tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56018392011-04-21T21:45:02.072-07:00I am endeavoring, Madam, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins. -- Mr. Spock to Edith KeelerOctavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comBlogger461100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1106037956920895912005-01-18T01:43:00.000-08:002005-01-18T00:45:56.920-08:00

For further contributions of mine, please see its successor blog, Changing the Subject.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1081471643943167222004-04-08T17:34:00.000-07:002004-04-08T17:50:08.950-07:00

Yes, I caught Rice's testimony on KQED this morning - most of it. Wasn't able to blog at all, though, since I had to go to work. So my first stop will be the transcript (surely it's on the Web by now) to refresh my memory. Then I'll post what I thought of the hearing and what I learned from it - then read a few blogs - then maybe respond to them. That second post may be delayed, maybe even to

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1081317816440536482004-04-06T22:58:00.000-07:002004-04-06T23:06:20.280-07:00

I've just heard that Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the 9-11 commission on Thursday morning will be broadcast live on NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS and NPR. Won't do all of us on the West Coast much good - we're still reeling from the change to Daylight Saving Time - but I'll be listening.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1081304229094284572004-04-06T19:14:00.000-07:002004-04-06T19:19:52.640-07:00

I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will not neglect my blog. I will

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1079107018366514472004-03-12T07:48:00.000-08:002004-03-12T07:59:15.840-08:00

Evan Kirchhoff has posted addresses and phone numbers of Spanish consulates in the USA for those who wish to express condolences on the subway bombings yesterday. (Link found via Instapundit, but Evan's blog is worth a look, especially for people interested in video game development or copyright.)

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1078644695174913212004-03-06T23:30:00.000-08:002004-03-06T23:33:47.796-08:00

:^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^)

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1076824689115047492004-02-14T21:55:00.000-08:002004-02-14T22:03:31.700-08:00

The Washington Post uncovers the real National Guard scandal.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1076823405955693092004-02-14T21:15:00.000-08:002004-02-14T21:38:37.466-08:00

This post by Joanne Jacobs about Zarqawi trying to "ferment" rebellion in Iraq fomented comments alluding to a picturesque incident of the Thirty Years' War which I'd never heard of before. In 1631 (the thirteenth of the thirty years), as the Catholic forces under Tilly approached the city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber (in southern Germany, between Stuttgart and Nuremberg), the mayor, a man named

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1076742205115784582004-02-13T22:52:00.000-08:002004-02-13T23:21:24.250-08:00

I have nothing to offer today but still another product endorsement. This blog officially endorses Zatarain's Red Bean and Rice Mix, the solution to all the world's problems. I am not likely, however, to mail-order 30 pounds of live crawfish anytime soon.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1076646013456357312004-02-12T20:02:00.000-08:002004-02-12T20:22:02.950-08:00

Because of a miscommunication at work last October, I had occasion to FedEx several candy bars to San Diego (well, Chula Vista) today. I mark this day with a York peppermint patty.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1076308909488983062004-02-08T22:30:00.000-08:002004-02-09T22:26:44.200-08:00

There's some kind of revolt in Haiti. UPDATE: Tacitus has picked up the story.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1075968518611638532004-02-04T23:23:00.000-08:002004-02-05T00:11:57.576-08:00

I wish I had thought of Matt Drudge's phrases for his weather and seismic links: "Weather Action" and "Quake Sheet". True, nobody bets on the weather (except at Tradesports, where you can bet on the snowfall in Central Park). But somehow this kind of environmental news seems just as urgent to some people, even if they know they'll be entirely unaffected. Yes, I'm one. The "Watch" section of

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1075879642722488542004-02-03T22:40:00.000-08:002004-02-04T00:14:41.856-08:00

The cryptic post below is explained by my having successfully hard-coded a simple blogroll in the column to the left. It's such a relief to finally have it there. Weblogs without fixed links to other sources of information are often uncomfortable pages to visit -- not so much because their authors are eccentric as because of their very disconnection from that worldwide welter of discussion

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1075802854693570942004-02-03T01:19:00.000-08:002004-02-03T02:10:08.716-08:00

Okay, I think we can consider this leaf well and truly turned. Happy Groundhog Day +1, all.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1075792300265596482004-02-02T23:11:00.000-08:002004-02-02T23:13:19.920-08:00

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1075580465084304372004-01-31T12:20:00.000-08:002004-02-01T21:58:23.420-08:00

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UPDATE: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1074461064036836302004-01-18T13:24:00.000-08:002004-01-18T13:25:48.170-08:00

I can't do with IMDB's polled list of the 100 worst movies what I did below with their 250 best, as I'm surprised to find that - except in the heavily edited and pre-mocked format of Mystery Science Theater 3000 - I've only seen one of them: The Avengers (now ranked 76th worst). I don't know that it deserved that rating, although any TV adaptation whose best points are the soundtrack and the art

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1074458166322802152004-01-18T12:36:00.000-08:002004-01-18T12:47:06.263-08:00

While we wait for results from the Spirit probe's soil studies, we find that everyone else (by which I mean Michele Catalano) has been over at the Internet Movie Database, reeling from the effects of a poll of their "regular voters" to establish the Top 250 Movies ever made. This list seems to line up with my own tastes better than it might have, with Peter Jackson's Tolkien trilogy all in the

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1073464300848581942004-01-07T00:53:00.000-08:002004-01-07T00:53:35.966-08:00

Great story about the Mars rover and its terrain from the Washington Post (free registration required). It seems the lander left tracks in the surface:The material was mashed and clumped, like something moist and viscous, and was broken away in pieces at some spots.Moist? On Mars?"The way the surface has responded is bizarre," said lead rover scientist Steve Squyres of Cornell University, at

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1073375030188506712004-01-05T23:43:00.000-08:002004-01-05T23:45:01.780-08:00

Halley Suitt thinks it's about time political journalists got a taste of their own medicine.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1073186068285568822004-01-03T19:14:00.000-08:002004-01-03T19:15:37.983-08:00

Via Instapundit: Gus Stangeland's camera bends windmill propellers.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1073122748927465222004-01-03T01:39:00.000-08:002004-01-03T01:40:17.513-08:00

...it seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? Somehow I had thought it was a safety issue or something.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1073001880831855842004-01-01T16:04:00.000-08:002004-01-01T16:06:55.950-08:00

I spent a very nice New Year at the house of some friends. Stacked in the front hall were rolls of thick plastic padding labeled "Water Heater Insulation". Another friend of mine explained that when he saw their uninsulated water heater (which also stands in the front hall) he was aghast and pleaded with them to insulate it at once, and they agreed with him. My friend who gave the advice is

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1071471228124841462003-12-14T22:53:00.000-08:002003-12-14T22:54:37.640-08:00

From a fan-galaxy far, far away comes news of the Wilhelm Scream, "an inimitable cry of pain and alarm that has graced some of the biggest movies of all time." Originally given by Ralph Brooke in Warner's 1953 Western The Charge at Feather River, its echoes have sounded ever since, notably in George Lucas films. But far from exclusively: we'll hear it again in Return of the King.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1071450099683935372003-12-14T17:01:00.000-08:002003-12-14T17:02:29.670-08:00

...you can have your monument showing the Ten Commandments. As long as you're willing to display the Seven Principles of Summum as well... Thanks to Howard Bashman of How Appealing.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1071431892137956622003-12-14T11:58:00.000-08:002003-12-14T12:28:19.936-08:00

They found Saddam.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1070434537881838522003-12-02T22:55:00.000-08:002003-12-02T22:59:00.200-08:00

The New Zealand Herald has been barred from reviewing a new film, but still wants us to know something about it: It may be the world premiere tonight. And we may have seen the film at a media screening at the Embassy Theatre on Saturday afternoon. But it was a stipulation by the film's distributors that to see the film, you weren't allowed to review it just yet - mainly because it wouldn't do

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1069739718042853202003-11-24T21:55:00.000-08:002003-11-24T21:59:00.686-08:00

This news is five days old, but I'm seeing it now for the first time (via Tolle, Blogge, which I almost never read because I keep forgetting it's in English.) International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal. In a startling break with the official White House

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1069146088156506102003-11-18T01:01:00.000-08:002003-11-18T01:02:13.326-08:00

Even the best blogs can grow and change, often in subtly disturbing ways. My uncle Bill, at Idler Yet, has just added a link to his blogroll that proves this elementary fact: somehow he's chosen to link to a no-frills, no-comments Blogspot blog called Stone Knives and Bearskins, whose author seems to share many of my interests - and failings too. As if that weren't weird enough, alphabetization

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1068704366381399172003-11-12T22:19:00.000-08:002003-11-12T22:21:09.270-08:00

I think this is one of the best blog posts I've ever seen. Maybe it helps to know what kind of blogger Tacitus is and what kind of community liberals and conservatives have found together in the comments to his site. But I think the post speaks for itself to some extent. And as a commentator pointed out, doesn't it take considerable courage to go through with this scene? I made my decision:

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1068612124352486112003-11-11T20:42:00.000-08:002003-11-11T20:42:22.063-08:00

Dog bites man -- that's not news. Dog shoots man -- that's news.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1068286427749997402003-11-08T02:13:00.000-08:002003-11-08T02:19:10.353-08:00

The dullest blog in the world is back! Ah ... uh ... um, and so is this one. Best of luck to us both.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1067066816208100502003-10-25T00:26:00.000-07:002003-10-25T00:27:19.623-07:00

This is the daily post for Friday, October 24, underway somewhat late. Today's glimpse of the future column of links takes us to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The name says it all, really, except for the Kamchatka part (wouldn't you know it? that's where all the action is lately, including the scary pic on the front page.) Enjoy - from a safe distance.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1066882257774733322003-10-22T21:10:00.000-07:002003-10-22T21:10:57.803-07:00

Sorry about the hiatus. I've made a daily resolution. Now will someone please explain to me how this guy survived the fall? The New York Times (free registration required) says he had been going around telling people he could make it. Like all the stories I've seen, though, the Times takes the psychological angle: it asks why he jumped, not how he lived to tell the tale. Granted, the man

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1065272148257857922003-10-04T05:55:00.000-07:002003-10-04T13:58:53.163-07:00

Translation of this story intended to save Mickey Kaus's mother some work. Corrections and criticisms encouraged; mail them to Dell at Sonic.net. New viewers (that would be all of you), sorry for the lack of amenities. I'll have a blogroll, etc., up as soon as I can. Meanwhile check out my uncle Bill's very entertaining (and recall-rich) blog, Idler Yet, although despite the title I think

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1064901711598164322003-09-29T23:01:00.000-07:002003-09-29T23:01:51.716-07:00

Don't despair, impossibly loyal Stone Knives fans! I'll be posting regularly starting very soon indeed. How can I tell? Because I'm once again spending all my computer time reading blogs like this one rather than getting to work.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1061462219884237892003-08-21T03:36:00.000-07:002003-08-21T04:01:15.330-07:00

Turns out ">John Rawls is no John Grisham. Sorry, folks, this is gonna take a while. Meantime, why not check out James Lileks' weekdaily Bleat? Not everyone gets him - he's probably best known as the curator of the Gallery of Regrettable Food - but he writes about his average existence in suburban Minneapolis, with wife, small daughter Gnat, and dog Jasper, with irony both gentle and sharp at

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1060492390548474602003-08-09T22:13:00.000-07:002003-08-09T22:13:10.576-07:00

So yes, there will be posts on philosophy here from time to time. Basically, though, I'll just be thinking out loud, and I don't know how interesting other people are going to find it. I expect to make a lot of mistakes here in public, and hopefully correct them here too. I hope you will look at the more abstruse posts not as information (links aside) but as entertainment.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1060469679816875122003-08-09T15:54:00.000-07:002003-08-09T21:44:52.816-07:00

Toward the end of last month there was a discussion at Crooked Timber on whether naturalistic ethics made sense. (Cleis, at Sappho's Breathing, has a convenient list of the posts in the discussion, which centered around an article by Gerald Cohen in Philosophy and Public Affairs entitled "Facts and Principles". That sounded like an extremely interesting paper, so I've gone on to read it. I've

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1060426801262622862003-08-09T04:00:00.000-07:002003-08-09T04:00:35.493-07:00

I was one of those kids who know all about dinosaurs at the age of 4. So I know what a plesiosaur was. It was a giant lizard with a long neck and tail, and fins like a sea tortoise because it lived in the ocean. I never found out what the Greek root plesio- meant. But now, glancing at my Dorland's Medical Dictionary, which is open to the page, I see plesiomorphism defined as "similarity in

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1060425509706888972003-08-09T03:38:00.000-07:002003-08-09T03:38:29.600-07:00

I don't have a blogroll set up yet, so I'll be posting links to my favorite blogs. My favorite group blog is the Volokh Conspiracy. Close runner-up is Crooked Timber, already a respected institution in its second month.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1060423638359780412003-08-09T03:07:00.000-07:002003-08-09T03:21:13.863-07:00

Bear in mind that the people running for Governor are all over 18 and involved in politics, thus are presumably beyond being sensitive to the oddness of their names.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1060418675111936832003-08-09T01:44:00.000-07:002003-08-09T01:52:08.996-07:00

I hear there's a special election going on in my state, with over 600 people running for Governor. Naturally I wanted a list of the 10 candidates with the funniest names. Schwarzenegger didn't make the cut. Nor did Bustamante. Darrell Issa lagged far behind. This is California, after all. 1. Ladywautausa Je Khezam (ind.) 2. Hatosha W. Drumgoole (Dem.) 3. Jordana Thigpen (Dem.) 4. Cmell

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1059690144978598632003-07-31T15:22:00.000-07:002003-07-31T15:25:20.576-07:00

On Tuesday night I returned to the Bay Area from a very nice week's vacation in Ashland, Oregon. Caught an enjoyable Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare Festival. My uncle, who kindly put me up for the week, also ran about a dozen movies he couldn't believe I'd lived to 30 without seeing; we started, I think, with the first two Terminators and ended with The Year of Living Dangerously. It was

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1058830512123824122003-07-21T16:35:00.000-07:002003-07-21T16:35:12.076-07:00

Back to work. Still no clue where I'm going with this. Good thing I can work at home, with windows full of vines and trellises to look at. Pity I'm getting such a late start today.

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5601839.post-1058830230726784032003-07-21T16:30:00.000-07:002003-07-21T16:31:42.856-07:00

Testing, testing. 1, 2, 3... Is this thing on?

Octavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09603617766621975615noreply@blogger.com