Better Personality!

This is so me.

Wackiness: 32/100
Rationality: 50/100
Constructiveness: 66/100
Leadership: 48/100

You are a SECF--Sober Emotional Constructive Follower. This makes you a Hippie.

You are passionate about your causes and steadfast in your commitments. Once you've made up your mind, no one can convince you otherwise. Your politics are left-leaning, and your lifestyle choices decidedly temperate and chaste.

You do tremendous work when focused, but usually you operate somewhat distracted. You blow hot and cold, and while you normally endeavor on the side of goodness and truth, you have a massive mean streak which is not to be taken lightly. You don't get mad, you get even.

Please don't get even with this web site.

Of the 11650 people who have taken this quiz since tracking began (8/17/2004), 11.2 % are this type.

My Job score, (c/o Gene)

Better Job

Your job's score is 10.

Your job is mind-bendingly bad. So incredibly bad. So shooting-spree inducing bad. Why are you in it? Is it deeply rewarding work? Are there a few kindred co-workers whose positive spin make the whole mess bearable? Are you shlepping through two more years of this hell so you can escape into a well-respected, well-salaried position? You had better hope at least one of the above is true, or otherwise your life is on a one-way train to Stinksville. You like that? I made it up myself.

Lost?

I'm going to have to give Lost a try, just because it is starring not only Merry Brandybuck (Dom Monaghan, silly) but that hottie Daniel Dae Kim.

Apple - iMac G5 - Graphics

Holy Crap! The new iMac G5!

If you want to continue in English, Press 1...

In most things I consider my self a pretty liberal guy. However, I find the growing use of Spanish language in this country to be not only annoying but disturbing. It started with bank teller machines in multiple languages, but now I am seeing billboard and bus stop ads completely in Spanish.

I live in Arlington County, a liberal enclave in VA, and I find their catering to Spanish speakers to be out of control. You're at a disadvantage when trying to get a job with the county if you don't speak Spanish. Yes we have a large Latino population and I have absolutely no problem with that, but we should be encouraging our Spanish-speaking residents to learn English, not making it easier for them to not make the effort. I am all for free classes and programs to encourage employers to help their employees learn English. And Spanish should only be used in schools to help teach English.

Maybe this sounds intolerant, but I think it's dangerous to encourage a multiple-language society. It's balkanizing. It's expensive. Look at what is happening in Canada with Quebec. How long before some of the southwest states want to secede?

Even wihen I visit a foreign country I make the effort to at least learn a few phrases in their language so as not to seem like an arrogant American. I think if you're going to move to the United States, you should expect to have to learn English to get by.

So there, I said it.

More Hot Olympians

The Olympics are over, but you can still relive the hotness. Check out the Hot Olympians one more time! Love those water polo guys!

My Tummy Hurts

I'm already nervous about my first class on Thursday night; it will be by far the biggest class I've taught (it's always full) and of course I will be compared to Doug the cycle egomaniac, who will teach the hour long class immediately afterwards; many people take both classes.

It occurred to me that two songs he plays frequently are Billy Idol's Dancing with Myself (and we know what that is really about, don't we?) and the old Cheap Trick song I Want You to Want Me. Hmmm. Subliminal?

Infinite possibilities

Though Sliders quickly deteriorated to silliness, the concept remains intriguing and thought-provoking. It's something that Andre Norton postulated long ago in Quest Crosstime, and other sci-fi writers have considered: every major decision/change causes a divergent universe. This is silly when you consider how many people could impact a change, but it still invites possibilities...

What if Kennedy wasn't assassinated?

What if we didnt get the bomb first?

What if Elizabeth I didn't rule England like she did?

What if Hitler won WWII?

Think of what our world would be like...

He's so cute

Michael Phelps in an 'oh my god!' moment

Another World...

Ohh! A new, (relatively) Earth-like planet discovered!

(And by the way, note the kewl new Blogger feature below, where you can email this post to a friend! Have fun, kids!)

If Computer Companies Made Cars...

My boss Peter forwarded this to me today...

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car

3.Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and then reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4.Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5.Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive -- but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6.The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An illegal Operation" warning light.

7.Before deploying, the airbag system would ask, Are you sure?"

8.Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9.Every time a new car was introduced, car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again, because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10.You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn off the engine.

Doug Doug the Cycle... jerk?

Well maybe not a jerk yet, but I think he's pushing his luck. He rolls into class this morning 5 minutes late, no apology, no explanation (I guess he thinks he doesn't need to; the class was full again; though the policy is to be there 15 minutes early). Later he mentions being at the library and then watching the Olympics last night. Whatever.

He isn't dressed in his bike clothes and doesn't ride. (He acually looks kind of skinny in a t-shirt and warmup pants). He flirts with a couple of women, plays a CD we heard a couple of weeks ago. Barks orders like usual. Talks about some race he's in.

At the end while stretching he starts talking about Britney Spears and Kevin Federline (?) and sarcastically asks the women how many of them think he is 'a stud.' Many of the women ask who he is... which leads me to wonder how and why the uber-butch Doug knows so much about Kevin Federline.

Still, it was a good workout. And there are some hot guys in that class, all of whom he ignores.

Fun With Puppeteers

One of my favorite lines from Ringworld... Nessus the 'insane' Puppeteer is trying to explain to his crewmates the Puppeteer reasoning for their method of solving the problem of their overheated world: moving the entire planet away from the sun:

"Incredible," Said Speaker-To-Animals (A Kzin, one of a race of fierce, sentient giant cats) "Why didn't you leave?"

"Who would trust his life to the many deaths of space? Only one such as me. Should we settle worlds with our insane?" Answered Nessus.

"Send cargos of frozen fertilized ova. Run the ships with crews of the insane." Suggested (human) Teela Brown.

"Discussions of sex make me uncomfortable."

The Earth Moved!

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- An earthquake rattled Olympic venues Tuesday in and around Athens.

The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the tremor had a preliminary magnitude of 4.5 and occurred at 3:38 p.m. local time. It was centered about 42 miles northeast of Athens, 12 miles beneath the Aegean Sea.

"There is no reason to panic. It was a very small quake," said Giorgos Stavrakakis, a seismologist with the Geodynamic Institute. "It is a very active area and we often have quakes there."

The head of the Greek Civil Defense Agency, Panagitiotis Fourlas, said there were no reports of injuries or damage from the quake, felt throughout the greater Athens area.

Earthquakes are common in Greece, one of the most seismically active countries in Europe.

In 1999, a 5.9-magnitude quake near Athens killed 143 people, injured about 2,000 and left thousands more homeless.

Venues including the Olympic Village and the 9,000-seat Ano Liossia Olympic Hall for wrestling and judo were built near the fault line and designed to withstand a potentially massive quake.

Scary. I was in Greece during that 1999 quake, but by some strange chance I was airborne between Mykonos and Athens when it happened.

Your Brain on Depression

Fascinating story on Morning Edition about Depression and how it may be caused by a combination of genetics and early-life traumatic events, and how therapy and SSRI's together help more than one or the other alone.

Calling Sky Captain!

The movie I can't wait for? Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Jude Law, Angelina Jolie with an eye patch, and giant robots all in a retro-sci-fi noir all-cgi movie! What's not to love!?

Bush Using the Olympics

I'm glad someone is taking issue with this offensive Bush ad I've been seeing on tv at the gym. Not only does he try to associate himself with the Olympians, he claims that Afghanistan and Iraq are already democracies!

This article from the Washington Post (I include it because sometimes the Post demands registration). No intended infringement on their copyright of course.

Let the Political Gamesmanship Begin

By Sally Jenkins

Tuesday, August 24, 2004; Page D07

ATHENS -- President Bush has joined the list of those who would bend the Olympics to political ends. You might wonder at the company he keeps, since the list includes Jimmy Carter. However, if Bush really wants to use the Olympics to help himself get reelected, then maybe he could do something for the Athens Games in return. Maybe he could give Svetlana Khorkina a sandwich.

This week the Bush campaign debuted a commercial titled "Victory," which conjures images of Olympic stadiums, and credits Bush with liberating athletes from Iraq and Afghanistan so that they can compete here. The U.S. Olympic Committee is not overjoyed with the ad, since the politicization of the Olympics is forbidden by, among other bodies, Congress and the International Olympic Committee.

"In 1972 there were 40 democracies in the world, today 120," says a narrator as flags of all countries wave over a stadium. "Freedom is spreading throughout the world like a sunrise. And this Olympics, there will be two more free nations. And two fewer terrorist regimes."

The USOC is reviewing the ad and considering whether to ask the campaign to pull it, as an infringement of its exclusive rights to the Olympics. The IOC charter states that the Olympic word, symbol and concept belong exclusively to the IOC (and to the USOC in the United States) and should not be used for political purposes.

But the attitude of the Bush campaign is they are not technically in violation of any law. "We are on firm legal ground to mention the Olympics to make a factual point in a political advertisement," a spokesman for the Bush reelection campaign, Scott Stanzel, told the Associated Press.

What should we think about President Bush trying to squeeze a little juice out of these Olympics by tying them to his wars? On the one hand I guess it's reasonable given that Iraqi athletes used to get tortured by Saddam Hussein's sadistic son Uday. On the other hand, it's one more area in which Bush is running for reelection based on things he himself personally did not actually do. The swift boat guys are knocking John Kerry on the issue of Vietnam (where Bush never set foot) and he has his own ad up wrapping himself in the Olympic spirit, not that he has swum a single stroke or turned a single somersault, or shown much regard for the IOC charter.

So perhaps Bush should do something for the Athens Games. Here is a list of some small ways in which he could be helpful.

He could set up a Feed Khorkina program.

He could take the mirror out of Gary Hall Jr.'s locker.

He could ask the CIA to find Kostas Kenteris's missing motorcycle.

He could sign a law requiring a person to sink at least 6 of 10 three-pointers, unguarded, before signing an NBA contract.

He could tell the U.S. swimmers to pull up their bathing suits.

He could do the Athens organizers and local government a really big favor by telling Tony Blair to give the Elgin Marbles back. He could take Blair to the Parthenon, point up, and say, "They go there. Right there. Where those HOLES are." Though admittedly, there is not much hope of persuasion on this one. I can already hear Blair's reply:

"Have you gone totally native? Does the term 'finders, keepers' mean nothing to you?"

He could tell Paul Hamm to give a medal to the South Korean kid. He could advise Hamm that such a gesture would carve his name into the marble of sports history, and people would talk about him decades from now. Instead, he's an asterisk. Granted, the South Korean delegation's endless appeals are not easy to watch, and the rules are on Hamm's side. But as matters stand Hamm has to live with the downside of the dispute, because he'll always be the guy who landed his vault in a judge's lap and no one should really win an Olympic gold medal after landing on a judge. If he had gone over to the South Korean and pressed his gold medal into the guy's hand, and said, "I don't care what the rules say, you deserve this," he would have the instant book contract, the big commercial endorsements, and speaking engagements for big money to the end of time.

Also, it would've been the right thing to do.

Ahh. The right thing to do. We're back to that. The Bush campaign may be technically entitled to use the Olympics, as a legal point, or not. Other presidents have certainly used the Olympics, and no one used them harder than Carter, by boycotting the 1980 Games in Moscow. But Carter, it should be noted, got his payback; the boycott was ultimately regarded by voters as just one more sign of a national malaise, along with hostages and gas lines, and the general feeling of gloom cost him reelection.

Let's just say that it's not an especially honorable or Olympic thing to do. It's also a highly ironic thing to do, given that before the Games began, former president George H.W. Bush visited here as head of the U.S. Olympic delegation and urged American athletes to refrain from unseemly displays. He asked them to behave with "class and dignity."

Today's Hot Olympian

I am in LOVE with Jakub Hanak! (The one with the tongue)

Of course, he is Czech. Like Lukas Ridgeston.

Diver Troy Dumais

He has his own site and is doing an Olympics Blog!

You can hear him on the NBC site too.

My Ear is Popping

But at least I'm not in excruciating pain any more. My hearing on that side is still going in and out though, and I'm tired; probably going to bed real early since I have to get up to go to work 'day-shift' tomorrow.

I ended up using a completely different mix (my 'Girls' mix) this morning for class, and just walked around and barked at them; they seemed fine with it. It's a good thing because every time I got on the bike and started to pedal, I felt like I was going to fall over.

It was a beautiful afternoon so I went to the Java Shack and read some of Ringworld Engineers.

I remembered that I had a copy of the old Chaosium Ringworld RPG. it always seemed so cool, though when it came down to it, the game didn't have a lot of the stuff I really wanted. I'd love something like one of those picture books they do for the Star Wars movies.

I remember many years ago at ICE, we were playtesting Space Master and Cyberpunk, I ran a Pierson's Puppeteer character. I took two tube socks, made a couple of crude styrofoam eyes and glued them on, then put the socks on my hands. I had a great time playing the puppeteer, especially when he would make a joke, and the heads would turn and look at each other.

Geez, I was a dork.

You did great, Mikey

Congrats to Michael, you big goofy millionaire amazing athlete mutant cutie.

Maybe I need to go to the donors section... just for a peek.

Here's a medal! No, wait... we screwed up

Poor Paul Hamm. After the excitement of winning gold, then this mistake which isn't his fault, though technically I guess he shouldn't have gotten the gold. Not that it isn't all pretty objective anyway. I'm glad he gets to keep his, but his award will always have that little shadow of controversy. I feel bad for the South Korean too.

Spin Blog

I used my 'Tragedy' Mix on the Cap Hill Crew, had 11 people this time, which was heartening after only 3 last week (it was the first week after my predecessor left, and hurricane Charley was 'bearing down' so I guess I don't need to take it personally.) They seemed to enjoy it, even though I had to pull a 'Doug' and not spin, but just walk around and try to look attentive, since the Vicodin and the ear infection were making me rilly dizzy.

Anyway, I'm subbing for Andrea again this Sunday (we're suppsed to alternate, but I seem to sub for her at least half the time, not that I'm complaining!) and I have 2 new mixes. Not sure which one to try out.

• Isla Nublar Bizarro
• Dreams / The Coors
• La Isla Bonita / Madonna
• Journey to the island / Jurassic Park Soundtrack*
• Synchronicity II / The Police
• Different Kind of Love Song / Cher
• Union of the Snake / Duran Duran
• Tubular Bells (Theme from 'The Exorcist')
• Till I Come / ATB
• Mortal Kombat (movie Kombat Theme)
• Audrey's Dance / Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks)

* great 8-minute track with both major themes, very climb-inspirational, I think!

-- OR --

• (Gay mix 1)
• Neverending Story
• All or Nothing / Cher
• Lay All Your Love on Me / A-Teens
• Absolutely Not / Deborah Cox
• Show Me the Meaning-Dance / Backstreet Boys
• Go West / Pet Shop Boys
• I'm Still Standing / Elton John
• You Spin Me 'Round / Dead or Alive
• Give me You / Mary J. Blige
• All Things (Queer Eye theme)
• Being Boring / Pet Shop Boys

Just not the same

I want to like Stargate: Atlantis, I really do. It has enough hot guys. Maybe it just need to hit its stride. But Flanigan just comes off as a younger O'Neil, and the other characters (aside from the annoying McKay, who we know from SG-1) are still forming. (Too bad they couldn't have gotten cutie Corin Nemec to return as Jonas Quinn.)

SG-1 is just a classic, with MacGyver, Teal'c, Carter and Dr. Daniel (doesn't my ass look great in these pants?) Jackson together.

Oh and the architecture of Atlantis! WTF? Art deco on the outside, and a weird clash of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier on the inside! And that new Stargate... kinda tacky.

Quotable White House

This was in TIME magazine this week:

"The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway."

-- President George W. Bush, on John Kerry's proposal to rescind tax cuts for the wealthy.

and

"A 'sensitive war' will not destroy the evil men who killed 3,000 Americans."

-- Vice president Dick Cheney, attacking Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry for his promise to fight a "more sensitive" war on terrorism.

Well 'Dick,' what about the 'evil men' (that would be you) who sent more than 900 of our young men and women to die fighting a dictator who had nothing to do with the terrorists who attacked us?

Richard's Poor Almanac

I just love Richard Thompson's cartoons. They aren't 'laugh out loud' funny, but kind of 'ironic' funny. Here's this week's Richard's Poor Almanac. You might have to live in/near DC to 'get it' though...

Do not insert Q-Tip in ear canal

So I have an ear infection. Ow... ow-ow ow. Those things hurt.

It started to really bother me yesterday morning and just got progressively worse. I called in sick from work. Asprin didn't touch it, Aleve barely blunted it. My ear canal was so swollen, it closed up, and I was getting this icky clear discharge.

I didn't get more than a few minutes of sleep; no matter which way I lay, it hurt. I know, I'm being a baby, especially since it's probably my fault. I have been know to insert the Q-Tip in my ear canal.

Fortunately my very nice doctor Moody Mustafa (he does photography as a hobby and gives the money to charity) saw me this morning on zero notice. He said yes indeed I had an infection. He gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and some Vicodin (wheee!) for the pain.

I hope I feel better by tomorrow morning; I have a class to teach!

MORE Olympics

I just watched the Greek guys win the synchronized springboard diving thingy. They kinda won because just about everyone else screwed up. One of the Chinese guys lost control and flopped on his ass, one of the Russians hit his feet (ouch), One of the Americans (cute brothers) over shot his spin, and the Aussies were a little spastic. not to take away from the Greeks; they dived beautifully. And it was so cute seeing them kiss and hug and run around the pool like excited kids. And the Aussie guy who did commentary was good. He'd be like "Woah! You don't see that very often!"

Michael won 2 more golds; he's up to five. But he won't get his million dollar bonus. :-|

Bush = censorship

Gene beat me to it again! I find the results of this experiment not a bit surprising, yet still very disturbing. I suppose Bushites would argue that W. is the sitting president and has larger security concerns. But, 9/11 aside, could you imagine Clinton even for one moment considering this kind of tactic?

What scares me is how many people know about these abuses and lies and corruption, yet they would still vote for the smirking monkey.

For some reason Bush reminds me of a quote from Jurassic Park, where Dr. Malcolm, the chaos theorist, says to John Hammond, the power behind the Park: "Genetic power's the most awesome force the world has ever seen, but you wield it like a kid who's found his dad's gun."

No Phone Progress

I still need a phone. I went to the Verizon office near work the other day and it was a madhouse. It's a tiny little place packed with people and when you go in some chick plays hostess and offers to put you on a waiting list to talk to someone! If I had any choice about Metro access I would not use them. They did have a Motorola phone to look at, and I didn't much care for that either: it seemed all chintzy plastic. And it was expensive (though they give you a discount if you agree to a 2-year committment... I hate that. I wonder if you can bargain, like with buying a car?). And they didn't have any flyers describing it and when I asked, hostess chick said yes they didn't have any and I asked when they would get them and she said she would have to ask her manager, then she made no move to do so.

Customer Service, indeed.

What a Cutie

Two more golds for Michael! Doesn't he look cute with laurel leaves? (or are they olive branches?)

Spinaholic?

The Virginia Fitness Manager just emailed me and offered me a permanent slot teaching at Clarendon (near my house and my favorite place to teach) Thursday evenings, and my boss Peter gave me the okay to cut out of work early that day -- woohoo!

This means I just need to sub once in awhile to get my required 3 classes a week and free membership (no small change; WSC membership is almost $90 a month these days)!

This class is currently the one right before Doug-Doug-the-cycle-stud's 7:30 class, but since he said he was changing his schedule that may no longer be the case. Just as well, perhaps. Who would want to be compared to a god?

Sleeping and Gore Vidal

I don't sleep as well as I used to; I wonder if it's my mattress. I will often wake up 3-4x during the night, toss around for a few minutes and go back to sleep. When I was younger, my head would hit the pillow and I would be out like the proverbial light for 8+ hours. (Except a period while working at ICE when money was particularly bad and I would lie awake at night wondering how I would pay my rent. Good times!)

Anyway, I wake up early, and lately have been listening to this program on WETA at 5:00 am called BBC World Update, which is sort of the Brit take on world (mainly U.S.) news. The host who has been on lately is kind of annoying and combative, and he has this thing where after he talks to another reporter or someone he likes he says "Many, many thanks!" It gets on my nerves. But today he had on Gore Vidal, who is always a hoot. Gore called Bush 'out of control' and implied that he was a madman. Then he said he was no better than a certain leader in 'Europa' who attacked his neighbors without provocation. The host said "Wait, are you equating George Bush to Adolf Hitler?" Gore: "You said it, not me." A bit 'precious' but funny. of course Vidal went way off in the liberal deep end, saying Iraq was 'helpless.' But it made me smile. I didn't get to hear it all because I had to hustle in for my spin class.

Today's Spin

(Is this turning to a Spinning blog?)

I went to the 6:15 am spin class; this one is not taught by Doug but normally a woman named Chris. But she was out, and a woman named Deirdre (sp?) was subbing. She was okay, though I didn't care for most of her music (nothing I recognized except a song by N.E.R.D.; a lot of heavy beat stuff without lyrics). She also had an annoying tendency to just cut off a song at the end of her planned drill and skip to the next one. I found this to be very jarring. She was somewhat soft spoken, but definitely wanted to be in charge. Once we were supposed to be doing an in-the-saddle climb and one girl and I came up out of the saddle to take a break and she snapped "Stay with me! We are IN THE SADDLE!"

Well, okay then!

Olympics

Poor Michael Phelps. The Thorpedo is kicking the kid's ass across Athens. Though after trudging through hours of wmoen's crap I did finally see Michael win his first (and hopefully not last) gold medal, and the sweet smile on his face was priceless.

On a lighter note, Greek Divers!! What is up with Men's Synchronized Diving? It seems kind of... gay. (I mean that in a good way... at least they all still wear speedos!)

whee!

Got more compliments on my cycling class this morning, esp. appreciated from this very serious guy who was in early, had the shoes, etc. He seemed kind of noncomittal during but after made a point to tell me that he thought it was a good class. How often do people make an effort to tell you they liked something?

And actually, I did a different playlist Sunday. Saturday's just kind of fell flat for me; not sure why. I liked how this one worked (I call it my 'butch it up' list; no Pet Shop Boys or boyband remixes...)

• More Than a Feeling -- Boston
• Blue (Da Ba Dee) -- Eiffel 65
• Bootylicious -- Destiny's Child
• Rebel Yell -- Billy Idol
• The Reflex -- Duran Duran
• Rock Your body -- Justin Timberlake
• The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death -- The Housemartins
• Unwell -- Matchbox 20
• Born To Run -- Bruce Springsteen
• Summer of 69 -- Bryan Adams
• Skidmarks On My Heart -- Go-Go's
• May it Be -- Enya

Hot Olympians

Hmmm! Love this site! Hot Olympian of the Day

Olympics Eye Candy

A lot of those younger Greek musicians in the opening ceremonies were pretty cute. So was the main drummer at the Athens end.

Watching the athletes enter the stadium... it's no wonder they say that there's a lot of hanky-panky going on in the athletes' village. What a bunch of handsome specimens. Algeria, Samoa, Croatia, Latvia, and Russia... tons of hot guys.

And speaking of Russians... was watching gymnastics just now. Forget those Hamm twins, the entire Russian men's gymnastics team is HAWT!

boy's briefs

Thank gawd. Some guy who is more into Michael Phelps than I am. So there.

Reading

I realized I haven't been reading much lately; I used to read quite a lot. Unfortunately as I've gotten older I've become less adventurous and less patient. I've tried to some books recommended by others but was just unable to get into them.

On the other hand I get pleasure from re-reading things I read many years ago. I recently read Jurassic Park, and am now going through Ringworld and enjoying it immensely. I'm sure I've read it several times, but it's still a fun and inventive book.

I'm feeling relaxed and sleepy this evening; dunno if I am just tired, or the relaxing effects of the massage I had earlier. I may take a nap.

Olympics in HD

I have to say, HD is pretty damn cool, especially on my fabu 50" flatscreen (yeah I'm braggin'). As for the coverage, I must agree with Gene, the NBC pair are idiots. They couldn't even read the prepared material very well (hey, NBC, suck it up next time and hire somebody good like Patrick Stewart to narrate the opening ceremony!) and they had to insert lame-o jokes all the time. To quote the girl from Donnie Darko, "chut up! CHUT UP!" And the same damn SONY commercial over and over and over again... what gives? (said the guy with a SONY tv, SONY home theater, SONY TiVo... oops.)

Anyway, I've only gotten partway through the opening ceremony, but wow, the whole float thing with the history of Greece was absolutely amazing! All these people in bodypaint and rigid costumes recreating paintings from the Knossos Palace on Crete, to the Caryatids on the Acropolis, to this collection of people donning cast-like gowns and assembling to form one of the pediments of the Parthenon. I mean, wow.

Just add a half cup of butter...

Julia Child died last night. She was 91.

I used to love watching her cooking show when I was a kid, the way she would throw stuff around and make it all look easy.

My playlist for this weekend

• Swing of Things - A-ha
• The Olympic Spirit - John Williams
• Summer of 69 - Bryan Adams
• Heaven - DJ Sammy
• Unwell - Matchbox 20
• Rock Your Body - Justin Timberlake
• In My Pocket - Mandy Moore
• Safety Dance - Men Without Hats
• Reach - Gloris Estefan
• There You Go (Dance) - Pink
• Save a Prayer - Duran Duran

Memories

I tried to do some table code and Blogger freaked out. Note to self: do not try to preview table code in Blogger.

Anyway, here's a pic from my Greece trip back in 1999. I was so glad to actually see Olympia (very peaceful, just rows of huge tumbled columns among whispering cypress and pines), Athens, Corfu, Santorini, and Mykonos. More later maybe.

Everyone Loves you, Mr President!

That is, everyone who has agreed to sign the loyalty form (thank you, Gene), which is a requirement before being allowed to attend many Bush/Cheney appearances.

I guess that's why on Larry King Live he said that he 'doesn't see the anger' supposedly directed against him. Could he be that stupid/sheltered/naive? I'd be happy to show him my anger.

I'm a spinning DJ

I thought I'd do a new post in response to Joel's question about how the music for class gets chosen. The short answer is: Purely at the whim of the instructor.

The long answer... Naturally the idea is to pick stuff appropriate for cycling. In training it's suggested that we generally stick to high-energy stuff, try to mix it up with types and periods somewhat. You can even buy pre-mixed spinning class CDs from the Johnny G company (the people who trademarked Spinning®).

Doug's morning class mixes have been more towards pop; the night mix had Metallica and AC/DC and other metal/hard rock stuff mostly. One guy Chris was pretty lazy: he had two dance/trance mix CDs that he would alternate week to week. Snore. Another guy had a reputation for playing 'really weird stuff -- like gregorian chant and opera.' Don't know what happened to him. Mitch usually does mostly mainstream rock with a couple of 80's songs thrown in:

Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F
Jan Hammer - Miami Vice Theme
Robyn - Show Me Love
T'Pau - Heart And Soul
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
D or A - You Spin Me Right Around
Depeche Mode - All I Ever Wanted
In The House Of Stone And Light
Vertical Horizon - I'm Still Here
BNL - Another Postcard
Dirty Vegas - Days Go By

Naturally we try to choreogrph different stuff with the different songs, (e.g., sprints and climbs and other drills) to keep it interesting. It isn't 45 minutes of just pedalling along at the same pace and resistance.

I, through the magic of iTunes, have been concocting and tweaking mixes compulsively. It's too bad that we aren't allowed to plug outside things into the speaker system or I could run it right off my iPod. Maybe I'll post some playlists as I run them.

He's not full of himself... yet.

According to the Washington Post today, at his arrival interview Michael Phelps was "humble, gracious, diplomatic, patriotic and optimistic."

He's also looking forward to his matchup with Aussie Ian "Thorpedo" Thorpe. Aren't we all?

DougSpin

Today's class included a song by Madonna (!), Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode (I remember someone on 'I love the 80's on VH-1 referring to Tears for Fears as "Depeche Mode for straight people.") and White Wedding by Billy Idol. I need to work on my playlists for this weekend's classes...

Fixing Hubble

I guess this robot plan is better than nothing, but -- as much as I love the Mars Rovers -- repairing something like the Hubble seems an awfully complex thing to do remotely.

More Twin Fun

Ok, yeah there will be other athletes competing at the Olympics besides Mikey Phelps. Among them, in gymnastics, a pair of twins: the Hamm brothers, Paul and Morgan.

Not bad, though the one on the left should lose that awful butt cut.

Argh

Well I'd just about finished a long ranting post about WETA's annoying ads for its own programs when Safari crashed and ate the whole thing.

I'm going to bed.

Doug Doug the Cycle tease

So I went to Doug's hour-long cycle class tonight (not that big of a deal since I'm used to going to two 45-minute classes back to back). It was nearly full, but there were ten guys out of the maybe 25 people. About 10 minutes in he says "Oh, by the way, after this week I'm not going to be teaching classes..."

(Very Pregnant Pause. There are literally several gasps and mutterings of protest)

"...on Tuesday and Thursday nights anymore." (sighs of relief) "Classes are starting (he takes night classes, how cute) and I'll still be teaching two nights, I just don't know which yet."

Damn but that boy is arrogant. If I looked like him and had that body, I'd probably be arrogant too.

Michael Phelps: culture victim?

By all accounts he's a very sweet guy, but apparently his iPod is loaded ful of rap music, and he drives an Escalade (bad) with those hideous silver spinny things on the wheels.

He needs a visit from Queer Eye's Jai Rodriquez.

HD TV Dilemma

Comcast called me Sunday to sell me on an HD upgrade. Normally I would just say 'no' on principle because a) I hate phone solicitations, and b) I hate them even more on a weekend.

But I have been sort of meaning to get it, and the Olympics (Michael Phelps) is drawing ever closer.

The thing is, I have TiVo on the tv in my bedrooom, just a little 20" model but fine for most stuff. In the living room sits the monster 50" flatscreen that I ONLY use to watch DVDs. Watching regular TV on it is painful. Naturally the HD box woud go in the living room. For $9 more I can get a box with the built-in hard drive so it's like a poor-man's TiVo.

Now I'm having second thoughts. Is it really worth it? I already have a bunch of stuff backed up on my TiVo because I just don't watch a lot of TV, (I think MTV in the 80's and now TiVo has shortened my attention span) I can't sit through an entire hour of TV, or even 40 minutes after I zap the commercials.

At least apparently even after upgrading to HD, the old analog stuff still comes down the pipe, so the TiVo in the bedroom will work just like before.

Ah being a Libra... every decision is agony.

TEAM AMERICA

OMG! Thunderbirds meets South Park! TEAM AMERICA

Touch Of Pink

This movie looks cute (though it reminds me of one of my favorite movies, The Wedding Banquet.

A new toy!

This is an amusing diversion..."Dishonest Dubya" Lying Action Figure Doll

One Night in Paris, Part 2?

Uh oh. This from the Scotsman.com (also reported in the Washington Post today)

Police are investigating a burglary at the Hollywood Hills home of Paris and Nicky Hilton.

Someone broke into the house on Wednesday night, but detectives have not identified a suspect, Officer Esther Reyes said yesterday. She wouldn’t comment on what was stolen, citing the ongoing investigation.

“Everything ... Just all my valuables. All my jewellery. All my money,” Paris Hilton, star of the Fox reality show The Simple Life 2, told KABC-TV during a visit to the home yesterday.

Hilton, who was not home at the time of the break-in, did not specify what was taken. She arrived carrying her pet Chihuahua, which was dressed in a pink outfit.

Us Weekly magazine quoted an un-named Hilton family member who said that the burglar took hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, jewellery and personal items.

Another unnamed source told the magazine that a laptop computer, several designer purses, video tapes and photographs of Paris Hilton with ex-boyfriend Nick Carter were also taken.

The burning question of course is... videtapes of Paris and ex-bf Nick Carter doing what?

Dude!

Michael Phelps in the new AT&T tv ad... sigh.

He's even cuter live and in motion. "Dude, you're gonna hurt yourself. Here, try mine."

I'd love to try his.

The vast, right-wing conspiracy continues...

Veteran backs off attack on Kerry's war record

I'm sick with grief

I read this in the Washington Post today, and was also referred to it by Enviroboi who saw it on Wonkette:

...And it's not just Ambassador Promotions that lusts after Dubya's girls. We hear that 19-year-old Baltimore swimming sensation and world record-holder Michael Phelps -- who is expected to kick some major booty during the Summer Olympics, which begin next week -- has a thing for Jenna. A couple of weeks ago, Fox Sports' "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" told viewers the rumor was that Jenna had a crush on Phelps. A few days later, the swimming stud was having breakfast at his fave joint in Baltimore, Pete's Grill, and casually mentioned the flattering tidbit to owner Louis Sharkey. "So did you hear that Jenna Bush has a thing for me?" Sharkey recalls Phelps saying. (Side note: Conveniently, guess who's expected to accompany their grandfather to Greece to cheer on our teams? Jenna and Barbara!) "She's going to be poolside," Phelps said gleefully, according to Sharkey. "And she's so hot!"

Noooo!

Though I pointed out that when i was 19, I was still calling girls 'hot' (in denial), and Enviroboi made the additional point that we can still call women 'hot' as an objective observation (though we agreed that neither of the Bush twins were 'hot'). Additionally, can we believe anything that comes from Faux News?

I suggested that what Michael needed was to get hold of some of the supposed tens of thousands of condoms they are supplying to the athletes ask the Thorpedo to throw him down and shag him silly. That should take care of things.

But speaking of hot... last night on Big Brother 5 (my only current reality show indulgence) they showed Drew's twin brother Ben. Not only do they look identical but they have matching necklaces... Seeing this pair of matching hotties makes me think totally inapproriate things...

Lightning Storms on Saturn!

Cassini has seen variable Saturn Storms, possibly because of the variations of the planet's rings.

I thought this was particularly interesting because sometimes when doing world creation for Shadow World and Space Master, I wondered if thick planetary rings wouldn't wreak havoc with an earthlike planet's weather: the shadow would rob that region of warming sunlight and cool the air, so that there would be severe turbulence along the shadow line. Wouldn't you think?

Well it's a beautiful day here in Arlington (65 degrees and sunny) so I'm off to the Java Shack to write some.

Sigh

Doug Doug Doug.

You know I just go to his class to I can study his teaching technique and improve my own instruction, right? It's for the good of my students!

Oh stop snickering.

Today he was already in the room 20 minutes before class, pedaling away. When we started he was already glistening with perspiration... triceps bulging in sharp detail... ahem. Then 15 minutes into class he hopped off the bike and put on this big bulky long sleeved t-shirt that hung way down. Boooo!

Then he prowled the room while shouting out instructions, crouching in the center of the room, then standing right next to you, then leaning in to look at your heart rate monitor. Eek!

At the end of class he gave this little pep talk about how good everyone did and how we were all focused. Hmm. Then, as usual, when he said class was over and thanks for coming, he said "No clapping!"

The first time he said it I wasn't sure he really did. Now I'm sure and I'm still trying to figure out his motivation. At the end of my classes I always get a little applause and thank-yous from everyone. With a full class like his (I've never been in a cycling class as full as his regularly is) I guess it would be thunderous...

Maybe he's just trying to be modest.

Yeah, right.

Howard the Pit Bull

Howard Dean has found a wonderful new role for which he is ideally suited and he seems to genuinely relish: Democratic attack dog. Tonight he was on Anderson Cooper 360 talking about the suspicious timing of the newest terror alert.

Cooper: "Tom Ridge said that 'Homeland Security doesn't play politics.' Do you believe him?"

Dean: "No."

Whether Weather

Today's weather in DC: High of 92 (feels like 97 with humidity), low of 76, chance of thunderstorm

Today's weather in San Francisco: High of 70, low of 59, partly cloudy.

Damn.

Must... not... give... in...

Of course I just got an email from the DC fitness director asking if I can sub the Friday 6:45 am spin class at Dupont Circle.

No thanks!

Is that the Apocalyse I hear approaching?

Yes, I -- the guy who hates phones, hates talking on the phone, and tenses up when a phone rings -- think it's time to get a new wireless phone. But it's not all that surprising, because (besides the fact that my current phone is about 5 years old and has none of the following features and I am on the $17 a month 'I never use my phone' plan) I don't want to use it for talking. I want to use it for:

• Text messaging


• Getting and sending email


• Bluetooth syncing with my iCal calendar and address book.


• A camera (maybe to take up Joel on his suggestion to get a pic of College-boy Matt). But I would never stoop to trying to snap stud-boy Doug the cycling teacher...


• And because of events like this, I'd like to have it work in the Metro, which I think limits me to Verizon.

As an aside, I thought about ditching my lanline after getting a new wireless but realized that I can't: My TiVo needs the line to call in every day and get the schedule. My TiVo talks on the phone more than I do!

The Sony Ericsson Z600 looks really cool, but I can't seem to find any service who sells it. Supposedly Verizon is offering -- or is about to offer -- the Motorola v710, and it looks okay too.

Anyone have any suggestions? Input?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Note to Self

Do NOT agree to sub a 6:45 am spinning class at the North Dupont Washington Sports! Getting up at 5 am... and teaching is way more of a pain that just showing up (as I plan to do for Douggie's 6:15 am class tomorrow). But Doug's is also in Clarendon, a 5 minute drive as opposed to a 15 minute walk/20 minute metro ride (Orange/Blue, transfer to Red)/10 minute walk...

The South Dupont one wouldn't have been nearly as bad, just my usual 25 minute work commute.

It's 8:30, I'm at work and thinking how nice my bed would feel right now.

Michael who?

So, I'm walking towards my front door tonight, trying not to get fingerprints on my Michael Phelps Time Magazine cover, and in the dusk I see Matt (I call him 'college boy Matt' behind his back, even though he's 2 years out of school now I think. Handsome, about my height -- 5'11" -- short blond hair, he looks very much like Steven the Dell Dude but not so smarmy; as far as I can tell Matt is straight, though he does have to seem as many male as female overnight visitors; they could all be platonic for all I know) heading in from the opposite direction, guitar slung over his shoulder, SHIRTLESS and wearing those baggy silly pajama/lounge pants he seems to love. He gives me this big shout and a wave "Hello Terry, how's it going!?"

I say something dumb like "Not bad, a little warm for me." (it's still 80's at 8:30 pm, and killer humidity; I hate it). Meanwhile I am thinking do not stare at his bare chest... do not stare at his bare chest... He's not super-cut, but has nice definition, and as far as I could tell by not staring, totally smooth.

He's a little behind me so I think it would look silly to stand and wait for him in the courtyard since we don't tend to do more than say hi and exchange pleasantries, so I keep moving and he starts to run to catch up! So I slow down then (do not stare at his bare chest... do not stare at his bare chest...) and he jogs up, looking as cute and Dell-Dude like as ever, grinning ear to ear. "So, what have you been up to?" He asks.

"Nothing much, work mostly"

"So what do you do anyway?"

"I work for a publisher downtown, I do IT, keep the computers running mostly." (a vast oversimplification)

"Oh, cool."

(I'm afraid to ask what he does since as far as I can tell he's unemployed, but then he volunteers, like a proud little kid...)

"Well I'm working on the Hill on staff for a congressman!" (keep in mind this is also what DC gay guys like to brag about to other gay guys in bars to show how important they are ["What do you do?" "I work on 'the Hill'"]; somehow it doesn't come off as self-important from him though... with his bare chest and guitar.)

"That's great, which one?"

"Robert Brady, from PA. He's a moderate Democrat... not too crazy liberal" And he does this hand-wavering thing. And I am thinking... this from the kid who:

A) since he is in politics, MUST know what the 'HRC' stands for on the Gerorge W Bush: You're Fired! sticker I left him a few weeks ago and he promptly stuck on his door, and

B) is about as bohemian as they come, performing anti-war/anti-Bush poetry at local coffeehouses. (I mean, really.)

What, does he not know I'm a left-wing gay guy? I have the same HRC sticker on MY door!

Anyway, he goes on about (do not stare at chest, do not stare at chest...) how he has an interview to work for some transportation and infrastructure committee and how exciting that is because it's a LOT more money and then he could stop eating tuna fish.

I laugh politely and wish him good luck with the interview, even as I am thinking tuna fish, reah right. Your M.D. dad bought you this condo to live in while you spent 5 years getting a 4 year degree at verrry expensive Georgetown University. And I see your pizza and chinese delivery boxes and cases of wine bottles (Robert Mondavi isn't vintage but it isn't out of a box either) you toss out the door before taking out the trash. And here you are 2 years out of school about to land a pretty enviable job. Enviable to a lot of people around here at least.

But he was so kind of boyishly giddy about it that it didn't seem pretentious coming from him. And why would he want to bother to impress me? He just seemed excited. We chatted a bit more then said goodnight.

So, that was like the longest conversation we'd ever had! Even longer than last week when he was all atingle to learn that I went to UVa (Note to self: wear UVa t-shirt -- which also gained fellow alum friends on RSVP Greece Cruise -- until it disintegrates) because his little brother was going there right now (!)

Yeah I know it's kind of lame that I'm all excited because some hot, sexy (did I mention shirtless at the time?) 24 year old neighbor starts getting all chatty with me. But hey, I say take your thrills where you can get them.

One of those days...

As I was bitching to Enviroboi earlier today...

Don't you every have those days where you "get up on the wrong side of the bed" and you have a really short fuse? Every little thing is pissing me off. Actually it started in Courthouse this morning when the light turned green and some oncoming ass in a Matrix tried to cut me off by turning left in front of me as I was going straight. I hate that. And I don't let people get away with it. I go right into the intersection like I can't believe they are not yielding to my right of way, make a shocked face, and lay on the horn (as much as I hate horns). These people deserve to be punished and humiliated (as if arrogant 'I'm more important and in a bigger hurry than you so I can cut in front of you' asses like him can be humiliated and shamed, but I try).

Anyway, I was doing better enjoying a bagel and coffee in the Java Shack while working on my fiction project, but by the time I was walking to the Rossyn Metro I was hot and sweaty and feeling that short-fuse irritation rising again. On the Metro, I watched in disgust as a tourist family sat and shoved a bag full of cookies into their slobbering maws, wondering where the Metro Cops were (oh, right, off guarding the World Bank or arresting 45-year-old women who are chewing the remainder of a candy bar. But then I realized that Metro doesn't do a very good job of telling one-timers like tourists that food and drink consumption are verboten. The signs are small and unobtrusive. So I cut them a break in my mind.

Then at work the usual frustrations, among them a sales person bringing in some client and having my assistant tutor them in Illustrator against my express wishes. This is a production shop, not a school. Gr.

I'm not looking forward to dragging my ass in at the crack of dawn to teach a spinning class at Dupont at 6:45 either. Blech.

Street Closing Irks D.C. Leaders

I really, really want to move away from here.

Water Boy

I'm going to run, not walk, home to get my copy of this week's TIME magazine!

To Boldly Go...

Ooooh! Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete First Season

Poor Weather Pixie

She's overloaded.

Old is 'New' again

Gene beat me to it... but here's the clip from the Washington Post:

Most of the al Qaeda surveillance of five financial institutions that led to a new terrorism alert Sunday was conducted before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and authorities are not sure whether the casing of the buildings has continued since then, numerous intelligence and law enforcement officials said yesterday.

More than half a dozen government officials interviewed yesterday, who declined to be identified because classified information is involved, said that most, if not all, of the information about the buildings seized by authorities in a raid in Pakistan last week was about three years old, and possibly older.

“There is nothing right now that we’re hearing that is new,” said one senior law enforcement official who was briefed on the alert. “Why did we go to this level? . . . I still don’t know that.”

So, the 'new' terror alert, announced just days after the Dem convention, which is centered on D.C. and NY (where the Repub con will be) is based on documents three years old? What about that infamous 'chatter' Ridge was babbling about?

And on another note, Ridge says he may leave his post even if Bush is re-un-elected. Add him to Condi and Powell.

Maybe they are all tired of lying.

The Village

Well, I'm glad I didn't run out and see The Village, if this DataLounge discussion is any indication of the movie.

I was guessing that the 'twist' was that they were on some alien planet and being kept as pets... guess that was too out there.

Thunderbirds are Go!

I just saw Thunderbirds... it was okay, a little more 'kiddie' overall than I'd hoped, sort of like what I'd expect to see on the Disney Channel. I do wonder what they are thinking doing a movie targeted at kids and yet based on a Brit puppet series like 20 (30?) years old...

But anyway... maybe I was imagining things, but what was up with little pudgy genius Fermat and young Alan Tracy? Checking each other out dripping wet in their underwear? Fermat putting his head on Alan's shoulder and snuggling? Their hands touching sweetly as they power up Thunderbird 1? What's up with those two?

And on another gay front, could Lady Penelope have been any more fabulous?

And the totally gratuitous pool party at the end with the four older brothers in swim trunks -- and featuring Alan's treasure trail -- was appreciated, thanks Commander Riker!

And finally, off that topic, did anyone else catch the homage to the old series? Just as Alan and Fermat were about to launch Thunderbird 1, there was a very brief shot, lit in dim blue light, of an obviously artificial hand, suspended by several filament wires, on a power lever.

I love Jonathan Frakes.