Musings and Meanderings

The Friday Five! Can’t Get Enough of Your Love Baby 1. Who was your first kiss (your mom does not count)? Jeanette Miller, 6th grade, in my room. 2. What is your idea of the perfect date? Sushi and a movie (that one is for "L") 3. What music needs to be on when you are “getting your thang on”? I like chill, she likes Dan Fogleberg. Either are fine. 4. What is the most amazing experience you’ve ever shared with a partner? Oh well my family reads this. So we have to keep it clean. 5. Sex is best saved for: love, marriage, alcohol, days that end in “y”? Love

Thirteen Things about Mikey A meme I found online 01. I am a complex conflicted person. 02. I want to be able to teach in a classroom of my own. 03. I wish that we could erase the last 6 yrs of Bu$hCo. 04. I miss time off. 05. I fear becoming inconsequential. 06. I hear as well as a 18 yr old even though I have tintinitus. 07. I wonder what it would be like to have had a career path. 08. I regret not listening to friends and family about said path. 09. I am not a follower. 10. I make with my hands killer eggs benedict. 11. I write a blog almost daily, and want to write fiction. 12. I confuse my left and right, its a form of Dyslexia. 13. I need to be respected by my peers. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! Diary of a Music Whore Daddy's Roses Alone on a Limb (leave your link in the menu comments section, I'll add you here!) Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday....

Star Trek Armada Sunday night I went over to FYI and for just $4.99 got a used copy of a Star Trek Four Pak which included Armada I and II and Elite Force I and II. So like 1.25 a game. And Armada is FUN! It's completly mindless of course. Not as second by second involving as Star Fleet Battles, which sometimes are just too complicated. In this you build ships and stations, research, build etc. All so you can apply a can of Whup Ass to the opposition. You start playing the Federation, then you change to Klingons, then apparently to Romulans, and then I think back to being Jean Luc himself. There are CGI movies which connect the various scenarios into a connected plot as it were. Today I got so caught up in Martok beating up Romulans that I lost track of time and was almost late for my second job. Weeee what fun.

Just a couple of things I think it HIGHLY AMUSING that a Fox employee will finally be doing for pay what he has been doing all along, along with the rest of his network, being a shill for Bu$hCo. Though for pure SHRILL SHILL you can't beat Mary Matlin. The idea that Dubya's solution to high gas prices is to stop buying for the National Reserves and to eliminate the Pollution Control standards for Gas when the evidence of Global Warming is all around us WOULD be funny, if it were not so bloody serious and SO indicative of just what is wrong with this Administration.

Thar Be Wherewolves Har!! Against much strong support for the second episode of Season Two of Doctor Who in the Yahoo groups I read, I must voice my concern. It's not really working that well. Ok yes the effects are great. Ok yes the Doctor and Rose are mega cute. Ok yes the oooooo Scottish Moors, Full Moon and Howling Creature were oh so scary (not). But what was the point of the episode? Was it simply a vehicle to introduce the Torchwood Institute and set up a future collision between them and the Doctor? And what did happen to the bald monks in red? And does anyone really care? I did think that there was a very funny line, when the Lord of Torchwood Manor asks the Doctor, Rose and the Queen if they thought it strange that all the staff was gone, the Doc quipped "Well your wife gone, lots of tall bald atheletic men hanging about, I thought you were just happy". So what have we proved in two episodes. That once again Davies needs to STOP writing scrips and get on w...

There is an absolutely brilliant piece on the Dems in the newest Economist Magazine this week. They were smart enough to put it in the non subscription section so everyone can read it. I strongly suggest a quick perusal. OUT

The Friday Five! Well the Friday Five for today was lame AGAIN, so I dipped back one year. 1. You have the summer and plenty of money to travel abroad. Where all would you go? Europe! Start in the UK, maybe catch a HW show, then off to France to see brother and Uncle, then Spain. 2. What foods would you be sure you got to eat? Lots of full course meals in Paris, sample different Spanish regional dishes, and try to avoid the Fish and Chips in the UK 3. What landmarks would you be sure you got to see? StoneHendge, The tour Eiffel, Cote D'Azure, Rock of Gibralter, I'd have to do some more research. 4. What airline would you use? The one with the best price of course. 5. Would your knowledge of other languages influence where you went? Well yes I speak a smattering of French and English.... ;-)

Thirteen Things about Mikey Things I DID get accomplished on my "Vacation". If you read last week's TT you know that I was officially off teaching from Good Friday till this comming Sunday. Good Friday plus the Spring Break. I was off Sunday and Monday from the Shack as well due to Easter, and the Mall being closed. Otherwise my Vacation included working 28 hours at the Shack. Yes indeed thats my version of a vacation. 1. Raked and bagged up the remaining leaves in the back yard. I did not do the pile in the very back. 2. Cleaned up the basement. 3. Took 10 gargage bags of recycling to the store. That netted $23, almost not worth the effort. 4. Went through all the magazines in the Sunroom. Made up 3 bags of recycling. Tied up the Smithsonians, Scientific American's and Food & Wine's by complete year. I will either donate them or try to unload them on Ebay. 5. Cleaned out my closet in my office. One huge bag of trash from there. 6. Did quite a bit ...

From Scientific American Thomas Jefferson would be appalled. More than two centuries after he helped to shape a government based on the idea that reason and technological advancement would propel the new United States into a glorious future, the political party that now controls that government has largely turned its back on science. Even as the country and the planet face both scientifically complex threats and remarkable technological opportunities, many Republican officeholders reject the most reliable sources of information and analysis available to guide the nation. As inconceivable as it would have been to Jefferson--and as dismaying as it is to growing legions of today's scientists--large swaths of the government in Washington are now in the hands of people who don't know what science is. More ominously, some of those in power may grasp how research works but nonetheless are willing to subvert science's knowledge and expert opinion for short-term political and econom...

What would you have done $274 billion? Paid for 36,308,698 children to attend a year of Head Start? OR Insured 164,150,265 children for one year Dollars? OR Hired 4,750,726 additional public school teachers for one year? OR Provided 13,289,278 students four-year scholarships at public universities? OR Built 2,468,295 additional housing units? OR Fully funded global anti-hunger efforts for 11 years? OR Fully funded world-wide AIDS programs for 27 years? OR Ensured that every child in the world was given basic immunizations for 91 years? OR Rebuilt New Orleans? Or Any combination of these to lesser degrees? WELL We know what Bu$hCo would do with 274 Billion... Don't you??? Source

A nice start While the other NY team struggles to get in the groove, the much maligned Mets have done some amazing things already in April. This is the first time they have been 10 - 2 out of the gate. This is the first time in any division that a team has been 5 games out in front after only 12 - 13 games. For the last few years I've watched the beginning of the Season with some interest, but as my Mets have slide into futility year after year it's been hard to follow. My other team the A's is something more in spirit for me as I have no idea of the roster nor can I really follow them on a nightly basis. So lets hope that the Press finally got it right, and the Mets will be a contender for the Wild Card this year, or maybe even the division.

And for those of you who are keeping track From my Thursday Thirteen list of things to get done on my "Vacation", I have already by Monday Night accomplished numbers 1, 3, 4, partial on 7 and 10. Not a bad start

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Season "two" commences! Well the Second season of the new Dr. Who started today in the UK. Thanks to the magic of digital media I was able to watch it after I got home from the Shack this evening. Overall the episode was quite enjoyable, though some of the science was a bit strained. Plot wise I did think that the story was a bit threadbare, but there were some great opportunities for the Companion character Rose Tyler played by Billie Piper to really shine. For a "low budget" show, the special effects are nearly seamless. In actuality I think that probably it's not such a low budget show anymore however. The biggest question is how will the 10th Doctor, played by David Tennant , do following an absolutly brilliant year of Chris Eccelston as the 9th Doctor. In the Christmas Invastion, we got a glimpse of Mr. Tennant's take on the role, but in this episode we get him at full strength so to speak. Overall I do think that he will do quite well. His take ...

The Friday Five! Well the Friday Five for today was lame, so I dipped back one year. Marvelous Music 1. What is the first record/tape/CD that you bought? Record - Probably Nugent's Cat Scratch Fever. Tape - Really no idea CD - Best of the Grateful Dead (and I didn't have a CD player yet) 2. Who is your favorite all time band/singer? Hawkwind 3. What have you been listening to lately? My i-pod on shuffle. Just before that I was listening to the Chill Station on XM quite a lot 4. What is your favorite radio station, what do they play, and where do they broadcast? Commercial Radio is Dead. Clear Channel Killed It. XM and Sirius are now the only way to listen to a "radio". I love the Prog/Jam station on XM but they are cancelling it. The Chill station is very high on my list. 5. Can you recommend a good song or CD that everyone should listen to? God is God by Juno Reactor.

Thirteen Things about Mikey Things I'd like to get accomplised on my "Vacation". I am officially off teaching from tomorrow till next Sunday. Good Friday plus the Spring Break. I am off Sunday and Monday as well due to Easter, and the Mall being closed. Otherwise my Vacation includes working 28 hours at the Shack. Yes indeed thats my version of a vacation. 1. Rake and bag all the leaves in the back yard. This could take the whole time on it's own. There is a pile of clippings from the past two years in a pile at the very back of the yard that could go too. 2. Update my trade list. I do this every vacation, as it is a half day affair. 3. Clean up the basement including the extant recycling that has fallen down the basement stairs. 4. Take all the backed up recycling bottles to the store and cash them in. 5. Play some Hero Clix with "A". I organized his hero's into teams and experience levels a couple of months ago. 6. Get our bikes' fixed. ...

i-Tunes I have to say I am pretty impressed with the whole i-Tunes concept. I don't actually download "their" music for pay, so I'm not talking about that. The i-Tunes program itself, is quite hoopy. For starters it has a very nice MP3 ripper. It allows you to set the BPS (193 for me) and it utilizes CDDB so that the CD that you own immediatly comes up with all the ID3 fields; i.e. song title, album, year, genre etc. Podcasting is way cool. I don't have time anymore for watching the Sunday talking heads. But when I get home from the Shack I can listen to their Podcasts sans commercials on my i-Pod. I also found a couple of French Podcasts so I can stay brushed up on my language skills. I-Tunes software keeps your podcasts up to date as well. Video is also great. Now i-Pod has a conversion program but it's way to slow. I found a great free one online that converst avi, mpeg etc to M4V format. Right now during "prep" and at the Shack when it...

Boys Night In So we wasted our evening with Doom the movie. We rented War of the Worlds, Doom and King Kong, but A wanted to see Doom. I'm sure he enjoyed it more than I. If you are a fan of Doom I, and loved all the great monsters in it.... don't exect it in this. In fact there was only one "type" of monster, what I guess you would call the Imp. The story is LAME. The acting is strained. The special effects are BORING. They even put a 1st person shooter sequence in to appease the lame fan boys who wanted to see that sort of thing. So this is a total waste of 2 hours. Even the Unrated version (probably because of the blood and gratuitous use of boobs) is a sleeper. So I guess I didn't like it.

Added to the iPod this weekend. REM - Out of Time Monster Magnet - Power Trip Ozric Tentacles - Strangitude Steve Howe - Turbulence Alan Holdsworth - Atavachron ABWH - ABWH Matrix Reloaded OST David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust BOC - S/t, Tyranny and Mutation, Secret Treaties Al Stewart - Beach full of Shells Glass Hammer - The Inconsolable Secret Supernatural Fairy Tails (The Progressive Rock Era) Box set - 5 CD's Moerlin's Gong - Time is the Key Beatles - one Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds, Inner Mounting and Emerald Beyond And that's just what I ripped. Also added podcasts and some archived music I have on CDR. This is fun. I listened to Mike Radio today all day at work. I moved one of the iPod player/chargers (an Altec one) over behind the counter and put it on shuffle. Way fun.

The Friday Five! Bits and Bobs 1. Do you like chicken? I love it 2. What is 1 food you can't live without? Whew toughy, as I eat to live, I don't live to eat, but I suppose Chicken, as I don't eat beef, it would only leave fish and pork, and I like chicken better. 3. Are you an early bird or a night owl? I am definitely a night owl. I got this from dear old Dad. 4. Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla. French Vanilla to be precise. 5. Are you more of a cat person or a dog person? I grew up a Dog person. Then I owned a cat and a dog. Dogs have Masters, Cats have staff. Dogs come when called, Cats have answering machines. Which type of "person" do you think I am now. Cats have tons more personality.

V for Vendetta Alex and I finally got out to see V for Vendetta today and we are sure glad that we did. Although it has been out for 3 weeks the only place we could find a daytime showing was the big 18 theater cineplex in the area. This is a cautionary tale about the slippery slope of civil liberties and "big brother". Hugo Wearing's performance as V, and we never see his face, is just outstanding. Wearing's Shakesperian background is soundly felt in his delivery of several monologues about everything from personal freedoms to personal tragedies. The script contains many nuggets which I wish I could have to read over. It is no suprise that this is a Wachowski Brothers' production, and much of what made the Matrix trilogy so fun to listen to, makes this movie great as well. After having to suffer through the abysmal scripts of the Star Wars Trilogy it was great seeing Natalie Portman in an intelligent movie with great dialog. Her role as Evey is one of personal di...

Idiot Science I started to write this Monday but somehow I closed it before finishing, so I wrote it now and back dated it. I finally finished the three part series on Global Warming that the New York times published last year. I have alluded to some of the facts in the series in earlier blogs as I had scanned one of the articles. I had put off reading them because I thought it would be depressing. It was.... What really got my goat though was the third article which traced some of the Bu$hCo Administration's positions on Global Warming. Remember before the 2000 election GWB actually called global warming "an issue we need to take very seriously." This is a definition of taking seriously I was not previously aware of. "When we make decision , we want to make decisions on sound science" was what he said in Feb 2002. So Bu$hCo turned to the one group they knew they could trust, Big Business. Conclusions made by their scientists concluded "Carbon dioxide emiss...

Pre-Occupedo Been taking it easy on the discipline the last few days, just chilling. Teaching - Interesting week, Thursday was a half day. Friday was a hell day, had to suspend a kid for making an improvised weapon and zinging another kid with a small pencil sharpener. March has been a very difficult month for us and the kids. I am frankly amazed how violent these little children can be. The Shack - Slow to medium week. Sold a cell phone last night so thats still about 1.5 per week, as opposed to 1.5 per day. No Friday Five or Thursday Thirteen this week. Was too lazy on Thursday, and on Friday Al was cracking the whip all night. This is when I usually do those two "list" posts, but it was just busy enough that I doubt I'd have been able to do them anyway. Carmina brought me my Ipod last night, so the week is not a total loss. What is going on my ipod to start with. Tons of chill as I had those on my Hard Drive anyway. Three remastered Grateful Dead albums. Some "de...