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Wilco was, for a long time, a group that I enjoyed but never craved. I
owned all of their albums but I never really understood them. Then one
night while I was in Yemen, everything clicked and I’ve been truly
hooked ever since.

I wonder if something similar has happened with Pavement and me. There
are people whose musical tastes I trust that think that Pavement is
the most brilliant group ever. I could see the appeal in a slacker-
rock kind of way but I never really got into them.

Tonight, I heard their song “Brink of the Clouds/Candylad” off of
their album “Wowee Zowee” and I think I understand why they may indeed
be one of those great bands. They had me from the begining when they
started by yelling “Johnathan Peel!!!” When they went into the “He’s a
candylad, he’s a lad made of candy,” bit I nearly fell out of my bed I
was laughing so hard. I had been missing out on the humor of their
music, it makes a lot more sense now. I think I’ll give “Korea Korea”
another listen and see how late I’ll stay up rediscovering their music.

Sent from my iPod

But not until the 30th. Everyone said that I’d go nuts without it and
they were eventually right. I probably would have been able to wait a
bit longer except my job involves using and telling other people to
use the Internet all the time. I can’t wait to rejoin the digital
world!!

Sent from my iPod

Nothing to see here, just testing something out.

Sent from my iPod

This one is from Hayek:

“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”

HT Cafe hayek

As I’m sure you know, I am a fan of a show called Doctor Who. It has been on TV more or less since the mid 60’s so there’s a lot for the dedicated fan to absorb. As much as I enjoy the show, I think I enjoy the audio plays more.

Yes yes, I know, they aren’t “canonical” in the sense that they don’t fit into the show’s continuity, but both Big Finish and Broken Sea are making things that are worth listening to. The Big Finish productions have an edge since they get a lot of the original actors to play their parts in the audio dramas. Of course, they also cost money, unlike the Broken Sea productions. Broken Sea looks like it’s a real labor of love. In addition to Doctor Who, they also do fan fiction based on some other series like Battlestar Galactica, Planet of the Apes, and Logan’s Run(!).

So they are done well, and they are a lot of fun. Some are done well enough that I have false memories of watching them! This may come across as a bit heretical to die hard Who fans, but if your only experience of the Doctor Who series is the “new” one that started in 2001, you might want to stick with these audio plays instead of delving into the archives of the TV show. Let’s face it, a lot, arguably most, of the older shows really weren’t all that good. Even supposed “classics” like “The Pirate Planet” really suffer in comparison to the quality of the newer shows. It isn’t just the effects either, although those are uniformly laughable. The quality of the acting is pretty bad, and the writing varies from decent to stunningly bad. It has it’s own charm, in an older, BBC kind of way, and die hard fans will want to experience all of the enemies that the Doc has faced throughout the years. If you enjoy the current series and want more enjoyable stories, the audio plays are the way to go. Check them out!

I’ve moved several older pieces from my website to the blog. Some of them are kind of long and a little esoteric, but I think all of them could be interesting someone… Enjoy!

You don’t get these every day…

What do you get when you cross a Godfather with a deconstructionist? Someone who makes you an offer you can’t understand.

HT Marginal Revolution

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I’ve dug up some things from years past. These haven’t seen the light of day in quite a while. There’s some I took in Ithaca, some in Binghamton, one in Cheektowaga, and one I took near DC. You can see them here.

I knew I was registered to vote, but I also knew it had been a while. I think I registered to vote against Bush I in 1992. The trick is that was in a place where i no longer live. I could get there, and I had been planning on doing that, but then it occurred to me that I didn’t know where “there” was. What started as curiosity about where the polling place was lead me to reregistering. Good thing I did, turns out that I was actually registered up in Arlington! I have no memory of ever voting there, none. Anyway, things are taken care of now….