decoy01

Nerd Test - Cool!

2009-02-05T19:51:52Z

Art, and What it says to You

2008-11-03T22:53:42Z

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Conscientious, Fulfilled, and Spiritual

31 Renaissance, 15 Islamic, 11 Ukiyo-e, -36 Cubist, -37 Abstract and 3 Impressionist!

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life. Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence affected literature, philosopy, religion, art, politics, science, and all other aspects of intellectual enquiry. Renaissance artists looked at the human aspect of life in their art. They did not reject religion but tended to look at it in it's purest form to create visions they thought depicted the ideals of religion. Painters of this time had their own style and created works based on morality, religion, and human nature. Many of the paintings depicted what they believed to be the corrupt nature of man.

People that like Renaissance paintings like things that are more challenging. They tend to have a high emotional stability. They also tend to be more concientious then average. They have a basic understanding of human nature and therefore are not easily surprised by anything that people may do. They enjoy life and enjoy living. They are very aware of their own mortality but do not dwell on the end but what they are doing in the present. They enjoy learning, but may tend to be a bit more closed minded to new ideas as they feel that the viewpoint they have has been well researched and considered. These people are more old fashioned and not quite as progressive. They enjoy the finer things in life like comfort, a good meal, and homelife. They tend to be more spiritual or religious by nature. They are open to new aesthetic experiences.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Not quite belief, but interesting

2008-09-01T14:59:35Z

You are the Hanged Man

Self-sacrifice, Sacrifice, Devotion, Bound.

With the Hanged man there is often a sense of fatalism, waiting for something to happen. Or a fear of
loss from a situation, rather than gain.

The Hanged Man is perhaps the most fascinating card in the deck. It reflects the story of Odin who offered himself as a sacrifice in order to gain knowledge. Hanging from the world tree, wounded by a spear, given no bread or mead, he hung for nine days. On the last day, he saw on the ground runes that had fallen from the tree, understood their meaning, and, coming down, scooped them up for his own. All knowledge is to be found in these runes.

The Hanged Man, in similar fashion, is a card about suspension, not life or death. It signifies selflessness, sacrifice and prophecy. You make yourself vulnerable and in doing so, gain illumination. You see the world differently, with almost mystical insights.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

The Current Condition -OR- "How did we get this stupid?"

2008-04-30T00:42:42Z

I have recently been listening to some of the local shows on what passes for local radio in Dallas, and have been struck by the amazing lack of general knowledge in the media-types (DUH!!). With few exceptions, the talking heads seem to actually revel in their general lack of background knowledge on the very subjects that they are pontificating upon.

EXAMPLE: A local morning type last week was droning on about how, "the oil companies need to pay their fare share." As I am in the business, this caught my attention. This pillar of information rattled off a series of numbers regarding the outrageous profits being made and how, "someone," should take the excess and use it to make the US "energy independent with non-hydrocarbon energy." Once I got to the office, I went to Exxon-Mobile and Chevron websites to review the various financial documents that have to be available to all publicly traded companies. A little bit of eighth-grade math later, and I'm looking at a net percentage of under 9%. To those of you who have not had the joy of running your own business, I can assure you that 9% net is slim pickings. When you couple this to the recent reduction in refinery activity due to their ability to only generate a 3% return, you get an indication of where fuel costs can be going. Please note that for the most part, refineries are not owned by the exploration-development companies. The current cost to drill a 10,000 ft well with a 10,000 horizontal run at the bottom is now, (sounds like Dr. Evil -- ONE MILLION DOLLARS). Yes, that's per well, with a success ratio of -still- under 20% in most fields. You drill five wells, and four are, "dusters". You then have to line the well, cement the liner, re-drill the hole to the pay-zone, stimulate the well for the initial start, and only then do you know if you are going to make any money on the one good well. If that's a go, you still have to set a pumping system in place, extract the crude, and pipe it to storage and/or the refinery. It's a well-know fact that oil-people are born optimists, otherwise they couldn't stay in the business.

Where were the governments when oil went from $40/bbl down to $10/bbl? (it wasn't that long ago) A number of exploration-production companies went completely belly-up during this period, with thousands of people lost their jobs, and had nowhere to go in the industry. BP lost several Billion in one quarter, and the market simply looked at it as an opportunity to buy the stock cheaply. No bail-out there.

This is NOT intended as a cry-baby ode to the oil companies. I just wish that what passes for journalistic skill in the market could bother to look at the subject at hand and do some research for a change. The size of the futures market in "Sweet Crude" has increased several hundred percent in just the last 18 months, with only a modest increase in the total amount of the raw commodity being traded. If you have people willing to speculate with vast sums of cash in a relatively fixed market, then supply and demand specify that the price of the commodity will go up relative to the availability of the commodity. The same thing is happening to grain commodities, as petroleum futures traders are moving some of their profits to the next big thing. Ethanol fuel is -not- the smartest way to fuel cars, but it's not the end of the world either. If anything, the drain on the aquifers in the Northwest of the US is far more critical to the sustainability of the population in those regions. It can take over 10,000 years to re-fill a deep aquifer, and we're using the water to grow fuel. If science can find a non-irrigation, non-produce, cellulosic plant to grow for ethanol production, then have at it. Otherwise, the system of government subsidies needs to be revised to reflect the true cost of production of ethanol.

Getting off my soapbox, and driving my 27-mpg Acura home.

Oops - Politics

2008-02-11T18:46:44Z

What's Your Political Philosophy?
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Pro Business Republican

Pro-business Republicans support supply-side economics. By cutting taxes, reducing regulations, and supporting large corporations, they want to spur innovation and create economic growth that benefits all Americans.

Pro Business Republican

100%

Foreign Policy Hawk

85%

Libertarian

60%

New Democrat

50%

Old School Democrat

40%

Green

15%

Socially Conservative Republican

10%

SCi-FI Crew

2007-10-20T20:42:22Z

Which sci-fi crew would you best fit in with? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Serenity (Firefly)

You like to live your own way and don't enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you.

Serenity (Firefly)

88%

Millennium Falcon (Star Wars)

88%

Deep Space Nine (Star Trek)

75%

Babylon 5 (Babylon 5)

75%

Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix)

69%

Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica)

69%

Bebop (Cowboy Bebop)

69%

Moya (Farscape)

63%

Enterprise D (Star Trek)

56%

Heart of Gold (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

50%

SG-1 (Stargate)

50%

Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda)

25%

FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files)

19%

The start of something new?

2007-01-15T06:50:24Z

I'm still trying to reconcile the inherent differences in the need to generate a journal for the purposes of expression and communication, and, the basic sense of privacy and internal monologue that is at the core of my personality.

Is this like deciding to accept a tattoo? Do you take a small mark and never tell anyone, or, accept the "suit of Colors" and join the Yakazua? Only time will tell.

To those who don't know me, I am a fierce friend, a seeker of knowledge in all its forms, and can be bitingly funny depending on the subject.

All for now, Off to bed.