Dave Barry on Permanent Hiatus

In my original blog post a year ago I mentioned Dave Barry was going on hiatus and said he'd announce more after a year. I predicted this hiatus would probably be permanent. Today he announced that it would, indeed, be permanent. The newswire story says it all. Or read the official interview and statement if you prefer.

I am angry that I cannot read 'new' Dave anymore, but I am happy that he's doing something that makes him happy. I guess we call it mixed emotions. Good luck to Dave. I guess we're all stuck buying books from now on, not that it's a bad thing.

Dave, we hardly knew ye'

Almost Famous

Someone had asked me last week if I was 'friends' with anyone famous. That's interesting because everyone defines 'friend' differently. We drifted off into the do you know anyone famous, and then would anyone famous recognize you discussions? So I decided to compile a list of sorts. Feel free to us the comments field to post your lists.

First, we have the Pro-Entropy brigade. Pro-Entropy had three celebrities: Dave Barry, Terry Pratchett, and Douglas Adams. As sysop I did get to interact with them from time to time on technical issues. A pretty literary group I suppose. I've only actually met Dave though. Via e-mail I've corresponded with a number of people over the years, but that doesn't necessarily mean we're friends or even that they know who I am: Orson Scott Card, Terry Pratchett, and Douglas Adams, the most significant. And, back in the days before email, when paper ruled the world, Herb Caen and I exchanged letters.

Then we have the 'celebrities who would recognize your name' collection: Dave Barry, Philip Michael Thomas, and Rocky Frisco. I know these three would recognize my name for sure -- but that doesn't mean I'm friends with them. Okay, I'm friends with Rocky and we've never even met. But, although I know more celebrities, I can't imagine they'd remember who I am. My ego isn't big enough to pretend otherwise.

We also have the semi-famous as well. John Charles, I feel, is a celebrity. I know him well, but I don't know if he counts based on the fact not everyone knows him. Everyone should know him.

In terms of famous people I've actually met (that means there was an introduction and a conversation) there's a long list. Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, Olivia Brown, Edward James Olmos, John Diehl, Michael Talbot, and Saundra Santiago (the entire cast of Miami Vice) where my mother was part of the OCB Detective extra brigade. Philip and I both went to Berkeley and I even have a nice little booklet he authored back in his school days which he wrote a poem on and gave to me. He's an awesome guy. I also spent some time talking to EJO right before the Oscars when he won for Stand And Deliver: that was at the cast season wrap part for Vice. I also met Michael Mann at one of the cast parties along with Melanie Griffin when she was still with Don. Melanie was really sweet to me -- I was still a teenager and very impressed with her. (Come on, teen guy meets hot babe.....)

On airplanes I've briefly encountered: Jimmy Johnson (thrice), Don King, Jerry Lewis, Richard Kiel, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley (whilst they were married), Robert Di Niro, David Bowie, and Iman. I also sat near John Grisham -- I don't know him, didn't meet him, and didn't even say hi. I knew it was him because the person behind him was reading one of his books and his face was on the back of the book jacket and it was a bit surreal seeing someone sitting in the front row and the person behind him reading a book with his face on it.

I've briefly encountered some famous musicians as well: Eddie Veder, Neil Young, and Jimmy Buffett.

I've been less than 10 feet away from several presidents: Clinton (four times in two cities), Bush Sr, and Bush Jr (thrice). I've never met them, though I secretly wish my fist could meet the face of Bush Jr to thank him for all he's done for this country. (That isn't a threat, just a secret fantasy for all you secret service types). I ran into Ernesto Zedillo the former president of Mexico and had a very brief conversation, but I won't count that since I had no idea who he was until after I had met him.

Although I never met her, DAR Systems had Joan Collins as a customer. I still have a copy of the first order she placed.

Blast(s) From The Past

I often write movie reviews, concert reviews, and theatre reviews and I've not been good about getting them out except to a few people here and there, so I've decided to do some retroactive posts. I will add them all into my blog with the original date they were posted. These posts will be clearly identified at the top so you know they were stuck-in after the fact. I decided to do it that way so newcomers to my blog will not be confused by a rash of time-distorted postings all at once. These reviews are unedited and probably contain errors, but if you really care, let me know and I will fix them. I posted them without even looking -- strictly cut and paste.

This post will be periodically updated with a list of the specific postings in question and links to same:

Retroactive Concert Entries:
Tina Turner (Sunrise, FL) 19 April 2000
Simon & Garfunkel (Miami, FL and Sunrise, FL) 18 December 2003
Elton John (Royal Albert Hall, London) 6 July 2004 (a royal benefit performance)

Retroactive Movie Entries:
Crouching Tiger 14 January 2001
AI 30 June 2001
Billy Elliot 22 April 2001
LOTR Fellowship of the Ring 23 December 2001
LOTR The Two Towers 22 December 2002
Pirates of the Caribbean 17 July 2003
LOTR The Return of the King 21 December 2003
Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban 13 June 2004
Revenge of the Sith 25 May 2005
Chronicles of Narnia Lion Witch Wardrobe 11 December 2005

Retroactive Play Entries:
Cirque Du Soliel Ká (Las Vegas) 14 March 2005
Lennon The Musical (San Francisco) 18 April 2005


Although I write many book reviews and CD reviews as well, I simply don't have the energy to retroactively post them all. I just took the reviews I have saved so far of select movies, plays, and concerts and have posted them.

I love my Mac

I refer to this cool link for all the MacHeads out there. It's an awesome song about, well, Macs. Props to my friend Ernie (I stole it from his blog) for this awesome link.

I should say something perverted and ask exactly how he loves his Mac, but I'm afraid he might answer :)

(12-29: Information Week Magazine called me at work today to interview me about the use of Macs at our office. I am sure they won't publish most of it, but I gave them some very choice comments about Microsoft just in case.... [They ended up publishing a great deal of it])

Satellite Items

Okay, just a brief note. I've had DirecTV for many years and I still really like it despite some arcane rules on what they can and can't broadcast to a specific neighborhood*. I still think it's fantastic and can't imagine why anyone would ever get cable. Cable sucks. I had cable for years and I was never happy. Now I'm happy with TV. I just wanted to share.

So speaking of the same topic, I always had said I would never, ever pay for radio. After all, why pay for what's free? (Some of you may have heard this story). I got a new car awhile back and it came with XM Radio pre-installed. No big deal, except I got 3 months of free service. After a few weeks, I figured I'd try it -- what the hell, right? Nefarious bastards got me hooked. I subscribed and paid the whole year up front. I listen to stations in the 40s on the dial.

There is no point to this post but I just wanted to share. Yay.


* Telecommunications Act of 1991

I am Sociopath. Lucky me.

I took this online test and my comments are in green.

Sociopath
You are 85% Rational, 14% Extroverted, 57% Brutal, and 85% Arrogant.
I am not sure how I feel about this test, but thank god it's not necessarily for real.

You are the Sociopath! As a result of your cold, calculating rationality, your introversion (and ability to keep quiet), your brutality, and your arrogance, you would make a very cunning serial killer. You care very little for the feelings of others, possibly because you are not a very emotional person. You are also very calculating and intelligent, making you a perfect criminal mastermind. Also, you are a very arrogant person, tending to see yourself as better than others, providing you a strong ability to perceive others as weak little animals, thus making it easier to kill them. In short, your personality defect is the fact that you could easily be a sociopath, because you are calculating, unemotional, brutal, and arrogant. Please don't kill me for writing mean things about you!

To put it less negatively:
1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive. Probably so.
2. You are more INTROVERTED than extroverted. Duh.
3. You are more BRUTAL than gentle. I sort of disagree here but the test says so down below.
4. You are more ARROGANT than humble. Yeah, well no surprises here.

Compatibility:
Your exact opposite is the Hippie. Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Spiteful Loner, the Smartass, and the Capitalist Pig. Yeah, well we know I'd get along with the Smartass because I am one, dammit.

If you scored near fifty percent for a certain trait (42%-58%), you could very well go either way. For example, someone with 42% Extroversion is slightly leaning towards being an introvert, but is close enough to being an extrovert to be classified that way as well. Below is a list of the other personality types so that you can determine which other possible categories you may fill if you scored near fifty percent for certain traits.

The other personality types: Deleted to save space. Take the test to see 'em.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 70% on Rationality
You scored higher than 12% on Extroversion
You scored higher than 70% on Brutality
You scored higher than 95% on Arrogance

Link: The Personality Defect Test

Seti@Home Goes Boinc

Hello Everybody!

Well, for those who have lost track Seti@Home classic shut down yesterday and is no more. I appreciate those of you who support Seti@Home whether it be with our team or another team.

Team CMOT (renamed Team Orkut) is still there on the Classic pages, but no more data is being accepted or distributed and messages are being sent to any remaining clients that are running. Team Orkut now exists on the new BOINC client and members from our old team are starting to switch over. Best of all, you get to bring your Classic credits with you! I think you'll find the new client friendlier. You can even get the "Classic" graphics to run in screensaver mode but in 3D so it's especially cool. It's also a lot more configurable to your particular hardware and you can even create profiles for home, school, and/or work.

For details, just follow the links from http://www.darsys.com/seti.html to the appropriate page to view our team, join or team, or even join Seti@Home but with someone else's team. Rather than post lots of links here, I figured I'd just show the old Team CMOT home page which has freshly updated links. If you haven't been recently, check it out!

I do want to remind everyone you are more than welcome to join Team Orkut. Please, come over and join us. It's a great cause.

Bush, Bullshit, Grammar, Ads, Used Computers, Sina, and Gorillaz

First, we have Matt Deatherage's blog post about Bush's service record. Originally CBS was accused of forging the documents. Only, well, they weren't forged. I don't want to steal Matt's blogging efforts, so go here to read it. I am never above a shot at Bush either so here's a quick (old) joke before I go on:

GEORGE W. BUSH PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY DESTROYED BY FLOOD
Crawford, Texas (AP) -- A tragic flood this morning destroyed the personal library of President George W. Bush. The flood began in the presidential bathroom where the books were kept. Both books have been lost. A presidential spokesman said the president was devastated, as he had almost finished coloring the second one. The White House tried to call FEMA but there was no answer. (from RHF 12-12-05 Henry Farkas)

Now, on to my next topic. I subscribe to a great weekly e-newsletter called This Is True, and you should too. Randy who runs it is a good guy. He doesn't sell your information or even rent it out. Those of you who may remember and/or have been graced with those cool "Get Out Of Hell" cards I gave out; well I got 'em from Randy. So why do I mention This Is True? Because of this article, one of many in this week's mailing:

TYPE OH: Moon God Drinking Products Co., a skin care company in China, has offered a bounty of 1,000 yuan (US$120) for every typographical or literary error found in a day's editions of four Chinese publications in an attempt to embarrass journalists into better writing. Hao Mingjian, who came up with the idea for the bounty, said that "China's press has lost its polish in the past decade or two," which "reflects a chaotic cultural environment and shows people lack a sense of responsibility." (Reuters) ... Nice try, but journalists can't be embarrassed.

I hate bad grammar, and this really amused the hell out of me. I used to write our local paper about their occasional atrocities, but once they actually argued with me. The Miami Herald, aka the Daily Fishwrapper, isn't populated by the sharpest tools in the shed. It was, after all a headline with a terrible error with an apostrophe. Instead of apologizing, ignoring me, or otherwise moving on, I got a typed(!) letter from the editor in question arguing with me. Yes, it's true. "The Shark's Were Out" indeed. Not. After five years, this made the event pop back in my head.

And, a brief word about Google's AdSense. Yeah, I've put ads up on my blog. This is recent and has been here for a few weeks -- I doubt you've noticed, and judging by the click-throughs nobody else has either. You're not supposed to draw anyone's attention to them either (nor encourage people to click on them). But I want you to look at them for a minute. I find it fascinating, because sometimes some really weird ads come up. I understand why it was running roofing ads (my Wilma post) and sponsorship ads (my Panthers tirade) and even charity ads (my Katrina/Wilma posts), but sometimes I get some really messed-up ads. I think you'll find them amusing sometimes.

Besides posting Google's AdSense ads in the hopes of defraying some of this site's expenses, I have also posted a link where you can just donate right to my webhosting bill. Donations go right to my webhosting account and not to me so no worries about me absconding with whatever pennies you may throw my way. Also, if you sign up for hosting a Dreamhost and give my address out, I will get a small credit towards my bill (or if you e-mail me, I can request the credit.) There were other far more lucrative options available to me for ads, but I didn't want to be intrusive, and I thought this was the best way. Help the sites and blog continue in any way you feel fit.

Speaking of ads, the banner at the bottom is not an ad, but a link to a site I rather enjoy. Yes, I actually own a rap album now. And I really like it. So there. Deal. You might want to go there and listen to some of the songs. Gorillaz' Demon Days is a truly rocking album. I bet nobody I know ever pegged me to deliberately buy a rap album. I'm thinking of buying their first album now. Scary, eh?

Oh, and someone I haven't spoken to since 1984 sent me a holiday card today. I guess he Googled me. I used to work with him at the Used Computer Store when I was attending Berkeley. I can't believe they still have the same logo, but they do. Anyway, his name's Sina Balour and this is a little shout out because he was cool then. I bet he's still cool now. Like I'm an authority on cool. Hah. As if.

UC Berkeley Makes War On Religious Zealots

This article is so beautiful I want to cry. As a card-carrying, lifetime member of the University of California Berkeley Alumni Association, I may have never been so proud of my school.

UC Berkeley has decided that you actually have to meet certain criteria to enter our hallowed institution and some schools seem to object. Please, read the article at http://tinyurl.com/c43tt for the full details. (Berkeley has always had criteria, but they, as one of the best schools in the world actually enforce them.)

Berkeley objected to a science book that said: "The people who have prepared this book have tried consistently to put the Word of God first and science second. If at any point God's Word is not put first, the author apologizes."

Thank god* the UC Berkeley Bears have standards and are willing to stand up for what they require as a proper education. This isn't a discrimination issue. Berkeley has a hard science requirement and there's no reason a student can't take a qualifying class at another school. All schools have any number of requirements for admission and you must meet them all.

* That is so ironic I can't stand it.

Chronicles of Narnia: Lion Witch Wardrobe

This is a retro-post. I put this online 24 December 2005 using the date it was originally sent out.

First, if you've read the book this review will be Spoiler Free. If you haven't read the book you may want to skip this until you've seen the film.

Secondly, I last read this book over 25 years ago. Please keep that in mind.

CON by CS Lewis, as you must know, is highly allegorical in nature. The entire series has deep religious overtones throughout the novel. Separating it out would be simply impossible. Even as a child reading them, it was obvious. The only way to present CON properly would be to embrace the religious overtones. Despite my long standing opinions of religion, I really enjoyed the book and looked forward with anticipation of the film.

The films starts showing how the children came to be in the country estate. Therein is my first qualm. In the novel, the children hide in the wardrobe during a household tour (or so Maury informs me). Tours of large estates were a common way for the gentry to help pay expenses during wartime so this makes sense. However, there is instead a scene with a cricket ball through a window which causes the children to run and hide. That rings false because English children would go right up and apologize and take responsibility, especially in the 1940s -- we won't even mention that there would be no other suspects for same. Hell, even American children were better back in the 1940s. I'm not sure why they changed that -- it was fine as written. Oh well.

As for the film: Peter is the standout of the children. I found little Lucy to be irritating especially her smile which was contrived looking. Susan was boring but adequate. I thought Edmund was broody and moody but lacked any sort of facial ability to convey any emotion he was feeling. These children will not win Oscars for their roles. I think they went more for the "cute kid" than the best actor -- it's a Disney film after all. Peter definitely had the role of the big brother trying to be the man of the house down pat, but Osment he is not.

(Then I had to have an argument with the asshole behind me who spent the entire film so far commentating to his neighbours. I actually stood up, turned around and told him to shut up. It worked. Yay. Of course the adult is the worst behaved one in the theatre. In fact it was over 50% adult-only parties.)

Let me discuss Aslan for a bit. I have never seen a more realistic CGI effort in my life. Having met big cats up close I was floored. It makes what I've seen of Kong in the previews seem amateurish. I am still amazed at how real Aslan looked and felt. Amazing. Then they go and ruin it by using a fur carpet on the altar instead of CGI -- a very obvious change.

My memories of the book are very fuzzy, but what I see on the screen seems pretty faithful. I actually remembered lines and scenes as I saw them. Sort of a deja-vu experience. The fawn Mr. Tumnus was well done. The White Witch was amazingly done though she kept reminding me of Glen Close.

There is an added scene not in the book. Well the scene is there but they changed it to make it "more exciting" (the river scene with the ice). I just wonder why you have to take such a good book and add to it. Especially when you sit there and wonder why they didn't die of hypothermia (of course that reminds me of the Titanic film for the same reason).

As an adult, I was distracted by the religious references but it may have been that I was expecting them having read the book. It's probably me, so I have to say don't be fearful of that. I also find it ironic that this magical world is being embraced by the same religious zealots who damn Harry Potter.

Visually Narnia has come to life. It's amazing and very similar to what I'd picture. The beavers are a riot and I rather enjoyed their banter which I don't recollect being in the book, but I could be wrong. I believe I head that this was also filmed in New Zealand. There are one or two shots which were obviously done with blue-screens and matte backgrounds which I find odd that they'd use in such a big budget film. That is a picked nit, though.

The score is very well done. In that I mean it fits the film very well along with the mood and scenery. At 2h 15m this film felt very, very short. Too short in fact. That's a compliment :)

After the credits start start, STAY. There is a little more movie in the credits along with a bonus song by Alanis Morisette.


-- E

PS: CS Lewis like Tolkien was opposed to a movie version of his works. It hink technological changes have made this a worthwhile endeavour.

I have windows -- Another Hurricane Wilma Update

I no longer have Glad(R) bags as windows! Yes, it's true, my home's windows are now back to being glass. My landscaping is mostly replanted and restored.

The only exterior visible damage is the roof, a section of rain gutter, and the freshly planted landscaping. The roof is no longer in the backyard and has been (im)properly disposed of. My roof is still partially up, I don't really intended to mislead.

Interior damage is "limited" to the following areas:

1. Inside the garage (ceiling collapse due to separation of the roof). The entire ceiling is collapsed.
2. The kitchen drywall is ruined and separated from the wall. This is due to running water inside the walls. Again, coming from the roof. This is because the roof, well, it isn't there. Some patchwork repairs were done by piling tiles over the now rotted-out plywood. It keeps the water from pouring in so fast.
3. The guest bathroom, upstairs AC closet, upstairs hall, and staircase all have severe drywall damage again due to the roof. (See kitchen for boring description).
4. My bedroom has some small damage around the AC duct. This is actually from water running down the ductwork from the leak in #3 -- not due to a roof leak.
5. My closet and shower have lots of mold stains on the ceiling which means there is water up above them that hasn't yet come through.
6. Oh and, of course, the roof.

Still waiting on the insurance company. I can see it's not going well.