PowerMac dreams and an Etch A Sketch budget.
Month: March 2003
Rocky Horror Muppet Show
What do you get when you cross a love of the Rocky Horror Picture Show with a love of the Muppets?
Some of the most truly bizarre pictures I’ve ever seen — the Rocky Horror Muppet Show. Apparently the troupe that does this is based here in Seattle — I have got to find out when this goes on and show up!
Also, while it’s not the best (ahem…most amusing) review I’ve read on their site, the notorious ultra-conservative Christian movie review site CAP finally got around to posting their RHPS review.
Ignominy in this cult flick included homosexual song and talk, homosexual presences and practices, and vulgar behavior such as a man’s head between a man’s legs behind translucent drapes; detailed statue nudity, nudity in plain view and behind translucent drapes, intercourse behind the same; inappropriate touch (both hetero- and homosexual) and begging for it, very brief clothing, group licking/kissing; transvestism, adults in underwear, suggestive (homosexual) eye movements; vulgar positioning in very brief clothing, explicit homosexual song/dance; expressions such as “There’s no crime in giving yourself over to pleasure” speaking to trying homosexuality. Among the non-sexual ignominy were the three/four letter word vocabulary, God’s name in vain both with and without the four letter expletive, an unseen but heard pickax murder, raygun murder, cannibalist meal of Meatloaf (I wonder from where that idea came). There is more, a lot more but the point is made for the wholesome moviegoer.
(Muppet pics via BoingBoing, CAP review via The Zen Room)
tw@
Following up (again) on the the text messaging as writing thread, the BBC has a page where they’re asking for user submissions of classic works in ‘abbreviated’ format.
Reading some of these produces an interesting dichotomy — I’m impressed by the creativity of some of these, while simultaneously cringing at what’s being done to such classic literature!
4scr + 7a ugo r 4fthrs brt 4th on this cn10nt a nu nAshn cnCvd in lbRT + ddc8d 2 th prop tht (evRE1) r crE8d =
aka: “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Amusingly, though, in the comments to the post at Green Fairy where I found this (no permalink available, unfortunately — her post was on March 3^rd^ if you want to search for it), someone suggested the abbreviation ‘tw@‘.
I like that one.
Star Trek personality test
Wil pointed to a Star Trek Personality Test based on the Myers-Briggs system. I wasn’t sure what to expect for an answer, but apparently the author did a surprisingly good job of translating the Myers-Briggs questions to a Star Trek format, as I ended up scoring as an ISFP — the same result as when I took an online version of the actual Myers-Briggs test!
Anyway, here’s what the Star Trek test said about me…
The Tide is Turning
This is a song originally from Roger Waters’ album “Radio K.A.O.S.“, though I first heard it as the finale to the 1990 live performance of The Wall in Berlin. Posted here as a message of hope — something that’s all too rare these days.
I used to think the world was flat,
rarely threw my hat into the crowd,
I felt I had used up my quota of yearning.
Used to look in on the children at night
in the glow of their Donald Duck light,
and frighten myself with the thought of my little ones burning.
But oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning…
The tide is turning.Satellite buzzing through the endless night,
exclusive to moonshots and world title fights.
Jesus Christ — imagine what it must be earning!
Who is the strongest? Who is the best?
Who holds the aces, the East or the West?
This is the crap our children are learning.
But oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning…
The tide is turning…
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning.Now the satellite’s confused,
‘cos on Saturday night
the airwaves were full of compassion and light,
and his silicon heart warmed
to the sight of a billion candles burning
I’m not saying that the battle is won,
but on Saturday night all those kids in the sun
wrested technology’s sword from the hand of the war lords.
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning…
The tide is turning…The tide is turning.
ILNY, it's a gr8 plc.
Following up on an issue from last September, a teacher in London is reported as having received an essay that they couldn’t read, because of the student’s use of text messaging acronyms.
The teenager’s essay which caused the problem began:
“My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :-O kids FTF. ILNY, it’s a gr8 plc.”
In translation:
“My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It’s a great place.”
Zeno's Paradox
Ever since I read Douglas Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, I’ve had the paradox postulated by Zeno of Elea (c. 450 B.C.) bouncing around in my head. To summarize the paradox:
Zeno’s Paradox may be rephrased as follows. Suppose I wish to cross the room. First, of course, I must cover half the distance. Then, I must cover half the remaining distance. Then, I must cover half the remaining distance. Then I must cover half the remaining distance…and so on forever. The consequence is that I can never get to the other side of the room.
What this actually does is to make all motion impossible, for before I can cover half the distance I must cover half of half the distance, and before I can do that I must cover half of half of half of the distance, and so on, so that in reality I can never move any distance at all, because doing so involves moving an infinite number of small intermediate distances first.
I knew there must be a solution, as we all do manage to move around quite handily, I just never knew what it was. Luckily enough, I managed to stumble across an explanation of the paradox and its solution today. Nifty!
(Via Jason Kottke)
Just Hang Up
Hang up when I’m talking to you. Get off your cell phone. In fact, turn off your cell phone. Just turn it off, put it down somewhere out of reach, and pay attention to the conversation that you’re already invovled in.
I’m sick of cell phones — or rather, I’m sick of what we put up with when cell phones are involved.
Personal calls at work on company time? Forbidden, of course — unless that call comes in on the cell phone at someone’s hip. Having a conversation with someone? Sorry, hold on, I’ve got a call. Out at dinner at a nice restaurant? Hope you don’t mind sitting there while I chat on the phone. Driving down the highway at 60 miles an hour in that gas-guzzling SUV that’s never left the pavement? Perfect time to distract yourself with the phone!
Why, for so many people, is everything put aside when the ringer goes off? You’ve got voicemail on that thing, right? Good. Then use it when I’m talking to you. I’m standing in front of you, looking you in the face — that should take precedence.
Expecting an important call? Fine, I can accept that — use the caller ID to check before answering if you can. If you can’t do that, then if an incoming call is not “the call,” make your apologies, offer to call back, and hang up.
This is simple stuff. To me, at least. Why doesn’t it seem to be for anyone else?
If you are using a cell phone, think about your behaviour while you’re on the phone. It’s basically a given that the people around you are going to be able to hear your side of the conversation — often whether they want to or not. Put some small amount of thought into what those around you are hearing. I’ve seen businessmen in expensive three-piece suits take a call and immediately turn into a foul-mouthed frat boy talking to whichever friend called, then hang up and turn back to the business conversation as if nothing had happened.
In a noisy environment? Maybe you should find a quiet place for that oh-so-important call then. I don’t know how many conversations I’ve been able to “sit in” on because one or the other party couldn’t hear well, so voices were raised, shouting into the phone, apparently under the bizarre assumption that there was some sort of “cone of silence” surrounding them. Here’s a hint, folks — we can hear you. Especially when you’re yelling.
Oh, and just because a cell phone is on your hip and you have the ability to call someone every time some little thing crosses your brain — don’t. Please don’t. Chances are, it’s not that important. If it’s really important, you’ll know it — if it can wait, let it wait. I’ve already lost too many hours to calls that had no real purpose or need, made only because there was no inhibition stopping it. I don’t need to lose any more.
I’m starting to feel like some sort of freak in today’s society. I don’t have a cell phone, nor do I want a cell phone. The only time I’ve owned one it was required by my job — and paid for by my job, too. I’m just sick to death of seeing people so engrossed in their phones that they neglect everything else.
Sorry about the rant. But please — put down the phone. Pay attention to the world.
Gun control 2003
This is just frightening.
U.S. Department of Justice has threatened to criminally prosecute California’s top firearms official over the state’s continued use of a federal databank to hunt down illegal gun users, The Chronicle has learned.
Federal authorities believe the list of convicted felons, drug dealers, suspected terrorists, spouse beaters, illegal immigrants and others should only be used to help gun dealers determine if someone is allowed to buy a gun, not police investigating other gun-control violations.
(Via MeFi)
Everything's broken
Four months ago, workmen started on a two-month project to renovate the apartment building I live in. We’re still waiting for them to finish.
We’ve had to put up with interruptions to every normal service. Electricity, heat, hot water, laundry — all of it has been cut off at one point or another. The laundry, of course, was one of the first things to go, so for the past four months, we’ve had to pay more money to go to a laundromat a few blocks away.
This week, I found out that the laundry facilities had finally reopened. So today, I started trying to do my laundry.
- One of the washers has its coin slot jammed. Okay, I can cope with that, there’s still two more washers.
- One of the other two washers occasionally decides to eat your quarters, but not start the wash cycle.
- One of the dryers won’t even take quarters — the slider doohickey is jammed. Again, there’s two more dryers to work with.
- The final straw? The original plans called for new electric washers and dryers. Plans changed at some point, so they put back in the old dryers. Gas dryers. In a ‘renovated’ laundry room with no gas hookups. End result? All the dryers are now ‘Air Dry’ only. Any guesses just how dry jeans get with ‘Air Dry’ only? Not at all. So now I’ve got jeans hung on the heater, over doors, over my shower curtain, and I’m just hoping that I’ve got at least one pair that’s actually wearable tomorrow morning.
I’m sick of this.
We’ve lost a good quarter of the tenants because of all the problems with this project. The only thing that’s really kept me here is that I don’t really have the spare cash to just pick up and find a new place. God, I wish I did, though….