Grazing Rites

This was a mixed bag. If it wasn’t for fighting logos and roosters I might have come down on the negative side of this thing but thankfully those two bits more than save the movie in my opinion. Overall it alternates between tired gags that have been done to death not just in other Myers’ outings such as the Austin Powers series but in comedy films generally. Perhaps there was an aspect of the expectations game – I expected a different but equally impressive brilliance but while the movie didn’t quite meet that threshold it was still very good overall.

As for the Daily Show alum I’m always happy to see them but I felt they were somewhat underutilized. Stephen Colbert was a limited, and yet somehow more absurd, version of his character from The Colbert Report only put into the world of sports – he was still funny but he would have had as much to play if he was a guest host of Celebrity Deathmatch. As for John Oliver I was hoping to see more range from him – his bit of semi-yelling ludicrous things is funny but gets old, he featured somewhat prominently in the film but his appearance, while welcome, largely felt like a missed opportunity.

In fact the one person who really impressed me was the person who played Pitka’s assistant. His straight face would be a worthy successor to Leslie Nielson but he also served other roles. Sadly he was given more to play in terms of range than Colbert and Oliver combined and I look forward to seeing him again hopefully.

The chick from Family Matters was a surprise, but her character was rather one-dimensional.

It’s essentially light-heart fare but will not meet elevated expectations, perhaps it’s merely targeting a younger audience who finds the sight and gross-out gags more enjoyable.

I saw a couple interesting bits of news yesterday that made me cheer…well not literally of course but I did have an evil laugh.

The first was that due to rising gas prices over the last 6 month Americans have driven 30 billion miles less than they did in the preceding 6 months. It’s the biggest drop since 1980, the year that I was born. 30 billion miles; sit back comfortably and picture all the emissions that number represents, all the pollutants, all the smog and carbon monoxide that WASN’T sent spewing into our atmosphere. Now tell me again about how a higher price at the pump is a national crisis. My understanding is that for years if not decades now it was common in Japan for schoolchildren and the elderly not to be allowed outside on certain days due to poor air quality. Pay more at the pump, but your children and parents get to go outside – seems like a great deal to me.

The second bit of news was that GM is considering discontinuing the Hummer.

And a chorus of angels sang out.

Oh, and my source for both pieces of news? The Colbert Report.

Then today I find out the provincial NDP wants people to donate their $100 carbon tax offset cheques to their party to fight the carbon tax.

I can’t believe it, the economists were right. When the political left loses its way the free market will save us.

Damn, good thing I didn’t put any money on that.

I have never voted in a municipal election. In my former city there really was no point, all the candidates for mayor wanted to do the same things but in a different order. I only knew of one of the candidates because he was the father of a couple guys I went to school with – one was a jerk, one used to be nice and later became a frat boy. I didn’t know, or know anything about, anyone running for any other office. So not only was I not motivated and there seemed to be no point but I wasn’t in the best position to be objective.

Now I’m living in a new city and a civic election is on the horizon. My partner is very interested in municipal politics but frankly I couldn’t be bothered this side of a garbage strike. It’s an odd reversal for us as I’m usually the more politically engaged, what with my degree and work experience and all. But it occurred to me today, or rather was pointed out to me I should say, that the outcome of this next election could very well have a direct impact on me. Frankly it hit me like a ton of bricks and I felt a little foolish for having not realized all the implications sooner. So I think I need to wade in this time.

It’s funny, after voting and working in many elections and even contributing to a party in this one narrow definition I’m a first time voter.

Just keep that Sanchez guy from CNN away from me, I don’t want to join his league or frankly have anything to do with him but wait for the next bang-on impression of him by Rob Riggle. Seriously Rob, where have you been? Paternity leave, whatever. I worked 3 days before my son was born, made work calls from the hospital, and was back at work 4 days later. Man up, there’s a war going on and the media’s frequently on the wrong side. They need to be mocked. They’re crying out for it. I can’t do it alone – not when you’d be such a good Sanchez-ripper.

Okay, got that out of my system.

So I was thinking about how I would vote. The respective parties have only recently chosen their candidates so it’s too soon to expect a coherent message on all issues. But when the websites are launched and the junk mail cometh what dimensions should inform my decision? I’ve narrowed it down to 5 things, it would have been 6 but what can the city do to make daycare more affordable? It’s not their mandate. I’ll save that one for later. In no particular order…

1) How do they feel about the recent changes in Translink leadership?
2) What do they think about the future of the PNE?
3) What will they do about crime?
4) What will they do about the downtown eastside?
5) What will they do about the environment?

Correct answers could be…

1) Its criminal; all legal avenues should be explored to restore openness to the process
2) Permanence and expansion
3) Make it unprofitable, innovative enforcement, empowerment and funding for police
4) Almost anything to make it better, no support of the status quo
5) Use the Olympics as an opportunity to innovate and upgrade to green practices

There are other issues and dimensions of course but they won’t weigh quite so heavily such as do they support WalMart, do they lean left or right, and are they Barackadians.

I coined that last word, just now. Write it down. Call Oxford.

Somehow having slipped off my Wikipedia radar it appears that unbeknownst to me the Knight Rider miniseries has indeed resulted in the green light for a new show, set to air on Wednesdays on NBC this fall. Good for them. It would be cool if they brought KARR back but as the older model, they could even have some fun with it in dialogue, I can picture it now, “its name is KARR? Are you sh*tting me?”

In other TV news…

In case you haven’t been following, the date has been set for the 24 TV movie: November 23rd, so mark your calendars (for some reason this isn’t on the official website). Manny Coto is Co-Executive Producer; Tony Todd and Jon Voight will appear.

The next episode of Doctor Who, ‘The Stolen Earth’, features no less than 5 companions plus at least two additional visitors from Torchwood and at least one additional visitor from The Sarah Jane Adventures – I have reserved and reinforced the edge of my seat in preparation.

Speaking of Torchwood apparently next year they’re only doing 5 episodes but in the form of an epic miniseries set to air one episode per day for a week BUT they’ve also left to door open to do more episodes later that same year. John Barrowman has already signed on for the whole season. Since it’s launch Torchwood has kicked Doctor Who’s butt in the awards category (BAFTA, Hugo, etc) but Doctor Who is still the ratings leader, I wonder if this might be Torchwood’s attempt to gain more audience share for it’s award-winning content? It seems a nearly forgone conclusion that SOMEONE from the Doctor Who universe will be joining the show next year but rumours of who specifically are inconsistent at this time.

And if you can’t get enough John Barrowman (and let’s face it, who can?) he’s appearing as a judge on the painfully hosted How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? on the CBC. That’s right, John Barrowman has me watching reality television that isn’t Last Comic Standing – this could be the end of civilization as we know it, thankfully John has experience with that sort of thing.

A second season of The Sarah Jane Adventures is already shooting; there will be 12 episodes in the new season, no word on when that will air. They were originally going to film two seasons in one stretch but RTD got wind of it and shut it down, probably for fear of declining quality with an insane work schedule. Personally I don’t care a whit about production schedules so long as my need for Whoniverse content is filled. Please don’t make me go back to the pre-Sylvester McCoy episodes…

The Big Bang Theory has been picked up for a second season, no word yet on when exactly it will return to air beyond it being in the fall, seems like Leonard and Penny are on the longest date ever. Season 1 comes out on DVD on September 2nd though.

In movie news…

The Transformers sequel has a name: Revenge Of The Fallen. And, oh yes, it will be in 3-D. That’s 50% more D than the last film. With an expanded budget we can look forward not only to more screen time for the actual transformers but double the number of them and some actual scenes for the Decepticons on their own. Arcee will appear, perhaps because Susan Blu is desperate for real work. You may think I’m being harsh but check out the special features on the anniversary edition of the animated movie and you’ll know what I’m talking about. I’m actually being kind; a ‘will do voiceover for food’ sign, now that would be harsh.

You may have heard the odd rumour regarding a Tintin movie, it’s been in developmental hell for about 25 years now but it finally seems to have some real momentum but that’s not all – it’s now a trilogy! Steven Spielberg is set to direct the first movie (as was Herge’s wish), Peter Jackson the second, and they will co-direct the third. Steven Moffat, soon to be the new show runner at Doctor Who, is writing all 3 movies, completely isolated from studio interference (a key sticking point in his contract). Tintin and Haddock have been cast, the actor to play Tintin comes from a Doctor Who 2-parter and the Haddock is a mainstay of films I haven’t seen. A whole new technology is being used combining motion capture and CGI to create characters that look both completely photo realistic yet also completely Herge. Shooting is set to begin in September so I guess it’s a little early for me to look to pre-buy tickets.

A potential Cloverfield sequel has taken a back seat to other projects so you can probably safely say it’s now officially in developmental hell.

People keep telling me there’s no way there would be a Sex & The City sequel but Michael Patrick King has twice expressed an interest and the movie made $271 million on a $65 million budget, it’s simple math people.

I love my new PDA, according to other reviews it kicks the iTouch in the nuts so it’s nice to be back on the cutting edge. Technological jealousy is an alternate fuel source for geeks like me; I had grown weary of being the source and not the benefactor. I particularly enjoy it when people on the bus crane their necks to watch whatever I’m watching.

You can’t discount the value of mobile video. I know, I used to think watching a video on such a small screen was nuts but there’s several reasons why I no longer think so. Firstly my screen is at the upper end of the size spectrum. Secondly you can do it for free if you know what you’re doing. Thirdly I spend a lot more time on the bus now. It’s not uncommon for me to fit in 2 episodes of Doctor Who, which tends to run about 45 minutes, in my daily commute.

The latest OS Mobile 6 allows me to run newer programs and have increased and faster compatibility. And since there’s no phone features my processor and RAM can bring their full strength to what I say.

Now it’s not all perfect, for example the new Windows Media Player is a resource hog - I need to find a new mp3 player and WinAmp doesn’t have a mobile version. The screen seems more prone to scratching but that could be me.

I miss the old iTask but the updated Today screen offers both benefits and drawbacks - more discrete brightness control and more info but sloppier program switching.

Part of the awesomeness is care of the SDHC slot. I was pretty quick to pick up an 8 GB Class 6 SDHC card so I can have all my mp3s, a couple hundred ebooks, a dozen extra programs, and the first season of Big Bang Theory on the go - and still cost less than the iTouch.

Suck it Apple.

And I made sure to get an SDHC slot on my new Dell so loading up the goods is faster than ever.

It’s smaller and lighter than my previous PDA and I thought I would miss the old black casing but this dark grey is pretty slick.

A classic reborn, Dr. Mario is now on the Wii care of WiiWare. WiiWare is a somewhat new feature that is essentially new games you download. It’s good for developers as it cuts down on distribution costs and good for players because of convenience and lower cost. At $10 USD the new Dr. Mario is a steal.

The bad news is it only goes up to 2 players which given that the 64 had 4 players is a bit of a disappointment but being able to play against other people online makes up for a lot. In fact, the other person doesn’t even have to by the game to play; you can send a multiplayer-only version to others for free.

Interesting comment came in regarding yesterday’s post…

A bug that eats straw and poops out gas…while this may sound like a good idea and our salvation, I don’t think it’s overly practical.  The sheer number of bugs you would have to keep to get a tank of gas would be so huge; it wouldn’t even be worth doing.  Exchanging a biodegradable product like “agricultural waste” for a toxin emitting substance…it’s not exactly my idea of salvation.  More advanced technologies will save us, not bug poop.  I think the only reason why we haven’t gotten rid of gas completely is because the automotive industry is so huge; the American economy could not take that kind of hit.  So many companies would go under or suffer major losses due to the costs of converting their equipment and manpower to make a cleaner car, that’s why it has to be done slowly.  I’m not in favor of high gas prices (especially since I want to buy a car), but I’m not in favor of global warming either…except in winter.  I was going to look into getting a hybrid anyway….I wonder if I can get one used?

The floods in Iowa and Illinois are beating records set 2 or 3 centuries ago and even then I think that’s because before then we weren’t tracking these things. As I watch the video of water up to the gutters and street signs I can’t help but wonder when we’ll be next. Oh it won’t be a flooding river for me personally, more likely a rising water level care of melting ice caps but nevertheless it makes you think about buying a boat.

Record gas prices, records natural disasters. Is this nature’s new balance? If we run out of gas we have to find alternatives and while we’re at it we hope those alternatives will be better for the environment. Plus there’s the population control argument with regard to these natural disasters which is too morbid to even discuss.

So I read today that scientists have genetically modified a certain bug to consume agricultural waste and excrete petrol.

On the surface this sounds fantastic but the more you think about it the more sinister it becomes.

First, that agricultural “waste” is things like wood chips and wheat straw – this isn’t exactly headed for the landfill as its biodegradable so I think labeling it waste, while accurate for the farmer, is somewhat misleading to the general public.

Second, it excretes petrol so that could solve the gas crisis right? Maybe, but even if it did I suggest that the current gas crisis shouldn’t be solved. The high prices are providing serious economic incentive both on the consumer and producer side of the equation to be more environmentally responsible. So what if we found a limitless supply of gas? We’d still be pumping insane (and by insane I mean clearly suicidal by way of cognitive dissonance) volumes of harmful chemicals into the air, heating up the planet.

(Also the article headline states scientist “found” these bugs but that’s not true, they MADE them. It’s not like they were spelunking in the Amazon and happened upon our salvation.)

The solution isn’t new sources of gas; the solution is a fundamental paradigm shift away from gas. In the short term this means hybrids and public transit, in the midrange to long term it means electric or hydrogen fuel cell cars.

Sadly while the scientist in me is excited about the breakthrough, the spiritualist in me is slightly uncomfortable with us modifying another species genome to solve problems we created, and most importantly I think they’ve got it all wrong. Show me a bug the will eat the waste from nuclear reactors and poop topsoil and I’ll take my inner spiritualist out back and shoot him in the head but in the meantime let’s think back to Jurassic Park, “they were so quick to see if they could they never stopped to think if they should” or Star Trek VI if you prefer “let us redefine progress; just because we can do a thing it does not follow that we must do that thing”.

Don’t get me wrong, if we can genetically modify some bug to save us all I’m all for it so long as it’s safe but this bug doesn’t save us, it just dooms us in the long run. We may have cheaper gas for a decade but then its Waterworld time – no thank you. I’d rather take the harder but safer road of not looking for easy solutions to continue ignoring problems. There’s no free lunch and to environmental problems there’s no easy answer. It’s going to take work and a shift in our thinking and it won’t be pleasant but we have to take our medicine if we’re to survive.

I know it’s unpopular to be in favor of higher gas prices but this is just the market FINALLY beginning to reflect the true cost of using gas. Granted how we got here isn’t the best but the point is, and I may have to go into hiding after saying this, gas can’t cost too much when the ultimate cost is our extinction. Or if you prefer look at it this way, how much is your and your children’s future worth? Personally I think its worth a little much needed hardship to force us to transition to a sustainable existence.

Now go recycle something.

You know, before you hunt me down.

Oh, and vote Obama. He gets it. He knows that new supply and tax breaks are not solutions and we can’t wait for a science miracle; they’re excuses for society to continue ignorant behaviour. Look to responsible alternatives, not bugs that poop gas.

I think this album is often overlooked and somewhat unfairly. Yes, it was a popularity killer for Hootie. Although overplay on the radio, an apparently long forgotten problem of the past for stations like The Beat, bares most of the blame. It was a departure from the upbeat Cracked Rear View but different doesn’t mean worse; although Cracked is better Fairweather has a great appeal of its own.

The band was feeling and writing about different things, specifically being on the road away from their families. It’s different but emotionally and musically rich and deep. They explore a different, darker place and that takes guts.

Be The One

Lyrically intriguing, partly because Darius mumbles so much there’s about 80 thousand ways to interpret the song. But who hasn’t at one time or another felt like that line at the end?

Sad Caper

A more upbeat tempo still works with serious subject matter which has some interesting juxtaposition “it’s like sometimes you want to see the rain but the sun gets in your eyes“

Old Man & Me

An admittedly unremarkable song this probably sounds most like their previous album so on those grounds I guess it provides a transition but you never find yourself craving this song like you do others from this album.

Earth Stopped Cold At Dawn

What a beautiful song, easily one of my all-time favorites. This is one of those songs you crave if you go too long without hearing it. Nothing else sounds like it. The harmony is unique and fantastic, the lyrics deep.

Honeyscrew

This song has perhaps the most intriguing line of the entire album, “don’t let the sun make me feel lonely“. Anger, sadness, and religion; at the time a somewhat new departure for Hootie but it just broadens the timelessness of their appeal with the variety and depth of the subject matter.

Let It Breathe

Regret and frustration seem to be heavy themes here.

Silly Little Pop Song

Another lyrically interesting song, the title has virtually nothing to do with the song. Title comes from an odd occurrence during the songwriting process in which they’d sit down with the intention of writing a 5 minute rock song but always come out of it with a 3 minute pop song; makes it hard to remember it when you’re going through your mp3s.

Fool

Like so much of this album, you can only enjoy this song alone. It’s cathartic to sing along, “There’s so much I feel, so much I conceal, there’s just so many things I can be“. I also like the reference to my favorite, favorite Hootie song of all time Not Even The Trees, “can’t write the story from the trees, about some lady who’s watching me saying “boy carry your load”“. This is all clearly evidence of a more matured, nuanced songwriting that speaks to real emotions rarely addressed in song.

When I’m Lonely

Another fantastic song; singing along can be cathartic.

Tucker’s Town

A disappointing song with a horrible video made because they lost a bet that to this day makes me wonder if they gave up on taking their careers seriously; a rare miss for Hootie.

So Strange

I’m going to sound like a broken record because so many of these songs are lyrically interesting, this one included. “If you can’t find the warmth in my summer, if you can’t find the light in my day, I just look to my friends and we’ll see all our troubles away“

She Crawls Away

Classic example of misinterpreted lyrics, people tend to think it’s about a woman who treated him poorly, perhaps with an addiction problem - but it’s about his daughter. How many artists write about how awesome it is to be a father? I think every father sees a little of themselves in this song. “It’s like the sun goes down when she crawls away“

Tootie

It’s one of the sweetest songs of all time with one of the weirdest names but uniquely fantastic.

Overall it’s an album that, once you’re exposed to it, you’ll find yourself returning to for years.

I suspect there will be several posts of this nature over the next couple of weeks so brace yourself. Yesterday while continuing to migrate data I noticed another huge speed improvement.

Transferring 1.5 GB between hard drive and SD hard…

Old Computer: 24 minutes

New Computer: 2 minutes

As well I was reading that Adobe Premiere apparently makes use of dual cores.

I guess we can thank the writer’s strike for the recent surge in miniseries, and perhaps to a lesser extent Battlestar Galactica.

The recent remake of The Andromeda Strain for example was great, and not just because of the parade of 24 guest stars like Daniel Dae Kim. They kept it close enough to the novel to recapture the spirit and feel as well as have a few recognizable bits. But they also updated it with more recent technology and a funky new twist I totally want to spoil but I wouldn’t do that to Jon.

Burn Up, the other noteworthy miniseries was a different duck, as a former manager of mine would say. I enjoyed the performances and the subject matter was interesting but it somehow didn’t hold my attention as well as The Andromeda Strain. Part of the blame rests with me as I was distracted by my new computer, a cake, and tuned in late to the second half.

Bradley Whitford as the ‘bad guy’ was great although I felt they didn’t give him enough to play. The guy from Love & Monsters (Doctor Who) and Hustle was great. I think a problem was they cast far too many blonde Caucasian guys in business attire all speaking with an English accent. I had trouble keeping track of them and I think part of the problem was the characterization of each was also very similar.

Hopefully they’ll rerun it so I can watch more carefully a second time.

The story was interesting but could have used some polishing and tightening, the same being true of The Andromeda Strain which makes Nash irrelevant to the central plot during the entire second half. One thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the idea of a Kyoto 2 treaty negotiated in Calgary - by rights it should be the Calgary Treaty. I know why they did this, name recognition; you say Kyoto and are more likely to think of the treaty than the place.

I guess the message is that there are several paths to seriously addressing climate change at the corporate and government level and we’re not doing them and one day, perhaps sooner than we think, the oil will be gone.

This makes me think 2 things.

1) Maybe the high price of oil is just expressing the hidden costs and dangers in economic terms. In economics we know that if you want large numbers of people to do or not do something you assign it a value and then provide either an incentive or disincentive depending on what you want them to do. So while high gas prices suck, they could be forcing us to change in ways we need to, treating it like the limited and dangerous resource it is.

2) Vote Obama.

Nothing makes an 11 hour day more bearable than a public speaking component. I really enjoy it. I wish there was more of it in my job. It’s not the attention but rather that great synergistic energy you get out of the back-and-forth. Dodging curveballs, staying loose on your feet both metaphorically and literally.

It’s a great feeling knowing you’ve taken something dry and turned it into something engaging, informative, and maybe just a little funny. A robot can read a script, any blank face can remind you of the pain of reading out in class when you really didn’t want to.

I think actually being human in the fullest sense of the word is more rewarding for all concerned. The tendency is to lock everything down, bury it where you can’t get hurt or embarrassed. But if you bring your flaws, talents, and ideas they may just see a complete person up there and form an engaging human relationship as a result. Take a risk, because it’s easy to spin failure into self deprecating humour.

Being forgotten on the other hand defeats the whole purpose.

I was thinking about The Qualifying Exam, the part about calming a group of enraged aborigines. I think I’d start with some slapstick. They may think me a fool but they wouldn’t fear or distrust me. Respect is easier to rebuild than fear is to tear down.

But I digress.

Yesterday was unique, despite delivering a bit I’ve done several dozen times before. I actually became the running gag. Specifically groups of people were asked to come up with unique things they had in common. One group decided they all thought I was interesting. They won the contest.

After the whole presentation with several speakers covering a wide variety of topics I was the only one approached with questions, less than half about my topic of discussion. I think this was because I humanized myself to them.

So I was finally able to get my new computer yesterday and began what could be a long, arduous task of migrating my data from the old machine, as well as installing all the programs we’ve come to know and love over the years. This is a somewhat repetitive process, on both machines, and I started to notice some pretty big differences.

For example when transferring 400mb files from my old computer to my jump drive it would take about 5-8 minutes. This is an ATA drive and a USB 1.1 port. On the new computer along with it’s multitude of other upgrades like 2 processors running at a faster speed and more RAM all running at a faster speed, the SATA drives and USB 2.0 port moved the same data in 15-25 seconds.

Think about it, from 8 minutes to just 25 seconds. I STILL haven’t burnt up the time I saved doing that just once in writing this entire blog entry.

This is the most fundamental speed up I’ve ever encountered in an upgrade. The closest analogy was when I went from a 4X CD-ROM to a 16X or a 16X to a 48X way back in the day, and even that doesn’t really seem to come close since I didn’t really use the CD-ROM that much.

I also took Firefox for a spin, PC World’s benchmarks showed it to be far faster than IE and they were right – if anything they undersold it’s speed. It opens as fast as, if not faster than, Notepad for God’s sake. Granted it’s running on my new faster machine but even compared to the latest IE on my new computer Firefox runs circles around it.

This is just speed increase built upon speed increase a dozen times over and after getting almost all my programs (applications, not games) and a bunch of my personal files (but no music or video) moved over we still have well over 200gb free. This of course is due as much to us going through our files over the last couple weeks and clearing out the crap as the modest 50gb space increase on the new drive but nevertheless I’m pretty excited.

So yes, maybe we didn’t strictly speaking need this upgrade at this specific time but when you’re trying to do something on the computer when the kid is pulling at your pant leg and wanting some much deserved attention, turning 8 minutes of computer nonsense into 25 seconds is a big win. It could easily make the difference between a happy baby and a crying tantrum.

Now we just need to upgrade the kid with more patience.

And a GPS transponder.

Jon recently inquired after our 10 year reunion which I hadn’t heard anything about but I began to wonder if I wanted to go. It’d be nice to see Jeff and some others if they came plus I could take another stab at collecting that $200 Eric owes me. It’s not like high school wasn’t a lot of fun for me after all, plus even the very few people I wouldn’t want to see had probably matured a lot since then.

Or so I figured.

Then last night someone I barely knew in high school started going all Simon Cowell on me on Facebook.  She insulted my personality, my appearance, my partner, and my best friend.

Why bother, I ask myself. Why take time out of your day to tear someone else down? What’s the cost-benefit analysis? What does she get out of it? Is this the source of her self worth?

Is reality TV to blame? People sitting on their couches watching other people behaving badly toward each other under the brand of ‘reality’?

Maybe I’m putting too much thought into this. Maybe she’s just the same judgmental self important cow she was in high school. That WAS the reason I kept her at arm’s length back then; she’d seem nice and polite for little stretches of time and then when you’d least expect it she’d strike.

What else should I have expected who once went to New York on a mission to sleep with someone of every race?

Another interesting reply to a post…

Saying you’re prestigious doesn’t make it so.  There’s always going to be the guy that doesn’t know who you are.  It’s like rolling dice; you eventually come up snake eyes sometime.

I deal with this stuff (people thinking their job is better than mine) just about every day and I despise it.  I usually make it into a confrontation when someone tells me that my job is less important than theirs.  Everyone does their part or stuff just doesn’t happen; that’s why strikes work.  Also, people who proclaim their prestigiousness are usually the ones who do the least amount of work and have the least important job but have this mindset that is blown way out of proportion.  Another point, saying you’re prestigious doesn’t make it not so, it just makes you an egotistical jerk whether you’re prestigious or not.

This week someone at work mentioned how the busier periods tend to make people blame us for their mistakes and make unreasonable, illogical, and sometimes downright impossible demands. Sure enough not days before I had received a call from a prior irritant insisting their team receive superior quality supplies than the other groups because they were more prestigious than the rest.

I muttered something about looking into it just to be polite and avoid a pointless confrontation but afterwards I got to thinking about the exchange. If you really are prestigious, should you ever have to say it out loud? I mean, if you have prestige it means you’re known and respected. To have to explain it inherently acknowledges you’re not widely known. And last I checked respect was earned, not claimed.

So doesn’t having to say you’re prestigious automatically make it not so?

Either way I’m a firm believer in equality and first-come-first-serve and I rather dislike inflated self importance so I daresay the rules of polite society will overrule this request as far as I’m concerned. Now let’s all hope t is doesn’t become one of those issues alluded to earlier.

I was chatting with Burton the other day, talking excitedly about my new computer when he said something that caught me off guard, “well, you certainly deserve it”.

It’s something I’d taken no notice of in other contexts when he’d said similar things in the past but for some reason this time I was, I don’t know, I guess surprised to hear it. I guess I had been thinking of it, practical reasons for getting it aside, as an unnecessary indulgence. At any rate it was really nice to hear.

Note: This is my 600th blog post.

First the bad: the conflicts with Steve and Big seem artificial, manufactured - they’re performed well and even the dialogue is good but the premise behind their conflicts is forced. I also don’t like the only source of serious conflict being men behaving badly. It’s simplistic and one dimensional and doesn’t do the characters justice.

Why start off with the bad stuff? Because now I can say this:

Everything else was absolutely fantastic.

I know I posted about this before but much has happened on the democratic side of the fence since then, specifically last night Barack Obama official reached the required number of delegates to become his party’s nominee and some disturbing facts have come to light about Webb, so let’s take another look at the contenders…

Evan Bayh
Not well known on the national stage – I say this because while the name sounds ever-so-slightly familiar I don’t know this person.

Joe Biden
A serious contender. CNN takes issue with him because he’s served 6 terms and is 65 they seem to think he would undermine Obama’s message of change which I think is somewhat narrow in perception. Obama may be about change but he’s also about bringing people together in common cause and I don’t think Biden is any threat to either goal. Who is to say those in Washington all subscribe to the partisan bickering? DC voted overwhelmingly in favour of Obama in the primaries so I think many of the insiders want change as much as those on the outside do. They’re just not sue how to get there but Obama has provided the roadmap which Biden could follow easily enough.

Michael Bloomberg
They ate together in a diner once and ever since the press won’t stop pushing for this as a possibility. While Obama would probably like to have the support of this media tycoon and former republican I have serious doubts that they share a consistency of vision anywhere near the threshold of sharing a ticket.

Wesley Clark
As you know I’ve been in favour of him being in the White House for some time now. CNN seems to think his “no-nonsense” approach is a problem, but I disagree and frankly I find it disturbing that a no-nonsense approach would be considered a liability in politics. In the new era Obama is trying to bring about this would be an asset. Plus his military background helps Obama as does his former support of Clinton. The only reason he would not choose Clark is because someone better was available but in and of himself there is no reason to say no to Clark.

Hillary Clinton
Don’t believe the hype. I’m sure Hillary wants it, it almost assures her the nomination in 8 years but as I’ve said time and again, she went too damned far. A CNN poll suggests 60% of people are against this idea. Plus republicans really hate her; it could turn the Obamicans away. Plus it would be branded a unity ticket and be seen as pandering.

Chris Dodd
CNN essentially says he’s the same as Biden but I disagree, frankly I think Biden is much more vibrant and both offer their own unique critical thinking, but let’s face facts both Biden and Dodd are second-tier options.

Chuck Hagel
He’s McCain’s friend but few have been as critical of McCain since he won the nomination as he. In terms of practicality I don’t see this Republican sharing a ticket with Obama but it’s a fun thought for pundits, scholars, and bloggers such as myself to consider.

Ed Rendell
He’s like Hillary-lite and that’s not a good thing. Plus even CNN admits he doesn’t have any popularity outside Philadelphia. We need to stop believing the fallacy that you automatically win the state your VP is from.

Bill Richardson
He’s got the experience, he’s got the charisma, and he’s in agreement with Obama on almost everything. Frankly I can see no better choice except if they get branded the diversity ticket, but even then I think their charisma and sense of humour could easily put that issue to rest. So, ironically, the only reason to say no to Richardson is on the grounds of his race. When you put it like that, he’s a lock for the position in my mind.

Kathleen Sebelius
I checked and she was the person who responded to the State Of The Union this year – how could anyone vote for her when they’re in a coma while bleeding from the ears? She’s anti-charisma and I think many would see it as an attempt to sway female voters without asking Hillary. It’s just no good.

Jim Webb
I have largely changed my position on this guy. It turns out he’s said some things in the past that could come to haunt him, particularly regarding women, and more than being politically damaging to Obama, I’m worried the guy actually meant what he said.

Tom Daschle
He’s got experience and name recognition but that’s it.

John Edwards
Maybe if we got him a jet ski?

Tim Kaine
Who?

Claire McCaskill
She’s not as annoying as Hillary or Sebelius but I still think there might be a backlash if he picks a woman who isn’t Hillary. Then again if he picks a man he could be called misogynistic…it’s a crapshoot with these female candidates now thanks to the divisiveness of Hillary and Ferraro. Perhaps we could arrange an ‘accident’ so we can finally put the politics of identity behind us?

Janet Napolitano
Who?

Sam Nunn
Not know on the national stage, same as Bayh

Ted Strickland
See Bayh and Nunn.

In Conclusion…
Top tier is Richardson and Clark, second tier is Biden and Dodd. Of course Edwards would blow them all out of the water if he changed his mind about not wanting the job. At this point I’d be willing to put money on Richardson.

Another interesting dream, partly fueled no doubt by Dimetapp. Despite my conscious mind having completely forgotten about game 5 of the finals amid all the other things going on in my dream I won tickets to the game. After the game I ran into Wil Wheaton of all people and we discussed his blog.

That’s it, that was the whole dream. Upon waking I felt the need to check in on his blog which I hadn’t read in about 2 years. I was somewhat surprised to discover that, among other things, he was doing some work for SuicideGirls.

He apparently had some technical difficulties, which he in part described as “barfing all over the internet” a line which made me chuckle. Anyways as a temporary measure he began posting on Typepad but found it so useful he doesn’t seem to want to go back to his official site.

Might be worth taking a look at.

It seems it wasn’t just my old PDA, the insecure WiFi network near my work is no more.

I don’t want people getting the wrong idea from my Control post that buying the new computer was a mistake per se, I don’t think it was. For example when I got my previous computer some 3 years ago I had different priorities in mind.

For example I wanted something cheap and accessible but now with a kid durability and having the front of the computer having fewer things accessible is better.

Also my previous PC was with a single user in mind but with 2 people using it regularly, the odd guest, and the kid somewhere down the road you need a larger hard drive which is where we were running into difficulty.

As well I didn’t have my new PDA so having lower-resolution copies of all my videos is another hard drive hog. We’ve been cleaning out the old PC in preparation for the migration and we’ve got what we need to transfer down to less than 90 gigs but I still think the new hard drive (250 gb, only 50 larger than the old PC) might need to be supplemented before long. I’ll probably be looking at drives measured in terabytes on Boxing Day.