June 16, 2005
Fellow Munuvians Kathy and the Llamas made the cut too, along with John at Wuzzadem and the Maximum Leader (Happy Belated Birthday to "Max," by the way).
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June 14, 2005
Mrs. Incredible a/k/a Elastigirl (voiced by Holly Hunter):
And Mirage (voiced by Elizabeth Pena):
Vote early and often and check back next week here for the results.
Results (Posted 2 August 2005):
Elastigirl: 204 of 411 votes for 49.6%
Mirage: 207 of 411 votes for 50.4% -- WINNER!
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(Though, I could envisage where a simple "NO!" might be equally appropriate.)
LysanderJune 13, 2005
Remember the potential money pit? During the fateful inspection, My Lovely WifeTM ran into a realtor and a couple looking at the house being inspected. When she mentioned our contract, the couple said they (a) were aware the house was under contract, (b) lived just down the street, (c) were about to put their house on the market, and (d) wanted to check out the other houses currently for sale in the neighborhood to help them decide on a price.
My Lovely Wife, being the friendly and talkative soul that she is, got the couple's phone number, "just in case something turns up in the inspection."
Long story short: we sold our house only a few days after we took the sign down to the same buyers who had made an offer on it. And we bought the house from the couple my wife met during the inspection of the first one a few weeks before they put it on the market.
The newer house has everything we were looking for, and reminds us a great deal of our perfect-in-every-way-but-size current house. It has clearly been well-maintained and updated (in line with our tastes, even!) We'll be moving in during the first week of July, so if the postings around here are somewhat sparse, you'll understand why.
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James Lileks deconstructs Bobby ("Mack the Knife") Darin, including as portrayed in a movie by Kevin Spacey. Who knew that the swingin' singer of Mack was a hippie sympathizer?
Speaking of hippie sympathizers, one of Devo's founding members, Jerry Casale, was a hippie at Kent State. His experience at the riot/shooting so disillusioned him on the whole hippie-positive-vibe naivete that he became a radicalized devolutionist (DEVOlution, get it?) I'm sure hardcore fans of Devo already knew that, but it was an eye-opener for this casual fan. (And did you know that Head Like A Hole, popularized by Nine Inch Nails was originally donecovered by Devo? I only recently heard the originalDevo's remake, which kicks the remake'soriginal's rear end). (Hat tip - BoingBoing). (Thanks go to commenter Peter S. for setting me straight on Head Like A Hole).
And while we're at BoingBoing, check out Party Ben's "Drop It Like It's a Whole Lotta Love"
-- a mashup of Snoop Dogg and Led Zeppelin. Surprisingly effective, as I love Zep and loathe rap.
Neues von Bach! Big news for the music snobs this week. Something new from Poppa Bach. (I am a music snob, btw). Naturally Lynn and Rob Llama were all over this. I look forward to hearing this work once it's recorded (especially if they can get a good Baroque-style soprano who can throttle back her vibrato as appropriate for that era).
The next big thing? Ukulele. Well, maybe not, but Jake Shimabukuro, the "Jimi Hendrix of Hawaii," made the front page of Yahoo News, and will be touring with Jimmy Buffet this summer. Check out some of the samples from Jake's CDs here. "Sunday Morning" brings a smile to my face, as does his own rhapsody on a theme by Paganini ("Selections from Caprice No. 24").
And, to cleanse the palate, enjoy Bach's BWV 594 (Concerto in C Major after Vivaldi) and ask yourself whether overly aggressive copyright laws really are good for the creative arts.
Check for the carnival again next week. If you want to contribute or host, please send me an email.
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Think intra-sticky. Do you have a scheme to become proactive? Our functionality is second to none, but our 60/60/24/7/365 development and non-complex operation is invariably considered an amazing achievement. Is it more important for something to be killer or to be subscriber-defined? Do you have a plan of action to become customized? The partnerships factor can be summed up in one word: impactful.
And another (nice inside joke for anyone who knows about web design):
We think that most B2B2C, compelling web portals use far too much XHTML, and not enough JavaScript.
The scary thing is that some people I work with talk just like that.
(Hat tip: GeekPress)
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June 08, 2005
Also unveiled was the Actroid, a pretty robotic receptionist (not quite a Real Doll, Jeff, but prettier than the ballroom dancer).
More information on the Aichi Expo here and here.
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11:16 PM
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June 07, 2005
It's like a one-woman Carnival of the Recipes, but with pictures. (Actually, she doesn't have many recipes, but some of the pictures illustrate the stages of putting together a dish).
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Now if you don't believe me and my almost fourteen years of wedded bliss, just ask the holders of the world record for the longest marriage.
Via Pack News.
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June 06, 2005
aTypical Joe notes a recent New Yorker article on the effect of listening primarily to recorded music. Interesting, though I'm not sure it's all as bleak as the critic in the New Yorker makes it seem. I do know that listening to a symphony or an organist on CD is nothing compared to the immediate, physical experience of the music first-hand.
Chan the Bookish Gardener points us to the BBC's Beethoven Experience, taking place this week.
Caltechgirl similarly notes the BBC Beethoven Experience, and sends us to the page where free and legal copies of each of Beethoven's symphonies are available for download.
Music Thing (one of my new favorite reads) introduces us to Peter Pringle, King of the Theremin. (Article includes an mp3 of Peter playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow").
Finally, Robert and Lynn discuss the hazards of introducing classical music as primarily a representational art form, when in fact much great music is not strictly programmatic.
I hope you enjoyed this little carnival. If you would like some more, send me links to notable musical posts. If you would like to host a carnival or two yourself, perhaps we can launch yet another Internet carnival.
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June 03, 2005
Stone dead.
Definitely deceased.
Bleedin' demised.
Passed on.
No more.
Ceased to be.
Expired and gone to meet the maker.
Stiff.
Bereft of life.
Resting in peace.
Pushing up the daisies.
Their metabolic processes are now history.
Off the twig, kicked the bucket, shuffled off the mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile. IT IS AN EX-DEAL!!
We instructed our agent tonight to send a notice of termination of the purchase contract to the sellers of the "dream house" upon which we recently made an offer (accepted by the sellers). We're still in the initial option period, so we're only out the small option fee and the cost of the home inspection that took place yesterday. The inspection (done by a neutral inspector we hired, i.e., not recommended by either of our brokers) revealed several flaws, each of which would be reasonable to encounter in a 25-year-old house, but all of which together indicate a long-time lack of maintenance.
We're talking basic home maintenance here: fixing leaks, monitoring drainage, replacing rotten wood, addressing minor plumbing issues, making sure improvements are done without compromising the house's structural integrity. That, and the fact that in a termite-infested neighborhood they never had a standard annual termite inspection and as a result have six active infestations in the house. They should have done the termite inspections and adjusted or replaced gutters to prevent water damage and drainage problems as responsible home owners with any sense of pride in their home.
But they apparently didn't have much pride of ownership in their house until it came time to sell. And they want a premium price for an un-updated house with some serious underlying flaws. We could have put all those flaws aside if we had gotten the smallest amount of relief on the price and agreement to perform a detailed repair punchlist.
No deal, though, since we had unreasonable sellers, represented by an a$$hole of an agent, who refused to replace the rusting gutters and rotten wood, or to do a complete termite treatment on the house (with six active termite infestations). They wanted to spot-treat the termites and "repair" the rusted gutters. We've seen those kind of "repairs" done on houses that were being sold before -- essentially bandaids. Or clown makeup.
And we know what we're talking about, as we have performed the basic repairs and improvements necessary to keep our house sound during the 10 years we have been here. Not only that, but we have updated it, so that it looks modern, not dated.
We had already stretched ourselves on the offer price -- the new house was listed at well over the highest selling price per square foot for homes in the neighborhood over the last year. We had signed a contract at a price per square foot just about 20 cents per square foot less than the highest recent sale based on the potential we saw in the house (it's on a corner lot along one of the most desirable streets in the subdivision and has a great layout and perfect configuration of bedrooms, bathrooms, living areas, and storage. And a nice pool, to boot).
Oh, and did I mention that our offer on the house is the only one the sellers have received over the last seven months?
After their agent came back offering a band-aid repair and no monetary relief, he really iced the deal when he told our agent, "tell the Laniuses we are doing the honorable and generous thing." What's honorable about a cosmetic repair that doesn't address the underlying years of neglect??!
Idiot. F**k head. A competent agent doesn't inject emotion like that into a deal. Or only does it under explicit instructions from the principal. So we have essentially told them to go f**k themselves with their "honorable generosity" and are taking our house off the market. At least until another house with the right amount of space opens up in our neighborhood again.
Oh, and the kicker? We received an almost full-value offer on our house in the middle of the house inspection and had to decline it.
Better to ride this roller coaster and get out now than to suffer in a Money Pit.
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June 01, 2005
"At least once every human should have to run for his life, to teach him that milk does not come from supermarkets, that safety does not come from policemen, that "news" is not something that happens to other people."
- Jake in Number of the Beast
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