If you go to www.simpsonizeme.com you can upload a picture of yourself and create a simpson-esque character that sorta, kinda, doesn't look completely unlike you. Well, to be honest, the computer generated version of me wasn't even close. But they let you tweak it after. This was the best I could come up with - this is the Simpsons Brian.

Those of you who know Bryan Pai know that he's started a new job at Sun Edison, the nation's largest solar utility. His role there is to provide integrating analysis for the company's business, technology, and marketing elements - determining project costs and forecasting corporate needs. Sounds like a tall order. He's been busy but really enjoying his new position. Here's a great shot of Bryan on a recent tour of solar installations in New Jersey.

Who else is psyched about ethics reform?

Okay, so besides being elated that Ted Stevens is finally being investigated for being clearly the most "for sale" Senate seat in recent history, I'm really jazzed about the 411-8 vote in the House on the ethics reform bill. I was going to be VERY displeased with my party if the Dems didn't do this and I can't wait for it to pass the Senate later this week. Assuming another large majority passage, Bush (read Cheney) can't even veto it.

I was, of course, let down by the softening of sections of earmarks and bundling, but at least this will set a new baseline. In a couple years - when this feels like the standard - we can hopefully make another push and clean up Congress that much more. It is generally insane to me that we have a governing body that is so clearly broken and corrupt and yet it is still so difficult to fix these open sores on our democracy. I can't believe that people who vote against ethics reform are not immediately ousted by their constituencies. Probably because they're using loopholes to bring home the pork. Maybe, when we eventually get rid of earmarks altogether, we'll have a representative democracy that works the way our founding fathers intended. Maybe.

I hope these efforts, plus the election of a visionary democrat (let's hope such a thing still exists) will mean a more honest government that works in the interests of all the American people for a change.

Does anyone know if Bob Ney is in jail yet. I sure hope so. Oh yeah, and fuck you Ted Stevens and fuck you Jim DeMint. You can both suck it.

Gender Stuff

Sorry this blog has been so bereft of pictures recently. I will try to do better. I had a great weekend, the highlight of which was Saturday night's "Thunderdome" party that Kate and I hosted. We had two tables of gaming fun - including poker (which I lost miserably at), Taboo, Apples to Apples, and Celebrity. Pat, George and I were a Celebrity dream team as we befuddled the ladies with characters like Christopher Lambert, Lucy Lawless, Joe Walsh, and Tron. We'll have to do that again soon.

Sunday was fun too because the band (sans our hardworking, lawyer lead singer) got together and finished a new song. We should have a gig scheduled soon and we're looking forward to playing our music for everybody.

Oh, and I wanted to share this great article I read in the Post this morning about a study of male and female bargaining behavior when getting a new job. It seems that women do bargain less, which leads to lower pay - but that there is actually a good reason for this. In the end, it's an unconscious response to very real double standards. Give it a read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/29/AR2007072900827.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Socially Conscious Shopping

Some friends and I were discussing travel offsets last night. I have never "offset" my travel before but I intend to start. A couple ways you can do this:
1. Pai tells me that Expedia allows you to add offsets to your trip while you book it - cool.
2. At www.terrapass.com you can calculate how many you'll need for your trip and buy offsets. You can also purchase offset gift packages for friends.
3. If you'd like to buy renewable energy for your home or business, check out www.green-e.org
4. Or, to find other really cool renewable energy gifts (such as a solar sholder bag that'll recharge your ipod or cell phone!), check out www.rewarestore.com.

For more great tips using carbon offsets, visit: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07/how-to-green-your-carbon-offsets.php

The Democratic YouTube Debate

So, I just watched the YouTube Democratic candidate debates (http://www.youtube.com/debates). This is the first Dem debate I’ve watched this year. I’ve been avoiding them because I just feel that we’re so far out from the actual election that we aren’t going to hear honest answers that can be converted into policy. We’re far enough away right now that any of these people would have time to modify or transform their stances on any given issue if they feel it will give them a better shot at the candidacy or the white house. It’s disgusting, but true – I have avoided learning about these proposals because there are simply too many trial balloons in the talking points.

However, I really liked the idea of the YouTube debate so I strapped in and finally began my process of selecting a candidate. Here are some of my thoughts:

In general, I was a bit disappointed that the candidates did what they always do – they take each question and restate it as a question that they already have a canned answer for. You could tell who had no chance of winning because they were the only people making bold statements. Still, most of the answers felt flat and uninspiring – which is to be expected when you’re digesting trial balloons.

I was also very disappointed by the slap-dash treatment of environmental concerns – given the importance of this issue today, there should have been a much more coverage to better illustrate the differing viewpoints of the candidates.

My kudos to Anderson Cooper. He kept it rolling with no self-aggrandizement and, in a few situations, hammered at the candidates to force them out of vagary and into a clear statement of policy. Nice job AC!

Gravel – Wow, this guy’s a nutball. I assume he’s trying to look like the firey outsider, but the way he went after Obama made him look more like a junk yard dog. Also, his tax solution to climate change is insane and won’t work. Still, they gave this guy NO airtime and I don’t know why they bothered to have him on. Of course, he used half of his time complaining that he didn’t get more time. Lame ass.

Biden – I like Biden’s no-nonsense way of speaking. I loved his response to Darfur – “Why Darfur? Because we can!” Kick ass. His Iraq policy sounds like the only honest one to me, but it still creates a Yugoslavia-esque state that would be unstable at best.

Kucinich - Kicinich is just hard to take seriously. I mean come on, is DK really going to come into office and pass reparations for slavery? Whether you like the idea or not, it’s a dumb thing to stump on in my opinion. With each answer he tried to sound really inspiring but he was just trying too hard – he ended up looking silly in my opinion.

Clinton – Boy did she use her front runner status well. Hillary knew she had the room to act like a statesman and she did. I thought her answer to the “are you feminine enough?’ question was one of the best answers of the night. I have always felt that HC was a bit disingenuous – more politician than statesman. I think she did a good job of chipping away at that stumbling block in this debate. Her energy answer, while a bit safe, was on the right track.

Dodd – Beyond an above-average response to the race/Katrina question, Dodd showed himself to be a Washington insider looking for a better job. Having voted for the Defense of Marriage act, I thought his answer to the gay marriage questions was hypocritical.

Richardson – Whenever he spoke he went right to no-nonsense statements of exactly what he would do. No trial balloons here – he cut right to the promises. I was particularly inspired by his decisive comments on international leadership.I don’t think his “all out now” approach to Iraq is practical and I strongly disagree with his stance on gun control.

Obama – I was disappointed to see Obama dodge the reparations question. He said “We do need reparations for our public schools!” What a cheap shot. Everyone will clap for the schools and it was an easy out. I really liked the question about how will Obama address being “black enough” and while he had a great answer, it didn’t address the actual question. I loved his answer about meeting with foreign leaders. In all, Obama spoke well and I like his policies as they stand, but I was disappointed that he didn’t answer questions more directly. I think he’s playing it safe right now (which is probably a smart move).

Edwards – Edwards really played the role of the outsider more than I expected. While it may just have been rhetoric, I liked his rhetoric on challenging big business for control of this country. I like his strong stance on universal healthcare and thought that he made excellent (and accurate) comments on energy solutions.

Best question of the night – question 10 – Why is it okay to use religion as a basis to deny marriage rights to gays. This question was just REALLY well phrased and really skewered Edwards good. He looked like an ass. When Obama took up the question he talked about his civil union proposal providing equal benefits. As he spoke the words “separate but equal” drifted through my mind. Not good.

So, after this debate I am still not sure who I will vote for, but I can put them in order of how much I like them and their policies and vibe right now:

1. Barak Obama
2. John Edwards
3. Hillary Clinton
4. Joe Biden

These could change, dramatically even, once I put more time and effort into learning their policies. I guess I’m sucked in now. Let’s hope whoever we pick can whoop their Republican opponent something fierce.

apathy and frustration

So, I've been pretty mood so far this week. None of the moods have been good either. I've been vacillating between apathetic, frustrated, and down-right angry. I don't really get it. I have a busy week, but nothing to difficult - just lots of stuff. I don't have real reason to be angry, but it's just how I feel when I get up. So strange. What's even weirder is that Kate feels the same way. This is really disturbing because she is usually really good at pulling herself out of a funk.

My negativity is not due to a bad weekend. Kate and I went to New York where we partied with our friends and saw our families (it had been a while since I'd closed down a bar). I took the opportunity to help my recently-retired mother purchase and set up computer equipment for her new home office. I think she's going to love working for herself. As a congratulatory gift, Caryn and I got her a really nice pen - a symbol of her new career as a freelance writer.

On Sunday I spoke to mom's church about environmental issues. I even handed out an action plan to give attendees a bunch of great ways to mitigate their environmental impact. If you'd like a copy, email me or leave a note here. The added element of stress there was that Kate's parents came. I wanted to make a good impression there - especially because Kate just told them that we're moving in together (something that Kate's mother wasn't thrilled about). After that we all went to lunch. It went pretty well - Kate's dad and Heinz share a love of German food.

Tonight is Collider practice which I'm looking forward to because music is my favorite past time right now. At the same time, I'm a bit frustrated with my band mates. I'm putting a lot of effort into things like writing new music, scheduling band practices, burning demo cds, and booking gigs. Whenever I ask for help though I don't get much response. I guess I have more interest in doing that kind of stuff than they do, and that's fair enough. I don't mind doing most of the work if I have most of the interest, but it would be nice to see at least some enthusiasm from them since they clearly want to be in the band. I mean, where will the gigs come from if we don't put any effort into getting them?

I've decided that they don't take any initiative because they'll just assume I'll do it for them. To this end, I've decided to put no work into the band (save coming to practice) for the next month or so. I'll see what happens. What do you think? Is this the right way to go? Am I being an ass? How would you approach the situation I'm in - if you wanted to put effort into the band but didn't want to feel like you were banging your head against the wall? I could use some feedback on this one.