Vengeful Cynic

Greek God

I am Hecate

Which of the Greek Gods Are You?

brought to you by Quizilla (thanks to Wheeler for providing me with the link.)

Buying Pie

So yeah... if you are at LU, are interested in summer missions, have money, and/or are an SC member, see this post.

Little Kids

Thank you Wheeler for finding my two life philosophies about brats located on one web comic strip.

On Memory

So I went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with the crew. And by the crew, I mean just about everyone in the SC. I really enjoyed the movie... and thought it was high-quality stuff. People always claim that Jim Carey is a crappy actor or deride all of his stuff, but I would assert he's excellent in Eternal Sunshine.

Without any spoilers, the movie is essentially about a couple who erases one another from their respective memories and the associated emotions and interactions that go along with that. In short, one of the messages one is intended to derive from the film is that ignorance is not bliss and even sad memories are worth having. This is a message that I would affirm and support totally, and while I would muse that this film shares the notion with Big Fish that flawed memory with its indulgences is a fair sight better than none at all, that is neither here nor there.

This whole discussion of the fallacy of ignorance brought up an interesting memory of a bible study in high school where my youth pastor declared that in heaven, we would have no memory of our lives on earth, because clearly that would make us sad and invalidate Revelation 21:4.

While I have never met anyone else to advocate this position, that's mostly because I've never gone looking and it's not something that comes up a whole lot. That said, on a philosophical level, the argument bothers me horribly. Regardless of whether or not one can find good scripture to argue definitively for it, one should note John 14. Not only does Jesus refer to Himself as the way, truth and life in verse 6, but he also refers to the Holy Spirit as the "Spirit of Truth" in verse 17. I cannot help but think that an all-knowing God who refers to Himself as Truth would send people to a paradise of ignorance. I'm going to roll this one around some more, but that's what I've got for now...

Monty Python

Scott was whining the other day about the fact that nobody ever has any good Monty Python links. I found a couple... and while they seem to universally suck as far as page design and content is concerned, they do have quality material linked and available for download.

Hi-Tech Cage

This case amuses me, and I'm not even an animal fan. It's perfectly clean... as far as being work-safe and family-friendly anyways. I wouldn't vouch for it being clear of gerbil crap though...

Help

It's funny how many people are full of advice of things you should have done or ideas for what you can do differently to make your life run correctly. The worst part is, they tend to think that this advice is best proffered when someone comes to them for help.

I don't know about other people, but at least in my case, I know when I've screwed up. I am easily my own harshest critic, and it is rare indeed when someone can tell me something bad about myself that I hadn't already considered (and probably considered at length.) When people come to you for help... give them help, and if they want advice, they will ask you for it.

I know I'm probably as guilty or more of this than anyone else, but I just figured it would be good food for thought.

Peanuts

It's really hard to get this quiz to give me meaningful results... probably because it's just not very good. That said, the outcomes are fun.

I'm pretty sure the first one applies now whereas the second one would have applied at this time last year.

Sleep Deprivation

For whatever reason, I have always required a lot of sleep. Unlike some people I know, I am in dire straits unless I get at least 6 hours and I am really not my best with less than 7.5.

Fortunately, I require less sleep with training... but a week of spring break and sleeping 10-12 hours a day broke me of my ability to do 6 hours with ease. Thus I sleep to recondition myself. Night...

Restaurateur

Every time I go to Cici's with my friends, I can't help but noticing all of the little hooligans running rampant throughout the establishment. This sort of observation typically leads to idle speculation about what I would do about the problem were I to run a restaurant. Typically, the responses to my idle speculation range from amusement to outrage... so for the amusement of the author, I suppose I will indulge you.

First, the idea is that children are acceptable as long as they are not loose. Granted, this does present a problem with loud, leashed children... but we'll deal with that in a second. Essentially, there will be multiple surveillance cameras to track the patrons of the restaurant. Shortly after arrival, a patron will be entered into the system as a child or a typical patron and thusly monitored. There will also be several tranquilizer-launching turrets mounted on the ceiling and controlled by computers. Assuming a child acts up, these turrets will fire on the problematic child and then a robotic sweeping unit will intervene and return the child to his/her parent(s).

In order to make sure this does no damage, there will be multiple weight plates hidden in the floor of the establishment so as to properly gauge the mass of the target in question. Further, calculations will err on the low side so as to not kill anyone and targeting will be precise and coordinated using advanced military target-acquisition and tracking algorithms. And here's the fun part... it's all customizable.

Say you don't like kids who whine and get loud... use a low-yield dart to mellow them out. Same goes for drunk and obnoxious patrons. In short... I want to market this thing to everyone. I know I'd eat somewhere with this system employed... and I would take kids to one of these places too.

Best Flash Ever

Check this thing out! (Flash Player Required... perfectly 100% clean)

I know if someone was singing like that in the labs, I would do that.

PBJ Time

Gecko found this for me. If you are particularly impressionable or easily disturbed, don't go.

Spammers Beware

Do you hate spammers? Do you like abusing abrasive morons? My policy of posting the IP addresses of comment spammers is effective post ex facto, starting now.

IP addresses are below, the dates they were added to my block list are in parenthesis.

(2004.02.17) 64.237.37.248
(2004.02.25) 66.55.139.221
(2004.03.03) 80.58.33.107
(2004.03.20) 213.91.217.13
(2004.03.20) 64.159.65.78
(2004.03.20) 62.47.124.158

It would seem that a new moron has decided to bother me, even this very day... idiots.

(2004.03.20) 213.91.217.14
(2004.03.25) 213.91.217.15
(2004.04.03) 195.179.127.251
(2004.04.03) 66.98.226.51
(2004.04.04) 218.229.61.9
(2004.04.09) 202.66.33.93
(2004.04.16) 202.75.47.89
(2004.04.16) 80.58.9.111
(2004.04.18) 211.184.25.253
(2004.04.19) 61.250.86.53
(2004.04.22) 200.171.151.213
(2004.04.23) 61.19.243.11
(2004.05.02) 172.200.143.157
(2004.05.02) 67.85.40.18
(2004.05.02) 67.85.156.110

Wedding Work

So yeah, I came home and get to run sound at some friends' wedding. I tend to enjoy this sort of work as it pays well, provides and interesting vantage for the whole things, and comes with the added bonus of getting to be an active part of things rather than just a spectator. Granted, as the sound guy I don't want to be noticed... but it's cool being in the know.

That said, rehearsal dinners are a pain in the butt because I sit in the back and get ignored until I have to walk up to the front where things are being rehearsed and ask questions like "Do you want me to mic you for your vows? And just how do you propose I do that?"

Fun times... wedding tomorrow, should be interesting. I must say, this is different from my typical time of running sound tech in that I will have a beautiful assistant sitting alongside me. To bed now... I have to be at the church freaking early because it's a morning wedding. Bleh...

Most Obnoxious Comment

As the week begins to come to an end, one cannot help but become to be influenced by the bizarre southern influence of Kentucky in the area. Due to this influence, I will have to reform to note: "The Bluegrass is coming! The Bluegrass is coming!"

In light of that horrific news, there is no hope. Run you fools, especially those fuzzy studies majors who fear the corruption of your language. On second thought, all of you Texans have corrupt enough English as is.

*insert abrupt change in strategy*

Flee the Bluegrass Music! Flee the Bluegrass Music! It is the elixir of salt water for your soul! Drink it and you will never appreciate good music again! The best you will ever know is God-awful country!

The fact of the matter is the Moby Dick will be exploring the greater meanings of BNF. In fact, I think it's time for a digital logic lesson for one and all. On second thought... I think all might be better referenced by Microsoft, who truly represents all irrational thought much better than the UN. Well... maybe not much better, but more efficiently in any event.

If not for Microsoft, we might all be shipping our data like oil.

Due to the fact that my stock in Cheez Whiz just went up... I think it's time to relocate to the land of the Gnomes. Until next time, remember:
"No matter where you goes
the cheese is squishy in your toes!"

Literary Chauvinism

So I've been rereading Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time) and I stopped mid-series to re-read Eric Flint's The Philosophical Strangler. The contrast in the treatment of gender roles is quite fascinating. On one hand we have the cold sociopathic manipulative female of Robert Jordan who beats and bends the grudging men of the world to her will. On the other we have Flint's males, who go into manipulation by women knowing full well that they love the women entirely too much to hold it against them, and yet being manipulated even as they walk into a situation where they know the odds and know what they should do to exert their own will on the situation at hand.

The whole contrast begs for a circumstance where men are not being dragged around by their noses and manipulated into situations, and Flint (as should be expected) does introduce the occasional man who is seemingly above the whole situation. However, Jordan seems to delight in a feminist perspective of women running the world in dominantly matriarchal society where the only men who do get into power are guilty of idiocy and gain power only by random luck and sustain it by sheer brutality. It's enough to make one wonder if Robert Jordan is gay.

That said, each author provides an amusing and captivating story which drags you into his world. Jordan is exceptionally amazing in that one is compelled to read even as one has SERIOUS misgivings about his sociological interpretations and the bizarre anthropological situations that he constructs. These are some books I recommend to anyone and would encourage comment from all who have read them.

Upgrade

So I've been home a couple of days and I've finally decided that it's time to fix this desktop computer of ours once and for all. Sadly, none of my family members are quite nerdy enough to jump on the offer of Red Hat or some other quality Linux distro... so I downloaded the update kit and deemed my home computer capable of SatanSoft XP.

Thus, I've spent all day cleaning up old crap, moving stuff to other drives, and pirating and installing a new OS (I left my XP cd in Texas.) This was followed by pirating and installing numerous other apps over a DSL connection and bringing this computer up to a generally working state. Oh... it is so nice not to have all of the ad- and spyware that my brothers downloaded.

Anyways, enough of my gleeful exclamation... go visit Randy's warped links. I gotta admit, I'm glad to have someone helping in that department.

Idiots

I've always suspected people are idiots... but it's things like this that provide me with fuel to feed the fire and convert others to my cynical view of things.

To clarify: "What do you get when you stampede like a bunch of ignorant cattle in response to a terrorist attack and do exactly what the terrorists wanted? More terrorist attacks!"

Why do you think it is the policy of every sane government on the face of the earth not to deal with terrorists? And yet the people of Spain have sent a very clear message to the rest of the world: "Want us to go away? Want us to bend to your will? Just bomb us near election day!"

Granted, this may work in many places... and maybe it's just that Spain is an unfortunately relevant example. However, I think not. The US is just the kind of place where someone might try this... but I would almost bet on the stubborn attitude of the American public to buck something like this. I just can't see the cowardly response of "our actions have made us Al-Qaieda targets" in the US. If anything, that would solidify our resolve to go out and kill everyone in our way.

Maybe I'm just annoyed and blowing steam... but that has to be the most ignorant response to terror I've seen in some time.

Home

So yeah, Anna and I got in to Dayton about 1.75 hours ago. From there, we waited, and waited, and waited around a baggage claim that took entirely too long to return our luggage. And by too long, I mean we probably waited at least half an hour. Absurd.

Anyways, so then we drove the 45 minutes back to my house from Dayton and then I showed Anna about ever so slightly and then she called in heart monitor stuff as everyone else (read: my brother and father) went to bed. Mom is off on a retreat... Lord knows where Geoff is. Ah well, church is tomorrow morning in about 7.5 hours and there's a 20 minute drive and a shower to look forward to between now and then. I sleep now... I wake later... I will probably try to talk to you this evening some time.

Gone

Now that nearly everyone else is leaving... I will depart as well. Sorry for the lack of posting... I will get you up to speed from Ohio.

In Lieu...

As I lack truly quality things to post, I give you this warped link on fashion.

Back

So yeah... I'm back in Longview. Can't say as I've missed it all that much, but I've missed the people there. Just in time for the "stinky tuna trees" to come into bloom. I love spring...

Leaving Town...

As you can see, I'm supposed to be driving out momentarily.
It's too early.
I hate mornings.
I can't think.
Go read this link.
You're probably still in bed.
I hate you.

Gone

I will be going to Houston with Anna tomorrow. Because in a time like this, that's where I should be. It's funny, I almost think I should resent going to Houston and having to miss a day of class for this... but I'm really just filled with joy at having God's peace and joy in the midst of a rough time and feeling very honored that I was asked to go.

Pray for us... Anna especially.

I want one...

Wow...
*alternates between paranoid twitching and envious drooling*

Link Round-up

First I present The Artistic Range of Bubble Gum, which is safe for all. Next is the beverage of choice for beaver chasing, which is also perfectly clean, despite innuendos.

Finally we have Lodger TV, which is the home to several warped flash animations, but is probably work safe, as long as nobody objects to the notions. Anna, I would recommend you avoid this one.

Thanks to the Brit (who apparently gets paid to do nothing but surf the 'net all day) for this good stuff.

Just Bent

Have you ever felt like the police were out to prove something when they pulled you over? Ever felt like you were just being crapped on for no good reason?

I know I've got nothing on some of these people... and then this problem takes the cake.

Too Much to Do

I used to think that there would come a day when I would have more time to do things with than I would have things to do and then I could finally catch up on the backlog. That was a couple of years ago, and I have sense come to grips with the fact that I cannot be all things, as much as I would like to. Nor can I do all things, not even just the things that I want to do or even just the things that I want to and could reasonably do (thus, organizing a military coup in France is out... at least for this year.)

Making matters worse, it seems that every time I turn around, there are more things that I would like to do and more things that I really ought to do popping up. So, even as I have more things that I would like to do, I have less time to do them because of everything else that I have to do. But in any event, I do have to say that I am extremely thankful that I have so many awesome oppurtunities, great friends, and just a generally wonderful life.

Yes, it annoys the hell out of me that I have so far to go and so short of a time to get there, but at least I'll be travelling in good company. And to those of you who have gotten annoyed by my lack of truly depressing thoughts of late, I'm sorry... come hang around me for a bit and you'll come to understand the reason for the unseemly optimism.

Movie Watching

Saw Hidalgo with the wench. If you want to go see a feel-good movie with your wench and still have a bit of action, I kinda recommend it. Granted, it's lacking on the cerebral elements, but if you watch it in unison with The Last Samurai and Lawrence of Arabia, it provides an interesting look into the concept of "the noble savage" as well as a contrasted treatment of Eastern culture and inidigenous American cultures.

Catch-22!

You're Catch-22!