Planet Kibosh

Draws at Kazan

2011-05-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

The FIDE Candidates Matches are taking place in Russia this month. Grischuk-Kramnik played only one hour and agreed to a draw after White's 16th move. Did the players have somewhere they had to be? Early tee time?

Meta Music

2011-05-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but recently I started noticing my own negative reaction to songs that themselves mention music or performing music. I've broken this down into several categories:

Whiny meta-music. This is my least favorite kind, when a musician or group complain about how hard it is to travel and perform. If it's that bad, stop doing it! Some examples:

"Turn The Page", Bob Seger. Look, if touring is so exhausting, don't!
"Come Monday", Jimmy Buffet. Not egregious, but there's an implicit complaint that touring is taking him away from his loved one.

Self-congratulatory meta-music. This can also be annoying. Examples:

"We're an American Band", Grand Funk Railroad. OK, so you get Sweet Sweet Connie and some chiquitas in Omaha. Do you have to brag about it to us?
"The Load Out/Stay", Jackson Browne. Manages to be both whiny and self-congratulatory in the same song. "Oh, poor me, I would keep performing for you because I'm so wonderful, but I have this grueling tour that I need to continue."
"We Built This City" by Starship.

Moderate meta-music. This mentions music or performing, but in such a way that isn't annoying.

"Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits kind of fits here. Elements of self-congratulation, perhaps, but the lyrics about music styles serve as introductions to the various riffs.
"Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits is refreshingly self-deprecating.
"Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney and Wings. While the song is annoying, the references to music aren't particularly obnoxious.

Benign meta-music. The exception, where the mention of music actually adds to the quality or meaning of the song. A major class of song that fits here are hymms about singing praise to God. In the secular world, there are a few examples:

Any other nominations?

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps", the Beatles

Pork in Rosemary Wine Sauce recipe

2009-01-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

I recall a recipe in Food and Wine that I made in the late 80s or early 90s for sauteed pork scallops with rosemary in wine sauce. I had a hankering to cook that the other night and found the recipe on line. It's a fairly easy recipe to make. It tasted as good as I remembered it.

Don't Raise My Ordinary Overcall on a Doubleton

2009-01-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

Hypothetical auction: I overcall RHO's 1C with 1H, LHO bids 2C. Don't raise me to 2H with only two hearts, even if you have an honor. My overcall is to some extent predicated on the expectation that you have at least two card support.

Ordinary Men as Heroes vs Superheroes

2008-07-28T05:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, in Pastor Nate's sermon at KPC he mentioned the transformation in popular culture in the 1930s and 40s from "ordinary man with ordinary talents" as hero to "man with super powers" as hero. He also mentioned that in the first weekend The Dark Knight movie grossed as much as The Fellowship of the Ring in it's run. It led me to think that the Lord of the Rings series is a perfect example of "ordinary man as hero". The hobbits are very mundane in their interests, but when thrust into a quest for good against evil they rely on their faith and character to persevere and get the job done.

Natural Order of Things

2008-06-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

WTG Celtics!

Scrobbling

2008-06-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

I'm working through some stuff in the text "Programming Collective Intelligence", came across scrobbling. Started last.fm account, interested to see what it does.

Ukrainian Army Recruitment

2008-01-17T20:44:00.000-08:00

Hat tip to small dead animals blog.

Macworld Expo Impressions

2008-01-15T12:07:00.000-08:00

1. No upgrade to iPhone hardware is imminent, so I think I'll be getting one pretty soon. The software upgrades look great.
2. AppleTV 2.0 and the price drop have me considering one, which I find surprising. Not for a while, though.
3. iTunes movie rentals are nice, but not thrilling.
4. MacBook Air looks like a well-engineered laptop, but I wonder if there's enough of a market for it at that price.

Kind of an average keynote, I guess.

AAPL isn't getting it's usual bounce from the keynote. In fact, it's down 11.57 at this moment.

Guinness Tipping Point Ad

2008-01-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

Cool video.

Guinness: Tipping Point
Uploaded by Razorbuzz

Identity Politics and the Democratic Nomination Race

2008-01-15T07:12:00.001-08:00

I thought of posting on this, but Yuval Levin at the Corner beat me to it.

As far as I know, Ms. Clinton's remark isn't factually wrong. Still, in a party that invests so much in sensitivity, it's wonderfully ironic to watch the ensuing mock outrage.

UPDATE: Also see David Brooks' column in the NYT today (free registration required).

Following the Calling isn't Sufficient

2008-01-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

2 Kings 10:30-32a:

30 The LORD said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." 31 Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.

32 In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel.

It's not enough to narrowly follow the mission you've been given. You also have to keep the law of God in your heart and turn away from earlier sins. Note that as a consequence Israel was reduced, even though Jehu's family ruled to the 4th generation.

Covenants and Governance with the Consent of the Governed

2008-01-13T09:19:00.000-08:00

I read this verse (2 Kings 11:17) this morning before church:

Jehoiada then made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people that they would be the LORD's people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people.

(NIV)

On first reading, it seemed to me like a very early form of the constitutional system of governance with the consent of the governed. The Constitution of the US is a covenant between "We the People" and the US Government. After church, I realize that the covenant between the government and the people only makes sense in the context of the first covenant, which involves God, the government, and the people. "One nation, under God", indeed. As our society abrogates the first covenant, so shall the second be abrogated.

BCS Championship

2008-01-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

Had it on in the background. With March Madness I find myself regretting that I haven't watched college basketball earlier in the season. I don't get that feeling with college football. It's just not my thing.

What I'm Reading

2007-12-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

What I'm reading now:

On The Wealth Of Nations (Books That Changed the World) by P.J. O'Rourke. Not quite as funny as his Eat the Rich, but it's a humorous but serious analysis of Adam Smith's classic book from the 18th Century.
Programming Collective Intelligence. I heard about this on the Python 411 podcast. I just started it, but I chose it for two reasons. First of all, it uses Python, which makes it accessible for me. Secondly, the idea of collecting data from the web and mashing it up is similar to the concept for fuselets in work I'm doing for my employer.
Persistent Human Bridge Errors. I don't necessarily agree with all of the recommendations from "Chthonic", but the book is entertaining and raises good points.

What I finished recently:

Fleet of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner. I have been a big fan of Niven's "Known Space" stories for nearly 30 years. This book acts as a kind of prequel to many of those stories. I found a few things interesting:

Information technology elements of the plot that are clearly inspired by modern computers and the Internet. As forward-looking as the Known Space stories are, this element wasn't thought of in the 1970s and 80s.
The book is labeled "200 years before the discovery of the Ringworld" but the plot doesn't really seem to relate to the Ringworld. Maybe another book is in progress?

The Praxis by Walter Jon Williams. I read a story in this universe in an anthology about space opera. It's an interesting concept, and I look forward to reading more of the stories in this universe.

What's in the queue for reading next:

Now I Can Die in Peace by Bill Simmons of ESPN Page 2.
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson.

Anagram Game

2007-12-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

Eight Letters in Search of a Word. A good timewaster.

Free Music and eBooks

2007-11-21T06:43:00.000-08:00

Here are several sites that offer free music or e-books:

Magnatune. Most of magnatune's content is not free, although it is very reasonably priced. However, they do provide a free song of the day. I use Apple's Automator, triggered by iCal, to automatically download the song of the day and move it to my iTunes library.
Baen Free Library. Free science fiction in a variety of digital formats from some of the top authors in the field.
Project Gutenberg. Older books that are now in the public domain in the US. Many of the classics are here.
Net Library. I can access this through affiliation with the Virginia Beach Public Library. Includes e-books and downloadable audio books.
iTunes Store. Every week Apple provides a free single of the week. Most of them, in my opinion, are worth the price, but there are some gems. There's also free video content available.
Zoot Radio. Free downloads of old time radio shows, including "X Minus One" and many radio mystery dramas.

Downloading and enjoying content from the sites above will not violate any copyright laws, so you can get this material with a free conscience.

Orson Scott Card on Illegal Immigration

2007-11-20T09:03:00.000-08:00

At The Ornery American, Orson Scott Card wrote an excellent post on illegal immigration in June. It articulates a lot of the reasons that I have not been as bothered by illegal immigration the way that many people with whom I agree on other issues have been. While I don't think we do enough to cultivate an Americanization ethic in new immigrants, I also think that the Statue of Liberty represents a promise we make to ourselves and to the world.

What if They Made "24" in 1994?

2007-11-20T06:19:00.001-08:00

Amusing video:

If the TV show 24 took place in 1994.

h/t: The Corner on National Review Online

American Accents

2007-11-20T06:16:00.000-08:00

Interesting quiz to help you figure out what American accent you have, pegged me pretty well, I think, since I grew up in the northern half of NJ.

h/t: The Corner on National Review Online.

Stockholm Syndrome and Numb3rs (spoiler alert)

2007-11-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

In Friday's episode of Numb3rs, "Tabu", the kidnap victim appears to be coerced into cooperating with her kidnappers in an armed robbery. I'm surprised that the FBI profiler didn't at least mention the possibility of Stockholm Syndrome in her analysis.

Yet Another Blog

2007-11-18T13:55:00.000-08:00

My 3rd (or is it 4th) start of a blog. 2 of them were lost when I canceled my subscription to mac.com. The name for this blog doesn't signify much, just a phrase that seemed clever to me a couple of months ago. I don't remember the circumstances, but I think I wanted to express that something wasn't going to be allowed by saying "Welcome to Planet Kibosh". Then I thought it might be a good name for a blog.

From dictionary.com: "put the kibosh on, to put an end to; squelch; check."