July 31, 1998
Viewed the magnificence that is Titanic yesterday. My review will be posted shortly. Those of you who know me well will probably by unsurprised by my central conclusion, while others of you will probably be aghast at my take on what has become the most popular movie in history.

We picked up another Macintosh yesterday, this one an LC. Erin immediately dubbed it "Veronica"—probably because all our other machines (Zeke, Henry, and Oliver) are boys. Anyway, I've been cleaning the LC a bit (talk about dust city), and I should have it powered up and tested later today. Since that gives us four computers and up until six months ago we got by with one, I can't imagine that we'll be keeping them all no matter how great I think Mac technology is.

July 30, 1998
It very nearly blows my little mind, but the fact is that Erin and I have now been married for four years. And without ever once disagreeing about what to watch on TV. Sounds almost unnatural, doesn't it?

I don't know if four years is a lot by today's standards or not. I guess I'm more inclined to take one day at a time and then occasionally look back in awe at what we've achieved together. I think Erin and I still consider ours a pretty young relationship in many respects. Maybe we see a "big picture" while taking it a day at a time. I don't know.

We've got a framed saying on the wall: "Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them." I like to thing that the secret to our success so far is that we don't waste those opportunities.

From the It's-A-Crazy-World Dept.: Today's San-Jose Mercury News begins its story on Linda Tripp, of Monica Lewinsky betrayal fame, this way:

She has been ridiculed for her appearance, assailed as a treacherous friend, relentlessly shellacked as a political operative out to get President Clinton and lampooned without mercy on television.

I'm reminded of a line from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: "What did you say of me that I did not deserve?" Linda Tripp is at minimum a backstabber of the first order, and despite Tripp's assertions yesterday that she is just an ordinary American yokel, I think I speak for most Americans when I say, "With friends like you, who needs enemies?" And if Tripp is the common, everyday American she asserts, this nation is headed for hell in a hand basket.

In other Lewinsky-related news, President Clinton has taken the astonishing step of agreeing to provide grand jury testimony. Most legal scholars think this is terribly foolish, but the careers of those who doubted the ability of Clinton to escape from the narrowest of confines litter the political landscape like burned out World War II tanks on the road to Berlin. Despite my belief in his guilt on the charge of perjury, it would be a huge mistake to underestimate his ability (1) to pull a Houdini-like escape from his present unenviable situation and (2) to eat a Big Mac in under a minute flat.

The other big-yet-seemingly-underreported story yesterday came from Japan, where bank loan defaults are now estimated around $1 trillion, or 24 percent of their GDP. If that $1 trillion number is accurate—and many analysts seem to think it's low—then the "Asian flu" is going to be a whole lot worse than people expect. This is probably obvious, but I don't advise investments in the Far East for the foreseeable future.

I received the fascinating shock last night that Yahoo! had gone and re-worked their chat system without telling me. (Me! King of the Happy Meal!) Many apologies to those who tried to connect up for last night's chat. I was on for a while, but then the Yahoo! system (which is still getting the bugs worked out of it) booted me off. On the brighter side, there's a lot of neat new features, including an AOL Messenger-like Yahoo! Pager. If someone would like to help me test it out let me know, and we'll have a gas.

July 29, 1998
Well, it simply doesn't get any more happenin' than this. I'm thrilled to announce that Excite now does the right thing when you do a web search for "Davison Online" (with quotes). In addition, it lists one of my all-time favorite sites, Joshua Allen's Fireland Text Products, where Davison Online is an "officially sanctioned link."

I've become increasingly enamored with Excite in recent weeks, so much so that yesterday I replaced My Yahoo! with My Excite as my Netscape startup page. I still need to explore Excite's chat rooms, but I might be switching over on that as well.

Over the weekend, I was pondering selling off our Merck stock since Erin and I might need it to finance a home purchase in the next 2-4 years. Well, recent news has made me decide to hold onto it and attempt the home purchase (whenever that will be) without it. First, Merck announced it was buying back another $5 billion in its own stock (they still have $2.5 billion to go on their last buy back); second, Moody's re-affirmed Merck's AAA rating; and third, Merck announced a 12 percent dividend increase. Particularly with the American population aging and using more pharmaceuticals as a result, I don't think I want to sell out of Merck any time soon.

I was also even more seriously considering selling PPG, but it looks like the somewhat disappointing financial results were due mostly to one-time events and the now-settled GM strike. There's some great buys out there in closed-end foreign country funds, but I think I'll be sticking with PPG for at least a little bit longer. (Among closed-end funds, I currently like the Brazil Fund and the Mexico Fund.)

July 28, 1998
Went for a long run/hike at Rancho San Antonio, once again spotting deer, quail, squirrels, and assorted other wildlife. Too bad there's not more open space preserves like that one around here.

In news that should surprise no one, a U.S. appeals court ruled yesterday that President Clinton's White House lawyers must testify in the Monica Lewinsky investigation. The truth is coming out soon now, and I dare say it won't be pretty.

I've begun attaching a Pretty Good Privacy-generated digital signature to my e-mail. This will insure that the e-mail you receive from me was really sent by me. The idea that anyone would try to impersonate me is almost laughably sad, but doing a digital signature takes next to no work, so I figured "why not?" Now you can be utterly certain that the muddled and confused electronic text you receive does indeed come from the wide open spaces between my very ears.

July 27, 1998
Okay, well it wasn't until after midnight last night that I finally determined how to composite images using Photoshop's Alpha Channel. I was confused about exactly what was being masked by my selections when I created an Alpha; I had it completely backward. Though that might sound like a lot of gibberish to those of you who don't use Photoshop very much, I assure you that any graphics professionals out there reading this right now are laughing themselves silly at my ineptitude. Nonetheless, expect more Photoshop updates as I continue to learning the program.

Heavy rotation in the CD player these days: Quadrophenia by The Who, Open Your Eyes by Yes, and Medazzaland by Duran Duran.

I've started Barbara Tuchman's The Zimmerman Telegram, her book prior to the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Guns of August. I think that Guns is better, but that doesn't stop this from being excellent reading.

I've downloaded a demo of Metro 4, a MIDI sequencer/digital audio recorder package from CakeWalk. Since it's a demo it doesn't let me save anything, and it quits after about 25 minutes, but for just learning the MIDI ropes, it looks ideal. The plan is to practice with the Metro 4 demo until I order Mark of the Unicorn's superior Digital Performer 2.4 in a few weeks.

July 26, 1998
I spent a good couple of hours yesterday trying (once again) to figure out how Adobe Photoshop 3.05 works. Currently I'm beating my head against the wall trying to figure out how Alpha Channels work. I can create them easily enough, and I understand that they create a mask of a selection. But how do I use them to composite images? That type of thing is really Photoshop's bread-and-butter if you ask me, and I hate it that I haven't been able to solve this riddle as fast as I would like. I must have re-read the Alpha Channel section three or four times, and I'm still not quite getting it. On the brighter side, I've learned a lot of neat new selection tool and magnifying glass tool tricks.

July 25, 1998
So Daddy-o headed back to the great Pacific Northwest this morning, after two successive days of hiking the hill of Rancho San Antonio. Yesterday's 7-8 mile hike was even more grueling than Thursday's. I don't know what kind of elevation change we're talking about, but we had a very nice view of the Peninsula when we got toward the top. And of course we saw the requisite deer, birds, and squirrel. But my legs are aching, and I'm taking the weekend off.

Dad and I spent a good couple hours in the library researching various stock and mutual selections in ValueLine. I'm not wholly convinced, but it may be time for me to sell off my all-time big gainer, the pharmaceutical giant Merck. I hesitate to do so since it's done so well for us (and it remains a superb company), but it looks like short-term growth prospects may have slowed, and we might need the cash in the next 2-4 years for a house down payment. That's not necessarily enough time for a rebound if Merck tanks in the short-term.

Another stock I'm looking at selling is PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass). It's done fairly well (up 16% annualized) since I bought it in January 1997 for my IRA account. Recently, PPG has been hurt somewhat by the GM strike, but more than that, Dad has convinced me that I could (and should) have other securities with better long-term potential in my IRA.

So right now I'm looking at a variety of closed end country funds, especially those trading at a discount to their Net Asset Value (NAV). More details to come as I figure them out, but rest assured, fellow investors, I will name names!

July 24, 1998
It's not so much that we hiked a good 7 or 8 miles at Rancho San Antonio yesterday that has my feet so sore. It's that we went up and down so many hills that was the real killer. (The previously-unknown-to-me "Mora Trail" turned out to be one fairly steep climb.) Of course we got to see the standard lot of deer, quail, and farm animals along the way. The pleasant cool breeze was a nice relief from the sun too. So I'd call this "happiness."

July 23, 1998
"Da Man" (aka my dad) finally made his way down from Salem, Oregon to visit Erin and me in our humble abode in Mountain View. He drove the entire trip in one day, which is not wholly unexpected if you know his personality; he's very much a "go-and-do kinda guy" when it comes to travel and getting places. Which reminds me of the funny story of Dad running over my brother's foot during a family vacation in Montana, but perhaps I'll save that tale for another time....

After giving him the "budget tour" of our apartment, we took a quick stroll through the surrounding neighborhood to admire the $500,000 houses which wouldn't be worth $150,000 in Salem. Ah, what a difference the weather makes.

After our jaunt, we took a cursory look at St. Francis High School where we met up with Erin and headed out to dinner. Dad's really interested in Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, so we'll be heading there later today and tomorrow. I've not seen many animals my last few times out, but neither have I been looking all that hard. I'm sure we'll see plenty of birds if nothing else.

On an interestingly related note—especially if you've read my front page editorial encouraging my parents to buy an iMac—Dad confirmed that he and Mom are considering the purchase of the aforementioned computerized beast before the end of the year. I've quickly sweetened the pot with an offer of unlimited lifetime technical support, so I think Ma and Pa just might go for it. Here's hoping!

July 22, 1998
I've finally completed my long-awaited treatise on capital punishment, "The Death Penalty: Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong." I may not be right, but no one should accuse me of fence-sitting. Now available for reading in Opinions. Soon to be an "I-Can-Read" book.

Noticed that one of my big investment holdings, Merck, lost around $9 per share (over 7 percent of its value) when it announced yesterday that it would miss its earnings estimate by 1 cent per share. For beginning investors that sort of one-day loss can be jaw-dropping. (Okay, it can be jaw-dropping for us intermediate-level investors as well.) But the thing to know is that long-term Merck is a great company. Yes, it's overvalued currently, but in the long run it makes for an excellent core holding of an investment portfolio. These ups-and-downs just go with the territory.

Erin and I watched the 1943 Academy Award winner Song of Bernadette last night. It's made more interesting by placing it in a historical context. That is to say that the film celebrates Lourdes, France, a place which would have been under Nazi influence during the making of the film. (That's not meant to imply that the film was shot in Lourdes.) Also interesting was Vincent Price, a long-time Catholic, in the role of evil skeptic. Various theological wisdoms are bandied about during the course of the two and half hour movie, and I found them most interesting. Over all, I thought the story ran long and would have been helped by better editing. But given that it's a story of faith, one can hardly fail to comprehend how welcome a message it must have been, coming as it did in the heart of World War II.

July 21, 1998
Awoke this morning to read front page headline news of my favorite environmental group, The Nature Conservancy. They're spending a cool $19 million to buy up two environmentally important ranches, a total of 61,000 acres, here in Northern California. That's about twice the size of San Francisco, according to today's San Jose Mercury News, and it's an area "home to red-tail hawks, mountain lions, deer, and bald eagles."

One of things I like best about The Nature Conservancy is that they're a low-key group who are much more into solving problems than waging political wars. They now own or control about 10 million acres world-wide, and they're buying up and preserving new locations all the time.

If you're looking for an environmental charity to donate to, and if you prefer an approach that is less miliant and strident than, say, EarthFirst! or GreenPeace, The Nature Conservancy might be just what you're looking for. (It probably goes without saying, but Erin and I have been members for a few years now.)

July 20, 1998
Erin and I got the chance to see a gospel choir last night, and since it's a music style with which I'm not too terribly familiar, it was very interesting as well as entertaining. As one might expect, I found the piano playing particularly fascinating.

In unrelated news, I'm happy to report that I'm now successfully selling some of the Star Wars toys in my For Sale section. Getting that section moving has been a long-time goal. As a reminder, there are Star Wars toys, sports and non-sports cards, and miscellaneous computer items for sale. Some good deals, too, though I suppose I'm hardly a non-biased source.

July 18, 1998
It's been two months since I added the new counter to my main page, and I'm happy to report that we've topped 250 hits since that time. This translates into approximately 1500 over the course of a year, and I assure you all that I'll be working non-stop to post new content until the server breaks under the weight of it all.

One item which may have helped the hit count in recent days is my newly adopted policy of putting out every e-mail with a signature line that advertises the site. I'm sure I've already bored many of you with my infamous tag line of "The life and times of the world's most self-deluded on-line superstar" followed by this site's URL. Well, it seems to be working if the hit counter is any indication. Expect the propaganda wave to continue.

But don't think I won't be modifying and updating the site. No, sir! We're aiming to keep Davison On-line as fresh and vibrant as it's always been, somewhere between a vegetable platter and a stick in the mud. So the long-neglected Royal Court is undergoing a drastic makeover, which is to say that I'm killing it entirely. My sincerest and humblest thanks to Court members David Hemstreet, Dennis Scott, and David Van Driesche. I just could never figure out how to make this electronic clubhouse run the way I wanted. I may try an e-mail mailing list if the interest is there, but I need to do some technical research on that first.

In the meantime, there's lots of exciting stuff ahead that I'll be working on, from Apple's launch of the iMac, to a new high school soccer season, to a new Steelers' march toward the Super Bowl, to the release of my album, and so on. There's plenty to be excited about, and I hope you'll tune in here for my perspective on it all. Thanks for your help with the hit counter parade!

July 17, 1998
Watched the TV version of the really poorly acted Clint Eastwood flick Heartbreak Ridge. Eastwood, who also produced and directed, is passable as an older Marine Sargent who has to whip the troops into shape and lead them on the invasion of Grenada. The actors who comprise his platoon, however, deserve a kick in the pants for the horror of their performances. This is supposedly a drama, but the platoon (led by Mario Van Peebles) plays it like something out of Stripes.

The Grenada invasion sequences, on top of taking substantial liberties with history, are among the dumbest, most unrealistic I've ever seen. This was particularly apparent to me since I've been reading recently about World War I combat experiences, and soldiers reactions under fire. Heartbreak Ridge gets a special black-eye award for its treatment of and lack of mourning for soldiers dying in combat. The dialogue is trite and stilted, and the plot is clichéd and paper thin. But I'll stop now. Eastwood fans, war movie fans, or action fans can do a lot better than this. Heartbreak Ridge is a dog of a movie.

July 15, 1998
Chatted for an hour or so with my friend Dave on the Yahoo! Chat session this evening. Dave's been busy being a new dad among other things, so he's had what I consider to be a more than adequate excuse for not showing up in the last few weeks. In fact, he started off our session by typing with one hand and burping baby Jacob with the other. (Now that's talent!) Not surprisingly, Dave's typing speed increased markedly as soon as Jacob headed to bed. Erin and I are both looking forward to seeing Jacob for the first time during our upcoming trip to Oregon.

Another thing we'll be looking forward to is a respite from today's high 80s/low 90s temperatures. The summer heat wave is upon us, and I for one could just as easily do with it! As one could imagine with all these nifty electronics, the computer room can heat up in a real hurry, which means no computer or music action in the middle of the day.

Of course, right now that simply means I get to do more research for my World War I song. I've finished three books on the topic now, and I'm starting another one on the Battle of Verdun. I've more or less finished the first part of the song, so now I'm researching for the second section (since the song is chronological in nature). I've got the coda already written, though I do expect having to re-write the lyrics. While the process is time-consuming and hard work, it's also a lot of fun!

July 13, 1998
I've been working somewhat feverishly today and all weekend on my World War I song, formerly titled Verdun. I've re-written the lyrics numerous times. It's been very slow going, and it's required a lot of research. Luckily, I found an excellent resource in Barbara Tuchman's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Guns of August, which may be one of the finest non-fiction works I've ever read. It's the gripping saga of opening days of the Great War, and it reads like a novel. It also contains some very funny lines and descriptions, which I found surprising given the subject matter.

As for my song, it's currently comprised of three sections loosely based around the ideas of (1) movement from innocence to innocence lost; (2) trench warfare and the accompanying horrors; and (3) regret at the enormous, meaningless loss of life. Obviously, I want to bring more to the song than just "Looky here! This awful World War I thing was a major bummer for all concerned." Currently, the lyrics are centered around the theme of failure, giving me ample sources from which to draw so far as World War I is concerned.

My musician friend Garr asked about my motivation in writing a song on this subject, particularly since it's a topic which I can have very little personal investment or experience. Singer/songwriter Al Stewart (famous for "Song on the Radio" and "Year of the Cat") wrote a historical song about a Russian soldier in World War II, and that may have been part of my original inspiration.

More importantly, though, is my interest in exploring a moment in time when the world changed. And I don't mean simply old notions of warfare, chivalry, etc. Prior to World War I there existed a belief in the power of humankind to create a better, more civilized world. When the dogs of the first industrialized war were let loose, this ideal died, Europe buckled and crumbled into ruin, and everything from philosophy to literature to music to chess tore away from the moorings of the "old world" which had brought about such devastation.

I don't know if that's enough to make for a good song, but I'm willing to try to find out.

July 10, 1998
Had a nice dinner with our friend Dia and met her friend Jim. We'd not seen Dia in about a year, so it was great to catch up. And it turns out Jim is, among other things, a graphic and sound designer. So us Mac guys had the buzzwords flying in nothing flat as we discussed the merits of this software package versus that and the latest Apple operating system upgrades. Great fun to say the least!

July 7, 1998
Watched the A&E production of Jane Austin's Emma, a period piece much in the same vein (though much smaller in scope) as their Pride and Prejudice extravaganza. It was a little confusing at first getting all the people and names sorted out, but once that problem was resolved, it was a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Recommend if you like period pieces or romances.

Also finally followed my friend Dennis' recommendation and saw The Fifth Element, a much better science fiction flick than I expected. (Dennis now gets to say, "I told you so.") Superb in terms of special effects, it also has a very French look and feel about it, making it more of a French-Hollywood sci-fi movie. Frankly, that's a big step forward intellectually compared to most of the special effects-laden films today and a welcome change. The plot was, like many of these style of films, very predictable, but this was more than off-set by the strange nature of the scenery and quirks of the aliens and humanoids. I also found the love-war dichotomy very telling in terms of the French psychology. Recommended to action or science fiction fans.

July 6, 1998
Well, nothing like a cold to really set you up for livin'. Given the options of headache-inducing sinus congestion or drowsiness-causing pills, I've opted for the pills. G'night all!

July 4, 1998—Independence Day
We spent a wonderful late evening with friends Brian and Debbie and their daughter Erin last night. There was much debate about the morality of gambling with a consensus of sorts that said while the activity promotes greed and covetousness, it's generally acceptable as a harmless diversion for most people. That's a conclusion I support, though I should say that I'm not a big fan of gambling personally. Brian raised the interesting point that on his trips to the casino he's noticed that no one is smiling. For a supposedly fun activity, that's illustrative of something.

I've been trying to get used to the new Kensington Orbit trackball, and it's slow going, though I anticipate that ultimately it will be a huge boon to my productivity. I've had to slow down the cursor (using the Mouse control panel) since on the fastest setting I can't control the thing at all. That wasn't true with the mouse, where I've used the fastest setting for years. Of course with the Orbit I can fly my arrow around the screen much faster than with the mouse; less is more, as it were. Most everyone I know who has changed from a mouse to a trackball says that they'll never go back and can't believe they waited so long to get a trackball. I think my experience will be similar, but expect lots of heavy moaning if not.

Happy birthday, America!

July 3, 1998
We christened the Mac SE "Oliver" after "Oliver Twist" since this machine is an orphan too. I've upgraded it to System 7.01 which, while much slower than System 6.07, offers much more functionality. I confess I really am quite enamored with the little machine even though it has a processor speed rating about 1000 times slower than Zeke, my G3 machine.

Speaking of Zeke, I headed over to Fry's Electronics (one of which is located in Wilsonville along I-5 at the former Incredible Universe site for all you Portland, Oregon-based readers). I was looking for a cheap ADB mouse for Oliver and maybe a keyboard if I could swing it. Didn't find a keyboard, but they did have an ADB mouse for $9. Better, however, was their sale on the Kensington Orbit trackball for $39.95. Since it normally retails for $79.95, and I've been wanting one forever (or longer), I snapped it up and decided to let Oliver take either Henry's or Zeke's mouse. Being the little brother means you get the hand-me-downs, but I'm sure Oliver will be grateful nonetheless.

July 2, 1998
Erin and I saw the very well-made Good Will Hunting today at the local cheap theatre. Besides featuring Robin Williams' best work in years (he won the best supporting actor Oscar for this), it also has a dynamite performance from Matt Damon as Will Hunting. And the screenplay Oscar won by Damon and his buddy Ben Affleck? Deserved. The film is a little vulgar for my tastes but not in a way that didn't serve the story. I should also confess that I'm not a particularly huge fan of director Gus Van Sant, but he didn't mess this up so I won't complain. I found this a very moving picture, and I highly recommend it.

July 1, 1998
Be sure to check out the June 1998 News archives for details on my recent trip to Oregon and Alaska.

Watched the surprisingly bad How to Make an American Quilt after some prompting from Erin. Although we agreed it was a poor movie, she thinks/thought it brought up some good discussion points. While this might be true, the contrived nature of the third-rate screenplay pretty much precluded any chance that such a discussion could begin from a vantage point other than a psychoanalysis of the various female characters' personality problems. Worse, what this film attempts to pass off as wisdom is mind-bogglingly stupid, and it's a towering shame that so much acting talent should have gone to waste. If you're looking for a good "chick flick" try Fried Green Tomatoes or The Joy Luck Club instead.

Erin picked up a free Macintosh SE while I was off on my travels. I've not done any testing of it yet, but I assume that it works. Anyone (Joe?) out there have experience with Mac SEs? Any hints/tips appreciated!