massdestruction

How witzer?

I think its very interesting to look at the reports on the reclamation of howitzers from two ski resorts. If you read the story its simply a matter of getting loaners back in the summer... they really don't need 5 guns immediately for Iraq.

Still, some news agencies have chosen to paint this as the army needing these 5 guns as if there was a shortage. Trust me, with the way our government is set up, there is no lack of defense company goods.

Queer Eye for Hunt High!

Yay Wilson!

My hometown is small, backwards, and downright scary. This week it has made International news once again. It turns out that a student at my old high school is running for class president as the 'gay candidate'. The school made him take the signs down and the ACLU has stepped in to represent him.

I am amazed that there is a student who is brave enough to be out at Hunt High School. It was hard enough on me simply because I dressed funny, listened to odd music, and spent most of my time studying rock and roll.

The funny thing is the wide coverage it is getting. Even in The Guardian in the U.K. Wilson hasn't seen this kind of coverage since the infamous ban on having furniture on a porch.

I am so glad I got out of there... it was my biggest dream from a very young age.

CTS

OK - I have Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. I have not been to a doctor to check it out but Cate gave me to 45 second test. I don't think its too bad but right now I am a bit sore and have been staying away from the computer. No chatting, IM, or blogging until I am better!

Da Bulls

Tonight Cate and I went to see the Durham Bulls game with our friends Paul and Sandy. It was a real pitchers dual... for who sucks the most! 13 runs in the first 3 innings. Crazy. But it was fun and my Nephew was there and got to do a little kid challenge deal between innings... and won. Woo!

Now it will probably be too freakin' hot around here to go again.. such is the way of the world.

Shiny Bikey

After a long day of yard and house work I decided to work on my bicycles. (Yes, I have three OK - give me a break. 1 Road, 1 Mountain, and my commuter bike . I rarely ride the mountain bike anymore but I can't bring myself to sell it).

After some tuning and adjusting (I think I need to replace some cables) I decided to shine up my road bike. I took some spray-on car wax and shined up all the painted and chrome-ish parts. Man it looks good - brand new! Yow!

You know how people say that a clean car runs better - well a clean bike is super-smooth.

Yank My Doodle, its a Dandy

I have to be honest, I thought this would have happened long before now. Its not as though I keep up with the news of the adult entertainment industry, so I suppose it has happened, but this is the first time I have seen it on the news wires.

What happened? HIV Quarantine. A "performer" has tested positive for HIV and now there is a voluntary quarantine for the people who "worked with" the people who "worked with" the people who "worked with" the guy.

To my great surprise there is a group called the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation and they are the ones who have organized the master quarantine list. The Los Angeles Health Dept. seems to think they are handling the situation well. So kudos to the sex industry I suppose.

Openness

"A country that hides something is a country that is afraid of getting caught" - I just heard Bush say this... so does that mean we can finally see Cheney's FULL tax returns for the last 3 years?

While we are at it, but in regard to a completely different entity, now that someone as sane as Lawrence Lessig is on the FSF board, can they finally open up their budget?

Patented Gif

Normally I would not post an animated gif to any site... but this one is quite brilliant:

Peeps!

Shamelessly and not illegally stolen from Paul Jones:

Peeps on Mars

Peeps visit the library

Peeps research: how did it pass the IRB?

NASA asks: can peeps fly?

Wikipedia on peeps

Peeps vs Bunnies

Peeps webring

Go You Blues!

Those who have known me at all know that I am a HUGE Chelsea FC fan. I'm not huge... the level of my fanship is huge.

Today Chelsea played their London arch-rivals Arsenal to go to the 'final four' of the Champions League. The game ended 3 - 2 to Chelsea with a beautiful goal to win. Arsenal are a thorn in Chelsea's side and most thought Chelsea would lose out to them. The excitement is palpable even from here! I am so amazingly happy about this.

One beautiful moment for me was seeing Soccernet putting up a story that said Arsenal had the edge after they scored the first goal. They probably don't have the graphics and text ready for Chelsea winning - the final score is slow to appear. Soccernet blows. Wheeee!

Go You Blues!!!

Steinbeck

I think, in light of recent events, that everyone in our current Presidential administration should be required to read John Steinbeck's The Moon is Down.

You may remember me mentioning this on my last blog about a year ago... its a book about a nondescript army in a nondescript country trying to occupy it. It is about the relationships between the occupiers and occupied and questions who is really in power. This book was banned in France during Germany's occupation in World War II.

I love Steinbeck but I understand many don't. This is the Steinbeck I love though, short works with purpose. His grand novels are wonderful but I think he really shines in his small novels like this one. Even if you don't love Steinbeck please, please, please read this if you have not before.

Basketball

I have been a fan of UNC basketball since I was a kid. It is hard not to be a fan of college basketball in our area with UNC, NC State, Duke and Wake Forest in spitting distance of each other. Growing up though, I hated NC State as they were the big rival, and the team of choice of my brother. Slowly, however, the title of most hated is shifting to Duke.

I just watched Duke lose to UConn in the Final Four and I am happy about that. Let me explain...

Normally I will cheer for the ACC team when playing others, but my big problem with Duke is that the fans, Coach K, and sometimes the players, tend to have an "entitlement" complex. When they lose they tend to blame the refs for taking "their victory" away... I mean, they should win... they're Duke!

Such was the game tonight as Coach K got off the bench during the critical play (one that took the clock to 3 seconds with UConn up and a foul on Duke) to bitch about some non-existent foul not being called. He was clearly saying "Bull Shit!" perhaps we should complain to the FCC.

Get over it Coach! Other coaches accept the amazing chaos of the game and make sure their "kids" keep a good attitude.

By the way, I don't like Pro Basketball.... boring.

Serena?

This evening as I was looking at Google News, as I am want to do, I saw a photo of Serena Williams that really shouldn't have been used...

Thats horrible!

If she were running for office and ESPN wasn't supporting her the photo might have worked. Perhaps if Serena had been involved in some scandal that made major headlines and turned the country against her... it might have worked. As it is, it doesn't work.

Serena, sorry sweetie.

Officer Friendly

Shamelessly and Illegally stolen from McSweeney's today.

BAD NAMES FOR UNDERCOVER POLICE OFFICERS

BY WENDY MOLYNEUX

Johnny Copface
Mark S. Policeman
Drugbust McGee
Ima Detective
Sir Arrests-a-Lot
Sipowicz

Ripley's Game

Tonight Cate and I watched a movie called Ripley's Game. This is a movie with John Malkovich which was never released in the U.S. because of some crazy political reasons or something. It has now been released on DVD here though.

This is a really entertaining movie, and the second movie released by Malkovich's production company, Mr. Mudd. The first one was The Dancer Upstairs which is one of my favorite movies ever. This new movie is good though it is not as good as the first Mr. Mudd film... at least to me. Its well worth it though, go ask Netflix or your local video store that you would like to see it.

Note: I am told that Mr. Mudd also produced Ghost World which was also an excellent movie.