A Beautiful Butterfly

Tonight my $6 investment in a butterfly bush paid off as a beautiful yellow butterfly spent several minutes on it getting a drink.

Boy Did I Make an Ass of Myself

Yesterday, was our second annual "Team Building Exercise". It's really just a day where we take off work and go the the lake to horse around.

After several margaritas and a few beers, I was feeling really good. But as the day wore on, it became obvious that I'd reached my limit...and went way beyond it. Suddenly, the trip became not so fun.

I'm not exactly sure what happened after that. I do remember hanging my head over the rail of the boat for most of the trip back. Oh, yeah, and I remember vomiting over the rail in front of all of my co-workers. Sweet! I'm sure they'll never let me live that one down.

I passed out in the car on the way back (I wasn't driving). I'm really glad I didn't vomit in the car. That would have been bad.

When I finally got home, I slept for around 12 hours.

If anything good comes out of this, it will be that I don't plan on touching any liquor again for quite some time.

Mentos Experiment

After having witnessed the video of the two guys dropping Mentos candy into 2-Liter Diet Cokes on eepybird.com, we couldn't resist trying the experiment at work on our smoke break.

For the first experiment, we didn't have a 2-Liter or a Diet Coke, so we used a 20oz Diet Pepsi. I devised a paper tube from an index card to fit over the neck of the bottom. Just above the opening, I cut a slit and put a piece of paper in there cross ways to hold the Mentos just over the fluid. Then, I yanked the paper out and took off running. The drink did indeed produce a lot of foam, but it wasn't nearly as exciting as the video. The foam came out and spilled over the sides without making any kind of geyser.

So we watched the video again to see what we did wrong. We realized in the video, the guys left the lid on. They drilled a hole through the lid and fed a string through it. This creates a nozzle of sorts. Then, they apparently threaded the Mentos onto a string. So on smoke break #2, we took the original bottle, filled it just above half-way with Diet Coke, and poked a small hole in the lid. We recreated the experiment pretty well. The hardest part was getting the needle through the Mentos without breaking them. I nearly made the mistake of putting the lid on before we went outside. That could have been a disasterous elevator ride, if I'd accidentally let go of the string.

Outside, I had Terry hold the thread and Mentos above the fluid while I put the lid on. Then we dropped the string and Mentos into the Coke. This time we created a geyser, but it still wasn't like the one on the video. Not even close. I think we had too much air in the bottle. By the time the foam bubbled up to the neck, most of the air pressure had already escaped. I think the bottle has to be filled up nearly to the top.

Maybe we'll try again tomorrow.

New Animal Control Laws

Starting today, Tulsa county has tougher animal control laws. Tulsa has been putting a positive spin on the law, saying it will help with keeping loose dogs from running around, attacking people. Apparently, the county is overrun with this sort of thing, didn't you know? The owner of a loose pet could be fined $500. Also, each pet is required to have a rabies vaccination. Sounds like a good law, right?

Wrong. There is more to the law, and it has an insidious side. Tulsa country now requires you to register all of your pets (I'm not sure if it's just cats and dogs or what...do I have to register my fish, too?) for the ridiculously steep amount of $100. Not only that, you are also required to re-register every year for an additional $50. This is just ridiculous. What family can afford that, especially if you have more than one pet?

I believe this law will make people think twice about adopting pets, which means more of them will be destroyed at the rescue shelter. And I think people will be afraid to take their animals to the vet, for fear of being turned in.

Superman Returns in IMAX 3-D

You'd think that with all the improvements in special effects technology and the fact that Superman Returns has around 20 minutes of 3-D in it (but only if you see it at an IMAX), the movie would easily surpass the previous incarnations of Superman. Well, you'd be wrong.

The movie lacks something the original Superman movie with Christopher Reeve had. It just doesn't feel fresh. Rather than re-invent the Man of Steel like they did with the Dark Knight in Batman Begins, they just update him a little. Even the plot is a little stale: it's very similar to the plot of Superman I.

The movie is also too long. By the time the climax is reached, there is easily another 20 minutes...and it seems to drag.

And lets talk about Kevin Spacey. He's a brilliant actor...but his Lex Luther doesn't come anywhere close to Gene Hackman's. Brandon Routh does a great job as Superman...and he so convincingly imitates Christopher Reeve that it is a little eerie at times.

That's not to say it is a bad movie. I didn't hate it. I didn't find at as good as Superman I, but I thought it was better than Superman II.

Finally, there is the 3-D stuff. The 3-D stuff didn't really add anything to the movie. In fact, I found it a little distracting. If the entire movie had been 3-D, it would have been cool...or even one 20 minute block of 3-D. But instead, the 3-D is interspersed throughout the film for about 5 minutes at a time. It comes across as a gimmick. And that's really sad, considering I love IMAX 3-D.

More on Sex Offenders

There is a news report on the KTUL website saying that 97 percent of Tulsa is off limits to sex offenders due to laws that say offenders cannot live near parks and schools, etc. I don't really cherish the idea of a sex offender living nearby, but it seems a little restrictive.

I think people should be less concerned about sex offenders and more concerned about violent criminals (the two are not mutually exclusive). Where's the website that shows where the violent criminals live? That's what I really want to see.

Dieting Makes No Sense

I don't understand this. For the past several weeks, I've been denying my self pop and trying to eat healthier. I didn't lose squat. So this week, I really fell off the wagon and drank copious amounts of pop, and I had a large chocolate shake from Burger King (the only thing I'll eat there). When I weighed this morning, I'd lost 3 pounds. Go figure.

Condom Poppers

Okay, this one goes into the WTF File. A friend of mine found these unusual fireworks at the local fireworks stand. They're called Condom Poppers. I think they're like those champagne poppers. However, I suspect there may be little condoms in it, instead of streaming paper. Get this! There are phrases on the side of each popper like: So Many Girls So "Little" Condoms, Can't Get Enough of a "Small" Thing, For "Small" Emergencies Only, and Tight is Good "Tightwad" Dangerous.

BlockParty 1.0 Released

I just finished uploading BlockParty 1.0 to SourceForge.net. The champaigne cork is out (okay, it's really a can of beer).

If you have an iPod or MP3 player, you might want to check it out.

BlockParty

Why Cats Suck

I have three cats. And they all suck. If they're not coughing up hairballs, it's something else.

Yesterday as I was leaving for work, I realized the litter box needed changing, but since I was running late, I thought it could wait.

Well, one of the cats--I'm pretty sure I know which one--decided the leave me a reminder to change the litter box. That's catspeak for "he pissed all over the bed". Vindictive little bastard!

I knew I was going to be up for a late-night work implementation at 1:00am, so I'd planned to come home a little early and take a nap. That did not happen. Instead, I spent the evening steam cleaning the bed and washing sheets.

BlockParty Application

I'm a little excited about this. I'm working on an open source Java application called BlockParty. I hope to have it available at SourceForge soon.

Basically, it will let you record a "block" of SHOUTcast-compatible internet streaming music. It will produce MP3 files, which can be uploaded to any iPod or MP3-compatible music player.

I got interested in writing the program when I found another project on SourceForge called Streamripper. All the other programs I've evaluated try to break the songs up into separate tracks with varying degrees of success. Streamripper has this capability too, but it's the only one I've found that will also record until a certain file size or time limit has been reached. BlockParty will use Streamripper in the background, but it will have some other features too.

So far the application is coming along nicely. I estimated I will be done with the first version sometime within the next 2 weeks.

My iPod

I have a love/hate relationship with my 5G iPod, the one with video. I love that it's compact and goes anywhere, can hold several days worth of songs, can show videos when I'm on a plane or in the car, it's relativily easy to use, and the video looks great! But there are some glaring problems (some of which seem easy to fix) with it, too:

1) It's too hard to get movies onto the iPod. Granted, Apple doesn't advertise you can watch movies on it, but since it is a video player, it's sorta implied. Wrong. The Apple Music Store doesn't have movies. Sure, you can buy TV shows from the Apple Music Store, but at $2 a show, an entire season usually costs more than a DVD box set. Which means you must convert the movies yourself, and it's slow and requires you to find third-party software.

2) The Apple Music Store has the option of blending songs together at the breaks, rather than leave a second or two gap between songs. The makes a playlist seem more like a radio broadcast. Yet, the iPod doesn't have this feature. It's probably one of the most requested features on the forums I've seen.

3) When I create a playlist, sometimes I'd like to shuffle it, sometimes not. Unfortunately, the iPod seems to only have a global shuffle setting and it's a pain to navigate to it and turn it on/off.

4) The scroll wheel sensitivity needs to be adjustable. It's aggravating when you highlight something and raise your finger to hit the selector button only to have the selection move as your lift your finger.

I wish Apple and Sirius would team up and build an iPod that could receive Sirius satellite radio transmissions. Now that would be awesome.

Overall, I'd rate myself mostly satified with my iPod, but I don't think it comes close to living up to the hype.

X-Men 3

I just got back from X-Men 3. Overall, I liked the movie as much as the others, but it feels rushed in parts. Especially, the ending. This is supposed to be the last movie in the trilogy, but the ending leaves you wondering if Twentieth Century Fox might have something else in mind.

This time around, the personal storylines are all but eliminated. This story is more about mutants struggling for their mere existence. Without giving too much away, at the beginning of the movie we learn a pharmaceutical company has created an injection that will "cure" the mutants by suppressing the mutant genes.

The government claims it doesn't intend to force mutants to take the injection, but Magneto and the other mutants see the writing on the wall, and Magneto decides to put a stop to it all. He starts bombing clinics where injections are given, and appears on TV like Osama Bin Laden saying the attacks will continue as long as mutants are treated like they are diseased. Once again the mutants from Xavier's school realize that Magneto will stop at nothing to get what he wants, so they step in to protect the humans from Magneto's assault. I found myself hoping Magneto would prevail.

There are quite a few new mutants in this one, but like the Batman movies, more mutants doesn't add up to a better movie. Kelsey Grammer plays Beast and I wish they had spent more time with him. Another new mutant with angel wings pops up at the beginning of the movie and makes appearances here and there but never really becomes an integral part of the story. (It is his "disease" that motivates his father's company to search for a cure.) I'm not even sure they mention his name. A new mutant named Juggernaut provides some comic relief.

Most surprisingly, a few of the main mutants are killed in this one, so be prepared! Others are injected.

Despite it's problems, the movie is a fast-paced summer thrill ride, and it fits in well with it's two predecessors.

UPDATE: It appears that if you stay through the closing credits, there is extra footage. Apparently, one of the X-Men who was thought dead is not. Unfortunately, I missed it.

Pascua-Lama

I consider myself an environmentalist. I'm not necessarily a good environmentalist--I rarely recycle, I don't drive a green car, I probably contribute as much trash to the landfill as anyone else--but I was raised in a rural area and I developed an appreciation for nature at an early age. Blame the Boyscouts of America for all those camping trips I went on.

I just ran across a verified true story on Snopes that is really sickening. Basically, a multinational company is wanting to drill in an area of Chile where a glacier now sits for a large deposit of gold. It will devestate the environment there, line the pockets of the shareholders who couldn't care less about the people of Chile, and leave the local people with a bunch of contaminated lakes and streams. Here is a link to the Pascua-Lama story.

The history of mining is littered with stories of contamination. Here in the Tulsa area a few years ago, the Tar Creek Superfund site was born. It brought a lot of heavy minerals like lead and zinc to the surface. It is now causing health problems for the people that live in the area, especially the children who are more susceptible to the metals. The site has been shutdown for years, but it wasn't cleaned up. The people of the area have been petitioning the government for years to buy them out so they can relocate to safer environments. It's looking like they will finally get their wish.

The people of Pascua-Lama will not be so lucky if Barrick Gold has it's way. And it will be hard for them to put up a legal/political fight against a conglomerate with deep pockets.

Highest Radiation Cell Phones

Over at c|net, they list the current 10 highest radiation cell phones, and Motorola has the top 8 slots. Nice! Especially since I own a Motorola cell phone. Luckily, my phone (V180) was not one of the 8, but it makes me not want to buy Motorola again.

Radiation List

More Rants About Network Television

Last night CBS showed the 2-hour finale of The Amazing Race...and guess what? It overlapped with Lost on ABC, so my TiVo didn't record any of The Amazing Race.

I can't believe CBS would be stupid enough to pit their show against Lost, which obviously stomps it in the ratings.

Furthermore, I went to the CBS website to see if I could watch the last episode on their website, now that they let you do that...and the bastards put the winning team on the video download page, as well as the Amazing Race page.

So much for keeping it a mystery.

How to Ensure Your TV Show Will Get Canceled

1. Sign on with ABC. They rarely give poorly-performing shows time to find an audience. If it doesn't get great ratings the first episode or two, it'll be pulled. Emilys Reasons Why Not is a perfect example. The show could have been the next Sex in the City, but it got pulled after the first episode.

2. Move the show to a different night. Here's my theory: Once a show has an audience on a given night, if you move the show, you will lose some of them. It's unlikely 100% of your viewers will tune in to the new night. And, it's unlikely you'll get new viewers, because once a show gets started, the new viewer will not be able to follow it (unless each episode is self-contained and doesn't spill over into other episodes).

3. Have long periods of reruns before showing new episodes. Commander in Chief (again on ABC) had this problem. So has Desparate Housewives and Lost. Guess what, Desparate Housewives has lost a lot of viewers this season. Lost better watch out.

What is Wrong With ABC?

Recently, I learned ABC had given Commander in Chief the axe. This was very upsetting to me, as it is easily the best drama on TV. But what is even more upsetting, is that it was doing great in the ratings on Tuesday nights before they moved it. When they moved it to Thursday against stiff competition from CBS and NBC, it just couldn't keep it's viewers. Oh, and it was in repeats for weeks before the move, so people lost interest, too.

This morning I read ABC is moving Grey's Anatomy from Sunday nights--where it gets great ratings following Desparate Housewives--to Thursday nights, pitting it against CSI. I'm sure it will tank, as well.

ABC did something similar with Alias. They moved it, and then decided not to renew it.

I'm wondering if in the history of television any show has ever been successfully relocated to a different day?

I wish network television would play their flagship shows two nights a week, similar to what HBO does. That way, you're more likely to catch it, and therefore the ratings should stay up if the show is any good. I think they tried that with Lost and Desparate Housewives, and guess what, those show have not been cancelled. Hmn...

Lack of Posts

Sorry for the lack of entertaining anecdotes for you to read.

I haven't been myself these last couple of weeks. During that time, I've been sick twice, and though I don't have fever or chills right now, I still feel like crap. I've had a headache all day, but I haven't had any caffeine, either. I'm hoping the lack of stimulants is the cause and not something more exotic like meningitus or bird flu.

I think I might have some kind of inner ear infection, because one of my ears feels like it has a cotton ball stuck in it and my equilibrium seems to be affected. Last night I went out for a couple of margaritas for Cinco de Mayo with some friends, and I left the restaurant early because I started to feel worse the longer I was there. The margaritas didn't help. :)

I had all these plans to work on my flowerbed this weekend, but it essentially rained all day. Even if the sun had been shining, I would not have felt up to it. Instead I spent most of the day on the couch watching forensic shows and a couple of movies (Red Eye and Crash--both are excellent).

Hopefully, I'll be better by tomorrow or Monday.

Back to the Future Part II

I finally called Universal about my Back to the Future DVDs. It was a painless procedure. All I had to do was give them my name, address, etc., and they said they would mail me the new discs. I have to mail them my old discs, so I'm not sure if they will wait until they've received those before mailing the others or not. If you're in the United States and want to replace your discs, the number is (888) 703-0010. Other countries can by found in the link in my other article.

Coca-Cola Blak

The other day, I was at Wal-Mart and saw a 4-pack of Coca-Cola Blak for the first time. Blak is a Coca-Cola and Coffee hybrid. I tried it and didn't really like it, so I brought the remaining bottles into the office to see what my coworkers would think of it. After they had tasted it, most of them didn't really think much of it. One (the coffee expert of the office) thought it was good, but not worth paying $4 or $5 for a 4-pack. Our taste test was decidely unscientific, but it makes me wonder if Blak has a long-term future?

Back to the Future DVD Framing Errors

I just found out about this today. Apparently, the DVDs for Back to the Future II & III were improperly cropped when they were transferred to DVD. Owners of the original laser discs noticed some things they could see on the laser discs were off screen in the DVD version. Here is an example of the problem. I checked my discs, and sure enough, they are cropped. I guess I'll call the toll free number listed on that website to see if they are still replacing the DVDs. At the bottom of the page, they list several other DVDs where this has happened...I wonder how many DVDs this really happens to?

iPod Vending Machine

Well, I'm in Fredericton, Canada right now. It's very nice and I recommend you all visit someday.

Anyway, on my trip here, I saw a vending machine in either the Atlanta or Boston airport. It dispensed iPods and iPod accessories. When I saw it, two things immediately popped into my head.

1. I know how mad I get when I put 50 cents in and my bag of chips gets hung up in a regular vending machine. I can only imagine how mad I'd get if I plopped down $300 and then my iPod got hung up. Call airport security! LOL.

2. Let's say the machine actually did dispense the iPod. Now, you've just plopped down $300 and the machine is going to drop your iPod the distance of about 2 or 3 feet into the receptacle at the bottom? Update: After looking at the picture, I'm not so sure your item actually gets dropped. Also, maybe you don't have to pay taxes on it at the airport?

No thanks, but it's still a cool idea.

My Grandfather

My grandfather passed away tonight between 6:30pm and 6:45pm. He was 85.

It's not unexpected. He fell and broke his hip a couple weeks ago. Just this week, they discovered he had a staph infection and pneumonia. He also had Parkinson's so there was little they could do for him.

Anyway, an interesting thing happened today. All week, the hospice workers having been telling my family they should tell grandpa it was okay to let go. The dying sometimes need permission. But my family needed some time to prepare itself first. Today my grandmother finally told grandpa it was okay to die, and within a few hours, he was gone.

It is because of him that I enjoy humor that is a little on the irreverent side. He used to say the most shocking things at the most inappropriate moments, but they always made me laugh. My aunt Nikki was telling me tonight about the time that grandma's sister called to say her third husband had died, and grandpa said "Well Goddamn, she's killed another one!"

I'll miss him dearly, but I'm so glad he's not suffering any more.

An Idea Long Overdue

You've heard of speed cameras no doubt. Though not common (I don't even think Oklahoma has any), basically it's a camera that takes your picture when you drive past it, but only if you are speeding. Then you get a ticket in the mail.

Well, someone has invented a camera that does the same thing, only it detects if your car stereo is too loud. I love this idea. I've heard cars drive by my house thumping so loud, you wonder if the pictures are going to fall off the walls. There's no reason anyone should have their stereo that loud. This idea will save their hearing in the long run, too.

GPS Anklets

In a previous post, I jokingly mentioned they should put GPS anklets on sex offenders. Well, I read this morning on Yahoo that the state of California is using this very tactic on known gang members to track their whereabouts, so I guess I wasn't too far off the mark.

89° Today

As I was driving around T-Town today, the temperature sensor in my rearview mirror said the outside temperature was 89°F. It's only March 12th. What's wrong with this picture?

The Circle Cinema

Last night, some friends and I saw Caché(Hidden)at the Circle Cinema. For those of your who don't know, the Circle Cinema is a newly-opened movie theater in Tulsa, specializing in independent and foreign films. I must say, the theater is very classy. You can tell they spent some money turning it into an art house cinema. When the movie started, a Dolby Digital clip played and the sound system in this theater sounds better than any other theater in Tulsa, with the possible exception of the IMAX. I was pleasanly surprised by that. The theater is a single-screen house currently, but it looks like they are working on the finishing touches for a second, bigger screen.

Anyway, you all should check it out.

Good Sex Offender Legislation Considered

Finally, Oklahoma lawmakers are considering some legislation aimed at sex offenders that I think is good. My favorite bill would allow police to seize assets used in sex crimes, especially computers. I'm shocked that the police can't already do this.

I'm not too thrilled about the web registries. They are expensive to maintain, and I feel they lull people into a false sense of security. I'm surprised they haven't inspired a bunch of vigilantes to take the law into their own hands. However, one of the pieces of legislation being considered would at least place some of the upkeep cost on the offenders themselves--they would be required to pay an annual registration fee and a fee every time they change addresses. Another bill would require offenders to renew their drivers license every year instead of every four years.

They need to make an ankle bracelet similar to those house arrest units that would transit GPS coordinates of the offenders so you can see where they are at any given time.

Back from Striper Fishing

Over the weekend, I went on a striper fishing trip at Lake Texoma. My stepdad hired a fishing guide named "Moe", and he was really good. The weather, however, was not that good. It rained on us most of the morning, which made for a very miserable start. But once we started catching fish, I didn't pay the rain any attention. Toward the end, I probably caught 5 fish in a 10 minute period. I've never been striper fishing before, but I will definitely want to do it again.

On a side note, the fishing guide's buddy "Termite" turned out to be the father of a guy I used to work with at MCI WorldCom. I guess it really is a small world.

Why I Hate Chase Manhattan Bank

Recently, my credit card number was stolen. It's a Chase credit card. And so far, my experience with them in resolving the charges placed on it has not been positive.

Now, I've been with Chase since I was in college, over 10 years ago, and as long as you don't need to talk to anyone on the phone, it's a pretty good card. But as soon as you need to talk to a representative, get ready for frustration! Their automated system is terrible. It took me 10 minutes to figure out how to talk to someone, after going down two dead-end paths that forced me to hang up and call back. The third time, I was put on hold and the automated voice actually said, "...to continue holding, please press 2..." Now that makes me wonder if I were to lay the phone down for a second, would they drop my call?

Next, I received a threatening letter in the mail from Chase the other day stating they were not going to remove the disputed charge at this time (it's less than $55--chump change to them), and that I should get reimbursed from the company the charge went to. It went on to say that if the charge was not resolved that way, to inform them in writing by March 1st or they would consider the matter closed. That's less than a week away, and I've yet to be able to get Virgin Mobile to call me back. Virgin Mobile should be my next rant!

Finally, the last thing that is aggravating is that when I reported the fraudelent charge, Chase said they would issue a new card. I haven't received it. When I finally did speak to someone today, they told me they would not issue a new card until the dispute is resolved. In the meantime, the current card has been suspended, so I guess it's a good thing I don't need a credit card right now!

What a BAD Idea!

Once again, the Oklahoma legislature is working on a bad piece of legislation. A bill is in the works to extend the time it takes a divorce to become final by a whole three months. My first reaction was that people in abusive situations will have to endure them just that much longer, but at least there is an exception for those people.

The whole point of the bill it seems is to reduce Oklahoma's divorce rate, but I see it as a way to force unhappy people to be unhappy just that much longer. I find it to be an unnecessarily cruel government intervention. By the time two people get to the point where they want to divorce, I don't think an extended waiting period is going to be an effective deterent. Indeed, it could actually raise the level of domestic violence. Another side effect is that it could reduce the number of new weddings.

On the surface, a high divorce rate seems to indicate some major failing of societal values, but maybe it just means that Oklahomans are more independent than most and are not willing to give in to societal pressure to keep up appearances when they are unhappy. I think it's great when two people decide they want to share a life together, but I also think it's admirable for someone to assert that the marriage isn't working out for him and it's time to move on. Divorce is a means for two adults to admit they've made a mistake, and they no longer want to be legally bound. In the same way that the government should not decide which two consenting adults can get married (yes, I support the idea of gay marriage), it should not be sticking its nose into the divorces of two consenting adults, either.

When is Torture Acceptable?

Last night's episode of Lost was even more thought-provoking that usual. In the episode Sayid tortured a man that was captured in the jungle (thinking he is one of the Others), and it made me question my own ideas about when it is and is not acceptable to use torture as an intelligence gathering technique. On one hand, the amount of torture is wholly dependent on the person being tortured. If he doesn't want to be tortured, he has the option of telling what he knows, and the torture should stop. On the other hand, if the person is innocent, then he has no information to tell, and he's probably going to get a severe beating. At the very minimum, I think you need to have some evidence that the guy is withholding, rather than mere suspicion.

Cell Phone Lives!

After the phone dried out, I put the battery in and it worked just fine. And it's a lot cleaner now.

Cell Phone Drowns

Before I washed my coat last night, I checked all the pockets as I always do, and there was nothing in them...or so I thought. Apparently, I forgot to check the inside pocket. When I removed the clothes from the washer, I found my cell phone at the very bottom of the tub. I immediately took it out, opened it up, removed the battery, etc., so it could dry overnight. But as of this morning, I don't think it can be revived.

Death Penalty for Child Molesters

If Democratic Senator Jay Paul Gumm of Durant has his way, Oklahoma will begin executing repeat child molesters sometime in the near future. I don't have any children, or I might feel differently about this, but I strongly disagree with this measure. I prefer locking a person up for life with no chance of parole to the death penalty. At one time, it was cheaper to keep a person in prison than it was to execute them. And the news said that as soon as your second offense could result in the death penalty.

Bottled Water Problems

There was an interesting articule on Yahoo! this morning about bottled water. You can read the original article here.

Basically it talks about how bottled water is mistakenly believed to have all these health benefits when the majority of it isn't any better than tap water. The added minerals don't have any known health benefits. Bottling the water is causing the water tables to drop in places where people depend on the water for their businesses. To produce the plastic bottles uses a lot of petroleum. Most discarded bottles wind up in the landfill and plastic doesn't biodegrade. Those that are recycled are shipped to China, which uses even more petroleum. It's definitely an eye-opener.

Having said that, I love the taste of Deja Blue, Aquafina, and Fiji water.

Fraudulent Charges

I have a co-worker who has the worst luck I've ever seen. I think some of her misfortune is starting to rub off on me.

Tonight, I logged onto the website of a credit card I use, only to find that there was a charge on it from Virgin Mobile, which I have never used. So I called Virgin Mobile and they said the charge came from the Washington, D.C. area. Sweet. Then I called the credit card company, and they showed not only this charge but several other pending charges that had not cleared yet. I seems the computer flagged them as fradulent and was blocking them or something. So I'm safe on those, but there is a small amount already on the card that I now have to dispute. Nice.

Welcome to the world of identity theft!

Senate Panel Passes Picketing Bill

An Oklahoma State Senate committee passed a bill today to restrict demonstrations at funerals, particularly at funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The demonstrations come not from anti-war protesters, but from members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas led by pastor Fred Phelps (pictured above). Yes, you heard me right. If you've never heard of this group, they've been demonstrating at gay pride events and gay funerals all over the country for years. They operate two lovely websites, one called GodHatesFags.com and the other called GodHatesAmerica.com, the later of which now proudly proclaims that "Coretta Scott-King is in HELL!!!!".

Not content to just direct their hate-speech at gays, they've now moved on to soldier funerals, stating that the soldiers were killed in combat because God hates America for tolerating homosexuals. This new movement has so outraged veterans' groups, that recently motorcyclists have started showing up at the same funerals just so they can rev their engines over the voices of the demonstrators.

Now, I'm a big supporter of the First Amendment, but I personally think that hate speech demonstrations should be outlawed the same way that shouting "FIRE!" into a crowded building is illegal. Hopefully this bill will be passed into law, and the impact of these disrespectful demonstrations will at least be minimized.

Super Bowl XL

You'd think with the moniker "XL", the Super Bowl would have been extra large this year. Well, it wasn't. The game itself was good, but the entertainment and commercials were a disappointment for the most part. It was a severe case of has-beens and never-was's.

I never really liked Aaron Neville or Aretha Franklin when they were in their prime. Now they are WAY beyond their prime, and you could barely hear both of them when they sang the National Anthem. I wish Simon Cowell could have been there to critique it.

And the Rolling Stones really need to go back to England. They are past their prime, too. Mick Jagger looks like Jack Skellington with those long bony legs of his. I was afraid he was gonna break a hip or something.

There were a few funny commercials. I liked the one with the revolving wall in which this guy stocks his refrigerator with beer on a revolving wall to hide it from his guests. Little does he know that when the wall rotates, it rotates into his neighbor's apartment and they start stealing his beer. And there was a good one with a Godzilla-like creature who falls in love with a giant robot. They have a baby...an H3 Hummer.

Janet Jackson may have forever ruined the Super Bowl. I like the risque commercials of past, but ever since the wardrobe malfunction, advertisers have been playing it cautious. There were a couple suggestive ones this year. One had a guy trying to take his Sierra Mist through the airport metal detector, and they were threatening to give him a body cavity search if he didn't hand it over. And another where a woman was on an airplane trying to climb over a guy when they hit turbulence. She sat down in his lap and it looked very much like they were trying to join the mile-high club.

See you next year, same bat time, same bat place.

Eve Online Update

I gave up on Eve Online. I don't know if it is my firewall or what, but I can't seem to stay connected to the game for more than 10 minutes at a time. It was a cool game, too. Oh well.

The President Turns Green

I just read this morning that George Bush has outlined a plan to reduce our dependence on oil from the Middle East by as much as 75% by the year 2025. While the details of his strategy are sketchy at this point, I hope the meat of his plan isn't drilling in Alaska. Instead, I hope it will include research into more fuel-efficient vehicles and alternative fuel sources.

Eve Online

I've been seeing a game called Eve Online advertised a lot in PC Gamer, so I went to the website to check it out. I also did a search for a free trial and was able to find a 14-day free trial on the website. I didn't have to give out a credit card to get started, so I installed the game.

The opening scene gives you the back story on how the galaxy came to be as it is now. Essentially, humanity left Earth after it was left uninhabitable. But ruthless corporations took over all the new planets that were colonized, leaving the people under the thumb of oppression. Then one day a stable wormhole was discovered, and people began traveling to an unexplored part of the galaxy to find a new life. Not too long afterward, the wormhole collapsed, leaving thousands colonists stranded on hundreds of worlds. Over time, only four groups of humans survived. And the game begins from there leaving you to setup your character by choosing a bloodline.

I did not get very far into the game yet...the computer is still training me how to operate my ship and engage in combat, but so far the game has a depth that is generally not seen in other games. It reminds me a little of the old game Taipan, but much more grown-up. That's both a negative and a plus. It's a negative because you can't just pick the game up and start playing, but I think the complexity of the game will be more rewarding in the end. We shall see.

It's Official -- I'm Getting Old

This has not been a good two weeks. First, I got food poisoning and was sick for a couple of days. Then, I've got some kind of a head cold or allergy thing going on. My diaphragm is so sore from coughing that it hurts to breathe. Then, I got new eyeglasses and something was wrong with the prescription because I couldn't see very well with them, and I was getting headaches. So I went back to the eye doctor today and she rechecked my eyes. I asked her when I would need to start considering bifocals. She said not normally until I reach age 40. But, she went ahead and tested me for problems focusing on far and then near objects, and guess what? I'm having problems. So she tells me I'll probably be in bifocals sooner than age 40. Just freakin' great!

New Graphics Card

Over the weekend, I installed a new nVidia graphics card in my VAIO. Wal-mart had it on sale so I couldn't resist.

A while back I picked up Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 and immediately put it aside when my existing ATI card couldn't keep up with it. It was a painful experience, and my initial reaction to the game was disappointing. So I reinstalled it to see if the new card could handle it, and the difference is like night and day. I believe the game is as fun as the original games in the series were. There have been two expansion packs to the game recently. I guess I'll have to pick them up too, now.

Filthy Hospitals

I just got word my grandmother's sister has passed away from a staph infection. She contracted it after she went into the hospital for neck surgery.

Recently, a friend's grandpa had surgery and developed some sort of unidentified infection, and he later passed too.

Sounds to me like the hospitals are not cleaning up their messes good enough. It's an outrage, especially after what they charge for surgery these days.

Moral of the story: if you want to live, don't go to the hospital.

A Dirty Joke

Two Canadians are sitting in a bar, when one of them turns to the other and says, "Hey, you wanna play 20 questions?".

The other one says, "Sure."

So the first one says, "Let me think of something." So he thinks of "moose cock". "Okay, I got it."

The second one asks, "Can you eat it?"

The first one giggles and says, "Well, yeah, I guess you can eat it."

The second one says, "Is it 'moose cock'?"

My apologies to all Canadians. :)

Howard Sterns Moves to Sirius

I caught the tail end of the Howard Sterns show this morning on the way to work. He must have been on his best behavior on his first day because I didn't hear a single explicative. What I did enjoy was hearing him discuss first amendment rights. It would seem there are some senators who are trying to get the FCC to censor Howard Sterns on Sirius, which is a pay service much like HBO. Also, apparently Sirius can be programmed to block channels, so if you don't want to hear Sterns, you don't have to listen. Basically, Sterns went on to say that if they are successful in altering how the FCC behaves, they'll destroy cable TV and the first amendment as we know it. Keep up the good fight, Howard.

Fun with 3-D

Flamingo
Originally uploaded by shutterbug4000.

This is kinda cool. I took a few pictures I've taken with my Loreo 3-D Lens in a Cap and converted them to 3-D red/blue anaglyphs. They are viewable on the Flickr website. My user ID is shutterbug4000.

Mine Explosion

Today the news is reporting only 1 survivor in that West Virginia mine explosion. Last night the news mistakenly reported 12 had survived. Apparently, the mining company knew within 20 minutes of the announcement that it had made a mistake, but did not correct the information for 3 hours.

One woman has stated she's going to sue the mining company for lying to her. I'm sorry, but that is just irrational. It's sad that her dad died and all, but last time I checked, lying (and I wouldn't even call it that) is not illegal. People say ridiculous things when they are emotional. This would be a frivolous lawsuit at best. She sounds less concerned for her dad and more concerned about how much money she can get her hands on.

Fire Danger

Here in Oklahoma the wildfire situation is out of control. A couple of days ago, there was a wildfire about a block north of my dad's house in Duncan. When I talked to him, it had burned one house to the ground that he knew about. The Oklahoma City news was reporting 5 houses burned later that night. It's pretty crazy.

My dad was a volunteer firefighter for years, and he helped out with the recent fire. My step-brother is a firefighter. It takes a special kind of courage to put your life on the line to help others, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for that kind of person.

In the coming days the fire danger appears that it will worsen. If you know someone who is a firefighter, I urge you to thank them for doing what they do and to keep them in your thoughts until we get some rain.

20Q

Last night I found a 20Q game at Wal-Mart for just under $10. It asks you 20 vague questions and then guesses what you're thinking of. It's very accurate.

You can also play on their website: 20Q. It's fun. Try it.

King Kong Not Quite A Blockbuster

Well, it's official. King Kong is not quite the blockbuster movie studio executives had been hoping for. Ticket sales have been slumping all year, and any hopes that this movie would help offset the trend have been dashed. As it stands, Star Wars Episode III is the only $300 million dollar blockbuster of the year (there were 3 movies last year).

I have some theories why people haven't been going to the movies.

First, the summer action movies have been getting dumber and dumber over the years. I won't go see a movie if it insults my intelligence in the trailer. Let's take the movie Stealth. Lightning strikes a new military jet and it becomes smarter than the actors in the movie and goes into self-preservation mode. Gimme a break. You can't have a whole movie about that.

Second, special effects have lost their ability to wow. Every movie put out this summer seemed to overflow with special effects. Special effects should not be a substitute for a storyline. The Chronicles of Narnia is an excellent example of special effects done right because they didn't get in the way of the story. Again, let's take Stealth. This movie is obviously about a computer-generated jet and nothing else.

Third, you don't have to put with audience distractions. I can't tell you how many movies I've had to listen to some teenage brat talking to her boyfriend on the phone the entire movie. A initiative to block cell phone reception in movie theaters in gaining momentum. I hope it succeeds.

Fourth, picture quality. DVDs are spoiling movie-goers. It's arguable that movies on DVD look better than they do on the big screen. DLP projection looks brilliant, or so I've heard. When are we gonna start seeing more theaters with DLP projectors?

Fifth, concession stand prices. It now costs about the same for a bucket of popcorn and a coke than it does to eat at a nice restaurant.

Sixth, there are just too many movies out at one time right now. To some extent, that makes sense. Put a out a bigger dragnet and you're gonna catch more fish. But a lot of times there is more than one movie I want to see so I have to pick which one. Plus, when there are so many movies, the quality seems to suffer, I think.

ANWR

Yesterday the Senate voted to block oil drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge.

I have mixed feelings on this. Opening ANWR is not going to alleviate our dependence on foreign oil. Some estimate it could lower our dependence by about 2%. Still, 2% is nothing to scoff at.

Although I don't think drilling in ANWR is going to have much impact on the environment, I'd rather see more legislation and incentives enacted to help lower our energy usage. People in the United State use more energy than any other nation by a significant margin, and it cannot continue forever.

Let's focus on reducing our oil consumption rate. Our automakers could make our cars more fuel efficient, but they don't because they aren't forced to. The government could place extra luxury taxes on SUVs. These are nothing but status symbols anyway. Also, the government could give tax breaks to people who drive manual transmissions, which have better fuel economy--people who drive hybrid cars already get a similar break. Probably the best thing the government could do is start educating the public about our energy problems.

Unions

Norma Rae is one of my favorite movies. In that movie, Norma Rae has a job in a factory with atrocious working conditions, and she organizes a union to get a more inhabitable work environment. It's a great movie. The idea of one person taking on an industry and winning is as old as David and Goliath. It's easy to root for the little guy, or gal, as the case may be.

Now, I've seen on the news where the Transportation Workers Union in New York City walked off the job, forcing thousands, even millions, of people to find alternative means of transportation. This has a potentially expensive impact on New York's economy--maybe the economy of the United States. Does the union have a genuine reason for doing this or is the reason nothing more than greed?

I have mixed feelings about unions. On one hand, they can make a difference. On the other, once they are organized, they tend to use strong-arm tactics to get what they want, and it typically doesn't benefit the members of the unions so much as the leaders of the union.

Back to Basics Egg & Muffin

I love Egg McMuffins. I've been seeing the commercials on TV for the Back to Basics Egg & Muffin toaster. I could not resist. At just under $40 at Wal-Mart, I figured it was worth it.

I love it. It takes about 4 minutes to make the perfect Egg McMuffin at home now. You should get one.

Six Feet Under

I just watched the final episode of HBO's Six Feet Under, and now I'm certain that it is the most brilliant television series ever made. Six Feet Under was never afraid to take you to places that were uncomfortable and sad. Yet the show was extremely funny and uplifting at times. If you haven't seen the ending, you should stop reading now.

At the beginning of nearly every episode, someone dies. This has been one of the most fascinating parts of the show. About 4 or 5 episodes from the end, however, Nate dies. And after spending the next few episodes watching everyone learn to cope, Six Feet Under doesn't let up. Instead, it takes it one step further. Rather than leave you wondering what happens to all of the main characters, it uses the same methodology from the opening scene to show you how Ruth, Keith, Rico, David, Brenda, and Claire all meet their demise. After having been with these characters for 5 years, it's like watching all of your family die within the span of 2 minutes. It's truly devastating. But the show could not have ended any other way.

Originally, I thought the show was about the Fisher family learning to cope without it's father, but ultimately, it's about something much more important. It's about using your time to live as much as you can before you die.

JibJab

Those crazy guys over at JibJab.com have a new video called 2-0-5 that's pretty cute.

Save Mr. Six!

Six Flags has a new person at the helm, and he thinks he can turn the troubled company around. One of his first edicts is to send Mr. Six packing. Now, I'm all for returning Six Flags to it former glory, but I love Mr. Six. He's such a clever marketing gimmick. I don't understand why you would want to get rid of him. When that music starts playing and he does all that age-defying dancing, it brings a smile to my face.

There is an online petition to keep Mr. Six as the mascot for the theme park chain. You can sign the petition here. It only takes a few seconds.

King Kong

I just got back from Tulsa's newest movie theater, Riverwalk Movies. Actually, it isn't in Tulsa...it's just across the river in Jenks. Overall, it's a nice theater. It doesn't look very big on the outside, but on the inside, it's cavernous. The seats were comfortable for the most part, and they're rockers, which is a bonus in my book. They don't have automated ticket dispensers yet, but maybe they'll put some in. The Riverwalk Crossing will now be a great place to go have dinner and see a movie.

So what movie did I see? King Kong. I thought it was excellent. It's a little over three hours long, but it didn't have any real slow parts. The middle part of the movie has some really ingenious action sequences in it. Oh, let me warn you, it has a lot of insects and creepy crawlies, not just gorillas and dinosaurs. I could have done without the scenes with all those critters. I defy you to watch the movie and not squirm during those segments.

The special effects in the movie, though generally great, were a mixed bag. When you are watching Kong, it is so well done that you believe you're watching a real gorilla. Some of the other effects, like the scene where a bunch of people are running with a herd of dinosaurs, look a little fake. But it still believable and fun.

The ending of the movie is really sad. Think "Passion of the Christ", only with a gorilla and biplanes. That part was hard to watch, but it had to be in there, or it wouldn't be King Kong, right?

Now back to the movie theater. When the movie was over, the projector turned off just when the credits were about to roll. It was kinda like they were saying get out, we have another group of people waiting in line to get in. I thought that seemed kinda rude, but it was their opening day and they were having some technical difficulties, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

What Kind of Animal Are You?

You Are A: Pony!

Who doesn't love a pony? You are one of these miniature horses, renown for your beauty and desired by many. Full of grace, you are a beautiful and very special animal, full of strength and majesty.

You were almost a: Bear Cub or a Lamb
You are least like a: Mouse or a FrogThe Cute Animals Quiz

Do the River First

Tuesday is an important election in Tulsa. There is a vote on 4 propositions to "fix the county". From what I've read, this is largely a waste of tax payers' money.

A local website called Do the River First makes a great argument for voting no on all the propositions, except for proposition 1, which they say you should vote yes on. Check it out.

Stanley Tookie Williams

I've been reading about this guy on death row in California named Stanley Tookie Williams. For those of you who don't know, "Tookie" is credited with founding the Crips, a gang that has been associated with thousands of murders in Los Angeles. Even so, I'm not really a proponent of the death penalty. Our justice system is run by people, and people have flaws--they make mistakes. People also have agendas. I don't believe you can make an argument that our legal system is blind because of this.

Since "Tookie" has been in prison, he's apparently turned his life around. He's actually being beneficial to society now. He's trying to keep kids out of gangs now. The society we live in is largely Christian. In Christianity, there is a big emphasis on redemption, and yet a lot of people want to see this guy pay for what he did. I find it all a bit hypocritical.

The other thing that bothers me about executing Tookie is that it will make him a martyr. If you thought gang violence was bad before, just wait to you kill their leader. And we know Los Angeles is prone to rioting. I wouldn't be surprised if we see one this week. It could be costly.

Supposedly Schwartzeneggar is considering pardoning him. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Tivo Just Keeps Getting Better

Within the last few weeks Tivo has been making several improvements to its service for those people with broadband.

First, there is the Netflix partnership. While the official launch of the service has yet to occur, they did do a test the week of Thanksgiving where you could download a movie of their choosing to your Tivo. I opted to help them with their test, and the next time I checked, the movie had downloaded to my Tivo flawlessly. Now, I'm sure the movies will have DRM in them to prevent copying, but I didn't really check.

Second, there is the Yahoo! partnership. I have yet to receive this update, but some friends are telling me they got it, and it's cool. You get access to your Yahoo! Photos account. There are also local movie listings with showtimes and free streaming music. I'm anxiously awaiting this update.

Third, there is the ability to download content from Tivo into portable devices such as Sony PSP and iPod video. I don't have either of these devices, the iPod video sure sounds sweet. I'm kinda wondering if there are any plans to let you download iTunes video into the Tivo. I kinda doubt it. Rumor has it that Apple is cooking up a DVR of their own, using the Mac Mini as the platform. I have mixed feelings about this. I'd love to see Apple branch out into new markets, but I don't want to see the Tivo company suffer because of it, as it is one of the few companies I'm fiercely loyal to right now. I'll betcha the Apple DVR will let you download video to it exclusively.

Holiday Cheer, Part 2

I heard a program on the radio yesterday talking about "holiday trees". Now, I did see a video on Yahoo yesterday where this one company had a Jewish display in it's store. It had some other religious displays. But there was no Christian display. There was a snow flake tree, instead. Now, that is obviously unfair.

Then, this guy came on and started talking about how Christians are being persecuted in this country. This is when I started to get offended. I'd like to plop this guy down in Iraq for a few weeks, and then we'll see if he still feels persecuted in American. The last time I looked, the U.S. isn't sending Christians to gas chambers, like they did in Nazi-controlled Germany last-century. Or we could send this guy to Bosnia or Africa for a few weeks to see if he feels like missing holiday displays is anything like ethnic cleansing.

Discriminated against? Maybe. But certainly not persecuted.

TSA: Making the Skies Less Safe

On December 22, the TSA will allow passengers to bring scissors and small screwdrivers onboard airplanes in the U.S. The TSA says these as low-risk items. They are going to concentrate more on finding explosives.

Hmn. I don't remember the September 11th hijackers having any bombs on them. They effectively used very low-tech items similar to scissors and screwdrivers.

I'm glad I'm not flying anytime soon.

Accountability in America

What is with this country? Are we really so irresponsible?

Channel 8 had a survey on their website tonight. The survey asks "Should parents be held accountable for students who cuss at school?". When I submitted my answer (no), I got a statistical graph saying two-thirds of those who responded said yes. I have a problem with that.

I remember when I was in school. My parents told me over and over not to cuss in school. I knew they would not have approved of my potty mouth. But I had one, and I knew how to use it. There is nothing my parents could have done differently that would have changed that. Anyone who presume's otherwise is only fooling himself.

Our country really has a problem with facing reality. There is this pathological need to blame someone else for any wrongdoing, and it frequently involves blaming by association. It really needs to stop. I sometimes wonder if I'm really a liberal or if I'm just a radical thinker. I'm sure the parents of those kids involved in the Columbine shootings were probably good parents. I don't think people who make guns have anything to do with drive-by shootings. I don't think that people involved in drunken auto accidents have any right to blame the bartender who served the driver liquor. I believe that most people know what they are doing when they do something wrong, and they are soley responsible for their own actions. Sometimes bad things just happen, and no one is at fault. Deal with it.

Holiday Cheer

Okay, I can't keep silent any longer. I'm sick of hearing people like the Catholic League and Jerry Falwell complaining about the use of "Season's Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas" in retail shopping centers and "Holiday Trees" instead of "Christmas Trees" on public property.

It's not that I'm against Christmas or Jesus or anything--I'm not. I just think these people need to focus their energy on stuff that's important, like pedophile priests or deforestation of the Amazon.

Let's face it. Not everyone in America is Christian. Some are Jewish, some are Buddhist, and, yes, some are even Islamic. While these other religions make up a smaller percentage of the population, it is still in most retailer's interest not to offend these groups with religous endorsements.

As for "Holiday Trees", this is going a bit far, but I understand why government agencies would use this terminology, what with all the lawsuits going on. Still, I feel silly calling a tree a holiday tree.

Surface

Surface is probably my fourth most favorite show on TV right now, behind Commander in Chief, Lost, and Desparate Housewives. Last night's episode was pretty thrilling, just as it has been all season. Then, as the credits were rolling, instead of showing a preview for next week, it simply just said "New episodes of Surface are coming in January". Why, NBC, do you taunt me like this!

Nick and Jessica Split!

Omigod! Nick and Jessica just split up. I'm so distraught. What is this world coming to?

Just kidding. I'm really thinking I don't give a shit and neither should you.

XBox 360 is Here

And it's in my hands--for the moment, at least. It's going on eBay later.

But boy was it a spectacle last night. One of my co-workers tipped me off about one of the local Wal-Mart's so I went there and got in line just a few spaces behind him. I was number 42 and they had 48. So, four hours later, I had one in my hands.

Cougar Spotted in Broken Arrow Park

The local news is reporting that three separate witnesses have seen a mountain lion in the Ray Harral Nature Park in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

A professional trapper has been hired to capture and remove the animal. I hope they don't have to kill it.

Sirius Customer Service is AWESOME

After having installed my Sirius receiver, it became clear to me the remote control did not work properly. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I tried a few things with the battery, to no avail. So I took the unit back to Circuit City and exchanged it for an identical unit.

I called Sirius the other day to see what I would need to do when I swapped units. They told me to call them once I had the new unit and they would just switch out the serial numbers in their system. No big deal.

So I called them. The agent I received on the phone was super pleasant. However, he was unable to pull up my account because their systems had just gone down or something. Sensing my disappointment, he said the system would probably be back up in less than 30 minutes and he would call me back if I wanted him to. I said sure. I figured that would give me time to re-mount the new unit in the car anyway.

Two minutes later the phone rang, and it was the same Sirius dude. He asked me for my new serial number and said within 5 minutes I would see a message saying it was activating. No sooner than I had hung up with him, the unit did indeed activate, and I was good to go.

So far, I love Sirius. Perhaps I love it too much. Now, I want to go somewhere in the car--doesn't matter where--all the time just so I can listen to it. Maybe I should write the marketing department and pitch some commercials to them.

Sirius Radio

Okay. I have a sickness. I admit it. I love all things electronic. But it's not merely enough to admire these gadgets...I must own them.

Recently, one of my co-workers bought a Sirius radio for his car, and he's been playing some of the Sirius streams on his computer at work. Now, everyone in Tulsa knows the radio stations here suck, so this has piqued my interest. But the real kicker is that the idea of satellites beaming music into my car gives me pleasure that is probably illegal in Oklahoma. So, tonight, I added a Sirius receiver to my car. Installation was must easier than I expected it would be. These things truly are plug and play.

Just a few days ago, I aquired a Tivo and a new PalmPilot. My collection is almost complete. The only thing left is a high-def TV. That's the last thing I can't live without, but it should be a while before that happens because it's becoming too costly to support my electronic habit.

Lost Aggravates Yet Again

Spoiler alert!

When the screen went black at the end of Lost last night, I was upset and pissed off more than I have been with any previous episode. Sayed (spelling?) had just pronounced his love for Shannon and he'd never leave her. Then she ran off in the woods and got shot, and then apparently died in his arms. Shannon, the spoiled little rich girl, had really been showing signs of growing up, and then they whacked her.

Or maybe they didn't. We didn't actually see Shannon die. It was implied. The teaser for Lost had said one of the characters would be lost forever. After thinking about it, there are three possibilities:

Shannon could be lost forever because she died. But maybe she didn't.

Sawyer could be lost forever because he slipped into unconsciousness and did not recover. Seems unlikely.

Or the one survivor they lost in the woods about half-way through the show could be the character lost forever. That character was essentially a "red shirt" character like they used to have on Star Trek. I'm thinking this one seems the most believable.

Finally, the other bad thing about Lost is that next week is going to be about the people in the tail section of the plane, so we probably won't learn of Shannon's fate for at least another episode.

Scratch-Offs Not Generating Expected Avenue

Well, perhaps Oklahomans are smarter than lawmakers thought. The "Education Lottery" is just not generating the revenue lawmakers thought it would. An education lottery is a paradox anyway. Presumably, as more money is fed into the lottery, more money goes to the schools and children receive a better education. But, as children receive a better education, they will be less likely to play the lottery as they get older because they realize what a waste of money it is, and less money will go into the lottery. In other words, it'll never solve Oklahoma's education problems.

A Delightful Dream

Last night I had the most delightful dream. There was this tree in this old woman's yard that was a mythical strawberry tree. The strawberries it produced were nearly as large as a grapefruit. They were delicious and sweeter than any strawberry I've ever tasted. Each morning the neighborhood kids would gather around the tree and pick the latest ripe berries off the tree.

I'm not sure if the dream means anything, but I was one of the best dreams I've ever had.

International Lottory Scam

I received a letter in the mail yesterday from Canada. When I opened it, I found a check for nearly $4,000 in it and a letter saying I won an international lottery (which I did not enter). The total prize is $75,000 but there are 4 other winners I have to split the winnings with. Anyway, the check is to cover the taxes I owe the federal government. To get the rest of my money, I have to call a toll-free number and hand over my bank account number.

I knew this was a scam from the first sentence. But the check looks absolutely authentic. Just to confirm my suspicions, I did a search on the internet. I found talk of similar scams. One helpful site had this to say:

If you want to be sure you're not the next victim of a foreign lottery scam, here are five tips:

1. First of all, playing any kind of cross-border lottery system is a violation of Federal law, and law enforcement officials ARE paying attention. IOW, it's illegal. Don't do it!

2. You can't win a prize in a lottery if you didn't buy a lottery ticket.

3. Real lotteries don't ask you to pay a fee. If you have to write a check to win a lottery prize, it's a scam. IOW, never, ever send any money for 'processing fees,' or share any other financial information, in order to claim a prize.

4. Never fill out any prize forms or 'claims' either through snail mail or online -- you may end up on scammers' 'sucker' lists as a result, which means you'll just get more solicitations.

5. Don't believe -- or pay for -- any 'secret systems' that will help you win lotteries. If someone really had a foolproof secret system to win lotteries, why would they sell it to you?

So, don't be fooled if you get the same thing in the mail. You can read more here.

Palm Z22

Well, last night I gave up on my Sony Clie. It won't hold a charge, and I can't be sure if it's the battery or the charging cradle. I wasn't willing to spend any more money on it to find out.

I thought about PocketPC, Windows Mobile, or whatever the hell they are calling it these days, but these devices are still too expensive. History has shown I don't use my PDA frequently enough for me to justify the cost.

So, I'm now the proud new owner of a Palm Z22. This is my first Palm-branded PalmPilot. It only does 160x160. I sorta miss the Clie's 320x320. But the Z22 has other features lacking on my Clie. The one that I'm most thankful for is non-volatile memory. If the battery runs down, I won't lose my data.

Episode III on DVD

Most places around town have Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith on DVD for $19.99. I found it at Target last night for $14.99 through November 5, for all those who are interested.

Back from Transexual Transylvania

Last night, some friends and I went to the American Theatre Company's performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.

Chad Oliverson's performance of Dr. Frank-N-Furter was spot-on. He is the star of the show, without a doubt. And those platform shoes! They are about 4 or 5 inches tall. I kept thinking he was gonna twist an ankle, but that did not happen.

The show was one of those shows that's so much fun, you don't want it to end. I was afraid they would tone it down for an Oklahoma audience, but it was a word-for-word reanctment of the movie and just as risque.

One of the cool things about the show was the ushers before the performance started. They are in character and they kept doing think to various audience members. That's definitely not in the movie.

There were a few things that detracted from the performance considerably, however. Some of the actors act like they are bored. Others are very flat when they sing. It took a while for the stage production to build up to the energy that's in the movie through most of it. Another problem was the sound kept cutting in and out. Still, the problems were minor, and should not keep you from doing the Time Warp again.

Oktoberfest is Here

Last night was corporate night at Oktoberfest here in Tulsa. Man it was so much fun to see my fellow co-workers get drunk. Of course, I didn't get that way. ;)

Pesticides

The other night was a cool evening, so I was driving back home with the windows down, when I came upon a fog bank an interesting fog bank with a well-defined boundary. As I drove through it, it quickly became apparent to me this was no natural fog...it was a cloud of pesticide! By the time I rolled the windows up, it was in the car with me to stay. Dammit.

I don't think the city should be allowed to just randomly spray the area with poison. Several times during the summer, a truck can be seen driving up and down my street spraying a dense cloud of pesticide to kill mosquitoes and probably other insects. Pesticides don't just kill insects. Other animals eat the insects and they die, too. Then other animals eat those animals, and so on and so fourth. I'm adamantly against pesticides and rarely use them in my house (unless there is a spider, and then it's so long sucker!) Plus I just really don't appreciate having the breathe the shit. Even with my windows up in my house, I can sometimes smell the pesticide when they spray outside. What's also aggravating is that there are very few mosquitoes this time of year anyway.

Contracts

Who else here thinks Corporate America is screwing them over? Can I get a show of hands?

I'm tired of companies that lock you into a contract to keep your business. It goes against our society's long-held belief that competition spurs innovation and drives down costs. Today, if you want a cell phone you're more than likely going to be locked into a two-year contract. You can get a cell phone sans contract, but then your per-minute cost is much higher than if you signed a contract, and it will cost you even more in the long run. Corporate America has gotten lazy and rather than innovate, they just lock you into a contract so they can innovate at their own artifically slow pace. It used to be such that if you didn't like a company, you could run to the competitor, but not anymore. If you don't like what company A has to offer, company B has a similiar set of offerings and the same type of contract, so you're not really changing anything at all. Consumers have fewer choices today than they should. Does Congress do anything about it? Are you kidding?

I have some friends who are moving from an apartment to a house. SBC says they can move their service, but they have to pay a re-connect fee, and their DSL contract starts over if they do. Now, if they decide to cancel the service, they are required to pay around $200 to break the DSL contract, since the contract isn't up for a while. That's outrageous. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.

Here's a shocking idea. I bet you that if a company were to provide a decent service and treat it's customers like customers instead of revenue streams, it would probably do pretty well for itself.

It's Official

It's official: Tivo has turned me into a couch potato.

Surface

I'm 4 episodes into Surface on NBC, and I'm addicted. This show is somewhat campy, but in a fun sort of way. It's really a good blend of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, E.T., X-Files, and Abyss. If you like "creature features", you should not miss this one.

Now on to the spoilers.

In the last couple of episodes, we learned that the creatures secrete a mucus membrane around them that lets them live inside lava. It now looks like the creatures have been living inside the earth's crust for a long time, as the creatures seem to have DNA in common with dinosaurs. Yeah, yeah. Where did they get dino DNA? We saw in Jurrasic Park that it's not easy to come by. Logic aside, there has been some really cool happenings. A whirlpool in a lake in Austin, Texas opened up, swallowing a boat and a para sailer recently. Actually, the entire lake just went dry. It turns out these whale creatures have been digging tunnels under much of the continent. Later, Old Faithful in Yellowstone erupted lava! And the best part is the one kid who is raising one of the creatures in a swimming pool. A poodle started barking at the creature from the water's edge, and you can imagine what happened next! The creature ate the poodle. Awesome! I hate poodles.

Unlucky 7's

Today is the first day of the Oklahoma Lottery. Well, sorta. They only have scratch-offs right now.

Anyway, I was going into my local QuikTrip this morning to get cash from the ATM when I noticed Cindy Morrison from Channel 8 (at least I think it was her) doing a story from inside the QuikTrip. She was blocking the ATM, so I didn't go inside...it looked like she was going to be a while.

So I went to a different QuikTrip. On an impulse, I purchased a Lucky 7's scratch-off. And what did I win? Absolutely nothing. Now see? Here is where Oklahoma screwed up. They should have made virtually every card a winner at the beginning. That way, people would play, win, and think, "Wow! That was SO easy. I'm gonna buy a hundred of those!" And everyone would be addicted. But, thankfully, they didn't do that, so I probably won't play scratch-offs any more.

Tivo, Part 2

Well, after nearly an entire day of playing with firewall settings, I have the Tivo Desktop, an add-on application called Galleon, and an add-on application that pulls down Netflix information all communicating wirelessly with the Tivo from my PC. It is a beautiful thing to be able to play music sitting on my PC through the speakers in my living room. Or I can pull up current weather information or movie showtimes. This thing rocks!

We have Tivo

I've been trying to decide if Tivo is right for me or not for several days now. I've been voraciously search the internet for stuff about building a DIY PVR, but it's just not as cost-effective for me to do that. Well, this morning, my mind was made up. CompUSA was offering a $20 instant rebate on Tivo, in addition to the $150 mail-in rebate from Tivo itself. That put the cost of the hardware at $30. That doesn't include the subscription, but it's still cheaper overall than a DIY system.

So far I'm pretty happy with it. I've not been able to get it to connect to my wireless network yet, but hopefully that will be resolved shortly.

Tulsa State Fair

Well I went to the fair last night. We started off at Bell's. The Zingo is rougher than I remember. I'll probably never ride that again. The drop ride that Bell's has is freaking scary. Just before it drops you, you are about twice as high up as any ferris wheel out there. The drop really got my pulse a racing! The midway this year seemed like a tone-down version of last year. I didn't see any new ride configurations, but it seemed odd to me that a lot of the rides there last year were missing this year. Oh well. I still had a good time. That is until I got mildly sick on this one ride. I'm not sure what it's called, but basically, we were on it longer than normal because somebody wanted off half-way through. So they stopped it and then restarted it. I probably won't ever ride a ride like that again either. Then later I had a funnel cake and everything was right with the world.

Flightplan

Just got back from seeing the new Jodie Foster movie, Flightplan. I have mixed feelings about it. It was very suspenseful throughout the entire movie. You could never really be sure if Jodie Foster's character was crazy or not until about the last quarter of the movie. But the movie was slow in parts...real slow. If you haven't seen it, wait for video. It's worth a rental, I suppose.

Spoilers ahead!

The biggest problem I have with the movie is its utter implausibility. The real villian took a large risk relying that no one on the plane would see or remember Jodie Foster's daughter. Why would the Sky Marshall pick a woman that knew her way around the plan? He should have picked someone less likely to ruin his plans. What if when they were searching the plane, one of the other stewards had actually searched the hiding place where the girl was...it seems unlikely the Sky Marshall could have forseen all the events that ensued.

Giant Squid Photographed!

The Associated Press is reporting that some Japanese scientists have photographed a giant squid in the wild for the first time. For those of you who aren't total geeks like myself, scientists have known for years about the existence of giant squid because their bodies wash ashore from time to time. But no one has ever seen or been able to photograph one while it was still alive. It's like the Holy Grail of underwater photography. Now, if I can just get that Yeti picture I took developed, I'll be rich!

Desparate Housewives

The season premiere of Desparate Housewives was perfect. It answered every remaining question from last season, started up a bunch of new questions. Now, if only the writers of Lost would take note!

Elephant Bar Restaurant

We tried the Elephant Bar Restaurant last night. The food was really good, but we had the worst waitress I've ever seen. The food didn't all come out at once. She promised one of our party he could use a coupon, but then the computer wouldn't let her use it. She got all of our checks wrong. I'm not kidding, this poor girl needed to go back to McDonald's and beg for old job back.

Lost and Invasion

Well, Lost continued it tradition of raising more questions than answers. And, of course, it ended with a cliffhanger. The more I watch this show, the more I feel like I'm going to be unsastisfied by the eventual revelation of all the secrets. There's just no way they can explain all the freaky stuff happening on this island.

Did anyone watch Invasion? It made me jump about three times. It was good, spooky fun. I think it's going to be a retelling of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The previews for Invasion and Surface made the two shows look very similar, but after having seen the first episode of both, I no longer see a similarity.

Paying for New Orleans

While the government is struggling to figure out where the money to pay for New Orleans will come from, NASA is spending billions of tax-payers' dollars to send probes to other planets. While I'm all for the advancement of scientific knowledge, it suddenly seems inappropriate. Yeah it's interesting to know how the universe formed, but what does it really gain us? Personally, I think we should put NASA on hold until we can afford it again. I realize the news likes to shoot for the dramatic, but they're saying now if we don't curb our deficit, it might never be paid off. Can you see the United States filing for bankruptcy? It would be the end of everything as we know it.

There's also the war in Iraq. Extricating ourselves from that Vietnam now will go along way to freeing up dollars for Katrina relief.

Having said that, I'm wondering how they are going to rebuild New Orleans. Are they going to bulldoze the low-lying areas and start over? If so, it seems like a waste of money to rebuild there. They will always live in the shadow of levy failure. To properly rebuild, they need to move out of the low-lying areas or build them up so they aren't below the water level.

Now that the Republicans are in control of everything, let's see how they handle this.

Surface

I don't know if anyone else watched Surface tonight on NBC, but if you didn't, you're a loser. This show really has potential to be something great. If you took the movies Jaws, Aliens, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, and Abyss and combined them, this is the show you would get.

For those of you who missed it, I taped it. Not that I would let you borrow it...I'll just watch it again and again so I can rub your face in it.

Okay, for those of you who missed it and aren't savvy enough to download it with BitTorrent, here is what happened: It all began one night when a bunch of drunk, obnoxious teenagers were taking a joyride in Daddy's yacht and one of them started water skiing. Eventually, the kid on the skis fell. While he was waiting to be picked up, he looked over at a dingy in the water and saw a large creature with a tail jump off it into the water. The next thing you know, the thing, or it's identical twin raised its head out of the water behind him. Obviously, this caused some alarm. He started screaming for his friends, and they pulled up alongside him to rescue him seconds after the creature went back under the surface. No one else saw it. Then, the Coast Guard shows up, parents all called, and suddenly the teen who was in the water is grounded.

Next scene: in some icy waters, a large aircraft carrier has pulled up alongside a derelict submarine. A crazy scientist lands in a helicopter and begins communicating with the officials on the flight deck. We learn through a bunch of technobabble chatter that the submarine went missing a few days ago and was found 5000 miles off-course. They've not been able to make contact with anyone inside. When they pop the hatch, it's empty, but all the circuits in the computer systems are fried. Immediately, the military begins to suspect the Koreans have some kind of new weapon. But the scientist has his doubts.

Next: a young marine biologist drops her child off with her ex-husband and heads to work. She's going on a dive to study a volcanic vent in an effort to prove life began there. When her submarine gets to the bottom, she is in for a surprise. There are gigantic holes in the sea floor that seem to be very deep. As she's studying them, something starts coming up through the hole. Several somethings. The turbulence causes her submarine to flip over. She swears she saw some unusual light and a dorsal fin.

Jump to a couple of red-necks about to embark on a grouper spear-fishing expedition. We learn the guys are brothers and this is "little brother"'s first dive. Are they really that ignorant?

Meanwhile, the boy who had a close encounter can't get it out of his mind. He coerces his friend to take a small boat out to the buoy again late one night. This time they don't find the creature, but instead they find hundreds of eggs floating in the water. Naturally, they snatch an egg and take it back home and put it in the aquarium to see what hatches.

When the marine biologist returns to work the next day, word of her underwater adventure has gotten out and the crazy scientist on the aircraft carrier shows up to tell her that her sub is being confiscated. They interrogate her for three hours to learn what she saw. We learn that she's a very hot-headed woman (any doubts why she is a divorcee?). We also find out the submarine originally found has a large bite mark on the hull...from a mouth large enough to probably swallow the sub.

So the brothers take a boat out to an offshore drilling platform. The older of the two says the best fishing is around the platform. They attach their spearguns and into the water they go. It's not long before they find a grouper. But then they notice something much larger heading their way. The swim into the rig's framework for protection, but the younger brother accidentally shoots his spear gun, hitting the creature. It takes off and since the speargun's cord is attached to his wrist, he goes with the creature. The older brother does his best to save him, but is unable to keep up. As the younger brother is carried away, we see a bright flash of eerie blue green light. So long little brother, we hardly knew you. The older brother surfaces too quickly and gets narcosis.

It doesn't take long before the egg in the aquarium hatches and escapes. The teenage boy sees the creature scurry upstairs into his sister's room. He follows it into her bathroom and locks the door behind him to keep it his secret. Wouldn't everyone in the house wonder what the slim trail is all about? Luckily, he catches it in a shower curtain. Hmn, it can break through glass but a shower curtain can contain it? That should come in very useful later.

The marine biologist returns home and calls her father to tell him how she's been shut out of her lab by the government. Her son sees a news story on the TV about a large whale, or something like a whale, that washed up on the beach in Carolinas. He calls his mother in to look at it. Then, the mad scientist guy shows up on the TV (boy, he really gets around!) and relays some BS story about a whale carcass and how they've shut the beach down to protect the public. She books a flight to that area so she can see for herself what is going on.

The red neck, freshly out of the hospital, also sees the TV story and thinks it might help him figure out what happened to his brother. We learn his wife doesn't believe his story about the flash of light and thinks his narcosis caused him to hallucinate. So he heads for the beach, too, leaving her doubting ass at home.

Cut to a secret meeting with the NSA. The scientist unveils a large tooth about the size of a small microwave oven and begins telling them what he knows about the creatures. But of course, the scene ends before we learn anything, really.

Now, we jump to a fishing boat somewhere off the coast of South America. A grandfather and grandson are fishing one night. A meteor shower begins. But the meteors all seem to be falling in the water just a few hundred feet away. And so we are left with our first cliffhanger...WTF does the meteor shower have to do with it?

The trailer for next week was actually a trailer for the next several weeks. All I can say is WOW! This show seems really ambitious in its scope. It looks very expensive to make. It also looks very similar to ABC's Invasion show, which is getting rave reviews. Invasion starts Wednesday after Lost. I can't wait!

McDonald's is Unethical

I noticed this morning, as I was waiting in line for my daily Egg McMuffin, there was a sign up saying you could win a trip to Disneyland just by buying a Happy Meal.

How is this different than gambling? And doesn't this promote gambling to children?

Of course, I also have a Diet Pepsi sitting here on my desk with a promotion on it where I can win an XBox360. Probably fewer kids drink Diet Pepsi, but the promotion is not limited to just Pepsi's diet drinks. Again, this seems like gambling.

I guess the difference is that you spend money and you actually get something back. Whereas with real gambling, you get nothing back unless you win. Personally, I think I should be able to gamble if I want to, but I have a problem with corporations targeting children.

George Bush to Rebuild New Orleans Personally

After hearing the President's speech last night, I got the impression that he is going to single-handedly rebuild New Orleans. His vision is definitely ambitious. Hopefully, when the government starts helping out with rebuilding, they won't buy they supplies from the same store where they buy $1200 toilet seats.

Kitty Genius

This is the funniest thing I've heard of in a long time. This morning, I've become made aware that my cat has figured out how to turn a touch-lamp in my living room on and off. He was sitting beside it, touching it, making the light cycle through it's three brightness settings. For weeks, I've thought there was something wrong with the light, as it would go on and off in the middle of the night. Now I know otherwise.