Fresh off calling upon the Lord to snuff out a few justices, televangelist and former GOP Presidential nominee Pat Robertson advocates nuking the State Department. I presume John Ashcroft and the FBI are conducting a full investigation of this possible terrorist threat.
Month: October 2003
Lost in Translation.
So I finally received the Bowlingual translator that Berk earned a few months ago and…well, as you might expect, it’s a bust. Unless I’ve been wildly misreading Berk’s behavior for years now, the translator appears to be randomly guessing, with the same string of barks eliciting diametrically opposed emotions. In other words, it’s useless, unless you really want to interact with your dog via a Tamagotchi. (Although, to be fair, when I just had to crate Berk for a slew of barks at a dog on the street, the Bowlingual responded, “You just don’t get it.”) That might in fact be true.
All this Useless Beauty.
A long-time Elvis Costello fan sours on North. “Now he’s a navel-gazing romantic who apparently let all those Gershwin comparisons go to his head.” Well, I haven’t heard Costello’s latest yet, but I dunno if this is really fair. As the article notes, Elvis was superb on tour last year, and he still seems miles away from Billy Joel country.
Eyes on the Street.
Seen on CNN Saturday afternoon – Elaine Newton (whom long-term readers will remember as my ex-wife) discusses her online Camera Watch project at Carnegie Mellon. Hmmm…small world, and it appears to be getting smaller all the time.
Mutombo to MSG?
The Sixers appear to pass on Mutombo, meaning he’s probably Knicks-bound as rumored. Well, since the Post thinks this will actually facilitate the Van Exel trade, I’m all for it. Update: It’s official…Deke’s a Knick.
Fire in the Hole.
The source code of the much-anticipated Halflife 2 is stolen and pirated online, knocking back its release until April 2004. Hmm, that’s very annoying, and particularly if, as feared, the leak allows unsavory types to exploit further the myriad holes in Valve’s new STEAM launcher. As it is, the DoD servers I admin for are being overrun anew with h4x0rs, teamkillers, and other FPS annoyances, who’ve all received a new lease on life in the shift from WONID to STEAM. I shudder to think what will happen if the smartest of the bunch get their hands on the code and find ways to hack directly into players’ PCs.
Itinerant Jedi.
In the trailer bin today, Ewan MacGregor channels Albert Finney instead of Alec Guinness in Tim Burton’s Big Fish, while Hayden Christiansen proves Anakin’s Episode II whininess might not be acting in the trailer for Shattered Glass.
The Governator.
Lock up your daughters…Arnold wins handily in California. (Gray Davis, contemplate this on the tree of woe.) Y’know, I never figured Predator and The Running Man to be two-Governor pictures, but there you have it. Well, here’s hoping Schwarzenegger can find a way to extricate Cali from its disastrous fiscal quagmire…Somehow I don’t think repealing the car tax is going to help much.
The Real McCain.
John McCain handicaps the Democratic field, and balks at comparisons to Dean. I dunno…a real “straight-talker” would call out Dubya a little more, I should think, particularly given the President’s recent lapses in foreign affairs. Elsewhere, Wesley Clark gets in hot water for giving paid campaign speeches. What with yesterday’s resignation, this is another indicator of a troubling lack of oversight over in Camp Clark. While he’s still getting good press for the moment, I’d think that eventually these types of avoidable gaffes are going to add up to trouble for the General.
Nickle and Dimed.
Don Nickles calls it quits, putting his Oklahoma Senate seat in play for 2004. “A businessman before coming to Washington, he championed business’s causes, including tax cuts, deregulation, curbs on damages from lawsuits and opposition to minimum wage increases.” Apparently, he decided to quit after botching his coup attempt during the Lott affair last December. Can’t say I’m sorry to see him go.