Umbrella

This isn't snow, it's rain! Nature fails.

Hint Hint!

On the side of a bus: Your roommate is dating the flu.

Bonding with the T-Virus

Ugh. Processing a bit of a hang-over so I'm making this Resident Evil Day. Going to watch all three movies in anticipation of Afterlife coming out this Friday.

Missed

On the train today four French-speaking tourists got on and sat nearby. I love listening to French… nothing like native speakers to remind me how poorly I speak it. They were rattling on as if no one around could understand them—mostly true. They were annoyed with the weather and hoping to find Times Square. I almost spoke up.

Unfortunately I remember the polite but pained expressions of my friends from Lausanne when I butchered their language. Plus the guy sitting next to me was way too cute (dark features with pale blue eyes!!). So I sat there with a bemused expression on my face while picking out snatches of meaning from their prattle.

My courage finally peaked a few seconds after I got off the train. *sigh* Won't let that happen again! Next time, cute or not, I will frighten tourists with my boldness and poor ability to communicate.

Failure?

Was really excited when I inadvertently saw some of the scene's from M. Night Shyamalan's Avatar: The Last Airbender. Really enjoyed all three “Books” from Nickelodeon so I was dubious about seeing them being somehow manipulated/condensed into a movie. Just now glanced over a critic collection from iVillage entitled “Is 'Last Airbender' the Worst Movie of All Time?” *sigh* Might still catch it in the theaters this week, but maybe I'll save my disappointment for DVD.

Not Exactly a PSA

Walking around in Chelsea I saw a three ads for ManHunt today and the third made me laugh. Someone had written “Cock Commando” atop the ripped Latin guy who was holding up his shirt, showing off impossible abs. I found the homophobic inscription amusingly redundant—like saying Soccer is gay.

It's funny these ads were posted at all. Like any gay man in Manhattan needs to be reminded that ManHunt is out there. And we all know hooking up with that poster boy would involve money and/or an STD. Love this city.

Missed Snapshot

Getting off at 6th Ave stop on the L line I noticed an HRC bumper sticker had been stuck to the ground next to some benches. For whatever reason, that really struck me. That the events, fanfare and Parade from the weekend were done yet continued to have an effect. Almost stopped to take a shot with my iPhone but the lighting was horrible. And the image I wanted to capture wouldn't have been possible to frame with all the people anyway. Still… a good moment.

Californians to vote on legal weed

Californians to vote on legal weed
By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer, March 25, 2010: 1:25 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's official: Californians will decide whether legal marijuana should be used to plug the state's $20 billion budget gap.

California residents are expected to vote this year on whether legalization should be approved to raise nearly $1.4 billion in state revenue. That's based on an estimate from the State Board of Equalization, a tax administration agency.

"It would be another source of revenue for the state," said Anita Gore, spokeswoman for the board. The board has not issued an opinion on legalization as a means of easing the state's budget crisis, she added.

California Secretary Debra Brown confirmed on Wednesday that enough signatures had been collected to put AB 390, a marijuana legalization bill, on the ballot for Nov. 2. A press release from the secretary said that legalization proponents submitted 694,248 petition signatures for the bill, easily surpassing the required 433,791.

Unlike prior legislation that has passed in California and other states, this form of legalization is not restricted to medicinal use of marijuana.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, proposes that marijuana be regulated and taxed in a similar way to alcohol.

According to the bill, people would have to be 21 years or older "to possess, cultivate, or transport marijuana for personal use." Californians would not be permitted to use the drug in public or within the presence of minors, and would not be allowed to possess it on school grounds.

Most importantly, as far as the budget gap is concerned, the bill stipulates that the drug would be subject to a sales tax. An additional retail fee of $50 would be imposed on every ounce that's sold.

The State Board of Equalization estimates that the state could raise $1.382 billion in annual tax revenues from legal marijuana. The figure is based on estimated revenue of $990 million from the retail fees and $392 million from sales taxes.

"With the state in the midst of an historic economic crisis, the move towards regulating and taxing marijuana is simply common sense," Ammiano said in a press release when he first proposed the bill last year.

Ammiano was not immediately available for comment.

AWESOME! Hopefully this will distract the fundamentalists enough to let me and my fellow deviants sneak in a few civil rights.

I'm really not a marijuana advocate. Yet it seems to me that decriminalization will bring more realistic oversight. It's the first step in responsible monitoring … through real, legal avenues instead of back alleys. If nothing else, it will help the economy. The AP reported this and it's been carried everywhere, but I grabbed CNNMoney's version to illustrate that point.

Adopted

H.R. 3590 passes 219 to 212. On to Reconciliation. Oh boy. I wonder if any Republican's speech will fail to mention abortion.

Please Heed the Gavel

Whoa. Something about me has changed. Just got home after a date with AndrewFashion and the first thing I did was bring up C-SPAN to watch the health care debate. It is exciting though. For instance, Barny Frank (D-Massachusetts) claims the GOP stands for "Grandstand Oppose Postpone." Good stuff.

The Fountain (2006)

The Fountain (2006) [PG-13] <**/***>

In this sci-fi drama that spans a millennium, a man (Hugh Jackman) searches for a tree believed to grant eternal life in 16th-century Spain; seeks a cure for his wife's (Rachel Weisz) cancer as a present-day scientist; and traverses the universe as a 26th-century astronaut. As he travels through time in an epic struggle to save the woman he loves, he also comes to understand some of life's murkiest mysteries.

Genre: Sci-Fi Dramas, Romantic Dramas
This movie is: Romantic, Mind-bending, Emotional, Cerebral

Netflix has been pretty good about making related suggestions but this was the first big fail. This movie has horrible, horrible. After about an hour I had to stop it to end the pain. For whatever reason, I finished it the next day. It tries to be a lot more than it accomplishes.

Two reasons it isn't a single star. First there was some chemistry between Wolverine and the Weisz chick. Could feel for them. Second was the cinematography and special effects. Despite the boredom and confusion, there were many lush moments to sit back and enjoy. Other than these two redeeming characteristics it was a waste of celluloid.

Falling On My Head Like a Memory

Funny how poorly New Yorkers deal with rain.

I remember being in Trader Joe's one rainy day where the line was one tenth what it normally is. The cashier said that most people stay out of inclement weather. Since I enjoy being out in it I hadn't made the connection. Yet I see it everywhere now.

Vitesse!

The pace of this city still surprises me. Was reading an interview with Renzo Rosso, owner of Diesel, last month where he was talking about shaking things up. The next day I noticed his new ads on bill boards, sides of busses, et cetera. Yet walking around last week they were all gone. The only place I saw them was at the actual store on 14th. Crazy.

The Internet is More Than Pr0n

My inner geek just exploded:

Search the PopSci Archives
We've partnered with Google to offer our entire 137-year archive for free browsing. Each issue appears just as it did at its original time of publication, complete with period advertisements. It's an amazing resource that beautifully encapsulates our ongoing fascination with the future, and science and technology's incredible potential to improve our lives. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Ten Common but Easily Corrected Errors

by Tina Blue, January 4, 2001

1. ALL RIGHT vs. ALRIGHT

It is not all right to use "alright." In fact, you might even say it is "alwrong," and that if you make this error you are "alwet."


2. A LOT vs. ALOT vs. ALLOT

A lot of people make the mistake of writing alot when they mean a lot. Try not to be one of those people, because "alot" is not a word. There is, however, such a word as "allot," as in this sentence: I will allot you each twenty tickets to sell.


3. ALL TOGETHER vs. ALTOGETHER

Which you choose will depend on what you mean:
She just wanted to get the group all together on one side of the room to have their picture taken, but her tone of voice was altogether too bossy and self-important, so everyone ignored her.


4. AMOUNT vs. NUMBER

Detergent comes in amounts. People come in numbers. Don't talk about a large amount of people, or books, or pencils, or anything else that can be counted. If something is measured rather than counted, then it comes in amounts. There is a large amount of snow on the ground, but there are a large number of trees in the forest.

Similarly, things that are numbered must be described as being more or fewer, not more or less.

~Correct: There are fewer people in Kansas than in Pennsylvania.
~Incorrect: There are less people in Kansas than in Pennsylvania.


5. DUE TO

Due to is properly used only after a linking verb.

~Correct : Her high fever was due to a strep infection.
~Incorrect : Due to a strep infection, she had a high fever.
~Incorrect: She had a high fever due to a strep infection.


6. EQUALLY AS

The phrase equally as is redundant. Use one or the other but not both.

~Margaret and Louise were equally responsible.
~Margaret was as responsible as Louise.
~This rule is as valid as the other.
~These two rules are equally valid.


7. EVERY DAY vs. EVERYDAY

Everyday is an adjective, meaning "ordinary" or "commonplace," as in "everyday people" or "everyday occurrence."

Every day is an adverbial phrase identifying how often something takes place: You seem to get up on the wrong side of the bed every day.


8. FROM WHENCE vs. WHENCE

Whence means "from where." Therefore, from whence is a redundancy, meaning "from from where."

~Correct: Send him back whence he came.
~Incorrect: Send him back from whence he came.

9. IRREGARDLESS vs. REGARDLESS

Simply put, irregardless is not a word. It is a blend of regardless and irrespective of.

~Regardless of what he meant to say, the effect of his careless remark was to hurt a child's feelings.


10. PORE OVER vs. POUR OVER

When you intently study a book, you pore over it. If you pour over it, you are going to have a soggy book

Word: Polymath

A polymath (Greek polymathēs, πολυμαθής, "having learned much") is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath (or polymathic person) may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable. Most ancient scientists were polymaths by today's standards. (Wikipedia)

Came across this word on the new Doctor Who series of all places. In Season 2, Episode 2, Tooth and Claw Queen Victoria claimed her friend Lord Robert was a polymath.

Another Way of Putting It

Jim Rohn said, “Success is something you attract by the person you become – its not something you persue – its something you attract by becoming an attractive person.” And Zig Ziglar, “You Can Only Get What You Want, If You Help Enough Other People Get What They Want.”

Get Out

I was heading downstairs to the machines after some cardio when a knot of oldsters made me take a hard right through equipment. Thought it was odd since the classes were usually upstairs. Was adjusting the lat machine when a Bally person came up to me. I pulled my earplugs out to hear her say they were evacuating the bottom floor. Then I could smell the smoke.

Upstairs I could see the fire truck so I went up to the doors. A yellow police ribbon started at the corner of the building and encompassed the Radio Shack next door. Then there was a fuchsia HazMat ribbon around the man hole cover where smoke was coming out. Nice.

Was surveying one or two of the fit guys waiting beside me when they announced the whole building was being evacuated. I had my wallet on me but my coat and keys were in the locker room downstairs. I went up to the reception desk asking if I could retrieve them, rushing down after getting a nod. There were a bunch of men still in there changing but I didn't feel like trying.

So the day after the biggest blizzard I've seen in a couple of years I'm walking around downtown, sweaty, nasty, and in gym clothes. Didn't feel self-conscious at all. Love this city!

Resistance is Futile

So yeah. Despite agreeing with my friend Eric that Star Trek Online doesn't look complete I'm installing the Open Beta as I type this. I let the 8gb download run overnight after pre-ordering from Amazon around 1am. At least I can blame being up too late on this decision. Was going to go with Gamestop's flavor to get the original Constitution Class starship, but Amazon's Borg First Officer edged out my sense of nostalgia.

Not really sure what changed my mind; been able to ignore everything about this until yesterday. The game concept does sound fun with a combination of FPS ground scenarios and 3D ship combat. Yet I was excited about this years ago. And with how many times the code and license has been handed off, I'm fairly certain the content and implementation will fall short of my stellar expectations.

Despite my reservations, I feel like I can contribute my $150 or so to the experiment. More than three decades of being a Star Trek fanboy demands it.