Insignifica

I've been a little light in the updates recently - no particularly good reason other than the standard post-Christmas, pre-New Year's things to do. Some notes:

Would you like to buy a hard drive?

If not, how about finding me a job? You'll get $100 for your troubles!

Driving down the street today, a white car with a woman my age inside drove by me. The woman inside smiled brightly, and having seen my "Freedom From Religion" bumper sticker, loudly yelled "Atheist!" at me. It made my day.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, and no matter what you believe, may all your holiday dreams come true.

This site has some very cool/funny/weird video clips.

Wow, Trent Lott stepped down as senate majority leader today. That's a little shocking to me; I assumed he'd fight against the alligations and stick it out (as usually happens when someone comes under fire for an opinion). What makes me happiest about the whole thing is that it wasn't Democrats or liberal spokespeople who made him step down, it was his own party, the Republicans, knowing the possible damage that could be done if they allowed someone popularly seen as a racist (with a good deal of evidence to back that view up) remain as senior leadership in the party.

Wow. I got popular last night. Slashdot posted a poll about Star Trek: Nemesis, and I made 4 comments (1 original, 3 replies). I had some response last night, but woke this morning to 11 new replies and 7 moderation messages. My 4 comments were moderated 3, 4, 5 and 4 respectivly. This could change as moderation continues, but usually they don't go down much. All this exposure has really increased hits here, even so far as getting one nice person to read "The Presumption of Prayer" and comment to me in email on it. So, welcome Slashdot readers!

In other less happy news, the same company that layed me off 3 weeks before Christmas this year decided today to lay off the entire manufacturing floor staff (14 people) 5 days before Christmas! Isn't that a happy present (I just happened to get mine early). As my buddy Ryan stated, "Damn, somebody at your company needs to get visited by 3 ghosts tonight...whatta bunch of Scrooges" So if you've got work out there, or know someone who does, feel free to take a look at my resumé and hire me. You'll get $100 for your effort.

I finally found the Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics album after a few weeks of searching. Back in 1999 my friend Gilbert made me a copy, and I'd pull it out every Christmas and laugh out loud at the songs. I highly recommend it to comedy and South Park fans. A warning, however: the humor is enough to send you to hell just for laughing at it. Awesome.

Hello and happy Monday. Beginning week two of "Mike's out of work!" - nothing new on the horizon, as far as jobs go. Remember, you can hire me, or find me a job and get $100. I'm a good employee...really!

In other news, Trent Lott - Now with 50% more ineptitude! - is going to appear on BET (Black Entertainment Television) tonight. Am I the only person imagining this should/could look like a "Dark Side with Nat X" episode?

I just got a Tivo yesterday (Xmas gift). I also turned on the cable. This thing is so awesome. Last night before I went to bed I told it that I like comedies. This morning when I woke up, there were five shows ready for me to watch (a couple Roseanne reruns and some other garbage). I spent an hour this morning telling it what shows I like by show title and category (eg "documentaries"). On Monday, I'll have about 10 hours of commercial free shows that I like ready for me to watch.

A new SUV story popped up on CNN's front page yesterday. The story? NHTSA rules require minivans, light trucks and SUVs to have better gas mileage. The headline? DOT tightening SUV fuel rules.

Went and say Star Trek: Nemesis tonight - it's a fantastic flick, both in terms of Star Trek and in terms of action movies. It's faithful to the characters, has humor without the schtick of Insurrection, and has many exciting, compelling, emotional moments. Go see it.

On a side note, I was checking out the Internet Movie Database's entry on the movie, specifically their quotes section (here's my screen capture, for when this page changes). While I realize that since the film was released today it's not going to have anything other than industry/Paramount/obsessive fan submissions for quotes, I'm amazed that NONE of the quotes listed actually appear in the film. Some are similar to those that do appear, but many exist in cut scenes or from characters who never even made it into the final print. You'd think some of the quotes from the movie that wouldn't get cut (especially near the end of the film) would be listed, but they aren't. Weird.

Also worth noting is that one actress who didn't make the final cut (who I didn't even realize, after reading months of spoilers, was supposed to even be in the film) is listed on IMDB's credits, while another actor who was in the final print (though his speaking parts were cut) is not listed. I'm sure all this will change on IMDB's site, but it's still strange, considering what's been known for a long while.

I wish I could draw - it's just not a way I can express myself to any satisfaction. I can see images in my mind, but there's no way I'd be able to translate them to any useful medium. I can, however, write, and have no problem expressing my opinions that way - it's second nature, something I don't even have to think about. I suppose that to many artists, their ability to draw/paint/etc works the same way my ability to write does - second nature.

Chris tells me I could learn to draw, but I think it'd be like learning French. I'd know the rules, and the techniques, and the vocabulary of the craft, but it'd always be work, always be a detailed, dedicated, hardcore effort. For now, I'll stick to writing...for whatever reason, it's easy.

(This rant brought to you by the picture at this link, which I found while randomly surfing, and which made me think to myself, "boy, I wish I could do that". I think it's an absolutely beautiful piece of art.)

My thoughts on the Lott-Thurmond matter? It was a stupid thing for Lott to say. Do I think he's a racist? Not in the classic KKK style, though I'd tag him as one that might say "if we didn't have all these 'coloreds' around...they sure cause us a lot of grief" when he's with people he's comfortable with. Why do I say this?

Quote of the day, from a Fark forum:

If Strom Thurmond was elected president there would be twice the number of drinking fountains.

Classic!

If you ever wonder how CNN feels about SUVs, you need only peruse some SUV headlines to find out. My pickup truck shares the same chasis and engine a large SUV (Toyota Sequoia). Lucky for me, CNN doesn't seem to hate pickups as much as SUVs.

Welcome to day one of "Mike's out of work". Though I feel guilty about it, I actually enjoy being out of work for the first couple weeks; I get to sleep in, do "nothing" type things in the afternoon, and now that I drive, I can run errands, go to bookstores, or hang out with my laptop and wireless card at some seaside Starbucks.

I also have the benefit of my good friend UI - Unemployment Insurance. California's Employment Development Department is a great resource for job searching, UI benefits information, and other employment related issues. Not only that, it turns out there was a Bank Error In My Favor, and because the EDD apparently forgot to send me a check for retroactive rate increases, they owe me nearly $2,000. That, plus the $250 or so weekly I'll get until I find a job will both help me transition without defaulting on my bills or causing undue hardship. The system works.

So today, on Day One, I'm cleaning my office and garage, searching Monster, Dice and Hotjobs, and enjoying the time my previous employer so kindly has given me.

Merry Christmas. I got laid off today.

Would you care to hire me? The person who gets me a job gets $100. Thanks!

Sometimes, you do weird things. Others, weird things do you:

That's groovy.

Ramdom notes!

What I'd really like is for a new job to fall out of the sky, a job I like, that pays a little more than this one, that's a little closer to my house, where they're not taking away my benefits.

That's all.

Oh, and a bag of money so I can afford to fix my car.

And world peace.

Thanks.

Texas, at it again - Supreme Court agrees to hear homosexual sex case

The case in question is one in which two gay men were arrested and fined simply for having sex with eachother - charged under Texas' "Homosexual Conduct Law", which classifies anal or oral sex between two men or two women as deviate sexual intercourse, and therefore a misdemeanor.

I've ranted about sex laws before - they're absurd, outdated, and offensive. As Ruth Harlow, one of the men's lawyers, stated: "The idea that a state may enter into American bedrooms and closely inspect the most intimate and private physical interactions ... is a stark affront to fundamental liberty that the court should end".

I agree. If the government making gay sex illegal doesn't scare you, just wait until they use the same "moral" justification to enforce laws against all sodomy, including oral and anal sex. What's next? Positions? Frequency? Other specific practices (masturbation comes to mind). How many rights need to be taken away before people have a problem with it?

A funny typo from CBS SportsLine - screencapped here, for your pleasure:



Some things you should remove from your spell check.

Update: See also this. It's funnier.