tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217262011-04-21T19:45:41.527-05:00The Jason ContinuumEnjoy.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comBlogger13611100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1095301320614627492004-09-15T21:06:00.000-05:002004-09-15T21:22:00.613-05:00I'm back. What'd I miss?
What the hell is wrong with you people? I'm down to an average of 4 hits a day! I don't understand! All I do is stop posting for four months and you abandon me. For shame.
Just kidding. Anyway, life has been marching along and things are rather more settled than the last time I deigned to blog. I have an apartment, a full time job, and have thoroughly re-embracedhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1084148085474571102004-05-09T19:09:00.000-05:002004-05-09T19:14:45.476-05:00In honor of Blogger's new website design, I thought I'd post here just to remind myself that this thing still exists.
Look, folks, here's the deal. The thesis is done, it's in, it's finished. I have to print off the binding copies (and pay for them too, thank you very much) and then it's over. Graduation is THIS FRIDAY. I will wear a funny robe and hat and get a Master's degree.
Now, I'm hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1083449353636812562004-05-01T17:08:00.000-05:002004-05-01T17:12:22.140-05:00What an awesome office acoutrement this would be.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1082234879179166152004-04-17T15:47:00.000-05:002004-04-17T15:50:53.046-05:00Do your part in the War on Terrorism!hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1081220949906772602004-04-05T22:09:00.000-05:002004-04-05T22:11:52.543-05:00Peep Research.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1078446713971660832004-03-04T18:31:00.000-06:002004-03-04T18:34:04.293-06:00Also, I'm making good progress on my thesis. But don't think that means I'm going to be posting more often or anything. Just you wait.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1078446644352774072004-03-04T18:24:00.000-06:002004-03-04T18:32:54.700-06:00I have a job now for post-graduation. What is it? Well,
She packed my bags last night, pre-flight
Zero hour: nine a.m.
And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then
I miss the earth so much
I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight
And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
'til touchdown brings me around to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no
I'm ahljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1077322280316259392004-02-20T18:10:00.000-06:002004-02-20T18:13:17.780-06:00This is great.
hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1076382032933231372004-02-09T20:58:00.000-06:002004-02-09T21:02:19.590-06:00I have courted disaster by registering at a website where one may play online Diplomacy against human opponents, with real-time messaging and 48-hour turns.
I find today's Strongbad E-mail utterly incomprehensible, and therefore reject it as the polar opposite of funny.
I'm writing a thesis.
Between all of that, is it any wonder I don't have much time to update here anymore?
hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1074732409407746302004-01-21T18:16:00.000-06:002004-01-21T18:48:16.530-06:00Something somewhat unusual has happened to me over the last year and a half plus some. I have become a Board Game Geek.
Not that it's especially unusual for me to be geeky about something; most of you know of my affinity for geeky TV shows (these need not be named, let it merely be said that I can identify most internal components of a Type-40 TARDIS console and am well aware of the registry hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1073786300048173152004-01-10T19:14:00.000-06:002004-01-10T19:59:36.030-06:00As I imagine would be obvious by now, I haven't been paying a great deal of attention to the Continuum for a while. There are any number of reasons for this, the most pertinent of which, until lately, was that I didn't have regular internet access while traveling during the holiday season. Prior to that I was simply too busy. I wrote over 280 pages last semester, and the last 90 or so were allhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1071634421892023442003-12-16T22:12:00.000-06:002003-12-16T22:14:33.826-06:00Just in case anyone still reads this, I'm leaving Missouri tomorrow morning to travel back to Virginia for Christmas. Will stay in Kentucky overnight en route.
Everyone have a very happy holiday!hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1071363957724818712003-12-13T19:05:00.000-06:002003-12-13T19:06:46.670-06:00This explains so very much.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1070466574768575972003-12-03T09:44:00.000-06:002003-12-03T09:50:12.840-06:00Oh, yes, gang, not to worry. You've not been forgotten. Well, actually, temporarily you have. But don't cry. I'll stick my head in every once in a while. Throw the lions some meat.
Why do I keep getting IMs from pr0n bots with improbable feminine names?
Anyway. Thanks were given on the appropriate day, and a fantastic time was had by yours truly in and around the Windy City. On hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1069823211651706212003-11-25T23:06:00.000-06:002003-11-25T23:07:22.996-06:00In Chicago for Thanksgiving from Wednesday to Sunday. Have cell phone, checking e-mail sporadically. Play nice, and have a happy turkey day.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1069654968404225702003-11-24T00:19:00.000-06:002003-11-24T00:23:17.543-06:00Now the night train is waiting to take me away
And I’m still feeling guilty cause you’re wanting me to stay
Well I know, how I know, it’s harder on you
But you said it yourself, there’s nothing else we could do.
When the wheels start turning, taking me through the night
Out there in the darkness, there’s a star shining bright
And it makes me feel better just to see it up there
I hope you’re hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1069564634601428052003-11-22T23:06:00.000-06:002003-11-22T23:17:42.780-06:00Over the last few days, instead of working on my papers (work is, of course, for suckers), I've been watching the entirety of Band of Brothers on DVD, on loan from a friend of mine. I caught this very sporadically during its original run on HBO, and I've been much enjoying the opportunity to see the series from start to finish. Immensely powerful, in all respects. This series fleshes out the hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1068955008841477732003-11-15T21:33:00.000-06:002003-11-15T21:57:09.560-06:00Holy flaming cow, I'm back. But was I ever really gone? From your hearts and your minds, gang? Oh, I sure hope not. But I noticed the other day that my "average hits per day" (which I obsessively check between ten and a dozen times daily with a wireless internet device and my PalmPilot while at the office) had declined to a shocking 14. What the hell, yo? Where's the love? Then I hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1067754392361901682003-11-01T23:16:00.000-06:002003-11-02T00:26:31.120-06:00Tac-nuke or treat, gang!
I'm a day late, but this is because the debauchery and chaos of the DSS Halloween Party did not permit me to make a timely report. Suffice it to say that I was a 1980s teenager (stonewashed jean jacket; Ghostbusters T-shirt; pegged jeans; Converse sneakers; Top Gun shades), but Fate must want me to select a different decade to tap for costume ideas, as my Top Gun shadeshljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1067749932713928992003-11-01T23:11:00.000-06:002003-11-01T23:12:20.850-06:00Read. Appreciate.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1067436326338502242003-10-29T08:04:00.000-06:002003-10-29T08:05:25.736-06:00I'm not ordinarily a huge fan of David Broder, but this column from today's Washington Post is pretty good.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1067315425628180192003-10-27T21:46:00.000-06:002003-10-27T22:30:24.863-06:00Tegan recently posted a review of the book The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson (also responsible for a series about terraforming Mars). I have not read this or any other books by the man, but the premise of this one was fascinating from the outset. The Black Death wipes out 99% of the population of Europe in the 14th century; Christianity and European civilization are hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1067230973249760572003-10-26T22:48:00.000-06:002003-10-26T23:02:52.976-06:00Gang, I've been getting pretty antsy around here this weekend, in case you couldn't tell from the sudden rush of posting. It came to my realization today that at this time last year, I'd already made a bunch of roadtrips that gave me a break from the house and the DSS program and everything. Not the case this year, I haven't left Springfield since I got back. It's time for that to change! (hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1067224343701813162003-10-26T20:41:00.000-06:002003-10-26T21:12:23.296-06:00Ladies and gentlemen, I have just finished watching the latest debate between the nine candidates for the Democratic nomination for President.
I am now much stupider than I was 90 minutes ago.
BUT, I have plans to make an ensemble musical comedy about these jokers, because laughing at them is the only way to maintain my sanity. The cast:
Sam Waterson as Senator John Kerry
Jeffrey DeMunn as hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1067205675782031812003-10-26T16:00:00.000-06:002003-10-26T16:01:15.566-06:00Florida has decided to beta-test their new computerized ballot on the internet. Click to participate.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1067194749536292322003-10-26T12:49:00.000-06:002003-10-26T12:59:51.783-06:00My website apparently gets hits from the Canadian version of Google for "golf club phallic symbols." You crazy Canucks.
I've re-watched a lot of movies in the last couple of days, since we had time off on Thursday and Friday for "fall break" (I got zero class time off, since I don't have classes those days anyway, but our department courteously released us from GA duty, perhaps on the hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1066434128843093242003-10-17T18:37:00.000-05:002003-10-18T10:26:55.483-05:00Tomorrow is my one Saturday of GA work this semester. It also happens to be Homecoming. Frigging great. I can see it now. Tailgate parties for the worthless football team stretching as far as the eye can see, occupying my parking lot and the next three over. w0-frigging-00t. I am just that lucky.
My thesis abstract was approved with no revisions. In related news, Satan drove to work todayhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1066314811027670542003-10-16T09:33:00.000-05:002003-10-16T09:33:30.726-05:00audio post powered by audbloghljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1066094393505837082003-10-13T20:16:00.000-05:002003-10-13T20:19:53.380-05:00Whenever I print out the final copy of a paper, I print two copies, exactly the same. One is turned in; the other goes into my "Written Assignments" file for the relevant semester. This way I always have an exact record of what I turned in, as well as a cumulative archive of all my graduate writing to date.
This is also an excellent way to encourage bashing my head repeatedly into a wall. hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1065902884432097482003-10-11T15:08:00.000-05:002003-10-11T15:08:04.476-05:00audio post powered by audbloghljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1065308215099864752003-10-04T17:41:00.000-05:002003-10-04T17:56:54.463-05:00A scene from And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, on HBO.
Pancho Villa (Antonio Bandares) has just murdered a woman by shooting her in the head. The shooting was filmed by a movie crew, directed by Frank.
Frank: How could you!? My God!
Villa: Don't speak to me of God! God has never been to Mexico! If He has, then He has a heart of stone!
Good line in a mediocre movie. I'd rather they hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1065239203807179182003-10-03T22:22:00.000-05:002003-10-03T22:48:26.043-05:00OK, I just watched Star Wars Episode IV for about the 4,126th time, and here are my thoughts:
--Darth Vader is far more excitable, physical, and less authoritarian in this movie than he is by the time of The Empire Strikes Back. His orders are more strident, almost to the point of rage sometimes: "Commander, tear this ship apart until you find those plans!" He practically takes orders from hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1065224699850611552003-10-03T18:28:00.000-05:002003-10-03T18:51:38.290-05:00Now that I've gotten that out of my system.
The lure of abebooks strikes again. I failed in my bid to get Martin Anderson's Revolution for $1.50, but I have Ken Alibek's Biohazard and an autographed copy!! of Donald Kagan, On the Origins of War inbound, as well as a cookbook Mom asked me to pick up as a Christmas gift for one of her friends. Also, Christopher Harmon and David Tucker's hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1065223661023939272003-10-03T18:20:00.000-05:002003-10-03T18:27:40.790-05:00Fighting, and sometimes striving
Wondering what the Dumple is
Honor, and... what is valor?
And the Cheat will hit stuff with a golf club!
C G N U! (Me?)
--The Crazy Go Nuts University Fight Songhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1064624434048585682003-09-25T22:28:00.000-05:002003-09-26T20:00:34.186-05:00Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which I got for PS2 this week for a mere $20 after one of my friends forwarded me an amazing discount offer from an electronic gaming website, is, in addition to being a fantastic improvement on GTA3, a cornucopia of fun for obsessive actor-identifiers like me. I played for about an hour today and picked out the voices of William Fichtner (the Delta sergeant in Blackhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-106446105308405962003-09-24T22:22:00.000-05:002003-09-24T22:37:32.673-05:00The great state of Missouri has passed a state law that, as of August 28, 2003, makes it unlawful for any grocery store, drugstore, or emporium of any description to shelf-display medications with pseudoephedrine as the active ingredient. Pseudoephedrine, of course, can be processed into the active component of methamphetamines. Therefore, Missouri has made it illegal to a) sell medications hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1064197481454047122003-09-21T21:18:00.000-05:002003-09-21T21:24:41.263-05:00Like a can of beer that's sweeter than honey
Like a millionaire that has no money
Like a rainy day that is not wet
Like a gambling fiend that does not bet
Like dracula without his fangs
Like the boogie to the boogie without the boogie bang
Like collard greens that don't taste good
Like a tree that's not made out of wood
Like goin up and not comin down
Is just like the beat without the hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1064022807302654442003-09-19T20:51:00.000-05:002003-09-19T20:53:26.700-05:00To be filed under "dumbass say wha?" we have this headline from The Breeze: "Race to Benefit Multiple Sclerosis." I'm sure multiple sclerosis appreciates the support.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1064012742337578022003-09-19T18:04:00.000-05:002003-09-19T18:05:42.406-05:00Hurricane Isabel Update: Mom weathered the storm just fine. Said she got an interesting show and is putting her candles to good use. Repairs to electrical grids in Virginia Beach may take a few days, so hopefully she has plenty of them.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1063930847108808282003-09-18T19:15:00.000-05:002003-09-18T19:20:46.966-05:00As expected, Hurricane Isabel made landfall around the Outer Banks of North Carolina this afternoon at 1pm EDT. The storm system has affected the Virginia Beach area throughout the day, cutting off most electricity and phone communication. At last report, my mother had not been advised to evacuate, and was planning to buckle down and weather the storm in her Chesapeake Bay condo. More details hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1063500114157739502003-09-13T02:08:00.000-05:002003-09-13T19:41:54.226-05:00It's a beautiful night to fire off the grill, kick back with a cocktail and watch the sun go down, scorching the fringes of the clouds and painting a beautiful Midwestern portrait right in my backyard. Sometimes I love living here. The sunsets are prettier, the air is more languid and I feel like the king of a (very modest) castle on a Saturday night when I throw a steak on and let the aroma hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1063281712342197472003-09-11T07:01:00.000-05:002003-09-11T07:02:39.026-05:00Oh, say, can you see
By the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilight's last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars
Through the perilous fight
Over ramparts we watched
Were so gallantly streaming
And the rockets' red glare
The bombs bursting in air
Gave proof, through the night
That our flag was still there
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1063154328219901802003-09-09T19:38:00.000-05:002003-09-09T19:49:04.373-05:00My Kelley Hunt CDs arrived today, making a nice surprise for me after a busy and hectic day. OUTSTANDING! Inspiration and her self-titled follow-up. Jazzy, smokey, foot-tapping, beautiful Kansas City blues! Thoroughly designed to be enjoyed while sitting in a dim bar, around two in the morning, a drink in your hand and friends at your table. But, in the meantime, sitting in my room with a hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1063071600265525642003-09-08T20:40:00.000-05:002003-09-08T20:40:00.253-05:00"How do you expect to be a responsible member of society if you don't understand how the government spends your money? Why are people afraid of numbers? Sine and Cosine are two of the elegant incredible discoveries of humanity. I mean, the Cartesian co-ordinate system has an elemental power I find invigorating and even sexy. And I'm not ashamed to say it."
hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1062990003267936332003-09-07T22:00:00.000-05:002003-09-07T22:00:03.100-05:00Eventful weekend over here. The championships of the U.S. Open, overlapping with the first weekend of NFL football, on top of the Blues Festival, next to a lot of schoolwork, buried under a general desire on the part of most of the second years to hang on to our old DC habits of hanging out from 5pm Thursday to 3am Sunday.
So, in order.
Some really good tennis this weekend, gang. I caught thehljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1062647598218329082003-09-03T22:53:00.000-05:002003-09-03T22:53:18.093-05:00Hot dog! The Greater Ozarks Blues Festival is this weekend, gang! What's more exciting is that Kelley Hunt will play Downtown Mainstage at 5:30pm on Saturday. I happened to hear a snippet of her performing on an old Prarie Home Companion show on NPR a couple of weekends back, and after one or two downloads, I was sufficiently moved by her voice and piano skills to get two of her CDs from hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1062549654441549252003-09-02T19:40:00.000-05:002003-09-02T19:42:59.816-05:00Today brought an unexpected attrition from our graduate program. One of us - a second year - resigned this morning to relocate out of Missouri and pursue his study of the Arabic language. Just goes to show you that you can't ever tell what's going to happen on any given day. Could be good, could be bad, or it could just be a surprise. You really never do know. But here's a salute to J.F., a hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1062438934301157122003-09-01T12:55:00.000-05:002003-09-01T12:55:34.210-05:00A rainy, windy Labor Day here in Springfield, MO. I'm dividing my attention today between my briefing paper for Regional Security Issues (Russia/Transcaucasus; it goes well, but it's boring) and my thesis proposal. Having realized that the "pencilled-in" topic I turned in on Thursday was wide enough to drive a truck through and fuzzier than a blow-dried chinchilla, I've been narrowing myself hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1062296034582067912003-08-30T21:13:00.000-05:002003-08-30T21:13:54.706-05:00Julia Child served with the OSS during World War II, according to my mother. I didn't believe it either, but there seems to be no doubt. Credit to Military Officer magazine for the article.
It's a slow day; turning my blog into Linkfest Central instead of writing my paper on the roles of GUUAM and the OSCE in managing the various separatist movements in the Trans-caucasus. Grilling up some hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1062275177627859982003-08-30T15:26:00.000-05:002003-08-30T15:26:17.620-05:00National Review Online has finally discovered Homestar Runner. hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1062120541551375052003-08-28T20:29:00.000-05:002003-08-28T20:29:01.590-05:00SNARF.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1062038630466270172003-08-27T21:43:00.000-05:002003-08-27T21:44:09.606-05:00Finished Field of Dishonor. Awesome. Starting Flag in Exile already. Am addicted to schlocky military-themed sci-fi. V. good, but v. bad for graduate studies. I've even begun casting parts in my head, which is always bad news. Claudia Christian is Honor; Noah Taylor, who essayed a young Adolf Hitler in the recent film Max is Pavel Young (he was also the manager of Stillwater in Almost hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1061869451026829282003-08-25T22:44:00.000-05:002003-08-25T22:44:11.033-05:00Oh, I forgot! Field of Dishonor, chapter 18, last page! Woooooo! hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1061868559173162542003-08-25T22:29:00.000-05:002003-08-25T22:29:19.273-05:00Today I actually stuck to my resolve and headed over to the Payne Stewart Municipal Golf Course (he was from here, if you didn't know that) to fire a bucket of balls off the driving range. To my immense shock, I did not catastrophically suck! To be sure, 7/10 of my swings were total whiffs, and most of the remainder were ugly line drives along the ground, but every once in a while I put the hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1061789285871278812003-08-25T00:28:00.000-05:002003-08-25T00:28:05.873-05:00Well, I've been back in Missouri for a week and a day, and classes and regular GA shifts start tomorrow morning bright and early, so it's time for a progress report!
All in all I feel rested, relaxed, and ready for the onslaught to begin. Mostly. Outstanding academic issues include the selection of research topics for the semester (although I have a few beginning ideas and I can't do much in hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1061764821485742372003-08-24T17:40:00.000-05:002003-08-24T17:40:21.443-05:00"Mike Phillips and his colleagues at Plymouth University, in England, recently found themselves drawn to a very different sort of bad idea. The Victorian naturalist Thomas Huxley, arguing for the organizing power of random chance, allegedly advanced the conceit that an infinite number of monkeys banging away at typewriters over the course of infinity would eventually produce the works of hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1061587803044158292003-08-22T16:30:00.000-05:002003-08-22T16:30:03.116-05:00I'm back online from home after a brief hiatus caused by, if you can believe it, rain damage to the cables that run my cable internet. Really. Hold your applause, ladies and gentlemen.
Also have my schedule for the fall 2003 semester knocked into place. Class Monday 2-5, Tuesday and Wednesday 9-12; work Tuesday 2-5, Thursday 11-2, and Friday 8-11. Essentially I plan to be at the department 9hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1061332043090340242003-08-19T17:27:00.000-05:002003-08-19T17:27:23.090-05:00No comment of mine can possibly do this news justice.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1061260675129072782003-08-18T21:37:00.000-05:002003-08-18T21:37:55.043-05:00Had my first day as a DSS GA (Graduate Assistant) today. Zero fatalities. Thus, a success. Tomorrow's goal: decorate my office! (Or my 1/3 of the office to which I am assigned.) Current contenders include my unframed panoramic photo of Washington DC, my bumperstickers from Protest Warrior.com, and my autographed Action Shot!(tm) photo of John Warner. Also possibly a calendar. And my print hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1061073216208642372003-08-16T17:33:00.000-05:002003-08-16T17:33:36.180-05:00Someone left the heat on in Missouri while I was away. Stupid Midwestern summers.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1060917878255154702003-08-14T22:24:00.000-05:002003-08-16T22:43:50.570-05:00Jason On The Beachhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1060325142547856052003-08-08T01:45:00.000-05:002003-08-08T01:45:42.593-05:00My latest infiltration into the marble corridors of power has come to an end. Tomorrow (Saturday) I leave Washington for, first, Virginia Beach (East Coast Base of Operations #2), and then a straight shot on I-64 halfway across the country, back to Missouri, indefinitely.
It's strange and a little funny to know that this entire summer, all of it, hinged on one decision - the decision to come hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1060025177875111872003-08-04T14:26:00.000-05:002003-08-04T14:26:17.880-05:00I've also decided it's time to revisit Disturbing Movie Events, in which I get a whole passel o' flicks designed to nauseate, sicken, and generally frighten me (and others, if they care to watch). In the past we've done great combos like Boxing Helena, Crash, and Bully all on one night.
Here are other allegedly disturbing movies that I'm actively seeking to watch and freak myself out with. hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1060024742811582672003-08-04T14:19:00.000-05:002003-08-04T14:19:02.883-05:00A few weeks ago I picked up Mark Gatiss' Nightshade, one of the only Virgin-published New Adventures I hadn't yet read (excepting the really crappy ones that I started and never finished... Strange England springs readily to mind). I was pretty disappointed. Maybe that's because I'm not 15 anymore, but I'd heard this one was good and it was honestly very forgettable. Even Robin, who people hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1059769614355829362003-08-01T15:26:00.000-05:002003-08-01T15:26:54.333-05:00"Please stand clear of the doors. Thank you."
The recorded female voice that delivers this admonishment to Metro passengers who attempt to fight their way through closing subway car doors has become bitchier since I arrived back in Washington. They threw in an extra pause between "please" and "stand," so it sounds even more like your 4th grade teacher.
Summer '03 (The Season of Light/Season hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1059626997180104852003-07-30T23:49:00.000-05:002003-07-31T09:46:49.670-05:00Jason Stranded at the Wrong Metro Stophljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1059568792390742942003-07-30T07:39:00.000-05:002003-07-30T07:41:30.540-05:00Oh, wait, one more. For those of you Homestar Runner devotees who prance to their computer every Monday morning for the latest Strong Bad E-mail, you'll enjoy this list of Strong Bad E-mail Secrets! All kinds of goofy shiznit. Including Strong Sad's blog.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1059568118360569882003-07-30T07:28:00.000-05:002003-07-30T07:28:38.340-05:00This is an interesting article from National Review Online; the writer is Fox News columnist Radley Balko and his subject is the thematic morality of HBO's acclaimed series Six Feet Under. I've been a fan of this show since its inception (other fans take note that the article contains spoilers for Season 3's finale, in case you haven't seen it) and this is a fascinating take on the tilt of the hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1059424556502911582003-07-28T15:35:00.000-05:002003-07-28T15:35:56.440-05:00Book of the moment is John McEnroe's autobiography, appropriately titled You Cannot Be Serious (this quote, which of course has become virtually synonymous with McEnroe, was the centerpiece of his most infamous tantrum, held during the 1981 Wimbledon first round match against Tom Gullikson). Though I wish he'd write more about tennis and less about his own personal evolution and love life, I hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1059405286319112102003-07-28T10:14:00.000-05:002003-07-28T10:14:46.356-05:00Welcome to Weekend Update.
Friday (we all know the weekend begins around 3pm on Friday, don't we, gang?) I had the opportunity to take a tour of the Pentagon, which was pretty exciting. I hadn't been there since roughly 1987 or so. It seems smaller. Since I am a souvenier dork, I bought a Pentagon coffee mug to impress those rubes in Missouri. Oh, wait, everyone I know in Missouri knows 1) Ihljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1059145577204851232003-07-25T10:06:00.000-05:002003-07-25T10:06:17.206-05:00Hell with this week. I want another one.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1059077145831805722003-07-24T15:05:00.000-05:002003-07-24T15:05:45.846-05:00Gang, it is time for Summer Movie Reviews, courtesy of The Jason Continuum. (Well, no it's not, since it's still July, but shut up. Most everything coming out in August looks like crap. So I declare Summer Movie Season to be over, and on with the reviewing!)
X-Men 2
The Plot: Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his merry band of mutants mobilize against the unscrupulous General Stryker (hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1059049818941082182003-07-24T07:30:00.000-05:002003-07-24T07:30:18.940-05:00Ladies and gentlemen, the important stories that shape your future; brought to you by MSN.com.
First story:
The Sadistic Acts of Saddam's Sons. "Both were pampered sons of a murderous tyrant, handed the power to inflict pain and demand pleasure at will from an early age. What could anyone expect? They learned to abuse their power with pathological glee and unbridled egotism."
Second story:
hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1058926688618957592003-07-22T21:18:00.000-05:002003-07-22T21:18:08.650-05:00It just started raining like hell outside.
Finally, the weather matches my mood.
Nothing like a good pathetic fallacy to make your day a little more literary.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1058388240391809162003-07-16T15:44:00.000-05:002003-07-16T15:44:00.316-05:00Attention single guys!
Susan Smith, of South Carolina, who drowned her children in her car and was sentenced to life in prison for their murder, is interested in meeting YOU.
She loves rainbows and Mickey Mouse.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1058364881628907272003-07-16T09:14:00.000-05:002003-07-16T09:14:41.636-05:00I have a new desk in my office.
A desk. Not a collapsable office table that you buy at Staples for $19.99. A desk. Oak. Drawers. A little hole that all your computer cables go through. A desk.
The takeover begins.
EDIT: Turns out the desk was made in Canada. The takeover is delayed.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1058297187564771322003-07-15T14:26:00.000-05:002003-07-15T14:26:27.560-05:00It is long past time to burble about Pink Floyd some more. Put on your music critic hat, gang, and follow me on a mystical voyage of half-assed pseudo-intellectuallism!
Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by force of some inner tide
--"High Hopes," The Division Bell
hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1058294301649530882003-07-15T13:38:00.000-05:002003-07-15T13:40:00.006-05:00I've been rereading Issac Asimov's Words from the Myths this summer. This is a book that I first picked up in the library of my elementary school when I was in about the 4th grade, a year that I was somewhat obsessed with Greek mythology (if you missed my grand performance as Posiedon at the 4th grade Greek drama show... dude... you just let the finest in life pass you by). Words is a study of hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1057955544236034182003-07-11T15:32:00.000-05:002003-07-11T16:03:50.070-05:00Tickets for the 2004 Wimbledon Championship may be harder to come by than I'd hoped. I've always wanted to go to Wimbledon; did you know this about me? I could see how it might be surprising that I'm a huge pro tennis fan since I don't actually play tennis... but, I don't play football either and that's never stopped me from being a football fan. I do love Wimbledon though, more so than any ofhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1057847018286540482003-07-10T09:23:00.000-05:002003-07-10T09:24:31.630-05:00"This much I know is true." I think that was the title of a book once, but I forget who wrote it or why I would care. And no, I'm not going to go look it up. You can go look it up, or, better yet, your mom can go look it up.
But, anyway. This much I know is true:
-Chicken, (The Fowl; The Experience), R0X0RS.
-The shirt I'm wearing today is too small.
-I honestly don't know why people hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1057587014613824772003-07-07T09:10:00.000-05:002003-07-07T09:10:14.620-05:00Aw. Yeah.
We could do with a few more weekends like that around here. Fo shizzle.
Although the festivities kicked off Thursday with The Misadventures of Jason's Flat Tire (Part II: The Revenge), I recouped my losses from that fairly quickly and set course for Virginia Beach by way of Williamsburg Thursday evening with my able RIO, Leah, in tow. Stopped off in W'Burg to pick up Jessica, then hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1057091262740033392003-07-01T15:27:00.000-05:002003-07-01T15:27:42.750-05:00It is July. Why? How?
Anyway.
Yesterday blew big ones, conservatively speaking, but today rebounded slightly. Planned and ran a meeting which turned out to be quite successful. This is a pleasant change from yesterday, when I couldn't do anything without getting yelled at or lectured (and that was from my friends, everyone else was content to simply ignore me). But let us speak of hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1056982316480333172003-06-30T09:11:00.000-05:002003-06-30T09:11:56.493-05:00Here are my profound thoughts for the day, in descending order of irrelevancy (or, put another way, in no order whatsoever):
--A company that buys its coffee from the same organization that supplies its computer paper is asking for trouble. An employee of that company who drinks said coffee is, likewise, asking for trouble.
--After almost 10 years of listening to it, Pink Floyd's "The Divisionhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1056629645162762042003-06-26T07:14:00.000-05:002003-06-26T07:14:05.230-05:00Dr. Ulrike Schumacher, one-third of our DSS faculty, has died.
Although she had been ill for some while, stunned doesn't begin to cover how we felt yesterday on hearing the news. Her immediate family was with her in Missouri at the end; her extended family, all hundred-odd former and current students, is mostly right here in Washington.
Dr. Schumacher was a scholar, a lady, a mentor, an hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1056629347747414822003-06-26T07:09:00.000-05:002003-06-26T07:09:07.826-05:00My Great Aunt Roberta died Monday in Royal Oak, Michigan, her home of many years. To the end, she was a firey, feisty lady who brooked no nonsense from anyone on anything. My grandfather, I think, learned a great deal about life and became, in large part, the man he was because of her. For that reason if for no other, I loved her a great deal. Aunt Bobbi is survived by three children and a hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-3850826282003-06-25T14:31:00.000-05:002002-11-25T19:14:34.556-06:00502 presentation finished. Nailed it. Brain = applesauce. Officially on break for few days. Speech in complete sentences impossible. Happy Thanksgiving.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1056459314455066702003-06-24T07:55:00.000-05:002003-06-24T07:55:14.526-05:00One of us won't last the night
Between you and me, it's no surprise
There's two of us
Both can't be right
Neither will move till it's over
I'm the center of attention
And the wall's inside my head
And no one will ever know it
If I keep my mouth shut tight
My own little world is what I deserve
Cause I am the only child there is
I'm king of it all, the belle of the ball
I promise I've hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1056142233879364292003-06-20T15:50:00.000-05:002003-06-20T15:51:44.810-05:00My cheap-ass brown business shoes, for which I paid a whopping $20, are at death's door. Unacceptable. They only lasted five years! Project for this weekend is to get a slightly dressier and more comfortable pair. This will be somewhat difficult due to a crippling lack of funds, but what the hell. (I'm sure other people have better uses to which my money can be put anyway.)
And now, Thesis hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1056054562284783092003-06-19T15:29:00.000-05:002003-06-19T15:29:22.270-05:00So, what the hell have I been doing with myself for the last few weeks, anyway?
Most of you know I visited New York City for the first time during the last week of May. Meghan and I trekked up to spend some QT with our former roommates and see some sights. Unfortunately due to a catastrophic camera failure, I have little photographic evidence that this trip actually occurred, save a few doublehljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1055939676699433832003-06-18T07:34:00.000-05:002003-06-18T07:35:27.620-05:00Holy crap! It seems to work again!
HALLLLEEEEELLUUUUUUJAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!
...
Now, what was I going to write again?
Oh well.hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1055861514756954732003-06-17T09:51:00.000-05:002003-06-18T07:33:52.856-05:00Working yet?hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1055654918244758172003-06-15T00:28:00.000-05:002003-06-18T07:36:59.743-05:00Jason at the King Street Metrohljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1055165327317290162003-06-09T08:28:00.000-05:002003-06-13T23:49:34.656-05:00Is this thing working yet?hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-1054738862714770872003-06-04T10:01:00.000-05:002003-06-06T09:55:11.323-05:00I'm still alive, just very busy with my first week of internship. More details later! Stay tuned!hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-951862272003-06-02T06:04:00.000-05:002003-06-02T06:04:42.610-05:00Ack work!hljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-948858822003-05-26T00:52:00.000-05:002003-05-29T08:53:13.000-05:00Back in Burke. Back in business.
It's been a busy couple of days getting my boots on the ground here, but I can report that my flag has been successfully transferred to Meghan's residence for the next few months. Those of you NOVA peeps I haven't contacted yet, be patient; I'm still sorting out where my shirts are (although I'm finally back to my full t-shirt inventory, yay!) and where to plughljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-945982012003-05-19T15:51:00.000-05:002003-05-20T12:18:15.000-05:00Jason in the Tunnelhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-945539442003-05-18T18:51:00.000-05:002003-05-20T12:17:59.000-05:00Jason in West Virginiahljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-945097372003-05-17T15:09:00.000-05:002003-05-17T23:05:35.000-05:00Jason Visits Navy Pierhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-821726.post-942906562003-05-13T17:06:00.000-05:002003-05-13T17:06:31.730-05:00Well, gang, I have some news on the employment front - just about the only loose end still flapping around here in Springfield that I wanted to make sure I tied down tight before I left. I just got called by the Writing Center, and informed that despite liking me and finding my credentials in good order, they could not offer me a tutor position for next year, largely because they have a need forhljkhlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040872334760721451noreply@blogger.com