Jody, Sab, and I made a little trip out to Enchanted Rock yesterday near Fredericksburg, Texas. It was quite a workout and we got some good photos. I feel like I have Carpal Body Syndrome now since I’m sore all over.
General
07
Jan 05
Knowledge as taxidermy
I saw this at Kottke.org and it seemed a question worth answering. Edge: World Question Center asks What Do You Believe Is True Even Though You Cannot Prove It?
I read several of the answers from the panel and the pervasive self-importance annoyed me. These are some of our ‘greatest minds’? I kept thinking the same thing: that most people use knowledge to reduce reality to something they can grasp. Scientists amass knowledge and develop systematic theories of the universe. Religious-minded individuals submit their desire for truth to a heavenly authority rendering their reality comprehensible. It says a lot about humanity, this desire to know. Does it represent a fear of mystery or powerlessness, a need to control experience? Why is it always so important to know? What do animals think when they look at the sky, or when they die?
If I was to answer the question, “What Do You Believe Is True Even Though You Cannot Prove It?”, I would answer that I believe there is no way of knowing. That the ‘truth’ of wherever/whatever/whoever/whenever we are will always remain out of reach. Is that such a bad thing? Can knowledge blind your understanding?
05
Jan 05
Three minutes of silence
On BBC news this morning, they showed live footage across Europe of people commemorating the 150,000+ victims of the tsunami. In Stockholm and Brussels, they showed thousands of people who stood still and waited quietly for three minutes. It was impressive. An old man in the crowd wiped his eyes and another younger man was taking pictures with his camera phone. Can you see Americans staying quiet and still for three whole minutes? Where can you even find thousands of people standing in one place unless it’s a football game?
03
Jan 05
Sitting quietly in the dark
I’ve been watching a lot of movies lately most likely due to my lack of creativity when it comes to planning stuff to do. The good part is, I’ve seen a few really good films.
- Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman / Sonatine – This is a double DVD rental, so you get two different movies to watch by the same writer/actor/director, Kitano “Beat” Takeshi. Zatoichi (trailer) has a lot in common with the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, especially Yojimbo. If you like stories involving stoic samurai meting out retribution to corrupt bandits, you will enjoy it. I was surprised to discover that Zatoichi has been portrayed in over 25 films and is one of the most popular characters in japanese culture. Sonatine (trailer) is a modern yakuza film that is a lot more complicated and slow-paced. The violence is there, but it is more numbing and meaningless than exciting. The emotional ambiguity expressed throughout the film left me feeling a little depressed. Here’s a good review of it by someone else.
- Sideways – This movie hit me in the best kind of way and sticks with you. It will resonate with anyone who has done any living since what it’s really about is life and relationships. You will relate to something in it, the story, the experiences, the characters. It is an admonition to keep living and fighting and most importantly to stay involved in your own life. Everyone will benefit from the message to keep living even when painful or difficult things happen. Sideways is real. The film itself was very well done and ends without a simple conclusion so you leave carrying the story with you.
01
Jan 05
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
I saw Wes Anderson’s newest movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou a few days ago at Westgate where I normally end up going.
One thing worth mentioning is that I think I spotted someone camming the movie. When I was coming out of the bathroom before the movie started I passed a guy with a camera bag entering the bathroom. He was in his late twenties with a pony-tail and goatee. I only took note of him because of the camera bag, which I found a little conspicuous, although I have no idea what he had in it. I went back to my seat in the last row, right in the middle until the lights dimmed and the previews finally started. About half way through the coming attractions the pony-tail guy comes back and sits three seats to my left and places his camera bag lengthwise across the top of the folded up seat cushion. He spent a couple seconds adjusting it then I guess he noticed me eyeballing him because then he traded seats with the camera bag and moved it to the left of him.
Anyway, about the movie. Even though I was excited about seeing it, I became disappointed and bored pretty quickly. It has the same nostalgic-for-the-mid-1970’s style that I liked in The Royal Tenenbaum’s and Rushmore, but even that seemed more affected than earnestly sentimental. The story was bland and confusing. There was nothing interesting about the characters. I got the feeling that Wes Anderson made the movie as an excuse to hang out with all his friends. I’ve had enough Bill Murray and Anjelica Huston to last me another few years. I want to see a more manic and smartass Bill Murray for a change, not the run-down schlepp he’s been playing. The Life Aquatic is unfortunately a pretentious movie that’s light on substance. Why is Cate Blanchett even in this?
30
Dec 04
Oklahoma and back again
I’ve been back from Oklahoma for about two days. It was fun and relaxing, although occasionally stressful. It seems to be that way when you have to stay with other people. I would prefer that all people lived in shells like snails and turtles. That way if you had to leave your town you would never need to invade another person’s private space. You could just tuck your arms and legs into your person shell and go about your own business.
The night before we left for the drive north I bought a new digital camera as a present to myself. It’s a Nikon Coolpix like my previous camera. This one is the 5200, which is smaller than the Nikon 775 I bought almost exactly three years ago when I spent Christmas in Louisville, Kentucky for my grandmother’s funeral. The 5200 is a 5.1 megapixel camera whereas the 775 was a 2.1 megapixel camera. Everything else is pretty similar, although it is neat to see all the enhancements they have made to the Coolpix line over the past three years. My favorite new thing is the panorama assist mode.
I took some photos over the holiday break. I had this week off from work, and I think that’s the first time I’ve had off for Christmas since I took a leave of absence to attend my grandmother’s funeral. It’s been nice. Here’s a photo from when I helped feed the cattle at Jody’s parents’ place.
There’s nothing to it, every day in the winter when there’s not enough grass for the cattle to graze you have to go out and give them sacks of feed made from dry molasses, alfalfa pellets, and feed corn. Keeping livestock is something a lot of people in the area do since the land is too rocky for farming. I asked Marty a lot of questions about raising cattle since I’m curious about it. Daily life in the US depends on farming and ranching yet many people know nothing about it. I also learned that cows normally give birth in the fall or winter. When we were there there were three or four brand new calves. There seemed to be a new one each day. You notice this because when you go out to feed all the cows they’ll come up and tagging along will be the new babies. One day I got up early and went out to do the feeding by myself. The part I hated the most was calling the cows to come up from the pasture. I felt like an idiot hooting and yelling, “Come on cows.” over and over. It’s difficult to yell loudly when it’s so quiet all you can hear is the wind blowing.
All things considered, Christmas was very nice. I got several nice presents from a few people. Much more than I deserved. I am ready to usher in 2005, and I look back on the past year with the usual mix of feelings. I am glad for everything I’ve experienced. Much has happened, so it seems when you look back and add it up. I hope the holidays found you all well and happy and I hope that the coming year brings to you a bounty of satisfaction and success. Here’s one last photo I took of Josalyn, red-faced from the cold, as the sun set this weekend:
20
Dec 04
Staying on top of your email
Here are a few good ways to stay organized with your email. I’ve gotten these tips from a few different sources and here’s what works for me.
- Use filters and rules in your email client. At work you will probably belong to a few different email lists or groups. Filter by email list and create a folder where those emails will be sorted. That way only things sent directly to you will end up in your actual inbox. Those are likely to be of a higher priority than anything sent to lists. Creating Outlook rules.
- Keep your inbox cleared out. Delete anything you don’t need to know, do anything about, or remember. I get a lot of email messages about a lot of different things especially at work. Once I read it, I decide if I need to know the information, do anything about it, or need it for something later. If I don’t need it, I immediately delete. I use 3-4 folders a la Getting Things Done: @Action, @Deferred, @Waiting For. @Action is for messages I need to do something about. @Deferred are messages I’m putting off for whatever reason. The “@Waiting For” folder is for items I’ve replied back to for more information or work and for which I’m awaiting a response. If it’s in the inbox I just haven’t sorted through it yet.
Related:
19
Dec 04
Spam Karma: Spam control for WordPress
Spam Karma is the best spam filter I’ve tested for WordPress. Since I installed it this weekend no spam has made it through even after multiple attempts.