10 - 2001 | ***Dave Does the Blog

When is a cop not a cop?

When he’s a highly-trained anti-terrorism Marine with a high-powered automatic weapon pointed at your head. The American citizenry is in for some interesting view changes in the coming weeks and…

When he’s a highly-trained anti-terrorism Marine with a high-powered automatic weapon pointed at your head.

The American citizenry is in for some interesting view changes in the coming weeks and months. Unlike most of the world, where fatigued security forces — often military — are regular fixtures on the streets, and particularly around civil buildings, transportation depots, and the like, the US is used to the friendly cop on the beat only. Chief O’Hara. Sheriff Andy. Sure, the image has been tarnished time and again, but I think most Americans think most cops really are out there “to protect and serve.” That they’re civilians who go home to eat dinner with the wife or hubby, watch a football game at the bar, go down to the Piggly-Wiggly to pick up food for a Saturday picnic with the kids.

So what happens when there’s a purse-snatching in front of one of those National Guardsmen now posted at the airport? What happens when there’s suspicion of terrorist activity and they send in the Marines on American soil. Are the soldiers ready to enforce the law, rather than defeat the enemy? Two very different missions, those. Are the citizens ready to not start arguing with the gent aiming an M-16 at them as to their “civil rights” and “let me get your badge number, Mister”? Respect the actions and reactions of the soldiers, folks — they carry grenades and are trained to kill, not knock down and cuff. To take ’em out, not read ’em their rights. To put the flag up on the summit, not to put the perp in the paddy wagon.

Interesting times. How will cops feel about military on their turf? How will military feel about dealing with the civilian authorities? Will cooperation ensue, or competition. If the police and the FBI have problems working together, if the CIA and Army Intelligence don’t work and play well together, what makes anyone think this sort of security sharing will be bumpless?

True, other countries have done it, countries we consider fine democracies, with fine civil rights records. Visit the UK some time.

But it hasn’t happened here, except for the occasional post-flood anti-looting squads. Nope.

Interesting times.

Searching … searching …

Searching … searching … Google continues to recache my page, which is nice. Everyone I know uses Google as their search engine, for a variety of sound reasons. Interesting factoid:…

Searching … searching …

Google continues to recache my page, which is nice. Everyone I know uses Google as their search engine, for a variety of sound reasons.

Interesting factoid: Most common search hits for my page:

Last week: WTC Superman pictures

This week: Richard Kidd Afghanistan

Now here’s the really interesting thing. If I do a Google search on “davehillblog47,” I get an old set of links to my site in mid-September when it was all HTML files, not PHP files.

But if I follow up on the searches above (courtesy of stats4you.com), then it’s for more recent versions of my page (obviously, since the Kidd article is no more than a week old), as PHP files. With “davehillblog47” at the top of the page, just like usual.

Weird.

Unfortunately, in both cases, it appears to be timing out, so the cache is incomplete. Which not only makes for a bad viewing experience, but means it never gets to my archives to search them, either.

Which means that not only is Google acting funny, but I need to reduce my load time more. Hmmmm.

Write less?

Or redesign?

The More Things Change

Battlestar: Galactica had microns, centons, yahren, and other funny measurements. Farscape has microts, arns, and other funny measurements. Battlestar: Galactica had “felgercarb” and other epithets. Farscape has “frell” and other…

Battlestar: Galactica had microns, centons, yahren, and other funny measurements.

Farscape has microts, arns, and other funny measurements.

Battlestar: Galactica had “felgercarb” and other epithets.

Farscape has “frell” and other epithets.

So why was it so stupid on Battlestar: Galactica but so cool on Farscape?

I mean, I know that Farscape is very cool, and Battlestar: Galactica is very stupid, just as a given.

But I can clearly remember that everyone thought the ersatz language in Battlestar: Galactica was also stupid. And everyone seems to think the same thing in Farscape is very cool, to the extent that I know of people (including my sainted wife) who, with a straight face, use the word “frell” in conversation.

Next week we’ll talk about “shazbat” and “nanoo-nanoo.”

Enterprise Commentary

I wrote this as a part of a comment to one of Xkot’s posts on last night’s Enterprise, but I thought it worth repeating here. That’s not an angry Vulcan….

I wrote this as a part of a comment to one of Xkot’s posts on last night’s Enterprise, but I thought it worth repeating here.

That’s not an angry Vulcan. It’s an arrogant Vulcan. Arrogance isn’t an emotion. Is it?
Actually, I always thought Vulcans were supposed to be intensely curious. That’s why they all end up at the Vulcan Science Academy or something. Hmmm. Maybe that’s something they pick up from Humans. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
My vote for crewmember most desired to be voted off the ship (preferably into hard vacuum) is the whiny Asian communications lady. Next time she endangers the whole frickin’ ship by refusing an order she should get a good bitch slap rather than a calm, fatherly talking-to. Sheesh.

Is it just me, or does Captain Jeffrey Archer remind anyone else of Captain John Sheridan? Scott Bakula, meet Bruce Boxleitner. I’m sure you’ll enjoy being folksy-talking, noble military heroes together.

Re-building

Re-building An interesting article (and a picture to go with it) of what may be built in place of the Twin Towers — and why. I immediately came out, on…

Re-building

An interesting article (and a picture to go with it) of what may be built in place of the Twin Towers — and why.

I immediately came out, on 9-11, with the call to rebuild them as-is — or better. It looks like that might not happen, and I can understand the reasoning (Empire State and Chrysler Building aesthetics? Yeah, baby, I’m there).

But there’s still that in me that wants to thumb my nose at the Visigoths.

The more things change

The more things change … Why, look: some of the folks we’re seeking as allies against our latest enemy have ulterior motives of their own that are not in our…

The more things change …

Why, look: some of the folks we’re seeking as allies against our latest enemy have ulterior motives of their own that are not in our long-term best interests. I’m shocked, absolutely shocked.

Green army

Military readiness vs. the environment Should the military be required to act in accord with environmental laws? An interesting article, especially since the company I work for (and the office…

Military readiness vs. the environment

Should the military be required to act in accord with environmental laws?

An interesting article, especially since the company I work for (and the office I’m in) does quite a bit of work with the DoD and DoE in cleaning up military bases and energy research sites, some of which are mentioned (Hanford, MMR), some of which aren’t.

My two cents:

The military (and Energy Dept.) are required to clean up any sites that they close before turning them over to the public. This has delayed the pay-off from base closures all across the nation, since these places are incredibly dirty. The stories I could tell you. Sheesh.

Certainly there are things that the military should do to ameliorate polution that they produce, short-term and long-term. Dirtying the water table. Take steps to fix it. Releasing toxic gasses? Stop it, now. These are things that can be done that have immediate short-term benefits and very few impacts on military training and preparedness.

On the other hand, the nature of military needs requires some adjustments. Areas that are designated as military reservations should be exempt from the Endangered Species Act. That just puts too high of a crimp into one national priority for the sake of another. And there are long-term pollutants (unexploded ordinance comes to mind) that, practically speaking, cannot be cleaned up until base closure.

It’s a tangled web, that’s for sure. The only thing I’m sure of is that we can’t let either side of the equation get carte blanche. Both the military and the environment are too important to sacrifice one on the altar of the other.

What’s in a name?

So there’s this guy named Scott. And he has a blog/domain handle of Xkot. And, for reasons unknown to me, I put it in my link list as Xcot. Even…

So there’s this guy named Scott.

And he has a blog/domain handle of Xkot.

And, for reasons unknown to me, I put it in my link list as Xcot. Even though the underlying link clearly used the Xkot.net domain.

Until a friend of his pointed it out. Consider it corrected. And go visit him, because he’s got a neat site.

Which brings up another question. I actually visit all the sites on the right on a daily basis. Or at least every few days. Because they’re there because they’re interesting reads. And I want a convenient way to remember to go to them. And they deserve advertising. Which is why I usually announce it if I add someone.

If one stops being interesting (to me, mind you, since this is just my reading list, not some sort of Absolute Judgment of Truth, Beauty, and Moral Rectitidue), then I’ll drop it, just ’cause (and without fanfare).

My question is — I visit pages (including some of those linked here) which have ye-gods-long lists of blogs. Dozens. Several dozens. More than I can reasonably believe that people who have lives (which, of course, may exclude a number of folks who do this sort of thing) can visit regularly.

So my question is — if I can finally choke it out — do all these folks actually read those pages? Or is it sort of a link-exchange sort of thing (“I’ll post yours if you post mine”) hit-tarty kind of thing to do? A celebrity endorsement like when you know the only time Martina Navratilova actually drives that car is if she gets assigned one at the rental desk? I dunno. I’m curious. But you knew that.

And the list goes on

Doyce, demonstrating he has a lot more time to web surf than even I do, points to Blather as a cool site, or at least one that has an incredible…

Doyce, demonstrating he has a lot more time to web surf than even I do, points to Blather as a cool site, or at least one that has an incredible satellite photo of Ground Zero. The rest of the blog is pretty neat, too, so he gets to join my Links o’ Fame to the right.

Planning, meet execution. Execution, meet planning.

Margie and I complement each other quite well in our handling/expression of stress when it comes to Major Events. Like, say, a long trip away from home. Margie front-loads her…

Margie and I complement each other quite well in our handling/expression of stress when it comes to Major Events. Like, say, a long trip away from home.

Margie front-loads her stress. She runs around like a crazy woman in the preceding weeks. She plots, she plans, she takes copious notes in her little notebook, she consults, she web-searches, she shops, she wants to get everything out and ready ahead of time, she gets cranky and stressed-out and obsessed with getting everything done and planned and set up just right.

And then, when the event happens — whether all the planning and plotting and putting together was completed or successful — she is calm. The Zen Goddess of Events. She relaxes. She gets in the groove, five-by-five. Nothing flaps her.

Me, on the other hand … Yes, I plan. I do things in advance. But I also sort of take a “It will happen, it will come together, it’s a long ways away yet.” I want to solidly have confidence in the general parameters, the fundamentals, but I trust the details fall into place just fine.

The Day Of? A wreck. An utter wreck. Racing around like a crazy man, making new lists, triple-checking everything, trying desperately to cover more bases than the National League, nervous, sweaty, sleep-deprived, constantly seeking feedback if everything is okay. A wreck.

This applies to parties.

This applies to GMing games (or it would, if Margie did so. I think she would be great. Of course, I haven’t GMed anything, save one brief session, in over a year, so …).

And it applies to vacation planning.

As you can imagine, we complement each other well. Good thing, or else one or the both of us would run off, screaming, into the night.

It’s Autumn!

It was — well, if not quite cold, then at least very cool this morning. Temps are only supposed to get to the 50s today. It’s Autumn! Keen! Ironic I’m…

It was — well, if not quite cold, then at least very cool this morning.

Temps are only supposed to get to the 50s today.

It’s Autumn! Keen!

Ironic I’m about to head down to 80-degree climes tomorrow.

Remember the Maine!

Several weeks ago, Rev. Bonnie at our church gave a sermon about how we deal with bad things that happen to us. She related it to some bad things in…

Several weeks ago, Rev. Bonnie at our church gave a sermon about how we deal with bad things that happen to us. She related it to some bad things in her own life, about which I needn’t go into detail, but she summed it up as one of three choices we have:

We can be a victim. We can let it break us, we can even find some horrifying familiarity in such circumstances, and keep putting ourselves into that situation over and over again. The bad things become the model for our lives.
We can be a survivor. We can learn the lessons of the bad things, and make sure that they don’t happen to us again. The bad things become the touchstone of our lives, in our reaction to them.
We can live. We can acknowledge the bad things, deal with them, make sure they don’t happen again … and then move on.

Like any generalization, this is a generalization. But it made me think about our current crisis.

Around us, we see flags flying, and stickers and banners and TV ghosts and half-time shows and pundits and politicians, all saying the same thing — Remember September 11. I guess we’ll never have a good catch phrase for those acts of terror — “9-11” seems to be as close as anyone informally uses.

But think of that. Remember September 11.

We’ve decided we won’t be victims. We aren’t going to wring our hands, acquiesce to terror, let them kick us around some more, kill more people, wail and moan and gnash our teeth and promise we won’t ever do it again, whatever “it” was.

Right now, we’re survivors. And that’s appropriate, because that’s what we are.

But is that what we always want to be?

Everyone is talking about how the whole world has changed. About how nothing will ever be the same again. About how this is a new era.

But do we forever want to identify our era, our lives, our country, based on this one act of terror?

Because we can. We can take all the other things that make up this country — our freedoms, our diversity, our creativity, our industry, our politics, our culture — and make them focus on September 11, mold them around that date, turn that date into the touchstone for everything we do from now on, for better or for worse, in acting out our anger, in acting out our fear, in acting out what it means to be us. Americans.

We cannot forget. We must not. But do we not want to do more than just survive? Should our lives really be forever fundamentally changed? Forever be a reaction to the horror of that day, to that crime or act of war or insanity or whatever we choose to call it?

I sure hope not. Things will never be the same, sure, but things are never the same as they used to be. The question is, how long will September 11 be the catalyst for change, and how deeply will we let that change penetrate, and how far from how we used to be will we let ourselves become — and how open will we be to the next change, perhaps not one of terror or hatred or blood.

Fifty years from now, or one hundred, I expect that history books will mark September 11 as a major event in US history, if not world history. But I sure hope that there are other events that happen in the years to come — maybe not tomorrow, maybe not for five years, or even a decade — that historians will write about, too. Not because we shouldn’t remember, but because we need to be remembering other things, too. Not because it hasn’t changed us, but because we are not just a nation forged out of September 11, 2001, but out of a dozen, a hundred, a thousand other dates, and must be into the future.

At some point we need to live.

Buffy thoughts

Thoughts on the season premiere of Buffy. Nothing terribly coherent or systematic or otherwise organized. Just things I scribbled down on the back of a magazine insert whilst watching. The…

Thoughts on the season premiere of Buffy. Nothing terribly coherent or systematic or otherwise organized. Just things I scribbled down on the back of a magazine insert whilst watching.

The Buffybot (who I will miss terribly) was doing a nice job taking over the Anya role of strange and inappropriate speech patterns and content.
So, who says the Key is not good for anything else any more? And, for that matter, howzcum Dawn is suddenly so well-adjusted over being a construct?
Speaking of the Key, when will the Doc reappear? I don’t know Joel Grey’s schedule, but, remember, we never saw the body. Hell, even if we had, what difference would that make on this show?
Opening credits are a fine montage once again. Except for one jarring shot where Buffy’s wearing way-too-vivid lipstick.
UPN’s choice of shots for promoting the next episode looks like it’s going to be a constant irritant, since they seem compelled to Give It All Away.
Margie asks, “Buffy’s been dead the entire summer. Where’s the replacement Slayer?” A good question.
Margie also asks, “Why is Buffy’s hair so much longer than when she died?”
Buffy – Shock and trauma? Or oxygen deprivation? Obviously a situation that can’t stay status quo for long, but I’m sure the circumstances of her resurrection will have effects for the rest of the season.
Giles – Probably an appropriate time, plot-wise, to bow out, but, damn, I’ll miss the guy.
Xander – Y’know, Xander makes for good comic relief (with occasionally all-the-more-profound-therefore serious guy moments), but I’d really like to see him do something effective in a fight. He seems to spend all of his time getting batted around. We touched on some of the ego effects last season, and we certainly don’t want to see a Riley repeat, but it’s gotta “grate his cheese” a lot.
Anya – She keeps getting better at being human, for good and for ill. I do worry that she’s going to get hurt badly by Xander Real Soon Now, given his reluctance to announce their engagement. And, geez, wonder how a woman who used to be A Demon Of Vengeance For Women Hurt By Men will react to that.
Willow – I see at least a full season of plotlines related to Willow. I mean, this is the gal who, apparently without repercussions, went rooting around in a volume titled Darkest Magick at the end of last season in order to take out Glory. And this whole Resurrection Spell thing, and what she did to perform it, has got to reverberate for a while. Yup, tough times ahead for MegaWitchGirl.
Tara – Finally getting to be a solid member of the Scooby Gang. That’s good, because she’s going to need them as Willow works through her problems.
Dawn – I’m hoping the “Dawn can’t follow instructions and therefore gets into trouble” schtick will go away. Quickly. Yeah, she’s younger than the rest, more impulsive, but not necessarily stupid.
Spike – He’s good. He’s real good. In sort of an evil way. I don’t know where Joss is going with him, but he’s doing better at the “Vampire Working Alongside Good Guys” bit than anyone, and I include Angel in that evaluation. He’s a creature of passions, and right now those passions are directed at Dawn, as a replacement for (different passions for) Buffy. This should be fun to watch.
Margie observed one of the reasons why she’s been having problems with Buffy over the past few seasons — because the arcs are so increasingly labored and tangled, and the audience apparently considered so flaky, that every episode has to start with five minutes of “Previously, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” By the same token, though, Babylon 5, which was at least as arc-y, never had any “previously” bits — if you missed last week, you missed last week. She has a point (though she doesn’t seem to mind it as much when they do the same thing on Angel). I’m hoping for a bit more focus this season on Buffy. We’ll see.

Margie is a goddess

Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hera, and a bunch more, all rolled into one big lovable package. But the particular item that deserves some kudos … When you look in the…

Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hera, and a bunch more, all rolled into one big lovable package. But the particular item that deserves some kudos …

When you look in the vacation books and sites about taking a Big Trip to Disneyworld, there’s this elaborate timeline of things you should be planning, extending months in advance. Accomodations and travel. Admission ticket plans. Where you are going, on what days, what special deals are available, what special events are going on, etc., etc., etc.

Months, this sort of thing takes to plan.

Margie has been doing it in days. Not months, not weeks, days. Web research. Phone calls. A veritable whirlwind of vacation-planning activity.

And it’s all going to be wonderful.

While she’s at all of this, mind you, she’s also been doing her employment job and taking care of Squiggy and keeping everything else going in the house.

And she cooked me Beef Bourguignon last night. Mmmmmmm.

It’s tempting fate to say I’m the luckiest dude on the planet. But, damn, I sure am.

Another precinct heard from

Adam says that Ulro, Jr. is worth reading. I agree. Get thee to the List o’ Links….

Adam says that Ulro, Jr. is worth reading.

I agree. Get thee to the List o’ Links.

Tests

Think our testing’s rough? An article on the test questions students in Salina, Kansas, had to answer in order to graduate from the 8th Grade in 1895. Yeesh….

Think our testing’s rough?

An article on the test questions students in Salina, Kansas, had to answer in order to graduate from the 8th Grade in 1895. Yeesh.

Yes, more Afghanistan stuff

You didn’t think I could go very many days without jabbering more on the topic, do you? Randy forwarded me an e-mail with a short article by Richard Kidd, a…

You didn’t think I could go very many days without jabbering more on the topic, do you?

Randy forwarded me an e-mail with a short article by Richard Kidd, a West Point grad who, among other experiences in the region, was in 1998-99 Deputy Program Manager for the UN’s mine and UXO clean-up efforts in Afghanistan. A few extracts from his view of Afghanistan and the impending war there:

It is my assessment that most Afghans no longer support the Taliban. Indeed the Taliban have recently had a very difficult time getting recruits for their forces and have had to rely more and more on non-Afghans, either from Pushtun tribes in Pakistan or from OBL. OBL and the Taliban, absent any US action, were probably on their way to sharing the same fate that all other outsiders and outside doctrines have experienced in Afghanistan — defeat and dismemberment.
… The concept of having a place of “honor” and “respect” is of paramount importance and blood feuds between families and tribes can last for generations over a perceived or actual slight. That is one reason why there were 7 groups of Mujehdeen fighting the Russians. It is a very difficult task to form and keep united a large bunch of Afghans into a military formation.
During their history, the only events that have managed to form any semblance of unity among the Afghans, is the desire to fight foreign invaders. And in doing this, the Afghans have been fanatical. The Afghans’ greatest military strength is the ability to endure hardships that would, in all probability, kill most Americans and enervate the resolve of all but the most elite military units.
… OBL and others do not think the US has the will or the stomach for a fight. Indeed after the absolutely inane missile strikes of 1998, the overwhelming consensus was that we were cowards who would not risk one life in face-to-face combat. Rather than demonstrating our might and acting as a deterrent, that action and others of the not so recent past, have reinforced the perception that the US does not have any “will” and that we are morally and spiritually corrupt.
Our challenge is to play to the weaknesses of our enemy, notably their propensity for internal struggles, the distrust between the extremists/Arabs and the majority of Afghans, their limited ability to fight coordinated battles, and their lack of external support.
More importantly through is that we have to take steps not to play to their strengths, which would be to unite the entire population against us by increasing their suffering or killing innocents, to get bogged down trying to hold terrain, or to get into a battle of attrition chasing up and down mountain valleys.
First, I would give the Northern Alliance a big wad of cash so that they can buy off a chunk of the Taliban army before winter. Second, also with this cash, I would pay some guys to kill some of the Taliban leadership, making it look like an inside job to spread distrust and build on existing discord. Third I would support the Northern alliance with military assets, but not take it over or adopt so high a profile as to undermine its legitimacy in the eyes of most Afghans.
Fourth would be to give massive amounts of humanitarian aid and assistance to the Afghans in Pakistan in order to demonstrate our goodwill and to give these guys a reason to live rather than the choice between dying of starvation or dying fighting the “infidel.” Fifth, start a series of public works projects in areas of the country not under Taliban control (these are much more than the press reports) again to demonstrate goodwill and that improvements come with peace. Sixth, I would consider very carefully putting any female service members into Afghanistan proper — sorry to the females of our class but within that culture a man who allows a women to fight for him has zero respect, and we will need respect to gain the cooperation of Afghan allies.
I would hold off from doing anything too dramatic in the new term, keeping a low level of covert action and pressure up over the winter, allowing this pressure to force open the fissions around the Taliban that were already developing — expect that they will quickly turn on themselves and on OBL.
When we do “pick up” the pieces, I would make sure that we do so on the ground, “man to man.” While I would never want to advocate American causalities, it is essential that we communicate to OBL and all others watching that we can and will “engage and destroy the enemy in close combat.” As mentioned above, we should not try to gain or hold terrain, but Infantry operations against the enemy are essential. There can be no excuses after the defeat or lingering doubts in the minds of our enemies regarding American resolve and nothing, nothing will communicate this except for ground combat.
And once this is all over, unlike in 1989, the US must provide continued long-term economic assistance to rebuild the country.
… Our opponents will not abide by the Geneva conventions. There will be no prisoners unless there is a chance that they can be ransomed or made part of a local prisoner exchange. During the war with the Soviets, videotapes were made of communist prisoners having their throats slit. Indeed, there did exist a “trade” in prisoners so that souvenir videos could be made by outsiders to take home with them. …We can expect our soldiers to be treated the same way. Sometime during this war I expect that we will see videos of US prisoners having their heads cut off. Our enemies will do this not only to demonstrate their “strength” to their followers, but also to cause us to overreact, to seek wholesale revenge against civilian populations, and to turn this into the world-wide religious war that they desperately want. This will be a test of our will and of our character.
This will not be a pretty war; it will be a war of wills, of resolve and somewhat conversely of compassion and of a character. Towards our enemies, we must show a level of ruthlessness that has not been part of our military character for a long time. But to those who are not our enemies we must show a level of compassion probably unheard of during war. We should do this not for humanitarian reasons, even though there are many, but for shrewd military logic.

I don’t know if this guy is full of it or not, but this is probably one of the most plausible, believable, balanced synopses of what we face, and what we should do about it, that I’ve read.

I hope other people are reading it.

It’s all my wife’s fault

In the 1960s, Abraham Maslow revolutionized psychology by positing a hierarchy of needs. Only when the all the needs of one level were covered would a person start to worry…

In the 1960s, Abraham Maslow revolutionized psychology by positing a hierarchy of needs. Only when the all the needs of one level were covered would a person start to worry about needs on the next level. So we have, at the bottom, Physiological Needs (food, water, air). Next we have Safety Needs. Then Love, Affection, and Belongingness needs. Then Esteem needs. Then, finally, Self-actualizing needs.

He forgot an even more fundamental layer, one that overrides the need for esteem, for belonging, for safety, or even for food and water.

Child Giftgiving needs.

I do in fact believe that this is the most fundamental instinct in humanity. Otherwise sane people will forget everything else when it comes to buying toys for a little kid.

As we grow, we do sublimate or transfer or learn to cope with this psychological drive. Teens buy music. Women buy shoes. Men buy cars. Dave buys comic books.

But give us the Real Thing, a chance to fulfill the Real Need, scratch the Real Itch, and all that goes out the window in an orgy of credit card maxxing. The monkey not only sits on our back, he grabs things off the shelves for us. Addict, meet crack. Crack, meet addict. I hope you two will be very happy together.

So we’re off to Orlando next week. Margie says, quite logically, “We should pick up something new for Katherine, to keep her occupied and happy on the plane, and in the hotel.”

“Great idea, dear.”

“There’s a toy store near your office, isn’t there?”

I should have recognized my inability to remember this as a sort of self-protective hysterical amnesia. “There is?”

“Over by Le Peep.”

“Ah. Okay, I can go over there at lunch.”

“Sure,” said Marlow. “I can just hop up the Congo and find Mr. Kurtz at lunch.”

To my credit, it was only when I opened the door to the toy store that I began to do my Night of the Living Dead imitation. “Toys … toys … toys …” I moaned, staggering zombie-like up and down the aisles.

Last thing I remember I was running for the door,
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before,
“Relax,” said the sales clerk, “Will that be cash or charge?
You can check out anytime you like, but we don’t have bags that large.”

Mercifully, the van is in the shop today. Thus, I was limited in the quantity of toys, books, puzzles, and other wonderful things for my PRECIOUS KITTEN by the weight I could carry from there back to my office.

It’s all Margie’s fault. She should have known better.

Or maybe, God forbid, Maslow was right. It’s not everyone else. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s a father/daughter thing.

In which case, we are in a lot of trouble when she gets old enough to drive.

Katherine’s finger, Katherine’s Daddy. Katherine’s Daddy, Katherine’s finger. I hope you two will be very happy wrapped around each other.

Yet another company benefit down the tubes

I have no idea why, but our corporate Internet access is majorly sucky. The latency (I suspect) is so bad, that pages time-out left and right. I was on the…

I have no idea why, but our corporate Internet access is majorly sucky. The latency (I suspect) is so bad, that pages time-out left and right.

I was on the Gartner site today, trying to build my agenda for next week’s symposium. I was successful in about one click out of three.

I dialed out on my modem. Every click is now successful.

I would complain about this, except that I’m not supposed to have outbound modem service any more, due to the security issues.

For big downloads, using my company’s setup is keen. For casual browsing, it’s NFG, even for work-related stuff.

I wonder if I can expense back my ISP …?

Buffy and Angel, meet Nick of Time

Through a prolonged, Herculean effort that only a hella-fanboy could manage, Doyce got (pushed/dragged/cheered/enabled) us through both of the last seasons of Angel and Buffy before their respective premieres. Kudos…

Through a prolonged, Herculean effort that only a hella-fanboy could manage, Doyce got (pushed/dragged/cheered/enabled) us through both of the last seasons of Angel and Buffy before their respective premieres. Kudos to the D-Man.

Interestingly enough, Margie enjoyed Angel more, while I enjoyed Buffy.

I thought Angel sort of meandered during its season, and that the final arc (Angel Meets the Xenaverse) was just goofy. A bold experiment, but goofy. Angel needs to get off its one-trick pony of Angel broods, something bad happens, Angel broods more, his friends worry, Angel starts getting more feral, his friends worry some more, Angel manages to escape falling permanently into darkness, but there’s still a lot of broodiness on the horizon, because, damn, he is a Vampire with a Soul®. The problem is (and this is a big one), the lead character really doesn’t have that much more going for him than that, and most of the supporting cast don’t have much more going for them than playing off of it. It’s a big, dysfunctional family that keeps repeating the same patterns, which is profound but getting tiresome.

Not that I’m going to stop watching it, mind you.

Margie, on the other hand, thought the Buffy season was full of contrived plotlines, with one horrible thing happening to the gang (and to Buffy in particular) after another, like a bad melodrama (my words, not hers). She noted that the show has moved from its Teen Angst roots into How Many Bad Things Can We Throw At Our Heroes Before They Crack? There also seemed to be fewer one-off episodes, though that might have also been because of our “Readers Digest Condensed Season” mode of watching.

I could see her point at times, but thought it was still within the realm of … well, “reality” is probably a bad word to use here, but within my belief-suspension. A bit out there, verging on soap opera at times, but I’m not sure which elements I would have thrown out. I thought the Joyce Brain Tumor thing was a great splash of reality (esp. as it led to probably the best single episode of the season, “Bodies”). I thought it was all good — but it was a bit dense, and a number of plot lines (Xander/Anya, Buffy/Spike) probably needed more fleshing out than they got. One of the dangers of as large an ensemble cast as they have.

Hmmmm. Angel is like a very character-driven RPG (where the players have a given set of traits that they keep relying on, and the GM gives them plenty of rope to do it with). Buffy is like a very plot-driven game (where the GM keeps throwing more and more problems at the players, who respond in usually stock but sometimes surprising ways). Maybe that explains why I liked the latter more than the former.

Anyway, finished up Buffy‘s season finale last night. That’s the one I inadvertently saw on a business trip, which at least saved me from being spoiled by the endless Buffy New Season commecials on UPN over the last few weeks. The ep still holds up on a second viewing, esp. with so much of the background now better understood. And it had the requisite weepy spots (Margie even snuffles during AT&T Long Distance commercials, so cut her a break), as well as some good cathartic hammering. And good Giles bits. And good Spike bits. And good Willow bits. And even some good Xander and Anya bits.

And now … the new season premieres tonight. Hoody-hoo and pass the Doritos.