Paul Duncan

Hello From the New Server!

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 09:52:44 +0000

If you can read this, then the new web server is working. Please excuse the cobwebs while I get everything set up.

A Letter of Appreciation

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:11:45 +0000

Dear Fairfax County Public Works Officials,

I would like to congratulate you on your excellent planning and execution of the road work this evening on Gallows Road. 1am is an excellent time for extremely loud trucks and construction equipment to be patching sections of road in a residential area. A particularly thoughtful touch was the drilling machine, which produces a tremendously loud noise and causes houses within a half-block radius, including mine, to shake violently.

I also notice that you had the foresight to park a large construction vehicle and a police car in front of each exit to my driveway, making departure extremely difficult and entry completely impossible. As fortune would have it, my favorite 2am leisure activity just happens to be yelling over a raucous construction equipment din in order to convince a police officer to move his car so I can get into my own driveway.

It is exemplary work like this which reassures me that my tax dollars are well-spent and that the local county officials are both competent and qualified for the job at hand.

Admiringly,

Paul Duncan

Hawaii Movies!

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 20:55:22 +0000

Here are some videos I took in Hawaii. All are in XviD format, so you'll need the right codecs for your video player.

The first two are from the Luau. Both of these came out pretty well, including the audio. Be sure to check out the Dads and Grandpas dancing.

Here's a panorama video shot from one our road trip on the last day:

Jeannie's car had a problem with the passenger-side door, so Alonzo had to do things Dukes of Hazzard-style:

Hot Fuzz Preview

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:51:20 +0000

The creators of "Shaun of the Dead" were at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse a few weeks ago to show off their latest project, "Hot Fuzz". The movie was great! At the end they did a Q&A session, which I managed to snap a couple pictures of:

Here is a quick movie (AVI/XviD/MP3) of one of the answers. Unfortunately, I didn't get the funniest stuff on film, and the lighting conditions in the Drafthouse weren't particularly conducive to cameras.

Screwy April Weather

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 11:50:45 +0000

Last weekend it was beach weather. Here's what I woke up to this morning:

Screwy DC weather...

I'm Back, I'm Alive

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 18:14:06 +0000

I'm back from Hawaii. I have the pictures uploaded, but I'm still sorting through them. Here are a couple to appease everyone until I've finished separating the wheat from the chaff:

Aloha from Hawaii!

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:25:52 +0000

The subject says it all. Yesterday I went flew from the snow on the ground in DC to Hawaii, in all it's 80 degree, 80% humitidy glory! Pictures are forthcoming; I arrived at 2300 local time — 11pm for you non-military folks — so there wasn't much in the way of light for picture taking.

With any luck I'll have some great picture for you later this evening. Speaking of later this evening, that's when Alonzo and his buddy Frank are flying in. They're both in the Deleware Air National Guard so they can fly here for free (subject to flight schedule and space availability, of course). It's the "available space" bit that's been giving them grief; they've been waiting in the Air Force equivalent of standby for two days, and they finally got a flight this morning.

Until then I suppose I'll just have to enjoy the glorious tropical weather on my own...

Maguire 2.0

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 19:22:38 +0000

John and his wife just had their kid. The name is still undecided, but here are the pictures:

Minor Site Repairs

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 03:32:41 +0000

Since I've already violating my monthly update policy, I'll add this as well: I repaired the Books and Gallery sections. Both are out of date, however.

The Speaker of the House Speaks Out

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:32:57 +0000

Apparently Dennis Hastert (R, IL), the Speaker of the House, now has his own blog. It doesn't have the dry, sanitized tone of a ghostwriter or a PR drone, so I can only assume he's doing the writing himself. Even though I don't agree with several of the points in first post, I think the idea is great; more politicians should be doing this sort of thing. According to the comments on Slashdot, Senator Barack Obama (D, IL) also has a regular podcast.

Tis the Season!

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 07:38:39 +0000

About two weeks ago I saw a guy walking along the side of the road, carrying a gas can. I was on my way home, and I thought "hey, the gas station is along the way, I'll save him 20 minutes of walking, and max out my good samaritan points for the day". So I pulled over and offered him a ride.

The first sign of that something was amiss was his shiny red gas can, which, upon closer inspection, was actually a bundle of clothes and miscellaneous trinkets. After about 30 seconds of conversation I could tell he was completely off his rocker, and, being gas can-less, he didn't need a ride to the gas station. All he really wanted — through morning DC rush-hour traffic, I might add — was a 50 mile ride to his truck. I explained to him that I had to be home quickly, and asked if there was anywhere closer I could take him. He said the hospital was fine, so I took him there. As he was getting out of the car, I realized he was either wearing his shirt backwards, or wearing an open-backed hospital gown stuffed into his pants.

This wasn't the last time I would interact with a crazy person in a hospital gown, but I'm getting ahead of myself. First, let's talk about weather.

As most of the four people who read this page know, I grew up in Oregon (south of Seattle, north of California, beer, Grateful Dead, Goonies, Short Circuit, Lewis and Clark, Oregon). The Willamette valley, to be precise. As any resident will tell you, Oregon, or at least the third that matters, has approximately two seasons: rainy and overcast. Southern California, of course, also has two seasons (sunny and warm versus sunny and hot), and Alaska does too (cold and perpetual daylight versus cold and perpetual night), so Oregon weather is about on par for the west coast.

DC weather, on the other hand, is more like a stereotypical DC native; kind of rude, terrible at driving, and way too busy. The weather here is irrational and completely unpredictable; I've been told it's a by-product of being sandwiched between a warm Atlantic jetstream and a cold Canadian one, and that we're in a valley which creates a sort of natural geological funnel. Whatever meteorological chicanery is at work, the weather here is wacky enough to keep the local news consistently wrong and provide a healthy source of gambling during the lull between football seasons.

As if having completely erratic weather wasn't enough, someone (probably a bureaucrat at some nameless, over-funded government agency) decided to cram four seasons into the same year that comfortably fits two seasons along most of the west coast: Summer (if the heat doesn't get you, the humidity will), fall (thunderstorms of the "oh shit, we're all going to die" variety), winter (blistering cold, ice, snow, more snow), and finally spring (a charming combination of left-over winter ice and fall thunderstorms, and a plague of locusts every 17 years).

Nestled between summer and fall is about a month of really great weather; the summer humidity is gone and the temperature has dropped, but the nasty cold hasn't quite crept in yet (perfect cargo shorts and t-shirt weather).

Which brings us back to this Monday. DC is right on the tail end of the cozy spot between summer and fall, so I'm sitting on my front steps, enjoying the what may be one of the last pleasant days before winter rears it's all-bets-are-off head. A guy in a hospital gown wanders past the house, makes a sharp right turn and walks down the driveway. I go back in to the house, look out the kitchen window, and watch him wander around in the back yard for a few minutes, then head back into the driveway. It's annoying and just a wee-bit disconcerting to have some random person wandering around your house, let alone a guy going commando in a paper dress. So I walk downstairs and open up the door to the driveway, and there he is, wearing a hospital gown and pissing behind my car.

...

I'm not sure if there's a moral here or not. I do, however, know that it's not the season for golden showers, that my lawn service doesn't cover watering, and that, from now on, I'll be steering clear of crazy old guys wearing hospital gowns.

Update: Lyle (term) has informed me that Texas storms put DC storms to shame, and that I may have as many as five readers. Hello everyone!

My Masterpiece

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 09:17:35 +0000

In honor of Tom (giblet) and Sue's (schmooe) new house, I've created my masterpiece, aptly titled "Dickie's House":

It's a DivX movie file, so you'll need a media player. Tom has a post about the video and my unstoppable genius.

Your Memory is in Error

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 21:34:22 +0000

Source (via Eschaton).

title

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 05:20:11 +0000

News content

Cleaning House!

rss@paulduncan.org (Paul Duncan) — Mon, 30 May 2005 03:46:42 +0000

I done some cleaning around the house this week. I picked up all the junk around my desk and also re-organized my rack. These pictures were already posted on technogobblygook page, but I know a lot of you don't read it, so I'm posting them here too. Anyway, here's a picture of my desk and my server rack, as of this week (click for a larger picture)

And here's a couple of pictures that weren't on Pablotron: the plants in my room:

Hopefully I can keep them alive for a couple of months!