In this Fozzolog: Halloween, Elections, the weather, and concert visualizations.

Halloween

Halloween was on a Thursday this year, so I talked to my manager about getting off early on Thursday to go home and spend the evening with my family and then working from home on Friday. He responded saying that would be okay.

I got home around 5 p.m. This was just in time to get ready to go out trick-or-treating. Both Lucy and Maya were dressed as oranges. Well, oranges with candy corn all over them. Halloween demons maybe. :-)

It was very cold on Halloween this year, so we didn't stay out for long and not many people came to our house.

Doran, Maya, and Lucy on Halloween

Christine, Lucy, and Maya on Halloween

Election 2002

Yesterday was the general election. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. A lot of the liberal democrats lost their races and the republicans now control the U.S. senate and house of representatives. I am happy about that because I don't really approve of the democratic platform.

However, I am disappointed, once again, the libertarian party did not make more of a showing for itself. I may be wrong, but I think there are probably more libertarians now than ever in recent history. I think that may be especially true in the information technology industry where there is a strong sentiment that less government and less regulation is always a good thing. While this represents a commonly held republican ideal of smaller government, I think a large subset of information technology workers are also fairly socially liberal.

For example, I strongly support repeal of estate taxes and less federal government involvement in education (i.e. abolish the U.S. Department Of Education and let states and local communities run their own schools), but I also feel that most (currently) illegal drugs should be either decriminalized or legalized. There are too many non-violent criminals in our prisons becuase of, in my opinion, petty drug-related infractions.

Initiative Dead

In a previous Fozzolog, I mentioned an Initiative on the Utah ballot to enact a HEAVY tax on companies transporting or processing low-level hazardous waste in Utah. This initiative was, forrtunately, voted down. I'm glad the Utah voters saw the light on this issue.

It's not that I'm pro-hazardous waste. I was just appalled that the initiative went around the legislature to make a large number of changes to state law.

The weather

It's been really cold lately. Much colder than normal, the weather-people say.

Visualizing

Last Saturday, I performed a computer visual and video show behind a Sons Of Nothing performance at a Murray, Utah club called The Element.

I prepared a lot more video for this show than the last time I did projected visuals. The audience really seemed to dig it and I loved how it turned out.

We're scheduled to do it again this Friday -- once again at Harry O's in Park City -- and this will be an all Pink Floyd material show. I'm excited.