Rand Wacker

MoveOn.org: Democracy in Action

Chris has posted a good article on DRM. Instead of pontificating about it on my own I’m just going to point you to it…please go read: ob.blog: DRM and you: this is important

Practically-speaking DRM is a concerted, aggressive attempt to prevent you from watching and listening to all the media you’ve rightfully purchased in the manner you want to enjoy it. In other words: no matter how much you pay for that DVD, DRM ensures that the media companies own it anyway and you’re just renting it. Its a concerted, aggressive attempt to steal your property from you.

826NYC - BROOKLYN SUPERHERO SUPPLY CO.

As the name says, we will be a supply store for superheroes in need of capes, masks, utility belts, grappling hooks, and whatever else their crime fighting tasks call for. Visitors will also be able to read books, magazines, and student publications on display or explore the mysterious contents of the store, before passing through the secret passage to the more serious activities within the tutoring center.

I’m on a JetBlue flight from OAK to JFK right now and just noticed a flyer in their collateral tray that said they are now offering free WiFi connectivity at their locations in JFK’s Terminal 6 and Long Beach airport. Good to know for the flight home!

billmon has some very good things to say about the Bush administration’s response to the 9/11 commissions recently reported findings (2+2=5) and the State Departments two-sided advice to foreigners working in Saudi Arabia (Watch what we say, not what we do).

I am exceedingly disturbed that anyone in this country can continue to support BushCo these days, for any reason what-so-ever.

I’m flying back from Seattle right now, where I went to have some work meetings and then to host a bachelor part for the guy who was my best man, Rob. Having been now to three wildly different send-offs in the past few months (one of which was my own), I’ve come up with a few observations that lend themselves to an enjoyable time for all. Essentially, I think the four key ingredients for a successful guys event include the following:

1. Adrenaline
2. Carnage
3. Stupidity
4. Debauchery

The specific events and the ways in which you weight these will vary greatly by group (mostly in favor of the bachelor’s preferences), but the general categories and ordering have worked well for us so far.

Adrenaline - Go do something crazy and fun. For my party back in January we went snowboarding for three days, for Jonah’s party we went ATV riding through the deserts of Nevada (in the rain…), and for Rob’s party yesterday we went out for half a day of group paintball. (”Have fun storming the castle!”). The point of the Adrenaline activity is to remind everyone what it’s like to have fun and to show the bachelor what they’re going to be giving up after the wife declares crazy activities verboten (just kidding). More importantly, since many parties will have groups of people who may not know each other well or at all, its a group bonding experience that will kick-start the camaraderie you’ll need to torment your victim appropriately for the rest of the night.

Paintball (one of the other guys ideas) was a fantastic event that allowed us the proper level of group interaction, child-like play time, and ample opportunity to degrade Rob. Other good events I’ve heard of in the past include rafting trips, backpacking, and other things that don’t require specialized skills only some of the group might have a jump on (downhill mountain biking, for example).

Carnage - Food and drink, lots of it. Plan for having a very good meal somewhere that the bachelor will enjoy. If not vegetarian, big steaks are highly recommended. For Rob’s party we ate a fantastic place in Seattle I hadn’t been to before, Jak’s (that meal rated as one of my top four steaks of all time).

Stupidity - While childish and rowdy behavior is expected to happen all throughout the event, now is the time to take it to its peak. After dinner go out and par-tay. Find a club/bar/casino with an environment and patronage that can facilitate in your fun. Gambling is one good option, but needs to be punctuated with extreme acts of lunacy like getting nubile young women to help embarrass the crap out of the guy getting married. If you chose your venue right, volunteers will not be hard to find, and gives the entire group reason to mingle and socialize. The external factors are always going to cause some of the most hilarious moments to remember.

One of the best planned nights of stupidity I’ve partaken in involved matching T-shirts for all of the guys with a picture of the bachelor on the front, and on the back of hist shirt a list of missions that he had to complete by the end of the night. The Last Vegas Strip is a fantastic place to undertake these missions and I guarantee that everyone will have a good time if the tasks are suitably ludicrous and the bachelor suitably embarrassable.

Debauchery - The long-held but oft controversial tradition of strippers. Not controversial for political reasons, but because there are people who JUST DON’T CARE. For some reason, its almost impossible for people who love strip clubs to comprehend any other points of view on the subject. I’m one of the former category: not really all that interested. For example, while at any given establishment there may be some small number of women who actually are attractive instead of just scary (way less than ten percent usually), the mechanical and soul-less nature of the business makes it all the more uninteresting. The main reason this step usually does make it in to the agenda is to embarrass the bachelor (see “Limits”, below). Depending on your group, there will usually be some number of people who fit the latter category above, and wanna see boobies. That’s fine, if the goal of embarrassing the bachelor can be fulfilled while remaining within or at The Limits, then everyone’s purpose can be served.

One major point I want to make on this activity. It is beyond the bounds of even bachelor party behavior to ever goad, taunt, or force anyone to participate in this step. Encourage, motivate, and bribe if you want to, but the final choice is up to each of the participants. If someone really doesn’t want to go or if they’re significant other would have issues with them doing so and for that reason they are going to opt out, then that person has my highest respect. It takes a hell of a lot more guts to stand up for yourself or your girl than it does to go do something you know they are going to hate you for and then lie about it to them.

Limits - This is a specific note to party organizers (usually the Best Man). It is a good idea (nay, required in my book) to sit down with your victim beforehand and have them enumerate specific things they don’t want to happen. It is then up to you to plan an event that goes right up to that line, but no further than. I’m talking major broad strokes here, but they are important ground rules to lay down that are often overlooked. Some specific examples that may be verboten are “no hookers”, “no hard drugs”, or “no ‘private shows’”. “Don’t embarrass me” is not a definable limit and so would better be summed up as “I don’t want a party.”

Set these limits quite a while before the party, so their judgment is unaffected by alcohol or fear. Bachelor parties are an expected time of poor judgment, so laying down some very clear ground rules can help prevent unfortunate events that can have lasting consequences. As the Best Man, you have to balance responsibilities to the guests, the bachelor, and other people who might be affected by fall-out. Don’t fuck it up, and go have a good time.

It seems like most of the time when I’m flying back from Seattle, the lines at the airport are always really, really, really long. Today I got here at my usual less-than-one-hour-before time and figured I just would be standing in a snaking line, waiting for someone to come by and fish the overdue people like me out. Just as I got in line for the newly combined B/C Terminal security (remodeling), I noticed a tiny sign that said “Handicapped/Airline Club Members Only”.

Since I had my Southwest Rapid Rewards card on me (rare, lucky occurrence) and I had already checked in and printed out my boarding pass before I left for the airport (!?!) I was able to go through an much shorter line that no-one else seemed to know about. Woo-hoo!

I think they accepted frequent flyer cards from a number of other programs, so I’m definitely going to go home and load up all of my program memberships in to some sort of travel companion!

brain wrote up perhaps the best description I’ve seen about management/labor relations and the power of collective bargaining…all as it is related in an old episode of Leave it to Beaver. Frickin’ hilarious:

I Kill Spies: Golly Beaver, You’re A Scab

I keep perhaps one of the most psychotic sleep schedules known to man.

My job/hobby/interests with computers sometimes keeps me up well past the bewitching hour (4:08am right now). Back in college I would regularly go to sleep about the same time the birds were waking up. Now my wife/house/biking keeps a completely different schedule. Alexis lives on east coast time, which means waking up at 5am and going to bed around 9. Often I’ll go to bed at the same time and occasionally I’ll get up at the same time, but its most common for me to awake with the sun around 6 or 7, especially on the weekends when I want to work on the house/yard or go biking.

So, what happens is that in the space of 48 hours I’ll swing from going to bed at 5am to getting up at 5am. Usually this is manageable, but sometimes (like tonight), it can result in unexpected/undesired insomnia (fell asleep in bed at 9pm, found myself wide awake at 1am…). This can definitely be exacerbated one way or the other by moderate amounts of caffeine or exercise; I didn’t do any real exercise today so I’m not really all that tired.

Normally I don’t mind. I generally tend to average 6-8 hours of sleep, and I’m always well rested. This is a big change from college and it majorly improves my attitude. Times like tonight though it’s bothering me since I’m not awake for any good reason, I’m sick of working on the computer, and I can’t think of any other projects that won’t make a lot of noise around the house. Working down in the garage after midnight is just…creepy.

So, 4am, what to do…what to do…