The New Road

Tiger Woods on PC

I set my Mom up with Tiger Woods 2005 for PC so that we could play in between chemo sessions. I was worried that we would have network troubles. But far from that it turns out to work extremely well and we had a great time with it. A lot of my Tiger Woods PSP skills are transferable. Though I have to say that the PC games starts out with your character having a lot more power. My guy seemed to be able to drive 300 yards of the tee from the get-go. I'm only now going over 300 on a regular basis on the PSP.

Some problems remain though. The putting is more difficult on the PC and I don't have a good of a sense of where the ball is going to land. Which I suppose is more realistic but is a lot tougher.

Hitchhiker's Guide

I saw Hitchhiker's Guide today with the rest of the Macromedia crew. It was faithful to the book, and by extension the radio show, and I think that's where it fell down for me. I always found the book to favor the fast joke payoff. In fact, there is no joke that I found that extended beyond a page or two. There was very little in the way of comic payoff that extended across the entire script.

I also never once thought the characters were in any real danger. The Vogon poetry thing just fell flat. I actually remember feeling more fear for the characters when I read that scene in the book then when I saw it in the movie. They tried to set the Vogons up as evil with one of them crushing a crab. But most of us eat crab (myself excluded) so there was nothing to fear there.

The actors didn't sell me on it either. Mos Def seemed disengaged. Alan Rickman and John Malchovich were completely underutilized. Zooey Deschanel, who played Trillian, just phoned it in with the exception of one scene where she had some great lines. Bill Nighy did perhaps the best job as Slartibartfarst. He has been good in everything I've seen him in.

I think the script was the real problem with this movie. Just as movies don't translate well to radio. Radio serials don't translate well directly to film. The payoffs were too short. There were too few character arcs. It was just poorly written.

Anyway, I was in the minority. Everyone seemed to like it but me. They were happily surprised as the film exceeded there frighteningly low expectations.

The Darth Side

Here is an excellent faux blog by Darth Vader. A friend of mine pointed me to it after I talked about how it would be great to do a fan-film with Darth Vader in men's room on a Star Destroyer. You would have one of those uncomfortable moments at the urinal where you try to talk about something topical but inane. Pissant nobody would say something like, "How is the Alderan thing going?" Then Darth would reply, "Oh. You know. The usual Rebel scum thing. We have one of them in custody. But you know how it goes."

Republican machine off the rails

Everything since the election has gone off the rails for the Republicans. The easy win of the Schiavo case turned out to be a live hand grenade. The Schiavo memo debacle which was supposed to be a Democrat conspiracy backfired as well. The war has been going badly. Iraq can't seem to get it's act together. The Social Security scam isn't winning anybody over. There is little support for this judicial stuff, and Justice Sunday appears to have been a flop. The only thing that's going right is the out of control oil prices. But that doesn't seem to be motivating people on support the ANWAR initiative. Which was the whole point.

Let's face it. The Republican party really spins around a couple of magnetic poles. Karl Rove is a genius who pulled off a really well choreographed rope-a-dope election that was close enough that the rampant electronic voting machine fraud could easily be played down. But now what? He is the election rigger. He has no role to play now.

And you've got the money man Tom Delay who is currently wrapped up in a world of hurt. For what amounts to being to brazenly corrupt. We know our politicians are corrupt. But usually they are smart enough to hide it. You can't go around bribing votes out of Congressman on the floor of the Congress for goodness sake. That's what smoke filled back rooms are for.

You've got Frist off doing heaven knows what damage to the party by siding with extremists who want to bump Judges off. Then there is Condi who really threw a wrench in the works by throwing Bolton out there. Rummy is all tied up in the Iraq thing, which should have been a cake walk. Now we are three hundred billion in the hole on that one and Iran isn't shaping up to be a piece of cake either.

No wonder Bush looks haggard:

Only four months into the new administration and the wheels have already popped off and the cart is in the ditch. Of course, we had already been in the ditch for a while. It's only becoming clear to Republicans now.

Justice Sunday where are you?

I tried to get hooked up with Justice Sunday. I even registered at the FRC site to get the places and times. But it turns out that the northern California places and time were either fake or cancelled. Though the cancellations could have been lies.

In case you haven't heard of it, Justice Sunday is a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear the leaders of the right once again abuse and mislead their followers direct and almost in person over a video uplink. Brought to the faithful through Christ's gift of simulcast to churches of the filled with the types of social conservatives who like hearing about things they will never get from people who think they are witless sheep on the way to the slaughter. Which, I suppose, is something I share with Bill Frist and Tom DeLay. One of the few things I assure you. I actually have ethics.

Anyway, Frist's job is to get up there and tell these folks that the judiciary, 80% of which was nominated by the right, is not right enough. And that this branch of government which was expressly designed by the founders to not be accountable to the masses, should be held accountable to his masses.

Obviously the leadership of the right is clearly power mad and out of control and this is just further proof. Though, frankly, I think everyone (as hillbilly heroin addict Rush Limbaugh would say) with eyes to see and ears to hear (and pills to pop) could see that already.

The Side Effects of Hate Law

Here is a vivid demonstration of what happens when you try to legislate hate and bigotry. The lovely Republicans of Ohio turned their hate of homosexuals into a hate based law that banned people of the same sex from marrying. But in their haste they wrote it too broadly. So now it effects any un-married couple as well. Which meant that a judge had to decrease the felony battery charge that was applied to a man who had assaulted his live-in girlfriend to a misdemeanor.

Obviously the Republicans who wrote the law to punish gays in particular are not happy with this. They wanted the law to punish gays alone. But, as it turns out, when you write laws to punish people who you hate and fear, you end up punishing yourself as well.

What amazes me is that nobody on the right seems to see the parallels with the use of the bible to fight the emancipation of the slaves after the Civil War.

Disney Wedding

For the Disney Wedding you always wanted. You can have a carraige and your own private fireworks. Though I don't know how fireworks are ever really private. Unless fireworks means Paco from maintenance with some firecrackers and an M-80.

Turns out the minumum wedding expenditure is $15,000. I wonder how many folks pad out the minimum with extra nachos just to get to the wire.

Man Coulter

Man Coulter made the cover of Time. Here is a nice quote from her regarding Clinton.

"In this recurring nightmare of a presidency, we have a national debate about whether he 'did it,' even though all sentient people know he did. Otherwise there would be debates only about whether to impeach or assassinate."

Of course she was never held accountable for that remark, nor will she ever will be, even though she should. If you think it's funny then would you feel the same way if an assasination threat was made against Bush?

Here are some quotes from the Time special site. The first is a nice one about liberals. It's funny how liberals are traitors for fighting against the illegal and inept war in Iraq, but Republicans were just standing up for what was right when it came to speaking against the war in Bosnia. Then a call to execute John Walker Lindh. What is it about these folks that they consider themselves a "culture of life" and yet want to execute people left and right when they feel like it.

How does this woman rate the cover of Time?

Hopeless Tiger addict

I actually left the PSP at home today because I knew that if I took it to the office I would play Tiger any chance I got. It's that bad.

New Megan Pictures

And then going back two years ago today:

Chernobyl

Last night was our weekly poker night. As usual around 10:30 we went from No Limit Hold'em to dealer's choice. I invented a new game when it came around to me. I call it Chernobyl. You get five cards to start. Then bet, then a three cards. Then, and here is where it gets interesting. You discard one card face up. Then you bet. The same for fourth and fifth street. So at the end you finish with a Hold'em hand.

The game turns out to be surprisingly complex. Out of the ten or so hands of Chernobyl we played only once did I have a hand that I had to throw away before the flop. And several times I found myself changing strategy mid-stream. Which was really interesting.

We alternated Chernobyl with another game we flatteringly called Goiter. In Goiter you start with two cards by then add one on each round. That wasn't as interesting because there is limited incentive to throw anything away.

New Pope was Hitler youth

The new Pope is ex-Hitler Youth. Great...

Tiger Woods on PSP

I'm completely addicted to Tiger Woods golf on PSP. The controls are very easy to use. Within a couple of rounds I was dipping below par (-4) for a single round. Now the question is if I can play with my Mom. I bought her a copy of the PC version to play as she was recovering from her chemo treatments.

Diversity at Heritage

At the Heritage Foundation it's ok to be both White and old.

The Heritage Foundation, dedicated to the promotion of the downtrodden white culture.

What your tax dollars are buying

This lovely work is entitled "Bush Praying for Peace".

It would be more effective to simply give the order to stop bombing innocent Iraqi civilians.

I like how the artist used the same effect that they used in Star Wars for Ben Kenobi on Washington and Lincoln.

A few more reasons to hate DeLay

Here is a great interview from the Washington Times:

Mr. Dinan:You've been talking about going after activist judges since at least 1997. The [Terri] Schiavo case gives you a chance to do that, but you've recently said you blame Congress for not being zealous in oversight.

Mr. DeLay: Not zealous. I blame Congress over the last 50 to 100 years for not standing up and taking its responsibility given to it by the Constitution. The reason the judiciary has been able to impose a separation of church and state that's nowhere in the Constitution is that Congress didn't stop them. The reason we had judicial review is because Congress didn't stop them. The reason we had a right to privacy is because Congress didn't stop them.

Mr. Dinan: How can Congress stop them?

Mr. DeLay: There's all kinds of ways available to them.

It's so nice to have a House majority leader who doesn't actually believe in the first amendment to the Constitution. Who wants a Theocracy? Anybody, anybody? The Republicans do!

And we continue on this scary train of thought:

Mr. Dinan:You tried two last year on the Defense of Marriage Act and the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Senate didn't go along with those.

Mr. DeLay: We're having to change a whole culture in this - a culture created by law schools. People really believe that these are nine gods, and that all wisdom is vested in them. This means it's a slow, long-term process. I mean, we passed six bills out of the House limiting jurisdiction. We passed an amendment last September breaking up the Ninth Circuit. These are all things that have passed the House of Representatives.

Republicans hate the ninth circuit with a passion.

And then, to show his um, understanding of the Constitution he goes on to forget the name of the document:

Mr. Dinan:Are you going to pursue impeaching judges?

Mr. DeLay: I'm not going to answer that. I have asked the Judiciary Committee to look at this. They're going to start holding hearings on different issues. They are more capable than me to look at this issue and take responsibility, given the, whatever, the Constitution.

Given, the, uh, whatever. That thingee they keep gabbin' 'bout. The, um, Consitutional.

Completely counter

One thing that has bothered me since the election is how it seemed flipped. Let's say that Bush is the Terrorism President, for the Republicans he represents the man who will stop terror (while for Democrats he represents terror). And let's say Kerry represents a more moderate police enforcement approach to terror. Bush won in the country and Kerry won in the cities. What's strange is that the people in the cities are the ones who should be afraid of the terrorist threat. When we hear about terror plots the target is always Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles. The big cities. So how is it that the cities voted for someone painted as being soft on terror, when they are the likely targets?

Sideways

I just watched Sideways again. I think people connect with the film because it's scripted and shot in such a realistic style. And because that sucks you in you connect with the absurdity towards the end of the film. I have to give it points for that. Really well done.

Revenge of the Sith

Just finished reading "Revenge of the Sith". Looks like Episode III is going to be the bloodbath we were all expecting. The whole thing dovetails together quite nicely. I'm sure there are big wholes and what-not, but I'm not so anal about the whole Star Wars thing that I care.

What I think is interesting is how Lucas has successfully gotten both red and blue states to watch what is a clear parable and warning about what's happening in our country. How many times does this theme of people wanting their government to take charge and seize control after a national tragedy have to play out before the majority of the population gets wise? Hopefully this current round will blow itself out before it does any serious damage. If they are willing to drain their power base on political black holes like the Schiavo case we still may get out of this yet. Plus the Republicans waking up and seeing Delay as his true monstrous self is an encouraging sign.

Michelle Malkin in knots

If you would like to see what rushing to judgment does to public figures please note Michelle Malkin, the Ann Coulter wannabee. First she says, in regards to the Schiavo Memo; "I suspect that no one at the Post or ABC News still believes the amateurish, unsigned, misspelled memo was circulated by Republican Party leaders." Following up with "We may never know whether the memo was the handywork of a Republican staffer or a Democrat dirty trickster or an outside interloper...".

As we now know this memo came out of Martinez's office and was written by a former Tom Delay counselor. Now she is on the warpath trying to untangle the knots, within which both she, her beloved party and it's wonderful memos, are all tied. She goes on to say more recently; "Sen. Martinez and his former legal counsel may still have plenty of 'splainin' to do." No Lucy, it's you who have some splainin' to do for your slanderin' ways.

There is a way out Michelle. It's called credibility and it's what happens when you stop working off the memos and start doing your job as a reporter.

Basketball Greatness

This is some crazy basketball video. Love it.

Marburg

Marburg is on the loose. That's a bad thing.

Oso pictures

Posted by jherr at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)

Terror Alert Van

The Onion does it again with another great spoof on our jingoist terror obsession.

PSP

I recently bought one of the new PlayStation Portables. It's a sweet little handheld device about the size of one of the original PlayStation controllers but wide enough to accommodate a 16x9 aspect ratio display in the middle. It can play movies, Spider Man 2 ships with it. You can encode your own movies onto the memory stick and watch them. It will also do a slideshow of pictures you download and play MP3s.

In addition to all that it plays games. The one I am most impressed with is the Wipeout Pure game which is a futuristic racing simulator. It's good in single player but the unit also has Wi-Fi built in so that you can play it head to head with up to eight people without using a single cord. A guy I work with also has one and we were playing head to head matchups through lunch. And if there was a Wi-Fi hub to the Internet we could play games with people by linking up on the web.

Plus there are some 2D puzzle games that Lori can play. So we've got games for me and Lori, and movies for Megan all in one portable package.

My guess is that people will come out with games like an Internet browser, an RSS reader and all that so that the device is genuinely useful on the web.

That is sweet like buttah.

My commute

This is my commute. Well, not really since I go a different way. But regardless. This is just crazy cool.

Mmmm, yeah...

This lovely comment from Admiral Church about Abu Ghraib:

"I don't think you can hold anybody accountable for a situation that maybe if you had done something different, maybe something would have occurred differently," he said. "It's a lesson learned that we need to capture and think about for the future."

Um, right. I'll have to use that the next time I get in a bad jam. "You can't hold me accountable for something that if I had done differently wouldn't have happened!"