you might very well think so...

So, apparently, Anna Nicole Smith died yesterday at age 39. I can't say I was a huge fan, but I can say that she seems to have been the absolute poster child for the Cult Of Celebrity. Here's pretty much what you need to know about her, yoinked from the Globe and Mail (actually written by Suzette Laboy of AP):

Smith was born Vickie Lynn Hogan on Nov. 28, 1967, in Houston, one of six children. Her parents split up when she was a toddler, and she was raised by her mother, a deputy sheriff.

She dropped out after 11th grade after she was expelled for fighting, and worked as a waitress and then a cook at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken restaurant in Mexia.

She married 16-year-old fry cook Bill Smith in 1985, giving birth to Daniel [who predeceased her last year, at age 20] before divorcing two years later.

Then she got "discovered".

Already the sharks are circling around her five-month old daughter (sic) who is worth approximately 88 million bucks (sic sic) as there seems to be some discussion about the little tyke's paternity.

What the heck is it about the Japanese and their obsession with competitive eating? And our obsession with their obsession?

(If I see one more Kobayashi segment on PTI, I might just have to hit the CM-Skip button no my PVR's remote...)

Personally, just the thought of this kind of mindless consumption makes me queasy, and brings to mind the Gluttony scene from "se7en", which then makes me remember the Lust scene, and like I need to remember that again.

::shudder::

A gossip-train-wreck-watcher in my office pointed me towards the unfolding BritFed disaster. Specifically, a people article on the Fed muppet. Two phrases caught my eye:

...is seeking sole custody of his kids...

and

"You know I'm a free man, right ladies? You wanna dance with a pimp?"

Why the hell couldn't my co-worker have pushed my nose in this before I'd eaten my lunch.

Gah.

(swiped from thebitterguy and maliszew)

LJ Interests meme results

1. boardgames:
   I've always been a fan of boardgames, but I found a little gem called "Settlers of Catan" when Mayfair first published an English version. After a brief moment of weekend-sleepless-boardgaming insanity, I became hooked, and have been almost single-handedly supporting my local purveyor of German-style boardgames ever since...


2. harry shearer:
   Because I'm in cubeville now at work and thus always looking for headphone material, and because I discovered that Harry Shearer had a radio show (who knew? apparently lots of folks), I started listening to his entire internet archive. I've finally caught up, and cherish his weekly newsletter arrivals like a warm cuppa.


3. jack vance:
   Jack Vance is my favourite author when I'm in a mood to read ornate whimsy. I think the first book I read of Vance's was Lyonesse. I don't know why I tried it: it had a pretty cover, no doubt. But from page 10 I was hooked, and have been devouring Vance ever since. I'm fighting the urge to spend this year's bonus (and last year's bonus) on the complete Vance library project... (oooh! leather bound Vancian goodness!)


4. kirsty maccoll:
   Why is it that the musicians I really like listening to always have limited careers? Kirsty's was cut short by a maniacal motor boater in Mexico as she saved the life of her son. Another reason to hate motor boats (as if we needed one). Bastard thing deprived us of a unique voice (literally and figuratively).


5. movies:
   I am a moderate movie junkie with a gourmandiste palate. I like everything from camp and sleaze (Russ Myer did some very interesting stuff once you get past the bouncing boobies) up to high-art as long as the director's having fun (von Trier's Element of Crime and Kingdom, but Breaking The Waves not so much). Probably my favourite directors visually come from the east: Kurosawa, Chen Kaige, Wong Kar Wai, Ronny Yu, Corey Yuen, Zhang Yimou, although Ridley Scott and David Fincher are also favourites. For dialog and plotting, I'll take Mamet, please. Favourite movie of all time? The Third Man, without question. Except when it might be The Thirty Nine Steps. They're sort of two sides of the same coin really -- do you want a happy ending or a melancholy one?


6. rpgs:
   Yes, I play rolegames. No I am not an unwashed nerd. There is a small community of us that fit into both categories, and thankfully I have found a few others to play with. My favourite games of the moment: HERO, HeroQuest, Burning Wheel, whatever Robin's running at the moment (because being in his group is fun and a great diversion from my work-week). Games that look very interesting but I have yet to put into the field: Artesia, Reve, the new Usagi and Albedo games, Orpheus, Pendragon, the new WFRP.


7. science fiction:
   My tastes in SF are not confined to a particular sub-genre. I tend to like what I think is "well written", rather than a particular type. Some of my favourite authors are: Le Guin, Dan Simmons, Robert Charles Wilson, Greg Egan. Vance and Wolfe deserve their own separate interest entries.


8. shriekback:
   I have loved their sound from the first listen. Allmusic's comment on them is interesting, and very well taken: their best stuff is sprinkled throughout their career, rather than loaded up on just one or two albums. I'm still trying to get my hands on digital versions of Jam Science (or as much material from it as I can get; i.e. a copy of Natural History) with little success, but I've got just about everything else. I haven't yet bought stuff post-Sacred City, because I'm less of a fan of Barry Andrew's synth musings than I am of Dave Allen's ferocious bass-work. But I'll get 'em eventually.


9. steven erikson:
   Steve Erikson is probably my favourite fantasy author just at the moment (I wouldn't call Crowley, Vance, nor Wolfe fantasy per se). Sure he's dense, and sure he's very "military" in tone. But his books are rich with detail, ornate in their world background, and very immersive once you get dipped in. Highly highly recommended if, for example, you like Glen Cook; Cook is your BA, Erikson is grad school. Keep writing Steve!


10. the sundays:
    Aarrrghh! Only three albums! Please, please, please, record again! 'nuff said.

Enter your LJ user name, and 10 interests will be selected from your interest list.

This year, I decided, along with my exceedingly patient wife, that it would be a very good thing for me to dedicate my life to getting in to work early. Accordingly, I have for two weeks now been setting my alarm at 6h and staggering in to the office at 7h.

Driving
Pro: It's a much more pleasant experience in the morning and, in a strange way, nostalgic: this is how dense the traffic was ten years ago at a normal time of day!

Con: The percentage of people suffering sleep deprivation just might be higher before 7h than between 8h and 9h. Be warned.

Work Efficiency
Pro: The office is much quieter for more of my day since I work in the hi-tech industry and, well, let's face it: most of these folks have never really been known as early risers.

Con: I must learn to front load my day with work more, since that valuable quiet time happens first thing in the morning.

Timing With My Real Life
Pro: I get to leave work between 15h and 16h. This is a great feeling. Plus I get to avoid the traffic density that is the 17h expressway commute. See "Driving".

Pro: I get to spend more quality time with my children. Their bedtime is about 1930h, so getting home at 1830-1900h is not very kind to them, or my wife, or me either come to that. Now I actually get to socialize with my children when they're not absolutely dead tired, and this can only be a Good Thing(tm).

Con: My bed time is starting to approach my children. Thank goodness for the PVR. But I have a sneaking suspicion that this may in the long run reduce my TV watching as well, and thus riposte this Con into a Pro. Ehhhhxcellent.

Con: It makes the Thursday trip to TO slightly more gruelling on the back end. Getting home at 2315 means sleep debt which must be made up for over the next three days, which means I can't live the high-life on the week-end. Tsk. Like I was doing that anyway.

So, after being freed from my (a) top-secret project that kept me working 24-7 for 40 days, and (b) my holiday-away-from-all-things-technical to recover from 'a', I'm once again back in the office.

My computers are all repaired and (apparently) happy, and I'm expected to once again get back onto a regular work schedule.

Trouble is, being at home over Christmas with two young children is not nearly the break you'd think it might be (even if you'd think it'd be very little of a break at all), and for various other reasons (my new years resolution to get work by 7am, for example), I find myself lacking in energy and motivation.