BunkBlog

Downloading the latest OpenOffice.org release, the much-anticipated version 2.0 final, via BitTorrent. I’m getting 3.85 Mbps, which is about as much as I can possibly hope for, considering my download pipe is supposed to max out at 4 Mbps. Freakin’ sweet, man. This gets me a 75 meg download in under 3 minutes.

Now, to install it and see how it compares to MS Office.

Alex turned six yesterday. Seems like just last week that he could only say things like “gup” and “joosh” – now he talks nonstop about just about any topic that pops into his head.

His mom got him a Spiderman game for Xbox, and a really cool model airplane. The plane has interchangeable bombs and drop fuel tanks and the cockpit opens to put the little pilot in his chair. He really digs the plane, which he insists is a “Model” not an airplane. heh

My mom sent him a check (much more than I remember any of my grandparents sending me when I was six, that’s for sure) and we had to go spend it. He ended up with a giant swamp-creature racetrack for his Hot Wheels cars.

He wanted to get up at 5:30 on his birthday, to open his presents as early as possible. At the usual wakeup time, he ran to the living room and ripped the paper off his two Hot Wheels toys, and then looked at the 1000-piece tub of Legos. This morning, he doesn’t even want to watch cartoons, he’s so intent on building stuff with his new blocks. He’s done a sword and a firetruck so far. I’m glad he likes building toys – it always seems more healthy to construct than to destroy, although there is always a component of destruction when the blocks have to go back in the tub. 🙂

Tonight, we go over to his grandfather’s house for more presents (I presume) and some dinner and apple pie. Yeah, he doesn’t really get into cake too much, and besides – he had some of that chocolate cake on Monday.

Overall, it seems like a pretty good week-long birthday, eh?

Althought the traditional Bavarian recipe I have been using for Black Forest Cake has always been a hit, this month’s Cuisine Magazine included an alternate recipe. So, that’s going to work tomorrow. Well, I’ll keep a piece or two home, but most of it goes to my coworkers – I don’t need that much chocolate.

This recipe omits the chocolate mousse and cream cheese frosting, replacing both with more layers of whipped cream and cherries. And, the cake is noticably moister than the European norm. Unfortunately, it has to set overnight so I can’t taste it, but it sure does look good. Mmmm… chocolate and cherries….

Tonight’s new meal attempt was teriyaki chicken, stirfried veggies and edamame rice. Everything was a hit, except for the edamame rice. Not only did Alex not particularly appreciate the soybeans, the rice vinegar-laced rice was also not loved. Ah, well. At least the teriyaki went over well. Tomorrow is an old favorite – cheese-stuffed manicotti. Mmmm…

A parochial school teacher was fired for his beliefs. He believed in the religious doctrine he was teaching, just not in the jingoism that was supposed to accompany it. He was fired for not displaying an American flag in his classroom. Here’s a bit of his own explanation:

bq. The whole notion that loyalty to country is connected to one’s religious faith is totally bizarre and unjustified.

This definitely qualifies for the category of Random, but what is a blog if not a place to spew completely trivial shit?

I have three sets of sheets for my bed; they are all green. I have two blankets; the one I prefer is green. I have two comforters; the one I prefer is green. Those final two preferences are not because they are green, but due to deficiencies in the alternates.

My couch and love seat – guess what color they are? Somehow, I ended up with a theme. Even Alex’s play room is painted green.

This is quite possibly the strangest watch I’ve ever seen, and I’ve got a binary watch myself.

The little equalizer bars bop up and down, then two lights indicate the precise time. Bizarre, yet strangely enormous on your wrist.

Is it possible to even comprehend, on a personal level, what 30,000 dead means? Thirty thousand human beings, gone.

When I was 7, the town I lived in had 1000 residents – 30 of those towns are now erased from existence. When I was 12, the town I lived in had 300 residents – 100 of those towns are now gone.

When I went to see The Monsters of Rock in 1988, there were about 30,000 spectators in the stands – that entire stadium could be gone now, assuming that they were all from Kashmir.

Harvey Danger, the band which brought you “Flagpole Sitta,” has released their third album via BitTorrent as well as in stores. If you like the download, they’ve got Paypal set up for donations.

I seriously hope this is a succesful experiment for them. Any proof that bands can make more money bypassing the plastic-based distribution system (and the RIAA) would be a very Good Thing, in my opinion.

After a few years of absence, there is once again an air show in San Angelo. Alex and I spent about four hours there today; I wanted to stay and watch the F-15, but Alex was getting cranky and hot, so off to the house we went. Or maybe he just couldn’t wait to play with his new airplanes that he conned me into getting at the show (yeah, gotta have souvenirs, right?)

The jet-powered pickup truck was probably the thing that most wowed the Boy, but the six-plane aerobatics team was pretty cool too. I got some good footage, so look for a video posting some time in the near future.

Time for a nap.

As I was putting his lunch together Thursday morning, I noticed that the head of lettuce from Monday’s dinner was a tiny spike-like stump in the crisper.

What other five year-old sneaks lettuce to snack on? What a kid.

The new Depeche Mode comes out in less than two weeks. Naturally, I’ve had a copy on my hard drive for a couple days. Since I’m a big fan of Gahan et al, I’ll be buying the CD when it hits the shelves. Just in case the RIAA is reading, now I’m covered by fair use laws, in some alternate universe where the RIAA doesn’t get to launch random lawsuits like some kind of judicial shotgun blast. Anyway, different rant.

As with a few other albums in the past, the download of the music has made me even more sure that I’ll buy the CD. This is a great album. For those who didn’t like Exciter, this is a return to the old Depeche from the Black Celebration era. Very nice, and the first single, “Precious,” is by far the standout track on the disc.

I really love the woman who is countersuing the RIAA for racketeering – I liken it to extortion, but I suppose it’s the same RICO law set.

Oh cat, my cat!
You sleep a lot, yes, good and plenty
Why can that not include
From 6 until 6:20?

Although my previous Korean meal experiment, galbi, didn’t work out so well, I decided to give in to the begging and make Bulgogi tonight. Much better reception. Now I’ve got to keep him from making me put it on the menu every week. He likey. Like a little piggie.

Currently, there is some “Western Tradition” university show on my television. I’m not sure how that got on there. Recently, I’ve been watching the old Cosmos series (I’m up to Disc 6 of 7). I guess this proves that I’m a geek. Oh, well. I can do what I want!

Into the Blue is pretty good, for a fluffy movie. No, there’s no deep meaning involved, but it’s still entertaining. And, Jessica Alba is half-naked through most of it, with many shots of her thong-covered bum which are not remotely necessary for the plot but appreciated nonetheless. 🙂 For the other side, Paul Walker does appear to have been carved from marble by a Greek with a chisel. So, ya know, it’s not all for the men.

Something which strikes me on occasion is how, when I speak to my coworkers or others with any brains at all, and the topic drifts to politics or economics, there is a sameness. Almost everyone I converse with is generally reasonable, with a few blind spots (we all have them). Almost nobody claims that Tom DeLay is a good example, and almost nobody claims that Mike Moore is anything but a self-aggrandizing propagandist. Nearly everyone agrees that the unfettered capitalism of the late 19th century which led to the Robber Barons was a bad idea, and almost everyone also agrees that the total socialism practiced in Cuba is not exactly an economic boom.

Yet, all these reasonable people go to the polls every two to four years and vote for people who are anything but reasonable. How in the world do we get ideologues and idiots in office, when most people are basically decent human beings, with the minor difference in opinion about things like the proper role of government in our lives? It’s astounding, especially when you consider that the American governmental process is remarkably transparent compared to many other countries. If this is the best of all possible systems, I’m glad to be living in it.

Of course, another issue which recurs is a growing lack of personal responsibility among individuals. Blaming the government for the failures of the past month is easy. Now, what is that pesky phrase in the Constitution? Oh, right – We the People. We, the people, are considered to be the sovereign rulers of the United States. We, the people, should not be waiting for the government to Do Something when things go awry. We, the people, comprise the country and if our elected representatives aren’t doing something, we need to. This lack of personal responsibility spreads through the public school system as well, with the consequence that parents seem too willing to abdicate all requirements that they raise their own darned kids, preferring the strangers of a major institution to take care of that rather personal issue. Mystifying.

Good night.

America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You’ve gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say, “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center-stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the land of the free. – Aaron Sorkin

The insanity that afflicts this country over sports never ceases to amaze, amuse, and annoy me. Here in Varsity Blues Country, the local radio stations play high school football every Friday evening, requiring me to flip over to my personal music collection (15000 MP3 tracks as of this morning) or just listen to the air conditioning. And now, I’m ready to watch the Simpsons and King of the Hill, when what do I see? 9 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Knowing what little I do about football, I know that the “9 minutes” in football time equates to something like all damned night in regular clock time. Hopefully they’ll still play Family Guy anyway.

Stupid steroid-laced men in tights. Grumble grumble.

Dover teachers must read this to their students:

Because Darwin’s theory is a theory, it continues to be tested as new evidence is discovered. The theory is not a fact. Gaps in the theory exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.

Yeah, evolution is a theory. Gravity is another theory. You may have heard of germ theory.

Theories in science are treated as fact, as the best available explanation of how things are. They aren’t just good guesses – that would be a hypothesis. If you don’t know the difference, you shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a science advisory board.

The central tenet of intelligent design is that any mysteries in nature that we can’t explain today are the result of manipulations by some intelligent designer. This designer doesn’t fall under any of the rules of nature or science that we understand, and so is by definition “supernatural.” The very idea of teaching a science which is based on something that is inherently unexplainable by science must make your head ache, if you can wrap your mind around the basic absurdity of the whole enterprise.

Besides the silliness involved in invoking a magical invisible being to explain anything we don’t currently know, it is dangerous. If you decide that some things are just unknowable, scientific research stops. When research stops, progress in the sciences stops. When progress stops, society stops. See Dark Ages, a period where scientists were told that all which was knowable was known – 400 years of utter societal and political stagnation resulted.

Deus ex machina is no basis for a science program.

A pro-war rally got less than a thousand participants, days after the 100,000 anti-war rally nearby. That’s gotta hurt. There seems to be a real lack of logic on the part of many people, though. This woman, for instance:

“Our troops are over there fighting for our rights, and if she was in one of those countries she would not be able to do that,” Vigna said.

Yeah, exactly why it’s ok for Cindy Sheehan to be able to say any damned thing she wants to. She can claim to be the reincarnation of Frank Sinatra – it doesn’t matter. The fantastic thing about our country is that people are allowed to be stupid or controversial or anything they want.

I don’t agree with everything that Cindy Sheehan says, but I spent 12 years in the Army defending her right to say whatever pops into her head. Good for her. And good for Rush Limbaugh the drug user, and good for G Gordon Liddy the convicted felon. Good for Dr Laura, the therapist with no credentials in psychiatry. Good for Mike Moore, who conflates opinions and facts and hopes nobody notices. Good for Jonny Depp for bashing the country that pays his salary.

Good for all of them – they can all be as stupid as they want to, and that is what makes America great. To tell any one of those Americans that they shouldn’t say what they are saying is the treasonous thing. That attitude of restricting speech with which you don’t agree is Unamerican. If you don’t like it, stop listening!