Hockey

I’m glad that it’s hockey season. I watched the Hurricanes game tonight (DVRs are a wonderful invention) and was a happy man. Even with the shootout loss, it was an enjoyable evening. Now if only the games were always in HD.

Hubris

I’m hesitant to get too worked up over political matters. After 2004 I was hurt, angry, and generally unhappy with life. I don’t want to go back to that, but I can’t fully ignore the issues of the day.

A posting on Slashdot led to a video of the Charlie Rose show. In the second segment, the authors of a new book titled Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War discuss some scenes from the book. Their comments just reinforce statements from others. The Bush administration ignored dissenting interpretations of intelligence data. Once it was clear that their were not any WMD, the adminstration was neither surprised nor concerned. Bush was just out the get Saddam and that was done. Anything else was inconsequential.

Late night

We went to see our friend Leah’s band last night (technically it was this morning, yawn). Jam Pain Society was headlining at the Lincoln Theatre. Excellent show at a cozy venue and an interesting mix of people in the crowd. Here are some photos.

On the down side, I didn’t get to bed until 3:00 AM and the phone rang at 7:30. The security alarm at the office went off and I had to go in and confirm it was nothing, which it was. So now I feel like I’m jet lagged. It’s good to be 44.

It’s still September, isn’t it?

I went to the Target at lunch today to pick up a few things we needed. Naturally they were scattered all over the store, so I ran across the halloween costumes and decorations. That’s fine. I expect them to be there. It’s fall. It’s two days from October. I should see halloween stuff.

What I shouldn’t see is Christmas stuff. That’s right Christmas. All along the back wall, at least 30 feet, every shelf, all stocked full. Fresh and new in green and red packages. Lights, tree stands, garland, all the standard stuff. ON SEPTEMBER 29TH! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

This is just wrong on so many levels. I haven’t been to this particular Targer in a while. They might have started stocking the shelves weeks ago. Even if they did it all last night, it’s wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. It’s too much for me to dedicate a whole month to a single holiday. Now it’s three months? Please make it stop.

Digital SLR

I had delayed buying a digital SLR until recently. I had to wait for the price/performance curve to get within site of my disposable cash. That finally happened when I found a factory refurbished Nikon D50 at Overstock.com.

The best thing about a DSLR is the instant feedback. You can quickly learn what effect each adjustment has on the image, decide what you like, and get the desired shot with limited guesswork. When shooting film, you had to log each shot and hope for the best. If it was print film, then the printing process was a key variable that for which you had no data.

If you’ve been on the fence, jump off. Buy a digital SLR and don’t look back.

Two beer rant #1

The story here discusses Senate hearings where recently retired officers stated the obvious. The only rebuttal from other officers was that you shouldn’t “publicly criticize U.S. civilian leadership during war.” That’s crap. At least in this type of war that doesn’t have a defined end point.

I agree that this hearing is primarily an election year stunt, but so what. That doesn’t invalidate the content.

Old friends

A couple of weeks ago I decided to track down an old friend from college that I hadn’t seen in ten years. Thanks to Google, I was successful and it’s great to be back in contact. Today I was on the receiving end when I got an email from another college friend. Maybe this is the beginning of a big reunion?