Coming early next year... to the UK, anyway. Who knows if it'll ever show up here.
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
The following is a clip from the original Ocean's 11, starring the Rat Pack themselves - when they could be bothered to show up, sober, between shows, that is. I present this exchange between the characters played by Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, and (I think) Peter Lawford partly as social commentary, but mostly because it amuses me.
PLEASE DOWNLOAD, RATHER THAN STREAM - My free server only allows so many downloads per day! The clip will be taken down after a week or two.
For all their honest, genuine social progressiveness - courageous progressiveness, like standing up to all the Gumbas who didn't want Sammy staying at any of their hotels - they were still men of the '50s. Sure, the conversation was probably written to be satirical, as you can tell from Sammy's and Lawford's side-comments. But, still - you didn't think they giggled, winked and nodded to each other while they were rehearsing?
PLEASE DOWNLOAD, RATHER THAN STREAM - My free server only allows so many downloads per day! The clip will be taken down after a week or two.
Dean's Political Aspirations (32kbps mp3 clip, 80.3kb)You need to keep a couple of things in mind as you listen to this clip. First, the film was made in 1960 and for another, it starred the freakin' Rat Pack who were allowed at certain points (like you could stop them, anyway) to improvise in spots.
For all their honest, genuine social progressiveness - courageous progressiveness, like standing up to all the Gumbas who didn't want Sammy staying at any of their hotels - they were still men of the '50s. Sure, the conversation was probably written to be satirical, as you can tell from Sammy's and Lawford's side-comments. But, still - you didn't think they giggled, winked and nodded to each other while they were rehearsing?
Friday, November 26, 2004
Among the items I dug up from my parents' house that I'm currently enjoying:
- The following episodes of Doctor Who that I taped from PBS over a decade ago: Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, and Rememberance of the Daleks. I missed a Dalek episode in there somewhere. There were actually about 2-3 other episodes per tape, but I'll get to those in due course. Watching Daleks totter about gives E something to laugh at, so it's all good.
- Two Chicago concert videos from the early 90s. I managed to MacGuyver together a setup where I can plug the sound from the VCR directly into my computer and record. But, I'll be damned if it didn't take a few tries and a lot of mucking about with the audio configuration on the laptop. I got 4 choice tunes that I've always wanted on mp3.
- My dad's old leather jacket, which is, I believe, one of the first items he purchased when he entered this country 32 years ago this December. It's what my cousins used to affectionately call "Uncle [my dad's] 'Shaft' coat." I call it my new "fly-@$$" coat.
I (think I) mentioned that E and I had our turkey earlier in the week with my parents in Clevesburg. E, not wanting to just sit and do nothing for the holiday, set up two tentative sets of plans with two sets of people, probably hoping one of them would pan out. Me -- I would've been happy to leave the Diamond Mine at 5:00, go home, eat some leftover turkey and chill for the rest of the evening.
I saw DATU_B and the misses earlier yesterday who invited us over if we weren't doing anything else. I figured, "Why not?" but apparently, one of E's leads panned out. Two friends of ours, who moved to Washington D.C. last quarter, were in Columbus for Thanksgiving and the three of them "conspired ;)" to meet at a BW-3 in Lancaster.
I was not thrilled at first. But 12 wings and 2 Killian's later, I was grateful for the time spent with people I hadn't seen in months, and probably won't see for who knows how long.
I saw DATU_B and the misses earlier yesterday who invited us over if we weren't doing anything else. I figured, "Why not?" but apparently, one of E's leads panned out. Two friends of ours, who moved to Washington D.C. last quarter, were in Columbus for Thanksgiving and the three of them "conspired ;)" to meet at a BW-3 in Lancaster.
I was not thrilled at first. But 12 wings and 2 Killian's later, I was grateful for the time spent with people I hadn't seen in months, and probably won't see for who knows how long.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Twelve years in the US, and the Osbornes had it good and were relatively safe. Two months back in the UK, and they got jacked...
Reward for lost rocks as Osbournes face reality
The Times
November 25, 2004
And, I've never really understood why. Ok, I understand no one wants a pitched gun battle in the streets because of an attempted mugging. I understand no one wants some poor sod who thinks he's Charles Bronson looking up the person who took his wallet, and in a fit of repressed rage, shoot the mugger, his family and his dog.
What I truly don't understand is the expectation that it's MY responsibility to consider things like "reasonable force" when I'm in the midst of a struggle to defend my person, others in my home or, let's be honest, my property. If I attempt to stop a burglar doing everything in his or her power to thwart me, why should I have to be the one checking my reactions and thinking to myself, "Nope, can't kick here. Can't stab there."? If you're in my face in my home, and I don't want you there, and I've got a knife, there are six spots that my training has taught me to target. And, I'm supposed to check that for your dumb, criminal @$$?
The only, and I mean the ONLY valid argument I've found (and it's a stretch, at that) against easing up on property-defense restrictions is that criminals who would otherwise prioritize getting your stuff and getting out with as little confrontation as possible might resort to "search and destroy" tactics upon entering your home. I suppose it's better that than take the risk of confronting a Dirty Harry wannabe. Because thieves are going to steal, regardless. Up the ante, and you'll invariably find some criminals who are more than willing to call.
Hey, if you want my wallet on the street, I'll probably let you have it. But, stay out of my house.
Reward for lost rocks as Osbournes face reality
The Times
November 25, 2004
OZZY Osbourne declared Los Angeles safer than rural Buckinghamshire in southern England yesterday as he announced a pound stg. 100,000 ($237,700) reward for his wife's stolen jewellery.Some interesting excerpts...
The former Black Sabbath star added: "We could have been mugged, shot or murdered in America. We have been over here a couple of months and all this has happened. It does not give me a great reflection about the state of crime in this country. I am very disappointed."And, most interesting was this comment. I'm not familiar with Australian press, so I'm not sure if this was meant to be snarky or not... (emphasis mine)
In the end, it was his wife who slipped up: "I'm sure a lot of people will look at us and say, 'Well, they have got more, they can buy it again, there's more serious things happening in the world, who really gives a damn?'.
"But the thing is, we worked for everything. I came from Brixton (in London), Ozzy came from not a very nice part of Birmingham and everything we have got we have worked our arses off for.
Earlier, a police press officer reminded journalists to be sensitive to the fact the Osbournes had suffered a terrifying ordeal. She might have spared a thought for the burglar who threw himself 9m out of a window to escape the stark-naked wild man of rock: Ozzy once bit the head off a bat live on stage and snorted a line of ants after mistaking them for cocaine.The reason I'm not sure is because the BBC ran this story online and that's where I read about comparisons between Ozzy's case and that of one Tony Martin, a man convicted of murder after shooting a teenager attempting to burgle his farmhouse. It seems that the restrictions on self-defense/defense of property more stringent than here in the US.
And, I've never really understood why. Ok, I understand no one wants a pitched gun battle in the streets because of an attempted mugging. I understand no one wants some poor sod who thinks he's Charles Bronson looking up the person who took his wallet, and in a fit of repressed rage, shoot the mugger, his family and his dog.
What I truly don't understand is the expectation that it's MY responsibility to consider things like "reasonable force" when I'm in the midst of a struggle to defend my person, others in my home or, let's be honest, my property. If I attempt to stop a burglar doing everything in his or her power to thwart me, why should I have to be the one checking my reactions and thinking to myself, "Nope, can't kick here. Can't stab there."? If you're in my face in my home, and I don't want you there, and I've got a knife, there are six spots that my training has taught me to target. And, I'm supposed to check that for your dumb, criminal @$$?
The only, and I mean the ONLY valid argument I've found (and it's a stretch, at that) against easing up on property-defense restrictions is that criminals who would otherwise prioritize getting your stuff and getting out with as little confrontation as possible might resort to "search and destroy" tactics upon entering your home. I suppose it's better that than take the risk of confronting a Dirty Harry wannabe. Because thieves are going to steal, regardless. Up the ante, and you'll invariably find some criminals who are more than willing to call.
Hey, if you want my wallet on the street, I'll probably let you have it. But, stay out of my house.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Well, E and I survived a long weekend with my family. Since my parents are leaving for the PI tomorrow, we had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. Lots of food, including E's grandmother's recipe for Cranberry Relish! For perhaps the first time since I moved out, I feel sad to leave after a visit.
E really seemed to like the areas of Cleveland that I showed her. It genuinely made her sad to return to this Appalachian backwater. Still, for everything A-Town lacks, there are some good things you find here that are just hard to find in Cleveland -- free wireless internet access being one of them.
On the other hand, I took E to a deli yesterday of a type I don't even remember seeing in Columbus. Well, it's not just a deli, really - more like a specialty grocery store that caters to the local Italian and eastern European populations. I knew E would love it -- all sorts of smells and foodstuffs that reminded us both of our childhoods. It's the sort of neighborhood place that even plays to its own stereotypes, like selling novelty parking signs that say "Parking for Italians Only" and "You Take-a My Space, I Breaka Your Face." The sad thing was watching to decay around the store. I remember a strip full of cars and pedestrians, that's all but dead, now. Sad, really. It brings to mind just how long ago some things are.
E really seemed to like the areas of Cleveland that I showed her. It genuinely made her sad to return to this Appalachian backwater. Still, for everything A-Town lacks, there are some good things you find here that are just hard to find in Cleveland -- free wireless internet access being one of them.
On the other hand, I took E to a deli yesterday of a type I don't even remember seeing in Columbus. Well, it's not just a deli, really - more like a specialty grocery store that caters to the local Italian and eastern European populations. I knew E would love it -- all sorts of smells and foodstuffs that reminded us both of our childhoods. It's the sort of neighborhood place that even plays to its own stereotypes, like selling novelty parking signs that say "Parking for Italians Only" and "You Take-a My Space, I Breaka Your Face." The sad thing was watching to decay around the store. I remember a strip full of cars and pedestrians, that's all but dead, now. Sad, really. It brings to mind just how long ago some things are.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Talk about a phrase I haven't heard in ages.
So far this weekend, I've been taking E to see some of my old Cleveland haunts - streets I used to run, coffee shops I used to go to, stores, schools, etc. It's funny how much has changed.
Right now, we're sitting in a coffee shop near the campus of the University where I started graduate school. There's a big building on the parking lot that's blocking the view of (what presumably was) the main building.
I took her to the Deep Space Nine of Cleveland surburban white flight, that last outpost - the Lyndhurst/Beachwood area. Well, just when it looked like that bastion was about to crumble, it looks like The Man decided to build himself a sanctuary called "Legacy Village" (to which I added, "...of the Damned."). It's basically a crammed replica of the Easton Town Centre in Columbus down to almost the very last "shoppe," all sitting behind a fence, as if to mock "Ok, we can't keep 'You People' out, but we can make you as self-conscious about being in this 'Village' as possible by filling it with facades and 'shoppes' of things you probably won't be able to afford and would feel too ashamed to ask about."
I took her to Coventry where I found that the Arabica, a place with a vibe full of teen memories, was gone. With it were all the hippies and punks and "Sodomize the Pope" jackets, and in their place stood a Chipotle. Not that it's a bad thing -- I can subsist on that stuff.
On Coventry, we happened upon a store selling all sorts of Chinese knick knacks run by a local Tai Chi teacher, who proceeded to badger E about what her Tai Chi lineage was. Hey, she's in graduate school - she didn't have time to memorize the entire list of her teachers' teachers' teachers. Me, I would've just said "I think his name was Caine... Kwai Chang Caine" and have been done with it.
The wedding we attended wasa replay of every horrid memory I've ever had as a child being stuck full in a ballroom full of Filipinos a really nice affair. E met a great deal of people and seemed to be a big hit - no surprise there. She did stress her self out a lil' bit, worried about what people might expect out of our wedding plans which we've only dropped minor hints about to anyone who asked. I, myself, resolved ahead of time that the information was none of their business, and that I'd just play the game one plays when people at "To Do's" do in conversation.
There's more to tell, and pictures to come. I'll get to that sometime.
So far this weekend, I've been taking E to see some of my old Cleveland haunts - streets I used to run, coffee shops I used to go to, stores, schools, etc. It's funny how much has changed.
Right now, we're sitting in a coffee shop near the campus of the University where I started graduate school. There's a big building on the parking lot that's blocking the view of (what presumably was) the main building.
I took her to the Deep Space Nine of Cleveland surburban white flight, that last outpost - the Lyndhurst/Beachwood area. Well, just when it looked like that bastion was about to crumble, it looks like The Man decided to build himself a sanctuary called "Legacy Village" (to which I added, "...of the Damned."). It's basically a crammed replica of the Easton Town Centre in Columbus down to almost the very last "shoppe," all sitting behind a fence, as if to mock "Ok, we can't keep 'You People' out, but we can make you as self-conscious about being in this 'Village' as possible by filling it with facades and 'shoppes' of things you probably won't be able to afford and would feel too ashamed to ask about."
I took her to Coventry where I found that the Arabica, a place with a vibe full of teen memories, was gone. With it were all the hippies and punks and "Sodomize the Pope" jackets, and in their place stood a Chipotle. Not that it's a bad thing -- I can subsist on that stuff.
On Coventry, we happened upon a store selling all sorts of Chinese knick knacks run by a local Tai Chi teacher, who proceeded to badger E about what her Tai Chi lineage was. Hey, she's in graduate school - she didn't have time to memorize the entire list of her teachers' teachers' teachers. Me, I would've just said "I think his name was Caine... Kwai Chang Caine" and have been done with it.
The wedding we attended was
There's more to tell, and pictures to come. I'll get to that sometime.
Friday, November 19, 2004
*Sigh* Yet another road trip to C-Town this weekend, this time to attend some wedding of a cousin of mine. I mean "cousin" in Filipino terms, i.e. a family member, two or more degrees removed, of a friend of a family member.
I'm sure I'll scrounge up internet access from somewhere up there. If not, I'll return to the world next Wednesday.
I'm sure I'll scrounge up internet access from somewhere up there. If not, I'll return to the world next Wednesday.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
I'm not saying I'll ever stop my little hobby of deconstructing the so-called "traditional martial arts" I know to see what useful nuggets I can glean. But, looking at guys like Kimbo Slice in action, someone who reportedly learned to fight in jail and on "th3 str33t" (I saw it posted like that on the martial arts forum I linked to below - I'm a lemming, sue me.) it sort of makes you wonder why one engages in any "martial art" as a structured pursuit and doesn't just try to get in as many "real fights" as possible.
Kimbo's the darker brother in this video. Check out his opponent's eye.
Kimbo's the darker brother in this video. Check out his opponent's eye.
At the State of the Union? The War on Terror?
No, I got really nauseous last night playing the game Half Life. I was given a disk forever and a day ago, and mostly ignored it because trying to play it on my old and busted laptop never worked right at the best of times. So, in typical fashion, I forgot I even owned it until I heard that Half Life 2 was just released.
I suppose it could have been something I ate, but I think it had something to do with the fast pace of the game. Moving with the mouse and keyboard makes the whole thing flash by pretty fast. Maybe I should just stick to Ultimate DOOM?
No, I got really nauseous last night playing the game Half Life. I was given a disk forever and a day ago, and mostly ignored it because trying to play it on my old and busted laptop never worked right at the best of times. So, in typical fashion, I forgot I even owned it until I heard that Half Life 2 was just released.
I suppose it could have been something I ate, but I think it had something to do with the fast pace of the game. Moving with the mouse and keyboard makes the whole thing flash by pretty fast. Maybe I should just stick to Ultimate DOOM?
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Soul Sides
An mp3 blog I stumbled upon while following a trail of some NPR links on the subject. It's my favorite because the writer did a favorable review of the song Street Player by Chicago. See, I knew I wasn't crazy and/or tasteless ;).
An mp3 blog I stumbled upon while following a trail of some NPR links on the subject. It's my favorite because the writer did a favorable review of the song Street Player by Chicago. See, I knew I wasn't crazy and/or tasteless ;).
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard dies suddenly aged 35
One of the most original and dynamic voices in rap has suddenly gone quiet.
Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, real name Russell Jones, collapsed and died suddenly in a Manhattan recording studio yesterday (13th November), aged just 35.
I spent 4 years and some change in the community mental health field providing one level of support or another, from a lowly grunt in direct care to a supervisor in direct care to community support case management. Not by choice or design, but all of my work happened to be exclusively with teenagers, and the majority of my caseloads were females. This didn't have anything to do with demographics as much as the agencies that were hiring at the time.
If I do say so myself, I enjoyed some pretty modest success if you don't include the burnout factor. Hey, making it four years without so much as a hint of an accusation of inappropriate Catholic-clergy-like conduct is quite the accomplishment in the social work world. I remember being told that statistically, I lasted longer than most males in their mid-to-late twenties in the field.
I reminisce about all this because the other night, E and I watched the movie Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey based on the book Queen Bees & Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. Wiseman, as I discovered by viewing the Mean Girls DVD extras, co-founded the Empower Program, a non-profit organization that empowers youth to stop the culture of violence. It reminded me of the sorts of things I used to do as I was working with youth, usually after one form of violence or another. It reminded me of flirting with ideas of doing or joining something geared toward prevention.
They might be rusty, but I like to think I still have most of the old skill sets that helped me be successful - communication, empathy, etc. To say nothing of all the new skills I've developed since then, like how to break my foot off in someone's @$$.
But, how to get there... back in touch with old ideas and dreams that inspire you almost as much as some new ideas that you have in your head. Knowing the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step isn't much help until you have a clearer idea of your destination. It's one thing to say, "Yeah, I'm headed toward Bora Bora." Sure, you can determine your direction easily enough. But, the devil's in the details, isn't it?
If I do say so myself, I enjoyed some pretty modest success if you don't include the burnout factor. Hey, making it four years without so much as a hint of an accusation of inappropriate Catholic-clergy-like conduct is quite the accomplishment in the social work world. I remember being told that statistically, I lasted longer than most males in their mid-to-late twenties in the field.
I reminisce about all this because the other night, E and I watched the movie Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey based on the book Queen Bees & Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. Wiseman, as I discovered by viewing the Mean Girls DVD extras, co-founded the Empower Program, a non-profit organization that empowers youth to stop the culture of violence. It reminded me of the sorts of things I used to do as I was working with youth, usually after one form of violence or another. It reminded me of flirting with ideas of doing or joining something geared toward prevention.
They might be rusty, but I like to think I still have most of the old skill sets that helped me be successful - communication, empathy, etc. To say nothing of all the new skills I've developed since then, like how to break my foot off in someone's @$$.
But, how to get there... back in touch with old ideas and dreams that inspire you almost as much as some new ideas that you have in your head. Knowing the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step isn't much help until you have a clearer idea of your destination. It's one thing to say, "Yeah, I'm headed toward Bora Bora." Sure, you can determine your direction easily enough. But, the devil's in the details, isn't it?
Friday, November 12, 2004
I've got nothing constructive to write about, and I'm feeling a nice dose of ennui. So, in an effort to stir myself in some direction - any direction - I'll just B!tch, Moan and Whine about stuff.
ELECTION WOES
Hey, I didn't vote for him. I'd have sooner voted for Cobra Commander. Dubya won (arguably) fair and square, and there's really no one to blame but us. I was reading an op-ed by a poli-sci student in one of the local rags here who made a valid point. People decided this election based on the issues that mattered to most to them. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone more than two degrees of separation from the war in the Middle East. And, I don't care how liberal you think you are, from what I've seen, most of that stuff gets shut down when one or more of the following happens: (a) You need to start worrying about mortgage payments, (b) You actually find you can't speak your mind without a great deal of static and hassle - and I'm not talking about the Secret Service monitoring your blog. I'm talking about the stares you get from bosses at the watercooler at the job you need to keep food on the table. Or, perhaps (c) You face a situation like this with your child, described by the writer of the aforementioned op-ed:
On the other hand, I look back on a lot of friendships I've had with people you could label evangelical, Conservative Christians. They weren't stupid people, blind to the realities of life. Some of them were/are hit by today's economic woes. They worried about whether the war was justified, and support the troops while remaining skeptical about our agenda. And I know more than one of them can't stand FOX News. I don't know who they voted for, but it wouldn't surprise me if the whole lot of them voted for GWB. And if they did, I'd put money on the fact that their vote was cast out of faith in the proposition that by prioritizing what they valued over other considerations, the rest would take care of itself. To me, there's something to be said for following your conscience regardless of cost.
Well, that took up more space and time than I intended. This is what happens when you get on a roll. I had a couple more things to BMW about. But, I'll stop here and find something else to do.
ELECTION WOES
Hey, I didn't vote for him. I'd have sooner voted for Cobra Commander. Dubya won (arguably) fair and square, and there's really no one to blame but us. I was reading an op-ed by a poli-sci student in one of the local rags here who made a valid point. People decided this election based on the issues that mattered to most to them. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone more than two degrees of separation from the war in the Middle East. And, I don't care how liberal you think you are, from what I've seen, most of that stuff gets shut down when one or more of the following happens: (a) You need to start worrying about mortgage payments, (b) You actually find you can't speak your mind without a great deal of static and hassle - and I'm not talking about the Secret Service monitoring your blog. I'm talking about the stares you get from bosses at the watercooler at the job you need to keep food on the table. Or, perhaps (c) You face a situation like this with your child, described by the writer of the aforementioned op-ed:
No one cares what goes on in the privacy of people's homes or bedrooms. People do care when their 5-year-old child is watching a homecoming parade and has to ask his mother why that man is dressed like a woman or when they walk up [the street] and see "Don't apologize, sodomize" written with chalk.Basically, for me it's easier to believe that people are shortsighted than to believe in the right-wing conspiracy. "Defense of marriage" and all the other things on the Conservative social agenda aren't going to count for squat when the economy's finally spun out of control and down the toilet and former allies around the world finally deem us out of control and need to rein us in.
On the other hand, I look back on a lot of friendships I've had with people you could label evangelical, Conservative Christians. They weren't stupid people, blind to the realities of life. Some of them were/are hit by today's economic woes. They worried about whether the war was justified, and support the troops while remaining skeptical about our agenda. And I know more than one of them can't stand FOX News. I don't know who they voted for, but it wouldn't surprise me if the whole lot of them voted for GWB. And if they did, I'd put money on the fact that their vote was cast out of faith in the proposition that by prioritizing what they valued over other considerations, the rest would take care of itself. To me, there's something to be said for following your conscience regardless of cost.
Well, that took up more space and time than I intended. This is what happens when you get on a roll. I had a couple more things to BMW about. But, I'll stop here and find something else to do.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Ashcroft, Evans Resign, White House Says
Tue Nov 9, 6:05 PM ETI told E that I can almost bear 4 more years if this jagoff was gone. Of course, it begs the question of how much worse any potential replacement could be. I dunno, though... in my view, you'd have to raid Goebel's grave site, snag some DNA and infuse it into the body of a white supremicist, a la COBRA's Serpentor from G.I. Joe to get worse than Ashy.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Donald Evans resigned on Tuesday in a post-election shake-up of President Bush's Cabinet.
Ashcroft, a lightning rod of criticism by Democrats and civil liberties groups over the anti-terror policies implemented after Sept. 11, 2001, said in a handwritten resignation letter that "the demands of justice are both rewarding and depleting" and that the Justice Department would be well served "by new leadership and fresh inspiration."
Author Warren Ellis once wrote in his Old Bastard's Manifesto,
Confessions of a Cultural Elitist
...if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.Which he then followed up with:
I am part of the problem. F**k you.From DATU_B:
Confessions of a Cultural Elitist
By UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE/TED RALLI couldn't have put it better myself.
Win or Lose, Kerry Voters Are Smarter Than Bush Voters
NEW YORK--Democratic hand wringing is surrealy out of hand. No one is criticizing the morally incongruous Kerry for running against a war he voted for while insisting that he would have voted for it again. Party leaders have yet to consider that NAFTA, signed into law under Clinton, may have cost them high-unemployment Ohio. No, Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, darling of the "centrist" Democratic Leadership Council, blames something else: the perception "in the heartland" that Democrats are a "bicoastal cultural elite that is condescending at best and contemptuous at worst to the values that Americans hold in their daily lives."
Firstly, living in the sticks doesn't make you more American. Rural, urban or suburban--they're irrelevant. San Francisco's predominantly gay Castro district is every bit as red, white and blue as the Texas panhandle. But if militant Christianist Republicans from inland backwaters believe that secular liberal Democrats from the big coastal cities look upon them with disdain, there's a reason. We do, and all the more so after this election.
Even with good ol' Windows XP, you're still as vulnerable to stuff as you are mindless when you cruise file sharing services. All I wanted was a copy of an old .38 Special song and got no less than three adware trojans for my trouble. It only took me two hours to clean it all out (on my old comp with Windows 98, it took me about five), and I didn't even have to reinstall anything.
I considered myself very lucky. I'm even luckier that, coincidentally, Mozilla officially launched Firefox 1.0 yesterday. I always liked using it when I was tied to the Uni's library computers. Well, I downloaded and installed it, and if I decide it's worth the effort, make it the default browser. Of course, now I'll also have to make all those pages on the Geocities site Mozilla-friendly.
I considered myself very lucky. I'm even luckier that, coincidentally, Mozilla officially launched Firefox 1.0 yesterday. I always liked using it when I was tied to the Uni's library computers. Well, I downloaded and installed it, and if I decide it's worth the effort, make it the default browser. Of course, now I'll also have to make all those pages on the Geocities site Mozilla-friendly.
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
I just found out I'm a mere two degrees of separation away from two of the coolest cats on the planet. From an IM conversation with E:
**Additional
This was taken by E's student who snagged this shot because she (the student) also takes classes in photojournalism.
E: DudeI should've spotted the error immediately. "Zhou Runfa", no matter your Romanization, sounds drastically different from "Ang Lee".
E: you're not gonna believe this
d: what what??
E: I'm chatting with one of my students from China - she's been in HK studying film
d: uh huh...?
E: guess who she's taking a class with..(as a teacher)
d: who?
E: JOHN WOO
d: what???
[snip]
E: Ang Lee is another of her professors, apparently.
E: Only his Chinese name is Zhou Runfa
d: bullsh!t! omg
E: No wait
E: It's Chow Yun Fat she's talking about
E: Damn!!
**Additional
This was taken by E's student who snagged this shot because she (the student) also takes classes in photojournalism.
I didn't have too much blogging inspiration over the past few days. And, it wasn't for lack of time or material. Just had other things to focus on. What'd you miss?
ITEM ONE
If I read one more thing with the word "SUNY" in it (i.e. State University of New York), I'm going to scream.
ITEM TWO
I don't know when it happened, but two of the tiny screws that held the clip to my Sog tac folder have fallen off. Bugger. I hated the idea of walking around unarmed, especially since I haven't trained in forever and a day. It's almost made me desperate enough to eat the $7.50 that it would cost me to work out with the old Fight Club.
ITEM THREE
My new favorite application is a tiny program called mp3trim. The name says it all.
ITEM FOUR
I found a cheap copy (No jokes from the Peanut Gallery, please.) of Chicago - Live By Request online. Thanks to my handy-dandy DVD audioripper, all of the important parts of my lost mp3 collection are now restored.
ITEM FIVE
I can't get over the Craig Charles Funk Show (see the sidebar on the right). I'm now frantically searching for Little Richard's version of Function at the Junction and Shirley Scott's It's Your Thing.
ITEM ONE
If I read one more thing with the word "SUNY" in it (i.e. State University of New York), I'm going to scream.
ITEM TWO
I don't know when it happened, but two of the tiny screws that held the clip to my Sog tac folder have fallen off. Bugger. I hated the idea of walking around unarmed, especially since I haven't trained in forever and a day. It's almost made me desperate enough to eat the $7.50 that it would cost me to work out with the old Fight Club.
ITEM THREE
My new favorite application is a tiny program called mp3trim. The name says it all.
ITEM FOUR
I found a cheap copy (No jokes from the Peanut Gallery, please.) of Chicago - Live By Request online. Thanks to my handy-dandy DVD audioripper, all of the important parts of my lost mp3 collection are now restored.
ITEM FIVE
I can't get over the Craig Charles Funk Show (see the sidebar on the right). I'm now frantically searching for Little Richard's version of Function at the Junction and Shirley Scott's It's Your Thing.
Some NPR-idge
Jon Stewart's interview on Fresh Air - I wonder if Jon felt short-changed since Terry wasn't in that day.
Musicians in Their Own Words: Cassandra Wilson
Diary of a Porn Publisher - monitoring: The War on Terror, Events in the middle East, the war on personal liberty, and (of course,) links to new adult sites. I got this off the sidebar of Wil Wheaton's blog.
Maybe He'll Think About 2008?
If you loved Journal of a New COBRA Recruit, you'll probably like:
Cobra Commander in 2004
Jon Stewart's interview on Fresh Air - I wonder if Jon felt short-changed since Terry wasn't in that day.
Musicians in Their Own Words: Cassandra Wilson
Weekend Edition - Saturday, March 6, 2004 · Jazz singer Cassandra Wilson likes to experiment with her band, testing the limits of the music and finding new places for her voice in the mix. The group is somewhat unusual for a vocalist. With no piano to support her voice with chords, Wilson prefers to sing against the sound of a harmonica -- or maybe a banjo. And to lay down the groove, she has both a percussionist AND a drummer.Pornographers Have Brains, Too - Not work-safe!
Diary of a Porn Publisher - monitoring: The War on Terror, Events in the middle East, the war on personal liberty, and (of course,) links to new adult sites. I got this off the sidebar of Wil Wheaton's blog.
Maybe He'll Think About 2008?
If you loved Journal of a New COBRA Recruit, you'll probably like:
Cobra Commander in 2004
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Craig Charles' Funk Show
Yes -- Lister, himself, has his own radio show twice a week on BBC 6 with some kick-@$$ music!
Yes -- Lister, himself, has his own radio show twice a week on BBC 6 with some kick-@$$ music!
Perhaps I did support the wrong candidate...
Which Presidential Candidate Are You?
Rung from Rum and Monkey's very own liberty bell.
Which Presidential Candidate Are You?
Rung from Rum and Monkey's very own liberty bell.
I've been doing other things besides cruise the web and toil in the diamond mines.
UNO
I've been taking E on another journey through the second-best sci-fi TV show that ever was, Red Dwarf. She's seen most of seasons I and II (the original versions, not the re-edited Lucas-style ones) and all of season VII. I just grabbed what I could from the 'rents' house. We've got all of season VIII to keep us amused for awhile until we get back up there to get some more. We've now officially integrated the words smeg, git, and gimboid into our lexicon.
DOS
Yeah, I got most of my mp3 collection rebuilt, beeyatch! And, not just all Chicago tunes, either. Forty gigs gets you a lot of storage for some real jazz, what with those long-@$$ solos on some of the tunes.
TRES
I'm getting all these photos from Halloween, and I'm not sure what to do with them all. It's fun sorting through, and trying to figure out which get posted and which stay on the hard drive. Hey, with 40 gigs and a CD-RW drive, who needs to delete?
UNO
I've been taking E on another journey through the second-best sci-fi TV show that ever was, Red Dwarf. She's seen most of seasons I and II (the original versions, not the re-edited Lucas-style ones) and all of season VII. I just grabbed what I could from the 'rents' house. We've got all of season VIII to keep us amused for awhile until we get back up there to get some more. We've now officially integrated the words smeg, git, and gimboid into our lexicon.
DOS
Yeah, I got most of my mp3 collection rebuilt, beeyatch! And, not just all Chicago tunes, either. Forty gigs gets you a lot of storage for some real jazz, what with those long-@$$ solos on some of the tunes.
TRES
I'm getting all these photos from Halloween, and I'm not sure what to do with them all. It's fun sorting through, and trying to figure out which get posted and which stay on the hard drive. Hey, with 40 gigs and a CD-RW drive, who needs to delete?
Here are some interesting tidbits I found surfing the web.
ISA
The Onion's Interview with Christopher Walken
DALAWA
Someone who got in trouble for blogging their mind [Obtained via Zoe Trope and RBJ.]
TATLO
Some NPR pieces I listened to over the past few days:
Jolt Cola has a website, and yes, it jitters!
ISA
The Onion's Interview with Christopher Walken
DALAWA
Someone who got in trouble for blogging their mind [Obtained via Zoe Trope and RBJ.]
TATLO
Some NPR pieces I listened to over the past few days:
Picturing the Homeless, on Their TermsAnd, a bit about one of my personal heroes:
All Things Considered, October 24, 2004 · Gary Clark doesn't call himself a photographer. But over the past few years, he's felt compelled to take pictures of homeless people -- those "on the edge," he says. His work has brought a rare brand of celebrity to people used to living anonymously in harsh conditions.
Half a million members visit Clark's Web page, "Mashuga" -- Yiddish for crazy -- to see the images that result. Viewers from around the world post dozens of comments for each photo, creating a running subtext.
Comedian and Actor George CarlinAPAT
Fresh Air, November 1, 2004 · Carlin's seven dirty words routine was the center of a famous obscenity case in the 1970s. He has a new book When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? His other books include Napalm & Silly Putty, and Brain Droppings.
Jolt Cola has a website, and yes, it jitters!
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
No, not as in "Dominus! Rectus!"
I'm not a tremendous believer in astrology. I debunked that when I was about 8 years old when I did a simple experiment. I noted the horoscope for one sign, say Leo, said something like "You'll meet an interesting Libra, today." I simply looked over at Libra, and it didn't say jack about meeting any Leos. I was feeling pretty self-satisfied for 8 when I realized the obvious design flaw in that experiment, so I tried another. I went a month or so reading the daily horoscopes in the paper from the previous day to see if any of them hit. They didn't.
I still have that habit, although I do find what my Free Will Astrology horoscope said about my upcoming week - FWA being important, because that's the one most often printed in those hip, local, alternative press thingys.
I'm not a tremendous believer in astrology. I debunked that when I was about 8 years old when I did a simple experiment. I noted the horoscope for one sign, say Leo, said something like "You'll meet an interesting Libra, today." I simply looked over at Libra, and it didn't say jack about meeting any Leos. I was feeling pretty self-satisfied for 8 when I realized the obvious design flaw in that experiment, so I tried another. I went a month or so reading the daily horoscopes in the paper from the previous day to see if any of them hit. They didn't.
I still have that habit, although I do find what my Free Will Astrology horoscope said about my upcoming week - FWA being important, because that's the one most often printed in those hip, local, alternative press thingys.
CANCER (June 21 - July 22)I wish I got that advice before dressing up like this. But, I've been known to do decent impersonations of Stephen Hawking. Anyway, I like the thought of being at the height of my originality. So, let's see if I can figure out just why I'm here.
Real estate developer and TV star Donald Trump filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He was seeking to get a legal death grip on his signature phrase, "You're fired!" That inspired me to try to get a trademark for one of my favorite declarations, "You're a genius!" I haven't had a good excuse to direct that praise your way any time recently, Cancerian, but in the coming weeks you'll be the sign most deserving of it. You are now at the height of your originality; you're as close as you've ever been to discovering your special mission here on earth. For Halloween, consider dressing up as a famous prodigy, including any of the following: Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci, Stephen Hawking, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Marie Curie, Jane Goodall, Georgia O'Keeffe, or hip-hop artist Missy Elliott.
Monday, November 01, 2004
I had to spend most of Saturday night at the Diamond Mines, but even if I didn't, I was completely indifferent to the idea of spending time at A-Town's annual Halloween orgy of debauchery and violence that would make Caligula blush party. Today is the first I've been uptown since then, and I can't see any readily apparent evidence of negative effects. Then again, I haven't read any of the local rags yet.
E and I paid DATU_B a visit and were treated to beer, pizza, and a screening of the original Night of the Living Dead. I confess, I didn't realize until that night that the movie might have revealed a bit more about George Romero's socio-political views than he might have intended. (This, I say before I've done the appropriate Googling on the subject.) I'd go into a rant about it, and maybe I will later, but I don't feel like it right now.
E and I paid DATU_B a visit and were treated to beer, pizza, and a screening of the original Night of the Living Dead. I confess, I didn't realize until that night that the movie might have revealed a bit more about George Romero's socio-political views than he might have intended. (This, I say before I've done the appropriate Googling on the subject.) I'd go into a rant about it, and maybe I will later, but I don't feel like it right now.
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