Category Archives: General

I Love Honest Reporting

I hate when national reporters smooth a quote for print. SI.com and ESPN.com both used the sanitized AP version of San Antonio Spur’s coach Gregg Popovich’s quote about the beatdown they received from the Mavs last night. Not the Statesman, however. The Statesman went with full verbal honestyin printing this from Popovich:

“They kicked our ass every which way but loose,” Popovich said. “Their energy and aggressiveness was great.”

Not bum, rear, butts–or whatever other safety word would pop to mind. And frankly, asses is what Popovich meant, and it’s the word that most exactly fits the Spurs miserable showing. Kudos to the Statesman for sticking to the truth of the matter. That’s some honest reporting.

Taking Your Kids to Work Day

So, I work at home 80% of the time. This is useful because it allows me to work for six or so different places, which would be logistically impossible in any other format. That and I sometimes don’t have to shave until 3pm. And when I get fed up, I get to go to the garage to lift wieghts and not worry about being stinky when I return to my desk/cubicle/conference room. So, I like the fringe benefits.

I do worry about how the arrangement affects what my kids see. I’m a bit of a night owl, so sometimes I put in a ton of hours after they’re in bed. That can send mixed signals on how much Dad actually works. Given that I’m a strong lead by example of practice type, this does bother me now and then. 

It also makes for some interesting conversations about, “So what does your dad do?”

“Um, he spends lots of time on the computer and complains about driving 2 hours to San Marcos once or twice a week.”

So yesterday Texas State’s English Department had their annual award ceremony. This happened to overlap with Take Your Child to Work Day. Since Texas State is the only employeer I currently work for within the same state as our home (at leats until I also start working for the University of Texas in August), it was a nice opportunity to show the kids that I actually do a little bit more than “play” on the computer.

To fully embrace the opportunity, my wife and I took all three kids down to the English Dept awards, where I was receiving the 2008-09 Outstanding Grad Student award for the English Dept. Not really related to my job at all, but it was happening at the place where the kids associate with my working. On a personal level, it was also something I wanted the family to experience because it represented a big moment for the MA in Technical Communication program at Texas State. Not only was it our programs ten-year anniversary, but we swept the Department’s graduate student awards, and it was our program’s first time to receive the Outstanding Graduate Student award.

Anyway, the most rewarding aspect was that when I went up to accept the award my son started gravitating toward me from the assembled audience. I finally waved him on over to the podium and his younger sister immeditaely joined him at my signal. My wife and our near-teen daughter joined at the urging of the crowd, and everyone received a healthy round of applause.

All in all, it was a good day “at the office.”

Don’t fsck with geeks

Sadly, the person posting this is not me.  This is a quote from one of the guys I play TF2 with.  Also someone who is a fsckin’ awesome geek.

“I once knew a family who were abusive to their kids. Calls to the department of social services did nothing. They also ran a bulletin board system that provided pirated software.

Imagine his surprise when somehow someone got access to his board, created an administration account, and provided that account to the FBI and the SPA.

You can’t raise your kids from prison.”

HELL yeah.

Science vs. Religion: The Moon

I live in Texas, I know these people are out there, surrounding me, just waiting for the chance to bash my atheistic brains in… But come on!

The Waco Tribune covered a guest lecture gig that Bill Nye the Science Guy did in Waco in 2006. He talked about life on Mars, Global Climate Change (Global Warming is an inaccurate term and gives fodder to idiots complaining of snow in Spring) and Energy Consumption.

But when he referenced a Bible verse and explained how the Moon reflects light and isn’t a source of light to listeners (mostly children) at McLennan Community College, they booed him. What the hell? Who knew there was a group of Flat Earthers living in Waco? Why haven’t they been stamped out like the stupidity-pestilence they are? The Tribune recently reposted the article on their site, so it’s starting to make the internet rounds. Check out this choice bit:

The Emmy-winning scientist angered a few audience members when he criticized literal interpretation of the biblical verse Genesis 1:16, which reads: “God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.”

He pointed out that the sun, the “greater light,” is but one of countless stars and that the “lesser light” is the moon, which really is not a light at all, rather a reflector of light.

A number of audience members left the room at that point, visibly angered by what some perceived as irreverence.

“We believe in a God!” exclaimed one woman as she left the room with three young children.

Nye is a geek’s geek. He made science fun for kids for years and let’s face it – he’s cooler than Mr. Wizard ever was.

Crazy Texas Laws

Because I’m a politics geek, and because I live in Texas, and because Texas has some weird-ass laws, here’s a list of some of the crazier ones. There are many many more out there.

Now, you need to remember that these aren’t enforced for the most part… BUT THEY CAN BE.

  • In Austin, it’s illegal to carry wire cutters.
  • In Dallas, it’s illegal to possess realistic dildos.
  • The Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home.
  • It is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing in public.
  • In Galveston, it’s illegal to drive a car down Broadway before noon on Sundays.
  • Also in Galveston, any person who sits on a sidewalk may be fined up to $500.
  • In Mesquite, it’s illegal for children to have unusual haircuts.
  • In Temple, cattle thieves may be hanged on the spot.
  • You must acknowledge a supreme being before being able to hold public office.
  • In Kingsville, there is a law against two pigs having sex on the city’s airport property.
  • It’s illegal to curse in front of, or indecently expose oneself to, a corpse.
  • To have a valid ceremonial marriage, all you need is reasonable authority and at least one person acting in good faith.

It’s nice to see political mockery is alive and well in Texas.

It’s no secret that I dislike my governor. Rick Perry has been a horrible governor for Texas and just keeps getting worse. There were a couple of corruption stories about him, but they have faded into obscurity.

Anyway, I’m sure you’ve all seen him recently. He’s the douche bag who stood up at a San Antonio rally of proud Tea-Baggers and said Texas can and should secede from the Union. That asshat. Despite Texas Mythology converning our weird state laws and what our constitution does or doesn’t allow, the reality is that there is no provision allowing Texas to secede. The closest provision we’ve got is that Texas has the option of dividing into 5 seperate states. Which is an amusing thought, but will never happen.

Why is he doing this? Because he faces an impossible primary against U.S. Senator Hutchison, a moderate – for Texas – Republican who’s respected by the majority of the state. So Gov. Goodhair is running to the right. The FAAAAAR right. Into the waiting arms of the Republic of Texas crazies. Because in the Republican Primary, it’s usally the far right that participates – they aren’t crazy about Hutchison.

The image at the top of this post is a t-shirt that the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee has created to mock our endangered governor. Good job guys. Remind me to donate some cash.

The Basement’s Take on the New Cobra Commander

Cobra Commander 4E

Cobra Commander 4E

What follows is a Bill Simmons-esque discussion many of us recently had about the new Cobra Commander toy relased by Hasbro. Well, except all the frat talk is replaced with Net jargon, but this is the Basement after all.

Sam: They’ve raped my childhood.

Jake: qfft

Me: So, Cobra Commander wasn’t a metrosexual version of Jason X in your childhood?

Sam: I will shoot you with ten guns.

Derek:  You know it’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt, right? From Brick, and 3rd Rock from the Sun?

Me: My bad. So, Cobra Commander wasn’t a short metrosexual version of Jason X in your childhood?

Sam: I want to murder the world.

Kurt: Holy shit.  I feel violated.  And to think I was actually sort of looking forward to the movie…

—

Yep, and we’re all married or in long-term relationships. There’s hope for all of you. All of you.

Texas Geeks Know Sam Houston > Rick Perry

Anyone who knows me understands that I’m one of those annoying Texans who really digs being a Texan.

I blame my parents. You see, I actually grew up in rural Texas. So we had horses, cows, cattle guards, and dirt roads. Not that I lived on some big glorious ranch. More like ten acres of hard-packed red clay with patches of bull nettles and ragweed. Ragweed so prominent that I sweetened milk out of instinct for years afterwards because of what it did to our cows. Hell, my first girlfriend’s dad knew me because he recognized my last name from all the times he’d been called out to our house to turn off the electricity for delinquency.  A cavernous maw of washed out dirt and gravel quite capable of devouring the undercarriage of a county utility vehicle served as our driveway, so I’m sure he remembered the trips distinctly.

Now, I admit that for all that Texas cred, I lean to the left. I’m a mild liberal by most standards–or a dirty pinko socialist by my uncle’s standards (he always meant it with love). So the fact that I dislike Gov. Rick Perry might not be a big surprise. That said, his secessionist rant this week should offend anyone who embraces the name Texan.

I’d like to point back to a true leader of Texas who opposed secession, Sam Houston. Yep, the Raven opposed secession in 1861. I understand that Perry is full of himself and doesn’t have the cajones to do anything like secede. He just wants some face time before Kay Bailey Hutchison kicks him out of office next year. However it’s still worth acknowledging that Houston opposed secession when it was an inevitable tide here in Texas. It’s an important distinction. Perry’s sedition of ego versus Houston’s willingness to put aside personal power out of dedicated belief could not offer a more stark contrast in what it means to be Texan.

Me, I have enough pride in the term to want to talk about the the Raven over footnote Texan Goodhair. So, not just to annoy Sam, I started up a little Facebook page to further illustarte my contrast. It seemed the geeky thing to do. 

For some extra enjoyment, here’s Perry making a fool of himself and then being granted an unwanted education on Texas law by Rachel Maddow:

Technoschizophrenia

I know, it’s not entirely new.  But I’m still occasionally surprised to realize how odd it is that I can freely refer to my wife and daughter by multiple names.  Specifically, by their online handles.

Names certainly have a power – ancient peoples knew it, and then we forgot it, and now, it’s back with a vengeance.  Your name is a portal to who you are, ad the panoply of things that exist about you on them there interwebs.  Hell, when I registered myself on this blog, I set myself up reflexively with a nick.  Then I noticed everyone else had their names, and got to thinking about it, and became Derek.

My wife and I play Team Fortress 2.  A lot.  Say, every day.  And while we play, we can both easily refer to each other by our nicks without any real issues (okay, I lie a bit.  My wife referred to me as Derek last week in a Left4Dead game.  I had an instinctual reaction of fear and annoyance.  Then I realized we were playing with a sum total of four people, two of whom were us.  The other two were people we play games with just about every night.  And it was entirely unlikely that, two days later, they would even remember my name.  But I still had the reaction.

I know that this is pretty common for “the young people today.”  But for me, it’s still an odd little piece of life.  At one point, my daughter continued to refer to me as “Cat” for a day or two after every time we played together.

And back in the olden days, it was more pronounced.  My online self was like me, but not entirely. I made an effort to stand out, so I adopted verbal tics, personality quirks (I referred to people by odd nicknames.  Not things like ‘fuzzy nose’ but just things you wouldn’t normally pick.  Michael would be Chae, rather than Mike.  Elizabeth might be Zab.  William would be Illi.  Etc).  I would occasionally even go so far as to espouse opinions I wasn’t entirely sure I believed in, or understood, in order to stand out more.

Now?  Who the hell cares?  I”m good with who I am.  I’m a sarcastic geek who is rarely serious (which annoys my wife to no end), and I’ve sort of given up on worrying about what people think about me, because I’m pretty well happy with who I am, and pretty well busy getting on with my life, despite what random ‘net idiots might think.

I like it a lot better now.  I’m not as interesting, but it’s a lot less work.