Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:18 PM

One year ago today, Ian and I bought our new car.

This day, last year, I watched the odometer roll over from 99 to 100. [A feat much less impressive on digital displays than the classic mechanical ones.]

As of this evening, the odometer currently reads 23,832 miles -- a perfect palindrome.

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:28 PM

The earworm wouldn't go away, so I finally started vidding.

I've got about one-third of the song done; I'll post more when I'm finished.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:40 AM

Jim MacDonald has started a filk circle over at Making Light.

Sing and laugh along, and maybe add your own verses.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:37 AM

Barack Obama has said he'd announce his running mate thru a text-message to anyone who gives the campaign their contact info.

In other words, someday soon, millions of cellphones will be start chirping:

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:12 PM

Threads That Are Golden Don't Break Easily, a crossover between Narnia and Torchwood, focused on Susan Pevensie and Jack Harkness.

Spoilers for most of the C.S. Lewis series. [I've never seen an episode of Torchwood and only know Captain Jack from the first season-and-a-half of Doctor Who, yet had no trouble following the story.]

I'm loathe to say too much, because I don't want to spoil it for you, but here's a short excerpt from a few paragraphs in -- two days after the Pevensies first returned from Narnia:

Susan had rather thought that the Macready hated her and her siblings more than anything (oh, children should be seen and not heard) but the way she addresses Captain Harkness implies that she would like to see him dead in the very near future.

"Mrs Macready." An American accent; Susan lived in another world full of creatures like centaurs and fauns, and yet the sound of a voice from the other side of the Atlantic still sounds exotic. "You're looking gorgeous as ever."

Susan blinks in surprise, heart thundering so hard in her chest that she can scarcely hear the people down below. She curls her fingers against the wall.

"I suppose you're here to see Professor Kirk," Mrs Macready says testily.

"Yeah, I am. Is he in his study?"

There's a moment before Mrs Macready replies; Susan pictures her pursing her lips tight. "Yes," she allows at last.

"I'll see myself up."

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:21 PM

I just saw Halloween candy in the drug store, 80 days ahead of the holiday.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:17 AM

Hope you survive the experience

Posted by Lis Riba at 3:21 PM

Every time I have to plan air-travel, I start thinking about eBook readers.

A single lightweight device storing multiple books seems much more convenient to carry-on than my usual stack of hardcovers.

For anybody else considering such matters, the MobileRead Wiki is a good resource for comparing features among the devices.

In the U.S., there are two main e-ink devices on the market: the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.

Given my reading habits, the Sony device, which can read PDFs, has a slight edge. [I don't actually buy many new books: I get much of my reading from libraries, and I've also got a lot of PDF content.]

However, I've also seen many suggestions to just spend a little more and get a full-function subnotebook. Of those, the most popular seems to be the Asus EEE.

I've made no decisions yet, but since I've been talking about this with a few people, I thought I'd share this info if anybody's interested in further research for their own sakes.

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:51 PM

Silicon Alley Insider has the scoop (links in reverse chronological order):

• Aug. 10: NBC Olympics: We Don't Care If You Hate Us, You're Watching USA-China Basketball On Tape Delay
• Aug. 10: Olympic Committee Outraged About USA Fans Watching Live Online, Sends Takedown Notices
• Aug. 08: Where To Watch Beijing Olympics LIVE On The Web: Gymnastics, Boxing, Beach Volleyball
• Aug. 08: Watching The Beijing Olympics On The Web: How To Use A Proxy Server To See The Sports You Want, When You Want
• Aug. 08: NBC Lawyers In Panic Mode, Scrambling To Stamp Out Internet Olympics Feeds
• Aug. 08: How To Watch Beijing Olympics LIVE Today: Opening Ceremony, Beach Volleyball, Basketball, Weight Lifting
• Aug. 06: How To Watch The Beijing Olympics LIVE On The Web -- Even If NBC Doesn't Want You To
• Aug. 04: Three Days and Counting Until NBC Blows Olympics Coverage
• Aug. 04: YouTube At The Olympics: Exclusive Video You Can't Watch
• Jun. 30: NBC's Online Olympics Policy: Big Win For Pirate P2P Sites

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:25 AM

Seen in the bookstore yesterday:

• You Are A Miserable Excuse for a Hero! by Bob Powers

The cover proclaims it's Book One in the Just Make A Choice! series.

From the book's introduction:

In this book, YOU get to be the main character in an exciting kidnapping adventure that YOU WANT NO PART OF.

You're a thirty-three year old struggling actor with VERY LITTLE HOPE of ever being successful, and you feel like time is running out for you to make something of yourself. Your friends have all settled into lucrative careers that you resent and fruitful marriages that you envy, while you've done everything you can to commit to nothing for fear of limiting your options. With every passing day you are that much closer to giving up, and every choice feels weighted with the possibility that it will send you down a path to FAILURE. So you've been doing your best to make no decisions whatsoever. For YOU, as long as you choose to do nothing, ANYTHING is possible.

Enter JULIA! She's the pretty girl you went out with last night and she's been KIDNAPPED! It's up to you and you alone to rescue her. The ensuing adventure will force you to make a series of choices that will not only determine the life or death of an innocent girl, but will force you to ADD FOCUS to your career and your love life in ways that you've been avoiding ever since you got out of college.

BE VERY CAREFUL! You're DIRECTING THE STORY and the CHOICES you make can result in MURDER, GRADUATE SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, TORTURE, MARRIAGE, POST-APOCALYPTIC SLAVERY, UNWANTED PREGNANCY, even TEMPING! It's YOUR STORY and YOUR LIFE. All you've got to do is decide which page you want to turn to. JUST MAKE A CHOICE!!!

It makes a disturbing amount of sense.

Choose Your Own Adventures began in 1979 when we were kids.

Why should we lose out on that kind of fun now that we're adults? [Unsurprisingly, the author was born in 1973, making him part of the original target demographic.]

The official website includes some pages where you can try out the book.

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:08 AM

If you want more, Wikipedia has an entire page dedicated to the number eight.

Meanwhile, one last Sesame Street segment before I head off to work:

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:18 AM

A Flickr Group Pool:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:25 PM

Just discovered ProhibitionRepeal.com, a website dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the re-legalization of alcohol in the United States, by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Among the features of the site is a massive list of "Prohibition-era" speakeasies one can visit.

Still nothing in New England, alas...

BTW, if you want to mark your calendars, the official anniversary of Repeal Day will be December 5th.

I already know of several bars planning special events for the occasion, including Eastern Standard.

And, this finally gives me the chance to post one of my favorite headlines evah, from The Gray Lady herself.

PS: My work earlier this evening also illustrates the difference between information and knowledge. I found all these bars mentioned on the web, tracked down proof of their existence and found links where available, but for all I compiled in my earlier entry, I still don't really know much about the trend of modern speakeasies, other than it exists and these are examples. For that, I'd need to actually dig into the establishments' websites, look at the menus and read their rules... If I were doing this for myself, that would be my next step; but this was a request of Ian's, so I gave him the links and am now asking him what he's learning from them. Handy division of labor, that.

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:25 PM

I decided to take this quiz because everybody on my friends list is talking about it. While that's typically described as "following the herd," I'm not sure if sheep references are appropriate in this case:

Your result for The Harry Potter Husband Test... Mrs. Lupin

Your perfect HP man is Remus Lupin.

You like a nice, kind guy with a bit of a fierce streak and you don't mind if he comes damaged.  Sure, he may take some convincing since his  self-esteem's so low, but once you win him over, you know he's yours for life.  Unless of course he has an attack of "I'm not good enough" and runs away, but luckily he's also good at making friends who will push him back into line if necessary.

You scored 62% on Lupinity, higher than 70% of your peers. You scored 35% on Snapesquity, higher than 15% of your peers. You scored 48% on Harryness, higher than 16% of your peers. You scored 29% on Ronness, higher than 3% of your peers.

You scored 30% on Lockhartiness, higher than 55% of your peers. You scored 62% on Dumbledority, higher than 91% of your peers. You scored 33% on Dudleyness, higher than 65% of your peers. You scored 44% on Siriusness, higher than 20% of your peers.

You scored 31% on Mad-Eye-osity, higher than 12% of your peers. You scored 51% on Nevillity, higher than 48% of your peers. You scored 43% on Jamesiness, higher than 17% of your peers. You scored 58% on Billiness, higher than 39% of your peers. You scored 52% on Twinsosity, higher than 27% of your peers.

Take The Harry Potter Husband Test at HelloQuizzy

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:25 PM

Ian asked me if I could do some research into the modern speakeasy revival movement.

Here are some of the establishments I found after about 90 minutes on the web:

Plus, several articles on the trend, from newest to oldest:

• 12/16/07: Speakeasies then and now by Mike Adamick, San Francisco Chronicle
• 11/19/07: Hidden Bars by Camper English, Time Magazine
• 11/14/07: Hidden Manhattan nightspots recall speakeasies by Anne Machalinski, Newsday
• 11/14/07: The Fake Gatsby: A guide to New York speakeasies by Kara Zuaro, Chow
• 09/14/07: Stepping into speakeasies by Daniel Lehman, newsday.com
• 07/03/07: Speakcheesy: silly trend of 'secret' bars hits bottom by Maureen Callahan, New York Post
• 04/14/07: Speakeasies With a Twist (PDF) by Eric Felten, Wall Street Journal
• 08/15/05: The industry trend watchers' new motto: 'This restaurant is great. Don't tell a soul' by Peter Romeo, Nation's Restaurant News

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:56 AM

If that's not to your taste, Stephen Colbert makes the case for Britney.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:40 AM

Blogging has been sparse this year. Among the reasons: work has been particularly demanding, absorbing much of my brainpower with issues that I don't blog.

But I think I can open up about one of the matters I'd been keeping close-lipped:

As part of my preparations, I'd been cramming business books. Hopefully, setting those aside (at least temporarily) will free up a little more time for blogging.

How are you doing?

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:44 PM

Reviewed in the latest issue of Scientific American:

• Jacob's legacy: a genetic view of Jewish history by David B. Goldstein

Quoting Publisher's Weekly:

Duke University geneticist Goldstein was part of a team that did groundbreaking, headline-making research on Jewish genetic history. Goldberg clearly and succinctly explains such concepts as "haplotypes" and "genetic drift" as he reviews such findings as that more than half of contemporary Cohanim , or priests-traditionally believed to descend from the biblical Aaron-actually share a genetic marker called the Cohen Modal Haplotype. Among other subjects, he also explores evidence consistent with the claim of the obscure Lemba tribe of southern Africa to be descendants of ancient Israel. Lastly, in taking on a 2005 study of a group of so-called Jewish genetic diseases-such as Tay-Sachs-and their putative evolutionary connection to high intelligence among Jews, Goldberg notes that this hypothesis is easily testable but firmly rejects "pseudoscientific genetic determinism." Goldberg's role in much of the research into Jewish genetic history, his sober, unsensationalist tone and his emphasis on the limited conclusions that can be drawn from such work lend credibility to his account of his stunning results.

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:36 PM

Slashers are often accused of misinterpreting source material to read in homoerotic relationships.

But sometimes, the innuendo is blatant enough that it can no longer fairly be called subtext.

After watching Casablanca yesterday afternoon, I looked up the screenplay, which is readily available online.

For those unfamiliar with the film, Captain Renault, played by Claude Rains, is quite the ladies' man. But here's how he describes Rick Blaine (Bogart's character), whom he regularly addresses as "my dear Ricky":

Well, Mademoiselle, he's the kind of
a man that, well, if I were a woman
and I...
     (taps his chest)
were not around, I should be in love
with Rick. But what a fool I am
talking to a beautiful woman about
another man.

Describing these events to Rick a short while later, Renault says:

                          She was
asking about you earlier, Rick, in a
way that made me extremely jealous.

No discussion of Louis would be complete without mentioning this exchange:

            RICK
How did you get in here? You're under
age.

            ANNINA
I came with Captain Renault.

            RICK
     (cynically)
I should have known.

            ANNINA
My husband is with me, too.

            RICK
He is? Well, Captain Renault's getting
broadminded.

Of course, the final nail in the coffin comes from the introductory description for Captain Renault in the script -- a passage I hadn't seen until today:

In the group is CAPTAIN LOUIS RENAULT, a French officer
appointed by Vichy as Prefect of Police in Casablanca. He is
a handsome, middle-aged Frenchman, debonair and gay, but
withal a shrewd and alert official.

While the word gay has shifted in meanings over the last century, it's been used for homosexuality long enough that it's a plausible interpretation here.

What do you think?