"Personal Stuff"

I'm not much of a fan of the popular web practice of filling your web page mainly with a series of your favorite links. To me there's a lack of content there. So prepare for a rambling stretch of road ahead, but you never have to worry about it getting slick. Please do beware of the opinions prowling below to enhance the scenic value. All who are unduly frightened or antagonized by opinions should look for alternate routes.

Before moving on to the classic fare on my page, I am happy to announce my marriage to Marnie Rothschild on March 7, 1998 - in Las Vega$ in fact. Although I know this brings out immediate notions of tackiness, it was a nice, small ceremony with just a few friends and family at the Tropicana. Click here for a few pictures.

I'm currently registered as 'Refuse to State'. I am recently of the mind that the government should not be supporting political parties and thus see no use for registering with a party affiliation. The parties should pick their candidates on their own time with their own funds - I really see no justification for government-run primaries. If the parties want to make an 'official' nominee, let them pay to advertise that fact.

Before I became enlightened, I was a registered Libertarian. My beliefs still probably lie closest to their party. What's a Libertarian? Libertarians believe in maximizing personal freedom (and the duty of personal responsibility), both economically and socially. They think government should be a last resort solution to problems, not the first and only choice it is today. They're not 'right-wing' or 'left-wing' because they've moved off that narrow line. For example, they favor both the repeal of the income tax and the legalization of drugs (no, I'm not a druggie, which is the stereotype I get the sense this opinion induces - I did pay attention in history class when we were going over Prohibition, which the 'War on Drugs' bears a striking resemblance to). As for all of your favorite social programs the government administers which the sky of course would fall without, I wonder how much better they could be by giving the same budget to competitive bidding from private firms? Wonder if you might be Libertarian? Try out a little quiz to identify just where you land on the political spectrum (no, it doesn't just claim you're Libertarian for all answers!) The Libertarians had a really good Presidential candidate in '96. Check out the Harry Browne for President page, if its still up. Unless Jack Kemp miraculously gets the GOP nomination in '00, I'll probably continue 'wasting my vote'. The Libertarian Party does have its problems too (mostly sourcing from the fact that as a 3^rd party in a two party country they must indulge various wacko elements and can't always adhere to a sensible doctrine). However, I don't consider party affiliation some sort of religion where I accept all their positions on faith, nor are politics some weird sport where you pick who you're going to root for ahead of time and stick with them no matter how far afield they stray (yes, I rambled there, but I guess it gets frustrating to see so many people behave contrary to that last sentence).


On to sunnier topics - for which we need to look back to the glorious 80s, marked by the masterful first term of Ronald Reagan - a time when for a few brief years we embodied the potentials of a free and capitalistic society, conquering economic and political evils. Here are a few words from the great one himself. The Gipper took a nation which had a massive depression (both economically and emotionally) and revived it, winning the Cold War in the process via the brilliant maneuver of economic war. Yes, a deficit was run up in the process - a casualty of our economic war with the USSR. I'll take the deficit over WWIII or concession to Totalitarians any day. As for Iran Contra - selling arms to Iran was bad policy but no more, diverting funds to Nicaragua was ill-advised; but then in times of war Presidents often do such things (i.e. - Lincoln suspending rights during the Civil War, FDR's illegal trading prior to WWII). Afterward, nobody tried to fiddle with the Justice Department and there was no personal gain in all of this for the Gipper. I've got a little Java applet game staring Dutch you might want to try called 'Star Wars' with the Gipper. Or check out a nice web page devoted to Ron.

I'm a Philly guy when it comes to pro sports (clues to this affiliation lie on my title page). Thus Mike Schmidt, Dr. J and Ron Jaworski were the greatest athletes ever (OK, maybe not Jaws) and I tricked the people on our intramural basketball team into naming our team Chocolate Thunder (does anybody out there understand this reference?). They say Philly fans are tough but they are also loyal (except for the Sixers but then would any city support that mess - even if they will win the next NBA title (notice clever omission of date so I can leave this line up forever)). The Phillies draw well for a team that's out of it by June so often and the Eagles have always drawn despite a less than illustrious history. Fan loyalty is one of the few areas where I don't like the attitude of my fellow Angelenos, whose support doesn't go beyond the Dodgers for the most part and anybody whose been to Dodger games knows the attraction there seems to be more of soaking in a warm LA evening (and leaving by the 7th inning) then backing the team. People in LA need to learn the fine art of booing to motivate their players - just look at what happened to Darryl when they pampered him out here - New Yorkers knew how to handle him.

As for personal athletics, my team sport of choice is basketball but mostly its golf, tennis, swimming and cycling.

Movies and stuff seem like an interesting topic to include on my opinion page here.
Doug's recommendations for immediate rental: 2001:A Space Odyssey (head and shoulders #1 on my list), Pulp Fiction, Amadeus, Raising Arizona, Driving Miss Daisy, Total Recall, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Unforgiven, Godfather 1 and 2, GoodFellas, ET, Seven, Fargo, It's a Wonderful Life (don't open till Xmas season)

Standouts of '97: Chasing Amy, Absolute Power, Contact, LA Confidential, As Good As It Gets, Eve's Bayou
Dreck of '97: Jurassic Park II (Lost World) - (how could Speilburg do that gymnastics action sequence?)

Highlights of my CD collection: Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street, Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed, Beethoven - 9 Symphonies (Berlin Phil., Karajan), Tom Petty - Box Set, The Boss and the E Street Band - Live Disc 1, Patsy Cline - Story, Louis Armstrong - Greatest Hits, Wagner - Die Walkure, Bach - Mass in B Minor, Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie....

(send her some email telling her how much you'd like to see a link to my Reagan game on her page).

I've even dragged my mom into this web thing, though she caught on quite quickly. We haven't gotten very far with her web page yet but check out how it's going so far.

For a quick trip back East to the eco-terrorist click, and don't worry, the FBI is onto him and is pretty sure he is not the Unabomber.(DISCLAIMER: the opinions on politics and especially the environment from this last link are probably diametrically opposite of your host).

180 degrees to the other side, go see the favorite alum of the residents of Parsons-Gates (make sure to ask about BOC-a-souras). (DISCLAIMER: opinions on this page may deceptively resemble mine, but can diverge from my Libertarian sensibilities when it comes to 'Retraining Camps').

My cousin Tony has enough taste to choose to live in California - unfortunately he seems to prefer the Bay Area but at least he's gotten it mostly correct. Take a stroll up the coast and see his far better designed page. That two lawyer links in a row for the observant.

Tony's brother, my cousin Joe, was an honest to goodness serious candidate for US Senate a few years back (got 35% in the GOP primary in 1994 in CT). Find out more on his more serious web home .

Wow, you're still here! Well, then I shall finally reveal myself (sort of). Proceed on to my Wallet Pictures page. There's also some general biographical type info back on my home page.

Perhaps you'd like to go to some other part of my abode or leave me a note in my message box. If so, you'll want to return to my foyer/home page.

doug@galcit.caltech.edu