As you can probably tell, I got most of the redesign done this afternoon. I still need to find my old list of recommended links and some other things, and I might fiddle with the colors a little bit, but I think it's mostly done and I rather like it.
I don't have anything to add to the discussion about the space shuttle disaster today. Go to one of the big news sites or Yahoo news or Google news, if you want news. However, there is a VERY interesting page here that you might not see in other places.
-----Original Message-----
From: Nichol.Monaghan
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 9:09 AM
To: Greene, John M.
Subject: New Wine
Sounds like a theme!!!
BENTONVILLE, ARK (AP) -- Some Wal-Mart customers soon will be
able to sample a new discount item -- Wal-Mart's own brand of wine. The
world's largest retail chain is teaming up with E&J Gallo Winery of
Modesto, Calif., to produce the spirits at an affordable price, in the
$2-5 range.
While wine connoisseurs may not be inclined to throw a bottle of
Wal-Mart brand wine into their shopping carts, there is a market for
cheap wine, said Kathy Micken, professor of marketing at Roger Williams
University in Bristol, R.I.
She said: "The right name is important."
So, here we go: The top 12 suggested names for Wal-Mart Wine:
Football season is, alas, over. One of the things that's nice about football season is the beer ads on television, the nicest,of which, and the most popular in my living room, one that Canonico can sing along with every time, is the Coors Lite "Twins" ad. And now you know the rest of the story.
Also just came across this article about Claudia Schiffer (remember her?) and the impending birth of her child, which includes a very interesting picture of a once hot super model now looking like some housefrau from the suburbs.
BTW, I don't think the kid belongs to David Copperfield.
Anyway, after all the filming is complete, the film is then spliced together with all evidence of diminishing ardor snipped away to make it appear as if the lady is in constant heat and the guy can stay pumped indefinitely. Which he probably can't. Not like some of us.
In other news, Ian Holm doesn't really disappear in The Fellowship of the Ring and despite what you might have seen in Independence Day the White House is still standing.
I am also going to be redesigning the site in the next few days. Larry Cheng and I are discussing his disfavor with the "new UI" as he eloquently puts it in the new economy tech-speak that flows so easily from his conscience. In other words, he doesn't like the way it currently looks on the screen compared with the way it used to look and he says that he is therefore less inclined to come here are read things. Fair enough.
His comments are as follows:
- "it looks different - i think you were going for a cleaner look. but, it's not as engaging for me. you know how little things matter when you read periodicals..."
- frame the page a bit, with lines.... certainly around the title, perhaps between days, perhaps between postings, perhaps at the margin
- i like having some sort of a color background...
- i might change fonts between title, day, text...? maybe maybe not.
- i don't know, i don't remember what your old one looks like, i just know that when i saw this one, it wasn't as inviting... it felt sanitized, stale...
- i wish there was a way to know which postings i should read and which i shouldn't. you know how newspapers have sections, and stuff. i don't know if you can have categories of commentary. maybe that's too much work.
- It would be really cool if it just looked like a newspaper... But, I guess blog sites aren't designed for that.
I think he's probably right that the "newspaper" look is too much and is pretty much "anti-blog" in spirit. But he's probably right that it needs to be improved for readability and aesthetic reasons. Fair enough.
If anyone else has any suggestions, I am listening. I do know, however, that I have finally found a legitimate title for the thing as opposed to "John's Blog" or "John's Apodictic Blog" or "Johnmackeygreene".... More to come when I get a chance to get it done.
Holy Smokes he hot! And now he's contributing to the blog.
---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 12:03:14 -0600
>From: Daniel Johnston >To: "'John Greene'" >
>John,
>
>
>
>Here's an article that might stir up more steam related to your own radar
>gun story from a few years ago.
>
>
>
>http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Central/01/29/offbeat.kansas.radar.ap/index.html
To respond, while in theory, I would agree with this, radar guns are notoriously inaccurate. So long as these warning letters are not permanent or otherwise carry no weight in the legal process, I would think it makes sense and it probably a good idea to try and scare some of the fools on the roads - fools in SUV's on residential roads especially - into slowing down. But I'll only go that far in supporting it. Interesting, indeed.
A friend of mine at work sent me this story. I can see both sides, for sure - there is clearly a medical purpose for making a marking - but I think doctor's flippant attitude towards the type of marking would be the kicker in favor of the patient.
Did anyone see Nancy Pelosi laughing, or at least trying to stifle a laugh, last night when the president was talking about tax cuts? I saw it last night when it happened - made a note to mention it here today - and so did a few other people, apparently. The laughing itself is probably not newsworthy on its face and probably not anything I can criticize in good faith, because I too would probably have a hard time keeping a straight face if I had to sit in on a speech being given by someone with whom I didn't agree or whose message was at odds with my own beliefs.
But perhaps that's the point - Nancy Pelosi's beliefs. Her smirk last night makes it pretty clear that she seems to think that tax cuts are not important - that she believes that the government is somehow entitled or otherwise obligated to take money out of the pockets of citizens for whatever purposes it sees fit, without evaluating the reasons for doing so or the actual need for the funds. Maybe that sounds a little bit too much like Rush Limbaugh and the "cater to the audience" crowd that I denounced a few days ago, but it's true. For the national leader of the Democrats to openly smirk at the mere suggestion of tax cuts... that should say a lot to voters and to Americans as to the agenda and mindset of their party today.
And now for some irrelevant news... Who cares what a bunch of fez wearing ignoramuses think about Iraq? They can't even come up with a price for cooking oil!
What I want to know is when is someone going to ask me my opinion on garbage disposals in New York City apartment buildings? Seems equally applicable, eh?
bertgreene: watch the horns last night?
johnmackeygreene: nope
johnmackeygreene: i forgot
bertgreene: man, it was a heartbreaker
johnmackeygreene:
johnmackeygreene:
bertgreene: don't start with me, dammit
johnmackeygreene: hey
bertgreene: i'm looking for commiseration, you bastard
johnmackeygreene: i heard there is a new instrument section in the UT band nowadays
johnmackeygreene: the world's smallest violen
bertgreene: here we go again
johnmackeygreene: violin
johnmackeygreene: i can't even spell
johnmackeygreene: how the hell do you spell that?
bertgreene: what?
johnmackeygreene: violin?
johnmackeygreene: is that right?
bertgreene: uh...yeah johnmackeygreene: well, it sounds like there is a teeny-tiny one in Austin nowadays
johnmackeygreene:
johnmackeygreene: seriously
johnmackeygreene: I was disappointed when I heard the score this morning
bertgreene: nice try, you glib bastard
johnmackeygreene: i really was
johnmackeygreene: i root for them
johnmackeygreene: i listen to craig way on sports 610
bertgreene: they're still going to the final four, boy
johnmackeygreene: riiiiiiight
johnmackeygreene: i have to disagree with that statement
johnmackeygreene: they'll choke in the s 16
johnmackeygreene: but that doesn't take away from a good year
bertgreene: obviously I can't guarantee that, but you can't dispute that they are final four caliber now
johnmackeygreene: they are good
johnmackeygreene: quite good
johnmackeygreene: but KU was obviously better last night
bertgreene: KU was in their own gym and had to gut out a win - we crush them in our gym
johnmackeygreene: probably true
johnmackeygreene: but i don't think the NCAA's will be in Austin, friend
bertgreene: give some teams that are definitely better - My list goes Arizona (who we lost by 3 to at their place), and then ..... ....... ........ ....... johnmackeygreene: yes, i am sure that a team of crickets could probably beat the horns outside of austin, too
johnmackeygreene: good point
johnmackeygreene: you are an astute observer of the obvious
bertgreene: that's why rick barnes has the best road record in the history of the big 12
johnmackeygreene: and all of those NCAA tourney titles, too
bertgreene: READ THIS, BEEAWTCH!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/seth_davis/news/2003/01/28/hoop_thoughts/ johnmackeygreene: more than anybody else in the big 12... errrr, wait
johnmackeygreene: nevermind
bertgreene: I love it when I am vindicated
johnmackeygreene: dude, i think OU and KU have both been better recently... when it counts, that is
bertgreene: you still can't change what the dude says, fool
johnmackeygreene: lemmee read this....
bertgreene: My new sig line:
"Texas: BUY. You heard it here first: The Longhorns are going to the Final Four." - Seth Davis, cnnsi.com
johnmackeygreene: "Monkeys out of my butt: BUY. Here they come. Better get the fiber" - John Greene, johnmackeygreene.com
bertgreene: haha - you so funny, doctah jones
johnmackeygreene: i have to admit that i am cracking myself up right now
johnmackeygreene: you don't have many buttons to push, but UT athletics is always a consistent option
bertgreene: what are you TALKING ABOUT - I have A MILLION buttons to push
bertgreene: like, say, when you break out your elitist "pulse" smack on me
johnmackeygreene: I think this conversation just made the blog
bertgreene: dammit - not again
Got this from Instapundit. However, as I tore the house down on Friday night during the poker game and again yesterday during the ballgame, I think I will pass this time around.
Also - I have no idea whether "apodictism" or "apodicticism" are words - I can't find any definitions anywhere that verify them as such. "Apodictic" is relatively easy to find, though. Regardless, I like the sound of both and I will now use them heavily, even if they are nothing more than my own special little neologisms. So what?
Monday morning and I am a mess. Too many meetings and too many fires to put out. We had a great Super Bowl party yesterday - and the result of the game was quite satisfying. Sorry, RAIDERFAN. (for some nice images of what Raiderfan hath wrought, click here)
Not much time for my own content, but I will pass along a couple of emails I received today:
The first is from Amber and is a quite humourous update from her ski trip. (note my spelling)
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 07:42:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Amber White
Subject: eh!
To: mail@johnmackeygreene.com
Hey Senor:
Just a quick hey (or eh!) from Banff, Cananda. I'm at a little cyber cafe which is overlooking the mountains---terrific scenery. There's lots of British people here. They say the skiing is better here than in Europe. I was sitting next to this little british girl on a gondola the other day and she was badmouthing the french. It was pretty funny b/c she
couldnt be older than about 9 or 10. Her mother said, "Paige darling, you better hope we're not among the french here in this gondola...." Classic.
We're about to head back to Calgary to catch our flight back this afternoon so I will talk to you soon. I hope you had a fab time at your superbowl party...
See ya
Am
And the other is an update from Nichol with some SERIOUS props for the blogman.
-----Original Message-----
From: Nichol.Monaghan
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 10:16 AM
To: Greene, John M.
Subject: FW: apodictic: M-W's Word of the Day
For some reason this made me think of the blog. Not that I believe that to necessarily be the case, but descriptive.
-----Original Message-----
From: word@m-w.com
Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2003 11:00 PM
To: NICHOL.MONAGHAN
Subject: apodictic: M-W's Word of the Day
The Word of the Day for Jan 27 is:
apodictic \ap-uh-DIK-tik\ (adjective)
: expressing or of the nature of necessary truth or absolute certainty
Example sentence:
Martin's writing is apodictic in tone, reflecting his complete confidence in the correctness of his statements.
Did you know?
There's something remarkable about a word which, when periodically dusted off, proves to have retained its freshness throughout 350 years - that's the case with "apodictic." It's a handy word that can describe a conclusive concept, a conclusive person, or even that conclusive person's conclusive remarks. The best known close relative of "apodictic" is "paradigm" ("an outstandingly clear example"); both words are built on Greek "deiknynai," meaning "to show." More distant relatives (from Latin "dicere," a relative of "deiknynai" that means "to say") include "diction," "dictate," "edict," and "predict."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
As you probably have seen by now, I modified the title of this page after I received Nichol's email. Once again, he comes through with a revolutionary change to the beauty that is the blog.
Football season is, alas, over. One of the things that's nice about football season is the beer ads on television, the nicest,of which, and the most popular in my living room, one that Canonico can sing along with every time, is the Coors Lite "Twins" ad. And now you know 
Monday morning and I am a mess. Too many meetings and too many fires to put out. We had a great Super Bowl party yesterday - and the result of the game was quite satisfying. Sorry, RAIDERFAN. (for some nice images of what Raiderfan hath wrought,