Just Carved out this Little Space

Moving!

2009-12-07T15:08:00.001-05:00

Ok,

So we're moving! Finally! We are moving into a 2 bedroom apartment of a decent size for just about $1300/month. It's a bit of a jump from the current rent (of $1029) but if I get the rent assistance I have been promised it should be as painless to pay rent there as it is for me to (now) pay the rent here.

That's pretty much all I wanted to say for now.

Oh, where are we moving you may ask?

From our building, to the building 125' away.

Heh.

Respects...

2009-03-04T19:27:00.003-05:00

Dear Gary,

It's been a year now since you left us. I put a humble post on my blog when I heard the news. It was just something short and simple about how I met you once at a convention and how your game changed my life and allowed me to meet nearly all the friends I have today. I just wanted to put something on my blog again this year.

Thanks for doing what you did, when you did.

We all miss you, even those of us who never met you. Your creation touched my life and it's offspring continue to touch my life all the time. I still make friends to this day and have good times with my old friends because of that game that you created. Even though we are not playing "your" game anymore, we're all still gaming and it's all thanks to you.

I hope you haven't shaken things up too much up there and I still hope you'll let me have a seat for a session or two when I get there as well.

Thanks for all the memories I've had and the friends I've met from gaming (and have yet to meet!)

Your friend,

Jason

New Years Eve 2009

2009-01-27T12:20:00.003-05:00

With pretty much everyone I know and care about (minus Melody) in attendance, . It was a very good evening with friends. We drank, we played Rock Band 2, we watched the ball drop (whopee), and the "Line of the Night" was actually sung...

It was be and Dono doing the backup behind Pats while she was trying to sing "Last Train to Clarksville" and she had a real hard time not cracking up listening to us "Oooooohhinh and Ahhhhing" to the beat.

We all went to bed between 1-4am then somehow got up in the morning and had a really decent diner breakfast. The group shrunk by 1 before morning, with Dono's departure. After brunch we playtested Dan's board game for a few hours and then we all went home.

I think that was the last time that we will all be together in one place for a really long time. That makes me sad. I hope we will all get together for next New Years, but I have a feeling that 2009 was the last.

Line of the Night - December 11th, 2008

2008-12-31T10:21:00.003-05:00

Ok, this is a good one. No, really. It's good.

So me and the remaining Long Island Crew have taken to playing this delightful little game known as Rock Band 2. I've been highly enjoying our near-weekly "band practices" that we've been having. It's also a good excuse to drink beer. Lots of beer. Anyway, before I get on a tanget about the virtues and flaws of drinking, let me get to the Line of the Night.

Early in the evening we were discussing the playlists and the songs that can be chosen for purchase. I was suitably irritated when I saw that there was not a single song from the greatest Epic Metal band the world has ever seen: Manowar. This sent Patsy into a tizzy Googling Manowar after a well timed comment by Dono about their 80's image which lead to this comment shortly thereafter...

Me: "So, man... this sucks. Hundreds of tunes and no Manowar!"

D: "It's coming out with the Manowar Expansion Pack."

Me: "Really? Awesome...no way!"

D: "Yeah, it also comes with a loincloth."

Congrats Dono!

Line of the Night - October 24th, 2008

2008-10-25T16:16:00.002-04:00

"So I was aware she had something gestating inside her, so it was a baby human?"

Said in reference about another friend of mine that had given birth a week ago. Not really meant with any intentional malice, I just went for the laughs and I succeeded beyond what I really thought the joke was worth. Thanks for the nomination! I accept it whole-heartedly!

P.S. Yes, this line was delivered after about 6 beers. ;)

Line of the Day - Belated

2008-09-15T03:51:00.001-04:00

This one goes back a couple o' weeks, the date is lost to the mists of time. I heard the best line of the Summer perhaps on my friends' answering machine. I was passed out on their couch, but not because of "87 Beers" and I just happened to be awoken to the beep of the machine and I heard this gem:

"...I don't know if I'm still drunk... or I'm really hung over... but I've *got* to get my shit together..."

I thought this line was absolutely priceless and will flog myself since I didn't post it 4 weeks ago when I heard it.

Line of the Night - July 23rd, 2008

2008-08-01T01:14:00.007-04:00

"Hear that sound she made.. that 'auuuughaaa...' sound? You know what that sound is? That's the 'Primal Idiot' noise, from the belly, when someone's just shutting down..."

Attributed to Mike - about our waitress at Applebees' who seemed to just f*cking hate Mike. Anyone reading this that was there can back me up. She forgot his salad, his entree, AND his dessert but seemed unable to comprehend that his dessert was brought out by someone other than her, prompting her to make that 'Primal Idiot Noise'.

Trust me, if you actually heard this all in context, verbally, you would actually be able to identify the noise many, many times in your life. Maybe you've even made it yourself.

Line of the Night - July 8th, 2008

2008-07-09T01:29:00.003-04:00

So that I don't forget these anymore I am going to be posting "Line of the Night" from every get-together I have with my friends from now on. Last night's gem came from my friend Patsy as we were discussing another party event in a bar in upstate New York:

"She was an honest slut, there was no dissembling..." said in seriousness about the 'character' of this nice young lady that served us drinks for many hours.

I think that line is priceless. And for the record, the line is also spot-on.

I'll be tweaking the template for my "Line of the Night", maybe I'll add more depth to it but for now I will leave this post as-is.

Good night!

George Carlin

2008-06-25T02:45:00.004-04:00

Seems my blog is becoming an obituary page for my heros. Well, the title says it all.

One of the greatest comedic minds of the 20th and 21st century is gone now. I felt his passing strongly. He was the first comedian that I obsessed over when I was a teenager. At one point in my life I owned every single comedy tape he had in stores. I forced my friends to listen to him constantly. I played the tapes in my car, in friends car, in their home stereos. He was a giant influence in my love of stand-up and I am glad I was able to see him perform live.

Goodbye Mr. Carlin and God bless you wherever you are.

E. Gary Gygax

2008-03-04T19:50:00.003-05:00

I don't even know where to begin to be honest. Redbull and I spoke about the passing of Mr. Gygax yesterday and I have to admit, I just couldn't put the words together last night to make an entry. I don't have much more straightened out in my brain right now, but I just wanted to take a couple of minutes in front of my computer to say : "Thanks again, Mr. Gygax." I only wished I could have told him in person again.

I had the pleasure of meeting Gary at ICON-11 or 12 in 1992 here in New York. I stumbled into a room at the convention a little before anyone was supposed to be there and lo and behold, Gary was in the room. He smiled when he saw my friend and I enter and introduced himself and spoke with us for about twenty or twenty-five minutes about the game itself and answered our very childish but sincere questions and even told us what his first character was, I only wish I could remember that detail now. He said the name and class. He then signed both mine and my friend's programs. Mine says "Spells and Swords! - E. Gary Gygax". My friend's says "Shade and Sweet Waters." Good stuff. Good stuff.

That was 15+ years ago, and I had started gaming in earnest 4 years before that. I'm still friends with one of those guys, best of friends one could say. I met almost every other friend that I have today either directly or indirectly through the hobby. I owe you a debt of gratitude and I hope my little story and my kind words does something to diminish it.

Till we meet again, save a seat at the table for me when I get there, I want to try the original Tomb of Horrors ok?

My millions!

2007-02-24T21:34:00.000-05:00

Hello Macfurious,

My name is Mr. Koffi Williams a Banker and accountant with our bank here in Abidjan. I am the personal accounts manager to Engr. Jonathan MacFurious, a National of your country, who used to work with an oil servicing company here in Cote Ivoire.

My client, his wife, and their three children were involved in the ill fated Kenya Airways crash in the coasts of Abidjan in January 2000 in which all passengers on board died. Since then I have made several inquiries to your embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives but has been unsuccessful.

After several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his last name over the internet,to see if I could locate any member of his family hence I contacted you. Of particular interest is this huge deposit with our bank here in,where the deceased has an account valued at about ($16 million US dollars).They have issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or the bank will declare the account unservisable and thereby send the funds to the bank treasury.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over last 2 years now, I will seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased since you have the same last names, so that the proceeds of this account valued at ($16million US dollars) can be paid to you and then you and I can share the money.

All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this deal through. I guarantee that this will be executed under all legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. In your reply mail, I want you to give me your full names, address, date of birth, telephone and fax numbers. If you can handle this with me, reach me now urgently with your requested information through my private email address:

Thanking you for your anticipated cooperation
Koffi Williams

Okay, so all I need do is email this guy and get MILLIONS! Now I'm sure after I contact him I won't get an email saying I just need to make a wire transfer of a few hundred dollars as a "transaction fee" and give him my checking account number and social security number so they can "expidite" the transaction. Hmmmm.... how much can I afford to expidite this transaction? Okay... I'll send them $1000 dollars :)

Who gets these on a regular basis btw?

P.S. I removed the email address at the end because the money is MINE dammit! :)

For Cyberpunk fans

2006-12-22T16:08:00.000-05:00

Read this article

and then tell me that this doesn't sound like a 1st generation neuralware processor. Oh yip, yip, yippee! Cyberarms with hydraulic rams here I come!

Titan POWER!

2006-12-12T01:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm on a creative upswing tonight, so I have to throw my thoughts onto the page about the 2006 Tennessee Titans.

Okay, so they are 6-7. 6 Wins, 7 Losses. Normally no one in their right mind would be trumpeting something so, uh... below .500 like this but it's got quite a buzz growing amongst fans and experts of the NFL alike. What is so important about this under .500 team? Well, I'll tell you.

Vince Young.

and lets give credit where credit is due: Travis Henry

These two guys have really turned the Titans losing season around. With the rookie Vince Young stepping up and assuming the mantle of command for the Tennessee Titans, they have won 4 games in a row. The Titans haven't won 4 games in a row since 2003. I'm eagerly awaiting the Power Rankings to come out because the Titans have been climbing steadily, including passing teams with .500 records even when they are not. There's definately a feeling of something magical about the Titans as they rise from the AFC graveyard. It isn't going to be enough to lift the Titans into the playoffs. Even if they win every game for the rest of the season then they will finish a remarkable and totally mind-blowing 9-7, that's only good enough in the NFC. I'll be overawed if they take down the Jags this Sunday and move to 7-7.

LET'S GO TITANS!

Enough said.

24 revisited

2006-12-12T01:22:00.000-05:00

Now that I've finally watched the first six episodes of the greatest show to ever hit broadcast televison's fifth season, I'm sitting here biting on my fingernails awaiting my next fix. Tomorrow night at this time I will have completed watching Hour 7 to Hour 12 and will be halfway through the season. It's high-time I catch up with the rest of humanity on this brilliant show so I can actually have light conversation about the most recent episodes with my friends instead of having to jam my fingers in my ears whenever "24" comes up and screaming, "I can't hear you! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" like a five year old.

With that said, I'm posting more Youtube links to my favorite videos of this awesome show. None of the videos contain episodes from Season 5, just in case you too have been living under a rock during the entire last season and haven't shelled out the $40 for the DVD's yet. Loser.

1st Video - Set to "Hurt" - by Johnny Cash

2nd Video - Long! - Set to "Time is Running Out" by Muse and "My Tourniquet" - by Evenescence

Maybe I'll post a few more later, if not just check out the above link and throw in the keyword "24" and you'll be inundated by a few hundred. Be careful if you haven't seen Season 5 though! Otherwise, happy hunting!

Peace.

'Wierd Al' resurge

2006-12-12T01:14:00.000-05:00

With the newfound popularity of 'Wierd Al' Yankovic, I thought it only fair to post a link to an older video of Mr. Yankovic that went largely unnoticed. Let's show some love to this master parody-smith. Is that a word? Well, I don't care, just check out the links.

All About the Pentiums

A cute little parody of P. Diddy's "All About the Benjamins" in the same vein as the very popular

White and Nerdy

That was brought to my attention originally by Mr. Redbull

No, your mom is -blank-

2006-11-22T22:52:00.000-05:00

Got your attention? Here's a webcomic fav of mine that I've talked about here and there in my blog. This strip is really, really, funny but no one will find it as amusing as me and Redbull .

With no further ado:

Alien Loves Predator #42

I love it. Peace out homies.

Props

2006-10-22T02:21:00.000-04:00

Oh, I forgot to add this to other posts of mine but I do draw a bit of content from Redbull's diary. Read his insights on many subjects geek and comment. Oh, cross-post and link to him too, he's even interesting sometimes.

There you go Malta. :)

Interpretations please

2006-10-22T02:19:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I've been listening to this for a while and I'd really like your interpretations on the lyrics. My gut feeling is, well I'd rather hear others opinions and I'll reply in comments.

Thanks!

Late Night Magic

2006-10-08T05:51:00.000-04:00

Since no one reads this blog anyway... I'm posting song lyrics.

Every thought that I repent,
There's another chip you haven't spent,
And you're cashing them all in,
Where do we begin.
To get clean again,
Can we get clean again.
I walk home alone with you,
And the mood you're born into,
Sometimes you let me in,
And I take it on the chin.
I can't get clean again.
I want to know,
Can we get clean again,
The God of Wine comes crashing through, The headlights of a car that took you farther than you thought you'd ever want to go,
We can't get back again,
We can't get back again,
She takes a drink and then she waits,
The alcohol it permeates. And soon the cells give way, And cancels out the day,
I can't keep it all together, I know...I can't keep it all together,
And the siren's song that is your madness,
Holds a truth I can't erase,
All alone on your face,

Every glamorous sunrise, Throws the planets out of line,
A star sign out of whack
A fraudulent zodiac.
And the God of Wine is crouched down in my room, You let me down, I said it,
Now I'm going down, And you're not even around.
And I said no (no no no no no...)...
I can't keep it all together,
I know (I know I know I know...)...I can't keep it all together,
And there's a memory of a window, Looking through I see you. Searching for something,I could never give you, And there's someone who understands you, More than I do.
A sadness I can't erase.
All alone on your face.

"The Wingman"

2006-10-06T21:49:00.000-04:00

Again, I have to post a link to my favorite e-zine and their most recently published article on the man's best friend in a bar, the Wingman.

http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/06_06/06_06_wingman.html

So as not to just post a link and hope for some laughs that I didn't write, I have to tell you a tale about the most famous Wingman that the 1st Marine Division has ever (or should ever) know. I won't use his real name, to protect his reputation but I will use his 'handle' :

Hutch.

Hutch was more than the Wingman that they talk about in the article. Hutch did not know what landing gear even was. He cared naught about his personal reputation. He had no guilt and no shame. You never 'owed him one.' Hutch was the kind of guy that you would just 'point and shoot' and off he would go working his Mid-western drawl and charm on whatever resistance you would put him up against. He was also highly effective, displaying a dizzying and unparallelled 90% success rate against single CB targets and a nearly 75% success rate working over multiple targets at once.

Many a night, many men from my old unit owe their sweaty, drunken one-night stands to Hutch. Hell, I think even a few of my old friends attribute their marriages to Hutch. For without his unflagging devotion to duty, those men would have never gotten the opportunity to talk to their dream women.

Hutch, wherever you are, I hope you are still someone's Wingman.
I also hope they are still getting you your God-awful Coors Lights.

Hurricane Humor

2006-09-27T19:47:00.000-04:00

I didn't write this, I can't make crap like this up. Is this what Congress should really be worrying about? Read it and laugh, or cry knowing that we have Congress members making statements like this:

"The congressional newspaper the Hill reported this week that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, feels that the current names are too "lily white," and is seeking to have better representation for names reflecting African-Americans and other ethnic groups.

"All racial groups should be represented," Lee said, according to the Hill. She hoped federal weather officials "would try to be inclusive of African-American names."

A sampling of popular names that could be used include Keisha, Jamal and Deshawn, according to the paper.

Jackson Lee's call is brewing its own storm of response across America."

'Big Brother is Watching You'

2006-09-23T21:00:00.000-04:00

I had a little of a '1984' moment when driving back to my office from work the other day. I was headed eastbound on the Southern State Parkway, somewhere around exit 24 near Merrick when I was idly passing the time staring at the road and every now and again looking upwards at the side of the road. Something caught my eye and I was about to dismiss it when I saw it again. Then I saw it again.

Those damn highway 'traffic' cameras mounted up on those big 75' poles.

I saw one on the eastbound and westbound side right at exit 25, then another set in-between 25 and 26. Then another set at 26. Then my mind kicked into gear and I actually started to count them. I lost track after twenty or so in the next 12 miles. Let me repeat that and clarify: Twenty sets in just over 12 miles. In central Nassau they were spaced much closer together, let's say there was one set approximately every .3 to .4 miles. As I moved closer to the Suffolk County border the distance was more like .5 to .9 miles. Remember what I said earlier folks, I lost track after 18-20 and just started looking at the mileage between them.

The camera stopped, suddenly around exit 44-45 right as you get past where Southern State enters Suffolk county once you pass the Robert Moses Causeway.

I always used to look at Channel 12 News and Traffic cams on Cablevision. You can scroll through about, umm... 6 perspectives on the LIE, Southern State Pkwy, and the Northern State Pkwy. They always scroll through the same 3 or 4 sets of cameras (maybe less I'm not completely sure) and you see a live feed of traffic. I never thought anything of it until yesterday. I never even looked to see where they were. I could understand putting up a set every few miles or so... maybe 2-4 miles to see the flow of traffic. Maybe even space them out more, how important is it to have cameras all over the highway? Then I counted the endless number of them just on the Southern State.

Next time I'm on the LIE, I think I'm going to be looking up a lot more often. I don't know, I just have this wierd, semi-disturbed feeling in my gut that makes me wonder:

"What the hell do we need two 'traffic' cameras in between one exit for?" and
"Just how well can those things zoom?"

A friend of mine I often belittle said, "Welcome to the Police State." I was waiting to take his head of verbally about his reaction but now, even I'm starting to wonder.

Next time your on those major arteries of traffic on Long Island, look up a little and wonder.

(Humor) About beer

2006-08-13T22:08:00.000-04:00

So after spending the entire day recovering from a tremendous hangover, I often turn to the tried and true method of sleeping through most of the day. At one point, I could not stay horizontal anymore so I jumped online to read one of my favorite e-zines: The Modern Drunkard.

It is usually good for a laugh or three when I need it. The link below is a wonderfully funny and relatively short (if you consider 40) list of reasons to drink, whenever.

40 Reasons to Drink Tonight (or any night)

I particularly liked #'s : 1,7,13,25,26,34, and 40 in no particular order.

Other than the beer link post I am alive and well for any parties that may be concerned or for any concerned partygoers or something like that.

Peace.

A little numerology

2006-07-23T11:43:00.000-04:00

There are 12 letters in your name.Those 12 letters total to 45There are 4 vowels and 8 consonants in your name.
Your number is: 9
The characteristics of #9 are: Humanitarian, giving nature, selflessness, obligations, creative expression.

The expression or destiny for #9:The expression that you exhibit is represented bythe number 9. Your talents center in humanistic interests and approaches. You like to help others as you were intended to be the 'big brother or big sister' type. You operate best when you follow your feelings and sense of compassion, and allow yourself to be sensitive to the needs of others. You work well with people, and have the potential to inspire. This suggests that you could successfully teach or counsel. Creative ability, imagination and artistic talent (often latent) of the highest order are present in this expression. It's possible that you're not using or developing all of these capabilities at this time. Some of your talents may have been used at an earlier time in your life, and some may still be latent. Be aware of your capabilities, so that you can make use of them at appropriate times.
If you are able to achieve the potential of your natural expression in this life, you are capable of much human understanding and have a lot to give to others. Your personal ambitions are likely to be maintained in a very positive perspective, never losing sight of an interest in people, and a sympathetic, tolerant, broad-minded and compassionate point of view. You are quite idealistic, and disappointed at the lack of perfection in the world. You have a strong awareness of your own feeling as well as those of others. Friendships, affection, and love are extremely important.
Undeveloped or ignored, the negative side of the 9 expression can be very selfish and self-centered. If you do not actively involve yourself with work that benefits others, you may tend to express just the opposite characteristics. It is your role to be very involved with other people and their needs, but it may be difficult for you achieve this role. Aloofness, lack of involvement, and a lack of sensitivity mark the low road of this expression.

Your Soul Urge number is: 5
A Soul Urge number of 5 means: The 5 soul urge or motivation would like to follow a life of freedom, excitement, adventure and unexpected happening. The idea of travel and freedom to roam intrigues you. You are very much the adventurer at heart. Not particularly concerned about your future or about getting ahead, you can seem superficial and unmotivated.
In a positive sense, the energies of the number 5 make you very adaptable and versatile. You have a natural resourcefulness and enthusiasm that may mark you as a progressive with a good mind and active imagination. You seem to have a natural inclination to be a pace-setter. You are attracted to the unusual and the fast paced.
You may be overly restless and impatient at times. You may dislike the routine work that you are engaged in, and tend to jump from activity to activity, without ever finishing anything. You may have difficulty with responsibility. You don't want to be tied down to a relationship, and it may be hard to commit to one person.

Your Inner Dream number is: 4
An Inner Dream number of 4 means: You dream of being a very solid citizen that people can depend upon. You strive for organization and predictable order. You want to be recognized as a person with a plan and the discipline to make that plan work like clockwork.

Late night musical philosophy

2006-06-06T02:20:00.000-04:00

Ive got another confession to make
Im your fool
Everyones got their chains to break
Holding you
Were you born to resist? Or be abused?
Is someone getting the best of you?
Or are you gone and on to someone new?
I needed somewhere to hang my head
Without your noose
You gave me something that I didnt have
But had no use
I was too weak to give in
Too strong to lose
My heart is under arrest again
But Ill break loose
My head is giving me life or death
But I cant choose
I swear Ill never give in I refuse
Is someone getting the best of you?
Has someone taken your faith?
Its real, the pain you feel
Your trust? You must confess
Is someone getting the best of you?
Has someone taken your faith?
Its real, the pain you feel
The life, the love youd die to heal
The hope that starts the broken heart
Your trust?
You must confess
Is someone getting the best of you?
Ive got another confession, my friend Im no fool
Im getting tired of starting again somewhere new
Were you born to resist or be abused?
I swear Ill never give in-I refuse
Is someone getting the best of you?

Foo Fighters - "Best of You"

I normally don't post song lyrics, but this just stuck in my head for some reason.

Long Island-isms

2006-05-02T16:28:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I ripped off this entire list from here. I cut it down from it's originial format and editorialized it a bit. I think I made it more funner. I could be wrong. With no further ado, read the damn list. :)

You know someone who went to Chaminade. Unfortunately
Is it just me, or is every girl from Rockville Centre a bitch? Tend to agree.
Billy Joel said it best, "Either you date a rich girl from the North Shore, or a cool girl from the South Shore." Yep.
What's the big deal about the Hamptons? Ditto.
If you're not from Long Island or NYC, you're not really from New York. Amen to that!
You don't go to Manhattan, you go to "the City" Heh.
You know the Belt Parkway sucks! I have nightmares of it sometimes.
You never, ever want to "change at Jamaica..." I have worse ones about being stuck here for 4 hours.
You know where at least one strip club is. Or 5 or 12 in some people's cases.
You curse. A lot. F*ck yeah, man.
Is Huntington really that cool? Nope.
You've been to Utopia at least once. *laughs*
The goddamn geese are everywhere! I love branata canadensus.
If your parents didn't, your grandparents lived in the city. Check.
At some point in your life you or someone you know has owned an animal that came from North Shore Animal League. Me. :)
Commack movie theatre scares you. Unarmed? Yes.
No word ends in an ER, just an AH. *grumbles*
You feel like you know Howard Stern. And hate the pompous coward :)
You live in the shadow of the greatest city in the world, but you never go there. Only to hang out with that guy from Chaminade.
When you're away from Long Island, you love it and when you're there, you don't. It's why I came home from CA.
You know the exact point at which Queens turns into Nassau simply on intuition. I use the "force".
No matter what you do, you end up at the diner. In the olde days
Your distant future might involve the state of Florida. Actually in some friends present.
You have or someone you know has fallen asleep on the LIRR and ended up in one of these three places; Babylon, Port Washington or Hicksville.
Guilty on ALL THREE Counts, your honor.
You've missed that "Drunk Train", the 2:42 out of Penn and had the dreaded wait until 5:30. Ya know, making the drunk train isn't much better either. Either way you're screwed.
You can correctly pronouce places like Happauge, Mattituck, Islandia, Massapequa, and Patchogue. But of course :)
You know the location of 6 malls and a dozen McDonalds and 36 7-11's. Off the top of my head, of course
You can remember making up rules for ?Shotgun? calls in high school. Complex elaborate systems that required advanced degrees to truly understand.
You consider nachos and cheese at the Coliseum to be a suitable dinner date. Maybe Jim does, hehe Go Isles!

Ok, done playg, plague, plager, crap... ripping people off for today. Peace out.

An ancient rant about me...

2006-04-20T21:31:00.000-04:00

This was actually reposted from my original blog in 2001. So adjust the calendar of events by about 5 years whenever applicable.

"So I was thinking the other night, not that it happens very often but when I do, these random blurbs just fire out of my brain.
Anyway... I also wanted to self loath myself in this chapter a little bit. Not that I find much wrong about me now, except for the 10# of overweightness I have and the too little of an income, I quite like myself. I quite hate the foolish, inept loser I used to be. Let me spin you a little story about an 17 year old College boy Freshman ... :
Pan in -- A young man in all black, except his socks.
Biker style motorcycle jacket
black jeans
black Ozzy t shirt
black Converse sneakers
white socks
Jeans, just a littttle too short.
Long greasy hair that if unbrushed falls into his eyes and further down. Hair so dense that it's nearly 3'' thick all around and 6 - 7'' long at least, on top.
In walks a stunning Puerto Rican girl, dark brown hair (long) in a brown sweater and black pants with conservative brown boots. She recognizes the "mess" of a man-boy standing outside the Union, smoking lazily.
"Jay.... ?" Puzzled look. "Jay (insert last name here)?"
"Terry?? Wow... yeah, it is me.."
Girl Terry looks him over, if somewhat dissaproving, shows no notice and hugs him tightly. She says she is busy with class, but would love to have breakfast in the morning at the Union.
Man-boy agrees.
Terry shows up in an equally as lovely and flattering outfit, she looks very beautiful. A solid 8.5 out of 10.
Jay shows up in the same clothes from the day before, but he took a shower and brushed the hair up on top of his head.
They eat, they talk about the past... They have fun.
Then she does something completely unreal to the man-boy, she asks him to meet her at a party later on that night.
Jay agrees and like a fucking dope, goes to the Jock Party, on the other side of campus.
A friggin fuckin Jock party. All Football and Lacrosse players. The total antithesis to this young man all adorned in black, with the white socks. But he walked in anyway.
At first, surprisingly... no one noticed him. He walked around, the only one in a biker jacket. The only one not in a college frat sweatshirt. the only one, singular. He saw Terry.
"Wow." Jay thought, he could have no other thought. Banish that 8.5 out of 10 from the record. At that moment, she was a 10. Decked out, made up, she looked like a friggin Angel, like an Angel that just stepped out of the Heavens.
She saw him... said hello, now, obviously dissapointed in the idiot boy. I guess she thought that he only dressed like an outcast slob for class, that he would magically take a shower, shave, put on nice clean clothes, nice clothes, maybe some nice shoes... something, anything, but no. He saw the mix of pity and sadness in her eyes. She didn't talk that much more to him that night, every so often she would check in with him, then go talk to her friends. A drunk jock mistook Jay for one of his friend's brothers and kept getting him beer. The kid had 5, then escaped the jock. He asked Terry if he could call her...
She said sure and even gave him the right phone number.
He never called more than once.
That was 9 years ago. I look at it now and laugh my ass off. Chalk it up to inexperience. I was about 4 years behind my peers socially. In almost every way. It was so sad"

I don't know why I reposted this other than to give some of you that know me a few laughs and to self-flaggelate a little more. :)

Oh me, oh my (Alcohol related post)

2006-03-31T01:30:00.000-05:00

"Beck emphasized that those targeted by the commission have been quite drunk, clocking on average a blood alcohol level of .17, twice the legal limit. She said that officers are looking for a collection of behaviors including stumbling, an inability to stand or being inappropriately loud."

Texas's new drinking enforcement.

The full article can be accessed by the above link.

All I have to say is "Whoa." Ok, so let me get this straight. I can be arrested IN A BAR for being "inappropriately loud." I've been "inappropriately loud" my entire life but now if I have a beer or three in a bar in Texas and tell my friends a tale in my normal voice I can be arrested and/or fine up to $500??? This is pure absurdety at it's best and at worst it's a knee jerk reaction to Texas being the state that had the most amount of DUI-related deaths in the nation.

The true reason I am upset by this article is the way they are justifying the enforcement of it. Texas is saying that if you are drunk at the bar, regardless of whether or not you have keys in your pocket or have any intent to drive you automatically become a "public health risk" and you are a "danger to yourself and others." Yikes, that sounds an awful lot like the reasons NY banned smoking in bars. It was a "public heath hazard."

I'm sorry, but I've been drunk on many occasions and I've never intoxicated anyone through osmosis, nor have I gotten into any barfights in the 10+ years I've been drinking in bars. This smacks of greed in my opinion. Who collects the $500 bucks that you pay for getting drunk in a bar? Oh, that's right, Texas does.

Read the part about the guy that was arrested in his hotel bar and tell me what you think about this absurd practice that Texas has adopted. Anyone watched Minority Report? This sounds so much like "Pre-Crime". "We're arresting you because you might do something baaad..."

I'm out, I'm going to have a beer. Eeek, don't tell the Texas Rangers

Peace

VD and drinking

2006-02-23T02:41:00.000-05:00

I thought the title would catch some attention, especially since a fellow blogger friend of mine was recently chastizing me for having "innapropriately titled" entries:

First rant (truncated): Valentine's Day is an overblown Hallmark holiday that I hate with much of the core of my being. One of the major legends surrounding the history of Saint Valentine is as follows:

"Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death."

Yet another legend surrounding the enigmatic Valentine simply states the following:

"Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured."

Hmm. These two legends are quite harsh. Hmph. The current day "celebration" does not seem to do much credit to the legendary martyr, but that's just my opinion. Anyone with other contrary information about Saint Valentine, please refute my assertations. Otherwise, I'm a-hating on this bullsh*t Hallmark holiday for the time being.

Drinking? Read this : http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/08_05/0805_six_circles.htm

Potential

2006-01-26T02:26:00.000-05:00

I've got an in house ''interview" at "work" tomorrow afternoon. I was recommended by the head supervisor and two dispatchers to fill a vacant supervisor position at my so-called job. All I can say is that I will be now responsible (if I get the position) to drive around to about 20 or so posts and get to inspect other guards to make sure they are doing their jobs. I can only imagine the wonderful tales of hilarity I'll have from work now that I will be going to see 2 dozen guards a day.

I have not disarmed any explosives at work yet and this new position still does not have the responsibility of doing such.

The plus side if I get this little promotion of sorts is that my new schedule Sat-Mon is 1PM-9PM so I GET MY WEEKENDS BACK! I'll be off Fridays and only work till 9PM Saturday! Woohoo! Go me.

I can't believe how excited I am about getting back my Saturday nights, someone push me into traffic.

Peace.

Dumb joke time

2006-01-25T03:26:00.000-05:00

Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: Fish!

That's it for me. I hope someone laughed. :)

Senator Santorum, again.

2006-01-12T17:06:00.000-05:00

This man just doesn't know where or when to quit. His new crusade ladies and gentlemen? The National Weather Service. Yes, this gem of a man wants to force the NWS out of business, for the most part. Ugh, my hatred for this individual grows daily. Here, read the article itself:

Santorum Versus the NWS

Ridiculous.

Psychic stuff =)

2006-01-05T14:49:00.000-05:00

Got this idea of taking this from a friend.

Hehe.

I thought it was cute. I wanted more tests though, I'm a sucker for a quiz.

On Pat Robertson

2005-12-27T19:34:00.000-05:00

What a flaming douchebag. I mean it. I was listening to NPR the other morning as I was about to get off work and I heard a quote from Mr. Robertson:

"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city,"

Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, "The 700 Club."

"And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there," he said.

Are you fucking kidding me? Because a judge decided to strike down an arguement that by it's nature was trying to teach Creationism in a mask in public, state and federally funded schools, ALL the citizens of Dover have turned their backs on God?

The 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the Unites States of America specifically separates Church and State. We are not like Iran, a theocracy.

Wow. You have to love aboslutely demented individuals like Mr. Robertson and their ability to ride high on their horses and cast aspersions at the general public for rightfully wanting to keep "Intelligent Design" out of their schools.

This is why we have private schools. I endured 10 years of Theology classes and going to Mass and special religious ceremonies, because that's what my parents wanted: A good Catholic boy with a good education. Boy, must they be disappointed.

Anyway, I don't want to stray too far off. I just want to say that I hope that the next man in the White House can get off the God tip. Maybe he can only use God in one out of every four speeches. That's fair, right? I don't know if it will stop religious nuts like him from making outrageous statements like that, but it's got to help a little bit? Right? I hope so.

God bless you all.

MacFurious

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-25T20:05:00.000-05:00

Good evening everyone!

Just dropping a quick line to say the aforementioned subject line to all my friends. I realized that it was 4 hours away from not being Christmas anymore and I felt it necessary to make this post.

Cheers to my friends and I hope you all got everything you've ever wanted.

Good day to you all!

2005-12-19T16:20:00.000-05:00

I'm in an unusually jaunty mood today. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I haven't been feeling down, but I haven't been feeling particularly uplifted in a while. Maybe it's a lack of sleep. Hmm. Anyway, I am in a very good mood today. I ran a few errands, played some of my crack, and got a haircut. I have a ten hour night ahead of me. I don't understand the unusually good mood but I'm sure if anything can bring me down, it will be listening to the rejects, freaks, and morons that I call co-workers on the radio all night.

Nah, I think tonight they will all just make me laugh. =)

Now to throw some content in here besides this turning into diary-like post, please check out one of my favorite online comics because I thought today's post was very funny.

Alien Loves Predator

I will close with a quote from a famous man:

"History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap."

Oh

2005-12-16T07:04:00.000-05:00

Just a little something I picked up on the nature of security clearances:

"TOP SECRET: Applied to information or material the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.

In addition to the above, some classified information is so sensitive that even the extra protection measures applied to Top Secret information are not sufficient. This information is known as "Sensitive Compartmented Information" (SCI) or Special Access Programs (SAP), and one needs special "SCI Access" or SAP approval to be given access to this information."

Yep. Hehe, maybe this time I can find the aliens.

Oh yeah

2005-12-16T06:57:00.000-05:00

Click on my ads to help financially support me btw. :)

Now, on to my post:

I received a few job offers today since I reposted my resumes on Monster earlier the other day. Well, one's a sales position at a company I've blown off a couple of times. I mean, how good of a company could it be if every time I put my resume on the site they offer me an interview???

The other was interesting, but the position could be in Virginia, Colorado, or any of the other states it operates in. It's a well known company, but I don't want to post anything about it on here. All I'll say is that it if they ever decide to call me back (since I forwarded my resume to them yesterday afternoon) then I would have a brand spanking new security clearance investigation! If this one's a go, then I want all of you to make sure to say nice things to the agents that will be knocking on your doors asking what you know about me and if you think I am capable of holding a position that may have me being around information that is "highly sensitive to National Security".

That said, I'm off to listen to Opie and Anthony and apply to a few more jobs.

"Peace out." - Kip

Another day

2005-12-14T11:42:00.000-05:00

It's a cold Wednesday morning. I actually managed to sleep a full 8 hours. During hours that normal people sleep. It's a little bit strange I must admit. Just wanted to throw an update up here today in keeping with my new policy on trying to be a regular blogger.

Hope everyone is well and their normal workdays are going by as stress-free as possible.

Rest in Peace

2005-12-11T06:28:00.000-05:00

Just a link to the whole article about the life and the death of Mr. Richard Pryor.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051211/ap_on_en_mo/obit_pryor

That's all I've got for now. I loved his comedy to death when I was growing up.

for the 24 lovers

2005-12-10T08:52:00.000-05:00

Jack Bauer: [holding a gun at Nina, who is lying on the floor] You don't have any more useful information, do you?
Nina Myers: [reaching slowly for a gun and speaking in a raspy voice] I do.
Jack Bauer: No, you don't. [shoots her three times, killing her]

Just a little something to hold me over as I eagerly anticipate my Tuesday screening of the first 8 hours of 24, season 4. :) Although nothing beats the Bauer - Chappelle scene of Season 3 so far. I won't post it, 'cause I don't want to ruin it. Screw Nina. She deserved it anyway.

Christmas

2005-12-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

The holiday is fast approaching ladies and gents. For those of you that think my writing, ranting and raving is incredibly entertaining and for those of you that hate it with a passion and want me to stop; take a look at this wish list and get me something and I will strongly consider stopping/continuing.

Whichever you prefer. Remember, the higher priority items will get preferred treatment for me to stop/continue.

See ya!

Oh boy...

2005-12-10T05:54:00.000-05:00

Shakira. Shakira Shakira Shakira.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll. She is sex(y). She is (the sin) Lust made into flesh. Just as simple as that.

If there were only one other woman that could ask me to do anything for her, it's Shakira. I'd eat glass out of her hands. I'd walk across burning coals for her. I am obsessed with her. Now don't get me wrong, I don't fall for just any half Columbian, half Egyptian belly dancer, singer, pianist, guitar player... but there's something about her.

Peace.

A Bagel and a hot shave (en Espanol)

2005-12-02T18:14:00.000-05:00

So I was driving around with "The Currie" the other day around 545AM. I learned something new about Long Island while I was searching desperately for a bagel store. Bagel stores on the North Shore are f*cking slackers and they open at 6AM. Bagel stores on the South Shore are hardcore and open around 5-530AM.

This particular bagel store that I stopped to grab a bagel at (salt, toasted, with butter, for anyone that will ever need to get me breakfast food) also has a barber shop right next door. Maybe this is one of those "you have to be there" moments but damnit, I'm blogging it anyway: I look at the barber shop window and Currie points out that the OPEN sign is on. There is also a sign that says "Hot Shaves" and next to it "Se Habla Espanol". All I kept thinking about was: "Is it really any different to get a hot shave in Spanish?" and "Who needs a hot shave at 5AM?" and "Well, I guess it might be nice to have a toasted salt bagel with butter after my hot shave that I just concluded in Spanish."

These are things that vastly underemployed security guards think about at 6AM after a 10 hour shift when they are really exhausted.

I am such a dork. I will end this blog with a quote from two great men.

"Napoleon Dynamite: Stay home and eat all the freakin' chips, Kip.
Kip: Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.
Napoleon Dynamite: Since when, Kip? You have the worst reflexes of all time. Kip: Try and hit me, Napoleon.
Napoleon Dynamite: What?
Kip: I said come down here and see what happens if you try and hit me. "

Peace out

To the geeks of ArM

2005-11-17T05:09:00.000-05:00

Julius: Hey, wait a minute. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hold it. Now, are we actually gonna go before the entire Tribunal, and tell them that some moldy Faerie Lord is going to drop in on the Northern Highlands, and start tearing up the country?
Aborimandrax: Gruchin, not Faerie Lord.
Lucian: Yeah. Big difference.
Julius: No offense, guys, but I've gotta get my own Guernicus.

but wait, there's more...

Don Allaigh:[Evil voice] Are you a God?
Drax: [Lucian nods] No.
Don Allaigh: Then... DIE!
[Electrocutes the members of Spatha et Cingulum; pushing them to the edge of the tower ramparts; Covenfolk screaming]
Magnus: Drax, when someone asks if you're a God, you say "Yes"!
Lucian: All right! This chick is TOAST!
Lucian: [The Magi walk toward Don Allaigh] Grab your Vis!
Drax, Durand, Magnus, & Julius: HOLDING!
Lucian: Heat 'um up!
Drax, Durand, Magnus, & Julius: SMOKING!
Lucian: [Don Allaigh growls] Make them spells penetrate!
Drax, Durand, & Magnus, & Julius: READY!
Lucian: Let's show this prehistoric Gruchin how we do things at Spatha et CINGULUM... CAST EM!

This post is so far inside I shouldn't have even posted it. Those that get it I hope will like my efforts. :)

Late night madness...

2005-11-17T04:45:00.000-05:00

So today is my birthday.

Yep.

I was born at 10AM on November 16th. It's only 445AM so I figure I have about 5 hours left. My logic is flawed and I know it. I'm just using this disjointed logic to extend my birtday a full 24 hours after the fact since I worked from 4 - midnight on my birthday. I worked that shift the day before and I'm working it tomorrow. So you can see how those hours kind of curtail any partying on my part. I'm trying to be "Mr. Responsible" regadless of the crappy pay. I firmly believe that I am being paid a wage to perform a task. With the amount of money I get paid to do it they are completely assured that I will do the absolute minimum namely:

1) Show up to all of my posts on time
2) Wear my complete uniform, clean and serviceable looking as well
3) Write my reports
4) Radio in any crime occuring to our client's property

Anything else is completely beyond my A) Jurisdiction and b) the single digit an hour pay I get.

On the upside I am almost done with What's the Matter With Kansas? which is an interesting account about the transformation of Kansas through Fundamentalist Christian Conservatives and their affect on politics of our nation. I do it not justice, but I am 2/3's of the way through and I have found it very interested without being offensive. In the way an Ann Coulter book would be offensive to a very liberal Democrat is how I meant that.

Back to life "On the Other Job"...

I'm currently compiling all the data I can on the everyday events that take place at work and am making a cast of characters. Yep, this could have the makings of an excellent screenplay. I'm thinking "Armed and Dangerous" meets "D.C. Cab" or something similar about a group of "loveable losers" that all are striving against "the Man" against impossible odds. Except there really is no "Man" and sitting in a car and watching a remote building in the middle of nowhere to guard against thieves isn't really impossible odds... but there IS potential damnit!

It's my birthday, humor me.

Ok, enough babble from me. I'm out.

Oh, for all of you that did not call/email me a happy birthday today: Burn in the pits of Hades.

Just kidding :)

Belatedness

2005-11-11T07:27:00.000-05:00

Since I worked 23 of the last 48 hours I'm a little confused and a whole lot tired. I just wanted to say a quick (7.5 hours late) Happy Birthday to:

The United States Marine Corps

for celebrating two hundred and thirty years of honorable and dedicated service to this country, for which I will always be proud to have spent four years of my life with them.

May all my brethren in all the warzones around the globe get home safe.

Semper Fidelis,

Jay Mac

The next stage

2005-09-28T15:38:00.000-04:00

Ok,

So today I had lunch with a gentleman named Carl. Carl is potentially my next boss. I was referred to Carl by Mr. Delusional. If you do not know who Mr. Delusional is it doesn't really matter because this story is about ME and not HIM. Erm, okay then. So lunch goes very well with Carl and he sets up an actual interview for the week of October 10th. Awesome. This will give me just enough time to get to level 60 in Warcraft! Oh, that and possibly even fix my car and buy a new suit if I get around to it. Perhaps my priorities are a little messed up. Does anyone else think so? Heh.

Anyway, I can't tell you all how excited I am about this interview. I'll edit this post later for more content.

Salaam

Another new beginning

2005-09-16T23:56:00.000-04:00

Well well well, we meet again.

Yep. Unemployment.

Fuck.

As of September 30th I will no longer be employed. I spent a good three years with them, this being my longest stint at a job since the Marine Corps. Fuck. I really fucking hate this.

I had a lot of conversation about this at the last event at Patsy's place. The sound advice of my peers was to ride it out as long as you can. Let them fire you, screw the man! I whole-heartedly agreed with them all. Then I had a sit down with my boss on Tuesday and it took everything in my being to not fall apart at the seams.

I was miserable at this job. Not just in the way that I felt every morning but in my job performance as well. When performance is rated by sales and you don't sell anything, you stink. I stunk like a French Cathouse. I had no ability to follow up with customers, I dreaded every work week I started because of the failures of the week before. I nearly had anxiety attacks every time I had to call my boss to tell her about how I was not selling and not making the "big deals" when I was on the road cold-calling. Perhaps the life of a salesman is not for me?

Anyway, I tendered my resignation on Wednesday morning. She's keeping me on until the end of the month so I get another paycheck and as much commission I can make in 2 more weeks of sales. That's not awful, especially since she could have cut me that very day without blinking and eye.

I never realized how much of a lack of focus I had until I started working there. I always knew that I had the attention span of a gnat, but it never hurt me as bad as it did there. I'm thinking, Stratera for the first time in my life. I never realized how bad my lack of attention could hurt me until now. I've never even thought that I might need some kind of medication, but I'm seriously considering it.

Focus issues aside, she was also emotional hell to deal with. She was worse that any ex-girlfriend I ever had. She would push you up to the stars and then when you didn't sell she could cut you to pieces in seconds and make you just want to walk out that door and quit. The next day (or two days later) you were the apple of her eye again and she was telling you what a wonderful person you were and wishing you all the best "on the road" today. Bizarre.

Anyway, that's all I wanted to ramble about tonight.

Salaam

Alien Loves Predator

2005-09-16T21:03:00.000-04:00

Just a quickie - I've been raving about this for months and finally wanted to give this guy his due

Please check it out

This is an awesome webcomic :)

New Yorkers in particular should appreciate it.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress.

Alas, it's over

2005-09-02T11:52:00.000-04:00

Good morning,

It took me longer than expected to post my last update on the trip. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I can procrastinate better than Anyone I know. Yes. Anyone.

Since I am not in the most jaunty of moods this grim Friday before a long weekend morning, I'm just going to write up what happened on the rest of my trip and not in my little format that I was using.

After we left Portland we headed due north up SR-201, a.k.a. Scenic Route 201. It was very picturesque and breathtaking at points. We have lovely photography of the area, shot on instant cameras by rank amateurs. One can imagine the incredible pictures that turned out in the end. Anyway, we drove 4 or so hours up this lovely road and passed many small towns on our way into the mountains of Maine. We arrived at a place called Jackman right before sundown. Jackman scared me a little as we drove through it, I couldn't put my finger on it. It could have been that it had that "little town in the middle of nowhere" horror movie feel, totally enhanced by the gloomy overcast darkness that settled over it as we drove in. It could have been that the largest building in the town was this enormous stone church. It just seemed so oversized for a town of population 200 to have this giant church. But I digress, as usual. Anyway, we just picked out a cabin rental place at random there, it was getting dark and it looked stormy as heck and we settled on Sally Mountain Lake Rentals. I couldn't have picked a better spot if I tried.

Sally Mountain Lake Rentals: I walked in the door and there was a gentleman in a flannel shirt and jeans who spoke with a curious Boston-Canadian accent (apparently that's what real Mainers sound like) and happily told me he had Bigwood for me if I wanted it. Yes, that's how he said it. It was the name of the cabin we were to be staying it. $50 a night. $25 a person a night, specials for a week. I was amazed by the low cost and quite honestly, very surprised at the quality of our lodgings. There were 10 beds, 2 floors, 4 little tv's with basic cable and a very nice little kitchen complete with all the gear necessary to cook and eat. It took me a little while to figure it out that we actually got the 10 man hunting cabin by default. It also had a porch that had a picture-perfect view of Sally Mountain Lake. They call it a lake. Ok, Lake Ronkonkoma is a Lake. Maine's version of a lake looks like the Atlantic Ocean. This "lake" was enormous, it was just gigantic. Again, one man's lake is another's puddle eh? So we spent the night there and did not want to leave in the morning but we were determined to go futher into the mountains, so we pressed on.

Rockwood: We had called a cabin place in Rockwood the day before and Melody had spoken with a lovely older lady that told us she might have a cabin for us, it just depended on the "lovely young couple" that was staying in it decided to leave the next day. She told Mel to call on Wednesday but alas, when you are surrounded by mountains, trees, and Mooses, there isn't much of a cell signal. In fact, most of the trip up we had no signal at all.

So we trekked on to Rockwood with the attitude of "what the hell". Only 30-40 minutes away from Jackman and we started seeing road signs for cottage rentals and a few minutes after that, we saw the sign for Rockwood. We had arrived, but where the heck was the place we called? We drove up and down the road for a while, till I realized that the sign for the place was partially obscured and we had been driving past the place for some time. We drove down their little road and stopped in front of the office. Our soon to be host Bonnie, had left us a note on the door telling us to check out the cabin and if we like it it's ours and come back at 3PM. By then she'd be back from the Doctor's in Bangor and would have our cabin cleaned up. How nice. So we ventured into the next town down the road. Another 45 minutes or so and we see Greenville and at the same time, my cellphone makes a wierd warbling - it located a signal! 5 bars worth! If they have a cell tower, they must have fast food! YES! We set about looking for a McDonald's, I had heard they served McLobster up there and was DYING to see what processed lobster looked like. Well, our quick search of the area turned up no shortage of little restaurants, a few gas stations, a bank, and a few grocery stores. Hey, by central Maine standards we were in a Big Town. It was nice, the weather was pleasant (about 60 degrees and breezy) so we picked out a place with an outside deck and had sandwiches for lunch.

After our lunch and searching about, we headed back to Rockwood. We met Bonnie upon our return. She was an absolute doll, she explained everything about the cabin's amenities and talked to us about the grounds and told us all about where to go to get food, see moose, etc. and then she left us to our own devices. Again, the view of the nearby river was beautiful but unfortunately we could not rent a boat to get across it. The waters were deemed "unsafe" by our hosts both days we were there. I wanted to get to the island on the other side of the river. I wanted to hike all over it. Ah well, like some famous General said, "I will return."

Time there flew by like crazy and before long we were paying Bonnie and packing up the van and headed back to NY.

It was 11 hours back to Long Island from Rockwood, ME. It's a beautiful place and I highly recommend it to anyone that's into hiking, kayaking, or just laying around looking at beautiful skies on a warm summer afternoon.

Vacation, Chapter 2

2005-08-16T01:09:00.000-04:00

On the road Day 2:

We visited the Mystic Aquarium. We saw many pretty fish, rays, seals, Beluga whales, penguins, and bats. Yep. Bats. Why bats seem to be at every aquarium I've visited is beyond me. Ok, so that was my first aquarium, but Melody says they all have bats. But I digress:

Rhode Island: the only major thing we hit there was Providence which from what the map showed is the only thing in Rhode Island.

Massachusetts: We saw the I95 & the I495. Yep. That's it. Planned on going to Salem, wound up somewhere in New Hampshire - fired navigator, bought new maps, continued.
And now to our goal, yep the goal ALL vacationers have when they think "Bright Lights and Big Cities" - Maine.

Maine: We originally stopped in Kitterery. Apparently everyone and their brother who goes into southern Maine stops in Kitterery, on Route 1. We picked up a Maine road map at the overly attentive Maine Welcome Center ("Can I help you? Oh.. ok... Can I help you yet? No? Oh, that's too bad... How about now???? - says psychotic travel info people") and continued on our way. Due to some more incompetant map reading, I figured that Kitterery was about 55 miles from Bangor. We decided to take Route 1 up the coast. Bad move.

After 45 minutes on Route 1, we realized two things

A) Bangor is 160 miles away
B) Route 1 up the coastline is the equivalent of taking Route 25 from Middle Island to Manhatten. Long and painful.

We did stop at a charming little beachside town called

Wells: Filled with cottages and hotels for the beach crowd and about 4,000,000 antique shops for the tourist crowds that seemed to be filling the place to capacity. One odd note was some of the food type eatery places had some rather unusual marquee items. For example:

Wells' House of PIZZA and ROAST BEEF (Maybe I'm just being picky?)

and

Lacostantino's (with a billboard stating) - LOBSTER ROLLS and ITALIAN ICES!
Yum.

So, to sum up: We jumped back onto the I95 and headed to scenic Portland where we are currently shacked up at again, this time for a lot more money than last time. We have decided to use every possible amenity and take any other ones we don't use. I was thinking about the microwave personally, but Melody reminded me that they DO have my credit card information. Damn technology! Foiled again.

From the road, this is J and I'm outta here...this may be the last update for a while, not too many internet providers at "Buck's county cottages - bears welcome"
See ya.

On the Road

2005-08-15T09:46:00.000-04:00

Day 1: Left at 5PM, drove through the Island to Queens to the Bronx. Immediately after leaving the Bronx, Torrential Downpour - roads flooded behind us, many roads closed. Roads ahead of us not much better. We continue ahead for over an hour in that mess and finally the rain abates.

We drove until 9PM and picked: New London, CT to stop in.

It's got a Holiday Inn (Which I am a member of their little 'Rewards Zone' club - I get frequent flier miles on American Airlines and crap) and apparently it's right next to Mystic Seaport, Aquariam, Mohegan Sun, and a number of other little museums and the like. We'll be picking a few of them out to visit at random and then it's off to conquer Rhode Island and potentially Massachussetts.

Till later gators...

Quote of the Day

Socrates - "I drank what?!?"

All Apologies

2005-08-11T08:18:00.001-04:00

I have to apologize for the last post - mostly because I wrote it after a tremendous evening of imbibing adult recreational beverages and then I came to work. What was the first thing I saw on Googlenews? Hilary Clinton. If that wasn't enough to sour everything left in my stomach... anyways, I said I'd be staying out of politics (for another couple of years) so I am keeping true to my word once again.

My next post will be about video games or something.

Oh, I just laughed my *ss off last night at this line from a webcomic I enjoy from time to time:

Preston: "Are we even talking about the same thing here?"
Abe: "At this point, who cares? There's too much talk in this world and not enough stadiums full of lesbians!"
Preston: "I believe Gloria Steinem said that once..."
Abe : "Yeah? Sounds like me and her would get along!"

To see the original in all it's glory:

http://alienlovespredator.com/index.php?id=139

Trust me, it's funny.

Rockstar Games?

2005-07-16T11:58:00.000-04:00

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2005-07-14T200122Z_01_N14436176_RTRIDST_0_TECH-MEDIA-VIDEOGAME-DC.XML

Doesn't this self-serving, egotistical b*tch have something better to do with her term in office than attack video gaming? Doesn't she have a President to mock? Doesn't she have a President's decisions to belittle? Wouldn't that better serve her interests for her 2008 Presidential run? Rather than waster her time with attacking video game violence, isn't there real violence in the NY school systems or in the NY correctional system that she could be addressing?

Ahh what do I know, I'm no U.S. Senator.

Gallimaufries and Burning

2005-07-09T17:53:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm just posting some things on here while I wait for my CD to burn before I drive off to another Gallimaufry at the Patsy and Jim residence. :) God, I love that word. It was introduced to me by Patsy and it's just such a lovely word to describe out little get-togethers. I'm looking forward to tonight's little event, seeing as how I do not have to attend a WEDDING tomorrow. Oh dear lord... that was quite a spectacle. Yes, yes indeed.

Well, my illegally downloaded songs are done being burned, I'm out the door.

P.S. I'm wearing the "complimentary" yarmulke to the gallimaufry tonight. :)

To Everyone I won't see tonight: Have a wonderful evening...
To Everyone I will be seeing: It's partytime ;)

The Deserter's Tale

2005-07-05T00:15:00.000-04:00

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050121-112657-2774r.htm

Wow. He's innocent right? This so-called Marine fled his duty, went back to his "home" country, has whomever release a fake tape of himself being threatened with life and death. They return Mr. Wassoun (I refused to acknowledge a deserter and potential traitor by his rank) to Camp Lejeune and give him a couple of months off and then interrogate him. They let him go home on leave for a while, while they continue the investigation and what does he do?

Paints "Guilty" all over himself. He fled.

Wonder if he's back in the Middle East again, except this time working for the other side?

Hmm.

Manowar Manowar...

2005-06-21T20:54:00.000-04:00

"I've been Fighting, Fighting the World, I've been Fighting....... Fight for a livin, Fighting the World!"

ManOWar

Yep. I'm updating. I drove 250 miles each way to Worcester, MA to see the KINGS OF METAL! Manowar, with Rhapsody and Holyhell. Wow. What a fucking incredible show. Just awesome from 8PM till Midnight. 4 hours of Metal ecstasy. Truly. This was the third show of their's I've been to. My first Manowar experience was at the now defunct Tommyknockers in '95 (or possibly '96), followed by L'Amour in Brooklyn in 2002, and now June 2005. :)

Bad side: All ages venue. You could only purchase 1 beer at a time. Bummer. No smoking. No re-entry.

All in all I have to give the evening a 9/10.

Friday blah

2005-06-17T13:56:00.000-04:00

Just recapping my week here for posterity.

So my dad had the world's easiest angioplasty the other day, home by 430PM. That's definately good. Me and Melody went over to see the two of them the other evening. My dad got to laugh good and hard about how fast Melody fixed the DVD player's wiring to get it to work. It was very funny because I tooled around with it for 30 minutes one day and got nowhere. She walked behind the tv, 2 seconds later everything works. Good job Doll. :)

What else? I'm not really selling quality high $ items, but I'm selling. Work is happy because I'm selling, but that's not going to keep me from being fired for lack of making my goals come years end. If anyone wants to buy $50,000 - $100,000 in kitchen cabinets of very good quality, email me.

Hmm, tonight is Ars Magica (see last post - Ed.) and there should be a climactic conclusion to "Chapter One" of our campaign. It will be good, more because I like having everyone over to talk with than anything else. Me, Donovan, Dan, Currie, and Matt. It's a shame we all can't get together for any other reason other than "the Game".

Oh, Saturday morning I'm headed to Worcester, MA to see the one, the only, ManOWar!!! Totally psyched. I can't f*cking wait.

Hmm, M.J. was found innocent of all charges?? Wow. Just another thrust into the heart of blind justice. If M.J. was just a poor black man accused of giving alcohol to children and touching them, would there be a not guilty verdict rendered there? I think not. Justice is definately not blind.

Just a few things put out there. See ya!

Ars Magica

2005-04-25T11:54:00.000-04:00

The recently reaquainted love of my RPG life. Ars Magica 5th Edition. To learn more about it in general just follow this link here. It's a wonderful game about a semi-secret society of "Magus" or wizards, sorcerors, or whatever you want to call them that live among humanity set in the Dark to Middle Ages, who are known to each other as "The Order of Hermes".

Did you follow the link? Is your interest piqued yet? If it isn't then you are probably one of the 95% of humanity that is not a Roleplayer . My condolences.

Sunday Evening

2005-04-24T20:04:00.000-04:00

I realize that no one that I know will take the time to see both sides of any political arguement. One side is always right, the other side is always wrong. When I discuss politics with people, I see that no longer can two sides have opinions. One side has an opinion or opinions that are fact. The opposing opinion is wrong and incorrect. Simple as that. It's never a discussion, it's a debate that always breaks down to the most basest of elements; irrational yelling and screaming. Neither side gains anything from it, other than to vent their negativity about the other side's point and whatnot. I've decided to retire this diary from political issues. I'll leave that in the capable hands of my contemporaries.

What I really think I can't take is ignorance. When someone decides they are going to push their own agenda over something that they are completely unqualified to speak about. When they think that because they are educated, they can make broad statements about topics that they really know nothing about, that makes me very angry. I know I am guilty of the same things I'm complaining about. Sometimes I just wing it when confronted with a topic I am ignorant over. That's usually when I am trying to be funny. When I am trying to be serious, I will make my ignorance known. I try not to form opinions about things that I don't really understand or lack the background to understand why decisions were made the way they were in a given issue. I'd probably attempt to research the topic or talk to people that have a background in it to find out why these things happen. I'd like to believe I would at least attempt to be objective.

Enough of all this rambling, barely coherent, blogging. I'm going to relax and sit back and just try to turn it down a notch. I'm going to take an example from The Red Bull Diary.

Education at it's finest

2004-12-07T07:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I've always been wary of those darn pagans *grins*. This lady gives good pagans a bad name. We've all heard of Mary-Kay LeTourneau, well here's Elizabeth Milosevic. Relative of the infamous Yugoslavian leader (deposed) Slobodan? Who knows, but here's the story of Ms. Milosevic.

Here it is: http://www.detnews.com/2004/metro/0412/04/metro-23804.htm

Perhaps the end of an era.

2004-11-06T16:02:00.000-05:00

I read articles like this and I have to sit back and wonder, "Is he really dead?" Not in an Elvis kind of way obviously. The man is in a French hospital receiving top medical care from them, not that that is particularly surprising either. I hear reports that he is comatose, that he's dead, that he's improving. I am hoping that over this weekend we can finally see the end of a "sometimes" violent terrorist leader - Yassir Arafat.
Now I know that he has publicly denouced terrorist attacks on Israel and the non-Arab world a number of times in the last couple of years, but did it really help? Was it more of a "wink and a nod" to his constituents? I don't know. What I do hope for is that his replacements can start to work for a change, maybe even some kind of peace in the Middle East with Israel.

Here's the links folks :
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4156860

Election Day is Over, Hail to the Chief!

2004-11-03T19:03:00.000-05:00

Amidst the hours of 9PM and midnight I felt a great amount of fear and trepidation. I finally was able to rest around 230AM. Ohio was pretty much locked up with 95% reporting a 110,000 vote lead for the President. New Mexico, Colorado, Iowa, and Nevada were looking pretty good too. I laid my head down and fell asleep, but I slept fitfully.

At 1030AM I awoke and sat in my living room and popped on the TV and quickly switched to the news. I poured myself a glass of soda and had a cigarette or two and then I heard the joyous news. Senator Kerry had done the right thing and he conceeded. I was blown away, even though I had a feeling that's how the cards were going to fall. I salute you Senator Kerry, it was a good fight and you handled it like a real man.

The President has been re-elected. As I have been reading liberal blogs and been on the lovely Yafro.com to see all of the outcry I can only say a few things:

1) It is obvious that now that Bush has been re-elected, the USA is going to be vaporised
2) It is obvious that the economy is going to collapse. The United States is going to become bankrupt and we will all be out of jobs and broke
3) The military is going to invade the REST of the WORLD! We will conquer all the other "sovereign" nations
4) Bush is going to start up the draft and probably make it for age 14 and above
5) Etc, Etc, Etc...

The above is all sarcasm, for anyone it wasn't blatantly obvious to. Unfortunately, this is the kind of stuff I've been reading all day online. I chuckle mirthfully and have a little smirk on my face even as I sit here writing.

Hail to the Chief,

God bless President George W. Bush

Sincerely,

J. Mac

Election Day - Get out and Vote!

2004-11-02T16:47:00.000-05:00

Don't forget ladies and gentlemen, today is November 2nd. That means today is ELECTION DAY! Please, I beg all of you registered voters to go out there and make your voice heard. Of course, since I'm a Republican I am really just want the Republican voices to be heard. Oh, if you are a Democrat and you really don't want to vote for Kerry just because he's "The Other Guy" then get out there and make your vote for Nader! Hell, go nuts... vote for Bush or Nader! :)

On a local note: (New Yorkers) Please do not vote for the re-election of Charles Schumer. I'm sure Hilary Clinton can find herself another assistant and we don't need to elect her a free one. I managed to even convince one die-hard Dem to vote for Mr. Mills, I know I can get more.

Thanks,

This message was brought to you by one lone Republican voter awash in an Island of Democrats.

I'm Jay Mac and I approved this message.

Those pesky Ruskies

2004-10-30T05:52:00.000-04:00

Now I have been saying for years and reporting facts that the Russian mi litary (long before 1992) had been training th Iraqi people in the use of arms and the use of technology so I thought it oh so appropo to post this article in it's entirety.

Russia tied to Iraq's missing arms
By Bill GertzTHE WASHINGTON TIMES

Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein's weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned.John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said in an interview that he believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, "almost certainly" removed the high-explosive material that went missing from the Al-Qaqaa facility, south of Baghdad."The Russians brought in, just before the war got started, a whole series of military units," Mr. Shaw said. "Their main job was to shred all evidence of any of the contractual arrangements they had with the Iraqis. The others were transportation units."Mr. Shaw, who was in charge of cataloging the tons of conventional arms provided to Iraq by foreign suppliers, said he recently obtained reliable information on the arms-dispersal program from two European intelligence services that have detailed knowledge of the Russian-Iraqi weapons collaboration.Most of Saddam's most powerful arms were systematically separated from other arms like mortars, bombs and rockets, and sent to Syria and Lebanon, and possibly to Iran, he said.The Russian involvement in helping disperse Saddam's weapons, including some 380 tons of RDX and HMX, is still being investigated, Mr. Shaw said.The RDX and HMX, which are used to manufacture high-explosive and nuclear weapons, are probably of Russian origin, he said.Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita could not be reached for comment.The disappearance of the material was reported in a letter Oct. 10 from the Iraqi government to the International Atomic Energy Agency.Disclosure of the missing explosives Monday in a New York Times story was used by the Democratic presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, who accused the Bush administration of failing to secure the material.Al-Qaqaa, a known Iraqi weapons site, was monitored closely, Mr. Shaw said."That was such a pivotal location, Number 1, that the mere fact of [special explosives] disappearing was impossible," Mr. Shaw said. "And Number 2, if the stuff disappeared, it had to have gone before we got there."The Pentagon disclosed yesterday that the Al-Qaqaa facility was defended by Fedayeen Saddam, Special Republican Guard and other Iraqi military units during the conflict. U.S. forces defeated the defenders around April 3 and found the gates to the facility open, the Pentagon said in a statement yesterday.A military unit in charge of searching for weapons, the Army's 75th Exploitation Task Force, then inspected Al-Qaqaa on May 8, May 11 and May 27, 2003, and found no high explosives that had been monitored in the past by the IAEA.The Pentagon said there was no evidence of large-scale movement of explosives from the facility after April 6."The movement of 377 tons of heavy ordnance would have required dozens of heavy trucks and equipment moving along the same roadways as U.S. combat divisions occupied continually for weeks prior to and subsequent to the 3rd Infantry Division's arrival at the facility," the statement said.The statement also said that the material may have been removed from the site by Saddam's regime.According to the Pentagon, U.N. arms inspectors sealed the explosives at Al-Qaqaa in January 2003 and revisited the site in March and noted that the seals were not broken.It is not known whether the inspectors saw the explosives in March. The U.N. team left the country before the U.S.-led invasion began March 20, 2003.A second defense official said documents on the Russian support to Iraq reveal that Saddam's government paid the Kremlin for the special forces to provide security for Iraq's Russian arms and to conduct counterintelligence activities designed to prevent U.S. and Western intelligence services from learning about the arms pipeline through Syria.The Russian arms-removal program was initiated after Yevgeny Primakov, the former Russian intelligence chief, could not persuade Saddam to give in to U.S. and Western demands, this official said.A small portion of Iraq's 650,000 tons to 1 million tons of conventional arms that were found after the war were looted after the U.S.-led invasion, Mr. Shaw said. Russia was Iraq's largest foreign supplier of weaponry, he said.However, the most important and useful arms and explosives appear to have been separated and moved out as part of carefully designed program. "The organized effort was done in advance of the conflict," Mr. Shaw said.The Russian forces were tasked with moving special arms out of the country.Mr. Shaw said foreign intelligence officials believe the Russians worked with Saddam's Mukhabarat intelligence service to separate out special weapons, including high explosives and other arms and related technology, from standard conventional arms spread out in some 200 arms depots.The Russian weapons were then sent out of the country to Syria, and possibly Lebanon in Russian trucks, Mr. Shaw said.Mr. Shaw said he believes that the withdrawal of Russian-made weapons and explosives from Iraq was part of plan by Saddam to set up a "redoubt" in Syria that could be used as a base for launching pro-Saddam insurgency operations in Iraq.The Russian units were dispatched beginning in January 2003 and by March had destroyed hundreds of pages of documents on Russian arms supplies to Iraq while dispersing arms to Syria, the second official said.Besides their own weapons, the Russians were supplying Saddam with arms made in Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria and other Eastern European nations, he said."Whatever was not buried was put on lorries and sent to the Syrian border," the defense official said.Documents reviewed by the official included itineraries of military units involved in the truck shipments to Syria. The materials outlined in the documents included missile components, MiG jet parts, tank parts and chemicals used to make chemical weapons, the official said.The director of the Iraqi government front company known as the Al Bashair Trading Co. fled to Syria, where he is in charge of monitoring arms holdings and funding Iraqi insurgent activities, the official said.Also, an Arabic-language report obtained by U.S. intelligence disclosed the extent of Russian armaments. The 26-page report was written by Abdul Tawab Mullah al Huwaysh, Saddam's minister of military industrialization, who was captured by U.S. forces May 2, 2003.The Russian "spetsnaz" or special-operations forces were under the GRU military intelligence service and organized large commercial truck convoys for the weapons removal, the official said.Regarding the explosives, the new Iraqi government reported that 194.7 metric tons of HMX, or high-melting-point explosive, and 141.2 metric tons of RDX, or rapid-detonation explosive, and 5.8 metric tons of PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, were missing.The material is used in nuclear weapons and also in making military "plastic" high explosive.Defense officials said the Russians can provide information on what happened to the Iraqi weapons and explosives that were transported out of the country. Officials believe the Russians also can explain what happened to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs.

Wow... look at all the good quality people supporting Kerry!

2004-10-24T04:49:00.000-04:00

This is a clever little article that I found online. I really enjoy reading about all the communist and socialist nations that adore John Kerry. This is my rebuttal to all the "The World Hates Bush" Liberals. Hey, if Communist nations and major arms suppliers to the former totalitarian Hussein regime are backing Kerry then I say we should be slightly concerned about that and not jumping around saying, "The world loves him!" :)

By Ben JohnsonFrontPageMagazine.com October 22, 2004 “You shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends.” – Joseph Conrad in the novel Lord Jim.Months after John Kerry boasted of having received secret endorsements from anonymous foreign leaders around the world, many of the gaps have been filled in. The leaders of the world have weighed in on the 2004 presidential election. Let’s run down the list of nations supporting each candidate: John Kerry North Korea: Although north Asia’s gulag archipelago has not formally endorsed a candidate, official Communist organs have shown a pronounced affinity for John Kerry. In March, the Financial Times noted, “John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic candidate, is also getting good play in Pyongyang.” North Korean radio has aired several of Kerry’s anti-Bush speeches, and the Korean Central News Agency has given the Democratic candidate “glowing” coverage. Kerry has publicly called for bilateral discussions with North Korea, such as those conducted by Jimmy Carter on behalf of the Clinton administration in 1994, although analysts agree these would be counterproductive. Iran: A June editorial in the Tehran Times stated, “Kerry is exactly what the U.S. needs right now.” It is undisputed that Kerry has promised to give Iran exactly what it needs right now: nuclear fuel. Kerry pledged to supply Iran with nuclear fuel, just as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton did to North Korea as it revved up its nuclear program during the 1990s. Communist China: The state-controlled People’s Daily “news” website formally endorsed John Kerry in July. An unsigned editorial averred: Comparatively speaking, Kerry is noted for being friendly with China. He was once firmly against linking the most-favored-nation status to China with human rights. From a long-term view, a Democratic administration, which stresses international cooperation, pursues “multilateralism” and stands for a policy of contacts, will be better for both world peace and Sino-U.S. relations. The editorial also noted John Kerry opposes “containment of China.” Palestinian Authority: PA foreign minister Nabil Shaath has said in a Kerry presidency, “it would be likely that several staff members during Clinton's administration would return,” adding, “that would be a good thing.” Kerry has vowed to name Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter as Middle East envoy. The state-controlled Palestine Media Center bashed “Bush's refusal to deal with Arafat.” President Bush has said Yasser Arafat is not a worthy “partner” working for Mideast peace. Conversely, in his 1997 book The New War, John Kerry referred to Yasser Arafat as a “statesman.” Malaysia: In a letter dated last Friday, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad exhorted fellow Muslims to vote for John F. Kerry “in the name of Islam.” Mohamad said his co-religionists “have a duty to ensure that Bush will not be able to determine our fate for four more years…There is an obvious connection between the sufferings of the Muslims and the policies and thinking of Bush.” This is not Mohamad’s first foray into international controversy. As he prepared to step down from his 22-year-long reign as prime minister last year, he famously told the 10th Islamic Summit in Kuala Lumpur, “Jews rule the world by proxy.” (To counteract this, he has instructed Muslims to vote for John Kerry, the only ethnically Jewish candidate in the presidential race.) Socialist Spain: As early as March, Spain’s appeasenik prime minister and Socialist Party member Jose Luis Zapatero said, “I want Kerry to win.” Zapatero told the International Herald Tribune Spain’s Socialists – the party of unilateral surrender elected after the Madrid train bombing on March 11 – were “aligning ourselves with Kerry” to build an “alliance” for “peace, against war. Zapatero, who said he favors “a dialogue between the government of Spain and the new Kerry administration,” vowed the Kerry-Socialist axis would assure there will be “no more deaths for oil.” France: According to all reports, John Kerry is wildly popular in the land of Gaul. A recent Le Monde poll found the Francs backing John Kerry over President Bush by more than three-to-one (72 percent to 19 percent). The Financial Times quotes an unnamed “French government official” pining for the return of the Democrats to Washington and the Ba’athists to Baghdad, saying, “A lot depends on who is in power in both Washington and Baghdad. If there's change in both countries then it's possible we would re-examine our position.” (Emphasis added.) The chairman of Democrats Abroad gave the “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech of the 2004 campaign, gushing Kerry “is the closest thing that you will have to a French politician.” Germany: The Financial Times quotes Gert Weisskirchen, the foreign policy expert for Germany’s ruling Social Democratic Party, as analyzing the presidential race thus:I cannot imagine that there will be any change in our decision not to send troops, whoever becomes president. That said, Mr. Kerry seems genuinely committed to multilateralism and as president he would find it easier than Mr. Bush to secure the German government's backing in other matters. Vietnam: An unnamed “Vietnamese diplomat” told the international press, “I think Vietnam would support Kerry because he has travelled many times to Vietnam and he understands better the situation here than Bush, who is a war-mongering president.” Why not? Kerry has 30 years experience negotiating with Vietnamese Communists and is immortalized in Ho Chi Minh City’s War Remnants Museum. Others: International polls indicate the vast majority of Pakistanis, Jordanians, and Moroccans disapprove of President Bush and may be assumed to support Sen. Kerry by default.

Raises my eyebrows...

2004-10-23T10:19:00.000-04:00

I had to post this article - this is some amazing stuff

Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, today reiterated her claim that the AIDS virus was a deliberately created biological agent."Some say that AIDS came from the monkeys, and I doubt that because we have been living with monkeys (since) time immemorial, others say it was a curse from God, but I say it cannot be that."Us black people are dying more than any other people in this planet," Ms Maathai told a press conference in Nairobi a day after winning the prize for her work in human rights and reversing deforestation across Africa."It's true that there are some people who create agents to wipe out other people. If there were no such people, we could have not have invaded Iraq," she said."We invaded Iraq because we believed that Saddam Hussein had made, or was in the process of creating agents of biological warfare," said Ms Maathai."In fact it (the HIV virus) is created by a scientist for biological warfare," she added."Why has there been so much secrecy about AIDS? When you ask where did the virus come from, it raises a lot of flags. That makes me suspicious," Ms Maathai said.Africa accounts for 25 million out of the estimated 38 million across the world infected with HIV, and the vast majority of infected Africans are women, according to UNAIDS estimates.The United States on Friday congratulated Ms Maathai on winning the Nobel Peace Prize, but tempered its praise over her claims about AIDS."She said (HIV/AIDS) was invented as a bio-weapon in some laboratory in the West," a senior State Department official said."We don't agree with that."The official pointed to a report of those comments published in August in Kenya's daily Standard newspaper, in which Ms Maathai was quoted as saying that HIV/AIDS was created by scientists for the purpose of mass extermination.

Whew. Just let it sink in a little.

I'm a silly goose

2004-08-06T12:40:00.000-04:00

I read Jim Norton's diary for months. Do I make my own blog here so I can reply to the comments left or maybe even post my own comments on his blog? No. I'm such a weak-chinned idiot. Do I make an account to go after some of the other Jimmy Clone diaries that are people that make comments on his diary? (Drink acid, you know who you are) No.
I'm here because a friend of mine made a blog here, so I had to make one here. Jesus, I am so sad.