This quiz — really an ad for Samsung’s XM music players, but what the heck — is addictive and mostly easy (with some exceptions…the lemon is not ‘The Lemon Song’; the chain is not ‘Chain of Fools’ or ‘Unchain my Heart,’ and the two photos of the 1920s-ish bathing beauty is not ‘Pictures of Lilly.’) You’ll need Flash installed to play.
Hokum
A collection of ephemera.
Archive for October, 2006
A good thing to see
After Hurricane Katrina, I grit my teeth and sent some money to the American Red Cross. I had to grit my teeth because I knew the Red Cross had a history of not handling its money with the best efficiency in the world, but dammit, they were the Red Cross and they were created for moments like these.
The Red Cross responded to the money that I, and thousands of others, sent them by performing on a level frighteningly close to the awfulness of the federal government, and it got them in a lot of trouble. Now, they’ve announced a big overhaul.
New posts Randy 30 Oct 2006 No Comments
They did it
I can’t believe they won. Neither can Thomas Boswell, who gets it just right in writing about Cardinal Nation. And the Cards are now the Worst World Series Champs Ever, and the Detroit Tigers have to be wondering what happened…but as someone who remembers the deer-in the-headlights drubbing the Cards took a couple of years ago, I say to the Tigers: I recognize your pain, and your time will come.
New posts Randy 28 Oct 2006 No Comments
You will know him by his words
Actor Michael J. Fox has been filming commercials for Democratic candidates who support stem cell research — although that’s an issue that scrambles the usual party and moral divisions. If you’ve seen one, with Fox twitching and his voice shaking as he argues for a given candidate, you just know that these ads are effective.
Enter Rush Limbaugh. Rush said earlier this week that Fox was faking it for effect. That’s rough stuff even by talk radio standards. Limbaugh subsequently apologized (while still criticizing Fox for ‘shilling for Democratic politicians’ in fine j’accuse! style), but it still makes you shake your head
New posts Randy 25 Oct 2006 No Comments
Little bits of history
People don’t believe me when I tell them I’ve been online since 1983, when I connected my Commodore 64 to CompuServe at 300 baud. I was running a computer bulletin board within weeks, and I became a Back in the Day type, and I’ve been at it ever since.
There’s a problem with having been around for so long: I’ve got some interesting online detritus. Now, none of it is horribly embarrassing and I’ve never been much into the darker corners of the online world, so there’s no criminal stuff. Still, there are strings out there that just make me groan or are just inexplicably geeky today.
Like: My FidoNet address from 1993. Yes, once upon a time, it really was possible to send e-mail to randy.lilleston@157.n109.z1.fidonet.org and reach me (assuming you typed everything correctly). Not many people tried, though, mostly because hardly anyone had e-mail yet.
Also out there:
The harp amp mini-FAQ from, oh, 1994 or so.
My request for help in finding a wedding reception hall in 1996.
A review of a three-day cruise I took in 1998.
A bio posted on CNN’s old ‘AllPolitics’ site in 1999.
An interview I did on Air Force One in 2000. I believe this trip was the last time I saw Bill Clinton in person.
Quotes from a 1994 American Journalism Review interview (and some more recent ones from the same publication).
Homebrewing info from a mailing list in 1998.
A review of an El Cheapo Vegas trip, complete with a downtown hotel, from 2002.
Those are just a few examples. There are many more.
New posts Randy 25 Oct 2006 No Comments