Sunday, February 20, 2005

Busy Theatrical Week


Whew!

The end of a busy week, made up of personal theatrics (which I alluded to in Tuesday's biblical post) and the LS North HS production of Trojan Women by Euripides.

Greek tragedy is not exactly the common bill-of-fare for modern American audiences and this excellent production asks a lot in it's 90minute single act. I can't find an on-line translation of the very accessible version they are using, and the director, a good friend, has also updated the setting. In the vein of Peter sellers in the Opera world and Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare movies, his stage and costumes are of an indeterminate, but much more modern era.

All in all an excellent production and deserving of larger audiences than they will garner.

My meager contribution was in producing a photographic record. I used only available light with my best digital camera and am quite pleased with the results.

All in all a busy, but rewarding week.

I have quite enjoyed each performance so far.
I look forward to the repeat performances Fri. and Sat. of next week.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Pride Goeth Before a Fall


Psalm 10:4
In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

Leviticus 26:19
I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. "

2 Chronicles 26:16-18
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. 18 They confronted him and said, "It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD . That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God."

2 Chronicles 32:24-26
24 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the LORD , who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. 25 But Hezekiah's heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the LORD's wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. 26 Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the LORD's wrath did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.

Matthew 11: 28-30
28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”


Here I am Lord, Send Me

Thursday, February 10, 2005

This is Crazy, I live with CRAZY PEOPLE


Although it happened earlier this month, a large Tobacco Wrongful Death case has only recently come to my attention. This case was of particular interest, as it was tried right here in Jackson County Missouri and involved a family from my city of residence.

The result: FOX 4 NEWS: "Lee's Summit Family Awarded $20 Million In Tobacco Lawsuit"

The woman, who had stopped smoking 10 years before she suffered a heart attack, was 73 years old, with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.

That's $20Mil. in PUNATIVE damages.

Is it any wonder that many of the brightest students choose Law and not Science or Engineering?

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Does this sound like your boss?


A magazine recently ran a "Dilbert Quotes" contest. They were looking for people to submit quotes from their real life Dilbert-type managers. Here are the finalists:

"As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and employees will receive their cards in two weeks." (This was the winning quote from Fred Dales at Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, WA.)

"What I need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter." (Lykes Lines Shipping)

"E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business." (Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)

"This project is so important, we can't let things that are more important interfere with it." (Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)

"Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule."

"No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them." (R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.)

"My Boss spent the entire weekend retyping a 25-page proposal that only needed corrections. She claims the disk I gave her was damaged and she couldn't edit it. The disk I gave her was write-protected." (CIO of Dell Computers)

Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say." (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)

My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me." (Shipping executive, FTD Florists)

"We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees." (Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)

We recently received a memo from senior management saying: "This is to inform you that a memo will be issued today regarding the memo mentioned above." (Microsoft, Legal Affairs Division)

One day my Boss asked me to submit a status report to him concerning a project I was working on. I asked him if tomorrow would be soon enough. He said, "If I wanted it tomorrow, I would have waited until tomorrow to ask for it!" (New business manager, Hallmark Greeting Cards)

And the winner!!
As director of communications, I was asked to prepare a memo reviewing our company's training programs and materials. In the body of the memo in one of the sentences I mentioned the "pedagogical approach" used by one of the training manuals. The day after I routed the memo to the executive committee, I was called into the HR director's office, and told that the executive vice president wanted me out of the building by lunch. When I asked why, I was told that she wouldn't stand for perverts (pedophiles?) working in her company. Finally, he showed me her copy of the memo, with her demand that I be fired-and the word "pedagogical" circled in red. The HR manager was fairly reasonable, and once he looked the word up in his dictionary and made a copy of the definition to send back to her, he told me not to worry. He would take care of it. Two days later, a memo to the entire staff came out directing us that no words, which could not be found in the local Sunday newspaper could be used in company memos. A month later, I resigned. In accordance with company policy, I created my resignation memo by pasting words together from the Sunday paper. (Taco Bell Corporation)

The accuracy of these quotes is unconfirmed, but they're funny no matter where they came from!

From the excellent RF Cafe: http://www.rfcafe.com

Friday, February 04, 2005

TrekToday - UPN Cancels 'Star Trek: Enterprise'


TrekToday - UPN Cancels 'Star Trek: Enterprise'

Paramount Network Television president David Stapf added,
"The creators, stars and crew of Star Trek: Enterprise ambitiously and proudly upheld the fine traditions of the Star Trek franchise."

Wow. So THAT's the network TV euphemism for "don't let the door hit you in the rump..."

Obviously Puffing to Much Magic Dragon OR How Not to Fence Stolen Goods


CNN.com - Fans find Peter Yarrow's guitar on eBay - Feb 2, 2005

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

BeOS: A Retrospective | Applefritter

BeOS: A Retrospective | Applefritter

TinyApps.Org : Knoppix 3.6 and FreeNX Server

TinyApps.Org : Knoppix 3.6 and FreeNX Server

NASLite v1.x File Servers

NASLite v1.x File Servers

For Auld Lang Sine


Still remember that first computer?

Check it out:

Digital Retro
The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer
A book by Gordon Laing