Texpatriate

Follow Your BLiiiiaaaaahhhhhphphpthththss

2010-02-12T14:44:00.000-08:00

1) Dusting off the South Austin Brewing Company business plan. Seven years later.
2) Switching to Wordpress. After you read this, go here, and never come back here again. Unless you want to.
3) Still totally loving you. Probably won't stop.

Still another Austin brewery starting up
By Patrick Beach | Thursday, February 11, 2010, 09:44 AM

Say hello to South Austin Brewing Co. Disclosure: Jordan Weeks is a pal I know through a mutual friend, a good guy and a very accomplished brewer whose commercial experience goes back to Balcones in the late ’90s.

Now he’s the newest player in a field that’s filling up in very promising ways. He’s got the keys to an 8,000 square-foot space at 451 St. Elmo Rd. This comes after approximately eleventy billion other breweries announced plans to get going this year. (Weeks was hoping to keep his plan under wraps but it turns out the Twitters keep no secrets. And if you’re his friend on Facebook this is not news to you.)

“I think there’s a new requirement: If you want to be a resident you have to open a brewery,” Weeks says.

He’s aiming to have beer ready in a year. “It’s an aggressive schedule but I’ve worked in a production brewery like this before so i know how to do it,” Weeks says.

Most promising: He’ll be making “aggressive beers that appeal to the already sophisicated craft beer drinker, people who drink Stone and Avery and Lost Abbey. They’re going to be style-challenging. I’m not going to stick to Belgians but I have the greatest respect for Belgians. That’s where everything I know about beer started from.”

Production plans call for an 80 to 20 percent split between 750-ml bottles with wire corks and kegs. This is Weeks’ identified niche: Lots of people will take a chance on a 750 but not a six-pack. The single bottles make nice gifts, and people seem more likely to take a chance on something they haven’t tried before if they’ve only got a single to finish.

As I said, I can’t say I’m impartial on this one. But Weeks has the experience and the brewing chops to do great things for the Austin craft beer scene.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment

Real Ale Bottles the Sisyphus 2009

2010-01-22T17:36:00.001-08:00

Makes you want to reach into the screen and grab it!

Townes Van Zandt Kinda Night

2009-12-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

Portland next week

2009-06-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

I can't wait. We'll be celebrating Shannon "Dr. Weeks'" N.D. degree. I'll get to see James, possibly Peter, plus Charles will be at the Organic Brewer's Fest.

Dad and I drove from San Fransico to Seattle when I was 12, but I barely remember it. So this is all I really know about Portland, which is a good start, and possibly all I need to know:

Happy Dad Day

2009-06-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

I had a really fantastic day. The kids made me a wonderful card, even got to brew a batch of beer. Plus not only a a Father's Day fax, but we got a phone call from Francesca at camp. Received an AMAZING amp for my guitar, wow. Dad said he and Mom went to brunch at Morty's, then Dad had a short American Spirit Sunday tour to give. We sent him the new Deadliest Catch book, Time Bandit, and a bottle of home brew.

This has been a difficult Father's Day for the extended family. It's hard for me to know what to do or say. But I do know, for sure, that I love my Dad very much, and he's always been there for me, every day, for 43 years. I don't understand why I got so lucky. When my family and friends are in pain, I wish I knew how to make them better. I love my family, painfully, and all the families in it.

Poem by Dick Lourie

"Is There Gas In The Car?" "Yes, There's Gas In The Car!"

2009-06-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I'm down this cheers me up.

From Family Guy, the one where Stewie disguises himself as a popular high schooler and infiltrates the cool kids:

"You can see them on my MySpace page, along with my favorite songs and movies and things that other people have created, but that I use to express my individualism."

"I have a MySpace page too!"

"Yeah, I have mine ironically."

Twitter Hard!

2009-05-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

JC shot this site to me (not tweeted? Dude, if you don't I will). Made my week. In full disclosure, I got a Twitter account, only to keep jordanweeks from being snatched up by that Australian sports photographer. Yoink!

1) Fan belt light came on in the 911 so now I'm driving the Cayenne Turbo S - the backup, backup car. Trying not to think about the Tesla...

2) it makes me sad, the more I have success the more people don't like me....

3) @garyvee I had the biggest lemonade stand on the block when I was 6. Was even expermienting with variable pricing and freemium models :)

4) Went to the gym this morning. As I left, everyone said I was the best!

And my all-time favorite, that kills dead forever my standard Twit joke:

5) ok poop is coming out.

Guy Kawasaki! You used to be my man! Apparently Twitter brings out the crosseyed narcissist in everyone. Except you, dear reader. It looks good on you.

10) @wildbill I don't get it either. Who pushes out more interesting links AND interacts more than me on Twitter?

Have a marvelicious Memorial Weekend, everyone.

Get some rest.

And We're Changing Our Name to Texenophobiaville

2009-05-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

WICHITA FALLS, TX—"I have nothing personal against Americans," said Texas Governor Rick Perry. "I just think they should stay in America, where they belong."
MORE>>

Just When I Needed Some Guidance From Above...

2009-05-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

Seek, and ye shall find.

Combined with this synergistic absolute contraindication:

Equals this (there's an HBO ad at the beginning, sorry, but so worth it):

Bike Redonculawesomeness

2009-05-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

Starting at age 18 (right before fax machines got small and cheap), I was a bike messenger in DC. Did it for 5 years, on and off. Never got this good. Is there anyone as good as this guy? Brilliantly filmed, perfectly scored - stunt after stunt, relentlessly topping himself.

Thanks, zefrank, consistently amazing as always. Between this and Mandy, got my bike geek fix in for the month.

Heh...MacAskill.

Pipie Suits Up For Gardening

2009-04-30T10:01:00.001-07:00

Brewed a Scottish Peated Wee Heavy Tonight

2009-04-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

Visited Austin Homebrew Supply for two and a half cases worth of beer ingredients. Cost me $24 bucks. The six-pack of Sierra Nevada Torpedo I drank while brewing cost me about $10. You do the math.

Grain Bill:

.25 lb. peated

.5 lb. biscuit

1 lb. Special B crystal

1 lb. Cara-Munich
Malt extract:

6 Lbs. amber syrup
Sugars:
.5 lb. Turbinado sugar
.25 lb. Corn sugar

Hops:

.5 oz. Fuggle (bittering)

.25 oz. 10-yr. aged Czech Saaz (flavoring)

Yeast:

Safale S-04 dry ~~English~~ Scottish ale

Yum. Smells like BBQ. And, whene'er to drink you are inclin'd, Tam o' Shanters.

April Updates

2009-04-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

Hey, Cupcake.

1) Jodie's back from Houston. I missed her, and so did the kids, but they did really well. Not a single mommy-related meltdown. Went to a birthday party at Goin' Bananas, and Caleb's house warming party (as usual, Scout didn't want to go, then didn't want to leave). Even got a bunch of work done on Saturday. And tonight, with Francesca, we're back to being all together.

2) Mike tried to do it again. Making me feel disoriented and defeated the last few days (he's in ICU, and stable now). Poor Betty. And Lis - like pregnancy isn't a bitch enough as it is.

3) Acquired another boss at work (now I have 4), who's in Raleigh, so I'll probably never meet him. Which is making the lead writer batshit crazy, mostly all over me. Please God -when the hell can I own my own business again?!

4) Got linked in one of Mandy's blog posts, that was nice. Random act of kindness to right the heel.

5) Can't tell you how desperately I'm looking forward to Shannon's graduation. Charles pointed out we'll be there for the North American Organic Brewer's Festival. Maybe drag James along.

7) Need to brew again. I'm thinking Scottish Wee Heavy. Feel like something heady, sweet, and smoked.

6) Thanks for all your support. I love you too. Cheers.

McKinney Falls, Part 3 - Lower Falls

2009-04-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Smith Rockshelter Trail winding up to the Visitor's Center has some steep stone stairs, and wooden walkways.

Toots tracing mile marker 3, in front of Old Baldy (to the left). She's a 500-yr-old bald cypress, over 60 feet tall.

Bathroom and water fountain break at the Visitor's Center. They also lent us some fishing poles. We bought night crawlers at the entrance.

You can tell we're in the middle of a drought - normally this entire rock ledge is spilling over. The girls bounced back and forth between those two rocks up front about 15 times.

Toots pointing to where we were fishing. Not a nibble. Worms were fun to play with, though.

Girls went bouldering instead.

Pipie took off like a little mountain goat.

She just grabbed holds and hauled herself up...

...straight up sheer walls.

Da-dah!

Heeeeee!

My natural-born rock climbers. We also saw frogs and a little shoestring water snake.

I love this place. Only 15 minutes from our house. Before Texas spring heat crashes down, Jodie and Francesca will be with us next time, when we head back for some primitive camping. And some real fishing. Meaning, catching.

McKinney Falls, Part 2 - Rock Shelter

2009-03-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Cool overhang (temp. and awesome-wise), used over the centuries by various tribes, most recently the Tonkawa. Onion creek ran through here and cut into the soft limestone - now it flows about 50 feet below.

CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!"

"One little, two little..."

Pipie likes to have her picture taken more than Toots.

Playing by the metate and fire pit.

Scout: "I'm ready to go!" That was actually a long hike, to get here. They did good.

Aaaaand...they're off.
Up next: the Trail; Lower Falls.

McKinney Falls, Part 1 - Upper Falls

2009-03-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

People all over the top of the falls wanted to take pictures of the girls.

Note Miss P's hiking outfit, and 4-foot-tall Scoutie.

All these pics were taken with the Dash.

Camera phones + Moore's Law = 1 less bulgy pocket.

Up next: the Rock Shelter

After that: Lower Falls rock scramble & fishing hole

Happy Friday, Thank God It's Here And Not There

2009-03-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

The whole week, feeling kinda like this. Hoping James made it to Portland safely. Loving all you all.

The Latest Majority Report from TED

2009-03-11T12:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the last 10 years of tech absorption into our everyday lives, cyberpunk science fiction genre is now dead & buried (don't bother with William Gibson's last 3 irrelevancies, and Neal Stephenson is spiraling away with historical fantasy). But this "6th Sense" invention pounds down the final nail. Philip K. Dick would laugh himself into a coughing fit with this one.

Beer Wars Film: Can I Listen To Your Beer?

2009-03-06T07:56:00.001-08:00

++=WTF?
What does a conservative, Nixon-worshipping, religious right/GOP groveller and hand-crafted beer have in common? Less than nothing, I thought, but there MUST be a good reason Ben Stein has attached himself to something WAY cooler than anything he's done in his life.

In the few months since subscribing to the Zealot's newsletter, I've learned more about home brewing in Austin than I did working at Austin Homebrew. And by "more" I mean "not as much," but here's the most recent awesome thing they posted: a new documentary about the American brewing industry, and the craft brewing upstarts that are fundamentally changing everything we know about beer.

Outside of his "Beuller...Beuller..." schtick and his mildly entertaining "Win Ben Stein's Money" trivia show, I have a hard time getting past Ben's incongruous intellectual hypocricy (e.g. tilting at creationist windmills, weeping over Nixon's resignation). It's like discovering a famous astrophysicist is also a Scientologist. "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed?" Dude, you were a presidential speechwritwer. You've published, like, 10 NY Times bestsellers. You're capable of grasping the irony, and you don't need the money.

Despite the creepy shadow Ben throws on the festivities, I can't wait, and I'm thinking of putting a petition together to get the Alamo Drafthouse to show it. The last beer thing I went to there (w/Tim and Caleb) was a funny, drunken travelogue by a bunch of friends on a US brewery tour (American Beer), while we were served beers from the breweries visited as the film progressed. More fun than you can stick a shake at.

These trailers are too dee-lish and new-trish. I salivate in their general direction.

Pandora's Box of Slumdog Qawwali

2009-02-25T11:10:00.000-08:00

I was very pleased to see "Slumdog Millionaire" sweep the Oscars. I was even more pleased to see Francesca coming out of the showing before us, at the Alamo. It touched on a dizzying array of India-specific realities. One of which lept out of the screen and into the laps of the film makers - the BBC reported that the boy and girl who played Salim and Latika still lived in the slums (one in a tarp under a bridge), and only recently were relocated to permanent houses.

The closing dance number in the train station (Jai Ho) was also ek dam pukka accha hai, although this one may beat it:

Didn't know he spoke Hindi? Now you do.

Actually, what got all this started today was being Facecrack-tagged for a list of 25 favorite albums of all time (not done yet). I included ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Live in Paris," which got me thirsty for some tenor q awwali wajad, leading me in turn to create a Pandora station using his name, resulting (to my delighted bewilderment) in a series of club-DJ productions of Bollywood-style songs.

So that's my favorite new station. Amanpreet Kaur's Bhabi Meri Gut all day, baby.

Your Pedagogy Ran Over My Demagogy

2009-02-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

Here at Conglomerated Golden Handcuffs 'R Us Ltd, I have the skull-splitting task of translating hypertechnical database, scripting, and code requirements into standard American business English. I've been doing it for awhile, and can usually just cut-and-paste snippets from memory, and, like a vast colon (heh), break down dense technobabble into digestible brain bites.

Like any job, once you master the shortcuts and tricks (what gamers call "cheats"), work becomes more like play. For instance (and shake a geek stick at me if you need to), I have a knack for the spiky line dance of sentence diagrams - my high school comp teacher woke me to the same cool feeling with diagramming as Mom did with Scrabble. They can be more satisfying than crosswords, if you know what you're doing; plus they keep my English mechanics chops all axle greasy.

But every once in awhile, developers barf up blocks of content that make my train of thought jump track:

The product should allow filtered query of the messages + messageArgs by partially ETL'ing the message data by means of a background process (like blockstoreunhexer) that left joins from messages to the translated tables (new tables by lang or not, containing the 'final form' messages), uses that as the "todo list", and final-form-s the translations into the read-tables for filtered querying.

And if it weren't for the elegant utility of the sentence diagram, it'd take hours to sort subject from object from banana peel.

Feel free to point out my errors: that took me ten minutes to create longhand, and about 30 minutes to transpose with Dia. About half the time it took to write this post.

Listening to a loop of Ronnie Montrose's Mach1 helped. All four and a half minutes of it.

Lemon Gloria Interviewish Thang

2009-02-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

Lisa was interviewed by Lemmonex, and it was cool, so I played along.

To join in, follow these instructions:
1. Email me w/“Interview me.”
2. I'll email you five questions.
3. You post the interview somewhere, and link back to this post.
4. Then you also post these rules and offer to interview someone else.

I've known Lisa's family since before both of us were born. Francesca and I went to her wedding last year. Annnnnnnnd here we go:

1. I know you love to travel. So in a fictional scenario, you and your wife have a child-free week (If you choose to - they're with relatives, who are delighted to have them), the time off work, and unlimited cash. What do you do?

It's true I love to travel, but in the same way I love to go backpacking or have marital relations - I successfully feel love for it far more frequently than am actually successful at it. I haven't been back in Asia for 25 years. That's what I consider traveling. It may be awhile again to pick up where we left off, to be honest. Mexico's a 4 hour drive. I went to Amsterdam for 10 days. Those don't really count. What would count would be to fly to Chennai, visit Kodai Kanal, and a week later train it north to Agra, Veranasi, and Delhi. A quick email to our parents, and train west to Rajesthan - Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur. Then fly to Kathmandu for a week, and do some trekking - like Solo Kumbu, where you went. Kala Pattar. The last week we'd stay in a house boat in Kashmir, somewhere relatively safe. That's a good solid "week" or so. Kids might wonder where we are, but relatives have them, you say?

If they're so delighted, they can keep it up for a month or two. They got used to it, right? I'm kidding, grandparents reading this. We'd be back in 3 weeks.

2. If you could have dinner with any famous person, living or dead, who would it be?

I'd want it to be an enjoyable time, so I wouldn't inter any dead people to prop up at the table; also I can't pick someone I'm in awe of, who would make me feel like a blubbering groupie. Like Ani Difranco. She'd probably be super cool, and try to put me at ease, and actually try herself to have a good time with me. But it would fail. I'd acquire Alzheimer's, rickets and Turret's right quick. Also, even people I eat with who are considered famous secretly complain about what a pain in the ass it is to choose a restaurant that has a good vegetarian selection to accommodate me, so I'd actually suggest dinner at my house.

Ultimately, I think we'd have a pretty good time having Patton Oswalt and his wife over for dinner. I'd fix the fake-meatiest courses he'd ever seen, and get him to admit hippy abominable deathless duck, sausage and steak can be as sumptuous, filling, and tasty as anything that rat he played would aggressively push on his menu. Two loaves of fresh bread, infused with barley that I'd brew a beer with specifically for the meal; and a homemade oaked-up Californian red. Tiramisu. Plus we would get lit the f*ck up after, more likely than not. Just to take the edge off of the gig - someone like Patton obliged by this question to eat dinner with someone like me.

3. Imagine yourself on The Daily Show. What are you famous for? What is Jon Stewart interviewing you about?

I'd be invited because of the speed at which I rose to fame - simply by writing and recording songs with my laptop for the web, I sold millions of downloads without performing once on stage, like an actual legitimate musician. Plus all my novels. And movies I wrote, directed, produced and starred in. Oh, and I cured malaria while brokering the permanent Israel-Palestine Peace Accord. Then he would hire me during the interview, while we're on a roll here. As Bill Hicks said, "why don't you pretend? You get paid more than me, you fantasize."

4. How has having children changed your view of the world? Has it changed how you see yourself in the world?

Before switching to English, I was going for an Education degree, and worked at a preschool during most of my college years (I never actually graduated, of course, slacker I am). Same school Francesca went to for kindergarten and summer camp. Teaching young kids and training with child experts changed my understanding of the purpose of the world, and how we're supposed to act in it. I feel lucky for the people who taught me how to get a head start on early childhood ed, now that Parenting's who I am. All the choices made about work, friendships, family events-everything I do is for the kids. Which for me is an improvement, because I didn't lead a very safe or uniquely interesting life before them. I will say that I bust my ass to score software and engineering gigs solely because they pay well, and I probably wouldn't if I didn't feel I had to. So that's a nice perk when I'm drooling over a new toy or $15 microbrew.

Jodie insists that my life hasn't changed that much, meaning I still can visit my friends' houses, go to a pub, see the occasional band, and all the stuff she can't because of bedtime with The Boobs (her boobs). Not that I do any of those but once or twice a month - just that I can. Truth is, today I'd be able to stave off an infarction for about a week living like I did in my 20s and 30s. And though still an asshole, getting older I feel relieved I didn't turn out to be the old broken-down asshole I would've been without kids.

Having daughters saved my fatherhood. I don't know how my parents raised my brother and me. I can't tell you how it feels like, watching my capacity for love expand every year, as my kids and marriage grow older. I'd probably have lots of love in my life without them, but I can't imagine living with that trifle amount, when I hold the two up. I bow down a hundred little ways every day for every woman in my house. I have a great appreciation for, and sympathize to pity with, my parents for raising us two boys. We were terrible, smelly, violent, reckless, rude young males in their life.

My daughters can be hellions, but they live in a world of pastels and lace and makeup and fairies and horses. They're in constant conversation, and they love us actively; they're peacemakers; they listen. I'm almost ashamed how easy it is to raise them.

I don't know who I'd be without my children. Sometimes I work really f*cking hard at it, and some days it just comes about, for free, but in the end I got what I wanted. Jodie says she agrees. All that feels pretty good, most of the time. How has it changed me? I don't know, I'm not that interested in the person I'd be otherwise. Compared to him, I kind of win.

5. If you had to choose a flavor of ice cream that most fits your personality, what kind do you think you would be? Feel free to make one up if necessary.

Bhang ki thandai gulab jamun.

Pipie and Toots Paint Hands

2009-02-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

Scout is almost 4, and Piper's around 2.

Last Poem of John Updike

2009-01-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

Requiem
It came to me the other day:
Were I to die, no one would say,
'Oh, what a shame! So young, so full
Of promise - depths unplumbable!
Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes
Will greet my overdue demise;
The wide response will be, I know,
'I thought he died a while ago.'
For life's a shabby subterfuge,
And death is real, and dark, and huge.
The shock of it will register
Nowhere but where it will occur.

Vonnegut. David Foster Wallace. Mailer. Updike. They're coming a little fast and furious for my comfort, lately. Too many goddamn dead writers, and it's kind of freaking me out a little.

"What's Up, Higgins?"

2009-01-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

My cousin Stevie. He's been a writer and producer at SNL for about 20 years. He'll be the announcer for Jimmy Fallon in March, when he replaces Conan. Mom sent me this - she may be proud of her sons, but she also loves her nephews. I actually didn't know his middle name is Eugene, and although this clip is funny, to me that's way more funny.

Bonus trivia: like my kids, Jimmy's dad worked for IBM.

Best. New. President. Ever.

2009-01-20T13:46:00.000-08:00

A guy I worked with at Siemens commented on the inaugural, "Let see what you're saying over the next 4 years..." As in, "you're overfreakingjoyed now, but just wait."

My first thought was, Who cares? Sure are a lot of people who agree that George Walker Bush was the single worse president in American history.

But don't take their (or my) word for it: Google it yourself.

Like Obama, George II went to Harvard (his application to UT Law School was rejected). But unlike Obama, up into his forties George was just another hard-partying trust fund baby. George senior put him in charge of some of his oil businesses, which paid him huge salaries before they failed. Then he bought a baseball team. When his father lost the presidential election, his family forced him to run for Texas governor. Karl Rove ran the campaign, defeating Ann Richards 53%-46%. Over the next 16 years, as the puppet of racketeers, sycophants, and war profiteers, he drove the most powerful nation on Earth over a cliff, down into our worse economic crisis since the depression.

Our current president has a JD from Harvard, was president of the Harvard Law Review, taught constitutional law for 12 years at the U of Chicago Law School, was a civil rights attorney, and served on the board of directors of the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Before serving in the senate, he and his wife aimed their careers at addressing poverty, unfunded public education, and job creation.

We just lived through the last days of Nixon's zombies, surrounded by National Lampoon frat boys running amok. Do you really think someone like Obama will make things worse? Really? Not really. Living in Austin, I know people who know the Bushes personally. They love 'em. George is certainly a fool, but I'm probably a fool too for thinking something extraordinary just happened - foolish for not being cynical about my very young daughters' looming future.

To mangle Blake, "If a fool shouts his foolishness long and loud enough, he becomes wise."

Obamanos.

One of Uncle Shannon's Christmas Gifts - Laurelwood Vinter Varmer

2009-01-09T12:02:00.001-08:00

Got me a bottle from the Laurelwood brewpub. See, in Oregon, microbrewers can just bottle their beer and sell it to people. Texas microbrewers aren't allowed to do that, because Texas beer laws are written by ~~gangsters~~ the Alcohol Wholesalers Association.

This marvelous winter ale had a heft to it - massive malt profile, with weighted chocolate and caramel mouthfeel. Weighing in at only 6.4% ABV, compared to common seasonals she was easy on the head while doing calesthenics in the mouth.

I got all brewered up for the session: donned my St. Patricks of Texas Brewer's Supply Hat, and my Austin Homebrew pint glass (with "Make Your Own Damn Beer" etched in the bottom). Then I brewed a batch while drinking it.

Laurelwood Brewing Co. took the gold in the Munich Helles catagory, last GABF. One of my favorite styles, and hard to get right. The Fredericksburg Brewing Co. is the only American brewery I know that really nails it - then again, their street signs are in German.

I loved it. Can you tell? My brother rocks.

The Esteemed Senator from Minnesota: You, Al Franken.

2009-01-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

Nearly 3 decades ago, a young Midwestern writer came on Saturday Night Live and spoke the following. I remember seeing it in 7th grade on a black-and-white TV in Iowa, and thinking, "he looks kinda gay, but he's funny." I've read all his books except the latest (Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot I got on tape for the car).

That's right. I believe we're entering what I like to call the Al Franken Decade. Oh, for me, Al Franken, the 80's will be pretty much the same as the 70's. I'll still be thinking of me, Al Franken. But for you, you'll be thinking more about how things affect me, Al Franken. When you see a news report, you'll be thinking, "I wonder what Al Franken thinks about this thing?", "I wonder how this inflation thing is hurting Al Franken?" And you women will be thinking, "What can I wear that will please Al Franken?", or "What can I not wear?"

You know, I know a lot of you out there are thinking, "Why Al Franken?" Well, because I thought of it, and I'm on TV, so I've already gotten the jump on you. So, I say let's leave behind the fragmented, selfish 70's, and go into the 80's with a unity and purpose. That's what I think. I'm Al Franken. Jane?

But you want funny and biting to the bone, there's no peer to his debate with Ann Coulter at the University of Judaism's Public Lecture Series in 2006. The transcript is here. Mmmm-WAH. Umami, down to the last word.

Oh, and congrats, Al. You earned it. No finer Democratic-Farmer-Labor Senator in Congress, that's what I think. Jane?

Writing in 2009 (Not Only)

2008-12-29T11:26:00.000-08:00

I didn't end up graduating with the English degree I never declared, but I came out of high school knowing the nuances around participles and gerunds. I haven't seen Charlie Kaufman's new one yet, but I knew what a synecdoche was when I heard the title. As I climb over the boxes of notebooks in my closet, ex-Austin tech writer Marion Winik always pops into my head, talking about being one of those kids who stored milk crates full of spiral-bounds. I wrote cowboy stories in first grade, stick-figured protagonists with stetsons and circle hands, fingers popping out like Keith Haring sunbeams. Wrote for the school newspaper. Fattened envelopes to friends scattered about the world.

I wrote articles and copy for New Texas Magazine during its 25th-anniversary heyday. I've been writing web site content, and documenting software development lifecycle drama, since 1997. I haven't been short on paid gigs - what I lack is the constitution and cred enjoyed by writers who publish. Original works, born from the cracklings between their eyes.

I've yet to write just to have published something my own. It haunts me. I need 2009 to be different.

Have Yourself a Loony Family Pizza Christmas.

2008-12-21T16:08:00.000-08:00

As of 10 min. ago. Lovin' it.

Merry Happy Holidays Everyone

2008-12-16T13:52:00.000-08:00

'Tis the season, yet again. Touchdown.

A Public Service WTF From Natalie Portman and Rashida Jones.

2008-12-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

NATALIE PORTMAN & RASHIDA JONES Speak Out Once More by Natalie Portman

Last Year's Christmas Card Shoot

2008-12-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

We were supposed to do our Christmas photo last weekend, but too much going on. Hopefully I'll be more prepared in the next few days. I pulled out last year's pics to remind myself of what was narrowly missed. Just getting everyone in the same room was like training hungry puppies to perform A Chorus Line.

Piper decided to dress for the occasion.

By the end of the day, Butters and I were exhausted.

Scout doing her best "Calvin and Hobbes."

Francesca looking her usual professional modelesque self.

But I don't think we quite fit in the frame.

"I don't want to lie on the floor." "Please, Pipie, just one picture."

"No, really. I don't like this."

"OK, you asked for it."

Of course, as you know, this is the one we went with:

Mlaaaary Christmas, everyone. Next one's out soon. I can't wait.

Happy Birthday To Me

2008-12-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

Present to self: Honeybomb, one of my fave Bob Schneider masterpieces. Bonus thing that means something to me but not really to anyone else: Will Taylor and his classical mates played at our wedding.

Extra Bonus Gift: the Mermen drop their Honeybomb!

When I Think About the Scala Girls Choir

2008-12-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

Cribbed from eefers. The only way I can hear the Divinyls without switching the station or walking out of the club.

Love it? Then check it (you started it, Tori):

Sept. Visit to Natural History Museum

2008-11-18T06:02:00.000-08:00

When I was 5 or so, Mom went to work for Senator Byrd. One of my earliest childhood memories is of this elephant.

"Daddy, what's you favorite animal?" This one.

OH HAI NOM NOM

Terrible lizards and their successors mingle.

My fave dinosaur at NatHis (just now made that abrev up) is this very big fish. He ate another slightly smaller but still very big fish.

Yum. Wow. Urrp.

Enormous ancient blue sapphires. Like 90% of all gemstones on display in Western museums, these were obtained (robbed) from India. They cut, drilled and set these gems by hand . Feeling down? Compare your lot to an Agra diamond driller's, sitting 10 hours a day cross-legged on the ground, under the balmy Bharat sun.

The Hope diamond. South Parks' raison d'être for the Obama/McCain election.

Not all the world's diamonds come from India, of course - only the world's most magnificent.

Les Popotames et le Mammoth Énormee Tres Mauvais

2008-11-13T14:00:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.
This inspired me to film the girls and translate their stories into French captions. Every time I hear her say "very tremendously bad mammoth!" I fall to the floor. (It sounds like a hybrid of 'mauvais' and 'méfait')

Congrats America! Love, Your Friends in India

2008-11-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

Via Spiegel:

"In India, a sand sculpture of US President-elect Barack Obama has become quite an attraction. India hailed Obama's 'extraordinary journey' to the White House."

I thought we couldn't. Apparently, we can.

2008-11-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I'm feeling it. Feeling the love. The relief. Palpable.

The way "mandate" was used before was incorrect usage of the word. Today, we can use "mandate" in its correct, intended usage (e.g. "the mandate that G.W. Bush claimed to have received from the previous electorate was exposed as mere rhetoric in light of more than double the electoral votes Obama won yesterday. No president has more clearly been handed a genuine mandate since LBJ's landslide win, 44 years ago.")

Now I don my gay apparel, dancing in the streets, gonna cause talk and suspicion, trumpeting my mixed metaphorathon.

This is where I heard the announcement. AN historic night, truly, indeed.

Literal Translation of Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge"

2008-11-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

(Overdub written/sung by Dustin McLean, lifted from Funny or Die)

Inside the Hirschhorn Museum/Gallery/Looky Building Thing

2008-10-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

I mostly love this museum for its lockable lockers, gift shop full of cool kid gifts, and pure freedom of movement. Other than no flash photog or touching the art, you can go and do where/whatever you fancy. In an ambling circular fashion.

Basement level. This was a large rectangle of intestine-shaped clear gel. I know.

Clothes hangers strung together. File under "well, huh. I could do that."

A nice Lichtenstein collection came through Austin last spring - saw it w/Tim. So I didn't linger as long here.

Upstairs, finally, something actually surprising and delightful. One of their de Kooning's "Woman" series, 1965.

It was always easy for me to love Frank Stella, with soothing geometrics and craaaazy '60s colors.

English on one curved side, cyrillic on the other. This was my favorite piece of the day, if I had to choose.

This was my favorite pic of the day, if I had to choose.

I leave you with 3 short videos that perfectly reproduce how I felt, wandering through the gallery that day.

This was the featured exhibit. Mesmerizing.

Shot from the hip as I walked around, including a glimpse at a hypnotic linear Rube Goldburg video on the wall of Peter Fischli and David Weiss' The Way Things Go.

The original:

The Hirschhorn Scupture Garden

2008-10-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

Joseph Hirschhorn (uranium mining magnate and ravenous art collector) and his wife Olga Zatorsky hung out with Lady Bird and then-Pres LBJ. You didn't know how to spell their last name. The extra "h" threw you off.

Shaking hands at the museum's groundbreaking, 1969.

It's next to the Castle. Here I am feebly trying to capture the rose gardens on the way.

Walking around the side on my way to the sculpture garden. Those enormous pipes are suspended in the air with wire tension alone. It rises about 20 meters from the ground, past the roof of the building.

Yoko Ono's The Wish Tree for Washington, DC, 2007. You're asked to whisper something to the tree. There's a path so you can get up near it and aim for its ear. No, I can't tell you, or it won't come true.

One of Aristide Maillol's Three Nymphs.

Rodin's Crouching Woman

You can see how the garden is sunk into the Mall. Across the street is the main museum (left, in the trees), and the Castle, with Mark di Suvero's massive red steel construction guarding the walls.

The business end of that gold ball in the previous pic. Arnaldo Pomodoro (Arnold Tomato?)'s amazing gear-ey bronze, Sphere no. 6 ( Sphere Within a Sphere).

Henry Moore's Reclining Figure from one end of the fountain pond...

and from the other end. She changed a bit along the way.

20 years ago, this used to be David Smith's own little corner (see cubist polished stainless steel piece two pics up). Now it's Miro's. With the museum behind. Next, what it looked like inside.

DC, Day Two: Lisa's Rehersal Dinner

2008-10-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

It was at the Metropolitan Club, a block from the New Exec. Office Building. There was a slide show in an anteroom, with rotating pics of Nick and Lisa as children (mostly Dhaka photos, one with me and Lis circa 1975). One of Lisa's best friends remarked full volume as she walked in, "What kind of stuck-up, conservative, stuffy place is this?!" But it was beautiful inside, all marble and ~~guilt~~ gilt. Like the set of Monty Python's Cocktail Bar ("More lemming, sir?" "Oh, just a squeeze, Harry" [SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK]).

Lisa was struck by Francesca: "...his incredibly beautiful, poised, amazing oldest daughter, who is just such an utter delight."

Francesca and I snuck off into the library, which was huge, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves:

"I don't think we're supposed to be in here, Dad." "I know. Smile."

She makes the world glow.

Yes, that's the Virgin Queen behind me there.

And an endless magazine rack, updated daily.

Dinner was amazing: Washingtonian haut cuisine, including a beautifully constructed vegetarian number.

The evening cranked up with round after round of speeches, accolades, blessings, and toasts, ending with Lisa and Nick giving out prizes. I tied Maude and her spouse for "people with the same wedding anniversary." Got me a big box of liquor-filled chocolates.

I wish these pics did justice to how gorgeous Lisa and her friends and family looked. Such a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful evening.

DC, Day One: Georgetown and Air & Space Museum

2008-10-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

First shot, at the Grandparents' house. Mom looks great. Francesca looks 22.

After our trip to the spy museum, we went shopping in Georgetown.

I took all these shots with my mobile. Camera phones have come a looooong way.

Wisconsin & M st. The rare times I had money in the '80s, I'd make a beeline for Nathans.

Papa Razzo. The first of many of these wonderful poses by my beautiful daughter. "Stop! You are such a tourist!"

Anyway: Blues Alley. Spiro Gyra's playing. I once had most of their albums, back in my Tower Records clerk days.

Then I dragged Francesca to the Air & Space Museum, where she was beyond bored.

Look, one of the first computers! Because I am an über geek.

Five full-sized aircraft in this shot.

I like the lighting on this one.

Rocket Man. Burning out his fuse up here alone.

At one point, there was an exhibit on flight dynamics - pitch, roll. She pointed to "yaw," and said, "Oh migod! Where's the 'N'?"

That wacky sculpture at the back of the museum. Francesca took this one - nice shot. Then I chased her around, also trying to get a nice shot. To no avail.

Up Next: Visiting the Hirshhorn solo, while the grands take their much-relieved granddaughter shopping.

"Continuum," by Charles O. Perry

Back From DC

2008-10-01T11:13:00.001-07:00

Francesca and I went to visit Mom and Dad. Mom looks great, in apparently perfect health, with more energy than Dad and me combined. We also went to Lisa's wedding, which was gorgeous.

Perfect amount of time to do everything I wanted; all except go to Lincoln Memorial at night, and take F to Shear Madness at the Kennedy Center. So, next time. More pics to come.

Off to DC

2008-09-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

Three quick things:

1) I'm leaving, on an airplane, need-to-know-only when I'll be back again.

2) Lisa's wedding is Saturday, which will be lovely. Francesca bought a dress especially for it. It's at the Anderson House on Massachusetts Ave., between the Greek Embassy and Dupont Circle (I remember from my DC bike messenger days). The rehearsal dinner is Friday, at the Metropolitan Club, which Francesca has also bought a dress for. Any club that shuns Donald Rumsfeld is my kind of hang.

3) Mandy Stadtmiller's writing a book, and she gave me a copy of the manuscript, and then posted some of my notes. I thought that was nice.

4) The day after we return, I start at IBM. Woo-hoo.

See all y'all when I get back. We'll have some pics to share.

Interview and Clever Student Loan Ditty

2008-09-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

OK, yay, I have an interview tomorrow with a big blue company, so I've allowed myself a few minutes to post as a reward. That's what kinda geek I am - this is how I activate the dopamine. Sigh. Thanks for all your support. The Sharif don't like it, but you all rock (that vid was filmed in Austin, BTW, including the end scene at the old City Coliseum).

In full disclosure, I'll point out that I went to three different colleges - the first two were community flavored and cheaper than four years of beer and concert tickets combined. The last was UT, which I left a summer short of my English degree to start that vegetarian restaurant. UT's a state school, and in 1994 tuition and books cost me about a couple grand a year. So my entire federal student loan was $1000, which I paid off with dot bomb booty.

Matt Kresling did what I wish I could have done (swagger swagger, not true).

Remind Me Again Why This Guy Isn't The Democratic Candidate?

2008-08-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

OK, did he actually roll out to Love Rollercoaster?! My main man Dennis is all, "I got yer Ohio Player right here."

We've All Done This

2008-08-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

You know: ramble away on an historical event while playing "Which Way Does The Drain Swirl" with a bottle of wine. Few of us, however, have the alacrity to turn it into a full-production miniseries. Ladies and gentlemen: Jen Kirkman and Company.

Ohai

2008-08-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Couple new things.

1) Enjoying my 4th layoff. This time I knew what I was getting into: tiny, sketchy company, marginally developed product, low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. So, my bad. On the eggy side of the sun, emails from recruiters no longer get sung to.

B. Off to DC in September, with Francesca, to cheer Mom on and hang out with Dad. Also, go to Lisa's wedding. Hope to get some time w/Dini and Bill, and reunite with some old Delhiites.

III. I found my car. I mean, the one that won't make me choke on my self loathing for dragging around an internal combustion engine in 2008. Tata's coming out with an electric version of its rs.1-lakh ($2500) car, in partnership with a Norwegan auto shop. They're also teasing us with a compressed-air version, which I would buy in about 5 seconds, whether it worked or not. At $4 a gallon, I spend about $2000 a year filling up my tank. So do you, probably.

Four: You're awesome, and I think you're my favorite thing in the world.

পাঁচ ) Watched Greg Giraldo do the Saget roast on Comedy Central. Saved my life.

aujourd'huit

2008-07-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

It's Called epMotion

2008-07-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

This reminds me of Pearly (of Chris and Pearly). She's is a bio scientist at the LCRA, doing water quality testing. I wonder if Eppendorf knew what they were in for when they asked this ad firm to work something up for their new automated pipette machine.
Less reagents; Faster workflow; Saves you money...Well, well, well.

"Pipetting all those well-plates, baby, sends your thumbs into overdrive
And spending long nights in the lab makes it hard for your love to thrive

What you need is automation, girl, something easy as 1 2 3
So put down that pipette, honey, I got something that will set you free

And it’s called epMotion (whisper: ‘cause you deserve something really great)
Girl you need epMotion (whisper: yeah girl it’s time to automate)
It’s got to be epMotion (whisper: no more pipetting late at night)
Only for you epMotion (whisper: girl this time we got it right)

DNA
RNA
Proteins
Cell Cultures
Less reagents
Faster workflow
Saves you money
Well, well, well

And it’s called epMotion (whisper: ‘cause you deserve something really great)
Girl you need epMotion (whisper: yeah girl it’s time to automate)
It’s got to be epMotion (whisper: no more pipetting late at night)
Only for you epMotion (whisper: girl this time we got it right)"

My New Favorite Energy Equation

2008-07-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

A = Collapsing demand for SUVs and Trucks
B = Insatiable demand for hybrids and EVs
C = Price of oil
D = Destabilized Middle East
E = Federally-mandated pollution controls on electric plants
F = Affordable, powerful electric cars

Sales Plunge as Automakers Are Hit Hard by High Gas Prices
The economic slowdown and high gasoline prices hit the carmakers hard last month.
Sales were down 28 percent at the Ford Motor Company, 21 percent at Toyota and 18 percent at General Motors and Nissan. G.M.’s numbers were considerably better than expected, and its shares soared 12 percent on the news, after falling 6 percent earlier Tuesday.
- New York Times
Wed. July 2, 2008

Demand for hybrids leads to waiting lists
Manufacturers of gas-electric hybrid vehicles cannot keep up with the growing demand that is tied to $4-a-gallon gas prices. That means customers usually must get on months-long waiting lists if they want one.
- Austin American Statesman
Tue. June 24, 2008

Speculation, weak dollar add $45 to oil prices: OPEC
Oil cartel OPEC on Tuesday said speculators and a weak US dollar have contributed $45 a barrel to push the international crude oil prices to a high of $142 a barrel...(and) also said its raising the production was not a solution to the high prices. "Almost 60 per cent of that (price increase in one year) is due to combination of dollar devaluation and speculation," OPEC President Chakib Khelil told reporters on sidelines of the 19th World Petroleum Congress in Madrid.
- Agence France Presse
Wed. July 02, 2008 (Madrid)

Oil Rises on IEA Supply Warning, Concern Israel May Attack Iran
International Energy Agency said supplies may not keep up with demand through 2013 and ABC News reported Israel is increasingly likely to attack Iran this year. The IEA said in a report that spare OPEC capacity will shrink by 2013, keeping the market ``tight.'' Israel may bomb Iran if OPEC's second-largest producer acquires enough enriched uranium to build a weapon, potentially threatening Mideast supplies, ABC said, citing an unidentified Pentagon official.
- Bloomberg.com
Tue. July 1, 2008

Georgia Judge Cites Carbon Dioxide in Denying Coal Plant Permit
In the ruling released late Monday afternoon, a state judge relied on a decision by the Supreme Court last year that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant... But the judge, Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore in Superior Court in Fulton County, Ga., said that federal air pollution control laws required pollution permits to cover all pollutants that could be regulated under the Clean Air Act, not just those for which there is “a separate, general numerical limitation.
- NYT
Wed. July 2, 2008

Tesla confirms Model S sedan, 225-mile range and $60k
...Tesla to continue its production of vehicles in the Golden State, specifically the start-up's second vehicle, codenamed the Model S, which according to Tesla, get 225 miles on a single charge and cost $60,000.
- Autoblog.com
Mon. June 30th 2008

7 Words and the Truth

2008-06-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, George Carlin. We don't have sadhus in our Eurocentric culture, so we force them to become "comics."
Etymology
The Sanskrit terms sādhu ("good man") and sādhvī ("good woman") refer to renouncers who have chosen to live a life apart from or on the edges of society in order to focus on their own spiritual practice.

The words come from the Sanskrit root sādh, which means "reach one's goal", "make straight", or "gain power over". The same root is used in the word sādhana, which means "spiritual practice".
- Wikipedia

Planning for Retirement

2008-06-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is what I want to end up with - a nice piece of land, with some water, and a crop like this (if it'll make it through Texas summers):

I Brewed (You're Doing It Wrong)

2008-06-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last batch was a supra-malt gem of a Munich Caramel Vienne beer so delicious I drank pretty much the whole thing by myself in 3 weeks. (Yeah, well, plus I had New Job stress. Don't do the math.)

Attempting to reproduce it, I bought most of the same ingredients, only using Safale S-33 instead of their dry version of American 1056 (jargonoff alert: this is yeast talk). Plus 2 oz. of black market fresh Cascade hops.

Beer glass alarmingly low. Last of the last batch from a bottle I stashed in the back of the cupboard. Some people don't drink while brewing, as a rule. Good on ya, and go 'head knock your bad ass self out with that, I say.

So far so good. Shortly after this photo was taken, it starts to go all Mars Climate Orbiter on me.

Litany of errors:
- Using the late-addition method, I added the 1 lb. of extract with burners on full blast. Expected pot-blackening hilarity ensued.
- Boil complete, I cranked up the wort chiller, and while cleaning up a little, discovered the rest of the malt extract.
- By now she's cooled to about 150 degrees. So I switch off the hose, and light the burners again, in an attempt to boil the syrup for 15 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, things seem quiet. Too quiet. Sure enough: out of fuel.

See that white container, on top of the empty propane tank? 5 pounds of spaced malted barley syrup.

Anyhoosle, managed to wrap it up 2 hours later than usual, which means 2 extra hours of sorrows-drowning opportunities. Painful day at the office seemingly immediately followed.

But hey - that yeast finished in 3 days. I know. Kegged it last week, and am now clarifying by draining the sediment off the first few glasses. Pretty ding dang yummy so far. Watch here for updates.

Awesome Canadian Friday - Joni and Sarah

2008-05-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

Awesome Canadian Fridays - Mary Margaret O'Hara

2008-05-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

Few people have the genuine, sincere ability to exactly vocalize the thrash and motions of your psyche, in that unique desperate chaotic granular abandon behind your eyes.

In 1989 I was working at the D.C. Tower Records. The art department came out with that week's issue of new release posters (cut from colored foam board, the words and images all stacked up on each other). Mary Margaret O'Hara's "Miss America" looked intriguing to me, so I cued up my employee selection. An hour later a winnowy, sometimes stuttered/sometimes bowed-saw vox rolled out, twisting through the genre rooms on each floor. I immediately bought that strange little tape, and copied lyrics from it to the backs of postcards. A few months later, I was in Austin. With those keening hiccups along for the ride in my head.
I remember getting the same feeling from Mary Margaret's voice that I got discovering Kate Bush.

PS she's Catherine O'Hara's sister. Did not know that till today.

Carrot Mob!

2008-05-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is pretty whiz bang, folks. My new favorite thing.

Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo

Several Decades After 26 Exquisite Horrible Pages

2008-05-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

Lisa's post today reminded me of Edward Gorey, which is extraordinary, because I'm sure I remember reading this book at the Jordan's house in Dhaka. Being over 40 means that things are starting to creep into my life that I haven't seen/done/read in, oh, 30 years or so. The Gashlycrumb Tinies is one such creepy. One of my favorite children's stories that must never actually be read to children.

I thought you could die of that, but was never sure.

Welcome to "Awesome Canadians Fridays"

2008-05-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

In the years following high school, I saw Rush manymany times, including once where I made it to the Cap Center by walking backwards down the highway with a cardboard sign reading, "RUSH Concert." 2 college kids in a Mercedes picked me up.

1st in the new Canadian series. You're welcome.

Circa 1984, like you can't tell. These 3 honest-to-God hung the moon for me.

Apparently on this tour (they came through Austin last week), South Park has a cameo. Hilarity. Getty's outline can be seen wandering in front of the screen. Then the poor guy's camera mic implodes.

John Mayer is Way Smarter and Funnier Than His Music

2008-05-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

Three things first:
1) JJ Johnson 's been playing drums with Eli's band since the mid-90s. I can't remember half the nights, staring with red-eyed disbelief at his stamina and innovation.
2) Mayer wrote a column for Esquire (Music Lessons) that was always fun to read. Why he stopped, I dunno.
3) I don't think all of John Mayer's songs suck. "Belief" is a bit of masterful.

Belief, from last year's "Crossroads"

An even more sublime acoustic version (not a vid):

Eat, Drink, and Be Murree

2008-05-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

Beer Advocate pointed me to a mildly entertaining video on Murree beer, which triggered a limeflower-beer madeleine cascade of memories, throwing me back to high school, and Pakistan.

Indian subcontinent kids like us were limited to four K-12 schools for our parents to choose from (besides correspondence courses, which I actually took for half of 10^th grade). The main one was AES, New Delhi (moi, class of ’84); Kodai Kanal, near Madras, to the south; Woodstock, in northern India; and Murree, in northwest Pakistan. Senior year, I was elected student council president, and was expected to attend an annual international school conference with other government geeks.

I actually wasn’t a government geek; I gave a speech that was merely better performed than my opponent’s (who was far better qualified – and whom I dated years later on-and-off in the States – digress much?). Anyhouse, that year it was in Murree, Pakistan’s version of Kodai.

Not to get all Wikipedia on you, BUT, when Her Majesty’s Army wrested control of Punjab from the Sikhs (while failing to occupy Afghanistan), they were garrisoned in Rawalpindi. Murree, at 2300 m, was an oasis from the heat and crowds 50 km to the south. British soldiers were partially paid in beer rations (since the water could kill you). The Murree Brewery Co. Ltd. has been malting, brewing and distilling since 1860. From what I can glean from their awesomely Pakistani web site, they’re mostly bland-looking light lagers, with "a distinctive test and flavor... Murree's Classic Larger (is) Smooth on the plate… …corresponds in flour and quality to the famous beer brewed in Pilsen, Czech Republic.”

But one style sang out to me:
Murree's Millennium
Our flagship beer 8% alc. v/v. Brewed from highest grade Australian malt and Hallertau a German Hop products. The millennium is celebration brew for special occasion.

Eight percent volume by volume? That’s pretty high octane, for an Islamic beverage. Then again, they keep going, distilling their beers into vodkas, whiskeys, rums, and gins. With strict Sharia prohibition on consumption, and a ban on all imports of alcohol, what would be Murree Brewery’s chief competitor? If the word "prohibition" gave you a hint, you guessed it: bootlegged and black market tharra.

Photos: Spiegel Online

From this NY Times article:
“Alcohol was officially illegal but widely available in the years after independence, with doctors allowed to issue certificates asserting that their patients needed it for medical purposes. The 1979 prohibition is more strictly enforced, but it, too, is evaded. Many non-Muslims make a tidy profit by selling alcohol to their Muslim friends. It is sometimes said that the only people in Pakistan who do not know how to find liquor are foreign tourists. Murree has 350 full-time employees and another 125 or so who work part time. Some hide the truth about where they work. The American-trained quality-control manager, for example, tells friends that she works for a soft drink company.”

Which reminds me: what’s the difference between a Baptist, a Lutheran, and a Catholic? Catholics don’t recognize Saint Luther; Lutherans don’t recognize the Pope; Baptists don’t recognize each other in the liquor store.

Chances are, I’ll probably never return to Murree, which was as consistently beautiful as any Asian hill station. I won't get to drink the probably-not-delicious plate of floury larger with its distinctive test. Mais que recherche agreeable du temps perdu.

Murree, Pakistan

Laura's Movie - Its First Award So Far

2008-05-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

Las Perdidas totally won a Remi Award at the WorldFest-Houston Independent International Film Festival. This is the event's web site (it sucks).

This is the link to the movie's site (sorry, Laura, I'm sure it was not your doing, but it also sucks [unlike your site, which is design-tastic], and is even broken in some places. I could do a better job with Notepad and a bellyful of mescal. Call me.)

Anyhowl, when she was in Austin last, I got a pre-screening from her laptop, and it's gangbusters - I think it's funny, inventive, taughtly-written, well-acted, with that early Linklater/Rodriguez indie feel. And if you have a little Spanish, it will be even funnier.

So, Lala yet again irrefutably rocks.

Lifting the Tax on the Sale of Indulgences

2008-04-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

Oges is fond of saying that Bill Clinton was one of the greatest Republican presidents in US history. In his words,

"Clinton was the first president since WWII to leave the government with a balanced budget - usually the dream of 'fiscally conservative' Republicans (ironically, Reagan burst the bank and GWB is setting records for deficit spending). Also, similar to how LBJ was opposed to civil rights when he was a local politician in Texas but when it became the zeitgeist LBJ switched sides, when Clinton realized the Republican-dominated Congress was not interested in his more liberal measures - such as universal health care - he gave them everything the Congress wanted, mostly related to NAFTA and other "free trade" issues, which are basically gifts to large corporations and tend to hurt the average working folks Democrats traditionally represent."

The point I'm meandering toward is about today's article in the NY Times:

"Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton lined up with Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, in endorsing a plan to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for the summer travel season."

Not to poop on their pander party, but aren't we at capacity already? Wouldn't lower prices make people want to drive more? In turn, wouldn't driving more demand more gas, and hike the price?

Anyone who favors a political leader who trades votes for environmental degradation, fuel supply depletion, increased CO2 emissions, and fiscal irresponsibility (i.e. dipping into the Federal Highway Fund to pay for it) gets the government they deserve.

Now I'm not convinced yet that Obama has enough expertise or authority to quickly solve our energy problems, but at least he's not falling for this patronizing hoodwink. In the same article:

"At a meeting with voters in North Carolina on Monday, Mr. Obama said lifting the gas tax for three months would save the average consumer no more than $30, a figure confirmed by Congressional analysts. Mr. Obama has previously dismissed Mr. McCain’s proposal as a 'scheme.'

'Half a tank of gas,' Mr. Obama told his audience. 'That’s his big solution.'"

Hilary, please, just give up the ghost. You're starting to creep me out. As of today, I'd honest to God almost rather have Laura Bush as president. I said "almost," but please, somebody, make it stop; she burns, she burns.

April in Austin, Among Additional Ataxia

2008-04-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

I have a new job.

Got stolen away from the energy savings company by a very small, very specialized, software shop. Here is the view from the previous offices:

Here is the new view (from the conference room):

Arial view directly above our building:

It's April in Austin, which means there are an incomprehensible number of festivals, events, open-air concerts, and/or kid's activites to attend...among them:
Old Settler's Music Festival
Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Fest
Urban Music Festival
Austin Fine Arts Fest
Reggae Fest (AKA Bob Marley Festival)
Annual Dragon Boat Festival and Race
Family Music Festival
Cinco de Mayo (gets started early 'round here, especially in San Antonio )
Eeyore's Birthday

Not convinced? Check this list out. It's exhausting, every year, just thinking about April in Austin.

Ultimately, we'll go to Reggae Fest and Eeyore's, as usual, and struggle with the rest.

The farmer's markets are overflowing, and the wildflowers are exploding. Life is tearing by on ball bearings. Don't ask how I managed to find time to post this: if I knew, I'd do it again, soon.

Eternal Sunshine of a Terrifying Mind

2008-03-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

Comedienne extraordinaire Mandy Stadtmiller posted this thread, instigated by a copy edit of Tuesday's post. Check it.
When Chip ends with "Yours for total enlightenment (beer included)," he's referring to my email signature:
Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handy.
If you ever reach total enlightenment
while you're drinking a beer,
I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose.'

Reminding us, as Pope Alexander says on the side of the box, “What mighty emails rise from trivial things.”

Nietzsche, The Gay Science, 1887, pp. 42

2008-03-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

Our Kids, And How To Educate Them

2008-02-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

From the TED site: "Robinson's TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? 'Everyone should watch this.' " So I did.

"Creativity is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status." I discuss in my head (and slightly to one side). This, too.

Rise To The Challenge!

2008-02-21T08:18:00.002-08:00

Listening To: Devotchka

2008-02-15T08:21:00.000-08:00

Loved "Little Miss Sunshine," but didn't pay much attention to the soundtrack as it played. Alls I knows is I loves them, today. Right now, I'm queued into their first release, SuperMelodrama. Highlight: "Whiskey Breath." Saddest vocals on their MySpace player: the Philip Glassy "How It Ends."

In a bar in Lawrence Kansas, kid ye not. Trop exquis.

Pump and Play Thing to Change The World

2008-02-12T12:38:00.000-08:00

From my new favorite site, "How to Change The World," by ex-Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki. His "Art of the Start" is majorly awesomespiring.

Know The World You Live?

2008-01-31T13:07:00.001-08:00

Like most things awesome, I found this, the Traveller IQ Challenge, via Ze Frank. Absorptive fun for the travel geek in us all!

It is very fast! I don't know the capital of South Africa! No, it's not Johannesburg! (Bloemfontein? There are three? Are you freaking kidding me?)

Some New Music Fun Time

2008-01-29T23:31:00.001-08:00

There's a new recording studio in town (new to me), called Nebulost, who's got a great intro price and an amazing setup. East side of Austin, out in the country.
Here's something I'm prepping for the 1st 5-hr. session: James McMurtry's Rachel's Song.

Keep you posted on how it goes. This stuff makes me crazy psyched.

So Worth It? You Decide.

2008-01-29T19:37:00.000-08:00

I was drinking freshly brewed beers with my friend Charles at Uncle Billy's, and this conversation was inspired.

Wonder why there's so much turnover in bars along 6th St. (or wherever)? Here's the secret.

With $250K, you can buy a shutdown quick, and renovate, and hire. Over the next 12 months, you should average $3000 a night in liquor sales. That's a million and 95,000 dollars.

Let's say you repaid $250K in loans, and spent $250K that year in costs and paychecks. Let's say you also had $100,000 in additional taxes and costs. And, to be conservative, let's tack on another $100,000 miscellaneous financial burdens.

That still leaves you over a third of a million dollars. Frankly, I wouldn't do it for much less. It's too goddang hard.

But that gives you an idea of why bars appear and disappear like whack-a-moles. Nice cashout, for a year's worth of work.

Smart Human Tricks

2008-01-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

Driving home from Oges' house (after a fun guitar & bass session, where we wrestled Waylon's theme to the Dukes of Hazard to the ground, we did) I drove by a field sobriety test on the opposite side of the road. Which reminded me of Jeff Bridges' fun web site, and this trick:

Sitting down? Rotate your right foot clockwise. Now with your right hand, draw the number 6 in the air. Your foot will change direction, and "there's nothing you can do about it."

Yes, THAT Jeff Bridges. Thought you knew all about him, didn't you? He's a way amazing dude, The Dude is.

Rock On Peter

2008-01-23T10:57:00.000-08:00

Today on a whim, I checked out the personal web site of a friend and former boss. I was delighted to see he updated his "About Me" page. When I read this, I almost lost it:

"I landed a position as Director of Knowledge Management for a venture-funded start-up software company, and also sat on the Corporate Executive Committee. One of the key tragedies of my life was when our CEO, and my friend, unexpectedly passed away from a sudden heart attack. The company did not survive the shock."

I was his first employee in that position. He needed a tech writer, and hired me on the spot. Peter is amazing and wonderful, and I took a shine to him immediately. His brother David is also quite interesting (he runs the Bodhi Foundation out of his house here in Austin). When we lost Pat, we grieved as a family. He's right - we never got over it.

Anyway, allow me to introduce you to Peter, a singularly unique and excellent person. He, to me, is another reminder that, no matter what we lose, all is not lost.

Petraworld

Maria Bamford - the Dark song

2008-01-07T13:38:00.000-08:00

If you liked ZeFrank's very wonderful and useful ditty,

you will flirt with incontinence over this'n. "The Bammer" had a series on Superdeluxe, but now some episodes can only be furtively found on Youtube. K,bye.

If You Can Guess What This Is, You Are Amazed. And A Little Sad.

2008-01-03T12:34:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year 2007, My Ain True Love

2007-12-29T00:23:00.000-08:00

Alison Krauss' "You Will Be My Ain True Love," by way of this montage from angelofpoems, taken from the Cold Mountain Soundtrack. You're so welcome - I love you, this new year, and beyond.

You.

So Much Depends

2007-12-17T20:53:00.000-08:00

On poets like these...

- william carlos williams

Story Of My Bubbly Bubbly Life........ * POP *

2007-12-12T10:32:00.001-08:00

By the Richter Scales.
Blog blog blog blog....meta.

Can You Hear Me Now?

2007-12-12T09:14:00.000-08:00

How about now?

Chris Whitley...Missing You.

2007-12-11T12:22:00.000-08:00

He passed November 2005. JC reminded me how confusing, stunning, and unjust it was to see a musical powerhouse like this in the tiny Saxon Pub.

Here's a SugarMegs link to one of his streaming shows. Elation and melancholy.

Well, the mist shall be your blanket
While the moss shall ease your head
As the future is soon forgotten
As the dirt shall be your bed

There's a dirt floor underneath here
To receive us when changes fail
May this shovel loose your trouble
Let them fall away

Let them fall away

Let them fall away.

Cruisin' Down 42nd Street

2007-12-06T13:37:00.000-08:00

Crazy little interactive vid from Immersive Media. Kinda blows out my margins, but so worth it.

CLICK the play button. Then CLICK and DRAG on the video screen to pan across the 360° view.

Here Comes The Sun. I Say, "It's All Right."

2007-12-04T10:24:00.000-08:00

Caleb and I were talking at the party about moonshine, which led to ethanol fuel: I told him, "man, I'm done with biodeisel and ethenol and all that archaic internal combustion craptrap. If it's not an electric engine, I don't want to hear about it."
And Caleb beamed: "Do you get it now? Ya get it? OK. Now we can start going somewhere."

Richard Rapier is an energy engineer with a blog called R-Squared. He went to Texas A&M and now consults for a North Sea petroleum company out of Scotland. Yesterday's post was about an article in Mother Earth, entitled "The Future is Solar." Heh. I'm sure Mr. Rapier isn't stereotypable, but I can't get this picture out of my head: roughneck on drill site break, smeared with axle grease and sweet crude, nodding approvingly at an article in the hippiest mainstream rag in America.

But check this out:

"Electric Vehicles & Plug-in Hybrids: Electric vehicle drivetrains are inherently five to 10 times more efficient than internal combustion engines and they produce no greenhouse gases at the tailpipe. Even if powered by fossil-fuel electricity, emissions at the power plant are much lower per mile traveled than with internal combustion engines. In addition, electric vehicles can be charged directly from renewable sources, thereby eliminating emissions altogether."

Steve Heckeroth does a bang-up job breaking it all down. Highly recommended.

"Yes, I know - solar panels are still too expensive for many of us. But 10 years ago, nobody gave hybrid cars a chance of succeeding. Today, the Toyota Prius is the hottest thing going. Plug-in hybrids and all-electric options should be available soon. If we all work together and demand that our government set a wise energy policy and use taxes to support the right renewable energy options, I predict we can put the brakes on climate change and enjoy clean, true-green energy."

Electric engines + CO2-removing machines = fast, cheap, and clean way to pull of of this global warming skid. Here we go, somewhere.

42nd Birthday Pah-tay

2007-12-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

Seven years ago, this would have been 200 people around seven kegs, until dawn. I'm finally old enough to have a nice adult party with a small, core group of my some of my best friends and a half keg of home brew. In bed by midnight.

Missed you if you couldn't come. Thanks for being there if you could. I certainly didn't expect anyone to drive from San Antonio, but there you go. I had a wunnerful time with all y'all.

Haven't Cracked Yet? I think not.

No, Thank YOU.

Even non-brewers talk brewing 'round h'yah.

Then It Came Back To Rescue Me Today.

2007-11-29T12:10:00.000-08:00

I saw American Beauty last week, for the 3rd time.

"This isn't life, it's just stuff. And it's become more important to you than living."

"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst...

And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life..."

You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure.

But don't worry... you will someday."

A year after Alan Ball wrote this, he created Six Feet Under.

Jump The Gap Wit Meh

2007-11-26T12:45:00.000-08:00

Zefrank de-uninspires me to this day. And man, bring it, I have work to do. Huh - apparently The Show does go on.

Dance Wit Meh

2007-11-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

Dennis' Studded Tongue Lashing

2007-11-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich on some morning talk show, where he generously infers that the prompter-mouthing makeup model is a professional journalist with attendant responsibilities. Then again, the channel knows its audience: A Pew poll in April found that 69% correctly identified who Dick Cheney was, which is a nice way of saying one out of three Americans doesn't know who is vice president. Strangely, 54% of Americans support impeaching him.

Anyway, back to the "news."

Pwned.

Barbara Jordan & John Conyers on Impeachment

2007-11-19T09:39:00.000-08:00

The Resolution to Impeach Vice President Cheney from Rep. Dennis Kucinich is schedled for debate in the House Judiciary Committee. The Chairman, John Conyers, is no fan of Dick "go f*** yourself" Cheney. The day before, he offered the White House one last chance to comply with Committee subpoenas before he files contempt charges against the VP and his Texan sidekick.

Even so, Conyers (D-MI) is treating the issue with the gravity and deliberation that Congress is expected to, as Barbara Jordan (D-Texas) pointedly articulated during Nixon's Judiciary Committee impeachment debate:

(Washington, DC, 1 1/6/2007)- A spokeswoman for the House Judiciary Committee issued the following statement today in response to floor action on a house resolution to begin impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney: "The committee has a very busy agenda - over the next two weeks, we hope to pass a FISA bill, to vote on contempt of Congress citations, pass legislation on prisoner re-entry, court security and a variety of other very important items. We were surprised that the minority was so ready to move forward with consideration of a matter of such complexity as impeaching the Vice President. The Chairman will discuss today's vote with the committee members but it would seem evident that the committee staff should continue to consider, as a preliminary matter, the many abuses of this Administration, including the Vice President."
- House Judiciary Committee Spokeswoman

Here's Barbara Charline Jordan's Statement on the Articles of Impeachment, delivered July 25th, 1974 in the House Judiciary Committee. Click here to listen to the entire Statement. A brilliant reminder that there is such a thing as American legislation in action.

"Today I am an inquisitor. An hyperbole would not be fictional and would not overstate the solemnness that I feel right now. My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution.

...Common sense would be revolted if we engaged upon this process for petty reasons. Congress has a lot to do: - Appropriations, Tax Reform, Health Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, Housing, Environmental Protection, Energy Sufficiency, Mass Transportation.

Pettiness cannot be allowed to stand in the face of such overwhelming problems. So today we are not being petty. We are trying to be big, because the task we have before us is a big one.

...James Madison, again at the Constitutional Convention: "A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution."

If the impeachment provision in the Constitution of the United States will not reach the offenses charged here, then perhaps that 18th-century Constitution should be abandoned to a 20th-century paper shredder.

Has the President committed offenses, and planned, and directed, and acquiesced in a course of conduct which the Constitution will not tolerate?

That's the question. We know that. We know the question. We should now forthwith proceed to answer the question.

It is reason, and not passion, which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision."

Click here for the LA Times article on what Cheney's being charged with. WARNING: Large, snarly headshot of Tricky Dick Jr.

Jim Henson's "Time Piece"

2007-11-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

Long before the mucking Fuppets, there was Jim Henson. He made this the year I was born. You're very, very, very welcome.

What a Bargain - I'll Take Three.

2007-11-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

How many million Americans does it take
to screw in a light bulb over their heads?

A real war on poverty

"According to World Bank estimates, $54 billion a year would eliminate starvation and malnutrition globally by 2015, while $30 billion would provide a year of primary education for every child on earth.

At the upper range of those estimates, the $611 billion cost of the war could have fed and educated the world's poor for seven years."

(Boston Globe, Nov. 11, 2007)

"Why Are We In Vietnam?" is Not an Essay About Vietnam

2007-11-12T10:27:00.000-08:00

The first paragraphs of the first two chapters:

Intro Beep 1
Hip hole and hupmobile, Braunschweiger, you didn't invite Geiger and his counter for nothing, here is D.J. the friendLee voice at your service-hold tight young America-introductions come. Let go of my dong, Shakespeare, I have gone too long, it is too late to tell my tale, may Batman tell it, let him declare there's blood on my dick and D.J. Dicktor Doc Dick and Jek has got the bloods, and has done animal murder, out out damn fart, and murder of the soldierest sort, cold was my hand and hot...

Intro Beep 2
The fact of the matter is that you're up tight with a mystery, me, and this mystery can't be solved because I'm the center of it and I don't comprehend, not necessarily, I could be traducing myself. Por ejemplo, the simple would state that Into Beep One is a stream-of-conch written by me, and consequently commented upon by my mother up tight with her libido-drained psychoanalyst. But now you know Chap One with Fink Razzbah (rhymes with Casbah) is made up by me, D.J., alias Ranald such-and-such such-and-such Jethroe, Disk Jockey to the world (my mental connections are faster than anything afoot) and lightning which is a special case of light-how about that, Zack!

Norman Mailer died this weekend. I admired "The Naked and The Dead," but I will have read and learned about him more dead than alive. Somehow, like Vonnegut, that matters to me. I'm certain I don't like it, but what're you gonna do.

(photo: PBS American Masters)

Cheney's War-Sized Safe

2007-11-09T10:15:00.000-08:00

We were told that the reason we sent troops to Vietnam was to stop the Communist World threat (the falling red domino scare theory), which is now generally accepted as complete twaddle. So our leaders in the White House who made those decisions either genuinely believed in an imaginary enemy, or were purchased by the American War Machine for Its bidding. The truth is, we were in Vietnam to fill the pockets of war profiteers, and test new military swag.

Here we are again, only now we're being told that we're in Iraq to :

~~Prevent the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction~~
~~Depose Saddam Hussain~~
~~Set up Democratic Iraqi Government~~
~~Defeat Al-Qaeda~~
~~Defeat Iraqi insurgents~~
~~Defeat somebody, anybody~~
Springboard into Iran

But again, the real reason, the truth, is to fill the pockets of war profiteers.

Three years before we invaded, Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton. Halliburton, aka KBR, is today the #1 American contractor in Iraq ($15-30 billion, but who's counting?). According to Corporatepolicy.org, "In nine different reports, government auditors have found "widespread, systemic problems with almost every aspect of Halliburton's work in Iraq." Exactly like they did in Vietnam.

The Vice President has a man-sized Mossler safe in his office at the White House. The story below is from Wikileaks.org.

Over a thousand safes for secrets and cash

“	[S]ome American contractors correctly believed they could walk off with as much money as they could carry. The circumstances that surround the handling of comparatively small sums help explain the billions that ultimately vanished. In the south-central region of Iraq a contracting officer stored $2 million in a safe in his bathroom. One agent kept $678,000 in an unsecured footlocker.	„
	— Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Billions over Baghdad

Safes have played an important role for US Army in Iraq: not only for securing important documents and official funds, but also as a way to hide away largess obtained corruptly from the US federal reserve, via authorities which did not care to introduce even minimal oversight or accounting mechanisms. The October 2007 edition of Vanity Fair reports on US$12,000,000,000 in cash brought into Iraq under the auspices Coalition Provisional Authority, of which $9,000,000,000 cannot be accounted for.

Below are listed the types and unit assignments of 1,056 US military safes in Iraq.

Military unit	NATO Stock Number	Item name	Quantity
HHC 1 CD (WAGET0)	7110014821441	SAFE-(SPECIFY ON REQUISITION)	18
B 125 FIN BN (WH0FB0)	7110014821441	SAFE	16
A CO 4-1 STB MI (WJK2A0)	712501C006774	SAFE SECURITY CONTAINER: MOSLER	12
...	...	...	...

Woke Up This Morning, New Kind of Music in My Head

2007-11-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

Since I was a kid, I've caught myself saying things like, “you know, my Grandfather said, 'if you stay awake long enough, you learn something new every day.'” He said no such thing, I'm the one who said that, but it sounds more wisdomy if I attibute it to an old person. My Grandfather did say that the difference between a good haircut and a bad one is three days. That's according to my Mom; he died before I was born. My point is, I found a new music thing today, and I'm shocked I was awake long enough for it.

"Math Rock" - who's heard of this? I was downloading my 25 free mp3s from some emusic site, and saw it as a genre description of a band that sounded interesting (Don Caballero). Searching for that, I read this description on Eptonic.com:

"Take the intricacy and complexity of classic weirdo hard rock bands like Rush and Voivod, then add some of punk's hyperspasmodic schizophrenia, and you'll have a legitimate math rock contender. Math rock bands take pleasure in being erratic and unpredictable, often experimenting with peculiar tempos and jazz-derived rhythms while keeping the rock hard and aggressive all the while. Their lyrics tend to be as cerebral and expertly designed as their songs. These bands are rock's architects of the future, recrafting and reinventing the genre's tired song structures."

Really? That sounds like the only kind of music I like to listen to, with any real enjoyment.

So, as of today I listen exclusively to math rock. Until I get as sick of it as I am of Zappa and Phish and 80s Rush and Crimson.

Not as open-minded as you though I was, am I, hippie?

Dad's New Ship

2007-11-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

Photo: John Esparolini & ESP Images

The American Spirit

Email from Mom this morning:

Dad will be captain of the American Spirit—taking the boat out on educational and pleasure trips. During the day, they often have naturalists taking out school kids to teach them all about the ecology of the river—and then at night, often groups charter the schooner for pleasure trips. He will also be responsible for the maintenance of the ship. He already has spent many hours volunteering on the schooner—and is so happy to be hired as the captain. Right now he is out on the water doing his last on-the-water training of the season. It's a little nippy today.
Hugs and kisses to all,
Pat/Mom/Grandma

The National Maritime Heritage Foundation entry:

"Unique to the National Capital region, American Spirit offers three-hour educational tours exploring the maritime life of Washingtonians in the 1800s. This program allows students to gain a greater appreciation for the history of maritime Washington while moving through a variety of learning stations that reinforce classroom subjects including mathematics, physics, geography, language arts and music.

American Spirit functions as a learning museum, presenting the critical role that sailing vessels played in the development of America through hands-on experiences. (She) provides a dynamic learning environment and educational platform for students throughout the national capital area."

Go Dad Go!

Subscribe Thang

2007-10-31T12:21:00.001-07:00

Ran into Charles at the Draught Draft Horse House, and he said he didn't read my blog much because I have no RSS feed to subscribe to. I do, but it's hidden at the bottom of the page where it's easier to not get to it.

I set up a link at the left, there, to subscribe to this blaaauuhhhgghhgag.

Enjoyarama.

All Things Being Practically One

2007-10-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

I was helping Franc out with her math homework, and we somehow got to talking about pi, and how it goes on forever. Meaning, if you measure around a circle (circumference), then measure the line down the middle (diameter), and divide one by the other, you get an irrational, transcendental answer - a number that goes on forever.

Mmmmm. Pi.

That's a neat word trick, but for practical purposes, measuring things to the 39th decimal place of pi gives you a measurement accurate to the size of a hydrogen atom. Good enough for government work.

Later that night, I was teased by the thought that even for non-practical purposes, pi's value might not actually calculate, without pattern or end, to infinity. Which reminded me of a post on the Futility Closet, which proved that 0.999...∞ is the same as one. Not close to one: they have the same value.

a = 0.999…
10a = 9.999…
10a - a = 9.999… - 0.999…
9a = 9
a = 1

For all practical purposes, ceteris paribus , tat tvam asi, yar.

It's not obvious. But it is true.