Entertainment News: RIP Majel Barrett Roddenberry

Majel Roddenbery, aka Majel Barrett, aka Nurse Chapel, aka Lwaxana Troi, aka The Computer Voice died on Thursday. Now, if only the rest of the franchise would follow her into the grave...

Don't get me wrong. I love Star Trek and I absolutely love Star Trek: The Next Generation. I mostly liked Deep Space Nine, and Voyager had 1 or 2 decent moments. That said, Enterprise blew hard, and I can't help but feel that the new upcoming prequel movie is going to suck hard in an equal amount. I want the franchise to go away and stay away for 10-20 years or so, and then come back just in time for Laura's kids to be amazed and intrigued. It's our only hope for the survival of geek civilization as we know it.

Happy Birthday to Laura!!!

2 years of linear time = an eternity of memories and hapiness. I think that's a pretty good deal. Happy birthday baby.

News: Theme Update

If you couldn't tell, I updated the theme on the page. I got bored with the plain theme and general appearance. The layout is pretty much identical, but I think it looks nicer. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. After all, if I don't post content, at least I can make it look pretty.

News: Mostly Restored

Due to a bug in the back-end (mySQL for those that care) of my website/server, all the posts were being displayed in numerical order, which happens to be approximately reverse chronological order. This is most useless as you might imagine. There is one fix to the problem and one improvement to the problem. The fix, which likely won't happen, is to upgrade mySQL. The reason I say it won't happen is because ipower would have to do it, and from posts I have seen elsewhere, they won't do it. The improvement, on the other hand, is to upgrade my blog software, which I have done. The unfortunate problem with this, though, is that I had to upgrade a plug-in, which required an upgrade to my gallery software, which failed which requires me to reinstall it and re-import all my photos.

The one thing that will make it slightly easier/faster is that I can direct import from the server, rather than uploading them all. Unfortunately, though, all the photos that were rotated on the site directly, are no longer rotated. That means many of the thumbnails will be sideways for the foreseeable future unless anyone is willing to rotate thousands* hundreds of photos one at a time.

* - There are, in fact, thousands of photos, but my guess is around 300-500 need to be rotated.

News: Test Post

Don't know exactly what the deal is, but ipower seems to have migrated my site. It doesn't seem to work quite right though. I just need to post this to see what happens.

Relay For Life

Dear Family and Friends,

I’ve decided to take action against cancer by participating in my local American Cancer Society Relay For Life® event. Relay For Life® is about celebration, remembrance, and hope. By participating, I am honoring cancer survivors, paying tribute to the lives we've lost to the disease, and raising money to help fight it.

Please help support me in this important cause by making a donation. It is faster and easier than ever to support me by making a secure, tax-deductible donation online using the link below. If you would prefer, you can send your contribution to the mailing address listed below.

Whatever you can give will help - it all adds up! I greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.

Sincerely,

William Gauch

To make a donation online, visit my personal page.

Happy Birthday To Me!

According to leading experts, "Bill is 33 years old and getting better every day. We expect is peak moment to be the moment right before his death. It is uncertain if he will surpass the 'Greatness Threshold' (GT). If he does, according to the theories related to the GT, the universe will implode upon his death."

Man, how great is that. I mean, does it get any more cool than to have 'leading experts' talking about you? Anyway, I am attempting to post this in advance, with a modified time stamp. I only tried this once before and it didn't work. I think I may have done something slightly wrong before, so I'm hoping this works. If not, I'll make it work anyway.

At this point, I have no particular plans, but my wife may have planned something. Actually, if I could just stay home with my family all day, that would work for me. I'm pretty easy to please. Actually, last year with Laura a couple weeks old, I asked my wife for boxed Mac 'n Cheese for dinner and nothing more. I was more than happy to eat and be with my wife and new baby, and that holds true today so I must be doing something right. Well, before I ramble too long, I should go.

News: The blog site is functional

If you can't tell, the blog portion of the site is functional, although not complete. There are a bunch of older posts missing. Also, anything that links to a photo gallery is probably screwed up too. I also have 2 other videos that I didn't relink because I don't know exactly which was which. Hopefully, I will find a way to quickly repair/replace the photo gallery so that I don't have to re-upload and import all the photos.

News: Web Site Broken!!!

Hooray! My site is broken. Thanks, iPowerWeb.

News: I upgraded

Not that anyone could tell, but I upgraded my blog software to a later version. Actually, for that matter, I can’t even tell. It went completely smoothly. How often does that happen? In fact, this is the first time I changed anything on the site and didn’t need to reinstall or otherwise adjust the gallery software. Yea, me!

Event: 2nd Annual Marine Industry Career Day - Newport, RI

The International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) is hosting their second annual Marine Industry Career Day on March 3rd, 2007. Following last year's successful event, they will be welcoming the public and expect about 30 representatives from the marine industry. Anyone interested in meeting with marine employers, learning about jobs that are available and talking about training opportunities should not miss this informative event.

Boat builders, boat yards and marine manufacturers are in need of trained and experienced workers, and new jobs are continually being added at above average wages.

This years event is sponsored by: Newport County Fund of the Rhode Island Foundation, United Way of Rhode Island, The Hinckley Company, Churchill Yacht Partners, Boothbay Harbor Shipyard and System Three Resins.

For more information or to reserve a space, contact Jay Picotte at 401-848-5777 x203 or email jpicotte@iyrs.org

Movie News: It feels like someone hit me on the head with a wrench

Oh my frikkin god! I just found out something that completely blew my mind out of commission today. (That’s pretty bad considering that its only 9:00. Anyway, here it is…

They are making a ‘Three Stooges’ movie!

By “they” I mean the (in)famous Farrelly Brothers. Yes, those champions of comedy who brought us ‘Dumb & Dumber’ and ‘There’s Something About Mary.’

Ok… Try to focus your thoughts… Breathe… Breathe… Ok.

Now, I don’t really know what to think about this. Generally, I like the Farrelly Brothers comedy style. I don’t particularly like their casting choices, but that is a different issue. The biggest thing that is screaming in my brain is the question, “Why?” Why would they make a movie that couldn’t possibly succeed?

I feel confident making that statement for a couple of reasons. First, there will be the purists who refuse to even accept Shemp, Joe or Curly-Joe as true stooges. These people will surely be the loudest critics.

Then, there are the people who have never watched The Stooges. This may be due to the fact that they were born after 1970. It may also be due to the fact that Vaudeville-style slapstick humor went out long before 1970.

Finally, there are the people who just don’t understand Stooge comedy. These people have seen several episodes. They may even have chuckled a few times at a slap or a poke. When it finally comes down to it, though, they just don’t get it.

With all that opposition, the only people you will have left who want to see this movie will be single white males, aged 30-50. So, to summarize, the Farrelly Brothers are make a movie for all those sad lonely guys who eat alone in their apartments with all the lights out watching TV and playing computer games. On a plus note, the DVD sales/rentals will be through the roof.