There is a god. His name is Thor. Jack Kirby is his prophet.


A Violently Executed Feed


BUY SOME STUFF, MAKE ME HAPPY

Contact me.

Links and stuff

Handshake Bloggers
1 Boring Old Man
Adventures with Lady Cutie Troublemaker
But what I really want to do is direct
eclexys
From Here to Obscurity
ill-sorted ephemera
Literate Perversions
martinimade
Smoooochie Says II
The Electric Smack Shack
The Stream of Consciousness Has Its Headwaters In My Mouth
What the Hell am I doing here?

Online Acquaintances
Confessions of a Cheese Grits Fiend
Green Boogers
Just one more thing....
Too Much Information
Weird is Relative
Words, Weights, Whatever
Yammerings from a grumpy black chick

Other Blogs of Interest
Ken's Journal
Making Light
Pharyngula

Damn Good Music
Beau Hall
Maggie Osterberg
Megan Lynch
The Late Joys
The Casting Couch

Frickin' Hilarious Webcomics
Breakfast of the Gods
Sluggy Freelance
PVP Online
Schlock Mercenary
Irregular Webcomic
Order of the Stick
Something Positive
Ctrl+Alt+Del
Girl Genius

Other coolness
Adrienne's Shaken and Stirred
Steve Jackson Games




Archives
03/01/2003 - 04/01/2003 04/01/2003 - 05/01/2003 05/01/2003 - 06/01/2003 06/01/2003 - 07/01/2003 07/01/2003 - 08/01/2003 08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003 09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003 10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005 06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005 09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005 10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006 05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006 07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006 09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006 10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006 11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006 12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007 01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007 02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007 03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007 04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007 06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007 07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007 08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007 09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007 10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007 11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007 12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008 01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008 02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008 03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008 04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008 05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008 06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008 07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008 08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008 09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008 10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008 11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008 12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009 01/01/2009 - 02/01/2009 02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009 03/01/2009 - 04/01/2009 04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009 05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009 06/01/2009 - 07/01/2009 07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009 08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009 09/01/2009 - 10/01/2009 10/01/2009 - 11/01/2009 12/01/2009 - 01/01/2010

 
Good.

Fred Phelps hit with $11 million in damages for being a bastard.

Occasionally, I still see things in the news that make me smile. This is one of them.

Now, if we could only get Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush and the rest of the frog-marched to the World Court for war crimes trials....
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 6:19:00 PM

 
A Date!

Melissa and I found a babysitter, so we had a date last night! We went to Vin Bistro, which has a great schtick: the chef is a certified, experienced sommelier, and finds the best wine pairing for each course on the menu.

The food's fan-fucking-tastic, too.

We started out with Breadless Crab-Shrimp Cake Napoleon, with fennel-sweet onion slaw and citrus marmalade syrup, which was paired with Tangent Ecclestone 2005, which was light and a tiny bit tart.

I had a Wilted Baby Spinach Salad, with chardonnay-poached egg and a cane syrup viniagrette, while Melissa had the Caesar Madrid, which had a spoon bread crouton and a smoked parprika-white anchovy caesar dressing.

The main course for Melissa was Iron Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Ricotta Salata Croquettes, paired with a glass of Zaca Mesa Vionier 2005. I opted for Hickory Smoked Wild Boar, served on a Sweet Potato-Roasted Garlic Puree, Prosciutto Confited Apples and Butterscotch Au Jus. The recommended pairing for that was about $70 a bottle, so I opted for a glass of a very robust cabernet recommended by the chef as an alternate pairing.

Dessert was a Flourless Chocolate Torte for Melissa and a glass of Prager Petite Syrah Port, and I had the Berry Cobbler Parfait with a little Electra Orange Muscat.

The portions were good - big enough to be filling, not so big that you're bloated and stuffed after you eat. The service was impeccable, I found I could trust the waiter's recommendations without reservation.

Next time, we're booking 48 hours in advance and try the Bon Vivant dinner - their executive chef will discuss your food preferences with you and create a custom menu, prepare each course himself and present and describe them in detail at the table. That's over $100 per person with wine, but OMFG it would be worth it.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:04:00 AM

 
Home Again, Home Again

Got in around 8PM last night, to find that American Airlines had lost my luggage. The woman at Lost Luggage tried to suggest that the loss was Indian Airlines' fault, which I slapped down pretty fast - as I'd hand carried the luggage through Customs and put it on the American conveyor belt myself, it was pretty damn obvious where the problem was. The luggage just got delivered to the door, the kids are thrilled with their gifts.

I'd intended to post from the Frankfurt airport, but as the following notes show, that wasn't possible:

Ah, Germany. Let's set aside right now those notions of Teutonic efficiency. As near as I can tell, we can set aside the rumors of beer as well. Right here, right now, in the Frankfurt airport, I have the following:

(1) People with accents bellowing at me to get in line, then herding all of us into a long, featureless hallway.
(2) Uncomfortable furniture (of which there is not enough).

Here's what I do not have:

(1) Wifi.
(2) Cell phone service - I mean, for chrissakes, I got cell phone service when I was standing by a river in Sriragnapatnam, India, so WTF is up with no service in the middle of goddamn Europe?
(3) A place to sit down, grab a bite to eat or have a beer. Not even a newsstand or bookseller.

Nothing. Just a long, drafty "waiting area" with a few plastic chairs along the wall.

Idunno, it seems to me that a bunch of people just off an 8-hour flight, jetlagged, would be a perfect audience for people wanting to sell things. Heathrow has that. So does George Fucking Bush May-He-Burn-In-Hell International Airport. Seems to me the Germans are falling down on the job here.

I bet the airports are better in Italy and France. They know what people need - hot food, espresso, maybe a little alcohol and new books for the second leg of whatever long-ass flight they're currently suffering through.

It might be better outside the airport, but so far, Germany's not exactly enthralling me. I mean, if the airport's this sucky, why should I think the rest of the country's any nicer?

And maybe I'm being too judgemental - after all, I wouldn't want people to judge the States by O'Hare - but even in O'Fucking'Hare you can get a goddamn beer.

I'm still jetlagged as hell, but I'm taking the day off work tomorrow to catch up on sleep.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:58:00 PM

 
Homeward Bound

In about 22 hours, I should be getting on board a plane to start my journey back home. I'll have a few hours layover overnight in Mumbai, then it's back in a plane to Frankfurt, Chicago and change to another plane to get to Austin.

It's been a good trip, but tiring. I'm ready to be home with Melissa and the kids, plus my latest batch of beer is all ready to drink and those poor lost beers need me home drinking them.

Once I get home, I'll be posting pictures and more details following my jetlag recovery period.

Unless I can get wifi in Frankfurt or Chicago, this'll be my last post before I get home.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 8:54:00 AM

 
One Week Down, One To Go

Back in the office after a busy weekend - Saturday was spent shopping for gifts in downtown Bangalore. I got most of what I was after, but there's a few more things to get. I'll try again later this week. Sunday, I went with a couple of managers up to Mysore, where I saw the main campus of the outsourcing company I'm visiting. It's a very nice campus - they have very progressive ideas about building loyalty and providing nonmonetary compensation to their employees. US companies need to pay attention. I also waded in the Kaveri river, near Sriragnapatnam, at the meeting of 3 rivers. I toured Mysore Palace and prayed in a temple of Vishnu. Then, on the way home, there was beer. Kingfisher Lager isn't bad - better than Budweiser, not as good as Shiner.

This week will be full of training, but I leave on Friday and touch ground in Austin on Saturday night. It'll be good to get home.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 12:08:00 AM

 
What Day Is It?

No, seriously! I'm completely jetlagged, and I'll be pulling 14 hour shifts until tomorrow to get the first, most intensive part of the training done. After Wednesday, my schedule will switch to something more manageable.

For those wondering, I spent 37 hours traveling between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning.

Things I noticed while traveling:
(1) Air India has excellent meals, and the beer is free.
(2) American Airlines sucks.
(3) Chicago O'Hare sucks harder.
(4) Bollywood flicks are fun, even without subtitles.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 3:22:00 AM

 
Hello, Goodbye

About to board my flight for the first leg of my trip to India. Chicago, London, Delhi, Mumbai and finally Bangalore.

I'll try to post from Chicago or London, but if I don't get webbified there, I'll post when I hit my hotel room in India.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 3:17:00 PM

 
From The Department Of WTFF??!!!

Michael Medved, the Right's Coprophage in Hollywood, THINKS SLAVERY WASN'T SO BAD.

Really - check the URL! We're not talking about some clever satire, though when you read it, you'll wish it was. It's Michael Medved, who "reviews" movies in much the same way monkeys make art - if by "make art" you mean "fling moist heaps of their own feces at a wall and emit ear-splitting screeches".

Here are his basic points, though some of his reasoning needs to be read before you believe someone that toilet-sucking stupid is allowed anywhere near anything sharper than one of those jumbo toddler-size crayons:

1. Slavery was an ancient and universal institution, not a distinctively American innovation.

2. Slavery existed only briefly, and in limited locales, in the history of the republic - involving only a tiny percentage of the ancestors of today’s Americans.

3. Though brutal, slavery wasn’t genocidal: live slaves were valuable but dead captives brought no profit.

4. It’s not true that the U.S. became a wealthy nation through the abuse of slave labor: the most prosperous states in the country were those that first freed their slaves.

5. While America deserves no unique blame for the existence of slavery, the United States merits special credit for its rapid abolition.

6. There is no reason to believe that today’s African Americans would be better off if their ancestors had remained behind in Africa.

Go ahead, let it all out - scream all you want.

Let's look at these one by one, shall we?

(1) Yes, slavery has been present in almost every culture at some point or another. So what? Cannibalism is certainly not unique in human history, so why be so down on poor Jeffrey Dahmer? It used to be legal for your grandfather to beat his wife and children - doesn't mean you should, and it doesn't make what your grandfather did right. Medved's engaging in situational ethics here - something I thought our mighty Cultural Warriors frowned upon.

(2) Yes, slavery was only around for almost the first hundred years of our nation's history - only about 35%, and that percentage is getting smaller every year! Yeesh. I wonder if Medved went to school to be this blindingly stupid, or if he's a natural. Millions of slaves were specified in the Constitution as being worth only 3/5 of a "real" person. Slavery was here before we were a country, and it was important enough to the Founding Fathers that they made it part of the Supreme Law of the Land. Gun ownership and free speech were less important to them than slavery.

(3) Slavery =/= genocide. No sane or reputable person claims it is, so there's no need for Medved to pull out this straw man. That said, the impact of slavery on Africa is well-documented, and it wasn't good. Entire tribes were captured and sold into slavery, other tribes were given goods and weapons for facilitating the slave trade, creating entire economies dependent upon capturing and selling slaves. Shipowners made careful calculations of how many slaves they could cram in their holds in order to be sure enough lived to be sold at their destination. They tried to keep as many as possible alive, not out of a feeling of goodwill for their fellow human beings, but because they wanted to be able to sell them for money.

(4) Umm, what? Northern shipping companies, railroads and mills made fortunes shipping and processing cotton. Those thrify Yankee captains built up the "triangle trade" - fish and lumber and luxuries from New England went to the West Indies, where they were traded for sugar, rum and molasses. The rum, in turn, along with some guns and gunpowder, were traded in Africa for slaves. The slaves were then traded in the West Indies for more sugar, which was then sold at a huge markup. The goddamn White House and Capital in Washington Motherfucking DC were built by slaves.

(5) The United Kingdom abolished slavery in 1833. France did the same in 1794 and, after Napoleon reestablished it in 1802, again in 1848. The US did so in 1865, only after over 60 years of efforts by US government officials to block even discussion of abolition in the South, and only after four years of war in which hundreds of thousands of Americans were killed. After the Civil War, the twisted legacy of slavery still haunted America - and does to this day. The US doesn't get points for coming to the game late - yeah, lots of countries abolished slavery after us, but you don't get to claim to be a "leader" just because you're not last.

(6) This is the one that takes the cake. The thing is, no one knows, because we can't know. That's not the way history went. We can calculate the millions that were ripped form their homelands, crammed into stinking holds, died and were thrown overboard. We can number the millions that were bought and sold like cattle, separated from their mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, children, whipped and beaten and forced to labor for someone else's profit. We can look back at that and say, "We could have done better. We should have done better." We can learn from that, or we can do like Medved and get all Panglossian - this is the best of all possible nations, after all, and it's impossible for it to ever be any better.

Medved is regarded as a big thinker on the right, probably because he can string more than a couple of sentences together before he starts shrieking about the evil gays/liberals/abortionists/dark-skinned people/whatever.

And you know what? I want Medved to prove to me that the Jews would be one bit better off today if they'd never been enslaved by the Egyptians, or hauled off to Babylon, or scattered by the Romans, or persecuted by the Catholic church, or cremated in the ovens at Dachau. I bet he can't.
posted by Adam C. Lipscomb at 9:54:00 AM