Mundayne

Much accomplished today, but not really. Finished all the document scanning, to JPEGs, because the first newsletter was so poorly mimeographed it was not computer-recognizable. But I'd forgotten that when I moved south to be part of a graphics group, the quality of the mimeo improved dramatically, so I may OCR the later editions. The last one I have is kind of bittersweet. Issue 8 was prepared by me, and sent to Bangkok for repro & distribution, and it included a front page editorial defending the staff's doctor, who was forced out after complaints of misogyny by several women volunteers. I wasn't defending his bad attitude toward women's health, I was just pointing out that he wasn't Satan. When I received my copy in the mail just before it was time for me to leave the country, what I got was a re-typed front page with a tribute to me by the new co-editor, where my editorial had been. Made me pretty mad at the time. I wouldn't have minded so much if they had pulled the editorial and replaced it with the new editor's viewpoint. Or an article on amoebic dysentery.

One amusing thing I'd forgotten was my pseudonym for the travel column, T. O. Boy. "Ti-ao" is Thai for a fun trip, like a vacation or a trip to the movies. "Boy" is Thai for " a lot". Puns 'R' Us.

--
Missed the Saints vs. the birds. I thought it was later in the day. Saw most of the most boring game of the playoffs, in which the wrong team won. Lots of poor officiating, much of it game-changing. Neither QB did much, though there were some stunning receptions.
--
Returned the wireless scanner to Fry's, picked up a Creative Labs webcam, which I'll give to a friend who has XP. I wanted to replace my Logitech, but Creative doesn't have Windows 7 support for its motorized pan/swivel cam.
--
Overheard a couple of teenagers talking about sparknotes. Looked it up, and it appears to be a web rip-off of Cliff's Notes. Very thorough, no need to open an actual book ever again.
--
Safeway had a special deal on cans of Coke products, $3 for a case of 24 if you buy 4 cases. $6 a case otherwise. No thanks, Smart 'n' Final probably has them for $3 without the Costco business model. Meanwhile, Safeways is again out of Ding Dongs, but this time I refused to buy Ho Hos as a substitute. Price per ounce is about 30% higher for the latter.
--
Planted some new plastic bushes in a pile of new gravel in my 10 gallon aquarium. The original Jack Dempsey had grown so huge the other fish need a barrier so he doesn't run them in circles.
--
Tonight's DVD was an Italian film by Ponti with the English name of Secrets of a Call Girl but the Italian title is Anna, quel particolare piacere which is something like Anna -  that particular pleasure. Anna is not a call girl, nor are any of the other characters as far as I can tell. Anna is a barista who falls for Guido, a minor mafiosi. Horrible production values, deafening score, slow to start and way too long. The plot threatens to be utterly predictable, but there are a couple of twists toward the end. Minor twists. Such as the event you expected to happen in the following scene didn't happen for four more scenes, lulling the viewer into a false sense of "this might turn out to be interesting after all".
--
Played some Wii tennis and won handily. Played three games of bowling, and got worse each game. The game inserts a left spin regardless of how you throw the ball. I should try making my avatar left-handed and see what happens.
--
Pumpkin has adopted the sheepskin rug in front of the entertainment console. When I first got it (a present from a dear friend who is Kiwi by heritage) Pumpkin would leap over it to avoid the sheep cooties. Domino parked on it from time to time. But now it's all Pumpkin's.
--
Time to take meds and go to bed. No plans for tomorrow, MLK Day is an unpaid day off.

Some Thoughts on MLK Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot two months before my high school graduation. It was a time of violence, and the assassination of one more household name was not a huge surprise.

I did not particularly like Dr. King. I'm allergic to gospel-spouting, and run screaming when I hear a preacher in full-on African-American mode. It sounds phony to me, rubs me the wrong way. The "I have a dream" speech is a pretty good example of what I am talking about.

YMMV.

Passive resistance is also something I was not all about. The kind of people who would beat the crap out of you because they think you're the wrong color are not going to feel remorse or give a flying fart that you didn't fight back. They will just think you're a pussy. I am convinced it was the number of protests and the number of protesters which had an impact, not their passivity. And in the end it was really JFK, RFK and the National Guard who put America on the path to equality, such as it is.

IMHO a national holiday honoring MLK is not justified. I could go for a Rosa Parks holiday, though.