Atomic Head-Boot

Just somethin' I was messin around with...

I have nothing to add to this

Eyes Clean?

Good...cause this'll put a little dirt back into 'em.

I dunno if it's really that impressive, or if it just seems like it is. However, this is a little presentation that had some ideas worth pondering.

"

Something to clean your eyes with

From the Fjordstyle Files

Look at this car.



It's the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato



I'm not a guy who desires much, but this thing makes me drool. If there is a design
that can ooze "things happen around this object," it's right here, in this car. You'd pretty much have to shower, shave, and put on your tux, just to drive this thing to the store for milk. Of course at the store, you'd somehow stumble across a fantastically attractive superspy chased by evil-doers, which would lead to an action-packed chase scene. Obviously you'd get away - I mean, look at this Gjoddang car!



At which point you'd get a nice thank-yoo smooch, and the thanks of a grateful government. Unfortunately, you'd still need milk.

Pics from Jalopnik - where there's a ton of info if you like this thing.

The future we live in

There's a good quote by William Gibson that goes something like this...

"The future is already here, it's just unvevenly distributed"

Which is absolutely perfect for what it says. But how can someone compare the quality (and I guess I should add "meaning") of the future-now, with that of the the stuff built in the past that's lasted up till now?

Obviously this question is too huge to have a real "answer" but I'll tap dance on it for a bit. Take buildings as exhibit "A."

Here's a fine example of some new residential construction in L.A. that sums up a whole lot of new development here.

Now, I won't nitpick too much on the asthetics here (even though I should) but I'll add, these things are probably super-duper energy efficient, wired for hi-speed innernet, and up-to-code for being able to withstand a pretty potent earthquake. Regardless, someone somewhere thought that this was what people wanted, and spent a fortune to build it. Maybe they're right. Maybe people will call this home. But the problem is this isn't just one new development that has this look - it's one of thousands.

Now - I know this is apples and oranges, but have a look at Venice Italy here for a second.

Now here we have some charming exteriors, but there have to be some issues right? I mean, these things probly have bugs and rats and mold, all of which are gross. Wired for broadband? Dunno, but I'll bet the electrical wiring isn't up to 21st century standards. Still, it's nice to look at.

Speakin of nice to look at, here's a recent addition to L.A.

Futuristic? Check. This thing will look futuristic for a long time, which is a good thing. Like when someone built this one...

I guess I'll just finish this by wondering, how many people who have the money to develop new construction consider they are building something that will be there for sixty, or eighty, or two hundred years. Of course, it costs a lot of money to build something, and it costs way more to build something ornate. But after a while, your expensive new building is just an old building...and who wants to live or work in an old ugly building?

Sunday Style

Here's a deck of cards with vintage pin-up girls on em. I found this set at yeeeeee where you can see a whole buch more.

Okey...here's a couple

English Military History (for dummies)



An here's a stroke of genius from the Onion.



Police Slog Through 40,000 Insipid Party Pics To Find Cause Of Dorm Fire

Ya, Somtimes You Go Thru Time...

and suffer.

Like this here video, that basically sums up the last couple weeks. Let's just say the ram is life...and I am the Toyota.

(seriously, this is pretty fun)



(Found by these guys)

Here's some neat space footage

Lookin' at the news for the last three weeks

and it's hard to go anywhere without seeing "Torture!" "Gitmo!" "Enhanced Interrogations Techniques," and "My God If We Didn't Torture We Would All Be In A Smoking 9-11 Crater!"

I was gonna add my two cents, but after writing something, it made me feel dirty, and it made Fjord feel dirty...and besides, you can find people's opinions about it everywhere.


Instead, I'll tell ya the funny thing I thought about today. Remember Marky-Mark and the Funky Bunch? How funny would it be if you met a musician and their biggest accomplishment was being in "the Funky Bunch."

Question...

You've got a team of five writers at your disposal for 3 hours - what do you have them write?

Me...I'd be going for a story about cannibal robot zombies.

But that's just how I'm feeling right now.

Buggin Me

So there's this idea that mass transportation will be the solution and salvation of society. Build trains, and development will spring up around it...and everyone will use it, and it'll be great! We'll stop global warming, and utopia will follow.

But there is never a real discussion about what goes down on the street level of this kind of people mover. I've used public transportation in a bunch of cities, and love it. Sometimes it was out of necessity (like um, 5 years of no car, and building up capital here in L.A.) sometimes it was more practical. (beat downtown parking prices by 90% in Minneapolis) But all of this was also while I was a non-family man, just doing my thing. Most of the time, public transportation is nothing more than blank-space...like being at the laundra-mat. But sometimes public transportation drops you into a confined space with a super crazy person...like the dude in the wheelchair that had a knife and was pissed as fjuck and lashing around with it (I wrote about in '05 and I'm too lazy to look it up now.)

Anyways, as a fellow who can appreciate "the crazy" because it happens in cities everywhere, and for the most part, it's kind-of-free urban entertainment. I wonder how someone not versed in this particular human interaction (like the new train line just got to the suburb where a father and mother are excited about taking their newly turned 5-year-old to the new Disney movie) would be shaped by their first (or first family) mass transit experience.

Then what? Then they never ride the train again. The SUV is just safer for the family.

Not saying this is right...but literally all talk about mass-transportation, and all it's advantages ignores the problem of "human-mass." At least 1% of all humans are totally crazy.

2,000 Posts on this dinky landmass!

(9 years too late - but now we're Fjord2000!)

I been thinking about musicians and athletes - successful ones (of course) and wondering, why do they bother? Like, make enough money and be smart with it - why strive to be better? If you got 15 million bucks in the bank, and the bills are all paid, why not spend the rest of you life in the jacuzzi?

I guess there's something to be said about a person with financial means being more productive than people with less. Some sort of responsibility that leads them to keep going, and pressing the edge of the envelope. Maybe it's related to something else, like the desire to be the best, and has nothing to do with money at all.

Maybe it's got nothing to do with any of those reasons. I'm broke as fjuck, unfamous as hell, and still troglodyte'in around in the backwaters of blogger world. And yet, what would I be doing if I was rich as fjuck, famous as hell, and getting 370,000 hits a day...

Probly doing what I do every day...wondering what I should post about, wondering if it was entertaining enough. Altho I'd be happy to switch places with my opposite, in order to find out.

Yers,
Tsunami

What I would like right now

1) maid (preferrably not French, but dressed like one)
2) sweet, sweet income.
3) Off-street parking.
4) About 10 times the inspiration I have now.
5) That's it. I mean, I could go on about how I want to pilot the Goodyear blimp, or be travelling via flying boat through the tropical islands of the Coral Sea, or be smuggling illicit goods with a speedboat, or be planning my next cat-burglar heist, or be preparing to duel Dick Cheney over a matter of honor. But really, for now...right now, that's it.

It's Been A Long Time Coming

But I've finally taken this FJORD

thing

MULTI-MEDIA!!!

For our first (and likely the last - at least for the near future) piece of original programming,

I give you

TANGENT!

(and thanks for watching Channel Fjord)

For no apparent reason

I was thinking about the D.C. Madam and why that story was so fishy. I mean, she was going to jail...okay - but suicide? That was waaaay to fishy, especially when she was basically threatening to reveal a buncha' govmt types who used her girls. All she had to do was last a couple years in the slammer - and she's got enough fame (or notoriety) that she's doing fine. I mean, are you under the impression that Heidi Fleiss was totally ruined after going to prison? Anyways...no apparent reason for thinking about this now.

Wolverine?

Nope - haven't seen it, and probably won't. From the trailers...I suspect it looks a lot like
this...(wolverine in 30 seconds)

The Continuing...

Continues...visit here for an amazing kangaroo clip.

Gahhh! Finally Something Cool

It's almost like my innernet thingie has been broken as of late. I haven't found anything really cool in days...maybee weeks. However, here's a link to a flickr page that has an awesome movie of a ship going down a river. Really good.

Emu Flu, Hawk Flu...

Lemur Flu, Toad Flu, Sushi Flu...on and on it goes, until people just get bored and move on. Of course, nobody cares until the next outbreak!

Anyhoo - let's move on.

I ended up at the JPL's open house yesterday, and walked around looking at robot landers and space probes and tons of super-duper hi-tech space gear. The best part about this event is there are a whole mess of JPL people standing around by their mock-ups or whatever, and you can just walk right up and ask, 'What do you do?" Of course, they're all rocket-scientists who are like, "I operate the robot arm on the Phoenix Lander...finding water-ice was pretty cool." Or "I design sensor arrays for satellites that will find and analyze extra-solar planets."

The thing that stands out when you're talking to these people, is their job satisfaction is through the roof. I suppose it's not really surprising, when most of us go to work and someone's like, "You! File this stack of crap!" These people design spacecraft, build them, and shoot 'em off to distant planets. I'm envious...but I'm also bad at math.

Swine...you swine!

I've noticed the pork industry has switched the "swine flu" to Nu1U or somesuch "official" rebranding, but it's too late. How could anyone not call it "swine flu?" You can't help it, it's too great a title. I mean, I'm sure there was a N2IOB4 designation for avian bird flu, but nobody remembers anything but Bird Flu. Anyhoo - I've been playing a little game to try and come up with the next source of flu...I think the best one is Octopus Flu, but I know there are others.

I know about the innernets!

I also wanted to get you to this thread, cause it's fjuckin' funny.

Noir Tales...From The Future! (part III)

I stuck my head into the black square of the hatch and, followed the flashlight beam along the crappy wires that led to the electrical system's computer. Since I didn't see anything resembling a broken feed, I reached in and tapped the reboot command on the dirty 10-digit console. My ancient hovercar ran on the Windows "Opulent" O.S., and any old car affectionado would call it "buggy" and probably be impressed anyone had kept the factory-issue software.

I wasn't a old car affectionado, I was just too poor to replace it. Tapping the console left black and oily smudges on my fingertips which I knew I shouldn't wipe on my suit, but I did anyways. As the thing ran thru it's startup code, I clicked off the light and stood there like an idiot, waiting to see what happened.

A few seconds later, the red beacon started spinning around, and the white strobe flashed, along with the reassuring hum as the car powered back up. I walked back to the driver's seat, and that's when I heard the stiletto "clip clip clip" of high-heeled footsteps. There was only one woman in that place that could make that sound.

"Wait!" Vicki Valise shouted. I did. As she came up, I looked at her like a stone.
"Why." I said. Not a question, a statement.
Her tears had made black streaks of her mascara, that went pretty far down her cheeks. Her hair was disheveled, and she did have the rich, totally beautiful, damsel in distress act down perfect.
"I didn't mean what I said."
"I figured as much."
"I..." Her voice caught for a second. "I didn't tell you everything."
"Oh." I said. "Hire me three hours before your husband was killed, with no leads, and then tell the cops I was the one that killed him. And now you're saying you didn't tell me everything?"

She grabbed the playbook, flipped to page three, and bit on her lower lip.

Damn.

Sometimes you know what the other team is doing, and are ready to stop it. And yet, sometimes, even when you know, their execution is so perfect...that nothing you can do, is good enough to stop it.

She turned her rich, totally beautiful, damsel in distress act, into a poor, adorable, naive street waif that just needed help.

"I didn't...but I couldn't." Vicki said. "But now...after what happened to Bruce, I can." She pushed back a cute lump in her throat before she revealed, "It was Eddie Valentine."

"Go to hell." I said.

I was so smart for saying that.

What wasn't smart was, I didn't mean it.

I should probly

drop a cool video I saw today (cause I spent a long time hidin' from the mothafjuckin' heat today an saw a few good ones...)

But instead, I'll give yas a link to what Cassini is up to around Saturn. (Some supa' amazing photos here.)


***Update***

If you'll catch comment #69 you'll see a really edited down comment of how I feel about this.

U-toobification...OF EVERYTHING!

A while ago, I realized I was using too many exclamation points in my post titles. Now I'm about to impose a moratorium on ellipses, which apparently I can't stop from appearing in every title I write.

Anyhoo - I was thinking about what makes a good you-tube channel, and there's not one thing that comes to mind. Now, a while back there was "lonelygirl" who apparently was a you-tube innernet superstar - until it was revealed she had some corporate backing. I've followed a couple of channels that uploaded stuff that was clearly/obviously not theirs to upload, but I watched because it was stuff I wanted to see! I wasn't so much saddened by their suspended accounts, as I was pissed I couldn't watch some WWII documentaries or Craig Ferguson shows that I missed.

But really, the idea that you could somehow make a you tube channel of your own popular - with visitor numbers like a website is obviously nuts. You could have a bitchin' video of something crazy-cool and get picked up on digg or reddit, and have 15,000 hits in a day, but those people are never coming back. Vloging was once thought to be the next big thing after blogs - but name one popular video-blogger. You could, (if your reading fjord - I know you could) rip off twenty-five actual blogs without much struggle.

It seems to me that you tube is like an on-line archive of video more than a fame generating machine - which is great, I mean, if you know the location of a cool-assed video, it'll be there for a hell of a long time, and you can access it whenever you want without storing it anywhere. It's like flickr (where user images have been actually saved in the Library of Congress - because some images are essentially "national history") where, strong flickr users might know other great flickr members, but really, that's a pretty small chunk of people.

Anywise, I'd say that the you tube is just a redundant blast-medium. By blast medium I mean, it has the potential to explode some small thing into something huge...it's easily accessible (no password or login to view) and it's easily transferable (copy the code and it's on yer joint for your audience to see what you just saw) You can post the footage you got of some police beating a protester and get it out to the world. If it strikes the right chord, it could be seen on 100,000 websites with an audience of billions! (this doesn't have to be cops beating protesters, it could be something really cute your cat did - it just has to strike the right chord) But whatever it is...the A.P. or NY Times, or Hollywood, ain't going to be calling and asking if you want a job. It's background radiation that only gets a spike when something crazy is caught on camera...but at least it does do that.

What it is, is a good platform for getting your video on the internet and having it easily accessible. Like this for instance...a dude who once wrote over here (under the pen-name Q-dog) doing some standup in a shitty club in NYC.




The point I'm driving at is, you tube won't ever make a stars, (well, it could, but the odds are super slim) but using it as a part of your media presence isn't a bad plan at all.

So I been compilin' a buncha old posts for my book

(okay, I'm not yet working on a book - but here's a great motha'fjuckin' post I found in October 2005)

It's nap time...

Now napping is all well and good, unless you have a recurring dream (such as myself) being on the debate team, making a wonderful - and debate winning argument, when a pack of weasels arrives to carry off your shoes.

"Sure," you say, "it doesn't sound that scary."

Of course, in that case, you've never found yourself in a vicious pack of weasels who want your shoes. They have very sharp teeth and claws, and move very very fast. On top of that, they really don't know where your shoes stop, and where your feet begin. This leads to a lot of stomping, kicking, and yelling - both in terror and agony.

Needless to say, this is not the way to win a debate, altho it does instill in the minds of the nerds yer debating (and who are watching said debate) a great deal of fear in your psychosis. The kind of fear that leads them to quickly move away from you when you say,
"Where the fuck did all those weasels come from?! DID YOU SEE THE WEASELS?!? Well fuck - they just ran off with my shoes- I suppose you didn't see that!?!"

Anyways, that's why I don't like talking naps.

Mothafuckin' Snakes

I have a hard time fathoming a snake big enough to grab a guy off the ground and haul him into a tree.

But they're out there...

Noir Tales...From The Future! (Part II)

She was standing there on her legs, and then she saw the body. She screamed, while dropping the mini-Schnauzer and her Gucci clutch to the floor, and ran as fast as she could in those Steve Maddens towards the body. They made little clip, clip, clip sounds across the tile that I thought sounded funny. I might have actually laughed while it happened, it just reeked of production.

She wrapped her arms around the corpse...yaknow, the one with the one-inch laser hole through his head...and proceeded to wail,

"No. NO! NO!! This can't be happening! Bruce come back! Bruce! Come Back! No! Bruce!"

She was dragged away by some bull-dyke in a uniform that had the same look in her eyes as every other guy in the room, only she acted on it first. The C.S.I. guys would have a hell of a time explaining the contamination of the crime scene to their boss - but hell, that wasn't my business. The Dame with the legs was my business.

So, like a dink, I followed the dyke cop that had my client in a headlock. I picked up her clutch as I walked past it, thinking she might want it later. I wasn't the kind of guy that would pick up a mini-schnauzer, besides, it was already sniffing at the shoes of the dead guy. Hell, the little rat would probably gnaw on the corpse if it had half a chance.

Anyways, I ended up in some parlor-side room, where the waterworks were already making a mess of her mascara. The dyke cop was making with the consoling, and I stood there for a bit, fiddling with her bag. Eventually, as I figured, she recovered a bit, and realized someone else was there. Vicki Valise looked up at me, and a look of realization hit her face. Between sniffles she practically yelled,

"See! You See! I hired you to protect him! Now look..." She let out a fairly convincing sob, "He's dead! A hell of a lot of good you did!"

I stood there and took it. What else could I do?

Then right out of the playbook, she sprung up, grabbed the flower vase on the side table, and threw it at me. I had good enough reflexes to dodge it, and it shattered against the wall. Flowers and water oozed down the wall behind me. She swayed there seething, and whispered,

"You killed him. You bastard."

I didn't really need this. I had a retainer that would cover my expenses for a while, and though I didn't like to leave a case like this, I wasn't helping matters any by being there. The dyke cop was a bit more shocked at what was happening than I was, so I said to her,

"Here's her bag."

I set Vicki's clutch on a chair next to me. "She's probably going to want it later. If you think there's anything to what she's just said," I made a gesture with my thumb over my shoulder at where I thought the kitchen would be, "Six guys in the other room have my information. I'm also in the internet."

I walked out of the room, not noticing anything else. I made my way through the mansion in a manly fashion, only getting turned around once, and ended up at the hoverpad. It was well past dark, and from where I was, the city was lit up to the horizon in awe inspiring grandeur and beauty. At that moment, however, I didn't give a rats ass about the city or anyone in it. Humanity could go fuck itself for all I cared.

I got around the four shiny black police cruisers that were parked around my rust-bucket, and got in. I fired it up, and the cockpit displays gave my eyes their information in blue LED light. The exterior beacons ran a red cone around the hover-pad, and the white strobe kicked in at two-second intervals making mirrors of the cop-cars around me. I jammed on the lifters to get the hell out of there.

I was up about five feet when the whole thing lost power, everything went back to night-black, and my hover-car dropped back to the pad. There was one thought in my brain. It was, "Damn."

I popped the hatch over the electrical systems, grabbed a flashlight, and got out of the darkened cockpit to have a look. In hindsight, I should have just walked as fast as I could away from that house, Vicki Valise, the whole scene, and called the impound lot two weeks later. A DMV hassle, towing fee, and impound fine would have been a gift compared to what happened next.

This is...really good

It's not pornographic per-se (tho there is boobies!) it's just super erotic. In one of those super-quiet rooms, a woman puts on clothes and you hear the way-amplified sound they make. It's not like you're unfamiliar with these sounds, it's just cool to have them so in-your-face.

(you gotta click on the picks to get to a quicktime recording)

Noir Tales...From The Future!

He was dead. And I was looking at the wound that killed him. Actually, I was looking through the wound that killed him...a one-inch laser hole burned right through his head. Even though the high-end killers had been using lasers for five years or so, it still caught me off-guard seeing the type of damage they did. Entry and exit holes exactly the same size, and the flesh in-between seared and cauterized so you could see the pattern of the hand made, and hand laid, Mexican tile he dropped dead on. Right through the hole in his head.

It happened in the kitchen. At least that's the word they used - even though any kitchen you've had personal experience with was about fifteen times smaller, and eighty times more practical. It was a room an architect designed to ooze "I'm too rich to ever cook." An interior designer had taken that theme, and ran with it. The things in the kitchen were selected for the off-hand chance a guest got lost in the house, and ended up there. They would be impress as hell. There was a computer interface in the coffee maker that told me the oven sold for three million retail. Seriously.

I thought to myself, "what the fuck does someone do with a three million dollar oven?" Of course the answer was, get lasered in the head and drop dead next to it - or should I say in-between it and your six million dollar walk-in refrigerator. Nobody would even notice the quarter-million dollar dishwasher fifteen yards away that offered hydrosonic cleaning technology, mass spectrometer linked to the computer (to ensure the best cleaning cycle for when you jammed Italian wine glasses, French porcelain plates and German cutlery in the same load), and U.V. bacteria and virus killing rays for every wash. I found that out from the interface on the cutting board after the C.S.I. team shooed me away from the coffee maker.

The cops all gave me dirty looks as I wandered around, but I was there on business, and they had no right to kick me out. The guy was the husband of my client, Vicky Valise, and she had hired me because she was worried about her husbands safety. Of course, you'd be right to say I wasn't very good at my job. But in my defense, I was hired only three hours before, didn't have a single lead to work on, and I spent an hour after that getting the oil changed on my beat-up flying car.

Anyways, she walked in wearing a red silk floral print blouse that wasn't buttoned up enough, a small Gucci clutch in one hand, and one of those mini-Schnauzer dogs in the other. The rest of her was wrapped in a short, tight, black mini-skirt, which let you know where her real assets were. There are legs, and then there are legs. She wore some sexy Steve Madden number on her feet with an understated bow that was a great excuse to start somewhere...if you were the kind of guy that needed an excuse to start somewhere when a woman wears a tight mini-skirt, and she's got a pair of legs that are, yaknow, legs that are legs.

Did I mention why I got into this business in the first place? We P.I.'s get to see a lot of legs.




(see what I did there? used the second of my "ways to begin" to start this little story! Totally works)

Ways to Begin

Here are some helpful ideas for starting your writing project...any of these will work just fine as your opening!

(using he/she/it)
She was
He was
It was

(using the ever popular "there")
There was
There were
There is

(using they/we)
They were
We were

(using time*)
Once upon a time
Yesterday
Today
*or any specific date in the past, usually prefaced with On, such as, "On January 13, 1078"

(Using my/her/his/their)
My dog/car/spaceship/horse/computer/apartment/(any person,place, or thing, really)
Her dog/car/spaceship/horse/computer/apartment/(any person,place, or thing, really)
His dog/car/spaceship/horse/computer/apartment/(any person,place, or thing, really)
Their dog/car/spaceship/horse/computer/apartment/(any person,place, or thing, really)

(using onomatopoeia?*)
Bang!
Crash!
Clank!
*Possible, but the author agrees with conventional wisdom that writers who use this opening are hacks.

Well there ya go! A few easy ways to get started...and thanks to this little post, literary (or internet) fame is right around the corner!

The Better You Look...The More You See

I suspect there is something to the title, in both obvious meanings.

As well, I've found that being overly smart is often not the way to actually be happy. I'm not going to go so far as to say, being dumb is more fun than being smart...but would you agree that in the airheads you've met in your life, (both male an female) they usually posses a bouncy, happy attitude as if they're having a better time than you?

Over the last few days I've taken the internet-news-product very seriously (in regards to the whole global financial fiasco) and used my brain-powers of logic, imagination, politics, and society...and came up with a whole bunch of stuff that was unsettling. I thought pretty hard about how to "not be unsettled" about the whole affair, and failed miserably.

So instead, I've chosen to go the other direction. There is no "thinking" out of an equation with all negatives, where you might get a positive. Best to think down (or not think-hmm inneresting) to a level where none of these implications matter, and deny that any of them are important, or predictors that have any weight at all.

In that place, it does kinda' matter how good you look.

Then it's a lot easier to find the people who don't look as good.

And from there...well, let's just say, "the more you see."

Here's A Short TED Presentation

That actually has something to do with this evolution of the internet idea that's been floating around here (most likely) boring the pants off youse guys. The key here, is that this is an interface device, and not a literal evolution of the internet itself. They claim it's a "sixth sense" device, that can give you an entirely new way of dealing with the world by getting instant data about something in front of you.

I'm not sure this would ever really improve the quaility of your life, infact it might just suck you into being constantly manipulated (or even imprisioned) by this cloud of data. (where does this data come from, who provides this service, who makes sure this info is based on fact and not p.r.? are some questions that pop up.) But it's certainly an interesting peek into a totally different way of using the global database.

(Vid is 8 minutes long...but is pretty fun.)

A super short vid about being super cool.

Here's something good

The story of the world's largest diamond heist. It's like 8 pages long, but it's really fun.

Touching the Zeitgeist and Getting Scared.

I just saw a reddit thread today that was titled

"Is Anyone Else In Here Getting A Little Bored of the Internet?"

It's curious...

Sometimes It's About Perspective

This here blog do-hick-ey started round '05, a little more than four years ago. Yet this entire time, I was convinced that "Fjord" meant a geographical landmass that was made up of two out-thrust arms of land, between a low-lying valley that was inundated by the ocean. A clearly photogenic landmass that (while some have never seen except in pictures, such as myself) we can all agree looks phenomenal.

However, today, I was in my destiny chamber (posted link even tho there's a horrible typo. It's supposed to read "come with me to my destiny chamber" but you get the gyst.) And I was stuck with the thought of, "How easy would it be to convince people that "fjord" also means crossing a river."

If I wrote the word "Ford" what would you think? A car, a truck, a company? Would you really think that it meant anything other than a machine? If I told you the only way to cross this river without a bridge, was to go to the fjord two miles down, would you know exactly what I meant? (Of course you would, its a pronunciation difference, with a slight inflection, an inflection that is nearly a silent letter. In fact, it makes more sense in this age of word evolution to call a ford a fjord)

Would you have the cajones to tell me, "No, it's not a fjord, it's a ford! You ford a river on horseback or on foot! You can't and don't fjord anything!"

Hey, if you had the balls to stand up for ford, I'd be happy. I'm not saying I'd support you, but I'd be happy to see these things aired out in a public space. (without an iphone or google) Words are only what people agree they mean. I'm pretty sure (knowing the populace like I do) that it would be really hard to convince 60% of the audience that the correct term for "the fjord" of a river was actually "the ford" of the river.

And thus, thanx to my destiny chamber, I am now happy that 4 years later, I realize that Fjord is not only a landmass, but the passage across a river. A span of land that is covered over with water, yet still connects two divided chunks of land. Fantastic!

Soo...errm yeah...trying to back my way out of

my idea that the innernet should be like an university or something.


Here's a beautiful distraction in the form of the Peanuts Comic, re-done in Frank Miller style. It's short (1 page) but dense, and totally cool. You should take a look.

In re-looking at this thing, mebby this does give a nice example of something the innernet should be offering. Then again, it wasn't done in 5-or-10 minutes...there was some lingering done there.

I am aware that the last post was

a little tough on the internet. I mean, all this coming from a guy who looks for mummy stories, just so he can put up pictures of flame-throwers.

In my excuse I was kinda' drunk.

Please forgive me innernet, I'll never hurt you again!

Hehe...gjawd...

Well hell, 3 weeks without a good post ider, and...

now I gots three of 'em and only time to linger over one!

(or do I. Hmmm...)

*ponders*

Mebby I can smush 'em all into one far reaching, yet easily digestible post saving me and you a ton of extra work. Mebby.

Well, it's worth a shot.

***Begin Transmission***

24 jumped the shark on Monday (if it hadn't already). I'll admit to not following very closely, but I did catch the first three episodes this season, (shown 2 episodes-back-to-back for the first two Monday's of the first two weeks) and had reasonable hopes for it to still be an entertaining show.

However, this last episode was enough to make me cringe in ways I haven't cringed from a televison series since I saw a season closer on "Gray's Anatomy" where Dr. Whoseisnuts with the long locks, saved Dr Gray from a watery death in Puget Sound after a horrible ferry accident! That was the end of any of my respect for Gray's Anatomy - which up till then, I thought was a slightly-better-than-average show that would pass the "I have nothing better to do tonight than watch this and I won't feel too bad about wasting this time as I'm already wasting it" test.

The reason for expressing my opinion about 24, is the fact that the plot revolved around a renegade group of a ficticious African nation's "special forces" taking over the White House, and holding the President and members of the executive staff hostage. Seriously, as I watched, I found the opening scene in X-Men 2 to be more realistic in Presidential security (where a teleporting super-powered mutant broke thru the White House secret service protection) than the stuff that was being shovelled out of my teevee from the 24 creators. Mebby the regular audience for the show will go along with that leap-of-faith, but this viewer can not. I'll leap over a lot of hurdles to stay with the (a) story, but not one that treats Presidential security with less realism than a super-hero movie from 2003.

But this shark-jumping thing is something I'm also considering in terms of something larger, something much much much larger! Yes, my friendly fjordlings, I'm considering labeling the internet as having done the same thing!!!

Look, I read political blogs because they're constantly updating their content...which is what I crave - new fjuckin' content. Yet, there's a moment in my morning where (as I peruse said political blogs) I know I'm just reading chatter. I use reddit like a fiend, and I dig my cursor into any new chunk of information or interesting headline like a shovel. But constantly, I'm being directed to content that is not only recycled, but more than a year-old! A year old in internet years is like dog years. It's like I'm seeing stuff from 2002...and I'm not sucking in the internet for nostalgia's sake (altho I do like reading history on demand from the web) I want new! I want cutting-edge information!! I want cutting-edge entertainment!!! I want super-uber-expert smart opinion on stuff!!!!

When it comes right down to it, I get no more of that stuff than what I'd get from media that's not the net. Sure, sometimes I get lucky and am rewarded, but not all that often- at least for the amount of time I spend looking for it.

And that's where I say, it's time for the internet to grow up. Yeah, you jumped the shark internet! And while it's cute to see LOL Cats every once in a while, it's the fjuckin' equivalent of a baby running his figers over it's lips making a "bubububa" sound. Sure it's cute when the kid is 2, but fer Gjod's sake, the innernet is like - getting close to/is already in PUBERTY! This baby-stuff that was fine before is now bordering on the mentally retarded.

The beauty of the internet medium is the potential to evolve into something we can't even imagine. It can (unlike teevee shows) easily re-invent itself past a shark-jumping moment, and into something far better, far more powerful, and far more illuminating than it is. I'm not at all claiming I have the talent or even the energy to change a tiny-tiny micro-small fraction of it. But I do have the critical skills to say, "It's about time this joint makes a great leap over the shark of its own irrelevance."

Perhaps I'll come up with some amazing idea that will take that last statement, and not only prove it can be done, but also inspire others to change the whole nature of the medium. Perhaps the internet, like humanity, will only ever be a mirror focused on itself with a miriad of weak distractions to banish any thought of irrelevance. Perhaps I'm already tired of pushing this very honerable idea as far as I have, (not very), to my audience of 3 loyal readers.

Nevertheless, I have no doubt, there's something in these words I've written you can agree with. I believe it went something like this...
1) Gray's Anatomy jumped the shark a long time ago. 24 just did.
2) Baby internet has clearly jumped the shark.
3) Baby internet is capable of jumping the shark and becoming something far better.
4) The internet needs to grow up.


I had three iders tonight to smoosh into one. I nailed two, but the other was on my list with the cryptic note "baby steps." Since after all these words and thoughts, I can't remember what "baby steps" was actually about, so I'm going to declare victory and forget I've just called for an internet revolution.

***End Transmission***

How Super Awesome is Your Day!??!

Well, if you're asking me, I'd say your day is pretty super awesome!

As for me, I spent a couple of hours writing cover letters for jobs...which was sweet...and spent about an hour tracking down where my unemployment check is (in the mail, somewhere, lost) which was also sweet. I also had a lot of coffee, which was pretty super awesome. As well, it's not so far into the afternoon where something really super awesome could STILL HAPPEN!

Add all that up, and I'm giving today a +1 Super Awesome!*



*ratings may change after publication

Incase yer just swingin' by

Nothing great here, but there is this mini innernet meme that was taken to a hilarious conclusion.

Go here. And if you don't know what it's dealing with, click on the link in the first sentence, you'll be up to speed in no time.

Just a quick thought this mornin'

Are you more than occasionally surprised at how much Star-Wars crap there is on the internets?

I guess the larger question is, are you more than occasionally surprised at how many people there are with time on their hands to actually make all these pictures and movies and stuff.

Innernet Historians will look back on us and notice this trend. They will wonder what the fuck we were thinking.

Lingering over words...or, the New Deal!

So I was thinkin' about that last post, which yeah, was kinda' lame. Unfortunately, the concept for the post idea itself, was perfectly fine, and could have been awesome...if it had been fleshed out in more interesting ways.

Why wasn't it? Why didn't I?

What an interesting question, I'm glad you asked!

The answer is simply lingering over words. When I started that piece, I had a kernel of an idea that I was sure was going to evolve into something that had a ton more meaning than what I actually wrote on the internet for everyone and their sisters to read. But I didn't linger on the words, I just wanted something new on the front page of Fjord...something, anything. I should have just posted a link to a goofy story.

It's never spoken of much, but there's magic in words. Rarely do people talk about it, because it's so commonplace. But you hear about people who can't read, and what it means to them when they learn how to do it. It's always something that is a huge milestone in their lives, something they boast about, they are, for good reason, proud they can read.

Of course, for those of us who've been doing this reading thing since we were young, there's an awareness that words mean all sorts of things and often, they are wrapped around misleading ideas and information. As well, the utter ubiquity of words, makes a pretty cheap currency. And that, is why you get not-quite-fleshed out posts, and not-quite-fleshed-out news.

There's a reason that we are bigger consumers of information than broadcasters of it. How many times have you read a post or a news piece which taught you something new? It's rare, because it's hard. It's tricky. For the most part, you read stuff you already know. To make words mean something, you've got to spend time and effort, linger over them and not only put the magic of words together like a puzzle, but also feel where the words are taking you, and roll with it, with them. I could have taken the last post and made some connections of fighting aliens with Gaza, or Al-Qaida, or the bankers and traders that have been the enemy of Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

As I was writing it, I could feel the pull of the words wanting to get to those places, but I didn't linger over it. I didn't have the force of will to roll with the magic of the words that were spilling out from my keyboard, and follow them to a better (or bitter-er) conclusion. Why? Ah, there's the rub.

To that, I'll respond, I used to be a file clerk. When I was a file clerk, I used to come home day after day, and make words on this here webzine to prove to myself (and everybody) that I wasn't a fucking file clerk, that I was an INNERNET SUPERSTAR!

Then, I got laid-off, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. This was finally a reason for me to go out and grab a job I was worthy of. A full year later, and here I am, looking for anything that'll pay enough to cover rent. I didn't know it at the time, but I was one of the first victims of this here depression we're mucking around in right now.

Whether I'm an INNERNET SUPERSTAR or not, I'm pretty up-to-date on all the economic/political crap that's been going on, and that means billions of fresh dollars tossed around like words. Super Cheap Fjucking Words, and definitely words not lingered over. Unlike bankers, or trading houses, or A.I.G., I'm willing to work for money...I just keep waiting to see an offer where I get my grubby little hands on enough to keep the Casa Aloha running. That's less than 30-grand for a year, but we'll use that number to aid the maths. According to my calculator, the money I need is a tiny chunk that is 26,233,333% - of the lately passed stimulus bill of 787 billion dollars.

My fraction of the Federal Money that would keep this joint rolling, is so small that you'd have to multiply it by 26-million, two hundred thirty-three thousand, three hundred thirty-three. I keep looking for it, that money, on the job-boards on the innernet...but it's not there. All I see is my lousy clerk-skills being challenged by more and more laid-off people who have better looking resumes and skills on paper than I do.

*Alert!* Waah, waaah!

I know, I know, I'm complaining probably too much, and...to nobody but the giant vortex of the all-consuming webmonster.

But here's the fantastic post conclusion!!!

F.D.R. gave the U.S.A. the "New Deal" and as a fella who's already made a point about the magic of words in this piece, I think the words "new deal" were a pretty clever construction for a time when words were not quite as crazy everywhere as they are now. I don't think the term "new deal" means "I'm going to give you a great new deal on this car." I think the words mean, "I'm changing the deck, and I'm giving you a new hand."

We seen with brutal consequence, that the last deck was stacked against us.

Earlier, I wrote the words, "How many times have you read a post or a news piece which taught you something new?"

I'm not saying that I predicted any of this, but if you look up where The King of the Swamp People started getting pissed and started calling for heads on pikes, it wasn't just for show. It was the first moment that the curtain was torn back, and the truth revealed. (strangely, a truth we already knew, yeah?) And what happened? Nothing. The one man responsible for a 14-billion dollar theft, died in his vacation mansion in Colorado, still an un-imprisoned billionaire. There are plenty of humanids that took this lesson and ran with it. Their punishment now is a cash "bonus" that exceeds what most people make in a lifetime, and it's being paid for right now, with your bailout tax dollars.

I'm not telling you anything new. You already know all this.

Obama's been talking up our troubles for a while now..."there's nothing like this since the great depression" has slipped off his tongue more than a few times. And there's plenty of legit evidence to say he ain't just using his powerful rhetorical skills to get himself out of a political jam. It really does appear, that the entire global financial system is so fjucked that nobody-not even one solvent, still-super-productive country, will stop this downward slide.

We need a new deck.
We need a new hand.
We need a new game, with new rules.
It's obvious.

"What the fjuck," I would ask, "is he waiting for?"

The entire world is waiting for a new dealer, a new deck, and a new game. Be ballsy and go ahead and call it like it is. Who cares if you're recycling words that have rung thru the modern age - synonymous with prosperity.

It's time for a new deal.


***Update***

Seems like I'm not the only fella with his proverbial fingers on this zeitgeist. In fact, I apparently tapped into the thinking of the Prime Minister of England! Kickass. I'm sure a governmental consulting job is comin' just down the pike!

So As I Was Killing Space Aliens

On one of the popular video games, I got to thinking about aliens. Now, just a day or so ago there was a news item that said our universe could have more than a billion earth-like planets. Then I figured, heck, lets say there is another race of bugs/rodents/deer that evolved into something that could travel the stars. Then what? Then comes the killing, that's what.

When you think about the old "We Come In Peace" line, it really never meant what the words say. And sooner or later some human would want something that the other race had (or vice versa) and then the shooting would start. I'm actually more interested in the economics of an inter-stellar war - that's curious. I think the space station has probably chewed up 1/2 to a trillion dollars, and it's just hangin' out in orbit. A fully functioning faster-than-light space battlecruiser? Is that like ten trillion? Well anyhoo - I'm just speculatin' here, but I really hope we don't find any aliens out there. It'd cost a fortune.

Productive?!?

"You there! What are you doing!?!"

"Uh, reading the internet."

"How is that possibly being productive?"

"It's making me a more informed member of society."

"And this is useful to our civilization how?"

"Well, when I'm in the bar, I can converse with people about the pressing issues of the day...or about kittens I have seen on youtube."

"Wait, what did you say?"

"I can converse with people about kittens..."

"No! Not that, that first part!"

"Uh...When I'm in the bar?"

"Yes! There! You are spending money and consuming, and contributing to the economy. That means jobs! That's productivity!"

"It is?"

"Great good job. Keep up the good work."

"Um, okay, I will. Thanks."

"No, thank you citizen, thank you."

Wait while I remove these leeches

Phrases you are likely to need in Borneo, to judge from a phrasebook distributed in 1966 by the Borneo Literature Bureau:

*Wait while I remove these leeches.
*I have been bitten by sand flies.
*There are too many rats.
*There are a lot of mosquitoes here.
*The cockroaches have eaten my shirt.
*Is this poisonous?
*This vomiting needs urgent treatment.
*I do not know what is wrong. You must take her to the clinic.
*Your eyes need treatment, or you will become blind.

Taken from this awesome joint. There are more there, I just grabbed some good ones.

Good News!

Yes-sir-ee bub (and bub-etts) good news!

Seems there's been nothing but gloom-an-doom on the horizon (and up close too) but it's time to take a minute to look at what's been underreported in your librul media these days. Such as, I've noticed no shortage of hot water! Also, I was just at the store and it's clear that cheese is just as plentiful as ever! Rockin' good news, I must say.

What else? You ask. Oh, um, I thought that would be enough. Hang on, there's more! I gots it over here somewhere in this stack o' papers.

*shuffle shuffle*

Err, okay, howabout, "Scientists determine atmosphere still breathable" Koool! Altho, I had noticed I'm not asphyxiating without their report. Let's see, no, not that, howabout...oooh! Here's one, "Cute Kittens Abound On You Tube." Fantastic, who doesn't like cute kittens? Man, the innernets are great huh? Oh, and here's one that says "New Concentrated Laundry Detergent Has 8x's The Cleaning Power Of Regular Laundry Detergent" Now, I'm under the impression that this might be a marketing ploy to sell you less soap for more money, but heck, if it's true that's EIGHT TIMES THE CLEANING POWER! That's modern living for yas, more convenience and more power in one small bottle.

So there ya go! Keep the chin up and all that...cause it could be worse!

Mummy Video

From the BBC - (which doesn't have an embed feature so you have to go here.)

I think the important line is "this is the kind of discovery that makes archaeologists go weak at the knees." Of course, it makes mummy killers, such as yours truly, seethe with rage.

That New Government Smell

Yeah - so while out with the bugs (mine, my compooters (lather, rinse, repeat)) a buncha stuff has briefly caught my attention, and then left like, well, like something not there anymore. One of the things I've been thinking about in a longer time frame has been torture of terrorist suspects. There's been plenty (more than plenty, overwhelming amounts) of evidence that says torture does not work. But there seems to be this pervasive argument about the "ticking time-bomb scenario" where a suspect is in custody - and has information that could stop an attack that could save thousands of lives. The argument is we need to be able to torture in this circumstance, and therefore we should not outlaw torture, because this one particular circumstance. (This particular question was raised in the confirmation hearings of our new C.I.A. Director)

What to do...what to do!?! Jimmy Terrorist is sitting there with the information, and the law has tied the hands of our noble protectors!

Now, I've read there hasn't actually ever been a case of this "ticking time-bomb scenario" happening, but that could just be the internet talking. I don't know. But the idea of this situation happening, and our agents doing nothing seems retarded. If you're charged with defending the country, and find out 5-million people are about to be gassed and you've got a member of the plot in custody - you do everything in your power to get that information and save 5-million people. You break the fjucking law. Then, once you've saved all these people, you take your lumps in a goddang court of law. If you think a jury of your peers will put you in jail for breaking the law to save millions of innocent civilians, you've underestimated the capacity for people and their judgement. C'mon, you're going to get a medal.

Two Dozen Mummies Found

Frum Yahoo News...so here's a few words...

CAIRO – A storeroom housing about two dozen ancient Egyptian mummies has been unearthed inside a 2,600-year-old tomb during the latest round of excavations at the vast necropolis of Saqqara south of Cairo, archaeologists said Monday.

The "storeroom for mummies" dates back to 640 B.C. during the 26th Dynasty, which was Egypt's last independent kingdom before it was overthrown by a succession of foreign conquerors beginning with the Persians, Hawass said. But the tomb was discovered at an even older site in Saqqara that dates back to the 4,300-year-old 6th Dynasty, he said.

Most of the mummies are poorly preserved, and archeologists have yet to determine their identities or why so many were put in one room.

Economies collapsing, fires raging, riots, general stupidity everywhere...and what shows up? Yes, I am suggesting this is all part of their plan.

Huh...

Sooooo...um, yeah, turns out my physical body's anti-virus system was waaaaay better than my compooter's. Anywise I may be back, or I may not...it's hard to say at the moment.

But there is an interesting little idea that came to me while I was not updating this here awesome innernet landmass. It's that in no uncertain terms, blogging captures a moment. If I were to stop doing anything new here, it would be a moment that reaches from 2005 to 2009 - and I don't think that's a small thing...yet in the overall span of history 4 years is nothin. (a grain of sand tumbling thru the hourglass...yeah?) Still, it's a snapshot of ideas and thinkin' for far longer than anyone in their right mind should have. I've speculated here before about future internet historians digging thru dusty servers and cobweb-covered digital domains...

Anyway, one day, this joint will be one of those...just like every site on the internet. I mean, remember friendster? Once upon a time, that was a big deal. Now, who the hell sends you e-vites to become their friendster-friend? Will facebook follow? I dunno, but anywise, all I'm sayin' is one day Fjord will just stop. There won't be any fanfare, there won't be a long ramble about what it's meant, and how it's changed all of our lives, it will just stop. Like a photograph of a moment.

Then the spiders come...

Well Well Well...here we are

I spent the last week or so of 2008 trying to scrub a particularly nasty virus/trojan horse from the operating system of the Casa Aloha H.Q. computer system. Yesterday I finally got down to (what I think) were the offending files and rooted them out. So far so good. I only wish I could run the same program on my immune system, which has also been infected with a particularly nasty virus/trojan horse...which in fact, caused me to miss the New Yars Eve Celebrashion for the first time in many decades.

Anyhoo - as you may know, this year we added a leap second to the official clocks around the world. The BBC has a nifty little bit right here that has a video on how they add or subtract seconds from the Big Ben clock.