Jul 04

Hiatus

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Is my blog dead? I don’t know. My blogging activities ground to a halt about a month ago because of two events that diverted my attention for a while, but neither of them is a valid excuse any longer.
The first event was opening night for Carousel on June 3. That play ran throughout the month of June and occupied most of my evenings and weekends. The second event was the unexpected loss of my job. I was informed on June 7 that June 10 would be my last day of work.
Losing my job actually freed up a lot of my time, of course, but this didn’t help as much as you might think. First of all, I had to spend some of that time trying to find a new job. Second, not having to go to work made it possible for me to sleep late, and since I was getting home from the theatre at midnight or later, that was quite easy to do. My sleep cycle still hasn’t stabilized.
But the play ended its run over a week ago, on June 26. And I’ve had time to get a grip on my job search. So why am I still not blogging? The truth is that I just haven’t felt like it. I don’t seem to have anything worthwhile to say. That may be a result of my altered circumstances, or it may mean something else. I haven’t yet figured it out.
When I do, I’ll let you know.

Jun 13

The Big Three

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No wonder I find the tone and perspective of Instapundit to be so compatible with my own! Glenn Reynolds, the author of that blog, recently wrote: “I was influenced a lot by Robert Heinlein, Arthur Clarke, and Isaac Asimov, but more by their entire body of works than by any particular book.” That describes me almost perfectly. During my formative years (junior high and high school), I was influenced by those men far more than by any teacher or subject I encountered in a classroom.
I should mention, though, that I was able to immerse myself in the works of Heinlein, Clarke, and Asimov because the public-school libraries were so well stocked with them. The inescapable conclusion is that my school librarians had more influence on me than the teachers did. I wonder: is this typical of my generation?

Jun 06

Sinking the Sub Club

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The Subway sandwich chain will phase out its Sub Club promotion during the next few months. (That’s the deal involving the card that you fill up with stamps and then redeem for a free sandwich.) Don’t get mad at Subway for this — they’ve been running the promotion for more than two decades. Blame the thieves and counterfeiters who have forced to Subway to pull the plug.

May 27

Go ahead and jump

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If you came of age during the 1980s, this video is guaranteed to push your nostalgia buttons. And even if you weren’t, how can you pass up a chance to see Donkey Kong sing the classic Van Halen song “Jump”? As you watch the video, keep track of how many ’80s video games you can identify. Give yourself a bonus point for each game you actually played.

May 25

Just a coincidence

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So I’m on my way to work, practicing my vocal parts for Carousel as I drive. I have the cast recording from the 1994 Broadway revival playing on my car stereo so I can sing along. RLT‘s production of Carousel opens a week from Friday, and the more I practice the better. I’m stopped at a traffic light, and my attention is focused more on what I’m singing than on the view of the car ahead of me. But gradually, I realize what I am seeing on the car’s trunk lid:

It’s an advertising sticker for a car dealership in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Apparently someone drove a car from there to North Carolina just to make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It worked.

May 25

German spam update

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I just checked my Gmail spam folder and was astonished to find that the German spam has stopped. On May 22, the spam was still pouring in: 40 spam messages, 39 of which were German. But on May 23, I only received four spam notes — and on May 24, only three. All of those were in English. The German spam went from a torrent to nothing overnight.
I don’t know exactly what happened two days ago, but I can guess. I think somebody tracked down the zombie machines that were sending the spam, and either disinfected them or shut them off.

May 23

Sanguinivorous

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A Japanese research team has developed a fuel cell that can be powered by human blood. This is good news in the short term, because it means that pacemakers and other implants can be designed without batteries that have to be replaced periodically. But in the long term, it means that we’ll have to watch out for vampire robots. Will future Slayers have to carry a lightsaber as well as a stake?

May 20

Episode III

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I saw Revenge of the Sith last night, and it did not disappoint me in any respect. I don’t feel motivated to write a review, so I’ll just point to the one Ben wrote.
I will say that my essay from 1999 turns out to be somewhat less appropriate for this movie. Revenge of the Sith is a grim and violent film, but that was inevitable given the ground that it had to cover (the annihilation of the Jedi, the horrible disfigurement of Anakin and his transformation into Darth Vader, the fall of the Republic and the dawn of the Empire). So my inner child did not come out and play this time because playtime was over in the Star Wars universe.