Monthly Archives: May 2010

Loud and Rich

“In heaven they serve beer for breakfast.”  Loudon Wainwright III “Dad’s in a bad mood/Dad’s got the blues.”  Richard Thompson Richard Thompson is a guitar god. Loudon Wainwright III is more of a trickster god, like Coyote or Raven, bringing the … Continue reading

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Libertarians, meet Somalia

Libertarians state that they are about personal, civil liberties (at least for some).  Their philosophy is that government should play a small, limited role in society and should not intrude on most day-to-day social and commercial interactions.  Human responsibility and … Continue reading

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Complete World of Sports, Abridged (UPDATE)

The Sonoma County Rep e-mailed me to ask if they could print out my comments and tape them in the window like they do with reviews.  I was delighted!  I’ll ignore the fact that this probably means that the show … Continue reading

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Quote of the Week

” Bottled water often comes from the same source as tap water, where that is available (often at a hundredth of the price), although it at least should be clean.  It is often undistinguishable from tap water.  In rich countries, … Continue reading

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The Mystery Man

This figure showed up one morning on the outer wall of a building downtown.  I come to this part of town a lot, for meetings and things.  He caught my eye.  I didn’t know quite what he was gesturing about.  … Continue reading

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The Lost Symbol Fails

Caution:  Spoilers.  Everywhere.  It’s a whole convention of ‘em. Cathedral College is an elegant, castle-like edifice located adjacent to the National Cathedral.  The College of Preachers, as it was originally envisioned by the first Episcopal bishop of Washington, was founded … Continue reading

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The Checklist of Seven

Lots of research about a strange or obscure topic?  Check.  Famous or exotic location?  Check.  Moderately attractive woman who is a success in her (usually scientific) field?  Check.  Guidebook-quality descriptions?  Check.  Physically freakish villain with implausible motivation?  Check.  Very short … Continue reading

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The Complete World of Sports (Abridged)

The Sig-O was a scoutmaster for 19 years, and this meant he spent one week every summer with his troop at scout camp.  Friday evening I would leave work early and drive up to see the final campfire and watch … Continue reading

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The Modern Spirit Board

Here’s an interesting post from John Crowley about voice recognition software and its persistent attempts to turn sounds into words.  Scroll down through the comments until you get to his response, where he gives an example: “I  haven’t captured any … Continue reading

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So multicultural

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