Just heard on KPOJ 620: the Public Utilities Commission has denied Texas Pacific Group's endeavor to annex PGE.
I'll leave the details to others. In the meantime, those of you who hate Enron and Texas and greedy graspers who want to make thier livings off your backs can do the happy dance.
By Samuel John Klein of Portland, Oregon - Graphic Designer without Portfolio, aspiring artist who dawdled too long.
10 March 2005
[tech] Gmail For The Asking
I have 25 Gmail invites available for the asking. First 25 followups to this posting gets one.
09 March 2005
[sundial_life] We Have A Date With The Fab Five
No, not the Queer Eye fellas. Think back to the 80's.
Tomorrow night at eight o'clock, when the lights go up at the Rose Garden, me and The Wife[tm] will be there, having the fun we should have had when we were still in High School.
I will be able to say that I have seen Duran Duran live.
Section 220, seats in the O row.
No, it's not the floor, but from where i come from, you're thankful for what you can get, and spend little (if any) time regretting what you can't reach for. And that means being thankful for, as long as you had to wait to get some idea that the funding was even likely, you didn't have to settle for 300 level.
Tomorrow night at eight o'clock, when the lights go up at the Rose Garden, me and The Wife[tm] will be there, having the fun we should have had when we were still in High School.
I will be able to say that I have seen Duran Duran live.
Section 220, seats in the O row.
No, it's not the floor, but from where i come from, you're thankful for what you can get, and spend little (if any) time regretting what you can't reach for. And that means being thankful for, as long as you had to wait to get some idea that the funding was even likely, you didn't have to settle for 300 level.
08 March 2005
[us_politics] I Expect Them To Bring Back Debtors Prison Anytime Now
By now it's well known that the appalling and Newspeak-ly named "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" will be put to a vote sometime in the next day or two on the Senate floor where, conventional wisdom says it will pass.
Thanks to this legislation, one of the biggest things you will not have to worry about is that Chapter 13 bankruptcy will be effectively elilminated for you as a refuge if lingering unemployement or catastrophic health problems beggar you utterly. Some principled stands were taken, however. Senator Durbin, Democrat of Illinios, introduced an amendment with the laudatory and reasonable aim of giving protection to servicemembers (you know, the military...the troops we all are supposed to be supporting?)
Well, that was defeated, 58 to 38. Supporting the troops is fine as something you are expected to do. When it comes to a US Senator, well...there you go.
There was an amendment, introduced by Senator Kennedy (D-Mass, or D-Hell, if you're a R) that had the aim of exempting people who were beggared by horrendous medical debt from the means test. Given that a good deal of the Chapter 13's emanate from this cause, not from spendthrifty irresponsiblity (that's the marketing angle), you'd think that that is also a reasonable thing to do. You'd be wrong, silly taxpayer. Defeated, 58 to 39.
There was also an amendment from Senator Dayton of Minnesota, that would limit the interest rate you can be charged to a measly 30%. Defeated. 74 to 24.
This is being marketed to you all as an attack on irresponsible borrowers. This is hypocrisy. Most bankruptcies aren't a result of people spending without limit and not thinking of the consequences. Rather, they are a result of a shaky economy and people having to exaust savings and credit to get through periods of unemployment and serious illness-in other words, things that can happen to any of us...you, me, anyone.
Oh, you'll sit there and think you have all your dux in ero and they won't ever come for you remember that life is perverse, and in this economy you could be out of work tomorrow. And the job you find after that will pay less and you won't have insurance. And the people who make the laws you have to live by live in a bubble where they are all prosperous and doing well and they think everybody else is that way too. I mean, it's either that, or they hate poor people and want to kick them when they're down.
And how did Oregon's only real Senator, Wyden, vote?
Well, he gets two out of three. He did not object to the usury cap.
However, in the greater scheme, he did something I admire quite a bit. The motion called cloture, which ends substantive debate on all amendments, is what essentially sets the stage for vote on the bill. And Wyden voted against cloture, which regrettably passed 69 to 31.
Follow this link to the US Senate page which lists the roll call. The yeas are the Senators who voted for you and your interests. The nays are the Senators who voted to allow creditors to roll over you until you explode like a rotten banana.
Overall I'm pleased with Wyden on this, but he'd better have a damned good reason for voting against usury caps.
And I'd suggest the lot of you go out and get second jobs to pay off those credit cards. After this bill passes, your gonads will belong to them.
Oh, and read this page at Talking Points Memo, which explains, cogently and succintly, why you should Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid[tm applied for].
Thanks to this legislation, one of the biggest things you will not have to worry about is that Chapter 13 bankruptcy will be effectively elilminated for you as a refuge if lingering unemployement or catastrophic health problems beggar you utterly. Some principled stands were taken, however. Senator Durbin, Democrat of Illinios, introduced an amendment with the laudatory and reasonable aim of giving protection to servicemembers (you know, the military...the troops we all are supposed to be supporting?)
Well, that was defeated, 58 to 38. Supporting the troops is fine as something you are expected to do. When it comes to a US Senator, well...there you go.
There was an amendment, introduced by Senator Kennedy (D-Mass, or D-Hell, if you're a R) that had the aim of exempting people who were beggared by horrendous medical debt from the means test. Given that a good deal of the Chapter 13's emanate from this cause, not from spendthrifty irresponsiblity (that's the marketing angle), you'd think that that is also a reasonable thing to do. You'd be wrong, silly taxpayer. Defeated, 58 to 39.
There was also an amendment from Senator Dayton of Minnesota, that would limit the interest rate you can be charged to a measly 30%. Defeated. 74 to 24.
This is being marketed to you all as an attack on irresponsible borrowers. This is hypocrisy. Most bankruptcies aren't a result of people spending without limit and not thinking of the consequences. Rather, they are a result of a shaky economy and people having to exaust savings and credit to get through periods of unemployment and serious illness-in other words, things that can happen to any of us...you, me, anyone.
Oh, you'll sit there and think you have all your dux in ero and they won't ever come for you remember that life is perverse, and in this economy you could be out of work tomorrow. And the job you find after that will pay less and you won't have insurance. And the people who make the laws you have to live by live in a bubble where they are all prosperous and doing well and they think everybody else is that way too. I mean, it's either that, or they hate poor people and want to kick them when they're down.
And how did Oregon's only real Senator, Wyden, vote?
Well, he gets two out of three. He did not object to the usury cap.
However, in the greater scheme, he did something I admire quite a bit. The motion called cloture, which ends substantive debate on all amendments, is what essentially sets the stage for vote on the bill. And Wyden voted against cloture, which regrettably passed 69 to 31.
Follow this link to the US Senate page which lists the roll call. The yeas are the Senators who voted for you and your interests. The nays are the Senators who voted to allow creditors to roll over you until you explode like a rotten banana.
Overall I'm pleased with Wyden on this, but he'd better have a damned good reason for voting against usury caps.
And I'd suggest the lot of you go out and get second jobs to pay off those credit cards. After this bill passes, your gonads will belong to them.
Oh, and read this page at Talking Points Memo, which explains, cogently and succintly, why you should Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid[tm applied for].
[design] The First Professional Thing
I don't know how far I have which toe in what door, but I've done something right.
Pariah Burke, of whom I've mentioned before in this ongoing chronicle, is making a book on Adobe Illustrator CS. He pitched the book to Sam's Publishing and they asked me to review his proposal.
That was flattering enough. And I got two free computer books for my trouble, which is, as anyone who has tech will tell you, always cool.
Well, it goes to the next level. I have just been asked to be technical editor on that book
This is amazing. I feel like the ugly duckling that got invited to the party.
It won't make me rich. But it will pay most of a mortgage payment. And that's not the whole point either. Being able to contribute to the success of someone I admire, helping spread knowledge on a good bit of software. And, yes, of course, it'll look good amongst my still scanty curriculum vitae.
But one has to start somewhere. And I have nothing but gratitude for this good fortune.
Pariah Burke, of whom I've mentioned before in this ongoing chronicle, is making a book on Adobe Illustrator CS. He pitched the book to Sam's Publishing and they asked me to review his proposal.
That was flattering enough. And I got two free computer books for my trouble, which is, as anyone who has tech will tell you, always cool.
Well, it goes to the next level. I have just been asked to be technical editor on that book
This is amazing. I feel like the ugly duckling that got invited to the party.
It won't make me rich. But it will pay most of a mortgage payment. And that's not the whole point either. Being able to contribute to the success of someone I admire, helping spread knowledge on a good bit of software. And, yes, of course, it'll look good amongst my still scanty curriculum vitae.
But one has to start somewhere. And I have nothing but gratitude for this good fortune.
[art, meme] The Good Ship O-Zone
I am absolutely obsessed with the airplan in the O-Zone video for Dragostea Din Tei. That is the coolest plane I've ever seen in my life.
I am going to make drawings of it. Absoluely have to. First the sketchbook, then do them up in Adobe Illustrator, I think. I'd like to make a 3D model of it, but I have no line on any modeling programs right now, and certainly no time to learn to use them.
I am going to make drawings of it. Absoluely have to. First the sketchbook, then do them up in Adobe Illustrator, I think. I'd like to make a 3D model of it, but I have no line on any modeling programs right now, and certainly no time to learn to use them.
[design] QwestDex Returns Local Color To Directories
Once upon a time, not so long ago (or was it...never mind), the phone company liked to dress up the yearly phone book by including a local scenically appropriate picture. When I was but a neat thing, back in Silverton, the company was Continental Telephone of the Northwest (which was also the reason a call to far-off Mount Angel, at a distance of four miles, was long distance, but never mind that now) and they provided some farm scene or forest scene or South Silver Creek falls scene (that's the one you usually see on postcards) on the adorable, slim (complete with hole poked through in the upper left to hang from a bit of string by the phone) directories.
This was phased out sometime in the '80's, when a more utilitaran and typographic approach was decided on. all Helevetica and American Typewriter.
This year, though, QwestDex returns local color...or maybe local duotone...to directory covers with this gem:
Clicky upon it to see it bigger. BTW, it's copyrighted by whoever the 7734 owns it, I get no money for displaying it. Never mind that now.
The photo, which is actually quite cleverly integrated with the QuestDex cover design style, is of the Gresham Central MAX Station. It's a nice touch, I think, and an example of what happens when design can be used to impart a local flavor and style to things. It's tied to our surroundings, and no matter what you think of Gresham, you have an emotional connection to the object, a sort of hometown feeling that's really missing from daily life these latter years.
And, for now, that's the design view from Baja Gresham.
This was phased out sometime in the '80's, when a more utilitaran and typographic approach was decided on. all Helevetica and American Typewriter.
This year, though, QwestDex returns local color...or maybe local duotone...to directory covers with this gem:
Clicky upon it to see it bigger. BTW, it's copyrighted by whoever the 7734 owns it, I get no money for displaying it. Never mind that now.
The photo, which is actually quite cleverly integrated with the QuestDex cover design style, is of the Gresham Central MAX Station. It's a nice touch, I think, and an example of what happens when design can be used to impart a local flavor and style to things. It's tied to our surroundings, and no matter what you think of Gresham, you have an emotional connection to the object, a sort of hometown feeling that's really missing from daily life these latter years.
And, for now, that's the design view from Baja Gresham.
06 March 2005
[meme_victim] Life Is What Happens Between Playings of Dragostea din Tei
Well, it's true. This one's gotten under my skin, and bad.
First, I see the Numa Numa Dance. Hey, I think, that's a catchy tune. What's it called...Ah. Dragostea din Tei, by the Romanian boy-dance-group O-Zone.
Well, what the hey, it's 99 cents. How far wrong can you go? And, whadyano, it is pretty good...relentless bass line, with a tasty, anthemy chorus that I just can't resist.
Oh, hey, what's that? A video? Cool. Let's check it out.
This is a bit about the O-Zone video of Dragostea din Tei.
This thing is all about moving and keeping it moving. We are apparently getting to see into the dream of one of the guys. There's a futuristic cityscape, and flashes of comic-style art like on the album cover. The guys run to a plane, and take off as the song powers up...
This is one fantastic plane. A fanciful combination of dance floor, all topped with a red "ON AIR" sign projecting out the top. The POVs of the video have insight into motion and mood that I've not seen since Russell Mulcahy's Duran Duran work back in the 80's
Comic-book scenes play tag with live-action scenes. The O-Zone guys pop up in surreal roles...cyborg with flower-behind-the ear, government agent, alien in a lab, costumed crime-fighter, Freddy Krueger, and then dissolve right back into thier
live-action selves. Then, just as the second go of the chorus gives out and we go to the bridge, with a load of a CD into a PowerMac and the pull of a couple of levers in the cockpit, the two inside fanjets transmogrify into the largest subwoofers the world has ever seen...with no apparent change in the plane's performance.
Those Airbus chappies can teach the Boeing boys a thing or two, I think.
The plane recedes into the distance, great solid waves of concentric sound radiating from the great speakers.
Then the dream ends. The fellow wakes up to one of his bandmates sketching out a storyboard or cartoon, with the band on a special plane.
All talk about this being fluff aside for the moment, whoever came up with the sounds and the video images understand one thing very well: how to come up with a tune makes you want to get up and get down to it, and how to compose video that compels. The video just seems to give more each time you watch it.
And I got this meme bad, folks. I mean, bad.
First, I see the Numa Numa Dance. Hey, I think, that's a catchy tune. What's it called...Ah. Dragostea din Tei, by the Romanian boy-dance-group O-Zone.
Well, what the hey, it's 99 cents. How far wrong can you go? And, whadyano, it is pretty good...relentless bass line, with a tasty, anthemy chorus that I just can't resist.
Oh, hey, what's that? A video? Cool. Let's check it out.
This is a bit about the O-Zone video of Dragostea din Tei.
This thing is all about moving and keeping it moving. We are apparently getting to see into the dream of one of the guys. There's a futuristic cityscape, and flashes of comic-style art like on the album cover. The guys run to a plane, and take off as the song powers up...
This is one fantastic plane. A fanciful combination of dance floor, all topped with a red "ON AIR" sign projecting out the top. The POVs of the video have insight into motion and mood that I've not seen since Russell Mulcahy's Duran Duran work back in the 80's
Comic-book scenes play tag with live-action scenes. The O-Zone guys pop up in surreal roles...cyborg with flower-behind-the ear, government agent, alien in a lab, costumed crime-fighter, Freddy Krueger, and then dissolve right back into thier
live-action selves. Then, just as the second go of the chorus gives out and we go to the bridge, with a load of a CD into a PowerMac and the pull of a couple of levers in the cockpit, the two inside fanjets transmogrify into the largest subwoofers the world has ever seen...with no apparent change in the plane's performance.
Those Airbus chappies can teach the Boeing boys a thing or two, I think.
The plane recedes into the distance, great solid waves of concentric sound radiating from the great speakers.
Then the dream ends. The fellow wakes up to one of his bandmates sketching out a storyboard or cartoon, with the band on a special plane.
All talk about this being fluff aside for the moment, whoever came up with the sounds and the video images understand one thing very well: how to come up with a tune makes you want to get up and get down to it, and how to compose video that compels. The video just seems to give more each time you watch it.
And I got this meme bad, folks. I mean, bad.
03 March 2005
[TV] Space:1999 Reference Seen In Fox TV's 24
We don't watch much television...but we do like The Adventures of Jack Bauer, a/k/a 24
Those who watched this last show know that Jack Bauer attempted to take down the main bad guy on the 29th floor of a downtown LA Office building. He was working on a 'net connection in the offices of a company called "IDS Systems".
Calling all Gerry and Sylvia Anderson fans, and those who loved Space:1999. Look reeeeal close at the logo of IDS Systems. There were fleeting looks, but one or two were clear enough to be seen even on jittery VHS pause.
The letters "IDS" were reversed out of a strange looking pattern...that bugged me. Until I recognized it.
It's a silhouette of the plan view of Moonbase Alpha.
Betcha I'm right. And the world heard it here first.
Yow!!!!!
Those who watched this last show know that Jack Bauer attempted to take down the main bad guy on the 29th floor of a downtown LA Office building. He was working on a 'net connection in the offices of a company called "IDS Systems".
Calling all Gerry and Sylvia Anderson fans, and those who loved Space:1999. Look reeeeal close at the logo of IDS Systems. There were fleeting looks, but one or two were clear enough to be seen even on jittery VHS pause.
The letters "IDS" were reversed out of a strange looking pattern...that bugged me. Until I recognized it.
It's a silhouette of the plan view of Moonbase Alpha.
Betcha I'm right. And the world heard it here first.
Yow!!!!!
02 March 2005
[net_life] Dragostea Din Tei
More on the song that inspired Numa Numa Dance
First, I realize that I was remiss in not including a link to it so that anybody who fell down this little hole would know where to see the Gary Boelsma masterwork.
The best place to see it would be at NewGrounds, this link will take you directly to the page that hosts the video. Click on WATCH THIS MOVIE! to have it load. I recommend the version without subtitles...the version with subtitles is okay, but you keep looking at both the image and subtitles and you miss the performance. View "Orignal Version" with care; there are flashes of still images which suggest a dark side to the comedy, some images will leave you scratching your head, others are just on the edge of workplace and family-room safe, and there is a quick glimpse of a bit of adult language.
Now, the song. I must correct myself: It's not a folk-pop song, but a rock-dance tune. The title is Dragostea Din Tei (as previously noted), and it's by a Romanian band called "O-Zone". You can get it at iTunes Music Store, and I recommend this if only because you get some cool cover art for the album DiscO-Zone, which it comes out of. At 99 cents, that's cheap at twice the price, and iTunes works on both Mac and Wintel, so you've no excuse.
The lyrics are Romanian, de course. You can find complete lyrics to the song , for the nonce anyway, here. Romanian is a very interesting language to listen to and to read. I don't think I've seen vowels ever have so much fun playing around.
Damn catchy song. It's a dance tune, so you can't help but tap your foot to it, and it's got that bouncy, EuroVision-song-contest beat that sounds like ABBA with a bit more of a techno polish, you know, the kind that says you really want to listen, don't you?
Out!
First, I realize that I was remiss in not including a link to it so that anybody who fell down this little hole would know where to see the Gary Boelsma masterwork.
The best place to see it would be at NewGrounds, this link will take you directly to the page that hosts the video. Click on WATCH THIS MOVIE! to have it load. I recommend the version without subtitles...the version with subtitles is okay, but you keep looking at both the image and subtitles and you miss the performance. View "Orignal Version" with care; there are flashes of still images which suggest a dark side to the comedy, some images will leave you scratching your head, others are just on the edge of workplace and family-room safe, and there is a quick glimpse of a bit of adult language.
Now, the song. I must correct myself: It's not a folk-pop song, but a rock-dance tune. The title is Dragostea Din Tei (as previously noted), and it's by a Romanian band called "O-Zone". You can get it at iTunes Music Store, and I recommend this if only because you get some cool cover art for the album DiscO-Zone, which it comes out of. At 99 cents, that's cheap at twice the price, and iTunes works on both Mac and Wintel, so you've no excuse.
The lyrics are Romanian, de course. You can find complete lyrics to the song , for the nonce anyway, here. Romanian is a very interesting language to listen to and to read. I don't think I've seen vowels ever have so much fun playing around.
Damn catchy song. It's a dance tune, so you can't help but tap your foot to it, and it's got that bouncy, EuroVision-song-contest beat that sounds like ABBA with a bit more of a techno polish, you know, the kind that says you really want to listen, don't you?
Out!
01 March 2005
[net_life] Yes, I Have Seen Numa Numa Dance
Yes, it's true, I have. After hearing it on Franken I couldn't resist.
Now, normally I don't write too much about trends. This is a lightly visited 'blog, which gives me some freedom, and I know if it's really really trendy, someone else can take up the slack that doesn't really need me to take up anyway.
But, gman250...wow. That's the funniest, goofiest, best thing I've seen in a long time.
Of course, I've followed the story as many others have. Found that he was so intimidated by his 15 minutes' time that he's kind of caved in. Quite a few commentators have said that it's sad that he's reacted so, and I agree.
Not that I'd dream of telling him he shouldn't react any differently than he is. He's an authentic sort. But I do wish he'd see that he's brightened the day of a hell of a lot of people by letting his guard down and getting goofy wi'it. After all, these are kind of dark times we're living in, and I know this when I compare them to the bright comic light this give off.
I mean, it's genius, really. Take a silly act, combine it with a Romanian folk-pop song nobody outside of Wallachia has ever heard of (for the record, it's Dragostea Din Tei, translated as "Love from the Linden Trees", and hey, it's available on iTunes, man!) and the world laughs with you. I lose it when it raises the eyebrow twice with the squeeky noise.
We need more silly people. Desparately.
Gary Boelsma, man, thanks for the joke. Don't let it get you down. We think you're cool.
Yea, I know, like he's gonna read my 'blog....
Now, normally I don't write too much about trends. This is a lightly visited 'blog, which gives me some freedom, and I know if it's really really trendy, someone else can take up the slack that doesn't really need me to take up anyway.
But, gman250...wow. That's the funniest, goofiest, best thing I've seen in a long time.
Of course, I've followed the story as many others have. Found that he was so intimidated by his 15 minutes' time that he's kind of caved in. Quite a few commentators have said that it's sad that he's reacted so, and I agree.
Not that I'd dream of telling him he shouldn't react any differently than he is. He's an authentic sort. But I do wish he'd see that he's brightened the day of a hell of a lot of people by letting his guard down and getting goofy wi'it. After all, these are kind of dark times we're living in, and I know this when I compare them to the bright comic light this give off.
I mean, it's genius, really. Take a silly act, combine it with a Romanian folk-pop song nobody outside of Wallachia has ever heard of (for the record, it's Dragostea Din Tei, translated as "Love from the Linden Trees", and hey, it's available on iTunes, man!) and the world laughs with you. I lose it when it raises the eyebrow twice with the squeeky noise.
We need more silly people. Desparately.
Gary Boelsma, man, thanks for the joke. Don't let it get you down. We think you're cool.
Yea, I know, like he's gonna read my 'blog....
28 February 2005
[design, blog_life] Odds and Ends 28.02.05
I Get Great Email Sometimes
So I get email tonight from a surprising young lady. Text follows:
Do I need to say that my heart melted just a bit when I saw that? How very cool and, sorry if this sounds patronizing, but I'm just gobstopped that a first-grader writes and speaks so danged well! Either she's precocious or I need to get out more. Heck, not even Your Truly spoke that well when he was six!
Quite an honor. Quite.
The website is still being hosted here.
New Links
Jeff Fisher Logomotives is the commercial website of a local graphic designer. He has a very successful practice and does great work...just look at his site. When we endeavor to enter a new field or get into the place we've always wanted to be, we tend to find examples of the kind of artist we wish to become. This is one of those sites (Pariah's would be another). He's also written a crackling good book you can get at Amazon and through Creative Latitude called The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success, which I"m partaking just now. It's a great read, a great design, fun and energetic. Contributes to the sense of hope. Also, there was an article in the Oregonian a few years back about Jeff which went a long way toward me investigating the field of graphic design, and largely contributed to me taking up the study.
Creative Latitude is a site by experienced designers for all designers. There is a lot of help and inspiration there for those of us starting out, and access to some free and useful tools for plying the trade (how does free Excel spreadsheets with hourly rate and billing and estimating calculators sound?). This is a must-visit if you're graphically designerly inclined.
Out!
So I get email tonight from a surprising young lady. Text follows:
Mr. Klein,
I am a 1st grade student doing a report on the Broadway Bridge. Your site was very helpful. I used a lot of information from it. I am working on my bibliography. I need to know what date you posted this article. Can you please email me back?
Thank you,
Gabriella
Do I need to say that my heart melted just a bit when I saw that? How very cool and, sorry if this sounds patronizing, but I'm just gobstopped that a first-grader writes and speaks so danged well! Either she's precocious or I need to get out more. Heck, not even Your Truly spoke that well when he was six!
Quite an honor. Quite.
The website is still being hosted here.
New Links
Jeff Fisher Logomotives is the commercial website of a local graphic designer. He has a very successful practice and does great work...just look at his site. When we endeavor to enter a new field or get into the place we've always wanted to be, we tend to find examples of the kind of artist we wish to become. This is one of those sites (Pariah's would be another). He's also written a crackling good book you can get at Amazon and through Creative Latitude called The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success, which I"m partaking just now. It's a great read, a great design, fun and energetic. Contributes to the sense of hope. Also, there was an article in the Oregonian a few years back about Jeff which went a long way toward me investigating the field of graphic design, and largely contributed to me taking up the study.
Creative Latitude is a site by experienced designers for all designers. There is a lot of help and inspiration there for those of us starting out, and access to some free and useful tools for plying the trade (how does free Excel spreadsheets with hourly rate and billing and estimating calculators sound?). This is a must-visit if you're graphically designerly inclined.
Out!
[pcc_life] You Can't Keep a Good Man Down. Or Me, For That Matter.
Today, registration opened online at my.pcc.
It has been an ordeal (To be precise, I had to deal! Thank you, Thompson!).
Now, I had all my dux in ero, as it were. Checked in with my advisor to make sure whether or not I had to get myself some slips signed. Cece said no, I was in the groove (well, she didn't say that...that was the gist).
So, I make my notes and get ready. At 0700 today, I was in front of the Mac, with my unCalendar open to the page with my info...good to go!!!!
At 0700, Secure Online Services opens for bidness. I go to registration...Hey! Says I can't register until 0800. Great! I'm keyed up as it is and I can't get down to business. So I bide my time untill 0800. Surf some web. Pet some cat. Read some comic.
0800: Bingo! The Add Classes webform loads...get my CRNs from the unCalendar...type 'em in...submit and....
GD 223, Graphic Design 6 ... Department Approval Required.
GD 229, Portfolio Prep ... Department Approval Required.
PT 244, Preparing Files for Print ... Department Approval Required.
I am not registered. Holy Moly. Visions of seats filling before I can get to them and my whole three year study made pointless by one thirty-minute time period. Now, I wasn't tired...I had taken a day off at TCWMNBN, and for no obvious reason slept 14 hours, rising at 0200 approx. But because of this Twilight Zone (cue music) rhythm that I had done, I was feeling decidedly weird. Then, an hour previous, I was feeling weird and keyed-up. Now, I was feeling weird, keyed-up, and about to fly into a panic.
Soon enough, me and The Wife[tm] were on the way up to Sylvania campus (a trip that was supposed to have been rendered...well, academic...by the 'web). Now, I knew it was possible that the last thing I was going to see was my advisor in her office, but that's on me, and it's the chance you take by just dropping in when you can at any time. Instructors are busy people and get called away an awful lot. So, it didn't surprise me when she wasn't in the office. So, me and The Wife[tm] cooled our heels outside the office for a few minutes.
Deciding that maybe there was some fly in the ointment that had cleared up by then, we went to the Computer Resource Center in the CC Building to try from there. I could tell then that Registration was having at least as bad a day as I was. myPCC was in serious trouble. I'd noted this when I tried to reload the page at home before striking out; the load just hung and wouldn't go anywhere. A helpful CRC tutor knew just what I was trying to do, came over, told me to go to the BanWEB main page, click through to the Tillamook Bay CC login page, and go from their server. It worked. But it didn't solve my problem, I was still getting the message that "Department Approval Required".
Back to in front of my advisors office. She didn't come by yet, but her operational peer and organizational subordinate (it's a small department) Linnea Gruber showed up. I told her my problem and the both of us went in to see Deb Schwing in the GD Mac Lab. As it turned out, the college was doing this to all graphic design majors and they were preparing to hand out green override slips to all qualified comers. Linnea had Deb write me out one, seeing as I'd come all that way just for that.
If I ever get a billion dollars, these people are getting a ton of money. Each.
So, hie us hence to the CC Building, to see the registration person. Wait in the line. Slide the green slip across. Tap-tap-tap on the computer keys and....
There's a problem.
Oh, yes. Another problem. I was getting a "Co-requisite" message on the one class I needed most desperately, Graphic Design 6. Seems that there's a course, "Combined Graphic Applications". GD 242. A course that has you use a combination of programs to produce a product...Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign (PCC's gone off QuarkXPress)...It was substituted with a course in beginning InDesign.
FWIW, I'm glad I got to know basic InDesign. Anyway.
The system had flagged that I hadn't taking GD 242, while ignoring the datum that this other class was supposed to be a a valid substitution for it. The regsitrar would not register me for Graphic Design 6. And fall went my crest, again.
"This is turning into a nightmare," I say to The Wife[tm], who is my emotional support system right now, and no doubt knows it. Back to the front of my advisor's office to linger until she shows up. I'm starting to feel like a stalker. This is so not fair.
Eventually she shows up. This is the kind of quality Cece Custforth is: The Wife[tm] is examining a bruise on her leg, and Cece comes up, and I say "There's a problem", and she looks at The Wife[tm] examining her leg, thinking there's been an injury and she needs help. How could you not idolize a person like this?
But I do tell her my problem and she promises There Will Be A Solution. Something about the way she says it calms me down a great deal and I believe her. We go.
I get home and check my registration at PCC and...there it is. I'm registered for all the classes I need to graduate.
I nominate the faculty of PCC Graphic Design for sainthood. I don't care if they might not be Catholic. Also, I have the best advisor in the world. Don't try to compete with her..you cahnt.
Now, all I have to do to close out this term is get that paper on German-Oregonian history done, and design a poster to go with it. I'm breathing again.
And the funny thing is, about halfway through this next term, when I got two projects due and I'm getting by on about three hours of sleep a day because I'm still having to do four tens at TCWMNBN, I'm going to wonder if it was worth it, getting all stressed about it. And I may think it wasn't. But I will be wrong.
When that diploma is in my hands I"ll realize that...it was. Oh, yes. It was.
It has been an ordeal (To be precise, I had to deal! Thank you, Thompson!).
Now, I had all my dux in ero, as it were. Checked in with my advisor to make sure whether or not I had to get myself some slips signed. Cece said no, I was in the groove (well, she didn't say that...that was the gist).
So, I make my notes and get ready. At 0700 today, I was in front of the Mac, with my unCalendar open to the page with my info...good to go!!!!
At 0700, Secure Online Services opens for bidness. I go to registration...Hey! Says I can't register until 0800. Great! I'm keyed up as it is and I can't get down to business. So I bide my time untill 0800. Surf some web. Pet some cat. Read some comic.
0800: Bingo! The Add Classes webform loads...get my CRNs from the unCalendar...type 'em in...submit and....
GD 223, Graphic Design 6 ... Department Approval Required.
GD 229, Portfolio Prep ... Department Approval Required.
PT 244, Preparing Files for Print ... Department Approval Required.
I am not registered. Holy Moly. Visions of seats filling before I can get to them and my whole three year study made pointless by one thirty-minute time period. Now, I wasn't tired...I had taken a day off at TCWMNBN, and for no obvious reason slept 14 hours, rising at 0200 approx. But because of this Twilight Zone (cue music) rhythm that I had done, I was feeling decidedly weird. Then, an hour previous, I was feeling weird and keyed-up. Now, I was feeling weird, keyed-up, and about to fly into a panic.
Soon enough, me and The Wife[tm] were on the way up to Sylvania campus (a trip that was supposed to have been rendered...well, academic...by the 'web). Now, I knew it was possible that the last thing I was going to see was my advisor in her office, but that's on me, and it's the chance you take by just dropping in when you can at any time. Instructors are busy people and get called away an awful lot. So, it didn't surprise me when she wasn't in the office. So, me and The Wife[tm] cooled our heels outside the office for a few minutes.
Deciding that maybe there was some fly in the ointment that had cleared up by then, we went to the Computer Resource Center in the CC Building to try from there. I could tell then that Registration was having at least as bad a day as I was. myPCC was in serious trouble. I'd noted this when I tried to reload the page at home before striking out; the load just hung and wouldn't go anywhere. A helpful CRC tutor knew just what I was trying to do, came over, told me to go to the BanWEB main page, click through to the Tillamook Bay CC login page, and go from their server. It worked. But it didn't solve my problem, I was still getting the message that "Department Approval Required".
Back to in front of my advisors office. She didn't come by yet, but her operational peer and organizational subordinate (it's a small department) Linnea Gruber showed up. I told her my problem and the both of us went in to see Deb Schwing in the GD Mac Lab. As it turned out, the college was doing this to all graphic design majors and they were preparing to hand out green override slips to all qualified comers. Linnea had Deb write me out one, seeing as I'd come all that way just for that.
If I ever get a billion dollars, these people are getting a ton of money. Each.
So, hie us hence to the CC Building, to see the registration person. Wait in the line. Slide the green slip across. Tap-tap-tap on the computer keys and....
There's a problem.
Oh, yes. Another problem. I was getting a "Co-requisite" message on the one class I needed most desperately, Graphic Design 6. Seems that there's a course, "Combined Graphic Applications". GD 242. A course that has you use a combination of programs to produce a product...Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign (PCC's gone off QuarkXPress)...It was substituted with a course in beginning InDesign.
FWIW, I'm glad I got to know basic InDesign. Anyway.
The system had flagged that I hadn't taking GD 242, while ignoring the datum that this other class was supposed to be a a valid substitution for it. The regsitrar would not register me for Graphic Design 6. And fall went my crest, again.
"This is turning into a nightmare," I say to The Wife[tm], who is my emotional support system right now, and no doubt knows it. Back to the front of my advisor's office to linger until she shows up. I'm starting to feel like a stalker. This is so not fair.
Eventually she shows up. This is the kind of quality Cece Custforth is: The Wife[tm] is examining a bruise on her leg, and Cece comes up, and I say "There's a problem", and she looks at The Wife[tm] examining her leg, thinking there's been an injury and she needs help. How could you not idolize a person like this?
But I do tell her my problem and she promises There Will Be A Solution. Something about the way she says it calms me down a great deal and I believe her. We go.
I get home and check my registration at PCC and...there it is. I'm registered for all the classes I need to graduate.
I nominate the faculty of PCC Graphic Design for sainthood. I don't care if they might not be Catholic. Also, I have the best advisor in the world. Don't try to compete with her..you cahnt.
Now, all I have to do to close out this term is get that paper on German-Oregonian history done, and design a poster to go with it. I'm breathing again.
And the funny thing is, about halfway through this next term, when I got two projects due and I'm getting by on about three hours of sleep a day because I'm still having to do four tens at TCWMNBN, I'm going to wonder if it was worth it, getting all stressed about it. And I may think it wasn't. But I will be wrong.
When that diploma is in my hands I"ll realize that...it was. Oh, yes. It was.
[meme] Saturday Slant: Urgent Spring
Pariah:
It changes, from year to year. Each year it's very much about how I'm feeling about where I'm going and what I'm doing with what I got.
Many years, I reluctantly let go of winter. I am a big fan of a small world; I love foggy days, I love days with cloudy overcast, I love long nights with warming rum drinks and movies. I often wonder if I'm an agoraphobic who just never got the hang of it.
Latterly I've been looking forward to spring. This one more than others; as I have occaisionally related I've been studying graphic design at PCC. This is it, my friends, the ultimate term. At the close of the Spring session I will at least have a diploma to show for my blood (no lie-#11 Xacto craft knifes are sharp!,), sweat (Photoshop performance-based tests), tears (that one "C" I got for a project nearly mowed me right down) and money (should be self-explanatory).
But will I be able to find a job? Who knows! Stay tuned to this 'blog, where I will no doubt pontificate on at painful length about it.
Anyway, I have a whole new skill set of really exciting tools and things I can do. This really is a halcyon time. It's interesting, but in the good way. I have hope, a possibility of a new career, something I really truly care about. Being a creative professional, I hear, is sometimes brutal. But the possible rewards far outshine the travails.
Also along the way I've met some interesting and inspiring people. I've met people who, as far as I'm concerned, could make the world turn on its axis only for their mere being.
The spring promises new possiblilities, this time around.
Though only late February, Spring is in the air. Crocus have blossomed alongside the daffodils, and the sunlight clings to day just a little bit longer. About this time of year Spring urges grip our hearts and minds. What are your urges?
Do your thoughts turn to romance and affairs of the heart? Do you begin to long for the beach, bicycle path, or swingsets? Do you dive into your closets, shelves and cubes dancing through your mind as holy crusade of organization begins to coalesce in your thoughts?
What does Spring do to you? In what mind does the warming, brightening days and greening trees place you? What are your Spring urges?
It changes, from year to year. Each year it's very much about how I'm feeling about where I'm going and what I'm doing with what I got.
Many years, I reluctantly let go of winter. I am a big fan of a small world; I love foggy days, I love days with cloudy overcast, I love long nights with warming rum drinks and movies. I often wonder if I'm an agoraphobic who just never got the hang of it.
Latterly I've been looking forward to spring. This one more than others; as I have occaisionally related I've been studying graphic design at PCC. This is it, my friends, the ultimate term. At the close of the Spring session I will at least have a diploma to show for my blood (no lie-#11 Xacto craft knifes are sharp!,), sweat (Photoshop performance-based tests), tears (that one "C" I got for a project nearly mowed me right down) and money (should be self-explanatory).
But will I be able to find a job? Who knows! Stay tuned to this 'blog, where I will no doubt pontificate on at painful length about it.
Anyway, I have a whole new skill set of really exciting tools and things I can do. This really is a halcyon time. It's interesting, but in the good way. I have hope, a possibility of a new career, something I really truly care about. Being a creative professional, I hear, is sometimes brutal. But the possible rewards far outshine the travails.
Also along the way I've met some interesting and inspiring people. I've met people who, as far as I'm concerned, could make the world turn on its axis only for their mere being.
The spring promises new possiblilities, this time around.
22 February 2005
[geek_life] I Have Ularn! I Have Ularn!
As of a couple of days ago, a long time dream of mine came true. Up until then it was partially true, and that is a good thing.
I have the game of Ularn now, not just on my Palm m130, but also on my PowerMac G4.
Ularn is a game that, maybe, requires a bit of explaining for almost anyone born before, say, 1978 or so.
Netosaurs remember games such as 'rogue', 'hack', or 'angband'. These are early adventure game programs. The aren't the old Infocom "Zork" text kind, though. These were as graphical as the day allowed; that is, they ran on character-based terminals using ANSI escapes to move the cursor around. The game displays tended to use characters such as the octothorp (the "pound" sign..."#") for walls and moving initials for monsters, such as 'K' for Kobold. You were typically a flashing block cursor.
Movement was by the keys h (west), j (north), k (south), l (east), y (NW), i (NE), b (SW), n (SE). Combat was performed by moving into your opponent, making sure you were wielding the right weapon and wearing armor. Spells were cast by typing a command key, entering the abbreviation for the spell, and then indicating the direction of cast (last step omitted for area-effect spells).
There were goals and things to collect. You moved your cursor over something to pick it up. Winning conditions went from simple to absolutely baroque.
Evolution happened in the games because they had a large fanbase of hackers (the old fashioned kind, that made useful things, not the misnomered system crackers) who would gleefully change the sources (usually programmed in c) and recompile. 'Hack' became 'nethack', 'angband' became 'Zangband' (which I have on my home machine).
In 1985 Noah Morgan, perhaps inspired by both 'hacklike' games and similar games produced for such home machines such as the Commodore 64, created 'larn'. Larn had the hacklike feel but gameplay was much simpler and I found it more intuitive.
Here, as they say, is the 'sitch': You have a critically ill daughter. She is afflicted with a malady called 'dianthoritis'. She will die in 400 'mobuls' (game turns) unless you venture into the caverns of Larn, where it is said that the magician Poliinaeus (no, I don't know where they get these names) created a potion that will cure her. Your quest is to venture into the caverns and find it.
Like other hacklike games, there is a town level. Larn's was very simple. There are widely spaced locations comprising: your home, the store, the trading post, the bank, the LRS (Larn Revenue Service) office, the dungeon entry, and the volcano's entry. First stop is the dungeons. You go in and out of that, gathering treasure and artifacts to cash in at the bank and sell at the store, until you have enough to buy the most powerful weapon, which you then take into the volcano, retreive the potion of dianthoritis (guarded by the most evil and meanest demon prince known), take it back to home, and give it to your daughter. If you aren't too late, she's cured and you win.
Some artifacts you use, of course. Potions can be quaffed or saved for later identification, scrolls can be used or saved for ID later as well. The ultimate artifact in the dungeon levels is the Eye of Larn, which allows the bearer to see the demon princes and gods and, if they can't be conqurered, at least they can be avoided. They will end your game.
That's Larn in a rather large nutshell. Evenually, by the hand of Phil Cordier, larn evolved into Ularn (Ultra Larn), taking dungeon levels from ten to fifiteen, and volcano levels from three to five. And that's the form I found the game in.
I've had it on systems from time to time, even to the point of compiling my own version of Ularn on an IBM PC some years back. I never did understand the Borland C compiler, only learnt as much as I needed to know to get the sources to compile. I did multiple versions depending on my mood and humor level, changing monster names as appropriate.
Now, I said that I had my dream realized, didn't I? I stumbled onton Nathan Tenney's variant Ularn page, which is home to his port of Ularn to OS X. Before that, I had found the Ularn legacy site, Ularn.org, which had a link to 'rougelike games for Palm OS' which is where I found the delightful "iLarn", which is Ularn for Palm OS.
The title page of the desktop version proclaims "The Addiction of Ularn". It's true. The source code has a line of comment up at the top of main.c proclaiming "This game is bad for you. It is evil. It will rot your brain." And that is true too. Why, the time I've spent over the years playing larn and ularn could have been spent on my plan to Dominate The World.
So, you better thank God that there's such a thing as Ularn, otherwise, I'd be your emperor now. And I am a jealous, capricious, and arbritary ruler. Oh, yes.
For now, it's "Game on".
I have the game of Ularn now, not just on my Palm m130, but also on my PowerMac G4.
Ularn is a game that, maybe, requires a bit of explaining for almost anyone born before, say, 1978 or so.
Netosaurs remember games such as 'rogue', 'hack', or 'angband'. These are early adventure game programs. The aren't the old Infocom "Zork" text kind, though. These were as graphical as the day allowed; that is, they ran on character-based terminals using ANSI escapes to move the cursor around. The game displays tended to use characters such as the octothorp (the "pound" sign..."#") for walls and moving initials for monsters, such as 'K' for Kobold. You were typically a flashing block cursor.
Movement was by the keys h (west), j (north), k (south), l (east), y (NW), i (NE), b (SW), n (SE). Combat was performed by moving into your opponent, making sure you were wielding the right weapon and wearing armor. Spells were cast by typing a command key, entering the abbreviation for the spell, and then indicating the direction of cast (last step omitted for area-effect spells).
There were goals and things to collect. You moved your cursor over something to pick it up. Winning conditions went from simple to absolutely baroque.
Evolution happened in the games because they had a large fanbase of hackers (the old fashioned kind, that made useful things, not the misnomered system crackers) who would gleefully change the sources (usually programmed in c) and recompile. 'Hack' became 'nethack', 'angband' became 'Zangband' (which I have on my home machine).
In 1985 Noah Morgan, perhaps inspired by both 'hacklike' games and similar games produced for such home machines such as the Commodore 64, created 'larn'. Larn had the hacklike feel but gameplay was much simpler and I found it more intuitive.
Here, as they say, is the 'sitch': You have a critically ill daughter. She is afflicted with a malady called 'dianthoritis'. She will die in 400 'mobuls' (game turns) unless you venture into the caverns of Larn, where it is said that the magician Poliinaeus (no, I don't know where they get these names) created a potion that will cure her. Your quest is to venture into the caverns and find it.
Like other hacklike games, there is a town level. Larn's was very simple. There are widely spaced locations comprising: your home, the store, the trading post, the bank, the LRS (Larn Revenue Service) office, the dungeon entry, and the volcano's entry. First stop is the dungeons. You go in and out of that, gathering treasure and artifacts to cash in at the bank and sell at the store, until you have enough to buy the most powerful weapon, which you then take into the volcano, retreive the potion of dianthoritis (guarded by the most evil and meanest demon prince known), take it back to home, and give it to your daughter. If you aren't too late, she's cured and you win.
Some artifacts you use, of course. Potions can be quaffed or saved for later identification, scrolls can be used or saved for ID later as well. The ultimate artifact in the dungeon levels is the Eye of Larn, which allows the bearer to see the demon princes and gods and, if they can't be conqurered, at least they can be avoided. They will end your game.
That's Larn in a rather large nutshell. Evenually, by the hand of Phil Cordier, larn evolved into Ularn (Ultra Larn), taking dungeon levels from ten to fifiteen, and volcano levels from three to five. And that's the form I found the game in.
I've had it on systems from time to time, even to the point of compiling my own version of Ularn on an IBM PC some years back. I never did understand the Borland C compiler, only learnt as much as I needed to know to get the sources to compile. I did multiple versions depending on my mood and humor level, changing monster names as appropriate.
Now, I said that I had my dream realized, didn't I? I stumbled onton Nathan Tenney's variant Ularn page, which is home to his port of Ularn to OS X. Before that, I had found the Ularn legacy site, Ularn.org, which had a link to 'rougelike games for Palm OS' which is where I found the delightful "iLarn", which is Ularn for Palm OS.
The title page of the desktop version proclaims "The Addiction of Ularn". It's true. The source code has a line of comment up at the top of main.c proclaiming "This game is bad for you. It is evil. It will rot your brain." And that is true too. Why, the time I've spent over the years playing larn and ularn could have been spent on my plan to Dominate The World.
So, you better thank God that there's such a thing as Ularn, otherwise, I'd be your emperor now. And I am a jealous, capricious, and arbritary ruler. Oh, yes.
For now, it's "Game on".
20 February 2005
[meme] Saturday Slant: If I Were Paris Hilton
This week's Saturday Slant is a very provocative one for me, for it finds me, as Mark Maron would say, in a "bad head". Here it is:
Heh. There is a particularly toxic effect that bad celebrity has on my attitude. Paris Hilton, to me, is the current exemplar of the worst of modern Bad Celebrity. Aside from flash and face, she contributes nothing to the world that I coudn't live without.
If I were Paris Hilton?
[imaginary Paris]
I'd put some more clothes on, for a start. My clothing and style epitomize the worst of "Woman as Dumb Object". What the hell was I thinking?
Next, you'd see a lot less of me in publlc. Who needs that much? I want to hang it up before I move from "it" girl to simply "it". Geez.
Next, I'd put the damn Chihuaua down. Did you know that because of what I've been doing, more and more people are using these little inbred animals as accessories? Isn't the doggie worth more than just a skirt or scarf or handbag? That's verging on inhuamane, is what it is.
And, as far as that wealth thing goes, I'd stop flaunting it so much. Take two of my handbags and you've paid for six months mortgage on some poor out-of-work schmoe in Ohio's mortgage. Hell, maybe I'd send'm the cash pay it. I could auction 'em off on eBay. That'd go over big...donno if you all have notice, but there's scads of people around these days who'll buy cast off celebrity crap.
I mean, don't get me wrong...I wouldn't make myself a poor person. I'd keep enough to live on, comfortably. I mean, it's not where I got it, but what I'm doing with it that's such an embarrasment.
Although I would donate a little of my time to something that I'm not gonna get paid for. I mean, people who have a lot less cash than me do it without being asked and it looks like it makes them feel better inside than I look on the outside.
Oh, and one other thing. The Simple Life? I am deeply, deeply sorry. What a pointless waste of your time. Switch over to PBS or something, 'k? Those reality shows are going to rot your brain and keep on confusing you about what it means to be a person. I mean, look at the mess it's made out of me.
It should go without saying that that goes double for that...ahem...sex...tape. So, once again, to summarize, I'm sorry about the disco dance I've been doing all over good taste, culture, the concept of value versus price, and male-female relations.
I'm out!
[/imaginary Paris]
There. I've said it. I feel better.
That’s it. No exposition this time because I don’t want to bias your response. If you were Paris Hilton…what?
Heh. There is a particularly toxic effect that bad celebrity has on my attitude. Paris Hilton, to me, is the current exemplar of the worst of modern Bad Celebrity. Aside from flash and face, she contributes nothing to the world that I coudn't live without.
If I were Paris Hilton?
[imaginary Paris]
I'd put some more clothes on, for a start. My clothing and style epitomize the worst of "Woman as Dumb Object". What the hell was I thinking?
Next, you'd see a lot less of me in publlc. Who needs that much? I want to hang it up before I move from "it" girl to simply "it". Geez.
Next, I'd put the damn Chihuaua down. Did you know that because of what I've been doing, more and more people are using these little inbred animals as accessories? Isn't the doggie worth more than just a skirt or scarf or handbag? That's verging on inhuamane, is what it is.
And, as far as that wealth thing goes, I'd stop flaunting it so much. Take two of my handbags and you've paid for six months mortgage on some poor out-of-work schmoe in Ohio's mortgage. Hell, maybe I'd send'm the cash pay it. I could auction 'em off on eBay. That'd go over big...donno if you all have notice, but there's scads of people around these days who'll buy cast off celebrity crap.
I mean, don't get me wrong...I wouldn't make myself a poor person. I'd keep enough to live on, comfortably. I mean, it's not where I got it, but what I'm doing with it that's such an embarrasment.
Although I would donate a little of my time to something that I'm not gonna get paid for. I mean, people who have a lot less cash than me do it without being asked and it looks like it makes them feel better inside than I look on the outside.
Oh, and one other thing. The Simple Life? I am deeply, deeply sorry. What a pointless waste of your time. Switch over to PBS or something, 'k? Those reality shows are going to rot your brain and keep on confusing you about what it means to be a person. I mean, look at the mess it's made out of me.
It should go without saying that that goes double for that...ahem...sex...tape. So, once again, to summarize, I'm sorry about the disco dance I've been doing all over good taste, culture, the concept of value versus price, and male-female relations.
I'm out!
[/imaginary Paris]
There. I've said it. I feel better.
13 February 2005
[tech] Papa's Got A Brand New Keyboard
The PowerMac G4 (MDD) has a new USB keyboard. This became necessary after The Wife[tm], assisted by a certain Gimel-cat, introduced the wonders of a full-on dose of Diet Dr Pepper to the original equiment..
I liked the original keyboard quite a bit. People scoff at Apple design but, like me earlier, I'm convinced it is because they can't have one. Once you get to compute, day in and day out, on Apple hardware, you understand.
Anyway, the new keyboard is a nice improvment over the old one actually. The casing is the biggest thing. The case on the 2003-vintage 'boards was tough clear plastic, encapsulated all around. It looked good whilst new, but time and too many snacks and drinks at the thing tended to get 'stuff' in and under it in places that not even my tiny vacuum sucker could get at. Cat hair got lodged just under the key openings. Harder to keep looking good.
This one, by contrast, is more like an open-top tray. No plastic uptop to trap things. There is also no curved back with a snap-bracket to choose between lay-flat and angled. I never used it lay-flat anyway. I never saw any other Mac user who did.
Cost: $30.00. And we have the old one to get into and screw around with. I will be looking for a cheap 2nd hand USB keyboard. Also, Savitar comes off this machine....if The Wife[tm] wants to web surf and email, no problem. MUSHing has got to stop, OTOH.
I liked the original keyboard quite a bit. People scoff at Apple design but, like me earlier, I'm convinced it is because they can't have one. Once you get to compute, day in and day out, on Apple hardware, you understand.
Anyway, the new keyboard is a nice improvment over the old one actually. The casing is the biggest thing. The case on the 2003-vintage 'boards was tough clear plastic, encapsulated all around. It looked good whilst new, but time and too many snacks and drinks at the thing tended to get 'stuff' in and under it in places that not even my tiny vacuum sucker could get at. Cat hair got lodged just under the key openings. Harder to keep looking good.
This one, by contrast, is more like an open-top tray. No plastic uptop to trap things. There is also no curved back with a snap-bracket to choose between lay-flat and angled. I never used it lay-flat anyway. I never saw any other Mac user who did.
Cost: $30.00. And we have the old one to get into and screw around with. I will be looking for a cheap 2nd hand USB keyboard. Also, Savitar comes off this machine....if The Wife[tm] wants to web surf and email, no problem. MUSHing has got to stop, OTOH.
[art, design] I Heart Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Those who pay attention to Da News will not that The Gates are open in Central Park today.
Many people have many opinions on Christo (and wife Jeanne-Claude, since some time now sharing co-credit with his). They leave a lot of people scratching their heads. And that's okay really.
Last term, in one of my art classes, I was priviledged (as many are during PCC courses) to get to see an exhibition at the Portland Art Museum, of pieces associated with Christo's wrapping of the Pont Neuf, in Paris, in 1985. Actually, the titles of his works belie something that's not oft touched upon, and I realized after getting to see the exhibit.
The title of the Pont Neuf work was The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris, 1975-1985. I'm touring the artist's website, christojeanneclaude.net, right now, and the works all have the element of time in them.
The pieces I saw at PAM cover all aspects of the execution and staging of the Pont Neuf, from who worked to when they did it, with photos and drawings and documents such as the invoice for the fabric used (which cost DM40,000 IIRC, and IPD). It had bits about when Christo and Jeanne-Claude met with Jaques Chirac, then Mayor of Paris. It hinted at the number of meetings and conferences required to satisfy the municipality's requirements. It, of course, covered the period of the mounting and showing of the work.
I realized then, that Christo and Jeanne-Claude not only asked us to consider a different slant on a familiar thing, or asked us to reflect on at 24-mile-long curtain (Running Fence in 1976, but also in managing to crystallize attention and energy on execting each work, made time itself an essential design element. The workers, the government officials, what they did, how and when, the reactions of the citizens during the process, are all part of the picture. They would not have happened without the presences of the wrapped forms, moreover, not without the activity about them.
When I looked at the exhibit at PAM, I got this four-dimensional sense that I sometimes get when I think of life horizontally as well as vertically. When I think of my own lifespan, I dwell sometimes on the mortality of a single arrow of time, but when I think me being aware of the eight, ten, twelve, and so on year-old Sams, they seem as real as they still exist, and perhaps in a certain way, they do. I almost think of it as a sort of immortality.
But I treat it as a mental perceptive exercise. It's important to step back from somthing like that, because if I don't, I get just a little bit weird...but not in the good way.
Anyway, to halt this digression, as I digested the objects on display I got a sense of time, and people involved, and people impacted, and people's impact on the work (on the Pont Neuf, river traffic was completely unhindered, the bridge was open for bridge traffic, and people walked on the fabric...the viewers impacted the work as the work impacted them). The fourth (time) and fifth (web of people?) dimensions suddenly unfolded and even though I wasn't there, I was at the center of the crystalline web. It became perceptable, if not tangible.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude teach us to connect through a different reality back to this one. Other artists may say or think they use time as an elementt in thier work; this artist actually does, and it's hard to imagine they aren't a little aware of it.
This is why Christo and Jeanne Claude are important.
How have The Gates affected you?
Those New Yorkers don't know how lucky they are.
Many people have many opinions on Christo (and wife Jeanne-Claude, since some time now sharing co-credit with his). They leave a lot of people scratching their heads. And that's okay really.
Last term, in one of my art classes, I was priviledged (as many are during PCC courses) to get to see an exhibition at the Portland Art Museum, of pieces associated with Christo's wrapping of the Pont Neuf, in Paris, in 1985. Actually, the titles of his works belie something that's not oft touched upon, and I realized after getting to see the exhibit.
The title of the Pont Neuf work was The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris, 1975-1985. I'm touring the artist's website, christojeanneclaude.net, right now, and the works all have the element of time in them.
The pieces I saw at PAM cover all aspects of the execution and staging of the Pont Neuf, from who worked to when they did it, with photos and drawings and documents such as the invoice for the fabric used (which cost DM40,000 IIRC, and IPD). It had bits about when Christo and Jeanne-Claude met with Jaques Chirac, then Mayor of Paris. It hinted at the number of meetings and conferences required to satisfy the municipality's requirements. It, of course, covered the period of the mounting and showing of the work.
I realized then, that Christo and Jeanne-Claude not only asked us to consider a different slant on a familiar thing, or asked us to reflect on at 24-mile-long curtain (Running Fence in 1976, but also in managing to crystallize attention and energy on execting each work, made time itself an essential design element. The workers, the government officials, what they did, how and when, the reactions of the citizens during the process, are all part of the picture. They would not have happened without the presences of the wrapped forms, moreover, not without the activity about them.
When I looked at the exhibit at PAM, I got this four-dimensional sense that I sometimes get when I think of life horizontally as well as vertically. When I think of my own lifespan, I dwell sometimes on the mortality of a single arrow of time, but when I think me being aware of the eight, ten, twelve, and so on year-old Sams, they seem as real as they still exist, and perhaps in a certain way, they do. I almost think of it as a sort of immortality.
But I treat it as a mental perceptive exercise. It's important to step back from somthing like that, because if I don't, I get just a little bit weird...but not in the good way.
Anyway, to halt this digression, as I digested the objects on display I got a sense of time, and people involved, and people impacted, and people's impact on the work (on the Pont Neuf, river traffic was completely unhindered, the bridge was open for bridge traffic, and people walked on the fabric...the viewers impacted the work as the work impacted them). The fourth (time) and fifth (web of people?) dimensions suddenly unfolded and even though I wasn't there, I was at the center of the crystalline web. It became perceptable, if not tangible.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude teach us to connect through a different reality back to this one. Other artists may say or think they use time as an elementt in thier work; this artist actually does, and it's hard to imagine they aren't a little aware of it.
This is why Christo and Jeanne Claude are important.
How have The Gates affected you?
Those New Yorkers don't know how lucky they are.
09 February 2005
[or_history] Mount Mazama, year 5,005 BC
This is one of my favorite paintings ever:
It is a painting, an artists conception. Approximately seven thousand years ago, what would have been Oregon's tallest mountain if it still stood commenced the eruption that would cause its collapse. The remains we know, of course, today as Crater Lake.
While nobody could probably ever be exactly sure what Mazama looked like, clues can be read from the slopes going up to the rim and guesses can be made since scientists have a good idea how natural processes in the area might have occurred, and other peaks nearby, such as Shasta, to compare with.
Quite a hulking mountain, no? It even looks mean.
The painting was created some years back by an artist named Paul Rockwood, and I found it again on this page , which is a USGS fact sheet on Crater Lake and Mount Mazama.
It's a guess. But it's an inspired one. In the scene, the 12,000 foot tall Mount Mazama is just beginning its ultimate eruption.
Quite an inspriation.
It is a painting, an artists conception. Approximately seven thousand years ago, what would have been Oregon's tallest mountain if it still stood commenced the eruption that would cause its collapse. The remains we know, of course, today as Crater Lake.
While nobody could probably ever be exactly sure what Mazama looked like, clues can be read from the slopes going up to the rim and guesses can be made since scientists have a good idea how natural processes in the area might have occurred, and other peaks nearby, such as Shasta, to compare with.
Quite a hulking mountain, no? It even looks mean.
The painting was created some years back by an artist named Paul Rockwood, and I found it again on this page , which is a USGS fact sheet on Crater Lake and Mount Mazama.
It's a guess. But it's an inspired one. In the scene, the 12,000 foot tall Mount Mazama is just beginning its ultimate eruption.
Quite an inspriation.
01 February 2005
[pdx_life] Ah, How The Mediocre Have Fallen
Good news: Mary Starrett has found work.
Bad news: It's about five seconds worth on Don LaPre's latest infomerical.
If you're normal, you haven't seen this carp because it's on the late^3 infomerical parade. I forget which local channel has it (we get it broadcast, baby!) but, sometime between 15:00 and 20:00, there she was.
I kid you not.
It's LaPre's latest brain spasm, somthing called The Greatest Friggin Vitamin Pill That You've Ever Damn Seen, I Mean, My God, Why Aren't You On The Phone To Me Right Now!?!?!.
Or something like that.
I've had a morbid curiosity about LaPre for years. I've also been a student of dodgy movements, such as LaPre's MLMs. Back in the 90's he got famous by asserting that all you had to do was place little classified ads in papers all over the known universe, and BINGO, you got checks rolling in to your PO Box.
Now they got this sovereign cure called "The Greatest Vitamin In The World". TGVITW is apparently made with the highest quality whatever-it-is, with Don himself marshalling up to one research professional to formulate this thing. For 35 or 40 bucks you can buy this package that includes a website that all people have to do is visit (if they can find you instead of the thousands of other entrepreneurs posting the exact same site) and you get twenty people to just try this TGVITW then...wait, I'm going to gesticulate here, clear the decks...
[lapre]
Then you have to CHOOSE between [sweeping gesture right] $1,000 UP FRONT! or [sweeping gesture left] $200, a MONTH, for LIFE!
[/lapre]
Sorry, got carried away there. But wait, there's less! Do I come off as someone who's been burned by LaPre? Cards on the table, I've never tried anything from the mind of LaPre, but then, I wouldn't touch his stuff with a ten-foot battle lance. Go here, to Quackwatch and read about the checkered history of The Great Gesticulator, and you will then see why you should run screaming from anything he's promoting.
But hey, you don't have to believe me. After all, it's a freeish country, eh?
All's I'm saying is, hey, Mary, you've got to choose your friends with more care.
And, postscriptically, I wonder if Don LaPre could speak in public if you kept his arms held to his sides. I'm just wonderin'.
Bad news: It's about five seconds worth on Don LaPre's latest infomerical.
If you're normal, you haven't seen this carp because it's on the late^3 infomerical parade. I forget which local channel has it (we get it broadcast, baby!) but, sometime between 15:00 and 20:00, there she was.
I kid you not.
It's LaPre's latest brain spasm, somthing called The Greatest Friggin Vitamin Pill That You've Ever Damn Seen, I Mean, My God, Why Aren't You On The Phone To Me Right Now!?!?!.
Or something like that.
I've had a morbid curiosity about LaPre for years. I've also been a student of dodgy movements, such as LaPre's MLMs. Back in the 90's he got famous by asserting that all you had to do was place little classified ads in papers all over the known universe, and BINGO, you got checks rolling in to your PO Box.
Now they got this sovereign cure called "The Greatest Vitamin In The World". TGVITW is apparently made with the highest quality whatever-it-is, with Don himself marshalling up to one research professional to formulate this thing. For 35 or 40 bucks you can buy this package that includes a website that all people have to do is visit (if they can find you instead of the thousands of other entrepreneurs posting the exact same site) and you get twenty people to just try this TGVITW then...wait, I'm going to gesticulate here, clear the decks...
[lapre]
Then you have to CHOOSE between [sweeping gesture right] $1,000 UP FRONT! or [sweeping gesture left] $200, a MONTH, for LIFE!
[/lapre]
Sorry, got carried away there. But wait, there's less! Do I come off as someone who's been burned by LaPre? Cards on the table, I've never tried anything from the mind of LaPre, but then, I wouldn't touch his stuff with a ten-foot battle lance. Go here, to Quackwatch and read about the checkered history of The Great Gesticulator, and you will then see why you should run screaming from anything he's promoting.
But hey, you don't have to believe me. After all, it's a freeish country, eh?
All's I'm saying is, hey, Mary, you've got to choose your friends with more care.
And, postscriptically, I wonder if Don LaPre could speak in public if you kept his arms held to his sides. I'm just wonderin'.
28 January 2005
[net_life] Apparently They Let Just Anyone Phish These Days
Recieved at agora.rdrop.com by me, is the following lame-o, crapass example of phishing (grammar and spacing preserved as in the original):
There was an attachment. A file, textdocument.zip, of a 12.1 Kb size. Naturally I didn't open it; I run on a Macintosh anyway, so the likely-Wintel payload wouldn't have done a thing. But it may be some sort of nasty un*x script or something, so why tempt fate?
Isn't it a howl? I mean, how dumass can you be to say that a file is password protected for security, then send the password in the clear?
There are all sorts of script kiddies, crackers, phishers, what have you. But apparently the newest are those to whom the idea of posting email involves writing with a Crayola[tm] directly on the screen.
Seems impossible, but there is someone out there giving phishers an even worse image than already they had!.
There's no "management@rdrop.com". There's no "Rdrop.com team".
But there is a URL as http://www.rdrop.com.
At least they got that right.
From:management@rdrop.com
Subject:notify about using the e-mail account.
Dear user of Rdrop.com,
We warn you about some attacks on your e-mail account. Your computer may
contain viruses, in order to keep your computer and e-mail account safe,
please, follow the instructions.
Further details can be obtained from attached file.
For security reasons attached file is password protected. The password is "53501".
Kind regards,
The Rdrop.com team http://www.rdrop.com
There was an attachment. A file, textdocument.zip, of a 12.1 Kb size. Naturally I didn't open it; I run on a Macintosh anyway, so the likely-Wintel payload wouldn't have done a thing. But it may be some sort of nasty un*x script or something, so why tempt fate?
Isn't it a howl? I mean, how dumass can you be to say that a file is password protected for security, then send the password in the clear?
There are all sorts of script kiddies, crackers, phishers, what have you. But apparently the newest are those to whom the idea of posting email involves writing with a Crayola[tm] directly on the screen.
Seems impossible, but there is someone out there giving phishers an even worse image than already they had!.
There's no "management@rdrop.com". There's no "Rdrop.com team".
But there is a URL as http://www.rdrop.com.
At least they got that right.
27 January 2005
[us_politics] Ron Wyden, Democrat
The first two votes of this Congress that Ron participated in:
1. On sustaining the objection to the Ohio vote count: Nay
2. On confirming El Arroz de Condoleeza for US Secretary of State: Yea.
Fortunately, it's early in the term.
Still, I wish he'd have stood against Arroz as State. He would have had numbers with him then.
But if this goes on, someone's gotta FedEx him a backbone.
1. On sustaining the objection to the Ohio vote count: Nay
2. On confirming El Arroz de Condoleeza for US Secretary of State: Yea.
Fortunately, it's early in the term.
Still, I wish he'd have stood against Arroz as State. He would have had numbers with him then.
But if this goes on, someone's gotta FedEx him a backbone.
[us_politics] The Big Asterisk
George W. Bush won the race for President by the narrowest margin of any candidate, ever. [1][2]
Condoleeza Rice (or, en Espanyol, El Arroz de Condoleeza) was confirmed for the post of Secretary of State with the most "No" votes of any candidate, ever.
[1] For the sake of argument, we'll take the vote totals as they are given.
[2] Make that two asterisks for GWB.
Condoleeza Rice (or, en Espanyol, El Arroz de Condoleeza) was confirmed for the post of Secretary of State with the most "No" votes of any candidate, ever.
[1] For the sake of argument, we'll take the vote totals as they are given.
[2] Make that two asterisks for GWB.
19 January 2005
[sundial_life] Public Call for Networking Help
Anybody here have any clue as to how you can make a Mac running OS X 10.3.5 share its internet connection with a P2 Wintel running Win 95?
I'm willing to entertain any bit of advice.
Hardware: Mac and Wintel, as described, connected via Ethernet and tied together with a Linksys 10/100 5-Port Workgroup switch. The switch sees both computers and displays activity on both.
The connection to the Internet(s) is by 56K dialup. Hey, it's what we can do right now.
The idea is to at least make it possible for The Wife[tm] and myself to share our dialup. Additionally I'd like to share files, though right now that's not the priority, though it would be cool.
We're planing to upgrade the Wintel to at least Win 98 though right now that's out of the question, at least for a little while.
And I know the solution won't necessarily be pretty. I'm willing to live with that.
Thanks in advance to anyone compelled to respond on this.
I'm willing to entertain any bit of advice.
Hardware: Mac and Wintel, as described, connected via Ethernet and tied together with a Linksys 10/100 5-Port Workgroup switch. The switch sees both computers and displays activity on both.
The connection to the Internet(s) is by 56K dialup. Hey, it's what we can do right now.
The idea is to at least make it possible for The Wife[tm] and myself to share our dialup. Additionally I'd like to share files, though right now that's not the priority, though it would be cool.
We're planing to upgrade the Wintel to at least Win 98 though right now that's out of the question, at least for a little while.
And I know the solution won't necessarily be pretty. I'm willing to live with that.
Thanks in advance to anyone compelled to respond on this.
17 January 2005
[meme] Saturday Slant: King of the World
The Saturday Slant is back! Here is the first one:
After the way the elections and such have gone, and knowing the way the lesser-in-life (but not lesser-in-stature) are getting done to, I'd do whatever it took to raise the level of the lowers and lower the level of the highers.
It's a shame to say, but it seems to me that the greater, these days, are shamelssly and without regret dining on the lesser. Did you know that, if you're an Oregonian and you earn wages, you're being depended on to support our overall societal infrastructure for great corporations? It's true. And if you earn a living you are expected to foot the bill for the federal government-while the great and mighty captains, who make no money from the sweat of their brows, pay nothing to sustain the systems that make thier success possible?
In a greater and lesser way, it's happening around the world. Even those of us in a poorer state in America are living better than those in a poorer state elsewhere in the world, but due to the nature of global commerce even the most miserly American lifestyle may very well manage, in some way, to tread upon the health and well-being of some wage slave in some overseas nation.
I'd have the obscenely rich give just a bit of what they have so the poor wouldn't be so poor. They don't give much now, and would give nothing if they could, but it's not only socially responsible but morally obliging-especially if you truly follow the Christian way, which say not that if you're rich God loves you and you should keep it, but says that if you're rich then you're obliged to help out, if only in some small way, your less fortunate fellows.
If the rich were a little less rich, they'd still be obscenely rich. If the powerful were a little less powerful, they'd still command much.
Push this button to go to Slant Central:
If you were suddenly elected King or Queen of the World, what would you do?
After the way the elections and such have gone, and knowing the way the lesser-in-life (but not lesser-in-stature) are getting done to, I'd do whatever it took to raise the level of the lowers and lower the level of the highers.
It's a shame to say, but it seems to me that the greater, these days, are shamelssly and without regret dining on the lesser. Did you know that, if you're an Oregonian and you earn wages, you're being depended on to support our overall societal infrastructure for great corporations? It's true. And if you earn a living you are expected to foot the bill for the federal government-while the great and mighty captains, who make no money from the sweat of their brows, pay nothing to sustain the systems that make thier success possible?
In a greater and lesser way, it's happening around the world. Even those of us in a poorer state in America are living better than those in a poorer state elsewhere in the world, but due to the nature of global commerce even the most miserly American lifestyle may very well manage, in some way, to tread upon the health and well-being of some wage slave in some overseas nation.
I'd have the obscenely rich give just a bit of what they have so the poor wouldn't be so poor. They don't give much now, and would give nothing if they could, but it's not only socially responsible but morally obliging-especially if you truly follow the Christian way, which say not that if you're rich God loves you and you should keep it, but says that if you're rich then you're obliged to help out, if only in some small way, your less fortunate fellows.
If the rich were a little less rich, they'd still be obscenely rich. If the powerful were a little less powerful, they'd still command much.
Push this button to go to Slant Central:
12 January 2005
[sundial_life] It's Different There, From Here
Seeing Bellevue, Washington, at night, imparts a certain sense of perspective when you're a native born-Oregonian and a long -time Portlander.
I don't often get a chance to step outside my currently rather circumscribe lift. A chance to run up to visit with an SCA acquaintance in Bellevue presented itself and I jumped at this.
We got started between 16 O'clock and 17 O'clock. Of course, this being winter along the forty-fifth, we were'nt too far out of Clark County before it got black as...well, night. It, as may Portlanders who have Seattleites will know, is about three hours, or a little more, to the great Seattle conurb, and The Wife[tm] and myself passed that time talking, joking, relating, and laughing...that is, things we don't usually do these days for a variety of reasons, good and bad.
Western Washington is, in a way, a lot like Southwestern Oregon (only less rugged) or maybe the Willamette Valley (only more rugged). Countryside with the occaisional roadside town, though, it must be said, no Valley town has a freeway running through the dead-middle, like Kalama (which has a beautiful big red neon sign denoting a restaurant, which, of course, has at least two letters out at any time. This night, northbound I-5 travellers were invited to come see ESTA ANT. We must sometime go).
Once you hit the Sound (or, I should say, once your road takes you near it) your country-kin perceptions get whack upside the head.
Now, I know many people currently calling themselves Oregonians came from somewhere else. Your experience will be different. I am a native and have spent, less some significant episodes in my life, all my live in this happy valley of small big towns and big small towns and agriculture at your doorstep. In the Sound, you think you've begun to hit Washington's throbbing heart but it's not quite yet; the Nisqually floodplaing makes an emphatic break. But you get to Tacoma's southwestern outskirs, near McChord AFB and Fort Lewis, and you know this is a different place...almost a different planet. It's people, people everywhere. It's Oregon if Tom McCall had never been born, if Oregon's senators and representatives had tried to get more bases sited here.
Oregon City was the end of the trail, but for all the people there, you'd think it actually ended at Puget Sound.
Downtown Bellevue at night is an interesting thing to behold. The official population of Bellevue, Seattle's largest suburb, is just a little above 117,000. This puts it, in size, behind Salem and Eugene (at about 145,000 each) and within sight of Gresham (at 90,000). But it feels like a much larger town than any of them. I-405 ties travellers into the center of town in a massive spaghetti-bowl, and something like six to ten office towers of fifteen to twenty-five stories dominate (not just command) the surrounding landscape).
If Oregon's primary cities are big small towns, this is a small big town.
Downtown gives way, east of I-405, to undifferetiated suburban-style development. The Wife[tm] and myself both agreed that NE 8th Street in Bellevue reminded us of nothing so much as SW Murray Blvd south of Farmington Road in Beaverton.
Everywhere was this impression of size and importantce.
Wanting to get a feel for magintude, I looked up some numbers. Very revealing.
Area: Oregon, 95,997 sq.mi. Washington, 66,554 sq.mi.
Washington has nearly twice Oregon's population on two-thirds the land.
Population:Oregon, 3,421,399. Washington, 6,131,445.
Cities over 100,000 population:
Oregon, 3: Portland, Salem, Eugene (In that order).
Washington, 5: Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Vancouver, Bellevue (in that order).
In Washington, even the small towns are big: Everett is nearing 100,000, Yakima is 80,000. Washington's eastside is also more populous; Yakima is near dead-center of the state of Washington. If you go to the same place in Oregon, there's nothing-at lots of it. The largest town east of the 'Cades, Bend, has about 65,000 population, but that's a recent thing. Most of my life it's been a little burg the size of Pendleton and The Dalles (about or just less than 20K). They've had wicked growth in Bend, though; Pendleton and The Dalles are still about that size.
I can see I'm rambling a bit, so I'll try tying up ends. The incredible urban presence in the Puget Sound area gives an urban presence that just doesn't feel like anything anywhere in Oregon, even in the most populous corners (downtown and NW Portland come to mind) The Seattle area feels just a little too big. Desipte Portland and Seattle's sizes (both are above 550,000, and within about 25,000 of each other) the difference in atmosphere is almost palpable.
Portland has a rep of being a 'big little town'. It, I am convinced, is not for nothing.
And our visit to our friend? Productive. He gave us two Wintel boxes he just had lying around; both P2's, both in very good shape. They work. They will replace our old Pentium MMX 200 with a dying power supply and a busted CD-ROM drive. They have networking (ethernet, USB) built in, which, though they be modest, will take our home computing experience up to the next level, even possibly being our first attempt at home networking.
And I had a killer taco salad at the Denny's at NE 30th Street and 148th Avenue NE. If the Denny's down here in PDX worked more like that one, we'd visit 'em more often.
I don't often get a chance to step outside my currently rather circumscribe lift. A chance to run up to visit with an SCA acquaintance in Bellevue presented itself and I jumped at this.
We got started between 16 O'clock and 17 O'clock. Of course, this being winter along the forty-fifth, we were'nt too far out of Clark County before it got black as...well, night. It, as may Portlanders who have Seattleites will know, is about three hours, or a little more, to the great Seattle conurb, and The Wife[tm] and myself passed that time talking, joking, relating, and laughing...that is, things we don't usually do these days for a variety of reasons, good and bad.
Western Washington is, in a way, a lot like Southwestern Oregon (only less rugged) or maybe the Willamette Valley (only more rugged). Countryside with the occaisional roadside town, though, it must be said, no Valley town has a freeway running through the dead-middle, like Kalama (which has a beautiful big red neon sign denoting a restaurant, which, of course, has at least two letters out at any time. This night, northbound I-5 travellers were invited to come see ESTA ANT. We must sometime go).
Once you hit the Sound (or, I should say, once your road takes you near it) your country-kin perceptions get whack upside the head.
Now, I know many people currently calling themselves Oregonians came from somewhere else. Your experience will be different. I am a native and have spent, less some significant episodes in my life, all my live in this happy valley of small big towns and big small towns and agriculture at your doorstep. In the Sound, you think you've begun to hit Washington's throbbing heart but it's not quite yet; the Nisqually floodplaing makes an emphatic break. But you get to Tacoma's southwestern outskirs, near McChord AFB and Fort Lewis, and you know this is a different place...almost a different planet. It's people, people everywhere. It's Oregon if Tom McCall had never been born, if Oregon's senators and representatives had tried to get more bases sited here.
Oregon City was the end of the trail, but for all the people there, you'd think it actually ended at Puget Sound.
Downtown Bellevue at night is an interesting thing to behold. The official population of Bellevue, Seattle's largest suburb, is just a little above 117,000. This puts it, in size, behind Salem and Eugene (at about 145,000 each) and within sight of Gresham (at 90,000). But it feels like a much larger town than any of them. I-405 ties travellers into the center of town in a massive spaghetti-bowl, and something like six to ten office towers of fifteen to twenty-five stories dominate (not just command) the surrounding landscape).
If Oregon's primary cities are big small towns, this is a small big town.
Downtown gives way, east of I-405, to undifferetiated suburban-style development. The Wife[tm] and myself both agreed that NE 8th Street in Bellevue reminded us of nothing so much as SW Murray Blvd south of Farmington Road in Beaverton.
Everywhere was this impression of size and importantce.
Wanting to get a feel for magintude, I looked up some numbers. Very revealing.
Area: Oregon, 95,997 sq.mi. Washington, 66,554 sq.mi.
Washington has nearly twice Oregon's population on two-thirds the land.
Population:Oregon, 3,421,399. Washington, 6,131,445.
Cities over 100,000 population:
Oregon, 3: Portland, Salem, Eugene (In that order).
Washington, 5: Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Vancouver, Bellevue (in that order).
In Washington, even the small towns are big: Everett is nearing 100,000, Yakima is 80,000. Washington's eastside is also more populous; Yakima is near dead-center of the state of Washington. If you go to the same place in Oregon, there's nothing-at lots of it. The largest town east of the 'Cades, Bend, has about 65,000 population, but that's a recent thing. Most of my life it's been a little burg the size of Pendleton and The Dalles (about or just less than 20K). They've had wicked growth in Bend, though; Pendleton and The Dalles are still about that size.
I can see I'm rambling a bit, so I'll try tying up ends. The incredible urban presence in the Puget Sound area gives an urban presence that just doesn't feel like anything anywhere in Oregon, even in the most populous corners (downtown and NW Portland come to mind) The Seattle area feels just a little too big. Desipte Portland and Seattle's sizes (both are above 550,000, and within about 25,000 of each other) the difference in atmosphere is almost palpable.
Portland has a rep of being a 'big little town'. It, I am convinced, is not for nothing.
And our visit to our friend? Productive. He gave us two Wintel boxes he just had lying around; both P2's, both in very good shape. They work. They will replace our old Pentium MMX 200 with a dying power supply and a busted CD-ROM drive. They have networking (ethernet, USB) built in, which, though they be modest, will take our home computing experience up to the next level, even possibly being our first attempt at home networking.
And I had a killer taco salad at the Denny's at NE 30th Street and 148th Avenue NE. If the Denny's down here in PDX worked more like that one, we'd visit 'em more often.
10 January 2005
[blog_life] Dammit.
Every other day or so, I travel up the list of the 'blogs that I link to/have linked to me (principally in "Blogging Oregon Style" section) to see what's shakin' down those links. One of the first to link to me...without being asked, mind...is this fellow who ran a 'blog' called pontifications. He never said he was linking to me, just did it. As a new 'blogger, that just felt cool.
I also occaisionally read his 'blog. It was interesting. He had a sense of presence and style, his page had some decent design going, and it was intriguing the way he examined life in terms of three important faces. Light is both a particle and a wave, and the author of pontifications was triune: gay, political, geek, or, as he termed himself, homopoliticogeek. I don't know of many people who divide thier facets so discretely and then approach subjects of life thus. Most of us-myself included-express ourselves as an amalgam and the boundaries blur a bit.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing or a good thing, just a factor of ourselves, and the interest and excitement of interpersonal interaction comes from learning these things. And the unique things stand out. And the author was unique.
I'm writing in the past tense not because the author has expired (he is apparently still quite alive), but his 'blog has, and in a most dispairing way. Comment spam. One of the other 'blogs I frequent, I Am Pariah, got hit in a big way about two or three months ago. Pariah had other problems (go read his blog for an example of the water big bloggers have to carry occasionally) but this caused many many irritating emails to show up over a span of months and I couldn't mark them as 'junk', else I'd miss real responses. It was tough.
But, as far as our uninonymous author (all I ever heard was his name was "Adam") goes, the bastards finally ground him down, and I am sad for this. Gresham's Law proved, once again.
I'd hope that he reconsiders his decision to retire pontifications. I'd not be surprised if he didn't though.
I love all the links I get, what few there are. Thank you all for connecting me in to the great community. It's immense fun.
I also occaisionally read his 'blog. It was interesting. He had a sense of presence and style, his page had some decent design going, and it was intriguing the way he examined life in terms of three important faces. Light is both a particle and a wave, and the author of pontifications was triune: gay, political, geek, or, as he termed himself, homopoliticogeek. I don't know of many people who divide thier facets so discretely and then approach subjects of life thus. Most of us-myself included-express ourselves as an amalgam and the boundaries blur a bit.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing or a good thing, just a factor of ourselves, and the interest and excitement of interpersonal interaction comes from learning these things. And the unique things stand out. And the author was unique.
I'm writing in the past tense not because the author has expired (he is apparently still quite alive), but his 'blog has, and in a most dispairing way. Comment spam. One of the other 'blogs I frequent, I Am Pariah, got hit in a big way about two or three months ago. Pariah had other problems (go read his blog for an example of the water big bloggers have to carry occasionally) but this caused many many irritating emails to show up over a span of months and I couldn't mark them as 'junk', else I'd miss real responses. It was tough.
But, as far as our uninonymous author (all I ever heard was his name was "Adam") goes, the bastards finally ground him down, and I am sad for this. Gresham's Law proved, once again.
I'd hope that he reconsiders his decision to retire pontifications. I'd not be surprised if he didn't though.
I love all the links I get, what few there are. Thank you all for connecting me in to the great community. It's immense fun.
09 January 2005
[sundial_life] Forbidden Words
Words that absolutely, postively must not be said this next year:
temblor
This word gets beaten to death every time we have an earthquake big enough to make the news.
decimate
This word is only legal when noting that out of every ten of something, one of something gets done in...instead of using it as a synonym for destroy, which is usually it. Better to use annihilate, if you're going to go all melodramatic.
temblor
This word gets beaten to death every time we have an earthquake big enough to make the news.
decimate
This word is only legal when noting that out of every ten of something, one of something gets done in...instead of using it as a synonym for destroy, which is usually it. Better to use annihilate, if you're going to go all melodramatic.
08 January 2005
[design] It's All Greek
A few posts back I did a whimsical thing titled "Lorem Ipsum Text". It began with the words "Si bili, Si ergo..."
It's meaningless, just some typographical fun. I was feeling puckish that day. Though, the fact is, there is such a thing as lorem ipsum text.
In layout, it's sometimes more important to get the idea of the 'look' of the general layout than to be worrying about the actual words that will be there. Then, we use placeholder, or FPO (for positioning only) text. Lorem Ipsum. Greeking. Here's a classic example:
So, you're laying out a page or coming up with concepts for, say, a webpage look. It has blocks of text. You can cut and paste various things from various documents and put it in, and that would work, but there would be enough meaning that it would still distract. Greeking is great because there is no meaning in it, allowing focus on the bare necessities of the layout, but still giving an impression of text there.
After reading that one may wonder about the history of this mystery. As usual, Pariah Burke delivers the goods. It should be a fascinating read even if you isn't a designer.
The top-dog layout programs allow you to generate such placeholder text with little effort. InDesign has a "Fill with Placeholder Text" option on the Type pulldown, and QuarkXPress has an XTension called "Jabberwocky" which is accessed through the Utilities menu as the "Jabber" command.
Both get the job done. Of the two, Quark's is more adventurous and delightful. You can Jabber eight ways: in prose or in verse, and from the English, Latin, Esperanto...and Klingon vocabularies. Not only this, but you can edit the individual dictionaries. Quite fun. Someone obviously had a good time coming up with this one.
So picture a critque with Klingon jabber. Wouldn't that leave an impression?
But, hey, it's all Greek to me anyway.
It's meaningless, just some typographical fun. I was feeling puckish that day. Though, the fact is, there is such a thing as lorem ipsum text.
In layout, it's sometimes more important to get the idea of the 'look' of the general layout than to be worrying about the actual words that will be there. Then, we use placeholder, or FPO (for positioning only) text. Lorem Ipsum. Greeking. Here's a classic example:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
So, you're laying out a page or coming up with concepts for, say, a webpage look. It has blocks of text. You can cut and paste various things from various documents and put it in, and that would work, but there would be enough meaning that it would still distract. Greeking is great because there is no meaning in it, allowing focus on the bare necessities of the layout, but still giving an impression of text there.
After reading that one may wonder about the history of this mystery. As usual, Pariah Burke delivers the goods. It should be a fascinating read even if you isn't a designer.
The top-dog layout programs allow you to generate such placeholder text with little effort. InDesign has a "Fill with Placeholder Text" option on the Type pulldown, and QuarkXPress has an XTension called "Jabberwocky" which is accessed through the Utilities menu as the "Jabber" command.
Both get the job done. Of the two, Quark's is more adventurous and delightful. You can Jabber eight ways: in prose or in verse, and from the English, Latin, Esperanto...and Klingon vocabularies. Not only this, but you can edit the individual dictionaries. Quite fun. Someone obviously had a good time coming up with this one.
So picture a critque with Klingon jabber. Wouldn't that leave an impression?
But, hey, it's all Greek to me anyway.
06 January 2005
[sundial_life] Woolgathering, 06.01.05
Linkin' Park
I finally got off the dime and added WorldWide Pablo. Not that that isn't something that a lot of people have done, and for good reasons. But I commented on a few of his posts and he was friendly and respectful and happy in his followups. What's not to like?
Big Man on Campus
The two classes I've got this term are proceeding well so far. The Geography of Oregon teacher, Margaret McCrea-Campbell, is a geographer by training and trade. She has a passion for the subject. The text for the course, Loy et.al.'s Atlas of Oregon, 2nd Ed, isn't a textbook, really, but it has great information about Oregon and the instructor felt as though this is a book that people would only get if they could justify the purchase.
Woman after my own heart, she is.
Need to apply for graduation. Need to start thinking about portfolio; the Portfolio Prep course is next term, and I want to hit the ground running for that. I love craftwork, but it irritates me for some reason.
Got to find my parking permit. Wonder where it's gone?
I Am, As We Said When I Was a Neat Thing, an "Arthur"
Getting published-even on the web, where you largely do your own publishing-is a big boost. I like seeing my name in lights. I keep reloading the review of QuarkVista on QuarkVSInDesign.com that I posted yesterday because...well, it's a charge to look at that. There's another thing, of course. It's one thing to put a lot of effort into writing, making it look good, at least making it look like you're not a complete idiot and know basic punctuation and spelling, and then putting up your own 'blog or 'website. It's quite another to have someone ask you to add your tuppence because they've seen what you do and like the way you say it.
That's the greatest gift. And I do have value I can contribute, I know it.
Now, I'm wondering what I can do next.
I finally got off the dime and added WorldWide Pablo. Not that that isn't something that a lot of people have done, and for good reasons. But I commented on a few of his posts and he was friendly and respectful and happy in his followups. What's not to like?
Big Man on Campus
The two classes I've got this term are proceeding well so far. The Geography of Oregon teacher, Margaret McCrea-Campbell, is a geographer by training and trade. She has a passion for the subject. The text for the course, Loy et.al.'s Atlas of Oregon, 2nd Ed, isn't a textbook, really, but it has great information about Oregon and the instructor felt as though this is a book that people would only get if they could justify the purchase.
Woman after my own heart, she is.
Need to apply for graduation. Need to start thinking about portfolio; the Portfolio Prep course is next term, and I want to hit the ground running for that. I love craftwork, but it irritates me for some reason.
Got to find my parking permit. Wonder where it's gone?
I Am, As We Said When I Was a Neat Thing, an "Arthur"
Getting published-even on the web, where you largely do your own publishing-is a big boost. I like seeing my name in lights. I keep reloading the review of QuarkVista on QuarkVSInDesign.com that I posted yesterday because...well, it's a charge to look at that. There's another thing, of course. It's one thing to put a lot of effort into writing, making it look good, at least making it look like you're not a complete idiot and know basic punctuation and spelling, and then putting up your own 'blog or 'website. It's quite another to have someone ask you to add your tuppence because they've seen what you do and like the way you say it.
That's the greatest gift. And I do have value I can contribute, I know it.
Now, I'm wondering what I can do next.
[design] My Very First Real Article Anywhere...
...I have just now posted over at Pariah's blogsite QuarkVSInDesign.com. Pariah's done me and incredible compliment in asking for it. He's a good fella; very supportive and encouraging.
Here it is, a review of the new QuarkXPress XTension, QuarkVista:
http://quarkvsindesign.com/news/archives/2005/01/quarkvista-brings-image-editing-home-to-xpress/
Shorter version, in case you're someone who does't do layout: QuarkVista is a good effort from a reawakened Quark, who realizes that if it doesn't get up and do something now-ish, InDesign will consign QuarkXPress to the "app for home users" dustbin of history where PageMaker and Publisher now languish.
Make no mistake about it, Adobe InDesign has what it takes to fight it out with Quark, and give as good as it gets. But with more generous licensing allowances, free upgrades for registered users, and spiffy and worthwhile additions like QuarkVista and ALAP's PSD Import XTensions, Quark seems to have finally woken up to the fact that there are no more laurels to rest upon.
Here it is, a review of the new QuarkXPress XTension, QuarkVista:
http://quarkvsindesign.com/news/archives/2005/01/quarkvista-brings-image-editing-home-to-xpress/
Shorter version, in case you're someone who does't do layout: QuarkVista is a good effort from a reawakened Quark, who realizes that if it doesn't get up and do something now-ish, InDesign will consign QuarkXPress to the "app for home users" dustbin of history where PageMaker and Publisher now languish.
Make no mistake about it, Adobe InDesign has what it takes to fight it out with Quark, and give as good as it gets. But with more generous licensing allowances, free upgrades for registered users, and spiffy and worthwhile additions like QuarkVista and ALAP's PSD Import XTensions, Quark seems to have finally woken up to the fact that there are no more laurels to rest upon.
04 January 2005
[us_news] More From The Moral Party
Why, if he did nothing wrong, did Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell, who is in charge of elections, go to court in an attempt to prevent himself from being interviewed in the probe into election irregularities in the Presidential election?
Why, if trial lawyers are the problem, are Republicans so willing to use them if it looks like they're going to be in trouble?
Why, if the apprearance of propriety is so important, is Tom DeLay working so hard to avoid being turned out of power if indicted for the Texas gerrymandering?
Why did Bill Frist lie about filibustering on Meet the Press?
Why didn't counting every vote become important to Dino Rossi only after the recount didn't go his way?
Why aren't people more concered about these things? I mean, hey, it's a freeish country.
Why?
Why, if trial lawyers are the problem, are Republicans so willing to use them if it looks like they're going to be in trouble?
Why, if the apprearance of propriety is so important, is Tom DeLay working so hard to avoid being turned out of power if indicted for the Texas gerrymandering?
Why did Bill Frist lie about filibustering on Meet the Press?
Why didn't counting every vote become important to Dino Rossi only after the recount didn't go his way?
Why aren't people more concered about these things? I mean, hey, it's a freeish country.
Why?
[us_news] The Company He Keeps
One more reason to avoid the Bush Second Inagural: Kid Rock is the musical guest of honor.
Yes. The mind boggles. I guess they thought this'd appeal to "the kids".
I just got this feeling...you know the one. I feel like this horrid looking fellow on horseback just rode up to me and asked me if I'd seen his three brothers anywhere near.
Yes. The mind boggles. I guess they thought this'd appeal to "the kids".
I just got this feeling...you know the one. I feel like this horrid looking fellow on horseback just rode up to me and asked me if I'd seen his three brothers anywhere near.
03 January 2005
[sundial_life] Lorem Ipsum Text
Si bili, si ergo...
fortibuses in ero.
M r not! M r trux!
Siwatisinem?
Cowz? And dux!!!
fortibuses in ero.
M r not! M r trux!
Siwatisinem?
Cowz? And dux!!!
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