Just Like Old Times

Thanks to a combination of $3.34/gal gas and my running down to the last notch on my fuel gauge, I just had my first $40 fillup since...well, since the last time gas jumped up over $3.00. Of course, back then I had my PT Cruiser GT, which used premium gas, and now I'm back down to regular.

Good Advice

Some griping is taking place about the Longhorns dropping down to a number 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. I do dog obedience training (currently struggling through with the New Fierce Corgi), and the best piece of advice I ever received was "Don't make the judge have to think".

For example, on a retrieval exercise, the dog is supposed to fetch the dumbbell, return to the handler promptly, stop within reach, and allow the handler to take the dumbbell. So....what if the dog stops to look around some? What if I have to lean over a bit to reach the dumbbell because the dog stopped a little too soon? What if...?

"Don't make the judge have to think."

Train the dog to do the correct thing, so that you don't have to worry about these kind of scenarios.

It's the same thing in the tournament. Texas faltered down the stretch, for the second straight year. They were sitting on top of their conference, and on top of the polls, and then they started losing. To teams they shouldn't have lost to.

In short, they gave the conference selection committee an excuse to think. And it cost them.

Maybe sometime, Rick Barnes will figure out how to close the deal with these guys. But it wasn't this year, and now it's cost the Horns.

But...for what it's worth, both Woody Paige and Tim Cowlishaw picked Texas to (gulp) beat Duke in their regional on Around The Horn yesterday. I don't think I'm buying it, myself.

DVD Spending Tab I

My first purchase of the year. I really dialed back last year, but maybe Blu-Ray prices will keep dropping so that even a cheapskate like me will start picking them up.

Memento, 10th Anniversary Blu-Ray, $8.65 at Costco

That's Some Blatant False Advertising

Perusing my Mac news aggregator this morning, I came across an announcement of a new app - CandyLand for iPhone! I've indulged some nostalgia purchases, like The Game of Life, Battleship and Dragon's Lair, so I figured I could probably drop a dollar or two to relive the classic board game for a little while.

Sadly, this is not the original board game. Instead, it appears to be a Frogger knock-off.

Another childhood memory sullied by naked capitalism. Let the lawsuits begin, Hasbro!

Setting Plans

Austin City Council to spend $4.1 million to convince residents to vote on yet another failed rail system. Not that it takes much to get the typical Austinite to vote to spend money on wasted efforts to look more like Portland or Seattle or San Francisco or whichever left-coast city is the current "new hotness".

I see that my next city council vote is going to look a lot like my last few - vote the incumbents out.

It's All Relative

From my iTunes library...

Mother (26 songs):

Mother - The Police
Mother - Pink Floyd
Mother - Danzig
Mother and Child - Porcupine Tree
Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon
Mother Focus - Focus
Mother Nature's Son - The Beatles
Mother Popcorn - James Brown
Mother's Daughter - Santana
Mother's Little Helper - The Rolling Stones
Atom Heart Mother - Pink Floyd
No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature - The Guess Who
That Was Your Mother - Paul Simon
Your Mother Should Know - The Beatles
Mama - Genesis
Mama Kin - Aerosmith
Mama Tried - Merle Haggard
Boboom / Mama Said - The Vaughan Brothers
Crazy Mama - The Rolling Stones
Lawdy Mama - Cream
Mean Little Mama - Roy Orbison & The Teen Kings
Party At Your Mama's House - Widespread Panic
Red Hot Mama / Worry - Widespread Panic
Red Light Mama, Red Hot - Humble Pie
Shine On Mama - Agents of Good Roots
That's All Right (Mama) - Elvis Presley

Sister (8 songs):

Sister Christian - Night Ranger
Sister Golden Hair - America
Sister Lost Soul - Alejandro Escovedo
Babylon Sisters - Steely Dan
Dance Little Sister - The Rolling Stones
Look At Little Sister - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Sweet Soul Sister - The Cult
Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock And Roll) - Elton John

Son (7 songs):

Son of a Son of a Sailor - Jimmy Buffett
Son of Neckbone - Beastie Boys
Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
Mean Son of a Gun - Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
Mother Nature's Son - The Beatles
Sacrificed Sons - Dream Theater
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son - Iron Maiden

Father (5 songs);

Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More - Steely Dan
Can't You Hear Your Daddy's Heartbeat - The Steve Miller Band
Dreams Of Our Fathers - The Dave Matthews Band
Honor Thy Father - Dream Theater
Song For My Father - Victor Wooten

Daughter (3 songs):

Devil & Daughter - Black Sabbath
Madonna's Daughter - David Knopfler
Mother's Daughter - Santana

Brother (3 songs):

Brothers - The Vaughan Brothers
Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
Sin's A Good Man's Brother - Grand Funk Railroad

Uncle (3 songs):

Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey - Paul McCartney
Uncle John's Band - Grateful Dead
Uncle Walley - Unphrey's McGee

Aunt (2 songs):

Aunt Avis - Widespread Panic
Gigolo Aunt - Syd Barrett


Cousin (1 song):

Cousin Dupree - Steely Dan

Grandfather (1 song):

Grandfather's Waltz - Bill Evans

Sorry, Grandma - no songs for you.

Technology At The Speed Of Government

I got a message on one of my bloglists that the hearing to decide one of the last remaining races from the 2010 elections, for Texas House District 48, was going to be streaming on-line. This is a local race here in Austin, featuring Republican Dan Neil trying to overcome a 12-vote margin against Donna Howard. As usual for Democrat races, military ballots are at issue.

I was pretty surprised to see that there would be streaming for a relatively small sub-committee, so I headed over to the page to see what was there. I was even more surprised to see this:

The RealPlayer or RealOne Player software from Real Networks is required to access video/audio broadcasts.

There's someone in the world still using RealPlayer? I didn't even know it still existed, but I guess it still does. With all the drama over embedded video standards in HTML5, I'll have to admit I haven't heard anybody wondering (or caring) if .ram files would be supported.

State Government - rocking the Internet like it's 1998!