I don’t what I think about this…..Liz Phair releasing an album on Capitol Records. Sorta disappointing that the indie queen is selling her soul to the man. But…I was already disappointed to see that Matador was a member of the RIAA, so I guess her jump to the big leagues isn’t quite as shocking….
Posted on 16 June 2003
Had my very first father’s day yesterday. Didn’t get a gift from Seb, but lots of people went out their way to wish me a happy’s father’s day. Crazy.
Seb is continuing to become more like a little person everyday. He’s smiling quite a bit now, and on Saturday he even managed to flip himself over on the bed. Very cool.
There are some photos on the home page and Seb’s page. There’s also archives on the anklebiter page, and I’m working on getting archives on the front page as well.
Posted on 16 June 2003
There’s an article on Salon today about how if any of the Supreme Court justices retire in the next 18 months (a definite possibility) that GW Bush should do the _ethical_ thing and not appoint replacements. Huh?
The author’s rationale is simple — if Bush does appoint a new justice, he is tilting the court in favor of Republicans. Well, duh. Why wouldn’t a liberal president do the same thing? This is precisely why I hate politics, and by extension, politicians — when you’re not in power, you’re always on the ethical high road. And when you are in power, you can do no wrong.
The arguments put forth in the article aren’t anything more than liberal FUD (and this isn’t an attack on liberals….a conservative would write the same article if a liberal president was leaving office in 18 months). This argument is particularly fuzzy:
In short, a Bush appointment to the Supreme Court would not be unconstitutional, but it would be fundamentally undemocratic, which — and I suspect the pre-election Republicans would agree — is even worse.
Huh? Isn’t the entire Supreme Court nomination process undemocratic? The people have no say in who is nominated. None. Sure, we vote for the people who have the power to nominate a justice, even that power is held only by the groups powerful (and rich enough) to sway a politician’s opinions. The whole idea that a justice is a justice for life is undemocratic. “Pot, hi. This is kettle. I think you’re black.”
Posted on 13 June 2003
Yessirree, there will be peace in the Middle East in no time. Let me ask the question again: why are we trying to get in the middle of this conflict? And this isn’t a conservative/liberal thing — this is a power thing. Clinton was in the middle of it too, trying to forge his _legacy_, and now Dubya is doing the same thing. There is not a solution to this problem — or at least one that the US can find.
Posted on 11 June 2003
More violence in the West Bank. Good to see that this new push for peace is working. Why is the US involved here? This is a long-standing feud between two groups for a piece of land that both believe is God-given. The average American (and American politician) can’t even wrap their head around how complicated this conflict is. There will be violence in the region until the end of time, regardless of what the Israeli and Palestinian leaders do or say. Why are we wasting our time? And why are we enraging even more terrorists by being involved?
From the Wow I am Old Department:
‘V’ is back. I remember this show. It was twenty (20!!!!) years ago. How sad….
Posted on 10 June 2003
It’s really amazing how quickly the boy develops. Just over the weekend, he became a little more aware of what was happening around him. He was looking at things with conviction — actually taking in what he was looking at. He also started to *talk* a bit….coos and grunts and whatnot. Then yesterday he became even more aware of what was going on. First, he smiled at Jen (and not just your run-of-the-mill infant gas smile). Then, last night, while we were eating dinner on the living room floor, he just laid on his back, cooing to himself, reaching out for a little toy that made noise when he touched it. It’s been really amazing watching him learn and absorb things. Such a little sponge….
Posted on 10 June 2003
Markko Martin won the Acropolis rally, taking his first-ever WRC win. Carlos Sainz managed to keep Petter Solberg at bay to take second. Solberg held second place for most of the day, but some transmission problems and a little run-in with Colin McRae kept him from scoring 2 more points. Richard Burns did a fine job climbing into 4th place, after a terrible first two days. Tommi Makinen, despite never feeling quite comfortable with the settings in his Impreza, took fifth.
That leaves Burns on top of the driver’s championship standings, with Sainz sliding ahead of Marcus Gronholm in second. Burns is trying to repeat his championship run in 2000, where he only won a single rally, but still took the championship.
In other news….sorry about the lack of new Seb pictures on the site. We’ve got some on the camera — it’s just a matter of getting them up on the site….
Posted on 9 June 2003
More interesting news on day 2 of the Acropolic Rally. Petter Solberg stormed out of the gate and looked to the man to challenge Markko Martin. He got quite close, til he had driveshaft issues later in the morning, and dropped over a minute. Martin saw his chance and took it, storming to three stage wins and putting close to a minute between himself and Carlos Sainz. Harri Rovanpera started the day only 4 seconds off Martin’s lead, but that soon became almost 3 minutes by the end of the day thanks to gearbox issues with his Peugot (the same fate suffered by teammate Richard Burns). Colin McRae sits in fourth, with Tommi Makinen fifth, Rovanpera sixth, and Richard Burins seventh.
Martin has his work cut out for him, as he basically just has to survive tomorrow’s new, rough stages, but he’s got to be a bit nervous, as the latest version of the Focus WRC hasn’t been the most dependable car this season. Solberg has the ability to overtake Sainz for second — he and Marcus Gronholm are quite possibly the only drivers on the circuit able to make up large chunks of time. Expect to see Martin and Sainz drive steadily to reach the end in one piece, while Solberg and Burns (who’s fighting to get as many points on Gronholm in the driver’s championship) should really put their feet down to make up time and places.
Peugeot suddenly looks very vulnerable. After being incredibly fast last year, and incredibly durable (after several seasons of many retirements), the 206 looks mortal again. Burns will be contesting the stages tomorrow without the benefit of 2nd gear — thanks to his and Rovanpera’s gearbox problems, the Peugeot engineers have exhausted their parts supply. Burns has had a good run of luck with his 206, never finishing less than fourth this year, but Gronholm and Rovanpera haven’t been as lucky — Gronholm has 3 wins and 2 retirements in five rallies, and Rovanpera has seen multiple podium finishes crushed by accidents and car problems. Ironically, tarmac specialist Gilles Panizzi has been running well in a customer-spec 206 — he’s currently holding 8th place. He’s driving himself right off the Peugeot roster for next season if the new team rules are accepted by the FIA (teams can only have 2 drivers nominated for points who have previously won rallies. Right now, every Peugeot driver has a rally win to his credit).
So far, this rally has made me really appreciate how tough professional rallying is. I just read a print article about Michael Schumacher and life on the Formula 1 circuit. While those cars are quite impressive, they drive on pretty tarmac tracks in generally good weather. WRC cars during rallies like the Acropolis, Cyprus and Turkey run on roads that would leave all cars save Hummers and Range Rovers nothing more than a pile of metal. There are two service stops during most days, and engineers have 20 minutes to beat the cars into shape again (that includes switching entire gearboxes, suspensions, etc). And the rough roads aren’t just for the gravel rallies. Watch footage of Monte Carlo, Spain, or Corsica. Especially Monte Carlo — stages include going from sunny dry tarmac to snow storms and back again on roads that would be absolutely terrifying to drive at 5kph, let alone 100….anyway, just my thoughts on why rallying beats the pants off any other type of auto racing….
Posted on 7 June 2003
SS8 was cancelled due to a combination of spectator and dust issues. Even bigger news, Marcus Gronholm retired about 6km from the service park (on a road section after SS8) due to a fuel pump problem. This leaves the top three (Martin, Rovanpera, and Solberg) within 30 seconds of one another. Tomorrow should be an exciting day. This also give Richard Burns new life — if he can climb into the points tomorrow, he can distance himself from Gronholm in the championship standings.
Posted on 6 June 2003
The 2003 Acropolis Rally started this morning, and it’s been quite competitive so far. Markko Martin has a slight lead over Peugeot’s Harri Rovanperra going into the day’s last stage, with Marcus Gronholm not far behind. Peugeot has never won this event, so their hopes are high that one of these guys can take the top step. Subaru’s Petter Solberg and Tommi Makinen have been consist all day, currently holding 4th and 6th. Solberg has been charging later in the day, taking the win on SS6. He’s only 24 seconds behind Martin, so he is very much in the hunt.
Unless Marcus Gronholm retires, Richard Burns should see his championship lead disappear, as he is sitting in 10th, the result of gearbox problems before the day’s second service. Colin McRae is also pondering what might have been, as he received a 50 second penalty for arriving late to the start of SS2, thanks to engine problems. Without that penalty, he’d be sitting in third, 6 seconds off Martin’s pace. The final stage of the day is a superspecial stage, so don’t expect the leaderboard to change much. Tomorrow looks to be an exciting day of racing!
By the way…
I STILL HATE MAVEN!!!!
Posted on 6 June 2003