Sun-Sep 29 2002
And then what?
Interesting article on what the aftermath of a an Iraq war
would entail.
Link
Via Red Rock
Eater
The question I've been asking myself is: What has changed since the
Gulf War to justify our invasion of Iraq? George Bush Senior was
damned sure he didn't want us to invade, and the situation was basically
the same as it is now.
And lo and behold, if I just read RRE a little further,
there's Bush the Elder and Scowcroft answering my question.
Taken Aback
LeeAnn Rimes singing "thinking you are a daddy mack" in her new
video on MTV.
Her wardrobe is quite eye-catching also.
Delroy Lindo with hair. Didn't recognize him. Delroy, Laurence, Ving-
I could watch them talk about mowing lawns.
Peter Gabriel's Portable Studio:
Two Mackie desks bolted together to give 56 channels
32 track A-DAT
32 track Pro-tools
3 8100 Power-Macintosh computers - one for running the Pro-Tools system
Via The Making of Peter
Gabriel's 'UP'
His non-portable Studio
Real World is a techno-muso-geek's wet dream.
Sun-Sep 22 2002
On a lighter note
The more I think about it, the better I feel about the "existence"
of Lex Luthor. Why? Because he's only a man, and he's one of Superman's
main enemies. Especially considering the possibility of a Singularity,
the idea that a normal homo sapiens could go toe to toe with a semi-godlike
entity like Superman is encouraging. Or at least good story-telling.
It's too soon to expect a Buffyesque level of infatuation, but
"Firefly" surely did not suck. And that "John Doe" thing after it
was OK, but I doubt it will get any better or grow on me.
As if the Houston Kmart mess wasn't enough of a mess already
"A grand jury indicted Houston Police Chief C.O Bradford Friday,
accusing him of lying during a disciplinary hearing.
Hours later, Bradford announced that he would take a leave of absence
until the trial is over. Bradford was indicted on aggravated perjury charges.
Bradford was defending himself against allegations of perjury
from a complaint filed by Capt. Mark Aguirre, who's under fire for leading the
controversial
Kmart parking lot raid last month and has since been suspended with pay."
Words fail me
And, a nice
overview.
Thu-Sep 19 2002
I hate it when Pat Buchanan makes sense
"Even should Saddam acquire a crude nuclear device, for him to threaten
us with it would invite annihilation. To use it would ensure annihilation.
Why would Saddam, who sleeps in a different bed every night to stay alive,
risk the utter destruction of himself, his family, his dynasty, his
monuments, his legacy?"
LINK
Sweet Juicy Egoboo
Lovely UK blog The Sideshow
has linked to me. How I came to their attention I have no idea.
And finally Utility Fog is listed on Google. I'll leave that as
an exercise for the reader.
Mon-Sep 16 2002
It's all a big con game.
Consider this chart the next time anyone talks about how
our military has been "downsized" or is "underfunded".
We outspend the next 10 armies COMBINED.
Imagine what good we could do with
this money besides fatten corporate
arms dealers.
Sun-Sep 15 2002
Bush's 9/11 Reichstag Fire
"Indeed, while professing staunch hatred of Big Government,
so-called Patriotic conservatives have trashed virtually
every guarantee of individual freedom on which American
greatness has been built. In the name of fighting terror,
the right has become the ultimate anti-Constitutional terrorist.
Ashcroft has arrogated the power to arrest virtually
anyone he deems unfit, "disappear" them without public
notice, deny them access to a lawyer, and try them in secret,
if at all. Under certain interpretations of military procedure,
the Bush Administration clearly believes it has the right
to execute people with no Constitutional guarantees."
LINK
Sat-Sep 14 2002
Wed-Sep 11 2002
Mon-Sep 09 2002
Sun-Sep 08 2002
update on the Mass arrests at Houston Kmart
Oh yea, this is getting
good-
"Angry teens and parents have accused police of
arresting many innocent bystanders during the
Kmart crackdown, which sparked what may be the
largest internal affairs investigation ever at HPD.
"I have not seen one this large in my 23 years at
the Police Department," said Houston Police
Officers Union President Hans Marticiuc. "I
didn't see anything coming anywhere close to this
... This is a monster on time, resources and
expense.""
.
Why I don't trust the FBI pt.206
What always amazes me is, if you or I
lied
to a judge, we'd be charged with perjury. If we failed to provide documents as ordered
by a court (the Timothy Mcvie case),we would be charged with obstruction of justice, or
found in contempt of court (or something, I'm not a lawyer) But if an FBI agent does it-no problemo.
Get the #@!$%! out of my way!
The way people drive over steel plates, they must mistake
them for land mines. And these are fine, fine steel plates
that even have asphalt beveling around the edges to reduce
that scary bump. Now I have personal experience with evil
steel plates, having had one rip my exhaust system
right off my car-and these are not evil plates. They are your
friends and you should drive over them like you actually
intend to go somewhere this month.
Gotta love Texas
Shop at KMart-get arrested.
The lawsuits from this will be staggering, I hope.
mmmmm gadgets
I bet you could take one of those new-fangled cell phones that takes and sends pictures
and have it feed a website. You would need a program to periodically check your e-mail
for properly configured messages and move them to where a cgi-script could format
and post them.
Guffaw
From a Hollywood documentary:
"I guess the real end of the partnership came with the doctor dead in the poolhouse"
Tidbits
What is a tid that one should encounter bits of it?
I've driving a delivery van twice a week now. Switching between a humungous
tuna boat of a Ford cargo van and a VW rabbit does interesting things to
one's perception of driving. I also see a fair slice of base reality.
I saw a gentleman playing the didgereedoo on the sidewalk in downtown Seattle,
I thought is was some kind of head-wrap, or maybe just her hair. When it opened it's
wings I realized it was the biggest parrot I've ever seen outside of a cartoon.
I'm glad it was in her car, not mine.
Three-and-a-half-year-old Isobelle solemnly informed her uncle that "It's too darn cold out".
Signs of the Apocalypse #546
What the hell is "London Calling" by the Clash doing selling Jaguar cars? It just ain't right.
I'm fairly hip and funky for a middle-aged white guy
I've played 2 cds by Little Axe for
a number of people lately and they've gotten rave reviews. They're a brew of blues and dub that
really doesn't sound like anything else. And while I was cooking up this entry I learned they
have a 3rd cd that lies in between the 2 I have. Must find, along with that Pigbag from my
mispent youth.
Dancing in the streets
I'm listening to a homemade Roxy Music compilation (with a little Pere Ubu for flavor) right now on
the trusty playstation. Homemade mix cds are a good thing, even if they will be a felony soon.
Mad Skills
I've successfully installed and configured a CD-burner. All modesty aside-I rock. Now for the
mix CDs.
Guess Who...
John Poindexter is the head
of the DARPA Information Awareness Office mentioned below.
"Who's John Poindexter?
A retired Navy Admiral, John Poindexter lost
his job as National Security Adviser under
Ronald Reagan, and was convicted of
conspiracy, lying to Congress, defrauding the
government, and destroying evidence in the
Iran Contra scandal."
So wrong on so many levels
Between Microsoft's Palladium and the Fed's CBDTPA bill all your computer is
going to be good for in the future is surfing Government web-sites and buying
corporate pablum.
Stop Policeware .
All Seeing Eye
What a creepy logo.
I'd feel a little better if Afghanistan wasn't out of view
DARPA Information Awareness OfficeFnord
Irony is sweet
I got a big kick out of watching this woman in a fully configured granola-mobile (she had
all the necessary bumper stickers: Free Tibet, Meat is Murder, My Other Car Is A Broom, Darwin Fish
with Feet) just go full-on postal when the car ahead of her hesitated a bit at the light.
All hat and no cattle
"The good news is that there are plenty of other ways to rein in
corporate malfeasance. The bad news is that, his rhetoric
notwithstanding, Bush opposes almost all of them. His
ten-point plan is an empty shell, filled with measures the SEC
or stock exchange already planned to adopt or with measures
that are actually weaker than the ones they have proposed.
Right now, for instance, the SEC can't bar executives from
serving on boards unless it can prove their "substantial
unfitness." The SEC wants to lower the standard to merely
"unfit," making it easier to bar crooked executives. Bush's
speech included a ringing call to bar "corporate leaders who
are convicted of abusing their powers." This new
standard--actual criminal conviction--would set the bar for
executives even lower than it is right now."
How can you tell Bush is lying?
His lips are moving. .
I love Made-for-cable B movies
"Made Men"-Jim Belushi (always underated in my opinion), Steve Railsback (Best Manson EVER, not
to mention "The Stunt Man"), and Timothy Dalton as a southern sheriff. I'm in gunfight and big
explosion heaven. I always liked Dalton as Bond-I thought he had the requisite touch of cruelty.
Brosnan ain't bad, but he just isn't mean enough. Plus he always seems, how should I put this, too damn
short.
This ain't good 2
Think the last entry is a little alarmist? Consider what MS is doing right now:
"...Microsoft has just assumed the right to attack your
computer and surreptitiously install code of its choosing. You
will not be warned; you will not be offered an opportunity
examine the download or refuse it. MS will simply connect
remotely and install what it will, or install it secretly when you
contact them."
"This means MS will have administrator privileges on your
personal computer. What they feed you may be infected with
viruses; it may break your applications, corrupt data files,
destroy weeks or months or even years of work, but you'll have
no recourse if it does. By downloading this WMP critical
security patch, which you must do to operate WMP safely,
you'll agree to give Billg deed and title to your personal
property and to leave Microsoft immune from legal retaliation
if they damage your machine."
This would bother the hell out
of me if I ran Windows.
This ain't good
"Under Palladium as I understand it, the Internet goes from being ours to being
theirs. The very data on your hard drive ceases to be yours because it could
self-destruct at any time. We'll end up paying rent to use our own data!"
What Microsoft has planned for us.
Potporri
Coming home to watch "Buffy" reruns after work and being greeted by "Walker, Texas Ranger"
when you turn on the TV is just so very wrong on so many levels.
You know what irks me about "The Stand"? It goes on and on, the heroes fight and sacrifice,
and all for nothing. The good guys don't defeat Flagg through bravery, cleverness, or sheer
force of arms. The Big Bad goes down because one of his more mentally challanged minions
accidently sets off an atomic weapon.
Mungoliciousness:
Hugh Grant's full name is "Hugh John Mungo Grant". It's unclear whether his Mungo in inspiried
by Saint Mungo
or the african explorer Mungo Park.
The band "Mungo Jerry" took it's name from a character in T.S. Eliot's book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats"
Rock'em Sock'em Hexapods
The heck with harvesting timber, I want to see them fight. Via Boing Boing
Finding a gem in a haystack
I have an amusing micro-hobby: I buy CDs I've never heard, or heard of. I used to buy
those black slabs of vinyl, but that's a whole 'nother story. I suppose this is one
way for me to engage in exciting risky behavior without really losing anything more
than the price of a used CD. Think of it as musical gambling.
I don't just buy CDs at random. I take a gander at the cover, song titles, member's names,
instruments, studio, guests, even the "special thanks" to see if a CD murmers quietly "buy me".
In 1976 the mention of "snake quitar" and "sky saw guitar" helped see me straight to purchasing
a copy of "Another Green World" by Brian Eno. And once you have a winner like that you can follow it's
trail of goodness to ghod knows where. Brian Eno led to Roxy Music, Phil Manzanera, Robert Fripp, King Crimson,
Talking Heads, David Byrne, and the fun never stops.
Last week I bought something entitled "Baile de Mascaras" by the "Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos
del Quinto Patio", or, for you hispanically challenged (like myself)-"Dance of the Masks" by
"The Damn Vicinity and the Children of the Fifth Patio". The more I think about it the more I
believe "Damn Vicinity" is a bad translation. Anyway, it sounds a lot cooler in spanish anyway.
This little gem just hummed with enticing details. The front cover had mexican wrestling masks,
and inside were versions of Huichol
yarn and wax art-traditionally done to illustrate peyote visions.
The whole thing looked wonderfully trippy. The closer was the didgeridoo.
And so you say-"Get to the friggin point! What does it sound like!". I must reply that it sounds
damn, damn fine. They sound sort of like a mexican 3 Mustaphas 3 (another band I once stumbled
across) with strong flavors of socal ska and mexican folk. They really are a mix of bunch of styles,
but they never sound unfocused. I wholeheartedly recommend them. Now I've got to find their other
records. And do enough translating to find side-projects and related bands. Weee, another vein of
ore to mine.
What the flying hell Pt2?
"The man, who said he performed castrations both
here and in his previous home in Australia,
told police Saturday he had finished the procedure and
the two men were enjoying a postoperative piece of pie
when the Birmingham man started laughing."
Yup, just what I want right after I have my 'nads removed, some pie.
When boy bands are outlawed...
"Once something is banned, an even bigger market is created;
like most people, the Chinese are attracted to forbidden fruit.
The banned show is pirated and sold in plain view on the
streets and in stores throughout China. Combined with the lack
of a clear definition of the party's "socialist spiritual
civilization," the changes make the propaganda ministries and
their aging czar, Ding Guanggen, seem out of step with the
times."
What the flying hell?
" Beer-chan are fairies and always says it's
so good !!
Try to get Beer-chan surprised,
and you'll see Beer-chan blowing their
barm.
Green soybeans are Beer-chan's
favorite.
Keep it away from Beer-chan if you don't
want to miss it."
You had best believe I will be keeping "It" away from Beer-chan.
Uncle Frank Comes Back Mad
"But hey, 9/11 changed everything, didn?t it? Just say the Pledge of
Allegiance, sit down, and shut up. And don?t believe for a moment that
anything you think, do, or say is not the proper business of Mueller and
Ashcroft."
"Uncle Frank hates these bastards"
Amen
I am not alone
Someone else likes
"Hudson Hawk".
That's right, I was wrong.
At the beginning of the season, I predicted that the long absent father would be the "big bad"
on "Buffy". With mom dead and a minor daughter, I figured it was time for a reappearance. Obviously
I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Heck, this season didn't even have a dominant world-destroying villain
until the season finale. Now I'm wondering about Clem. He's way too good to be true, and he does
play poker for kittens.
Who's the Man?
I'm the man, that's who. I now have a working car stereo/cd player! God bless Radio Shack, even
if they are Bill Gate's butt-monkeys.
The Wilhelm Scream
A sound effect scream from 1951 continues
it's "career" even today.
Just Not Right
Led Zeppelin should not be selling Cadillacs. Iggy Pop selling Nike makes sense, I don't
like it, but it isn't instant cognitive dissonance. And it's a butt-ugly car.
On the other hand, I would like to be Dennis Hopper getting a cold refreshing beverage
from my lovely and intelligent girlfriend by the pool. But we'd be playing go, not chess.
Future California Noir
For some reason the Brits seem to be having a bumper crop of fine SF lately. And you can
get it from Amazon.UK in 3 or 4 days. This still boggles my mind. I highly recommend "Altered Carbon".
Gotta Get Up
Guilty pleasures-I've got a million of them. Ladies and gentlemen, for your
consideration I present the GAP BAND.
Sunlit Noir
"Kiss Me Deadly" was finally on
again Sunday night. This time I managed to tape it and I am a happy boy. Seeing it got me
thinking about a genre of movie that probably only exists in my own addled brain-the "70s Sunlit
Noir" film. Since I made up this catagory, the defining films would have to be "Point Blank"
and "The Outfit."
Other good examples would be "Hickey and Boggs",
"The Domino Principle",
"The Getaway", and "Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia".
Oh yea, I'm such a cynic
Joint Chiefs Planned
Terror On Us Soil. I feel so much safer knowing their successors are looking out for my
safety.
Nice Doggy
Friday night I got wet dog kisses from a pit bull.
I love the dicotomy of a dog that looks like it
could eat fire hydrants practically wagging it's
tail off in happiness.
Stunning Digital art
This is so good it makes me vermilion
with envy.
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