So I can't sleep. I woke up at 8:45 this morning, hung out with my parents for a bit before they left town, and then headed back home. rather than go back to sleep in anticipation of my 12 hour work shift, I headed to the pool and spent 2 and a half hours there. then, instead of taking a nap, i watched an hour and a half of 30 rock and headed to work with a sandwich in my stomach and a soda in my hand. Here's where the story is headed: after 10 hours or so, I got my second wind. Damn that second wind. If I'm not competing in... well, anything, it's completely worthless. because I got this gust of energy at 1 am and now i can't effing sleep. so.
What the hell is up with people who want to act political but really a) don't know shit about politics, b) just seem to want to stir the waters rather than say something worth saying, c) just want to piss people off (which is not that different from old number "b" there), or d)... well, i guess my beef can be crudely broken down into those 3 categories. Seriously. Act your damn age. Also, guys that beat women. What the hell man? Here's how you impress people and make this society look good: Stop being dickheads, douchebags, and assholes and start treating people around you with respect. Parents, do me a favor and teach your kids something more than where to score a rock, why Jesus will always be disappointed in you, or why president so and so sucks so bad. Maybe we will survive, but probably not.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
poetry, lyrical prowess, and train of thought
Fear. Talent. Replacement. Being present.
Music that makes sense, not noise. Music that makes you think. People.
Closeness. Relationships. ambivalence... hatred. replacement of hatred because of necessity. Necessity. Theres a daddy longlegs crawling across the floor. Stella missed it when she walked right by it. it looked like a bean grew legs. dead now. she found it.
Friends, enemies, forced animosity. ambivalence...
Why are people and i inclined to want to try to control other people's lives? what's the gain when you tell someone you think they're full of shit? compliments go far, criticism just goes backwards. Shouldn't. think about who you are. what you are. who you connect to.
Alcohol.
Children are tiny drunk adults.
No, really.
Alcohol brings you back to childhood, removes the filter of all you've learned to hide, all the pretense you're supposed to have. Watch a drunk person in a bar, then watch a child. compare and contrast. The child doesnt care about sex. there's the difference. Character. character is who you are when no one else is around. learned. Childhood. childness is who you are when you're drunk. the purest self that can be found, affected only by your motivation for drinking. not accounting for moods, who you are when you are drunk is your childness. Its who you are sans filter. thoughts, desires, countenance. asshole or sweetheart. Your friends know. Can't tell those closest, but we know. we see what you don't.
Friendships are most valuable. distance is a bitch.
Lyrical prowess. beautiful chords with no soul. worthless. love music or don't play. be an adult. if you don't like something get out or shut up. there is a time for bitching. there's a time to be an adult. know your place. no need to love your circumstances, but know where your allegiance lies. allegiance lies. everyone hates their job, you're not special. save it until after work when you have a cigarette and a beer. you're not helping anyone by bringing everyone down. grow up.
Trains. There's a train. The sound of trains brings me back home. every place i've lived i could hear the sound of a train outside my bedroom window. soothing. home. connections. places past and friends you long for. people you need to survive. loving what you have. Cherish those close to you.
What happens when you embrace and try to understand vice rather than reject it while still being slave to it? experiment?
Daddy long legs still alive... inspecting... ignoring... teeth too small, no need to worry.
never ignore love. love levitates you. embrace love. spread love.
Music that makes sense, not noise. Music that makes you think. People.
Closeness. Relationships. ambivalence... hatred. replacement of hatred because of necessity. Necessity. Theres a daddy longlegs crawling across the floor. Stella missed it when she walked right by it. it looked like a bean grew legs. dead now. she found it.
Friends, enemies, forced animosity. ambivalence...
Why are people and i inclined to want to try to control other people's lives? what's the gain when you tell someone you think they're full of shit? compliments go far, criticism just goes backwards. Shouldn't. think about who you are. what you are. who you connect to.
Alcohol.
Children are tiny drunk adults.
No, really.
Alcohol brings you back to childhood, removes the filter of all you've learned to hide, all the pretense you're supposed to have. Watch a drunk person in a bar, then watch a child. compare and contrast. The child doesnt care about sex. there's the difference. Character. character is who you are when no one else is around. learned. Childhood. childness is who you are when you're drunk. the purest self that can be found, affected only by your motivation for drinking. not accounting for moods, who you are when you are drunk is your childness. Its who you are sans filter. thoughts, desires, countenance. asshole or sweetheart. Your friends know. Can't tell those closest, but we know. we see what you don't.
Friendships are most valuable. distance is a bitch.
Lyrical prowess. beautiful chords with no soul. worthless. love music or don't play. be an adult. if you don't like something get out or shut up. there is a time for bitching. there's a time to be an adult. know your place. no need to love your circumstances, but know where your allegiance lies. allegiance lies. everyone hates their job, you're not special. save it until after work when you have a cigarette and a beer. you're not helping anyone by bringing everyone down. grow up.
Trains. There's a train. The sound of trains brings me back home. every place i've lived i could hear the sound of a train outside my bedroom window. soothing. home. connections. places past and friends you long for. people you need to survive. loving what you have. Cherish those close to you.
What happens when you embrace and try to understand vice rather than reject it while still being slave to it? experiment?
Daddy long legs still alive... inspecting... ignoring... teeth too small, no need to worry.
never ignore love. love levitates you. embrace love. spread love.
Monday, April 20, 2009
gRammer>?
Ok... so what's the deal with grammar?
I'm definitely a math-minded person.
I know, statistics show that on the whole, men are generally more math minded, and women more english/grammar-minded, but even so... WTF?
Is it Georgia? Is it the south? What's the deal here?
I am not very good about timelines. I can't remember how old I was when I had my bowl-el-paso birthday party or my Easter birthday party, and even though they are both significant in my mind, there are people that can remember exactly how old they were when so and so said such and such. Me, I can remember time frames, but not specifics. But I DO remember my seventh grade english class. That class I remember very well. And for whatever reason, whatever Mrs. Roarke had to say just stuck. And so now I just can't figure out why the simple grammatical (not gramatical) rules I learned back then still seem to stay with me now.
Today I (seen) lots of good buddies of mine. We got together and (done) had a good old time. We got together, (done) brewed some beer, and had (us) a good old time. But for all the folks i (seen) today out at the store and (c)here at home, I'll be damned if I (hain't heard me) some strange (talkin) the whole time.
Now, I understand the value of regional dialect. I'm perfectly happy saying that I'm fixin-a go down to the mercado to grab me a couple-a cases of cervezas. Hell, I was raised in central and western Texas. We blend some normal sayings and some Spanish sayings right into one. But it goes beyond dialect. It's like a cultural acceptance of terrible grammar.
Let me restate my science background. You can't be imprecise. Don't you tell me you needed .2 ounces of something when you really needed .02, because dammit, I'll measure out 2/10 of an ounce for you. This is sadly helpful in my field of >ahem< bartending when you measure liquor in ounces and quarter ounces. I can also handle a little fudging... people slur, people create their own "dialects"... and we blur the exact number of ounces in some drinks. That's the power of being on top people ;)
But at the same time, I know (since oh.... 7th grade) that the past tense of see is saw, (and even though my non-grammar mind can't tell you the proper tense name, I can tell you that it is always necessary to slap a "have" between the words "I" and "seen").
Grr.... this is what happens when (i) get back into blogging... all I wanna do it complain about things that bother me. But really now, when a damn science major is that guy who corrects everyone's grammar.... something's not right.
But then again, maybe we'll done get moved back to Texas soon.
I'm definitely a math-minded person.
I know, statistics show that on the whole, men are generally more math minded, and women more english/grammar-minded, but even so... WTF?
Is it Georgia? Is it the south? What's the deal here?
I am not very good about timelines. I can't remember how old I was when I had my bowl-el-paso birthday party or my Easter birthday party, and even though they are both significant in my mind, there are people that can remember exactly how old they were when so and so said such and such. Me, I can remember time frames, but not specifics. But I DO remember my seventh grade english class. That class I remember very well. And for whatever reason, whatever Mrs. Roarke had to say just stuck. And so now I just can't figure out why the simple grammatical (not gramatical) rules I learned back then still seem to stay with me now.
Today I (seen) lots of good buddies of mine. We got together and (done) had a good old time. We got together, (done) brewed some beer, and had (us) a good old time. But for all the folks i (seen) today out at the store and (c)here at home, I'll be damned if I (hain't heard me) some strange (talkin) the whole time.
Now, I understand the value of regional dialect. I'm perfectly happy saying that I'm fixin-a go down to the mercado to grab me a couple-a cases of cervezas. Hell, I was raised in central and western Texas. We blend some normal sayings and some Spanish sayings right into one. But it goes beyond dialect. It's like a cultural acceptance of terrible grammar.
Let me restate my science background. You can't be imprecise. Don't you tell me you needed .2 ounces of something when you really needed .02, because dammit, I'll measure out 2/10 of an ounce for you. This is sadly helpful in my field of >ahem< bartending when you measure liquor in ounces and quarter ounces. I can also handle a little fudging... people slur, people create their own "dialects"... and we blur the exact number of ounces in some drinks. That's the power of being on top people ;)
But at the same time, I know (since oh.... 7th grade) that the past tense of see is saw, (and even though my non-grammar mind can't tell you the proper tense name, I can tell you that it is always necessary to slap a "have" between the words "I" and "seen").
Grr.... this is what happens when (i) get back into blogging... all I wanna do it complain about things that bother me. But really now, when a damn science major is that guy who corrects everyone's grammar.... something's not right.
But then again, maybe we'll done get moved back to Texas soon.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Brew Day, or Christmas in April
Today is Brew day! And like a small child shuddering with eager anticipation of the fat jolly fellow shimmying down his chimney, I have been bubbling with excitement all week waiting to create the most divine of all beverages today.
Anyhoo, here's the rub. I'm creating a Red Eye Green Tea Lager today. Boo ya. And, because this is my first truly all grain batch, I've decided to one-up the phacebook foto session that documented brew day two weeks ago (Sweet Potato Ale, if you missed that one), and make an uber-amateur brewing video documenting today's adventures. So get set, waggles is back and he's raging some brand new in your face summer awesome beerness. Stay tuned.
Anyhoo, here's the rub. I'm creating a Red Eye Green Tea Lager today. Boo ya. And, because this is my first truly all grain batch, I've decided to one-up the phacebook foto session that documented brew day two weeks ago (Sweet Potato Ale, if you missed that one), and make an uber-amateur brewing video documenting today's adventures. So get set, waggles is back and he's raging some brand new in your face summer awesome beerness. Stay tuned.
Friday, January 9, 2009
How Obama Got Elected, or, How Palin Lost the Election
So it's been a couple months. After the election, I tried to let my mind drift away from political topics... it's just too aggravating for the most part. Case in point:HowObamaGotElected.com I stumbled upon this link today after seeing a nine-minute video clip of an interview between John Zeigler and Sarah Palin taken from his forthcoming documentary about "Media Malpractice." I don't think I have to explain why this caught my eye, and why it irritated me enough to create a blog about it.
On the webpage, just below the Palin clip, there's another video clip. This one is a compilation of 12 questions asked to Obama voters outside a polling place after their votes had been cast on Nov. 4th. The point of this video, and I'm paraphrasing here, is to point out how the evil, leftist media focused all their ill will into getting bad press for Republicans, and whisking Obama into office while pulling the veil over "informed" voters' eyes. I encourage you to watch for yourselves, but here's the rundown of the questions. Try to guess for yourself based on the choice of questions what the answers may have been (well, the ones that they show anyway)...
1. "Which party currently controls congress?"
2. "What do you think of Barney Frank/Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid?"
3. "Which of the four candidates wore clothes that their political party spent $150,000 on?"
4. "Which of the four candidates has a pregnant teenage daughter?"
5. "Which candidate said 'I can see russia from my house'?" - Trick question (sneaky interviewees), that was a tina fey quote - Palin's was "You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska."
6. "Which candidate claimed to have campaigned in 57 states?"
7. "Which candidate won their first campaign by getting all of their opponents kicked off the ballot?"
8. "Which candidate said that Obama would be tested in his first 6 months by international crisis?
9. "Which candidate had to quit a previous campaign because they were found to have plagiarized a speech?"
10. "Which candidate said their policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry?" (funny... even though this is a misquote, they didnt point it out like in #5)
11. "Which said that the government should redistribute the wealth?" (again... misquote, but not pointed out as such...)
12. "What do you think of Bill Ayers?"
13. "Where do you get most of your information?"
Ok. so.
I'm not gonna say that these guys are wrong in suggesting that the media tended to favor Obama over Palin. (also notice the conspicuous lack of any questions referring to McCain, the actual presidential nominee... not palin....) But what pisses me off is that these people put out this video under the assumption that these questions are somehow more fair and balanced than the national news media?
I've been trying to decide what the specific point they are making is. Is it that the media was unfair to Sarah Palin? After all, her two infamous interviews made her a laughing stock and single handedly saved the careers of Lorne Michaels and the cast of SNL. Or are they trying to say that with the abundance of Palin press, where's the negative Obama stuff? I mean come on, hardly anyone knew that Obama gaffed, saying 57 states instead of 47.
After watching the video twice and reading over the questions a couple more times, I've concluded that the specific point they are trying to make is that people were
1) Exposed to a ludicrous amount of bad Palin press,
2) Not exposed to enough bad Obama press, and
3) Democratic voters are shockingly underinformed.
However, what still plagues me is that the questions are certainly not designed to be an unbiased test of voter knowledge based on the media. Palin's "alaska/russia" ordeal did not have the same coverage in the media as obama's first election shenanigans. But you're not proving the evil intentions of the media when you choose to ask questions about obscure Obama/Biden factoids and the top of the headline Palin stuff.
With that in mind, I have a couple suggestions for a poll of McCain voters: (to determine whether the news media altered their minds as horribly as their counterparts)
1.) What is a filibuster-proof majority?
2.) What do you think about Karl Rove/Henry Paulson/John Boehner?
3.) Which of the four candidates was rumored to be a Muslim?
4.) Which of the four candidates was criticized for "palling around with terrorists"?
5) Which candidate said his policies will likely bankrupt the coal industry? (Trick question! Obama actually said that under his plan, businesses would be charged for every unit of greenhouse gas emitted, and if someone wanted to build a plant which was powered by coal, they would be charged such a high amount for the pollution they emit, that it would bankrupt that company)
6.) Which candidate said in reference to progressive taxes "When you... reach a certain level of comfort, there's nothing wrong with paying somewhat more"?
7.) Another trick question - Which candidate supports socialist policies?
8.) What can you tell me about Palin's abuse of power lawsuit?
9) Which candidate supported secession of a state from the Union?
10) Which candidate enrolled in Hawaii Pacific College after high school and dropped out after 1 semester?
etc.
So... which pieces of information broke through the news clutter, and which did not? Well, it all depends on the questions you're asking, doesn't it...
Please read this website. Don't forget to read the staggering statistics at the bottom, like the one that said 90% of people exposed to MSNBC knew the Sarah Palin answers, and MSNBC watchers voted 73/27 for Obama. If there's not enough info on the website for you, just stay tuned to FOX news(70/30 for McCain!). Hannity and Colmes will be sure to keep you up to date on the documentary about all those other nasty media networks.
If you show me unbiased research that yeilds a valid conclusion, I'll sit and listen and think hard about what you have to say. But if you come out to the world with a right wing army claiming that the left side has wronged you, what good is it doing? Obama's not going to get un-voted for. You're not going to convince the media to stop reporting on things that hurt some political figures more than others. Palin attracted the attention. She was a gimmick to attract republican voter interest. They begged for media attention then blamed everyone else when they got too much of it.
If Sarah Palin, or any candidate for political office, won't stop crying about how mean the press is, then they do not have what it takes to run a country. Look at George Bush. A grand majority of the country hates him. Why? Because of what they know from the media. Is he crying? Is he having a documentary made on how the media made him look bad? No. He's doing his job. He's dealing with it. He's getting over it. That's what you do when you have, or when you want to have a public office. Stop crying.
This documentary will do no good. It will only continue to make self important people think that they are constantly being wronged by everyone else. It will further the divide between republican and democrat. While McCain and Obama both preach about bi-partisan cooperation in the years ahead, trash like this holds the country back. My hope is that the people who see this will realize that it's time to grow up, stop bickering, complaining, and pointing fingers, and try to make the future better than the present. But hey, at least it's getting some good press.
On the webpage, just below the Palin clip, there's another video clip. This one is a compilation of 12 questions asked to Obama voters outside a polling place after their votes had been cast on Nov. 4th. The point of this video, and I'm paraphrasing here, is to point out how the evil, leftist media focused all their ill will into getting bad press for Republicans, and whisking Obama into office while pulling the veil over "informed" voters' eyes. I encourage you to watch for yourselves, but here's the rundown of the questions. Try to guess for yourself based on the choice of questions what the answers may have been (well, the ones that they show anyway)...
1. "Which party currently controls congress?"
2. "What do you think of Barney Frank/Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid?"
3. "Which of the four candidates wore clothes that their political party spent $150,000 on?"
4. "Which of the four candidates has a pregnant teenage daughter?"
5. "Which candidate said 'I can see russia from my house'?" - Trick question (sneaky interviewees), that was a tina fey quote - Palin's was "You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska."
6. "Which candidate claimed to have campaigned in 57 states?"
7. "Which candidate won their first campaign by getting all of their opponents kicked off the ballot?"
8. "Which candidate said that Obama would be tested in his first 6 months by international crisis?
9. "Which candidate had to quit a previous campaign because they were found to have plagiarized a speech?"
10. "Which candidate said their policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry?" (funny... even though this is a misquote, they didnt point it out like in #5)
11. "Which said that the government should redistribute the wealth?" (again... misquote, but not pointed out as such...)
12. "What do you think of Bill Ayers?"
13. "Where do you get most of your information?"
Ok. so.
I'm not gonna say that these guys are wrong in suggesting that the media tended to favor Obama over Palin. (also notice the conspicuous lack of any questions referring to McCain, the actual presidential nominee... not palin....) But what pisses me off is that these people put out this video under the assumption that these questions are somehow more fair and balanced than the national news media?
I've been trying to decide what the specific point they are making is. Is it that the media was unfair to Sarah Palin? After all, her two infamous interviews made her a laughing stock and single handedly saved the careers of Lorne Michaels and the cast of SNL. Or are they trying to say that with the abundance of Palin press, where's the negative Obama stuff? I mean come on, hardly anyone knew that Obama gaffed, saying 57 states instead of 47.
After watching the video twice and reading over the questions a couple more times, I've concluded that the specific point they are trying to make is that people were
1) Exposed to a ludicrous amount of bad Palin press,
2) Not exposed to enough bad Obama press, and
3) Democratic voters are shockingly underinformed.
However, what still plagues me is that the questions are certainly not designed to be an unbiased test of voter knowledge based on the media. Palin's "alaska/russia" ordeal did not have the same coverage in the media as obama's first election shenanigans. But you're not proving the evil intentions of the media when you choose to ask questions about obscure Obama/Biden factoids and the top of the headline Palin stuff.
With that in mind, I have a couple suggestions for a poll of McCain voters: (to determine whether the news media altered their minds as horribly as their counterparts)
1.) What is a filibuster-proof majority?
2.) What do you think about Karl Rove/Henry Paulson/John Boehner?
3.) Which of the four candidates was rumored to be a Muslim?
4.) Which of the four candidates was criticized for "palling around with terrorists"?
5) Which candidate said his policies will likely bankrupt the coal industry? (Trick question! Obama actually said that under his plan, businesses would be charged for every unit of greenhouse gas emitted, and if someone wanted to build a plant which was powered by coal, they would be charged such a high amount for the pollution they emit, that it would bankrupt that company)
6.) Which candidate said in reference to progressive taxes "When you... reach a certain level of comfort, there's nothing wrong with paying somewhat more"?
7.) Another trick question - Which candidate supports socialist policies?
8.) What can you tell me about Palin's abuse of power lawsuit?
9) Which candidate supported secession of a state from the Union?
10) Which candidate enrolled in Hawaii Pacific College after high school and dropped out after 1 semester?
etc.
So... which pieces of information broke through the news clutter, and which did not? Well, it all depends on the questions you're asking, doesn't it...
Please read this website. Don't forget to read the staggering statistics at the bottom, like the one that said 90% of people exposed to MSNBC knew the Sarah Palin answers, and MSNBC watchers voted 73/27 for Obama. If there's not enough info on the website for you, just stay tuned to FOX news(70/30 for McCain!). Hannity and Colmes will be sure to keep you up to date on the documentary about all those other nasty media networks.
If you show me unbiased research that yeilds a valid conclusion, I'll sit and listen and think hard about what you have to say. But if you come out to the world with a right wing army claiming that the left side has wronged you, what good is it doing? Obama's not going to get un-voted for. You're not going to convince the media to stop reporting on things that hurt some political figures more than others. Palin attracted the attention. She was a gimmick to attract republican voter interest. They begged for media attention then blamed everyone else when they got too much of it.
If Sarah Palin, or any candidate for political office, won't stop crying about how mean the press is, then they do not have what it takes to run a country. Look at George Bush. A grand majority of the country hates him. Why? Because of what they know from the media. Is he crying? Is he having a documentary made on how the media made him look bad? No. He's doing his job. He's dealing with it. He's getting over it. That's what you do when you have, or when you want to have a public office. Stop crying.
This documentary will do no good. It will only continue to make self important people think that they are constantly being wronged by everyone else. It will further the divide between republican and democrat. While McCain and Obama both preach about bi-partisan cooperation in the years ahead, trash like this holds the country back. My hope is that the people who see this will realize that it's time to grow up, stop bickering, complaining, and pointing fingers, and try to make the future better than the present. But hey, at least it's getting some good press.
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