tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41854758258625885732024-03-13T21:54:38.471-05:00Trapped In TexasJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-54169128745640383902010-02-12T23:14:00.000-06:002010-02-12T23:14:55.255-06:00WordPress for reals this timehttp://darkwolf777.wordpress.com/<br />
<br />
I'm finicky. I know.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-50277529087916606722009-09-10T01:52:00.002-05:002009-09-10T03:00:24.621-05:00Debunking The Bullshit, vol. 1This may be a regular thing, god knows I get enough of these asinine emails. <br />
<br />
My grandfather, I love him dearly, but he has a problem. His problem is that he will readily and willfully believe any right-wing propaganda you put in front of him. Not only will he believe it, but he will also forward it on to all his friends, and family. Sadly, I fear most of them are just as willing to accept this drivel as truth. Lately I’ve begun to become a little disillusioned with constantly debunking the bullshit. I’m almost certain my grandfather either does not even bother reading any responses to the emails he shovels out to everyone in his address book. Or if he does actually read them, he’s so rigid in his bias that he truly believes everything he sends out is absolute gospel, and any rebuttal is patently false. <br />
<br />
Basically I spend a lot of time debunking junk email. Hoaxes, conspiracies, political rhetoric, etc. And rather than let them fade into the black nothingness of these inboxes, I’m going to post them here, followed by my rebuttal. I’ll probably revisit some past ones too (yes, I save all my sent email, and almost all of my incoming email. You never know when you’ll need that <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">blackmail</span>... errr, random tidbit of information. Yeah, that’s it!), but today I’m gonna take care of one I just received.<br />
<br />
Here’s the text of an email I received today (and I apologize now for the horrendous abuse of the english language* in the author’s commentary. I feel I should also make it clear, my grandfather did not write this, just forwarded it.):<br />
<br />
<center><table border="0" width=85%><tbody>
<tr> <td><span style="color: blue;"><em><strong>AS IF YOU NEED ANOTHER REASON TO ADMIRE " AMERICA 'S" TIGER WOODS.</strong></span><br />
Tiger Woods is a Highly Educated Individual who was properly raised and taught to be his own man by an educated Mother and Father. <br />
You can readily see that Tiger Woods listened to his parents and remains very proud of them both. <br />
Many citizens are not aware of the following, which is the reason for me sending this e-mail to my friends and I would appreciate you sending it on to your friends. Thanks, Frank <br />
A COPY OF HIS SPEECH AT THE 2009 INAUGURATION <br />
Tiger Woods received a special invitation to speak at the Obama inauguration. <br />
His inviters were stunned, shocked when he did not deliver the message they expected. <br />
A brief read and you will understand why the media swept Woods' remarks under the rug with no further ado and why the liberal left of our American society was again displeased with Tiger. <br />
His speech was entitled <br />
"<strong>You'll Never Walk Alone</strong>" <br />
[text is word-for-word as posted on Tiger's web site] <br />
"I grew up in a military family - and my role models in life were my Mom and Dad, Lt. Colonel Earl Woods. <br />
My dad was a Special Forces operator and many nights friends would visit our home. <br />
They represented every branch of the service, and every rank. <br />
In my Dad, and in those guests, I saw first hand the dedication and commitment of those who serve. <br />
They come from every walk of life; from every part of our country. <br />
Time and again, across generations, they have defended our safety in the dark of night and far from home. <br />
Each day -- and particularly on this historic day -- we honor the men and women in uniform who serve our country and protect our freedom. <br />
They travel to the dangerous corners of the world, and we must remember that for every person who is in uniform, there are families who wait for them to come home safely. <br />
I am honored that the military is such an important part, not just of my personal life, but of my professional one as well. <br />
The golf tournament we do each year here in Washington is a testament to those unsung heroes. <br />
I am the son of a man who dedicated his life to his country, family and the military, and I am a better person for it. <br />
In the summer of 1864, Abraham Lincoln, the man at whose memorial we stand, spoke to the 164th Ohio Regiment and said, 'I am greatly obliged to you, and to all who have come forward at the call of their country.' <br />
Just as they have stood tall for our country - we must always stand by and support the men and women in uniform and their families. <br />
Thank you, and it is now my pleasure to introduce the US Naval Glee Club ..." <br />
Tiger Woods' 2-minute, 5-second tribute to the our nation's military was delivered January 18th at the Inaugural Celebration in Washington , DC . <br />
He had been subjected to intense pressure to attend and offer remarks. <br />
Especially so by liberals who have demeaned and criticized him for a decade for not joining their ranks. <br />
Yet, at the Lincoln Memorial, instead of paying homage to Barack Obama, Tiger paid tribute to our soldiers. <br />
Not once did Tiger mention Obama, the inauguration or the new administration. <br />
Understanding that expressing his love for America and his appreciation for our military men and women would disappoint the national news media and the liberal left, he did what he thought was best for the people of our country. <br />
But Tiger, being is his own man, just as his father taught him to be his own man. <br />
Somewhere over that cold, gray Washington sky, Colonel Earl Woods was smiling down on his beloved son. <br />
And there will be one more crying hug waiting for Tiger when the time comes he passes through heaven's gates into God's arms. <br />
****** <br />
What's that you say? <br />
You did not previously know what Tiger said? <br />
You did not see a video clip of him speaking on any national television network? <br />
You did not see a photo of Tiger at the Lincoln Memorial offering his remarks honoring our military. <br />
You did not read a story in the NY Times? <br />
His appearance at the Inaugural Celebration had been widely hailed and promoted in advance by the Obama inaugural organizers ... yet January 18 when he came and spoke ... afterwards, a black out. <br />
If you are as tired of the biased, hypocritical, liberal media hoopla as I am, please send this on to your friends. Thanks.</em><br />
<br />
</td> </tr>
</tbody></table></center><br />
<br />
Hell, I shouldn’t even have to post the Snopes link, the email itself says the speech took place on January 18th. The inauguration was on January 20th. It was also at the White House, not the Lincoln Memorial, which this email reveals to be the place where this speech happened.<br />
<br />
From the email:<br />
“In the summer of 1864, Abraham Lincoln, the man at whose memorial we stand”<br />
“Tiger Woods’ 2-minute, 5-second tribute to the our nation’s military was delivered January 18th”<br />
<br />
He’s introducing the US Naval Glee Club, also revealed in the text of the email, of course:<br />
“Thank you, and it is now my pleasure to introduce the US Naval Glee Club”<br />
<br />
Now, what happened on January 18th at the Lincoln Memorial, you may wonder? A concert. As a part of the lead-up to the inauguration ceremony, a concert entitled “We Are One” was held. Broadcast live and uncut on HBO, which they aired for free even to non-HBO subscribers. Unfortunately the video was only available for one week after the event.<br />
<br />
But hey, here’s some liberal media covering (or is it “covering up“?) the event live:<br />
<a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/01/61550884/1">http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/01/61550884/1</a> you may want to pay particular attention to the update posted at 3:34 pm. Because that’s when Tiger gave his speech. So much for a “liberal media blackout.”<br />
<br />
Oh, and here’s a video of it from the live HBO feed: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjFIlbF3Nn4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjFIlbF3Nn4</a> guess they just forgot to flip the switch to kill that feed, huh?<br />
<br />
Just for the sake of completion, here’s the Snopes link: <a href="http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/tigerwoods.asp">http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/tigerwoods.asp</a><br />
<br />
There is something I am tired of, though. I’m tired of the biased, hyperbolic drivel that passes for truth in these emails. You don’t even have to dig for this stuff, it’s all readily available with a quick Google search. I find it appalling that some of you are so eager and willing to believe whatever bullshit is delivered to your inbox. As long as it fits your worldview, it must be true, right?<br />
<br />
*I should mention the atrocious misuse of the english language seems to be a common thread in all these political propaganda emails. I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t be taking any political advice from someone so obviously uneducated. A third grader could form more coherent sentences and paragraphs.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-3042271827478542752009-08-11T12:54:00.002-05:002009-08-11T13:01:36.088-05:00One (Three) Artist(s) (Led Zeppelin, Dream Theater, Metallica)You know I can't do just one, and I don't want to flood this with three individual notes. So here goes!<br /><br />Starting with the best, obviously.<br /><br />Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to a gazillion people and include me. Try not to repeat a song title. It's harder than you think.<br /><br />Artist: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Led Zeppelin</span><br /><br />Are you male or female: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Poor Tom</span><br />Describe yourself: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Communication Breakdown</span><br />How do you feel about yourself: <span style="font-weight: bold;">What Is and What Should Never Be</span><br />Describe where you currently live: <span style="font-weight: bold;">In the Light</span><br />If you could go anywhere, where would you go: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Ocean</span><br />Your best friend is: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Going to California</span><br />Your favorite color is: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Black Dog</span><br />What's the weather like: <span style="font-weight: bold;">White Summer</span><br />If your life was a tv show, what would it be called?: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Good Times, Bad Times</span><br />Favorite Form of Transportation: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Walter's Walk</span><br />Your Last Relationship: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Babe I'm Gonna Leave You</span><br />Your Youth: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ten Years Gone</span><br />Your Fear: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Song Remains The Same</span><br />What is life to you: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Friends</span><br />What is the best advice you have to give: <span style="font-weight: bold;">That's the Way</span><br />If you could change your name, what would it be: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Boogie With Stu</span><br />Favorite time of the day: <span style="font-weight: bold;">In The Evening</span><br />Favorite Thing to do on the Weekend: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bring It On Home</span><br />How Will You Die: <span style="font-weight: bold;">When The Levee Breaks</span><br />Your Motto: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rock and Roll</span><br /><br /><br />Next up: Artist: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dream Theater</span><br /><br />Are you male or female: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sacrificed Sons</span><br />Describe yourself: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Innocence Faded</span><br />How do you feel about yourself: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Finally Free</span><br />Describe where you currently live: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Home</span><br />If you could go anywhere, where would you go: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Peruvian Skies</span><br />Your best friend is: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Misunderstood</span><br />Your favorite color is: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Black Clouds & Silver Linings</span> (cheating a bit here, using the album name. sue me.)<br />What's the weather like: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Burning My Soul</span><br />If your life was a tv show, what would it be called?: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Great Debate</span><br />Favorite Form of Transportation: <span style="font-weight: bold;">I Walk Beside You</span><br />Your Last Relationship: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Never Enough</span><br />Your Youth: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Constant Motion</span><br />Your Fear: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pull Me Under</span><br />What is life to you: <span style="font-weight: bold;">A Change Of Seasons</span><br />What is the best advice you have to give: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Take The Time</span><br />If you could change your name, what would it be: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Count of Tuscany</span><br />Favorite time of the day: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Dark Eternal Night</span><br />Favorite Thing to do on the Weekend: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Just Let Me Breathe</span><br />How Will You Die: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fatal Tragedy</span><br />Your Motto: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Spirit Carries On</span><br /><br /><br />And finally: Artist: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metallica</span><br /><br />Are you male or female: <span style="font-weight: bold;">King Nothing</span><br />Describe yourself: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Outlaw Torn</span><br />How do you feel about yourself: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Frayed Ends of Sanity</span><br />Describe where you currently live: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Where the Wild Things Are</span><br />If you could go anywhere, where would you go: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Wherever I May Roam</span><br />Your best friend is: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Better Than You</span><br />Your favorite color is: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fade To Black</span><br />What's the weather like: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jump in the Fire</span><br />If your life was a tv show, what would it be called?: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Whiplash</span><br />Favorite Form of Transportation: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ride The Lightning</span><br />Your Last Relationship: <span style="font-weight: bold;">For Whom the Bell Tolls</span><br />Your Youth: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Struggle Within</span><br />Your Fear: <span style="font-weight: bold;">(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth</span><br />What is life to you: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sweet Amber</span><br />What is the best advice you have to give: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shoot Me Again</span><br />If you could change your name, what would it be: <span style="font-weight: bold;">St. Anger</span><br />Favorite time of the day: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dyers Eve</span><br />Favorite Thing to do on the Weekend: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Welcome Home (Sanitarium)</span><br />How Will You Die: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Damage, Inc.</span><br />Your Motto: <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Thing That Should Not Be</span>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-27457679243609543552009-08-07T11:26:00.002-05:002009-09-23T15:59:25.172-05:00Man vs. Eternally Broken Xbox 360: A Novel (via Consumerist)I was flipping through headlines on Google Reader this morning, and came across this article over at <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://consumerist.com/">Consumerist</a></span>:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_qsHerFQzpYY/Snyd7_5lZwI/AAAAAAAAFaU/h704eaLqpCg/s1600/504x_xbox.V9Z77b7BZuCi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_qsHerFQzpYY/Snyd7_5lZwI/AAAAAAAAFaU/h704eaLqpCg/s320/504x_xbox.V9Z77b7BZuCi.jpg" /></a><br />
</div> Being a jaded <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://consumerist.com/tag/xbox-360/">Xbox 360</a></span> owner who's watched his console give up the ghost five times, it takes a lot for a tale of Microsoft customer service woe to move me. And yet a reader named Gower accomplished just that by sending a novel-length soliloquy about his maddening run through Xbox 360 hell. What follows is the Cliffs Notes version (grab your hankies):<br />
<blockquote><br />
<i>I had purchased an Xbox 360 about two years ago and during that time I had to send it to Microsoft four-five times for repairs under warranty for various things- red rings, cd drive not working etc.<br />
Because of all the issues with the Xbox Microsoft extended the warranty to three years for additional issues, and in mid May my Xbox stopped working after giving red rings and error messages before having no video on the screen at all.<br />
<br />
</i>Gower called customer service and set up the repair. Or so he thought.<br />
<br />
<i>The next day I get a message from Sam saying he needed to talk to me further about the issue with no further explanation. All calls made to Sam to try to reach him went unanswered. I did get calls back from Sam at times I specifically said I could not be reached and he left messages telling me to call him back. This went back and forth for a bit until one day it looks like he made a mistake and called me when I told him I was actually available. So what does he do? He hangs up on me as soon as I answer! He then calls me back a half hour later, after I was at work and tells me that due to not being able to reach me he is closing my case.<br />
I then resorted to contacting the BBB on May 26thand a few days later I was contacted by a supervisor named Sean at Xbox support. He apologized and said they would send a box out to return my Xbox through UPS and overnight it to me and I received a tracking number a little later.<br />
<br />
</i>Gower's 360 coffin was shipped not to him, but to someone down the road who wasn't there. He had to convince UPS to get the package to him at his proper address. Then he sent the 360 to Microsoft, which promptly told him he'd receive his refurbished unit in short order. Bet you can guess where it was shipped.<br />
<br />
<i>I checked the tracking number and it said they tried to deliver but nobody was home at another address that was not mine, again. I called UPS and told them again that they are trying to deliver to someone elses house and to deliver to the correct one tomorrow. I again told Sean about the shipping problems and he told me again he would contact them to straighten the issue out. I was a bit upset at this point as someone was being careless and I didn't like the thought of UPS giving a $300 console to complete strangers.<br />
I got the Xbox delivered to me the next day, however I was quite shocked to find the console was damaged! The USB door was missing from the console and the front of the console was covered in deep scratches like someone had dropped it on the ground several times, and there was the sound of something broken and rattling around inside the console. The box it shipped in had no dents or signs of damage, and there was no sign of the missing usb door in the box so it must have been damaged by the repair center.<br />
<br />
</i>Gower e-mailed his good pal Sean, who blamed the damage on UPS and said he'd get another console out to him. Guess where the package ended up?<br />
<br />
<i>I waited again for the box to come, and YET AGAIN no box showed up. I went online to check the tracking number and it said in the notes it was delivered to someone elses house yet again, but this time a woman accepted the package at this address and signed for it.<br />
I called UPS quite mad at this point about the errors. It was at this time I found out that nobody from Microsoft called to report the shipping errors or the damage to the console! I emailed the supervisor Sean back relayed back what UPS told me, and he had the nerve to say he never promised to contact UPS about the damage, and that its not his responsibility to contact UPS about the shipping errors! First of all, Microsoft is the shipper so they are in fact required to contact UPS about the errors, as they should have anyways. Added to this, I have save email transcripts from Sean telling me that he would contact them. I even copied quotes from him about him promising to contact UPS about the damage and the shipping errors. So what does he do in response? He emails me back saying that arguing is not going to solve anything and he is ceasing contact with me and will send another shipping box to my address and will only send electronic updates once my Xbox is received and replaced. At this point I had to call Microsoft several times and report how Sean was treating me and handling the case and was able to get the case transferred to another supervisor named Michael who communicated from there on.<br />
<br />
</i>When Gower finally got his "like new" 360, which turned out to be the exact same console he had sent in, broken USB door and all. He contacted Michael, who acted as though he didn't believe him and requested pictures. Michael said he didn't know why the repair or replacement wasn't made and sent out another coffin. Gower tried to escalate his complaint and sent two dozen e-mails out but got no replies.<br />
<br />
<i>I finally get yet another replacement box, ship it out, and after a week I get confirmation that my Xbox is being sent back. I check online while at work to see the status of the delivery, only to find the message says it was left on front steps of the house (whose, I don't know) at 11:30am, at least seven hours before I get home. I am alarmed since all my other packages have required signatures and I don't know whose bright idea it was to leave a $300 Xbox on the steps without a signature. Ive called UPS and Microsoft and each are placing the blame on the other and neither wants to help me now. Microsoft said they need to run an investigation as to what happened but I have not heard from them about what theyre doing yet. I did get a call from my supervisor Michael yesterday, but he address me by someone elses name (he dialed the wrong customers number). When I told him my name, he hung up on me. No apology or explanation, he just hung up on me. Wont answer his phone or return emails either.<br />
It's now two and a half months since I contacted Microsoft to have the Xbox repaired under warranty. I have resorted to buying a brand new console at the store since I have many Xbox games and HD-DVDs that are useless without a console to play them on. I don't know what to do at this point…<br />
<br />
</i>It was the HD-DVD part that really hit home, because the obsolete high-def movie format is a symbol for all the trust Microsoft's customers have channeled into its products, only to be trampled on. I once owned a bunch of HD-DVDs but ended up making the walk of shame to sell them at a used book store. And I've been through console repair misadventures. Most of us have. To suffer through poor customer service, dream of a better tomorrow and double down on your investments is the way of the Xbox 360 gamer.<br />
(Photo: <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssbn737rm/2371520086/">dirtyblueshirt</a></span>)<br />
</blockquote><br />
I won't buy a 360 until they're reliable, and at this point, it doesn't look like they're EVER going to be reliable.<br />
<br />
What really bothers me, is the people, like Gower here, that even despite having had their system repaired/replaced 4-5 times, AND getting mistreated by customer service on this latest failure... will still go out and buy another 360, knowing what a piece of crap it is, and how horribly they can expect to be treated in the future.<br />
<br />
Masochists. No other word for it.<br />
<br />
Were I in this situation, I'd chalk it up as a lesson learned, sell the HD-DVDs and 360 games, and be done with this mess. I don't care how good you think the games are, nothing is worth putting up with this abuse. Besides, most of the games are on PC and/or PS3 anyway, if you really feel you need to keep playing them.<br />
<br />
Putting up with the abuse, AND buying replacement systems even when your current one is still under warranty because you're getting shafted, all you're doing is validating and justifying their abusive practice. And sending the message that you don't care how incompetently they design their systems, or how badly they treat you as a customer, you'll keep giving them your money for the privilege of letting them abuse you.<br />
<br />
This article also kind of hits a personal note, as I have a few friends who've been bitten by the ever unreliable 360. One of whom has also purchased a second (possibly even a third now, I don't remember) system, while his warranty system was actually out for repair.<br />
<br />
/facepalm<br />
/shakehead<br />
/sighJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-57643652886134193202009-08-06T12:15:00.000-05:002009-08-06T12:15:38.067-05:00Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal, PayPal, and probably more...All targets of a massive DDoS attack this morning, and still ongoing, it seems.<br />
<br />
I can't be the only one thinking this has something to do with today being the 64th anniversary of Hiroshima. A "nuking" of the web, so to speak. Target some of the most popular, high traffic sites, and take them down.<br />
<br />
In all the news I can find on it, people seem to be fixated on a possible link to the hacker convention, Defcon, which ended Sunday. But that doesn't make any sense to me. Why wait until Thursday, if that were the case? Why wait at all?<br />
<br />
No, it seems a little too suspicious that it would happen on the anniversary of Hiroshima. And that no one seems to be getting that, definitely has caused me a few facepalm moments this morning, while reading the articles and comments.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-30164254680311894772009-08-06T00:24:00.000-05:002009-08-06T00:43:52.861-05:0015 (30) Films I'll Never ForgetRules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen movies you've seen that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.<br /><br />1. The Neverending Story<br />2. Edward Scissorhands<br />3. Secretary<br />4. The Breakfast Club<br />5. The Empire Strikes Back<br />6. High Fidelity<br />7. Serenity<br />8. Harold and Maude<br />9. The Goonies<br />10. Rocky<br />11. Die Hard<br />12. The Crow<br />13. The Princess Bride<br />14. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade<br />15. Ghostbusters<br /><br />And just because I can, how about 15 more?<br /><br />1. True Romance<br />2. Heat<br />3. Pineapple Express<br />4. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory<br />5. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly<br />6. Bubba Ho-Tep<br />7. Lost In Translation        <br />8. Clerks<br />9. Beauty And The Beast<br />10. The Little Mermaid<br />11. Who Framed Roger Rabbit<br />12. Evil Dead 2<br />13. Aliens<br />14. Toy Story<br />15. Se7enJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-40401243008008680882009-02-27T06:20:00.000-06:002009-06-22T15:29:23.784-05:00My Bucket List?Things you have done during your lifetime:<br />
<br />
(*) Gone on a blind date<br />
<br />
(*) Skipped school<br />
<br />
() Watched someone die<br />
<br />
(*) Been to Canada<br />
<br />
() Been to Mexico<br />
<br />
(*) Been to Florida<br />
<br />
(*) Been to Hawaii<br />
<br />
(*) Been on a plane<br />
<br />
(*) Been on a helicopter<br />
<br />
(*) Been lost<br />
<br />
(*) Gone to Washington, DC<br />
<br />
(*) Swam in the ocean<br />
<br />
() Cried yourself to sleep<br />
<br />
(*) Played cops and robbers<br />
<br />
(?) Recently colored with crayons<br />
<br />
(*) Sang Karaoke<br />
<br />
(*) Paid for a meal with coins only<br />
<br />
(*) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch<br />
<br />
(*) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't.<br />
<br />
(*) Made prank phone calls<br />
<br />
() Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans<br />
<br />
(*) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose<br />
<br />
(*) Caught a snowflake on your tongue<br />
<br />
(*) Danced in the rain<br />
<br />
(*) Written a letter to Santa Claus<br />
<br />
(*) Been kissed under the mistletoe<br />
<br />
(*) Watched the sunrise with someone<br />
<br />
(*) Blown bubbles<br />
<br />
(*) Gone ice-skating<br />
<br />
(*) Gone to the movies<br />
<br />
(*) Been deep sea fishing<br />
<br />
(*) Driven across the United States<br />
<br />
() Been in a hot air balloon<br />
<br />
() Been sky diving<br />
<br />
(*) Gone snowmobiling<br />
<br />
() Lived in more than one country<br />
<br />
(*) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets<br />
<br />
(*) Seen a falling star and made a wish<br />
<br />
(*) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser<br />
<br />
() Seen the Grand Canyon<br />
<br />
(*) Seen the Statue of Liberty<br />
<br />
() Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle<br />
<br />
() Gone to the top of CN Tower<br />
<br />
(*) Been on a cruise<br />
<br />
(*) Traveled by train<br />
<br />
(*) Traveled by motorcycle<br />
<br />
(*) Been horse back riding<br />
<br />
() Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR<br />
<br />
(*) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World<br />
<br />
(?) Truly believe in the power of prayer<br />
<br />
(*) Been in a rain forest<br />
<br />
(*) Seen whales in the ocean<br />
<br />
(*) Been to Niagara Falls<br />
<br />
(*) Ridden on an elephant<br />
<br />
() Swam with dolphins<br />
<br />
() Been to the Olympics<br />
<br />
() Walked on the Great Wall of China<br />
<br />
(*) Saw and heard a glacier calf<br />
<br />
() Been spinnaker flying<br />
<br />
(*) Been water-skiing<br />
<br />
(*) Been tubing<br />
<br />
(*) Been snow-skiing<br />
<br />
() Been to Westminster Abbey<br />
<br />
() Been to The Vatican<br />
<br />
() Been to the Louvre<br />
<br />
() Swam in the Mediterranean<br />
<br />
(*) Been to a Major League Baseball game<br />
<br />
(*) Been to a National Football League game<br />
<br />
(*) Been to Hollywood<br />
<br />
<hr width="85%" /><br />
<br />
Some of these are weird... recently colored with crayons? When it's supposed to be what you've done in your life? Shouldn't that just be "Colored with crayons"? And "truly believe in the power of prayer"? Like... ever? Now? No? Does prayer encompass other spiritual paths divine communique? Considering this is a collection of things one has done in life... I don't see how it pertains.<br />
<br />
And shouldn't this be things you actually want to do in life? Who wants to cry themselves to sleep at night? Or watch someone die?<br />
<br />
I gotta stop with these pre-made, fill it in and pass it around, surveys, and actually do my own sometime.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-91857427058533739032009-02-11T19:58:00.003-06:002009-08-07T11:39:04.047-05:00Vietnamese Coffee<div style="padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwolf777/3272627135/" title="photo sharing"><img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/3272627135_236ff53e46.jpg" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0pt;font-size:0.8em;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwolf777/3272627135/">Vietnamese Coffee</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/darkwolf777/">DarkWolf777</a>.</span></div>In process. Condensed milk on the bottom, hot water straining through coffee sitting on top of the glass. Yum! :DJayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-7543336747249265332009-01-25T13:17:00.001-06:002009-01-25T13:18:11.557-06:00Movin'I think I'm officially moving from Blogger to <a href="http://darkwolf777.wordpress.com">Wordpress</a>.<br /><br />I haven't 100% decided yet, but I do like Wordpress' features quite a bit more. The one thing that does kind of annoy me, is that you can't edit CSS to customize the look of your theme. At least, not at the 'hosted' site (or you can, you just pay for it). <em>But</em> I've lately been thinking a lot about doing my own website again, which basically eliminates that issue.<br /><br />I've got <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwolf777/">Flickr</a> for my pictures, Blogger/Wordpress for my blog, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/darkwolf777">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://darkwolf777.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> for my mini/micro blogging, a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/DWECerberus">YouTube</a> channel and a <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/darkwolf777">Vimeo</a> account for my videos (Haven't uploaded anything to Vimeo yet... and may not ever, now that YouTube is more widescreen friendly, but YouTube is kinda bitchy if you put 'unauthorized' music in your video, maybe Vimeo is better?), and finally <a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=770654288">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.myspace.com/randomblasphemy">MySpace</a> (*shudder* I avoid that site like the plague) for keeping up with friends.<br /><br />The problem is: I don't have them in one place, easily accessible. Hence the urge to want to do my own website again. I've never been a fan of how Flickr forces the 'photostream' on me, or anyone I send to check out my photos. With my own site, I can still use Flickr for the storage and maintenance, but also be able to design my own gallery page(s) to present my pictures as I want them presented. And of course with Wordpress, I can host my blog and redesign it to fit the rest of my site. And I can use RSS to feed my Twitter and Tumblr posts to my site. And embed mine or others YouTube/Vimeo videos. Facebook and MySpace I can live without being integrated (especially MySpace. Fuck MySpace).<br /><br />So yeah, there's that. Wordpress has this awesome migration tool, that let me import all my Blogger posts, including comments. Genius. I could also import all my old LiveJournal posts, but ... no. I've got the ones I wanted to keep already in Blogger. So, for now, all new posts will be over at Wordpress. And if any of you are interested in switching too, they (Wordpress) make it super easy to do so, without having to give up your existing posts :)Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-26422757709141216562008-12-06T23:49:00.001-06:002008-12-06T23:49:24.165-06:00This is the new south, same as the old south...This post began life considerably different. It was actually going to be about all the political junk mail I'd been receiving. But back in October when I began writing it, the election had not commenced, and as I started to delve into the blatant racism evident in these emails, it began morphing into this rant on racism.<br /><br />I had it sitting in my drafts. The idea that I had for it had evolved into I guess something that I really needed to get off my chest. What started as flippant, took on a serious tone. And as I read over, and over, and over, it just didn't mesh with me. It didn't have the vibe I originally wanted to convey.<br /><br />So it sat in my drafts. And honestly, after a week or so, I'd forgotten about it. You know, because I blog so much and so often... *whistle* Yeeeah. Point is I finally remembered it and decided I needed to just get the damn thing posted already. But now the election has gone down, and half of the post is fairly pointless in the context it was written, so what you're getting now is more of an expansion on my "<a href="http://darkwolf777.blogspot.com/2008/10/trapped-in-texas.html">Trapped in Texas</a>" post.<br /><br />I got some flak after that post, which was followed by posting my pictures of Portland, people assuming the two were related. It was suggested that "while Portland is nice enough, there's no reason to idealize it." K. Duly noted. And completely off base. Perhaps this will better clarify the meaning of "Trapped in Texas."<br /><br /><center><hr width="75%"></center><br /><br />I have come to realize this year, perhaps more astutely than in previous years, that I'm surrounded by racists. It's people I work with. It's people I debate with. It's people I call friends. It's even some members of my own family. It's shocking. And saddening. <br /><br />I actually heard these words recently spoken by someone I used to think was a reasonably intelligent person: "I need to stock up on more guns for when we go to war with the niggers." I was flabbergasted. Did I <em>really</em> just hear that? In 2008? <em><strong>Are you fucking kidding me?!</strong></em> And just as bad, the people around at the time all nodded their heads in agreement.<br /><br />The very thought that we might have a black president has suddenly brought the inner racist in these people boiling to the surface. And of course, we're in a zealous fervor with our seething hatred of muslims, that all it takes is a <em>name</em> to convict someone of hating America and wanting to destroy us from the inside. Facts are irrelevant. In fact, facts are openly ignored in favor of the most irrational of explanations. <br /><br />And when the facts clearly dispute this irrationality... doubt is forcefully cast upon the truth in order to reinforce the cycle of irrationality. <a href="http://www.snopes.com/">Snopes</a>, who for the better part of a decade have been a source of concise summaries to a mountain of fact checking and research on a wide variety of subjects, <a href="http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/internet/a/snopes_exposed.htm">is now under scrutiny</a> because someone on MySpace claimed they have a hardcore liberal bias, so they can't be trusted. And the junk mail starts flying. Seriously? <br /><br />How do you rationally argue against those so willing to lie and concoct falsities? How do you talk sense to those so willfully ignorant they would rather believe the lies than question their own worldview?<br /><br />As is all too often the case, religion is front and center. The divisive malcontent of our nation. The snake in the garden. Religious extremism.<br /><br />I can't help but recall a book I read not too long ago: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/End-Faith-Religion-Terror-Future/dp/0393035158">The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the future of Reason</a>. It might as well have been a warning to us. A wake up call. The cycle of irrationality has to end. The cycle of hate has to end. <em>We</em> will be our own destruction. We're running full speed towards the edge of a bottomless pit.<br /><br />We use religion to justify <em>our</em> arrogance, and then we use religion to justify our incredulity when the consequences of our arrogance come back to bite us in the ass. We used religion to justify slavery. Hitler used religion to justify the holocaust. We're using religion right now to deny civil rights to homosexuals, and have been for over 30 years. We used religion to do the same thing to blacks years before. We're using religion right now to justify a war that we entered under false pretenses. We're using religion right now to cast doubt upon science, and the monumental evidence that supports the theory of evolution. We're using religion right now to run a government whose own constitution guarantees the separation of church and state.<br /><br />Irrationality feeds irrationality. <br /><br />Hate breeds hate. <br /><br />Violence begets violence.<br /><br />North Texas is moderately, at best, more progressive than the most backwoods deep south towns. Towns that still spell "Coffee Cup Cafe" with K's. It may be cleaner. Richer. More diverse. But irrationality is most certainly alive and well, and hate flows like water. I try to fight it. And I'll keep fighting it. Hopeless though it may be overall, if I can help break this cycle for at least one person, it all will have been worth it.<br /><br />But it's exhausting. I feel like I'm sinking, like I'm being overtaken by this latest wave of ignorance, caught in it's undertow<br /><br />So for the next <strike>18</strike> <strike>17</strike> <strike>16</strike> 15 months, I'm trapped. I'm clawing my way out, but there's still a long way to go.<br /><br />Miles to go before I sleep.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-53236061857384255952008-12-01T10:00:00.002-06:002008-12-01T10:13:11.898-06:00Disgusting<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwolf777/3073996747/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/3073996747_0181fb0008.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style=" margin-top: 0px;font-size:0.8em;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwolf777/3073996747/">Disgusting</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/darkwolf777/">DarkWolf777</a>.</span></div><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This was taken on Thanksgiving day. </span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Eighty. Fucking. Degrees. </span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And this doesn't even begin to demonstrate how muggy it was. </span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Texas weather sucks.</span></span><br /></p>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-47195783743521470882008-10-29T12:52:00.001-05:002008-10-29T12:52:39.845-05:003 Mice in a Bucket<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwolf777/2983965985/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3183/2983965985_d69742a92b.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwolf777/2983965985/">3 Mice in a Bucket</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/darkwolf777/">DarkWolf777</a>.</span></div><p>They went in looking for food, and got stuck. They're too cute, they're like little springs. We're debating on whether we let them go, or keep them as shop mascots.</p>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-46765645956209088492008-10-23T01:16:00.002-05:002008-10-23T01:19:22.539-05:00I've put this off for far too long...I know I promised a day by day Portland post. And I may still get around to it eventually. Just don't hold your breath.<br /><br />Ultimately though, I'm lazy, and it's been far too long to have not at least posted pictures.<br /><br /><center><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="333" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=61927" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2Fdarkwolf777%2Fsets%2F72157607338879197%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2Fdarkwolf777%2Fsets%2F72157607338879197%2F&set_id=72157607338879197&jump_to="> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=61927"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=61927" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="&offsite=true&intl_lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2Fdarkwolf777%2Fsets%2F72157607338879197%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2Fdarkwolf777%2Fsets%2F72157607338879197%2F&set_id=72157607338879197&jump_to=" width="500" height="333"></embed></object></center>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-41548858159837228422008-10-22T00:59:00.000-05:002008-10-23T01:07:28.936-05:00Trapped in TexasI've been using "Random Acts of Blasphemy" for about as long as I can remember. Well... as long as I've been blogging anyway.<br /><br />This change I initiated earlier, has lead to some thinking. Some thinking about changing more than just the layout or design. I want a new... thing. It may be a title, or it may be something else entirely.<br /><br />For now, I'm going with "Trapped In Texas," but I'm a fickle bloke, and I'll probably change it to something else next week. Or I may just go back to "Blasphemy."<br /><br />Like I said, fickle.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-6795412344624637282008-10-18T20:05:00.001-05:002008-10-18T20:05:17.710-05:00Haunt House in Caddo Mills<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwolf777/2952527103/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/2952527103_af439d80a1.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwolf777/2952527103/">Haunt House in Caddo Mills</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/darkwolf777/">DarkWolf777</a>.</span></div><p>Just seen at a haunted house. A couple guys out twirling fire. Kinda mesmerizing to watch.</p>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-41494847859914634122008-10-16T17:23:00.000-05:002008-10-16T17:21:21.200-05:00WTF!?<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qsHerFQzpYY/SPe-YeCSsAI/AAAAAAAABgQ/A7YZHwyS7NQ/s1600-h/bm-image-781231.jpe"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qsHerFQzpYY/SPe-YeCSsAI/AAAAAAAABgQ/A7YZHwyS7NQ/s320/bm-image-781231.jpe" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257880417567158274" /></a></p>Testing email uploads :-)Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-62006837100187494072008-10-11T01:29:00.001-05:002008-10-11T01:29:04.114-05:00Cha cha cha changes...I hate the default templates. And all the freebie crap templates tend to, well, suck. The few nice ones seem to have <em>something</em> that doesn't work right.<br /><br />So I'm going to take a stab at making my own.<br /><br />Right now, keeping it simple. Converted from a hard pixel width to a percentage based width.<br /><br />Next up is a crash course in CSS. I know very little, but enough that I can hopefully figure it out and get my own design going.<br /><br />But first, sleep.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-18360562218308148022008-10-06T00:25:00.002-05:002008-10-06T12:03:24.395-05:00Oh, Portland!What can I say about Portland?<br /><br />The trip was amazing! That's a weak adjective, but damnit there just isn't a good enough adjective for it. It was incredible. It was gorgeous. It was surreal. It was sublime.<br /><br />Let me put it this way: I'm an artist. I have been as long as I can remember. But the past 10 years or so I've neglected that aspect of <em>me</em>. It started shortly after college, when I couldn't find a job in a horrible market for creative work. So I started working in a cubicle. That place, Stream, sucked the life out of me for over 2 years before I finally got caught up in a series of layoff waves.<br /><br />I was glad to go. I was so utterly beat down by that place that I tried everything I could to get fired. Nothing worked. Nothing, until the economy started taking a nose-dive post 9/11.<br /><br />Point is I blamed Stream on my lack of desire to produce art. And then during the down-turn in the economy, I couldn't find work for 6 months after the layoff. In desperation, I took an overnight stocking position at Toy's R Us, and a delivery position at Domino's Pizza.<br /><br />It would've been depressing, if the pay for Domino's (with tips) didn't turn out to be so lucrative. I was happy again. I was content. And yet, I still couldn't muster up a desire to create. I dabbled a bit, and it felt good when I did, but it never lasted. I never really gave it much thought though. I was in good spirits, and making good money at quite possibly the easiest job. <em>Ever</em>. <br /><br />Of course after that first year, things started scaling back. Drastically. What started at 20 hours a week making more money that I was at Stream in 40 hours, slowly over 2-3 years, turned into begging for 40 hours a week to barely make enough to scratch by on. I was once again in a bad place, and I knew something had to change. Soon.<br /><br />By chance I landed a temporary job as an artist for an import company. They were working on getting their xmas line together, and I was called in to make some changes to existing merchandise, as well as design new merchandise. It was kind of invigorating. I hoped it would turn into a full time position, but unfortunately that wasn't to be.<br /><br />But then I got a call. The company I now work for was calling me in for an interview. Strange thing though, I had put my resume into this place over 2 years prior to this call. Having not heard anything in that time I assumed they just weren't interested. And having grown up across the street from the owners, I didn't want to push the subject. I didn't want it to seem like favoritism, had I gotten a job.<br /><br />It's an art-ish position. Few and far between are the times I get to produce something, mostly it's converting an engineers CAD drawings into something we can use to actually produce the label, or sign or whatever it is supposed to be. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job. Great people to work with. I've been there now, over 3 and a half years.<br /><br />I'm happy again and yet there's still no desire to create. I couldn't place my finger on why that was.<br /><br />Until Portland.<br /><br />In Portland it was like my whole body buzzed with anticipation. I craved for some paper and a pencil, or some chalk or charcoal. A paint brush. Anything! <em>I wanted to create!</em> My hands were screaming to be put to good use.<br /><br />I assessed the situation. Last year I was in Hawaii. I did not feel like this, even surrounded in all that beauty. In the past 10 years I've been to Alaska, and this feeling wasn't there. I've been to Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, Mt. Rushmore, the Grand Tetons. I've been to Salt Lake City. Denver. Santa Fe. Austin. San Antonio. And more places I can't remember right now. I've never once felt that hunger that I felt in Portland.<br /><br />I felt whole again. And I began to suspect that it wasn't my job, or some kind of "depression." It was Texas. That's been the common denominator through good times and bad. Texas.<br /><br />I started to realize why this feeling never appeared in any other vacations I went on. What was different about Portland? Hawaii, Alaska, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons easily match the natural awe and beauty in their own ways. So why Portland?<br /><br />Why indeed. Hawaii, gorgeous... but far too expensive. Alaska, also gorgeous, but as much as I like colder weather... it's even too cold for me. Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons you can't realistically live there.<br /><br />And then there's Portland. It has the natural beauty. Hell, it very much reminded me, vividly, of Hawaii. But it has something else. It has a realistic cost of living expectation. For the first time in all the places I've been on vacation I truly felt like I could live here.<br /><br />That was the key, I thought. The idea that I could enjoy a life there. That I could finally be creative again, because even the city was inspiring. I felt more alive in that week than I have in the past decade. And as if to hammer the point home, the instant we landed in LAX on our connecting flight back to Dallas... it was gone. That feeling. The buzz. The hunger. A sadness settled in.<br /><br />I've been back from Portland now for just over a month. It's all I can think about. It's felt like I've been back a month for each week. It's not just my creative desire that's gone now. It's my desire to do anything. I've settled full force into a malaise.<br /><br />I was keeping notes everyday. I was using my phone and keeping SMS drafts, as that seemed easier than needing to carry around a notepad. On the last day, as we were sitting in LAX waiting on our connecting flight, I was tapping in my thoughts when the predictive text on my phone made an astute observation:<br /><br /><blockquote>Day 8:<br />Back to Dallas.<br />Dread.<br />Dallas is no longer good.</blockquote><br /><br />I was intending to type "home", but it certainly works either way.<br /><br />I'm going to stop for now, as this is running on quite long enough. But I will be writing about Portland soon. Pictures and stuff. I just keep procrastinating. It's what I do. One final thought:<br /><br />What can I say about Portland? It's home.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-22242282904988838022008-08-26T02:28:00.001-05:002008-08-26T02:30:50.440-05:00Portland bound!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>So, I have to be up in 4 hours, because the flight is in 6 hours. Fun stuff.<br/><br/>Pictures, and video (maybe. Probably. But maybe) to come.<br/><br/>I really can't begin to express how excited I am about this trip. I went to Hawaii last year, and I wasn't this excited. What's wrong with me?<br/><br/>Or maybe that's the wrong question. Maybe the question should be how awesome is Portland?<br/><br/>I plan on finding out.<br/><br/><br/></div>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-42796033748474340102008-08-17T02:57:00.001-05:002008-08-17T02:57:09.487-05:00Do you blog? Do you use Firefox? Well, come right on in!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>By happenstance, I just found a cool fracking <a href='http://www.mozilla.org/firefox' target='_blank'>Firefox</a> extension called <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/' target='_blank'>ScribeFire</a>.<br/><br/>You just install it, give it the link and login to your blog(s), and you're ready to go. <br/><br/>It has built-in options to post pictures from your computer, from the web, or from a <a href='http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwolf777/' target='_blank'>Flickr</a> search, or post videos from a <a href='http://www.youtube.com/user/DWECerberus' target='_blank'>YouTube</a> search. It's got a full suite of word processing tools, with keyboard shortcuts (like ctrl-i (or cmd-i on a Mac) for making italic text, ctrl/cmd-b for bold, etc.), lists, alignment options, font control, special characters, etc.<br/><br/>You can set it up to manage multiple blogs if you have them, and it shows all your entries for them. You can manage tags/keywords, even modify the time/date that you posted (I like that for when I convert old LiveJournal or MySpace entries, I can modify them to when I originally posted them).<br/><br/><a href='http://darkwolf777.blogspot.com/2008/02/testing-out-couple-editors.html' target='_blank'>A while back</a>, I was looking for an editor, to avoid the ... while useful, not exactly convenient ... blogger web interface. I played around with <a href='http://infinite-sushi.com/software/ecto/' target='_blank'>Ecto</a> and <a href='http://www.red-sweater.com/marsedit/' target='_blank'>MarsEdit</a>, but both cost money (which I'm not against, per-se, but for something like this, anything over $10 is too much, in my opinion), and Ecto, the cheaper one ($18), has some quirky formatting that it throws into posts. MarsEdit was looking to be perfect, save for the $30 price tag.<br/><br/>Then I come across ScribeFire. It has almost everything MarsEdit offers (MarsEdit's Flickr images actually pull up your own photos, rather than a general search of all Flickr users. But you can use the links Flickr provides, and ScribeFire's generic image insert for an image on the web) at a very reasonable price. $0. Whodathunk?!<br/><br/>Maybe this will get me posting a little bit more often. <br/></div>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-54190505415373813072008-08-13T00:54:00.001-05:002008-08-15T23:04:41.546-05:00[Updated] Biased judging at the olympics?I'm calling foul.<br /><br />There was some speculation during qualifying, but now after watching the women's finals in gymnastics... definitely.<br /><br />4 rounds of competition. <br /><br />After round 1, the US team is up by .2 over China.<br /><br />Round 2, the US team averaged a 15.99 score, with one girl getting the highest score recorded at the olympics this year, of 16.9<br /><br />Here's where the bias comes in. After round 2, the US is <em>down</em> 1.25 points. <br /><br />Now, for China to jump 1.3 points, would mean they would have to have averaged 17.3 ... and the first girl got a 15.975, a break to swimming (one of the most incredible 800m relays in history... shattered the world record by 5 seconds!) meant we didn't see the other two girls' scores. But we know neither got higher than 16.9.<br /><br />So I ask, how exactly does the math work out, when they don't even <em>break</em> a 17 score, that they somehow manage to come out with a 17.3 average score to jump 1.25 points ahead of the US team?<br /><br />Bias.<br /><br />Chinese women's gymnastics has never received gold in the olympics. Ever. Until now, and conveniently they're on home turf. Sound fishy? Oh most definitely.<br /><br /><em>Update 08.15.2008</em><br /><br />I think <a href="http://autumnevening.blogspot.com/">Autumn</a> figured it out. Apparently the average score doesn't matter, that's just the NBC commentators mucking things up.<br /><br />So it sorta works out, but I still find it a bit fishy. Watched the all-around women's gymnastic finals tonight, and damned if the Chinese weren't getting favorable scores. The US girls won, but had to fight hard for it... in each event they were far better than the Chinese girls (even the commentators were saying their scores were way too low for their performances), and after 4 rounds just managed to squeak by with a .6 lead over the Chinese. <br /><br />One US girl got deducted a full .5 on the uneven bars, because she supposedly didn't do a full handstand. But when one of the Chinese girls <strong>FALLS</strong> on her landing in the vault... only a .1 deduction. Step across the line with 1 foot, is .1, both feet is .3, land outside the line is .5... <em>but fall on your ass</em>? meh! .1<br /><br />Ridiculous.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-82893459555067087422008-06-18T01:27:00.006-05:002011-01-31T11:50:52.620-06:00Nicole Atkins - The Way It Is<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5GlHKl9S70o&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5GlHKl9S70o&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
Oh my.<br />
<br />
Ok, seriously. I've posted this 4 freaking times, and every time it works then suddenly it's no longer available. So now I'm forced to post a clip with crap audio, rather than the actual music video.<br />
<br />
Thanks RIAA. You're awesome.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-60522347189249283302008-06-13T00:57:00.002-05:002008-07-25T23:18:04.842-05:00SMU fratboys can eat a cock.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44437812@N00/2567139002" title="View '060708-HoB_Stage-001' on Flickr.com"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2567139002_a1a17fb9c0.jpg" alt="060708-HoB_Stage-001" border="0" width="500" height="400" /></a><br /><br />I don't remember getting old. <br /><br />Last weekend me and <a href="http://autumnevening.blogspot.com/">Autumn</a> caught a show at the House of Blues. Initially we thought it was just this band, Zoso, a Led Zeppelin tribute band. To our surprise and delight, another band was opening for them. Appetite for Destruction, a Guns 'N Roses tribute band.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44437812@N00/2566317333" title="View '060708-HoB_Appetite_for_Destruction-005' on Flickr.com"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/2566317333_485af5326b.jpg" alt="060708-HoB_Appetite_for_Destruction-005" border="0" width="400" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Awesome, awesome show. If a little on the loud side. I know, I know, "If it's too loud, you're too old!" I'm hip. I'm down. But holy shit, when it's so loud as to make you go dizzy, it's a tad too loud. I will definitely catch them again, if they ever come back to Dallas.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44437812@N00/2567141042" title="View '060708-HoB_Zoso-004' on Flickr.com"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3066/2567141042_9f51feae25.jpg" alt="060708-HoB_Zoso-004" border="0" width="400" height="500" /></a><br /><br />But I've come to the conclusion that I can't fully enjoy concerts anymore. As bad as I want to go to them, I simply cannot stand the douchebaggery. If the music wasn't so good, I'd have been kicked out of the place. I was far too close to pounding some little fratboy dicks face in. They were the worst offenders. Trying to squeeze 10 people into the space that was marginally comfortable for 1. Starting some lame, half-assed mosh pit. Drunk off their asses, and hopping up and down, landing on people around them.<br /><br />After one of them landed on <a href="http://autumnevening.blogspot.com/">Autumn</a>, I started holding my arm up as a barrier to give us some space. Douchebag would migrate off for a while, and I'd put my arm down. As he'd come back, I'd raise my arm again. Quickly tiring of this game, the next time he came close, I shot my arm out with some force and a clenched fist. I'm pretty sure I punched him in the kidney. <br /><br />Oh he bowed up for a little while. We shouted back and forth a few times, and it was quickly understood that he wasn't getting any support from his friends. In fact, some of them looked like they were tired of his shit too. The ones that weren't completely bombed.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44437812@N00/2567141994" title="View '060808-HoB_Zoso-009' on Flickr.com"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/2567141994_bf96408ddb.jpg" alt="060808-HoB_Zoso-009" border="0" width="400" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Then there was the greaseball in the red shirt, and his whore girlfriend. And the near endless stream of trannies that all knew him and just had to be near him. One was obviously a man, the other's at least passed as females upon quick glance. I'm pretty sure not a single one of them actually was a female though. Security had to step in before an all out cat fight broke out between one of the trannies and the woman next to me.<br /><br />Not including me and <a href="http://autumnevening.blogspot.com/">Autumn</a>, there were about 6 other people that kept the concert sane. We all even actively walled up and blocked people from squeezing their way in.<br /><br />To all the cutters: Fuck you! You want up front? Get your lazy ass here earlier. You paid? Good for you. So did I. Oh, you just want to take a picture with your phone? Well hold that bad boy up like everyone else, because you're sure as hell aren't going to weasel your way past me.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-57335463425175122692008-06-12T09:50:00.001-05:002008-06-19T00:04:55.242-05:00BMW GINA Light Visionary Model Concept Car<p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/0pwabDeqVi8' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/0pwabDeqVi8'/></object></p><p>Slick. Freaking cool. Do want!<br /><br />But I can't be the only one that got a little chuckle when the hood opens. Perhaps 'gina' isn't the best name? :)</p>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4185475825862588573.post-71899516789801069222008-02-17T15:56:00.002-06:002008-07-25T23:18:54.869-05:00Ready, set, shuffle!Grabbing this one from <a href="http://autumnevening.blogspot.com/">Autumn</a>. After updating the soundtrack of my life, I remembered a post she did a while back that was similar.<br /><br />Now it's time for a confession, so hit Shuffle, and then post the first five songs that come up. Think of it as a music swap. And no cheating!<br /><br />Here's mine:<br /><i>Never Going Back Again</i> - Fleetwood Mac<br /><i>Sending a Dream into the Universe</i> - Nobuo Uematsu<br /><i>Under Pressure</i> - David Bowie<br /><i>Fight Fire With Fire</i> - Apocalyptica<br /><i>Taxman</i> - Stevie Ray Vaughan<br /><br />Your turn!Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04907672492370085927noreply@blogger.com0