I think it was the bomb squad truck that left the Doty and Broom Street area about 5 minutes ago. Presumably the "suspicious object" they found was just an object and not a bomb. Meanwhile, traffic on Wilson Street is a mess. You'd think it was Chicago.
EDIT: I had no idea about the other bomb that went off.
11 January, 2006
Oh the Humanities!
The Center for the Humanities at the UW has some interesting programs coming up in the next few months. Well, interesting to me, at any rate. Most of them relate to things culinary.
On 22 February we have:
Cooking Philosophies: A Chefs Debate
Forum with Harold McGee and Chef's Roundtable
A roundtable discussion with Harold McGee and Madison chefs at the Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium.
The following day the theme continues with:
Playing With Food: Three Centuries of Science in the Kitchen
Humanities Without Boundaries Lecture by Harold McGee
Harold McGee will recount some of the little-known history of food preparation and its influence on the development of science, and report on his own research into such questions as: Why do French cooks insist on whipping egg whites in copper bowls? How many liters of mayonnaise can you make with one egg yolk? Can thermocouples and computers help you cook a better hamburger? And w hy does the spatter from a frying pan end up on the inside of a cook's eyeglasses?
Rounding out the topic of comestibles is a panel discussion on 25 April:
Eat Locally, Think Globally: Cosmopolitan Taste in Madison and Beyond
Rooted Cosmopolitans Forum with Rebecca Walkowitz and respondent panel
This discussion will examine the conjunction of regionalism and internationalism by focusing on matters of taste in the context of food. Professor Walkowitz will talk about how cosmopolitan culture can be both less than national (regional) and more than national (international), sometimes at the same time. We will also include a panel of respondents that will bring local restaurants, farming, and culture to the discussion.
Moving onto The Enlightenment, we have this lecture on 22 March:
How Secular Was the Enlightenment: Six Faces of Reasonable Belief, 1689-1789
Focus on the Humanities Lecture by David Sorkin
Focusing on the myth of a secular Enlightenment, David Sorkin will re-examine the relationship of the Enlightenment to religion, departing from the conventional approach that considers the attitude of canonical Enlightenment thinkers (Locke and Hume, Voltaire and Diderot, Lessing and Kant) to religion, by instead asking how thinkers in the major religious traditions (Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Catholicism, Judaism) dealt with the science (Newton) and philosophy of the Enlightenment (ideas of reason, natural religion, toleration). It will argue that if we wish to continue to see the Enlightenment as the fount of modern culture, then we must recognize that it was inextricably linked to religious belief.
For more info and the rest of the programs, head to the Center's calendar.
On 22 February we have:
Cooking Philosophies: A Chefs Debate
Forum with Harold McGee and Chef's Roundtable
A roundtable discussion with Harold McGee and Madison chefs at the Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium.
The following day the theme continues with:
Playing With Food: Three Centuries of Science in the Kitchen
Humanities Without Boundaries Lecture by Harold McGee
Harold McGee will recount some of the little-known history of food preparation and its influence on the development of science, and report on his own research into such questions as: Why do French cooks insist on whipping egg whites in copper bowls? How many liters of mayonnaise can you make with one egg yolk? Can thermocouples and computers help you cook a better hamburger? And w hy does the spatter from a frying pan end up on the inside of a cook's eyeglasses?
Rounding out the topic of comestibles is a panel discussion on 25 April:
Eat Locally, Think Globally: Cosmopolitan Taste in Madison and Beyond
Rooted Cosmopolitans Forum with Rebecca Walkowitz and respondent panel
This discussion will examine the conjunction of regionalism and internationalism by focusing on matters of taste in the context of food. Professor Walkowitz will talk about how cosmopolitan culture can be both less than national (regional) and more than national (international), sometimes at the same time. We will also include a panel of respondents that will bring local restaurants, farming, and culture to the discussion.
Moving onto The Enlightenment, we have this lecture on 22 March:
How Secular Was the Enlightenment: Six Faces of Reasonable Belief, 1689-1789
Focus on the Humanities Lecture by David Sorkin
Focusing on the myth of a secular Enlightenment, David Sorkin will re-examine the relationship of the Enlightenment to religion, departing from the conventional approach that considers the attitude of canonical Enlightenment thinkers (Locke and Hume, Voltaire and Diderot, Lessing and Kant) to religion, by instead asking how thinkers in the major religious traditions (Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Catholicism, Judaism) dealt with the science (Newton) and philosophy of the Enlightenment (ideas of reason, natural religion, toleration). It will argue that if we wish to continue to see the Enlightenment as the fount of modern culture, then we must recognize that it was inextricably linked to religious belief.
For more info and the rest of the programs, head to the Center's calendar.
Wealth Accumulation and Comprehension
Noted gadfly Greg Palast has a new article up at his webpage about a test for the third graders of New York that is a part of Dubya's No Child Left Behind initiative. Palast provides a couple of the questions from the practice test:
"The year 1999 was a big one for the Williams sisters. In February, Serena won her first pro singles championship. In March, the sisters met for the first time in a tournament final. Venus won. And at doubles tennis, the Williams girls could not seem to lose that year." And here's one of the four questions: "The story says that in 1999, the sisters could not seem to lose at doubles tennis. This probably means when they played:
A) two matches in one day
B) against each other
C) with two balls at once
D) as partners"
The practice test continued with the tennis theme.
"Most young tennis stars learn the game from coaches at private clubs. In this sentence, a club is probably a
F) baseball bat
G) tennis racquet
H) tennis court
J) country club"
Palast continues:
My kids go to a New York City school in which more than half the students live below the poverty line. There is no tennis court. There are no tennis courts in the elementary schools of Bed-Stuy or East Harlem. But out in the Hamptons, every school has a tennis court. In Forest Hills, Westchester and Long Island's North Shore, the schools have nearly as many tennis courts as the school kids have live-in maids. Now, you tell me, class, which kids are best prepared to answer the question about "doubles tennis"? The 8-year-olds in Harlem who've never played a set of doubles or the kids whose mommies disappear for two hours every Wednesday with Enrique the tennis pro? Is this test a measure of "reading comprehension" -- or a measure of wealth accumulation?
Helpfully, for the kids in our 'hood, it explains that a "country club" is a, "place where people meet." Yes, but which people? President Bush told us, "By passing the No Child Left Behind Act, we are regularly testing every child and making sure they have better options when schools are not performing." But there are no "better options." In the delicious double-speak of class war, when the tests have winnowed out the chaff and kids stamped failed, No Child Left results in that child being left behind in the same grade to repeat the failure another year. I can't say that Mr. Bush doesn't offer better options to the kids stamped failed. Under No Child Left, if enough kids flunk the tests, their school is marked a failure and its students win the right, under the law, to transfer to any successful school in their district. You can't provide more opportunity than that. But they don't provide it, the law promises it, without a single penny to make it happen. In New York in 2004, a third of a million students earned the right to transfer to better schools -- in which there were only 8,000 places open. New York is typical. Nationwide, only one out of two-hundred students eligible to transfer manage to do it. Well, there's always the Army. (That option did not go unnoticed: No Child has a special provision requiring schools to open their doors to military recruiters.) Hint: When de-coding politicians' babble, to get to the real agenda, don't read their lips, read their budgets. And in his last budget, our President couldn't spare one thin dime for education, not ten cents. Mr. Big Spender provided for a derisory 8.4 cents on the dollar of the cost of primary and secondary schools. Congress appropriated a half penny of the nation's income -- just one-half of one-percent of America's twelve trillion dollar GDP -- for primary and secondary education. President Bush actually requested less.
Wow! Standardized tests have sure changed since I was in the 3rd grade. What happened to the Iowa tests? We never got questions about Arthur Ashe or Martina Navratilova.
"The year 1999 was a big one for the Williams sisters. In February, Serena won her first pro singles championship. In March, the sisters met for the first time in a tournament final. Venus won. And at doubles tennis, the Williams girls could not seem to lose that year." And here's one of the four questions: "The story says that in 1999, the sisters could not seem to lose at doubles tennis. This probably means when they played:
A) two matches in one day
B) against each other
C) with two balls at once
D) as partners"
The practice test continued with the tennis theme.
"Most young tennis stars learn the game from coaches at private clubs. In this sentence, a club is probably a
F) baseball bat
G) tennis racquet
H) tennis court
J) country club"
Palast continues:
My kids go to a New York City school in which more than half the students live below the poverty line. There is no tennis court. There are no tennis courts in the elementary schools of Bed-Stuy or East Harlem. But out in the Hamptons, every school has a tennis court. In Forest Hills, Westchester and Long Island's North Shore, the schools have nearly as many tennis courts as the school kids have live-in maids. Now, you tell me, class, which kids are best prepared to answer the question about "doubles tennis"? The 8-year-olds in Harlem who've never played a set of doubles or the kids whose mommies disappear for two hours every Wednesday with Enrique the tennis pro? Is this test a measure of "reading comprehension" -- or a measure of wealth accumulation?
Helpfully, for the kids in our 'hood, it explains that a "country club" is a, "place where people meet." Yes, but which people? President Bush told us, "By passing the No Child Left Behind Act, we are regularly testing every child and making sure they have better options when schools are not performing." But there are no "better options." In the delicious double-speak of class war, when the tests have winnowed out the chaff and kids stamped failed, No Child Left results in that child being left behind in the same grade to repeat the failure another year. I can't say that Mr. Bush doesn't offer better options to the kids stamped failed. Under No Child Left, if enough kids flunk the tests, their school is marked a failure and its students win the right, under the law, to transfer to any successful school in their district. You can't provide more opportunity than that. But they don't provide it, the law promises it, without a single penny to make it happen. In New York in 2004, a third of a million students earned the right to transfer to better schools -- in which there were only 8,000 places open. New York is typical. Nationwide, only one out of two-hundred students eligible to transfer manage to do it. Well, there's always the Army. (That option did not go unnoticed: No Child has a special provision requiring schools to open their doors to military recruiters.) Hint: When de-coding politicians' babble, to get to the real agenda, don't read their lips, read their budgets. And in his last budget, our President couldn't spare one thin dime for education, not ten cents. Mr. Big Spender provided for a derisory 8.4 cents on the dollar of the cost of primary and secondary schools. Congress appropriated a half penny of the nation's income -- just one-half of one-percent of America's twelve trillion dollar GDP -- for primary and secondary education. President Bush actually requested less.
Wow! Standardized tests have sure changed since I was in the 3rd grade. What happened to the Iowa tests? We never got questions about Arthur Ashe or Martina Navratilova.
Ussher's Bulldogs At It Again
As a follow-up to my post from yesterday on Richard Dawkins, I would like to direct readers to a scary situation in California. PZ over at Pharyngula has weighed in. Now that "Intelligent Design" has been thrown out of biology classrooms, Ussher's Bulldogs are now trying to get their bullshit taught in philosophy courses. As PZ remarks:
Oh. So "philosophy" is the new dumping ground, the subject with no serious content, the one where you can safely present any ol' garbage and it still fits? Like the colloquial definition of "theory" (any guess), I suppose the new definition of "philosophy" is "idiots babbling".
The kicker here is that the course will be taught by a teacher who has no qualifications in biology, geology, nor philosophy. Instead, she has B.A.s in Physical Education and, Social Science. The obligatory lawsuit has been filed.
This is exactly why people like Dawkins who will not take shit and will shove truth down the throats of bullshitters are needed. Sitting around in your drawing room writing articles on fossils will not stop the relentless assaults by IDiots seeking to inculcate children with their superstitious crap.
I also want to to point out that there's another good interview with Darwin's Rottweiler up Beliefnet entitled "The Problem With God". In addition to the text of the interview, there's links to some audio clips from a speech of his.
Oh. So "philosophy" is the new dumping ground, the subject with no serious content, the one where you can safely present any ol' garbage and it still fits? Like the colloquial definition of "theory" (any guess), I suppose the new definition of "philosophy" is "idiots babbling".
The kicker here is that the course will be taught by a teacher who has no qualifications in biology, geology, nor philosophy. Instead, she has B.A.s in Physical Education and, Social Science. The obligatory lawsuit has been filed.
This is exactly why people like Dawkins who will not take shit and will shove truth down the throats of bullshitters are needed. Sitting around in your drawing room writing articles on fossils will not stop the relentless assaults by IDiots seeking to inculcate children with their superstitious crap.
I also want to to point out that there's another good interview with Darwin's Rottweiler up Beliefnet entitled "The Problem With God". In addition to the text of the interview, there's links to some audio clips from a speech of his.
Word of the Week
In honor of The Dulcinea's new putty tat:
ailurophile (ī-loorƏ-fīl) n. a lover of cats
ailurophile (ī-loorƏ-fīl) n. a lover of cats
10 January, 2006
Darwin's Canine Friend
I found a couple interesting ditties relating to biologist Richard Dawkins over at Pharyngula. The first was a reference to a feature about Dawkins at Discover magazine's site called "Darwin's Rottweiler". While I found it interesting because I find the subject interesting, it was also notable for another reason. The writer was critical of his subject for what he saw as Dawkins' "aggressiveness" and for the fact that Dawkins does not suffer fools gladly. Here is the description of an incident from a panel discussion which which Dawkins took part:
Dawkins, at the far end of the table, almost levitated out of his seat with indignation. “But what does that mean?” he demanded, voice rising. The audience rewarded his indignation with combustive applause. “Is it a caricature for me to ask you, since you are a Roman Catholic, do you believe Jesus had an earthly father?”
The author of the piece, Stephen Hall, chides Dawkins for such outbursts.
The other thing that struck me was the tone of the debate—Dawkins, in his undeniably civil manner, was so aggressive, so relentless, and so pitiless toward his intellectual adversaries that it almost detracted from the quality of his argument.
And he reaches his conclusion:
This recusal underlines the most obvious contradiction about Richard Dawkins and the cultural war in which he has so much to contribute: You can be the world’s greatest apostle of scientific rationalism, but if you come across as a rottweiler, Darwin’s or anybody else’s, when you enter that marketplace, it’s very hard to make the sale.
While Hall quotes a friend or two of Dawkins' who basically say they wish he'd tone things down, there is nothing in the article to lend credence to the notion that coming across as a rottweiler makes for a hard sale. No evidence is provided to bolster the case that Dawkins and his ideas are rejected because of his ethos. Indeed, towards the beginning of the article, Dawkins is labeled "the best-known popularizer of science". I get the impression that Hall thinks that Dawkins and his ilk would be better off sitting back in their offices and writing relatively painless and non-offensive pieces to promote their ideas and agenda. While there are many religious folks who accept evolution and see the benefits of a secular society to believers and non-believers alike, they are not as vocal as their stricter, more fundamentalist kin. There is a very vocal minority who deny the validity of evolution. And they not only want creationism taught in school, they actively work towards that goal. There is also a very vocal minority that actively and loudly denounce homosexuals. While the tolerant majority disagrees with their position, it is the minority that gets amendments to state constiutions banning gay marriage/unions on ballots. These people are vocal, loudly, and active. Their agenda sits at the forefront of our political culture today. I, for one, am glad that there are people like Richard Dawkins who are willing to shout back at them and fight fire with fire. He may be mild-mannered and civil but his stentorian voice for reason and justice is a welcome and necessary antidote to the constant stream of bullshit that religion directs at us.
Also at Pharyngula is a post about a TV show produced by the BBC that features Dawkins called The Root of All Evil.
Professor Richard Dawkins, the world-renowned evolutionary biologist, whose atheism has earned him the nickname of 'Darwin’s Rottweiler', takes a personal journey through the world’s three great monotheistic religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Dawkins thinks it is time for science to stop sitting on the fence. In the light of overwhelming scientific evidence that, he believes, shows a supreme being cannot exist, and in a world in which religious conflict and bigotry are increasingly centre stage, Dawkins argues that for the good of humanity, religion needs to be challenged and disproved. Never one to shy away from a debate, Dawkins meets leaders from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions to find out how their beliefs fit with modern science's extraordinary knowledge of our world and the wider universe.
In The Root of All Evil Dawkins accuses the religious establishment of preying on people’s desire to believe in a greater being; abusing reason and humanity in the process. Ultimately he asks how they can defend what religion has done, and is doing to us?
PZ also directs readers to The Proper Study of Mankind where a lucky viewer in the UK actually got to see the first episode.
It is for moments like these that God invented Usenet and BitTorrent.
Dawkins, at the far end of the table, almost levitated out of his seat with indignation. “But what does that mean?” he demanded, voice rising. The audience rewarded his indignation with combustive applause. “Is it a caricature for me to ask you, since you are a Roman Catholic, do you believe Jesus had an earthly father?”
The author of the piece, Stephen Hall, chides Dawkins for such outbursts.
The other thing that struck me was the tone of the debate—Dawkins, in his undeniably civil manner, was so aggressive, so relentless, and so pitiless toward his intellectual adversaries that it almost detracted from the quality of his argument.
And he reaches his conclusion:
This recusal underlines the most obvious contradiction about Richard Dawkins and the cultural war in which he has so much to contribute: You can be the world’s greatest apostle of scientific rationalism, but if you come across as a rottweiler, Darwin’s or anybody else’s, when you enter that marketplace, it’s very hard to make the sale.
While Hall quotes a friend or two of Dawkins' who basically say they wish he'd tone things down, there is nothing in the article to lend credence to the notion that coming across as a rottweiler makes for a hard sale. No evidence is provided to bolster the case that Dawkins and his ideas are rejected because of his ethos. Indeed, towards the beginning of the article, Dawkins is labeled "the best-known popularizer of science". I get the impression that Hall thinks that Dawkins and his ilk would be better off sitting back in their offices and writing relatively painless and non-offensive pieces to promote their ideas and agenda. While there are many religious folks who accept evolution and see the benefits of a secular society to believers and non-believers alike, they are not as vocal as their stricter, more fundamentalist kin. There is a very vocal minority who deny the validity of evolution. And they not only want creationism taught in school, they actively work towards that goal. There is also a very vocal minority that actively and loudly denounce homosexuals. While the tolerant majority disagrees with their position, it is the minority that gets amendments to state constiutions banning gay marriage/unions on ballots. These people are vocal, loudly, and active. Their agenda sits at the forefront of our political culture today. I, for one, am glad that there are people like Richard Dawkins who are willing to shout back at them and fight fire with fire. He may be mild-mannered and civil but his stentorian voice for reason and justice is a welcome and necessary antidote to the constant stream of bullshit that religion directs at us.
Also at Pharyngula is a post about a TV show produced by the BBC that features Dawkins called The Root of All Evil.
Professor Richard Dawkins, the world-renowned evolutionary biologist, whose atheism has earned him the nickname of 'Darwin’s Rottweiler', takes a personal journey through the world’s three great monotheistic religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Dawkins thinks it is time for science to stop sitting on the fence. In the light of overwhelming scientific evidence that, he believes, shows a supreme being cannot exist, and in a world in which religious conflict and bigotry are increasingly centre stage, Dawkins argues that for the good of humanity, religion needs to be challenged and disproved. Never one to shy away from a debate, Dawkins meets leaders from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions to find out how their beliefs fit with modern science's extraordinary knowledge of our world and the wider universe.
In The Root of All Evil Dawkins accuses the religious establishment of preying on people’s desire to believe in a greater being; abusing reason and humanity in the process. Ultimately he asks how they can defend what religion has done, and is doing to us?
PZ also directs readers to The Proper Study of Mankind where a lucky viewer in the UK actually got to see the first episode.
It is for moments like these that God invented Usenet and BitTorrent.
On the Gramophone
Most of us remember Richard Dawson as the host of Family Feud or as Newkirk from Hogan's Heroes. What most of us don't know is that he tried his hand at singing. In 1967, he released a single, "His Children's Parade". Well, this week I present the B-side, "Apples and Oranges", because we all need a good laugh now and again.
07 January, 2006
Trivia Notes
This is the trivia team of which I am a member, the Flying Zupans. It was taken last spring at Bucky's Trivia Extravaganza which the Zupans won. (Unfortunately, I was not present.) In anticipation of this year's event, we're going to be on the radio! The Zupans will be on the Badger Sports Show broadcasting from the Badgerland Bar and Grill at 7PM on 16 January. Here's some more pictures from the contest.
This is Dumb Donald in a typical pose.
And here's Chuck fraternizing. (Hands NOT photoshopped.)
However, we still have the 37th Annual UW-Stevens Point contest in April. If you're fired up for it, you can see the countdown here.
Our team runs the Deerfield Public Library Trivia Contest which is coming up. And on April 1, we'll be hosting a trivia contest in Rio to raise funds for a new gym floor for the school. Plus there's the Cambridge contest as well.
Oooh, brain's gonna be hurting this spring...
06 January, 2006
A Nice Day
Today ended up being a rather nice day.
As I was walking back inside from having a smoky treat this afternoon, I ran into Steve, whom I hadn't seen since returning to DHFS. We shook hands and chatted a bit. It was my lucky day because he proceeded to offer me his last jar of raspberry-habanera jam. Greedily, I gave him a greenback and eyed the jar of deep red goo lasciviously as I returned to my desk. Shortly after that, I received an e-mail from Julia, the Russian hottie at the regional office. Her missive claimed that the chocolate I had given her last time I was out there had saved her life today. We exchanged a few messages until 5 when I left so that helped pass a very slow time.
On the way home, I stopped at the co-op to buy some good coffee. Walking down the aisle, I ran into Miss Jolene. It had been months since I'd seen her and she still looked as beautiful as I remember. Jolene used to work at a local coffeehouse but now works as a receptionist at an acupuncture joint where she is much happier. While chatting with her, I spied Jimmy Downtown, who works there at the co-op. I grabbed a bag of tasty Ethiopian and briefly chastized Downtown for not coming to my New Year's party before hastily finalizing my purchase. I really had to get home and use the bathroom!
Before venturing for coffee, Charles and I headed to a local comic book store as I was keen on the new issues of Revelations and Y: The Last Man. While there, I also grabbed the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine. As Charles was still browsing, I too poked around some more. Unsurprisingly, I ended up buying a couple more titles to try out to see if I liked them. Firstly was the first issue of Silent Hill: Dead/Alive. Apparently it's based on a horror video game but it was the vaguely impressionist artwork that captured my attention. The second was the first issue of, Exile, a Forgotten Realms (read: Dungeons & Dragons) comic. I figured I'd try out a D&D comic and see if it's any good. It looks interesting with all its dark elfy goodness. We'll see.
Right now, I'm eating dinner which consists of leftovers from my New Year's party. First there's some Hoppin' John that The Dulcinea made on New Year's Day. HJ is a mix of corn, rice, and black-eyed peas. Next to the bowl on my plate is a pile of celery and carrot sticks. A pile of cheese and venison sausage (from a deer that Old Man Standiford killed) lies easily next to it. Finally, I have a couple hunks of some bread that Standiford baked for the party. And I'm washing it all down with some Rhoades' Scholar Stout. I really like how the yeasty flavor of the bread combines with the beer to give a very full bitter grainy experience.
I don't think I've written much about the party. I invited pretty much everyone I know in Madison as well as a friend in Minneapolis, a trio from Milwaukee, and several from Chicago. My brother came up from Chitown on NYE. He got here as I was cooking my second batch of gumbo. We shot the shit as I cooked and chopped and prepared my spread. Shortly after he got there, Miss Rosie and Mindy stopped by for a spell. I haven't seen Miss Rosie in months so it was really nice to see her again. We caught up on each other's lives and then, after a bourbon & sour, she started in on The Pollack and his situation. His dad, Mr. Z, has moved in with him. His son, JZ is now 18 and high school graduation can't come soon enough for him. Basically it was business as usual for The Pollack. Working JZ too hard on weekends, drinking too much bourbon, etc. I had hoped that he'd show up but he didn't. Buddy, one of The Pollack's hounds seems to have canine dementia, I'm sorry to say. Buddy is the cool dog whereas Pesto, an Airedale, is a beeotch. No one other than The Pollack himself likes that dog. She eats her own shit and then tries to lick you and is just annoying all around.
After Rosie and Mindy left, my brother and I continued BSing until guests started arriving at the appointed time. Marv showed up and then Old Man Standiford with the Newtons in tow. The Dulcinea arrived as did several others including Dogger, Mel, and Miss Regan. Spike, Julie, and children showed up too. All in all, about 15-17 people were there at any one time. It was funny to watch Spike's kids follow Regan around the den and in circles around the coffeetable. They followed her wherever she did go.
Pete showed up fashionably late bearing Red Bull and Jaegermeister and so Jaeger Bombs dropped at odd intervals throughout the night. It was the first time The Dulcinea had spent any length time in the company of my friends and she met several of them for the first time. As the drinks flowed, so did stories of my checkered past. Pete was quite funny and The Dulcinea remarked that he was totally unlike her impressions of him that she garnered while Pete was still living here. Since he moved out, he's been much happier and despite whatever grumpy facade he puts up, he is one funny dude. WE listened to some music and watched a couple concert videos. Midnight rolled around and I busted out a couple bottles of cheap champagne. Note to self: your friends are beer drinkers. Don't bother with champagne next year. We didn't even manage to empty one of them.
The Dulcinea and I went to bed around 3 and I think that the party was a success. My gumbo went over well and the house didn't burn down so what more could I ask for? Well, there were a few people who were supposed to show up but didn't. Ce la vie.
On New Year's Day, The Dulcinea and I greeted 2006 by fornicating. We then made our way downstairs. I started cleaning and making coffee while she began making Hoppin' John. My brother was awoken by the bacon frying. Marv too woke up and joined us. While we were drinking coffee and chatting, Miss Pamela called. She and Bill soon came over and I cooked breakfast for everyone. Bill had stayed up til 5:30 and was out on the overhang. Miss Pamela, being pregnant, had abstained from the hard stuff and so she was quite perky by comparison. She looked very well at 4 months. The whole reproduction thing was going well after a scare last month in which she was led to believe there was a 1 in 8 chance of the child have Down Syndrome. After more testing, her fears were laid to rest. Pregnant women generally have this vivacious glow to them with their round bellies and all and Pam certainly had that. Sitting next to her, I noticed some small wrinkles on her face. She is 34, after all. I don't mean this in a bad way – I still think she looked extremely beautiful – but rather it served as another reminder of how time marches on. Had it really been 18 years since we first met? Where did the time go? She's going to have a baby?! It seems not that long ago that we met and she was a cheerleader while I was a nerd on the academic teams that got no cheers. (OK – I still am a nerd.) After they left, Marv got all curious about my copy of The Temple of Elemental Evil and loaded it up on his laptop. He spent the rest of the day playing it while my brother and I were backseat players. It was quite humorous. Holy bejeebus, are we gaming dorks! My bro left on Monday afternoon and I finished cleaning.
It was a great way to ring in the new year. I got to spend time with several of my friends, including some that I hadn't done so with in ages, see some of the next generation of nerds running around having a good time, eat good food, drink tasty brews, and just simply have a great time in the company of many people who bring joy and meaning to my life.
As I was walking back inside from having a smoky treat this afternoon, I ran into Steve, whom I hadn't seen since returning to DHFS. We shook hands and chatted a bit. It was my lucky day because he proceeded to offer me his last jar of raspberry-habanera jam. Greedily, I gave him a greenback and eyed the jar of deep red goo lasciviously as I returned to my desk. Shortly after that, I received an e-mail from Julia, the Russian hottie at the regional office. Her missive claimed that the chocolate I had given her last time I was out there had saved her life today. We exchanged a few messages until 5 when I left so that helped pass a very slow time.
On the way home, I stopped at the co-op to buy some good coffee. Walking down the aisle, I ran into Miss Jolene. It had been months since I'd seen her and she still looked as beautiful as I remember. Jolene used to work at a local coffeehouse but now works as a receptionist at an acupuncture joint where she is much happier. While chatting with her, I spied Jimmy Downtown, who works there at the co-op. I grabbed a bag of tasty Ethiopian and briefly chastized Downtown for not coming to my New Year's party before hastily finalizing my purchase. I really had to get home and use the bathroom!
Before venturing for coffee, Charles and I headed to a local comic book store as I was keen on the new issues of Revelations and Y: The Last Man. While there, I also grabbed the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine. As Charles was still browsing, I too poked around some more. Unsurprisingly, I ended up buying a couple more titles to try out to see if I liked them. Firstly was the first issue of Silent Hill: Dead/Alive. Apparently it's based on a horror video game but it was the vaguely impressionist artwork that captured my attention. The second was the first issue of, Exile, a Forgotten Realms (read: Dungeons & Dragons) comic. I figured I'd try out a D&D comic and see if it's any good. It looks interesting with all its dark elfy goodness. We'll see.
Right now, I'm eating dinner which consists of leftovers from my New Year's party. First there's some Hoppin' John that The Dulcinea made on New Year's Day. HJ is a mix of corn, rice, and black-eyed peas. Next to the bowl on my plate is a pile of celery and carrot sticks. A pile of cheese and venison sausage (from a deer that Old Man Standiford killed) lies easily next to it. Finally, I have a couple hunks of some bread that Standiford baked for the party. And I'm washing it all down with some Rhoades' Scholar Stout. I really like how the yeasty flavor of the bread combines with the beer to give a very full bitter grainy experience.
I don't think I've written much about the party. I invited pretty much everyone I know in Madison as well as a friend in Minneapolis, a trio from Milwaukee, and several from Chicago. My brother came up from Chitown on NYE. He got here as I was cooking my second batch of gumbo. We shot the shit as I cooked and chopped and prepared my spread. Shortly after he got there, Miss Rosie and Mindy stopped by for a spell. I haven't seen Miss Rosie in months so it was really nice to see her again. We caught up on each other's lives and then, after a bourbon & sour, she started in on The Pollack and his situation. His dad, Mr. Z, has moved in with him. His son, JZ is now 18 and high school graduation can't come soon enough for him. Basically it was business as usual for The Pollack. Working JZ too hard on weekends, drinking too much bourbon, etc. I had hoped that he'd show up but he didn't. Buddy, one of The Pollack's hounds seems to have canine dementia, I'm sorry to say. Buddy is the cool dog whereas Pesto, an Airedale, is a beeotch. No one other than The Pollack himself likes that dog. She eats her own shit and then tries to lick you and is just annoying all around.
After Rosie and Mindy left, my brother and I continued BSing until guests started arriving at the appointed time. Marv showed up and then Old Man Standiford with the Newtons in tow. The Dulcinea arrived as did several others including Dogger, Mel, and Miss Regan. Spike, Julie, and children showed up too. All in all, about 15-17 people were there at any one time. It was funny to watch Spike's kids follow Regan around the den and in circles around the coffeetable. They followed her wherever she did go.
Pete showed up fashionably late bearing Red Bull and Jaegermeister and so Jaeger Bombs dropped at odd intervals throughout the night. It was the first time The Dulcinea had spent any length time in the company of my friends and she met several of them for the first time. As the drinks flowed, so did stories of my checkered past. Pete was quite funny and The Dulcinea remarked that he was totally unlike her impressions of him that she garnered while Pete was still living here. Since he moved out, he's been much happier and despite whatever grumpy facade he puts up, he is one funny dude. WE listened to some music and watched a couple concert videos. Midnight rolled around and I busted out a couple bottles of cheap champagne. Note to self: your friends are beer drinkers. Don't bother with champagne next year. We didn't even manage to empty one of them.
The Dulcinea and I went to bed around 3 and I think that the party was a success. My gumbo went over well and the house didn't burn down so what more could I ask for? Well, there were a few people who were supposed to show up but didn't. Ce la vie.
On New Year's Day, The Dulcinea and I greeted 2006 by fornicating. We then made our way downstairs. I started cleaning and making coffee while she began making Hoppin' John. My brother was awoken by the bacon frying. Marv too woke up and joined us. While we were drinking coffee and chatting, Miss Pamela called. She and Bill soon came over and I cooked breakfast for everyone. Bill had stayed up til 5:30 and was out on the overhang. Miss Pamela, being pregnant, had abstained from the hard stuff and so she was quite perky by comparison. She looked very well at 4 months. The whole reproduction thing was going well after a scare last month in which she was led to believe there was a 1 in 8 chance of the child have Down Syndrome. After more testing, her fears were laid to rest. Pregnant women generally have this vivacious glow to them with their round bellies and all and Pam certainly had that. Sitting next to her, I noticed some small wrinkles on her face. She is 34, after all. I don't mean this in a bad way – I still think she looked extremely beautiful – but rather it served as another reminder of how time marches on. Had it really been 18 years since we first met? Where did the time go? She's going to have a baby?! It seems not that long ago that we met and she was a cheerleader while I was a nerd on the academic teams that got no cheers. (OK – I still am a nerd.) After they left, Marv got all curious about my copy of The Temple of Elemental Evil and loaded it up on his laptop. He spent the rest of the day playing it while my brother and I were backseat players. It was quite humorous. Holy bejeebus, are we gaming dorks! My bro left on Monday afternoon and I finished cleaning.
It was a great way to ring in the new year. I got to spend time with several of my friends, including some that I hadn't done so with in ages, see some of the next generation of nerds running around having a good time, eat good food, drink tasty brews, and just simply have a great time in the company of many people who bring joy and meaning to my life.
Etymologic
If you're dorky like me and also like me can sit around thumbing through a dictionary for hours because they are so cool, then check out Etymologic, the self-proclaimed "Toughest Word Game on the Web". I can personally vouch that it's a beeotch.
05 January, 2006
Tolerance
I want to urge my fellow Wisconsonians to check out No on the Amendment webpage which is dedicated to preventing our state constitution from being amended to ban gay marriage and further codify ignorance, prejuice, and fear. (Yes, I've been listening to Rush lately.) There are links to various articles at the site including one to a piece by Jim Stingl at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel called "Let's keep Wisconsin tolerant in 2006". All the articles I read had similiar jingoistic tones - "let's make history by rejecting the amendment!" or "let's show the world just how tolerant we are!" But voting against the amendment is not about making history by showing tolerance, it's about apologizing to all of the homosexual people in this state for this crap ever making it to the polls in the first place. If Wisconsin were truly tolerant, we wouldn't be voting on this amendment and gay & lesbian residents could be united civilly. Perhaps it's about too much tolerance - too much tolerance for fearmongers like Julaine Appling who ought to be run out of town with brickbats.
The mere fact that we're going to the polls to vote on this is appalling and indicative that tolerance has already been lost.
The mere fact that we're going to the polls to vote on this is appalling and indicative that tolerance has already been lost.
Naughty Bits on Celluloid
I found a neat site for folks like myself who like sex and cinema. It's called Sex in Cinema: The Greatest and Most Influential Erotic/Sexual Films and Scenes. Although films from around the world are listed, the introduction addresses eroticism and sexuality in American cinema and in American culture.
It's funny to hear of how scandalous certain things were decades ago that are considered tame, if not "normal" today. For instance, Night Nurse (1931) was deemed salacious because it featured stars Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell "frequently undressing to their silky underwear". Women shown in undergarments is as common as a cold nowadays. Then there's the supposedly awful The Brown Bunny which has a genuine blowjob shown in all its gory detail. We've come (ahem) a long way, for better or for worse.
The list features some favorite films of mine such as Secretary, Mulholland Drive, and The Dreamers. And of course there's several films mentioned that I've never seen or even heard of that look intriguing such as 9 Songs and Battle in Heaven.
It's funny to hear of how scandalous certain things were decades ago that are considered tame, if not "normal" today. For instance, Night Nurse (1931) was deemed salacious because it featured stars Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell "frequently undressing to their silky underwear". Women shown in undergarments is as common as a cold nowadays. Then there's the supposedly awful The Brown Bunny which has a genuine blowjob shown in all its gory detail. We've come (ahem) a long way, for better or for worse.
The list features some favorite films of mine such as Secretary, Mulholland Drive, and The Dreamers. And of course there's several films mentioned that I've never seen or even heard of that look intriguing such as 9 Songs and Battle in Heaven.
Subsidizing the Idiot Box
2006 heralds a new round of tax cuts for the wealthy. Budget cuts are devastating our libraries. (You know, those fanastic repositories of information, learning, and culture.) Yet the federal government is going to spend $1.5 billion to make sure people having working televisions come 2009 when we (finally) go digital so every American can continue to go stupid.
The difficulty, of course, is that the analog broadcast system will then be shut down -- which will leave most of today's TV sets unable to receive a signal over the air.
Roughly 20 million of those soon-to-be-obsolete sets are in homes where people don't subscribe to cable or satellite. The other 50 million or so are in pay TV homes, and used as second, third or fourth sets. Sets hooked up to cable or satellite services should work fine no matter what.
To avoid a consumer revolt, Congress has set aside about $1.5 billion to smooth the transition. Owners of outmoded TV sets will be eligible for two vouchers, worth $40 each, to help buy converter boxes that will enable today's analog TV sets to receive digital signals.
Yes, the very same federal government that is cutting back on college loans and food stamps will soon be issuing TV vouchers.
You know what, your radios will still work fine after the conversion. And, if you can work around their hours, libraries will still be offering (gasp!) books to read.
The difficulty, of course, is that the analog broadcast system will then be shut down -- which will leave most of today's TV sets unable to receive a signal over the air.
Roughly 20 million of those soon-to-be-obsolete sets are in homes where people don't subscribe to cable or satellite. The other 50 million or so are in pay TV homes, and used as second, third or fourth sets. Sets hooked up to cable or satellite services should work fine no matter what.
To avoid a consumer revolt, Congress has set aside about $1.5 billion to smooth the transition. Owners of outmoded TV sets will be eligible for two vouchers, worth $40 each, to help buy converter boxes that will enable today's analog TV sets to receive digital signals.
Yes, the very same federal government that is cutting back on college loans and food stamps will soon be issuing TV vouchers.
You know what, your radios will still work fine after the conversion. And, if you can work around their hours, libraries will still be offering (gasp!) books to read.
Sam Harris On BookTV
Noted proponent of rationality and spirituality, Sam Harris, will have his lecture from New York made last year re-broadcast on BookTV. Set your TiVos for Saturday, January 7 at 9:00 pm EST.
Java @ Olbrich Gardens
There's a trio of coffee-related events going on at Olbrich Botanical Gardens this month. To wit:
Bolz Conservatory Exhibit: Coffee Culture January 8 – March 25
Has any other beverage made such a global impact as coffee? The exhibit Coffee Culture at the Bolz Conservatory, takes on two aspects of culture; how coffee is grown and processed and the role it plays in human culture. Visit Olbrich's Bolz Conservatory and learn more about how this plant has made such a huge impact on civilizations around the world. What does a coffee tree look like? What are the impacts of this plant on world economy and the rain forest? How does coffee go from seed to coffee cup? Come learn the answers to these questions and immerse yourself in interactive activities designed for the whole family. Whether coffee is part of your daily regimen or not, come enjoy the rain forest and learn something new about how one tree affects so many lives on a global basis. For more information call 608-246-4550.
Informal Coffee Tasting - January 8 Saturday 1- 3 p.m. Try a variety of different coffees from around the world, provided by Just Coffee, fair trade coffee. Informal tasting in the Foyer. Free.
Coffee Talk & Tasting - January 29 Saturday 1 – 3 p.m. Learn about how to taste the subtle flavors in different coffees, coffee history, coffee roasting, and fair trade issues for small coffee growers around the world. Taste a variety of coffees. Presentations and tasting by Matthew Carlson of Dancing Grounds and Matt Earley of Just Coffee. Admission to the Conservatory to see the Coffee Culture exhibit included. $5 members/$7 nonmembers. Registration required, call 608-246-4550.
Bolz Conservatory Exhibit: Coffee Culture January 8 – March 25
Has any other beverage made such a global impact as coffee? The exhibit Coffee Culture at the Bolz Conservatory, takes on two aspects of culture; how coffee is grown and processed and the role it plays in human culture. Visit Olbrich's Bolz Conservatory and learn more about how this plant has made such a huge impact on civilizations around the world. What does a coffee tree look like? What are the impacts of this plant on world economy and the rain forest? How does coffee go from seed to coffee cup? Come learn the answers to these questions and immerse yourself in interactive activities designed for the whole family. Whether coffee is part of your daily regimen or not, come enjoy the rain forest and learn something new about how one tree affects so many lives on a global basis. For more information call 608-246-4550.
Informal Coffee Tasting - January 8 Saturday 1- 3 p.m. Try a variety of different coffees from around the world, provided by Just Coffee, fair trade coffee. Informal tasting in the Foyer. Free.
Coffee Talk & Tasting - January 29 Saturday 1 – 3 p.m. Learn about how to taste the subtle flavors in different coffees, coffee history, coffee roasting, and fair trade issues for small coffee growers around the world. Taste a variety of coffees. Presentations and tasting by Matthew Carlson of Dancing Grounds and Matt Earley of Just Coffee. Admission to the Conservatory to see the Coffee Culture exhibit included. $5 members/$7 nonmembers. Registration required, call 608-246-4550.
Meet the Boss
Ronaldo called yesterday evening to ask if I was going to be around if he stopped by. He was just leaving work and, since I was going to be around, he said that he'd be by shortly and, cryptically, that I could "meet the boss". You see I had a couple Paul McCartney shows for him. One was a nice-sounding soundboard from 1990 while the other was the show from Milwaukee last October that he and his daughter had attended. About a half an hour later my doorbell rang and I opened the door to see him standing there clutching a calendar and a brown paper bag. I let him inside and I gave him the CDs. He then presented me with a 2006 Peace Corps calendar and pulled a bottle out of bag.
I saw that by "boss" he meant Black Boss Porter, a very potent Polish brew. At 18.8 proof, I'm thinking that it'll keep me warm & cozy one night soon. We chatted for a bit but he had to get home. While we shot the bull out on the porch, Anders showed up to reclaim a batch of his CDs that have been in my possession for far too long. He'd lent me some Archie Shepp, Trane, and Roscoe Mitchell. Since I'd had them for so long, I burnt him a whole lotta live shows including Monk, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Art Tatum, Miles, et al. Anders not only loves listening to jazz but he's also a practitioner – in the Tony Castañeda Latin Jazz Sextet. He said that a dream of his had come true last year when he flew to Munich, Germany to record an album with Roscoe Mitchell and Evan Parker. The city of Munich had commissioned Mitchell and Parker to compose and record two songs and Anders got invited to the session. (For anyone not in the know, Mitchell lives here in Madison. You can sample his music at my podcast.) Anders said that he had a blast. He got to hang in Germany and record an album with two of his musical heroes and the Transatlantic Art Ensemble. The album is being mixed right now and will be released by ECM Records later this year.
Today is going by fairly slowly. People can't remember passwords and a group of VPN users are having problems. The fun just never stops. Jason and I made our weekly trek to Mad City Music yesterday. I bought Nirvana's first album, Bleach, and Van der Graaf Generator's H to He Who Is the Only One. A bit of an odd combo, admittedly, but two great bands nonetheless. I've also been acquiring some new shows. A new Genesis soundboard recording was put into the trading arena on Christmas Day – 3 January 1977. It's quite a good recording and a spirited performance, Chester Thompson's third ever with the band. I also grabbed a show by the Warsaw Village Band. It's a performance from 2001 which was broadcast on Polish radio. Lemme tell ya, it rocks! Well, as much as Polish folk music can. Really good stuff. It'll find its way onto my podcast soon.
While I don't have any plans for the weekend carved into stone, I am supposed to make pierogi for Mel at some point and she sent me an e-mail demanding them a couple weeks ago and then gently reminded me of my obligations on New Year's eve. I should contact her to find out exactly what she wants me to make.
In addition, The Dulcinea and I will get together at some point. I am in media res of a period of abstention. No ejaculation for your humble narrator until the weekend. The last time I had the pleasure of release was on New Year's Day and it is getting very hard (ahem) to restrain myself. The Dulcinea and I had a date on Tuesday. We went to Maharaja for some carry-out and then rented a flick, Les Rivières pourpres (Crimson Rivers 2). Jean Reno kicks arse and the first installment was good fun. This second movie was vaguely The Da Vinci Codeish with its conspiracy involving an ancient holy relic and, to be honest, had a rather generic story. But I like Reno and Christopher Lee was the bad guy! While he didn't have much screentime, Lee made the most of it. Technically it was great too. The mise en scene was very stylized, especially in the use of color. Depending on the location, the shots had an overall tint to them. Plus light sources were overexposed. Thusly windows were really bright and glowed preternaturally. And the action sequences were shot with a small shutter giving them a hyper-realistic look and feel ala the battle sequences from Saving Private Ryan. For the shootout towards the end, bullet tracers were CGId in making the scene just look really cool and the action more intense. It was by no means an artsy film but it was great fun. Lying in bed with her afterwards was a difficult proposition but we managed to keep me on the straight and narrow. This weekend cannot come soon enough.
I saw that by "boss" he meant Black Boss Porter, a very potent Polish brew. At 18.8 proof, I'm thinking that it'll keep me warm & cozy one night soon. We chatted for a bit but he had to get home. While we shot the bull out on the porch, Anders showed up to reclaim a batch of his CDs that have been in my possession for far too long. He'd lent me some Archie Shepp, Trane, and Roscoe Mitchell. Since I'd had them for so long, I burnt him a whole lotta live shows including Monk, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Art Tatum, Miles, et al. Anders not only loves listening to jazz but he's also a practitioner – in the Tony Castañeda Latin Jazz Sextet. He said that a dream of his had come true last year when he flew to Munich, Germany to record an album with Roscoe Mitchell and Evan Parker. The city of Munich had commissioned Mitchell and Parker to compose and record two songs and Anders got invited to the session. (For anyone not in the know, Mitchell lives here in Madison. You can sample his music at my podcast.) Anders said that he had a blast. He got to hang in Germany and record an album with two of his musical heroes and the Transatlantic Art Ensemble. The album is being mixed right now and will be released by ECM Records later this year.
Today is going by fairly slowly. People can't remember passwords and a group of VPN users are having problems. The fun just never stops. Jason and I made our weekly trek to Mad City Music yesterday. I bought Nirvana's first album, Bleach, and Van der Graaf Generator's H to He Who Is the Only One. A bit of an odd combo, admittedly, but two great bands nonetheless. I've also been acquiring some new shows. A new Genesis soundboard recording was put into the trading arena on Christmas Day – 3 January 1977. It's quite a good recording and a spirited performance, Chester Thompson's third ever with the band. I also grabbed a show by the Warsaw Village Band. It's a performance from 2001 which was broadcast on Polish radio. Lemme tell ya, it rocks! Well, as much as Polish folk music can. Really good stuff. It'll find its way onto my podcast soon.
While I don't have any plans for the weekend carved into stone, I am supposed to make pierogi for Mel at some point and she sent me an e-mail demanding them a couple weeks ago and then gently reminded me of my obligations on New Year's eve. I should contact her to find out exactly what she wants me to make.
In addition, The Dulcinea and I will get together at some point. I am in media res of a period of abstention. No ejaculation for your humble narrator until the weekend. The last time I had the pleasure of release was on New Year's Day and it is getting very hard (ahem) to restrain myself. The Dulcinea and I had a date on Tuesday. We went to Maharaja for some carry-out and then rented a flick, Les Rivières pourpres (Crimson Rivers 2). Jean Reno kicks arse and the first installment was good fun. This second movie was vaguely The Da Vinci Codeish with its conspiracy involving an ancient holy relic and, to be honest, had a rather generic story. But I like Reno and Christopher Lee was the bad guy! While he didn't have much screentime, Lee made the most of it. Technically it was great too. The mise en scene was very stylized, especially in the use of color. Depending on the location, the shots had an overall tint to them. Plus light sources were overexposed. Thusly windows were really bright and glowed preternaturally. And the action sequences were shot with a small shutter giving them a hyper-realistic look and feel ala the battle sequences from Saving Private Ryan. For the shootout towards the end, bullet tracers were CGId in making the scene just look really cool and the action more intense. It was by no means an artsy film but it was great fun. Lying in bed with her afterwards was a difficult proposition but we managed to keep me on the straight and narrow. This weekend cannot come soon enough.
04 January, 2006
Word of the Week
I wrote yesterday about Cheap Monday jeans and so this week's word is in honor of this new icon of Swedish fashion.
sartorial (sar-tor'-ee-al) adj. of or relating to a tailor or tailored clothes; broadly: of or relating to clothes.
sartorial (sar-tor'-ee-al) adj. of or relating to a tailor or tailored clothes; broadly: of or relating to clothes.
Miracles
Miracles really do happen!
Oh wait. No they don't.
No doubt Fred Phelps will picket the funeral of these miners with placards saying "God Hates Miners". After all, they bust their asses in crappy working conditions for us which seems to be cause enough for hatred by Phelps' deity.
Whoever is responsible for that false report owes the families and explanation and, more importantly, an apology although I won't hold my breath for one. Perhaps someday basic human decency will be good for bottom lines and poll numbers. Now THAT would be a miracle.
Oh wait. No they don't.
No doubt Fred Phelps will picket the funeral of these miners with placards saying "God Hates Miners". After all, they bust their asses in crappy working conditions for us which seems to be cause enough for hatred by Phelps' deity.
Whoever is responsible for that false report owes the families and explanation and, more importantly, an apology although I won't hold my breath for one. Perhaps someday basic human decency will be good for bottom lines and poll numbers. Now THAT would be a miracle.
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