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August 31, 1997
News
Information about Ty Davison straight from the horse's mouth.
News Archives
Years worth of mind-numbing details, ponderings, and events.
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August 31, 1997
I didn't know her, and I don't follow royalty, but like most of the world I couldn't helped but be shocked and saddened by the untimely death of the UK's Princess Diana.As many of you know, I have a minor background in journalism, since I served in various editorial positions on both my high school and college newspapers. Well, it's muckracking wolf-pack journalism like the kind that Diana suffered from that led me to conclude that I wanted nothing to do with journalism as a career. There's a reason reporters are generally held in greater contempt than used car salespeople and congressmen, and this is it. Tabloid journalism in particular is, in large extent, a profession without a soul, and I doubt the rage and bitterness I feel toward them is out of the ordinary. Some people—most people—don't want to be "product for the machine," and Diana's death, I'm sorry to say, is only the latest manifestation of an industry almost devoid humanity.
In far less significant but nonetheless personally depressing news, my Steelers got clobbered in their season opening game versus the rightfully-much-maligned Dallas Cowboys. The final score, 37-7, isn't even indicative of just how poorly the Steelers played: Their only touchdown came with about 3 minutes to go in the 4th quarter against Dallas' second string. After a 5-0 pre-season and fan expectations that were a mile high, this was a real kick in the groin.
Salvaging the day, the family trooped over to San Jose for a minor league baseball game, a perfect example of what sports should be. These are players who play for the love of the game (because the salary stinks) and the dream of making the Major Leagues. The purity is utterly refreshing, and outside of a slight sunburn, this was a great way to celebrate Erin's dad's birthday (for the second year running).
August 29, 1997
Erin completes her first week back at school and pronounces it a roaring success. She studied a lot of classroom management materials over the summer and it's already paying big dividends.Speaking of dividends, anybody else's stocks taking a beating in the last two weeks? Anybody else predict a 10 percent decline? Anyway, the thing to know is that this is a blip on the radar screen. The Dow is headed to 9000 and the only question is when. Don't let this be the reason you decide now is a lousy time to start or to continue investing. Find some other, more irrational reason.
August 28, 1997
Upgraded to System 7.6.1 today, a process made longer by having a really small internal hard drive. Since 7.6 is the last System which will run on my Mac IIci, this is probably the last big upgrade I'll have to worry about until I get another computer. That's good, because despite increased features and stability, I always feel nervous about changing System software.Had Erin's colleagues and our friends Tina, Dana, Steve and Jen over for dinner and a discussion on the first week of school (and all that entails). I had computer work to get done so I was little more than an eavesdropper on most of the affair, but I was left with no doubt that St. Francis has a very talented group of young teachers.
August 25, 1997
I forgot to mention yesterday that I finally got a chance to play with Apple's System 8 which St. Francis HS wisely put on all their Macs in the teachers' lounge. Stable, fast, and chock-full of features would probably be my mini-review. The only real downside I can find is that it's a beasty-sized install of 90 megs. Of course that's the maximum install, and you could probably cut it in half by not putting all the junk (i.e. MS Explorer) that comes with, but that's your call. It's an operating system, after all, so that it's big and powerful only makes sense. (If you want something that doesn't make sense try a 30 meg install for MS Word 6. Thirty megs for a word processor!) Anyhow, the thing to know is that MacOS 8 should be a terrific upgrade from System 7.x, and now that I've used it I can heartily recommend it from first-hand experience. And, yes, it's better than Windows 95—so was System 7.5.August 24, 1997
If it's true that we always hurt the ones we love, then the San Jose Clash's love for their fans must know no bounds. Leading 2-1 over the Kansas City Wizards going into the final minute, the Clash suffer a defensive breakdown of horrific proportions and let KC tie the game. After a lengthy shootout (can't anybody figure out how to score in these things?), the Clash collapse like a house of cards in a windstorm. This is the sixth time this season that the Clash has let in a goal in the final four minutes of a game, and if it's tormenting the players, I assure you that it's equally aggravating to those of us who choose to subject ourselves to this torture.Planning for my 1998 album has begun in earnest. I've laid out a technological roadmap for its creation, enlisted the help of my good friend (and brilliant musician) Garr, and started putting my conceptualizations into words. Musically and lyrically I have a framework for 11 out of the 12 songs I'm looking at putting on the album, but that's not to say that there won't be some huge changes along the way. Additional info can be found in my new Music section.
August 22, 1997
Erin's first day back at the funny farm, and freshman classes are apparently off to a rousing start. After last academic year's torture-test, we're both hopeful that Erin can spend fewer than 12 hours a day at school on a regular basis. Otherwise, I think we'll both go insane. Check back in a couple weeks for the scoop.Dinner tonight with Erin's parents, Bernard and Liz, Erin's aunt Connie and uncle Warren along with brother-in-law Mark, sister Christine and birthday-boy brother Joe. Joe's off next week for his senior year at Sonoma State, making this something of a short-term farewell party, too. Great time had by all? Yep!
My Steelers finish the pre-season 5-0, boding well for their Super Bowl chances. It's been a long time since I've seen a Steelers team that looked this good, but the real test comes on opening day when they face the Cowboys (most of whom are probably out on probation by this point).
August 20, 1997
Continuing our "dinner with friends" trend (since my back is now able to withstand it), we dined tonight with our friend Sheila who, like Brian and Erin, is a religion teacher. Had yet another great discussion about teaching morality, and one in which I may have stumbled onto a novel and useful teaching technique: brainstorm as a class the values and behaviors of the "ideal person" (which is who the Church exhorts us to be anyway), then place this "ideal person" in different situations requiring moral decisions. Students are then freed at least somewhat from the pressure of defending their own actions, ideal moral behavior is discussed and modeled, and it's accomplished in a secular manner (without reference to Jesus, who for some students carries emotional or psychological baggage). On the face of it, this strikes me as a very usable educational device.Mac rumors continue to fly concerning Apple and Power Computing. It sounds as if Apple is either buying Power or buying its license to build Macs (in which case I suppose Power would switch to PC machines?). Supposedly we'll get an answer to this by end of week.
I'm now an official member of the U.S. Chess Federation which means virtually nothing in terms of me improving my game. Well, I do get a subscription to Chess Life and a nifty U.S. Chess mouse pad. And, oh, a little plastic membership card. Look out Garry Kasparov.
I've gone and made yet another on-line purchase. (And look world, as long the dealer is reputable and the order form is encrypted there is nothing to fear. I swear I don't know why the public is so paranoid about this process. This is at least my third or fourth on-line VISA order. Really, it's no sweat.) Mac System 7.6.1 for $6 plus shipping. Normal retail? $69. (See? On-line is great!)
Speaking of chess, I received the truly cool ChessMaster 4000 by Mindscape via U.S. Postal today. I could rattle on for another day about how great ChessMaster is, so I'll just give you this one example: Say you're playing a game and want the computer's advice on what your next move should be. Most chess programs will suggest a move, for example "Bxa7." Well, ChessMaster not only gives you the move, it gives you a paragraph of details: "You should move Bxa7 which not only takes the Knight but applies increased pressure to the King...etc...etc..." That's the tip of the iceberg in terms of features, making this the best $10 I've spent in a long time.
August 19, 1997
Great dinner this evening with friends Brian and Debbie and their ever-growing 2-year-old Erin. Brian, like "Big Erin," is a religion teacher, so we talked (again) late into the night about values and morals education and its implications on society. I swear I could talk and think about this stuff for days—maybe longer if the pay was better. What a great couple and what a terrific daughter!August 18, 1997
Rumor on the 'net late this evening is the Apple is buying rival Mac-clone manufacturer Power Computing. If true (and I believe it is), it would provide a big boost to Apple hardware technology and increase Apple's overall marketshare. On the downside, it probably spells the end of Apple licensing the MacOS to outside manufacturers like UMAX and Motorola. It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out.Erin and I finally caught (pun intended) Kevin Smith's thought-provoking Chasing Amy, a character-driven sexual identity flick. I fell asleep during Smith's Clerks and I've not seen his follow-up Mallrats, but Amy was excellent. There's enough here just in verbal riffs to be captivated by dialogue alone. Quirky and engrossing, this is everything independent film-making should be. Assuming you're not put off by "adult themes" and vulgar language, Chasing Amy is highly recommended.
August 17, 1997
The Clash jump to a 3-0 halftime lead before squeaking out a 3-2 victory over the L.A. Galaxy. The first half was as good as I've ever seen the Clash play. The second half was something else. Remarkably, the victory keeps the Clash, who remain mired at the bottom of the league, in the playoff hunt.It's far too soon for it, but I'm excited anyway about the prospect of this year's Steelers team. Now 4-0 in pre-season, the Steelers look as strong as anything in recent memory. Of course they open against the Cowboys, so we shall see.
August 16, 1997
Moving day for Mark and Christine. (Christine being Erin's sister—my sister-in-law—and Mark being Christine's husband.) Back concerns kept me from being much more than a bystander most of the time, but I nonetheless enjoyed taking the tour of their new place in Redwood City. With lots of interior space, a nice yard and a pool outback—not to mention a great neighborhood—it looks like it shall be a great home for them.August 15, 1997
House-warming party for friends (and Erin's fellow teachers at SF) Dana and Allie. After a summer of not seeing them, it was great to connect back up. Parties being what they are, we didn't get a chance to talk with them as much as we'd like, but meeting with all variety of their friends, relatives and neighbors was also great fun.Won my first on-line auction today, buying the highly-regarded program ChessMaster4000 for $10 plus shipping. Normal retail is around $40, which should give you some idea of the bargains available. Selection, however, is limited.
August 14, 1997
I'll be starting an Experimental HTML section soon which will hold various projects I'm working on for the website. Stuff may not work, but at least this way I won't feel overly guilty when it goes 404 or malfunctions in some other manner. Who knows? This might keep me from deleting half of my opening page.August 13, 1997
Nothing like a little mechanical traction to really set you up for living! Yes, the good 15 minutes worth I received during today's physical therapy worked like a charm, and I find that my progress toward spinal health and happiness continues. Now at 65 degrees range of motion which, while not showing quite as much leg flexibility as I'd hope, shows a substantial improvement over the 30 degrees I tested at last week.August 12, 1997
Finally completed my first advertisement, something most of you will likely consider a dubious step forward. Ah, the price of progress! Because the web is increasingly a commercial medium and because on-line advertising is playing an ever-larger role, I would think my education incomplete if I didn't at least do a little work of this kind. Did I mention that it involves animations? There's some value to that, too. I'll let everyone "click-through" for the details, but suffice to say I don't expect any advertisers.I've been listening to early Duran Duran, specifically their self-titled 1981 album. Best known for songs like Girls On Film, Planet Earth and Is There Something I Should Know?, my favorites are actually the infectious Sound of Thunder and the evocative instrumental Tel Aviv. It's clearly not as complex as their later work, but that's not to say that it's unsatisfactory if you're a Duranie fan. I find theirs particularly intelligent pop music, if such a contradiction can be supported.
Erin and I finished reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, our interest in which was particularly kindled by the excellent A&E production we've seen numerous times. The book, though written in something of an old-style English and in laboriously long sentences, was well worth reading for its shrewd analysis of human behavior if nothing else. If you're a lover of romance, so much the better.
August 10, 1997
Had an evening rendezvous with friends Terri and Jim who were in town from their homebase in Eugene. Erin and Terri are friends from way back and hearing them reminisce about the old backyard fort (with an upstairs!) and Terri's "little things drawer" (which held all manner of knick-knacks) was a lot of fun.August 9, 1997
Well there's nothing like being so incompetent with HTML as to wipe out all traces of your opening page, but I'm nothing if not persistent, and at long last I've succeeded in obliterating all traces of the text that for months adorned the front door of the Davison website. So it'll be a couple days until I can resurrect a suitably hip group of sentences to amuse my loyal readers from the outset. In the meantime, everything else should work just fine until I'm able to screw up that html code too. It's just a matter of time, I'm sure.On the brighter side, I've got a web counter going, and I've put an ad banner up (currently advertising for advertising). I also got my PGP public keys set up so that anybody who wants them can get them off the site again, this time without cutting and pasting.
August 8, 1997
I continue to ponder the idea of doing some substitute teaching at Saint Francis High School. My enthusiasm for the idea waxes and wanes. I like the idea of being able to help high schoolers grow in "out-of-curriculum" areas like responsibility, citizenship, justice, trustworthiness, etc. I realize I'm speaking essentially of values and morals education. It's just that I find these the most important of and, sadly, the most neglected of, educational priorities. As a substitute, to what extent I can have an impact in these areas is an open question.In the on-going saga of the baddest back in the west, life is looking up. Walking is much less painful than even a week ago. Jogging still weeks away, but I do believe that the gleam has returned to my eye.
August 6, 1997
Finally summoned the courage to sit through the Oscar-winning (anyone notice the trend here?) Platoon. Violent. Terrifying. Gripping. Proof that war is hell. Antidote for the Rambo-culture. Picture of the year.August 5, 1997
Watched the Oscar-winning (Best Foreign Language Film, 1989) Cinema Paradiso, an excellent and very moving Italian picture which celebrates cinema and deals with themes of friendship, time, nostalgia, love and success.Also took in the Charlton Heston classic Planet of the Apes, winner of two Academy Awards. Admittedly the human acting here is feeble (the ape acting is excellent) and the dialogue is shallow. That said, the movie is entertaining and like all great science fiction touches on many larger issues, such as the nature of humanity, humankind's treatment of animals and the potential conflict between scientific truth and religious heresy.
August 4, 1997
Continuing my long-term trend of picking up high tech components on the cheap, I grabbed a $30 24-bit video card for my Mac IIci today. Installation, both hardware and software, was the usual Mac-snap, so now I have the twin benefits of (1) millions of on-screen colors available and (2) a 68030 processor unburdened by having to churn through video work. Programs, particularly Netscape Navigator, are noticeably faster.For my next magic trick I'll attempt to find an '040 accelerator for under $100. Then we'll have new life in this ol' beasty for sure.
August 2, 1997
Confirmed the happy news that finally, at long-last, I've paid off my Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL). From a strictly objective point of view it may have been a mistake to pay off the 8.41 percent loan early when the stock market is going gangbusters. (Our portfolio is up 40.5 percent this year.) But one becomes psychologically drained (not to mention financially drained) in having to take $150 cash flow hits month after month. Now if it weren't for that 5 percent Perkins Loan, in my case a much smaller loan than the GSL, I'd no long-term debts at all.Nonetheless, you'll forgive me if I do a little celebrating.
Speaking of which, enjoyed a well-attended open house party with the in-laws, Bernard and Liz. My back prevented me from staying for the full affair, but the couple hours I was there were terrific.
August 1, 1997
Erin and I finished up watching the A&E version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice for the umpteenth time. A five hour extravaganza, it's also one of the best productions (not to mention stories) ever to grace the small screen.
