Archive for the 'One-and-done' Category

Aside: I live in Keystone

Monday, October 27th, 2008

You remember when I was making fun of the headline: “Another prisoner mistakenly released in N.S.“? Well, today’s top stories includes this choice headline “Halifax police mistakenly release man before court appearance”. Handsome devil, isn’t he?
Apparently I am living in Keystone.

They way they are supposed to.

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Since 2001 I’ve had less use for Christopher Hitchens than I used to. But hey, I’ve got even less use for Pope Inquisitor and his attempts to pull the Roman Catholic Church backwards in time.
So if Hitchens wants to get snarky on the practice of indulgences, as he does in the latest Free Inquiry, I’m [...]

Help With Trish’s Research

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

And now, you have a chance to help out with Trish’s research.
I’ll use her words to explain:

As most of us know and have experienced, sometimes painfully, sometimes to our benefit, the vast majority of software developers, and indeed these days the majority of professionals in general, work for a manager. Bad managers can frustrate us, [...]

Shhh! You’re giving away the secrets.

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

Closet Land

Monday, September 29th, 2008

While thinking about the use of torture by governments today, I found myself wishing I could just make everyone watch Closet Land1. Of course, I’ve lamented before about the fact that there is no DVD edition–at least no english one, although I did get my hands on a spanish one that at least lets me [...]

The Bricklayer’s Lament

Friday, September 19th, 2008

The first time I encountered the Bricklayer’s Lament was in the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. Todd Menton had just played a set with a backing band consisting of a digeridoo and two tubas1.
At some point after the set–possibly as part of the encore, although the years and the Guinness that night have conspired to make [...]

Casa El Profundo

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

It’s been a while since I did a “this recent discovery suggests Lovecraftian spookiness” post, so let’s do one of those.
According to National Geographic, a series of partially underwater temples—”A labyrinth filled with stone temples and pyramids in 14 caves”— have been found off the Yucatan.

The article talks about how these temples map onto legends [...]

Two Americas

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

David Simon, the man behind The Wire, had an interesting piece in the Guardian earlier this week, where he helps the British look at the way the idea of “the American experience” is essentially a non-sensical term, as there are now (at least) two distinct Americas. As usual, Baltimore is his lens, and he has [...]

Aside: R-Rated Bible

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

Man, there’s some stuff in the Bible that’s really not for kids. I’m not even talking about the rules in Leviticus, or the LSD trip in Revelations. Do the fundamentalists know about this?

I’ve been waiting to hear exactly that

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

“Our mission is to restore America’s influence and position in the world. We must use all the weapons in our arsenal, above all, our values. President Obama and Vice President Biden will shut down Guantanamo, respect the Constitution, and make clear once and for all, the United States of America does not torture, not now, [...]

Context

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008

Have I spoken of the Lapham’s Quarterly blog?
It’s a fine, fine thing–they take current topical news stories, and link them to something contextual from history to provide a different view, or highlight a particular nuance, etc.
A recent piece, contrasts some US election pandering with… well, that would be telling, but anyway you should check it [...]

Damn I Am Old

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

Nothing on this year’s Beloit College Mindset List hit me quite as hard as this one:
Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
Damn.

And now, from the “headlines I never expected to see” category…

Monday, August 4th, 2008

Knights Templar sue the Pope.
Yeah. That’s what I said.
The Daily Telegraph reports that The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ has launched a court case in Spain, demanding Pope Benedict “recognise” the seizure of assets worth €100bn. The Spanish-based group of Templars apparently says in a statement: “We are not trying [...]

Limits Of Human Ability

Monday, August 4th, 2008

Because I have a young daughter, I spend some time every week looking at various clips of dancers on YouTube, for her entertainment.
I’ve seen some pretty amazing stuff, but today I saw one that is hands down the most amazing thing. It’s a performance at the Circus Festival of Monaco, by two dancers, Wu Zhengdan [...]

Let’s Do The Time Warp Again

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

This post has nothing to do with the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Do you know the BBC Radio show Twenty Minutes?
Do you know the British author Justina Robson, much-mentioned on this blog, and much admired by me? (That’s her picture up there.)
Do you know Doctor Who? Did you know I’m a big old Doctor Who geek1?
All [...]