Spooky Movies for Halloween

EW has up a list of what they consider to be the spookiest movies. I have to agree with quite a few of their choices. "The Shining" is definitely one of the most scary movies of all time, despite the fact that we hardly ever see anything. And "The Exorcist," whew. Talk about nightmares. I'm glad that they stuck to the truly terrifying stories instead of going for mostly slasher/gore flicks which lack any imagination and aren't terrifying nearly as much as revolting.

In honor of Bath, NY...

My family spends every Thanksgiving up in Bath, NY which is a great place with no lines at the stores on Black Friday. I realize this is probably about another village of Bath somewhere, but it still made me smile.

Bush announces newest SCOTUS nominee

This morning Bush announced that he was nominating Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court position being vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor. Alito is said to be a staunch conservative, much in the mold of Scalia. The left is already getting ready for a fight, so this should be interesting.

Watch for falling prices!

Watch for falling prices!
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Congratulations Papa Rob!

Our occasional poster, Rob is now the happy (if exhausted) father of two twin girls! Congratulations, Rob, from all of your friends here at Mod-Blog!

Sylvester Stalone is my hero...or not

Most of us that enjoy movies have a list - conscious or not - of movies we'd like to see made. For me that list includes some form of The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce (no I'm not a C.S. Lewis fan) as well as a series of novels by Susan Howatch. Two movies that never even came close to entering that list were Rambo IV and Rocky VI, but alas it appears that someone wants them made. My question is why would Stalone - who must be like 90 by now - still want to make these kinds of films? Has his career slipped that far - first a reality program then extending two movie series that were dead a long time ago. I don't know, but I don't suspect I'll be spending money to view these films, except maybe for the pure hilarity of it.

More Proof Crime Doesn't Pay

In a delicious piece of irony it appears that a woman in Oregon will not be allowed to collect lottery winnings she won using a stolen credit card. Given the circumstances I'm not sure the card was actually stolen, but it certainly wasn't hers. I'll tell you, Oregon is just full of nut jobs - or at least so I am told by my wife who was born and raised in Oregon.

Wondering about Iraqi Political Parties?

It ain't gonna be a two party system, that is for sure! But the political parties of the new Iraqi Republic are starting to take shape. Logically, though perhaps unfortunately, are split along religious and ethnic lines. But hopefully, we will see consolidations and power-sharing as the realities of political power come to pass.

Libby Limps Into an Indictment, Rove Walks Away (For Now)

It is being widely reported VP Cheney's aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, has been indicted for perjury and other crimes related to the Valerie Plame affair. Karl Rove has not been indicted, but the prosecutor has warned everyone that he is keeping his options open.

This is about what I expected. Rove is the target the Dems wanted, but the case has always been stronger against Libby. It will be interesting to see how this plays out politically. This is no Monica Lewinsky affair - the president is not involved. But you can be sure that the weekend will be full of Democrats wondering aloud whether the VP can truly be blameless if his top aid is a crook (despite that annoying "innocent until proven guilty" thing).

I want to be clear about this. Libby should now step down until the trial is done (at least) and be persona non grata at the White House. This is a serious thing - potentially a crime by a member of the Executive Branch. But it is hardly the Clintonian armageddon of criminal charges that some opponents of the president were hoping for. I think between this and the ending of the Harriet Miers affair, this will be the beginning of the rebound for the GWB presidency.

Episode 3 Easter Egg

EDIT:

The link was apparently hacked or changed and has been taken down from our site due to inappropriate content. When Nomad returns, he will look into what the original link was and correct this post if he so chooses.

Ward.

Nomad: Thanks to CL for bringing this to my attention and for Ward making a change before I could even get the word. Apologies. I confirmed six ways from Sunday yesterday that this link was working. I am guessing some hacker hijacked it.

The Situation in Iraq

Sullivan's words speak for themselves and I will post them without comment.

We have to resist two temptations, I think. The first is not to absorb the human cost of war. Every dead - and maimed - soldier has a story, a narrative, a family, a life and a soul. Their young deaths - so young in so many cases - are worthy of the deepest mourning; and their service of the deepest respect. I don't think it inappropriate for the news media to show them in full, or to mark an anniversary like the one we just observed. It is an important part of our moral calculus.

But the second temptation is to move the goalposts on this war and to expect the impossible. If someone had told me three years ago that by October 2005, Saddam Hussein's murderous tyranny would be over for ever, that Iraq would have a new constitution that emerged from a democratic process and that it will soon have a democratically elected parliament and government, I would have been thrilled. If I were further told that the inevitably embittered Sunni Arab minority had decided to throw itself into democratic politics to amend the constitution and protect its interests in a future Iraq, I would be amazed by how swiftly democratic habits can take root in a post-totalitarian country. If I had been told that, despite extraordinary provocation from Jihadist and Sunni Arab terrorists, the country had not dissolved into civil war, and that unemployment was dropping, I'd be heartened. If I had also been told that the United States had not suffered another major terror attack since the fall of 2001, I would have refused to believe it. The fact that the administration has made countless, terrible errors in the aftermath of the invasion and miscalculated badly on how the Baathists and Jihadists would fight back, should not distract us from these underlying realities. In 2002, I feared U.S. casualties approaching 10,000 in a brutal, urban war for Baghdad. The enemy gave us a simmering insurgency instead, shrewdly calculating that that was their best defense. They were right in the short term. But that makes it all the more imperative to prove them wrong in the long term. For the sake of the 2,000 who have already died; and the countless, innocent civilian Iraqis who have borne an even greater burden, let's do all we can to make this work.

And it Begins

Miers has barely withdrawn and it's already begun. This, from a reader at DailyDumb:

We need to spin this as Bush not wanting Miers to reveal the coverup on Wilson/Plame, which would have been part of her testimony...They are saying the Senate asked for docs they didn't want to turn over...let's put this and the Fitz story TOGETHER...

Never mind that there is no reason to believe that they have anything to do with each other. It's more important that we use this politically even if it's completely false.

And of course DailyDumb and DU are equally as busy spinning grand conspiracy tales:

I think the timing here is very suspicious... when the indictments come down they will absolutely be the top story. While I don't think this story will get buried, I think it will get a lot less attention than it should!!

I can't help but wonder if those documents the house wanted regarding Miers dealings with the Whitehouse are full of damning info tied to Plamegate, or 911, the stolen election(s)or something?

Yep - this pretty much tells you that the indictments are coming. Throw another big story into the news cycle. I know saw this coming weeks ago.

The joys of living with the "reality-based community."

Some MLB Thoughts

With the end of the baseball season last night, with the White Sox sweeping the Astros, I've been thinking about the happenings in Major League Baseball. I actually have a few concerns about baseball, that will no doubt seem frivolous to Nomad, but I think they're valid at this point in time.

My first concern is all this sweeping. This is at least the second year in a row - forgive me I can't remember the 2003 World Series - that the World Series has ended up with a sweep. And it is the second year that it was an AL team did the sweeping. I'm an AL fan and all, but something tells me that for the world championship of baseball both teams should be pretty equal - at least you'd think. This brings me to the question, are AL teams that much better than NL teams or are the AL teams just having a lot more luck during the Series. I hope that it's the latter and not the former, though in interleague play this year the AL won more games. So perhaps the AL is a little better, but I hope not a lot better.

My second concern surrounds the fact that the Astros had no black players on their roster. It's not that they don't have any black players that concerns me - it's that it concerns other people - high up people. Baseball is ironing itself out in a lot of ways. Many of the players come from Asia or South/Central America because baseball is really big there. In contrast basketball and football are big to black athletes in North America - so it's no wonder their are fewer black players going on to MLB. I'm concerned that these high up people will not see these facts and impose a form of affirmative action in baseball that makes it so every team has to have x% black players. It's not like baseball isn't multicultural - there's just not as many black players to go around, so lets not be rash.

Thirdly and most importantly, the Yankees haven't been to the World Series since 2001. As a Yankee fan, I find this very stressful and saddening. I guess if the Yankees have taught us anything in the last couple of years it's that money really can't buy you happiness - consider that the two biggest trades the Yankees have made in the last three seasons both choked in the playoffs this year - Randy Johnson choked all year.

With baseball done it's only three and a half more months until hope springs again and the Yankees have yet another chance to win the Series.

Miers is Out

This fight is over. Perhaps we'll get a more distinguished candidate on the second try.

Brittany Spears is a Genius!

Stop laughing! I'm serious here. Consider this...

Muse and I were at a Nickel Creek concert this past weekend and halfway through their show they start talking about a cover they're going to perform. They say it's something they've been listening to and are finally "ready to perform." What do they start to play? Nothing less than "Toxic." I mean, come on. It's a Bluegrass band performing Brittany Spears music. We've already had a punk version of "Hit me One More Time..." She's a genius. She'll be remembered in song for generations to come. Personally, I can't wait for the Riverdance interpretation of "Crazy." But maybe that's just me. It seems that this has amazing potential for Spears to lift her desiccated music career, she can simply sell the rights to all of her songs and let other bands perform them for her. Never mind that Nickel Creek performed the song a billion times better than Brittany ever did, at least her name will be remembered. And in "the biz," that's what is most important anyway, right?

Muppets Returning to TV

According to Variety, everyones favorite thespian (or was that amphibian) may be returning to TV: Kermit the Frog. Apparently, the new Muppet Show will be a parody of the current reality TV show craze. Called "America's Next Muppet" it will involve a series of new puppets vying for a chance to join the Hensonian pantheon.

It is an interesting idea. Not sure if it can work, but frankly any chance to bring the Muppets back to the boob tube is a good thing to me!

The problem with Dilbert...

...is first you laugh because you see yourself. Then you cry because you see that it is your life with little to no exaggeration.

A Sad Day in New York

New York has lost and icon. No, not a major building or political leader, but a great man who has had an effect on New York Sports since 1930. Wellington Mara the Owner of the New York Giants (Football) died today. Mr. Mara had owned the Giants since his Father game them to he and his brother in 1930. Wellington Mara was perhaps the most respected owner in professional football and always was a voice of reason. I am a Jets fan, but will miss Mr. Marra very much.

It's Official: Iraq Says YES On Constitution

It was not flawless, but the Constitution passed and will become law of the land. Will it begin draining Sunnis from the insurgency or will it drive more Sunnis into the arms of Al Qaeda? Chances are, the answer is YES. The difference will be which is dominant in the long-term.

RIP Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks died yesterday at the age of 92. If only the liberals of today would learn from her example and find simple and effective ways to protest policies that they disagree with.

Breaking the 2.50 barrier

Breaking the 2.50 barrier
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

What is "Cricket" Anyway?

At work, I have a number of coworkers who hail from former british colonies who are fanatical devotees of the game of cricket. For an American, it has been hard to avoid vacant looks and confused stares when they tried to explain the rules of the game to me. It is sort of like baseball, but not really at all like baseball. Anyway, I thought our readers might like to check out this article in Wikipedia which does the best job yet of trying to explain Britai's official sport to a Yank like me.

Anne Rice turns toward the light?

I am not a fan of Anne Rice, and the only derivative works of hers I have seen is the movie "Interview with the Vampire" via NetFlix. But she is well known as a "Queen of the Night" for her books involving the occult and darker themes of vampires and demons. Well, this story claims that she has returned to God and her Roman Catholic roots and now serves to use her writing "only for God."

I hope this is a true conversion, but I can not help being somewhat skeptical. Her next work is a historical fiction where Jesus (a pre-teen Christ, apparently) is the main character. This "conversion" would well be a marketting ploy to generate buzz. Here is hoping even if it is, it brings Ms. Rice away from the darkness and into the light.

I miss Calvin and Hobbes

Do you miss Calvin and Hobbes as much as I do?

Well, apparently, Bill Watterson is not planning on coming back any time soon. I do not begrudge him his freedom - if only I can one day have enough cash to pursue my own dreams instead of working from sun to sun - but I do miss the wise tiger and the powerful imagination of a little kid. The new guys out there are funny, but just not the same.

Still dropping!

Still dropping!
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Rematch: Archimedes Death Ray

A week or so back, we linked to reports of MIT trying to outdo the Mythbusters by "proving" that the story of Archimedes death ray (i.e. Archimedes using a giant mirror to fry Roman ships with sunlight) was possible. Well, the Mythbusters decided that perhaps MIT was getting a little big for its britches, and invited the team to try and do their trick again on an actual fishing boat (i.e. as opposed to a small model the MIT team had used originally). Well, apparently under "real-world conditions" they couldn't replicate their success. And apparently this was on a sunny, clear day in San Francisco... should have been ideal conditions.

Is There Any Wonder That They're Bankrupt?

I was shocked to find out this week that Muse's boss, upon purchasing airline tickets with her husband for an upcoming trip to Germany, was told that they would need to report to the airport not one hour, not two hours, not even three hours, but FOUR HOURS before their flight was scheduled to leave in order to ensure their arrival through check-in and security in time for their flight. Now is it just me, or is it no wonder that the airlines aren't doing so well?

I still find the two hour request to be absurd for overseas flights. It means you get through and sit for another hour (at least)to get on the plane and then another half an hour after your seated. But to expect someone to come to the airport four hours early...It's absurd. Even worse, the airport requested that for domestic flights, passengers were now expected to show up two hours early.

Consider the implications of this. Muse and I flew to New Orleans because the church paid for the tickets. But how much was saved by taking the flight? We were told to arrive two hours early (we ignored that suggestion.) But say we had gone along with it. We arrive at LEX two hours before we are scheduled to take off. It takes half an hour to get there. We wait two hours, get on the plane and wait another half an hour. We fly to Memphis in two hours and wait for two hours before re-boarding another plane. We wait another half an hour before taking off and spend another two hours in the air. Finally, we arrive in New Orleans. That's nine and a half hours. We could have driven it in about sixteen hours and spent a whole lot less than the $600 tickets (A cut-rate bought from Travelocity.)

Now some might consider the ease of not having to drive worth it. Others might decide that it's enough time saved that the money is worth it. And this is debatable. That's why I started with this example. Consider another.

I could drive from Kentucky to Delaware in about ten and a half hours. But that's a bit much to do on my own, so we paid to have me fly a handful of times early on in my Seminary career. Again, I was instructed to arrive at the airport at least an hour and a half (preferably two hours) ahead of my flight departure. So I take the half an hour to the airport, wait two hours, wait another half an hour, and take off. We fly for forty-five minutes to Cincinnati. Wait for a two hour layover, wait another half an hour to take off, fly for two and a half hours and arrive at BWI. Then I have to drive an hour and a half home. That's more or less eleven hours. And it costs $250ish. I couldn't have possibly spent that much money on gas on the trip, even if gas prices tripled. I could have stopped in the middle and rented a hotel room for the night, and still spent less.

So if you're still with me by this point, you might be grumbling at all the math. But think about it. It is, daily, becoming increasingly impractical to fly. Unless you have too great a distance, or too much water between you and your destination, flying is becoming so over-priced and long that it's no wonder that the airlines are all going broke. Now some will find these issues to not be deal breakers. But increasingly for me, I can't see much sense in flying to anywhere that I can arrive at by other means. I think based on the economic condition of the industry, that more people agree with me than not.

Fayology comes to the Web

Time for yet another Friend's Blog post. This one is by one of my dearest friends, whom my family considers to be as much family as anyone without any genetic connections can be (and we are exploring minor genetic engineering to correct that problem, too). He is a professor of New Testament Greek on his way to being a PhD, so you should know what kind of posts to generally expect. Welcome, to the BlogSphere, Bro!

Interactive Bedding

Am I the only one who thinks the idea of interactive sheets and bedding is just begging for abuse? Either in the sense of (1) covering a kids room with the equivilent of those musical Christmas cards that won't shut up, or (2) well... never mind... I imagine you know where I was going with that, and there is no need to explain on a family-oriented blog like this one.

Oh Brother...You have been a Bad, Bad Boy

The United Nations has linked the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to the brother of the current Syrian President. I guess this is just more evidence that Syria has little interest in fostering freedom.

Internet Experiencing Back Problems?

Regular readers know that I suffer from chronic back issues, and had surgery last year for a herniated disk. What they may NOT know is that apparently the internet had similar problems last night. Two of the major companies who route all traffic for the internet have gone down, due to a botched software upgrade. Of course, one must also wonder if it might be related to the EU threats to take down the internet over who owns/controls it.

Here's hoping all of our regular readers are back up, if you lost connections last night.

vPod Dissection

If you have a strong stomach, check out this more-than-indepth review where some techies actually dissect one the new iPod Video units and then put it back together.

Don't be afraid if this takes a while to load. It is recieving heavy load from many, many interested readers right now. Chances are things will calm down later tonight. It *will* load, however, if you give it a couple of minutes even now.

Lookin Good :)

I don't really care for Tom DeLay, but I do like one thing about him. He actually smiled and was dressed ready for his mug shot. It would seem to me that anyone who knew they were going to have a mug shot taken, might actually think to smile. But I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually do it before. So "Good job" Mr. Delay. Whether or not he is found guilty is up to a jury, not me.

Proof that Sports Fanatics Are Weirder than Religious Fanatics

How do you even comment on this?

The lawyers reached a plea agreement Tuesday for a 30-year term for a man accused of shooting with an intent to kill and robbery. But Eric James Torpy wanted his prison term to match Bird's jersey number 33.
"He said if he was going to go down, he was going to go down in Larry Bird's jersey," Oklahoma County District Judge Ray Elliott said Wednesday. "We accommodated his request and he was just as happy as he could be.

Too bad he was not a fan of someone with the number 99 on their jersey.

Survey: Bosses say stay home when sick, Reality says not so much

This article over at CNN indicates a new survey shows employers are encouraging sick employees to stay home, rather than spread the flu around the office. Personally, I can't help wondering what office they surveyed. Everyone I know, when an illness hits, is given a hard time if they spend more than a single day out of the office. Or some may be pressured to stay home BUT "Can't you dial in and work from home instead?" The ideal of the telecommuter is not what we expected. It is not having a chance to work from home to balance work and home life. It is a way to squeeze hours out of you, even when you are too sick to drag yourself out of bed, or safely operate a motor vehicle.

But then, everyone knows I am at the end of a LONG project, so I might just be jaded.

Pro-Mac Media Bias?

This article from PC Magazine makes me guffaw. Essentially, the argument is that every technology writer, editor, and decision maker is a Mac user - an exclusively Mac user - so all coverage of computers is biased towards Apple. And the article is phrased as an accusation, as though it were the HEIGHT of irresponsibility for the tech press to be in this state of affairs.

Apparently, this writer was not paying attention in the 1990s when every third news story was "Apple to declare bankruptcy" or "Apple Computer is doomed." At that time, every story about Apple was negative, every tech writer bragged about his advanced 486 system, and every release of Windows 9x was greeted at the final nail in Apple's coffin. If tech writers are now 90% Mac users, it is because Apple fought back from nothing to the current status quo. And very few of those tech writers worth their salt are likely to have no memories of the 90s when Apple was the whipping dog.

This is not to say there may not be a media bia toward Apple, in the same way there is a media bias towards BMWs and Hybrid vehicles - they are the cool thing right now. But I doubt it has to do with some unfair balance of useage in the newsroom.

RWN on Miers

Nomad and I disagree on how important the issue of the Miers nomination is. And this is a big blog with plenty of room for differences. But I present this flyer as evidence of how important this nomination is to the conservative movement. It might not greatly affect some of those who will simply vote Republican no matter what, but this is no small deal. The fact that Miers has already been so completely linked with Souter by conservatives all across the spectrum bodes ill for how this President will be remembered. And it will greatly affect who receives the next nod for the party as well. Keep in mind that Right Wing News is one of the most consistently conservative and pro-Bush sites on the web. Hawkins is no libertarian either, he's a hard-core conservative in every measurable way.

One more for Sean

Price check!

Price check!
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

I guess Steve Jobs was telling the Truth...Sort Of

I was one person who recently bought at 60GB iPod after reading a quote from Steve Jobs that said that he didn't think that the market was ready for a portable personal video player like a video iPod. Well then Apple about 2 weeks later released their Video iPod. Well in a Time Magazine interview he shed light on his opinion.

"There is no market today for portable video," he says. "We're going to sell millions of these to people who want to play their music, and video is going to come along for the ride. Anyone who wants to put out video content will put it out for this. And we'll find out what happens."

If this is really his true opinion then I guess he was telling the truth earlier.

The Numbers

Well, despite the Democrat's gleeful predictions about a civil war within the Republican party, the poll numbers seem to show that their dream will have to wait.

Bush's base appeared to remain largely supportive, with 62 percent of respondents who described themselves as conservative approving of his performance, down from 68 percent last month.

Support from moderates fell from 40 percent to 32 percent, and remained about the same for liberals, rising from 14 percent to 17 percent.

And the GOP faithful remained overwhelmingly steadfast in their support, with 84 percent voicing approval, versus 85 percent in last month's poll.

That was not the case among those who identified themselves as Democrats, whose support for Bush dropped from 15 percent to 8 percent.

There are plenty of negatives to be concerned about for a Republican after reading this poll, but the party seems pretty unified still. Somehow though, I doubt we will cease seeing reports across the MSM and the blogsphere about the impending demise of the conservative movement.

Nintendo DS + McD's = Free WiFi

According to this article, Ninentdo and McDonalds have entered into an agreement to provide FREE WiFi access to Nintendo DS users at their restaurants.

The Wayport deal will make playing DS games online at McDonald's a relative breeze, according to Nintendo. When users want to play an online DS game at a Wayport-equipped McDonald's, they simply launch the title in Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection mode and they're good to go. There is no further setup required and no fees whatsoever.
Nintendo will release more detailed information about participating McDonald's locations at www.NintendoWiFi.com.

I have made no secret of my disappointment in the Ninentdo DS - basically a chunky GBA SP with an extra screen that games barely use. But this may make carrying around the monster slightly more palatable.

Eh, who am I kidding? I'll just bring along my PSP instead. It is more fun offline than the DS has been online.

This One Is For Sean

What is your position on Wookie immigration?

Peter Mayhew - most famous for playing Chewbacca on Star Wars - is becoming a naturalized American citizen. It is not exactly big news, but it gives lots of excuses for "illegal alien" jokes!

This One's for the Ladies

Iraqi Constitution - Early Counts Say YES

Despite heavy threats from terrorists and a call for a Sunni boycott, it appears that Iraqi Constituion got a passing vote by all but two provinces in Iraq. Of course, this is in a nation without much in the way of electronic or automated voting, so it will be some time until the final tally is in. But it required three provinces to reject the Constituion by 2/3 majorities in order to stop it from becoming the law o the land. And it appears even in the provinces where it was defeated, that the 2/3 may not be reached.

This is a good sign for the Bush administration, who had pegged most of its exit strategy on a Constitution before January. It still remains to be seen if a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" cuts down on the violence. But it seems likely. And perhaps more important, it seems like that this will signal to reformers in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere that democracy can work in an Islamic nation.

Is this the beginning of a Middle Eastern revolution?

What about the main iPod Video competitor?

If you - like me - have been tempted by the new iPod Video model, then you will probably want to check out this review from ArsDesign on the Creative Zen Vision (main competitor for the vPod), which is in-depth and quite useful.

The short version? Pros: 4 inch screen (versus 2.5 iPod), plays DIVX/XVID and almost any other video format, good UI, long (3 to 4 hour) battery life for videos. Cons: Screen only useful when looked STRAIGHT on, Files must be converted using custom software, Mac support unclear.

More and more, it appears even the best-of-breed of the non-iPods are not stacking up.

A New Strategy to Become President

How can a Third Party candidate win become president? Webster Brooks III of Connecticut has his own idea. His Strategy is called "The Electoral College Deadlock". Under this strategy, a Centrist candidate tries to win 35 electoral votes, thus keeping either major party candidate from getting the 270 electoral votes that are necessary to win the Presidency. This would throw the election into congress where Centrist congressmen would rule the debate.

This is an interesting strategy even if I think it can't win with a lesser know candidate at the helm.

Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard

Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

CRChair took us to a Knicks and Nets game tonight at the local sports

arena. The most fun part of the night (so far) was watching the

10-year-old compete to "touch" the players as they ran onto the court.

Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard

Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

CRChair took us to a Knicks and Nets game tonight at the local sports

arena. The most fun part of the night (so far) was watching the

10-year-old compete to "touch" the players as they ran onto the court.

Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard

Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

CRChair took us to a Knicks and Nets game tonight at the local sports

arena. The most fun part of the night (so far) was watching the

10-year-old compete to "touch" the players as they ran onto the court.

Iraqi Constitution Vote - Sunnis Come Out in Droves!

The Iraqi insurgency had one goal regarding the new Iraqi Constitution - keep Sunnis away from the polls and thereby make the process illegitimate. They even bombed the office of one Sunny party that was encouraging its followers to vote. But it appears their worst fears may have been realized. Iraqis came out to a 66% voter turnout, and the Sunnis came out in even larger numbers.

Sunni Arabs voted in surprisingly high numbers on Iraq's new constitution Saturday, many of them hoping to defeat it in an intense competition with Shiites and Kurds over the shape of the nation's young democracy after decades of dictatorship. With little violence, turnout was more than 66 percent in the three most crucial provinces.
The constitution still seemed likely to pass, as expected. But the higher-than-forecast Sunni turnout made it possible the vote would be close - or even go the other way - and cast doubt on U.S. hopes that the charter would succeed in luring Sunnis away from the insurgency.

For comparison, the 2004 election - U.S. election with the largest turnout in decades - has a 60% voter turnout here.

NBA Player Dies

Atlanta Hawks player Jason Collier died suddenly yesterday. Although the cause of death is not certain at this point it is thought to be cardiac arrest. It seems that professional athletes are dying each year now while in their prime. This is a sad day for his family and the Hawks organization. We shouldn't be surpised that these athletes who are around 7 feet tall or over 300 pounds are having major health issues.

Why Miers?

I haven't quite figured the decision out just yet. On the surface at least, it gives the Democrats the chance to look civil and bipartisan because they can support someone who the right doesn't care for, and yet was nominated by a Republican President. The right is tearing itself apart at the moment over Miers. Many Christian Conservatives seem to be willing to give Bush a pass on Miers since we've been assured that she's a good conservative Christian. How that became a standard for the Supreme Court is beyond me, but it's no more disingenuous than the Democrats insistence that religious belief should negate someone from the right to a position.

But the non-Christian right (and I don't mean those who aren't Christians, but those who define themselves as rightist predominantly for other reasons) is up in arms and believes that this is simply the last sell-out of a fake conservative President. Just read Ann Coulter to find the general line being argued by many conservatives. These conservatives argue that Miers is a slap in the face to true conservative doctrine because it appears that she got the job for one of two unacceptable reasons. 1)She's being rewarded for her support of the President. I don't have a problem with rewarding those who are loyal to you, but the SCOTUS seems like a wee bit of a high honor for someone who might not be entirely qualified. 2)To fill a quota. They said the nominee would be either a female or minority. That's not a bad idea. There are a lot of qualified women and minorities that could sit on the bench. We need a SCOTUS that is representative of our land. But one has to wonder if Miers is really the most qualified. Frankly, she doesn't seem to be. Her career is not distinguished, particularly compared to some of the other candidates that were up for consideration.

I believe that Roberts was a solid choice, although I was disappointed that he was nominated for the head position. The President should have continued with plans to have Roberts fill O'Conner's seat, replacing a moderate with a conservative. Then he could have placed a second conservative on the court. Instead, he gave the Democrats the easy way out both times. One does have to wonder what is going on at the White House.

Has the President simply decided that he owes the base no more nods and has decided instead to work on his "legacy," trying to end as a moderate? Or does he know something that we don't? Does he know that Miers will sit on the SCOTUS as a rock-hard conservative? Or does he know that some other member of the court is going to retire soon? Could he be putting a middle ground candidate up in preparation for a much more conservative candidate if another judge retires? We certainly don't know. And that's become the unfortunate hallmark of this administration, that we tend to not know what is coming around the corner, and we're continually told "Trust me." But how many times can you reasonably be asked to trust a politician?

iTunes 6 Supports MP4 but not DIVX/XVID

I hate to admit it, but the new video iPod has been tempting me somewhat. However, I have ripped a large number of my (legally purchased and still owned) DVDs to DIVX for use with a few DIVX players that I bought earlier in the year. The vPod is not much use to me if I can not play videos, so I was curious to see what it might handle. Its specs say that it will handle MP4 video, but DIVX (what I use to rip DVDs) and XVID (what most online downloads of movies are from) are both versions of MP4 video with slight tweaks for their own codecs. When most DIVX plays *SAY* MP4, they mean DIVX and XVID. (The one I bought this year actually will not play .MP4 files, though it is happy with .AVI files.)

Anyway, so I did a little experimentation with iTunes 6, which is the gateway into the new vPod. I assume if iTunes will play it, then the vPod will similarly play. What my experimentation shows is... MP4 files - GOOD. DIVX or XVID - BAD. So apparently if I want to use a vPod, I would have to rerip my entire collection to MP4 (doable with HandBrake, the software I use) or convert it from DIVX to MP4 (doable with QuickTime Pro, but slower than doing a rip). Considering it takes about a half day to rip a DVD, and a full day to convert DIVX to MP4, this would be a HUGE investment of time.

I thought our readers might find this info useful.

There's no good title for this

Remember way back in 1994 when the whole Nancy Kerrigan, Tanya Harding I'm-gonna-beat-you-with-a-crow-bar thing happened? We all thought it was pathetic, and some of us probably felt for Kerrigan. But once all that passed, we soon forgot about it - until of course Harding showed up for celebrity boxing - yet another pathetic act. Well now some industrious writer has turned the whole crazy mess into an opera...yes that's right an opera. Now don't get me wrong I like opera as much as the next guy - well, maybe more than the next guy - but this has got to be the most odd, stupid, strange, incredibly twisted idea for an opera I have ever heard - and I've heard a good number of them. This is so pathetic that it is truly funny.

MIT: Archimedes Proves the Romans Needed Fire Sprinklers

One of my favorite shows these days is Mythbusters, where two special effects guys try to test out urban legends. Last year, they tested a historical tale from the Roman era that said Archimedes - the Greek philosopher - created a large magnifying mirror and managed to ignite Roman warships coming into port with the power of the sun. The Mythbusters tried it and "busted" the myth, by proving themselves incapable of even getting a model ship warm with an array of mirrors under the San Francisco sun.

Well, some students/profs at MIT decided to try it for themselves and claim to have proven it feasible! With a huge number of reflective tiles, they managed to ignite a ship of their own... after quite a bit of work. Not sure the Romans would have been as patient as MIT's model, but it an experiment worth reading about.

Eight Isn't Enough

So you think you have a large family? Well, a family in Arkansas has had their 16th child and plans to have more if God allows it. They only have 2 sets of twins, so their Mom has had a lot of labor pains.

We used to joke with our old Youth Pastor that he was trying to field his own basketball team. (Which he has now successfully done since he has at least 10 children.) But I can't imagine administrating 16 children in a household.

Price check on aisle 6

Price check on aisle 6
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Apple proves it is nothing if not cruel

I know a large number of people who were holding off buying the next generation of iPod, because of the rumors of a video iPod. They wanted the ability to bring movies with them on the go, and would rather NOT spend the cash on a separate (and less cool) PVP (personal video player) when they already knew they'd have an iPod along. Apple execs formally pooh-poohed the idea, saying that there was no demand for video and no infrastructure to support delivery of content for such a device. "There is no chance for a video iPod this year," they claimed.

Well, surprise, surprise, surprise. Today they revealed an iPod that plays videos. To date, there appears to be no indication of true movies in your pocket. But music videos apparently are already for sale. Sigh. I am pretty sure my friends will not be happy that they decided to invest on Apple's word, just before Apple proved themselves to be liars. (And please do not tell me that their policy of "not commenting on forthcoming products" is a shield. They knew exactly what they were doing.)

Then again... Maybe not...

After yesterday's speculation about a Gore '08 run, the "inventor of the internet" responded quickly with about as definite a response as could be expected of a lifelong policitican.

"I have absolutely no plans and no expectations of ever being a candidate again," said Gore, who lost the 2000 election to President Bush...."I don't completely rule out some future interest..."

If this is the case, then yesterday's article and today's sudden speculation about a John Kerry re-run probably indicate the terror of some within the Democratic party of a Hillary Clinton run in 2008.

How to Elect GWB to a Third Term in One Easy Step

Okay, the title is an exaggeration, since there would be the little matter of a Constitutional Ammendment. But still, the surest way to ensure a GOP victory in 2008 would be to run Albert Gore for the White House again.

Our source--a top aide in the previous Bush administration--is planning meetings with Gore's team to push an early entry while Clinton runs for re-election in New York. It doesn't end there: The Gorebots want him to pick Sen. Barack Obama, the youthful Illinois African-American, as his No. 2.

This would be wonderful fodder for SNL writers, especially those who wrote the wonderful "lockbox" skits of 2000. But it would hardly be the way to run a successful candidate. Why not Obama for the #1 spot instead?

Smurfs Bombed by UNICEF?

I can't decide if this is insulting or the funniest thing I have read in many weeks. Apparently, UNICEF has begun a series of anti-war commercials starring the Smurfs!

The video is peacefully introduced by birds, butterflies and happy Smurfs playing and singing their theme song when suddenly out of the sky, bombs rain down onto their forest village, scattering Papa Smurf and the rest as their houses are set ablaze.
The bombs kill Smurfette leaving Baby Smurf orphaned and crying at the edge of a crater in the last scene of the video and finishing of with the text "don't let war destroy the children's world."

What is next? Advertising for "Doctors without Borders" by nuking the Care Bears. Then again, if they were to eliminate Barney, that would make a lot of people VERY happy.

Gromit Howls for the Lost

What was supposed to be a joyous day turned into a sad day for the people at Aardman Animations in Britain. This is the company that makes the Wallace & Gromit movie and shorts and made Chicken Run. Their storage Warehouse had a fire and burned down yesterday. Although nothing from the new movie is feared to be lost, most of the old sets and props from the original Wallace & Gromit shorts and Chicken Run were destroyed.

Nick Park, the Creator of Wallace and Gromit put it all in perspective though saying "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn't a big deal." The other tragedies he is talking about is the Earthquake in Asia.

Nomad's Review: Serenity

Ward and Muse got the drop on me by seeing Serenity a week (and a day) earlier than I did, even though I was the one who introduced them to Firefly (the TV show the movie is based upon). For this, there will undoutedly be repercussions in the unspecified future. [Insert evi laughter here.] But now that I have had a chance to see the film I can fully understand how Ward loved it, and how Muse had a very hard time with it. Quite simply, it is a film which refuses to be predictable or to be either a round or square peg, in a Hollywood which only permits one or the other.

For those who have not read any of the reviews, the basic plot is... well... not entirely basic. Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds captains a rickety cargo ship (the eponymous Serenity) on the edge of civilized space, which is literally falling apart. A veteran of a civil war that he lost, he has collected around him a group of supporting characters desperately in need of family, direction, and protection. His only goal in life is to survive and enjoy the freedom between the stars, but he is constantly hunted because of two fugitives that he took in about 8 months before. What ensues is certainly NOT hilarity, though there is a good deal of good humor in it.

The film flits between Western, Science Fiction, Zombie Flick, Political Thriller, Drama, Comedy, and Kung Fu short film without ever settling upon and of them. And unlike a Quentin Tarranino film which takes genres and nails them into the ground, this one transcends all of them. It does that which few films will do these days - it tells a story, with characters, and allows each one to shine. But it also demands real consequences from violence and evil, even when it violates characters we have come to know and love. This is the genius of Firefly/Serenity. It is also the curse. It is why Ward loved it, and Muse "hated" it.

Who should see Serenity? If you saw the TV show and liked it, see this film. If you are tired of Star Trek cliches, see this film. If you enjoy a good yarn and good characterization, see this film. If you are looking for a smooth popcorn film where good vanquishes evil, and in the end the hero steps unscathed out the smoke and fog and gets the girl, do not bother to see this film.

That being said, here is hoping for a sequel!

Not bad, but it should be better!

Not bad, but it should be better!
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Clay Rules!!!!!!!

Once again the public shows the film industry that if you make a movie that is rated "G" then we will support it. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was the number 1 movie at the box office this weekend. I hope that film studios will take notice.

Another Need for Prayer

In this past 365 days we have seen disasters from Tsunami, Hurricane, and more. Now we can add Earthquake to the list of large-scale disasters.

As many as 18,000 people were reported dead and thousands feared trapped in debris after a powerful earthquake struck northern Pakistan on Saturday, entombing hundreds of children in their schools, collapsing a high-rise apartment building in the Pakistani capital and devastating an untold number of villages.
The 7.6-magnitude quake struck just after 8:50 a.m. Saturday in the disputed territory of Kashmir. The epicenter was in a mountainous region about 60 miles northeast of Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The toll rose sharply today as rescuers struggled to dig people from the wreckage, their work made more difficult as rain and hail turned dirt and debris into sticky muck.

Here's hoping we don't have to add Volcano to the list before the end of the year!

Deep Thoughts With the Stars

Considering how stupid a lot of stars act on a regular basis, I can't believe I haven't thought of this before. I had thought about awarding a Tool for this, but it's more pedestrian than most Tool Award winners. So I'm proud to establish another semi-regular award here at Mod-Blog: Deep Thoughts With the Stars.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sheryl Crow, she is a popular musician in the somewhat-folksy faux-emo rock scene who was one of the major sponsors of the Lilith Fair. She used to be most famous, outside of music, for her statement that all the "bad" we were doing in Iraq would result in "bad karma" coming back on us. Right. More recently, she has become well known for her engagement to Lance Armstrong. She is also well known as a has-been.

Having heard her newest song on the radio, I was shocked at the depth of her philosophical insight when she sings, "Good is good and bad is bad. But you don't know which you have." Hmmm...Yes. Never mind that this reminded me of a particularly funny moment in Thumb Wars. Let's take this profound statement and consider.

What she's saying is that Good is good. Are you still with me? A bit lost? Well, I'll explain. What she's saying is that good is good. Got it now? Okay. Next she says, bad is bad. Now, I'm not going to take the time to re-explain it again, just read the fifth sentence in this paragraph but insert "bad" where it currently reads "good." Then you'll get it. And finally, you don't know which one you have. Well if good is good, and bad is bad (a truly deep philosophical statement and a very bold statement in our post-modern world,) then there must be something more here. What is it? Only Sheryl knows. But one thing is for sure. Bad is bad, and so is pretty much every song she's released in the past four years. Maybe she should go back to political commentary.

You Kids Don't Know How to Have Fun Anymore

Sometimes you gotta laugh

For those who may NOT be aware, Mod-Blog is no foe of President George W. Bush. But this joke is still hilarious. If you are a Conservative fan of Bush, feel free to plug in President Clinton in for Bush, and William Cohen for Rumsfeld.

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the President his daily briefing on Iraq.

He concludes by saying: “Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed.”

“OH NO!” the President exclaims. “That’s terrible!”

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.

Finally, President looks up and asks, “How many is a brazillion?”

Here is one of the many sites that also have it.

Hockey is Back!!!

I know most people in the USA don't care, but I am happy that the NHL is back in action. I have watched parts of games the last two nights and have enjoyed it very much. I think the new rules changes are working well and the broadcast on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) was good. Of course, it also helps that my beloved Rangers have started out with a win and a tie.

Precious Perspective

I was reading this story earlier today, and it combined with memories of Hurricane Katrina and Rita, and my mind started to swirl. Then I was reminded of an important word from Jesus Christ.

4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Matthew 24:4-7

Humans are so used to defining "normal" as "nothing going on", that we forget that storm, war, and disaster are not very rare events on the human scene. They are all result of the Fall. We just think they are rare, because they tend to hit only one population at a time. A global news media brings every one to our doorstep now, and we need to remember this does not mean there are more of them. Just that we know more. And therefore should do more to help those in need.

Beauty and Crazy Having a Baby

I guess true love has a chance...of having children out of wedlock. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are now expecting their first child together. I hope the child brings them plenty of joy. I guess Scientology doesn't teach effective ways of birth control.

A Report from Bowhunter

Our friend Bowhunter has something to announce, "I accomplished something yesterday that I have been attempting to do for 4 years. No, I didn’t travel back in time to stop George Lucas from digitally altering A New Hope. What I did was successfully harvested my first deer from Connecticut. Some of you might remember my last article about how hard it was to obtain a license to hunt deer with a bow in CT. Here is to perseverance."

"After a deer is harvested it must be taken to the meat processor. I have taken this happy trip many times back in Indiana and what a sweet ride it was as all of the locals would honk and wave a congrats as they saw the antlers sticking out of the back of the tailgate. This time was very different. As I drove through town with a deer in the back of my truck, I did get some looks, but not happy or congratulatory ones. There was one lady stopped behind me in a brand new hybrid. She was so appalled at the sight that she shaded her eyes with her hands.
It surprises me that we can watch the nightly news and see countless human deaths due to war or crime. We can enjoy violent movies by the stack and let our children play violent video games. Yet when it comes to seeing a humanely-killed deer, the hands come up. People here on the East Coast need to do two things. Number one is practice what they preach about tolerating my sport of choice. The second thing they need to do is to realize get educated about how beneficial deer hunting is to the community.
Here in CT, deer are overpopulated, because of the lack of wolves and coyotes that would normally keep the deer herds under control. Deer have adapted to living with humans where their predators have not. Do not make the mistake that the mass amounts overpopulated deer is a good thing. They are a danger to themselves and to us! We see the impact on humans in the amount of deer we see laying on the side of the highway after having crashed through the windshield of some unlucky driver. We see their peril in chronic wasting disease. CWD is the deer version of mad cow disease. It is transmitted through saliva contact, which is common among a mass heard with few resources."

Mod-Blog does not endorse hunting, per se, but neither do we have a problem with it. My father's family were all humane hunters. I don't choose to shoot anything - except when the shooting is with a digital camera - but I see that there is a place in this world for a sport that is properly regulated and practiced by responsible sportsmen (and women).

New Haven Offers ID Cards for Illegal Immigrants

New Haven, Connecticut has decided to offer ID cards to Illegal Immigrants. Mayor John DeStefano Jr who is running for the Democratic nomination for Governor is the man behind this shift in policy.

I guess Mayor DeStefano thinks that there should be no immigration rules as he believes that this policy shift will help illegal immigrants to get bank accounts and even access government programs.

I hope this becomes a major issue in the race for Governor.

Will we ever see cheap gas again?

Will we ever see cheap gas again?
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Bush Nominates 2nd for Supreme Court

President Bush today nominated Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court. She is a long time friend of the President and has worked for him since his days in Texas. She currently serves as the White House Counsel. She seems like a good person, but since she has never served as a judge, it is hard to know exactly what she will do on the court.

Muse's Review: Serenity

Disclaimer: I have never seen any of Whedon's television shows, except Firefly.

I didn't actually hate the movie, I was just really, really, strongly-emotioned after it was over. And as Ward can tell you, I continued to strongly emote for some time following the movie. I missed Firefly's theme song, and felt that there really wasn't one particular theme song for this movie. But I admit that I prefer to watch movies more than once in order to get the fullest experience possible. Perhaps next time, I'll focus more on the musical overatures, if there really are any. I also really missed the use of the Chinese language and culture in this movie. The Chinese language, while I cannot understand what they are really saying just adds another dimension to Firefly, and Serenity just barely had a few of such phrases. I also thought that each character was stripped down, so the new viewers really missed out, whereas the Firefly fans already "knew" some of the real depth that each character really had tapped into during the short 13 episodes of the show. I think this is especially true of Jayne. He had come so far in the television show, but he seemed almost an insolent little boy in the movie. Simon kept waffling between trying to be Neo-like in stance, to Tyler Durden, to regular old Simon. 'Nara looked pretty, and was still smart, but she didn't seem to do much more than look helpless and pretty.. this isn't how she left Firefly, was it? Kaylee: still some funny lines, still after the same guy, but didn't do much else. Mal was still very brooding and moody, but again, lacked a lot of the depth he had gained in the show.

I don't want to spoil anything. But during the action-packed buildup to "that we will not speak of" I actually threw up my hands and sunk low in my theater chair. I felt that all hope was lost, that Whedon had given up, and decided that only he could shred and destroy all that he had created in Firefly. And I guess that it is his choice to make.

I'll watch the movie again, but hopefully next time I'll find more merit in it.

Posted Without Further Comment II

Posted Without Further Comment