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Sunday, August 27, 2000

Got DeCSS?

View Category I’m not quite sure I understand this.  A website, specifically 2600.com, links to the infamous DeCSS.zip file, which allows the copying of DVDs, and is taken to court.  It is ruled that the site is guilty of allowing people to pirate copyrighted intellectual property.  The decision is based on the judge’s ruling that HTML code is not protected as free speech.
      So this means I can lawfully opine that I’ve heard U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan romances farm animals.  But if I type it like this: 

<html>
<body>
Unidentified sources claim U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan romances farm animals.<br>
</body>
</html>

then I’m a criminal.
      Interesting.  And also a telling example of how the legal profession is so paranoid about the computer revolution.  The World Wide Web is evil, right?  You can use if to download porn and find the ingredients for bombs. So everyone using a computer - including you!—must be guilty of something.
      The new motto of our times: Innocent until proven online.

Posted by Mickey at 06:32 PM in Tech • Gadgets •
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Saturday, August 26, 2000

Avoider

View Category For some unknown reason, I’m here at work on a Saturday—all the more reason to kill some time uploading a message to my web site.
    I, like most of America, spent last Wednesday evening watching the final episode of Survivor. I have to admit, this was the first time I’d watched the show, but, since everyone else was talking about it, I pretty knew everything I needed to know (and would ever want to know) about the people involved. Having watched an episode, I can see why people were so hooked on it—the omniscient, removed perspective of people under stress; the island scenery; the frequent shots of bikini’d bottoms—but I’m not sure I liked it.
    For one thing, I was very dissatisfied with the ending.  For a show called Survivor, taking place on a remote island, I would’ve assumed the winner would have had to prove him or herself, to outlast the others, to show the skills needed to survive.  So…where did this jury thing come from?
    The contestants, or originally the tribes, had to compete in challenges—I don’t see what that has to do with surviving on an island either, but, fair enough, I assume these were supposed to test the contestants’ physical strength and endurance—so why wasn’t this continued to the end?  Why weren’t the final two contestants forced to compete in some ultimate challenge, some triathlon incorporating physical or mental skills?  Why did the outcome finally come down to the decision of a ragtag and rather biased jury?  No wonder the “corporate trainer” won—he was dealing with a focus group.  But, to me, this doesn’t make him a survivor.  To be perfectly fair, CBS should have to rename the show to Finagler or Manipulator.  Even Headhunter.  But I guess CBS was more interested in Lord of the Flies than in Robinson Crusoe.  But, to that end, they could’ve saved a lot of time by simply shooting the whole show in some office workplace.  They’d get the same result, but, then again, the outfits wouldn’t be as skimpy.

Posted by Mickey at 04:32 PM in TV •
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Friday, August 25, 2000

U2 Live!

View Category I plan on revamping this page [the old Music page] soon, to have it include full setlists of shows I’ve seen (much like my Buffett section); but until then, here’s another audio file. This is one of my first DATs: a U2 show from Pontiac Silverdome, which capped off a great season of following the band across the country…well, to three or four shows in the Midwest, that is. This particular show, on October 31 1997, also happened to be Larry Mullen’s birthday (as well as my dad’s). Remarkably, this was the second time I’d seen them on Halloween.

U2 - Last Night on Earth   (6.9 MBs)
Posted by Mickey at 01:14 AM in Music •
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Monday, August 21, 2000

Dixie Chicks Live!

View Category This ought to get the Music section started! Here’s an excerpt from last night’s Dixie Chicks concert, at the Palace of Auburn Hills, MI. They played two nights, and this track was recorded at the second. It’s not my favorite song off Fly but I wanted to share it anyway, since I thought we all sang quite nicely…

Dixie Chicks - Cowboy, Take Me Away   (6.3 MBs)
Posted by Mickey at 12:02 AM in Music •
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Sunday, August 20, 2000

Eric Idle Live!

View Category I’m thinking of turning this little department into its own section. I already have a section for Jimmy Buffett performances, and I’m thinking of starting another one here, featuring recordings of the many other shows I’ve been to.
    For instance, as a test, here’s are two MP3 excerpts from Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python, recorded June 4.
    Warning, though: these contain strong, adult language!

Eric Idle - The Getty Song   (5.7 MBs)
Eric Idle - Dolly Taylor Medley   (4.3 MBs)

Posted by Mickey at 03:55 AM in Music • TV •
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Thursday, August 17, 2000

Thought for Food

View Category Anybody else notice McDonald’s fascination with the tomato. Through the years they’ve tried to improve on their hamburgers, but it seems the best they can do is simply add a tomato. The QLT back in the 70’s, the McDLT in the 80’s, and now the Arch Deluxe and Big Xtra in the 90’s. Just burgers with tomatoes on them. “We need to create something new and different with our burger line,“ the Big Wig says. “What about…um…a tomato.“ And the publicity department springs into action…

Posted by Mickey at 07:30 PM in Food •
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Friday, August 11, 2000

Moving

View Category There are even more changes going on here at Short Fat Guy World, but hopefully these aren’t the kinds of changes you should notice.  I’m in the process of switching web hosts, so I’m transferring all my files.  If all goes well, the transition should be seamless—but if you do come across any missing files or dead links, please let me know at the e-mail address below.
    This changeover should allow me lots more space, so I can offer more and larger files.  I plan on adding some audio and video to other sections of the site…so thanks for visiting and come back again!
    Cheers.

Posted by Mickey at 03:08 PM in Blogging •
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Friday, July 28, 2000

The Day that Napster Died

View Category (Though not quite, according to the latest news.)
    I guess it’s no real surprise the RIAA won in its battle against Napster (although this will barely curtail the availability of MP3 files through Napster-imitators or from binary newsgroups). It’s hard to disagree that sharing digital music files cuts into the income of both recording companies and artists. But irrespective of all that, I am simply sick and tired of hearing the RIAA whine. I’ve been hearing those crybabies for as long as I can remember—and it makes me think of a favorite quote, off the back of the Dead Kennedys’ cassette of Bedtime for Democracy. “Home taping is killing the music business. Therefore we have left side two of this tape blank for your convenience.“

Posted by Mickey at 11:53 PM in Music • Tech •
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TV Listings

View Category I’m at work right now, so I don’t have access to a TV. But over the weekend I hope to jot down some thoughts about the recent Emmy nominations.
    But, for the time being, here’s s list of some of the shows I watch most frequently (somewhat in order of appearance): Late Show with David Letterman, Whose Line is It Anyway?, The West Wing, The Drew Carey Show, the Thursday NBC line-up (which is strong enough to even survive the inclusion of such crap as Will & Grace), Futurama, King of the Hill, The X-Files (though I’m wary of next season), plus whatever’s on ZDTV.
    Does this jibe with other Short Fat Guys out there? Or am I out on a limb? (And it sure as hell wouldn’t be the first time my tastes differed from the general viewing public!)

Posted by Mickey at 11:32 AM in TV •
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Wednesday, July 26, 2000

In Search of Spicy Chicken

View Category This article took so long to write that half of these fast-food items aren’t even being offered anymore.  But I think it all began with Wendy’s Spicy Chicken sandwich, which turned out to be so good and popular they made it part of their permanent menu.  Arby’s soon followed, with their Truly Spicy chicken sandwich, made with lettuce and mayonnaise but not much in the way of a discernable spicy burn.
    McDonald’s tried their hand at it, offering their Cajun chicken sandwich; but McDonald’s is doomed to poultry obscurity unless they can get their chicken sandwiches to stop tasting like hamburgers.  Hey, guys, try a different part of the fry table!  They truly did a disservice to the “Cajun” name with that attempt, and I can almost imagine the sandwich’s quick demise was less due to its blandness then to claims of false advertising from the Creole PAC.
    Burger King came late to the game with their “Spicy Chick’n” sandwich.  I can only assume the deliberate misspelling is because no chicken was involved in the making of their sandwich.  We grudgingly give them points for at least making the sandwich spicy, but the pressed chicken patty is not terribly appetizing.
    Still the champ though is Wendy’s Spicy Chicken.  A real breast filet and delightfully spicy breading keep this one a winner.  We’ve noticed some franchises have a tendency to make the sandwich more peppery than spicy, but it still beats the others hands down.  And, if you’re careful about the tomato, it can be a great car-food too.
    A tasty alternative is KFC’s Zinger sandwich.  The chicken itself is the same as KFC’s Crispy Strips, but the sauce they add is quite spicy and quite tasty.  The shredded lettuce and the sauce make it a dangerous car-food, but it’s a great taste for dining-in.  The restaurants around me have a tendency toward rather dry crispy strips, so this might be a problem.  However, one benefit of the sandwich is that KFC packs it so full of crispy strips that you can usually put one or two aside, have a tasty sandwich, and then have some “found” food to snack on afterward.
    Verdict:
    McDonalds & Arby’s = one star (for effort)
    Burger King = two stars (for spiciness)
    Wendy’s = four stars
    KFC = four stars

Posted by Mickey at 03:27 AM in Food •
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