Dog Blogging

Why don't you come down here on the floor and try singing that stupid song Mr. Froggie?

 

Just Finished - The Curious Incident

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. A simply written but interesting story of an autistic boy in his quest to solve the mystery of a dog murder in his neighborhood. This is not my usually fare in fiction, and I expected it to be sort of sappy, but it wasn't. Yes, it's endearing to follow young Christopher with his more limited metal capacity as he plugs away to find the murderer and tackles some of his fears in the process, but more than that it was just an interesting look into the mind of an autistic child (the book chapter numbers are are prime numbers because that makes more sense to Christopher). A very creative tale and worth a few hours if you are looking for something different - whatever you normally read, this is different. He "catches" the murderer, but I won't spoil it.

 

 

Listening To - American Beauty

American Beauty. I like the movie, but I like this score even better and it stands all by itself as a classic. It's fun and interesting and instantly recognizable if you did see the movie.

 

DVD Fun - Walk the Line

Walk the Line. Loved it, just loved it. Now, I am a Johnny Cash fan I must admit. And I wanted to see this when it was in the theater, but GF's aversion to all things Cash steered us away from going. She'd say, "We can go if you really, really want to....", and of course we would see something else. Anyway, we dropped by Hollywood Video and I just walked over and grabbed it and proclaimed this was the movie for the evening, and having just been dinnered-up, she did not protest.

First let me say that Joaquin Phoenix is incredible in this role. He does Johnny Cash, but it's his own very believable version of the man. Different, but the difference is excellent - hard to explain exactly (not being a professional movie critic - har har). And the singing is startlingly good. And I loved all the Cash mannerisms like the way he played the guitar. Reese Witherspoon as June Carter was a winner I would not have expected. And I didn't question the dynamic between them - it works. Her slow, slow belief in the man that swore his love and swore off the booze and drugs after so many years was cool and I liked the way the movie focused on those early years.

And.... halfway through the movie I looked down and saw, to my astonishment, GF's feet tapping away to the music. I gave her a questioning look and she just grinned and shrugged her shoulders and said, "I know, I know, I can't help it." Whether you like Johnny Cash or not, you'll probably like the movie.

 

Come Legally - Learn English

It's not about being anti-immigrant. I'm not. We're all mutts that either got chased out of somewhere else to come to America or we came for the freedom and opportunity. And it's not about not understanding that people in places like Mexico come here because they are dirt-poor or need work and it's available here. But immigration must happen at a pace that can be sustained - there has to be rules.

And for goodness sake, when you do come legally, learn English. I'm not saying this because I want to enforce some kind of American cultural hegemony on immigrants but because English is the language that we do business in here. It's the language we say the Pledge of Allegiance in. By all mean keep your native language if you want to. Express your cultural idioms. But, add them to the melting pot (or salad bowl if you like). Yes, if you are in places like California, you can get government forms in Spanish or find Spanish-speaking people at a car dealership. But, if you want to maximize your freedom and opportunity, then learn the language that is a basic common denominator.

Someone wrote me about another post I made on immigration saying the United States stole California from Mexico. I guess he meant that because the land was inhabited predominantly by Mexicans in the past and because of this accused injustice, Mexicans should be able to come here at whatever rate they please. Unfortunately, this kind of rhetoric solves nothing. The injustice, if that's what you want to call it, happened long ago between people of another time and has nothing directly to do with me or the guy who wrote me. We have an unacceptable status quo: massive unsustainable immigration (mainly from the South). Where do we go from here?

 

Googly Calendar

I've just started playing with setting up a Google calendar. I really don't have a need for it, I have Outlook and Exchange for work and they operate acceptably, but I like gmail so much I thought I'd take a look at this latest Google tool. My first impression is that it's pretty neat. I like the ability to type out in words a date range and have it plug the scheduled item in. I also like how fast it is. But, will people use this for more than a personal calendar or hobby group calendar (for instance), or would you actually run your company off this thing? I think that's the market Google would be after (the money is there). Anyway, on first blush, it looks like a well thought-out and useful tool.

 

One Final Tulip Pic

Just another pic of the tulips from the Tulip Festival. Okay, that's it for the tulip images. I guess I'm just so excited about Spring being here after the dreary, wet Winter that I'm just enamored with the flowers (which I planted by the dozens in the garden last weekend). It'll pass.

 

Listening To - Danny Elfman

So Lo. Pure old vintage Danny circa the Oingo days. All I can say is Gratitude.

 

Spreadsheet in a Web Page

Alright, this may be a little more techi than usual, but have you ever thought it would be neat to be able to put a functioning spreadsheet into a web page? Dan Bricklin, the visi-calc guy, has developed just such an animal. Actually, it's called wikicalc and he bills it as a sort of hybrid wiki and spreadsheet. Best, of coarse, is that it's free. I have not tried it yet, but I'm going to get it and install it in the next several days (maybe this weekend). And this is just the alpha version, so it's not ready for prime-time yet. I looks very interesting and useful though.

If you're interested, you can read about it and download it.

 

Stretched Thin

Do you ever have one of those months where every single solitary day is filled from sun up to sun set, weekends included? That's me right now. Crank that streching machine up.

 

I Could Just Spank Myself

 

I have heard it voiced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will issue a patent for even the silliest things. I have my doubts. Take for instance patent number 6,293,874, this very useful "User-operated amusement apparatus for kicking the user's buttocks" or "spanking machine" for short. I know I have had many times in my life where I have made some dumb decision and I could have used a good spanking. If I had an apparatus such as this to deliver a good spanking to myself, it would be of great value. Unfortunately, Sears does not carry it yet (although my "spanking machine" search turned up the strange result of this guy).

I think such an innovative example of American ingenuity really refutes the claims that the patent office is going down hill.

Dangerous Chicken

On Iran from the Christian Science Monitor:

Iran's breaking of its NPT obligations, as well as a US State Department report on terrorism worldwide that describes Iran as the most active state sponsor of terrorism, gives it little global support against sanctions. With Europe's help, the US could put public pressure on companies doing business in Iran, such as Royal Dutch/Shell and LG Construction, as well as banks supporting them.

Iran said it wouldn't turn off its oil spigot in response. But if, as OPEC's second-largest producer, it did so, the West would need to contend with prices above $100 a barrel. Striking a deal before such a game of chicken plays out seems like the most sensible course for all sides to take.

I think the CSM op-eders are probably pulling the $100 a barrel cost of oil out of their butt. However, obviously it is in everyone's best interest (in the West and America specifically) not to have Iran shut the valve. And I do agree that Iran has few friends in this world to help push their nuclear agenda. The veil of legitimacy in their "civilian" nuclear program looks lamer and lamer the harder they push and the more threats they issue. And I don't think even Russia and China will back them in the end.

 

On DVD - Walk the Line

Walk the Line. Loved it, just loved it. Now, I am a Johnny Cash fan I must admit. And I wanted to see this when it was in the theater, but GF's aversion to all things Cash steered us away from going. She'd say, "We can go if you really, really want to....", and of course we would see something else. Anyway, we dropped by Hollywood Video and I just walked over and grabbed it and proclaimed this was the movie for the evening, and having just been dinnered-up, she did not protest.

First let me say that Joaquin Phoenix is incredible in this role. He does Johnny Cash, but it's his own very believable version of the man. Different, but the difference is excellent - hard to explain exactly (not being a professional movie critic - har har). And the singing is startlingly good. And I loved all the Cash mannerisms like the way he played the guitar. Reese Witherspoon as June Carter was a winner I would not have expected. And I didn't question the dynamic between them - it works. Her slow, slow belief in the man that swore his love and swore off the booze and drugs after so many years was cool and I liked the way the movie focused on those early years.

And.... halfway through the movie I looked down and saw, to my astonishment, GF's feet tapping away to the music. I gave her a questioning look and she just grinned and shrugged her shoulders and said, "I know, I know, I can't help it." Whether you like Johnny Cash or not, you'll probably like the movie.

 

Sexy Ride

What? My 2002 Mazda B3000 pickup didn't make the Forbes list of sexiest cars? How could they have overlooked such a sleek and sexy contender? Oh well. If I had to pick one of the Forbes' choices for sexiest car, I guess I'd have to take the Saturn Sky roadster. Sure, a Rolls-Royce or a Lamborghini would be fun, but the Saturn is more my style - convertable, sporty, and the one in the picture has a girl already in it! As Stewie would say..."Excellent."