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Monday, April 16, 2001 - 11:45 p.m. -Got another CrushLink spam tonight (N.B. no link). I got my first a few months ago on an account I almost never use and that practically nobody knows, which tipped me off early that there's something fishy afoot. (I LOVE mixed metaphors!) This one is the second to slide into my usual account. It's a remarkably effective tool for manufacturing attention and interest, but I keep all my secret crushes under 24-hour surveillance so I know it's none of them.Unless...unless my agents have been bought off. I DID dream about C. Manson and his new gang of kids all out to get me last night. Maybe someone secretly wants to crush my skull. [Thank you for witnessing Episode 52 of R. Lightner's Descent Into Madness. More to come.]
Monday, April 16, 2001 - 11:12 a.m. -Excellent story from News of the Weird: "A team of researchers from the Netherlands' Delft University of Technology announced in December that after nearly four years of research, it had solved the perplexing problem of how to store and pour draft beer on zero-gravity space stations. The team injects carbon dioxide against a flexible membrane inside the keg, which forces the beer out without commingling the liquid and the gas (as is done in the conventional keg) and provides the additional benefit of ejecting the beer in liquid chunks the size of table tennis balls. [New Scientist, 12-23-00]"
Sunday, April 15, 2001 - 07:30 p.m. -I finally got my Archos Jukebox working today, four months after getting it (thanks, parents!). I had to remember that I am an idiot before I could resolve the USB problem that wasn't and then I RTFM to establish how the infernal device is properly turned on. Now I enjoy 6 gigs of post-Napster MP3 bliss.I saw Fight Club with Paul last night. It's much better than I expected, even with the endorsements of several respected friends. Not wildly satisfying in a philosophical sense, but certainly thinkier than most other films equalling it in budget and distribution. So, then:
BOOK CLUB Then he meets an alluringly rumpled, professorial type named Tyler Durden (Johnny Depp). After a night of pounding boilermakers, Durden asks Quinn to tell him his thoughts on Hemingway. Erotic tension mounts as Quinn tries to talk Durden out of the "crazy idea," but finally gives in and begins a verbal sparring match as furious as it is unskilled. Sated, they agree to "do it again sometime." In short order, the two acquire a gang of men hungry for primal intellectual challenge, meeting several times a week in the basement of a seedy bookstore. There they go one-on-one... [More TK]
Friday, April 13, 2001 - 04:36 p.m. -Finally - pictures of the New Orleans trip.
Thursday, April 12, 2001 - 03:26 p.m. -I really should note that I get a substantial number of links from boing boing, which used to be a fun zine and is now a fun blog.And don't forget Mr. Pants!
Thursday, April 12, 2001 - 03:25 p.m. -Wow. Wow^2. Once again, I'll never eat meat again.
Thursday, April 12, 2001 - 03:22 p.m. -Therese and others in similar positions should check out this job link.
Sunday, April 8, 2001 - 10:34 a.m. -A few words about Nader: Today's Doonesbury continued the Democratic attack on him personally (for some reason ignoring the Green Party itself). As a Gore voter with serious buyer regret - not that my vote mattered, tee hee - I have to say that it's disheartening to see the Dems respond to what they perceive (incorrectly, I think) as a just-too-big set of defections with mud and smears rather than positive recruitment efforts. I guess the tent's not that big.Unfortunately, it's all too easy to use Nader's and the Greens' pre-election rhetoric against them. Of course there are a few (precious few) differences between the Bush administration and the most likely Gore administration, largely in social and image-related issues. The heart of the problem of our political system, the number-one reason we're laughed at (nervously) worldwide, is corporate sponsorship and ownership of our elected representatives. Neither major party can or wants to do anything about the situation, and I for one am despairing of a solution. I've considered a voting boycott for both major parties (yes, I have voted for Republicans before - former Sec. of State Ralph Munro is the only one that comes to mind, but). That leaves me with few options, of course, which is the point. Chaotic Greens, irritating Libertarians, and the cultlike Other Parties are the best available alternatives, and then only for big-ticket offices. Woe is me. Woe are all of us.
Saturday, April 7, 2001 - 12:23 p.m. -From Hell - the movie. No, really.
Saturday, April 7, 2001 - 11:55 a.m. -New Cheapass game - Witch Trial
Friday, April 6, 2001 - 10:56 a.m. -Clowns and lawyers grow closer together.
Wednesday, April 4, 2001 - 11:19 a.m. -Hot spring flix pix! Did I mention that everyone should go see Memento? It's at the Egyptian in Seattle now, but not for long, I think. Lovely to experience a film that doesn't treat the viewer like an idiot.Therese mentioned that she had heard that after six years of use, a pillow's weight is 25% um, organic. Like bug poop, baby. So I'm reconsidering the value of my favorite 18-year-old pillow. On the other hand, what does this say about mattresses, stuffed chairs, couches, etc.? Ordinarily I revel in this insect's world we live in, but as an allergy sufferer and friend of allergy sufferers, I want to maintain a space-age, sterile environment. But on the other other hand, allergies are just another made-up disease for crazy people. And the sun is out again. And I am writing again. Sometimes correlation at least hints at causality.
Tuesday, April 3, 2001 - 11:59 a.m. -Lovely Bezos defacement. (Note that I archived. Note also that I am trying to lose the exclamation points.) (!)
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