More Morford Wisdom to Spread
Today's Morning Fix is full of exposing the lies of our current government and its called The Incredible Lying BushCo

Here's a very pertinent excerpt though I highly recommend reading the whole thing to get a real sense of the ridiculousness of the GOP.

Yes, Bill Clinton lied, too. He lied about stupid adulterous sex. And the GOP savaged him like rabid feral swine attacking a rutabaga. Had him impeached over it. Loathe him still, and his wife, too, with unprecedented level of hatred and bile and vicious litigious action never before seen in this nation.

No such fate for BushCo. Shockingly, the GOP isn't the slightest bit upset about this pro-corporate, oil-drunk administration's deadly string of lies. Shall we wonder why? Or is it just too poisonous and sad to consider for very long, lest the intellect curdle and the soul recoil?

OK, I'll spell it out: George W. Bush and his entire senior administration lied, and continue to lie, flagrantly, openly, knowingly, with full intent, about the need to drive this nation into a brutal and unwinnable and fiscally debilitating war, one that protects no one and inhibits no terrorism and defends nothing but BushCo's own petrochemical cronies and political stratagems.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 11:18 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Happy Halloween and A Wee Bite of the Cheddar X

Thanks to P for sending the pic on!

 
Memo to Santa Cruz Businesses
Subject: How to Lose My Business
Some people have long held that there's a shortage of decent service in Santa Cruz and I prefer to think about it the other way. There's an overabundance of shitty service from snotty assholes who don't have the time to deal with interuptions to their 8 hour gossip time with their friends.

So I am going to detail the easiest way for a business in my town to lose me as a potential customer.

1. Act like my desire to purchase something from your place of business is putting you out. Pretend like my money isn't required to keep your doors open.
2. Ignore me.
3. Take forever to take an order, take forever to deliver it and take forever to fix when I have the audacity to tell you that its wrong.
4. Demean me.
5. Show favoritism for your pals when they come in by passing up people who've been waiting to jump right to them.
6. Exagerrate your actions, drag your feet, make a show of how hard it is to deal with everything.
7. Tack on an auto gratuity and then "forget" to mention it to the table to attempt to elicit a double tip.
8. Don't restock anything, ever.
9. Sit me at a table covered in stickiness or other debris from the previous occupant, don't bother to clean it up or, better yet, wipe it up with a towel easily as nasty as the table was.
10. Give me the wrong change in the hopes that I won't notice and you can pocket the difference.
11. Smell bad, either from cigarettes or from not bathing.
12. Allow homeless people to beg at your windows and pester me.
13. Talk at me instead of to me. Not sure if that makes sense but if its happened to you then you know what I'm talking about.

I'm sure there are plenty more ways to create a new anti-customer but they are escaping me right now.
There are plenty of places in town that I will just refuse to do business with for some of the reasons above but mostly because of shitty service by people with huge attitudes. I couldn't even list all of the companies that are off limits for various reasons.

I know that, if I ever own my own business, I will make sure that anyone working for me understands that customers are the reason the business exists. Forgetting that will find them out of work very, very quickly. Its too easy to lose people permanently and they will talk to their friends and soon you'll be blacklisted from an entire segment of the town.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 1:33 PM Feel like saying something?

 
The Fitness Made Simple Farce
or, Fitness for Simpletons

I'm sure anyone who's turned on their tv in the last six months has seen the ads for Fitness Made Simple featuring a skinny little muscley guy named John Basedow. The commercials have now gone under the category of Where's-the-frigging-remote-because-if-I-have-to-listen-to-his-lies-anymore-I'll-explode, something like the Carrotop commercials and the ones for Round Table Pizza (though they are occasionally fresh and mildly humorous).

There are so many things that are wrong with John Basedow and his stupid tapes that I can only scratch the surface.
A few of the lower hanging fruit that'll be easy to discredit.

His claim that the exercises work two ways, by burning fat just by doing the exercise is both misleading and stupid. You're not burning fat when you exercise, you're burning available energy stores, when those stores are depleted THEN your body may turn to fat to burn for energy. Basically anytime you aren't eating and you're alive, you're using energy and thus can be burning fat for energy if you're other energy stores are already empty. The other way is by raising your metabolism and this is actually true.

His claim of being a fitness "celebrity" is utterly stupid, if he hadn't been put on tv in these ads then no one would know about him or give a damn. Can you claim celebrity status because you pay alot of money to be on tv enough to sink into the collective conscious? Nah, I don't think so.

His testimonials are stupid too with one guy saying he just "simply can't put a price on the results he's gotten". Um, hey shit for brains, how about $29.95, the price of the tapes? How's that for a price on the results?

John Basedow is almost certainly a very small guy in real life, I'd guess he's no more than 5'6" or 7". And, as anyone with any background in fitness knows, its far, far easier for a smaller body to get ripped. The shots of him from the side showing off his six pack are all meant to mislead viewers into thinking it'll be easy to achieve those results. Its not, its damned near impossible for many people to EVER get to the six pack stage because body types differ. Some people are barrel chested, some are lower body powerhouses, whatever. He's misleading and effectively cheating people out of their money.

And he's got a really lame haircut too.
Anyway, just a little rant for now. I'm still very steamed by the whole father raping his infant daughter story. I posted it over on Metafilter and its gotten a tremendous number of comments. Check it out here.

In Local Nudism News
Feel like baring it all in the company of redwoods and strangers? There's a full on nudist resort in the Santa Cruz mountains that'll cater to your desires. I came across them while searching for a decent dojo in town, I need to start training again as its been a very long time and I think the combination of martial art and exercise will do both my body and mind alot of good. And yes, I would welcome some input on styles, why one is better than the other and things like that.

If nudism is your thing then go on and click through to Lupin. It is, apparently a very cool place with a good clientele that respects each other.

And yeah, I've gotta say, the idea of going hiking in the redwoods buck naked really does sound like fun.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 10:09 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Clowns Get Just A Little Creepier Than They Already Were
Clowning for Christ, 'nuff said.

In Hell (If There is a Hell) Readies Another Room News
This came by way of Jay and is among the most disgusting news I've read in a long while.

Man Pleads Guilty to Raping Baby Daughter, yeah, its not a hoax, its not a joke in any way. This utter garbage raped his infant daughter. She was 2 months old when this filthy fuck molested her. How he justified it in his twisted mind is beyond me and I really don't give a damn, he's an animal who should be put down permanently for the damage he just visited upon his own child.

Think he'll last a week in prison? Probably not.
The sick thing is that he's seeking leniency because his dad is the head of Washington's Corrections System. He could spend as little as six months in prison for this most unbeleivably heinous crime.

His name is Joseph Lehman Jr. and he had better not come into my town or anywhere near me because I might just give up my right to freedom to end his sick and profane life.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 11:57 AM Feel like saying something?

 
In If-Only-Our-President-Heeded-His-Daddy News
There's a memo that Bush Sr. took part in the creation of back in 1991 about the dangers of removing Saddam from Iraq. The page at Snopes is: GW Bush on Saddam, circa 1991.
And the pertinent excerpt from the memo:

In his memoirs, A World Transformed, written more than five years ago, George Bush, Sr. wrote the following to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War:

"Trying to eliminate Saddam .. would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible ... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq ...there was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."


Which means that ol' Shrubbie went where his own dad knew far better than to tread. And now the US is entrenched in an occupation of a foreign nation that has no end in sight, just a continuing stream of body bags sending home American GI's.

Nice work, ShrubCo!

In Tangental News
A US company has created a new kind of gun called the Cornershot Gun that is actually hinged in the middle with a pistol up front and a camera. The gun barrel can be aimed from around a corner where the soldier is safe from return fire.

The Israeli Army is currently interested in it.

And yes, there is a picture of it in the link.

In Massive Pixel Destruction News
I've got a new game I must have. I saw the ads for it last night and it is an absolute no question, I'm gonna go and buy this game as soon as I can find it for sale. Its called Roadkill and it looks like just great fun. The ads call it a cross between Twisted Metal (a great action game with terrible graphics) and Grand Theft Auto (which ranks as one of my all time favorite games). Bring it on!

Site Update News
I'm just little Mr. Filled with News today, aren't I? Anyway, this is just a little memo about a minor change. I've moved most of the links off onto the Links Page and have also just moved the Blog Roll and Blog Linker as it appears that one or the other was responsible for making the page load hang forever and ever. Sorry about that!

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 9:29 AM Feel like saying something?

 
The fact that using chopsticks causes a higher incidence of arthritis in hands shouldn't really be surprising. Its one of those things that seems self evident but just hasn't been said yet.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 12:02 AM Feel like saying something?

 
The End of The Joe Schmo Show
This may seem strange, this may seem out of character but I'm going to write about watching the end of The Joe Schmo Show on Spike. For those who aren't familiar with it, its a reality show within a reality show. The twist, and there's always a twist, is that there's only one person who isn't in on it. There is one guy, only one out of the everybody who doesn't know that its all a fake.

Everyone else involved with the show is in on the joke.

And you could see how, at the end of the show when he just found out that it was all a huge and elaborate hoax. The instant when he learns about the true reality around him and realizes that he doesn't know the people, that they just tricked him mightily.

And really the best thing about watching it was realizing what an honestly nice and sincere and genuine guy the Schmo is. His real name is Matt Kennedy Gould, something the emcee says alot, always Matt Kennedy Gould. Watching him finally find out is a fascinating philosophical process, initial discovery followed by realization upon realization and the further push of actually winning a hundred thousand bucks and some other nifty cool stuff.

The follow up show about the making has been pretty interesting as well. The lengths that they all went to in order to carry out the charade, the morphing of the script in response to his own interactions. They had a general storyline to run but it could get a little outside the lines from time to time. And there's more and more, the heavy psychology of toying with his emotions and messing with who he was. The show should be run for college students and dissected.

Its really just an amazingly bizarre show. Watching and hearing him talk about the show now that its over is kind of freaky. I'd be interested to see how much time went by from the end of the show and the beginning of the aftermath part. A day or two filled with lots of explanations and meeting all of the these new strangers again.

Another pretty crazy aspect of the show is watching how the crew reacted, how they went from running the show to really being on Matt's team, experiencing his ups and downs with him. Sure, it smacks of The Truman Show but its a whole different exploration of it.

And the nicest part is that he really is just an incredibly nice and endearing guy. Shame he's such a big lover of basketball but so what, everyone's got their faults. And sure, there's that burning core of cynicism deep within me that pumps out thoughts like, "This guy's an actor too, he's just playing his part a bit longer. Its not even really fake real or fake reality or whatever." But I think I'm going to believe it anyway because I think I like to believe it. I like thinking that this guy really is as nice, as good as his character appears to be. That his true reaction to some of the situations they put him in was really who he was.

All I can say is watch it. It'll blow your mind.

I'll try to get back to the vitriol, the wild ranting and spam invectives now.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 11:22 PM Feel like saying something?

 
But How Can their Stock Still Go Up?
Purveyors of poison (the really dumb kind that comes in nasty little cancer stick form) RJ Reynolds Posts $3.45 BILLION loss and yet their stock surged by 11 percent today on the news that they are combining with another tobacco company to make an even huger spewer of poison and killer of people.

The irony is not lost on me that people are buying into a company that kills its customers off with truly frightening regularity.

Can someone explain to me why anyone would willingly buy stock in this company? Or any company that really does nothing but kill people and contribute to the general misery in the world?

Its like buying stock in a company that produces baby torture devices. Its so morally bankrupt that I just can't even access the thought process that leads one to buy their stock. They kill people, everyday. Their products destroy lives, keep people poor and have demonstrated an appalling lack of concern for the fact that they produce nothing but pain, suffering and a satisfying smoke.

I can't wait until some alien civilization comes to exhume our culture and finds the record of the continued sale of these utterly destructive little cancer sticks (maybe I'll start calling them shafts in the spirit of shoving it up Big Tobacco's collective ass).

Anyone out there with RJR in their stock portfolio should be ashamed of themselves for pursuing profit at the expense of livelihood. Thanks for helping these bastards make billions of dollars. Want to buy back some of your soul? Sell off the tobacco stock, all of it, and convince all your friends to do the same. If no one buys their stock then the company stumbles, falters and fails.

The sole silver lining here is that huge loss they've had this quarter. A few more like it and tobacco will disappear from the landscape like the plague it is.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 12:02 PM Feel like saying something?

 
Finally, A Few Pics from the Honeymoon
Yeah, yeah, the wedding pics are taking a bit longer to get online than I'd hoped, its soooo much easier to get digital pics online. But I'll get to a scanner soon and we'll get the online album put together before too long.
[Update: I've moved the pics to the IntePoi Pics Page to speed up the page loading here. A warning, there are several megs of pictures on the link page, if you're on a dial up you're going to hate me soon.]

A little explanation is in order. The first three pics are from an amazingly cool little pull out on Highway just south of Gorda. A short ten minute hike up into the trees and we arrived at this gorgeous little waterfall spot. I shot some video of it but I'm having some issues getting the vids to play properly, something to do with the encoding or some such crap. But I'll get those up as well as the fire dancing and Mark doing a back flip in the sand. I do wish I'd been able to lighten up the last pic of the two of us and maybe I'll repost it lightened when I get some free time to get to it.

 
Who Are They Marketing To?
I love spam, I hate it but sometimes I've just gotta love it because it just seems to make utterly no sense at all.

A few examples that leap to mind, the people selling spam defeating software, the mass mailed "Your Hotel Site Isn't Being Seen" spams (really, come on now, how many people own a hotel?), the fuller plumper lips spams and, my personal favorite, the buy-this-stock spam.

They all fail for some pretty easily identified reasons but the Buy-this-stock spam is just sort of endearing in a retarded brother sort of way. I mean really, who would ever go and buy stock in a company because they got spam (with the ubiquitous jumble of letters at the end) that said to? Maybe it would be kind of fun to set up a stock tracker for these companies just to see whether it is possible to get rich from following the unsolicited advice from unshaven, unwashed idiots sitting in dark living rooms in their underwear.

I can't even say nice try because this is not a good try, its not even a try at all. Its just wasting time, bandwidth and money.

And anyone who ever buys anything from a spam or pop-up should not be allowed to use the computer or the internet anymore. The only way to stop the spam is to stop it from being a money making endeavor.

Oh yeah, gotta give props to the spam pharmacies! Selling herbal viagra and anything else you want to hear. Anyone that would buy something they're going to put in their body from a spammer deserves the diseases they get.

[Update: Jay's comment lead me to this article and a new technique for spammers to invade comments on weblogs, why? I have no idea what kind of sales they think they can possibly make but damn, I will be seriously bummed if asshole spammers try to take over my comments. Something must be done about idiots and their spam.]

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 1:07 PM Feel like saying something?

 
Starting the Week off Right
One of our favorite new cooking implements is a sweet Calphalon round griddle pan. Its big and smooth and works perfectly for cooking eggs, pancakes or other good stuff like that.

This morning I combined the griddle with my egg ring, some bacon I'd made yesterday morning, some cheese, salsa and an english muffin to make my own breakfast sandwich that put that crap at McD's to shame. Sure, it was messy as hell but so what, good food often is messy.

The other thing that made today such a good start was the fact that we got to get rid of almost all our trash last night. Our neighbor, who attains Saint status for this one!, let us know that there was a free trash bin on one of the patios of the apartment that had been vacated by my favorite sheriff's department spokesman. So I stuffed a few more bags in there, our neighbor took a couple and, all of a sudden, there's no backup, no pile of trash leftover from wedding festivities. Its awesome and we've even got a back patio now as well.

And tonight? Tonight we BURN! It is Dryer Fire Monday, I do believe. If not then it'll be Dryer Fire Tuesday or Dryer Fire Wednesday. Either way we shall be setting fire to a big pile of debris that needs to burn. Another box of wood to help it all burn out and we'll be in good shape.

I may even snap a picture or two of the backyard once we're all back to normal.

P gets huge props for being nearly tireless in her efforts to clean this weekend. She tackled the kitchen and patio with vigor, literally tearing the kitchen bits and the putting it all back together nice and neat. Oh yeah, and something like ten or twelve loads of laundry (love that seventy five cents a load trick as opposed to a buck twenty five!). We're finally getting back to the point where we can think about having people over again.

And I may be ordering my kayak this week!

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 10:53 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Late Cheddar is Beddar than None at All
Yeah, ouch, that was awful. Hopefully this week's will be better than that.

1. What's the most extreme thing you've done to either generate sympathy or get out of a debt?
Well I would certainly never take a knife to my tackle, that's far too extreme for me and heck, the guy did it for a three hundred dollar debt. I knew this was going to be a really tough one when I asked it. I think I'm going to invoke the blogger's privelege and change the question to one I can answer. The most extreme thing I've seen someone else do for sympathy (or at least the first one that comes to mind) was a few years ago when I was taking care of a pal's dog. He got a snoot full of something that made him sneeze for like five minutes. I felt bad for him so I put out a little food for him and pet him. The next time I went outside, he saw me and started to pretend to sneeze again so he could try and score some more food and attention. Smart dog.

2. If someone paid for your education, what do you think you owe them in return?
Depends on who it was. If it was the government, as in ROTC then you owe them some length of service to compensate them for it. If its your parents then you owe it to them to make good use of the degree. Other than that, if someone gives you the education, as in scholarship then you owe it to them to work your ass and do your absolute best to fulfill their expectations.

3. What's your fitness regimen?
Mine varies but the typical workout week for me includes three or four morning Bowflex workouts, I try to ride my bike to work at least three of five days a week and make a point of going the longer way to work (past the beach and along the river into town). I will occasionally get out on my lunch hour and ride the length of the levee or home and back. On a good day, I'll put in somewhere between 10 and 16 miles on my cruiser. Other stuff is as it comes, like beach volleyball yesterday, boogie boarding, off road riding (planned for after work this week) and soon, surfing and kayaking.

4. What is your most annoying habit that you know drives others nuts but are powerless to stop?
I have no annoying habits, everything I do is magical and wonderful and beautiful. Hmm, maybe not. Let's see, I talk too loud when I'm drunk. Have the really aggravating habit of interrupting people (I am working on it though).

5. What was your favorite vehicle (car, motorcycle, bike, skateboard, whatever)?
Hmmm, I think I'm going to have to break this down into one per category. For cars, I'd have to say my first VW Scirocco, an '81 S that was far cooler than I was at the time. Motorcycles, my Katana 550 I had when I lived in CapeTown, it was mickey moused together but it ran like a frigging top on that leaded African gas (oh, sorry Petrol). Bike, I'm highly partial to my current Phat cruiser because I spend more time on it than any other bike but I would have to stick with my Mojo if I had to take just one bike. Its the combination of speed, strength and the ability to shred most hills that makes it the winner. Skateboard? Only have one, an old Billy Ruff deck I bought from a kid waaaay back in high school, now it only gets used to move furniture.

Whew, that was joyous!

Now back to work.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 8:36 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Scariest Moment Redux
Thanks to everyone for their concern and input. I spoke with my brother-in-law yesterday afternoon and he diagnosed it as a classic case of a vasovagal reaction. It is, essentially, a momentary shutdown of the body due to some unnecessary visual stimulation.

If anyone remembers the opening credits to the show, Quincy MD there's a med student who drops when Quincy unveils a dead guy, THAT's a vasovagal reaction.

It slows the heart down and also dilates blood vessels in your legs and that's what can cause the fainting or swoon or seizure because all the blood in the body is being directed to your legs instead of your head. Which explains the world closing up on me and the launching backwards with my legs.

It isn't the only possible outcome of the episode and I will be going to see my doctor this week to make sure there's nothing wrong with the functioning of my heart. So, until I've met with him, I think I'll be okay.

Thanks Dave! And thanks to you all for your concern.

Now that the serious stuff is out of the way, maybe I can get to this week's Cheddar X.

Some Links to Share
Jay sent over the link to the IO2 Technology Revolutionary Interactive Heliospace Free-Space Display which is really pretty damned cool. Think the holographic display of the Death Star in Star Wars but its not a hologram.

This second link is to the a truly bitching picture of the sun storm's that we had on Friday and is well worth a moment's peek, Sun's Bursts.

And the last is probably well known to most people as it was to me, I just don't know why I've never linked up to the Drudge Report, its a fine source of news.

SoYouWanna get a job in a consulting firm?

GM Names Car with Slang for Jacking Off in Quebec, by teenaged boys who can pretty much consider anything to be slang for masturbating. But hey, whatever, a car called the Lacrosse is just a stupid name in any case.

A link on Metafilter gave me the idea to search for the same kind of agency in my home town and I found the Affordable Housing-City of Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency, basically, its super cheap houses for sale but they need loads and loads of work. Buy them for cheap, fix them up, live in them for five years and they're yours. I've just started exploring this but hey, if I can get a house in Santa Cruz for under a $100K then I am all over it!
This link just goes nicely with the other one, Find a Home - Property Listing. Same for this one, usdhome.html

Tired of pop ups and spyware shit on your computer? I sure as hell was with P's PC so I read this article, Ad-aware - Download.com - Free downloads, shareware, and more and am starting to fight back against the invasive cock suckers who think forcing their products on me is going to get them sales. If only they knew that it achieves the exact opposite and, while I note the products, I will never, ever buy any of them again. Nice advertising campaign, turn off your potential customers permanently! And another article, "Spyware" piggybacks on Napster rivals | CNET News.com.

Want to scare yourself? Then go and hit up the Drinkometer- How much Alcohol have you consumed?

A really cool concept and I'm not sure how it will bear out in reality, The Great Library of Amazonia. Basically, Amazon wants to have all the text from all its books searchable and viewable online. Think about that for just a moment, they're talking about a really quite tremendously monstrous library all of a sudden becoming virtually accessible. Pretty cool and amazing, I just don't know if it'll result in lawsuits, more sales or just easier research.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 7:48 AM Feel like saying something?

 
The Scariest Moment of My Life
I had what is probably the most truly frightening and uncontrollable moment of my life last night. P and I were spending time upstairs, watching Extreme Makeover on the idiot box, I was checking hockey scores and I started to feel a little nauseous just after they showed the plastic surgery in action. I didn't think it was connected but didn't have time to really react.

All I know is that I turned back from the TV to the computer screen just as everything went dark, like an iris closing up the darkness began on the outside of my vision and closed down to a point and, for a moment, I was completely without sight and without any control over my body. I convulsed backwards in my chair, banging into the closet door and slamming my arm on the side desk and my foot on one of the braces.

The next thing I knew, though only a moment had passed it seemed like a minute or two has passed, P was next to me, worried and holding my arm, asking me what had happened. A curious question because I really had no explanation for it. Another strange thing that has stuck with me is that, though I knew P was lying in bed when it happened, I had this sense that she had been sitting next to me at the desk. It was very strong and, though I know in reality she had been on the bed the whole time until she ran over to me, I could swear she was sitting right next to me the whole time.

She helped me get up and I felt a bit dizzy so I lay down on the floor, felt the heat of the moment wash over me and it took a good twenty minutes before I felt decent enough to sit up, drink some water and really take stock of my body. The only lingering effects were some very shaky hands, a concerned wife and a very concerned me.

Nothing like that has ever happened to me before and it was really terrifying. While it was happening I could sort of sense, deep in my mind, under layers of fog and darkness, that this was peculiar in the extreme and that I needed to regain control over my body.

I can't put it down to low blood sugar because I'd eaten a decent dinner. I can't put it down to oxygen deprivation because I make a point of breathing on a regular basis. I can't put it down to anything and that's the scary part. No immediately observable cause. So now my new mandate is to schedule a physical, let them know what happened, see if they can figure it out and take it from there.

My fears are that this is the first of many seizures, that they'll strike at any time and that I'll not be able to live a normal life anymore. I feel fine today, worked out this morning, rode my bike to work and will try to live as normally as I can but there will always be that seed of doubt about my body and mind parting company again. What if it happens while I'm on my motorcycle? Or if I'm driving along Highway 1 with the huge cliff drop offs to one side? Or swimming?

Or what if the seizure was like a warmup and the real ones are on their way?

The immediate fallout is that I've now got a damned strong reason to get myself back into great shape. A healthy body is less likely to backfire or whatever I should call it. So I'm going biking this weekend, maybe kayaking too, maybe even surfing if I can get the time for it. The other bit of fallout is that I don't think I'll be taking things for granted as much anymore. It truly is possible that I could have a stroke at any time and lose control over my body forever. I could have a heart attack and die, just like that. There are no guarantees in life and I plan on doing my damnedest to make the most of the time I do have. Love with passion, live with passion and try to not ever take what life's given me for granted. Our eyeblink existence can end in an instant and there is no reset button.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 9:08 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Character Traits to Aspire To
These were sent to me by my step-mom the day after the anniversary of my father's death this past weekend. They are traits of my father's that she wanted to share with the family and I would like to share them with my readers.

They are not only indications of the kind of man that my father was but they are also excellent character traits to aspire to and I will be making an effort to live up to his legacy.

· If you don't like something (situation/policy/etc), don't complain; do something positive to change it.
· Compartmentalize if needed to get through a tough time.
· Always remembered to ask the basic question, "What is it we are trying to accomplish?"
· Respect and try to understand different perspectives.
· Find a way for everyone to save face.
· Gather as much information as possible before making a decision, and base decisions on facts or the best information available.
· Laugh and encourage others to laugh with you. It's okay-even desirable-to play and be a little silly as an adult.
· Gain the respect of people you admire.
· Make a contribution to the world/community/neighborhood using the skills you have.

In Other News
I'm going to try and avoid all blogs for the rest of today. Actually, I want to try and avoid all extra curricular computer usage for the day, because I need to to stay focused on work but also because I've not tried it in a long time and I think its important to break the cycle from time to time.

See you all on Friday.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 7:46 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Just How Far Out of Touch is the NRA?
So far that just posting this post will likely land me on their list of NRA enemies. Check out the NRA Hate List to see who's had the sheer audacity to speak out in favor of gun control and the assault weapon ban.

Now, I'm someone who likes shooting my guns. I like target practice, I like speed drills and I used to shoot skeet when I was back in New England. Not often but often enough to be decent at it.

But I would never join a group like the NRA because they polarize people. You are either a gun nut or a gun control freak, there is no middle ground and I think that's both short sighted and rather stupid. That and having Charleton Heston as your spokesperson is just kind of sad, he's an old man who's pretty lost touch with reality, go and see Bowling for Columbine to get a better idea of what I'm talking about.

The NRA also has Wayne LaPierre as their president, or did (note, I've since learned that the guy in charge is now Kayne Robinson). I've seen this guy speak a couple of times and he's really doing the gun lobby no favors by opening his mouth in public. He's not smart enough or quick witted enough to lead the gun lobby to the promised land of no limit hunting, totally legal concealed carry and the right to put a 58 shot magazine in your handgun (for sporting purposes, of course, and not so you can wipe out an entire neighborhood before having to reload, heavens no!).

Do I think their goals are worthwhile? Yes, to a point. The rabid adherence to the Second Amendment and the unwillingness to accept that we lead the universe in gun deaths is just head-in-the-sand stupidity. The NRA needs new leadership to bring it into the 21st century, leadership that will come back from the foamy faced nutters who've gone ahead with gun rallies just after extreme gun violence in Columbine and other places. It just shows how ruthlessly insensitive and out of touch the whole organization truly is.

Thanks to Mark Morford and his Fabulous Morning Fix for the hook up.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 10:40 AM Feel like saying something?

 
A Few More Feet Down the Road to Restoring My Faith in Humanity
Today's Excite Instant Poll is about healthcare and the results were really pretty heartening to me.
Regarding healthcare, which do you think is more important:
Holding taxes down, even if it means some people going without health coverage 34% => 2834 votes
Providing health coverage for all, even if it means raising taxes 55% => 4556 votes
I’m not sure 9% => 755 votes
I don’t care 0% => 64 votes Current number of voters: 8209

People are willing to pay more in taxes to provide health insurance for all and that's a good thing. Sure, in the end, having health insurance for everyone is probably less expensive and less stressful but I don't think people were thinking that far into the future. They just realize that, to provide a safer America, people will have to help shoulder the burden of caring for others.

And that, my friends, is a good thing. Empathy for others has been on the decline in America for the last ten years or so, maybe we're starting to turn the corner to where other people's interests are important as well as our own.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 9:09 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Approaching a Watershed
I don't know, maybe its not cool to be a numbers driven blogger these days. Or maybe its I don't care that I still am.

Anyway, today should see Intellectual Poison breaking through the 50,000 visitor mark and I think that's pretty damned amazing.

Some good news last night, we got our wedding book and pictures back from our photographer and they are really and truly just awesome! It will take some work to get all of them online and posted but I may just cheat a little on that front to save time.

But both P and I were incredibly pleased with the results. And we got to play highway racers coming back from Watsonville last night in the fog.

Next up? We'll be dog sitting next weekend and will have SuperDog for Halloween (and yes, that means a dog dressed up in a Superman costume and I will take pics!).

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 7:43 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Cool New Tech
It seems that a new technology may make for even smaller, even longer lasting batteries and other power sources. Water sparks new power source that generates power from pumping liquid through micro-channels. I don't understand how it all works but there's a good diagram explaining it. What it means is that we'll have better batteries for all our toys sometime in the future.

Vacuous MTV "Reality Show" Stupidities
Has anyone with more than fifty brain cells still kicking been able to sit through an entire episode of Nick and Jessica's show, Newlyweds, on MTV? Were they strapped down with their eyes forced open? Is there any worse pap crap on the box these days than these two idiots? Jessica Simpson comes off as being a skinny Anna Nicole, basically white trash without the first clue about the world.
Here's the latest news from the bad, bad, bad show.
You may be wondering why Jessica Simpson Visits Chicken of the Sea? Well, its because she was confused by the name. Chickens, you see, don't live in the sea and so she didn't know whether she was eating tuna or chicken (apparently the taste and texture wasn't enough help). So she went to Chicken of the Sea and they, patiently, explained the origin of the name and the fact that, yes, its tuna fish. Not chicken.
Stay tuned for more moronic epiphanies from one of the worst concepts in reality tv yet (and there have been some damned spectacularly awful shows).

And Finally, a Harley for the Doggy Style Lovin' Masses
This comes by way of EB and is the New Harley for Men or women than want to be like men. Take a moment to examine the picture and note the tank with the double bubble butt and legs stretching back into the frame. Kind of a cool idea but I think I'll stick with my little rice rocket for now.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 4:22 PM Feel like saying something?

 
Restaurant Review: Malabar in Santa Cruz
If memory serves then we went to one of Intellectual Properties' favorite dinner spots when she's in town.

Malabar is an unassuming place in Santa Cruz though they are almost always pumping the air outside full of spice and intrique so that I always wonder when I ride my bike past it on the way home from work. They're at 1116 Soquel Ave., phone is (831) 423-7906 and they don't have a website yet. There is usually a decent line to get in but as we're in the off season now, there was no wait and plenty of space for a nice dinner.

The decor is perpendicular to the cuisine if that makes any sense. The style of the place is sort of muted with lots of small tables placed close together under a vaulted ceiling and near a large hearth/fireplace area. Its not unappealling but it really doesn't reflect the style of the food all that well. And that was fine because we'd already planned on getting take out.

Read More
Or check out the review I just posted to Daily Diner: Malabar.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 11:08 AM Feel like saying something?

 
How Not to Start Your Day
The first thing to not do is to think its Wednesday and not Tuesday. I've been having trouble keeping within today because I keep wanting to think its later in the week. No real reason except that I just keep feeling like its tomorrow already and then I get caught in a never ending loop. If today is tomorrow then tomorrow must be the day after and therefore I can't ever be here today because today is yesterday.
Its damned hard to keep in the here and now right now.

Anyway, as with Ryan's adventures with canine dookie bombs, my morning was punctuated by stink as well. I had the good fortune to get caught behind a recycling truck. And it was filling the air with that sweet and sickly stink of rotting foodstuffs, putrid liquid and just plain stinkity stuff. From each corner of the back it was leaking a rather noxious and splash happy mixture of ick that was a most unseemly color of grey. I gave the truck a very wide margin in front of me to try and avoid being splashed by the nasty trash soup. And, hold on, smell check says I'm clean.

New Word News
Came up with this while commenting on another blog last night.
Shopper's Amnesia - that most irritating issue of running into a store to get something only to find out that you can't remember what it was you wanted. There are variations like the Musical Amnesia for CD shopping, Movie Amnesia when trying to get a rental movie and a bunch more, I'm sure.

No, its not all that new a concept or words but I'm adding it here because it drives me nuts and that's plenty enough of a reason for me.

But wait, there's much more to come later on today!

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 10:38 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Turning the Tables, Kobe Forced to do Something
Judge: Kobe Bryant Must Stand Trial for Rape and that should be damned interesting.

I don't think I've ever seen him speak unless it was in relation to a basketball game.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 3:31 PM Feel like saying something?

 
There's No KY in Justice
In a scene more reminiscent of bad porn than Law & Order, a French judge "discretely" lifted his judicial robe and opened his trousers to expose his penis so he could masturbate while a female lawyer pleaded her case.
Judge Jack Mehoff (identity hidden because I don't know it yet) masturbated for several minutes while she made her case.

I would wager that he wasn't quite discrete enough if he got caught. Now he's undergoing psychiatric examinations to make sure he didn't think he was a priest.

In Unrelated News
A man, in an attempt to generate sympathy for a "large" debt he'd run up, sliced of his tackle. He'd spent the money, ostenisibly gathered to start a business, on hookers and booze.

He wasn't the first guy to do this either, a few months prior, another man chopped his cock off because he owed debtors the whopping sum of $287 (which was 300,000 shillings and sounds like a lot more that way). But come on now, your penis isn't worth at least $300? Hmm, maybe that's a question for the Cheddar X? Or something like it.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 1:10 PM Feel like saying something?

 
The Church's New Tactic
How do you stem the rising, surging and thrusting tide of ungrateful molestees who keep accussing the church of touching their privates all the while the Vatican has recently stated that condoms don't stop AIDS (utter bullshit and a sign of the further recession of their connection to the real world).
Anyway, here's how you do it, you scare the holy crap out of people by disclosing just how freakin' huge the whole pedophilia, sodomy and other wanton lusty touchings that have been visited upon children by those sanctimonious bastards posing as cultural shepherds of God's flock.
Here comes the word, U.S. Bishop: Sex Abuse Study May Be 'Startling'.

Here let's take a closer look and discuss some of the story's points.

Its purpose was to "re-establish a level of credibility and trust with our people" and to make sure children are protected, Gregory said.

Oh yeah, protect the children, by buggering them all the time. I get it, makes perfect sense.

Boston was the epicenter of a scandal that swept the United States last year after it was discovered that several dioceses had transferred priests known to have abused children from parish to parish without alerting the public.

Oh wait, I think they got things screwed up. That line above about making the children are protected, are they talking about the children of God, i.e. the priests? No, you sick fucks, they're talking about real children, real defenseless little kids who were taught to trust you and you sodomized them. And then you're "Old Somodite Boy Network" kicked in to send you around to some new parishes where you've got more tasty little kids to prey on.

A number of U.S. Catholic officials and Vatican officials have said they felt the U.S. Church had been singled out for scrutiny for a problem that exists in other sectors of American society, including other religions.

Ah yes, the Everybody-Else-Is-Doing-It defense. Um yeah, just because its happening elsewhere as well as in your own hallowed halls certainly doesn't mean its excusable in any way, shape or form.

Last month the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay up to $85 million to settle lawsuits filed by hundreds of people who say they were sexually abused by clergy.

You should note that they still didn't accept any guilt for the sexual abuse. They just paid them off and left it at just the accusations of abuse. Isn't the first step in healing the damage or breaking a centuries long addiction to sex with children to admit that there is a problem? It looks like the Catholic Church isn't quite ready to admit it even though they're paying out millions upon millions of dollars in damages to a problem they can't even admit yet. Also, hmm, paying $85 mil because people said they were abused? Would you be willing to pay anyone for something you know for a fact you didn't do? What about if you did do it and they offered this way out to pay for the damages (though how you calculate the damage from a priest sticking his cock up a little child's backside is beyond me but I'm sure there are books in the church on how to do it fairly)? Why the sheer veil of secrecy, come out and admit your crime the faster to absolve yourself of its taint. (That means no more kid sex, padre).

Can anyone else smell the cognitive dissonance?

[Update: This post is an homage to Ryan for his technique of posting a paragraph and then dissecting it. I'm starting small and will work my way up to the multi-page analyses he does. But hey, he's a journo and I'm a flack, he's supposed to be better at it than me!]

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 11:36 AM Feel like saying something?

 
First Rule of Stealing an Identity
The first rule of Identity Theft? Don't steal someone with a worse record than your own. Bear witness to the poster child for screwing this up: Idiot Assumes Sex Criminal's Identity.
Thanks to Hardy for sending this one on to me. Interestingly, the site isn't about making fun of sex crime idiots, its about safeguarding kids and families from these depraved predators. And with all the sex crime activity lately in Northern California, education might just be the means to defeating the predations of the sick bastards.

A Sad Day for the Blogging World
It would appear that one of the blogging world's best writers is going to be either hanging up her blogging britches or only donning them from time to time when the rare moment is available.
Fare thee well, Dear Layne, you'll be missed even if I do understand your reasons for going offline.
Maybe you could give a try to blogging by email?

Quality Links
A few links that I've come across recently that are worth a peek or two.
hersheys kisses (ever wonder where those little kisses come from? potentially not safe for work, depending on your environment)
electric sheep comix (just cool stuff)
Santa Cruz from the air (I love aerial photography and this is of my town so its that much better)
Escher in LEGOs (one of the greatest artists rendered in Lego form)
LugNet (Lego Users Groups)
CNET Digital Living (need to figure out how to spend that pesky $40K?)
SCRAPBOOKING 101 (kind of a cool site if you're into scrapbooking)
ClassicGaming.com - Game of the Week (the Oregon Trail, one of those educational RPGs that also happened to be good fun).

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 10:06 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Some Sunday Night Randomness
I had been checking in on some football stats in one of several fantasy football teams I run. And I noticed that I could change the little image that represented my team. The cool this is that it can be lots of different images or gifs.

So I Googled the dice and found Avatars Inc.

here's one, here's another or, roll your own dice and see 56 different ones by random selection.

By way of Drink this, what drink are you?


Congratulations! You're a Long Island Iced Tea!


What Drink Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Today was good fun thought. That is, if you call four and a half hours of shopping fun. We had a good time though and have improved the quality of our backyard and house immensely. Lots of fun spending wedding gift certificates for things you wouldn't normally buy.

And, because I've been lagging for a variety of reasons, here's the first of many wedding pics.


One Sad Note
Saturday marked the one year anniversary of my father's death. We all, who knew him and loved him, thought about him and missed him in our own ways. Judi wrote out a list of some of my dad's traits that I may post here, for the record, as goals to aspire to.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 12:10 AM Feel like saying something?

 
X Marks the Cheddar
It is that time, time for some freshly minted lovin' action.
Since I came up with the questions this week they should be simple, eh? It never works that way because I never consider my own responses to the questions as they're being formed. I'm just a question asking fool, I guess.
But let's get to it!

1. What was the last person, thing or event that made you cry?
The last time I cried for real was at my cousin Andrew's funeral a few years ago. He was the first close family member who died and he was younger than I am. I didn't actually cry at my father's funeral last year but I damned near collapsed.

2. What was your most recent vivid dream about?
Two mornings ago I had one of those dreams that are just on the edge of consciousness. And strangely, it was along somewhat the same lines as one that Amy had (though hers was a fair sight scarier and nastier than mine). I dreamed that a group of Iraqi service staff, dressed up like they were working a wedding or something, were robbing my father's house (though it wasn't his house in real life). I jabbed one with a fork and dialed 911 but kept getting a recording. I'm sure there are plenty of interpretations here what with my recent wedding, the pending one year anniversary of my father's death and the passing along of some of his belongings to me.

3. What is the best bumper sticker you've seen or thought up?
There are two I want to go with here. The first is actually a t-shirt at TShirthell.com that reads, "What Would Jesus Do? For a Klondike Bar". The second was made up by a co worker a few years ago and I love it and may even print some out someday. It goes like this "Are you Evil or Just Stupid?"

4. Who was your worst room mate? Why?
Two guys were the worst. They were morons who thought it would be funny to break into the community building at the apartment complex we lived in and steal candy bars (by smashing the machine on the ground), toilet paper and paper towels. I was woken up by the cops at 3 in the morning to find a pile of crap four feet high in my living room of the crap these idiots stole.

Then again there was the other room mate who stole $8k worth of pot from the Mexican Mafia and nearly got me killed. He was a prizewinner too.

5. What do you order most often when you go out to eat?
Mexican food? Al pastor burritos, without a doubt. Basically they're a BBQ bacon burrito and they absolutely kick ass. Other places, I like to try clam chowders or chili. At sushi places, we always get edamame (steamed soybeans) and miso soup.

6. What's your cocktail of choice? Or beverage for the non-drinkers?
I'm a bartender's nightmare. I never drink the same drink twice in a row at the bar. My short list includes: Kamikazes, Jack Sours, Jack an Cokes, Long Island Iced Teas, Lemondrops and Mojitos. At home, I make Mojitos more than anything else right now but that's because they're in vogue and we've got a whole bunch of fresh mint to work with.

Bonus Question:
Can anyone explain how Arnold Schwarzenegger became the governor of California? And how we can get rid of him?
Arnold became the governor because Californians are, by and large, incredibly shallow morons who vote on name recognition alone. Arnold had no campaign platform aside from stupid cliched movie lines. And now he's in charge.
We can get rid of him when his term is up or he fails so stupendously that he's removed from office. Or someone busts a cap in his over sized, steroid injected dumbass.

Have fun with that? Want to get some Cheddar of your own and play along? Head on over to the and stock up!

There are some new ideas being proposed so weigh in and let's expand the circle of the cheesy love!

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 10:10 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Instant Survivor Rant
We've not been able to watch much of the newest Survivor but we did catch last night's show and I've just got to take a moment to say that the skinny asshole, Jon, is among the most irritating personalities on TV since Puck was on MTV's The Real World. A self absorbed jackass who thinks he's far smarter and far more attractive and hipper than he really is.

He's an asshole who should have been voted off immediately. He's useless, irritating and just sucks sweaty goat nuts. I was amazed that they voted off Michelle, who was cool, smart and helpful, instead of Jon, who cost them a reward challenge because he can't steer a boat to save his friggin' life.

And I may end up just boycotting the rest of the show until they get rid of him because he's just truly that annoying. And if I ever met him in real life I'd probably have to smack him in the face a few times.
Sorry, just had to get that out. Andyes, I am aware that its just a stupid TV show and its designed to evoke a response and, as such, Jon is excellent for that but do the producers want to provoke a gag reflex?

Other, Lighter Inte Poi Fun Fare
With a nod to Ryan I humbly offer a waste of time that's pretty damned entertaining. Come on now, don't you want to go and Spank the Monkey?

Also, the pass along the story concept has taken on a life of its own and is being built up in the comment thread under the post below. Join in and play along or just read the text as it evolves through the myriad minds taking part.

Baseball Bitching
The Red Sox couldn't hold the lead that Pedro'ed given them and the damned Yankees ended up winning yet another Division Championship on their way to another World Series. Does anyone give a damn about the Yankees anymore? They're a bunch of overpaid jackasses and they're pretty much killing the sport by over spending on the team. Why do they keep winning World Series? Because Steinbrenner's jacked up their payroll to be about $30 million more than any other team in the league.

And we're heading to yet another World Series that no one cares about. Nice work, Yankees. I do hope the Marlins absolutely pummel you but I'm pretty sure they'll just steamroll right through the fish en route to their eight hundreth worth title, yawn.

Rooting for the Yankees is like cheering for the playground bully. Sure, its a safe bet but so's eating with a spoon.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 9:20 AM Feel like saying something?

 
This Just Thoroughly Disgusts Me
Showtime Plans Jayson Blair Movie
Jayson Blair, the same shitfuck journo who lied about sources, made up contacts and effectively shit all over journalism as a profession. They're making a movie about the "tragedy" of him? What fucking tragedy? This fucking loser should be in jail for fraud.

I think I'll be writing a letter to Showtime to let them know what a poor idea this really is and tell them that I will boycott their shit sucking network forever as a result. If fifty thousand people do the same then they'll kill the project. Who's with me?

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 4:38 PM Feel like saying something?

 
A New Take on an Old Game
A comment chat with Illmatic made me think about a game that used to get played long ago, before computers, and in the dead of winter in New England.

The game was something of a roundtable storytelling. One person would start the story, they'd get a paragraph or two in and then the next person would take over and warp the holy hell out of the story. It then gets passed on to the next blogger to be further twisted. I can't remember how the game ends but I think it'd be damned fun to give a try to.

It would have to be somewhat limited but I'm game to give it a try and it might be a good warm up to the pending NaNoWriMo.

Anyone want to give it a try and see what happens?

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 4:13 PM Feel like saying something?

 
At Least They're Passionate About Something
French Students Stage Protest on Smoking and G-String Ban

Completely Unrelated Question Brought on by Reality
Is there anything more pathetically sad than a mostly bald guy with a ponytail? Other than the awful combover or bald mullet?

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 2:47 PM Feel like saying something?

 
Pending Posts
Damn, I need to spend like a week writing out a whole bunch of drafts I've got going right now. There's too much happening in the world to get it all in.

But fear not, there is good IntePoi style fun in the works.
A sneak peek behind the scenes will show posts about the Cubs flailed attempt to get to the World Series (haha, suck on that one Dusty!), the First Rule of Identity Theft, Wedding and Honeymoon Pics, more tales from the Honeymoon and cruising Highway 1, the transcript from Arnold and Shrub's meeting, the Saline/Silicon Impant Wars and a few more that are still in the very early stages of development.

If only work didn't keep getting in the way!

Send Good Thoughts Here
For reasons that may become clearer later, send positive energy to Intellectual Properties. Until then, just hold your water and think good thoughts.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 11:29 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Chinese Space Race
Both Intellectual Properties and Rambling Rhodes are talking about China's space launch.

It would appear that not enough people are aware of the X-Prize, a competition for private companies and individuals to send a vehicle to 100 kilometers above the earth and then return safely. Check it out, its a pretty cool contest though the barrier to entry is a wee bit steep for most of us.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 3:47 PM Feel like saying something?

 
Kobe's Defense Plan
Just saw this article about Kobe's accuser not having his semen and pubic hair in her underwear the next day when she went to the doctor. [Update: Some more of Kobe's smear campaign. And a quote, "Of the accuser, Mackey (Kobe's lead attorney) told the judge, 'She is not worthy of your belief.'". Let me reiterate, Kobe Bryant is a filthy rapist scumbag and he's attempting to discredit the girl's claims by attacking her person. What a disgusting piece of work he is.] [Second Update: Some return fire from the prosecution, Prosecutors: Evidence Strong Against Kobe Bryant.]

Um, what kind of a freaking nutjob wouldn't change her underwear and shower before going to the doctor after being raped? Why they found any semen and pubes is beyond me. Yes, she should have gone straight to the cops and the doctors but she was almost certainly in a state of shock. Cut her some slack.

But allow me to lay out Kobe's apparent defense of the rape charges against him.
Discredit, defile and out and out embarass the accuser. Make her seem like the scumbag. Redirect the spotlight on the girl. Spread lies about her proclivities. Try to make people forget that Kobe's an adulterer and apparently a violent one at that. Put the accusser on the defensive. Make her out to be the gold digger. Make her out to be without any morals at all.

And all the while, sit there and pretend to be a fine upstanding citizen who didn't fuck a 19 year old girl. Who didn't cheat on his wife. Who didn't engage in very aggressive and violent sex (enough to cause vaginal tearing? nice work, asshat!). Who didn't pay off his wife with a $4 million dollar diamond. Who has been behaving as if he's guilty from the get go.

Nice work, Kobe. I hope you have a really nice jail cell. I've absolutely no respect for you and I hope they put you away from the maximum sentence, you filthy and disgusting piece of shit.

A quote from an IM chat with my Red Sox lovin' cousin, "Yeah, I definitely think basketball has the highest ass to player ratio."

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 12:51 PM Feel like saying something?

 
A Tragedy Perverted
I just saw a short interview with the brother of the teenage girl who was shot to death the other night while attempting to answer her door. From all accounts, the attack was most likely directed at her brother, who's a thug apparently.
This brain scientist of a moron (and yes, he did just lose his little sister so I'm cutting him some slack) had the gall to say he was still worried about attacks. Gee why? Because he's a mean bastard who pissed off the wrong people and they don't care that his sister (who was apparently a decent person and certainly didn't deserve to die) was just shot to death.

Hey idiot, why not take a look inside and realize that it was your actions, your street 'tude and your stupidity that got your sister killed. Take responsibility for being a gang banger loser who thinks turf and souped up Hondas are the answer to all that life troubles you with.

Its not all that surprising really, that the teen 'banger can't put the two premises together to form the logical conclusion that his lifestyle is largely responsible for the death of his sister. Why? A combination of compartmentalization, cognitive dissonance and practiced ignorance. Owning up to his part in her death would mean that he was wasting his life, that he was part of the problem and not the solution. That he was a part of the great social cancer that is gang banging. The waste of youth in pursuit of a 9 second quarter mile time on some straight stretch of road to win accolades from other like minded wastrels.

By the way, they appear to have caught the cowards who did the shooting. I can't find the story online yet but I saw it on the news when they were interviewing her brother and other family members.

I think the phrase of the day should be "Personal Accountability" and yep, that also applies to Layne's home issues as well as my life (and there's a post pending about my latest steps to take responsibility for my mismanaged finances).

Words That Should Be Used Alot More Often
I was thinking about this before falling asleep last night (the first night in almost a week without NyQuil!), there are words that need to be used more often.
Like asshat, as in Rush Limbaugh's such a freaking asshat for thinking he can turn rage to sympathy by admitting he's a pill-popping, hate spewing, racist mouthpiece for the in-bred "moral majority".

Or fucknuts, as in, those fucknuts think they can just overturn a democratically elected governor and replace him with an asshat jackhole gropa-holic like Ahhhnuld?

I'm sure there are more and they'll come to me as the day goes on. I'll just continue to update and add them on. Got one to add? Leave a comment and use it in a sentence.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 8:19 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Let's Keep This Between Us, Shall We?
Bishop Wants Confession at Schools so that kids can discharge their sins easily and then get back to planning the assault and whatever other wackiness today's kids get up to.

This isn't in the US, which is good because it would raise one helluva ruckus. The pending furor over the Pledge of Allegiance containing references to God should be enough of a sign that people don't want to mix education and theology (and in fact, the Church really doesn't want to either because the spotlight of inquiry on religion pokes more holes in their answers to life's questions than a family of rabid hedgehogs in a life raft).

On some levels I can see the value of allowing children to discharge their issues. But, on the other hand, what if the kid in question is Jewish or Muslim? Would there be equal representation of all religious disciplines or just the one's that could pony up the money to pay for it? Because there's no way the schools should be picking up the tab for a confessional booth in the school.

The whole concept opens far too many doors up for exploitation, seperation and isolation.

They can't even get condoms to be distributed in schools, can they? The argument that its like condoning teen sex is utterly stupid because teenagers ARE having sex now and they're getting diseases and worse. But that's a whole other tangent that I can't explore right now.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 4:39 PM Feel like saying something?

 
Sexy or Trashy or Both?
Lots of stuff going on today and some of it not so dark and sad as the teenager answering her door last night and getting shot to death, or the two women suicide pact in Gorda (down along the coast near Big Sur), the old lady who allowed a train to run her down in Palo Alto or the incredibly sad fact that we now actually have Governor Elect Schwarzenegger to deal with. Instead, let's just swerve around it all and go for some shallow pap.

Take a look at this pic below (click on it for the full size and the explanation paragraph). Is this a good look or is it in mildly (or worse) bad taste to show off just about her entire cleavage?


While I like what I see, I think this kind of an outfit isn't quite wholly appropriate for an awards ceremony. But hey, maybe I'm just becoming an old curmudgeon. What do you think?

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 7:49 AM Feel like saying something?

 
A Moment's Lunacy in a Day of Bustle
I had to run over to the drug store a little while ago to pick up some tissues, meds and throat soreness candy. I had the opportunity to overhear a truly deranged woman rant to two cops about capping some ho bitch who'd done her wrong. This woman, a little haggard and on crutches but otherwise mostly normal looking, was shouting in one of the aisles to two policemen who were taking notes and attempting to cool her down.

I didn't catch what had set her off but its never a good idea to tell the police that you're planning on killing someone, no matter how serious your intent.

Last I saw, she was outside the store with one of the cops who was writing up her ticket for something or other. You'd think that making loud and persistent death threats would land you in the pokey and not just a ticket. But hey, whatever. Just thought it was a damned strange interlude to an otherwise normal day.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 11:57 AM Feel like saying something?

 
Back to Normal?
It was strange this morning to turn off the alarm and begin the process of getting ready for work after being out for a week and a half. It wasn't helped by the massive horkage from waking up but that's alright. I knew the flu wouldn't be wholly gone but it sucks that its hanging on this long. I have the super high quality and fun to play with Dragon breath thing going on right now, when you breath and the goo rattles around making a sound like a dragon or Darth Vader, loads of fun.

In any case, it was a pleasure to pedal my bike from home today as I've not been well enough to ride in a while and before that I was far too busy to get any saddle time in. My new mandate is to get my body back into shape, the flu, the wedding, the honeymoon and all the rich and fatty foods and drinking have gone to make me feel like a cannonball with legs.

Today is also the first day in many years that I'm working with Paul which is really quite cool. Especially since we've come so very far from the bartending days up at the golf course. It will be a very fruitful and fun working environment. But before then I've got a whole crapload of emails to catch up on, a couple of email apologies to write and coverage to track and add to my spreadsheets.

And this week is all about mail order goodness. The spending of our wedding cash on those items we registered for but did not get at the wedding. It'll be really nice to keep getting boxes all week filled with more wedding fun goodies. I'm most looking forward to my new razor, the tip-top Braun Syncro auto cleaner dealie electric that means no more scratches from my beat up old Braun. And the stainless steel jigger, that'll be good fun to have around.

My next task is to figure out what to get and where to get it from for P's pending birthday. I've got a few ideas but its a question of figuring out which will be the best of the bunch.

Home Stereo Holy Grails
Finally figuring out the proper equation to having all parts of the stereo working the way I want them to. Playstation wired through surround sound, as well as TV and VCR and now I can easily plug the iPod in. Sure, it sounds simple but the limited space, limited inputs, limited cables and everything else conspired to make this a heckuva lot more difficult than I'd first envisioned.

And now, two links with nothing in common.
If you're like me, i.e. hate paying retail for anything, then go and check out DailyeDeals.com for links to easy ways to save cash on things you were going to buy anyway. They've got online coupons for Amazon, Buy.com, Dell and a whole lot more. Well worth a few minutes to save good money.

The second link is from Intellectual Properties and is the Nanowrimo, or National Novel Writing Month site. One month to write a 50,000 word (175 page) novel from start to finish. I'm tempted to give it a run and see what comes out the other end. I've got a few ideas that I want to explore and writing that much in a short time is a good way to get there. We'll see what the month looks like before I commit to it. But why not?

And on that note, I'm going to get back to cranking on work, I think Word will have finally finished opening the doc I need. One thing I did NOT miss was my nearly comatose inducingly slow work PC.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 11:01 AM Feel like saying something?

 
When Life Gives You Lemons, Suck 'Em
How unfair is it to get sick on your honeymoon?
I've now been pretty well down since late Thursday. P since Tuesday. And I still feel kind of like shit. With a new week looming as well and its going to be a busy and, hopefully, fun one with lots of mad coverage.

So, instead of spewing forth some vitriol about snot and chest wracking hacker coughs, I'll just toss out three quick links that were kind of fun to poke around through.

NapaStyle | Michael Chiarello's Napa, Random Name Generator and The People's Republic of Seabrook.

I fully expect that tomorrow will be a healthier day and I won't feel like someone keeps stuffing my head full of goo.

Oh yeah, its kind of a trip to be married. Not a mind blower but there are some subtle and nice changes. The best one is that we're both free to think about other things aside from the wedding. The other thing is that we're still shopping with the money we got from guests. And shopping, even amid a sea of crumpled up tissues, is still pretty good fun.

  posted by Johnny Huh? @ 3:16 PM Feel like saying something?

 
More Cheddar for the Spreading
Without much intro, I give you this week's . I'm tired from honeymooning and sick now too. Hope these questions are fun for you all. Thanks to Chewie for question input.

1. Do you think NJ just passing a law banning people from driving while drowsy will be effective in preventing accidents, or just another law that will fall by the wayside after a few years?
I applaud the effort to safe-isize driving especially because I've had to very recently ask P to drive because I couldn't keep my eyes open. But making a law about being drowsy just seems like a good idea gone wrong, "drowsy" isn't a clinical term, there's no way to measure drowsiness as far as I know and the result of this new law will be just another way to bleed more money out of people.

2. What is the best book that you have ever read? What made it such an excellent book?
The best book? How about the best non-fiction or fiction instead? Or genre book? Books encompass such a tremendous range of knowledge that its too hard to say this one is the best. Especially gi