The Deception of the Thrush

this doesn't do a bad job of expressing my mood right now

see more crazy creatures at Red Nose Studio

Posted by Karin Cox at 8:16 PM | Permalink

Yes, I changed the template again. It was nice, but a bit dark and I felt like it was giving me some eye strain.

Posted by Karin Cox at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

So, this is what I find when I google my own name. It's a picture of my high school graduating class. Enjoy.
View image

Posted by Karin Cox at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

So, I'll be on leave from blog-land for a few days as I will be returning to Minneapolis for a conference being held in the Hyatt. Waxing sentimental about the trip I am including the umpteenth T.S.E. quote from the Four Quartets. "We shall not cease from exploration/And the end of all our exploring/Will be to arrive where we started/And know the place for the first time.

I have reached a certain degree of nostalgia--my laptop screen is graced with a view of the Minneapolis skyline, foregrounded by a closeup of the bike paths on the Stone Arch Bridge. It will be good to be back Even if it is going to snow. It only seems appropriate.

Posted by Karin Cox at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

OK, can anyone clearly explain, in conceptual terms, what a Poisson distribution is? Bonus points if you can tell me if it's just a subclass of the Gaussian (normal) distribution, or something fundamentally different. First person to answer wins a cookie (Maybe).

Posted by Karin Cox at 8:13 PM | Permalink

Mark Fiore has a good animated cartoon this week in the Village Voice:

The Depressed Democrats' Guide to Recovery

Posted by Karin Cox at 9:30 AM | Permalink

So, you can tell I've found creative ways to procrastinate on the Internet when I start reading things in languages I don't even know. Bouncing from one random link to another, I found myself at Le Figaro, a French periodical. And I think, hmm, why can't I just go ahead and read something in French? I mean, I know Spanish, isn't that good enough? (now my trying to pronounce French is another matter)

So, I'm conducting a little experiment on myself to see how much French I can learn just by reading French news. If you care to join me, here's the editorial I've been looking at:

Etats-Unis-Israël : une amitié à démythifier

Posted by Karin Cox at 7:55 PM | Permalink

So, this is actually an outdated news clipping from October 20th, so it predates the Demise of All Hope...nevertheless, I think it's interesting, and I wish I could understand it better:

"The head of the Iranian security council said President Bush's re-election would be in Tehran's best interests, despite the administration's calling Iran part of an axis of evil, accusations that Iran harbors Al Qaeda members and threats of sanctions over nuclear ambitions. Historically, Democrats have harmed Iran more than have Republicans, said Hasan Rowhani, head of the Supreme National Security Council."

Posted by Karin Cox at 11:25 AM | Permalink

So, here's a forwarded email message I got-- "You know you grew up in the 80's if..." Cheesy but eerily accurate.

YOU KNOW YOU GREW UP IN THE 80's IF.....
>1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE ".
>2. You watched the Pound Puppies.
>3. You can sing the rap to the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air "
>4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.
>5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to
>start a club of your own. 6. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake
>pals scented dolls. 7. You know that "WHOA" comes from Joey on Blossom
>8. Two words: Hammer Pants
>9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock ".
>10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars...playing cards on your
>spokes for that incredible sound effect.
>11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales " (Woo ooh!)
>12. When it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch
>cartoons.
>13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
>14. You saw the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles " on the big
>screen... and still know the turtles names.
>15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at
>school.
>16. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in
>a knot on the side.
>17. You played the game "MASH " (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
>18. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.
>19. L.A. Gear.... need I say more
>20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM " in Kindergarten. (She's truly
>outrageous.)
>21. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF "
>22. You wanted to be a Goonie.
>23. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (some of us...head-to-toe)
>24. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell
>off and his cheeks shifted
>25. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
>26. You took lunch boxes to school... and traded Garbage Pail Kids in the
>schoolyard.
>27.You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
>28. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
>29. You thought She-ra and He-Man should hook up
>30. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you
>exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
>31. You ever owned a pair of Jellies.
>32. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are,
>but what am I? "
>33. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up "
>34. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
>(or when the rink was carpeted)
>35. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.
>36. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
>37. You remember Popples..
>38. "Don't worry, be happy "
>39. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of scrunchie socks over tights with high top
>Reeboks.
>40. "Miss MARY MACK MACK MACK, all dressed in BLACK BLACK BLACK"
>41. Boom boxes..
>42. You remember watching "Gremlins "
>43. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!""
>44. You remember watching "Rainbow Bright" and "My Little Pony Tales
>45. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.
>46. You remember Alf
>47. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool... and don't
>even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB".
>48. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on Saved By
>the Bell ", the ORIGINAL class.
>49. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART. (No one
>say a freaking word!!!!!)
>50. You just sang those words to yourself.
>51.You remember watching Magic vs. Bird.
>52. Homemade Levi shorts.. (the shorter the better)
>53. You remember when mullets were cool! (or even had one yourself)
>54. You still sing "We are the World "
>55. You tight rolled your jeans.
>56. You owned a banana clip
>57. You remember "Where's the Beef?
>58. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' about
>Willis?"
>59. You had big hair and you knew how to use it. (Still...No one say a
>freaking word!!!!!!)
>60. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!!!
>

Posted by Karin Cox at 9:24 PM | Permalink

So, I spent much of my Saturday afternoon near the University. My plan was a quick brunch at Kiva Han, a cafe near Carnegie Mellon, followed by a few hours of reading at the Carnegie Library, and then a brief visit to the Carnegie International exhibition, being held at the Carnegie Museum of Art (hmm, wonder where they got the money to built all those cultural institutions. 'Tis a mystery) Anyways, turned out I was visiting the exhibition before I even knew it, because while I was at Kiva Han, I saw one of the weekly performances of a piece called "Real Time Movie." To get a vague description of it, try the following link:

Post-Gazette article on Carnegie International

You will see a picture of a grayish-blue building; that is where Kiva Han is located. Anyways, so there's this girl walking around on the crosswalks with a videorecorder, though it's unclear whether she's recording or not. And then there's just these random people walking around that you would have no idea are part of a performance piece, but for the fact that the Kiva Han employees were pointing them out to us and there was one woman with a sign that said "Real Time Movie" on it. Weird stuff. My mind has been appropriately messed with.

Posted by Karin Cox at 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ok, the Truman/Bush pic is amusing, but I've got to knock it down the page a bit just so I don't have to look at Bush's face anymore (tastefully, the Times used a picture of Bush's back today). So I'm going to write a new entry about something, anything.

To return to what John brought up about the OBL tape. I understand the point--OBL did time his appearance such that the candidates were forced to respond--but what could he gain by this? Is it an al Qaeda recruitment trick? (rope BushKerry into their anti-terrorism rhetoric once again, therefore anger a bunch of people in the middle east?)

Days like these have got to be saturated in topic matter for people in media studies seminars. And I've been thinking a lot that one way to fight back against four more years of NeoCon hell is to take over the media in a grass-roots way. First, people outside the US need to know of the presence of people who *don't* think their countries should be bombed and subsequently occupied. Second, people inside the US need to continue to hear of the lies and abuses of this administration. They also need to hear why we feel the way we do on many issues that may seem opposed to their "moral values." For example, they should hear why the marriage of gay couples won't signal the dawn of the Apocalypse. And so on.

Anyways, I have things I need to work on this evening, but there's my piece so that you have something to look at other than W.'s face.

Posted by Karin Cox at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

A programmer in my department at Pitt, Eli Kanal, originally made this picture for a Halloween door-decorating contest. I thought it was so great that I asked him for a copy of the .jpg.

Posted by Karin Cox at 8:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Toronto: A very metropolitan city, as I understand it, very clean, and a good example of smart urban design (read as: not yielding to the overwhelming influences of automobiles and suburbia).

Montreal: Since in our own country, we're accused of being Francophiles, then this would be a suitable environment....and look at those happy children.

Prince Edward Island: The FBI will never find you here.

Happy Voting!

Posted by Karin Cox at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)