NPO until AMA

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2009-06-30T04:08:11Z

2005 Ford Focus Wagon
- I love driving it
- I've become a station wagon partisan
- I hope it will be a long lasting car
- Putting a tandem rack on top will be expensive
Speaking of the tandem
- It's in the shop with brake problems
- Getting a tune-up too
- We'll probably get a new stoker handlebar
I'm re-reading the Baroque Cycle
- It makes more sense the second time around
- Not all irony is comic
- Spoilers are no fun
- Is it more entertaining than LOTR?
- Government in those days was stupid
  - Divine right of kings?
  - Choosing leaders by inbreeding rather than elections?
  - Carlos the Sufferer?
    - Seriously, look at his family "tree"

The word of the day is Focus

2009-06-20T01:38:37Z

We got a new (used) car today. A 2005 Ford Focus Station Wagon. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I managed to total the Sonata in an 8mph fender bender.

We settled on the Focus because it is surprisingly comfortable for someone 6'4". The seat scoots all the way back, it has a telescoping steering wheel, adjustable seat height, and my knees don't hit the console. We got the station wagon because we're in Portland, and if don't have roof racks full of bikes, snowboards, and kayaks, you're doing it wrong. We think we're going to be able to do a lot of adventures on the tandem once we can get it mounted on the car.

The color is white, we may have pictures up soon.

Starlight Parade Photos

2009-06-01T06:12:11Z

I've posted some photos from the Starlight Parade to Flickr. I'm sorry that the quality is so low, but they were taken on my phone. But at least it gives an idea of some of the things we saw.

Starlight Flickr Set!

Lost: The Island Power Play

2009-05-15T13:25:45Z

My thoughts on the season finale:

With the introduction of Jacob, and his subsequent killing, the show has taken a twist into American Gods territory. In the intro, we are introduced to Jacob as the "good" god, and a second "trickster god" who wants to kill him. But this is against "the rules." (From the Wikipedia entry: The trickster deity breaks the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously (for example, Loki) but usually, albeit unintentionally, with ultimately positive effects.) Because of some rule we don't know the details of, this trickster can't kill Jacob.

So Locke is actually dead. The person that persuaded Ben to kill Jacob is actually the trickster in Locke's form. I can only assume that EVERY dead person on the island is the trickster. This includes Ben's daughter, who conveniently told him to obey Locke. This includes Christian Shepard, who told Locke to leave the island. I would go so far as to suggest that the trickster and the smoke monster are the same thing! They often show up together, and the monster is usually involved in memories of the dead.

So Smokey has made his power play, and is now the dominant god of the island. What does that now mean? I guess we have to wait until 2010 to find out. I also wonder about Hurley's visions. I don't feel that these are apparitions of the trickster. I think these are something different entirely

What makes us happy?

2009-05-13T17:02:29Z

There is a long, but excellent article in the Atlantic about a study that has followed the physical and psychiatric health of 268 Harvard undergrads from the 1940s to the present. The research, among other things, has tried to define what makes someone happy or successful, or how you would even define that.

It's a fascinating, read and I highly recommend it.

From the article:

In 1946, for example, 34 percent of the Grant Study men who had served in World War II reported having come under enemy fire, and 25 percent said they had killed an enemy. In 1988, the first number climbed to 40 percent—and the second fell to about 14 percent. “As is well known,” Vaillant concluded, “with the passage of years, old wars become more adventurous and less dangerous.”

...

JFK is one of the study subjects, although his data is sealed until 2040.

Of course, Kennedy—the heir to ruthless, ambitious privilege; the philanderer of “Camelot”; the paragon of casual wit and physical vigor who, backstage, suffered from debilitating illness—is no one’s idea of “normal.” And that’s the point. The study began in the spirit of laying lives out on a microscope slide. But it turned out that the lives were too big, too weird, too full of subtleties and contradictions to fit any easy conception of “successful living.”

...

“Their lives were too human for science, too beautiful for numbers, too sad for diagnosis and too immortal for bound journals."

There's also a section on Anna Freud's defense mechanisms, which is an aspect of psychology that I think is the most useful and most overlooked by primary care physicians.

What have you been up to since your last HIV test?

2009-05-13T05:54:13Z

The CDC e-Cards are a blast. Especially the STD ones.

I loved Star Trek

2009-05-12T06:37:49Z

That was a great movie. It surpassed my expectations. Although nowhere near as campy as the original series or Doctor Who, they had just the right amount of goofiness and shameless comedy. It's a hard balance, staying true to the spirit of the original, while making the movie (new continuity?) modern and stand on its own. Somehow, JJ Abrams pulled it off. I felt the tone, visuals, and attitude were perfect.

I loved all the Original Series sendups. Like Kirk's Green Woman. Like Pike ending up in a wheelchair by the end of the movie. Heck, I was excited Pike was even in the movie. I also loved some of the goofy science. "Why aren't we at warp speed?" "We are!"
Although time-travel plots have been a bit overdone in the last few years, I think it was good to start off the re-boot with a time-travel plot. It's now a separate time-line with a new continuity. So they won't need to worry about tip-toeing around old plot points like the previous series. Heck, they could re-visit Kahn!

What I am anxious to see: Star Trek II: The Uhura-Chapel Catfight.

Although I miss the comfortable banter of Kirk, Spock, and Bones the characters didn't really know each other yet. There were little inklings of this, and hopefully their friendship will develop over future movies.

Why we live in Portland

2009-05-11T04:30:49Z

The New York Times has an excellent article on vacationing in Portland

Frugal Portland

From the article:

This joyful stress would begin with the city’s most important meal: breakfast. Despite its laid-back aura, Portland is an early-rising town, and its commuting cyclists need fuel for their morning rides.

...

In its place was a dedication to the things that really matter: hearty food and drink, cultural pursuits both high and low, days in the outdoors and evenings out with friends. It’s the good life, and in Portland it still comes cheap.

...

Today, there are almost 400 carts around Portland, most of them clustered into “pods” that ring parking lots, ... As a New Yorker I was jealous; as the Frugal Traveler, overjoyed at what I could find within a single pod.

The article sums up a lot of what we love about living here. Also, check out the slideshow

13,000 die of influenza

2009-05-01T12:25:16Z

There's been a strange reversal this last week. Every year, I spend considerable effort trying to convince people that influenza is a Big Deal. Some people get shots. A lot of people brush it off, making excuses, questioning the shots' effectiveness, and using that classic fallacy "the shot gave me the flu." Most people don't seem to think that influenza is something worth worrying about

Since January First, an estimated 13,000 Americans have died of regular, garden-variety flu. This was a "light" flu season. Influenza killed thousands this year, it will kill thousands next year. Most of those were elderly, who may have died a year or two before their time. Some of those were children. 83 children died in the 2007-08 season. As a doctor, I have to consider most of those deaths preventable, and look at them as a motivation to work harder on prevention next season.

So far, I feel the CDC and my local health department's reactions have been sensible, level-headed and appropriate. Why have they raised the alarm? It's not because swine influenza is a scary superbug that's worthy of our panic. But the prospect of a second flu season truly is something to be concerned about. Influenza deaths are sadly routine. But by sensibly limiting international travel, closing some schools, and encouraging good hygiene, we may have the opportunity to prevent another 13,000 deaths this year. We may save the lives of 100 children.

We trifled with the Swedes, and they gave us store credit

2009-04-20T01:35:11Z

We went to a Los Campesinos concert last week
- They might be the most enjoyable band on tour right now
  - Although I haven't seen every band in the world
- I love the stage in a band's career where they improve with subsequent shows:
  - Nickel Creek 1999-2003
  - Dresden Dolls 2004-2008
We got a new digital camera
- It is smarter than us
- The zoom is awesome
Spring is here!
- It started rather abruptly
- I hope I don't see another cloud for 6 months!
- I'm working on my ability to climb hills on my bike
Links to funny stuff on the Internet:
- The 15 stupidest game types Wii invented
- Star Wars according to a 3 year old

ETA: We were in line next to the lead singer of Everclear today. They're from Portland. Who knew?

Hooray for Sci-Fi!

2009-04-04T06:10:03Z

Wow! Tonight's Sarah Connor Chronicles was *perfect.* I think I may remember it as one of the best moments in TV science fiction. I'm consistently amazed at how SCC is so much better than anything else in the Terminator universe. They've been methodically building up the story arcs of their two "families," it was gratifying to see them collide so powerfully tonight.

There's so much quality in the dysfunctional family drama that is SCC. I like how all the cast is so emotionally restricted - robots and humans. It leaves no room for cheap use of ACTING TALENT moments. The characters don't get to react, they just have to act. Derek's death was perfect. As the audience, we had no anticipation, no chance to take it in, no chance to mourn. Neither did the characters, they can only do the three things they can ever do, run, hide, or fight. You may get a chance to mourn later, or you may not. We, as the audience, got to mourn in the final scene as he was buried. The Connors never got that luxury.

Savannah telling John Connor about John Henry was some priceless TV. Cameron's "I only want to kill him" quip easily rivals Schwarzenegger's "He'll live" line from T2.

But what I love more than anything... We still don't know who Mrs. Weaver is, or why she came to the past. We still have absolutely what goal she is working toward. She doesn't care a whole lot about the Connors; she's never spent any energy seeking them out. Is she trying to hasten Judgement Day? Is she trying to make Skynet benevolent? Is John Henry's brother Skynet? Is she trying to pre-emptively defeat Skynet with an ethical competitor?
However it turns out, I haven't been so excited about a show since our late, great Battlestar Galactica

In other news, Dushku didn't lie about Dollhouse picking up mid-season. I'm starting to get pretty wrapped up in that show.

In crappy news, did anybody see the American Life on Mars finale? Missy showed me the last 10 minutes. What a load of crap! Did the producers even watch the original British version past the first episode? Apparently Americans
1. Don't understand the original Life on Mars
2. Don't understand the use of metaphor
3. Don't understand Bowie.

Part of me hopes that the finals scene was just a bitter "@$^& you," made by people angry about getting canceled. But I don't really think that's the case.

Police Pants

2009-03-01T16:51:47Z

I exist in a alternate dimension somewhere between "normal-sized human" and "big and tall." My choices are generally to shrink, gain 30 more pounds, or wear ill-fitting pants.

On Consumerst.com's daily deals, they showed these undercover police pants with a free belt for $30 bucks. They have them in my size, they are cheap, they look OK, and they have 8 pockets. That could be useful for holding my phone, pens, or wearing a wire.

If I like them, I will probably order pants in all 3 colors. I just hope nobody thinks I'm a Narc.

Sell SIRI

2009-02-25T06:14:58Z

Last night, I wasted 2 hours of my life on the phone with Sirius. I don't think there's any chance of me buying their stock.

I love the product, but the people running the company seem to have no clue about how to run a company.

I climbed a hill!

2009-02-22T20:13:12Z

Since moving to Oregon, I've had to learn to deal with hills while cycling. Hills were just something we didn't have in Florida. I've finally gotten my road bike in good working condition, and I tackled the hill up Terwilliger Blvd. I got up to 500 feet, with a total climb of 927 feet.

Hill Climb to OHSU

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Buy SIRI?

2009-02-21T17:46:44Z

As I have posted before, Missy and I love our Sirius radio. I've been a subscriber for 5 years and it's my personal favorite way to listen to music. We both agree it is the best way to find out about new new bands and trends.

In 2 weeks, their rates will be going up but we still have a chance to lock in today's rates with a 3-year contract. But Sirius has been on the verge of bankruptcy this month. We had been debating if we should get a 1 year plan, because of the chance the company would go kaput before 3 years.

Well, last week the owners of Direct TV (Liberty Media) bought 40% of the company, saving them from bankruptcy. So I think we're going to go with the 3 year plan. This leads me to the question: should we buy a subscription or stock?

Right now, SIRI is trading at 12.8 cents. If I have so much confidence that they will still be around in 3 years that I would be willing to pay $300 for a subscription, should I also be willing to buy 2500 shares of stock? If it ever got back up to a dollar, I'd make a killing. The stock was at $3 a year ago. Missy also has the suggestion that we could buy a one year subscription, and $200 worth of stock. Any profits could be used as a hedge against any price increases.

I wonder what Sirius needs more? My subscription money, or somebody to buy their stock? Probably the cold, hard cash.

Of course, buying the stock would imply some sort of confidence in the people running the company. I have none. They have 20 million subscribers paying them approximately $2 billion a year in steady cash flow, yet they've never turned a profit. They overpay their talk celebrities like Stern, Oprah, and Martha Stewart. They ignore their music listeners in favor of sports fans, and tend to jerk the music stations around. I believe in the product of Satellite Radio, but I'm still not totally convinced that they won't continue to run it into the ground.

Matty Van Buren!

2009-02-20T04:26:54Z

Today I got three Martin Van Buren dollar coins

I swear, they should stop the presidential series right now! Martin Van Buren should take his place amongst Lincoln, FDR, Washington, and Jefferson. Not because he's that great of a president, but because he looks damn good on a coin!

Worst Day of the Year Bike Ride!!!

2009-02-15T16:32:39Z

I'm about to go totally Portland and take part in the Worst Day of the Year Ride. The weather's perfect!

I'm planning on taking lots of pictures.

Vegas!

2009-02-11T05:29:05Z

I had a 4 day weekend, so we went to Vegas! It's so much fun there. We stayed at the Hilton and had 2 metric tonnes of fun.

A casting disaster!

2009-02-02T05:54:42Z

I never realized that Elisabeth Shue did not play Marty's girlfriend in the first Back to the Future movie.

I'm imagining the casting director said "Oh no! We made an 80's teen movie without Elizabeth Shue! At least we have sequels to correct the problem!"

I slept through the superbowl

2009-02-02T02:51:50Z

Oops. I've been on call all weekend, I had a very long morning, and took a nap after lunch. I forgot about the time difference, and it's the 4th quarter already!

TV Meme

2009-01-30T02:20:34Z

Empire Magazine has revealed its list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows ever, so LJ has a TV meme :)
1. Bold the shows you watch/used to watch.
2. Italic the shows you've seen at least one episode of.
3. Post your answers.

(I added some comments)

50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City
45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
42. Only Food and Horses
41. Band of Brothers
40. Life on Mars (I'm assuming it means the original UK version)
39. Monty Python's Flying Circus (I'm assuming it means the original US version)
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation (Whoever put this ahead of DS9 is just wrong. Shut up)
36. Father Ted
35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood
30. Dexter
29. ER (I watched it for 2 season, about 5 years ago, I can't say I thought it was all that great)
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf
25. Futurama (Not in the top ten?)
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office (If this means the British version, it should be in italics)
22. The Shield
21. Angel
20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park (I stopped watching about 4 years ago. Seriously, better than Futurama?)
16. Doctor Who
15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica (I'm really assuming they don't mean the 70's version)
12. Family Guy (Better than Futurama? It should have stayed dead)
11. Seinfeld
10. Spaced
09. The X-Files (Better than Galactica)
08. The Wire
07. Friends (Every episode I've seen was against my will!)
06. 24
05. Lost
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons

Just a few notable absences that show that the compiler of this list is an idiot who thinks TV was invented in 1975:
I Love Lucy
Twilight Zone
Green Acres

I'm also not really sure why Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is missing.

Cascade Mountain High

2009-01-27T03:40:51Z

This weekend, Missy and I thought Monday would be the perfect day to drive up a mountain. So we did!

Since we've moved here, we have seen Mt. Hood looming in the distance like some amazing thing that doesn't exist in Alabama. There was a light snow on Friday, so everything should be fresh and white. And it was sunny today, so the roads should be OK.

So we left the apartment, took a left on Burnside, and drove in a bee line to the tree line.

I did underestimate how much snow would be on the road going up the final road to the ski lodge, but the Sonata made it with only one episode of slight slippage. If you've seen the opening seen of The Shining, those are the winding roads we went up!

Honestly, I did not know how far up the side of the mountain we were going. The peak was right there! Just 3 miles away. It looked like you could walk to the top, although there was still over 5000 feet of elevation to contend with. The lodge had very stylized rugged architecture.

We didn't do any skiing, but had fun watching the action. We ate a nice dinner in one of the 3 restaurants and enjoyed some sort of whipped-cream, toffee and hot cocoa monstrosity that needed structural support from straws.

When we were done, we just got the car rolling, put it neutral, turned off the engine, and coasted on home. (Not really, Mom)

More reading:
Timberline Lodge
Mount Hood
Government Camp

.

History of the PDA

2009-01-19T19:52:14Z

Here's a cool slideshow on Newsweek showing the evolution of the PDA.

I'm a Palm partisan, I'm pretty excited about the arrival of the Palm Pre. But I am pretty sad to see the original PalmOS go. I love the intro slide, with the hand-drawn mock-up of PalmOS's calendar. My first device was a PalmPilot Pro, and had the same form factor as the Pilot in that picture.

On one hand, the interface is near perfect. On the other hand, the calendar on my Treo looks exactly the same as the device I bought used 11 years ago. I do have to admit it looks fairly ancient next to an iPhone.

Take a look at the Visor-Phone on slide 3. I owned one of those! It was a kludgy piece of crap, but it was still wonderful.

From the article:
Part of its mythology includes Silicon Valley techies holding their Palm Vs aloft at concerts, their incandescent green glow replacing the customary cigarette lighter.

Dude! I've done that at a J,LC show!

Time

2009-01-14T06:01:19Z

For all my life, people said that "time will fly once you're older."
It's finally happened. Since college, it's seemed every year is slower than the last. But now I've been here for 6 months, and time has actually flown.

I think it's because I am in the same place doing the same thing every day (like most people). At all other times in my life, I had classes, semesters and rotations.

Anyway, I am excited about many things this year. We will probably plan to take a trip to the British Isles at some time. My parents will visit us in the spring. The Green and Yellow line will open up 3 blocks away. It's going to get sunny again.

Too many things

2009-01-09T18:33:21Z

I am again in a situation where too much has happened for me to really post about, and most of it is probably boring to most of LJ.

We went back to Alabama for a week. I had 3 birthdays and 3 Christmases.

It's finally sunny again, but flooding. Apparently we are cut off from Seattle.

Today I rode my bike for the first time in over a month.

Missy and I got a fancy Sony bookreader for Christmas.

Actually, here's my short review:

The computer geek part of me LOVES it. The book geek part of me is a bit skeptical. The absent-minded part of me is very afraid of losing it. Technically, it's a beautiful, elegant device. But the software only works in Windows, and we don't have a Windows PC, so I will probably have to use my computer at work to upload. It's full of aggravating SonyStyle DRM nonsense.
Yet, as elegant as it is, it's a replacement for the BOOK. That's very hard to improve on. But when I'm wrapped up in a story, I forget that I'm even reading from an electronic device. It's just reading.

BUT even though I didn't buy it, the cost is my biggest beef. I'm used to taking a novel to a restaurant or other public place, and simply setting it down to go to the bathroom. Nobody is going to steal your paperback. I'm also prone to losing things. I've lost $20 hardbacks before. It's annoying, but not a huge deal. Losing this thing would be a huge deal.