Matthew "Gallon of Strawberries" Sachs

05:22 pm: The Rule of Law
(Or, So That's Why The Lady Is A Tramp!)

In Massachusetts, riding a freight train is prima facie evidence that you're a tramp. (There are also separate sections of the code dealing with vagrants and vagabonds. Tramps who also meet the criteria for vagrancy are deemed tramps, but not vagrants. These "statutory tramps" may, however, also be vagabonds. I smell a sequel for John Hodgman...)

Also, in our fair state commonwealth, it's illegal to advertise contraception, and only registered physicians may administer/prescribe it (and only to married persons.) I am glad to see that they took into account the needs of same-sex married couples when authoring this legislation.

Tags: misc

08:15 pm: Gameshows of the Future
Brother Evan (guy I'm related to, not a monk) and I came up with a great idea for a game show. You Don't Know Who Wants to Spin the Wheel of Answer That Question, you would spin a wheel to determine whether you had to question the answer on your own, or if you could phone a friend or ask the audience (and there would also be the option of losing all your money if you answered wrong.) Then you'd get to start off bidding on how quickly you provide the question for the given answer. Players would also have "screws" that force someone else to question an answer.

GSN, have your people call my people.

(What, you were wishing I'd talk about how school or work or the like is going, or such outings as the 16th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony and Lectures and the Keene, New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival [Apple Fritters++, Maple Cotton Candy==, Streets not overflowing with many outstanding pumpkin pies--]? {I'm looking at you, parasailer.} This isn't the blog you're looking for; move along, there's nothing to see here.)

Tags: life, misc

01:16 am: The More You Know
If you don't pre-rinse your dishes, Elvis will eat your babies.

*cue rainbow*

Tags: misc

10:33 pm: Poll Time!
Poll #824502
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

What's the best name for vegetarian ostrich?

Tags: misc

01:59 pm: Penguin Noise
Poll #745626 Penguin Noise
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

Do penguins quack?

Tags: misc

06:31 pm: The Show Which Must Not Be Named
I'm running sound for the MacB**h which is up at Brandeis yesterday through tomorrow at 8pm. It seriously has some of the most impressive swordfighting I've seen on stage. Swords == shiny. It's up in Shapiro, if you're into that sort of thing. And Sage says that all the actors are hot. And it's a great way to see guys in skirts^H^H^H^H^H^Hkilts.

Tags: misc

05:40 am: What good are people in the Pacific timezone if they're not going to be awake and more interesting than my paper at 05:30 my time?

Tags: misc

08:56 pm: 19th-century Manhattan Personals Ads
The Times has a sampling of personals ads from 19th-century Manhattan. For instance:

J.A.R. - SARCASM AND INDIFFERENCE HAVE driven me from you. I sail in next steamer for Europe. Shall I purchase tickets for two, or do you prefer to remain to wound some other loving heart? Answer quick, or all is lost. - EMELIE. (Dec. 18, 1865)

Tags: misc

01:38 am: TMA Dead Dog 2
This poll is for planning the Dead Dog 2 for the recent run of Etherlines: The Morning After. It's public because not everyone involved has a LJ account. Don't answer it if you weren't in the run. If you don't know, this isn't you. This entry is public, don't discuss the game here!

( Poll beneath the cut )

Tags: misc

10:42 am: As requested by belu, the 5th sentence of my 23rd-previous post is "Freakin' Mongolia." You can post your own equivalently-positioned sentence in your journal if you're into that sort of thing. One of those "mems" or somesuch that the kids are into these days, I gather.

Tags: misc

05:16 pm: City
I'm meeting my brother in the city tomorrow afternoon, and we're going to hang out there for the day. Things on the agenda include the MIT Museum, a movie (ETA: The Aristocrats), and food. Anyone want to meet up with us? We could meet you in the evening if you're not available until later.

Tags: misc

09:31 am: Car Insurance
I've been thinking of getting a car (I live out in the 'burbs), and so I've been calling around and getting quotes for insurance. I don't just want to go with the lowest bidder, though, I want an underwriter that will do things like, oh, respond quickly and pay up when I file a claim. Does anyone have any experience with Glantz Insurance, Amica, or Hanover, or have a different insurer that they're particularly fond of?

(Crossposted to b0st0n)

Tags: misc

01:53 am: The Times's "Boldface Names", e.g. gossip, column, which I've recently decided is entertaining, has a typographical convention of putting celebrities' names in all-caps, e.g. "Yesterday at Aquavit, ROBERT DOWNEY JR was lunching with MERYL STREEP; the two ..." So, in today's (emph. added):

Mr. Bartenev's face was painted pink and he was wearing high heels, a pink body suit, goggles and a flat round disk on top of his head like RA, the Egyptian god, or like someone who had had an unfortunate encounter with a power saw.

Guess he's making a comeback. I hear he's being considered to take the reigns of Miramax.

This reminds me of an old quote from the fortune file (although not the one on that machine, sadly:)

All hail the sun god
He sure is a fun god
Ra, ra, ra!

ETA: Everyone is Bill Murray.

Tags: humor, media, misc

12:54 am: Paper
Why is it impossible to find an acid-free, 100% cotton paper heavier than 20# ? I found one paper which meets that specification, and it's only available in quantities of 500 sheets.

Tags: misc

02:04 am: In your (inter)face!
For my term project for Human-Computer Interaction, I need to prototype a modification to some software program and get feedback on the prototype. If you're cool, you'll look at my prototypes and give me comments.

I'm prototyping some changes to Finnegan, my wake-up call system. The first change is a "view alarm history" feature which shows you what times it's called you and when you've hit the snooze button; the second is an AIM-based interface; the third is a redesign of the web interface; and the fourth is the phone interface, which right now is the same as it currently is since I don't have any thoughts on how I might want to change it.

Tags: misc

12:29 am: Happy St. Phil's Day!
Happy St. Phil's Day! Well, er, Return of St. Phil's Day, really, meant to post this yesterday but well, that would hardly be in the spirit of the holiday, eh? ;) What did all y'all do to celebrate? I killed some East Bugs. Squish squish! (crossposted to brandeis)

Tags: misc

11:50 am: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern went superbly. If you didn't see it last night, you have two more chances. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, 2pm and 8pm, Shapiro Theatre, $5.

And happy birthday dansachs!

Tags: misc

11:07 am: Perl Monks in Love
Marriage proposal via obfuscated Perl.

Tags: misc

09:26 pm: Hey, v_cat...


Tags: misc

11:41 pm: Digital Camera

I want a digital camera to take to California, and I'm leaning towards the Pentax Optio 555. Main points relevant to me:

• Small (3.9x2.3x1.6", 8.8oz)
• 5MP, 5x optical zoom
• Reports of image quality range from "good" to "very good"
• Within my price range ($355, plus I'll have to buy a larger MMC/SD card)

It's also reportedly very easy to use, while also offering a lot of manual controls, which I might theoretically play around with at some point. I know a bunch of you know more about digital photography than I do — any opinions? Here are reviews from CNet, DCRP, and Steve's Digicams. Update: I also found a very thorough review at Imaging Resource.

Tags: misc