Eric treated us to a on-the-house meal at Maggiano's last night. It was easily the best high-class Italian food I've ever had. Give it a try, if you're rich and ever in Tyson's Corner.

Where to store your rocket launcher

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Micro Frenzy, my latest Warcraft III custom map is now available on the Games page. It's similar in concept to Micro Arena, but greatly improved with an extra year's worth of mapmaking experience. Have fun with it and send any feedback or bugs when you can.

'Curb Your Enthusiasm' clears murder suspect
Because propane trucks are so easy to hide

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With the new WWII memorial a popular success, Bush has now decided to compare the war on terrorism with WWII . An excerpt from the article:

Just as events in Europe determined the outcome of the Cold War, events in the Middle East will determine the fate of the terrorism fight, Bush said in a 45-minute foreign policy speech.

Wasn't the Cold War caused, in part, by the interactions in WWII? I guess that causing something is one way to determine its conclusion, but that seems like a stretch even for a seasoned marketer. Also, didn't we already try to apply WWII's Domino Theory to the Vietnam War? Didn't we crash and burn and then find that the theory didn't hold true? Bush seems to be saying that we need to kill terrorists to prevent future terrorist states, without realizing that it's our own interactions with the states that are getting them all riled up and resorting to terrorist actions.

If the Domino Theory could be applied to terrorism, then having us recant and go home would eventually turn all of the Middle East terrorist. However, if we stop sticking our heads into other countries' business and fix our own country instead, the terrorists would have nothing to fight for. Therefore, using my degree-enhanced mathematical proof skills, the argument is false.

A lot of people argue that it's not our responsibility to go around policing the world. I think a better argument for our current times is that it's not our RIGHT to do so.

On a very special episode of Cops
Chavez calls Bush a pubic hair

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Today I got several errands done, and mowed the lawn just in time for a big rainy cloud to waft over Loudoun County. The pool table people called and said that the table would get here next week, most likely Thursday.

Crybaby story also ends well?
Going out in style
Sometimes you just need to stop and turn in your clients
But where?

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I had a big housewarming party over the weekend, but haven't had time to do much more than clean up since then. I'll try and get some pictures posted in the next few days.

My sister's two cats are here for a month now while I watch over them. So far so good, although there's been quite a bit of growling between the home team and the visitors.

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Now that there's no more party planning to deal with, I can get back to the assorted house tasks, such as creating the bar, renovating the storage room, and designing a sidewalk/landscaping scheme for the outside. I have enough hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, sodas, and beer leftover to have daily parties until the Fourth of July.

The pool table is on a truck and should arrive tomorrow night or Thursday. I'll probably have some folks over this weekend for some pooly deeds. It turns out that the last remaining oak laminate table in my selected style was damaged, so they upgraded my accessories package free of charge and will give me a black laminate one instead (exactly as pictured). They offered to upgrade the table instead to a nice oak one, but I prefer the look of the enclosed pockets and the convenience of a ball return.

Ben, who was hooked on Alias burned through the first two seasons and finished the second one just last night.

Ducks quack in regional dialects
Duck stuck in regional quagmire
Porn star not an acceptable prom date
Man sued after finding $50,000
Loud sex results in tense headaches, cramps and heartburn

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I've posted a bunch of pictures from the Housewarming Party on the Photos page in the Uri! section. I got several great gifts, all of which I gave to Booty for safekeeping.

Last night around 11 PM, cops from Herndon, Sterling, and Fairfax County swarmed onto our quiet little court, followed by a helicopter overhead with a spotlight. Apparently, a drunk driver had decided to drive away from the police and made a wrong turn onto the court. At least my car, which was parked on the street, remained unscathed and unsideswiped.

Bird poops in Cyndi Lauper's mouth (urizone/urizone)
One shopkeeper said the last local scandal of similar proportions involved competing claims to the title of Miss Crustacean, bestowed at the town's annual crab derby.

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The pool table came a day early so I took part of yesterday off and worked from home for the rest of the day. The two installers were from Georgia (the state) and spend half the year on the road installing pool tables. They were pretty efficient and got the table leveled and constructed in about an hour. Luckily, there's enough space in the room to walk allthe way around the table and not hit the wall with your cue. I ended up not getting the ball return, as there was a mixup on the order and the return would have been an extra $300 which wasn't charged. I also had a mixup on the accessories kit, so they're mailing me a higher quality one (meaning I get to keep the one I have and also keep the new one as well).

The case for aggressive driving
How to punish your child
Explosion in subway. Nearby passengers all dyed. (cosmoran/spider)

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Nothing new to report today other than the overabundance of rain clouds in the area. I have no big plans for the weekend other than to do a little housework, mow a little grass, and play a little pool and poker. I'll also try to post some new cat pictures tomorrow.

The proposal, certain to be opposed by motoring groups, follows similar remarks by the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who in May month described SUVs as "bad for London -- completely unnecessary" and called their owners "complete idiots."
Di Bonaventura mad for 'Freak'
Shrek 2 bad for conservative kids

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There are new cat pictures up on the Photos page, and here are some movies for your viewing pleasure.

Earthquake! (842KB WMV)
Playing (4MB WMV)
All four cats(4MB WMV)

Woman put fork in lover

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I did a little house cleaning and cat hair removal this afternoon, but otherwise there's not much news to report. My sister's wedding is this weekend, so I'll be out of town from Friday through Sunday. Before that happens, I need to go do some gift shopping for a separate wedding next month and also get a haircut.

Here's to interesting summer news items, of which this is not.

When you know your relatives care

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Costco in Loudoun County is allowed to sell bulk packs of fireworks. If you wander all the way to the back, near the bakery goods, you'll see massive pallets of fireworks stacked to the ceiling on the overstock shelves. I'm surprised they don't have a sign up, "No open flames near our muffins."

A most unfortunate turn of naming
Demopolis has trouble adding meaningful images to stories
Bad day for duckies

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I'm getting all packed up for the weekend -- no profound thoughts until next week!

A coroner's examination has ruled that a hand found on a popular beach and believed to be that of an infant or a baby actually came from a plastic doll.
Sex sting went way too far
It's like 'The Silence of the Lambs.' Without the silence.
Just across the street, a couple of Republicans had wheeled massive stage speakers out into their tidy front lawn and blasted toward Mr. Kerry the theme song to the 1960s family TV show "Flipper".

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The Internet was all akimbo yesterday so I couldn't log into my FTP server for an update. Probably just another worm eating away at everything.

I got back from my sister's wedding on Sunday morning. It was an upper crust affair at the Barboursville Winery and Ruins, complete with a chocolate fountain you could dip your cake in and underwater flowers as centerpieces. With the addition of the Binder family, I think the family tree just quintupled in size.

The ceremony was a brief Jewish affair and around a hundred people showed up. The sky looked threatening all afternoon, and it started to rain right at 5:30 when the wedding began, but only momentarily. The string trio was able to take their instruments back out for the exeunt and no one's finery was too ruined.

There was also a little black stray cat living in the ruins that tried to get into all the wedding shots. It showed up mid ceremony too and plopped down in the aisle (everyone noticed it because the little flower girl pointed at it).

I have some more pictures on my camera but haven't gotten around to uploading them yet -- these from my dad will have to do (see the Photos page).

Secret Life of Newt
DUI at 118mph
When you want to maximum your Uri!
Sting nets notorious Tennessee crime family

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Last night, I had some of the under-30 crowd come out after work for some grilling and pool. Four of the six interns came out -- a far cry from the days where I was the only intern and the "FGM Intern Program" consisted of me in whatever spare office happened to be close by. I hear they actually interviewed a good number of candidates this year -- when I got the job through Jack, my interview consisted of a phone call to Fillipo during half time of the Super Bowl and then a quickie acceptance letter.

The Sri Lankan authorities have ordered an inquiry after a dove freeing ceremony intended to symbolise peace went disastrously wrong.

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There was a traffic cop in Herndon pulling someone over at 6:20 this morning on Dranesville. Seriously, who cares if you're speeding that early in the morning? When I'm in charge I'll be doing away with any moving violations which don't involve reckless driving.

I made it all the way to work today on autopilot, without realizing any of the turns. That must mean I'm local.

Woman taken off ship in marshmallow mixup
Tunes create context like language

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This can't be good for business:

T.C. Rowing Coach Missing in Potomac

I'll keep you posted as I discover details.

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Look, a Saturday update!

They still haven't found the missing crew coach, who I didn't know personally. The article in the Washington Post this morning has some new information as well as several misconceptions.

Catilo's motorboat carried a cushion that served as a flotation device, but no life vests were available for him or the eighth-, ninth- and 10th-grade students he was overseeing, Durham said. Catilo was not required to wear a life vest as he coached. All students and coaches involved in the program are required to be able to swim, school officials said.

Durham said his department will conduct an investigation to determine why oars were the only flotation devices available to the rowers on their scull.

"An oar is not an acceptable flotation device by Coast Guard boating safety regulations," Durham said.

Two weeks ago, the D.C. Council passed legislation that requires children age 13 and younger to wear life vests aboard a vessel unless they are inside a cabin, Durham said. The law applies to any watercraft on D.C. waters, he said.

Misconception #1: The coach may not have been required to wear a life vest by regulations, but crew coaches have always worn life vests in their launches. In my five years of crew, the only driver or passenger in a coach's launch not required to have a life vest was the Coach Yeich's dog, Killian.

Misconception #2: The purpose of crew is to go fast on the water, which is why rowers, like swimmers, don't wear life vests. If a coxswain that weighs ten fewer pounds is enough to greatly reduce drag on the boat, what would nine life vests do? If I recall correctly, the swim test required to do crew in my day was to get thrown in the river or a pool fully clothed and be able to kick off your shoes and swim a certain distance.

Misconception #3: Durham has probably never rowed crew in his life. A rowboat oar may not be an acceptable flotation device, but a scull oar is a good nine feet long and weighs more than I do. If my scull were hit by a nuclear attack, I would be comfortable using a scull oar as a flotation device, since rowing takes place on a river and not an ocean. I don't think I've ever seen a rower with additional flotation devices, since the entire boat is fabricated out of floating materials.

Misconception #4: If the accident occurred at the marina, the boats were in Virginia waterspace, not D.C. Alexandria crew boats rarely venture into D.C. waterspace, though they occasionally cross into Maryland.

I know that the Washington Post is a bleeding heart liberal newspaper, but the article makes it sound like crew is a catastrophe waiting to happen, when a more responsible angle might have just been to note that it was an unfortunate accident where the coach might have been better off wearing a vest.

I've been thrown in that river numerous times without a vest, and I'm no worse for the wear.

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Between work and the pimping, I've been kept pretty busy the past couple days. I have a whole stack of wedding-y pictures to put up which I haven't gotten around to doing, but hopefully I'll be able to get to it tomorrow night.

Did anyone go see Farenheit 9/11?

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Happy Birthday Kathy!

I put up a gigantic batch of wedding and cat pictures yesterday evening, so feel free to take a look. There are also two new short clips for your pleasure de viewing.

Jail Kitty (2MB WMV)
Vying for Couch (1MB WMV)

Kudu could become a star
Pumping at the bench is not kosher
Guys' night out to Vote
Because the license wasn't already run into the ground upon inception
I'm changing my name to F Gm.

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I watched Secret Window with Johnny Depp this weekend. It was definitely worth a rental, and doesn't show all its cards right away. Check it out.

I taught a class yesterday on Java operators as part of the Java Certification series going on at work. It seemed to go over pretty well. I'll be teaching another one in August as well.

Protesters are completely missing the meaning of this campaign
Boy Scouts sued over fire
People in Hawaii can't drive
An ingenious approach to preventing information sharing

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