Moonage Webdream

OK, this guy takes a midi sequencer, hooks it up to something to detect hamster movements, and makes music with it.

Now, I’m game for the sound coming out, but, the stage show that I see sucks.  Where are the flash boxes?  The smoke?  Two freakin PC speakers?  Give me a break!  Rappers put a little more thought into their stage show.  These rodents are doomed to malls and shopping centers with a shoddy production like this.  With a sequencer, anyone, or in this case, any thing can make "music".  What’s missing these days is the showmanship of David Bowie or Mick Jagger.  Given the level of talent being cranked out today, I believe these rodents could do as well as most bands.  But, they’re definitely going to need a better stage producer than what they’ve got now.

For what it’s worth, I’m pretty cheap these days.  And, I do see potential in couple of the hamsters there.

Technorati Tags: Hmmmmm, Music

Mrs. Moon and I were watching basketball this afternoon.  The baby had wondered off and was being quiet for the first time all day.  I was enjoying that.  I got to wondering about him when almost on cue he came strolling into the living room, sans pants or diaper and saying "Stinky".  Now, stinky means he has already done his business, and it doesn’t really mean what business.  We rushed into the kitchen to find that the boy had done his business on his potty chair.  This was a MAJOR breakthrough.  Now, it wasn’t a particularly well aimed effort, and it was #2, so it was quite messy.  But, I was so proud of the boy that I wanted to take a picture of it.  I thought about it a little more and decided that might not really be the most appropriate thing to do.  But, to say the least, I’m a proud papa!

Technorati Tags: Parenting

John Chaney was suspended for the rest of the regular season by Temple on Friday for ordering rough play by one of his players, who proceeded to foul out in 4 minutes against Saint Joseph’s and broke an opponent’s arm.

The primary reason I put John Chaney under "Jerk of the Day" is because I have been a long time admirer of him and this just disappoints the heck out of me.  Kids  play rough, that’s just a fact of nature.  It’s up to the refs to keep things in line.  If Chaney had an issue with the referees, he should have taken more measures against the referees.  But, to send in the goon squad to assault the other team is as low in college sports as you can possibly get.  He’s suspended for the rest of the year ( three games ).  He really doesn’t need to be coaching any more.  As with Woody Hayes, he needs to get out and save whatever reputation he had for the history pundits to determine.  Another incident like this and all the fans of the coach will be as gone as I am now.  Do yourself a favor John, retire while you’re still a little ahead.  Sending the message to the other coaches that you realize how low you’ve sunk and that you can’t accept this behavior yourself will help get your reputation back where it used to be.  Letting the NCAA or Temple make that decision for you won’t.

Technorati Tags: Jerk of the Day

A priest pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Tuesday in the death of a University of Pittsburgh football player who fell through a church ceiling while drunk.

The Rev. Henry Krawczyk, who entered the plea on the day his trial was to begin, was sentenced to seven years’ probation.

The sentence was the maximum amount of probation the priest could have faced in the June 18, 2003, death of 19-year-old receiver Billy Gaines.

Gaines was legally drunk when he fell onto his head from more than 20 feet from a crawl space above the ceiling at St. Anne Church in a Pittsburgh suburb. Gaines, a former high school star from Ijamsville, Md., died about 20 hours later of head and spinal injuries.

Allegheny County prosecutors said Krawczyk, 52, was the only adult of legal drinking (age ) at a cookout the priest hosted in the hours leading up to Gaines’ fall.

I’m not going to elaborate on who the idiot here is, it’s too distasteful.  But, I would think at this point in time priests in general would get the idea through their head once and for all that when they dedicate their lives to the word of God, that means that it’s not a part-time job.  Getting kids drunk is not a good way to spread the word.  Having sex with young boys is bad too.  Right now these priests, and I don’t mean only Catholic priests, surely have to know that their ethics and morals are under a microscopic laser of scrutiny.  They have to use the God given sense the God they dedicated their lives to gave them.  Since that seems to be failing en masse at the moment, I’ll toss a few rules to follow out there to help them out:

1. Don’t have sex with people under the age of 21.  That includes any kind of sex with any gender.  Just don’t do it at all.  Don’t touch, don’t get jiggy, don’t even look for more than 30 seconds.  If you’re in a compromising situation, bring another clergy member with you. ( That’s called CYA, and it works. )
2. Don’t get kids drunk.  If you see it happening, stop it.  Your ass is on the line if anything happens to them whether they get hurt or not.
3. Don’t worry about "being cool".  If you practice what you preach, you’re going heaven for eternity.  No one has to worry about being cool in heaven.  As for the time down here, understand this clearly, there’s no way your cool or probably ever have been.  Cool people KNOW their destination and are not concerned about earthly events leading up to that point.  Being as you have chosen to join the clergy, you obviously ARE concerned about earthly events leading up to that point.  The two concepts can not intermingle.  You’re not cool, don’t fret, and, you won’t have to worry about it for very long.  Cool people also know the ground rules for enjoying life without a lot of worry.  Two things cool people never do are have sex with kids or party with kids.  Kids aren’t cool until they understand responsibility enough to stay out of trouble when they party.  That usually doesn’t happen until about 35 or so.

That should do it for now.

Technorati Tags: Idiot of the day

An infant boy’s growth during his first year of life may signal his economic growth during adulthood.

Baby boys who are taller than their peers between birth and their first birthday grow up to earn more money as adults, say researchers from the U.K. and Finland. But they say their study merely shows an association between infant height and adult income; it does not say that short people are destined to become economic failures.

Heh, heh, we can’t keep the baby in clothes, he’s TOO TALL!

Technorati Tags: Parenting

Capt. Jim Hosking is stunned as he reads the message from the cockpit printer aboard United Flight 890. On most days, messages sent to the Boeing 747 are ordinary: maintenance items or reports of bad weather. On this day, Sept. 11, before sunrise over the Pacific Ocean, the warning is unlike any he has seen. Hijackings? Terrorist attack?

This is an incredibly well written and very interesting read from USAToday.  It tells of the events of 9/11 from the perspective of a pilot on a plane not involved in the hijackings, but not sure if he is or not.  I imagine every pilot had that sinking feeling at 9:37 am that day.  I’m not going to analyze it any more, I won’t do it right.  Just read it.

Technorati Tags: Heroes

I did a piece on Paris Hilton’s Sidekick getting hacked.  From the media perspective, it’s definitely a Pavlov’s dog.  However, it does have some serious technology and social implications. So, I stuck it in the Spaceweb.

Technorati Tags: Pavlov's Dog

I watched the movie.  My wife read the book and we discussed it at length numerous times.  Now, apparently, The Da Vinci Code is getting a new life:

Art experts and conservative clerics are holding an unusual "trial” in Leonardo da Vinci’s hometown aimed at sorting out fact from fiction in the "The Da Vinci Code” after many readers took the smash hit novel as gospel truth.

The novel’s contentious allegations — namely, that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and sired a bloodline — have provoked unprecedented protest among Roman Catholic and Protestant conservatives, who claimed that Brown’s characters inaccurately malign Christianity.

Wow.  Unprecedented protest among Roman Catholic and Protestant coservatives?  That seems a bit extreme considering I think The Crusades would probably be considered a form of protest equal to or moreso than the protest of this novel.  But, let’s continue:

Vezzosi said he will produce evidence through 120 photographs based on documents and paintings with the aim of "reassessing and disclaiming the author” of the mystical thriller, a mix of code-breaking, art history, secret societies, religion and lore.

Vezzosi said one example of the mistakes contained in the book is the statement that the Mona Lisa was made in Leonardo’s image.

"There’s a very big difference between Mona Lisa’s and Leonardo’s noses, mouths, eyes and expressions,” he said, adding that he will compare two portraits to prove it.

This is a nothing event.  The Da Vinci Code came and went.  It had its moment and now it’s pretty much gone.  These guys, in order to debunk something that has pretty much been forgotten, will give it new life.  And, since it’s an excellent novel, that is a good thing.

Technorati Tags: Idiot of the day

Eugene Volokh notes that the quote "History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, But It Rhymes" has been attributed to Mark Twain.  I double checked his claim and sure enough, it’s all over the internet.  All kinds of people, including history teachers, directly attribute it to Mark Twain.  However, if you go to the official Mark Twain quotes page, it’s not there!

Now, here’s my assumption.

Twain did make a number of comments on history.  The one that particularly jumps out at me is this one from Eruption:

"It is not worthwhile to try to keep history from repeating itself, for man’s character will always make the preventing of the repetitions impossible."

Now, do note that that quote starts with the statement of "history from repeating itself", which is very similar to "History doesn’t repeat itself".  And, concludes with "the preventing of the repititons impossible."  Now, if you can’t prevent something from repeating itself, then it is doing something.  Secondly, the nature of poetry is the repitition of syllables.  An easier way to restate that last part is "it rhymes".  So, the connotation, by perverting what he said is, "History can’t repeat itself, but it can rhyme".

There ya go Eugene.  Case solved.

Technorati Tags: People

This is a classic.  Thanks to Dirty Dingus for the head’s up!

From Wazzadem.com:

Bill O’Reilly
Welcome back to the O’Reilly Factor, I’m Bill O’Reilly. On the impact segment tonight - among the myriad groups opposing the war in Iraq is one calling itself The Jedi Council. The group’s founder, who goes only by the name Yoda, has claimed, among other things, that he has been training so-called "Jedi Warriors" for over eight hundred years, owing his longevity to something he refers to as "The Force." Joining me now is Yoda - welcome to the show, sir.

Yoda
To be here my pleasure it is.

Bill O’Reilly
Now, The Factor has done quite a bit of research on your group, but all we’ve been able find is a lot of gossip on the Internet, people talking about this "force" thing, a lotta stuff about the "Jedi", some goofy talk about a "clone war", and quite a bit about some guy called - I want to get this right, now - is it Skywalker?

Yoda
Skywalker, yes. Of Anakin or Luke do you speak?

Bill O’Reilly
I didn’t know there was more than one, are they related?

Yoda
Father of Luke was Anakin, but Vader he would eventually become.

Bill O’Reilly
So this Vader, or Anakin, or whatever you want to call him, was he the cofounder of this ‘Jedi’ group, or what?

Yoda
Jedi was Anakin , but to the dark side he was drawn. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will…

Bill O’Reilly
Let’s not get into all that, because it sounds like a personal thing between the two of you, and he’s not here to defend himself. What I want to know is, what is the message you’re trying to…

Yoda
Do or do not. There is no try.

Bill O’Reilly
I don’t want to get into a philosophical discussion with you here - what I want to do, for the benefit of the folks watching at home, is to clarify your position is on the war. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but you’ve been quoted as saying "Wars not make one great," is that accurate?

Yoda
Quoted me correctly you have.

Bill O’Reilly
Mr. Yoda, as probably know, we at The Factor have been critical of certain decisions made by the Bush administration, and Rumsfeld in particular, with regard to the planning and execution of the war in Iraq, especially in the early stages of the occupation, but I believe that it is vital that we stay there, at least until their security forces have achieved an acceptable level of self-sufficiency. Now, what say you?

Yoda
A Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defense, never attack a Jedi does.

Bill O’Reilly
You’re spinning, Mr. Yoda, you’re spinning. Let me ask you this - do you concede that there’s a difference between a war of intervention, like Vietnam for example, and a preemptive attack against a country like Iraq, that had been repeatedly sanctioned by the UN, had violated the terms of a cease-fire, and was known to harbor terrorists?

Yoda
Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.

Bill O’Reilly
You’re avoiding the question, sir. Listen, you can spout this pacifist stuff all you want, but at the end of the day, the folks just want to know one thing - they want to know who’s looking out for them. Now, what would you have the government do - sit back and wait for another attack, or take reasonable actions to protect its citizens and its interests here and abroad?

Yoda
Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.

Bill O’Reilly
You’re talking in circles, sir, and you’re not answering my question.

Yoda
Already know you that which you need.

Bill O’Reilly
I don’t know, sir, because you won’t give me a straight answer. All I’m trying to find out is whether there’s a difference between you and your Jedi guys and some of these kooks on the far left. I mean, you’ve got your Moveon.org, the International Answer people, and all the others - now, they’re never going to support Bush, no matter what he does. As far as they’re concerned, he’s evil - he’s just evil.

Yoda
If you choose the quick and easy path, you will become an agent of evil.

Bill O’Reilly
But we’re not taking the quick and easy path, Mr. Yoda, that’s spin. The president has told us from the beginning that the war on terror was going to require considerable time and resources. You can disagree with him if you want to, but…

Yoda
Do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor.

Bill O’Reilly [shaking his head]
See, this where you lose most people, in my opinion. The people of this country have no problem with spirited debate, but you resort to name calling, with the emperor, and Hitler and all that garbage, then the folks at home tune out. They’re not buying that. They want facts sir, and you’re just trying to appeal to their emotions.

Yoda
For the Jedi, there is no emotion; there is peace.

Bill O’Reilly
We all want peace, Mr. Yoda, but this is the real world, and the fact is, there are people out there who won’t think twice about harming or killing civilians, including women and children.

Yoda
Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.

Bill O’Reilly
Well, that’s one thing we can agree on, so I’m going to give you an autographed copy of my book, The O’Reilly Factor for Kids. Now, I want to address a subject that’s a little sensitive in nature, and I don’t want to offend you in any way, but I’m sure you realize that your appearance is a little unusual, to say the least, with the ears, you’ve got the little robe, there…

Yoda
Mmmmm?

Bill O’Reilly
Never mind. Listen, I want to be fair and give you the last word here, sir; I still don’t see how this whole ‘Jedi’ philosophy jibes with the political climate post-9/11. What am I missing?

Yoda
The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun the clone war has.

Bill O’Reilly
I have to tell you, I’m not seein’ it, sir, I’m not seein’ it. Anyway, Mr. Yoda, we appreciate you bein’ a standup guy and coming in here to answer our questions.

Yoda
Beware of the dark side!

Bill O’Reilly
Again with the dark side…all right, when we come back, we’ll wrap things up with the most ridiculous item of the day and some of your mail. You’re watching The O’Reilly Factor.

Technorati Tags: Interviews that never were