JamesSlusher.com

Bruce Schneier is, as always, right.  People really are fairly predictable.  They will almost always act to maximize their incentives.  We have a word for the ones that don’t– crazy.

I’ve been a plumber and I’ve hung out with plumbers, but never once did I base my choice for president on their opinions.  Of course, it might have something to do with their rampant pot use.

Hating Muslims doesn’t make you a better Christian.  I’m no biblical scholar, but I’m willing to bet the exact opposite is true, in fact.

Leaving everything else the same, if Obama were named Jack Smith and was white and McCain was black and named Thelonius Jackson, Smith would be winning by so much it wouldn’t be worthwhile even discussing the election.

These are strange days indeed.  I have written dozens of blog posts in the last couple of weeks only to realize that none of them have actually gotten, you know, typed.  For a guy who once, almost literally, lived his life on the ‘net, I’ve gone weeks with little more than cursory glances at a couple of sites.

It’s not that I’m not interested anymore, it’s that I am so absorbed in the minutae of my life.  We have (finally) sold our house in North Augusta and I’ve been trying to move the left over things out of the main house and the shed.  It’s amazing how much stuff we have and how that stuff seems to expand as soon as air hits it.

With the selling of that house, we can now begin to search for a new house in earnest.  The list of our wants is big and the price we want to pay is small, so the dance of compromise must take place.  The good news is that now we are on the right side of this buyers market and I’m cautiously optimistic that we will find a house that fits all of our wants and needs.

I have also been trying to finish up the building of the workshop in my in-laws backyard.  It has been quite the ordeal in terms of time and money, but the project is nearing an end.  Thank God.  If I ever build another, it won’t be cinderblock, that’s for sure.  It has a wonderful solid feel to it, but trimming everything out and installing anything that is affixed to the walls is a pain in the backside.

I’m going to wrap this up now, but I will be detailing more of these points later and giving my opinion of the Presidential race soon.

My brother is shutting down the box that has been hosting this blog for some years now.  That means that I had to go out and get a new home.  The good news is that I get a fancy new version of WordPress.  The bad news is that I now own a bunch of buttons that aren’t linked to anything in a theme I’m not familiar with.  I will, however, be sorting all that out over the next few days.  And with the new version comes new features, so some cool things might be coming this way soon.

Or it could still be lame.  You never know.

Maybe I could make an offer contingent on the sale of my home.

I’m trying out a new look.  With the Chair and Automan essentially a dead “brand”, I’m going to move away from it.  So I will be trying out new colors and looks over the next few days until I’m satisfied with what I’ve got.  Feel free to voice your opinions.

I am now the owner of an Ex-Shuffle. May it rest in pieces.

I had it in my backpack last night and accidentally dropped said pack. Twice. During one of those drops it managed to come apart in a manner that suggests it will never go back together. Ever ever.

So now I am iPodless. The question at this point is what I will replace it with. I liked my little shuffle. But a video iPod might be nice.

Any suggestions?

On Santa’s Lap

Originally uploaded by jaslusher.

Belatedly, of course, but here is a shot of the kiddies with the jolly old elf.

Perusing Yahoo!, I saw a story headline that promised Joel Siegel’s top ten movie picks for 2006.

Okay, why should I care?

I find other people’s like/dislike for a movie/song/book absolutely unable to sway my opinion of it. They can advertise “4 out of 5 users preferred…” all they want, but I just may be that 5th cat. 4 out of 5 Americans probably still can’t find Iraq on a map, so why the hell should I listen to them?

That’s why I think new media is so important. Let me find what I like and forget all those jokers. I don’t need Siegel or Ebert or anyone else telling me what to watch. There is no scarcity here, thanks.

Via Ken, this is the supervillian I would be:

Your results:
You are Venom

Venom 71% The Joker 64% Mr. Freeze 64% Dr. Doom 62% Apocalypse 60% Dark Phoenix 58% Juggernaut 58% Kingpin 55% Green Goblin 54% Lex Luthor 54% Magneto 44% Riddler 43% Catwoman 41% Mystique 38% Two-Face 38% Poison Ivy 37%

Strength, disguise and adrenaline are your greatest weapons.

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test