Monday, 26 Nov 2001

Did you know that Hong Kong filmakers often dust a martial artist’s hands and feet with a special kind of clay to visually emphasize kicks and punches? I sure didn’t. It’s called “Fuller’s Earth”. [link] [ more info ] [technical info]

Monday, 19 Nov 2001

Yesterday I was standing in CompUSA with a package of CD-Rs in my hand and poring over a display of other CD-Rs trying to determine if either were the ones that were free after rebate when a stranger standing on the other side of the display - likewise intently staring at the display as if trying to figure out something - asked out loud (presumably he was asking “me” since there was no one else within 10-15 feet) aloud “Can you still get music on the internet”? I wasn’t sure why he was asking _me_ (though perhaps my dressed-down look and pony tail and geek confidence identified me to the world at large or at least to this individual as someone who was “internet-savvy”), so I simply responded “Yes. though it’s a little harder to find”. This is a kind of wussy answer I know, vague and not that helpful but in retrospect I I think it was a safe and accurate response that probably contained just about the right amount of information to someone who would ask “Can you still get music on the internet”. Now I am wondering if this person perhaps doesn’t use CDs with computers so just equates CDs with music and was baffled and trying to make some sense of this large pyramid display of CDs in the store. CDs are for music, so if people are buying CDs it must be to put music on, and people get music from the internet, etc… On the other hand of course he could have been an undercover agent for the Recording Industry Association of America trolling the local computer stores to see if buyers were purchasing CDRs to make illegal copies of copyrighted material.

Thursday, 15 Nov 2001

Haven’t been in a physically long distant relationship for a few years, but I like this description I read on supergrape.blogspot.com

My washing machine is fixed. I made it through without going to a laundromat. Damn, I’m good. But other than that, what a terrible day. My girlfriend is coming to visit this week, so why can’t I be happy for once? Why do I feel so frigging lonely and starved for affection? This is what long distance relationships do to you. They convince you that you are loved and cared for, then they throw you out into the world on a daily basis with nothing to hold onto but phone conversations and emails. I have never been this starved for affection before in my life. One kind word, or gesture, or pat on the back from a person during the day, and I want to throw my arms around him or her and hug them. I totally have Affection Deficit Disorder. I had to go to the doctor’s office today to get an IV dose of antibiotics, and I almost bear-hugged a nurse, because she patted me on the shoulder and said, “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Ever since I became involved in a long distance relationship, I’ve totally craved random acts of kindness like that. It’s pathetic. “Answering Machine” by the Replacements is such a great song. But “Deep Inside” by 3EB says it best. “I never felt alone, until I met you / I was alright on my own, and then I met you.” I love that song. — posted by Chris Parmelee at 3:18 PM

Tuesday, 6 Nov 2001

Drove past a church that had one of those inscrutable church signs out front. This one said “Wait for God’s vision”. My first image was of people and cars just stopped everywhere within sight of the sign literally waiting for God’s vision.

Second image/thought was wondering what God’s vision (e.g. sight, not long term vision thing) would freally look like. If we are talking about the Western omniscient god who is supposed to know about EVERY SINGLE THING that happens in the entire cosmos AS it is happening would God have googlific spider eyes with millions of facets to let God see everything? Or would it be like a complex full of millions of computer monitors that God (or God’s staff) can monitor and alert God when something of “interest” is happening. Or would god be able to do “Picture in Picture” with infinite sub screens to see what is going on. If God could be aware of and acting in relation to EVERYTHING that happens ANYWHERE in the cosmos I can’t image such a being being in the same physical universe that we are in. I t would seem to have to be outside of reality since it would have to either be able to disrupt/circumvent time or it would have to have millions and millions of agents working on it’s behalf in order to address all the things that needed addresseing.
How could a God who was monitoring or aware of EVERYTHING in the entitre universe be able to even carry on a conversation?

Or what if God’s vision was just of the overview not the detailed picture. Kind of like monitoring the health of your people and the pollution level and the amount of food in SimCity. “Hmmm…overall Good/Evil is going well holding at a steady 0.875, and the energy conservation is holding at 0.2 - looks like the Crab Nebula is spiking energy loss, better check that one out…”

What if a God did only see in generalities but was completely ignorant or powereless or uncaring of the details? Could a god that saw the world like that send planes into buildings to improve the amount of goodwill and charity that people do?