You can observe a lot by watching

So I measured my height yesterday, probably for the first time since high school--the doctor usually takes my word for it. Turns out I'm two inches taller than I had previously believed. I'm not sure where or when I picked up the extra height, but I'll take it. Now I'm just an inch shy of six feet. And my driver's license is totally wrong. I do believe my mind has been blown . . .

Also

It got colder. I mean, not subzero or anything, but cold enough to remind us that winter's going to be here for a while.

So good, so good, so good

One of the bestest TV shows ever is back, albeit under a new name, new format, and new means of delivery. Come on, who among us didn't like to kick back and watch Mystery Science Theater 3000 back in the early 90s? Luckily, there is no shortage of cinematic dreck for them to work with, although it might be tricky to get the rights to a Crossroads or a Kangaroo Jack.

Whether or not Tom Servo's not part of the new crew, he'll always be there in spirit . . .

Thank goodness for Bishop Tutu

I heard Desmond Tutu speak back in '99, and he was phenomenal. He wrote an amazing op-ed in today's Guardian, on capital punishment. Hopefully the day will come when it disappears, hopefully in my lifetime, and hopefully soon. I wonder how the US will vote tomorrow on the UN General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on capital punishment? Probably the same as a handful of other countries our government wouldn't want us next to on any list concerning human rights--China, Sudan, etc. Even Russia has abolished the death penalty. Heck, even red, Republican Alaska has no death penalty. I'm encouraged by some recent US court decisions--I hope we're evolving as a country on this issue. Revenge doesn't make us whole.

It's cold-er in Bethel, but not cold cold. It's about 20 degrees right now, and it got down to 17 the other night. It's supposed to stay pretty mild through Thanksgiving--I'm sure the subzero temperatures will get here sooner or later.

The joy of doing very little

The three day weekend progresses splendidly. It's been very relaxing, and I can reflect on my hope for peace on this Armistice Day. I also made beef bourguignon last night, which turned out rather tasty (and tastes even better as leftovers, go figure).

I caught up on some Netflix as well. Four Brothers has a catchy blaxploitation soundtrack, most of which is already on my iPod, and I dug the story too--you pretty much know what's going to happen in any revenge-themed flick (heck, the name gave away the ending in Kill Bill). Comic Book Villains was disappointing--it gets a few points for the mild Kevin Smith vibe running through it, the comic book trivia sprinkled in, the excellent casting, and Cary Elwes playing a low-down dirty double-crosser who is loyal to his woman, but the story was kind of thin, perhaps good enough for a short subject. Vulgar was weird, but not weird in a new and interesting way--think Pulp Fiction meets Quick Change meets Death Wish. Still, gotta support independent cinema, even though it's mostly been gobbled up by major studios.

I am chagrined by the dearth of streaming audio coverage for Stanford basketball games. My team isn't the home team here, so I can't count on TV coverage, and I like to put the audio on so I can read or do chores or something while listening to the game. I missed the Harvard drubbing the other night, the Northwestern State whomping last night, and the UCSB trouncing going on as I write this. I understand that the campus station has a set schedule, especially before conference play begins, but you'd think a commercial radio station billing itself as "the radio home of Stanford athletics" would at least carry some games. Ah well, could be worse--I could live in a giant bucket.

Yay, us and those like us

I bear no specific animosity toward Harvard--it's like Stanford with worse weather and traffic, no Silicon Valley, and a lack of a quality athletic program or marching band. But really, we're not all that different, despite there being a continent between us. Anyway, boy is it nice to see the Stanford Men's Basketball team start the season off right, by beating the Crimson 111-56. The Women's team also beat Yale today, 100-44. Good show.

Settling in for a three-day weekend--maybe I'll clean this place up a bit.

18 years? 18 years.

I can't believe that November 9 is the 18th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. What a time that was--such optimism. It was right around that time that my interest in Russia and Eastern Europe really took off.

I'll refrain from commenting on which ideology is going to conquer the world, but it's a good thing on the whole when people can vote, go where they want, and say what they want, especially in a region that got the Hitler-Stalin one-two punch in the twentieth century.

Heh

I like it when they get little details right on TV shows. This week's Chuck involved the characters going to the Stanford campus, and they got a lot of little things. The on-campus shots were clearly taken someplace else, and the geographical orientation wasn't correct, but that's nitpicking. Geography in TV and movies is always subject to artistic license. They did, however, use surprisingly accurate student ID cards, authentic aerial shots of campus, a real-looking shot of a football game at Stanford Stadium, a frat house that looked like it could have been on campus, and the "S" logo with El Palo Alto plastered all over the place. Impressive, especially when the show's creator is a USC alum.

ALWAYS do the right thing.

I should, even though I don't always, praise politicians with whom I don't agree when they do something good. So, gold stars to Gov. Palin and the State of Alaska for filing an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the plaintiffs in the case involving punitive damages in the Exxon Valdez spill, to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court sometime in the next few months. Sure, the state couldn't very well file a brief on behalf of Exxon-Mobil without looking really bad, but it's nice to see the State doing something that helps so many citizens. I'll never forget the spill--I was all of 13 when it happened, and it really brought home for me how fragile our ecosystem really is.

Less encouraging is that the Senate appears to be satisfied with Michael Mukasey's promise to enforce a law banning waterboarding, should Congress pass one. I've never been a big natural law proponent--I'd like to regulate the hell out of things--but I don't think the Attorney General needs an act of Congress to know that our government shouldn't engage in something that is torture by any reasonable definition of the word. There has to be a moral basis for our legal system someplace . . .

It's mid-30s and the snow appears to be here to stay. What a difference the end of daylight savings makes in the North. At least the weather is nice!

Sigh

From Today's New York Times:

The Bush administration signaled Sunday that it would probably keep billions of dollars flowing to Pakistan's military, despite the detention of human rights advocates and leaders of the political opposition by Gen.Pervez Musharraf, the country’s president.

. . . .

. . . the officials argued that it would be counterproductive to let Pakistan’s political turmoil interfere with their best hope of ousting Al Qaeda’s central leadership and the Taliban from the country’s mountainous tribal areas.

Because what better way to protect the American way of life than by sending our tax dollars to regime that has never shown much interest in democracy?

Another fun article here: since 9/11, the unwelcome atmosphere in this country, including an "entry experience [] among the world's worst," has cost the US $94 billion in visitor spending, 200,000 jobs, and $16 billion in tax revenue. That's a lot. If we make it oppressively difficult for people to come here, they'll never know what a great country we live in.

Wasilla ahoy!

I'm sitting in the Anchorage airport waiting to get on my overbooked flight home after a weekend in Anchorage and the Valley. I had a blast in my 2 short days here--crossed paths with some people I hadn't seen for awhile, as well as the regular gang, which was awesome.

I also ran over a mattress on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway last night--I didn't see it until I was upon it, and it got tangled up in the wheel. There was a lovely smell of burning rubber, all from the mattress, fortunately. It took me a while to get it untangled. I can honestly say that has never happened to me before . . .

It would be hyperbole to say that federal prisons are soon to be swelling with former Alaska State Legislators, but wow.

Pervez Musharraf is very concerning, but he was also concerning six years ago when he became a U.S. ally in the endless war on terror: a military dictator whose regime gave key support to the Taliban before 9/11. So, perhaps what's remarkable is that his declaration of martial law and arresting opposition leaders and others who might question him comes as a surprise to anyone who's been paying attention. After all, I've just barely been paying attention. What we need is a president who will tell Gen. Musharraf that he can stop expecting our checks in the mail. If only.

All right--I'm tired and opinionated. More later.