Ironically-enough, that followup was to address the fact that LJ seemed to be correctly leaving RSS-fed stories in their chronological order when such a story had an update.
No clue why this happened. Apologies to those who were spammed.
]]>Ironically-enough, that followup was to address the fact that LJ seemed to be correctly leaving RSS-fed stories in their chronological order when such a story had an update.
No clue why this happened. Apologies to those who were spammed.
]]>However, in this case, it means that my update to yesterday's entry on the "Find the Boeing" conspiracy didn't get the same prominence that the original did. If you read that via the RSS feed at LJ, please check back and follow the link to the debunking of this particular theory.
]]>However, in this case, it means that my update to yesterday's entry on the "Find the Boeing" conspiracy didn't get the same prominence that the original did. If you read that via the RSS feed at LJ, please check back and follow the link to the debunking of this particular theory.
]]>But this recent bit from CNN (not sure how long this link will be in their archive) means speaking up a bit early:
So while the "full review" is still forthcoming, let me say that this could be potentially excellent news. WB has done some stinkers, but they also gave Joss Whedon the elbow room he needed to develop Buffy and Angel. And GF is something else; it is in fact very spy vs. spy in nature, but the writing is extremely crisp and tight, and the pacing is just fantastic. What really struck me about it, though, is that it's already episodic. Each issue is a single, stand-alone story, with recurring characters but otherwise not leading up to a single grand-finale sort of conclusion. I've even mentioned to the friend who turned me on to it, that it would lend itself well to TV, since it's already written for it: each issue's final page runs the credits over the last few panels as the story is wrapped up and last lines are spoken.
I just hope that the WB has the minerals to use the existing stories, rather than just using the concept and writing new stories. The ones they have are brutal, harsh, and very realistic (save for the near-future sci-fi tech that they use). It would be a shame to not have characters like Grishko come to life on the screen.
]]>But this recent bit from CNN (not sure how long this link will be in their archive) means speaking up a bit early:
So while the "full review" is still forthcoming, let me say that this could be potentially excellent news. WB has done some stinkers, but they also gave Joss Whedon the elbow room he needed to develop Buffy and Angel. And GF is something else; it is in fact very spy vs. spy in nature, but the writing is extremely crisp and tight, and the pacing is just fantastic. What really struck me about it, though, is that it's already episodic. Each issue is a single, stand-alone story, with recurring characters but otherwise not leading up to a single grand-finale sort of conclusion. I've even mentioned to the friend who turned me on to it, that it would lend itself well to TV, since it's already written for it: each issue's final page runs the credits over the last few panels as the story is wrapped up and last lines are spoken.
I just hope that the WB has the minerals to use the existing stories, rather than just using the concept and writing new stories. The ones they have are brutal, harsh, and very realistic (save for the near-future sci-fi tech that they use). It would be a shame to not have characters like Grishko come to life on the screen.
]]>I offer no further comment, or specific endorsement. But it does raise some interesting questions.
Update: Andrew pointed me towards the debunking page at snopes.com. It might not convince all the theorists, but it's good-enough for me.
]]>I offer no further comment, or specific endorsement. But it does raise some interesting questions.
Update: Andrew pointed me towards the debunking page at snopes.com. It might not convince all the theorists, but it's good-enough for me.
]]>Well, it's all over except for the gnashing of teeth. With over 90% of the polls accounted for, the recall is passing 54.2% to 45.8%. Schwarzenegger is the clear winner over Bustamante, with 47.8% of the vote to his 32.6%. Soon, the state will be in the hands of Governor Pete Wilson Arnold Schwarzenegger. On the plus side, both propositions (53 and 54) were defeated. So, the state hasn't taken full leave of its collective senses.
Let's be clear: I am willing to admit when I'm wrong. So if, a year or so from now, we are truly in better shape under this new administration then I will admit it. In fact, if we are in truly better shape when re-election rolls around, I may vote for his re-election. Assuming he hasn't been recalled or otherwise brought down by the abuse and harassment charges. Don't think for a minute those are going to go away, just because the election is over.
]]>Well, it's all over except for the gnashing of teeth. With over 90% of the polls accounted for, the recall is passing 54.2% to 45.8%. Schwarzenegger is the clear winner over Bustamante, with 47.8% of the vote to his 32.6%. Soon, the state will be in the hands of Governor Pete Wilson Arnold Schwarzenegger. On the plus side, both propositions (53 and 54) were defeated. So, the state hasn't taken full leave of its collective senses.
Let's be clear: I am willing to admit when I'm wrong. So if, a year or so from now, we are truly in better shape under this new administration then I will admit it. In fact, if we are in truly better shape when re-election rolls around, I may vote for his re-election. Assuming he hasn't been recalled or otherwise brought down by the abuse and harassment charges. Don't think for a minute those are going to go away, just because the election is over.
]]>But I do not, under any circumstances, support the notion that we should be immediately serving the GOP a taset of their own medicine. I do not support any effort to recall Schwarzenegger. He's won, he's won fairly. Let him serve the remainder of the term that's left, and judge him on his merits (or lack of) at the next scheduled gubernatorial election.
In the meantime, if you are truly angered and disenfranchised by all of this, then plan for the presidential race and the congressional races next year. Having a GOP governor of California is going to make it harder for the Democrats to assume that California is safely in their camp. It will mean using more of their resources here than they would have otherwise, and that will mean they have to spread the resources around more carefully in other states. We had a huge voter turn-out this time– far more than voted in the initial gov race last year. Try to keep that going for next year.
]]>But I do not, under any circumstances, support the notion that we should be immediately serving the GOP a taset of their own medicine. I do not support any effort to recall Schwarzenegger. He's won, he's won fairly. Let him serve the remainder of the term that's left, and judge him on his merits (or lack of) at the next scheduled gubernatorial election.
In the meantime, if you are truly angered and disenfranchised by all of this, then plan for the presidential race and the congressional races next year. Having a GOP governor of California is going to make it harder for the Democrats to assume that California is safely in their camp. It will mean using more of their resources here than they would have otherwise, and that will mean they have to spread the resources around more carefully in other states. We had a huge voter turn-out this time– far more than voted in the initial gov race last year. Try to keep that going for next year.
]]>(Behind a cut, since I expect this to be pretty long...)
]]>(Behind a cut, since I expect this to be pretty long...)
]]>Well, one guy called in with a word that both Neal Conan and Mr. Winchester agreed sounded very good and could be a real contender. So here I present to you, slightly paraphrased from my memory of the call (and apologies to the caller for forgetting his name):
convivant, noun,
("kän-vE-'vänt, "kOn-vE-'vän)
A committed, romantic partner with whom you share living space.
The caller was certain to leave gender out of the definition, and presented it in the context of needing a clear, convenient word to describe a person's parner(s) where "spouse" was not accurate.
Best part is, if it gets used in enough "real" (published and/or broadcast media or entertainment) arenas, it could actually make it into the OED.
(On the one-in-a-million chance that the caller happens across the entry [perhaps by Googling to see if anyone has used the word?] and wants to provide his name and/or clarification of the definition, I'll update this to reflect that.)
]]>Well, one guy called in with a word that both Neal Conan and Mr. Winchester agreed sounded very good and could be a real contender. So here I present to you, slightly paraphrased from my memory of the call (and apologies to the caller for forgetting his name):
convivant, noun,
("kän-vE-'vänt, "kOn-vE-'vän)
A committed, romantic partner with whom you share living space.
The caller was certain to leave gender out of the definition, and presented it in the context of needing a clear, convenient word to describe a person's parner(s) where "spouse" was not accurate.
Best part is, if it gets used in enough "real" (published and/or broadcast media or entertainment) arenas, it could actually make it into the OED.
(On the one-in-a-million chance that the caller happens across the entry [perhaps by Googling to see if anyone has used the word?] and wants to provide his name and/or clarification of the definition, I'll update this to reflect that.)
]]>This movie has held up against the current generation of "action films" amazingly well. It's supposedly a recently "enhanced" print, in that they've worked on the overall visual quality and sound quality of the film, but not in the sense of Lucas' decision to add all sorts of weird extra stuff to the original Star Wars trilogy. Nothing was added or changed, just shown the way it originally was, 22 years ago. That's what blows my mind: this film is old enough to buy booze and have graduated from college. And it is still heads and shoulders above pretty much anything released in the last five years. I'm sorry... did I say five years? Let's say ten. In fact, let's say fourteen– since the release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I may be exaggerating, and I'm no doubt biased by the fact that it's still rattling around in my skull. But being reminded of little things like the "Sieg Heil!" monkey, the bad-ass swordsman that Indy just up and shoots, and of course the whole amazing opening sequence in the Peruvian temple (featuring the first credited film appearance by a then-unknown Alfred Molina), I guess I'm given to enthusiasm.
Wow. Quite a treat.
(Anyone in the south bay area can see it midnight tonite [Saturday the 4th] at the Camera One theater in downtown San Jose. I can't recommend it enough.)
]]>This movie has held up against the current generation of "action films" amazingly well. It's supposedly a recently "enhanced" print, in that they've worked on the overall visual quality and sound quality of the film, but not in the sense of Lucas' decision to add all sorts of weird extra stuff to the original Star Wars trilogy. Nothing was added or changed, just shown the way it originally was, 22 years ago. That's what blows my mind: this film is old enough to buy booze and have graduated from college. And it is still heads and shoulders above pretty much anything released in the last five years. I'm sorry... did I say five years? Let's say ten. In fact, let's say fourteen– since the release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I may be exaggerating, and I'm no doubt biased by the fact that it's still rattling around in my skull. But being reminded of little things like the "Sieg Heil!" monkey, the bad-ass swordsman that Indy just up and shoots, and of course the whole amazing opening sequence in the Peruvian temple (featuring the first credited film appearance by a then-unknown Alfred Molina), I guess I'm given to enthusiasm.
Wow. Quite a treat.
(Anyone in the south bay area can see it midnight tonite [Saturday the 4th] at the Camera One theater in downtown San Jose. I can't recommend it enough.)
]]>On the plus side, the big oppressive project at work went live today. No quirks or bugs upon launch. We've made a number of subtle interface improvments to the 1-800-FANDANGO voice application. Call it and try it out. Better yet, call it and order your next movie tickets through it. The skim off of the ticket sales are how we actually make money in the deal.
(The most notable interface change has to do with theaters that show one or more movies in digital project, Spanish subtitles, stuff like that. If you happen upon such a theater, you can now choose the special version if you are so inclined. I happen to be a sucker for digital projection. Most of the changes are behind-the-scenes, so that it works better and responds to the caller better. Hopefully it will just work for you and you won't notice.)
For the month ahead, I hope to get back to the building and painting, and maybe even squeeze in a little journalling.
]]>On the plus side, the big oppressive project at work went live today. No quirks or bugs upon launch. We've made a number of subtle interface improvments to the 1-800-FANDANGO voice application. Call it and try it out. Better yet, call it and order your next movie tickets through it. The skim off of the ticket sales are how we actually make money in the deal.
(The most notable interface change has to do with theaters that show one or more movies in digital project, Spanish subtitles, stuff like that. If you happen upon such a theater, you can now choose the special version if you are so inclined. I happen to be a sucker for digital projection. Most of the changes are behind-the-scenes, so that it works better and responds to the caller better. Hopefully it will just work for you and you won't notice.)
For the month ahead, I hope to get back to the building and painting, and maybe even squeeze in a little journalling.
]]>