tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21865142008-07-23T06:40:09.077-04:00A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-18389305391866199012008-07-23T06:31:00.002-04:002008-07-23T06:40:09.110-04:00

From the New York Times, on the junk mailers' and post office initiative to make direct mail "greener." “Although direct-mail accounts for only 2.4 percent of landfill waste, many opportunities are available to lessen its environmental impact even more.” So, on top of filling my mailbox with several pounds of useless paper weekly, forcing me to carry unsolicited junk mail up the stairs,

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-80527480304158960682008-07-20T15:18:00.008-04:002008-07-20T15:36:41.465-04:00

OK, this is interesting. There's an ad campaign for an insurance company called "The Responsibility Project" which has rather arresting ads (I've seen some on TV), and when I allowed AdBlock to show ads on the New York Times (some odd capitalist guilt I'll talk about later), I saw the online ad and clicked on over to see what it's about. They have a whole series of short, well produced films

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-91582877939168024332008-05-30T06:26:00.005-04:002008-05-30T07:10:10.412-04:00

The Texas Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision that the state has no right to remove the 460+ children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in TX and remand them to the custody of the state. A near tsunami of Christian-leaning clucking do-gooders has been silenced (but unfortunately not slapped). There's no word about the serial sex abuse prank phone caller who instigated the whole tawdry

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-22107129191498600692008-05-29T06:03:00.002-04:002008-05-29T06:10:13.610-04:00

This morning I got up and my Fedora 9 box was offering an update. I checked the updates (I review them before I install them, mostly to see what's new), and there were a half dozen updates-- some nvidia related, and xorg related. Click, click, restart... I now have a fully functioning Fedora 9 installation that boots into the graphics mode login screen, and all is well with the world. I love

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-16806239411136596222008-05-28T20:34:00.004-04:002008-05-28T21:07:57.785-04:00

I just finished reading the newest book by the poet laureate of the US, Charles Simic, entitled That Little Something, and it's left me a little sad. Not because of the book, or the poetry therein, which are, characteristically, excellent, but by the production values of the book itself. Several of the pages, including several in the front, were poorly printed, at least one of the poems near the

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-58865550651329853992008-05-28T07:06:00.005-04:002008-05-28T21:07:37.943-04:00

After some more futzing around, I was able to make my new installation of Fedora 9 GNU/Linux use my closed source nvidia video driver to drive my computer monitor correctly. It's still a problem, because it doesn't start automatically. Whenever I start the computer, I wait through the full bootup, and about 30 seconds of flashing, then log in to the console screen and instruct the operating

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-11163948232158909212008-05-22T20:44:00.004-04:002008-05-28T21:10:17.772-04:00

Hello, my loyal reader. I wanted to pass on a piece of advice. Now, this is somewhat different for me, because if you know me well, you know I love computers, software, and especially Linux, the free, alternative operating system. I've been using it on all kinds of computers for years. I've used many different versions over time, but I've sort of settled on two distributions (like brands) for the

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-18518973863505401932008-05-15T06:22:00.005-04:002008-05-15T07:07:06.244-04:00

Robert Rauschenberg was a truly unique American genius. His huge assemblage paintings (if that's what they were called) were-- and still are-- amazing in their ability to force their audience to re-evaluate the role and purpose of fine art. How can we explain a piece of art dripping with paint, covered with words and graffiti, pillows, rope, police barriers, a mattress, axe handles, and with a

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-77166104944790764602008-05-13T06:34:00.005-04:002008-05-30T06:54:42.974-04:00

This is another story of dis-information (or maybe just mis-information) coming out of Iraq, about the number-one subject of bad (confusing, unsubstantiated, presented and then later corrected) news in the war today. The story is this item, about how the top leader in Al Qaeda in Iraq was captured and turned over to American troops. The problem with the story is, it's not true. It was duly

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-43275862515593790502008-05-11T13:51:00.001-04:002008-05-11T13:54:17.503-04:00

After another tourist's face is attacked in Florida, lawmakers in the state are calling for immediate action-- mandatory face-helmets have been proposed for all Florida residents. The bill's co-sponsor, representative Topper D. Bell, R-Sarasota, and scion of Bell Helmet family, applauded the move, saying protecting the faces of Floridians should be the legislature's immediate priority. "We'll

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-20827057714552138122008-05-08T18:54:00.005-04:002008-05-12T21:02:20.707-04:00

This isn't creative of me, to post this video in my blog, but this is one of those all-time, one in a million, awesome songs. Check it out: The song is "Are You Out There?" written and performed by Dar Williams. The names Jimmy Olson and Johnny Memphis refer to, I believe, DJ's on a radio station in Greenfield, MA in the 90's and earlier. The sentiment is pretty universal among young people.

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-54772549503155529872008-05-05T07:02:00.006-04:002008-05-12T21:04:40.269-04:00

This just in, American journalism has lost the ability to decode hyperbole. "Def: Hyperbole: Exaggeration used for emphasis. Hyperbole can be used to heighten effect, to catalyze recognition, or to create a humorous perception." GOP: "Well, your guy's preacher says 9/11 is the chickens coming home to roost!" DEM: "Well your guy's preacher said Hurricane Katrina was God's righteous anger at the

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-78887274633841824712008-04-28T06:41:00.006-04:002008-05-12T06:06:54.031-04:00

An unlikely international team made up of mathematicians at the Advanced Particle Accelerator in Berne, Switzerland and astronomers working with the Hubble Space Telescope, joined by the engineering team working on the Cosmic Background Radiation Explorer satellite launched in 2005 in a joint venture by the European Space Agency and NASA, have released the results of a new and far-ranging study

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-16650683039440236332008-04-25T06:49:00.006-04:002008-05-13T19:03:54.724-04:00

As a follow up to a story a couple of posts ago, according to the New York Times, the big bust at the Mormon Ranch is still in full swing. The Department of Child Protective Services is working very hard to place the children in new, more appropriate homes. We assume these are Baptist, or at least Protestant homes with TV's and ATV's and all of the American paraphernalia, and none of the

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-66279444920344337072008-04-24T18:52:00.003-04:002008-05-12T20:49:26.122-04:00

Hey folks... Rev. Wright is more right than wrong. Think about it. I don't believe it should be an issue in presidential politics, but come on people-- the good old US of A has not been great for educated southern liberal religious persons of color in the last 20 years. If a man such as Mr. Wright chooses to speak the truth, even using a bit of angry hyperbole, to the members of his congregation

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-53766765199031224082008-04-24T06:24:00.008-04:002008-05-13T19:03:20.667-04:00

Do you blog? Do you have a blog and find yourself trying to manage getting your thoughts organized and written down and remembering how to do things in HTML, and remembering where you put that link to some incredibly compelling web page, or worse, which web page you were reading when you had that sudden, profound insight, but now you can't remember either the website or the insight? Welcome to

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-57435966514729613082008-04-23T20:59:00.012-04:002008-05-12T20:51:05.131-04:00

Texas lawmen duped by serial sex-abuse hoaxer, clusterf**k ensuesThis is a disgusting story! This means the unprecedented Texas state seizure of over 400 children at the Yearning For Zion ranch in Texas was all the result of a hoax. And for weeks, the awesome power of the state to tear children away from the custody of their parents has been exercised on the word of an anonymous prank caller to

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-19881720188727857622008-04-18T06:43:00.003-04:002008-05-12T20:52:14.389-04:00

I made another recipe last night which I want to remember, so I'm posting it here (sorry, I didn't take photos). I stopped at Harbor Fish Market on the way home from work and bought a pound of beautiful jumbo Maine scallops. The recipe: Rinse the scallops in cold water, drain, and pour into a bowl. Add to a pound of scallops: Juice of 1/2 lemonJuice of 1/2 lime1 teaspoon hot sauce (more to taste

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-4919333852642698142008-04-18T06:05:00.005-04:002008-05-12T20:53:15.708-04:00

A couple of months ago I called my bank to try and figure out who had processed a $25.00 transaction against my account. I believed at the time someone might have gotten hold of my debit card number and stole the money. I soon found out from the person who answered that it was, indeed, the bank who had stolen the money (a story perhaps for another post), but something interesting happened when

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-53269481500897008742008-04-14T20:22:00.007-04:002008-05-13T20:21:05.306-04:00

OK, I have been avoiding this, but I have to post a recipe here, because I want to remember it. This one is for tequila lime pork chops, and it's damned good. Start with good pork chops. I use two (that's how big my family is), but four is better. Now, make a marinade. This is the approximate recipe: 3 tbsp good olive oil2 cloves garlic, crushed1 tsp horseradish1 scant shot of tequila (don't

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-53237314013813627122008-04-11T07:11:00.005-04:002008-05-12T20:54:39.370-04:00

The Maine legislature is floating another proposal to raise the cigarette tax in Maine. It's been proposed that a new tax of $1.00/pack be imposed on the nasty, wheezing reprobates who persist in partaking of the ugly and noxious habit of smoking. So there, tax 'em some more. Maybe a few more of them will stop. As someone who still remembers when smokers ruled-- when all leading men and women in

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-49481285843415647922008-04-11T06:54:00.003-04:002008-05-12T20:55:27.217-04:00

I believe we should hold Microsoft responsible for the end of civilization as we know it. How, you might ask, has civilization ended, and how has Microsoft caused this? Is it because of their buggy, insecure operating system? Their blithe, corporate-oriented, vehemently capitalist outlook which malignantly infects everything they or their software touches? Is it their hostile takeover bid for

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-64254564302141697232008-04-09T07:24:00.003-04:002008-04-09T08:52:03.413-04:00

Books are where they kept internet before we all had broadband, right?

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-2743598468018890172008-04-09T06:30:00.005-04:002008-05-12T20:56:13.005-04:00

More Americans between the ages of 25 and 64 die each year (perhaps twice as many) from lack of health insurance than from homicide. This is scandalous. I propose from now on that we leave the term "insurance" completely out of the discussion. Let's say that 220,000 Americans of working age die from lack of access to health care. Now, by leaving insurance out of the discussion, we've changed it

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2186514.post-2574180962328637282008-03-27T06:16:00.007-04:002008-05-12T20:56:56.417-04:00

The other day (it was Tuesday, March 25, 2008, at lunchtime) I listened on WMPG, the USM radio station, to a show called Home Dad, where the host was interviewing Elinor Goldberg from The Maine Children's Alliance, talking about their accomplishments in making life better for Maine's children. It turns out that organization's lobbyists have a referendum before the state legislature to ban smoking

A Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11218596616161358349noreply@blogger.com