3/19    I was watching this really gay guy dancing in Tchaikovsky's ballet
        with my girlfriend and it was a) quite a torture and b) it turns
        out that this really gay guy is Barishikov and he's *not* gay and
        that is totally fucked up. No wonder people hate classical music.
        \_ Are you a homophoebe? Are you jealous that those guys have bigger
           pecks and penis than you?
        \_ Barishnikov fled the Soviet Union and gave up everything in his
           life to be the greatest in the world at what he does.  He's more
           of a man than you'll ever be.  Read up on him, fag-
           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baryshnikov
           \_ the greatest in the world at being a fag maybe. ahahahah!
           \_ It's funny.  Reading the above post, I thought Baryshnikov
              resembles the character portrayed in the film White Nights which
              I saw 20yrs ago.  Only after reading the wiki page did I realize
              that he was actually the actor playing that character in the
              film.  -- OP
        \_ I'll take the bait.  Ballet is only one category of classical music.
           I hate ballet but I love Chopin's piano pieces, for example.
           Besides, Tchaikovsky was supposedsly gay.
           \- i like lots of classical, some opera, but i hate ballet too.
              it would be improved if men wore mumus. when i went to see
              swan lake there were they a large number of teenagers sitting
              in the row behind me ... the girls were clearly dancers but
              there were all these boys who were super into it ... i think
              they were proto gays. i think some women pay just to see the
              men's asses and package. it was horrible. i started texting
                    \_ Why don't they just go watch the Chippendales?  Cheaper,
                       and I assume the guys are better looking?
                       \- maybe they dont feel guity/dirty and they
                          like the stupid story. there is nothing worse
                          that thinking you're at the lake scene 90% of
                          the way through when you realize you're at the
                          other lake scene 40% of the way through. etc.
              "help me" to friends. that really pissed off my companion.
              actually maybe i was texting "help me" at the intermission in
              tristan and isolde and texted "kill me" from the ballet.
              \_ Without opera, there would be no metal as we know it, and
                 without metal, life would not be worth living.  Go opera!
              \_ Was that the T&I from like 8 years ago?  God, that was
                 dreadful.
                 \- this was the dredful T&I last yr. the only reason i went
                    was 1. i liked the person who invited me 2. to
                    to see the DAVID HOCKNEY designed set, which was
                    pretty neat ... but not for 5 hours ... in german.
                    http://www.hockneypictures.com/tristan.htm
                    btw, you run into some interesting people at the opera:
                    sat next to george shultz for one act [then he left?],
                    also old chancellor heyman etc.
        \_ Nutcracker: fell asleep 15 minutes in, woke up 2 minutes before it
           ended.  Victory!
           \_ Finally saw Nutcracker for Xmas 2005. Actually enjoyed it. Still
              have utterly no interest in seeing it or any other ballet again.
              On a similar note, saw Rigoletto outside in SF Civic Center;
              couldn't make it past Act 1. OTOH, saw Don Giovanni at the Met,
              and that was pure gold. Hm, do you think I'd like Wagner?
              \- The Ring is kind of a fascinating spectacle and if the sets
                 arent pretty cool, you've been ripped off. and if you like
                 mythology or D&D/LOTR type fatasies, it's a pretty good
                 story. But man, some of them, liek T&I, nothing happens ...
                 the only think that happens in the long last act of T&I is
                 story. But man, some of them, like T&I, nothing happens ...
                 the only thing that happens in the long last act of T&I is
                 a ship arrives and people die. I am not exaggerating. Avoid
                 Russian Opera at all costs. safe operas to see: mozart,
                 carmen maybe, aida maybe, fidelio, the ring, maybe some
                 more verdi, masked ball not too bad, die fledermaus maybe,
                 barber of seville is ok but NdF is much better. maybe a few
                 others, but most of them are in "kill me now" territory.
                 and some of the productions have a serious WTF factor ... like
                 the chubby middle aged jeanne d' arc last year who was
                 burned at the stake [thank god, it cant go on much longer]
                 and was turned into a little asian girl.
                 Russian Opera at all costs.
        \_ As someone who dates a ballet dancer and who knows a lot of male
           (but mostly female) dancers from her circle of friends, you are
           missing one of the great reasons to watch ballet. Forget about
           the men. Watch the women. There are far more of them and they
           all have beautiful bodies. Even if you do not appreciate the
           art and its difficulty, how can you not be interested in lots
           of beautiful and athletic half-naked women? Ballet originally
           appealed to a prurient interest before it was elevated to a
           fine art and it still does. Dancers are perhaps not
           full-figured like Anna Nicole Smith, but lots of them do have
           figures despite the emphasis on being thin and bony. In a
           professional company, they are typically over 18 as well, so
           don't worry about that. Plus, they are surrounded by about 50%
           gay men, which is a good thing if you think about it.
           \_ Sorry, but child-like women in child-like pajama-style
              clothes doesn't excite my prurient interest.  I'll just
              flip through penthouse or playboy or watch network TV.
              \_ You're an idiot.
                 \_ You're an idiot.
           \_ I thought female ballet dancers all have daikon legs.
              \_ Meaning what?
                 \_ Ugly legs that look like daikon.
                    \_ Yes, dancers all have ugly legs. That's the point
                       of the whole thing - to have ugly legs. Are you
                       fricking kidding? The whole point of ballet is to
                       have beautiful legs and show them off. The tutu
                       is specifically made to show the entire leg and
                       to have nice lines. Dancers are not gymnasts.
                       Strength is important, but appearance is more so.
                       link:tinyurl.com/34s993

3/17    http://www.jyte.com
        Forget motd poll. This is so much better.

3/19    "China OKs plan to build (large) commercial jets"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070319/ap_on_re_as/china_homegrown_jet
        Regardless of whether their planes will be worthy, the officials sure
        know to make the announcement on the right day to steal the spotlight.
        \_ What spotlight are you referring to?
           \_ "Airbus A380 makes 1st flight to America"
              http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070319/ap_on_bi_ge/europe_a380_to_america
              http://preview.tinyurl.com/35j9xk (news.yahoo.com)
              "For plane builder Airbus ......, the A380's first flight to
              North America, ......, is a chance to show off the superjumbo to
              potential U.S. buyers ......"
              "For plane builder Airbus and German airline Lufthansa AG, the
              A380's first flight to North America, ......, is a chance to
              show off the superjumbo to potential U.S. buyers ......"

3/19    Caves on Mars:
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6461201.stm

3/19    "Linked List Patented in 2006"
        http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/07/03/19/112247.shtml
        Was this a joke?
        \_ not a joke apparently: http://tinyurl.com/3bnwwv

3/19    Ben Stein:  Didn't he blame 9/11 on homosexuals a few years ago?
        \_ No, that's Jerry Falwell.

3/19    Ben Stein:  It's A Good Time To Buy
        http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/yourlife/26744
        \_ useless article with no analysis.  Typical.  -tom
        \- you should read the BEEN STEIN smackdown from paul krugman.
           "i won the john bates clarke medal. you are a game show host."
           \_ Ugh, Krugman is an idiot--and Stein isn't a real estate expert.
              \_ dont you feel the slightest bit reticent calling a person
                 well-acknowledged by their peers an idiot? i mean maybe his
                 comments on march mandness are stupid, but in his area?
              \_ Krugman may be a bit gloomy, but could you point me
                 to where he has been dead wrong?  Thanks.
                 \_ http://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_luskin/luskin032003.asp
                    http://www.poorandstupid.com/chronicle.asp
                  http://www.onthefencefilms.com/commentary/stuart/krugman.html
                  http://www.thenewsocialsecurity.com/Library/129.html
                    \_ the first url isn't very convincing, spending the first
                       three paragraphs on an ideological rant
                    \_ The third one does not contain any evidence of factual
                       errors, just a difference of opinion as to how scarce
                       resources should be allocated. The author thinks that
                       medical resources should be allocated on the basis of
                       ability to pay, Krugman thinks they should be socialized.
                       Just because someone disagrees with you, it doesn't
                       make them "dead wrong."

3/19    Question.  Hot chick has Macbook with the camera and iChat.
        I run Linux.  I can chat with gaim, etc.  How do I view
        the output of her camera?
        \_ Yahoo messenger.

3/19    Debian Linux NFS client/server configuration for Dummies:
        http://www.debianadmin.com/network-file-system-nfs-server-and-client-configuration-in-debian.html
        In summary, on the NFS server (assume it is myserver), you do:
        % apt-get install nfs-kernel-server nfs-common portmap
        % vi /etc/exports
        /home 195.12.32.2(rw,no_root_squash) <DEAD>www.first.com(ro<DEAD>
        /usr 195.12.32.2/24(ro,insecure)
        % exportfs -a

        On the NFS client, you do:
        % apt-get install nfs-common portmap
        % mount myserver:/home /mnt/nfs
        For a permanent mount you do:
        % vi /etc/fstab
        195.12.32.1:/home /home nfs rw,rsize=4096,wsize=4096,hard,intr,async,nodev,nosuid 0 0
        195.12.32.2:/usr /usr nfs ro,rsize=8192,hard,intr,nfsvers=3,tcp,noatime,nodev,async 0 0
        \- why would you be exporting /usr? 'cause you're a dummy?
           \_ maybe for a diskless system?

3/19    Confused about JavaScript scopes? bind? apply? call? Read on:
        http://www.digital-web.com/articles/scope_in_javascript
        \_ Let's not forget with, which, alas, doesn't seem to work in many
           browsers. -dans

3/19    My itemized tax return will end up to be about $5000. In fact I've
        been getting $4000-$6000 very consistently for the past couple of
        years. What's the best way to get less taxed (per month) so that
        my yearly return will be near $0? The idea of the government
        holding ~$5000 of my money for a whole year is kind of weird.
        \_ Increase the number of deductions on your W4. -ausman
           \_ I increased it from 2 to 3 and the amount was insignificant,
              maybe $500-600 or something? I'm not sure. I'm just not
              seeing a big difference. What's up?
              \_ Look at the worksheet. It tells you how many to claim
                 for every xxx dollars in deductions you expect.
        \_ I actually claimed '12' in my W4 (yes, you can even go higher if you like)
           and that seems to bring it down. Play around with the scenarios, increasing
           from 2 to 3 isn't enough - try '6', '7', etc.
        \_ I actually claimed '12' in my W4 (yes, you can even go higher
           if you like) and that seems to bring it down. Play around with
           the scenarios, increasing from 2 to 3 isn't enough - try '6',
           '7', etc.
        \_ I claim 9 federal/6 state. <--- home owner.