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March 23, 2008
I Can Cook After-all
Anne is in Houston this weekend, and I am doing Mr. Mom as best I can as a result.
Saturday Night Special: Dad's Self-Standing Tacos (l). Alanna "enjoying" my cooking (r).
As you can see, I was able to produce a remarkable facsimile of a taco dinner. The cost of the raw material approached what this meal costs at Taco Blecho, so I'm not sure this was such a great savings. Still, the exercise was challenging and I survived it.
Posted by Steven at 12:35 PM | Comments (1)
March 18, 2008
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)
Arthur C. Clarke died from breathing complications today at his home in Sri Lanka. He was 90 years old.
How do I express the profound impact of Clarke on my own life? He co-wrote the screenplay to my favorite film (2001: A Space Odyssey), and wrote several science-fiction novels that deeply affected me (e.g. Childhood's End, Rendevous With Rama, and Fountains of Paradise). He had an extensive career in both space and undersea research and helped bring the Space Age to the common man. Few writers have had the personal impact that Clarke has (only Vonnegut, Jr., Heinlein and Larry Niven -- whom I've met on several occasions -- are in the same Pantheon).
Like Al Gore, he is credited with promoting some advanced concepts that eventually became reality, including geosynchronous satellites. He's been a staunch supporter of the Space Elevator, which if ever built, will almost certainly be named the Clarke Elevator as has the geosync orbit of Earth (the Clarke Orbit). He left three wishes at the event of his 90th birthday, and among them was the desire for humanity to discover life on other worlds. This is a common theme of his works.
I would be remiss if I didn't weigh in, so to speak, on Clarke's eccentricities. I was dismayed when the accusations of pedophilia arose around the time that Clarke was being knighted. I would not be surprised to find out if he was a homosexual, and that would hardly diminish my respect for him and his work. It certainly has been a particular spectre for British geniuses, with the suicide of Alan Turing being the most painful example. No wonder Clarke chose to live abroad most of his life. His insistence on staying in Sri Lanka always exposed him to danger from extremists, but he apparently felt safe there. I'm sure the island nation is a spectacular place to live.
In his later years, his productivity naturally diminished, but not before he could pen 3001, a fitting and moving end to the 2001 series. He ties up some loose ends, reveals the limits of the interstellar intelligences (they being vulnerable to software virii), and makes a strong threat about global warming and zero-point energy. He also gave an interesting "look back" on our times, and that is always the hallmark of excellent science-fiction.
Clarke's writing was usually crisp, technically brilliant, and in his later work, richer in character development. The profound ideas in his stories are what shaped my own views of the Universe and our place in it. I will miss him, and always cherish his work.
Posted by Steven at 09:42 AM | Comments (1)
March 11, 2008
Got Llamas?
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Posted by Steven at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2008
Leo's New Saxophone
 | After last night's concert, Anne and I decided to buy Leo a concert-grade saxophone. He's been playing a worn and mechanically damaged horn that we rented two years ago. That same horn malfunctioned last night right before the concert, and he ended up borrowing a Selmer Paris II from Nick Ose. Anne went to Music & Arts today, and saw that they had the Selmers on sale and with twelve months 0% financing (music to my ears). We went down to the store in Allen, and the salesman took Leo in to the practice rooms to play on the horn. He seemed to like it and was a bit dazed by the whole experience. We picked out some music, and I got a stand for the Roland Edirol keyboard I got Anne for Xmas, and then headed home. This horn will be Leo's concert horn, and the older rental will be his marching horn (assuming he goes into Marching Band). |
Posted by Steven at 04:27 PM | Comments (1)
March 07, 2008
Leo's Jazz Band Solo
Leo surprised us with a saxophone solo at the Boyd HS Jazz Festival (featuring all the middle and high schools).
His saxophone broke down before the concert, so he borrowed Nick Ose's horn (thanks, Nick!). We had no idea he was playing a solo (improvisational, no less), so both Anne and I were taken by surprise.
Posted by Steven at 08:16 PM | Comments (2)
March 04, 2008
Caucusmania
Here's what tonight's Democratic Caucus for Precinct 12, 131 and 149 looked like:
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| No doubt about it, I need a bigger hat! |
Tonight I chaired the Texas Democratic Party caucus for Precinct 12 (and hosted 131 and 149). I stood up in front of 500 voters and (at the top of my lungs) belted out the instructions for the evening's caucus vote. We ended up supporting Barack Obama 3:2 over Hillary Clinton on all three caucuses. It was sheer madness dealing with all these voters.
Two years ago, I was the election judge for Precinct 12, and the caucus consisted of myself and the clerk, who at the time was the Precinct Chair for 12. This was about as far from that as one could get. We didn't even get started until 8pm because it took that long to close the polls.
There was some weirdness going on between the Clinton and Obama camps, but after a while, I had convinced them to calm down and that neither side was going to get an unfair advantage. ("I'm the arbiter, my word is law!") Apparently the Obama camp had sent out folks to grab the Precinct Chair packets before the chairs had even come in; I had to hunt around for mine.
We managed to get through the nominal election of permanent chair (me) and secretary (Shelly Williams). Then the delegate process brought out the mathematician in a few of us, and the final tally for Pct. 12 was twelve delegates for Obama, and six for Clinton.
I went to the Elections Office to see if I could help Bill Baumbach there, but he was doing just fine without me, so I called a few friends with the info from the night, and went to the DPCC gathering in North Plano, where we watched the results come in until around 12:30am. It was a long, exhilarating day.
Posted by Steven at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)
Snow Overnight
We got four inches of snow overnight, making the morning commute so much fun! Alanna got to drive into school two hours later today, but I had to hit Central and it's countless bridges before the ice on them melted. Joy!
Posted by Steven at 06:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2008
Foreclosure Country
Great news, sports fans! My ZIP code was the 8th highest foreclosure region in Dallas/Ft. Worth. Check out the foreclosure map here. With 270 foreclosures last year, we rock! Interestingly, there were far more foreclosures in Wellington Village (in Stonebridge Ranch) than in my Quail Creek Village. Makes you wonder what they are doing at the top of the food chain.
Posted by Steven at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)