July 2005 Archives
July 31, 2005
No, it's not a penis joke, this weekend I saw a test run of Craig's (of Craig's Variety Show) one man show, "My Life in 19 inches" this past Saturday. I was feeling kinda crappy before I went down so I wasn't expecting alot. Additionaly most of the one man show's I've seen have been overly self indulgent trips through someone's mental masturbation. The only one man show I've ever really like was MacHomer, but that's a pretty high concept rendition of MacBeth with every role being played by a Simpsons character (how could that fail to please.) So, while I expected good things from Craig, I expected also to give a lot of feedback, as it was a test run.
My expectations, however, were blown out of the water.
It's the story of how Craig's life has been affected by TV. It was mostly funny, but at times sad and uncomforatble. It was a good kind of uncomfortable, because Craig was portraying people who you know you have been at some point in your life: the inadvertly hurtful kid at school, or the patronizing person at a party. I think that's what made it successful, that it wasn't self stiumulating rather it was explaining, it was illuminating someone else's perception.
I wanted to get this out because in a couple months Craig's going to bring it to a full stage production, and I will be pushing it. But I wanted to make it clear that I am supporting it (in the future) because it really is that good.
July 31, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 10:54 PM
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Random,
This will be the first cigar I've reviewed that I'm not so keen on. I got it free from Holt's when I bought a box of Punch London Club's, otherwise I would not have bought it in the first place. I was never a big fan of Macanudo's but I like maduros so I figured I'd give it chance.
It was very strong tasting, but not any particular taste other than "cigar." Sorta like a hot sause that's hot, but not much else. The draw was pretty stiff but losened up over time. On the plus side the wrapper was very oily (in a good way) and it burned pretty evenly.
All in all, I would probably accept it for free again, but I wouldn't pay for it.
Stats: It's a Dominican cigar, made from Mexican binder, with Dominican, Mexican and Jamaican filler. It says that the wrapper is Connecticut, but I didn't think maduro wrappers came from Connecticut. It's 5.5 inches with a 49 ring gauge. It took me about an hour to smoke.
July 31, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 10:16 PM
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Cigar Reviews,
Cigars,
Evidenlty I've become so lefty that I give off a vibe that makes people think I work at Trader Joe's. Or at least I did tonight when I was there.
Maybe I need to turn down the rhetoric a bit.
July 31, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 10:10 PM
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Personal,
July 29, 2005
Target has a back to school commerical with Sir-Mix-A-Lot's Baby Got Back as the theme.
Isn't it a bit weird to sell stationary and backpacks to kids with a song about ass?
July 29, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 7:27 PM
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Random,
I have a small obsession with fonts. So this is really cool for like, just me.
UX. Evolutions swiped the new Microsoft fonts off of their Longhorn Build and made them available.
July 29, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 3:51 PM
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Web Development,
For a long time I have maintained to my friends who disparage Philadelphia, that at least I have no fear of terrorism, as Philly is a "second tier city." I'm mean c'mon, New York is up there... DC is down there, you don't need to bother us Mr. Terrorist...
Well Septa agrees with me according to PhillyPolitics.com:
Jordan said the cash-strapped agency, which has a daily ridership of 800,000, was not at orange because it did not consider itself a top-tier target such as New York City or Washington.
The article also discusses Septa's current ready status: Tangerine.
July 29, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 11:28 AM
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Philly,
July 28, 2005
Scott blogged this, and it finaly got in to my head that I should do this too, despite the fact that my readership is probably a single digit decimal percentage of his.
Latoyia Fiqueroa has been missing for 10 days. She is pregnant. Her family loves her and wants her home safely. She has a seven year old who needs her. She disappeared from the Cobbs Creek area, in West Philadelphia. (If you go through that area on your way from Central Phily to Delaware County, think if you're seen anything odd inthe past few days.) If you know anything about it, please contact the Philadelphia Police.
July 28, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 10:06 PM
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Philly,
York, PA is cancelling their annual Halloween parade because of an anti-abortion float that someone entered in it...
Grove's anti-abortion float, "Dr. Butcher's Chop Shop of Choice Cuts," features fetuses and mutilated body parts.
This is either a brilliant prank, or just a creepy direction for political debate.
July 28, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 5:42 PM
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Random,
According to PoliticsPhilly.com, Philly is supposedly the 8th most polite city in the US?
Some how I doubt that any such finding was the result of study using any remotely scientifically derived method. I point this out because:
We are many things to be proud of... Polite, not on your life.
July 28, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 2:19 PM
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Philly,
Yet another Ashton, owned by Holt's; a cynical person would accuse me of trying to wrangle free cigars out of them. That person would be correct, but I'm also trying to limit myself to cigars I've had recently, and Dan and I grabbed one of these over at Mahogany last Friday, so it's what I'm writing about.
The first time I had an Ashton Cabinet cigar was the last day of classes of my senior year of high school career. I left Paul Vi, came home, and smoked one of these pacing out by the pool. Then as now I was struck by the fact that the smoke actually tastes creamy. That's what all the other reviews and marketing says, but it's true. It's weird, I don't know why, but they do. That only happens for the first half of the cigar, after that, it's still great, but no dairy. I highly recommend them if you like other Ashtons, and other pricy medium bodied cigars (Davidoffs, Dunhills, Griffins),
At first glance it would be a good celebratory cigar; however, it's expensive (for the average guy.) What does this mean? In the midst of an event (bachelor party, graduation, birthday) you're really not going to give it any attention, and you certainly won't get the full worth of it. You'll be left thinking the experience wasn't worth the price. Solution, save it for a time when you can enjoy it.
Stats: It's a Dominican cigar with Dominican binder and filler, with a Connecticut wrapper. It's 7 inches with a 48 ring gauge. Additionally it's what's called a Perfecto, which means that it's tapered at both ends. (Every jackass boss in a comic strip smokes these.) This is one that you'll want to be comfortable for. It took me close to two hours to smoke it last Friday. Far from cheap, it's pretty pricey at $13.25 per single at Holt's. It's not one to have everyday, unless you're independently wealthy, but it's one I would definitely have. But like I said, don't bother saving it for a special day, have it sometime when you can really enjoy it.
July 28, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 12:33 AM
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Cigar Reviews,
Cigars,
July 27, 2005
On the heels of my lauding them for conservation efforts, Penn accidently shut down the AC in my building. My office got up to 90° and Dan's office got up to 93°.
It seems like an really inefficient way of conservation, as energy dollars saved were taken from the productivity dollars' pot.
July 27, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 5:08 PM
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Philly,
Yet another article comes to light that show that Penn (my alma mater and employer) is an institution to take some pride in.
PoliticsPhilly.com has it that Penn is:
"the nation's largest nongovernmental purchaser of wind power... "
Check it out the story at PoliticsPhilly.com:
Area colleges & their electric bills.
July 27, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 10:51 AM
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Philly,
July 26, 2005
This is one of my favorite cigars of all time. I had my first when I was 17, after sneaking across the Delaware on PATCO to Holt's. It's not an overpowering taste, but there's a lot of flavor in it. I don't know all the right cigar terms like "hints of cocca, or slight chickory taste," but there's a sweetness to it, and there might be some chocolate in there.
If you're going away on a vacation, or celebrating something minor, these are a good way to go. These would also be a good gift for a father or boss who smokes cigars.
Stats: It's a Domincan cigar with Dominican binder and filler, with a Connecticut wrapper. (For those that don't know, yes really good cigar wrappers can be found in the left testicle of Massachusetts.) It's 5.5 inches by 44 rg (ring gauge) This is a fancy way of telling you that it will take about 45 minutes to an hour to smoke it. It's not cheap, $6.25 per single at Holt's (which since they own the label, should be the cheapest place to buy it) but it's worth it.
July 26, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 11:19 PM
Cigar Reviews,
Cigars,
I've decided to start writing more about cigars. I'm doing this for a couple reasons.
- I've been smoking cigars for twelve years.
- When I'm focused on cigars, I stay off the cigarettes which are a lot easier to abuse.
- A lot of what's out there about cigars tends to be a bit pompous, and that's a space I feel I can work in.
So if you have any questions about cigars in general, or have any questions about specific brands or countries of origins, let me know. I've smoked most of the major brands, and would be willing to try a brand in the interest of blogging. So stay tuned for more nictoine news.
July 26, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 11:05 PM
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Meta Blogging,
July 25, 2005
Tonight is the big night. Will Jon Stewart go softball on Santorum? Will Jon Stewart stick it to him? Will Santorum tell us what it's like to whore for Outback Steakhouse?
The answers: No. No. No.
Stewart doesn't softball him, and he doesn't stick it to him. He debates him. He disagrees with Santorum without screaming at him. He's doing the very thing he asked Tucker Carlson to do. Engage the opposition, illuminate the differences, and disagree. I think he's still learning how to do it, and going up against a US Senator is a fair bit harder than going against Bernard Goldberg.
That being said, I fear that Santorum got exactly what he wanted out of it. A whole bunch of people, who may only get their political coverage through the Daily Show saw Santorum come off as a reasonable guy. And of course Stewart didn't ask him about being an psuedo-Aussie whore.
So I think we took one step forward two steps back. However as Stewart practices, this show might be a rep that accumulates with others to pay off dividends in the future.
July 25, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 10:56 PM
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Politics,
July 21, 2005
Rick Santorum is going to be on The Daily Show Monday. So my previous posting will be put to the test. Will Jon Stewart softball him? Or will he ask "Rick, in your mind, is homesexuality and beastiality the same thing?"
My prediction is that he will be much softer than he was with Bernard Goldberg, just because Santorum probably has the ability to set his conditions a little better. But I would be very happy to be wrong on that point.
July 21, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 11:36 PM
Politics,
I watch the Daily Show religiously, and I have to admit that the show seems to have taken serious change in tone since they moved to the new set. Granted, I only have 6 shows to analyze, but they seem to have changed dramatically.
First, the Daily Show put together one of the most coherent and fair explanations I have seen on the whole Rove scandal. Second, Stewart verbally demolished Bernard Goldberg and his enemies list. Third, Stewart got into a real in-depth discussion with Michael Isikoff about the important issue being the administration's dishonesty.
Tonight though sealed it for me. Something is different. The guest was Robert Kennedy Jr. He was on to discuss a story he's trying to get out about a mercury-based vaccine additive that's been linked to autism. According to his information, (studies, scientists, statistics, etc) it's a done deal that they are connected. Salon has the story in more detail. The thing that struck me was that Stewart did not interrupt at all. He shot like maybe one joke in at the end, but other than that he didn't cut in. It seems to me that Stewart just wanted to get this story out, since Kennedy had trouble getting the story out, (part of his tale is how ABC just edited the piece into a commercial for the Pharmaceutical industry.)
So all this makes me think that Jon Stewart has been building his audience, driving up his numbers, and is now going to take them out for a spin, doing more advocacy and more editorializing. In short, people are listening, and now the Daily Show is ratcheting up what they have to say. I wonder if it has to do with the positive reaction Stewart got from spanking Tucker Carlson. Did it help makee him realize that his auidience will indulge him during his forays into substantitive issues.
Of course this could all prove false if he start softballing guests again (Clinton, Kerry, O'Reily) but time will tell.
On a side, and completely non-related note, Jon Stewart was once somehow convinced by Craig Liggeons into doing a little shill for Polywumpus Improv Comedy during one of his stand-up shows. I don't know how it happened but I'm sure that's the key to his success.
July 21, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 12:33 PM
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Random,
July 20, 2005
http://www.streetwars.net/
This is just cool. In fact the only thing that would make this cooler is if participation in this would lead you to get accidently marked as a real assassin by a hot secret agent working for the other side. You would travel with them and get drawn into the real game of espionage. Finally it would all culminate in a chase on a local college campus where the real fake game and the fake real game collide with disasterous consequences. (The, like, 3 people who have seen Gotcha! know of what I speak.)
July 20, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 12:19 PM
Random,
July 19, 2005
I started smoking cigars 12 years ago, right before the cigar boom, and did a pretty good job of not being robbed too much by the pricing gouging that went on. Whenever there's a special event that requires cigars I get asked what to get. Here's my recommendation:
Punch London Club
They're priced really well at Holt's ($1.15 per cigar.) At 5 inches with a 40 ring gauge (2/3 inch diameter,) they don't take too long to smoke (about 30 minutes.) They've got a full flavor, but their small size keeps them from being overpowering. Additionally since some people feel bad about "wasting a cigar" because they don't usually smoke, at a buck a pop, no one's wasting anything.
July 19, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 11:43 PM
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Cigar Reviews,
Cigars,
July 17, 2005
Maybe not the most rational conclusion, but I defy you to come up with a better explanation.
July 17, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 7:15 PM
Philly,
July 15, 2005
I got an email suggestion from Amazon a few moments ago. Killing Yourself to Live : 85% of a True Story and A Long Way Down were their picks for me. One is about Rock and Roll deaths, and the other is about the aftermath of a suicide pact.
Geez, guys, I gave up my morbid phase like 12 years ago. Maybe I have to stop rating Morrissey albums.
Note: I'm not sure what scares me more. That there is a detailed article on Morrissey or that both Morrissey's and Jobriath's articles are longer than Associate Justice John Paul Stevens' article. For a better understanding of Jobriath, see this Something Awful article on Worst Rock Stars which coined one of my favorite descriptions:
he described the discrepancy between its lavish production and awful content as being "like a statue of a retard carved out of white gold."
July 15, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 12:23 AM
Random,
July 13, 2005
Okay the media murmers are starting to spread that Karl Rove is in danger of being fired. Newspapers are starting to spread the concept, blogs that are actually read by people are of course chattering away. Slate has started a "Deathwatch" for Rove. (I'd be more impressed if they started a Rovometer ala the Clitometer and Saddameter.)
I'm going out on a limb and say that it ain't gonna happen. I can't believe that the defacto head of the Republican Party is going. Add in outlets like Fox News saying that "Rove deserves a medal," and it's seems obvious to me that the waters will be so muddy that no one will really care in two weeks.
I have to come clean and admit that I'm hedging my bets, my previous political predictions have been god awful. This is one prediction I want to be wrong about.
July 13, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 12:01 AM
Politics,
July 12, 2005
Stumbled on to this earlier today. I made my opinions on Santorum quite clear, however, if you want actual documentation, check out Santorum Exposed.
It's extremly biased, but well-produced. It doesn't look like a bunch of kooks who take things he says out of context, and twist them. They just take him at face-value and report the negative. Now frankly, I don't know what Santorum could do that I would feel qualifies as positive, but I could be introducing my own bias there.
July 12, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 6:00 PM
Politics,
I didn't want to, but Dan and Scott were so convincing. Bob, you're next!
.
July 12, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 10:57 AM
Meta Blogging,
Finally after months of hemming, hawing, time wasting, procrastinating, and even blocrastinating the next episode of Craig's Variety Show is finished. It includes Magnetism and Rolodex Girl and it should be on WHYY sometime in the next few months.
So make sure you block them off on your calendar. You don't want to miss it.
July 12, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 1:24 AM
Entertainment,
TV,
July 10, 2005
I'm a huge fan of USA's Sunday night line up. Specifically, The Dead Zone and The 4400. USA has a campaign titled "Characters Welcome" I can't help but find myself riveted by them. They're each little short stories with their characters. Johnny Smith from the Dead Zone sees a girl's doll blown up by her brother. Maya from The 4400 positions her friend just right to catch a homerun outside of a baseball stadium. It's a brilliant campaign because it gives us something we as viewers want to see, but never get to: our favorite characters on their day off. Pretty interesting, I think this is an awesome way to drum up excitement in the shows, while giving fans what they want.
July 10, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 10:18 PM
Entertainment,
TV,
July 9, 2005
I'm off to Long Island today. My parents are meeting Janice's mother. I don't want to go. Janice doesn't want to go. I think deep down my father doesn't want to go. But according to my mother, "It's just something you have to do." I know plenty of couples where that isn't true.
So Janice and I will be looking for ways to get out of it. If for some reason I end up in the hospital, it's not an accident, Janice got desperate, please send help. Of course I'm kidding, except I'm not. Send help! I think she heard me typing!
July 9, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 1:12 AM
Random,
July 8, 2005
A while back I needed to interact with raw https sockets from Cold Fusion, and the https setting for CFX_RawSocket stopped working. (I think I configuration change on the target machine made this process fail.) Unable to deal with trying to get support for a free product, I felt compelled to write my own way of doing it. Some one in my office had writted a CFX tag very similar to CFX_RawSocket, so I had a starting point.
Turns out, it can be done completely without resorting to CFX writing. It can be done completely using Cold Fusions built in ability to handle Java Objects. I figured I would share the source if anyone else needed it.
Continue reading "Https Sockets in CFC"
July 8, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 11:36 AM
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ColdFusion,
July 7, 2005
According to dailyKos, former Senator Fred Thompson is going to head the committee to find the replacement for Sandra Day O'Connor.
You may know Fred Thompson as the D.A. on TV's Law & Order.
I see a few things comming down the pike:
- Monster cameos next season.
- All Supreme Court opinions will be handed down with the accompanying Law & Order musical sting known in some circles as the "Doink, Doink."
- Dare I posit the unthinkable? Associate Justice Sam Waterston?
July 7, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 12:27 AM
Politics,
July 6, 2005
For awhile I have been wanting to do this. Cold Fusion made it a lot more easy. I present the Countdown to the Running Man.
I am a strange, strange man.
July 6, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 11:23 PM
Random,
July 5, 2005
Dan Alig has it on authority that Penn is the number 8 best company for computer professionals to work at.
Cool.
UPDATE
The link would help:
Dan Alig's site.
July 5, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 7:51 PM
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Philly,
July 1, 2005
Taken on the Spring Garden street bridge. I present Creepy Baby. Make no mistake if Creepy Baby got loose he/she would kill everyone one you've ever cared about.
July 1, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 4:18 PM
Philly,
"That's right girls, show us your Social Consciences!" It would appear that Girls Gone Wild is here in Philadelphia for what I can only hope is the assumption that
Live 8 will bring out the boob flasher in the young women in the Delaware Valley.
Either that or the
Institute of Contemporary Art has moved.
July 1, 2005 Posted by Terrence Ryan at 10:51 AM
Philly,
