Most of my posts are marked "Friends Only."

If you add me, I generally won't add you back unless we have interests or friends in common. But comment here if you have a burning desire to see what I post about behind my filter, and I'll consider it.

Today is my fourth anniversary of my LiveJournal.

In lieu of gifts, donate to No on Prop 8. :-)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- U.S. and Pakistani troops exchanged fire Thursday along the Pakistani-Afghan border minutes after the Pakistani military fired shots at two American helicopters that were providing cover for the troops, a U.S. military spokesman said.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/25/pakistan.helicopters/index.html

...I really should take a leave of absence from my job so I can deal with this economic crisis we're having.

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

From http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-pitt18-2008sep18,0,4184100.story

Brad Pitt announced Wednesday that he's donating $100,000 to fight California's Proposition 8, a November ballot initiative that would eliminate same-sex couples' right to marry.

"Because no one has the right to deny another their life, even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn't harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8," the actor said in a statement.

Pitt's donation marks the largest thus far to the anti-Prop. 8 campaign by an A-list celebrity.

Liar, liar, pants on fire.



Just thought I'd pass this along. It's nothing an informed voter shouldn't already know. So pass it along to uninformed voters, if you feel like it.

I saw Tropic Thunder today. I really didn't have high expectations for it, but I had the opportunity to see it for free, so I went.

It was hilarious. Way funnier than I thought it would be. I recommend it.

OK, so I understand the whole concept of targeted advertising... but really? Gay men are clamoring for glowing blue water?

After quakes hit, but before they hit the USGS website, I like to play a little game where I try to guess the magnitude and location. I'm usually pretty good at it, which is odd because it's impossible to guess the location just by feel. Unless it's RIGHT UNDERNEATH YOU.

Today, as we were evacuating, I guessed a 4.9 in Yorba Linda. Turned out to be only about 7 miles off, and they've downgraded the magnitude to a 5.4. So, not too bad.

I was getting ready to post about the weekend when the quake hit. a 5.8 magnitude, centered about 35 (or so) miles from here. We got a good shake in our building, a few things fell, nothing major, nor any breakage, etc.

Some notes...

I love how CNN.com is reporting the "breaking news" that we had an earthquake. That, in itself, isn't funny. But right now the photo that they have to accompany the article is nothing more than a photo of Hollywood that was taken (by a cheap camera, apparently) out of the CNN office window.

After the quake, someone had the brilliant idea to evacuate the office, and convinced the head of the company to do so. Repeat after me: If there's no immediate danger and no signs of damage, DO NOT LEAVE THE BUILDING. If it had been a foreshock to a much larger quake, we probably could have been killed by falling glass from the office buildings in the area. Including the 30-story building next to which our "evacuation meeting point" is. Had a 7.8 decided to hit at that moment, I'd be dead. Or worse, disfigured.

Our safety team needs to learn about earthquakes.

EARTHQUAKE! decent sized one too.

Saw this link on a Daily Kos diary:

http://atomicgaywonk.blogspot.com/2008/07/obscene-dole-tries-to-name-aids-bill.html

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) yesterday introduced an amendment that would have added the name of Jesse Helms to the title of the HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria bill that is before the Senate.

It's so ludicrous, it's almost comical.

Our president really is an idiot, isn't he?

George Bush surprised world leaders with a joke about his poor record on the environment as he left the G8 summit in Japan.

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

Has anyone played "Sins of a Solar Empire"?

Reading up about it, it sounds like it could be my kind of game (I loved both Starcraft and Civilization 3, to get an idea of what I like), and it's gotten good reviews. And seeing that it doesn't sound like Starcraft 2 will be released any time soon, I thought I might check it out.

I feel like doing nothing today. It's way to hot.

Predicted high in Glendale today: 102F

Ugh.

I was on the phone with an old-sounding woman at the city planning department, trying to tell her my email address. She couldn't understand the individual letters (she kept mistaking T for P, S for F, etc) so I used word examples for the letters. Only I just drew a total blank on the letter T. "T as in... umm..." and I just couldn't think of a word that began with T that would be distinguishable on the phone.

I'm guessing I'll never receive that email.

EDIT: Wow, I actually did receive the email.

So, driving to Fullerton on Saturday, we saw a billboard advertising something called the "Eye Candy Expo":

http://www.eyecandyexpo.com/ (may not be entirely SFW)

It looks like an expo where one (presumably straight men) would go to... bask in the presence of slutty models? I dunno. Why the hell would anyone pay to attend such an event, unless you're a porn producer? It's like an expo full of booth babes, but without the booths.

I'm frustrated with my new ("Vista") computer so far. I just can't get it to connect with the old ("XP") one. Any Vista pros out there?

I've managed to actually be able to see the XP one on Vista's network map. But I can't click it or get any properties. Likewise, I can see the Vista when I try running the "Add Network Place Wizard" on XP and browsing, but can't actually do anything with it. I've turned off firewalls, followed instructions on several websites, etc. I just haven't seen any help that deals with "We can see the computer but can't access it or get any properties"

FYI I followed these steps: (well, only up to step 3)

http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/20/how-to-connect-to-a-windows-xp-computer-from-windows-vista/

Also I got my first blue screen of death in Vista tonight. What took me about a day on the new computer took over 4 years to get on XP.

Ugh.