Echoes From The Tomb

Books over E-Readers.. Personal Preference.

2012-01-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

I had a recent conversation with a friend about what type of e-reader he should buy, and being that I despise e-readers I told him to find another opinion to solicit, being that I prefer the old school method of reading. Pick up a book, open the cover and start reading.. He then began a tirade over why e-readers will always have an advantage over books and called me an old fashioned dinosaur. “I can fit thousands of books on my reader and I won’t be killing trees!” Blah, Blah, Blah. I say Bullshit- not EVERYTHING needs to be on a computer, and there ARE some advantages to reading an actual book over reading one on a tab computer. For instance, I can read any book in my library in direct sunlight with absolutely no problems with screen glare and I don’t have to worry about my books crashing, getting hacked or failing because of low or dead batteries. I could probably come up with a few more, but I will stop there.. Sometimes technology just gets in my way.. Ridiculous.

A Tale of Two Nerds..

2012-01-21T00:36:00.000-08:00

Two computer science students at a local university meet up on campus one afternoon when the first student calls out to the other.

“Hey- Nice bike! where did you get it?”

“Well,” replies the other, “I was walking to class the other day when this beautiful young coed came riding up to me on this bike. she jumps off, takes off all of her clothes, and says,

“You can have ANYTHING you want!”

“Good Choice.” Replies the first. “Her clothes probably wouldn’t have fit you anyway.”

Saturday belongs to me!

2011-11-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

I decided after working two Saturdays in a row that I was needing at least two days off from work this weekend to tend to some personal business. Monday rolled in and I did the usual, rose at about 2:45 in the morning, Showered and shaved, had coffee and breakfast, and headed to Airport Rd to hook up with my ride to Moundhouse some 10 miles away to where I work at Production Pattern Foundries. So I talked to the foreman first thing before my shift and put in my request for this Saturday which he happily complied. I didn’t find out until a couple of hours later what this request was REALLY going to cost me. After we started work we were duly informed that the machine that makes the sand molds that we pour the aluminum into was going down for maintenance the following day and there would only be a handful of people working the scheduled shift on Tuesday. The guy that I ride with had gotten Tuesday off, but since I requested Saturday I had to work on Tuesday.. Which meant that I would have to get up early and ride my bicycle every inch of the way there. All 10 miles of it.. Yaaay me.

So Tuesday morning rolled around, and I got up even earlier, because I had to leave earlier. I made sure I installed brand new batteries in the bike head light, and wore an extra shirt and long johns so I didn’t get cold on my long bike trip to work in Moundhouse. I had to leave at about 3:15 AM in order to get there before my shift started at 5:00. I got up to Moundhouse at somewhere around 4:05 AM, that’s when I got the bright idea to take a shortcut. If I went down Red Rock Road and cut across the field at the end of it I would be able to cut 35 minutes off of my time and I would get there early enough to relax for a few minutes before starting my shift. It was pitch black out, and halfway across the field my headlight quit working and I could hear the not so distant sound of something coming up behind me, the clopping sounds on the dirt rode were a dead givaway and although I couldn’t see them, I could hear several wild horses running by me through the field and it scared the hell out of me as a couple of them were close enough to touch! I made it to work on time and in one piece but I was almost trampled by a whole herd of wild horseys, but least I get this Saturday off. The things I do for my weekend, two more days to go.

In a perfect world

2011-10-25T20:08:00.001-07:00

In a perfect world.. Nobody would be Homeless.

In a perfect world.. Everyone would be able to find a job..

In a Perfect world.. there would be no more hunger..

In a perfect world.. we would have a government that always acted in the best interest of the people.. regardless of rich or poor, race, creed or color or social standing..

We're a long way from perfect..

Finally..

2011-09-21T08:47:00.001-07:00

I can honestly say that that it feels really good to say that I am officially; once again, among the ranks of the employed.. I got the call this morning, I will be going up to sign up officially, all of the proper paperwork and such, and then I'll take my drug test and then I'll start the next available day. its foundry work again, but hey IT's WORK.. I am honestly relieved. after two years of getting my self confidence stomped to the ground -- well, I'm just happy.

When Zombies Attack.

2011-09-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

Question: Who will be the only people to survive the coming Zombie Apocalypse?

Answer: Politicians.. Because as we all know, Zombies only attack people with brains in their head

Chaos

2011-09-04T09:28:00.001-07:00

Sometimes in life, our lives, however we choose to live them can be daunting. When the order of chaos surrounds you, tries desperately to consume your soul and control your every thought. Life just isn’t for the faint of heart. Yes, this I know, we live in a time where temptation is in no short supply, and there are thousands, stacked high upon millions of them; seemingly pulling us in every conceivable direction all at once. Its harrowing, exhausting even, sometimes when you feel like everything is slipping away, just stop, relax, take a deep breath and listen. I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, Nobody, and I do mean NOBODY, does it alone. Whether you know and accept it or not. You’re not alone friend. But its ok to need a little help from time to time, its ok to need another person around, and yes its even ok to ask God for a little help once in awhile. The real trick there is in asking the one above you, not the one beneath you.

Look what the dragon dragged in.

2011-09-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

In my travels around the interwebs I happened to stop by the old neighborhood and found these suspicious looking characters lurking around an abandoned blog.. I didn't mind too much when they decided to follow me home.

Fragile (Another Blogstream re-posting)

2011-08-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

~Originally posted on Blogstream.com on Friday March 13th 2009~

You always see the same line up, the same witnesses, they all share the same stories, the faces are always different, and the players live in different towns, but its the beginnings and endings that always seem to get you, right there in your gut, their stories always get you to thinking, wondering, damn, I knew somebody like that. Yeah, I knew somebody like that once. Normal guy, real neighborly, family man I heard, life just sort of rolls along and then one day without rhyme or reason, with a flick of a switch, a light goes on, and everything in his world changes. he wakes up, loads his pistol, and kills his whole family, walks out the front door and the neighbor lady waves to him never ever seeing what is in his hand, as he raises the weapon and fires on her without provocation, from there he goes on to take six more lives, six lives that never ever touched his own in any way, and yet they died, perhaps for no other reason than they were unfortunate enough to cross paths with this oddly out of sorts human being.

You see the faces on the six o’clock news, yeah, the story is always the same, nobody saw it coming, nobody ever does, he seemed so normal, don’t we all? They try to find the cause, the catalyst, it brings out the psychiatrists and psychics in droves, barking out their labels and theories of probable cause. Its TV, its video games, its rock music, or perhaps the person was merely a byproduct of a society that has lost touch with or simply abandoned its own humanity a long fucking time ago. A lot of guess work, a lot of finger pointing, buts its funny how the finger never seems to point at the right person, the one that pulled the trigger. Call it stress, call it mental fatigue, call it whatever you want to call it. Somewhere, somehow, something crept into this so called normal human beings fragile psyche, and began to tug at him, pull at him, in ways that no one ever seen, or few could ever hope to understand, until the day he finally snapped, taking nine lives before taking his own.

They say we’ve grown cold, distant to one another, daily our lives are exposed to more violence, more sex, more corruption and greed. The rich keep getting richer and the poor continue to sink lower into the depths of their own depravity and despair and are left to their own devices to feed off of each other. But here’s another truth for you, its short and simple, people are just unpredictable animals, sometimes they just get pissed off for no particular reason and just do bad things to each other. No rhyme, no reason, some people are just assholes, its just that some of them are better at hiding it than others. Meanwhile the debate continues, what caused him to go off like that? Did he lose his job? Was his wife cheating on him with another man? Was somebody bullying him? Or did he just blow a fuse? More questions than answers, definitive answers that could only be found on the lips of a dead man.

Meanwhile the experts talk it to death, analyze it, for weeks on end, on TV, on the internet, in the newspapers. To them its just another story, some conclude that society just done this guy wrong, others think that he was just another time bomb ticking away until someone set him off. The pressures of everyday life for some people can mind numbing at times, the pressures of the job, or the possibility of losing your home, maybe your spouse, maybe your children, maybe you’ll lose everything, some of us? We hold it together, somehow we make it through to the next day without incident, we have good days and bad days, but we always seem to work through it, without turning a gun on the rest of the world. Sooner or later the story eventually fades from the spotlight, until the next Columbine or Virginia Tech or the next big thing in Alabama, the next story, the next case, the next set of witnesses who never saw it coming. So what really does make people go crazy? Maybe we’ll never know the answer to that question,and given the fact that no two people are exactly the same, mentally or physically, it seems the only answer that we are likely to find is that there really isn’t just one.

~Scratch~

Words? Who needs words?

2011-08-24T08:24:00.001-07:00

I love it when something just rolls by my eyes and just reaches out and grabs me by the imagination. they say a picture is worth a thousand words? by itself, this one is worth a million, throw in the caption and you've made it "Priceless"

Haven't been around much.

2011-05-19T12:38:00.001-07:00

I don't know exactly how it happened, it just sort of snuck up on me I think, one morning I woke up and looked down and I could barely see my toes. I remember thinking:

"Jeeesus H! where in the blue hell did that belly come from??"

they tell me that you don't realize that you're gaining weight while its happening but luckily for me- I started weighing myself every day again in the mornings and once before I went to bed. when my weight hit 256 lbs I decided that enough was enough, it was time to do something about it. so I started going for a run every morning and cutting back on my carb intake, and aside from a couple of minor set-backs early on- (Like a swollen calf muscle) I'm happy to report that after my run today I managed to get my weight down from 256 to 235. I still have a long way to go but I'm making significant progress. The one thing aside from the weight loss that I've noticed is I sleep better, I breathe better and I seem to have more energy than ever before. anyhow I just wanted to pop in and see how everyone was doing, I have some time so I think I'll make the rounds this afternoon. I see that Blogstream is still up and running, but no matter I'm done with it, I deactivated my last blog there and I'm not going back. anyhow time to go catch up on some blogs.. then tomorrow morning its back to the running for me.

What?

2011-04-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wait.. What? Caturday? what in the blue hell is Caturday? you have coffee for me? Yes? wait.. what? did I see the royal what? Royal wedding? do I look like I F**king care about the royal wedding? now shut up and read my lips-- I...... WANT........ CAFFEINE!!

~Sometimes I look at a picture of a cat and I can't help but wonder what kitty is thinking.. but in the case of this little critter I don't think I want to know.. The look on its face says it all.~

Glen Miller. (another blogstream.com repost.. )

2011-04-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on Blogstream.Com on Saturday September 19th 2009 @ 11:23 AM.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I grew up I can still remember seeing all of those old 78’s that my mom used to listen to, she had tons of them. Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman and Guy Lombardo and the like, but to me nobody’s sound personified an era the way Glenn Miller did. When you heard Glenn Miller playing you just knew and still know it couldn’t be anybody else.

Here’s the scoop From Glenn Miller.com. (Abridged.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alton Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa on March 1, 1904. But it was in North Platte, Nebraska, several years later that Glenn actually got his musical start when, one day, his father brought home a mandolin. Glenn promptly traded it for an old battered horn, which he practiced every chance he got. In fact his mother worried, "It got to where Pop and I used to wonder if he'd ever amount to anything."

In 1923, Miller entered the University of Colorado, although he spent more time traveling to auditions and playing where and whenever he could. After flunking three of his five courses one semester, Glenn dropped out to concentrate on his career as a professional musician.

He toured with several orchestras and ended up in Los Angeles where he landed a spot in Ben Pollack's group, a band that included a guy named Benny Goodman. Here, Miller also got the chance to write some arrangements. Arriving in New York City, he soon sent for, and married his college sweetheart, Helen Burger in 1928, and for the next three years, earned his living as a free-lance trombonist and arranger.

Miller played and recorded with the likes of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey (who on several of their records, featured an up-and-coming singer by the name of Bing Crosby), Gene Krupa, Eddie Condon and Coleman Hawkins. In addition, during that time, Glenn cut 18 sides for Goodman, and also worked
for radio studio conductors like Victor Young, Carl Fenton and Jacques Renard. In 1934, Miller became the musical director of the Dorsey Band, and later went on to organize The Ray Noble Orchestra, which included such players as Charlie Spivak, Peewee Erwin, Bud Freeman, Johnny Mince,
George Van Eps and Delmar Kaplan, among others.

In April 1935, Glenn Miller recorded, for the first time, under his own name. Using six horns, a rhythm section and a string quartet, he recorded "Moonlight on the Ganges" and "A Blues Serenade" for Columbia. But selling only a few hundred records, he continued his position with the Noble Orchestra.

In 1937, Glenn Miller stepped out to form his own band. There were a few recordings -- one for Decca and one for Brunswick -- a couple of week-long stints in New Orleans and Dallas, and many one-nighters, but it was not to be. Though the group would play one more date several days later in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Glenn gave his men their final notice on New Year's Eve at the Valencia Ballroom in York, Pennsylvania. Broke, depressed and having no idea what he was going to do, he returned to New York City.

It is said that Miller could never remember precisely the moment he decided to emphasize his new reed section sound. But it was during this disheartening interim, that he realized the unique sound -- produced by the clarinet holding the melodic line while the tenor sax plays the same note, and supported harmonically by three other saxophones -- just might be the individual and easily recognizable style that would set his band apart from all the rest.

On October 7, 1942, Alton Glenn Miller reported for induction into the Army and was immediately assigned to the Army Specialist Corps. His appointment as a Captain came after many months of convincing the military higher-ups that he could modernize the army band and ultimately improve the morale of the men. His training complete, he was transferred into the Army Air Corps, where he ultimately organized the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band. Miller's goal of entertaining the fighting troops took another year to be realized, but in late 1943 he and the band were shipped out to England.

There, in less than one year, the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band engaged in over 800 performances. Of these, 500 were broadcasts heard by millions. There were more than 300 personal appearances including concerts and dances, with a gross attendance of over 600,000. But Glenn was not to participate in the final six months of these activities.

In the Fall of 1944, the band was scheduled to be sent on a six-week tour of Europe and would be stationed in Paris during that time. Miller decided to go ahead, in order to make the proper arrangements for the group's arrival. And so, on December 15th, Glenn Miller boarded a transport plane to Paris, never to be seen again.”
~ source: Glenn Miller Orchestra.com~

In keeping with my bathroom theme.

2011-04-17T17:57:00.001-07:00

I couldn't believe it when I saw this on Youtube.. So do you have a spare $6400 lying around? well if you do just think, you too could be taking a dump in style in this nifty new high tech toilet. (At least I think its a toilet.) $6400? really? no shit? (No pun intended) someone would actually pay $6400 for a crapper? I think what I find even more disturbing is that the people in the video appear to have a toilet in their living room.. now who in their right mind would put a friggin toilet in their living room? and in front of of a twenty- foot long picture window with no curtains no less. it really does take all kinds.. it heats the seat, it even warms your feet and plays music.. I wonder if it wipes your heiney for you too?

Uh oh..

2011-04-17T09:26:00.001-07:00

This Sunday morning was supposed to be a peaceful one, not unlike many others. But instead- on this Sunday Morning I awoke in a strange flutter. The haunting feeling that something was escaping me, kept nagging at my still half asleep brain, the whole time I lye there under the covers staring at the ceiling this morning. I thought about it for several minutes and couldn't figure out what it was that I was forgetting. I got up, made toast and coffee scratching my bewildered Pumpkin the whole time, whatever it was that I was forgetting was filling my whole being with this strangely familiar sense of dread. And so I gave pause to the situation- trying to find some ominous event in my life to compare this terrible feeling to. Perhaps then I would remember whatever it was.

I tried to remember the first bully that I ever stared down, I remember that feeling well, the cold sweats, the clammy clenched fists, the feeling of uncertain anticipation of the unknown that however the confrontation would end, it would most certainly end badly for either the bully or for me. No this feeling of dread was different. No not the same feeling. I already did my taxes so it wasn’t that, not that the uncertainty of facing the taxman is any less unsettling. No I was certain, no fear could match this feeling, not meeting hostile aliens, nor the ghost of Jimmy Hoffa, not coming face to face with a grizzly bear, a mountain lion or Bigfoot himself.

So let me think back briefly, to the recent past. Perhaps there is a clue hidden somewhere? I went shopping yesterday, for food and cleaning supplies.. Nothing frightening about that, Hmmmmm.. Cleaning supplies? Well I did clean the ol tomb out from top to bottom yesterday. Yeppers.. every room of my happy little habitat is cleaned and ship shape, every room except for-- oh… God.. I forgot to clean the bathroom.. Nooooooooooo! Please god I don’t want to.. Don’t make me do it! Please.. Not that. But alas I live alone in this dungeon so if not I.. then who shall attempt such bravery? I must be strong, Time to break out the comet cleanser, the gas mask, The elbow length rubber gloves and the wet suit. Time to clean the bathroom.. Pray for me my friends.. I’m going in.

Its all my computers fault.

2011-04-16T10:44:00.001-07:00

You really don’t realize how truly tubby you’ve become until your walking down the front stairs in front of your apartment one morning, and some scrawny little jerk is standing there holding two flags giving you hand signals like you’re a circling blimp waiting for landing instructions. Although that isn’t exactly what happened to me, that’s what it felt like. And so my personal incident; which happened on Wednesday, (no we won’t discuss it ) prompted me to do a little investigating into some of my more recent life events. I really shouldn’t have been surprised I suppose; to learn that my computer is the culprit that is responsible for my recent weight gain. I always knew the little bastard spawn of Satan was out to get me but I never thought that it would stoop to the levels that it recently has.

See- here’s my logic. If I sit in front of the computer all day and do nothing but vegetate, you know, the normal computer activities, reading and writing and cruising the web, and I only get up to use the bathroom or to get snacks, sure my brain gets plenty of exercise, but the one big drawback is, my body gains weight like a Mofo. However in the past two days I find that whenever I push myself away from the computer and leave it alone to go out and get some exercise, I have lost 3- count em 3 lbs so far in the past 2 days. And in addition to my recent findings, I’ve concluded that if I eat more salads and less Twinkies and gut burgers all of the time, that helps me shed major poundage as well. So let me recap- when I sit in front of this computer all day- I gain weight.. And when I get up and go out to get some exercise, I lose weight.. See? Its all my computers fault.

Numb.

2011-04-15T19:03:00.001-07:00

Baby you’ve been hurtin,

Seems like for your whole life.

Those people don’t really see you,

And you do believe its time.

For them to cease the beating,

On the same old broken drum.

When those vicious words, cut through you.

It leaves you feeling numb.

The sanctimonious feelings,

The cold judgmental stares.

They just don’t understand you,

Nor the person hidden there.

Their whole life has been wasted,

On spewing hate and chewing gum.

And its raining, childish words,

And they leave you feeling numb.

Baby, tune out all of their noise,

And just stay true to you.

Rise above the doubters,

Their not even half as good as you.

Bullies are a dime a dozen,

People like you - there’s only one.

So when the ignorance comes a creepin,

Don’t let it leave you numb.

So when its time to face the music,

most of them run and hide.

Its just in a cowards nature

For the real truth doesn’t lie.

For even some pretty people,

Hide some ugly deep inside.

So keep up your chin up,

The numbness will subside.

If you are or you know of someone who is a victim of bullying, online or otherwise, please let them know that the ugly words that small, simple minds create aren't true. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Bullies are cowards.

~Stop the hate~ V

Strange morning indeed

2011-04-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a return trip to Carls JR this morning to get another one of their fantabulous Breakfast burritos, but when I got there the doors were locked, No people inside, the lights were off, nothing was moving- not even a mouse. Which I found strange seeing as how they open at 5:30 AM. strange until I saw all of the Police cars that were hovering around there. I decided that I didn't need to go to Carl's that bad so I Peddled down to the nearest light and made it across the street to the new Mexican place that just opened up instead. their Breakfast burrito isn't as good as Carl's is, they are a little mushy to be honest, mostly beans and potatoes, very little egg, Jalapeno or ham, and the Tortilla was way too big. but its still good enough to give me a proper Gut-Gasm. still though, I'm wondering what in the dickens happened at Carl's Jr last night? robbery? B&E? or perish forbid such a thought, could there have been a homicide? No no. there wasn't any police tape put up. there were however- at least 3 Police cars there that I counted, probably even more. my money is on a B&E if anything. I'll probably get the afternoon edition of the Nevada Appeal, if its local it'll be in there. strange indeed.

Breaking up is hard to do.

2011-04-13T07:07:00.001-07:00

If I have one fault- (OK so maybe I have more than one, so please hold your comments until after the rant) its that sometimes I just don't know when to leave well enough alone. this morning I woke up and started poking around Blogspot and I'm still not sure how I did it but I started following myself. I'm now sure how or why, I certainly don't remember doing it but yes.. I am my own stalker now- or was. I'm still not sure why I did this. There is no reason that I should be following myself around blogspot, so I reopened the window and abruptly un-followed myself.. I've never ended this sort of relationship before now so perhaps I should be consulting with Mister O to see how or if - he has ever resolved this issue. seems to me that he went through this very thing earlier. what is the proper etiquette for un-following yourself? is it like breaking up with someone? will I have to check every number when I get phone calls in the middle of the night now? will there be this long uncomfortable silence whenever I accidentally run into myself in the produce section at the super market? will I have to scan every email I get from this moment forward to make certain that I didn't send myself a nasty message or a virus? this is an awkward feeling. Egads! Oh the Paranoia.. Wait- I know! maybe I should just stay off of the computer until I've had at least two cups of coffee. Mister O was right, this blogging thing is getting really confusing. yes it is.

Grumpy Gus.

2011-04-11T15:05:00.001-07:00

A grumpy 85 year old man walks into the doctors office and looks around, after a few minutes he decides that he is being ignored so he walks up to the receptionist.

"I need to see a doctor right now young lady" He announces.

"Yes Mr. Wilson? what seems to be the problem?" She asks.

"There's something wrong with my dick!" He tells her.

Perplexed and somewhat embarrassed the receptionist looks around the room and then motions for him to come closer.

"Mr. Wilson.. That is not proper language to be using in mixed company especially in the waiting room. not go back out, and come back in and try telling me the problem using words that are more socially acceptable."

He goes back outside and after giving his situation careful thought he re-enters the doctors office and approaches the receptionist again. she smiles sweetly at him.

"Yes Mr. Wilson? What seems to be your problem?"

"There's something wrong with-- my ear."

"What's wrong with your ear Mr. Wilson?"

"I can't piss through the sonofabitch."

There's something about this guy..

2011-04-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

You know every once in awhile I like to leave the TV on with no sound as I'm writing, its just something that I like to do once in awhile. now here lately I seem to keep making the mistake of leaving it on one of those twenty four hour news channels. I know I know.. Dumb idea. here lately though theres this guys that keeps showing up on my TV screen, now the sound is turned down mind you, so I have no idear what he's saying - and maybe thats a good thing. but some people you don't have to hear them talk to realize that they're an asshole in the purest form.. ok now I know, that he's like the speaker of the spouse or sumpthin.. oh wait.. thats supposed to read Speaker of the house.. and his name isssss.. John ---- Ummmmmmm.... Boner... No wait.. Beaner.. uummmm wait..

I can never seem to get his name right. Lessee here- Is it Beaner? Or maybe Bonner? Or is it Boner? Bender? OK.. Now C'mon you guys help me out here. I know it starts with a "B" Hey! I have an idear. how about this? how about we all get together and throw him a good old fashioned southern neck stretching party? I could be the host! I have a rope and everything! anyhow I always seem to have trouble remembering this guys name so I think I'll just call him Asshole #1. I never thought that I would actually miss Nancy Pelosi. (I know, I Know Please don't hit me.)

For The Taking.. An early Blogstream repost - #2 (Revised)

2011-04-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on Blogstream.com on Friday March 14th, 2008. @ 11:22 AM.

We’ve been stumbling around here for what seems like forever. Looking up at the stars, watching the clouds. Our whole existence spent wondering- asking questions. Never ending questions as to why we are here. Where do we really come from? Where will we end up? How much time do we have left? We have lived through the discovery of fire, we chiseled the first wheel out of stone, and made our first weapons from them. We marveled at the very first sunrise, and watched in amazement as it sat, wondering if we would ever see such a miracle again. We hunted for food, taking from the earth only what we needed for our own survival. We were nomadic, roaming the earth looking for our place, we stumbled and fell, and picked ourselves up again. Awkwardly, we took our first cautious steps towards civilization. Walked upright, became tribal, began to stake our claim to what we deemed was ours. But never was. We became intelligent, built cities, forged machines, closed ourselves off from the rest of civilization, became a bigger threat not only to our neighbors, but to ourselves as well. We became warlike, hostile, and inevitably somewhat less human.

We drilled for oil, made bigger machines, bigger cities, bred children more, and as time evolved, taught them less. We became less tolerant, and more impatient, took more and gave less. Became closed off to the outside world, and as a singular society have become closed off to each other. We do not seem to be able to grasp the simple concept of being human anymore, what it means to reach for a greater understand of why we are the way that we are; instead of destroying each other because we are simply different. We thirst for blood, are bent on revenge, and when one of us cries out in pain, we mistake it for anger and reach for our weapons instead of each other. Greed is good, love is dead, and acceptance seems forbidden, and our leaders would have us believe that peace is unattainable. We have lost our way, somehow, we have become corruptible, and inevitably corrupted by our lust for wealth. I sit under the stars now and often try to marvel at life every now and again, and I realize that in Gods grand scheme of things we are really quite small as a species, and not as indispensable as we would like to believe. I wonder what God is thinking sometimes, perhaps that the more intelligent we become as a species, the bigger danger that we become to ourselves. Perhaps if we were truly as evolved as our own arrogance would have us believe, then we would realize that the Earth does not belong to us. We belong to it.

Awake in the Cloud

2011-04-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

I am human.. I know that’s probably not exactly an earth shaking revelation, but- its true. I am human, and I’m not perfect, I suspect this fact is due in no small part to Gods little plan. We are frail, subject to illness, pain and emotional stress. We tend to break down from time to time, we break bones, we take sick, we go to the doctor- and depending on the severity of the problem, they can usually find a cure for whatever ails us, and so we usually survive to fight another day. Sometimes though- people just die. Like I said, its all part of the plan. We are human, and we have- by design, a shelf life. Part of the plan. Its ok most of us have accepted this fact and have already moved past it. There are others though that simply won’t go peacefully, Not without a fight. Some people just want to live forever.

Some people dream of the day when we become one with our own creation, when we become living computers. I know it sounds ridiculous, but think about your computer for a second. To simplify it a bit- It has a mother board, for processing and distributing information, it has a hard drive to store that information. Not unlike the human brain- which pretty much does the same thing only considerably slower. Ok I know that the processes that a computer goes through to compute and distribute information is a bit more involved than that, but that’s pretty much how it works. So what happens if your hard drive fails? If it is a sudden failure you are pretty much screwed, anything that was stored on it is gone. And then there are times when the hard drive just develops bad sectors which slowly diminishes its capability to retain information, and it eventually fails.. Not unlike the human brain when it develops Alzheimers or other diseases like Parkinson’s.

They being the experts, tell us that we should always back up our computers data, all of the pictures, word documents, and all of the other information that is stored on the hard drive in case of failure, should be backed up on another external hard drive or to the cloud, the cloud meaning the internet. Just in case of a massive failure of your system. Then when you get a new computer all you have to do is re-download all of the information from where you store it on the cloud and Voila! You have all of your information right there with you. You don’t lose a memory, not a picture, not a word. So what happens when your brain fails? There is no back up, there is only one option when your brain fails, you lose everything- period. But what would happen if someone came up with a way to back up your brains information to the cloud? Just implant a computer chip in the brain stem that would send a signal to the internet and instantly back up all of your memories. just open the cranium insert new brain insert the chip and retrieve your information from the cloud. And your pretty much whole again.

What would happen if they were able to create artificial blood cells? Ones that could replace your bodies broken down white blood cells. Artificial cells that would immediately recognize a health threat to your immune system. Artificial cells that could process information, immediately recognize, attack and kill, things like cancer or the HIV virus before it ever became active in your blood stream? How long then before they would find a way to reverse the effects of aging? The scary thing to me isn’t that any of this is or isn’t possible, the scary thing is the alarming rate at which technology that we openly embrace- pushes us closer to these realities. The scary thing is- the closer we get, the more our technology allows us to do, the more likely it will become that someone will actually try to make it a reality.

The singularity, the event when man will actually merge with the machine. Some people are just far enough off of their rocker to think that this could possibly be a good thing. Futurist, and inventor Ray Kurzweil thinks that we are 30 to 40 years away. Personally? I don’t think that it really sounds all that far fetched. I think the question that we need to really ask anyone who is even thinking about considering trying this, isn’t whether or not we should use our technology to do any of this, what we should be asking is SHOULD we be trying to do this in the first place?

Ray Kurzweil on Digital Frontiers.

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My Being.... Early Post #1

2011-04-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

Originally Posted On Blogstream.com on Friday May 9th 2008 @ 12:15 AM

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My Being.

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As I sit listening to the rain gently rapping against the window pane, I can feel myself slowly leaning forwards. As if trying to listen to something locked cleverly away inside of it as though it were a child’s riddle. I hear it again more softly than before, a voice, cold and emotionless. I strain to hear it against the soft beating rhythm of the rain once again, as I consider the questions that it asks of me.

“ Do you have faith in God? ”

In an uncomfortable child like manner, my mind begins to stumble through all of the possible answers that I might offer the question.

“What is Faith?”

Hmmm.

1. Belief or Trust: Belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof.

2. Religion. Religion or religious group: A system of religious belief, or the group of people that adhere to it.

No, stop. That would be the text book version, it seems to me that when such a question is posed on a more personal level, that a more thoughtful and personal answer should be given. But I have to consider it more closely, as it is a question that I find that I cannot take lightly, so I must think about it. You see, sometimes when I try to analyze a question such as this, I tend to take the scenic route when reaching any possible conclusions. So if I may let me push the pause button for a minute to find what it is that I’m searching for.

See the thing is, I believe in God, but I catch a little bit of flack from more than a few people, some from people who go to church, and some flack from other people who simply choose not to believe at all. They all seem to share in the same argument. “How can a man that doesn’t go to church possibly believe in God?” well one question at a time, if I may. It isn’t, well, rocket science you know?. See in the late spring and early summer there is this thing that I like to regularly do. I occasionally like to take early morning bikes rides all around the outskirts of the city, you see, the air here, is so clean, especially in the early morning. See its about a ten or fifteen mile trip or so, and I like to take my time with it. I’ll just peddle along just me, the bike, nature and God.

I like to take these special opportunities to talk to him, oh its usually a one sided conversation on a verbal level, But he does answer on occasion if you know what to listen for. Oh we talk about this crazy world that I live in, and I offer him some of my better observations of life. I can always tell, see, when he’s listening I don’t hear anything, maybe a bird or two, and when he decides to talk, a small breeze will kick up every now and again and then I know when to stop and listen to him. Well, to some people that may sound crazy, they say things like, “Well how do you know God is real, if you can’t see him?” well Pumpkin.. Who says that you can’t see him? Maybe some people just don’t know where to look.

I’m sorry I seem to have lost the original question, but I am going to continue on anyway. I’m probably going to get into some hot water with some people for this statement but , it has always been my contention that god does not live in a church, he lives and breaths and works his magic in the world you see around you. Still some doubt. Some even call it the belief in a fairy tale. To each their own I suppose. Some people only believe with their eyes, to them the world is full of nuts and bolts and human beings are little more than the direct result of a biological accident. I see God every day, In the air that we breathe, the food that we eat. I see him in other people, every time they reach out to help someone, every time hope is given to those who have none.

No you don’t have to go to church to believe in God. You just need a heart and an open mind. And yes a little Faith. I close my eyes again to reconsider the original question, and given the text book version of faith I can offer no better definition of the word in its truest form. I.. Have.. Faith. And I am secure and completely confident in the knowledge that death is not the end, That there is still some good to be found in the world, the greatest miracle in the world is life itself, there IS a God, and I am Human.. Not by accident, but by divine design. So.. What was the question again??

~Scratch~

I Got so involved reposting things on Tumblr I plumb forgot to post them here too.. thanks for reminding me Whit!

Repostings from the original Echoes.

2011-03-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

I was going through some of my early posts on my Echoes blog on The Stream this morning, and I came across some of the few note worthy posts that I did rather early on that I really want to keep.. In the next few days I will be sharing these re-posts on here and on my blog on Tumblr as well, and I may end up putting some on wordpress, although I'm still not sure that I want to keep that site open yet, the Jury is still out on that. I figure I'll just blend some of my older posts in with the new ones mainly so I don't lose them, and then only the few that have special meaning to me. hard to believe that most of us have been doing this for 5 plus years.

Paranoid? Who? ME?

2011-03-30T03:44:00.000-07:00

Some people think I’m paranoid. I tend to over examine things at the grocery store, I always run my tap water through a filter before I drink it. Not because I fear contamination but because the tap water here is nasty crap. During the summer I always put on the strongest sunblock I can find before I go on a bike ride to protect me from radiation poisoning. Some people might think I am overly cautious sometimes- but Paranoid? Nuh uh. I mean just because somebody follows me around every time I leave the house, and I hear voices coming from the traffic signals while I’m waiting for the light to change at an intersection, that doesn’t necessarily make me paranoid. Just because I was caught last week in the isle at Krogers reading the labels of everything I put in my cart, and they had to send someone to tell me that this wasn’t the library and to move along, that doesn’t make me paranoid. - By the way, if you happen to be in the Carson city Krogers anytime soon, don’t buy the Skippy’s extra crunchy peanut butter, its about to become outdated so it may taste a little funky.

Just because people that we can’t see are watching every move that we make every time we venture into the outside world that doesn’t make me paranoid. (By the way, the GPS in your cell phones are being monitored to track everywhere you go, and they’re listening to all of your dirty little conversations, so turn that puppy off and learn how to read a map. You know, just to be safe.) they watch us at the traffic lights, at the grocery store, at the library, and at the gas station. And public restrooms are looking mighty suspicious to me right about now. All of the evidence is out there, you just have to know what look for and learn twist it to fit your particular conspiracy theory.. Relax I’m just me being a smart ass here, even though strangely enough; there are people- (Some of whom I am personally acquainted with) that seem to find conspiracies every where they turn. Relax people, the government is going to do whatever they want to anyways whether you know about it or not so why worry yourself to death? ME? Paranoid? Naw.. By the way, has anybody noticed that someone seems to be trying to poison our food supply again with Salmonella? This cantaloupe tastes funny.

Recent Salmonella outbreaks:

2011
Cantaloupe - Salmonella Panama

2010
Alfalfa Sprouts - Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:-
Shell Eggs - Salmonella Enteritidis
Cheesy Chicken Rice Frozen Entrée - Salmonella Chester
Frozen Mamey Fruit Pulp - Salmonella Typhi (Typhoid Fever)
Restaurant Chain A - Salmonella Hartford and Salmonella Baildon
Frozen Rodents - Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:-
Alfalfa Sprouts - Salmonella Newport
Red and Black Pepper/Italian-Style Meats - Salmonella Montevideo
Water Frogs - Salmonella Typhimurium

2009
Alfalfa Sprouts - Salmonella Saintpaul
Pistachios - Salmonella (multiple types)
Peanut Butter - Salmonella Typhimurium

2008
Raw Produce - Salmonella Saintpaul
Malt-O-Meal Rice/Wheat Cereals - Salmonella Agona
Cantaloupes - Salmonella Litchfield

2007
Banquet Pot Pies - Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:-
Dry Pet Food - Salmonella Schwarzengrund
Veggie Booty - Salmonella Wandsworth
Peanut Butter - Salmonella Tennessee

2006
Tomatoes - Salmonella Typhimurium

This weeks public service Tips: Bungee Jumping 4 Dummies

2011-03-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

OK first of all I was never quite sure exactly what a bungee was or why anyone in their right mind would want to jump off of one but hey to each their own I guess. I mean I really don't know what possesses people to try some of the ridiculously stupid shit that they try but hey you know me right? I don't like to judge. so without further Higgly piggly- (Hmmm higgly Piggly? really Scratch? OK.. so I may have some editing to do later.) I mean really-If people want to jump off a bridge with a rubber band around their ankles, hey whatever puts the juices your pickle ace. I mean Really.. you know? suicide isn't a way out.. uh huh- ok. so anyways here are my safety tips.

Tip #1 - Make sure that you have a STRONG RUBBER BAND TIED TO YOUR ANKLE. if that puppy breaks your screwed.. I don't know if anyone has actually alerted the press yet, but human beings don't bounce well from high altitudes. (Just Sayin)

Tip #2 - Make sure you have your life insurance policy up to date and paid in full.

Tip #3 - Make sure you have someone standing by with the paramedics on speed dial.. you know, just in case you survive. I mean- you may actually hit a soft spot in the ground somewhere.. highly unlikely.. even more so improbable but you never know.

Tip #4 - this is the REALLY IMPORTANT ONE here folks so pay attention.. Make sure that your rubber band is shorter than the distance between whatever it is that your jumping from and the ground.. if your rubber band is too long the next sound you will hear will be a thud, right before your brain travels through your body and comes out through your ass… so remember kids think before you jump and be careful. oh and HAPPY JUMPING.

Hitman Pro kicks Rootkit butt!

2011-03-25T23:16:00.001-07:00

I am here to testify Friends.. Yes! testify! I have had Viruses, spyware, and various other minor pests on my little computer, but all of them pale in comparison to when you get you first taste of a rootkit bug. the little buggers latch onto something in your computer and refuse to let go.. so I got one yesterday, more than one actually, several in fact. now the little beasties didn’t change any of my passwords or anything, they didn’t try to steal any personal information. these little fucker’s were redirectional bugs. which means every time I tried to do a search on Firefox, Internet explorer, or Google Chrome to try to find a solution, the little bastards would redirect my search to a different site.

The only way I could seem to even get on line was through my programmable keyboards pre-sets. you push a button and whatever is programmed onto that key shows right up and blocks any redirect automatically, I don’t know how it works but I’m really glad it does.. through the presets on my keyboard I could get on sites like Twitter, or Facebook or blogger. but whenever I would try to do a direct search using Firefox or whatever, I’d get redirected, and to make matters worse, when I launched my anti virus to get rid of the problem Avg found them alright, but they couldn’t get to the problem therefore they couldn’t remove it.

Spybot, could find the small Spyware but not the Rootkits. so I turned to the Microsoft Malicious software removal tool, The search took over an hour and it turned up nothing. so I tried my last resort, I was going to wipe the hard drive and do a complete reinstall of Windows XP from my boot disc.. and wouldn’t you know the little fuckers thought of everything- when I loaded the disc into my disc drive it would run for a few minutes and then shut off the drive so I couldn’t start over. or at least that’s what it seemed like. Bastards. So a buddy of mine told me he had used a free program called Hitman pro 3.5. but I couldn’t go on firefox or IE or Chrome to search for it so I programmed the Site into my keyboard and snuck in through the back door and downloaded Hitman pro and did a scan.

And Presto it turned up 9 count em 9 Different Malware and rootkit programs including one that was hiding in the Boot sector of my system. so my new Buddy Hitman found and removed all of the infections, and when I restarted the computer I did Another scan with Avg and the result was no infections found. I ran spybot and every other program I have and they found no further infections. I don’t know if the little buggers are planning on coming back But I’m keeping my Hitman pro on stand by just in case. if all of this sounds a little confusing that's probably because it is. I still don’t get it myself. But so far so good though I haven’t gotten redirected in my last three searches on Firefox.. stay tuned.

Dinosaur Tech..

2011-03-23T18:50:00.001-07:00

Somewhere out there, hidden in our perfect little world lies an idea whose time has long since come and gone. An automobile engine that runs off of the Earth's gravity, or the power of the sunlight, or perhaps it would be some other perfect little idea that would never emit noxious vapors, or any other hazardous byproduct's into the air that we breathe. whether or not that there is now-or ever was, an actual working prototype, we would never have seen it anyways. every time that something pops up that may challenge the notion; that the internal combustion engine is not only the best way to power our auto industry - it's the only way, the oil companies would simply snatch up the patents to any such invention and bury it, never to see the light of day.

The notion that the concept of the internal combustion engine is- and has been for many moons passed, outdated, is not by any stretch a new one. engine's powered by fossil fuels are an obsolete idea based on a dinosaur technology that is over 100 years old. many people seem to think that through the continuing efforts to perfect the electric hybrid automobile we will finally drive a stake through the heart of this dying beast. but the sad truth is, that there is no way the The Oil industry, big business and of course the Government, are going to let anything happen to their precious little cash cow. Sadly, like it or not, the internal combustion engine is going to stick around for awhile longer, probably for the same painful reasons that they will never actually find a working vaccine that will cure cancer, because when you have billions upon billions of dollars tied up in the disease, the cure becomes little more than an after thought. we can always hope though. Electric cars might not be so bad.

Dealing with your inner grump.

2011-03-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

I’m not absolutely sure what causes it, In fact I’m not sure anyone knows with absolute certainty what the cause is.. Either you didn’t get a good nights sleep, or maybe you have a lumpy mattress, or maybe your wife or girlfriend has been naggi- … ummmm maybe you have a lumpy pillow. Maybe you sat up all night because you simply couldn’t sleep because you were worried about doing your taxes- Hmmmm.. that’s a definite possibility there. Whatever the reason or cause it seems as though some of us just can’t seem to avoid getting up on the wrong side of the bed. Well I hope your sitting down because this may come as a real shocker for some of you, as hard as it may be to believe, I must confess.. Even ol Scratch here has been known to wake up in a bit of a grumpy mood once in awhile. Yep its true. So here’s what I’m gonna for you. Just a few Scratch tips to help you cope with the morning grumpy’s.

Avoid all contact with other humanoids.
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There's is nothing worse than waking up to a barrage of good mornings from other humanoids who seem just a little too cheerful for 6:00 AM. how in the hell do you know what kind of a morning is? it hasn't even started yet. or they give you that, "Soooo.. how did you sleep last night sweetie?" Hmmmm.. get right up in their face and stare at them. "How does it look like I slept?"
I could go on, but let me just end this segment by saying it is wise to leave me alone until I've had at least one full cup of my grumpy medicine.

Avoid answering the phone.
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I would think this would just be a given.. anybody with a shred of common sense wouldn't be calling at such an ungodly hour in the first place. so if you should happen to answer the phone before you've ingested the proper amount of caffeine into your blood stream don't feel too bad about yelling at them, if they're dumb enough to call you that early they deserve whatever they get.

Avoid all contact with house apes who seem to have an over abundance of cheer.
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You know what I mean.. don't pretend that you don't.. you wake up and first thing you notice is their staring at you with that innocent looking; "who? me?" Look on their face. general rule of thumb I would think would be is don't trust them anyways. anybody that friggin cheerful at 6:00 AM is up to no good anyways.. No Not until after I've had my coffee kid.

In Conclusion
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Its really simple here in the tomb.. all visitors- (when I have them that is) they know the rules as they are told them on arrival.. The day doesn't begin until after I've had at least one cup of coffee. all other things up until that point, do not- can not- and will not- now or ever exist! so if you want to make my grumpy's go away.. Just give me my damn coffee!

Muammar.. Pack Your Camels.

2011-03-20T21:18:00.001-07:00

Hey.. Muammar.. Guess what? the world hates you.. God is keeping a close eye on you, Because- guess what? he doesn't like you either. you've never been nothing to anybody except a pain in the ass, and the world would be a better place without your camel humpin ass in it. Santa even hates you. And you know all of those Chocolate Easter eggs that you’ve been getting for the past twenty years? the Easter bunny tells me that they weren’t really chocolate.. they were dried bunny shit. You’re an evil, ugly, spiteful little cretin, and you’re momma dresses you funny. You’re a bully, an asshole and a dictator and now your gonna get your ass kicked. So pick up your robes, gather up your turban’s- pack up your undies and load up the camels and get the fuck out of Libya. Come on man, save the world the trouble of putting you in your place. Man it must suck to be you.

Follow Up Below.
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Chuck and MO- Kinda hard to tell the difference.

How do I post pictures?

2011-03-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

I'm hearing that some of our blogstream Friends are having difficulties posting images to their blogs. below is a direct link to the help page on Blogger that deals with this.. hope it helps.

*Click on the words below.. they are the link.*
V
V
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How do I post pictures?

Chill for a Saturday... The Famous Unknowns.

2011-03-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

More music from those guys across the pond that very few people have heard of.. somebody finally posted some studio music of theirs. Carlos Vamos & Lindsey Buckland.... The Famous Unknowns.. I would like to get a CD of theirs.

When The Earth Moves.

2011-03-17T20:12:00.001-07:00

I been through a few since I’ve been living in Nevada, but those were small tremors mostly. But I was in some pretty good shakers when I lived in California in the 70’s. one- when we lived in Los Angeles. Even that one though was small. You just don’t want to be in the big city when an earthquake strikes. it’s a weird, scary feeling to go through one. The first really good jolt that I was in; we lived on a farm in rural California. We used to be able to burn our trash back then and I had the misfortune of being beside a burning barrel. I don’t really remember much about before the quake or immediately following, But I do remember feeling these strange vibrations coming from the ground. I remember almost expecting a huge piece of farm equipment to come rolling by, and just seconds later, it felt like the whole earth was rising up under my feet. I fell, and then there was like a rumbling sound and then there was a whole lot of shakin goin on. We all got the living shit scared out of us, but nobody suffered any serious injuries. The garage was partially collapsed on one corner.

Moms dishes got thrown all over the kitchen floor and a couple of the out buildings shook pretty good, but we lived. I don’t know how long its lasted but it couldn’t have been more than ten or maybe fifteen seconds. Earthquakes- scary shit, not so much the little ones but those big bastards can be very brutal. As I watched the news this morning, the pictures from out of Japan were heartbreaking to say the least.. It wasn’t simply bad enough for them to have a quake to deal with- but the tsunami that followed it was equally devastating. I can’t even begin to imagine what those people are going through. But what I find equally disturbing is I’m hearing that The American Red Cross is warning people who want to give money for aid to watch out for scams. People who are saying that they work for charitable organizations, They con you into giving them money. so you donate thinking that you are helping the people of Japan, and what? they keep the money? Really? it’s a sad world we live in. People preying on your compassion for the victims, your emotions, your humanity, for what? A get rich quick scheme? Fucking scumbags.

A most useful tool.

2011-03-16T15:40:00.001-07:00

Out of all of the gadgets that I've purchased in the past few years, including cell phones, Ipod's, Mp3 players of every sort imaginable- I even found an battery operated toe nail clipper in a little shop down on Curry street awhile back. (Relax- I said found, not bought.) But out of all of the gadgets I've purchased probably the most useful would be my oval slow cooker. you can just throw all of your ingredient's in the pot- (Depending on what your cooking) throw in some herbs and spices, turn that puppy down to low, and let the aroma torture you all day.. a little while ago I put in some Lemon, Pepper, and garlic chicken.. later I'll put a bag of boil in bag rice on the stove and voila! Bliss! it would figure that the first new post I've written in weeks on either echoes blog would have to be about food.

Come Dig My Earth..

2011-01-12T11:39:00.001-08:00

The trail goes almost straight up the incline is rather severe, there are towering pine trees lining either side of the narrow path, and each step that you take towards the summit becomes more labored than the ones taken previously. The path bends and flattens out for about one hundred or so feet before you start climbing again, and once again you find yourself climbing straight up. You walk another fifty feet when a wild deer darts out in front of you, you can almost feel your heart stop as it curiously gives you a glance before it disappears into the woods. After the next fifty feet of the climb you can begin to feel your calves burning, tightening up, so around the next bend you decide to stop and rest awhile, sitting on a log you notice a small family of raccoon’s across the path busy with life, one of them spots you and they all disappear into the under brush.

It makes you forget about the pain in your legs momentarily, until you stand up to finish your hike up the trail. You get the picture, nature in all of its pristine beauty. That is until you get to the summit, where the lake is. The shore line is littered with candy wrappers and beer cans and empty fish bait containers. And the farther you go around the shoreline the more you see evidence that people have been there. Getting back down the trail is a lot easier than getting up it. You get back to your car and drive back to the city to where you live. And the closer you get to other humans the more the scenery changes.

Less earth, more asphalt. Less trees, more buildings, less silence, more cars, less animals more people. The closer you get to where we are, we being humans, anyone with half a brain could see how fucked up we’re becoming more and more as time passes. We build walls as sound barriers just so they can become littered with graffiti. We build more houses to accommodate our insatiable appetite for breeding more and more children, and our disease spreads across the planet scorching the landscape with more and more track houses, condo’s and high rises all for the sake of getting a better view, leaving behind us what we built yesterday to fall into decay and creating even more urban waste.

We can build almost anything that the human imagination can inspire, but we suck at taking care of it. The evidence is as plain as the nose on your face. Take a good long look. Its in the air we breath, its in the water we bathe in and drink. There are many species on this planet that are being pushed to the very brink of extinction, and what is even more sad than that is there are some people in this world who still refuse to believe that the things that people are doing to the earth have absolutely nothing to do with any of it. Yeah I know, it probably sounds a bit preachy but hey- it makes sense to me.

Anthony Timmons 2011

Technology is melting my brain.

2011-01-11T06:28:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid- oh snap! This already sounds bad, the way we entertained ourselves was largely dependent on the type of weather we were having. If the weather complied and the sun was out and doing its job the sky was the limit. Fishing, hiking, bike riding, crawdad hunting, or perhaps a rousing game of army- or cowboys and Indians. Oh to be a child! But if it was raining, we were basically screwed. Soon after mum got wind of our antics she’d decided that cowboys and Indians, or playing army was making us way too violent so she would instruct us to find other ways to amuse ourselves. Well there was only so much entertainment that the technology of the time would afford a ten year old kid with the attention span of a rock. Listen to the transistor radio, or watch television that only had three channels that had decent reception.

Somehow, somewhere, I must have been not paying attention, or maybe its something else entirely that is the problem. See the older I get, the easier that it seems it is for shit to sneak up on me. The first time that I saw someone walking down the street yakking on the phone I was like; “Whoa! What in the heck is that?” I would always get that same look, like I had some sort of ugly growth protruding from my forehead.
“It’s a cellular phone man! I can’t talk now, I only have a half an hour of battery life!”
so basically there were these strange looking people walking around talking into these things that looked like bricks, that cost (In 1984) around $2500 to $3000 and in some cases even more. And I’ll never forget the advent of video games. It seemed like I was just getting used to playing Pong on the television, and the next thing I know people are raving about this thing called; “The NES” the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The first computer that I ever saw was something that someone told me was a Commodore 64, with 64 kilobytes of random access memory and standard with micro soft basic, it was top of the line. It wasn’t until somewhere around the time that the compact disc was being force fed to the masses, that I firmly slammed both feet on the brakes. Wait-a-minute! What happened to the cassette tape? Where are my LP’s? what ever happened to 8 track tapes? What? record players are for old folks? I drug my feet, for the longest time, slowly as all of my friends one at a time moved like zombies towards the warm glow of the computer screens, video games and the compact disc players. I resisted. I resisted that is until it became harder to find the most important thing in the world to me on the medium of my choosing, a lot of the music that I was listening to wasn’t available on cassette or LP’s. the bastards had me painted into a corner. If I wanted the tunes, it was time to pay the dealer, which meant I had to man up and buy a compact disc player.

From that point on, I held up rather well. I held out for the tried and true in every aspect of my life, like a desperate man Jockeying for position around the last life boat aboard the Titanic just before it kissed the ocean floor, I clung whole hog to the comfortable and the familiar. and then something quite unexpected happened, I started to watch a cable network called: “Tech TV.” I quickly became hooked on it, and in late 2004 I bought the computer that I still own. And in the short time span between then and now, I have watched many times in horror as technology continues to move and progress at astonishing speeds.What was state of the art yesterday has become a dinosaur practically overnight. It changes so fast- in fact, that all of the slick little techno gadgets that we buy today are practically obsolete by the time that we get the frackin box open. It makes one wonder what computer designers will come up with next. Voice activated computers? Thought activated computers? I swear the technology is changing so fast, any day now I expect to find myself standing on the sidewalk behind some nitwit that is bent over trying to receive a fax through his butt. Sometimes Technology makes me want to pull my hair out.

Anthony Timmons- 2011

File Not Found.

2011-01-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I marvel at it..
Want to kiss it.
Want to hug it.
Say wonderful nurturing supportive things to it.
Sometimes I wonder how I ever got along without it.
I write with it.
Play with it.
Talk to it.
Watch it.
Listen to it.
Call it names.
Curse at it.
Demean it.
Belittle it.
And sometimes I want to
Kick it.
Punch it.
Throw it on the ground
And stomp on it.
Slander its reputation.
Whack it.
Smack it.
Throw it out the window.

Drop it off in the middle of the freeway.
Run over it.
Drag it up and down the street.
All because I know that
It laughs at me.
Plots against me.
Secretly prays for me to fail.
Ridicules me.
Mocks me.
Deletes my files.
Hides my photo’s.
Watches Porn while I’m at work.

Prays for my ruination
Undermines my self esteem.
Pokes fun at my spelling.
Calls me names.
Goes through my things whenever I’m
Not at home.
This beige little bastard spawn of Satan.
That I love so dearly and have become
So hopelessly addicted to.
Excuse me.
I’m gonna go shoot myself now.
or hit myself in the head with a tack hammer.
I haven't decided which yet.
I'll let you know.

Anthony B Timmons 2011

A Christmas Poem... by Anthony Timmons.

2010-12-24T15:59:00.001-08:00

A loud crashing noise,
Awoke me from sleeping,
For upon my rooftop.
I heard footsteps a creeping.

A ball bat I grabbed,
And down the hallway I stumbled,
And in that dark empty hallway,
With the light switch I fumbled.

From the chimney’s belly,
I heard a low muffled yell,
And when the soot cloud billowed,
I knew the fat bastard fell.

So off I did go,
To call 9-1-1,
For being Christmas Eve,
This shit was no fun.

So the policemen all came,
And took him to jail,
But it was Christmas eve,
So he couldn’t post bail.

I hear he called the north pole,
With a tall tale to tell,
And he was sprung from the joint,
By a shit load of Elves.

And in a sleigh full of toys,
Into the dark night he fled,
And I heard the jingle bells ringing,
As I was returning to bed.

And when my house he flew by,
He dropped his pants like a loon,
T'was a cold Christmas eve,
With a full Santa Moon.

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright© 2007.

Ghosts of The Internet age.

2010-11-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

By the time you’ve come to realize that I do what I do, without remorse or regret, it will already be far too late for you to do anything about it. You’ve already stepped into it, without ever knowing, and very likely- without ever suspecting. Do not feel bad. This is what I do, and I am very good at it. This is my world, a world without borders, without emotions or feelings, in rooms without walls, I ply my trade here, I live and breathe here. In a world of numbers and words. With a few simple key strokes I can get almost anyone to talk.. Oh they were all defensive at first, careful not to say too much, they were all careful at first. But it’s like I said, I’m good at what I do. I always pick just the right screen name, the last time it was something like; Angel666. Her name was precious1. I met her in a chat room on a popular website. Oh don’t worry, I won’t bore you with the details. Lets just say that we chatted for only eleven days before I had everything that I needed from her, and the truly sad thing is she didn’t even realize what she was doing. Her name was Angela Blaylocke, she was 19 years old and she lived in Queens NY. By the end of the 11th day I had her address, where she worked, even what streets she took when she walked to work. So you see? Don’t feel bad. You are not my first.

Do you even know who it is that you are talking to when you go on the internet? Can you be certain that every word that you read really means what you think it means? No, of course you can’t. Because me and people LIKE me, are so very good at concealing the most important part of this little game that we like to play on the internet. Its a game called; “Intent.” its always hard to tell what the intention really is of the other person at the other end of the connection, because that’s the way we play the game. We know what words to use, we know how to give seemingly genuine comfort, at just the right time. We know what you want to hear and we spoon feed it to you, with careful well thought out precision. We tell you what you want to hear and we pay careful attention to every word you use, because they are words that we will use against you.

Who am I you ask? why- I am your friend. I’ll make you feel safe, we’ll laugh, we’ll share important secrets, and when I have everything that I need from you, the real game will begin. I am the ghost in the machine, I am Man, I am woman, I am Child. I am whoever you need me to be. I am words and numbers, a complex mix of equations and theories. Faceless, nameless, untraceable, seemingly innocent prey, but in reality, all predator. Together we live and play in my world without regret, without exclusion, where everyone can be and is- someone. Here- you are free to indulge your every whim without fear of rejection, pain or consequence. Here it is all an innocent little game. Innocent, until I show up at your door, and here’s the beautiful part. You’ll never even know that I’m there until it is far too late.

Back to reality.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every time I read about shit like this really happening to people on the internet, it chills me to the bone. Just writing it is kinda creepy to me. But since coming online back in 2004, from what I've learned about internet predators, I believe that this is basically how they operate. People everyday willingly give out vital information to people on the web that they’ve never even seen or met. It is a mistake that may one day cost them more than just a few numbers out of their bank account. You just never know who is out there. I know its been said a million times before, but I believe that it is a drum that can never be beat upon too loudly. Please be careful.

~Anthony~