October 22, 2002

So, I'm sitting on a water taxi from Pender Island to Schwartz Bay deciding that it's been far too long since I updated my web page. I heard on the news this morning that they may have caught the Washington DC sniper(s). That was before I got on the water taxi over here. We're using the water taxi because the ferry dock is being fixed up, so there's nowhere for the ferry to stop. The water taxi this morning was a little water ambulance that seated about twelve people. It was extremely foggy this morning, and the trip was more than a little nerve wracking. Back to the snipe, I'm not sure haw much I believe . With the current climate in the USA right now, I can't think of a better way to increase the power of the acronym organizations than to have something like 9-11-01 followed by a few high profile and terrifying domestic incidents. In my more cynical and depressed moments I wonder how long the USA will maintain the facade of Democracy.

On a similar note, one of the most important Supreme Court challenges in a long time happened with virtually zero press coverage. The Supremes listened to _ and ___ argue about the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension law. In many ways this case will define our culture for a long time to come. What it comes down to is this. Will any copyrighted materials ever become public domain. I got a very strange feeling when I wasn't reading the transcript. I honestly think that the Supremes are going to overturn the current copyright extension, but they may just overturn the '75 extension. We may see one of the greatest freeing of ideas of our lifetime. [not to self - check for a list of titles that would become Public Domain if that happened]. Several of the questions from the Supremes seemed to be asking "If this is unconstitutional, why isn't the '75 extension". Nobody could answer that question except to say that it would be disruptive. They may , it's unconstitutional;. Hey, a guy can dream,.

So what, you ask, have I been up to. Well, for the .08 people who read this site, I've been working too much as usual, but I've also decided that it's about time to develop a social life again. I've started going to bars again. I've found a nice pub called Christies Carriage House. The phenomenal selection of beer is good, but even better is the fact that they have an all weather patio. I miss the smell of wood soaked in beer mixed with a nicotine cloud. It smells like a pub. The other bar I've started frequenting is called Evolution, and it's trying really hard to be an alternative dance bar. It's not quite succeeding, but it's close enough to be fun. The coolest part, is that it only took a couple of decent tips before the bartender started pouring free pints as Ôtaste tests'. It's a good thing.

In other areas of my life, I turned thirty-one a couple of weeks ago. Got an iPod, and a really enjoyable weekend. The iPod is great. When I was young and always had a walkman, I had my personal soundtrack. I would spend large amounts of time making mixed tapes just to play a couple of times. Now I'm able to create mixes that I can switch constantly. With about 2000 songs to choose from, my personal soundtrack is back in a big way.

I've begun my personal campaign to end the Excise Tax. I'll start by giving the politicians fair warning and options for getting rid of it in a politically sane way. Step two will be to move the media machine. Not sure which tack to take with the media. It's either playing the Ôpunishing crafts people in Canada' or Ôeverybody buys wedding bands; it's no more a luxury than clothing'. I suspect the former will be easier, but the latter will be more effective, but only if it's done right.

In the world of computing, I've ripped out my old install of Fink, and am recompiling it all from scratch. I've noticed that compiling qt is bringing my machine to it's knees. Oh well, at least I'm going to get kde3 on my iBook. If I can find a decent Aqua theme, I'm going to be one happy camper!