Oct
25
2004
Well, it’s the beginning of the week and it was a good, long weekend. Got some stuff done around the house, finally got some work done on a new homepage (debut in 1-12 weeks, depending on the rest of my time), got our puppy a little more healthy, and watched the Red Sox beat the Yankees (not that I like the Sox, but I HATE the Yankees). Unfortunately, Penn State’s offense was exceptionally flacid this weekend, and the Cowboys got crushed, but you can’t have everything (or any hockey, it appears).
Over the weekend, I came up with a couple of quick bumper stickers I would like to have out there – you can download them here and here. At this point, I’m sick of the hype, sick of the commercials, sick of the accusations and labels and other crap. Just give me the darn election. Is that so hard to do? Okay, end of election diatribe.
New Pictures »
Did some scanning this weekend to organize my recent work. Here are some of the best:
Links »
no comments | posted in Links, Politics, Rants
Oct
13
2004
The final debate is tonight, and I’m trying to not get as worked up as I usually do. So in that vein, I’m taking a different tact – I have a bottle if Kwak beer to hold me through the debate, while the wife will be having a vodka tonic. And to make our viewing pleasure that much better, we’re going to play a drinking game (it should be noted that Kwak’s ABV is 8.0%, so it’s isn’t as unfair as it sounds). The rules:
wonkette
**Other Links**
no comments | posted in Links, Politics
Oct
1
2004
I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised by the debate last night (despite falling asleep toward the end). Kerry sounded strong, Bush sounded like a moron half of the time (how many times did he say “Wrong war, wrong place, wrong time” and “I know how hard this war is”?). I think Kerry actually made great strides, although I do wonder how he is going to pay for his grand schemes in Iraq. Maybe if we get back some of the millions of dollars that Halliburton has Enroned the government for.
The next debate involves the vice-presidential candidates. Why the heck do we let them speak (although you could make the argument that Dick Cheney is really running the country, so we might learn something? I, for one, would LOVE to see Bush try to defend his environmental policies – but watching Cheney trying to do the same could be good fun. Sierra Club, get your guns out…
Links of the Day »
no comments | posted in Links, Politics, Rants
Sep
30
2004
I’m both looking forward to and dreading tonight’s debates. While I think that Kerry would tear Mr. Bush a new one in a truly open debate, the number of restrictions and ridiculous rules that they have in place is going to make this nearly useless. Kerry will be doing a dissertation in 10 parts, while Bush will be reading the back of a cereal box with his stand-pat-no-matter-how-dumb-he-sounds answers. The TWO parties will be controlling nearly everything about this – I even wonder if they know the questions beforehand, and have listed which ones they will answer. And where are the other parties? Even if he is a whack-job, why isn’t Nader there to at least ask the tough questions … oh wait, that’s right.
Candidates aren’t allowed to direct questions directly to each other!.
How stupid is that?Hopefully I’ll be pleasantly surprised by this debate, but I’m sadly expecting a set of rhetoric and useless drivel from both sides. Is it impossible to dream that a REAL debate may happen this year?
Today’s Links »
no comments | posted in Links, Politics, Rants
Sep
22
2004
Man, this week is flying by. With the papers signed for the home equity (only small issues there), a load is off. Not that this was that big a deal in theory, but the execution was simply ridiculous. But it’s done. And we were able to have a relaxing weekend – including watching the Lions win against that football juggernaut, University of Central Florida.
The performance:
Passing: Zack Mills still struggled with his accuracy – C
Rushing: A good performance overall, but I’m not seeing the ability to make their own holes. Did well fighting against tackles – B+
Receiving: Too many dropped passes. Someone needs to start throwing them babies to teach them the value of actually catching what gets thrown to you – C
Kicking: For the most part good, although the horrid 1st punt was embarrassing – B-
Special Teams: Played well - B
Defense: Looked good again, and Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny looked like they could become the next big thing at Linebacker U. – A-
Finally got to go hiking and birding again this weekend – and took the rascal with us. He did well at Tinicum, walking a whole 2+ miles himself. He seemed to like the birds, but not the stopping part. As for the park itself, the summer floods did quite a job on the path, ripping out entire portions of it. Hopefully they can get the funding to fix it all this winter. As for the birds, got to see a Greater Yellowlegs, an osprey, a Caspian tern and a multitude of cormorants, blue herons and gulls. But it was nice to get out again.
Latest Pictures
Links for the day:
no comments | posted in Birding, Links, Penn State, Pets, Photography, Play, Travel
Sep
17
2004
This has been a hell of a week – a ‘kick-me-in-the-nuts-then-steal-my-wife-eat-my-donuts-while-beating-my-dog’ type of week. I am exhausted, mentally and physically, and I can’t wait until 5:00 so that I can go home and let the whole week disappear into the past. I’m looking forward to watching the Penn State game with a couple of beers, doing some chores around the house, taking the pup for a walk and letting my mind get over this week. I do have some work – I’m updating the Mystique sight for fall, which is a nice distraction. At least one of my most major sources of stress is finally coming to a close tonight – the 2-month odyssey of my refinancing my investment property is finally being completed tonight. Now, I don’t want to say that the company I had been dealing with was criminal … okay, yes I do – unfortunately, I’m pretty sure they didn’t do anything actually illegal, just underhanded, sneaky and unethical. Regardless, avoid First Mutual Corp the same way that you would avoid a scraggly man trying to hand you a crusty booger – run away as fast as you can.
Update: reading the CNN article on the damage Ivan did, I came across this section:
“I’ve been down here 24 years, and this is the worst I’ve seen,” said Sgt. Al Fryer, a Pensacola police spokesman.”All beachfront and everything on the waterfont is devastated, and the damage is extreme,” he said.Florida Gov. Jeb Bush spoke about the storm’s power.”Entire houses were taken off their foundations and disappeared because of the storm surge on the barrier islands,” he said. “These are newly built luxury homes that don’t exist right now.”
Now, don’t get me wrong, I feel for these people losing their homes and the memories which might have been contained in them. But I have to wonder – when will people realize that the barrier islands are just that – barriers to the angry sea, set up by nature to be devastated when the big storms come in. It’s been happenings for thousands of years, and we think we can make Mother Nature stand up and go “Wow, that’s a nice $5.2M home built on sand no more than 5′ above sea level – I guess I’ll spare it!”? Think, people!
Well, it’s Friday, and I’m sure that everyone could use this type of thing to guide them into the weekend:
no comments | posted in Design, Family, Links, Programming, Rants
Sep
9
2004
Seen on the back of a dirty truck on the way into work:
“I spanked a Bolivian Tundra Camel today”
How does one respond to that?
Other thoughts, musings and links for the day »
no comments | posted in Humor, Links
