Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in beau_nidle's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, December 24th, 2009
11:00 am	For my Pagan friends Current Mood: Festive (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 21st, 2009
11:56 pm	Survivor: Faust I realize that most of you did not watch Survivor: Samoa. I remain guiltily surprised that I did. However, there's too much to summarize and most of the season is still available for free online if you care to check my references, so I shall proceed as though everybody knows exactly what and who I'm talking about here. Russell made an interesting statement during the jury response portion of the finale. Asked how he behaved in real life, he said he is nothing like his in-game persona. He values honesty and loyalty. I can only assume he was once more saying what needed to be said to advance in the game. I respect deviousness within the context of a game. I can totally support a player making and breaking alliances within that context, because that's the way that game is constructed. Ultimately, only one player can win, so everybody knows from the beginning that an alliance can only last to the point that one or both of the people involved realize he has gotten all the help he can get - if you are in an alliance you must know that the only way you can avoid being betrayed is to betray first. But consider Russell's strategy in the context of actual reality. In solo interviews where no other player was present, he repeatedly degraded and ridiculed the other players. He referred to his "dumb-ass girl alliances" from the first episode onward. The only form of respect he ever showed any other player was by deciding they were a threat to be removed. Time spent talking to the camera is outside the context of the game. You have to know that those interviews will be seen by the other players before the big finale. You will be in a room with those people again, and they will know you burned their socks, dumped their water, engineered the blindside you said you couldn't prevent, etc. You have to have a nearly religious faith in your own cleverness to burn your bridges while you're still standing on them. But let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Let's believe that the ordinarily kind-hearted, straight-shooting, family-friendly oil company owner who is Russell decided to put his Hobbes and Machiavelli to the test, and mapped out a masterful strategy which incidentally required complete divorce from any concerns of morality or ethics. Now that the game is over, I wonder how his shareholders feel about their investments. Do any of his directors have a grain of confidence in their job security, or are they even now forming alliances out of desperation, making contingency plans against the day that Russell decides their usefulness no longer outweighs their salaries? Sure, lots of people admire the skill with which he played his game, but are any companies going to want him endorsing them? Russell sold his soul on national television for one million dollars. And true to classic literature, he did not get the prize. Bonus: he tried to purchase the title "Sole Survivor" from the actual winner for $10,000 out of his own pocket. Ten thousand dollars to purchase the title "winner" after failing to actually earn it yourself. Vanity, avarice, envy. I understand they're gearing up for "Survivor: Heroes vs Villains" with a slot reserved obviously for the player who has been known as Evil Russell since episode one. But can he even cash in on that? His strategy requires secrecy. It fails if people know you're a bastard from the start. The thing that kills me, is that if he had just shown some respect for the other players when talking to the camera, I could forgive everything else (except the water dumping and sock burning - that was just tacky) as an acceptable in-game strategy. I can easily see myself playing a similar strategy. I was pretty impressed by his ability to keep all of his stories straight, and his ability to focus on the finish line from day one. While one tribe was enjoying a day off as a reward (made easier by the fact that the losing tribe had a saboteur), he was out looking for immunity idols with no clues, just knowledge of the structure of the game. I respect somebody who can play the meta-game that well. It just keeps coming back to one crucial fault I can not get over. That man has no respect or consideration for any other person in the world, and without that, I can not wish him any success. The world is a worse place with him in it. As for the other finalists, I believe it is entirely appropriate that Mick got no votes - elected leader on day one, he showed no leadership at all, and his tribe was the least effective in the history of the game. After the merge, he spoke only when Russell told him to, except to wonder over and over whether Russell was going to betray him. But he never even considered trying to remove Russell. And Natalie deserved the prize. It's roughly analogous to winning a football game on chip-shot field goals without ever actually getting into the end zone, but games can be won that way, and not all wins are pretty. Her strategy of inheritance through meekness wasn't admirable or spectacular, but she does have a million bucks, and that was the sole purpose of the exercise. I don't see any of the final three profiting much from their Survivor fame once the next season ends their talk show circuits. (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
9:03 pm	Contractual obligation The first five people that respond to this post will get something made by me. It will be about, or tailored to, those first five people who respond. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations: + I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. + What I create will be just for you. + It'll be done this year. + You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a journal. It may be jewelry, or a poem. I may draw or paint something. I might bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! + I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well!! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
9:37 am	American Spin Doctors don't know squat Cubans, now.... Those guys know how to spin a story! A Cuban athlete fails to get an extension of an injury time-out, even though all he apparently had to do was stand up and ask for more time. By the rules of the competition, he is disqualified. Naturally, he gives the ref a boot to the head. Here's that video: Fidel Castro had much to say about Cuba's performance in the Olympics. Here's his speech. I love the set-up for 2012: "Let us prepare ourselves for important future battles. Let us not be taken in by London’s smiles. There, we are to find European chauvinism, corrupt referees, the buying of muscle and brains (an incalculable loss) and a strong dose of racism. Let no one even dream that London will achieve the level of safety, discipline and enthusiasm we saw in Beijing. One thing is certain: there'll be a conservative government that is perhaps less belligerent than the current one." Current Mood: Scornful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
4:47 pm	I guess I have to do this one eventually.... This pops up pretty frequently, with slight changes to the list to include one "New Classic" each time. Apparently Rowling has made the cut recently. I wonder what book was taken off the list to make room? "The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed." 1) Look at the list and bold those you have read. 2) Italicize those you intend to read. 3) Underline the books you LOVE. 4) Strike out the books you have no intention of ever reading, or were forced to read at school and hated. 5) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-) ( The list... ) Current Mood: nerdy (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
9:37 pm	O, my prophetic soul... For a few years now, I've occasionally joked that soon a manager's approval would be needed to use cash to conduct business. I never thought that would actually happen, but it has. Bellacino's Pizza and Grinders will not accept cash. I asked the guy how that was remotely possible, in light of little notes on the bills saying the notes are "legal tender for all debts", and he replied that they do take US currency, but only in the form of checks or credit card transactions. The owner's belief is that this is in line with the precedent set by online merchants who, of course, do not deal in physical currency. Why do they not take cash? One of their locations is next door to the scene of a double murder related to a robbery, and the owner believes he is protecting his employees by taking all cash out of his store. This is ridiculous. It's not like there's a sign or anything saying "no cash here - rob Publix they've got lots!". Have they not seen "Dr. Strangelove"? They missed the part dealing with deterrents, apparently: "Of course, the whole point of a [deterrent] is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*! Why didn't you tell the world, EH?" Current Mood: quixotic (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
11:51 pm	My second favourite by Lewis Caroll Now with Muppet Show Goodness! Second only to The Hunting of the Snark, of course. Current Mood: amused (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 9th, 2008
9:59 am	When I was a newbie.... I've read a few reports from a recent SCA event, and was in the process of replying to one when I saw that I was spun off on a rant of my own, which should more appropriately be put in my own collection of digital gripes, bitches, and complaints. The theme of the rant: What happened to the events? The June Pop Chiv has fliers for the following events: ---June--- Kingdom A&S Lilies War XXII (OOK) Pirates of the Mediterranean Border Raids XXXVI (OOK) ---July--- Arabian Nights RUM ---August--- Beggar's [sic] Rebellion Tourney of the Foxes 30th Year (The online Kingdom calendar also lists Myths of the Forge in August, as well as two canceled events) What happened to "any given weekend you can choose from at least two events within a 4- or 5-hour drive"? Remember telling that to prospective newbies? OK, so the kingdoms have gotten smaller. The 200-mile schedule deconflict buffer is a bit greater an obstacle than it used to be. Still, during the summer months, why do we have a three month period where not only is there NEVER a choice between two events, there are actually three vacant weekends? Somebody find your June 1988 and 1998 Pop Chivs (I know at least two of my readers are likely to have them). Count the events. Just for giggles, go ahead and scratch out the ones that are now in Gleann Abhann and Trimaris. What are we left with? I really don't know, I was a Midrealmer at that time, but there's the scientific method for ya. My hypothesis: Ten and twenty years ago, there were three times as many events to choose from as today. Gas prices are often blamed for this, but that's actually backwards. With high gas prices there should be more events, because Tennessee groups are not generally drawing from the Gulf Coast anymore. Why shouldn't Osprey have an event the same weekend Glaedenfeld does? Sure, we'd like to try to get those folks to attend ours, but we should draw them by having an interesting slate of classes or something, not through sheer non competition. Current Mood: cranky (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
11:27 pm	Car shopping Ran into some trouble today on I-24. Not so much "trouble" as "minivan", actually. No injuries except some rug burn caused by the airbags knocking my hands off the wheel, but the car, she is toast. That was a 98 Cavalier with over 200,000 miles on it. Its predecessor was a 97 Cavalier that barely outlived its warranty before I ran it under a semi. In both cases, the parts of the car responsible for keeping the people people-shaped performed admirably. Also, I had just determined that I've been getting 30-35 mpg in that car. Naturally, I'm looking for another just like it. In related news, I have 4 14" tires that have very few miles on them. I replaced them just prior to deploying back in March. Anybody need them? The catch - I have to leave some tires on my car so they can carry it off. It's no good waiting until it reaches its resting place, 'cause I won't own it then, and won't be able to scavenge. So if you want them, we need to arrange to meet with a jack or two and a lug wrench. That's a tentative offer, of course. It's possible that I can still use it for trade-in because while the body is shot, most of the parts are fine. Jim Reed may be interested in organ donations. What's weird about this accident is that the other drivers involved were pretty cool about it. The minivan had three kids in, who thought it was scary like a roller coaster, and were having a fine time while we waited for the cops to arrive. The driver of the other involved vehicle was a 16-year-old. We're not sure why he was braking on the interstate, but we wish he hadn't been. His vehicle was largely unscratched. The van was only superficially damaged. Even my car might not have been in as bad shape as it appeared. My braking caused the front end to dip down under the van's bumper, so my hood got smashed back. That makes it look like I hit a wall, but the engine still runs without any funny noises. The only fluid that leaked was coolant. So, three adults, three kids, no tempers. The police were friendly, no tickets were issued, if you're gonna have a wreck, this is the way to do it, I guess (A+++ Would definitely hit again). And car shopping has changed a lot since I did it last. Back then you had to visit car lots, test drive, fend off salesmen, and trade in a car that could actually be driven. Now I'm looking online, and thinking I can fly to Chicago to buy a 98 Cavalier, if the price is right.... Current Mood: annoyed (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 24th, 2008
10:01 pm	Scooped by the Dane As has already been reported by erikthedane, Robert Lynn Asprin died suddenly and unexpectedly in his home Thursday night, apparently of a heart attack while reading a Terry Pratchett book in bed (morbidly, the thought that crossed my mind upon finding that detail was of my last conversation with the Dane. Have I read the killing joke? If Pratchett wrote it, I probably have...). As is always the case when I hear of a favorite author's death, the obituary in my mind reads something like "Mr. Asprin is survived by his mother, his sister, his son and his daughter, as well two ongoing series." His collaborator, Jody Lynn Nye, has the Myth books in hand, and I feel confident that Skeeve and friends will not be left to fade into oblivion, fates unresolved. That would be particularly bitter, since those characters have already dodged that bullet once, when it seemed the author had retired mid-series due to personal troubles. As for Phule's Company, they might be done. Their exploits were stand-alones, probably not requiring a swan's song requiem. Current Mood: nostalgic (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
7:47 pm	On the road Not much to report, really. We've been to St. John's, Newfoundland, where it was cold and snowy. We were only there long enough to grab dinner and crew rest, but the dinner was steak and dungeness, so life was pretty good. In Scotland we hit a little snag - it seems that we had a slow fuel leak. Fixing that took a while, and cost us the time we had made beating the schedule to death. We arrived in Sicily at 02:30, and will not have time to go out on the town. Worse, we're staying on base. The room is nice (Navy stations assign rooms based on rank. My recent promotion to Tech Sgt apparently means I rate a small suite!) but the chow hall (they say "galley") does not have blood orange juice for breakfast. If you've never had that, you'll be confused by my belief that the orange juice is one of the highlights of a stay in Sicily. It may take me a while to establish internet access from here on. I'll update when I can. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
7:23 pm	Coffeh Monday evening at 6:00 we shall celebrate the fine tradition of Final Coffee. All are invited, especially as this has a decent chance of being Final Final Coffee - I don't anticipate much more in the way of deployments in the future. Hope to see you there.... EDIT: Oops. The location is Cafe Coco on Louisa Ave (just off Elliston Place near Centennial Park). (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 22nd, 2008
5:41 pm	Magnetic ribbons I've ranted in other peoples' journals often on this topic - often enough that many of you already know my opinion of token gestures, 'cause I clubbed your readers over the head with it (sorry). The short version is this: Marketers pandering to a desire to "do something" with the conflicting desire to "risk nothing" have made it increasingly easy to show little tokens of essentially meaningless support. Having purchased and displayed such a token, we have "done something" and can return our heads to the safety of the nearest pile of sand. I sincerely love a sentiment of support for troops, cancer patients, Darfur, whatever. I love to hear of people donating money to worthy charities, enlisting, actively and intelligently campaigning for the candidate of their choice, or otherwise putting some genuine effort into not just supporting a cause but advancing it. But that's not what I see for the most part. You can get ten people into a room, each of whom will have an idea of what "support the troops" means, but no two agreeing with each other. Several will vehemently disagree with at least half of the others. But they all bought the same magnet, from the same store, each with the vague idea that their buck just went to some organization dedicated to "supporting the troops" in some way they individually agree with. The really crazy ones are the ones that can't even be identified. I saw one that was so many different colors I couldn't tell if there was even writing on it until we reached a stoplight. Autism Awareness. Folks, if the writing on your bumper sticker is less than 2 inches tall, you are not communicating with anybody. It's just a generic sticker. With all of the primary colors pretty much taken, the token for any new cause is probably going to be ridiculously ineffective anyway - find some other way to support it. Note that the company behind that link will create a ribbon to support pretty much any cause you like - and they will pocket every bit of the proceeds. I especially love this: Gay Pet Awareness Anyhow, the reason I'm ranting right now, is this video was recently brought to my attention, and I've just gotta share: Current Mood: cranky (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, February 4th, 2008
10:03 am	Super Bowl This year, I did not watch the game. I'm not too upset by that, as I didn't have any stake in it at all (except one box in the office square). My hope two weeks ago had been that the Chargers would upset the Patriots, setting up their revenge for the insult delivered to them by Eli back when he was in the draft. So, I was left with either the Pats getting their perfect season, or Eli getting a ring. All I had to hope for was schadenfreude, and utimately a New England choke fit the bill best, so I joined the crowd of people saying "I hope the Giants win, but they're not gonna." Imagine my pleasant surprise when I got home and finally saw the score. So, one video clip, then we can put football behind us. I'm sure my Bucs will do better next season. (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 30th, 2007
1:13 am	Grabbed from Liria's Deadjournal I received 86 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you? Take the Sci-Fi Movie Quiz canon s5is Current Mood: geeky (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 16th, 2007
1:24 am	More bad news for good authors Preface: He's still writing, and says he believes he can fulfill all of his existing commitments, plus a few more. Ultimately this is not really a cause for immediate panic, but it sure feels like one.... Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's. I just hate the thought of a mind like that going, and I'm am trying hard not to imagine what it must have been like for him getting the news. Current Mood: depressed (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 6th, 2007
10:02 am	Bringer of Sorrows.... Known in ancient canine folklore as "the Bather". I have added a new level of awfulness to the puppies' already sorrowful lives by subjecting them to water and that nasty stuff that's so noxious even the fleas can't abide it - shampoo. I know that the cookie they each got after their session of torment won't make up for the indignities they've already suffered at my hands today, so I will make it even worse: ( Pictures! ) Current Mood: Mean (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 27th, 2007
8:36 am	Just kinda liked this I've been on the left side of that image before. One day I hope to be on the right. Current Mood: amused (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
11:12 am	Hawaii & Las Vegas I just got back from a lovely trip to Hawaii (some guys in Idaho needed to get there, and IDANG was out of planes). Honolulu was fantastic. Sorry vittoria0, I meant to call for sightseeing advice and to offer to bring back anything you've really been missing, but my phone got disconnected somewhere along the way. Friday night found me sitting under a palm tree eating good seafood, sipping a mai tai and watching the sunset over Waikiki Beach. My job does not suck (although, for going there without my wife, it is possible that I do - fortunately for me she's a very forgiving person...). It takes a very long time for a C-130 to reach Hawaii. Over 7 hours from our final outbound fuel stop in San Fransisco, and the return was over 8 hours to our inbound fuel and overnight in Vegas. Vegas was disappointing. geodesimagining says I apparently hit a bad weekend or something, because her experience was different. I stayed at the Luxor (the big pyramid-looking hotel, except I was in the towers to the side where they store the non-wealthy guests). The room was nothing special, and i noticed in the casino that nobody looked like they were actually having a good time. They were gambling like it was a job, and the high-class tuxedo and cocktail dress crowd you see in the movies was apparently hiding behind the oxygen bottles and walkers of the crowd I saw (since I was wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and sandals, I can't really complain too much here I suppose). One of the pilots and I had steaks overlooking part of the casino floor, and we tried playing spot-the-hooker, but he probably tended towards false positives, while I was likely missing most of them. I think I would have had a pretty good time, though, if we'd gotten there early enough for me to catch a show. I've been wanting to see the Blue Men Group for a while now, and there are plenty of things to do other than gamble if you arrive before 8:30 PM. Next time I go there, hopefully I'll have my wife with me. She's advised me not to write the place off just yet. With the addition of California and Hawaii, I'm up to 45 states now, just 5 behind geodesimagining! New York, Nebraska, Oregon, Connecticut, and New Hampshire have got to fall eventually.... Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
12:08 am	I am a selfish bastard Cai got the scoop on me, but I have just heard from other sources that Robert Jordan has died. Were my first thoughts sympathetic for his family? No, they were "I've been reading that series of books my entire adult life (Book 1 was a high school graduation gift), and the final volume is not quite finished. This can not have happened". He was only 58. Amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy. I have no idea what that is. Current Mood: frustrated (5 Comments |Comment on this)