Preaching to the choir

I'm probably preaching to the choir, because you've all already seen these.

And you know about the power of love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q2R7O-0WRo
(thanks to 'song)

And you are already registered, and you will vote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UaRXvRwhOk
(thanks to vibrantabyss)

Right?

Preaching to the choir

I'm probably preaching to the choir, because you've all already seen these.

And you know about the power of love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q2R7O-0WRo
(thanks to 'song)

And you are already registered, and you will vote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UaRXvRwhOk
(thanks to vibrantabyss)

Right?

The days, they are amazing

I'm blessed with an employer who gives me lots of days off and doesn't mind when I actually use them. So yesterday I took a day off to be with the wifey.

We had meant to go walking once we got the kids safely off to school, but the rain put the kibosh on that plan. So we, um, had some indoor exercise.

We went to the Border Cafe near the mall. I was expecting standard mediocre large-chain Tex-Mex; this was a significant cut above. For one thing, they're got a lot of Cajun influence and that's good. (mm, crawfish enchiladas) For another, they're getting more serious about food quality including using only fresh fish and meats, and making more things like the guacamole and tortillas themselves, more or less when they're ordered.

Then we went to see Burn After Reading, the latest Coen brothers' film. As you'd expect from such a film it's hilarious and dark and bloody. Pretty much everyone in it gives a good performance. My sole problem with the movie is that every one of the characters is horrid. I mean, really, there's just nobody to sympathize with, even a little. And, like just about every other Coens' film I've seen (Hudsucker, Fargo, and O Brother being the ones I can recall now) I ended up sad and down at the end. I should know better, really, but I keep hoping for another Raising Arizona or something. It's a good film, don't get me wrong, but it's not a mood-lifter.

Today has been quite the day as well, even though it's only half over. Tryoing to balance the fact that our production system went kablooie (that's a technical term) three times this AM against the fact that the company brought in a catering company to do lunch for us and I'm now STUFFED with amazing lobster bisque and baked chicken... erm, I'm somewhat at a loss for how to feel today.

Tonight I get to see the g/f at least for a while, and go to a school technology thing. And maybe watch the veep debate.

The days, they are amazing

I'm blessed with an employer who gives me lots of days off and doesn't mind when I actually use them. So yesterday I took a day off to be with the wifey.

We had meant to go walking once we got the kids safely off to school, but the rain put the kibosh on that plan. So we, um, had some indoor exercise.

We went to the Border Cafe near the mall. I was expecting standard mediocre large-chain Tex-Mex; this was a significant cut above. For one thing, they're got a lot of Cajun influence and that's good. (mm, crawfish enchiladas) For another, they're getting more serious about food quality including using only fresh fish and meats, and making more things like the guacamole and tortillas themselves, more or less when they're ordered.

Then we went to see Burn After Reading, the latest Coen brothers' film. As you'd expect from such a film it's hilarious and dark and bloody. Pretty much everyone in it gives a good performance. My sole problem with the movie is that every one of the characters is horrid. I mean, really, there's just nobody to sympathize with, even a little. And, like just about every other Coens' film I've seen (Hudsucker, Fargo, and O Brother being the ones I can recall now) I ended up sad and down at the end. I should know better, really, but I keep hoping for another Raising Arizona or something. It's a good film, don't get me wrong, but it's not a mood-lifter.

Today has been quite the day as well, even though it's only half over. Tryoing to balance the fact that our production system went kablooie (that's a technical term) three times this AM against the fact that the company brought in a catering company to do lunch for us and I'm now STUFFED with amazing lobster bisque and baked chicken... erm, I'm somewhat at a loss for how to feel today.

Tonight I get to see the g/f at least for a while, and go to a school technology thing. And maybe watch the veep debate.

A Supreme Court case

As was demonstrated in an interview with Katie Couric, Sarah Palin is unable to name any Supreme Court Case other than Roe v. Wade.

The Rules: Post info about ONE Supreme Court decision, modern or historic, to your lj. (Any decision, as long as it's not Roe v. Wade.) For those who see this on your f-list, take the meme to your OWN lj to spread the fun.

My choice: Sony Corp. of Amer. v. Universal City Studios, Inc 464 U.S. 417 (1984)

This is somewhat more popularly known as "The Betamax case." Sony, makers of Betamax home video recorders, were found free to manufacture and sell machines that permitted consumers to make private home recordings of copyrighted material that had been broadcast over the airwaves.

Again put more simply: VCRs, and ultimately their descendants, were ruled to be legal and further it was found that the rights of the owners of the material you and I record cannot be used to prevent us making private copies, time-shifting our viewing, and even re-showing these recordings in the privacy of our homes to people who did not see the original broadcast.

These rights aren't earth-shaking, nor on the order of the rights to marry people of different skin colors, to use birth control, to have babies when and how one chooses, and so on. But the rights established in Sony v Universal have affected techno-social development for the last quarter decade in profound ways we're only beginning to understand.

A Supreme Court case

As was demonstrated in an interview with Katie Couric, Sarah Palin is unable to name any Supreme Court Case other than Roe v. Wade.

The Rules: Post info about ONE Supreme Court decision, modern or historic, to your lj. (Any decision, as long as it's not Roe v. Wade.) For those who see this on your f-list, take the meme to your OWN lj to spread the fun.

My choice: Sony Corp. of Amer. v. Universal City Studios, Inc 464 U.S. 417 (1984)

This is somewhat more popularly known as "The Betamax case." Sony, makers of Betamax home video recorders, were found free to manufacture and sell machines that permitted consumers to make private home recordings of copyrighted material that had been broadcast over the airwaves.

Again put more simply: VCRs, and ultimately their descendants, were ruled to be legal and further it was found that the rights of the owners of the material you and I record cannot be used to prevent us making private copies, time-shifting our viewing, and even re-showing these recordings in the privacy of our homes to people who did not see the original broadcast.

These rights aren't earth-shaking, nor on the order of the rights to marry people of different skin colors, to use birth control, to have babies when and how one chooses, and so on. But the rights established in Sony v Universal have affected techno-social development for the last quarter decade in profound ways we're only beginning to understand.