Monthly Archives: March 2005

Good Citizenship

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Oh boy! Tonight I get to go to traffic school! I’m going to learn how to traffic! For four whole hours! Oh boy oh boy!

Dear all 3 of you who continue to read this blog in spite of incessant posts about TAR and Holy Moly: today is a special day. Today I actually have something different to blather about.

They say that crime does not pay. They don’t say that crime actually turns out to be a major pain in the ass and an inconvenience, and the out of pocket expenses can be considerable.

Some time ago now – quite a long time ago, but it takes the wheels of justice a really, really long time to do all that grinding exceeding fine, I was on my way to work. And yes, I was running a little late. Next thing I know, the bright red and blue lights start flashing in my rear-view mirror.

Who knew that there was a speed trap on Golf Road, with a radar gun set up in the parking lot of Toys ‘R Us? Not the good people at Speedtrap.org, apparently. And neither did I.

I tried to sign up for taking the class over the Internet, but missed a deadline. So off to class I go.

UPDATE: Class was pretty much what I expected – 4 hours of mostly boredom, leavened by some interesting facts and a couple of lively conversations. The best was one workgroup’s analysis of the hazards drivers of different ages present (the “everyone else is either a maniac or an idiot” syndrome).

Ages 16-25: Agressive, inexperienced, think they’re invincible, too many passengers in the car, loud music, speeding, and having sex while driving. Yes, that was actually part of their analysis.

Ages 26-65: Rushed, tired, children in the car, putting on makeup or shaving in the car, talking on the cell phone, late for work or child care, stressed out, have road rage, watching TV in the car, worried about money or other concerns, and daydreaming. I added “not getting enough sex while driving.”

Ages 66-90: Slower reaction times, drive more slowly than other traffic, possible impairment due to use of prescription and non-prescription drugs, possible vision or hearing problems, poor posture causing a hunched driving position and inability to see over the top of the steering wheel.

Yes, they really did say that last one. We added “irritability due to being unable to have sex while driving” just for fun. It was all in the spirit of education, I suppose.

The instructor was very nice but spent a lot of time eliciting responses and anecdotes from the class – and there was one older guy (there’s always That One Guy) who had a major chip on his shoulder and complained bitterly that the whole thing was a crock, that the Secretary of State (past and present) was a corrupt bastard who was getting fat on all the fines, and that nobody could tell him how to drive. Lovely man.

And you should have seen everyone burn rubber, peel out, and otherwise rev up while leaving the parking lot of the hotel where the class was held.

Signs and Portents

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Ugh, this sign looks terrible. I took a picture of it so that I’d have an image handy on my phone to show to a signmaking place near us. We’ve changed service times so many times we just started writing it on vinyl tape with magic markers. There’s no way we can afford to get the entire sign replaced… and now the tape is totally peeling off. Lovely.

Needless to say, I’ll be looking into getting either vinyl magnetic labels with the summer and winter service times, or maybe stick-on slides.

The Reproaches

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I’ve got the music we’re singing for Good Friday here at work with me, just looking it over and humming long more or less at the right pitch. And I’ve got chocolate tempting me, though I’m going to try not to eat it until at least noon. David’s home today and I won’t get to see him again until probably 9pm. Last night, I got home from the Maundy Thursday service at… 1020pm or so.

And then Saturday night, well it goes to 11. Though we don’t really sing that much louder.

Anyway, the piece we’re singing tonight is called “O My People” but it’s subtitled “(The Reproaches),” so the text is traditionally associated with Good Friday and a rite called Veneration of the Cross. The music is modern and lovely to sing (by Damian Lundy) and our poor little crack-pot choir actually sounds really good in rehearsal. We’ll be at St Columba at 7pm, stuffed into an area I like to call the “choir nook.” Stewart, the new (and very competent) organist, will be there playing, so we won’t have to rely on this weird computerized organ-playing device for backup.

We’ve got a HELL of a lot of music to sing tomorrow night for what’s essentially a double service at Holy Moly. Besides the Exsultet, there are 2 extra party pieces plus a boatload of hymns. And then some of the same again the next morning at St Columba again (you can see the alternating pattern here).

It’s tiring and all that, but satisfying when we get through it all.

Plus there’s all the Easter chocolate, including the pre-Easter goodies that have been tempting me at my desk all morning.

UPDATE: Scoffed the lot. Singing takes energy, says I.

Sin City

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We saw the ads for Sin City the other night – this article from Sci Fi Wire makes me interested in seeing it. Some movies adapted from comic books or that have a comic book sensibility are really cool or great (see The Matrix or Spiderman or Dark City).

And sometimes comic-book movies just aren’t quite good enough (see or don’t see DareDevil, The Matrix sequels, and so on.

(edited to add DVD links)

Furrow’s Last Hurrah

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UPN released details of the upcoming back-to-back series-ending episodes of its canceled Star Trek: Enterprise, which will air in May.

FURROW.jpg

UPN released details of the upcoming back-to-back series-ending episodes of its canceled Star Trek: Enterprise, which will air in May. I have fallen out of the habit of watching Enterprise – even though I think it’s really started to pick up energy and better writing and so on, I just… got bored with the endless Xindi storyline. And also, even though I like Scott Bakula’s work a lot and admire his approach to the character of Archer, I also lost interest, mostly due to what I started calling the “Pollyanna In Space,” terribly earnest aspect of Archer’s personality.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that over on TWOP, the character’s nicknames are either “Captain Quantum” or “Furrow.” It’s affectionate snark, but it’s also plain-vanilla snarky snark.

Although… I will miss cute li’l Porthos the cheese-eating, fart-pooting Space Beagle and the way T’Pol’s nose would quiver in subtly telegraphed disgust every time she was in Archer’s cabin.

“We Rejoice In Both”

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But the Scottish bishops said: “We are conscious that as a church we are much indebted in our life both to a significant presence of persons of homosexual orientation, and also those whose theology and stance would be critical of attitudes to sexuality other than abstinence outside marriage.

“We rejoice in both.”

Thank God for Scotland the brave. Their bishops consecrated the first American Episcopal bishops in the years immediately after the Revolution, when we weren’t exactly on speaking terms with Britain. Then we all got over it.

Then they consecrated the first Episcopalian woman priest in 1994. We’re all still getting over it, but it’s not as controversial as it once was.

Now they’re making a positive affirmation for gay clergy, as much from a pragmatic stance (the church needs all its people, of every stripe) as anything.

To get over this, we in the American Episcopal church need to work more on the rejoicing and less on the condemning.

It’s classic middle way/Via Media/Great Compromise stuff, really. We need to look to our own past to find this solution.

Ride On, Ride On, Ride On

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Amazing Race stuff! Yeah!

susan_index.jpgOkay, the recap for last week’s episode brought back searing memories of far too much fly-blown, seared meat, organs and glands. Gah. But it was funny, so go read it. I just can’t quote it here, or I’ll have to go find a charming Argentinian bucket.

This week: another very, very short leg. One internal flight, with – AGAIN! – spoon-fed air schedules. There’s never been a season of TAR where the teams didn’t start to do their own airport “work” so late, as far as I know. What’s the dealio? Half the comedy and drama is in watching people helplessly and haplessly try to figure out the fastest way from Point A to Point B.

There were eight teams to start with, and now there are seven. Yay! And a very much deserved elimination it was, too.

And now, a quick rundown of the standings, using my patented Moodulation technology. The person in bold took the Roadblock for the team (remember, each person can only take 6, but it’s too early for that to be a factor).

Rob and Amber 👿 Good racers, but so goddamn smug.
Brian and Greg 8) I love these guys. They so rock.
Uchenna and Joyce 🙂 Joyce got right back on that horse – twice.
Ron and Kelly :confused: She can’t do math, he can’t read Spanish.
Lynn and Alex 😉 Steady on, boys. Race more, rant less.
Ray and Deana 😡 She should have ridden her horse’s ass.
Meredith and Gretchen 🙂 Way to go, Team Penultimate!
Susan and Patrick 😯 Vaya con Dios, y gracias a Dios.

In closing, I’d like to nominate Ray (and Deana) for elimination next. Boy, that guy worked up a big head of karmic steam tonight, ranting on being stuck with the bottom feeders and the “old couple.”

Next week is a two hour special… it’s rumored to be either another “uberleg” with two sets of Detours and Roadblocks, or a non-elim episode followed immediately by an elim one. So we’ll see.

In the previews for next week, Greg and Brian roll their jeep over
(they seem to be driving somewhere with right-hand controls – Africa?). And another team’s video crew catches them immediately afterwards, picking over their gear (and their own crewmember is clearly visible). It looks like they’re okay, but it’s hard to tell.

As I said on the thread for this episode, it’s all about The Dork Brothers for me now. I love me some Dorks.