Month: October 2004

Ok, I know for a fact that timpane says he watches enterprise. So I was curious on his take on Borderland. I for one thought it was an outstanding episode, despite the fact that Brent Spiner was in it.

Hey.. lots of horn myself tootin this morning.. and not just cuz of the burrito..

check this baby out: http://imdb.com/name/nm1417197/

Already there before as an actor.. but how fun is it to see my name next to “Composer”? A: Pretty dang fun. Thanks, folks for letting me gleefully brag.

EDIT by matthew: Linked.

Holy moly! I’ve been a blogslacker on my own blog for some time, but never on Barnson! Yet, here I am, having not posted in awhile..

School has eaten my soul and my time as I also try to complete this score for “Crawler” (way past deadline) – and I’ve been out of touch.

Such a shame b/c I have lots to say on Enterprise, Movies, the upcoming election, music, and such.. but I will have to keep posting less frequently until I finally finish school.

Expect a couple pretty soon, but I apologize in advance for letting this stupid real world get in the way of my digital life.

According to The Web MD, two recent studies (one eighteen years long, the other twenty years long, so “recent” relates to their findings, not to the timing of the study), Coffee consumed in large quantities reduces many health risks, and is positive for other factors. Included on the list are:

• Parkinson’s Disease: Consumption of six or more cups of coffee per day reduces risk of this disease an amazing 54%. Due to the evidence from this study, new Parkinson’s drugs are including a caffeine derivative to combat progression of the disease.
• Asthma. It’s the caffeine in coffee that dramatically reduces risk of asthma attacks.
• Headaches. An average Excedrin Migraine or Anacin dose contains 120mg of caffeine — about the same as a cup and a half of coffee.
• Endurance. The caffeine in coffee seems to improve endurance in pro athletes. But be warned, “If you a recreational athlete who is working out to reduce weight or just feel better, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough to get an athletic benefit from coffee or other caffeinated products” according to Terry Graham, PhD.
• Diabetes. Coffee promote insulin sensitivity (the opposite of insulin resistance) in cells. For borderline cases of Type II diabetes, this can prevent the onset of the disease — even if you drink decaf.
• Depression. Coffee in moderate doses, with milk, alleviates depression in many adolescents.
• Cavities. Yep, the weirdest outcome of the study, in my opinion, is that the risk of dental caries is much lower for coffee drinkers than for the control group. There is a group of chemicals, responsible for the bitter taste, which scientists are investigating due to its known antibacterial effect as possibly being responsible for this side effect.

But be warned: according to the article, “Coffee may also raise cholesterol levels in some people and may contribute to artery clogging.”

My mantra lately has been:

Your body… your science project.

This is one of my favorite webcomics ever: http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/cgi-bin/comic.pl?comic=97

Kind of geeky, but fun. Poor Yoda…

Just in case you think the Hummer isn’t a big enough consumer vehicle for you, try one of these on for size. At over 9 feet tall and built on the same platform as commercial dumptrucks and concrete mixers, the HMV has met its match on the road.

However, manufacturers say they’re not interested in competing against the Hummer in the off-road market. They say this vehicle makes a statement.

I wonder what statement that is? Maybe “I enjoy wasting my money”.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you hear about The Last Starfighter: The Musical.

Favorite quote from the review:

…the production was aware that their means to represent the CG found in the movie was severely lacking. They played-up this fact and managed to inject some humor into the scenes that relied on these campy props.

Apparently it’s actually not bad. If I ever decide to go to Manhattan, seeing this show will be on my list, somewhere between visiting Lady Liberty and seeing “Cats”.

(Huh, wait, is Cats even showing anymore?)

Oh, and I heard about another review of it here: http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/000059.html

And the web site of the theatre, though this link probably won’t reflect it since the show only runs for two weeks, is at http://www.stormtheatre.com/

—
Matthew P. Barnson

 - - - - Thought for the moment: "Why be a man when you can be a success?" 		-- Bertold Brecht

So the big Utah news of the day, warranting a front-page article in the Salt Lake Tribune is that Michael Moore, creator of Farenheit 9/11, spoke at Utah Valley State College last night.

Curiously, UVSC’s own news page doesn’t even talk about Moore speaking on their campus. I get the distinct impression that the college is embarassed by the student association’s decision to hire Moore to speak, and wishes to distance itself from the controversial action in order to preserve relationships with mostly-conservative alums that give the college most of it’s budget. But that’s just a guess 🙂 And, regardless of their own opinions on the matter, they did not interfere with the student council decision to have Moore speak — though they did buckle to pressure and schedule conservative commentator Sean Hannity to “balance” Moore’s perspecive.

For those of you who don’t understand what the hubbub is about, here’s the background. Utah County is the most conservative county in the country. The population is well over 80% members of the LDS church. It’s a singularly unique bellweather, because despite the presence of a major university (Brigham Young University) in its midst, it is still overwhelmingly right-wing.

The announcement that the student council of UVSC had spent $50,000 (including travel) of its diminutive budget to bring a single, extremely liberal speaker to the campus, made front-page news and caused a commotion the sleepy county hasn’t seen for years. Alumni began calling to revoke their pledge support. An individual in the county offered $40,000 to the student council to prevent Moore from speaking. Many conservative parents were up-in-arms, feeling that the funds of their children were being misused.

The amazing story within the story is the strength of the student council leadership in resisting bribery attempts, extortion, threats, and a lawsuit all in efforts to prevent Moore from speaking. I’m flatly amazed. And I’m even more amazed (in the opposite, “rubbernecking a car wreck” rather than “astounded at someone’s resilience” sense) at the response of county residents who went to such lengths in an attempt to silence someone whose opinions they disagreed with. It doesn’t seem to be a response befitting a free country… or a free county.

All in all, it’s been very, very fun to watch!

I’m interested in a transcript of the jokes told by Roseanne Barr, a Utah native, who appeared on the stage with Moore. Too bad the show was sold out within a few days of it being announced.

Anyway, here are a few of the many articles regarding the appearance:

• Moore speech at UVSC draws cheers, boos. This story briefly mentions the audience member that pointed an object at Moore and was escorted from the building.
• Moore War Creates Its Heroes
• Tears, Jeers, and Cheers: few in audience are neutral
• Moore: Voices
• The Sun Rises. There’s a notable quote in this one:
  

  The sun came up Thursday morning.
  Utah Valley State College did not fall into a hole in the Earth’s crust. Orem was not overwhelmed by locusts, frogs or, even, crickets.
  Michael Moore came, spoke, soaked up the applause, collected his well-earned fee and left for the next stop on his Slacker Uprising Tour. There he will don the locally appropriate baseball cap and again make the argument that some folks in Utah County had been warning us was treading the line of treason:
  Young people ought to get off their butts and vote.
  It’s hard to see why anybody has a problem with that.
  …Silly, pointless ideas, after all, don’t get a rise out of people. Only powerful ones do.

• Utah Saga of Moore Isn’t Over
• Wanting Moore? KRCL to replay speech. (Unfortunately, despite hunting around on KRCL’s web site, I was unable to find last night’s archive.)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as “The Mormons”) yesterday issued a press release supporting legislation and constitutional amendments which bar non-traditional relationships from acquiring similar status to legal marriage.

(See the Church’s press release at: http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showrelease/0,15503,3881-1-20336,00.html)

Utah’s Proposition 3, on the ballot for citizen ratification this November 2, would define marriage in Utah’s Constitution as the union of a man and a woman, and further prevent any other relationship from gaining the same or similar legal status as marriage.

According to critics, the LDS Church’s release so near to election day will almost certainly have an immense effect on the vote, as Church members account for nearly 2/3 of Utah’s population. The timing of this release, they claim, is tantamount to an endorsement. Church public relations spokespeople, on the other hand, deny the endorsement of any specific statute or amendment.

What are the ramifications of the LDS church’s statement, so close to election day, which appears to favor Proposition 3? The ballots will ultimately decide, but with support for the amendment hovering around 67% according to some polls (and as low as 25% according to polls sponsored by the opposition), it’s important for Utah citizens to examine the potential ramifications of the amendment.

Here is the full text of Utah’s proposed constitutional amendment:

Marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman. No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.

In summary, detractors of this proposed amendment cite these primary reasons to oppose Proposition 3:

• The language is too broad, and will have substantial consequences on heterosexual couples
• It is the only proposed amendment in over thirty years to have completely bypassed the state’s Constitutional Revision Commission, thus avoiding oversight and analysis by that body;
• It will invalidate common-law marriage statutes, which marriages are not considered “legal unions”;
• It will bar common-law and same-sex partners from:
  1. Making emergency medical decisions for the partner;
  2. Receiving health insurance under a partner’s domestic partner employment benefits;
  3. Automatically inheriting property from one’s partner;
  4. It will prevent a partner from visiting her/his mate in hospitals;
  5. It will invalidate certain protections to persons under Utah’s domestic violence statute.

Detractors of the proposed amendment maintain that barring domestic partners from having tax and employment benefits similar to those of married couples is discriminatory, and analogous to racist legislation of the 1960’s and 1970’s. This amendment is unclear, unfair, and goes too far in prohibiting civil unions. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Governor Olene Walker, while both supporting a marriage amendment, say “just not this one”. Simple constitutions are best, and, according to Gov. Walker, “the specifics are left to statutes”.

Supporters of the proposed amendment cite:

• The second sentence of the amendment is necessary since the State of Vermont created a “civil union” status for unmarried couples of any sex, which is equivalent to marriage in all but name. Homosexual couples have filed suit in other states to have their civil unions recognized as marriage, in the absence of civil union definition in their chosen state;
• The People of California voted in a similar amendment in 2000, in response to which the legislature created domestic partner legislation in defiance of popular mandate;
• Marriages in common-law *are* legal unions. A man and woman must live together, assume marital rights, duties, and obligations, and hold themselves out as and have acquired a uniform and general reputation as husband and wife in order to assume common-law status;
• Even in cases of “common-law” heterosexual unions, obtaining a marriage license is trivial and inexpensive, which should be no barrier to gaining the license;
• Amendment 3 will not deny protection for individuals under the Cohabitant Abuse Act;
• It will not impact private health insurance from private employers who choose to offer benefits to domestic partners;
• It will not have any effect on wills, trusts, or legal instruments;
• It only limits the ability of the courts to redefine marriage;
• Utah’s Consitutional Review Commission is not required to review current and proposed constitutional amendments.

Proponents of the legislation, in summary, consider it a necessary response to current threats to marriage in the U.S. It would not constrain the legislature from granting medical authority, inheritance, or other benefits to same-sex partners. According to proponents, the only valid reasons to oppose the proposed amendment are because one wishes to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples, or wants to create an alternative legal status meant to have the same effect as marriage.

As for how I intend to vote on Proposition 3?

None of your business 🙂 But it’s fun to talk about! Which side do you think has a more compelling case?

Running ftp command in Windows Explorer, XP.

For some reason I am unable to add and delete files and folders from my domain site. I can alter the content in the html files already existing on the site map, but can’t delete. As a result, there’s bad housecleaning and extra MBage on the domain.

I’m accessing the site with the proper U and P. Anybody else have this problem? Wondering if it’s something to do with Windows.

I tried contacting support at the domain host and they weren’t much help.