I don't really feel like posting much on the subject but...This was just about the most unprofessional behavior I've ever heard come out of the American news media.I didn't know anything about it until this morning, when the dominating story was the anger at "the miscommunication" regarding the West Virginia coal mine accident. And I heard some pretty outrageous things about how the major news networks handled the announcement that twelve men had...
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Null and Void: Thoughts on the domestic spying situation
Five years ago when the Bush administration was sworn in, I remember hearing so much about how "the adults had taken over" after the disastrous Clinton term. There was supposed to be a lot more responsibility and accountability. These were the people who were going to bring integrity back to the White House, we were told.What we got instead has been the worst destruction of the concept of the rule of law that has ever happened in the entire history...
A third helping of King Kong
After Lisa got back around 8 a.m. on New Years Day (she took a train down to Georgia to visit her family, I couldn't make it 'cuz of other obligations) that afternoon we went to the movies. She'd been wanting to see Pride and Prejudice for awhile so she saw that, while I was wanting something other than a "chick flick" so I watched King Kong for the third time. And I swear this movie just keeps getting better and better. It's funny: the first...
Monday, January 02, 2006
Good day today. One of the best even.
This has been about the most perfect holiday season I've known in many years, and I'm really hating to see it come to an end. Tomorrow Lisa and I head back to our teaching jobs. We'll keep the tree up for the rest of the week, and then it'll come down until next December. A lot of songs from Trans-Siberian Orchestra's The Christmas Attic CD keep playing in my head, especially "Christmas Canon", "The Music Box" and "The Three Kings And I (What...
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Happy New Year 2006
So how am I celebrating the new year? I've had the Sci-Fi Channel's The Twilight Zone marathon going on all evening. And earlier today I picked up Mario Kart DS and after finagling with it for a couple of hours I finally got it working on the Nintendo Wi-Fi network. That's what I was playing as the clock hit midnight (and so far my butt's been consistently handed to me by some guys who are apparently somewhere in Asia).Awful lotta fireworks going...
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Looking back on 2005
Well, the past twelve months went all over the map, and sometimes drove straight off of it. There were a lot of things that happened that I didn't share on this blog, including at least one real tragedy that we're still waiting to see how this is going to get resolved. This blog isn't really an online journal or diary of everything that goes on in my life: it's just a synopsis of my persona that comes out of writing about the things that interest...
Christmas 2005 update #3: Winding down with some crazy Christmas loot
As I said before, Christmas is something that gets stretched out a bit around our place. That's why I waited a bit to report on the goodies that Santa brought us this year...This was taken Christmas morning before we went anywhere. The night before my sister gave me a giant Darth Vader PEZ dispenser: you tilt back the head and it plays the Star Wars theme music. That might...
Friday, December 30, 2005
The News & Record printed my letter yesterday
You can read it here, and even leave a comment about it if you feel so led. It more or less reiterates what I wrote here last week about how some people's defending of President Bush spying on Americans parallels the arguments made by a prominent German legalist that Hitler was justified in acting above the l...
Grandmother videogame guru proves you're never too old to have fun
CNN has a great article about a 69-year old grandmother in Ohio who is making quite a name for herself as a videogame player.Grandma, let me play that video game!Wednesday, December 28, 2005; Posted: 10:21 p.m. EST (03:21 GMT)SHALERSVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- A 69-year-old grandmother has become the heroine of young video-game fans and the star of a Web log created by her grandson.Barbara St. Hilaire plays video games 10 hours a day and spends a good part...
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Meet Otto the Nintendog
Christmas morning I got a present from Lisa that had been on my list since I first wrote about it back in August: a Nintendo DS and the Nintendogs game. The DS is quite a videogame system: I also got Super Mario 64 and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and have been really entertained by them, but the DS game that's hooked me most has gotta be Nintendogs. Lisa got me the Dachshund...
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Two unforgettable faces have passed on
Some sad news to report: a few days ago Vincent Schiavelli passed away, and it's now being reported that Michael Vale has also died. Who were they? I bet you'd know 'em instantly if you saw them...Vincent Schiavelli was one of the most well-known character actors of the past thirty years. He first came to prominence as Frederickson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Later...
Those lucky Brits got a new Doctor Who episode on Christmas Day
So being a fan on this side of the pond who happens to have broadband Internet, I did the obvious thing: went looking to download the episode the following morning. Sure enough some good folks in the UK had made it available as a file torrent, so I nabbed it with BitComet. "The Christmas Invasion" is just plain fun with a big dose of yuletide cheer. It's sort of like Doctor Who meets Independence Day meets Gremlins. Stuff like evil Santas with...
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Trans-Siberian Orchestra ISN'T Russian?!?
Their The Christmas Attic CD was a gift to Lisa from my parents and I've been listening to it all day: this might be my all-time favorite Christmas album now. I couldn't help but think that they didn't sound all that Russian though. So I went to their website and got a lot more enlightened about who they are. A really unique mixture of musical style, these guys. After all the other Christmas music I've listened to this season, Trans-Siberian...
Christmas 2005 update #2, plus review of Diary of a Mad Black Woman
Yah it was two days ago but Christmas always "lingers" around on this side of the screen for a week or so. Which I like: it takes away from the hustle-bustle of what is otherwise too hectic a holiday. It doesn't wind down for our family until a day or so after New Years... guess you could say we have a Christmahannukah thing going on or something.I'm probably gonna do a post on some of the goodies that arrived this year, but since there's a few...
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Christmas 2005 update #1
Just felt led to make a quick note here for future reference, that Christmas 2005 will go down in history as one of the wackiest to ever hit the Knight household and its extended family. Lot of good stuff happening this year: everyone is here, everyone is doing really well, and there've been some neat gifts for everybody. Can't wait to post the pic of what Lisa got me: without a doubt the most offbeat Christmas gift I ever received.It's been a...
Thursday, December 22, 2005
So long and have a Merry Christmas :-)
Barring something unprecedented, I'm stepping away from the blog for a few days. Time to enjoy all the good things that come with Christmas with family and friends. Blogging is a fun thing for me to do, don't get me wrong... but sometimes a guy needs to pause for awhile, and instead of commenting on life to just let it happen. I might post something come Monday, if I do it'll probably be pictures of any turkeys I may fry. Otherwise, go have some...
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
"The Attack of the Hacked Santa"
Maybe you've seen those "animatronic" singing/dancing Santa Claus dolls in Wal-Mart lately. Well one guy figured out a way to "hack" it so that Santa is doing and saying things he wasn't originally programmed to do. Some really clever (and quite funny) mayhem ensues! Here's an MPEG video of one bad Santa in acti...
