Did I Take a Wrong Turn?
This morning, on my way to work, I had to stop by the coffee shop to post a room available poster. No biggie but it gave me the chance to take my old route to work along the river levee instead of along the traffic (though that means that I miss my one good jump, oh well).
Anyway, as I'm getting to the bridge above the trestle, my forward progress had to come to a rather abrupt stop.
Why?
Because one of these was walking along the path in front of me. Only this one was three feet long, a coppery-green color and totally uninterested in anything but his own progress.
And this his owner came and got him and I could continue on my way to work (not on time but at least now I had a decent excuse).
But today's a big one so I'm gonna hit it and forget it for now.
Thanks to the thoughts and positive reinforcement in the comments! I will respond when I get a moment later on this morning.
New iPod News
The best is getting better, the new iPod software includes lots more functionality, personability and just adds to the uber cool aspect of the little unit.
Why anyone would buy another MP3 player is totally beyond me at this point. Heck, my die hard PC fan in the office here has a brand new 15 gig version on the way as we speak.
By hook or by crook, Apple will triumph. Add in the new Music Store deal that Apple's also just opened and you have a complete, legal (ooooh the kids love that one) music solution. Another Mac-head's already dropped $30 or so into the new music system.
All the music thing needed was for Jobs to step and make sense of all the screaming idiots on all sides. And this way, everyone wins!
This morning, on my way to work, I had to stop by the coffee shop to post a room available poster. No biggie but it gave me the chance to take my old route to work along the river levee instead of along the traffic (though that means that I miss my one good jump, oh well).
Anyway, as I'm getting to the bridge above the trestle, my forward progress had to come to a rather abrupt stop.
Why?
Because one of these was walking along the path in front of me. Only this one was three feet long, a coppery-green color and totally uninterested in anything but his own progress.
And this his owner came and got him and I could continue on my way to work (not on time but at least now I had a decent excuse).
But today's a big one so I'm gonna hit it and forget it for now.
Thanks to the thoughts and positive reinforcement in the comments! I will respond when I get a moment later on this morning.
New iPod News
The best is getting better, the new iPod software includes lots more functionality, personability and just adds to the uber cool aspect of the little unit.
Why anyone would buy another MP3 player is totally beyond me at this point. Heck, my die hard PC fan in the office here has a brand new 15 gig version on the way as we speak.
By hook or by crook, Apple will triumph. Add in the new Music Store deal that Apple's also just opened and you have a complete, legal (ooooh the kids love that one) music solution. Another Mac-head's already dropped $30 or so into the new music system.
All the music thing needed was for Jobs to step and make sense of all the screaming idiots on all sides. And this way, everyone wins!
:: posted by Erik at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Apr 29, 2003Like this post?
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Misappropriation of a Blog
Its curious but after reading Layne lately, I feel a guilt of not utilizing my blog in the way she has. Of not using it as a reflecting board for the voices that bounce around in my head. For the personal irritations, triumphs and other micro events that go to creating persons.
Instead I use my blog for entertainment more than anything else. An occasional personal rant about life up close but I cannot do it anymore really. Its strange but there is no anonymity here for me.
I couldn't write about many things because it would repercuss through my external life. Its hard to accept that at times. I juxtaposed my two worlds too much, too quickly and that ability of the blog to bleed out the inside life is gone.
I don't think there's any problem with that in many senses as I can't and won't expose myself in the same raw and open manner that Layne does. My image of her is something out of an acid trip and Pink Floyd and Ralph Steadman. It is a solid beam of light in darkness upon a collapsed doll, heaped upon itself. I would pick her up, would prop her body, would lift her face from her chest. Her deep, deep sadness like an icy wind from her limp body.
But I imagine my own energy, my own heat radiating back. Knowing the glow of positive energies, knowing that my life force is strong, that my will is strong, that my esteem is strong, that my mind is strong, that my body is strong and willing and capable.
I see in Layne an extreme, an apogee or nadir, I can't remember which right now. She is prostrate on the barrel's bottom, oozing into the corners as best she can. I can will anything I can get near, I can mend those broken synapses in her brain that were cut ages ago. I can, I know I can if I just will it hard enough. Its easier that way too and that's the kindred sense I have in her. I relate to her need to be needed by others, to please others, to do for others. There is no greater satisfaction than the gratitude of others, sometimes. I think Layne and I differ in our boundaries, she admits that hers are non existent where mine were shaped by my upbringing. Empathy imparted by my mother, logic from my father, slap them together and mix in the heritages from both sides, how I was raised, the lengths my mother went to to keep three kids and herself going.
My brother feels like he grew up poor and maybe we did, I don't think so. The house I grew up in used to be in books, it was a great big old house. The house we moved into in Vermont was built for us, we had land to roam on. I got to make the switch from suburbs outside Baltimore to countryside with my own kingdom. I was 11 when we moved to Vermont, the year before my 7th grade year. I moved to a tiny blink of a town on the central eastern border of Vermont, from 50,000 people to 2,200 in only 15 hours of driving.
He was already a teenager and, I think, burned about his crappy clothes we had, about the car we drove around in. My sister was well old enough to be on her own life path already. Six years is a long distance to span, especially at 11. With my mother working, I was left to go wild, to run through the woods, to learn how to throw a hatchet, to shooting BB guns at friends in mock wars among pine trees, to sleeping under my slanted skylight windows in winter and watching the freezing rain, slush and snow make ever changing worlds as they drifted off the lower edge only to be replaced by more snow, always more snow.
We would learn that shooting woodstoves with water was a cheap thrill but could also crack one. We learned that matches can combust without friction, just by lying on a hot stovetop. We would amuse ourselves with glowing red hot pokers plunged deep into snow drifts at the doors.
My youth was spent experimenting, trying and doing. It set me up for a lifetime of willingness to try, to want to give a shot to anything deemed worthwhile. Knowledge that continues to be a prime motivation. Did I know I could grow bonsai? No but I did it anyway and have gotten mildly decent in the six years or so I've been doing it. It has its own lessons, by the way.
I know that my hold on my life is tenuous. That this current state of things is just another step to the next state. I am in love, I have direction, I have to-do lists a mile long. But I'm rarely depressed even though I harbor no illusions to myself about the uphill battle I face as well as Layne. Its always uphill, for all of us. Its just a different hill. I guess the real question is where are you willing to stop climbing or where are you forced to stop for whatever reason? Limited by internal inhibitors, by upbringing, by perceived social strata, by economic classification.
The hard part for me is to find that one thing that brings me the ultimate pleasure, the thing I could do for the rest of my life, to pour myself into it, to live breathe and form my life around. I can't settle on just one, there are lots of things I'd love to do for a living but rationalize reasons why not. I need to focus on rationalizing why, not why not. Its so very, very easy to see the route that others should take to their salvation but one's own route must, for some reason, by obscured. Or it must obscure itself because I can see the vague outlines of how to do what I want but the focus isn't there.
I know the steps that must be taken to get there but they are wide apart in my mind, I need to fill in the leaps, make things more likely instead of just possible.
Will I get there? Damn, I don't know. Its too easy to lose sight of the goals as if I were on an undulating sea, lost in the troughs only to rise up to another crest and see how far I've drifted off course. That's why I keep the lists, the notes, the directional markers, those blocks in mind to pound the pitons in to secure the rope, no way am I going in without a safety rope to get the hell back out if I need to.
I don't know, my mind's a mess, cluttered and random. Tired, looking ahead to being tired tomorrow but also thinking about steps, tiny imperceptible actions that propel the drive to the goal. Finding it again each time the wave crests. Wondering, in the troughs, whether I'm moving towards the right goal but moving in that way in any case because direction must (it MUST) be better than being adrift. Though there's that part of the brain that wonders aloud (as always) if its such a good thing to have direction if that direction is toward personal destruction?
As I approach that moment in the night when I can decide to press on, regardless of the consequences, I wonder what a day without work might offer tomorrow. Knowing that I shouldn't but thinking that I should. Just be elsewhere for the day, work on me again, make those steps as big as I can, eat up the miles I know are awaiting me but also knowing that no race I'm in can be won in a day, it can only be won by applying me, all of me to each day as it comes. Riding the waves and moving toward where I want/need (there can be no difference at this point) to go.
But, as my tumblers filled with nothing but the vapors this is a natural place to put the wraps on whatever path I've been trying to take tonight.
Its curious but after reading Layne lately, I feel a guilt of not utilizing my blog in the way she has. Of not using it as a reflecting board for the voices that bounce around in my head. For the personal irritations, triumphs and other micro events that go to creating persons.
Instead I use my blog for entertainment more than anything else. An occasional personal rant about life up close but I cannot do it anymore really. Its strange but there is no anonymity here for me.
I couldn't write about many things because it would repercuss through my external life. Its hard to accept that at times. I juxtaposed my two worlds too much, too quickly and that ability of the blog to bleed out the inside life is gone.
I don't think there's any problem with that in many senses as I can't and won't expose myself in the same raw and open manner that Layne does. My image of her is something out of an acid trip and Pink Floyd and Ralph Steadman. It is a solid beam of light in darkness upon a collapsed doll, heaped upon itself. I would pick her up, would prop her body, would lift her face from her chest. Her deep, deep sadness like an icy wind from her limp body.
But I imagine my own energy, my own heat radiating back. Knowing the glow of positive energies, knowing that my life force is strong, that my will is strong, that my esteem is strong, that my mind is strong, that my body is strong and willing and capable.
I see in Layne an extreme, an apogee or nadir, I can't remember which right now. She is prostrate on the barrel's bottom, oozing into the corners as best she can. I can will anything I can get near, I can mend those broken synapses in her brain that were cut ages ago. I can, I know I can if I just will it hard enough. Its easier that way too and that's the kindred sense I have in her. I relate to her need to be needed by others, to please others, to do for others. There is no greater satisfaction than the gratitude of others, sometimes. I think Layne and I differ in our boundaries, she admits that hers are non existent where mine were shaped by my upbringing. Empathy imparted by my mother, logic from my father, slap them together and mix in the heritages from both sides, how I was raised, the lengths my mother went to to keep three kids and herself going.
My brother feels like he grew up poor and maybe we did, I don't think so. The house I grew up in used to be in books, it was a great big old house. The house we moved into in Vermont was built for us, we had land to roam on. I got to make the switch from suburbs outside Baltimore to countryside with my own kingdom. I was 11 when we moved to Vermont, the year before my 7th grade year. I moved to a tiny blink of a town on the central eastern border of Vermont, from 50,000 people to 2,200 in only 15 hours of driving.
He was already a teenager and, I think, burned about his crappy clothes we had, about the car we drove around in. My sister was well old enough to be on her own life path already. Six years is a long distance to span, especially at 11. With my mother working, I was left to go wild, to run through the woods, to learn how to throw a hatchet, to shooting BB guns at friends in mock wars among pine trees, to sleeping under my slanted skylight windows in winter and watching the freezing rain, slush and snow make ever changing worlds as they drifted off the lower edge only to be replaced by more snow, always more snow.
We would learn that shooting woodstoves with water was a cheap thrill but could also crack one. We learned that matches can combust without friction, just by lying on a hot stovetop. We would amuse ourselves with glowing red hot pokers plunged deep into snow drifts at the doors.
My youth was spent experimenting, trying and doing. It set me up for a lifetime of willingness to try, to want to give a shot to anything deemed worthwhile. Knowledge that continues to be a prime motivation. Did I know I could grow bonsai? No but I did it anyway and have gotten mildly decent in the six years or so I've been doing it. It has its own lessons, by the way.
I know that my hold on my life is tenuous. That this current state of things is just another step to the next state. I am in love, I have direction, I have to-do lists a mile long. But I'm rarely depressed even though I harbor no illusions to myself about the uphill battle I face as well as Layne. Its always uphill, for all of us. Its just a different hill. I guess the real question is where are you willing to stop climbing or where are you forced to stop for whatever reason? Limited by internal inhibitors, by upbringing, by perceived social strata, by economic classification.
The hard part for me is to find that one thing that brings me the ultimate pleasure, the thing I could do for the rest of my life, to pour myself into it, to live breathe and form my life around. I can't settle on just one, there are lots of things I'd love to do for a living but rationalize reasons why not. I need to focus on rationalizing why, not why not. Its so very, very easy to see the route that others should take to their salvation but one's own route must, for some reason, by obscured. Or it must obscure itself because I can see the vague outlines of how to do what I want but the focus isn't there.
I know the steps that must be taken to get there but they are wide apart in my mind, I need to fill in the leaps, make things more likely instead of just possible.
Will I get there? Damn, I don't know. Its too easy to lose sight of the goals as if I were on an undulating sea, lost in the troughs only to rise up to another crest and see how far I've drifted off course. That's why I keep the lists, the notes, the directional markers, those blocks in mind to pound the pitons in to secure the rope, no way am I going in without a safety rope to get the hell back out if I need to.
I don't know, my mind's a mess, cluttered and random. Tired, looking ahead to being tired tomorrow but also thinking about steps, tiny imperceptible actions that propel the drive to the goal. Finding it again each time the wave crests. Wondering, in the troughs, whether I'm moving towards the right goal but moving in that way in any case because direction must (it MUST) be better than being adrift. Though there's that part of the brain that wonders aloud (as always) if its such a good thing to have direction if that direction is toward personal destruction?
As I approach that moment in the night when I can decide to press on, regardless of the consequences, I wonder what a day without work might offer tomorrow. Knowing that I shouldn't but thinking that I should. Just be elsewhere for the day, work on me again, make those steps as big as I can, eat up the miles I know are awaiting me but also knowing that no race I'm in can be won in a day, it can only be won by applying me, all of me to each day as it comes. Riding the waves and moving toward where I want/need (there can be no difference at this point) to go.
But, as my tumblers filled with nothing but the vapors this is a natural place to put the wraps on whatever path I've been trying to take tonight.
:: posted by Erik at 1:13 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Apr 28, 2003Like this post?
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Pics of my New Bike
Posted a short write up of my new Ibis Szazbo full suspension mountain bike over on NorCal Bikers last night but thought I'd put the pics up here for the (slightly) more mainstream traffic this site draws. Sure they're no See-thru panty skirt Pics but at least my bike's real. The skirt pics are, sadly, not. Don't believe me? Click here for the story.
Pending Review
I watched Formula 51 this weekend and loved it. That's the short review, the longer one is in the works. But if you've not seen it then go rent it or buy it. It will make an excellent addition to your collection. I laughed out loud at least six or seven times (much to Paula's chagrin as she had fallen asleep with her head on my chest).
Late Easter Themed Forward
A forward I've had for a little while but have not gotten around to posting. It comes from Esther and goes a little like this, Peep Research. Need a low key laugh? Check it out and then think about the time it took to do this. From concept to execution. Strange stuff indeed.
Posted a short write up of my new Ibis Szazbo full suspension mountain bike over on NorCal Bikers last night but thought I'd put the pics up here for the (slightly) more mainstream traffic this site draws. Sure they're no See-thru panty skirt Pics but at least my bike's real. The skirt pics are, sadly, not. Don't believe me? Click here for the story.
Pending Review
I watched Formula 51 this weekend and loved it. That's the short review, the longer one is in the works. But if you've not seen it then go rent it or buy it. It will make an excellent addition to your collection. I laughed out loud at least six or seven times (much to Paula's chagrin as she had fallen asleep with her head on my chest).
Late Easter Themed Forward
A forward I've had for a little while but have not gotten around to posting. It comes from Esther and goes a little like this, Peep Research. Need a low key laugh? Check it out and then think about the time it took to do this. From concept to execution. Strange stuff indeed.
:: posted by Erik at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Apr 27, 2003Like this post?
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Want A Shirt That'll Shock People?
From Intellectual Properties comes a most compelling and funny site, tshirthell.com with such totally customizable shirts as WWJD (For a Klondike Bar)? or I Fucked The Girl in Hanson or, if you've got your own ideas for a great t-shirt then try submitting your ideas here and you might get a couple of hundred bucks.
I've got a few shirts I could like.
And it doesn't hurt that the whole thing takes full advantage of the internet to track who gets there from where. Sign up and start to create your own mini t-shirt empire.
From Intellectual Properties comes a most compelling and funny site, tshirthell.com with such totally customizable shirts as WWJD (For a Klondike Bar)? or I Fucked The Girl in Hanson or, if you've got your own ideas for a great t-shirt then try submitting your ideas here and you might get a couple of hundred bucks.
I've got a few shirts I could like.
And it doesn't hurt that the whole thing takes full advantage of the internet to track who gets there from where. Sign up and start to create your own mini t-shirt empire.
:: posted by Erik at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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An Intellectual Poison Special: An Honest Advert for the H2 Hummer
After driving over Highway 17, possibly the most dangerous highway in America due to the sinuous nature of it, dropoffs, mountain fog, drizzly rain and utter stupidity of some of the drivers, on the way to the baseball game in Oakland today (in time to get two Miquel Tejada Bobbleheads!) I came up with an honest advertisement for the ridiculous oversized monstrosity that is the H2 Hummer.
And it goes a little something like this......
Hey, all you fat, balding white guys! Want to make a vain attempt to recapture some of your lost glory? You know, that big man on campus feel that you had all through high school when you were still cool? Only now you're out of school, you're not cool and the only campus you go near is the one at your work only its not a campus, its a geek farm?
Then you should get yourself a Hummer, a new H2 Hummer that is. The all new, luxurized H2 Hummer has all the bells and whistles, ball shriveling power and a devil-may-care stance on the road. Tell the world, "I've got a small penis and big bank account (or just the willingness to take on some massive consumer debt, GO AMERICA!)"
Show those tree huggers and "green" people that you're just too darned important to give a damn about 8 miles to the gallon as you navigate this behemoth over anything.
And don't you worry about safety, the Hummer's so stupidly oversized that you can drive right over other cars and even most other SUV's and not even skip a beat on our thumpity thump, window rattling LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, PLEASE LOOK AT ME stereo system. Thumb your nose at convention, hell you can hold your own convention in side the plush leather interior of the Hummer. Heck, you might even get a hummer in a Hummer!
Sure, we put on turn signals, brakes and other "safety" features but that's just so the best truck in the universe can get past those bastards in the government. Don't feel compelled to use any of them, just point the hood where you want to go and stomp on the accelerator. Oops, was that a Honda? Or a Toyota? No worries, leave all your troubles behind you as you tool along while hoping and praying that someone will see you and think "Now there goes a cool guy in a cool truck."
The Hummer is what you need, it'll make up for your pathetically small penis and inability to maintain an erection without a chemist's help. It'll make people overlook those horrible acne scars that scare children. It'll make you seem smarter, wittier and sexier. Even if its all in your own tiny little mind.
So open your wallet and get ready to drive over life with both hands. And hey, if life gets you down, just back up and run it over again and again.
So go out and buy yourself a Hummer, its probably the only way you'll ever get that wee little wick of yours wet.
Or some such like that.
Why am I down on Hummers and SUVs? Because they are yet another display of conspicuous consumption, another outlay of cash in a recession. Another stupid failed attempt to force people to think you are somebody when you're really not. They are dangerous, gas guzzling, road hogging death machines that people still seem to think can be driven like sports cars, regardless of the fact that they're fucking trucks with big engines and Corinthian leather seats.
We tailed a moron in one of these stupid trucks over the hill today, not once did the asshole piloting it use a turn signal as he weaved in and out of traffic vainly attempting to get there ahead of everyone. He cut people off without a care, even on the frigging hairpin. And when we did pull even with him, he was a dough boy. A fat, stupid looking, balding white fuck who was grinning to himself while endangering everyone near him. Grinning to himself because he was sure to get laid when he showed up with that truck. Oh yeah. I hope his hand rejects him later on and he's forced to go eat more Kentucky Fried and watch the WWF while thinking that, yeah, he could do that if he really wanted to, as he schedules his next appointment at the Hair Club for Men to get more ass hair rammed into his skull.
If I do ever get my three wishes, one of them just might be to replace all the SUVs in the world that have never been used for the purposes they were intended, namely, for travelling off road (or protecting one's kids but tha means you can't drive it like an asshole), to be turned into little pink polka dotted VW bugs with cutesy license plates like "HOTSTFF" and "PRTYBOY" and "MSTRB8R" (oooh yeah, I worked on that last one for a little while) and the SUV being permanently erased from the human consciousness. The other two wishes? I'll have to think about those for a bit.
Perhaps I need to expand this just a little bit for clarity's sake. I don't think everyone who owns and drives an SUV is an asshole, that would mean my brother is a part time asshole and Jay would be a full time asshole. And neither case is true. Peter, my brother, has an SUV because they own a farm in upstate New York and they need it to get there safely in the winter. He is also driving around with my nephew and that means its okay to buy a big protective vehicle. Same thing for Jay, he's got a new son and needs the protection. Neither of them drive the trucks like they are sports cars, they drive them respectfully and without feeling the need to swerve from lane to lane without signals.
Not all SUV drivers are wankers but the one's who think its just another sports car but with four wheel drive and they drive them as such, THEY are assholes because they endanger other people with their huge vehicles. Just like someone who drives a semi who swerves all over the road is an asshole.
Hope that clarifies things just a little bit. If not then let me know and I'll take another stab at it.
After driving over Highway 17, possibly the most dangerous highway in America due to the sinuous nature of it, dropoffs, mountain fog, drizzly rain and utter stupidity of some of the drivers, on the way to the baseball game in Oakland today (in time to get two Miquel Tejada Bobbleheads!) I came up with an honest advertisement for the ridiculous oversized monstrosity that is the H2 Hummer.
And it goes a little something like this......
Hey, all you fat, balding white guys! Want to make a vain attempt to recapture some of your lost glory? You know, that big man on campus feel that you had all through high school when you were still cool? Only now you're out of school, you're not cool and the only campus you go near is the one at your work only its not a campus, its a geek farm?
Then you should get yourself a Hummer, a new H2 Hummer that is. The all new, luxurized H2 Hummer has all the bells and whistles, ball shriveling power and a devil-may-care stance on the road. Tell the world, "I've got a small penis and big bank account (or just the willingness to take on some massive consumer debt, GO AMERICA!)"
Show those tree huggers and "green" people that you're just too darned important to give a damn about 8 miles to the gallon as you navigate this behemoth over anything.
And don't you worry about safety, the Hummer's so stupidly oversized that you can drive right over other cars and even most other SUV's and not even skip a beat on our thumpity thump, window rattling LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, PLEASE LOOK AT ME stereo system. Thumb your nose at convention, hell you can hold your own convention in side the plush leather interior of the Hummer. Heck, you might even get a hummer in a Hummer!
Sure, we put on turn signals, brakes and other "safety" features but that's just so the best truck in the universe can get past those bastards in the government. Don't feel compelled to use any of them, just point the hood where you want to go and stomp on the accelerator. Oops, was that a Honda? Or a Toyota? No worries, leave all your troubles behind you as you tool along while hoping and praying that someone will see you and think "Now there goes a cool guy in a cool truck."
The Hummer is what you need, it'll make up for your pathetically small penis and inability to maintain an erection without a chemist's help. It'll make people overlook those horrible acne scars that scare children. It'll make you seem smarter, wittier and sexier. Even if its all in your own tiny little mind.
So open your wallet and get ready to drive over life with both hands. And hey, if life gets you down, just back up and run it over again and again.
So go out and buy yourself a Hummer, its probably the only way you'll ever get that wee little wick of yours wet.
Or some such like that.
Why am I down on Hummers and SUVs? Because they are yet another display of conspicuous consumption, another outlay of cash in a recession. Another stupid failed attempt to force people to think you are somebody when you're really not. They are dangerous, gas guzzling, road hogging death machines that people still seem to think can be driven like sports cars, regardless of the fact that they're fucking trucks with big engines and Corinthian leather seats.
We tailed a moron in one of these stupid trucks over the hill today, not once did the asshole piloting it use a turn signal as he weaved in and out of traffic vainly attempting to get there ahead of everyone. He cut people off without a care, even on the frigging hairpin. And when we did pull even with him, he was a dough boy. A fat, stupid looking, balding white fuck who was grinning to himself while endangering everyone near him. Grinning to himself because he was sure to get laid when he showed up with that truck. Oh yeah. I hope his hand rejects him later on and he's forced to go eat more Kentucky Fried and watch the WWF while thinking that, yeah, he could do that if he really wanted to, as he schedules his next appointment at the Hair Club for Men to get more ass hair rammed into his skull.
If I do ever get my three wishes, one of them just might be to replace all the SUVs in the world that have never been used for the purposes they were intended, namely, for travelling off road (or protecting one's kids but tha means you can't drive it like an asshole), to be turned into little pink polka dotted VW bugs with cutesy license plates like "HOTSTFF" and "PRTYBOY" and "MSTRB8R" (oooh yeah, I worked on that last one for a little while) and the SUV being permanently erased from the human consciousness. The other two wishes? I'll have to think about those for a bit.
Perhaps I need to expand this just a little bit for clarity's sake. I don't think everyone who owns and drives an SUV is an asshole, that would mean my brother is a part time asshole and Jay would be a full time asshole. And neither case is true. Peter, my brother, has an SUV because they own a farm in upstate New York and they need it to get there safely in the winter. He is also driving around with my nephew and that means its okay to buy a big protective vehicle. Same thing for Jay, he's got a new son and needs the protection. Neither of them drive the trucks like they are sports cars, they drive them respectfully and without feeling the need to swerve from lane to lane without signals.
Not all SUV drivers are wankers but the one's who think its just another sports car but with four wheel drive and they drive them as such, THEY are assholes because they endanger other people with their huge vehicles. Just like someone who drives a semi who swerves all over the road is an asshole.
Hope that clarifies things just a little bit. If not then let me know and I'll take another stab at it.
:: posted by Erik at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Apr 26, 2003Like this post?
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Saturday Morning, Sun's Up and the Worm Turned
Well now, who'da thunk it, its supposed to be pissing heavy coastal rains today but instead all we've got are blue skies above and a sweet gorgeous day at the ballpark ahead.
Today, Paula and I are headed up to Oaktown today to watch the A's and Indians play, its a 1:05 start today but we've got to show up several hours early because (cue drum roll to pump up the excitement) its Miquel Tejada Bobblehead Day at the ballpark. First 15,000 fans will get one which normally wouldn't be a problem at all since the A's routinely draw about 11,000 people to their games, a travesty considering the quality of the team.
But that's what you get when you put a baseball team in Oakland, its not an especially affluent community and people are more likely to spend their cash on crack than on baseball tickets. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm grossly generalizing but so what, its my party and I do have first hand knowledge of the goings on in that city.
On to the worm turning aspect of the post. Some of you may recall my post a few weeks ago about my fist job review with the new company. It didn't go well although my work was far better without the outside agency supporting us. So I wrote up a proposal, presented it to my boss who promptly tossed it in the trash and basically said I wasn't worth what I was asking for.
Update to yesterday. We had our weekly PR meeting later than usual so I could prepare some extra breakouts of the hits we've gotten thus far this year. Expanding the hits into tiers of importance and relative reach. Not an unusual request at all and it was kind of fun to figure out the breakdown of hits into the categories.
And so, when I met with my boss for the meeting, I brought in the spreadsheet, all 14 pages of it (I did mention that we've been getting excellent coverage in the media so far this year didn't I?) and we sat down to go over it. And that's when my boss shocked the earth upon which I stood, seriously, I thought a lightning bolt could strike me down at any moment.
It would seem that the gestation period for reflection on my proposal was a bit longer than I thought. Although the form was different, I am now working with incentives attached to bonuses! Yee-fucking-ha! And the rest of the meeting went swimmingly as well.
Not quite the same as my recent dealings with the post office.
Mail Theft and What the Post Office Won't Do for You
On Thursday I had two packages delivered to the house. One from UPS and one from the USPS. Both things I wanted (obviously) and yet I only ended up getting one of them, luckily the more expensive and much, much harder to replace of the two, my new Ibis Szazbo. The other one was dropped off on my front porch by the USPS, our front door is on the corner of two busy streets with a lot of traffic and alot of foot traffic so it was not a big surprise when someone saw the package leaning against the door and decided that they needed it more than I did, neverminding that tampering with the US mail is a federal offense.
How did I find this out? The assholes opened my package as they walked away, discarding the box in front of my neighbor's house and keeping the contents, nothing special just a replacement keyboard for Paula's computer because I'd spilled water in hers.
The UPS package was delivered to our back door and was safe and secure when I got home, as it should have been. The postal carrier was just too damned lazy to walk around to put it there or even to leave it with my neighbor. Too lazy to write out a pick-up-your-package-at-the-post-office slip. So our postal carrier didn't do his or her job properly at all and I had some of my things stolen as a result.
What's the Post Office's response? They have to consider whether they will replace the stolen property because it wasn't insured. What the fuck? I have to insure my packages against the asshole postal carrier from not doing his fucking job properly.
And it made me realize that the postal service has no competition, no incentive to do their job better or even at all, no alternative if you want to use another service. They are a monopoly and can literally do whatever they want, even more so because they are a government agency. So, luckily I'm only out about $20 but I am going to catch the delivery person one day and give them a serious piece of my mind and let them know that they basically gave away my things. Come Christmas time, you think this asshole is getting any gift from us? Maybe a lump of shit in a box but that's about it.
Anyway, I'm off to the store for some creamer for the coffee so we can ge tthe day rolling.
Go A's and I'd love to see Tejada break out of his slump today, that would be awesome!
Well now, who'da thunk it, its supposed to be pissing heavy coastal rains today but instead all we've got are blue skies above and a sweet gorgeous day at the ballpark ahead.
Today, Paula and I are headed up to Oaktown today to watch the A's and Indians play, its a 1:05 start today but we've got to show up several hours early because (cue drum roll to pump up the excitement) its Miquel Tejada Bobblehead Day at the ballpark. First 15,000 fans will get one which normally wouldn't be a problem at all since the A's routinely draw about 11,000 people to their games, a travesty considering the quality of the team.
But that's what you get when you put a baseball team in Oakland, its not an especially affluent community and people are more likely to spend their cash on crack than on baseball tickets. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm grossly generalizing but so what, its my party and I do have first hand knowledge of the goings on in that city.
On to the worm turning aspect of the post. Some of you may recall my post a few weeks ago about my fist job review with the new company. It didn't go well although my work was far better without the outside agency supporting us. So I wrote up a proposal, presented it to my boss who promptly tossed it in the trash and basically said I wasn't worth what I was asking for.
Update to yesterday. We had our weekly PR meeting later than usual so I could prepare some extra breakouts of the hits we've gotten thus far this year. Expanding the hits into tiers of importance and relative reach. Not an unusual request at all and it was kind of fun to figure out the breakdown of hits into the categories.
And so, when I met with my boss for the meeting, I brought in the spreadsheet, all 14 pages of it (I did mention that we've been getting excellent coverage in the media so far this year didn't I?) and we sat down to go over it. And that's when my boss shocked the earth upon which I stood, seriously, I thought a lightning bolt could strike me down at any moment.
It would seem that the gestation period for reflection on my proposal was a bit longer than I thought. Although the form was different, I am now working with incentives attached to bonuses! Yee-fucking-ha! And the rest of the meeting went swimmingly as well.
Not quite the same as my recent dealings with the post office.
Mail Theft and What the Post Office Won't Do for You
On Thursday I had two packages delivered to the house. One from UPS and one from the USPS. Both things I wanted (obviously) and yet I only ended up getting one of them, luckily the more expensive and much, much harder to replace of the two, my new Ibis Szazbo. The other one was dropped off on my front porch by the USPS, our front door is on the corner of two busy streets with a lot of traffic and alot of foot traffic so it was not a big surprise when someone saw the package leaning against the door and decided that they needed it more than I did, neverminding that tampering with the US mail is a federal offense.
How did I find this out? The assholes opened my package as they walked away, discarding the box in front of my neighbor's house and keeping the contents, nothing special just a replacement keyboard for Paula's computer because I'd spilled water in hers.
The UPS package was delivered to our back door and was safe and secure when I got home, as it should have been. The postal carrier was just too damned lazy to walk around to put it there or even to leave it with my neighbor. Too lazy to write out a pick-up-your-package-at-the-post-office slip. So our postal carrier didn't do his or her job properly at all and I had some of my things stolen as a result.
What's the Post Office's response? They have to consider whether they will replace the stolen property because it wasn't insured. What the fuck? I have to insure my packages against the asshole postal carrier from not doing his fucking job properly.
And it made me realize that the postal service has no competition, no incentive to do their job better or even at all, no alternative if you want to use another service. They are a monopoly and can literally do whatever they want, even more so because they are a government agency. So, luckily I'm only out about $20 but I am going to catch the delivery person one day and give them a serious piece of my mind and let them know that they basically gave away my things. Come Christmas time, you think this asshole is getting any gift from us? Maybe a lump of shit in a box but that's about it.
Anyway, I'm off to the store for some creamer for the coffee so we can ge tthe day rolling.
Go A's and I'd love to see Tejada break out of his slump today, that would be awesome!
:: posted by Erik at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Apr 25, 2003Like this post?
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A New Word
To be added to the New Words page later on today when I'm not so pressed.
Retardisize - when a computer application goes into convulsions while trying to execute some sort of wacky user command or an internal software error. Mostly likely confined to Microsoft's "fine" (meaning they should be fined for selling it) software but it also happens with other stuff. Like when iTunes tries to play an .mov file or mpeg. Just doesn't work and starts chunking electro-blasts of interference type sounds while struggling to cope with the bad data its chewing on.
To be added to the New Words page later on today when I'm not so pressed.
Retardisize - when a computer application goes into convulsions while trying to execute some sort of wacky user command or an internal software error. Mostly likely confined to Microsoft's "fine" (meaning they should be fined for selling it) software but it also happens with other stuff. Like when iTunes tries to play an .mov file or mpeg. Just doesn't work and starts chunking electro-blasts of interference type sounds while struggling to cope with the bad data its chewing on.
:: posted by Erik at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Not Really News But A Validated Hunch
Teen Girls Who Value Thinness More Likely to Smoke
Because, its like, why live if you're not thin? You might as well die anyway or something. Really and smoking's really cool anyway, you look soooo sophisticated and everything. It makes kids look older too, alot older. Like fifty years old by the time you're twenty five. That's, um, that's not really, like, a good thing or something.
And Our Government in Action News
Rick Santorum, the homophobic Senator from Pennsylvania is defending his outrageous comments about homosexuality he made last week.
Impolitic, Maybe, but in Character
This is an out of the closet hater of people, he is a disgrace to the American government, he is a disgrace to his constiuency, he is a disgrace to the human race. Take a look at him and tell me what you think.
, picture is linked to the New York Times story
Santorum Defends Constitution while saying that his words were taken out of context and that he never says gays or homosexuals in the interview. But its obvious that this is what he's talking about. And go figure, the Human Events Online.com site bills itself as "The National Conservative Weekly", not just a little slanted, they're just about sideways. And would most obviously try to cover up his bigotry.
This is the third most powerful Republican in America (Note: further research has revealed that he's actually the third most powerful Republican in the Senate, not America, sorry for the confused info), according to the New York Times, and he's a bigot who thinks gays are deviants of nature. He probably also believes in the tooth fairy, that socialized medicine is the same as communism and that marijuana has no medicinal benefits whatsoever (most likely chortling with his fat, white cronies over martinis, cigars and hookers).
And no, I'm not gay but I know a lot of people who are, both male and female. They are fine people, upstanding, caring, honest, hard working, smart, funny and everything else that everyone else is. They most certainly do not deserve to be denigrated by a narrow minded career politico fuck like Rick Santorum.
Good News for Bloggers, but not Blogger
Six Apart Ltd. Announces the TypePad Personal Publishing Service is a press release about the makers of Movable Type that announces the release of a new, easier to use web publishing service. This bodes well for folks like me who can write like the dickens but couldn't code my way out of a wet paper bag.
Thanks to Dan Gillmor for the news. Incidentally, go read his blog if you don't already. He's definitely got his finger on the pulse of technology in the valley.
Teen Girls Who Value Thinness More Likely to Smoke
Because, its like, why live if you're not thin? You might as well die anyway or something. Really and smoking's really cool anyway, you look soooo sophisticated and everything. It makes kids look older too, alot older. Like fifty years old by the time you're twenty five. That's, um, that's not really, like, a good thing or something.
And Our Government in Action News
Rick Santorum, the homophobic Senator from Pennsylvania is defending his outrageous comments about homosexuality he made last week.
Impolitic, Maybe, but in Character
This is an out of the closet hater of people, he is a disgrace to the American government, he is a disgrace to his constiuency, he is a disgrace to the human race. Take a look at him and tell me what you think.
, picture is linked to the New York Times story
Santorum Defends Constitution while saying that his words were taken out of context and that he never says gays or homosexuals in the interview. But its obvious that this is what he's talking about. And go figure, the Human Events Online.com site bills itself as "The National Conservative Weekly", not just a little slanted, they're just about sideways. And would most obviously try to cover up his bigotry.
This is the third most powerful Republican in America (Note: further research has revealed that he's actually the third most powerful Republican in the Senate, not America, sorry for the confused info), according to the New York Times, and he's a bigot who thinks gays are deviants of nature. He probably also believes in the tooth fairy, that socialized medicine is the same as communism and that marijuana has no medicinal benefits whatsoever (most likely chortling with his fat, white cronies over martinis, cigars and hookers).
And no, I'm not gay but I know a lot of people who are, both male and female. They are fine people, upstanding, caring, honest, hard working, smart, funny and everything else that everyone else is. They most certainly do not deserve to be denigrated by a narrow minded career politico fuck like Rick Santorum.
Good News for Bloggers, but not Blogger
Six Apart Ltd. Announces the TypePad Personal Publishing Service is a press release about the makers of Movable Type that announces the release of a new, easier to use web publishing service. This bodes well for folks like me who can write like the dickens but couldn't code my way out of a wet paper bag.
Thanks to Dan Gillmor for the news. Incidentally, go read his blog if you don't already. He's definitely got his finger on the pulse of technology in the valley.
:: posted by Erik at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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What Monty Python Character Are You?
Let's go with a light Friday and not get into anything too heady. Though it would be soooo easy with that infuriating Primetime Thursday thing on Laci Peterson, the package I had stolen from my front door last night, the package that was supposed to be delivered (after having paid the 2nd day air costs) and won't be here til today so my new bike has no pedals.
No, instead of all that, let's go with
Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who!
What Monty Python Character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Have a good Friday!
Let's go with a light Friday and not get into anything too heady. Though it would be soooo easy with that infuriating Primetime Thursday thing on Laci Peterson, the package I had stolen from my front door last night, the package that was supposed to be delivered (after having paid the 2nd day air costs) and won't be here til today so my new bike has no pedals.
No, instead of all that, let's go with
Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who!
What Monty Python Character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Have a good Friday!
:: posted by Erik at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Start Friday with the FridayFive.org
From the FridayFive.org
1. What was the last TV show you watched?
CNBC's Morning Call
2. What was the last thing you complained about and what was the problem?
Those stupid commercials for John Basedow's exercise program, he acts like a celeb when the only reason people know him is because he paid for his commercials. That and his program indicates that only it will help your body burn fat by doing his exercises which is patently false. Oh yeah, and the guy who says he simply can't put a price on the results? How about $29.95, the cost of the stupid tapes, you moron?
3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say?
My fiance, Paula, I told her she looked good enough to eat.
4. What was the last thing you threw away?
Spam, spam and more spam. In the real world? The cardboard box my new Ibis Szazbo came in.
5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited?
The Santa Cruz Film Festival Program Index Page to check out the progress of the schedule. It will be an excellent festival this year again. It runs from May 29 to June 6, if you're in the area, come and check it out, you will not be sorry.
From the FridayFive.org
1. What was the last TV show you watched?
CNBC's Morning Call
2. What was the last thing you complained about and what was the problem?
Those stupid commercials for John Basedow's exercise program, he acts like a celeb when the only reason people know him is because he paid for his commercials. That and his program indicates that only it will help your body burn fat by doing his exercises which is patently false. Oh yeah, and the guy who says he simply can't put a price on the results? How about $29.95, the cost of the stupid tapes, you moron?
3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say?
My fiance, Paula, I told her she looked good enough to eat.
4. What was the last thing you threw away?
Spam, spam and more spam. In the real world? The cardboard box my new Ibis Szazbo came in.
5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited?
The Santa Cruz Film Festival Program Index Page to check out the progress of the schedule. It will be an excellent festival this year again. It runs from May 29 to June 6, if you're in the area, come and check it out, you will not be sorry.
:: posted by Erik at 8:07 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Apr 24, 2003Like this post?
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Quokka Soccer: Australia's Shame
Authorites in Canberra, Australia are struggling to stop an incredibly stupid and violent past time of Aussies on holiday called Quokka soccer. Basically these tough assholes get shitfaced and then go stomp on Quokkas, a docile marsupial that poses no threat to anyone.
Youths Sentenced for 'Quokka' Killings details the story. How sickening of these punks, they should do jail time instead of community service. Let them get stomped for a few months and see how they like it.
Take a look at this.....
Now, what could possibly make you want to stomp it to death?
Local Pal News
A good buddy of mine is one of the main people behind the Santa Cruz Film Festival which is coming up next month. Generally short films of all kinds, lots of locally produced, great stuff that is well worth some time to check it out. Our movie project fell through for various reasons but there might still be time to get something together. Got the new S400 and my iMovie, I bet I can whip something up in short order. I'm thinking something to do with the mountain bike scene in Santa Cruz. But that'll be a bandwidth issue, not enough time and too much to do.
Perhaps I'll add it to next year's list of things to undertake.
I've also added the link to my sideboard, hope I can help drive some traffic his way as all his hard work deserves as much recognition as he can get. And the festival is a very, very good one too. Cannes ain't got nothing on Santa Cruz.
Authorites in Canberra, Australia are struggling to stop an incredibly stupid and violent past time of Aussies on holiday called Quokka soccer. Basically these tough assholes get shitfaced and then go stomp on Quokkas, a docile marsupial that poses no threat to anyone.
Youths Sentenced for 'Quokka' Killings details the story. How sickening of these punks, they should do jail time instead of community service. Let them get stomped for a few months and see how they like it.
Take a look at this.....
Now, what could possibly make you want to stomp it to death?
Local Pal News
A good buddy of mine is one of the main people behind the Santa Cruz Film Festival which is coming up next month. Generally short films of all kinds, lots of locally produced, great stuff that is well worth some time to check it out. Our movie project fell through for various reasons but there might still be time to get something together. Got the new S400 and my iMovie, I bet I can whip something up in short order. I'm thinking something to do with the mountain bike scene in Santa Cruz. But that'll be a bandwidth issue, not enough time and too much to do.
Perhaps I'll add it to next year's list of things to undertake.
I've also added the link to my sideboard, hope I can help drive some traffic his way as all his hard work deserves as much recognition as he can get. And the festival is a very, very good one too. Cannes ain't got nothing on Santa Cruz.
:: posted by Erik at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Of Iraqi Ass Maps and Three Kings Loot Come to Life
Soldiers Questioned about Missing Iraqi Cash. I'm sure all of these guys have seen the movie, Three Kings with Clooney, Ice Cube and Marky Mark about finding an Iraqi ass map leading to a fortune in Iraqi gold. Or maybe they just lost their minds when they came upon $650 million in cash and figured that they could steal some and no one would notice. But they failed to remember one tiny but very, very important detail. That was a movie, you're in real life. There's just about no damned way you idiots were going to get away with stealing money there. How would you get it home? On a military transport? Umm, good thinking.
About as smart as the nimrods who tried to ship home stolen gold plated weapons on military transports. Do they honestly think that the US would not search packages for Iraqi artifacts? I guess so because they tried it and now they get to do prison time in Leavenworth or where ever they put criminally stupid soldiers. One thing I learned from the article above is that it wasn't just the military that was stealing things. Apparently a decent number of journalists were also implicated in the thefts. So much for objective reporting.
Other News: I've Got a Spam Solution
I was thinking this morning, as I was creating ever more spam filters to get rid of the noxious stuff, that one way to cut down on spamming and spammers would be to offer rewards or bounties for information leading to their conviction. Turn the tables and make them into the criminals they truly are.
Say a thousand bucks for information leading to the conviction of a spammer? In a depressed economy that becomes a pretty decent reward for getting rid of bottom feeding scum bag who's sole purpose is to send out unwanted email. Often disgusting proposals and ads for grotesque sexual acts or sexual enhancers or those unutterably stupid Nigerian money scams or the international driver's licenses or whatever else.
I wouldn't need the incentive but it would make things that much sweeter to send a spamming asshole to jail if I were to get a kick back of $1000.
I'm thinking of the long time ago practice of paying hunters and farmers for coyote skins. And no I'm wholly advocating the skinning of spammers but it would send a pretty strong message to the rest of the fools. Spam shouldn't and won't be tolerated anymore. Spam people and you risk your own life and freedom.
There's always a way.
Soldiers Questioned about Missing Iraqi Cash. I'm sure all of these guys have seen the movie, Three Kings with Clooney, Ice Cube and Marky Mark about finding an Iraqi ass map leading to a fortune in Iraqi gold. Or maybe they just lost their minds when they came upon $650 million in cash and figured that they could steal some and no one would notice. But they failed to remember one tiny but very, very important detail. That was a movie, you're in real life. There's just about no damned way you idiots were going to get away with stealing money there. How would you get it home? On a military transport? Umm, good thinking.
About as smart as the nimrods who tried to ship home stolen gold plated weapons on military transports. Do they honestly think that the US would not search packages for Iraqi artifacts? I guess so because they tried it and now they get to do prison time in Leavenworth or where ever they put criminally stupid soldiers. One thing I learned from the article above is that it wasn't just the military that was stealing things. Apparently a decent number of journalists were also implicated in the thefts. So much for objective reporting.
Other News: I've Got a Spam Solution
I was thinking this morning, as I was creating ever more spam filters to get rid of the noxious stuff, that one way to cut down on spamming and spammers would be to offer rewards or bounties for information leading to their conviction. Turn the tables and make them into the criminals they truly are.
Say a thousand bucks for information leading to the conviction of a spammer? In a depressed economy that becomes a pretty decent reward for getting rid of bottom feeding scum bag who's sole purpose is to send out unwanted email. Often disgusting proposals and ads for grotesque sexual acts or sexual enhancers or those unutterably stupid Nigerian money scams or the international driver's licenses or whatever else.
I wouldn't need the incentive but it would make things that much sweeter to send a spamming asshole to jail if I were to get a kick back of $1000.
I'm thinking of the long time ago practice of paying hunters and farmers for coyote skins. And no I'm wholly advocating the skinning of spammers but it would send a pretty strong message to the rest of the fools. Spam shouldn't and won't be tolerated anymore. Spam people and you risk your own life and freedom.
There's always a way.
:: posted by Erik at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Apr 23, 2003Like this post?
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Stupid License Plate Platitude
I just saw one of the dumbest license plate rounders I've ever seen. Its the "No God, No Peace, Know God, Know Peace" thing and I just had to write this out before I lose my pissed off edge.
First off, damned near every single conflict of any magnitude in the history of mankind has been over religious differences or based on differences. Boil them down, distill them to their essences and you find that they are theologically based. So No God would seem to indicate that we'd Know Peace. Without religion there would be no Jihads, no Crusades, no Holy Wars, no persecutions, no justified genocides. (Note: subsequent conversations with my ever ready to argue cousin have forced me to amend my stance here to one of using religion as a weapon to engage in wars. I will have to expand this thought some to be more coherent but the basic premise is that religion isn't the reason, its the excuse.)
Religion may be the opiate of the masses but its also a galvanizer, a divider of peoples. Look at the current abortion struggles in this country. We have assholes telling women what they can and cannot do with their own body, the one possession that each of us born free human beings truly own that cannot be taken away. Why? Because their religious beliefs dictate that all life is sacred and thus cannot be killed wantonly. We have narrow minded church fucks heckling, picketing and blowing up medical clinics (MEDICAL CLINICS) for the "crime" of performing a legal medical procedure.
Perhaps I'm broad stroking this too much and there's more to it than this. But that stupid license plate holder pisses me off. Same as the idiots who come to my door trying to tell me about God's plan for me. Um, last I knew, God didn't plan a damned thing for me and he/she/it sure as hell didn't tell some door to door religion salesman what the plan was.
I think people need to treat religion like their sexuality. Keep it to your fucking self (yeah, yeah, pun intended). So long as its legal (which raises plenty of other issues that I won't go into here) and/or not immoral (which, again, is subjective). How about this? Don't ask me about my religious beliefs and I won't ask you about yours. Don't tell me about your religious beliefs and you won't have to hear about mine. And maybe we'll stay friends and won't have to Jihad on each other.
And don't even get me started on the WWJD? crap. What Would Jesus Do? Not a thing, he's been dead for two THOUSAND YEARS. Figure it out for yourselves, mutants.
I just saw one of the dumbest license plate rounders I've ever seen. Its the "No God, No Peace, Know God, Know Peace" thing and I just had to write this out before I lose my pissed off edge.
First off, damned near every single conflict of any magnitude in the history of mankind has been over religious differences or based on differences. Boil them down, distill them to their essences and you find that they are theologically based. So No God would seem to indicate that we'd Know Peace. Without religion there would be no Jihads, no Crusades, no Holy Wars, no persecutions, no justified genocides. (Note: subsequent conversations with my ever ready to argue cousin have forced me to amend my stance here to one of using religion as a weapon to engage in wars. I will have to expand this thought some to be more coherent but the basic premise is that religion isn't the reason, its the excuse.)
Religion may be the opiate of the masses but its also a galvanizer, a divider of peoples. Look at the current abortion struggles in this country. We have assholes telling women what they can and cannot do with their own body, the one possession that each of us born free human beings truly own that cannot be taken away. Why? Because their religious beliefs dictate that all life is sacred and thus cannot be killed wantonly. We have narrow minded church fucks heckling, picketing and blowing up medical clinics (MEDICAL CLINICS) for the "crime" of performing a legal medical procedure.
Perhaps I'm broad stroking this too much and there's more to it than this. But that stupid license plate holder pisses me off. Same as the idiots who come to my door trying to tell me about God's plan for me. Um, last I knew, God didn't plan a damned thing for me and he/she/it sure as hell didn't tell some door to door religion salesman what the plan was.
I think people need to treat religion like their sexuality. Keep it to your fucking self (yeah, yeah, pun intended). So long as its legal (which raises plenty of other issues that I won't go into here) and/or not immoral (which, again, is subjective). How about this? Don't ask me about my religious beliefs and I won't ask you about yours. Don't tell me about your religious beliefs and you won't have to hear about mine. And maybe we'll stay friends and won't have to Jihad on each other.
And don't even get me started on the WWJD? crap. What Would Jesus Do? Not a thing, he's been dead for two THOUSAND YEARS. Figure it out for yourselves, mutants.
:: posted by Erik at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Ten Journalistic Commandments
This came in a forward from Esther who's been working so hard that she's not been able to send me as many goodies (and no worries, the Peeps are on their way).
They are from PJ Inc., a PR firm with a rousing sense of humor although they should very seriously consider a non-Flash version of their site for those of us who prefer a modicum of control (and it would have made it waaaay easier to copy these commandments.
Here are their ten journalistic commandments:
1. There is no such thing as a free hors d'oeuvre, the more you eat the longer your story must be.
2. Do not look down ye noses at your friends in flakdom, you'll be one of us someday.
3. Let thyself be spun.
4. Seek truth - from us.
5. Behold the press release, it is ye font of all wisdom.
6. Thou shalt take pity upon us when our clients are in pain.
7. Thou shalt give out your home phone number.
8. Thou shalt consider our begging and pleading when considering your story list.
9. If we beg and plead, that means our story's newsworthy.
10. Do unto others and we'll you one.
For those of you who don't happen to be PR monkeys like me, we're nicknamed flaks or flacks because that's alot of what we have to deal with. And I guess, in thinking about it, lots of this post will be of zero interest to those who aren't in the biz. But I'm thinking folks like Ryan will get it since he's on the other side of the phone. Or maybe its funny all on its own. I don't know but its funny to me and that's plenty enough for me.
Another Cool Forward
This is cool stuff, even if you're not a geek. It didn't work on my system at home worked very nicely at work. Its a cross between dominos and a Rube Goldberg contraption.
A forward from Jay who's sweating the hours until he gets home and can get his hands on his new Santa Cruz Bullit
This came in a forward from Esther who's been working so hard that she's not been able to send me as many goodies (and no worries, the Peeps are on their way).
They are from PJ Inc., a PR firm with a rousing sense of humor although they should very seriously consider a non-Flash version of their site for those of us who prefer a modicum of control (and it would have made it waaaay easier to copy these commandments.
Here are their ten journalistic commandments:
1. There is no such thing as a free hors d'oeuvre, the more you eat the longer your story must be.
2. Do not look down ye noses at your friends in flakdom, you'll be one of us someday.
3. Let thyself be spun.
4. Seek truth - from us.
5. Behold the press release, it is ye font of all wisdom.
6. Thou shalt take pity upon us when our clients are in pain.
7. Thou shalt give out your home phone number.
8. Thou shalt consider our begging and pleading when considering your story list.
9. If we beg and plead, that means our story's newsworthy.
10. Do unto others and we'll you one.
For those of you who don't happen to be PR monkeys like me, we're nicknamed flaks or flacks because that's alot of what we have to deal with. And I guess, in thinking about it, lots of this post will be of zero interest to those who aren't in the biz. But I'm thinking folks like Ryan will get it since he's on the other side of the phone. Or maybe its funny all on its own. I don't know but its funny to me and that's plenty enough for me.
Another Cool Forward
This is cool stuff, even if you're not a geek. It didn't work on my system at home worked very nicely at work. Its a cross between dominos and a Rube Goldberg contraption.
A forward from Jay who's sweating the hours until he gets home and can get his hands on his new Santa Cruz Bullit
:: posted by Erik at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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And This Is An Elected Official?
As usual, the Morning Fix (yeah, right into the vein, oh yeeeah!) comes across with lots of controversy and dirt on freaks from all walks of life. I normally just link to the stories but this one's truly unreal.
In Morford's words......
"Rick Santorum, noted self-loathing hunk of spasming nightmarish oozing man-flesh and a general pasty-assed whitebread embarrassment to humanity as a whole, and also the Senate's third-ranked Republican, if you can believe it, says he has "no problem with homosexuality -- I have a problem with homosexual acts." In an interview with the AP that made reporters and the universe cringe repeatedly, Santorum, R-Pa., said he believes homosexual acts are a threat to the American family, and compared homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery. "I have nothing, absolutely nothing against anyone who's homosexual. If that's their orientation, then I accept that. The question is, do you act upon those orientations? So it's not the person, it's the person's actions," he actually said, before being slapped. Which is much like saying, you know, I have no problem with Republicans, I have a problem with what sniveling white-ass kitten-molesting Republican homophobes do and say and eat and hiss and the vicious laws they enact and the imbecilic hate-filled bile they spread on their dumbed-down constituents like so much rancid margarine. Following the interview, the last nodule of Santorum's shriveled soul was yanked through his big toe by a demon worm and barbecued as an hors d'oeuvre."
Um yeah, so its not the fact that you're gay its the fact that you have gay sex. Which makes not a bit of difference in my mind, one is the other. To Rick Santorum I'd like to say, you're a fucking moron who should be euthanized to save the rest of us from your own brand of warped and wrong intellectual poison.
And for those of you out there wondering if you are a fucking moron then take the quiz and find out. And please take appropriate steps if it turns out that you are. I turned out not to be a fucking moron but that's because I tried hard. The quiz is irritating though because you get a pop up instant right or wrong that's gotta be closed each time before going on to the next question which makes me wonder if the author of the quiz is a fucking moron.
Local Update News
I'm starting the search for a new housemate for my old house that I've now become the property manager for the landlady on. We're losing one guy so there's a sweet room available a block and a half from the beach, private entrance, private bathroom. Anyone local who knows someone who might be interested? Drop me a note.
Also, I finally, only a year after the project started, returned a pal's data back to him in CD form. Just one of those things that carried over and never got around to getting done until last night. Three quick burns and it was done. And I get to cross that one off the list. Only eight million things left to do.
Paula and I are heading up to our first baseball game of the year on Saturday. Its the Oakland A's against the Cleveland Indians and the best part is that its Miquel Tejada Bobblehead Day! It'll end up being a long day because we'll have to get there early to ensure getting one of the prized dolls (I've tried calling them action figures but it just doesn't wash). I just hope the weather doesn't rain the weekend out.
Cryptic Update News
Day three. Still going strong. A little more irritable than normal but that's to be expected.
As usual, the Morning Fix (yeah, right into the vein, oh yeeeah!) comes across with lots of controversy and dirt on freaks from all walks of life. I normally just link to the stories but this one's truly unreal.
In Morford's words......
"Rick Santorum, noted self-loathing hunk of spasming nightmarish oozing man-flesh and a general pasty-assed whitebread embarrassment to humanity as a whole, and also the Senate's third-ranked Republican, if you can believe it, says he has "no problem with homosexuality -- I have a problem with homosexual acts." In an interview with the AP that made reporters and the universe cringe repeatedly, Santorum, R-Pa., said he believes homosexual acts are a threat to the American family, and compared homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery. "I have nothing, absolutely nothing against anyone who's homosexual. If that's their orientation, then I accept that. The question is, do you act upon those orientations? So it's not the person, it's the person's actions," he actually said, before being slapped. Which is much like saying, you know, I have no problem with Republicans, I have a problem with what sniveling white-ass kitten-molesting Republican homophobes do and say and eat and hiss and the vicious laws they enact and the imbecilic hate-filled bile they spread on their dumbed-down constituents like so much rancid margarine. Following the interview, the last nodule of Santorum's shriveled soul was yanked through his big toe by a demon worm and barbecued as an hors d'oeuvre."
Um yeah, so its not the fact that you're gay its the fact that you have gay sex. Which makes not a bit of difference in my mind, one is the other. To Rick Santorum I'd like to say, you're a fucking moron who should be euthanized to save the rest of us from your own brand of warped and wrong intellectual poison.
And for those of you out there wondering if you are a fucking moron then take the quiz and find out. And please take appropriate steps if it turns out that you are. I turned out not to be a fucking moron but that's because I tried hard. The quiz is irritating though because you get a pop up instant right or wrong that's gotta be closed each time before going on to the next question which makes me wonder if the author of the quiz is a fucking moron.
Local Update News
I'm starting the search for a new housemate for my old house that I've now become the property manager for the landlady on. We're losing one guy so there's a sweet room available a block and a half from the beach, private entrance, private bathroom. Anyone local who knows someone who might be interested? Drop me a note.
Also, I finally, only a year after the project started, returned a pal's data back to him in CD form. Just one of those things that carried over and never got around to getting done until last night. Three quick burns and it was done. And I get to cross that one off the list. Only eight million things left to do.
Paula and I are heading up to our first baseball game of the year on Saturday. Its the Oakland A's against the Cleveland Indians and the best part is that its Miquel Tejada Bobblehead Day! It'll end up being a long day because we'll have to get there early to ensure getting one of the prized dolls (I've tried calling them action figures but it just doesn't wash). I just hope the weather doesn't rain the weekend out.
Cryptic Update News
Day three. Still going strong. A little more irritable than normal but that's to be expected.
:: posted by Erik at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Apr 22, 2003Like this post?
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More Madonna Madness
or Mutiny on the Madonna
Call me a glutton for watching celebrities get some come uppance but CNET had a very good article up today, Hackers Hack Madonna's Site. It details what others have done in response to Madonna's unutterably stupid anti-marketing campaign to piss off her "fans".
Her site's been hacked, her music files relinked and people are chopping at her like nobody's business. And you know what? She deserves every bit of piss and vinegar people launch at her.
My favorite bit is the part about the hacker replacing her page with one that replied to her MP3 rudeness message "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" with "This is what the fuck I think I'm doing" and her files had been replaced with free downloads.
Good work, Madumba. Alienate everyone, I'm sure there are other planets that might still want some of your bad music. You used to be reasonably good to listen to, now you're just another asshole celeb who thinks she's above reproach. Well reproach this, you old hag, you're a has been now.
or Mutiny on the Madonna
Call me a glutton for watching celebrities get some come uppance but CNET had a very good article up today, Hackers Hack Madonna's Site. It details what others have done in response to Madonna's unutterably stupid anti-marketing campaign to piss off her "fans".
Her site's been hacked, her music files relinked and people are chopping at her like nobody's business. And you know what? She deserves every bit of piss and vinegar people launch at her.
My favorite bit is the part about the hacker replacing her page with one that replied to her MP3 rudeness message "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" with "This is what the fuck I think I'm doing" and her files had been replaced with free downloads.
Good work, Madumba. Alienate everyone, I'm sure there are other planets that might still want some of your bad music. You used to be reasonably good to listen to, now you're just another asshole celeb who thinks she's above reproach. Well reproach this, you old hag, you're a has been now.
:: posted by Erik at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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And by the way
Did the entire rest of the world forget that today is Earth Day just like me?
I totally spaced it what with the trials, the war, the powder scares, Easter, the 420 Holiday, the new bike on the way (Thursday! Yeah baby! Yeah!) and all the other myriad distractions of living.
So, Happy Earth Day. Try not to litter today and hey, try not to litter tomorrow or the next day or the next day or the next day. In fact, try not to litter, try to be good to the world. Ride your bike to work, recycle, compost, don't eat fast food. Yadda, yadda, yadda. And go hug some trees, let the world know you still respect it in the morning.
Today's Apropos Quote
Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
And Cool Birthdays Today
Today is Jack Nicholson's 66th birthday and he still kicks ass in every way shape and form,just be careful how you wish him a happy birthday as he may come after you with a nine iron. Its also a few other notable's birthdays today as well: Producer Aaron Spelling born 1928 and most noted for putting scantily clad hotties on Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210 and for being the sad bugger who's gotta be Tori Spelling's dad, she's among the most vacuous of the new crop of Holly'noids. Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer born 1904 and one of the fathers of the atomic age. Novelist Vladimir Nabokov born 1899 and hero to pedophiles everywhere (though I know that's horribly unfair to him, Lolita was just one of his books.
Did the entire rest of the world forget that today is Earth Day just like me?
I totally spaced it what with the trials, the war, the powder scares, Easter, the 420 Holiday, the new bike on the way (Thursday! Yeah baby! Yeah!) and all the other myriad distractions of living.
So, Happy Earth Day. Try not to litter today and hey, try not to litter tomorrow or the next day or the next day or the next day. In fact, try not to litter, try to be good to the world. Ride your bike to work, recycle, compost, don't eat fast food. Yadda, yadda, yadda. And go hug some trees, let the world know you still respect it in the morning.
Today's Apropos Quote
Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
And Cool Birthdays Today
Today is Jack Nicholson's 66th birthday and he still kicks ass in every way shape and form,just be careful how you wish him a happy birthday as he may come after you with a nine iron. Its also a few other notable's birthdays today as well: Producer Aaron Spelling born 1928 and most noted for putting scantily clad hotties on Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210 and for being the sad bugger who's gotta be Tori Spelling's dad, she's among the most vacuous of the new crop of Holly'noids. Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer born 1904 and one of the fathers of the atomic age. Novelist Vladimir Nabokov born 1899 and hero to pedophiles everywhere (though I know that's horribly unfair to him, Lolita was just one of his books.
:: posted by Erik at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Fun with Flash
From the previously long lost 20/20 Kim Spot came an email missive with an entertaining little flash fun. Thanks, Kim! Drop me a note and let me know how you're doing. Guess the Celebrity?
Never a bad idea to lighten things up after a hefty terror and capital punishment post.
Food News
Today's juice? A lovely blend of five ingredients.
Two fuji apples, a red pear, spinach, a small handful of strawberries and a chunk of fresh ginger.
It looks like swamp water but tastes like heaven liquified. And if that old "an apple a day" thing holds true then that old doctor isn't going to be coming anywhere near me for decades.
From the previously long lost 20/20 Kim Spot came an email missive with an entertaining little flash fun. Thanks, Kim! Drop me a note and let me know how you're doing. Guess the Celebrity?
Never a bad idea to lighten things up after a hefty terror and capital punishment post.
Food News
Today's juice? A lovely blend of five ingredients.
Two fuji apples, a red pear, spinach, a small handful of strawberries and a chunk of fresh ginger.
It looks like swamp water but tastes like heaven liquified. And if that old "an apple a day" thing holds true then that old doctor isn't going to be coming anywhere near me for decades.
:: posted by Erik at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Has the Wheel Turned and its Our Turn to be Terrorized Again?
I don't want to be alarming (at least not too much) but the news was covered with this story, White Powder Found, Post Office Evacuated. And it makes my conspiracy theory mind race.
Is this just another disgruntled wanker sending baking powder scare letters? Or is it an Al Qaeda sleeper cell or network of sleeper cells that have now been activated with a hidden and deadly agenda?
When did our lives start to look more like a Tom Clancy movie than Mr. Roger's Neighborhood (Rest in Peace, Fred, you are missed)?
Check out the Google News: Biotoxin Stories to see what I mean. There is no safety anywhere anymore and that's exactly what terrorism aims to undermine, to make people's lives less enjoyable, to make them glance over their shoulders looking for death in the wings. Much like the asshole east coast sniper who killed random people in the most cowardly fashion he could. He inspired real terror because there was no agenda, there were just random bullet reports and newly fallen dead people. Very, very hard to dismiss if you're anywhere nearby, even three hundred miles away isn't far enough.
An Open Response to Scott Peterson's Parents
While I wholly understand respect your support for your son during this most trying time. I must humbly point out a few facts that you seem unwilling to recognize that really do go a very long ways to establishing some culpability for your son in the matter of the disappearance and death of his wife and unborn son.
One, if he's innocent then why was he prepared to run? He'd changed his appearance, he'd gotten ahold of his brother's ID, he had $10,000 in cash with him and he was a half hour from the Mexican border.
Two, if he's innocent then how could he not have been utterly destroyed at the loss of his wife and son. He's been stonefaced since they arrested him. No emotion from him at all. Remember in the movie, The Usual Suspects when the cop talks about figuring out which one of three people is a murderer. He puts them in a cell overnight without telling them what they've been charged with and the one that sleeps like a baby is your killer because the other two will be up all night trying to figure out what they did. Your son has shown no remorse, no sadness, no emotion at all. He knows he's guilty but he miscalculated and now faces the death penalty because two lives were ended and not just one.
And he should die for his crimes after he has been convicted of them. And no, I'm not convicting him in the court of public opinion, he convicted himself with his extraordinarily suspect actions since her disappearance. And I'm sorry for you both, it must be horribly difficult to cope with the possibility and likely eventuality of his conviction and further possibility that he will be put to death for his crimes.
But come on now, Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, as you said the other day? No. This situation has nothing to do with Nazi Germany or the, now long lost, Soviet Union. This situation has to do with a husband and father to be committing premeditated murder of his wife and unborn son. The evidence against him must be substantial and strong for the prosecutor to call it a "slam dunk" and he should be reprimanded for being so insensitive to the nature of the case and the parties involved. But Nazi Germany? Come on now. In Nazi Germany, people were persecuted for religious differences and because Hitler needed a scapegoat to blame the German economy on. What possible reflection of that could you find in this situation facing your son?
I'm sorry for you, I really am. For your son, I feel a mixture of rage, anger, sympathy, curiosity and just outright sadness. I would like to believe that he's innocent but the body of evidence (and not anything to do with the courts) against him is pretty overwhelming. If he's not guilty of the murders himself then he certainly had some hand in the matter. And for that, he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
On a side note, I'd not realized that California had such strong laws against fetal homicide not that it's a surprise, but it is new information to me and likely new information to Scott Peterson.
I don't want to be alarming (at least not too much) but the news was covered with this story, White Powder Found, Post Office Evacuated. And it makes my conspiracy theory mind race.
Is this just another disgruntled wanker sending baking powder scare letters? Or is it an Al Qaeda sleeper cell or network of sleeper cells that have now been activated with a hidden and deadly agenda?
When did our lives start to look more like a Tom Clancy movie than Mr. Roger's Neighborhood (Rest in Peace, Fred, you are missed)?
Check out the Google News: Biotoxin Stories to see what I mean. There is no safety anywhere anymore and that's exactly what terrorism aims to undermine, to make people's lives less enjoyable, to make them glance over their shoulders looking for death in the wings. Much like the asshole east coast sniper who killed random people in the most cowardly fashion he could. He inspired real terror because there was no agenda, there were just random bullet reports and newly fallen dead people. Very, very hard to dismiss if you're anywhere nearby, even three hundred miles away isn't far enough.
An Open Response to Scott Peterson's Parents
While I wholly understand respect your support for your son during this most trying time. I must humbly point out a few facts that you seem unwilling to recognize that really do go a very long ways to establishing some culpability for your son in the matter of the disappearance and death of his wife and unborn son.
One, if he's innocent then why was he prepared to run? He'd changed his appearance, he'd gotten ahold of his brother's ID, he had $10,000 in cash with him and he was a half hour from the Mexican border.
Two, if he's innocent then how could he not have been utterly destroyed at the loss of his wife and son. He's been stonefaced since they arrested him. No emotion from him at all. Remember in the movie, The Usual Suspects when the cop talks about figuring out which one of three people is a murderer. He puts them in a cell overnight without telling them what they've been charged with and the one that sleeps like a baby is your killer because the other two will be up all night trying to figure out what they did. Your son has shown no remorse, no sadness, no emotion at all. He knows he's guilty but he miscalculated and now faces the death penalty because two lives were ended and not just one.
And he should die for his crimes after he has been convicted of them. And no, I'm not convicting him in the court of public opinion, he convicted himself with his extraordinarily suspect actions since her disappearance. And I'm sorry for you both, it must be horribly difficult to cope with the possibility and likely eventuality of his conviction and further possibility that he will be put to death for his crimes.
But come on now, Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, as you said the other day? No. This situation has nothing to do with Nazi Germany or the, now long lost, Soviet Union. This situation has to do with a husband and father to be committing premeditated murder of his wife and unborn son. The evidence against him must be substantial and strong for the prosecutor to call it a "slam dunk" and he should be reprimanded for being so insensitive to the nature of the case and the parties involved. But Nazi Germany? Come on now. In Nazi Germany, people were persecuted for religious differences and because Hitler needed a scapegoat to blame the German economy on. What possible reflection of that could you find in this situation facing your son?
I'm sorry for you, I really am. For your son, I feel a mixture of rage, anger, sympathy, curiosity and just outright sadness. I would like to believe that he's innocent but the body of evidence (and not anything to do with the courts) against him is pretty overwhelming. If he's not guilty of the murders himself then he certainly had some hand in the matter. And for that, he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
On a side note, I'd not realized that California had such strong laws against fetal homicide not that it's a surprise, but it is new information to me and likely new information to Scott Peterson.
:: posted by Erik at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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The Passing of an Icon
Singer Nina Simone Passes Away in France
And, though this is not the proper place for it, it is the best place to set it. Here's a review of Madonna's newest album, short version? It's not very good. But here's the long version via Rolling Stone. It would seem that her recent attempts to cajole people into buying her pop crap isn't working quite like she expected. Much like her on again/off again British accent.
One true diva passes on and a fake diva gets passed on. There's some balance there.
Singer Nina Simone Passes Away in France
And, though this is not the proper place for it, it is the best place to set it. Here's a review of Madonna's newest album, short version? It's not very good. But here's the long version via Rolling Stone. It would seem that her recent attempts to cajole people into buying her pop crap isn't working quite like she expected. Much like her on again/off again British accent.
One true diva passes on and a fake diva gets passed on. There's some balance there.
:: posted by Erik at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Local Scumbag Gets Busted News
I'm not sure how much coverage the whole Laci Peterson ordeal has gotten but its been big news for a long time out here, only forty miles or so from here.
Anyway, I just came across yet another news item on the pending trial now that they've found her body and the body of her unborn son (still not sure if he was birthed and then killed or what, who know but he's dead too and that's a tragedy).
And the husband, the most likely perpetrator of the crime. He was following the OJ Simpson style of investigatory work to find his wife's killers. Yep, he was playing golf. With ten thousand dollars in his pocket, freshly dyed hair and his brother's ID with him. In San Diego which just happens to be right near the Mexican border. Was he planning on bolting? Um. I think that's a pretty safe, hell yeah.
But now they've got him in custody and the newest article I saw was, Prosecutor May Seek Death Penalty in Laci Peterson Case. To which I would like to add, serves you right you monster. If he is proven to have killed his wife and unborn son then this scumbag should be drawn and quartered. What kind of sick bastard would kill his unborn child?
I hope they have a special room waiting for you in hell, Mr. Peterson. An eternity of suffering that you oh so richly deserve.
SARS Update
Um yeah, China, I think we're going to need you to be slightly more forthright in your counting of SARS cases and deaths. For a country of supposedly (in the joyous world of stereotypes) mathmatics geniuses, they seem to have omitted a whole bunch of SARS cases and deaths. Yeah, this is a serious and dangerous situation. This is the flu that kills people. Last number I saw was 4% of infected people die from it.
Think about that for a moment, a room of 50 people with SARS. Two of those people die from it. SARS is real, SARS is dangerous, SARS isn't going to disappear, SARS is potentially one of the most deadly epidemics in waiting.
But at least the Chinese government is turning to technology to help fight the battle. SARS Bulletins Can Be Sent to Cellphones although I'm not quite sure of the utility of knowing that you're in the middle of an outbreak. I would think it would be a much better system for delivering prevention, treatment and symptom information to everyone who could possibly be exposed.
I'm not sure how much coverage the whole Laci Peterson ordeal has gotten but its been big news for a long time out here, only forty miles or so from here.
Anyway, I just came across yet another news item on the pending trial now that they've found her body and the body of her unborn son (still not sure if he was birthed and then killed or what, who know but he's dead too and that's a tragedy).
And the husband, the most likely perpetrator of the crime. He was following the OJ Simpson style of investigatory work to find his wife's killers. Yep, he was playing golf. With ten thousand dollars in his pocket, freshly dyed hair and his brother's ID with him. In San Diego which just happens to be right near the Mexican border. Was he planning on bolting? Um. I think that's a pretty safe, hell yeah.
But now they've got him in custody and the newest article I saw was, Prosecutor May Seek Death Penalty in Laci Peterson Case. To which I would like to add, serves you right you monster. If he is proven to have killed his wife and unborn son then this scumbag should be drawn and quartered. What kind of sick bastard would kill his unborn child?
I hope they have a special room waiting for you in hell, Mr. Peterson. An eternity of suffering that you oh so richly deserve.
SARS Update
Um yeah, China, I think we're going to need you to be slightly more forthright in your counting of SARS cases and deaths. For a country of supposedly (in the joyous world of stereotypes) mathmatics geniuses, they seem to have omitted a whole bunch of SARS cases and deaths. Yeah, this is a serious and dangerous situation. This is the flu that kills people. Last number I saw was 4% of infected people die from it.
Think about that for a moment, a room of 50 people with SARS. Two of those people die from it. SARS is real, SARS is dangerous, SARS isn't going to disappear, SARS is potentially one of the most deadly epidemics in waiting.
But at least the Chinese government is turning to technology to help fight the battle. SARS Bulletins Can Be Sent to Cellphones although I'm not quite sure of the utility of knowing that you're in the middle of an outbreak. I would think it would be a much better system for delivering prevention, treatment and symptom information to everyone who could possibly be exposed.
:: posted by Erik at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Cool Tech Gadget Sighting of the Week
Jay sent this over to me at the end of last week and it took me a few days before I found the time to click on it and check it out. Its the Martian Wireless Hard Drive in 120 gig and 40 gig incarnations.
Think about that for a second.
One hundred and twenty gigs of information available at any time from any wireless system in range. The immediate thought is for a wireless MP3 server with other goodies mixed in for thrills. But really, it could be used for so much more. Irregardless, I want one, the big one too.
But it'll have to wait a bit until Paula's memory of the new bike purchase has faded just a little bit.
Jay sent this over to me at the end of last week and it took me a few days before I found the time to click on it and check it out. Its the Martian Wireless Hard Drive in 120 gig and 40 gig incarnations.
Think about that for a second.
One hundred and twenty gigs of information available at any time from any wireless system in range. The immediate thought is for a wireless MP3 server with other goodies mixed in for thrills. But really, it could be used for so much more. Irregardless, I want one, the big one too.
But it'll have to wait a bit until Paula's memory of the new bike purchase has faded just a little bit.
:: posted by Erik at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Big Monday
Quote for the Day
Though I'm not sure I wholly support this quote, I'm posting it anyway because it is a good reminder of a more philosophical way of life. Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.- Paul Goodman
And onto the regularly scheduled post....
Today's going to be a bit too busy to post much of anything but that doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of ideas in my little melon. I always get lots of great blog topics when I'm out riding my motorcycle. And I did end up riding up to Pleasonton last night, which was fun. Nothing like blazing traffic in triple digits. But its hard to go that fast and write the ideas down at the same time, and probably kind of dangerous as well.
My happy news is that I've got a new mountain bike in the mail on the way. I already wrote it up on Norcal Bikers and Jay also has a new bike on the way as well. Its looks like the bike gods are being kind to us lately. And I'm super pumped to get this bike out and bash it around on the local trails. Its got big drop capabilities and I fully plan on testing them out soon. I should get the new Ibis this week sometime as its only coming from Tucson. Yeeha!
Now we're going to start working on upgrading Paula's bikes. She needs a mountain bike that doesn't weigh 35 pounds without suspension!
Other Obtuse News
Today's day one on several fronts. I'll update things as we move into the program that we're starting up.
Digi-Cam Coolness
I've been truly loving my new camera, the Canon S400. It shoots great video as well as taking incredibly good pictures. Now my task is to create a handlebar mount so I can snap pics while riding.
Quote for the Day
Though I'm not sure I wholly support this quote, I'm posting it anyway because it is a good reminder of a more philosophical way of life. Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.- Paul Goodman
And onto the regularly scheduled post....
Today's going to be a bit too busy to post much of anything but that doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of ideas in my little melon. I always get lots of great blog topics when I'm out riding my motorcycle. And I did end up riding up to Pleasonton last night, which was fun. Nothing like blazing traffic in triple digits. But its hard to go that fast and write the ideas down at the same time, and probably kind of dangerous as well.
My happy news is that I've got a new mountain bike in the mail on the way. I already wrote it up on Norcal Bikers and Jay also has a new bike on the way as well. Its looks like the bike gods are being kind to us lately. And I'm super pumped to get this bike out and bash it around on the local trails. Its got big drop capabilities and I fully plan on testing them out soon. I should get the new Ibis this week sometime as its only coming from Tucson. Yeeha!
Now we're going to start working on upgrading Paula's bikes. She needs a mountain bike that doesn't weigh 35 pounds without suspension!
Other Obtuse News
Today's day one on several fronts. I'll update things as we move into the program that we're starting up.
Digi-Cam Coolness
I've been truly loving my new camera, the Canon S400. It shoots great video as well as taking incredibly good pictures. Now my task is to create a handlebar mount so I can snap pics while riding.
:: posted by Erik at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Apr 20, 2003Like this post?
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Happy Stoner National Holiday
Yep, today's Easter but its also 420 day, April 20th. Four twenty is the police code for a marijuana violation, its become one of those used to be cool insider things to know about.
And at UCSC there are festivals up in the woods, basically stoner fests but still fun.
Anyway, I was just talking with my buddy, Johnny, and I realized that today would be soooo much cooler if Jesus had been stoned to death. Then all the stoners would be like worshipping or something.
Yep, today's Easter but its also 420 day, April 20th. Four twenty is the police code for a marijuana violation, its become one of those used to be cool insider things to know about.
And at UCSC there are festivals up in the woods, basically stoner fests but still fun.
Anyway, I was just talking with my buddy, Johnny, and I realized that today would be soooo much cooler if Jesus had been stoned to death. Then all the stoners would be like worshipping or something.
:: posted by Erik at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Why Do Athiests Celebrate Easter, Christmas and other Religious Holidays
or, Why Are Athiests Forced into Celebrating Religious Holidays by Familial Obligation.
I'm kind of grumpy because I knew today was coming for a while and knew that my day was going to be hijacked by Easter. What is Easter anyway, why are there rabbits leaving chicken eggs hidden?
I don't know and I don't really care anymore. All I know is that I am being disempowered to do what I might like to with my day. Instead, we drive an hour, hang out for four or five hours and then drive another hour home. And that gets to be my Sunday.
I'm sure that I will enjoy myself when I get there, I'm sure that it will end up being fun (fun is a subjective term though). And irregardless, its not what I choose to do with my day but I am doing it out of a sense of obligation. I suppose that this earns me a future favor, some chit I can call in when I want to not do something like this.
Perhaps I should explain my position a little further and better.
I hate holidays for the most part. With the exception of Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July (and, in Santa Cruz, October 9, the city celebration), yep, I hate them. Christmas? Hate it. Valentine's Day? Hate it with a passion. Halloween? Nah, can't hate any day when strangers give you candy and its alright.
Why do I hate most holidays? Because they aren't normal, they are highly stressful times that defeat self esteem, that tear apart families and that can create deep rifts, chasms between blood relations. Sure, the meal can be almost worth the insanity that leads up to it,
or, Why Are Athiests Forced into Celebrating Religious Holidays by Familial Obligation.
I'm kind of grumpy because I knew today was coming for a while and knew that my day was going to be hijacked by Easter. What is Easter anyway, why are there rabbits leaving chicken eggs hidden?
I don't know and I don't really care anymore. All I know is that I am being disempowered to do what I might like to with my day. Instead, we drive an hour, hang out for four or five hours and then drive another hour home. And that gets to be my Sunday.
I'm sure that I will enjoy myself when I get there, I'm sure that it will end up being fun (fun is a subjective term though). And irregardless, its not what I choose to do with my day but I am doing it out of a sense of obligation. I suppose that this earns me a future favor, some chit I can call in when I want to not do something like this.
Perhaps I should explain my position a little further and better.
I hate holidays for the most part. With the exception of Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July (and, in Santa Cruz, October 9, the city celebration), yep, I hate them. Christmas? Hate it. Valentine's Day? Hate it with a passion. Halloween? Nah, can't hate any day when strangers give you candy and its alright.
Why do I hate most holidays? Because they aren't normal, they are highly stressful times that defeat self esteem, that tear apart families and that can create deep rifts, chasms between blood relations. Sure, the meal can be almost worth the insanity that leads up to it,