GRABBINGSAND

Astronaut Snowglobes
Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

Then this must’ve been Kennedy Space Center. We’ve been spending the week with friends in Florida. Yesterday was Islands of Adventure. Today was the absolute geek-out that is the Space Center. A whole afternoon of nothing but rockets. Fantastic. Tomorrow? Rest. Thursday is Busch Gardens. Friday is … well … I don’t know.

03-24-06_1232.jpg
Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

Unused super-huge eat-in glasses at the Fudd. We were given paper to-go cups, instead. Why? I wonder.

Actually, they were very short-staffed. I imagine that many places were.

03-18-06_1001.jpg
Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

Top o’the mornin’to you, too.

Et tu, Hispanics?
Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

Finally. It’s good to be (almost) back.

All in all, last night was a strong showing for us. Lots of good answers, lots of good guesses. Only a few things tripped us up. I could’ve sworn that John Quincy Adams was one of our two Whig Party presidents, but alas no. (Zach Taylor and high-collared W. H. Harrison were the Whigs in question.) A piece of obscure college basketball history and the nickname of Gonzaga were also absolute unknowns. We handled the speed round (3rd quarter) nigh perfectly, guessed the musical year right on the money and put all 20 points on the final question.

But we weren’t done. One of the two Tech Sucks team took home the big money, but we were tied for 2nd with John Stamos’ Older Brother. Not wanting to be burned again by distance, all of us stepped up to Kelly’s console, ready to be the first to answer the tiebreaker question.

Kelly didn’t have one. Instead, he went with the old standby: Writing down a number between 1 and 65 and having both teams guess. We all called foul, he admitted it was lame, but that’s the way it was. I wrote down one number on one answer sheet. I wrote down another on a second. I turned in the first. 34. Hey, I have a birthday coming up, I’ll be 34, so why not? The Stamosites went with 56.

Kelly’s answer? 34.

This didn’t settle well with the Stamosites. I think they honestly thought it was somehow rigged in our favor. Like we’d read Kelly’s mind or arranged the number before hand. Sure.

(2nd place. Suckers.)

“Did you say Claude Allen? Got caught shoplifting, eh? And you say he used to work here? I’m sorry, but that name just doesn’t ring a bell. Thanks. God Bless.”

Want to know how your employer really feels about you? Resign. Then do something incredibly asisine* less than a month later. You’ll be nothing but cache, my friend.

* - And get caught.

What happened? I sent emails to a handful of Georgia Senators regarding S.B. 123 and received a single reply. Thank you, Senator Johnson. I responded to that reply with further concerns and heard nothing else. So how did it all turn out?

On March 2, the Georgia Senate voted on SB 123. By a vote of 35 to 15, it passed. 2 Senators took a pass on voting and 4 others were excused. Maybe they had a note from their pharmacist. Interestingly enough, just before the final vote, an amendment to S.B. 123 was proposed from the floor by Miles of the 43rd, Butler of the 55th, Tate of the 38th, Seay of the 34th and Thomas of the 2nd. While I didn’t include any of these five Senators in my initial email distribution, it would appear that we all shared a similar curiosity. The floor amendment read as follows:

Amend the committee substitute (LC 33 1371S) to SB 123 by adding on page 1 line 25 after pregnancy “or induce or effect penile erections with such sexually enhancing drugs such as Viagra or other similar prescriptions.”

Of course, it was doomed. It died with more overall voter participation than SB 123 itself, 21 to 31. But still, an awesome last minute action all the same. The next time any of you see Senators Miles, Butler, Tate, Seay or Thomas, buy them a beer.

Now it goes before the Georgia House of Representatives.

Designated as HB 1445, the verbiage echoes SB 123 almost word-for-word. And just as in the final, “As Passed” version of SB 123, the phrase “emergency contraceptive” has been removed. Perhaps a few of the sponsoring Senators noticed finally the difference between Plan B (an emergency contraceptive) and RU-486 (a drug that induces abortion). Or maybe they just decided that clarification was for the weak. Why bother to actually learn about something you wish to legislate, eh?

So today, just to see what kind of discussion I might have (or to see how many more mailing lists will add me without asking), I sent an email to each of the six Georgia Representatives sponsoring HB 1445: James Mills (25th), Ron Stephens (164th), Jerry Keen (179th), Sue Burmeister (119th), Mike Coan (101st) and Bobby Reese (98th). I don’t mind admitting that I assembled this new email from the bones of the emails sent last month about SB 123. What’s new is an astute observation borrowed from Amber. Between my concerns about morals and recourse is this:

Next, consider your own understanding of this bill’s subject matter, as well as the understanding of your colleagues.

Just what medical resources are being limited or covered by H.B. 1445? I would imagine that your intent is to place a limit on the so-called “Morning After Pill” (or Plan B) and another prescription called RU-486. But do you know how either of these medical resources work? One is an emergency contraceptive that actually prevents pregnancy, while the other induces abortion. When the Senate version of this bill was introduced by Georgia Senator Eric Johnson, he acknowledged that he lacked understanding on how either medicine actually worked (”Abortion foes target use of pill” 02/04/05, Atlanta Journal Constitution). The House version lacks the “emergency contraceptive” language from the Senate version, but the very real risk of confusion remains.

HB 1445 is up for voting next week. Starting Monday, they’ll start at the top of a very long list (HB 18 - something about seatbelts) and work their way through to the end. They might get to 1445 before 5pm, but I’m thinking it will be Tuesday or Wednesday. If this matters to you, please let your respective Representative know.

If I get a reply, promising or not, I’ll be sure to share.

03-08-06_2123.jpg
Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

Free t-shirt. Yay.

And that’s all we won. A compressed t-shirt for everyone. Conveniently enough, Nikki and I have to do some painting around the house in the next month or so.

Oscar Night.

For some, the biggest television night of the year. For others, just a whole lot of Hollywood nothing. For me and the forces assembling at my house, it is a once-a-year opportunity to rain snark upon the hot-nows and has-beens of moviedom.

Your cast of characters: me, Zip, Nikki, Janice, Emily, Kris, Bill and the cats. Others to follow as they arrive.

Let the snarkstorm begin.

6:48pm - E. - (About SuperStay Lip Color) That’s gonna give you cancer.

6:51pm - T. - What the hell is that thing behind Jada Pinkett?!? Some woman is wearing a fur life jacket. J. - They killed a bear and put it on her arms!

6:56pm - Ryan Seacrest just said this was his first Oscars. No kidding.

6:59pm - N. - I’m sorry, Naomi Watts looks like she shredded an antique wedding gown in order to make a mutant dress. I’m not sure what she paired it with to get this particular result.

7:08pm - N. - Why is Seacrest bashing Michael Moore? Can we be done with that now? Please?

7:10pm - T. - Sandra Bullock looks very tired. And she’s here with Keanu. Odd.

7:36 pm - WTF Garth Brooks montage?

Alyssa has arrived.

8:10pm - Charlize Theron . . . . . apparently using the “one parrot, looking quite cool,” theory, but . . . . a big bow does not a parrot make. Ree-ding-dong-diculous.

Patty is here.

8:25pm - T. - Best Supporting Actor. George Clooney. That’s one I missed.

8:37pm - (Time Delay. Thank you, TIVO.) Visual Effects. King Kong. Got that one.

8:42pm - A. - Oh My God. Y’all. Who the hell attacked Helena Bonnem Carter’s head and stuffed her into that dress??? Holy God, I think she had the old southern lady who did my hair for my eighth grade dance. I cried for an hour after that.

8:48pm - T. - Dolly Parton just finished high-steppin’. And yes, she is the only person who can get away with it on live television before an audience of bajillions.

8:50pm - T. - Best Short. Not the one I picked.

8:53pm - T. - Best Animated Short. Not the one I picked.

Pickens is in the house.

8:57pm - T. - Costume. Geisha. Did I pick that one? Nevermind. Crowe is here. He’ll punch someone.

9:17pm - T. - Best Supporting Actress. Rachel Weisz. Three years. Three pregnant winners.

9:29pm - Ms Theron has a huge fluffy bow on her shoulder. She gets tired, she can just tip over. Penguins win! (Documentary, by the way.) Vive la France!

9:37pm - T. - Bullock is back. Still sleepy. Looks like she’s been sleeping backstage. Presenting Art Direction. Geisha again. Looks like this one might be a bit of an advancing dark horse.

9:46pm - T. - Salma Hayek. Engineered in a lab. Science is good. Time for original score. Itzhak Perlman. Also engineered in a lab.

A different lab.

Brokeback for the win!

10:12pm - A. - Robert Altman’s speech? A lot like his films. Long and slightly unintelligable, with not much point. But still we love him.

10:24pm - Holy Crap. Three-6-Mafia has an Oscar. Awesome … though the glammed-up version performed during the show was really quite crap compared to the barebones original from the film.

10:25pm - A. - And Three-6-Mafia thanked Jesus for their song “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp”. Word.

10:29pm - Sound Editing. Monkey movie wins.

10:40pm - Best Foreign Film. Tsotsi.

10:48pm - Best Actor. Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Hate that Straitharn didn’t win. Guess I have to see Capote now.

10:55pm - N. - Travolta looks like a guido. Cinematography. Geisha again. Damn.

10:58pm - T. - Best Actress. Reese! Sweet. Nice little shoutout to Tennessee, Reese.

11:08pm - T. - Adapted Screenplay. Brokeback. Like it wouldn’t be.

11:12pm - T. - McMurtry thanked the booksellers of the world. Cool.

11:13pm - T. - Original Screenplay. Went to Crash, instead of Good Night.

I’m noticing there is not nearly enough bling and circumstance during the Oscars, so the snark quotient barely matches that of the Grammies.

11:19pm - T. - Director. Ang Lee. Cool. “I wish knew how to quit you.”

11:21pm - T. - Jack’s here. Give it up, suckers. “Best. Mochtion. Pitcher.” Crash! I called that split.

11:25pm - A. - Whoever this chick is who won for Crash - “Oh. My. God. Y’all! I just won an Oscar!!!”

"Doctor Who"
Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

When I was 14, one of my most prized possessions was a record player. Actually, I had two. Then three. The first was an all-plastic contraption from Sears with cubicle speakers that could be pulled out from the pedestal upon which the turntable sat. The second was one I inherited from my brother, this brick-heavy convertible monstrosity with built-in speakers. And the third was a radio/turntable/dual-cassette all-in-one. Big, shiny and black, it looked the most real of them all.

I still have many of the records and 45s that played on those players. I don’t listen to them so much, but they’re worth sharing, so I’ve scanned several of them. Check em’ out.

Consider this another entry in my ongoing and occasional Origins of Geekery series.