My heart has joined The Thousand....
JoEllen Farricker, the World's Biggest Fan of my cajun shrimp, suffered a stroke last Friday and never recovered.
Sadly, she didn't get any of it this year. Typically when I arrive she's keeping the kitchen running, but this year I was early. She was trapped at the front desk getting everybody into the party and pointed in the right direction, and I - not realizing how much work she had claimed for herself - didn't think to bring a plate out to her.
No worries, we agreed - there's always another chance....
There is music, there is dance,
but we come not for these,
but for the magic shared by those who bring joy to our lives
Did anybody think to check with Saint Anastasia's people before scheduling the Nativity? Sorry Stazzie, but the Big Guy says it's too late to fix it now.
High on the list of things I would never want to read about myself in a court opinion.
Simply put, Bonsell repeatedly failed to testify in a truthful manner about this and other subjects.
With surprising candor considering his otherwise largely inconsistent and non-credible testimony, Buckingham did admit that he made this statement.
Finally, although Buckingham, Bonsell, and other defense witnesses denied the reports in the news media and contradicted the great weight of the evidence about what transpired at the June 2004 Board meetings, the record reflects that these witnesses either testified inconsistently, or lied outright under oath on several occasions, and are accordingly not credible on these points.
...the inescapable truth is that both Bonsell and Buckingham lied at their January 3, 2005 depositions about their knowledge of the source of the donation for Pandas
Although Defendants attempt to persuade this Court that each Board member who voted for the biology curriculum did so for the secular purposed [sic] of improving science education and to exercise critical thinking skills, their contentions are simply irreconcilable with the record evidence. Their asserted purposes are a sham, and they are accordingly unavailing....
... although Defendents have unceasingly attempted in vain to distance themselves from their own actions and statements, which culminated in repetitious, untruthful testimony, such a strategy constitutes additional strong evidence of improper conduct....
Defendants' previously referenced flagrant and insulting falsehoods to the Court....
(excerpt from the Kitzmiller decision).
You have to figure that's going to leave a mark.
... for the [Martin/Jordan/Gerrold] sequel? Consider what that wait comes to in dog years.
If you are associated with MIT, IAP 2006 includes he Feynman Films, sponsored by Markos Hankin.
I'm not associated with MIT, but that's OK... because the Education Development Center cleared its backlog, and sent me the remaining pieces of the Cornell Lectures I had been waiting for.
Oddly enough, the package appeared the same day that I called to ask when I might expect the order to be completed.
(Minor quibble: technically speaking, I don't quite have the kit, because I haven't asked the nice people at Tuva Trader to send me a copy of "Take the World from Another Point of View". Fine, I'll watch the Robb lectures or the Dirac lecture instead. That works for me.)
One word review: no.
Biggest problem: I spend more time waiting for this game than playing it.
For example, if you are writing a particularly difficult act (for instance, a fight with two invulnerable bosses), and you choose to set the mood with a 30 second intro, that's fine... but for fucks sake make sure the reset point when the player loses the fight is AFTER THE DAMN INTRO. Because it doesn't get better after 10-20 viewings.
Similarly: how often do you expect the customer to quit, instead of trying again? Oh, you expect him to try again most of the time? Then DO THAT. Customer can find the exit menu when the time comes, and the time will come a lot later if you don't keep suggesting that he quit.
What clever load of bread came up with the insight that if the player successfully navigates the maze then dies in combat, that you should take them back to the very start of the maze again, so he can build up some confidence. WRONG!!!!!
If your save and reload system is so awful to use that you make magic rewind dust part of the game narrative, I can promise you that mosters which leech magic rewind dust are a really BAD idea.
Most people believe that they are nice. Others have come to terms with the fact that they are assholes. But nobody wants to play first person twerp. So get some real dialog or do without.
Likewise, when casting voices, don't cast narrators based on their extensive porn credits.
Almost all of the voice parts cue off of some specific game action (reaching a position in a room, toggling a switch), and then play until complete. Which is very silly - listening to the hero engaged in idle chit chat while watching him plummet to his death.
All of my favorite PoP usability issues are still going strong. Epileptic camera work interfering with combat? check. Lousy menues? check. Fixed camera angles obstructing the user from lining up a gymnastic move properly? check.
The game is very linear this time around. On any given screen, you go the first direction you see a path, because that's all there is going to be. The number of superfluous elements is close to negligible; the only forks I noticed come at those points where the player gets a chance to run a bonus level (extra life - not that it matters. The way combat works in this game you've always got plenty or not nearly enough).
Other comparisons with the WW review: pretty? not particularly. adrenalin during the gymnastics? no. Music? less intrusive this time around.
Elements I might admit to liking if the overall experience hadn't been so damned awful: the quick kill system, which is a lot more clever than I had initially understood (it still gets screwed over by the camera angles). The arrow traps, which have a nice cadence to them. I think that's everything.
Not only was this a waste of good money (and time), but it was also the waste of a good franchise.
Josh Micah Marshall, over at Talking Points Memo:
Setting aside legalities, someone who works for the president did something reckless and wrong. The president either knows who it is or could have found out easily at any point along the way. He could have solved the matter at the outset by firing or reprimanding the person. He preferred to do nothing.
Hmm, maybe we can work backwards from the President's response to the source. Could the source be someone that the President cannot dismiss?
Was the First Lady on the grassy knoll?
Wow.
Bob Halloran thinks Roger Clemens doesn't have a signature moment.
It's not that Halloran doesn't recall the 20K games (though he seems to have forgotten that Roger pitched both games without walking anyone). It's just that those don't count.
The playoff one hitter? Nope, that doesn't count either.
Nine up, nine down against the NL All Stars? Not interested.
Nice to see that somebody remembers Pedro's relief appearance in 1999, though.
Games played, career. Jim Rice as he hits among his peers in the hall of fame. My feeling is that, if Rice is worthy of enshrinement, he ought to look similar or superior to the players already inducted.
Numbers below are games, ops+ (best season and career), and peak vote percentage by the BBWAA (where available).
2259 222 175 78% Rogers Hornsby
2242 165 132 25% Fred Clarke
2216 135 93 43% Red Schoendienst
2215 176 132 75% Al Simmons
2189 142 111 41% Richie Ashburn
2166 122 99 47% Pee Wee Reese
2164 141 114 76% Ryne Sandberg
2164 221 179 22% Lou Gehrig
2163 98 84 42% Bill Mazeroski
2158 166 126 96% Johnny Bench
2148 194 148 86% Harry Heilmann
2143 172 140 87% Duke Snider
2135 126 106 ... Bid McPhee
2124 136 119 79% Joe Cronin
2124 165 133 74% Orlando Cepeda
2123 164 127 75% Willie Keeler
2120 142 125 96% Yogi Berra
2089 158 128 60% Jim Rice
2066 181 140 2% Jesse Burkett
2055 181 124 86% George Sisler
2008 154 121 9% Heinie Manush
1999 173 134 ... Jim O'Rourke
1997 201 154 ... Roger Connor
1993 114 99 15% Lloyd Waner
1991 163 125 33% Jim Bottomley
1990 158 126 77% Gabby Hartnett
1984 180 134 85% Joe Medwick
1967 159 126 54% Edd Roush
1950 107 83 36% Al Lopez
1941 125 107 77% Pie Traynor
1922 135 112 9% Billy Herman
1913 119 98 16% Dave Bancroft
1903 146 109 8% Joe Sewell
According to a recent packet distributed by the Red Sox, Rice was the only player from 1974-97 to hit .300 and average 30 homers over a season during any span of 10 consecutive years. Understand? Whether the timeframe was 1965-74 or 1988-97, the only player in baseball to bat .300 with at least 300 home runs was James Edward Rice, who qualified three times, from 1975-84, 1976-85 and 1977-86.
Tony Massorati, Boston Herald.
Hank Aaron,1964,.301,371
Hank Aaron,1965,.296,367
Dick Allen,1964,.299,287
Dick Allen,1965,.296,290
Dick Allen,1966,.290,282
Frank Robinson,1964,.293,290
Billy Williams,1964,.300,302
Billy Williams,1965,.297,285
Billy Williams,1966,.291,274
Eddie Murray,1977,.298,275
Eddie Murray,1978,.297,278
Eddie Murray,1979,.297,279
Eddie Murray,1980,.292,274
Jim Rice,1974,.305,276
Jim Rice,1975,.302,303
Jim Rice,1976,.301,308
Jim Rice,1977,.305,303
Jim Rice,1978,.301,277
Albert Belle,1988,.291,272
Albert Belle,1989,.296,321
Barry Bonds,1987,.293,318
Barry Bonds,1988,.296,333
Barry Bonds,1989,.298,346
Ken Griffey Jr.,1988,.302,294
Ken Griffey Jr.,1989,.300,350
Raphael Palmeiro,1989,.294,289
Frank Thomas,1989,.321,286