Peeve Farm

g r o t t o 1 1

Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets

  Blog \Blôg\, n. [Jrg, fr. Jrg. "Web-log".
     See {Blogger, BlogSpot, LiveJournal}.]
     A stream-of-consciousness Web journal, containing
     links, commentary, and pointless drivel.

On My Blog Menu:

InstaPundit
USS Clueless
James Lileks
Little Green Footballs
As the Apple Turns
Entropicana
Cold Fury
Capitalist Lion
Red Letter Day
Eric S. Raymond
Tal G in Jerusalem
Secular Islam
Aziz Poonawalla
Corsair the Rational Pirate
.clue

« ? Blogging Brians # »

Book Plug:

Buy it and I get
money. I think.
BSD Mall

10/6/2003 -  10/8/2003
9/29/2003 -  10/5/2003
9/22/2003 -  9/28/2003
9/15/2003 -  9/21/2003
  9/8/2003 -  9/14/2003
  9/1/2003 -   9/7/2003
8/25/2003 -  8/31/2003
8/18/2003 -  8/24/2003
8/11/2003 -  8/17/2003
  8/4/2003 -  8/10/2003
7/28/2003 -   8/3/2003
7/21/2003 -  7/27/2003
7/14/2003 -  7/20/2003
  7/7/2003 -  7/13/2003
6/30/2003 -   7/6/2003
6/23/2003 -  6/29/2003
6/16/2003 -  6/22/2003
  6/9/2003 -  6/15/2003
  6/2/2003 -   6/8/2003
5/26/2003 -   6/1/2003
5/19/2003 -  5/25/2003
5/12/2003 -  5/18/2003
  5/5/2003 -  5/11/2003
4/28/2003 -   5/4/2003
4/21/2003 -  4/27/2003
4/14/2003 -  4/20/2003
  4/7/2003 -  4/13/2003
3/31/2003 -   4/6/2003
3/24/2003 -  3/30/2003
3/17/2003 -  3/23/2003
3/10/2003 -  3/16/2003
  3/3/2003 -   3/9/2003
2/24/2003 -   3/2/2003
2/17/2003 -  2/23/2003
2/10/2003 -  2/16/2003
  2/3/2003 -   2/9/2003
1/27/2003 -   2/2/2003
1/20/2003 -  1/26/2003
1/13/2003 -  1/19/2003
  1/6/2003 -  1/12/2003
12/30/2002 -   1/5/2003
12/23/2002 - 12/29/2002
12/16/2002 - 12/22/2002
12/9/2002 - 12/15/2002
12/2/2002 -  12/8/2002
11/25/2002 -  12/1/2002
11/18/2002 - 11/24/2002
11/11/2002 - 11/17/2002
11/4/2002 - 11/10/2002
10/28/2002 -  11/3/2002
10/21/2002 - 10/27/2002
10/14/2002 - 10/20/2002
10/7/2002 - 10/13/2002
9/30/2002 -  10/6/2002
9/23/2002 -  9/29/2002
9/16/2002 -  9/22/2002
  9/9/2002 -  9/15/2002
  9/2/2002 -   9/8/2002
8/26/2002 -   9/1/2002
8/19/2002 -  8/25/2002
8/12/2002 -  8/18/2002
  8/5/2002 -  8/11/2002
7/29/2002 -   8/4/2002
7/22/2002 -  7/28/2002
7/15/2002 -  7/21/2002
  7/8/2002 -  7/14/2002
  7/1/2002 -   7/7/2002
6/24/2002 -  6/30/2002
6/17/2002 -  6/23/2002
6/10/2002 -  6/16/2002
  6/3/2002 -   6/9/2002
5/27/2002 -   6/2/2002
5/20/2002 -  5/26/2002
5/13/2002 -  5/19/2002
  5/6/2002 -  5/12/2002
4/29/2002 -   5/5/2002
4/22/2002 -  4/28/2002
4/15/2002 -  4/21/2002
  4/8/2002 -  4/14/2002
  4/1/2002 -   4/7/2002
3/25/2002 -  3/31/2002
3/18/2002 -  3/24/2002
3/11/2002 -  3/17/2002
  3/4/2002 -  3/10/2002
2/25/2002 -   3/3/2002
2/18/2002 -  2/24/2002
2/11/2002 -  2/17/2002
  2/4/2002 -  2/10/2002
1/28/2002 -   2/3/2002
1/21/2002 -  1/27/2002
1/14/2002 -  1/20/2002
  1/7/2002 -  1/13/2002
12/31/2001 -   1/6/2002
12/24/2001 - 12/30/2001
12/17/2001 - 12/23/2001

Wednesday, January 1, 2003
04:10 - Good night, moon; good night, stars; good night, police sirens	(top)
Well, once more the big shiny ball has dropped more or less without incident; no terrorist attacks, no massive computer glitches, no ball getting stuck, and certainly no actual dropping of the ball from the specified height at the precise moment when gravity would cause it to reach bottom in free-fall right at the tickover point. (Didn't they used to do it that way? What happened, did someone sue Discover and the Times because dropping the ball according to the laws of nature and science was insensitive to the beliefs of the platygaeists, or that the "apple" imagery cruelly drove millions of helpless innocents to gorge themselves on fast food and become enormous flesh-bags, or to buy computers they didn't need and couldn't afford but looked cool in the den?) Yeah, pretty low-key New Year's, overall-- maybe it's because I spent the four-hour time chunk straddling midnight watching the Adult Swim marathon and playing with my new EyeTV. (Think TiVo for the Mac; it's a soft DTR system, of which I'm sure there are examples for the PC. A little plastic box takes RF or RCA input from cable or antenna, encodes it to MPEG on the fly, and streams it over USB to the machine's hard drive, where it can be accessed directly and interacted with via actual integrated software, instead of having to deal with the set-top middleman. Seems to work pretty well, barring a few glitches-- not least of which is the moronicity of MPEG and its inability to be properly demuxed for editing, like any sane movie format would be. But the whole direct-control-of-live-TV-through-an-onscreen-floater-remote thing is pretty neato.) Incidentally, on an unrelated note, it's been "Encore Week" on Fresh Air on NPR, and the other day they re-aired the infamous Gene Simmons interview in which the tongue man cut loose with all his frankness on Terry Gross, unleashing both barrels of his I-slept-with-4,600-women-and-you-too-could-be-one-of-them, in which Terry came off as a good deal less sure of herself and capable of handling the reins of the interview than Gene did. But one thing I thought was interesting was that Gene, for all his Howard Stern-esque lewdness and arrogance, has some very strict personal observances and limits, and they're self-imposed rather than derived from some non-corporeal power (which would have been a good excuse, considering that he had attended Yeshiva as a kid and was well on his way to becoming a rabbi). He's so vehemently anti-drug and anti-smoking that, as he said, the most beautiful and seductive woman in the world could be lying right on his bed-- but if he smelled that dirt-under-the-bleachers smell on her breath, she'd find herself chucked right out the door, if not the window. Gene said he's never been drunk-- and with the exception of a few valiant attempts at taking a sip here and there during toasts (in order to be polite), he's never been capable of drinking alcohol. "I might be cursed with some kind of freakish one-in-a-million defect," he said, "but the very smell of alcohol makes me gag. And I'd say that makes me very, very lucky." So whatever else might be true about the guy, I guess I can say that at least he's not the only one to "suffer" from that particular malady. So while I listen to the police chase down late-night carousers out in the neighborhood at the edge of hearing, I'll take my leave of the good blog-posting page and curl up with my new "The Art of Spirited Away" book and be glad I'm not out in it. Happy New Year, and to all a good night.