Passion

I went out with Holly and Steve last night and saw "The Passion of the Christ". I was impressed at its effectiveness in showing the sheer horror of Christ's last days. In my opinion, it was very graphic, but the gore (while sickening) was completely justified. I was impressed at the fimmaking and storytelling that went into it. It's probably a movie that I'll see only once in my life, but I'm glad that I did see it.

The Outburst

I keep thinking about my online outburst earlier today. The thing that strikes me most is that in real life, this situation and conversation could have easily happened between my father and myself. (And it did many many times.) The thing that puzzles me is why while I hated getting the double barrels (as JG has called my online written outbursts) as a kid, I'm now giving them when something pushes me far enough. Am I simply being a mimic, as that was the way I learned my hard lessons? Or is it that his methods actually worked for these types of situation? Are there any diplomatic alternatives when you're trying to get through to someone and it seems that no matter how solid your reasoning is and how good your intentions are, there's that wall erected where nothing gets through? Anyways, I'm musing as I should be coding, so I guess I should heed some of my own advice and get back to work myself.

Anna

Anna is a new film created entirely within a Quake III setup. It's a wonderful film that I think displays how something as crude as a deathmatch engine can be used to create something compelling and beautiful. I've posted a mirror of the movie here.

Heartless Bastard Day

Steve complains about being unmotivated and depressed. My heartless bastard side comes out. I feel like the guy from the South Park about Canada and Saddam - "Watch out for Chris. He's a dick!" Know what? I don't really care. The status quo has been driving me nuts. I guess we know that I'm not a liberal after-all.

Update: In a similar vein, James Joyce posts a bit on Kuro5hin about diets.

Update (couple hours later): I've cooled off a bit. Finally. Perhaps posting a reply to his blog entry was not the best approach to all this. I guess I could have sent an e-mail, but perhaps the sheer bluntness and lack of tact on my part will have some sort of impact for the better...

Update (final): Steve has nuked the comments, but that is fine. We spoke in the afternoon and arrived at a sort of understanding. He just left for an interview in Connecticut, and I wish him well.

Am I Becoming a Liberal?

I remember a saying from college that went along the lines "if you're not a liberal when you are twenty, you're a heartless bastard, and if you're not a conservative by the time you are forty, you are a stupid idiot". I think that I may be approaching this saying by going from heartless bastard to stupid idiot. Continue...

Stalemate

I have a game of Risk running on my computer with computer opponents. (I was long knocked out of contention.) I've been watching this for fifteen minutes and the game seems like it will never end. There are three opponents and the card values have gotten to be so large that it no longer matters who controls what territory any more. Purple has been launching out of Australia, while Orange is controlling Africa. Europe and Asia are in contention, and while Blue controls both North and South America, it cannot dislodge and destroy one or the others. It seems that given long enough, Risk becomes a quite stable system.

Why I Love Chicago...

... are things like this.

No Longer Spinning My Wheels

After a couple of months of banging my head against a beast called Project Pad, I'm not back and making progress on things. I've also been reading a good deal and playing games a bit less. I figure that this is one of my cyclical moments where I had to take a step back and tighten some screws, adjust some mirrors, and reorient myself a bit. Continue...

Edwards '04

Taking the chance that I might hex his campaign, I'm posting the most persuasive reason for an Edwards nomination below:



Via Allah

Metroid Prime

After a several months of sitting around, Metroid Prime has bow been finished. In retrospect, the technology used in the game was amazing, as was the translation from a two-dimensional adventure game to a three-dimensional one. The gameplay was great, and the graphics were phenomena. However, I thought that the music was weak. :-( In any case, I'd give the game an 8.5/10 rating. Now if we can convince Nintendo to come out with a version of Contra or Bionic Commando based off the same technology.

Arguing Politics Online...

... is a complete waste of time. I don't know why I feel compelled to visit sites like the Daily Kos or One Hand Clapping. I go there, see some story, notice something worth commenting on, and I get drawn into a political argument. This week in Kos, I objected to Kos's implied statements that the bombings in Iraq are a symbol of the continuing problems in Iraq, and Bush was somehow responsible for the bombings. In One Hand Clapping, I've gotten drawn into an argument about flip flopping. Apparently it's fine for Bush to flip-flop on issues because of 9/11, but when Kerry does it, it's a sign of his unfitness to be President. It seems as things become more and more polarized, I can't visit a site talking about politics without getting drawn into a disagreement. So, for the sake of those who care, this is a brief piece about where I stand politically and why both the left and the right drive me nuts. Continue...

Trimming the Fat

Over the past couple weeks, I've been looking at the distractions in my life and seeing which contribute in a positive way, and which are neutral or negative. I started doing this from a financial perspective to better budget, but I've since moved on to other things. Here's a look at what's be kept and what has been jettisoned and why. Continue...

Pepsi Update

I'm three for three today. Six people will be berift of free music because of me. Suggestions for the tune that should be purchased with this lucky number three should be posted below. Maybe the milkshake song that I keep hearing about second hand?

Two for Two

I went ahead and purchased three Pepsis that are part of the new Pepsi and Apple promotion. The official word is one out of three has a code for a free song. I'm happy to report that I'm two for two (one is unopened) so far. The redemption of the songs is pretty smooth. For the curious, I redeemed the caps for Outkast's "Hey-Ya" and Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar". They're the only songs I could think of that I didn't necessarily want the albums for.

"The Dean Bubble"

Read all about it.

Howard Dean - "No Tolerance for Pussies"

Tin Foil Headwear

No one makes tinfoil hats like the Russians.

Answering "Stupid" Questions

As I've gone through and started to rediscover mathematics, I continually run into questions that I either didn't care to ask before or was so rushed with my problem sets (thank you Princeton) that I didn't have the spare brain cycles to spare thinking about them or formulating them. One question that keeps popping up is why division by zero is such an apparent hole in basic arithmetic and algebra. So, this morning, I looked it up at Mathworld. I can't say how much I really like that site. I've spent hours hopping from topic to topic simply exploring. The author and sponsors of MathWorld have my admiration for a site well done.

Back in Business

Well, I'm hoping that the post-holidays chaos is now finished. I spent last week at an educational technologies conference in San Diego before going out to the Bay Area and showcasing some of AT's new technology to the likes of Yahoo!, Creative Commons, and the Internet Archive. It was a successful trip, and I managed to knock out a few chapters of GEB. (Though I haven't made any headway on the discrete mathematics since last writing.) Continue...

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Recent Entries
Passion
The Outburst
Anna
Heartless Bastard Day
Am I Becoming a Liberal?
Stalemate
Why I Love Chicago...
No Longer Spinning My Wheels
Edwards '04
Metroid Prime