Delema.

Last night while changing my bed clothes, I was kneeling and tucking in the blanket and moved sideways and got a nice scratch on my upper leg against the edge of the bedframe. (I guess those nice wooden frames are better than the cheap metal ones for more than just looks/style.)

Probably not a big deal. It wasn't that deep but then I don't know where the bed frame has been. It is not like I ever bothered to clean it or anything.

I last had a tetanus booster about 7 years ago. I remember the nurse saying that it doesn't have to be a rusty knife, that a minor scratch can get you tetanus. But then I also remember that after so many boosters you are pretty much covered for life, but it is a good idea to get a booster every 10 years, and to get one if you get a bad cut more than 5 years after your last booster or something. I'm pretty sure I've had at least 4 boosters in this lifetime.

I tend to err on the side of caution but I've been meaning to change my health insurance for a while now. Maybe I should just go one more month and get the booster now. It's not even saving that much money.

I don't think I really need one, but I do get paranoid.

Blah!

It's really not that much of a delema. It won't cost me that much more to wait another month to change insurance, and better safe than sorry right?

But here is the advice for anyone that might someday loose a job:
Corba costs a lot so unless you really need it, look for cheaper insurance right away and save yourself a lot of money in case you are unemployed for a long time.

(Yea, I feel weird about changing insurance and the next day asking for a tetanus booster.)

(Is this a really stupid JE?)

foreword

I would like to thank the sisters of the Saint John
Chapter in Alexandria, Virginia for their support
(in my decision).
            By the grace of God, they are:

            Sister Eleance Lewis
            Sister Francesca Godard
            Sister Helen Davis
            Sister Catherine (Arnold)
            Sister Mary Lee Pond
            Sister Virginia (Weaver)

This intent(?) of this short book is for it to be used as a
simple and direct guide in a time of great danger.
I pray that this is merely a work of fiction.
If it is not, then I pray for you, the reader of this book.

If I am still alive when the events
foretold in these pages occur, then I hope that you
will find me before it is too late.
Roberta Ann Sparrow
October, 1944

Chapter One
The Tangent Universe

The Primary Universe is fraught with great peril. War, plague, famine and natural disaster are common. Death comes to us all.

The Fourth Dimension of Time is a stable construct, though it is not impenetrable. Incidents when the fabric of the fourth dimension
becomes corrupted are incredibly rare.

If a Tangent Universe occurs, it will be highly unstable, sustaining itself for no longer than several weeks.

Eventually it will collapse upon itself, forming a black hole within the Primary Universe capable of destroying all existence.

Chapter Two
Water And Metal

Water and Metal are the key elements of Time Travel.

Water is the barrier element for the construction of Time Portals used as gateways between Universes at the Tangent Vortex.

Metal is the (transitional) element for the construction of Artifact Vessels.

Chapter Four
The Artifact And The Living

When a Tangent Universe occurs, those living nearest to the Vortex will find themselves at the epicenter of a dangerous new world.

Artifacts provide the first sign that a Tangent Universe has occurred.

If an Artifact occurs, the Living will retrieve it with great interest and curiosity. Artifacts are formed from metal, such as an Arrowhead from an ancient Mayan civilization, or a Metal Sword from Medieval Europe.

Artifacts returned to the Primary Universe are often linked to religious iconography; as their appearance on Earth seems to defy logical explanation.

Divine Intervention is deemed the only logical conclusion for the appearance of the Artifact.

Chapter Six
The Living Receiver

The Living Receiver is chosen to guide the Artifact into position for it's journey back to the Primary Universe.

No one knows how or why a Receiver will be chosen.

The Living Receiver is often (blessed) with a Fourth Dimensional Power(s). These include increased strength, telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to conjure fire and water.

The Living Receiver is often tormented by terrifying dreams, visions and auditory hallucinations during his time within the Tangent Universe.

Those surrounding the Living Receiver, known as the Manipulated, will fear him and try to destroy him.

Chapter Seven
The Manipulated Living

The Manipulated Living are often the close friends and neighbors of the Living Receiver.

They are prone to irrational, bizarre, and often violent behavior. This is the unfortunate result of their task, which is to assist the Living Receiver in returning the Artifact to the Primary Universe.

The Manipulated Living will do anything to save themselves from Oblivion.

Chapter Ten
The Manipulated Dead

The Manipulated Dead are more powerful than the Living Receiver. If a person dies within the Tangent Dimension, they are able to contact the Living Receiver through the Fourth Dimensional Construct. The Fourth Dimensional Construct is made of Water.

The Manipulated Dead will manipulate the Living Receiver using the Fourth Dimensional Construct (see Appendix A and B).

The Manipulated Dead will often set an Ensurance Trap for the Living Receiver to ensure that the Artifact is returned safely to the Primary Universe.

If the Ensurance Trap is successful, the Living Receiver is left with no choice but to use his Fourth Dimensional Power to send the Artifact back in time into the Primary Universe before the Black Hole collapses upon itself.

Chapter Twelve
Dreams

When the Manipulated awakens from their Journey into the Tangent Universe, they are often haunted by the experience in their dreams. Many of them will not remember.

Those who do remember the Journey are often overcome with profound remorse for the regretful actions buried within their Dreams, the only physical evidence
buried within the Artifact itself, all that remains from the lost world.

Ancient myth tells us of the Mayan Warrior killed by an Arrowhead that had fallen from a cliff, where there was no Army, no enemy to be found.

We are told of the Medieval Knight mysteriously impaled by the sword he had not yet built.

We are told that these things occur for a reason.

OK, a couple of my friend have already take this quiz/poll.

I can't believe Kerry scored above Badnarik.
(Who is who I would prefer to vote for but will probably be voting for Kerry.)
I think this poll is rigged. Bastards!!!!!
Or maybe it is just judged on what politicians say, rather than how they act?

1. Your ideal theoretical candidate. (100%) Click here for info
2. Cobb, David - Green Party (79%) Click here for info
3. Nader, Ralph - Independent (79%) Click here for info
4. Brown, Walt - Socialist Party (66%) Click here for info
5. Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat (61%) Click here for info
6. Badnarik, Michael - Libertarian (47%) Click here for info
7. Peroutka, Michael - Constitution Party (21%) Click here for info
8. Bush, President George W. - Republican (12%) Click here for info

oops, I forgot to put in the link to the poll thingy.
Corrected.

One more thing.
In case anyone missed it in the two comments I posted related to the molicule mem, I'm water.

This JE is in response to Ethelred Unraed's journal last week providing discussion on the article Feeling pure won't help the world's poor.

Yea, I often get into discussions late but this really struck me, and maybe it is ego-stroking, but I wanted more people to read this response than would probably happen if I simply posted comments to a JE that is almost a week old.

My primary problem with the article is that it starts with a conclusion that I agree with, and then uses arguments and examples that I disagree with. There is a fallacy in that, but I'm not sure if it has a name. It also has a few straw man arguments within it.

But maybe I should start off with what I agree with. What I agree with is that what Jello Biafra refers to as Fundamentalist Radicals is a bad thing. In nearly all cases being self-richeous is a bad thing. If you don't want to wear Nikes, then good for you, but you don't have to preach it to the world. Chumbawamba also pointed out the dangers of this in the song The Good Ship Lifestyle. (Great, now I've just made an appeal to authority, and an appeal to poetry. Well, Chumba explains what their songs are about and this webpage includes the notes.) I'll also say that Sillypixie made an excellent point in the comments of Ethelred's JE.

Where to start? I guess I'll start quoting the article and make comments on it.

Irrational prejudice against multinationals is connected to incoherent opposition to globalisation. Anti-globalisation campaigners seem blind to the irony that it was precisely the increased interconnectedness of peoples and trade characteristic of globalisation that allowed their worldwide opposition movement to flourish.

Maybe I have a different point of view because I listen more to the alternative media than the mainstream media, but first of all, if you pay much attention to the so called anti-globalization movement, you will discover that they are not against globalization pre se. What they are against is the concept that multinational corporations should be immune from local, state and federal laws worldwide. Second, it has been said many times "Our organization must be as global as their capital." or something to that effect. So, on the contrary, the so called anti-gobalization movement is very appreciative of the advances that have made global organization possible.

I should also post a link to an excellent article by Michael Badnarik on why the WTO, World Bank & IMF are not really about free trade called Free Trade vs. State Corporatism

Starbucks is a huge purchaser of coffee worldwide and should be lauded and encouraged to go further by ethical consumers. Instead, it is usually one of the first targets for anti-globalisation protesters' bricks.

From what I understand Starbucks has made great strides towards becoming more labor and eco friendly. I don't think that people throw bricks at Starbucks so much because of their policies, but because they find their ubiquitous nature to be obnoxious. I thought about having a sig like this after the Seattle WTO protests: Yes I'm an anarchist. No, I've never thrown a brick at a Starbucks. I can't say I don't find the idea amusing however. On a serious note I find most vandalism of this sort to be counter-productive, especially during an otherwise peaceful protest. I was especially peeved when the new Starbucks 3 blocks from my home had an attempted firebombing the night before the grand opening. Sheesh! Do you want to set the whole neighborhood on fire?

While the sins of multinationals are magnified, their better deeds are dismissed. Levi Strauss, for example, is a long-standing member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, which requires adherence to a base code setting out a "minimum requirement for any corporate code of labour practice". It is true that the ETI is pretty toothless and members' records are far from perfect. But is it more ethical to buy from a smaller, non-multinational that probably has no ethical standards at all?

There are some companies that do a lot of good stuff. There are also a lot of companies whose good deeds are little more than "greenwashing." That is to say, they only do good deeds for PR. YMMV. From Baggini's description, ETI sounds like greenwashing. There are worse companies out there than Levi Strauss, that does not mean that Levi Strauss is a good company.

Even if you are deeply sceptical of companies such as Monsanto, it is obvious that GM foods have the potential to improve yields and therefore the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries. This is not just corporate spin.

Sorry, but it is just corporate spin. Yes, there is the potential, but that is not what they are working on in the laboratories. I don't have the exact statistics in front of me (79.381% of statistics are just made up) but from memory about 80% of the GE Foods are engineered to be more tollerant to pesticides, and 15% are engineered to have built in pesticides. What about the Vitamin A rice? well, you would have to eat like 10 pounds of the stuff to reach the RDA. So much for low carb diets.

Opposition to GM has little to do with real ethics and everything to do with eco-narcissism. It is not concern for others that fuels most of the growth in organic, GM-free food. It is a desire to keep ourselves pure, to avoid ingesting what we perceive to be harmful toxins. Never mind that there is nothing wrong with most non-organic foods: the feeling that we defile the inner sanctums of our bodies by eating food treated by pesticides is rooted in an almost religious, superstitious worship of "the natural". Dressing this up as an "ethical" choice is self-serving self-deception.

Lots of fallacies in here. Starts off with Poisoning the Well, Circumstantial Ad Hominem, Strawman Argument, and Hasty Generalization. He is making an assumption that there is nothing wrong with GM foods. Where is the proof? This is a completely new technology and the FDA has done little more than rubber stamp GM foods. And even if there were thorough testing that is not going to account for allergies that affect a minority of the population.

If GM foods are not labeled then how is someone going to be able to identify what they are alergic to. It also does not account for the possible effects of combining more than one GM food, nor reactions that take a long time to build up in a person's system. I don't think we will know how safe these food are for at least another generation, and without labeling them we will be completely unable to trace which GM foods are causing problems and which are not.

With regard to Organic foods, avoiding the ingestion of poisen is not the only reason to eat organic. The fact is a lot of non-organic food does not taste as good, and is not as nutricious as organic food. What you get out of a plant is what the plant gets out of the soil. You grow plants in dead soil and you might as well be growing them in dirt. Dispite the claims of the "Green Revolution" artificial fertalizers are just not as effective as having a living eosystem in the soil. Many insects are bennificial to farming, and since the "Green Revolution" the attitude of many is to kill them all.

Connected to this is the deep mistrust of science which goes beyond reasonable suspicion. It's not just that we don't trust scientists or technology, we seem to feel that for any scientific fix there must be a price.

Again, a strawman argument. I am a geek. I like science. Science is cool. Science has given us great advancements. But just because something is new and technological does not mean that it is superior to the old traditional way. I suppose this is also the reverse of the fallacy Appeal to Tradition. I will call it Appeal to Technology.

Natural justice demands that cheaper, longer-lasting tomatoes come at a cost. Even the poor are not allowed to get richer, if it means using more technology.

Sorry, the poor in the third world are poor because their land was stolen from them durring colonization. They are told not to grow their own food, and instead to grow cash crops like coffee, sell it, and then purchase much more expensive imported food. Oh, and we don't have world hunger problems because of a lack of food. We have world hunger problems because of a lack of distribution. Heck, if people would just grow their own food in their own countries they would be a lot better off than growing cash crops.

Oh, and money embezzeled by corrupt politicians from World Bank loans. To say nothing about useless projects funded by World Bank loans.

Organic athletes would have to be regularly inspected and certified. This costs money, of course, but people will pay a premium to watch organic sports. They would insist that, even though the athletes are slower and less powerful, once you get used to it, it really is a much tastier spectacle. It's only if you've been weaned on artificially pumped-up versions of sport that your sensibilities are corrupted.

Do I sense sarcasm here?

Heck, I don't even care that much about sports. If they want to pump there bodies full of steroids that's their problem. But I'll tell you what I'd like to see: A reality TV show that shows in explicit detail the long term affects of extreme steroid abuse.

I'm tempted to start replying to the comments in Ethelred's JE, but I haven't read them all and maybe I should just leave this where it is, with a disgusting and humorous suggestion for a reality TV show. I wonder how many spelling errors I made?

Last night I went to Hooters for the first time. It was the birthday of a friend of a friend. A woman who is bi, but in a monogomous marriage, and she wanted to indulge in looking at scantily clad woman or something.

While getting my stuff together, I thought about bringing a tarot deck. Most of the people in the group, including myself, were neo-pagan and I just thought it would be funny to be in a hooters doing tarot readings. (Also, I've been re-reading Zelazney's second Amber series so it puts cards on the mind.)

We were late getting there. My friend, who I was taking, is an LMT and she got a call towards the last minute, and decided to take a new client and be a little late for the party.

It was raining. OK, it rains a lot here in Oregon, but it hadn't rained in a while. One of the most dangerous times to drive, next to having a solid sheet of ice covering the roads which we also get, is the first half hour of rain after it hasn't rained in a while.

Most of the drivers were driving slow on the freeway, but some people were tailgating. At one point I was in the wrong lane, that was getting off, and after I was already signalling and moving into the next lane the driver behind me actually speeded up to try to block me. Well, I was already halfway in the lane, and it would otherwise had been a safe lane change so I took it, but sheesh. Maybe he didn't like my bumper stickers?

So then I get to 26 and traffic gets really bad. After a couple miles my guess was confirmed. Accident. A truck had turned almost all the way around and the front was pretty banged up. I think most of the drivers that weren't already driving extra safely mellowed out after that, but it started raining hard, hard for visibility. We had a little trouble finding the place cause yahoo's directions told us to arrive at our destination when it hadn't directed us to the exact street.

We park, get in, and find our party. We were taking up 3 tables. The music was really bad 80s music, at least when we first got in. Playing stuff like Starship and Jay Giles Band. (I was going to say George Michael there but my friend just called and while we were talking she said that JGB was playing when we first walked in and she really hates them.)

Food. I ordered a Philly Steak Sandwitch and curley fries. I said no cheese when she asked, but got it anyway. She was nice enough to take it off the bill. I also asked for malt vinegar (for the fries) but got oil and vinegar bottles like for salad. Um.... OK, thanks. The food was edible, but just barely. Even the fries tasted bland or something. What kind of place can't even make french, err freedom fries right? OK, I'm a good cook and a picky eater so saying it is edible might be construed as a complement but if I ever go there again I'll eat dinner beforehand and just get dessert.

Oh yea, that's right, most people don't go there for the food. I suppose I should have gotten the BBQ Chicken wings since that's what they are famous for. Except the obvious. Which I guess is why I wanted to write this. Either that or I'm just really really bored.

I'm not a prude. I don't have a problem with scantily clad women. I prefer it when they are dressing that way out of choise however. And personally, I don't care for halter-tops or orange short shorts. In general I don't like orange clothing, even if they are short shorts.

The staff seemed happy enough. I guess a lot of them acted like cheerleaders. But sometimes happy people bug me, especially cheerleaders. (I do like the Radical Cheerleaders on the other hand.) I'll get this out of the way and hopefully get to my main point. The place was loud and crowded. The music was too loud, and everyone is talking over it and too much energy for me to deal with, and just too many normal people. Ack!

But yea, I'm a libertarian, and believe that if woman want to work for Hooters, or become a stripper or whatever that should be their choice and I should respect that. At the same time I am also an Anarcha-Feminist and know that not everyone who works in such an environment is doing it by choice, but many out if neccessity.

Not really a moral delema. I just try to treat everyone with respect. I do this no matter how someone is dressed until they give me reason not to respect them.

Is this what I wanted to write about? I'm not sure. But while we were there they had a bunch of TVs all tuned into sports stations. I'm not really big on sports, but one of the TVs had women's beach vollyball. I noticed that the uniforms were little more than bikinis. I remembered reading an article in Ad Busters about woman's olympic uniforms, and how they are getting smaller each olympics. I mused that in four years they will be wearing thongs.

But it is beach vollyball. Traditionally women would wear bikinis. (Oh, and today I noticed that Germany's team was wearing pink bikinis. Is pink part of Germany's colors?) But it isn't the only sport where the wear such revealing clothing. The article that I had read implied that it is official olympic uniform standards, and teams or people that don't comply face fines.

Also today I caught the Women's Marathon just as the American came in to win the bronze. I noticed most of the runners were wearing little more than bikinis. Do a lot of runners do this? I would think you would get a heck of a wedgie running a marathon in a bikini. And a bit later today I noticed that you could clearly see the outline of a nipple through the uniforms of the beach vollyball players. Quick! Someone call Michael Powell!

I guess I don't have a point. I guess I just wanted to muse on this all. But I wonder if the olympics is becoming Hooters for TV. Not that I think that it is wrong, I like looking at scantily clad women, as well as women in lab coats, but I thought we were supposed to admire these people for their athletic abilities.

Oh, after Hooters we went to the Boiler Room for karaoke. I didn't sing, partially because I didn't feel like drinking, but primarily because it was too crowded. I'm scared to death of public speaking, let alone public singing. But they had a better selection of songs than Chopsticks. I still want more songs. I won't be happy with karaoke bars until I find one that has Current 93 and Skinny Puppy. I was happy that they had a decent selection of Leonard Cohen. But I want more Devo songs. How can they not have Girl U Want and Jocko Homo. I also want Road to Nowhere and Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads, and Boys Don't Cry by The Cure.

Ok. I think I'm done now.

Boring JE, but quick.

I was just metamoderating and judged all 10 fair today.

It has been a while since I have done that.

Now to go to the coast.....

OK, I had problems with my car again on Tuesday. I was gassing up before taking a friend to Salem for the day, and when I went to restart the engine not enough power.

Part of the problem might be that I had my lights on while I tried to start the engine.

Anyway, someone gave me a jump and I was on my way and didn't have problems after that. (I kept resisting the urge to turn on my lights. Since it is rainy in Oregon half the year I've just gotten used to always having my lights on.)

Anyway, when I got the jump start, I noticed that there was a bit of corrosion on the battery.

Could this be the primary source of the problem? If I just clean up the batter will I be OK? And should I be able to do this myself. (Never did clean a battery in autoshop in high school.)

I seem to be keeping up with journals OK this week. The volume seems to have gone down a little.

I finally got around to creating an account on technocrat. Is there a way to look at another person's friends/fans there yet?

I'll probably hang around here for the time being, but I wanted to get a 3 digit UID. That way when technocrat takes over I can be snobby to almost a million people! :)

If you've got an account let me know and I'll friend you.

Bridge Pedal is tomorrow. I gotta go sign up a friend and myself. That means I gotta get up out of bed EARLY tomorrow. I hard boiled some eggs today so I can have quick protein before I head down there.

We've had some rain this week but tomorrow it is going to get up to 90. I suppose that's an advantage of starting early in the morning. Oh well, I need an excuse to get myself up earlier. Maybe I can even get in the habbit this week.

I heard the author of this article titled Avoiding Online Job Scams: Critical Tips for Job Seekers earlier today and found it frightening.

Anyone looking for work needs to read this.

Brief explanation of how the scam works. The scammers put out job ads, and conduct interviews over the phone. They say that they are headquartered out of the country, and ask for direct deposit information. The scam is not stealing money from your bank account, but lower level scammers might do identity theft. The scam is to trick you into participating in wire fraud as a third party.

They tell you they need to use you as a middle man to get money out of the country. They deposit between 2 and just under 10 thousand dollars into your bank account with instructions on how to transfer it out of the country. Once you've done this congradulations, you've committed a felony. Usually the money is stolen or drug money.

While being intereviewed she said that one person contacted their bank to ask if it was legal. The bank told her it was legal and to proceed, and then called the police on her. (So I guess if you are suspicious of something like this go to the police, FTC, and/or secret service or something.)

I read this Journal Entry a few weeks ago about a speech that Bill Cosby gave at.... well, I don't remember, and now the yahoo story link isn't working anymore. At the time I thought, well, yea, those are some very good points.

Anyway, one of the best new comic strips to come out in recent years is The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder, who is African American. Starting Monday last week he started doing strips inspired by this speech.

Now I'm wondering if the news story was editing it to make him sound better, because the quotes that Aaron McGruder, which he says are actual quotes, remind me of some of the stuff Tipper Gore and the groups she associated with were saying in the 80s. Stuff that implied, as Jello Biafra put it, that your worst enemy is your own child, and putting out blanket statements that impllies that the statements are true of ALL teenagers.

So, now I want to see if I can find a transcript of the entire speech.

I wanted to write more but I really got to get going. The veep is in town and I want to give him a proper welcome to our fair city of "Little Beirut."

I'm putting this out in a hurry because unless you subscribe, ucomics.com only lets you view the archives back 2 weeks so I wanted people to have a chance to see last weeks comics, even though he seems to be continuing the theme this week.

OK, it has been more than a week now. I have been unable to find the complete speech, and while searching I've found that others have also tried and failed. It is too bad because context is very important and Bill Cosby is a person that I have respect for. (This is something that Aaron McGruder also expressed.)

Anyway, so that there is some context here is a news article, here is another, and I found an interesting blog titled Black America's Favorite Dad Gets Dumped. Here is another blog titled He's not joking , and yet another.
Quote from the latter I found interesting at the last moment:

There were two other things that threw me. 1) Why, again, where we (African Americans) making things all or nothing? You either had to be for or against Cos, and if you were for him you became one of them who didnt know nothing about nothing, cuz you no longer living in the real world with the rest of us. And 2) as part of the community (the African American voices (mainstream and urban)), knowing the real world, shouldnt we get the whole proof and nothing but the proof so we can put it out there?

I find this interesting because it is also the problem I have with Cosby's speech. He made some good points and they apply to some people, but not all African American teenagers act like that. It just reminds me too much of Tipper Gore fearmongering parents in the 80s.

OK, that's it. I don't think anything else will come up unless someone posts the entire speech to the web.

If anyone reading this does find the speech, please send me a note.

Yesterday evening, or is that the night before yesterday, I went out with a friend to a movie, and then dinner. We are having a heat wave in Oregon so I had my air conditioning on High.

When I got home that evening, I was putting my car in the garage. I don't have a fancy garage door opener so I got out of my car. Out of habbit I took my keys with me. After opening the door I went back in and tried to re-start the engine. Note the word tried. The batter didn't have enough power to turn the engine over.

The next morning I was able to start the car OK. Another thing to note about Oregon driving is that it rains a lot in Oregon, thus I am in the habbit of ALWAYS turning on my headlights day or night. Half the year it is just a really good idea. Well, I'm pretty sure the problem was running my air conditioning on high with my headlights on all day wore out the battery.

I'm hoping it isn't a problem with my alternator (?) or my battery.

So today (or yesterday since it is past midnight) I was driving to my accupuncture, and as a bad habit left at the last minute. We are having a street fair in my neighborhood so trafic was slow. When I saw that a horse drawn carriage was slowing things down I turned off to the side streets to try to get ahead of it.

I normally drive petty slow on residential streets, about 15 mph max, but I was in a hurry so I went the speed limit 25. I then almost got into an accident in an intersection with no stop or yeild signs. I think she looked at me as if it was my fault. I was looking for the stop sign. Nope, she doesn't have a stop sign, and apparently I don't have one either. I guess the person who enters the intersection first has the right of way but I don't know whose fault it would have been if we had hit. I think we both entered at about the same time. We missed, and that's what is important but it did affect my pulse when I got to the clinic.

Accupuncture appointment went good besides being late and issues related. She put a lot of needles in me and I was really feeling my energy moving.

On the way back, within the area of the street party (about a mile or so long) right in front of me a man walks out into the middle of the busy street and smashes an empty beer bottle in the middle of the street for no particular reason.

What the fsck is wrong with people?????

OK, as I start this journal I just want to say that Digital Underground is playing on KBOO right now.

I didn't get them when they first came out. They are definately one of the underrated rap projects out ther.

And now I'm going to go get some turkey and onion rings.....

OK, I've now had a turkey sandwitch, and Walla Walla Onion Rings. I'm happy. And now I can write about a movie I saw.... a month ago?

Oh, one more thing, A Different Nature is on KBOO now and tonights show is experimental music artist Karl Heinz Stockhausen and it's pretty kewl. I don't think this is the first time I've heard him play Stockhausen either, because I had already bookmarked the webpage.

I gotta say, I love movies about The End of the World. I'm not sure how much I'm into bad movies. I did like MST3K. I don't think I sat through all of Manos the Hands of Fate, but I do own the DVD for Plan 9 from Outer Space. And lets face, a lot of people enjoy watching bad movies. (I've really got to make a note to rent I Come in Peace real soon.)

(Oh, and I like The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension a lot, but I don't think it is a bad movie. It seriously is one of my favorites.)

So, what happens when you combine a really bad movie, with the end of the world, and a big budget for special effects? The Worst Movie You'll Ever Love.

I saw this movie with a friend durring a matinee on Monday after it came out. I think it was a Holiday weekend. I laughed through most of it. I really hope the people around us didn't hate me but it was just really funny.

I especially liked it when the newsreporters got crushed by a collapsing building or a car flying by. "Well, the weather looks pretty bad today and Oh my God!!!!!" *Crunch* Is it wrong to laugh at people dying in a movie? I thought most of the death scenes were funny but especially the news reporters.

I don't care how bad the science was, those super hurricane that instantly froze half the freeking planet were fun to watch.

Oh, and you had to struggle not to constantly make Donnie Darko jokes every time Jake Gyllenhaal came on the screen. And one of his Dad's partners or cow-orkers was named Frank too.

I also found it funny that this movie was put out by Fox. Is this part of some sort of conspiracy to discredit the idea that global warming could trigger even more tramatic climate changes by making a ridiculous movie about it? I think it is an interesting idea. Did you know that hot water freezes faster than cool water? But I also found it really funny all those TV spots of Fox News on the TV.

Anyway, the only thing that would have made this movie better is if they included The Legendary Pink Dots, Current 93, and REM in the soundtrack.

Oh, and it is funny how after the United States is completely covered by ice, but it is still T-Shirt and Shorts weather in Mexico. And isn't it ironic that the southern hemisphere was unaffected?

Oh, and that the United States, Europe and Japan, probably China too, are completely covered with Ice and the president is still concerned about the economy. What Economy? It's the freaking end of the world you think that money means anything anymore? You're going to be lucky if there aren't food riots within the month. They're making speaches and acting like they're going to have time sippin margaretas in Mexico City. It's so bad it's funny.

If you don't plan on seeing the movie at least read The Day After Tomorrow in Fifteen Minutes. Definately read it if you have seen the movie. And if you plan on seeing it but haven't yet, this is a so bad it's good movie so what's the harm in spoilers? (Won't somebody PLEASE think of the Littlest Cancer Patient!)

I knew what Rosebud was years before I actually saw Citizen Kane.

OK, it is now about a month since the show but I've been meaning to write about this as I consider it to be a significant event in my life.

I got to see Skinny Puppy purform live. I consider this to be a check mark on my life goals list. Yea, Dwayne is gone but I never got to see SP while he was alive. I first started listening to SP in 1990, so I suppose it might have been possible for me to have seen them durring the Too Dark Park or Last Rights tours. But I was young, more timid, and less adventurous as I am these days.

I enjoyed the show a lot. Nivek put on impressive vocals, performance art, and costuming. They actually started very early, even with an opening act. These days it seems unheard of for a band to start a performance on time. Most bands seem to start an hour late, unless it is a punk show and then it is three hours late. I digress.

They performed for almost 2 hours and I still wanted more. I was disappointed that they didn't perform Assimilate. To me it is their signature song. Other people would have liked to have heard Addiction and Deep Down Trauma Hounds, and I agree. But still it was a good long performance.

From what I understand they used sequencers to take the place of Dwayne's performance durring the Doomsday performance in 2000, which is understandable as cEvin and Nivek hadn't performed together in years and it was a one time deal. Well, that got them back on speaking terms and they've now got a new album with new material and have toured giving me the chance to see them.

cEvin's performance on drums was impressive. And they now have a new keyboard player. I don't actually know much about him. I suppose I should look it up.... (Mark Walk?) and I can't find it with a quick search and now I'm not even sure cEvin was playing drums or keyboards. I assume drums because he went from being a one man band in a 3 person project playing keyboards, drums, percussion, guitar and pneumatic drill all in the same performance, to mainly playing just drums.

Anyway, the performance started with a few songs from their new album, starting off mellow, and then building into a crechendo, and then taking off with a lot more energy than on their studio album. Then they played a couple songs from the proccess before getting into their older and IMO better matterial. They had multi-media being projected onto a screen behind them. A bit more high tech than in their older days I imagine. For a couple songs Nivek had some sort of video game gun that seemed to be interacting with the multimedia and he would shoot down effigies of himself.

I wanted until they were playing their older material before I entered the pit. I'm not as young as I used to be and to be honest, out of shape these days. Still, I got lots of compliments on my pit action after the show so I guess I'm not doing too bad. Also, I try to mellow things out in the pit when I feel people are just shoving each other. I believe that the operative word in slam dance is dance. I think the last time I was slam dancing was at a NoMeansNo concert a few years ago, and was winded then too. I just don't go to as many shows like that as I used to and without regularly dancing I'm out of shape. (blah blah blah complain)

Part of the reason I procrastinated writing this JE, besides that I have a procrastination problem in general, is that I wanted to review the album. Well, it takes a long time for me to take in most albums and most Skinny Puppy albums have taken me even longer to fully appreciate them. They just have a lot of levels of sound to take in, even with the more subtle of their more recent material.

The Greater Wrong of the Right

I must admit the title threw me off a little. Skinny Puppy has always been political. The politics of their lyrics are obfuscated with distorted vocals, but still very political. But that's not what threw me off. I just don't like reducing politics to Us vs. Them, Left vs. Right because I don't fully identify with either. They seem to be cashing in on a politically charged year in history, not that I think that it is a bad thing. It will probably attract a more mainstream audience who may go on to listen to their older and better material. (Should I make a comparison to Chumba?)

Like The Proccess, the vocals are clearer then most of their albums, but I still haven't taken them in yet. Musically speaking, I think it is a much better album than The Process. I think my favorite song on the album is d0wnsizer. It has a nice ambient opening and then creepy vocals, a mellow beat starts, then guitars and it starts warming up. It reminds me of the old Skinny Puppy.

It will probably take me at least a year to fully take it in but I'll say at this point that any Skinny Puppy fan should pick it up, as well as anyone getting interested in Industrial Music.

I consider Last Rights to be the last "real" Skinny Puppy album. It is funny because while anticipating The Process I just wanted something besides Last Rights to be their last album. The Process is OK, but it seems more like a warm up for The Tear Garden's To Be an Angel Blind, The Cripple Soul Divide. (Note that I read in an Edward KaSpel interview that they incorrectly corrected the title for that album. I think I put here what it should have been.) (I'll have to look it up later and confirm.) I didn't fully apprciate Last Rights until I heard the remixs of Love in Vein when back & forth vol. 3 & 4 were released. Not to metion to finally realize that I just didn't like the guitars on The Process.

After the concert a lot of people said that they were suprised that VX Gas Attack was performed. It didn't suprise me. I quite expected that song in particular to be performed as it illustraits that those that are against the war and occupation in Iraq have been against Saddam long before the US Government was. It is a song that was critical of Saddam while he was still offically the puppet dictator for the US. And they had lots of stuff in the multi-media illustraiting the links between the past and the pressent, and that we need to resist the attack on our civil liberties. And it isn't the only song durring the performance with this theme. (At least in Video and I assume lyrics. I wonder if the lyrics are on the net. They don't seem to be in the CD notes.)

I ended up buying the new album and cEvin Key's The Ghost of Each Room. The T-Shirts were $25 and I'm low on money and didn't care for the design so I didn't get anything else. But I will say that Skinny Puppy deserves to cash in. I imagine that they will record (recorded) lots of video of their to release on DVD. They created a new sound in Industrial music which inspired many. (Insert bashing of Trent Reznor and Marilon Manson here.) Skinny Puppy deserves to cash in now, especially after others have made so much money imitating them. Yadda Yadda blah blah blah.

In other news, has anyone seen that new Michael Moore movie yet?

Yea, it's been talked to death and I have commented on it in other peole's journals but I wanted to say a little about it in my own journal.

Michael Moore documentaries are infotainment. They are a lot more informative than most infotainment, but that's what it is so you gotta take it with a modest grain of salt. That said, I'm actually impressed with what he did. It seemed a lot more subtle than most of his work. I'm not sure if that is saying much but while it definately had those Michael Moore moments, they were toned down and used in moderation. I especially like that he cut down on the Barbara Walters moments in this movie.

I'm a little skeptical about the segment on the Oregon State trouper. I can confirm that budget cuts are particularly bad here in Oregon. But isn't it the Coast Guard's job to um... guard the coasts?

I particularly liked the comments from our troops in Iraq. My cousin in in Kuwait, and while realtively safer than the troops in Iraq, he regularly goes on missions to Iraq and I worry about him. I liked that the movie showed there is a variety of opinion with our troops, that my cousin described to me via email months before I saw this movie.

Oh, and I think that Moore was actually being pretty nice to our Fearless Leader to try to appeal to a more mainstream audience.

A few nights ago, I saw the second of a two part interview of Michael Moore on The Charlie Rose show. One of the things that Moore said really impressed me. I couldn't find a transcript and don't have real audio installed and wouldn't feel like listening right now even if I did so I'll have to paraphrase from memory.

Even if next year George W Bush is no longer President we are still going to have a whole lot of work to do. Electing John Kerry is not going to solve all our problems. We will still have to deal with the terrorist threat, and in a way that doesn't infringe on our civil liberties.

Oh, blast it, I can't really remember. It reminded me of a conversation with an anti-protest protester who I agreed with at least on this one statement: "If you think electing John Kerry is going to solve all your problems you are in for a rude awakening."

It's late. I'm probably going to edit this JE later so check back again on Monday.

Oh, and I guess those were the lyrics in small print inside the album, just not separate by song and hard to read. I found it online. Here they are before I even read them:

Just looking for something is what to say keep looking at nothing to go away you take my picture a portrait prize behind my image your father's eyes just looking for something NOW it looks like something from far away inside the image grows and makes the shadow fade behind the image posted on your wall a crack is hiding fighting for it all just looking for something NOW we've taken it somewhere from far away the voices echo from yesterday behind the crack behind the image on the wall I see you curled up tightly hiding from it all just looking for something NOW hit me on the street while waiting to do nothing where within the space can anything feel certain look into the future make out the word speak send in the spies to watch them creepy are the people unable to do something sitting on an armchair fenced in their creation look up to be there anywhere is somewhere itchy past scratch the itch hit me in the streets hit me feel about a nation so precious is the freedom carousel the brass ring reach into a black mass so its corroded always polluted we all want some of it maybe all the people now left without no loving where within the strength gone better see it coming get off the fence trip rip up the garbage make it up to the earth bitch hit me in the streets hit me be a politician eroding all your freedoms down the rabbit hole cracks money markets fall through a looking glass time becomes too fast all to benefit the rich so keep eating from the apple edges from the center shaken to the core until it doesn't matter no one to turn to no where to run to better the bomb to blow it HIT ME in the streets beat my head to wake up cause I feel as if I'm sleeping past is in the heart and I am waiting for the rhythm feed the holy jaws no saying pain is the answer after all is gone the story leaves me feeling empty and all alone it leaves me feeling emptE breathe we are all animals inside free the spirit is alive to guide us we're all alone and really feeling empty we're all alone when all revenge falls apart taken a step back from the start leaves me feeling empty IT neuwerld order pissing on a river on the way a long tomorrow rancid waters picking up the remnants of a flower in all of us exists the touch of deadly warming global and trust we must distrust the owners of the new world order what of the hour of the whole look what you've been missing feed upon the fingers chew the knuckle to the bone dig inside the crack beside the pain that is a home live a distant second skin whatever else that can fed upon the remnants of a life that's never had he took a living thing and made a copy of it an image put the finish on a life still being made the secret twist invading mists the desert once a forest can't see the forest for the death within the tree inside the crack beside the pain that is a home give it up today average levitation mojo no magic dedicated delusion give it all away oh yeah mother theresa all of it for the good of everyone never really ever really happens life is all distorted reasons are purported what we share with everyone nothing every little boy and girl is under everything is wrapped up tight underneath the spell what is discovered everything is wrapped up tight every little thing that is discovered did it ever really happen attached in awe what a whiplash hate filled culture of viruses born raised and infected with violent thought to set it off defend the wrong incite the thing to bring it down the panic of in a moments time bomb the artful dodge to fabricate a polarizing opposite political intention to keep it poor without a choice so full of fear a peoples voice carve a scar warm clotting of meat the maker of the hollow cost kept pockets picked of all moral law to face the truth were banished from a history of then is wrong defend the wrong incite the thing to bring it down is this pure reality could we be led to believe lemmings up against a sea drowning in speculation even told when waters older more polluted never drink the murky media to plumb the depth of time what of human frailty visualize with clarity past the sanitation to childish flesh and bone bleaching sticks and stoner ribs pukes up gallows laughter stage the mighty media blessing this sanitation what is this supposed to hold freedoms crush disparaged souls despot dug in yellowcake and failed to certify it crippled son to pass it on a hatred fed on hatred born deify defensive form as if to never see that what is real canned I feel less important than today anyway is it worth the slaughter? Sit and feel absolutely zero suffering a condition worth denying pasted carcass killing fields body parts off dolls that bleed who was once committed for pulling wings off flying things feeling bold to knot put over twisted ever after hissing faded left alone to replicate the lie what is real asks the dream some dim shift a rift within funniest seems a distant the damp ring fitting end destitution ego death within a condition dear dementia are we alone mission complete to the unknown this is a story this is so sorry all is a stone sunk in too deep run out of air lung full of heavy it's feeling heavy were we forewarned force it to break labor of hate who are we fooling what are we doing pin it on time proof in the meat time to consume does it concern me under a flag free are we all completely use less are we are we end is a known sick and alone pieces of dream meant as a nice theme meant as a nice dream so pause at the end cause the effect shorten the pain time for reflection or to regret them dark this heavy past tension over talking ever creepy creep me out quiet soft pitch scratchy throat sore bubble crass the eye balls of token alibis say digger dig me then throw it out in time to gain all the picture water sport aim the game to get no shot rich vine land party spot all them kids so fucked up as if the problem looks alive with each virtual compromise dead head auction auction muscle every thing that lives feeding egos radius dark this matter heavy past tension over talking trash pubic public pimp the name divine the only pissing game working on to undermine only one to one two blind hooking up its wired set the bomb depress the audience looker woofer hookah smoke breathe in feed on spit it out inner vision inside dope latest software antidote creepy creepy creep me out quiet soft pitch scratchy throat cross the bubble crass the eye dark this heavy past tension over talking empire sews the seed of hate we remove ourselves passing flames inspires ugly traits sanitize creepy ills to keep the fear in line is it wrong to let the liar lie creepy ills to keep the fears in line more acquired is disease the souls state I am a god I am a faceless warrior lost leaders wins the glorious growing stocks of used up people life is twisting all the words to shun life worth less than corporate rape empire takes control of fate I am dying I am dying is wrong to call a spade a spade popping pills will ease the daily pain bombing peace back up into the stoned state I am not living here I have got much left to fear in the place of safety I am fortunate to be alive with all these distant rich things around me I am left to realize its not the blood in me it's not the hate it's just the simple things that I relish I am a god I am a face less warrior we remove ourselves from the war looking from a distance sanitized wash your hands an feel it the dirt is down the drain. enough

I have a delema. Well, hopefully not much.

My house is settup like a duplex, I rent out half, and live in the other half. I have a couple of housemates that I really need to help me pay the mortgage, and they are good housemates. The issue is that they want to adopt a kitten, and I have severe alergies. In the winter the heating system will circulate the air between our respective portions of the house.

My last housemate before them had a cat. She lived in the house before I purchased it so I didn't want to kick her out or tell her the cat has to go. I did OK, and in fact my allergies lessed a bit, but it still did have an impact on my health.

The question: I've been meaning to get a filter for the heating system anyway, and they seem to be a lot cleaner than my last housemate. Should this be enough that I'll be OK with a cat?

Another issue is that dispite my alergies I really do like cats and like the idea of a feline companion protecting the house from both physical and spiritual vermin.

I think I've decided to let them have a kitten, but I wanted to see if anyone had any more information that would be helpful.

So, Y'all have heard of the WB's Superstar right? It is a parody of American Idol, except for really bad singers. I've Never really watched American Idol, and I think the WB are being jerks, the judges moreso, and yet somehow I watched it. I suppose it is a lot more interesting than American Idol. The last episode the people were really awful. Now, not only have I watched this insipid show, I'm writing a JE about it. I definately need to stop watching TV.

Anyway, not only are they right bloody awful, but they seem to be getting worse. It makes me wonder if the real hoax is that they do in fact know what is going on and are acting that way on purpose. The real hoax is on the TV audience who thinks the hoax is on the performers. The judges comments are truely bizarre.

Other thoughts. They are told that the winner will receive a recording contract with a $100000 advance. Two thoughts come to mind. Will the winner get this anyway? And that it is an advance, not a prize, so if they record a record they will have to pay the money back, just like regular RIAA bands, and the money will mostly go towards making the album. Was American Idol like that?

A few weeks ago, before the show started but they had a commercial for it at every break while I was watching Angel, the only show that I actually liked watching, except Smallville is pretty interesting too. Darn it, I wanted to stop watching TV now. ummm....

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I got an idea in a dream for a different kind of American Idol like TV show. Except this show would have experimental music. Could you imagine noise and collage music artists competing on a prime time TV show. In the dream it somehow made sense. Maybe I'd just like the mainstream American TV viewer to be exposed to the works of Mark Spybey, Randy Greif, Pauline Oliveros.... but when I woke up I thought there would be a way to have this and it would work and people would watch it, maybe be weirded out, but watch it nonetheless.

I forgot what it was. Maybe it was they would tell the audience they were doing something like Superstar, but with musicians instead of idol singers, but they really would be judging the music for the best, letting people think it the worst.

Other news?

Still looking for work, out of bennefits, have enough savings to last a few more months, thinking about grad school. I get to see Skinny Puppy this Friday, and The Legendary Pink Dots are coming in a couple weeks.

Maybe next I'll write about The Day After Tomorrow.

Anyone out there have Cabaret Voltaire's Eight Crépuscule Tracks, and The Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord on CD? I have them both on Vinyl and have been searching for them on KaZaA, but can't find all the tracks. That's one of the big problems with KaZaA is it is a lot easier to find popular music that the unpopular music I prefer.

I guess that's yet another JE I plan on writing. Analysis of KaZaA after using it for about a year.

(You know you've been playing games on your Apple //e emulator when you start writing top ten lists about their games.)

Top ten signs that someone is an escaped prisoner in Castle Wolfenstein:

10. They don't march in lock step.
09. They are always in a hurry.
08. They never close and lock doors after passing through them.
07. They find it neccessary to point their gun at a door or chest in order to open them.
06. They find it neccessary to walk into a wall in order to put their gun away.
05. They scream anytime they run into anyone or anything.
04. They find it ammusing that a prisioner was able to rob a guard with an unloaded gun and then shoot him with his own gun.
03. They are more interested in ammunition than in good German food like Bratwurst, Sauerkraut, Schnapps, and they don't even know what the heck Liebraumilch is.
02. They shoot you just because you wouldn't get out of Their way.
01. They are wearing a purple prison uniform under their nazi uniform.

(I'm too lazy right now to look up how to do a numbered list backwards right now.)
(Spelling corrections are also welcome.)