Sunday, November 30, 2008

Science of anti-racism

Pay attention to the last little bit. As the narrator, Spencer Welles states racism is not only divisive to us all as a species but scientific untenable, or more simply put by Welles "scientifically wrong."

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)


39/365: Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)
Originally uploaded by Theorris

I've been meaning to get a USB record player goober for some time now. Today was so dreary here in good old SLC, that I decided to pry open my wallet and go for it. I have some various vinyl laying around and want to digitize it so that I'll not be tempted to just buy it online. Screw the RIAA, I say. I'm surprised that they don't come after outfits that produce these LP to digital devices.

Most of my teenage music sucked, but I did have some taste. Most of it, by the way, is on either CD or tape. I'm not that freaking old. My sister, however, is that freaking old, so I'll have to get all her stuff over the holidays.

The tapes, I might add, are long gone: they demagnetized rather quickly.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Infinite 8

La Hightouchmegastore tagged me, so here goes:

8 Shows I watch
  1. Simpsons
  2. Family Guy
  3. Battlestar Gallactica
  4. Nova (yes, I do watch it passionately)
  5. Mythbusters
  6. Heroes
  7. America's Funniest Home Videos (God help me)
  8. Lost in Space (thanks Hulu!)

8 Restaurants I love
  1. Cafe Shambala
  2. Bangkok Thai (sadly out of business--s.o.b)
  3. Taj India (s.o.b)
  4. Bombay House
  5. Baba Afghan (s.o.b.)
  6. Cafe Med (s.o.b.)
  7. Maza
  8. Robert's Deli (s.o.b.)
8 Things I did yesterday
  1. Caught up on email
  2. Took a picture of myself as a part of an ego-centric flickr challenge
  3. Despaired about budget
  4. Congratulated an employee
  5. Drank beer
  6. Stayed up until the wee hours
  7. Won $300,0000 in fake money in a Texas Hold 'em tournament
  8. Made a list with 12 items and accomplished them all

8 things I'm looking forward to
  1. Snow
  2. Visiting friends during the holidays
  3. Buying a eco-friendly vehicle
  4. Turkey
  5. Olives
  6. Taking some pictures
  7. Not thinking about how crappy the economy is
  8. Watching movies all day

8 Things on my wish list
  1. Eco-friendly car
  2. iPhone (yeah yeah yeah)
  3. New Macbook Pro
  4. Snow
  5. Trip around the world
  6. Meet Will Self
  7. More camera gear
  8. Publish a small lit mag

8 things I love, in no particular order
  1. My mother
  2. My father
  3. My dogs
  4. 2 old girlfriends (but no more than 2)
  5. My iMac
  6. My first car
  7. Ham
  8. The essay

8 things I can’t stand, in no particular order
  1. Lakers fans
  2. Cockroaches
  3. Vomit
  4. Burns
  5. Women who wear fake cowboy hats
  6. Puss
  7. Rush Limbaugh
  8. Michael Moore
I tag Kendrakoo and Lis.

Monday, November 17, 2008

What ya gonna do when they come for you?

And I can imagine the British voice overs: "Hello hello hello! What's going on here then!"

It does look much more like a Cops episode, however.

I do like how Officer Cluck in the back kicked the perp after he and offer Scratch broke up the fight. Note, as well, How officer Scratch intercedes himself between the two miscreants while his partner takes the rear guard. It really is nice to know that cop maneuvers and football and basketball plays are commonly shared in all us critters.

One can dream

I so very much want one of these beautiful machines: TENORI-ON : create - control - connect. Such machines show us exactly why technology is so damn cool and will ultimately save us from ourselves.

Bring on the Cylon!

Just kidding.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Angrigami dove 2


Angrigami dove 2
Originally uploaded by Theorris

Over at zefrank.com, Ze Frank has a new project based upon another project (52 to 48) that stirred up a lot of anger from some in the 48. Basically the project was meant to bridge the divide in politics. Ze, however, got a tone of angry emails. In the spirit of the original project, he decided to not let that anger get to him, so he made a "Angrigami" project (http://www.zefrank.com/angrigami/, www.zefrank.com/angrigami/about/) where you can take the angry vitriol and fold it into something else. I chose to fold a dove. Well its supposed to be a dove, anyway.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Fight at Church [of the Holy Sepulcher] in Jerusalem . Monks Fight

Religion is such a good thing for the world, isn't it? Jesus smiles down upon these feisty monks. They are, afterall, fighting over his final resting place. I found the section where one of them takes one of the cross standards and attempts to bean his not-so-fellow Christian particularly fitting. I suppose he is giving his brother in Christ a chance to turn the other cheek, or, in this case, the other part of his bashed-in skull.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Jazz first loss of the season

Even without Williams, the Jazz have been playing pretty well. Given the broadcast blackout mentioned previously on SigNo and the fact that the radio feed from the Jazz web site goes down, I was forced to repair to the Garage (now the official Artlier, Snowboard DYI shop, and Jazz-listening post) to hear the game. (For whatever reason, none of the radios from within the Wilhelm proper can pick up the AM radio signal.)

The Jazz were doing fine in the first half and sounded as if they were going to run away with it. The Knicks, despite the fact that "they know nothing about defense" (Hot Rod Hundley), turned it around and ended up giving the Jazz their first loss of the season.

I didn't do my usual first game prediction for the season, as I was out of town, but I will stick by my pre-season hubris: the Jazz will make it to and have a very good shot at winning the Western Conference Finals.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Not watching the Jazz like it is 1987

I remember back in the 80's that there were very few Jazz games on TV. This was simply because the Jazz had precious little media draw yet and there was precious-little media out there readily available. Yes, we had cable and satellite back in the 80s, but it was nothing like the over-saturation of media that we have at the present.

Apparently the NBA, in its infinite wisdom, wishes to return to that time period when the only way you could witness games is on the radio. Pretty much all the Jazz games are on FSN this year. For those of us who have no desire to drink the "Premium Cable Package" Kool Aid at 100 smackers a month, the only option is radio. Sure I could head out to the bars, as I am wont to do on occasion, but that many times a month?

Give me a fucking break.

Here it goes: fuck you NBA. Fuck you. Pushing all of your games to premium cable is an idiotic mistake. What kind of money are you making off that deal?

Jesus.

On the other hand, as I sit here, listening to Hot Rod Hundley call the game, I recall why I love the Jazz so much.

Still.

Fuck you NBA.

Fuck you.

The Trail Ahead


The Trail Ahead
Originally uploaded by Theorris

It may be a long uphill climb from here, but I know we can make it with persistence and making the right choices. We'll survive the winter, and the leaves will come again to the trees.

Tomorrow I exercise the greatest obligation we have in a democracy: voting. It is, of course, more than an obligation; it is an opportunity and, indeed, a gift from all those who worked so hard to give it to us. Whoever wins, I feel confident that we will move forward on that trail, as rocky as it seems.

I know who I'm voting for. How about you?

Go Obama. Go Springmeyer. Go Mattheson. Go whoever believes in the future, in peace, and in Nature (with a big N).