Fun

Nothing says "fun" in the wee hours 'o th' mornin' than a police action on the route on which I'm riding my bike.

I opted not to investigate and went around by a block or so. I'm curious, but not that curious.

And that sums up anything I can think of that's even vaguely-interesting to say.

An example of purest awesome

Just... go see this. Bask in it.

This is beauty, my friends. Sublime beauty.

Monday again?

Another week begins.

I'm somewhat-surprised how much I was able to get done with a three-day weekend. Mostly little cleaning/maintenance stuff. Funny how I put more effort into cleaning my car than my apartment.

Shows my priorities, I guess. Then again, I do refer to my car as "My Precioussssss".

I also try to do the Gollum voice. Not sure how convincing I am, but I do notice folk sidle away when I do that.

---

At the recommendation of a friend, I am reading John Dies at the End by "David Wong" (a pseudonym for Cracked.com editor Jason Pargin).

Think "The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (without, y'know, leaving the planet) meets "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (there is a Las Vegas scene in the book) meets "They Live". Mix in some drugs. Liberally.

It's a very entertaining read. I'm almost halfway through and am thoroughly enjoying it.

---

I can't believe August is almost here. That said, I'm somewhat-relieved August is almost here. The next paycheck will be welcome. Gonna be a tight couple of months. *sigh*.

---

Learned how to make an Old Fashioned yesterday.

Note to self: when making one for my own consumption, I should use less whiskey than what I was taught. Yikes.

Time

It's a fascinating thing when your manager tells you that you really need to take time off. As in "you've got too much vacation accrued. Take some damn time off!"

Lacking funds to do anything... um... fun, I've opted to burn the odd Friday here-and-there.

The last twenty-four hours have had:
- a visit to a nice whiskey bar
- a visit to a dump
- a visit to a recycling center
- cooking pasta sauce
- an ill-advised lunch at the local pub
- an even more ill-advised thought that maybe I should try some of these unopened bottles of liquor in my kitchen as a "taste test" while the pasta sauce simmers.

Not the wisest use of my time, overall. Except for the pasta sauce. This is going to be dinner for the coming couple of weeks. Good times.

$16 Trillion of WTF

"The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression"

Quoted from Salon, which quotes Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Sixteen TRILLION dollars.

While the country spins and melts, while jobs are getting tossed overseas left and right, while schools are closing, while people are out of work, while poverty is rising, these assholes get sixteen TRILLION dollars of U.S. money.

Goddamn FED should be disbanded. The banks should be broken up. This money should get distrubuted where it will do some goddamn good and there should be some damn transparency on this process from here on out.

This is beyond bullshit.

Rest in Peace Romana I

Mary Tamm has passed to that great time rift in the sky. Rest in peace, Ms. Tamm.

Delightful doses of weird

The ghost music has returned! Yay!

Folks are friendly this morning! Lots of smiling greetings from fellow early-morning denizens. Kinda weird, really.

I guess everyone had their coffee.

Getting Liberated

Apparently there's a plan to reboot "Blake's 7".

The plan is to shop this with American networks.

*sigh*

While I am overjoyed that someone wants to reboot the gritty space opera, I don't think a U.S. network is the way to go (unless you're thinking HBO).

"Blake's 7" was gritty, dark, and vicious. The characters were morally ambiguous at the best of times and there weren't a lot of "best" times in the series.

U.S. television networks will either make the series sunshiny and saccharine by stripping away character depth or they'll muck about with idiotic TV execs to wipe out any coherency in the plot.

Or, FSM-forbid, they'll hire Ron Moore or Damon Lindelof to add their plot elements. We'll then get stuck with angels, some kind of primary-color substance as a MacGuffin, and an especially-incoherent ending.

This makes me sad.

Knight Time

Saw The Dark Knight Rises on Friday.


Reactions (spoilery)

























You were warned.




Nice follow-up to The Dark Knight. I enjoyed the addition of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character "John Blake". The character twist at the end was clever-ish.
I am deeply in lust... um... love... no wait. Both. I am in love/lust with Anne Hathaway. My only complaint regarding her is that she did not get nearly enough screen-time, especially in that catsuit. Mmm...

I enjoyed Marion Cotillard's character "Miranda Tate". A little predictable.

And overall, it was a fun story. Satisfying, if somewhat ambiguous, ending.

I intensely-disliked the overall delivery of the character of "Bane". The mask made him look stupid. The sound mixing of his voice was terrible and nearly incomprehensible. And that coat made him look ridiculous.

There was not enough Batman. Not nearly enough. Not by far.

I could claim a lot of the story was contrived, but the film is based on a comic book. "Contrived" is a given.

If there was any deep message in the whole "Occupy movement" allusions in the plot, they were lost in the heavy-handed, and somewhat-incomprehensible delivery.

my poor liver

Gourmet Haus Staudt
Local Edition
St George Spirits
Takara Sake

That's a non-inclusive list of the last two days.

Yikes.

PICTURE!

Because TSA info never gets old.



Found on RPG.net but also seen on BoingBoing, for due credit.

If this doesn't display properly (and it doesn't for me), go here and see it in all its graphic glory.

18 year olds in a phone booth

Is "Doctor Who" rubbish?

Watch the arguments and decide for yourself.

That's the way the cookie... damnit

I found myself with a perfect storm of certain materials in my kitchen last night. Long story short, I had what I needed to make a batch of double-chocolate oatmeal cookies.

It's been a while since I baked, so I mixed everything together, chilled the batter for a while, then baked a batch.

Turned out okay, save for the fact that the damn things all-but-disintegrated coming off the cookie sheets. Not sure what I did wrong.

They taste fine (and a little addictive) so I'm unloading 'em at work. I'm embarrassed with the presentation, though.

Worked out okay. I haven't brought baked goods to work for a while. FSM knows, the goodwill bought by sugar won't hurt when I start pestering folks with questions.

Forget Zombies, worry about Cinderella!

Yes, someone has worked out how to lay a successful siege on Cinderella's Castle.

A worthy endeavor. Best to be prepared for when Disney gets serious about world domination.

What? It's too late? Aaah! Ready the soldiers! We strike!

(via io9)

Tourism Comedy

According to SFGate, Berkeley is trying to become a tourist destination.

I may have heard funnier things in my time, but none of them are immediately popping into my head.

I'm not sure what sorts of tourist attractions Berkeley thinks it has to offer. It's a University town, so the college is nice, but it's not really a tourist draw. It's a student draw (and rightly-so).

It's got a few nice places to eat, but honestly, it's not worth the hassle of trying to park, getting hassled by panhandlers (or just random crazy people), dealing with the smell of someone pissing in the streets, or possibly getting mugged.

Oh yes, Berkeley isn't exactly safe.

I've experienced my share of fun encounters with Berkeley lifeforms trying to injure me, so I may have a bias.

I'm sure the various vacant shops might have some kind of draw. Or people just lying on the ground. Or drugged-out naked folks walking about.

Maybe they're thinking of the appeal of the crime rate. Gotta love this statement:

"With a crime rate of 67 per one thousand residents, Berkeley has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 15. Within California, more than 98% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Berkeley."

I know more than a few people who have been assaulted in the city. The rape statistics alone are supposed to be pretty hideous, but I can't get ahold of any kind of solid numbers to back that.

Berkeley as a tourist destination. That's not even a funny joke. The city is a mismanaged cesspool in most parts. If the city wants tourists, they need to clean the place up. Badly.

July Surprise

I honestly didn't believe the weather folks this morning when they forecast rain. All the same, I drove in to work, just to be safe.

I felt slightly bummed, as I wanted the bike ride.

I was out of my garage and noticed the cars on the street were wet, but the street was dry. I was all set to chalk my caution up to excessive paranoia.

Then I hit rain.

Wasn't pouring or anything, but I needed wipers on my windshields. And I gave thanks to my paranoid instincts.

Weird weather.

Scottevest Thoughts

I'll admit I haven't perused the Scottevest site in a while. Last week made me think of them and I poked around again, mainly to see what they've got and what I've obtained from them in the past.

I've already mentioned the pure awesome that is the TEC Hat.

I sort of mentioned the hoodie and may have mentioned it before in the ridiculous number of postings I've had to this blog.

The hoodie is probably my second-favorite (after the TEC hat) garment I've gotten from Scottevest. It's very comfortable and has a pleasing number of pockets. It has a few of the problems I've found in all the jackets I've gotten from them: the zippers are stubborn and stick often. And I don't like magnets in my clothes, but overall I very much love it. I think when I got mine before they only had one color. Now I see they offer a second color so I may have to expand the wardrobe when my budget allows.

I've got one of their Tropical Windbreaker jackets in an EDC bag somewhere. I have to admit this one is also quite nice. It's an excellent summer jacket for the Bay Area when the sea breezes and fog make their appearance. Has a ridiculous number of pockets, fits nicely, and breathes well.

Interestingly-enough, this is the only Scottevest garment (aside from the TEC Hat) I own in which the zippers don't stick. No idea what was going on when this was made, but everything in this jacket is solid. Nice construction and everything.

Actually, the more I peruse their catalog, the more I note that the garments I had issue with are no longer listed. Maybe they were discontinued?

I may have to revisit this site more often. The Expedition jacket looks tempting, as does the Carry On Coat. The latter could use a few colors for variety, I suppose, but the concept is intriguing.

I see their T-shirts have a different design as well.

I'm intrigued that they appear to have a few things I've seen on County Comm, like the Embassy Pen and peanut lighter. I wonder if there's some kind of cooperation thing going on or both companies just get their stuff from the same place?

You intrigue me again, Scottevest. I look forward to my budget letting me buy some of your stuff.

Geology Dirty Talk

I guess I could ask a geologist if this is true, but I really don't want to know.

Better Living Through Modern Chemistry

Went to the doctor on Friday out of fears that I was developing an ear infection.

Long story short: I'm not. Just sinus issues.

Drugs prescribed. The medicine has done its magic and I feel as close to human as one might expect on a Monday morning.

Didn't really sleep well. The wind (well... breeze...) kept making one of the bits of hanging art on my wall bang about. I was just asleep-ish that it was too much effort to get out of bed but not enough to actually be asleep.

Today's gonna be a hoot.

Friday, I welcome you

Something sinus-y is frying me. Might be a cold, but I think it's very likely just allergies.

This week has been a wash for me altogether.

So tired...

Almost there...

I can almost taste Friday. Almost...

Decided it was time to just bite the bullet and put the bike away for a few days. Worked out for the best this morning, as I woke to the alarm out of a really bizarre dream.

Ever had one of those really lucid, yet totally weird, dreams that still seem real after you wake up? This one was one of those. I almost feel as though I owe a buddy of mine an apology for the car wreck I dreamt.

Not sure what it means that his baby kid was juggling turtles. I'm probably happier not analyzing that in any great detail.

---

The ghost music appears to have gone away for a while. I am sad.

---

So tired...

Vocabulary

Learned a new word today: "sciatica"

Not sure if it applies to me or not. I'm thinking it does. Fun.

Pain, Things, and Such

Word to the wise: if you are experiencing pain (oh, let's say, a pulled muscle or something in your leg that is troublesome) it's perfectly acceptable to ignore news reports of a "Spare the Air Day" and drive to work instead of straining any damaged muscles by riding your bike.

That said, I beat my personal best time into the office this morning. That's some comfort with the excruciating, shooting pain that's going down my leg. I do believe today's ride home will suck hard and I will probably skip martial arts tonight.

---

I'm too lazy to go through my archives of untagged posts and see if I've already mentioned this before, so I'm repeating some raving over gear I'm fond of:

The first is the TEC Hat from SCOTTEVEST.

I have a sort of love-hate relationship with SCOTTEVEST. Their customer-service is some of the best I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with and some of their attire (the aformentioned hat and their hoodie) are awesome like tasty bacon.

And some... not so much. I've owned several of their jackets and shirts over the years and found the pockets to be made of flimsy, easily-damaged material and the zippers to get stuck or jammed easily. Still, in the overall scheme of things I am fond of their creations, especially their hats.

The TEC hat (I own three... maybe four of them?) is a nice, unisize baseball-cap style hat. It sits comfortably like any good baseball-style cap. The added bonus is that it's got two (count 'em, TWO!) pockets squirreled away in it. One along the side (barely big enough for ID) and another in the bill. Good way to slip in a key (sans keyring) or a couple of bills for when you're jogging or what-not.

---

Then there's the 686 Tool Belt. Designed for snowboarders (which I am not), this belt has a hex-tool as well as a Philips and flat-head screwdriver all built-in. There's even a bottle-opener on there.

And let me tell you, opening a beer with your belt buckle looks just as awkward and inappropriate as you might imagine. But don't dwell on that image.

Seriously, stop dwelling. Move on.

The 686 is pretty cool. The buckle detatches nicely, giving you screwdrivers for when you need them (presumably in some kind of emergency or snowboarding scenario) and I've never had trouble getting it on airplanes and the like, though other folks have had issues.

I even converted mine into a money-belt thanks to the joy of Instructables. My craft skills could use some work, alas. I may need to do repairs soon.

---

Had a family member accuse me of being a hoarder over the weekend. I can't really deny it. I totally fit the profile, and that's not just 'cause I'm a terrible housekeeper.

So I'm going through boxes of crap and trying to figure out why in the name of all-knowing sentient pasta I'm keeping some of the ridiculous shite I've got.

Still working on answers. I've got appliances that I just haven't gotten around to disposing of because I don't want to just toss 'em in the trash. I think they need special handling and I haven't found time to get out to licensed disposal centers (or felt a strong desire to pay money to throw away my crap). That's on my to-do list for this month, though.

Hell, I found a hammock in my storage unit. I didn't know I had a hammock!

I have issues.

If you aren't paranoid, you're not paying attention

Yep. Soon authorities (or just anyone who has this tech) can scan you and take a look at whatever they want without your consent or even your knowledge.

And there's not shit anyone can do about it.

If you read this and it doesn't bother you, there's something seriously wrong.

This... it... SO MUCH AWESOME

Belly dancing jedi with TARDIS skirts and flaming samurai swords.

We... it... I... just... wow.

There is a Jayne Cobb quote I could make right now.

(via Fashionably Geek)

Hawaii Five-OHMYGODWE'REGONNADIE

CHEST-BURSTERS IN THE OCEAN!!!

AAAAHHH!!!!!

Circular

And so another week begins. Sleepless night. Restlessly waking up. I've got two mosquito bites. Damnit.

Black Blood of the Earth. Counters the poor sleep.

Idiots on the road. Some are in cars. Some are walking on freeway off-ramps in dark clothing.

Those are special kinds of idiots right there.

Homeless with overladen shopping carts in the middle of roads.

Managed to at least get the office lights to their dimmest setting.

No ghost music. I find myself missing it.

Wonder what the week will bring?

Hopefully creepy early-morning ghost music.

The Holy Land

German smoked beer, giant pretzels, and a patio.

Just as the FSM intended.

RAmen.

The Future is Now

While battling headwinds in to work this fine, blustery morning, I saw a truly 21st century moment:

He looked like a street person. Scraggly-beard, indifferently-clean garments, etc. He certainly had no solid reason to be sitting in front of an abandoned storefront at 4:45 am.

On his lap was a laptop. The glow from the laptop screen drew my eye to him. Next to him, connected to the laptop by a cable, was an LCD monitor. He seemed to be watching movies or something similarly-entertaining from the smile on his face.

I have no idea if he was running on battery power or tapped into the building somehow.

He looked homeless and he was watching movies, possibly-online. So very 21st century.

Declaration of Internet Freedom (Soapbox moment)

I'm of the opinion that - generally - petitions and the like do little substantive good in a world where money talks and bullshit walks.

Folks who protest in the streets don't accomplish much beyond getting portrayed as lunatics by corporate-owned media. The best way to exact substantive change is to pool money and rent a politician.

That said, there are a few exceptions.

Recent "grassroots" Internet movements have had some surprising traction. It's made me wonder if it's possible to move the political dialog along a bit through sheer social pressure.

So, with some cautious optimism, I forward this bit about the Declaration of Internet Freedom.

The concept is pretty sound, I suppose. Given the inability of U.S. citizenry to understand, much less defend, their own current constitutional rights, I don't have too much faith that this will go too far, but it's a start. Sometimes it's baby steps.

And sometimes I get surprised.

OH MY GOD!

Diana (Emma Peel) Rigg on "Doctor Who"?????

I just had a serious nerdgasm.

In today's chapter of WTF...

Scanning vans that can record you naked.

My favorite quote from this article: “From a privacy standpoint, I’m hard-pressed to see what the concern or objection could be”

(via BoingBoing)

Seriously. Why beat around the bush at this point? Let's just get our full Orwell on. Bring in the Big Brother routine and stop pretending. I mean, why all the fuss? It's not like there's any legal reason for authorities not to do this...

More fun than a sharp stick in the eye

I blew out my knee while sparring on Friday.

In all honesty, I feel I should point out that I'm more than a little bit horrible at sparring. I haven't done any sort of quasi-serious sparring in about twelve years and it's not like riding a bike. Especially after one loses flexibility and all that fun stuff.

At first I thought it was my ankle. It was my ankle that gave way as I lost balance, but Saturday revealed that I probably hyper-extended my knee at some point while trying desperately to kick the black belt(s) who taught me more lessons in humility.

Walking has therefore become a bit of a trial as I have a bit of a limp. It's gotten significantly better today, but I can still feel the twinges.

Friends and family ask me pointedly, multiple times, why in the HELL I'm doing this to myself.

Given my obvious lack of aptitude for this hobby, I have to admit their questions are valid. I'm not sure I know the answer.

I told a kid in class that I'm of the opinion that all martial arts students are inherently masochists on some level (then I had to explain the difference between masochists and sadists, which was a fun conversation that worked out to: "if you've gotten a black belt, you're clearly a sadist as well as a masochist" but that conversation is a bit afield from where I'm at here).

I'm of the opinion that I'm not a masochist (a point debated by family and friends). I don't particularly care for pain. When there's pain involved in a scenario, I'd prefer to be delivering it rather than receiving it. That said, I don't favor scenarios where there's pain delivery. I'd rather not hit or hurt people. I don't like to hurt people.

So why in the hell am I doing this?

Part of it is simple acknowledgement that the world is a dangerous place. Martial arts has taught me how to be more aware of my surroundings and has taught me the first few baby steps on a path of thinking tactically of a situation and how to avoid trouble.

Turns out I do have talent at avoiding dangerous situations. Go me!

Part of it is a desire for control. Physical and mental conditioning is at the core of any martial art. Conditioning leads to muscle memory and reaction training. It helps deal with shock, surprise, and adrenaline overload. It also helps learn how not to hurt someone.

I know that one of the reasons I'm bad at sparring is the obvious one: fear. I'm afraid of getting hurt.

In all honesty, I'm not that afraid of the pain. Not as much as I should be. I've been hurt before and I'll be hurt again in the future. Physical pain is not something I enjoy, but there's worse things out there.

The fear thing kicks in for the flipside of that scenario: I'm afraid of hurting someone else. I don't want to be that guy who accidentally knocks out someone's tooth or breaks a knee or whatever.

Control minimizes that risk, but it's hard to get the control when I'm afraid to test the limits.

There's other reasons I want to continue in this self-destructive hobby: I want the practical skills that come of this. I want to develop some kind of physical confidence and get that sense of centeredness and self-assuredness that I see in practitioners. I want to find a sense of personal balance that I've failed to find elsewhere in life.

And I guess there's the fear motivation. I want to be able to protect myself in a dangerous scenario.

And I'm afraid of failure. That always sucks.

Crazy goddamn hobby. I'd consider switching to knitting, but I know I'd wind up impaling my fingers on those damn needles. Sigh.

Mysteries

Oh ghost music, from whence do you originate? Do I truly wish to know?