For all those that are getting way too fed up inside
Now's a celebration of failure and losing
Like to put a shout out to all ya'll far and wide
Sorry people but this is the way it's gotta be
I know, I know, I know, I know
We are pushing the parameters to a brand new low
The end is near, there's lots to fear
No such thing as a good day is what I'm told
Let the bad times roll
The grass is never greener on the other side
I'll stay right here and frolic in the dirt and gravel
Where's the love in this room? I feel teary eyed.
Between you and me I don't think it's ever gonna change
Descend, rear end, offend a friend
It is wise of you to run and hide from what's around the bend
The end is near, there's lots to fear
No such thing as a free lunch is what I'm told
Let the bad times roll up to me I'll embrace them happily
Let you people know, I ain't foolin'
Come and take a ride with me down to Riverside
Show you what it's like to be coolin'
Life's gotta be a little better overseas
Where everyone's drivin' a Mercedes
Unsatisfied with my mail order bride
So much for my last attempt with the ladies
Listen to nobody, this is the way I think
Tell 'em all your gonna live at least until your forty
Just be glad you're only one shade of blue in the face
Wake up smell the shit and think that everything is great
I know, I know, I know, I know
We are pushing the parameters to a brand new low
The end is near, there's lots to fear
No such thing as a good day is what I'm told
Let the bad times roll
~The Vandals
Friday, April 29, 2005
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
The Dangers of Blimpie Stations and Diet Coke
This is one of those forwarded email things that I get from time to time (thanks a lot, Megan). It's flawed in many respects, but it has a pretty decent--even though it may be fictional--case against empiricism.
"Just an FYI - to be aware - not afraid.
I am not sure if this is a hoax or not. However, it does sound like it could be real so I pass it along to you. Just never know in this world. I imagine I would have been one of those folks to open the window!!
All:
people are getting more brazen every day. I do not like sending these letter things, but this is worth reading for safety purposes. This is especially important for ladies. It is good advice and something to think about...and it may save your life someday. This is a report from a woman who works with criminals on a daily basis and should be aware of things like this. Criminals are coming up with craftier, less threatening methods of attack, so we have to be extra cautious.
Here's her story:
I live in Alexandria, VA, but I often work in Lafayette, LA, staying with friends when I'm there. As you know from America's Most Wanted TV program, as well as the news media, there is a serial killer in the Lafayette area.
I just want to let you know about an 'incident' that happened to me a few weeks ago, and could have been deadly. At first I didn't go to the police or anyone with it because I didn't realize how serious this encounter was. But since I work in a jail and I told a few people about it, it wasn't long before I was paraded into Internal Affairs tell them my story.
It was approximately 5:15 A.M. in Opelousas, La. I had stayed with a friend there and was on my way to work. I stopped at the Exxon/Blimpie Pie station to get gas. I got $10 gas and a Diet Coke. I took into the store two $5 bills and one $1 bill (just enough to get my stuff).
As I pulled away from the store, a man approached my truck from the back side of the store (an unlit area). He was an 'approachable-looking' man (clean cut, clean shaven, dressed well, etc.) He walked up to my window and knocked. Since I'm very paranoid 'always looking for the rapist or killer,' I didn't open the window ... I just asked what he wanted. He raised a $5 bill to my window and said, 'You dropped this.' Since I knew I had gone into the store with a certain amount of money, I knew I didn't drop it. When I told him it wasn't mine, he began hitting the window and door, screaming at me to open my door, and insisting that I had dropped the money! At that point, I just drove away as fast as I could.
After talking to the Internal Affairs Department and describing the man I saw, and the way he escalated from calm and polite to angry and volatile....it was determined that I could have possibly encountered the serial killer myself. Up to this point, it had been unclear as to how he had gained access to his victims, since there has been no evidence of forced entry into victim's homes, cars, etc. And the fact that he has been attacking in the daytime, when women are less likely to have their guard up, means he is pretty BOLD.
So think about it...what gesture is nicer than returning money to someone who dropped it????? How many times would you have opened your window (or door) to get your money and say thank you.... because if the person is kind enough to return something to you, then he can't really be a threat....can he????
Please be cautious! This might not have been the serial killer...but anyone that gets that angry over someone not accepting money from them can't have honorable intentions. The most important thing to note is that his reaction was NOT WHAT I EXPECTED! A total surprise!
But what might have happened if I had opened my door? I shudder to think!
Forward this to everyone you know....maybe they can be as fortunate as I was!
P.S. Ladies, really DO forward this to EVERYONE you know. Even if this man wasn't a serial killer, he looked nice, he seemed polite, he was apparently doing an act of kindness, but HE WAS NOT A NICE PERSON!"
"Just an FYI - to be aware - not afraid.
I am not sure if this is a hoax or not. However, it does sound like it could be real so I pass it along to you. Just never know in this world. I imagine I would have been one of those folks to open the window!!
All:
people are getting more brazen every day. I do not like sending these letter things, but this is worth reading for safety purposes. This is especially important for ladies. It is good advice and something to think about...and it may save your life someday. This is a report from a woman who works with criminals on a daily basis and should be aware of things like this. Criminals are coming up with craftier, less threatening methods of attack, so we have to be extra cautious.
Here's her story:
I live in Alexandria, VA, but I often work in Lafayette, LA, staying with friends when I'm there. As you know from America's Most Wanted TV program, as well as the news media, there is a serial killer in the Lafayette area.
I just want to let you know about an 'incident' that happened to me a few weeks ago, and could have been deadly. At first I didn't go to the police or anyone with it because I didn't realize how serious this encounter was. But since I work in a jail and I told a few people about it, it wasn't long before I was paraded into Internal Affairs tell them my story.
It was approximately 5:15 A.M. in Opelousas, La. I had stayed with a friend there and was on my way to work. I stopped at the Exxon/Blimpie Pie station to get gas. I got $10 gas and a Diet Coke. I took into the store two $5 bills and one $1 bill (just enough to get my stuff).
As I pulled away from the store, a man approached my truck from the back side of the store (an unlit area). He was an 'approachable-looking' man (clean cut, clean shaven, dressed well, etc.) He walked up to my window and knocked. Since I'm very paranoid 'always looking for the rapist or killer,' I didn't open the window ... I just asked what he wanted. He raised a $5 bill to my window and said, 'You dropped this.' Since I knew I had gone into the store with a certain amount of money, I knew I didn't drop it. When I told him it wasn't mine, he began hitting the window and door, screaming at me to open my door, and insisting that I had dropped the money! At that point, I just drove away as fast as I could.
After talking to the Internal Affairs Department and describing the man I saw, and the way he escalated from calm and polite to angry and volatile....it was determined that I could have possibly encountered the serial killer myself. Up to this point, it had been unclear as to how he had gained access to his victims, since there has been no evidence of forced entry into victim's homes, cars, etc. And the fact that he has been attacking in the daytime, when women are less likely to have their guard up, means he is pretty BOLD.
So think about it...what gesture is nicer than returning money to someone who dropped it????? How many times would you have opened your window (or door) to get your money and say thank you.... because if the person is kind enough to return something to you, then he can't really be a threat....can he????
Please be cautious! This might not have been the serial killer...but anyone that gets that angry over someone not accepting money from them can't have honorable intentions. The most important thing to note is that his reaction was NOT WHAT I EXPECTED! A total surprise!
But what might have happened if I had opened my door? I shudder to think!
Forward this to everyone you know....maybe they can be as fortunate as I was!
P.S. Ladies, really DO forward this to EVERYONE you know. Even if this man wasn't a serial killer, he looked nice, he seemed polite, he was apparently doing an act of kindness, but HE WAS NOT A NICE PERSON!"
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
TV! Must Go!
In 1996, I was a freshman in high school. I was fourteen, I couldn't vote, and I don't think I had cable then. During 1996, the government decided to take television away.
Of course, they set the date for December 31, 2006 at midnight (isn't that January 1, 2007?), and they only set it for analog television, so those of us with High Definition Television, satellite, or cable are unaffected. Those who have rabbit ears on their sets--70 million television sets according to this article--will lose their television. One could buy a converter box so their television will not be obsolete, but those would cost about $100 next year. Unfortunately, if you do not have satellite, cable, or HDTV yet, then you probably could not afford to spend another $100 on a converter box. Don't worry, the government will take care of that for you:
"Most discussions in Washington contemplate some sort of free or subsidized converters for low-income households, paid for by the government, perhaps with the help of broadcasters or consumer electronics manufacturers. Estimates for the costs of that subsidy range from under one to several billion dollars — the cost declining as the cut-off date is moved further into the future. Proponents argue that the cost of the subsidy is small compared to the economic benefits, although last year the Bush administration indicated it was not in favor of subsidized converters."
(Note: several billion dollars is not small, and how would anyone compare several billion dollars to "economic benefits"? How would you measure the economic benefits?)
There are more problems with this "end analog campaign" than just tax dollars. The federal government is not sure if they will even enforce the cut-off date:
"Congress, however, left itself a loophole in the 1996 legislation, and could actually let the cut-off date slide by. But powerful lobbyists now are pressing legislators to set a 'date certain' for the analog lights-out. The debate over when to throw the switch is a strange brew of big money, high technology, homeland security and a single, unanswerable question: just how angry are the couch potatoes going to be? It’s also a textbook example of why the future almost never happens as fast as technologists promise."
Mr. Rogers seems to blame technologists as the reason why we will lose television so soon. But why the hell did the government decide ten years would be enough time? Why did they even propose a cut-off date for analog television? The answer is simple: so the government can aggrandize itself:
"In addition, both Silicon Valley and your local police force are lobbying for an early analog cut-off. The reason is simple: when the cut-off happens, TV channels 52 – 69 will no longer be needed, freeing up broadcasting spectrum for other purposes. Public safety workers have been promised four of these channels — a commitment even more pressing in the wake of the 9/11 Commission’s finding that the nation’s first responder communications systems need a major upgrade. And companies like Intel and Cisco want to use other parts of the newly freed spectrum for very powerful wireless broadband networks that could offer seamless high-speed Internet service virtually everywhere in the U.S. Other advanced uses will materialize. Already, cell phone pioneer Qualcomm plans to use some of the spectrum to build an advanced video network for mobile phones. And finally, there’s a bonus for the U.S. Treasury as well—much of the new spectrum will be auctioned off to the highest bidders, raising billions of dollars."
While wireless broadband and advanced video networks seem like a good idea, the fact that Qualcomm, Intel, and Cisco need to pay the government for it is terrible. It ruins enterprise and competition. It encourages monopoly. And, the government gets more money.
Of course, public safety is automatically granted four channels. Those channels will be worthless until something terrible happens.
So analog television, whether it will or will not end in December 2006, will eventually end by mandate. People that cannot afford to convert to the newer system may or may not receive aid from the federal government so they can continue to be unproductive. Of the useless channels, public service will get four, and then the rest will be bidded off to the richest companies to do whatsoever they please with them. While cable, satellite, and HDTV customers see really no change at all.
Ultimately, this problem was created by the government and posed as a solution. When the government tries to fix this problem, they will inevitably cause more problems which will need more "solutions," and the cycle never ends. Maybe congress should let go of its strangle-hold on the air-waves, and actually let technology become popular naturally, not forcing people to convert by midnight of December 31, 2006.
Of course, they set the date for December 31, 2006 at midnight (isn't that January 1, 2007?), and they only set it for analog television, so those of us with High Definition Television, satellite, or cable are unaffected. Those who have rabbit ears on their sets--70 million television sets according to this article--will lose their television. One could buy a converter box so their television will not be obsolete, but those would cost about $100 next year. Unfortunately, if you do not have satellite, cable, or HDTV yet, then you probably could not afford to spend another $100 on a converter box. Don't worry, the government will take care of that for you:
"Most discussions in Washington contemplate some sort of free or subsidized converters for low-income households, paid for by the government, perhaps with the help of broadcasters or consumer electronics manufacturers. Estimates for the costs of that subsidy range from under one to several billion dollars — the cost declining as the cut-off date is moved further into the future. Proponents argue that the cost of the subsidy is small compared to the economic benefits, although last year the Bush administration indicated it was not in favor of subsidized converters."
(Note: several billion dollars is not small, and how would anyone compare several billion dollars to "economic benefits"? How would you measure the economic benefits?)
There are more problems with this "end analog campaign" than just tax dollars. The federal government is not sure if they will even enforce the cut-off date:
"Congress, however, left itself a loophole in the 1996 legislation, and could actually let the cut-off date slide by. But powerful lobbyists now are pressing legislators to set a 'date certain' for the analog lights-out. The debate over when to throw the switch is a strange brew of big money, high technology, homeland security and a single, unanswerable question: just how angry are the couch potatoes going to be? It’s also a textbook example of why the future almost never happens as fast as technologists promise."
Mr. Rogers seems to blame technologists as the reason why we will lose television so soon. But why the hell did the government decide ten years would be enough time? Why did they even propose a cut-off date for analog television? The answer is simple: so the government can aggrandize itself:
"In addition, both Silicon Valley and your local police force are lobbying for an early analog cut-off. The reason is simple: when the cut-off happens, TV channels 52 – 69 will no longer be needed, freeing up broadcasting spectrum for other purposes. Public safety workers have been promised four of these channels — a commitment even more pressing in the wake of the 9/11 Commission’s finding that the nation’s first responder communications systems need a major upgrade. And companies like Intel and Cisco want to use other parts of the newly freed spectrum for very powerful wireless broadband networks that could offer seamless high-speed Internet service virtually everywhere in the U.S. Other advanced uses will materialize. Already, cell phone pioneer Qualcomm plans to use some of the spectrum to build an advanced video network for mobile phones. And finally, there’s a bonus for the U.S. Treasury as well—much of the new spectrum will be auctioned off to the highest bidders, raising billions of dollars."
While wireless broadband and advanced video networks seem like a good idea, the fact that Qualcomm, Intel, and Cisco need to pay the government for it is terrible. It ruins enterprise and competition. It encourages monopoly. And, the government gets more money.
Of course, public safety is automatically granted four channels. Those channels will be worthless until something terrible happens.
So analog television, whether it will or will not end in December 2006, will eventually end by mandate. People that cannot afford to convert to the newer system may or may not receive aid from the federal government so they can continue to be unproductive. Of the useless channels, public service will get four, and then the rest will be bidded off to the richest companies to do whatsoever they please with them. While cable, satellite, and HDTV customers see really no change at all.
Ultimately, this problem was created by the government and posed as a solution. When the government tries to fix this problem, they will inevitably cause more problems which will need more "solutions," and the cycle never ends. Maybe congress should let go of its strangle-hold on the air-waves, and actually let technology become popular naturally, not forcing people to convert by midnight of December 31, 2006.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Friday, April 22, 2005
An Excerpt
Since John has posted poetry (and good poetry, at that) on his blog, the vice of envy has prompted me to put up prose. 'Tis an excerpt, the best paragraph out of all that I have written so far, and I hope you enjoy it. Take this, John.
She was almost invisible next to the structure. The black dress and veil were easily indiscernible in front of the dark, clay-like stone of the cathedral. But he noticed her. Mascara was running down her cheek from behind her crepe veil. She had no handkerchief or tissue, allowing the tears to stain her face in reoccurring rivulets. He stared at her. He found it odd that she was mourning: a church this size would have had a funeral procession or church bells or some sign that one of their parish has perished. He found it odd that she was mourning silently, her frail frame not wracked with sobs—no wails common to widows. He found it odd, but there she stood, on the steps of this church he had never seen before, silent tears and no signs of death. Maybe she was there early.
The rest of what I have is crap and needs a lot of work. In fact, the paragraph above needs a bit of work, but I like it the most out of everything else. I'm hoping the other story that I have planned will turn out better. At any rate, I guess I should be happy that I have not simply abandoned this story like many of its predecessors. Maybe I'll post more, if any of you who read my blog want me to.
She was almost invisible next to the structure. The black dress and veil were easily indiscernible in front of the dark, clay-like stone of the cathedral. But he noticed her. Mascara was running down her cheek from behind her crepe veil. She had no handkerchief or tissue, allowing the tears to stain her face in reoccurring rivulets. He stared at her. He found it odd that she was mourning: a church this size would have had a funeral procession or church bells or some sign that one of their parish has perished. He found it odd that she was mourning silently, her frail frame not wracked with sobs—no wails common to widows. He found it odd, but there she stood, on the steps of this church he had never seen before, silent tears and no signs of death. Maybe she was there early.
The rest of what I have is crap and needs a lot of work. In fact, the paragraph above needs a bit of work, but I like it the most out of everything else. I'm hoping the other story that I have planned will turn out better. At any rate, I guess I should be happy that I have not simply abandoned this story like many of its predecessors. Maybe I'll post more, if any of you who read my blog want me to.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Coming Up Roses
I have no excuse for not posting: it's not that I've been busy. I do not have to go to any more GRE classes, though I still have to finish homework and take a bunch of practice tests. I'm steadily doing worse on those practice tests. I'm deteriorating.
I finished reading Orwell, but I have not yet come up with a post encapsulating what I've learned from his essays. I have begun writing short stories again, and I am currently working on a project (it's about a page long so far) and I have an idea for another one, but it hinges on me having read Wittgenstein's Poker. I bought the book. I also bought Elliott Smith's self titled album. I have been playing a lot of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and generally wasting as much time as I can.
If I can ever extricate myself from this lassitudinous web, I'll post something soon. Maybe my magnum opus on Orwell, maybe some excerpt from the short story I'm working on, or maybe more excuses. Either way, don't expect much: I'm deteriorating.
I finished reading Orwell, but I have not yet come up with a post encapsulating what I've learned from his essays. I have begun writing short stories again, and I am currently working on a project (it's about a page long so far) and I have an idea for another one, but it hinges on me having read Wittgenstein's Poker. I bought the book. I also bought Elliott Smith's self titled album. I have been playing a lot of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, and generally wasting as much time as I can.
If I can ever extricate myself from this lassitudinous web, I'll post something soon. Maybe my magnum opus on Orwell, maybe some excerpt from the short story I'm working on, or maybe more excuses. Either way, don't expect much: I'm deteriorating.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Friday, April 01, 2005
It's April, Fool.
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