Sitting On A Box

Apparently, the right to form a well ordered militia (not sure of exact wording ATM) as defined in the US Constitution means that, in TN, it's okay to carry a loaded weapon (fire-arm - pistol/revolver) into a restaurant JUST in case you need to defend yourself (from whom? the starving proletariat?).

As of July 14th, 2009 anyway. If you have a permit. And the restaurant doesn't put up a "no guns" sign.

Must be to balance out the 'No Texting' law that goes into affect tomorrow.

According to AP, [South Carolina Governor Mark] "Sanford said Chapur is his soul mate but he's trying to fall back in love with his wife."

Well isn't that just dandy. He's going to dump his "soul mate" and stay with his wife -- because that's the only way he'll get to play in the Republican sandbox again.

I really don't know what to say, though "Pathetic" and "Weasel" come to mind. And the Mad Max scene from Princess Bride.

She was only 62.

Nothing profound to say. I'd completely forgotten she was in "Logan's Run" - I saw a few minutes of that other sci-fi movie she was in but other than that, all I remember seeing her in was "Charlie's Angels" - and that was so long ago - I must have been only 14 back then.

And the worst part of this (other than she's dead and feeling sorry for Ryan O'Neal because she finally agreed to marry him but was so sick she died before they could "tie-the-knot"?) -- Michael Jackson died today also -- and all anyone will remember about her is she died on the same day.

"King of Pop" (I thought that was Elvis?) vs. an Angel. I know who I'd vote for.

She could have taken him with both eyes closed, one arm tied behind her back and after a day of chemotherapy.

Not June! It can't be!

I've been very lax with the verbiage for the past few months. Been trying to do some writing. I get a few hundred words out and the whole thing stalls. Or I have an idea that is impossible to write but I try anyway.

I have 3 stories I want to finish before September... but I haven't even touched them in over a year.

I have 3 new-ish stories I want to spend some time on but not getting close enough to finish the next part of them.

I have a completely new story idea that I know won't work but I'm trying anyway.

And where did May go?

Watching old episodes of "Sailor Moon" (Why? No good reason other than boredom. And a crossover fic idea I'm toying with.)

So, at the beginning of each episode, Usagi (aka Sailor Moon) tells the audience how old she is (14 that first season/series).

So what does that say about whats-his-name? Her stalker? Tuxedo Kamen/Mamoru Chiba ? There doesn't seem to be an authoritative source for his age in the anime but he's in college and she's in 8th grade (or the Japanese equivalent).

Gut feeling? Disturbing... yeah, yeah... different culture and all that... but still... (Same age difference but her in college and him not... wouldn't be as creepy.)

So... general early BSSM anime episode plot outline ... Negaverse/Dark Kingdom bad guy does something to the residents of Tokyo. Luna drags Usagi off to deal with the problem. SM cries her way through the fight. When things look bad for our heroine, Tuxedo Kamen shows up and throws a rose at the bad guy(s), distracting them for a minute - long enough for him to spout some bit of moral booster/wisdom verbiage at SM and then disappear, leaving her to deal with the bad guy on her own. Which she does.

So... what's his purpose? In a lot of "Mamoru Must Die" fics he's just there to be rescued. And people think Xander has issues...

Go read this and come right back:

http://mbyerly.blogspot.com/2009/02/real-world-logic-and-urban-fantasy.html

What does this have to do with fan fiction, the last refuge on the internet for bad grammar and impossible plots?

Everything.

If I look at my favorite fics from the last 2 years they all have some element of consistency, some level of 'reality' within the rules of the fandoms they represent.

Oh wow! Actually saw a Zune today at the airport... I guess some people actually DID buy them.

Definition: When a large collection of Microsoft Zune 30's stop working on December 31th, 2008 for some unexplainable reason. Often attributed to a faulty firmware clock issue. Or planned obsolescence signals from the Redmond mothership.

Okay... I've been buying CD since I was a fresh-person in college. Not a big deal you say? This was back when MTV actually had music videos (What a shocking idea!) so... over 20 years ago.

I don't have a huge collection. I don't buy a LOT of music. I've never (ever) downloaded music from the torrents. Sure, I've gotten a couple things off of UseNet (A "soundtrack" to the Buffy musical (but hey! I DID buy the official soundtrack CD when it came out.); a few other things out of curiosity (and when possible I've purchased the "real" thing from somewhere.) And I don't d/l movies or games or software off the torrents either. (I pay for that sort of thing.)

No, I'm not claiming to be a model netizen when it comes to IP (intellectual property) rights. But I certainly don't go out of my way to "cheat" the system and I don't feel entitled to downloading anything I want.

(But then again, I write fan fiction -- one of those grey areas of IP rights.)

Anyway to shorten things up -- I have over 1600 songs in iTunes. Not a huge amount by most standards but over 5 days worth of sound.

And in all this time I've never bought a real, live import CD. Until now. Sure, I have some JPop (though I'm not a huge fan of the genre) and songs in other languages but I got them from iTunes.

I purchased Mio Isayama's album "Woman" some time last year from iTunes after finding a song or two of hers out on Usenet. Good stuff. I like her voice. Somewhere between Karen Carpenter and Enya in sound/tone. (But with an exotic flavor since she seems to sing only in Japanese.)

But iTunes only carries that one album in the US store and buying anything from the iTunes store in another country is problematic on a good day. And Amazon only has her albums as imports, at import prices. And no MP3's of her songs.

That one album I got off iTunes for $9? Amazon has it for 5 times the price as an import.

Yes -- I've grumbled about this before...

Oddly enough, Borders.com had only one of her albums listed ("Hanakotoba"). Import price but cheaper than Amazon. And then I had a coupon. So I got it even cheaper. Sure, I had to buy a book to get free shipping (One of those O'Reilly $10 pocket guides but I actually wanted it.).

And, of course, being an import... it was on backorder. So it took a month for it to show up ( We won't discuss my negative experience with Borders "Ship to Store" gimmick. Actually picking it up (Once I FOUND OUT that it and the book (shipped separately weeks ago) were there ) went easily/well. The local Borders store people are nice people. But then they always have been which is why I shop there. Not sure I'll ever order anything from Borders.com again (I'm also on an Amazon strike which is why I was trying out Borders.com) but I'll definitely go back to the brick-n-mortar. If they don't go out of business as is rumoured to be in their near future.)

And finally the point

So, first real Import (non-English even) that I've purchased. And the culture shock. Would you believe that 99% of the writing on the CD, CD case, CD booklet is in Japanese ? :) And when I imported it into iTunes? Yup! More Japanese. They must have been serious about the whole "Import" thing.

Which also means it didn't sort with the other music by her.

And apparently the iTunes 'Get Album Artwork' doesn't work cross stores. They couldn't pull the album artwork from the Japanese iTunes store? I had to use an Amazon album cover widget to get it.

I'm writing a letter to Steve Jobs! I spend a ton of music with Apple every year (Hardware and software). The least they could do is let me get the album art. For an album they won't sell me.

Any self-professed libertarian who does not know what the ‘externality problem’ and the ‘private information problem’ are, and has no practical, proven solution for them is just an ignorant, cognitively dissonant, pseudo-intellectual loudmouth who really should not be taken seriously.

The original.

Example: McCain TrooperGate - when lawyers from the McCain/Palin campaign were parachuted into Alaska to squash the Bi-partisan Palin ethics investigation by the Alaska State Legislature.

(Not a poll because that costs extra.)

How many houses do you own? (USA Edition)

1. None - I had to sell it to pay for my health insurance thanks to the McCain Plan to Restructure Health Care.


2. None - I lost it when my bank failed thanks to deregulation


3. One - but I share it with a bank


4. Two - a summer/vacation home in Maine and a McMansion in Arizona


5. Less than McCain


6. More than McCain - Those aren't my houses - My wife's richer than Oprah so we live in one of her penthouses in DC

In a comment on CNN re: McCain's VP pick:

[Anonymous said]
"Someone please tell me that at least Palin stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night."

Random political slogan of the week: No way, No how, No McCain

Watching a show on the History/International channel about the "Enola Gay" and the atomic bomb it dropped on Japan in World War II.

The bomb had to be armed while in the air, a slow, dangerous process. One that had never been done with a "live" bomb of that type.

They didn't even know if it would work or what would happen when all the pieces were put together. It could have blown up (For all definitions of 'blow up' that would have resulted in the bomb not making it to Hiroshima.)

You think the contrast between the bomb being dropped and scenes of the peaceful people of Hiroshima going about their business just before it happens is intentional?

Of course...

So, I changed my mind.

Wandered over to Best Buy after work. Waited in line for 5 minutes for a 'native guide' to become available.

Native Guy'd took me over to the display. I told him I didn't need/want the whole spiel. Just wanted the computer. Had to say it a couple times but he eventually gave me the all important price/barcode sticker and then took me over to the high security computer pick-up location.

Waited in line for 5+ minutes again.

Went into the 'secure room' (Actually - a large store room with stacks of laptops and a couple tables with chairs.). Sat down at a table. 1 Sales Table Critter per customer (plus a whole bunch of others obviously on break over in the corner.). My sales critter was upset that I'd managed to get that far without filling out their "computer configuration" sheet. So he went hunting for Native Guy'd (or so he claimed) and passed me over to Sales Table Critter 2.

Sales Table Critter 2 hands me the "computer configuration" sheet.

I said "I just want the computer" several times. Said I didn't need anything. Just wanted the computer. I was told I HAD to fill it out (it was name/address, etc info - apparently for their 'Geek Squad' to sell services.) Said if Best Buy wanted my name I had a Best Buy Rewards card and they could get my name from that.

Managed to escape without filling out the form. Got another Guy'd (more upscale, manager type) who took me over to a free register.

The clerk asked me if I wanted a service contract/extra warrantee. I just wanted the computer.

So I paid for it. $449 for a tiny laptop running Windows XP. And I left.

So... 6 people and 30 minutes to sell me a computer that I could have picked off a shelf.

Was it worth saving $49 in tax? Hmm... we'll see.

Oh yeah... stopped at the liquor store on the way home. Used some of the money I saved to restock the liquor cabinet. The nice young lady (can I say that? She was cute/half my age. Just BARELY old enough to work there) was very friendly. Much better customer service experience.

Verdict? We'll see. The keys are much smaller than my Powerbook (the last of the 12" powerbooks). It's like typing on my iPod touch - except the keys are mechanical.

I wonder how well it'll run Mac OS X (probably 10.4? It isn't a fast computer.)

So... this weekend (which for some odd reason started at 12:01AM Friday morning here in TN) is the annual Tax free Holiday (1 - 2 weeks before school starts) in TN. A big deal when your local sales tax is almost 10%.

But not everything is tax free this weekend.

Basically - clothes < $100, school supplies < $100, and computers < $1,500. School stuff.

I already have too many computers, and the T lives in NH which doesn't tax such things anyway, but I thought I would check the mini-laptop from Asus now that Best Buy has the 9" ones in stock for $449 (I need a replacement for my old Powerbook with the 12" screen (the MacBooks feel too big with their 13.3" wide screens) but that isn't why I would get this one).

So I went to Best Buy at lunch...

I'd forgotten they have the most customer unfriendly setup for events like this. They basically put up walls around their computer area and you have to sign up/stand in line just to get in to BROWSE. And they have 5 sales-critters per customer!!! Which means not much room for CUSTOMERS. You know, the people who MIGHT want to buy something.

Well... If I could have gotten in without that hassle? The Asus is perfect "impulse Buy" for me.

But as soon as I saw the setup... I knew I didn't have the time
to deal so I left.

So... that was a crappy experience. What about online? You can buy one and they'll let you pick it up in-store. Okay...

Except this is 'tax free weekend' and their on-line store still charges TAXES! So I backed out of that one...

So not worth the effort... so not getting money from me today!

(Just a side note -- Apple sent me a nice notice about this weekend. I can order things FROM the Apple Store and they won't charge me taxes on the appropriate items. Why can't Best Buy do that?)

Ever noticed how some music sounds better if you can't understand the words? Like that whole "exotic is cool" thing that got a lot of us into anime?

Or maybe it's just me.

"Spirited Away" is one of my favorite Miyazaki movies - and the only one I've managed to see in an actual movie theater. There's a song on the soundtrack. I believe it's the only one with someone singing (the rest are instrumental). In Japanese - to me it sounds like some sad/emotional song. In English -- if I remember the translation correctly -- I think it's about picking flowers or something equally innocuous.

Oh.. the point?

I wanted to buy an album by Mio Isayama from iTunes. She has a nice voice. Very soothing. In Japanese. Which I don't understand. (Which might make her sound better to me than she actually is. See above example.) iTunes has that annoying policy - you can only buy music available in the iTunes store in your own country. She has over a dozen albums out in the past couple years. But only one of them is on iTunes in the US store. And I already have it. I guess I could get it from Amazon . com as an import ($60!!!) but I don't want it THAT badly. Borders has a different album by her (also as an import) for only $40.

More than I want to pay... and I don't think Apple/iTunes is going to add an album by a little known (in the US) Japanese singer to the US listings just for me. Even if I did politely request it. Even if I do spend a large chunk of $$ thru Apple on a yearly basis (for assorted reasons.)

Saw this in a blog comment:

Matthew, Chapter 6, Verses 1, 5-6:

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
.... And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Context? Some elected official in some state in the US thinks Christians should be allowed to brag about their faith on their license plates. (But only the Christians.) So... bumper stickers and crosses and that fish symbol aren't enough?

WWJD? I'm thinking can of spray paint. He seemed to be into that whole 'acts, not words' (aka 'Doing, not bragging') thing. He hated banks, organized religion, and hypocrites (Does that make Jesus un-American?)

I don't think putting God (in any form) on a license plate is going to get you to heaven any faster unless you try to run over a bunch of gun toting Neo-pagans with it at a Samhain parade.

Dear LJ,

I haven't forgotten that you exist. Every day on my way in to work or heading home I think something that I think would amuse other people. But by the time I get out of my car I've forgotten it.

And my blog isn't competition. My blog is where my stories go. Where I have more control over format. And I pay. You, my little lj, are free. And free things aren't so urgent.

But I promise to write more. To send you the little snippets of things not deep enough for anywhere else.

Saw this in a blog comment. I've heard this before but I can't remember who said it originally.

“Those who don’t understand UNIX are doomed to reimplement it. Poorly.”