December 24, 2002
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to one and all. I hope you get what you don't deserve, have more fun than you ought to, do something for somebody else you wouldn't otherwise do, and think about things you normally don't. Its' a special time of year, after all.
December 23, 2002
Not Just A Sealant And Beauty Aid Anymore
You knew it was going to happen one day. A woman in Brazil was saved by her breast implants. It seems her falsies slowed up a bullet that would have otherwise been fatal. What makes it newsworthy is that the plastic surgeon who was called in to fix the mess went ahead and gave her larger implants. The woman was happy because she says she looks even more beautiful. It just makes me wonder, do they charge by size and she couldn't afford ones as big as she wanted the first time?
Where's the UN?
North Korea has removed the seals and disabled the monitoring cameras the IAEA placed upon nuclear facilities as part of the 1994 agreement to abandon its nuclear weapon program (which North Korea now admits it secretly violated). The only point in doing so is to reprocess the spent fuel into plutonium based nuclear bombs. What's the UN response? It deplores the action. No word on what it's going to do about it. Of course, all eyes are on Washington DC to find out what George Bush is going to do about it, not on Kofi Annan. Why would they be - without a real military to back it up, the UN is limited to making tut-tut noises and issuing bland statements. Heck, the new President of South Korea said that his country might remain neutral in a conflict between the US and North Korea - which I guess means he'd be happy for the US to eliminate the crazy dictator to the North, he just prefer that North Korea not kill any of South Koreans in the process.
We're assured by many people reluctant or opposed to attacking Iraq that what we need there is clear evidence that Iraq is intending to build weapons of mass destruction in violation of agreements and binding UN resolutions, and then they would support a war. Will they support war as an option against North Korea, which we believe to already possess two nuclear bombs and is trying to build more in violation of UN monitored agreements?
December 20, 2002
December 19, 2002
Roh Wins in South Korea
Roh Moo-hyun won South Korea's presidential election today. Roh's platform was to do something about the huge industrial conglomerates in South Korea as well as continuing a reconciliation policy with North Korea. It appears the economic issues were the more important factor for the voters, who are accustomed to an erratic, belligerant North Korea. And let's face it, nationalism is generally popular within any country; typically only elites ever adopt the odd anti-nationalist stance.
Why Do I Bother
I can't compete: Barney, the White House dog, drew millions of viewers to the White House website for his Holiday Webcam show (warning: direct link), according to CNN (Warning: terrible puns).
Lileks can compete with gnat-cam; but if people turned into Trooper-cam (my dog), all they'd see is either close-ups of spots where other dogs have done their business (lots and lots of tree trunks) while he's on a walk; the view out our front picture window as he keeps vigil; and the view of his tail while he's curled up under our bed or on the couch while he's sleeping.
The Demise of the Sonic Cruiser
The Seattle Times is reporting that Boeing is planning on stopping work on the Sonic Cruiser and instead focus on a plane that is cheaper to operate. The selling point of the Sonic Cruiser was to be its speed - a cruise speed of Mach 0.95. With the airline business in the tank, Boeing will instead work towards a plane that is 15-20% cheaper to build and operate. Cheaper operation will come primarily improved peformance from weight reductions; lower drag and better engine performance will no doubt be part of the equation, but there isn't a lot of improvement to be made there.
Amazing Race 3 - The End
The Race is over, and Flo and Zach won. After Zach carried Flo, not letting her quit in the second to last leg, she should give him all the money. I suppose one of the things I like about the show is how its about people in pressure situations. And Flo crumpled like a cheap suit whenever the going got tough, while Zach not only had to deal with the situation, but with a crybaby five year old in a woman's body. You have to wonder what Flo thinks when watching the show - does she cringe right along with us? Hopefully my wife will tape the interview on the Morning Show so I can clutter up my mind with more trivia, oops I mean find closure on the whole sorry spectacle.
It would have been nice if Ken and Gerard had won, as they seemed to be a couple of nice guys; I would have been OK with Terry and Ian who, to my amazement, got better and nicer as the race went on. It ground down some of the teams (see Flo), but Terry and Ian seemed to get stronger and nicer as the race went on. Yes, they had annoying tics (hey Ian, just once couldn't you have put on your reading glasses and read the clue?), but he did stop wearing that goofy hat, he cut back on the yelling and bellowing, he did the road blocks instead of making Terry do them, and they did far better than any other married couple on the show -- the marrieds have had a pretty dismal performance record. Instead, we got uber-geek Zach -- the headband and light was even more annoying than Ian's goofy hat -- and crybaby Flo (an even odder couple than Oscar and Felix). The race isn't always to the swift blah blah blah life isn't fair yada yada yada there's always next season.
I like all the home improvement shows in part because I'd like to improve my house into a mansion, but I don't have the money so I'm contented to do so vicariosly through TV strangers. I like to travel, so it's fun to watch a show with all the travel in it that Amazing Race has. The contestants have all the stress, I actually get to enjoy the sights and sounds, but unfortunately they get the experience (and the money).
The race part is fun, but lets face it, there is a huge element of luck to it. Often elemination or victory comes down to the taxi driver, or the helpful stranger on the street. The format constantly levels the playing field as the participants bunch at airports or locations that have set operating hours. It makes for good TV as no lead is permanent; really it isn't one big race, but thirteen separate ones. That's enough analysis - it's only a TV show.
December 17, 2002
Fastest Supercomputer
Japan now has the fastest supercomputer in the world now. It's five times faster than next fastest supercomputer, so now we're behind in a supercomputer race with Japan. It's used to perform weather modeling. I'm not expecting local weather forecasts to get any better (for instance, the rain that yesterday was supposed to arrive late tonight was here when I woke up); the computational results are still only as good as our understanding. All computers are the same - they do exactly what you tell them to do, not what you want them to do.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick's classic novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, was made into the movie Bladerunner. In order to make the movie, a lot of the book was left out. Movies are short stories, not novels. Sadly, the movie doesn't really capture the question that Dick posed throughout his work: "what is real?", although it did do a reasonably good job at capturing the "what is human?" question specific to the book. I'm only bringing this up because my boss mentioned that he was buying an electric dog for his kids for Christmas. In the book, people were expected to have pets; because there weren't enough animals to go around, many people had to have electronic pets, like Rick Deckard, hero of the novel, who owns an electric sheep. Well, Sony has electronic dogs, that exhibit dog like behavior. The more you pay, the better the behavior, although the also have models that take pictures for later viewing and such. The more expensive ones apparently will even recharge themselves. Despite the work, we'll be sticking with the natural one we have.
We all know and love Google. Wired has an interesting article about the king of internet searches. It nicely covers some of the issues that Google has had to confront - lawsuits by the Church of Scientology, a ban in China, site blocking in Europe. Google hasn't stood on principle, but conformed to what many in the tech community considers bad law, or worked with China. And I think rightly so -- they have to work inside the law, and freedom in China is probably better served through a politically limited internet than no internet at all. But interestingly enough, Google will accept ads from porno sites, but not from liquor or tobacco sites. Some businesses are more equal than others.
December 16, 2002
20 Year Reunion
My 20 year college reunion was this year. I was too busy (and too cheap) to go. The organizers were kind enough to send me for free the reunion book wherein each class member got a page to tell of their post-Stanford life. I was too busy to write. You were only supposed to get the book for free if you contributed. I've been too busy to do more than glance through it and try to look up a few people. That's the difference five years makes in your life - five years ago I both contributed to the book and read it cover to cover. Now, the Fruit of the Murphy Loins are five years older (I feel only about six months older) and that makes all the difference. Free time? That's the moment between when I collapse in a mindless heap having finished all that I can do at the end of the day and when I drag myself off to bed to be ready to start the process over the next day. Getting up in the morning represents the triumph of hope over experience. The contributors to the 15 year reunion book fell into two broad categories with two exceptions - those who were bragging about how wonderful their lives were, those who were relating how awful life had turned out, and the exceptions were Steve Minsuk and I. Besides me, there wasn't any middle ground. And Steve Minsuk, in a case of family name foreshadowing, is now Sharon. And the really weird thing is I knew him - we had Freshman English class together.
A couple of things struck me about the contributers to the 20 year reunion book. One is that my children are older than the great majority, which is weird because I'm a year or two younger than my classmates, and I got a late start with women. Oh, there were a few, like the Frykmans, who married right after college and so got a headstart on kids. But most of us waited to get married, and then waited to have children. My first first Fruit ripened when I was 29. My classmates seemingly waited even longer. The other thing that struck me is how many of my female classmates chucked successful careers to stay home with their children. I'm taking about smart, ambitious women who grew up hearing that staying at home was a dead end, who went to an elite university, who had high paying, powerful jobs. And then they had children, and after much agonizing, they decided they'd rather work in their home than at the office. Page after page of how "I used to be a partner at , but now I'm happier staying home with the kids." Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of my female classmates kicking butt in the career department; I'm just surprised by how many prefer to wipe butt than kick it.
North Korea - Hub of Axis of Evil?
Both North Korea and Bill Clinton are at it again. North Korea has decided that as long as they aren't going to abide by some of their agreement with us, they aren't going to abide by any of it, and so have restarted their plutonium based nuclear program and are telling the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to take a hike. They also are telling the world that their army is ready to fight a death defying battle and deliver bitter defeat and death to the United States. One thing you have two admire about communist countries is their colorful language. Democratically elected politicians try to speak in the blandest of terms; repressive regimes get to let it all hang out, rhetorically speaking. But that's the only thing I can admire about the government of North Korea (or any other communist government), which has provided a stark contrast in the importance of political systems with South Korea. Whatever else you want to say about the Korean War, (or the Vietnam War, for that matter), history has clearly shown we were on theright side.
And Bill Clinton continues his Cliff Clavin routine by claiming that he had a plan to destroy North Korea's nuclear reactor. Just like he left behind a detailed plan to deal with al Qaeda in the oval office that George Bush somehow misplaced. The contents of that memo can now be revealed: "Do as I will say, not as I did. PS Whatever you do, don't send Jimmy!" The really interesting part of this is that Clinton is saying he would have gone to war with North Korea over their nuclear program - which is what George Bush is saying in regards to Iraq. Maybe it isn't the oil, maybe it's the mushroom cloud, stupid.
Iran, not wanting to be left out of the axis of evil, is building their own nuclear facilities. Strictly for power generation according to Iran, but they did forget to mention it to the IAEA, and they have postponed inspections after the IAEA asked them what they were doing. But who am I to doubt the official Iranian statements when North Korea seems downright proud of its double dealing?
So many lying, conniving, murdering regimes, so few Marines.
Why I'm Not A Feminist
As I've grown older, I've changed my mind about many subjects. Generally, as a callow youth I accepted the prevailing theories only to discard them when over time I was confronted with experience that contradicted them. When I started college, I considered myself a Feminist. Women, who were the exact same as men, were unfairly not being accorded all the rights and respect that they should. Organized Feminism was the answer. My Sophomore year, that changed.
I attended a lecture by Catherine McKinnon and Andrea Dworkin with a couple of female Feminist friends. It was made abundantly clear that I, by being a man, was the problem. Male sexuality was pretty much the root of all evil. Let me say that when sometime later I heard that the two women were lesbian lovers, I was not surprised. Afterwards, when the two Feminists were enthusiastic about the lecture, that ended my days as a Feminist. I clearly had the wrong equipment for the team. Feminism as a fetish has gone on to ever increasing heights of loopiness.
Even though I got off the big F bus, I still consider myself a small f feminist. By that I mean that women are equals, but not identical, and should be treated legally and socially as such. Women should be able to chose what they want to do with their lives. But all that nonsense about the patriarchy and abortion being the most important civil right and women are still second class citizens and pretty much all of Organized Feminism and Academic Feminism -- bleah. Let's face it, feminism won some time ago and it's time to disband the armies of Feminism. The cures that Feminism now demands are worse than the mild and/or imaginary ills they combat.
December 15, 2002
St. Louis Christmas Lights
Our family enjoys Christmas light displays. In the Saint Louis area, there are three big displays -- Winter Wonderland in Tilles Park (McKnight Road just south of 64/40); The Way of Lights at the Our Lady of the Snows Shrine in Belleville, off of highway 15 just east of I-255; and Santa's Magical Kingdom which is on I-44's north outer road just west of Six Flags in Eureka. We've seen all three and enjoued them immensely.
But there are smaller displays put on by individual homeowners we like to visit, too. Some favorites have gone dim over the years, but we keep visiting favorites and explore looking for new ones. On Kinsale just west of Dougherty Ferry there is a very nice display - you can see it from Dougherty Ferry and there backyard display seen reflecting in the lake is pretty cool. A house on the corner of Oaktree crossing and Greenfield crossing (near the intersection of Big Bend and Sulfur Springs) is unlike any other I've seen. For one thing, they have their own radio station (101.5 I think); many of the light displays are synchronized with the music, and the guy makes his own unique light displays. A nearby street -- Red Oak Plantation -- is another annual destination for us. The houses all have big wrap around front porches and just about every house on the dead end street puts on an elegant light display. A house at the corner of Pierside and Morning Oaks (just east of Old State Road) puts on a display that's over the top. Way over the top. This corner lot is packed to the gills with every lighted decoration on the market.
Please share any favorite St. Louis area light displays in the comment section -- we'd love to check it out.
UPDATE: It's been a few years since we've had the time to drive around, so the information above may be out of date. I'm also including info from the comments from 2003 below, and this too might be out of date. So please feel free to share both your favorites or if any of the ones listed here are no longer on display in the comments section.
A big thanks to Linda Hansen for her list.
And Isiah Angeli left the following comment in 2007 on a different post:
wow there's this house at on Starview Dr off of Kerth and (I-55 SOUTH ) butler hill and they put up joy they have a home made star a nativity set and lights every way you look.
December 12, 2002
Penultimate Amazing Race 3
I'll have to put up with Flo's yelling and complaining for another 2 hours. Why couldn't Zach still be stuck in the line at customs? Why couldn't John Vito and Jill have made it this far? There was a couple that knew the value of silence. Is it just me, or are Terry and Ian arguing less as the race goes on? Maybe they are too tired or something, but they seem to be working much better together - Ian's actually stepping up to do the road blocks and such. Since Terry showed us her paper undies, they've been a whole different team. My wife for some strange reason was bummed that the twins got eliminated. That leave me with Ken and Gerard, the other brothers, to root for. Actually, with Aaron and Ariane gone, the only person I can't root for is Flo. Next week, the the grand finale.
The Sims
My daughter is a big fan of The Sims. Sometime back she described the game to me hoping I'd play it too. I asked her if I had to tell my sims when to eat, when to go to the bathroom, when to clean up after themselves, and when to go bed. Yes she replied, and added you even have to tell them what to wear. Sorry I said, but that's too much like being a parent. I guess that's why it's so popular with the teenage crowd - while they may still be under mom and dad's thumb, at least they can have complete control over a sim. She did persuade me to build a sim house - that's more like what I want out of a game.
Now The Sims are going online. I've never gone the online gaming route -- not even with Diablo -- mainly due to a strong fear of getting my butt whipped by a nine year old kid who has the time to devote to games I can't play as much as I want, but still play too much of. I suppose it will be different with The Sims since, as far as I can tell, there's no way to get your butt whipped. I'm sure there is, and no doubt it will be in such a way that teenagers will pick up on it immediately, but us oldfolks will never divine. Like Phil used to say, be careful out there.
World Opinion
I'm a little late coming to the party about the Pew Research Center's Global Attitude Survey. My feeling, expressed by many others, is who cares what other countries think? We should do what we think is right, not give into peer pressure. However, plenty of people think this means we are too rich and powerful. To which I respond, this means we're not rich and powerful enough. The big complaint seems to be that
"Many people around the world, especially in Europe and the Middle East/Conflict Area, believe the U.S. does not take into account the interests of their country when making international policies. Majorities in most countries also see U.S. policies as contributing to the growing gap between rich and poor nations and believe the United States does not do the right amount to solve global problems."If the United States was rich and powerful enough, we could give up any worries about our own well being, share the wealth with everybody else, and never bother to advance our own interests. As it is, we act like other countries and take care of number one first. I think we do look out for the common good more than most other countries (I'm in the American majority here). Let's face it, the problem with the world isn't that America isn't liked enough, the problem is the rest of the world isn't enough like America.
