The Saga Continues...

Yeah. Haven't posted much here lately because I've been venting my spleen on Facebook pretty much exclusively lately. So if you care, and I don't know many who do, just check out my bullshit there. I'm sure you'll find me.

But in other news...bought a house, been pretty happy lately, but still dealing with the single life and all the wonders it has to offer. Whatever. Going to Pittsgburgh this weekend with the Family for the Spring Resurrection festivities. Maybe get some of Gram's famous Lamb Cake. Mmmmm. Hopefully getting some new work done on the Medusa tat and then see what will come next.

Ok enough rambling...

Although the techno news pundits have been saying it for a year now, I feel it is time to put the nail in the coffin of the once-great Myspace phenomenon. You were great while you lasted, but all good things must come to an end.

Over the past few months I have noticed that as more and more people show up on Facebook, fewer and fewer seem to be using our old digital stompin grounds. Old profiles are falling into disuse and disrepair with dead images and dead links galore. I see more and more profiles that haven't been accessed in weeks or months. I am increasingly guilty of this myself. This is for good reason! Facebook, while far less customizable and less "personable" to some, sports a much cleaner and easier interface. It is a social network site that is clearly geared towards an older, more mature audience who have no need or want of the features their competitor offers. Myspace also has become something of a ghettoized techno backwater, overrun with obnoxious teens who lack any concept of interesting site content and who fill their pages with ugly, gaudy, and indecipherable graphics that serves as a virtual cacophony of digital garbage.

I'm sure Myspace will still linger on for a while as a place for people to listen to and discover new music. This was always its best feature and one which I think still gives it an edge over Facebook in that regard. But as more people embrace the "next new thing", Myspace will quietly shuffle out the back door and join its bitter deceased predecessor Friendster.com getting hammered at the rundown tavern down the street, forever lamenting how "They created the whole social networking gig while those young whipper-snappers at Facebook were still making turkeys out of handprints!".

Saw this article in The Other Paper today and was really kinda surprised. I didn't know that Grove City Council has had an unwritten law that forbids tattoo shops in town. I find it pretty interesting that even in this day and age that some conservative towns still try to keep legitimate businesses like tattoo shops out because it is still considered "undesirable". I'm sure GC has plenty of bars though! Time to join the new century. Reminds me of when Obetz tried to run the old Salem West store out of town back in the early 90s for promoting "Devil Worship". Hehe.

I am sick of this cold snowy weather! Go away already. I am so ready for Spring. I want to be able to walk outside and not fall on my ass in the icerink that passes for my parking lot.

Had a nice time over drinks with dear tamara_rose and mizz_cherry at Ravari Room. Cup O Joe was packed like a whorehouse on nickle night, so we adjourned down the street. I know I am not alone when I say it really annoys me when you have someone sitting at a coffee shop doing homework all alone with a plethora of books and papers spread out over a table for four! Go to the library people! Some of us want to get COFFEE and have a conversation about important topics like creepy voyeurs and economic crises for fuck's sake!! Anyway, I think we will definitely need to get together for a downtown lunch sometime when the weather warms up a bit.

This weekend...going home to take care of some parental computer issues and do another episode of the always entertaining Extreme Society Show. This week we are doing a guest slot with Daniel Ott who hosts a "fringe topic" radio show called The Edge AM out of Phoenix, Arizona. Kind of an Art Bell/Alex Jones type. Should be interesting. I'm curious to know if he believes in the reptilian conspiracy theories like Sonny does. hehe.

Call me a fashion victim, but I bought a kaffiyeh. You know, that white and black desert scarf that is a traditional Arab accessory which has, in recent years, become a fashion statement amongst fashion conscious urban hipsters? Well I did and I like it. I think it is a wonderful, bold-looking accessory that carries with it a sense of the exotic eastern cultures from which it originated. To me it evokes images of T.E. Lawrence and the Bedouins of the Sahara, nomading their way across endless Dunes Seas. Now I was aware of course that these scarves are worn by Palestinians as a traditional cultural item and that they had, in some circles at least, come to be seen as a symbol of Pro-Palestinian solidarity. What I was not so aware of was the spark of controversy created by some right-wing commentators that has swirled around the use of these items as fashion statements. They even disparaged Rachel Ray for wearing one in a Dunkin Donuts Commercial! Can't a piece of clothing simply be appreciated for its aesthetic value without having to be labeled Jihadi Chic or Terror Couture? Does this mean that Russian fur hats must be abandoned because they might evoke images of Stalinist cruelties? Or Asian thong sandals that might conjure up memories of Pol Pot's Killing Fields? Seriously folks. Take a pill. it's a fucking scarf.

Seems the latest news today reports that now some particle physicists are "not so sure" that the Large Hadron Collider in Europe wouldn't create a runaway black hole that could, like, destroy the planet and stuff. While the likelyhood is still very low, they now admit there is a slight small-tiny-minor danger that microscopic black holes, created during particle collisions, could possibly absorb large amounts of energy and grow out of control instead of simply evaporating as had been projected. Sweet! But seriously there is really more of a chance that the Second Coming will occur before something like this happens. I hope.

Just caught the news on a new documentary on "Sailor Jerry" Collins, the grizzled old godfather of traditional style sailor tattoos. Sailor Jerry was a pretty amazing artist in his own right and has had a tremendous influence on modern tattoo culture. Collins himself was something of a controversial figure, known for his anti-government Libertarian politics and jingoistic views which were likely a by-product of his times and his vocation as a rough and tumble, hard-fightin' sailor. Collins was also credited with many technical and artistic innovations in the world of tattooing, which in his day was still something of a back-alley novelty far from the mainstream...just the way Collins wanted to keep it! His blending of traditional American style with Asian motifs and color won him acclaim and has made his work iconic to this day. I'm sure he would probably roll over in his grave at the idea of his designs being used to sell overpriced t-shirts and underwear, but like Ed Hardy gear, if there is a buck to be made from something, someone will exploit it.

So it is done. No unexpected surprises. No disasters. Smooth as glass. So here we stand on the eve of what I truly hope will be the healing of a nation as we put the past behind us and move forward. We still have much to be done and the days ahead may be dark, but I think we just took a great step forward to making this nation great again. I know some may disagree with me...but to them I say that it takes a true leader to lead in dark times...and I think we have that today. Now we wait and see what happens.

In other news...it's freakin cold as hell out there again. Did I mention how much I hate winter? I for one am kinda glad I am not standing out on the National Mall freezing my baguettes off!

Clouds of methane gas in Mars' atmosphere may be an indication of microbial life on the Red Planet. While this doesn't "prove" that any life exists, it sure is a strong indicator. We better get our asses in gear and check that out muy pronto! The implications of living organisms on another planet in our own solar system are profound. Let's hope it isn't just another bullshit lead like the last time...

I've long talked about the possible fallout from the looming digital TV cutover scheduled for Feb 17. It seems that a lot of people, including Barak Obama, are concerned that people just aren't going to be ready to deal with it. They are running out of government coupons for digital TV converter boxes that will be required when the analog TV signals stop cold. There are still 20 million households in America that use only over-air analog receivers (aka, antenna) and if they don't have a digital converter box, digital cable, or new DTV, they will not be able to get anything over-the-air after the cutover date. Now Obama and others are pushing to delay the cutover, but there is heavy resistance to this idea since it has already been delayed once. The government wants to free up bandwidth for other applications which it can sell off for a good chunk of change. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

In other news, it's been a rough start to the new year already. A friend and co-worker took his own life and this week has been hell in dealing with the fallout from last weekend's major server crash. Damn you 2009, you better start shaping up or I am going to just time travel ahead to 2010 already! Bastard. Hopefully this weekend might provide me with some good news.

Had one of the worst oncall weekends ever. 16 hours of hell trying to restore service to most of the company's web servers that went down on Saturday night. I may be a slacker at times, but dammit if I didn't pay the piper for that this past weekend. Fo shizzle. Hopefully this week will be better since I am not oncall, thankfully. Damn technology. In other news, I have a shitload of books I need to start wading through...and not a clue where to start. Xmas made my place look like a Half-Price Books warehouse!

Yes here we are again...another New Year and another frosty January. The circle of life. So now we get to endure another three months of crappy Ohio weather while we wait for spring and the impending "resurrection" (haha) of the Earth.

Xmas was all fine and dandy and New Years was ...meh. Truthfully, I feel like I have seriously lost interest in the NYE thing. I think it all played out for me once I did the whole "Turn of the Millennium" in NYC back in '99. I mean, how do you compare to that? I've done NYE a dozen different ways and they all fall short. How do you compare anything to the party of the century? The doom and gloom of Y2K, bomb-toting terrorists, the impending Second Coming of Christ?? I mean every New Years since then has been like an uninspired, trashy blow-up doll of disappointment compared to the pristine splendor of that unforgettable night.

Did I also mention that Blu-Ray is a whole lot of awesome? Well, it is.

Getting reading to head out to wonderful Cleveland for the Xmas festivities. I'm loaded down with the gold, frankincense, myrrh, and a couple of naughty cats ready to give and, more importantly, receive. Heh. Happy Winter Solstice to all...

Sometimes those moments of boredom lead to some interesting little Internet discoveries.

I never had any idea that the term "harelip", which is a common if somewhat insensitive term for someone who has a cleft lip, actually originated in the 16th century where it was used to refer to a child whose deformity was often seen as a sign of diabolic witchcraft. It seems that the mothers of such children were often suspected of having had concourse with the Devil and thus the resulting offspring, whose cleft lip was said to resemble that of a rabbit or hare, were looked upon with disdain and derision. The hare was of course seen as a form of the Devil's familiar spirit and thus had dark connotations in early modern Europe. The term has persisted into the modern era though it is now considered by most to be derogatory. The things you learn...

Interesting bit about a new study that shows that people tend to see faces and attribute personalities to cars. This really is nothing new as it is simply yet another example of the phenomenon of pareidolia, the tendency for humans to see faces in various shapes and patterns. It is part of our biological hardwired programming that came with our brains from the dimmest prehistory of mankind. It is the same fundamental principal that causes us to see faces on Mars or the Virgin Mary on a piece of toast. I find it also interesting that the study shows that people tend to prefer cars that appear masculine and aggressive as apposed to more feminine or "cute" cars. Is this because cars are seen as a masculine product? Is it because we want a vehicle that will intimidate and scare other drivers on the road so they will cower in fear as we blow past them at 90 mph on the freeway? What else does this say about our seemingly innate tendency towards unconscious anthropomorphism? And why is it that if people tend to prefer masculine looking cars, we still seem to refer to cars (and planes and boats) as "she"? And why the heck were there no female Transformers?? Something to think about...

Bettie Page died at the age of 85 yesterday.

I have a book addiction.
New books.
Used Books.
Old books.
Very old books.

Books printed on rag paper. Books with blindstamped pigskin over old wooden boards with brass clasps and corner pieces. Books that were new when Elizabeth I still sat on the throne of England and was romping with Sir Walter Raliegh and the Earl of Essex. Books that could have come from the library of John Dee or Elias Ashmole or Count Cagliostro. Books that may have been hidden on secret shelves to keep them from the flames of Inquisitorial bonfires.

Antiquarian vellum bindings are like black tar heroin to me.
I want to touch it.
Hold it.
Caress it.
Smell it.
Sleep with it.

I mean...in a totally platonic way of course.

Yes...I am a bibliophile. I suffer from a gentle madness.

I think I need to start a support group.
tamara_rose...I know you understand!

Wow. Frankly I always think it is funny that people think things like this are so surprising because the girls involved are described as "good, middle-class white kids" who are involved with sports and whatnot. I mean seriously these cheerleader types are exactly the kind of sadistic mean girls that have everyone fooled into thinking that because they are pretty and involved with school sports that they are somehow "good kids". They are the female counterparts to the "Our Guys" syndrome that made the town of Glen Ridge, NJ rally around a group of "good" boys from the high school football team after they gang raped and sodomized a mentally retarded girl. No one ever wants to believe that these are the types of kids that would commit such blatant acts of sadistic cruelty to helpless victims...but they are. It seems to come from a deficiency of character and ethics that arises in those who have been elevated to some preferred status by their good looks and community adulation. After all it is usually the hunky star quarterback whose picture graces the weekly newspaper that winds up as the date-raping bully who torments the "lesser" kids. Maybe I am being prejudiced and stereotyping...but I like my stereotypes. Frankly I imagine that this kind of thing is more common than one would think.

Sad.

Haha. BoingBoing.com had an interesting little blog spot today pointing out the fact that Hot Topic's ubiquitous Emily The Strange character is a blatant rip off of a 1978 book character. Since there is apparently an Emily Movie in the works for a 2010 release, someone better start asking about their mother fuckin' movie check!

There has been a big stink recently after the announcement that the Cincinnati Zoo would be partnering with the infamous Creation Museum in Covington, KY to promote "regional tourism". It seems the zoo finally came to their senses and killed the idea...after a flood of angry calls and emails bashing the plans and threatening to boycott the zoo. I find it personally shameful for an institution such as the zoo to ally itself in any way with a religious group that promotes blatant superstition and pseudo-science masquerading as truth. That is antithetical to the entire educational purpose of the zoo itself. Whoever was responsible for brokering this ill-advised PR debacle should be canned and run out of town on a rail!