Well, I talked to my brother briefly this afternoon (about 1:30), and he’s helping to cook over where he’s rooming right now. I don’t know if we’re going to get together today, or not, but at least we got a chance to gab for a bit. We’ll see where the day takes us, but I doubt anything will happen at this point. I do know that he’s getting fed and chilling out today, so that’s a good thing. If I don’t hear from him in an hour or two, I’ll chow down solo. [update, 5:07pm – He just called and said he wasn’t going to make it. That’s all well and good, but I missed out on getting together at Danny’s due to my sense of family and obligation to him. It’s too bad that I can’t get together with Dan today, but perhaps sometime this weekend will work out. ]

So far, being on call today has been slow, just a habitual this morning. (I was wondering if there’d be a rash of kids taking off with the force of holiday/family friction.)

“I know I’ve seen the hymn in a hymnal at a very odd little church on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach (it’s hard to describe just how odd it is that there’s a church there at all – it’s as if they transplanted a miniature Spanish Mission into a largely-gay international shopping mall)… I can’t remember if it had music or not, but I may have to drive the hour and a half to find out. ” – via Barbelith

The Hymn in Question?

#90 God of Concrete
[Frederick R.C. Clarke and Richard Granville Jones]
[from The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971 edition)]

God of concrete, God of steel,
God of piston and of wheel,
God of pylon, God of steam,
God of girder and of beam,
God of atom, God of mine:
all the world of power is thine.

Lord of cable, Lord of rail,
Lord of freeway and of mail,
Lord of rocket and of flight,
Lord of soaring satellite,
Lord of lightning’s flashing line:
all the world of speed is thine.

Lord of science, Lord of art,
Lord of map and graph and chart,
Lord of physics and research,
Word of Bible, Faith of church,
Lord of sequence and design:
all the world of truth is thine.

God whose glory fills the earth,
gave the universe its birth,
loosed the Christ with Easter’s might,
saves the world from evil’s blight,
claims us all by grace divine:
all the world of love is thine.

Man, that’s great. I would really like to hear a chorus of people singing that… Somehow, picturing a congregation wearing choir robes, Green Lantern rings and hard hats is wayyy too nifty to me.

William S. Burroughs – A Thanksgiving Prayer (mp3 format) (The snarky side of things.)

Nifty Cams all over the planet.

Spray-on female contraceptive to start trial

The world’s first trial of a female contraceptive spray will begin in Australia early in 2004. The approach involves a new technique for transferring hormones across the skin and a novel low-dose contraceptive hormone. Continue reading #6295 TG Status, Spiffy Hymn, Cams, Birth control. →

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yummy Chocolate Cabin and Chief Bit-o-honey
Compliments of Gallery of Regrettable food’s Party Cake Houses

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time. It’s been all been said before, but it bears repeating.

I feel that it exists as one last chance to dwell in an introspective, love-filled space before the rampant commercialism of Christmas turn us all into mall-dwelling spend-monkeys. That span until Christmas actually arrives can be so crass… I think that breaking through that month-long barrier of frenzy and stress once Christmas finally comes around makes the arrival that much more festive and sacred. Thanksgiving is the last deep breath before diving in, it seems.

I am thankful for so much this year, and for the last few years now. I’ve learned to be more appreciative, and I think that I have more to appreciate now than in years past. I’m thankful for about every synaptic impulse that hits my noggin through the day. From Newt nuzzling me awake to play first thing of the day to the last letter of text read (on the net or on paper), before I prepare for sleep.

I just feel so lucky to have consciousness. I’m awake. (A lot of the universe isn’t nearly that fortunate.) When I add in the love, joy, adventure and creative outlets in my life. I just have to pinch myself.

I’m thankful for having all sorts of love in my life, from my sweetheart, to Newt, to friendships… those that have been steady for ages, some that have been recovered recently after a wide gap, and those that started only this year, but have the potential to last well into the future. I’m thankful for a vocation that uses what knowledge and abilities I have to make a difference in the world, and help people. I’m thankful that I’ve got a roof over my head, a cupboard full of food, a desire and ability to continue to grow as a person. I’m thankful for all the people that have read my journal and introduced themselves to me. I’ve met *hundreds* of folks over time with this thing, and I feel that I’ve learned something good from every one of them. Thank you for being a part of my blessed life.

Getting together with the bro today, if all goes well. I’m on call so I can’t do much traveling (no more than 20 minutes from the net to place calls… I wonder if it will be crazy busy or totally quiet? There wasn’t a single call last night.)

I’m wondering what we’ll have. We could call the Downtown Pizzeria(they still use the ¢ sign on the menu), and get just about anything. when I worked the graveyard shift at IMT, I was so happy that they delivered until 4am, and that they had a huge selection…. I don’t see the bro picking anything up on the way over. If for some reason he decides not to make it, I’ll hold off, and fix something here out of what I’ve got in the cupboard.

Dan’s D20 / D&D fantasy game went well, he had a decent time, and the rest seemed to have a blast. Apparently strategy and tactics aren’t their strong suit, but they enjoyed it, and that’s really what counts. From what I hear, the GM has a lot of good potential and the players will adapt quickly enough. They fought a gelatinous cube and some sort of roof-gripping tentacled horror. (The name escapes me. I’ll have to ask Danny what that was again.) Apparently they were smacked around pretty thoroughly, but nobody kicked the bucket, which works well enough. There were a lot of critical failures… the paladin rolled a 1, and fumbled into the cube headlong, and they’re stuck having to draw him back out again… and the Mage botched a roll on magic missile, shooting a fighter-type rather than the aforementioned wriggly roof-monster.

Dan’s still got an aversion to dice that have more or less than six sides and maps on squares rather than hexes, but I think that he realizes that the play is the thing. I imagine that once he gets the full gist of the rules, he’ll enjoy it all the more. He’s talking about running a game next year at the school (he’s got no time or inclination this year) but I have serious doubts if he’s got any kind of time.

I wonder what Gelatinous Cubes would look like if D&D maps were originally drawn on hex paper? probably still cube shaped, because they sweep hallways and the like. The cool thing about gelatinous cubes is that it neither digests nor excretes metal, giving an adventurers a reason to kill it and scoop coins from its corpse. It’s like some sort of living, deadly, mall fountain.

Many E-book sources in one place. Handy!

Toshiba’s new e805 Pocket PC – sporting a large 640×480 resolution display (the first to turn up in a Pocket PC), 160MB of memory, a 400MHz processor, and built-in WiFi.

Art & Architecture is the Courtauld Gallery’s online visual resource – some 40,000 images covering, as the name suggests, the visual arts. Sample galleries include Destroyed: ten buildings which no longer exist.. There’s lots to browse here.

This looks pretty nice – a $200 PC with Linux. I may get one. I wonder if Lycoris is a decent server OS, since it seems to be sold as a desktop system.

Show and tell music has all kinds of great retro album covers.

One that stands out as rather twisted is Tortura. Don’t forget to download the jazzy MP3.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yummy Chocolate Cabin and Chief Bit-o-honey
Compliments of Gallery of Regrettable food’s Party Cake Houses

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time. It’s been all been said before, but it bears repeating.

I feel that it exists as one last chance to dwell in an introspective, love-filled space before the rampant commercialism of Christmas turn us all into mall-dwelling spend-monkeys. That span until Christmas actually arrives can be so crass… I think that breaking through that month-long barrier of frenzy and stress once Christmas finally comes around makes the arrival that much more festive and sacred. Thanksgiving is the last deep breath before diving in, it seems.

I am thankful for so much this year, and for the last few years now. I’ve learned to be more appreciative, and I think that I have more to appreciate now than in years past. I’m thankful for about every synaptic impulse that hits my noggin through the day. From Newt nuzzling me awake to play first thing of the day to the last letter of text read (on the net or on paper), before I prepare for sleep.

I just feel so lucky to have consciousness. I’m awake. (A lot of the universe isn’t nearly that fortunate.) When I add in the love, joy, adventure and creative outlets in my life. I just have to pinch myself.

I’m thankful for having all sorts of love in my life, from my sweetheart, to Newt, to friendships… those that have been steady for ages, some that have been recovered recently after a wide gap, and those that started only this year, but have the potential to last well into the future. I’m thankful for a vocation that uses what knowledge and abilities I have to make a difference in the world, and help people. I’m thankful that I’ve got a roof over my head, a cupboard full of food, a desire and ability to continue to grow as a person. I’m thankful for all the people that have read my journal and introduced themselves to me. I’ve met *hundreds* of folks over time with this thing, and I feel that I’ve learned something good from every one of them. Thank you for being a part of my blessed life.

Getting together with the bro today, if all goes well. I’m on call so I can’t do much traveling (no more than 20 minutes from the net to place calls… I wonder if it will be crazy busy or totally quiet? There wasn’t a single call last night.)

I’m wondering what we’ll have. We could call the Downtown Pizzeria(they still use the ¢ sign on the menu), and get just about anything. when I worked the graveyard shift at IMT, I was so happy that they delivered until 4am, and that they had a huge selection…. I don’t see the bro picking anything up on the way over. If for some reason he decides not to make it, I’ll hold off, and fix something here out of what I’ve got in the cupboard.

Dan’s D20 / D&D fantasy game went well, he had a decent time, and the rest seemed to have a blast. Apparently strategy and tactics aren’t their strong suit, but they enjoyed it, and that’s really what counts. From what I hear, the GM has a lot of good potential and the players will adapt quickly enough. They fought a gelatinous cube and some sort of roof-gripping tentacled horror. (The name escapes me. I’ll have to ask Danny what that was again.) Apparently they were smacked around pretty thoroughly, but nobody kicked the bucket, which works well enough. There were a lot of critical failures… the paladin rolled a 1, and fumbled into the cube headlong, and they’re stuck having to draw him back out again… and the Mage botched a roll on magic missile, shooting a fighter-type rather than the aforementioned wriggly roof-monster.

Dan’s still got an aversion to dice that have more or less than six sides and maps on squares rather than hexes, but I think that he realizes that the play is the thing. I imagine that once he gets the full gist of the rules, he’ll enjoy it all the more. He’s talking about running a game next year at the school (he’s got no time or inclination this year) but I have serious doubts if he’s got any kind of time.

I wonder what Gelatinous Cubes would look like if D&D maps were originally drawn on hex paper? probably still cube shaped, because they sweep hallways and the like. The cool thing about gelatinous cubes is that it neither digests nor excretes metal, giving an adventurers a reason to kill it and scoop coins from its corpse. It’s like some sort of living, deadly, mall fountain.

Many E-book sources in one place. Handy!

Toshiba’s new e805 Pocket PC – sporting a large 640×480 resolution display (the first to turn up in a Pocket PC), 160MB of memory, a 400MHz processor, and built-in WiFi.

Art & Architecture is the Courtauld Gallery’s online visual resource – some 40,000 images covering, as the name suggests, the visual arts. Sample galleries include Destroyed: ten buildings which no longer exist.. There’s lots to browse here.

This looks pretty nice – a $200 PC with Linux. I may get one. I wonder if Lycoris is a decent server OS, since it seems to be sold as a desktop system.

Show and tell music has all kinds of great retro album covers.

One that stands out as rather twisted is Tortura. Don’t forget to download the jazzy MP3.

Translate my journal into – Simplified Chinese, Dansk, Deutsch, Español, Français, Greek, Italiano, Japanese, Korean, Nederlands, Norsk, Polska, Portugués, Russian and Svensk.

(I just added that to my ever growing and very messy bio page) I’m not sure if I want to put the links on my journal itself, though it’d be much more convenient for folks that visit to spot it that way. Cool thing is that on many of the translatins, you can hover over words and see the English/other language translation.

Two new items added to eBay –

Coral Ridge Country Club Golf Foursome (Coral Ridge Country Club) and a One Month Fitness Spa Membership (Jupiter Fitness center)

Hopefully these will win ACIM some nice funds….I wonder if the foursome isn’t too pricey an item for a local deal, but we’ll see! I’ll have to get CS to edit the copy… he didn’t run it through a spell check. Otherwise, they look quite nice.

Del Monte’s canned sweet peas (no salt) are far better quality-wise than Green Giant.

An 80-year-old woman used a ceremonial sword to fight off two six-foot raiders who burst into her home.
Continue reading #6293 History, eBay, Fightin' Granny, translations →

Translate my journal into – Simplified Chinese, Dansk, Deutsch, Español, Français, Greek, Italiano, Japanese, Korean, Nederlands, Norsk, Polska, Portugués, Russian and Svensk.

(I just added that to my ever growing and very messy bio page) I’m not sure if I want to put the links on my journal itself, though it’d be much more convenient for folks that visit to spot it that way. Cool thing is that on many of the translatins, you can hover over words and see the English/other language translation.

Two new items added to eBay –

Coral Ridge Country Club Golf Foursome (Coral Ridge Country Club) and a One Month Fitness Spa Membership (Jupiter Fitness center)

Hopefully these will win ACIM some nice funds….I wonder if the foursome isn’t too pricey an item for a local deal, but we’ll see! I’ll have to get CS to edit the copy… he didn’t run it through a spell check. Otherwise, they look quite nice.

Del Monte’s canned sweet peas (no salt) are far better quality-wise than Green Giant.

An 80-year-old woman used a ceremonial sword to fight off two six-foot raiders who burst into her home.
Continue reading #6293 History, eBay, Fightin’ Granny, translations →

Ah, lovely. Back from this morning’s PT, which was just a glorified deep tissue massage, and that’s just fine by me. Afterward, I arrived home to find a package from Bahrain that needed shuttling northwards, and my check came in, so it was off to the bank for a deposit and the PO next door to launch goodies. Thanks, Oneeyed and Sedef! I’m sure the goodies will be well recieved. 🙂

Since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped in at Twistyland, just to nose around, and ended up grabbing a copy of Essential Ant-Man to add to my growing collection of that set. Not too shabby, the guy gave it to me for $10, though they normally discount it to $12. Plus, he threw in some atomic fireballs, and invited me to bring my MK armies down and play. So, huzzah!

As I type this, Danny’s students are playing the first solid game at the school. I hope that they’re having a great time, and look forward to hearing a full report when he gets home.

I’ve been getting a lot of hits from around the world lately… I really like seeing where the little connections go. breakdown

I have to schedule the techs for calls during the coming Christmas and New Years holiday. I’m not sure who I want to assign… I figure I’ll take one, and one will go to CS. I wonder which day will be busiest… I’d rather take the thicker day, and let him deal with the lighter, until he and I are both more confident in his skills.

Spent a long and wonderful time at the Institute of Official Cheer. The yearly Thanksgiving perusal of scary food from yesteryear, as well as other vintage weirdness had me in stitches for hours. Between the classic photos and commentary, I don’t know how anyone can’t get enjoyment out of the place.

Gollum Rap – I may’ve linked to this before, but it’s making the rounds, and I figure I’ll toss it up here for at least Danny and his Class to see. Ugh, I confused Oghor-hai with Olog-hai and Uruk-hai. What kind of Tolkien fan am I? A confused one, is all. Thank goodness for the Encyclopedia of Arda. (I’m considering a run of my “super-site-siphon” on it, just so I can have a local copy for the future.)

In local news, I’d like to try this out, but I don’ t know if I can get a teammate or two to come along:

ART SCAVENGER HUNT

The pursuit of art often ends with the pursuer finding something he would like to buy but can’t because his money has already been spent on rent, car payments and other pricey necessities. Money is no object, however, at this third annual search along the streets and cubbyholes of Himmarshee Village, where aesthetes will keep the art they find and not have to pay for it. Presented by artist Steve Sticht, the hunt begins at Tavern 213 with maps being handed out to each contestant. From there, follow the clues to works by Sticht, Juliana Forero, Francesco LoCastro, Skot Olsen, Pablo Serrano, Jill Weisberg and many more. Scavengers are limited to two pieces, which, once found, are to be taken back to Tavern 213, where the artists will sign them. Also, participants may need tools to obtain the art, some of which is fragile.

Location: Tavern 213, 213 S.W. Second St., Fort Lauderdale

Time: 8 p.m. Saturday, 11/29/03

Cost: Free

Contact: 954/463-6213

Anyone want to come?

Note to self, maybe during the above, check out Disassociated Books, a tiny shop tucked between an adult video store and a tattoo parlor (Babylon) south of Searstown on Federal Highway. I’ve been hearing good things about it.

The folks at PT are using me as a reference book again, which is fine, and flattering, but I always add the caveat, “Be sure and double check.” I answered a lot of general trivia, specifically about Yeoman Janice Rand, (Who was that chick with the ‘I dream of Jeannie hair that was the secretary?’… I admittedly don’t know the crazy amount of info on the link) and a few other misc items crossword puzzling.

I had to ban a user from the menstrualhut for being an idiot and writing abusive replies to some of the members there. They’ve been submitted to abuse team for review.. we’ll see if he gets deleted outright, or if the user-blocking is enough. I’ve only had to do it once before,

Wow, I got home, had a seat, and just totally conked out. I was reading one second, and the next, total brain shutdown. It seems like I just closed my eyes for a half-second and the sun outside went out. Very rarely to I switch off and on that rapidly. I think it’s a side effect of being awakened so early this morning… though naps usually give me a sense of comfort and peace, this was more of a “reset”. I’m wide awake now… hopefully I’ll get to sleep at a decent hour tonight, and fix my snooze-schedule.

Word count meme

Deep thought with me over last night’s code.

“Never ask for a name. Ask instead what those you meet would like to be called” – Doctor Occult

Well, I got boosted from bedski at the all-to-early hour of 5am, so I’m up up up, now. I’m pleased that the server is behaving the way it should, now, as there were errors getting into the primary login database last night.. I’m glad we have multiple servers for just such an occasion.

Scotto’s tech breakdown of what happened

Bush Budgets for mini-nukes.

A little-noted clause of the Fiscal Year 2004 defense bill, which both houses of Congress passed with barely a shrug last week, puts the United States back in the business—after a decade-long moratorium—of developing, testing, and eventually building a new generation of exotic nuclear weapons.

In its budget proposal earlier this year, the Bush administration asked for four things along these lines:

1) The repeal of a 1992 law banning the research and development of “low-yield” nuclear weapons (i.e., nukes with an explosive power of less than 5 kilotons);

2) $15 million for work on an earth-penetrating nuclear weapon (popularly known as a “bunker-buster”);

3) $6 million for an “Advanced Concepts Initiative,” in which the national weapons labs would once again explore special-effects nukes—for instance, nuclear weapons that, like the long-abandoned “neutron bomb,” would enhance certain types of radiation; and

4) $25 million to gear up the weapons labs to the point where they could resume underground nuclear tests within 18 months after a presidential order to do so. (The United States unilaterally stopped nuclear testing in 1992, on orders of the first President Bush, then formalized the cessation in 1995 by signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.)

The House and Senate armed services committees, meeting this month in conference, approved all four of Bush’s requests, with one caveat—that the president would have to come back for additional approval before actually producing low-yield nuclear weapons, though everyone concerned knows there’s a fine line between “development” and “production.”

Welcome to the future. Mini-Nukes combined with the current “First Strike Policy” looks like a disaster for nuclear disarmament and world peace.

While I’ve heard the talk for a while, the worst thing about this is that right here is the first I’ve heard of it officially.

These are the sorts of things that *will* get used – traditional nukes are so powerful that you literally scare each other out of using them. These things get around (and you know that other powers will soon develop them) and that deterrent is gone.

We already have 7,650 nukes at last count… more than enough to destroy every major population center thirty times over.

Dr Who is 40 years old. Somehow, it seems not as aged and even older at the same time, so I guess it balances out.

Newton has discovered that whenever he touches silver objects, he’ll get a treat. That’s all well and good for tapping the treat bag next to the monitor… but he’s also taken to patting the remote control to the TV, my digital camera, and my palmtop cradle. What’s worse is that I reinforce this behavior because I say to him “Oh, looking for a snack?” and then give him a could of kibbles from the hidden treat-pouch.

Had a nice time with my sweetie last night, and the special on Kandula was really nicely done…adorable footage, and a lot of useful information. Interesting to me is that they aired it practically on his second birthday (Nov 25th). I was really impressed at the amount of tolerance Shanthi (his mother) had for humans, and for artificial insemination. More Kandula Info Elephant cam inside & outside More Egyptian stuff coming in the first week of December, and I’m already quite enthused about that.

I got some delightful treats from oneeyed and sedef! A stamp, Frankincense (not crack rock!) assorted teas, sage, cinnamon (un-ground) and some coins… and a very spiffy 30 min Home-movies in Dubai VCD. It’s so nice to see that whole family cruising around and having fun. (A lot of silly singing of Queen.. and Dr. Falafel the tooth-pulling incident. The whole crew is really adorable…and family intestinal issues) A lot of the outdoor scenes look like Florida, save for the gigantic shisha store, inverted cones of meat and such. All of the treats are so nice… and Newt is crazy for some scent in there.. think it’s the cinnamon. Thank you so much!

Sometimes I like the idea of living in a pod. (I figure if I can’t own the domain, at least someone else has something cool there.)

I’d like to visit the showing of Tokyo: The Imperial Capital… it just started showing this week at the Wolfsonian in Miami. The prints have a good, solid feel to them, and I’d like to see them up close and personal.

Well, groceries are restocked, bills are sent out, my pt taken care of, light office duty is going well, and it’s time for lunch! Not too shabby for a Monday! Until later, dear journal.

Where was I? I forgot
The point that I was making
I said if I was smart that I would
Save up for a piece of string
And a rock to wind the string around

I remember a time when you could knock someone out with the receiver of a telephone, at least you could if you were Jim Rockford on TV, fighting off thugs with mustaches who took him to a 70’s hotel room for interrogation… usually with a blond client. *bonk* The bad guy would get conked, and out they’d run.

I’m old enough to remember a time before touch tone phones, and when a phone call from a pay phone only cost a dime.

I actually remember seeing stores with ¢ on their signs. Menus, too. Woolworth’s, especially. When I was eight years old or or thereabouts… I must’ve been eight as it was just after the bicentennial. I’d wait out my mother’s shopping by getting a huge plate of french fries at the Woolworth’s snack bar for 45¢, (I forget how much the coke was) and sit and read my three comics that proclaimed a cost of 30¢.I remember really being happy that I could squeeze two dollars into a meal and a fistful of comics, with a little left over (not a lot, though. It usually got blown on gum or whatnot.)

Those were good times, for me… I got some solitary reading and junk food, with the Mom and 4 year old brother didn’t have to put up with my being a distraction in other parts of the store. I got to know a few of the regulars workers there, Middle-aged women in uniform, usually very nice, and the time of day meant that I wasn’t taking up valuable tip-space. I always left at least a dime as a tip, and it usually tickled the counter-staff that a young kid was being courteous enough to do something like that. My Mother had a job as a hairdresser at the same collection of stores, and I would spend a lot of time at the Woolworth’s or at the salon on days that I had no school, but she still had to go to work. My brother got a babysitter and sometimes I’d be called on to keep an eye on him… but I was pretty much left to my own devices, as long as I didn’t wander too far off. The times with the brother were fun too, but wandering solo at eight years old has a real magic to it. There were a lot of really nice people at the mall, and I fairly had the run of the place…at least the places that a kid would like.

So, anyway… I wonder if the cent sign is about used up, these days? I remember when the ¢ was on typewriters, too, but I can’t say as I’ve ever seen them on a computer keyboard. Fractions, as well. hmm.. come to think of it, I think the @ was a shift-¢ (or vice versa).

I’m really looking forward to watching the show about Kandula tonight on Discovery.

“On a seemingly ordinary day in November, 2001, something amazing happens at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C. – Baby Kandula is born. His birth marks a rare success and huge scientific milestone for the zoological community: The 320-pound newborn is only the second Asian elephant to be born through artificial insemination.

Baby Kandula cavorts and romps across the zoo grounds, yet is oblivious to his own importance globally. The pioneering science that made Kandula’s conception possible gives new hope to the worldwide network of pachyderm experts desperately trying to reverse the Asian elephants’ ever-quickening march toward extinction. The fervent efforts to understand a deadly virus that is sweeping through the elephant community may rest solely on this little one’s ample shoulders.”

Radar using existing cell-phone signals. Continue reading #6283 Whatever comes to mind, kid memory, cent sign, elephants →

Talked to Danny earlier, and got to hear about his coming game with his students. It sounds like he’s going to have a lot of fun… six players, one DM… First level party comprised primarily of Halflings and half-elves. Dan helped Julian with some plotting and mapping, so he knows a few “surprises that will be popping up in the course of the adventure…I think that helped his enthusiasm. He also assisted many of the players with character backstory and general fleshing out of the party. As it stands now, there’s a rogue (Danny… going to multi-class with a ranger, I think), A pair of clerics (Each with bladed weapons.. is that allowed now?), a paladin, a fighter, and Ex-pirate Assassin-type turned good. They’re going to go on an old-school cave/dungeon crawl Wednesday after school (Half-day for thanksgiving) until 5:30. I look forward to hearing how it goes… I’m Happy that he’s found a little social gaming fun to squeeze into his burny-outie teaching schedule.

It looks like we’ll not be going to his place for thanksgiving… instead, I think my brother and I will just spend some time together and get Chinese or Mexican, and give thanks that someone else is cooking, and maybe catch that seagoing flick. In other, related news, bro never returned for his TV today.

MmMM… Chocolate Braaaiiiins.

RE: What I’ve been watching on CSPAN2

Here’s a way for seniors to express to Congress their displeasure with AARP for supporting this bill.

Also, if they are unsure, have them go here and click on their state. This is a report commissioned by the Institute For America’s Future about how this bill would brutalize the Medicare system for each state.

Emergency Campaign to Save Medicare – Reports by State

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know enough about this bill, but I think that the first sign of a bad deal is the fact that it’s getting rushed through without giving people any real time to go over all of it’s details. And those that I HAVE seen I find disgusting.

The NYT’s Paul Krugman on the bill, and AARP’s stance Continue reading #6282 Danny's group, The Medicare bit, WWN, good movie possibilities, brains, Hitler. →

Talked to Danny earlier, and got to hear about his coming game with his students. It sounds like he’s going to have a lot of fun… six players, one DM… First level party comprised primarily of Halflings and half-elves. Dan helped Julian with some plotting and mapping, so he knows a few “surprises that will be popping up in the course of the adventure…I think that helped his enthusiasm. He also assisted many of the players with character backstory and general fleshing out of the party. As it stands now, there’s a rogue (Danny… going to multi-class with a ranger, I think), A pair of clerics (Each with bladed weapons.. is that allowed now?), a paladin, a fighter, and Ex-pirate Assassin-type turned good. They’re going to go on an old-school cave/dungeon crawl Wednesday after school (Half-day for thanksgiving) until 5:30. I look forward to hearing how it goes… I’m Happy that he’s found a little social gaming fun to squeeze into his burny-outie teaching schedule.

It looks like we’ll not be going to his place for thanksgiving… instead, I think my brother and I will just spend some time together and get Chinese or Mexican, and give thanks that someone else is cooking, and maybe catch that seagoing flick. In other, related news, bro never returned for his TV today.

MmMM… Chocolate Braaaiiiins.

RE: What I’ve been watching on CSPAN2

Here’s a way for seniors to express to Congress their displeasure with AARP for supporting this bill.

Also, if they are unsure, have them go here and click on their state. This is a report commissioned by the Institute For America’s Future about how this bill would brutalize the Medicare system for each state.

Emergency Campaign to Save Medicare – Reports by State

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know enough about this bill, but I think that the first sign of a bad deal is the fact that it’s getting rushed through without giving people any real time to go over all of it’s details. And those that I HAVE seen I find disgusting.

The NYT’s Paul Krugman on the bill, and AARP’s stance Continue reading #6282 Danny’s group, The Medicare bit, WWN, good movie possibilities, brains, Hitler. →

Brother came by, wanting to borrow “$35 to do laundry, and to get by until he’s paid on Monday”… I told him that I couldn’t help him with cash, but if he wanted soap, bleach and softener that I could hook him up. He then tried to bargain me down to $20, and then just $10 to do his wash. “Because he borrowed it from a guy” I told him to tell the guy that he gets paid on Monday, and will take care of him then… Like he said he’d take care of me. It hurt to have to say no, but the fact that he’s communicating with his old cronies and showed up with a beer in his hand “that someone gave him” made it easier for me. He always smells of beer, when he comes by even though he claims that he’s not a problem drinker. My reply to the was “If it’s not a problem, I dare you to go until my birthday without having a drink… and if you do have a problem, you need to get it fixed”. I think that he’ll come back later for the TV of his that I’m storing here, in order to pawn it. I figure the whole reason he came down my way to “do laundry” was to try and hustle me for some funds. That’s not going to happen any more. I’ll give him supplies… laundry soap, detergent, etc, but I just can’t validate giving him any money. I just won’t support his habits or lack of forethought anymore. Dealing with Frankie recently has helped me to understand that I’m not doing my brother or myself any good by helping him to be an addict. I don’t want to see him descend to Frankie’s level as a result of my “assistance.” So, that’s got me a little cranky today. I love my brother, but I don’t like what he’s up to. I’m glad that I can rely on my sweetheart and Newt to bring good thoughts.

There are some who call me Kareem Adel Jabbar (No relation to basketball players)

Scotto’s Dirty little secret of the day – I’m fascinated watching the U.S. Senate debate on legislation on C-Span 2 right now. A place where people can still use the term “boondoggle” multiple times in serious conversation. (I still think of that as a Boy Scout reference when I hear it.) Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) seems to be a voice of reason, questioning elements of Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) statements about drug companies, Medicare, HMOs and seniors. (Medicare Prescription Drug plan).. Basically a Big sloppy Kiss to the Insurance industry, and harsh to folks on Medicare. It’s nice to see folks arguing for a social motive, rather than a profit motive…at least on the face of things. I really like folks that can think on their feet, rather than just delivering a canned speech, too.

It occurs to me that I have no idea where my blue dice bag & dice are. I’ve got some assorted 6-siders in boxed games, or with my minis, but the big blue bag has been packed away since I moved here. I could guess at the location, but don’t know for sure.

I had a crick in my right side, probably from over exerting myself on the stretching this morning, but I’m feeling better now.

Geek moment: The person I was most sad to see go as a result of Crisis was Clayface (Matt Hagan) . (Even more than The Flash or Supergirl.) I was really happy to see him back on the Batman Cartoon.

Wow… 40 years ago, JFK in Dallas. I was born after the fact, so it seems like it’s ancient history, not so recent.

Human Oddities

Wonderful composite of Moon and Sun via apod

Biological Molecule Quiz