The Heart of the Wood

2006-05-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

Parrots may be much smarter than we give them credit for.

2006-01-25T16:45:00.000-05:00

2006-01-25T16:37:00.000-05:00

Democrats and Republicans Both Adept at Ignoring Facts, Study Finds

This is just about what I've found to be the case. A lot of people root for their political party just like they root for their sports team. They don't think about it very deeply. They don't like to spend any time thinking critically about any political idea they suspect they might disagree with. When people identify with a party, questioning that party is about the same as questioning themselves.

2006-01-25T15:54:00.000-05:00

Chuck Norris Facts My current favorite - "The opening scene of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" is loosely based on games of dodgeball Chuck Norris played in second grade. "

2005-12-13T12:58:00.000-05:00

Superman's Penis Is Too Big For The Cinema .... No comment.

2005-12-12T09:22:00.000-05:00

Bugatti Veyron ... BRILLIANT! Top speed ... 250 mph, 0-60 ...2.5 seconds, and it's sweet looking.

2005-12-08T09:06:00.000-05:00

Big Eye in the Sky is pretty feckin' cool. Don't even think about it on dialup, 360 degree panoramic photographs.

2005-12-05T11:19:00.000-05:00

Cthulhu Plush Slippers. Nice.

2005-11-23T10:09:00.000-05:00

My wife Elli, and her Brother and his wife's baby, little Jude. Isn't he a cutie!

2005-11-23T10:02:00.000-05:00

2005-11-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

What obsolete skill are you? I'm French, which used to be the language of diplomacy, and is apparently quite hedonist.

2005-11-14T20:09:00.000-05:00

Nordinho.net - A Creative Mind Is Never Bored - Home is a nice site that has links to games and puzzles.

2005-11-03T10:51:00.000-05:00

Howstuffworks "How the Death Star Works" I would have hoped for more detail.

2005-11-03T10:46:00.000-05:00

The Adventures of Dr. McNinja leave me speechless.

2005-10-27T19:08:00.000-05:00

Slacker or sick?

2005-10-26T19:28:00.000-05:00

The Tree of Life (The Original, since 1994)

2005-10-26T19:25:00.000-05:00

Ultradimensional Terror And You — Part One

2005-10-13T09:01:00.000-05:00

Possibly NSFRt (not safe for Republicans), I find this oddly compelling and hypnotic.

2005-10-03T19:29:00.000-05:00

Free Multiplayer Online Games

2005-10-03T16:42:00.000-05:00

Jesus Christ, All-Pro. I couldn't resist. It's too funny.

2005-10-03T10:29:00.000-05:00

The Religious Policemanis Saudi Arabian humor, which is apparently awesome. It sounds to me like it's a former Saudi who Britain has corrupted, probably through Monty Python.

2005-10-02T19:29:00.000-05:00

An interesting article about the physiological effects of meditation on the human mind.

2005-09-27T15:42:00.000-05:00

Congrats to our very own Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) for being named to the 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress! Way to go Rick!

2005-09-21T19:22:00.000-05:00

StopLandfill.com | Take Action is a local site dedicated to preventing the proposed landfill in Rush Township.

2005-09-19T10:10:00.000-05:00

A reminder, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day - September 19

2005-09-19T10:08:00.000-05:00

Boing Boing: Propaganda poster remix photoshopping contest

2005-09-14T08:50:00.000-05:00

Get Your War On. Oh the humanity!

2005-09-13T09:42:00.000-05:00

There's a penis in my library!

2005-09-03T10:00:00.000-05:00

This is hilarious. Kanye West goes off.

2005-08-31T14:04:00.000-05:00

I guess I was supposed to provide a link to Instapundit.com as part of this. flood aid

2005-08-31T13:59:00.000-05:00

As my (very small) part ofblog for relief day. I'm putting up a link for the American Red Cross - Preparing for and Responding to Hurricane Katrina I'm doing it a day early, and I'm probably not going to sign up on the list or anything. But if the two or three people who read this actually think about giving something, that's good enough for me.

2005-08-30T08:07:00.000-05:00

BlogNomic is a game that modifies it's own rules. Kind of like Flux without the cards.

2005-08-16T09:43:00.000-05:00

Rigorous Intuition: There's a Law, posted because it's semi-relevant to a discussion I had with my friend Jimi last week. Sometimes it is tough to give credence to things because of the source. I think Rigorous Intuition is interesting because I can ask the question "What if it's all true?" If all the stuff that's on this site is true, the world is a vastly different place then the world I (and most people) think it is. And in my opinion, it's worthwhile to contemplate for that reason alone.

2005-08-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

Also via a fine Gawker brand product this article is a good example of why I read Gizmodo. It's kind of neat to keep up with the new gadgets, but they occasionally will write something that is just hilarious.

2005-08-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

This just in, P Diddy is apparently now just Diddy.

2005-08-01T09:21:00.000-05:00

For my meteorology friends is a tornado-mobile.

2005-07-15T16:02:00.000-05:00

Best Weezer Video Ever

2005-07-14T19:16:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I put this up before, but I *heart* The Comics Curmudgeon

2005-07-14T09:53:00.000-05:00

Victoria and her kids dancing. These kids danced non-stop. And me getting my groove on.

2005-07-14T08:37:00.000-05:00

Elli and her dad dancing, that guy can really cut a rug.

2005-07-14T08:36:00.000-05:00

I really liked this picture. That's my dad and Elli.

2005-07-14T08:35:00.000-05:00

Our first dance.

2005-07-14T08:34:00.000-05:00

We're on our way out and people are throwing bird seed at us. That's why I look kind of funny. Well, I look kind of funny anyway, but more then usual.

2005-07-14T08:33:00.000-05:00

Here we are at the end getting ready to smooch. During practice I kept asking when I was going to get to kiss her. When Reverend Pat said "at the end" I said I didn't know if I could wait that long.

2005-07-14T08:30:00.000-05:00

Elli's sister, Alyce, said a few words and read a poem near the beginning of the ceremony. Sometime I'll put up a copy of it, parts of it were funny.

2005-07-14T08:28:00.000-05:00

Here's Elli facing me.

2005-07-14T08:27:00.000-05:00

Here's my close personal friend Rob, doing the honors of playing the wedding music. Elli came in to "I Will" by the Beatles, and we walked out to "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones.

2005-07-14T08:25:00.000-05:00

I'm kind of doing this backwards, but here are some pictures of the wedding. Most of these were taken by my friend Kathryn (thanks K!).

2005-07-07T10:31:00.000-05:00

During our time at the resort we amused ourselves by playing a game in which we counted lizards, or as we called them "lizarders." Thus the game was called "lizarderering." Elli was the undisputed champion of lizarderering, ringing up twice my totals a good portion of the time. This guy was pretty easy to spot, as he is black and sitting on white. You didn't see this too much, and I think the birds also enjoyed playing lizarderer.

2005-07-07T10:28:00.000-05:00

Every night at our resort the Animacion people would put on a show. There's a good number of different shows, this one was called "Mega-mix." It had a lot of American pop music in it, so me and Elli liked it the best. Most of the other ones were merengue.

2005-07-07T10:26:00.000-05:00

In our resort each cluster of rooms had a statue of the native Taino gods in it with a plaque about the god. Most of the Dominican people that we saw looked like they were of African descent. In general, Dominicans are a mix of Hispanic, African, and native populations. They are supposed to be very proud of their native heritage and they celebrate a good number of native holidays.

2005-07-07T10:23:00.001-05:00

The resort area was dotted with little ponds and nice landscaping.

2005-07-07T10:23:00.000-05:00

Another beach shot with my wife in the foreground.

2005-07-07T10:22:00.000-05:00

Here we're right on the edge of the greenery next to the beach. The beaches in the D.R. were very pretty. The weather in the picture is pretty much how it was the majority of the time that we were there. Party sunny. It would rain at random times for a couple of hours then it would be back to partly sunny. I was told that summer is the rainy season, if you go in the winter the weather is either sunny or partly sunny for about 6 months.

2005-07-07T10:19:00.000-05:00

Here's a view of the approach to the beach. Over on the left out of sight was the place they served the continental breakfast, and to the right was one of the many bars that lined the beach. All of this was included in the price that we paid to go to the resort.

2005-07-07T10:17:00.000-05:00

Here's a closer picture of the swim up bar. If you've never been to one it's pretty cool. They have little stools that are underwater. We spent a lot of time here in the afternoons sipping on tropical frozen drinks. Our biggest gripe the whole time we were there was that merengue was the only music we heard, and it was playing everywhere. Usually the same 4 or 5 songs. I've got nothing against merengue, but I certainly wasn't happy to hear it 24/7.

2005-07-07T09:25:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of the largest of the swimming pools from far away. The building in the middle is the swim-up bar. In the front is one of the hot tubs.

2005-07-07T09:23:00.000-05:00

This is typical of the paths that go from place to place all over the resort. It was nice to be able to walk in shade pretty much everywhere. The plants were really beautiful.

2005-07-07T09:21:00.000-05:00

There's a pond in front of the Palladium Bavarro Grand (our resort) that has flamingos, turtles, fish and other creatures swimming around in it.

2005-07-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Some pictures from my honeymoon to the Dominican Republic. Here's my wife in the hotel lobby. Lobby is really kind of a misnomer, it's like a big open air pavilion. We spent a good amount of time here, it's kind of a night-time meeting place and hangout. You couldn't sit down for more then a minute without one of the staff from the bar asking if you want anything (unless you already have a drink in front of you.)

2005-06-15T19:26:00.000-05:00

The Baby Name Wizard: NameVoyager. Neat-o

2005-06-13T08:41:00.000-05:00

What is the role of myth in America today? Is there a quest that Americans undertake? In other societies over the course of history quests were undertaken to defeat death, to save someone, or for other semi-religious reasons. Is the American quest to become rich and/or famous? Is the American dream to have a big house in the suburbs and to send your kids to college?

I think about mythology and what it means, and I feel sad for America. In Fight Club Tyler Durden says:

"Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."

The difference between my point of view and Tyler Durden's is that I think that America has a long way to go before society changes. The sense of desperation with the shallowness of American life has not yet congealed into a force that can change anything. Any revelations are likely to be personal and private, as opposed to societal. There are people that choose to step off of the corporate treadmill, but it's not a movement. For some of these people, the quest is for self-sufficiency, for others it's a more creative way of life.

2005-05-31T23:05:00.000-05:00

Elli and a pygmy goat.

2005-05-31T23:04:00.002-05:00

Another grille

2005-05-31T23:04:00.001-05:00

Elli and a llama

2005-05-31T23:04:00.000-05:00

Elli and her dad looking into an old Chevy, I liked the reflection of the sky in the paint.

2005-05-31T23:03:00.001-05:00

The lady

2005-05-31T23:03:00.000-05:00

Grille

2005-05-31T23:02:00.000-05:00

This is a replica of an old Mercedes

2005-05-31T23:01:00.000-05:00

A Pierce-Arrow hood ornament

2005-05-31T23:00:00.000-05:00

The classic car show

2005-05-31T22:58:00.000-05:00

The Memorial Day celebration in Boalsburg.

2005-05-31T19:33:00.000-05:00

Rigorous Intuition is my latest obsession, thanks to Dandan.

2005-04-03T11:09:00.000-05:00

This is the first in what may be a series of comments on Peak Oil. I agree with Matt Savinar's basic premise that the world is running out of cheap oil, but I have some disagreements with him regarding what that means. The major societal dislocations that he raises as being the result of the end of the Oil Age are by no means inevitable, or even likely. A little bit of foresight could smooth over any major impact of running out of petroleum. Without any intervention it is likely that there will be, in the short term, some relatively nasty economic consequences. My reasons for this conclusion will be presented (hopefully) in another post.

2005-03-28T20:33:00.000-05:00

Peak Oil is the idea that someday soon (or perhaps already) humans will have taken out more oil per day out of the ground then we will ever be able to take out again. If you read over the site Matthew Savinar presents his case that this event will happen soon. He also details his vision for what this means for America and the world economy. I think that he presents a compelling case, but I'm not qualified to assess his interpretation of the facts. I tend to be impressed by the sense that the oil companies have begun to act like this is going to be true.

The biggest effect that this would have on our way of life is that decisions about energy would be made on a much different basis. I have started to take this into consideration when I make decisions that will affect my life. I make my decisions based on the assumption that at sometime in the next 5 to 10 years oil will cost anywhere from 2 to 5 times what it does now. There would also be corresponding rises in the costs of natural gas and electricity. Fuel economy and conservation become much more important factors in purchasing and using anything that consumes energy.

This whole subject is something that I am still pondering at times, I'm considering other points of view, but I must say that it has had an effect on the way that I make decisions.

2005-03-28T13:47:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh yes, here I am sporting the mutton chops. In front of my wall of award winning albums.

2005-03-28T13:41:00.000-05:00

This picture gives me an idea. I would like to make a photo essay of a certain journey that I took once upon a time. This picture captures a spot that once caused me to ponder the idea of a College of Education and what kinds of things one would learn there. This picture was taken at Penn State University. I work at the Pattee/Paterno Library which is not far from this spot.

2005-03-28T13:03:00.000-05:00

Another book that I have been looking at lately is Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz. This book is great for hippies. My fiancee sometimes accuses me of "turning into a hippy", which is completely unfair. Just because I spend a lot of time thinking about composting and sustainablility doesn't mean I'm a hippy. Or maybe it does ....

Anyway, the book is about using naturally occuring (wild) yeasts and bacteria to make foods and beverages. This includes breads, cheeses, krauts, and of course beer and wines. My personal favorite recipe is for "Hooch", which is a type of alcohol favored by prison inmates. I'm not going to go into details, but it involves fruit cocktail and a 55 gallon garbage bag. Yummy!

2005-03-28T12:09:00.000-05:00

The Heart of Wood is a blog about this blog. It self references in a confusing manner.

2005-03-28T12:06:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Beowulf's Children by Larry niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Steven Barnes. I thought it was an excellent book. It's the second book in a series about people from Earth who colonize a world called Avalon. They run into some hostile species, which generates quite a bit of action. The book moves quickly, and it is not very thought-provoking. I recommend it if you are looking for the reading equivalent of an action movie.

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If the above link works, you can buy it from Amazon and I should get paid a small sum. I've never used one of these before, so I don't know if it's going to work.

2005-03-21T09:23:00.000-05:00

The Tao Of Programming is for my friends in IT. It's one of the best items of it's type that I have ever seen. It's pretty truthful about Tao and it's not bad on the programming either.

2005-02-28T09:51:00.000-05:00

Accounts could help Americans retire rich. I think this sounds like a good plan.

2005-02-16T14:57:00.000-05:00

Write Your Name in Elvish in Ten Minutes is soooo dorky.

2005-02-16T14:55:00.000-05:00

I reference this column by Cringely because it is about the future of the technology business. But, it is more about the coming process by which advances will be funded then what that technology is. I think that the future is in more power efficient processors. For now, batteries lag behind the advances in speed and power that portable devices can provide. The future of ubiquitous computing is coming, and instead of waiting for better batteries, I think the way to go is smaller, more efficient processors.

2005-02-16T10:44:00.000-05:00

The neglected amendment of the Bill of Rights is the Ninth Amendment, which says that just because the Constitution guarantees certain rights, doesn't mean that all other rights aren't guaranteed.

This amendment is among the least known amendments to the Constitution, but potentially the most important.

2005-02-15T15:07:00.000-05:00

I think people should read defective yeti because he's got a pretty good blog. If anyone reads my blog I apologize for not posting that much lately, I've been pretty busy. I'm working 8am-12noon at home, then I go to work at the Penn State library from 1pm to 10pm. I'm also trying to get stuff together to get married in June. And taking a pottery class. Etc etc etc.

But since I'm not writing anything maybe you can go read his blog. It's pretty funny and interesting.

2005-01-27T10:06:00.000-05:00

Homeland Security Operations Morning Briefs catalogs suspicious incidents in the US in the last part of 2004. These are (I believe) leaked classified documents.

2005-01-19T11:28:00.000-05:00

While I'm posting pictures, here's the one that Elli made for her dad for Christmas. We both thought it looked nice on the red wall.

2005-01-19T10:46:00.000-05:00

Oh man .... this is teh funny.

2005-01-18T09:55:00.000-05:00

I made this painting for Elli's mom for Christmas. I'm posting it using the new versions of Picasa and Hello.

2005-01-04T20:30:00.000-05:00

Ahhh the question ....Nature vs Nurture. Except for there are an infinite number of factors not included. Not the least of which is the "universal will to become."

2004-12-30T20:46:00.000-05:00

I've spent some time recently thinking about somebig questions of the classic sort, the meaning of life, the existence of evil, some stuff regarding god. Tentatively, I've reached the conclusion that either English is a piss-poor language when it comes to thinking about big questions, or it's something about English speaking culture. I don't think it's an accident that there aren't that many really solid philosophers who philosophized in English. Or religious thinkers either for that matter.

I think that if a people were to come about who could actually come close to formulating answers to big questions they would probably speak a language that was simpler and perhaps live a simpler kind of life. Less cable TV, less Top 40 radio, less magazines, less nightly news. More sitting around thinking.

2004-12-21T11:19:00.000-05:00

FBI E-Mail Refers to Presidential Order Authorizing Inhumane Interrogation Techniques

2004-12-05T10:42:00.000-05:00

I think that the cost of drug promotion is often ignored as society looks for a way to control health care costs. There are several links to facts relating to what drug promotion costs Americans in this MeFi post. As far as easy ways to get health care costs under control, I consider this to be much easier and more effective then tort reform. I wouldn't have any problem with drug promotion if there were some kind of government agency that could distribute information comparing drug costs and effects independently. It's too bad the United States doesn't have anything like that.

2004-12-04T11:03:00.000-05:00

The your momma joke directory.

2004-12-04T09:40:00.000-05:00

Some people I work with were talking about cluster ballooning and they thought it was an urban legend. It's not.

2004-12-03T11:49:00.000-05:00

I started thinking about the subject of fascism when I read this Bill O'Reilly-esque diatribe critiquing an Orcinus post which makes the suggestion that the Republican Party is becoming the party of fascism. This made me curious as I had never really looked into the subject of what the ideas fascism was based on were. I looked around on the Internets and I found a bunch of definitions that appeared to be aimed at Republicans. This seemed to me to be kind of unfair, and so I pressed on. Finally, I found what I consider to be a good definition of Fascism from Wikipedia, and it got me thinking.

To me, the most defining characteristic of fascism is that it places the state ahead of everything else. To quote from Mussolini "Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State" In contrast, American democracy was founded on the idea that preserving individual freedom was the most important principle of governance. That being the case the principles of fascism and democracy are directly opposed over the issue of whether the needs of the state outweigh the rights of an individual. This debate sometimes takes place under the guise of government placing limits on our liberty for "our own good."

I think that the only sense in which Orcinus is incorrect is that he is too easy on liberals. Although here are elements of the contemporary conservative movement that overtly push for what I consider to be fascist policy elements, there are also Democratic groups that wish to implement similar goals. The shame of American "democracy" is that both parties are complicit in America's drift towards fascism.

In the Wikipedia article it also talks about corporativism as being an element of fascism. Corporativism (or alternately corporatism) isn't just the involvement of corporations in government, but the idea that collective groups, rather then individuals, should be involved in making policy. This correlates with everything from the AARP to the United States Chamber of Commerce. It can also include the involvement of corporations in government, but it is broader then just that. The closest idea today might be interest groups.

I find this entire subject fascinating. If I could recommend one thing it would be to read the entire Wikipedia entry on fascism and think about how it relates to American politics today. Is fascism on the increase in America? I suspect that the increasing polarization of politics plays a part in whatever increase of fascism exists, but how does this occur? Another question would be, is there a particular group behind an increase in fascism, or is an increase in fascism an accident of the political situation? I feel that there are enough differences between the current American political situation and fascism that a different name would be appropriate, but what should it be?

I intend to spend some time adding to this post, so check back if you want to see any developments.

Added: In the comments John Ray links to this essay where he gives his point of view on the modern left as a rehashing of old fascist ideas.

What I am coming to realize is that the topic of fascism in current trends of American government is more complicated then I had at first considered. Both Orcinus and John Ray make an error by attributing quotes and ideas to a broad category of people rather then individuals. This lets them represent the entire political party they oppose as a monolithic entity. For instance Orcinus says: "A favorite conservative theme is a dread of national decline under the corrosive effects of liberalism, often identifying it with equally dreaded alien influences." There certainly are some conservatives who hold this view, but there are also conservatives who don't agree with it. Similarly, John Ray says: "Modern-day Leftists too seem to seek influence outside the normal democratic channels -- from strikes and demonstrations to often successful attempts to get the courts to make law." Again, true of some leftists but certainly not all. Both of the themes of the quotes are fascist themes, and serve more to identify fascist elements within each political party than to identify one party or the other as fascist.

2004-12-02T11:46:00.000-05:00

The report? Scary.The comments? Hilarious.

MeFi's take on a government report concernings myths and misconceptions that are being taught in Federally funded abstinence only education programs.

2004-12-02T10:07:00.000-05:00

Everything Is teh Gay. I wouldn't watch it at work unless you work at home. I'm not entirely sure what to think about it, it's kind of catchy.

2004-12-02T09:42:00.000-05:00

Lynne Cheney's "Sisters" is a novel written by our second lady that contains some ...ahem... "lesbian menage a trois, brother-sister incest, Capitol Hill menage a trois ...."