So I've been too lazy/whatever to call the cable company to get my modem transferred over. I'm sitting in a net cafe (or Korean Cafe, as some have dubbed it) and Maryland and Harmon, just across from UNLV. It's quite tame compared to the ones in Toronto. No drug addicts passed out on the floor or in the bathroom. Plus, you can smoke in here.

Ug, so sore from moving and dancing yesterday. Today I have to clean the old apartment and start unpacking.

All of my stuff is moved. I have a lot to say, but I can't right now. I've been too overwhelmed to have my cable modem moved to the new place, so I'm at a net cafe. Wish me luck.

The smoke from the California fires is finally blowing our way. Las Vegas is covered in a sick, brown haze.

"Why of course the people don't want war. . .
That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the
country who determine the policy and it is always a simple
matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy,
a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dic-
tatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought
to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to
do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the
peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country
to danger. It works the same in any country.."


- Hermann Goering
Nazi SS Officer, on or about 18 April 1946

Fuck fuck fuck. They say you become the thing you hate most. David Bowie is on one of the late night talk shows right now. I have always really hated his stuff; it just seemed uber-commercial tripe to me. I have taken a lot of flack for it. His new song sounds really good. His hair looks like a blonde version of the wig he wore playing Andy in Basquiat. For being over 50, he looks almost as hot as Catherine Denuve in the Hunger where they both played vampires.

Insult to Injury: Raw Deal for Jessica Lynch's Black Comrade-In-Arms

Taiwan to legalize gay marriage.

Damn damn damn. Southern California is on fire. I tried calling my friend in San Bernardino and couldn't get through. Eventually another friend got though and we found out the flames came within 10 blocks of his apartment. I was really afraid.

"Did we get up on the wrong side of the coffin this evening?"

Wow, feel so much better now.

I was getting testy at my friends as we were having trouble moving. We went to eat at Metro Pizza. I ordered a pitcher of Newcastle. My cohorts snidely commented that it was just for me. It was, really, but they drank some of it as well. They had huge pasta dishes that probably weighed more than I do while I stared down at a dinner salad. I got ranch dressing; even though I think I should be avoiding it, it's safe and easy.

We resumed moving. On the last load, I said that I would remain behind. We don't have internet access, TV, stereo, or even a working computer at the new place yet and I knew that I'd still be up for another 4 or 5 hours. When I got back in my apartment, I just sat down with a beer and tried to decompress. I remembered a piece of (snail) mail from the electric company. 48 hour disconnect. I look at the date on it, 10/24, today. I start to panic. I really don't want to get my power shut off again. I can sleep at the new place, I know, but I won't have anything that would keep me sane.

I felt so limp when my power was shut off before. The life and light of my home came to a screaming halt. One can live in a cabin without power, but not an apartment.

I wanted to run. Or to drink enough to put me to sleep quickly. Or to just sleep in the closet where it's dark and quiet. Instead, I put some beer in my backpack and head to the new apartment. It might be the St. John's Wort, but I managed some strength. I managed a plan. I'd call the electric company to get another day, then ask my new housemate to drive me to pay the bill before work tomorrow.

I make it to the new apartment, he isn't there. No panic, I set off to his partner's new apartment. It's just a block away. I lose my way (I don't know the area well.) I knock; she speaks through the door.

"Yes?"

"It's me"

"Give me a moment"

I guess she's putting on a shirt. I don't know why she needs to be modest. She opens the door, but just. I don't understand the posture. When someone I know knocks on my door, I open it wide and they come in, no matter how brief the visit.

I ask if he is here.

"He's gone to the new place"

"I must have just missed him on the road"

(We are both walking.) I go back to the new apartment and he is bathing. He doesn't notice my entrance. I step outside to smoke a clove. As I finish, he steps out of the bath. He startles at my entrance. I tell him about the bill.

"How much do you need?" He reaches for his wallet.

"I have enough to cover it, I just need to get it there"

I feel good that he would loan me the cash. I feel better that I don't need it. I just need a ride. His partner took claim of the car, however. He must be at work in 5 hours. He had said that he was calling in sick to work today, but now it seems that he will go in. I write a check and leave him the bill. His bus trip involves a layover near the electric company's office. He can pay it after work.

I leave to make the call to get an extension. The system is down. I return to tell Ian then leave for (my old) home. I drink some beer and chat with friends online. I finally call. It turns out that I have all day Friday to pay the bill and I won't get turned off until Saturday. So if the check gets to the office (I'm sure it will) I have no problem.

Busy day.

"To absent friends"

I just want to say that friends rule. Two friends in particular, Kat and Dan. They helped us move. I've helped people move before and it sucks, but it's a bonding moment, like when the Amish raise a barn. You are working for the common good.

Okay so I was moving today. As my friend and I were driving back to the old place to pick up some more gear, this kid (early teens) is standing in the street and waving us down. We stopped; he just smiled and hugged the hood! Then he smiled and ran away. It was probably the best performance art piece I've ever seen.

Ug, it's way to fucking early to be alive. I hate moving.

Someone buy me one of these

SR-71 Online - SR-71 Flight Manual

(the plane, not the manual. but a hardcopy of the manual would be cool, too.)

Random quote:

"Pay up or pull out"

-Sen. John McCain on Meet the Press

San Francisco Liberation Radio, a micro-power (read: pirate) radio station was raided on the 16th.

The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 "For the purpose of regulating interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio so as to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, a rapid, efficient, Nationwide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges..." It seems to me that they have been used to shut down alternate points of view for the sole purpose of protecting commerce. I can understand wanting to regulate the airwaves only so far as to make sure that stations don't broadcast on top of each other. If you don't like what the station plays, tune to another. By limiting choices and shutting down microstations they limit our choices and only make the air free for corporate rape. Grr. Makes me want to go all Pump Up the Volume and shit.

Bugs enjoy hamster sex

Hmm, doing some more reading I found this (from http://www.personalhealthzone.com/stjohnswort.html)

"Avoid the following substances when using St.-John's-wort: Amino acids tryptophan and tyrosine; amphetamines; asthma inhalants; beer, coffee, wine; chocolate, fava beans, salami, smoked or pickled foods, and yogurt; cold or hay fever medicines; diet pills; narcotics; nasal decongestants. They all contain chemicals that react adversely to hypericin, causing high blood pressure and nausea."

Beer and pickles! I don't want to give those up! Oh well, I suppose I can switch to wine or whiskey.

I started taking St. John's Wort. I feel kinda dizzy. Yesterday, when I started, I didn't fare too well. I ate a soy cheese sandwich with tomato, sprouts, and pickle before taking the pill and a vitamin. On the bus, I drank a protein shake (one of the Odwalla ones) and was feeling rather high by the time I made it to work. After about a half hour, I got really dizzy and started sweating some. I wound up puking. One of my coworkers gave me a ride home. I don't remember much of the next few hours, I was dizzy as hell and had to lay down. I probably fell asleep. The nausea went down enough for me to eat a salad. I called in today because I could still taste bile and I was still dizzy. I managed to eat some more salad and some lentil soup. I'm doing better now. I've had my share of chemicals, but this one (the St. John's Wort) is not like any others that I've had. It's not like Ativan or something that just spins you for a loop, but I'm still kinda spun. I hope this stuff makes me not so moody. I guess I'll know in a few weeks.

FuckThePresident.com

Syndication is weird. Just last week I was watching new-ish episodes of the Simpsons and now this week they're playing very early stuff. The episode where they get their pet dog (Santa's Little Helper) is on now. Most of the early ones are lame, but this one is cute enough.

Apartment living can suck. Granted if the place burns to the ground I don't loose equity or have to deal with anything more than replacing my record collection, but it seems like every day I have to deal with yard work and construction noise.

me: I take a dry cunt as a challenge
her: no you don't. you go straight for the lube

So, I went to see Kill Bill last night. One of my friends picked me up at work and drove me to his place so we could wait for his brother to get home. I haven't seen the pair in a while. I had a few whiskey sours and heard the tales of their recent European vacation. The brothers were wearing shirts from the trip, weird wrinkled fabrics. They got tattoos while they were there, D got a black star and J got a fist holding a rose. Cool stuff. Their mother gave me a TV so old that it doesn't have a coax input. It's still useful, I'll just need a VCR or cable box to make it usable for cable. It doesn't have a remote, just analog dials! It's been a long time since I've seen anything like that. We headed to the Palms to catch the flick. We were surrounded by loud morons. Don't people know that it's not polite to talk in the theater? J yelled at them to shut up. Very shitty audience. The film was wonderful, however. QT's eclectic pastiche is as powerful as ever. I should write more about it, but I want to see it again and not ruin it for people that don't like reading such things before they see it.

Just saw Kill Bill. I didn't mind it.

Religions can suck my balls

but control freaks can lick my taint. Reuters (via CNN) is reporting that a Muslim girl was suspended from her elementary school for refusing to remove her hijab. The school, in an attempt to further control students’ lives and impose their own morbid sensibilities on a generation that wants little to do with them, forbid the wearing of any headgear, including hijabs and yarmulkes. If you make all these kids dress the same, will the be easier to control? Will they listen to your commands? Do their homework every night? Or just resent your fucking guts and start mixing Ricin and ANFO? I can understand prohibiting ceremonial daggers being worn in some areas of public life, but not religious clothing and accessories. I’ll continue to point and laugh at the stupid shits that wear such things, but they should be allowed to wear them.

How's this for gag factor?

Jennifer Loewenstein: Bombing Syria

"Israel made a wise decision when it decided to bomb Syria on October 5th. As a result, the Palestinian terrorist organization Islamic Jihad has called a halt to all suicide bombings. The parents of the 29-year-old female suicide bomber who blew herself up inside Maxim's restaurant in Haifa on Saturday have sent a letter of apology to the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, and to the Mayor of Haifa. In their letter they state explicitly that they would have expected no more fitting a punishment than the demolition of their family home, the measure taken by the IDF after the bombing, and that they are saddened and bewildered by their daughter's action. "We accept our displacement with dignity and take upon ourselves full responsibility for our daughter's senseless action," they wrote. In response to this unprecedented letter, Israeli military authorities stationed outside Jenin offered relatives of the dead woman a thirty-minute reprieve from all travel restrictions, issuing them temporary passes for free travel throughout the northern West Bank if curfew is lifted within the next 24 hours."

Wally George died recently. I used to giggle at his TV show. Of course the only reason I watched it was because it was on right before Request Video on channel 56.

In even stranger news, Meat Beat Manifesto's next album is supposed to be nothing but Dub. Weird.

So today marks the anniversary of the first attack on a commercial airplane. A nitroglycerin bomb went off in the cargo hold of a United flight from Cleveland to Chicago. It was 1933, so they were probably still blaming the anarchists.

Oh brother, I must have gained some weight. It took me a while to get into my really tight pants.

Dead Pool for Arafat.

74 years old, just had a minor heart attack, and Israel is going into Syria. This man so has one week to live.

On the brighter side...

The FCC ruled that the broadcast of Bono saying "this is really, really fucking brilliant" on the Golden Globes was not obscene.

"The word 'f---ing' my be crude and offensive, but, in the context presented here, did not describe sexual or excretory organs or activities," the bureau wrote.


"Rather, the performer used the word 'f---ing' as an adjective or expletive to emphasize an exclamation. Indeed, in similar circumstances, we have found that offensive language used as an insult rather than as a description of sexual or excretory activities or organs is not within the scope of the commission's prohibition of indecent program content."

Someone somewhere in that bloated bureaucracy got a clue.

"caffe latte:

A strong espresso coffee topped with steamed frothed milk."

Now if you ordered a latte, would you expect it to come back with ice in it? With no "steamed frothed milk" making lovely frothy goodness on top? Well, I kind of expected a hot drink and instead got something with ice in it. What a way to start my day.

I'm afraid.

USATODAY.com - Israel attacks Islamic Jihad base in Syria

Israel invading Syria before we do. Sigh.

Las Vegas can be a surreal place to live. It’s like a 24 hour Disneyland. The reason this comes to mind is Roy Horn, of 'Siegfried and Roy’ fame got attacked by one of his cats today. I think it’s fucking funny, dipshit shouldn’t have been playing with wild animals. It’s still quite strange. The disembodied heads of Siegfried and Roy loom over the Strip as one of the most grotesque statues I’ve ever seen. I bet there are dozens of musicians and performers in the hospital waiting to see how he is.

The Third Man

So I saw the Third Man. I can be static sometimes, not wanting to move outside what I know, but when my friend brought this over I thought I might like it. I think Blade Runner is lifted frame for frame from this. I think I should buy it soon.

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