Unwanted Commentary

So it would seem the story is finally over, at least for the one person who never got to voice an opinion. Goodbye Terri, wherever you are, you are your own master again.

Despite the disrespect in the last post, I had and have a lot of sympathy for the whole situation. I never felt completely compeled to run out and read everything about what was going on. I do doubt that any of the parties involved were fighting for strictly selfless purposes. My hope is that Terri's pain and discomfort was minimal and I'm happy that she can now finally rest in peace.

Posted by Jeff at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I feel certain that I'm going to Hell now.

I honestly and seriously tried not to laugh...really...honestly...
If you didn't hate me before, I feel certain you do now.

Posted by Jeff at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm really starting to think that I'll never really need to leave my apartment after this.

With my iFrog one handed keyboard on order I was already giddy with excitement, but now...gee...the mind boggles at the posibilities.

If anyone is interested, email me...we can go halfies on the price.

You know, that Stallone movie "Demolition Man" is proving eerily prophetic.

Posted by Jeff at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sometimes it's the little victories in life that are the sweetest. Or maybe I'm just really desperate. Both, possibly, could be true. My campaign against the evil dictatorship of Cloggedsinkastan has been a long and arduous one. What started out as a free flowing and accepting democracy slowly solidified into a restrictive and opposing police state. For sure negotiations were used at first, talks broke down from time to time and an uneasy peace would ensue. This was the way of things, a sort of never ending cycle and tensions began to rise.

There were some air raids dealt out after sanctions failed to yield results. Heavy bombardment was dealt out at the very center of Cloggedsinkastan's infrastructure, but the results were wildly disappointing. As is so often the case with shock and awe tactics I neither shocked, nor awed. The little dictatorship simply glared back at me defiantly and after due consideration as to the expenditure of previously used ordinance I backed down from military operations. Another uneasy period came about, no talks were held and both sides seem to just accept each other.

This is not to say that my administration had totally lost interest in the tenuous situation in the Middle Bathroom, its attention had simply been diverted by the state of Tolietseatvia suddenly trying to break away from its mother country of Commodia. And let me tell you this, that volatile situation has yet to be resolved satisfactorily. War has yet to be declared, but delicate negotiations are still underway. It goes without saying that my administration has vested interest in maintaining good relationships with both entities as we are heavy exporters to that nation and both are vital to that endeavor. I feel optimistic that a solution is just around the corner, though, as soon as adequate funds are appropriated.

But I've digressed. I'm proud to say that the situation with Cloggedsinkastan has, at last, been resolved and it appears for the betterment of all involved. I do regret to say that the solution was not reached without military action, but no alternative was left and great care was taken to minimize the conflict. The decision to go ahead with forced regime change came after trusted advisor Mom observed the situation and suggested a change in ordinance if not necessarily tactics. After brief consideration the go ahead was given and supplies were procured after an emergency spending bill was hurriedly pushed through.

Yesterday, beginning in the early evening the initial stages of the plan started. Special Baking Soda forces were air dropped deep inside enemy territory and then backed up by sections of the White Vinegar Corps. Sadly, regrettably, casualties were high and several waves were needed to really root out the trouble makers. There were a few surprises as things didn't necessarily work out as I had intended. Evaluations of the scenario had predicted that the regime would make a hasty retreat and never be heard from again. It turned out that they were doughty and persistent fighters, rising up to engage my forces while the assault continued. As they exposed themselves, a final decision had to be made and with a hesitant heart I ordered in my armored clothes-hangar division. It wasn't pretty and my administration's hands got dirty as a result, but in the end the opposing forces were defeated, rounded up and sent to internment camps in Commodia. Stragglers are known to have fled, washed away by the return of free flowing democracy.

So things have quieted down in that area of the apartment and with every trip to the region I had to stop and marvel at how well things were flowing in the newly named state of Sinkastan. Pride swelled in knowing that I had played a major part in bringing freedom to an oppressed and impoverished land. Now I have to do something about Commodia, but there's no need to flush…er…rush into things.

God Bless my bathroom.

Posted by Jeff at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

"I'm not going to say Satchel is stupid...but that's only because I can no longer hear his voice over the dueling banjos."

-Bucky Katt

Posted by Jeff at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I feel like a traitor this morning. The network admin called me into his office as I was coming in and asked if I could still use instant messaging. Feeling that lying would be a bad avenue to pursue I told him that it was and watched as he got a pensive look on his face. He didn't seem upset that I hadn't told him, but I still feel guilty for withholding the information. If it had been anything else I would have been very forthcoming, but I don't want IM to go away.

In other news, I had a nice Easter weekend and got to spend some quality time with me mum who came up for church yesterday. She staid the night to do some shopping today, so we watched The Cat Returns (Miyazaki) after church. I finally stayed awake for it all and she seemed to think it was very cute. (Cat is one of Miyazaki's lighter offerings and I really enjoyed it, not as good as Kiki or Totoro, but better than Castle in the Sky). Church wasn't as bad an experience for me emotinally as it was last time, I'm considering going back on a more regular basis. After the movie Mom watched Star Wars: New Hope and I played WoW with Trin, it was a pleasant way to wrap up the weekend.

Saturday was a completely wasted day and that was exactly how I wanted it. I didn't get up till noon, instead opting to lay under the warm blankets, sleeping while the slow sound of rain drifted through the window…it was wonderful. I did finally go to the gym and did cardio for an hour, longer than I usually do it, but at a light steady pace…I highly approved. I got odd looks for walking in the rain though, but it felt so refreshing if not a little cold

Backing up a bit more; I took Thursday off so that on Wednesday night I could pick up Ruvaldt and go to Dustin's house for some all night Xbox madness! We played some old school arcade games like Rampage and Smash TV, then as our alcohol soaked bodies descended into madness we switched to the GameCube and played Mario Cart. At some point we smoked cigars on the patio and talked about moving to the Ukraine, around 6:00 we went to Wal-Mart for a new controller and then around 8:00 I fell asleep still clutching my game controller. It was good times.

Thursday night we went to a terrific little German place in Rowlett called Fritzils. I haven't had a lot of German food in my time, but everyone agreed that this was awesome. We all got the Hause Snitzel (sp?) that came in a cognac, mushroom sauce that I swear to god will curl your toes. The sauerkraut and potatoes were also top notch. We had some sort of appetizer, but I sure as hell don't remember what it was called. For drinks we imbibed Warsteiner Dunkel, a dark German beer, and it complimented everything to the hilt. To the hilt! As an added bonus, the owner of the place gave us complimentary shots of some Plum Brandy after Dustin inquired what "Austrian Firewater" was. If you're ever in Rowlett be sure to check out Fritzil's and make damn sure your inspection sticker is up to date.

-Update- The wife-creature is recovered from her gum infection (yuck!) and both her and the kitty seem to be doing well.

Posted by Jeff at 09:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

So there I was. Innocently flipping through my March issue of Macworld when I stumbled across this.

The Bluetooth iFrog
"Wireless Keyboard Lets You Type with One Hand - Awkwardly"

"…the iFrog is a good solution if you can't use both hands to type."

"For most people, there's probably no good reason to switch to the Bluetooth iFrog… …But if you can't use both hands to type, the iFrog is certainly worth considering."

You know…for those situations where it's just not convenient to type with both hands. I'm thinking the people at this company laugh. A lot.

Posted by Jeff at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm finally getting comment spam that I can appreciate. It would seem that simply having the word "breast" in the comment blurb has a calming effect and, while I still delete them, I don't curse as much while doing so. I don't need to have my own breasts enlarged, implanted or augmented, but thinking about breasts, even in broad general terms, is nice. I don't really care for surgically enhanced boobies (I've been told that lots of guys say this, but that we don't mean it), so the images conjured are all natural just as the good Lord intended. This means that the advertisers are, in a sense, giving me my own little imaginary porn every time I clean out my comments and that makes an arduous task much less trying.

Posted by Jeff at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

People listen attentively
I mean about future calamity
I used to think the idea was obsolete
Until I heard the old man stamping his feet
This is a place where eternally
Fire is applied to the body
Teeth are extruded and bones are ground
And baked into cakes which are passed around
In the afterlife
You could be headed for the serious strife
Now you make the scene all day
But tomorrow there'll be Hell to pay
Beauty, talent, fame, money, refinement , job skill and brain
And all the things you try to hide
Will be revealed on the other side.
Now the D and A and the M and the N and the A
And the T and the I-O-N
Loose your face
Loose your name
And get fitted for a suit of flames.

Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot

Posted by Jeff at 04:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't know why I'm doing this to myself. I must have some innate masochistic element of my psyche that I'm not aware of. Last night I found out that I could play World of Warcraft on a Mac. I've been thinking off and on lately that if I were to get myself a new computer I would really like to get a new Power Mac G5. My computer at home is beginning, it would appear, to die and after all it is about three years old, not to mention that when it was built it was built minimally to save money.

So what do I do? I go to the online Apple store and start looking around. I've now gone through four or five configurations and I have about driven myself into a frothing frenzy. I could technically afford it…yes…technically…right? *sigh* I want one so bad and the torture is unbelievable. Coworker Jon isn't being helpful, he's egging me on and giving all the reasons why I should just do it, but my frugal (tight-assed) nature is screaming, "You'd be nuts!" at me.

I've already voted democratic and now I'm looking at buying a Mac. Ho boy, what am I becoming?

On the plus side I just ate grapefruit slices. OMG…grapefruit slices are the most wonderful thing, so good and somewhat of a technical marvel as I don't know how they get the skin off each slice. My imagination can only tingle and convulse at what sort of wondrous machination allows the skinning of grapefruit slices so as they can be made available to me for consumption.

I'm going to go back and visually masturbate at the Apple online store.

Someone stop me before I go too far!

Posted by Jeff at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I broke my Golem figurine this morning while getting a book for my ailing wife. Figures. Wife-lady has some sort of highly contagious gum infection and she thinks she's passed it on to her cat, so I went over there to pick the cat up this morning and take it to the vet. She can't leave her apartment and I suppose none of her other friends could take care of this for her, so I volunteered. Before I left home I decided I would be nice and take her a book to read, the Fates decided to slap me in the face for my thoughtfulness. Now I'm fully expecting to get some sort of infection from my brief contact with the wife-lady, even though I washed my hands at the vet.

I was a bundle of anxiety last night as I contemplated carrying out my mission of mercy. For one I was worried about wife-lady and her cat, but I also knew I'd have to call in to work this morning and come up with some explanation. I was fully expecting to be an hour or so late. There are few things I hate worse than having to call into work without a good reason. It may be odd, but I can fully lie when I just want to take a sick day for "mental health", but for any other reason I hate not being completely honest. Fortunately, I only ended up being about ten minutes late, so I didn't have to go into any detail about that.

All-in-all this little adventure went well and I feel better for having helped the wife out. And that's nice, because my computer died again last night and I mean completely dead. It appears the power supply has gone out, so it looks like I'll have to rip apart my old fileserver to scavenge a working one. Maybe when I get the tax return I'll put together a little better system, I'm about due for an upgrade. Of course I'm deeply divided as to buying computer stuff or getting an iPod. What should I do???

Oh, and in other news: IM still isn't blocked *snicker*

Posted by Jeff at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm a bit up in the air about the logistics of this IM being blocked mandate. It appears, thus far, that it's still working, at least Yahoo still works. I'm wondering if this is the same blocking that occured with peer-to-peer programs (Bearshare, etc) awhile back. Our corpulent commander of the network did block access to their websites, but as I found out, you can go to download.com, get your favorite peer-to-peer file swapper and then merrily go about your thieving.

What the tubby tyrant has done successfully is block access to what the web filtering software refers to as "Message Boards and Clubs", whatever the fuck that means. It evidently means I can go out and look at scat or bestiality porn, but I can't go to Fluffy Happy Bunnies or Stupid Evil Bastard. Nice. While I'm sure there is some vulnerability somewhere in the vast, broad definition that the software has given "Message Boards and Clubs", I can't begin to fathom what that might be. So I'm just going to bitch about it.

Posted by Jeff at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, so I went out Thursday for St. Patricks day and had a wonderful time. I ended up at iHOP at 3:00 in the morning with four total strangers, one of which was some random old lady. It was surreal, but fun. So yeah, I decided to call in sick and just have a rest & relaxation day, for the hell of it.

Now I feel like crawling into the fetal postion and quietly sobbing. I don't mind change, but I like my routines too and I've been working hard to have routines lately. On top of all the other stuff that I posted about previously I've just discovered that about half the blogs I read daily are blocked by the web filtering software. Ugh, this sucks. This is too much change all at once and I don't care for it.

At least the sumbitch hasn't blocked my webcomics. *grumble* *grumble* *sob*

Posted by Jeff at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm not happy. There seem to be a lot of little things crumbling away in my life. First and foremost is my lost access to UseNet. Evidently the good people at America Online finally deleted my account, three years after I canceled my subscription to their service. Most of my nefarious thieving activities will now come to a halt, no more mp3's, warez and saddest of all, porn. Oh well, maybe this will be an opportunity to grow as a person, or, as I suspect, I'll buckle under and pay for a UseNet account.

I came in this morning to find an email from our rollie-pollie network admin that IM text messaging is going to be blocked as of today. Evidently three attacks in the last three years are too much to bear, and I suppose he's right. I'm not sure as to whom to direct my anger. I want to be mad at our girthy admin, but I know all about the troglodytes with computers that work here and for the most part I see this decision as wise. Indeed, it is a small miracle that we haven't been more major intrusions through IM as most of our knuckle-draggers will click any link you send them. If the link promises free smilies, screen savers of kittens or wall paper of babies being strangled by flowers then the problem is several orders of magnitude compounded. So this is the proverbial several bad apples spoiling the bunch. This sucks chicken toes because one of my few pleasurable distractions at work is being able to chat, especially with Trinity and Mary.

Thirdly, WoW is behaving in a most naughty fashion as of the last few days. It's fine as long as I'm just running around and slaying hordes of monsters or, as is too often the case, dying and running back to my mangled corpse. As soon as I try to open my character sheet, interface with a merchant or attempt to craft something it will freeze up. My hard drive churns and churns as if trying to load, but more and more often it never loads and I have to do a hard reboot. I'm not sure what to do. Reloading the game seems like a good idea, I'm fairly certain the issue is with my clunky old computer, but I quiver in fear at having to reinstall those four CD's. I did run defrag, but I may have to bring out the heavy guns (read Norton) and try it again. I worry that my cheaply hand-crafted system is about to die, especially after it suddenly lost power last night. Fortunately that problem was fixed when I tried a new power cord, so it's running again, but who knows for how long.

So, I'm done bitching…until I think of whatever it was that I forgot.

Oh yeah, I can't get to myspace.com anymore. Our ample admin has, in his wisdom, blocked this as well. *sigh* It's like they're taking away all the things I do here, I might have to start working as I have little else left to occupy my time. I'm still thankful I can blog…and I'm sure *you* are grateful too, my filthy readers.

Posted by Jeff at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm confused that St. Patrick's day, a day known for vast consumption of alcohol, is in the middle of Lent and comes from a predominantly Catholic country. Albeit a country known for vast consumption of alcohol.

I stole the image from somewhere on Myspace.com.

And I joined Myspace.com at the behest of Trinity. I think you can look at my...um...space via this link. It has pictures of me...if you're at all curious as to what I look like.

Posted by Jeff at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm hesitant to blog about this seeing as most of my frequent readers are ladies, but rest assured I'm not talking about ya'll. Please don't hurt me.

I've been in a weird mood this week, feeling restless and unsettled, feeling a little bitter and resentful I think. This stuff has been swirling around in my gullet for quite some time and it seems that Redneck Dave somehow managed to verbalize my thoughts in a way I hadn't quite been able to (and in a way only he can). Here's a little excpert:

Women these days just have dis-satisfaction ingrained into their being.
…
Boys, it don't matter how well you fuck her, how many dishes you wash, how much money you make, how well you treat her Mother or how much affection you show her. As soon as the honeymoon is over, she will find that one thing you do wrong and blow it up like friggin Hiroshima. If you are lucky, she will just leave your ass.

Now, before someone jumps all over me, understand that this is basically the experience I've had so far. I make no claims to greatness or perfection, and god knows I could have done more or been better, but I feel like I did everything that was within my ability to do and it just wasn't enough. I have the pleasure now of saying I've been married twice. When I mention the ex-wife, I have to be specific as to which one I'm talking about. Joy.

This last one was the real kick in the pants. I had the realization the other day that I pretty much wasted three years of my life. Actually wasted, and in fact if you look at it from certain angles it was more than wasted. My life progressed in no way, and I think I went backwards, especially in the finance department. Of course, I did this knowingly and willingly. I sacrificed so that I could get her through college. I went into debt and put stuff that I wanted to do on hold. I felt that it was more than worth it for the years of bliss that would be waiting once we got through it all. I figured there would be a time when we'd look back and laugh about how tough it'd been, and be closer because we'd made it through.

Gee, was I wrong. I tried to meet all the needs. I expended a great deal of effort and energy trying to make sure everything was taken care of, but somewhere in that juggling act I missed one. She left me for it. I admit I was tired, it was a lot of effort and I was never sure I was doing a good job, I suspect I'd fallen off my job a little. I still feel like I did the best I could and got nothing for it, except debt. That's just really, really frustrating and that's what this is…some of that frustration coming out.

Posted by Jeff at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since I don't want to whine about my feelings, I'm blogging this:

The Knight You scored 34% Cardinal, 48% Monk, 32% Lady, and 54% Knight!

You are the hero. Brave and bold. You are strong and utterly selfless. You are also a pawn to your superiors and will be lucky if you live very long. If you survive the Holy wars you are thrust into you will be praised for your valor and opportunities both romantic and financial will become available to you.

I scored 65% on the Slut quiz...so I guess I'm a slutty knight.

Posted by Jeff at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

March 6, 1836: 189 Texian and Tejano defenders died defending the Alamo after a thirteen day siege. Some 600 Mexican soldiers perished in storming its walls.

On March 5, day twelve of the siege, Santa Anna announced an assault for the following day. This sudden declaration stunned his officers. The enemy's walls were crumbling. No Texan relief column had appeared. When the provisions ran out, surrender would remain the rebels' only option. There was simply no valid military justification for the costly attack on a stronghold bristling with cannons. But ignoring these reasonable objections, Santa Anna stubbornly insisted on storming the Alamo.

I believe Santa Anna's army only had 12 lb. Napoleon cannon's which weren't sufficient in range, again I believe, to knock down the walls of the mission. From what I know the idea that the walls were crumbling isn't accurate, except in-so-far as they were crumbling before the bombardment. What the bombardment did accomplish was keeping the rebels from sleeping. Sadly, the larger siege artillery was to arrive the next day. This probably would have convinced the defenders to surrender.

As fool-hardy and unnecessary as the assault seems to have been, I'm led to believe that it almost was pulled off successfully. When the bombardment ended, the Texians fell asleep, almost to the man. The Mexican columns were able to get very close to the walls before an overly zealous soldier yelled "Viva Santa Anna!" A chorus of these cheers erupted and woke up the defenders on the wall, who were then able to fire off canister shot (read: nails, horse shoes, & scrap metal) into the exposed soldados.

The Mexicans, momentarily hesitated, regrouped and stormed the meager walls quickly. The bulk of the fighting then occurred in the Long Barracks. It's interesting to note that there was some heated debate as to whether the Long Barracks or the trademark mission should be preserved. The battle began at around 5:00 AM in the morning and was over by 6:30 AM. All Texian fighters were killed, six hundered of Santa Anna's 1800 men also died.

The Mexican army demonstrated no lack of competence, operating beyond support in territory with primitive communications.
...
The defenders of the Alamo willingly placed themselves in harm's way to protect their country. Death was a risk they accepted, but it was never their aim. Torn by internal discord, the provisional government failed to deliver on its promise to provide relief, and Travis and his command paid the cost of that dereliction.

The battle, while heroic, was a tragedy that could have been avoided. As many as 900 men died where none needed die at all. Never-the-less this is a fascinating point in history, where it would have been so easy for a few small changes to drastically reconfigure our modern world. Had the siege, and therefore delay of the Centralist Army, not taken place it is quite probable that Santa Anna could have thrown the American settlers out on their asses. Had that happened Texas would have remained a part of Mexico. I don't think it takes too great a leap of imagination to consider that Mexico holds its western territories, then the US western expansion doesn't happen and the US remains a one coast country. So it's not hard to see that had the choices of a few men been slightly different our world would be drastically different. I find this endlessly fascinating.

And yes, I realize I'm over a week late on the anniversary, but for some reason I always think the battle was later in the month, hence I thought I had plenty of time to comment on it.

http://hotx.com/alamo/postmortem.html

http://www.lnstar.com/mall/texasinfo/alamo-battle.htm

Posted by Jeff at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The weekend was a mixed bag, being neither good nor bad entirely. Not that it was really bad at any point, but I'd say there were some down moments, particularly on Saturday; which, didn't really pan out the way I had hopped.

There were some enjoyable moments, most notably getting to watch Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind! I wanted to blog about this movie and gush over it, but that moment has passed and I think it will more than suffice to say that it was better than I remembered. I was disappointed that the burned copy I watched didn't seem to have the Japanese with English subtitles option. I'm hopeful that when it arrives from Netflix these options will be available. The movie has so many great scenes, wonderful visuals and unbelieveable imagination. The English dubbing is good, but I think you get a better feel with the Japanese dialouge. I was pleased that I actually could pick up on the deleted twenty minutes of film cut from the orginal US release. Great movie...check it out!

I watched the final three episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5 and it was astounding! Season 5 is widely regarded as the pinnacle of the series and I can see why, it was so heavy and so well done.

Other viewing treats were Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 and a surprisingly good Samurai X Vol. 1. Bubblegum Crisis had nothing to do with bubblegum and I admit that I'm perplexed by the title. I can only assume its some wacky Japanese shenanigans, but the episodes themselves were pretty good. The most fun was listening to the Japanese voice actors say "Knight Sabers" and "boomers". Samurai X is set in feudal Japan in the 19th century and is based on that period, though the story is fictional. Superb animation and an engaging story, I highly recommend it!

The low point of the weekend was Saturday night. I went to a party that the apartment mgmt. was putting on; it promised free food, drink and entertainment. The food ended up being hot dogs with mustard; the free drinks were so-so margaritas and domestic American beer (ick). The entertainment was obnoxious blaring techno music that started giving me a headache before I left. I had hoped some of my neighbors would show, but they didn't, so I knew no one there and I don't mingle well. The crowd, while having some eye candy, wasn't my crowd, i.e. the upperly trendy yuppie types *sigh*. At least the evening was nice and the property they held the party at is very swanky, but after two hours I couldn't take it anymore and went home.

Getting home sucked too, because everyone else seemed to be out and about, all my online friends were awol and it wasn't till Trinity got home that the evening picked up. We created slutty female Night Elf toons on a PVP server and ran around leveling my character up till around three in the morning. That was a good time. I guess some people might find it weird for a guy to make a female character, but you people can go fuck yourselves.

HARRRRRRRRR

Posted by Jeff at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It is a good thing that life is so horrible,
Lest we become too fond of it too soon

Beauty and hate surround us and we seek to embrace it all
We can't have what we desire most and we seek it till our end
Dealing with every trivial pursuit that fancies us
Our hearts bent on the whims of dreams deeply dreamt.

Dying in agony of pleasure that has had us for ages
We've lost all but our souls and in those we don't believe
Lost all but the heavens that hold no hope at all
We delve into the hells that befriend us

Take me away and torture my remaining being
Leave me with nothing but a rotting, writhing life
So I can die a thousand times on the sword you cast for me
I'll live for ever more on the balance of this world

Wake me not upon this night suddenly slumbered
Let me find rest upon the pillow of thy breast
And forever sleep on your dream deeply dreamt
That I might find myself cleansed and ready anew.

Cragged and callous my arteries have bled enough
I have nothing left to give this world but hell itself
In myself and inside of you I've dwelt too long
Now I'm nothing but the evil you've built

We stand before us and quake in fear
Loathing what we've become despite ourselves
There is no reprieve that we can stand in our life
Bend in fear and live in love, life is all we have.

Dreams deeply dreamt and soon to fade away
It is a good thing that life is too horrible
So we can dwell in it with comfort so well known
Before it all goes away and no one remembers us at all.

I love you all.

Posted by Jeff at 04:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few months ago co-worker Jon and I went to the Angry Dog (in Deep Ellum) and had burgers. I paid. Today he took me back and he paid. Nice how that works out. This time we had the Angry Dog, a fully loaded chili dog with a big ol' serving of fries. I'm so full right now and I can barely keep my eyes open. I don't eat like that much anymore and I'm no longer used to this feeling. I feel like I'm going to pass out.

The food is artery clogging goodness, I highly recommend it. On the downside I got a notice for not paying my $2 to park in the lot. Jon got away with it last time we went, but I of course did not. I'm curious as to whether I should ignore it or go ahead and pay it. After all, how hard would they pursue $7? What can they do to me? Coworker George said to throw it away, but I'm feeling that I've already seen the bare naked, ugly head of bad luck once by getting caught...perhaps I shouldn't push it.

Posted by Jeff at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Me: If I saw the Virgin Mary in my urinal cake would it be wrong to keep urinating?
*pause*
Co-worker Jon: Not as wrong as it would be to start masturbating.

And because one bad turn deserves another...(NSFW)

Posted by Jeff at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Trinity was telling me about this last night, but I had to go see if it was really true and I'm sad to say that it is. You can go out to eBay and you can pay someone to fucking play World of Warcraft for you. Holy fucking shit! They'll power level your character for you, get you to any level that you want. I simply can't believe it….pay…someone….to play…the game…for you…that you are already bought and pay a monthly subscription fee for. If this isn't a sign of the end times…I don't know what is.

From the ad on eBay:
Why choose us? Let me give you a couple reasons…

We offer powerleveling services on both US and European Servers.

Price of Power Leveling

Level 1-20 in 1 day $40
Level 1-30 in 4 days $120
…it goes on like this, but this was the kicker…
From level 1-60 in 18 days $650!!!

You can go to eBay and do a search on World of Warcraft if you think I'm making this shit up.

Posted by Jeff at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

I always aspired to be one of those people who have sterling integrity. For example, when the bosses are away I would do just as much work as I do when they are here. I'm saddened to say that such is not the case. In fact I'm quite put out that the WoW servers are down and I'm absolutely refusing to deliver the new Mac G5 until after lunch. I guess I should go install that fuser kit though, since the servers are down. I'm not being really evil, it is spring break and working at an educational facility there isn't much going on right now, indeed this week has been a much needed interlude to the craziness of the last few weeks.

I really need to find a hobby, something worthwhile. Right now I feel so directionless and I'm absolutely lacking in passion for anything. For now I suppose I'm willing to wait it out, let time pass and see if things shake loose. If I'm still this way in the middle of summer I may have to take some drastic action.

Posted by Jeff at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I just spent the last thirty minutes going through the Museum of Bad Album Covers. You should too, so I don't feel so cold and alone.

One can only imagine that if the covers were this bad, what did the music sound like? I admit that out of some morbid curiosity I want to know.

Link found at Warren's site.

Posted by Jeff at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The North Texas Irish Festival was the weekend and surprise, surprise I went; yes I actually got out amongst the living. The festival was excellent, I went on Saturday, and the weather was extremely cooperative. I hadn't been to one in four years, exactly the amount of time that I met the wife and her absence marks my return to something I've truly missed. Verily I say unto thou, this is one more reason to laud the departure of that harpy. Bitterness and acid comments to the aside, I had a great time and got to hear some very excellent music. I also got to hang out with Rick and Wanda, two of my very favorite people in the world. The only downside was spending way too much money; most of it on Guinness, but some of it on the always delicious Irish Stew and a new treat for me, Haggis!

Here are the bands that I recall having watched: Teada, who were a very traditional sounding band and absolutely loved them as the peeled out jigs and reels with reckless abandon. This was the last band of the evening and I was exhausted (drunk?) at this point, but what a lovely way to end the evening. The Elders were another excellent band with a very smart mixing of rock with traditional Irish music. They were energetic and lively, a real pleasure to experience all the way around. Tim O'Brien was the head liner, but I have to admit I didn't really dig their set, though the fiddle player was very talented. Their music sounded folksier, bluegrass and while I enjoy that type of music it wasn't really what I was there for. The Rouges of Scottland, what can I say about these boys? They put on one helluva show with their energetic bag pipes and drumming all wrapped around with a quirky show and cheeky humor. I remember seeing them years ago at Scarborough Faire, which they will be performing at again this year, and it's good to see that they've done so well for themselves.

There were a few other smaller bands whose names I don't recall, but they were all so much fun to listen too. I'm a bit forlorn that I didn't get to watch the Irish Rouges who I haven't seen in ages, but find them utterly delightful. Imagine three old gentlemen who play traditional Irish folk tunes and provide you with a song book so you can sing along! Its great fun, but they're more geared toward the pubs.

I'm really in the mood now for Scarborough Faire in April and the Scottish Festival sometime in July (because I love to be sunburned). Too bad I really don't have a pub to frequent anymore, but that's really ok as I can't afford the beer money.

Posted by Jeff at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This same old tired topic comes back around every so often, spurred by these types of articles. There's a lot of verbage being committed to it on such sites as Ctrl-Alt-Del and Penny Arcade, the ever-wordy Tycho is in rare form. I'm not the gamer that I used to be and I've never been overly immersed in the culture, but I have spent a good amount of time and effort on games; which is why I have to sigh deeply every time the "violence and video games" issue rears it's sad, mushy face.

I really, really want to go on a long diatribe about this, but I'm not going to. It's been well covered and I feel that others better qualified have already done the job. Since I completely concur with what's said in this article, I'll let it speak for me. I assume this Thompson fellow is the key shit stirrer and while I¹m sure he simply wants to save the children I can't help but wonder how much money he makes off this issue. It's the only reason I can see why someone would so fanatically go after such a ridiculous argument.

Posted by Jeff at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My much appreciated fellow Texas blogger bunny brought up what I think may be a good issue. What do Latinos think about Texas Independence Day or the whole issue of the Texian revolt that separated the state of Texas from the Empire of Mexico? I can't say for current Latinos, because honestly I haven't ever considered asking one, though now I might when I get the chance. However, I suddenly started to worry that maybe I might be misrepresenting myself. So for clarification:

Now…I'm not an expert on the history of Texas or its revolution, but I have read quite a bit about it. The fact is that the Mexican population of Texas in 1836 was chaffing under the rule of Santa Anna as much as the Texian settlers were (as many in Mexico were as well). Many of them supported the notion of breaking away from the Empire of Mexico and a goodly number of them participated in the revolt.

I do know that nine Latinos died defending the Alamo. No matter if the defenders knew they would die and chose to stay or if they decided to wait it out because they thought reinforcements were coming. I feel that the sacrifice of those near two hundred men inside that mission was as sacred an effort as has been seen in the history of the world, I might even be driven to compare it to the stand of three hundred Spartans at Thermopolis, but maybe I shouldn't go crazy.

I know that Latinos played a pivotal part in the battle of San Jacinto. However, you view that battle, either as a vicious slaughter of revenge or as mythical victorious battle that secured the freedom of Texas. The fact is that Mexican volunteers, as part of Houston's army, played a vital role in it. Latinos are as much a part of Texas history as the American chaff that found itself fighting against Santa Anna's army.

Now I will say that Mexicans may view the whole debacle with some derision and for that I offer sympathy. A lot of Mexican soldados lost their lives in Santa Anna's venture. Indeed a lot of them died very brutally at the Alamo, where the Texian defenders used things such as horseshoes and nails to load their cannon…I'll let you visualize the shot gun effect of that scrap metal smashing into disciplined ranks of men. The Mexicans should have no shame in what occurred in the winter/spring of 1836, they fought bravely and valiantly. Their downfall was poor leadership. The real pity is that if it hadn't been for Santa Anna's dismissal of the 1832 Mexican constitution the whole sad affair would have been avoided and Texas might still be a part of Mexico.

So to conclude, I don't shove the fact of Texas Independence in the face of any person of Mexican or Tejano descent. I definitely do not celebrate the event as a success of Anglo-Americans over Hispanics. I view them with great respect for the pivotal role they played and still play in the great Iliad that is Texas History.

Thanks again to bunny for bringing this up, though I doubt it was her intention for me to go off on a long diatribe about it. I'm just hoping she doesn't know more than me and refute my comments, because I really don't know where my books are anymore.

Posted by Jeff at 03:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Coworker Jon and I went to Titan today so he could drop off some movie screening passes for Hero Realm and I took the opportunity to catch up on my comic book needs. I purchased the following books:

Ultimate Iron Man #1: written by Orson Scott Card. Woooooo. Lots of anticipation here, I hope it's good. If you don't know, OS Card wrote Ender's Game and the subsequent sequels. I wept at the end of Ender's Shadow…Bean rules!

Seven Soldiers #0: I heard about this during a panel I attended during Wizard World (I think). The guy at Titan made it sound really sweet. A substantial read he said and I'm looking forward to it.

Ocean #4: Ocean written by Warren Ellis. I don't need to say anymore.

Ultimates V2 #3: Good series.

Infantry #2: Not much happened in the first issues and the main character didn't show up until the end, so I'm eager to see if this issue expands.

Coworker Jon has leant me the next story arc of Powers and I need to get busy reading those, I've read the first three TPB's. He also loaned me a single of 100 Bullets with the comment that it was as good a jumping on point to the series as exists.

ARGH, boy oh boy did this turn into a major fiasco. I started off thinking:

"ooh...I'm going to list the comics I bought today"
then it was "oh I should put in links to the comics I bought today"
then "ooh...I should put in the cover art of the comics I bought today"
then "oooh...I should format the text so it's aligned next to the pictures of the comics I bought today"
*sigh*

Thanks to Trin for helping me out so much!

Posted by Jeff at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"If only 2% of the population looks like that isn't it considered a mutation?"
- Marissa from a subsequent discussion of supermodels after we viewed a poster of a sultry ninja maiden in the front of Lone Star Comics.

Marissa is one of my friends from the board gaming group that I no longer participate in, she's a really nifty gal and married to a fellow gaming group member.

I spent some time this morning going though some of my old archives and found this quote. Comment spam is always posted to these really old entries and as I was deleting some I got curious as to what the titles referred too. You know, I guess the point of the blog is to act as a sort of diary or journal, but I so rarely go back and reread stuff I've written. Does anyone else ever go back and reread their entries?

Posted by Jeff at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Two days, one hundred and sixty nine years ago a rag tag collection of misfits, scoundrels and lawyers signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Heroes they were, opportunists probably, but they told Santa Anna to sod off, they were takin' Texas for themselves.

Okay, so I missed it. It took reading it on a blog written by someone of Asian descent for me to even remember, but two days ago was Texas Independence Day. I was not born in Texas, but that's only because my dad was drafted by the man during the Vietnam War and I ended up popping from my mother's loins in San Francisco. Outside of those early six months of life my entire existence has been spent in Texas, Waco & Dallas specifically. Ok, so I did live for three months in Oklahoma *shudder*.

I consider myself Texan first and everything else afterwards, I can't say why that is, but I know it's true. I find it invariably difficult to even contemplate living elsewhere, though again I couldn't really say why. Heck, I haven't owned a cowboy hat or boots since I was kid, I can't dance to the cotton-eyed joe, nor can I two-step. I do say "ya'll" and if I get outside of Dallas my drawl usually will comeback with vengeance. I love the Alamo, only once in my life have I been in San Antonio and not gone to the monument. I've been to Washington-on-the-Brazos and I've been eaten alive by mosquitos at San Jacinto. I watched Davy Crockett go down swinging Ol' Betsy in that Disney movie about a billion times as a kid. Oh, and I have actually read the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Now that I've forgotten to remember Texas Independence Day, I guess that means I'm a mediocre Texan at best, but I'm still a Texan! And since I've forgotten it every other year of my life, and I suspect most Texans do too, I don't feel too bad.

So, happy belated Independence Day Texas.

Posted by Jeff at 01:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ok, I swear to god I'll stop...

Wikipedia has a nice article about the poem and evidently considers it to be nothing but nonsense. They even have a glossary of terms.

According to this a Mome Rath would be a sort of green pig that had lost it's way. Glad I could clear that up.

And, you can find the Cheshire Cat singing bits of the poem, from the Disney film, if you head out to BearShare land and so a search on Cheshire Cat.

Posted by Jeff at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

e happened to use a the phrase "calloo callay" the other day in one of her posts and my fiendish mind was instantly sparked. I could remember it from somewhere, but where? "Ah hah," I could be heard to say, had I spoken it out loud. It's from Alice in Wonderland, the Disney cartoon version that I watched tons of as a kid. After some deft Google work I confirmed my hypothesis that in the Walrus & Carpenter song the following appears:

"Work?! The time has come," the Walrus said
"To talk of other things
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax
Of cabbages and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings
Calloo-Callay
No work today!
We're cabbages and kings"

I came to find out that the phrase "Calloo-Callay" doesn't actually appear in the original Lewis Carroll poem "The Walrus and The Carpenter". As it didn't surprise me in the least that Disney would, *gasp*, change original works to suit their own needs I just left it at that and moved on. I reasoned that they had probably made it up and threw the phrase in there, as Disney tends warp and mutilate so many of their "adaptations". Of course, how naïve could I have been to think those sluggards could actually come up with original content.

After e responded to my comment I was spurred to look into this a little more, especially when she enquired about what the fuck a mome rath is. I firmly believe that there is no question that Google can't answer, so I delved into it. I discovered that mome rath is a phrase used in Jabberwocky. After reading that poem I still had no more of a notion as to what a mome rath is and, indeed I had far more questions than I had begun with. If you haven't read it, you should. It is a massive understatement to say that this is a very, very, very, very odd poem.

Now I have a deep affection for nonsense, it's very deep rooted, almost as much as my affection for underdogs. This is one of the reasons that I'm a big fan of bands like The Beatles and Cake, and Coen Bros. movies like O' Brother Where Art Thou where not everything really makes sense. As a child I watched Disney's Alice in Wonderland way too many times, I'm surprised I didn't wear out the tape. I've never read his actual writings, something I'd like to remedy, but I've always deeply cherished the bizarre, absurd whimsy that surrounds the world he created. I find it utterly fascinating. That being said, one of my notions is that in these seemingly nonsensical things there are actually deep rooted seeds of genius hidden amongst outlandish imagery. I'm never sure I actually ever "get it", but the idea is that if I keep trying then one day I'll suddenly have this nirvana-like epiphany and I'll know the question. (You know, the question…we already know the answer is 42).

So wanting to find some sort of resolution on the mome rath question I did some more searches. I found this page. This guy takes finding meaning to a whole new level. I don't understand what the hell he's talking about, but e if you want to know what a mome rath is…well…I hope you're better at math than I am. *grin* Oh, and for god sakes be careful about what you post in the future...I've wasted a good two hours on this.

One last thing, it could mathematical, dare I say genius, or it could just be glorious nonsense. Yay glorious nonsense!

Posted by Jeff at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've been in a bit of a conundrum concerning the professions of my main WoW character. I've switched from skinning/leatherworking, to herbalism/alchemy and then I ditched herbalism for tailoring and alchemy for skinning. Last night I dropped skinning and took engineering. My decision to go to herbalism/alchemy was an attempt to diversify our little group, as Trinity was pursuing the same professions and we were butting heads trying to get skins, so I thought that if I could make potions it would be a very nifty thing. Sadly I found that it was way too time intensive to gather all the needed ingredients to make any significant number of potions just for myself, not to mention others.

After a conversation with e I decided to look into tailoring. It sounded profitable and I would eventually be able to make nice bags, which would be a big plus. We always need bags. Making tailoring even more attractive is that it's very easy to gather large quantities of the raw materials, i.e. linen. At level 28 I simply go on rampaging massacres of low-level humanoids and come away with a veritable bounty of cloth. One such expedition netted me about 90 some pieces of linen. As I become more proficient with tailoring these horrific scenes of carnage, as fun as they are, will stop and I can start hitting the big boys again AND gathering much coveted XP. Last night, as Trin and I quested, I was actually surprised when I saw the XP count pop up after a kill.

I read up on the engineering profession and it all sounds very convoluted, but it sounds interesting as well and you can make all sorts of odd gadgets and gizmos. I also find the idea of a Tauren engineer immensely amusing. I'm giving it a try and in lieu of giving up tailoring for blacksmithing (which supports engineering) I'm going to use my alternate character to mine the ore and smelt it into bars. Though as I think about it now it might not be a terrible idea to take blacksmithing as I'll be able to wear mail at level 40. It's something to ponder. I think I'm cursed to continually switch professions, thus ensuring I'll never master any given one.

Ok…I'll shut up about WoW now.

Posted by Jeff at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I hate to admit it, but coworker Jon is a pretty righteous bastard. He gave me his trade paperback of Transmetropolitan: Year of the Bastard (Book 3) and I can't deny that I'm giddy. He's collecting the series as singles and I'm a little jealous about that, but I'm not in a financially happy place to go about a project like that. I'll gleefully accept the TPB.

Again, if you've never read comics or even if you read them and haven't picked up TransMet do yourself a big, big favor and go do it now.

Posted by Jeff at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't usually remember my dreams, which is a source of great disappointment for me. On the rare occasions I do remember anything it's only small tidbits that don't really make for a cognitive story telling experience. Last night I had a very vivid dream that seems to be sticking around in my head and I want to try and relate it before it evaporates, even though I can already tell it's slipping away.

The main theme of the dream was this huge civilization ending flood. We're talking really biblical kind of stuff, Noah and the arc kind of scenario. I don't remember there ever being any rain, but all of a sudden there was water and it was rising quickly. For some reason I was in this old rickety wooden house, there were others with me though I can't recall who they were, and for safety we ran to the center of the house. It seemed to be a sort of safe room and for whatever reason I felt like we'd be safe there. As the flood grew, a part of the house broke off. A wall and the roof of our room tore away and we could see outside, interestingly I was never scared. It was a pretty cools scene with all this water rushing by and tons of debris bobbing along.

We survived and in true dream fashion the scenes shifted instantly to that of the aftermath. Everything had pretty much been washed away and I'm talking buildings, trees and grass, everything! It was a landscape of barren dirt and sand with ruins of society thrown about. At some point I was traveling through the landscape and there was this discussion with unknown people about how this was a good thing, even though so many people had died, the world was washed clean and could start over again. I sort of switched between riding in this old beat up flatbed truck to walking along a dirt/sand pathway and I remember seeing tons and tons of ants everywhere. Evidently the flood didn't kill them.

I ended up at what I can only describe as a very nice, upscale house where other survivors had gathered as well. My memory is pretty fractured at this point and only random images remain. I remember going through the house looking for secret compartments where the previous owners might have stashed money or jewels or something. At some point I felt I really needed to have a gun. My old friend John was there, as was his wife. They'd broken up, but were still living together. Then she and I ended up together and that was strangely okay with everyone, even John. Indeed John seemed very supportive of the idea.

So yeah, that's it. Very cool premise I think, a huge flood, survival and the aftermath. I do wish I could remember more of the details, I know a lot of stuff went on in the house after I arrived there, but it seems to have all faded away.

Posted by Jeff at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)