Year's end meme

A look back at 2008 via the first words I posted each month:

January: The first day of the new year... woke up hung over and irritable.

February: I found myself in work this morning before the sun had even come up. That's just wrong.

March: HESS truck! It lights up, and that's about it.

April: Well, our new found Irish friend completed the restoration of our stone wall today.

May: RIP Albert Hofmann.

June: In the normal course of a day, I send roughly 20 some emails to various people asking them to complete, correct or re-do work. That's my job.

July: In order to help fill the state coffers, Massachusetts just put into effect an additional $1 per pack cigarette tax.

August: Sorry, guys. I have no information about Wall E stuffed animals. If there are any, I'd like one.

September: Got my copy of The Bunny Boy today.

October: Needless to say, I can not wait!

November: Well, the trick or treating was light, but over all it was a fun day.

December: You may now refer to me as Rev. TK8103.

Thanks to Mycalls for the idea. Here's hoping 2009 is a decent year, filled with happiness, prosperity, and more inane drivel from yours truly.

And my apologies to KG for dumping champagne all over her.

Merry Christmas to all

Happy Brumalia!

Let it snow

Here's our driveway at 2:15PM yesterday:
4:15PM:
6:15PM
8:15PM
9:00AM this morning

Gay Marriage

I'm getting really tired of the whole "sanctity of marriage" argument. Seriously.

Marriage is, and should be, recognized as the sacred union of two people. If two individuals fall in love and vow to remain true to one another, they should be afford the legal recognition of that vow.

50% of male/female marriages end in divorce. Where's the sanctity in that?

I'm married. There were no legal, moral or social obstacles to over come for KG and I to wed. We flew to Vegas. We stood in line at City Hall, filled out a form, paid $50, and were wed at the Elvis Chapel the next day. End of story.

Anyone who takes the right away from two people in love to marry cheapens the meaning of my marriage. It only means something if it's a right afforded to every one.

So, how about we all get together and give me back my sanctity, eh?

Veteran's Day

I got your letter today
And I miss you all so much, here
I can't wait to see you all
And I'm counting the days, dear
I still believe that there's gold
At the end of the world
And I'll come home
To Illinois
On the day after tomorrow

It is so hard
And it's cold here
And I'm tired of taking orders
And I miss old Rockford town
Up by the Wisconsin border
But I miss you won't believe
Shoveling snow and raking leaves
And my plane will touch tomorrow
On the day after tomorrow

I close my eyes
Every night
And I dream that I can hold you
They fill us full of lies
Everyone buys
About what it means to be a soldier
I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel
About all the blood that's been spilled
Look out on the street
Get me back home
On the day after tomorrow

You can't deny
The other side
Don't want to die
Any more than we do
What I'm trying to say,
Is don't they pray
To the same God that we do?
Tell me, how does God choose?
Whose prayers does he refuse?
Who turns the wheel?
And who throws the dice
On the day after tomorrow?

Mmmmmmm...
I'm not fighting
For justice
I am not fighting
For freedom
I am fighting
For my life
And another day
In the world here
I just do what I've been told
You're just the gravel on the road
And the one's that are lucky
One's come home
On the day after tomorrow

And the summer
It too will fade
And with it comes the winter's frost, dear
And I know we too are made
Of all the things that we have lost here
I'll be twenty-one today
I've been saving all my pay
And my plane will touch down
On the day after tomorrow
And my plane it will touch down
On the day after tomorrow

-Tom Waits "The Day After Tomorrow"

WTF?

Shame on the major media outlets for not picking up on this story. From io9:

For the past few days, university students in the Southern Chinese resort town of Hainan have been quarantined on the grounds of the Hainan University campus with little food or water. Apparently there's been an outbreak of cholera, and the local officials dealt with it Resident Evil style: Lock everybody in, give them no information, and see if they survive. But one woman student has been blogging about the ongoing ordeal, posting pictures and giving status updates several times a day.

Here's a link to the translated blog: Life in the time of cholera.

For those that may scoff at my less than mild obsession with a zombie apocalypse, remember this. In the event of a major outbreak of any sort, you and I and everyone we love are fucked.

Seriously.

Chip of the old block

Every day my little boy starts to look more and more like me:

In election news, it looks like level heads are prevailing in MA as far as Question 1 goes. As of right now, it looks like Question 2 will pass. Woohoo!
It's still too early to call the grand pooh bear race, but the map is looking very blue right now.
Despite my earlier anti-voting stance, I stopped on the way home and did my thing.
Hope springs eternal.

Fuck the Vote

“The next time they give you all that civic bullshit about voting, keep in mind that Hitler was elected in a full, free democratic election”

Children shouldn't play with guns. Period.

This past weekend, an 8 year old boy in Westfield, MA blew a hole through his own head while firing a fully automatic Uzi. This was not one of those all too common cases of an irresponsible parent leaving a loaded gun within reach of an unattended child. No, little Christopher was at a "Machine gun shoot and firearms expo." According to the flyer for this event, "It’s all legal & fun. You will be accompanied to the firing line with a Certified Instructor to guide you. But You Are In Control – "FULL AUTO ROCK & ROLL."

Holy jumping Jesus, fuck me sideways.

Now I'm no bleeding heart liberal, and I'm not anti-gun. I believe Americans do have a right to bear arms. I believe in responsible, legal ownership of firearms. If said owner has children, I believe in educating those children concerning gun safety. I even support taking said children to a firing range where they can learn first hand how to operate a fire arm.

But who, in their right mind, would conceive of a "machine gun shoot" for children? Seriously, what the fuck? It boggles my mind that such an event would be allowed to occur in the first place. There is no good reason, NO GOOD REASON why a child should be around or handling a fully automatic assault weapon. EVER.

Guns are not bad. They provide protection. They can be used to hunt. Target practice is a fine hobby. But an assault rifle is for just that: assault. It's only purpose is to kill and maim human beings. Quickly. The words assault and children should not go together. EVER.

Of course a young boy would jump at the chance to handle such a weapon. Boys are trained from the get go that they're cool. That does not mean it should be encouraged. Sweet bleeding Mary, what are people thinking? I seriously can not wrap my head around it.

I really shouldn't be surprised that the devolution of Western society has reached this point. Just the other night I was expressing concern over some of the new toys coming from the good folks at NERF. I'm not trying to be an alarmist here, and I don't think I'm being over sensitive when I say there is something inherently wrong with marketing a foam projectile assault weapon to children. For Christ sake, watch this video for the N-Strike and tell me there isn't something wrong there.


Of course it's wicked fucking cool, and if it had been around when I was a lad, I would have wanted one. But I really think we're crossing a line here, and we need to stop. As NERF guns get more and more extreme, shoot longer distances, shoot faster, it's really only a short progression to making one that will actually maim. Perhaps that's a leap, but the other issue here is training young children to be soldiers.

That ain't right, yo.

Tomorrow Never Knows

RIP Albert Hofmann.

Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream,
It is not dying, it is not dying

Lay down all thought, surrender to the void,
Is it shining? Is it shining?

That you may see the meaning of within
It is being, it is being

Love is all and love is everyone
Is it knowing? Is it knowing?

That ignorance and hate may mourn the dead
It is believing, it is believing

But listen to the colour of your dreams
Is it not living, is it not living

Or play the game "Existence" to the end
Of the beginning, of the beginning

1-18-08

Man alive. That there was a quality picture.

Cloverfield lived up to my expectations. Great movie, and I'm looking forward to the birth of a franchise.

The monster? What the fuck was that thing? I want more.

Best Fan Film. Ever.

My cousin Mat is back from boot camp . He's a private 2nd Class, United States Army, now. He's a good kid, and still a kid at heart even at 21. My aunt and uncle had a cookout, and Mat assured there was a huge inflatable bouncing house (shaped like a purple dragon).

TKJr spent the entire day in there, jumping to his content. Let me tell you, his content is HUGE. He requested that I join him several times. I reluctantly agreed. At one point, I had 4 little kids shooting me and blasting me with Force powers to knock me over so they could pig pile me.

It turns out Star Wars is popular with the youngins. I didn't bring it up, nor was I wearing a SW T shirt today. I was pleasantly surprised, and delighted to join in and try to convince them that the Jedi are the bad guys.

Had I know, I would have brought my armor.

At any rate, TKJr had a blast, and wore himself out jumping all day. Isabel entertained herself with my cousins' 2 cats and dog. She loves puppies.

Last night I watched Rob Zombie's Halloween. I was a tad closed minded going in, I must admit. Some movies can stand a remake. Some, however, are damn near perfect the first time around and don't need to be retold. Halloween was perfect. It stands the test of time. It's unsettling and frightening in it's simplicity. The Shape: Heartless, remorseless, relentless. A blank face with no eyes that just did not stop.

His origin was disturbing because of it's simplicity. Just the notion that some generic middle class suburban family could produce a sociopath of such monstrous proportion out of thin air was scary. That one night he unleashed his demon, and then quietly brooded for fifteen years before unleashing it again.

Zombie went in a different direction. He lowered the tax bracket of the Myers family, and spent the first third of the movie humanizing Michael. You get to know the boy. You begin to feel for him a bit, though you're shown pretty damn quick what a monster he already is.

Rob then quickly blows through the rest of the movie, dispensing with most of, if not all, the character development of the original. Sadly, he also dispenses with everything that made the original scary. There's no fear to be had here, just the thrill of watching a madman go to work.

Not that that is without it's charms. I'm just saying.

What am I saying? I didn't dislike it. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. It was engaging, well executed, and I liked it. Most importantly, it didn't shit on the original. Zombie took his favorite movie and put his own stamp on it. I'm cool with that.

One Year Ago Today...

Mary, grab the baby, the river's rising
Muddy water taking back the land
The old-frame house, she can't take-a one more beating
Ain't no use to stay and make a stand


Well the morning light shows water in the valley
Daddy's grave just went below the line
Things to say, you just can't take em with ya
This flood will swallow all you've left behind

Won't be back to start all over
Cause what I felt before is gone


Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Muddy water taking back my home
The road is gone, there's just one way to leave here
Turn my back on what I've left below
Shifting land, broken farms around me
Muddy water's changing all I know


It's hard to say just what I'm losing
Ain't never felt so all alone


Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Muddy water taking back my home


Won't be back to start all over
Cause what I felt before is gone


Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Muddy water's changing all I know
Muddy water's changing all I know
Lord, this muddy water is taking back my home

(J. Bundrick)

Shine On

Remember when you were young,
You shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes,
Like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire
Of childhood and stardom,
Blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!

You reached for the secret too soon,
You cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night,
And exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome
With random precision,
Rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,
Come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!

Stop me if you've heard this one

Jesus and Muhammad walk into a talent agent's office. Jesus says, "We're a family act, and we'd like you to represent us."

The agent says, "Sorry, I don't represent family acts. They're a little too old-fashioned."

Muhammad says, "But, this is really special."

The agent says, "Okay, well what's the act?".........

South Park tonight was brilliant. Great job, Matt & Trey. I fucking love you guys. Seriously.

Hatred is human and hatred is here

In response to Mycalls comment... it appears that the admins at myspace have taken it upon themselves to remove Jacob's profile and replace it with the following diatribe:

"While the mainstream media is busy covering this tragic yet insignificant story, important things are going on in the world. The sad irony of the supposed “information age” is a noticeable absence of actual news from America’s most popular media outlets. House fires, car accidents, kidnappings—while all certainly important to the few people they immediately concern—are completely irrelevant to the human race as a whole, yet these such stories dominate the headlines. This is said to exclude stories of celebrity lifestyles, "human interest", and sports, all of which have positively no value to civic life. This standard of journalistic irresponsibility works in direct contrast with democracy, as citizens of America—a nation heralded as a supposed bastion of democracy—remain the most ill-informed citizens in the developed world. For example, a majority of Americans continue to believe that Saddam Hussein was directly responsible for the 11 September attacks, but know for certain that Lindsey Lohan has struggle with an eating disorder.

As such stories grip American audiences, the current administration in the White House is setting a course for American the democracy that could very well see it to its finish, much in the vein of Roman democracy’s defeat beneath the boot of militaristic dictatorship. At this crossroad of history, we find America much more concerned with stories which will never amount to as much as a sentence in any history book. Fascism, the face of which has begun to emerge in America, thrives on ignorance of this sort, relying upon a population sedated by inconsequential matters and willingly ignorant of issues central to the survival of their community and species.

Shame on the American media, and shame on the American public. You have shunned the gift of knowledge afforded to us by thousands of years of human progress, and have chosen rather the bliss of ignorance. The price could prove to be the freedom of the greatest democracy of all time."

I have no hard facts to confirm my theory, but judging by FOX's bombastic coverage and the fact that they were apparently using his myspace profile for most of their information, I'm guessing they prompted the removal.

Oh well. It was all sound and fury anyway. As for what has replaced it... I have no retort. I don't disagree.

He didn't like Mondays

So, Jacob Robida dies from multiple gunshot wounds to the head. But not before 2 other people lost their life.

I'm sure the media, the pundits and wags and armchair philosophers the world over will be debating what caused this 18 year old to suddenly burn up in an orgy of violence.

There must be a reason. There has to be a reason. Or, as Bob Geldof once said:

"What reason do you need to die?"

Take a look at the boy's myspace profile and judge for yourself.

Gobble

Happy Turkey Day, y'all. Here's hoping no one needs to go shopping tomorrow.

Happy Air Day!

I want to to take a moment to extend a heartfelt and sincere thank you to all the men and women of the American Armed Forces. Because of your selfless devotion to our country, we have a holiday today. And because of that holiday, my commute in this morning only took 30 minutes.
I salute you!

While we all pause to reflect on our country's veterans, let's not forget that today is also Air Day.

Take a deep breath now, and be thankful for good old, sweet air.

The night before All Hallow's Eve

TK Jr's costume purchased. It's a puppy dog. We were going to do evil Anakin, but then he wanted to be a cat. Couldn't find a friggin cat costume anywhere. He liked the puppy, we bought that. Tried it on at home, he didn't want to wear it.
Trick or Treat bag and flashlight purchased. The kid is ready for his first "official" Halloween.
$30 in candy, a black light for the hallway and an orange light for the porch. 2 jack o lanterns carved and ready to go.
We're set over here. Hope y'all have a happy Halloween!