Liloia.com Archives: June 2003
June 27, 2003
Harry Potter - Book 5
Last night (this morning) around 3 AM I finished the 5th book in J.K. Rowlings series - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Wow. It was great.
For long time Harry Potter fans, you will not be disappointed as Rowling gives us lots more of the characters we love and greater insight into Harry and the mystery that surrounds him. At almost 900 pages it was a bit daunting, but it turned out to be an easy read. This book was clearly written with movie visuals in mind and as I hit each new chapter I was excited at the ultimate prospect of getting to see it on the silver screen in a few years.
June 26, 2003
Biotech Dictionary
Today I am spending some time getting ready for my new job starting Monday. I found this great resource for definitions in the Life Science area. I decided to add this to the site so I have a place to keep this link that I can take with me wherever I go.
Biotech: Life Science Dictionary
June 25, 2003
Done!
Stick a fork in me......
I just found out that as of Friday I am done coming down to Shelton. As of Monday I am going to be located in the Boston office, with the exception of business trips and such. I am scheduled to meet with my new boss Pat on Monday and Wednesday.
Finally, I will be able to...get this.....go home after work at night!
June 24, 2003
The MPAA is not your mom.
To the person who asks anonymously, "What are you doing taking a four year old to a PG-13 movie?" That is a fair question and I'll answer it. (No need to post anonymously -- I'm not freaking out over someone questioning my parenting choices. If I can't answer for my actions, then I'm parenting throughtlessly, which is a crummy thing to do.)
The ratings on films are intended to be a guide for parents who wish to know at-a-glance how appropriate the film is for a child. From the MPAA ratings system explanation:
"The voluntary rating system is not a surrogate parent, nor should it be. It cannot, and should not, insert itself in family decisions that only parents can, and should, make. Its purpose is to give prescreening advance informational warnings, so that parents can form their own judgments. "
Parents can certainly take the MPAA and the film studio at their words, but I prefer to examine the content and make my own judgement. I find that there are nuances in films that the rating system doesn't capture. There are vast differences in what you find in the PG-13 category; some films are fine for Trevor and some are way beyond fine. For example, nudity doesn't immediately bump a film out of a PG rating, but I wouldn't bring my son to a film with nudity prominently shown in it. And a film can be rated PG, but have lots of "jump out and scare you" moments that would freak Trevor out.
Like most moms, I know my kid. I know what scares him and what doesn't. I know what he understands and what will confuse him. And sometimes simply learning what holds his interest will exclude a film that I would normally bring him to see. The purpose of the movies is for the entire family to have fun, not to drag a preschooler to an inappropriate film simply because we want to see it.
So we research before going. We look at the rating as a general guideline. As of now, R movies are out. PG-13 and PG are potentially okay, but not without a closer look. Next we check the trailer. If there's sex in the movie, you can be sure that the trailer will hint at it. Sex sells tickets. And sex is one of my disqualifiers. Had there been no sex scene in The Matrix, I would have taken him to see it. There were a lot of fight scenes, but they weren't gory and he would have loved the martial arts. Wxhen it's out on DVD he'll be allowed to watch it with the Zion scene skipped.
If the trailer indicates that the subject, tone and content meet our standards, I check a couple of reviews just to be sure. And then we go. Simple as that. And hey - if I find I've made a mistake, I'll own up to it, leave the movie and take the loss. My goal is a fun activity, not to emotionally scar my kid.
The Core is a good example of a recent PG-13 film that we decided he could see. He absolutely loved this movie and it prompted a family discussion of magnetic fields. Here's what he had to say about The Core:
Hey buddy, what was your favorite part of The Core?
It was when the birds were crashing into buildings!
Why did they do that?
Because the core of the earth stopped spinning and the magets in the Earth were all messed up so the birds didn't know where to go.
I think that's neat.
Sweeeet
Ok, this is a huge hint for anyone looking to get me a gift. I have wanted my own subscription for any number of comic titles for years. I actually tried to order them myself twice from Marvel and their website screwed them up so I gave up. If it isn't crystal clear already, I love comic books! I don't collect them the way I used to, but regardless it is a hobby of mine that I would like to develop. This image is just really cool, that's why I threw it up on the site. Fun fun.
Butter Rum
A long, long time ago my family and I would take vacations to a camp resort in Pennsylvania.
Hey, look at that! While I was writing this I came across the website for the place we would go. Otter Lake Cool.
Anyway, on the way out of the campground at the end of a weekend or a week-long vacation my mom and I had a little tradition. One of us might run into the store to grab a soda, or to drop something off and when we did that we would grab a roll of
Butter Rum Lifesavers. Other than this one activity I don't really remember having them a lot at home. For some reason though this memory is closely tied to my memories of Otter Lake.
Today while I was at the CT office of my company they had a picnic outside. It was actually the first day in a really long time that it was nice enough to be outside at all and the picnic was fun. They were giving out candy for some reason and I happened upon an entire box of Butter Rum Lifesavers. I hadn't seen them in a really long time, but as soon as I did the memories came rushing back. It was really nice, and the rest of the afternoon I was in a really great mood mostly because I was thinking about that time with my family.
I grabbed a roll, although part of me doesn't want to open them.
June 23, 2003
Job Changes
Wow, when it rains it pours.
For the longest time I have had a rough go of it professionally, for the last three years in a row I had been laid off, and over the last few months I have not had the best success in finding suitable employment to replace my current job. (Which by the way I am still employed by)
Then my company asked me to go to Shelton, CT to help with the integration/training for the new Customer Service team for the first 2, possibly three weeks. They were certain that the process would not take longer than that. Hah! And I say again, hah! This is my 9th week here, and it is beginning to look like they may want us to stay longer than this. Not a problem for me though. I'll keep on talking and let you know.
Back in February I had interviewed for and inside sales position within my company. For the longest time there was no word on the status of the position and it seemed like it might never come through. During this time, not only did they let go many of my friends in Customer Care, but there were other layoffs within the company.
In the meantime I found out about another great sales opportunity with a company called Viacord which I pursued and then subsequently interviewed for. The company sold a service by which they could store the umbilical cord blood and stem cells for future use in treating diseases for the child/family involved. It is a great company and great opportunity.
Also as a last minute option, last week I was asked to interview for a position within the product management team of our Biopharma business unit. This was not a position I was aware of, but it is something I was definitely interested in. I spent some time with both Viacord and the product management team from PerkinElmer on Tuesday.
While I thought that I had done well at all of the recent interviews, I in no way expected what happened next. On Tuesday after my interview with Viacord, they offered me a position on the spot.
Bam.
On Wednesday I was told that the product group enjoyed meeting with me and would probably get back to me on Thursday.
Bam.
On Thursday morning I received word from the original sales job that the position had finally been approved and that I should hear from them soon.
By Thursday lunchtime I received three offer letters all within a 24 hour period. All of whom wanted an answer from me immediately, and all of which were great opportunities. I spent a lot of time Thursday night mulling it all over and hanging out with some friends. I think I called almost everyone in the phonebook on my cell phone and probably killed all of my minutes for this month, but it was worth it.
So what did I finally decide? It was a tough decision but I am positive that I made the right one for me. I am now an Associate Product Manager for the PerkinElmer Biopharma BU. I start officially on Monday and I am really excited. I will be working on the managing the radioactive/reagent product lines with a great team of people. The work seems that it will be very challenging and they have already agreed to stand behind my desire to obtain my Six Sigma green belt. (If you want to know more about Six Sigma, email me.)
Anyway, I am finally going to have a little more stability for the first time in over 9 months, and it feels good.
Hulk
Wow. If you haven't read Tara's post below, make sure you do....unless of course you are really excited about seeing THE HULK, and don't want any spoilers. I was going to post about it this morning, but the long ride down to Shelton allowed her to get it up before mine.
On a side note, this looks like it may possibly be my last week coming down to Shelton, CT for a while. I have a lot to talk about here, but I want to put my thoughts together first. Look for another post today or tomorrow about it.
All good things though. :)
Plank, the new Hulk?
To: Universal Pictures
CC: Ang Lee
Enclosed you will find three receipts for The Hulk, one child and two adult matinee tickets. There is also an invoice for $17.40 which is itemized below.
138 minutes of The Hulk at $20.00, which is approximately 14.5 cents a minute.
18 minutes of which were actually enjoyable and I will gladly pay for.
I am owed a $17.40 refund for the remaining crappy 120 minutes.
Thanks in advance,
Tara Liloia
This movie was so bad that I had to come home and write a good screenplay to counteract its existence in the world. My four-year-old asked to leave after an hour. I had to convince him to stay in hissing whispers, all the while wondering why I was staying myself. Eventually I came up with this gem of mommyhood, "We're staying because Daddy wants to see this movie and sometimes we do things that Daddy wants to do. After we're done, we'll do something that you want to do." He spend the rest of the movie daydreaming about the park. And snacks.
Here are some filmmaking tips from cinematic me:
Staging fight scenes in total blackness allows no one but Navy SEALS wearing night goggles to enjoy them. There was some fight involving dogs, I think the Hulk won. There was some smashing in a lab, I think the Hulk won. There was a whole lot of hopping around the US, I think the Hulk won.
Emotionally repressed != Emotionless. Plank from Ed, Edd and Eddy has more charisma than Eric Bana. Shout out to Plank. An emotionally repressed person has strong feelings that they attempt to hide. Think of Leonard Nimoy in the role of Spock -- there was something behind the stoicism. A spark that simmered beneath the surface that he fought hard to control. Where was that in Bana? He was a placid pond in a tranquil Japanese garden until he suddenly exploded with rage.
If I had wanted to watch the talented Jennifer Connelly do nothing more than stare wide-eyed and stunned at the incredible events around her, I would have rented Labyrinth. She has grown as an actress and I expect to see her as more than just set dressing. One of the first scenes between Bana and Connelly, I can remember thinking how the pacing was off and the scene tedious. There was no chemistry between the former lovers. I can barely blame Jennifer for her lack of interaction, Bana wasn't giving her much to work with.
An hour of laboratory montage does not an intellectual or entertaining film make. As an audience member, it takes more than the use of a centrifuge to convince me that someone is intelligent. I'm never going to marvel, "Jeez, did you see how well Bruce autoclaved?" The dialogue was tired and cliche. Vincent Vega felt more clever than this supposed genius duo.
A man who turns green, huge and destructive when he's ticked off can be interesting enough. There is no need to invent implausible superbeing kinfolk for him to fight. I always saw Bruce Banner as a sadness-tinged guy trying to make his way in the world with this crappy affliction. He wasn't a superhero and that's what endeared him to us. Making him fight his superdad reduces all of the potential subtleties of their relationship to good guy vs. bad guy. Not to mention that Bruce's "hulkism" is supposed to be a genetic trait, like my red hair. I don't know about you, but I can't will my hair color onto passers-by the way Bruce was able to will his hulk power into his father. But that's just me.
Taunting us with an important plot point packaged neatly as a repressed memory is exasperating. Especially when the repressed memory is obvious from the first flashback. Ang, you showed us a knife being held as if to strike. Clearly, Bruce's father didn't kill Bruce, so... who do we think he killed? Take a lesson from Wolverine in the intriguing repressed memory department.
Comic book style only works in comic books. The worst part of the film, the absolute worst, was the crushed look on my husband's face when an explosion behind a halfhearted villain results in him being catapulted out of the frame and into his own white-outlined overlay, then frozen in that comic book pose. Dave adores comic books. I sent him off food shopping yesterday and he sheepishly returned with food and a stack of X-Men. (Don't think I didn't look in the bag to see what you like, D.) But even he sensed how wrong it was to grind the natural flow of the film to a stylistic halt with this visual tom foolery.
And that was just the worst example. The entire film was littered with split screens and comic-like boxes in which several different kinds of action are taking place. It became like the Blue Man Group -- three things happening so fast that you had to pick one to focus on just to make sense of it. If you tried to watch all three, you lost out on everything.
Kudos to the CG character engineers. They did a better job acting than Eric Bana. If they decide to create a sequel, maybe they can animate the Bruce Banner part as well.
June 21, 2003
Got it! Now who cares?
It's 1:00am and I just got home from a Harry Potter party at the local bookstore. We dug out Trevor's Harry Potter Halloween costume from last year -- which I must have packed away in a Martha Stewart moment because it was neatly packaged (glasses, wand, cape and hat) in a labeled freezer bag in his closet. Go me. I was prepared to dig through the dress up box for an hour.
I don't know why I thought this event would be me and three other people. I remember wondering if it was silly to dress Trevor up for a little shindig. Clearly all of Norfolk County was out tonight. The bookstore was incredibly crowded and it was necessary to arrive at 8pm in order to get a numbered ticket for your book at midnight. Unaware of this, Trevor and I arrived at ten and got a fairly high numbered ticket. The next three hours involved standing on various lines and pushing through crowds to make a drinking straw magic wand and get a lightning bolt tattoo. We had intended to enroll Trev in the costume contest, but we got there just as they closed the judging.
We went outside for a while and found a group of high school kids who were good-naturedly goofing off. One was in the school band and happened to have his sax. We listened to his self-conscious, but entertaining, serenade (Trevor danced) for a long time. Even the local cops stopped by and chanted "Slytherin!" on their PA while the kids shouted back, "Griffindor!" Then the officers let the kids use the PA to broadcast the sax music across the parking lot. Everyone was laughing as it was half drowned out by feedback. It was nice to see cops not hassling teens and teens not taunting cops. Everybody was having fun. Trevor had fun pointing his wand at people and yelling, "Flippendo!" and people had fun staring at his irresistible cuteness. It's like we were providing a service for the fans.
When midnight rolled around, we went back inside. It was stifling hot with all of those bodies jostling for a place near the front of the store. Some smart aleck woman near me claimed that they should have let people pay for the book all evening, then just stamp hands and pass out the books at midnight. As if waiting in line for a paid book is that much different from waiting in line for an unpaid book. And I'm pretty sure the rules don't allow for the sale of the book in any way until midnight. Prepaying might be construed as breaking that rule. She exclaimed, "See? They should have hired me to organize this event!" She felt smart for that shining moment, good for her.
It was disorganized in there. Tickets were called in groups of 50, but no one was told exactly where to line up. So there was a large undulating mob near the registers composed of tense employees, irate people who had been called but couldn't get to the registers or find the line, and fools who hadn't been called but wanted to be "close to the action." One woman sulked and refused to move when told that she hadn't been called yet, to move back. The group behind me hadn't been called either, but the woman whined, "Well, we weren't exactly called quite yet, but it'll be soon!" Yeah, sooo... get back.
I got my book. It's big and purplish and big. Too big to even bother reading right now. I think I'll save it for my July vacation. I'm sure some lively (obsessed) blogger is going to stay up all night reading and will post a review by morning. I think I'm just going to watch cartoons in my bed until I fall asleep dreaming of Mojo Jojo.
Wanna know the truth? I don't even like Harry Potter all that much. I was just looking for something to do with a little kid on a Friday night. To participate in some hype and see a spectacle. This is the closest I can get to an all-night party these days and it was right about my speed.
June 20, 2003
Don't think of a pink elephant
Dave and I saw the Blue Man Group for his birthday in May. I meant to post about it then, but you know how those things can get away from you. Before we went, I had the idea that a Blue Man Group show would be a clever rock concert. I had no idea how much comedy would be involved -- or upper GI endoscopies. But that's all I'll say about that. I think you need to go into the show for the first time without knowing exactly what to expect. Fear adds to the experience.
For some reason, and this has never happened to me before, I had to pee really badly during the show. Notice the bold typeface. That's my way of saying "so badly that I was about to cry, so badly that I could only focus on that one idea, so badly that I was actually missing the show while staring right at it."
But Blue Man Group is not a show that you can nonchalantly mosey out of for a number of reasons:
1. They will heckle you. Not the audience, the performers. Three blue men will stop whatever they are doing and silently stare at you as you leave the theater. They may accost you. They may not. You have to take the chance.
2. The theater is small. Far be it from me, Mrs. 400-Square-Foot Apartment for Three, to complain. But it was tiny. When you got up, you were in everyone's way and you practically had to climb over laps to get out of the row.
3. We were smack in the middle of the row. I actually counted seats to see which would be the least intrusive exit and even though right had one more person than left, it was Dave, who doesn't count. Plus, right was farther away from the stage where the freaky blue guys were.
4. Once you navigate out, get to the bathroom and get back upstairs, you somehow have to climb back over the ticked off people without attracting Blue Man attention.
I managed to slip out when the lights went down for a filmstrip on fractals. I got back, much relieved, and snuck back in as the Blue Men were doing some kind of shaving cream thing. I felt awful because I detest people who interrupt a performance for a bathroom break. I've never had to before in my life. Must have been the sake at dinner.
Final word: See the Blue Man Group, skip the sake.
Bumper Sticker Worthy
I came up with this last night. If you use this for a T-Shirt or bumper sticker and don't pay me, I will hunt you down.
"There is a HUGE difference between christian rock, and people who rock... that are christian."
June 19, 2003
Winner in the category of...
Too much information is:
I have a policy that I can't catch a flick with anyone over 136lbs.
Sorry guy -- you almost had a date!
June 18, 2003
And stone people who tape Friends too...
-- Senator Orrin Hatch speaking about those who download mp3 files online.
Oooh, good idea Orrin! And then.. and then.. if they don't stop downloading pirated Moody Blues songs off the Internet, we can send the National Guard to people's houses and SHOOT THEM IN THE HEAD! Yeah! Sweet!
June 17, 2003
I'm in first place!!
Hume Cronyn dies and I am in first place! Okay, so it is a little morbid, but he was going to die anyhow right? I am in first place at The Great Below with my team Six Feet Under. With only one month of game time left I am ahead of the second place team by nine points and the third place team by 29!
June 15, 2003
Fathers Day
The day is winding down and Trevor is tucked in bed, probably playing with some contraband toys or reading books under the covers. :) I had a great Fathers Day today. Tara and Trevor made me breakfast, got me some Dunkin Donuts coffee, let me play video games and game me some wicked cool presents. They picked up at Newbury comics the new Metallica CD "St. Anger", some Spider-Man comics and a new CD case for me. Perfect.
This evening we grilled some burgers and hung out all together. Tara, thanks for a really nice day. You are the best. :)
June 13, 2003
And so it begins...
Cracks found in Three Gorges Dam
I give it two years — three tops. I'm stocking up on popcorn and saving a couple of vacation days so I can stay home and watch CNN when this thing collapses and drowns half of China.
Join the fight!
Over the last few months I have been participating in a really interesting project called The Grid. This program, partially sponsored by IBM helps the general population assist in scientific research by using collaborative computing to process the data collected during research.
The download is small, it can be set to run in your systray, and/or as a screensaver when you are not using the computer and it does not require you to be online all the time to work. It downloads a small file each time you connect and uses the basic math processes of your computer to analyze research data.
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Here is some info from their site:
Grid.org is a single destination site for large-scale research projects powered by the United Devices Grid MP Global. From the Cancer Research Project sponsored by Intel and the University of Oxford to the Anthrax Research Project sponsored by Intel and Microsoft, the Grid MP Global @ grid.org has been put to use for research and analysis projects of groundbreaking scope. With the participation of over 2 million devices worldwide, grid.org projects driven by the Grid MP Global have achieved record levels of speed and success in processing data.
How it works
The Grid MP Global @ grid.org is a virtual supercomputer that can be harnessed to power computational research and analysis projects on a massive scale. By combining millions of online CPUs worldwide to work on extremely large computational projects, problems can be solved more quickly and less expensively than by conventional methods. Now any networked computer can help fuel research and projects that previously may have required a bank of supercomputers or a hundred years to complete.
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All that said, this is what I am hitting you up for. I want you to join my team. Our team is called DarkSide and if we get a decent amount of interest going on this and a nice group going, I'll setup a spot on the site here that will show our stats going forward.
By joining a team we can all coordinate our computing efforts and complete projects much faster. As we complete research and log more time on the system we earn points, and compete with other teams. From time to time The Grid will award prizes to teams based on performance.
If you join the team, email me and let me know.
Mega Bloks Debacle
I spent almost three hours last night trying to build a 10-inch tall Anubis out of Mega Bloks. It's this set:
Mega Bloks Jackal
(click the picture to enlarge it)
Why would I do this, you ask? Because such is the life of Mommy. Mega Bloks are the cheap trailer trash cousins of Legos. A set of 400 Legos costs around $70.00. I found this 330-piece set of Mega Blocks for $9.99. But you really do get what you pay for.
Whereas Legos snap together with a satisfying click, Mega Bloks need to be coerced into coming within a foot of each other. As if they are observing restraining orders against other Mega Bloks. Kind of frustrating when the entire point of the toy is connecting and reconnecting them.
Trevor and I are the perfect Lego team. He dislikes putting the sets together and I dislike playing with them. I'm usually in charge of primary construction -- letting him add a piece here and there -- and he takes over once they are finished. Last night, I allowed him to stay up until the jackal and scorpion were complete, which pushed bedtime back to 11:00.
Three of the Mega Bloks were so badly manufactured that they refused to connect with anything but the other mangled two. It was like a little menagerie of loose-tolerance injection molding rejects. One of the three was critical to Anubis' left thigh, so I had to set him up on the table and bang at it until the piece seated correctly.
The instructions (wordless, as most construction sets are) were rendered in such a confusing manner that the jackal's left leg ended up half an inch shorter than the right one. I managed to convince Trevor that this was an honorable battle wound and the limp meant Anubis was a seasoned warrior.
My emotionally-scarring Mega Bloks experience led to a new mandate. "DO NOT MIX THE LEGOS WITH THE MEGA BLOKS!" As if, somehow, the interbreeding between the two would dilute the genetically-pure Lego master race.
June 12, 2003
Yankees
I believe that the appropriate stement here is "Holy Cow".
"The New York Yankees were no-hit for the first time in 45 years on Wednesday. And it took a record six Astros to do it. In the biggest combined no-hitter in baseball history, Houston became the first to hold the Yankees hitless since Hoyt Wilhelm in 1958 -- ending a record span of 6,980 games. "
June 10, 2003
ARKive.org
I am such a dork.
Ok, now that we have all recognized this, I need to tell you about this awesome site that I found this morning in the Boston Metro.
ARKive is a...
ARKive is a not-for-profit initiative of The Wildscreen Trust (www.wildscreen.org.uk).It is the Noah's Ark for the Internet era - the world's centralised digital library of films, photographs and associated recordings of species, accessible to all via the world wide web.
ARKive is leading the virtual conservation effort - finding, sorting, cataloguing and copying the key records of species, and building them into a comprehensive and enduring audio-visual record.
For each species, we are selecting and digitising an average of 10 minutes of moving footage, 6 - 10 stills and sound recordings (where appropriate), to compile a complete profile of the species' characteristic behaviour and appearance.
So basically they catalog images, sounds and information about animals. plants, fungi, etc that are either on an endangered species list or are extinct. What a great idea! How else are we supposed to learn about our past than to catalog it for all time. Fascinating site.
They also have an area of the site that is geared towards kids called Planet ARKive including games, projects and educational material for school aged children.
While moving aorund through the site I found myself drawn toward the amphibians section (I love frogs) and I found a fascinating section about the Conondale gastric-brooding frog. This Australian frog (now thought to be extinct but not yet certified by an ARKive expert scientist) get it's name because it shuts down it's entire gastric process for 6-7 weeks while it's young develop in the mothers stomach. She swallows the fertilized eggs and holds them there until the baby frogs have reached their final stage of metamorphosis at which point they are expelled. Unfortunately scientists believe that had they been given the opportunity to study these small miracles they might have been able provide significant benefits to people who suffer from gastric ulcers. Awesome stuff.
June 9, 2003
Helicopter Pilots needed..
I can't figure out why it seems that at least once a week over the last few months we keep hearing about US troops in the middle east crashing a helicoper. Are we that inept in flying these crafts that we can't keep them in the air? Is the equiptment outdated? And why is the media not latching onto this and making a bid to-do of it?
If there were two plane crashes within a month or so of each other and the planes were similar in any way there would be a major investigation.
Anyway, here is a link to a Google search on this subject:
Google Search: "helicopter crash"
Stinking Military.
Why Georgie, why?
For what reason did they feel that we needed to be lied to? Given the current controvery over whether or not these weapons actually exist, what would the United State residents do if we were posed with the option of going to war today?
If this all ends up being about oil (which I already know it is) I will be sorely dissapointed in the United States.
Missing Weapons Of Mass Destruction
Here are some of the statements that Bush actually made about the WMD. This info is for all the people who may try to come back and defend his actions and the need for war.
"Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons."United Nations Address
September 12, 2002"Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons."
"We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have."
Radio Address
October 5, 2002"The Iraqi regime . . . possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons."
"We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas."
"We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States."
"The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his "nuclear mujahideen" - his nuclear holy warriors. Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at sites that have been part of its nuclear program in the past. Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons."
Cincinnati, Ohio Speech
October 7, 2002"Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent."
State of the Union Address
January 28, 2003"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."
Address to the Nation
March 17, 2003
If only for the loss of American lives, was any of it worth it? Is Iraq a better place today than it was 6 months ago? I also need to chastize the media for letting themselves be added to the Bush team in all of this. He used all of you to keep the American sentiment behind him in this regard. In the first oil war, with the first Bush in office his positive end result was almost 100% a function of the media coverage given to it, and they knew that going into this conflict. We were all played.
June 6, 2003
That Gutsy Gelding
It makes me sad that a horse has a better Web site than I do. He even has a shop full of self-promotional merchandise. The only thing missing is the life-size Funny Cide detachable...
"Look Ma! I'm Funny Cide before and after!"
June 5, 2003
Sosa's Amazing Bats
This article details how they searched all 76 bats in Sammy Sosa's locker and they all were determined legal. My question is....how the heck does he fit 76 BATS in his locker?
Capital News 9 | 24 Hour Local News | SPORTS | Sosa's bats come up clean
June 3, 2003
Requiem for a Boot
I'm over the Requiem for a Dream debacle and I've moved on to Das Boot. No, hang on a minute. I have to revisit Requiem one more time. I really liked it, but I was unprepared for the intensity of the ending. I felt more physically ill at the end of Requiem than after any of the Faces of Death films. Requiem is an incredible study in taking the pursuit of one thing to it's most extreme conclusion. The character's actions were logical and insane at the same time. This was a well-made film and I liked it. But it's still not a date movie.
Now Das Boot was equally disturbing subject matter treated in a less disturbing way. My dislike for war movies in general comes from a (perhaps ill-founded?) belief that they are all about gung-ho, back-patting heroics. The stuff of Rambo movies. I prefer to take a look at the details... the human effects of war. I want to feel the claustrophobia of submarine life and the stickiness of being in a hot metal can for months. I wonder what men did to occupy themselves when day dragged on and how they acted when life and death choices had to be made in seconds. Explosions are fun, but the human experience is the meat and potatoes that I crave in a war movie. Das Boot focused on details and not great roaring gun battles in the Atlantic.
Somehow I ended up with the director's cut which clocked in at just around three and a half hours. I've never seen the original version, so I can't speak for added scenes, but I will say that for a film made in 1981, the digital remastering kept it from looking like those grainy Sunday afternoon versions of Star Wars you see on TNT.
I switched between dubbed and subtitled versions because the English dubbing was quite well done. About halfway through I stuck with subtitles because the original German just sounded way too cool to miss. My only complaint was that it was hard telling all of those bearded Germans apart in the shady darkness of the sub.
Happy Tree Friends
Oh my. If you followed our links in the past and found Strong Bad and his friends funny, then I think you will enjoy this as well.
Solid animation. Funny material. Cute fuzzy animals. Guts & Gore.
Send the kiddies out of the room while watching these cuddly cartoons.