+ 9 - 9 | § ¶Music Meld
What do you get when you mix two songs by a band called Nickelback? A very interesting musical effect. . . (more)+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Once More, With Hobbits
Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Lord of the Rings should take a look at Once More, With Hobbits, which takes the songs from the Buffy musical episode "Once More, With Feeling" [Soundtrack, Scriptbook, DVD] and parodies them based on the story of TLOTR.For example, Buffy's "Going Through the Motions" at the beginning of the episode becomes Bilbo contemplating his upcoming departure from the Shire, and "Standing" becomes Sam's lament after Shelob's lair. There are even MP3's of two of the songs. Quite amusing.
davidh
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Do they protest too much?
So there was this protest outside the building I work in today, based on the idea that a bulldozer manufacturer is responsible for what its customers decide to bulldoze after the purchase them. Actually, the whole thing was kind of funny. . . (more)+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Pepperoni, cheese, and... chicken?
I went to the cafeteria here at work today, wondering what I should get. There was the fish-on-Fridays area that had three or four different species to choose from (cod filets, fried breaded catfish, and some others), and there was the hamburgers-available-everyday area, but when I saw that they had pizza out, I headed straight for that spot. The sign said the pizzas were "California-style", which I assumed just referred to the type of crust (since "New York-style" has a rather thin crust, and "Chicago-style" has a thick crust, but otherwise they're pretty much the same as "ordinary-style" pizza). I found one that was pepperoni, paid for it, took it back to my desk, and took a bite.I was very surprised to find that hiding beneath the pepperoni were pieces of chicken! I did some research, and found that, according to Pizza Marketing Quarterly, "One of the identifying characteristics is of California style pizza is the toppings. California style tends to use exotic toppings and 'off-the-beaten-path' combinations." Makes sense, I suppose, as California is full of exotic liberal judges who are off America's beaten path, most notably those in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the most overruled circuit court in the nation. But I digress. This post is about pizza, not politics.
Anyway, chicken on pizza is... bizarre. Chicken and crust go together just fine, since that's like a chicken sandwich, but chicken, cheese, and tomato sauce make a much odder combination. Although getting your peanut butter in someone else's chocolate might create something better than either one individually, not every pair of separately tasty foods produce something tasty as a result. Chicken and pizza are, at least as far as my taste buds are concerned, two great tastes that really just don't go together.
davidh
+ 0 - 4 | § ¶Mosaic turns 11; Blog turns 1.071
As I noted a year ago, April 22 is Mosaic's birthday. Mosaic is the browser which popularized the web among techies, graphical designers, and managers, by offering X, Macintosh, and Windows versions of the same software... the web probably wouldn't have caught on nearly so quickly without all three. Current popular browsers Mozilla, Netscape, and Explorer are each derived from the original Mosaic code, though they of course have undergone major revisions over time.Also, I've had this blog for over a year now. My first post was made on March 27, 2003. True, the first few posts were written long before I ever linked to the blog from the outside world, and I posted nothing at all in June, July, or August of 2003. It started out to be one of those many projects that I started, then got bored with and forgot about. Fortunately for you, dear reader, I picked it up again in September, and have posted semi-regularly ever since. If I hadn't, you would currently be reading about the wackiness of Irwin Schiff's tax evasion schemes, how important Mosaic is to the internet, and a survey that had been passed around the Sunnydale Socks livejournal.
Well, okay, but one out of three still ain't bad. :-)
davidh
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶The Edutainment of Tom McGlee
A short story by David Henderson, originally written in Kristen's LiveJournal in response to a writing challenge to use a list of random spam-blocker-blocking words from a recent piece of spam she received. The title, which actually has nothing to do with the story, is based on the titles of two Robert W. Service stories, "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and "The Shooting of Dan McGrew", although this story is not at all similar to either of those. Some stories are character-driven or plot-driven, but this one is vocabulary-driven. :-)I don't do a lot of fiction writing, but for some reason, Kristen's challenge provided the necessary inspiration for a bit of wacky writing. I have corrected one grammatical error here, but otherwise the story is the same.
Read on for the story. . . (more)
+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Weird Times
This period of transition is weird. It's been about a month since Aaron and I went our separate directions over Spring Break, and it's about a month until he moves away...[Updated 4/19/04]. . . (more)
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶A silly item
Tuesday morning, on my way to work, my car's odometer rolled to 44444.4 miles. This was amusing to me.That is all.
davidh
+ 4 - 0 | § ¶Lawmaker tries to forbid you from using Gmail
Google recently announced that they are preparing a new service called "Gmail", a free gigabyte of E-mail space per person, which would display targeted advertisements based on the text of the messages. While many privacy advocates have said they would not use the service, which seems fair enough, now there is a state senator in California who is trying to prevent people from choosing to use the service. Liz Figueroa of Fremont, CA is writing a bill which will block Gmail. And since Google is headquartered in California, if the bill she writes passes, it would affect people in all states, and even all countries.One quote from the state senator from this CNN.com article is "[I] think it's an absolute invasion of privacy. It's like having a massive billboard in the middle of your home." But why does she care whether or not I choose to have a "massive billboard" in the middle of my home? It wouldn't affect her unless she visits me (reverting to the other side of the analogy, unless she sends me E-mail). I might decide that I am willing to view targeted ads in exchange for a mailbox that will, quite likely, never bounce mail back to the sender because my box is full. Why should she be able to usurp that decision from me?
S.Sen. Figueroa wrote California's "do not call" law. "Do not call" is a great idea, because it places the decision of whether or not a person wants to be called by corporations in the hands of the phoneowner--if they add their phone number to the list, they can't be called; if they don't, they can. It's optional. On the other hand, preventing people from using Gmail would make mandatory something which is currently optional.
One of the interesting things about privacy is that you can choose to give it up in exchange for things. For example, you can allow a financial institution to see your credit history, in the hopes that they will lend you money. Or you can allow a college to see your high school grades, to persuade them that you are worthy to be accepted. In both of these cases, the decision is yours whether or not to allow what Ms. Figueroa would likely call an "absolute invasion of privacy" to occur. Using Gmail would be just as optional.
As this would affect more than just California, I would ask that if you are concerned about your choice as a websurfer being taken away from you, that you write to Senator Figueroa with your thoughts.
davidh
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Weird Al in Peoria
[Update: Phil Luciano of the Peoria Journal Star also reviewed the show. The article will only exist on the PJS website until appx. April 23.]Weird Al came to Peoria Wednesday night, and gave a great concert. Read on for my comments. . . (more)
+ 3 - 1 | § ¶My first Seder
Tuesday evening, I went over to Joel's house for my first Seder. Read on for my comments and thoughts... (more)+ 4 - 0 | § ¶About the new subtitle
My new subtitle is "The year is 2261. The place: Babylon 5."This is a reference to the opening credits of Babylon 5's fourth season. The full text is as follows: (more)
+ 0 - 4 | § ¶Tee minus 3 days, 7 hours, 14 minutes to Yankovic
Weird Al is coming to Peoria this Wednesday, and a bunch of Psi Phi'ers are going to see him in concert. Should be fun![Update: 1 day, 8 hours, 52 minutes.]
[Update: 118 minutes, 55 seconds.]
davidh
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Spring forward
Time to update clocks and watches and other assorted timepieces.This blog entry brought to you in lieu of anything interesting. :-)
davidh