Dropkick Murphys wrote a song about me

I first meet this man at the Cammen street Tracks
In no shape for success headed nowhere to fast

He may have been someone once by the sound of his call
Now he answers to no one
NO-ONE AT ALL!

We all die alone, he shouted as he passed
with no sense of regret, see he never looked back

For his pride was wounded, his ego was strong
Yea that was his Trouble and this is his Song

You said we die alone, in this case you were right
No friends by your side or family in sight
There'll be no talking your way out this time
So don't count the cash cause you leave it behind

His friends come and go like the seasons and tide
He can't keep a women they all realize
He loves them, leaves them, takes what he needs
He's loyal to no one, no one at all

You were brought up well still in spite of it all
You're touched by nothing, watch a man fall
Put a foot on his back to get a better view
Cause your loyal to No-one. NO-ONE BUT YOU!

You said we die alone, in this case you were right
No friends by your side or family in sight
There'll be no talking your way out this time
So don't count the cash cause you leave it behind

He was broken and tired wouldn't take a hand
Their kindness was simple but he couldn't understand

See it's hard to have faith in something so new
When your loyal to no one, NO-ONE BUT YOU!!

You said we die alone, in this case you were right
No friends by your side or family in sight
There'll be no talking your way out this time
So don't count the cash cause you leave it behind

You said we die alone, in this case you were right
No friends by your side or family in sight

What a stupid year

I just watched a short video about what a great year 2007 was. It was full of a bunch of stupid crap that happened, but damn was it a good year, right? Bleh. It was a shit year and we all know it. 2008 doesn't have to try very hard to score higher than this one. But I'm not cynical or anything...

The problem with computers today

is the stupid people that use them.

Fucking last.fm

If I ask for Saul Williams and Mos Def, I expect to see a Kanye West show up every now and then. What I don't expect to see is Dr. Dre and anyone from fucking G-Unit. I understand that it's all black people making music to you, but for fucks sake, it's not the same god damn genre. It's shit like this that makes me wish even more that Adobe would get off their asses and fix the Linux flash player beta plugin so I can go back to Pandora.

Son of a shit

My mom ran into my truck... hell.

What a pisser

Somehow I got sidetracked today. I was reading about the Mike Gravel (whom I support) and the FairTax bill (which I support) and got to reading about a few different US Codes out there. It's depressing this is the place I'm still kinda proud to be from. What happened to us?

Extra Stout

I remember the first time I tried Guinness Extra Stout. I was blown away. The first sip was like a bitter kick in the taste buds. By the time I was half way though the pint I was ready to put the glass down and walk away. No way could I have known then what I was experiencing.

I've just finished my second glass of Extra Stout for the night and I can't help but think back to that time, almost three years ago, and realize just how far along I've come. Today I can taste the malt and appreciate the richness of it. I can taste the soured beer and understand that even though it might be bitter like hops, it is not that most aromatic of organic flavors. The only hops in this treat come at the end, giving it a rich, organic smell without overpowering the already bitter taste.

Okay, I'm really talking out of my ass here. I know that Extra Stout is bittered by sour beer and I know it has some aromatic hops added at the end of the boil, but I'm not sure to what extent the flavor is affected by that. The larger point is that my taste buds are no longer assaulted by the bitterness of the beer. I've come to really appreciate the different flavors and that strong, malty characteristic has come to be one of my favorites. It's hard for me to imagine being the type of person that drinks fowl, skunked beer assuming that's how it's supposed to taste. The type of person who drinks Corona with a lime, never questioning why that lime is a requirement to drink it while claiming it to be the best of the Mexican lagers.

Anyway, I just found that to be an interesting change. I've been afraid to give the Extra Stout another try because of my first experiences with it and I'm happy that I chose to tonight.

Blackwater

Will someone please, please tell me why in the everliving fuck I am paying for this bullshit? Shooting civilians? Disarming *American* troops at gunpoint in Iraq? Pulling in larger paychecks than the fucking military I happily support in their unfortunate endeavors overseas?

I am so pissed at this mess. What can I do to stop it? I feel like a jackass sitting here doing nothing, what can I do to put an end to it? Don't tell me to vote either, you asshole, because the majority of people in this country didn't vote for Bush and look where that got us.

The world as he saw it

Pretty good read.

Motivation

I dunno why, but I love those.

Grave of the Fireflies

By far the deepest anime I've seen to date. If you haven't seen it yet, put it at the top of your list.

Free Burma!

Equilibrium

Been watching this flick for a bit now and had a bit of an epiphany. Good sci-fi is rarely what the masses categorize it as. It's not aliens, it's not advanced technology, it's the science and it's not the fiction. It's always been about the humanity. The best sci-fi has always been about looking at the world through new eyes and seeing what it is to be right here, grounded in ourselves. The sci-fi part is just a vehicle for delivering the overall message of preserving and appreciating everything that makes us who we are, no matter how bad it can be at times.

I'm sure there are a lot of delivery methods for that core idea, but the freedom that sci-fi allows us is what gives it the depth, I think. It frees us to imagine a world in which the things we should cherish above all else are taken away. That's sort of what I'm enjoying about this movie, in the same way I enjoy books like Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and A Brave New World. I know it's a common theme throughout all of them, so maybe I should be pissed at everyone stealing from everyone. In reality, I think it just gets to me because everyone, myself included, are so willing to let go of those things. So willing to set them aside for "the greater good".

Anyway, good movie. It kinda sucks it hit around the time of the Matrix phenomenon. Christian Bale is a far better actor the Keanu Reaves and the plot definitely comes closer to more old school sci-fi.

Burma

Good find there. A list of companies to avoid. I dunno what else I can do other than feel powerless.

Simpsons Movie

Just caught the first 15 minutes of the movie on google video. Had to turn it off for fear it was actually making me dumber. Is the entire movie basically the same pile of stink as what I saw?

Clumsy

I broke my Guinness bottle opener. I kinda wanna cry a little. I could probably get on the interweb and find a replacement, but I traveled all the way to London for this one and that made it kinda special. I think if I ever get to go back, I'll buy a new one and then not ever use it. That's about the only way to keep it safe from myself.

Hollywood Strike

Interesting. I wonder what would happen to the world if there were no new movies for a month.

Metropolis

Who's idea was it to make a silent film over 2 hours long?

Clan Muir

Looks like it's not just the Gordons that took in the Muirs when their male-heirless leader died. Also appears as though there's effort being made to move the clan away from being a sept. Wish I could find some genealogical evidence that this is in fact the clan my family comes from. Might have to see if I can get myself a kilt with the tartan anyway, just in case.

Chirp

The funny thing is, they don't put any sort of outside evidence that your smoke detectors are going out. They just start chirping. Why is this funny? Well, when you have one of the bastards in *every* fucking room, it gets kind of hard to figure out exactly which one is the criminal. And then they wonder why people go about disconnecting them. Keep wondering on that one, assholes.

Dear Jennifer Connolly

I love you. I want to make babies with you (oh dear god how I want to make babies with you). I want you to have my babies and if I could, I would have your babies. I've seen enough of your movies to know we'd be perfect for each other. I'd even overlook your man sized eyebrows and, coming from me, that really means something. If you read this, please call me so we can consecrate our love for each other properly.

Signed,
Your eerily obsessive stalker fan

P.S. /drool

Please rain

It needs to rain now. A lot. With the irrigation cut off early, the hot weather, and a half month of no water my lawn is feeling the burn. I don't wanna pay to water it so... yeah... rain damn it. Take a break on the weekend so I can mow, but rain. Okay, rain this saturday for the games, but other than that, take the weekends off.

Also, what the shit is with the restore habeas corpus bill failing? This fucking country, man. Figures Idaho would vote against it too.

Pirates

Ahoy, tis' talk like a pirate day Gar, Where can I find a bottle o'rum?

Act III Scene 2

This is a call out to all the youth in the ghettos, suburbs, villages, townships. To all the kids who download this song for free. By any means. To all the kids short on loot but high on dreams. To all the kids watching T.V., like, "Yo, I wish that was me." And all the kids pressing rewind on Let's Get Free. I hear you. To all the people within the sound of my voice.

Spit for the hated, the reviled, the unrefined, the no ones, the nobodies, the last in line.
Spit for the hated, the reviled, the unrefined, the no ones, the nobodies, the last in line.

I didn't vote for this state of affairs. My emotional state's got me prostrate, fearing my fears. In all reality I'm under prepared. 'Cause I'm ready for war but not sure if I'm ready to care. And that's why I'm under prepared. 'Cause I'm ready to fight, but most fights have me fighting back tears. 'Cause the truth is really I'm scared. Not scared of the truth, but just scared of the length you'll go to fight it. I tried to hold my tongue, son. I tried to bite it. I'm not trying to start a riot or incite it. 'Cause Brutus is an honorable man. It's just coincidence that oil men would wage war on an oil rich land. And this one goes out to my man, taking cover in the trenches with a gun in his hand, then gets home and no one flinches when he can't feed his fam. But Brutus is an honorable man.

Spit for the hated, the reviled, the unrefined, the no ones, the nobodies, the last in line.
Spit for the hated, the reviled, the unrefined, the no ones, the nobodies, the last in line.

If you have tears prepare to shed them now. For you share the guilt of blood spilt in accordance with the Dow Jones. Dow drops fresh crop skull and bones. A machete in the heady: Hutu, Tutsi, Leone. An Afghani in a shanty. Doodle dandy yank on! An Iraqi in Gap khaki. Coca Coma come on! Be ye bishop or pawn, in the streets or the lawn, you should know that these example could go on and on and what since does it make to keep your ears to the street? As long as oils in the soil, truth is never concrete. So we dare to represent those with the barest of feet. 'Cause the laws to which we're loyal keep the soil deplete. It's our job to not let history repeat.

Spit for the hated, the reviled, the unrefined, the no ones, the nobodies, the last in line.
Spit for the hated, the reviled, the unrefined, the no ones, the nobodies, the last in line.

So here's the plan. The ides of march are always at hand. And when the power hungry strike, they strike the poorest of man. And if you dare put up a fight, they'll come and fight for your land. And they'll call it liberation or salvation. A call to the youth! Your freedom ain't so free, it's just loose. but the power of your voice could redirect every truth. Shift and shape the world you want and keep your fears in a noose. Let them dangle from a banner star spangled. I'm willing and able. To lift my dreams up out of their cradle. Nurse and nurture my ideals 'til they're much more than a fable. I can be all I can be and do much more than I'm paid to. And I won't be a slave to what authorities say do. My desire is to live within a nation on fire, where creative passions burn and raise the stakes ever higher. Where no person is addicted top some twisted supplier who promotes the sort of freedom sold to the highest buyer. We demand a truth naturally at one with the land, not a plant that photosynthesizes bombs on demand, or a search for any weapons we let fall from our hands. I got beats and a plan. I'm gonna do what I can. And what you do is question everything they say do, every goal ideal or value they keep pushing on you. If they ask you to believe it question whether it's true. If they ask you to achieve, is it for them or for you. You're the one they're asking to go carry a gun. Warfare ain't humanitarian. You're scaring me, son. Why not fight to feed the homeless, jobless, fight inflation?! Why not fight for our own healthcare and our education?! And instead, invest in that erasable lead, 'cause their twisted propaganda can't erase all the dead. And the pile of corpses pyramid on top of our heads. Or nevermind, said the shotgun to the head

-----

Pretty much some of the best music you can get these days.

The Fountain

Great movie. Much better than Requiem was (haven't seen Pi so I can't make a comparison there). It had a few flaws here and there, but to be honest, if more movies were made like this one, I'd be much happier about paying $8 a shot to see them. I'm reading a bit of Ray Bradbury these days (and of course much PKD in the past) and the story really reminds me a lot of how they structured things.

Also, I'm currently reading The Illustrated Man. It's a collection of short stories collected together as stories told by the illustrations as they move and change. I like devices like that.

Canadians man... gd Canadians.

So I read Anthem a bit on my way here. I didn't wanna spoil it too much in one day... being <100 pages and all. I kinda think it's strange because I like the idea that man isn't one giant collective but I also feel like man has a responsibility to his fellow man, to take care of those who can't or are too lazy. I believe the government has a role in making sure we help take care of each other. I couldn't figure out exactly why I felt like I wanted to get behind the idea, but couldn't... until I sat staring at a TV in a hotel bar, slightly buzzed from some not so bad Canadian beer. It's gender role staring me in the face. Men are the providers, not just for themselves but for the family, for the tribe, and inevitably for the society. Women, on the other hand, are able to be much more selective, much more selfish about their choices. They can think about what's best for them, because in the end, that is what's best for society. If they choose the best mate, the end result is good for the rest of us. If a man decides to save the product of that day's hunt for himself, he only contributes to the downfall of society.

I have to say that despite my liberal tendencies, I like Ayn Rand's work. I like the idea that man is free and only has responsibility to himself. I like thinking that in the end, I only need care about what serves me the best. That makes it easy. Unfortunately, I can't help but think it's not quite right. Objectivism is as great on paper as any other philosophical ideal. We can entertain it as long as we disassociate ourselves from the outside world.

Stupid days

So far today I've had to drop my dog off at a kennel (a heart breaking task in itself), had to park in the far off shuttle parking lot at the airport, watched a flight get canceled because "the plane is broken", watched a flight get delayed because "there's clouds in San Francisco" and finally watched the canceled, broken plane all of a sudden become no longer broken and delayed.

Also, I packed a single Ayn Rand book in my bag (which got pulled aside to be searched) not realizing it was under 100 pages (see it's about 200 pages until you realize the last >1/2 is the same novel but hand-written). My other books are in my checked luggage.

What a day, yeah?

This really happened

This story is better with the penis:

Shane: i was sitting in my banana chair yesterday, blasting pandora, writing code
alown: and ur penis just ran away in shame?
alown: cuz that won't get you laid
Shane: it never joined me so no

Dating

Good stuff to know there. I'm still in the clear for a few years here.

Just realized

I'm flying out on the 11th of September. Guess it's not as creepy as my co-worker shipping out the same day from New York. I wonder if the airport would kick me out for holding some sort of vigil about the whole thing. That's probably just a bit too weird even for me.

Saul Williams - Black Stacey

We need more music like this. My brain actually feels like it got a work out here.

Apple Event

Cool stuff so far:

a) Ringtones for the iphone (fucking finally) next week (new itunes tonight, launching the feature next week). $.99 in addition to the cost of the full song. Any segment of a valid song up to 30s long with fade in/out. 500k songs to pick from so far.

b) The Beatles are finally on itunes apparently.

c) iPod touch. It's basically as cool as your brain can make it to be. Only problem is, we're back to small, flash-based media. When compared to the 160GB iPod classic, 16GB is pretty harsh.

d) iTunes wifi mobile music store thing. I really hope this comes to the iphone though I don't know why.

Puzzle pieces

I've been trying to figure out, for the last few months, what I used to do before I met Sarah to get by. Tonight it occurred to me. I used to drink, a lot. More than I cared to admit. I'd come home, fire up WoW (or head down to Mulligans), and drink. The last 3 months I haven't been drunk very often. I've had to deal with it or find some other way to feel okay. How did I come to this conclusion? I'm making a collection of empty bottles tonight. What's different? Everywhere I look I have something to be happy about.

I can walk out front and see where I pulled a metric shit ton of weeds and be happy about it. I can walk out back and see the patio I built with my grandpa, and my well cut lawn, and my rose bush, and my vines. I can sit here on my couch and see the clean and the work I've put in. You don't get that in an apartment. You have to go out and be busy. It's always someone else's work around you.

I dunno. It sucks to not have someone to share it all with. It sucks to feel like I need to hit the sauce for a few nights to deal with it. Despite that I think I'm leaps and bounds ahead of where I was a year or two ago. If I wanted, right now, I could crank my TV and yell for hours. No one would care and the peace and serenity would remain undisturbed. Good luck with that in your cramped apartment.

Sigh

Just gave my input on what should go in my Grandpa's obituary. This isn't anything new to me so I don't know why it seems so strange to be talking about him as though he's not around. The world is a strange place.

Cozy

Spent the day cleaning the house and putting away a few things that should have been put away a long time ago. Things are feeling a lot cozier now. The way the shadows hit the wall now, the lower amount of glare from the bare walls. It just has a nice feel to it.

I think that since I don't need to get a table, I might invest in a new TV and some decent audio. It's hard these days to play the Wii on this pile of crap TV and I bet I could get a decent 28-32" HDTV for a decent price. Maybe. I think I'd just be happy to have a flat TV to be honest. We'll see.

Housework

Doing stuff around the house is interesting. It's a lot of hard work, but when it's done I'm pretty happy with it even if it's kind of half-assed. It keeps the mind off of things I don't want it to be thinking about. I feel pretty proud of the work done today (and should feel the same about the work set for tomorrow). Things like this, I think, make up for some of the bad stuff I've done in the past, but maybe that's a bad way to look at it. In this moment, it makes me feel good about me and this is the only moment I can make count. I think that's a better way to look at it.

RIP Muir Hahn

Not much to say now

Drowning

That's how he's going to go. They're making him as comfortable as possible... to drown in his own body fluid. It's a horrible thing to listen to. It's a horrible thing to watch someone drowning, trying not to drown, panicking and fighting. I can't get past the feeling I get when I think that just last week he was here, walking around, being grumpy, talking, existing. Just last week. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel... so I just kinda want to withdraw away from it and everything else until it's over and everyone has moved on from it. That can't be healthy, but things have been so hard lately that I'm just too confused and scared to know what else to do. How mature is that shit?

Anyway, not everything is bad right now. Aikido is good. Metroid Prime 3 is good. My friends are great. My dog is an oddity as always. My house is comforting (though I need to get some cleaning and weed pulling done, /sigh). Ooh, and girls are as cute as ever. If that last one ever went away... I dunno man... would there even be a reason to keep on living???

Grandpa

Saw my Grandpa last night. They say he's getting better, but he looks awful. He's in the ICU and when I was there he was awake but just kind of babbling and crying out in pain. It didn't look like he really knew what was going on. It's weird to think about because just a week ago he was here, being grumpy, helping us put a patio together.

Larry Carig is a Mexican Loven Homosexual Faget

Someone wrote that on the wall of the bathroom here. I don't know who Larry Carig is, but I think that ironic hole in the universe I may have mentioned a few times is getting bigger because of this.

Don't worry folks, it's just a dream

Whilst making my weekly trip to Fred Meyer for supplies, I found proof that this must all be just a dream. The meat counter was stocked with plenty of cake and brownies. Yes, plenty of cake and brownies. Either this is a dream or whoever's in charge of life on this planet is one sick puppy.

And the winner is?

My grandpa's broken hip. A day spent lying on the floor of the garage, unable to move, until the mailman shows up to find you takes the cake. Sorry to all our runners up.

Seriously, today's blog posts read like a very bad prediction come true. And this is only one of several bad things going down today. Full moon at fault? Who knows.

What a day

Worst fucking day in a few months. I hate this shit.

My qi is all fucked up

It's pretty true. I don't know what's wrong today, heck, what's been wrong the entire last week. My qi is all fucked up and out of whack. I feel like I'm watching the world through a blurry tv screen and nothing looks right. It kind of sucks a bit.

Leaving the guild

It always sucks to get a new guild in WoW. It's just a game, but a huge part of it is the social aspect. I have a few friends in my current guild that I kind of feel like I'm turning my back on. At the same time, I have a lot of friends in the guild I'm applying to. The hardest part, I think, is the amount of memories I have with the old guild. Getting drunk in MC. Running instances until late at night. PvPing my saturdays away.

I guess though it's sort of a false sadness because I know why I'm really sad about it and it has nothing to do with WoW at all. Maybe it's better to detach myself from all of that in this way. I don't like it and I don't want to, but once it's done then I won't have to worry about it again.

And before the comment comes, I know, stop being a pussy, it's just a game, get over what happened with her, etc, etc. Screw you. I was in the guild from like a day or two before I met her so you fuck right the hell off.

Tired

Been going for like 4 days straight now. Work, work. I'm ready for a bit of normalcy to return.

Heroin

Between Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream this week, I think it's safe to say I've no interest what-so-ever in so much as having a go with the stuff. Not one bit.

And then the rodeo

This may be the strangest week of my life.

Summer misogi

Cold, but fun. Very cold.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Great book. Absolutely marvelous to read.

P.S. Toronto pics coming to facebook and myspace soon.

Heading home

Despite the rough start, this has been one hell of a trip. My first major league baseball game (I have a hankering to catch a hawks game when I get back for some reason), an expensive meal in the world's highest restaurant, and some good laughs with a bunch of brits (I shit you not, motherfucker).

Next up, a week of vacation time.

I should gps my luggage...

... so I can view the trip it takes when it gets lost next time. Apparently the airline has no clue where it went. Personally, I think it took some extra time to look around Denver, maybe catch a movie, and possibly spend a night with a $2 hooker.

Honestly, how the fuck are we still losing luggage in the year 2007? I can't check in for a flight and not board the plane without getting the 3rd degree, but somehow my luggage can still return to the aether from whence it came after I pass it off to the idiots at the front desk. That's progress, eh? God damn Canadians.

Sweet christ, it's spelled out so well

Loder: Are you a difficult guy to work with?

Keenan: I think the biggest problem working with me would be that I'm an only child, and so I have an internal dialogue that goes on that I just assume you can hear. Because as an only child, you have your own little world. Then you go into a situation where you're working with other people, and unless you actually vocalize what you're thinking, the other people will go through hell trying to figure out what's going on.

This one is also cool:

Loder: Why do you never include a lyric sheet with your albums? Why do fans have to go online to get them?

Keenan: Because I think reading is a thinking process, and I would prefer that people feel the album first, and just let it sink in. Because you might get something out of the music that you might not get from thinking about it, and watching the words go by. I usually put the lyrics online a month or so after the release of the album, but it's better to feel them first.

America needs another 9/11?

Why would any terrorist bother when they can sit back and watch us tear ourselves apart for them?

A couple things

First up, Black Snake Moan, I give you a star for being a form of entertainment. I give you half a star for showing me Christina Ricci's boobs, albeit for short amounts at a time. I give you another half star for having her run around in her panties for half the movie. I give you a star for Samuel Jackson being a badass. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to remove a star for you not having Justin Timerblake get his ass beat.

Secondly, why is Daft Punk such a fucking awesome group?

And finally, Akira is a pretty interesting flick. Kind of hard to sit still through, but that's 80s animation for ya. Good storyline nonetheless.

Patrick Norton left dl.tv?

My interest level in the show just took a sharp nosedive.

Truthiness

1) No matter how hard you will it, time will not stop moving forward.
2) The things we remember never happened.
3) The moment we live in is the only real thing we can believe in.
4) Death is an event to embrace, not something to fear. Only then does the facade of being alive come to an end.
5) Nothing can be trusted.
6) Faith is for the weak. The only thing that was meant to be is the end of everything. Outside of that, it's up to us to make things happen.
7) Your grandparents never walked through a foot of snow, up a mountain, in the middle of summer to get to school. They were lying to you to motivate you to be better than you think you can be.
8) You shouldn't need someone lying to you to better yourself.
9) Bad things happen to everyone and good things only happen to those that choose to see good things where they cannot possibly exist.
10) Beer is proof that god loves us and that he wants us to be happy. (Well, not really, but if in your moment of reality you are truly happy, you're probably intoxicated).

I've taken the manlier path

Aha! I knew it!

The world is upside down

I'm listening to Wu-Tang.... and I'm liking it. What the hell?

It's apparently the summer for people to be ending relationships. Either that or the trend is following me around. Maybe it's just a bit of blue car syndrome?

Parents don't understand bedtime stories?

If you're the parent of a pre-high school child and you can't help them understand english and math, you have no business breeding.

The itch

Every so often I get the itch. The itch to put some code down in a file. I dunno why I get the itch, it's not like I can ever reach far enough to scratch it. I don't even know what I'd do these days. University made it nice, I could just look at what the current lesson was and focus on that with a bit of game related coding here and there. Now all I can do is write a bit, take a nap, and play some WoW. Bleh.

Anyway, feeling kinda sick here. This bad air isn't doing anyone any good. Maybe the LAN this week will cure the I feel sluggish and fat blues.

A Challenge

Listen to the new White Stripes album and honestly tell me Jack White isn't a god damn genius. Can't do it, can you? That's what I thought.

Dub

Pandora has completely turned me onto this style. Not too bad at all if you ask me.

My tummy

I'm starting to wonder if this constant pain in my stomach and my... abnormal... poo isn't a sign of something going wrong in my gut. I asked my mom about it once and she said I should probably see a doctor. I thought I was just having problems with milk products. I've cut the milk almost entirely out and I still feel like shit. I hate doctors. I hate doctors because I hate antibiotics. Every doctor always prescribes increasing amounts of antibiotics until they realize it's not working and switch to actually thinking about solving the problem. Did I mention I hate doctors?

Read a book, read a motherfuckin book

Bwahahahahahaha. How fucking awesome. D'mite's my new hero.

I broke my chest

A week of pain every time I sneeze or sit down, I'm ready to start popping some anti-inflamatories for this. Ugh. Also starting to get kind of sore and tired. This aikido thing, staying up late, and getting up early thing is gonna wear me down if I'm not careful.

Screw you Kanye. Screw you.

Thanks a lot of taking a great song and a great movie and somehow managing to shit on both at the same time. Let me guess what your next move is, a song that's nothing but psalm's from the bible over ancient hymns while recreating old Charlie Chaplin films? You untalented, unoriginal hack. Do us all a favor and kill yourself.

Now the second video on that site, that's some good stuff.

Charm school finale

Oh man... this seriously just happened... "I have a hard time remember things" *walks over to the jug of gin and pours a shot*. I pretty much roflmao'd my ass off (bite me).

And i totally called that ending. Can't wait for the reunion.

Don't let the man get you down

And the sign said, "Long haired, freaky people need not apply".

So very far away from home

How pointless everything is from that view. So small, so insignificant.

iPhone rates

Hello unlimited data and visual voicemail for $20 more than I'm paying now. This deal continues to look sweeter every day. I wonder if I wait until a few weeks into July if there will still be some in stock around here.

This is your life in the toilet

Shock and awe man, shock and awe. Seeing this is about the same as catching Optimus Prime out back sucking dick for coke. No wonder the kids are all messed up in the head.

SF

"There are countless examples here of the real power that science fiction has to address current events in a way that's safe and acceptable for most audiences, while speaking very seriously about them to those who look beyond the spaceships and rayguns to the ideas behind the stories. Whether it was written one hundred years ago or just published last month, science fiction can give us warnings about the future, hope for the future, or just blissful escape into the future, visiting fantastic worlds that are light-years away – and as close as our bookshelves and televisions."

-- Wil Wheaton

Lists are the new black

Kind of common sense crap you find in sappy movies, but I still think it's a decent list. Especially the parts that involve not working too hard and eating.

Trip is cancelled

Motherfucker.

iPhone

With every ounce of every fiber of my very being I'm having to pray to have the strength to not sit in line next week for one of these.

Flyleaf

It's like Avril with slightly less suck. Slightly. Way more hottness tho. Way more.

A giant pile of awesome

rofl em ae oe. seriously.

This late in the game and...

I still think I'd rather fix things.

Dude.... how... what... ???

I think I'd rather take waterboarding, honestly. How hard do you have to pull to do that?? I know it's not a thick sack of skin, but damn.

A few random things

Just a couple things on my mind right now.

1) It's a cherry tree. I guess I won't be despising it and cutting it down. I'm going to have to find out if I can trim it up a bit and what I need to do to take care of it. I love me some cherries.

2) My grass sucks to walk on. Five minutes of playing with the dog out there and I feel like I've been running on rocks.

3) The asian chick on charm school is a fucking moron and pumpkin is such a slut. Good god what a slut.

4) I'm hungry. Trying to think way back, I don't how the hell I survived. Wtf did I eat? How did I eat, play WoW, and go out a few nights a week? It's a mystery the likes of which this world has never known. Actually though, when I think about it, I think having the computer two feet from the stove helped a bit.

5) Back to the charm school thing, apparently pumpkin is just 21? Somehow that explains everything. I ranted about how lowering the drinking age would be bad, but I gotta believe that if it was like 16 or something, girls today wouldn't act so odd. The bonus though is that we all get to see her titties. Hooray for boobies.

6) Call me crazy, but being alone is depressing. On the flip side, not as depressing as I've had it be before. I'm not sure if it's because I'm older or if it's because of other circumstances. I haven't ranted about that whole thing and I'm not sure if I will. I probably should just to get it out a bit, but I don't think now is quite yet the right time.

7) Because it's on right now, I don't like people that argue with criticism. I hope I don't do that too often. Even more so, I hate people that cry when they get criticized. How could you cry like that on TV? Sure, in teh bathroom when you get home or something, but on fucking TV? Uugghh.

Sweep the Leg

I think I posted this before, but really it's worth posting again. You don't get any better than this. Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy.

Let's try this again

Okay, so the music didn't go over so hot. How about this here video? You know it was funny when the muppets covered it, it was funny when the office did their rendition, and it's still funny now that we're doing it again.

Also, this is pretty true I think:

http://www.kontraband.com/show/show.asp?ID=3117

Music you need to hear

When you're done with that one, check out the other songs by M. Ward on the tube. Good stuff man, good stuff.

Best digg story ever

The link is brilliant, the comments are brilliant. This is pretty much exactly what the internet is here for. Aside from porn. Lots, and lots of porn.

Racist? Me?

Harvard study says I'm racist. I dunno man, I think the test is kinda messed up.

Motivation

What a bad time to not have any. This crappy weather isn't helping either.

Assaholic

Catching up on some Riches here and this is what they drop on me. Fuggin brilliant. Assaholic. If there's ever a disease I'd be proud to catch, that's gotta be it.

Metal in my hands

Ouch dude. Ouch. Honestly, screw the sun. Screw it right up it's giant yellow asshole. Those egyptians that prayed to the sun? Yeah, screw them too. You wanna pray to something, pray to the clouds that save your ass from frying.

And this is all as I watch people catch crab in freezing waters. This is about as american living as you can get.

Bloody hot

Wtf is up with this weather man? Pushing 100 degress in June? Jesus. This global warming thing sure is shaping up to be some kinda myth mr el presidentay.

Anyway, people's are getting settled in now. AC's going, dog's napping, books are good and Deadliest Catch has been running a marathon. If the sun would take a rest, this'd be a fine 7th day indeed.

The thing that scares me

more than the idea that Bush would try maneuver things such that he retains power after our next election, is the idea that someone above him will inevitably retain power after our next election leaving us with no hope of fixing the mess we've made. I really can't blame anyone for not trusting us at this point.

Coming home

Finally. Fucking finally.

Why 21?

To keep the kids out. I understand it now. I've always wondered why we were so far behind, now I see why we're so far ahead. The brits say it seems so old, I say it seems close to just right. If bars in america were like the clubs here, I probably would've said fuck it on my first night. I can't deal with the god damn kids. Now get off my lawn!

And the announcement is?

Starcraft 2. Interesting. Can't wait to see the videos hit youtube.

French people are annoying

Seriously. Annoying.

Where am I???

Woke up this morning passed out on the couch with no idea how I got here. No visions of sprites or fairies or demons, just the worst hangover I've ever had and a fear that I've somehow slept through an entire day.

Scottish independance

I know this isn't getting much US play, but with Blair stepping down, this is becoming a huge issue here in the UK. Scotland nationalists are pushing against unionalists to have their land become independent. Pretty interesting.

I wanted so much to visit Scotland. The planes and buses/trains just wouldn't line up in a manner I could afford and devote appropriate time to.

Advertisement

Just caught a segment here that's kind of like our Apprentice, only for advertising. The idea here is to sell shoes. Group A sells their shoe by donating 10% to some sort of street group I don't give a shit about. Group B sells their shoe by relating to music, playing music, and making me feel like I'm buying a brand of music rather than a shoe. The decision maker caught every single one of those points. It's not the company paying 10% to "street", it's me, the consumer. I'm not buying a shoe, I'm buying 90% advertising. Where is this in America??? Why aren't these people saying "I don't get this fucking commercial!!! I don't understand what your naked women have to do with selling god damn shoes!??!" I'm not saying Brits have a corner on the market of marketing itself, but why don't we celebrate people who understand that selling something is about making me want to put my cash, my quid, my dollars down on your product over someone else's product? Why aren't we telling our advertisers, "Why aren't you pushing us?", "Why aren't you making us 'want' to buy what you're selling?". Why don't we care about the things we buy? I swear, they are arguing right now about "why didn't you listen to your advertisement?". Why do I care about your advertisement? It's my money, I'm not paying for your advertisement, I'm paying for the end product. I'm paying for what I put on my feet and wear every day and try to feel some pride in as a middle class American (or Brit if that's your thing). I put my money down on what I feel is the right thing for me, as a human being, to put my money down on. Why does music, or societal cultural have to play such a large role in this? I know it playes /a/ role, but why such a large role? Why does giving money back to "the street" have to play into this?

Fuck man, I understand 100% why each group is a fucking loser here. Each god damn group is a loser and all they're doing here is choosing the best of the damn losers. The bottom line is, if I want my shoes to support some fucking lower class group, it has to come via taxes or respecting the fact that these people cannot pay as much as me. If I want to support them, I will pay more so that they can pay less. That's the bottom line. I will support them because I can. I work hard so others don't and I'm better than leaching from others. That's where we end up. If you want to push things as far as they can go, that's where we'll go and under no circumstance will I bend to other ideas. I exist so others can take advantage of my work, so others who feel they deserve some compensation for being born can be given that compensation. That's why I'm here and I understand and accept that role. I'm smart enough to understand that those who can do, do, and those who can't do, support. That's my social responsibility and I'd be an asshole to deny it.

VAT

I like the VAT implementation here. They force you to put the final cost plus VAT on the product. No need to figure anything. If you buy for resale, they take it out and show you the difference so you can refund the tax on final sale. The problem really is that it doesn't scale. If you make more, you should pay more. I don't like paying more, but at a fixed rate those that can't keep up, can't keep up. In the US, because you're taxed on every sale of a good the final cost can rocket out of proportion. Here, the final cost stays closer to the initial cost because the tax is only applied to the producer at the end (note, producer here, not consumer) and is entirely refundable if taxes are applied again later.

Also, the police I'm watching here on the telly are not nearly as imposing as US police. I think if I'da been busted for fondling moddles and swearing at police in the US I'd get my shit kicked in. Not these kids on the telly tho. They just kinda go on.

I'm also a bit interested in the amount of CCTV here. I know something like that wouldn't fly in the US right now (right now meaning maybe later), but I'm not sure why. The goal of CCTV is to protect the public in public areas. The key here is public areas. If you're in a public area, what right to privacy do you have? In the privacy of your own home, absolutely you should be free to do as you please without interrupting the constitutional rights of others without the threat of government interference. What about public rights? I don't like basing things like this on 'what if's', but in terms of basic civil rights, do we have the right to not be watched in public areas? I don't know. I want to say no just because I know I'm going to London and I know that CCTV will keep me 'safe' there. As an American though, I'm torn between my right to not have 'the man' in my face and my right to be safe and protected by my government. What thoughts do we have on this?

Absinthe

Need to get this in while I can still type. I got the 72.5% bottle because the 85% bottle was too small for 35 quid. It's like jager on steroids and with a cool color. If jager isn't your thing, this won't be either. I don't have the fancy cup, spoon, or any sugar cubes so I'm just drinking it straight. Maybe some day in the future I can try it the way the internet says I should. I'll put something up tomorrow if I see spirits and lose my mind and what not.

The British attitude towards tipping

The way the Brits treat tipping is pretty cool. It's not expected at all. In America, when it comes time to tip, I always feel like I'm going through motions that have no meaning. I either tip the requisite amount or someone will spit on my food next time or make me stand waiting for a drink for a while. Here, if you order a drink at the pub you can either not tip or order "one for yourself". In other words, you show the publican some respect and offer to buy them a drink. It turns an utterly mechanical reaction into something thought about and far more personal. Honestly, I haven't had a chance to try it out, I'm still learning so much about the differences but hopefully tomorrow night I'll be able to give it a go.

I'm having some trouble figuring out the food ritual at the pubs here. I know now that you find your table, look over the menu, go to the bar, order your drink and meal and pay immediately. That gets you a spoon with a number on it that I'm not sure what the purpose of is. I guess it's just a way of numbering tables, but I also know that her in America you can order food at the bar and have it brought without a numbered spoon. The host brings the food to you and so far I've just been getting up and leaving my plate when I'm done. I'm not sure if leaving the finished plate is the right procedure, but I haven't heard any complaints so far.

Still learning a lot, lots left to learn. It's not exactly a backwards world but the little things that make it unique are interesting.

-- Cheers

Apparently it's almost midnight at home

And I just woke up and will be getting breakfast in 45 minutes. I also saw an Irish pub last night that apparently serves Guinness Red. I don't know what that is, but I plan to stop in there at some point to try it out.

Couldn't agree more

You know you couldn't either

Here we go

I've got an apartment full of boxes which can mean only one thing, it's signing day. No word yet on when I can get my keys, hopefully tonight but probably tomorrow. Either way, tonight is shopping night. I need a few things to ensure my ability to keep food from spoiling and my clothes from stinking. Once that's all done and I'm officially poor again, I can feel good in going across the ocean to spend what little money I have left on whatever it is that british people spend money on. Hooray or whatever.

And when the dust settles... wait, the people won???

I can't say I agree with the choice, I'd rather have a compliant Digg than no Digg. Other than that, I don't really know what to say.

The day digg broke down

I dunno what to make of the whole ordeal. If people rallied like that for something that really matters... just wow man, just wow.

Fun videos

Hopefully ya'll like Carl Sagan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgg2tpUVbXQ

Read the story, look at the pictures, and tell me you aren't thinking it too

I don't mean to sound like we've grown ourselves some sort of dystopia, but I'll be damned if this isn't some Minority Report shit right here. It just seems wrong to me that intent is somehow a punishable offense, particularly when it's thinly veiled intent that no one with a real education would agree with.

And people wonder why I say that things like "To Catch a Predator" are a joke and a threat to our rights as citizens. Next step? Government controlled locks on our doors and chips in our heads set to alert the authorities at any indication of a thought gone sinister.

The war is lost? We're defeated?

How do you lose a war that's supposed to have nothing to do with you? Isn't that kind of like the referee losing a football game? Is there any way to not lose something like that? What exactly defines success here? Do we win when they're all wiped from the planet? I have a quick and easy solution to this problem if that's how we're going to go about it.

Vulnerable person?

Is this the new PC term for retarded person? I read a local story that sounded an awful lot like it was about a retarded person yet they kept referring to them as vulnerable. Are they retarded when they manage to stay at work and then vulnerable when they somehow wander off?

Anyway, my rant for today is about how I remember when gas was <$1 a gallon.

Immortal: Ad Vitam

Pretty cool flick visually. The storyline coulda used a bit more but one can't expect too much from this type of film. The surprising part is that most of the human actors had their voices dubbed in English. I'm not saying I got the dubbed version of the film, I'm saying this is how the film was made. It actually adds a bit to the film in that it makes the real actors part of the not so real rest of the film. Either that or it let them put a hot chick that only speaks French into an English movie (that just so happens to be French produced... wtf??). Worth checking out either way.

Well said

Pretty good response I say.

No that's not lame

Okay, so that was kind of funner than I thought it would be. I came up with a few more breakdowns I liked:

1996-2000 - High school (yeah no fun name for that one)
late 2000 - Kuna days and the beginning of ignorance
2001-2002 - The forgotten times, aka the era of wtf was my mom thinking marrying that guy?
2002-2003 - The anime/techtv era
early 2004 - The time of awakening
mid 2004 - The greatest summer
late 2004 - The time of ignorance
late 2004-early 2005 - The winter of destruction

If you've known me for a while, you can probably figure out why we have a time of awakening and a time of ignorance in the same year. The forgotten times are funny in that I actually have a really hard time remember anything about them. I think that's a defense mechanism of the brain to keep it from stabbing itself in the third eye.

Anyway, I dunno why that was funny to me but it was. I'll probably wake up tomorrow and realize how rtarded it actually is. And yeah, I put rtarded there.

10 years? 6 years? 3 years? Who now?

I dunno how it happened, really. I think it was the few days our office network was down and I had to do some work at home on my laptop. Old code called to me and I knew it was time to set the toys down and pick up the hammer. It's been a pretty good effort overall, as small as it's been. Things compile and some of the libraries run decently. A bit of debugging should put the fruit of the labor back on good ground.

One of the things I'd started doing back in the day was tagging source with the year it was written. It was supposed to be like a copyright thing but it's more or less become a timeline for me to look back on (note to self, always have a changelog so you don't look so much the fool). The oldest code I have in there is 6 years old. The most common source was written 3 years ago. If I look as far back as I can, I still have code from 10 years ago in my repository. There's a clear, half-assed attempt at fixing things up in 2005.

What's really interesting is that I can stick important periods in my personal timeline into those dates. Code written in 2004 came during the greatest summer (it serves as a reminder of why it was also the loneliest summer, or the summer of many books), which is why there was so much. The half-assed attempt of 2005 came during the winter of destruction. Anything from 2001-2003 was written during the time of great confusion. Code from pre-2001 is all from the time of learning. I wonder how I'm going to tag all this 2007 code when time has passed and I'm able to look back on it. The time of being too old to give a shit anymore? The time of the great move? It's too early to tell I think. It'll probably just be the time of great half-assedness redux.

I like to think that the greater story is told during the times of code, but it's always the periods of code drought in-between that keep me up at night. I think that if Rekal were ever to become real, I'd take a trip back to the greatest summer. As rough as parts of it were, it's the only memory I have so far that I'd like to hold on to. So much productivity, so much fun, so much learned. I know the exact times that I'd take the trip for also. Maybe not the exact dates, but the general times.

I should end this with something funny, so here goes: Dr. Phil is a tool of the most commercial type. I hope he finds a special place in the dankest pits of hell, alongside Jack Thompson, for the way he chose to demean the victims of the VT tragedy.

Time for a new a blog post thing

I'ma be a homeowner, aka indebted for life, soon. I think I just threw up my colon. From my mouth. That shouldn't be possible, right?

So it goes

One of the greatest losses of our time.

Uwe Boll looks to make bank on 9/11

I dunno man... I'm torn here. I hate people going on about this stuff, but this is the first time I haven't felt like rolling my eyes and walking away. At the same time I'm slightly mortified and left with a feeling of "did he really just do that?". I hate the guy and refuse to watch any of the filth he spews forth, don't doubt that, but this pushes the American sensibility knob all the way to 11 here. I guess this blog should really just be me asking if I'm a bad person for chuckling at the end.

The proof is in the pudding

On a related note: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lXUd7VxuSA is pretty funny.

Also caught Eddie Izzard in My Super Ex-Girlfriend. Kind of interesting. I haven't caught the new show he's in on the picture box but I'm sure it's equally jovial. I have to wonder what Bill Hicks would be doing today if he'd survived. Bit parts in a movie most people won't ever care to see? Maybe the great ones pass on so early to avoid having to resort to things like that as they mature. I've been compiling evidence for a while now to support that conjecture.

In summation, 300 is a pretty kick ass movie. The critics have furthered my assumption that they have completely lost touch with reality based on their reviews of it. I can only hope Grindhouse is next on their list of movies everyone should avoid so we can all rest assured that it's one of the greatest of all time.

Joe Rogan 1, Carlos Mencia 0

Pretty much owned there. Never liked that poser Mexican, now I know why.

My foot hurts

I should stop wearing socks. It honestly feels like my toe is broken. Drunk as hell, foot broken. Double u tee eff.

New to me

So apparently so many people watch G4 that Cable One decided it was more cost effective to drop the channel silently than to keep it around. What's sort of funny about this is that the way I found out was to Google my way around to a post on the G4 forums that was full of people laughing about it happening. Is the channel so sad these days that they don't even care if their forum goers laugh at them?

Sadly, I was kind of looking forward to the X-Play musical they've been showing previews of at the end of the X-Play podcasts. I kinda wanted to see Morgan Webb dancing around and singing and what not. Ah well, such is how these things go.

I have no business talking politics

Link up there's a good read. I don't agree with some of the junk he's spouted before but I like a good rabble-rouser. The kind of crap he's trying to expose to the public is the kind of crap that lets me justify being lazy about voting and giving a crap about what the leaders of this country do. I think if we had more like him trying to get those leaders to take responsibility, I'd have a much harder time with that justification.

On that note, I'm having a rough go and trying to figure out why I wouldn't want this Obama fellow to run things for a while. Sure, he's one of them evangelical christian muslim hippy hawaiian multi-racial alien types, but I like where he's coming from and I can identify with his positions. I think that, unlike John Kerry, he'd have the balls to work us toward a better path. Am I wrong about this?

Blood Elves are teh hawt

It seriously is just like that

Hello from the MacBook

Yup, I did it. I broke down and bought one of these cute little laptops. Surprisingly easy to use but what really gets me is how quiet it is. I was pretty much embarrassed to take my PC laptop into meetings and on planes and such because it was so damn big. This thing tho, well you could almost shove it up your ass without anyone noticing, it's so inconspicuous.

Bricked it on the first try

In an attempt to gain some more control over the dhcp of my router as well as fix the bittorrent (well, any decent peer to peer really) bug that's been driving me insane the last few months I've ended up bricking the damn thing. Gonna see if I can find any info on how to bring it back to life but I'm guessing a trip to best buy will be in order for tonight.

Along those same lines I'm having to replace the printer I just bought. Why? Because for some asshole reason, HP decided it wouldn't make the thing networkable. When you've got a minimum of three PCs that need to print, it helps to be able to hook it up to the central server for printing. Am I crazy in thinking that?

I take it very seriously

You heard the man.

Wifi you say?

Looks like the iPhone can use Wifi for internet access which is pretty cool if you have free access sitting around somewhere. It'd still be nice to go over a good cellphone data plan for when there isn't an AP around, but it's a good second choice.

I'm not too familiar with how cingular handles EDGE, I'll see if i can dig up that info later.

Okay but seriously

All fun aside, the things that concern me:

1) Battery life - looks pretty low for what i'd expect from a phone. I already have to charge my iPod every day, I'd hate to have to do the same with the phone

2) Cingular data plans suck - speaks for itself, maybe they'll come up with something better when this thing drops. people use the sidekick because the data plan for the thing is a nerd's wet dream, if cingular can handle something similar I'd be more than willing to drop the extra $$$ for it.

3) My phone's display is covered in grease and scratches - how will that affect the touchscreen?

Fuck your trendkick...

I'm getting an iPhone. Thank god I had the foresight to go with Cingular/AT&T and the iPod. Enjoy living in the stone age, suckers.

The W Bomb

Dude slings a "i'm against the ipod for the same reason i'm against windows" at me. I'm wondering exactly how he's against windows over there. Do we all of a sudden have a reborn linux user or do we have a newborn mac enthusiast who's confused about exactly what it means to be against windows. Maybe he's streaming his RSS feed through mplayer running on FBSD? Can we get some clarification on exactly how we're not tripping over conflicting ideals here.

The systems

The systems they built up there. I was wrong about Wil's dvd player being OS but it does have some neat features. Unfortunately they seem to have left off the TV he picked out. The 1080p TV Hahn picked out is nice tho.

Wil Wheaton built my dream system

So in the latest InDigital, the hosts participated in a competition to build the best home entertainment system they could for $5k. Wil Wheaton being the uber-nerd that he is built a badass system *full* of open source products. Open source mythtv pvr, open source dvd player that doesn't play into the hddvd/blueray propoganda war, bunch of crap put together with bundled speaker wire. Pretty damn cool. I'll see if I can find either a part list, a transcript, or just write the shit down myself when I get home tonight.

Diggnation

I cannot believe Alex Albrecht is still that fucking annoying. God damn. I'm actually missing hearing Kevin Rose talk because his inane rambling is dominating the conversation so much. Anyone that knows how much Kevin annoyed me back in the pre-G4 days will know the gravity of that statement.

The Lion King

At first I thought this was about how lions really aren't king of anything... and then I pulled a Steven Colbert. Oh my fuck.

Speaking of nonpoint

Good band.