desultory engine

2003-08-22T15:06:00.000-04:00

we're outta here. see the new and improved me at crabby baby! go now!

2003-01-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I wasn't back, as the replacement Apple sent me turned out to also be a lemon. I don't even know if I'm really back, but I seem to be typing into the empty space at Blogger, so I guess that's something.

And I guess I'll call it my own personal trifecta, as we added moving into the whole marriage/death mix. We decided to move back into my parent's (well, now my Mom's) house, as she needs help and we need to save money. So here I am again, back home, which is both weird and kind of nice. Joe doesn't even seem to mind. And we're beginning to assemble the cat army that I've always dreamed of, so at least I have a hobby.

2003-01-08T15:14:00.000-05:00

No one can believe it, least of all me, but after almost two months of not having anything resembling a computer, I now have a brand-new iBook courtesy of Apple. To make a long story short: lemon with six trips to AppleCare, get a new iBook, another lemon which breaks after two days, third one okay so far. And I got an Airport card and base station for Xmas, so I can now update this blog while I'm on the toilet, if I so desire. So whooee, I'm back.

2002-11-17T16:09:00.000-05:00

I had no idea that soy sauce was so exciting. And hostile to cats.

via boing boing

2002-11-01T12:42:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who send condolances...it's much appreciated. I'll be in touch soon, I promise.

2002-10-30T10:06:00.000-05:00

Agh. What a couple of weeks. Today is the first day since we got back that I don't feel like I've been surgically separated from our bed. So in light of how crappy I've felt the past week or so, I thought I'd highlight the things that didn't suck enormously while I was napping. Or not napping...eh, whatever.

- The Lord of the Rings Cave Troll action figure is pretty awesome, I must say. It's about a foot high and has quite a presence.

- Summoner 2 is a pretty fantastic video game for the PS2. It has a female protagonist, a complex plot and mythology, and it's a nice looking game. We also picked up Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, and the game engine has been so refined that even an old sausage fingered girl like me can revert into a manual. You know what I mean. (Plus I can now kick Joe's ass, as I am the grind queen - bow before me!)

- Cats. I'd link to a website, but they all seem to be neon pink with bad design. You know what they look like. Cats, I mean.

- Trader Joe's. Luring folks with "healthy junkfood" at a location near you.

- Settlers of Catan, the most fun boardgame I've ever played. Geek out here, and I'll trade you wheat for ore if you've got it.

- My brand-spanking new husband is pretty neat. He gave me my first genuine belly laugh in days last night, telling me his new shirts don't fit because he ate them.

I would go on, but I have to bring my mother a burrito. Such is my daughterly duty in times like these. Ahoy!

2002-10-20T15:50:00.000-04:00

Just a short note to say that on October 18, in the late autumn afternoon, my father, Edward George Belles, passed away at the age of 58. He was an intelligent, stoic man who was full of compassion and had the heart of an adventurer. I will think of him every time I pass a fried fish joint, ponder the wonders of the combustion engine, admire the clean lines of a passing schooner, or look up at the vast expanse of the night sky. So long, Dad.

2002-10-09T18:10:00.000-04:00

uyyyyyy8yuuuuuuuuu

posted by Hammond the cat

2002-10-09T18:09:00.000-04:00

The two or so of you that read this already know, but for the errant surfer, I've been extremely busy the last two weeks with a family illness and planning my wedding, which is in like two freaking days, ohmygod. Then we're off to an "undisclosed location" to try and relax. So I am outta here for the next few days. I apologize for the paucity of updates, but this is desultory engine you know. Look it up.

ps - I can't wait to see you all!

2002-09-30T15:31:00.000-04:00

I'd read quite a bit about the "Pax Americana" report, which was created by a right wing think tank and presented to many members of this administration while they were still civillians. Bush Watch has summed it up nicely here, and points out how much of the administration's foreign policy is similar to that laid out in the report. It's empire building, American style. Good grief.

links to the actual reports are at the bottom of the article

2002-09-25T11:38:00.000-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you the "adventures" of August Strindberg and Helium. Delightful Flash cartoons for your amusement.

via metafilter

2002-09-25T11:21:00.000-04:00

Very popular fried chicken, courtesy of a Central American chain called Pollo Campero. One woman brought 1600 pieces back. They're now opening US stores in areas with large Central American populations...which could be here, I guess. I don't know why I posted this...I guess I just wanted to share the image of 1600 pieces of fried chicken in duffle bags with you all. Mmmm, greasy.

2002-09-25T11:02:00.000-04:00

The Bureau of Justics Statistics and the National Institute of Justice are the statistical and research arms of the Justics Department, providing information on crime, criminals and idead for dealing with the two. They've long been non-partisan organizations not subject to review by the justice department. Not anymore. Under the Patriot Act both organizations are now required to submit their reports for approval by the Deputy Attourney General as well as Ashcroft himself. There's also been threats of outsourcing projects, which could lead to political interference. There's a quote in the above NYT article that rather alarmed me:

Instead, Mr. Greenfeld emphasized several times that "All B.J.S. reports have the highest levels of integrity and accuracy." He did not mention that Ms. Henke, the principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Justice Programs, was monitoring the phone interview without a reporter's knowledge, according to two other employees. A spokesman for the Justice Department refused to comment on the monitoring.

I have no doubts that their reports are of the highest integrity (though they are statisticians), but I do wonder why the call was monitored. I'll tell you, it's the small stuff that will gradually begin to count, which has been the point of many of the criticisms levelled at this administration. Just because someone doesn't hit you over the head with a truncheon means they have your best interest at heart.

2002-09-23T22:15:00.000-04:00

Holy crap. They cancelled Farscape. Hey, thanks TV, you jerk. There's been some speculation that it's due to the financial trouble of its parent comapny, Vivendi-Universal. However, there's a massive fan campaign to try and revive it, with rallies even!

much of this via plastic

2002-09-23T21:43:00.000-04:00

Jason Mewes, the Jay half of Jay and Silent Bob, has been missing for ten months and is wanted by the law. Kooky.

2002-09-23T21:39:00.000-04:00

Excellent profile of Joss Whedon, by the NYT Magazine. For more Joss Whedon and exhaustive, up-to date info on his shows, see Whedonesque...kind of a Whedonfilter.

2002-09-23T12:24:00.000-04:00

A couple of friends and I went to see Bob and David's "Hooray for America - Mr. Show Live!" last night. It was pretty funny. Mostly new skits with a couple of old ones thrown in. I think I may have enjoyed seeing Kids in the Hall just a little more, though. Our seats were so close you could see up their dresses! You can't beat that!

2002-09-17T17:23:00.000-04:00

Rather depressing story about a man who was refused a cat scan at a hospital because of his weight. Bah.

Anyone who knows me well enough has heard me rant on the treatment (or lack thereof) of fat people by doctors. I've had so many negative experiences with doctors, I can't even begin to count. Most recently I went to see my carefully hand-picked doctor and was instead shuttled off to his partner, which was a shocker. I was "treated" for my problem (and I say so with scarcasm as he took my symptoms and fit them into a convenient syndrome, completely ignoring my medical history, as well as my family's), and then recommended a diet drug that would only exacerbate the problem I was there to have taken care of. Hey, thanks.

Though my favorite bad doctor story happened many years ago. I was experiencing amazing stomach cramps, above and beyond the usual nervous stomach that I have dealt with all of my life. It felt like there was either someone in my abdomen with a fork slowly scraping my insides, or an invisible, slowly turning spiked glass rod had been shoved through my side and some sadistic bastard would stop and wiggle it around once in awhile. I was a big fan of the walk in clinic at that point, as there was a fairly decent woman I would see there on occasion who understood I didn't care about the hospital's Opti-Fast program. So I walked in and was out of luck, she wasn't there. So the doctor comes in, and I describe my pain just as I did above. Ignoring that I was obviously in some kind of pain he had me lay back on the table, took my hand and asked, "so how long have you had a weight problem?" Uh, hello? I have tremendous, debilitating stomach pain, and I'm here for treatment! So I sat up and asked to see another doctor immediately.

It took two years of misdiagnosis, from "you eat too much, and probably too much spicy food" to the inevitable irritable bowel syndrome to find out what was wrong with me: I had gallstones. Which are fairly common among the fat, I believe, and if anyone had bothered to ask my family history they would find that both my mother and grandmother had the same problem. I also have Native American genes rattling around in my bodily ethnic soup, which makes me eligible for every digestive problem know, apparently. The point is if any of the doctors had bothered to look past the fact that I was fat and actually ordered some tests, I would have been spared two years of mysterious, agonizing pain as well as the trip to the emergency room that resulted in the diagnosis.

Anyhow, here's the end of my rant. You, as a consumer, pay doctors to treat you. You are buying a service from them, and if it's crappy, you have every right to tell them to drop dead and find someone who will listen to what you have to say. This is especially important if you are fat, as doctors too often diagnose you as fat, and forget that you have come in with a legitimate complaint. Though it's equally important at any weight. Find a doctor you like and respect, and who listens to you. Just because they went to medical school and wear a white coat doesn't mean they are right. Or should be doctors. I mean look at the guy in the white house. He went to Harvard and Yale. Got it?

2002-09-17T13:54:00.000-04:00

Okay, so this article about Christian radio stations muscling out less powerful public broadcasting stations has this lovely paragraph placed at the beginning:

The Rev. Don Wildmon, founding chairman of a mushrooming network of Christian radio stations, does not like National Public Radio. "He detests the news that the public gets through NPR and believes it is slanted from a distinctly liberal and secular perspective," said Patrick Vaughn, general counsel for Mr. Wildmon's American Family Radio.

Yet later in the article:

Mr. Vaughn, the general counsel for American Family Radio, acknowledged that the network was aware that its two new stations would be "blocking out" public radio in Lake Charles. But, he added, "We were in no way targeting it."

Um, yeah. At any rate, if you're an NPR fan, make sure that your station knows what's going on around it. Or something. I'd be pretty pissed if I went to turn on Car Talk and got the Phyllis Schlafly report instead.

2002-09-15T22:05:00.000-04:00

Oh, this kills me: I Regret to Say Your Wedding Falls Square in the MIddle of the Prisoner Marathon. I wish we had gotten such a clever rejection, instead of uh, sorry, can't come. I'm looking in your direction, Virginia.

via Going Bridal

2002-09-13T09:15:00.000-04:00

5 reasons why Christians should not obtain a marriage liscence. Okay, then can we please have gay civil unions legalized countrywide, if y'all are abandoning your contract with the state?

2002-09-13T09:07:00.000-04:00

Analysis of a newspaper article that illustrates how journalists are becoming the mouthpiece of the government. Also, the P.U.-Litzer Prizes have been announced. Yep, the media. Are they for us, or against us?

2002-09-13T08:49:00.000-04:00

An interesting list of sourced facts that suggest the authorities knew an attack was imminent in the weeks (and days) preceeding 9/11. Could it have been a successful Operation Northwoods? Ah, Don't mind me...I've been convined that Dick Cheney is the devil as of late.

first link via The Bitter Shack of Resentment

2002-09-04T13:27:00.000-04:00

Once again, blogging will be on hold as the iBook once again visits Austin. I'd rant about how the power supply on these machines is such a major design flaw, but the charge on my batteries is running low.

2002-09-03T15:00:00.000-04:00

Would you like to send a message to the future? Yes, the future. I don't know what to tell them, though. And 50,000 years is a long time...we could just be brains in jars by then!

2002-09-03T14:35:00.000-04:00

But you know, it's very possible that the spectre of war with Iraq is just wagging the dog. Woof.

2002-09-03T14:26:00.000-04:00

Interesting editorial from, uh, USA Today about the dangers of using pretexts to go to war with Iraq. A friend of mine had remarked in passing that USA Today seemed to be extrmemly critical of the Bush administration, and I was surprised to find this editorial. I had always ignored USA Today and kind of figured it was in the Bill O'Reilly political corner, but I'm always happy to be proved wrong. At least about this sort of thing. Other issues, not so happy.

2002-09-03T13:27:00.000-04:00

An extremely sad story about an area woman who was murdered and her mother's difficulty in dealing with her daughter's death. The murdered woman was in what sounds like an extremely abusive relationship...I just get so upset when I read about things like this...so I thought I'd share with the group.

2002-08-31T13:05:00.000-04:00

Hey look, another log on the fire in the class war. I'm not sure if by "class" I mean stylish and interesting or lower, upper, middle. Probably a little of both.

2002-08-30T20:32:00.000-04:00

Okay, here's a gallery of images that give you that squirmy there's something-not-quite-right feeling. This one makes my eyes hurt, or that space between my eyes...what would that be, my third eye? Yeah, that hurts.

2002-08-28T11:47:00.000-04:00

Very nice scanned mid-century commercial art at EphemeraNow. Too bad they left the text off some of these, as that's often my favorite part.

2002-08-27T22:16:00.000-04:00

I was looking up information about our honeymoon location and I became completely engrossed in the foreign entry requirements of other countries. It's probably simpler than it sounds, but it looks like it's pretty hard to get into Qatar:

Passport and visa required. Business visitors, tourists, those attending scientific or cultural symposia, and medical visitors are granted a 10-year multiple-entry visa at the Embassy in Washington, D.C. One application form, 1 photo, letter of invitation and a non-refundable application fee of $45 is required. Please provide a SASE for return of passport by mail. AIDS test required for persons seeking residency permits and visitors staying longer than 1 month; U.S. tests results not accepted.

2002-08-27T21:14:00.000-04:00

Okay, after a day of wedding crap I have to ask, what is up with the dolphin wedding paraphenalia? I don't think dolphins mate for life, so maybe it's their half-heart shape? All I know is you don't usually see gopher wedding supplies. Or goats. Or other marine life, for that matter. Hmmm, maybe Troy McClure was on to something.

2002-08-26T22:09:00.000-04:00

You know the law that requires you to show a picture ID in order to board a plane? Well, it doesn't exist. Airlines have to ask for ID, but it's not a condition of travel. I don't know why I find this interesting, but I do.

via follow me here

2002-08-26T15:07:00.000-04:00

Here's something rather important - a court conevened under FISA has released an opinion that alleges "Justice Department and FBI officials supplied erroneous information to the court in more than 75 applications for search warrants and wiretaps, including one signed by then-FBI Director Louis J. Freeh". The FISA court has had plenty of detractors, so this ruling is somewhat of a surprise given the nature of the court.

2002-08-26T14:47:00.000-04:00

Would the person who borrowed my carcass vacuum please give me a call? You know, sometimes you just don't want to know.

via The Bitter Shack of Resentment

2002-08-26T12:48:00.000-04:00

Extremely cool shockwave from the British Museum called Turning the Pages. It allows you to browse through books with "realistic" page turning, which just about makes me squeal with delight for some reason. Now if they can only re-create the old musty book smell that goes along with exploring old books, I'd be in heaven. And being able to enlarge text as well as the pictures would be helpful to those of us who dig the medieval Latin would be swell.

via Metafilter

2002-08-26T11:57:00.000-04:00

Depressing article about an interesting archaeological site in Afghanistan. The people who live in the area don't see the site as having historical value - they're more interested in the financial value of artifacts, and who can blame them? It's still painful to read, though, as I've seen firsthand what looting can do to a site, and it doesn't look like there will be any official dig any time soon.

2002-08-23T15:54:00.000-04:00

This is just a note to say blogging will be on hold until we get the new power adapter for the iBook. Ah, my iBook, which I love, but has been to Austin more times than I'll ever get to go, and my boyfriend's family lives there. Good thing we ponied up the cash for AppleCare. This time it got to stay home, but the part should be here early next week.

2002-08-21T09:44:00.000-04:00

The first thing I had to do today was math. Well, and drive Joe to work. But math was hot on the wheels of that relatively pleasant errand. I'm not really a math kind of girl, though my father always used to tell me if I could master Latin I could do geometry. Hey look, nobody ever said I mastered Latin, Dad. And I understand the importance of mathmatics in the world, but to me it's a language I just can't quite get my head around. That's why I fell in love with a guy who can calculate tips, and keeps his snickering to a minimum when he catches me counting on my fingers.

2002-08-19T11:27:00.000-04:00

Fascinating article about the corporate machinations behind the Backstreet Boys. I wonder about the generations who have had their entertainment culture wholesale manufactured for them. It almost makes me appreciate the mining of alternative culture for advertising, if it allows people a glimpse into a slightly less "polished" world. I don't think I can control the cringing, though.

2002-08-17T22:15:00.000-04:00

We now have independent confirmation that Pepsi Blue causes intestinal distress. Uh, well, duh. But blue soda seems so much like the future! Come on! Fizzy electric blue drink? Spock is so hanging with me in ten forward right now! All people in the future will have, of course, genetically altered themselves to make the pain their food causes them to be palatable. Now pass the food cubes.

2002-08-17T21:02:00.000-04:00

Joe, you coulda been a professional mascot contender. Rather amusing article about the new National Peanut Board's new mascot, Buddy McNutty. I tried like crazy to find a picture of Mr. McNutty, but to no avail, so this whole thing is kind of an in-joke. Sorry, you may now return to your funny, hip blogs.

2002-08-17T20:45:00.000-04:00

What sport requires boiled cabbage as training equiptment? Why competitive eating, of course. You haven't lived until you've seen someone eat eight pounds of mayonaise.

and why does the wall street journal have an article on it?

2002-08-17T20:06:00.000-04:00

Do I ever visit anywhere but Metafilter? Yes, I do. No really, I do. But I can't resist linking to a brand-spanking new article by Thomas Frank, editor of the wonderful journal The Baffler and author of one of my favorite books, The Conquest of Cool.

2002-08-17T20:02:00.000-04:00

What you doing on your back? Ah Ah Ah What you doing on your back? Yeah you should be blogging, yeah.

sorry, too much sun!

2002-08-14T09:58:00.000-04:00

Also via MeFi this sleepy, hot morning, re-mixed war posters. Combining the sterling graphics of the 30's and 40's with sentiments that closely match my own. Why if I was still in college, I would print them out and hang them up all over school. But since I'm not, I think I'll just spy on my neighbors.

2002-08-14T09:36:00.000-04:00

Long and depressing paper from theWorld Policy Institue detailing how the Bush administration is "in cahoots" with the arms industry and ramping up the investment in nuclear weaponry. By cahoots I mean that there's 32 appointees in Bush's White House that have significant ties to arms manufacturers, opposed to 21 that have energy industry ties. This is also a reversal of two decades of non-proliferation.

Cliff Notes version via The Nation here.

(both via Metafilter)

2002-08-13T19:23:00.000-04:00

Amazing footage of the Sony SDR-4X robot. See also Honda's Asimo. It's the future I tell you, the future!

2002-08-11T22:20:00.000-04:00

I went to the strip mall where I buy my cat food the other day, and I was behind a gaggle of motorcycles who happened to be going the same way. So they turn into the mall riding their Harleys and Suzukis, stating their love of freedom and independent spirit with their "hogs", and what establishement do they head straight toward? Starbucks. Joe calls them Hell's Dentists. I giggle.

2002-08-09T18:25:00.000-04:00

Article on how the White House is witholding documents and even simple requests for information from Congress and the Senate. I remember reading an article somewhere by John Dean where he said that the main tactic they used in the Nixon scandals was to stall, and here we are again. Stalling and waiting...

2002-08-08T16:52:00.000-04:00

This should get interesting...the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs has endorsed the constitutional amendment to decriminalize marijuana. The orgainization is presenting it as a law enforcement problem, as cops that have to chase down and fill out paperwork for offenders could probably do something a little more productive with their time. That the police organization is supporting the amendment seems to me to be a huge thing. And yes, the Supreme Court did rule against medical marijuana, though states can get around that.

I honestly don't see the difference between marijuana and alcohol. You can say, "well, some people get addicted to marijuana" but people get addicted to alcohol, and they don't have to resort to illegal activites to get it. The same intoxication laws should apply, though (like DWI). Hopefull other states will follow the Nevada initiative, and the federal government will seem more and more like a parent hopelessly out of touch with their children...

2002-08-08T16:35:00.000-04:00

Why the US should invade Iraq -- right now!

2002-08-08T14:57:00.000-04:00

I remeber seeing this before and not really believing what I was seeing. It's there, and it's a real office within the defense department, that is, within DARPA, or the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Either someone has a black sense of humor, or that cabin in the wilds of Idaho is looking pretty good right about now. And knowing who the director is doesn't help either.

Also, check out some of DARPA's other offices, including the Information Exploitation Office which seems to focus on, um, maybe targets? Though the autonomous vehicle race looks cool, although in a nefarious way.

(A couple of links are via Metafilter)

2002-08-08T13:24:00.000-04:00

The Memory Hole is sorta like a much more political Smoking Gun. There's some good stuff here, like an article on how the gigantic (19 million pounds!) ConAgra beef recall was originally kept quiet, and text out of (and a link to) a patent that reveals flouride causes mouth and gum disease. Ahh, the conspiracy of dentists...

(via everywhere today)

2002-08-07T13:32:00.000-04:00

A funny synopsis of the People "100 Greatest Movie Stars of All Time" issue, at the wonderful Fametracker. See also The Ten Least Essential Film of the Summer.

2002-08-07T09:03:00.000-04:00

Truths of conservatism. Or so this guy says. I love how they portray themselves as powerless against the leftists. Yeesh. There's some fairly blatant racist crap here too, like only Anglo-Saxon countries have consensual goverment. I may have voted for Nader in the last election (trying to get that 5%) but I now see there's at least some distinction between Republicans and Democrats, if this is really where the conservative wing of the Repub party is at.

2002-08-06T12:44:00.000-04:00

We sometimes get an excess of ten hang-up calls per day. Almost all of them are from 'unknown name, unknown number', though yesterday I did get a couple of odd ones from a cleaning service. Of course I'm immediately thinking it's the government and constructing grand conspiracy theories in my head (yeah, like Joe and I are soooo dangerous in our philosophies that the government wants us out of the picture...) but it turns out it's probably just telemarketers. Through the use of amazingly evil autodialer technology, if you don't answer the phone on the first ring you'll get a dead line rather than "hello, may I speak to Miss Bellies?" An autodialer calls multiple numbers at the same time, and since the telemarketer employee* can only talk to one person at a time, the rest of the calls get dead air. If you're quick enough on the draw and you get the live person and are scientifically minded, you can contribute to AIR's research project. If you're not that interested in the phone and live in a labyrinth-like apartment, and you're a clumsy oaf prone to knocking paintings off the walls and cups on the floor in your mad dash to the phone (similar to, uh, me), get caller ID and an answering machine or hope that there will be some anti-autodialer legislation in the future.

*I want to just say here that I don't hate the people who call here as much as the nefarious telemarketers themselves. I've been such an employee on more than one occasion out of sheer desperation, and it is a sucky, thankless job that promotes bitterness and excess caffeine consumption. It's no wonder they've got prisoners doing it.

2002-08-06T11:15:00.000-04:00

Speaking of sunny days, I am extremely enamoured of WeatherPop. It's an OSX application that puts a little icon in your menu bar showing the current temperature in your area, as well as a pull-down menu that gives the current humidity, dew point and wind speed, as well as a five-day forecast. I love little useful applications like this... though I wish I could enter in our honeymoon location.

2002-08-06T11:11:00.000-04:00

I almost feel like I'm back to normal. The past four days I've had terrible stomach cramps and have barely been able to keep my eyes open. It kind of felt like I'd taken a truckload of LSD then sat down to eat a bunch of unripe fruit. And it wasn't just confined to me...my boon companion also suffered, as well as a couple of friends and a couple of their friends. I'm still tired and bloated (you know, the bloat that makes you feel like you're the size of the Hulk and you could swat people aside with one bloaty paw), but at least I don't have the cramps anymore. Now I can just sit back and enjoy the beautiful cool and sunny day...

2002-08-05T16:45:00.000-04:00

Japanese wedding dresses. The white ones are variations on the usual tulle nightmares, but the color ones...they're like my idea of a fancy dress when I was eight. I wish she had the tux section up. (via Going Bridal)

2002-08-05T15:43:00.000-04:00

The Big Brother 3 Blog summarizes what's going on in the house. For live feed updates Joker's site isn't bad. I know it's cheesy, but I love Big Brother. To me it seems like an experiment gone awry - put twelve people in a house with no books, television or music, introduce an element of competition, then let them go at it. I think I like last year's cast better than this one, though, even if a third of them were criminals.

2002-08-05T12:40:00.000-04:00

A brief abstract of a study that shows studies funded by parties which have a vested interest in the outcome tend to favor the funding party. You never find out who funds the study in the press releases that masquerade as news...something to think about before you ask your doctor about Lipitor.

2002-08-05T12:26:00.000-04:00

Meet your new Third Circuit Court of Appeals judge: D. Brooks Smith. He made rulings on a case favoring his own investments before recusing himself, he's belonged to a discriminatory club (which violates rules of judicial conduct), and he was against the national Violence Against Women Act as he felt that domestic violence has no "national consequences". He's also made questionable rulings in cases regarding the environment and standards of care for the mentally disabled. He now sits on the court that overturned many of his rulings. Hey kids, this was a Senate confirmation, so you may want to check and see which one of your sleazy Democratic senators voted for this guy in the spirit of "bipartisanship" so you can write them a nasty little note. Surprisingly, none of mine did.

2002-08-05T12:13:00.000-04:00

An interesting article about the Brooks Brothers Riot which shut down the 2000 election vote recounts in Miami. Many of the Republican activists involved in the recount now hold plum jobs in Washington. I still refuse to refer to Bush as "president", which means nothing to y'all, I'm sure, but it helps me to stop the incessant grinding of my teeth when I talk about politics these days.

2002-08-05T11:41:00.000-04:00

So after writing about the power of advertising...I was leaving the farmer's market the other day, and the guard at the parking garage teased me about the "Mac Geek" shirt I was wearing, then went on to ask where he could buy an Apple as he'd "seen those ads and I think I want to switch." An Apple moment. Very neat.

2002-08-01T09:40:00.000-04:00

A B O U T - F A C E is a great body image site with some pointed media criticism. Check out the Gallery of Offenders, which showcases companies that use degrading images of women, often bordering on or just plain emaciated, to sell their products. The Diesel ad in the top ten ofenders category is perhaps one of the most disturbing ads I've ever seen.

Advertising is very smart, which is something that often gets overlooked by its detractors. People can say, "I'm not affected by ads at all!" and honestly I think they're full of crap. Look, I'm an ardent feminist, and I have a degree in anthropology/sociology with a bent towards pop culture and social theory, and I view advertising with a keen eye. I know for a fact that ads affects me, mostly by piquing my curiosity about a product with a clever in-joke or by using an image or spokesperson that keeps my interest. There was a commercial for a mop recently, where a woman is in a very James Bond secret lab, and the mop she's given is treated like a Q-inspired gadget. She leaves with the mop in a special case (naturally) and goes home to her all-white, sleek, modern apartment and uses the mop to clean up poop from her parrot. If I could find out where they sell the fancy mops, my floor would be clean right now.

2002-07-31T20:04:00.000-04:00

A very funny review of the Cadillac Escalade EXT:

At the end of the shifter is a Toad Hall button (It's "Tow/Haul"—Ed.), and the 3.06 first-gear ratio means the EXT is useful for dragging the wreckage away from locomotive collisions. There's even an in-dash computer program called "Vehicle History Last 15 Days." Ours recalled the Battle of Hastings, the movie Nurse Nancy, and quite a bit of time spent idling in a Krispy Kreme parking lot.

(link via metafilter)

2002-07-31T13:27:00.000-04:00

An opinion on the wisdom of going to war with Iraq by a former U.N. Weapons inspector. And right now, if you happen to be near a TV set, on C-Span there's a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting about the possibility of US action against Iraq.
(first link via metafilter)

2002-07-31T09:59:00.000-04:00

Okay, I obviously found this while Googling for the Black Museum, but The Museum of Black Superheroes is pretty cool.

2002-07-31T09:54:00.000-04:00

For those who may not have seen it, Casebook: Jack the Ripper is an amazingly detailed website about the Ripper murders. There are extensive reports on the victims, suspects (did you know there's a (crazy) theory the Lewis Carrol was the Ripper?) as well as transcriptions of articles from the time of the murders and transcriptions/jpegs of the various Ripper letters. I wish it were possible to visit the Black Museum at Scotland Yard to see some of the Ripper artifacts, but you have to find yourself some kind of secret tour as the museum is not open to the general public.

2002-07-31T01:36:00.000-04:00

The new Left Behind book, The Remnant is out, and it debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. These books, for those who are not familiar with them, are a series of fictional books depicting the countdown to Armageddon, with a distinctly religious slant. I first encountered them on the shelves in my supermarket's sterile book selection, and wondered at the size of the market for Christian apocalyptic fiction. How about 50 million copies in the series sold? And for those of you who may wonder at how religious culture is reflected in politics and much of the media, here's an excerpt from a Salon review:

"...as a ragtag group of new believers form the "Tribulation Force" to thwart the murderous plans of Nicolae Carpathia, the U.N.-leader-cum-prince-of-darkness (often just called "the evil one," Osama bin Laden-style). Carpathia's rise is engineered by a cabal of bankers. He's supported by Israeli liberals enthralled by his devious promises of peace, and a Democratic American president sells out the country to Carpathia's one-world government."

It gets deeper than that. One of the authors, Tim LaHaye, was a founding member of the Moral Majority and and an organzier as well as the first president of the Council for National Policy (see also here). While many of you are probably familiar with the former, the latter is a bit more tricky. The CNP is essentially a secretive group consisting of members of the conservative right that work through their members in formulating government policy. It's said they had a large part in orchestrating the Clinton impeachment. And part of their agenda includes maintaining an alliance between the USA's government and Israel in order to shepherd in the end times. Just so you know, GW Bush spoke at the CNP. See other members, such as Edwin Meese and Jesse Helms here.

Good grief, I sound like I should be holed up in the hills on my ranch with my trusty shotgun. But as we seem to be moving towards a war that could destabilize a whole region, if not the world, I just don't know anymore. And call me crazy, but supporting a situation that has resulted in the deaths of so many on both sides just so you can force the hand of prophecy seems, well, not quite Christian. After all, in the Left Behind books Jews see the "error of their ways" and begin evangelizing Christ. 50 million books. Can I sign up for the Mars colony yet?

2002-07-31T00:07:00.000-04:00

A grim look at what happens to old or infirm zoo animals. No, they aren't sent to the rendering plant, but for all intent and purpose they may as well be.

2002-07-30T15:04:00.000-04:00

Etiquette Hell has updated. Not to be missed by those planning a wedding, or anyone who is at all interested in preserving some semblance of polite society. The second story here just kills me. I would have just retrieved my gift and left.

2002-07-30T14:21:00.000-04:00

The archive section is pretty unhappy right now - I'll figure it out at some point, but right now I'm not in too much of a hurry. So if you're looking for archives, sorry.

2002-07-30T11:13:00.000-04:00

Going to war with Iraq will have a profound effect on the US economy, making cutbacks in domestic programs necessary, creating a deeper deficit as well as creating stock market instabillity. Not to mention that the administration doesn't seem to get that military action the the area might be further destabilizing the middle east. Look, I'm not even an armchair policy analyst and even I can see that attacking Iraq at this point carries the possibilty of opening a can of worms that would be hard to close or contain. But I'm just a poor unemployed girl with marginally good credit, so what do I know? Feh.

2002-07-29T21:27:00.000-04:00

You may notice some changes happening here, like I'm actually posting something, and there's kind of a new "vibe". More changes to follow, plus more of whatever...you know, content.

2002-06-13T12:03:00.000-04:00

Japanese ACSII penis-kittens. This may be a porny follow up to the sad kitten...uh, or something.

Insert "boy, the Japanese sure are odd" comment here...

2002-06-06T14:59:00.000-04:00

Another Found Letters site. There's some good ones here - check out the Hollywood Letters for a great rant on Erik Estrada, and Diary of a Skag . (via The Bitter Shack of Resentment)

2002-06-06T13:53:00.000-04:00

The Bob and David website continues to delight. There's even talk of a tour in the fall...oh my.

2002-06-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

This is pretty neat - create your own South Park character. (via Metafilter and PCJM)

2002-06-05T23:32:00.000-04:00

Oh little kitten,don't cry, I will love you. Sniff.

2002-06-05T11:38:00.000-04:00

An interesting story on Eurasian watermilfoil or lake weed which has infested our local lake. About twenty years ago I remember swimming out to the dock at our beach and going to dive off the side facing the open lake instead of the shore (something I would normally never do as I am terrified of deep water) and almost going head first into a patch of this stuff.

Strangely, I love to swim in the ocean, but lakes give me the creeps. I blame an early exposure to Stephen King and a sadistic swimming instructor for this.

2002-06-05T11:23:00.000-04:00

A rather bitter and sometimes meandering essay about the government's actions post 9-11 by Gore Vidal. Though there are sections here where he is quite hyperbolic, I have to say he does a pretty good job. Also check out the scorecard of American military operations since 1945 for some interesting titles. You can probably Google most of these...there were a couple that piqued my interest and I found them easily enough.

2002-06-03T12:19:00.000-04:00

An interesting piece by Ted Rall about reporting on the war in Afganistan. This is interesting considering all the fingerpointing among news anchors regarding their own "depth of coverage". Joe and I sat here one night watching Peter Jennings speak disparagingly about the media as if he was, what, the last bastion of independent reporting?

2002-06-03T00:26:00.000-04:00

You could probably get away with calling me a hypchondriac. I'm often gripped by a general malaise and harboring suspicions that I'm incubating some horrible disease. I mean, I'm not obsessed...you can look at my family history and agree that I may have a point as all of them have had some kind of disease at some time (the exception being my brother) and more often than not it's killed them. But I've recently become convinced that I'm vitamin B deficient. You can check out the list of symptoms here as well as info on each B vitamin. Why am I so sure that this is a problem? Two symptoms that occour in almost all deficiency cases: digestive problems and depression, both of which I have struggled with since I was a teenager. Why do I bring this up in a public space? Because it's common and underdiagnosed. For instance, 30% of people committed to psychatric wards have thiamin deficiencies. This is, of course, something my mother always warned me about, which makes it all the more difficult to take that pill every morning...

2002-06-02T23:28:00.000-04:00

Amusing page of rather hideous wedding attire:And The Bride Wore... Though I admit I like a couple of them in principle. However, I was unaware of the trend of using live children as a bridal bouquet. Hmmm...

2002-05-30T15:05:00.000-04:00

Holy cow, my bank was robbed! That is, my official, brick building I-am-a-customer bank, not my "world bank". I know that banks get robbed every day, but they're usually someone else's bank, not mine.

2002-05-29T13:00:00.000-04:00

How about some propaganda with your lunch? An Egyptian company introduces Yasser Arafat potato chips. All proceeds go towards "helping the Palestinians". Just like a good ol' American fundraising effort. Oh, and they're cheese flavored.

2002-05-25T22:43:00.000-04:00

You knew it was coming - the which Trading Spaces cast member are you? quiz. I was Vern. Ha. But...I don't really care for magenta...

2002-05-23T22:23:00.000-04:00

I love the Television Without Pity Trading Spaces recaps. They seem as agog at what Hildi does as I do. Those who have BBC America should also check out Changing Rooms , which, of course, was on the air before the US version. I love the fashion sense of Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, who just looks like a kook. At any rate, the show is on at 5PM Eastern, right after the Trading Spaces rerun on TLC.

2002-05-23T21:42:00.000-04:00

Joe managed to find a great gift for those of you who know someone who is about to have a baby. I love chocolate, and I don't think I would go near this in a million years. Okay, maybe I might...but yech.

2002-05-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

I just discovered the wonderful Indiebride last night while looking for some bridal crap. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of it is the kvetch message boards where I read some very personal and slightly crazy posts by a bride who happens to be an employee of my caterer. People, if you're going to post to a message board, and you plan on stating exactly how many times you and your fiancee have had sex in the past year, then perhaps you should refrain from mentioning local landmarks and disguising names by spelling them backwards. Okay?

2002-05-23T21:33:00.000-04:00

Oh, it's been a long time. I've been both busy and tired. And without the iBook, which makes posting a pain in the ass. But how boring. I'll try to be better, I promise...

2002-05-13T13:12:00.000-04:00

The Grateful Palate sells bacon. Delicious bacon. They also have a Bacon of the Month Club which I think would make a fabulous gift for, um, me! And several other people I know. Beth-Ann, I'm looking at you.

2002-05-13T13:02:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm down with Vanilla Coke. I'm not so down with Pepsi Blue. (You can follow the Blue news with the Pepsi Blue weblog.) Does no one remember Crystal Pepsi?

2002-05-08T21:28:00.000-04:00

Best vanity plate ever.

2002-05-08T12:51:00.000-04:00

Visit the world of Aristasia, a "feminine world". Very high-concept lesbian role-play. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the customs before you go. (via Metafilter)

2002-05-07T13:22:00.000-04:00

I made a startling discovery this weekend...my feet are two sizes smaller than I thought. Yes, I've had my foot measured by a Brannock Device before, and yes they told me I had a bigger foot. Alas, my feet are still two different sizes though, so I still have trouble with open-toed sandals. Well, at least my feet are shrinking...

2002-05-03T01:25:00.000-04:00

There's a good show on the Discovery Channel on giant squid. Oh, the ocean, the ocean...we're going to the Caribbean on our honeymoon and I can't wait to snorkel and see the fish and rays. I doubt I'll see any giant squid but if I'm lucky I may see whales...and hopefull I'll get to swim with JoJo, one of the world's only contact dolphins. *sings* I can't wait for the honeymoon, oh I can't wait to go to the beach with my honey...

okay, time for bed...