the resident alian
Main Journal Gallery Wedding Concerts Bands Friends HHGG Tech Web Disclaimer Search Contact

Journal Dec 2006

31 Dec 2006

Well, I finally finished editing the entries since the 4th. It's been a busy month so far and a similarly busy break. I'll work on finishing posting pictures in the gallery from 2003 onward, and I'll try to keep up with the journal better in the future.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday, and I wish everyone a Happy New Year. And an efficient new Congress. How about an organized Democratic Party? Or a GOP that lives up to its (nick)name? Or a viable third party?

A man can dream.

-res

21 Dec 2006

Just out of curiosity, I checked out the Wiki article on HHGG again and noticed a new article with some empty sections to be filled, so I added content in "Differences in versions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." I didn't create an account for Wikipedia until right after that, so it's only a work IP address that shows up in the history. Unfortunately, that IP is also shared by everyone else at the company as their apparent IP address, so there are some edits in other articles attributed to that address that are not by me. So, I decided I might as well differentiate myself from the other users of that address.

I added some intial content for three sections: the differences between the third, fourth, and fifth novels and their radio series adaptations; differences between the original radio series and the LP adaptations (since I own the cassettes of both LP adaptations); and differences between the Infocom game and preceding versions (since I own and played that (not without hints, though)).

The Wikipedia user JohnDBuell seems to take responsibility in maintaining and creating the HHGG articles. Kudos to John.

-res

Other news and opinion from the day:

20 Dec 2006

U.S. Not Winning War in Iraq, Bush Says for 1st Time - washingtonpost.com

It's not really news, just "no s---, Sherlock" moment. In typical W style, however, he says (as new SecDef Gates did) that we're not losing either.

-res

19 Dec 2006

Is it just me, or is there something funny about the opening lyrics of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer?" It starts off listing the eight reindeer whose names we should know, then asks if we recall the most famous one, Rudolph. I don't know about you, but I only remember Rudolph. The other ones I'd have to think about to list from my own memory. I doubt I'm alone in this. How many kids know the other reindeer names? So that intro doesn't make sense to me.

Just a thought.

Anyway, Moby posted his take on the (GOP's) (fake) War on Christmas (tm).

-res

15 Dec 2006

Today is the last day of the year for new content from Al and Randi. It's nice to have a vacation. Hopefully there isn't too much bad news for which I would appreciate their takes on it. At least I have Rachel Maddow for another week.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

14 Dec 2006

I've started ripping ALL of my CDs using EAC and FLAC now, and it's hard to see and end in sight, but I know there is one. Besides, most of the hard work is done since I have almost all of the mp3s tagged using the album liners and back covers.

I wanted to check the read offsets for the drives I use. I found one list for AccurateRip, a program similar to EAC. The numbers they use are actually different from the ones I obtained for EAC, but if I add 1798 to these numbers, I get the corresponding offset in EAC (at least when using ABBA Gold as a reference CD).

It's nice that I have this sanity check. I value my sanity.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

13 Dec 2006

Even though it's nice to be able to get the best in progressive news, it's kind of a relief not to have to listen when Al or Randi are off. (Right now, there are repeat segments as well as substituting for Al.) It gives me the opportunity to listen to music at work or my audiobooks, like the Hitchhiker's radio dramas. It also lets me focus on work better, because I have less to look up from what I hear. Lately, NPR has been a reliable news source (as it's always been for me), but I get to hear more of it now, especially since I have the early schedule and can listen on my way home from work. I think AAR is fair in its coverage and more balanced than conservative news/opinion outlets, but that's probably a low bar. NPR and PBS are truly fair and balanced, and I don't feel icky after listening to conservatives they feature there. I actually feel informed.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Other news and opinion from the day:

12 Dec 2006

Maureen and I have switched schedules, and I think it benefits everyone. Instead of her calling me when she won't be able to pick up the kids in time, I just do the pick up all the time, which means I go to work earlier. It means she has to go to work later, since Timmy's school starts at 9, but we rarely have to deviate from the schedule, and I can do chores and start dinner more easily than she could with Evelyn attached to her. Evelyn's only attached to me when she's getting tired.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

11 Dec 2006

Timmy and Evelyn really like Guitar Hero II, and they're not even playing it. It's fun enough just for them to watch. Timmy likes the songs, and even Evelyn sings along sometimes, especially to "Smoke on the Water." I even got video of her singing along to Maureen playing that song. Evelyn holds her balloon shaped like a magic wand (from a clown at Maureen's tap dance show last Saturday) as if she's playing guitar and even slams it on the ground like the character in the game. At least she only does that with balloons and cardboard tubes.

Oh yeah, also Maureen's been taking tap dance classes every Saturday, and her class put in a dance in the holiday show for the San Diego Civic Dance Association. She's having a lot of fun, and maybe I'll join her next year.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Other news and opinion from the day:

07 Dec 2006

A Mondegreen is a funny kind of self-referential term for a commonly misheard phrase. I've known about a website dedicated to a specific kind of Mondegreen, misheard lyrics, at Am I Right, with such classics as "Hold me closer, Tony Danza" in Elton John's song "Tiny Dancer." Rachel Maddow sometimes opens her segment "Ask Dr. Maddow" with a question about Manfred Mann's Earth Band's song "Blinded by the Light", which I only found by Googling the lyrics, since I just had to know after hearing the segment so many times.

With the growth of the Internet, cultural nuggets like these can be archived in a way accessible by everyone, and in a way that everyone can contribute. Many of the listeners' questions for "Ask Dr. Maddow" can be found on Wikipedia or Snopes.com, and ordinary people's blogs and journals serve to better chronicle the lives of the average (Internet-connected) person. What an exciting time to live!

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Other news and opinion from the day:

06 Dec 2006

Well, now that we've taken back the House and Senate (and America back to sanity), I can probably do my own phased withdrawal of chronicling AAR shows in my journal. Work is going to start getting really busy, and I think the AAR websites do a pretty good job of the syllabus for each show. I was only trying to fill in gaps and help demonstrate how good, intelligent, and entertaining progressive talk radio can be. I'll keep listening, and hopefully AAR can stay afloat in their troubled financial times.

Al's going on his USO tour again soon, and Randi will be on vacation. When we come back next year to real leadership in Congress, hopefully we'll get to the bottom of what really happened before and on 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, the prelude to the war in Iraq, and all the secret meetings going on.

With Americans waking up, they still will need a progressive voice to counter the overwhelming (and organized) conservative clones. Not only will we have sanity in the media (and the media doing its job of journalism, not opinion-making), but it will keep the conservative media outlets honest. And that helps everyone.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

05 Dec 2006

Happy Birthday to Natalie and Noreen! It's nice not to have a final exam on your birthday, isn't it?

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

04 Dec 2006

Tonight we picked up the Christmas tree, and it's a nice one, and not too big. Evelyn got to join in the decoration this time, and you can see that both Timmy and Evelyn enjoy participating in celebrating, even though they don't fully understand the symbolism (especially Evelyn). Timmy understands the spirit of the season but not yet the connection to our faith and what Jesus' birth means to us. I'll make it a point to teach him this Advent.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Other news and opinion from the day:

01 Dec 2006

Is it just me or is Christmas coming earlier and earlier every year? Now we'll have two kids actively participating in the celebration. They've already got their chocolate Advent calendars, and we'll pick up the tree this weekend. I can't imagine how they feel about it (or at least Timmy, who more or less understands what it's about). I can only recall my own childhood experiences being with family and friends and, of course, getting presents. I can safely say that I appreciate the being with family and friends more than just receiving gifts now that I'm older. And we all get to go to the traditional Midnight Mass, which I actually find fun and a big part of the season. At least between then and the next year's Midnight Mass we get the (more important) Easter Vigil Mass.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

Other news and opinion from the day:

Past Journal Entries: 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001

2010 Journal Entries: Nov

Common and favorite references and their acronyms:

Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!