After several days of putting it off, I'm updating the blog. Thursday got busy and slipped into friday then seemed to smear into saturday. On Saturday, I hit one of those memoents of clarity. You know , where you understand you are in the right place at the right time doing the right things. If you have never had one of these, well, they are nearly orgasmic. We had a hammer in at Robbins Crossing. What is a hammer in you ask? Well, a bunch of blacksmiths get together at some location and subject each other and any bystandards to lots of bad jokes and puns. Seriously, we get together and work or play as the fancy strikes us. Mr Norman Wendel showed up and brought one of his latest constructs with him, an electric trip hammer. If you do not know what one is, look it up on Google. It was most excellent to be around so many other smiths. Their work was fantastic and I learnd a few things as well. We teach eachother.
PS Dear Santa, I want a trip hammer. Any color will be fine. I have been a good boy this year and can produce sworn statemts to such. I will leave the usual offerings of cookies and moo juice. You have not taken it before so I am beging to wonder if you do not like cookies and are lactose intollerant. If you want a diffrent snack, let me know. I will even do Cajun or Chineese if it is more to your liking.
Anyway, that workday faded into a nap and shower and then gamming with almost everyone here. We moved it from Friday for scheduling reasons. Again, more fun. Didn't get to bed till almost 2 am. Friday night it was after 3. Needless to say it is now sunday and I am getting road rash from my ass dragging the ground. And there is still another workday at Robbins. I am glad monday is a holiday, I need the rest.
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Fiddle de de, tomorrow is another day
Well, yesterday came and went.
Nothing much to go on about. Judi made it to her fist day of P/T and her therapist, C. Skip Vossler, to say the least rocks. Credit where credit is due, Judi has been working hard to get back to nermal. Yes, I wrote nermal on purpose. So far this week we had our Macromedia User group meeting ( www.seomug.org ) and plans are afoot for our next conference. For a little group, we are pretty cool on an international level. Long story. Anyway, Tuesday brought what almost every Tuesday does, SCA. Our local group, the Shire of Dernehealde has for once been meeting consistently over the summer. Parks are nice and all that, but all mosquitoes must die. This city needs somewhere for orgs to meet that does not cost an arm and a leg. Before you say community center, let me respond with $150 per hour for room rental. Yea, that is right.
Well, looks like I have my rant for today, the Athens Community Center.
We had a community center; it was a converted airplane hanger. It was not the greatest, but it was affordable somewhat. Then someone gets the idea to build this new community center. Wow, great, cool. The city funds it with taxes, a little less enthusiasm, but still, okay I can see it. It runs over budget, normal for projects here. So we have this cool looking brand spanking new community center with meeting rooms, b-ball courts, fancy gym. All in all, not a bad set up. Now comes the kicker you have to /join/ the center and pay a /membership fee/. Wait a minute! Did I not already help pay for this place and all its stuff with taxes? Well, yes, but there are operating expenses. Okay, I can see that, but they get funding from the city that covers most of that, close to 90%. Their memberships are for an Adult, $150.00 due annually. No kidding. In a county where most of the population makes less than 20k a year, they want that kind of money. Yea, real nice guys, an in town country club. That was real slick. Most of the time the place is vacant, except for a very few people(read our local $$$$ people). This place is a money sinkhole now. Wamt to see it for yourself? Click here.
The University here has great facilities, but does not allow community usage. They say its just for the students. Again, elitists abound. So here you can see what life in Athens is kind of like. One group of elites trying to out do the other while all of us other people who just want good lives get crushed in the middle. We have our carpetbagger politicians, our transient politicians (come in, get started in city politics, then move to county, then state, perhaps onward), our share of fanatics and loonies (Hi Art Gish, rot in Kansas you bastard, cause that is worse than hell!), freaks, zealots, released inmates from the insane asylum, and others. A colorful place to say the least.
Well, that is about it, except for the shout out to Tom (Yea, him from the blog entry from the other day) Welcome to the blogworld! You can see his blog here.
Nothing much to go on about. Judi made it to her fist day of P/T and her therapist, C. Skip Vossler, to say the least rocks. Credit where credit is due, Judi has been working hard to get back to nermal. Yes, I wrote nermal on purpose. So far this week we had our Macromedia User group meeting ( www.seomug.org ) and plans are afoot for our next conference. For a little group, we are pretty cool on an international level. Long story. Anyway, Tuesday brought what almost every Tuesday does, SCA. Our local group, the Shire of Dernehealde has for once been meeting consistently over the summer. Parks are nice and all that, but all mosquitoes must die. This city needs somewhere for orgs to meet that does not cost an arm and a leg. Before you say community center, let me respond with $150 per hour for room rental. Yea, that is right.
Well, looks like I have my rant for today, the Athens Community Center.
We had a community center; it was a converted airplane hanger. It was not the greatest, but it was affordable somewhat. Then someone gets the idea to build this new community center. Wow, great, cool. The city funds it with taxes, a little less enthusiasm, but still, okay I can see it. It runs over budget, normal for projects here. So we have this cool looking brand spanking new community center with meeting rooms, b-ball courts, fancy gym. All in all, not a bad set up. Now comes the kicker you have to /join/ the center and pay a /membership fee/. Wait a minute! Did I not already help pay for this place and all its stuff with taxes? Well, yes, but there are operating expenses. Okay, I can see that, but they get funding from the city that covers most of that, close to 90%. Their memberships are for an Adult, $150.00 due annually. No kidding. In a county where most of the population makes less than 20k a year, they want that kind of money. Yea, real nice guys, an in town country club. That was real slick. Most of the time the place is vacant, except for a very few people(read our local $$$$ people). This place is a money sinkhole now. Wamt to see it for yourself? Click here.
The University here has great facilities, but does not allow community usage. They say its just for the students. Again, elitists abound. So here you can see what life in Athens is kind of like. One group of elites trying to out do the other while all of us other people who just want good lives get crushed in the middle. We have our carpetbagger politicians, our transient politicians (come in, get started in city politics, then move to county, then state, perhaps onward), our share of fanatics and loonies (Hi Art Gish, rot in Kansas you bastard, cause that is worse than hell!), freaks, zealots, released inmates from the insane asylum, and others. A colorful place to say the least.
Well, that is about it, except for the shout out to Tom (Yea, him from the blog entry from the other day) Welcome to the blogworld! You can see his blog here.
Monday, August 25, 2003
Return to Earth
Man, what an excellent weekend!
The part on Saturday was a riot! Drums, Barbaras cooking, more drums, nice people, food, coffee, the nice weather, it was most hoopy! I have never played my bodhran so much in one setting. I started playing in ways I had only read about. More than one drum had the living daylights played out of it. I played till I now have a blister on one finger from my tipper. Then I played till it became two. Who cares, I will heal. It was awesome. I got to renew some old friendships and reconnect with people I drifted away from for a while. I also re-met Morgana. She's Barbaras daughter and quite a character in her own right. Barb should be very proud of her. I do not think Morgana fully understands our ways and us yet. The concepts of you are the child of my extended family and therefore an extension of my tribe seemed foreign to her. She will always have a place at my fires as long as she wishes. Dan and Heather celebrated their first anniversary as well. One year down of happiness and hopefully eons more to go! Sunday was recovery day. Needed LOTS of sleep and rest. I packed in a lot of hours to a very few days. Thanks to Tom for coming up and for the stimulating conversation on the way back from Mayapple. Made the 1.5-hour drive seem like 15 minutes. I love those conversations that seem to mess with your perception of time.
Now, for my rantings.
We have been watching Season 3 of Babylon 5. It is one of the greatest stories I think has ever been told on the small screen. Judi and I enjoy it to no end, but I have begun to find it disturbing in a way. I am seeing too many parallels between the story and our world right now. If you have not seen B5, this rant will make almost no sense to you. There are things where you can supplant one name for another and feel like your watching the news. Nightwatch and the idea of it scares me. Think Homeland Security. Clark is Bush. An unseen enemy is used to rip away our basic freedoms in the name of greater safety. ISN as CNN. Media that spews the party line. I think it is even worse after watching the episode where ISN comes back on line after being hit by the presidents forces. They begin to spew propaganda a lot like I see now on TV. They were talking about how much people enjoyed the lower crime rate since Martial Law had been imposed. This is fiction, I keep telling myself. Then this morning I was reading thru CNN as part of cup of coffee number one. I saw an article saying how the crime rate is the lowest it has been since 1973. This is mostly due to the /Homeland Defense/ measures. The one thing that bothers me is I have yet to see any form of resistance to this. Anytime anyone speaks up, the body politic wraps itself in the American flag and begins chanting nine–eleven. Better fall inline or the terrorists are going to get you. They are out there, lurking in the shadows and hidden alleyways planning and plotting. But, if you will just do what your told, we will save you. In truth I am scared, not of the terrorists, but of the government. Sometimes I feel my friends and I are the lone voice crying out in the night, but no one listens. We have no political agenda per-se. We just see what is happening. We decry evil stupidity where we see it. We are ashamed of what America has become. In a way I think we keep looking for the patriots of old, not the media patriots you see in info bites with more spin than a top. I think if Thomas Jefferson were alive today he would cry from what we have become. Perhaps it would turn to rage when he saw where we are going. America today is quite different from when I was in high school. I want my freedom back; I want to give it to the next generation. The present one does not deserve it for allowing this.
The part on Saturday was a riot! Drums, Barbaras cooking, more drums, nice people, food, coffee, the nice weather, it was most hoopy! I have never played my bodhran so much in one setting. I started playing in ways I had only read about. More than one drum had the living daylights played out of it. I played till I now have a blister on one finger from my tipper. Then I played till it became two. Who cares, I will heal. It was awesome. I got to renew some old friendships and reconnect with people I drifted away from for a while. I also re-met Morgana. She's Barbaras daughter and quite a character in her own right. Barb should be very proud of her. I do not think Morgana fully understands our ways and us yet. The concepts of you are the child of my extended family and therefore an extension of my tribe seemed foreign to her. She will always have a place at my fires as long as she wishes. Dan and Heather celebrated their first anniversary as well. One year down of happiness and hopefully eons more to go! Sunday was recovery day. Needed LOTS of sleep and rest. I packed in a lot of hours to a very few days. Thanks to Tom for coming up and for the stimulating conversation on the way back from Mayapple. Made the 1.5-hour drive seem like 15 minutes. I love those conversations that seem to mess with your perception of time.
Now, for my rantings.
We have been watching Season 3 of Babylon 5. It is one of the greatest stories I think has ever been told on the small screen. Judi and I enjoy it to no end, but I have begun to find it disturbing in a way. I am seeing too many parallels between the story and our world right now. If you have not seen B5, this rant will make almost no sense to you. There are things where you can supplant one name for another and feel like your watching the news. Nightwatch and the idea of it scares me. Think Homeland Security. Clark is Bush. An unseen enemy is used to rip away our basic freedoms in the name of greater safety. ISN as CNN. Media that spews the party line. I think it is even worse after watching the episode where ISN comes back on line after being hit by the presidents forces. They begin to spew propaganda a lot like I see now on TV. They were talking about how much people enjoyed the lower crime rate since Martial Law had been imposed. This is fiction, I keep telling myself. Then this morning I was reading thru CNN as part of cup of coffee number one. I saw an article saying how the crime rate is the lowest it has been since 1973. This is mostly due to the /Homeland Defense/ measures. The one thing that bothers me is I have yet to see any form of resistance to this. Anytime anyone speaks up, the body politic wraps itself in the American flag and begins chanting nine–eleven. Better fall inline or the terrorists are going to get you. They are out there, lurking in the shadows and hidden alleyways planning and plotting. But, if you will just do what your told, we will save you. In truth I am scared, not of the terrorists, but of the government. Sometimes I feel my friends and I are the lone voice crying out in the night, but no one listens. We have no political agenda per-se. We just see what is happening. We decry evil stupidity where we see it. We are ashamed of what America has become. In a way I think we keep looking for the patriots of old, not the media patriots you see in info bites with more spin than a top. I think if Thomas Jefferson were alive today he would cry from what we have become. Perhaps it would turn to rage when he saw where we are going. America today is quite different from when I was in high school. I want my freedom back; I want to give it to the next generation. The present one does not deserve it for allowing this.
Saturday, August 23, 2003
Yea Baby, its my groove and its freaking me out!
Woo hoo!
Friday got pulled out of the shitter by Dan (The Fish) who came back to town from a long journey early. Well, not early perse, but none the less he was here and there was gamming. Not just any kind but old style gamming. We did not get to bed till 4am. I feel so much better. Sated the gamming beast for another week. Its my monkey, but I love it.
Today we are going to a party with some old friends of mine, Zak and Barbara. 3 hour road trip to see them, but it will be worth it. Drums, food and fun at Mayapple (Their farm)Tom and The Fish will be there too. This aught to be awesome. Might have to bring a recoder to grab samples of some of this music. You would not belive what we sound like together. It's all improv, but who cares, it rocks! Zak can play anything with strings I am convinced and has way too much bluesman in him for a little white guy. Barbara has a voice that belts out with power and clarity that you could see her coaxing the birds from the trees or the deer from the woods. Me, well, I can play 4/4 time on my drum :) Judi (when she relaxes and lets her self) can get her doumbek to kick with the best of them. The Fish aught to be our front man with his doumbek as well. We have more drums than a refinery, but what the hell, we like it. The Fish said Barbara is going to make jambalia. Whooo YA! I gurentee we all gonna be fat, hell ya!
Gee, think I am psyched about this?
Friday got pulled out of the shitter by Dan (The Fish) who came back to town from a long journey early. Well, not early perse, but none the less he was here and there was gamming. Not just any kind but old style gamming. We did not get to bed till 4am. I feel so much better. Sated the gamming beast for another week. Its my monkey, but I love it.
Today we are going to a party with some old friends of mine, Zak and Barbara. 3 hour road trip to see them, but it will be worth it. Drums, food and fun at Mayapple (Their farm)Tom and The Fish will be there too. This aught to be awesome. Might have to bring a recoder to grab samples of some of this music. You would not belive what we sound like together. It's all improv, but who cares, it rocks! Zak can play anything with strings I am convinced and has way too much bluesman in him for a little white guy. Barbara has a voice that belts out with power and clarity that you could see her coaxing the birds from the trees or the deer from the woods. Me, well, I can play 4/4 time on my drum :) Judi (when she relaxes and lets her self) can get her doumbek to kick with the best of them. The Fish aught to be our front man with his doumbek as well. We have more drums than a refinery, but what the hell, we like it. The Fish said Barbara is going to make jambalia. Whooo YA! I gurentee we all gonna be fat, hell ya!
Gee, think I am psyched about this?
Friday, August 22, 2003
Friday
Yes, once again, no gamming. Guard weekend for one of our players, so we are sans 4 total. Next weekend is not looking good either already.*sigh* The weather today seems to be changing yet again. Yesterday was dam hot and humid. Even I was having problems. Today, well its 9am and the sky looks like 5am. Dark and forbodeing. It is starting to rain some, but stll not enough and it's almost 80 in the house.
I have decided that there is a bad side effect to reading Stephen Hawking early in the morning, your mind comes up with questions you can not answer. Today for example, mine was what is the mass of light? If it is energy and it can be measured, it must have mass. Dr.Hawking, feel free to email me about this, you have my address from my previous emails. Concepts of linerar and nonlinear time have been much on my mind of late. Why? I do not know, my brain does its own thing and I seem to be here just for the ride sometimes. Ever since I convinced myself Albert was in error, these things work their way thru now and then. Yea, I said it, Albert made an error. Now before you hard science types out there start grabbing the pitch forks and torches, screaming heritic and asaling the walls of my home, hear me out.
Everyone pretty much knows E=MC2
Energy=Mass x C(The speed of light) squared
Simple enough right? Well here is the flaw when you do any type of calculations:
Mass is expressed in grams and kilos, he said the speed of light was 186,000 miles per second per second.
And there in lies the flaw. You cannot multiply a standard measure by a metric measure and get a usable figure. So if you correct for this mistake you find that your results are radically changed. 186000 miles = 299,337.984 kilometers. Most 5th graders can see the change. So there you have it.
Took me a while to get back to this so I will stop here and work on the Saturday entry.
I have decided that there is a bad side effect to reading Stephen Hawking early in the morning, your mind comes up with questions you can not answer. Today for example, mine was what is the mass of light? If it is energy and it can be measured, it must have mass. Dr.Hawking, feel free to email me about this, you have my address from my previous emails. Concepts of linerar and nonlinear time have been much on my mind of late. Why? I do not know, my brain does its own thing and I seem to be here just for the ride sometimes. Ever since I convinced myself Albert was in error, these things work their way thru now and then. Yea, I said it, Albert made an error. Now before you hard science types out there start grabbing the pitch forks and torches, screaming heritic and asaling the walls of my home, hear me out.
Everyone pretty much knows E=MC2
Energy=Mass x C(The speed of light) squared
Simple enough right? Well here is the flaw when you do any type of calculations:
Mass is expressed in grams and kilos, he said the speed of light was 186,000 miles per second per second.
And there in lies the flaw. You cannot multiply a standard measure by a metric measure and get a usable figure. So if you correct for this mistake you find that your results are radically changed. 186000 miles = 299,337.984 kilometers. Most 5th graders can see the change. So there you have it.
Took me a while to get back to this so I will stop here and work on the Saturday entry.
Thursday, August 21, 2003
The adventure continues....
Well, this evening my bud Tom will be comming to town for a visit. Yes, my faithful companion (He hates the term side-kick) Tom-to!
The Lone Stranger Rides again!!!
Lone Stranger: Tom-to we need some information and more mountain dew. Go to town and see what you can find.
Tom-to:No
Lone Stranger:Oh, why not? Come on man!
Tom-to:No way, Kemotherapy. You go to town. I'm not going to get my ass beat again.
Lone Stranger:Alright, then lets go to Wall Mart.
Tom-to:Much better, no one gets their ass beat at Wall Mart...
Alright, it's not like that. Tom does not get his ass beat every time he goes to town. But hey, made for a short funny dialog, right?
Okay, now on to one of my more asurbic and pissy rants. I have been letting this one ferment for a few days just to get real good.
Peace Marchers:
Alright, listen up screw heads. I am sick and tired (gods I sound like my parents!) of all of you. First off, I do respect and have even defended your right to speak out on your point of view. Note I said speak, not yell. When a large group of people under 25 start in screaming about peace this and no Bush that I get irked. Now, understand I am no fan of Bushy at all. What I want to know is where you Platnum card carrying, nappy headed dreadlock wearing, patchouli stinking, seem to have an ingrained fear of soap and water, bunch of purchased your way into a subculture, suburban yuppie spawn get off!?!? You can not even defend your posistion, let alone have an intelligent discussion. You say stop the war, fine, good general idea. Now I ask why and your sheep like mentallity bleets back, cause people are dying. Okay, people have been doing that for centurys, but lets see something. How many people died under Saddam? How many were poison gassed? How many were totured and raped? Lets try this on for size; hundreds of thousands. How many died in the invasion? Less than 3000. Still 3000 is a lot of people, but that is just what is called a press count. They are not verifiable. Saddam killed 5000 in a single day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2854019.stm). Thats in ONE DAY! He was a proto-Hitler and I am dammed glad we stopped him. Do not even mention sanctions and inspections to me. You people cry Inspectors, let them do their jobs, wait and see. We waited 10 years and nothing. Saddam carried on, promicing whatever we wanted to hear and people still died. The coalition forces have lost about 317 people (http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx). They knew the price of freedom and paied it. There are your real heros in this story. When confronted with fact, your usual tactic is to try to shout down the person presenting them. Very effective tactic, it worked before
.
Ask yourself this question:What have I done to deserve the freedom I enjoy?
For most of you, nothing. The freedom you have was earned with the blood of our parents and grand parents on back into time. Look them in the eyes and talk about inspections and how your right. Go out and talk to a Holocaust survivor and ask what they think. Ask them if we were right to stop him or should we have negotiated more. Go find a WWII vet and ask their opinion. Listen and learn. Read up on Prime Minister Chamberlin of Great Britan and see what he did. See the results of negotiations with a madman. That which is given and not earned is never appreciated. What have /you/ done to earn your freedom? No, you don't have to go join the millitary to protect your freedoms. Learn, be informed, make rational decisions, vote, hold elected officals responsable for their actions. Be a citizen, not a subject. Want to do something socially responcable? Go work in a homeless shelter instead of going to see a Phish concert. Take a vet to lunch and listen to them for a while. Go to a retirment home, visit and learn from our living history. Now can you look them in the eyes and say what you yell on the streets? That pain you feel in your chest should tell you something is wrong. You proport to live in the tribe of man, fine. Go learn from your wisened elders. Let nature take care of herself for a while, she did fine before you and I got here and will continue to do so. Sitting in the street does nothing but polish the bricks with your ass. Get off of it and become involved for real. I and my friends stood the line, and now another generation stands there protecting us. Where will you stand?
(Shouts out to Daniel W. - Hoo Rah! Good job! Carry on!).
There, I feel much better. Oh, one more thing:
Shouts and all the props to my Advisory Muse, Ravynn. There, happy now? :)
The Lone Stranger Rides again!!!
Lone Stranger: Tom-to we need some information and more mountain dew. Go to town and see what you can find.
Tom-to:No
Lone Stranger:Oh, why not? Come on man!
Tom-to:No way, Kemotherapy. You go to town. I'm not going to get my ass beat again.
Lone Stranger:Alright, then lets go to Wall Mart.
Tom-to:Much better, no one gets their ass beat at Wall Mart...
Alright, it's not like that. Tom does not get his ass beat every time he goes to town. But hey, made for a short funny dialog, right?
Okay, now on to one of my more asurbic and pissy rants. I have been letting this one ferment for a few days just to get real good.
Peace Marchers:
Alright, listen up screw heads. I am sick and tired (gods I sound like my parents!) of all of you. First off, I do respect and have even defended your right to speak out on your point of view. Note I said speak, not yell. When a large group of people under 25 start in screaming about peace this and no Bush that I get irked. Now, understand I am no fan of Bushy at all. What I want to know is where you Platnum card carrying, nappy headed dreadlock wearing, patchouli stinking, seem to have an ingrained fear of soap and water, bunch of purchased your way into a subculture, suburban yuppie spawn get off!?!? You can not even defend your posistion, let alone have an intelligent discussion. You say stop the war, fine, good general idea. Now I ask why and your sheep like mentallity bleets back, cause people are dying. Okay, people have been doing that for centurys, but lets see something. How many people died under Saddam? How many were poison gassed? How many were totured and raped? Lets try this on for size; hundreds of thousands. How many died in the invasion? Less than 3000. Still 3000 is a lot of people, but that is just what is called a press count. They are not verifiable. Saddam killed 5000 in a single day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2854019.stm). Thats in ONE DAY! He was a proto-Hitler and I am dammed glad we stopped him. Do not even mention sanctions and inspections to me. You people cry Inspectors, let them do their jobs, wait and see. We waited 10 years and nothing. Saddam carried on, promicing whatever we wanted to hear and people still died. The coalition forces have lost about 317 people (http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx). They knew the price of freedom and paied it. There are your real heros in this story. When confronted with fact, your usual tactic is to try to shout down the person presenting them. Very effective tactic, it worked before
.Ask yourself this question:What have I done to deserve the freedom I enjoy?
For most of you, nothing. The freedom you have was earned with the blood of our parents and grand parents on back into time. Look them in the eyes and talk about inspections and how your right. Go out and talk to a Holocaust survivor and ask what they think. Ask them if we were right to stop him or should we have negotiated more. Go find a WWII vet and ask their opinion. Listen and learn. Read up on Prime Minister Chamberlin of Great Britan and see what he did. See the results of negotiations with a madman. That which is given and not earned is never appreciated. What have /you/ done to earn your freedom? No, you don't have to go join the millitary to protect your freedoms. Learn, be informed, make rational decisions, vote, hold elected officals responsable for their actions. Be a citizen, not a subject. Want to do something socially responcable? Go work in a homeless shelter instead of going to see a Phish concert. Take a vet to lunch and listen to them for a while. Go to a retirment home, visit and learn from our living history. Now can you look them in the eyes and say what you yell on the streets? That pain you feel in your chest should tell you something is wrong. You proport to live in the tribe of man, fine. Go learn from your wisened elders. Let nature take care of herself for a while, she did fine before you and I got here and will continue to do so. Sitting in the street does nothing but polish the bricks with your ass. Get off of it and become involved for real. I and my friends stood the line, and now another generation stands there protecting us. Where will you stand?
(Shouts out to Daniel W. - Hoo Rah! Good job! Carry on!).
There, I feel much better. Oh, one more thing:
Shouts and all the props to my Advisory Muse, Ravynn. There, happy now? :)
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Ah, the joys of technology
Ah, I am out in the sunshine with the wireless laptop enjoying a very good cup of coffee. Did a little more work on the sci-fi. I kind of got a boot in the butt from 2 authors I know. One just flat out raves about my work. Told me I missed my calling. So another chapter started and life is good. Been reorganizing it a little, I decided to write out a character that was just dangling in open space, no pun intended (For once) If there is a sequel, he will be back, but for now he is unnecessary. I keep meaning to transcribe some of my notes from tape to the blog, but I keep putting them off. at least they are not so much vapor like a lot of my ideas used to be. I highly recommend a small tape recorder for your car. Toss it in and don't be afraid to blather into it. Sometimes ideas can form from helpless and hopeless ramblings. On that note, it seems that my ramblings have become a little more coherent of late. Now, let me put this in perspective a little. Before they were just disjointed thoughts that seemed to go nowhere. I watched /Where the buffalo roam/ and /Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas/ again not too long ago. Hunter S Thompson infects ones brain if your paying attention. An infection one should seek out? Now there is an odd concept. Most people try to avoid them, but there are benefits. The ability to observe the human condition and relay those observations through simile and description are the paint of the writer. The brush can be the pen, pencil or keyboard. Much like sable, synthetic or exotic brushes can affect the finished painting. Let's hope I don't go drifting off in to the school of abstract art where only heavy chemicals can convey your meaning!
It seems strange that blogger sometimes recognises the punctuation and other times it will not, even in the same paragraph. One good thing about it is it has cut down my reliance on contractions!
It seems strange that blogger sometimes recognises the punctuation and other times it will not, even in the same paragraph. One good thing about it is it has cut down my reliance on contractions!
Saturday, August 16, 2003
Sonofagodammutherfrackinpissantbuggermulesuckingpigshanikinghofart!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rabid bastard goofed up the entire page!!!!!!!
Rabid bastard goofed up the entire page!!!!!!!
Blackout!!!
Okay, the lights went out. Not here, but for a good many people. Still, considering what could have happened, I am surprised at how overall the people took it. No massive riots or looting. People in NYC even felt safe enough to sleep on the street in front of the train station. I bet they now have a better understanding of the homeless, at least in one way. Bet next time they do not just walk on by, but actually give something to help.
Now we get on to the part I was expecting, the finger pointing. And in the true style of politics, it is everyone elses fault. Canada blames New York, New York blames Canada, and now, get this, they both blame Ohio. Excuse me??? Is the North East power grid so screwed up that an outage in Ohio takes out NYC? Let me sum this up for you faithful readers, No. The problem is not in Ohio. Now, Bryian how can you say that? Simple, look at the power grid maps, they are on cnn.com. A third grader could show you that on the US side, if you lost Ohio, there would still be power. Loose Niagara/Toronto and all hell breaks loose. Leave Ohio out of it. Back off New York, get a grip. Canada, do not make us invade and force you to pronounce about. It is not pronounced A-boot. You are not right, the rest of the English-speaking world says about. Blame the French.
Now Bushy (I hate calling him Dubya) says, Lets upgrade the power grid! Thanks George, did you color in the lines today too? Guess who is going to foot the bill for this Great Endeavor. That is right, you and I. Heaven forbid that one of these Power Company CEOs might take a pay cut or loose his multimillion-dollar bonus. Upgrade? Why is this starting to sound like Micro$oft?
To say I have some harsh views on politics is an understatement. I still believe politics was never meant to be a profession. The founding fathers tried to keep that from happening by putting the power of the vote in the hands of the people, to get rid of career politicians like England had, or hereditary dynasties (Can you say Taft, Kennedy, Bush? I knew you could!) Perhaps a three-generation exclusion would be in order. You cannot hold political office in the United States unless there is three documented generations between the candidate and the last elected official in the same family. Your spouse may not enter into politics, even if you are dead, physically or politically. I would think that aught to hold them for a while. It was suggested once I run for either City Council or for the County Commissioners office. Talk about your underdog candidate! I would be so unpopular with the elected status elite; they might revive lynching just in my case. I know what my first action would be. I also understand the results of it. I would push for an across the board pay cut for the local representatives. Now consider this: it is a smart move money wise. Put that back in the general fund I say. One of the first things most elected groups do when they get in office is vote themselves a pay raise. Not I says Brother Rabbit. Go for the cut and make it /very/ public. Here is where this idea blossoms. If they vote for the pay cut, the people win. If they vote against it, then they are showing their true colors to the people. Then we go from there. Slash and burn. No more emergency measures to buy a truck. Could I be speaking of my local government? No more suspending the rules. No more free reign. Look out, oh lords on high, there is a revolutionary in the masses and he is just waiting.
Now we get on to the part I was expecting, the finger pointing. And in the true style of politics, it is everyone elses fault. Canada blames New York, New York blames Canada, and now, get this, they both blame Ohio. Excuse me??? Is the North East power grid so screwed up that an outage in Ohio takes out NYC? Let me sum this up for you faithful readers, No. The problem is not in Ohio. Now, Bryian how can you say that? Simple, look at the power grid maps, they are on cnn.com. A third grader could show you that on the US side, if you lost Ohio, there would still be power. Loose Niagara/Toronto and all hell breaks loose. Leave Ohio out of it. Back off New York, get a grip. Canada, do not make us invade and force you to pronounce about. It is not pronounced A-boot. You are not right, the rest of the English-speaking world says about. Blame the French.
Now Bushy (I hate calling him Dubya) says, Lets upgrade the power grid! Thanks George, did you color in the lines today too? Guess who is going to foot the bill for this Great Endeavor. That is right, you and I. Heaven forbid that one of these Power Company CEOs might take a pay cut or loose his multimillion-dollar bonus. Upgrade? Why is this starting to sound like Micro$oft?
To say I have some harsh views on politics is an understatement. I still believe politics was never meant to be a profession. The founding fathers tried to keep that from happening by putting the power of the vote in the hands of the people, to get rid of career politicians like England had, or hereditary dynasties (Can you say Taft, Kennedy, Bush? I knew you could!) Perhaps a three-generation exclusion would be in order. You cannot hold political office in the United States unless there is three documented generations between the candidate and the last elected official in the same family. Your spouse may not enter into politics, even if you are dead, physically or politically. I would think that aught to hold them for a while. It was suggested once I run for either City Council or for the County Commissioners office. Talk about your underdog candidate! I would be so unpopular with the elected status elite; they might revive lynching just in my case. I know what my first action would be. I also understand the results of it. I would push for an across the board pay cut for the local representatives. Now consider this: it is a smart move money wise. Put that back in the general fund I say. One of the first things most elected groups do when they get in office is vote themselves a pay raise. Not I says Brother Rabbit. Go for the cut and make it /very/ public. Here is where this idea blossoms. If they vote for the pay cut, the people win. If they vote against it, then they are showing their true colors to the people. Then we go from there. Slash and burn. No more emergency measures to buy a truck. Could I be speaking of my local government? No more suspending the rules. No more free reign. Look out, oh lords on high, there is a revolutionary in the masses and he is just waiting.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Um Excuse me!
Sorry about the few days with no posts, life happened.
So I'm reading CNN.com, and I run across this:
A failed attempt in November to shoot down an Israeli charter jet with a shoulder-fired missile as it took off from the airport in Mombasa, Kenya, was a /wake-up call/ for U.S. intelligence agencies.
Okay, now is it just me or wasn't 9/11 a wake up call? Or perhaps the Embasy Bombings going on or our ongoing episodes of In search of Osama Bin Laudin or our playing Where's Sadam (Like Where's Waldo). How many wake up calls does the US Intelligence services need? Now I grock they have a hard job. Intell is at best subjective and open to a lot of interpitation. It is rare to hear when they do something right, for if they do, nothing happens. There are no easy ways to keep track of all the wackos out there. Agendeas are as wild and varried as there are Fruity Pebbles. Still, every time something happens the media in general claims it is a wake up call. Um guys, THERE IS NO SNOOZE BUTTON! Let them alone to do their jobs.
The media, geesh, where to start this scetion of the rant? How about this: They LIE. Not for some nefarious reason but simply for an economic one. Truth many times is very boring. To quote Dr. Egon Spangler "Print is dead". I will just let the bird cage liners be and move on to mass media. First of all most of the information we see on TV and hear on the radio comes from a very few sources. AP and Ruters as well as the megacorp AOL-TIME/Warner-CNN. If only three groups are feeding us information and they all want us to watch so they can sell commercial time, then something has to be worth watching, right?
Let us take for an example of entertainment-information a simple case concerning Mr. Jerry Rivers. Don't know who he is? Yes you do, he goes by the psuedonym Jeraldo Rivera. I have other rants about him, but we will let that lie where it is for now. So Jerry and his camera man are in Iraq. Okay, so are a lot of other repoters. Jerry does a broadcast. Again so what? Jerry draws for the camera on a live feed the location and direction of american and british troop movements with points of refrence. Um Jerry, that's aiding the enemy. Did you also post signs on the American millitary vehicals that said "Important Command Information In Here - This sign brought to you by AOL" ? Perhaps you were passing out bullseye t-shirts to our people as well.
Jerry got asked to leave. I am sorry, but I can remember a time when Jerry would have been more likely to have had an /accident/ in the desert or just flat out gone missing. Can you sleep at night Jerry? How many familys instead of a welcome home party got a visit from a berevement detachment because of you? Did your story get its raitings and viewer share you wanted? How are your numbers man? Got your 2% market share and some great footage hu?
I have no words for the pain I hope you some day feel inflicted on your body and mind. Pain, much pain.
Somehow we need to stop these idiots feeding info-trash to the other idiots out there. They can't be trusted. Oh? Don't belive me, consider this: In the first Gulf War there was a planned amphibious assualt by US Marines. That is what they do, the are Naval Infantry after all. So this top secret invasion plan was made and executed and you got to see it all live on CNN. Wow, to see it first person, the boats comming ashore and all those guys assualting the beach. Did you catch what I said? Go ahead and re read it, I'll wait.
Are you back now? Didn't catch it hu? Okay lets go over this slowly. Top Secret Invasion of US Marines on a beach. Boats comming ashore. To see the boats comming ashore, the CNN crew had to be there first. Guess what, they were. Waiting on the sand as the Marines landed. So much for Top Secret. I am quite surprised someone didn't open up on them with a 30 cal and toast them on the spot. Again live coverage. The other name for that is real time intelligence for anyone with a tv. Sadam has tvs. I bet Osama Bin Laudin has at least 1 tv too. They showed the President of the US watching CNN during the Gulf War because the intell he was getting from there was faster than that of the millitary on the ground. That is sad, very, very sad.
I do belive there are a few journalists out there who do a great job. They bring us the truth and an unbiased opinion of the facts as they occur. They have morals and scruples. If the two of them ever run into me, I'll buy lunch cause I'll bet your hungry for not giving into the media machine. Keep up the fight and try to sway others to come over to the side of truth. Keep at it. Try to catch them just as they graduate and smuggle them away from the corperate sector real fast before they can be corrupted by the dork side of the force.
The media nowdays is not here to inform, they are there to entertain. Want to restore credibility to the media? Bring back Walter Cronkite. There was integrity. The man poped off at the head of the CIA when he was /accused/ of being an agent. Big brass there! He was our eyes and sometimes saw things we missed, but pointed it out to us. He made us think. Something a large ammount of Americans are loathe to do now days. He did not speculate with a bunch of paid analysts in bad suits. He was there. World War 2, Korea, Viet Nam, Walter went where the story was and showed us. No fancy 3d graphics and /Situational Theme Music/. Something harder, truth.
So, keep your eyes open. It is easier to spot the lies if you know your being lied to. You are, accept that. Find the truth and share it.
Word to ya Walter!
So I'm reading CNN.com, and I run across this:
A failed attempt in November to shoot down an Israeli charter jet with a shoulder-fired missile as it took off from the airport in Mombasa, Kenya, was a /wake-up call/ for U.S. intelligence agencies.
Okay, now is it just me or wasn't 9/11 a wake up call? Or perhaps the Embasy Bombings going on or our ongoing episodes of In search of Osama Bin Laudin or our playing Where's Sadam (Like Where's Waldo). How many wake up calls does the US Intelligence services need? Now I grock they have a hard job. Intell is at best subjective and open to a lot of interpitation. It is rare to hear when they do something right, for if they do, nothing happens. There are no easy ways to keep track of all the wackos out there. Agendeas are as wild and varried as there are Fruity Pebbles. Still, every time something happens the media in general claims it is a wake up call. Um guys, THERE IS NO SNOOZE BUTTON! Let them alone to do their jobs.
The media, geesh, where to start this scetion of the rant? How about this: They LIE. Not for some nefarious reason but simply for an economic one. Truth many times is very boring. To quote Dr. Egon Spangler "Print is dead". I will just let the bird cage liners be and move on to mass media. First of all most of the information we see on TV and hear on the radio comes from a very few sources. AP and Ruters as well as the megacorp AOL-TIME/Warner-CNN. If only three groups are feeding us information and they all want us to watch so they can sell commercial time, then something has to be worth watching, right?
Let us take for an example of entertainment-information a simple case concerning Mr. Jerry Rivers. Don't know who he is? Yes you do, he goes by the psuedonym Jeraldo Rivera. I have other rants about him, but we will let that lie where it is for now. So Jerry and his camera man are in Iraq. Okay, so are a lot of other repoters. Jerry does a broadcast. Again so what? Jerry draws for the camera on a live feed the location and direction of american and british troop movements with points of refrence. Um Jerry, that's aiding the enemy. Did you also post signs on the American millitary vehicals that said "Important Command Information In Here - This sign brought to you by AOL" ? Perhaps you were passing out bullseye t-shirts to our people as well.
Jerry got asked to leave. I am sorry, but I can remember a time when Jerry would have been more likely to have had an /accident/ in the desert or just flat out gone missing. Can you sleep at night Jerry? How many familys instead of a welcome home party got a visit from a berevement detachment because of you? Did your story get its raitings and viewer share you wanted? How are your numbers man? Got your 2% market share and some great footage hu?
I have no words for the pain I hope you some day feel inflicted on your body and mind. Pain, much pain.
Somehow we need to stop these idiots feeding info-trash to the other idiots out there. They can't be trusted. Oh? Don't belive me, consider this: In the first Gulf War there was a planned amphibious assualt by US Marines. That is what they do, the are Naval Infantry after all. So this top secret invasion plan was made and executed and you got to see it all live on CNN. Wow, to see it first person, the boats comming ashore and all those guys assualting the beach. Did you catch what I said? Go ahead and re read it, I'll wait.
Are you back now? Didn't catch it hu? Okay lets go over this slowly. Top Secret Invasion of US Marines on a beach. Boats comming ashore. To see the boats comming ashore, the CNN crew had to be there first. Guess what, they were. Waiting on the sand as the Marines landed. So much for Top Secret. I am quite surprised someone didn't open up on them with a 30 cal and toast them on the spot. Again live coverage. The other name for that is real time intelligence for anyone with a tv. Sadam has tvs. I bet Osama Bin Laudin has at least 1 tv too. They showed the President of the US watching CNN during the Gulf War because the intell he was getting from there was faster than that of the millitary on the ground. That is sad, very, very sad.
I do belive there are a few journalists out there who do a great job. They bring us the truth and an unbiased opinion of the facts as they occur. They have morals and scruples. If the two of them ever run into me, I'll buy lunch cause I'll bet your hungry for not giving into the media machine. Keep up the fight and try to sway others to come over to the side of truth. Keep at it. Try to catch them just as they graduate and smuggle them away from the corperate sector real fast before they can be corrupted by the dork side of the force.
The media nowdays is not here to inform, they are there to entertain. Want to restore credibility to the media? Bring back Walter Cronkite. There was integrity. The man poped off at the head of the CIA when he was /accused/ of being an agent. Big brass there! He was our eyes and sometimes saw things we missed, but pointed it out to us. He made us think. Something a large ammount of Americans are loathe to do now days. He did not speculate with a bunch of paid analysts in bad suits. He was there. World War 2, Korea, Viet Nam, Walter went where the story was and showed us. No fancy 3d graphics and /Situational Theme Music/. Something harder, truth.
So, keep your eyes open. It is easier to spot the lies if you know your being lied to. You are, accept that. Find the truth and share it.
Word to ya Walter!
Saturday, August 9, 2003
Interesting
seems Blogger has a problem with the apostrophe and quote marks, at least when you cut and paste from Word. Ah, another fine Micro$oft product. Billy aught to be on the list of people who get put up aginst the wall when the revolution comes. To be fitting tho, he should be executed with rubber bullets. Thousands of them. 1 a minute. It would kill, but it would take many days. I will happily be a loader for the belts of ammo.
Praise the Lard and pass the ammunition!
I wonder if anyone read this stuff. If you do, send me a comment: Click here
Hey Blogger-people! Here's a simple idea that would make a very cool addition: what about a blogger search engine so we could search other blogs for things?
A few words to pass onto my fellow bloggers: You write this stuff for people to read, right? WELL DON'T USE 4 POINT TYPE! *sigh* I am not done yet...another thing L33t3 sp3ak3 sux! Get a life and a vocabulary. Also, make sure the background your using does not kill the readability of the text. Say something, do not spew back things I can read on CNN.com if I wanted to. Tell me something. Grrrrrrr...turn your hat around, pull up your pants and shut up. Have an opinion, do not just regurgitate things you hear other people say. Learn, grow and develop or you will pay for it in the end. Evolve or do not, it all ends the same.
Man, what a prolific writing day! :)
Praise the Lard and pass the ammunition!
I wonder if anyone read this stuff. If you do, send me a comment: Click here
Hey Blogger-people! Here's a simple idea that would make a very cool addition: what about a blogger search engine so we could search other blogs for things?
A few words to pass onto my fellow bloggers: You write this stuff for people to read, right? WELL DON'T USE 4 POINT TYPE! *sigh* I am not done yet...another thing L33t3 sp3ak3 sux! Get a life and a vocabulary. Also, make sure the background your using does not kill the readability of the text. Say something, do not spew back things I can read on CNN.com if I wanted to. Tell me something. Grrrrrrr...turn your hat around, pull up your pants and shut up. Have an opinion, do not just regurgitate things you hear other people say. Learn, grow and develop or you will pay for it in the end. Evolve or do not, it all ends the same.
Man, what a prolific writing day! :)
Saturday...
Sometimes I sit and think early in the morning. To the casual observer it would seem like a semi conscious stupor brought on by the inability to become fully awake in any form of rapid fashion. This could be further from the truth. I do some of my most lucid thinking in this state. I feel free from the pressure of daily requirements somewhat in the same way an insane person is exempt from reality. Not that this is a permanent state, more like driving on a long road trip and cutting across the corner of the state to save a few hours time. Unfortunately, there are days when something goes horribly awry. The shortcut fails for some reason and you are stuck, half way out of there with a mental flat tire. You sit along side the road knowing you have no spare and it is too far to drive on just the rim. It never fails too; you get it in bat country. If you do not understand the reference, go see Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. So there you are alongside an unfamiliar road with a mental flat tire and without fail some semi-toothless simian with a pickup truck pulls along side. This is usually an idea you really did not want to deal with. He offers to help and your inner survival instinct says he is harmless enough. You accept and he just happens to have a spare with him to get you moving again. Great! There is just one small problem; the spare this idea gives you is lopsided. Thats right, you just got back on the road in a clown car. The brain starts that odd wobble up and down on the brainstem and shimmies side to side like a shriner in his little car screaming down the highway in a pack of semi trucks. You get the picture. The worst part is you have to keep driving like this because it is too late to pull into a mental service station, sleep, and get it fixed. Now from here your day goes on in this fashion. People wonder why I always take a nap in the afternoon. A simple; oil, filter, lube and a new tire for the rest of the day, if you do not go too fast, you can make it. Look for the sweet spot where things smooth out.
Friday, August 8, 2003
Alright..Who did it?!?!?
Who snuck in and swapped my Friday for a Monday? Hu? Who is the smartassed bastard that deserves being held by their lower lip in a set of vice grips while getting kicked in the groin till their eyes bleed? Transmission problems, users, stupid drivers, sleeplessness, headache, back flair up. Gee, think I've had a pissy day? What ever gave you that idea? And if you send me one of those fluffy bunny happy happy joy joy cards, I warn you, I have a set of vice grips right here and I know where my combat boots are.
There, I feel a little better now. I think it is a combination of gamming withdrawls among other things. I wanna play more, but then again I always do. 4 hours is never enough. I am an old marathon gamer. Play till you drop. 20 hours or more strait. Let the coffee burn an ulcer through the wall of your stomach, when it breaks the outside you can bypass that whole mouth/swallow thing. Pour it right in...arrrrgghhh, gimme more! I can take it, I have 4 heart valves, dam thing aught to still run on 3! No gamming next week either. Maybe the week after that. Maybe.
There, I feel a little better now. I think it is a combination of gamming withdrawls among other things. I wanna play more, but then again I always do. 4 hours is never enough. I am an old marathon gamer. Play till you drop. 20 hours or more strait. Let the coffee burn an ulcer through the wall of your stomach, when it breaks the outside you can bypass that whole mouth/swallow thing. Pour it right in...arrrrgghhh, gimme more! I can take it, I have 4 heart valves, dam thing aught to still run on 3! No gamming next week either. Maybe the week after that. Maybe.
Thursday, August 7, 2003
Arrrgh!
Day starts at 5:15am, also known as o-dark-stupid. Did get a little writing done before the morning started up. At least that was something. I've had the itch to work on the sci-fi I have been writing Click here for it but the universe seems to conspire against me and keep me from it. I still have Mitchner's words in the back of my mind the whole time "Writers block is an amateurs excuse". So I don't get writers block anymore, I just have inconvenient creativity malfunctions.
Wednesday, August 6, 2003
Weblog, part duex
You ever have one of those days...
You know the kind I am talking about where the universe tests your patience to no end? Well, I had one. Not that anything bad happened, just it was the threat thereof. Kinda like seeing the universe draw back a massive fist and your all braced for the hit only to hear it bellow out "Psych!". And you know, if you drop your guard, you will get nailed hard. Well, just for the record, I'd like to let the universe know it was funny the first time, back when I was 8 years old. The joke is worn, let it end please?
You know the kind I am talking about where the universe tests your patience to no end? Well, I had one. Not that anything bad happened, just it was the threat thereof. Kinda like seeing the universe draw back a massive fist and your all braced for the hit only to hear it bellow out "Psych!". And you know, if you drop your guard, you will get nailed hard. Well, just for the record, I'd like to let the universe know it was funny the first time, back when I was 8 years old. The joke is worn, let it end please?
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