This post has my Copywritten color comment catchphrase

ZAMBONIUM. This is not the catchphrase.

You can "view source" on the article too see it the catch phrase, but because it has all the overhead crud from blogger, if you Ctrl+F on "ZAMBONIUM" it will get you there faster. Also this works better if you look at the article from the "Permalink" view.

Copyrights are created by the act of authorship, not registration. I will add some notes about this to this article. Later.

More Lazy blogging: Stephen Colbert vs. OK Go

YouTube - Stephen Colbert vs. OK Go: ""

Trav- I am the Piero Manzoni to your Yves Klein!

What's the difference between gray and grey?

This appeal requires us to sort once more through the authorities distinguishing maritime and non-maritime contracts in the offshore exploration and production industry. As is typical, the final result turns on a minute parsing of the facts. Whether this is the soundest jurisprudential approach may be doubted, inasmuch as it creates uncertainty, spawns litigation, and hinders the rational calculation of costs and risks by companies participating in this industry. Nevertheless, we are bound by the approach this court has followed for more than two decades.

Hoda v. Rowan Companies, Inc. 419 F.3d 379, *380 (5th Cir. 2005) (Jones, J.)

Dakota starts school...

Jason and I went to pick Dakota up from her first day of Kindergarten yesterday, and we were greeted by a pink fairy. Dakota had found the costume box (and according to the lady in charge, she had already tried every last one of them on) and thusly decided that extended care is a good thing (and Mommy not picking me up immediately after school is ok).

I asked her how her day went. What I learned from our various conversations:

Her teacher is, "nice, even though she wears glasses and is a bit bossy. But most teachers are bossy."

"They are?" I asked.

"Yes mommy. They have so many rules. Just like you and Oma."

Oh good. She is seeing the connection between having teachers in the family and going to school.

Also, any time she talks about a girl in her class, the child is referred to as a "person" (the person next to me at lunch was named...). However, if the child in question is a boy, he is referred to as a "boy." So does this take the old bumper sticker slogan (Feminism is the radical idea that women are people too) to a new level? Are only women (girls) people, and men (boys) are just men? I'm probably overanalyzing.

Also, PE has "lots of exercising" and she can't wait for music class tomorrow, and today in art she picked the picture she liked best from a book ("page 5 was my favorite, and then I saw page 10 and I changed my mind") and drew herself in that picture on her paper.

The highlight of her day seemed to be when she bought her own chocolate milk from the lunch lady all by herself. Definitley a step up from last year, when mommy would buy it and walk it out to the daycare. I know she felt so responsible carrying those 2 quarters in her pocket, and so proud that she didn't lose them. And she was so thrilled to show me the change that the lunch lady gave her back.

"two pennies!" (milk costs 48 cents?)

"um, no honey, those are dimes"

"dimes. Ok. I need to remember that"

I thought Dakota's Kindergarten experiences would rival (or at least somewhat resemble) those of Junie B. Jones. Yes, there are similarities, but so far, no "highjinks have ensued" after any of her escapades.

Well, at least as far as I know. Her folder has had a happy sticker each day...

Baby Bunny visits the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum

 

This is Dakota's Baby Bunny. It is a plush toy licensed by the University of Tulsa. It liked the modernist sculptural concepts of Noguchi.

There are many notable things about Isamu Noguchi. What you know about "modern" design (which is not to say "contemporary" as the modern era ended decades ago) might well depend on what you know about Noguchi. Did you know that he and Buckminster Fuller were lifelong friends? Did you know that Noguchi never got to make the Ulimate Children's playground? Did you know that his half-sister, Ailes Gilmore, was a pioneer of modern interpretive dance? It's all true!

 

Like all borgeois college types, bunny decided to hang out in the gift shop cafe and chill.

 

The IAU committee had 12 members

And guess how many planets this "12 member" committee says there are ...

The IAU draft definition of 'planet' and 'plutons' from PhysOrg.com

The world’s astronomers, under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), have concluded two years of work defining the difference between “planets” and the smaller “solar system bodies” such as comets and asteroids. If the definition is approved by the astronomers gathered 14-25 August 2006 at the IAU General Assembly in Prague, our Solar System will include 12 planets, with more to come: eight classical planets that dominate the system, three planets in a new and growing category of “plutons” – Pluto-like objects – and Ceres. Pluto remains a planet and is the prototype for the new category of “plutons.”

[...]

Dr. Pluto was glad that Drs Mercury,Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune voted for her.

The big surprise was that Dr Charon and Dr 2003UB313 also got enough votes. Apparently having won "Rochambeau" means that the rest of the comittee needs to name a planet after you. I can't waiting until my kids run that committee and rename the planets: Dora, Elmo, Kermit, Scooby-Doo, Kim, Possible, etc.

I didn't make a joke about "Dr. Your..." oh never mind.

No Fear

I was afraid to leave school today. Because if I left school, then the day would be over, night would come, and with it the following day. And the children.

They always come, and there is nothing you can do about it. There is something magical and surreal about working in a school bereft of children. But clearly that is not what nature, God, or the school board intended (oh - to work without actually having anybody to teach...my room would be SO organized).

And without learners, my job would be rather pointless. That said, this being my first year in high school. I was feeling a bit nervous. Well, not actually nervous about anything in particular, just nervous that the nerves would kick in sometime about now. But they haven't. I have even decided I don't need my traditional night before school starts liquid dinner acoutrement. I am feeling very capable, and very at peace.

So I have realized that what I was afraid of was being afraid. I know, the only thing to fear is fear itself. But I guess in my anticipating the fear, I forgot to actually have it.

Strange. Now if I can just make it to bed on time (darn Dawson's Creek Marathon on the N), tomorrow will be a pice of cake. Well, maybe not a piece of cake, but definitely a slice of pie. My mom's beef and spinach pie. Meaty, hearty, and fun, but with ample spinachy nutritious goodness too, all wraped up in a Vegan crust.

With only a hint of cheese.

***
Here's to only a hint of pedagogical cheese tomorrow!

Rockin out with Harry and the Potters at Kicks

U
nappreciative indoor soccer players at kicks heard but did not know the rockingness, upstairs in the balcony lounge, that was Harry and the Potters, melting faces with a killer show.   I thought for sure that between the big write-up in Houston Press and word of mouth, the venue would have sold out. And while it was a solid 110-15, there was still plenty of room, which is probably better anyway. Mostly the scene was misunderstood teenage girls swooning at the vanguard of the newest(ish) sub-genre of nerd-punk dubbed "Wizard Rock"

For certain, I looked extremely out of place, but that would be a fair statement for me most anywhere (except, perhaps in Thailand with a sheer flirty Jedi robe and dreadlocks). Nevertheless, the kids sure let me know it, boy howdy, with their "who's this creepy old guy?" and "hi, loser" looks. Whatever, I am too old to suddenly become cool. Louren, however, had no such problem. They sense her awesomeness and are awed.

Although the opening band was fun and talented, the Potters really transcend the conceit of writing songs where the lyrics are derived from the events of the Rowling novels. These guys are  musicians with deep understanding of the various subgenres that their natural audience funks and grooves on.

• "Fred and George" opens like it could be Ween.
• One of the songs off the new album features hp yr 4 playing an americanized English-ska sax, and the kids skanked along in harmonious bliss.
• And, of course, at some point, the few teenage boys found something to mosh over.
• The moshing, however, wasn't for "Sectumsempra" a beautifully constructed bit of Grindcore that taps into one of the darker parts of book 6 with a monstrously violent spell that has a more human consequence of giving away a badly kept secret. "Sectumsempra" comes on so suddenly and with such rage that the little girls look genuinely terrified, then its over.

Harry Year four speaks to the audience alternately in character as the slightly introverted Harry, alternately in other rock personas: one minute he's twisted like Trent Reznor, the next he's a strutting Mick Jagger, the next he's "Paul's little brother." Harry Year 7 is more direct. He is who he is: a musician dressed up like a fictional character for a book that NO ONE HAS READ YET, BUT EVERYONE SEEMS TO RELATE TO.

The brevity of the songs themselves, besides having an overall characteristic of the early work and impatience of young minds literally bursting with ideas, has a great punk feel to it.  The many "1 minute, all concept" songs on their 1st album reminds me of the eponymous "They Might Be Giants" first release on BarNone. But this act can get old, bands risk becoming jaded King Missile-like Art rockers, and no one will dispute: there need only be one King Missile. Not to worry with the Potters, however, the lean and hungry of the 1st album becomes lean and muscular with the release of Harry and the Potters' second album, "Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock!" and even more so with the new "The Power of Love" album. Indeed, they've really hit their stride.

By "stride" I mean, we get into what makes Harry and the Potters' music more than just a novelty act: The books by Rowling are merely a jumping off point into the a universe of material that the DeGeorge brothers treat with intelligence and vigor. In doing so,    Harry Potter at 15 and 18 year old reference points becomes a narration of a hostile wizarding world and an even more turbulent inner world. Because there can be an overwhelming level of cheese in taking on this perspective, the Potters deserve credit for even attempting to take on such dangerous artistic ground. But its more than an "A fir effort" -- Harry and the Potters avoid the Scylla of the condescending voice that adults tend to take when they are sotto vocce a teenager AND the Charibdis of the self-pitying voice that plauges wuss-rock and emo generally (emo is the derisible "Iron John" of middle-class teens; discuss). Instead, Harry any the Potters achieve an essential authenticity by relating to what's messed up about Harry's life and what's messed up about the Muggle world-at-large. Harry and the Potters nail disdain for incompetent adult leaders ("Cornelius Fudge is an Ass"), adolescent hubris ("This Book is so Awesome"), and loss ("The Godfather: Part II", "Dumbledore"). The audience cheers gratefully for the outlet of what might be otherwise inchoate.

To drive this point home, the band has a predeliction for all-ages shows at libraries and actually made up a summer reading list of other authors that really speak to them and (to whatever degree) express for them. At first I thought that was odd, but that was because I departed from the jumping off place too soon.

I actually wrote a book report on Cat's Cradle as part of my Junior year termpaper on the (then) complete works of Vonnegut. If my apple //e back home still works, I'll see if I can't somehow dig it out next week.

Last comment: these boys were in Austin yesterday, played a big set tonight and are playing two sets tomorrow in Dallas as part of their incredible pace of 47 shows in two months. That's hard work. Rock glory is hard work.

Nuuv Chitthithl

I would not have guessed that Jedi William was Thai. Or that he would wear a sheer, flirty Jedi robe.

But the dreadlocks... that went without saying.

Master Carolus Javier's Select College for the Sons of Gentlefolk

One of the things that I always enjoyed about fantasy as a genre of fiction was the ability to have thinly vieled characters who are just a stand-in for someone familiar but with ridiculous names.

Here is my name if I were to write a "Star Wars" novel with a thinly vieled stand-in for me as a Jedi...

 

Cartoonishly rendered by me using MS Paint. MS Paint is not to be mistaken for Ms. Paint, who is the character from the 1980's spin-off video game. 


Which brings me to the question. Where am I on the hero's journey (Oh I'm a hero now am I?)

Well, it depends on what the adventure is. I'll say that the adventure is "get some sleep after a difficult final exam" in which case I am in the "refusal to answer the call"


...





okay it's the next morning. My stomach hurt all night thinking about that rotten exam. It's a bit uncharacteristic of me, I know, to break character like this but ARRGGGHHH! The stuff that I got down really cold versus the tough way that they... and then... the but... and then there was this part where... and I should have said ... but I had... and I just blanked!... and... the... what... and... but

LIKE I GOT ANYTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!!! E Hewett does all of his exams via the socratic method... and normally not in English. I'll take the tax code over that 9 times out of 10. I'll save the 10th time for the philsophy test that says "Define the universe and give two examples" I've always wanted to take that test.

Anyhow, Louren said that I would feel better watching the Dormitory Boys' new lip-syncs. I love the way that they make fun of the cheesy instrumental riffs. Check this out:




That's funnier that impaling a real potato imitating a anthropmorphized potato simulacrum of early 20th century american xenophobia Not the ice pick ahhhhhh!!!

Feeping Creaturism: Google Toolbar Button Gallery

Google Now has a toolbar button that brings up a web page to add tool bar buttons to your Google toolbar

Meanwhile the popular "BlogThis" button is harder to get to.

This is very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very bad.

Rather than explain why, I'll tell a story.

Once there was this great little company. It was fast and agile and run by smart hard-working people who were scrappy and put one over on the dominant computer company of its day. But those things were not enough. Then one day, it really got its act together and pulled out all of the stops to create a product that everyone agreed that, while not perfect, was waaaaaaay better than the last major release and was pretty good overall. It was relatively lightweight and clean but had smart features that were useful.

This was a golden moment. In future years, its product line headed off in a profitable but very controversial (and this author says very wrong) direction and a bad omen was that the next major release included a showcase feature that was mostly Intellectual Property infringement.

The company is as you have probably guessed but here is the surprise: the very wrong direction is GUI.

Take a deep breath and savor folks. Just as "Friends" jumped the shark when Rachel didn't get married to the dentist, I feel that this new google toolbar means that that the DOS 5.0 era is over and the DOS 6.0 fiasco phase will soon begin.

Oh Google...

Dim the lights folks, I am going to sing a sad song

Oh Google...
Well you came and had a clean GUI
Now there's junk in the way
Oh Google...

Change in tempo, let's lower the disco ball and light this place up awwww yeah...
My blogger I, can't get enough of this blog entry (oh my my my)
My blogger I, can't get enough of this...

clang clang clang goes the trolley
ding ding ding goes the bell...

big finish now, ethel mermaid style
You'll

NE

VER

WALK

A


LOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!






Good night everybody! Good night! I love you all! Thank you! You like me! you really like me! Top of the world ma! 23 skiddoo! You are beautiful! JAZZHANDS.






ok, back to studying....

sweet smelling rose?

I know a woman who chose to not go by her husband's name (professionally) because of the name of a certain pancake syrup (with me so far?). I also know a woman who if she marries a certain guy, will be forever known to many as Mrs. Fields.

This brought William to decry that so many good names have been ruined by the mass marketing of foodstuffs (and other cultural atrocities).

"Nobody wants to go by Mrs. Dash anymore. Or Mrs. Doubtfire. Or Mrs. Marple for that matter. Oh, wait, she never did marry, did she. The Spinster Miss Marple then."

Ok, Rupert Murdoch, I will be part of your hype machine

And the song goes...


Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

blah-blah blah-blah blah-blah blahblahblahblahblah
blah-blah blah-blah blah blah blah BLAH BLAH BLAH

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

Find me on MySpace and be my friend!

Run for your lives

A 3U rack-mountable graphics card for the low low price of $18K!

Namesake Series

Thank you, Louren, for reminding us of the Namesake Series:

Cassette tapes of the works of famous authors read by actors with the same last name. David endorsed them indirectly during "This is Spinal Tap." Series included Danny Thomas reading "A Child’s Christmas in Wales" by Dylan Thomas, MacLean Stevenson reading "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, and star basketball player Julius "Dr. J" Irving reading the shorter works of Washington Irving.

How much better would most Patrick Swayze movies be, with a simple casting change from Swayze to Patrick Stewart.

But this brings up some important questions:

Would Bodhi still have such luscious long hair (requiring Stewart to have extensions or a wig) or would the thrill seeking surfer be bald?

Would Dr. Houseman have freaked out so much initially about Baby dating Johnny if he had been played by Stewart, or would he possibly have freaked out more? (Can't you just see Picard saying "nobody puts Baby in the corner"?)

And don't you think that if Stewart had been Jed, that the Commies never would have taken Colorado?

And no question about it, that pottery scene would have been WAY hotter with Stewart as Sam.

Speaking of guys named Sam, would Quantum Leap have been better with a different Enterprise Captain leaping through time?

I'm just sayin'. (clearly I am ready to go back to school. I have a splitting headache, and it may or may not be due to these random thoughts which are filling my head which is currently otherwise unoccupied with the minutae of my school work).

***
Oh, and further proof that Jason is going to make me proud with his wierdness. We know that he doesn't like sweets (cake, cookies, ice cream, etc). But now he is eating a piece of bread. Most little kids eat the middle, and stinkeye the crusts. Not Jason. He peels off the crusts and eats them first, and then plays with the squishy center.

Oh, and Dakota just asked me, "where do we keep the peanut butter sandwiches anyway?!" Funny Girl.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I'm Official! Ok, so it has been official for a while, but sometimes it doesn't seem real unless your name is on the website!