I finished reading The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings today. I found it very entertaining, but I was still somehow disappointed. I'm very familiar with the Eddingses work, and I found this book to be a tad formulaic, and unfortunately too plot-driven. Despite all that, there were enough surprises to keep it moving and keep it interesting, and overall I enjoyed it.
2003-06-30
2003-06-23
2003-06-20
Sick, sue-happy bastard....
Common sense takes another hit as a dumbass lawyer in Cincinnati, Ohio, sues the Kings Island amusement park.
He says he's not doing it because the amusement park makes a lot of money. He says he's not doing it to hold the park responsible for his being struck by lightning.
He says he's doing it because the park should have warned the patrons about the lightning storm.
What kind of dumbass can't see the sky and think, "Gee, that looks bad?"
What kind of dumbass doesn't realize their big metal car is going to attract lightning?
I hope this gets thrown out of court.
He says he's not doing it because the amusement park makes a lot of money. He says he's not doing it to hold the park responsible for his being struck by lightning.
He says he's doing it because the park should have warned the patrons about the lightning storm.
What kind of dumbass can't see the sky and think, "Gee, that looks bad?"
What kind of dumbass doesn't realize their big metal car is going to attract lightning?
I hope this gets thrown out of court.
2003-06-19
Alexandre Dumas....
Yesterday I finished reading The Man in the Iron Mask.
This was the third book in Alexandre Dumas' trilogy about d'Artagnan and the rest of the musketeers. I started with The Three Musketeers a while ago, then read Twenty Years After, and concluded with The Man in the Iron Mask. Good reads all of them, with a similar style to The Count of Monte Cristo: a complex, character-driven plot.
After finishing The Three Musketeers, I thought to myself, "This is very little like that Disney movie from a few years ago. Damn Disney! Damn them to hell!"
When I got around to finishing The Man in the Iron Mask, I thought to myself, "This is nothing like that movie from a few years ago. What the fuck?"
As they would say on Fark, "Hollywood is out of ideas."
This was the third book in Alexandre Dumas' trilogy about d'Artagnan and the rest of the musketeers. I started with The Three Musketeers a while ago, then read Twenty Years After, and concluded with The Man in the Iron Mask. Good reads all of them, with a similar style to The Count of Monte Cristo: a complex, character-driven plot.
After finishing The Three Musketeers, I thought to myself, "This is very little like that Disney movie from a few years ago. Damn Disney! Damn them to hell!"
When I got around to finishing The Man in the Iron Mask, I thought to myself, "This is nothing like that movie from a few years ago. What the fuck?"
As they would say on Fark, "Hollywood is out of ideas."
2003-06-17
Mind-numbing....
The last 40 minutes were 40 soul-draining, will-sapping minutes I'll never get back. Oh, how stupid people annoy me.
Catch-22....
Have you ever been in one of those situations where you're damned if you do and damned if you don't? A real Catch-22, no-win situation? Yeah, me too. I hate those.
2003-06-12
Vermin spread disease, duh....
More news about monkey pox as federal health officials ban sales of prairie dogs and imports of African rodents. The CDC has congratulated Wisconsin officials in identifying the problem quickly.
The fact is, though, there should never have been a problem. I may sound like a broken record, but who wants vermin for a pet? Who wants to cuddle up with a prairie dog or a giant Gambian rat? And people are definitely cuddling up with them, because apparently there's some biting involved here.
I've never found rodents to be particularly interesting pets, with the exception of the more intelligent mice and rats. It seems to me that the larger the rodent, the dumber it is. Prairie dogs are pretty decent sized, and, well, giant Gambian rat kind of speaks for itself. Neither of these animals sounds particularly cute.
All this makes me wonder when people are going to learn that all these nasty diseases that are being spread around the world, be it monkeypox or SARS or even AIDS, wouldn't be such a problem if we as people hadn't done stupid things like wanting a pet prairie dog.
The fact is, though, there should never have been a problem. I may sound like a broken record, but who wants vermin for a pet? Who wants to cuddle up with a prairie dog or a giant Gambian rat? And people are definitely cuddling up with them, because apparently there's some biting involved here.
I've never found rodents to be particularly interesting pets, with the exception of the more intelligent mice and rats. It seems to me that the larger the rodent, the dumber it is. Prairie dogs are pretty decent sized, and, well, giant Gambian rat kind of speaks for itself. Neither of these animals sounds particularly cute.
All this makes me wonder when people are going to learn that all these nasty diseases that are being spread around the world, be it monkeypox or SARS or even AIDS, wouldn't be such a problem if we as people hadn't done stupid things like wanting a pet prairie dog.
2003-06-11
Practice what you preach....
A while ago, probably around Christmas, I had remarked to Maryanne what a wonderful organization the Salvation Army is. I continued to remark that I wasn't terribly enthusiastic about the United Way. I even mentioned that I had gone so far as to set up an e-mail filter at work. My employer is a big contributor to the United Way, and I didn't want to see solicitations in my e-mail.
When Maryanne asked why, I went into an explanation about comparative salaries between the CEO of the United Way and the Commissioner of the Salvation Army. Check this out and see for yourself. If nothing else, it will leave you scratching your head and saying, "Hmm...."
When Maryanne asked why, I went into an explanation about comparative salaries between the CEO of the United Way and the Commissioner of the Salvation Army. Check this out and see for yourself. If nothing else, it will leave you scratching your head and saying, "Hmm...."
Asking for it....
I have a hard time feeling sorry for all these people getting monkeypox from what I would normally consider vermin. The motivation for having such strange critters for pets still baffles me.
As I mentioned to Amy, it all makes me wonder if PETA will have something to say about this.
As I mentioned to Amy, it all makes me wonder if PETA will have something to say about this.
2003-06-10
Disease du jour....
So apparently the disease du jour, monkeypox, has been spreading through the Midwest. Until now it wasn't found in the Western Hemisphere, and was probably spread to prairie dogs via a giant Gambian rat. These prairie dogs were first sold at a Chicago pet store, and some at a Milwaukee pet store, and authorities are now trying to track down all the customers.
All this begs the question, "Who the fuck would want a prairie dog for a pet?"
Prairie dogs are targets, not pets.
All this begs the question, "Who the fuck would want a prairie dog for a pet?"
Prairie dogs are targets, not pets.
2003-06-06
Not doing any favors....
More political correctness gone awry. Not surprisingly, it's in California, that sunny state that's home to so many bleeding-heart liberals who want to cater to the lowest common denominator.
2003-06-03
2003-06-01
2003-05-28
2003-05-23
Patton....
A selection of quotations from the man who once referred to himself as that "Son-of-a-goddamned-bitch named Georgie Patton."
Music from the past....
There was a lot of different kinds of music around when I was growing up. Mom and Dad shared some common music interests, including the rock and pop they grew up with, like the Beatles, etc. They had some eclectic tastes, as well. Mom seemed to be more into some of the more progressive sounds, being a big fan of the Moody Blues and Procol Harum, and one of her favorite albums was by a Brazilian group called Donato/Deodato that played Latin-Jazz Fusion. Dad had grown up with a lot of country music around, so he was a big country fan.
I think one of the biggest reasons Dad was a country fan is that he grew up with it. My grandfather and his family had grown up with it as well, especially since there was a lot of musical talent in the family. My grandfather, Lloyd, could strum a guitar, but his biggest talent was being able to harmonize with anyone. He sang with some of his brothers now and then, including Lester, Alfred, and Orville. Lester played guitar as well, and Alfred played fiddle. Orville played guitar and steel guitar, and was perhaps one of the most talented of the bunch. When I was younger I learned that he had done some touring, under the stage name Eddie Rivers, and had even met and played with Hank Williams, Sr. at one time, and had had a guitar autographed by him.
Unfortunately, country music wasn't mainstream back then the way it is now, and nobody made it real big. Even if the music had been more popular, I think it still would have been tough, as there was a lot of heavy drinking involved. My grandfather finally joined A.A. and gave it up, and his sponsors became close family friends, spending their weekends playing sheephead until they couldn't see straight to keep their minds off the booze. My great uncle Orville eventually gave up drinking as well, but not before he pawned that Hank Williams autographed guitar.
We had a few reel-to-reel tape recordings of Orville's band, and they'd sometimes play at our family reunions. I didn't appreciate the talent until I heard some less gifted players.
Now-a-days, of course, hearing some of the songs I heard back then reminds me of those days, the long lazy summers of youth when I didn't have many cares. Nostalgia seems to play a big part in the music we enjoy.
That nostalgia has been leading me to think about about a couple of songs by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Old Upright Piano, and Leon McDuff. I had been unable to find any information about either song from Barnes & Noble or Amazon, and finally did a Google search. It turns out they appeared on an album called Partners, Brothers and Friends, released by Warner Bros. in 1985, and is no longer in print. This is sad, really. I remember many of the songs from the album, including the two mentioned, as well as Redneck Riviera and Queen of the Road. Those songs were good foot-stompers. Old Upright Piano is a real tear-jerker; Leon McDuff is a good bluegrass song with a dark edginess to it. I couldn't appreciate their merits when I first heard them over fifteen years ago. Now that I can, the songs are sadly unavailable.
I think one of the biggest reasons Dad was a country fan is that he grew up with it. My grandfather and his family had grown up with it as well, especially since there was a lot of musical talent in the family. My grandfather, Lloyd, could strum a guitar, but his biggest talent was being able to harmonize with anyone. He sang with some of his brothers now and then, including Lester, Alfred, and Orville. Lester played guitar as well, and Alfred played fiddle. Orville played guitar and steel guitar, and was perhaps one of the most talented of the bunch. When I was younger I learned that he had done some touring, under the stage name Eddie Rivers, and had even met and played with Hank Williams, Sr. at one time, and had had a guitar autographed by him.
Unfortunately, country music wasn't mainstream back then the way it is now, and nobody made it real big. Even if the music had been more popular, I think it still would have been tough, as there was a lot of heavy drinking involved. My grandfather finally joined A.A. and gave it up, and his sponsors became close family friends, spending their weekends playing sheephead until they couldn't see straight to keep their minds off the booze. My great uncle Orville eventually gave up drinking as well, but not before he pawned that Hank Williams autographed guitar.
We had a few reel-to-reel tape recordings of Orville's band, and they'd sometimes play at our family reunions. I didn't appreciate the talent until I heard some less gifted players.
Now-a-days, of course, hearing some of the songs I heard back then reminds me of those days, the long lazy summers of youth when I didn't have many cares. Nostalgia seems to play a big part in the music we enjoy.
That nostalgia has been leading me to think about about a couple of songs by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Old Upright Piano, and Leon McDuff. I had been unable to find any information about either song from Barnes & Noble or Amazon, and finally did a Google search. It turns out they appeared on an album called Partners, Brothers and Friends, released by Warner Bros. in 1985, and is no longer in print. This is sad, really. I remember many of the songs from the album, including the two mentioned, as well as Redneck Riviera and Queen of the Road. Those songs were good foot-stompers. Old Upright Piano is a real tear-jerker; Leon McDuff is a good bluegrass song with a dark edginess to it. I couldn't appreciate their merits when I first heard them over fifteen years ago. Now that I can, the songs are sadly unavailable.
2003-05-22
A threat to your rights....
William Safire brings you news of potential infringement of Constitutional rights in 3... 2... 1.
2003-05-20
2003-05-19
Asshole....
So I had to stop at an ATM this morning so I could make a deposit. For whatever reason, I decided to use the ATM at the Anchor Bank branch ear East Town Mall. After I was done, instead of backtracking, I decided to get on East Wash/Highway 151 and follow it to the American Parkway exit. I'm not sure I'll do that again; Madison drivers are assholes. I needed to change lanes, so I turned on my signal. I checked my mirrors, checked my blindspot--all clear. I start changing lanes. That's when I hear the horn of a black Volkswagen. Where did he come from? He wasn't there when I started this process! Then the asshole has the nerve to flip me the finger while he speeds past.
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