Free Speech or Geek Speech

Should I take a stand with Denmark in their battle for free speech? Vote yes or no in the comments.

God's Teeth Whitbread!

This post is a question for Mike, but the whole internet could benefit from his answer.
I'm reading The Mote in God's Eye" since that is on your favorite book list in your profile. I'm through most of it, and it's good reading as I would have expected, but what is up with the swearing inthe 31st century? God's teeth? What is that?

I have never read any Niven before, so I'm unsure what to think. The book was written in '74 so it shows some age; like the Russians are still in there. And there are a lot of Catholics floating around the cosmos. Not sure I get that. I also keep looking for the Mexicans and Chinese, but nadda. In every battle scene in every movie, someone always has to shout, "Argh! They got Sanchez!" He was a plucky fellow, but you know he'd never make it out alive. Interesting how Niven bucks this trend.

What say you? And don't give away the ending since I have 150 pages left.

Has it come to this?

Ronald takes it for team USA. 

Hog Wild

I think I found a great gift for Erika.

Mysteries of the Publishing Industry

Could someone please explain to me exactly why it is necessary to publish a graphic novel (i.e. comic book) in audio format? On cassette, no less! If your goal was to confuse Amazon.com shoppers into purchasing a useless product then, I guess that might be the way to go. Or, if the idea is to make Amazon.com shoppers think "why the !*&#$ is this book making noise?" when unpacking it, then you've got yourself a product. Otherwise, I'm at a loss.

Straight to Hell

If you are like me & Jason and know you have no shot of making it to Heaven, click here and have some fun. If you think you might still have a shot (K-man), it's probably best to just move on by.

Movie Review: The 40 Year Old Virgin

Note to readers: this review is based on the unrated DVD version of the movie.

Andy is a 40-year old guy with a pretty good life. He has a good job at a Circuit City clone, a house full of action figures and video games, and good neighbors he watches Survivor with. The one thing lacking is, as you may have surmised from the title, a woman in his life. Ever. He missed his chance when he was younger, and now has simply given up and resigned himself to his life of lonliness.

Wacky hijinks ensue when Andy's buddies find out his closely guarded secret. They proceed to take him on a tour of modern dating which involves picking up drunk chicks in a bar, speed dating, and chest waxing. All in an effort to introduce Andy to the mysteries of love. Along the way, Andy meets Trish, a divorced mother of three. After a rough dating start, Trish suggests that they postpone sex until they know each other better. Andy, who is worried about revealing his virginity, eagerly agrees. Eventually Andy grows up and has a mature, honest relationship with Trish. In parallel with Andy, his buddies also go from different but equally immature lives, to accepting adult responsibility.

This is a really funny movie on many levels, and has the one ingredient that makes a movie like this more than just a raunchy comedy: Lovable characters. Andy is good guy stuck in a rut and his buddies are genuinely concerned about him and want to help. His friends, a "player", a pothead, and a guy obsessing over a two-year old breakup, provide much comedy as well as a look at guys who are just as stuck in childhood as Andy, but in different ways.

Another strength is the movie's minor characters. From Linda the store manager, to Mooj the Pakistani salesman, to the women Andy tries to hookup with, all provide some great comedy moments.

While the movie is sure to offend nearly everyone with its relentless harsh language, racial and sexual stereotypes, and gratuitous sex and nudity, it is a very well done comedy.

The extras on the DVD are worth watching as well. They are all deleted scenes and extensions of scenes and are funny also. I didn't listen to all of the director and cast commentary, but it was interesting to hear them talk about how much of the movie was ad libbed, including the "I know you're gay" scene which actually went on much longer, and the scene where Andy and Cal compare weekends.

Rating: 5 stars - 1 star(no Salma) + 1 star(for making me laugh out loud) - 1/2 star(showing naked women but no really good looking ones) = 4.5 stars

Most disturbing part of the movie: How much Andy's apartment resembled my house.

How do I know you're gay? Because you were in the Spanish Armada.

A hobby? An investment? An obsession...

Here's the perfect chance to combine all 3 things. We could all chip in our lunch money to buy and keep at Mike's house of course.

Just in Time for Valentine's Day

Send a special valentine to the nerd you love.

Things in das basement?

The library has a few books for children donated by the local German Language Association.This particular page has the theme of "things in the basement". Is it just me, or is there something hanging on the wall that looks a lot like a human bone? The bear with the maniacal grin and lab coat is creepy enough, but a human bone? Isn't dat veerd? 

Thou shalt be throttled

Have you guys experienced any throttling lately?

I doubt if Mike has it in him to approach the kind of volume required to approach the limit, but there are many layers to the onion we call "Mike". Who knows what really goes on back at the ranch?

Also, taking several evenings to watch a 2 hour movie could impede a budding movie review career. Agree or disagree?

Speaking of Iceland and Ducks

How about Germany and penguins. My favorite line: "But of course we accept the male couples that have formed and we are not trying to enforce heterosexuality, as we were accused of doing last year."

Fun at the Office

Here are some pictures of things to do when your co-workers go on vacation (or to a meeting). Whoever thought these up must have been a product engineer. Too bad they don't have a picture of someone's desk three inches off the floor. Now that would be funny.

Iceland - A Sitting Duck

Guys,
I found a website with a plethora of international statistical information. For example, if you were wondering about the per capita spending on defense check this out.

One glance at that chart, and the solution to the mid-east crisis came to me. Israel needs to invade and occupy Iceland. How can those Scandinavians expect to spend $0 per capita on defense and not have their free-loving heathen lifestyles come to a crashing end at any moment? The Israelis, on the other hand, could use a place to hang out for a few more centuries till things cool down. Preferably some place where you can spot swarthy people in abnormally bulky clothing coming at you from a great distance.

You know what? I bet the Israelis could take Iceland with no more than a half-chewed swizzle stick and a stern look. Maybe not even that. They could just show up and say, "Hey, trade ya! Here's some sun block, have at it."

Problem solved. Next!

A City Deflated (still working through the 5 stages)

The Seahawk's loss was taken hard out here in the emerald city. From that Friday on, it seemed everyone was wearing the colors. The people at the bank, the dentist, the grocery store. Maybe we did care!? Perhaps we all thought that with a Superbowl win we could take a break from having to explain to outsiders that no it does not rain here all the time, and we could say something else like, yes, the Seahawks are really good! It would have been at least something else.

During my drive to work this morning, I listened to the local sports radio station for the first time ever. They were going over Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' 5 stages of grief. I had to laugh! I remember studying this at Seattle U! And I remember it from the chart the TI counsellors showed as well. I remember back in 1998 thinking - No thanks lady, I don't need to see the grief chart; I'm from Seattle. Got it memorized!

But it's time to move on. Back to our quaint provincialism. Back to the cute little things like puzzling over expanding the monorail, preventing the Space Needle from being blown up by terrorists, or doing a mock terrorist speed boat attack against a Washington State ferry. And of course there is the usual tsunami, volcanic event, and earthquake all poised to smite the whole wine and cheese party out here.

Anyway, lemme get back to my camera. As Mike asked me to do when I moved out here, I'm supposed to be taking lots of before pictures. Keeps me busy. ;-)

The K-man's Living Room

Recently, Bothan spies have penetrated Kmac's NSA-like security and brought us this picture of his home theater setup. Click here for the full 3-D tour.