Bonus Philo family photo:
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
NPR
Amid layoffs and bad economic times, NPR is asking for its yearly donations to keep rolling. So if you're able, it would be a prime time to toss them a few dollars.
That said, another great This American Life this week, the theme being "people who ruin it for the rest of us." The meat of the program had to do with a family who had opted out of giving their son the MMR vaccine. The kid caught the measles in Europe and brought the disease back to suburban California, where an outbreak caught fire and caused a dozen children to come down with the frequently fatal disease. It's a shame that the link between vaccination and autism was published (later retracted) in a British medical journal.
In San Diego, no one died from the outbreak, although it cost several families lots of money and time to deal with the consequences. Since the MMR is given at about twelve months, even parents who were pro-vaccine were affected. Both sides felt vindicated by the result - no children died so, hey, measles must not be so bad after all, no reason to risk permanent health effects with a vaccine. People who were pro-vaccine saw that outbreaks were a risk of the gaps in the mesh of herd immunity.
The last story is a stark reminder that not everyone sees the world in the same way that you do.
That said, another great This American Life this week, the theme being "people who ruin it for the rest of us." The meat of the program had to do with a family who had opted out of giving their son the MMR vaccine. The kid caught the measles in Europe and brought the disease back to suburban California, where an outbreak caught fire and caused a dozen children to come down with the frequently fatal disease. It's a shame that the link between vaccination and autism was published (later retracted) in a British medical journal.
In San Diego, no one died from the outbreak, although it cost several families lots of money and time to deal with the consequences. Since the MMR is given at about twelve months, even parents who were pro-vaccine were affected. Both sides felt vindicated by the result - no children died so, hey, measles must not be so bad after all, no reason to risk permanent health effects with a vaccine. People who were pro-vaccine saw that outbreaks were a risk of the gaps in the mesh of herd immunity.
The last story is a stark reminder that not everyone sees the world in the same way that you do.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Insomnia
Boo. I slept from about 12:30 until just before two, and haven't really gotten a wink since, just laying around with eyes closed hoping to some rest. Guess it's just a dumb symptom of the schedule flux I've been in for the past week, just like last weekend.
Well, I'm wondering if Brian will let me skip out early tomorrow (if he's around). I'm sure that he would understand the fact that the screwed up schedule has deprived me of sleep. It would be very nice to get off work about noon and take a nap. No matter, anyway, since I've got two shifts left before I head home for two weeks and fix the sleep schedule, at least temporarily.
Ugh, at least I got a bit used to staying up until ten in the morning. Hopefully the little bit of sleep I did get will boost me until the afternoon.
The source is bright and endless
She resuscitates the hopeless
Without her we are lifeless satellites
Dreaming
And as I pull my head out
I am without one doubt
Don't wanna be down here
Soothing my narcissism
I must crucify the ego
Before it's far too late
I pray the light lifts me out
Before I pine away.
Well, I'm wondering if Brian will let me skip out early tomorrow (if he's around). I'm sure that he would understand the fact that the screwed up schedule has deprived me of sleep. It would be very nice to get off work about noon and take a nap. No matter, anyway, since I've got two shifts left before I head home for two weeks and fix the sleep schedule, at least temporarily.
Ugh, at least I got a bit used to staying up until ten in the morning. Hopefully the little bit of sleep I did get will boost me until the afternoon.
The source is bright and endless
She resuscitates the hopeless
Without her we are lifeless satellites
Dreaming
And as I pull my head out
I am without one doubt
Don't wanna be down here
Soothing my narcissism
I must crucify the ego
Before it's far too late
I pray the light lifts me out
Before I pine away.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Storytime
It was a fair day, warm by the standards of January in the nation's capital. A breeze had blown for most of the day, propelling leaves along the ground, making light scraping sounds as they skidded along the concrete of the sidewalks. The sun was hidden behind a bank of clouds, and thus the sunset was not accompanied by fantastic color, but rather by a dull fade from gray to black. Ripples rode atop the reflecting pool at the base of the Washington Monument. The obelisk itself stood watch over the place where many had gathered, abandoned by all save its watchful and unblinking gaze.
They had come from all corners; an impoverished couple from the inner cities of Washington had taken the day off to see. A Japanese tourist was there, snapping images of the area so tightly-packed with history that was not his own, but was nonetheless worth capturing. A group of children bussed in from Fairfax to the north of the beltway, whose history teacher felt that it was a day that would be not only significant, but invaluably informative. A family of four who had, together, worked at campaign offices, volunteered their valuable time, and felt it necessary to make the trip from Kentucky to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
There were millions, packing the National Mall to the brim, some hundreds of feet away. It may not have been the mere sight of the event that people wished to enjoy. No, perhaps it was the energy of the moment, of the day. Some, no doubt, attended simply to have a story to tell, or to forever remember exactly where they were on that day.
The dull roar turned deafening when the he emerged from behind the stage. It was like an open-air stadium, though whatever of the noise was lost from lack of enclosure was regained and then some from the sheer numbers. The ceremony itself was short, but the speech which followed didn't disappoint. It was rousing, pure, hopeful, just as those in the crowd had expected.
As the night began to set in, many hours after those millions had egressed, the lights in the White House flickered on. The historic home of the President of the United States looked the same as it always had, but the air was different. Crisper, perhaps more optimistic or hopeful. The eyes of those observing could see no difference, but their intuition would say otherwise.
The lights of the White House were extinguished one by one as the night continued, a brutal cold setting in around the District of Columbia. And so ended the first day of the Presidency of Barack Obama. It had been a difficult road, but it had been paved; from here on, he was forging ahead with no path to mark his progress.
They had come from all corners; an impoverished couple from the inner cities of Washington had taken the day off to see. A Japanese tourist was there, snapping images of the area so tightly-packed with history that was not his own, but was nonetheless worth capturing. A group of children bussed in from Fairfax to the north of the beltway, whose history teacher felt that it was a day that would be not only significant, but invaluably informative. A family of four who had, together, worked at campaign offices, volunteered their valuable time, and felt it necessary to make the trip from Kentucky to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
There were millions, packing the National Mall to the brim, some hundreds of feet away. It may not have been the mere sight of the event that people wished to enjoy. No, perhaps it was the energy of the moment, of the day. Some, no doubt, attended simply to have a story to tell, or to forever remember exactly where they were on that day.
The dull roar turned deafening when the he emerged from behind the stage. It was like an open-air stadium, though whatever of the noise was lost from lack of enclosure was regained and then some from the sheer numbers. The ceremony itself was short, but the speech which followed didn't disappoint. It was rousing, pure, hopeful, just as those in the crowd had expected.
As the night began to set in, many hours after those millions had egressed, the lights in the White House flickered on. The historic home of the President of the United States looked the same as it always had, but the air was different. Crisper, perhaps more optimistic or hopeful. The eyes of those observing could see no difference, but their intuition would say otherwise.
The lights of the White House were extinguished one by one as the night continued, a brutal cold setting in around the District of Columbia. And so ended the first day of the Presidency of Barack Obama. It had been a difficult road, but it had been paved; from here on, he was forging ahead with no path to mark his progress.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Just Apathy
I'm too much
Or not enough
Baby, everyone else is messed up
Well anyway
I can't seem to stay
In just one state of mind
Waiting 'round for something better
I'm the one that wouldn't let her
Now I'm back and forth
I get bored when she's no perfect find
'Cause it's one thing
Or another
I don't even know why I bother
One thing just tears her down
Something I just can't get around
Some things I just can't get around
But still I know you won't let me down.
Or not enough
Baby, everyone else is messed up
Well anyway
I can't seem to stay
In just one state of mind
Waiting 'round for something better
I'm the one that wouldn't let her
Now I'm back and forth
I get bored when she's no perfect find
'Cause it's one thing
Or another
I don't even know why I bother
One thing just tears her down
Something I just can't get around
Some things I just can't get around
But still I know you won't let me down.
Schedule for Week Ending 12/21 REVISED
EDIT: Revised because of those wacky radar guys.
ಠ_ಠ
We're getting close now - I can feel it! I actually attended the scheduling meeting today, which was actually pretty cool. Not much goes on, but it's neat to seat at the table with all the leads of the different parts of the project I work on. I put together the prelim schedule and glanced at the times when I plan on working:
Monday - 11:30 to 24:00 (12.5 hours)
Tuesday - 15:30 to 24:00 (21 hours)
Wednesday - 11:00 to 20:00 (30 hours)
Wednesday - 0:00 to 8:00 (29 hours)
Thursday - 11:00 to 20:00 (39 hours)
Thursday - 0:00 to 12:00 (41 hours)
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 7:30 to 16:00 (49.5 hours)
Sunday - OFF
Pretty neat, plenty of overtime if I want it. Also, BONUS, here's what I project will be my schedule for the following weeks afterward:
Week Ending 12/28
Monday - 12:00 to 24:00 (12 hours)
Tuesday - Vacation (16 hours)
Wednesday - Vacation (24 hours)
Thursday - Holiday (32 hours)
Friday - Holiday (40 hours)
Week Ending 1/4
Monday - Vacation (8 hours)
Tuesday - Vacation (16 hours)
Wednesday - Vacation (24 hours)
Thursday - Holiday (32 hours)
Friday - Holiday (40 hours)
Booyah. Basically two weeks (almost) off with using 36 hours of vacation. I've got sixty hours built up, so it's a blow to my total, but not a fatal one. I can't wait to head home and rest for what will seem like an insane period of time.
ಠ_ಠ
We're getting close now - I can feel it! I actually attended the scheduling meeting today, which was actually pretty cool. Not much goes on, but it's neat to seat at the table with all the leads of the different parts of the project I work on. I put together the prelim schedule and glanced at the times when I plan on working:
Monday - 11:30 to 24:00 (12.5 hours)
Tuesday - 15:30 to 24:00 (21 hours)
Wednesday - 0:00 to 8:00 (29 hours)
Thursday - 0:00 to 12:00 (41 hours)
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 7:30 to 16:00 (49.5 hours)
Sunday - OFF
Pretty neat, plenty of overtime if I want it. Also, BONUS, here's what I project will be my schedule for the following weeks afterward:
Week Ending 12/28
Monday - 12:00 to 24:00 (12 hours)
Tuesday - Vacation (16 hours)
Wednesday - Vacation (24 hours)
Thursday - Holiday (32 hours)
Friday - Holiday (40 hours)
Week Ending 1/4
Monday - Vacation (8 hours)
Tuesday - Vacation (16 hours)
Wednesday - Vacation (24 hours)
Thursday - Holiday (32 hours)
Friday - Holiday (40 hours)
Booyah. Basically two weeks (almost) off with using 36 hours of vacation. I've got sixty hours built up, so it's a blow to my total, but not a fatal one. I can't wait to head home and rest for what will seem like an insane period of time.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Checkpoint!
So do you remember that racing game, Cruisin' USA? The one in all the arcades that they released for Nintendo 64? Well, in it, when you passed a certain threshold and you got more time to finish the race, a female voice would yell 'CHECKPOINT!' for no real reason except to inform you that you've been allotted more time to finish out the race. Well, ladies and gentlemen, if life were like Cruisin' USA, that voice would be ringing out in my head in the coming few days.
Six months of living on my own, six months of supporting myself, six months of holding down a steady, great job. I'm pretty proud of myself, I have to say. I'm not dead yet, which is definitely a good sign.
Six months of living on my own, six months of supporting myself, six months of holding down a steady, great job. I'm pretty proud of myself, I have to say. I'm not dead yet, which is definitely a good sign.
Fiction
This post on a blog I follow from time to time inspired me to write a little about fiction and book-reading. I read very often, but not in the sense that most people do. I devour thousands upon thousands of words daily from (mostly) internet sources, the bulk of which coming from Wikipedia, SomethingAwful, blogs, and news aggregators.
I am devoid completely of one thing, though, in my reading. I don't touch fiction often. The last time I read a fiction book was re-reading Slaughterhouse-Five a couple months ago just because it was sitting around and I had nothing better to do. This is strange, too, because it's not as if I avoid fiction in other areas; I enjoy television dramas like House, I like non-documentary movies immensely, and I play (obviously) fictional video games. So what gives?
I have a theory over why I'm not drawn as much to literary fiction as I used to be. I am not any less interested in fiction than I used to be, but rather I am far more interested in non-fiction. In following politics, in doing research on fantastic inventions, eerie disappearances, and tales of human triumph over adversity, the plights of vampires, elves and Fabio-esque he-men seem to become a lot less entertaining.
Another contributing factor may be my lean toward wishing to understand and learn "everything," which clearly is impossible, but movement toward infinity is still away from zero, even if infinity doesn't get any closer. I am content to know that I am aware of the world around me enough to form a coherent worldview with reasons behind what I believe, rather than resorting to blind faith. Absorbing non-fiction sources of information certainly adds to this ability; putting political beliefs in historical context is certainly important to most when it comes to having justifications.
Food for thought, I suppose. When I enjoy fiction, I thoroughly love the material, though when it begins to get boring or feels like a rehash, I'd rather be reading an essay on the causes of the current financial downturn.
I am devoid completely of one thing, though, in my reading. I don't touch fiction often. The last time I read a fiction book was re-reading Slaughterhouse-Five a couple months ago just because it was sitting around and I had nothing better to do. This is strange, too, because it's not as if I avoid fiction in other areas; I enjoy television dramas like House, I like non-documentary movies immensely, and I play (obviously) fictional video games. So what gives?
I have a theory over why I'm not drawn as much to literary fiction as I used to be. I am not any less interested in fiction than I used to be, but rather I am far more interested in non-fiction. In following politics, in doing research on fantastic inventions, eerie disappearances, and tales of human triumph over adversity, the plights of vampires, elves and Fabio-esque he-men seem to become a lot less entertaining.
Another contributing factor may be my lean toward wishing to understand and learn "everything," which clearly is impossible, but movement toward infinity is still away from zero, even if infinity doesn't get any closer. I am content to know that I am aware of the world around me enough to form a coherent worldview with reasons behind what I believe, rather than resorting to blind faith. Absorbing non-fiction sources of information certainly adds to this ability; putting political beliefs in historical context is certainly important to most when it comes to having justifications.
Food for thought, I suppose. When I enjoy fiction, I thoroughly love the material, though when it begins to get boring or feels like a rehash, I'd rather be reading an essay on the causes of the current financial downturn.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Zero
Treasury bill interest rate dropped to or below zero. This is on the four-week treasury bill.
Essentially what this means is that investors are "lending" their money to the government and not expecting any kind of return on it. They give $1,000 and four weeks later they are given $1,000. Or maybe $999 if you believe the Wall Street Journal. Essentially the four week t-bill system is a giant mattress where occasionally a dollar bill falls out.
EDIT: Whoa, apparently YouTube is no longer blocked, so I can listen to whatever the hell I want to. Sweet.
Essentially what this means is that investors are "lending" their money to the government and not expecting any kind of return on it. They give $1,000 and four weeks later they are given $1,000. Or maybe $999 if you believe the Wall Street Journal. Essentially the four week t-bill system is a giant mattress where occasionally a dollar bill falls out.
EDIT: Whoa, apparently YouTube is no longer blocked, so I can listen to whatever the hell I want to. Sweet.
Blagojevich
SHOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. You heard that? It's another Republican talking point swooping over the horizon.
Rod Blagojevich, an oft-cited-as-corrupt governor of the state of Illinois was arrested earlier today after the FBI had gathered wiretapped evidence of his wrongdoings. Blagojevich has long been tangled in the Rezko fundraising, and it was really only a matter of time before he went down hard for something like this.
To understand the Blagojevich issue today, you probably should understand his gubernatorial history. He was originally elected in 2002, where the likes of Tony Rezko and other business men funded his campaign. Rezko was an entrepreneur in Chicago, opening the first Chicagoan Subway and Papa Johns restaurants, among many others. Blagojevich's rise to power saw many of Rezko associates appointed to positions in his administrations, and strongarm tactics were used on local businesses to force them to donate and contribute to campaigns. Rezko was found out in the FBI's "Operation Board Games," where earlier this year he was jailed and charged with, among other things, bribery and extortion.
This kind of "pay to play" scam, where governmental entities give out favors and subsidies to those businesses that donate to their campaigns or administrations, are a legal gray area. Conspiracy to commit and solicitation of bribery, however, are solidly in the "illegal" pile here. A federal warrant was issued for the tapping of Blagojevich's phone - most likely because of his Rezko links - and they just so happened to listen in on his wheeling and dealings with President-Elect Barack Obama's replacement. Essentially, the FBI caught him red handed selling off the appointment "to the highest bidder," which bodes quite poorly for him.
So what does the whole situation have to do with Obama? Tenuous links at best, though of course the Republicans are salivating at the story. Chicago politics are and have always been rife with corruption, and this fact was already enough for the right to accuse the President-Elect of wrongdoing. Obama purchased a small bit of land from Rezko at one point to extend his own property (Rezko owned the lot next to Obama's), and this was enough to cause a scandal. Obama later apologized for the appearance of impropriety; he paid over twice the assessed value for the ten foot wide strip.
Rod Blagojevich, an oft-cited-as-corrupt governor of the state of Illinois was arrested earlier today after the FBI had gathered wiretapped evidence of his wrongdoings. Blagojevich has long been tangled in the Rezko fundraising, and it was really only a matter of time before he went down hard for something like this.
To understand the Blagojevich issue today, you probably should understand his gubernatorial history. He was originally elected in 2002, where the likes of Tony Rezko and other business men funded his campaign. Rezko was an entrepreneur in Chicago, opening the first Chicagoan Subway and Papa Johns restaurants, among many others. Blagojevich's rise to power saw many of Rezko associates appointed to positions in his administrations, and strongarm tactics were used on local businesses to force them to donate and contribute to campaigns. Rezko was found out in the FBI's "Operation Board Games," where earlier this year he was jailed and charged with, among other things, bribery and extortion.
This kind of "pay to play" scam, where governmental entities give out favors and subsidies to those businesses that donate to their campaigns or administrations, are a legal gray area. Conspiracy to commit and solicitation of bribery, however, are solidly in the "illegal" pile here. A federal warrant was issued for the tapping of Blagojevich's phone - most likely because of his Rezko links - and they just so happened to listen in on his wheeling and dealings with President-Elect Barack Obama's replacement. Essentially, the FBI caught him red handed selling off the appointment "to the highest bidder," which bodes quite poorly for him.
So what does the whole situation have to do with Obama? Tenuous links at best, though of course the Republicans are salivating at the story. Chicago politics are and have always been rife with corruption, and this fact was already enough for the right to accuse the President-Elect of wrongdoing. Obama purchased a small bit of land from Rezko at one point to extend his own property (Rezko owned the lot next to Obama's), and this was enough to cause a scandal. Obama later apologized for the appearance of impropriety; he paid over twice the assessed value for the ten foot wide strip.
Monday, December 8, 2008
War on the Winter Solstice
So apparently at the Washington State Capitol building there's a nativity scene, and not far away is a sign posted wishing onlookers a "Happy Winter Solstice". Now, the state has allowed displays of the aforementioned nativity scene, a "holiday" tree, and a menorah. So what's the big deal?
Well apparently people have been protesting the capitol to have the sign taken down, declaring that it discourages faith and embarrasses the state of Washington. The people who put the sign up belong to a local group of atheists who feel that religion is among the ranks of "superstition and myth," though nothing about the sign itself is particularly anti-Christmas. It's simply another viewpoint to add the pile.
Now what I don't understand is the fact that it's okay to display Christian and Jewish paraphernalia but anything else is offensive and against the spirit of the holidays. And, of course, when it comes to the "War on Christmas," our good friend Bill O'Reilly isn't far behind. He considers this as another piece of "evidence" that anti-Christmas sentiment is growing in the ranks of the "secular progressives." You mean someone who considers themself secular doesn't like displays of religion on public property? Well I never!
The governor has defended the right of the group to display the sign, not wishing to be exclusionary, and I completely agree with him. Allow everything, or allow nothing, otherwise you're playing favorites and agreeing with the "tyranny of the majority." By far the best part of the article was this:
When will people in real life realize what the meaning of the word "troll" is?
Well apparently people have been protesting the capitol to have the sign taken down, declaring that it discourages faith and embarrasses the state of Washington. The people who put the sign up belong to a local group of atheists who feel that religion is among the ranks of "superstition and myth," though nothing about the sign itself is particularly anti-Christmas. It's simply another viewpoint to add the pile.
Now what I don't understand is the fact that it's okay to display Christian and Jewish paraphernalia but anything else is offensive and against the spirit of the holidays. And, of course, when it comes to the "War on Christmas," our good friend Bill O'Reilly isn't far behind. He considers this as another piece of "evidence" that anti-Christmas sentiment is growing in the ranks of the "secular progressives." You mean someone who considers themself secular doesn't like displays of religion on public property? Well I never!
The governor has defended the right of the group to display the sign, not wishing to be exclusionary, and I completely agree with him. Allow everything, or allow nothing, otherwise you're playing favorites and agreeing with the "tyranny of the majority." By far the best part of the article was this:
The atheist sign was briefly stolen Friday but was returned to the Capitol after somebody dropped it off at a Seattle radio station.
It was restored to its display site, along with the added message, "Thou shalt not steal."
When will people in real life realize what the meaning of the word "troll" is?
Pope Guilty posted:
christianity is the largest religion in the world
atheists should target smaller, weaker religions to build XP and level up first
Sunshine in Space
I was poking around a little bit on Wikipedia today when I stumbled upon a television project I haven't heard of in awhile, a sci-fi/comedy called Boldly Going Nowhere. The pilot was filmed in October, and the Fox network ordered the pilot and five more episodes.
So it looks like this thing might stick around for a season or more. And the best part? Its creators and writers are the three geniuses behind It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I'm curious to see how they can set up a show that's very different from It's Always Sunny and still be successful, though I'm certain they'll be able to. Sadly, they won't be starring in their new creation, but it will feature the likes of Tony Hale as "Robot" - Buster Bluth from Arrested Development - and possibly Kurtwood Smith - Red on That 70's Show. Sounds pretty enticing so far, but I guess I'll have to dig up the pilot somewhere to see what I really think.
The plot of Boldly Going Nowhere is a takeoff of the old Star Trek formula, though it concentrates on what the crew does in the long stretches of time where they're not solving mysteries or seducing green and blue women. I'm not sure if they'll be as asinine and stupid as Charlie or Mac, but it is a pretty creative idea for a premise. These days it seems like most new shows are just "INSERT ARCHETYPAL CHARACTERS INTO SITUATION, COMEDY ENSUES" rather than originality as It's Always Sunny and other shows like My Name is Earl and Pushing Daisies.
While I'm on the topic of new television series, Dollhouse looks kind of promising, I suppose. I never watched a moment of Buffy or Angel myself, but I was a big fan of Firefly, so hopefully I'm not just hoping for the latter only to be disappointed if it's the former. Whedon does good stuff in general, so as long as it's fresh and new I'm sure I'll at least like it for the novelty.
Superjail is over and it's still the weirdest thing I've ever really seen. I need to catch up on Dexter's third season sooner or later, since apparently the season finale is coming up next Sunday. Heroes continues tonight. I have to go back in time and grab all those Pushing Daisies and House episodes that I missed. I've got a lot to catch up on, though nothing but time to do it, I guess.
Apparently every episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force costs $75,000 to $200,000 apiece to create. Where is the money going? It's an eleven minute stretch of time with animation that's already been created and used a thousand times. I guess they're just being wasteful with it, since the limited animation techniques they use could probably end up costing a few grand.
So it looks like this thing might stick around for a season or more. And the best part? Its creators and writers are the three geniuses behind It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I'm curious to see how they can set up a show that's very different from It's Always Sunny and still be successful, though I'm certain they'll be able to. Sadly, they won't be starring in their new creation, but it will feature the likes of Tony Hale as "Robot" - Buster Bluth from Arrested Development - and possibly Kurtwood Smith - Red on That 70's Show. Sounds pretty enticing so far, but I guess I'll have to dig up the pilot somewhere to see what I really think.
The plot of Boldly Going Nowhere is a takeoff of the old Star Trek formula, though it concentrates on what the crew does in the long stretches of time where they're not solving mysteries or seducing green and blue women. I'm not sure if they'll be as asinine and stupid as Charlie or Mac, but it is a pretty creative idea for a premise. These days it seems like most new shows are just "INSERT ARCHETYPAL CHARACTERS INTO SITUATION, COMEDY ENSUES" rather than originality as It's Always Sunny and other shows like My Name is Earl and Pushing Daisies.
While I'm on the topic of new television series, Dollhouse looks kind of promising, I suppose. I never watched a moment of Buffy or Angel myself, but I was a big fan of Firefly, so hopefully I'm not just hoping for the latter only to be disappointed if it's the former. Whedon does good stuff in general, so as long as it's fresh and new I'm sure I'll at least like it for the novelty.
Superjail is over and it's still the weirdest thing I've ever really seen. I need to catch up on Dexter's third season sooner or later, since apparently the season finale is coming up next Sunday. Heroes continues tonight. I have to go back in time and grab all those Pushing Daisies and House episodes that I missed. I've got a lot to catch up on, though nothing but time to do it, I guess.
Apparently every episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force costs $75,000 to $200,000 apiece to create. Where is the money going? It's an eleven minute stretch of time with animation that's already been created and used a thousand times. I guess they're just being wasteful with it, since the limited animation techniques they use could probably end up costing a few grand.
Schedule for Week Ending 12/14
Since I forgot to do this last week, it's schedule time! Since it's getting closer and closer to the holidays (two full weeks left before my vacation!), the shots are starting to thin out a little. Most of them are in prime time for the week, which kind of sucks for me, but let's see if I can't pick out a reasonable schedule.
Monday - 14:30 to 24:00 (9.5 hours)
Tuesday - 13:30 to 20:00 (15 hours)
Wednesday - 7:30 to 16:00 and 23:30 to 24:00 (24 hours)
Thursday - 0:00 to 12:00 (36 hours)
Friday - 11:30 to 16:00 (40.5 hours)
Saturday - OFF
Sunday - 7:30 to 16:00 (49 hours)
Alternatively, I could shorten that huge Thursday to four hours and still come out with a teensy bit of overtime. Let's see if my desire for more Christmas gift money outweighs my desire for sleep!
Monday - 14:30 to 24:00 (9.5 hours)
Tuesday - 13:30 to 20:00 (15 hours)
Wednesday - 7:30 to 16:00 and 23:30 to 24:00 (24 hours)
Thursday - 0:00 to 12:00 (36 hours)
Friday - 11:30 to 16:00 (40.5 hours)
Saturday - OFF
Sunday - 7:30 to 16:00 (49 hours)
Alternatively, I could shorten that huge Thursday to four hours and still come out with a teensy bit of overtime. Let's see if my desire for more Christmas gift money outweighs my desire for sleep!
Friday, December 5, 2008
I Blame Patriarchy
So I've been delving into a lot of reading on the subject of gender, feminism, and patriarchy. A lot of very interesting things come up when you really think about this stuff.
Masculine conditioning in our society obviously points males to maintain certain norms. The stereotype of the male condition is, of course, the unfeeling and stalwart being who deals with things on a completely detached and distance level. The effect has been compared to that of Effexor, an SNRI which essentially begins to block out feelings to the point of a person resembling a zombie.
Men are socialized, in a general sense, to be everything that is specifically not feminine. Concepts like empathy, sharing feelings, and addressing emotional concerns have been virtually eradicated between two heterosexual men. Most guys I know would grow really freaked out and uncomfortable if a male friend approached them and began talking about how hard it's been dealing with being dumped, or how concerned they are that the other is angry. Guys are simply "supposed" to be equipped to deal with these feelings alone rather than showing weakness by going to others.
And what do guy friends do when something devastating happens in their life, say a parent or significant other dying? They go drinking. Not only is drinking a social lubricant, but it provides a way for men to actually connect with one another, providing a sort of plausible deniability in their feelings. This is pretty sad, really. The constant drive for competition in the normative male makes showing vulnerability a horrible thing. I've seen this first hand with a lot of my friends; there are some of them that I could never even imagine opening up to, describing how I feel about certain things, etc. It's kind of sad, really. There are some, though, that are a lot more receptive to it, but it's tough to get them to open up themselves. Maybe it's some kind of fear of exploitation?
I've never had a whole lot of female friends that actually open themselves up. Most of the ones I knew in high school, with a few exceptions, fell into two categories: those popular and high-up ones that always carried a peppy sense of "happiness" without ever seeming to show any sort of chink in their armor, and the ones that seemed to expect that I was the normative male, causing feelings to be pushed off the table. There were then the shining few who would open themselves up, to an extent, but it seemed some things still remained buried. It then became difficult to adjust to actually having someone available to speak about what's driving me to do things. In never really having opportunity to open up before, it's tough to move to doing just that.
Honestly, this may be why I'm so intent on making friends who lie on the opposite side of the gender spectrum. I suppose that such societal norms make it a lot more comfortable to open up to women. The strange thing is, though, the person who I spent a lot of time with in the first few months of living out here was a girl, but for all intents and purposes may as well have been a guy. Everything was shut in, guarded. It just felt horribly awkward whenever I tried to ask her how she felt about essentially anything. Maybe that's merely because it's strange to see a male share his feelings, no matter who's doing the listening?
More thoughts on this later, probably. Gender studies is fascinating.
Masculine conditioning in our society obviously points males to maintain certain norms. The stereotype of the male condition is, of course, the unfeeling and stalwart being who deals with things on a completely detached and distance level. The effect has been compared to that of Effexor, an SNRI which essentially begins to block out feelings to the point of a person resembling a zombie.
Men are socialized, in a general sense, to be everything that is specifically not feminine. Concepts like empathy, sharing feelings, and addressing emotional concerns have been virtually eradicated between two heterosexual men. Most guys I know would grow really freaked out and uncomfortable if a male friend approached them and began talking about how hard it's been dealing with being dumped, or how concerned they are that the other is angry. Guys are simply "supposed" to be equipped to deal with these feelings alone rather than showing weakness by going to others.
And what do guy friends do when something devastating happens in their life, say a parent or significant other dying? They go drinking. Not only is drinking a social lubricant, but it provides a way for men to actually connect with one another, providing a sort of plausible deniability in their feelings. This is pretty sad, really. The constant drive for competition in the normative male makes showing vulnerability a horrible thing. I've seen this first hand with a lot of my friends; there are some of them that I could never even imagine opening up to, describing how I feel about certain things, etc. It's kind of sad, really. There are some, though, that are a lot more receptive to it, but it's tough to get them to open up themselves. Maybe it's some kind of fear of exploitation?
I've never had a whole lot of female friends that actually open themselves up. Most of the ones I knew in high school, with a few exceptions, fell into two categories: those popular and high-up ones that always carried a peppy sense of "happiness" without ever seeming to show any sort of chink in their armor, and the ones that seemed to expect that I was the normative male, causing feelings to be pushed off the table. There were then the shining few who would open themselves up, to an extent, but it seemed some things still remained buried. It then became difficult to adjust to actually having someone available to speak about what's driving me to do things. In never really having opportunity to open up before, it's tough to move to doing just that.
Honestly, this may be why I'm so intent on making friends who lie on the opposite side of the gender spectrum. I suppose that such societal norms make it a lot more comfortable to open up to women. The strange thing is, though, the person who I spent a lot of time with in the first few months of living out here was a girl, but for all intents and purposes may as well have been a guy. Everything was shut in, guarded. It just felt horribly awkward whenever I tried to ask her how she felt about essentially anything. Maybe that's merely because it's strange to see a male share his feelings, no matter who's doing the listening?
More thoughts on this later, probably. Gender studies is fascinating.
Sickness
Well, ever since that late night shot on Thursday morning I've felt like utter crap. I went to sleep with a throatache and woke up with an even worse one. The weird thing is that I have no idea what I might have.
I have a bad throatache, a pretty bad cough, and a headache. I also had some stomach troubles this morning, despite not really having eaten much and mainly just drinking a ton of water and orange juice. Ugh. I just hope it goes away soon. I'll have to pick up some Nyquil on the way home and knock myself out for a few hours.
And it was going to be such a great, two-consecutive-day weekend, too. Wah.
I have a bad throatache, a pretty bad cough, and a headache. I also had some stomach troubles this morning, despite not really having eaten much and mainly just drinking a ton of water and orange juice. Ugh. I just hope it goes away soon. I'll have to pick up some Nyquil on the way home and knock myself out for a few hours.
And it was going to be such a great, two-consecutive-day weekend, too. Wah.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Second Session
So, with the Chambliss/Martin Georgia Senatorial runoff complete, my origin state of Minnesota appears to be the last state actively counting ballots. The recount has been in full swing for weeks now, and according to the Minnesota Secretary of State website, is now over 97% complete. That said, with December 3rd's count totals posted, Franken appears to have a comfortable lead of over eleven thousand votes. Here are the totals from the site:
I'm not sure exactly what counties/precincts are left, and which direction they are liable to tip to, but man this is good news.
| Recounted Data | Totals | Percent |
| RECOUNT Ballots for Coleman (as recounted) | 1174964 | 41.24% |
| RECOUNT Ballots for Franken (as recounted) | 1186134 | 41.63% |
| RECOUNT Ballots for Neither (as recounted) | 481922 | 16.91% |
| Ballots Challenged by Coleman | 3241 | 0.11% |
| Ballots Challenged by Franken | 3085 | 0.11% |
I'm not sure exactly what counties/precincts are left, and which direction they are liable to tip to, but man this is good news.
Obsession
With a great band.
Mister Moon?
Yeah?
Tell us about the sky.
The sky is deep, and dark, and eternally high.
Many people think that's where you go when you die.
Do you?
Well I think you return to obscure
Or whatever you were
Before you were
But I won't let you lose yourself in the rain.
All you see, and you and me
We came from a star.
Mister Moon?
Yeah?
Tell us about the sky.
The sky is deep, and dark, and eternally high.
Many people think that's where you go when you die.
Do you?
Well I think you return to obscure
Or whatever you were
Before you were
But I won't let you lose yourself in the rain.
All you see, and you and me
We came from a star.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Recession?
Yep, it's official. The United States economy, as of yesterday, was declared to be in a recession. Party, anyone?
At least we aren't Zimbabwe. As of two weeks ago, the inflation rate of the Zimbabwe dollar has breached sextillion percent (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) and the exchange rate with the US Dollar was thirteen quadrillion (13,000,000,000,000,000). Essentially this means if you wanted to buy a $0.25 USD gumball with Zimbabwe money, you would need 3,250,000,000,000,000 ZWR. Yup. So essentially what this does is drive people to immediately exchange their money for something that holds more value (USD or something more local), since the inflation rate causes the ZWR to lose 50% of its value daily. If you're paid $10 for something today, then it's worth $5 tomorrow. In a week it's worth less than eight cents.
So maybe that party is due after all... at least for the Zimbabweans. Better to spend the money right now rather than wait for it to melt in your pocket!
At least we aren't Zimbabwe. As of two weeks ago, the inflation rate of the Zimbabwe dollar has breached sextillion percent (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) and the exchange rate with the US Dollar was thirteen quadrillion (13,000,000,000,000,000). Essentially this means if you wanted to buy a $0.25 USD gumball with Zimbabwe money, you would need 3,250,000,000,000,000 ZWR. Yup. So essentially what this does is drive people to immediately exchange their money for something that holds more value (USD or something more local), since the inflation rate causes the ZWR to lose 50% of its value daily. If you're paid $10 for something today, then it's worth $5 tomorrow. In a week it's worth less than eight cents.
So maybe that party is due after all... at least for the Zimbabweans. Better to spend the money right now rather than wait for it to melt in your pocket!
Refreshin'
So it was time again today to put in my objectives for work. What that basically entails is to write down a few paragraphs on what I want to accomplish and how I want to challenge myself. Essentially it's just a promise to myself that I will continue to soak up information in any fashion I can, to be inquisitive; not too tough, since being curious is essentially what it is to be human.
I don't think I'm peaking yet at this job, but it seems I'm getting sort of close. I know most of the things I have to know for what I do, and though I learn something new every day, I'm starting to plateau off a little. I know this is pretty normal, but it's kind of disappointing. As my old manager Sam used to put it, I really like "drinking from the firehose". Though you can't absorb all the information, it's wonderful to have all the information there for the taking.
And it's all about information. I feel like Johnny Five screeching that he needs input for some reason. I want to know as much as all the guys who went through Naval tours and shifted back to the white collar world with the knowledge they gleaned. I want to cram three decades of learning into a year. I won't succeed at this, but I think this is exactly the position I want to be in.
Introspection aside, I've settled into the strange schedule pretty well. Late nights are great because there's really nobody around; I can get a lot of work done, and if there's no work to do, I can always entertain myself with reading and whatnot, though I'm still always eager to go home. Probably now moreso than a week ago, just because of all the shiny toys I bought myself.
Speaking of that, I've become a bona fide HD elitist. Yep, it only took three days, but now it's almost painful to watch anything that's not in HD, at least on my big TV. Though it's really a blessing to finally have a reason to get out of my dusty room, and if anyone visits (hey, some guys actually came into my apartment to deliver the TV, so it reset the counter of "nobody has seen this place but me in X days"), I'll be well equipped again. It would probably seem like I was hitting on someone if I was trying to explain that the only TV I own is in my bedroom.
Well, random stream of consciousness post done. Later.
I don't think I'm peaking yet at this job, but it seems I'm getting sort of close. I know most of the things I have to know for what I do, and though I learn something new every day, I'm starting to plateau off a little. I know this is pretty normal, but it's kind of disappointing. As my old manager Sam used to put it, I really like "drinking from the firehose". Though you can't absorb all the information, it's wonderful to have all the information there for the taking.
And it's all about information. I feel like Johnny Five screeching that he needs input for some reason. I want to know as much as all the guys who went through Naval tours and shifted back to the white collar world with the knowledge they gleaned. I want to cram three decades of learning into a year. I won't succeed at this, but I think this is exactly the position I want to be in.
Introspection aside, I've settled into the strange schedule pretty well. Late nights are great because there's really nobody around; I can get a lot of work done, and if there's no work to do, I can always entertain myself with reading and whatnot, though I'm still always eager to go home. Probably now moreso than a week ago, just because of all the shiny toys I bought myself.
Speaking of that, I've become a bona fide HD elitist. Yep, it only took three days, but now it's almost painful to watch anything that's not in HD, at least on my big TV. Though it's really a blessing to finally have a reason to get out of my dusty room, and if anyone visits (hey, some guys actually came into my apartment to deliver the TV, so it reset the counter of "nobody has seen this place but me in X days"), I'll be well equipped again. It would probably seem like I was hitting on someone if I was trying to explain that the only TV I own is in my bedroom.
Well, random stream of consciousness post done. Later.
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