January 31, 2004
Happy 1st Birthday to Athena Sakura Howland
A year ago, Curt and Lissa Howland's daughter Athena Sakura Howland was born. Happy birthday kid!
"Have you seen this thieving bum?" or, Batman with a Digicam
I have a few pet peeves, one of which is shopping cart thieves. I think this particular crime pushes one of my outrage button because it's an everyday occurrance, out in the open, that many people witness and almost no one does anything about. That type of thing rankles me. So, when I was driving through Cupertino (which like many American towns has a well-known problem with this type of thing) a few days ago, and saw this guy crossing the street across from Long's Drugs with the latter's property, I had to do something.
He was on the corner, and I was stopped at the light waiting to turn. I opened my window and told him he should return the cart. He was startled, and blurted out that he was moving the empty cart to a "collection center" a block away! Nonsense, and I told him so. He was visibly shaken, and turned around to return the cart to the nearby store. I pulled into the parking lot nearby to watch, and saw him making motions to resume his theft (thinking me absent), at which point I pulled up nearby and took some photos with the tiny digicam (a Sony CyberShotU) that I keep in my pocket whenever I leave the house. It's in this photo where I've informed him that I have pictures of him, and he's objecting that since I don't work for the store, I have no say in the matter.
He eventually returned the cart and did a bum-swagger off the lot. In the meantime, I parked my car and walked into the store seeking the manager, who was happily surprised, and requested that I use the store's memorycard-to-film converter to leave him copies of the photos I'd made. I took the Memory Stick from my camera, stuck it in the front of a neat little kiosk with a surprisingly idiotproof user interface, and within minutes we had a set of hardcopies for myself and for the store management, to be posted on what I assume is the "deadbeats bulletin board" where many retail operations post photos of bad check passers and other BOLO (Be On the Look Out) notices.
Yet another reason there are certain things I carry with me regularly.
"Oregon Berries" by Cranberry Sweets & More
Just finished a small box of "Oregon Berries" by Cranberry Sweets & More, which we picked up on our trip to Portland a few weeks ago. We'd been nibbling very sparingly on these, since they're so good. I really like these candies, and they make nice little gifts. You can pick up some yourself, since the company does mail order
Interesting take on boycotting an Ohio event on behalf of Jeffrey Jordan
Yesterday I posted a note about Jeffrey Jordan's indictment for concealed weapons charges in Ohio. I placed a link to that note on Packing.org, which has generated some interesting response from High Power shooters who plan to boycott attendance at Camp Perry, Ohio in protest. An example from miller1952:
You should be aware that the felony indictment of Jeffery Jordan for the "crime" of traveling through Ashland County and failing to secure his legally owned handguns in his trunk is viewed with some level of alarm in the shooting community. I am advising everyone I know to avoid Camp Perry in the future. Over the last few years rifle matches with three day venues like Perry have sprouted up in Missouri and Minnesota as an alternative to the expense of Perry. If the State of Ohio follows through with ruining this young man's life via a felony conviction I think you can expect a widespread grassroots "Boycott Ohio" movement in the gun owning community. Take a hard look at K-Mart.
It'll be interesting to see if the organizers of the Camp Perry events will take notice.
Quote of the Day
Don't believe anything unless you have thought it through for yourself.
Anna Pell Wheeler, mathematician
1883-1966
Quoted on p281 of Discrete Mathematics with Applications, 2nd edition
January 30, 2004
Kitano Takeshi starring in new Zatoichi film!
Garth Lynch just posted a note to our dojo mailing list mentioning that the great Kitano Takeshi, one of my favorite actors, is starring in a new movie adapation reprising the character of Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman (originally played by Katsu Shintaro), one of my all-time favorite chanbara movie series. The trailer for the new film looks great!
Ohio grand jury indicts Hunter
Ward Griffiths has alerted me to the news today that Jeffrey Jordan has been indicted by an Ashland County, Ohio grand jury. From the article, "New Hampshire man indicted for carrying concealed weapon":
ASHLAND -- A New Hampshire man arrested last month by the state patrol was indicted Thursday on a felony count of carrying a concealed weapon by an Ashland County grand jury.
Jeffrey Jordan, 42, was arrested Dec. 31 by a trooper of the Ashland post of the Ohio Highway Patrol after a traffic stop. He faces a charge of carrying a concealed weapon because troopers said they found two handguns on him.
Jordan is scheduled to be arraigned Monday at 11:30 a.m.
Some background on Hunter's situation can be found here and here.
Quote of the Day
Ward Griffiths: "To me gods and governments are eternally intertwined and neither deserve respect."
L. Neil Smith: "Yes, to me, atheism and anarchism have always been essentially the same position. The very concept of gods or governments is an insult to the human spirit."
January 29, 2004
Cargo Cult Finance, or "Financial Pornography"
Christopher Pellerito has written an excellent piece on the phenomenon of "financial pornography", a term coined by mathematician John Allen Paulos to describe "under-researched puff pieces on personal finance (e.g. Five Hot Stocks to Pump Up your 401k NOW!)"
Quote of the Day
It is no paradox to say that in our most theoretical moods we may be nearest to our most practical applications.
Alfred North Whitehead
January 28, 2004
Visual Glossary: the Terminology of Swords
[This entry was originally published on my other, dormant blog 27 April 2003. - Russell]
I had the pleasure of meeting Fred Weissberg today at the Cupertino Sakura Matsuri, and was pointed to several websites of his and his cohorts. For those of you - like me - who are into traditional Japanese martial arts, here's a useful resource: a Visual Glossary of the Japanese sword.
Cleaning out the penis pill spammers
Time to upgrade Movable Type on both this blog and on my other (dormant) Asian languages blog: the penis pill comment spammers have gotten much, much more aggressive lately.
Quote of the Day
Even when you're dead, the chains don't come off. That's why I'm so fond of the indie/DIY/Open Source movement, in all its low budget, cacaphonous, disorganized, multifaceted glory. Local band I used to do management/booking/road work for, years back, spent far too much time trying to get label attention. If we'd just put the stuff out ourselves, we'd have saved a lot of hassle and time, and probably made more money than we'd have ever squeezed out of any label. Still kicking myself over that, especially now that the production and distribution tools are so damn easy to get and use.
Most [music] labels are a honeytrap, only without the hot sex from a Russian spy chick. Just the unlubed prisonsex.
January 27, 2004
NY Press cover story on Manhattan LP convention
James Lesczynski, of "Guns for Tots" fame, today on the smith2004-discuss list alerts us to the cover story of today's New York Press edition, "Libertarians at the Gate":
James notes that "it takes a few shots at us, as expected, but overall the philosophy leaks through. And it's publicity, at any rate..."
Quote of the Day
I admit I still find it a little amazing people fall for this crap. Magicians have been doing it for well over 100 years. Just off the top of my head there was Munito the dog, Toby "The Sapient Pig," and the "Two Curious Birds" -- one of which was a parrot as I recall. All could perform amazing tricks incuding "mind reading." It is no big secret how it is done: Cold reading (sometime called "Barnum effect") mixed with clever training or exceptionally perceptive animals.
What used to be sideshow entertainment has become a near-as-dammit religion. Perhaps it is just another side effect of how the publik skoolz fragment and compartmentalize knowledge and prevent critical thinking.
e0ts
January 26, 2004
Friday at the range with Alan and Genghis
I've been slightly busier than usual the past few days. I did manage to meet up with friends Mark Quon ("Genghis Khan") and Alan Weiss on Friday before Alan's departure for Austin, for lunch and for some indoor shooting at the excellent Reed's Indoor Range in Santa Clara, California. Here's Alan with his EAA Witness in .45 ACP with Wonderfinish coating (he favors the isosceles stance):
Mark Quon aka "Genghis Khan" shooting his Kimber in .45 ACP (Mark favors a variant of the Weaver stance):
It was brought to my attention during this visit to the range that the store carries several excellent books in the storefront, including two I had recommended to the proprietors a few months ago, John Ross' "Unintended Consequences" and Boston T. Party's "Boston's Gun Bible"... a pleasantly surprising bit of news. I was told they've sold a number of copies to people who've loved them. I was surprised to hear from Alan that he'd not read Ross' book yet, whereupon he purchased a copy to start reading on his return flight. I can't wait to hear what he thinks of it.
Quote of the Day
One must learn by doing the thing; though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try.
Sophocles
January 25, 2004
Quote of the Day
Wealth may provoke envy, but it seldom provokes the truly venomous levels of resentment provoked by achievement. There is no surer way for a minority group to become hated than to enter a country as destitute immigrants and then, through long hours of hard work, rise to a level of prosperity above that of the indigenous population.
January 23, 2004
Quote of the Day
Firearms and painkilling drugs are among the principle advancements of modern humanity. A sorry crew of US legislators have understood that it is their job to stand between human beings and these advancements made by humanity - no matter if it kills the human beings.
January 22, 2004
Quote of the Day
Proof serves many purposes simultaneously. In being exposed to the scrutiny and judgment of a new audience, [a] proof is subject to a constant process of criticism and revalidation. Errors, ambiguities, and misunderstandings are cleared up by constant exposure. Proof is respectability. Proof is the seal of authority.
Proof, in its best instances, increases understanding by revealing the heart of the matter. Proof suggests new mathematics. The novice who studies proofs gets closer to the creation of new mathematics. Proof is mathematical power, the electric voltage of the subject which vitalizes the static assertions of the theorems.
Finally, proof is ritual, and a celebration of the power of pure reason.
Philip J. Davis and Reuben Hersh
The Mathematical Experience
January 21, 2004
Quote of the Day (thanks Michael)
A woman standing there is enough
but
When she moves
ice flows
rivers melt
the day stops ticking by in regulation
and the seconds start shashaying back and forth
as if they had a mind of their own
Brett Froomer
January 20, 2004
As promised, the rest of the pics I made at last night's Firefly Shindig
I have one more entry to write after this one, an actual writeup of my impressions of the event, but as promised earlier today, I'm putting up the rest of the (useable) pics from my tiny Sony CyberShotU digicam, after a bit of cropping, enhancement, and redeye reduction:
In the foreground are Alan Weiss ("WINBEAR2" on the Fox Firefly Forum) and a nice lady whose name I've forgotten (apologies!) Alan is a libertarian friend of mine from the smith2004-discuss list, visiting from Austin for the week on business, and the mystery lady is a Democrat activist... proof that disparate fans can booze together and have fun! Old friend Dr. Kurth Reynolds ("yes, I actually am a rocket scientist!") is lurking in the background over her shoulder.
Kim ("EARTH2KIM" on the Fox Firefly Forum), me, and Jeff Chan. Kim, like me, is an enthusiastic newbie. Here she's holding up a Firefly "Keep Flying!" patch.
Have you ever been introduced to someone but can't recall their name, through no lack of interest, but simply because you're the host and you're tasked with remembering everyone's name? Well, I'll admit with embarrassment that I didn't get this lady's name... but I put up her picture anyway. I'm assuming I'll see her next time!
[UPDATE: I mixed this lady's name up with the lady in the first picture. This is Patti Henkhaus from the "firefly_over_30" Yahoo! Groups list; sorry about that Patti!]
Kim, again with "Keep Flying!" patch and Jeff Chan.
Longtime extropian friends Kennita Watson and Terry Egan, and recently-acquired-2nd-Amendment-purist-buddy Mark Quon (aka "Genghis Khan") out in the parking lot after the beerhall shut down. Can you see it in the guys' faces?
Me (Russell Whitaker) on the left, Alan ('WINBEAR2' on the Fox Firefly Forum) Weiss on the right... before he remembered to smile!!
Belaboring the already-known, it's me again, with Mark and Jeff. This is not a vanity blog. Really.
This was a great little event and, as I mentioned, I'll be writing some general impressions of it in the next 24 hours or so. I did want to get the pics out there first, of course, so here they are. Enjoy.
While I'm on a picture posting jag
I'm still waiting for permissions to post some more of the pics from last night's Firefly shindig. In the meantime, while I'm waiting, I'll post one of the pics from the set which Fred Moulton handed me on a CD when we met at the event:
That's Anton Sherwood on the left, who was also in attendance at last night's Firefly shindig. I think he's dressed as "The Man with One Brown Shoe." Me, I'm dressed as myself. Really. Or, at least an aspect of myself. And yes, the blades are real. Party was at the home of Romana Machado Reynolds and Dr. Kurth Reynolds, Halloween 2003. Romana has always held cool parties.
The first of a number of photos from last night's Shindig
I have about half a dozen or so photos I took at last night's Firefly MicroMiniShindig. I have to identify some people and get some people's permissions to post before I put them all up. Here's one for starters, though:
From left to right: Kim ("EARTH2KIM" on the Prospero Firefly Forum), me, and Mark Quon ("Genghis Khan").
Movie adaptation of "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" in the works
Thanks to Anarchist on the smith2004-discuss list for passing on SciFi.com's report today that Tim Minear is working on a screen adaptation of Heinlein's libertarian classic novel:
Genre TV producer Tim Minear (Angel, Wonderfalls) told SCI FI Wire that he has been hired to write a screenplay adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's 1966 SF novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. The novel deals with a 2076 rebellion on a former penal colony on the moon and has been read as an allegory about libertarianism and its costs.
Can't wait to see the trailers for this film. Minear wrote or co-wrote 4 of the scripts for the excellent Firefly series, I should add.
Great time had at last night's Firefly MicroMiniShindig
We had about 25 people at last night's Firefly MicroMiniShindig in Mt. View, California, and a great time was had by all. I'll be posting some pictures later.
Quote of the Day
The pattern of information embodied in a fictional movie is created, not discovered: the producers didn't stroll into the Mojave one day and find a set of characters ready to be filmed.
January 19, 2004
To Ailuros, everything's a toy
From "cats on grass" to "cat with brass":
There's nothing a kitten doesn't find interesting. I'd just laid out 15 expended .50 BMG cases for photographing before putting them in the cleaning tumbler, for before-and-after pictures. Not a minute had passed before the kids jumped on them and started batting them around.
Reminder: 1st Silicon Valley Firefly MicroMiniShindig tonight in Mt. View CA
The 1st Silicon Valley Firefly MicroMiniShindig will be held tonight in Mt. View California, and looks to be great little gathering of friends old and new. If you're planning to come but haven't told me yet, traverse the links to the RSVP instructions to tell me privately, or you can do so publicly as a comment on this blog entry.
Steyr Scout Owner's Manual in PDF form: got it now!
I'm no longer looking for a copy of the Steyr Scout Owner's Manual in PDF form: I have it now, thanks to private mail from Claudio in Zaire, and Mikael Häggström in Sweden on the Yahoo! Groups ScoutRifles mailing list (who posted it into their "Files" section for other seekers). Thanks to both of you, and also to Bill St. Clair and Steve Pegram.
Quote of the Day
In the post-reconstruction period, when the pendulum swung back to overt racism, Taney's philosophy resurfaced as "the return-of-the-repressed" -- the American trauma, It was during this period that the most rabid anti-gun legislations, designed to keep guns out of the hands of black men, were enacted. This racial paranoia about black men with guns, which was at first southern, eventually spread to the north. This paranoia was potent enough to cause the infringement on a basic right: "the right... to keep and bear arms." To allow this to happen, two basic American tenets had to be ignored: one grounded in constitutional law and the other based on natural law.
Roy Innis, speaking in 1991
National Chairman, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)
January 18, 2004
Looking for Steyr Scout Owner's Manual in PDF form
I know my paper copy of my Steyr Scout Owner's Manual is around the house somewhere, but I can't find it. Remembering that Steyr's erstwhile U.S. distributor GSI published a PDF version of the manual online, I went looking for it, and discovered it gone from the GSI site, unavailable from the Dynamit-Nobel site... and as a side effect, saw that Steyr is once again changing U.S. distributors!
I went to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine and was delighted to find snapshots of GSI's site from 2 years back... but no stored PDF documents! I've looked all over the Scout-related sites, Googling widely, still no luck. Does anyone know where I can find this file?
AlaskaJobFinder.com
My friend Franklin sent me a pointer to AlaskaJobFinder a few weeks ago. Looks like a great way to find summer/seasonal work in Alaska:
AlaskaJobFinder.com is the leading website for finding jobs in Alaska. We specialize in the Alaska fishing industry, featuring such jobs as deckhand jobs, cannery jobs, onshore and offshore processing jobs, and aquaculture jobs. We cover employment on sport fishing charter boats as well Alaska fishing industry support jobs.
Quote of the Day
Being elected President and taking my cues from Alexander Hope. L. Neil Smith would be my Secretary of State ("go fuck yourselves, fellas -- TANSTAAFL!"). Russell Whitaker would be my John Pondero ("don't even THINK of reaching for it, sucker.") Genghis Khan [Mark Quon] would be my Secretary of Defense. Tom Knapp would be in charge of destroying every other Cabinet level department. ALL of you would be free to take whatever jobs you wanted, with the goal of putting yourselves OUT of a job in 60 days or less.
January 17, 2004
CJ Weapons Chamber Maid chamber cleaning system
After several hours of putzing around with my Steyr Scout (after having taken it out yesterday to test functioning with a range of old NATO surplus ammo), trying to figure out how to re-install the extractor (it's a long story), I got everything back together and continued the cleaning job I'd started before the re-assembly odyssey. I pulled out an item I picked up at a gun show a few months ago: a C.J. Weapons Chamber Maid flexible cleaning rod. I originally bought the Chamber Maid with the AR-15/M-16 dual-diameter chamber brush, but I also bought a range of additional brushes, including .308, 12 gauge, and 20 gauge (because it can be used with a 50BMG chamber).
"The Chamber Maid is a special bore cleaning system. Unique brush is actually two brushes in one, utilizing two different bristle materials and diameters. The rod supporting the brush is a flexible steel braid coated with a clear rubber to keep it from scratching your barrel or receiver."
I fitted the Chamber Maid with the .308 attachment, and found it an excellent tool for getting into that heavily recessed Steyr chamber. I strongly recommend it.
Just stumbled across a photo I'd forgotten about
I was rummaging around a couple of boxes trying to find my Steyr Scout's owner's manual when I ran across this photo, which I popped into my Epson flatbed scanner:
That's me about 7 years ago hanging out with my good friend in Arizona. I like this picture.
Kitazawa Seed Company, Oakland CA
For those into growing their own vegetables, and who have a taste for Asian food, you should check out the Kitazawa Seed Company in Oakland, California: over 220 varieties! This year, I'll be saving the $0.15-$0.20/leaf cost of Ao Shiso (Blue Shiso mint) by growing my own.
It's not what you might think it is
Melissa Skypod has found an interesting and unusual job opportunity site: Backdoorjobs.
John Ross has a website!
Speaking of content on the AnCap Wiki, Terry Egan just posted a pointer to John Ross, author of "Unintended Consequences," pointing out that Ross does have a personal website.
AnCap Wiki past the "stone soup" stage
Bill St. Clair's AnCap Wiki seems to be past the "stone soup" stage now. There are more anchors for adding content... in the form of existing content that about half a dozen contributors seem to have been adding in the last few days (myself included).
10 Years Ago Today
10 years and 8.5 hours ago, at 4:30 AM PST, I was awakened from my sleep at a friend's house in West Hills, part of southern California's San Fernando Valley, by what would be quickly called "The Northridge Earthquake," which was centered a few short miles from where I'd been sleeping. For the following days, my buddies and I holed up at my friend's parents' relatively undamaged house... armed and comfortable.
You won't hear about it much - if at all - in official histories of the event, but there were humvees with soldiers (whom I've always assumed were Guardsmen) patrolling some parts of LA and the Valley.
Quote of the Day
...you might say you don't have a choice, but by your own criterion (someone who chooses to take it rather than die), you most certainly do have a choice. Nobody's FORCING you to drive down that gummint road. You're free to barricade yourself in your house and never come out again. How is that less of a "choice" than dying?
Do you pay for that government road? Sure you do. You also pay for that government health care. How is it less moral to accept what you paid for in the latter case than it is to accept what you paid for in the former case?
The real horror of the state is that it has made it effectively impossible to live without becoming an accomplice to its thefts and other depredations. The answer to that dilemma is not to cease living -- but to get rid of the entity which makes it impossible to live morally.
I don't necessarily advocate that anyone accept any particular "benefit" that the government offers. At one time, I also swore that I'd die rather than accept Medicare or Medicaid. I don't think there is anything WRONG about drawing that line and refusing to play their game on that field. On the other hand, when I realized that I was taking money from EXACTLY the same source when I went to the VA hospital to be treated as a veteran, I finally decided that I'd rather concentrate on smashing the state than concentrate on trying to figure out, and avoid, every possible trap that the state lays for people to turn them into accomplices. The former may be impossible -- the latter definitely is.
January 16, 2004
Quote of the Day
It is a sign of intelligence to make generalizations. Frequently, after observing a property to hold in a large number of cases, you may guess that it holds in all cases. You may, however, run into difficulty when you try to prove your guess. Perhaps you just have not figured out the key to the proof. But perhaps your guess is false. Consequently, when you are having serious difficulty proving a general statement, you should interrupt your efforts to look for a counterexample. Analyzing the kinds of problems you are encountering in your proof efforts may help the search. It may even happen that if you find a counterexample and therefore prove the statement false, your understanding may be sufficiently clarified that you can formulate a more limited but true version of the statement.
Susanna S. Epp
Discrete Mathematics with Applications, 2nd edition, p123
January 15, 2004
CORollary or coROLLary?
My discrete mathematics professor is a very, very bright lady with a PhD in graph theory, and an Englishwoman. I was startled tonight when we were discussing techniques of mathematical proof when she pronounced "corollary" as "coROLLary", quickly. It's not that she pronounced it differently from American standard, it's that after having spent several years in London, some years back, I have no recollection of ever having heard an Englishman say "corollary". That's what startled me.
Dang... the beer's actually selling
A few months ago I joked about Michelob Ultra being an "Atkins Beer." Just now on Fox News an announcer pointed out that it's now Anheuser-Busch's best selling beer ever!
Bill St. Clair's "AnCap Wiki"
Bill St. Clair announces:
I got to playing with wiki [while] playing with one set up for collecting legal information for Hunter [Jeffrey Jordan]. I set up my own, initially to provide space to mirror that info, but then decided to call it "AnCap Wiki" and devote it to creating, in our lifetimes, anarcho-capitalist societies around the world. Check it out. Contribute if you're motivated to do so. Links to instructions near the top of the page.
Pretty ambitious goal for the site.
Quote of the Day
The internal combustion automobile is one of the biggest engines of personal liberty ever created, right up there with the firearm. With it, the individual is free to leave the jurisdiction, free to travel on his own schedule, and free to haul an enormous amount of stuff around with him if he desires. "Mass" transit trains its users to be livestock, and so it is no wonder that our putative betters are constantly trying force us into its cattle cars. The old saw about totalitarian governments making the trains run on time cuts deeper than many think. By contrast, the automobile makes you captain of your own ship.
Robert Clayton Dean
14 January 2004
January 14, 2004
Another "Occasional Kanji of the Day": Konjou / Fighting Spirit
[This is an entry I originally published March 4, 2003 on my other blog. I no longer maintain that blog, so I've decided to move most of the substantial articles to this blog to consolidate the materials - Russell]
"If a foreign businessman in Japan wants to hire a Japanese salesman or manager, he should find out if the prospect has konjo, which means "fighting spirit". By the same token, a foreigner who is negotiating with the Japanese has his work cut out for him if his Japanese counterpart is a konjo ga aru otoko (man with fighting spirit). Such men are noted for never letting adversity get them down, never giving up no matter what the odds. In fact, the more resistance they meet, the harder they fight."
Boye De Mente
Japanese Etiquette & Ethics in Business
This seems like a good follow-on to my earlier post on Kaitakusha Seishin (Pioneering Spirit).
Kanji of the day: Kaitakusha Seishin / Pioneering Spirit
[This is an entry I originally published February 23, 2003 on my other blog. I no longer maintain that blog, so I've decided to move most of the substantial articles to this blog to consolidate the materials - Russell]
Thanks to my Japanese professor for bringing up a great hyougen (expression) in the course of discussing the differences between the terms hattatsu and kaihatsu:
The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary
[This is a book recommendation I originally published April 10, 2003 on my other blog. I no longer maintain that blog, so I've decided to move most of the substantial articles to this blog to consolidate the materials - Russell]
I'd meant several weeks ago to post this recommendation of "The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary", but am only now getting around to doing it. I can claim a good excuse for not having done so, however: for those weeks, I've been busy heavily using this dictionary in Japanese classes.
You can check out the detailed recommendations of the book on Amazon.com; I won't echo them here. I will say, however, that I wish I'd had something like this - because there is nothing else like this available from another source - when I started studying Japanese 10 years ago. This book is truly useful... and an outstanding example of the publisher's art. Everyone to whom I've shown this book, including native Japanese speakers with whom I do regular language exchange, has expressed admiration and astonishment.
I have a goal in the medium-term future: take and pass the 1-kyu level Nihongo Nouryoku Shiken (the Japan Foundation's Japanese Language Proficiency Test). Every step along the way, I plan to have this dictionary at hand. Assuming the book survives the journey, I'll keep it in my bag for a long time thereafter.
What's life without a little pussy?
We all have our preferences, and that's a great thing, but speaking only for myself, I really need a little pussy in my life:
Yes, it's "cats on grass": even obligate carnivores need a little salad every now and then... think of it as "digestive shotgun wadding" for the little fellows. I'm given to understand from ethologist Desmond Morris that the big cats indulge in this behavior too.
On the left is 9-month-old Lucy (full name "Dr. Samantha Carter", which confuses the vet's office still) and on the right is her brother Selmak... Peggy is a Stargate SG-1 fanatic (well, so am I): she named them. Selmak has the interesting characteristic of managing to shut his eyes every single time the camera's flash lights off! I know of one human friend of mine who does exactly the same thing, my old extropian buddy Perry Metzger.
By the way, I did this on a whim, remembering Michael Reed's comment about our being "ailurophiles"; I have no intention of being branded a kittyblogger.
Firefly "Wild Posting" Marketing
"11THHOUR" on the Fox Firefly Forum has put together some samples of really cool posters for "guerrilla marketing" of the Firefly series DVDs. I wouldn't mind putting up a few of these on campus myself.
Quote of the Day
The only complete safeguard against reasoning ill, is the habit of reasoning well; familiarity with the principles of correct reasoning; and practice in applying those skills.
John Stuart Mill
(as quoted on p99 of Discrete Mathematics with Applications, 2nd edition)
January 13, 2004
Speaking of Atkins again: Trader Joe's chocolate
Speaking of the Atkins diet thing again, I've found a decent-tasting chocolate bar at Trader Joe's, home of Two Buck Chuck wine. It's U.S. $1.49 for a 100gram bar of:
- Dark Chocolate - "Net Impact Carbs: 0.13g"
- Milk Chocolate - "Net Impact Carbs: 0.50g"
- White Chocolate - "Net Impact Carbs: 0.00g"
The bars are usually kept by the checkout stands in the stores, in a black wrapper with the words "Low Effective Carb & Sugar Free." Sweetening is almost entirely done with maltitol, a species of sugar alcohols or polyalcohols ("polyols"); noted on the wrapper:
Maltitol has been omitted as its conversion requires little or no insulin and does not cause an appreciable increase in serum glucose levels.
It's made under contract from F.G.H. Consulting U.S.A. in Boca Raton, Florida, which interestingly was fined in May 2003 for a controversy involving false labelling. I'm assuming that Trader Joe's knows of this issue and has dealt carefully with this contractor. You can call them directly at 561-706-6178 and find out yourself. The direct manufacturer is indicated as "CHOCOLATES TORRAS S.A." of Spain, so F.G.H. is likely the trading company.
The bars do taste acceptably delicious.
Quote of the Day
Ken Valentine: "I remember BEFORE there was instant coffee. Hell, I can still remember when horses were two feet tall and had three toes."
Rocky Frisco: "Horses?? We used to have to hold our breath for hours, since the trilobites we rode only operated underwater."
January 12, 2004
The first San Francisco Bay Area / Silicon Valley Firefly MicroMiniShindig
If you want to get something done, you've got to do it yourself. To that end, I've taken it upon myself to hold the first San Francisco Bay Area / Silicon Valley Firefly MicroMiniShindig next Monday night in Mountain View, California. Details:
Day: Monday 19 January 2004
Time: From 8pm onward
Place:
Mountain View Tied House Cafe & Brewery
(in the big biergarten out back)
954 Villa Street, Mountain View, California 94041
Ph: (650) 965-2739
Other details can be found here. If you're attending, you should RSVP. If you're wondering what all this Firefly business is, read up on it here.
FireFlyMovie.com: Guerrilla Marketing
FireFlyMovie.com is a "Guerrilla Marketing" effort of the Firefly fan community...
...dedicated to assuring that Joss Whedon's television masterpiece Firefly will someday grace the silver screen.
From what I've heard recently, the fan base may have succeeded in this effort.
Kirsten C. Tynan's "Space Entrepreneurship Network"
Just saw this on the smith2004-discuss list: Kirsten C. Tynan's "Space Entrepreneurship Network" website, which has a useful set of pointers to relevant "Treaties, Laws, and Regulation."
Quote of the Day
Bastiat, like many great thinkers, understood that a collective – no matter how you define it – consists of individuals, and ergo the idea of a “collective right” is based on a false premise. A collective right does not exist, because without individuals, the collective does not exist. Individual rights are the basis – the root – the foundation of any just society, because the individual is the basis, the root and the foundation of any society. Individuals create society, and consequently government. Their rights exist apart from governments and aren’t granted by other individuals. Individual rights exist because individuals exist – not vice versa. Bastiat understood this simple concept. Our Founding Fathers understood it even better. It’s only when ignorant, bed-wetting, socialist dullards, who are deathly afraid of an armed populace threatening their seat of power, get a hold of these sacred ideals, that the individual right gets mired in vacuous invective and subjugated to the great whole! Therefore, for any pseudo-intellectual hacks with pretensions to being a body of justice to noisily squawk their “interpretation” of the “collective rights” theory, and worse yet, ascribe that type of idiotic thought to those who founded this great country is ignorant, disrespectful and deceitful.
January 11, 2004
The Atkins Revolution proceeds apace
I was hungry after a hard workout a couple of days ago, and on the way home my muscles were screaming "food! food!" so I stopped by the first fast food place I saw, Carl's Jr., expecting to have to do the "big burger hold the bun" thing, when I saw this:
I had to try this: advertised at 6 grams of carbs, eliminating the 66 grams usually found in the bun. Of course, it was the same price as the combo (U.S. $6.05) with the bun, but I'm glad they were offering it at all. I didn't get a "diet" cola with the meal - I hate sweet colas - settling on an iced tea instead. Yes, I know that caffeine stimulates insulin production in the pancreas, but I'm not an Atkins purist, and I still hold on to some habits of a Southerner's childhood.
The "sandwich" was excellent, essentially the stuff between a standard "Six Dollar Burger", a fairly decent sandwich which lives up to its billing. Of course, they need to work on the wrapper concept a bit: it's a bit difficult to eat around, since it's not meant itself to be eaten. I think. The garden salad side order is your standard bland lettuce & cherry tomato with shredded carrot thing. I treat these salads as culinary digestive shotgun wadding whenever I come across them, eating them last in opposition to the standard American convention.
This was a good deal for the money, and I noticed that I didn't feel at all drowsy later, since I'd avoided the bread. Oh, and no fries, of course, which helped.
SciScoop, meet FuturePundit; FuturePundit, meet SciScoop
I have a bit of the matchmaker in my blood. Some months ago I mentioned FuturePundit; recently I mentioned SciScoop. Those blogs really should get together for drinks and dinner sometime soon, maybe catch a movie afterwards.
A forum for afficionados of Two Buck Chuck
A year ago I wrote '"Two-Buck Chuck": Tough times mean cheap wines', which turns out to have been one of the 2 or 3 most-commented-upon entries in the last year. It seems to be the endpoint of a number of Google searches on the subject too, from what I regularly see in the site's stats. Speaking of which, I've found there exists an actual forum on the wine at net-sightings.com.
Well hello, Dave Polaschek
I mentioned earlier today that I check my web stats often. Whenever the number of hits from a obviously personal web site exceeds a certain threshold, I check into the referring URL. Here's an excerpt from another, Dave Polaschek's "Dave's Picks":
Here’s a cool this phone is tapped sticker (with instructions) that you may want to download. More about them over at survival arts which might make it onto my daily reading list.
Kind of you to say so, Dave. Please feel free to leave comments on the entries... that's part of why I write. By the way, will you be enabling comments on your blog in the near future?
"The Pepper Plant" Chunky Garlic Hot Pepper Sauce
I mentioned this in detail on a mailing list where friend L. Neil Smith was praising garlic. I chipped in with a recommendation for Chunky Garlic Hot Pepper Sauce in "The Pepper Plant" line of sauces by Blossom Valley Foods (800-541-4355) in Gilroy, California ("Garlic Capital of the World"). You can buy this fantastic sauce - with which I often drown the Chorizo Scramble I sometimes have at a local eatery - online at Yahoo, and at various San Francisco Bay Area locations. Magnificent stuff.
Another reason I watch my site's stats carefully
Checking yesterday's hit stats to see who's Googling for what and finding me, I see not one but two Google referrals from hit results for the phrase "protect yourself from bastards." Hey, I'm here to help!
Off to the gym now.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001)
At lunch a couple of weeks ago Michael Reed asked me if I'd seen "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie". I responded that I used to watch the series when I lived in Tokyo, and enjoyed it, but I hadn't yet seen the movie. I watched it last night courtesy of Netflix and thoroughly enjoyed it: good story, great animation, lots of attention to detail (Faye Valentine carries a Glock 30 - an old favorite of mine - in one scene), and a fantastic musical soundtrack by Yoko Kanno, performed by the Seatbelts.
As usual, I watched this anime subtitled with the original voice talent: voice acting is an A-rated entertainment profession in Japan; Faye Valentine is not right to my ears without Megumi Hayashibara as her voice. However, Sony Pictures did a superb job with the English-dubbed version, so those without similar tastes will find no fault with the English voice talent either. I believe the English voice talents are the same as employed for the nightly Cartoon Channel Adult Swim airings of the dubbed version of the original series, which I also recommend.
There are also used copies of this feature available for about $14 from Amazon Marketplace.
Great observation on long range shooting by Dirk Koenig
I mentioned a few days ago that Sciscoop's Ricky Roberson had written on interesting piece reflecting on my earlier report of a day at the range with an Armalite AR-50. He asked some very general, open-ended questions about the motivational psychology of shooters. I just now noticed that a couple of days ago, someone named Dirk Koenig posted a long and spot-on followup comment, "An interest in Long-Range Shooting", with which I completely agree. An excerpt:
Ultimately, you're attempting to apply scientific repeatability to an endeavor which relies on human sensory input (or a small weather station) to determine nearly all of the factors, none of which are necessarily constant from shot to shot. (or from muzzle to target, for that matter) This is to say nothing of the skill of the shooter, which has to improve alongside the equipment which can get the bullet to a target farther and farther away and where being half a millimeter off in aim will cause a miss at 400 meters, provided all your estimates about wind direction and speed were right in the first place.
In reviewing all this, it doesn't sound like a lot of fun. But, like the sound of a golf ball draining into the hole after travelling 20 feet on the green, there are few sounds that warm a long-range shooters heart more than the muted CLANK of a round hitting a steel target that's a long way off...
Did I mention that I'm also a golfer?
"Friend defends man facing gun charges"
A few days ago, the News Journal in Ohio reported on the Jeffrey Jordan situation in that state, and today follows up with another surprisingly well-reported piece on the situation. In both articles are sidebars which accurately summarize the goals of the Liberty Round Table... with no journalistic venom at all.
Kerry Pearson memorial in TLE
This week's "The Libertarian Enterprise", issue 254, has a memorial to Kerry Pearson, with the photo that Kerry loved.
Quote of the Day
Sometimes people lump together the ideas of validity and truth. If an argument seems valid, they accept the conclusion as true. And if an argument seems fishy (really a slang expression for invalid), they think the conclusion must be false.
This is not correct. Validity is a property of argument forms: If an argument is valid, then so is every other argument that has the same form. Similarly, if an argument is invalid, then so is every other argument that has the same form. What characterizes a valid argument is that no argument whose form is valid can have all true premises and a false conclusion. For each valid argument, there are arguments of that form with all true premises and a true conclusion, at least one false premise and a true conclusion, and at least one false premise and a false conclusion. On the other hand, for each invalid argument, there are arguments of that form with every combination of truth values for the premises and conclusion, including all true premises and a false conclusion.
Susanna S. Epp
Discrete Mathematics with Applications, 2nd edition, p37
January 10, 2004
Not sure if these guys are for real or not
After having finally seen "Return of the King" (the best of the three, in our opinion), Peggy and wandered across the street into the fabulous Santana Row shopping development, which seems finally to be on the rebound from the fire which ravaged it during construction and also from the local economy's 2-year downturn. I saw this sign just inside a ritzy art gallery on the Row:
Are these guys for real? Or is this some joke? The Red Ink Studio people seem awfully well funded for a squatter collective. I'll bet you'll never see any of these people squatting in a rent-controlled urine-soaked tenement building in the barrios of San Francisco's Mission District or down south in Compton.
A book recommendation for Ricky Roberson
About a year ago, I recommended Victor Koman's "Kings of the High Frontier" to my readership. I just re-read this by Ricky Roberson in his memorium of Kerry Pearson:
I learned about a few other things besides Firefly from him on his [Kerry's] website, such as some insights into political anarchy as a philosophy that I don't personally agree with but still have to acknowledge more than a few grains of truth in...
I think Ricky, with his love of the spirit of the Firefly series he shares with many of us - and shared with Kerry - would understand quite a bit more of what motivated Kerry if he read Koman's book.
Kerry Pearson AKA "Lux Lucre" is dead
Reports from credible sources indicate that Kerry Pearson AKA "Lux Lucre" is dead, most likely from complications due to diabetes, at the age of 41. Kerry had been a sometimes-prolific poster on the Yahoo Groups mailing list for friends of L. Neil Smith. The Prospero Firefly forum is, as our friend Alan Weiss notes, "alight with the news of his passing."
I was not close to Lux, but I remember him as a kind, clever, creative man. He was kind enough to answer some questions for me on the Firefly forum when I joined a few weeks ago. I'll miss him.
Quote of the Day
First they ignore you,
then they laugh at you,
then they fight you,
then you win.
Mohandas Gandhi
January 09, 2004
Binky's provenance still unknown
On the Prospero foxfirefly forum, I asked actor Adam Baldwin - a prolific poster who's racked up 3325 posts on the forum since he joined - what type of knife he wore on the "Firefly" series when he portrayed Jayne Cobb. The knife's name is Binky. When the series ended, Adam was given it as a gift from the properties master. He mentioned he'd check the markings on the knife. He got back about it a few days ago:
Hey Russell:
Sorry for the delay.
I examined "Binky" and to my chagrin, there are no markings on it. :(
Must be a custom job.
Peace,
A.B.
It's a beautiful knife. I can't wait to see what he finds out eventually.
Check out Revolution OS on DVD
Another interesting little piece arrived a couple of days ago from Netflix, a documentary produced a couple of years ago in Silicon Valley, "Revolution OS". It's worth the watch, especially if you're one of the many like me Who Were There When It Happened (in my case, I was working at Netscape when the big Mozilla code release happened... even attended the big bash in the City). I was delighted to see my friend Christine Peterson given the credit she deserved for having invented the term "open source", and was also delighted to see a short bit with another old friend, Terry Egan, at a documented SVLUG Installfest.
EVENT: Support Jeff Jordan (Hunter) Saturday 9am, Ashland, OH
Jeffrey Jordan is back in Ohio to retrieve his stuff from the For those in the area of Ashland, Ohio. If you're in town in the morning (tomorrow, Saturday 10 January), Matt Gaylor invites you to meet Jordan:
For those within driving distance of north central Ohio, please join us for breakfast with Jeff Jordan, Liberty Round Tables' The Hunter. Jeff was recently charged with carrying a concealed weapon by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Jeff is coming back to Ohio to get his vehicle and belongings back from the OHP. You can show your support for RKBA and Jeff by showing up tomorrow. Please dress respectful, business causal would be good. Everyone who values freedom is welcome to attend.
I spoke to Jeff this afternoon and he will be in Ohio this evening along with DLT.
When: Saturday, January 10th at 9am
Where: Bob Evans Restaurant 1304 E MAIN STREET, ASHLAND OH 44805
Just exit off I-71 at St. Route 250 and head west toward Ashland. The Bob Evan's is on your right about 2-3 miles from the Interstate. Ashland is about 80 miles north of Columbus, just off of I-71.
For a map just go to Mapquest and enter the address above.
We'll meet in the parking lot, and then have breakfast together. Just look for a 2003 Black Ford F-150 Supercab as a rally point. Our presence will mainly serve as a respectful send off for Jeff and to provide moral support. Other details will be provided in person.
For additional info you can contact me on my cell phone at 614-313-5722 or DLT at 608-345-7731.
Regards, Matt Gaylor
If I were local, I'd love to meet him myself. If any of my readers do meet up with him, please leave comments here.
Am I the only one who thinks this?
Am I the only one who thinks that the "MSN Butterfly" commercials are really, really creepy?
A short thought about the fiction of adolescence
One of things I'd not taken the time to mull over in writing when I wrote my recommendation of "Master and Commander" some days ago was the portrayal of the role of boys on the HMS Surprise (which I believe is the Sophie in the original book) in the Nelsonian Age of seafaring. The ship set sail on a mission to engage and capture an actively hostile enemy, a 44-gun French privateer (a bit ahistorical, but not detractingly so), with teenage and preteen midshipmen on board. What better apprenticeship for a potential young naval officer than an education while underway? Anything else is a poor substitute. Of course, this was set in 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars. Later decades would see the rise of that Victorian social fiction, "adolescence," the synthetic prolongation of childhood by legislative fiat.
Quote of the Day
I am not cynical but I remain sceptical of any belief system that assumes the Universe is either intelligent or the product of intelligence. I am hostile to any subset of that belief that has proven itself to be a deadly as "faith" has.
! survive because my world view is grounded in observable reality. (Well, a couple of times a gun has helped but that's another Bible story.)
Stephen Carville
January 08, 2004
Ken Holder's "Another H.E.A.P. Site"
Remember "H.E.A.P." ("Holocaust Education and Prevention") from Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon? Well, Ken Holder maintains an excellent H.E.A.P. site.
Another interesting fellow traveller: John Venlet
A fellow named John Venlet has been giving me good cigar recommendations the last couple of days on this blog. I've checked out his blog, found it interesting, and have added it to my blogroll.
Quote of the Day
The notion of an overarching, purely secular society is a good and powerful one. It means that you can exercise your beliefs in your home, your church, your community, yet work together productively at other times, in other places, with those who hold different religious beliefs -- or even none at all.
A principal trouble with our culture at this minute is that so many individuals think they have a right to impose their beliefs on others by force. Moslems often believe it, but so do creatures like George Bush. It is my sincere hope that people will learn to keep their religion in their pants and relate to one another in benevolant and amiable ways.
If we can't -- imagine the Spanish Inquisition armed with hydrogen bombs -- it'll be the end of us all.
January 07, 2004
One thing I do miss
I know I'll be accused of TMI (Too Much Information) for saying so, but on a cold day like today, I really do miss the heated toilet seat of my old Tokyo apartment.
Speaking of cold weather, I'm glad I'm not in Portland this week: it's socked in with snow and ice. Brrrrr!
"Welcome to Ohio"
Cartoonist Scott Beiser has this to say - or portray - about the Jeffrey Jordan situation in Ohio.
"Concealed weapons compromise is reached" in Ohio
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports today that a "Concealed weapons compromise is reached" in Ohio (as per Matt Gaylor). Note that:
The compromise hinges on allowing broader access to gun-permit records. Under the deal, journalists would be able to get complete lists of permit-holders, rather than single names - but access would still be denied to the general public.
What would you bet one of these journalists will sell his copy of the list to someone who'll leak it to others, say, nosy neighbors? Also, does anyone else besides me object to a government grant of special privileges to the Fourth Estate in this country?
Russell Nelson skewers "offshoring" fears
Thanks to Anton for turning me on to Russell Nelson, "The Angry Economist." Nelson nicely skewers fears of "offshoring" (foreign outsourcing) in a well-formed short piece yesterday.
Quote of the Day
I quit in 1973, but I always list myself as a "smoker" in all the polls, and I do share a cigarette occasionally with a friend. When they ask me "smoking or non-smoking" at the cafes, I often respond, "Doesn't matter to me: I like tobacco smoke better than self-righteousness."
January 06, 2004
...and while I'm ranting about tobacco-related issues
I just finished writing about Washington State's nasty little taxman, because I'm still a bit incensed about an incident that happened about an hour ago. I was leaving my local Target with some school supplies when, outside the exit, I heard a man exclaim "you should go back to your own country to smoke those cigarettes!" as he was entering the store. I turned, and in one glance took in the object of his offense, a mixed-sex group of four moderately well-dressed young Asian people, whose style looked suspiciously familiar, happily chatting while indeed smoking cigarettes outside the door.
The dogwhistle who insulted these people apparently didn't have the cojones to stand still and talk to these people directly, instead choosing to continue into the store to harangue the first pasty-faced store clerk he could snag, yelling at her that "there's a 100-foot rule in California!" and such. I walked in and loudly told the guy that what he had done was incredibly uncivil, and he should immediately apologize to the smokers who were bothering no one. He blurted the "100 foot rule" nonsense off to me, at which point I told him that I thought that was a typically cowardly modern Californian thing to say. He raised his voice, simply choosing to yell "smoker!" at me, to which I replied, "No, actually, I'm a non-smoker... you're a fascist non-smoker!"
The guy - a Jerry Garcia lookalike without the Jerry Garcia mellow edge - actually replied, "I'll beat your ass!" I only made him more angry - but interestingly, caused him to back away - when I laughed with a surprised smile and said, "Yeah, sure you will... are you actually threatening me?" I then turned and walked in the direction of the Asians, who apparently had been utterly oblivious to our exchange, enjoying their smokes and continuing to mind their own business. I turned to one of the women in the group and alerted her that they might be accosted soon by submissive store clerks or the hairy madman, and immediately determined they were Japanese.
It was at that point that I switched to their language (yes, I do speak it) and informed them without fear of evesdropping, "You see that large, angry, hairy man waving his arms at that small storewoman through those doors there? Well, he's an intolerant local guy, and crazy to boot, so watch out for him: he seems to have a problem with your smoking." They all laughed heartily and thanked me for the warning, and I walked off to my car with a smile on my face.
William N. Rice is a pissant little mobster
Yesterday on Fox News, I witnessed Washington State's Actiing Director of the Department of Revenue, William N. Rice, declaim his belief that tax-free internet sale of tobacco products to Washingtonians is "a slap in the face" to those who pay the confiscatory taxes customary on cigarettes in his state. His argument is morally equivalent to that of a mugger asserting that a potential victim who successfully avoids being mugged (e.g. by being armed, avoiding dangerous places, etc.) is somehow culpable for not having been mugged. Rat bastard mobster.
I don' t smoke cigarettes, but I will redouble my efforts to avoid taxes when buying my cigars from now on, just to spite him and pissants like him. Yes, I'm a political smoker nowadays. That makes me and people like me "political niccers"... are you one too?
Fox News runs John Lott's "Why People Fear Guns"
I just noticed that Fox News on 3 January 2004 published John Lott's "Why People Fear Guns" on their website.
Michael Crichton's Caltech Michelin Lecture "Aliens Cause Global Warming"
Michael Reed pestered me for a couple of days to read Michael Crichton's Caltech Michelin Lecture "Aliens Cause Global Warming", and I'm very glad I did. Crichton's polemic is an uncommonly clear warning against the phenomenon of "consensus science" in America. Lysenkoism is still alive and well... and in America now.