Confessions of a Mostly Harmless Mind

Susan Boyle

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:56:05 GMT

I know this is old news, but if you haven't yet, Watch this! I don't know what else to say about it. This is a fantastic video. Too bad it can't happen on American Idol because of the age limit. But it gives hope to this cynical world.

Breaking News: Famous Celebrity Succumbs to Swine Flu

Fri, 15 May 2009 18:58:10 GMT

And we all know who gave it to him...

Waterboarding wasn't safe and didn't give good intel

Mon, 11 May 2009 21:37:54 GMT

I'm not at all surprised by this, but the Huffington Post has an article titled:

IG Report: Waterboarding Was Neither "Efficacious Or Medically Safe"

It reported that the Washington Post reported waterboarding

"appeared to violate the U.N. Convention Against Torture" and did not produce desired results. It is difficult, the report will conclude, "to determine conclusively whether interrogations have provided information critical to interdicting specific imminent attacks."

It seems we're going to find out more about this...

Engagement Photo

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:34:12 GMT

Engagement Photo 1
Originally uploaded by stragglyr_chris

This is probably the one that'll end up in a couple of Ohio papers...

Honk if your bank is screwing you

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:33:18 GMT

Honk if your bank is screwing you
Originally uploaded by stragglyr_chris

Good old Fred Maxwell is at it again. He says "I'm getting so many honks holding this on Congress Avenue in Austin that I sometimes think that a flock of geese are flying overhead."

Dear Ol' MUC

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:20:25 GMT

Dear Ol' MUC: This is one of those Facebook "Notes" but not all of my friends are on Facebook, so I thought I'd put it here as well. It's a questionnaire about what is remembered about my Alma Mater, Mount Union College.

Do you remember your campus mailbox number? - Nope. It was in the right "hole" as you're facing the mailroom, though.

What was your favorite class? - Almost anything music related

What was your least favorite class? - Speech 100. Also, it was my worst grade. Yes, that's connected.

After leaving Mount Union, how long before you got your first letter asking for donations? - Probably about 5 minutes

Did you truly fall in love at MUC? - Yes, although it's taken a while to stick. We're finally getting married June 21.

How many parking tickets did you get slammed with? - None. No car until my senior year, and then Sas and I had a system to get the two best spots next to Cunningham (our lobby is mauve)

What was your favorite meal at the cafeteria? - Anything that stuck to the wall or that Tony could make look obscene.

Were you in a fraternity/sorority? - not unless K K Psi counts.

Did you ever sneak a guy/girl upstairs in the dorm after visiting hours? - Yes. The trick was to take them to the bathroom shortly before visiting hours ended.

Which dorms did you live in? - Cunningham Room 321 for 4 years (Also occasionally known as Starbase 321: Entropy Central)

Did you ever get caught with a pet in the dorms? - No, but there was a praying mantis that liked our stairway.

Did you ever get in trouble for sneaking booze in the dorms? - Nope. I think McCoy was right, no one got in trouble for this.

Is there a song that makes you remember a time at Mount Union? - The fight song, alma mater, Personal Jesus, almost anything from the early 90s that was on MTV in the campus center lounge before lunch (when they still played videos on MTV)

What did you major in? - Computer Science. Minored in Music and Math

Did you have a nickname? - Kirsten, boyfriend of Bob.

What are some of your fondest memories?
- Watching "Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Gr..." in a dorm room full of people who all quoted along.
- Going to movies at the "Small" with the gang and eating from Sas' huge tub of popcorn, so he'd have it empty to refill on the way out.
- (related to above). Watching "Star Trek: Generations" at the "Small", and Sas said "Oh, Sh!t" just before Data did when the ship was about to crash
- Nighthawks and the Peanut Gallery at WRUM, rum radio (not really, but that's what the fire extinguisher said)
  - Doing the Personal Jesus dance to "Cotton Eyed Joe"
  - Some strange guy name James McGee calling :)
  - Philosophical terms that sounded like diseases.
  - Ordering pizza from Sas.
- Marching band
  - Meeting Kristen
  - Singing the "I hate this marching band" words to the fight song.
  - Sharing a blanket with Kristen in the stands at cold football games.
  - Half the marching band coming to practice drunk and then asking to go to the bathroom at the same time.
  - The Mount Union Marching Raiders led onto the field by Marching Mount Marty!
  - Amoeba/Sperm drills (Ok, fond might be strong)
  - The bass drums in the marching band putting the letters "MUC" on their drum heads....not realizing that they swapped positions during the course of the drill so that it spelled "CUM" for a while. THAT was classic.
  - Brett Smith calling roll-offs without numbers like: "a be, a bep, a beep beep beep beep" Or something like that.
  - Tuba players spinning on the field.
  - Tuba players and drummers dancing around during the "Bare Necessities"
- GABLE meetings (strange, but enlightening)
- Euchre!
- Sitting in the Mac lab and chatting with people from all over the world. I gotta agree with the other guys on this -- talkers rocked.
- Dr. Funk singing the sopranos' high A in a rehearsal before a concert at First UMC in Warren
- The "Route 62" mens ensemble singing "Busy Signals" and "Hotline to God" from Cottonpatch Gospel
- Drunken Nintendo players at parties in Brett Baker's room.
- Derek R. passed out with his forehead in the urinal in the men's room (after drinking most of a bottle of 151)
- Eating out with Steve.
- Tony's computer on fire
- Recording our own "Ni!"

What's one thing you'd like to erase from your mind? - Allowing Kristen to get away. This has finally been rectified.

Who was/were your roommate(s)? - Bob "Reeses Cups on Pizza" Buhecker, Brent "Up all night hacking, and almost sleeping through the fire" Irwin, and Eric "All the pop must fit in the fridge" Sasavicz

Did you have a close circle of friends, all around social butterfly, or loner? - I seemed to hang out with a gang of loners, even though that doesn't make much sense.

Favorite Convocation memory? - Can't think of any.

Did you ever have a crush that you never shared or pursued? - Yes.

Did you play sports? - Marching band should really be a sport.

Is there someone you've lost touch with and wish you could find? - I've been lucky to keep in touch with the closer friends. There are some people I'm sure I wouldn't mind seeing again, like Dan Sommers...

Is there someone you didn't know well then, but now have grown closer to? - Can't think of Any.

How did MUC make you better? - I learned a lot, and learned that I still had a lot to learn. I figured out some of my limitations there.

Did you ever see a ghost on campus? - No, but I heard some great stories, especially about the one at Dussell.

Who were your best friends? - I think they know who they are. Bovine Alliance/Peanut Gallery/Music geeks, etc.

Interesting quote on mathematics

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:57:26 GMT

Here's a quote someone posted from a work by Bertrand Russell I like it/

Pure mathematics consists entirely of assertions to the effect that, if such and such a proposition is true of anything, then such and such another proposition is true of that thing. It is essential not to discuss whether the first proposition is really true, and not to mention what the anything is, of which it is supposed to be true ... If our hypothesis is about anything, and not about some one or more particular things, then our deductions constitute mathematics. Thus mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true. People who have been puzzled by the beginnings of mathematics will, I hope, find comfort in this definition, and will probably agree that it is accurate.
Recent Work on the Principles of Mathematics, published in International Monthly, vol. 4 (1901)

Drunk driving a bar stool

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:58:03 GMT

Man charged with drunk driving on bar stool

What else can I say about it? It's weird that this happened in my fiancee's home town...

The Stragglyrs at Mission Pizza

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:32:58 GMT

The Stragglyrs at Mission Pizza
Originally uploaded by stragglyr_chris

Last Saturday, the Stragglyrs played at Mission Pizza. My fiancee was there and took some pictures. Here's the whole band.

The change we need

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:21:00 GMT

I was forwarded this article from an alternate reality that says good riddance to the outgoing President Gore after 8 years in the White House.

It's interesting how people can complain about anything :)

Christmas in the Trenches

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 21:24:02 GMT

I'm catching up on my email,and I know it's a little late, but I think this article is still worth reading. Christmas in the Trenches is a short synopsis of the 1914 Christmas Eve during WWI, where all sides stopped fighting and shared Christmas together.

It also reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas Songs from the John Denver and the Muppets Christmas special:

The Christmas Wish

I don't know if you believe in Christmas
Or if you have presents underneath the Christmas tree
But if you believe in love
That will be more than enough
For you to come and celebrate with me

For I have held the precious gift that love brings
Even though I never saw a Christmas star
I know there is a light
I have felt it burn inside
And I have seen it shining from afar

Christmas is the time to come together
A time to put all differences aside

And I reach out my hand
To the family of Man

To share the joy I feel at Christmas time

For the truth that binds us all together
I would like to say a simple prayer
That at this special time
You will have true peace of mind
And love to last throughout the coming year

And if you believe in love
That will be more than enough
For peace to last throughout the coming year

And peace on earth will last throughout the year

Cat Stealing my Job

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:07:33 GMT

Tired of trailers that show all the good bits? Not this time

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:04:51 GMT

If you buy one new CD this year...

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:50:35 GMT

If you buy one new CD this year, buy the Stragglyrs' National Insecurity

If you buy two CDs, I'd strongly recommend Tin Cat's The Long Way. It's really good, too.

A few Stragglyrs and I went to see Tin Cat and the Toes Saturday night at the Blue Rock Shoot. I had a blast playing audience member for the first time in a while. It was a good show.

There is only one Palin

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:53:38 GMT

Seen below here: People in London dressed up as Monty Python characters on the US election day and protested that "There is only one Palin!"

It's a question of Heart

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:43:53 GMT

Full Text available here

Update on Chris

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:44:31 GMT

So, I realized that I've left some things out about myself lately. Here's a quick update of what's happened this summer and fall:

I'm still working at PayPal, having survived yet another layoff in my career.
The Stragglyrs
- released their 5th full-length album, National Insecurity
- added Hank Van Buren regularly to gigs
- are playing Saturday at Mission Pizza and Pub
- are glad that we may have to retire some of our political songs soon, but realize that the election of Obama is just the beginning of possible change.
Autumn and the Fall Guys
- have slacked off a little bit from our peak average of 2 shows a week, but are still playing fairly frequently.
- lost a saw player and gained a drummer
I went to Portland, ME with my fiancee Kristen to visit our college friend Bryan Nolan McCoy (Note: he would want me to say that his birthday is in 9 days, go buy presents)
I went back to dear ol' MUC for homecoming and the Alumni Marching Band with my father, brother Andy, and fiancee Kristen.
Wedding plans are moving along well.

What else would you like to know?

The cats don't all like cheeseburgers

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:35:18 GMT

more animals

Go Vote!

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:46:20 GMT

Marcus Brigstocke on the Abrahamic Religions

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:03:07 GMT

Thanks to Outchurched for bringing this to my attention.

This was a radio rant originally. For my blind friends, or people who don't care for still pictures on a video, there's an audio only version here

Buy American. Warren Buffett is

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:47:34 GMT

A friend forwarded me this opinion piece from the NY Times, where Warren Buffett explains why he's buy American companies' stocks with his personal net worth (not Berkshire Hathaway). It's a good article, but here's the gist:

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.

He repeatedly enforces the fact that he doesn't know what the stocks will do over the short term, but cites several examples of why this works over the long term.

Of course, not all of us have the kind of assets that Warren has, but it still seems like a good idea.

Talk to your parents about John McCain

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:48:15 GMT

Another musical animal

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:20:16 GMT

more animals

Nothing like a cat with a purple Souzaphone

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:56:49 GMT

more animals

Real Mavericks take offense at McCain/Palin's usage of the name

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:31:45 GMT

A friend passed along this piece from the New York Times. It seems that members of the family whose family name is Maverick (and whose ancestors were the reason for coining the term) don't feel that McCain is in any way a maverick. Here's what it says about the origination of the term:

In the 1800s, Samuel Augustus Maverick went to Texas and became known for not branding his cattle. He was more interested in keeping track of the land he owned than the livestock on it, Ms. Maverick said; unbranded cattle, then, were called “Maverick’s.” The name came to mean anyone who didn’t bear another’s brand.

The Maverick family also has a tradition of liberal and progressive values, so I agree with them when they said this:

Considering the family’s long history of association with liberalism and progressive ideals, it should come as no surprise that Ms. Maverick insists that John McCain, who has voted so often with his party, “is in no way a maverick, in uppercase or lowercase.”