i never rode vert - and here's why?

...because i would have ended up being a chopped up pile of meat.

rachel is fine thankfully — but the land rover is looking a little peaked...

the story as i understand it — a big truck hits the hyundai, the hyundai does a disney on ice spin move and smashes into rachel who is waiting at the light.

anthropomorphizing a bit, the first picture looks like land rover smelled something it didn't like.

poor
land rover
the weapon truck that used the hyundai offender as said weapon not pictured

it's so much more relaxing when an entire day goes by without some societal yoke being dropped over your shoulders.

obviously, this weight pales in comparison to dealing with the terrible experiences that people have to go through in first person perspective but that is not to say it is an insignificant feeling.

there is so much media in the world and the news outlets are 80 to 100% alarmist and constantly in your face.

it makes me feel like i want to help in some way to make the world a calmer place but there are so many things that you can

• do absolutely nothing about

basically the size of everything that is happening, everywhere, all the time has become cognitively more expensive to cram inside of our heads causing paralysis which varies on the dissonance spectrum from minor to total interference.

basically, we are the frog in the boiling frog metaphor.

...and it's hard to understand why.

plans from lee valley tools for building a cajón

i've taken a new stance on my pushing of personal political views on others -- so i have no comment on the debates except that bob schieffer is one of the last great journalists and would suggest that you take the time to listen to face the nation via your preferred podcast method:

face the nation podcast feed

this is a mini movie about a creative kid.

he attached calculators to the cardboard arcade games he made and made the "pin number" of his "fun pass" (500 plays for 2 dollars) the square root of a number which could be accessed by the calculator he taped to the front (for security purposes.)

so awesome. what a great story.

i have to admit, it made me cry a little.

part 2

kotaku.com

walter tevis wrote at least two wonderful science fiction books, mockingbird and the man who fell to earth.

mockingbird is especially superb in story and execution.

note to self: read the steps of the sun.

"a selection of audio recordings from the f.a.a., norad and american airlines from the morning of sept. 11, 2001.

the recordings, some of which have been published previously, are being released in a multimedia report originally intended to be part of the sept. 11 commission’s 2004 report."

american's dealing with 9/11 as it happens as presented by the new york times.

this was a terrible event obviously and my heart goes out to the families of those involved.

regardless of how we each feel individually about the "war on terrorism" which seems to be easier to say than the "war on the fact that there seem to be a lot of really misguided people in this world doing all kinds of bad things for what probably seem like rational reasons to them", the attack really made me wonder if it's really possible to "fight" an ideology.

all pondering aside though, this kind of tragic recording has always fascinated me.

as evidenced by the song i recorded many years ago, black box.

if only it were so easy (with accompaniment from rodrigo y gabriela)

star trek new voyages: phase II

starship exeter

hidden frontier

stone trek

star wreck: in the pirkinning :: parody's final frontier

this stop action mural painting is pretty crazy...especially cool is the way they make the mural animation interact with the physical world.

the videos were created by blu.

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

one day, far in the future, if population growth continues at expected rates, people will live like this.

at an estimated 33,000 people, population density of kowloon walled city in 1987 was approximately 3,249,000 people per square mile.

more info about kowloon walled city.

here's a movie i made back in 2000. it's called "general file" and is about a lego dictator who has wrested control from the disorganized citizens of ipsahema minor in his effort to bring order to their chaotic nation.

i filmed it all with a 320x200 webcam so the resolution is not that great. in fact, neither is the sound...but it was fun to make and here it is.

i like historic photo sites...this is a good one.

the empire that was russia

due to a cpu fan failure, the anatone.net machine quit working.

i took the opportunity, when replacing the machine with my former desktop computer, to upgrade from windows server 2003 to server 2008.

now, anatone.net is back after a restore -- windows home server saves the files again.

remember to backup your data, kids.

want to sit at your desk -- but still feel like you're in space?

crunchies are just the ticket.

freeze dried food is delicious and makes you feel like an astronaut.

take a look at crunchies

full disclosure, i have no affiliation with this company. i just love space fruit.

this was a pretty entertaining game back in the day.

here are some pc clones of "jumpman junior". the first two are for windows, the last two need to be run in dosbox or another dos emulator.

• jumpman - under construction
• jumpman zero
• the jumpman project (dos only)
• classic jumpman (dos only)

you have to listen to this phone call (right-click and save as).

this guy, george vaccaro called to ask verizon to deal with a billing issue. it is amazing! it's 27 minutes long but oh the stench to behold as he tries to get charged the rate that he was quoted.

especially the part where the verizon representative says there is no such thing as 0.002 dollars. absolutely classic.

the most helpful comment made on his blog for explaining this issue to someone was to type into the google search engine:

.002 cents/KB * 35000 KB =
and
.002 dollars/KB * 35000 KB =

to his credit, he remained more calm than i think i would have managed.

this risotto recipe looks pretty good!

charles potts, a friend of mine and a local walla walla poet, shares some wisdom about living through hard times.

i think his advice about finding something you love to do and mastering it is apt advice.

Weapon used to make love
Celebrate spring fully armed
A few simple steps to power
You owe it to yourself

spam verse for 2008.

in addition to being a wonderful game with a great story, unique gameplay, and great atmosphere, max payne is now an impressive movie.

unlike any movie based on a video game to this point, it captured the unique feel of max payne, the video game. mark wahlberg was the perfect choice to play the role.

it had all the grittiness that you would have liked to see in batman 3, a more subtle and effective noir art style than sin city, and wonderful sound effects that mimic the feel of the video game perfectly.

i would rate it as a pg-15/16 movie for violence.

overall, highly recommended, even if you have not played the game.

link to the official max payne movie site

i hope to one day see a max payne 3, developed by the original developer remedy with technical assistance from rockstar, creators of the amazing grand theft auto 4 (in specific, their custom built rage engine).

photos, then and now.

link

happy holidays!

check out the "ted talks" to watch generally smart people say interesting things

if you can't decide, start with james watson talking about dna.

i don't usually discuss movies but...

you should go and see ratatouille.

it's a beautifully done movie. without a doubt, it is the cutest movie ever made to this date.

it's sweet without being sappy. it is emotional without being manipulative. it has excellent comic timing, perfect animation and a wonderful soundtrack.

the voice acting never detracts and peter o'toole brilliantly voices the critic "anton ego".

both rachel and i absolutely loved it.

highly recommended.

the site has been updated slightly. i've moved the latest photos to the sidebar and up the page so that they are visible without scrolling. it adds a little color, as well.

i also added a little promo box and changed the links to display at the default browser font size.

if you're a phillip k. dick fan, don't bother with this one, unfortunately.

it will probably just piss you off.

nicolas cage, an actor i attempt to avoid, is surprisingly less annoying than normal in this film. however, the screenplay is weak.

this is no "blade runner" or "a scanner darkly" or "total recall" which at least attempt to convey the intent of his writing -- instead, this is "paycheck".

as an aside note, there was a canadian series called "total recall 2070" which i would like to see. it doesn't appear to be available anywhere. i heard that you can get it on joost but only if you are outside the united states or canada. if you know anything about this series, could you please let me know?

a message from my sister, deborah.

Devaunt is getting ready to sail tomorrow for 6/7 months in the Mediterranean sea. Below i have sent you all Devaunt's physical address on the boat. This is a great way to keep in touch with him and send him small packages. This is great for the morale - do keep in mind that he has roommates and some are single so sometimes something for all four of them is nice as well. Please make sure the letters are informational and encouraging. keep them light hearted and full of small details that come with life back home in the states. Send non-perishable items, and small boxes are always better cause they get there much quicker...(couple of days).

Devaunts Address:

1st Lt. Devaunt Z. LeClaire, USMC
HMM 264 Det A
Unit 77072 (S-3)
FPO AE 09509-7072

without you by badfinger
hyperland by douglas adams
top 25 censored stories of 2007
democracy: open source tv platform

i found a cool video, talking about the life and works of philip k. dick, who i believe is the greatest science fiction writer of all time. it is a video produced by the bbc and has appearances by terry gilliam of monty python fame (also the director of the movie "brazil"), elvis costello, and brian aldiss, another science fiction writer that i enjoy, among others.

it is about an hour long. link

i found the link on www.philipkdickfans.com

if you haven't read philip k. dick, you are missing out. you may have seen the movies "blade runner", "total recall", "screamers", "minority report", or "paycheck". these films capture in varying degrees the dystopia that philip k. dick invisioned but to dive deep into his vision, you must experience his writing.

i would suggest starting either dr. bloodmoney or the simulacra

just got a couple photos taken using a pretty amazing machine. i call it the "optomap ultra-widefield retinal scanner" since it sounds more sci-fi than its real name, "panoramic200 scanning laser ophthalmoscope".

you can see a picture of the device here.

you can see the photos of my eyes by clicking on the thumbnails below.

back from alaska. have some pictures to share once i get the chance to transfer them.

hope everyone had a great christmas.

rachel and i are up in alaska visiting rachel's sister karen and husband jason. right now we are staying in a loaner house overlooking the mountains and the ocean. i haven't seen it in the light yet, as we got here after dark last night. i just took Bell, who is the dog of the house, on a long walk along the ocean front. it's raining and about 45 degrees. very nice and extremely quiet.

yesterday, we showed up at karen and jason's house with jim and susan (rachel's parents). mostly we played with and took pictures of keanna, the new baby girl addition to the family! now rachel and i are aunt and uncle two times over. she's cute and although she was an extreme preemie, she has made up for lost time and filled out nicely. i will post some pictures in due time. my new camera takes great pictures and i have been able to get some more "artistic shots" than i was able to get with my point and click.

they almost didn't let us on the plane in walla walla, TSA people can be a huge pain in the ass. i know that they are just doing the job that they were hired for but it does seem to create some sort of power complex. when we showed up the gate to the boarding area was closed and they told us that we had to be there 30 minutes early as regulations prevented us from boarding the plane if we were late. after we pointed out that we were indeed there 37 minutes early and a better trained employee checked out the situation, they opened up the gate and let us on, which was good because i was getting pissed and there is nothing worse than being pissed about a situation that you have no control over (i.e. starting to involuntarily mutter profanities under your breath like a nut). other than that, the flight through seattle and up to juneau was uneventful (and i had some really good tangerine chicken and rice in seattle at an asian restaurant in the airport.)

greg and lydia (joshua's parents) are house-sitting for us and watching our cats which is nice of them and that way they're only blocks away from joshua and natasha at christmas.

which reminds me, merry christmas everyone!

timothy

cute overload

Link

got a good cat pic last night.

bijoux in a gene simmons's pose.

it has been a long time with no update as there have been lots of projects in the works. i have added a new section to anatone.net called "pages" which will allow me to create feature stories.

the first thing that i am going to cover is my recording setup with pictures and commentary. the lack of updates has mostly had to do with an expansion to the studio as i've had things torn apart, turned the basement into a horrible mess, and set everything off on a discombobulated path.

the andy kershaw show on the bbc

he's a dj for a radio show on the bbc with a good taste in music and interesting talk about the music that he highlights.

over the weekend, i built some carpet runners for my basement to replace the small rugs that ran between the stairs and the cat's litter boxes.

i had a whole bunch of carpet left over from when our upstairs floor was carpeted. it is very nice carpet, which we got for free when some rich people upgraded.

we had bought a product called instabind when we edged the carpet in a curved shape upstairs but it was fairly expensive -- a dollar a foot, i think. so i decided to use sisal.

i cut the carpet in the correct shape, flipped it over, and used a hot glue gun to attach the sisal rope to the bottom of the carpet. it ended up with a nice edging. then i glued anti-slip mat to the bottom and brought it inside.

go to work, time passes:

when i returned home this evening, i discovered that one of my cats had peed right into one of my leather teva sandels, sitting on the ground next to the new carpet runners.

an olympic-sized cockroach pee pool.

somehow, although i do not understand the motivation, there is a connection between carpet runners (made from old carpet) and the desire to go into the field of pool architecture.

i painted a digital picture of gavin.

view it here

deborah and devaunt have become home owners.

here are some outdoor shots of their new mansion.

some new photos added:

•  timothy digging with a bobcat
•  karen and jason's baby, keanna hope
•  audrey and john's new truck
•  deborah and devaunt and friends
•  devaunt gets his wings

from textfiles.com:

Feb 11, 1992 17:32 from Firedrake
   Here's the peanut butter cookie recipe
that even my friends who don't like peanut
butter cookies like.

1/2 cup soft shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix shortening, peanut butter, sugars,
and egg thoroughly.  Measure flour by
dip-level-pour method.  Mix rest of
ingredients and stir in.  Chill dough.
Heat oven to 375 F.  Roll dough into
balls the size of large walnuts.  Place
3" apart on lightly greased cookie sheet.
Flatten, crisscross fashion, with a
fork dipped in flour.

Bake 10-12 min. or until set but not hard.
Makes about 3 dozen 2 1/2" cookies.

   I usually don't chill the dough, but
it does make it easier to flatten.  Also,
there is enough grease in the dough that
it's not really necessary to grease the
cookie sheet.

Gonzalo Castillo and Ruben Gomez practice English skills with Timothy Russell, right, who is honing his Spanish during Garrison Night School's two-way language class. The program has become one fo the most popular classes at the decade-old adult education program.

well, rachel and i are aunt and uncle for the second time this year.

first, steven and hathaway begat gavin -- now karen and jason begat keanna.

she is two months early but is doing well at a hospital in seattle where karen was flown from juneau alaska to take advantage of more advanced medical facilities.

her name is keanna hope tarver.

i had the unfortunate occurance of having to tell a neighbor lady that her cat, casper, was dead.

it had died in my yard attempting to get home after, most likely, being hit by a car on 4th street.

i called animal services to ask whether or not they wanted to pick it up, or if i should bury it.

they said that i should put it in a plastic garbage bag and leave it by the curb and they would be right over to pick him up.

after i put on some surgical gloves, i picked him up -- it looked as though his eyes had collapsed. he was lying in the grass, covered with dew and frost, in a pose that suggested a quick trot.

rachel and i noticed that he had on a collar and were forced with the duty of informing our neighbor that her cat had died.

i let her know that we were terribly sorry about casper and that we had three cats ourselves and generally showed empathy. she said that casper was 20 years old and that he had been blind most of his life. he had been missing for three weeks and that he never wandered as far as our house, a block away, but that he usually just lounged around the front yard.

she called her son -- it was his cat and he came over to bury it.

it was pretty sad.

amazon is taking donations for the red cross and their effort in south asia to provide what relief they can.

if you can spare a couple of dollars, please donate...

a partial list of the reasons why you [update: shouldn't have] re-elected bush

just built this --

i built it with an eye toward rustic simplicity merged with modern aesthetic.

click the image to enlarge it.

the first debate between john kerry and george bush was tonight, thursday the 30th of september, 2004.

they both were master-debaters.

john kerry did what he needed to. he told the truth about what is happening in iraq and how bush is misleading the american people by following an agenda that is single-minded, while simultaneously damaging america's esteem thoughout the world.

george bush did what he needed to. he stated he was right, over and over.

and over.

and over.

and over.

oh, that we were in a world where things could become reality by simply asserting that they are true.

based on the debate, which was, of course, simply a press release...and based on the actions of the current president over the last several years, my vote will be for john kerry.

as close as i can tell, given that it was dark and there were lots of flashing lights, this is what happened.

three houses down from my house -- a light tank, seven police cars, a police van, the police supervisor's suv, four unmarked cars, an ambulance, about twenty law enforcement officers, swat or army/national guard, fbi, and local police, an assault weapon, an abusive person, physically and verbally, some mace, and about ten to make sure he didn't get up without permission.

...but it was dark and i was a block away, so who knows.

update (09.28.04)

union-bulletin press release

read the article

new radio episodes of the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

you know you want microbe plushes

how about black death -- anyone?

if you live in washington state, i hope you had a chance to make it out and vote in the washington state primary today.

washington primary faq

more

that is certainly your choice -- but, please read the information at this link first and reconsider.

steven and hathaway, my brother and sister-in-law have just had a baby.

his name is gavin and he's cute.

see more pictures here.

changed around the code that displays blog entries on the homepage.

it now can display more entries and you can page through them using the next and previous link.

increased the number of "most popular links"

check out the infinite cat project for a cool idea.

a good example of it is Wookie watching Jackie watching Tiger watching Farrusko watching Skinny White Boy watching ...

check out this story posted by the daughter of a russian nuclear containment engineer.

she documents her motorcycle rides through the chernobyl area with photos and text.

it is very interesting. be sure and read it

with the internet and prosumer recording equipment, it is possible to record the song in your own studio, mix it down, and release it minutes later to anyone in the world who wants it.

that said, you can download the latest two releases from the "live concert series" by going to the following link: live concert series

to download, right-click on the download links and select save to disk.

the commonality between the songs is such:

• all instruments by timothy
• all samples are royalty free
• all songs recorded in a 2-3 hour period
• all the songs are unpolished
• lyrics were written during the same 2-3 hour period
• songs were recorded in front of an imaginary studio audience

*note: not all of the songs in this series were written by timothy. there are a couple of covers. this means that timothy did not write the tune or the lyrics. if you click on the song name, the author is clearly listed, along with links so that you can learn more about them and buy their music...

enjoy.

this album will appeal to everyone -- i personally guarantee it!

no refunds from me, of course, but show a little trust.

other musicians featured on the album: brian setzer, ricky lee jones, bette midler, elvis costello, tom waits

the agenda that this government is pursuing is lunacy at best.

the automotive industry's needs in a nutshell according to microsoft: "In today's economic climate, the automotive industry is faced with two key challenges: boost revenues and reduce costs." read the marketing at microsoft.com

i've never really thought about writing code for a car, but there is obviously a lot of advantages to it. serious thought by developers should be given to figuring out deep failure patterns though. for instance, at my work there is a door, held shut by electromagnets. in the case of a fire, are we assured that the heat will not adversely affect the system that holds the doors shut?

either that, or they will start blaming auto accidents on programmers...(headlines read, "multinational hackers reprogram ford explorers to hone in on one another on rural two-lane highways -- over five thousand dead")

remember to suction-cup your radar detector to the windshield -- oh, and don't forget the virus detector.

it has the intimate quality of a tori amos recording. the singer that she really reminds me of is karen carpenter.

also, on the album, the most unusual cover that i've heard of soundgarden's black hole sun as well as a duet with richard thompson called poseidon.

watch the movie

the following are some 'poems' by donald rumsfeld...see the article i copied these from at slate

The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.

—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing

Glass Box
You know, it's the old glass box at the—
At the gas station,
Where you're using those little things
Trying to pick up the prize,
And you can't find it.
It's—

And it's all these arms are going down in there,
And so you keep dropping it
And picking it up again and moving it,
But—

Some of you are probably too young to remember those—
Those glass boxes,
But—

But they used to have them
At all the gas stations
When I was a kid.

—Dec. 6, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing

A Confession
Once in a while,
I'm standing here, doing something.
And I think,
"What in the world am I doing here?"
It's a big surprise.

—May 16, 2001, interview with the New York Times

Happenings
You're going to be told lots of things.
You get told things every day that don't happen.

It doesn't seem to bother people, they don't—
It's printed in the press.
The world thinks all these things happen.
They never happened.

Everyone's so eager to get the story
Before in fact the story's there
That the world is constantly being fed
Things that haven't happened.

All I can tell you is,
It hasn't happened.
It's going to happen.

—Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing

The Digital Revolution
Oh my goodness gracious,
What you can buy off the Internet
In terms of overhead photography!

A trained ape can know an awful lot
Of what is going on in this world,
Just by punching on his mouse
For a relatively modest cost!

—June 9, 2001, following European trip

The Situation
Things will not be necessarily continuous.
The fact that they are something other than perfectly continuous
Ought not to be characterized as a pause.
There will be some things that people will see.
There will be some things that people won't see.
And life goes on.

—Oct. 12, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing

Clarity
I think what you'll find,
I think what you'll find is,
Whatever it is we do substantively,
There will be near-perfect clarity
As to what it is.

And it will be known,
And it will be known to the Congress,
And it will be known to you,
Probably before we decide it,
But it will be known.

—Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing

as i was writing a check, i realized that 47% of the check that i was writing would go directly to financing the military. that percentage does not include the 75 billion dollars that president bush is asking for, and will receive, addressing the financial cost of the war in iraq. (source:war resisters league)

of all the arguments against war, i believe that economics is one of the most valid. i believe that we should reduce the amount spent on the military by half, at least, which should be entirely sufficient for reliable defense of our country, and spend the rest of the money on research to solve the fundamental problems that the world has, for instance:

• clean power that is cheap and reliable
• new ways of producing nutritious food in inhospitable conditions
• xenophobia and religious/political zealotry

it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

the problem as i see it, is that terrorists don't really need 'regimes' in order to unleash mass destruction on our country. it really only takes a small group willing to die in order to carry out the attack and, as we have seen, there are people like that.

so, i feel that this war against iraq will, in the end, make us no safer than we were prior to it. in fact, perhaps exactly the opposite. with world sentiment at an all time low, i think we have a hard rocky road ahead.

due to the fact that i have very little control over the actions of our government, i am resigned to the fact that this pre-emptive strike is taking place.

i am decidedly torn on this issue. it is apparent that saddam hussein is supressing a once vibrant country and it is clear that other injustices are taking place in other parts of the world also.

who is next on our list and at what cost?

do we have the right?

meanwhile, doesn't the c i a employ any graphic designers?

that just made me realize, as i typed c i a, that it is the name of one of my cats. actually, she was named after the last half of valencia pronounced in catelon (theea).

also, read an article in the guardian that chronicles phonetaps and such used by the nsa against u.n. members in new york. i read the memo and it's pretty vague about what would be done, so it seems that the guardian is extrapolating a bit...on the other hand, it is the nsa we're talking about.

as i scan the news, i am shocked by the number of horrible incidents happening of late, almost a hundred deaths in the nightclub fire in rhode island, twenty-one people at a nightclub in chicago, and 133 deaths in a daegu subway, a city that i lived in, only a couple of years ago.

meanwhile in israel, some researchers have apparently managed to come up with a computer that can perform 330 trillion operations per second. read about it.

you will like this album.

it seems clear that iraq government has been attempting to develop the capacity for some time and has committed some horrible atrocities against it's own population as well as showing signs of aggression at other points in history, which is also of great concern.

why then, the complete opposite stance of the bush government concerning the two countries? it seems that the obvious answer is oil, although i'm sure that it is much more complicated than that. in fact, there was prominent mention of it in several news sources today, stating that contingency planning was taking place to determine how to squelch the oil fields if the iraqi military were to set them ablaze.

if another country has missles aimed at the united states, it's nuclear blackmail. however, when you are the united states (the country in possession of the largest stash of these devices) the same logic, for some reason, does not apply.

wouldn't it be nice, though, if we could all just get along?

well, it just did it again. unfortunately because of the sound card that i bought, i can't upgrade the operating system, so it's windows me forever. i love when it crashes and tells you that it would be better if you shut it down properly.

soon this site will have a design that is more appealing, hopefully. now that the system is working correctly, i am going to have a designer take a look at it and make some suggestions, in the form of graphics and layout.

gone are the fantastic greetings which i am working on restoring, but other than that, i couldn't be more pleased.

silver surfer (my friends dietz,dickerson,doug,ryan) are in europe right now playing a couple of shows. i have to admit that i am horribly jealous.

check out a couple of the photos of my cats that i added.

also, i uploaded a total of 88 songs. check them out. real album covers and artist photos to follow...

the platform seems to be functioning correctly but until more data is entered it's hard to tell. for instance, this blog entry is being truncated because it is too long but is the size correct?