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May 31, 2005
Back from Flipside
I'm back from Flipside, and I am tired. I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I did take a few. Madison, Margarita, Lena, etc., if you came this way looking for your photos, email me or comment here, and I'll be sure to send them on their way. I have email for some of you and should be sending them shortly.
Here's one shot, however, that I figure I can share with all:
Thanks to all the rest of the crowd at Inner Stellar High, and I'll be in touch with those that I can.
I'll post something more coherant later. Or not. If you've been to Flipside, you'll understand.
Blog by Dan | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 22, 2005
I Am Not a Number!
Just a little bit of humor in defiance of all the numbers I've had to memorize, i.e. SSN, phone, credit card, driver's license...
I thought this would also look good on a t-shirt, but CafePress doesn't do as well with printing light on dark, so I did style Photoshop stylizing to get something that I think will work:
Render by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 20, 2005
Filibustering Judges... a political mistake
As we wind up towards one of the biggest Senate confrontations since Clinton’s impeachment trial, there’s quite a bit of editorializing, blogging, and general wind-bagging about the rightness, precedence, and constitutionality of Democratic senators’ promise to filibuster some of Bush’s judicial nominees. I’ve considered joining the fray and pointing out massive flaws and specious lies in the arguments of both sides, but thre's enough of that going on already. Instead, I’m just going to put forth a cynical argument that this strategy is a political mistake, and that those senators, experts in politics, should recognize this. (For the record, I’m generally in favor of the notion that nominees for judges, ambassadors, cabinet positions, etc. deserve a timely debate and up/down vote in the Senate.)
It looks like the “nuclear option” is a real possibility, so there’s a good chance that despite all of the Democrats’ promises of obstinacy, these judges are going to be confirmed anyway. The price they will have paid is to lose the power of the filibuster, probably forever. All they will have succeeded at is to raise the level of partisan ire in Washington even further. There’s an ex-senator named Daschle who can advise the senior senators on the wisdom of that tactic.
Instead, I think they should just bite the bullet and schedule a long, solid debate on each of these judges. Get up to that podium and pound on the issues that trouble them, rail against the rulings that they oppose, and then when the time comes, vote against the nominees, and let them pass with a majority vote. They can still stand up and claim to be the principled minority, the civil objectors, without being labeled as the unruly obstructionists.
Then just sit back and wait. If these judges are truly as bad as these senators claim, then an objectionable ruling on abortion, civil rights, etc. is bound to come soon enough. When that happens, they should latch onto those rulings and publicize them in every stump speech, in every campaign mailing, and yes, in every future judicial confirmation debate. To gauge how effective that could be, just look at how much political energy the Republicans were able to generate from just a few rulings promoting gay marriage, and most of those were in state courts, not even at the federal level. If they could get a ruling that looked like even a partial reversal of Roe or Brown, they could turn that into a party revival that could sweep them back into power in the Senate. It would be the reversal of the 2004 gay marriage voter surge. And any such judicial sacrifice would likely be short-lived. If these judges and their potential rulings are so far out of the judicial mainstream, they would be unlikely to survive a full-circuit or Supreme Court review. And further, if these judges are the neo-Nazi’s they imply, then a Democrat Congress could impeach them and throw them off the bench. (At least, there are some Republicans who thinks that’s a realistic stick for intimidating liberal judges.)
In reality though, I don’t think any of these judges are likely to provide such a ruling because in reality, I don’t think they’re that bad. I doubt the senators really think so either. In which case, this is a doubly bad mistake because not only will they have failed to achieve a victory but they will have made themselves appear irrelevant and obstructionist.
I suspect, instead, their current strategy it to achieve some kind of victory, no matter now small, to retain some voice in the Senate, and failing that, to become martyrs. I think that’s a bad idea. Voters want more from their politicians than a skill for saying “no” and throwing tantrums.
Politics by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday 5: Yanking threads from the Great Tapestry of Life
Today’s question comes from Gord:
In the depths of a dream, a voice speaks unto you:
Little one! Little one!
You're not sure who it is, but it doesn't occur to you to ask. so you just listen.
Listen, I haven't been to earth in a long time, but I have some good data here that suggests unless five species are made extinct, the whole planet will simply shut down within a week. I haven't visited in a long time, and you humans seem the closest thing to sentients on Earth. I need your help. Doesn't matter which species, it's a mathematical problem, not a pragmatic problem! That means any species will do. What can you do without?
Who is this? God? Some other long-lost deity? The Demiurge? Maybe an alien wildlife preserve officer responsible for this corner of the Milky Way? You can't be sure, and this may just be a dream, but just the same, it might be a good idea to make some suggestions. Which five species would you nominate for extinction, for the sake of the rest of all life on Earth? Remember, if you don't answer, it may just be a dream... or you may be refusing to save the majority of life on Earth. And yes, the definition of "species" for this question is more fluid than we might imagine. (I'd include viruses and so on.)
This one is going to be easier than most...
I suspect that the question meant to invoke feelings of tragic loss, of sacrificing a noble few to save the greater whole. I think it was also framed in the world-view of the Great Tapestry, where all life is so carefully interwoven that pulling out a single thread can have disastrous consequences.
Well, bullshit. Not only do I disagree with the Great Tapestry view, but I find it ironic that many who promote it (i.e. liberal eco-protectors) are also against the notion of a supernatural G/god who created everything (i.e. Intelligent Design). The irony here is that the vision of the Great Tapestry, where everything is so delicately interwoven, seems to imply that it got that way through the vision of a designer and any damage is irreparable, spreading towards the destruction of the entire tapestry.
Rather than a Grand Tapestry, I see the biological world as a messy collection of knotted thread, and I see evolution as a blind, insane, insomniac weaver whose overriding drive is to just keep weaving. (Fans of “Finding Nemo” should think of her a bit like Dora: “Just keep weaving... just keep weaving...”) She has no grand design. She just weaves all around the fringes until some bits are too gnarled to continue, and then she picks up somewhere else. As for removing threads, not only does she not care overmuch, but she pulls them out herself all the time. “I need more blue... oh, there’s some blue over there. I’ll just yank it out.” I’m not saying that there are no consequences for pulling out a thread, just that it’s part of the natural order.
So, with no guilt at all, I proceed to my list, in some cases taking broad swaths across several related species:
- Human-destructive viruses, bacteria, fungi, prions, etc.: I’ll start with Ebola, HIV/AIDS, syphilis, herpes, meningitis, polio, smallpox, flesh eating bacteria, influenza, and then work my way on down to the rhinovirus (common cold). While these may have played a wonderful part in the tapestry towards breeding a human with a better immune system, at this point, their main effect on the ecosystem is to breed a human with access to better health care.
- Computer viruses: Hey, if we’re going to let the definition be really broad, I’d like to stuff this genie back in the bottle.
- Annoying niche variants: Here I’m referring to that unique variant of moth, grasshopper, or moss that is found only in this little two hundred acre tract of land and is preventing the construction of the highway, mall, etc., due to EPA regulation. Look, it’s not that this species is so important or special that evolution set aside this specific patch of land for it. Rather, it’s that this species isn’t robust enough to survive and flourish anywhere else. When evolution goes looking for more blue yarn, these guys are where she goes first.
- Snakes with venom that can kill humans: I’d say all snakes, but I’m not sure I want to see what evolution starts putting in to fill that role. However, I think we can do without the snakes capable of killing creatures fifty times their body mass. Can I toss in scorpions here as well?
- The panda: Yes, I know they’re cute and adorable, and my favorite stuffed animal as a child was my older brother’s panda teddy bear, but... I figure I should inject a little pain into the list. Besides, any species that has this hard of a time breeding is just blue-yarn-fodder for the weaver anyway.
Other Friday Fivers can be found destroying the ecosystem here.
Meme by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 19, 2005
New Stem Cell Technique
Well, while we're on the subject of clones (insert Star Wars joke here)...
South Korean scientists have managed to create functional stem cells directly from adult patients, not using a fertilization or embryonic middle step.
...their method may be less controversial than other work with embryonic stem cells because, by their definition, a human embryo was never actually created.
...
Hwang said his method differs from that first used to derive human embryonic stem cells in 1998 and he proposes using a new term for the cloned embryos -- a "nuclear transfer construct."
"I think this construct is not an embryo," he said. "There is no fertilization in our process. We use nuclear transfer technology. I can say this result is not an embryo but a nuclear transfer construct."
I have some hope that this development will clear up much of the current stem-cell controversy since it should side-step the whole pseudo-abortion issue. You could make the argument here that this is no more "life creating" or "life destroying" than the common practice of donating blood in anticipation of surgery when you will need it back.
Now, unlike what many Democrats have promoted, I don't think that miraculous cures for paralysis and organ failure are right around the corner, only lacking the application of federal funds, but I have high hopes for some good stuff in the fifteen to thirty year timeframe.
Mostly, I suspect that the cure for cancer might some out of this. File this one under "Things we believe but cannot prove", but I've long suspected that cancer is caused by a cell being trigger back into stem-cell mode by accident but without the proper chemical instructions of what to do. If we ever learn to control stems cells the way the optimists promise (e.g. regrowing nerves or organs in place), then we should learn enough to thwart stem cells gone bad.
My father is dying of cancer right now. He's been in stage four for about two years, and I'll be surprised if he lives out the summer. All of this is decades late for him, but it makes it very real to me.
Technology by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
Review of the Sith
I just got out of the midnight showing of Revenge of the Sith, and while a few notes fell flat, this was enough. George Lucas finally delivered on the tragic arc of Anakin's story.
George, I forgive you.
Reviews by Dan | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 17, 2005
Sorrow... a work in progress
Here's a little piece I worked up over the weekend. I don't really consider it finished because it just feels like there's something missing, but I don't know what it is. So, I'm putting it on the shelf for a while to see if time works it out for me.
Render by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 16, 2005
The neighborhood owl
Andrew just wrote about a neat experience he had with a neighborhood owl. I was going to leave this as a comment, but... well, maybe he should double check his LJ configuration screen. Or not.
Anyway, there's an owl in our neighborhood. He... at least I think of it as "he"... likes to sit on the peak of our roof. Given the hill and neighborhood layout, it's probably the highest spot for a few hundred yards. (Yeah, we'll talk about the lightning some other time.)
I discovered him about a year ago when he was hooting away on the roof over my head. I wandered around the house trying to find the noise, eventually going up to the attic where the noise was much louder but not enough to locate. Eventually I went outside to see if I could find it, and there was the owl, sitting atop the roof, sillouhetted against the moonlit clouds like just one more vent pipe. He's big, though, almost two feet from head to tail.
Other nights when I've had reason to go out, I look up to his perch. It's usually empty, but he's there often enough to keep his claim, and he's usually very quiet. His one night of hooting was a singular performance. He could be up there right now, and I wouldn't know it. I like that.
Narrative by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 14, 2005
A bottle in front of me...
Those of you familiar with my long battle with Lucasholism already knew that this was going to be a difficult time in my life. Well, I now have a ticket to a Wednesday midnight showing in front of me.
Where's that intervention you promised?!!
Blog by Dan | Permalink | Comments (3)
Happy Birthday Marvin!
I just wanted to wish a happy birthday to Marvin, blogger extraordinaire! He is now officially one year closer to asking for that immortality serum.
Blog by Dan | Permalink | Comments (1)
May 13, 2005
Have I given up writing for rendering?
Another render... two in one week, but no, I haven't given up writing in favor of rendering stuff. It's just that lately work has been lots of reading docs, writing proposals, etc. At the end of the day, I'm pretty much "written out", so working on visual rendering projects has been more relaxing. I suspect that will slack off once the heavy coding gets going again since that tends to engage my right brain much more.
So anyway, here's my latest offering...
I'd been thinking of some kind of crucifix pose for a few weeks, and this is what I ended up with.
Originally, the figure was going to be holding two katanas, stretched out like that, their blades arcing downwards, but once I got the draft of that, I found that it looked far too martial, as if the figure were preparing to attack.
Plus, it threw off the vertical aspect ratio of the cross, and I couldn't find a good way to lengthen the central line. Then, when comparing the sword-draft with an earlier rough-draft, I found that I like the open hands better. The open, relaxed hands give it much more a feeling of surrender and release that was closer to my original intent.
In other news, I've given MAW the weekend off. She hasn't had a real break from the kids for almost two years for various reasons. But this weekend, she's off in a hotel, reading a book and ordering room service. I would have done it last weekend for Mother's Day, but I was out of town.
Blog /Render by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 11, 2005
Exercise fights depression?
I ran across this article in the Wall Street Journal the other day, and a web search found the same thing in PsycPort. Basically, some evidence is showing that regular exercise fights clinical depression.
...an altogether different treatment that shows tremendous promise in alleviating depression has gone largely unnoticed. That treatment is exercise. A growing body of medical literature, including at least three 2005 studies, is showing that aerobic routines as well as weight lifting are effective at combating depression. In addition to the famous "runner's high," or endorphin surge that provides a temporary mood lift following a workout, the studies show that there is a round-the-clock relief that sets in several weeks after the establishment of a regular exercise routine.
A study in the January issue of the Journal of Preventive Medicine suggested that a half-hour a day of exercise six days a week - which is the amount the federal government recommends for all Americans - might be ideal. Comparing two groups of depressed patients, the study found that the group that performed only 80 minutes of exercise a week received little to no mental-health benefit. But the three-hour-a-week group had a substantial reduction in symptoms. The study concluded "the response and remission rates in the (three-hours-per-week) group are comparable to other depression treatments, such as medication or cognitive behavioral therapy."
I mention this because a number of my friends have been battling depression for some time.
Blog by Dan | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 10, 2005
Tuesday Night Performance
Given that the rendering technology I use seems crafted almost specifically for porn, it's no surprise that there's a lot of it made. In fact, there's an entire community site dedicated to it. There's everything from mildly sensuous mood pieces to hardcore transgender porn and extreme S&M. (Note: there's no kiddie porn, because we all know that such virtual kiddie porn would be evidence of the crime of virtual child abuse. Help stop the rampage of virtual child abuse in this country!) Of course, following Sturgeon's Law, 90% of it is crap, but applying Ron Jeremy's Law tells us that even bad porn is still pretty good.
So, given such a technological predisposition towards pornography, we shouldn't ask why I've decided to sink to such depths. Instead, we should ask how I held out for so long?
The following is mild but NOT work safe.
Click on the thumbnail for the full-size image.
I guess the real reason I held off so long is that most porn, while titilating, is boring. <Beavis>Heh... he said "tit"!</Beavis>
I got this idea from a piece of erotic fiction on the web where a bunch of anonymous couples would take turns watching each other perform via telescopes. By unspoken agreement, this couple performs every second Tuesday of the month.
Render by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 09, 2005
10 Days and Counting
It's now only ten days until Revenge of the Sith, and the pre-release spoilers are flowing. As such, I'm withdrawing a bit from my usual internet reading because I hate spoilers.
[It's not so much that I love surprises, just that the storyteller has crafted the story to reveal things to you in a specific order. That's what telling the story is all about, and I believe in letting someone tell the story they way they wrote it.]
Basically, George Lucas has only one more chance to make it up to me for everything from Ewoks to Jar-Jar to mitichlorians, and I'm not going to let some overzealous reviewer mess that up.
Hence, if there's something you really need me to know in a timely fashion, don't rely on your blog/LJ to communicate it. Just email me instead.
Blog by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 08, 2005
Friday 5: I'm not a packrat -- I'm just sentimental
Coming in a little late, but this past Friday's question came from Rob:
What five items do you still posess that you should have dumped long ago and why do you have them?
- The last remaining key to my first car (a 1972 Chevy Impala hardtop) is still on my keyring. It comes in handy as a cutting edge for tearing through tape on boxes, but the real reason is that I just can bring myself to remove it from the ring.
- I still have two or three older film cameras. I'm pretty solidly switched over to digital now, but I still have these. Partly it's laziness (that I haven't EBay'd them), but it's also an irritation that I spent a decent chunk on one of them but didn't get around to using in much in the years between its purchase and my switch to digital.
- I really am going to fit into those pants again someday. Really.
- I still have stack of sales brochures for the playscape line I have in my backyard. I can only blame this one on laziness of cleaning up my office. There, problem solved. Do I have to remove it from my list now?
- I have three photos of art pieces that were given to me by an artist named Jamie. I now actually have those pieces in full-size, framed and hanging on my walls. He game me the photos when I placed the order for those pieces, and I just hung onto them. I guess the reason is that this was one of Jamie's last appearances, and he knew it. He was getting out of the whole fan-art scene and was depleting his inventory to make a clean break. I suppose I'm just hanging onto them as one last interaction I had with him before he disappeared.
Ok... maybe I am a packrat.
Meme by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 04, 2005
Hitchhiker's Guide... Don't Pan It!
Well... actually, do pan it.
I went to see it this evening with a coworker because we had won free movie tickets via a trivia game on the bus ride over to the baseball game. (Rangers over A's, 16 to 7, rained out in the ninth inning.) And at $9.50 per ticket, we were glad someone else had paid for the movie, especially for this one.
Mind you, I have read the books and seen the BBC TV version, but I wasn't a fanatic on it. Well... technically, I could quote sections of it at length, but just because I'm that guy... you know, the geek who can quote nerd films at length. Anyway, I went in with an open mind, fully prepared for it to stray from the books/etc.
It varied between sticking closely to the origionals (almost line-by-line) and straying from them, and there were good parts in both areas. There were also somewhat lame parts in both. By and large, it was just inconsistant, though it did at least start fairly strong. The ending, while annoyingly trite, was at least marginally decent. I stress that: marginally decent. Not glorious, not even good. Just decent. Maybe. I'm on the fence here.
I give it two white mice and a towel.
Reviews by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
Take me out to the ballgame
I'm enjoying a nice, quiet, rainy San Francisco morning out here, and in about ten minutes, we're heading out to the baseball game.
At least we'll be in one of those luxury boxes eating and drinking all day. Some of us might even go over to the window to see if they're playing.
The real shame is that I'll be there, in Oakland, in the Colliseum, the very heart of the Raider Nation... and it's baseball season.
Blog by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 01, 2005
Off to California
Blogging will be light for the next week. I'm off to my California office for business. If anyone wants to visit MAW while I'm gone, I'm sure she would appreciate the company.
Blog by Dan | Permalink | Comments (0)