sploik!: March 2006

Off the deep end!

Ok, I really think I have just lost it. I now have two blogs, a home page, a flickr for photos and finally-- a deviation. Could I possibly do any thing else. Oh yea, and I'm trying to actually live a life outside of home--socializing! Moi? Why not? Don't have anything else to do *BOIK!* So I brushed the dust off some old canvases, snapped a few pics with the digital and will have them puppies up just as soon as I figure out how to use the latest version of corel paint--which I just downloaded!

Whoa! I feel tired. Well back to it I guess!

The Truth Machine by James Halperin

A friend at work told me about a book about the ultimate lie detector
and the social impact of said device. Something to look out for. This is
also testing the email post option of blogger--which is completely kewl!

Sci-Fi fans

I've seen a few very decent fan films and one of my new fav blogs has found one that's pretty good.

What makes a good fan flick? Rule one is that the production value is near studio quality--yes it happens with more and more frequency. With current technology, amateur film makers can produce quality work. It's usually the acting that is not up to par but, really, who cares--these are common people doing uncommon things and for that, should be respected and appreciated. Besides I might one day be one of them and you'd better not try comparing me to Tom Cruise--I'm better! Just don't have the looks.

Anyway here's to all those devoted fans that try to make the world a better, at least more entertaining, place. *nuff!*

More Moab Pictures

I just Added a buch more pictures from my trip to Moab. Check out the Flickr link on the right.

Sorrel River Ranch left a big impression on me and staying there my next visit is a certainty. I'm not sure what I would do if I took a lady that didn't enjoy a little offroading, horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking, fishing--scratch that I'm not much of an angler. I guess hold up in the luxury room? Relax in the jacuzzi? Enjoy incredible meals? Yeah. Ok. There's a lot to do for everyone.

There's a dude ranch there too that might be fun. but we didn't check it out (or it wasn't there yet). Maybe my readsership (if I have one!) can tell of the Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge.

LOVE the internet!

This is soooooo kewl! I was looking up a word on google and found this. Something else to read about now! I love happening across stuff like this and I was trying to spell a word that means--"for the common person" actually according to WordReference.com it's "not of or from a profession".

Books reviews are getting their own space.

Now that I have an audience, and started thinking about it. I decided the best format for a whole lot of book reviews was a solo act. So the Omnichron is born. Bookmark it for future convenience or stop by here first, the preferred option, and follow the link on the right side (Books, Books, Books!) of this page to check it out.

I will attempt to fill it with as much of my hot-empty air as possible--at least in relation to the books I've read/heard.

Spam

I just received, what I consider to be, one of the worst attempts at phishing I've ever seen. Anyone stupid enough to fall for this one deserves to have their ID stolen (not really but paaaleaze)!

If I were sensative about poor english, I would be offended. Any (spamers,phishers,...bad guys) out there take a hint. If you're going to phish in foreign waters, know what type of bait and lure to use. 'Cause if it smells funny' the hook won't land!

CONTACT THE AGENCY FOR DETAILS
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION PROGRAMME.

RESULT OF CATEGORY A

Dear Winner,

we are please to inform
you result of category A of The International DayzerS promotion
Programme wishes to inform you the results of the E-mail promotion
address ballot promotions international program held on 26th Febuary,
2006. Your email address was attached to ticket number 56475600545-188,
with serial number 07654/02 drew with lucky numbers 43-11-44-37-10-43,
and consequently you Won the lottery in the (A) category.All
participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
Microsoft users from 30 Thousand company and individual email
addresses.

You are therefore been approved for a lump sum of One
Million Euro. (1,000,000.00 ) Be advice to keep your winning
information confidential until your claims has been processed and your
money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid
double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program,

Audio books are sliced bread!

Here's a list of the books that I have downloaded/listened to in the past year. The date next to each is the download date not pub date. The time at the end of each line is the length in hours and minutes of each part (most of the books are broken into multiple parts for easier downloads). Audible.com is a great place to get audio books. The downside is that you are limited to supported devices but the value is worth it. I will at some point give my take on each of these--as well as finish listening to some.

Just looking at the list, I am amazed at how much I have listened. Before audible.com, I was lucky to read/listen to 5 or 6 books a year and 1 or less was actually a read.


Richard K. Morgan
  Altered Carbon
  Broken Angels
  Market Forces
Neal Stephenson
  The Diamond Age
  Snow Crash
  Cryptonomicon (Unabridged Excerpts)
Robert A. Heinlein
  Friday
  Starship Troopers
  Stranger in a Strange Land
  2000x: By His Bootstraps
  Double Star
  Have Space Suit, Will Travel
  The Menace from Earth
  Time Enough for Love
  The Rolling Stones
George R.R. Martin
  A Game of Thrones
  A Storm of Swords
  A Clash of Kings
  A Feast for Crows
Douglas Adams
  The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
  Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Terry Pratchett (Discworld)
  The Colour of Magic #1
  The Light Fantastic #2
  Mort #4
  Sourcery #5
  Guards! Guards! #8
  Moving Pictures #10
  Reaper Man #11
  Lords and Ladies #14
  Interesting Times #17
  Maskerade #18
  Feet of Clay #19
  Carpe Jugulum #23
  The Fifth Elephant #24
  The Truth #25
  Thief of Time #26
  Night Watch #27
  The Wee Free Men
  A Hat Full of Sky
  Thud!
Ursula K. LeGuin
  A Wizard of Earthsea
  The Tombs of Atuan
  The Other Wind
  The Farthest Shore
Dan Brown
  Angels and Demons
  The Devinci Code (audio cd)
  Digital Fortress
Amir D. Aczel
  God's Equation
  Entanglement (Haven't listened yet)

Library of Congress Series on Digital Future:
   #4 (01/31/05) Brian Cantwell Smith
   #5   Scrolling Forward (02/14/05) David Levy
   #6 Copyright Law in Cyberspace (03/03/05) Lawrence Lessig
   #7 Digital Publishing (03/14/05) Edward L. Ayers

Ender's Game: 20th Anniversary Edition, Orson Scott Card
On Intelligence, Jeff Hawkins and Sandra Blakeslee
The Elfstones of Shannara, Book 2, Terry Brooks
A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
Across the Nightingale Floor, Lian Hearn
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
A Martian Romance, Kim Stanley Robinson
Collapse, Jared Diamond
Hunters in the Forest, Robert Silverberg
Star Trek, TNG: IQ, John de Lancie and Peter David
Beyond Belief, Elaine Pagels
Memnoch the Devil, Anne Rice
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden

Books still to listen to:

Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
Odd Thomas, Dean Koonz
Atlas Shrugged, Volume 1, Ayn Rand
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke
10 to the 16th to 1, James Patrick Kelly
The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches Bk2, Robert Stanek
The Sky Green Blues, Tanith Lee
Art of War, Sun-Tzu, translation by John Minford
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
  How to Practice
  The Universe in a Single Atom
Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley
The Universe in a Nutshell, Stephen Hawking
The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold
Religion, Scriptures and Spirituality:
  Islam Charles Adams and Walter Harrelson
  Judaism Geoffrey Wigoder and Walter Harrelson
  Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christianity Jean Porter and Walter Harrelson
  Protestant Christianity Dale Johnson and Walter Harrelson

I now Flickr

Well I guess it had to happen. If I'm going to blog, I've got to flikr. This ought to be intersting anyway.

It's time to let this be known

I guess now that I have som content I will be telling friends and family about this thing. So...

Helloooo to all!

What is this blog? Well it's my little playground--not a personal web page or anything. Blogs are not like that. It's a public journal of sorts. I will post thoughts and ideas here, errr, somewhat frequently. It's for me, but it's also to you.

Cheers,
-John

Trip to Moab

Back in 2001 we revisited a place that we had lived back in the later part of the 70's. It had changed a lot but it was one of the best trips of my lifetime. Below are a few pictures of the tip.

A little better pic of some "small" rocks that made for an fun ride.

Take two!

There were two cameras taking this picture. One fell--it wasn't mine! Can you guess who's it was? *hint we're reacting to it falling in this picture.

Mom, Dad and Chuck. Moab, Ut 2001.

Chuck and me on top of the valley. Some enterprising guy built a chair lift to the top--a place I had always wanted to go. The view is amazing!

Chuck and me in front of Hole in the rock. We lived in Moab 4 years and it wasn't until twenty years latter that we finally checked it out. Worth a visit.