Thanksgiving with the family in Little Rock was good. Lots of food, lots of Maya, lots of lounging. She’s starting to resemble a unique person rather than just any baby (babies all look the same to me). The greatest thing is making her laugh. Making funny faces, singing random tunes, and doing silly dances all bring smiles to her face and occasionally, she laughs. Her laugh is the best laugh in the world.

On a sad note, some morons in my sister’s neighborhood decided her husband’s car was in need of a new windshield. His car was parked on the curb, so they drove by and launched a 20-pound landscaping boulder at it and peeled out. The rock put a ginormous dent in the windshield, bounced off of the roof, knicked the fender, and fell to the ground. We called the cops but all they could do was file a report. Bummer, especially considering it happened the night before Thanksgiving.

In other news, I gave Protection by Massive Attack a second listen. I think I was overly critical (what else is new). Protection really isn’t that bad; it’s just that Mezzanine so completely eclipses it in creativity and execution that it seems like it’s a moot point. I just found out that the vocalist they recruited was Sinead O’Conner – no wonder I didn’t care for the vocal tracks. I returned the cd to Chris having not copied it. I’m quite content with my copy of Mezzanine, which is probably the best album I’ve heard all year.

Travel update: I was supposed to meet my Dutch buddies Daan and Jaap in Spain this December for a two-week jaunt through Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, and wherever else we felt like going. First Daan canceled; having been awarded the honor of placing at the top of his graduate program, he was asked to give some kind of speech in some kind of ceremony. Jeez, isn’t bouncing around Europe with a backpack and two friends more important than being recognized for outstanding scholastic achievement in mechanical engineering? OK, maybe not. Then, last week, Jaap informed me he got into a disagreement with his graduate advisor and wouldn’t be able to make the trip. It looked like I was on my own.

I debated on whether or not to go, and if I should go, where exactly should I go? I was no longer tied to Spain. After some research on New Zealand ($$$) and a mountain biking trip in Cyprus (dumb and $$$), I decided Spain was the place for me after all. I’ve seen 99% of Western Europe; the only remaining behemoth of a country left for me to conquer was Spain. So I booked a flight to Barcelona for December 12th and returning the 26th. That’s two weeks of me, a backpack, and Spain. The weather forecast is a tad worrisome: rain comes and goes and temps drop as low as 40. Not exactly what I call vacation weather, but I’ll be in Spain which is enough to be thankful for. I’m already preparing for the climactic uncertainty by buying a pair of waterproof shoes, a good rain jacket, and other wintery items. Most of what I used for last summer’s backpacking trip will work nicely for this trip, so that’s a plus. Now I only need to figure out how to cram winter gear into a pack that, last summer, was filled (to the brim) with just enough summer gear to get my by. I may be doing a lot of sink-washing on this trip.

Pictures from Thanksgiving and Tarfia’s and Amanda’s party will be posted tomorrow (or sometimes this week). For now, please take a look at the adorable Maya, sticking her tongue out in a typical display of her photogenic-ness (word?).

I stumbled into a law professor’s blog the other day and have been stopping by every now and then to see what she’s up to. She discussed a neat case on December 1st:

It appears that a database designer had municipalities plug in information about real estate properties into the designer's database. The compilation of data is likely copyrightable (because of the categories chosen by the designer), but the designer is trying to use that compilation copyright (and the contracts it has signed with the municipalities) to block anyone from gaining access to the admittedly public domain data contained in the database -- data that wasn't even collected by the database designer. [Italics original]. There's no other way to get this data.

I can see how the database designer would be incorrect in assuming the gathered data were copyrightable. The source data were not originally private and could not thus become private just because they were plugged in to the database. I can also see that the database design could be copyrightable, given it is a unique work (much like software). However, I did not see any clarification as to whether or not the designer manipulated the data, for manipulated data would appear copyrightable. If a copyrightable database design used a copyrightable manipulation technique/algorithm, couldn’t the resulting data be copyrightable?

Anyway, interesting stuff. I’d like to learn more about it.

The people in my company like to order dozens of Krispy Kreme donuts for meetings. Today, my boss scored two-dozen leftovers and brought them back to our area. The following conversation ensued between myself and a middle-aged employee who we’ll call B.

Me: Check it out, donuts. Let’s gorge.
B: Dude, you’re the only one of us here that can afford that stuff.
Me: What? Nonsense. Carbs, man. You burn them as you work.
B: Not for us, we’ll get furniture disease.
Me: uhh…
B: When your chest drops down to your drawers.

The perpetual machine perpetuates. Thought you should know.

"This festively colorful nebula, called NGC 604, is one of the largest known seething cauldrons of star birth seen in a nearby galaxy. NGC 604 is similar to familiar star-birth regions in our Milky Way galaxy, such as the Orion Nebula, but it is vastly larger in extent and contains many more recently formed stars. This monstrous star-birth region contains more than 200 brilliant blue stars within a cloud of glowing gases some 1,300 light-years across, nearly 100 times the size of the Orion Nebula."

For the first time since Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, I went to see a movie on its opening night. This occasion was different because it was totally unplanned and I decided to go only because Russell called me 10 minutes before leaving. I’m glad I went. The Last Samurai was thoroughly entertaining. Tom Cruise has never struck me as a ‘must-see’ actor, but he did a pretty good job in this movie. On the other hand, I’ve seen so many of his movies that I recognized some of his signature ‘looks.’ I won’t spoil it, but if you’ve seen the previews then you already know it’s very Braveheart-ish. The ending is pretty sappy too, or as Russell put it, very “Hollywood.”

I went to Austin today to see a few friends before leaving for Spain. Noam, Dan, and Orly met me for lunch and Noam and I continued on to REI, where I splurged on a few clothing items for my trip. I also got the chance to finally drive Chris’ Miata (his looks just like this red one^^^). Now, I’ve driven a standard transmission before…granted, it was 4 years ago in a Ford Ranger, but I know the gist of how it works. I figured driving the Miata would be pretty straightforward. Nope. Driving standard is hard. It takes practice. I only burned the clutch twice, but Chris couldn’t even smell it because of his allergies. Getting it going is definitely the hard part, after that, it’s just a matter of knowing when to shift. This is where the Zen stuff comes in – or just being sure to pay attention to what the engine is telling you (and doing what the guy in the passenger seat says). I tore through a winding road in Chris' neighborhood at ~45 mph and the car didn't budge from its line. It was fun. =)

So fun, in fact, I’m considering trading my Accord for a mid 90's Miata, or some kind of standard transmission convertible. The only problem is that I won’t be able to fit my bass and amp in the trunk of a Miata. Any suggestions?

Cool new exploding dog drawing [click above link].

As long as it gets above 40, I'll be going mountain biking with a friend from work today. I'm a little concerned because i don't want to get sick before the trip, but i really want to go ride. I need to get outside. I was cooped up in cubicle land for 50 hours this week and i'm ready to let loose.

addendum: I just found out The Special Goodness [link on right] has signed with Epitaph Records. Congrats guys! From the humble beginnings of recording on Pat's laptop in his garage to a contract with Epitaph...not bad at all.

My friend and I postponed the ride till noon yesterday and I'm glad we did. By the time we got out there, the temperature jumped from 35 to 50, which is prime riding weather. The sky was clear and the trails were all but deserted. Unfortunately, the fantastic weather did not compensate for two months of sitting on my butt. My legs transformed into rubber after about two hours (and so did his). Between the two of us, we probably only had one and a half functional lungs. As soon as i felt the bonk coming on, I suggested we bail. On the way home I stopped at the Chacho's drive-thru and scored a massive serving of chicken enchiladas.... aww yeah.

Have you seen Paris Hilton's show "The Simple Life?" It’s annoying, and even a little offensive. Two witless girls are cavorting through Arkansas making fools of themselves. They got jobs at Sonic and, when filling out the paperwork, didn’t know how to declare their tax status. They hung out with a quilt club for seniors. Every other word out of their mouths was “like,” as in, “I have no idea, like, where I learned to, like, talk.” The women, all over 60, were speechless when the two nitwits suggested they make their quilts more “edgy and stuff.”

After two weeks of hopping around Spain, I have returned. Thankfully, there were no major mishaps and I am still in one piece. Traveling alone has its plusses and minuses, but I will save the explanation of those and a general overview of the trip itself for another post.

I would like to mention, however, a most bizarre search string that showed up in my referrer list. Someone apparently ended up at my site with:

"how so i know idf i'll get sued by the riaa" (sic)

And however you choose to spend your holiday season, whether with a Christmas tree, Menorah, or other cultural/religious artifact, I hope you have a good time. Cheers!

I was at the grocery store buying the usual items and remembered how much I enjoyed a newly discovered snack I found in Spain: black olives. I promptly directed my cart towards the proper aisle and picked up a jar of black olives. Brief contents of my cart: OJ, paper towels, cream cheese, bagels, and black olives imported from Greece. Well, I thought it was kind of funny. I get home, pop a few olives, and realize the snack is missing one thing: alcohol. Port, specifically. Aware that Texas forbids the sale of alcohol before noon, I checked my watch and saw a glorious 1:30 looking back at me. I headed off to a farther grocery store with a better selection of wine.

I approach the port section and stare in horror at signs posted all over the place that claim “Port, Sherry, and other desert wines over 17% alcohol NOT for sale on Sunday according to Texas law.” Bastards. What kind of stupidity is that? A remnant of prohibition? Is Sunday special for some reason? Is it somehow safer that I wait till tomorrow or any other day of the week? I’m fine with waiting till noon to buy alcohol, that’s not so bad. But being barred from buying port on Sunday is ridiculous. It’s enough to make one want to move out of Texas. I will now embark on a through investigation of this ludicrous law.

As a consolation, I treated myself to a 4-pack of Wexford Irish Cream Ale.

One of my first posts on this site mentioned a rather amusing license plate I saw on a car in my complex. I didn’t have my camera at the time and missed a golden opportunity. Well, I saw the car today and ran home to get the camera. I am pleased to bring you “JIGGAS.” Notice the groovy chain-link frame, available at online retailers like this.

Looks like someone is trying a little too hard to be cool...