Morning Sky Alert for Feb 1st.

From Spaceweather.com

Set your alarm for dawn. On Friday morning, February 1st, Venus and Jupiter converge in the southeastern sky less than 1 degree apart. It's a spectacular view worth waking up early to see: sky map.

When I got up this morning I saw this and was like "wow, those are cool." Check it out.

Reading is fundamental.

Guess who got a star on the walk of fame today in 2005? Yep Keanu Reeves. Good going sport. I guess you knew this was coming since you are the one.

And else where in the annals of time, Germany declared unrestricted sub warfare in 1917. Submariners don't get the credit they deserve. Its a shit life. Not like the exciting adventures of the newly minted hero of war, the fighter pilot. But Germany saw this as the only way to be effective against the Brits and their fabulous navy. Didn't work, they still lost the war.

And i found this interesting, in 1747 the first clinic specializing in venereal diseases was opened at London Dock Hospital. Those damn British sailors were traveling all over the world and fornicating. Then bringing the crotch rot back home with them and distributing that to the population. Crazy to think that they didn't concentrate on a cure, just treating the symptoms and studying the effects. Of course all that changed with the discovery of antibiotics. Thank you antibiotics.

Thats it for your history lesson. Slow day. At least you're not all depressed like yesterdays crazy violent history day.

Ruins of 7,000-year-old city found in Egypt oasis.

As I have stated before, this little party we have going on here called humanity has been around longer than any of us think. This city is over 7000 years old. Think about that for a minute. Way before JC, way before the Egyptians started to kick it, before the Perisians, Greeks, hell just about before any kind of civil society or organized group of people living together for mutual support and comfort. Look, some of you may let your religion dictate what you believe about how the world of humanity began, but you are wrong. This article alone is evidence to beat that silly argument into the ground. So keep calling them cavemen. All I know is we are missing a very large chunk of our collective history. Hell maybe our earliest ancestors are already space travelers. They saw the previous ice age coming, or the last asteroid with beef coming and said lets get the fuck outta here. I know, I know. Why would they leave if they could divert the asteroid. Because they wanted to.

Ruins of 7,000-year-old city found in Egypt oasis.

Good bye John Edwards.

I got no beef with Edwards. I love his politics, I just wish he had a more engaging or charismatic personality. Oh yeah, good by Rudy also. So what are we left with? The Hill, BO, Mitt and the Maverick. This should get interesting when Bloomberg drops his hat in the ring...,

John Edwards To Drop Out Of Race - Politics on The Huffington Post

I love the smell of napalm in the morning...

Violence happens. Hell it happens so frequently around some of us, we don't even pay attention to it any more. After reading through the annals of history for almost a decade now, I have found there are days that have a propensity for violence. So I am going to give you deadly Wednesday.

First on the list of Deadly Wednesday, the beheading of King Charles I. This happened way back in 1649. I personally don't like British history. It gets my fur up on end. All this speak of commons and nobles, the Church of England, and Oliver Cromwell is TIRED. So lets move on shall we...

The second act of violence isn't actually deadly, but violent none the less. In 1798, the first brawl in the U.S. House of Representatives took place. Congressmen Matthew Lyon and Roger Griswold fought on the House floor. That is what I am talking about. Some serious disobedience in the House. I personally would love to see some throw down with our current crop of politicians. Pelosi is from Balitmore folks, she is a tough girl. I would put money on her in a New York minute to whoop some ass. Or how about some color for a throw down between Dutch Ruppersberger and John Boozman? Just the names alone would be worth a fight. But I raise my cold cup of coffee to the good old days when problems could be solved by a left hook to the jaw. Enter that in the records...

Okay if you know about the tragic death of Rudolph, crown prince of Austria, and his 17-year-old mistress, Baroness Marie Vetsera, were found shot in his hunting lodge at Mayerling, near Vienna in 1889, you know way to much about history. But seriously, those fucking Austrians are some violent war like fuckers. See WWI.

Hey don't go anywhere, we are just getting to last century...

Guess who was named German Chancellor in 1933? Yep, everyones favorite war criminal and evil mastermind, A Hitler. And like many other forms of fascism, no one saw it coming...

This here is the heart breaker for me, in 1948 and angry Hindu shot and killed Mahatma Gandhi. Dude, let me speak for a great deal of people when I say you suck. How in the hell can you pull out a gun and shoot Gandhi? WTF? As many of you know, Gandhi inspired many other great people to do great things for many others. And if we could get half that effort from 1% of the population, just think how great this world can be. What irony when a man know for his non-violent activism is gunned down in an act of extreme violence. Rest in peace Mahatma.

1962 - Two members of the "Flying Wallendas" high-wire act were killed when their seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit, MI. If you don't think this was shocking, you weren't there. For the quick history, here is the wiki article on them. That family has given a lot of life to the high wire act.

In 1968 the Tet Offensive began. Nuff said there.

And the last entry on Deadly Wednesday is Bloody Sunday. The year was 1972, in Northern Ireland, British soldiers shot and killed thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers. The day is known as "Bloody Sunday." If your a fan of U2, you know the song.

So there it is. Deadly Wednesday. The best part is I got a couple of co-workers rolling into work this morning all mad and wanting to spread some violence. They have no idea of the legacy they are carrying on. So make the world a better place, punch the person next to you in the face! Good night now!

Pretty funny, but painful also.

Click here and try not to feel to bad about laughin.

Look who is in the semis at the Roxy Pro World Qualifying Series.

Get some girl.
Shark attack survivor into semis - Sport - theage.com.au

Near earth asteroid you can actually see.

This image shows when the asteroid 2007 TU24 is going to shoot through Cassiopeia and will be visible to anything bigger than a 3 inch reflective. Check it out if you get the chance.

Alright people, I got nothin but love for you.

Todays historical footnote is a big fat happy birthday to William Michael Griffin, Jr., born on this day in 1968. I know most of you are like "who?" He is better known as Rakim, most likely known to you from Eric B. & Rakim. I was born in 72 so by the time hip hop broke big, I was all teenage dirtbag all the time. Even though I was living in the woods, thankfully I attended a public school where culture was diverse. So I got my fill of rap. I was blessed with a diverse upbringing. What can I say. Anyway if you appreciate hip hop, drop Rakim a happy birthday. He is one of the most influential rappers or contributors to hip hop ever. Mad props is dropped for him by all the names you recognize: Eminem, Ghostfaced killa, Tupac, 50, Dre, Busta, Snoop. I mean dude gets mad props. Serious respect. Old school respect.

Rap in the 80's was all about the party. It was fun, it was funny, it was block parties and breakdancin and girls. Then NWA showed up and all that shit changed. Then rap started to grow. The next step was when Eric B and Rakim released Paid in Full and then Follow the Leader. The rap world changed because of what Rakim brought in those albums. He created a style of writing rhymes called "internal rhyming" and "cliffhangin". Internal rhyming is when little rhymes can be found all through the verse, not just at the end on the lines. This changed everything about rap. Made it more complex, one rhyme to the next...if you get that, your a fan. Cliffhangin is still used today effectively also. Thats when you metaphors that can have more than one meaning. Rakim made rap incredibly complex and respected by other forms of music and art. Good stuff.

Follow The Leader on You Tube. Check it out. This is one of the best rap tunes ever. EVER. Just try to keep up.

Bond update

Article below with some Bond gossip. Nothing really exciting, but if your a Bond geek, you will read it cause you can't let it go.

Double-oh-huh? | PageSix.com

How to unlock your car with a tennis ball.

I love it. MacGyver eat your heart out.



Blondie Unlocks Car - video powered by Metacafe

Deep Sea News : Scary sushi: guerilla science and the fish fog syndrome

See I try to keep up with the science blogs cause good ideas on how to survive the perils of American dining. Not only dining, but all sorts of crazy violent shit like hurricanes, predators, or space shuttle launches. And if you think space shuttle launches is something that sounds funny, well you never got lost on an very large piece of government property. Science news can turn you onto good stock ideas or just inform you about the way the world is slowly trying to wear you down and grind you into dust. Or poison your food supply. So read this article. Very interesting.

Deep Sea News : Scary sushi: guerilla science and the fish fog syndrome

Chillin at work and shit...

Yeah it is a fucked up day at the office. I got here and my computer is shot to hell. The little bastard will not kick on. So I got jack and shit to work with. I finally stood up yelled fuck it and went home and got my laptop. So here I blog at lunch waiting for this big giant utility program I am running on our systems to complete itself.

You know what was patented today in1922? Christian K. Nelson patented the Eskimo Pie. Thanks a lot. You were on of the visionaries that set this country on the road to xxxl. Fucking cheers dude. You pioneered how to get rich of making people fat. Got morals to go with that glass of piousness? Or maybe Christian is just your name....

Personally I like to celebrate the fact that canned beer was first sold on this day in 1935. Cheers to Kruegar Brewing. Some where in Virginia if memory serves me correctly. Anyway what is the canned beer you enjoy the most? I have to stick with Guinness. Its in a can, pretty light, and tastes great. If I have to dunk my tastebuds in a domestic diva, its MGD. No preservatives means no headaches for me. Personally I am a bottle baby, unless is draught time. Or a good martini can save the night also.

Oh yeah and a quick shout out to Winston Churchill. he passed away at the age of 90 this day in 1965. That dude was a pretty diverse cat. Read up on him sometime.

The Sistine Chapel was created 500 years ago by Michelangelo...or was it?

Kind of boggles the mind that most of what we think Michelangelo drew could be fakes. I am a disturbed, but only on mildly. Seriously, the Germans are skeptical of EVERYTHING.

The Sistine Chapel was created 500 years ago by Michelangelo...or was it? - Features, Art & Architecture - Independent.co.uk

Oscars 2008

Well, well, well. Here we are again. That time of the year when the Oscar hype starts at the drop of the noms. Below is the complete list of noms for your viewing pleasure. Some surprises for me are the lack of Denzel and Crowe on the list of nods. I thought Denzel would get one for American Gangster. I guess that role Denzel did in 01 was the same thing. You remember Alonzo Harris in Training Day right? If not go rent that shit right now. And watch it with director commentary. No joke, you will learn a lot.

I guess I am pulling for Clooney. Or Depp. Lewis already got a gold statue. Viggo would be cool, but gangster roles are so last year. Bardem is the lock cause the Coen brothers are Oscar making machines. I can't see the Academy rewarding Hoffman again so soon after his nod last year for actor. Who the hell does he think he is? Tom Hanks? Best actress is a crap shoot. I would love to see Blanchett win it cause I think she is hot. Plus she does a kick ass Queen. Hell she has a nod as best supporting also. Give her both. The hell with it you know. And while we are at the point of throwing out sweeping victories, the Coen brothers for director and best picture. Stone cold locks baby.

Complete list of nods below....

Performance by an actor in a leading role
	George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
	Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
	Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
	Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah” (Warner Independent)
	Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” (Focus Features)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
	Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.)
	Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
	Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” (Universal)
	Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
	Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
	Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal)
	Julie Christie in “Away from Her” (Lionsgate)
	Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)
	Laura Linney in “The Savages” (Fox Searchlight)
	Ellen Page in “Juno” (Fox Searchlight)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
	Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” (The Weinstein Company)
	Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” (Universal)
	Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” (Focus Features)
	Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” (Miramax)
	Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
Best animated feature film of the year
	“Persepolis” (Sony Pictures Classics) Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
	“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Brad Bird
	“Surf's Up” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ash Brannon and Chris Buck
Achievement in art direction
	“American Gangster” (Universal) Art Direction: Arthur Max Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
	“Atonement” (Focus Features) Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
	“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners) Art Direction: Dennis Gassner Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
	“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Art Direction: Dante Ferretti Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
	“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Art Direction: Jack Fisk Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
Achievement in cinematography
	“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.) Roger Deakins
	“Atonement” (Focus Features) Seamus McGarvey
	“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Janusz Kaminski
	“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roger Deakins
	“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Robert Elswit
Achievement in costume design
	“Across the Universe” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky
	“Atonement” (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran
	“Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal) Alexandra Byrne
	“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Marit Allen
	“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood
Achievement in directing
	“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Julian Schnabel
	“Juno” (Fox Searchlight) Jason Reitman
	“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) Tony Gilroy
	“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
	“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Paul Thomas Anderson
Best documentary feature
	“No End in Sight” (Magnolia Pictures) A Representational Pictures Production Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
	“Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience” (The Documentary Group) A Documentary Group Production Richard E. Robbins
	“Sicko” (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company) A Dog Eat Dog Films Production Michael Moore and Meghan O’Hara
	“Taxi to the Dark Side” (THINKFilm) An X-Ray Production Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
	“War/Dance” (THINKFilm) A Shine Global and Fine Films Production Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine
Best documentary short subject
	“Freeheld” A Lieutenant Films Production Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth
	“La Corona (The Crown)” A Runaway Films and Vega Films Production Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
	“Salim Baba” A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke Production Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello
	“Sari’s Mother” (Cinema Guild) A Daylight Factory Production James Longley
Achievement in film editing
	“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Christopher Rouse
	“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Juliette Welfling
	“Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment) Jay Cassidy
	“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes
	“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Dylan Tichenor
Best foreign language film of the year
	“Beaufort” A Metro Communications, Movie Plus Production Israel
	“The Counterfeiters” An Aichholzer Filmproduktion, Magnolia Filmproduktion Production Austria
	“Katyń” An Akson Studio Production Poland
	“Mongol” A Eurasia Film Production Kazakhstan
	“12” A Three T Production Russia
Achievement in makeup
	“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
	“Norbit” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount) Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
	“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney) Ve Neill and Martin Samuel
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
	“Atonement” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
	“The Kite Runner” (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics) Alberto Iglesias
	“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard
	“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
	“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
	“Falling Slowly” from “Once” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
	“Happy Working Song” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney) Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
	“Raise It Up” from “August Rush” (Warner Bros.) Nominees to be determined
	“So Close” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney) Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
	“That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney) Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
Best motion picture of the year
	“Atonement” (Focus Features) A Working Title Production Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
	“Juno” (Fox Searchlight) A Dancing Elk Pictures, LLC Production Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
	“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
	“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
	“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers
Best animated short film
	“I Met the Walrus” A Kids & Explosions Production Josh Raskin
	“Madame Tutli-Putli” (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
	“Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)” (Premium Films) A BUF Compagnie Production Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
	“My Love (Moya Lyubov)” (Channel One Russia) A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec Production Alexander Petrov
	“Peter & the Wolf” (BreakThru Films) A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman
Best live action short film
	“At Night” A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth
	“Il Supplente (The Substitute)” (Sky Cinema Italia) A Frame by Frame Italia Production Andrea Jublin
	“Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)” (Premium Films) A Karé Production Philippe Pollet-Villard
	“Tanghi Argentini” (Premium Films) An Another Dimension of an Idea Production Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans
	“The Tonto Woman” A Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber Production Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown
Achievement in sound editing
	“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
	“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Skip Lievsay
	“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
	“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Matthew Wood
	“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro) Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins
Achievement in sound mixing
	“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
	“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
	“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
	“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate) Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe
	“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro) Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin
Achievement in visual effects
	“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners) Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
	“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
	“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro) Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier
Adapted screenplay
	“Atonement” (Focus Features) Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
	“Away from Her” (Lionsgate) Written by Sarah Polley
	“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
	“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
	“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
Original screenplay
	“Juno” (Fox Searchlight) Written by Diablo Cody
	“Lars and the Real Girl” (MGM) Written by Nancy Oliver
	“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) Written by Tony Gilroy
	“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Brad Bird Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
	“The Savages” (Fox Searchlight) Written by Tamara Jenkins

Winter Haiku

short days lick the land,
dry wind is ever present.
a wastelands of sorts.

Crystal Palace, a really really big crystal city actaully.

Just go to google and jump on crystal island to get the facts on this baby. From what I read, it will be done in 5 years. All I can say is killa. You know back in the day, great leaders were defined as much by what they built as much as by what they did. Teddy and the Panama Canal, FDR and TVA, Any roman emperor, ditto for Egyptians.

A determined and grity Monday....

Hells yeah. I am being persistently happy today. See I am the lone male in a female dominated office. The owner of the business is male also, but he can't be counted as an employee. And after a great weekend with the family unit, I roll up on a bunch of bitter, dissatisfied bitches. So I say fuck it. I am going to be the lone reed standing up to the harsh winds of pestilence. It's all Thanks yous and whistling while you work for me. Hopefully that shit will catch on and these bitties will change their ways.

Well there aint much other to say about today other than its MLK Jr. day. What a man. MLK a lot of different things to many a different person. I wasn't born when King was doing the great many a things that made him the memory he is. I learned about all that in college, which I can say was a good thing, because I was old enough to understand and appreciate what I was reading. I was so appreciative of the fact I was way older than everyone around me in college. I took it way more serious and for better or worse I studied what I wanted to. Consequently my degree has courses that range from history and art to physics and geography. Not to mention my love of poetry. But I don't care cause I studied what I wanted to. I never thought I could get a degree and study shit I wanted to. But there I was, tailoring a degree in the things that gave me a hard on: Cathedral architecture, poetry, astronomy, social history, greek mythology, egyptian mythology, theology, philosophy, war. What ever I could take, you know? Anyway, the civil rights movement was of keen interest to me because I knew so little about it. I got into it and learned about SCLC and SNCC, the marches in the south and Chicago in 66. I learned about his fight against poverty and his opposition to war. I read about how he received inspiration from Gandhi and Bayard Rustin. I learned so much. Could have learned more but the fucked up, self serving, avarice in this country made sure Mr. King never lived to see the 1970's. See I miss MLK because who in the hell in todays politics or our social fabric is inspiring people to study philosophy or seminary? Where is our guiding lights? I read that historians are worried that people are forgetting MLK. They should worry because people are. Kids, and when I say kids thats anyone under 30, these days don't care. Never will cause their freedom was handed to them securely. Never had to fight a system to get it. That lesson was the burden of Dr. King's generation. I love our history, but I want some new icons to stand up. Be recognized. Some one to freakin inspire me. And I know I am not the only one. There is a discord in this country, a great unsettled something just waiting to be jolted to life. Everyone feels a bit dirty and we are waiting for someone to lead us to a cleaner life. All we can do is wait and see what happens.

Westminster Abbey. You may have heard of it. It's this little church in England. Many people don't know this, but MLK Jr. has been memorialized on the wall of 20th century Christian martyrs above the Great West Door with a statue. There he is with 9 other martyrs who's names you would not recognize because they are from other regions in the world. . MLK is the second one from the left, actually from left to right its Mother Elizabeth of Russia, Martin Luther King, Jr., Archbishop Oscar Romero, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer. So do something today to remember the fight, the cause, the unfinished business we have as Americans that Dr. King left us. And please, visit Westminster Abbey's website for some killa visuals of one kick arse church.

Slack ass Friday....

Sorry for the lack of writing today, I have been out there reading others works. I do this time to time to find inspiration. I added a new section called try outs. Those are the blogs I am trying out to see if I want to keep reading them. Feel free to check it also.

I got a new source for metal inspiration. More to come on that really cool shit.

Bad Astronomy Blog

More Messenger pics of Mercury. Really good stuff. These pics are the hottest thing in astronomy right now. Go look at em and get some cooler talk going. People in your office will think you are way smarter than you really are for bringing this up. And if you sound as excited as the people writing about this stuff as they go read about it, they will really give you mental geek points. This is something all you hotties, male and female, need to do every now and again to keep it real with us geeks. Cause like Bill Gates said, "be nice to nerds, you will work for one someday."

Bad Astronomy Blog

I was a teenage dirtbag.

Yes its true. But those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. And I did. I think. Back in the day, January 17th, 1961 to be specific, in his farewell address, war hero, statesman, and President Eisenhower warned of the rise of the military-industrial complex. Well said Mr. Eisenhower. What vision you had. Now we are a country riddled with a love of our military-industrial complex. Look at this country and our love of guns. Pistols, Gats, guns, sawed off, whatever. We are shown how to use guns at an early age. Hell I watch the kids across the street play war two or three times a day. Them little hellions are always shooting each other with some sort of projectile. And they get into it. When guns can't decide the day, they break out swords and battle axes and beat the shit out of each other. The point I am trying to make is these kids are 7 and have already developed the proper positions for aiming weapons at the enemy. Does that do anything? Maybe. I mean I used to play guns in the woods and shit with my friends. We even got in some paint ball action but we really on the cusp of that. We were pretty dumb and would shoot bb guns at each other. It really only hurt really bad when you got shot in the eye. Or the neck. I think the neck was the worst. Its like getting slapped with a tree branch. Just fuckin hurts man. But I digress, all that toy gun play made it a lot easier to join the army. Then I got to play with real guns and explosives. And that was cool. I mean I shot a lot of shit up in the army. So much so I can't hear a damn thing now. Stupid ass machine guns are loud bitches man. Especially that damn .50 cal. But looking back now with a good amount of learning under my belt, it all seems like an elaborate recruiting mechanism to get the young ones that are easily distracted by the promise of cash, adventure, and structure. Should any of that surprise us? I think not. Every business has to recruit its playas somewhere. The military competes with everyone else for the same talent pool. I dont know really. But when you look back at what people like Ike were trying to say, well you understand it a little better after some time passes.

But can this country survive without its military-industrial complex(mic)? I mean when you get right down to it, mic is all about weapons. We sell weapons to just about everyone in the world. Weapons. Thats what we are all about. Do you know who sells more guns than anyone in this country? Wal mart. Why? Money. Its just that simple. Weapons sell, at any level. Kids get the plastic variety, grown ups get the real deal. And what else do you need for your weapon? Accessories. Ammo, holsters, harnesses, cleaning kits, more ammo, targets, licenses, trade shows, etc, etc. Its a billion dollar industry folks. It aint goin nowhere. The mic does get complex. Makes sense why so much corruption surrounds the mic and the politicians who are enthralled by this beast. Look at Cheney, or Duke Cunningham. But thats just white men who can't handle the power given to them. Thats the beauty of our country, just hang out long enough and shit will change on you. People who were the high and mighty will get tossed out and a new group will get the chance to show up.

But do we get any benefit from this mic we have nurtured into a global economy? I guess. After inventions have served their purpose, they are turned loose on the public. Look at plastic. It still leaves plenty of questions. What happens when civilians start jetting into space? Until now that has been a governmental play ground, but with billionaires being bored, all that shit will change. Personally I don't think we will ever be without a mic from no on. But I would like to see more benefits come from it. What we really need to do is focus on controlling our aggressions as a people. Then we wouldn't have to worry so much about getting shot on the sidewalk. But a good write on aggression would take all day folks. And I just ain't got the time for it right now, but we will have that talk one day.

Peace out my thursday rough riders. Git some. Git some.

Mercury Rising.

Ha I bet you thought this was goin to be some crappy post about a Bruce Willis flick. Nope. Look at this fresh ass, hot off the deep space probe Messenger. This here is never before seen images of the planet Mercury. We got this from Messenger yesterday and there is some wow factor involved for all us space geeks. Check it.


I mean how spankin is that? Looks a lot like our moon eh? So enjoy this tid bit of space exploration. This is from Bad Astronomy, which ain't a bad blog.

Do you see that circular feature to the upper right, slightly lighter in color than the surrounding plains? That’s Caloris Basin, the Basin of Heat. It’s called that because when Mercury reaches perihelion, that spot is close to being aimed right at the Sun. It’s one of the worsts spot on Mercury to live, if you’re considering a winter home there. Caloris Basin (formed in some ancient and very large impact) is over 1300 kilometers across — roughly as big as Texas. The mountains ringing it are 2 km high.

Because of the weird spin/orbit coupling, when Mariner 10 passed Mercury in 1974, it never was able to see the western rim of Caloris Basin. But there it is, right there, seen by human eyes for the very first time.

Yes it is an exciting time for space geeks. We are seeing things we never seen before and I love it.

Plague a growing but overlooked threat: study - Yahoo! News

Don't call is a come back. The plague has been around for years....Plague a growing but overlooked threat: study - Yahoo! News

Waxing NFL Football.

Today in 1967 the Packers beat the Chiefs in the first ever Superbowl, thus kicking off the greatest single annual sporting event in America. Football. See I love to watch live sporting events. Its not so much the sport as it is the need to see something unpredictable. Thats just the way I roll. Now that I have a little HD in my life, I watch all kinds of stuff that just barely held my interest before. HD just makes things clearer and I never thought that that would matter, but damn if it doesn't. Some examples: In boxing, the replays of punches are freaking awesome. The sweat, the rumpling of skin, the expressions are priceless. In hockey there is no lost puck, no 12 different cameras to cover the ice, and the wide angle of HD allows you to really enjoy the flow of the game. In basketball, you can see the in close fouls, the great shake and bakes, killa net action. It makes the viewing spectacle more of an experience. Then there is football. Killa hits, great runs, spectacular catches, and of course the stadium shots. Just another example of technology making life enjoyable. But on to the meaning...

Football is America's sport. Baseball used to be. Hell back in the day, boxing and horse racing were the sports people were all about. Funny how TV changes that shit. But we tune in to every game, we buy all the shit to represent the team, and we even name our kids after the sports heros. If you don think that last part is true, just watch The Goodnight Show on the Sprout channel for kids. See every night they have this dude named Kevin read some homemade birthday cards out and they scroll a bunch of names and ages across the bottom. Every week I see some kid born in the New England area named Brady. WTF people? Stop fuckin with you kids like that? What happens if it turns out Tom Brady is a steroid cheatin fool? You just fucked your kids future. Hell what about that guy that had to change his name to Payton after the Bears lost in the Superbowl? Stupid shit. But those are examples of how extreme people take their NFL. Kinda like the rest of the world and soccer.

Ahh but I like to look at the history. The tradition. The excellence of the NFL. Why? Mostly cause there is a NFL network and I can watch football shit 24 7 now. Up on it and shit. But then I get to a point where I have to step back and watch some hockey. Or baseball. I like baseball as a compliment to the NFL. Less violent and mellow. Makes for a good change of pace. But that is another sport for another day. This post is s tribute to the 1st Superbowl and all those gentlemen who played in it. Heres to you. Heres to the multibillion dollar business you helped build. THank you for your hard work.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Standings

Hottest team in hockey, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Pittsburgh Penguins - Standings

Surfers Defy Giant Waves Awakened by Storm - New York Times

Surfers Defy Giant Waves Awakened by Storm - New York Times

Off the fucking hook.

Power.

First I just want to point out on this day in 1776 Thomas Paine released Common Sense. The original best seller here in the colonies. Check it out. It is as important as it was when it first came out.

Power. Some dudes crave it. Take Joe Albero for example. Here is a guy with the intelligence level of a 3rd grader. Seriously. He ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. Just read his blog. It will become painfully clear he could give a shit less about correct grammar or the rules of the English language. But hey thats cool, people can be as ignorant as they want. It's their life. For all of you coming here from other parts of the world, this cat Joe Albero is a cyberterrorist. Plain and simple. He has spent the last 3 years being a local poparazzi wannabe for local public officials. Doing dumb shit like following the mayor around and taking pictures of her boobs or legs and thighs. They when the mayor makes a policy decision, this yardturd throws up a stock photo of the mayor with hard nipples or something like that. Basically throwing a public hissy fit on his only source of power, his blog. Also for background, this dipshit has deep pockets and threatens to sue anyone that...anyone that...well he just threatens to sue anyone. So what you got is a wannabe transplant from NY with money, lots of time on his hands, and a driven desire to be in the company people with power even if he has to buy his way in. And boys does he brag about it. He knows so and so, he is the sheriffs best friend, etc, etc. He would make a great case study because its not often you see someone with the intelligence level of Forest Gump milk so much influence from a blog. But he can't buy his way into the situations I find myself in.

In my line of work I come in close contact with many delegates, senators, lawyers, judges, basically any public official you can think of for the state of Maryland. On Tuesday, I had a meeting with a MD state senator, former state Attorney General, current mayor for 20 plus years of a small eastern shore town, former mayor of another town, and a former MD delegate. Then there was me. Like I say, my job puts me in some interesting conversations with people who can pull some serious strings. The bitch of it is I am a political junkie anyway so when I get in one of these positions, I can't help but drop a good question here or there. Yeah these cats got down to business and then chatted about MD politics for like 25 minutes. I learned a lot. Like being a fly on the wall. Joe Albero eat your freakin heart out. You couldn't buy a seat in that room. And I didn't see you around Annapolis yesterday? But thats cool cause your a Delaware resident, why should you care what happens in Maryland?

Anyway I wasn't trying to make an specific point other than Joe Albero thinks he has power, but in the scope of serious politics, he aint shit. There is a shift in the political winds in this country and the brand W politics of bullying people isn't going to be as accepted as it has been since the 1990's. Serious politicians that align their campaigns with sexists, bigoted, myopic muckrakers will pay the price at the polls. Take heed Andy Harris.

Betamax or VHS?

Remember that choice? I thought Betamax would have won the day but that was not to be. Now its HD DVD and Blu Ray. What the hell am I supposed to do? See being a movie guy, I like to get all involved in my shit when I sit down to watch it. I love the DVD format and almost prefer it to any other media for watching film. Of course some movies have to be seen on the big screen, but there are a great many I would rather just watch on my tv at home. So now I got these phat flat screen HD tv set up and i want to watch my dvd's in HD but now I am all flighty about buying one of these jitneys until the war is over. Now it looks like Warner is going to stop publishing in HD DVD and move to Blu Ray. Out of the big studios, 5 are in Blu Ray's corner and 2 are sticking to it with HD DVD. See this is some dumb shit for the consumer. DUMB Shit. And these studios wonder why pirating videos and music so popular...

So if you watched the BCS game last night you know that OSU got beat down again by a SEC team, this time LSU. All I can say is go Tigers. I don't pull for either team, so all I care about is the history note, LSU 38 OSU 24. Now lets get on with college basketball. Being an ACC guy, I watch a bunch of ACC play, but I will tune in for just about any game, especially the ones offered in HD. March is coming boys and girls...

Hey remember this? The best foreign policy stunt ever. I love how the PM cradled Bush the Elder. How poetic. That happened this day back in 92 and by the way the ABC reporter is dressed you would think it was 1982.

I likes me some George Washington. On this day in 1790 old GW dropped the first State of the Union address. I would have loved to be there. Actually I would have loved to chill with ol GW at Mount Vernon and drink some of that liquor he used to make. I read they were rebuilding the Washington distillery and would be reproducing the swill in the future. I will drink some of that. GW's Mount Vernon. Check out that site for some skinny. Pay attention to the links for some killa articles. GW was a bad ass farmer. Its a shame that you have to kick people in the head to remind them of that. Don't get me wrong, I don't put GW on a pedestal, but when you look at the nuts and bolts of Mount Vernon as compared to something like TJ's Monticello, you see where TJ was an architect minded individual and GW laid out Mount Vernon for practical reasons. That goes to the fact that GW was more intimate with farming, I think anyway. I have read a ton of stuff from Jefferson. He was a writer. His descriptions of 18th century weather and change of seasons in Virginia give you a good idea of where we were 300 years ago with weather. Check it out if you got the time.

Alright folks, gotta run. I have a meeting today. On the road again...I just can't wait to get on the road again...

Dude its like you know...

See every year after the Steelers lose in the playoffs, people I thought were gone from this earth feel the need to dig my white ass up a ridicule me and my team. Which is cool cause that reminds me that people care. Its all good cause they got to recycle the same weak shit from the last time we talked. Like last year, or the year before. See when you are a great football team, you are always in the playoffs, always winning the division, always getting a great player in the draft no matter where you pick. Most of you suckas just wish your club could get its shit together like my Steelers. And I don't know what you all getting skippy about, every team in the playoffs got some kryptonite out there. Hey like I always say when we bow out in the first round, now its time to think about hockey. And look at them Penguins, 8 and 2 in their last 10 and right near the top of the division after a fahvehunnert start.

And now I want to give some props to a man most of you have never heard of. R. Buckminster Fuller. I know, I know, who? Right. RBF was the brain that came up with the geodesic dome. Yeah that thing. It really is a modern marvel that holds the key to human survival. But none of us give a fuck so we will continue to ignore the teachings of those who try to make us a better race. Sucks. The dome is worth researching if you want to build a house that will last hundreds of years, cost less to build, cost less to heat and cool, and have the strength to out muscle hurricanes, tornadoes, and other fun destructive weather festivities. Especially concrete domes. Those bad asses are like the Ah-nold of the dome business. Anyway R.I.P Mr. Fuller, you passed away this day in 1983. Thank you for all you showed us.

Also a quick shout out to Walter Matthau who passed this day in 2000. Thanks for the laughs....

Dude what the fuck was going on at the grocery store this weekend? It was like someone forgot to feed the population or some shit. At first I was under the impression that snow was on the way. But that sure ain't the case cause it's supposed to be like 65 today here. Good stuff there. It even smells like a spring day outside. Yep and I got this fucked up office with no windows and very little cell phone reception. See this used to be a bank and my shit is in the vault. But still why the hunger scare? I mean you couldn't find soup, milk and mac & cheese. And this was like 10:30 in the morning on Saturday. It's not like it mattered or anything cause I loaded up on all junk food for the two day football veg out. I always feel like I wasted my time with this particular weekend, but then I think back and am like naaaaa. So we ate a lot of cheese sticks and french fries over the weekend. Payin for it today. It was that tub of cheese con queso that did it. That shit makes for some painful shit later. And you know it will and you know its gonna suck but you buy anyway. WTF? Why can't I learn that lesson?

Alright people. Be Merry.

Damn dem horses can run...

First let me say that as I sit a browse metal songs at work today, I must say there are songs that todays bands need to leave alone. Take Killswitch Engage's remake of Dio's Holy Diver. Did you really need to remake that one? I know there are purists out there and I don't consider myself one, I know there are purists that are hatin on that song. Its like that remake of "Land of COnfusion" by Genesis. I was a high school alcoholic when that came out in the 80's and thought it was good enough to remember. You know for the memories! But that remake was alirght, I liked the heavy chords in the chorus, but think the extra toms in it are out of place. I don't know. I can't even play a fuckin instrument so I guess I should just listen to the shit and be happy. Fuck it you know?

Anywho I want to get down to the Iowa primaries. I know that is a big ass change of pace from that opening words, but I am a political junkie and that shit last night was like crack. I found myself reading updates on my phone in bed last night trying to soak up all the coverage I can. There are a few things that I want to point out that i think are damn curious. First how fucking awesome is it a black man won that shit? How fucking crazy is it the Hill came in 3rd. After all that money, all that planning, dragging out the big dog for effect and she couldn't even get by Edwards. I tell you its that populist message that Edwards, Huck, and BO are towing that will win. That message is what the people want to hear. While I am not completely surprised the Hill got trampled, I am surprised that BO won it. I would have bet on Edwards. But lets look at BO. Dude is a rockstar. He has that kind of mojo. People showing up on the campaign trail screaming like the fucking Beatles had just invaded or Elvis was back in the building. Rock Star. I started keeping up with all these preznit wannabes since day one and BO has always drawn numbers. In the same towns where 500 would show for the Hill or ED, 3000 would turn out for BO. People want to see this guy. Then he stumps em with that "pump you up" speech and your ass is hooked. You are then on the BO wagon. Sucks for the Hill. Doesn't she seem tired? I mean you can tell she wants it, but being in the public light since last century has taken its toll. Besides if she was elected preznit, someone named Clinton or Bush will have been POTUS since 1988. And that aint right. We need some freshy freshy up in the White House.

And then there is the Repubs. Huck got them evangelic types out to the booth. Hey make no mistake about it, those extremely religious evans made him the winner. They were the only group on the GOP side that cared to show up. The surprise to me was Fred fuckin Thompson got 13% of the vote. Why? Cause John McCain got the same percentage of voters. What the hell is going on that Freddy did enough to deserve that. Wake up GOP? This is why your party is sucking wind. Straighten up and fly straight you dopes. Poor Ron Paul. Dude, change tack and keep going. You will do better in the smaller states. RP is someone I can get down with. I wish more Repubs could. All in all these cats are doomed. It does not matter what they say or do cause they are fucked by that cowboy ridin the title of POTUS into the White House lawn. Oh well. Maybe a decade or two in the minority will teach them as a party how to not fuck over the American public. It's the numbers that don't lie. Repubs increase there turn out from something like 87000 to 125000. While nice and it shows there was some hype about Repubs, the Dems got over 200,000 to come out and cast ballots. Indy vote went way Dem and until that chages, those GOP toadies aint winnin shit. The Dems got a huge amount of younger voters, moms, and Latinos votin for em. That will give them the White House, no matter how much election funny business goes on.

Alright kiddies, those are just some of my thoughts on last nights POTUS 08 kick off. We will talk more about this shit as the year unfolds, so start formulating those sarcastic comments and whatnot. While important, it aint that historic. That moment on this day goes to SOTH Nancy Pelosi. She was sworn in in that phat purple dress back on this day in 07. To date she is the most powerful woman in American politics. Now get out of here and have a good weekend.

Peace...

I see this all the time where I work...

http://www.glumbert.com/media/baddayoffice

Ananova - Pearl of a meal

Ananova - Pearl of a meal
See I would have broken my teeth on that. Now that I think about it, I probably would have swallowed it.

Monday Monday....but its a Wednesday.

Thats right. My head is all fucked up. Right now I think that its monday. Of course it is Wednesday and my internal compass is just screwed cause I total think it is Monday. I can't complain cause I just had two 4 day weekends back to back. Fucking A. So I am rested and ready to roll. I have been at work an hour and have lowered the boom on a couple of these bitties already. Which aint a bad thing. We got a few girls and I mean immature girls runnin around here that need some attitude adjustment. Being a happily married man with no agendas, its fun to tell it like it is. Watching egos pop and deflate like some many dreams on Ventura Blvd. Alright back to the mix...

I usually don't pimp other peoples shit, but since I do fancy my history, I want to pimp some shit from The History Channel(THC). I have had all kinds of time to watch the tube these past holidays and came away with a different view about THC. I used to watch THC all the time, but you can only see Hitlers Henchmen so many times before your like, dude there has to be some other events in history of interest other than WWII. Personally I think WWI is way more interesting, but WWII has all the alive vets and tv footage and WWI doesn't so we get WWII overload. Hey THC give a shout out to all the Korean vets sometime! Or Vietnam. I hate to say it, but Iraq has left us jaded enough to actually talk about Vietnam now. So lets get it on. See if your into politics, you have to know your wars or your foreign policy as the up an ups like to call it. But throw all that out. THC has finally pulled its head out of its collective war arse and started to look at other aspects of history. Like tonight. There is a show I have been watching for like a month now called Monster Quest and that shit is interesting. You should check it out. They take the usual schtick about whatever monster and do their own thing in the area of research. The show about those Humbolt Squid was killa. But you should watch it cause it looks at stuff with modern up to date techniques. THey actually caught a giant squid on tape with this long shot of an idea they cooked up. So the stuff they are trying gets results. They also have been pumpin up a show on The Weather Channel called "When Weather Changed History that looks good. So be on the look out for that.

As for history today, in 1983, the final edition of Garry Trudeau’s comic strip, "Doonesbury", appeared in 726 newspapers. "Doonesbury" began running again in September 1984. How freakin tragic would that have been if Trudeau never picked up the pen again? How in the hell would I have gotten through the 80's or 90's? Man I have read a lot of Doonesbury over a bowl of cereal.

Peace amigos. Have a fruitful Wednesday.

Monday Monday....but its a Wednesday.

Thats right. My head is all fucked up. Right now I think that its monday. Of course it is Wednesday and my internal compass is just screwed cause I total think it is Monday. I can't complain cause I just had two 4 day weekends back to back. Fucking A. So I am rested and ready to roll. I have been at work an hour and have lowered the boom on a couple of these bitties already. Which aint a bad thing. We got a few girls and I mean immature girls runnin around here that need some attitude adjustment. Being a happily married man with no agendas, its fun to tell it like it is. Watching egos pop and deflate like some many dreams on Ventura Blvd. Alright back to the mix...

I usually don't pimp other peoples shit, but since I do fancy my history, I want to pimp some shit from The History Channel(THC). I have had all kinds of time to watch the tube these past holidays and came away with a different view about THC. I used to watch THC all the time, but you can only see Hitlers Henchmen so many times before your like, dude there has to be some other events in history of interest other than WWII. Personally I think WWI is way more interesting, but WWII has all the alive vets and tv footage and WWI doesn't so we get WWII overload. Hey THC give a shout out to all the Korean vets sometime! Or Vietnam. I hate to say it, but Iraq has left us jaded enough to actually talk about Vietnam now. So lets get it on. See if your into politics, you have to know your wars or your foreign policy as the up an ups like to call it. But throw all that out. THC has finally pulled its head out of its collective war arse and started to look at other aspects of history. Like tonight. There is a show I have been watching for like a month now called Monster Quest and that shit is interesting. You should check it out. They take the usual schtick about whatever monster and do their own thing in the area of research. The show about those Humbolt Squid was killa. But you should watch it cause it looks at stuff with modern up to date techniques. THey actually caught a giant squid on tape with this long shot of an idea they cooked up. So the stuff they are trying gets results. They also have been pumpin up a show on The Weather Channel called "When Weather Changed History that looks good. So be on the look out for that.

As for history today, in 1983, the final edition of Garry Trudeau’s comic strip, "Doonesbury", appeared in 726 newspapers. "Doonesbury" began running again in September 1984. How freakin tragic would that have been if Trudeau never picked up the pen again? How in the hell would I have gotten through the 80's or 90's? Man I have read a lot of Doonesbury over a bowl of cereal.

Peace amigos. Have a fruitful Wednesday.