pseudodementia in absentia

Quick Outburst

2006-07-31T21:33:00.000-04:00

Oh, what the fuck? All Isreal promised was a 48-hour suspension of air strikes. Nothing about artillary, groud ops, and everything else. They couldn't even make it to 24. But in response to attacks by Hezbollah the Isrealis bomb bits of southern Lebanon. Were you expecting Hezbollah to stop attacking because you promised to stop bombing?! C'mon, already.

Stargazer

2006-04-11T00:33:00.000-04:00

The stars:
their beauty and brightness dazzle from afar!
Alone at night I watch them.

We wink at 4+ lightyears;
39 trillion kilometers-
40 quadrillion simple steps
is nothing for us,
for one who burns as brightly as they.

We dance the dance of glance
and twinkle, twinkle and glance.
Dance the dance from dusk til dawn,
til we battle against our intense intents,
til we battle with our daily lives.
With sol's fury afire so close,
the more distant we grow.

The distance is blatent; our insignificance acute.

Yet no matter how far we get,
each evening we win some small reprieve.
From one twinkle, sometimes with the aid of Mars,
the tides turn!
Every night I rejoice to talk with the stars once more;
how I love them so!

Mad Times

2006-04-07T11:30:00.000-04:00

Mad times on the internet, indeed! Two folk whom I thought would never have blogs now do. In effort to get the word out I present Geoff Chaucer and Scopi, aka Scoot Oo [sic]. They both have fine livery.

Name That Book*

2006-04-04T13:45:00.000-04:00

*a new game from the people that brought us that smash-hit game show, "Haiku for Jews."

Lecherous linguist--
he lays low and is laid low
after laying Lo.

Colonel Freeleigh

2006-03-27T23:41:00.000-05:00

And then there is that day when all around, all around you hear the rain beating the petals, one by one, from the dogwoods. At first it is one here and one there, and then it is two and then it is five and then eight and thirty, until all the petals blow fiercely in the wind, plummet with the rain, fall like down feathers to the soft surface of the moon, and you are the last petal on the tree; and you wait for the next stiff shake to knock you swiftly free from your hold upon the sky, and drift you up and around as the rain weighs you down, and drops you down and down. Long before you hit the grass you will have forgotten there ever was a tree, or other petals, or a spring, or greening grass below. You will fall in darkness...

Stumbling Through the Internet...

2006-03-19T12:53:00.000-05:00

One year ago, to the day, I attended a spring celebration in Charlotte. There we played croquet. I even took a few photos. One of them follows.

I've had it posted on flickr for nearly the whole year it's been since I snapped it. On Wednesday, shortly after returning home from my new job at Panera, I took it upon myself to start browsing the internet for real jobs. As usual I got quickly side-tracked at CERN's site. Following the old link trail, and being perpetually curious about croquet being played at real events, I clicked to this little tidbit. Follow that link and look at the photo next to the article. I thought it was awesome that they even followed the rules and gave me credit!

I Would Also Have Voted For Orson Welles

2006-03-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

The Third Man is about the best movie I've ever seen or heard. Zither music: who knew? Christopher Walken, please--I mean really, please--do this*. You'd have my vote.

ears: weapon of choice - fatboy slim
eyes: something wicked this way comes - ray bradbury
feet: new vintage adidas
mind: the world is flat - thomas l. friedman

*rumor is that it's a hoax site :(

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels!

2006-03-02T00:34:00.000-05:00

I heard the phrase for the first time ever tonight. Totally caught me off gaurd. No idea what that meant. After a bit of quick research--Thanks be to Google and the Internet--I've come up with a short answer. Well, really the answer is kinda obvious as to why one shouldn't take wooden nickels--they're made of wood!--but the real question is where did the phrase come from and what does it mean to actually tell someone not to take wooden nickels.

On December 5, 1931, the Citizen's Bank of Tenino, Washington failed thusly creating a shortage of currency in the town. This left the merchants of the area unable to get change without traveling about 30 miles over mountainous roads that were built for horses. The average round trip was about four hours. Much too long for merchants to be gone from their stores. A meeting of the Chamber of Commerce resulted in the local newspaper printing up the first issue of wooden money in the United States.

In 1933, Blaine, Washington issued round wooden coins when their bank failed. These were the first issues of wooden coins in the U.S. Several other places, mostly in the Pacific North-West, issued wooden money after that. Some followed the flat format of Tenino and others used round pieces.

The Century of Progress in Chicago in 1933 was the first place to use wooden money as souvenirs. Several issues of round coins were made ranging in size from a silver dollar to about three inches in diameter. Then someone got the bright idea of combining the use of the wooden coin as advert/souvenier for some celebration and curreny. Binghamton, New York was one of first places to embrace this concept. Wood continued to be used to enhance civic celebrations through the mid 1930’s and really started to be cranked out in 1938 when the J. R. Rogers Company of Fostoria, Ohio obtained a copyright on their design for wooden money. [Random-er aside, thanks to my folks penchant for dish-collecting, I know that a lot of good dishes, especially glassware, came out of this small Ohio town and is as a style generally called, oddly enough,Fostoria, though it should be noted that not all "Fostoria" was produced by the company of the same name. I have many pieces, if anyone is truely that interested. Long ago it was a fantastic sand deposit or something...]

Just when the adage "Don’t take any wooden nickels!" was added to the American language is unclear, but the reasons are easy to understand. First of all, it's wood, and as such not widely asccepted as money. Secondly, each wood had an expiration date and generally even a specific final redemption time. If you were in a possession of a handful of wooden nickels that expired at noon today and your best customer came through the door at five minutes to noon, it would be difficult to get to centennial headquarters to cash them in. Many wooden nickels also said they had to be unbroken to be exchanged. They are fairly fragile.

Really, I've decided that the Rogers Company’s use of wooden money should be studied as one of the great marketing schemes of the 20th century. They had the wooden pieces printed up sometime prior to the actual celebration. They then sold the woods to area merchants for face value and the merchant in turn gave the wooden nickels, wooden dimes, and wooden quarters to their customers in change. The woods usually carried the time, date and place of the celebration. So in effect you had paid to take home an advertisement for the event. Kind of like paying for cable to watch their ads in today's world.

It became common at one point (when?) to tell somebody not to take any wooden nickels when they leave--to tell them to be careful and to take good care of themselves. So "Don't take any wooden nickels!" Tell someone when they walk out your door instead of "so long', etc. Having never before heard of wooden nickels or the title phrase, I call this another case closed. There it is. Next time I'll kick it up a notch with a blast from my spice weasel. Bam!

eyes: mythbusters

One Stop Spacewear Shop!

2006-02-06T02:22:00.000-05:00

Greenwood Space Travel Supply

I Did Absolutely Nothing This Weekend

2006-02-05T15:57:00.000-05:00

It was all I imagined and more! Really, the most important accomplishment to which I can lay claim is that I watched Battlestar Galactica.

Evening-Mike--much to morning-Mike's hatred--stayed up too late, drank too many champagne cocktails, and purchased way too much music on iTunes. This morning I awoke on a couch. In the distance I could hear the sweet stylings of Styx. On the coffee table stood a flute bearing something that smelled like juniper and wine. I mused for a bit on this new-fangled juniper wine. I'm pretty sure they don't make that anywhere. Where is this music coming from? Who is this singing "Come Sail Away" that is most definitely not Cartman? I have a couch?

ears: mr. roboto
eyes: cryptonomicon (still - it's a hell of a thing)
also: gin topped of with asti (who knew!)

The Hippest Country to Be Seen In Since Tibet

2006-01-29T09:44:00.000-05:00

Bhutan

You got to respect a kingdom that measures happiness instead of/as an indicator of productivity. You got to respect a country that only allowed in about 9000 tourists last year. And you really got to respect the Land of the Thunder Dragon.

Bhutan's like the newest, coolest nightclub to open in Manhatten and everybody who's anybody has got to get in. Mostly because if I get in, then I can rest assured that I really am better than everybody else.

My favorite proof that everyone must be having a grand ole time comes straight from the CIA's World Factbook. (i) Industries: cement, wood products, processed fruits, alcoholic beverages, calcium carbide; and (ii) Labor force: NA; note: massive lack of skilled labor. I'm farily certain there's a subtle relationship between at least one of their major industries and the lack of skilled labor. My kind of place.

Que Sera Sera

2006-01-29T00:56:00.000-05:00

I found a regular trove of old CD's today. Many purchased or gifted, but most I burned in my wee youth of 4-5 years ago. Back when Napster was cool and I a freshman. When I'd spend the hours from midnight to six every night chatting away my life on AIM, downloading every seemingly fun song, audio clip, and stand-up routine, and drinking Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, and rot-gut tequila. Mind you, this all occurred just before/as Red Bull imprinted itself upon my consumer conciousness. I have no real concept of how long it's been out there, but I never bought it before college.

Anyway, one of these discs I found has a rather embarrassing-to-admit, yet fun list of tracks that I just felt I had to share. I can't believe--well, I can believe I made it--I just can't believe I made it. So, as a testament to my past self, here's the lineup:

1. Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
2. What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
3. Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs
4. Minnie the Moocher - Cab Calloway
5. It Don't Mean a Thing - Louis
6. Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin
7. Jump in the Line
8. Dream - Cranberries (it gets worse)
9. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
10. If I Only Had a Brain
11. Que Sera Sera - Doris Day
12. Caribbean Amphibian - Jimmy Buffet and Kermit
13. Twisting the Night Away - Rod Stewart
14. Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
15. Mandolin Wind - Rod Stewart
16. Ghost Riders in the Sky - Johnny Cash
17. Fire and Rain - James Taylor
18. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
19. The Rainbow Connection - Kermit
20. Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World Medley - Isreali something

So as scary as this list may appear taken altogether, I really like each and every song on it. I mean most are no big deal. But I don't think I'd ever have called myself a big Rod Stewart fan. My mom's a Rod Stewart fan. Not me. Not me? Regardless of how it strikes me as not-so-much-what-I-often-listen-to, it's all great stuff that makes me feel happy and appear very gay. I mean, the Cranberries? But sure, everybody secretly loves the Cranberries so that's not even far beyond the left field line. And I totally make up for Judy Garland with Louis Armstrong or Dire Straits. Johnny Cash is always great. I'm fairly certain it's anathema for an American to not like him these days. But besides all that, he was pretty awesome.

First there were Elvis impersonators. Now we have Joaquin Phoenix.

Michael Knight, a lone crusader in a dangerous world.

2006-01-09T02:07:00.000-05:00

The world... of the Knight Rider.

Knight Rider Hasselhoff

You are Knight Rider Hasselhoff. You kick ass, you're dead sexy, AND you are the proud owner (or perhaps life partner) of a talking black Trans-Am. What else could one ask for?

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Of course I could have told anyone this without taking the quiz.

Last Minute Beach Trip

2006-01-08T02:42:00.000-05:00

I headed to the coast of South Carolina with Matt and Cara last tuesday. There we joined some of Matt's family. All in all it was fun trip. I must say I got tired of the "garden city" of Hilton Head Island real quick-like, but other than that the beach-air refreshed and a quick dip into the ocean rejuvenated.

I found a starfish one day. It scared me a bit when it arrived at my feet; it still lived at the time. We played around with long exposures at night with a light/prop.

One night we took a little road trip south to Savannah. It's amazing how great an actual city feels after spending a few days on Hilton Head. I didn't realize that the island was sucking my soul dry until after I left. If you go to Hilton Head, just stick to the beach and whatever condo/beachhouse you happen to stay in. Don't venture out into the city. Savannah is a very fun place to just walk around and look at old or urban stuff. Gaslights, container ships, cobblestone streets, spanish moss, a unique street grid, everyting else that's great.

I've Finally Finished Flickring Scotland

2006-01-08T01:42:00.000-05:00

Here I am at the top of Ben Nevis.

Top-10 Flicks of 2005

2006-01-03T02:36:00.000-05:00

Though I'm not an expert, and not quite a film-lover, I am a movie-goer. Though last year I saw relatively few films at the cinema I feel a top-10 list is in order. In fact you might say that because I'm dealing with fewer flicks than normal I feel more capable of rating what I've seen. Without further ado I give you my...

...top picks:
10) Mr. and Mrs. Smith
9) Four Brothers
8) Aeon Flux
7) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
6) Sin City
5) March of the Penguins
4) Wedding Crashers
3) Syriana
2) Good Night, and Good Luck
1) Munich

I've also got to say that Revenge of the Sith should probably be #1. It's hands down the best of the new Episodes and I am that much of a Star Wars fan. But Star Wars doesn't count like every other movie, so I've left it off the top 10. Other new films of 2005 I managed to see and enjoyed more than the rest are...

...in no particular order:
War of the Worlds
Kung Fu Hustle
The Island
Batman Begins
The Brothers Grimm
The Ice Harvest

Just for the record I've not seen King Kong, the Chronic--WHAT--cles of Narnia left me feeling a little disappointed, and I saw Episode 3 no fewer than 4 times at the theatre--more than any other movie I've seen in the past 3-4 years--and enjoyed it more every time. I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but until I remember consider this baby definitive:)

Family Guy Still Makes Me Laugh

2006-01-03T02:26:00.000-05:00

Be forewarned: It's posts like this one that make me think I might just be a wee crazy. Well, just what triggered it all. Not so much the post itself.

So, I'm watching a little late-night television and one itsy-bitty little line got me all nostalgic for my grandfather's banana pudding. I loved his banana pudding. As far as I know there was no great secret recipe, but I've never had a better banana pudding and I doubt I ever will. I eat banana pudding all the time. I love it. I normally can't get enough! But the meringue, the Nilla® wafers, and the pudding itself are never put together just right. Or one of the ingredients is off. Or all too often there's no meringue at all! That's the worst. I haven't tasted those little shortbread wafers in some time. I think I might have to purchase a box of Nilla wafers tomorrow.

I've not been hit with a bout of nostalgia that really made me think about the past in quite a long time. It was probably around the very beginning of 2004, after that New Year. Last year I was too busy cruising around on a big ship to stop and think about what times were like over the course of the year previous. I feel like I'm playing catch-up tonight. A lot's happened this last year. A lot happened the one before that. People coming and going, coming back and leaving again. I really can't wait (in a way) for the day when I realize that I've been spending time with basically the same group of people for years (i.e., a family, a job, and the friday night poker buddies) without all the emotional hassle of constant change. But right now I wouldn't trade the excitement and uncertainty of my future for true stability and the false feeling of security that probably comes with it. I'm enjoying the adventure. I guess it's good to stop every now and again and think about everyone and everything that's meant something to me and affected the course of my life. Right now, it's my grandfather att he top of the list. I've not stopped and thought about all the good times with him in far, far too long.

You know, mother, this could almost have passed for a palatable banana pudding, but without Nilla wafers it's just another one of your wretched culinary abortions. Now clean it up! - Stewie Griffin

Photos From the Isle of Skye

2006-01-02T20:20:00.000-05:00

2006 Here I Come

2005-12-31T17:49:00.000-05:00

T-06:11... Happy New Year's Eve!

Resolutions:
1) Try more kinds of pie,
2) Be more punctual to lunches,
3) Think of a few more ways to improve myself by next year.

Scottish White Trash

2005-12-31T17:46:00.000-05:00

Just in case you missed it: I travelled Scotland last fall. It looked like this.

2005-12-30T05:37:00.000-05:00

New Design? Nah.

2005-12-30T05:21:00.000-05:00

I gave up on some sort of 'cooler, newer-looking look' for now, but I did get my old layout working a lot better! Plus I designed my very own flickr badge. Now all I have to do is post something, right?

Merry Christmas

2005-12-25T02:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I haven't finished this page yet. Merry Christmas!

New Rants, Same Old Boring Prose

2005-12-24T02:37:00.000-05:00

It seems I have neglected my presence on the interweb for some time. Though hardly a reason, my main excuse is that I busily traveled about. After that my excuse is that my comment-thread service was full of bunkum. Rather than try to change the old commenting system around it's far, far simpler and quicker for me to simply start up a new blog with new comments. Because without comments--even if I don't get any feedback, the principle remains--what's the point? Besides all that, I've been wanting to try my hand at making a cooler, newer-looking look for my blog. Just not tonight because it's late and I'm tired. But soon enough this template will change! Mark my words.

I've Decided to Go with a New Blog

2005-12-24T02:36:00.000-05:00

The newest novelty, but really just shiny, new packaging for everything that happened here. It's not been built yet, but I'll have plenty of time tomorrow, so by the time anybody reads this, it'll be up and running! The big thing with the new page is workable commenting! Huzzah!