(See the next (May 2006) Homepage Writings/Rants HERE)

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Sunday April 30th, 2006 (cont.)

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So, my friend Rodrigo sent me these photos from our trip to Mexico last year. I miss that place:

I can't remember who it was, but when I got back and was showing some of my photos this person said something like, "it wasn't that heavy". I guess he was right, if we're talking about Teahupoo or some other freakish wave. But ask yourself, is this wave (above) a "heavy" wave? My answer--hell yes. And this was a "small" day. Ahhh, sand bottom and hardly anyone out. Good times.

If you're wondering, the palm fronds are the palapas next to the hotel and there is a little guy paddling off to the left for scale.

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Sunday April 30th, 2006

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Even uptight conservatives (most people in South Jersey) will think this is one of the funniest things they've seen in years. Stephen Colbert (from Comedy Central's "Colbert Report," which comes on right after "The Daily Show") was asked to talk to the White House Correspondent's Dinner (basically, the press that cover the White House). The W guy (our "prez") was sitting just a few seats to Stephen's right and he had to listen to some of the most bitingly funny jokes I've ever heard. Some of the favorites (there are so many):

-------------------------------------------- I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible -- I saw this guy do it once in Cirque du Soleil. It was magical. And though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be you Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it's yogurt. But I refuse to believe it's not butter. Most of all, I believe in this president. Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias. ----------------------------------------------- I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound -- with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ John McCain is here. John McCain, John McCain, what a maverick! Somebody find out what fork he used on his salad, because I guarantee you it wasn't a salad fork. This guy could have used a spoon! There's no predicting him. By the way, Senator McCain, it's so wonderful to see you coming back into the Republican fold. I have a summer house in South Carolina; look me up when you go to speak at Bob Jones University. So glad you've seen the light, sir. ------------------------------------------------------------

Just think, Stephen was a mere 5 feet away from the most powerful person on this planet... just nailing him with that stuff! It just makes me proud to live in a country where you can do that. Really. I'm feeling patriotic right now, that's just amazing that Colbert can walk out of that room and not be assasinated for the things he said.

Now, of course, you won't see this covered in the press, so maybe too many people won't hear about it. But this lovely internet phenomena lets us all enjoy a good (and well-deserved) roasting of the Worst President Ever.

If you check your listings, you might be able to watch a re-run of this wonderful speech on C-Span. I watched it this morning. What a great way to wake up.

Link to the second half of his talk HERE.

And for those of you that have to use dial-up connections, that video might take all day. So, you can just read the transcript (just as funny) right here.

My favorite line is, "reality has a well-known liberal bias".

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Saturday April 29th, 2006

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Finally, someone says what I've been thinking all this time (from Slate):

What none can acknowledge is that higher gas prices in the United States are a good thing. To be sure, oil at $70 a barrel causes hardships for working people and delights some of the world's worst dictators. But cheap gasoline imposes its own costs on society: greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and its attendant health risks, traffic congestion, and accidents. The ideal way to cope with these externalities would be with higher gas taxes or a carbon tax. But these are politically impossible ideas at the moment—Democrats lost control of Congress in part because they passed a 4-cent-per-gallon tax increase in 1993. The next best solution is the one that has arrived on its own: a high market price for oil, which spurs conservation and substitution. Sustained high prices will bring about behavioral and political changes: energy conservation, public transportation, less exurban sprawl, and eventually the economic viability of alternative fuel sources such as biomass, fuel cells, wind, and solar power, which may one day undermine the power of the oil oligarchs. Are politicians too stupid to understand this, or just smart enough not to say it aloud?

 

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Friday April 28th, 2006

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Man, I am inconsistent with this updating thing. I know there are about 4 people out there that check this on a daily basis (I know, crazy, huh?) and they must be so frustrated with... about 4 posts in one day and then nothing for a week.

Oh well. Sorry. I've been writing my first paper and it was difficult to get the opening paragraphs to... make you want to read more, be scientifically accurate, have the right tone, and (oh yeah) make sure you reference all the previous studies that are relevant to my own study. It's somewhat tortuous, but fun in that this is what I want to do. I need to convince the readers that I know what I'm talking about and then I hope they'll believe my hypothesis. It's an exciting time.

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Tonight, Brooke and I watched the movie Bee Season... man, this is a heavy movie. I thought it was just some artsy movie about a little girl and the national spelling bee, but it's way, way more than that. I recommend it. Brooke would probably recommend it too, but she fell asleep less than half way through. She's had a rough day, so I shouldn't make fun of her.

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So, here's a couple photos from Brooke's birthday rollerskate night. You may have seen these on some people's Myspace pages, but of course it doesn't count until it's on prafterdotcom.

Pete Vivian came out! And that's a dirty, dirty Scott Soens also.

John DiGenni has some line about this photo about being the only guy in white pants at a hipster bar. But, it is San Diego, where stupid fashion trends like white belts become cool. I bet if we go back to that bar (the Live Wire I think), we'll see all sorts of people with sunglasses and white pants. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

Brookie and her Man named P.

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Monday April 24th, 2006

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Ok, so Chris White sent me this email and it said, "By far, the best sign yet":

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Thursday April 20th, 2006

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Yes, it is 4-20-2006. Very funny.

Paul James Logan has not left the building. Although he could if he wanted to, that guy can move for someone who just had some vertebrae somehow melded to a metal rod. The point of having that prelude was to introduce the newest surf photographer superstar going by Logan INC> DBA Shuntz Inc.

I don't know what any of that means, but I wish he had a camera when I was 16, I might have gotten more free stuff (that my friends would borrow and never give back).

Here's an example of his handiwork (with Seth Stafford riding):

More here, here, here, and here.

And by the way, what F-stop did you use for those photos PJ?

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Sunday April 16th, 2006 (Continued)

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Last night we went roller skating and it was AWESOME. Well, it was at least hilarious. I can't skate very well (I hate having both feet pointed forward--it's very ungainly), but I started to be able to go around in circles without my hands straight up in the air (for balance). We have probably close to 100 images from last night, but I really don't feel like putting them up here right now. Maybe just one?

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I just found the coolest websites I've seen in quite some time.

The first one is keaggy.com, which goes to show that some people have a lot of time on their hands. Please view the "Unspectacular Doors" project (really great photos of hundreds of doors in St. Louis, MO) or perhaps the "50 Sad Chairs" project (photos of chairs). It sounds like it's not entertaining, but the photos are really great.

Or maybe you might want to peruse the "Grocery Lists" section--where someone finds other people's grocery lists and puts 'em on the web. Actually, it's very entertaining.

Ok, now I've found the "Signs" collection and I'm sold. This guy is genius.

Of course it helps that he uses a Holga for a lot of these shots--also my favorite weapon.