Category: Personal

From today’s Krugman, with no comment needed from me: “Whether pretending that the war on terror — not tax cuts, which have cost the Treasury three times as much — is responsible for record deficits, or that those hugely elitist tax cuts are targeted on working families, or that opening up wilderness areas to loggers is a fire-prevention plan, Mr. Bush has taken misrepresentation of his own policies to a level never before seen in America.”

From Report: Social Security Deficit to Boom: “By 2018, taxes paid into Social Security will be insufficient to cover promised benefits. The government also must find a way to pay back the billions of Social Security dollars it has spent and now owes the system. Assuming it can find the money, those funds will be depleted in 2042.”

Contrast that to Bush Team Touts Positive Economic Signs: “President Bush’s economic team traveled through America’s heartland Tuesday seeking to dispel gloom with a forecast that the U.S. economy is poised to come roaring back, aided by the president’s tax cut package. However, even as the Cabinet officials were delivering that optimistic assessment, The Conference Board in New York reported that consumer confidence took a sharp tumble in July as Americans reacted with nervousness to the unemployment rate’s hitting a 9-year high of 6.4 percent in June… All the attention highlights the administration’s concerns that Bush could be vulnerable to Democratic charges that his three successive tax cuts, totaling more than $1.8 trillion through 2011, have driven the budget deficit to record levels while doing little to help the economy.”

Rob Fahrni, my favorite Fresno Microsoftie, had a bad experience with a company the other day and wrote it up on his blog (No integrity). Now that Google and it’s dependents are so attuned to blogs, I’m guessing that within a few days or less, people searching on the web for Viking Ready Mix concrete will see Rob’s entry as high or higher than the company’s own website (if they have one) and think twice about doing business with them. So, Gloria, I’d think twice about bullshitting a bullshitter–just fess up and pay for Rob’s damage, that’s what your insurance is for. And Rob, I’d file a report with either the Fresno Police or CHP.

At the urging of my fellow SpoFites, I broke down and entered the EPL Fantasy League for the upcoming season. I’ve never played any fantasy sports before and have no clue if I picked a decent group of players, but here is the lineup for BillSaysThisSCORES!! (we were asked to include our user names in the team name, or something like that).

In goal, I have the great American keeper Brad Friedel of the Blackburn Rovers. My back line is Liverpool’s Sami Hyypia (Finnish international) and Norwegian international John Arne Riise, Manchester United’s young comer John O’Shea (English national team), and Northern Ireland Under-21 international Mark Clyde of the newly promoted Wolverhampton. In midfield are Everton’s Danish international Thomas Gravesen, Birmingham’s Welsh international Robbie Savage, Blackburn’s Turkish international Kerimoglu Tugay, and Newcastle’s Jermaine Jenas.

Up front are Liverpool’s goal scoring machine and English national team star Michael Owen and Australian international Mark Viduka of Leeds. On the substitute bench I have the number two American goalkeeper Kasey Keller, Fullham striker Luis Boa Morte (Portuguese international), Leicester’s Northern Ireland international Gerrie Taggart for defense, and Wolverhamptons’ midfielder Kevin Cooper. Of my 15 players, only one does not feature for his national team, and that one is my substitute midfielder. Not bad, I guess, but since I don’t really understand how the scoring works, I was happy just to get 15 players from my allotted 100 points.

Let me say upfront that I don’t much care for the UI design on this site but I will do my best to kick butt on the others, because I SCORE!!

We just saw a preview of the upcoming Jackie Chan movie, The Medallion, and couldn’t help but think that it sounds like the producers decided to reuse the script from Chow Yun Fat’s film from this past Spring, Bulletproof Monk. A martial arts master must guard an ancient object that bestows incredible power on its possessor, some evil guy finds out about it and decides he must have it, thereby imperiling the entire world. Plus there’s a hot chick fight between two stunning women who are also martial arts masters. Couldn’t they at least have called it a re-imagining?

At least when it comes to program code, that is. I realized that as the number of strips in the Waiting for a Sunny Day comic grew, there were just too many to load onto a single page and so I wrote some code over the last day to break it up into more manageable chunks. But I kept getting an odd divide by zero error, one that I couldn’t track down. Then I realized that I was calling the function giving the error before setting the value of some variables that were used in the calculation. D’oh! On the other hand, I now have a nice bit of well-factored code that can be reused if I re-write the photo gallery classes and make those easier to use as well.

Yes, Monsieur FT has new company, someone sweet…looking.

(Only one teaser panel, but there are two strips/six panel when you click through.)

Where have all the great three guitar armies gone?

garret posted some comments about weblogs.com today, including an idea that maybe, if a mechanism can be worked out, that it’s time to start charging for the service. At a very small amount, of course, but I had an interesting alternative thought in response.

How many blog users, I thought, actually pay for the software/service they use? Most Blogger (esp. Blog*spot), Weblogs.com, Live Journal, and GotDotNet users don’t even pay for their hosting, and I doubt that many people will pay $23.95/month for AOL just to get a Journal. So what makes you think they’d pay a penny per ping for the weblogs.com service? Assume, say, five posts (pings) per day, that’s about $1.50/month, so with which micropayment services would that work? And bloggers who don’t want to pay, are they excluded?

I think perhaps it’s time to organize an industry group called, say, Weblog Providers Association (WPA, get it?) that blog vendors and such can join and it should do things like control/fund weblogs.com, manage standards process like RSS and not-Echo, plus do promotion and lobbying for blogs and personal web publishing.

Hey, this sounds like a job for me! Ben, Mena, Ev, Dave, Anil, Sam, Brad and all the rest of you blog tycoons, what do you say?

What a strange feeling today. Should not really be tired, slept well, went to the gym, had coffee and tasty breakfast. But just hardly have any energy. Read Chapter Two of VC# Kickstart. Old Roseanne, still funny. Drew Carey insane. Wow, you got invited to a party? Phil is on vacation, blame him. What is Karl being so mysterious about? I do not need Human Growth Hormone Therapy, trust me, stop asking me to buy it you fuckers. This is an ingenious story…[it] rocks. Pure cash rocks.

Later, a cow walked into a bar but saw that a priest, a minister, and a rabbi were already there. Still, he gritted his teeth, such as they were, and when the bartender asked for his order, said “White Russian.” The rabbi looked him over and said it was okay with him, no circumcision means not a Jewish cow. The minister told the barkeep that no good Irishman would drink Vodka, so go ahead and pour. The priest wanted to know if the cow realized that the drink had milk in it; the cow said sure, and what do you care, I saw you pick your nose and eat it.

If you all did not watch the first episode yet, make sure you catch it–it’s on twice more between now and the next new episode on Tuesday night. Wow. It’s on F/X if you haven’t read about it and this does for plastic surgery what Shield and Sopranos do for cops and robbers. Wow. Just finished watching the pilot and the first thing I’m doing is writing you this heads up. Definitely on the nasty and bloody side of things, so be aware. Stars yet another hunky Australian guy, Julian McMahon as the slick, sexier brother–I though I recognized him all along but couldn’t say from where and it turns out he used to play Cole, who was also a demon, on Charmed.

I finished Herb Schildt’s C#: A Beginner’s Guide on Tuesday and almost right on schedule cracked open book 2 in my self-paced programming class, Microsoft Visual C# .NET 2003 Kick Start, this morning. Read all of chapter one, in which author Steven Holzner covers nearly half the material Schildt managed in his entire book, though Holzner does skip the pop quizzes and pages of useless source code demonstrating value types. While I never could find a website for Schildt, I’m almost sorry I found Holzner’s but fortunately the book seems like a much better example of his writing.

In order from most to least coollness:

Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel) announced that he’s almost finished the script for a big screen version of the cancelled before its time TV show Firefly. No studio deal yet, and Whedon is insisting that he will only make the film if the original cast signs on.

Cheech and Chong are coming back. Twenty years older, but they’re going to revive the classic pothead characters that made them so famous back in the 1970s and ’80s. Could be just the entertainment we’ll need after two more years of the GWB posse. Marin and Chong will write the script after making a deal with New Line Cinema based on a storyline proposal and film it next year after Marin finishes production of his upcoming Fox TV series The Ortegas.

In the unnecessary remake category, add a version of the Michael Caine classic Alfie. Nia Long has signed to play opposite Jude Law (who’ll play the womanizing titular role) for director Charles Shyer, whose other credits include the Steve Martin/Diane Keaton remake of Father of the Bride and its sequel.

And in the desecrating our fond memories with remakes category, add The Longest Yard, which Paramount Studios is thinking of updating by partnering with Viacom corporate sibling MTV Studios. Just imagine the Burt Reynolds prison football classic, one of the best films he ever made, remade in the image of Varsity Blues! Sad, just sad.

Regardless of where either sex comes from makes no difference in the end. We’ve all known for a long time that men are pigs, dirt, whatever scum-like form of life appeals to your taste; hell, even I recognized this early in life and said as much to my sister when I was 16 and she had just started dating. But the revelation is that women are no different!

You all probably remember that I met the Sweet One after conversations in a chat room. And though I no longer frequent it, I still get the associated emails. Much to my surprise, I read one yesterday from one of the female regulars decrying the fact that she had zero true female friends–because every time she meets a nice guy, one of her girlfriends ends up sleeping with him! ROFL, as we say in the ‘room! All these years I’m thinking that (most, though not all) women are a step above men when it comes to classy sexual behavior and I was just wrong. Bummer.

Don’t let Shan and her evil posse do it to you! Resist the urgings to join them. Well, at least until you have the right guy to be more than just a donor. I hear too many people these days talking about “my baby’s daddy” and that kind of trash. So just keep looking and tell Shan you’ll be the best Auntie you can be. ROFL.

Self-esteem is a terrible curse on the human ego; it can force us to make incredibly poor choices, even when it takes the form of perfectionism. Jessica Stein, our heroine, suffers from that affliction and developed it early in life–her mother reminds her of the time in fifth grade when she dropped out of the lead role in a play simply because the boy playing opposite her wasn’t good enough. We see so many examples of that including one scene at a dinner party when her boss Josh (played so well by Scott Cohen) throws it right in her face by calling her after she complains that the only dates she gets are with “freaks and morons.” Couldn’t it be, he asks, that the problem is with her and not the men?

Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) is an entertaining look at single life in New York City at a time when the phrase “lipstick lesbian” was on, well, everyone’s lips. And so Ms. Stein, a cute bundle of energy played by Jennifer Westfeldt, takes a stab at the same sex, answering a personal ad from Helen (Heather Juergensen). At first repelled by her own inclination, she relaxes just enough to talk with Helen, then to kiss, then after weeks of kissing, to move on.

But while Jessica’s happier by the day with her romantic life, she still can’t bring herself to let anyone else in on the secret, always introducing Helen as her friend and making excuses for their being together. Until an unmentioned wedding brings the water to boil and the two break up. This is a romantic comedy, though it drips with political overtones, so the couple comes out of the closet and makes up–they even move in together. But there’s a reason for the term lipstick lesbian, which truly does capture the Jessica character so well, and she really wants no more than a best friend. Helen, turns out, truly is lesbian and she soon finds a better match.

In some ways this movie, which was written by Westfeldt and Juergensen, is obviously the work of inexperienced writers (it is the only produced screenplay by either), with desired plot points simply occuring more or less as needed without proper development. The direction by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld was also a bit simplistic, and also not surprising as it was his first feature film, though it did lead to better things as he was picked to direct Reese Witherspoon in the just released Legally Bonde 2. Reminds me of Damon and Affleck writing Good Will Hunting as way to get good parts for themselves.

Soctt Cohen does a really good job as the main heterosexual male. Such as the look on his face when he finds out the truth about the two women, immediately after telling Jessica how he (in so many words) loves her! I knew he looked familiar and, sure enough, a bit of peeking uncovered that he played the despicable cop Harry Denby on NYPD Blue a few years ago.

Could be that Westfeldt and Juergensen are busy doing, say, stage work but I’m quite surprised after seeing Kissing Jessica Stein that neither has done another piece of significant movie work since. Westfeldt has a role in a movie that screams “direct to cable” coming out later this year in which she shares the screen with top names like Tori Spelling and Malcolm McDowell, with not even that much shown in IMDB for Juergensen. Surprising.

Recommended

Since the series was cancelled, the execs gave out the secret at a press conference:

“Gail Berman, president of Fox Entertainment, revealed the secret of the network’s canceled SF series John Doe to Zap2it. The series, which starred Dominic Purcell as a man who knew everything except who he was, ended before uncovering the secret of his abilities.

But at Fox’s fall press preview this week, Berman told the site that she had discussed Doe’s underlying premise with creators Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson. The secret: Doe was just a regular guy. “[According to the show], when you’re very close to death, when you’re seeing the white light, God or a higher being gives you all the information of life to carry on to the next life,” Berman said. Doe was about to die, but for whatever reason, he lived after being imparted with that knowledge, she said. The shadowy people who were after Doe knew what happened to him and were trying to keep him from discovering it himself, Berman added.”

This does not make sense to me. If Fox hadn’t cancelled the series and the story played out according to the above explanation, I think many people, including myself, would have been very unhappy.

Several weeks ago, the weblog of a Mr. John Robb, formerly of Userland, disappeared of the web. Not really, sites like Feedster had it cached, but the original site (Userland.com) had pulled off the pages and left an empty directory behind (still there as of this writing). Now JRobb, as I believe he prefers to be called, went out and found himself another site–one he owns–and using the capabilities of his blogging tool, simply republished the back matter and started adding to it.

I was curious to see what his former partner, the volatile DaveW, would do when JRobb asked that people link to his new site. True to the rollercoaster nature of his personality, DaveW not only didn’t link the new site (when the old one was given a lofty location in the blogroll) but he hasn’t even mentioned the situation. Just seems to me that, having read DaveW’s postings for several years and his frequent calls for friendship, forgiveness, and consideration of the good of the blogosphere over the personal, JRobb would have gotten some kind of mention.

Apparently not. Bling!

The English Premier League 2003-4 season gets started on August 16 (as indicated over in the sidebar, Liverpool opens with a chance for revenge for the last game loss last season against Chelsea) and the teams began their training last week. LFC, training in Switzerland, has played two exhibitions so far and is headed to the Far East for a couple of matches there.

Some of the other big-name teams are coming to America for their warm-up tours and it’s being marketed as ChampionsWorld. The opening game is tomorrow night in Seattle with Manchester United against Celtic. Later in the week, the games will include Juventus vs Barcelona, Manchester United vs Club America, Barcelona vs AC Milan, Manchester United vs Juventus, and ending with Manchester United vs Barcelona.

The last game ought to be relatively interesting. One of the big Summer transfer battles was over the Brazilian star Ronaldhino. The midfielder is 23, and has made his club reputation with Paris Saint Germaine, but now he’s too big to stay in the French League–they just don’t have the money for the big stars, which is why the can have a terrific national team but never produce wins from international club competitions. Man U really wanted him, not only to replace David Beckham but also to give them the creativity and leadership in the middle that Juan Veron should have but never has provided.

FC Barcelona, which started all the hoopla over Beckham but couldn’t close that deal, instead pressed and pressed for Ronaldhino’s signature. Even after the star’s agent/brother told the press that the English side was some small details away from finalizing a transfer, the new leadership at the proud but battered Spanish team did not give up. And though it cost them about $33 million, Barcelona got him. This will be the first meeting between the teams since.

This Sunday, I’ll be hosting a couple of SpoFites and their families here for BBQ and that Juventus vs Barcelona game. Would be nice to also take in the Manchester United/Club America clash in the late afternoon together as well but doesn’t seem like that will happen. But still very cool, hopefully I’ll get some good education and expert insight from the new pals.

Declan McCullagh’s latest column on CNet News is entitled Doublespeak About Spam and in it he “tells the real story behind the Direct Marketing Association’s case that unsolicited e-mail entreaties shouldn’t be considered spam.” I had this response to him:

Very interesting article because of the way you brought out the DMA information, which is usually overlooked in the articles I’ve read on spam. Still, a couple of points:

1. Why didn’t you publish Wientzen’s work email address in the article to force him into the current system rather than allowing him to opt out, as he apparently does? He and his members obviously aren’t giving the rest of us the same choice.

2. More significant to me, I think the crux of this issue stems from the fact that the Supreme Court ruled (I know, this was back in the 1880s) that corporations are people too when it comes to most legal considerations. As someone who’s pondered this issue for many years, I still don’t agree with it. Corporations are not people and should not have the same rights as people; the legal should be updated to define them and their rights as a separate and unequal entity. I realize this has absolutely zero chance of happening but still, I think it provides a useful perspective for analyzing this and other issues.

Regards.

A couple of years back, many personal sites posted lists of weird searches (on, for instance, Google) that ended up with the searcher clicking through to that site. I found one sufficiently weird in the referrer log today to mention: someone searched Daypop for the letter I. That’s it, a capital I, the letter after H. Somehow only 8403 pages in the Daypop database matched and I was on the 189th page (since their are 10 results per page), though there’s no link on this page to my site just now. Someone clicked through 189 pages of results to get to my site! (Other oddity: Daypop has “35,000 News Sites, Weblogs and RSS feeds” in it’s database and only 8400 have the letter I?)