Weather report

More storms. I hope that the winds are better at least. You would
thing heavy rain and pea-sized hail would mean not driving 85 on the
beltway and not tailgating at 1 foot distance, but if you thought
that... you'd be wrong.

As I sometimes say, I believe that people who brew decaf and
tailgaters will share the same circle of hell. In my Dantesque vision,
its actually the loop highway around hell and the tailgaters all are
stuck behind the decaf brewers. The decaf brewers all feel hung over
and also they just took a benedryl for their allergy to hell. The
tailgaters all just ate the burito from hell and need to get to an
exit to use a bathroom. Occasionally the tailgater manages to get to
the exit where they are tormented by the gas station toilets of hell.
Because we damn ourselves, the tailgater always buys another burito
from the gas station convenience store from hell and gets back on the
highway ... For eternity!!

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Funny article about the Turing test

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/technology/27jeopardy.html

'For example, the sentence "I never said she stole my money" can have
seven different meanings depending on which word is stressed'

Because its early, I kept reading "monkey" rather than "money. " And
thus I got way more than seven meaning out of it, thanks to George
Michael.

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"RAINFOREST" Dakota's 's Ambient Dance Club Mix

Title (by Artist )
Sweet Lullaby (Deep Forest )
Home Computer (Kraftwerk)
Night Bird (Deep Forest)
in my heart (MOBY)
The First Twilight (Deep Forest)
Jungle Fresh Space (Monkeyz vs. Gorillaz)
Savana Dance (Deep Forest)
Something About Us (Daft Punk)
Desert Walk (Deep Forest)
Earth (Gaia) (The Orb)
White Whisper (Deep Forest)
Heaven (Nicola Conte "West Coast Vibes" Remix)
Forest Hymn (Deep Forest)

Notes:

This is really the first mix where Dakota picked all the tracks. 

I'm looking for simple re-mixing software but all of it is too complicated to be fun for kids.

I couldn't be prouder of Dakota for giving a pass on "Little Fluffy Clouds" and going instead for the much more difficult and freakier "Earth (Gaia)"  She likes the Flash Gordon MOOG organ sounds.

Quotes:

 "I like Deep Forest, it clears my mind and makes me think of the rainforests"

 "Can we move 'home computer' up on the mix? They sometimes set-up computers in the rain forest to conduct scientific studies."

 "Ok party people, lemme see you flip."

Clouds

There is a peanuts where lucy, linus, and charlie brown are looking at
the clouds. Linus sees a famous cathedral and something else that
evidences his precocious errudition. Charlie Brown feels inadequate in
comparison and says so "I was going to say a horsey and a ducky, but I
changed my mind."

I always think about that wheb I look at clouds. Sometimes I smile.

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Houston Press item: RenFest Auditions

First of all: who knew?

It seems like an employment law violation just waiting to happen. Consider:

"I'm sorry this part calls for a 'lusty wench' and frankly.... I'm
just not feeling the lust."

"Ignoble bastards? Where are the applicants for ignoble bastard?
Good. How are you gentlemen, or should I say..."

Second: this is one of my favorite episodes of "Home Movies". The
renfest is next door to the scifi con and all hell breaks loose. Its a
big hit with the kids as well.

Sadly, I understand that people have no such compunction about the
houston renfest. Folks show up dressed in their starfleet uniform all
the time. Dorks.

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City mouse suburb mouse

In my dream, a celebrity like to hang out because I make him look
cooler bu comparison. He goes on to say that he doesn't like hanging
out with me just to chill because then he realizes how tense yet
boring I am.

For my partr, I am not even listening because I am stewing about how
my script got changed. That's when I realize I am having the dream
about being the suburban screenwriter living in LA. I force myself
awake. The nightmare is over. I don't live in LA. I don't live in LA.
Thank God

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The Dukes of Hazard

Whoever came up with this title was a genius. The show itself was hit
and miss, probably should have just been cancelled after they tried to
replace Bo and Luke with the scab cousins Lo and Buke. In today's
television market, that's clearly what would have happened.

But back to the title: once you know anything about the show, the
titles says it all. Before that point, however, there is nothing at
all in the title that reveals anything about the show. It would be
equally as likely to be a sequel to "Tess of the Durbevilles" instead
of a show about a family of reformed moonshiners that own an awesome
car and solve crimes notwithstanding the crooked but hapless county
sheriff.

Sadly, they never had enough really silly episodes.

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Dakota's fanfic: Chewbacca and Leia hang out

So Chewbacca, what did you end up doing last night?

Rwoaarrr arrggghh

Fishing? That's cool. I went to the dance club.

Rrrrggh?

Yeah, it was good... I guess.

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Additional characters in the "Super Personnel Person" Universe: Jason's Characters

Can a 4 year old think up characters for my comic book universe? Yes!

Characters:

The Bad News Monsters. They fight. They have bad news space ships.They fly up-down up-down and then.... Crash.
Good News Guys. They fly. Good news... Bad news lose.

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Kaneda and Sophia

Sometimes, like now, the cats wake me up to complain. Do you have food
kitties? Check. Fresh litter? Check. Is there an intruder? No. What's
the problem?

"Meow" says Kaneda
"N'yow" says Sophia

I wonder if Trav went through this hubris with Tex and Sharri Lewis.
The hubris of thinking you understand cat.

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Christof's Intermodality

I added Christof Spieler's Intermodlity blog to the blog list, and I removed some of the less relevant ones. (No offense Big Toney Coveney, you are still the man.)

I knew Christof for the version of the Thresher that I was finally cool enough to write for (ironically as an alumni and really because of Louren's coat-tails, but nevermind). First off, I am often critical of journalists, and newspapers in particular, for being unaware of being so poorly run, unprofessional, and irrelevant as to be an unintended self-parody. I have been especially critical of past Threshers (and many student-run Rice institutions) as being "playpen." Therefore, I have to give credit to that Thresher: Stoehller for being an excellent editor and journalist. There was a great writing staff that year (yes, Angelique, even you). They didn't bend when they revealed the SA President scandal, nor did they oversensationalize it. They also stayed within budget. They also managed to get enough ad revenue (good job, Louren). I say "have to" because I'm not being ironic when I praise Christof's work, which was pretty good then, but is really interesting now.

Houston transit policy wonkery may not be that relevant to you but its a powerful insight into a messy world. And anyhow, I'm interested in why the traffic is so terrible, and this is my blog... so there.

The nature of art

[Serving Dakota dinner]

DAKOTA: Yum, chicken!

DAD: It's fish

DAKOTA: It looks like chicken

DAD: I promise you it is fish

DAKOTA: I promise you, it is chicken.

DAD: Dakota, I cooked it. I should know.

DAKOTA: Dad! I am a professional food critic. I have highly skilled tasting powers and am able to tell you what it really is.
(Takes a bite of fishstick)
Its totally chicken. Delicious

Google dooplegangers

I get email for various google dopplegangers. Never for William Li
from Dartmouth, now finishing up at my first choice law school. He's
smart.

Actually most of my doppleganger seem pretty smart, or at least
successful. It makes me feel good for totally irrational vicarious
reasons.

So it is with chargrin that I come to realize that some of the email I
am getting is not random or from other people entering my email
expecting another William Li. No. It is my name sakes misentering
their own address.

Oh carp! Could I be doing that?

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Big yellow taxi

Westpark tollway like a river of no dreams allows time to think.

I saw a taxi at Dakota's school today. It pulled up to the grass
rather than a sidewalk and a sad looking boy was ejected from the
vehicile. No jacket, No backpack. He turned to look for... Goodbye?
Have a good day? Some sort of recognition that he wasn't just a
shipment. But the cab already pulled away. Resigned, he trudged
across the dewy grass. His socks will be wet and I can see his breath.
The temperature this morning is what us content suburban types call "crisp"

I find myself incurious about what happened. I heard enough from
Eugene and Louren to know that sad situations aren't just elsewhere.
They are here, too. But... Damnit, Couldn't the cab at least brought him
to the school door? Why the walk of shame?

The kid's got the countenance of a 4th grader; last traces of baby fat
being replaced by grown-up fast food fat. Whatever vunerability his
expression and posture betrayed before are replaced with every step he takes towards the school by a
mendacious scowl.

Is this the bully who kicks Dakota"s wheeled
backpack? If he is, I won't hesitate to demand that the school protect
Dakota from him.

My exit approaches. I still need to drop off the boy. I am crazy late
for work. Not so late not to hug jason all the way to his room, talk
to his teacher for a moment, and then leave when jason is eating or
playing. Its never too late to do that.

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Dakota's life lessons from Clone Wars

Are simply not the same as mine from Star Wars. Star Wars fans grew up
wondering how Luke will defeat Vader.

Dakota and all her little friends who love Clone Wars (and its
terrific for television) knows that all the Jedi will die either at
the hands of the Chancellor who they swore to protect, or their loyal
trooper or the one they thought to be the chosen one. They all deal
with their cognitve dissonance over Anakin, by far the most heroic of
the Jedi.

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Does the NYT times dream of electrical sunshine of the total recall scanners darkly

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=352770&f=19

See link above.

The NYT reports this morning on a really interesting thought provoking
topic about memory research. Lots of interesting questions can be
raised by this work. And the times raises none of them. Way to go
hacks. There are lots of NPR and Seattle whatchamacallit writers out
of work who are ready to take your spot.

Be more interesting now!

Now that I am good and snarly, I can start the week

Grumblegrumblegrumble

Bryant gumble gumble gumble

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"Power of Love" Lyrics on Lyrics freak

Stupid touchpad, I had a really funny post going.

"William, use the Microsoft wireless USB mouse that you are constantly raving about"

Something is blocking the signal. I think its Ozymandius emitting Tachyons so that Dr.Manhattan can't play "Dune" on his old-skool PC

Anyhow, "Power of Love" of LyricsFreak is somehow related to "Smells like Teen Spirit"

That's because Kurt Cobain was really the secret little brother of Huey Lewis. Its true. Doesn't it all make sense now?

How about thems integration?

I am not happy with blogging from gmail mobil and even less via SMS text message, so I am going to try the twitter mobile app and see if I like that any better. The do-hickey is on the left.

I must say that I hate twitter from a PC.

That said, I'm following Rabbi Oren Hayon (formerly the trumpeter for "Burnt Toast" and by the way I am the greatest lyricist since Huey Lewis) and Levar Burton, so its getting better.

Mental list while in traffic on westpark tollway

Some woman is doing her makeup. She has liquid AND powder. She is using a powder brush-- no compact for her! In fact, she has a whole arrayof cosemetics in the passenger seat. So here's my list of ways to one-up her:

*I should shave, with a mug of soap applied by brush. And I should use a straight razor. And I should tip my seat back and put a steam towel on my face.

*I already eat in the car. I should also cook. I think I still have my"Fry Daddy, Jr" deep fat fryer

*I should sleep

*I should do my achilles foot pointing exercises, using the accelerator for extra resistance

*I should make an Appletini for "make-up girl", roll down my window, and offer her one. I be suavely screaming over the wind.

*I should rig a makeshift clothesline frame and dry my laundry. Then I should climb out on the roof and fold.

*Three words: "bump n jump"

*Yoga

'Radio' should be a name.

Like 'Marshall,' 'Jett,' or 'Will' or my favorite: Max and Norm (the AC twins)

Besides 'Radio' I think maybe... 'Grill'

If I ever build a sentient machine that cooks, his name will be Grill
Li. As in "he sure is a beautful Grill"

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Bloggin in traffic: super hero armies

The kids pretend they command armies because they have super powers
but their soilders do not. They got this idea from "clone wars"

Dakota's powers seem to be both offensive (wind of dryness, bolt of
wet lightning, teleporting orbs) and defensive (force field,
reflector) reflecting her growing understanding of battlefield
tactics.

Jason relies on one weapon -- cowbell.

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