux. I'm switching back to Ubuntu because I found some fare documentation for getting other software working in Ubuntu. I know Apache 2 can be installed on the desktop version of Ubuntu. I'm just slow to take it on. I don't trust my own skills. The documentation above makes it look pretty straight forward. I definitely like the feel of Ubuntu better and it is not just KDE verses Gnome. The community is more user oriented. I remember the Red Hat forums. They expected you to know your shit before you got there. That spawned LinuxNewbie.org, now JustLinux. I've referred to their teaching a couple of hundred times while setting up SSH, FTP, HTTP, VNC and SMB. I never have set up an email server because I prefer web based email services like gmail.
When I ask people why they refuse to consider Linux, they usually answer by saying Linux doesn't support XYZ application. I tell them, first XYZ doesn't support Linux. Second, is there a different application that does the same thing on Linux? If not, how important is it to getting a day's work done? Saying XYZ doesn't work in Linux is a bit like saying "I can't put my Ford rims on a Toyota, so I'm not going to get a Toyota." They make rims for Toyotas, why will they not work? With the exception of specific games, there is most likely an alternative program in Linux to cover most tasks.
That is, with the one huge exception. Intuit Quicken is the one program that people mention as a show-stopper for conversion. There are money management programs that will import and export Quicken information and have some of the functionality of Quicken that run just fine on Linux. As far as I know, Quicken has no intention of porting Quicken or any of it's products to Linux at this time. Hey, their loss. You can run Quicken on Linux using Wine. Wine will not run a bunch of software. Games are notorious for requiring more than Wine provides. I'll get a PS2/3. The PlayStation uses a Linux/Unix based kernel. I hear you can get a simulator for games on a Linux box.
I've touted using Linux. I've bitched about getting things to work in Linux. I'm switching back to Ubuntu because I found some fare documentation for getting other software working in Ubuntu. I know Apache 2 can be installed on the desktop version of Ubuntu. I'm just slow to take it on. I don't trust my own skills. The documentation above makes it look pretty straight forward. I definitely like the feel of Ubuntu better and it is not just KDE verses Gnome. The community is more user oriented. I remember the Red Hat forums. They expected you to know your shit before you got there. That spawned LinuxNewbie.org, now JustLinux. I've referred to their teaching a couple of hundred times while setting up SSH, FTP, HTTP, VNC and SMB. I never have set up an email server because I prefer web based email services like gmail.
When I ask people why they refuse to consider Linux, they usually answer by saying Linux doesn't support XYZ application. I tell them, first XYZ doesn't support Linux. Second, is there a different application that does the same thing on Linux? If not, how important is it to getting a day's work done? Saying XYZ doesn't work in Linux is a bit like saying "I can't put my Ford rims on a Toyota, so I'm not going to get a Toyota." They make rims for Toyotas, why will they not work? With the exception of specific games, there is most likely an alternative program in Linux to cover most tasks.
That is, with the one huge exception. Intuit Quicken is the one program that people mention as a show-stopper for conversion. There are money management programs that will import and export Quicken information and have some of the functionality of Quicken that run just fine on Linux. As far as I know, Quicken has no intention of porting Quicken or any of it's products to Linux at this time. Hey, their loss. You can run Quicken on Linux using Wine. Wine will not run a bunch of software. Games are notorious for requiring more than Wine provides. I'll get a PS2/3. The PlayStation uses a Linux/Unix based kernel. I hear you can get a simulator for games on a Linux box.
2005-11-17
Weekend
Nat and I are headed out to Fair this weekend. it is the last weekend. I hear there is a pretty good party out at the camp grounds. It's been a ton of fun at Fair this year. I've taken some good pictures, gotten married, met some nice folks, met some pricks.
It is going to be cold. Hopefully It is going to be dry. It will most likely be fun. I want to take my real camera this time and catch some portraits. I'm inspired by all those folks who took pictures in or around our wedding. We are going to use our own tent. It has no insulation or anything. We will have to keep each other warm.
Next week is Thanks Giving. When did this sneak up on me? We are headed over to my parent's place for dinner. I have no idea what is going on for Christmas. We are bound to split up our time. That kind of thing is normal for us married folks. =]
I wonder if a friend of ours will have a new baby by Christmas 2006. They are trying to adopt right now. I have no idea how long these things take. They have been doing all kinds of cools stuff getting ready. Check out his blog.
Nat and I are headed out to Fair this weekend. it is the last weekend. I hear there is a pretty good party out at the camp grounds. It's been a ton of fun at Fair this year. I've taken some good pictures, gotten married, met some nice folks, met some pricks.
It is going to be cold. Hopefully It is going to be dry. It will most likely be fun. I want to take my real camera this time and catch some portraits. I'm inspired by all those folks who took pictures in or around our wedding. We are going to use our own tent. It has no insulation or anything. We will have to keep each other warm.
Next week is Thanks Giving. When did this sneak up on me? We are headed over to my parent's place for dinner. I have no idea what is going on for Christmas. We are bound to split up our time. That kind of thing is normal for us married folks. =]
I wonder if a friend of ours will have a new baby by Christmas 2006. They are trying to adopt right now. I have no idea how long these things take. They have been doing all kinds of cools stuff getting ready. Check out his blog.
2005-11-16
Where do I sign up?
I've just been complaining about the lack of accessibility in Linux.
The SuSe install that I'm using right now has four entries under
accessibility. Three entries are for keyboard modifications and one is
for the frigging system bell. At least Ubuntu tried to make some things
work. I was able to get Ubuntu to read to me, though I could not
understand the words very well. There was a screen zoom function that I
never did find once I installed it. If I could figure out how to get
Apache and FTP to run under Ubuntu I would switch in a heart beat. I'm
100% sure it is doable. I just don't know how. I'm sure the
accessibility stuff is doable in SuSe. Again, I just don't know how. In
MS Windows it is "next ... next ... next" to get most of the
accessibility stuff up and running. I don't have to worry about
compatible C++ modules and compiler versions.
| "The
strongest push-back against Massachusetts' effort to institute open,
non-proprietary document formats has come from the accessibility
community, who claim that Open-Source desktop software lags behind
Windows; and thus that a transition to Open Document will amount to
discrimination against the blind and those with other disabilities.
This is serious stuff. Peter Korn, who's an Accessibility Architect at
Sun, has written a massive piece that provides a general introduction
to the subject, a discussion of how Open Source is doing on the the
accessibility front (things could be worse, but they could be a lot
better), and finally, a detailed look at the (interesting) history and
(uncertain) future of these issues in Massachusetts. Anyone in Open
Source who thinks they can ignore accessibility issues is probably
wrong. Getting any younger? Eyes as good as they used to be? This is
everybody's issue." |
2005-11-15
Rob
 |
| Rob
was sporting some new footwear today. He had some surgery the day after
our wedding, so he gets a pass on not showing up |
Horsepower
I always wondered where the term horsepower came from. Does one horse have one horsepower? Well according to Wikipedia ...
Well, one question answered and then another question answered that I
didn't even think to ask. Apparently the Watt came before the
horsepower. Who knew? No one gave a shit until the steam engine came
about. People just counted the number of horses required for a task and
it was all done.
I always wondered where the term horsepower came from. Does one horse have one horsepower? Well according to Wikipedia ...
| The
horsepower was first used by James Watt during a business venture where
his steam engines replaced horses. It was defined that a horse can lift
33,000 pounds force with a speed of 1 foot per minute: 33,000
ft·lbf·min-1. This is sometimes called a
mechanical horsepower to distinguish it from the other definitions of
horsepower below. |
Bow before me!
I particularly agree with the movie
where Stewie meets himself from the future and he is just the run of
the mill geek who never conquered the world. As a matter of fact, he
hasn't gotten laid. Yes, that sounds like me. Well, the old me.
 Stewie Which Family Guy Character Are you? brought to you by Quizilla |
2005-11-14
Work
First day back to work in a while. It has been over a week. I have to say, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I only had a couple of voice mails and a couple of dozen emails. Most of them were junk anyway. I only missed one kind of important meeting. The vacation was good for me. I definitely feel like my batteries have been recharged.
Nat
Poor Nat is feeling all the stress of the wedding. She is under the weather. I've heard from friends that this is normal. Women seem to take a hit to the health after something that stressful. Men do too, but weddings are just not as stressful on men as it is women.
SuSe
I installed SuSe on a spare hard drive. I got everything set up. I figured out where the HTTP server was and got it up and running. I figured out how to get the login to stop defaulting to a user and let me log in properly. I even figured out how to set the static IP as I need. Then, something happened to the USB and I lost the mouse and keyboard. It would not let me log in at all. I could hit the keys just fine in the BI/OS to get to the login. I could hit control alt delete to make the machine reboot. I re-installed the OS on the update setting and nothing. I tried resetting the keyboard and mouse in the BI/OS. I tried running the recovery thing on the DVD. Nothing. I had to start from scratch. I love the complete lack of accessibility in SuSe. Frigging Kraut OS.
I could not get Apache to work in Ubuntu. Apparently, I'm the only one in the world who has had problems. Ubuntu would not play MP3s either. I can't figure out how to get any of the video co-dec systems to work. All the screen shots of Linux show some movie playing in the background that terns out to be straight from a DVD or the like. This whole Linux for the desktop thing is a bunch of crap.
OK, I'm just grumpy. I'll keep trying.
First day back to work in a while. It has been over a week. I have to say, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I only had a couple of voice mails and a couple of dozen emails. Most of them were junk anyway. I only missed one kind of important meeting. The vacation was good for me. I definitely feel like my batteries have been recharged.
Nat
Poor Nat is feeling all the stress of the wedding. She is under the weather. I've heard from friends that this is normal. Women seem to take a hit to the health after something that stressful. Men do too, but weddings are just not as stressful on men as it is women.
SuSe
I installed SuSe on a spare hard drive. I got everything set up. I figured out where the HTTP server was and got it up and running. I figured out how to get the login to stop defaulting to a user and let me log in properly. I even figured out how to set the static IP as I need. Then, something happened to the USB and I lost the mouse and keyboard. It would not let me log in at all. I could hit the keys just fine in the BI/OS to get to the login. I could hit control alt delete to make the machine reboot. I re-installed the OS on the update setting and nothing. I tried resetting the keyboard and mouse in the BI/OS. I tried running the recovery thing on the DVD. Nothing. I had to start from scratch. I love the complete lack of accessibility in SuSe. Frigging Kraut OS.
I could not get Apache to work in Ubuntu. Apparently, I'm the only one in the world who has had problems. Ubuntu would not play MP3s either. I can't figure out how to get any of the video co-dec systems to work. All the screen shots of Linux show some movie playing in the background that terns out to be straight from a DVD or the like. This whole Linux for the desktop thing is a bunch of crap.
OK, I'm just grumpy. I'll keep trying.
2005-11-12
Day
Let's see, our lantern is in with Ken's stuff. Our table is in Ronnie's Parent's RV. We had one of those cheap camping fold up chairs break out there. So far, we have gone through two of the small propane tanks. We got use out of our stuff. Nat and I were talking about going out today, but I don't think it is going to happen. It is 1:00 as I type. It is OK. I'm enjoying sitting here and spending time with her. If we go out tomorrow we still need to cut it short to get Elle back. I miss having Elle around. She has been with her grandfather for the honeymoon week. So far, the first week of marriage has been pretty cool. Come back and read more in a year or ten.
Let's see, our lantern is in with Ken's stuff. Our table is in Ronnie's Parent's RV. We had one of those cheap camping fold up chairs break out there. So far, we have gone through two of the small propane tanks. We got use out of our stuff. Nat and I were talking about going out today, but I don't think it is going to happen. It is 1:00 as I type. It is OK. I'm enjoying sitting here and spending time with her. If we go out tomorrow we still need to cut it short to get Elle back. I miss having Elle around. She has been with her grandfather for the honeymoon week. So far, the first week of marriage has been pretty cool. Come back and read more in a year or ten.
2005-11-11
Wedding Site
I updated the list of pictures on my home page. The wedding has been well documented. I'm still waiting for Brian and a couple of others before the list of media is complete. The MPEG4 video files my father's camera took are not going to work. They refuse to convert to DivX. I'm just going without them for now. I'll figure them out later.
I also sent out an email with the current links. I intend to grab most of the pictures and make DVD for everyone.
Day
We put pictures together. Nat put the physical photos in books and collections. I put together links on the site. It was fun. We went on our Friday night out. We saw Jarhead. Not a bad flick. We of course saw it at the Alamo Draft House. It was Nat and I's first date as a married couple. It was nice. There were several marines in the audience so the "hura" that came out in the movie were well received.
We are about to watch Reality Bites because we had discussed the film earlier. I will grab some water or a glass of wine from the case that we have left after the wedding. A bunch of people said they were going to come and did not. I'm not sure why. We had over 150 people say they were coming. Many never showed because they assumed it was on Saturday and made Sunday plans. It turns out there was another wedding of a bunch of Rennys that all the Chaoss people went too so we lost most of them. We only found this out Sunday. We had food left over. We did a lousy job of predicting how many people would show. Oh, well. We have had our shot. We never got a practice run.
I updated the list of pictures on my home page. The wedding has been well documented. I'm still waiting for Brian and a couple of others before the list of media is complete. The MPEG4 video files my father's camera took are not going to work. They refuse to convert to DivX. I'm just going without them for now. I'll figure them out later.
I also sent out an email with the current links. I intend to grab most of the pictures and make DVD for everyone.
Day
We put pictures together. Nat put the physical photos in books and collections. I put together links on the site. It was fun. We went on our Friday night out. We saw Jarhead. Not a bad flick. We of course saw it at the Alamo Draft House. It was Nat and I's first date as a married couple. It was nice. There were several marines in the audience so the "hura" that came out in the movie were well received.
We are about to watch Reality Bites because we had discussed the film earlier. I will grab some water or a glass of wine from the case that we have left after the wedding. A bunch of people said they were going to come and did not. I'm not sure why. We had over 150 people say they were coming. Many never showed because they assumed it was on Saturday and made Sunday plans. It turns out there was another wedding of a bunch of Rennys that all the Chaoss people went too so we lost most of them. We only found this out Sunday. We had food left over. We did a lousy job of predicting how many people would show. Oh, well. We have had our shot. We never got a practice run.
Honeymoon
Castle Avalon
We went to an amazing place for our honeymoon called Castle Avalon. It is awesome. I cannot say enough good things about it. They have many weddings there on the weekends. We were there on a Monday and Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning we met Stephanie. (We lost your email Stephanie. Please email me.) She served us breakfast and helped us check out. She was gracious enough to take us through the rest of the castle and let us take a bunch of pictures of the ballroom and the spiral staircase. It turns out she will be at Fair this weekend. Unfortunately we can't make it. That is too cool though. We are running in to all kinds of Fair people in the random places we go.
San Antonio Zoo
We kind of randomly ended up at the San Antonio Zoo. I took a million pictures. I ran out of room on my gig card and Nat took a bunch of pictures on her phone.
Natural Bridge Caverns
We went to Natural Bridge Caverns. It turns out to be right around the corner from Castle Avalon. It is 99% humidity in the caves so I did not take my camera under ground. I snapped a couple above though.
Wine Place
I'm not even sure what this place was called. It was one of the little vineyards tucked away in the hill country. This is not the place we bought wine. I didn't have the camera then. That was Dry Comal Creek. We took the tour and bought two bottles of wine. It was fun.
Professional Photographers
Dana's site Married to Kim.
Kim's site Married to Dana
Paul's site Paul is cool.
Roland's site He hasn't updated in a while.
Castle Avalon
We went to an amazing place for our honeymoon called Castle Avalon. It is awesome. I cannot say enough good things about it. They have many weddings there on the weekends. We were there on a Monday and Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning we met Stephanie. (We lost your email Stephanie. Please email me.) She served us breakfast and helped us check out. She was gracious enough to take us through the rest of the castle and let us take a bunch of pictures of the ballroom and the spiral staircase. It turns out she will be at Fair this weekend. Unfortunately we can't make it. That is too cool though. We are running in to all kinds of Fair people in the random places we go.
San Antonio Zoo
We kind of randomly ended up at the San Antonio Zoo. I took a million pictures. I ran out of room on my gig card and Nat took a bunch of pictures on her phone.
Natural Bridge Caverns
We went to Natural Bridge Caverns. It turns out to be right around the corner from Castle Avalon. It is 99% humidity in the caves so I did not take my camera under ground. I snapped a couple above though.
Wine Place
I'm not even sure what this place was called. It was one of the little vineyards tucked away in the hill country. This is not the place we bought wine. I didn't have the camera then. That was Dry Comal Creek. We took the tour and bought two bottles of wine. It was fun.
Professional Photographers
Dana's site Married to Kim.
Kim's site Married to Dana
Paul's site Paul is cool.
Roland's site He hasn't updated in a while.
2005-11-10
Wedding Notes
OK, I put up some of the pictures. Please enjoy. If you have a collection of pictures from our wedding please get in touch (email to the right) and let me know. I can put them up on the picture site.
The place we got married.
The happy couple.
Elle was exceedingly cute the whole time.
Organization
The food
OK, I put up some of the pictures. Please enjoy. If you have a collection of pictures from our wedding please get in touch (email to the right) and let me know. I can put them up on the picture site.
The place we got married.
The happy couple.
Elle was exceedingly cute the whole time.
Organization
The food
News
I have no idea were to begin. How about the middle somewhere?
Nat and I got married. Everything was perfect. Nothing went wrong. The world stopped. The sun smiled. Then we both woke up. I suppose i could dwell on things that went wrong. Perhaps they make an event seem more important. We got married. We made it work. The good thing is that we were surrounded by friends and family. People seemed to have a good time. I only had to yell at one person for sitting in the wrong spot. I think it was my aunt from Pennsylvania. I hope she gets over it, but I'm not that worried. I wish I could think every person who made a difference in the event, but every one made a difference.
Heath busted his hump to get the kitchen out there as a backup for the caterer. That was awesome of him. That is just the kind of guy he is. That is only one example. I think we managed to put some weight off on every single person who hangs out at Camp Safe Haven. Every one pitched in and made things go smoothly. Thanks.
The caterers were paid, so thinking them doesn't really count. The caterers don't have a web page or I would site them here. It was Todd Mission Grill.
All the bride's women and all the groom's men did a wonderful job.
I'll have a bunch of pictures up soon. They will come up in waves. I'm going to put my pictures as well as Bill and Sylvia's pictures up as soon as possible. Then will come Mikes and other private collections. Then will come any professionally links I can muster. please bare with me.
Anyway, pictures soon.
I have no idea were to begin. How about the middle somewhere?
Nat and I got married. Everything was perfect. Nothing went wrong. The world stopped. The sun smiled. Then we both woke up. I suppose i could dwell on things that went wrong. Perhaps they make an event seem more important. We got married. We made it work. The good thing is that we were surrounded by friends and family. People seemed to have a good time. I only had to yell at one person for sitting in the wrong spot. I think it was my aunt from Pennsylvania. I hope she gets over it, but I'm not that worried. I wish I could think every person who made a difference in the event, but every one made a difference.
Heath busted his hump to get the kitchen out there as a backup for the caterer. That was awesome of him. That is just the kind of guy he is. That is only one example. I think we managed to put some weight off on every single person who hangs out at Camp Safe Haven. Every one pitched in and made things go smoothly. Thanks.
The caterers were paid, so thinking them doesn't really count. The caterers don't have a web page or I would site them here. It was Todd Mission Grill.
All the bride's women and all the groom's men did a wonderful job.
I'll have a bunch of pictures up soon. They will come up in waves. I'm going to put my pictures as well as Bill and Sylvia's pictures up as soon as possible. Then will come Mikes and other private collections. Then will come any professionally links I can muster. please bare with me.
Anyway, pictures soon.
2005-11-09
Good Times.
We are back. I'm about to put up the first set of pictures. Give me a moment. Check back later tonight and tomorrow.
We are back. I'm about to put up the first set of pictures. Give me a moment. Check back later tonight and tomorrow.
2005-11-06
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Where; Texas Renaissance Festival (map) in the Wedding Chapel
When: November 6, 2005 at 11:30
Registered: Target, Foley's and The Knot.com.
Reception: There are two receptions. The one that came with the wedding package is inside Fare right after the wedding ceremony. Only the wedding party and immediate family are invited to this one. You know who you are already. The second reception is for whomever shows up in the campgrounds at 2:00 row 6. Look for the huge army tents and possibly strobe lights on a big pole. Ask for Camp Save Haven.
Dress Code: It is Fare. Dress comfortably. If you show up in jeans and a T-shirt you will not be turned away. Please try to be in garb if you can. It is just more fun that way. We want the event to be fun for everyone including those in the wedding.
What do I do?: Listen to the wedding coordinators. They will be on site and barking orders. If you received a yellow card that says "Kelly and Natalie .. Scholastic" pin it to your cloths. This will identify which wedding you belong to and people will help direct you to the proper place. Have fun, that is an order.
Links
Weather Forecast Nov. 6 2005: Sunday:Sunshine. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 40s.
Wedding Party Description
Texas Renaissance Festival
Clothing (garb) source: House of Dra
2005-11-04
Test
The Ubuntu Linux trial run is going well so far. I installed the client side of the OS. It works great. I have it reading text aloud to me. I can zoom in the bits of the screen. I'm still using many of the same programs that I use on the MS side of the fence. This really looks nice. Got straight up on the network and installed a bunch of additional programs. No servers installed. I need the server though. I want to use my main machine as a backup in case my web server takes a dive again in the future. That means all the trouble I've just gone through was really just a learning experience. It needs video/audio codecs. Gmail works just fine. Blogger looks like it works so far too. I approve!!! Now to test the server install.
The Ubuntu Linux trial run is going well so far. I installed the client side of the OS. It works great. I have it reading text aloud to me. I can zoom in the bits of the screen. I'm still using many of the same programs that I use on the MS side of the fence. This really looks nice. Got straight up on the network and installed a bunch of additional programs. No servers installed. I need the server though. I want to use my main machine as a backup in case my web server takes a dive again in the future. That means all the trouble I've just gone through was really just a learning experience. It needs video/audio codecs. Gmail works just fine. Blogger looks like it works so far too. I approve!!! Now to test the server install.
Citizenship Test
Well, I got 3 out of 10 correct on the first try. Google got the rest.
That counts, right!? Google is not cheating, it is fact checking.
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Getting Married
Nat already took of for the camp site. She is going to try and mark off enough space for the reception Sunday. I have some things I need to get done Saturday. The best man and I intend to camp Saturday evening out at fair.
Tonight, however, I am a bachelor. Elle is with the grandparents. Nat is already out at fair preparing. I want to install Ubuntu Linux on one of my machines to try it out. Last night it kept giving me a "failed to unpack blah blah at the same point every time. I burned a new copy of the DVD. I don't think it is going to work. I'm kind of at a loss because SuSe did the exact same thing. Maybe it is the hard drive I'm installing too. Whatever. I'm not giving up that easy. I'm sure I'll post on my results.
I also need to charge batteries and change out the cat box tonight. I'll get around to it, I'm sure.
Nat already took of for the camp site. She is going to try and mark off enough space for the reception Sunday. I have some things I need to get done Saturday. The best man and I intend to camp Saturday evening out at fair.
Tonight, however, I am a bachelor. Elle is with the grandparents. Nat is already out at fair preparing. I want to install Ubuntu Linux on one of my machines to try it out. Last night it kept giving me a "failed to unpack blah blah at the same point every time. I burned a new copy of the DVD. I don't think it is going to work. I'm kind of at a loss because SuSe did the exact same thing. Maybe it is the hard drive I'm installing too. Whatever. I'm not giving up that easy. I'm sure I'll post on my results.
I also need to charge batteries and change out the cat box tonight. I'll get around to it, I'm sure.
2005-11-03
Joke
I don't agree with all of those. Some are funny thought. Besides,
someone has to keep those whipper-snappers in line. If I'm not going to
complain, who will?
| New Rule: Stop giving me that pop-up
ad for Classmates.com! There's a reason you don't talk to people
for 25 years. It's because you don't particularly like
them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football
team is doing these days: mowing my lawn. New Rule: Don't eat anything that's served to you out a window unless you're a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Trout? Luckily, it was only a finger! If it was a whole hand, Congress would have voted to keep it alive. New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blond teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: lucky bastards. New Rule: If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards, you're gay. If you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. If you're a grown man, they're pictures of men. New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: do you have two of them? OK, we're done. New Rule: There's no such thing as flavored water. There's a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but without that watery taste Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That's your flavored water. New Rule: Stop f***ing with old people. Target is introducing a redesigned pill bottle that's square, with a bigger label. And the top is now the bottom. And by the time grandpa figures out how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue. Congratulations, Target, you just solved the Social Security crisis. New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one Nutrasweet," ooh, you're a huge asshole. New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high. New Rule: Competitive eating isn't a sport. It's one of the seven deadly sins. ESPN recently televised the US Open of Competitive Eating, because watching those athletes at the poker table was just too damned exciting. What's next, competitive farting? Oh wait. They're already doing that. It's called "The Howard Stern Show." New Rule: I don't need a bigger mega M&M. If I'm extra hungry for M&Ms, I'll go nuts and eat two. New Rule: If you're going to insist on making movies based on crappy, old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the cineplex a remote so we can see what's playing on the other screens. Let's remember the reason something was a television show in the first place is the idea wasn't good enough to be a movie. New Rule: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking up the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn't gift giving, it's the white people version of looting. New Rule: and this one is long overdue: No more bathroom attendants. After I zip up, some guy is offering me a towel and a mint like I just had sex with George Michael. I can't even tell if he's supposed to be there, or just some freak with a fetish. I don't want to be on your web cam, dude. I just want to wash my hands. New Rule: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to know in months. "27 Months." "He's two," will do just fine. He's not a cheese And I didn't care in the first place. |
2005-11-02
Hits
Wow. A pretty good day. It is 18:30 and I'm already over 80 hits. I got a bunch off a single comment to a blog talking about Linux. When I left the comment, I had no idea it would be so influential. It was an early post to a blog that got mentioned on Slashdot. I suppose I deserver some slop. It is a one day thing. It is a nice shot in the arm though.
Wow. A pretty good day. It is 18:30 and I'm already over 80 hits. I got a bunch off a single comment to a blog talking about Linux. When I left the comment, I had no idea it would be so influential. It was an early post to a blog that got mentioned on Slashdot. I suppose I deserver some slop. It is a one day thing. It is a nice shot in the arm though.
Fair rant (continued)
Remember the Fair rant last week? Well Nat and others say the proper spelling is "faire". Places like this, this and this seem to think so. Until Answers.com and Dictionary.com have an entry for it, I'm spelling it fair. So, there. It's my blog and I'll spell the way I want to.
Remember the Fair rant last week? Well Nat and others say the proper spelling is "faire". Places like this, this and this seem to think so. Until Answers.com and Dictionary.com have an entry for it, I'm spelling it fair. So, there. It's my blog and I'll spell the way I want to.
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