Just a note to myself: RSS feeds are available for any LiveJournal simply by adding “/rss” to the end of the URL. See Scripting News a year ago. I’m just quick on the uptake like that.
Michael Hanscom
Yummy!
I just looked at the label on the soda machine here and could have sworn that rather than Cherry Coke, it read Chewey Coke.
Eeeeeewwwww.
Juxtapositioning
Interesting, if depressing, combinations of headlines on MSNBC’s main page right now:
(via Slothrup)
Bring 'em on!
Someone needs to shut Bush up — now.
President Bush vowed today to pursue and prosecute Iraqis who attack American troops, saying: \”Bring `em on! We’ve got the force necessary to deal with the security situation.
“Anybody who wants to harm American troops,” Mr. Bush said, “will be found and brought to justice.”
Most people grow out of this schoolyard bully bravado once they leave elementary school. Can we get away with starting a ‘Ball Gags for Bush’ fundraiser drive?
(via Aziz Poonwalla, Kos, and Zephyr Teachout)
The hat?!?
No one wants to put words in J. K. Rowling’s mouth, but it’s safe to assume that when she hails her readers’ creativity, she has in mind something other than tales wherein Professor Snape is fellated by the Sorting Hat.
— from Taking Liberties with Harry Potter, an article on the explosion of Potter fanfic
(via Jason Kottke)
Old School
Went out to the Vogue last night for an old-school techno night. Only there for a bit (I’m not at my most energetic on Tuesday nights), but much fun. Any night that I get to hear Psychic TV’s ‘I C Water’, Underworld’s ‘Dirty Epic’, and Die Warzau’s ‘All Good Girls’ is a good one for me. :)
Ogre (the doorman for the Vogue, who Chad introduced me to shortly after I got to Seattle) has been doing Tuesday night shindigs for a couple months now, with different themes each week. I’m going to have to start hitting them a bit more often for some mid-week “get out of the damn apartment” evenings.
Next week is a ska night. :) Maybe he’ll play Mu 330’s ‘Stuff’. I’d be happy with that.
Angels or Devils
You ever read Eckhart? Eckhart saw it all too. You know what he said? He said the only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won’t let go of your life. Your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they’re not punishing you, he said. They’re freeing your soul. So…if you’re frightened of dying, and you’re holding on, you’ll see devils tearing your life away. But, if you’ve made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth. It’s just a matter of how you look at it, that’s all.
— Louis, in Jacob’s Ladder
2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC
Vancouver, BC has just been awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics. Pretty nifty — they’re just a couple hours north of Seattle, so I might actually be able to wander up that way and see some of the fun in seven years or so.
(via MeFi)
Great Wall of China disappearing
This was a little distressing to read about: the Great Wall of China is falling apart.
Dong Yaohui, secretary-general of the Great Wall Society of China, delivers the wake-up call. “Believe it or not, the Great Wall is crumbling, unable to withstand natural deterioration and calamities caused by people.”
Dong, who has personally surveyed huge sections of the structure originally built as a defensive barrier against marauding invaders, says he believes that of the portion built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), less than 20 percent is still intact.
A probe of 100 sections drew the alarming conclusion that a third of the structure has already vanished, subject to the natural ravages of the weather and the encroaching Gobi Desert, as well as the attention of peasants and farmers living in its shadow.
The Great Wall is just one of the many, many places I’d like a chance to visit someday. While it’s not likely that the entire wall is going to suddenly up and disappear overnight, it’s a shame that we’re in danger of losing major portions of such an astounding monument.
People Powered Democracy
The American Prospect has an excellent article looking at just why Howard Dean’s campaign is so successful:
When the history of this past week in the Democratic primaries is written, the relative impact of MoveOn.org, Meetup.com and “smartmobbing” technology on Dean’s ability to raise such an unexpected sum will all feature prominently.
But reading the threads on the message boards at BlogforAmerica.com — the official Web log of the Dean campaign, where donors discuss their reasons for giving and for backing Dean — it quickly becomes obvious that the single most important factor in Dean’s stunning fundraising numbers is the most old-fashioned weapon in any campaign’s arsenal: message.
[…]
On Dean’s blog , the message-board threads have acted as constant, ongoing, real-time focus groups for everything the governor says and does. The campaign takes it all in. Plenty of ideas adopted by the campaign start out on the threads of the Dean blogs, say Dean campaign aides, and the Dean for America Internet team is constantly updating and modifying the site in response to the posts. To follow the blog is to watch the campaign unfold in real time with a startling level of intimacy and transparency; it is to enter a freewheeling, unending conversation where thousands and thousands of Dean’s supporters chew over every aspect of his campaign and strategy, message and image, policies and past record.
In this world, whatever the mainstream press is saying about Dean’s role as the campaign’s angry candidate is rejected. His supporters say that they are drawn to him because they find his message inspiring, upbeat, honest and forward-looking — and because it makes them feel strong again.
A quick summary of the main themes Dean’s supporters returned to again and again during yesterday’s “Deanathon” online fundraising drive shows that they believe his message is more about patriotism and hope than it is about disaffection or rage. Admittedly these comments all come from true believers. But when was the last time any Democratic candidate generated true belief?
[…]
Most of all, these people seemed to be supporting Dean because other people they know and trust are supporting Dean. The Internet campaign magnifies the voices of friends and relatives above the voices of the famous or the powerful.
[…]
Today Howard Dean has demonstrated to his doubters — and they are legion — that he is not just the angriest man in the race. To his supporters, he is also the most optimistic Democratic candidate running. And after raising more than \$7.5 million from them in the last quarter, he has a right to be.
(via mathew Gross)