No New Years Day...

It’s so close I can taste it.
My favorite of favorite holidays, New Years Eve.

My love of this grand holiday has come from the wonderful times I have
Spent on this special of special days. Of course there was Phish at Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation…


The largest concert of the millennium, and one that would be talked about by music fans for years to come (Going on six now). I must also mention the crazy
2003 phish new years run, spanning four impressive days (12/28 – 12/31) and managing to withdraw from my psyche every emotion possible.

Now again, as 2005 draws to a close, live music is on the agenda. Living in Florida can have advantages and disadvantages. After a weak 2004, NYE 2005 offered up many options. For those staying in town, 12/30 offers up the double shot of The Duo with The one and Only Senor Mike Gordon! Holy shit…I couldn’t believe it myself. When this show lets out, take a stroll down to the Bank, and see what’s new with New Monsoon. New Monsoon will also hold NYE festivities at the Bank. Or, if you want a car ride, the Duo with Senor Gordon will mosey on down to Miami to bring in the New Year.

Looking to drive? Might I recommend Perpetual Groove in Athens? These guys are HOT right now, and I can’t wait to see them again. In fact, there is some possibility they might woo me for next year if they keep up the quality. Also, a little longer drive…Moe. In Ashville should be a cool time.

Now to the meat…

The throw down…the place to be…

Chicago…Umphrey’s Mcgee…two nights!




That’s right, everyone’s favorite progressive hard rock emo jam band is dishing out servings of New Years pie at the Aragon Ballroom in chi-town. In attendance will be…
Me!!!! LPG!!! Cracklin’ Rosie!!! And who could forget our friend from the comments section…Phreak!!!!

I’m excited as can be. I feel a little like Ed Grimly meeting Pat Sayjak! Wow this is exciting.

Hopefully we can make a post to the blog while in Chicago, though the hotel we are staying in did not have Internet a few months ago, they were renovating…I think…one great thing about this past year…I’ve had the chance to stay in many hotels in cities across this fine nation. I hope to say the same in 2006!

Peace
Love
And
Happy New Years Bitches!

Guide in the sky.

I took this picture about 5.5 years ago from the top of the Empire State Building. It was taken with a disposable camera and then blown up. Then scanned into the computer. After all that, I think it still looks pretty good. The actual blownup picture that we have framed looks even better then this though.

A friend for Vincent...

Michael Vale, who we all remember from the "time to make the donut" ads, well...he's dead. So, raise your eclair in toast, another one bites the dust.

Dirty Nails.

If by chance you own an iPod and if by chance your hardrive has broken, this guy's figured out how to fix that iPod for about $100 + a screwdriver, a razor and elmers glue.

Turnpike Prank

The Massachusetts Turnpike, our main highway leading through Boston, is a toll road. Riding it end to end costs you $5.60; commuting into the city from the suburbs costs $2.00, or more, each way. All those tolls really add up -- the average commuter spends $1000.00 per year on tolls -- but it's either that or keep our massive highway construction projects under budget.Recently, while giving away yet another $1.00 of my hard-earned money for the privilege of driving into town, I wondered: how flexible are they about the tolls? So I decided to undertake a series of experiments.

Don't miss the links at the bottom or you won't get the whole 3 part story!
This guy gets my Hero-of-the-Week Award.

Dead at 57

This guy - Vincent Schiavelli - is dead. What will hollywood do now when they need a creepy guy? He died yesterday at age 57.

Seconds Anyone?

Is everyone ready for an extra second? Have you been making plans on what to do with the extra second? I'm thinking about holding my breath...or having sex, twice.

Here is a CNN article exposing the brutal truth.

An article explaining the United States interest in this whole mess.

Rolling the dice.

So the keyboard on our laptop has been acting up lately. Eeveryonce and a while it will double type aa letter. Mostly it happens with the letter 'a', but recently is began to spread - notice the 'e' in everyone. So, I'm going to taake aapart the keyboard and see if there is anything I caan do to fix it. So if I disaappear for a while, know that I probably did un-repairable damaage.

The "Joe look" from the J Peterman winter collection!
- Anonymous

and to all a good night...

Happy Present Day Bloggerverse!

i raise my glass of egg nog to you all on this most special of eves.

Napoleon Dynamite would be proud

I don't remember what I was looking for that ultimately led me to this site, but man is this one heck of a gem. There are untold amounts of weird artwork, all I guess by the same crazy artist - who apparently loves to draw centaurs, cats and lesibian bdsm scenes. Crazy shit. This is my gift to you this holiday season. So Merry Christmas, mother fuckers!

Wish I had a garage.

Here's an interesting article about a guy who makes sex machines in his garage. The artcile is about more then that, but a lot of it is about that.

"Here I am, this divorced Christian guy, not promiscuous at all, and here I am with a sex machine," reads Traven's monologue in the book. "It was an idea I came up with in the last year or two of the marriage, as a last-ditch attempt to save whatever we had ... our sex life, if nothing else. She actually pushed me for a divorce before I could finish it and give it to her.

Service restored. Strike over.

Today, I made my first trip back into the city since the strike began. All seemed normal. All seemed somewhat forgotten. No angry bus drivers or subway conductors. And no angry riders that I could see. Things seemed in perfect harmony...a little more than usual, actually. Who knows how long that will last - the good sprits, I mean.




The union workers really have no idea what they went back to work for - benefits, etc? But, Toussant called for a vote of union leaders and it was done - the workers would return to work without a contract, and negotiations would resume. Whatever. I have given up on this whole thing.




So, putting it all behind me, I climbed up out of the darkness and onto 34th st...actually 33rd and went shopping for a particular item. Didn't find it, though. I did waste a lot of time looking, however. Never found the King Kong super sized rubber dildo I was looking for. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Seeing things.

For the last few weeks, City Hall in Philadelphia has partially looked like a drawing. They've projected a cool lighting effect that makes it look like part of the building was painted in pastel colors. When we first saw it, it was hard to tell if it was painted on or lit. It's really cool though.




The below quote is from a very disjointed newspaper article. There's also a bunch of pictures here and here.

Much as the colors look like pastels applied to the building's surface, the effect is all lighting. Artists Friedrich Foerster and Sabine Weissinger, commissioned by Artlumiere, used digital photographs of City Hall to create the theatrical design, which is projected back onto the buildings from big black boxes installed at the same spots from where the photos were taken.

I find it interesting how they can project the light in such detail to pretty specific points in many different areas of the building. But apparently, more can be done with it...

The Center City District hopes that next year, other buildings can receive the same treatment. Says de Rugy: "We can in fact do a lot more to transform a building. This is conservative."

Urban Art #?

It has been so long since I posted the last urban art, I 'm not sure what to number this one. But, it really doesn't matter. What is important, is that I found this little gem and am now sharing it with you.








This was taken at the Greenpoint stop on the G train. There are always inspiring messages scattered throughout this particular stop. Must be a lot of hipsters posing as intellectual street toughs with a message in this area. And, this one must be suicidal.

the dollar store:

it appears that the dollar store is able to save on the cost of their products by sacrificing literacy.
i feel for the child that comes in to buy his 'sword of kings' only to get a lousy axe.

axe = poor man's sword.
good to know.

Love

I don’t think
I want to write,
anymore,
ever again.

Give it up
throw it away
slip into darkness
and burn into light.

Regain control of my mind,
and see if I can purchase
a replacement soul.

In the meantime…

I will break my fingers,
and
if the separation does not go well,
send them to live in another state.

You will not haunt me,
visit me,
revisit me,
and expect to be loved.

I begged,
got nothing,
I gave,
Oh (how) I gave,
still nothing in return.

You will be shunned,
put away,
forgotten,
until almost forever.

Home Arcade

The magnificent arcade cabinet pics are finally here! Domina asked for them quite some time ago, and I had actually taken them shortly thereafter. However, my ass is just too lazy to do anything quickly. So, here they are at long last. Love it! FEEL IT! Too bad you can't touch it.

This is just a wooden box, essentially, with a PC inside running MAME(multiple arcade machine emulator). But, it makes all the difference. The cabinet was made by our friend Tim, who incidentally is a crateshop manager. It was built off of specs from an online source. Don't know where exactly he got em, but it can't be that hard to find similar plans on the internet.

And MAME is downoadable via the internet - FREE. Roms come separately. You'll have to track them down in places like romnation.net

Let the white stuff fall, the blowers blow, the winds howl and the unbalanced slip and fall

At the moment winter begins, the sun is directly overhead on the Tropic of Capricorn. This year, winter began Wednesday at 1:35 p.m. EST. In the weeks that follow, the sun's perpendicular rays will migrate northward, reaching the equator in March on the first day of spring. The apparent south-to-north migration of the sun is caused by the tilt of the Earth's axis and the movement of the Earth around the sun.
Winter on the calendar means little when it comes to actual weather. In reality, the coldest quarter of the year across most of North America runs from the first week in December until the first week of March.
Story by AccuWeather.com expert senior meteorologist John Kocet.

Christmas Cheer!

Hello and let me apologize for my earlier post.
I just looked at it for a while and now I'm sick, my eyes hurt and I think I peed myself. Last
night at 3am it seemed different as most things due. I guess I've been stuck on my frozen homeworld of Hoth, uh, I mean Denver too long.
So to make sure there is no hard feelings (heh heh "hard feelings"). Let me light up some cheer
by offering you this. It may still cause some kind of lasting brain trauma so consider yourself warned. But for now I must go forth to brave the crowds and shop for gifts, to remind myself what Christmas is all about, $$$!

Oh, that's just my baby daddy!

Mother of the Month award goes to...

Is the local 100 fucked?

Looks like the local chapter of the TWU might be in a worse situation than previously thought. Apparently, the president of the parent union - which they are a part of - did not approve of the strike, which may mean that the parent union may take over and force the local to stop striking and go back to the table.

There is suspiction, though, that the parent organiztion is trying to cover their asses from the fines levied yesterday, which amount to one million dollars a day. Now, the Local union only has 3 million in the bank. And with the Parent union saying it doesn't support the strike and that the local will not recieve any money, etc, that doesn't look good for the local chapter of the TWU.


On another note:

One of the fellows from the Manhattan institute has recently sugested firing the transit workers too. Although, this may not be a possibility, if it were to happen it would be disaster - not just for the union, but for the city - 33,000 people, mostly minorities.

Also, I have confirmed what I had heard yesterday on the TV by Ed Cock...Koch. He did say for the city to go after the workers homes. Interesting. What a dick.

Also, the NY Times has a section where people can share their stories and opinions on the strike. Go here for heated debate.

Yeah!

Hey folks sorry this is not about
communism, being gay or turning 30 but,
I think everybody needs a good seizure
from time to time! Oh and yeah happy PC
nondominational multi ethnic unoffencive
winter acceptance day!

Spaced Penguin

It's like online putt-putt golf, but for our generation.





Edit note: Domina, the links were broken(the site you linked to was up for sale), so I found the game on another site and linked to it.

The Tech behind the spying

Ars Techinica has recently posted two stories - one on the believed methods and technology behind the evesdropping the president approved in 2002 and the other a follow up on the writer's opinion about why it's a bad idea and a waste of time.

It's now easier for me to understand why and how the president decided to go the route he did. The tapping is most probably done in bulk. Meaning that, let's say, about 2 million phone conversations would be tapped per day. Then, a percentage of those calls are flagged, based on a series of key words on a watch list, And later further processed and followed up on. With this kind of volume, it's no wonder why they aren't attempting to get warrants for them. Simply becasue it'd be impossible.

But, let's say that doesn't matter. Let's ask another question: How efective could such a program be? the effectiveness of such an approach is questioned in the second post, which one can guess just by thinking about it, that it would most probably be largely ineffective - especially for intercepting calls to and from those cells who take every precaution to mask their speech in code. I would imagine this would be very easy to do. And really, who would ever talk openly about "planting" such and such a "Sunflower" over the fucking phone or email?

A day of craziness

Here is a pic of the traffic to get onto 495 in LIC. This is never like this. NEVER. The last time I remember anthing approaching this, was when there was a fire on the Queensborough bridge many months ago.













Don't go down there, it's CLOSED. I've actually never seen one of these signs posted at the entrance of a closed station or entrance. Usually, there is just a neon pink ribbon strung across the entrance. It does make for a good photo, though.















And here is the traffic from a different angle. More maddness!!!! These people aren't going anywhere anytime soon. To top it all off, that big blue box truck in the pic hit a car at the intersection. He was trying to weave his way through to nowhere. I really don't know where he thought he was going. In any case, the accident he caused made things even worse.

And all of this because of the transit strike. The convenience store next to my studio was doing visibly less business today. I think I was the second or third customer of the day. Usually, they are packed. No pictures of that, though. But this store does most of it's business off of bus and subway riders. He's right at the base of an entrance to the 7 train.


In the area where I live(greenpoint, brooklyn) things were relatively normal. As I walked down Manhattan Ave(which is not in Manhattan but in Brooklyn - for those who are easily confused) I saw the normal stream of people going to and from the stores, etc.

Anyway, let's hope this is all resolved soon. However, I hear that the TWU is arguing that the MTA did not bargain in good faith, which if proven true would be in the TWU's favor - the fines would be lifted, etc. But this process could take days. So, we might be looking at a strike that lasts well on through Christmas.

Transit Strike in Progress

Well, they finally did it. The TWU has gone on strike. For me, this means little, but for those of us who have a job, it's a nightmare...or a day off.

In any case, as you can guess, there is endless speculation on how this will play in the public's eyes, and whether the union and it's members will be heavily fined and if union leaders will be arrested and jailed. Last week the Mayor pushed for fines up to $25,000 for each striking union worker and up to a million dollars worth of fines for the union itself. This morning on TV Ed Koch, former NY city mayor, suggested everything from heavy fines for workers to , I think he said, going after their homes...or something like that. He basically said for the city and state to show no mercy. Are you sure it's not Ed COCK?

But, I have heard that the fines for each worker would be less - like docking them two days pay for each day on strike. I do wonder how they would determine who to fine, when it comes to the workers. But, giving fines to transit workers seems to me a bit extreme. I agree with fining the union itself and arresting the leaders...sort of. I mean, I think the taylor law is bullshit, but it's still the law. And, since this is the case, it would make sense the leaders who broke the "law" would be jailed.

No one knows just how long, these few days before Christmas, the strike will last. Which sucks if you haven't done your christmas shopping by now, and you don't have a car. I guess you could always walk or ride a bike. Hell, Mike Bloomberg walked across the BKLYN Bridge this morning in only a leather jacket and jeans. This fucker must not be human. I think he's either a robot or a lizard man from the planet Mongo. Something like that, anyway.

Here's a link to the TWU blog.

The Thirty Hangover Complete

It has been a crazy two weeks! I have been to something like six different parties. Can that really be? Ok, five and half. But 5 1/2! It's enough to blow out a guy's liver. As a direct result of the party cavalcade, I spent the weekend in an exhausted stupor. Life is good, though. I have a 10 day stretch starting Saturday where I am on vacation, my first extended period of doing nothing in well over a year. Much needed.

I owe some of you phone calls. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to fall off the face of the Earth. It happens sometimes. On the plus side, I am listening to the Phish 12/31/95 New Year's Show that arrived in my mail one day early courtesy of a lovely birthday pre-order by Cracklin' Rosie. (You get a copy when you get here.) It sounds great, by the way. Phish in 1995 and in a great mix from a 40 track master. Fishman sounds like a steam roller! Phab.

My holiday shopping nearly complete, I need make only a few dozen more trips to the store for things I forgot. Mescalito, it's a 12 inch cockring, right? GB, you only smear Shmuckers brand jelly on yourself during the ritualistic naked "Jellython," correct? Domina, tube socks. I know. You sick bastard.

5 days to Christmas. Do you know where your wrapping paper is?

Speaking of the Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays debate ...

Me and my dad were walking home from the mall yesterday (I would not recommend eating at the mall in the middle of holiday shopping madness -- you're just asking for trouble), and were discussing the silliness of the whole Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas debacle (which is really the most absurd news story ever), and this dude randomly washing his car (and apparently evesdropping on our conversation as we passed) yelled at us, "It's not silly -- MERRY CHRISTMAS!!" My dad yelled back, "Shut up, you're fucking ignorant" and the guy -- apparently a bible-thumping Christian -- yelled back, "No, YOU'RE fucking ignorant."

I don't think I've ever heard people yelling at each other over something so absurd.

Merry Holidays and Happy Christmas, motherfuckers.

Possibly greatest newspaper quote ever.

Silylily found this hilarious item in the Philadelphia Citypaper. They did a story on a street around here called Lancaster Avenue. Apparently some parts are a bit seedy. Richard, seen left, gives an absolutely classic quote. The picture is great too!

Full story here.

For you Tampa folks

i was foolish enough to be over in brandon today.. considering it was the last weekend before christmas and all.
but, on my way to the comic book shop, i happened past this little gem.
the savvy proprietor of the 'pizza shack' purchased a defunct 'pizza hut' building and repainted the building neon green. the roof is as red and pointy as ever, but that building is god awful green. i'm impressed that they did nothing more than break out a thesaurus and swap 'shack' for 'hut.'

oh, and to top it off, they have the ghostbuster's wagon parked out front.
class abounds.

Wasted Time

Your governor wishes you a (fill in blank)
By Eric Kelderman, Stateline.org Staff Writer

Forget Red state vs. Blue state. For governors, the split that's in vogue this season is between those offering "Christmas" wishes and those sending "holiday" tidings in their annual greeting cards. A Stateline.org survey found that 36 of the 50 state leaders -- 18 Democrats and 18 Republicans -- are sending wishes for a happy -- nameless -- holiday. Ten governors -- two Democrats and eight Republicans -- are explicit in wishing the joy of "Christmas."

Fuck Christmas.

Oh and they also show some states christmas/holiday/bullshit cards too. Seems Arizona is boldly proposing the psychedelic holiday cactus.

Old School Sunday...

I've been meaning to post something about the Jetsons for the last few weeks. I used to love this show when I was a kid...it just did something for me. Not that special something though...yet apparently it does serve that purpose to a select few. Hardcore Jetsons porn! I was reading the article below about "designer drugs", when I came across a mention of a "cog". I instantly thought of my old buddy Cogswell. Being Sunday morning I thought I would post a pic of Cogswell for all to see...but neigh. Nothing I could find. I must admit I didn't look that hard, because I suddenly was confronted with the porn, and became distracted. So it's a different kind of old school sunday...this one is for everyones favorite monkey, and I'm not talking Kong.

I've seen the future and it is blurry.

'Pleasure drugs' boom on way, says think-tankBy Roger Highfield, Science Editor

Mind-altering drugs could be as common as coffee within a couple of decades to boost performance at school and at work, to "unlearn" addiction and to erase memories of distressing events such as a terrorist attack, according to a government think-tank.

"We have not reached a ceiling for recreational drug use," it said. "Psychoactive drug use may spread more across the life course and may become more common than is currently evident in middle-aged or even older age groups."

How to be a super villan

Switch to Linux and be a super villan. Oh, and watch this Flash video.

The good book...

For some reason I have a soft spot in my heart for Wikipedia. I think it has to do with the unpaid staff, and freedom of information. Of course, as with all experiments, it has it’s detractors. I will be the first to admit that wikipedia is far from perfect. It has plenty of errors, biased articles and bad pictures. It also has TONS of wonderous information. Linked information at that. Want to know about spores? Maybe the flaming lips? It’s all there, sometimes even more than should be included. I remember in grade school being taught that you should use three sources for all information. I would hope that people use that as a general rule in life. Anyway, I started to hear a lot of grumbling in the last few months about the inaccuracy of my beloved wikipedia. It wasn’t the bad press that bothered me, but it seemed that all the reports I saw and articles I read all had a similar bone to pick with wikipedia. Under all the bullshit that was being spewed, they didn’t want information being given away. How could something free be “real”. If it’s not packaged handsomely, sold with an informative video, and priced to move…well it must be junk. I’m rambling now, but believe me, there are those who want to be sure wikipedia fails, and this is going to become a bigger issue.

Anyway, the reason for this ramble is that NATURE magazine recently did a study to see how wikipedia would fair in head to head competition with a “real” encyclopedia. The results (to me) were not surprising, but have not been as quickly and widely disseminated as the reports of inaccuracies were. Two things to remember that the report leaves out, that I think deserve to be mentioned…

1. Wikipedia articles are on average twice as long as Britannica articles…seeing the results of the study by word would most likely spike the results in wikipedias favor.

2. Anyone can change wikipedia, including the editors of Britannica. I mean, I’m not one to point at conspiracy theories, but this one seems too easy. Those
bastards.

This gave me heart palpitations after a while.

click to try

A strike has yet to come

Looks like the Union pussied out. There was no strike today, even with the stand off - no deal was reached, and now the MTA has made it's final deal. They realized the union wasn't serious at all about going through with the threatened strike, and so have built a brick wall for the union to climb.

The union did say earlier today that they might proceed with a partial strike which would only immobilize a few bus lines. But, I don't think it ever happened or will. And I have also heard that there may be a strike on monday or tues. Whatever. I don't believe it.

In my opinion, the union has lost it's hand and has screwed it's members by not striking. Oh well.

Domina soon to be rich...thanks Amazon!

I know that we have had some discussion here about the poor ability to search on blogger. I'm sure we have all encountered the problem at one point or another. You're looking for something that you already saw, and it seems no matter what you do, you can't find it. This happens not only on blogger, but all over this damn web of information.

Not to fear, just in time for Christmas...

The at home do it yourself search engine!

Between GB, BD, and DB, I expect wonderous things.

Unsilent night in NY

Too many do-gooders have crucified carols at Christmas, so New York composer Phil Kline created his own music for a Chrissie parade.

Rather than trust it to a human choir, he assembled a choir of boom boxes.

Kline crafted a multi-layered composition, recorded each part onto separate tapes and handed them out to about 30 New Yorkers who showed up for the first Unsilent Night parade in 1992. Then, simultaneously, they pressed play on their ghetto blasters and began walking through the city streets.

"When I had the idea, I didn't really know what it would sound like," the 52-year-old says. "But it sounds just sensational.

"It's like being inside a benevolent snowstorm. The music floats in the area and spreads around and sometimes you can't tell where it's coming from. It almost feels like it's coming from heaven."

From: The Sydney Morning Herald

Go here for more on the story above.

In 2005 the New York event will happen on Sunday December 18th. We will meet at the Arch in Washington Square at 6:45 pm, begin at 7 pm and proceed eastward to Tompkins Square Park, where the piece will end around 8 o'clock.

It would be really cool if you could join us and bring a boom box. The more tapes we run, the bigger and more amazing the sound will be. This past Christmas we had 100 boomboxes and over 500 people total, it was really spectacular... If you'd like to do it, please email me at boombox@mindspring.com so I will know how many tapes to make. If you'd like to do it but don't have a boombox, I have several dozen and you can grab one...and if you want to come and just listen, that's cool, too. Help us make a BIG (and joyful) noise.

I just found more info on this below:

Volunteers should contact organizers in advance at the email addresses below and should bring their own boomboxes.

December 10, 4:30 p.m.: Middlesbrough UK (Judith_Croft@middlesbrough.gov.uk)
December 17, 7 p.m.: San Diego, CA (sounds@accretions.com)
December 17, 7 p.m.: Sydney, Australia (filmcement@gmail.com)
December 18, 7 p.m.: New York, NY (boombox@mindspring.com)
December 18, 7 p.m.: Vancouver, BC (colin@crypticmusic.ca)
December 19, 7 p.m.: Philadelphia, PA (www.relache.org)
December 21, 7 p.m.: San Francisco, CA (colinb@sonic.net)

Has the government been spying on you?

According to the NY times, in 2002 our beloved president signed a presidential order allowing the NSA( National Security Agency) to spy on Americans. They've since tracked international emails, and telephone calls without warrants. But, it claims that in domestic communications warrants were sought in monitoring them.

But, the real worry is that the NSA was used against, and I guess still is being used against Americans without their knowledge, and thus has stepped over a constitutional line.

This is no surprise to those of us who put nothing past this president. And, I'll bet that there's plenty worse still being covered up by this administration.

Robert Novak recently said that he would be surprised if the president doesn't know the source of the Plaime leak.

What's next Mr. President?

Want to stir some shit up?

Send this to a right-wing religious asshole. Oh, and Fuck Christmas!

To strike or not to strike

Hi Ernie! He's real New York, alright.
Note: this picture was taken last night

We here in NYC are awaiting a possible strike, come midnight, by our wonderful transit workers. The union and the MTA are still very far apart on issues like pay raises and health. So, come midnight, and no deal is reached - which sounds incresingly likely - there will be no mass transit tomorrow at all for the big rotten apple. Need to get to work? Bike there...in the freezing rain! Yes, not only is it likely that there will be a strike tomorrow, but the weather ain't in the city's favor either. Either way, we'll get pissed on. Well, that is unless things turn around real quick. But, I just recently heard on the radio that the leader of the union claims the chance that a deal will be met is less than fifty-fifty.

The mayor claims that if this strike happens that it'll cost the city's economy 400 million a day.

A picture tells a 1,000 colors...

I know I told a few people about these pictures. LPG and I first saw them on the news a few days back. The amazing thing is that these are actual color images, not reproductions, or turnerized images. IT was hard to pic a picture, as they are all wonderful...I choose the one below for it's color, and the one above for it's strange innocence (and depth of field).

Here is a blurb...

Bound for Glory: America in Color is the first major exhibition of the little known color images taken by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information (FSA/OWI). Comprised of seventy digital prints made from color transparencies taken between 1939 and 1943, this exhibition reveals a surprisingly vibrant world that has typically been viewed only through black-and-white images. These vivid scenes and portraits capture the effects of the Depression on America's rural and small town populations, the nation's subsequent economic recovery and industrial growth, and the country's great mobilization for World War II.

I found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow!

...and I would like to share it with Dimensional Shift.

Pot 'O Gold*



*Warning: may or may not contain female nudity.**









**alright, it does contain female nudity.

Evil Santa Kills Barbie

Click for larger image

Beware all ye who enter - Santa's mad and choppin' off heads...Barbie heads to be exact. It seems that a Manhattan family has put up a brutal display infront of their Manhattan residence involving a satanic Santa, a decapitated head, and a terrified elf. And, I might add, it's quite beautiful.

I haven't seen it yet, and don't know where to find it. Hopefully I'll wander across that info soon. I'd like to see it in person.

From steam to combustion...back to steam? Sort of.

BMW has a new concept engine model, which uses the emissions from the car's combustion engine to power it's steam engine.

BMW’s announcement of the new technology is somewhat of a technological bombshell as it adds yet another form of hybrid automobile – a turbosteamer. The concept uses energy from the exhaust gasses of the traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) to power a steam engine which also contributes power to the automobile – an overall 15 per cent improvement for the combined drive system. Even bigger news is that the drive has been designed so that it can be installed in existing model series – meaning that every model in the BMW range could become 15% more efficient overnight if the company chose to make the reduced consumption accessible to as many people as possible.

Let's have a sidebar.

So due to popular demand, I will be removing the spin the wheel thing this weekend (maybe). I've hated it since the day after I put it there. I don't know why I never removed it.

Beyond that though, I want to change the sidebar around. What's good about it? What's bad? Color? Other stuff? Let's see if we can make it look better.

Vote here, vote now, vote often. Go.

Golden Boy

So what's with all this hype around King Kong? Is anyone going to see it in the theater? If so, please tell me if it's good and worth spending $20 on.

For this post, I was going to link back to the post I made a while ago linking to the trailer. I used our little search box on the sidebar and selected Yahoo as recommended by the tool. I searched for King Kong. I'm pretty sure I put those words in the post. Not as sure as I am about how old joe is, but pretty sure. Yahoo came up with nothing. Google nothing. Search engines suck ass. How hard is it? When I'm in Word and do a text find, it finds it everytime - no problem.

You're telling me they can't do a simple text search to find my query? Especially Google - it's their blog! I know there's all sorts of code around the text but come on. How hard could it be. Anyone know.

Bonus points if you report back on Kong and know why these search engines can't find stuff. Also, sorry if this rant is unncessary because I didn't use 'King Kong' in my original post. Still, even if I didn't the search engine should be smart enough to figure out what I mean and give me posts that are related. Enough.

"MS Paint : Fuck Yeah!"

I was looking for werewolf porn today, seeing if it has been done. I found little evidence of it though. Instead I found this crazy fucking site with MS Paint pics. Real fucking irreverant shit. This one - the pic to the left - is my favorite. But, there's plenty more so head on over to this fun house built with MS paint.




And, To keep all informed and to praise you - Happy Birthday LPG!!!

A rare find, and on LPG's birthday!

This has got to be the greatest subhead for an article I have ever read.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN LPG!!!

Air Marshals on land.

In an effort to thwart terror, the TSA(Transportation Security Administration) will be injecting our nation's transit systems with added security bliss - the Federal Air Marshal. Yes, you read that right - the Air Marshal.

Not only does this sound stupid to me, but I question the training these guys have in this kind of situation. They have been specifically trained for airport, and plane security. I question the knowledge of these individuals when it comes to an area of society where things are open and free. We all know there are a ton of legal restrictions in an airport and on a plane. We also know that these rules do not apply to the rest of the country's transit system. Meaning, could this lead to more glaring judgement errors, and just plain legal gaffes by these air marshals? Could this lead to more Alpizars?

Speaking of Alpizar, it appears things are a little clearer on the details. According to Yahoo news, More eye witness accounts have Alpizar fidgety well before getting onto the plane.

Some passengers said they noticed Alpizar while waiting to get on the plane. They said he was singing "Go Down Moses" as his wife tried to calm him. Others said they saw him having lunch and described him as restless and anxious, but not dangerous.

"The wife was telling him, 'Calm down. Let other people get on the plane. It will be all right,'" said Alan Tirpak, a passenger.

There was also no one who said they heard Alpizar use the "b-word". They say he simply said to his wife that he had to get off the plane, and ran up into the first class cabin, where air marshals chased the poor guy out onto the runway. No one heard him say he had a bomb.

"The first time I heard the word 'bomb' was when I was interviewed by the
FBI," McAlhany said. "They kept asking if I heard him say the B-word. And I said, 'What is the B-word?' And they were like, 'Bomb.' I said no. They said, 'Are you sure?' And I am."

So, beware this week and thereafter. For the Federal Air Marshal may be gunning for you.

LPG's Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

In the year 2525, if man is still alive...

The question is, can little black box predict the future? I’m linking to an article talking about the idea behind the project, and I am also linking this to the actual Princeton pages, a lot more info there. Whatever it may all mean, I’m not really sure. Interesting things seem to happen with numbers and the collective and other things. Like that whole 911 lotto thing. Not that that means anything at all. My point…ummm…well, I do think that there is a collective subconscious if you will. My only reasoning for this is as follows…if I believe in the big bang (which I guess I kinda do, as much as I believe in anything, which is not much), then the initial bang which began and begot, would have been a giant (tiny) ball of love, ummm, I mean everything. A giant (tiny) ball of everything. Anyway, we were all represented there (at least our matter and energy), and therefore, for a split second, GB and Domina were sharing the same exact place and time and ….you get the point. Kinda like the idea of quantum non locality. That is all…bitches.

Ah-Nald gets dookie from Europe over Tookie

Well, Tookie is gone. I hope you guys are happy - all of you Dimensional Shifters in favor of this barbaric act. ;-)

It appears Europe is also going apeshit over Governor Ah-Nald's decision to deny Tookie clemency. Particularily the Austrians, which now want Arnold's citizenship status revoked, want his name removed from a stadium in his home town, and have it renamed the Stanley Tookie Willams Stadium.

The rest of Europe also had something to say about the execution of Tookie Williams:

"I am proud to be a Frenchman," party spokesman Julien Dray told RTL radio. "I am proud to live in France, in a country where we don't execute somebody 21 years later."

"Schwarzenegger has a lot of muscles, but apparently not much heart," Dray said - Socialist Party in France.

In Italy, the country's chapter of Amnesty International called the execution "a cold-blooded murder."

Germany: "Schwarzenegger's decision is a cowardly decision," - Volker Beck, opposition Greens party

Rome's Colosseum, once the arena for deadly gladiator combat and executions, has become a symbol of Italy's anti-death penalty stance. Since 1999, the monument has been bathed in golden light every time a death sentence is commuted somewhere in the world or a country abolishes capital punishment.

"I hope there will be such an occasion soon," Veltroni said in a statement. "When it happens, we will do it with a special thought for Tookie."

-From Yahoo.com

Mice with Human brain cells

By injecting human embryonic stem cells into the brains of fetal mice inside the womb, scientists in California have created living mice with working human brain cells inside their skulls.

The research offers the first proof that human embryonic stem cells -- vaunted for their potential to turn into every kind of human cell, at least in laboratory dishes -- can become functional human brain cells inside a living animal, reaching out to make connections with surrounding brain cells.

From the Washington Post

Tonights sunset was fantastic!

Sometimes living in Florida does have it's benefits. During these few "winter months" when the weather is wonderous, so are the sunsets. Here is photographic proof from tonight, all pictures are untouched. Me love sunsets. Turtles, too.

I'm not a fan of Mama Fu's

and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, either.

Tookie's last hours

Maybe I'm playing into the hands of the media by writing about this, but I just have to say that I don't give a shit whether Stanley Tookie Williams is executed by the terminator or not. It seems to me unworthy of national exposure, and it baffles me as to why it has been soo endlessly discussed on a national level.

Should he be executed? Should he live? Should Arnold go fuck himself?

Judging by the information given, I would give the guy a break and stop his execution - where he would simply live out the rest of his life in prison. Capital punishment, afterall, is counter to the so called "Christian spirit" of our crappy nation. It's also barbaric. Not that I am against Barbarism, I just think that the supposed beacon of freedom and justice should put forth the best foot on the world stage.

The man, the myth, the legend.

Seems like just yesterday he was on fire...

Gone Gone Gone.