Tag: wtf

what a week (local)

Tonight I almost ran over an entire pack of ironically metalled-out 20somethings who were tittering across the street after a Scorpions concert at the fairgrounds. The cops were having a joyous time arresting them all for misdemeanor irony. Aren’t the Scorpions, like, 60 years old now?

Looking through the police blotter I see that:

  • There was a drive by shooting around the corner from my house (East Bay St.)
  • Someone found the remains of a bound and decapitated lamb, which appeared to have been sacrificed by some loons celebrating the Solstice (way to handle your GOTH PARTY, assholes!).
  • Some local buffoons put an ad on Craigslist selling very illegal fireworks and all got arrested. Bonus points: the ringleader, teen henchman #1, and teen henchman #2 all have Myspaces so we can laugh at them.
  • A local couple were convicted of slavery this week. That’ll look awesome when you apply for a job at Wendy’s after you get out. Please list your felonies on this form.
  • There are two separate ongoing criminal cases at once right now of guys who licked people’s feet.

On the plus side, my friend Craig made it into the Weekly for being a 581% insane hardcore bicyclist. He’s clearly made from liquid metal.

Dear Mr. President: I am not a crank

Years ago I preserved and posted a thoroughly insane HOWTO for PostgreSQL. The author, a very earnest madman, begins talking about the philosophy of open source software and goes straight down the rabbit hole into discussions of quantum physics and the nature of matter.

Today I received this message from the mailing list for open source software I use on my Mac. The writer begins with what could be an interesting analogy between the problems of the pharmaceutical industry and those of the software and media industry, and then another rabbit hole appears and down he goes. Soon he’s telling the mailing list about his cholesterol level, discussing the possible merits of tannins in tobacco leaves, his own career and CV, and the benefits of Calorie Restriction for longevity. There’s a dab of left-wing politics in there too.

The sad part is that he has a really good point about openness of information and its value for science and free societies. And he’s smart and well-educated. But wow, does he write like a bus crazy or what?

screed