"Things To Do Before I Die" List One Item Shorter

Today I learned that a co-worker of mine contracted malaria while doing volunteer work in Ghana. Upon hearing this I realized that it was the first time I'd ever actually known someone with the disease.

Oh, she's going to be fine. She was vaccinated before her trip and was screened & treated immediately following, so symptoms hadn't even developed from what I understand. She even came into work today, which I'm pretty sure makes her a badass.

News like that'll tend to widen your world view a smidge, eh? Or at least make you think about how narrow yours might be. I know it did me.

Anyway, glad to see she's okay.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

When does version 2.6 drop? Anyone know?

Where's Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License for Vista?

I'm sorry. That was super silly.

HEY! It's not all bad news: Indefensible Hats is really taking off! Something like 13 shots up there now. That's as many bad hats as there were colonies when THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA got started, buddy! That many bad hats could probably kick a much larger group of awesome hats' ass at this point!

"Hats' ass"?

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

More Indefensible Hats

I'm going to turn Indefensible Hats into a movement and you're going to help me.

Here's the deal: you go out and take pictures of Indefensible Hats and then post them to the Indefensible Hats Flickr Group which I just created about 12.7 minutes ago. In fact, it's so new I don't even have an icon for it yet. Maybe you can get us one?

If you already have a Flickr account just sign in and join the group; it's open to anyone. If you don't have a Flickr account...you should probably get one. Then...join the group.

"What for?" you might ask. Well, the answer is both "Because it might end up being funny..." and "To hold a mirror up to society and force it to ask itself some difficult questions about its headgear choices." The truth is, we all have our own reasons. Each and every one of us. And they're all important reasons.

There are a lot of goofy dome covers out there. We stand empowered to bring about real change. Together we can move mountains and even change the face of fashion.

Are you psyched? All right, then. Let's do this. Let's go get some hats. Be careful out there.

**UPDATE**
My first contribution to the Indefensible Hats photo pool:

Yeah...

Actual Quote from a Dream I Had Last Night

"I've worn a great many indefensible hats in my time." - Me.

I don't recall the context of the statement but the profundity (and accuracy) is undeniable. A certain bright orange snowboarding hat would make an excellent Exhibit A. Remind me to take a picture of that thing later.

I Started a Joke

Ladies and gentlemen, I have composed a joke.

A brilliant new take on the classic question/answer form came to me this morning while I was brushing my teeth.

Here it is:

Q: Why are there no pirates from Massachusetts?

A: Because they don't pronounce their "Aaaaaaaarghs!" properly.

I know that right now you're so grateful for that Creative Commons logo at the bottom of the page because it means you can tell all your friends this awesome joke without fear of legal repercussions (as long as you mention that I came up with it).

You're welcome.

Tetrachord

Personal Note
Don't expect everyone to keep up with your changes. People sometimes have this vision of who you are and it can be hard for them to see past it. It happens.

Technical Note
I keep getting search hits from people looking for info on the NRV10 firewire mixer by M-Audio and related stuff. If you landed here because of that and then were disappointed to find rants about cat/dolphin conspiracies instead, I apologize. The fact is I haven't much of a mind for technical matters and an even worse one for keeping records.

Here's the deal: the NRV10 has been great so far. I highly recommend it. In fact, as far as my recording setup goes, the only real problematic component has been Sonar. This is owing entirely to the monumental amount of shit I need to learn in order to use it properly. The program itself is great. The operator? Not so much.

Anyway, great mixer. Near-zero latency. Nice sounding preamps (I'm getting great bass sounds direct). Lots of inputs/outputs. No complaints. If you want to spend money on a Mackie be my guest, but I'm happy with what I have. With light project studio use I haven't experienced any glitches. Can't really speak to live use.

I guess call that a review.

Down Note
Commerce already owns the blogosphere. I recommend you take your idealism elsewhere.

Lighter Note
It'll be Halloween before you know it. Have you begun preparation? There are a few things brewing over here. Looking forward to creeping up the place and enjoying the greatest holiday ever invented.

Cats: Dolphins' Malevolent Cousins

You know how dolphins will race alongside the bow of a ship as it speeds through the water, playfully keeping pace and darting across its path?

Cats do this, too.

The differences are that cats do this to people instead of boats, on stairs instead of in water and, instead of being playful, cats are actually trying to kill you.

It's rumored that cats hate water. I don't buy it. Tell that to my cat, Buzzy, who in his younger days used to obsessively sit between the outside wall of the tub and the curtain every time someone took a shower. Tell that to my friend's cat who used to dart into the bathroom at every opportunity and sit in the toilet.

Yes, I said "in". He liked to go for a soak in the loo. No one knows why.

Or do we?

I submit to you that cats and dolphins are more closely related than we think and may, in fact, be in working in collusion. Further, cats may well represent a sort of dolphin "Fifth Column" placed among us to advance some mysterious agenda hatched long ago by the extremely intelligent sea mammals. Likely goal: world domination.

The enemy is among us. Be vigilant and use the hand rail.

Everything Is Mostly Something After All

If you're one of the regular readers of this blog you may recall the recent post whereupon I waxed hyperbolic about the spatial characteristics of subatomic particles.

I stand enlightened.

One Alex Turner was kind enough to point out--via comment--that the model I referred to wasn't giving us the whole story. Alex dutifully informs us that the model only holds true if you think of atoms as particles but then completely falls apart when you think of them as waves.

This, if I remember collegiate-level physics correctly, refers to the old wave-particle duality bit that so many nerds love to joke about at parties.

So, while it's a major bummer to learn that Kitty Pryde was a sham and there will be no strolling unheeded into bank vaults in my future, we are grateful to Mr. Turner for his insight.

Next Issue: "I Saw Maxwell's Demon in My Bong Smoke!"

Cheers.