| Less Fantastic |
[Dec. 2nd, 2009|03:36 pm] |
NY State Senate votes on gay marriage. (That's good.)
NY State Senate votes against gay marriage, 38-24. (That's bad.)
Two of the Senators who were undecided came over to the Yes camp. (That's good.)
The rest of the undecideds didn't. (That's bad.)
Only one opponent (and no Republicans) actually spoke during the 2 hours of debate
That's good - an opponent who stands up to object to the bill is likely going to vote against it every single time. But a Senator who votes no but doesn't want to be seen on camera arguing against it may be subject to pressure if his "no" vote would the one to defeat the bill next time, or the time after that.
I hoped for, but didn't expect, a win today. I thought we'd do better than 24 votes. But having the vote, and getting all 62 Senators on the record, is a partial victory and an important first step. |
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| Fantastic! |
[Dec. 2nd, 2009|12:05 pm] |
What the NY Times amusingly calls a steampunk flamewar. A several-week exchange of letters to the editor in the Times of the 1870s, complete with pseudonyms and ad hominems, on the merits of Scrapple as a "substitute for breakfast meat" (in the words of the chief proponent).
Hat tip to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) silmaril |
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| Just posting to brag |
[Jul. 18th, 2009|11:33 pm] |
Haven't checked LJ in the better part of a week, and I will go back later; but I just wanted to say:
I hiked Mount Princeton to the summit. 14,197 feet, 13 miles round trip plus over 4000 vertical feet from bottom to top (and back), in just a bit over 12 hours.
Probably the most exhausting physical activity I have ever done. |
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| My Dad's Bad Joke of the Day |
[Apr. 30th, 2009|03:24 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | humor | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  amused | ] |
With apologies to thatliardiego:
It was once said in parts of this country that a black man would become President of the United States when pigs fly.
Barack Obama was sworn in on January 20, 2009.
One hundred days later: Swine flu. |
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| Creative Plea Bargaining |
[Mar. 31st, 2009|12:03 pm] |
One of the advantages prosecutors have over some of their adversaries is that, while they are generally represented by sane attorneys, a Defendant-Client's assessment of his or her own interests may not be measured on precisely the same scale of sanity as that used by the People.
Sometimes, that means the State can get essentially the maximum sentence they seek, in exchange for a very minor concession. Such as an agreement to drop all changes and vacate the homicide conviction...
...in the unlikely event that the victim is resurrected, jesus-like.[1]
[1] The best part? The plea expressly provides that reincarnation in another body DOES NOT COUNT. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 23rd, 2009|06:00 pm] |
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.
- Kung Fu Monkey |
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| Sadly, they are both already married |
[Mar. 20th, 2009|11:34 am] |
"If former NHL defenseman Jeff Beukeboom were to marry [retired] U.S. downhill skier Picabo Street, she would be Picabo Beukeboom."
Jane from Toledo, Ohio, per John Buccigross |
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| Having accomplished all my goals in one month... |
[Feb. 18th, 2009|10:14 am] |
...there was no need for a second.
So, on the one hand, Roland Burriss does not seem to have floated above the Blagojevich muck as it once appeared. No, instead he perjured himself to the Illinois Legislature.
On the other hand, he can now carve "Senator" on his mausoleum, which always seemed to be his primary goal in getting appointed. So, job well done. |
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| Birthday |
[Jan. 13th, 2009|07:55 pm] |
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Thanks for the good wishes, everyone! |
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| Official Rest-of-the-World Announcement |
[Dec. 29th, 2008|10:16 am] |
So morigian and I are engaged. The family has been notified, and now she's posted it on facebook, so I suppose it is time to let the livejournal world know as well.
No, we have not set a date. |
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| Do I know anyone in Dallas? |
[Jun. 6th, 2008|06:29 pm] |
I'm going to Dallas in a few weeks for an ITA Conference. Do I know anyone there? I feel like I do, but everyone I know I know in Texas is in Houston. |
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| In Pyrotechnic Papal News |
[Oct. 16th, 2007|05:53 pm] |
I can't decide if this is good for JP's sainthood campaign (post-death appearance counts as a miracle, I believe), or bad (evidence that he is burning in the fires of eternal torment). Dead Pope Burns from Beyond the Grave
I swear, this "undead" theme is just a coincidence. |
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| A weekend. |
[Sep. 11th, 2007|12:05 am] |
So, I haven't posted in two months.
I mostly haven't felt like writing, and haven't liked what I've been writing (except work, which has been fine).
But I wanted to poke my head up, let everyone know I live, and do a drive-by of the weekend.
( Well, a longish drive-by ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 5th, 2007|10:14 am] |
So Keith Olbermann had his Edward R. Murrow moment this week, and he gets to be John Wayne as well. Check it out. |
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| That's So Stoppard |
[Mar. 8th, 2007|11:28 am] |
So last Saturday, morigian and I spent the day seeing Tom Stoppard's latest trilogy, "The Coast of Utopia," consisting of "Voyage," "Shipwreck," and "Salvage."
As I have come to expect from Tom Stoppard, the writing is brilliant and witty, the characters are interesting and (for the most part) either likable or at least enjoyable to watch, and the philosophical and political debate ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous. Actually, I recommend this to all Stoppard fans, though I stop short of recommending it to those who are not sure of his work - not because it's not a good example, but because it's Hard.
But, you ask, a trilogy?! A full day of Stoppard? Didn't my brain hurt? Well...a little. Towards the end of the third play, some of the dialogue began to lose coherence. But this was not - quite - three "Arcadias" in a row. An effort was made in allow the audience to keep pace, and long breaks (an hour and three-quarters) between each play allowed for some recharging. The playwright claims that each play could stand alone, but I doubt it. For instance, each section opens with a man (Alexander Herzen) seated on a spinning chair, holding a glove - an instance that is not explained until well into the third play (indeed, we do not even meet Herzen in the first play aside from two short scenes in the second act).
The one unfortunate fact was that the part of Vissarion Belinsky was played by an understudy instead of Billy Crudup, and he was, to my mind, the star of the play.
The play opens on an estate in rural Russia of 300 souls. Michael Baikunin, an artillery cadet who has just discovered that important philosophers tell him the world does not exist, is our protagonist, and he does not enjoy the artillery much - all those people shouting at him and explosions leave him no time to think. So he drops out and goes to university. We meet the members of his philosophical circle, and later, the members of the Political Circle, who will play a role in the Revolutions of 1848 (and well beyond the scope of this play, inspire the Russian Revolution). I think this is the best of the three - it includes wonderful monologues about the nature of reality and, especially, about literature, or the lack thereof. Belinsky's monologue on Russian literature is up there with anything in Stoppard's other work.
The second play takes place in Paris, 1848, and the revolution that toppled the king and, a few years later, elected an emperor; and its aftermath in Italy. The highlight of this one is a speech of how writing matters in Russia, where you can be killed for doing it, much more than in France, where everyone can publish, and lots of discussion about what it means when the people, newly freed, vote away their freedom.
The third play is set mostly in the 1860s, in London, in a community filled with the republican and socialist exiles of Europe, and centers on Alexander Herzen's "The Bell," a Russian-language newsletter that was instrumental in bringing about reform in Russia.
I'm sure that gives almost no information. The trilogy is BIG, and hard to encapsulate. But I'd be happy to pass along any more information, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed his other plays. |
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| Back from Belize |
[Feb. 12th, 2007|10:28 am] |
Not much time to post, but I wanted to put up a link to the few Belize pictures I have. morigian has most of them, as her camera was waterproofed, so she will no doubt be posting hers eventually.
They are here. All save the first four are from one day - our trip to Lamanai. To get there, we got on a boat from Ambergris Caye, the island where we were staying, and took it across the bay into a river. We traveled the river through mangrove swamps to the village of Bomba, where we took a bus across badly-paved or unpaved roads for an hour or so to another river. We took that river to Lamanai.
My first set of Spain pictures is also loaded. |
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| Goodnight Westley. |
[Feb. 2nd, 2007|09:44 pm] |
I'll most likely be flying to Belize in the morning.
See you all when I return. |
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