30 September 2004 – 1:17 pm +0800
Since the universe conspires against him, this is an oldie for Pej:
By the shores of old Lake Michigan
Where the “hawk wind” blows so cold
An old Cub fan lay dying
In his midnight hour that tolled.
Round his bed, his friends had all gathered
They knew his time was short
And on his head they put this bright blue cap
From [...]
29 September 2004 – 1:48 pm +0800
Ah, Michigan drivers never change.
How can a company do this and claim their mission statement is “Don’t be evil”? (†Nicholas Provenzo)
Speaking of Mr. Provenzo, here’s his essay “The Fake is Never Accurate.”
The cats over at Berkeley Square have a new cd out, if you like jazz.
And speaking of Berkeley Square, JohnGalt ties current events to [...]
29 September 2004 – 12:01 pm +0800
The concept of face, as in “losing face” or “saving face,” comes from Chinese culture. It is a curious mixture of the ideas of character, honor, pride, self–esteem and respect, but also brings in hefty doses of irrationality, at least from this westerner’s point of view.
For instance, you almost never lose face for lying, [...]
27 September 2004 – 2:54 pm +0800
Last night here in Nantong there was a big concert given featuring many famous musicians. The big names were Leon Lai (Li Ming) and A Mei, although I was told that The Platters(!) would be here too.
(The “doo-wop” Platters, I asked? The one who told me did not know.)
Alas, tickets were priced rather [...]
26 September 2004 – 10:57 pm +0800
Craig Ceely has written a fine comedic take on Allah and the 72 “virgins.” I can’t stop giggling at it:
“I have just returned from Hell,” said Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, striding into his office. “And I am not happy.”
“You wish you were still down there, Sir?”
Classic.
26 September 2004 – 7:40 pm +0800
When One takes a quiz entitled “Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You?” One might expect it to include characters from books. One would be wrong, apparently.
One may also expect a rabid Ayn Rand/Heinleinian blogger who took that test (and further admitted to strong influence from Poul Anderson) to end up being either a movie serial [...]
24 September 2004 – 11:14 am +0800
Sorry about the outage, folks. My host, Website Solutions in Hong Kong, had a server crash on them yesterday afternoon. They stayed up late into the night replacing a hard disk and reinstalling all the necessaries on it, then restoring old data.
In addition to which they answered panicky emails from customers with calm, [...]
22 September 2004 – 11:53 pm +0800
Cubbie fan Pejman openly ventured into hostile territory and lived to blog the story.
It’s a hoot. Be sure to follow the link he gives on the etiquette of the situation.
22 September 2004 – 9:38 pm +0800
If you are a geek too, you’ll say it with admiration.
If you are a mere mortal, you’ll say it with contempt.
Regardless, when you see the Lego Printer, you will say it.
Wow, what a geek!
22 September 2004 – 12:18 pm +0800
Once upon a time there was a band from New Jersey called Dramarama.
Over seven years they released five albums but, for one reason or another, they had only one minor hit, and that from their first release. After the fifth album (and two unofficial ones, one under a different band name, and one for [...]
20 September 2004 – 11:47 am +0800
Mr Lion says:
This would be what happens when your role models include cokeheads and heroin junkies as opposed to, say, Humphrey Bogart.
Bogie ain’t cool these days ’cause he wasn’t James Dean or Marlon Brando. In fact, Bogie had the audacity to say of their style: “This ’scratch your ass and mumble’ school of [...]
17 September 2004 – 5:40 pm +0800
Okay, I waited, but now that Tom feels embattled, I’m backing him up publicly. (He first took this position earlier this month.)
To discuss what is awry in Hero, it is necessary to reveal the final moments of the film in detail.
The summary version is that Zhang Yimou, a man whose films were once regularly [...]
16 September 2004 – 10:16 pm +0800
that Jessica Harbour is a good person?
Well, she is.
16 September 2004 – 1:04 pm +0800
What are the facts? Again and again and again — what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what ‘the stars foretell,’ avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable ‘verdict of history’ — what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into [...]
15 September 2004 – 5:22 pm +0800
I swear, this picture does not look like Gore.
It looks like actor Stephen Root at the end of a three–week drunken bender, trying to incite the proletariat to open revolution.
Have they replaced Al Gore?
(NOTE: Stephen Root is a fine and damn funny actor and, so far as I know, a fine human being—one who [...]