Birth of a TransBestITE

Last Thursday, Jamie set up a new e-mail list for the transportation grad students (TRANSBESTITES, a play on TRANSportation and ITE, the Institute of Transportation Engineers). Anyway in the last seven days, there have been 60 messages sent to the list. I think maybe two have anything at all to do with transportation. Maybe three or four actually have to do with social activities. The rest are a motley assortment of random thoughts that people felt were important to share with everyone else, including pirate jokes, thoughts on how our intramural soccer team will fare if it followed the plot of a Disney sports movie, a poll of the worst sports movie ever, the jello shots in E-Lo’s apartment, links to random websites, a recipe for German Currywurst, guest appearances by Mr. T and 50 Cent, and other random zaniness. It’s quite amusing but also quite distracting. Anyway, Nick started it off with the following e-mail right after the list was created:

Subject: FIRST TRANSBESTITES EMAIL

LOL OMG WTF BBQ I AM THE FIRST TO EMAIL ON THE TRANSBESTITES LIST

I WIN ALL OF YOU ARE LOSERS THATS RIGHT LOSERS NO ONE ELSE CAN BE

NUMBER ONE (111!!!111!1!) EXCEPT ME YOU MIGHT AS WELL JUST STOP

TRYING I AM THE “BEST” TRANS”BEST”ITE HAHA I MADE A FUNNY I AM ALSO

IN ITE AND TRANS WHICH IS SHORT FOR TRANSPORTATION IF YOU DIDNT

KNOW ALREADY ALMOST DONE WITH BHATS HW BACK TO WORK I GO SEE

EVERYONE SOON HERE IS A STRANGE LINK

http://www.riversidelife.com/story/story_100000000220.html

Schofield responded with:

goddam it nick, i was going to be first and you beat me to it..

now i know why you were the villain in my dream.  i just couldnt

think of anything funny to email.. apparently you couldnt either.

haha.. zing!

…and it went downhill from there. Other brilliant quotes include:

• “Just wanted to let y’all know that my nose is a volcano of snot…” (Valdemar)
  
• Nick’s idea of the worst sports movie of all time: “definitely batman and robin. oh wait that has nothing to do with sports, it just sucks really bad.”
  
• “Did you hear about the pirate that played basketball for the Lakers? I think his name was Kareem Abdul-JabARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR”
  
• “Goddamnit! I’m trying out for elimidate tonight.” (Zach)

Website links have ranged from the funny (weird CNN article) to the gross (Valdemar’s reminder of what snot looks like, in case you forgot) to the truly disturbing (This is possibly the scariest thing I have seen in my life). I suppose this all just goes to show how weird transportation grad students are. This is not surprising to any of us, but I thought the public might be interested in knowing just how bizarre some of the future transportation planners of America are.

Does anybody eat these things, anyway?

Whoa! It’s a double feature today! After writing the first article today I ran across something else that isn’t really political, but more of a current events thing. Anyway today’s first entry was pretty heavy, so I found something a little lighter going on. Apparently Interstate Bakeries, the maker of Hostess Twinkies and Wonder Bread, is filing for bankruptcy. They blame it on increasing prices and changing dietary habits.

Unfortunately the “changing dietary habits” cited include the low-carb Atkins diet, which I absolutely abhor (to the point where I am boycotting Subway because of their advertising low-carb wraps as being inherently healthier). That’s the wrong reason to stop buying Hostess products and Wonder Bread. The right reason to stop buying them is much simpler: they taste nasty!

Seriously, eating Wonder Bread is like eating paste. If you don’t believe me, try eating a real bread for a few weeks. And Hostess products, whether Twinkies or cupcakes or ding-dongs or ho-hos or fruit pies, are all disgusting. I have never bought any of these products and never will. If somebody gives them to me, I will throw them away, because they are unfit for human consumption. If you want chocolate or pastry, why not get real chocolates or pastries which actually have real taste (not just sugar to cover up all the preservatives, really the Europeans have it right here, their pastries taste good because you can actually taste other things than sugar). And yes, they’re unhealthy too, but that’s just icing on the cake (no pun intended.) If you want to eat something unhealthy, why not eat something that actually tastes good? And if you want to eat something that tastes nasty, why not eat something that’s actually healthy? There is no reason in the world to buy Hostess products or Wonder Bread, and that’s why they should be going out of business, not this Atkins nonsense. Oh well, maybe this is one case where the ends do justify the means.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=6308074&src=rss/businessNews&section=news&src=dg

‘04 Election: Style and Substance

I read an article today that really brought into focus why I’m voting for John Kerry and not George Bush. Yes, foreign policy and a general dislike for neo-conservativism are a big part of it,
although Kerry has too many protectionist leanings for my tastes. But I think that those issues are more symptoms of the real reason I prefer Kerry to Bush, but until today this idea hadn’t crystalized in my mind.

The article (linked to below) only attempts to predict how the upcoming debates will turn out, but in doing so contrasts the styles of the two candidates. When speaking, Bush tends to focus on a few key points to the exclusion of anything else, only offering evidence that supports his views, and he deals with any objections by ignoring them and repeating his few points over and over again. Kerry, on the other hand, makes an effort to cover all his bases, to make sure that he’s addressed all the relevant sides of an issue, and as a result presents a more nuanced view that’s criticized for being not very straightforward (or “wishy washy” but I really think that’s the wrong word, I just think Kerry’s analysis of the issue results in a position that isn’t very extreme). That and the long process he takes in defending his conclusion doesn’t hold public interest very well.

And for me, this difference in leadership style is the key difference between the two candidates. I absolutely loathe Bush’s style of decision making — it’s pigheaded, stubborn, and gets the nation into way too much trouble. Even if he wanted to back out of the war on terror (since it can’t be won) there is no way he can do it while saving face. He’s committed himself long enough and wholeheartedly enough that he can’t go back no matter what. I’m extremely
frustrated with Bush never addressing any of the criticism of his policies, but instead responding with the same slogans and catchphrases we’ve heard ever since 9/11. His speeches are shallow at best and deceptive at worst.

I would much, much prefer to have a leader who presents his thought process to the public. I can have confidence in knowing that such a president has thought through a decision, and can back it up with rational arguments, something I’ve never seen come out of the Bush administration. While I’m sure Bush and his administration think things through, you would never know it by the way their policies are presented since Bush’s speeches are so simpleminded and condescending that they often sound like something you would hear in a high school civics class.

So maybe Kerry isn’t as “decisive” a leader as G.W. I say that’s good, because from my perspective all that Bush has done as a “decisive” leader is to get us into trouble. No, it’s much better to think through your decisions even if the end result is “getting less done.” (Besides, don’t Republicans want government to do less? Oh wait, that’s the old school conservatives, not the neo-cons.)

And the more I think about it, that’s the real reason why I dislike Bush so much. It’s not so much his policies (repulsive as they are), it’s the stubbornness in the way he presents them, his refusal to acknowledge alternate viewpoints, and the condescending nonsense his administration doles out that really boil my blood. That is what irks me about the unholy trinity of Cheney, Ashcroft, and Rumsfeld (who annoy me far more than Bush) — the thought process that leads to their policies, and their presentation of them. So that’s why I’m voting for Kerry.

Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=3&u=/ap/20040926/ap_on_el_pr/the_debaters

Methodist club!

I found out that I might be cooking for “Methodist Club” in a few weeks. Note that “Methodist Club” is what I am calling the campus ministry hosted at UUMC because the group actually has no name (I confirmed this tonight with Bill, the pastor) and I need something convenient to call it by, and that’s what Rachel suggested. I don’t know if I’m 100% happy with Methodist Club but I will use it until something better comes along. But anyway I might have to pull out some recipes and see what happens.

Also today was the second installment in my Sunday Movie Matinee series, as I saw another Hitchcock masterpiece, Dial M for Murder. Another very good movie. Hitchcock seems like the kind of director that never makes bad movies, although I’ve only seen a couple of his (North by Northwest, Psycho, then Vertigo last weekend and this). Eventually I might put up a separate movie page for my Sunday Movie Matinee series, although I should come up with a better name first.

I also think I spent more time on the phone tonight than I have in a long time, perhaps ever. After talking with Rachel for an hour and a half, my parents for half an hour, and Matt for 20 minutes, that’s almost two and a half hours of solid phone time. Enjoyable conversations all, but a lot of phone time nonetheless. Maybe this just goes to show how little I normally talk on the phone.

Terrorists win?

So Donald Rumsfeld thinks that certain parts of Iraq might need to be excluded from elections due to violence. That’s a bad idea for two big reasons:

• Terrorists win. We’ve been through this before. If a goal of Iraqi terrorism is to create chaos and obstruct the aims of its government, then caving in by only having elections in certain regions only reinforces the notion that terror is an effective way to manipulate the Iraqi government. (Funny, this sounds a lot like the arguments Rumsfeld & co. use against those who think the war on terror should be ended)
  
• It deprives the elections of legitimacy. Excluding volatile regions from elections only makes them more volatile and less willing to trust in the elected government, since they had no say in choosing it. This smacks of “taxation without representation”, so to speak, and history tells us that that’s a dangerous road to go down. If the purpose of elections is to make the government legitimate, and to stabilize the country by giving Iraqis a sense of ownership in it, then the most important place to have them is in the least stable regions.
  

So what should be done? Elections should be held in all regions, and a large amount of money spent on security. Elections, for the reasons mentioned above, are one of the most important tools in stabilizing Iraq. Let’s not be penny wise and pound foolish about it. And even if terrorism strikes (which it probably will), there’s at least the possibility that Iraqis will start to see the insurgents as the opposition to progress. Disenfranchising certain regions accomplishes exactly the opposite by making Allawi (and by extension, America) the opposition.

Artice source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20040924/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq

R for retarded

For some reason I’m especially retarded when it comes to schedules. I was half an hour early for the SPSS tutorial today which I thought started at 9 (instead of 9:30), I forgot an extra class scheduled for 3:30 today, and I was half an hour late for choir since I thought it started at 7:30 instead of 7. I should work on fixing this.

Random updates

A few updates from the last few days.

• My home computing setup is nearly complete. I’ve got a new external hard drive (120 GB, USB 2/FireWire compatible), I’ve installed my $12 copy of Office Pro 2003 (UT has a sweet deal set up with Microsoft to get students to buy software for real cheap, so they get hooked as permanent customers), and all that’s left is to buy a printer cable so I can get that working. Having a relatively modern computer (i.e. not 12 years old) to call my own is a new experience, and certainly makes working from home easier.
  
• On Sunday I hurt my right wrist, but I’m really confused by it all. I was locking my bike up near Blockbuster (on my way to rent Hitchcock’s masterpiece Vertigo as the first in my Sunday Movie Matinee series now that I have a TV/VCR) when I felt a twinge in my right forearm. I thought it was just a cramp, but it got worse throughout the day and felt really stiff in the morning, and the pain had localized to my wrist. I think it’s a strain or sprain, but I have no idea what caused it (locking a bike doesn’t seem like a very stressful thing on the wrist, compared to other activities I do, like weight training or even piano playing). Anyway, I’ve been RICE-ing it and hopefully it gets better in a few days. Until then it’s been weird doing things with my left hand. Do you have any idea how hard it is to use a right-handed can opener only using your left hand?
  
• Today is the second day of my beverage log (see Friday’s entry), and I’ve realized I’m really boring when it comes to what I drink. Every entry has been either tap water or milk. I don’t
  know what this says about me.
  

Something other than cooking or trivia

I seem to notice that almost all of my recent blog entries are about cooking or trivia. Well tonight you get something different, because I’ve been selected to participate in a study where I earn $60 over the next two weeks. Basically this research company sent me a PDA via FedEx, and I have to carry it around with me and record every beverage I consume (even tap water). I send it back to them, they send me $40 (I already receieved a down payment of $20). This could be interesting.

I’ve also discovered that I may be making a crazy road trip to St. Louis in November. I’ll provide more details as things get decided more.

V for victory

Victory at last! Well, sort of. Tonight was the finals for pub trivia (read previous entries for details), so the teams were divided into two categories — one for teams that had qualified for the finals and were competing for the grand prize of four stereo systems (i.e. not us) and another one for teams who had not qualified that were just playing for bragging rights (i.e. us).

But by the end of the night we ended up in a three-way tie for first place for the “unqualified” teams, which meant we got a $20 gift certificate for next time. This was the first time we had ever won anything, which was cool. We actually ended up tied for fifth place overall, which isn’t bad considering that there were about 10 “qualified” teams. Everybody also got a free T-shirt, so I now have two shirts from Mother Egan’s, one from last summer and one from today.

Anyway, off to bed for me. I have to review some papers for tomorrow.

Symphony fantastique?

Today was the season premiere for the Austin Symphony, and with cheap $5 last-minute student tickets, there’s really no reason not to go. The last-minute student deal is that with a student ID, starting 20 minutes before the performance, you can get the best available seat in the house for just $5. Obviously you can’t get the cheap tickets if the performance is sold out, but for the most part it works fine.

Tonight’s program was the overture from Verdi’s La forza del destino, the Brahms Double Concerto, and Concerto for Orchestra by Bartok. I’m looking forward to some of their upcoming performances, including Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony and Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A-minor.

Also my cousin Greg is in town for the weekend, visiting friends, picking up some stuff from the apartment, getting a hunting certification, you know, the typical stuff.