OMG OMG OMG OMG

Bruce Campbell, of Evil Dead, Bubba Ho-Tep and anything-Sam-Rami-has-ever-directed-fame, has a new movie coming out called My Name is Bruce.  The plot sounds awesome if you are fan of Evil Dead (or know anything about it):

The plot revolves around Campbell, playing himself, who, after being harassed and mistaken by fans to be a character much like Ash from the Evil Dead series of horror films, is abducted from his trailer park home to fight against Guan Di, a Chinese war deity.

This is so up my alley.  I can't wait!

A Question

Simple question for you: How big of a threat do you believe terrorism is to your way of life?

Geek Quotes

Love it

Read the comments of that thread. Lots of good stuff in there.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work I Go

On Wednesday, the 17th I rejoin the grind in an office.  I have taken a Software Developer position at Tiber Creek Consulting in Tyson's Corner.  As far as an office job goes, they are about as flexible as it is going to get.  They are focused on project deadlines and not face-time in the office, so the schedule is flexible.  I get 21 days of vacation up-front (15 days + 9 holidays) and they have the rest of the benefit package including a health care package that doesn't draw from my paycheck.  And they do quarterly reviews, usually with a bonus on each one and profit sharing at the end-of-the-year.  Oh, and tuition reimbursement.

The interview was brutal and kicked my ass, so I'm somewhat surprised they even offered me a position.  I guess it was just force of personality alone.  Apparently I showed 'great potential'.

Hopefully I can get into the architecture-side of stuff where I am best and not just be a code monkey, where I'll be miserable.

Wee.

The Horrors of "Socialized" Healthcare

So one of the arguments I keep hearing against a universal healthcare system is along the lines of "Think of all the red tape we would have. " etc etc.  I think one of the main parts that this argument misses is that we already have a ton of red tape.  The insurance companies are in the business of minimizing how much they have to pay out, so you have to jump through a ton of hoops to get them to pay you while you pay them. 

This is a good example of what the difference between a 'socialized' healthcare system (Britain's) treats a wounded vet versus the privatized healthcare system we have here.  Here is a good quote (from a version of the post that is no longer online, unfortunately) that puts the incentives into place:

The government wants to minimize the amount it pays out in benefits. This causes it to give you crap when you ask it for money for an injury incurred on its behalf. The private insurance industry wants to minimize the amount it pays out in benefits. This causes it to give you crap when you ask it for money for an injury you incurred while you were giving them money.

If the purpose of the system were to  take care of people's health, though, perhaps there would be a bias in favor of... actually providing healthcare, instead of denying it.

Check it out.  It's a good piece and offers some perspective.

Right Brain vs Left Brain

So Shana and I just took this test: http://www.web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm to further determine our left/right brain scores.  There are 18 questions.  Shana answer 4 right brian and 14 left brain, making her decidedly left brainy.  I answered 16 right and 2 left, making me decidedly right brain.

Does that mean we are a good match? :)

Take the test!

Wet Dreams

Been looking for this for the longest time.  The video isn't important, it's the song lyrics you should listen too.  This is one of the songs we used to listen to while flying around the back roads of Washington county.

Good times.

Shifting Ideology

In the late 80's, early 90's I was probably more conservative than liberal.  I'm ashamed of this but I actually read Rush and related a bit.  That was back when the Republican party hadn't gone insane yet.  It wasn't until the witch hunt of a blow job that I started to shift to the left to where the adults live. 

So it was very interesting to me to read this post by a once staunch conservative on why he left the party.  I have to say I couldn't agree more.  I will never be a social conservative but I do believe in a smaller government and some other economically conservative ideals.  However, until the GOP kicks out the crazy fear mongers (and Rudy is by far the worst right now of the contenders) I too will be willing to pay more in taxes in the short term than see the country continue to go down the tubes.

Seriously.  Is the threat of paying a little more in taxes really enough of a reason to turn your back on sanity?

US State Renamed for Countries with Similar GDP

This is a cool map.

Ha Ha

Star Trek Meets Monty Python

Monty Python Job Interview