September 30, 2005
Interesting...
Not sure I agree with it, but it's interesting:"It has been said that American pop culture was as responsible as anything else for bringing down the Berlin Wall. If that’s the case, then what are our current films doing for the world, and for our own security, here and now in 2005?Hollywood history is not hard to learn. When the studios make movies that leave ticket buyers feeling good about their country, that celebrate the everyday heroes who live among us, and that aren’t afraid to turn the people who want to destroy our way of life (today, Islamic terrorists) into movie villains then moviegoers, red and blue, will flock to the theaters. Yes, Hollywood can and should throw the occasional provocative and controversial bone to the fringes and profit quite nicely (as was proven by The Passion of the Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004).
But if all the bones are thrown in any one direction, Hollywood loses the mainstream, the lifeblood of a healthy and prosperous box office. And once lost, they may never come back.
Y'ever see something that's so racist...
That you arent' even mad? You jsut think "Damn, thats some racist shit"?Normally I'm not one to go for that, but this particular "looter guy" photoshopping was just a bit too much for me:
Now that being said, I'm glad I'm not the only one who noted this particular resemblance:
September 29, 2005
Screw that, I'm gonna LIVE
Okay how to do a review on this movie without spoilers...
First, from the opening tracking shot (actually a multi composited shot, but still gorgeous) to the final space battle, this movie looks expensive. Since the budget, including P&M (promotion and marketing), was under $40m that's one hell of an achievement.
As to the story, well let's just say the Kobyashi Maru scenarios referenced by other bloggers are apt. The characters are presented with a series of unwinnable scenarios, and they don't win; but they survive... which is I think the central theme of the entire series. Courage is doing what is right when it is guaranteed to get you killed. Heroism is surviving that; or at least making sure everyone else does.
And that's what they do.
When presented with a situation where they MUST succeed, to make sure that right is done; when they are being set upon at all sides by death and destruction; when they cannot possibly succeed, they do; but they pay the price for it.
Damn there are so many better ways of saying that. I've even got them written in my head. There is a Saint Crispins day speech in this one but I can't say it without spoilers.
Let me just put it this way. If you've ever taken a service oath, this movie is going to make your emotions stand up and shout.
Now, the cast.. Well I'm a BIG firefly fan so I'm biased, but I have to say the performances were letter perfect. There just wasnt enough time to show them off more. This movie could have been twice as long, and still they'd have had enough story, and enough character involvement to keep me in my seat.
Oh and the feminity in this movie is utterly yummy. Especially in the fight scenes. Think buffy, the matrix, kill bill, and Zaitochi "a master of swords"...
Summer Glau... Who would have known a balet dancer could kick so much ass (well actually I did; I've known a few who were also martial artists. DAMN).
Gina Torres protrayal of Zoe is jsut a tiny bit too stiff. She's trying to play stoic duty, but it ends up coming off a bit unnatural to me. Of course it's rather unlikely she's ever taken orders, so I can understand that.
Morena Baccarin... we need to see more of her... MUCH MUCH MORE.
And Jewel Staite as Kaylee... Remember Willow and Gabrielle? Yeah she blows them BOTH out of the water. Even in their vamp versions.
Nathan Fillion played it perfect. Henry the fifth meets Yojimbo... or maybe last man standing. Perfect for a space western.
The best performance in the movie though? I have to give it to the tongue twisting Chiwetel Ejiofor as "The Operative". Every time he was on screen all I could think was "Damn this guy kicks ass".
Actually I'm guessing that Joss Whedon is a bigger Toshiro Mifune fan than I thought.
It's definitely the best movie of the year so far, although admitedly, that's not saying much.
Okay I need to stop talking or I'm going to start raving with spoilers. Lets just say I'm going to see it again.
And now, the theme:
Take my love, take my land Take me where I cannot stand I don't care, I'm still free You can't take the sky from me Take me out to the black Tell them I ain't comin' back Burn the land and boil the sea You can't take the sky from meThere's no place I can be
Since I found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me...
Senate Confirms Roberts As Chief Justice
About 90 minutes agoNow, anyone want to lay some bets as to how long it takes Bush to announce the next nominee, or who it will be?
The frontrunner is Janice Rogers Brown, and I could very definitely live with that. A black female libertarian on the court? HELL YES!
Oh and those confirmation hearings... anti-woman, anti-black.. see she has to be because she hates herself... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!
Sorry that was my democrat impression.
Oh and the vote was 78-22, with no republican dissenters. The 22 who voted against are all either ultraleftynutjobs or they are running for president in three years (or both):
Akaka (D-HI) Bayh (D-IN) Biden (D-DE) Boxer (D-CA) Cantwell (D-WA) Clinton (D-NY) Corzine (D-NJ) Dayton (D-MN) Durbin (D-IL) Feinstein (D-CA) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Obama (D-IL) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Sarbanes (D-MD) Schumer (D-NY) Stabenow (D-MI)
Transparent partisanship, thy name is democrat.
Articles like this...
... Are why I subscribe to "The Weekly Standard". The Left UniversityToday nearly 70 percent of the 18-to-24 age cohort attends college in one form or another, and more than 80 percent of high school graduates do so. College attendance has become a near universal rite of passage for youngsters in our society, and a requirement for entry into the world of middle-class employment.When this year's freshmen enter the academic world, they will encounter a bizarre universe in which big-time athletics, business education, and rigorous science programs operate under the umbrella of institutions that define themselves in terms of left-wing ideology. This is especially true of the 100 or so elite public and private institutions that are able to select their students from among a multitude of applicants seeking entry, and true also of the humanities and social science departments that define the political and social meaning of the academic enterprise. These students will enter the world of what we may call the left university.
The ideology of the left university is both anti-American and anticapitalist. The left university, according to its self-understanding, is devoted to the exposure of the oppression of the various groups that have been the West's victims--women, blacks, Hispanics, gays, and others that have been officially designated as oppressed groups--and
to those groups' representation. This is the so-called "diversity" ideology to which every academic dean, provost, and president must pledge obedience and devotion.
As it happens, the contemporary university is diverse only as a matter of definition and ideology, but not in practice or reality.
Go, read, be enlightened.
Never forget that the state of Americas schools, from Kindegarten to post doctoral programs, is a deliberate effort, running since the 1890s, doubled and redoubled in the '20s and '30s, and then redoubled again in the '50s and '60s; to turn all of America into a "scientific socialist" state ruled by "academic experts" who believe only they know what is best for everyone.
They have only truly succeeded in our educational system; where many would I'm sure be quite thrilled to be addressed as "Comrade Academician" instead of "Professor Smith".
John Dewey was the most influentual force in the creation and structuring of our modern "german model" of public education; from Kindegarten to the research universities, lifted straight from the statist german system (at times socialist, at times fascist, but always authoritarian). His most telling quote? "You can't make a good socialist out of an individual". You might be interested in knowing that there are HUNDREDS of public schools in the country named after that vile man.
Here is another Dewey quote:
"From a social standpoint, dependence denotes a power rather than a weakness; it involves interdependence. There is always a danger that increased personal independence will decrease the social capacity of an individual. In making him more self-reliant, it may make him more self-sufficient; it may lead to aloofness and indifference. It often makes an individual so insensitive in his relations to others as to develop an illusion of being really able to stand and act alone-an unnamed form of insanity which is responsible for a large part of the remedial suffering in the world."This philosophy forms the very core of the socialist welfare state ideal. Individualsim is bad, both for society, and for the individual; because it reduces his connection to society; and reduces societies value as a whole. The individual is not an asset to society, but a threat to it.
If reading the works of this man, who essentially created modern public education as an experiement in social engineering, doesn't anger you (even if you are a liberal or other leftist); are you really paying attention?
September 28, 2005
One of the reasons I love my girlfriend
I love my girlfriend very much, even though we have had a somehwat insane relationship (which is apropriate considering we are both more or less insane. Her more, me less ;-).Why?
Well aside from lots of sweet sweet lovin, she does things like this:
"Someone at work gave me tickets to the advance screening of Serenity tomorrow. I have to work,but you can use the tickets if you want. Maybe you and Jon can go [ed. note, a good friend of mine]. I would like to see the original Firefly series before seeing the movie anyway."Ummm yes darling, yes I do want, and yes I do love you eversomuch.
She may irritate and infuriate me on occaison, but then she does things like this (quite frequently actually -- especially the little important things like bringing me home foods that I like). She makes unreasonable demands on my time and attention, and has some very odd ideas, but it all adds up to my general qote on her:
"I love her. She's crazy, but in an endearing way"
Content Free...
Sorry for the lack of new and interesting content the last couple weeks. I've been on a new contract, and it's draining me hardcore.Only 50 billable hours last week, but it feels like 100.
Hey, at least I'm getting paid again right.
I've got some good stuff brewing, I jsut havent had the time and energy to spew them forth upon the virtual page.
It's funny cuz it's true
Found on the NoR:Folks don’t understand how we came to have an oil shortage here in America. Well, there’s a very simple answer. Nobody bothered to check the oil. We just didn’t know we were getting low.
The reason for that is purely geographical.
Our OIL is located in: Alaska, California, Oklahoma, and Texas
Our DIPSTICKS are located in Washington DC
September 27, 2005
Another one makes it past the censors
Two nights in a row even:[Doctor is telling patient about new drugs target towards black men, because they react differently than white men]
Black Patient: Son, white people been lyin to me for 60 years
Black Doctor: [exasperated] See, that's the trouble with us black folks, we can't tell the difference between racism, and just "everybody get's screwed"...
Black Patient: Oh you think THEY tell YOU the truth?
Black Doctor: Tell you what. If you really want to screw whitey, be one of the few black men who LIVE to collect social security. Take the damn medicine.
Aaron McGruder... paging Mr. Aaron McGruder... reality is calling....
September 26, 2005
Sometimes TV comes out with a gem
Lawyer 1: "Isn't he afraid of being convicted of perjury"
Lawyer 2: "Well, no-one ever get's convicted of that anymore. The last guy to get caught was Bill Clinton, and he got away with it."
A Righteous Rant
The Geek with a .45 is touching on one of my pet peeves, the inability of fast food types to get the simplest of orders correct.{Speaking slowly, enunciating, and formatting my request in a manner that it will be understood} "Hi. I'd like a #1 with cheese, fries and a coke. I'd also like two cheeseburgers, and a pie."My friend, I know exactly that of which you rant.It's the simplest farging job on the planet. All it requires is that you understand highly formulaic English. I've already interpreted my desires into a form you can understand, so you don't have to think at all. When, for example, I tender the order above, you push the following buttons: "#1", "w/ cheese", "med fries", "med coke", "cheeseburger", "cheeseburger", "pie".
If you do this correctly, two things will happen. The first is that an amount of money will magically appear. You collect from me an amount greater than or equal to this number, and tell the machine how much I gave you. If I gave you more than the first number, a second number will appear, labeled as "change", and that is the amount of money you give back to me. The other thing that will happen is that a list will appear elsewhere in the store, which is an exact match of the buttons you pushed. Someone else will select each of these items from bins, put them into a bag, and hand them to me.
It's the simplest retail transaction possible, honed to absolute efficiency by 50,000 years of societal development and relentless market forces. It has been analysed and reduced to its smallest, leanest components, so that it cannot be perturbed by anything other than monumental incompetence.
If you can tie your shoes in the morning, wipe your own butt, and somehow miraculously manage to get food from your plate to your mouth without stabbing yourself in the face with your fork, you should be able to do this job.
I hate mayonaise, and I am allergic to onions.
Fresh onions are the worst, with onions in soup or stews leaving me with just heartburn.
If I eat a single burgers worth of fresh onion, I will have violent intestinal disturbances, which are quite unpleasant, and may require me to seek medical attention.
A single bite worth of onion on a burger will generally cause me to be unable to finish my meal. The reaction isn't that fast in my stomach, but the unpleasantness I know is sure to follow is so imprented, that the mear taste of onion like that will make me ill, or at least unable to eat further.
I ALWAYS order everything either "no onions" or "plain" - sometimes with mustard and ketchup.
Long years of experience have brought me to spelling out exactly what must be and what must not be on my sandwiches for me to eat them "I'd like a bacon double cheeseburger with nothing but meat, bacon, cheese, ketchup, and mustard. No onions please, I am allergic to onions."
Still, perhaps 25% of the time, I recieve my sandwich with onions.
Frequently I simply order food that cannot possibly be served with onions without asking for them specially.
Tell me, how hard is it to understand the word "plain"???
September 25, 2005
Had me worried there for a minute...
Actually for about three hours...Patriots 23, Steelers 20, and they did it with 1 second to spare.
September 24, 2005
My favorite song
I ran across this old post of mine on the NoR, and I thought I'd share my favorite song:Generally I sing it A Capella at SCA events along with "Whiskey in the Jar", and "The Minstrel Boy"
Wanderlust
--Wylde NeptOnce I loved a lady, she meant the world to me
Her eyes as green as a shady lake, and her hair like a springtime breeze
Her long hair shown like gold and silk, with the rolling sea in her stride
I found my comfort in a feathery bed with my lady by my sideBut a long dark winter took her from me I must’ve wept for forty days
As the sparks from her pyre flew up to the stars, I thought about my ways
My lady was my hearth and heat, my lady was my home
Without her love and without my tears I’ll pick up my staff and roamHarvest time turns the trees to rust and my travels bring me to town
The smell of hay rolls up from the fields, and the sounds of music roll down
The farmers laugh and the mercheants sing, and the women dance till dawn
There’s ale and merriment enough for me, but in the morning I’ll be goneFor I’m at my best when my boots wear thin, I’ll see the world by the mile
Every lake as green as my ladys eyes, every breeze as welcome as her smile
Through caravans of gold and silk, to ships on the new moons tide
I found my comfort on a mossy bed, with the road close by my sideSummer time brings the drums of war, and banners from lands far away
The fields burn as the farmers arm, so I lend my sword to the fray
You’ve won a place of honor here lad, why’s it you wont stay
But the winding road keeps calling me back and this is what I sayFor I’m at my best when my boots wear thin, I’ll see the world by the mile
Every lake as green as my ladys eyes, every breeze as welcome as her smile
Through caravans of gold and silk, to ships on the new moons tide
I found my comfort on a mossy bed, with the road close by my sideOn a cold mountain road in a travelers inn I find shelter from the winter time
I rest my bones by the crackling fire, and I trade my tales for wine
The innkeepers always ask the same, what calls you to the open road
As they turn for their answer all they’ll see is me vanish in the swirling snowFor I’m at my best when my boots wear thin, I’ll see the world by the mile
Every lake as green as my ladys eyes, every breeze as welcome as her smile
Through caravans of gold and silk, to ships on the new moons tide
I found my comfort on a mossy bed, with the road close by my sideOnce I loved a lady...........
The bands web site has this for an intro:
Sounds like a nice philosophy.
Technology sufficiently advanced...
Will be indestinguishable from a DemonranticUnderground commenter: From the mind of Sean GleasonSeptember 23, 2005
Redemption
The catholic church will shortly issue a "clarification" that homosexual men cannot become priests, even if they do not act on their homosexuality."Sep 22, 2005 — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Homosexuals, even those who are celibate, will be barred from becoming Roman Catholic priests under stricter rules soon to be released, the New York Times reported on Thursday.The question has been asked "How are they going to enforce this?" I mean if a man does not act on his homosexual desires how can they prove he's a homosexual.The newspaper quoted a Church official "with authoritative knowledge of the new rules," as saying the question was not "if it will be published, but when," referring to the new ruling about homosexuality in Catholic seminaries."
The people who ask this question simple don't understand catholicism at all. This unfortunately includes many catholics. I was rasied as a catholic, though I left the church long ago due to various disillusionments. It sticks with you, and honestly I consider myself a better man for it.
So back to the question, how are they going to enforce this? Well, they aren't. It's a matter of conscience, as are many things in the catholic faith.
Homosexuality is a sin according to the church, both in act and in thought, however sinners are allowed to be priests; so long as they repent and recieve absolution. If this were not true, then no-one could be a priest, for we are all sinners.
In the promulgation of this doctrine, they are saying that a homosexual priest can not be in grace with god, and therefore a man who is true to his faith must recuse himself from the priesthood; in fact from the both performance of all the sacraments, and the reciept of all the sacraments except confession (a side note: any catholic may confess to any person in a state of grace with god under extraordinary circumstances; ordination is not required. In fact even extreme unction can be given by any person in a state of grace with god if necessary). Even then they may only recieve absolution with sincere repentence, and renunciation of the sin.
The thing is, current doctrine states that a homosexual man CAN be in a state of grace with god, so long as he repents his homosexual desires, and does not act on them.
I do not agree with this doctrine (as regards priests), because as has been pointed out, it violates a fundamental precept; that of redemption. If one sincerely repents ones sins, and recieves absolution; one should be regarded as in a state of grace with god, and thus not barred from the other sacraments, including holy orders.
They have basically said you can be in gods grace if you are gay, but not if you are gay and a priest; however there is no teaching justifiying this differentiation. Additionally they have said this doctrine only applies to new seminary students, and I can see no justification for THIS differentiation.
I can tell you WHY they did this: there is an association in the public AND the hierarchies mind between homosexuality and pedaerasty. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant to the perception; which is what they are atempting to manage by issuing a message on this doctrine at this time.
Promulgation of a doctrine that condemns the calling of a redeemed man, simply for public relations purposes; is a fundamental rejection of the nature of redemption.
Unfortunately, yet another reason I can no longer consider the catholic church my spiritual home.
Stolen...
The revolutionary war began, not July 4th 1776, but April 19th 1775 when the army moved to sieze the caches of arms that his majesties loyal subjects had assembled over the previous three years of being treated as an occupied enemy territory.April 19th 1775 was the day that Englishmen chose to become Americans, unable to tolerate any longer their suppression by force of arms.
It's time to remember that now:
--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness -- The Declaration of IndependenceNOTE: This image is from Scott Bieser, a libertarian cartoonist. On his website he notes that his editorial cartoons may be freely redistributed on the web in unaltered form.
In the immortal words of Herschel Krustofsky "Guns aren't toys. They're for family protection, hunting dangerous or delicious animals, and keeping the King of England out of your face."
An honest liberal in support of democracy
David Gelertner is frequently my kind of liberal. We disagree on many things, but he is generally honest, and doesnt fall into the doublethinkThe position he gives here pretty much mirrors my own:
Let's take abortion away from the courtRead it all, for he speaks the truth.
DAVID GELERNTERThe abortion issue is a catastrophic wound in U.S. cultural life. It has inflicted unending battles on American society ever since the Supreme Court seized control of the issue from state legislatures in 1973 — in one of the grossest power grabs American democracy ever faced.
Young people pondering U.S. democracy today might easily conclude that all really important laws must be decreed by the high court.
We could heal the abortion wound, end the battles and reaffirm the integrity of American democracy if we had the guts to use the Constitution's own mechanism for introducing big, permanent changes to American law. We should get Congress to propose and the nation to ratify a constitutional amendment.
Ever since the 7-2 Roe decision, supporters of abortion rights have been nervous — with good cause. The right to have an abortion could be abolished by a one-vote majority of the Supreme Court. It was only created in the first place because of the Make-a-Wish theory of jurisprudence. The American people had never written it into the Constitution, but the justices (closing their eyes and wishing hard) discovered it...
God Bless the high pressure dome
Galveston may survive this one.Rita has dropped back to cat 4, and is rapidly diminishing in force down to cat 3. She is also trending more northeasterly than previously forecast because of the high pressure "dome" off the Houston coast...
Unfortunately that leaves Lake Charles, LA to be pummeled, but they can handle it a bit better than Galveston can. Lake Charles may be a swamp (actually it's not bad), but Galveston is a semisubmerged island. It's already been wiped off the map once.
I haven't heard directly from Jim S the layabout sailer and leading gun nut of galveston bay, but by blog comments he's hanging in, and stressing out.
September 22, 2005
Why Steve H. is a frikken genius
Well, the first thing is "Eat what you want and die like a man", but really its just his writing..."Here is what I read about negative ions: they make us happy. Positive ions make us sad. There are lots of negative ions outside, especially in the mountains and at the beach. There are very few of them in air-conditioned buildings, on congested freeways, and within a hundred-yard radius of Cindy Sheehan.Supposedly, falling water releases negative ions, so we feel happy near waterfalls or in the shower.
Hell, it could be true. Although I always thought I was happy in the shower because I was wet and warm and soapy and naked. It just goes to show you how wrong you can be."
Frikken brilliant
In honor of a city that will soon be departing...
Galveston is fucked.I mean "god will smite thee" kind of fucked.
Take a look at this: http://www.weatherunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200518_5day.html
GALVESTON
-- Jimmy Webb
(as sung by Glenn Campbell)Galveston, oh Galveston
I still hear your sea winds blowing
I still see her dark eyes glowing
She was twenty-one
When I left GalvestonGalveston, oh Galveston
I still hear your sea waves crashing
While I watch the cannon flashing
And I clean my gun
And I dream of GalvestonI still see her standing by the water
Standing there, looking out to sea
And is she waiting there for me?
On the beach where we used to runGalveston, oh Galveston
I am so afraid of dying
Before I dry the tears she's crying
Before I see your sea birds flying
In the sun, at Galveston
Update: Galveston may be saved, and creepily, there was a new show on tonight "Criminal minds" starring Mandy Patinkin (I wasnt too impressed wit the writing, but the performances were good). During the final scene, "Galveston" is playing in the background.
Anonimity
Most bloggers are at least nominally anonymous. They don't use their real names, dont publish them, dont use their real email addresses etc...There are a lot of good reasons for this, and let me just enumerate some right now:
1. Using your real name WILL get you fired from most jobs at some point
2. Using your real name could get you sued
3. Using your real name could get you serious death threats with visits from the FBI
Those are all pretty good reasons to be anonymous, and if you've read me for any length of time you may know that I've gone through all of those (more than once for the first).
A lot has been made recently about the decision of a previously open couple of bloggers identities goin anonymous. Some have criticised them for "running away from a fight" etc...
Those people are assholes.
See, I DO post with my real name, because I want people to know who I am and what I stand for, but there is an important difference between me, and most.
Actually two:
1. When I AM working, I make an obscene amount of money, so I can afford not to work for months at a time (the Travis McGee plan)
2. I don't have kids
If either of those statements were untrue, I would be another anonymous soul. I can afford to lose a job most of the time, and I can afford to find a new one frequently, In fact as a consultant, it's a frequent occurance by nature.
Others are not so lucky. They may be in a far more sensitive or public profession, or they may not have the financial freedom. That dose not render their contribution less worthy than mine; nor does it mean they are cowards of any kind.
I chose to live my life the way I want, because I could; because I had the money and earning potential. Had I not, and were I not, I can assure you my choices would be much different.
Oh and for those of you who ARE in theory anonymous, remember there is no such thing as either privacy or anonymity on the internet. Don't write anything you aren't prepared to talk with HR about; or you WILL be fucked over.
September 21, 2005
The Nation of Riflemen is BACK
Everyone, as promised the NoR is back, and rarin to go.Praise be to all that is great and holy, and thanks to all those who made this effort possible, anonymous or not.
The new URL is:
The Nation of Riflemen will be back..
Everyone,The NoR forums will be back up and ready to go VERY SOON (not "very soon now"),
Watch this space for updates.
September 20, 2005
Rockstar INXS - It's finally happened
I'm slightly mad...One of my fav songs actually, but neither here nor their.
Ok first, Brooke hasn't been that yummy since the metal micro-mini...
So... Marty, J.D., and Mig...
Ok before we go on, I think Marty is the best individual performer to lead a band, but he's not good for INXS. Mig is a great singer, but he's really a theater guy. Of course he is from Oz (sort of, he's originally philipino but gre up in OZ) but I'm still thinkin he's not right for that. Finally J.D.... attitude problesm sure, but I think he's the best for INXS.
Hell, he's got a decent sense of humor if nothing else.
Ahhh so they have to sing any one of the songs already performed this year, then they'll eliminate one, and it's a singoff with INXS, doing an INXS song for the gold.
Sweet...
Mig - Queen, "Bohemian Rhapsody": No big surprise here, Mig does one of the greatest rock songs of all time, and he does it very very well. This is his moment. Unfortunately he overreaches in a few spots, not sure whats wrong there, but hey. Also, as impressive as the song is, it might not be THAT impressive fom Mig, because everyone knows he's done it every night on stage for the last three years.
Overall, pretty damned good, but I dont think it'll save him.
J.D. - Rolling Stones, "Can't always get what you want" : Remeber how I've been saying J.D. could be the best up there if he just calmed down a bit, and channeled the energy into the song.. Well he did it. This is what J.D. should be like 90% of the time, and it's VERY good.
Marty - Pink Floyd "Wish you were here": So Martys best performance was CLEARLY wish you were here, and he decides to reprise it. MISTAKE. It was good, hell it was very good, but it suffers in comparison to the FIRST time.
Elimination: Mig wasn't surprised. You could see it on his face, he knew from the moment they started talking
Marty - "Don't Change": Hmmm, well it was good... He made it into HIS song, which may NOT be a good thing. I liked it, but he sounded more like a naughties emo band than INXS
J.D. - "What you need": The only way J.D. could have done this better would be to BE Michael Hutchence. It was jsut great. The perfect amount of sex, and ham, and jazz... I can't help but think it's him, and this is why.
Decision Time: J.D. is SHITTING HIMSELF.... Oh man... Marty is quiet, no expression whatsoever....
J.D. is definitely the right choice to do INXS and their back catalog. Marty NEEDS a record contract with his band, and this will get him one without any doubt.
Oh and the news song? Not bad.
Oh and this was a liveblog, but blogger hosed everything up for hours.
Not generally a bumper sticker fan but...
My girlfriend just sent me this:
A message for the Nation of Riflemen
Everybody, remember how I said not to pull the trigger yet? Well heres why:Not sure if this is the best place to put this, but I just wanted to post a quick thanks to all of the above who said such incredibly nice things.I would ask that people not post things like links to cache locations that make what we'd like to "disappear" accessible to folks who may be looking for something.
We're fine. As some have surmised this was a sudden "emergency" situation that caused us to react without any warning. For that we apologize, but it became a choice between our personal obligations (fill in the details yourself) and the site. The site lost as we're sure everyone can understand.
Just to be clear, no one "ordered" us to do anything, but it was obvious that things were going to have to "change" and our obligations were too imposing not to respond the way we did.
We're only now back from a little whirlwind of travel and we'll be "handing over" the NOR Forums to "temporary guardians" soon.
Details to follow.
-- CD
See I figgered K and C would already have some plans, and I didn't want to get in the way. So everybody jsut sit tight a little while longer, and stay frosty.
Oh and to everyone who's say "Why didnt they warn us, I'm addicted, that was so rude, I depend on that site"... Hey, I'm addicted too. DO you know how much of my day was spent there BY CHOICE???
All you folks down on K and C, quit whining, thank everyone for the free ice cream, and SHUT THE FUCK UP.
September 19, 2005
I'm a dead man ... in 47 years
| December 2052 at age 76 |
- probable cause -
heart attack |
| |||
 | |||
| AVERAGE MALE LIFE SPAN: | 72.5 years | ||
As you can plainly see, you have more health & vitality than the average man.
Across all 743607 test takers.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
www.okcupid.com/death
More random unsurprising shit
| Super Perv
Congratulations! You scored 18/20! |
Way to go, Pervy McPervster! You have obviously heard of/seen/done most of these licentious acts. I'll keep this short because I'm sure you have a full schedule of lewd activities and porn to get back to. |
My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Name that Sex Term Test written by hautepink on Ok Cupid |
Well I always say, a flithy mind is a terrible thing to waste
| Movie Expert! You scored 97%! |
|
This is a difficult test, but you definitely passed, and have finished Please feel free to rate my test below! :-) |
My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Match The Actors To The Movie Test written by aussierick on Ok Cupid |
Yeah, I'm a pop culture junky I know
Better Looking
 |  |
| You are a
Social Liberal and an... Economic Conservative (90% permissive) You are best described as a: You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness. loc: (74, 149) |
|
Yet more unsurprising shit - part whatever...
| You are a Social Liberal (70% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (90% permissive) You are best described as a:
Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid |
Smoke on the water
A friend of mine lives on a boat in Galveston harbor; a lot of you know him and of course I've mentioned him before, Jim from Smoke On The Water.Galveston may be the point of Landfall for Rita. Even if it isnt, the projected tracks will all result in significant storm surges for the entire Gulf Coast.
Right now Jim is securing and preparing the "New Dawn", and within her the remainder of his worldly goods (anything that doesn't fit in his land yacht with his exceedingly unhappy cats); and waiting for a better picutre of whether he needs to evacuate or not.
I don't know if you've ever been out in a small craft in a heavy storm. There is nothing that can so fiercly remind you of the power of nature as being in a little tiny boat, on the great big ocean.
Perversely however, you are actually safer OUT of the harbor, and well offshore, when there are large storm surges involved. A 10 or 12 foot storm surge (and there are wildly varying predictions for tropical storm/soon to be hurricane Rita from 6-20 feet) can take a small boat a half mile inland, or smash her against a seawall in a heartbeat.
Galveston is a relatively protected harbor, and the hope is that Rita will keep to a category 2, or at least reduce to it by the time the effects reach Galveston on Thursday or Friday.. unless she speeds up or veers off or does any other crazy thing.
See, hurricane models are a little bit better than what we engineer types call WAGs.
I think you can figure out what a WAG is.
The environmental variables that combine to produce a hurricanes track are so numerous, and so complex, that it takes a fair percentage of the worlds supercomputing resources to calculate them, and even then they have about a 50% accuracy rate on a good day.
So the WAG is that Rita will intensify to a cat 2 or low cat 3 storm by late Wednesday early Thursday, with a significant effect on NO (yes, god really does hate you. Just face it now, he wants the big easy to die. No really, I'm serious, god must hate Mardi Gras or something. Maybe he didnt get enough beads last year); then diminish to a category two or strong cat 1 and make landfall somewhere along the texas gulf coast.
So basically, unless it takes a good turn north, or dumps a lot of energy before it hits the gulf coast (both of which are possible, but both of which would screw an already devestated area even harder), Galveston is in trouble. Best case scenarios, they see a 6 foot or so storm surge, and 40-50kt winds (that assumes the eyes passes to the far north).
6 FT. storm surges are about the most a moored boat in a slip can take without serious damage, and possible loss. Even in a protected anchorage with a long rode, the forces on the vessel, cable, and anchor itself are tremendous.
Good luck Jim, and let's hope this thing loses power (it's 50/50 to do so in theory), and you stay frosty brother.
September 16, 2005
Philosophical musings
So Jim from Smoke On The Water and I were kicking around some random philosphy, and we got to talking about how a man should manage a staff, live his life, fight a man, fight a war...Basically we were getting all Heinleiny, and Jim says "Hey that'd make a good management seminar"
Anyway, what we came up with was this
First, the classic code of chivalry:
To fear God and maintain His ChurchNow you need to throw in my personal management philosophy.To serve the liege lord* in valour and faith
To protect the weak and defenceless
To give succour to widows and orphans
To refrain from the wanton giving of offence
To live by honour and for glory
To despise pecuniary reward
To fight for the welfare of all
To obey those placed in authority
To guard the honour of fellow knights
To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
To keep faith
At all times to speak the truth
To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
To respect the honour of women
Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
Never to turn the back upon a foe.
My management philosophy has a few very basic, but very important tenets:
- Trust
- Respect
- Professionalism
- Communication
- Honor
- Loyalty
- You are adults, I will treat you as such
- You are professionals, I will treat you as such
- I am your advocate; I do my best for you
- In return, you do your best for me
- I trust you completely – ONCE
- Trust your team completely – with all others; trust, but verify
- Life Comes First
- K.I.S.S.
- The “P”s
- Planning (SMESCS)
- Mission focus
- Be prepared
- Be creative
- No idea is a bad idea (but it may not be the RIGHT idea)
- Never say "That's impossible" to the guy who's actually doing it
- Take risks – but understand and MANAGE them
- Good is Enough; Good Enough Isn’t
- Unintended consequences
- Good intentions matter, but good results matter more
- Sometimes you have to make the “least bad” decision
- The Perfect is the enemy of the good
K.I.S.S
- Keep
- It
- Simple
- Somethingorother (depending on how rude you want to be)
- Prior
- Preparation
- Prevents
- Poor
- Performance
- S ituation
- M ission (or objective)
- E xecution
- S ervice and Support
- C ommand Control Communications
- S upply and Logistics
MISSION
- What is a MISSION?
- What’s the difference between a mission, and an objective? (two answers)
- What is OUR mission??????
ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS:
Expect and require excellence, and you will often recieve it.
Expect and reqire no more than mediocrity, and you always will recieve it.
Now we're off to a good start, but we need to leaven it with some classics.
Lets add in Von Clausewitz, Heinlein, Sun-Tzu, Von Mises, Robert E. Lee, and Adam Smith...
To my mind, you can't do any better than that
Kim DuToit open thread
An open thread for people to discuss the shutdown of Kim's rants, and the nation of riflemen forums.Warning, Kim bashers will be thwacked.
Kim DuToit.com is down
All,As y'all probably know, I'm the forum administrator for the Nation of Riflemen forums over at kimdutoit.com.
Late last night the site was taken down, and the message now appears "this site has been closed permanently".
I have communicated briefly with Connie Du Toit, and there is a business issue requiring Kim and Connie to take the site down right now, and without any notice. They can't provide details yet but expect some information in a few days.
No need to worry about Kim and Connie physically, they are all right. As to the nation of riflemen, if we can't get it back up as it was shortly for whatever reason; I'll continue it at another site.
The nation of riflemen is an ideal, not an organization. The ideal that the right to defend ones self, ones love ones, and ones country; is absolute. It cannot be limited, it cannot be taken away, and it must be defended. The nation of riflemen is about preparing to defend that right, and by extension all of our rights; because if we won't who will.
I'll keep everyone updated as I can.
September 15, 2005
A new x-men quiz
Well, I did one of these a few months ago, and I came out as Hank, now let's see who I show up as... | You scored as Beast. Beast is an intelligent, politcal spokesman for the X-Men. He has a Ph.D in Genetics and is well versed in literature. He may look like a blue fuzzy monster, but deep down he's very benevolent and logical. Powers: Enhanced strength and agility
Most Comprehensive X-Men Personality Quiz 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com |
Ayup, I am in fact Hank McCoy. Chris Byrne is actually a secret identity.
Rockstar INXS - Suzie says so long
The viewers choice for the encore was Marty with Trees, but J.D.s fans in the audience chose him to perform pretty vegas... again... four the fourth time... as the opener
The women really do love this guy, and that's what's kept him alive so far.
So, on to the songs:
Suzie - "Suicide Blonde": Funny, another prophetic song, because she tanked it. She knew eshe was gone tonight I think. No real energy, and her performance felt.. unnatural I guess... Stilted. Oh and horrible fashion choice there but hey...
She jsut didn't bring it, and of the four remaining she is the least right for INXS, so that's it. I dont think anything she could have done would have saved here, unless J.D. and Marty so gratuitously sucked...
J.D. - "By My Side": Two bit Elvis, and playing on the sex appeal to the ladies. If the elimination were based on these songs and not the "INXS rightness" factor, he'd be gone.
Mig - "What You Need" : Good one for Migs voice, but he actually went a little rough and ready with his singing. Unfortunately his jumping around the stage and posing jsut reminded me of Zoolander "Blue Steel". He didnt get the depth into the voice he should have, but it was a decent performance. Maybe he was trying to show he could J.D it up so to speak, and change his style. I don't think it really worked, but it was enough. Oh and the shirt ripping thing... what was that man...
Yeah, nobody brought it out tonight, and they all knew Suzie was gone before she went out on stage. It was in their faces while she was singing.
September 14, 2005
Well.. Crosby and Nash anyway...
So I wanted it to be great. I had high hopes, and moderate expectations...It was good, but it wasn't great. Three reasons why:
1. Wall to wall politics. Lots of political jokes (including a rather offensive one about McCains time as a POW), and rather than play what people wanted to hear, they set their playlist up as an anti-republican anti-christian screed.
Yes, you go to CSN and you expect to get politics, but not to that extent. I'm here for your music, not your politics guys.
2. Not enough favorites, too much politics and side project stuff. They played about 50% of the older stuff, and 50% stuff from new albums from Crosby and Nash, Stills, and crosbys son. They also went and brought out the political songs.
3. Too much guitar, too much orchestration, not enough harmony. They had a full band backing them with another guitarist, a keyboard player (Crosbys son James, who is an excellent musician in his own right. I saw him play with his dad and David Coverdale, and it was great), an organist, a MASSIVE double drum kit, and a bassist. Add in the guitar or piano played by each band member in almsot every song, and you might have had up to 4 guitars playing at one.
They did it that way for a reason, they can't make the harmonies as well as they used to, or hold the notes for as long as they used to. So instead of depending on the strength of their voices in instrumentally simple songs, they added WALLS of instrumentation.
Honestly, they just can't do a lot of their songs anymore. They didnt even try Judy Blue Eyes (which has long basically unaccompanied stretches), and wooden ships, southern cross, woodstock, Almost cut my hair, Wasted on the way... basically all of the songs they did with Stills, were just loaded with guitar, keyboards, and organ.
Again, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I wanted to hear from CSN.
Actually, if it's jsut Crosby and Nash, they still have a lot of their hearmony. They did a pretty good guenivere... which brings me to number four...
4. Steven Stills might as well not have been there. Steven is unfortunately clearly ill. He has gained a massive amount of weight in the past few years (he's bigger than Crosby), and he's almsot completely lost his voice. He still ahs the grunt and growl for the low end, but he's lsot the mellowness and the sweetness; plus he can't hold a not for more than a second or two. It was very clear that Crosby and Nash were used to this, and they were backing him up and propping him up as much as possible, as was the backup band (who were quite excellent BTW) Stevens guitar playing on the other hand was top notch. For a closer they did wooden ships with a MASSIVE 10 minute instrumental bridge, and the guitar work was great. For the encore they brought Nils Lofgren (who was watching in the audience) up on stage, and did the Buffalo Springfield (Stills band with Neil Yound prior to CSN) "For What it's Worth", which is one of my favorite songs, and again the singing was ... jsut not there ... but the guitar work was great.
I think Steven may be in seriously ill health, and I wish him well. Crosby still has got the pipes, but it's clear he's not long for this world either. Nash is healthy, and still skinny as a rail at 63 years old, plus he's still there 100% vocally.
Oh and Nash was always the leader of the group, with direction from the others, because Crosby was such a fuckup, Stills was so independent and really a loner, and Neil Young was.. Neil Young. Nash was the relatively quiet one who got things done and kept everyone else together. You dont see it or hear it on their albums, but it was always apparent in live performances, and it still is today.
Too Little, Too Late
A few days after the pathetic cowards wrote... well essentially nothing; and AFTER the police and guard preety much ignored the illegal orders, the NRA comes out with this:FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 12, 2005 www.nraila.orgDisaster Can't Destroy Gun Rights
(Fairfax, VA) -- National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre slammed New Orleans authorities Monday for seizing legal firearms from lawful residents.
"What we've seen in Louisiana - the breakdown of law and order in the aftermath of disaster - is exactly the kind of situation where the Second Amendment was intended to allow citizens to protect themselves, " LaPierre said.
"When law enforcement isn't available, Americans turn to the one right that protects all the others - the right to keep and bear arms," LaPierre said. "This attempt to repeal the Second Amendment should be condemned."
The New York Times reported last Thursday that no civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to have guns, quoting the superintendent of police that "only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons."
A Louisiana state statute allows the chief law enforcement officer to "regulate possession" of firearms during declared emergencies. "But regulate doesn't mean confiscate," said Chris W. Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist.
"Authorities are using that statute to do what the looters and criminals could not: disarm the law-abiding citizens of New Orleans trying to protect their homes and families," Cox said.
"The NRA will not stand idly by while guns are confiscated from law-abiding people who're trying to defend themselves," he said.
"We're exploring every legal option available to protect the rights of lawful people in New Orleans," Cox said, "and we're taking steps to overturn such laws in every state where they exist."
"Local authorities in New Orleans are turning nature's assault on human life into man's assault on human rights," LaPierre said. "Four million NRA members intend to stop this unconstitutional power grab."
Too little, too late boys. I'm a life member, I will remain a life member because the NRA is still effective in some arenas, but any further financial support will be going to GOA, GOAL, JPFO, the pink pistols (and organization I wholeheartedly support), or the Second Ammendment Foundation.
Dominance and Submission
Okay, this is another weird personal one guys, so if you don't want to know these things about me, stop reading now.I've spoken before about dominance and submission, and the relationship dynamics, and it came up today on the NoR forums in relation to dating. IN particular a submissive man is having trouble finding a dominant woman to date who isn't psycho.
This is a ctually a pretty common problem for "sceners", but usually a lifer will find someone eventually; they jsut have to be serious about it.
Anyway, there was certainly some misunderatanding on the board about the nature of dominant and submissive dynamics, one commenter saying:
Quite frankly, I don’t feel a need to dominate someone or be someone’s slave. Actually this whole domanite/submite master/slave thing sounds like a load of bullshit.To which another responded:
There are people out there, both male and female, who have submissive personalities. People who are, quite honestly, weak. They will naturally be attracted to people who can lead them, and those that want to lead them will find them. In the end it usually makes for balanced and happy relationships. Opposites attract and whatnot.Which is partially correct, but again, misunderstands the fundamental nature of the relationships. It's most definitely not about strength or weakness, of mind, will, character, emotion, or spirit.
Dominance and submission are not about sex, or kinkiness; though they can be. Natural dominance and submission relationships (as opposed to “scene” D&S) are about three things… or rather about seven things broken into three categories.
1. Power, control and responsiblity: Some people are unable to balance these things in their lives. THey feel lost with or without these things, intimidated by them or their lack, stressed by them or their lack, frightened by them or their lack, angered by them or their lack, whatever…
2. Trust and loyalty: The relationship between those with dominant personalities and submissive personalities is entirely best on two way trust, and two way loyalty. This applies whether it is a sexual relationship or not. If there is trust and loyalty, there is strenght, and there is the next element…
3. Freedom and safety: Some naturally must be in control to be free, some cannot be free if they are in control. Some naturally must be in controll to feel safe, some cannot feel safe if they are in control.
Let me go into detail further here...
I am a naturally dominant person. I lead naturally, and others follow me naturally. That doesn't necessarily mean I’m a control freak, though sometimes I can be; it means that I am comfortable with power, control, and responsiblity; and that I prefer to not be in a situation where I don’t have them (yes, the AF was far more of an emotional challenge to me than physical).
This also applies in personal relationships. I am impatient with the incompetent, and I am agressive in aserting myself. If somethign is wrong, I will act to correct it. If something is right, I will act to praise the responsible party and emulate it.
These are all natural personality tendencies, that are as inbuilt to me as my soul.
My girlfriend is naturally submissive. She was not aware of this until I made it clear to her, and she’s still not entirely comfortable with this, but it’s the way she is. This isn’t to say she is weak, or has a weak will, she doesn’t. She simply prefers and feels naturally better, and safer when others WHO SHE TRUSTS have the responsiblity. That said, if she is right about something, she fights for it. If she see something wrong, she goes after it. She will not agree to somethign jsut because thats what a dominant person thinks. She is independent minded, and very spirited, and jsut a bit nutty (but in a cute and endearing way)
What she feels with me is love, comfort, warmth, safety, and freedom. In fact when I'm not dominant enough, she starts to think I don't care enough about her. She's constantly testing me. Oh and don't get me started on the whole "passive agressive" thing. That's at the very CORE of overtly submissive behavior, and it can be the bane of every tops existence.
Though some dominants do see submissives as weak, those people will most likely never uderstand what is below the surface of the relationships; only seing the “scene” as it were. Some dominants also DESIRE the weak partners, but that extends into an entirely different level often involving debasement and humiliation, voluntary slavery, or human toys and human pets.
Has anyone ever said to you “I jsut want to let go”, or “I jsut wish it were all someone else proble”, in a serious way? If so, they are expressing the desires of the submissive.
Most people are neither naturally dominant, nor naturally submissive. Most folks, have a hard time dealing with responsiblity, power, and control all the time, and they sometimes want someone else to take care of it for them. They sometimes just want to be free of that burden.
That is the expression of a submissive desire.
Many people who have these desires are also very insecure about them, because they believe it makes them weak; or they are afraid of being taken advantage of.
Many people feel that they enjoy power, control, and responsiblity sometimes, but that often it is jsut too much hassle.
These are all normal things, and most folks have a balance of dominant and submissive tendencies in their personalities; though they will often lean slightly or strongly towards one or the other. True natural dominants are almsot vanishingly rare, and natural submissives are quite uncommon (though there are probably 10 times as many natural subs as there are natural doms).
Now, a moment on terminology to describe what I just talked about. Dominants are often referred to as “Tops”, submissives as “bottoms”, and if you go both ways you’re a “switch” (though these terms have more extensive connotations to do with play and scenes). Most people are really a switch to some degree or another; or may be a top with some folks, and a bottom with others. As I said above, true dominants who will naturally top, and true submissives who will naturally bottom are very rare.
In a dominant sumbissive relationship, while on the surface it appears that the submissive is sacrificing themselves to the dominant, actually the reverse is true. The top is in fact assuming responsiblity for the bottom, which allows the bottom to be freer, and more comfortable, more in tune with their nature. This can be a very heavy burden on the top, mentally and emotionally (and sometimes physically and financially). It is far more draining in every sense to top someone.
This is actually why I brought up the top and bottom terminology; because it illustrates one of my points. In play, the top is doing what the bottom wants; not the other way around. The top is recieving instructions; or is acting according to the known desires of the bottom.
The purpose of dominant and submissive games and gestures, is to enhance the feelings that these power relationships engender in the participants; the top feeling more responsible for the bottoms safety, and having more of a duty to live up to their trust and loyalty; and the bottom feeling freer, and more able to express themselves as they wish, without worrying about the cares or dangers that the top is protecting them from.
Trust me on this one, topping someone is hard work. Hell even being the dominant partner in every day situations is hard work, because YOU are responsible for EVERYTHING.
But we like it that way...
Do you think the dominant partner is really in control in this situation? Not if they care for the person they are topping they aren’t. The real control, and certainly the real freedom, lies with the submissive, because by making the dominant responsible for them; if their top cares for them and is loyal to them; their safety, protection, and satisfaction has become a central concern; as in an almost parental relationship.
This get’s even MORE complicated when you move beyond simple submission relationships and into the area of slaves, toys, pets, etc…
So it’s a lot more complicated than most folks think, and in general it has very litttle to do with sex, and very much to do with the three sets of factors I describe above.
Oh and the real lifers talk about “power and control” or “power exchange” relationships not dominance and submission, but that’s an even more complicated subject.
September 13, 2005
Rockstar INXS - Doubleshot
Well, overall an unimpressive night. Nobody really put in a great performance, nobody was horrible (well... maybe J.D. on Money). Oh and Dave sat in with the band for some of the sets and as always, he kicked ass. He really is a great guitarist, his weird choices notwithstanding.Two songs from everyone tonight as well:
Suzie - Stone Temple Pilots, "Interstate Love Song" AND Four Non-Blondes "What's up": Not her best here. I love "...love song" and she just really doenst have the guts for this tune. She's not dirty enough if you know what I mean. No heroin, no living in her car... Well, she's not Scott Weiland (or else she'd be fronting Audioslave). That said, it was decent, and reasonably well sung. She did mess the lyrics up a bit, and she was jumping around so much that her tone was inconsistent. Plus it's not a country song...
Now, as to "Whats Up"... Well it's a fun song , but kind of irritating. I think her voice is cool for it, and it's certainly a different take. I think she did a good job with it, but I just don't think it was a good choice. She DID show some major vocal power there, but...
Well she's pretty obviously bottom three here, since there's only four of them left, and she certainly wasn't the best.
Mig - Rolling Stone "Paint it Black" AND Seal "Kiss from a Rose" : Ahhhh no. Not even close. Okay so I'mna be hard to please on this one; "Paint it Black" and "Sympathy for the Devil" are tied for my favorite stones song, but still... This isn't the west end man, it's fucking ROCK AND ROLL. Are you going to convince the mike to let you touch it in the bad places? because that's the only reason I can think of singing like that. Micheal Bolton meets Andrew Lloyd Weber.
Let me jsut say, this was definitely the night for the vibrato monster for everyone. If you've ever taken any formal vocal training you'll know what I'm talking about, otherwise it jsut sounds bitchy.
Doing Seal? no I don't think so. I guess it was a not to trying to connect with the ladies or summat. I love the song but no. I've heard a bunch of cover attempts at this song and everyones fucked it up, including him. I'll give him credit, it is the best cover I've heard, but it still isn't right. The break down at the end, that FINALLY sounded like there was some soul and passion there... and then he lost it.
Yes both were competently sung, but wheres the soul, the emotion, the rawness, the sex, the tears... It's just broadway to you baby. Fuck man, the guy can sing, he's got a 4+ octave range, and he CAN have a ton of charisma, what the hell is he doing up there on stage. He started off so well, and the last few weeks it's like he thinks he's back up on the theater stage.
If there is any justice in this world, Mig will be eliminated tomorrow. Of course there isn't so he won't be, but he should be.
J.D. - Original, "Pretty Vegas" AND Pink Floyd, "Money": So we heard "Pretty Vegas: for the thrid time today... with a glittered up megaphone"... and it was pretty darned good. Definitely the best of three performances we've seen, with more balls, more gravel, more shout.. Just plain more Rock and Roll. He hams it up too much on stage, but he does connect well with the audience. Oh and a great little solo at the end from Dave, and watch the bands reaction. Priceless.
Unfortunately, he killed it with "Money". Again, one of my favorite songs, and an iconic rock song. First thing, way too fast. Second, WAAAY too much sneer and swagger, and even MORE vibrato than we usually see from J.D. He kind of had the first verse, but lost it in the second. Tossing the sack of "money" out in the bridge was an interesting gimmick. He gets the transitions right, which is difficult, then drops the elvis back in and it's just not right. Oh and what's with the Gwen Steffani hop thing he does all the time?
Definitely bottom three, and I think probably an elimination tomorrow. I'd rather it be Mig, but I'm guessing it will be J.D.
Marty - Original "Trees" AND Radiohead, "Creep": Okay Creep was damn good. It's a great song, that I love, it's perfect for Marties voice (both soft AND screamy)... just great here.. but for the visit from the vibrato monster. Is J.D. Infecting everyone tonight? Yeah that's definitely the best song of the night.
Trees is definitely better as done this time. Less poppy but still infectious. Digging it greatly, but again the vibrato monster rears it's ugly snout (though not nearly so bad). I'm definitely digging the double acoustic thing with Navarro, and he's pretty obviously digging it too. Love the bands reaction.. great stuff.
I wonder which song he'll encore tomorrow?
So, what's my conclusion here?
Mig sucked all the way around, and he'll certainly be in the bottom three, because Marty was clearly the best and won't be. Unfortunately I still don't think they'll eliminate him. The thing is, I KNOW he can be better than he is (much as Jordis), but as the competition gets tighter he's going with what he knows, the theater, and it's jsut not working.
Suzie was O.K. but not great. She's clearly the least right for INXS, but I don't think they'll want to get rid of her just yet.
J.D. Was pretty good with "pretty vegas". In fact I think we'll see the song released and charting some time soon. He wasn't horrible with money, and I think the audience will like it.
Although I don't think J.D. is the worst at this point, I think tomorrow is his final night. It's jsut a gut feeling, and maybe a suspicion on my part of the producers wanting a more balanced (demographically) field.
That said, if the game IS honest, and they are choosing to elimnate the person least right for INXS, I have to say that's Suzie.
Marty was defniitely the best tonight, knocking both songs out in excellent fashion. I think he did a great version of Creep, and everybody likes trees.
If we were to jsut base everything on who I think is best for INXS, I think the final would come down to Marty and J.D.. J.D. may be an asshole and a ham, but theres a lot to work with there, and I do think he's a good rock front man. Mig has tons of talent, but he just belongs in theater. Marty is great, but I can't see him fronting INXS. I CAN see him being a breakout college and alternative rock success with his OWN band.
So yeah, much as I have been iffy on J.D., I think he's the best choice for INXS.
UPDATE: CT and I are thinking along similar lines though I'm a bit more critical than he is, plus although I don't think J.D.s money was great, it didnt make me want to puke.
More hatemail
Actually a comment this time:I just wana say that u guys are low life ppl!YOu have no proof that muslims did anything to america for all you know it was probably that stupid fukker goerge bush!I think i should start buying the Holy Bible and take it to the toliet and shit on it!(Allah Forgive me)!well you guys will know wen ur asses are on fine on the day of judgment and are in hell!why blame all muslims over the world?Did they all gang up and come burn america?i dont think so im a young muslim girl and at the time of the bombing i helped raise money for the attacks!If white ppl did some thing i dont think it wud be fair if u all got blamed would it?Maybe u shuld sit and think about it!
I'd comment, but I just can't stop laughing. Keep'em coming idiots.
She's got a hotmail.co.uk address, if it is really hers (the IP block is from the UK so who knows), so she doesnt even have the excuse of the government controlled propaganda media brainwashing her. Although I'd guess she's about 13 years old so maybe she deserves SOME slack. I mean after all, you believed some stupid shit when you were 13 right?
Really it's terribly sad that there are people this deluded, but I just can't help but laugh my ass off at these morons.
I'd really love to hear from an intelligent, non-terrorist muslim at some point. So far all I've recieved is death threats and idiocy like the above.
September 12, 2005
I love my hate mail
Subject: fuck you From: adiyah ünlüDate: Mon, Sep 12, 2005 9:56 pm
To: chris@chrisbyrne.comi am from germany. du hurensohn, bastard scheiss christ, scheiss christentum, scheiss juden, scheiss nichtmosleme, wir werden eure köpfe abhacken. warum greifst du koran an?? du bastard scheiss america, scheiss bush. bin ladin is the best. 2005-09-11 :)
I am from germany. You are the son of a whore, bastard shit on jesus christ, shit on christianity, shit on jews, don't shit on muslims, we will chop off your head. Why do you attack the Koran? You bastard shit on america, shit on Bush. Bin Laden is the best.Actually it's still pretty much babbling garbage, but hey...
62 Billion here, 62 billion there...
... pretty soon you're talkin about some real money (god bless you Evrett Dirkson)Okay, so far the FedGov has authorized $62 billion in spending for relief after hurricane Katrina. Indications are the relief monies will in total exceed $100 billion.
New Orleans has a little less than 500,000 residents, and a relatively small metropolitan area (because of the river, the lake, and the ocean, how ironic). Lets be generous and call it 1 million INCLUDING those who were seriously effected in Mississippi and Alabama.
That means $100,000 will be spent by the FedGov for every single individual who could possibly be directly seriously affected by this natural disaster.
Private insurance claims are also going to exceed 20 billion (and we'll see how many of them get paid).
So let's call it $120,000 per person JUST THIS YEAR.
Just to understnad that number, there are 178 recognized countries, with measureable gross Domestic Products (GDP), a number representing the entire economic output of the country for one year. That is more than the GDP of all but 35 of them. Most of those countries have many times the population of the NO metro area. In fact many of them have not only much larger populations, but a higher standard of living.
The FedGov plans to put all of the people who have no housing into refugee camps, for up to TWO YEARS, paying for their food, clithing, housing, education etc... but if they leave the camp, they can't come back. They can't do anything productive at all during that time.
They plan on spending the rest of the money on bulldozing much of New Orleans, and rebuilding public infrastructure, and housing, after which they will move those people back in, or pay to resettle them elsewhere.
Does any of this make sense to anyone?
Alright, what is the real cost of this disaster to the people, taken as statistical groups? let's jsut assume that there is a total loss for all 1 million folks effected (obviously not the case).
Also it's important to note, I'm averaging things out here. There may be; in fact certainly will be; individuals in every category that vastly exceed or underperform the average, but the overall statisitcal validity is at least in range.
Now I'd guess 40% of those 1, million have never made more then $15-20,000 a year in their lives (based on NO demographics), another 40% have probably never made more than $20-60,000. It's probably only the top 20% who've made between $60,000 and $120,000, and the top 1-5% who've made more than that.
What about employment, outside of salary considerations?
Well the bottom 40% are either unemployed, or employed at minimally skilled, minimally paid jobs. Those people are all unemployed now, because those jobs are undoubtedly gone, however those jobs are almost infinitely replaceable, wherever they go, or whenever NO is rebuilt.
The middle 40% have a lot more to lose here as well, with many of them in long term jobs with retirement funds; most of which will probably be gone now. It will be difficult for many of these people to find replacement jobs, and it will be a very long time before NO is rebuilt enough to provide them.
The top 20% probably had a greater impact in their jobs, in terms of loss of income and benefits; but they are also more likely to have portable jobs that can be replaced in other locations.
Okay so what about assets?
Well that bottom 40% probably doesn't have any assets whatsoever. In fact, it's likely their total loss is less than $5000 in property, and almost certainly less than $20,000; unless they are retirees or beneficiaries of inheritance or insurance, living in paid for homes.
The middle 40% will probably include a lot of homeowners in lower middle class neighborhoods so they have a lot to lose, but probably not much more than $100k to at most $250k or MAYBE $300k, if you take equity and liabilities into account. Since about 60% ofthis group will be homeowners, I'd guess the average will be around $100k in assets. Again, it will be very difficult for these people to replace their assets, and it will be a long time before NO can rebuild enough to do so.
The top 20% will have been hit hard in terms of total value of destruction, but it is likely to be a much smaller percentage of their total assets than the middle or bottom. They are far more likely to have assets elsewhere, and to have convertible assets necessary to rebuild; plus they have the remaining assets to do it faster.
Again, $120,000 per person, this year.
There are so many comparisons I could make, so many comments... but I'm not going to.
Let me just ask you something: Does that number make sense to anyone?
One more observation:
I am willing to be that with $120,000,000,000.00, the FedGov could compensate every single effected individual for the entire value of their assets lost or damaged (or their equity and retirement of liabilities) AND give them 1 years direct salary at the same rate as they were making before the storm.
In fact, I'll bet we could also pay for them to relocate anywhere else in the country should they so desire. Everyone who wanted to stay and help pay to rebuild NOLA would be welcome. THeir money would make the rebuilding of private property a reality if that's what was wanted.
A whole bunch of poor folks would be out there in other cities with $10,000-$20,000 in their pockets, looking for work; or maybe (I'd hope at least a few) going back to school. Those that didnt leave would be in position to take all the laborer and basic construction jobs. There is going to be a HUGE amount of on the job training available. Thousands and thousands of new retail jobs will open up within months.
A whole bunch of middle class folks would be out there looking for houses, and they have their debts paid off and a whole years pay to live on while they find a job. Thousands more houses will be built. Maybe THEY'LL go back to school.
And the upper class folks? Well they'll have hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions of dollars in cash to spend, and they are going to need new houses, and to rebuild their businesses or start new ones.
Again, lot's of jobs there. Lots of PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY to compensate for the $450 this is going to cost every single tax payer.
Hell, I think we'd have money left over to rebuild a lot of the public property destroyed.
A final question: Does my plan make more sense to you than the governments?
Actually I lied, I don't think we should do either. I would let NO sink into the muck it is built from, UNLESS PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES WANTED TO EXPEND THE TIME EFFORT AND RESOURCES necessary to rebuild.
Hell, I'd even give them a dollar for dollar tax break. Every dollar they spend rebuilding or employing someone in the effected areas, is one less dollar they have to pay in taxes. It's just like the government spending the money, except prodcutive work actually happens, investments are made, efficiency is encouraged, and the money isn't stolen from your pocket and mine.
Unfortunately there are enough soft headed soft hearted idiots out there who WOULD vote against them for not stealing our money to kick them all out of office, and the politicians arent going to lose their seats by not spending enough of our money.
Update: Looks like The River Dog is thinking along the same lines as I am...
Pathetic Useless Cowards
NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert Vol. 12, No. 36 9/09/05NRA-ILA COMMENTS ON SITUATION IN NEW ORLEANS
Numerous media sources are reporting on a campaign by New Orleans city authorities to confiscate lawfully-owned firearms from people in the city. Louisiana statute does grant the government, during a state of emergency, broad powers in regulating and controlling firearms.
However, we have seen not just with Hurricane Katrina, but other similar situations, that when police are unable to control the criminal element, people turn to the one freedom that protects all others--the Second Amendment.
While one can certainly understand the dire predicaments of all those affected by Hurricane Katrina, as we have learned throughout history, campaigns to disarm the lawful do nothing to disarm the criminal. And in truth, these restrictions make citizens less safe. Despite the valiant efforts of many law enforcement officers and rescue workers, too many of those left in the wake of Katrina are ultimately responsible for their own security and safety and that of their families and loved ones. This is especially true when communication is virtually non-existent and police can't be quickly summoned to respond to calls for help. At these times, lawful gun ownership is paramount to personal safety.
Of course, the entire situation in New Orleans is constantly in flux. But rest assured NRA is monitoring this situation very closely and will address any activity by the government that unduly infringes upon the rights of lawful gun owners at the appropriate time. As we learn more, we will report to our members accordingly. In the interim, however, we join with all Americans in offering our thoughts, prayers, and assistance to the victims and survivors of this terrible natural disaster.
Traffic
A few weeks ago I noticed something: I'd pretty much stopped caring about how much traffic my blog got.When I first started, I anticipated every unique visitor like a 16 year old girl looking for a Jr. Prom date.
A few days ago, I passed 250,000 unique visitors (since 1995), and 100,000 since I started this blog February 14th, 2005. Oh and I'm at something like 225,000 page views on the blog, so my average visitor is looking at a little over two pages.
I never even noticed.
Funny enough, it was only July 21st when I was writing about passing the 50k uniqe visitor mark on the blog. 55,070 visitors in 52 days... I hit 7,000 one day (team infidel on a major blog), which was crazy, but most days have been in the 500-700 range.
Of course I've had a lot happen since then, and maybe 1/2 of that traffic has been from team infidel. I had to upgrade my hosting account where the videos are hosted, but I havent had any overages. Mostly folks are mirroring it themselves, which helps.
I write this blog because I have to write, and because I have a lot to say. I write it for me, for my friends, and for anyone who wants to read it.
I guess that's a lot of folks, and for that I think you.
Todays Comics Lovin'
Sorry, that's the best 9/11 cartoon I've seen this year. God that is such a wrong statement isn't it...
September 11, 2005
September 09, 2005
Ayup, pretty much but for one thing
It called me clean... and I think I'm offended by that so I changed it.| the Wit
|
| Frikken Filthy | COMPLEX | DARK
I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer. Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion. You probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais 
- it rules -
|
My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on OkCupid Free Online Dating |
Shooting Cops
Nasty subject, and one which I generally believe should get you the death penalty...Unless those cops are no longer acting as the lawful representative of legitimate civil authority that is.
We grant the police a conditional monopoly in the use of legitimate force to enforce civil order; in exchange for the guarantee that they will behave lawfully, and enforce the law legitimately.
Yesterday, that guarantee was breached.
The police chief of New Orleans has ordered that his department forcibly disarm all civilians in the city... except for the security contractors from Blackwater and others of course, most of whom are far better armed than the police; and ALL of whom would refuse to give up their arms.
And be quite justified in doing so.
Let me be clear on this. There is no constitutional or statutory authority for this order. Not on the part of the police chief, not on the part of the mayor, not on the part of the governor; not even on the part of the president.
Martial law has not been declared, but even if it had been, martial law does not authorise the forcible disarmament of the citizenry.
When the lawful representatives of the state excercise legitmate authority, they are protected under the law and by the full force of the state. When those agents act with no authority, or illegitmate authority, they are no longer granted the protection of the cloak of state.
An individual is no more obligated to follow the unlawful orders of a police officer, than they are to follow the orders of a criminal.
Any police officer or other public official attempting to enforce this order, is acting illegally, unconstitutionally, and immorally; and their orders must not be followed. If they attempt to compel compliance with force, they should be resisted with force.
Yes, if a cop attempts to take your guns away by force, and without legitimate authority (for example if your right to keep and bear arms has been nullified by a felony conviction) you should shoot him.
It doesn't mater that they are "innocent cops following orders". Any representative of the state should know that their orders are illegal and unconstitutional, and should refuse to carry them out.
If they do not refuse; if they attempt to compel compliance with force, they MUST be resisted with force. They have made themselves into unconstitutional invaders, and should be treated as such.
They are, as unfortunate as it is to say this; legitimate targets in defense of liberty.
One shrinks back from the thought of killing cops, but once the police begin abusing their monopoly of legitimate force; they must be stopped by any means necessary.
Update: It would seem that there are quite a few folks in agreement with me here
The Smallest Minority writes "Pressing the Rest Button"
The Geek with a .45 writes "Livid!" and "A quick civics 101 lesson"
Doc Russia writes "I am SO MAD"
Kim DuToit writes "A quick RCOB moment"
Countertop writes "Enemies Domestic and Foreign"
Unc writes "It is Often Asked"
Smoke on the Water writes "Badge of Dishonor"
A few useful Maxims - Again
"Theres no excuse for keeping a loaded gun in the house"-- Jim McVay, Alabama Department of public health.Yeah, right Jim. Excuse me while I laugh my ass off over here. Hope the refugees don't reach your area befor eyou can get your ass down to Wal-Mart...
Hell, forget about a loaded gun in the house, I keep a loaded gun in every room, and more than one in most of them.
I sleep with an AR, a 12ga, and a couple of .45s within reach.
The only thing more useless than an unloaded gun is an unprepared mind.
And remember, it's not whether you're paranoid, it's whether you're paranoid enough.
Poker Weirdness
'kay so I'm in a 9 man single table limit holdem tourney, $55 buy in, $300 for first, $150 for second.I ended up knocking out half the table, going up to $4000 and I said "Okay, I'm bored, I'm going to raise the limit every round" of betting from now on.
Which I did.
And I ended up coming in second. I just kept winning pot after pot. I didn't even care, I literally just raised the maximum every round of betting.
I felt like Phill Helmuth on crack...
Finally everyone else was gathering around just to see what would happen. There was much swearing and side betting going on.
Insane man.
Actually, if I'd played the last few hands right I prolly would have won. I was well ahead of my heads up player. But I said I'd raise the max, so I did.
September 08, 2005
Liveblogging the NFL Pregame
Just looking at the lineup I'm pissed, but hey, maybe it won't suck...Yeah no, that was a vain hope.
1702: The Stones... WTF?? Wow they sucked ass, and I LOVE the stones.
Freddy frikking prinze? Then Kanye" needs to be shot in the head" West?
A Kanye West quote "and I know the government administers AIDS". If I were Maroon 5 I'd be embarrassed to be on stage with him.
But at least he didnt make an even bigger ass of himself.
Now maroon five does a pop favorite...
Do the NFL and ABC actually KNOW whos watching this broadcast right now? Do they know that Maroon 5 is mostly listened to by 14-24 year old girls (no not women), and gay men?
The football audience is males 14-65 and we want Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Country, and Rap...
1720: Okay the stones are back, and they suck AGAIN. By god Mick looks awful. And what the fuck is this song... Do they KNOW who they are playing for.
Green day and Santana next eh. America hating anarchists and communists. Lovely
1729: Well at least they didn't do "American Idiot". It amazes me I used to like this band.
Heh, cute commercials. Kinda stupid, but cute.
1739: Santana... I've always liked smoothe, but it jsut doesn't sound right without Rob Thomas. Especially as done by a lounge singer...
Have I mentioned that I'd give my left nut for a custom Paul Reed Smith... oooh yeah baby.
Michelle Branch leaves me cold... She is cute though, and she's from Phoenix so I s'pose I should giver her some hometown props.
1743: WOW Freddie Prinze is bad... but I'm glad to hear from Kraft. The guy is wooden up there, but he truly loves football, and the Patriots. Plus, he's actually sincere when he thanks the fans, unlike some out there.streak
1747: Fucking SWEET ... OZZZZZZZZZZZYYYYY. That has to pump up the team somewhat eh
Alright, Pizza is HERE, and I have an unmerciful thrashing of Oakland to watch.
Authoritarian, Libertarian, Anarchist
Over at Eric Raymonds place, there is a discussion going on in comments about how pro-war libertarians and muscular minarchists (like Eric, and myself) are "objectively right wing".Of course this idea is being promulgated by self identified marxists, who are also writing things like the following:
"Soviet communism (which isn’t Marxism) is a different beast. It is not an opposition to the left-brained self-talking brutality of the West but rather just a different version of it; in fact, by narratising the development of these two forms as a “struggle” or “war” in which one must emerge victorious and set the standard for the world, as was done in the Cold War between U.S. capitalism and Soviet communism, you stand a good chance of extending the life of either or both forms of barbarism. Think “1984? and you will get the picture.It will never cease to amaze me how so many intelligent people can be so utterly stupid.Nazism – fast burn – deadly
Soviet communism – medium burn – deadlier
Murkan capitalist hegemony – slow burn – deadliest?Or if you prefer, think of the difference between a virus such as Ebola which quickly kills its victim and one such as HIV which works slowly, leaving its host just as dead but giving it enough time to spread surreptitiously and infect many more hosts, insuring its longevity. And then consider how the Murkan model has been successfully propagated throughout the rest of the world – Europe, Japan, India, China, and now the Middle East. If capitalistic squandering of natural resources continues apace, then we’re looking down the barrel of a bodycount in the BILLIONS:
http://www.dieoff.org
If anything the Marxists were optimists. They recognised the gross injustices of capitalism but expected the underclasses to be more aware, and more capable of revolution, than they turned out to be, and underestimated the effectiveness of the contrivers of American governance.
Comment by Jeff Read — Thursday, September 8 2005 @ 5:01 pm"
There are only three political philosophies:
1. The collective has rights, and those rights are superior to the rights of the individual
2. The individual has rights, but also responsibilities to the members of the collective. The collective has no rights, and those responsibilites owed to it's members are at best equal to the rights of the individual.
3. The individual has all rights which are superior, and no responsiblities
Fundamentally, that's all there is to it. I personally believe that if YOU believe in 1, or 3, no matter how smart you are, you're an idiot.
Anarchy and collectivism (3 and 1 respectively) are fundamnetaly wrong. Collectivism requires the subjugation of human freedom to the will of the collective in all things. I believe that this is objectively evil. Anarchy inevitably results in the total subjugation of the weak by the strong, which is also objectively evil.
If you believe in a "balance" between 1 and 2, you're wrong as well, because there is no balance between the two. Collectives do not have rights. Individuals have rights, and responsiblities are owed by individuals to the members of a collective. There are no collective rights.
If you believe in a balance between 2 and 3 you're wrong, there is no balance point. Either you owe responsibilities to the members of the collective, or you don't.
And no, I'm not going to softpedal this and say "this is my opinion". I believe that what I have said is objectively true, and not subject to opinion. My first principle is that the unwilling subjugation of human liberty is always objectively evil; unless it is to prevent an individual from transgressing upon the fundamental liberties of others.
I cannot comprehend how any other first principle could be correct.
If you are arguing from a different first principle, stop right now, because no useful discussion can occur between individuals who share different first principles on a subject; except as relates to those first principles themselves.
Now, try and convince me my first principle is wrong.
Are you READY for some FOOTBALL!!!
I'll say it right here, it's verifiable fact: The New England patriots are the fourth or fifth (depending on how you count it) best team in Football history.The Patriots have been in five of the past 19 superbowls, with a 3-2 record. Only Dallas with 8, and Denver with six, have more superbowl appearances.
The problem with Denver, is that it has a pretty bad win-loss record, thus the qualifier for fourth or fifth place. I personally put San Francicso, Pittsburgh, and the Patriots above Denver because of their win loss, even though Denver has one more appearance than any of those three.
Dallas has 8 appearances for a 5-3 record
Denver has 6 appearances for a 4-2 record
San Francisco has 5 appearances for a 5-0 record
Pittsburgh has 5 appearances, for a 4-1 record
New England has 5 appearances for a 3-2 record, including a back to back
Oakland has 5 appearances for a 3-2 record but has never gone back to back
Miami has 5 appearances for a 2-3 record
Not only that, but New England has been in 4 of the past 8, and 3 of 4 superbowls with a 3-0 record. No other team has even come close in the past ten years, and only Dallas and SF have done 4 of 8 (Dallas did 5 of 8 actually), with only Dallas also matching the 3 of 4 .
In fact in the last ten years, only one other team has won twice, Denver (back to back in the '97 and '98 seasons).
And lets not forget the 21 game winning streak, and the 3-1/2 year home winning streak. The pats havent lost at home since 2002.
If the Pats make it 5 for 9 and win, they'll beat the Cowboys winning percentage (.666 vs .625), and tie them as the only team to be in the majority of the superbowls in a decade (Dallas was in five superbowls from 1971-79, but didnt go again til '93), and be the only team to go 4 for 5.
At that point the debate is whether a 6 appearance 4-2 record puts you ahead of a 5 appearance 5-0 record.
Okay so numbers aside, tonight is the season opener (oh and check out Boomer Esiasons take on the pre-season, which I wholeheartedly agree with), Oakland at New England
; and other than the injury report (not good for New England), I'm stoked.
Yes, we lost some key personnel, but we have still got what I believe is the best team, and best coaching staff in the NFL. I'm certain we will at least make the AFC championship game, and I would not be at all surprised to see a repeat appearance in the SuperBowl this year.
That I think would cement us as the second (or third depending on how you count the numbers) best team in NFL history.
Oh and I'm reasonably certain no-one is ever going to beat the Niners 5-0 record, and I'm also reasonably certain the niners wont see another superbowl in the next five years (rebuilding doesnt begin to describe...).
Clearly the cowboys with their 8 appearances and .625 record are a better team historically than the 9ers, so it really comes down to the question, as with Denver, (6 with 4-2 for .333) which is more important, the one more appearance, or the percentage. I think with two more appearances you can say, Ok, that's a better record, but with one more appearance it's iffy. If it's one more appearance and the record is .500 or over I say they come out on top, but if it's under .500 I say they come out below.
Actually in that case so long as the Pats get IN to the SB this year, they'd still come out second of all time with a .500 record (current record is .600).
Oh and as to tonight, I think the game is too close to call because of the injuries. Vegas has the Pats by 7.5, and 49.5, but I'll take the Pats by 3.5 and 45.5 on the over.
Brothers and Best Friends
Note to my girlfriend: this has nothing to do with any actions on my part, it is a humorous discussion with a friend.Talking about best friends girlfriends:
JimS: Nope, no poaching alowed. It's one of the core essential rules.
Chris: Oh Lord of course no poaching. You'd NEVER do that to your best friend. You MIGHT do that to your brother, but NEVER to your best friend.
JimS: LMAO
Chris: Theres a reason for the old saying "Trust me with your life, but not your money or your wife"
At this point Jim is rendered incapable of typing....
Rockstar INXS - The plot thickens
I was busy getting smoked at poker (two bad beats tonight, dont wanna talk about it kind of bad...) but jsut watched the vids.No surprise, it was Suzie, J.D. and Jordis as I predicted (Mig really deserved bottom three under Suzie this time but we knew that wasn't gonna happen.
Suprisingly enough, J.D. got the encore, because the fans chose it, and they agreed with me, "Pretty Vegas" was a pretty good song; though I expected Marty would get the encore.
Now on to the reviews:
Jordis - "Need you tonight" : Okay whats with Jordis playing pop star the last few weeks? I mean seriously... the first few weeks she really got balls into everything, she sounded great and bluesy with range and soul... and then the last few weeks she's pretty much just done straight up pop covers. Yeah she has an amazing voice, and huge range, plus she has great looks (a little too chubby for the pop market maybe, but just beautiful... if she'd fix the hair).
Maybe she had already decided that she isn't going to win, and so she's doing what will get her commercial notice? I mean she's definitely going to get a recording contract out of this one; and it was probably clear she wasnt going to make the cut at some point, so just make yourself look like a good pop contract possiblity for the MTV and A&R boys maybe?
I dunno, but she's gone now.
Suzie - "Never Tear Us Apart" : Well since Deanna is gone Suzie decided to sing like her I guess. Good performance, good vocalization... have I mentioned she needs to be doing country? Not great, but good enough.
J.D. - "Mystify" : Damn, that was pretty good. Still too much vamping, but J.D.'s voice was perfect (other than another visit from the vibrato monster). He really does manage to connect with the audience, especially women. He sounded almost Hutchence like for a few lines. Definitely the best performance of the three. I know he can do better than he has been, I just don't know why he doesn't.
So it's pretty much as I predicted when I said "if Jordis is in the bottom three, she's going home" . I'm still kinda surprised J.D. has made it this far... I'm thinking he's been possuming the whole time, keeping people off balance... playing the whole thing as a game show I guess. Once again, do the producers have a hand in this? There is no such thing as "reality" TV after all.
Oh and did you guys realize that Ty was 36? Mig is 35, no surprise there (he looks a little too leathery), J.D.s 32nd birthday was last weekend (baby faced, but 32 looks right), and I dunno about Marty or Suzie, but when I read that Ty was 36, I was dead shocked. I was bored and started looking on IMDB, and there was some fun stuff there. Like Dana used to do soft core porn, and Daphnas real name is Rosenthal (Daphna Dove sounded pretty lame to me, but I guess it's a better rocker name than Rosenthal).
It's funny, I'm not one of those celebrity worshippers. I've met way too many famous people to be star struck (between physical security work, and my family growing up) but I love knowing random little details like that. I'm too much of a trivia nut I guess...
September 07, 2005
Rockstar INXS - Martys not gay, he's EMO
The quote above is from a readers email. I disagree; Marty isn't pathetic or lame enough to be emo; hell, they all got tats... ( except Mig... and J.D. got his own thing rather than the group tat. Yeah big surprise there ) and Marty took it like a man.I can respect Mig not wanting to get a permament skin mark. people don't take their tats seriously enough, jsut getting them as fashion statements. I can also respect J.D. wanting to go his own way with thing, and Jordiss assinine comment about "j.d. never goes with the group things" ... yeah fuck her.
Full Disclosure: This is coming from a guy with full coverage above both elbows
Ok so I'll review each on their cover, then their original.. let's jsut say I was right to worry for the future of most of these guys with their originals.
Suzie - Bonnie Raitt, "I can't make you love me"AND "Soul Life": I always find a nose ring distracting in closeup.. but that's neither here nor there. Competent, and well sung, but not as much emotion as it should have had, or as much as I expected. She really does have a great voice for country. Which brings me on to "Soul Life"... if some country label doesnt pick her up it would amaze me. The song wasnt that great, it just showed Suzies singing at her best.
I don't think she deserves it, but I'm guessing bottom three here.
Mig - Black Crowes, "Hard to handle" AND "Home in me" : Alright I jsut don't think Mig kicks enough ass for this song. This is a straight blues tune, and Mig is a theater guy. He was alreight, though singing out of his range in parts; but he jsut dont got it here. "Home in me"... yeah I didnt like it, and I didnt like the way he sang it. I think it might make a good country ballad actually, obviously orchestrated completely differently. It sounds like he wrote it as a "story song" which works great in the theater, and in country, but not rock.
I'm still having a hard time believing Mig is straight. Hell his wife is damn hot too. It's jsut his performance, and that stripping... I guess he has a huge gay audience in his theater work and his performance style is tailored to them or something.
If I had my choice, he'd be bottom three this week, but I think that's unlikely.
Jordis - Queen, "We are the champions" AND "Try Not": Uhhh yeah she sucked ass. You can't lame out on a queen song. Champions isn't jsut some other song, it's the anthem of victory. Did she sing well, yes of course, she alsmot always does. Did she sing that song properly? not even close..." Try not", better than the practice session... I don't see why she was doing the the talk singing thing at first but she got into it quickly. Not bad, but I dont think she had confidence in it, and so she toned it down too much. Just not enough emotion into it. No cutting loose until jsut before the end. If she'd done the whole song that way I'd be right there with her.
Bottom three, definitely. Eliminated maybe.
J.D. - "Nirvana, Come As You Are" AND "Pretty Vegas": Ummmmmm..... I dunno there man. Actually I thought he sang REALLY well, but that was just an odd choice of how to do the song. Glenn Danzig meets Elvis doing "Come as you are" on unplugged, only not as good as that would have been (actually that would have been fucking cool); THEN kick it up and jump around the stage.... Not for me man. Now "Pretty Vegas"... the performance was great, it was the song he wrote in the songwriting clinic when he broke with the team. I dug it, and as I said before it sounded like a song INXS might release. The bullhorn was an interesting touch... His vocals were a little inconsistent, but he was clearly into it and having fun...
I still think bottom three this week, but it was actually fairly cool. If Jordis is bottom three she's gone, if not J.D. is. Or maybe the other way around, I'm honestly not sure.
Marty - Foo Fighters, "Everlong" AND "In the trees": Not bad... he pulled it in kind of an unplugged mode, started out with the full soft, then let his natural scream out a little bit, then pull back to soft. I think I'd have preferred if he put some kick ass into it, but he's worried about the band not liking his scream. "Trees" ... yeah that's kinda cool. A little poppy but definitely releaseable. Actually a bit emo such as my commenter suggested. Maybe more early 90s college alternative or late 80s underground than emo, and not nearly whiny enough. Kind of an inane lyric really but it still worked.
Oh and he let the scream out here. And it worked.
Encore probably
So I'm guessing bottom three is Jordis, J.D, and Suzie, but I wish it were Mig and not Suzie.
MUST. LISTEN. NOW...
Very Definitely Not Safe for WorkBut you'll be fine at home or a friends house so long as no folks with sensitive ears are around.
http://www.illwillpress.com/kat.html
I do so love foamy.
September 06, 2005
It's not about race...
... it’s about class, culture, and civilization, and it's about feedback… or rather the fundamental lack thereof.I haven't said much about Katrina, and I'm not going to say much because ... well basically everyone else has.
But this one subject we need to talk about.
Feedback: In systems/logical analyisis terms feedback is the measurement of the results of a particular action or decision set. This is distinct from other inputs, because it involvs empirical evaluation of results of prior actions.
In a regulated system, there are several different mechanisms for acting on feedback, the most basic categories of which are referred to as "bang-bang", and "Proportional response".
In a bang-bang system, you are always either full on, or full off, with no throttling. You attempt to reach an acceptable average behavior in the system by setting reasonable tolerances, and than averaging out the time spent below and above the median.
In a proportional system, more complex measurements are required, because the aim of the system is to present a response proportional to the deviation from the median, and thus damp out the oscilations inherent in a bang-bang system.
In realtively simple systems like home heating, bang bang is considered fine enough control; but the more complex a system gets, the more complex it's controls must get to achieve the desired results.
Now there are two types of feedback. Negative feedback tells you that you have gone outside your boundary conditions (turn around, slow down, stop), and positive feedback tells you you need to move more towards them (speed up).
Negative feedback is the only type of feedback in bang-bang systems, and it is the easist feedback to implement, as well as the most effective in producing large results. Too much negative feedback however tends to result in wild oscilations of the system, and it's eventual failure.
Positive feedback is necessary for proportional systems to function, however too much positive feedback will also result in out of control systems as they quickly exceed their bounday conditions and fail.
There is actually a third type of feedback useful in more advanced systems known as steady state feedback (it's actually a variant of positive feedback), but that's out of the scope of this discussion.
Now, feedback has the same meaning, in a very different, but related field of systems analysis called Game Theory.
Game theory is the study of optimal decision sets. The object of game theory is to analyze what decisions will produce optimal results for a given situation. Often this is logically represented as a game, thus "game theory"... but game theory applies to MANY situations; and absolutely critical to game theory is the concept of feedback.
Let me illustrate. The classic game theory construct is called "The Prisoners Dilemma", illustrated like this (I'll jsut cut and paste, because it's a standard example used by everyone):
The classical prisoner's dilemma (PD) is as follows:
- Two suspects A, B are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and having separated both prisoners, visit each of them and offer the same deal: if one testifies for the prosecution (turns King's Evidence) against the other and the other remains silent, the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence and the betrayer goes free. If both stay silent, the police can only give both prisoners 6 months for a minor charge. If both betray each other, they receive a 2-year sentence each.
It can be summarised thus:
| Prisoner A Stays Silent | Prisoner A Betrays | |
|---|---|---|
| Prisoner B Stays Silent | Both serve six months | Prisoner B serves ten years; Prisoner A goes free |
| Prisoner B Betrays | Prisoner A serves ten years; Prisoner B goes free | Both serve two years |
Now, in the prisoners dilemma, there are a few sets of assumptions you need to make to play the game. The first, is that every player is trying to minimize their negative result (imprisonment), and maximize their positive result (freedom). The second, is that every player should understand that all the other players are attempting to reach the same result set.
In the first eample, let's assume you are each playing in isolation, with no way of knowing what the other players choice is before the end of the game.
Now, in a single instance of this game, the optimal choice may LOOK like ratting out the other player... but that looks like the optimal result to the other player as well so he would likely choose that and you BOTH serve two years; the second most negative result for each player.
The optimal decision set here is that both players stay silent, and thus both end up doing six months, which is the second most positive result for each player.
The problem is, you can't necessarily count on the other player to keep his mouth shut. He may jsut go for main chance, and hope he goes free (and you get screwed).
If you think he's going to do that, your optimal decision IS to talk.
So how do you make that decision?
Feedback.
Let us say that you are both in the same room and can hear each others decisions.. and look in each others faces when the options are presented to you. You're getting feedback from the other player, even if they dont say a word, and then after they DO you get more feedback, thus can potentially alter your choice; which will tend to produce closer to optimal results.
That's a bang-bang system right there BTW. No proportionality of response, either shut up or talk; and hope the result is closest to optimal.
Now lets say you run this game ten times with the same player. both in isolation again, and the one who spends the least amount of time in prison wins.
How do you decide how to play?
You could always be "the good guy", and not talk; in which case every time your opponent talked (and he would talk every time once he figures out you're "the good guy") he would go free and you'd do ten years.
You could be "the bad guy", in which case you just talked every time, and pretty quickly your opponent would figure out what you were doing, and you'd both spend 2 years
Finally, you can play "Tit for tat". In tit for tat, you start by making the decision set most likely to be optimal for all players, then after each iteration of the game you do to your opponent exactly what he did to you the last time. You give him "tit for tat".
Eventually, your opponent should figure out that you are going to hit him back with whatever he hits you with, and therefore he will over time choose the decision set that produces the optimal result for both players.
This is the concept of feedback memory, or stateful memory. You retain information about (at least) the current state of the system, the last state of the system, and the starting state of the system; and the decision set that made you reach this point.
The more times you play, the more collective feedback you recieve about a player; until in theory, you should always have the same result every time you play. You both end up doing six months each time; and it becomes clear that "Tit for tat" is the optimal decision strategy.
But critical to this assumption, is that you are recieving good feedback in response to your actions. If you don't know what the consequences of your choices and actions were, you cannot judge how best to make your next choice.
And that is the problem we face in society today. Certain groups within our society are attempting to make it entirely free of negative feedback. They wish to create a consequence free society with regards to our personal interactions.
But without negative feedback, a system will either remain the same, or accellerate out of control.
Worse, they also want to create a MEMORY free society, or in game terms they want us to create a steless society (would that were true in political terms).
Essentially they want us all to play the prisoners dilemma with out lives, but they don't want us to be able to play "tit for tat".
The chaos in New Orleans is a vivid and appalling example of what happens when social feedback is distorted by the actions of the state.
Okay so how can I possibly be reducing these people lives (and deaths) to game theory?
Quite simple really: The underclass of New Orleans (which comprises more than half the city) has had much of the feedback removed from their decision set evaluation, because of governement "assistance". Their poor choices (for whatever reason they made them, and I'm not talking about reasons I'm talking about consequences) did not have the proper proportionality of negative result, and therefore the poor choices were made more often. As these poor choices require far less effort than do good choices, out of proportion with the positive results produced by good choices; objectively poor choices were moved closer to the optimal decision set.
Without a proportionality of negative feedback, the second most negative choice can easily appear to be the second most positive choice.
Okay translating into the real world, what does this mean?
Andy and Barbara are Boyfriend and girlfriend. So are Charlie and Donna.
Charlie and Donna get married, and have a child together. Charlie has to work two jobs to support his wife and child, who aren't living very well. Charlie is tired all the time, and Donna doesn't see him very often, and neither does the baby. When Charlie isn't working, he's taking care of the baby and Donna is off working as well. Because of all their hard work, they are all well fed, the baby is being properly taken care of, and they are building some savings.
Andy and Barabara also have a baby, but they don't get married. Barbara goes on welfare, and gets a publicly subsidised apartment. She doesnt work because she would lose her welfare and subsidised apartment. Andy works, but not very hard, because if he works too much then the government takes it away from him to pay back the welfare Barbara is getting. Barabara IS able to stay home with the child, and they are all well fed because of the food subsidies she recieves. They have no savings, and no advancement from this position; and eventually the welfare will run out, but if they put themselves in a better position for when that happens, they will lose the welfare anyway. Plus, they'd both be tired all the time, and they wouldnt get to have any fun.
In a natural system (without government distortion), decision set A-B (andy Barbara) would result in Barbara and the baby starving to death, and Andy going and impregnating some other woman to start the cycle over again.
This would result in the eventual destruction of our society, as no one still alive in it would be willing to breed.
Actually, the more likely result is that all three individuals in the A-B decision set would become criminals.
In the government distorted system, the worst possible decision set, is spared the worst possible result, instead given a marginally acceptable result. ou keep doing that, and there will be a percentage of folks who find that suboptimal result acceptable, and will live in that manner.
But what happens when the government money shuts off?
New Orleans happens
Specialization is for insects
As I'm sure many of you know, Robert Heinlein is one of my favorite authors ("Moon is a Harsh Mistress" was both my first Heinlein, and my favorite, in case you were wondering).In what MOST fans see as his best book (I think they're wrong, but hey. Most hippies who aren't really fans think it's "Stranger in a strange land") "Time Enough For Love", the main character Lazarus Long writes "Specilization is for insects" and presents a list of what a well rounded human being should be able to do:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -- Lazarus Long, Robert Heinlein, "Time Enough For Love".
So on that list, what have I done?
* Change a diaper
* Plan an invasion - in wargaming anyway; both as part of tactical excercises, and for fun
* Butcher a hog - and deer, and others
* Conn a ship - depends on what you mean by a ship. Lots of small craft over 40' if that counts
* Design a building - built it too. Actually a couple if you count sheds and outbuildings
* Write a sonnet - not a sonnett, but plenty of poetry and songs
* Balance accounts
* Build a wall
* Set a bone - unfortunately several times, including my own
* Comfort the dying
* Take orders - both as a manager, and in the Air Force
* Give orders - both as a manager, and in the Air Force
* Cooperate
* Act alone
* Solve equations
* Analyze a new problem
* Pitch manure
* Program a computer
* Cook a tasty meal - Hell yeah, I even write artery clooging "Recipes for REAL Men"
* Fight efficiently
Of all these things, the only one I havent yet done, is the one I most hope I can live up to:
* Die gallantly
I think it's a pretty good list, but theres not a lot of detail. Theres another list I rather like, from Kim DuToit - "20 Things a Man Should do Before He Dies":
1. Shoot a gun larger than a .22.
- On at least a weekly basis
2. Teach a kid to shoot.
- Many times, and I hope to do it again many more
3. Cook a meal out in the open (and I don’t mean a backyard BBQ).
- Oh hell yes. Nothing better than camp food after a hard day
4. Kill an animal which can kill you.
- More than once, both by design and by necessity. I've hunted bear, and while hunting and hiking I've twice been forced to kill dangerous animals (a bear, and a mountain lion). Trust me on this one, that'll scare the piss out of ya.
5. Taste a good brandy (no French cognacs need apply) and a fine single malt Scotch.
- I take my liquor cabinet very seriously. I do have some decent brandy, but I'm really a whisky man (or whiskey, depending on the mood).
6. Visit at least eight countries outside your own continent, none of which speak your home language.
- I have had the great good fortune to visit all 50 American states, and 40 some-odd countries. I say some-odd because some of them aren't countries anymore, and some of them are several different countries... The perils of traveling in Africa and Eastern Europe (which I would love to do more of; especially Africa before it sinks entirely into the muck). I've also lived in 4 countries for more than 90 days, and 3 more countries for more than six weeks - didnt speak the language in any of those three (USA, Ireland, UK, Australia, Germany, Russia, Japan).
7. Read any six Shakespeare plays.
- I haven't quite read all of them, but I can give you my six favorites right here, in order
- Henry V
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Othello
- Hamlet
- Scottish
- Lear
- I was a varsity and USA wrestler from the age of 13 (unlimited heavyweight since I was 13 - which isn't unlimited actually, it's limited to either 140 or 150 kilos for under 18's depending on what conference you're a part of) and I won many matches and a few tournaments for my weight class.
9. Be part of a winning sports team.
- Winning events I've been on many teams. Winning championships, I was a starting offensive tackle for three seasons with the Dublin Rebels, three time IAFL (american football) all-Ireland and UK champions, three time european champions.
10. Make love with a woman in a forbidden place.
- Very fun stuff. In elevators, restaurants, theaters, bathrooms, churches, airplanes... VERY fun stuff
11. Have a strange woman invite you home with her; and refuse her, because you’re married.
- Turns out it was a mistake, as I found out later; I should have gone with her. I loved my wife, but I ended up in a much better relationship with the other woman after my marriage ended. There were others, but that one sticks out... I also cheated on my wife several times; some of which I regret, and some I don't.
12. Build something tangible—out of wood, steel, brick, whatever.
- One of the few that match the list above, and yes many times. I've built everything from furniture and guitars, to houses, cars, boats, even planes and a small church once (eagle scout service project)
13. Sit up all night comforting a sick child.
- Many times. Though I have no children myself, I was the oldest in a very large extended family of fuckups; so I was left in charge a lot. I've also been with a few single mothers.
14. Tell the truth, where a lie would both be undiscoverable, and keep you out of trouble.
- Yeah this one has gotten me fired a couple of times... and worse actually.
15. Watch at least one real virtuoso play a musical instrument—in any kind of music.
I was lucky enough to see lots, but heres just a quicky five guitarists off the top of my head
- B.B. King
- Eric Johnson
- Steve Vai
- Stevie Ray Vaughn (I was 12)
- Joe Satriani
16. Perform on stage (music, theater, whatever), to a large (500+) audience.
- I used to front a show band doing Classic Rock, Blues, and Soul covers. Frikken great times there. Just fun stuff, most of us worked for the same company. I also performed in choral competitions when I was a kid and in high school.
17. Play at least one musical instrument competently.
- I used to play guitar competently, but not well enough to do it for anything more than stress relief and fun.
18. Make love to a woman at least ten years older than you are.
- Biggest gap has been 24 years. When I was 17 I was in a regular thing with a gorgeous 41 year old Russian woman, married to an 80 year old American jsut for citizenship. Man that was fun.
19. Tell a government bureaucrat to fuck off.
- In those exact words, and more than once. It can be surprisingly effective, or disastrously ineffective depending on the circumstances
20. And finally: tell a true story to your grandchildren.
- Well, no kids yet; and no prospect of them any time soon, but let me tell you I can't wait... and I should have some good ones to tell.
HT: Erics Grumbles
September 05, 2005
Rockstar INXS - Reprise and the Originals
Okay so this week should be interesting. They are going to sing the viewers choice polls AND and original song each.I wonder how they are going to set the show up because I'm sure it will effect the voting.
Overall I'm glad to see them doing viewer requests, but I'm not so sure about some of the choices:
Suzie - Bonnie Raitt, "I can't make you love me": Hmmmm, okay I think she's going to do really well here, but I'm worried about her doing an original. If she does well with the original I'd guess she's safe.
Mig - Black Crowes, "Hard to handle": Will he be competent, yeah, but I dont think Mig has the blues-balls if you know what I mean. As to an original, well we already heard one mediocre but competently sung original get Mig in the safety zone; I'd expect we'll see another one.
Jordis - Queen, "We are the champions" AND "Try Not": "Try not" doesnt sound right... dunno if its the arrangement or jsut not a great song. Of course we only got a 30 second clip of it so let's see. Also she jsut had no clue what to do with the band so... As to "...Champions" I'm sure she's going to do well with it. Shes got a great and powerful voice, but she REALLY needs to get the guts into it, or she's gone.
J.D. - "Nirvana, Come As You Are": First, ya gotta love the money quote "You know you've had a good night when you wake up with birthday cake around your mouth. You know you've had a GREAT night, when you wake up with birthday cake in your ass crack"... Yup it was J.D.s 32nd birthday, and they had a hell of a party, including a cake fight. Whatever you think of J.D. as a performer, the guy has personality.
Anyway the song... I think he CAN do very well with it, but I'm guessing he won't. I don't know why it is, because he clearly has the ABILITY to sing ALL the songs he's had very well. Unfortunately, once he actually gets up on stage the porkmeister appears and we are all drowned in ham for 3 minutes.
Marty - Foo Fighters, "Everlong" AND "In the trees": Okay Everlong should be good for Marty. He's saying that he's worried about the screaminess of the choruses, but I dont think he SHOULD worry, he should just do it. His original sounds good acoustic, so I hope he goes that way with it.
A Recipe Stub
Real, lean, heavily cured corned beef (yeah I know I've said before it’s not traditional Irish, and it’s not, but it tastes good), and Irish back bacon, boiled to shreds in mustard pepper water with cubed potatoes.
Pull half the potatoes out at when soft, but not too soft, then deep fry in butter, along with irish sausages and white pudding (for the flavor, chopped into bite sized pieces) til soft browned.
Take some mustard, and some of the butter and sausage grease and a little milk, mix like a dressing, and toss thoroughly with the meat and potatoes.
It’s a combination fryup and boiled dinner. Differnt flavors and textures of pork and potato. Great combo.
Actually I based it on a new england boiled dinner, except I hate cabbage and turnips.
Oh and if you have a decent butcher or sausage maker, have him make you up a basil rosemary garlic and fennel lean pork sausage with some capicola or prosciutto, and parmaggiano mixed in.
The BEST sausage you will ever taste.
Recipes for REAL Men, Volume 9 - Labor Day Potatos
All right folks, more potato salad is consumed at American barbecues than any other side dish except for potato chips, so in honor of Labor Day, I thought I'd post my potato salad recipe.Mine is kind of a hybrid of Hungarian, Irish, Spanish, and German potato salads, because basically I hate mayonaise.
So I'm giving you two options, tangy, or creamy tangy...
Anyway, on to the recipe.
Ingredients:
1lb black pepper cured bacon sliced thin
3lb new potatos, quartered (peeling optional)
1 large onion (optional)
1 large red bell pepper (optional)
6 or so random chili peppers (optional, to taste)
2 large celery stalks (optional)
8oz cherry tomatos (optional)
8oz cream cheese (optional)
8oz grated parmaggiano
8oz brown dijon mustard
1/2-1 cup balsamic vinegar or pickling brine (for traditional german)
1/2 cup cream (optional)
Seasonings:
2 tbsp fresh basil
2 tbsb fresh oregano
2 tbsp paprika (hungarian is better than spanish)
2 tbsp cracked black pepper
2 tbsp fennel seed
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic
1 lime
Preparation:
Quarter your potatos, peeling first if desired (I generally don't bother), then boil in water with a little salt and vinegar added until slightly soft.
Different potatos will soften at different rates so theres no hard and fast time limit here. Basically if the sharp corners are jsut starting to round off a bit, that should be enough, or maybe jsut abit too much depending on your preferred texture. You want there to still be a little snap in the potato when you bite.
While the potatos are boiling,chop up your onions, peppers, and celery to about half the size of the potato bites, or a bit smaller if your new potatos are larger (you are looking for under 1/2" chunks of onion etc...). Quarter your tomatos and put them aside. Cover ALL the vegetables with the juice of a lime, and put aside.
Fry your bacon til crisp, then put aside and strain the grease into a saucepan. Crush and mince the seasonings and add to the grease while still warm. Thoroughly incorporate the mustard and balsamic vinegar forming an emulsion. The amount of mustard and vinegar you use here is highly dependant on your bacon grease. Some bacon will produce more grease than others, so if the dressing is too oily, add more mustard and vinegar, too watery less vinegar etc... It's really a matter of preferred texture.
At this point you have a decision to make, do you want it tangy creamy, or just tangy...
If you are just going for tangy, it's time to toss the crumbled bacon, potatos and all the veggies but the tomatos together with the dressing; then toss the tomatoes and parmaggiano over it, chop up and sprinkle some leftover fresh green herbs on the top, and server either warm or cold.
If you want creamy tangy, then put the dressing on a low heat, and combine the cheeses thoroughly. If the mixture becomes too thick you can add a little cream, or buttermilk to smoothe it out. Then combine as above, but mix the tomatos in with the rest, and definitely serve chilled.
Now isn't that better than mayonaise?
UPDATE: OOOh I just had a thought. Add a couple tablespoons of fresh grated horseradish to the mustard dressing...
Oh yeah babe, that's good stuff...
Recipes for REAL Men, Voume 8 - It's a pork fat thing
Recipes for REAL men Volume 7, It may not be Kosher...
Recipes for REAL men Volume 6, Andouille Guiness Chili
Recipes for REAL men Volume 5, Eazza the Ultimate Pizza
Recipes for REAL men, Volume 4 Two Pound Meat Sauce
Recipes for REAL men, Volume 3 Highbrow Hash
Recipes for REAL men, Volume 2 MuscleCarbonara
Recipes for REAL men, Volume 1 More Beef than Stew
To All Conspiracy Theorists
-- Napoleon Bonaparte
I can't be the only one thinking...
That John Roberts is not the right man for our next Chief Justice...Okay I've come to the opinion that he'll be an all right associate jsutice, but choosing him out of convenience (Bush apparently said he did it so that there wouldnt be a vacancy when they return to session in October), seems kind of short sighted here doesnt it?
As when Roberts was first nominated, I think the best thing here is to let the Dems blow their load ranting and raving. Let them waste their credibility and political capital now, and get rid of the filibuster for nominations (we need to keep it for legislation) while we're at it.
September 04, 2005
Drunkblogging
Ok, I'm stealing a page from Steven Green here and I'm drunkblogging my poker night.
Two sittings today, I finished just out of the final table, both sittings I won the losers table, and there were two dollar amber bocks all night, so I had twelve.
A few days ago my brother ran out on a $20 dollar tab after a bar fight... only thats not exactly what happened. He actually payed the tab, only someone lifted it off the bar, with two independent witnesses no less... Anyway I paid the $20, and two guys came forward and said a waitress had taken it (shewas fired yesterday in an unrelated incidence of incompetence), and the bartender credit me back the $20 I paid her even though I told her I didn't have a problem covering it (she makes my triples quads when I order a triple vodka, plus shes cute and has a great attitude)yso I was drinking free the last hour of the tourney.
I went out two pair in 9th place (I went out in ninth both tables, and won both losers tables for 50 points total) - Aces and queens to the straight in the river (the guy had three times my stack, and he called me because he could) - so I went over to the losers table and started drinking.
I've had five shots, and five beers in the last 40 miniutes, and lets jsut say I'm feeling fine.
Oh, and I've got a bet going... $200 for 20 shots over 6 hours. I can win that with my eyes closed.
Cheers...
September 01, 2005
Phoenix Gas Price Observation
Just a quickie observation.The gas prices near me were as low as $2.39 last week, and as High as $2.89
Three days ago they were $2.69 to $2.99
Today they were $2.99 to $3.29
Lets see what happens tomorrow...
Rockstar - Holy SHIT!!!!
Ty? Ty? What THE FUCK?First of all, he gave a pretty good performance of "You can't always get what you want", no WAY that was bottom three. Second, Everyone I've talked to (excepting for swooning women) thought it should be J.D. gone...
Okay so Suzie gets the encore as I predicted with Marty as her opening act, thus making my backup prediction true as well... yay me.
So good, J.D. and Jordis were where they belonged, in the bottom three; but TY???
My "producers rigging the voting for dramatic tension" hypothesis seems more and more plausible here guys.
I'm not even going to bother reviewing the songs, because they all SUCKED HARDCORE, but J.D. and Jordis were definitely far worse. Ty's version was at least plausible.
Then the band makes the decision because Ty had been in the bottom three three times...
I repeat, WHAT THE FUCK???
Okay we knew it wasnt going to be Ty at the end, but I was SURE he'd be one of the final three. J.D. and Suzie are pretty obvious sacrificial lambs at this point, and I'm guessing J.D. goes out next week, and Suzie right after with Jordis following (gotta keep the woman in as long as possible for demographics and to avoid bad press), to set up the showdown between Mig and Marty. Mig will of course blow Marty completely out of the water, but the audience hates Mig (and INXS doesnt like Marty) so we'll see what happens.
Actually they might set Marty and Jordis up with songs they will tank to keep Suzie around for the final so the demographics will balance out, and Mig will go up against basically weak competition.