what passes for snow

The accident count from yesterday’s trip back from DC (where the roads were much worse):

8 SUVs

6 cars

1 pickup

1 taxi

1 “articulated lorry”

1 police car

The police car got stuck turning around in the median and managed to stop traffic in both lanes and had to be pulled out by the Marshall fire department. They all leaned out the window and gave the embarrassed cop the golf clap as they drove by, before pulling him out – it was hilarious.

DC

Here I am in dc - naturally everyone I know in town is in H-burg. But hey - upside Star Wars is on HBO.

Here are some important things to know: Worst Movie Ever - Ghost Rider

However, I am reading a biography of the same title by the former Rush drummer Neil Peart and that is very good.

Dystopian Nirvana

Today's book (the eponymous Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas) was both a joy and a disappointment. The joy came from Chuck's extremely enjoyable style and ability to tell a amazing tale. Chuck is to non-fiction cultural criticism what the other Chuck (Palahniuk) is to tales of the obscure portions of our fictive subconcious. The less than enjoyable part was that this book is made up of (with one notable section) articles that have already appeared in print.

The book is broken up into three parts, Things that are true (interviews with music celebs), Things that might be true (opinion pieces), and Things that aren't true (the one original piece of somewhat interesting fiction). In general the interviews and opinion pieces are interesting and informative, although there are too many of the former, and not enough of the latter. His opinions are interesting, and the little set-ups that he writes before each piece are worth the price of admission. The work of fiction was interesting, although nothing earth-shattering.

It is a good book, although I liked Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs much better.

Another book, and it's about time

I'm fairly certain I haven't reviewed this book yet, but considering my uncertainty I'll make the review brief. If you've been following the news in the past few months you may have noticed that Warren Jeffs, the leader of a huge polygamous cult in the southwest was arrested and is being tried for statutory rape. Generally I'm pretty open to people's beliefs, but this guy is a real piece of work. Krakauer's book explores the extra-legal society that exists around Colorado City, Arizona and about murders that were committed by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. The book is engaging as well as frightening in it's examination of fundamentalism as a whole. The book did however receive some pretty strong condemnation from the more mainstream section of the LDS church, which is not too surprising, but is unfortunate. (see here)



Currently listening to: (possibly my favorite cd of the moment)



Currently reading:

News of the surreal

So yesterday, while riding to work with my occasional housemate Craig, we had the not so unusual experience of traveling behind a dilapidated old pickup with two adults and a collection of children in it. Despite carrying passengers on a public road it did not have a license plate, which is still not so unusual here at the back end of nowhere. The unusual thing had to do with the exhaust. Apparently the engine was only firing occasionally, which caused intermittent blue exhaust punctuated by perfect smoke rings being lofted into the air. It was almost like a cartoon.

(p.s. if this shows up twice it's because bloggers email posting service seems to be on the blink again...)

Nick - you are so right

The latest replay of America’s worst intelligence disasters has begun.  Version 2.0 replaces the word Iraq with the word Iran.

 

There’s an interesting article by George Lakoff out there about the renaming of escalation to “surge”  - go read it.  He’s more interesting than I am, or at least more wordy.

 

http://www.alternet.org/story/48059/

 

 

 

 

 

NY is the place to live (if you can't get to VT)

Unfortunately my voter card says VA.

 

All we got was three inches of white concrete which was amazingly slippery (shutting down 81 and 64), those of you in NY (EEP) are much to be envied.

 

At night I have dreams of nice powder – that’s the only time I’m likely to see real snow here in VA.

 

Books again

Two books that I’ve been reading recently, the first a wonderfully told account of both Marconi’s wireless and the Crippen murder case in Edwardian England. I enjoyed this nearly as much as Devil in the White City, although it did have more points where the story suffered for readability. Having a very loose remembrance of what the Crippen murder was really about, this offered a great opportunity to remind myself how appalling it must have been to the upper-classes of London. The offhand references to the build-up before WWI are also interesting, perhaps this is where the next Larson book will come from.

The second book, a more light-hearted, but equally engaging account of hitchhiking around Ireland with a fridge (which you could probably gather from the title) was a gift from Tara. She apparently knows me well as I enjoyed the book immensely. Unlike most books I’ve been reading recently this second book did not necessarily teach me anything of great import, but was a fine read nonetheless.

The end of the world is nigh!

So we got an inch of ice today – which means there are about 4 of us at work.  Actually I should be home too, since the roads were atrocious, but since we don’t have internet and we get about 30 seconds of vacation a year – here I am at work.

 

The real reason that it is the end of the world is that Brock Yates, founder of the Cannonball Run ( and libertarian extraordinaire was a commentator on NPR this morning.  The juxtaposition of ideologies was quite strong (in my mind at least, since he really didn’t say anything controversial).

 

 

 

Your Zim fan on a Dell..... har har zim fan dell....

Yikes – Zimbabwe’s inflation is nearing 1600% - that’s hugely, massively, unbelievably bad.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6354783.stm

 

See Tara's Blog

I can’t agree more with both of Tara’s assertions:

1. Blanche and Bill’s closing is the worst news ever.

2. Yes, we should go into the pancake business.

 

 

 

 

 

it may be colder in Ithaca, Eep

…. But you are far closer to all that wonderful white stuff at my parents’ cabin in Oswego (7 ft, oh my!!!)

 

Oh and credit is due on that last photo – it was Tara who took it, not me…

 

 

 

Hey hey

Yes, my commute is surreal and beautiful. Although it is often beautiful it is probably not as beautiful as Vermont, and there's really no Blanche and Bill's option here. I wish I had a picture of the snow on my computer here, but alas, the springtime sun will have to do.

Snow day (finally) - not that EMU was cancelled

Things I saw on the way to work:
- the roads, VDOT was kind enough to scrape down to the point where it
forms a layer of ice an inch thick instead of just leaving the sticky
powder or actually plowing to the blacktop - but of course that would
actually damage the plows they only use once a year anyway and at this
pace should outlast plastic diapers in landfills. Oh and God forbid
anyone use sand around here.
- an accident that shut down the road and forced us to take all unplowed
dirt roads to work, which was fun... no I'm serious, it was.
- a propane truck fishtailing towards me (I think I need new shorts)
- a truck full of turkeys (not the president's tour bus although that
twit is in town too, but an actual truck full of turkeys) slide into a
corner and almost hit a gas station (again with the shorts).
- an 80 year old lady (at least) looking out through the 2 square inches
of scraped window and not seeing my attempt to get her to turn around
before the accident.
- my 60+ year old scary recluse neighbor in her nightgown shoveling off
her porch - eek.

All this while listening to NPR and hearing someone from the Justice
Dept. saying, in effect, that public corruption was job #1. I think
they meant that prosecuting corruption was job #1, but the Freudian slip
may be more correct.

Funniest thing so far today....

The best line to hear on NPR on the drive to work:

 

“Nobody tells this wookie what to do.”

 

 

 

OK OK

Some people (NICK) are a bit touchy about their cartoon cultural icons.  Hey, I thought it was a joke too.  Apparently someone (NICK) is a little defensive of their oddly named and interestingly drawn fictional characters.  Perhaps it’s the subliminal connection to fast food.

 

 

By the way, the football game last night was horrible.  And I’m not even going to talk about the downfall of commercial marketing, the sub 60 IQs of the commentators, or what strange crypt from the 1980s they found Prince and his sartorially stunted dancers in.  It was disappointing on all levels, well, except for the food we ate and friends we watched it with. 

 

 

 

bomb threat?!

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/2007/02/01/hoax01x200.jpg

 

Take a look at the image and see if it looks like a bomb to you.

 

To me it looks like a funny box drawing made out of a lite-brite giving the finger, but then again it’s a bad photo….