» On 6/29/2005 08:00:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
The new DOJ: making our world safe for aluminum nipples. With barely a word about it, workers at the Justice Department on Friday removed the blue drapes that have covered two scantily clad statues for the last 3 1/2 years. [¶] The Spirit of Justice, with one breast exposed, and the bare-chested male Majesty of Law basked in the light of Justice's ceremonial Great Hall on Friday. [¶] The drapes, installed in 2002 at a cost of $8,000, allowed former Attorney General John Ashcroft to speak in the Great Hall without fear of a breast showing behind him in television or newspaper pictures.

AP couldn't get official permission to photograph the statues on Friday.

 
» On 6/28/2005 06:00:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Anikó wrote:
il Professori. It's all set - the new course which Alan has created for UC Riverside will meet on the EMC campus. Here's the blurb+bio class listing:

Blogging 101
Wednesdays, 1-3 p.m., September 14 through October 19
(6 meetings at the Annenberg Center)

Weblogs (more commonly called "blogs") started out as personal diaries posted online, but they've developed into much, much more. Whether you'd like to become a blogger, or simply want to understand all the buzz, this course provides a wide-ranging overview of blogging. Using lecture, discussion and cutting-edge Internet-display technology, the class looks at the short, but eventful history of the blogosphere, its impact on our culture, and the major players who are shaping world opinion and plotting the future of information distribution. The last meeting includes a lesson on how to start your own blog.

Alan C. Baird
Mr. Baird (coauthor of the 9TimeZones.com book) started manually programming an online journal in early 1996, before the term "blog" was coined, and long before automatic blogging software was invented. In addition to regularly tending his own blog and moblog, he has designed and now maintains a member-news blog for the Palm Springs Writers Guild.

 
» On 6/23/2005 12:40:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
We just finished taping the interview. Airdate is Monday, September 19, 10:15am — the beginning of VJ's 17th year.

Anikó was great. I was a blithering idiot.

Time for a cocktail.

 
» On 6/22/2005 08:00:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Ben Dover, Writer. Why would AFI omit screenwriting credits from their 100 Quotes list of "winners"? Did those actors come up with that material all by themselves?

 
» On 6/17/2005 06:00:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Anikó wrote:
Quake swarms. I'd rather have Killer Bee swarms any day.

 
» On 6/12/2005 05:30:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
The Epicenter, Rashomon-style. Seismic events bother some folks more than others. I was sitting in the den, pretending to work at my translation gig, when our new house began shaking aggressively. So I stood up, walked three feet to the open double doors, and yelled to Anikó: "Get in a doorway!" When these things start out with a good head of steam, you never know how big a ride they'll turn out to be.

I heard "thump-thump-thump," so I knew she was wearing her clogs and running around somewhere in this place, but I couldn't pin down the direction of the sound. Then I heard MORE "thump-thump-thump," so I screamed again, "Stand in a f*cking doorway, dammit!" That's when she rounded the corner with eyes like saucers, and grabbed me as if I were the only stable place on the entire planet.

Later, I found out she had sprinted past two doorways, because she wanted to "die with my hoozhband."

After the quake petered out, we surveyed our damage (three or four DVD boxes had slumped sideways from their upright positions) as I launched into a long lecture on earthquake safety... while laughing and hugging her, of course.

 
» On 6/12/2005 08:46:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Anikó wrote:
5.2 earthquake out here in the desert. It was kind of like this. But not really.

 
» On 6/06/2005 08:00:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Anniversary! Yup, we got hitched five years ago today, in a ceremony at the former Avalon home of America's preeminent writer on western lore, Zane Grey. Originally built in 1926, Grey's pueblo was designed to serve as a haven for his prolific literary efforts, and features extraordinary views of the ocean, as well as the surrounding hills of Catalina. Twenty-two miles offshore, this island really lives up to its reputation as a romantic getaway.

 
» On 6/03/2005 08:00:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
VJ Hume. We've just been invited to tape an interview later this month for her KWXY show. Details forthcoming.