Chopstork

Sarah hired me to take pictures at her friends’ rehearsal dinner, as her wedding gift to them. I think I got some good pictures. I didn’t know what I was going to do without the usual ceiling to bounce a flash off of … forced some creativity. It’s fun and a relief when I can get the flash to work for me nicely.

During my one daily 5 minute internet browse (that’s all I allot myself), I came across what may be the perfect tool for an up-and-coming band that has a penchant for Smooth Moves. Here’s how I think this invention came out:

“AJ, you know how much we like to play awesome, skilled rock music on guitar but we also like to play the Wii?”
” uh, yeah. What do you have in mind?”
“Why don’t we tape the Wiimote to a guitar, hack it into our pre-amp, then revolutionize rock forever!?”
“I’m an engineer of sorts, I’m going to make this happen.”
High fives all around, tops popped, and history is made.

Introducing: Wiimote guitar effects

Brilliant. This is why they get free gourmet food, dry cleaning, fancy buses, and the big bucks.

Mail Goggles in Gmail

The Washington Post just printed an article dubbed “The Power of Political Misinformation”.  I found this article ironic and depressing.

I found it ironic because *perhaps* the last third of an article about the power of misinformation is misinformation itself.  Of course being a sissy liberal, I am predisposed to take these printed words as correct.  Ironic indeed.

“…a series of new experiments show that misinformation can exercise a ghostly influence on people’s minds after it has been debunked — even among people who recognize it as misinformation.   In some cases, correcting misinformation serves to increase the power of bad information.”

“…a paper approaching publication…[suggests] that Republicans might be especially prone to the backfire effect because conservatives may have more rigid views than liberals: Upon hearing a refutation, conservatives might “argue back” against the refutation in their minds, thereby strengthening their belief in the misinformation.  [Researchers] did not see the same “backfire effect” when liberals were given misinformation and a refutation about the Bush administration’s stance on stem cell research.”

I found it depressing because if this article is accurate, then it is just one more reason why our public discourse and debate is so abysmal and dysfunctional.  I am tired of distractions such as flag lapels, bridges to nowhere, and secret Muslims running for office.   Instead, give me spirited debate on real issues such as off-shore drilling, health care, taxes, the economy, terrorism, climate change, and education.   I am tired of one-issue politics such as abortion, gun control, global warming, and Creationism in public schools.   These are all important issues, but we should *not* take them so fundamentally that we sacrifice other equally important problems and lose sight of the greater contexts.

Unfortunately, too many Liberal *and* Conservative Americans alike have been displaced by the “creative destruction” of our economy, culture, and technology.  Unfortunately, too many of the Displaced have turned to fundamentalism for solace, simplicity, and identity.  Unfortunately, too many politicians, pundits, and preachers are more than happy to exploit and encourage the fundamentalism of the Displaced in self-serving so called “culture wars”.

Anyway, as pointed out in an article by the Economist this sordid affair is mostly the Republican’s fault.

“In the past two weeks, while banks have tottered and markets reeled, the contending Democrats and Republicans have squabbled and lied rather than debated.  Mr. McCain’s team has been nastier, accusing Mr. Obama of sexism for calling the Republican vice-presidential candidate a pig, when he clearly did no such thing. Much nastier has been the assertion that Mr. Obama once backed a bill that would give kindergarten children comprehensive sex education. Again, this was a distortion: the bill Mr. Obama backed provided for age-appropriate sex education, and was intended to protect children from sex offenders.”

Now we have learned that the very debunking of these slurs by a fiscally conservative publication may actually reinforce them.

Depressing, ironic, and dysfunctional indeed.

Everyone thinks the Fridays After Five season ended last week. I heard there’s one more band playing this Friday. They are a Rock Band, and I hear they Rock, even though they don’t always finish their songs.

It’s Another Friday After Seven (gotta be dark enough to see the projector, we learned last time). Come to the Pavilion around 7pm tomorrow to rock out with your cock out.

ROCK!

If the online studio had been around back then, Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard would be called Bojam instead of Postal Service.

After years of hard work and tireless effort, I am pleased to hear that my former employeer has blocked Chopstork. This is a sure sign that Chopstork has hit the mainstream.

Four coati babies that Garbanzobeans was coati-sitting. They are related to raccoons, but looked to me like a monkey-dog-racoon-bear hybrid. I took these a few weeks ago. One of them has since died, sadly, but I think the others are doing fine.

has anybody made plans to travel cross-country for this yet? I’d really like to go, but my upcoming trip to the other side of the world is leaving me feeling stingy. I’ve looked a bit at airfare, some of it isn’t too bad, and I might be able to use AA miles. Is everybody flying into the Charlottesville airport? Are there other decent ones to choose from? Apparently this marriage is too formal an affair for evite, so I’m still not entirely sure who is going. I assume the groom & groom will be there (rest assured my gift will include His & His towels, even though there is no registry). Who else? What’s your trip itinerary?

Pretty cool.  Details here.