| Happy Mother's Day... Unless You're A Republican. |
[09 May 2008|06:33pm] |
178 House Republicans vote against Mother's Day. No, really, all but 21 of the House Republicans in Congress voted against H.RES.1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day."
But, wait! It's okay, because they voted for it before they decided to change their votes to nay. Jeff Fortenberry, the Republican who proposed the resolution in the first place, changed his vote to Nay after voting for it.
Now, I you're asking, "Why would Congressional Republicans, already facing dire election prospects in November, commit political suicide by voting against motherhood?"
The answer is simple. The entire resolution and resulting revote and vote-changing was all part of a concerted effort to waste time and prevent the Democratic House majority from bringing forth its various resolutions and bills - things like the proposed war spending bill or mortgage legislation in light of the housing collapse.
Yes, the Republicans in Congress want to prevent their Democratic peers from doing anything so much that they're not just willing to actively prevent things from getting done, but they're willing to do so by voting against the concept of motherhood.
Next time you complain about congress, remember sometimes there's a reason it doesn't get much done.
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| Encore! |
[08 May 2008|10:26am] |
The Apocalyptica show was excellent, and was perfectly capped when they ended their first encore with Grieg's Hall of the Mountain King, which is absolutely my favorite piece of classical music.
For those that couldn't be there, here's a taste of their interpretation of it:
I ran into more people than I expected, which was awesome, but I must apologize to ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) artful_username, as my metal-addled brain entirely failed to recognize her, and I never said hello, even though she was standing two feet away from me. Truly, I am a terrible person, and should be shunned by all but the most mangy of curs.
In the future, people, don't wait for me to greet you - come over and say hi to me! My brain just doesn't seem to store faces and names unless I've known you for over two years or you wear a funny hat.
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| 120% of your USDA for Electric Cellos |
[07 May 2008|04:52pm] |
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Tonight, I'm off to the 9:30 Club to see Apocalyptica in concert. And what better attire for a distinguished symphonic metal show than reminding the world that Unicorns are Fucking Metal?
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| Afternoon Awesomeness |
[05 May 2008|01:24pm] |
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music |
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Sweet Lobster - Eurythmics + The B52s (via DJ Le Clown) |
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DCØ's game of Journey to the End of the Night was a big success - final count puts the number of players at approximately 280. Thanks to everyone who came out: you can share your pictures and stories at the SFØ site for the event! And to everyone else, there's been so much interest expressed that we're definitely doing another one - probably either this Fall or next Spring.
drspooky and I ended up seeing the new Iron Man movie, and we are pleased to announce that it's as good as everyone's been saying. What's more, if you're a Marvel fan, be sure to stick around after the credits. And if you're an even bigger comics fan, you'll be glad to hear that it looks like they're bringing the entire Avengers continuity to the screen over the next few years.
In other news, DJ Le Clown released a new mashup music video, Sweet Lobster, using two perennial mashup favorites, along with excellently trippy visuals from sources ranging from Hitchcock to Spongebob. Check it out!
MEGA-IRONY BONUS:
Okay, so it was sort of amusing when Clinton pugilistically compared herself to Rocky, the cinematic boxer who went 15 rounds with a black heavyweight only to lose by decision at the end of the movie. But when she compared herself to Eight Belles in last weekend's Kentucky Derby, she may have reached a tragic new height in bad self-casting: the horse came in second place, collapsed immediately after the finish line, and was euthanized.
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| Weekend Super Awesome, GO! |
[02 May 2008|10:14am] |
Tonight, I'm seeing Eddie Izzard at DAR Hall with family and friends. That's going to be a tall drink of awesome, right there.
But even more awesome will be this Saturday evening, when I'm running a checkpoint for the FIRST EVER DC JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT GAME!
It's going to be a ton of fun, and it's free to all. Come to Dupont Circle at 7pm, and bring your urban exploration gear. Be ready to run, sneak, and engage in craziness. Oh, and also to party afterwards. Oh yes.
I suspect I'll spend Sunday recovering from a near-fatal overdose of awesome. Thankfully, I've got a very high tolerance.
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| The rebellion of the shodden masses |
[24 Apr 2008|02:38pm] |
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julzerator pointed me towards this unusually minimalist footwear, and I have to admit, they're very tempting. They seem like a great way for me to satisfy the requirements of our foot-shodding society while staying as true as possible to my deep hatred of wearing shoes. As much as I like sandals and light chucks, they just aren't the same.
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| The wheel of justice grinds slow but fine. |
[23 Apr 2008|04:52pm] |
The charges against Steve Kurtz have finally been dropped. Can you say countersuit?
This was a blatant case of government paranoia ruining the life of a "suspected bioterrorist" who was only guilty of making controversial art and tragically losing his wife. I'm very glad the whole episode is over - Steve deserves better than that. He was the only professor I've ever had who made art history interesting to me. He's also the only professor I've ever had who poured me an overflowing cup of whiskey while grinningly smashed out of his gourd.
Both of these are highly endearing traits, and he eared much more residence in my memory than my short time as his student would normally allow.
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| When MMOs go wrong (or is it right?) |
[21 Apr 2008|01:47pm] |
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mood |
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horrified and fascinated |
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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has a multiplayer mod that allows up to 125 players at once. This leads to interesting enough things in such a open-world game, but apparently it gets extremely odd when you go onto the designated RPG servers.
The folks at the most recent 1-Up Yours podcast talk about their experience at the top of the show, and the stories they tell are part horror story, part social experiment, part emergent game-design wet-dream. They tell of players dedicated to working as in-game cabbies or prostitutes, draconian mods who act as in-game cops and lawyers, terrible tales of in-game murderers and rapists, and the strange fate of their gang of dildo-wielding clowns and their run-ins with nepotistic and abusive authorities.
Imagine Second Life, but with more structure - for better and for worse. Compare and contrast with the player-run air flight/traffic-controller MMO for Microsoft Flight Sim, which seems to have a much more professional attitude, if the word is fair to apply to what is a definitively amateur activity.
This is the horror and wonder that happens when players are fully in control of a game. It also raises issues about the source of true fun in griefing: "You know when you first got GTA 3? And you were like, 'Dude, this is the game where I can pull a cabby out of his car and stomp him!' and it was fun? That's nothing compared to when you know it's a real human being who thought it was a good idea to be a cabby in a videogame." As a game designer, it raises questions about whether players can be given that sort of high without the resultant frustration for the victimized players.
I never got into the more recent Grand Theft Auto games, but this might almost convince me to take a look at it, if only to observe it as social experiment. Y'know, like an opt-in Stanford Prison Experiment.
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| Cellos! Metal! Awesome! |
[16 Apr 2008|09:47pm] |
Hey, DC folks!
Apocalyptica is coming to the 9:30 Club on Wednesday, May 7th!
Who's up for it?
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| Here We Go, America, Here We Go! |
[15 Apr 2008|01:30pm] |
Dan Rooney, Owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, endorses Obama.
This is the sort of thing that could make quite a large difference for Obama's support in Pennsylvania, especially in rural Western Pennsylvania, where his support is currently weak.
Also, for my Pennsylvania folks who are registered Democrats, don't forget to vote in the primaries in a week. Obviously, I have a preference for who deserves your vote, but everyone's voice should be heard. So find your local polling place and don't forget to go vote on the 22nd!
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| Items! Of! Interest! |
[09 Apr 2008|02:37pm] |
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music |
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Chicago Bump (Bootie Edit) |
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Part XX of my continuing series of things that are interesting to me:
SF-native and consistently intriguing observer tongodeon warns anyone planning to protest the Olympic torch relay that the Relay Flame Protection Unit is not giving away any ice cream today.
John Hodgman, calling out Clinton supporter Lanny Davis for being a Concern Troll. As always with Hodgman's surreally dry wit, I recommend reading his all-caps sections in OMINOUS ANNOUNCER VOICE.
Today's D&D Dragon article examines the epic levels for Binders, characters who draw powers from the vestiges of long-dead gods and beings beyond the realms of madness. And while that's only interesting to a small subset of my fellow nerds, it includes amusing concepts in the write-ups for two of its vestiges: one god formed from the souls of all of the innocent firstborn killed by fantasy-YHWH in fantasy-Egypt, and one god known simply as "The Cephalopocalypse."
Take a moment and roll that one around the tongue. Cephalopocalypse. It's what pure awesomeness would sound like, if it weren't already a word with its own associated sound.
Also, as bonus amusement, I should point out this is the one year anniversary of me being an actual game designer. The traditional 1-year anniversary gift is paper, and I believe I'll celebrate it appropriately by preordering a highly anticipated pencil-and-paper RPG.
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| Survive DC! |
[06 Apr 2008|09:25pm] |
The website just went up for DC0's next big event.
SURVIVE DC - Journey To The End of Night
It's a cross between a race and a game of tag, across the length and breadth of DC, happening May 3, starting at 7pm. By all accounts, the game is a great way to meet folks and get a new perspective of the city, and obviously it's going to be a whole lot of fun!
Spread the word!
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| Obama, Foreign Policy, and "Dignity Promotion" |
[03 Apr 2008|05:35pm] |
If you're a politics nerd like me, check out The American Prospect's article, "The Obama Doctrine." It offers a deep and intriguing look at Obama's foreign policy plans, as well as the figures behind it, and its radical base concept of "dignity promotion."
Quick highlight, for the hurried:
... Obama's advisers argue, national security depends in large part on dignity promotion. Without it, the U.S. will never be able to destroy al-Qaeda. Extremists will forever be able to demagogue conditions of misery, making continued U.S. involvement in asymmetric warfare an increasingly counterproductive exercise -- because killing one terrorist creates five more in his place. "It's about attacking pools of potential terrorism around the globe," [Obama advisor General Scott] Gration says. "Look at Africa, with 900 million people, half of whom are under 18. I'm concerned that unless you start creating jobs and livelihoods we will have real big problems on our hands in ten to fifteen years."
Those looking for more on his foreign policy plans can find them listed here, by topic and with substantial detail.
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| ¡s,looɟ lıɹdɐ ʎddɐɥ |
[01 Apr 2008|07:21pm] |
I'm sure you're already done with all of the day's pranks, so I won't link to any of the many excellent April Fool's Day pranks out there on the web. Instead, I'll just present two awesome non-pranks that came to my attention recent.
First is Doctor Grordbort's Contrapulatronic Dingus Directory, which I received in the mail from the always extraordinary gentleman jameel.
˙ɹoʇɐlsuɐɹʇ uɐılɐɹʇsnɐ<-ɥsılƃuǝ uɐ sɐ ʇı ɟo ʞuıɥʇ oʇ ɹǝɟǝɹd ı ɥƃnoɥʇlɐ ˙ʎʇılıqɐpɐǝɹ sʇı ɟo ǝsuǝdxǝ ǝɥʇ ʇɐ 'ǝɯosǝʍɐ ʇxǝʇ ɟo ʞɔolq ǝƃɹɐl ʎuɐ sǝʞɐɯ ɥɔıɥʍ 'ǝƃɐd dılɟ s,pɐɟʌǝɹ punoɟ ı 'uǝɥʇ puɐ
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| Heppy Birthday! |
[25 Mar 2008|01:36pm] |
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I don't have any funny pictures to go along with it, but Happy Birthday, da1sy!
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| Why Obama? |
[21 Mar 2008|12:02pm] |
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In a recent email conversation with alazrael about Obama and his speech on race, he asked me to list the reasons that I personally find him different than other politicians, and why I'm particularly supportive of him.
So, during my lunch hour, I decided to put together a little list... which quickly became a pretty hefty list.
I figured it might interest some of you, so I'm posting it here. Also, because I think the idea of an LJ-content strike is dumb.
( Why Obama is my new bicycle )
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| Speechifyin'! |
[18 Mar 2008|07:01pm] |
Holy crap, Obama's speech on Race and America was simply amazing.
( Video here, in case you missed it. Well worth the watch. )
Apart from being amazingly written and delivered, it felt like it really challenged an important and difficult issue in America, presented the concerns of multiple sides well and in a unifying fashion, and laid out a path to dealing with these issues. It had the hope and promise of change that is his hallmark, but it dealt with issues in a way that was more mature and down-to-earth than many of his critics would have expected.
For a politician whose safest move would be to give a bland "Racism is bad, America is awesome!" stump speech, it was damned ballsy of him to go up and say the thing so many people would rather whitewash over: "Yes, America has race problems. Here they are." And he pulled it off.
Call me cheesy if you wish, but that combination of eloquence, unification, hope, maturity, and bravery is exactly what I'd want in a leader.
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| Beware the Ideas of March |
[16 Mar 2008|10:06pm] |
A few awesome things:
Auto-Enabled! - My annual performance bonus has now been well-spent, and with the encouragement of my family helping me through all of the procedural hurdles, I now have a car of my own! A used 2004 Cavalier, in fact. I dub it, "the Automotron." Expect pictures and more details soon.
Because I've never had a credit card before, this was also my first step into the world of getting an honest-to-goodness credit history. Let's just say that I probably should have started smaller; I think my car loan's APR was expressed in scientific notation.
Match It for Pratchett - You may have heard that Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. This is most definitely anti-awesome, but in a recent conference, he announced that he has donated $1 million (about half a million pounds) to Alzheimer's research.
In response, his fans have announced that they'll match his donation. If you've enjoyed his books and/or have a loved one going through Alzheimer's as well, here's a good excuse to make a donation.
(unrelatedly, in the video of the announcement, he also mentions how much he enjoys Oblivion's Shivering Isles expansion - the first game to have my name attached to it, albeit only as QA. So that's strangely satisfying.)
Art of Play - It appears that CMU is having a two-day symposium on games as art, March 31 - April 1. It's a Monday and Tuesday, so it's unlikely that I can attend, but I'd really love to be able to go, if only to talk with Jason Rohrer (of Passage and Gravitation semi-fame). Any of my CMU-local peeps interested in going, and possibly willing to give feedback and/or collect hardcopies of handouts?
Party: Started - Shirley Bassey, of "GOLDFINGEEEEEER!!!" fame, covering Pink's "Get This Party Started." The video is surprisingly awesome despite Bassey's camp-tastic performance. Or perhaps because of it.
( Video behind cut )
Bonus Historical Comic Awesomeness! - I was just pointed at Kate Beaton's hysterical historical comics. Obviously, this is just more proof of Canada's advanced education system, as well as its advanced comics technology. And where else can I find comics about Emperor Norton, Nikola Tesla, Mary Shelley, or Sanford Fleming?
( Sanford Fleming's contribution to the world )
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| The Lost Ring! |
[12 Mar 2008|11:53pm] |
Jane McGonnigal just announced a new ARG. It's intriguing on a variety of levels. On one level, it's a mysterious alternate look at the history of the Olympics and a series of mysterious atheletes . On another level, it's a global, multi-lingual game that promises months of mysteries and communities of collaborative play and exploration.
It's called "The Lost Ring"
In fact, its explicit mission statement is to encourage players to have experiences they "remember and talk about for the rest of their lives." Considering McGonnigal's previous successes in creating game experiences that bring people together, and her professed goals of using games to encourage global unity, I have high expectations for this game.
A global-unity game about the Olympics, themselves a game for global unity. Seems pretty appropriate.
And if you're like me, and worry that you don't have time to really come up to speed, you can always check the fan-created wiki and Beginner's Guide to catch up.
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