Tommy's Rock

This blog is done.

2007-09-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks for reading.

Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris

2007-09-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

Very short, small book. Easy and quick to read. Very good. Not recommended if you are religious and don't want to feel insulted.

"Moonshine voting" from blackbox voting

2007-09-20T17:48:00.001-07:00

Best invention of the year

2007-09-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

Yup - ice cream with no lactose. Ok, so maybe it wasn't invented this year, not sure. But I just discovered it.

"If I want to see uncaring money making machines with cute names I go to a strip club."

2007-09-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

Dinah Sings Bessie Smith

2007-09-15T17:34:00.001-07:00

Glen Greenwald on the latest claims about Iraq

2007-09-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

Nice video recounting how our leaders keep telling us things are going great in Iraq. Every year they tell us the same thing, and the occupation and killing just continue.

"A Cabinet of Wonders" by Renee Dodd

2007-09-09T19:26:00.001-07:00

Not bad. The main problem with the book is that Geek Love owns the "carnival freak" genre. So read Geek Love by Katherine Dunn before reading this book. Than read this book

For the Relief of Unbearable Urges by Nathan Englander

2007-09-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

Pinchas had a question for Zunser. "All your work treats fate as if it were a mosquito to be shooed away. All your characters struggle for survival and yet you play the victum. You had to have known they would come."
"You have a point," Zunser said, "a fair question. And I answer it with another: Why should I always be the one to survive? I watched Europe's Jews go up the chimneys. I buried a wife and a child. I do believe one can elude the fates. But why assume the goal is to live?" Zunser slid the mangled hand onto his stomach. "How many more tragedies do I want to survive? Let someone take witness of mine."

Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill

2007-09-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

This one I also didn't finish. The subject is really interesting, how our military is becoming privatized, but the writing wasn't working for me. The author is a reporter and I guess he needs more practice writing books.

[Update] This turns out to very topical. This week Blackwater was told to stop all operations by the Iraq government after some of their employees killed a bunch of civilians in a gun fight.

God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens

2007-09-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, I admit it. I didn't finish this. The idea of reading it was more interesting than the actual reading. Someone going on about how the "holy" books were written hundreds of years after the fact with little hope of conveying what actually happened, didn't do much for me as I don't care about those books in the first place. I agreed with everything the book says before I read it. It did have some nice examples of how silly things are required to be accepted as serious because someone says it is part of their religion.

Thinking Ape Blues knows Aquino

2007-08-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

Click for larger image.

Army soldier from Tommy's Rock killed in Iraq

2007-08-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

"The United States Army yesterday confirmed the death of Sgt. Joan Duran of Roxbury. The 24-year-old paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne was killed Friday in Iraq."

Story in the Boston Globe.

Story in Boston Now.

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

2007-07-31T16:51:00.001-07:00

Entertaining look at the world using data in ways you wouldn't normally think of using it. Chapters with titles like "How are teachers and sumo wrestlers the same?" give you an idea of what to expect. Very easy read. I was left wondering why there were no references at the end of the book. Lots of studies are mentioned in the book, and usually you can find references to them at the end.

Filipino prisoners dancing to "Thriller"

2007-07-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

Now this here is why the internet is the best thing since ... ok, the best thing ever!

The description at youtube says: "1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice! This is not the final routine, and definitely not a punishment! just a teaser."

I can't seem to get the "embedded" version so you are just going to have to trust me and follow the link.

And of course the original, which was one of the better music videos ever made. And a fun follow up.

News from Tommy's Rock

2007-07-19T18:34:00.001-07:00

Not a very interesting picture, but the Globe ran it so it must be news. Globe story.

I was home yesterday and saw all the emergency vechiles arriving. One big fire truck, 3 police cars, and an ambulance. I would have tried to get a closer look except for the fact that it was raining (and I was afraid I would melt).

My Father's Secret War: A Memoir by Lucinda Franks

2007-07-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

Only half way though this one, but it is easy reading and keeps your attention.

It does make me wonder if the author would have attempted to pursue a relationship with her father if he didn't have all these secrets - what if she wasn't able to get enough material out of him to write a book?

Everyman by Phillip Roth

2007-07-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

Good author, to state the obvious. Good writting. And a reivew.

Moth Smoke by Moshin Hamid

2007-07-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

Very entertaining. It could make a good movie. And one of the better names for a character "Professor Julius Superb".

http://archive.salon.com/books/review/2000/01/06/hamid/index.html

Keith Oberman on the Military Commissions Act of 2006

2007-07-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-huZRg8JpQ

Open letter to Central Bank

2007-07-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

A post to Central Bank, which has branch's around Boston Massachusetts, about their automated phone service.

First: I have an account with your bank, and I do 95% of my banking with your automated phone system.

Second: I used to write (software applications) for automated phone systems. So I know what they are capable of doing.

Rule #1: let the customer enter information whenever they want to, do not force them to listen to a menu which they already know by heart before they can press a key. This has always been Rule #1 and you broke it. The only time Rule #1 doesn't apply is when the customer is legally required to listen to a message.

Rule #2: the pound key is the enter key. You also broke this rule. Your automated phone system is the only one I have ever used which uses the asterisk key instead. This has caused me to waste lots of time redoing what I just did because I used the pound key for entering.

Those are the two big ones, there are too many little ones to list here.

One of these days I am going to find the time and energy to move my money to another bank, and your automated phone application will be the reason why.

The problem with Brandy (woof)

2007-07-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

YOU KNOW THE PROBLEM BRANDY, IS THAT YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME! Yells my neighbor.

So Brandy should be able to understand this, she isn't listening. So what is the problem?

The problem is that Brandy is a dog.

I don't think dogs are very smart, but I know for a fact they can be trained, and will follow commands. My neighbor thinks that her dogs should be able to understand complete sentences which are yelled at them.

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter

2007-07-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

The "security fence".

I agree with the argument that the United States needs to be actively helping create a peace in this region of the world.
And this situation would meet my definition of apartheid.

Is it raining?

2007-07-03T12:21:00.001-07:00

No. That's just my President, George W. Bush, pissing on me (and you) again.

The Future Of Adult Entertainment

2007-07-02T19:53:00.001-07:00

This is the side of a box I got from a liquor store, can't have enough empty boxes kicking around. And I have no idea what the advertisement means. The ad says the name fo the vodka, has a picture of a woman dressed as a robot, or a robot dressed as a women and the slogan "The Future of Adult Entertainment".
Maybe in the future there will be robots who find you attractive if you drink enough vodka?