:: Archipelapogo ::

:: 24.9.04 ::

Random linkage

Been a bit, and I'm anxiously awaiting the opening day parade* for the State Fair of Texas (this year featuring fried s'mores candy bars)so here, coast into the weekend with style.

..::MetroNaps looks like a fantastic idea but I a) Don't live in NY and b) can't sleep on my back::..

..::Noise pollution from seismic surveying in the ocean (used to find oil) is killing whales and giant squid::..

..::the Bifurcated Rivets folks were right, a cereal bar and cafe is an incredibly stupid idea::..

..::Cookie Monster singing "Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon" - What's your dream cover song? (via)::..

..::In the beginning, in dimension filled with life energy, called Zone Energy, there was only one Spark (or Lasercore), spawned from primal energies of that plane. The Original Spark (or Lasercore) had the ability to merge with any machine and become its central nervous system in order to give that machine life. Its offspring shared this ability. - Transformers: A History::..

*nothing screams entertainment like Shriners in go-karts and middle school marching bands!
:: Scott [+] ::
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Necessary Evils

Since most people do have to drive, even a little bit, those who have a bent towards trying to minimize the damages caused by purchases of fuel may be interested in this butt-ugly yet somewhat handy chart. It ranks different gasoline companies based on various positive and negative stances taken. For those not wanting to click, they've determined that the most socially responisble company is Sunoco, followed by BP/Amoco. Unfortunately, there aren't any Sunocos in my area, and BP's, while popping up a little more often, are few and far between. Citgo (7-Eleven) came in third, and there's one right down the street from my apartment, so I guess that will be my first choice from now on.

Unsurprisingly, Exxon-Mobil came in dead last, follwed by Chevron/Texaco and Phillips. I don't buy fuel from any of them anyways.

I only drive my car about 300 miles a month unless I head out on a road trip, so I'm not a big purchaser of gas. That said, I'm more than willing to support those companies that at least make an attempt to minimize damage.

(link to chart via this Ask Umbra column)
:: Scott [+] ::
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Car Badges!

Subaru was the first Japanese car company to use a name derived from its own language. It refers to a group of six stars - also known by its original Japanese name of mutsuraboshi - in the constellation of Taurus. We'd know them as Pleiades. History of Car Logos - from a British perspective, seemingly.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Just in time for the full election

Lupo's blogfucker has returned. For this, you should be grateful. And if you've yet to see it, be sure and check out his impressive flash trailer for Tex: George Bush and the Fine Art of Character Assasination. It's quite impressive.
:: Scott [+] ::
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What is morally appropriate in wartime?

The eleven lessons from former Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara as laid out in The Fog of War, along with some quotes taken out of context:

1) Empathize with your enemy - "We must try to put ourselves in their skins and look at ourselves through their eyes just to understand the thought that lie behind their decisions and their actions." - "If people don't display wisdom, they will clash like blind moles - and then, annihilation will commence."

2) Rationality will not save us - "I think the human race needs to think more about killing, about conflict - is that what we want in this 21st Century?"

3) There's something beyond oneself

4) Maximize efficiency

5) Proportionality should be a guideline in war

6) Get the data - "I think if you went to the CIA and said 'How is the situation in Vietnam?', I think they'd say 'It's worse'" - (1964)

7) Belief and seeing are both often wrong. - "We see what we want to believe"

8) Be prepared to re-examine your reasoning

9) In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil

10) Never say never - "Never answer the question that is asked of you, answer the question that you wish had been asked of you." - "I'm very proud of my accomplishments and I'm very sorry that in the process of accomplishing things, I made errors."

11) You can't change human nature - "I don't know any military commander who ishonest that won't say he's made mistakes." - "(Woodrow) Wilson said 'we won the war to end all wars (WWI)'. I'm not so naive or so simplistic to believe we can end all wars. We're not going to change human nature anytime soon. It isn't that we aren't rational - we are rational. But reason has limits."

McNamara also quotes T.S. Eliot in saying "We shall not cease from exploring and at the end of exploration, we will return to where we started and know the place for the first time." McNamara says that that, in a sense, is where he, at age 85, is beginning to be.

Lastly, my favorite quote from the movie:

What makes us omniscient? Have we a record of omniscience? We are the strongest nation in the world today. I do not believe we should ever apply that economic, military, or political power unilaterally. If we had followed that rule in Vietnam, we wouldn't have been there. None of our allies supported us. Not Japan, not Germany, not Britain or France. If we can't persuade nations of comparable values of the merit of our cause, we'd better re-examine our reasoning."

Just kind of tossing this out there hoping it'll inspire you to watch the film if you haven't yet. It's really quite thought-provoking.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Obituaries

There's something really wrong with the fact that both Johnny Ramone and Aryan Nation's Founder Richard Butler died at the same time. To the former, rest in peace, to the latter, good fucking riddance.
:: Scott [+] ::
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A bit of this, a dash of that

So I know everyone is bored to tears with this Hurricane thing, but this Ivan one isn't shaping up to be very cool:

The center of the forecast track indicates landfall about at Ft. Walton Beach late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. With hurricane-force winds extending out 100 miles, a much larger area would be affected.

Guess whose sister lives in Ft. Walton Beach?

I haven't gotten a whole lot of updates lately, but I have heard that they're closing down the military bases in the area (probably not a good sign) and many of the businesses and homes are boarding up. To my knowledge, they've not said anything about mandatory evacuations yet, but frankly, I think it may not be a good idea. See, when you grow up in Tulsa and the area, you get kind of impervious to warnings about giant wind storms. Dodging tornados as you ride your horse to school through a maze of tepees*. Plus, you know, tornado sirens are pretty much just a signal to run outside and look towards the heavens. It's a tough habit to break. To whit: I was on the phone with my sister on Saturday in a conversation that went something like this:

S: So it looks like that Ivan is coming right at us.

Me: That sucks. Do you and G have renter's insurance?

S: Nope. I know we should, but it's a little late now.

Me: Oh. Well you may want to consider taking the couch and the TV upstairs in case it floods.

S: Yeah, maybe.

Me: You do at least have a flashlight, right?

S: Nope.

Me: ...

So yeah. We'll see how this goes.

On a completely different tip, I wound up working the Ministry/KMFDM show for Music For America last night. It was a grand parade of industriogothikiddos in their finest vinyl shirts and a smattering of older people, who I'm guessing had a bit of a drive into town, if you know what I mean.

Anyhow, during Ministry's set, I was standing in line for a beer when these two rather sodden mid 40's women walked up behind me. One of them reached out and touched my back (before I'd seen who it was) so I jumped a little bit and turned around. That conversation went kind of like this:

DrunkLady1: Wait, he may not be touchable.

*drunk lady 2 grabs my hand searches frantically for ring*

DrunkLady2: You're not married, are ya?

me: uh, no.

DL1: Whee, he's touchable!

*DL1 and DL2 begin rubbing my back and ribs*

me: ....

DL1: I think we're annoying him. He's too young anyways. How old are you, sweetie?

*me stares at DL1 with a 'damn right you're annoying me' look on face*

me: 25

DL2: Damn, he is too young!

me: Yeah, I'm gonna get my beer now.

*about two minutes pass, still in line*

*DL2 pokes me in the shoulder and grabs it, swinging me around*

DL2: I've got an idea, how about you give me a kiss?

me: uh...

*DL2 begins to pucker*

*me gently pushes DL2 back a bit, buys beer, exits stage right....quickly

So yeah. I think about 30 people registered to vote though, so that was nice.
:: Scott [+] ::
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NetFlix RSS

NetFlix added RSS feeds and they are quite nice. They work extremely well with BlogLines. You have the options of:
- Personal Feeds:
- Your Queue
- Recent activity (the rec'd and sent notifications)
- Recommendations
- Public Feeds:
- New Releases*
- Top 100
- Top 25 for any of eighteen different genres

People have been requesting this from NetFlix for quite some time, and I'm glad to see that they not only responded, but they responded well. This should help them in the battle to stave off BlockBuster.

*the New Releases one seems like it would be good for non-NetFlix customers as well, if nothing else just to serve notice as to what is being released on DVD any given Tuesday.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Yo....

There have been a ton of great photos from the demonstrations in NYC this week, including the Quagmire Accomplished banner and the geeky html 'end Bush' sign. However, I think the 1-800-ARM-Y guy takes the cake. (via vidiot who has been moblogging his time at work at the RNC)
:: Scott [+] ::
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Best of Dallas?

My thoughts while filling out the Best of Dallas poll online earlier:

- I really don't eat out enough. I left Best Burger, steak, greek, italian, chinese, and a whole host of others blank

- They have "Best Sports Moment of 2002" on there. The dead-tree version is the same. I'm not sure if this is an error or if they, for some reason, want us to dig back to the year where the Mavs lost on a last minute three to Steve Kerr.

- They have a category this year for "Best Blog". Odd. I'll be interested to see who wins. My money's on D Magazine's Frontburner or Mark Cuban's blog.

- I voted for Muddy Waters as best live music venue. I refuse to vote for Trees or the Gypsy Tea Room on principle, even though that's where I catch about 80% of the shows I see.

- The exit page is supposed to redirect you somewhere, presumably back to the front page of the Observer's site. It fails due to a broken link. Now that's professionalism!
:: Scott [+] ::
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