I had to get this out there.

So, I’m more independent when it comes to my political views meaning I don’t fall in lockstep with party dogma or vote along party lines. Consequently, I am open to hearing the arguments from both sides of the aisle before making a decision. This means I get the emails circulating about the candidates from ‘both barrels’ so to speak.

Today, I got this:

Article from Wall Street Journal:
Rev.Wright epitomizes the thoughts and actions that have prevented and continue to prevent black America from moving ahead and achieving their potential as a people. He suggests that this United States of America, made up of sons and daughters of immigrants (I’m talking of the millions of 1st, 2nd, 3rd generation immigrants in this country) of every race, creed, color and religion each and everyone of them who had nothing to do with slavery, somehow owe something to a group of people who have never been slaves. It’s amazing. It seems everyone is to blame for the shambles black society is in with its violence, drugs, high school drop out rates, misogyny, and a host of other real and virulent problems, except for the very people who engage in such behavior. Enough. As a society, culture or people, they should look within themselves and fix their problems. When did this man become the spokesman for the ‘black church?’ And of course his church is different, but that doesn't mean his message and philosophy is acceptable, or productive or non-offensive or not-racist or indicative of our greater cultural behaviors, values and norms as Americans. And yes, the link between this man and Obama really does matter. At a very minimum, it provides insight into the political and philosophical strain that Obama adheres to.

Comment by Bill Cosby

Now, I don’t know if this is actually from the Wall Street Journal. I don’t even know if this can in fact be attributed to Bill Cosby as the email says. The general inference I imagine though is because Bill Cosby is black, if he did in fact make these comments, they carry even more weight because of his color. Somehow, Barack Obama is being indicted by ‘one of his own,’ a member of the same ethnic group he is most readily identified with. Further, the inference is of guilt by association – Obama’s contact with the man tarnishing him.

Wow!

I mean, WTF!?

I wrote back to the sender and the response follows:

Again, there should be a separation of church and state.

Further, ask yourself this question: how many times have you been in a social setting or as a member of a part of a group where someone you know and perhaps like utters something that you find absolutely abhorrent? Something that makes you cringe. If you value the person, you choose to turn a blind eye to the offensive statement they have made because you believe the good outweighs the bad.

Now, let's take that a step further for a second... what if at some point in your life just because of your association with this person, those views were ascribed to you even though you disagreed? It wouldn't make sense, it would defy logic.

If we are going to move forward as a nation, we need to talk about what either of these men will do when they achieve the office of chief executive. Probably though the thing not to do is to try and scare people in any manner possible.

Let's take this a bit further... there are things in John McCain's past that could paint him as a corrupt and immoral politician:

McCain received $112,000 by 1987 from Keating and Keating’s relatives and employees to McCain’s Senate campaign, more than any of the other Senators. The Arizona Republic reported that in addition to campaign contributions, McCain’s wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. The paper also reported that the McCains, sometimes accompanied by their daughter and baby-sitter, had made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard the American Continental Corporation (parent of Lincoln) jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay. McCain also did not pay Keating for some of the trips until years after they were taken, after he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln. [3] Lincoln Savings and Loan's collapse is said to have cost taxpayers $3.4 billion [4].

Now, these are facts and actions that are directly attributed to John McCain. Does that erase any of the good that he’s done over the course of his career? No. Does that lessen the strong convictions he has shown over his lifetime or the record of service he has to this country? No.

But, the thing is something like this would have to be given even more credence than the tract, "Politician A was present at a place where person B said this and so by association, Politician A is indicted."

I think we’d all be better off if we focus on the direction these men would take our country as opposed to making mountains out of molehills or trying to use scare tactics to sway people's opinions.

Now, that’s not going to stop this kind of stuff from going on. Probably won’t even make a dent in it but, I have to say I sure wish things were different.

VIDEO VAULT THURSDAY!
(because exclamation points make all the difference)

This week’s entry into VIDEO VAULT THURSDAY is what could best be described as an oldie but a goodie.

There’s quite the story that built up around this song:

In the US, the song was believed to euphemistically refer to masturbation, specifically referencing certain facial distortions that may resemble the stereotypical image of a Japanese person. In fact, some US media outlets claimed that the phrase “turning Japanese” was a popular euphemism in the UK for masturbation; in reality, however, it has only become such a euphemism subsequent to the release of the song.

As a bit of a treat I was able to find two versions of the song!


Undoubtedly it’s the catchy guitar riffs in the song that make it so listenable. Funny thing though is that for all its popularity at the time as a bit of an underground hit, the Vapors really wound up being one-hit wonders and were never able to cash in on the success of the song:

The band released two albums: New Clear Days (the pun on “nuclear” being intentional) and Magnets. The first was more clearly in the “traditional” New Wave style of music, while touching on social issues such as the nuclear threat as well as love themes. The second album dealt more extensively with themes of alienation, with many dark lyrics about apparently psychotic characters, including the opening track, “Jimmie Jones,” about cult leader Jim Jones. Sales of the second album were poor and the band broke up soon after its release in 1981.

A**holes and opinions.

So, a few days back I referenced a recent column by Erik Larsen up at CBR.com.

I like Erik Larsen, not that I know him personally or anything. I mainly know him through the aforementioned column and some dim memories of his run on Spider Man. It’s not as if I’m a Savage Dragon fan (although I do have this Image Anniversary book with a Savage Dragon story in it).

During this year’s New York Comicon, I was wandering around the floor at one point and just happened to bump into Erik Larsen (speaking to another pro at the Image booth). I introduced myself and told him what a fan I am of the column. Specifically I really liked one column he wrote (you can read it here).

Erik, a guy who is around my age, has a lot of common experiences of comics I have. When he writes about a comics-related topic, it’s similar to those days long ago when I would excitedly talk comics with friends and peers. Anyway, I put up a link to a column and I got a comment. Rather than bury the thing, I felt it deserved to be out in the main body of the blog:

Your article, as well as Larsens essay, is stuff that has been tossed around the internet by Vin-haters for years. In our conversations, as well as in the article, I am surprised that Erik has given Colletta as much credit as he has, actually. My blog is the flip side of the coin-mostly because I am not one of these goofballs who thinks they are being “fashionable” by knocking Colletta. I’m glad I started posting, it seems there are a shitload of people who loved his work that were actually sacared to profess it!

Regards, Dan McFan
http://ismarkevaniermentallyill.blogspot.com

Now, flattered as I am, what I wrote wasn’t much of an article being more of a pointer to Larsen’s column – a column I read and found pretty balanced.

Larsen talked about a prevalent view of someone’s body of work (Vince Colletta’s), went back and tried to put it into a better context. He didn’t approach the subject with the unreasonable passion of a fan, in fact he tried to break it down on a more adult level. At one point, he even went as far as to say how his earlier opinions of Colletta’s work may have been greatly off the mark.

In essence, he admitted he was wrong and how over the years and in the context of his own experiences as a working professional, he had come to have a better appreciation and greater respect of Colletta’s lot it terms of the demands and sacrifices he had to make to meet his deadlines and keep food on the table.

When I got the comment with an inference I was a ‘Vin-hater,’ it seemed a little bit of an overreaction. I don’t take these things to heart though and I felt (like I do in most instances) all voices deserve to be heard. I’m glad the guy in question took the time out to comment! I like it when people comment, good or bad.

Personally, I even have enough of a sense of humor to appreciate the guy’s blog address: is mark evanier mentally ill (seems like there should be a question mark there).

Yet, the ‘Vin-hater’ thing was a bit off-putting so, in my ‘defense,’ I wanted to a back and forth email I had with someone shortly after I published the entry:

Peej-

Coletta gets a lot more kicks in the ass than he deserves, in my opinion. One of the first times I saw his work was over Joe Orlando in DD #2. I thought it was a little too sketchy, especially compared to Kirby inked by Chick Stone, Dick Ayers or Geo Bell. And I was convinced that Ditko was so tits that nobody compared with him! Ditko was hands down my favorite super hero comic book artist. Until he got weird later on.

But people forget that this work was never supposed to see the light of day again after publication. It was supposed to be disposable. Maybe it might be reprinted in a 25 cent Annual, a new publishing concept at the time in the early ’60s. But would this work be looked upon as art? No way — these were comic books for goodness sake!

It’s very easy to sing the praises of all things Kirby, so maybe it’s Coletta’s unfortunate association with the King that places him under such a harsh light. Tell the truth; you really wouldn't give a crap if he eff'ed up an inking job by Don Perlin or Paul Reinman, but poor Coletta had to be assigned to the King.

I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Coletta had to bang out a late delivery from Joe Orlando to Marvel on DD #2. Things happen. It’s hard to crank out penciled pages when you’re trying to raise a young family. Most people don’t realize how much concentration and physical time it takes to produce storytelling. It’s a real pain in the ass. And most of the time you’re drawing a story by a writer that you'd never concoct for yourself to illustrate. It ain’t easy. Or always enjoyable. But in the days when Mr. Coletta was slinging ink it was a good job for a kid who wanted to be an artist. Nothing more, nothing less.

Thank god for people like Kirby, Eisner, and Ditko, who showed what you could achieve artistically. But for every Kirby or Eisner or Ditko there were thirty other guys out there hacking it out. Slinging ink.

If comic book history were put in its context, it would be a lot kinder on the likes of Mr. Vince Coletta.

Take care pal,
*****

Hey *****,

I’ve heard various things about Colletta through the years.

I found Larsen’s column interesting not because of any particular reason other than the fact that I saw a lot of Vince Colletta inking while I was growing up on comics.

Some of it I liked and some of it, not so much.

I can remember him inking Sal Buscema and not minding the output so much. I don’t have a strong opinion either way about his run on Thor over Kirby and I seem to remember him being paired off with George Tuska a lot (maybe Iron Man?). I also
remember seeing him do a lot of those horror books from the seventies as well.

Some people you wind up liking and some people you just can’t stand (in terms of their work). It has to do with your own personal preference more than anything else. I could never really like Don Heck’s work, there was something about it that just always rubbed me the wrong way. When Frank Robbins took over Captain America I was absolutely horrified.

I did like the context Larsen put things in though. The fact that although he worked to a certain level, he met his deadlines and that was what separated him from the amateurs. It’s something that is even more relevant in today’s comic book industry where people can’t meet a deadline to save their life.

Kind of amazing when you think about it – comics is perhaps the only business where they ALLOW people to blow deadlines!

Understand, I find myself moving away from the whole “comic book’ thing - a New Year’s resolution was to end the weekly fix of buying comics and 6 months in it’s stuck. Now to get rid of the many boxes of them I have lying around here!

On another note, I had heard through our mutual acquaintance at one point that Colletta... (I’ve edited this because it’s not right to publicly give credence to unfounded rumors) Again, other than the story I heard through BP I have nothing to confirm this.

You know as more time goes on, I think comics missed out somewhere along the line by becoming the specialty product it now is - there is something to be said for those newsprint treasures of our youth.

PJ

At the end of the day, I’m a bit amazed of what seems to be controversy over Colletta’s work. As much as I’ve enjoyed comics over the years, I wasn’t aware of any particular bias before now. I will say though that even though Vince Colletta is gone over seventeen years now, it’s nice to see he still has his defenders.

I like that.

Fortunately though opinions are like... well you probably know where I’m going. The bottom line is it’s not worth getting upset about.

VIDEO VAULT THURSDAY!
(because exclamation points make all the difference)

This week’s entry into VIDEO VAULT THURSDAY is something I came across by accident.

Some people believe the song is about a serial killer and some of the lyrics seem to agree with this claim. “The man in the dark will bring another attack” and “I close my eyes and wait to hear the sound of someone screaming” certainly seem to refer to a murderer. However, a number of the lyrics point to the song being about prostitution. The mention of things like “red lights” is just one possible indication. Further evidence to support this claim is at the end of the song where “A hand in the bush” is repeated over and over. This could be a reference to fisting. Some people prefer to take a hybrid view and believe the song is about a killer with a modus operandi similar to that of Jack the Ripper.

I can’t profess to ever being a big fan of Ozzy Osbourne but, I did have to admit to having heard the song and it sounding familiar when I was watching the video. Also, if you think about the time it was released (1991/92), it’s a pretty good video and holds up exceptionally well.

As a bit of a bonus, here are some very funny spoof videos featuring Ozzy from Ozzfest:

I feel a double feature coming on.

Who’d thunk it!

Marvel manages to have two movies in theaters with some pretty big names in the leading roles (Rpbert Downey Jr. and Edward Norton). I’ve got to imagine there will come some point late in August or early in the fall where both studios will see if they can’t get a little bit more mileage out of these films. Though Iron Man is distributed by Paramount and Incredible Hulk is distributed by Universal can anyone tell me the thought of such a double feature isn’t appealing?

F*#% Off!

Tonight, I got an email blast from A-Dopey:

June 2008 Send to a friend     Archive     Help     Unsubscribe Featured content Experience Design Manager Matt Snow provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Adobe XD Mobile and Devices team and demos several applications currently under development. View video › In this issue See what's in store for the next release of Adobe® Dreamweaver® by Scott Fegette   Learn how to geocode with Papervision3D and Adobe Flex® by Mark Walters The edge of Flash® by Rob Ford   Project profile: Sprout Builder grows with Flex by Julie Campagna Get the scoop on the next release of Adobe Fireworks® by Aaron Beall   Coding standards: What are they and why should you use them? by James Polanco Untravel Media enables unique sightseeing tours on mobile devices by Ira Hochman   To ensure you experience the Edge as intended, we recommend that you download and install the latest version of Flash Player. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Adobe AIR, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, and Flex are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2008 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. This is an advertising message from Adobe Systems Incorporated, its affiliates, and agents ("Adobe"), 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, CA 95110 USA. If you'd prefer not to receive e-mail like this from Adobe in the future, please unsubscribe, or send an e-mail to unsubscribe-na@adobesystems.com. Alternatively, you may mail your unsubscribe request to: UNSUBSCRIBE, Adobe Systems Incorporated, P.O. Box 2205, Beaverton, OR 97075. Your privacy is important to Adobe. Please review Adobe's online privacy policy.

My first thought was, “HEY! INSTEAD OF SENDING ME THIS INANE PROMOTIONAL DRECK, HOW ABOUT FIXING YOUR DAMN SOFTWARE SO IT WILL RUN CORRECTLY?”

Sometimes a ride just isn’t a ride.

On the DC New Frontier DVD, they’ve packaged a few episodes of Justice League. I was watching one of the episodes – Dark Heart. In it, the Justice League fights some kind of self-replicating entity that necessitates them getting The Atom to help in the battle. The Atom is a character they have to shuttle to the battle site and then shuttle him close enough to the creature in question so that he can voyage inside the thing.

Well, Superman goes to get The Atom and he hitches a ride in Superman’s ear canal.

Fine, a little gross but fine nonetheless.

Wonder Woman is the hero that has to get The Atom close to the creature. So, of course The Atom hitches along in her ear canal as well, right?

Wrong, The Atom of course takes up residence in Wonder Woman’s cleavage!

There’s this great moment when The Atom jumps out between Wonder Woman’s breasts and into the creature.

Now, this scene is just laden for all kinds of smarmy comments. First off, it’s amazing The Atom could show the discipline to tear himself away from those voluptuous Amazonian orbs. What I was surprised by though is that I can’t really remember anyone catching this and creating an uproar over it.

I mean, wouldn’t the equivalent been if The Atom had caught a ride in Superman’s taint?*

Like... ewwww!

*NOTE – since writing this entry, I kept thinking about an old Jim Croce song, You Don’t Mess Around with Jim except the lyric would be: You don’t ride in Superman’s taint!

Henceforth.

I am putting this out there although I have been doing this for months now.

In the future anytime I refer to the people or the corporation Adobe, I will now write A-Dopey because honestly, that’s what they‘ve become.

Computer hell.

I am just livid!

For the last two weeks or so I’ve been slowly descending down the levels of computer hell and somewhere around the seventh ring are those indescribable f**ks from Adobe. Don’t worry; the idiots from Apple are round about the fifth ring so they’re there too.

It’s times like these I really, really miss the world before OSX.

A week or two back, I made the mistake of trying to install another Apple update (10.4.11). The update is the last update where my trusty G4 is supported; Leopard just isn’t supported on G4s (at least that’s my understanding). So, I tried installing the thing and of course, blewy!

I’ve been down this path before now – twice I think, maybe three times, you would think I would know better. It always happens at the most inconvenient time imaginable (of course, is there ever a time when it’s convenient to waste hour reinstalling software and trying to recover your data?

So, for two weeks now I’ve been rebuilding.

It’s slow work.

Reformatting the drive, reinstalling software, backing up, downloading updates, downloading them again because they don’t verify... oh, I could go on and on.

I learn a few things in the process though... for the next time.

First, Safe Booting. They don’t have it written down as prominently as they should but, you should know to launch into Safe Boot mode before doing installs. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, hold down the shift key during startup.

Apple describes it thusly:

Safe Boot is a special way to start Mac OS X 10.2 or later when troubleshooting. Safe Mode is the state Mac OS X is in after a Safe Boot.

Starting up into Safe Mode does three things to simplify the startup and operation of your computer:

• It forces a directory check of the startup volume.
• It loads only required kernel extensions (some of the items in /System/Library/Extensions).
• In Mac OS X 10.3.9 or earlier, it runs only Apple-installed startup items (some of the items in /Library/StartupItems and /System/Library/StartupItems - and different than login items).
• Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger only: It disables all fonts other than those in /System/Library/Fonts.
• Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger only: It moves to the Trash all font caches normally stored in /Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS/(uid)/ , where (uid) is a user ID number such as 501.
• Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger only: It disables all startup items and any Login Items.

Taken together, these changes can work around issues caused by software or directory damage on the startup volume.
Some features don't work in Safe Mode

Safe Mode can be useful for troubleshooting. However, certain Mac OS X features do not work when you are started up in Safe Mode. For example, you can't use DVD Player, capture video in iMovie, use an AirPort card, use audio input or output devices, or use an internal or external USB modem.

See, Apple doesn’t really talk about that in great detail unless you go looking for it (and you’re not going to until after you have a problem).

Apple’s message boards are laden with people going through this kind of angst and woe.

In a word, gggggrrrrrreeeeeeeaaaaaattttttt.

Getting back to the subject at hand though, the other thing that isn’t written down anywhere is that if you are experiencing problems after installing an update before fearing the worst you might want to try one very simple thing - launch from a bootable cd/dvd or partition and run the disk utility on the drive you just updated repairing permissions.

REPAIRING PERMISSIONS?!?!?

Yep, I actually found that during the whole installing of further update process at one point when things weren’t ‘taking’ like they should that just running disk utility and repairing permissions did the trick (and I haven’t found that one written down, ANYWHERE!).

So, that’s the Apple side of things. At this point though, I’ve got a good build of the OS on three of the six partitions I use, all of them with duplicate accounts (the only thing I have to do now is burn disc images to DVD of them) so on that side of things matter are settled.

But Adobe... what a bunch of clueless f**ks.

I don’t know what happened to Adobe, I really don’t. They used to be such a good company. Maybe it‘s the fact that they’ve had less and less competition in the marketplace as they’ve knocked off competitors but, boy are they sucking it up lately.

First off, around Christmas time I tried installing the CS3 suite – what a mistake. I tried downloading the trial versions and installing them and even went as far as to order the upgrade (the Premium upgrade meaning I get royally screwed). It was just a world of pain and suffering. Never mind the month of back and forth with Adobe, what an incredible bunch of non-responsive and clueless idiots.

Don’t believe me? Try calling Adobe customer service and see what I mean. It’s like talking to a dog and trying to explain the concept of the color blue. It’s not that they are unhelpful, just wildly obtuse.

In the meantime, Adobe has gotten so concerned with piracy that using and installing their products has become a nightmare. When you have a software package that costs me time and money because I can’t get it to properly run the time has come to look for alternatives – it’s funny because Adobe is in the same position that Quark was in a bunch of years back when they were known infamously for their customer service (or lack thereof). Well, we see how that worked out. I can only hope Adobe experiences the same pain after what I have gone through trying to get their products to work over the last six months.

The latest jewel was the nice error I got when trying to get Illustrator CS to run. I can’t waste time on trying to fix buggy software that should work – Adobe get your act together!

Singular sensation.

A few days back, I was getting all nostalgic for the 80’s and mentioning Max Headroom. The truth is that the eighties are in many ways the forgotten decade for me for more reasons than I care to number.

Talking about Max Headroom though, there was an interesting story regarding the character and something that happened in the Chicago area back then. It involved the theft of a broadcast signal.

The Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion incident was a television signal hijacking in Chicago, Illinois on the evening of November 22, 1987; it is an example of what is known in the television business as broadcast signal intrusion. The intruder was successful in interrupting two television stations within three hours. Neither the hijacker nor his accomplices have ever been found or identified.

It’s unheard of for your television signal to get hijacked, it just doesn’t happen. It’s usually the stuff of sci-fi stories, movies and tv. TV as a medium, is a closed system, so much so we take it for granted a lot of the time.

We often fail to acknowledge the increasing power TV has on our lives, shaping both our opinions and world view. Anyway, that’s what makes this story all the more interesting.



If you want to, you can see a tape of the original signal hijack here and also here (with cleaned up audio).

I just got to thinking wouldn’t it be cool if they used it in the new Doctor Who series as a story element.

One of the better comics-related events.



If you are in and around the New York Metro area this weekend, I strongly urge you to check out the MoCCA ArtFest over at the Puck Building.

I’ve gone myself twice now (out of I think the three that they have held) and it’s always a heart-lifting experience. MoCCA’s ArtFest is different from other cons because there is more balanced male to female ratio, markedly different from your usual con.

Also, the breadth of the work is well beyond the normal superhero focus of the big two with a lot of space being given over to people who self-publish. It’s nice to see a place where comics are being used as a medium and elevated as an art form. There are a series of panels as well so if you’re basking in the heat with nothing to do...

Be forewarned though, I kind of remember them not having A/C in years previous – something I hope changed for this year because otherwise it will be oppressively hot.

While you’re there though be sure to swing by and say hello to the always affable Keith Williams or check out the gregarious and gorgeous Molly Crabapple.

Candidate and cockblocks.

So, it looks like we’re winding up with our final two in the national version of Survivor. I’m still on the fence having apprehensions in regard to both candidates but, I will say that when I heard the conversation at the end of this post and read the story referenced below I was mightily impressed!

Alas, the “pretty young thing” was laughing, too. And, after that humiliating episode, she was no longer interested in Lovelady’s “tricks of the trade.” “Obama owes me a public apology for making me look like a court jester and for blocking my shot,” Lovelady’s column concludes. “Until that time, Hillary or Giuliani will get my vote.”

Read the story first and then click on this link and you’ll understand what I found so laudable.

If you’re going to do something,

it’s good to be the best (or worst) at it.

Vince Colletta’s name has become synonymous with bad inking.

For many, Vinnie is the gold standard of bad inking — a veritable poster boy for hacking. To many he is the worst inker to ever put pen to paper.

But that’s overstating it, I think.

Erik Larsen talks about Vince Colletta. I’ve run across a bunch of people and heard a load of stories about Colletta through the years and the Larsen column only touches the surface but, it’s definitely worth a read.

Taking lessons from Lou Pinella?



Seattle manager John McLaren gives some insight as to his managerial thinking and the performance of his Mariners in the ’08 baseball season.

VIDEO VAULT THURSDAY!
(because exclamation points make all the difference)

So, I’m trying to get into the habit of doing things regularly but, it requires discipline. The same principles that need to be applied to my quest to exercise and lose a little weight.

Anyway... so, I have a couple of videos I’ve already squirreled away for future VIDEO VAULT THURSDAYS and this one in particular is an interesting marriage.

The band whose video it is, is The Art of Noise.

I’m not really quite sure what about the Art of Noise exactly it was that clicked with me. The cover of the Peter Gunn theme resonated at a time when I spent much of my day behind the wheel of a car – coincidentally the Peter Gunn theme was the background music for another favorite of mine, Spy Hunter.

Anyway, were not talking about the Peter Gunn theme this week, instead we’re talking about another Art of Noise tune, Paranomia:


What makes this video so special isn’t so much the video itself – rather it’s the combination of the song and who they sampled for the song.

Max Headroom, I guess looking back is very much a trite fixture of the eighties but, if you were around back then you can understand how radical the whole concept of Max Headroom was.

Max Headroom is the name of a fictional British artificial intelligence, known for his surreal wit and stuttering, distorted, electronically sampled voice. The character was created by George Stone, Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton and performed by Matt Frewer. Max Headroom was featured in a music video program, a feature film, a dramatic television series and television commercials.

This whole period doesn’t seem that long ago even though it’s two decades past now! Thing is, we are talking about a time when home computers were the exception rather than the rule and this ‘lo-tech’ simulation of ‘hi-tech’ reallly was cutting edge.
This is the extended mix, apparently made using effects from Video Toaster. Again, it’s not overwhelming now but, at the time it was playing around and seeing what these new tools could do.

Out in the cold!

So for reasons not worth relating I’ve been denied a guilty favorite of mine. Friday nights have been a big deal because of the back to back broadcasts of Doctor Who and the reimaged BSG and I’m a bit disappointed to be denied.

Fortunately, there is more than one way to skin a cat and between YouTube and internet broadcasting I don’t have to go without.

One of the other nice things about YouTube is that you can come across jewels like this one that don’t get broadcast:

The email I never got.

Thankfully:

Hey Guys! Big news... I have grown so fat I actually managed to get my HMO to pay for surgery... now I can continue to eat and lose weight... won't it be great... I have absolutely no self-control whatsoever.... I want to blame the fact that I cannot resist stuffing my face with junk... that and the fact I can’t be bothered to exert myself in the least amount to burn off some calories.

Why clutter is a bad thing.

I’ve been spending a lot of my time recently trying to pare down a lot of the clutter that has built up around here over the last bunch of years. I never quite realized how bad the problem was until it was too late. So, to that end I’ve gotten these two books I’ve been using as a bit of a bible to combat the problem (more on that another day).

The subject arises in the context of this news article I came across yesterday:

A homeless woman who sneaked into a man’s house and lived undetected in his closet for a year was arrested in Japan after he became suspicious when food mysteriously began disappearing.

Police found the 58-year-old woman Thursday hiding in the top compartment of the man’s closet and arrested her for trespassing, police spokesman Hiroki Itakura from southern Kasuya town said Friday.

In space... no one can hear you flush.

“It is very inconvenient at this time because it requires a lot of manual intervention,” said Kirk Shireman, deputy International Space Station program manager.

Some things you just can’t make up. It’s times like these though that you begin to realize what they truly mean when they talk about ‘vital systems.’

VIDEO VAULT THURSDAY!

You know before Flavor Flav had women competing for his attention on reality TV, he actually was a part of one of the more important bands to come down the pike in the last few decades. If you’re not familiar with the band I’m talking about, Public Enemy, you really need to go back and check out some of their stuff.

I know I’m just an old white boy nowadays but, I grew up in and around the neighborhoods that spawned rap. Consequently, there’s some rap I really, really like. Not because I’m a whigga, as much as someone who grew up in the same kind of environment and recognizes the truths inherent in some rap lyrics.

And... This week‘s video uses claymation!

I love claymation! And who doesn’t love claymation, I ask you! Even more so, who doesn’t love a claymation version of Flavor Flav!?

Anyway, though rap sometimes gets short shrift in our society, there are rap songs conveying important messages about what is going on in around us. I’m not talking about the misogynistic stuff or the glorification of gangstaism, the video for this week‘s entry if anything, goes entirely against the grain of that.

And I like it! It takes what is normally presented as a lifestyle to be emulated and turns it on its head exposing it is means to disenfranchise people and keep them down. Well, I’m probably overcomplicating it, so just click and enjoy because it’s a great video and a great song:

GIVE IT UP - PUBLIC ENEMY

File under...

So, a few days back I posted something snidely about the failure of the Clinton campaign to secure the Democratic nomination and how it might be the work of the infamous ‘Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.’

Little did I know how deeply the roots of that paranoia have hold within the Clinton camp. Just a few days later, the former President made the following remarks:

Clinton also suggested that some were trying to “cover up” Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning in key states that Democrats will have to win in the general election.

“‘Oh, this is so terrible: The people they want her. Oh, this is so terrible: She is winning the general election, and he is not. Oh, my goodness, we have to cover this up.’”

Clinton did not expound on who he was accusing.

The former president added that his wife had not been given the respect she deserved as a legitimate presidential candidate.

“She is winning the general election today, and he is not, according to all the evidence,” Clinton said. “And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running.”

I could find this laughable if we weren’t discussing Presidential politics. The ‘aw-shucks’ attitude, the ‘we know she is supposed to win’ along with the implication that any other alternative must by default indicate there is something amiss, a right denied.

Even better still is the logic of the popular vote argument:

A DNC committee is meeting to consider what to do with the two states this weekend and will probably come up with a compromise to partially seat the delegations. There’s still the embarrassment that if the votes from Florida and Michigan (where Obama pulled his name from the ballot and technically received no votes) are counted in popular-vote totals, Hillary very narrowly has more votes than Obama. He’s probably going to get the nomination through superdelegates - defying the popular will as measured by that old-fashioned yardstick of votes.

I have yet to hear it mentioned by anyone in HRC’s camp when they go on about the popular vote or seating the delegates from the aforementioned states that she was the only candidate whose name was on the ballot. No mention of how her opponents honored their parties’ directives – of course, this isn’t about the party though is it?

Probably that‘s why there was such an furor of those remarks last week, aside from theat they were factually incorrect, because it becomes apparent even to members within her own party just what this candidacy is about:

Clinton has poured more than $11 million of her own money into the campaign, with no guarantee of ever getting it back. She has changed slogans and themes the way Obama changes his ties. She has been the first major-party presidential candidate in memory to tout her appeal to white voters. She has abandoned any pretense of consistency, inventing new rationales for continuing her candidacy and new yardsticks for measuring its success whenever the old rationales and yardsticks begin to favor Obama.

Is it surprising to see many in HRC’s camp succumbing so deeply to self denial? Not really, because we’ve been down this road before.

The great mistake.

I have a lot to say about baseball... always.

I am fascinated by the game and my love for the sport grows with each passing year.

This week, the Yankees made what will turn out to be one of the most disastrous decisions of the last several years and one that could well impact the team for years to come.

This past week, the Yankees decided to begin the process of moving Joba Chamberlain to the starting rotation:

It was not a tough decision for the 22-year-old pitcher, whose role has been the subject of debate since he came up to the majors last August.

“We sat down and talked and I said I’d rather be out there and competing for eight innings rather than one inning,” Chamberlain said of the Tuesday afternoon meeting that included Girardi, general manager Brian Cashman and pitching coach Dave Eiland. “So it’s gonna be a great adjustment, but I am excited about it.”

The reason I believe it is such a mistake is because Yankee fans are truly spoiled.

Spoiled?

Well, up until ’95 I was a Yankee fan and a big one at that. I went through 12 years of being a Yankee fan, before that time I can’t really admit to being a follower of the sport to any great extent although I did go to the ’76 World Series and a helleva lot of Yankee games because someone connected to the family was a ballboy.

Those years of being a Yankee fan gave me a great appreciation of Mariano Rivera.

See, I can remember Mariano’s first start (yes, that’s start). It was a spot start against the California Angels and Mariano got lit up but good. I specifically remembered if because the next day when I went into work another Yankee fan was commenting on the performance of the rookie pitcher and there was something about Mariano’s mound presence that really stuck with me.

Pitchers are funny, they control the game more than any other player on the field. Some of that has to do with ability but, a lot of that has to do with confidence as well.

If you’re a baseball fan, you know that even though a guy can throw hard, eventually major league hitters will catch up to a guy and hit that fastball. Great pitchers can throw hard but they have guile as well. They are tricksters but, like any magician a big part of it is believing in one’s own magic.

Mariano’s first performance was noticeable because even though he was knocked around by the Angels, you could see on his face he wasn’t intimidated. It probably sounds simple but, sometimes you can see a pitcher out on the mound and realize just how lonely a job pitching can be. A bad day for a pitcher means failing in front of thousands, not an easy thing. If you look close, you can read it on a guy’s face, they look close to tears on a bad day. Those are the guys who won’t have long careers in the majors. The guys who stick around are the ones who can have a bad day and tough it out, Mariano is just such an example.

Before Mariano was designated closer for the Yankees, as a fan I suffered through quite a few nail biting eighth and ninth innings.

Dave Righetti was the Yankee closer for a long time and anyone who followed the Yankees back then will tell you what a nail biting experience it was when Righetti came into a game. You never quite knew which Righetti you were going to get, the guy who threw darts or the guy who couldn’t find the plate and quickly dug a hole for himself.

After Righetti left the Yanks, unthinkably he looked better and better as the Yankees struggled to find the answer that later came in the form of a skinny Panamanian kid.

Righetti left in 1990 and even before he left the Yankees were sorely trying to find alternatives. The list is long and filled with some interesting names: Jay Howell, Mike Armstrong, Jose Rijo, Brian Fisher, Rich Bordi, Bob Shirley, Neil Allen, Rod Scurry, Alfonso Pulido, Tim Stoddard, Pat Clements, Cecilio Guante, Charles Hudson, Dale Mohorcic, Lee Gutterman, Lance McCullers, Greg Cadaret, John Habyan, Steve Howe.

Finally, when the Yankees got Steve Farr they thought they’d found the answer but it wouldn’t last.

People forget Lee Smith pitched for the Yankees, they tried Bob Wickman out and went back to using Steve Howe. Xavier Hernandez, Sterling Hitchcock and Jeff Reardon would all record saves until the Yankees swung a deal and landed John Wetteland.

Wettland would be the bridge and mentor to Mariano Rivera but, looking through that list of names it took an awfully long time to find someone like Mariano.

Mariano signed a four year contract in the off-season so he’ll be 41 when his contract is up. funny thing about closers though is that when they go, it isn’t a gradual thing. Mariano has been a sure thing for Yankee fans for so long, they’ve forgotten the uncertainty of what life was like before Mariano and in Chamberlain, they could well have Mariano’s heir apparent.

Chamberlain will be 25 at the end of Mariano’s contract and there is no reason to believe that Mariano will be as dominant at 41 as he has been up to this point. Plus, Chamberlain has already proven himself to be the perfect bridge to Mariano, effectively closing the door in the 8th inning of games.

Good closers are hard to find.

And as much as Yankee fans may think this is a good idea, remember last year everyone was going on about how Phil Hughes was the second coming of Roger Clemens. Well, we see how that went, don’t we?

Enough already!

Enough with the stupid politics, schmolotics! I’m going back to writing about more banal, innocuous things like religion! (LOL)

No, really – this stuff is like playing with dynamite.

Flailing wildly.

I don’t know how much to read in the comments of HRC within the last 24 hours. I caught this excessive rant by Keith Olbermann last night and found myself smirking. Olbermann, who is the darling of the left when he’s ripping Georgie Jr. a new one, suddenly becomes a little less lovable when he turns his caustic comments on the Madonna of the Democratic party.

Asked if her continuing fight for the nomination against Senator Obama hurts the Democratic party, Sen. Hillary Clinton replied, “I don’t. Because again, I’ve been around long enough. You know, my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know, I just don’t understand it. You know, there’s lots of speculation about why it is.”

---

(you can watch the thing here)

I don’t know, is it shock and awe?

Shock, that the presumptive nominee is watching her campaign falter and trying to figure out just what the strategy is to save some face or awe, that she has actually been outplayed at the game she thought she was the master of.

There are a generation of HRC supporters who figured her reward for sticking by her man as he disrespected her with his extramarital activities would be to ultimately capture the presidency for herself. It was all part of that grand design that saw an eventual return to the White House after a brief sojourn gaining political cred as a Senator from New York.

So, the question is, will we one day be seeing HRC sporting a shirt stating, ‘I stuck it out with this cheater and all I got was a lousy Senate seat.’

HRC is unquestionably a force in American politics, she is not without support but something has happened along the way to her coronation and it is a bitter pill to swallow. Somehow, in some way her status as the ‘anointed one’ was usurped.

So, were her comments wishful thinking on her part?

No, I would say not but, her memory of her husband’s candidacy is certainly in error as Billy tied up the nomination well before June. Also, primaries have been moved much, much earlier this year than in elections past so, part of the fascination with her doggedness in continuing to campaign in June has something to do with many of the primaries having long since concluded.

In the meantime, John McCain sits back and takes potshots at Barack Obama knowing full well that’s who he’ll be facing in the general election come November.

Speaking of which, if John McCain had said the same thing that HRC had said would there be less outrage over the comments or more?

I think the worry here (and justifiably so) is that as forward thinking a nation we might picture ourselves as being, there are still large swatches of the population given over to baser impulses as prejudice. While Barack Obama’s ascendancy is a cause for celebration there is a very real fear that it all could be spoiled by an idiot with a gun, a grudge and good aim.

It’s a sobering thing and I shudder to think of the kind of statement it would make to our country and the kind of response it would engender.

Of all the things to bring up though – it’s amazingly stupid and insensitive so, the question remains - why did she do it?

Ah, the sweet if bitter irony of it all.

You know, there are times in life when you see things happen and it makes you smile inwardly. It’s because you’re not a part of what’s happening and because you saw it coming.

The topic I am dancing gingerly around is the flailing struggle called the race for the Democratic nomination.

It’s weird.

People are throwing accusations about, they’re name calling and what should be happening is they should be getting their act together for the November general election. If the Democrats through some incredible miscalculation lose the general election this coming November, they will have only themselves to blame.

Why?

The Republicans are in the most untenable position. They have a chief executive who has left a dubious legacy after his two terms in office. First by engaging in an increasingly unpopular ‘war’ over the last 7 years and second by spending the nation into oblivion.

I had a conversation a few weeks back with someone who supports Bush (they are out there). A basic argument Bush supporters at one time had was due to his family’s big oil connections, the price of a gallon of gasoline would remain low and Americans would be able to drive Hummers cheaply for decades to come.

Check the price of the pump lately?

I guess that advantage was put to rest by the Saudis recently when they told their lame duck friend to take a flying leap.

The other lovely thing about the increased energy costs is watching prices go up across the board while wages stay the same – let’s hear it for the global marketplace! Yes, the American worker now competes with workers on the other side of the world who are paid pennies on the dollar for their labor.

Wading into this morass is a Democratic party unable to capitalize on gains made in the last mid term election and consumed by in-fighting. So much so, there is actually a possibility they could lose!

Wow.

Even though I’m a registered Republican, I haven’t voted for the winner in any of the last three Presidential elections (that should tell you something). I did not pick the people who have been our chief executive. Whether it’s cynicism or just outright disdain for what the presidential race has become, I see our nation descending into a morass where out leaders are just not taking this country in a direction I would like to see it go.

Lately, a lot of people I ‘read,’ people whose opinions I respect have thrown down the gauntlet of sexism in regard to the continued campaign of HRC by suggesting that insults directed at her are too much wrapped around her gender.

Thing is, people have spent the last 8 years villifying the current administration and none of it has been that nice. So, is it okay when it’s not the person you support?

Are we being a little disingenuous here?

HRC is not my favorite person. I have a long memory and way, way back in ’92 I remember quite vividly the sales pitch I fell for.

Well, the old saw goes: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

16 years later, any kind of reform of our health care system is further off than it was back then and if anything things continue to grow worse.

Also, I’ve written elsewhere that I don’t agree with one of the basic premises of HRC’s candidacy, an assertion sharing a bed with someone conveys special powers. Bedroom osmosis making a person more capable than another. The whole, ‘ready on day one’ because I’ve lived in the White House doesn’t fly with me.

Woman or man, if I am looking for a surgeon, a pilot or a mechanic, I want to find the best person to perform that job. Their spouse is not who I am seek no matter how much shop talk goes on after the lights are turned off for the night.

The other thing is this, politics is a dirty business. People are nasty and insulting to the other guy’s candidate. It’s the way things have always been. Am I to believe there is some vast left-wing conspiracy afoot out to deny HRC the nomination?

Suck it up – you lost.

Forget about health care reform.

Why?

Because everything in a capitalistic society is for sale and that includes political representation.

“They’re shifting to the Democrats in large part because they understand the Democrats are going to have the majority in the next Congress and will be the party driving health policy and drug reimbursement policy,” Corrado said. “They want to position themselves to be able to defend against any regulatory efforts they believe are overly stringent.”

We talk about Republicans and Democrats, red states and blue states, liberals and conservatives but, at the end of the day it’s the green party that runs things.

Green as in the color of money.

We think new faces in our government will effect change but there is too much of an incentive to continue with business as usual. We see this not only in our health care system but also in our dependence on oil as an energy source.

There is simply too much money tied up in these institutions and far too much for powerful interests to lose, if there were actual change of any type.

Until we look at the underlying structures of our capitalistic society and admit to the contradictions inherent in building a society based upon capitalism we will fail to confront the schisms such a society produces.

We have been subjected as a nation to months and months of empty rhetoric. Candidates parade in front of cameras spouting falsehoods they themselves know to be untrue. Programs that are full of promise but highly unlikely to ever be put into force.

I may sound overly cynical but, it’s frustrating to see our nation distracted and polarized while the problems confronting us just worsen.

VIDEO VAULT THURSDAY!

This week’s video is from the music video equivalent of the Stone Age! Predating MTV by many years, I came across this while looking around for something to do with another post. What’s interesting is how the video itself is an example of the first baby steps marketing executives, records companies and artists themselves were taking towards the form of marrying music to pictures.

One of the treats about the thing (aside from being shot on film) is looking at the hairstyles and clothing that were current at the time the video was shot (around 1972)



The song is often mistakenly attributed to Bob Dylan, likely because Rafferty’s distinctive voice is similar to Dylan’s, as well as the acoustic folk/rock style the song employs.

“Stuck in the Middle with You” (also, in early references, “Stuck in the Middle”) is a song written and performed by Stealers Wheel which was composed of Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty, and an ever-changing cast of other musicians. The song was released on their 1972 self-titled debut album Stealers Wheel. The single sold over one million copies, climbing up to eventually the top 10 on both the US (in 1973) and UK pop charts.

The book I never got.



Oh, how life would have been different! (LOL)

Sorting and tossing a bunch of old magazines I came across this ad, pure 70s!

Best line of the ad: A discotheque where the girls are so liberated you can often sleep with them the same night you meet them!

Priceless!

A fading power?

I was talking to someone the other day and during the conversation I speculated the following:

If the 19th Century was Great Britain’s century, and the 20th Century was the century of the U.S., will the 21st Century be China’s century?

How will it affect our world and what will the world look like when it is through?

At least once.

...And, most important of all: “Wouldn’t it be nice if all those people who roam the streets of New York, talking to themselves, were paired off so that they could walk around in couples and look like they’re having a conversation?”

Lily Tomlin used that line in her act back in 1975, little did she know three decades later cell phones would be so ubiquitous pairing off people would be an unnecessary bother.

I have the cell phone but I try to use it sparingly, especially in public places. Others don’t seem to be restrained by good manners and having wonderfully quiet moments on the train or just around the city seem to be something relegated to the past.

So, when I came across this compilation of clips (some of which I had seen), I just had to share:

Video Vault Thursday!
(Because the exclamation point makes all the difference)

So, last week I obsessed over Shirley Manson. Not only is she incredible but, some of those Garbage tunes are just awesome. This week we’re going in a different direction.

This week’s video is fairly recent as videos go. Although it looks deceptively simple, it does have quite a bit going on if you look closely. Once again, it’s a great song that softens any problems a person might have with the video itself but it is an interesting marriage of music and image.



The track “E-Pro” was remixed by Paza Rahm and released on the Hell Yes EP as “Bad Cartridge.” The EP was released on vinyl, as an iTunes Music Store download, and in CD format for college radio. “E-Pro” was Beck’s first number 1 since his debut single “Loser.”

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“E-Pro” is the opening track on Beck’s 2005 album Guero. It was released as the lead single from the album in March 2005. The underlying drum beat throughout most of the song is a sample from the Beastie Boys' 1992 smash hit “So What’cha Want.” The song was Beck’s second #1 on the Modern Rock chart and his first in eleven years.

The video for the song was created by Shynola. It is set in a computer-animated environment, where Beck rises from a grave, digs up a dog, and climbs buildings, among other things. It was nominated for “Best Music Video” in the 2005 Arias Awards.

Get this nation an enema.

So, I make no secret about the fact that I am a registered Republican. Most of the reason I aligned myself with the Republican party is because of their stance on foreign policy where I have always been a bit more hawkish than most. Sure, negotiation is a fine thing but, there are times when military might is a necessary component of foreign policy. Of course, I am presupposing that any application of military force is used judiciously - let’s just leave it at that without going into the actions of the current administration.

I read something earlier this evening though that got me to thinking...

It got me thinking about what I would like to see happen, going forward in our country. I find that I haven’t been happy with the choices offered up in the last few presidential elections. I don’t know when it happened, I think around 1980, but the nation seemed to have changed how it picked chief executives. Presidential races became more of a beauty contest than anything else.

I always remark to friends how men like Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry Truman could never get elected in a this day of television. They’re just not ‘pretty’ enough. Whenever we start talking about how telegenic candidates are, it’s a sure sign that as a nation we’ve lost our way.

So, back to the whole direction of the country thing...

I wonder if any of the three people who are currently in the running to become our nation’s leader have (to use some foreign slang) the ‘stones’ to really change the heading we’re on.

I looked back a little and I found something that I think should be a rough blueprint of the kind of change I am thinking we need. However, it is so far a field from anything I am hearing from the current candidates, I wonder if it is just wishful thinking on my part.

Gross National Product rose 10% in the first year of the tax cut, and economic growth averaged a rate of 4.5% from 1961 to 1968. Disposable personal income rose 15% in 1966 alone. Despite the drop in tax rates, federal revenues increased dramatically from $94 billion in 1961 to $150 billion in 1967. As the Baby Boom generation aged, two and a half times more Americans would enter the labor force between 1965 and 1980 than had between 1950 and 1965.

So, it sounds like all I’m talking about is a further cut in taxes but, it’s more than that, much more:

I have come today from the turmoil of your Capital to the tranquility of your campus to speak about the future of your country.

The purpose of protecting the life of our Nation and preserving the liberty of our citizens is to pursue the happiness of our people. Our success in that pursuit is the test of our success as a Nation.

For a century we labored to settle and to subdue a continent. For half a century we called upon unbounded invention and untiring industry to create an order of plenty for all of our people.

The challenge of the next half-century is whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of our American civilization.

Your imagination, your initiative, and your indignation will determine whether we build a society where progress is the servant of our needs, or a society where old values and new visions are buried under unbridled growth. For in your time we have the opportunity to move not only toward the rich society and the powerful society, but upward to the Great Society.

The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time. But that is just the beginning.

Thing is, even if it’s wishful thinking on my part, am I alone in this?

I find this strangely appealing.


So much so that it makes me want to take a trip as a pilgrimage of sorts because there are certain things in life you just have to see.

The in-joke.

I got this emailed to me awhile back by the very talented Gerry Acerno. I came across it as I was cleaning files off the computer and though I may as well post it. It’s a bit of an in-joke but, still an entertaining drawing:

Playin’ in the potty?

Back in 2000, BBC News ran the following article:

The shocking secrets of the life of grime beneath your fingers have been revealed. Computer keyboards are accumulating up to two grams of dirt every month, research conducted on behalf of AOL UK shows. The crumbs and dirt collect beneath the keys because users eat breakfast, snacks, and lunch over their computer terminals.

Today though, it gets even better by comparison due to a recent study:

Some computer keyboards harbour more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat, research has suggested. Consumer group Which? said tests at its London offices found equipment carrying bugs that could cause food poisoning. Out of 33 keyboards swabbed, four were regarded as a potential health hazard and one harboured five times more germs than one of the office’s toilet seats.

Time to stock up on finger cots?

Don’t %@#$ with Sue!

I love when stuff like this happens:

Just sayin’

You can put a rubber band around your stomach but it still won’t do anything for your fat head.

I think she would be happy.

So, there is a neighborhood cat here.

She’s an outdoor cat and I’ll see her roaming about from time to time. She’s not wild, she’s just someone’s cat who lives outdoors.

Living in the outer burbs it’s amazing just how much wildlife there is. It’s not rare to see deer in the field across the street from the house and you also sometimes have evidence of other varmints around the trashcans too.

Getting back to this cat though – she stands out a bit because she’s an all white cat.

I’ll see her across the street in the field, sometimes she seems nested up in the high grass and because she’s white you can see her from far away. She roams through the neighborhood and in the past I have managed to coax her over for a prolonged stroking and petting session.

My neighbor arrived home once and was amazed I was able to get the cat to come over to me; apparently he couldn’t get her to do that.

So, yesterday I though I saw a white shape in the neighbor’s driveway and then today when I got up I looked out the front window and noticed a small figure making it’s way hastily up the sidewalk across the street, I knew who it was.

I went downstairs and opened the front door and starting making those sounds cat owners know far to well. The little creature came quickly in response (to even my surprise) and it was in fact the same small friend from almost two years ago. Although I say small, she’s almost two times the size of my departed Anna but, I know it was the same cat as before because she has one green eye and one blue eye.

She cried and offered the side of her face up for stroking. She arched her back asking to be scratched and I could do nothing but oblige. I quickly ducked into the house and opened a can of food and bought it down to watch as my feline acquaintance happily chowed down on the surprise repast purring mightily throughout. A little skittish of her surroundings, I soothed her the way I would soothe Anna by talking to her throughout lauding her for her appetite.

Afterward, there was more stroking and petting until I went in to have my morning coffee. I thought about Anna and was a little sad but I was happy to have done something nice for another creature and felt rewarded if only by the grateful purring I received in response, I think Anna would have been happy (although if she was still around I think she would have been extremely jealous).

I guess I’ve officially become one of those people now but I don’t care and it will have to suffice until I’m over Anna.

VIDEO VAULT THURSDAY RETURNS!

Okay, so I’ve been incredibly lax.

It’s been a long time since Video Vault Thursdays has made an appearance around these parts. However, the advent of really, really nice weather has me listening to music again. The great thing is that I am having terrific fun doing it! I always enjoy getting back to that point where I listen to music more frequently because it always is a voyage of rediscovery.

This week, I was so jazzed about listening to this one particular band, I started to write a post about them, when I decided I might as well fold the entry into a Video Vault Thursday post. I don’t know if these videos really rank up there to warrant a Video Vault Thursday but, the thing is that the songs themselves are just so kick-ass I can’t resist.

This entry provides an overview of the band’s videos - you’ll see they get markedly better with each video:

I’m Only Happy When I Rains
(early video and it shows)


Stupid Girl
(looks like a thousand other videos you’ve seen but it’s saved by the song)


The World Is Not Enough.
(and now things start getting interesting)


Cherry Lips.
(look closely at the video, it’s actually pretty good)


Push It.
(shades of Grant Morrison and the Doom Patrol)


Finally, this is a life performance. It doesn’t really qualify as a Video Bault entry but I couldn’t resist including it because it is such a great song! Also, anyone who says life ends at 40, take a look at Shirley Manson because she’s 41 and hot as hell!

Temptation Waits


Since Garbage hasn’t done anything in recent years and is supposedly getting ready to release another album in the near future (or a Shirley Manson solo album). I throw this video in as an indication of what the beautiful SM has been up to in the ensuing period:

These Things.

Speaking of cleaning.

I use a webmail client.

Why?

Well, let’s just say I’ve had the misfortune to have OSX crap out on me a bunch of times. Every time it’s crapped out, it usually has meant going in and reinstalling everything. Suffice to say it’s a gigantic pain in the ass and the ancillary treat is that a lot of files are just lost in the process. I lost a ton of emails that way and to combat that, I’ve been using the web client for email.

So, over the last five days or so, I’ve taken it upon myself to get the thing straightened out.

Every time I send out an email, the thing is saving a copy of the email I sent out. So, the queue had gotten up to somewhere around 1200 emails. The incoming queue was up to somewhere around 600+.

Some of the stuff is important and then there’s a lot that isn’t.

Well, right now the sent queue is down around just over 400 and the incoming queue is at 370. I’m not there yet but, the end is in sight.

Oh, and why does OSX keep crapping out? Well, each time it’s happened, it was because I tried installing one of Apple’s stupid upgrades.

Phew!

A big part of how I spend my time when I’m not working is spent sorting things out (that and finding amazing ways to waste time). Right now I find myself ‘in-between’ gigs, which is a little worrisome although something is due to, come up in a week.

So, we have this great weather and I manage to find wonderful ways to idle away the day.

Monday, it was digging up an old stump and then filling in the resulting hole. Also, I was in the process of digging up some space curbside and then putting down stone. Some things I manage to do better than I did years ago, some things I don’t do as well.

Now, when I work, I’m much better about putting things back in their proper place. It’s mainly because I’m spending so much time cleaning up the thought of making more of a mess is anathema. I’m much worse at spending prolonged periods working. What I do now, I go out and work for a while, take a break. Go out and work some more, take a break. Go and keep plugging away, take a break.

Today, I put down the stone after finishing digging up the space along the curb and laying down the weed block. I know, I’m mister excitement. Still, I moved about 500 lbs. of stone over to the area and put it in and it still wasn’t enough. So, sometime over the next few days I have to go back and get more stone.

I also managed to cut up a branch the other day that had come down awhile back during a bad storm. I chopped it up into manageable small pieces that the wonderful garbage men would take away. Considering the branch in question would take three men to lift, I figure it was a good days work.

Thing is, I like doing this kind of stuff... a lot.

Little by little I start to see areas clear up and I start to see projects getting crossed off my list and I feel an incredible amount of satisfaction.

But it won’t pay my bills.

Too bad.

Just so you’re aware.

To make up for a profound lack of writing of late I am going to go through all the frigging drafts I have and clear them out. Hence some entries may not seem as topical as they might be. Nonetheless the page will still be full of incredible bloggy goodness.

Damnit!

So I missed the last three days of work and the week before I had missed two days. Basically, it turned the ten week assignment into a nine week assignment when you count the two days I lost that last week.

Damnit!

The funny thing though, I needed that time off. When I wrote this (early on Friday evening 4/11), I felt markedly better. While not 100% - more like 80% - it was far and away light years better than I had been the previous Wednesday.

My head felt almost clear, the running nose had stopped (though I was subject to blowing out a nice gob of something every now and again), I didn’t hear all kinds of internal noises whenever I swallow. I only took aspirin, some nasal decongestant, sucrets and the occasional gulp of cough syrup. It sounds like a lot more than it is, just various medications when the need arise and the symptoms are particularly acute.

It still took awhile to totally lick the thing. I had a bit of congestion still in the chest and some nasal stuff going on for at least two weeks afterward but I felt lucky the thing ran its course and I was able to see a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of getting through it. There had been a bunch of times over those days when I found myself crawling into bed and sleeping a bunch of hours. Even with all the wonderfully nice weather, aside from pulling the mail out of the box, I couldn’t tell you about it because I missed it all sleeping the hours away.

This all got me to thinking about something though...

See, money came right out of my pocket because I missed those days but, I get the sense come round the next Monday I’d be just about right again.

Now, if absolutely forced I probably could’ve gone into work. Honestly, I could’ve soldiered through if I had to. I would’ve been working a lot slower than I normally do, gotten a lot less done, felt generally crappy for the entirety of the day and been a bear to be around. Also, I would’ve exposed everybody I work with to whatever bug this is I’ve picked up.

But, the sleep really made all the difference in the world in giving my body the chance it needed to do the work of fighting this thing off.

And I was thinking how we just don’t do that much anymore.

I mean, given the pace of life and the demands of our jobs and everything else, we just don’t take the time off to be sick and get better.

It’s become so much of a problem they have actually started PSA campaigns about it:


I think it just says something about our society that we need a PSA to remind us of what in fact should be a matter of common sense.

A bit premature?

I’m not a big fan of Bill Clinton, I’m just not.

People look back at the Clinton years and paint this rosy picture of a guy who could do no wrong as president. They attribute all the glorious economic growth of the 90’s to Clinton’s stewardship of the executive office well forgetting the facts that there was a spanking new democracy in what had formerly been the USSR, a new premier in China and the explosive growth of this brand new thing called the World Wide Web.

Still, awhile back New York magazine had run this image on their cover and I’ll be damned if I thought it was a bit disrespectful for a person who had once been the nation’s president.

Now, it’s looking like it might have been a bit premature as well.

Life is good, but...

So, the past few days have been fine. What I mean to say is that there has been enough to focus on to take my mind off the events of last week.

Still, I have to catch myself now and again.

What do I mean?

Well, I’ll put it to you this way; Last night I was sitting at my computer and thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned half expecting to see kitty there stoically staring me down or, today I caught that odd rectangle of sunlight as the afternoon sun peeked out from behind the clouds and half expected to see kitty stretched out in all her glory just basking in the warmth of those golden rays. I looked at some pictures of her the other day thankfully I have a lot.

She was a good girl.

I’ve pulled out of all those cat-centered groups I was part of on Flickr. I’ve started putting away all the things around here that were specifically for her. I’m shelving all that stuff if only for a little while.

See, I kind of have made up my mind I’m going to get another kitty at some point (maybe two) but for now if only out of respect to her memory I’m going to let the wound heal over.