Vote Kasha

Don't let the bedbugs bite

2005-06-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article about the person who filmed the meeting at Yalta and it made a reference to bedbugs. Apparently, these things actually exist! Yes, bedbugs are alive and well, not the fairy-tale creatures I thought they were. Here's how Wikipedia describes these guys:

Bedbugs (or bed bugs) are small nocturnal insects of the family Cimicidae that feed on the blood of humans and other warm-blooded hosts.

There was an article a while ago on a human exoskeleton. How cool is that? Sounds remarkably similar to Starship Troopers or those machines in the movie Aliens. Not exactly knew, and articles like this pop up fairly often, but still very cool.

Then there's the old argument over farm subsidies. I swear, these countries need to have people who've studied economics. It's the same as the anti-globalization protesters who just don't want to be part of the world. They want to live in the past. I'm going to single out France as particularly bad about these (their massive farm subsidies, their insistence on always creating a French version of everything such as their proposed competitor to Google's digitized book service). But what really caught my eye was this quote:

In total, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo estimated, "corrupt African leaders have stolen at least $140 billion from their people in the [four] decades since independence." All that is left when these regimes eventually collapse is a massive public debt.

Over at DailyKOS there's a mention of some of the things that are soldiers have done. Right above another story about Gitmo abuse. And then you pop on over to National Review, and you see that they're LAUDING Gitmo. Umm, anyone understand this? How can you be so utterly partisan to just ignore what's going on?

Silently, he comes

2005-06-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

So, I clearly haven't posted in this blog in, ohh, a long-ass time. I don't know why I've decided to start this up again, and I'm quite well aware that no one is probably reading this, but I feel like posting anyway.

So, first things first, I've discovered a great new site called Sign and Sight. Props to you if you noticed the Sein und Zeit reference and shame on you if you don't even know what that is. This site is an english-language translation of German articles so we can learn about what those wacky German intellectuals are cogitating on.

I also have my normal oh-so-deep thoughts on Arts and Letters Daily. I'm not going to discuss any past articles (because I can't be bothered), but I liked this one on genetically modified people. I enjoy it. By the by, I think that the whole anti-frankenfood campaign is one of the most irresponsible things that have been done in the name of "environmentalism" and "health". And among the dumbest. I can't understand how anyone educated in science can be against it, it's nothing but being afraid of new technology.

In the name of pretention, there are also two recent articles on music. One is on young, modern Mozarts and the other is on the horrors of Beethoven. And while I'm at it, here's an article on the education of artists. But more importantly, a lot of hype has come up on the web surrounding a band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Apparently they've been compared to Wilco, Neutral Milk Hotel, Talking Heads, My Bloody Valentine, and Arcade Fire. If they sound like a combination of those (however weird that is), I'm all in. There are a few mp3s around. Now I just got to pirate me this CD and see if it's actually any good...

For you, Michael, for you

2005-01-20T07:25:00.000-08:00

Since Michael has been mewling like a kitten without its mother's milk for me to post something to this blog, I guess I'll finally do it. I've been meaning to for a while, anyway, just too lazy.

I'm pretty busy right now (yeah right) so I'll post more later, but here's something I've found pretty interesting and has been taking up a fair bit of my time. It's the CIA's prediction of what the world will look like in fifteen years. Spend some time reading through it, learn yourself of the world. It's interesting. Really.

Election Results

2004-11-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

Ah, the mighty election. So what happened? Well, my fair state decided it hates land-use policy, the forest, and gays. My fair president ran an election where one of it's main platforms was discrimination against a minority (gays) and it won. Further, this was a DRIVING FACT for it winning. Bush thinks he has a mandate when nearly half the nation does not want him. Great.

Ahh, Willamette

2004-10-31T17:44:00.000-08:00

I was just checking out the class schedule for next semester at Willamette. What d'ya know, they're FINALLY offering Econometrics (and if I had been abroad like I was planning I would have missed it, of course). And, of course, the ONE math class I would not have taken is at the same time. Which means if I were still there I'd be taking...biology? Maybe I could try and get into the Creative Writing class that always gets filled by seniors. Nope, I'd probably just end up in Philosophy classes for lack of anything better. They really need to open more high-level courses and stop catering to the lower-denominator.

The word of the day is "Fangoriously"

2004-10-31T08:58:00.000-08:00

More stuff I miss...haven't watched HomeStarRunner in forever.

This one is a classic, as is Trogdor the Burninator. And the one that introduced me to it...THE SYSTEM IS DOWN. And of course, in other flash animations, We Are Robots.

Comics are kind of like literature

2004-10-31T07:59:00.000-08:00

Ah, Get Fuzzy, how I miss thee...

[EDIT: The image was taking too much space, so here is a hardlink: http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/images/getfuzzy2004203390930.gif]

Here we go again

2004-10-24T05:37:00.000-07:00

I was looking through the census info because I'm a dork, and I came across the metro area populations for America. I was surprised to find that Portland, at #23 is 2.26 million people...I'd kind of thought it was 1.5 million. Shows what I know. Seattle is 3.55 million and San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose is 7.04 million. What d'ya know. Also interesting was that Portland-proper is the 28th largest city 529,121 people only a couple places behind Seattle at 563,374. San Francisco has 776,733 people. All available here.

In politics, the NYT has a pair of articles on the aftermath of the election as concernsthe political parties. One is about the effect on the Democrats and one on the Republicans. My guess is that the Republican party is going to become more evangelical and religiously conservative no matter which way the election swings. On the fiscal side, I don't know where it will go. The Democrats I suspect will become more moderate as Democratic Senators and House members enter from Southern states. But nationwide? Again, I don't know. I'll repeat again, I think the Democrats need a better (or a singular) unifying intellectual philosophy. What do the Democrats stand for? I can certainly answer that, but not in any real consistent way; I feel like the Democratic platform is a mish-mash of ideas without any real consistency.

Now on to the really cool stuff. Some scientists have taken neurons from a rat brain, cultured them, and taught them to fly a simple flight simulator - the first step towards a living artificial brain. There's the press release and general info, and then the Wired article. I think this is very exciting and would love to do something like this after University. I've heard that for Computational Neurobiology grad programs they prefer people with strong math backgrounds than strong biology backgrounds, because it is easier to teach math people biology (it's really just a bunch of memorization, from what I can tell) than it is to teach biology people math (guess what I think about that ;). I still find the idea of an artificially-grown brain a little creepy, but very cool. Who needs ethics in science?

Ich ueber alles

2004-10-22T05:43:00.000-07:00

I finally got my books yesterday. It was great to be able to peruse through my Nietzsche collection again. To wit:

What? A great man? I always see only the actor of his own ideal.

The lawyers defending a criminal are rarely artists enough to turn the beautiful terribleness of his deed to his advantage.

Discovering that one is loved in return really out to disenchant the lover with the beloved. "What? this person is modest enough to love even you? Or stupid enough? Or- Or-"

What a man is begins to betray itself when his talent decreases - when he stops showing what he can do. Talent, too, is finery; finery, too, is a hiding place.

"Not that you lied to me, but that I no longer believe you, has shaken me"-

"I don't like him." - Why? - "I am not equal to him." Has any human being ever answered that way?

A people [Ein Volk] is a detour of nature to get to six or seven great men. - Yes, and then to get around them.

Ah, how uplifting. Nietzsche's great. I'm currently in the middle of reading Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus which is pretty dense and slow going. We'll see if I agree with his conclusion (from what I've heard I'm inclined to say no, but I guess I should probably keep an open mind.

Found a somewhat interesting article that contends that Mozart had Tourette's. It seems to mainly be based on the fact that he enjoyed potty humor, but there is also evidence of him being jittery and twitchy, and having OCD. Sounds familiar (minus the potty humor part). I've heard of similar situations where Tourette's gave someone a certain uniqueness in their musical playing (I think it was in the book The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat).

A manic depressive named laughing boy

2004-10-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

Got some stuff on politics for this post. First, Jon Stewart is my hero. He took on Hardball, made the guys look like idiots, and made himself look great. I enjoyed when one of the interviewers asked him if his job as a comedian or a citizen was more important and he replied that his comedian job was more important; the interviewer then blithely proceeded to not notice that he was being sarcastic. Here are some links to transcripts and videos.

On the whole draft issue, there's a couple of funny things that have happened. (Here are more links courtesy of dailyKos): First, MTV's Rock The Vote brought up the possibility of the draft as an issue in the campaign. This pisses off the RNC because they don't want it as an issue, so they are sending a cease-and-desist letter to the Rock The Vote campaign. Now this is a real issue because there is a definite possibility of a draft if troop levels are expected to be sustained (especially with this "backdoor draft" already happening to the National Guard). Here is the exchange of letters with Rock The Vote coming out on top, IMHO (though they need new writers - the guy who wrote the letter sounds about 15).

Also amusing is this quote from Bush:

I made it very plain we will not have an all-volunteer army.

Quite clearly a mistake, but it still raises questions.

And here is a link to the newspaper endorsements for Kerry versus for Bush. Although Kerry only leads 15-13, the circulation lead is 4 million to 850,000. Quite a lead, neh? I also saw The Corner worrying about the endorsements; apparently The Oregonian has one of the best records for endorsing the future president and this year they endorsed Kerry (there were other papers they targeted, as well, and only one of them had picked an endorsement: also for Kerry).

Found an interesting article on how political polling works and how, depending on your assumptions, either Bush or Kerry is ahead. Nothing earth-shattering, but still informative.

I haven't read the following article, but it seems interesting (I guess this is more a reminder for me to read it later). Something about globalization and prosperity and all that. I'm pro-Globalization, so I guess I should become as educated on the subject as I can...

Finally, I found an interesting article on ketchup. Now, I don't actually like ketchup, but it was interesting for the view into the food world and the history of said ketchup. Read and be learned!

Read and Response - Time Out of Joint

2004-10-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article by Sadik al-Azm (as if that name means anything to you) called Time Out of Joint. It's thesis is summarized in the following:

...the number of supporters of armed Islamism is unlikely to grow, its support throughout the Arab Muslim world will likely decline, and the opposition by other Muslim groups will surely grow. 9/11 signaled the last gasp of Islamism rather than the beginnings of its global challenge.

I'm not sure how much I agree or disagree with this, but his article contained several arguments that I often see when this topic is discussed, and that really bother me. For example:

The madness of the Islamists’ spectacular attack on the World Trade Center is self-evident; its despair lies in its inevitably annihilating impact on the plotters and perpetrators themselves, world Islamism in general, and the al Qaeda networks, organizations, and systems of support in particular (including the Taliban regime in Afghanistan).

The madness is self-evident? Not in the sense that al-Azm is speaking of. Inevitable annihilating impact on the plotters and perpetrators itself? Taken to it's logical conclusion, this would appear to mean that a successful act of warfare by a group is "madness". I don't know about you, but this doesn't appear to make much sense to me. Perhaps he's speaking of the madness of a weak force taking on a much more powerful and resourceful force (assuming for the moment that al-Qaede is a "weak force" - I think distinctions of power in this case are somewhat nebulous and if not irrelevant). It still seems to be a fairly nonsensical statement, whatever he means.

And this quote is central to his thesis. Analyze who the "annihilating impact" is on. First, the plotters and perpetrators. Where oh where is the annihilated bin Laden? Is the al-Qaeda structure really destroyed? Damaged severely, I'd agree to that, but destroyed? And even if al-Qaeda itself were destroyed, what of the philosophy represented by the organization? It certainly appear alive and well. What about world Islam? Is that really damaged? It is almost certain that it is suffering from more discrimination in the non-muslim world than it would otherwise have. But from the perspective of the radical Islamist, perhaps current growth is not as important as future growth, or perhaps it is not as important as the destruction of the enemy. But it certainly does not seem to be hurting Islam in the Islamic world at all. It's more a question of perception, I think, than anything else. And finally, yes certain systems of support were destroyed (such as the Taliban government). But many systems of support are still around (Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, etc.) and again, for those committing warfare, sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice something for a greater good. I do not see terrorism as an "obviously" mad idea. Perhaps it is not best strategically, but certainly not mad.

The other quote that I want to talk about is the following:

...as Arabs and Muslims (and I use Muslim here in the historical and cultural sense), we continue to imagine ourselves as conquerors, history-makers, pace-setters, pioneers, and leaders of world-historic proportions.

In the marrow of our bones, we still perceive ourselves as the subjects of history, not its objects, as its agents and not its victims. We have never acknowledged, let alone reconciled ourselves to, the marginality and passivity of our position in modern times. In fact, deep in our collective soul, we find it intolerable that our supposedly great nation must stand helplessly on the margins not only of modern history in general but even of our local and particular histories.

Now this appears to be a generalization that can be applied to any major civilization that has any hint of grandeur in it's past. Would this not also apply equally to China? I'm sure Europe during the middle ages certainly thought of itself as great, in the spirit of the Roman Empire. Any lack of power was intolerable, and that it would stand on the margins of "modern history"...basically I just find this to be a problem not particularly unique to the Arab world.

One final quote that made me think (though not particularly insightful):

The two supposedly clashing sides are so unequal in power, military might, productive capacity, efficiency, effective institutions, wealth, social organization, science, and technology that the clash can only be of the inconsequential sort.

In the short term, this is quite clearly true. However, in the long term it is in no way obviously true. Look how far China has come in fifty years. Great civilizations seem to rise and fall every few hundred years (and in this sense I mean "civilizations" in the sense that would apply to the British Empire as a unique civilization, America as a unique civilization, etc.). Britain is in no way a destitute nation, but how much weaker is it comparitavely than at it's height? How far has Germany fallen from being the center of world science and philosophy? How much longer does America really have? Despite all this talk of America as a "hyperpower", it seems realistic that in another fifty or one hundred years, another or civilization will take it's place. Why not the Arab nations? Or China? It seems to be the natural course of history. 'course, I don't honestly know much about history...

Just like I'm there

2004-10-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

So I'm trying to learn Maple Leaf Rag (Joplin) right now and I'm playing Fantasia in D Minor (Mozart). Since I'm somewhat far away, here are a couple of mp3s of what I *might* sound like:
Maple Leaf Rag
Fantasia in D Minor

Now it's pubbing time.

Wowzers

2004-10-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling somewhat prolific today, so here's yet another post. My wee sister has a good commentary on last night's presidential debates up. Amusing and insightful. What do ya know? She should work for a network. Then at least they'd have someone COMPETENT.

I just had the strange experiene of downloading something from Sourceforge and reflexively going down to the California mirror. Took me a second to realize I'm not actually in America anymore, I'm in Europe (Dublin's the closest mirror). Luckily I appear able to pull a megaBYTE per second here. Pretty awesome. It's also strange having to pay attention to different release dates in Europe from America. Not used to these things yet - still an American at heart, I guess (wow, four weeks can't change a guy that much).

I finished Faust, Part I yesterday. It was a good tragedy, but I always have trouble reading plays and getting the full effect of them. I feel like I need to watch a play to truly understand it's worth. Faust was still interesting, although there were times when I got annoyed with the two hundred-plus year old conventions that it used. I've started reading the first book of In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past or whatever the hell you want to call it. This one here. The one by Proust. It's incredibly poetic, the first eight pages are just about how he spends the night sleeping? It's incredibly beautiful. Of course, there's apparently about 6000 pages worth of this stuff, so we'll see how I handle all of that. Might have to take breaks in between some of the books.

I'm not that creative

2004-10-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally had time to go over the polls and what the pundits across the net and zines are saying about the debate. Judging from what I've read at DailyKos, all the polls seem to give Kerry a fairly decisive win for last night's debate; the closest poll had Kerry winning by 2 points with an eight percent Republican bias. Sounds pretty good to me. Conservative pundits such as those at The Corner seem to have little more to say than, "Well, we thought it was a decisive Bush win. But that liberal media...you know those crazy fucks will always support Kerry!" They seem to be forgetting, of course, how much they attacked Gore's performance four years ago. Still...the media _IS_ liberal, right? It's not just that they're WRONG?

I've been looking at the number of page views a day and I appear to be averaging about 10 unique hits a day (not including me). Not sure who all these people are, but I appear to even have a regular reader in Russia? And I haven't even really publicized this blog more than just posting a link to it in my AIM profile. Wacky.

Oh, and for those of you who might get a mobile here in Scotland (and I assume the rest of the UK). Advice: don't get a contract with Virgin. They have really crappy reception and I keep getting texts from friends literally eight hours after they send them.

I watched Reservoir Dogs again last night. I love Quentin Tarantino, I think he's one of the best directors around. If you haven't seen the movie, I definitely recommend it, although it is a bit violent. I rate it an A-. I'd give an actual critical review here, but I want a nap.

And now before I go to sleep, here are those psuedo-intellectual links for all ya'all to read and become learn-ed:

- First an article about Notions of Beauty. It just briefly considers various ideas of art and arts movements over the twentieth century. Helps ya understand what all those "cultured" people are talking about.

- Someone purports to identify a crisis in American liberalism. I agree with him up to a point; I think the major problem is the lack of a monolithic intellectual foundation for current liberalism in America. It seems too chaotic and vaguely inconsistent right now. I may post my ideas on this later.

- The most KICK ASS of these posts - info on the upcoming Nirvana boxed set (god I want this). Get this: 68 of the tracks are going to be previously unreleased tracks (all probably available in the Outcesticide bootlegs, but hey, I don't have those). Coming from Nirvana, at least 10 of these tracks have to be absolutely incredible.

- Yeah yeah, it's like has been done before, but now it's with a COW. Yup, they've mapped the cow genome. Pretty cool. It will probably scare all those naturalistic wimps who don't want genetically modified food; people are awfully strange about this. They just don't grasp that most of these modifications can also be made using selective breeding methods. I believe at one point someone even showed that the "golden rice" can be created using selective breeding. Genetic modification has been done for thousands of years by humans, now it's just selective. And I don't buy the whole monoculture argument against genetic modification of crops/cows. Targeting one gene to be modified isn't a monoculture any more than raising dairy cattle versus beef cattle is.

- More science news, Harvard wants to clone embryos. I'm all for it. But isn't this illegal? I thought Congress banned this?

- Someone beat tit-for-tat in Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. The method seems a little against the spirit of the game, but still is intriguing. IPD is one of my pet hobbies - I love studying this thing (probably because of it's connection with evolutionary theories).

- An interesting article at Generation 5 about Constructing Conciousness. I'm still not entirely sure if people will ever accept that an artifact can be conscious. Or if consciousness is just a misleading word we use to identify a concept that is nothing more than an emergent construct of our nervous system (neural network - our mind).

The debates

2004-10-14T03:37:00.000-07:00

Some quick notes on the debates before I rush off for class. First off, it's annoying having the debates START at 2AM here in Scotland. Don't they think of their international base? ;) I think this was Kerry's worst performance so far - not that it was necessarily BAD, but that he did BETTER in the other two debates by far. Bush's omnipresent smirk throughout the first half was really annoying and his attempt to be "calm, cool, and collected" during the second half by speaking softly was almost as bad. I'm going to say that this was a slight win for Kerry, but nothing spectacular for the other two; Bush didn't do as badly as people expected him to do, so that's a plus for him (why, I've never been sure; the press is strange). We'll see how the pundits react to it.

It was annoying being in a room full of angry liberals because they kept arguing with the TV. Do people not understand that politicians aren't at all concerned with LOGICAL argument? They don't try and make sound arguments (I was somewhat amused by the economics of one of Bush's arguments; don't make any sense; but I chose not to say anything). What matters is what the average person, who knows squat about policy, thinks about what they said. And that's where I'm always afraid that Bush does well (although, thanks to Mr. Cognitive Dissonance, I can never tell). Remember: what matters in politics is not the TRUTH, but what people perceive. And that always kind of makes me sad.

I am the I am

2004-10-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

List of things people have said about me. I...
- do not look like someone who drinks beer; I should be drinking apple juice instead
- look like someone who plays guitar
- do not look like a computer geek
- look like an english/philosophy person

Whoda thunk it?

Links anonymous

2004-10-13T06:05:00.000-07:00

Got my semi-daily collection of links that I know ya'll love:

First, a little cartoon which can currently be found here, but I expect soon will be found here. Read it, it's good for the soul.

Next up is an article about finding a job as a professor. I need to worry about this because I have only, what, eight years left? I need to get a move on.

Now you need to tell me - what are the greatest equations EVER? I vote for e^(PI*i) + 1 = 0 (Euler's Formula) just because it's so goddamn cool, but 1+1=2 gets my vote, too. Read someone's suggested list who's more informed than I am.

The New York times has an article on callgirls which is interesting just because life is so DIFFERENT for some people, it's fascinating to peek in from the outside (although somewhat sad). Not sure what I should think of this, besides it seems to pay well...

Finally, reading through Faust, Part I I came upon a reference to Adam's first wife, Lilith. I'd never heard this story before, and I think the name Lilith just sounds awesome, so I looked it up the Lilith entry on Wikipedia....

A Proud St. Andrews Tradition

2004-10-13T05:39:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this entry by a fact that one of my friends is awfully proud of: 40% of students leave St. Andrews with a drinking problem

So last night was pound night - at a few pubs around St. Andrews on Tuesdays, drinks are only a pound (a pound a pint the most important). From what I can tell, the entire university is out on the town on Tuesday nights. Then, when the pubs close at 1 AM, everyone goes back to their dorms. But why go to bed? People seem to stay up and just chill in the halls until about 3AM. This is such a great life, especially because I don't have class until 11AM. Isn't this why I'm at University? Memorable scenes from last night: Calum claiming his ear got chopped off with a lightsaber; Hamza, who's been telling everyone he wouldn't drink for the next week so that his birthday is extra-special, running down the hallway with half-full pitcher of beer; Richard being, well, Richard. And I say this like any of you have a clue who I'm talking about.

And....I'm back

2004-10-12T07:24:00.000-07:00

Yes yes, I know, I haven't written in, uhhh, a hella long time. Apologies. So, I really feel like I need something to get me writing (in general) again, and this is as good an outlet as any. Not going to write all that much today as I want a nap, but at least I'm posting again, right?

So, I'm currently no longer in the States - I'm in mighty mighty Scotland. Which basically means it's colder, I watch more soccer (but call it football), and eat a lot of fried foods. Including Deep Fried Mars Bars (I recommend them highly - can't wait to try a Deep Fried Snickers). Classes are annoyingly familiar to the ones I took last year. Blah.

I've read a crapload since I last posted. Just finished a book of short stories by Flannery O'Connor and loved them. She has a way of describing characters using the most minor details to make them come to life. I'm trying to imagine some way of combining her writing with the descriptive minimalism of Joyce. It would be pretty cool. I'm almost done with Faust, Part I, which is a very short read. It's very poetic, I'm enjoying it, although I'm not entirely sure what the fuss is about beyond historical importance.

Discovered a cool new band (and by new I mean new to me; they've apparently broken up) called The Anniversary. They're nothing amazing in the creativity arena, but it's fun music. It's very, very upbeat emo (ironic, huh?). Not much else on the music front here, I'm basically in a holding pattern with respect to new music, which is annoying.

And of course, the mandatory random links. Here are some articles I've liked:
Richard Dawkins wrote a book I'd like to read at some point, seems pretty interesting. I'm a big fan of his writing.
Found an awesome article on prostitution. It's...interesting. I enjoyed reading it, although it's in, ummm, bad? taste.
Yet another article on evolution. You know I love the subject.
And finally, with a title like, "Who Cares About Truth?", who wouldn't be interested in this? As an aside, I'm currently reading An Inquiry Into Meaning And Truth by Russell. It's pretty interesting, seems to be in the vein of Wittgenstein (who I also need to read).

I'll post more later with what I've actually been doing and some actually intersting thoughts. And least I'm posting again, ya?

Parent links

2004-08-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

Couple links I found via mi mutti. First is a somewhat disturbing story about drunken driving. I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon.

Next are a couple of images. My favorites are this one and this one. Thank you, random site.

I'm really on top of things

2004-08-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

I've kind of slowed down on my blogging output, as I'm sure my devoted readers (whoever you are) have noticed. Has anything exciting happened to me? No. Let's see, I bought a laptop, a Sony Vaio on Saturday. I'm slowly tansferring my files over to my laptop from my hard drive (I bought an enclosure). [Side note - I'm watching the Republican Convention right now and Guilianai made some comment about Bush having the "courage of his convictions" which reminds of a Nietzsche quote: "A very popular error: having the courage of one's convictions; rather it is a matter of having the courage for an attack on one's convictions."] Anywho, I've definitely gotten sidetracked because I haven't been paying attention to what I've been writing at all.

So, hmmm, I forgot what I was going to write. Started reading The Sound and the Fury, it's pretty cool so far, I really enjoy the very strange writing style. Ummm, oh yeah, I went up to Willamette on Sunday, I *guess* that was exciting (after having days of being bored at home). Peer pressure is a bitch, my friends have been trying to convince me to quit my job right now (I have until Friday...). I really want to. When faced with the opportunity to hang out with friends...or work at a job I don't particularly enjoy...it's a tough choice. But I'm working. Boo.

Bugs are yummy

2004-08-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

For those of you interested in this kind of thing, here's an example of what it's like to track down a bug in a monolithic application like Office...

You know that feeling when you're so tired your eyes hurt?

2004-08-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since I've really updated. Topics at hand! First: Books. What have I been reading? Uhh, I don't remember what I was reading when I last posted. So here's what I've finished since last Thursday. I read Lolita which was good, but the ending was a little weird. I'm not entirely sure I grok it completely, but if I did (which I think I did), I'm not a fan of the ending. Can't say more, because it's the ending, right? I read Notes From The Underground and Dream of a Ridiculious Man, both by Dostoevsky, on Friday. Notes From The Underground was awesome, the first part reminded me of a Nietzsche essay. I think Dostoevsky must have heavily influenced Nietzsche. Definitely stylistically, and I think Nietzsche took a lot from Dostoevsky's stories (moreso than his actual personal philosophy, which seems somewhat incompatible).

On Saturday I read Dubliners by Joyce. It rocked. The writing was very simple, the stories...well, I'm not sure how much of a plot or how much plot resolution there was, but you really got a feel for the characters. It was just amazing how ALIVE these people became. I definitely recommend it...I can't wait to read The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man.

Sunday was Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. It was okay. Not quite as dry as Dostoevsky (although maybe that was the translation I had). But there was nothing special about it. Maybe in historical context it was important, but that's really it.

Since then I've been reading Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. The writing doesn't seem all that strange, probably because it's so copied. The story's really lame, though. And the woman is boring. He's definitely a misogynist, which is not necessarily a bad thing (well, I guess it is, but it doesn't necessarily detract from the story), but it's in such a way that it makes the characters dull. And the characterization is poor anyway.

Next topic: politics. This whole swift boat thing. I'm getting tired and more headachy, so this is going to be shorter than I'd planned. I agree with everyone who says that it's okay to question his service. After all, he has made this such a centerpiece and talks about it EVERYWHERE (which I find fairly annoying, actually). However (and this appears to be a big however): this is only okay when the stories have SOME merit to them. Which these do not. Not that you'd know that when you read the right-wing press, but hey, when did they ever care about the truth? I find the whole Veteran thing annoying, anyway. The only reason he does it is so that he doesn't appear as an effeminite liberal peacenik, as the Right likes to portray us (and the public often sees us). However, I've never actually thought that serving time in the military has much to do with how "strong on defense" you are, anyway. Uhh, I've been IMing with people and lost my train of thought. I'm sure you can figure out where I was going with this anyway. Later.

Welcome, Willamites

2004-08-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

I've been noticing that quite a few people at Willamette are already looking for the votekasha service at school, and finding this page instead...what d'ya know. Search engines are a beautiful thing. Yes, I used to run acalhoun.resnet/votekasha. Use bpippel. It should be up soon.

How scary

2004-08-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

Just have a quick link from an article I found about how people vote. Listen to this quote (emphasis mine):

Seventy per cent of Americans cannot name their senators or their congressman. Forty-nine per cent believe that the President has the power to suspend the Constitution. Only about thirty per cent name an issue when they explain why they voted the way they did, and only a fifth hold consistent opinions on issues over time.

Anyone else find this scary? Here's more:

The fraction of the electorate that responds to substantive political arguments is hugely outweighed by the fraction that responds to slogans, misinformation, “fire alarms” (sensational news), “October surprises” (last-minute sensational news), random personal associations, and “gotchas.” Even when people think that they are thinking in political terms, even when they believe that they are analyzing candidates on the basis of their positions on issues, they are usually operating behind a veil of political ignorance. They simply don’t understand, as a practical matter, what it means to be “fiscally conservative,” or to have “faith in the private sector,” or to pursue an “interventionist foreign policy.” They can’t hook up positions with policies. From the point of view of democratic theory, American political history is just a random walk through a series of electoral options.

Eek

2004-08-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

Just posting something to post something. Been gone. CJ's back. He leaves tomorrow. I finished a bunch of books. Reading Hemmingway. More later when I have time.

Ja ja ja

2004-08-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, this kind of thing makes me mad. The EPA sucks at it's job. That is all. Oh, and anyone reading the NRO The Corner, is it just me, or have the Right developed a very condescending and parental view of Iraq? They keep being "so proud" that the little Iraqis are doing well in the soccer matches at the Olympics. It's very...condescending...

My friend Jim was going to leave Friday morning, so we had a goodbye lunch
on Thursday. Then he decides he's not going to leave until Friday
afternoon, so we had a goodbye lunch on Friday. Then he says he's not
leaving until late Saturday, so we hung out for a goodbye thing on
Saturday. All this time he had been planning on driving across the
country. On Saturday, though, he decided that he was going to fly instead
(he already had a ticket from before he had decided to drive across the
country). So I got up at 8 AM to have a goodbye breakfast. Where he
informs me he's actually going to be leaving on Thursday. I don't think
he's ever going to leave. It's all just a ruse.

Good TV is hard to come by

2004-08-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

There's really no good TV on, especially on Saturday morning. I was hoping to watch some of the Olympics, but no such luck. Maybe I should just watch some quality programming from our president.

I finished The Idiot and have started reading Lolita. The Idiot was very good, but no Brothers Karamozov. Reading Lolita right after The Idiot made me realize that although Dostoevsky is a very, very good writer, he's very dry. There's no EMOTION to his writing. I guess that I think that there are two parts to writing - the IDEA aspect and the EMOTIONAL aspect. Dostoevsky gets the idea aspect across better than any other writer I've known. Not so much on the emotional part. A generally good combination of the two can be seen in Paul Auster, I think.

I saw Garden State last night, funny movie, well done, I really enjoyed it. I give it an A-. There were a few parts at the end that were kind of cheesy (the three friends screaming over the ravine then laughing in exhileration - THAT hasn't been done before). Overall, though it was great. A lot of the filmwork was interesting (though in no way brilliant, as one person coming out of the theater remarked). The acting and deadpans were great. Somewhat philosophical of a movie, too. I highly recommend.

Finally, I was extremely heartened to see that 50,000 people came out to see John Kerry in Portland (that's what, 10% of the population of Portland for a presidential contender in AUGUST?). Pictures are available at the Kerry-Edwards blog.

And the word of the day is "bloviate"...

2004-08-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a livejournal entry showing how far people go to try and "protect us" all. For you roleplayers, this entry is a must.

I also have found a political article on Kerry's plan as President. Frankly, I like his plan and find it...very sastisfying. (As an aside, I'm watching the Daily Show and I'm very pleased at how anti-Bush John Stewart is getting...has gotten. Also, I still think Kerry is a horrible speaker. Really needs to work on, well, everything about it.)

There's also a good diary entry over at DailyKOS titled "How Duby will do well in the debates". Don't let the title fool you, it's actually pretty interesting. More of an analysis of the Bush/Gore debates, but still poignant.

Washington Post has an article on the the Bush tax cuts and how they're NOT WORKING. Like I posted earlier, just notice something: they aren't working, so WHY ARE THE REPUBLICANS STILL DEFENDING THEM? Their main defense seems to be: it could be worse. Well, yes, it's true, it could be worse. But seriously, couldn't things be BETTER? What Republicans are basically saying is that the tax cuts POSSIBLY made things not as bad as they could be. It's ridiculious. Sorry for all these caps.

One further topic. Someone in Louisana was running for Congress as a Democrat and won the primary, but switched his party affiliation to Republican at the last moment so no democrats could run against him. Well, then his entire staff resigned en masse. Apparently, this is illegal under Louisana state law, so he might be barred from running. It would serve him right.

Quickly, quickly

2004-08-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

Two links and some commentary.
First, someone purporting to explain consciousness through neurons. Crappy philosophy, but interesting science.

Second, an essay on materialism and guilt about said materialism. Annoying anti-intellectualism/anti-celebrity, but again, still interesting to read.

Ok, my rant for the moment is on anti-intellectualism, especially on the Right. Why are people so anti-"intellectual"? Is it because they don't understand and so assume it's "bad"? Derrida/Foucoult seem to be popular targets as Leftist philosophers - which seems to mean FORWARD THINKING philosophers. The same goes with almost everything - those who dare QUESTION common knowledge are considered "Leftist". Conservatism has got to be the stupidest intellectual-mindset around. "It's not our fault if the facts have a liberal bias..." (hmmm)

The last weekend

2004-08-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

So one of my cheeks is swollen like John McCain, and doesn't seem like it wants to go down at all. I saw Robyn randomly at Powell's yesterday, she called me up and said, "I'm in Portland. Where are you?" I was going to Powell's with Jim, so we met up there. Jim commented that I look like Popeye. I'm so proud. I got a good stash at Powells for only $15, which consisted of: Notes From the Underground (& other shorts), Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, Fathers and Sons (Turgenev), and The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man as well as Dubliners by Joyce.

I saw Outfoxed with Jim, Rachel, and Laura Stevens last night, it was okay, nothing spectacular. The music was over the top, a lot of the attacks on Fox just seemed sort of ad hominem. It's weird, this is the last weekend Jim's in Portland, then Seth stops by for next Sunday and bam!, Portland friends are gone.

Oh, I also saw the Bourne Supremecy last night, it was also fairly bad. I was going to give it a C+ after watching it last night, but thinking on it I think I'll give it a C- instead; it was definitely below average. The cinematography was just annoying, leading me to get bored during the fight/car chase scenes because I couldn't tell what the hell was going on. It was just somewhat frustrating. The story also seemed to be poorly cobbled together. It was still sort of enjoyable, though, which is why I give it even a C-.

Eh-ok

2004-08-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

So I'm feeling basically better, just can't open my jaw too wide without it aching a little. I also realized I slept for 17 hours of the day yesterday. Quite impessive, to me.

Found an interesting article on Slashdot, an open letter from Mandelbrot about his problems with modern economics. I agree with a lot of what he says (which, admittedly, isn't very specific). Included in the /. post was a cool little cartoon.

Also, was over at the WaPo when I saw an article on Bush's economic performance. Was impressed with this quote:

Payroll jobs remain 1.5 million short of where last winter the White House said they would be by now. To avoid being the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a net job loss, Bush must hope for 372,000 new jobs a month in August, September and October.

Now that's quite a few jobs. It seems to me that, with all we've learned about economics in the past 70 years, if we can't end up with a net positive number of jobs after four years, SOMETHING is wrong with the economic policies we're using. Don't you think someone would notice that and, I don't know, try something different? I guess the "tax cuts for every situation" doesn't work. Especially when you cut the wrong taxes. Go see the Iron Blog debate on tax cuts for a detailed description of what's wrong with them.

Found a really cool site via my mom. The political fact check is a non-partisan site (seriously) that deconstructs various advertisements/claims from both sides of the presidential election. Very cool. I wish there were more sites out there like this. Anyone?

Wisdom teeth are no more

2004-08-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

So I got my wisdom teeth out earlier today. They put me to sleep and I woke up and BAM, they were gone. It was a strange experience. I woke up and the nurse kept saying, "Open your eyes" to which I could only respond, "They are." I kept gazing around the room and my eyes would slowly shut again, which would cause me to be repremanded (again). I went home and went to sleep. I think I've been up for maybe about 6 hours total today? I like the idea of sleeping 18 hours a day. I also saw Frida in between naps, it was a very cool movie (although I was hopped up on pain killers, so who knows how that affected me). I also almost passed out, and can't even eat bread (it's too hard). I'm getting tired again, so I'll probably go to bed soon.

Jim was just over. Among the topics of discussion was Nietzsche. Apparently, Nietzsche wrote some piano pieces which he played for Wagner. Wagner left in the middle of the performance, and then started making fun of him (nice guy). I've tracked down a couple mp3s, but can't find any sheet music. Anyone out there able to help? Where the hell would I get Nietzsche sheet music? The music is, admittedly, pretty bad. Still, it would be fun to know how to play a piece by him.

The Statesman Journal

2004-08-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here's something Salem's newspaper, the glorious Statesman Journal, printed:

The hot dogs and the hamburgers weren't the meat of the issue Tuesday night while people gathered around their neighbors' barbecues. The main course was crime.

Where do they find these reporters? At least it feels good knowing that if I ever need to find a job, I can be a reporter for the Statesman.

Intellectualism is so trendy

2004-08-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

Okie dokie, got a backlog of links from Arts and Leisure to share with all y'all. The first article is a book review on The Right Nation. It's by those wacky Brits who work at The Economist, detailing why they think our nation is decidedly conservative and likely to stay that way. An interesting read (at least the review is ;), whether you agree or not.

The next article is on how we make our moral decisions. Basically we feel disgust with something, ergo it's morally wrong. To quote:

For instance, people often say incestuous sex is immoral because it runs the risk of begetting a deformed child, but if this was their real reason, they should be happy if the siblings were to use birth control - and most people are not.

Clearly someone could make an argument that incest is bad because it has negative psychological effects (does it?), but that's not the reason people are against it. Makes you think about morality.

Third is an article advocating bringing memorization back into schooling. I'm not sure what I think of the idea. Maybe I'd have a better memory if they did - maybe I could remember quotes. But the fact that most people in my dorm could recite the opening of Romeo and Juliet off the cuff (I bite my thumb at you) makes me wonder how needed it really is.

The fourth one is about how the Walkman destroyed music. I think the author is full of crap. First of all, he clearly doesn't know what he's talking about technologically - he claims that the CD Walkman was bad, but the iPod is ok because "the sound quality is digital, hence pristine". As if the CD Walkman wasn't. But this is even more ridiculious when one considers that MOST people will encode at 192kbps tops, which is hardly CD-quality and cuts off high and low frequencies (which he's apalled at in a different context). He also, uninterestingly enough, laments the direction music has gone. He doesn't seem to comprehend that just because HE enjoys a good melody doesn't mean that another person might equally enjoy a music's harmony or beat. I think he's just someone who enjoys his style of music and thinks that everyone else should listen to it the way he wants them to - without actually knowing any of the specifics about it.

And there's an article I haven't read yet that looks interesting on how Britain apparently abandoned the circle of (continental) European literature. I'll read it later - I should be up on my literary politics for when I reach Scotland, right? ;)

Weather it's the whether

2004-08-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Just looking at the weather forecast. Portland looks like it should, with only one exception (rare for the summer) be about 85+ degrees for the week. My future place of residence, however, has a decidedly different forecast. Don't they get sun there? These people look they could show Portland a thing or two about rain.

Nazism

2004-08-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

So, I was perusing the NROTC and I noticed that they seem to be in a tizzy about the recent RFK, Jr. book. As evidence of his horribleness, they quote an interview by Hannity where they think a great point was made against him. To sum it up, basically Hannity takes RFK, Jr. to task for mentioning that famous Hermann Goering quote in relation to the Bush administration.

But really, what's so bad about that? If the Bush administration did learn how to handle people from a bit of Nazi wisdom - how bad is that? Can we say that they learned their lesson from the Nazi war tactics - the blitzkrieg - with their "Shock and Awe" campaign (assuming they're similar, which I'm not entirely sure of)? THAT wouldn't be bad. We wouldn't assume someone is calling them a Nazi because of it. But if they learned something intellectual from a Nazi - that's bad. Just because a guy is a Nazi doesn't mean all his ideas are WRONG. So maybe the quote DOES apply - it doesn't mean Bush is a Nazi, or that RFK, Jr. was calling him a Nazi. The quote is just - unpalatable.

New new new

2004-08-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

So here's a new post. Seth is leaving in two days, the bastard. Jim leaves in a week. After that, all my best friends are finally gone for the summer. The bastards. Don't they know they're supposed to stay and entertain me?

Found a couple of interesting articles. The first is about a train operator who jumped off his train and took another one while his passengers were watching. Must've made them feel safe, especially with the terror alerts and all.

Second article is on the gay marriage amendment in Missouri. It passed. I just don't understand people. Is allowing gays to marry REALLY that bad? Or bad at all? Stupid dogmatic homophobes.

I'm so responsible

2004-08-02T08:20:00.001-07:00

Hmmm, so maybe it's been a while since I've posted something. Maybe. Not going to take responsibility. So, out of what would be guilt (if it had been a while), got some quick notes to put up here. First, wisdom teeth are coming out on Friday! Yay! Should be...fun. Anyway, here's a picture of my teeth. Oh, and my cousin signed on to play at Gonzaga. Good for her. Makes choosing a college easy, I guess.

I finished reading The Master and Margarita, it was an awesome book. Can be taken on a lot of levels. I'll talk about it more later. Started reading The Idiot by Dostoevsky - reminded me of how great a writer Dostoevsky is. Why can't more authors be like him?

I got my dorm assignment for St. Andrews. Some "beautiful" 1960's era cement architecture meant to look like two ships running into each other. Here's a review of it and here are some pictures.

Finally, no day would be complete without something about politics. Thinking on it, I've decided that the NRO The Corner is only slightly above the Drudge Report (which I'm not even going to link to) in terms of quality. So many rumors. So few actually nonpartisan comments. And Realclearpolitics is even worse. I don't know why I bother. Oh, and I've noticed that both the liberal and conservative sites claim the same media companies of bias in the other direction. Kinda makes you wonder.

EDIT: Fixed up some HTML mistakes.

Ah, email

2004-07-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

Just got this email message from veselija@prodigy.net:

Jeff has sent you a message encouraging you to register to vote.

I urge you to exercise your right as an American citizen to register to vote and support our President. You can register to vote right now by visiting http://www.GeorgeWBush.com/Vote.

The upcoming presidential election could be very close -- every bit as close as 2000 -- and your vote will matter. With the challenge we face of keeping this nation prosperous and secure, the stakes of this election couldn't be higher. Make your voice heard by registering to vote at http://www.GeorgeWBush.com/Vote.

Sincerely,
Jeff

Well, I don't know who this Jeff is, but thanks! He doesn't know how much I needed to get this.

A Quickie

2004-07-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

Here's some quick links for the day:

First, an interesting article by Ted Turner on why the FCC should do more to regulate media conglomerates. Makes some good points...

Also, some scientists have found ways to recover data from old sound recordings. Means we could hear Queen Victoria and Abraham Lincoln talking someday. Maybe Lincoln could talk at the next GOP convention ;)

Finally, looks like the US House has finally decided to call what's going on in Sudan a genocide. What took them so long? Maybe now we can use our military for something useful...

The days of our lives

2004-07-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, so what've I been up to the past week to so drastically slip from my, uhh, blogging duties? Basically: nothing. Last weekend I went to the beach with my War & Injustice buddies. I had a really good time, but there was a lack of sleep when I was already tired. Sad fact: I had to say goodbye to Michelle, I won't see her until...god knows when. She leaves for Japan without visiting Willamette (or Oregon) again, and she won't be back to Oregon until I've already left again for Scotland (again). When I come back...she'll be back in California. So when would I see her? Maybe I'll take a road trip next summer.

I saw some movie called Spartan recently. It was really, really bad. I'm not sure how it got a 64% at rotten tomatoes. Critics don't have good taste? I dunno.

On politics: I've found a cool site called Iron Blog - think Iron Chef, but with political debates instead of...cooking. Just go visit. The current debate is the "Iron Republican" getting destroyed on tax cuts.

This whole thing with the heartland having the "values of America" is really bugging me. Are they saying that those of us on the coast don't have the real American values? Don't we make up, I don't know, probably the MAJORITY of the population? Wouldn't that mean that technically OUR values are the true American values? And even if they aren't, what is George Bush (and now John Kerry) saying about my values? Why is the midwest so goddamn correct? Because they live in the plains and have the traditional farming lifestyle or something? I know, I know, it's politics because of swing states (West Virginia, Ohio, etc.), but it still bothers me.

I'm still reading the Pushkin short stories. I dunno, maybe something (big) is lacking in the translation, or maybe Pushkin just didn't write good short stories...although the people at Amazon.com seem to disagree with me. (As an aside, has anyone else noticed that at Amazon.com, the "Top 500/100/etc" reviewers are more likely to rate something at 4+ stars? And that the things that have a high rating tend to have a much higher percentage of people who find the reviews helpful? Seems like a broken system.) The Pushkin stories are just kind of blah. They're all basically romances, but somewhat boring. There are other romances done better at the same time - look at the D'Artagnan Romances (Three Musketeers, etc.). They're much more interesting, much better written, etc. I'm going to read The Master and Marguerita next, hopefully it will be better.

After reading The Brothers Karamazov, I've been thinking a lot on what makes a good book. I tried thinking about what I liked and what they had in common. My current little literary theory is that books are all about ideas. I hate books that are cliched, those that have nothing new or interesting to say. Ideas can take many forms. The most bluntly obvious form would be what I call "theories" (highly technical, I know). These are theories about humanity, as in The Brothers Karamazov or theories about life, as in all those Paul Auster books that seem different, but are just taking different angles on the same ideas (come on, The Book of Illusions, The New York Trilogy, Moon Palace, they're all basically the same when you think about it). Then there are ideas that "story". These are things like characterization (at which I think Steinbeck is a god) or interesting plots. Uhh, I had a couple others, but I've forgotten them. I'm sure I'll put them up here later. But anyway, it's IDEAS that make the book. So when I read something like Pushkin short stories, with boring ideas, I think - what's the point?

Crap

2004-07-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

So it's been a week since I've posted...oops...anyway, I'll do a more detailed posting later tonight. For now, two things. One, there's a pretty cool tablet PC that will be available for sale. The specs make it look better than most laptops of equivalent price. Maybe I'll get me one of those...

Also, I'm kind of pissed off by the record company merger between Sony and BMG. I could rant about it (and I probably will), but Pitchfork does a better job...

And finally, I've got some cute news. The world's smallest cat! Damn that thing's cute. I'll bet money that fairly soon they'll be genetically engineering cats to look like that (this one just has some genetic defect to look like that, so it can't be THAT hard).

Cognitive Dissonance

2004-07-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

Two quick things. One is an interesting article on how Georgia turned from a Democratic state to a solidly Republican state. Pretty interesting.

The second is on the furor that's (slowly) erupting over the possibility of kids being sodomized in Abu Ghraib. The info comes mainly from quotes supported by Hersh, the guy famous for My Lai. It's not out in the press (yet), and few people seem to have seen these videos. So...where are they? And is this going to be covered in the press? Or is it just an overblow rumor (but from Hersh)?

Lame

2004-07-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, watching CrossBalls right now and someone made the comment, "Babies see breasts all the time" as an argument against censorship. I like it. Oh, now an ad for The Bourne Supremecy came on. My prediction: Ok, but not good. I'm going to guess it's a C+ movie (A being best, F being worst).

Anyway, basically nothing has happened in the last couple of days. I finished Demons. At the end, it got up to what I expect of Dostoevsky, but overall I'd say it's nicht so gut. I'm reading a bunch of Pushkin short stories now. They're kind of odd, none of them really END so much. They just kind of...stop. It's clear that he means them as an ending, but they leave plot elements hanging. 'Course, I've only read a few of them so far.

I've really got nothing else. Adios.

Placeholder

2004-07-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

Okie dokie! To start things off, I'm removing the memelist from the side of the page because it's way too annoying to add/remove them...the interface here is just too clunky.

Before I say anything else, let me note that even though this is aimed at the Right, I'm pretty sure it's accurate about the left, too (I just have trouble seeing it from my perspective). Well, reading the National Review has taught me that the writers are simply dogmatic about their beliefs and not open to reason. Maybe it's because of my philosophical background, but political discourse just SUCKS. It's nothing but invective against the other side with little or no reasoning (or factual evidence) to back it up. Another common theme that I see is to pick up on a *joke* or some misconstrued fact, then run with it as the main evidence for their argument.

Further, the NRO and other right-wing blogs are aghast at the Left and it's excesses, predicting that the public will be turned off by it IN THE EXACT SAME WAY that the left-wing blogs are. It's exactly the same. They're both dumb.

And then there's the oh-so-exciting ability that people have to declare that some article or essay has a Left/Right bias, instantly discrediting it. Well, I'm sorry to say this, but facts do not have a bias. Even if they disagree with you. Why do people not understand it? Or are they being intentionally dense?

Being American

2004-07-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Over at the NRO "The Corner", someone made the following comment:

In the run-up to the next census, perhaps conservatives should worry less about ballot initiatives and invest more time and money trying to perasuade our fellow citizens to renounce racial and ethnic categories voluntarily. If we can change the culture of ethnic categorization, the law will follow.

This just seems, well, stupid. If you look at countries like Macedonia (or basically any other country in the world), there is a tremendous disrespect for people from other countries. The Macedonians, for instance, hate the Greeks. These ethnic rivalries are disgusting. One of the great things about America is that we generally don't have them (except for the whole racism vs. blacks/hispanics/asians thing, but you know what I mean). People here are basically all immigrants, so we don't care if someone is Irish or Polish or German. By reinforcing our "American-ness", we're just fostering a bigoted attitude towards people who are different.

A coupla links

2004-07-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

First off, gotta love partisan Ketchup...

Second, my school's have been boring. They don't get demons invading like this place.

Left and Right Wing Memes

2004-07-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

First things first, my mother says Bulgarians are happy and Russians are depressing. Comments?

Ok, second, I've decided to keep a list of Left and Right wing memes. I'll add new ones whenever I notice them (and remember to put them up.

The Usual

2004-07-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

So I'm still struggling through Demons. I just can't get into this book. I'm only about 160 pages from the end, so I'm definitely going to finish it, but I just have a hard time caring. Not only do I not care about any of the characters, I feel like the ideas that were omnipresent in The Brothers Karamazov are just lacking in this one. This is supposed to be some political pamphlet, so it also is likely that I'm missing a lot of context, because I honestly don't know all that much about the political and cultural currents that existed in Russia in the 1860s. This book does have a couple of good quotes, though. This one I find funny:

Von Lembke took to pondering, and pondering was bad for him and was forbidden by his doctors.

This one I find very romantic, not in the "love" sense but in the literary sense:

It has always seemed to me that you would bring me to some place where there lives a huge, evil spider, as big as a man, and we would spend our whole life there looking at him and being afraid. That's how our mutual love would pass.

In other news, I've started taking pitures like mad with my new digital camera. Most of them are pretty bad. I really want to take "surprising" pictures, but because of the very long delay people have time to prepare. It's very distressing.

Saw this great ad about the Hate Amendment. I'm really not sure what to make of the Republic Convention speakers. Either this is going to precipitate a change in the makeup of the Republican coalition (away from the Reagan coalition, towards a more...pragmatic one) or it's simply an attempt to pacify the moderates for the election before they try and become far right again.

John Edwards weak on security? Not bloody likely.

2004-07-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

This is mirrored from my DailyKOS journal.

I saw this over at the WaPo. It's an article about how Edwards comes up with unique and innovative ideas on national security. Here's a choice quote:

In the summer of 2001, when much of the Republican and Democratic policy community was obsessed with missile defense, Edwards urged more attention to terrorism. The North Carolina senator had such limited luck pitching an OpEd article on terrorism to major newspapers that the piece, warning of poor cooperation among federal and local law enforcement, ended up in the weekly Littleton Observer, circulation 2,230 -- four weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks.

So how do the Bush/Cheney team deal with that? I say portray Cheney as a Cold War-style Defense Secretary and Edwards as the new, terrorism focused VP. We'll see who appeals more to the public (besides, Cheney is just so goddamn scary looking).

Notes and Thoughts

2004-07-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, one stupid thing. Note to self: you have a dental appointment on tuesday July 27th, 8:00 AM.

Okie dokie, now off to other topics. I've started reading some conservative blogs and I'm impressed by the invective that's being used. Impressed as in horrified. Do these people not have anything NICE to say? I guess it's the same in all politics, it's all very negative. But think about this: as soon as Edwards was announced as the Democratic VP nominee, Bush was attacking him. You'd think people would be turned off by this. What happened to doing things differently? Being an outsider to Washington? I thought you said things would change? Nope?

Also, looking at the Oregon tax code, I'm surprised how flat the tax rate is. Basically, if you make over some small amount (roughly $6500) you pay 9%. Compare that to California's tax system which STARTS with a 1% (compared to Oregon's 5%) tax bracket and goes up much, much more gradually. I thought we were a "blue" state? Aren't we supposed to progressive?

Happy Birthday To Me...

2004-07-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

So it's my birthday. Just thought I'd share the important things that have happened in the past on this day:

1099 - First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders mocked them.
1889 - During the last championship bare-knuckle boxing match, John L. Sullivan defeats Jake Kilrain after 75 rounds.
Births:
1838 - Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, inventor of rigid dirigibles (d. 1917)
1839 - John D. Rockefeller, capitalist, founder of Standard Oil (d. 1937)
1908 - Nelson A. Rockefeller, United States vice president during Gerald Ford's presidency (d. 1979)
1951 - Anjelica Huston, actress (Prizzi's Honor, The Addams Family)
1958 - Kevin Bacon, actor (Apollo 13, Wild Things)
1970 - Beck, rock and roll singer
Deaths:
1153 - Pope Eugene III
1623 - Pope Gregory XV
1943 - Jean Moulin, leader of the French Resistance in WW II
1994 - Kim Il Sung, North Korean leader

Those are all the interesting ones. Full list here. Now back to work.

It's madness, I tell you!

2004-07-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

Just gotta share this. I'm going through the various tax credits for Oregon and you get a $50 credit if you lose two limbs. I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of this. Should I be offended? Two limbs are only worth $50 per year? Or should I be unhappy that these people are getting even more money? I mean, suppose you lose an arm and a leg. So you can't work anymore - just like if you lost "only" one arm/leg? I dunno. I'm probably going to go with the bemused option.

It's official: I run for President

2004-07-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, a few things. First, one of my friends had this as his away message:

You know why Javin doesn't wear shoes? It's because he is poor.

Now I'm pretty sure that isn't true (not the poor part, dunno about that, but the reason for not wearing shoes), but it does make me nostalgic for Willamette.

Anyway, I was watching The O'Reilly Factor (hey, I was bored) and I decided that either he gets the stupidest people on his show on purpose, or I should just really go on his show to correct these people. They're idiots. And watching Kerry win the nomination (and Bush, for god's sake) makes me pretty convinced that I could become President, or at least the nominee. At least that's the way it feels when I watch these things - they give the most inane answers and don't know what they're talking about, for something they spend all their time doing. One guest on the O'Reilly factor was asked for a time when Bush/Cheney linked Al Qaeda and Iraq and THEY COULDN'T DO IT. Where has this person been?! Plus, I've decided all the pundits are idiots who don't really know what they're talking about (like the rest of us, of course) but refuse to admit that fact. Course then I see John Stewart and I wonder how COMEDY CENTRAL has the most informed political reporter (and one who's actually not afraid to ask good questions). John Stewart should run for office. I'd vote for him.

I was hanging out with Seth and Devon today, we went down to Rieke and tossed around a ball/frisbee, it was pretty fun. Weird being back at Rieke, though, everything's so small. We then went back and started Chronicles of Riddick but could only get about 20 minutes through it before we decided it was absolute crap (I still maintain that Van Helsing was worse, though more entertaining to watch). So we started Cube. It was ALSO bad, but good enough to watch. I left about 3/4 of the way through it, though. Not that good.

It smells like...herbs...

2004-07-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

That quote is courtesy of my cousin Becky just now. I went to my cousins' for July Fourth, today. It was interesting as usual. My uncle Ted (the Catholic Priest) tried to convert me. He's sneaky, that one. I wanted to tell him that I was a devoted Nietzschean, but I didn't have the guts. It was somewhat entertaining. He's a pretty smart, or at least well-read guy. He was explaing some of the Summa Theologica (by Thomas Aquinas) to me. I disagreed with a lot of what he said, but I wasn't feeling like it was the moment to be vocal about it.

It led me to think more about a topic from a couple of days ago. It seems like when I read philosophy, I'm never really learning some universal truth. I'm listening to people simply attempting to justify what they already believe (like I do here). It's amazing how we always find truth to be exactly what we hoped it would be. Makes you wonder if the Universe is just consistent (but not complete) a la Goedel. So everyone - Kant, Descartes, Aquinas, Nietzsche - are just expressing their viewpoints and giving some rational basis to believe what they believe.

So then what is the point of reading philosophy? It is to understand different ideas, to learn about different ways of looking at the world. We all have our different ideas formed from our environments and genetic makeup. So then I read Descartes, think about mind-body dualism and reject it; but solely by reading the philosophy does it affect my outlook on life and expand what I can think about. Too bad I don't learn truth (if there is truth - I'm beginning to doubt that. A la Nietzsche, does 1 + 1 = 2 only because we cannot survive without believing that?). Of course there's the whole "nothing is true - except this statement of course". But does this necessarily make it wrong? Or just unpalatable?

Anyway, back to the day. My aunt brought Bush-Cheney cookies and then didn't want to talk politics. Course she was the one who brought it up. I wasn't there when she unveiled them, otherwise I would've given her a piece of my mind (as everyone knows, I'm not afraid of expressing my opinion on these things). Also, my Grandfather made an anti-semitic comment. I chose not to say anything. I've decided that I should declare that I'm becoming Jewish, to get their goat. And also that one of my 40-some cousins will end up being gay (and one getting pregnant before marriage). I want to see how the family deals with that. Makes it kind of odd that my cousin is in jail, arrested for beating his wife (that he married at 18), drugs, and KIDNAPPING. I lead such a boring life.

I saw Spiderman 2 tonight. It was actually pretty good. There was a sufficient amount of cheese in the movie, but it was really SAD. I was surprised. It was fun overall, though there were some plot elements that were unresolved for no particular reason. Such as the girl who lives across the hall who hits on him? And then the plotline is just dropped mid-movie? Anyway, I enjoyed it. It's all a comic-book movie needs to be. Now if only X-Men 3 can come out with Gambit...

Internet Filters

2004-07-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

So I was reading this article in the Week in Review section of the NYT, and I began wondering why people make such a big fuss about kids seeing "explicit material". Honestly, what's so horrible about a kid seeing pornography? What will happen? We see worse things on network TV (though not in the same category: I'm talking about murder, rape, etc. - watch Law and Order for crying out loud). At worst, a parent will have to explain to their kids about sex. Oh no. As long as the parent doesn't freak out when explaining, I don't really see it as a big problem.

Further, why is there such a big deal in movies about rated PG-13, R, etc.? No matter what you think, your kids WILL see a movie rated PG-13/R at a friends' house. What exactly aren't the kids "ready" for? Is there some level of emotional maturity we suddenly gain when we become 13? Or even 17? Stupid morality. I'm going to declare now that when I'm a parent there will be NO internet filters in our house (our kids have to learn discretion/how to hide what they're doing from their parents SOMEHOW) and they can go to whatever movies they want. I'd take a little kid to a rated R movie. Oh no - they might see a BREAST! Scarred for life. I guess I'm going to be an awful father.

Misanthropy is all the rage

2004-07-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

So, a few things of note. I finished Heart of a Dog last night, it was okay, not anything especially noteworthy. I didn't feel as if it said anything especially interesting, it was just a somewhat interesting surrealist tale. It was a really quick read, though (120 pages with fairly large type), so it's basically a Russian short story. I hear The Master and Marguerita is really good, though, so I've put that on hold at the library. I read someone claim that it was the best Soviet/post-Soviet novel that was written. I'm dubious that it will beat Dr. Zhivago. We'll see. I'm going to finish Demons (aka The Possessed) first. All these translations by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky seem to be highly reccommended, but I find them kind of dry.

While talking with Justin last night, he made the declaration that he hates the middle class. It's an interesting statement, especially coming from someone in the middle class. He prefaced this, by the way, with the statement that he is becoming more socially conservative. Not in the sense that he hates gays or anything (how anyone from Portland could be the least bit homophobic is beyond me), and he's definitely not a mysoginist, but in the sense that he likes dressing up more. He says he wants to live in a city that wears more suits, like Boston or New York. I said that the most formal city that I would really want is Seattle, which is only slightly more formal than Portland.

Anyway, back to the middle class thing. Is it just me, or is hating the middle class/popular culture (read: the culture of the middle class) all the rage nowadays? It seems to be the "trendy" thing to do. Maybe it's a common intellectual position to take, but it's, I don't know, lame. Justin wants to marry rich, hopefully "old money". He said that kind of jokingly, but I think he really meant it. I felt like I was in some 19th century novel. It's ridiculious.

I've also decided that I'd be all for some kind of quasi-Communist system. Basically, I don't want to have to worry about money. I'll work, just give me some kind of way to buy food without money (a meal plan?), a library with books and movies, and a place to live. Basically, give me college (and, to make this more like the "real world", a job instead of classes). It's so much easier not worrying about money. I really don't need much to be happy. Books, movies, and a place to sleep. I really don't do things for the money (as anyone who knows me can attest). Hmmm...Communism all the way (I guess - maybe more of a free market communism... ;)

Hmmm

2004-07-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

I partially retract my former statement. More on this later, when I have formed my thoughts better.

Open Mindedness

2004-07-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

Whelp, I finished Part I (the only truly published part) of Gogol's Dead Souls last night. I found it kind of boring - it was nothing compared to The Coat, The Nose, or Diary of a Madman. I'm not sure if I'm going to read Part II. I feel like I should, but Part I did not live up to expectations, and Gogol never really finished Part II, either - this is just the fragments of what's been recovered. I've started reading Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog, which is really short (and not just for a Russian author). Seems pretty interesting so far.

But the heart of my thinking today is about open mindedness. Can people actually ever be really open minded? I don't think so. We have so many preconceived notions that are not going to change, and the need for groupthink seems too fundamental to our personalities. Consider the example of political views. An Op-Ed in the NYT from a while back (which I cannot find a link to, sorry) suggests that political affiliation generally starts for an unimportant reason - such as familial affiliation to the party - and, gradually, people's viewpoints come to be based around what that party says. Now everything you see is through this lense of dogmatism.

Take your hardcore Republican - flat taxes all the way. If they are writing a report on the taxation system where they do research, do you REALLY think they'll find that wow, it turns out a progressive form of taxation is really better? Or vice versa for a Democrat. So what's the point of all these "reports" that come out from political think-tanks? They're all just people's biased opinions with nothing truly original of note. They'll just toe their philosophical line and supply some data to back it up. Just like anyone of any viewpoint could do on the same subject. The only useful thing to actually come out of the reports is the collection of data (which is likely skewed, anyway). I'm not sure where I'm going with this, except that I'm not sure why people read the Op-Eds in papers (for the reasons above).

Mobs rule (I totally already knew that)

2004-06-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

Found an interesting book review over at The New Republic. It talks about how crowds are more likely to be right than individuals - they are "smarter than their smartest individuals":

Surowiecki also invokes an astonishing finding by the British scientist Francis Galton, who tried to draw lessons about collective intelligence by examining a competition in which contestants guessed the weight of a fat ox at a regional fair in England. The ox weighed 1,198 pounds; the average guess, from the 787 contestants, was 1,197 pounds.

It also talks about the electronic idea markets. Leads me to wonder, could we build "smarter" AI by aggregating Neural Networks? I haven't done enough with NN's in recently to remember whether this concept is a common one. Whatever, it's food for thought.

Quick little entry

2004-06-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, listen to this quote:

"The district court waded deep into the forbidden political waters by creating a new one-person, one-vote type of claim

Does this or does this not sound ridiculious to anyone else? I took it from this article on a Supreme Court ruling. I don't know, maybe it's me, but I think one person, one vote makes a little sense...Oh, and hopefully this ruling gives some hope to striking down the redistricting in Texas and other places (or is it too late for that?)

Limitations on our persons

2004-06-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, two psuedo-philosophical subjects to discuss tonight. The first one is about, uhhh, responsibility? So my sister was watching some TV show when one woman asked, "Who are we to do such-and-such?" This question always gets on my nerves. It is generally asked in relation to a higher power, as in: "Who are we to [play god by] messing with DNA?" I'll tell you who we are - we are people with the ability to do such a thing.

Why do we assume that others are MORE fit to make a decision? People are autonomous RESPONSIBLE individuals. Therefore, we have the RIGHT to be those individuals. But perhaps the question is asking, "Who are we to make a decision for someone else?" by influencing them, or controlling them in some way. Now, I realize this sounds very Nietzschean, but if you have the power to coerce someone into doing something that is good for them, why would you possibly think that it is WRONG to do that? Because of some misguided belief that personal choice is so amazingly wonderful? We are all just individuals who have power and exercise our power as we can.

I think it is wrong to hate people because of their skin color. Would I think it wrong to eradicate anyone's belief that someone with a different skin color is a thing to be despised? Of course not. It's a perfectly acceptable thing to do. But am I just enforcing some absolute moral law? No. I am enforcing MY belief. Why is any other belief so different, except in how we justify it to ourselves? So that's who we are - individuals being individuals, enforcing our individuality (or having it forced upon us).

Now on to topic number two (if I can remember it). Ummmm, it had something to do with limitations...Oh yes, I remember. I was going to talk about how ridiculious it is to accept limitations or constraints on our persons. The constraint I want to talk about in particular is that of narrow-interests. Those who are interested in and learn only one thing (your typical engineers, but this goes equally well for those literati who know no math, for those philosophers who know no science, for those historians who know no progamming!). Why would one possibly accept a fate like this? To be constrained in what one knows is a constraint on one's person, on one's ability to make choices (for knowledge is quite assuredly power, though perhaps not in the sense that is etymologicaly suggested - knowledge is power because it allows one to be as much of an individual as one is able to be).

It should be the goal of every person to know as much as they can in every subject. To be able to converse cogently in ANY subject is perhaps THE MOST desirable life goal. So read Anna Karenina! Learn about IS-LM curves. Discuss Kant...err, well, at least discuss Kierkegaard. Discover linear algebra. Read up on evolutionary theory. Learn a programming language or two. Understand the famous electromagnetism equations. DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF.

Fun fun fun in the sun sun sun

2004-06-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

I went down to Salem today. My friend Seth was driving down to see his younger brother who's at band camp at Willamette (YMA), and offered me a ride down. So I went down with him seeing as it's Robyn's birthday tomorrow. I ended up seeing Robyn, Amp, and Kasia, which was fun. We went to the World Beats festival which was, uhhh, interesting. Some of the world beats made me feel like I had stepped into an 80s movie. Others made me feel like I was in a commune. But it was all worth it because I got to see some little girl with facepaint on that made her look like a demon.

Being back at the Willamette campus really drove home the fact that I'm not going back. I guess I didn't fully realize it until today. It's probably because I haven't been to Willamette in a month, so I don't feel like it's my home anymore. It's actually really depressing me, thinking about it. I had such a good time last year, and going into this weird unknown in Scotland. It's not like in High School when everyone left for college. Then it was a GIVEN, everyone was leaving. This was a conscious choice on my part. But I made a commitment not to let nostalgia for the campus hold me back - I wanted to make this decision solely on academics. And I have (I really don't have a choice now, I've signed a contract). But that doesn't make it any easier. After having such a great time this last semester, it's really sad thinking that I won't ever be with those people again. Sharing their experiences. Stupid melodrama.

I started reading Dead Souls by Gogol tonight. I guess that's exciting. I've decided I really like Russian authors, or at least those who lived in the 1800's. Gogol, Tolstoy, and (especially) Dostoevsky are brilliant. I feel like I need to read some Pushkin and Lermentov now so I have more of a background (especially Pushkin - that guy and his lady's ankles are mentioned everywhere). So much reading, so little time.

Headache...on a saturday night...ugh

2004-06-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting here with a splitting headache, which sucks because it's a weekend night. Whatever. I found a cool link to information on the god Baal. Just some interesting, light reading.

I finished The DaVinci code yesterday. It was terrible. Don't read it. Even the ending is a let down. Today, I read The Virgin Suicides. It was okay, nothing spectacular. I preferred Middlesex (also by the same author). My problem with The Virgin Suicides was that I never really got attached to any of the characters. I understand the book is about LIFE and the rejection/acceptance of life, but it still fell short of saying anything interesting about it, IMHO. Next on my list is a book by Gogol. So I don't forget, here is a list of the other things I want to read this summer: Fathers and Sons (Turgenev), Ulysses (Joyce), Metamorphosis (Kafka), Iliad, Aeneid. Hopefully I'll get through them all.

I got a haircut today (finally). I think the last time I had my hair cut was at the end of January. Anyway, the haircut was terrible, I'm never going to Supercuts again. The lady kept arguing with me about what to do to my hair and then not doing what I asked her. Then, because I'm a wimp, I still tipped her well. Whatever.

I like listening to people's conversations when they don't know what they're talking about, but like to pretend to. My sister had her friends over and I was eating their pizza. Here's what they said:

Friend A: My sister wants to learn japanese because she's into computers. That's really the only useful language that they offer to help her.
Friend B: Yeah, of course, I totally agree.

I just sat there, wondering to myself WHAT exactly they were talking about. I'm not entirely sure why Japanese would be more useful than, say, German, unless you wanted to watch original anime with the rest of the computer geeks. Note that I'm one of these, minus the Japanese language ability. Anyway, the moral of the story is this: Don't try and sound like you know what you're talking about when you really don't. You only end up sounding like an idiot. Oh the irony.

Badly Drawn Boy

2004-06-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Goddamn Badly Drawn Boy is a good band. Or at least their CD Hour of the Bewilderbeast is. Every time I listen to it I realize how incredible it is. And everyone who listens to it agrees - how does a CD like this not get played on the radio? Download any song by them from this CD and you'll see what I mean. And let me tell you, the number of drunken IM's I've gotten from people saying, "Godamn Badly Drawn Boy is good!" should be indicative of something, too. Just had to share that.

Books

2004-06-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

I finished The Brothers Karamazov last night. I totally understand why it's considered one of the greatest novels of all time. This is a book every aspiring author should read, if not everyone should read. Nietzsche said that the only person he ever learned about psychology from was Dostoevsky and I now understand why.

I started The DaVinci Code today. Wow the writing is terrible. I feel like someone threw together every different cliche they could think of in an attempt to make it "exciting", and then handed off that story idea to a writer who got a C's in all their writing courses. I almost stopped reading after the first twenty pages it was so bad, but I've made a commitment to myself to finish the book (mainly because my Gogol book hasn't come in yet, and I can probably finish the DiVinci code by tomorrow if I want to - incredibly quick read BECAUSE THE WRITING'S SO BAD).

Links galore

2004-06-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

Found an article over at Foreign Affairs about the rise of India. Apparently some economists think it's possible (or likely?) that India will surpass China in terms of the size of their economy in fifty years. Some of the analysis I find a bit sketchy, but who knows. I also wonder what China will be doing in twenty years in it will supposedly rival the US in terms of GDP but still have a few hundred million people mired in poverty? Also, this article takes a very confrontational attitude towards the developing Asian economies.

Also is an article on the possible collapse of America as a hyperpower - and how the author believes the world will enter an (effective) dark age if this happens. I tend to disagree, but it's interesting nonetheless. It seems to be a very pessimistic world viewpoint, but always be prepared, no?

Multiplicity

2004-06-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

Whelp, last night was exciting. Practiced piano for a while. Went to a piano lesson (more on that later). Went over to Seth's and watched half an hour of Real World (I've seen two episodes this season! Booya!). Went home and read some of The Brothers Karamazov. The Brothers Karamazov is an incredible book - I think I'm going to try and finish it off tonight (only ~60 pages which means about 200 pages in a normal book). What's next for my books? I need something to read on the bus...I have two books on hold at the library, The Virgin Suicides and Dead Souls. I think Dead Souls may be in tonight, in which case it's my next book. Gogol's awesome. If not, I'll probably read The DaVinci Code. We'll see.

On piano. I've realized that when I play piano, I ignore ALL markings besides the notes. All those loud/soft, crescendo, speed up, slow down, accent marks, etc. Who needs them? I say you interpret the music how you want. After all, isn't that why I'm playing music anyway? For me? Yeah, but it's probably not why I'm paying for lessons. Bah.

Lollapalooza Canceled

2004-06-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

Looks like Lollapalooza was cancelled. Kind of a big blow for Indie music, this thing was kind of pumped up. Hopefully this means Modest Mouse will now play at Bumbershoot (I can only hope).

War and Injustice Poems

2004-06-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

I just realized I have the perfect thing to post here - War and Injustice poems. I have one from Les and one from Jes. I'll post that I'm going to write sometime soon (when I get enough creative energy). First, from Mr. Miller:

"A Rag Tag Motley Crew" By Les Miller

One's from Cali; she's a Jew,
Who oft rocks out on her erhu.
One's well dressed and knows a lot,
Of course I speak of Savy Scott.
One famous chap named acalhoun
Has left Willamette all too soon.
In Eugene one causes trouble,
Ladies dig his manly stubble.
We also have a rockin' friend,
Who's from an island that's pretend.
One who's major is quite weak,
But still she has a crazy streak.
The final one can dance ballet.
I'd give her my vote any day.

If trouble strikes, they'll see me through;
A good old bunch, this ragtag, motley crew.

And now our English Major, Ms. Smith:

"War and Injustice in the Summer"
by Jessica F. Smith

Adam checks his email,
Robyn chats online,
neither of them has a tail
but still they're friends of mine.
Kasia's in the office
fearful of her boss,
As to where our Scott is,
we're all at a loss.
Chris is in So. Cali, soaking up the sun,
Michelle can't go outside till her homework's done.
Les is chilling somewhere, doing what he will,
while I'm dodging forklifts, working in the mill.

Birthday Party

2004-06-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

Doing the planning for my birthday party...looks like it will be a somewhat unique event in the history of my birthday parties in that it is actually a birthday party for several people at once. Yup, it looks the be the join War and Injustice birthday party. July 17. Be there. Planning is way too much work, especially with a group this size, so just show up on Saturday. We're not sure where yet, though.

It's all about perspective

2004-06-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

So I was perusing the diary entries over at DailyKOS when I came across an intriguing entry. Taken from here, look at this chart from the new ABC News/Washington Post poll:

Do you think Bush's views on most issues are too (liberal) for you, too (conservative) for you, or just about right?

Too Liberal Too Conservative

6/20/04 14 38
3/4/04 14 33
12/21/03 14 29
6/3/01 15 32
9/6/00 12 31
2/27/00 10 33
3/14/99 7 20

(this is the general trend, I left a few dates out)

Now, I don't know about you, but it's scary that twice as many people think that Bush is too liberal for them than when he started running for President. What's even more scary is the number that find him too LIBERAL in the first place. My libertarian friends wouldn't even say something like that, and they make him seem, well, at least a little more normal. I guess it's all about perspective (which is even more scary - does this mean that 14% of the country is fairly far right of Bush?).

Troy: The Iliad and Hollywood

2004-06-21T13:03:00.000-07:00

I found an interesting article over at the New York Times book review courtesy of Arts & Letters Daily. The article, "A Little Iliad", is about what our current interpretation of the Iliad says about our culture. The author makes a good point when he comments on a common criticism of the movie (although this is not the point of the article).

People frequently suggest that the movie makes egregious changes to the plot of the Iliad. The article's response? So what. Look at the plays of Euripides and his contemporaries. Their mythos are part of our common understanding of the Trojan War, yet they are different than the Iliad. Kind of like Troy. This made me rethink my position that the movie was horrible solely because it killed off Agememnon, ignoring the whole Oresteia. I've decide the movie was horrible because it was just bad. I don't know, maybe it's the cheesiness, the poor acting, or the horrible music?

Also from A&LD, there's an article in the NYT magazine about a case against happiness. Turns out happy people are pretty nasty. Sounds very Nietzschean. I'd put in an appropriate quote from Beyond Good and Evil here, but I don't have a copy with me. Go read it.

First Post

2004-06-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I'm lame, I'm starting a blog :( Perhaps this is the precursor to Public Misanthropy...