Archive for July, 2004

2004.07.17

More OOKEE Blogshares

It seems that the rest of the OOKEE.com sites are now listed on Blogshares.

Mookee’s Main Page
I Am Defiant
vexed: piss off
Arena of the Superheroes

I have to say that after playing Blogshares for a few weeks now it isn’t that hard to make money. It is slow going at first, but after learning a few basic tricks it comes quickly. After I make my first million (too bad it’s not real money!) I think I might retire for a while…

2004.07.14

Election D(el)ay

Yes… Now you, too, can be President for Life! Just make out the terrorist threat to be greater than the Nazi threat in Europe and you can delay the election until the world is safe again (never!).

Stupidity. Fortunately it won’t happen, but for this or ANY administration to even consider postponing elections seems to me much worse than a President getting a blow job and lying about it. Impeach Bush? No, but watch the hat trick. First we start losing our liberties and attempt to stigmatize and Constitutionally exclude a segment of our population while our country goes to war for all the wrong reasons (interesting interview here) while the administration is still in denial.

Though it won’t happen this way, let’s speculate we really start losing our liberties, that segments of our population ( the non-white, straight, Christian, educated, middle or upper class male population) are really Constitutionally oppressed by new Amendments, that this war and perhaps new wars really are fought without just cause, and that elections really are delayed indefinately because of “terrorist threats”… Where does that leave us? Remember that Nazi threat to Europe just over 50 years ago?

2004.07.14

Jury Duty

So I am sitting across the street from the Superior Court of San Francisco on lunch break doing my civic duty. Jury Duty… I am insanely bored.

Jury duty seems to require a lot of waiting around, and not in comfy chairs. It would be one thing if they at least had couches (or better, a bed!) for you while you wait to hear your name in roll call or for your group to be sent off to a court. Instead they have these aweful plastic chairs from the 70s in colors from that era: orange, brown and mustard yellow. All of them stained with the ages and probably not cleaned since aquisition.

They did have a clever video introduction produced to inspire more civic evangelism than the poor workers there feel. No wonder they made the video; if the person who did the roll call were in charge of making us feel like we should be happy being there they’d have to hand out razor blades.

I’ll have to post this later in the day (though I will date it to the correct time) since I’ve no internet connection. Here in the cafe near the court house there’s an open WiFi, but whoever owns it turned off the actual internet connection. Their base station is wide open, though, and if I were feeling particularly malicious I could change the name or password protect it so they can’t even get into it. But I’m not mean (that way) so I’ll just begrudge them not leaving the lights on.

(later)

The day is over and I am free till next year. I realize in hindsight that my previous writing was a bit cavalier. Not that I regret that, but I do want to say that while it is sometimes inconvenient doing my civic duty, I do believe it is very important for our society. Between that and voting there isn’t much more we can do to claim the system as our own so it’s important we, as citizens, do both.

I am not looking forward to catching up on everything at work, though!

2004.07.12

Vexed!

Please welcome Nob Hill Ken’s (NHK) site, Vexed. He’s just started posting, so give him a chance. Also, if you haven’t checked out Jon E’s site, Defiant, give that a look.

The OOKEE.com Network grows…

2004.07.09

One More Alarm

The great thing about Thursday: Only one more alarm before the weekend.

2004.07.07

Weekend Update

Not really on “the weekend” since it was Monday and Tuesday… Ann took these pictures from our trip.

The foliage in Big Basin Park.

Santa Cruz Boardwalk from the Ferris Wheel

Surfing in Santa Cruz.

2004.07.02

Chased By Dinosaurs

To be honest it has been so long since I saw this that I’m afraid I won’t do it justice. Imagine you’re a guy who wants to go see what dinosaurs were like in their natural habitats… land, sea and sky. That’s what zoologist Nigel Marvin does as this BBC production takes you to three time periods from our planet’s past.

Nigel is sometimes a bit too Croc-Hunter-ish, but he’s actually a very good actor; it’s easy to forget he’s not really chasing 6ft therapods away from his tent at night, or genuinely in danger of being eaten by a sea monster that could take him and his crew in one bite. I really love the production values the BBC exhibits with their productions, too. If you love dinosaurs, you’ll love this DVD.

2004.07.02

The Pythons

Alot has been said about Monty Python and there has always been speculation. This book comes right from their mouths, though, in interviews conducted through their history as well as some diary entries, put together by Bob McCabe.

I’d actually never read anything about the Pythons or their personal lives. I often wondered why they broke up. The book doesn’t say it explicitly, but I think its clear they just wanted to do their own things, particularly John Cleese and as things progressed Terry Gilliam. I also never knew that Graham Chapman was gay, but you learn something new everyday.

It took me forever to finish the book; it is huge! At least 20lbs. It was a work out just to hold the book. That being said, if you’re interested in the inner workings, fun and foibles of Monty Python, get a workout of your own and read the book.

2004.07.01

Blogshares

Shockingly, amazingly, a few OOKEE.com sites are listed on Blogshares, a “marketplace” of blogs where you can buy and sell fictional shares in various blogs. A few people have really gotten into it but I was never that curious. Now I am.

OOKEE.com listings (so far):

OOKEE.com
The People’s Republic of B.ookee
sp.ookee.com

I’m sure more will be added with time. I’m not sure why we were added (Dongle Dog is a suspect), except a vague reference on their site that mentions weblogs.com.

I’m going to try it out for a while and play around with it. You’ll see a link to them down at the bottom of the right hand column that leads to “my” profile. Buy some stock! Have some fun!