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| I knew (vaguely) that the insane bribe payoff bread and circus econimic stimulus payment was up to $600, as opposed to a solid $600 per person (plus $300 per kid under the age of 17). Weeeeelllll, the IRS has decided to provide a calculator so you can find out how much of a bribe payment you're going to get, so, y'know, when you find out just how little you're actually going to get back you won't be calling the IRS to scream at them. Guess who's among those who are not getting $600. Guess who's not going to be even getting anything close to that. What do you want to bet that you're not getting it either? Anyone else smell something distinctly funny about the fact that "$600" keeps getting repeated over and over again, but there's a very good chance that few, if any, people will actually get the full amount? Just me then, hunh? Seriously, why the fuck is the federal government even bothering with this? I can think of a thousand ways this "economic stimulus payment" could be better spent. (A WPA program for rebuilding the nation's infrastructure would be a good start. How about investment in technology to decrease the nation's oil dependence?) The fact that, like everything else with the past 8 years, this waste of public money is surrounded by misinformation, lies, and propaganda is just icing on the cake. I suspect a lot of people will be far, far less happy with the bribe payola once they find out that their check is going to be smaller than they expect. So, if you're curious, and want to find out how much money the you'll actually be getting in your economic stimulus check: Go play with the Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator on the IRS Web site- Mood:annoyed, but not shocked
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| In case anyone was wondering, the hysterical soon-to-be divorced man's wife has not called to confirm that I did not send her husband a salacious text message. Color me shocked! In other news, I've discovered that I'm both too stiff and too flexible after *mumble mumble* years away from yoga. Yes, indeed. My thighs and core? Horribly inflexible. Today they feel splinter-y. My hips and neck? Still might as well be connected to my trunk using rubber bands, despite the fact that I haven't done yoga in *mumble mumble* years. Unfortunately I can still feel that "sprung spring" sensation in my hips despite the fact that it's more than 12 hours later, so the bouncing back part has gone waaaay downhill. Let me just add here,"Fucking ow!"My balance is off, but not nearly as bad as it could've been, all things considering. I think it would've helped if we started off the session with Mountain Pose instead of doing it somewhere in the middle. Mountain Pose was always the way I used to find my center during my last run of yoga sessions. Since it's usually one of the first poses, if not the first pose, you do in most yoga sessions, I'm a little stunned it came so late in the game, so to speak. Note to self: Before the start of each class, do Mountain Pose on your own so you can get your center. Anyway, I've got another yoga class tonight. I'm probably insane for going, but I miss having the ability to stand on one leg, folding myself into thirds, and doing it while upside down without feeling any ill-effects afterwards, let alone the muscle soreness or sprung hips feeling that I've got right now. What? Stop looking at me like that. Flexible is fun! But in case you missed it...I'm still at the level where everything is a massive, massive "Ow!"- Mood:sore
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| Soooooooo.... I get this random call on my cell phone this morning from a half-panicked guy demanding to know who I am, and why I sent him a text message that said, "I luv it wen u do it like that." What follows is an exchange wherein I determine that someone's marriage is already toast, even though the male half of the equation seems utterly unaware of this state of affairs. Just to set you up for the dramatis personae:
- Our Heroine (OH)
- Dead Man Walking (DMW)
( Buddy? I think it's safe to say that your car is circling the parking lot behind the Divorce Court... )So, it's not everyday I get a random stranger calling them and accusing them of being a mad texter bent on destroying their rapidly crumbling marriage. I'm not sure whether to be amused or feel sorry for the guy. In other news, I'll be attending my first yoga class in, oh, *mumble mumble mumble* years. Either I'll snap like cheap plywood, or I'll tie myself into a tangled pretzel and will need emergency medical care. And finally, because I want to leave off on an upbeat, cheerful note, "I Love the Whole World" from the Discovery Channel. (Watch for the Mythbusters Boyz where in Adam sets Jamie on fire!) It's different from the one they're actually showing on the network, but still cool nonetheless.
- Mood:naughty
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| I'm just giving this a bit of a try. Sure it's 4 days late, but it's been that kind of week. Here are my Top 10 tracks from the week ending Sunday, April 20. Or, at least, that's what My LastFM page tells me:
And, no, none of this stuff is downloadable. It's just an Imeem playlist. - Mood:working
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| I've been absent all weekend and work today was a bit busy, so this is the very first chance I had to post anything about this. The Remix Redux (2008 version) is up!
My Remixer wrote Magic's Champion (A Gift of Ordinary Magic:The Hogwarts Remix), which is a remix of my story, A Gift of Ordinary Magic, maybe one of the few cross-overs I've ever done. The basic premise: The war goes badly for Harry Potter and Posse, so they pull a nuclear option (so to speak) to drain magic out of the world. My story is told strictly from Xander's point of view as the worlds begin to merge. My remixer took it from the opposite direction and wrote about it from Harry's point of view. The remix goes a little bit further than my story with a coda to say how it all turned out. Please give some feedback to the author. As for which remix is mine...guess! Or don't. All will be revealed in a few days. *heeee!* There are some excellent selections this year. I swear, every year the remix stories just get better and better. - Mood:chipper
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| Somebody just got the entire run of Futurama (including "Bender's Big Score") for less than $87.50 (including shipping and handling). Hah! I win at teh Internets. I seriously need Futurama icons. Someone point me in a good direction? - Mood:excited
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| Know what I love about the StraightDope message boards? When you learn about massively cool things, like how researchers are now able to play a voice recorded in 1860. (Link leads to the StraightDope Message Board thread.) Think about that: You can now hear a voice that was recorded in 1860. (Link leads to the project page where you can here an MP3 recording of a woman singing "Au Clair de la Lune" in French.) That's 17 years before the first play-backable recording made by Edison, although in Edison's case, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" got the honor of being recorded. I mean, 1860 is the year Abraham Lincoln was elected president, and the year South Carolina got the U.S. Civil War ball rolling by seceding from the the Union (the U.S. Civil War itself hasn't even started yet). In Italy, Garibaldi is leading the troops in the Unification of Italy (or fighting the Second Italian War of Independence, whichever name you prefer). It's also the year that the first-ever in the world nursing school was founded in St. Thomas Infirmary in England. The "phonautograph," which was invented by Frenchman Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville, recorded his "Au Clair de la Lune" singer using a stylus that moved across a sheet of paper blackened by the smoke of an oil lamp. However — and this is the key — it was never designed to be played back once it was recorded. The general idea was to capture a physical representation of the soundwaves and then study the paper. To still give Edison his due, he was thinking "play back" with his phonograph, which resulted in people hearing for the first time mechanically reproduced sounds. Until recently, "playing" the phonautograph "recordings" was impossible. But thanks to the march of computer and audio technology, not to mention an international team of researchers, you can now hear what Scott recorded. For reals. If I were a poetic sort, I'd almost say that into smoke a singer's voice was recorded, and from smoke it was returned. Or better yet, as one of the researchers put it, "It's like hearing a ghost." To hear a 3:44 minute report on this fantastic find from National Public Radio's All Things Considered, and to hear "the ghost" herself, go here. (Warning: Audio Recording.) To hear a 2:43 minute report from BBC News, including the ghostly recording, go here. (Warning: Audio recording.) For additional information: The New York Times has a detailed article on how Scott's recording was converted to sound using technology. The FirstSounds.ORG Website, which is dedicated to detailing the process of converting all of Scott's recordings to sound can be found here. - Mood:contemplative
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| The news has been beastly, which means I'm flipping depressed. Perfect mood for writing my Remix story (which is going slowly...as always), but not so good for my state of mind. For a bit of a laugh...If you're not reading the fannish Web comic Doctor Why: Worst of the Timelords (IJ feed is ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) doctorwhy_lj), by reaperfox you should be. I haven't watched much by way of the new Doctor Who and nothing of Torchwood, but this Web comic had me laughing so hard I couldn't catch my breath. Even if you're only vaguely aware of the basic premises of each, you'll enjoy the run. No, it's not finished. Yes, it's ongoing. But, y'know, Webcomic. And a hilarious one, too. A special Internet Award should go to hradzka for coining the phrase "OH JOHN RINGO NO!" in what should be some award-winning totally honest book snark about the Paraldin of Shadows series by Baen author John Ringo. Dayum. This tops even the Burke and Cross novels by Andrew Vachss. All I can say is, "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" ETA: Wil Wheaton brins us fresh snark with a new TNG episode, Angel One. Bad episodes = hilarious writing, kiddies! And don't you forget it. Something more serious you need to read, and I should've said so before, but RL ate my face... has written a follow up to The Ballad of Charles Whitman (Apocalypse Remix), which you might recall was written two years ago as a remix of my own story, Revelations. hits it out of the part again with the sequel, The Geometry of Flesh and Bone, a haunting BtVS/SPN cross wherein Demon!Xander — still mourning the loss of his humanity 6 years on — runs across one of the Winchester brothers and tries, in his own creepy way, to help. Now I have to get back to my remix... - Mood:plotting
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| And the cure, of all things, could be a 80-year-old tuberculosis vaccination called Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). Massachusetts General Hospital is running a Phase I Clinical Trial to determine if BCG, a drug with such a long history that we pretty much know just about everything there is to know about its safety and mechanism of action, that if it does as well in humans as it does in mice, we could be looking at not just a cure, but a cheap cure for Type I Diabetes. The clinical studies are based on the work of Massachusetts General Hospital's Dr. Denise Faustman, an immunologist who in 2001 came up with the idea of treating Type I diabetes using a two-step process to stop the body's immune system from destroying the pancreatic beta cells responsible for making insulin. Her theory was that once you stopped the body from essentially destroying its own cells, new beta cells would grow back and begin producing insulin. That could mean "hello healthy pancreas," and "good-bye Type I diabetes." That means a potential cure for humans could be available within the next four years if humans respond as well as mice to the BCG vaccine.Of course, getting to this point has been a long, hard slog for Dr. Faustman, especially since her original theories and her original studies were poo-pooed by just about everyone. By 2006, though, no less than 3 clinical studies had to concede that the good doc was on to something big. So you folks with Type I diabetes in the northeast who can easily get to Massachusetts General Hospital, you might want to contact the hospital's Diabetes Center at 617-726-4084 to see if you can get in on the clinical study. What can I say...I'm a sucker for good news. A possible cure for Type I diabetes could be on the market within 4 years. I feel giddy. - Mood:science geekery
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| You know, I knew I smelled something nasty-ass when I opened my Web browser this morning. Oh, look! It's a translation of a a Russian interview with the diplomatically challenged Anton Nosik, who is a one of our SUP overlords. Wow! Check it out! Doesn't Nosik sound sooooooo much like a clueless Russian Mafia Gangsta/KGB Thug!Onoes! I was not gonna participate in that stupid One-Day Boycott on LJ that just so happens to occur on a Friday, which also happens to be Good Friday and the day after Purim starts, which means the posting volume will be low anyway, but... NOW I'M SO MAD THAT I'M GOING TO USE THE RIGHTEOUS CAPSLOCKS OF RAGE TO ANNOUNCE THAT YES I WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE BOYCOTT OF THE EVIL LJ.
Gee, I still smell bullshit. I wonder why. I must ponder this...
Look! Over there! There are a few people saying that the translation of Nosik's interview whenin he comes across as a clueless Russian Mafia Gangsta and KGB Thug has been...maybe...perhaps...translated with slightly more of a negative spin than is warranted. Behold! Here's the same interview with Nosik but a different translation when which Nosik actually sounds like a rational business man who lacks a certain amount of diplomacy.Oh, and this LJ user concurs that this second translation is actually the right translation.[Note: Links to the alternate translations courtesy of this comment on JournalFen.]
Golly gee willickers, Batman! What's a po' widdle non-speaker and non-reader of Russian like me gonna do? Well, what I'm gonna do is take a look at both translations and decide which scenario is more likely:
- Nosik is a a clueless Russian Mafia Gangsta and KGB Thug who hates the LJ userbase
- Nosik is a diplomatically challenged businessman who has a fuckload of good points about LJ and its user base, even though no one wants to hear it
Wow. This is sooooo hard. I wonder which translation is a little bit closer to the real article.
Much as no one wants to hear this, one of the Very Good Points Nosik makes is the following: Whenever LJ makes any changes, the whiners and the crybabies come out of the woodwork to bitch (true). These same people then make a zillion threats to boycott-leave LJ-call the advertisers-hurt the business if shit doesn't go their way (very true). But when all the yelling, screaming, and threatening is done, people on LJ do not follow through, therefore SUP has learned that all they have to do is wait for the hue and cry to die down and they can continue on with business as usual and not have to change a damn thing (very, very true). This is a far cry from the tone that's in the first article, where Nosik sounds like he's digging in for a long, nasty cold war against LJ's user base, no?
If you all want to do a "day of silence" on LJ by posting nothing and commenting on nothing, be my guest. But a one-day boycott is going to accomplish...what, exactly? Needless to say, this is my way of telling everyone that if I don't post or comment on Friday, it'll be because RL prevented me from doing so, not because I'm honoring a one-day boycott, which, IMHO, is a pretty fucking stupid idea. You want to hurt LJ? You want to make yourself heard by SUP? Here's a few hints about what might be more effective:
- Stop bitching every time some change comes down the pike. Pick your battles.
Strikethrough was a battle worth fighting. Removing Basic Accounts is not a battle worth fighting, especially since the end user still doesn't have to pay if they're willing to host ads. However, arguing that SUP really needed to make a public announcement and explain that Basic Accounts are going away and why, IS a battle worth fighting for. I'm not telling anyone to stop fighting the good fight, but for Christ's sake, nitpicking every little thing means that when you're truly pissed everyone's going to dismiss it as more whining from you.
- I don't like ads. You don't like ads. However, if you're not doing something to stop ads from happening to you like, oh, using FireFox, with its Adblock Plus, Flash Block, Script Block, and Pop-Up Blocker extensions, then that's on you. I see maybe 10% of the Web ads that are out there, the rest I see only if I want to. Want to block ads on LJ? Then block them yourself.
- End your subscription. Stop paying for your journal space. Or, alternatively, pay for your journal space on a month-to-month automatic payment basis so you can cancel your automatic payments at any time if LJ or SUP pisses you off again.
- Leave LJ entirely. There's a growing community over a InsaneJournal who'd love to have you. Plus, there are more and more tools for migrating individual journals and communities springing up all the time. If you're that unhappy, then just leave.
So, yeah. There are ways that are A LOT MORE EFFECTIVE than some stupid-ass one-day boycott. Sorry dudes. That's just the way I feel.
Listen, I'm not the biggest fan of the way LJ runs things, and yeah, SUP made some boneheaded moves this week, but I'm a long way from putting SUP on the same level as the criminally stupid 6A. While I don't know much about SUP and how they've run the Russian side of things, I have to wonder if some of the issues don't boil down cultural disconnect and (as I suspect) badly translated interviews. The Russians of my acquaintance have always been blunt to a startling degree. From an American point of view, they can come across as rude and dismissive when neither characterization is true. So, take a chill pill and think things through because you decide that SUP has declared war on the LJ userbase, 'kay? Cause right about now, you're making us all look stupid. - Mood:annoyed
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| I have tried writing this story for the past year. Part of the reason why I haven’t is because it’s tough to disguise the real life facts enough to keep my real life identity separate from my online one; tough to keep it so no one could pick me out in a lineup and go, Why Lizbeth Marcs! I know you! COME ON DOWN AND GET YOURSELF OUTED! Oh, I’m not talking about someone who knows me now, but someone who knew me then? The Internet’s a funny place. You don’t always know who’s on the other side of that screen name. There are some people from the murky past I’d love to get in touch with again. But then, there are some I’d just as soon forget that we ever crossed paths. I’m cool with that. I’m sure there are a few people out there who’d love to forget I ever existed, too. That’s life for you. I guess. But see, here’s the thing: Sometimes the past shows up in the most unexpected ways and it eats at you just a little bit. You think, If I knew this then… Except I did know it then, or I at least guessed at part of the truth, so that’s not really an excuse. And then you think: I wonder if I can do something about this now… Except I’m pretty sure there’s nothing I can say that would actually help. Certainly there’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already occurred to the prosecution. I’m almost certain of that. But sometimes I still think about picking up the phone and saying: I’m sure you already know this, but just in case… And then I convince myself the prosecution already has a case with what they have. I really don’t know how to start this. “Once upon a time” isn’t right. The phrase is true in and of itself, but it makes this story sound not true. I think that was the hardest part. Coming up with a start that made this sound like it’s not a true story or an excuse, except everything I say will sound like it’s a made-up story or an excuse. So, I might as well tell the truth the only way I know how. Back in the 1980s, my brother and I saw something — actually, we saw a whole lot of little somethings — and we jumped to the exact wrong conclusion. We didn’t keep quiet about it. Actually, none of the other students who were jumping to the same wrong conclusions we did kept quiet about it either. Intelligence, information, and rumor were gleefully whispered from student to student in some high school version of forewarned is forearmed. What I can’t tell you is whether any of our fellow students kept their parents informed. I can tell you that my brother and I did. The rumors were gleefully shared — remember, we were both in high school, so I doubt we gave any thought to what we were actually saying at the time or what it really meant — freely peppered with our own speculations and observations. That our reports had more of an effect than a raised eyebrow, I can’t honestly say. Sometimes I wonder if on some level my brother and I weren’t laying the groundwork just in case the day came that we did have something more solid to report, like, say, firsthand experience. Thankfully, we never did. Which is…still not telling you anything. And I’m right back to “Once upon a time.” What the hell. The classics are classics for a reason. Once upon a time…
( The Very Strange, But Very True Case of Father J and Father F... ) - Mood:pensive
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| Because I simply cannot resist testing media embedding again, I've decided to show off my LastFM radio station. Just click on the widget below to hear it all. ENJOY! | |
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| reposted from LJMaking Light last week had a fun post about 'the little guy' posting political videos on the Internet that in some cases equals, or even outshines, stuff churned out by the professionals.Allow me to add my voice to Teresa Nielsen Hayden's: Comparing the 2008 Presidential Campaign to the ghosts of presidential campaigns I have known is a bit like comparing oranges to apples. I'm not entirely sure what changed. I don't know if it's because technology has given private citizens the tools to create, communicate, and to network without regard to geography or timezone, or if it's because people are simply actually paying attention after sleeping outside the voting booth for nearly 30 years, or if it's because this is a legitimately historical presidential race on more than several grounds. While I'm intellectually aware that in the past it was possibly for presidential campaigns to run right up until the party conventions picked the candidates, this is the first time where I've actually seen it. For as long as I can remember, both the Democratic and Republican tickets were resolved right after Super Tuesday in February. Yet, here, in 2008, the Republican nomination has only just been settled, and the race is still on for the Democratic ticket. We do indeed live in interesting times, although only time will tell if it's in the "Chinese curse" sense of the word or in the "dawn of a new age" sense of the word. So, in honor of this strange election season, I've quickly thrown together 14 political songs that I just happened to have access to. Enjoy! (Wheeee! Embeding works like a charm! YAY ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) squeaky!) Note: The management would appreciate it if you commented when you downloaded. | |
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| Hooookay.
The fact is, I really do need to post in this space a hell of a lot more often, especially since there are quite a few people from my LJ Flist (the names I happen to miss the most, in fact), who are now regulars here.
As soon as I get my computer problems straightened out, I'm transferring a whole bunch of posts from LJ to here and will probably start posting here first (before LJ).
It's time to make this my primary home, I think.
Frankly, I like the atmosphere here better anyway. I can only blame "bad habits" for my continued use of LJ as my primary place. - Mood:bouncy
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| It appears that LastFM has unveiled what is basically music-on-demand, which is not unlike view on demand from Netflix. It appears that, as of now, you can stream an entire album over on LastFM for free. Although not every single artist is represented, nor is every single album released by every single artist, there is an eye-popping number of artists available. So, I want you to hear Regard the End from the Willard Grant Conspiracy, I can point you there. If I come across Toad the Wet Sprocket's Welcome Home Live CD, I can point you right to a page. If I want to point to Blackout from the Dropkick Murphys and say it's the best album the band ever put out, I can point to the page and give you the opportunity to listen. Naturally, LastFM wants you to buy what you hear and like, so they're hoping the bid to offer "instant listening" will pay off, and maybe encourage more artists to sign on to the scheme. Don't forget, though: If you're looking for free and legal MP3 downloads, LastFM has a free music download page. Also, The Live Music Archive offers plenty of live tracks from more than 2,600 bands. What's nice is that the archive recently added the ability to livestream the concerts so you can decide whether you want to download before you actually do so, taking some of the guesswork out of the process. I can't help but feel that LastFM's move is a step in the right direction (just like I thought that Netflix's "view on demand" is a step in the right direction). While I did some searches and was disappointed that there were some bands that didn't have full streaming yet, I do realize that it's just a start. Here's hoping that the service grows exponentially. - Mood:optimistic
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| I own a book worth up to $400. This book right here: Nathaniel Hawthorne's Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales for Boys and Girls, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish and published as a first edition in 1910. *blink-blink-blink* It was a gift from my late Uncle Tom, who was so pleased when I squeed upon seeing the book that he gave it to me on the spot. Y'know...I always said that if I had something worth that much money, I'd sell it in a heartbeat. However, I just realized something: There is no fucking way I'm parting with this book.I love this book. I love how worn it is. I love it came from my weird Uncle Tom who had completely no notion of the worth of things and would give me a well-loved book from his childhood just because my adult self made squeeing sounds when I saw the cover. Suck it. It's staying on my shelf. They can pry that puppy out of my library over my cold, dead body. This same weird Uncle Tom also gave me a Royal Dalton tea set from the late 1800s just because I like tea and he wanted to cheer me up. It was given to me on the understanding that I would actually use it to make and enjoy tea. The original owner? President Grover Cleveland's first cousin. And yes, I actually do use it to make tea. I use the tea cups and the saucers, too. It can't make herbal tea worth a damn, but if I want a black tea? The pot makes black teas taste like pure heaven. So... To you my darling, weird Uncle Tom (wheresoever your soul may currently be), for not just your fantastic parting gifts, but also for giving me links to the past that can't be bought or sold. - Mood:loved
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| I should just not read metafandom on LJ and meta_roundup on IJ some days. Because when I see posts like this where fanfiction is compared to "gay marriage" (the correct term is equality marriage, BTW), I want to break things. [ NOTE: DO NOT go over and flame the OP or cause her problems. I'm providing the link so you can read the post and for no other reason.] I first heard/seen it on LJ a few days ago. Then I saw it linked to on JF. It's now been linked to meta_roundup on IJ. I've seen this same comparison three times in something like three days. Each time I read it, I get a bit angrier. Look, I understand that the Organization for Transformative Works (hereafter referred to as the OTW) is a big deal to some people. I've read the various arguments in support of it, and I'm still not horribly impressed. I see a lot of biiiiiiig words arguing why I should think the OTW (whatever it's supposed to be) is the greatest thing evah, but what I don't see is a lot of operational details that a wonk like me sees as remotely feasible. Personally, when it comes to the OTW, I say the jury is waaaaay out on that one. Because all those words I'm reading really don't tell me a damn thing of what it's actually supposed to be and what it's supposed to accomplish. I feel a bit like someone who's listening to 5 blind men describe an elephant without knowing that they're describing an elephant. No one seems to actually agree on what "it" is supposed to be. But far be it from me to harsh anyone's Big Idea That Will Change the World. Knock yourself out, sez I. Who knows? Maybe I'm too naturally suspicious of the Big Idea That Will Change the World. Maybe the supporters of OTW are right. Maybe it will actually turn out to be something pretty special. I could be wrong, and I'm willing to be wrong. However, based on what I'm reading/seeing so far...let's just say I have my doubts about OTW and leave it at that. That said, posts like "fanfiction is like gay marriage" is not going to win me over. In fact, it really pisses me the hell off. As someone who lives in the only state in the U.S. that actually recognizes equality marriage as a matter of law and who lived the 4 bruising years between 2003 and 2007 where the fight raged non-stop over any and all attempts to amend our state constitution to make our gay and lesbian friends, family members, and neighbors into second class citizens to the point where it overrode all other state issues I'm pretty fucking sure that fanfiction is not like "gay marriage" at all.Let me explain something:
- No one has ever been beaten into the hospital or the morgue because they wrote fanfiction
- No one has ever found themselves put out on the street because their fanfic writing partner died and their writing partner's family didn't want that dirty little co-writer around
- No one has ever been prevented from attending their fanfic writing partner's funeral by members of their fanfic writing partner's family who were fanficphobic
- No one has ever been prevented from seeing their fanfic writing partner in the hospital because they wrote fanfic
- No one has ever been treated as a second class citizen by society at large because they wrote fanfic
- No one is arguing about making amending the U.S. Constitution to make fanfic illegal, thereby relegating you to permanent second-class citizenship because of your hobby (as opposed to, y'know, your very existence)
- No one has ever had their civil rights violated because they wrote fanfic
I'm sure that list could be a lot longer, but that's just for a start on how writing fanfic is not at all like "gay marriage." Listen, I'm not saying that fanfic writers haven't found themselves in shit RL situations like the ones I've listed above. I'm also not arguing that all fanfic writers are gay, lesbian, or bi any more than I'd argue the reverse. However, 99% of the time verging on 100% of the time, when RL (as in: not on the Internet) sexism or racism or sexuality bias rears its ugly head and slaps an individual across the face, it's not because they write fanfiction. They may happen to write fanfiction, but it's not because they write fanfiction, damn it!You see the difference, right? Because I see a pretty big difference between the two. Listen, I understand that the very idea of the OTW inspires fanatical devotion among some in fandom to the point where they can be pretty annoying about it, but posts like this are not helping your cause. And this isn't the first time I've seen/read posts in favor of the OTW that lacked any sort of perspective at all. I mean, for the record, writing fanfiction is not at all like being in an interracial marriage. And questioning the purpose of the OTW is not at all like being homophobic or racist (examples of arguments I've actually read). Posts like this piss people off. It sure as hell pisses me off. And when you piss people off, you turn them off. Maybe permanently. Hyperbole is no one's friend. Please keep that in mind for the future. Thanx. - Mood:bitchy
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| Ahhhh, guess who gets a free $100 upgrade to a new cell phone just because Verizon wants to keep my business for another 2 years? (Hey, my Internet and landline are with Verizon, so why not?) Guess who decided to go for that new Chocolate in black cherry she's been drooling over since it came out? Isn't it sooooooooo pretty?  Of course, if you check out the specs the phone is smarter than most people. And it has a better sense of direction, too. (It comes with a GPS built-in.) Plus, it's an MP3/Video player FTW! \0/ Suck it, iPhone. I did spring some extra cash for a 4GB microSD memory chip for the MP3 player (Amazon has them cheap, cheap, cheap and reviewers there with Chocolates that are the same make and model said they work just fine with the phone, while being 1/4 the price that Verizon was selling the 2GB chip for) as well as some additional money for the Bluetooth earpiece. In any case, I've already adopted out my only 2-year-old-phone to Call to Protection, a joint operation of the The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Wireless Foundation, and The Body Shop. (Older cell phones should be completely recycled.) There's even nifty instructions on the site about how to delete personal information from your old phone before donating. My new pretty phone and Bluetooth will be in my hands by Monday. The extra memory should be in my hands within the week. Is it Monday yet? - Mood:excited
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| A big thank you for people who left me chin-up messages the other day. Things are still not happy, but at least they're not sucking out loud. So that's an improvement, I guess. And a big thank you to sunnyd_lite on LJ (Yes, beeg sekrit project has not been forgotten!) for writing me a sweet Xander and Faith comment fic. *hugs it tight like fuzzy blankie*. Ken Levine may not be a name you recognize, but if you've ever watched M*A*S*H, Cheers, Fraiser, The Simpsons, Wings, Everybody Loves Raymond, Becker, Dharma & Greg, Almost Perfect, or saw the Tom Hanks/John Candy movie Volunteers, you know his work. Anyway, the engaging Mr. Levine, via the magic of his blog, shows us what striking WGA writers do in their spare time. They write 24 fanfiction. Okay, I'm sure he'd call it a parody. But still. Fanfiction. For serious. For more pro ficcers writing fanfiction, be sure to read Neil Gaiman's I, Cthulhu (Cthulhu, obviously) and A Study in Emerald (Sherlock Holmes). Also helping my state of mind is marathoning Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends on DVD thanks to the magic of Netflix. - Mood:amused
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| Just when you thought the MTV/VH1 reality shows couldn't get any lower, behold, "Celebrity Rehab."Jesus Christ on a Pogo Stick. As short as the article is, the bit about Jeff Conaway ( Taxi, Babylon 5) really broke my heart. I seem to recall reading that Conaway has been addicted to various substances off-and-on for years. Including religion, as it so happens. He was in his "born again" phase during his run on Babylon 5 and freely spoke about his past alcohol- and drug-abusing ways back then. From the looks of things, he's firmly off the wagon and circling the drain. Gah. Dr. Drew, oh, how could you? As for my opinion, I'll let Craig Ferguson speak for me. From February 2007: Craig Ferguson Speaks from the Heart About Alcoholism- Mood:sad
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| For those of you not familiar with the Presidential Primary Season, the first voting in the nation ( Iowa is a caucus, not a secret ballot vote), the first actual voting in the U.S Presidential Primary occurs in Dixville Notch at 12:01 a.m., followed quickly by the folks at Hart's Location. In case you're curious, here are the vote tallies: Dixville NotchRepublicanJohn McCain: 4 votes Mitt Romney: 2 votes Rudy Giuliani: 1 vote DemocraticBarack Obama: 7 votes John Edwards: 2 votes Bill Richardson: 1 vote Hart's LocationRepublicanJohn McCain: 6 votes Mike Huckabee: 5 votes Ron Paul: 4 votes Mitt Romney: 1 vote DemocraticBarack Obama: 9 votes Hillary Clinton: 3 votes John Edwards: 1 vote *points to vote tallies above* Yup. This is what everyone's getting all excited about. Or rather, they were. Right now, they're all excited about the record voter turnout, as in the kind of a turnout where towns are worried they're going to run out of ballots. And New Hampshire, which notoriously has people who register as UNDECLARED but tend to vote Republican in the elections are breaking heavily for (astoundingly) the Democratic Party this go-round. A blue New Hampshire? Crazy-ness. Of course, it's always fun to read what people have observed at the polls while voting. A lot of people have seen the same thing: the undeclared signing up to vote in the Democratic Party primary before (in the great New Hampshire tradition), switching themselves back to "undeclared" before they leave the voting location. Of course, no first-in-the-nation Primary Day would be complete without oodles and oodles of pictures. And you know what? I don't care who they're voting for. The picture below just simply makes me happy: 
Voters lined up to cast their ballots at a polling place in Manchester. New Hampshire Governor John Lynch predicted a record voter turnout as early reports filtered in
about some polling places running short on ballots. — Caption and Photo taken from The Boston Globe; Credit Getty Images/Mario Tama.And so on that note, Happy Presidential Primary Day to all my peeps in New Hampshire. - Mood:chipper
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| Cast of Characters
- Our Heroine (OH)
- Our Heroine's Mother (OHM)
Our Heroine's Mother (OHM): I'm still stunned that Barak Obama won Iowa. That state's something like 95% white. Our Heroine (OH): Ummmm, okay. What does being white have to do with voting for who you think is the best candidate? I mean, Obama's my second choice, so I wouldn't have caucused for him in Iowa since Edwards is my number one, but still... OHM: Honey, this is Iowa. All those white people voted for a black man. OH: I think you're confusing Iowa with Southie. OHM: I'm kind of worried about him, actually. I can't imagine he's going to win New Hampshire. OH: Actually, Obama has a decisive lead in New Hampshire. OHM: No! That cannot possibly be right. Are you sure? OH: He's something like 10 points ahead of Clinton. OHM: In New Hampshire? OH: I know. I can't believe it either. OHM: This is New Hampshire we're talking about, right? The same New Hampshire we all know and loathe, right? OH: Nashua's not so bad. OHM: Only because that's where all the normal people live. OH: Well, I have to admit that you could knock me over with a feather when Obama was welcomed like a rock star in Milford, N.H., of all places. OHM: Milford? Are you kidding? I remember when you lived in Milford. I can't imagine him getting any love there. OH: Tell me about it. I was completely shocked. Who knew there were that many Democrats in Milford? OHM: I can't believe it. Milford. The times, they really are a-changing. OH: Could've knocked me over with a feather when I saw a sea of blue in Milford. I mean, I was pretty sure all the Democrats moved out of town when they instituted an open hunting season on anyone with a "D" after their name on the voting roles. - Mood:amused
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| Sorry I've been scarce. I seem to be coming down with a cold...this time courtesy of my co-workers. This is what I get for taking some time off. I've lost immunity. The good news is that my light therapy for seasonal affective disorder is working like a charm. Best. Money. Ever. Spent. Of course, the reason why I'm still up is because I'm watching Greatest Journal implode in real time. In essence, Greatest Journal has thrown in the towel permanently. They will no longer be accepting any new accounts, and whoever runs the site will do no maintenance at all. In short, its destiny is to become a 404. They are telling everyone to abandon ship and go to InsaneJournal (speaking of which, I really need to harmonize my InsaneJournal with my LiveJournal and bring this journal up to date — life got seriously in the way for awhile). squeaky's about to get slammed, this time with the hold-outs among the GreatestJournal users packing their bags and running for the hills. Yikes! So, anyway, GreatestJournal appears to officially and permanently out of the running as an alternate journal site. That's the bad news. The good news is that the macros in the comments for GreatestJournal's white flag post are hilarious. - Mood:tired
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| Other sections of this soundtrack can be found in:
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 1
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 3
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 4
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 5
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 6
Track listing is under the cut and, where appropriate, a brief description of what makes the song fit in the soundtrack. Download for Tracks 13 through 28 is at the end of listing. Track 13, 'Skinhead on the MBTA (Live)' by the Dropkick Murphys, Track 23 'For Better or Worse' by Averi, and Track 26 'Soft Hand' by the Willard Grant Conspiracy has been uploaded to SaveFile for download, since Box.net won't let me upload these there due to size restriction. The rest of the tracks will be in the Box.net applet. Please comment if you download...or even if you just feel like it.
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| If you ain't watching Reaper, why the hell not? [How much do I love that they showed us the fookin' gun in the very first episode? Heeee!] ( Spoilers about the 'gun' )Slacker retail employees FOR GREAT JUSTICE! - Mood:pleased
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| A zillion years ago (read: earlier this year) I created a 70-song music mix that focused on New England artists or songs about New England. Part of it was put up on ElJay, but I never finished the whole thing. I've decided to refresh this puppy and post everything. It's going to take a couple of days to pull it together. I hope you think it's worth listening to/downloading/keeping. This part contains the first 12 tracks of the mix, thanks to Box.net's uploading limitations on free accounts. Most of the soundtrack is uploaded to Box.net, so you can listen to the tracks before you download. Those files that were too large (and there are some tracks that are too large), I've uploaded to SaveFile . As noted in this post, Box.net allows you to listen before you download. For instructions on how to do it, go here. Just a little refresher: This is a soundtrack of songs about New England or artists from New England (the "from" is interpreted very broadly here). I ended up with something on the order of 70 songs, many of them from people you've actually heard about. For a brief overview of New England's unique culture and heritage, here's a good overview from Wikipedia. Upon reading the page and confirming that it's all true — yeah, I guess I can see why the rest of the U.S. thinks we're a bunch of weirdos. I like to think that it isn't us who are weird so much as it's all of you. We are, if nothing else, an arrogant lot. (I'm joking about that last part. Sort of.) While it's true that when someone goes through the list of U.S. regions with a strong musical tradition, New England is not the first place anyone would pick. I'm very sure that the Mississippi Delta (Blues), Austin (Americana), Nashville (Music City U.S.A. for the Country set), Chicago (Jazz), Seattle (Grunge), Orlando (Boy Bands), L.A. (Metal and Rap), and New York City (Punk and Rap) would all be vying for a spot on the list. New England, by contrast, wouldn't even see the list, let alone be on it. There really isn't a typical "New England" sound. Hell, there isn't even a typical Boston sound. Fair enough. But what New England lacks in a cohesive, identifiable musical style, it makes up for it in variety.
Other sections of this soundtrack can be found in (Links will be added as they go live):
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 2
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 3
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 4
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 5
- All Over the Musical Map: Finding New England, Part 6
Track listing is under the cut and, where appropriate, a brief description of what makes the song fit in the soundtrack. You can listen to the tracks in the Box.net Applet located at the end of this post. You can then use the applet to download whatever tracks you like. Please comment if you download...or even if you just feel like it.
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| stoney321 on LJ been urging use of Box.Net these days, complete with demonstrations on why it's so cool. Because, dude, you can listen before you download. \0/ Okay, once I figured out the how, what, why, and where I have to agree with my esteemed FLister, Box.net is for the win! For my test case (yes, files are downloadable), I'm sharing the strangely compelling The Bastard Fairies. I can't explain why I'm charmed by these guys and their "anti-folk music," but I kind of am. God knows I wouldn't want to listen to it all the time, but if you're in the mood for something different (and I mean really different) this will hit a sweet spot. So, for my test case, I'm sharing the 12 tracks off of Memento Mori that the band released (for free!) on their Web site. A full CD with 17 tracks and a DVD was released in April 2007. To do the listen/download thing:
- Click on the link to the files on Box.net
- Mouse over the song in the list. If you click on the song, it will automatically start playing. If you click on the blue arrow to the right of the song, you will be given a menu, some of the options of which include play and download.
- If you choose to start playing, you will see that the box below turns into a flash player. Songs will automatically advance, or you can use the buttons to go forward of backward.
- If you wish to get back to the list view (and stop the song), you just click anywhere withing the flash player. From there, you use the menu to download the song you just heard, or you can go to a different song in the list.
Right. So try this out for yourselves. And thank stoney321 on LJ for pimping Box.net. To hear (and maybe download) the files go here. Just FYI, my favorite in the above list is A Venomous Tale (Track 9). - Mood:accomplished
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