David and Goliath....

I found this article a while ago and found it rather interesting.

Summertime....

Well, it's now officially summer, as the summer solstice happened yesterday morning. We've definitely had some summer-like weather, with temperatures well into the 80s, and perhaps hitting the 90s by Friday. Thankfully the humidity has not been as bad as it could be.

I've more or less finish Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain. It was an interesting read. Partially autobiographical, it was a non-fiction work detailing, well, Mark Twain's life on the Mississippi river. Twain's writing style and sense of humor shine through the work, making it an entertaining read instead of a long slog through dry, historical facts.

I don't know what's next on the list, and it will be a while before we find out. I start some much-needed vacation tomorrow, and won't return to work until July 2.

Low budget....

It was an expensive weekend; Maryanne and I ate out three times over the course of the weekend, in addition to seeing a movie at the drive-in out in Jefferson. Add in the expenses of groceries and a trip to Stoughton Garden Center, and it was a very pricey weekend indeed.

The movie we saw was Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I enjoyed it, but Maryanne thought it was too slow. We didn't stay for the second feature.

I'm not enthusiastic about daytime running lamps. Maryanne's car has them, and it meant that we couldn't open the windows in her car during the movie. I got a funnel cake out of it, though.

Almost....

Today was a very pleasant day, the kind of day that makes you glad to be alive, but makes you wish you were any where other than work. Today, yard work might actually have been a joy instead of a chore, but I'll never know for sure, because I'm stuck at work.

It's almost summer now, officially. Oh, sure, there are plenty of people out there who call the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day summer, but I don't. Summer is from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox. Today is a great example of all that's good about late spring; last week was an example of why spring in southern Wisconsin is less pleasant than in northern Wisconsin.

Paranoia

So some paranoid people over at the Conspiracy Planet website have the uber-liberal lefties at Fark all in a tizzy over the report of a bill to repeal the 22nd Amendment.

So did they all skip civics class or something? Because they're all forgetting

1. An amendment would have to be passed by a 2/3 vote in both houses of Congress and
   
   
2. An amendment would have to be ratified by 3/4 of the states. Even if we round down, that's 37.
   
   
3. Even if the amendment passes, elections would still be held every four years.
   

Apparently one of these bills pops up every once in a while. None of them have gone anywhere, and I doubt this one will do anything either.

Oh, and apparently four of the five sponsors are Democrats, leaving only one Republican.

Learn to read, people.

In Memoriam....

The world of gaming lost one of its own recently, as David Sutherland died on June 6.

I remember seeing some of his work in the D&D and AD&D materials I own from the '80s and early '90s. He started doing artwork, then moved on to become TSR's chief cartographer, in charge of all the maps and charts that were included in a variety of materials.

The saddest part of the article, for me, is the part about Wizards of the Coast not rehiring Sutherland.

I used to despise WotC. I felt that if Magic wasn't the sole cause, it at least contributed to the decline of D&D and demise of TSR. I learned later that WotC bought TSR primarily because they truly wanted to save D&D. It's too bad they didn't try to save Sutherland.

Reflections....

Maryanne and I spent most of our weekend in Minnesota. I won't go into details here, as even I'm not interested in a play-by-play, and I doubt anyone reading this is, either. However, some highlights are in order:

1. Driving through Minnesota is more pleasant than driving through Illinois. While both have vast amounts of prairie, there are at least some pleasant hills in Minnesota around the Mississippi River. Minnesota also has better roads. They are in better shape, are better labeled, and there's not a toll plaza in sight.
   
   
2. The remake of The Longest Yard was pretty good. I have not seen the original, though, so I can't make any comparison in that regard.
   
   
3. The old TechTV now sucks that it's G4 and talks about nothing but video gaming.
   
   
4. I still don't like hip hop music, no matter what they sample.
   
   
5. Good people are just good people; it doesn't matter where they're from, what religion they are, or anything else. Likewise, bad people are the same everywhere.
   

Judged by its cover....

I can add this to my list of reasons for not shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch.

Here?

Here are some shenanigans from PETA that qualify as truly bizarre.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the high price of beef.

Where's the beef?

Somehow this news about rising beef prices doesn't surprise me. The price of beef in this part of the state is typically at least ten cents per pound higher than in northeast Wisconsin, and that's just for cheap cuts like ground beef. Pricier cuts run higher of course; the price of ground chuck is approaching three dollars a pound. It won't be too much longer and you'll be able to get veal cutlets or lamb chops cheaper than beef.

It's a good thing Maryanne and I like chicken and pork.

Play ball!

Maryanne and I were among the masses at Fox Cities Stadium on Sunday for the Brett Favre Celebrity Softball Game. It was a fun experience. The stadium was full, but it thankfully did not feel too crowded. The weather was very warm and somewhat muggy, but an occasional breeze helped.

I know it's a fun event for the whole family, especially for the little kids, but I really wish some parents were better about keeping their children under control. There were a couple of families right in front of us, with four little ones between the two of them. One of the little boys was horsing around a kicked over his dad's beer, and much of it landed on my shoe. The guy at least apologized. I said it was OK, but really, there wasn't much else I could say without making for an uncomfortable afternoon.

Bad Apple....

This is another excellent reason I can use for not having bought an iPod.

I think we can define bad P.R. as a manufacturer forcing their customers to foot half the bill for faulty merchandise.

"Body of the Nation"

Next on the reading list is Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain. I've become quite familiar with Twain's work, which is first rate. I really have no preconceived notions about this particular book, so it will be completely unknown to me.

This particular edition was published by Readers Digest and features the illustrations from the 1883 edition.

Hit or Myth....

Today I finished Mythology by Edith Hamilton. Since it's not exactly a work of fiction, I can't exactly write about it in that way.

I enjoyed reading it. It provides a good overview of Greek/Roman mythology, boiling down stories taken from plays, poems, and prose, into easily digestible segments. My only disappointment was that it spent little time on Norse mythology; it seemed almost an afterthought; amost 90% of the book is dedicated to Greek and Roman myths.

I don't know what's next; we'll find that out tomorrow.

Seasons change....

May is gone; June has arrived. May is my favorite month; from start to finish it embodies the progression of spring. Or at least it used to, when my Mays were spent in Door County. Here in southern Wisconsin it feels too summer-like, the way June used to feel.

And that's why June is kind of an enigma for me. Astronomically it's still mostly spring, with summer arriving on the solstice. Why, then, does it seem too much like summer? Everyone calls it summer, though it's only a quarter summer. Yet it is glorious in its own way, I suppose. It seems to ease from spring to summer in preparation for the summer onslaught of July and August with their opressive heat and humidity, and violent storms.