Phone Bill

Ok, I've got my house phone bill rate down to under $5.85 on a measured rate plan. I dumped my long distance completely. So with taxes and other services, my total home phone bill is going to be prolly under $12.00 total.

Mvys

I saw Jason Vs Freddy (or is that Freddy Vs Jason) last week. Pretty good slasher. I don't watch many, but this one is worth the time. Entertaining. Not good enough to show up in my DVD collection though.

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean this weekend. Good movie. It was enjoyable to watch. It knows it's an action/adventure movie, and it revels in it. I do recommend this film. It will go into my DVD collection.

I saw Johnny English this weekend as well. It is funny, but not really hilarious, which a movie like this needs to be. Not a waste of my time, but it is definitely not going to show up in my DVD collection.

If you haven't notices already, my criteria for judging movies is whether or not is will end up in my DVD collection. This is a slightly higher bar than "thumbs up" or "hot or not". It means even a marginally good movie will not get a passing mark. It needs to actually be a good movie to end up in my DVD collection. Doesn't have to be really good. It just needs to have redeeming qualities if it is marginal.

Meteor

Last night, in the north (from Campbell, CA) I saw this bright greenish white glowing ball streaking down from the sky. At first, I thought it was fireworks or a burning plane. It was staying bright too long to be fireworks. It was moving down too fast and glowing to consistently to be a burning plane. It was so bright, I was able to clearly see it thru the city light pollution near the horizon. The glow suddenly faded as it approached the ground. The only thang I can figure is that it was a meteor that made it pretty far into the atmosphere. I've seen plenty of shooting stars, but never seen a meteor this close before. It was over so quick.

eBay Auctions

Ok, I've done something I haven't done in years, I'm actually selling on eBay! See the new link on the right. It's the icon "My Auctions eBay". Or click that link here too. :)

Updating the week

It looks like I'm done ranting for now. LOL So, here's a layout of my bus-i-ness instead, just for me. Monday, hung out with a friend in the day, and another friend in the evening. Tuesday, had pizza with Miriam and tried not to pay too much attention to reality TV she was watching, but damn that shit is so lame and it bugs me to see ... ok... umm... next topic. Weds, hung out Dave in the evening. (Please note, I never refer to work as busy time...it is just lost time, period). Tonight, I'm going to the movies with a friend. Tomorrow, Miriam and I are going to see Ronie up in the Delta. There's personal reasons for this. I bailed out on a sailboat race for this nite to go see her. Prolly going to play mini-golf just for the hell of it. On Sat, I'm going to catch a couple of matinee movies by myself, then meet up with another friend in the evening for drinks. It also looks like I'm covering the booth at the Campbell Farmers Market on Sunday, then going to take it easy for a breather that evening. My weeks have pretty much been like this for a few months now. blah blah blah...now I remember why I don't post these kinds of post very much. Just doing this to remind myself of what I'm doing. :)

Long Weekend?

Is this really a long weekend? It's almost over, kinda. Sunday. I was out Friday having fun, and hit up SF Zoo on Sat. Today, I'm taking it easy before going to a club in downtown San Jose, if you can believe it. Going to hit up the Tapestry and Talent Fair tomorrow.

Yesterday evening...

I went out yesterday. Had a lovely afternoon outdoors over at Viva Sol, a rest'rant on El Camino in Mt. View. Later, at my friend's place, I felt a headache coming on, so I asked where the pain relievers were. This lead me to take a generic Tylenol PM. uhh. Well anyway, my friend was in the mode for hanging out at a place in Downtown Mt. View. We where there most of the night until the PM part of the Tylenol started kicking in around 11. So it ended up being an early night. Damn, that's the last time I don't pay attention to the bottle and take PM anything. I'm still feeling it. yuk.

eBay

I’m an eBay user. I love the service, and use it frequently. I have one piece of advice. If you are looking for VHSs, DVDs, CDs etc, make sure you look at all sources and compare. Examples: Half.com, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble. I’ve been looking for a hard to find DVD recently. It had been hitting over $30 everytime it appeared on eBay. So, I checked Half.com and found it for under $16, with less shipping charges. The best part of this is that eBay owns Half.com, so ordering was easy.
So, when looking for bargains or hard to find items, it always helps to shop around. Often eBay will be the place where I end up, but not always.

Survival of the...science

As with other sciences, evolution is now in practical use within modern technology. This is due, in part, to the invention of PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and other genetic analysis tools. These tools allow for more efficient studies of genetics. PCR opens the door into how all species relate to each other. Exploration of this interconnectivity allows much quicker identification and treatment of old and new diseases. The use of applications based on biological studies of evolution is benefiting our society. It will soon become part of our daily lives. Denial of evolution is the equivalent to saying that the Earth is a flat, or that heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects.

 
There are examples of evolution’s survival of the fittest principle within our own species. There are traits in the human species that are fighting for dominance.

 
One trait in the Western Culture is lactose persistence. 75% or so of our population (Western Culture) can properly digest lactose (from milk) our entire lives.¹⁽¹⁾ This is a newer trait that has become dominant because of the long history of our use of milk in our daily diet. In other cultures, at least 75% of the population becomes lactose intolerant after the age of weaning. These are cultures that historically did not have access to milk on a daily basis, and so carry the older trait which naturally causes the weaning of a child. This older trait used to be necessary for survival, but now is unimportant.

 

Where lactose persistence is succeeding, there is another trait that is failing in the tropics. There is a genetic adaptation which allows an individual to be more resistant to malaria. But if a man and woman (who carry this trait) procreate, their children may have sickle cell anemia.²⁽²⁾  This is an example of a genetic trait that benefits the individual, but not the species. If left alone, the trait will likely die out eventually. Or maybe it will lead to further adaptation that does not cause sickle cell anemia.

 
More rapid examples come to us in the form of viruses and bacteria. These species evolve yearly. Understanding of their origins (made possible by PCR through biological studies of evolution) allows us to combat them more effectively. This will eventually develop into technologies that will be apart of our daily lives, like flying in an airplane or satellite TV.

Misspelling search keywords?

I’m getting many hits to this site for funny spelling of words, Ok…here’s a quick spelling lesson for the most recent searches. Governor, not govenor. Candidate, not canidate. I have entries and information about these items below. Here’s some links:

Link to the list of recall candidates for Governor of California.

Comments about the Recall

California Constitution rules about replacing the Governor

Brief general impression of “right” and “left”. I’m a centralist, by the way.

Three problems with California polictics right now, including the Recall.

Encinal We won!

The Spitfire won at the Encinal last night, and with Brant as skipper. It's the first out right victory of that boat since its restoration! Sports are more fun when you win. hehe. We had a great start, prolly do to all the practice last weekend. Once we got into the lead, we stayed in the lead the whole race. Our sister boat Double Trouble, skippered by Kevin, came in second, keeping are best competitor down at third. This is the first race Double Trouble didn't finish DFL, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Spitfire is now first place in the series, with one 3rd place, one 2nd place and now one 1st place finish! Let's just see if we can keep up the pace!

Acceptance.

For every reasonable belief system to be accepted without censorship, as a people, the government can not endorse any belief system or their icons. What of our Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and atheist citizens, etc? Do we also put up Muslim Koran scriptures on stones at Mt. Rushmore? Do we build Hindu statues in front of our town halls? Do we have a 30' budda sitting and laughing on the White House lawn? Do we put "God is Dead" on our coins? Do we build a Wiccan alter at Arlington? Hell No! For all of us to be religiously free, we must keep our government from choosing a religion or using relevant religious icons. (I believe using religious icons of dead religions, from Greek and Roman mythology, in the tradition of western culture is acceptable since they don't invoke any practiced religion)
And about prayer in school: Again, what of our atheist citizens? A moment of silence does impose a religious practice on to their children.

A fish named Goldy...mystery thriller and some sheit

At work today, there’s a bit of a mystery. A coworker of mine (I’ll call her Squeeks) had this nice mylar balloon of a large gold fish delivered for her birthday yesterday. It was actually kind of an eye sore from far away, but it really is a very nice balloon. She named it Goldy. Anyways, she gets in to work this morning to find a ransom note and pictures of her balloon with pitiful “help me” type printed messages, being threatened by sulfuric acid and a screwdriver in the eye. The kidnapper is demanding one stick of mango flavored Trident gum, a “shinny” (mispelt) 1977 penny and before & after pictures of Michael Jackson. It was signed “Sick Individual”. Squeeks and other coworkers are looking over the pictures for any clues as to who is involved. Her boss keeps seeing people in the reflections on the mylar surface of the balloon in the picture. No clear details, of course.
So, as if that isn’t ridiculously fun enough, I wanted a piece of this action myself! I set out to frame a cube neighbor of mine (I’ll call him Fred) for the heinous deed. I quickly printed out one threatening follow-up ransom note, which quickly got picked up as part of a large report that someone else was printing, and copied 60 times as part of that report. I couldn’t have planned that better if I tried! Needless to say, Squeeks got the message. She waited in the printer room for someone she suspected to come to the to pick up the now multiplied message. Fred haplessly comes walking into the printer room to pick up his mail. Of course, Squeeks immediately suspects him of the kidnapping! Again, I couldn’t have planned that any better if I tried. Phase two of my plan spoke for itself. I printed another threatening note and left it in Fred’s cube and just waited for Squeeks to make the incriminating discovery. As she’s still reeling from the first “discovery” when she finds the second note in Fred’s office. The timing was perfect. Of course, Fred is nowhere around, being in the labs most of the day. Their boss goes to find him to see if he is the culprit. Everyone is cracking up the whole time about this ridiculous situation.
So right before this lunch hour, Squeeks is in Fred’s office making further accusations about other “evidence” against him. Fred’s pitiful and weary “help me, help me!” cries were drifting from his office like a ghost’s moaning.
For lunch, their boss is eating fish…hmmm…very suspicious!

A Fish named Goldy Part II

Around 3:00pm or so, after meeting two/thirds of the ransom requirements, Squeeks got her golf fish balloon back. It turns out that it was her boss that staged the kidnapping! Too funny. Fred and other coworker were in on it as well. The fish is now safely back in Squeek's cube, no worse for the wear.

Well...

Friday night was supposed to be a big nite, but ended up not going out. I do wanna check out a couple of new places in San Jose downtown soon, so maybe plan sometime this week. I did a little shopping this weekend too with some girlfriends as my guide (and to make the experience a bit more palatable). Despite my protests, they dragged me into the Gap. They wanted to get me shirts and stuff, but I insisted that I'd only get jeans there. Ended up a Banana Republic and got a couple of nice thangs there. I know, some say it's worse than the Gap (and it's the same company), but it is more stylish. I walked in the Guess too...what the hell are they thinking with all that ugly patchwork clothing? Yuk...doesn't looks interesting, stylish or wearable.
Yesterday, I was aboard the Spitfire practicing in the tactical position for getting our timing down on our race starts. It was a lot of fun!