March 31, 2003
Document Traffic Control
When I put this post up last week, I was not expecting it to get much exposure. I seem to have miscalculated. It's been linked by Vodkapundit, Joanne Jacobs, Winds of Change, Home Fires Burning, and Crazy Saddam. Wow.
Two things I'd like to do. First, I'd like to thank all of the above for the links, and I'm glad that the post struck a chord. I'd also like to thank everyone who stopped by.
Second, I'm getting a number of non-referred hits; that means the visitor did not click through from another site, but came directly here. If it's not too much trouble, could I ask those who came here through direct links to leave a comment or drop an e-mail letting me know how they heard of it?
I'm not trying to be nosy, and if you want to comment anonymously that's cool. I'm just very curious as to where this post has been, and how it has spread. It would be neat to track its progress through the internet.
Thanks!
Blogshare
I guess I'm listed on BlogShares. Who knew?
The minute I went in and registered, blogshares crashed. What a wonderful start.
Busy day
I've got a couple things that I'm working on, and when I'm done I will get to work on this thing. Sorry about the wait.
March 28, 2003
200 posts!
And to celebrate, I'm going to inflict e-mail humor on you! Ha! Ha, Ha, Ha!
You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest player in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the US of arrogance, and Germany doesn't want to go to war.
Thanks, Ali! And thanks to everyone who has stopped by.
Major League Stupidity
Found this line in a FoxNews report.
Saddam's regime has long rewarded and supported Palestinian homicide bombers with money for the families of victims.
Since when have homicide bombers been "victims?" I hope this was a mistake.
Someone needs to check the editor for a pulse.
March 27, 2003
Americans at War
Some things don't change.
Medic carrying wounded German prisoner, World War II
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Marcco Ware, from Los Angeles, carries an injured Iraqi soldier who was shot three times during an attempted ambush of the 3rd Battalion, Fifth Regiment, convoy Tuesday morning in central Iraq.
"The Illmatic"
Metafilter has been on a roll today. Here's Kim Jong Il's LiveJournal.
Dear diary. Bush still doesn’t ‘get it.’ I tried making my feelings clear but he’s too busy ignoring me, he is such a jerk. Everything in his life is just Saddam, Saddam, Saddam and I am sick of it.Priceless.On the plus side, I think my hair looked pretty good today. Also I went frolicking at Paektu Mountain and the rainbow came out again. After dinner some of my subjects sang me a song because I invented Outer Space.
An idea
Putzing around on the InnerNut, I came across this story on todays protests in NYC. They're basically covering themselves in fake blood and lying down in the middle of the street, stopping traffic and causing widespread disturbances. About 150 have been arrested.
We endured something similar in Ft. Fun a few days ago, and an interesting idea has been floating around since then. The core of the idea is that it costs a fair amount of money to have 20-30 police officers protect these mental infants, making sure no one gets hurt and that they don't hurt anyone else. So, all those who abuse the police protection (eg. picking fights with cops or bystanders, laying down in the street, throwing up on the sidewalk, hurling shit at buildings, starting riots, destroying private or public property, et cetera) should be arrested and slapped with a fine large enough to cover the cost of having the police babysit them instead of doing their regular patrols as well as pay to repair the damage the protests caused.
Protesters who peacefully assemble and present their views would not be considered for this treatment unless they crossed the line I mentioned above. Those that do cross the line would probably find themselves financially strapped after only a few incidents, leaving those who are serious about winning minds and hearts to do the protesting. I've read several interviews with peace protesters who were upset with the violent fringe. They claimed, rightfully so IMO, that the fringes were distracting from the message they were trying to deliver. A fine system such as this would help the serious protesters as much as it would those trying to occupy the same planet as them.
I didn't come up with this idea, but the more I examine it the more I like it. Any opinions from readerland?
Radio Humor
I had forgotten to charge my mp3 player yesterday, and ended up listening to Rush while getting lunch. He was reading questions from a CENTCOM press briefing, and filling in the answers with what he would have liked to say. It was pretty standard, till this quesion came up (paraphrased 'cause I wasn't paying too much attention):
Q: We have reports that Saddam Hussein and his inner circle are dug-in securely in a bunker in Iraq. How are we going to deal with that?
A: We will find them, we will dig them up, and then we will rebury them. Next question?
Heh.
Best. Analogy. Ever.
Found this on Metafilter. Replace "War Criminal" with "racist", "misogynist", "warmonger", or any of the lefty smears we hear so often, and the meaning carries through clearly.
"War Criminal" is one of those phrases that's like a sock full of gravel with a hole in the toe: the first time you whack somebody with it it has a hell of a punch, but every whack makes the hole get bigger so more gravel leaks out (and pings people standing around on all sides), until finally you're just flailing away at someone with a sock. I'd really like it if, when we find some political tool like this, we could save it for when we really need it.Also, it's getting hard to see what's going on for all the sock-waving.
posted by hob at 12:35 PM PST on March 27
Bravo.
RMBB II, Son Of Skull-Crushing Hangovers
It's on, people. April 11, 2003, starting at 7:00PM, meet us at the Wynkoop Brewing Company in LoDo. Further details and maps can found here, courtesy of Andy.
We don't care if you write a blog, or just read one. If you've mastered the 16oz curl you'll be welcome and fit right in. After all, that's the only skill some of us have.
March 25, 2003
Hmmm...
Metafilter has been unreachable for at least two days. Anybody know what happened?
Update: It's back, woohoo. Seems like I was the only person who couldn't get to it. Sigh.
Updated Update: It wasn't just me! I feel strangely validated. Thanks for the heads up, Matt!
On the spot reporting
Alison informs me that peace protesters are blocking College and Prospect, as well as three of the entrances to the CSU campus. She's been sitting in her car for about 30 minutes, and it doesn't look likely that she'll get to school anytime soon. Why they'd block traffic to a college is beyond me. I guess that when you want to throw a tantrum, any target will do.
Way to go, protesters! You've now taken one of your bases of support and royally pissed them off. People who might have agreed with you now get to stare at your ugly mugs for the next hour or so while contemplating the test they're certainly going to fail 'cause they can't get to school! Great work!
I'm starting to buy into InstantMan's theory of the protesters being Karl Rove's useful idiots.
Update: Ali left this warning in the comments: "And to those who were protesting: if you are in the middle of the street, I consider you a target and my car is mightier than your sign!"
I love this woman.
March 21, 2003
Vacation from reality
I'm outta here for the weekend. Picked up a Morrow Dimension 158 on Saturday, and I'm heading up to the mountains for some R&R. Thanks for stopping by, and I'll see ya on Monday!
Snow Day Picture Show
Here are some of the pictures that I took Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. I'm hiding them behind a more link to save everybodies bandwidth. Well, except mine. It's not like I'm doing anything with it.
Looking out the entrance to my apartment on Tuesday night, around midnight. The Rover is the lump in the middle. Bear in mind that I had cleaned it off around 6:30 to run to the store, so that's about 6 hours of accumulation.
Same angle, but this time around 10:00AM on Wednesday. Believe it or not, the Rover pulled right out and took me over to Ali's house about 3 hours later. I love that truck.
Drivers side view of the mighty Toyota Corolla. It took about 2 hours to dig this thing out, and the help of a front end loader to get it out of the parking space. Note the compacted snow. A very strange feeling, having your car only come up to your shins.
Passenger side of the Toyota. Yes, there is a car under that.
About 7:00p, on Wednesday, I heard a loud snapping noise right outside my bedroom window. I grabbed the camera and ran out to find this tree had broken. It turned out to be one of many that day.
Here's another view of the tree in front of my apartment, taken Thursday morning. You can easily see the break on the right side.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to take my camera along with me when I went out with the tow strap, so some of the more comical stranded cars go unrecorded, along with the biggest snowman I have ever seen. It was about 20 feet tall, 10 feet across at the base, and had a sign that said "BOW DOWN, HEATHENS!". Classic.
March 18, 2003
The end of the Apathy
First of all, I'd like to thank Vicky for sending the search parties. It sounds sappy, but it means a lot. To everyone who left me a note to get off my worthless, alcoholic ass, I thank you as well. I promise, I am not dead, nor do I hate you. The reason is a lot more prosaic than that.
We are living in interesting times, with momentous news arriving every day, if not every hour. I read the papers, watch the news (more on that later), and surf the InnerNut daily, and it always leaves me humbled. There are writers and bloggers out there , far more talented than I, saying important and perceptive things about the fate of our nation and the world, and then there's me. Not a flattering comparison, I assure you.
I feel as if my occasional ranting about video games, cats, and parties is the equivalent of writing on the bathroom walls or spraying grafitti on bridges. It sounds absurd, but I feel I'm a distraction, like that guy at every party who interrupts the conversation to tell you about his awful ex-wife. Sure, it's interesting in a sickening sort of way, but it's monumentally unimportant.
I've written and trashed many an article this month, becoming more and more disgusted with my inability to speak to big events. So, I've been introspecting, coming to terms with limitations, and trying to decide my final plan. I enjoy the blog, I enjoy interacting with the kind souls who come here. It's fun.
Fear not. I'm not quitting the blog. Rather, I'm deciding how it will be moving forward. Please forgive my silences, and thank you very much for stopping by.
March 06, 2003
Apathy
As Andy stated, this probably IS the least consistently updated blog in the blogoverse. Well, I've always wanted to be #1 at something!
Roverpundit: Making history, one uninspired day at a time.
Update: Must satisfy the grammar nazis...