Geistbear Musing

DAMN FSK is back in the snow in the Mountains, going to have to update my page. But glad that he's back there. Buy his photography, does great work!

Day 17 of of Strom Thurmond Death Watch(TM) Hmmm George Harrison dies and Strom lives on...just some food for thought, Strom was 41 when George was born.

One thing of growing up out West in Phoenix and LA in particular, is a lack of true seasons, yes you get Summer all too easily, but the burst of Spring, the colors of Fall, and the nice cold bite of Winter are disappointing. In fact that is part of the reason I went to NAU . I got the best of the West with most of the seasons, Spring is still a bit lacking, but take what you can get. That is why I am so happy this morning SNOW has returned to Flag ! My biggest single complaint about DC is not enough snow, well that and the humid summers (but we live in a swamp). As they always say up in Flag THINK SNOW , it is the source for tourism and a good economy in the winter :-) Lucky bastards. Off to go to dance to the snow spirits, snow come visit me!

I actually emailed this out but I'll post it to the blog also... Fellow DC blogger Punk Princess posted that "MWF seeks M with santa suit. Must be jolly, available Sunday, and willing to let me videotape him being nailed to a cross in Kensington, Maryland" So I had to email her, obviously a cross just wouldn't due, it should be a Pole. I suspect a North Pole if available, but since she pointed to me, I really need to return the props (DA LOVE), and as wiser men than me have noted "It's all about DA LOVE!" One other thing Day 16 of of Strom Thurmond Death Watch(TM) Still alive, that is all...

Let's think people... Those who know me, know I ain't a tree-hugging wacko but I do fully support responsible efforts like recycling and energy conservation. Anyways you know my interest in Germany, I studied over there and I am fairly active in events around town, funny thing is I get a fax from a German think-tank (not all that unusual), but here is the kicker, it's from the Green's think tank . The Green party that promotes responsibility in regards of the environment is spewing out paper all over DC, you'd think they would get with the time and have an email system, faster, cheaper, and more environmental friendly. How can we expect leadership in technology and environmentalism when the supposedly Green organizations are still using 20th century systems. Strikes me as silly, if any of the Greens want some help, hire me I'll be happy to help you modernize, economize, and environmentalize. :-)

A little addendum to my last post in regards of me and religion and going to hell. I think Dennis Miller said it best "I have a God I believe in, whom I pray to daily, whom I ask for forgiveness. It's just that my God thinks I'm incredibly fucking funny ." (And I am too) ;-) Quote of the Week "The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here, food for worms. But the work shall not be lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author." - Benjamin Franklin's epitaph, by himself Both the Franklin and Miller quotes from here . BTW I haven't been keeping up but Day 15 of of Strom Thurmond Death Watch(TM) He's still alive and kicking, but a strong breeze and one never knows... Went to the German Embassy house for the companies coming over. It was good, I saw a few friends who I...

Always grew up from a Libertarian POV, while granted I don't agree with the Libertarians view of international politics, domestically they are general pretty dead on. Live free or die, get the government out of my life, bedroom, all of it, if your not hurting another individual it's not my business. Only thing is DC if you want to work on the Hill and get experience, you either work for Republicans or Democrats or don't work on the Hill, it's that simple. So I worked there and enjoyed the learning of the experience, at this point I don't see myself going back and if I do, I live with having made some public comments here :-). On to the cause of the morning rant. Declan has a very cool site , but also a listserve that is great if your interested in technology and politics. He posted this last night, and this morning posted this reply . Kind of got me going, first amendment and all that, and now that I have this handy forum I would reply. I decided to write Mr. Tho...

MAD FAT PROPS to CRACKGIRL!

Went and saw Heist tonight, without doubt the worst work Mamet has ever written, I suspect it was that Mamet had a contract to finish one more movie for Warner Brothers and and just wanted out so he gave them it. Sad really and a waste of $7.75. I did later get some good Migas so the night wasn't a total loss.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooood BBQ ! Why does time with friends always pass so quick, six day trip and it's already over Sarah and Dream left early for Colorado and I return to DC tomorrow.

Going to Mogambo Rib tonight, very tastey, we went last May when I was here and their BBQ sauce tastes just like my grandfathers (a very high complement indeed ;). Having fun, went to a good bookstore and great Chicago pizza last night. It's very cool hangout with Reemul, Leo, Sarah, and Dream.

Hope everyone had a happy turkey, ours was excellent, good food (I was lead chef), good company, and good weather. what more could aanyone ask?

Back from dinner , gooood food , gooooooood drink ! Ah the simple things in life, going out for a smoke ! Life is good!

Got all the fixin' for Thanksgiving, it's going to be great. Turkey, Sweet potato, veggies, and even heaven .

Day 7 of Strom Thurmond Death Watch(TM) Strom is still alive, or the media hasn't reported otherwise yet.... Texas is well, Texas...

Day 6 of Strom Thurmond Death Watch(TM) James Strom Thurmond was born on December 5, 1902 in Edgefield, South Carolina, the son of John William and Eleanor Gertrude (Strom) Thurmond. Educated in the Edgefield County public schools, he graduated from Clemson College (now Clemson University) in 1923 with a degree in horticulture. He was a farmer, teacher and athletic coach until 1929, when he became the Edgefield County superintendent of education, serving in this position until 1933. He read law with his father and was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1930. He served as the Edgefield Town and County attorney from 1930-1938. (from here )

In Austin safe and sound already been to the gym and had DOG TACOs! Off to dinner, do my Strom moment later...

I just realized I am going to be able to have DOG TACO s in Texas. God Bless Jack ! (I am not much of an ecoli-burger fan) Dog tacos rule!

Intercepted Osama Inter-Cave Memo (remember you saw it here first) From: Bin Laden, Osama Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 8:17 AM To: Cavemates Subject: The Cave Hi guys. We've all been putting in long hours but we've really come together as a group and I love that. Big thanks to Omar for putting up the poster that says "There is no I in team" as well as the one that says "Hang In There, Baby." That cat is hilarious. However, while we are fighting a jihad, we can't forget to take care of the cave. And frankly I have a few concerns. First of all, while it's good to be concerned about cruise missiles, we should be even more concerned about the scorpions in our cave. Hey, you don't want to be stung and neither do I so we need to sweep the cave daily. I've posted a sign up sheet near the main cave opening. Second, it's not often I make a video address but when I do, I'm trying to scare the most powerful countr...

Day 5 of Strom Thurmond Death Watch(TM) As promised a new factoid on Strom, according to here "He is one of few living politicians to have received votes from Civil War veterans" Tomorrow I am heading to Austin for a week to hangout with fri en ds for turkeyday. It will be a great time for sure, also the first time I have gotten out of DC since August . Because of their technical abilities I may even get a reasonable amount of webwork done (yeah I don't think so either).

Day 4 of Strom Thurmond Death Watch(TM) A year after the Capitol shooting, they renamed the building after the fallen Officers. Strom was not expceted to attend, but he showed up nevertheless, he gave a rousing speech, just a shame that someone who was obviously once a great orater was past his prime. Did my Docent thing at American History Museum today, it's alot of fun actually. I learn more about history, and gets a nice discount at the shop 8)

Day 3 of Strom Thurmond Death Watch(TM) He's still alive, I'll relay a new story tomorrow. Thursday night I went to Beujolais Nouveau at the French embassy I have gone the last 4 years, and I always have a good time. Mostly because I volunteer and meet interesting people. This year wasn't any different except I was planning on paying to go and I was asked to volunteer, so I agreed, glad I did. Busy last two days with Bored, er Board meetings for work...

Day 2 of Strom Thurmond Death Watch(TM) The funny thing about Strom is how many people love the man and want to have a picture with him. When he was the spry age of 96 and I was giving tours everyone and their brother ran up to him, asking for pictures like he was a ride at Disneyland. Granted I was working for a Republican member, but no matter who the person was they always wanted to talk to Strom if we saw him. (By the way he was always very friendly in response)

I am going to add a Churchill to the box for this one Strom Thurmond is moving , mind you they say he is not ill, but still. So I am starting the Strom Thurmond Death Watch(TM) - Day 1 Each day I'll try to recall interesting stories or simply note that he's still alive. He's an oddity that's for sure, but lived a hellva life...paratrooper in WW2, left the Dems of segregation and still managed to keep his seat and serve after the Civil Rights act passed. Cynical thing is there is a theory in certain circles going around DC that Senator Jeffords didn't really leave the Republican party over the problems he might have had with Bush, a contributing factor for sure, but not the reason. The reason is he didn't think Old Strom would survive his term and so he left the party before Strom's death to use as leverage for more power. If he had switch after Strom's death a switch wouldn't have gotten him jack. South Carolina's governor is a Democrat and w...

Evidently, I am not the first person to have this opinion on Uncle Jack .

Morning Soapbox DC radio is pretty bad morning especially, but I generally listen to Elliot over at DC101 , but since they are a Clear Channel Station they rotate the same music over and over and over (although they did play a nice GNR today). I would listen to Mix107 but their morning guy Jack Diamond is an ass. Invariably when DC 101 is on commercials and I switch over he goes into what I call " Uncle Jack " mode, Uncle Jack knows everything and proceeds to tell you what you should think, feel, and do. It gets on my nerves in generally .02 seconds. As example this morning around 8am or so he has some credit improvement specialist on, fine Elliot is on commercial and so I am listening, suddenly in the middle of her talking Uncle Jack starts spouting off information like HE is a credit expert, it even sounds like he is lecturing the expert, so I listened to commercials on DC101. He does this all the time, Mix107 used to have this guy Bert (who worked with Uncle Jack ...

Okay, this is funny. Thanks to Zannah where I found it now go Spank the Monkey (and get your mind out of the gutter)

Vic and Gabe are friends from my time on the Hill, since I don't make it up there as often as I used to, I only see them occasionally, which is a shame since they are great friends. Anyways, I noticed today that at their website there are some great pics from the days right after Sept11. I personally like #2 because if you look real close you can see me in the crowd of people on the Mall (NOT, but I was there). Regardless you should go take a look if you want to see recent events in DC from the staff level view.

Shortly before starting up this blog, I joined a DC Social bloggers group. Interesting folks, who have a better handle on all this stuff than me so it's educational. They might even be reading, not sure I really need to look into refer logs for this thing. Anyways...I get a kick out of reading them regularly to see how others are living in this city. Jenn has a blog here , good writing so worth the look in. She has actually lived more places than this old bear, which is cool and rather rare. She today she posted a list of things she wants, I can really relate, many off my own list, so I am thinking, hmmm I should post things I want, feel free to join in and share on your blog if you got one.... Things I want... I want to see my old dear friends more often, the miles are getting long and you are all so far away (AZ, WA, Europe, and Asia) I want to be able to afford to eat out a bit more Sushi , Spaetzle , and Pigs in a Blankets (stuffed cabbage rolls of rice and beef) I wa...

Had our monthly Tech Law webcast this morning it went well considering the events of the morning and being a holiday for alot of folks. Basically the lawyers discussed IP and bankruptcy so a very lively topic ;) I'd go take a nap but I fell asleep during the presentation. If your a General Counsel for a tech company it was worth it, but I am not a lawyer and have little intention to be one at the moment. Everyone has a theory like always after news events like this morning, I dunno the watercooler chat on what media coverage has really not interested me since moving to DC, perhaps because I have been close enough to see and be around the people, places , and events that I don't need nor want news rehashed over and over again...I'd rather move on...

Ready, Set ................. PANIC (remember when a plane crash didn't freak everyone in the office)

Saw a movie Friday night, Der Ueberfall (in German or in English "The Hold Up") Most German movies are not that different from American movie, they often carry deeper meanings...but not really that different. I have seen alot of German films in the last 10 years or so, everything from early silent films "The Student from Prague" to Fritz Lang to Fassbinder to the Modern ones. While no expert I appreciate the ideas they are based on and the time periods they reflect. While I carry myself a simpleton...I do understand the background a bit. But this was a film where all the German speaking friends walked out of looked at each other asked "what the fuck was that?" Granted it was Austrian, but still we should understand it, very odd film, claimed to be comedy, but while it had it's funny momments, it certainly wasn't a comedy. Interesting film nevertheless. Otherwise a fun weekend we golfed 18 Saturday and I watched the Browns lose 8( and went to the ...

Given up trying to fix lunch is over and I'll work on it later....anyone else get the feeling like posting to a weblog is like writing on a big bathroom wall in cyberspace? or perhaps it's just me...anyone else that's a laugh I doubt I am getting an hits besides myself. DOO DEE DOO

Wouldn't you know it, the new color works fine in Opera and IE shows the new font style, but no go on the woodback so it looks all faded......

Hmmm, I can read it now, just have to fix the funky orange links, or perhaps not, they are kinda cool...

Hmmm, the blog has some issues, I changed the background to make it match my website so the style is constant. I look at the page in IE with the same look as it started, but I hear in Netscape and checked it with Opera and the woodback is the background, with black text, why does it work on those two but not IE, arrrrrrghhh. Expert at Blogger? help me :-) email me at thomas_vincent@yahoo.com

Another night out in DC, this time at the IT Stammtisch, a german collection of folks in town working roughly associated with the IT industry. Fun really since I got to see some people I haven't seen in months, not untypical in DC really, but fun nevertheless. A friend from the Hill challenged me on my past boss ' opposition against the airline security bill. I honestly, since off the Hill have had the luxury of not thinking my position completely on the bill. Her challenge made me think, after a good dinner with friends and while on a nice walk with my pipe, why I had my current position, good to reconsider your opinions. After my thinking I still oppose the Senate language, for the following reasons... It would create a new burocracy. It would eventually create an airline bag checkers union, which in the long run would not help efficency. They (federal govt) could get better results by increase pay requirements, requiring companies to conduct deeper security checks, and...

Mom's Rule As you might be aware the Diamondbacks won the World Series Sunday night, being from AZ, I'll admitt it's nice to see an Arizona team finally win something, unlike some teams I could mention . Regardless, after the game I asked for a t-shirt with World Champs on it, when ever they got the chance, no big deal. So this morning the mail comes into work including a box with two t-shirts and a copy of the AZ Repulsive from Monday. It really made my day all I can say is, you gotta love Moms!

Welcome to Bear Droppings, all of this will migrate over to bears and my page there, but since I am still trying to figure out how I broke nukephp, I'll be posting here in the meanwhile. In a nutshell, this is my personal forum for rants, recipes and good stuff to see around the web. I have wanted to set up a weblog since Spring and I am finally making it happen. Feel free to make your self at home, homebrew is in the frig, and I don't care if you put your feet on the coffee table. I suppose I ought to tell you why it's called bear droppings, basically it will eventually run off the backend of bears.org and since 90% of the web is crap well you get the idea. I also am trying to get my writing alittle more, my webpage has some of my writings but I am not doing enough....this is more of active practice writing sessions for the web (No Grammer or speeling corrections, Mom). In short I work for an IT trade association in Arlington, VA working on privacy programs, ehealth,...