HungryScot's Infrequently Updated Unprovoking Medium

Economics and Firefly

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:48:05 GMT

One of my favorite scenes in Firefly was from the episode where we see vignettes of each crewmember joining Mal on his ship. It's the scene where Kaylee is um, having a romp. The scene boils down to us finding out that the 'mechanic' Mal's hired doesn't know his way around the engine room and Kaylee is a natural, so he hires Kaylee and drops the old engineer.

-- in a different time. Mal's looking for his mechanic (the handsome mechanic we saw earlier.)

MAL
What's this I been hearin' 'bout
yet another delay?
As Mal moves closer to the engine room, we can make out BESTER'S ARMY BOOTS sticking out from under the engine. Presumably doing his grease monkey thing.

MAL
You were supposed to have that engine
fixed and us up and...
(as he sees:)
What in the name of < all that's proper..? >
[suo-yo duh doh shr-dang]
Bester's shorts are... well, down around his army boots. He's having the sex with an unseen FEMALE. There is energetic humpage. Mal's a bit scandalized. Casts his glance away from the action. Might clear his throat.

MAL
Bester.
Much with the dirty humping. Mal gives it a beat.

MAL
Bester.
They seem to be, uh, finishing.

MAL
BESTER!
Bester climbs out, mostly still naked, yanking up his shorts.

BESTER
What?
Bester just looks to Mal. Innocently inquisitive. There is some dead pan staring on Mal's part. Oh, yes there is. Then:

MAL
You do realize we been parked on this
rock near a week longer'n we planned?
BESTER
Yeah, but... there's stuff to do.
MAL
As for example that job we got waitin'
for us on Paquin. When we landed here you
said you just needed a few days before we were
space worthy again and is there somethin' wrong
with your bunk?
BESTER
What?
More impatient staring, then Bester gets it finally: right. The naked girl behind the engine. Bester laughs.

BESTER
Oh! No. Cap!
(leans forward "confidentially")
She like engines. They make her hot.
MAL
Bester. Get your prairie harpy off my
boat and put us back in the air.
BESTER
'kay. But... can't.
MAL
Whaddya mean "can't."
BESTER
No can do, cap. Secondary grav boot's shot.
KAYLEE (O.S.)
No it ain't.
Kaylee pops up, getting dressed. The men look at her.

KAYLEE
Ain't nothing wrong with your grav boot.
Grav boot's just fine.
(to Mal)
Hello.
She drops down again, out of view. Mal glances at Bester. Bester's a bit flustered.

BESTER
(to Mal)
She don't... that's not...
(to Kaylee)
No it ain't!
KAYLEE
(reappearing)
Sure it is. Grav boot ain't your trouble.
I seen the trouble plain as day when I's down
there on my back. Your reg couple's bad.
BESTER
(clueless)
The... the what?
KAYLEE
Reg couple. Right here. See?
BESTER
No.
KAYLEE
This.
(Bester is still of the blank expression)
I'm pointin' right at it.
She rolls her eyes, sighs, reaches in, breaks off a part of the engine.

BESTER
Hey!
KAYLEE
Here.
She plunks the part in Bester's hand. She reaches back in, tinkers.

KAYLEE
Don't really serve much of a purpose, anyway.
Just tends to gum up the works when it gets tacked.
(re: a nearby wrench)
Hand me that, will ya?
(he does)
So I figure, why even have it? Better to just plug
your g-line straight into the port-pin-lock and that
should...
She's done. WHIRRR the turbine starts to turn.

KAYLEE
There.
She shoves it in Bester's hand. Fiddles with the engine.

BESTER
What'd you do?
MAL
She fixed it.
KAYLEE
Well, it wasn't really broke.
Bester looks at the part in his hand.

MAL
Where'd you learn to do that, miss?
KAYLEE
(shrugs)
Just do it, that's all. My daddy says I got
a natural talent.
MAL
I'd say you do at that.
BESTER
(re: the part)
We don't need this?
KAYLEE
Not 'specially.
MAL
You work for your daddy, do you?
KAYLEE
When he's got work. Which lately ain't
been too often.
MAL
And have you had much experience on a
vessel like this?
KAYLEE
Never even been up in one before.
MAL
You never been... how'd you like to?
KAYLEE
(points skyward)
You mean...?
MAL
Sure.
KAYLEE
For how long?
MAL
Long as you like. Long as you can keep
her in the sky.
KAYLEE
(getting it now)
You offering me a job?
BESTER
What?
MAL
Believe I just did.
KAYLEE
Just gotta ask my folks!
She pulls her hastily assembled wardrobe about her, pushes past Mal and a stunned Bester.

KAYLEE
Don't leave without me!
Mal watches Kaylee go, tickled. Bester just blinks, stunned.

BESTER
Mal. Whaddya need two mechanics for?
MAL
I really don't. Pack your things.
(then)
She got a name?

To me, it seems like our economy is being helmed by a bunch of guys that are just like that guy that got canned. They are supposed to know the engine, but they really don't. Like that lousy engineer, they can talk the game, and shoot, they've even been playing it for a bit. But the underlying truth is they don't see the engine the way others, like Kaylee, would.

Obama, I think, should stop consorting with the foolish 'engineers' who got us into this, and start looking at hiring those 'naturals' that pointed out consistently over the past decade or more that the system is fundamentally broken and have spent that time analyzing how to fix it.

They are out there, start giving them their due, economic salvation lies there.

It's a...

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:06:53 GMT

GIRL!

Yep, we're having a daughter!!!!!! Super happy daddy is me. That's two totally awesome Tuesday's in a row. How cool is that. We'll post scans in a bit... but... yeah!!!!!!

No words...

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:23:50 GMT

Only that tonight, I finally got to see the America that had been taught to me in the history books. Today, we got to see how we won World War 2, how we held this country together in the Civil War, how this entire grand experiment still goes on.

Oh... wow...

Baby clothes

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:08:08 GMT

No, we don't know what it is yet... oh yeah, forgot to mention, if you didn't know. Maria's pregnant! 16 weeks!

Anyways, this post is really about the onesie that we'll be getting for the little one... no, no debate!

www.jinx.com/minigeeks/baby/video_games/level_1_human_creeper.html

Look at those stats!!!! They nailed it, no? Str 3!!!!! Cha 18!!!!! How awesome is that!?

Okay, for those who do not appreciate the humor... it's a reference to Pen and Paper games like Dungeons and Dragons.

Str = Strengeth,
Int = Intelligence,
Wis = Wisdom,
Dex = Dexterity,
Con = Constitution,
Cha = Charisma
(all the above is typically on a 3-18 scale 18 being the bestest)

AC = Armor Class - (Protective Rating)
HP = Hit Points - (How much damage it can take)
Exp = Experience - (It's a noob, so it ain't got none!)

Maria's laughing quite hard at this, so you know the kid'll wear it a lot... :-D

She does say that it shouldn't advertise how physically weak it is, but then I point out that it has max Charisma!

Macs

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:09:13 GMT

Using a Macintosh, for me, is like doing a surgery with really pretty oven mitts on.

Children of Men

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 02:16:15 GMT

Most people who know me even a little bit, know how much I love movies. I'm also known to have quite a lot of opinion about... everything. So quite often people ask me what I think about a film... cause they know they'll get an overly detailed bit about it and can probably identify how they themselves might feel about the film (regardless of what I say).

At some point in these kinds of conversations, I'm often asked-

"What's your favorite film of all time?" Or something like that.

My standard response is...

"Well, Schindler's List, but the truth is, it is not fair to compare any other film to that one, it shouldn't be considered in the same league. So instead, howabout 'Shawshank'."

Well, I've now seen a film that can be compared to Schindler's List-- That film is Children of Men.

Seriously, an absolutely incredible film that probably (aside from the wild leap of humankind losing the ability to breed), more accurately portrays the world in 20 years than any work before it. This film beats the crap out of you with horror that is hard to deal with, but a believability that cannot be denied.

Theodore Faron's (Clive Owens) journey clearly is one of faith, it's a broadside style message, but it's a good one, and not one centered on religious faith. The movie reels with sacrifice, believable in every act.

At one point, me, the ever SB, could not hold it together, a scene of incredible power rips at you near the end. A simple scene drops your jaw, and though done in ways similar to this before, rocks you to the core.

Posting

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 02:37:07 GMT

I haven't posted in a long, long time. Not even going to try to see when I last did. Not going to promise more posting either.

Anyways, things have been going well, we're insanely busy at work.

Cool stuff I've done in the more recent past:

Flood map: Inside another project - http://web.venturacountystar.com/special/2006/10/fireflood/fireflood.html
Small award for the Farm Project: Gah, can't find it right now, need to note these...

http://jobs.venturacountystar.com - almost all my design work.

At www.venturacountystar.com lots of new material there overall. Weather widget on the front, Flash menu, Traffic Cameras, New wider format, New left hand side on all content pages, tighter ad controls(too many still, but I'm not allowed to pull them). Lots more... but if you want to see what I'm doing just visit there, always new material. Last month we hit 4 million page views, and are at nearly 300k unique users...

---

At home Maria's kept most of you abreast of what's been happening. Not sure she mentioned the 10 gunshots we heard just after midnight Saturday evening. Yeah, clearly not Fireworks this time. So, it makes us even more anxious to leave this place.

So we're looking at some places near to the new place we'll be working. Some promise there...

Now if only the housing market will collapse.

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 05:33:56 GMT

Click here if not at work.

ROAR!

Sat, 10 Dec 2005 02:01:25 GMT

Saw it finally!!!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Finally got to see Narnia!!!

It was great, loved it... this is like my Harry Potter... :) So happy, dance dance.... wheee... YAY!

Go see it, if you can't go see it, contact me, we'll work something out...

Okay, so you all know the story... if you don't, well, then I guess you can truly avoid reading the rest, but come on...

Well, it basically follows the book, every scene is in there in some form. The most amazing part of the movie, is that the story, CS Lewis' style in general, is very much narrative. The movie has no narrative, and pulls off everything without going overboard on exposition as other attempts have.

I loved this, seeing a believable Narnia was worth every penny. And I'm thanking God we've tickets for the El Capitan to see it again next Friday. That will be a treat... wow...

LOL... so much fun... go see it!!!!!!

Yeah Disney, Walden Media, Andrew Adamson, the actors, and most especially CS Lewis' estate for letting such amazing talent put together this film!!!!

I'm Fried...

Sat, 15 Oct 2005 03:22:56 GMT

We have our own Fry's Electronics Store now, here in Ventura. It officially opened today.

When the soft opening happened, I was very sad to hear there really was no theme for the store. The theme is Oxnard. Whatever that means...

But, the truth is, the theme is just 'classy'. It's a VERY nice clean store. Looks like a store that evolved from early last century and's just gone modern. No silly yellow splashes of color or inane placements of product. It's huge... most of the shelves are low and there is a coffee shop in the middle of the place.

Overall, it's just great.

Saw about half the people we know there. Within the first 5 minutes of being there we ran into my dad. Within the course of the next hour, ran into at least 5 more people we knew, and saw a few more as we passed by...

Loved the game SilverLilly found...

Thu, 08 Sep 2005 19:06:22 GMT

Okay, copied SilverLilly's game...

Click here.
Take the quiz.
Post your results.
1) Is pottertilly dead sexy? Absolutely, no one is more so...
2) Does self travel a lot? It's a perception thing.
3) Which of your friends should mcdandmps go out with? It's a combo thing, and they're married.
4) What would silverlily81 give seonsaint for his/her birthday? Harry Potter memoribilia?
5) Where was silverlily81 born? The metropolis that is Los Angeles?
6) Does silverlily81 have a dog? Liberty seems like he might fill the role if necessary.
7) When did you last call seonsaint? I think about him all the time.
8) If mcdandmps took over the world, who would be happy? Speedball might not be, and criminals would be hating life, and really greedy bastages would, well, wouldn't matter...
9) Is seonsaint 1337? In his own mind.
10) What is sencollins's favorite food? Meat and potatoes! Political aspirations you know...
11) Does self have a big secret? Several, but I think he holds them closer than GWs illicit drug purchases of 2002.
12) Is pottertilly friends with coolbean98? Best friends, she's known bean since before she sprouted!
13) Is self in a relationship? Another perceptual thing.
14) Is coolbean98 related to you? Technically know. But she is a kindred kind of spirit, and in the loosest of terms like a sister-in-law... :)
15) Has mcdandmps dyed their hair? Yes, both parts, though half of the colorchanging was through inadvertant pool use
16) Is pottertilly a college student? No longer...
17) If silverlily81 commanded an army, who would be his/her followers? Harry Potter fans everywhere! She reminds me of Hermione in the best of ways!
18) What exotic animal would coolbean98 like as a pet? Something edible if it disappointed her... so like, um ostrich?
19) If silverlily81 and seonsaint were spliced together, what would it be like? Very caucasian, and probably redheaded...
20) Have you ever dated mcdandmps? Half of them...
21) Would you wrestle mcdandmps in jello? What a waste of food... no... no way...
22) Where did you first meet sencollins? Self's house!
23) What would you do if self died? What an awful question!
24) Do you have mcdandmps's screenname? Which one?
25) What planet should coolbean98 be from? Krypton, cause she's got more energy than Superman...

New Comp.

Wed, 07 Sep 2005 03:53:15 GMT

After much wringing of hands, and should I do this or that or what not, I've purchased a new computer to replace my 4 year old behomoth.

This is the first time I've switched away from Intel to AMD. Oddly enough, it wasn't price that really pushed me this way. The fact is, everything I was reading was saying that AMD was really easy and had a clearly outlined upgrade path for their designs.

While I likely won't be doing any major upgrades anytime soon, Intel was hellishly confusing to try to figure out.

One night I actually spent about 2 hours trying to identify which of Intel's chips are 64 bit... sigh... Anyways, after getting some magazines, doing a little more research, AMD is the way to go right now. Intel, get your game together before your dealt out, or do you really believe Mac will save your assets?

Fruits Basket

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 20:48:37 GMT

A friend let us borrow her copy of Fruits Basket, an Anime series. In it, we follow Tohru, who is a lot like Maria, and how she deals with the Sohma family. The Sohma's are cursed and some of their family members are part of the Chinese Zodiac and turn into corresponding animals when hugged by a non-Sohma of the opposite sex or when under great stress.

Anyways, it's not quite as wacky as Ranma, most of the time, but it has a lot of heart, and is really a fun story so far. Highly reccommend it.

JK...

Wed, 03 Aug 2005 03:43:58 GMT

Is it too much to ask JK, for you know all of us, just like sit... write book seven and get it out soon?

Seriously, you got a billion, we'll double it if... ah, hell, we'll double it no matter what!

What kind of motivation can you offer a billionaire... and still be a good person...

TB and Willy Wonka

Thu, 21 Jul 2005 03:28:44 GMT

Okay, the people who know me well, know that I have a nearly irrational hatred of Tim Burton. Most of this stems from the fact that he has an irresistable need to fill his films with three fetishes. Stripes, Zipper Scars and White Face. Stripes are nearly omnipresent in every film he does, white face occurs at least once in each film(often far more often), and zipper scars are used as liberally as he can get away with, massive regular scars if he can't. Some might call it Goth, I call it sick. Also, I don't trust a film maker that cannot comb his own hair. Einstein could do it cause he was plunging through the mysteries of the universe, he had an excuse.

So, that's mostly the irrational stuff. Now, the real reason is his movies lack any real soul, they're almost always empty, least as I see them.

Willy Wonka, and I won't speak in comparison with the book, cause I'm really not qualified to do so... Well, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a perfect example of that emptiness.

In the original work there was a joy to the Willy Wonka character, a bit of darkness, but there was a genuine childlike amusement to the character. In TBs version, Willy's a broken adult who never grew up. He's a sick twisted thing that hates children and can't seem to have fun. There's no reason behind his genius, nor any wonder to his creations.

For instance, when Mike TV complains about how pointless the place is, as the glass elevator flies through candy fire works, he's nailed it. The factory is soulless and pointless, despite the wonders we've seen, there's a big unanswered why that itches at the mind.

One of my, and I'm sure nearly everyone's, favorite scenes in the earlier work was the room with the Chocolate River. In that OLD version, we watched and I wanted to be there with the kids and the adults. We watched and wanted to join each of them as they delighted in the wonders of that room. In TBs version, the chocolate river room looks like it was made in Dr. Seuss's wonderful mind. But, instead of being a place we want to go, the kids and adults "enjoy" the place in a very sick and twisted way. When Mike TV jumps on the candy melon filled with Jelly, are we wanting to see that? Aren't most of us grossed out? What about Violets mother and the horrendous bloody smile. That part of the factory set the pace for the whole souless journey.

The machines, even with the wonderful technology we're to believe in are also soulless. How much cooler was the old movies fantastical methods for making candy... Willy's new experimental machines were dark and horrid and basically just frightening. Even the stick of gum popping out was less wondrous.

The opening introduction of Willy... I can't imagine how much money was spent on the singing mannequins, but which version introduced Willy with more magic... Gene Wilder kicks Depps butt here. How dark was the craziness of that introduction, sick mind at work folks. Very sick mind.

The Dahl inspired songs in this new version were also mostly soulless, in fact, the only scene that felt like it had any real soul to it was the Veruca Salt scene with the nut room...

Okay, now I may sound like I'm nitpicking, but the point is, I initially thought the movie was fun, but as I thought about it, I realized it was like so many of TBs works. They make us go wow, and then sometime later, we think more on the material, and realize that the wizard behind the curtain was pulling a fast one on us, no certificates for bravery, diplomas, were handed out,

TB has this track record though... aside from those of you who I know are Nightmare fanatics, how many of his films approach watchability now? Not very many is my guess. I remember the praise Mars Attacks garnered, but talk to people now and it seems almost universally derided. Planet of the Apes initially impressed people, but it's almost universally hated compared to the older series. Big Fish? Wonderful in trailers, it too felt empty by the end, its tall tales like a light snack instead of the full meal promised in trailers.

TB just doesn't do it for me, probably never will. I will compliment on the minimal use of zipper scars this time around by TB, but honestly, the man is a waste of Hollywoods money, Ed Wood will be remembered more fondly in 2100...

And don't get me started on Corpse Bride--- Necrophilia IS NOT A LEGITIMATE SUBJECT FOR STOP MOTION ANIMATION, or really anything. TB's lost it.

The restraints end...

Sun, 22 May 2005 13:38:18 GMT

As a matter of timing, and not wanting to wait an inordinate amount of time, and hoping to see it digitally, I've yet to see the final Star Wars film.

Today, hopefully, that gets corrected...

Kurt, Myra- here are the photos!

Thu, 28 Apr 2005 01:45:28 GMT

Open sesame...

Debate this...

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 03:52:26 GMT

On Saturday, we went to judge a regional competition of High School Debates. It was a really great experience. We judged Parliamentary, Lincoln/Douglas(Values Debate) and Public Forum. All were fascinating forms and the kids were all very sharp, and knew their stuff.

The first group I got was a tough, Public Forum debate. It was well argued by both sides. The deciding factor came down to one group managed to prevent the other from taking advantage of a weakness in the original argument.

The second and third were L/D; the first was a really tight debate with excellent competitors. The winner there had a better handle on the subject, but just barely. The third was two young women, each with a different tack on what to do. One was agressive, and very sharp. The other had great logic, but was unable to challenge or be challenged by her opponent.

The fourth was a Parliamentary, and I messed up on the time for one fellow. This was yet another, extremely challenging debate to judge. They were all great. In scoring them, there only one point difference between the teams. It was insane.

Anyways, lotsa fun. Maria enjoyed it too!

One month and Third Time's a Charm

Mon, 07 Mar 2005 04:57:13 GMT

First, Maria and I have been married for a month. Yeah us, and it's great. Things may not have changed a whole lot, other than just feeling even closer and being around each other honestly more. :) Today in celebration we relaxed with one another on the beach had a nice lunch and dinner, and watched a movie together. She's so amazing!

Second, today we finally succeeded to eat at Bob's Big Boy. See, Bob's been gone from the Ventura area for almost 20 years. Judging from the insane response and popularity, it should never have left. The place is packed.

Our first attempt to visit was unsuccessful, we were a week to early. Our second attempt in midafternoon on its first day was a disaster-- TWO HOURS to get the food was the estimate. Today, they worked out their problems and didn't take more orders than they could handle at any moment. This meant a nearly 40 minute wait or more for food, but it was SOOO worth it.

Finally, commercial entities using terms with any meaning should have to license and prove they deserve them. Light for salad dressings, Sugar Free for candies, and Express for restaurants. See, it's called a Bob's Big Boy Express because it's not the full service restaurant we all remember-- more of a casual fast food. Anyways, it's not Express at all, quite slow, they're completing an in restaurant order about every 2-3 minutes... way too slow to legally use a term like express...

But the food was great...

Last Day in Paris

Mon, 14 Feb 2005 13:08:49 GMT

Today is our last full day in Paris.

To keep you up to date, here's the missing time. Two days ago, we ventured to Sacre Coeur. There we had an amazing view of the city. The church itself pales next to Notre Dame. We were accosted by some Jamaicans trying to grab free cash... weird and scary.

We saw then we hadn't needed to make such a major climb of the hill. We took a train back down. Avoided the Jamaicans completely, and took the Absessess terminal of the metro- 6 floors of spiraling stairs.

We went to the Opera, then the Pompideau Museum, then Picasso, then a nice dinner at a local brasserie.

Pompideau is fun, some great work there, some, well, bad work. Picasso's is all great work, The Opera was brief, but neat, and very different than what I expected. The Brasserie was fun; had escargot tastier, though smaller and more difficult to handle than mom's, and a bernaise that could NOT compete with mom's.

Yesterday, we went to the Palace at Versailles - it was everything one'd expect from the royalty that built it, sick bastards. It's in poorer condition, but the gardens are well maintained. Then we ventured to the catacombs through a hail storm(inside of a metro car). It was closed, and miserable for the first time, so we headed again to the Louvre. I love the statues so we visited a bunch of them, and found a room we'd missed.

There we met this theologian from Britain, Mary Fallon. It was a nice long talk, she was very liberal, likes Prince Charles, trying to work with Labor to ensure that the tories don't continue to hold her region. But she was very nice.

We walked home then, and had a giant crepe each on the way.

Today, we journey on to the Eiffel...

For those few who might read this...

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 18:10:03 GMT

Hello all,

We're five days in now, and doing better... totally have the Metro down, super easy. It's really cool, some stations need to be bathed in bleach though.

It's been a lot of fun, we broke down and did my Disney... Which is a lot like Disneyland with a handful of better points- Their pirates makes sense and I loved the Haunted Mansions updates and tiny story upgrade. It's got about the same or more amount of land as Magic Kingdom. More later...

Musèe de Orsay, was très magnificque, or whatever... Seriously beautiful works there, being near all these modern masterworks, just wow... Then we did the walk from the Carrousel at the Louvre to the Arc d'Triomphe. The walk was a lot of fun, and the Arc is one of the most beautiful things ever... made me shed tears-- not that hard to do, I know, but still...

The Louvre became a two day odyssey, I'm positive we walked 95% of it. First day was almost all statues, I love statues, seriously, and the french work in the 17th and 18th centuries were so grand. The antiquities of egypt greece and rome were as much a site to see.

The second day we bolted for the queen of the Louvre and spent several minutes staring at her, very nearly alone, no line. People warned us saying she was small, and dark. Not at all in my eyes, there's plenty of cause for her to be so loved, she's definitely worth more than anything else there.

Of course we saw so many signature pieces, the Venus de Milo was all by herself, but she's never alone, swarms of people thronged her. Maria saw more of her van Huysum, like those she loves from the Getty.

Until Later,

Married and in France

Mon, 07 Feb 2005 21:13:46 GMT

We're married after a beautiful wedding, that was everything we dreamed it could be! Thanks for everything you guys did. We had an absoute blast, and everything went great!

So, now we're in Paris at an internet Cafe, it's 1 in the afternoon there and 10 in the evening here. We had a huge trial getting here, the flights went well, but by the time we arrived here at de Gaulle, we were tired, and I mistakenly wore my coat indoors.

I'd like to think I'm decent interacting, but here, I was confused and overheated, and tired, and unsure of how to get to our Hotel so we could rest easy.

So, I got flustered. But the French qre very helpful when you ask for help, and, after bouncing around a good bit, and orienting ourselves with the metro, we emerged on Paris streets four blocks from the Hotel.

We took an afternoon nap, went out for a bite (excellent by the way), and will go for another nap before the new day. We'll write more later.

Thanks,

Simple Fix 8

Sun, 09 Jan 2005 05:13:56 GMT

When a light goes out at an intersection, and there are more than 50 cars needing to cross that intersection inside 10 minutes, a cop needs to be directing traffic flow. No excuses.

We were on Hawthorne, in LA, a signal was out, and the back up on Hawthorne was a mile each way. We went through it at 4ish, and at nearly 7 it was STILL without any police directing traffic. Don't care if the city has to pay double, there needs to be some kinda concious control in these situations.

Simple Fix 7

Sat, 08 Jan 2005 19:01:09 GMT

Term Limits- see easy one.

Simple Fixes 6

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 02:59:09 GMT

Okay, on to the respect thing. If your stereo on your car is so loud people can hear it in their own car, and not their own stereo, they get your car. Cop catches you doing it, you lose your car, it's sold to pay for roads...