Month: June 2003 (Page 6 of 7)

Words mean things – or maybe not

Did you hear the latest 1984-esque, war-is-peace salvo from the Bush administration? New government rules that make it easier for logging companies to cut down trees without environmental studies are part of the adminstration’s “Healthy Forests Initiative.” It’s a plan that has been roundly criticized by not only environmentalists, but also firefighters. But say to the American public, “We’re passing a ‘Healthy Forests Initiative,” and they think, hey, maybe those Republicans aren’t so bad after all. They love trees!

Words have tremendous power, and this administration has been scarily talented in wielding that power, despite the borderline autism of The Prez.

They really have no shame, do they?

Grinding Nemo

I found this story (via MetaFilter) to be hilariously funny. But then, I’m a sick bastard.

Is it just me, or does this headline remind anyone else of “O.J. Vows to Find Real Killer”?

Saw Amy Sedaris on Letterman tonight – she’s so funny I can’t breathe. (I don’t normally watch Letterman, but my brain was vibrating seriously from playing Halo with Mike VS and Sparky for several hours.) This is going to sound strange, but I was struck by how pretty she was. My only other exposure to her was on the hilarious and greatly-missed “Strangers with Candy,” and she must have done an amazing job making herself look hideous.

Listening to her tale of communicating with her imaginary boyfriend Ricky through sign language after he lost his hearing on a movie set was perhaps the highlight of my week. (“We’ll go crabbing later,” she signed.) That, and killing Sparky with the Halo pistol.

The Italian Job

Snappy, involving fun. Makes the most of the old “everyone in the gang has a nickname and a special skill” thing. Low-key for an action movie, but to me that’s a nice change of pace from the blow-everything-up-as-loud-as-possible school. I’ve never liked Charlize Theron more than in this movie. Mark “I’m not Marky Mark” Wahlberg now realizes he really can’t act, which is a good thing, but his ultra-low-key manner threatens to make him fade into the paneling completely – and if that’s the case, why not get someone cheaper? Lots of straight-guy one-armed hugs throughout.

Final thought in this brain-dump review: anyone who wants to buy me a Mini Cooper will earn my undying gratitude.

When you see it all written out like this, the lowdown on GWB is truly scary. (via MediaWhoresOnline)

“This isn’t about Saddam: it’s about us.”

(NOTE: NYT site requires free registration. I rarely link to them because of this. But this Paul Krugman column is worth it.)

Does anyone else get the feeling that people are beginning to care, just a little bit, whether this administration tells the truth? Or is it just wishful thinking on my part?

I’m not an artist, but I’ve become quite taken with a little program called DrawIt2 for my Sony Clie. It’s like a combination of Photoshop and Painter for the Palm. Most drawing programs for the Palm have ugly 1984-Mac interfaces; this one is elegant and usable. And it lets you do things like draw with simulated crayons or watercolors, like Painter. Above are some of my first efforts. I find it liberating to have such a small canvas – I don’t feel so intimidated trying new things.

If you have a color Palm, you should check this program out. Good stuff.

I feel like I’m on the edge of something. I just hope it’s something good.

My BlogShares portfolio has broken $1 million ($1,224,723.90 to be exact). My most valuable stock? My own, which is now at $439.20 a share. (Don’t you wish you had bought my stock when it was what, 5 cents a share?) Does this mean I should split the stock? Has it gotten too high? I don’t pretend to understand the “real” stock market, much less this one.

Not that any of this matters, of course, but it’s a distraction from work. I should be getting back to that….