Monthly Archives: April 2005

A Dictator Who May Go Insane

Posted on by
6

It appears that Mike R is not wrong in his appraisal of my political leanings as being that of an enlightened despot. Here are the results of my 20 Questions To A Better Personality test. They are surprisingly not completely baloney (phrases in bold are right on target):

Wackiness: 34/100
Rationality: 32/100
Constructiveness: 50/100
Leadership: 62/100

You are a SEDL–Sober Emotional Destructive Leader. This makes you a Dictator.

You prefer to control situations, and lack of control makes you physically sick. You feel responsibility for everyone’s welfare, and that you will be blamed when things go wrong. Things do go wrong, and you take it harder than you should.

You rely on the validation and support of others, but you have a secret distrust for people and distaste for their habits and weaknesses that make you keep your distance from them. This makes you very difficult to be with romantically. Still, a level-headed peacemaker can keep you balanced.

Despite your fierce temper and general hot-bloodedness, you have a soft spot for animals and a surprising passion for the arts. Sometimes you would almost rather live by your wits in the wilderness somewhere, if you could bring your books and your sketchbook.

You also have a strange, undeniable sexiness to you. You may go insane.

Of the 118045 people who have taken this quiz since tracking began (8/17/2004), 5.5 % are this type.

Senate “Sunday Justice”

Posted on by
Reply

It’s a busy week here in MaitriLand. Nevertheless, I always have something to share, however small:

Edward Hale, while chaplain of the U.S. Senate, was asked, “Do you pray for the senators?”

He quickly replied, “No. After getting to know the senators, I pray for the people.”

Meanwhile, do cool things, report back and grab the nearest rock for next week’s Waterfall Of The Backlog.

Hunkering Down

Posted on by
4

Preparations at the geocave in progress:

- Zen seance with Jeff Buckley (viz. Grace, Mystery White Boy, Sketches and great headphones)

- Mental inventory of alternate navigation routes through the City of New Orleans on account of giant tourist goat-rodeo headed in the direction of Jazzfest

- Acquisition of Uthgardt Holy Shield and Delver’s Armor for same

- Chanting: “Don’t take trusty steed anywhere in the vicinity of French Quarter and City Park. Lather, rinse, repeat.”

- Sustenance through Super Fresh Cheese Curds

One Does Not Simply Cast Sir Ian In Every Screen Adaptation

Posted on by
10

As some of you know, I have just finished reading and bellyaching about The DaVinci Code. If you are not aware of my feelings on this novel, you will here. For you curious cats, the book gets 2.5 out of 5 Maitri stars – this intermediate judgment has naught to do with fencesitting and instead relies on the apppreciable, even if couched in the disparaging, amount of perspective and history the book has to offer.

Film versions of books are understandably tricky, and their cast choices even more so. Tom Hanks to portray Robert Langdon and Audrey Tautou for Sophie Neveu was predictable. Hollywood has few young professorial adventurers and even a dye job and facelift cannot reclaim Harrison Ford from his caducity; as for the Frenchwoman, Vanessa Paradis doesn’t fit the pretty yet simple pointy-head mold at all, does she? Please don’t get me rolling on Jean Reno as Inspector Fache – besotted with Reno since the more dignified Le Grand Bleu and The Professional, I find it unsettling.

Not Just Unsettling, But Wrong: My arrival at the last few chapters of the novel solidifed my inner casting agent’s decision to have Christopher Lee play the part of Leigh Teabing (I really wanted Leo “Rumpole of the Bailey” McKern, but he seems to be dead). Imagine my surprise when this morning’s entertainment news announced none other than my most favorite Shakespearean actor and bringer-to-life of Tolkien’s trilogy, Sir Ian McKellen, in the role of Sir Leigh. Conjure up a mental image of the world’s richest and creamiest butter being spread into a wafer-thin layer on a Saltine, and you may get an inkling of my thoughts on Sir Ian accepting this borderline role.

No one could have played Gandalf but Sir Ian. Some other red-nosed codger could have taken on The DV Code role. England has plenty of them. Come on, did we really like Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Final Countdown or whatever that was?

Yeah yeah, Christopher “Dr. Who” Eccleston as the albino and Alfred Molina for the Spanish bishop. They are but diminutive snags in the larger tapestry of disappointment surrounding casting ethics. *sigh* As long as Ron Howard doesn’t present an end with imported Ewoks singing alongside poorly-composited spirits of the Knights Templar and everyone who swallowed bullets through the story, I shouldn’t ask for much more from my $7.50, right?

A Geologue

Posted on by
Reply

Behold the power of geologists communicating via the intarwebs …

me: (as regards one of D’s annoying qualities) Oooh, look, I found a fault!

Jules: I believe you have just stumbled upon the hingepin joke of geologist relationship humor.

me: Aaaah, she caught it, but of course she would. All of my faults, however, are normal. Ba dump bump.

Jules: *DING* My faults are *thrust*

me: …

Jules: That makes no sense whatsoever.

Dept. of Energy R&D Funding Alert

Posted on by
Reply

In (at least) the third instance of the administration taking away Dept. of Energy research funds in 5 years, the FY 2006 budget will no longer finance DoE natural gas and oil research with its $75 million annual budget. A Petroleum Technology Transfer Council (PTTC) alert urges energy companies, especially smaller ones, and universities to support a new congressional subcommittee that will keep this funding alive.

From the testimony of David Morse, Director of the Midwest PTTC (University of Illinois – Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign, Illinois):

There are those who ask why tax dollars should support oil and gas research and programs such as PTTC. My response is that these are vital to the nation’s security and to the domestic economy. This research and PTTC can improve the domestic supply of oil and gas, which in turn will drive down the price … Eighty-five percent of DOE’s R&D programs are tailored to the exploration and development activities of the independent producer. These small companies drill 90 percent of the nation’s oil wells and they produce 85 percent of the nation’s natural gas. For these companies, undertaking costly research activities is not a viable option. They must gain education and access to technology from outside their doors, a key function provided by PTTC.

I have a funny feeling the funding will stay in place, merely due to the strategic importance of the project. In any case, researchers, keep your dartboards and probability textbooks handy.

Pain Meditation

Posted on by
Reply

Several friends called and wrote in yesterday about the immensely bad go they were having of it. All the way from breakups and clashing egos to snark in return for aid and general debilitation. The scientist in me attempts to conjure a mechanism by which “human energy” can sour and get absorbed into the general fabric of existence. How does simultaneous day curdling occur and, dare I ask, why?

Today: It is amazing how the combination of a bad sinus headache and hemoglobin deprivation can put one’s life in perspective. While the antihistamines and painkillers do their work, I take the opportunity to lie back and allow the various threads that comprise my current life to braid into a sensible pattern. Since every ounce of my body’s low work output is precious, the strands that aren’t important depilate themselves leaving only a fretwork of things that really matter.

DJ Shadow’s words dance back into my consciousness, “You are the only one who can do anything to yourself, so no one can put you down.”

Peace on earth. Hope it catches.

Today’s Show Is Brought To You By Tamizh

Posted on by
9

Tamil is the topic of Wikipedia’s feature article today. The graphic associated with the article is the diphthong “zh” which, oddly enough, has no ‘z’ sound in it and is very difficult to write in any language other than Tamil and Malayalam. The tongue twister has to be heard and, yes, we do twist our tongues while saying it. In fact, Tamil is really Tamizh, but I will excuse those of you who are well-read enough to know such a language exists.

… a Dravidian language related to Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam, among others. As one of the few living classical languages, it has an unbroken literary tradition of over two millennia, with the earliest writings having been dated to circa 500 B.C. Tamil, like other Dravidian languages, is agglutinative and the writing is largely phonetic. It is spoken by a majority of people in Tamil Nadu and northern and north-eastern Sri Lanka, while a significant emigrant population lives in Singapore, Malaysia and other parts of the world. It is officially recognised in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and South Africa.