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| Aaaand by some unexplained miracle, the cell is a-working again. Yippie-skippie! It's still only hanging on by a half a hinge, so a replacement is probably still in order, but at least it doesn't have to be replaced at this exact frickin' moment, which is refreshing. So, once again taking calls, glory be, although I'm likely not the most coherent conversation partner on the block, as I took an as-needed prescription medication that shall remain anonymous not too long ago, and let's just say that it's making the room do interesting things (mostly of a rotational nature). It was warranted, but there are reasons I don't make a habit of this. Wheeee!
We pause now for a handy tip: facial hair + bubble gum = train wreck in progress. Thank you. - Mood:wheeee!
 - Music:"Swine," Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet
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| I love to listen to Naomi laugh! And what makes her laugh these days? Anything to do with Bilbo. Seeing Bilbo first thing in the morning. Throwing Cheerios at him and watching him jump to catch them. "Patting" him, which is just smacking him repeatedly, which he seems to actually enjoy. Touching his paws. Rolling toy cars into him. She loves the pooch and finds him hysterical!
It's been so beautiful here the past 24 hours. Not too hot and low humidity. Last night Jimmy and I sat on the deck playing games and watching the bats fly around. Today Naomi and I sat under the oak tree in the front yard and played. It's been perfect! Tonight I was hoping we could all go for a walk, but I fed Jimmy too much food and now he can't move.
I hope the rest of the week continues to be so nice! | |
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| Insanely busy -- I have three major projects which all have to be completed before the end of the month, so I apologize for not posting as often as I normally would. Figured that I'd devote this post to brief reviews: We went to see Public Enemies this weekend -- I enjoyed it quite a bit. Michael Mann is one of my favorite directors, and I'm a sucker for the 1930s. I was already pretty well-versed in the story of "Public Enemy Number One", John Dillinger, but even so, the film didn't drag for me at all -- which is saying something, as it clocks in at 2 1/2 hours. Depp turns in his usual effortless excellence -- although for me, the film was made by the supporting actors (especially Jason Clarke as Red Hamilton and Stephen Graham as Baby Face Nelson). I finally read Theodore Roszak's novel Flicker, years after having it recommended by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) princeofcairo. The best way that I can sum it up: Eco's Foucault's Pendulum (in the depth of information) or Brown's DaVinci Code (in the overall theme of art hiding secrets), except concerned with the secret history of the cinema. As a cinephile and a fan of historical conspiracies, this was right up my alley. I'd love to find more like this. I loved every page of it. Less loved was Space Captain Smith by Toby Frost. Part of the problem here was my own expectations -- I was hoping for something that took itself more seriously, even while being light-hearted: something more along the lines of Fraser's Flashman, but in a steampunk setting. Sadly, what I got was a book written in an unbearably smug pastiche of Douglas Adams' style -- but without Adams' ability. The whole thing had a wink-to-the-audience, "aren't I clever?" feel which so turned me off, I put the book down unfinished and haven't looked back. the_themiscyran and I watched Gabriel on DVD, courtesy of Netflix. It's an Australian film featuring Arch-Angels (or "Arcs" as the script calls them) versus The Fallen, fighting over control of Purgatory (called "Midworld"), which takes the form of a dark city. Very 90s White Wolf -- lots of Big Coats TM and guns -- surprisingly no katanas, which was the first indication that it might rise above it's brethren. I have to admit that not only did I enjoy the movie (probably because I was expecting total crap), but I started thinking about how it would be fun to do an angels-vs-demons RPG, without venturing into the territory of Engel or In Nomine. Anyway -- there you have it. Some things which have wedged their way into my brain recently, squeezing into the narrow gaps between the brainspace demanded by work projects. | |
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| http://womeninit.net/blog/2009/07/no_sometimes_criticism_just_me.html It's a guilty pleasure and a slightly shameful admission: I've been following Sarah Palin's Twitter feed. She certainly is a frequent, enthusiastic and, arguably, effective user of the medium.
Alas, much of her tweets consist of defensive stuff like this:
"Criticism is something easily avoided by saying nothing, doing nothing, being nothing."Aristotle Don't fear it;it means u make a difference
Now, I am not somebody who loves being criticized myself (laughs bitterly); however, I recognize that sometimes when somebody criticizes you, they may have a point. Maybe there's something I can learn from what somebody is telling me. It may not be what I want to hear, but it may be what I need to hear, in order to do better in the future.
That may have been Aristotle's ultimate point (I'm having trouble locating the original quote in context) but that's not Ms. Sarah's. Criticism just means she should keep on doing whatever she's doing. If people are noticing it, that's good. But she doesn't have to listen to her detractors (though she often answers back to them in her tweets and offline), doesn't have to pause in her tracks, doesn't have to reflect on any mistakes she may have made.
Sarah, "u" may be making a difference, but you, we all, should pause and reflect on whether it's a good one or not. | |
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| http://womeninit.net/blog/2009/07/the_stimulus_isnt_working.html So a lot of people are grumbling that the economic stimulus package isn't working. And maybe it isn't. The economy is still shedding jobs like a cheap carpet, and my state is circling the drain.
What irritates me is that a lot of the grumbling is on the right. Six months into the new administration, and they are unwilling to give Obama the chance they demanded that the country give Bush... for eight years.  Yet why should they be so unhappy? As the above chart from the July 13 issue of Time magazine shows, they
got the thing they're always clamoring for... tax cuts! That's right,
so far, something like 60% of the stimulus is tax cuts.
I'm sorry, but are tax cuts only acceptable when a Republican president is in power?
As for why they aren't working... well, it doesn't seem to me like they worked that well over the last decade either. (though recent research suggests cuts can be stimulating) Do we need a second stimulus bill? I don't know, but it looks to me like the first one hasn't even kicked in yet.
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| The last of the Detective 854 signings is this Saturday at Olympic Cards and Comics, in Lacey, WA, from noon to five. My favorite store in the WHOLE wide world, even if it happens to be the terrain marked by my partner in many crimes, Eric Trautmann. Take a look at this:
Yes, that's right! A Stumptown t-shirt! Matthew Southworth and I will be giving away 50 of them as a promotion at the Oni Press panel on Thursday at the con. Perfect for the cynic, romantic, or dogged PI in your life! | |
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| I have the nerve to be in a good mood yesterday, conplete with decent night's sleep and nutritious meals. This is probably why my cell phone decided to barf up its kidneys on me this morning, leaving the people I speak to unable to hear me. Swellsie-pants, another random $50 expense. Thank you, Universe, for monogramming that one for me. Needless to say until this matter gets tidied (tomorrow at the earliest), I will not be reachable telephonically, unless you go through rafaela; best instead to use the written media. Meanwhile, rafaela has been afflicted with a rather nasty Pocky addiction. This may or may not have been my fault. Nothing to see here. Move along. Oh, and just to share something we've been seeing around the parking lot, I share with you the most codependent Christian bumper sticker ever: "Jesus died, so he wouldn't have to live without you." Good gravy. I think Jesus could use a good therapist. - Mood:grumpy
 - Music:"Dad's Gonna Kill Me," Richard Thompson
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| Howdy all - The release has gone great and now I have to turn my attention to much more pressing activities: I am scheduled for fatherhood tomorrow! For more details checkout http://richaje.livejournal.com/10511.html. Blogging on the Moon Design Publications site might be a little sporadic for awhile, but fortunately David Dunham and a few other troopers are here to pick up the slack! Jeff PS. If you sent me an email in the last few days and I didn't get back to you, this is the reason! Please send me a gentle reminder in a few days. | |
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| http://www.dorktower.com/2009/07/14/muskrat-ramblings-updates-and-down-the-line/ http://www.dorktower.com/?p=3940 I’m trying to get back to three strips a week. While I’m still pushed for time, I’ve been really unhappy with the flow of the strip while I pulled it back to twice a week (even if that was only intended as a temporary thing during Louisa’s first year). We’ll see.
In some bad news, Comics Buyers’ Guide has had to cut back on expenses due to the economy, and alas, alack, one of those expenses was Dork Tower. The editor says this is hopefully just a temporary thing, and given the feedback I get from the CBG staff and editors, I’m hoping so as well. Yet, for the first time in ten years, Dork Tower is exclusively a web-only strip. Or “webcomic,” as I guess the kids are saying these days.
This is a paradigm I’ve yet to get used to.
This is also a business model I need to figure out. While I’m notoriously unmotivated by money, the fact that there is now a Daughter involved and a College Fund to be funded puts a spin on things that wasn’t there five years ago.
On the plus side, while there are still massive slowdowns on the Gamespy server, at least the move to the new server is expected to be VERY soon.So hopefully the site should be super-fast and super-spiffy super soon. | |
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| Originally published at Artifacts. You can comment here or there. 
(Still here!) | |
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|  Although Michael Mann’s Public Enemies raked in an acceptable box office haul and scored a fresh Tomatometer rating, the film—which I quite liked—has been the subject of much concern trolling in movie blog land. Allegedly it’s too arty, too redolent of the filmmaker’s personal vision, to justify its budget in an era of tentpoles and CGI giant robots. I’m still puzzling that out: the Public Enemies I saw follows the conventional arc of an outlaws on the run flick. Mann’s adoring HD camera lovingly serves up the movie star charisma.
( Mild spoilers... ) | |
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| Note - the figures in question 3 are _gross_ income, before tax. Also - if you earn more than £49k then tick the £49k box. Poll #1429637
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: AllWhen it comes to money I think of myself as When compared to the people I spend most of my time with I am My income is equal to or less than (£weekly/£yearly/$yearly)
View Answers£261.80, £13,613.60, $21,917.90
   16 (20.3%) £312.60, £16,255.20, $26,170.87
4 (5.1%) £338.40, £17,596.80, $28,330.85
5 (6.3%) £363.30, £18,891.60, $30,415.48
8 (10.1%) £416.40, £21,652.80, $34,861.01
3 (3.8%) £546.20, £28,402.40, $45,727.86
7 (8.9%) £627.60, £32,635.20, $52,542.67
3 (3.8%) £676.10, £35,157.20, $56,603.09
8 (10.1%) £736.10, £38,277.20, $61,626.29
9 (11.4%) £946.80, £49,233.60, $79,266.10
10 (12.7%) I don't really have an income in that sense.
6 (7.6%) Those figures are the income percentiles for the fully employed UK workers, which you can get from here. If you're in the second group (£312 a week) then at least 10% of the population earn less than you, if you're in the third group then at least 20% of the population earns less than you. If you're in the first group then your life sucks.
Thanks to red_phil for the link. | |
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| Poll #1429622
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: AllMy ideal holiday I would blog my honeymoon I feel like | |
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| Interesting piece here on people's views on poverty. The most interesting thing being what people's views tell you about the way they view the world. The majority of them, in this case, believing that they are in the middle - that they are 'normal'. Which rings true with my experience talking about this with people - where nearly everyone from my just-about-employed-in-a-crap-job ex-student friends to my earning-in-the-top-5%-in-the-finance-sec tor friends believes that they are within the middle of the block - they aren't _that_ rich or _that_ poor, just a little bit out from the average. I mean, I'm on 50% more than the UK median income (which is £450 a week), and _I_ feel normal. The other interesting bit is that people feel that those above them must have earned it, while those beneath them are just lazy. Which also rings true - after all, if _I_ can get this far, then anyone who put in a bit of effort could do it? The answer, obviously, being no, but that doesn't match with human intuition. Which means that if you want to get people motivated to help the poor then you need to make it very clear where people actually fall on the spectrum of income. Which reminds me - anyone got a graph showing how much (working age) people in the UK earn? Or some figures I could turn into a graph? | |
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Sex advice for Christians. Married Christians, of course.
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Geckos - made of COOL!
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Worth reading just for the graph of who slept with who amongst a group of students. Sleep with one of them, there's a 50% chance you've "slept" with all of them...
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