A maze of twisty little passages

I've been wondering lately when babygoat will be able to pass a Turing Test and began to read about them today. I've come to the conclusion that not only are these poor tests of true consciousness, I've known more than a few people who couldn't pass one (yes, they may have been robots). More importantly, my search led me to simulated consciousness of ELIZA, with whom I had many troubled conversations in my early teen years whilst using my Apple ][c clone. I talked to her again today and was not surprised to learn that she hasn't really grown up. Even better, it lead me to the Colossal Cave Adventure, a game I know I played a million times back in those days. Really took me back, as well as also derailed my work as I saw people have made Java versions of these text-based programs.

Trailer: Southland Tales

I've fallen off my trailer watching in the past year. Where I used to be incredibly up to date w/ everything that was buzzing around the web, I just haven't had time to watch many trailers and have a lot piled up. I made the time to watch the trailer for Southland Tales, the upcoming movie from Richard Kelly.

I'm very interested in this movie now, and not just because I enjoyed Donnie Darko and this seems to be in the same vein. I love how the trailer doesn't give the average moviegoer an idea of the plot arc. Just what is going on in this movie? My best guess is something along the lines of the twist at the end of The Man in the High Castle, but that could be just me reading one of my favorite stories into the disjointed scenes in the trailer.

Free music - Randee of the Redwoods

A song from a character (played by comic Jim Turner) that occasionally showed up on MTV around 15 years ago (and may still be around), Randee of the Redwoods' Either Way It's Fine With Me (3.7 M mp3) is a joyous romp through indifference. A few years ago some chap was posting mp3s of the Dr. Demento show and this was in one of the clips, which is why the mp3 is far from pristine. Either way, it's fine with me....

Vacation pt. 2: Austin

This is about 2 months late but late props are better than none.

Had a great time around Austin for a few days in early July. Got off to plane and had our first big taste of humidity in a long time. We got a more welcome taste of Fiesta Market the next day, it really is an amazing grocery store that combines the good cheap produce of Mexican markets with a huge selection typical of a college town. 4th of July was a nice bbq w/ friends and we enjoyed watching others engage in fireworks fights. Saw some sights around Austin, too, including the scenic loop near Fredericksburg that reminds one of how it's the rolling hills of the Austin area that make the landscape more interesting that the rest of Texas. Took a trip down to San Antonio, too, where we went on a walk thru the Alamo and for some reason the whole place failed to make me see what was so brave about staying there to die when, as Molly Ivins said, "even Sam Houston told them to get the hell out of there."

One of my highlights was (again) the incredible 1-2 punch of Waterloo Records and Amy's Ice Cream. They're two amazing places right in the same strip mall and if I lived in Austin I'd go there at least once a week. Got some good food in Austin, too, and not just from our very gracious hostess. Had a good vegetarian meal at Veggie Heaven one night and then before we flew back to Vegas we made a great pit stop at Polvo's (and I thought Polvo was just a noise band).

Goat report, 9/14/07

Looks like goats may be moving back into Seattle!

Joe Zawinul, RIP

Jazz lost a great keyboardist recently with the passing of Joe Zawinul. His work with Weather Report was pretty legendary and very influential on me when I started to listen to jazz-fusion back in high school. If you're not familiar with his work, a number of good tributes are out there to help you.