Random stuff

I went on a LiveCD bender recently. I've found a remarkably efficient method for making coasters.

New taping coming up March 7. I hope.

I need to get my cooking show going again. I made a big puffy German pancake the other day and I really, really want to put the recipe on TV.

Finally, I hear Al Gore's Current network is going on the air in the UK on BskyB in the middle of March. Good stuff, good stuff. I like Current quite a lot, and I wish it much success.

5318008!!ONE!!1!

Lowell Cable Bares it All

Oh, boy. Nudity on public access TV. The world's going to end because someone put breasts on their local cable station! What is this world coming to? Kill Janet Jackson! Waaah!

Oy.

Someone please tell me why this is such a big deal. Do any of these people actually listen to the kind of music this show New England PGM was playing? Some of it's pretty explicit, and really, that's not that big a deal. Around C3TV, the usual practice should some of that kind of material come in (which really doesn't happen all that often, it being the Cape and all), it goes on the graveyard slot. Big deal. This stuff's on broadcast TV in other countries.

Blasphemy Challenge redux

From the excellent PZ Myers:

John Kasich is a big fat idiot

I note the interesting implication in Kasich's questions (asking why Challenge-takers only go after Christianity, not Islam) that the creators of the Challenge have some have some kind of editorial control over the content of the videos. I'm not too sure what that says about the editorial standards at Fox -- did they just not do their research, or are they, as they so often do, intentionally distorting the facts? Or is this just another case of sectarian blindness, where the people saying the inaccuracies just don't get that other people don't do things the way they do?

Call me Johnny Penguinseed

I'm going to try something.

I've just burned four Knoppix CDs, the latest (5.1.1) version. The next four people I hear bitch about Microsoft Windows while I have my backpack with me will get copies.

I wonder how long it will take to get rid of them?

The musical equivalent of the Harriet Miers nomination

The Grammy folks nominated "My Humps" by Black Eyed Peas for best vocal performance by a duo or group. This constituted a great big dump taken by the record industry on any and every concept of good musical taste ever created.

And to prolong the agony, check out this link.

A sure sign I'm losing it

Let's see... I have a camcorder and a tripod. Now I'm trying to build a home TV studio for under $10. I might even be able to pull it off if I can find the proper mounting hardware in the garage -- I've already got a white sheet and a 150w-equivalent fluorescent bulb, total cost $6. Of course I also have a mountain of crap to move...

Dragging my feet...

In theory, I'm all for the Blasphemy Challenge. I think it's a fine thing for the faithless to announce their faithlessness, since there's an awful lot of people who just don't get what it means to be without faith. I'm a little iffy about targeting teenagers, not because I don't think they can think for themselves, but because I think a lot of teenage faithless don't really understand the difference between anger at God and lack of belief. To the many teenagers that have taken the Blasphemy Challenge, I applaud their courage to take a stand on their beliefs (or lack thereof), but I also ask that they spend some time understanding why others don't believe, or they may find themselves sucked into the "what if I'm wrong?" trap. At the very least, such education can make you understand that while you might be wrong, there's a very good chance "they" (whoever "they" may be, depending on each individual's upbringing) are wrong as well.

So why the hell haven't I done my video? I like to think I lost my faith for the right reasons, and yet, I don't have my video up on YouTube, even though I've been thinking about it for three weeks, even reorganized my MP3 collection to make room for editing on my hard drive?

Man, I suck.