This story gives whole new meaning to the term "hot pussy".
(And with that, Chris goes into hiding for using the worst pun ever ...)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Rock Band coming to the Wii, BUT ...
... it won't have downloaded content or online play.Harmonix announced today that the wildly popular music game will be released for the Nintendo Wii on June 22. It will have five "bonus" songs. This supposedly is in lieu of the online play feature and ability to download new songs that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions already have.
A lot of people will be glad to know that Rock Band is getting ported to the Wii. But how long is that going to last when these details about the release become widely known? To exclude the downloadable content feature and online play is an insanely bad move by Harmonix. From a business standpoint, it makes no sense at all! Nintendo Wii is the best-selling video game system on the market today, consistently outpacing both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Now bear in mind that for those two systems already, Harmonix has sold over 6 million copies of new tracks that have been made available since the game's launch in November.
Obviously, the downloadable content is one of Rock Band's most popular points. Harmonix is courting disaster by consciously stripping it from the Wii edition. They aren't just going to be losing millions of dollars in potential profit from lack of downloaded tracks, but a lot of Wii owners - and I'm one of them - are going to see this move as petty at best, and outright insulting at worst.
Besides, there is no reason at all why the Wii could not support either the downloaded content or online play for Rock Band. It can save tracks to an SD card, and I'm sure that some kind of encryption/encoding scheme is possible that would prevent tracks from being illegally copied. Technically, the online capabilities of Rock Band could certainly be shared with the Wii version. So why aren't they?
The suits at Harmonix had best reconsider, and announce that the downloaded content and online play are going to be in the Wii version too. Or else they're going to wind up with tons of unwanted Rock Band for Wii boxes that'll take up a hella lot more space in a landfill than those E.T. cartridges ever did.
FREE POPCORN SUTTON! Moonshine legend in the pokey after raid by evil revenuers
You see, this is part of the reason why I absolutely hate what America has turned into. It used to be that government in America was "of the people, by the people and for the people". Today government in America is "do what we tell you to do or we will kill you!"
And now, said government is more interested in destroying the life of a bona-fide original American character than it is in stopping an invasion by millions of illegals who are entering this country (not to mention that our politicians are way too fixated on one baseball player to care about how their little war with no purpose has just notched its four-thousandth American fatality) ...
"Weird" Ed sent me a clipping of this story from the Asheville Citizen-Times about how Popcorn Sutton - Maggie Valley, North Carolina's resident moonshiner/bootlegger/subject of numerous documentaries/author of Me and My Likker/business owner/curio collector/stuff that I've been sworn to silence on/living legend - is now in jail in Tennessee after a bust by federal and state agents. The G-men shut down Sutton's operation that included three 1,000-gallon stills, almost 900 gallons of finished "firewater", hundreds of gallons of corn mash, and apparently guns of some kind. That alone might send Sutton to prison for 10 years because he's already considered a convicted felon, having serving time for liquor violations going back to the 1970s. Each separate moonshine charge could also get him an additional five years.
Right now Popcorn Sutton is being held in jail without bond in Greeneville, Tennessee.
The first thing I'm compelled to say about this is that Popcorn should never have "expanded his business" into east Tennessee. If he had stayed in Maggie Valley, there's little doubt that he'd still be brewing his 'shine today. He's too much of a local institution there. Everyone in Haywood County knows Popcorn, either personally or by reputation. They respect his art, which he learned from his father and grandfather. Moonshining in those mountains goes back a way long time. And folks out there, they don't cotton much to outsiders coming in and causing trouble that's not wanted... even if someone comes in wearing a federal badge. Besides, a lot of people have noted that Popcorn goes out of his way to produce the safest moonshine possible.
But the moment Sutton set up shop across state lines, he was a marked man and he should have known it.
Why? Because making your own "likker", although not an immoral act, is illegal. But it's only illegal because the government feels obligated to tax everything it possibly can. And what happened here is that Popcorn Sutton put himself square in the sights of greedy government officials who couldn't stand it that they haven't been able to shake him down for the money they feel is "owed" them somehow.
This quote from the story says it all...
But, the ATF agents who helped arrest Sutton said moonshine operations like his should not be treated too lightly.These bastitches in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have killed more innocent people than Popcorn Sutton could ever accomplish if he was using the dirtiest condensing coil imaginable. Not to mention that the federal government and too much of modern law enforcement is corrupt to the core and "breeds crime" already: who the hell are these people to tell us that a guy like Popcorn Sutton is a threat to public safety?"Moonshine is romanticized in folklore and the movies. The truth though is that moonshine is a dangerous health issue and breeds other crime," ATF Special Agent James Cavanaugh said in a statement.
"The illegal moonshine business is fraud on taxpayers in Tennessee and across the country," he said.
It's just government wanting to interfere with our own lives again, folks. It can't do anything else but throw its weight around and compel us at gunpoint to obey it.
Well, here's what I got to say about that...
ATF Special Agent James Cavanaugh, if you ever read this: I pray that you'll someday get ordered to go on a raid deep inside "Little Canada". And I hope you'll be wise enough to leave instructions to your next-of-kin when you do.
(Anyone who knows something about that part of the state will no doubt recognize the severity of what I just suggested.)
In the meantime: Free Popcorn Sutton! And if you want to know more about Popcorn and his trade, here's his "how-to" video on YouTube:
Homeland Security wants to put a taser bracelet on you
So far as I can tell this is not a joke! Here is the website for Lamperd, and it includes this video.
So the government now wants to put an "EMD Bracelet" on all airline passengers, and this bracelet would allow the Homeland Security bastitches to shock someone like a taser.
Here's the video...
I think that anyone who seriously believes in mandating this thing, should have an EMD Bracelet wrapped firmly around their circular reproductive units and rendered the maximum level of electric shock continuously for not less than 24 hours.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Epitaph for Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke was laid to rest yesterday in Sri Lanka. According to the story, his tombstone will soon be engraved with the following words...Here lies Arthur C Clarke. That's about the most succinct description of a life well-lived - and a life worth living - that I've ever read.
He never grew up and did not stop growing.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Cheney sez: I don't care what Americans think
No doubt that a lot of the so-called "neoconservatives" will thump their chests and howl and gloat about how "their guy" Dick Cheney is thumbing his nose at those who have been opposed to his little war in Iraq.
And then there are those of us who watch this video, and we are saddened at the downward spiral that America has taken, when people like the Vice-President of the United States (and the President, remember he called himself "the Decider") can openly boast about how they enjoy the feeling of not being held accountable by anyone.
Here it is folks: your Vice-President doesn't give a damn what you think about how he and Bush are wasting American lives and resources...
The lesser angels of my nature would like to suggest that someday, Dick Cheney might be found face-down in a gutter bleeding to death and crying for help. One guy could walk past him. And that dude will look at Cheney, someone in need of dire medical assistance, then he'll shrug his shoulders and say "so?" and he'll keep on going his way, leaving Cheney to die begging for sympathy.
It would make for a great episode of The Twilight Zone. Except for a morality tale to be effective, its audience must possess a soul. Something that I don't know if Cheney and Bush and their kind ever had to begin with.
Rock Band massive update includes in-game music store
Give it up for Harmonix: they are definitely one software company that listens to its fan base. Yesterday they pushed a patch for their hit game Rock Band that addresses several issues that players have been having. And with the update comes one very cool innovation: Rock Band Store, an in-game way to purchase new songs without having to leave the game for Xbox Live Marketplace or the PlayStation Store.I just installed the update and messed around with the game (the Xbox 360 version) and I am extremely pleased with what Harmonix has done with this update. The Rock Band Store even lets you preview songs that you might consider purchasing before doing so.
In addition to the Rock Band Store, the new patch fixes the random song lists bugs, tweaks the cap on fans in Band World Tour mode, improves some issues with the microphone (which was a big deal with the PlayStation 3 version), and the downloaded content is said to be much faster in loading 'cuz after this update it's now being cached.
The update is free. Just turn on your system with the Rock Band disc, and if you're on Xbox Live or PlayStation Store it should automatically ask if you want to install it.
First images of Snake-Eyes from the live-action G.I. JOE movie
I am not hopeful about this movie at all. So much of it screams wrong, like having the G.I. Joe team, an American counter-terrorist group, based in Belgium. And a far-too-young Cobra Commander.
But there have been a few things about G.I. Joe that have piqued my curiosity. Christopher Eccleston as Destro, f'rinstance. And Ray Park as Snake-Eyes. And the fact that Larry Hama, who pretty much defined the entire look and tone of the Eighties-era G.I. Joe mythology, is aboard the production team.
And then yesterday Ain't It Cool News, courtesy of Larry Hama himself, delivers the first officially released photos of Snake-Eyes from the film...
Here's the other pic, after I played around with it in Photoshop to bring out more detail...
That's Snake-Eyes alright. No question about it. The only thing I don't like is that he's got the Arishakage clan's hexagram emblazoned on his costume's shoulder, when I much prefer it tattooed on his arm and out of sight. But the fact that the hexagram is being used at all makes up a bit for that quibble.
I must admit, I really like how they've got Snake-Eyes looking here.
(By the way, I still have in my possession my almost-pristine copy of G.I. Joe issue #21: the legendary "Silent Interlude" story. Along with #25 and #26 of the same run. So if these pics can impress me, that's sayin' something :-)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Freighters are coming... and Michael's one of them! Last LOST until late April airs tonight
Last week on Lost, Sayid and Desmond were still on the freighter and the captain made it clear that their mission was to capture Benjamin Linus. Then while being taken to new quarters they were introduced to the ship's janitor: "Kevin Johnson".It was Michael (Harold Perrineau).
When we last saw Michael, it was the finale of Season 2 and he was in a small boat along with his son Walt headed on a compass bearing of 325 away from the Island, after making a traitorous deal with the Others. Linus told Michael that they would soon find rescue.
Now one month later in story time (though what we know of time on the Island now, that doesn't really mean anything), Michael is back.
Speculation has been rampant for months about "Meet Kevin Johnson", tonight's episode and the last completed before the writer's strike. The cast list alone already guarantees this one to be a must-watch for the Lost mythos: Cynthia Watros as Libby, M.C. Gainey as Tom/Mr. Friendly, Mira Furlan as Danielle, not to mention that Alex, Karl, most of the original helicopter people (including Naomi), Minkowski, and a ton more that have been revealed from the credits. But the real draw is that "Meet Kevin Johnson" is said to be a Michael-centric flashback revealing what happened to he and Walt from the time they left the Island until he was shown mopping floors last week.
One thing's for sure: Michael is probably quietly praying that he's never, ever going to be left alone with Sayid.
Enjoy it while it lasts, fellow Losties: tonight's is the last episode until the five new post-strike produced ones begin airing on April 24th.
2008 High Holy Days begin today
Oh yeah, this is the weekend of Easter too, right? And tomorrow is Good Friday. So it really is the High Holy Days, isn't it?
Okay "High Holy Days" is my own personal nickname for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. It kicks into high gear today and here are the brackets for it courtesy of CBS Sports.
It ain't looking good for the Knight household though: this year the NCAA honchos have put the three teams we have the most affection for in the same region! Duke (my longtime favorite Atlantic Coast Conference team along with N.C. State), Georgia (Lisa's alma mater) and Baylor (where Lisa's brother is attending) are all playing in the West. In fact, if they both come out of their first games intact it's going to be Baylor and Georgia playing each other! And then of course whoever wins that will be sent home by the Blue Devils, but anyway...
Unfortunately, Elon is not in this year's tournament. Again. Someday before I die, Lord willing I will see the Phoenix make it to the Big Dance. And then like Gonzaga was a few years ago (yeah they're in it this year again too) all the sports commentators will be going "Elon?! Where the heck is Elon?!" and I'll be able to smile and laugh about our little school getting a few seconds of footage in the "One Shining Moment" video that CBS Sports always runs after the championship game :-)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
"My God, it's full of stars!"
Arthur C. Clarke, the last of the original masters of science-fiction, has passed away at the age of 90 in Sri Lanka.
Even if he had never written books like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Rendezvous with Rama (along with everything else in his prolific career) he would have gone down in history as the man who came up with the concept of the communications satellite. That billions around the world enjoy such conveniences as global television broadcasts, Internet service in remote locations and satellite radio in their cars is plenty enough testimony to Clarke's vision and brilliance.
Clarke was also one of the first enthusiastic adopters of e-mail. He used it almost every day to communicate with director Peter Hyams during the production of 2010: The Year We Make Contact. As far back as 1983, Clarke believed that this was revolutionary technology that would change the world. He was right.
It is his science-fiction work that he will be most remembered for, though. And that Clarke - along with his fellow masters Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein - would spark the imaginations of so many people with his writings... that is going to be the eternal legacy of this man, standing as tall and resolute as the monolith.
But tonight I am more than a little saddened, because one of the best dreamers of our era has left us.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
President Bush, bereft of any concept of sacrifice, says Iraq War "worth it"
This war is five years old this week. That's a longer conflict in one small country than the United States was involved across the globe in World War II. Very nearly four thousand U.S. personnel have died... but that's only officially counting those who die within Iraq, not those who are wounded and airlifted to Germany or wherever and die elsewhere. That says nothing of the long-term emotional trauma that many of these men and women will be suffering for years to come.
And so far as the innocent population of Iraq goes, there's no telling what they've had to endure. It's already a far worse country for Christians to live in than it was under Saddam Hussein. Under him there was no persecution of Christians: now most of them have had to flee the country.
Al-Quaeda was not welcome in Iraq during the Saddam years. Today, because of this war, Al-Quaeda has no more fertile recruiting ground. Like they say on the basketball court: "Smooth move, Ex-Lax."
All of this because of a war based on a lie. It was a lie then and it's still a lie today. It's a lie whenever a country goes to war for reasons that are not morally clear. This is and always has been a politically-driven conflict. That the current administration has to resort to buzzwords and catchphrases like "the Surge" in order to build support for this war is ample demonstration that these people are more disciples of Madison Avenue than they are of Thomas Aquinas.
That there are people so deluded as to still support this administration without question might even be the bigger tragedy, because without these "useful idiots" the government would never get away with such wrongdoing... no matter who is in charge of it. But I digress...
George W. Bush not only says that the Iraq War was "worth it", but that the "high cost in lives and treasure" has turned Iraq into a "success"!
Bush has no understanding of sacrifice. He's never had to experience it. From what I've heard of the man, he's shyed away from it all his life. Things like heartbreak and grief are alien concepts to the man. Bush's disconnect from norman human emotion is probably greater than his dis-attachment from the rest of the world that you and I have to live in (the man didn't even know about the soaring price of gasoline the other week... but then since when was the last time Bush ever pumped his own gas?).
That's the only way that Bush can still want his mad little war. Had Bush and most everyone else had something personally invested in this war that they root for - like a loved one on the ground having to fight it - then his and their support would no doubt be far different. But it's easy to cheer on a fight from behind the safety of a keyboard.
We would have been far better off leaving Iraq alone, even if that meant letting Saddam stay in power. In the long-term scheme of things, his presence as a strongman over that country was a stabilizing influence, and should have remained so until the Iraqi people were ready to remove him on their own terms. That's the key thing here: it should have been Iraqis who took Saddam down, and not anyone from outside. Bush lacked wisdom to understand this in addition to any empathy toward others beyond his own ego.
From the very top on down, America is in the hands of cowards. How dare they presume to speak to us about understanding sacrifice?
Because until Jenna and Barbara Bush wear some cammies and pick up a gun and go on a patrol in Basra so that their father will know what it's like to go through the Hell that he's imposed on too many other Americans, this will be something that Bush will never know or fear. And I'm damned tired of too many people still making excuses for this pathetic man.
What did Obama's pastor say exactly?
Seriously, I don't really know what's going on. I've had better things to occupy myself with during the past few days.
But I'm seeing "Obama" and "pastor" come up quite a lot in news headlines lately. So what's the big deal?
And why should I care?
Why should any of us care, for that matter?
Rumored: Beatles version of Guitar Hero
A few weeks ago it was announced that there would be an Aerosmith version of Guitar Hero in a few months. Now comes word that the Beatles may be getting their own edition of the popular music video game.I don't think this is a good idea. Aerosmith I can understand, but the Beatles had a whole 'nother vibe going than their guitar style (even though they were great guitarists). But now that the Beatles catalog will soon be available via iTunes, who knows: maybe we'll soon see some Beatles hits as downloadable content for Rock Band too, which would make a lot more sense than Guitar Hero.
(Credit goes to Electric Pig for their awesome pic of Paul McCartney with a Guitar Hero controller :-)
Supreme Court to hear Second Amendment case today
Today the Supreme Court of the United States is going to hear arguments in a case regarding the interpretation of the Second Amendment. Namely, whether possession of a gun is the right of an individual or whether it's a "collective" one.
I would like to report that I am cautiously optimistic about how they will decide on this, but I can't even muster up that much.
This is the same Supreme Court that a few years ago that effectively destroyed the security of owning personal property by way of the Kelo decision. They ruled in favor of "the community" then and against the rights of the individual. Why should we believe that they will do any differently this time, on this issue?
Actually, I must confess that part of me is secretly hoping that the Supremes will attack individual rights on this one. Maybe then some of the Christians in this country - who I am still angry toward regarding their sheepish complacency - will wake up and realize what's going on with this country. Maybe they would... but again, knowing what I do about them I can't be very hopeful on that one.
But I'm not terribly worked-up about this, however it turns out. Because I know enough about why the Founding Fathers included the Second Amendment to understand that they no doubt fully anticipated something like this happening eventually. The Second Amendment is written confirmation that the individual has the right to protect himself or herself... but that's not the main reason why the Founders made such prominent note of it. They were people who were plenty wise about human nature and its capacity for corruption and destruction in the pursuit of power.
So it is that the primary purpose of the Second Amendment is a temporal guarantee that government in America is derived by the consent of We The People, and that the People have the right and responsibility of overthrowing that government if and when government becomes abusive without restraint.
In other words, the Second Amendment is there not because we can shoot the bad politicians dead in the streets, but so the bad politicians will know that we can shoot them, if they get out of line.
Thus, the Second Amendment is the final "checks and balance" of government in the United States. It is a bulwark against human nature... because without that, this country will become something that few of us want to see.
No wonder why many who enjoy exercising the power of the state are hoping the Supreme Court will quash individual rights again in this case.
No, I am not a violent man. I just understand enough of humanity's capacity for violence to know not to trust it.
Monday, March 17, 2008
No love lost between Duke and UNC on Facebook
CBS Sports has an Official NCAA Basketball Tournament Brackets application on Facebook and among other things it lets you rank who your favorite teams are... along with who you loathe the most.
I thought the current standings were pretty funny:
Right now the Tarheels of UNC-Chapel Hill are the top favorite team, followed by the Duke Blue Devils. But in the Despised category, Duke is by far the most hated followed by Carolina, and UNC has almost as many votes as it does in the Favorite chart. Hmmmm...
This might be the most scientific indicator yet of how intense the feud is between Duke and Carolina. Even though it's a routine part of life here in North Carolina, I must admit it's still quite neat to see it reflected in this way.
Oh yeah: GO DUKE!! :-)
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Will tomorrow be The St. Patrick's Day Massacre? Economy teetering on brink of disaster
Bear Sterns got bought out by J.P. Morgan Chase in an 11th-hour deal tonight, just in time to beat the opening of the Asian markets. The deal involves J.P. Morgan Chase buying the Bear Stearns stock for two bucks a share. Lots of people have lost lots of money. This came after the U.S. government agreed to bail out Bear Stearns this past Friday: essentially printing up money that isn't there to provide some short-relief.
Which means that in the long run, lots more people are going to lose lots more money because of inevitable inflation.
And depending on who you listen to, there are anywhere between three and seven or eight other major financial institutions that are also flirting perilously close to going under. Can the government and the Federal Reserve rescue them, too?
Two people that I've known for a long time have also told me that there is trouble brewing with derivatives. I'll take their word for it, even though I still have no idea what the hell "derivatives" are. Ever since I first heard about them a dozen or so years ago, I've thought they sounded too much like a Ponzi scheme. Why can't financial transactions be made using real money for real products, instead of imaginary money for imaginary products? Anyhoo, my friends tell me that if derivatives go bad, it's gonna hurt plenty.
Meanwhile, the Asian markets which are already open for Monday business are dropping like a rock: Nikkei is down over 4%. And it already ain't looking good for the Dow tomorrow either.
St. Patrick's Day tomorrow and the rest of the week might be a time to keep an eye on the economy. I'd suggest paying close attention to any news coming out of the bigger banks, especially. If even one of them winds up going down like Bear Stearns, this country will likely be in a heap o' trouble.
