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:: Thursday, September 04, 2003 ::
TANSTAAFL*
Yay, archives! I have finally figured out to work my archives, so my past posts (stretching all the way back to June) are now available for viewing, for those of you that are first-time visitors (or regulars, who just want to reminisce about everything I've talked about in four months.
Well, Labor Day is over. I spent the weekend at Green Mansion, my parents' house. It was relaxing and (mostly) fun, but filled up with wedding stuff. Yes, my sister is getting married there in slightly over a month (Woo-hoo Mallory and Arthur!). How did that happen? Seems like just a few weeks ago she was telling me she was getting married, and now it's almost here. It's kind of weird - I only have one sister, and so this is the first wedding in my immediate family. Never really thought it about it before, but it's almost like getting a whole new family member. And luckily, I really like Arthur, so that's really cool - just weird. Anyhoo, got fitted for my tux this weekend, so I'll be monkey-suited and ready for all my best-manly duties (except that I'm not really Best Man, more of a Head Groomsmen - I don't really understand it myself....) So congrats to Mallory and Arthur - I'm excited! My little sister is getting married!
Also had time this weekend to read a book, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein, probably my favorite author of all time. The book is a classic, but I've never gotten around to reading it until now, and once I did, I could barely put it down all weekend. It is excellent. It basically details the steps taken in a revolution on the moon (in the future), has some very interesting things to say about the nature of government and politics, and is just a fun, exciting read. It is supposedly the foundation for the modern libertarian movement (it was written in the 1960s), and I guess if one were starting a revolution, it provides some good ideas on how to do that too (although it would help if you had a near-omnipotent, sentient computer to help you, as they do in the book). But basically, it's an incredible book that I highly recommend.
And one last note: May soon be some news on the job front. Much much too soon to say anything more, but keep your fingers crossed! Thanx!
*TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (the slogan of the lunar revolutionaries in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress)
:: posted by Rob 2:02 AM [+] ::
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:: Thursday, August 07, 2003 ::
Rants and sighs
I really need to update this blog more, if anyone out there is actually reading this. Sorry about the wait.
Updated the links on the side with movies I've seen recently, new DVDs, and a brand new feature: Trailers! That's right, check out the trailers for cool new upcoming movies!
So what's going on with me in my life right now? Besides the release of Arcana Unearthed (which only serves as a distraction for real life), I'm having an incredibly bad time at work. Is it just me, or does eveyone else in the world work for complete idiots with their heads up their asses who apparently don't do any work or know how to communicate with other people? Either way, it's sad - either I'm all alone in job hell, or we're all in this boat but we're just too stupid to do or say anything about it.
Seriously, if I didn't have to pay rent every month, I would be so gone. I have to literally hold myself back to keep from screaming at people on the phone (provided, of course, they can even be bothered to pick up the phone to answer it....otherwise, it's leave a voicemail or email, and good luck on getting a response back at all!), or just walking out the door, or just not bothering to show up at all. And with our lovely economy right now, it's oh-so-easy to find a new job, just like that.
But hey, according to a recent interview I saw with the Treasury Secretary, he "thinks it's going to turn around soon." He THINKS!?!?! Shouldn't the @%^$#! Treasury Secretary be able to tell us a little more than that he "thinks" the economy will get better "soon?" Thanks a lot pal, I'll hold my breath for that. Maybe a better economy and good jobs for people are in the same place as the Weapons of Mass Destruction...
SIGH.
Sweden has never seemed so far away....
:(
:: posted by Rob 5:21 AM [+] ::
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:: Monday, July 14, 2003 ::
Surely the canals of Venice aren't that big...
AARRGGHH!! Curses on the Summer movie season and all the movies that come out that I want to see! The Italian Job, The Hulk (maybe?), 28 Days Later, Terminator 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Too many movies, too little time. Sigh.
But, I did get to see The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen this weekend. It's gotten a lot of bad reviews, but I'm a huge fan of the original comic book, and I thought the movie stayed pretty close to the feel and style of the comic.
Yes, there was no need for Tom Sawyer as an American Secret Service agent (are we so stupid that we can't appreciate a movie about English people without an American to identify with?), and Captain Nemo's Nautilus (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) was as big as an aircraft carrier....AND could fit in the canals of Venice?!?!
Not a perfect movie by any means, but I thought making Mina (Murray) Harker an actual vampire was good, and the other new character, Dorian Gray, was done very well. He was played by Stuart Townsend, who I like as an actor. He played Lestat in Queen of the Damned, and though that was not that good of a movie, he made a helluva better Lestat than #%$^&*! Tom Cruise!
So, good movie, overall...it could have been better, but it could also have been worse. An afternoon's time well spent, I think.
Now if only I can figure out how (and when) to see all the other movies I want to see....
:: posted by Rob 6:50 PM [+] ::
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:: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 ::
Love as thou wilt
"Mighty Kushiel, of rod and weal, late of the brazen portals, with blood-tipp'd dart a wound unhealed, pricks the eyen of chosen mortals."
That's my favorite quote from Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel trilogy, made up of Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, and the latest, which I've just finished, Kushiel's Avatar. Basically, the books follow the adventures of Phèdre nó Delaunay de Montrève, a beautiful comtesse, courtesan and spy who also happens to be an anguisette, blessed (or cursed) and chosen by the angel Kushiel to feel pleasure from pain.
The books are sort of alternate historical fantasies, taking place in about the year 1400, but in a very different world than what we are used to. Basically, the angel Elua was born from the mingled blood of Jesus Christ (called Yeshua ben Yosef) and the tears of Mary Magdalene, and wandered the earth with angels as his companions until they founded the nation of Terre D'Ange, in what we would call France. Also, it seems that Yeshua was accepted by the Hebrews as the Messiah, so Christianity as we know it never developed, leaving Europe (and the rest of the Old World) to develop differently from the real world, with old dynasties and old gods still existing. The D'Angelines, descended from Elua and his companions, live in an essentially Renaissance-level culture in Medieval world. They worship Elua and his companions, based on Blessed Elua's precept, Love as thou wilt.
That's a bit of a simplified synopsis of an incredibly rich and detailed setting, but it hopefully gives some idea. Of course, there's a lot more than that. There's politics, intrigue, great quests, comedy, tragedy, as well as some good old VALNAC*. These three books, and especially the latest, Kushiel's Avatar, are definitely and firmly ensconced on my list of all time favorite books.
Please check them out...I can't recommend them highly enough.
And for those of you who have read the books, take Kushiel's Quiz to find out which character you are. My results are below.
*VALNAC: Violence, Adult Language, Nudity, Adult Content
You are Melisande. Beautiful, compelling, devious and utterly wicked, you entrance your prey before you lead them to their deaths. You are self serving, brilliant, diabolical and just warm hearted enough to keep your foes off balance.
Kushiel's Quiz brought to you by Quizilla
Love as thou wilt.
:: posted by Rob 5:01 PM [+] ::
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:: Monday, July 07, 2003 ::
Titles? We don't need no stinkin' titles!
So here's a little thing I decided to try...titling my posts. Hopefully to distinguish between different thoughts on the same day. Feel free to let me know if you like them, hate them, or just don't care!
:: posted by Rob 10:05 PM [+] ::
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ID4
And one final thought: When did we stop calling it Independence Day? That is what we're supposed to be celebrating. Otherwise, we're just celebrating the fourth day of the seventh month. Whoopee. And what's the point of that?
Unless it's our own cinco de mayo.....
:: posted by Rob 6:31 PM [+] ::
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"...island hopping, crab cay bound..."
Oh, and I added a new blog link, The Island Chronicles. Who wouldn't want to just pick up and go live in the South Pacific?
Rock on.
:: posted by Rob 6:26 PM [+] ::
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Independent Thoughts on Independence Day
Happy Birthday, America, you big lug!
Here's my obligatory 4th of July post (and only 3 days after the fact!). My patriotism, lately, goes in swings. One day I'm as unpatriotic as can be, ready to hop the next plane to Sweden if I had the means, and the next, I'm all about being an American in America. And the 4th of July, with all of its fireworks and its assorted summery fun, tends to make me into a happy American. There's a lot I love about this country, and a lot I don't. Is it the same for everyone else, everywhere else? Probably, I think...I don't know. I hope so.
Because no one should be completely patriotic all the time. If nothing else, it's just plain stupid. This isn't a popular viewpoint these days in post-9/11, War-on-Terrorism, Liberation-of-Iraq America. These days, patriotism = good, dissent and disagreement = bad. But I'm gonna say it anyways, because somebody has to.
Being patriotic and pro-American (or pro-whatever you are) all the time, to the exclusion of all else is incredibly short-sighted and naive. If you walk around in red, white, and blue blinders all the time, secure in the notion that everything your country and its government does is good and right, how will you know if it's doing something wrong? Everyone makes mistakes, yes, even the good old U.S. of A. But if we blindly trust everything that we do, we will miss the mistakes that we make, and then we can't learn from them.
I have a pet theory (and I'll admit, I'm biased, what with a piece of paper that says B.A. in History on it), that all American presidents should have to have history degrees. That way they will know what came before them, what mistakes were made, what solutions worked, and maybe, just maybe, they will not be doomed to repeat the past.
Would that solve any of the problems facing America, and more widely, the world? I don't know. It certainly would help, I think. I'm getting a little off the topic of what I wanted to say, but here's the final thought I want to leave you with.
America has become far too complacent. Yes, we are the world's sole remaining superpower. Perhaps we do have a duty and an obligation to police the rest of the world. But here we are, celebrating our country's 227th birthday. That's a long time. It seems like America has been around forever. And it seems like it'll always be around.
It hasn't. It won't.
It's been around 227 years. And while that may seem like a long time to you and me, it's barely a feather on the scale of history. Ask Europe, with hundreds of years of history. Ask China, with over five thousand years of recorded history. 227 years is nothing. And yet, you may ask, if China has lasted 5,000 years, why can't America? Perhaps America can last as long, but it won't be the America we know and love. China today is nothing like it was 5000, 1000, or even 100 years ago. It's history is filled with rebellions and invasions and fallen dynasties.
That's the point I want to make. Nothing lasts forever. The great Kingdoms of Egypt? Gone. The Roman Empire? Fallen. Even the British Empire, which less than a hundred years ago spanned almost the entire globe, is once more back to its little group of islands in the North Sea. So, too, will America decline, and perhaps fall.
But only if we let it.
We have to realize that our actions have consequences in the wider world, we have to realize that we need to change to embrace the future.
So happy birthday, America, and to all you Americans out there, be happy, celebrate and love your country, but think - really think - about how we, how you can keep this country going the way we like it. Don't be complacent, don't be arrogant. Let's all just try to be.
Thus endeth the lesson.
:: posted by Rob 6:24 PM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 ::
Guilty Pleasures
And on another note...I just updated my Guilty Pleasures links. Damn summer and its slew of mind-sucking reality programs!
And for the most part, they are nothing but guilty pleasures.
The Amazing Race actually has slightly more going for it - it's actually interesting, with fun challenges and exotic locales.
America's Next Top Model, is all about becoming, well, America's next top model, courtesy of supermodel Tyra Banks. Ain't nothing wrong with hot chicks! Plus you have the tensions between the Bible-studying inhabitants of the "holy room" and the self-professed atheists Elyse and Adrianne. It's great, bitchy fun!
Go, Elyse! I want her to win - her comments about the other girls are priceless!
Dog Eat Dog, of course, I talked about earlier.
And finally, there's Paradise Hotel. If ever there was a guilty pleasure, this is it. And it's on Fox, so that should tell you something. Ugh, I feel dirty just watching it. Nevertheless, here I am watching it, and talking about it on my blog. It's that good, and that bad. Definitely check out the website - the show recaps are better than the show itself! It may be mean, but hey, you parade yourself on national television, on a show where you're supposed to "hook up" with someone or get kicked off, and that's what you get.
Seriously, that's the point of the show - to hook up with someone and stay in "Paradise" as long as possible!
It's the decline of American civilization, and I'm right there watching it, popcorn in hand.
Anyhoo, check out the links, and have a little mindless fun!
:: posted by Rob 5:31 PM [+] ::
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Going topless
WOO-HOOOOO!!!!
Summer is finally here, and that can mean only one thing - the top and doors are off the Jeep, baby! I cannot describe what it's like to drive down the highway at 70 mph with the top off - exhilirating, fun, WINDY, like total freedom. Anyone with a convertible knows what I'm talking about - but you can't take off your doors, too! Looking outside and seeing the pavement rush by right next to you - it's a thrill, a sense of danger. Once again, exhiliarating! And it's been two years since I've taken the doors off!
WHOOOOOO!!!
Now if only it dosn't rain for the next few days....
:: posted by Rob 5:03 PM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 ::
Oh, and in case you didn't know it, the links on the side are constantly changing, as I change what I'm listening to or watching, or what new CDs or DVDs I've acquired. So when you check the blog, check out the links too! Who knows, you may find something really good. I just updated them, and believe me, there's something good over there...
:: posted by Rob 6:06 AM [+] ::
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Yesterday at work, we found a raccoon in our next door neighbors' Dumpster. Ever since I was a little kid, I've liked raccoons. I just always thought they looked cool. Of course, I don't think I've ever seen a real one except on the side of the road as roadkill. So it was really cool being able to see one up close. Of course, it was scared to death, huddled in the back corner of the Dumpster while all of us crowded around looking in at him and talking about how he got in there and whether or not he would (or could) get out on his own.
So we had all these different people discussing the best thing (if anything) to do with this raccoon, along with remarks about rabies and biting and how hungry he looked. None of us had any clue what to do. But one of the guys I work with went inside and came back out with a stepladder, which he put into the Dumpster. I told him there was no way that was going to work. The raccoon, obviosuly scared, and with all of us standing around the Dumpster scaring him more, was not going to risk trying to climb out, in the middle of the day, with all us humans around, if it could even figure out that was the point of the ladder.
The raccoon climbed out.
Less than 30 seconds after I dismissed my coworker's idea, that raccoon was up the ladder, over the side of the Dumpster, and headed for the woods. I was happy that the raccoon was safely out of the Dumpster, unharmed, and I felt like an idiot. Here my coworker was, "thinking outside the box" as they say, and there I was, essentially calling him a fool for trying an unorthodox idea, when I was really the fool.
This was just a raccoon in a Dumpster, but how many times has someone had an idea that would work, that could help people, that had some sort of value, but they never tried it because someone told them it wouldn't work? So I'm going to try and keep a more open mind, and try more "thinking outside the box" myself. There's enough crazy shit going on in this world right now....maybe a few unorthodox ideas would help, if only someone would get the chance to try them.
P.S. This is by no means some kind of tree-hugging animal lover blog, what with the geese and the raccoon stories. It just seems like wildlife is playing the most interesting parts in my life right now. And I do like animals and nature and all that, I just don't plan on devoting my whole blog to them...
Ramble, ramble, ramble....bye!
:: posted by Rob 6:02 AM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 ::
And I have to give a shout out to my friend Evan, whose birthday is today.
So Happy Birthday, E!
Hope it was good one for ya. Cheers!
:: posted by Rob 5:42 AM [+] ::
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Dog Eat Dog - what a great fucking show! I have it listed to the side as a guilty pleasure, and I can't get enough of it! I sat through the whole hour with a big, wide grin on my face the entire time, and loving every minute of it. Laughing out loud, cheering, booing, the whole works. And this isn't even a show that really has any redeeming value - no well-rounded characters portrayed by skilled actors, no dramatic tension, no sitcom setups and funny one-liners, no "Law and Order twists," nothing. It's just an hour of sheer escapist fun.
It doesn't hurt that the host, Brooke Burns, is hot, or that you get to see girls in bikinis getting wet in the "tank" (you get to see guys in their bathing suits, too - it's not that sexist). But it's not just that - there's fun, creative stunts, sometimes stupid and sometimes erudite trivia, as well as ever-shifting alliances and good old trash-talking. But most of all, everyone on the show, including Brooke, is having fun. You can clearly see it, and it's infectious as hell. And it translates right through the screen into your living room. I have fun watching it. And for a summer (or almost summer) weekday evening, what more can you want? I'm hooked!
Oh, and if you haven't seen the show, there actually is kind of a "Law and Order twist" - at the end, the contestants that have been eliminated and sent to the "Dog Pound" have one last chance to beat the winner, or "Top Dog." If the Top Dog wins, he or she gets to take home $25,000. But if the Dog Pound wins, they split up the money amongst themselves, $5000 apiece, and the Top Dog, the winner, the champion...goes home with nothing.
I love this show!
:: posted by Rob 5:34 AM [+] ::
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:: Monday, June 02, 2003 ::
I just updated my links along the side - check 'em out! I was hoping to add The Italian Job to my Movies list, but I never left my apartment this weekend. I hate being sick! I usually only get sick about once a year, but when I do, I really get sick.
On the plus side, being at home all weekend gave me more time to work on my website. It's still not completely finished, but it's coming along nicely, so I put the link to it on the side. Take a look - hopefully, I'll have most of the rest of the pages finished in a few weeks.
:: posted by Rob 10:59 PM [+] ::
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:: Saturday, May 31, 2003 ::
Ugh. I'm sick. Off to bed...
:: posted by Rob 4:38 AM [+] ::
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:: Friday, May 30, 2003 ::
On my way home from work the other day, while waiting to pull into traffic on a major highway, I looked out my window to see a bunch of baby Canadian geese (goslings?) happily pecking away right next to the highway, their heads barely poking above the grass. There were about five or six of them, covered with greyish down, happily oblivious to the world, while three adult geese stood on alert nearby, black heads high and wary, watching the cars with obvious suspicion and, I think, some disdain.
Now my drive home takes about an hour, and usually all I want to do is get off the highway and into my apartment so I can take off my shoes and relax and unwind. And usually, waiting to get on to the six-lane divided highway that is my last leg home is the last thing I want. But Tuesday, while I watched these geese, I didn't care how long I had to wait.
What is it about baby animals that people find so cute? Generally speaking, I'm not one of those people who look at a puppy in the store or baby lions on the TV and say, "Ooooh, look how cute!" And yet, there I was, looking at baby geese and thinking to myself, "Look at the baby geese!" Maybe it's just that you see baby animals in zoos or on TV or in pet shops, but never just out in the wild (as wild as the side of a highway in suburban Northern Virginia can be, at least), living their lives, undeterred by (or perhaps, in spite of) all the cars racing by at 70 mph. Staking out their little spot of nature on the side of the highway, saying, "Yeah, we live here too."
I don't know exactly why they affected me so much; maybe it was just the fact that these little baby geese had found a spot to call home and do their thing in this crazy and way too fast-paced world of ours. And maybe, if they could do it, so could I.
And then traffic started moving, and I was back into the slash and burn of evening rush hour, but my usual slow, dreary drive home seemed a lot nicer, and I was no longer tired or frustrated, rushing to get home. "Bye, geese," I said, as I pulled into traffic. And I was sad to be leaving. I really could have stayed there, watching them peck in the grass, for hours maybe. Just a little bit of simplicity in a complicated life.
Bye, geese. I hope I see you again.
:: posted by Rob 4:29 AM [+] ::
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Just a couple of notes:
First, a review of The Matrix Reloaded. I don't necessarily agree with a lot of what the reviewer says (I liked it!), but I love how she says it! Whether you love or hate the movie, this a GREAT review. I think it's one of the best movie reviews I've ever read.
The Amazing Race starts tonight! Damn these summer shows - just when I think I finally have my nights free, they put on more shows I want to watch! I may have to add this to my guilty pleasures list...
:: posted by Rob 1:26 AM [+] ::
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Wow! I don't know what it is, but I have been in the best mood the past few days. I think it's because of all the time I've spent getting this blog set up, and working on my website. As usual, I don't have nearly the time I would like to spend on this stuff, but I don't really mind it, which is not usual at all. I think it's just good to be involved in some sort of creative endeavor. It's been quite a while since I've done anything that even remotely resembles creative activity, and it feels GOOD! I'm spending practically every waking moment thinking about formatting and colors, and all that, and I'm loving it. The blog's set up just about the way I want it, I think - the website still needs a lot of work, but I'm ready. And hopefully, when I'm all done with that, I'll be able to keep up this creative frenzy I seem to be in - maybe some art, writing, or photgraphy - we'll see!
:: posted by Rob 1:20 AM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 ::
So what is Alas, Babylon? Obviously, it's my blog, but it's also the title of a poem I wrote. It's on my website, which is still under construction, but feel free to browse. I'll put up a real link to the site when more of it is finished.
:: posted by Rob 10:59 PM [+] ::
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Herein lies my first post. Let the blogging begin!
:: posted by Rob 10:30 PM [+] ::
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