Why Does My Computer Crash?
If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
and the bus is interrupted as a very last resort,
and the access of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,
then the socket packet pocket has an error to report.If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash
and the double clicking icon puts your window in the trash
and your data is corrupted 'cause the index doesn't hash,
then your situation's hopeless and your system's gonna crash!If the label on the cable on the table at your house
When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy in the disk
says the network is connected to the button on your mouse,
but your packets want to tunnel to another protocol,
that's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall,
and your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss,
so your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse;
then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang,
cuz sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang!
and the micro code instructions cause unnecessary risk,
then you'll have to flash the memory
and you'll want to RAM your ROM.
Quickly turn off the computer
and be sure to tell your Mom!
Thanks for finding this go to Ed Hurst. Poem inspired by Dr. Seuss, written by Gene Zeiglar.
Ozark Trip 2k3 (Part II)
Big Cedar is a unique experience that is almost a trip unto itself. When arriving a Big Cedar one goes down a large hill from which you see beautiful Table Rock Lake and then proceed to a curvy road that passes through, not over, several waterfalls. Driving through the streams (they are designed to be driven through), you arrive at the registration building and observation tower.
Big Cedar is an amazing place. The registration building has a grand vaulted roof with cannoes and a huge chandelier hanging down. On each wall appropriate sayings are posted in big metallic lettering, such as “All Men Are Equal Before Fish.” Once you sign in, you generally must drive to your cabin or lodge room as the resort is sprawled out over probably the better part of a mile of road that goes in a U-shape around one of Table Rock's inlets.
Big Cedar's rooms that come with kitchens include complementary soda, appropriately rustic plates, a basket of snacks, and a table made out of logs. The cabins are decorated with various wildlife and pictures (PETA members should find another resort) all in some sort of theme. Each cabin is unique. For instance this past time we stayed in the Audubon cabin, themed after James Audubon. The cabin was filled with pictures of the Audubon's from the time James was born onward… and even some of his drawings. Other cabins include the George H. W. Bush Cabin and the Waylon Jennings cabin (which I've stayed in as well).
Big Cedar is hardly just a place to sleep however. The resort has miles of walking trails, complementary mini-golf, three exquisite restaurants, complementary paddle boats and cannoes (not to mention a full service two story marina) and more. There are also complementary shuttles to get you around and also to Top of the Rock golf course (if you aren't the putt-putt type).
Things just get better at breakfast. Big Cedar's main restaurant, Devil's Pool Restaurant (named after a spring near and historical site by that was rumored to be bottomless), has the best breakfast buffet I've seen anywhere. It is simply delicious. It features freshly prepared hash browns, fresh danishes, sausage, bacon and all the other fixings, but it isn't just your average buffet. It also has a chef that is constantly making omelets to order (I like ones with ham, cheese, onion, green pepper, and jalapenos) and the best Belgian waffles I've tasted anywhere. These Belgian waffles melt in your mouth with the perfect compromise between a crispy and soft waffle (I don't normally even like waffles!). All this is served up in a restaurant that faces the inlet from Table Rock Lake. The restaurant is also stunning at dinner time as the sun sets over the Ozark mountains and glistens in the beautiful lake water.
Big Cedar is overpriced, no doubt, but if the larger cabins have three bedrooms and a sofa sleeper, so you can keep the cost down if you travel in groups. The smaller Knotty Pine Cottages are as low as $99 at Christmas and are very nice too (all of Big Cedar is lit up at Christmas with thousands of Christmas lights).
When you enter Dogwood Cannon you'll enter a place with miles of crystal clear streams, huge waterfalls and beautiful old trees. Whether you love to be out in nature or you're just trying to get your yearly dose of the outdoors, this is the place to be. Dogwood Cannon is probably one of the best views you'll see in the Ozarks, and that's saying a lot considering how beautiful the area is. Dogwood Cannon also has some interesting history, including being the place where they recently found the oldest human remains in Missouri. The park is loaded with wildlife including woodpeckers, woodchucks (back to that deep question I mentioned last night), deer, and a large amount of fish that the streams are stocked with (including very large rainbow trout).
If you go down to Branson, you really need to go to Dogwood Cannon. It's impossible to summarize how beautiful it is, but all I can say is that it is. If you aren't staying at Big Cedar, you do have to go on a bit of a ride to get there, it's just a few miles from the Arkansas border — 18 miles from Big Cedar and another dozen or two miles from much of the other things you might go to. But, it is worth it. Set aside a day and just go.
Back to the actual trip, the weather was perfect in Dogwood Cannon this time around. Last year when we went, it poured down rain during the second half of the tour. That made things interesting, to say the least.
In no particular order, I should mention some other worthwhile stops that we didn't make this time, but certainly not because they aren't great. Oddly enough, all of the added tips I can think of are right next to each other:
- Caldwell's Main Street Flea Market — if you like flea markets even a little bit, this is a stop that cannot be missed! Located in Downtown Branson, just a few moments from Lake Tanneycomo, I've gotten a bit of everything here over the years — a marquee sign in good working order ($60), an Apple PowerBook 140 also in good working order ($30), a few books, and many other great bargains. Flea Country in Kimberling City is also good.
- Branson Cafe — if you happen to be at Caldwell's around dinner, stop by the Branson Cafe. It's hard to miss the little restaurant in downtown Branson. Just look for the red awning and the doubt icthy design under the logo.
As the sign in the restaurant says, “if the Colonel has their recipe, he'd be a general!” They have great food that's really reasonably priced. They also have great homemade meringue pies and cookies.
- Sammy Lane — while in the neighborhood, the Sammy Lane is a great boat ride. It's primarily targeted for families as it is a — GASP! SCARY! — pirate cruise, but the majority of the time spent on it is simply a nice boatride up Lake Tanneycomo. Unlike the Lake Queen that is also available from the same place, the Sammy Lane is a fast little boat and riding over Lake Tanneycomo's extra cool water is extremely refreshing in the middle of summer.
I'll probably think of more to say later. I think I've pretty much wrapped up my trip. We stayed at Big Cedar for three days and enjoyed the atmosphere for most of the time (if you go to Big Cedar plan some time that you can actually stay at Big Cedar during the day — there's lots to do without even leaving). Three days at Big Cedar means three visits from the “cookie lady” who drops gingersnap cookies in the shape of the Big Cedar logo tree off each evening… Mmmmm.
This time around we didn't stop, but I would add another great stop is the Hen House in Bourbon, MO (near Cuba). We usually stop there for dinner on the way home and take some of their delicious homemade pie with to enjoy later on. It's a nice little restaurant and one of the last ones right on the highway before you start getting near St. Louis. Bobber's Truck Stop and Restaurant in Sullivan also has good food (great Perch on Fridays!), although at times it isn't the cleanest place, which makes the Hen House all the more attractive.
Sigh, I wish I was in the Ozarks right now after typing so much about it…
We apologize for the delay, your blog is important to us...
We'll I hate to be late again, but things just haven't been on my side the last two days for blogging. I had hoped to get the Ozark review up last night but some small stomach bug got me and laying down felt much better than blogging. Today I had some urgent work to do and a long committee meeting (which had some issues I'm still grumbling about) at Church, so I guess my post will have to wait until tomorrow. See ya then.
In the mean time, I should add that I saw a woodchuck the other day coming home from some errands. This is rather unusual as I was on a fairly busy highway. He was just sitting on the side of the road, watching the traffic. Perhaps he was pondering one of life's deepest questions: “How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood.”
Boom!
I had originally planned this as a pre-4th post, and I was going to introduce it by saying:
Ah, yes, it's that time of year again. That wonderful time of year. You know, the time of year when millions of Americans go and buy highly explosive materials and light them on fire. It's the Fourth of July!
At any rate I set a lot of the said stuff on fire last night. We had an hour long show that exhausted about half of my fireworks cache (I'm planning to shoot some more off for the next few days). If you didn't guess, I'm what you might call a hobbyist pyrotechnician. I enjoy finding and shooting off the fireworks almost as much as watching them.
Last night went really well too. About 8:45 P.M. C.D.T the entire family went out side to brave the mosquitoes, despite the the risk of West Nile Virus (a bird died of it about half a mile from here), and sat down. A card table full of fireworks awaited, and with that, I started by lighting a nifty new extra large round smoke bomb. It was a pretty blue one and put out enough smoke to make it a little foggy around the yard. Then I set off my personal favorite smoke bomb, Don't Smoke in a Can, which lasts probably at least a minute and dispurses a huge cloud of bright pink smoke. This thing is so powerful it shoots up a two inch flame at first and makes a loud sucking sound as it pulls air into itself.
I'll spare you the details of everything I shot off, but I'll mention some of the good ones in case anyone is inclined to rush back to the fireworks tents and grab a few more goodies before they pack up for the year.
- Pop Goes the Fountain (Black Cat): A long — very long — display of sparkling silver sparks and pops. It keeps shooting higher and higher. Really pretty fountain and well worth the $6.00 it retailed for (iirc on all prices).
- Boatload of Color (???): Really long, colorful fountain similar to the others but on a relatively large “cake,” causing the stream of sparks to move around. This one goes for about $7.
- Mammoth Fountain (Black Cat): Similar in length to Pop Goes the Fountain, but multi-color, including sparking silver, red, and green. Again goes for a very long time — probably about a minute and a half. It's a great deal at $5.50.
- Mini-fountains (Black Cat): A four pack in a little plastic bag set me back only $1, but these little fountains are perfect at dusk when you aren't quite ready to shoot off the more expensive fireworks. They went for about 20 seconds and were very colorful.
- 2 Cool (???): This one was probably about a minute long and did several different kinds of streams of color. IIRC, it also made some noise during the performance, and best of all, it cost only $3.95!
- Nuclear Meltdown (Black Cat): This one was our finale this year. It's very similar to the other two Black Cat fountains but adds to the excitement by stopping and then starting back up. It also goes up higher and is just generally impressive (third year I've been impressed by it!). Unfortunately this guy is only available at one of the more expensive tents and will set you back $11 for the pleasure of viewing it.
On top of these, we also enjoyed (as usual) artillery shells. Artillery shells come with a tube launcher and provide you with miniature versions of the big displays (chrysanthemums, circles, comets, etc.). These are much more cost effective than the one-use tubes and set you back only around $8-$12 for six to twelve shells unless you go for the fancy double or triple “break” ones (they do more than one effect at a time).
Well, it is getting late, so maybe I'll finish with some more fireworks reviews and the rest of my Branson post (from late May) tomorrow!
Happy Independence Day!
Hope everyone in the Blogosphere had a good one! At this point, I should remind you to read my consideration of the problems of this holiday (along with other days of the year with issues). You can do so here.
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Christians and Secular Music
I've considered this debate a number of times. First on ChristianSource about a month or two ago, and just today I considered it again when Jake wrote about it. In my opinion, in our consideration of this issue we ought to judge the artist not on what they don't say but what they do say.
The artist might not mention the words “Jesus” or “God” every other breath, but do they advocate a Christian lifestyle? Do they avoid advocating sinful activities? Are the things they say in harmony with the Bible? I see no reason why a Christian band can't sing secular songs so long as this is the case.
In the discussion on ChristianSource, I brought up one of my favorite groups, Sixpence None the Richer. They are a group of Christians that created a mostly secular band. Not entirely mind you, even the name is derived from Christian thought — it's from C.S. Lewis' masterpiece, Mere Christianity. But at least for the most part, their songs are secular songs, songs about various problems and events in life. In that discussion, I wrote:At the time when they hit the top of the charts in the late 90's with “Kiss Me,” they were attacked by many Christians for betraying their Christian
fan-base with pop music. As a Focus on the Family article noted at the time,
the song wasn't really un-Christian at all, it just wasn't a religious song.
Just like talking about Linux here on ChristianSource doesn't betray our
Christianity, talking about matters other than faith doesn't necessarily
betray an artist's Christianity. Other songs on the same album did have more
“noticeable” Christian tones, I might add.
In actuality, while Sixpence has a Christian fan-base, they have actually never aspired to be labeled a Christian band. They will readily admit to being Christian, however. Part of this, I think, is because we have boxed our artists in. We say “if you're a Christian artist and you sing about any non-Christian stuff, you're a traitor that used Christianity to make you money.” Thus, bands like Sixpence avoid the label even though it applies to them very much (and is placed on them by retailers and the like).
They've attracted Christians with songs like Breathe and Dizzy, that are very Christian. For example, here is part of Dizzy:I'm like Peter crying crowing burning my ears still you come near, you take my hand
and place in my palm an eternal chance I give you myself
it's all that I have
broken and frail
I'm clay in your hands
and I'm spinning unconcealed
dizzy on this wheel
for you my love
It's really a touching song, as are many of their other ones, but many are secular, most notably their big hits Kiss Me, There She Goes, and Breathe Your Name. Since Kiss Me became popular in 1999, I've heard many people complain about how Sixpence was going secular. Never mind that several tracks on the CD had noticeably Christian lyrics (and less obvious paraphrases of Pauline letters). However, Sixpence has always had this mix of secular and “sacred” music — all the way back to their first CD.
This isn't an isolated incident either. Michael W. Smith often suffers similar attacks, for instance. Perhaps its out of fear that he will follow in the steps of the musician he formerly played under, Amy Grant, but I remember a few years back reading about how MWS was betraying Christians and going secular. I think people were upset about the few secular songs on Live the Life that actually made it on pop radio. Again, never mind that much of the music on the CD was Christian, MWS must be evil to do secular songs!
The problem is that Christianity isn't just about singing praises to God. That's very important, but Christians still deal with the rest of life. As long as we do, why shouldn't our artists sing about it too? Put another way, I might ask if we ought to consider the parts of the Bible that deal with the rest of life “non-holy.” I'm sure everyone would yell “blasphemy” if I suggested such. Yet, here we are saying Christian music that deals with secular, but not necessarily bad, things is somehow wrong?
It's time we stop putting artists in the box and consider them Christian not by the frequency of keywords but their testimony and the overall message of their music. Hopefully if the bagger at the grocery store says he is Christian we will accept that unless we see proof otherwise. Let's do the same for Christian artists.
Billing...
Phew. I just got done working on invoicing my clients for the month. I have one client I've done a large number of different small projects for and it took almost a half hour just to figure out exactly everything I've done (looking over all of the plans, etc.). Then I went away from the computer for a few minutes and… it was all gone. So I had to tally it all back up again.
At any rate, it's nice to get that done. One conscientious client actually asked me the other day when I was going to bill him. Now, I've almost got an entire free week unless any other projects come up… maybe I can get some of my pet projects done!
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Sigh
Well I had hoped to catch up on SAFARI tonight, but things didn't work out that way. I ended up with a project for a client instead. It went well though, so maybe tomorrow…
Rant: Has the GOP Outlived Its Usefulness?
Think about it: “our” party has recently decided to nod approval toward a Medicare prescription bill… a bill that will cost an unimaginable amount of money to provide prescription drugs coverage to medicare recipients. This is crazy. It makes sense that Medicaid provides prescription drug coverage, but why Medicare? Why does every American senior need socialized prescription drug coverage?
Frustratingly, the part of the bill that might help dodge the large costs, allowing people to go to managed care providers for “enhance” coverage, is just a senior scam in the waiting. Right now, through what my grandmother is going through, I can see what managed care does to medicare: steal it from those who can afford to pay extra for the managed care and are tricked into signing up for it. In this case, the managed care provider called the shots as to how the hospital treated my grandmother and then refused to pay for rehab afterwards, assumedly, all the while collecting the medicare benefits my grandmother paid for through taxes — benefits that would have paid for all of these things!
So, at best, the prescription drug benefit will socialize an industry and bring the government more into everyday life. At worst, it will just feed more money into the beast that is HMO's. Neither option is good, and I can't see why any sane politician would support this.
At any rate, I'm going off track. I'll just say this: This bill is such a odd thing to support for Republicans that I think Rush Limbaugh was stumped as to what was going on — the best he could come up with was that this was an attempt to take a campaign issue away from Democrats. If I recall correctly, he even admitted once to being stumped. When was the last time that happened?
There are lots of other problems with the Republicans, right now. Many support the, I'll say it, evil PATRIOT ACT. Many support destroying embryos for stem cell research. The administration has supported turning a blind eye to Microsoft's behavior that violates antitrust regulations. The administration and congressional Republicans supported the final McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform bill. Colin Powell went on MTV and told teens to ignore the biblical morals that parents and religious leaders teach them and decide their own morals — “forget about taboos, forget about conservative ideas” regarding premarital sex and condom usage. The GOP Chairman was “honored” to meet with an organization that actively promotes the homosexual agenda to show the party's “tolerance.” These are all catastrophic failures going against the positions of the very people that elected these politicians.
I wonder if it isn't about time we started a new party. We've been stuck with the same two parties for far longer than any of their predecessors. I still agree with most of the Republican platform, but I think the politicians within the party are ignoring that platform. Hatch, McCain, Bush, Powell, and Ashcroft are just a few people, all of which I have agreed with at times, who are supporting these bad policies.
I think President Bush still has potential, but maybe it's time people spoke up to remind him and other leading Republicans that it's good if they are [campaign slogan]”uniters and not dividers”[/campaign slogan] but it's more important that they support the policies the people who elected them thought they promised. Thought the party stood for. The policies many people still think are right.
That leaves the question: where did the old Republican party go and how can voters who still support its positions get it back?
