One good take on the issue (which was posted over in the blue, though I don't recall by whom) is from Naked Capitalism. Seeking Alpha has a strongly opinionated view, along with a series of links to other commentators.

Economists of all ideologies (from, say, Greg Mankiw to Paul Krugman) seem to agree that the plan as proposed is a bad idea. But, as pointed out above, the debate is more along the lines of good plan-versus-bad plan, and not whether we should do something... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 10:21 AM on September 22, 2008

YT links where available...

Nick Lowe - They Called it Rock
The Velvet Underground - Rock and Roll (the classic statement.)
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show - Cover of the Rolling Stone (a novelty, but on point.)
CSS - Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex (also semi-famous for an iPod touch fanboy commercial.)
Jackson Browne - The Load Out (perhaps the definitive song of life on the road / touring. He's a terrific lyricist.)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 9:31 AM on April 28, 2008

Fair use may cover this -- even if you're hosting the content yourself. (Though a fair use claim may be somewhat questionable if you're taking several *minutes* of a film, even with editing and commentary.) The bigger problem is that fair use is in the nature of an affirmative defense.

What that means, basically, is that you may have a right to use these clips under 17 USC 107, but you won't be able to prove it unless you go through a fair bit of litigation in a US... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 4:16 PM on April 16, 2008

I know you're asking about the IT end of the spectrum but since you said you were considering law school, and speaking as a guy currently there (and one who used to work as a database and network admin)...

...if you're seeking a 9-5 type job, law school's probably not the right choice, in the end. The system is pretty well rigged so that you graduate with enough debt (up to and over $100k) that you take the highest paying job (with concomitant demands on your time and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 9:54 PM on April 15, 2008

I'm following up on this old post, since I noticed people are still favorite-ing and hence searching it out.

Caye Caulker is terrific if you're searching for something a little unusual, but still in the warm/romantic category. (though, honestly, it'd be a great place to visit with a group of folks, too.) Very low key, good mix of nationalities/ages/lifestyles, and entirely unpretentious. And cheap, to boot. (It's *not* super-high-end luxury, though, so if you're seeking... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 6:14 PM on March 10, 2008

nth-ing talk to an attorney -- not just on the framing issue, but because there are other things that may be lurking in that contract that aren't quite apparent to you, but could get caught by a pro. depending on how much you stand to make (or lose), it may be worthwhile, but you'll have to do the math yourself. and, of course, you're not bound to take the contract as it exists now, with its exact language, if the gallery owner/agent is willing to discuss.

a cheap option... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 6:08 PM on March 10, 2008

Peter Wolf - Nothing but the Wheel (a song about driving old two-lanes, featuring Mick Jagger and the lyric "41 goes on and on")
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Counting Down the Hours ("But after listening all morning, as I drove down 95 / To a story of detainees who were barely kept alive ...")
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 8:18 AM on December 28, 2007

First, to second a couple tracks recommended above:
-"I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day" has always captured this emotional tension to my mind. Pedro the Lion does a great, measured, thoughtful version.
-"Fairytale of New York" looks both forward and backward in time, reflects on good times and bad, and it's sung by a man spending Christmas Eve in the drunk tank. Sold.

on the hopeful front, Ron Sexsmith - Maybe This Christmas... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 11:26 AM on December 16, 2007

Oh, and if you're looking for something a little more meditative / rooted in the religious aspects of Christmas, check out Dave Matthews' "Christmas Song." (Not the same as "chestnuts roasting...") It's, in a sense, a retelling of the life of Christ from the Gospels, which has its own highs and lows, hopes and pains. It's not preachy, it's not pushy, but it's extremely engaging.

I'm not a huge DMB fan in general, but he wrote a helluva song here.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 11:32 AM on December 16, 2007

Street parking is the way to go. You'll have to drive around for a while, but hey, that's the name of the game.

If you *really* get stuck on parking down in the 80s, roll on up Columbus to 110th where it becomes Morningside Drive. I've yet to see the spots get filled there (though I don't know the cleaning schedule / if it's suspended next week.)

If security's gonna be a big concern on Thursday, maybe consider springing for a garage that one... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 3:23 PM on December 15, 2007

Again, this all hinges on what TN law is, but:

-Prosecutors aren't involved in civil matters, only criminal matters, so there's no prosecutor to prohibit from doing anything.
-As a general rule no, the prosecutor in a *criminal* case cannot testify as a witness (there may be some limited exceptions.) Your case, however, is most likely not considered a criminal case for procedural purposes.

Most states have three classes of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 10:42 PM on December 13, 2007

I've seen this tagcloud around -- mostly State of the Union and inaugurals (from lots of POTUSAs.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 9:29 PM on December 10, 2007

If by Brubeckian, you mean a sound built around a talented jazz pianist -- Brubeck was my gateway into Bill Evans (another big name you're likely already familiar with -- but on the off chance you're not, thought I'd throw him out there.) Live at the Village Vanguard is as good a starting point as any.

Another very listenable couple piano albums came from Vince Guaraldi (yeah, yeah, the Charlie Brown guy.) It's not revolutionary work, necessarily, but I am quite fond of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 3:58 PM on December 10, 2007 marked best answer

VAXen, my children, just don't belong some places.
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 4:25 PM on December 5, 2007 marked best answer

oh, this sounds familiar. I grew up in southwest MI, and my grandparents own a farm there. practically every year, they have problems with unauthorized hunters. (it's good hunting -- lots of forest adjacent to corn and soybean fields.)

I remember my grandfather going out there with his truck and pulling down treestands. that, of course, is not the by-the-book way of solving the problem, but it did get the message across. (and nobody ever retaliated that I know of.)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 4:19 PM on November 18, 2007

Sam Cooke recorded "Bring It On Home to Me." Carla Thomas then recorded "I'll Bring It On Home to You." That's the most direct response I can think of that hasn't been given.

Jimmy Eat World's "Authority Song" was (at least somewhat) inspired by John Cougar Mellencamp's song of the same title / playing it on the jukebox. (The same song also name-checks the Jesus and Mary Chain album "Automatic".)

Come to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 3:40 PM on October 25, 2007

SEC rules require the disclosure of damn near everything pertinent these days, at least from the perspective of an individual investor.

The only informational rights a shareholder gets that the general public doesn't effectively have comes in a few very specific things, such as the right to demand an inspection of corporate books and records, and the right to get a list of shareholders. (This is under Delaware law, which governs most US companies. It's the case in most... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 8:55 AM on October 24, 2007

nthing the "call them" response. The handy book of guidelines I got from the career services office at my school says anything after 2 weeks is legit cause to touch base. Granted, I think our career services office is run by a bunch of chuckleheads, but that advice still stands.

FWIW, I got an offer from an NYC firm something like 5 weeks after interviewing with them. (They called after a month, and well after I had given up, to say "yeah, we're still... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 10:23 AM on October 13, 2007 marked best answer

I ran FC for a test deployment of postgres with several gigs of data on a box not too different from the ones chundo spec'ed. no problems to speak of with the hardware config. so yeah, seconded.

also, the project sounds like a good (and useful) one. I spent my undergrad years working techside and talent/airside of a commercial-driven (but nonprofit) station...and I'm still in contact with those folks. I'd love to play with / pass along a test release. email in profile, etc etc.
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 9:29 PM on May 10, 2007

By title, off the top of my head--
December '63 (Oh What a Night) - Four Seasons / Frankie Vallie / many others
Last Nite - The Strokes
Another Saturday Night - Cat Stevens, sure, but originally Sam Cooke
Midnite Cruiser - Steely Dan
Night by Night - Steely Dan
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - Genesis
Goodnight, Goodnight - Hot Hot Heat
Tell Her Tonight - Franz Ferdinand
Such a Night - Dr.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 4:13 PM on May 10, 2007

oh, and quick addendum, for classic rock's sake:

After Midnight - Eric Clapton
Living After Midnight - Judas Priest


...and of course, that late-night driving song, for when it's half past four and you're shifting gear....
Radar Love - Golden Earring
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 4:16 PM on May 10, 2007

"Johnny Get Angry" has to be one of the worst songs ever written.

Soul-wise, Sam Cooke has a song called "Sugar Dumpling" that strikes me as fairly patronizing:

Now whenever I'm hungry
I tell her, fix me something to eat
She rushes in the kitchen
And fixes me a dinner with
Seven different kinds of meat

Another good... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 4:01 PM on May 10, 2007

Nada Surf - Popular is the most mainstream example that comes to mind. Deep? No. But it does make its own statement in its own sophomoric way.

A number of underground hiphop types have little tracks like this. One particularly weird example that comes to mind is MC Paul Barman - A Somewhat New Medium.

Also, some of Cake's earlier/weirder stuff straddles the line of spoken word (when John McCrea didn't even TRY to sing.) Race Car Ya-Yas, Mr.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 9:32 PM on May 5, 2007

The Upper Valley has some terrific hikes, ranging from piece-o-cake to oh-dear-god-it-burns. Mount Moosilauke is one of my favorite ones in the White Mountains, and there are some fairly moderate trails. (The Lodge is also just incredibly cool.) If you're in the Valley, I second the recommendation to touch base with the DOC.

The Dartmouth College graduation is the 10th of June; if you're up that weekend (or the few days preceding it), good luck finding accommodations... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 9:19 PM on May 5, 2007

Obviously, one can't give specific advice without knowing the specifics of your loans, but a couple general thoughts:

Be careful about consolidation. If you're not going to be getting a (significantly) lower rate, it's often not worth it -- and the way the student loan market has moved in the past year or so, rates aren't that great for many recent borrowers. What a lot of those consolidation solicitations fail to point out is that they have the bonus effect of removing... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 9:03 AM on April 30, 2007

I'll second Warren Dunes, if you like camping. I used to go there a fair bit back in high school (and some college summers, too.)

And yeah, probably best to stay out of Benton Harbor. St. Joseph, which is across the river from it, isn't a bad little town, if a bit touristy.

If you're in that neck of the woods, you might also want to check out Van Buren State Park, which is a bit farther north, toward South Haven. Also nice.
(You... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 4:06 PM on April 25, 2007

*smacks forehead*
Sorry, just looked at the tags.

There are also a ton of B&Bs in South Haven which go for pretty reasonable rates, if you're looking for something more "romantic" / traditional. A fair number of reasonably priced restaurants in the same vein, too.

St. Joe, I'm not as sure about, as I haven't made it down that way much.
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 4:10 PM on April 25, 2007

Haruki Murakami has a few things that veer toward this territory (Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World), though he's not that far from it in general.

As for "slumming," I'm reminded of something Vonnegut once said:
"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled "Science Fiction" ... and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 1:27 PM on April 22, 2007

Power supply is a likely candidate, especially given the way you describe how it won't turn back on after an hour or so, and the age of the PSU.

If you've got a dead screen, fans running / hard drives spun up, and blinkenlights (no POST, but either keyboard lock lights or the LEDs on the front are flickering), it's generally either PSU or motherboard, and more commonly PSU in my experience.

One word of advice: don't cheap out on the replacement... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 7:51 AM on April 20, 2007

While not specifically about foreign policy, a Rolling Stone profile from a while back about Tim LaHaye might provide a little background. (LaHaye wrote the ridiculously popular / creepy Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, and is also well-connected with the conservative movements like Moral Majority and the somewhat shadowy Council for National Policy.) It talks a little about the network of these guys, and some of the motivations: Reverend Doomsday

For a view... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 11:23 AM on April 19, 2007

In addition to War on Errorism, check out NOFX's album "Wolves In Wolves' Clothing", with such fun tracks as "USA-holes" and "Leaving Jesusland." (Fat Mike, of NOFX, was the driving force behind the Rock Against Bush compilations mentioned above.")

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists also have a number of songs that, while not specifically naming Dubya, are REAL pissed about the current administration. ("The High Party", etc.) It's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 11:11 AM on April 19, 2007

off the top of my head:

Elvis Costello - Mystery Dance
Ben Folds Five - One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces
Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag
Violent Femmes - Prove My Love (more geekishly-danceable than Kiss Off / Add It Up, IMO)
Odds - Someone Who's Cool
Warren Zevon - Poor, Poor Pitiful Me
Timbuk3 - Assholes on Parade

in a sense (of HS-ish rejection):
J. Geils Band -... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 4:55 PM on April 17, 2007

Well, according to last.fm, we have "Super" musical compatibility, so I'll drop a suggestion or two. (My username is the same there as here, for the record.)

If you're looking for something literate and musically interesting from the rock genre, try Steely Dan. (Can't Buy a Thrill is straight rock, later albums move more toward jazz-fusion.)

If you're digging early Elvis Costello, check out anything from Nick Lowe's early years (The... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 5:55 PM on April 10, 2007 marked best answer

I have it too -- and "jump cut" is exactly how I describe it.

In my case, though, I have a pretty good idea what the cause is. A year or so ago, I had minor surgery to correct my strabismus. I've got mild lateral nystagmus too.

Put the conditions together, plus a change in the vision system, and my brain just hasn't been able to process things quite right since. For example, I'll just be reading, and--boom--the words will shift... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 5:44 PM on April 10, 2007

No collection is complete without a little soul (and, hell, the things we've heard from the 60s onward in pop probably wouldn't have happened without it.)

A few broad-spectrum starter soul albums:

Sam Cooke - Portrait of a Legend
Otis Redding - The Very Best of Otis Redding (Vol. 1) [Rhino]
Wilson Pickett - The Very Best of Wilson Pickett [Rhino]

...those three alone just might blow your mind; they... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 9:54 AM on April 6, 2007

I'll join the chorus and say that while Zinn's a helluva read, I wouldn't take it as a starting point. (Get a framework of your own, pick up People's History, then watch the fireworks start.)

If you want an accessible (and very interesting) book on the Founders, a good jumping off point might be Joseph Ellis' Founding Brothers, which is a series of stories about those oft-referred-to-by-damn-near-everybody-in-politics characters. (If memory serves, it picked up the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 10:04 PM on April 2, 2007

To join the chorus, applications have to be reinstalled.

As for moving data, you've got options. If you've got a home network up already, then Windows' Simple File Sharing will let you copy things across. (Just create a network-writable folder on the new machine, set the old one as network-readable, and off you go.)

If you're a little more confident with your networking chops, a crossover cable and a little manual configuration of IP addresses as... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 8:29 PM on March 20, 2007

Speaking as somebody in graduate school at the moment (read: somebody with a substantial sum of private student loans), I'd say it's important to start building up your credit score now if you think that's a possibility.

Why? Well, higher credit score translates to lower rates on many loans--including private education loans. A higher credit score also helps if you buy a car, a house, etc, and need to borrow.

I started in pretty much the same... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 8:21 PM on March 20, 2007

I don't know if it's the most famous, but my personal favorite:

When President Wilson was courting a widow by the name of Edith Galt, circa 1914, the Washington Post was, naturally, covering it in their gossip column.

Now, the intended tidbit read: "Rather than paying attention to the play, the President spent the evening entertaining Mrs. Galt."

What was printed in the first edition:
"...the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by theoddball at 2:01 PM on February 27, 2007