This is a test post from 
, a fancy photo sharing thing.
Flickr
January 18th, 2008We’re ready for our close-up!
November 12th, 2007I’ll probably write more on my weekend trip to Los Angeles later. But right now I’m going through the news I missed while I was gone and came across this lovely piece: Intel official: Expect less privacy.
Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people’s private communications and financial information.
I know it sounds alarmist, but I’m really glad I have a passport now. This shit is nuts.
am I alone on this?
November 7th, 2007I know he wasn’t talking directly to me, but actually, if I “lived in Iraq and had lived under a tyranny,” I’d be saying the following:
HOLY FUCKING SHIT PLEASE GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF IRAQ!!!
I imagine there would be at least a few other countries where I could not only enjoy “freedom,” but could prosper from not being disemboweled or having a bomb dropped on me.
The Older I Get…
October 29th, 2007The sorer I am on Monday mornings. My neck, back, legs and arms all ache like hell…and I’m only 27! But since the number of sunny, above-freezing days is getting smaller and smaller, I chose yesterday (a sunny, above-freezing day) to cram in all the yard work I could. Most of it went pretty well; we’ll see how my foundation caulking holds up. And only three of the four solar lights we bought lit up, though I don’t think that’s my fault.
I wonder if the achiness could also be from having spent the rest of the day playing Guitar Hero III. Prodded by a nagging fear that they’d somehow sell out (since, you know, it’s exactly like how it was when the Wii went on sale) I went to Target to get it at 8:30 AM, looking like a hobo and I’m sure smelling much worse. Not only had they not put the game on the shelves yet (at least not the version packaged without guitars), it was apparently buried way in the back of the stock room.
GHIII is pretty fun. It doesn’t quite match the perfection that is Guitar Hero II, though the song selection is overall much better (I say this despite the presence of “Black Magic Woman”). They added a bunch of cut scenes and peripheral animations that I guess are ok - unless it turns out they’re contributing to the insanely long load/save times. There are also new boss battles (with Tom Morello, Slash, and the Devil). It’s an interesting concept, but I’m finding them impossible to beat, so they end up taking away from the real meat of the game.
geosemantics
October 26th, 2007I was all set to write a post smugly noting how curious it is that, in his tours of the Southern California fire zones, Bush makes no reference to “this part of the world.” A quick Google search, however, proved me wrong:
Now people here in this part of the world are wondering, is there a number they can call to get help? And here’s the number: 1-800-621-FEMA.
So that’s one way the victims here are being treated the same as those from Katrina. I still don’t get it, but I at least appreciate the consistency.
Cordell
October 24th, 2007I woke up with a sore throat and a head cold this morning, so I decided to take the day off work. Being sick sucks, but ailing does have its upside, mostly in the form of USA Network’s 3-hour block of Walker, Texas Ranger. Having forgotten how early the fun starts, I missed most of the first episode to see Tubbins Lucas hawk the Young Indiana Jones DVD to a fawning Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America. But I did at least catch a little bit of Daniel Dae Kim’s turn as heartless Asian villain “Khan.” In response to a distressed damsel’s declaration that he’s a sick man, he replies, “Yes, but I’m going to be a very rich, sick man.”
The next episode started with Walker failing to stop a little kid from jumping off a roof. It sounds tragic. but apparently this kid had wrinkled clothes and smelled pretty bad (thankfully his schoolmates had the guts to tell him). Still, Walker took it pretty hard, so he upped his karate-teaching program and brought in Deion Sanders to give a pep talk. The episode’s only half over, but I’m sure this will solve the whole suicide problem. Meanwhile, the other rangers in Walker’s crew are busy infiltrating a salsa club that’s also smuggling weapons to Iraq.
Update: Naturally, I’ve seen this one before. At least the part that was just on, where Danny Trejo saunters out of the crowd at a middle school “Pride Day” (it’s not what you think) and tells off some gang members. I’d say it’s the best cameo ever, but we’re talking about a show that’s seen Isaac Hayes, Giovanni Ribisi, Haley Joel Dodge Neon, and, of course, Hulk Hogan, grace its set. (And that list is just off the top of my head. I’m sure there’s dozens more.)
A worthy first post
October 23rd, 2007Well, here I am again. Many many defunct blogs in my wake. But the urge to write short, pithy “essays” is too strong. Hey, here’s a quote by Jean Cocteau!
There is always a period when a man with a beard shaves it off. This period does not last. He returns headlong to his beard.
As I write this, I’m about 10 days without shaving. I’m looking like a teenage hobo, but hopefully not like that Spencer on The Hills, whose whiskers resemble a snowflake’s pubic hairs. (I’ll save comments on his appearance when “clean” for another time.) In any case, this isn’t an official regrowth. It’s just preparation for my Halloween costume: “Marv” from Home Alone, a role immortalized by Daniel Stern. My wife will portray Joe Pesci’s “Harry.” I’ll try to report back on how it goes.