Chaos continues...

Last week there was good news, but, well, the chaos brought on by the re-election of King George VI continues...

The lone voice of sanity resigns.

Not that I'm saying that Kerry would have Powell as SoS, but even Powell's limited capacity as a light of rationality in the dark chasm that is the Bush Foreign Policy is better than the "Full ahead!" of Condy.

TTFN

Questions...

Well, there are no majorly publicized lawsuits about the election, but there are quite a few stories being written about what the f*ck happened.

(from Chattylibrarians, submitted by A.M.):

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1104-38.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1104-36.htm

http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/04/11/ana04025.html

http://www.ecotalk.org/AP.htm

http://slate.com/Default.aspx?id=2109141&

---

NO MORE BU--SH--

TTFN

Health...

I've mentioned before that I've been diagnosed with high blood pressure and high LDL (bad cholesterol). These are both symptoms or heart disease, which runs in my family. I'm on medication for both, and hopefully I'm doing better. I've begun exercising - walking for an hour every other evening, beginning again with the weights tomorrow. Diet is now mostly non-fried foods, more subs, salads, ethnic foods like Chinese (although high in sodium), Japanese, Mexican, Italian (high carbs).

I hope I conquer/ prevent/ remedy/ live with this. With luck, perserverence, and determination, I shall.

(Yes, I worry too much, a lot actually... )

(Song of the moment: Traveling Wilbury's "End of the line")

To the citizens of the United States of America...

This was posted to Chattylibrarians by Richard Ingham... I think it circulated around the time of 2000 as well, but it's funny...

To the citizens of the United States of America,

In the light of your failure to elect a President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour', skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters. You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise". You will learn that the suffix 'burgh is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation. Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up "interspersed". There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary then you won't have to use bad language as often.

2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize".

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to Cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier). You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents - Scottish dramas such as "Taggart" will no longer be broadcast with subtitles. While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is "Devon". If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become "shires" e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters. British sit-coms such as "Men Behaving Badly" or "Red Dwarf" will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American "football". There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game. The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US rugby sevens side by 2005. You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called "rounders" which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.

7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. The 97.85% of you who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The Russians have never been the bad guys. "Merde" is French for "5hit".
You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 2th will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive Day".

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps". Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat. Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.

11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.

12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all, it is lager. From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer", and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager". The substances formerly known as "American Beer" will henceforth be referred to as "Near-Frozen Knat's Urine", with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as "Weak Near-Frozen Knat's Urine". This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in Pilsen, Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.

13. From December 1st the UK will harmonise petrol (or "Gasoline" as you will be permitted to keep calling it until April 1st 2005) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon - get used to it).

14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your cooperation.

--

(Movie of the moment: Don't Look Now, a '70s thriller with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie.)

The fallout

The country has been, and is most assuredly now, on a rocketship headed for hell. Screw the handbasket.

I'm glad I took off yesterday to visit the doctor. I was too stunned to do any work.

"Earned capital"? If anyone read/heard Bush's speech today, it was basically "Kiss my wannabe-redneck @$$, It's my party now".


There is however, some bad news:

Powell may leave. He's one of the few sane people in the Cabinet/Executive branch.

Condy Rice may leave. She's the other relatively sane person in the Cabinet.

There also may be some good news:

Ashcroft, the man who terrified people in Missouri so much that they preferred a dead man as governor, may resign due to "health" issues.

END THE BU--SH--

TTFN

Election results

The better man did not win.

How could America do this? Has this nation become so screwed up and in love with its own pocketbook that it will:

1. validate the crime of 2000,


2. the lies and deceptions that led us to war with Iraq,


3. concede the loss and outsourcing of millions of jobs as "okay",


4. vote for a tax cut that will cause the nation to hit bankruptcy,


5. the blundering and stupidity that allowed 9/11 to happen, and


6. re-elect a man who will put judges in the Supreme Court that will overturn Roe v Wade?

Truly, truly disgusting. Talk about the disillusionment of youth. Will the 18-24 year old crowd move as hard four years from now? People always give up too easily.

Let's see what horrible crap he puts in for the next four years.

*sigh*

END THE BU--SH--

TTFN

BOOYAH!!!

Mississippi State beat Florida!!! Woo-hoo!!! 38-31!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!?!?!?!

(Well, Auburn still dominates the West this year, not that I like it, but Florida goes down!!!!!)

Working...

... on a Saturday. (I know, I know, lots of sympathy... not! There are plenty of people who work on the weekend, but working six days a week and getting paid for five sux any way you slice it.)

We opened our newest branch today, Pablo Creek Regional, and I worked it. Wonderful branch, actually. Very nice to look at, walk around in.

Met some nice people, even learned a couple of things. Not a bad day, but O/T would've been nice.

TTFN

(This moment brought to you by the sound of closing doors and shutting wallets. Zook's time is up.)

Jon Stewart..

... and why he's the man!!

One of my favorite shows is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It's fake news, granted, but it also takes a satirical look at both Dems and 'Pubs. The truth is IN there. After listening to NPR, CNN, etc. etc. all day, all week, it's just warm, refreshing, and yes, often times enlightening.

Last Friday, Stewart was on CNN's Crossfire, and the transcript reads like a true gem.

"STEWART: See, the thing is, we need your help. Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations. And we're left out there to mow our lawns.

BEGALA: By beating up on them? You just said we're too rough on them when they make mistakes.

STEWART: No, no, no, you're not too rough on them. You're part of their strategies. You are partisan, what do you call it, hacks. "

He's rich, he's funny, and he makes me lots of money! Lichtenstein! whoops... See? GOLD, BABY!

For CNN's story of his visit, click here, but for a better take, there's the NY Times (requires registration) report here.

Love that Joker!

TTFN

(This moment brought to you by Big Head Todd and the Monsters' "Broken Hearted Savior")

Health...

(Song of the moment: "Wheel of Pain" off the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack)

I hope everyone's healthy, out there.

Found out my blood pressure was up again. 138/94. Now I have Lipitor and Norvasc (something like that) prescriptions.

Lovely...

Later...

GO VOTE!!!!!

Traffic in Jax...

(Song of the moment: "Gollum's Song" by Emiliana Torrini off the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers soundtrack)

A letter to the editor of the Florida Times-Union:

In a town with an average of six to ten traffic accidents a day, it would seem a foregone conclusion that the local media would write articles or investigate why such accidents so frequently happen. After all, articles have appeared arguing why long stops at red lights make people upset, the length of cycle time between green lights, and fatalities caused by road rage and cell phones.

Yet nothing on why people so habitually get in accidents, even when such an article could support the measure to add surcharges to traffic-related fines.

Here's a summation of what I've seen in the one year-plus that I've lived here:

1) Cars and trucks constantly running red lights - turning or straight. Philips Hwy, Beach Blvd, University, Arlington, downtown;

2) Cars downtown using right-turn only lanes in order to pass people on their left;

3) Tractor-trucks running red lights (not yellow), honking their horns to keep people from going on green. (An Explorer followed this example through the red light);

4) School buses running red turn signals;

5) People driving 70+ on Southside Boulevard, where the speed limit is 45mph;

6) A group of motor cycle riders stopping traffic so that their group could stay together (running two cycles of a light); and, last but not least,

7) Police sitting at intersections or facing red-light runners, and not pulling them over.

When the esteemable Mayor Peyton and others talk about adding $15 to traffic fines, one would expect a great increase in the funding of our public projects, whether highway maintenance or the courthouse. But given the number of violations (accidents are a small percentage of total violations) in a given day, there either aren't enough police to enforce the laws, or something new (cameras at the lights, perhaps?) needs to be tried, especially if the courthouse is going to get its funding."

TTFN-

NO MORE BU--SH--

Letter to the editor

(Song of the moment: Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You")

I sent this to the Florida Times-Union this morning.

This letter is in response to the editorial "CONGRESS: Democrat draft defeated".

Halfway through the editorial it is mentioned that "
Someone -- probably not a Republican -- started an Internet rumor". Then near the end, it is repeated, yet changed: "Democrats have been spreading the Internet hoax". Does "not a Republican"="Democrat"? There are plenty of political parties in this country, from Libertarian to Communist, as well as people who claim no part affiliation at all. This is a spurious and facile claim, which has no evidence or support to back it up. The Republicans - in lock-step it seemed - also cried foul at this "Democratic rumour-mongering".

While Democrat Charlie Rangel did introduce the bill, he himself voted against it. The intent of bringing such a bill before Congress had a simple logic: If the President is willing to send those of us who chose to escape poverty or lower incomes to Iraq, why not draft the rich kids who spend time playing "X-Games"? Why not also send the children of the rich Congressmen and Senators who patently avoid military service - as did our current President and Vice-President?

The public believes the country needs to be defended. However, sending the people who can protect us at home - the National Guard and Reserves - overseas to fight as front-line troops due to the low enrollment in Active troops both weakens the defense of America itself and underscores the need for more active-duty troops.

The furor over the draft bill should highlight the fact that our troops are being locked into serving (stop-loss measures, increasing tour length, the calling up of retired military personnel to serve in support positions) against their will.

Other happenings

(Song of the moment: Jesse Johnson & Stephanie Spruill's "Heart Too Hot To Hold" from the Breakfast Club sndtrk)

Things that occurred in the past week or so...

LSU won over Florida. We're still half a game behind Ole Miss and one-and-a-half games behind Auburn. (Click here to see the SEC standings.)

I turned 32 on the 8th. Whoo-whee. Single, having fun, and still have my health (aside from the cholesterol).

Just kinda end-of-the-fiscal-year, beginning-of-the-fiscal-year stress.

TTFN

Work and the library world...

(Song of the moment: Black-Eyed Peas' "Let's Get Retarded" [not the vanilla "Let's Get It Started" that was released])

Fun, fun, fun...

Sirsi wiped out our catalog last Friday. My boss and a couple of their Client Care people spent 20 hours overnight attempting to restore things. Fallout ever since.

We had to use Standalone for Saturday. On a day when a brand new branch - which already has plenty of issues, including understaffing, expanded hours (9 people to cover a branch that is open from 10-9 MT, 10-6 WTHFSa) and having a circulation of over 2200 items a day (big for our system) - opens.

Plenty of items not in our catalog due to Baker & Taylor and Sirsi mistakes/bad connections/bad bibloads.

We lose all of our Acquisitions information for the current fiscal year.

We're promoting a new service which I'm the techie for.

We're re-hashing our Circulation procedures for the new fiscal year to satisfy our Performance Measures, as well as procedures developed for Workflows that just don't work.

We've got plenty of issues that the next rollout (2003.1.4) is supposed to fix, and plenty that it won't.

We've got an inventory this Saturday so it's OT for me til 2am.

We've got lots of new people in-system that are making mistakes all the time when it comes to operating procedures.

We've just lost our techies (the hardware and software side, my side is thankfully not part of the move, but oooohh they wanted us too -- and we may eventually be swallowed) to the city's narcissistic IT department.

*sigh*

In time, this too shall pass, but this pretty much explains why I am gone for long periods. Let alone that my cable company (Comcast) cut off my 'net b/c they didn't implement the recurring automatic payment when I told them to.

Oh well.

TTFN

-- Who wouldn't pay to see Bush and Kerry in a Fight Club brawl? I would.

LSU

(Song of the moment: Dido's "Hunter")

I think it's safe to say we won't repeat. We may not finish in the Top 10 again.

LSU lost 45-16 @ Georgia

Makes us 3-2 overall, 1-2 in the SEC West. Auburn's still ahead of us, see the SEC standings.

*sigh*

On a side note, I was shocked to realized how old I am - once again - by watching Ebert & Roeper and noticing how thin and old Roger Ebert has gotten. What the hell happened to him? Cancer?

TTFN

NO MORE BU--SH--

Presidential Debate 9/30

The presidential debate is on...

Kerry sounds weak when opening.

Bush:
1) free nations don't use terror -- Look at Israel. Look at Timothy McVeigh. Look at the IRA.
2) 10 million registered to vote in Afghanistan - out of how many? Aren't they afraid to run for office? Didn't they just try to assassinate Hamid Karzai?
3) We went after threats we saw - Iran? North Korea? Much stronger than Iraq.

Bush invoked God (prayer) in his opening - Kerry hasn't touched it.

Kerry is coming across as a whiner, while Bush is coming across as focused, if misguided.

Did Kerry just say that Bush did not think Saddam was 10x a threat that Usama was? (when comparing troop levels)

Bush just lied. It took a lot of pressure to get him to go to the UN.

Bush has mentioned September 11th 3 times so far (15 minutes in).

Bush: the capability to go after both Saddam and Usama - what about the stop/loss commands? The attrition rate in the troops? The morale factor? The fact that attacks occur in both countries and neither are very secure in their efforts at democracy?

Bush: Iraqis want to be free -- Not the ones attacking US troops. They may prefer to be secure rather than free.

Kerry: mentions weapons of mass destruction - this sounds like an error on his part - he may be talking about roadside bombings, but radiological, etc? May come off bad.

Bush: scores with the observation that deriding the war does not support the troops.

Kerry is using his body language to promote his message. Bush does look like a child saying "Please, sir, may I have some more?" when addressing the camera.

Bush - we created Department of Homeland Security - after he was against it.

Bush: promote the paranoia.

(PATRIOT Act - an error in judgement.)

Bush: Invoked 9/11 again

Kerry - invoked Vietnam again (2nd or 3rd time)

Bush: sticking to the theme that Kerry can't question the military. Affects morale.

Mistake?:

Kerry - criticizes Iraq II, but immediately says the war is not a mistake (that the troops are not dying for a mistake) - doesn't that sound waffle-ish?

Bush - hammers on Kerry's notion that this is a false war. Hits on Kerry for criticizing the lack of allies, when there are Britain and Poland.

Neither mentions that countries have left the "Coalition of the Willing"

Bush mentions Japan as one, Koizumi as another when addressing summits of allies. Doesn't Koizumi run Japan as PM?

The point by Bush that a "peaceful Iraq will make this world a safer place". Anyone remember Weimar Germany? Anyone remember Yugoslavia electign Milosevic? Anyone currently aware that Putin is dismantling elections in Russia?

...

Both have included the security of Israel in the debate now.

...

Timeline:

Kerry: No timeline. But possible to begin reduction in numbers if we have international support. Need to train the Iraqis.

Bush: Training 100k people so far. According to news reports, some people do not have full loads in six-shooters against militants with RPGs.

...

Future interventionist wars:

Bush: Hopefully not. (Well, the other two members of the Axis of Evil have or are getting nukes. I guess we won't.)

Kerry: Doesn't address this, but does hammer Bush on leaving Afghanistan and Usama for Iraq. The real enemy in this war? Not Saddam.

...

Kerry is talking to intelligent people, Bush keeps going for the gut. (Kerry's legitimacy of interventionist/preemptive wars vs. Bush's if Americans are threatened (even if false reasoning))

...

I believe Kerry scored on North Korea and Iran. Bush is on record for refusing to talk to North Korea while they effectively built nukes.

...

Darfur: Not an issue to the majority of Americans. Helping Africa handle its problems is a laudable goal. Committing troops (both agree on this) is not an issue.
Kerry does score talking about back-door drafts and stop/loss programs. Bush ignores this.

...

Nuclear proliferation is the biggest threat for Kerry. Same for Bush. Then how did North Korea get nukes on Bush's watch? Does Iraq lessen as a priority for Bush if he gets re-elected?

...

Russia and Putin...

Bush said he trusted the man implicitly then dropped out of the ABM treaty. Bush may have castigated Putin on the removal of elections for regional governors, but it may be that Bush has no credibility in the eyes of Russia given treaty withdrawals as well as the expansion of NATO to the Russian border.

Kerry also said this is a problem for him as well.

Closing...

Kerry, good message "The future belongs to ... freedom, not fear". Solid and consistent, even if at moments appearing weak and whiny.

Bush, still blind and focused on winning.

I think Kerry won. Bush avoided a lot of raised points.

TTFN

Power and prescriptions

(Song of the moment: Jesus and Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey" from the Lost in Translation soundtrack)

Well, after posting that, I lost my power for a couple of hours. Lovely. At least we had Monday off since the local prince shut down the city government. Most libraries had returned to work by today, though Regency remained closed due to being a low priority on JEA's list to fix. (Click here to see our closings) Our most productive branch library, generating our best statistics, but since a branch fell on the line, it's a low priority. Would it take too long to fix?

Bah.

Been reading a lot lately, so many to read - House of Bush, House of Saud, Plan of Attack, A Republic, Not an Empire (Pat Buchanan from '99, I like it so far, but it's not Diplomacy), Imperial Hubris, and Through Our Enemy's Eyes. I need to look up the Schlesinger and Hersh books too. (War and the American President and Chain of Command, respectively.) Dunno if I will read Unfit for Command or Kitty Kelly's book. Haven't heard anyone recommend them.

Went to the doctor to talk about my "labs" - I guess that is the euphemism for lab results now - and got good/bad news. Found out my LDL count is lower than it used to be - good - but still not good enough. It's probably genetic. I do need to bring up the HDL count though. So now I'm on Lipitor. Whoo-whee.

(Have I said before the Rescue Me is a great TV show? Of course I missed CSI:NY which I also enjoyed, but *shrug*, I need a new VCR.)

Oh well,

Going to have to take care of a few things.

TTFN

Weather

(Song of the moment: Robert Cray - "Right Next Door" off the Strong Persuader CD)

Well, Jeanne is coming.




Yet another storm. Okay, we're up to the L's (and Matthew soon) in names. Four have already hit Florida (TS Bonnie, HC Charley, Francis, and Ivan). Jeanne will be here soon. It rains every day (almost), whether it's a big storm or an afternoon convection storm. *Sigh*

So I ordered pizza.

Watched LSU win. Totally blew out Mississippi State (51-0), then watched Arkansas beat Alabama (24-10) which was also pleasant.

Other than that, it's been all work and no play (making Jack a dull boy...)

TTFN

Rant

(Song of the moment: Gary Allan's "Lovin You Against My Will")

I have a few pet peeves - media publishing spelling errors (hell, any spelling errors) is probably the strongest. Media mis-pronouncing popular words (New Orleans pronounced as "Neu Or-leenz" instead of at least "Neu Or-linz", as one would expect only a South Louisianian to pronounce it "Naw'linz") is another.

(Edit: yes, there are accents - I dunno, I find accents rarely to be funny.)

I have another to add to the list.

These so-called countdown or "I Love the ...." shows where so-called comedians or pure idiots (well, can't call them idiots, because, after all, they are making money by sitting on their collective asses and talking about stuff they don't know) yak about songs. Why not just play the song? Do a real countdown? Why is Country Music Television (yes, it is a property of Viacom, ie. MTV & VH1) trying to become another VH1? Granted, the evil that is MTV doesn't play music videos anymore, and VH1's only redeeming factor is Insomniac Music Theatre (although that played Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved" five times in an hour and a half the other night), so the market may be pulling CMT the way of its brethren.

I loved "I Love the 80's". But an "I Love the 90's"? Jesus Christ. It was FIVE years ago people!! But, yes, the Almighty Dollar, that American God, pulls and twists everything. EVERYTHING!

And WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY is JOAN RIVERS(!!!!!!) doing hosting a COUNTRY countdown? The woman could do a Top 40 for plastic surgery operations, but Jayzis!

Btw, on their site, Garth's "The Thunder Rolls" is the only one you can't hear. And where's Gary Allan? (Lovin' You Against My Will) Where's the Eagles? (Lyin Eyes) Kenny & Dolly? (Daytime Friends & Night-time Lovers) There's plenty of others, classics, that can easily stack up against some of the ones they picked - Linda Ronstadt's "Dark End of the Street", "Fist City" by Loretta, "Goodbye Earl" by Dixie Chicks.

Oh well.

TTFN

Political commentary

(Song of the moment: Dr. Dre w/ Snoop - "'Nuthin' but a 'G Thang" off Chronic)

Kerry waffles again. Bush is a straight-as-an-arrow, but lead you down a blind alley in the middle of a 'Crip and Blud turf war. Nothing changes.

I am voting for Kerry for one reason - to get the neos out of office. Perhaps Kerry will "Iraqify" Iraq like Nixon performed in 'Nam. Perhaps he will be the weakest, most inept leader we ever have (although Silent Cal still gets that one). But if I have to choose between a man willing to admit he's changed his mind, or a man who will never admit wrongdoing (although hints here and there will say he "miscalculated", but this is Scott Mclellan or someone else doing the talking). Hell, his own party is attacking his policy in Iraq. (But the two-faced SOBs will vote for him anyway.)

The National Guard is another issue. William Saletan (of Slate magazine) sums it up nicely here. The Guard are doing things they SHOULD NOT BE DOING in Iraq when they're urgently needed at home. We've had a ton of 'canes in Florida. Ivan in Alabama. Forest fire season is still on in the West. That's what the Guard should be about. Assisting and protecting the citizenry. Honestly, I'd like it removed from the ability of the President to automatically mobilize the militas of the states (the National Guard) and place them in combat duty overseas without some kind of compensation. And by that, I mean hiring unemployed, qualified people to fill that lowered productivity on a temporary basis. By providing the same living - as in income, etc. - to the families who lose money having loved ones overseas (OR KILLED) who cannot provide at home. By providing competitive wages to the military as opposed to sub-contracting $1,000/day truck drivers when tankers get $100 a day if that.

Active duty, yes. Reserve duty, yes. Guard is for guarding, you Bible-thumping moron. (No, he's not a moron, but he royally ticks me off.)

Btw, this whole 'Nam bullshit is one of the reasons why young people don't vote. Young people are turned off by focusing on the past to defile or glorify someone who can barely relate to them. Focus on today's domestic issues. Focus on issues facing young people. They are citizens, even if they're (18-21) the most legally discriminated against group in America.

Bah. NO MORE BU--SH--

Kerry me.

TTFN

LSU Tigers..... *sigh*

(Song of the moment: Velvet Chain - "Strong" off the Ultimate Buffy soundtrack)

Well, LSU lost the game to Auburn (Go here if you really want to read the summary).

10-9

I injured myself watching this one as well. Other knee this time. Jumped up, came down, hit my knee on my weights and got cut. By the end of this season, I'm gonna need a stretcher and a transfusion.

Dammit!!! 10-9

So we drop out of the Top 10.

So Jason Campbell (of Auburn) is SEC Player of the Week.

So Auburn is FedEx Orange Bowl National Team of the Week.

Fuck 'em. We've got Mississippi State coming up on the 25th, UGA after that on the 2nd, then Florida on the 9th. We need to rip some.

(Although we do need a consistent QB - which was known to be a problem already - and a decent KICKER FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!!!)

TTFN

Star Wars

(Song of the moment: K3 - "Toveren")*

The news on the DVD version of the trilogy is - while not exactly thrilling, is at least something. CNN has a story on it here.

I still say it's appalling that Lucas had to add Hayden to the final scenes of Return. But it is to be expected that he would change some things. After all, this is the man who wanted Han to be "roguish" but in a revision decided that he was "too roguish" and made Greedo fire first. Oo-ta, Goo-ta, Solo?, indeed. Greedo was a pansy, is a pansy, will always be a pansy.

But, it is Lucas's world, and we are only allowed to play in it. Just makes you wonder, tho, if the ubermensch decides to create the final trilogy (originally wanted, then not wanted, then a question mark, then "Zahn's trilogy is the endpoint", then write off the entire literature that had been created, now maybe, now maybe not), what hideous monstrosity will that look like?

I didn't pre-order the trilogy. I will just repeatedly hit every store from the time I get off work til the time for trivia until I find it. I'd drive to Orlando if necessary. Hehe...

*- K3 is a Belgian trio of twenty-something femmes which have a bubblegum-pop/dance sound. Click here to go to their official site.

Week so far...

(Song of the moment, Avril Lavigne's "My Happy Ending")

Over the week, Ivan visited the U.S.

Parts of I-10 were washed out:

http://www.wesh.com/news/3741143/detail.html

http://www.news4jax.com/weather/3735525/detail.html

New Orleans got some flooding, but not too much. Called Mom a few times to make sure she was ok.

I've watched Resident Evil: Apocalypse which wasn't great, but enjoyable for what it was, a popcorn flick lasting 80 minutes.

The Star Wars DVDs are coming out Tuesday!!!!! I think I will have to take a day off to watch them.

Been working my arse off. Rarely taking breaks, and staying an extra half hour on average to try and finish off a couple of projects. Nothing compared to my brother and his 14-15 hour days.

Went out Tuesday, and played trivia at Tom & Betty's and the Art Bar again. Then I visited Caesar's in Jax (link) which was a disappointment (but then again, it was a Tuesday).

TTFN

Shout outs...

... to my buddy Ted, who turned 30 on September 8th. I wish I could've been in BR to help ya celebrate, but busy as all get out here. With Ivan coming, probably should've said "f*ck the work" and got the hell out of dodge, but you know what they say about hindsight.

... to my buddy Chris, who lives down in Tampa and has been through a couple of 'canes and has the Mad Russian bearing down on the 4 Corridor now. Hope you're gonna stay dry, bud.

(Song of the moment, Kenny Chesney (w/ Uncle Cracker), "When the Sun Goes Down")

TTFN

Recent happenings

(Song of the moment, Avril Lavigne's "Don't Tell Me")

Well, haven't updated since 8/17, so here's the latest happening in my life...

LSU won its season opener, although it was a tense game, with us having to come from behind like that. In my excitement and enthusiasm, I jumped up from my computer and promptly pulled/strained my knee. Spent the entire weekend and most of this week limping around in Advil and ibuprofen-dulled pain.

My car decided to start having problems. At first there's noise in the front tires. Then my rear driver-side window stops working. Then my A/C goes out due to a bad blower motor. So, atm I'm driving a big ole Chevy Silverado King Cab for a rental and I hope the car will be fixed tomorrow. Smooth ride, but not used to it.

I've gone out a few times recently, made some friends. There's a local hookah restaurant (called Hookah's, read a story mentioning it) that a friend and I visited, as well as a bar called the Ritz (story mentioning it and the Jags). The Art Bar, as well as the local Hooter's, Tom & Betty's, and Mellow Mushroom are good places to eat and play trivia.

Worked o/t a few times, have had fun at work. Other than that...

TTFN

Hurricanes

Living here in Jacksonville is a bit different than ole Baton Rouge. BR's last serious 'cane was Andrew in 1992. Here, we've had effects from three so far - a tornado from Bonnie, rain for a day (and some wind) from Charley, and Frances has seriously knocked Jax on its collective butt. 22,000 people were without power over the weekend, 16,000 still live in the dark today.

And yet, we still put on a national show to kick off the NFL football season.

Wonder what the city will do after the Mad Russian comes?

Best recent Kerry moment

(Song of the moment: "Blade Runner Blues" by Vangelis, from Blade Runner)

Seeing Natalie Portman in a T-top with "kerry me" on it.

Thank you, John Stewart and the Daily Show.

Honestly, the only places I get my national news are National Public Radio and NY Times. Comedy Central is my favorite source, though, for commentary.

Go figure.

NBC - pansies. CBS - stool. ABC - Jennings and Koppel are still good, but overall, still not much to redeem. Fox News is as reliable as an unsupervised child in a candy store. MSNBC is the older kid daring the Fox kid to steal the candy but won't do it himself. CNN is the kid who doesn't want to be there, but is slowly becoming part of the group (although CNN.com is still okay to read - no talking heads summarizing each other's opinions as news). Local news is okay, even from a conservative rag such as The Florida Times-Union. I still read the Daily Report and Advocate from home for my Baton Rouge fix.

TTFN

Doctors

(Song of the moment: "Bounty of a Wookiee" from Return of the Jedi)

Okay. I went to the doctor last Thursday to establish a record there. Finally going to have a Primary Care Physician. Nurse Practitioner, actually, Regina Nolting. Still, nice.

Well, talk about third degree. I smoke. I drink (on occasion, usually few and far between). Bad, bad. I drink a lot of caffeine. Apparently over 2 liters a day. On a normal day? 3-4 16oz. cups of coffee, a 16oz. Coke/ Pepsi/ Mountain Dew, then maybe one or two 32oz. cups of tea, so, yeah, I drink quite a bit. Then there's the 2-3 cigs a day. Then there may be a jack & coke or a margarita when the mood hits me.

So my liver is paté. Hyperlipidemia. Hypertension. Bad cholesterol. No blood test Thursday, but I'm supposed to check my blood pressure occasionally before an actual physical Sept. 13th.

I'm also supposed to cut down on the sugar (Splenda takes some getting used to... better than Equal, but still... *sigh*) and caffeine (another *sigh*) but well, even if I don't expect to live forever, I want to make it to 40 (at least).

So, not a great prognosis, but I'm young (a pretty decent 31.something) and can work on making it better before I hit Type II diabetes.

Although, at this moment, I am drinking a coke and eating pringles.

TTFN

Movie Reviews

(Love this song - "After Dark" by Tito Tarantula, from From Dusk 'til Dawn)

I've seen a number of movies recently and wanted to share my take:

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle - An enjoyable toker comedy. While not quite up to Friday, the film is definitely one of the better comedies to come out this year. Funny spots include a runaway cheetah, a psychotic raccoon, some bathroom humor involving sorority sisters and a game called "Battleshits" (which is cringe-worthy), stupid police, and an x-ed out Neil Patrick Harris playing himself. Worth watching sober.

Alien v Predator - Pretty good for a film that the internet has piled plenty of dubious hate upon (due to the director, Paul W.S. Anderson, who I actually like, having brought a passable Resident Evil, Soldier, and Event Horizon to us. Okay, there are gripes and plot holes, but it's still passable.) Although there are plot holes a mile wide, and both franchises have a great pedigree (Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, John McTiernan, monster designers Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon, H. R. Giger, Stan Winston, so on) that build expectations a lot, one has to honestly admit that what you want to see is what you get - Aliens killing, Predators killing, and the humans getting frappéd. Chock full of references to previous films that will delight fans, it will satisfy the inner fanboy in everyone.

Collateral - a very good movie from a very good director, Michael Mann. Tom Cruise plays against type as a psychotic hit man (who has a twisted sense of morality) who takes cabbie Jamie Foxx hostage as his driver. Not only is the movie's plot out of the mainstream, but there are definitely unpredictable events in this movie that will make you go "Shee-it!" when they happen. This is the best thing from Foxx since Any Given Sunday, and anything that makes Cruise stretch a little is good. Not better than Cruise's performance in Vanilla Sky, but still pretty damn solid.

Anchorman - stupid funny. Laugh out loud funny. Or pretty stupid, as my brother says. Will Ferrell is pretty good. Jazz flute. Need I say more?

The Village - Can we say pretty damn predictable? Yes, twist at the end. With M. Night, you pretty much expect a twist, even if you haven't heard there is one. Sixth Sense worked. Unbreakable's was expected, and Signs had an attempt at a twist. You get very impressive work from Hurt, Weaver, Brody, Phoenix, and the new girl on the block, Bryce Dallas Howard, but it is all made laughable by the plot twist, which may/ may not have been stolen from a children's book. A shame, honestly. I love Brendan Gleeson, from semi-comedic (in Lake Placid and Braveheart) to heartrending (28 Days Later, Cold Mountain [the only thing good about the movie], Tailor of Panama) to against-type characters (Troy, where Menelaus becomes a villain and Paris still remains a pussy), but he couldn't redeem this one.

I, Robot - Nice. Visually. Plot may be a bit thin (anyone who's seen Tron knows what's going to happen) but nice summer movie. If only Will Smith could avoid playing Will Smith in a movie. Where's the guy who was Ali in Michael Mann's Ali?

Fahrenheit, 9/11 - A Michael Moore film. Dichotomous in nature (first half about 9/11, the second about Iraq, but, hey, isn't that the Bush presidency in a nutshell?) it doesn't have a coherent plot as a documentary, but definitely has a theme. I'll let you guess what it is.

The Bourne Supremacy - Very good. Intelligent. Coherent. Welcoming. Jason Bourne is a younger, hipper, Sean Connery Bond. Brian Cox is excellent as always, as is Joan Allen. The movie just crackles.

Catwoman - Sigh. Okay, while watching Halle Berry slink around in a leather outfit is really nice, paying $8 to see a music video of her slinking around and fighting a has-been (Sharon Stone, way past Casino glory) is not. Find pics, put them in a viewer and play some nu-metal and hip-hop and you have something more enjoyable.

Spider-Man 2 - or as I like to call it The Amazing Spider-Man. Which they should've kept, btw, 'cause hell, if they throw away X-Men United as a subtitle, why can't they call this movie what it is? AMAZING Honestly, this is the best comic / superhero movie out there. Ever. Better than the first, X2, Blade II, Hellboy (which I loved). It is equal to, if not better, than even Superman, which is definitely the best DC movie translation (sorry Bats).

Later.

Terror levels

Is it beyond the ken of anyone that Bush, the DHS and other neo-conservatives are whipping up the populace in a way that is so morally disgusting and upsetting?

The terror threats come and the threat level for specific cities rise. Meanwhile, the Democrats just concluded their Convention.

Now, whether the Dems were going to get a bounce or not is immaterial. It is a matter of fact that Bush and the 'Publicans mean to "run on the war" meaning Iraq and terrorism. It is also a matter of fact that people who are afraid of the "big bad" tend to vote 'publican - witness Ike after Korea, Nixon during Nam, and Reagan during the Middle East crisis (Bush rode the coat-tails). This may be a leftover of "Truman lost China" in '49, but it still pervades the American consciousness that 'Publicans and their pro-military stance make for a stronger country when they ('Publicans) are in power.

Bush has already promulgated the idea that the terrorists want to shake up the road to the election (which makes no sense at all due to the fact that if it were to happen, Americans would not flee the party of Bush, but instead embrace it - the overwhelming majority of Americans still support the "War on Terror" even if they do not support Persian Gulf II). Also has been put forth the idea of "delaying the election" if necessary.

So take it for what you will. Personally, it's just more BU--SH--.

TTFN

Pet peeves

Everyone has pet peeves. Something that irks the living sh*t out of them. They feel the need or urge to correct it or let someone know about it. Well, one of mine is pretty obvious.

Granparents sue over jailhouse baby

Not the story. THE HEADLINE Since when did it become "Granparent"? The story labels it correctly. But the composer of the page labeled the link incorrectly!

I admit it, sometimes I misspell things. And I get ticked off when I find them. Moreso when others find them. But CNN? CNN.com? Also, I have to say that this isn't the first time I've seen one. The media propagate the errors by not proof-reading their works. Newspapers have several in any given day now. There's been misspellings on the ticker for FOX News and CNN before. (MSNBC is not worth the time of day, Fox-lite and craptastic anyway.) By sowing the minds of the public with these oversights, they reap the dumbness of America. I personally hate "ur" and "ima", etc.

L33T 5P3@K is one thing. Stupidity and the ruination of the mind of our youth, as well as the degradation of the English (American) language is another.

--TTFN

P.S. Moments after composing this, CNN fixed the error. Bah.

Edwards...

Is it me or does anyone else have the vision of John Edwards as a psycho killer? Not quite a programmed robot, but when he pauses, tips his head, then smiles, then starts speaking again. It's like he is scanning the next memory or something. Then, when the inauguration happens in January, he breaks loose and kills Kerry, taking over the government.

Or maybe that was a dream.

He does bear an uncanny resemblance to John Ritter, who played a serial killer robot in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Gaffe on CNN

I tried posting this earlier but my modem conked out on the sending...

For those of you who did not watch CNN's coverage of the Democratic National Convention, here's an interesting tidbit for you.

After Kerry's speech, when the balloons were scheduled to come down, there was a bit of a snafu (Situation Normal, All F*cked Up). Seems the balloons were caught in the rafters. Well, CNN's microphones somehow snagged the frequency of the radios the Fleet Center crew was using. (I was wondering why I kept hearing "Go Balloons" and then later "Go Confetti". Having worked stadiums before, it wasn't hard to figure out.) Well, at first it was just a repeated call for "Go Balloons". Over, and over. Finally a trickle of balloons started to fall. Here and there, spotty at best. Then, the call for confetti. Confetti came down like a soft rain, balloons were still spotty. Well, the voice on the radio got really upset by this apparently. After a few "What's happening?"'s and a "Shit" or two, well, the bubble burst. "What the F*CK is happening???" was broadcast to the nation and the world.

So, to all of you viewers who tuned in to Fox (once again missing a chance to blast Dems), ABC, NBC, CBS, or PBS (or C-SPAN), well, there you go. Something funny happened on the way to being President.

Wait til the FCC realizes it. At least it happened after kiddie hours.

Kerry

Is Kerry worth voting for? I'll give you a summation:

1) Actual military experience. While the Guard is now basically serving as a branch of the real Army - if not supplanting active duty - when George VI and Bubba were serving, it was a way out of serving combat duty. The person who serves as the leader of an army should have some active military background.

2) Not a backwards-looking, anti-science return-us-to-the-Dark Ages persona. Need I say more? Okay. Kerry supports research. Bush supports research that denies reality and chunks the rest into the garbage pail. Embryonic stem cell research that can save or improve lives. Global warming exists and is not caused by el Nino.

3) Optimistic outlook on the future. Bush can say all he wants about optimism. Meanwhile, terrorists are lurking in your bedroom. They're coming to get you. "We know they're up to something. We don't know what. But soon, very soon, something, somewhere, will explode." Not a direct quote of the Republicans, but I know I can find one if you want.

4) Iraq Okay. Invading and setting up a puppet government that is based on our beliefs that will pressure the fundamentalist Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia and the Ayatollahs in Iran. Good. Give them freedom. But in the meantime, give all the nation's money to your cronies or your Veep's company, don't protect or supply enough troops to protect our people we placed in harm's way, claim that whether he had WMD's or not is pointless (when it was your main point for the war in the FIRST place) as he's a bad man (Saddam, not Dubya) that needed removal, and claim victory when nearly a 1,000 military people have been killed (accidents or attacks) and thousands more wounded... I could go on. It's a good thing Saddam is out of power. Yes. Lying to your country, flip-flopping on reasoning, denying your soldiers the support they need, whether at home or in the field... Face it, Bush is NOT what our soldiers need.

5) The Supreme Court. A federal appeals court just ruled that there is "no right to privacy." Read here about how Alabama can deny individuals the right to use vibrators, inflated sheep, sex dolls, dildos, etc., because there is no right to privacy. If Bush stays in office, and two Supreme Court justices retire, face it, there will be "no right to privacy" USSC ruling in the next four years. Bush and the Republicans don't like activist judges who are against them, but friendly courts, they love.

I could go on with a few more, but I basically believe that a government that exists to scare you into giving it more power, that benefits no one but the rich, is not a good government. It's not good for you, me, or the country. Smaller governments, that support individual responsibility while helping individuals overcome their insurmountable obstacles, such as those created by society, history, biology, or psychology, are the best governments. Governments that support mankind's dreams amitions, not those of the petty few, are the best kind. We have neither in the Bush Administration. King George VI, Dubya, whatever you may call him, he needs to go. I voted for him in 2000. I believed he would provide good leadership and I had been turned off by Clinton and Gore. I was misled. So were a lot of people.

Kerry If You Care.

TTFN

Democratic Convention

If you didn't listen to the speeches tonight, you missed out. Bubba and Jimmy Earl (Clinton and Carter), along with the Alleycat (Gore) were very good Monday. I slept through last night's, but Reverend Al was on fire. Literally. Was like listening to a Huey Long stump speech (I imagine). I do think Rev. Jackson was jealous.

Imagine if Al running for office in a desegregated version of the Great Depression.

Mmm... idea for a short story at least.

Edwards was good. Nice homilies, optimism. Rebukes and promise. Not bad, but not as on fire as the Rev.

Couple of highlights from the Rev.--

• "We didn't get our mule, so we'll ride this donkey as far as it will take us."


• "I suggest to you tonight that if George Bush had selected the court in '54, Clarence Thomas would have never got to law school."

CNN kept harping on the Rev, saying "Rev, you took more time than was allotted to you (20 min vs. the allotted 6) and you went after the President" message. Trying to create conflict. Meanwhile, the network news that would've LOVED to see the conflict was basically masturbating over the Moore / O'Reilly confrontation the night before, with Bill talking himself up with a couple of preppie Republicans. Shame they missed it.

An interesting thing about FOXNews and CNN.... compare their transcripts of the Teresa Heinz Kerry speech:

FOXvs. CNN

"We Report... You Decide..." who's giving you the full story, and who's giving you the bu--sh--.

P.S. I had a good idea for a bumper sticker:

NO MORE
BU--SH-- '04

An idea for the local public radio station

Here in Jacksonville, the local public radio station is WJCT, 89.9 FM. They do the usual, NPR programs, local news shows (Jacksonville Exchange), etc.

But, honestly, I really can't feel the love for the network like I did in Baton Rouge (home of WRKF, 89.3 FM).

And I believe I know why. There are simple things that WJCT could do to enhance their responsiveness to the community, as well as bring in more voices and money. (The two pledge drives I've listened to both came up short... Not saying WRKF never did, but their approach is much better, IMHO.)

1. Challenges... WRKF let people who would make donations challenge co-workers to match. Co-workers, fellow students, fellow residents, etc. It gives a giver a sense of pride, and brings in a little competition, when you can challenge co-workers, whom you believe have that extra little bit they can donate. It works. Not every time, but even once means that effort was worth it.

2. Recognizing the donors. WRKF would try to list everyone that made a donation, and given that recognition, that moment of "I done good" emotion brings a certain satisfaction to donation, as well as the good the donation itself brings the community. WJCT - to my knowledge - does no such thing.

3. Encouraging, rather than discouraging, donations. Personally, I do not like it when the individuals trying to raise money for the radio station stoop to begging negatively. The "oh come on, you can donate... it's only so much $$$" method shames a listener and doesn't engender positive feelings. Speak of the positive, recognize the donations, get that plus-vibe going.

4. Connect with the major local companies (or even the small ones) to become matching donors. WRKF constantly mentioned that Exxon or Albemarle or whomever was a matching donor, and that the money donated by any employee would be matched, once or twice over. Corporations love donations as they are tax write-offs. With major companies like CSX, Winn-Dixie, Bank of America, etc. having main or regional HQ in the area, there has to be some matching donors. Simply mentioning them will encourage employees.

5. Mention day sponsors in a more friendly voice. These messages mean something to the person spending the money for them. They have a purpose, a voice, a heart. Simply dry-delivering them in between traffic accidents does not convey anything similar to an "I love you", "Happy anniversary", or "Happy birthday" right before the beginning of a news program with the nice jingle always provided by NPR.

6. When you are trying to reach a goal, say how many of the recommended amount may get you there. Say you are 50,000 from your goal for the year, how many of the $120 donations does that take? 415. In two weeks of 24-hour coverage, 415 people don't call? (The goal is higher, but this is just hypothetical.) There are 168 hours in a week. That means 336 hours in two weeks. 1.25 people an hour, basically. You want to encourage higher donations, of course, but instead of shaming people into donating, encourage them, challenge them, to be that 2nd or 3rd (or higher) caller that hour.

7. Merchandising. I'm not sure how many radio stations do this, but giving a Morning Edition or All Things Considered coffee mug, a Car Talk T-shirt, etc. for reaching that $120 a year donation may also encourage listeners to donate.

I know, just a listener. And I haven't donated. Because I do not feel encouraged to, when my funds are pretty tight anyway.

TTFN

Librarian Lists

Two things I would recommend as they host the voices of some of my most erudite compatriots in the librarian world: NexGenLibrarian.Net and ChattyLibrarians.

(I generally tend to post quite lucidly, only either very pointedly (NexGen) or lackadaisically (Chatty).)

Stepping on toes...

I believe I am prone to stepping on the toes of co-workers, supervisors, those I have supervised... does that leave anyone out? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one, but there are times I really feel like I've screwed the pooch.

At least it never ends up like this:

Terror levels

Again we go with the terror threats. Let's see, there were threats in 2002 (everyone remember the threat around that Christmas?) There were plenty of threats in 2003 (even with the error-prone State Department). Now new threats are being made against the States, supposedly in "an effort to disrupt the democratic process".

Honestly, given our President and his proven tactics and the entire fiasco of the 2000 election, I think the word "ploy" as well as the phrase "complete and utter poppycock" may come to mind.

I know it's not a popular opinion, but does anyone honestly think the threat level will ever be blue, let alone green with Bush in office? It's called keeping the screws to the people, or making the electorate so terrified and on edge all the time that they have to believe in someone, even someone like a Dubya.

I'm a Republican, but I'll be damned before I'm voting for Dubya again.

Kerry and Edwards

I totally agree with this choice. I was thinking of going Libertarian (lp.org) this year as I can't stand Kerry and I'm not voting for Bush, but Edwards seals it for me. He would've had my vote for Pres, so I'm voting for him for Veep. (I did the same for Kemp when he joined Dole's ticket. Why do some of the better people get chosen for Veep instead of the Main Man. There are notable exceptions, but, it's true a lot.)

TTFN

Circumcision

This evening I was watching Nip/Tuck and one of the plastic surgery clients had undergone female circumcision. I understand that there is a difference between female and male circumcision, but why is one vilified and one almost necessitated in our culture? Used to be that male circumcision was "medically necessary" to prevent infections, etc. Let alone the rites in many religions (Jews do it, Catholics don't, Protestants do, etc.) But yet, in Asian and African cultures FGM (female genitalia mutilation, and isn't that a label that smacks of Western hypocrisy) is practised as a rite similar to the Bris Milah in Orthodox Judaism.

I'm not saying it's right. (Either male or female is wrong in my book.) But aside from some movements or organisations here and there there's not a lot of noise made about male circumcision, but the female form gets wide publicity. Such hypocrisy.

Links on the show: TV Tome and WB

FGM article by Amnesty International.

TTFN

Michael Moore and Copyright

Michael Moore is on the record as saying that it is ok to share the films he makes as long as there is no profit being made off of it. I agree with this view.

Yet, the distributor of his film is opposing this.

Read I.T.Vibe for more.

ALA ... the rest

Pretty short actually....

After waking up in my own bed, I got ready and headed out. Stopped at Target to get some sandals as I knew it would be hot, filled the tank, and set off for Orlando.

Spent a couple of hours at the Placement Center in the Convention, talking about JPL to various individuals looking for a job. Then I hit the floor to see the exhibitions, which were pretty swanky. Got several freebie items, and gifts for my co-workers.

Around 5:30p, the Opening Session was beginning, so I went to see Richard Clarke speak and to see Sanford Berman get an award. Ran across Amy M., was good to see her again.

Couple of notes --

Isn't it kind of a let down that the highest award ALA can give to people is a plaque and honorary membership? There should be some named kind of award, a gift or endowment or something. It feels like giving a retiree a gold watch.

Also, Sandy Berman is a "liberator", a "visionary", yet a good number of the accolades he received, as well as his own spiel had a prominent gold cross in the background, displayed pretty obviously. The cross is a symbol of one of the most oppressive organizations around, the Christian Church (Catholic, Protestant, whatever, they're the same in my book, practices and formalities be damned). Is it supposed to be a loving, kinder God? Or get that extra note of controversy while they do the presentation? Wierd.

Is closed-captioning really that hard? "General Railings" for "Generational"? Not too mention the total inadequacy when it comes to jihadists (spelled "jehadists") or any other Iraqi/ Arab name or phrase. Spent half the session in stitches.

After the opening session, hit the Scholarship Bash at Universal Studios Florida with some of the NexGen/Chatty fellas and gals. Was fun. Sprinkled rain a lot. Ayanna, Louise, Brian, Tracey, Jenny, Meghan, kudos to you all. Cynthia was taking pictures of librarians, talked with her. Very nice. Had to catch a short bus to the Convention Center where my car was still parked, Cynthia's was there as well. I dropped her off at her car, waited to see it start, then headed on to catch my bud Ted at Chili's.

Notes on the rides:

All too short.

Jaws was the most fun.

Chili's was closed, so we ate at TGI Friday's. Continued my predilection for Margaritas.
Ended up crashing there. I have to admit, I have some serious congestion. So, I snore. Too loudly. It was only a one bedroom at the HoJo's, so I started sleeping on the floor, but made too much noise, so I moved to the bathroom (with a little help). Fully dressed, with a heavy comforter, in a room with no circulation. Whoo-whee. Kept waking up every 30 minutes to an hour in a pool of sweat. Fun. But, it was an experience, and I was grateful for the free place to rest. Not knocking it, but next time, I get a room myself.

---

Sunday...

Hit the floor again, all day. Picked up a lot more gear, saw some interesting presentations from vendors. One hilarious incident took place at Baker & Taylor during an eBooks presentation (something my library is subscribing to). John Straw was speaking, and the Convention Center's fire alarm went off. It increased in tempo until it started drowning him out. He kept pausing, and someone was sent to see if the alarm was real or not. (It turned out to be false.) He kept losing track due to the alarm, so we - the participants - kept him on-topic. After the alarm was silenced, the presentation continued apace.

Then one of the building's directors hopped on the intercom for the OCCC announcing that the fire alarm was false and "people were welcome to return to the center". The announcement threw John off, as it drowned out everything else, but he recovered. Then it repeated in Spanish. And again in English. And again in Spanish. And again... for about five more minutes, with minute-intervals between announcements. By the time it was done, the whole group was laughing. Fun stuff.

That evening, some alumni from SLIS gathered with staff at the Peabody Hotel. Drs. Dawson, Ward, Carpenter, Boyce, and Thomas were there. Some other fellow graduates, including Tricia Egbert, Executive Asst. to the Director (one of the head honchos at my library) were there. Drs. Paskoff and Ju were coming in as I was leaving for the Sirsi dinner.

Sirsi (www.sirsi.com) was hosting a 25th anniversary birthday bash at Epcot Center for all ALA attendees who use its services (Workflows, etc.). It was pretty nice. Food was good, Jack was excellent, and there was a conga line. Lola was there and we talked a good bit about jobs, the field, etc. There was a wonderful fireworks display that night - Remembrance of the Earth, I believe, was the theme. Drizzled a little. Rode the bus back to the Rosen Centre, walked Lola to her hotel, went and jumped in my car and went to meet Ted and Claire - along with Shun-Jin, Jenna, and James(?) at the Bahama Breeze on International Drive. The service sucked, the music was too loud (steel drums and Caribbean-twinged versions of pop songs on speakers right behind us) and I didn't have much to add to the conversation, being the lone public lib moderate surrounded by academic radicals. Interesting conversations, just didn't have too much to add.

Called it a night and slept in the tub again. This time with the door cracked open and shorts w/ a tee. Much comfier, still waking up a few times due to the heat and cramped condition. But, overall, much better. Still, next time, I get a hotel room.

I am also going to look into getting medical assistance for this. Too many problems with my sleeping. Way too many.

Woke up in the morning, laid around a little, then figured since I'd done everything I wanted to do - at least the things I was aware of - I headed back home. Too much to get prepped to do, and catch up on around the apartment.

---

Summary of the trip:

Very good experience for my first conference. Learned things I didn't know, met people I hadn't met, and did things I hadn't done. I am aware there were more things I could've done, but given the limitations I put upon myself, overall, it was good.

ALA and Me

Well, as I sit here listening to U2's Hands That Built America (one of the best songs ever), I figured I'd write the story I promised my mom a week ago.

The American Library Association (www.ala.org) had its annual conference from June 24-30, and I was given the privilege of going. (I would've gone anyway over the weekend, no way I was missing a trip to see and meet new people) and the adventure getting and being there is a story, similar in a vein to some I've written before. If I offend, shoot me. If you laugh, enjoy. No harm is meant, and no sheep were harmed.

And let's begin...

---

I was pretty psyched that I was getting to go. First big conference, it's Orlando, some friends are supposed to be going, and I'd get to meet some new people, grab some swag, and enjoy the moment. Life was good. I bantered with my boss a good bit during the day. And I looked forward to getting off.

Well, for those who know Florida, the trip from Jacksonville to Orlando is pretty uneventful. Unlike the I-75 route from Tallahassee, there is a lot of construction, flat alluvial land, with trees. Not a lot of hills, few hotels, some exits. At 4pm that afternoon, I basically skipped to my car and hit the road.

On the way there, I was hoping I'd make the opening session and the Scholarship Bash (one of my main reasons for going). (For those of you snickering, pshaw.) Well, I hit that afternoon traffic in Orlando around 5:45 (I'd rushed a good bit) and I realized I was not going to make it. So I chilled, took it easy, and concentrated on meeting people around 7pm or so, like I had planned.

Well, I reached the Orange County Convention Center around 6:30 or so. Big place. BIG place. Hot place. Huge... empty... parking lots. Yep, empty. Hell, I thought people were parking out front or in the parking garage. Well, I entered the OCCC and found the only souls around were people scoping the building for where they wanted to be. There were some individuals out there setting up exhibition booths for the conference. Which I knew started Saturday (the exhibition that is). Well, I discovered the building was pretty damn hot, like the a/c had just been turned on, or wasn't working well. And I found some flyers. And promo gear.

Saying "Opening Session Saturday June 26th, 5:30-7:00" and "Scholarship Bash Saturday June 26th, 7:00-11:00". Yup, I got the dates wrong. I was walking around looking at the building, being accosted by taxi drivers on the WRONG DAMN DAY. The people I was supposed to meet weren't going to be there til the next day at the earliest (from what I'd just figured out, some were probably there, but I didn't know how to contact anyone before Friday).

So I'd just driven to Orlando for nothing!

Feeling quite chagrined, I hopped back in the trusty ole Taurus and started heading back. Not wanting to drive in quietude with my frustration, I decided to call a few friends, to shoot the shit and take me mind off things.

I called Amy, a good friend of mine in Houma, who is expecting her third child. We talked. And talked. With periods of silence, like normal. While driving, I kept my mind on the conversation and the road. But apparently I didn't quite know the route. I missed the turn from Kirkman to I-4 (the road back to I-95). I missed the turn from Sand Lake to I-4. I missed the turn from International Drive to I-4. I spent about thirty minutes or so driving in a loop around the Kirkman, International Drive area. When I finally got to I-4, Amy had to go take care of her two boys, Bryson and Brandon (great kids). So I drove towards Daytona, thinking about things.

Well, I called my dad and left a message on his cell. He called me back a few minutes later, and we talked for a while. He's a driver for J.B. Hunt and was up in Pennsylvania, driving up and down some hills. We talked about how we missed each other on Father's Day (I called, but he didn't get the message til much later - he was in Iowa at the time) and how distant the family feels. Felt really good to finally say that to him. Love my father dearly, but we are peas of the same pod, close-mouthed and stubborn. We keep deep feelings close to the chest, so small conversations usually end up expressing more than we want. Hope the road treats you well and the sun is always at your back, dad.

After talking to dad, I figured I should call my mom. I hadn't talked to her since Memorial Day and wanted to see how she was doing. She was really depressed, being in a bad way (for those who do not know, as most of you won't, she had a bad bout with breast cancer, had lesions in the sac protecting the brain and chemo has led to her developing neuropathy, it pains me very much to think about it, honestly, and I admire her strength thru all of these tribulations) financially and emotionally. Well, I do what I can, so I cheered her up and listened to her woes. I enjoy being a good shoulder, for anyone. I told her about my financial woes and victories when dealing with AmSouth, my trip to Orlando, jokes and stuff. I had to stop at a Chick-fil-A's for dinner as I hadn't eaten anything but my normal granola bar for lunch (around 1pm, it was now 9pm or so). Scared her a little when I saw flashing lights behind me, but it was an ambulance. We talked til I hit Philips Hwy (about 3 miles from my apt). 90 minutes or so of good conversation.

When I got back to the house, I realized that even though I had gone early, sweated my ass off, and proven how stubborn and mule-headed I could be, the day was pretty good. Knowing me, I'd've played Morrowind and not called anyone. Instead, I had two good conversations and brightened up someone's day, someone very close to me. So, yeah, it was a good day. (Even though I was really, really due a shower.)

Slept about 6 hours or so (I usually stay up late) and woke up to the fact that I was off for Friday. So I went and relaxed, then got dressed nicely (white shirt and khakis, my uniform) and drove back down to Orlando. This time, I knew people would be there in the evening that I'd planned on meeting.

I spent around four or five hours in the Placement Center, sat in on an interview with a co-worker, talked to a few people about Systems library work, and found I have a gift of gab when it's something I want to talk about. Gave advice about interviews - how to handle and approach one - to a couple of people, things I'd picked up on over the job-hunting path I'd trod before. I was told it helped, and I'm glad it did, as helping people is a good thing.

I met the fellow NEXGENLIB members at Adobe Gila's at Pointe Orlando, a shopping center on International Drive. Wonderful people, even though alcohol and politics don't always make the best of friends. Met Amy K. and Amy M., Mark, Becky (friend from SLIS), Seale, Molly (names I was familiar with from SLIS but had never had the pleasure of meeting), Dean, John, Brian W., Ayanna, Florence, Lola, Krei, Cynthia, and others whose names I know I am forgetting. Had several Margaritas (good ones), beer, and tequila shots. Felt gooooood. Smoked cigs with a pair of pretty redheads and a blonde, laughed in the rain until it stormed, and talked politics and religion with one of the nicest people I've ever met with an opposing viewpoint. Later, there was some shouting and finger-pointing, quite rude and abusive, but there was also a strength and a resolve you have to look for to actually find. (I am a nice drunk, not that I got drunk, tho, so it wasn't me, I swear.)

Well, the evening had to end, and after the tropical downpour and the subsequent lightshow, mostly everyone was gone, so we parted ways, Amy, Mark, and I. I had called my bud earlier to see if I could crash at his hotel room. Ted and Claire were bushed and so it was a no-go. Well, I said fuck it (was not very happy at this point, what with an early evening, and a long-ass drive in the middle of th enight) and drove back to Jax. Yes, the 2-hour drive again. Fun. Did not get home til 2:45 in the morning. Not that I was very tired, but I was a little hungry, and tired of seeing the same road over and over again. So, yes, a little irritated. But I did have fun.

---

(Btw, I like The Rundown... when the midget runs out of the bar before the fight and everyone turns to watch 'cuz it's so unexpected... hehe and Seann William Scott is a lot like Bruce Campbell in this flick)

This will be continued... Saturday and Sunday are good, and there's a postscript to all of this for Wednesday.

Picture...

Pictures of me keep having problems.... No, not because I break the camera...

I have pics up on Yahoo, but I can't seem to get them to be accessible unless I'm logged in.... If you're on friendster, I'm there with the same pics, or I can email them if necessary.

Bugging me, it is.

TTFN

Bush and McCain

Listening to NPR and hearing the love fest between McCain and Bush is starting to worry me.

Imagine, a Bush-McCain ticket. This would've been unbeatable in 2000, do you honestly think Kerry would have a chance? People like McCain. They don't know if they want to like the "I was against this bill until I voted for it" character.

My good friend Ted brought this to my attention: McCain for VP - on Bush's ticket.

The baggage leaves, the balloon comes in. Imagine it.

TTFN

Contractors...or Mercenaries?

Honestly I can't stand the euphemism anymore. They are not contractors, these military-security people who work for thousands a day. They are mercenaries.

con·trac·tor ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kntrktr, kn-trk-)
n.
One that agrees to furnish materials or perform services at a specified price, especially for construction work

mer·ce·nar·y ( P ) Pronunciation Key (mûrs-nr)
adj.
Motivated solely by a desire for monetary or material gain.
Hired for service in a foreign army.

Which do you think fits? We're talking about people who retire from the military, then for lots of $$$ go to work in a danger zone to protect corporation (not national) interests. That, to me, defines mercs.

More mercenary information:

US military in torture scandal

Deaths of scores of mercenaries hidden from view

Iraq : Mercenaries and Occupiers

U.S. Turns to Mercenaries

Mercenaries Second Largest Force In Iraq: Report

There's plenty more, just search the news. Read, people.

TTFN

AmSouth Bank... the next day

Well, today is obviously a different day.

Yesterday when I visited my local branch of AmSouth, I left a letter for the branch manager, who was unfortunately gone for the day. I told them I would return.

I then called the bank and spoke to the people online - both rep and supervisor refused to budge. Which really tore my ass up.

All day at work, my stomach was really upset, both b/c of the tequila last night and my nerves which were shot. Antacid. (Speaking of which I still need some Pepto) I took off early, both because of this and wanting to deal with the bank, as thinking about it got me worked up again.

(In the meantime, I talked to a guy who handles parking for the city and got out of a parking ticket. Woo-hoo!!!)

Well, I left work, went to the branch. The manager had left for lunch not long before (lucky ass banker's hours... sheesh...) so I left my cell # for her to call me and I would be back after I myself got something to eat. The guy who talked to me (Brian I think) was aware of the letter I had had sent from the call service people, as well as the letter I'd left. He said they'd looked into it and had figured out what happened, but he was waiting for the branch manager to make a decision, but they were going to try and help me.

Well...

She called me and said since they could basically assume that the gas station was not going to be helpful (honestly, who honestly believes that a gas station attendant is going to give a guy with an affidavit $180?? He'd have to call the manager, who would probably have to call the owner, and the owner would presumably say "Hell no, we took care of our end. Sorry, but fuck off.") she would put in the paperwork for it to reimbursed.

I just checked my account online, and honestly, I could kiss her feet.

The money is coming back.

I effusively thanked her. Sincerely. I don't think I've thanked one person that much in a very long time, if ever.

So if you are going to bank with AmSouth, don't deal with the phone people. They suck. Real honest to God decent people work in the branches.

I've got to find some more alcohol, but this time, to celebrate!!!

TTFN

Scribbler

Try this it's fun...

Scribbler

Thanks to Akeisha.

AmSouth Bank

Profanity laden post...

Fuck AmSouth Bank. Goddamn motherfuckers take my money and tell me "Hey, it's not our problem." Fuck them.

Here's the sitch:

I get gas from a gas station on Monday (6/14). The clerk accidentally charges $60 to my card while I'm there. Well, that encumbers my account. Which CAUSES IT TO FUCKING BOUNCE when the cable bill comes in.

Well, they refund it b/c it's an error. Well, actually they NEVER CHARGED ME. Instead they held it in abeyance until they found the error and removed it. Well, guess who gets screwed.

The gas station? Nope. They fixed their problem.

The bank? Nope, they charge me $30 a goddamn charge.

Yep, that's right, kiddies. Yours truly gets raped by the bank.

Because, not only did those two charges from that day bounce, the four under $5 charges the next couple of days bounce as well. Yee Haw, a fucking trampoline is what my bank account is!!! Only thing is, I - YES - I!!!!!! get charged $30 for EACH ONE OF THOSE FUCKING TRANSACTIONS. So, guess what. $180 goddamn motherfucking dollars. That's right.

I call the bank. Bank says they'll send me a GODDAMN FORM LETTER to take to the gas station, where HOPEFULLY (ie. pissing in the wind, here, my friend) the gas station will read it and sign over the amount of all these overage charges.

Is that going to happen? Not if some Non-English speaking clerk is there like the day I bought my gas.

So, yes, I am fucked. Totally, honestly, brutally, anal-raped. AmSouth refuses to just cancel the damn fines which SHOULD NOT BE THERE. And you know why? If the charge actually occurred, they might. THEY JUST MIGHT!!! But, since the motherfucking gas station gave me the money back, they said, and I quote, "That's not our problem."

So, AmSouth is getting its money. They don't give a fuck.

Of course, should I have expected them to?

So, tomorrow, I am going to probably take a little leave time and go to the branch where I conduct my business and..... No, I'm just going to get worked up and talk the manager and get my goddamn affidavit and then drive to that fucking gas station and PRAY that I get my money.

Instead of just cancelling it, this shit will take fucking forever and I won't get a goddamn dime back.

I hate banks. I hate the fucking world. Hope they all die a fiery death.

God I am so pissed off right now.

Baseball...

The LSU Tigers are gearing up for Omaha!

Thirteenth trip to the College World Series!!

Here we go Tigers, here we go!!



T!! I!! G!! E!! R!! S!!


They beat the Aggies, 11-8 on Saturday, then scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to win on Sunday, 4-0!!

Dem's ma boys!

Funny, yet disturbing...

Kittens as Viking warriors!!


Thanks to the people at Chattylibrarians.

TTFN

Forgot...

Oh, to add insult to injury...

Q: "The first registration is full price from the date of purchase, but only good until the owner's birthday. If the owner's birthday is beyond 15 months, they have to pay the full year for four months. Why?"

A: "Section 320.14(1), Florida Statutes, requires the full amount of the license tax to be imposed or charged for the registration period regardless of when during the registration period the vehicle is registered. This law was amended in 1990 by the Legislature."

This means my $180 is only good for FOUR!! months since my birthday is in October. Then I have to pay another damn $35 (+25 if I want to get the Panther plate:)

Oh, well. At least I still have my LSU plate. I still need to get one of those license plate frames saying "LSU Alumni" or 2003 National Champions... and clean that Five-Time National Baseball Champions plate.

TTFN