01 Jan 2014
Today is my birthday. Having a birthday on New Year’s Day has it’s benefits and disadvantages.
I always think of my mom on my birthday. She always went to great lengths to make people take notice of my birthday and to make it a perfect day.
She had this ridiculous tradition of wanting to see me or at least talk to me on the phone at exactly the time I was born. I used to try desperately to explain to her how silly that was, given that time is an arbitrary convention, etc. etc.
Well, today I wish I could share this with her.
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02 Nov 2013
I’ve definitely decided to power this website with Fargo and some tool to render xhtml/CSS from it.
Right now I am generating the files with a tool I wrote, but that is a work in progress. I will be writing about that at fargo.soistmann.com. I plan to cross-post my posts there until I make the move officially. This domain will eventually point there.
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23 Aug 2013
Several weeks ago, I promised a friend a funny story about our family’s only experience with Air India a few years ago.
Billy was sixteen and he was going to fly to Germany with two of his classmates for an exchange program. Naturally, we tasked Billy with finding the least expensive flight he could find. He found Air India.
The other two students were girls so we all, unofficially, expected Billy to keep an eye on them. We had put considerable effort into buying the tickets together and calling to arrange seating assignments together, etc.
We travelled to the airport, escorted Billy as far as we are allowed post 9/11, and decided to hang out at a restaurant with the parents of one of the other students. We all figured that staying at the airport at least until the plane took off made sense. We were worried and the other parents were freaking out a little bit.
That’s when the texts and tweets started. 
Billy’s friend was texting her mom, and Billy was tweeting the story.
I don’t remember all the details, but apparently a woman boarded the plane with a sprained/broken foot/ankle/leg and needed a particular seat. The seat Billy was sitting in. Billy and his friends tried to explain that they went through a lot of trouble to sit together, that they were flying alone to another country, etc. Didn’t matter!
If you know my son, you’ll know he likes to argue. He won several “best attorney” gavels in high school mock trial competition, even scoring “best attorney” in the state one year. But he is usually respectful to adults. I wasn’t on the plane, but he tells us he was as nice as he could be.
At first, we laughed about it at the restaurant. “They don’t know who they are dealing with in there. Ha Ha” but then we started to worry Billy was going to be in big trouble.
I decided to see if I could talk some sense into someone at Air India. I hunted down the office, which turned out to be about 8 by 12 feet and there must have been 25 people working in that room. I couldn’t believe it. They didn’t seem to get it either. They kept going back to the fact that Billy was sixteen, and both of the girls were seventeen. According to airlines, they are not minors. No special treatment, etc. etc.
Billy and his friends put their negotiation skills to work on other passengers, but they were being told not to talk, which made the task difficult.
I don’t remember what happened exactly, but eventually another set of passengers stepped in to help them and all was well.
Billy has been to Germany twice on his own, and he flew to Oxford for his interviews, and to San Francisco to visit Skywalker Ranch. All by himself, but never again on Air India.
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02 Aug 2013
NOTE: I wrote this over at Fargo, but I cross-posted here so I could tweak the xhtml a little ( still working on templates for my numbering and such). You are reading this on a WordPress powered website. Keep that in mind as you read. I’m a BIG FAN of WordPress.
Yesterday the comments over at AVC became quite a love fest for WordPress.
I’m a big fan of WordPress, and I recommend it to clients and friends all the time, but I don’t think moving a high profile, heavy traffic website like AVC over to WordPress is a trivial matter.
I”ll explain, but first …
These opinions and suggestions were written with one website in mind. This post is not intended to be advice or a tutorial fit for anyone and everyone to follow.
They are also just that – opinions and suggestions.
Why not WordPress?
To be clear, I’m not against AVC moving to WordPress, but there is one reason I think it’s worth avoiding WordPress – or any dynamically driven solution.
- AVC.com is one of my favorite spots on the Internet. Fred Wilson uses it to share his thoughts on a daily basis, and there is a lot of valuable information there. The comment section is also chock full of the opinions of some very smart people. I’ve been working on writing something up about that, but that’s a topic for another day.
- The content over at AVC should be preserved for future generations. If the content were static, moving it over to another location would be as simple as copying files to a new location. It is now possible to set up an S3 bucket on AWS and serve files from that bucket with no need for a server to maintain. I know that presumes that Amazon will survive and that they will continue to offer S3, but the point remains that serving static content these days is a trivial thing.
- Working with a database driven website is not. Sure it’s simple – even easy for people like me ( and for the three of you that read my blog ), but it requires maintenance of several “moving parts.”
If Fred decides to move to WP, what might be the best way to do that?
There are a lot of tutorials online about this, so I’m not going into great detail, but this is how it starts.
- Finish the new design first. Moving first would require building ( or skinning ) a theme one extra time.
- Have an xhtml/CSS professional build a WP theme from that design OR use a theme that can be skinned by a CSS pro.
- Export data from the database and have someone who can work with SQL massage the details, paying special attention to the permalinks. Breaking URLs is a huge mistake.
- Find a good host known for handling high traffic WordPress sites.
- From here, follow the standard procedure, but be sure of three things …
- Don’t use more plugins than you really need, make sure they don’t conflict with one another, and that they are not poorly coded.
- Test for performance under extreme load
- Be sure you can access old posts at the existing URLs
But wait, there is a plugin for that …
I know there are solutions to the issues one might encounter moving to WordPress – some that I mentioned ( permalinks, performance issues ), and some I did not ( unicode differences, etc. ). My point, after all, is that these issues should be addressed, which implies that they can be addressed. I just think the best approach is to be sure a programmer ( or someone with the right combination of tech savvy, smarts, courage, patience, and time ) carefully handles the transition.
A plugin is only as good as the programmer who built it – or the last one who edited it. There are, no doubt, many plugins that are very well done, but anyone who has used WordPress to drive a site with any significant traffic will probably tell you stories of plugins that don’t work as advertised or conflict with other plugins or the core function of WordPress.
TL;DR
Moving a high profile, heavy traffic, long lived website is not a trivial matter – no matter where you want to take it.
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02 Aug 2013
Summer field hockey is finally over for the season and I can finally talk about it. Becky’s team did finish undefeated!
Late in the season, they did have two ties in a row, but no losses.
A few weeks back I started doing some calculations using the standings and the the schedule to see if it was possible to NOT end up in first place. Turns out there were more rain dates than I knew about, so that was all pointless time ( if you can call writing Python and playing with number pointless ).
Her last game was on Wednesday. They did NOT need to win to take the trophy, but most of them didn’t know that, and they DID need to win or tie to stay undefeated. It was a win of at least 4-0, so they finished the season at 11-0-2.
Only 17 days until fall preseason starts.
NOTE: I’m doing most of my posting at Fargo now, but I plan to cross post some things here until I move over there ( and point the feed there ).
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31 Jul 2013
I’ve been paying attention to what Small Picture has been working on since Dave first let the cat out of the bag. I’m a long time fan of Dave’s work and writing. We don’t always agree on details, but I think in outlines, I support open protocols, and I like tools that are simple but powerful.
I started using Fargo to create all kinds of outlines as soon as it was released, and I wrote a quick Python script to translate one of my outlines into a simple text format for the Taskpaper iOS app, which also syncs with Dropbox.
But I had really only played with the possibility of using Fargo to publish blog posts. Mostly because I was afraid of my tendency to obsess and the urge I might face to move my blog over to a new place. I knew I would be tempted to do that, and I suspected my time would be better used on something else.
Meanwhile, I’ve been kicking around two new projects for which I might want to use Fargo.
So I decided to take the day yesterday and look into the scripting, Trex, and learn more about what Fargo can really do.
I’m stoked! And I thought of at least one new project I should look into.
I may or may not move my blog to Fargo. There are a few more open questions on that front, but I’m learning in that direction.
and I cross-posted this over there.
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22 Jul 2013
I thought after last week, I should post at least one more of our shared favorites.
I’m sure I’ve written about this before, but I met Vivian Campbell, Tommy Aldridge, and Rudy Sarzo in a mall in Roanoke, VA years ago when they were on tour with Whitesnake. I looked through the archives here to find a link to that story, but couldn’t find it. If I really have never shared that, I will someday.
For today, here is one of my favorite hair metal anthems of all time.
NOTES:
- I decided to embed a live version rather then the very popular music video that made Coverdale’s wife famous for several reasons – mostly because I love the crowd singing along in the live version.
- You can stop viewing after the song ends. It goes on for a bit, but all you’ll miss is Coverdale swearing.
I don't know where I'm going, but I sure know where I've been
Hanging on the promises in the songs of yesterday
And I've made up my mind
I ain't wasting no more time
Here I go again, here I go again
Though I keep searching for an answer
I never seem to find what I'm looking for
Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on
'Cause I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams
Here I go again on my own
Going down the only road I've ever known
Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone
And I've made up my mind
I ain't wasting no more time
I'm just another heart in need of rescue
Waiting on love's sweet charity
And I'm gonna hold on for the rest of my days
'Cause I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams
And here I go again on my own
Going down the only road I've ever known
Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone
And I've made up my mind
I ain't wasting no more time
But here I go again, here I go again
Here I go again, here I go
'Cause I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams
And here I go again on my own
Going down the only road I've ever known
Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone
And I've made up my mind
I ain't wasting no more time
And here I go again on my own
Going down the only road I've ever known
Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone
'Cause I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams
And here I go again on my own
Going down the only road I've ever known
Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone
Lyrics from metrolyrics
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20 Jul 2013
You can have any brew you want as long as it’s a Corona.
I wrote yesterday about the Fast and Furious movie marathon we planned at our place several weeks back. The series as a whole was much better than I expected. I enjoyed the movies and it was a fun day.
I thought I’d just relay a couple of brief thoughts about each one.
The Fast and the Furious
A decent film that is fun to watch if you like fast cars.
2 Fast 2 Furious
One of the worst films I’ve ever seen, and though I do like the cheesy titles sequels have these days, this is one of the silliest titles of any movie – ever!
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Not as good as the first, better than the second. The change of culture was interesting. This film feels like it doesn’t fit into the story line of the other films at all, but they do bring one of the characters into later films.
Fast & Furious
I think this may be the second best of the films. At this point, the films drop most of the macho games nonsense I hate so much and start to focus more on the heists.
Fast Five
Certainly the best film if you ask me – by quite a lot.
Furious 6
This is probably a better film than number four, but it really pushes the boundaries of plausibility. It was a blast to see it in the theater with a crowd that was very enthusiastic about it. It was a great way to round out the day.
Why I see so many movies, including bad ones, in the theater.
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19 Jul 2013
It’s no secret that I love movies.
My son also learned to love movies at an early age. One time when he was barely three years old, he had just finished watching something on TV, and we poked around the guide for something to watch for a few more minutes. I found The Fugitive, edited for TV. We had missed about twenty minutes, but we only planned to watch a few minutes, so I left it on. We didn’t watch a lot of TV in those days, but we were just looking for something for a bit of entertainment while waiting for Terri to get home. Billy watched for a couple of minutes and it was clear he was really interested in the story. I got up from the couch after a few minutes and asked him if he wanted me to put something else on. He said no, so I went about my business.
When Terri got home a while later, Billy was still sitting there in front of the TV, apparently very engrossed in the story. He told his mom about this “doctor guy” – Richard – and how everybody thought he killed his wife, but he didn’t. We were amused, but we assumed he’d lose interest eventually.
We were wrong – and it’s been hard to distract him from a movie ever since.
He’s a film student at Tisch now, and we estimate he has seen at least 1400 films.
As we were planning what movies we might watch while we were together this summer, two ideas came to us.
- Re-watch Pulp Fiction
- Watch all of the first five Fast & Furious films at home in one day, and finish with Furious 6 in the theater.
Number one was a no-brainer, We didn’t do that until just a few days before he returned to NYC, but we were very glad we did. The film is better every time you watch it.
Number two was something we had talked about for a while, but kept putting off. Neither one of us cares for these kinds of films normally. I very much enjoy fast cars, I love a mindless action film from time to time, and don’t mind young attractive women running around in hot pants, but I’m not a big fan of all the “street” stuff – the macho standoffs and such.
That’s why we had not seen any of the films in full. I had seen a few minutes of the opening to the first, and decided not to continue watching it. I had seen perhaps the first 30 minutes of Tokyo Drift, and it seemed interesting enough to me that I think I chose to stop watching so I could watch the first two – which, of course, now I realize was not necessary in the least.
We had a blast, enjoyed the movies (mostly), and had more good times talking about the films after.
I am posting my review of the entire franchise tomorrow
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18 Jul 2013
The Search for God and Guinness, by Stephen Mansfield, was a fascinating read. The book’s subtitle – A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World – sets the author up for a momentous task. One can’t simply make that kind of statement and not back it up with a great story, and Mansfield certainly delivered if you ask me.
The book opens with a history of beer before the founding of Guinness. Personally, I found this to be the most fascinating part of the story, and a big reason I think the book lives up to its ambitious subtitle. This part of the book reminded me of How the Irish Saved Civilization. It details the history of the influence beer has had on the development of our civilizations and cultures. It was simply astounding. If you have no interest in the Guinness family (though you should), this part of the book is well worth a read.
The rest of the book gives a broad overview of the history of the Guinness family and the company they founded. There are detailed stories about three men in particular, but the book makes reference to many others. I’ll have to admit that the book falls a little flat for me in the middle, but that may be because I have much more interest in the topics which surrounded the middle. I’ve read many stories about earning a good living doing something in order to support one’s ministry to the world. I have little interest in those stories – probably because it sometimes seems we are surrounded by such stories in our modern culture.
I find the story of a man who wanted to brew beer as his calling – the idea that God can call a man to business as his vocation AND ministry – much more compelling. I was also very impressed by the stories of the impact Guinness had on its employees and their families. The world would be a better place if companies cared as much about the impact they had on the world – their own employees, the communities in which they operate, their customers, and the world.
It was also a fun read. I learned about connections between the family that never occurred to me. I had never actually thought much about Guinness as a family. It never really occurred to me that there were people behind the brand. That’s why I never wondered, as some do, whether Alec Guinness was related to the family (Apparently, he is not). It also never occurred to me that there was any connection between the dark ruby stout and the book of world records I used to read at my desk while my teacher was talking about who knows what – perhaps one day we learned about the Guinness family while I was reading their book.
While searching for a couple of quotes from the book, I learned that there are at least a few other stories of members of the Guinness family that have given of themselves for the greater good of their community and the world. Stories not included in the book.
I’m glad I know now.
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17 Jul 2013
I’m not a Yankees fan, but I think Mariano Rivera is the man!
Billy and I saw him pitch the second to last game at the old Yankee stadium, and we hoped and hoped they wouldn’t put him in the next day so we could say we saw him pitch his last game there.
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16 Jul 2013
I enjoy spectator sports. I wouldn’t call myself a sport nut – because I’m not one – but I do enjoy rooting for my teams, and I enjoy watching certain sports very much.
But I’ve noticed a trend over the past two decades that has caused my viewing to decline.
I know many others have pointed this out, and I’ve probably written about it before, but I was thinking about this again after a discussion we had yesterday around a game of Cities & Knights.
Early yesterday I remembered that the Home Run Derby would be on television in the evening, so I told Terri and Becky that I would probably just put it on and turn the sound off. This is something I routinely do when I watch hockey or soccer. Since I feel like I actually have to keep my eyes glued to the screen while watching those, I turn off the sound and listen to an audiobook or a podcast or something.
Anyway, as Billy and I were texting yesterday, I told him the same thing, and he replied “Good call.”
The derby was always an annual event at our home, but as the years came and went, it became harder and harder to watch, for two reasons. First, what used to be a fun event enjoy with the family has morphed into this hours long event that you can’t wait to see end, and which everyone seems to take far to seriously. Which brings me to reason number two, and the reason all of sports has become harder to watch if you ask me – the analysts and commentators just won’t shut up!
They over analyze and over comment on every excruciating detail of the contest, every human interest angle, details from past contests, and they constantly tell me what to watch for in the contest. Think about Super Bowl Sunday, for example. How many people are tired of the Super Bowl before the game even starts.
So, back to our story. Though yesterday was our wedding anniversary, we had decided to celebrate a couple of days early since Becky had a field hockey game scheduled for yesterday. She offered to get a ride, but we wouldn’t miss her game. That’s all I’m saying about field hockey until the season is over. After the game, we decided to play another game of Cities & Knights ( probably 8 games in the last 10 days ), so we put the derby on but didn’t mute it because we wouldn’t actually be watching.
Sometime into the first player’s performance, Becky started with the “back, back, back, …” and we started mocking Berman’s attempt to choose the right number of “back”s to match the distance of the shot, and his attempts to out-do himself.
I’ve got to say that I’m one of Berman’s biggest fans. I really am, but he is part of the problem. They all are.
I know it’s going to be a great game, that’s why I put it on, now shut up and let me watch it.
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15 Jul 2013
It’s been a long time since my last HMM post. I had one planned for today, and I almost cancelled it because today is my 24th wedding anniversary. But then I thought this was a great memory of my fun-loving bride.
Recently I was watching clips from the 2012 M3 festival, and it reminded me of some of my favorite Styper tunes. Two of them – Free and Calling on You – used to show up every week when I was frequenting Hair Metal Fridays on turntable.fm (and I wasn’t the only one playing them) – so I’ve been listening to them more lately.
The other day we were playing Free in the car and Terri told Becky an old story she has told the kids before about how her and my sister, their aunt Barb, used to drive all over campus in my little Nissan Sentra blasting Stryper, along with a few other favorite hair bands, on the cassette deck.
I know there are some who have other favorites, but if you ask me Free is one of their best. I may not believe in free will but I like the song a lot – and we humans behave as though we have free will, so maybe there is not much difference actually.
Anyway, enjoy this week’s pick …
Free to turn away say goodbye
Free to walk away and deny
The gift waiting for you
Whispers a still small voice, it's your choice
You're free, free to do what you want to
Choose your own destiny
Free to do what you want to
Free to open up and believe
Free to only ask and receive
There's no better time than now
'Cause you've got the right
To choose, you can't lose
You're free, free to do what you want to
Choose your own destiny
Free to do what you want to
Free, free to do what you want to
Choose your own destiny
Free to do what you want to
Free, free to do what you want to
Choose your own destiny
Free to do what you want to
Lyrics from metrolyrics.com
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13 Jul 2013
White House Down
Yeah, me neither
A terrible film with three redeeming features …
- Joey King – The film portrays a young girl who is more than just a spoiled little brat. We also see a strong, smart, self-motivated female character. She was fantastic.
- A father trying to live up to his daughter’s expectations – As a dad, I’m a sucker for stories like this.
- Humor – some of it silly, sure, but the film made me laugh.
NOTE: I happen to really like Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, and James Woods, and I love Maggie G, but I might have preferred not to see them in this film. No doubt other performances would have been inferior to Foxx and Woods, but this film is so bad it probably wouldn’t have mattered.
Why I see so many movies, including bad ones, in the theater.
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13 Jul 2013
This is the End
I don’t wanna die at James Franco’s house.
This is the End is a ridiculous comedy with gratuitous crude humor throughout. The plot, though unbelievable in the extreme, was strong. The film featured six film and TV stars, with appearances by dozens more, all playing themselves. The self-mockery was genuinely funny. The relationship driven drama is excellent, and there was a lot of additional genuine character driven humor – most notably the conversations involving Jay Baruchel, The rest was crude, cheap laughs.
Best parts – Emma Watson almost upstages every other performance in one sceene, and the film ends pretty much the way you hope it does.
Why I see so many movies, including bad ones, in the theater.
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13 Jul 2013
Man of Steel
had a slight setbak
Disappointing in the extreme!
Too much senseless CGI action violence. Too much 9/11 imagery. One scene, in particular, made me sick. Too much jumping around. At one point I leaned to ask Terri “wait, how did they get outside?” Too much Messiah/savior imagery. Too much of everything, actually.
Costner, Shannon, and Lane were great. Crowe’s perfomance was solid, but I have a hard time judging him objectively. I just don’t like the guy. I will restate my oft-expressed opinion that it’s a brilliant move to cast the adorable Amy Adams in any role where you need the audience to understand falling in love with her. Unfotunately, in this film, she turned in what might have been the worst performance of her career.
Why I see so many movies, including bad ones, in the theater.
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13 Jul 2013
The Heat
Cheese doesn’t go bad
I really enjoyed this film. I love Sandra Bullock, and I’m starting to fall for McCarthy, but I was a little worried about the language and a bit too much cheap humor. No doubt, there was much of that, but the film was very entertaining, and very very funny.
It also featured two strong female characters doing more then just looking good and giving the men in the film what they want, and it touched on some interesting themes, including the meaning of family, friendship, loneliness, and what it means to do the right thing.
If you don’t mind the language – many times simply for the laughs – you should see the film.
Why I see so many movies, including bad ones, in the theater.
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13 Jul 2013
Despicable Me 2
I really hate that chicken
I mentioned in another review today that I am a sucker for father/children stories, and this is no exception.
Like most sequals to films aimed at children, it feels like a rundown of all the same jokes in another movie, but it was fun, and I had a good time watching it.
I certainly think they should stop while they’re ahead. Perhaps a spin-off minion film, or TV series, would be a riot.
Why I see so many movies, including bad ones, in the theater.
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13 Jul 2013
World War Z
Mother Nature is a serial killer.
I left the theather very pleasantly surprised. This film was much better than I was expecting.
After hearing fantastic things about the audiobook, I picked it up as my monthly audible.com choice several years ago. At least twice I started over at the beginning again, but I never made it more than halfway through. I love the humorous tone of the book, and the voice actors were fantastic, but I couldn’t get past listening to the language. Perhaps I wouldn’t have minded in writing, and I don’t normally wince at heavy language in a film ( in proper context ), but something about listing to people cuss in my headphones while I’m on the treadmill or walking the dog didn’t really work for me.
I was intrigued when I learned that Brad Pitt was going to put this out as a film, but I was very curious how he would recreate the tone of the book. Turns out he doesn’t really try. I don’t want to give anything away, but in my opinion it was very well done.
Pitt, of course, was fantastic, and the other performances were very solid.
If you ask me, the film didn’t fully develop the issue of main character’s family as they dealt with him being away from them doing very dangerous work during very perilous times. Otherwise, it was a very good film.
The sequal – if there is one 
– doesn’t hold as much promise, but I’ll probably go see it.
Why I see so many movies, including bad ones, in the theater.
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13 Jul 2013
The Lone Ranger
Bad trade
A few promising parts where the characters really hold true to the originals, but otherwise an awful, awful film.
Why I see so many movies, including bad ones, in the theater.
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