Phish's Weblog

2004-01-18T11:19:00.000-05:00

Best book I've read in a bit: The first Artemis Fowl book. A lot faster-moving than Harry Potter and a lot of fun. I love cheering on an antihero.
Kids' books are so much fun-- they're like quick snacks. Yummy!

2003-12-30T08:25:00.000-05:00

So the newest terrorist advisory warns against... people carrying almanacs. Is this some absurd attempt to justify the Justice Department's desire to subpoena bookstores and libraries, or are they really legit? My grandmother got the Old Farmer's Almanac every year come rain or shine... good thing she's dead or she'd be on the friggin' watch list. More importantly, aren't there better sources of information for potential terrorists? The internet? Atlases? The CIA World Factbook (or does that count as an almanac too)?

I know information like this is pretty dangerous, but it's also pretty freely available. (That first half was sarcasm, in case it's not coming across on the internet.)

2003-12-21T07:47:00.000-05:00

Geez, the headlines are not so great today-- pipelines and an oil storage depot on fire in three parts of Iraq.

The real problem with a war like this is it's very hard to tell when progress is being made. Did the disruption of those 'terrorist cells' the goverment reported make an impact? Is this a reaction to that? Or did it make no difference at all? I'd like to think we're making progress but so much of this feels... well, Vietnam-esque. Though the situation is different on many levels, it feels like we're making the same mistakes-- not going in with a good plan, not having a good picture of the Iraqi people, ignoring intelligence when it disagrees with our perceptions... not good. I just don't know.

2003-12-18T21:45:00.000-05:00

Lord of the Rings on Saturday. Whoo-hoo! More swords! More elves! More Sam! I've finally decided that Sam is the only reason I made it through the whole bloody trilogy on paper. Sam's the one you identify with, really, or maybe the guy you wish you had at your side. Love, loyalty and encouragement, always at the ready: Who could ask for anything more?
Frodo and Sam are so perfect together that I imagine that even in the pre-slash world of Tolkien's contemporaries (and yes, I know there was plenty of homosexual behavior then, but you all know what I'm talking about) readers must've wondered a little bit about Sam's wife Rosie. She's only mentioned a couple of times... Sam seems to have been happy, though. But then, at the end of the book, he and Frodo enter the Havens together... sometimes it would be nice to go back in your time machine and see how The Average Contemporary Reader interpreted this whole thing.

2003-12-16T11:07:00.000-05:00

The good news: not only did we capture Saddam, we used information from the capture to capture more people, people screwing around with bombs and stuff rather than hiding out. Coolies!

The bad news: 11 protesters dead. I'm not saying it's the soldiers' fault-- haven't a clue-- but that there's enough unrest going on, still, is bad.

The really good news: Maybe we really will get to keep reasonably free and fair elections as a cornerstone of our democracy after all. More criticism of electronic voting-- yay! Electronic voting could be a godsend-- relatively cheap and easy (ATMs come to mind). But the process has to be open, difficult to hack, and easy to inspect. I still think a paper trail (like ATM receipts) is the only way to go.

2003-12-15T16:16:00.000-05:00

Oh, I knew I had the wrong screename but this is the firey proof:

A new obnoxious form of cybercrime, and the new obnoxious nickname.

Damn.

2003-12-15T09:52:00.000-05:00

Salon has a piece on Wes Clark today which has Clark saying-- very clearly-- that Dean can't win because *any* Democratic candidate will have to have strong foreign policy experience to go against Bush next year. See, that's a real argument. But of course, the only person with that kind of experience is Wes Clark, so the real argument is "I'm the best candidate 'cause I'm the only person with substantial foreign policy experience." (Serving on a foreign affairs committee *should* count toward electability, but I really don't think it does as far as the electorate is concerned, if you're following me.)

Clark may be right, and people seem to like him. But even after gathering up that draft-Clark machine, people don't seem to be rallying behind him the way I expected people to (and I imagine Clark expected the same thing). Granted, it's only been three months, and Dean was running for president two years ago. It'll be interesting to see how New Hampshire goes-- if Clark makes a strong showing there, he'll be a contender (see Bill Clinton back in '92 if you don't believe me). Then the media will have an underdog story to report... hmm... maybe there *is* a reason there's so much focus on Dean as the frontrunner. It's all a big pro-Clark conspiracy! Yeah! Or not. ;-)

I hope he does come in second-- the Kerry campaign bothers me a little more each week, it seems... if they're not blundering they're just plain being offensive. They'll have to be even more on the ball in a national campaign and they just don't seem like they're up to the challenge. (See, there's another real criticism: Kerry's not electable because his pr machine sucks.)

2003-12-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

This is a modification of something I posted over at Atrios:

I'm really tired of people complaining that Howard Dean's not 'electable.' What makes a candidate electable, anyway? Gephardt and Edwards are stalled, Kerry is imploding, and Clark's never run for elected office in his life. What do they have that Howard Dean's missing?

This is the reason people say 'we're tired of hearing the electablility issue'-- we have no idea what the flying fuck that issue's supposed to mean. Is it possible lack of black support? Is it that he'd be percieved as 'too liberal'? It's impossible to argue with the statement 'he's not electable' because it's such a damn koan. I feel like the appropriate response is putting a shoe on my head.

Dean has plenty of vulnerabilties, and I'm probably too close to see the good ones, being a Vermonter (though I've thought of a couple, some of which are right up there in the previous paragraph). Why the hell not hit him there? This 'electability' bullshit is just that: bullshit. Honestly? I wish Edwards was the front-runner; I was hoping for an Edwards-Dean ticket. But he ain't. Let's deal with it. Kwitcherbitchin; if you think your guy's more electable, get out there and help him win a damn primary or two, huh?

2003-10-14T15:38:00.000-04:00

In honor of Defense of Marriage week, I'd like to take a moment to recognize one of my favorite married couples. They ran the local bakery for a couple years, and my daughter fell in love with them both-- heh, they equalled tasty treats. The bakery never pulled a decent profit, so they do custom baking and pastries for some of the local grocery stores... damn good baking might I add. Mmm... pastries.

Anyway, they were always up to help out the community, do the Christmas lights every year, and are all-around good people. And every year they hold a Christmas bash the likes of which you have never seen... Joe just told me they're going to top it next year. Duude. Last year they had a brass band and we ended up singing carols at the top of our lungs.

They've been married since before we knew them, but they weren't 'legal' until the July the civil unions bill came through in our state. C'mon, you know me... you knew they were gay, right?

Joe & Joe are the kind of people I want my little girl to grow up watching. Let's hear it for marriage!

2003-10-13T20:30:00.000-04:00

I guess our soldiers overseas aren't the only ones embarrassed today.
Dude, this guy got a hold of twelve bedsheets. How does one do that in prison, exactly?
And do I really want to know?

2003-10-12T14:53:00.000-04:00

Taliban soliders escape the US by... digging.

Somebody's gonna make a movie about this, man. Maybe it'll be the Islamic equivalent of The great Escape.

Anyway, it's odd and I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but more and more as our occuptation of Iraq and Afganistan turns into a mess of escapes, terrorist bombings and other snafus, I'm... embarrassed. I should be outraged, angry, or sad, I think, but instead... I just can't believe what a bunch of idiots we've got in charge. I just want to tell the world "we're not all this stupid!"

I know the 9/11 attacks left us unprepared, and I actually think we should have done something and I'll even go so far as to say that cleaning up Afghanistan was a pretty damn good idea, for a lot of reasons. But... what happened to us? What happened to our legendary ability to learn fast, our can-do spirit, our great American know-how and creativity? But yet, we're expecting the Afghani countryside to take care of itself, we can't provide essential services to the Iraqis, and... we didn't know that Taliban soldiers knew how to dig?

Embarrassing.

2003-08-17T01:25:00.000-04:00

I've been on vacation, so I missed all the fun, but I have to share:

"Moreover, since Franken's reputation as a politicial commentator is not of the same caliber as the stellar reputations of FNC's on-air talent, any association between Franken and Fox News is likely to blur or tarnish Fox News' distinctive mark..."
Funniest. Thing. I've. Read. All Week. "The stellar reputations of FNC's on-air talent"? Hee hee hee...

2003-08-05T08:41:00.000-04:00

So. Pissed. off. Today.
The allegations linking Gene Robinson to the website of-- of all things-- outright.org is beyond disgusting. I remember back in the civil union days the conservatives attacket outright, and I was hella pissed then. Outright is a support organization for gay youth. To attack what is basically a bunch of kids looking out for each other is beyond disgusting. Even if you believe that homosexaulity is a 'lifestyle choice', what possible motive could you have to attack these guys-- one of their stated goals is suicide prevention. I guess some people think 'better dead than gay.' Disgusting.

2003-07-22T09:11:00.000-04:00

Just when I think the world hasn't gotten bizarre enough...
there's this.
The kicker is the guy says he's a supporter of Bush, at least on the "16 words" issue. These guys really have lost all perspective... assuming they had any in the first place.

2003-07-13T15:13:00.000-04:00

Today's Doonesbury is pretty good. 'Bout that 'liberal media'.

http://doonesbury.msn.com/strip/dailydose/index.html

2003-07-07T21:33:00.000-04:00

Today's information:

http://www.costofwar.com/

Showing you the cost of the war in Iraq, complete and up-to-date.

Now, before you accuse me of... well, anything you want to, I want to make something clear: Just because something's expensive doesn't necessarily mean we shouldn't do it. But I also think it's important that we know what the cost is, too.

2003-07-05T23:13:00.000-04:00

Hey, I got off my ass and added links! Some liberal, one conservative, one very funny... see whatcha think. Go and explore-- they're all worth checking out.

And because it's the fourth of July weekend, I think I'm going to piss off Ann Coulter and write a few words about treason.

Why? Because without treason, the United States of America would not exist. When the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, they were committing treason against England-- if we had lost the war, they would probably, to a man, have hung for the offense. But they committed treason bravely, proudly and with their heads held high-- because their offense was for a greater good; for a new nation, the United States of America.

What they did was radical, dangerous and changed the course of history.

To have people like Coulter throwing around the word as synonomous with 'liberal' grates my cheese.To overuse the word as a daily accusation diminishes its weight. It diminishes the weight of what our founders did.

And, let's face it... it's just stupid.

Go read the declaration here.

2003-07-01T13:39:00.000-04:00

Well, we'll see if Blogger loves me today. Has anyone else been having blog problems? I'm thinking about switching over to a LiveJournal. I don't talk about politics, much, after all, and all the cool kids seem to have them...

2003-06-29T09:33:00.000-04:00

My blog and I are having issues. Last night it told me it didn't post-- but look, down there, it did! Hey!
On a not-really-related note, Michael Savage sucks. I know I'm late to the party but I still want to be one of the cool kids.

2003-06-28T22:02:00.000-04:00

Whoo-hoo! I actually did something!
A whole shiny chapter of Apocrypha no less. I sent Don off to the desert, fixed up Carlos and Raven, let someone else meet their future spouse, married Leo off (well, kind of sorta not really, but hey)... felt good.
Pretty soon I can start killing people. Hurrah!

2003-01-11T17:40:00.000-05:00

Meditating on War and Guilt, Zen Says It's Sorry
Great article. Registration is required but at least free.

2003-01-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

Today we do politics, 'cuz I'm annoyed.

This has got to be the dumbest move ever:
http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2003/01/06/universities/index.html
In short, Israel's reacted to more suicide bombings by closing Palestinian universities. That's the way to make the state stable: create more bored, hopeless Palestinians with time on their hands and a grudge against Israel. What were they thinking? Is this really the best anti-terror strategy?

2002-12-15T16:08:00.000-05:00

Phishtar's Phanfic Store | Powered by CafePress.com

2002-12-13T22:26:00.000-05:00

Today I got my weekly FoxBox email and to my surprise there was a Ninja Turtles banner! They've confirmed the date for the series debut as February 8. Last we heard from Mirage it wasn't confirmed, but I'd say it was pretty certain if Fox is promoting it this way.
Now all we gotta do is keep our eyes peeled for the action figures!

2002-12-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

Got a page of Roulette done today. Still have no idea where it's going. I keep wondering if the wise course of action would be to shitcan the entire story and start over. But it seems like all the stuff in there that doesn't seem to belong-- mostly, at this point, the weird relationship/ish/thing between Don and Elias-- is actually vital to the story. So it stays for now.
Prioritization is a big trouble these days; some story will knock me on the head for a while and then disappear, so getting A Whole Chapter done is a challenge. Focus, focus, focus...

2002-12-06T20:53:00.000-05:00

Hello, all... well this has turned out to be a pathetic excuse for a weblog, ain't it? New content today anyway. The list brought up the subject-- though a bit obliquely-- of TMNT spirituality, and since religion discussions on the list tend to turn into big smackdown contests, here's my take; here, where it's safe...
I figure they were brought up Shinto/Zen Buddhist. That's the belief system of traditional Japan; the Foot seems to be bound by traditional Feudal-era ways, so I'd guess their faith was too. I see Leonardo and Donatello both staying with that belief pretty easily; Raph I think will reject, well, anything spiritual, even though he's quite possibly the person who needs faith-- some kind of faith-- the most.
Mike I'm not so sure about. In Apocrypha he eventually converts to Judaism, but I think that has a lot to do with being a part of a Jewish family for as long as he has. But IRL... I think it would depend on what happens in his life, where he needs comfort, where he finds it. I see him as spiritual but I'm not sure what direction that spirituality would lead him. (He'd make a pretty fun Zen monk, I must say.)

2002-06-28T20:58:00.000-04:00

Geez. It's been a long time since I did anything on here.
Anyway, I have a copy of TMNT n. 4 in my hand, and boy is it cool. A long-awaited (for me) character returns, the plot thicks (as it usually does) and more of the guys, Shadow, and Splinter. Hurrah.
Damn, it's nice to have that comic back.

2002-03-15T21:25:00.000-05:00

Egad. Huginn is dead. Long live Huginn.
Once, a long time ago, I had an account on Cybergrrl. Which is still around... I think...
Anyway, it inspired me to get this cruddy little webpage on Geocities-- back then, it still had an enormously long URL-- and I put up all this desparately literary stuff...
And then cold hard reality sunk in, and along came Phishtar. Phishtar wrote fanfiction. Long and enormously involved fanfiction, that was still vaguely literary... sort of... and Phish, well, took over.
For a long time I kept the Huginn site alive, but it was in stasis. I never updated, never took care of it, never called, never wrote... ah, you get the idea.
So today I finally recognized reality and killed poor Huginn once and for all. She may unearth herself someday... but I don't know. She was smart and articulate and interesting-- even if it was only to herself-- but on the Web, my inner fangirl reigns supreme. God bless her.
And I was always afraid the neo-Nazis would think I was one of them anyway. ::shudder:: Plus people called me 'huggy' for short once in a while. ::double shudder::
(One of these days we have to reclaim Norse mythology back from the Nazis. It's good stuff.)
But my webpage is a little cleaner, at any rate, and I feel better about the page as a whole. So it's a good day.

2002-03-14T20:25:00.000-05:00

Saw the CGI 'pilot' last night and it was amazing. How dare they kill this project? I say we create so damn much buzz around this clip that someone HAS to pick it up and make a show out of it.
Go watch it and agree with me. ;-)
For heaven's sake... how could The Next Mutation get greenlighted and this not?!?

2002-03-12T21:20:00.000-05:00

Andrew Sullivan has one (at andrewsullivan.com, it's highly recommended, actually, though I don't always agree with the man), William Shatner has one (honestly? I'm afraid to look), my co-worker the llama has one... let's face it. It's time I got a weblog.
Besides, I can ramble on about my stories at great length now and no one who doesn't care has to look.