truetech

CBS News: Joe Barbera, half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that produced such beloved cartoon characters as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and the Flintstones, died Monday, a Warner Bros. spokesman said. He was 95.

As Snagglepuss would say, “Exit, stage left.”

May he rest in peace. His partner Hanna passed away in 2001.

Grace just watched her first episode of Yogi Bear not three days ago, and she thought it was really cool. And she’s now discovering how great some of the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons were, especially since Cartoon Network owns the rights to them.

She discovered The Flintstones on her own, when Fred showed up on an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, which I have to admit is a pretty funny show.

But it can’t compare to the classics like Huckleberry Hound, The Great Grape Ape, Quick McGraw, Jabberjaw, Scooby Doo, The Jetsons, Magilla Gorilla, Jonny Quest, and of course, the venerable Hong Kong Phooey (number one super guy).

So this is the end of an era. Of course, things haven’t been the same since Bill Hanna died, but this seals the deal. The future of these classics is now in the hands of Cartoon Network.

From the article: The team’s cartoons spanned “the Stone Age to the Space Age and from primetime to Saturday mornings, syndication and cable,” Meyer said. “While he will be missed by his family and friends, (Barbera) will live on through his work.”

Yep, Snagglepuss said it best: Exit, stage left.

This weekend, I…
…learned that camels growl.
…got growled at by a camel.
…ate Nino’s pizza in Millersville.
…went to my daughter’s first basketball game. Sadly, her team lost by two baskets, but all the kids played well.
…watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Thumbs up.
…went to my nephew’s second basketball game. Sadly, his team lost by one basket.
…learned how to operate the scorekeeping machine thingy at my nephew’s basketball game. Hey, it plugs in; let the computer guy handle it!
…tried to get my nephew’s coach to bribe me to help his team win. He wouldn’t do it, so they lost and I didn’t make any extra cash.
…solved the weird reverb problem with my church’s sound system.
…watched my father-in-law impulsively stick his finger into a donkey’s mouth.
…watched my father-in-law nearly get his finger bitten off by a donkey.
…received communion from a guy who looked distressingly like Horatio Sans.
…ate at Hoss’s.
…wrote a program that combined 99 AIFF files into one QuickTime movie in about two seconds (the program ran in two seconds; it took about an hour to write).
…put one of our pastor’s sermons online for the first time.
…worked on my church’s website some more. No link; it’s not ready yet. Although the clever among could probably figure out the domain name.
…installed a Nintendo emulator on my PC for Grace.
…cursed the stupid mine cart level in Donkey Kong Country.
…watched a cat hiss at Grace, then try to hide from her. The cat just doesn’t like her.
…took Jack for a walk.
…swtiched Jack to a new dog food.
…helped Jen clean up dog vomit a couple times.
…switched Jack back to his old food.
…took possession of our new loveseat. Leather…. mmmmmm….
…checked my new database server pretty often. Almost to OCD levels. As of this moment, it’s up and running.
…performed the Barenaked Ladies/Sarah McLachlan arrangement of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings” at church.
…played with a chihuahua and a dachsund at Petology.
…scoured Ollie’s for inexpensive gifts that Jen needs for a children’s Christmas party.
…listened to the Chipmunks’ Christmas album about five times.
…watched Grace, my nephews, and my nephews’ neighbor make gingerbread houses.
…stole and ate a lot of candy from said gingerbread houses.
…played with the Photoshop CS3 beta.
…drove around looking at Christmas lights.
…saw three really short horses.
…finished reading Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura.
…started reading Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia.

The basement is, as the title of this post implies, almost finished. The carpet was installed two days ago. We’ve been working on it for about a month and a half now. All that’s left is some trim and a couple door fittings.

Here’s the best part.

Click for larger image.

Yay! I finally have a home theater! The projector is nothing fancy, an Acer 1150DX, but it’s plenty for my needs. It’s hooked up to an Aiwa surround sound system and our Comcast On-Demand thingy. I still need to pick up a DVD/VCR combo, but that will probably be a Christmas present.

I’m so thankful that Jen’s dad helped out so much. I’m not very handy, so his help was invaluable. We had to build some walls, install a ton of outlets, put in a ceiling, and lots of other fun stuff, so I’d have been lost on my own.

And I’m thankful for Jen’s help and patience. She handled a lot of the painting during the day so I could work on other (mostly heavier) things at night. Not to mention cooking for her dad and me all the time! No small task, that. And also thanks to Tom for his brief but valuable help.

Jack seems to be better now. He used to enjoy going downstairs by himself, but from the time we started demolition on the old stuff to the time the new carpet came, he was beside himself. He was really stressed out and didn’t even want to come near the basement, alone or with us. As soon as the carpet was installed, he took his toys down and has been having a blast down there ever since! Weird dog.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve been working on for a while now. Hopefully I can resume some regular updates now.

And I’m taking requests for movie night.

Well, there seems to be a new trend in the technopolitical world.

First, Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) endorses Bill Gates for president:

For my president I want a mixture of Mother Teresa, Carl Sagan, Warren Buffet, and Darth Vader. Bill has all of their good stuff. His foundation will save more lives than Mother Teresa ever did. He’s got the Carl Sagan intelligence and rational mind. He’s a hugely successful businessman. And I have every reason to believe he can choke people just by concentrating in their general direction. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t be useful at a summit.

And Scott also points us to the new Bill Gates For President Website:

Please don’t write this website off as a joke. We are serious. We’re not trying to make fun of Bill Gates what so ever. This website is made with the greatest respect for Bill and everything he has accomplished. We would also like to point out that we are not affiliated with Bill Gates in any way. We do this because we believe in Bill, nothing more, nothing less.

Wow. That’s a lot to digest. Where to begin? I thought long and hard about what I should write on this topic. And then a Slashdot article came up, and I found a comment there by Crow T. Trollbot that percfectly sums it up:

A politician with the honesty of Bill Clinton, the dashing presence of Michael Dukakis, the sexy charisma of Hubert Humphrey, the commanding stature of Joseph Lieberman, the popularity of Gray Davis, the humble background of John D. Rockefeller, the down-home charm of John Kerry, the electoral experience of Pat Robertson, the honesty of Dan Rostenkowski, and the huge following of Dennis Kucinich!

Man, and people think Bush is an imperialist. Just wait, folks. You ain’t seen nothing yet. Wait until President Bill tries to “embrace and extend” Canada.

I think Gore Vidal said it best:

Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.

Reuters: Chess’s world governing body will introduce dope testing at the Asian Games this week, although the sport’s top official in Doha said he had no idea how drugs could enhance chess performance.

Ummmm….. okay.

Touchstone Magazine (I don’t read the magazine, but I do occasionally read the editors’ Mere Comments website) has an interesting write up on what has become one of my favorite films (and I know I’ll annoy Mike to no end by saying this): Napoleon Dynamite.

Jen and I watched it a few months back, and we laughed hysterically through the entire movie. Now, this may just be because we had watched The Squid and The Whale the previous night, which would make any movie look good by comparison.

But I digress.

Berry College professor Michael Bailey examines the film and finds much deeper than one might expect. Upon reflection, I think he may have some very good points, that the film makes some statements about isolation and family.

From the article:

Napoleon is, in effect, the anti-Ferris Bueller. He doesn’t want to have fun so much as simply to survive. He has no friends (at least at first), he gets bullied at school, and he is scared of chickens. In his fantasy life, in contrast, he is a superhero who shoots wolverines, joins gangs who want him for his skills, and forges alliances with wizards and our “underwater ally,” the Loch Ness Monster.

Seek happiness all you want, the movie seems to suggest, but if your heart is decroded, you will still be miserable, a man in body, perhaps, but still just an unhappy boy on the school bus.

It’s an interesting read.

Lori is the sweetest. She showed up at the end of lunch today with a cake to celebrate Kodiak’s second birthday. Kodiak went live the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in 2004.

Development continues, of course. I’m currently working on a gradebook and some other goodies.

As for other plans, I’ve been wondering lately about the feasibility and usefulness of open sourcing Kodiak. It’s not mine to give away, of course, as it belongs to the school, but if they went for it, I wonder if it could help other districts.

Rambling thoughts on a Tuesday night regarding what has become, somewhat depressingly, my life’s work.

Some Flash games I’ve been digging lately:

Red
Splash
DrawPlay
N (of course)
Sling
Zwok
Blue Print
Cube Field

Rock on.

Bacon……..

I’ll admit it: I don’t like Halloween.

And no, it’s not a religious objection or anything like that. I help my daughter get dressed up and I take her trick or treating and everything. We walked all over our development tonight, along with three other families. And this past Friday, I dressed up like a pirate and went to a costume party in my neighborhood.

I just don’t like Halloween.

It’s been six years today since we lost our son. He was stillborn on October 31, 2000. And every Halloween since, I can’t help but think what he would been like, what he would have looked like.

Honestly, I don’t think about him too much anymore. Too much other stuff to do, with work and church and family. But on Halloween, I can’t help it. Once or twice tonight, I almost turned back and went home, just to sit and be alone and think about him. But I figured that wouldn’t be very productive, and I didn’t want to leave my daughter.

So yeah, I don’t like Halloween.

In fact, I hate Halloween.