Archive for March, 2005

Today brings two things that make me happy

31 March 2005 - 09:30 pm
  1. I downloaded Bitstream Vera Sans from Gnome. Finally I have a monospaced font that I can read on screen. Goodbye monaco.
  2. GIMPShop was released, bringing Photoshop-like controls to The GIMP.

World Beard and Mustache Championships

30 March 2005 - 09:10 pm

There are some great pictures at the World Beard and Mustache Championships site. The Germans seem to dominate however. I like Willi Chevalier’s partial beard, freestyle. Also see Jürgen Burghardt and his championship winning stylings.

I think that this raises a question that I have been pondering for some time now - if one is capable of growing such a mustache, should one be obligated to grow one? I tend to think so. Ironic mustaches don’t count.

PostSecret

30 March 2005 - 06:47 pm

I heard a segment about PostSecret on NPR while I was driving home from Bedford this afternoon. It reminds me of my letter never sent project that I did for sculpture when I was at Wake. Only this is better executed.

Meeting

30 March 2005 - 08:37 am

As I sit here in Ocean at 8:37 on a Wednesday morning, Jambalaya sits not 15 feet away at his usual table. He is apparently carrying on some kind of business meeting.

The most alarming aspect of this encounter: (ironically not that he has chosen to carry on a business meeting in Ocean) he is not wearing a hat.

I’m loving these hypocritical politicians

29 March 2005 - 07:27 pm

Sixteen years ago, Tom DeLay let his comatose father die.

When his father’s kidneys failed, the DeLay family decided against connecting him to a dialysis machine. “Extraordinary measures to prolong life were not initiated,” said his medical report, citing “agreement with the family’s wishes.” His bedside chart carried the instruction: “Do not resuscitate.”

Light reading

28 March 2005 - 07:57 pm

The other day I read the 115 part tome of one guy’s fight with a large corporation and its lawyers at TaubmanSucks.com. I didn’t read the details of all the motions and briefs, etc., but I did read enough to gain a new perspective on the American legal system. Things I learned:

  • Lawyers (at least those in this case) are titanically arrogant and condescending.
  • Lawyers lie when not under oath (come to think of it, are they ever under oath?).
  • Lawyers like to wrangle over minute details (more hours equals more money).
  • There are good people doing pro bono work.
  • There is some sanity (he won finally).

The concept is nauseating

27 March 2005 - 10:00 pm

I think that McDonalds really blew it with their McGriddles fiasco. They blew it not because the concept is nauseating (which it is) but because of the name. What’s the singular of McGriddles? Why it’s McGriddles?

Am I to go into a McDonalds and order a McGriddles? What if I want more than one? Then it’s McGriddles as well. What a grammatical disaster they have created.