March 20th, 2004
...but any day that sees Bobby Knight out of the tournament is golden.
...when a #1 is going to go out early, betting on the PAC-10 is always good.
...not that I need more reasons to hate the Raiders, but this certainly adds to them.
Posted by fad at 6:15pm
I wrote this up on the plane ride home and figured I'd bury it on the weekend.
Nothing really eventful happened on any of my flights, so instead I'll tell the stories of the two best flight conversations I ever had.
[Read on if ye be that bored]
Posted by fad at 10:07am
March 19th, 2004
Posted by fad at 4:33pm
The USA Today has concluded its star foreign correspondent fabricated many stories.
The evidence strongly contradicted Kelley's published accounts that he spent a night with Egyptian terrorists in 1997; met a vigilante Jewish settler named Avi Shapiro in 2001; watched a Pakistani student unfold a picture of the Sears Tower and say, 'This one is mine,' in 2001; visited a suspected terrorist crossing point on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in 2002; interviewed the daughter of an Iraqi general in 2003; or went on a high-speed hunt for Osama bin Laden in 2003."He almost got awards for this stuff.
The paper said that "significant parts" of a purported eyewitness account of a suicide bombing, that made him a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize, "are untrue.Back when the investigation first started, Kelley resigned. I guess he needed more time to do this.
"Kelley told readers he saw the bomber," USA Today reported. "But the man he described could not have been the bomber."
In an effort to cover up his work, the paper reported, "Kelley wrote scripts to help at least three people mislead USA Today reporters trying to verify his work."There's been a knot of cases like this with foreign correspondents of late. These poor guys. They had such nice, cushy, exotic jobs at which they barely had to work. Then suddenly people started really caring about and paying attention to their stuff which brought unwanted close attention. Top it all off that with the internet, locals can fact check these guys dispatching back to the states, and I've started every sentence in this block with the letter "T".
Posted by fad at 4:08pm
This sickness needs to stop.
Kevin Kline is in negotiations to team up with Steve Martin in "The Pink Panther," which also stars R&B singer Beyonce Knowles and French veteran Jean Reno.Another pissfountain-fantastic idea!
Posted by fad at 1:19pm
Sounds like too many patrons were there four hour and did not go now.
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) said Thursday its Red Lobster chain will cut back on all-you-can-eat promotions, which generated customer traffic but hurt profit margins.Customers can always go fishing afterwards if they don't actually get all they can eat.
Last year, an all-you-can-eat crab promotion went awry when diners loaded up on numerous refills that obliterated profit margins.
Posted by fad at 11:43am
After this series of events, I think I'd go home and not leave for a few days.
A 60-year-old man was struck by a slow-moving train as he walked home from work, and then a car slammed into the ambulance that was to take him to the hospital. The man escaped both accidents with minor injuries.Though the roof would probably then collapse as well.
Posted by fad at 10:41am
Continuing my policy, just invented, to make sure serious posts don't stay at the top, here's a hastily tossed Friday Five.
If you...
1. ...owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?
Probably Italian, but why be limited? But to provide an interesting answer, a friend of mine here wants to start a restaurant named Tastes Like Chicken that has no chicken on the menu at all. Whenever staff is asked what a particular dish is like, they would be required to answer, "Tastes like chicken."
2. ...owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell?
Porn and cigarettes. Always a market for those.
3. ...wrote a book, what genre would it be?
Bah! I limit not myself to such things as "genre"! I transcend genre to explore new explorations in the unexplored explorable expanses of the human experience. Stop trying to hold back my genius, you inanimate internet question, you!
4. ...ran a school, what would you teach?
Critical thinking and sound reasoning. Everything else can take care of itself from there.
5. ...recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it?
Drunken, horribly offkey warblings about plastic lovedolls and a capella drones about monkey parades. Yes, recordings of both exist.
Posted by fad at 9:40am
Too much of the world seems to think that our current conflict is merely the result of a clash of cultures that needs to be sorted out with the West needing to do the most accomodating. This is the background thinking to the Guardian's laughably idiotic suggestion that the solution could be found in an international conference between Christians and Muslims. They refuse to see that it is instead due to the desires of a few who believe social and cultural perfection were achieved nearly 1400 years ago, and all should be forced to live that way or die.
Further proof of this is what the news agencies see as funny.
Some 100 Bahraini Islamists shouting "God is Greatest" stormed a French restaurant serving alcohol in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state and threatened diners with knives, witnesses said on Thursday.Not to steal schtick from James Taranto, but this is what Reuters felt belonged in the "Oddly Enough" category. Yes, it is humorous in its inept execution, but they are minimizing the underlying threat involved here. These mobs are being incited the world over to these actions. Notice this wasn't an attack on US or war related interests. This was an attack on Westerners specifically for harmlessly living their lives. They hate you for who you are; they don't care your opinion about the war or the US except maybe to exploit it to their end of killing us all.
Posted by fad at 9:18am
I think I just found a leading nominee for Understatement of the Year. First, the set up.
A teenager was charged with attempted murder after police found him outside school with 20 homemade bombs, a rifle and a note saying he wanted to injure everyone at his high school except for three friends.It's all about OOOOIIIILLLLL!! Sorry. But here's the nominated statement.
[...]
Police who searched Magee's car found a bolt-action rifle, several rounds of ammunition, small bottles of propane and rigged containers of a petroleum-based propellant.
"It had the potential of going badly," said Superintendent Gene Modernize.Gee, you think so, Gene?
Posted by fad at 7:56am
During the last two days, I caught a couple broadcasts of the BBC World News as shown on PBS. Yesterday had a nice story about the lives of two women in Iraq, one a school teacher and the other a marsh Arab.
After looking at their lives, and concluding that indeed both had improved since the toppling of Saddam, they still had to end the piece on a down note. See, their lives weren't improving at the same rate. There was one of those terrible gaps increasing which made it all less worthwhile.
It takes a special skill to make overall improvement look like a step backwards. Kudos and kahlua soaked koalas to the BBC.
Posted by fad at 7:33am
And, as to be expected after taking 4 days off from work, everything broke.
UPDATE: At least one of the advantages of insomnia is that after spending nearly a week in a timezone two hours behind this one, I still end up at work at 6:30am.
Posted by fad at 6:51am
March 18th, 2004
A quick full flight, then an empty long flight on a plague plane which made popping noises on descent. "The Sun Chasers". A day spent on sunburning drives through backroads and old neighborhoods and haunts. An In 'n' Out burger. Reconnecting with friends made during the highpoint of the old online Quakeworld days. A meat laden pizza in honor of Eat an Animal for PETA Day. Relaxing at a friend's playing with his starved-for-attention dogs. A very long cab ride. A great venue. A swishing ponytail. A brilliant band who brought a brilliant performance with them. A handshake of gratitude for years of incredible music. An asshole cabbie. A nearly perfect night. A day spent with Skeptical reading and defeating the enemies of open society capped with Dennylicious food and quality time with some Bandits (no smokies). An early airport trip to catch early tournament games. A very full flight. Two sky waitresses who break the rule that width of one's ass should not exceed the width of the aisle. A layover. For some reason, a British accented voice warning of the end of the moving walkway in the Minneapolis airport. A plague and B.O. flight, mercifully short after the 20 minute wait to takeoff. Home, or at least the place I currently live.
As if anyone cares, but I'll tell you anyway. I had a fantastic, relaxing time that only reminded me more that I need to change my current situations quickly lest the depression fully get me.
Posted by fad at 10:46pm
March 16th, 2004
Everything about Spain has already been said. "The wind blows West and we are to the East. What need have we to fight this fire to our loss? After all, the winds will never shift."
Here's a random link. Just as random is the information that my birthday is in June.
Finally, this is why the internet was created.
Oh, and until noon pacific time, TCS is live on KCRW.
Posted by fad at 9:58am
March 14th, 2004
Posted by fad at 2:12pm