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June 1, 2005
I've got archives!
Somehow I've generated enough blog to make an archive. From here on out, main page entries are in reverse chronological order, and an archive link to earlier months can be espied in navigation section to the left.
For what it's worth, I use Frontpage these days in the split-screen view, but I still hand-code everything. This month, I'm aiming to clean up some structural bugs, get over to a new host so I can use server-side includes, add FAQ and Contact links, and experiment with minor Java scripting.
Also, I've been way too slow with the baby pictures, which as a friend pointed out, is the only competitive aspect of my site. Needless to say, expect more!
RetroGen: January 8, 2005
Amid Genevieve's sleepy, grumpy, howling, and bewildered moods from month one, we lived for fleeting smiles like this.
June 4, 2005
I ♥ Ebay
Made my first EBay sale today, a fascinating process. It was a 7 day sale, but got almost no bids until the final day, then I couldn't stop refreshing the page to see what it was selling for. There's no small sense of gambling involved; I'm scouring similar sales to see what I could have done differently. Perhaps ending the sale at 3pm on a Saturday was a bad idea? Should I have offered free shipping? Non-stock photo? A photo in the main listing? Some hype in the description?
Livia found a bubble envelope lying around to send the game in, and postage turned out to be $2.50, not the $3.50 I listed. I threw a dollar coin in the envelope as a rebate on the shipping cost. I left the Post Office with the noble air of a fair dealer, then went to buy more envelopes. They're, uh, heh.... $1 apiece.
June 5, 2005
No, no, really! We can handle the truth!
With all this combative Deep Throat chatter, now would be an excellent time for a triple feature.
Start here for the first great movie about journalism. If the politics of the time are too distant or uninteresting, this is still a ripping good yarn, and a highlight of 70's style movie-making. Note the spare use of music, how long the camera holds on a subject, the use of distance to instill paranoia. The same director had previously made "The Parallax View", which appears to have been solid practice for this mesmerizing classic.
The Insider shifts the subject from governmental to corporate malfeasance, and the medium from newsprint to television. I think this is Russell Crowe's best performance, and that's saying a lot. We know he's great at heroic confidence, but how many actors can pull off heroic timidity? And whoever cast the always underrated Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace deserves an Oscar.
Finish off your journalism-on-film marathon with Shattered Glass, shifting media once again, this time to magazine publishing. If you don't know what it's about, consider yourself lucky; it's more fun discovering as you go along. The script is quietly wide-ranging -- not just the story of a particular writer, but of the universality of office politics, old vs. new media, and journalism as holy mission vs. post-graduate stepping stone. Hayden Christensen here makes Star Wars look like a bad career move.
June 7, 2005
On the other hand, if only outlaws have contraception, we'll stop breeding new outlaws
A poll conducted by a family planning group finds that 88% of respondents, and 80% of Republicans, believe that birth control should be available to women.
Okay, fine. Looks like reproductive freedom has solid backing.
But wait a minute... 20% of Republicans, that's one in five, actually want to keep women from using contraceptives? Not abortion, mind you, but contraception. I mean, not only do they opt to personally forego contraceptives for religious reasons or whatever, but they want to keep everyone else, married or not, from using them too?
I can't find the internals of this poll anywhere, but assuming an even split between Democrats and Republicans (not a perfectly safe assumption) that means about 4% of Democrats feel the same way.
June 9, 2005
Ebay Update: Ebay ♥ me!
The feedback is in from my very first Ebay sale. See my initial post here.
OMG!! incl. $1 cash when "postage was unexpectedly cheep"! Item as described AAA!
That was definitely worth a dollar.
RetroGen: January 11, 2005
I always thought that stretching after a nap was something people picked up by example. As a kid, I remember thinking it was a strange quirk of "grownups", then eventually I found myself doing it too.
So I was surprised to see Gen doing this:
Her movements were so spastic and random, this stretching maneuver (classifiable as a reflex?) was a miracle of coordination.
RetroGen: January 13, 2005
Livia found a basket at Cost Plus and made this fantastic little portable basinet from it.
This let us to carry Gen around and keep her nearby at all times (just to make sure she kept breathing; at the time we thought that if we stopped watching her, she'd stop breathing).
Extra! Extra! June 10, 2005
Gen Knight caught in Love Tryst with Sock Monkey!
June 17, 2005
Living in Oblivion
Yes, it's the ever-popular disappearing webmaster trick.
I love working on the site, but it's temporarily taking a back seat to work, dad-ly duties, and brief but therapeutic sessions of Ratchet & Clank.
June 19, 2005
Father's Day
Here's a shout-out to Doug, since I missed the chance to call on Sunday: Happy Father's Day!
And while I'm on the subject...
Tonight I decided to unearth our oldest camcorder tapes and record them to the hard drive. The early weeks were such a blur, I wasn't sure when we started recording and what we got. My earliest memory of filming was from week 3 or so, and I regretted not having more pictures and film of those early days.
The interesting thing about this procedure is that you have to spool it to the computer in real time, and camcorder filming, by it's nature, is full of extended takes while you wait for something interesting to happen. So watching an old tape spool off surprises is a blend of tedium, discovery, and suspenseful verite voyeurism.
I found the oldest tape and started the copy process with the sound up. There were the shots of various camera tests while I filmed the manual I was reading, several long passages with the cats walking around (and voices begging them to look at the camera), a driving tour of Petaluma sheep country we recorded for Gen, etc. It finally got a bit dull, so I walked away to wash some bottles.
A few minutes later, we heard tiny squalling noises coming from the camera and came back to check it out. To our amazement, we were watching Gen get her first bath, about 90 minutes after she was born. Cut to shots of her sleeping on Mom in the hospital, yawning, being fed, mewing and stretching in that blind newt way of hers.
Wow....Best Father's Day present ever.
It's amazing that we have this stuff. Not only had I forgotten what she looked and sounded like in those early days, I'd forgotten that I'd managed to film it. I'm still trying to figure out how to post some clips to the site. Stay tuned...
June 24, 2005
Eminent Domain
When I first heard the news about the New London ruling, I assumed it was the right-wingers on the court siding with business again.
Then I thought about it for a while, and wondered if I'd disagree. The concept of Eminent Domain gives the state the right to sieze property (at market-rate compensation) for public use. This is traditionally taken to mean highways and the like, but it could theoretically mean zoos, hospitals, prisons, etc. It's also true that it has meant sports stadiums now and then, built at the behest of the corporate owners of the teams, and often affects low-income neighborhoods (fewer voters).
I think the precedent for this interpretation of "public use" was already set years ago when the court determined that "blighted" areas could be bulldozed and replaced with new housing development, effectively putting "public use" in the domain of economics.
At any rate, I thought I was staking out a contrarian position, a challenge to my usual liberal notions. Then I read into the decision and found that the conservative wing of the court were the ones who voted against it! Looking specifically at New London, the court noted that it appeared to be legitimately intended to benefit an economically depressed community, and that other uses of eminent domain for economic reasons would need to meet the same standard. They effectively left it up to the state courts to deal with the specifics of each instance, but said the theory itself was sound.
So what does this mean "on the ground"? While I hate the idea of people being kicked out for a new Walmart, I have to admit the decision seems to allow it, since economic development can be very broadly interpreted. On the other hand I don't mind some small number of people being displaced if an otherwise struggling community needs an economic fulcrum.
Ultimately, whether it's good or bad constitutional law, I think the decision is going to cause eminent domain abuse. Since municipal politics frequently comes down to a struggle between development and non-development types (Petaluma especially, since we're surrounded by beautiful open land, which is of course why a lot of us moved here), it won't take much to tilt the scale towards development when corporate interests get involved.
June 27, 2005
The Rentership Society
First it was Netflix, then Gamefly, and now Simply Audiobooks. I'm now spending about $75 monthly for the chance to rent any movie, game, or audiobook I want.
I feel like I crossed some sad line of rabid consumption when I signed up for my 3rd rental-by-mail service. On the other hand, I'll never have to buy a movie, game, or audiobook again, so perhaps I'm simultaneously saving money and getting more options. The only trick is to keep watching, playing, and listening at a pace that makes it all worthwhile. (Anyone who's looked at our frozen-in-amber Netflix queue knows it's much easier said than done.)
It's vexingly inefficient that these distractions, which can't after all be enjoyed simultaneously, require three different rental systems to maintain. You've gotta keep your Netflix account going, even if you're too busy playing games to watch any movies. I'm waiting for Amazon.com to inaugurate the "Rent Whatever the Hell you Want" service. Books, DVDs, CDs, toys, kitchen appliances, all shipped to your home! No late fees!
Oh, it'll happen, I promise you. I recommend investing in UPS.