http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog The blog of Pete Lyons with reader comments http://www.developingstorm.com/rss-icon.png http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog en-us http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/273 http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/273 <![CDATA[Writing your own blog tools is fun until you get the rug pulled out from under you by your hosting service when you don't have any spare time to fix things.&lt;p&gt; Finally, I think everything is working again. Now if I only had something to say.&lt;p&gt;]]> http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/272 http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/272 <![CDATA[Sorry about that folks. My hosting service updated the Rails version on the shared server and this update removed a bunch of deprecated methods my blog application relied on. My Rails skillz were rusty and it took me some time to fix but it's back up now. This sucks on multiple levels but I guess it's par for the course.&lt;p&gt;On Tuesday, May 20,2008 at 02:55PM Pete said:&lt;br&gt;Testing comments&lt;p&gt;On Wednesday, May 21,2008 at 01:03PM Bob said:&lt;br&gt;Seems like your RSS feeds are still broken as well as viewing by tags. I get HTTP 500 errors returned.&lt;p&gt;]]> http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/271 http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/271 <![CDATA[Here's a weird and experimental poem I wrote recently. The poets in the writers group I've been working with were very mixed on it. Some liked it a lot, most did not. I think most had no idea what I was getting at. The consensus is the beginning is better than the end. I think the beginning is more accessible, but personally, I like the ending. Let me know what you think. Trust me you wont hurt my feeling if you think it sucks, I've heard that already.&lt;p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt; MEDITATION AS WATER&lt;p&gt; The porch is ethereal&lt;br&gt; I sit in the rocker and breathe;&lt;br&gt; Watching the river of my thoughts&lt;br&gt; Flow through internal night.&lt;p&gt; The waters are swift and clean&lt;br&gt; And happiness floats silently -&lt;br&gt; A smack of pelagic jellies&lt;br&gt; In a strong ocean current.&lt;p&gt; Eddies in the stream spin-off,&lt;br&gt; Turmoil at the edge of perception.&lt;br&gt; Ephemeral maelstroms of&lt;br&gt; Stress and distraction -&lt;p&gt; The sharks of my thoughts,&lt;br&gt; Death and dread, cruise.&lt;br&gt; Jurassic neurons spark&lt;br&gt; Their ancient frenzy.&lt;p&gt; Monkey brain, monkey brain,&lt;br&gt; Who the fuck are you?&lt;br&gt; What hubris of worth&lt;br&gt; Floods your vessel?&lt;p&gt; Azure light and a grain of rice.&lt;p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Tuesday, May 13,2008 at 06:03PM Don said:&lt;br&gt;IMHO the third and fourth stanzas were the best. The fifth shifted gear too quickly for me to accept it as part of the piece as a whole. Keep at it, Pete. I'm glad you're writing. &lt;p&gt;]]> http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/270 http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/270 <![CDATA[Some of you may think this is me just being a science nerd and nit picking but I see people making statements like this all the time and it bums me out. People have known about evolution for a long, long time and known about the process of natural selection since Darwin and still, still educated people say things that display a gross misunderstanding of the processes involved.&lt;p&gt; While reading the morning news, a fluff science piece about life in space caught my eye (&lt;a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080512/ts_afp/japanusspace"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;). In the article an astronaut is quoted as follows:&lt;p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt; If we push back boundaries far enough, I'm sure eventually we'll find something out there," said Mike Foreman, a mission specialist on the Endeavour, which returned to Earth in March.&lt;p&gt; "Maybe not as evolved as we are, but it's hard to believe that there is not life somewhere else in this great universe," &lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt; Do you see it too? Is your blood pressure rising like mine?&lt;p&gt; If I said the phrase 'evolutionary ladder' how would you feel?&lt;p&gt; Let me give you a hint, it makes my blood boil.&lt;p&gt; Okay enough with setup, here's part that bugs me:&lt;p&gt; &lt;em&gt;"Maybe not as evolved as we are".&lt;/em&gt;&lt;p&gt; I know people say stuff like this all the time but they are all wrong. Humans are more intelligent than a giant clam but they are no more evolved. All living things are at the tips of their evolutionary tree. Intelligence is a strategy for survival we humans adopted, it is not the 'goal' of evolution. Things that are intelligent are not 'more evolved' by the fact that their species utilized that strategy. The folks at Berkeley explain this better than I will so follow this link for a good explanation: &lt;a href="http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIB2Notladders.shtml"&gt;Trees, Not Ladders&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;p&gt;]]> http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/269 http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/269 <![CDATA[I am an unapologetic John Wayne fan. The fact is Wayne was a very good actor whose sheer presence could turn a ho-hum script into a gripping yarn. &lt;p&gt; I've always been a little pissed off that Wayne's legacy seems to have been reduced to that of a failed icon of pro-Vietnam involvement. If people actually listened to and watched Wayne's films they would see the characters he played were often far more progressive than he's ever given credit. Take a gander at the 'The Sons of Katy Elder' the next time it's on the tube if you don't believe me. &lt;p&gt; Along those lines I was happily surprised today when I stumbled across this article titled: &lt;a href="http://dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=996"&gt;The "Duke" and Democracy: On John Wayne&lt;/a&gt;. The article primarily deals with Rio Bravo, one of my favorite John Wayne and Howard Hawks films, and shows how Wayne embodied a lot of the best ideals of America.&lt;p&gt; &lt;p&gt;On Monday, May 12,2008 at 05:31PM Dave Delay said:&lt;br&gt;Pete, I completely agree about John Wayne's acting chops. For a long time I bought into the myth that he coasted through all his roles on the strength of his persona. Then I watched _The Searchers_. Yes, he had an undeniable screen presence, but he was a great actor too. _The Searchers_ is one of my all-time favorites. As for his politics, you're probably right, but I learned a long time ago to separate art and politics. Some of my favorite musicians are politically naive (in my humble opinion). I wish artists wouldn't use their celebrity to amplify their political views, but I won't hold my breath. When Tom Hanks recently endorsed Obama, he said, "As an official celebrity, I know my endorsement has just made your mind up for you." At least Tom Hanks gets it. &lt;p&gt;]]> http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/268 http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/268 <![CDATA[The first trap held a leg.&lt;br&gt; The flesh gnawed at the knee&lt;br&gt; And pulled out at the hip.&lt;br&gt; The denuded femur&lt;br&gt; A translucent white,&lt;br&gt; Needle thin bone, so frail&lt;br&gt; Compared to the steel&lt;br&gt; Will displayed.&lt;p&gt; The second held a corpse.&lt;br&gt; A delicate, large eyed&lt;br&gt; Flyer, broken by the&lt;br&gt; Copper snap.&lt;br&gt; The blood stained fur&lt;br&gt; And missing leg told&lt;br&gt; The story well enough.&lt;p&gt; I removed the tiny body&lt;br&gt; Held it in my palm&lt;br&gt; And weighed its fate.&lt;br&gt; A ladle of pig iron&lt;br&gt; on the foundry trunnion&lt;br&gt; could not tip the scale.&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Thursday, May 01,2008 at 03:11PM Roy said:&lt;br&gt;I loved this. Thanks Pete! &lt;p&gt;]]> http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/267 http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/267 <![CDATA[&lt;object width="425" height="355"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bjy8KWsPtDE&amp;hl=en"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bjy8KWsPtDE&amp;hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt; &lt;p&gt;]]> http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/266 http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/266 <![CDATA[This is the most encouraging thing I've heard a Democrat say in ages.&lt;p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt;But it is a great mistake to divide all human activity into two categories: those that are criminally prohibited, and those that are encouraged. In a free society, there must be a very considerable zone of activity between those two poles in which people are allowed to make their own choices as long as they are not impinging on the rights, freedom, or property of others.&lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;He almost sounds like a libertarian.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.house.gov/frank/marijuana041708.html"&gt;Link&lt;/a&gt; &lt;p&gt;]]> http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/265 http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/265 <![CDATA[Fellow readers, I'd like to point you to an excellent source for original short fiction by both established and up-and-coming authors, called &lt;a href="http://www.fivechapters.com/about.php"&gt;Five Chapters&lt;/a&gt;. Every week the site publishes a serialized short story in five chapters, released over five days - Monday to Friday. The chapters are short, at around 1500-2000 words and take only a few minutes to read. &lt;p&gt; This week's story, Voice Lessons by &lt;a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=4902"&gt;Kate Christensen&lt;/a&gt;, tells the tale of a woman taking singing lessons with a very unusual teacher. It's a wonderfully layered short story with some truly surprising twists and turns.&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;]]> http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/264 http://dog.developingstorm.com/blog/show/264 <![CDATA[&lt;object width="425" height="355"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GcatQSyRK6c&amp;hl=en"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GcatQSyRK6c&amp;hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Tuesday, April 15,2008 at 09:14AM Don said:&lt;br&gt;Somebody has waaaaaaay too much time on their hands! &lt;p&gt;]]>