Introducing a WWW photo exhibit dubiously named photojournalism.

I wonder of "soccer moms" now have their own lobby in Congress. I present three excerpts from an article on today's AP newswire:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Motorists can rest assured that their gas-guzzling SUVs won't be threatened by new energy legislation moving through Congress. And there's good news there too for farmers and wind turbine operators.

. . . The disappointments ranged from rejection of even modest steps to improve automobile fuel efficiency to -- in the final hours -- stripping the bill of a requirement that the Energy Department impose the more aggressive efficiency standards for air conditioners that had been proposed by the Clinton administration.

. . . In rejecting a proposal to require automakers to meet a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon over the next dozen years, opponents of the measure argued that it would force manufactures to stop making large cars and threatened suburban soccer moms with the loss of their sport utility vehicles.

Good heavens! The same article also goes on about how Bush and the House are upset that the Senate rejected the administration's "top energy priority," which is destroying Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Way to go!

Added contact sheets for the pictures I took of Harvard's Titus Andronicus. I do not have time at the moment to make a gallery with individual images. As such, these pictures are raw, unmanipulated scans from a Kodak PhotoCD and might be a little hard to see on your monitor. They are also in dire need of cropping, although the original intent was to show off Josh's lighting design. For easiest viewing, re-size your web browser to at least 1280 pixels wide.

Ethernet sucks. Did you know it can only achieve 40% of its rated speed?

In other news, our dear furry friend Elmo "testified" before the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday. Shouldn't they have something better to do? I am grappling with the concept of holding an honest interview with a ridiculous red puppet. Wait, make that "Muppet." (AP Photo)

Ever feel at odds with yourself? This must be a bummer: "By pursuing a possible deal to buy the music-trading service Napster, the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann is opening the unusual possibility that it may be financing an antitrust investigation against itself."

Alex found a Pakistani design for a "hookah-powered" radio receiver in a 1960 issue of Popular Science. Damn. (be warned, the PDF is 2.3 MB.)

I have a nagging question that begs a scientific explanation.

How is it that, when I rollerblade across the Harvard Bridge from Cambridge to Boston, the wind is my face, and when I return later in the opposite direction, the wind is still blowing in my face? Turning sideways does not seem to help, nor does turning at funny angles as if to exploit some sort of sailing trick. Perhaps wind in Boston blows circularly (though without a doubt, if it does, it would be clockwise and counterclockwise simultaneously).

I would also like to introduce a new standardized scale for measuring rollerblading weather conditions. Today on the Esplanade, we had "Four Second" winds. That is, a standard mass (me) blading directly into the wind, could stop blading, decelerate, and reverse direction (roll backwards) under wind power alone in 4 seconds. Doesn't that sound fucking obnoxious? It's really fun when you're trying to pass people.

I hate Boston. Mostly because of the wind.

Whew. That rant was, as they say, rather long-winded.

Breaking News Update
Apparently, Evan is enjoying my copy of Applied Cryptography after all. Thank goodness.

I wonder if Evan is enjoying my copy of Applied Cryptography.

You may safely disregard any apparent meaning in the comments that appear on this page. Any search for insight or wit, information or entertainment, will be met with the fullest sense of futility.

Film recommendation of the day: Fujichrome "Professional" 64T Type II tungsten (RTP II). I shot some scenes of Titus Andronicus at Harvard's Loeb Mainstage for a friend's design portfolio, and I was stunned (in that good sort of way) by the results. It's damn sharp and the colors are vivid and realistic. That's some cool shit.

From a pamphlet published by the Iranian Center for Disease Control: "The best way to avoid AIDS is to be faithful to moral and family obligations and to avoid loose sexual relations. Trust in God in order to resist satanic temptations." (source: "Condom as a Problem Word: Iran Grapples with a Surge in AIDS," New York Times, April 4, 2002).

Another memorable insight from the same article: "AIDS is a result of lust." (Muhammad Abai Khorassani, cleric and member of Iranian Parliament)

Modern Humorist's Complete Guide to 9/11 Slang. This topic appears to be a recurring theme here.