Classic Journey still rocks. Just FYI. I like it. I don't care who knows.
Also watching vid after vid of motorcycle crashes and idiots stunting on the streets with/without gear. "Yeah he has no insurance on it. He only made one payment on this bike. This thing's fucking ruined."
I've been busy the last few weeks dreaming and playing "Finance: The RPG". Got more than a few things going in the right direction, but still working out if it's 'right enough'.
I've wanted a motorcycle for a while, as you may well know. My last motorcycle was an inherited 1991 BMW r100gs that was too much maintenance to own, so I had to sell it. Before that I had a Kawasaki KLR 250 that I learned on. Kick-start-only dual-sport. Took it to Oklahoma on a lark, rode it to work and Dallas over and over, had every bike wreck I've ever had on it, the last one smashed up the bars real bad, took out the front rim, and pinched a fold in the tank.
Well, it's not dead, my parents still have it. After I signed it over as a 'downpayment' on the Beemer, I find that not only has the title NOT been changed over, but the bike has sat unused and unloved for years.
This... this cannot be tolerated. It also gives me something to do.
So it looks like every bonus check for now will be going towards bike parts. Already ordered a plastic tank for it. I need the tool kit, and then I'll begin pulling it apart and making a list of everything I need to buy.
So far I need: Front rim Both tires (90/10) Handlebars Tank (already ordered from IMS). AGM battery. Probably every single hose and gasket. Steel braided brake line. Back brake work (probably).
Coolant changout, perhaps some kind of de-scaling treatment for radiator. Sprockets/Chain. Toolkit (mine got ganked back in '03... Carb rebuild. Fork fluid changeout, perhaps rebuild/replacement. Back shock replacement, possibly. Oil/Filter. Electrics, knowing my luck. All the bearing grease. Clutch? Do those go out with time?
Figuring out the chain thing is going to be a bit of a bitch. Figuring out the fork thing is going to be a bitch. Rebuilding the carbs, greasing all the bearings... pretty much everything about this is going to be a bitch in heat. The only good thing I can think of so far is the fact that I'll get to start getting some decent aftermarket mods on it, put a Givi topbag on it, put some decent road tires on it, and start riding again for longer ranges.
Someone gave me legal absinthe-lite last night with melted sugar in it. How was it?
Guys. Don't shower for a week. Do funky stuff in the heat like work out and play football and stuff. Take a bunch of black licorice, melt it down in a microwave until it's liquid. Pour that hot waxy substance on your erect funky penis. Break your two lower ribs. Blow yourself.
THAT is what that drink tastes like. (Women will just have to imagine kissing the guy after he did that. He didn't brush his teeth for that week either.)
Yeah, Europeans are nuts. No amount of hallucinations or good writing would make me take that regularly.
Yet again, apathy is my anti-drug.
I'm rather amused however how I started with a margarita, moved on to the Hershey squirts of Willy Wonka, and 'came down' with a Kahlua and coffee. I think I want to buy one of those keychain breathalyzers, as my tolerance seems to be skyrocketing again.... that or I can stagger very convincingly in a straight line.
Thank goodness I've fallen out of the habit of checking Woot every day, else I'd have a 42" LCD(or plasma) 1080p computer monitor that doubles as a TV and no chance of motorcycle. But now it's sold out. Yay.
.... BAAAALLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSS. Money sucks.
Can I fucking go NOW!?! 1:40 left to go and I want... GUESS WHAT. MONEY. HAIRY MONKEY NUTS! TUPPERWARE-PRESERVED-DEER-DROPPINGS-BREAKFAST-YUMMY-YUM-YUM SHIIIIIIT. Shit shit shit shit *thud* zzzzzzzzz.
I'm going to become a hippy. The laziest hippy ever.
And apparently I'll be a paranoid hippy too. I just found Ground Zero II, a nuclear blast effect simulator to show you the thermal/pressure/fallout range effects you'd see from a nuclear explosion of x-size, with a slider at the bottom to choose which weapon. I just had fun trying to figure out how close to death I was if various yield warheads were to strike D/FW airport. It went from the supposedly active 6kt warhead made by N. Korea (which wouldn't even knock down the fence, it seems), to Tsar Bomba, the 50mt thermonuclear warhead that sent registered seismic shocks around the world three times (say goodbye to central Texas). I can tell you which one I'd rather be hit with if I had to survive a nuclear strike with no warning.
Every now and then I remap and revise where I'd run in the event of some sort of foreknowledge of an impending full-on nuclear attack, and for the Dallas area, there's a bunch of nowhere to run. On pretty much every point of the compass there's something strategically valuable between me and the next hope for civilization or even self-reliance. Ft Hood, Ft Sill, White Sands... There's something else west and east of here to consider, but I can't think of it. Unfortunately trying to cross west Texas to El Paso during the aftermath of a nuclear war would be suicide. If south-running fallout didn't get me the heat/distance would. East would be reasonable, though NOLA would be glassed, since it's a major major shipping hub, plenty of options around there, though, and a lot more fertile land. I'm pretty sure Mexico would have a 'shoot on sight' order for Norteamericanos when I got there if I went Big Bend way. Anyway....
45 minutes now. Yay... and our new guy broke someones special order toilet. That'll be fun to deal with on Monday. Great.
Go to party. check. Bring beer. check. Know NOBODY there. check. Get the business card of an amateur Elvis impersonator. check. Totally impress people with my ability to toss bottle rockets for mid-air launches. check. Decline the keg stand. Check. No, Paco. I know you can afford the bike on CL now, but I really don't think you'll be happy with an '83 gs750. Wait. wait wait wait. Save more, buy something new or lightly used outright. Couple more months, all the fall deals will start. You can do it.
Why should you watch so many news sources? So you can laugh at Madoff getting hundreds of years. Why should you regret watching so many news sources? 2 out of 3 going on about the Oxyclean guy.
Nice to know some of the UK staff are getting out of Iran and a partial recount is underway.
I was amused by their former CIA guy interview: "Well of COURSE we have people in there. Duh. We're not officially pushing for anything though. We're just watching." I'd be really surprised if someone wasn't, though. They're probably also recruiting to hell and back. Go CIA go.
I'm pretty sure everyone that's come to me after 2pm has done so with the express purpose to try to piss me off. It could be that I'm hungry or tired (hungry mostly, plenty of sleep last night), but I'd rather consider that it's a conspiracy between all our employees to jostle my flaps. Except trickykitty who continues to give me ammo, money, and medkits food, which is a self-contained conspiracy to break the karma-meter attached to my freeloading ass. I need to bake some brownies, it seems.
“It's actually quite nice out here really is I constantly say is hard to be to return with you so try to call house today on my second call won't work ___”
I continue to find it annoyingly ironic that the apartment I moved to to be closer to the TRE station got me close enough to work that it's no longer economically expedient to take the TRE until gas hit's $4 a gallon, and biking 10 miles in 100 degree heat causes me to go through more water than I can carry currently. I really need to get that rack on. Also need to get a camelbak again. And a white helmet.
My name is Paco. I've been a vewy good boy... for the last 72 hours. My friend Tommy says you don't exist, but I know he's lying. So I was hoping to get this letter to you before the terrorist season begins and you start looking at all the little girls and boys to rain death upon in the name of your screwed up cause du jour. Please please please help me to be the happiest boy in the world by NUKING HOLLYWOOD TO THE FUCKING BEDROCK. That way I don't have to see "US actor Ryan O'Neal is to marry his longtime companion, actress Farrah Fawcett, he says." Despite how much I try to filter my BBCa feed settings it keeps coming through. If you could make this stop by turning all of Hollywood and the surrounding dozen or so miles (go thermonuclear, only way to fly), into the set for Fallout: OMG THE MOVIE, I would believe in you forever.
I'd still come kill you, but hey, I'd do it with a twinge of regret.
Love, Paco Age 8 The Al Jazeera feed doesn't show me that shit. BBC shows a little. CNN shoves it in enough corners to make me think they're getting kickbacks. Asshats.
Currently laughing my ass off to: Textsfromlastnight.com. Oh jesus. It's like drinking vicariously through people who aren't complete tools when they drink.... or are, but I don't have to deal with it.
"(843): plans for tonight: dress up like pirates, drink a bottle of mad dog and watch the sorostitues across the street get naked. and yes, the mad dog part is already in play. hurry the fuck up. i look like a loser doing this alone."
Srsly tho. Mad Dog? Oh god, thank god I don't have to deal with THAT hangover. My Pandora just played Happy Little Boozer by Korpiklaani... which is I think the best drinking song I've heard this week. Watch and rate and discuss.
Me: "How long do I have to let this play?" Brain: "How long do you plan to stay awake?" Me: "..." Brain: "Next time I tell you to take a tylenol, I expect to be obeyed. I'll see you later, I'm going back to Atlantic City." Me: "We've never been to-" *SLAM* Me: "Atlant... ic... er. Yeah." It's funny stuff or emo whiny bullshit, so you get funny stuff. Besides, your life could be much worse. Canadians talk about the Canadian health care system.
Eventually people in the US will stop talking about shit they don't understand, realize there's pros/cons/gains/flaws to every system, and that Canadiaea isn't the fucking promised land just because it's Not Here. They'll also either stop A) saying we should all be like Canayaya, or B) fucking move there already and get eaten by wild Ontarians.
Then they'll all go off to the Cheesecake Kingdom atop steeds of pure light and joy, freed of their Phaetonic overlords and above such petty concerns as being correct when critiquing shit.
I'll be mayor. First order of business? Invade, subjugate, and strip the resources of Kanadea. My reelection promise? A moose on every plate.
New bumper, including impact foam junk and backing plate. New seatbelt. Reset for airbag system. New front tire.
Next time someone tries to stave in my quarter panel just to take my lane, I'll just PIT the fuckers. I think an entire new front end will be a good trade off for putting someone ELSE into a wall.
Hello new person who's friended me simply because of one of my interests without bothering to look at the content of my 'blog-ette' beforehand. Had you done that you might have realized that I meant "BMW motorcycles" at the time. Since their prices rose to $10k+ for anything over 700cc, even that's a bit shaky. I loved my r100gs like a dog, but it was a gimpy dog that wound up needing it's little ass-zit squeezed too often and then needed major surgery pretty much before any ride, so I was a little annoyed with it. More than a little annoyed, in fact, and the fact that my local BMW motorcycle shop A) didn't know what the hell a r100gs WAS and B) managed to shave a huge furrow in the rim of my fathers r1100gs with nary an 'our bad' made me start reconsidering what the hell I'm paying for. I could be spit on by burly hirsute men in patched leather for about the same price at the Harley dealer, and I'd get a motorcycle that (at least according to society) is less ugly than those weird-ass top-heavy lazy-eyed blinged-out monsters BMW is putting out now. I'd have easier access to parts, too, and they own bars. Sure, I like looking unique, but sometimes the beemers, especially the 1150/1200gs line, seem to be saying "let's see if they'll buy THIS". It's like the Ikea meets Starbucks motorcycle aesthetics. And can they stop putting Dakar models out until they start winning the Dakar again? And no, judges, I don't agree that driving KTM out of the running simply because they started spanking everyones asses means we'll get other 'winners'. It just means KTM riders will probably start riding the route on their own just to show up the Beemer team.
I'd like to take this moment to thank the sport bike industry for convincing the 'adventure bike' or 'all-rounder' bike industry that having a huge ass hunk of plastic hanging off the tank encasing the front forks and holding all the instruments, ignition, and lights in it is the way to go. I'm certain there's a reason for it and I'm pretty sure it has to do with aerodynamics, but god it's ugly and blocks my view of my front wheel. I'm not exactly sure why it's going that way for bikes that are geared towards everything, but eh, future.
Anyway, the one thing that really bugs me sometimes about LJ is the fact that I have no quality control over the people who friend me. So dead journals, strange russians, some odd 'how to service your BMW' freakmonkeys, and people who think I make sense in the conservative communities can friend me without a worry. Fuck them, damned leeches. I realize that this is all about being 'social' and 'popular' and what not, but for fucks sake, do I have to call them 'friends'? Can't I just call them 'people who are in need of therapy or shock treatments or both'? How about 'people I haven't fucked over YET'? I think that's pretty open and clear.
Nice quiet days let you really worry about your future, how you handle yourself, what to do about it. Most of my other days are crowded by other issues, but this is still all there. Get's crowded.
Answers are few and far between, though helpful when they come. Hopefully I'll get to put some of them into practice, though I keep worrying that it's too late. I just can't understand the problems I have, and when someone finally says something enlightening, it's because it's so boneheadedly simple that people don't bother to tell me. I'm getting tired of feeling like a caveman trying to learn ballroom dancing, but there's no attractive alternative. My nerves are worse because I'm just now starting to make real progress with the rest of my life, starting to hit goals I set, and getting out from under obligations I put myself in over the last few years. But all the progress I thought I had made on the job front before seems to be drying up in direct relation. And now is definitely not the time to have to deal with that, especially not after hitting the 2-year mark. I want to go to at least 5, and with the way the job is here I can definitely do that, assuming I don't wear out my welcome before that.
Just over $5000.00 left on the Focus, and with KBB trade-in value, that means I'm nowhere near upside down in it. If things continue to go reasonably I can get it paid off next year, and at 50k miles it's still not needing anything except an AC recharge (which I keep putting off, screw AC... at least until yesterday). I can see keeping it around until at least 100k, hopefully 120, maybe even 150+.
After crunching the numbers over and over I just do not want to try to afford a house. Not in a year, not even in two. Honestly. I don't care how good a time it is to buy, there'll be other times. I could do it, but I'd be skimming so thin that any mistake or problem that came up would kill my finances for a huge chunk of foreseeable future. When I'm able to go put 10-20% down free and clear without having to take out a loan to take out a mortgage, then I'll buy a house. That means I need at least 7k-14k squirreled away. That'll take some time, but I think I can do that. So that's next 'extreme' long term goal.
That, of course, to be combined with my existing leathers/helmet and perhaps some more gear, because even if I don't do what you see in most of the youtube videos when you search for 'motorcycle crash', I still can find enough stupiddrivers to make me wish I could armor my knee joints.
Me: "Well, it's been all day and I'm feeling okay. I even did some workout bits and filing. So, let's try some unsweetened tea!" Tummy: "Okay boss!" *sip* Tummy: "OH JESUS FUCK GOD WHY WHYYYYY OH THE HUMANITY SHIT SHIIIIIIIIT IT'S ON MY LEG OH FUCK IT'S ON MY FUCKING LEG SHOOT ME JUST SHOOT ME I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU GUYS GIVE THIS LETTER TO MY MOM TELL HER I'M SORRY SHIT ASS BALLS!" Me: "Oooooohhh-kay, so no more tea from THAT jug." *pour* "Stomach, you're a dick." Tummy: "Was it something I said?"
Drink the night before... check. Drink some water before going to bed... check. Wake up with a headache, having forgotten that your allergies are running so hard that your sinuses are monopolizing all the water in your body for snot production... check. Drink a big glass of iced tea with splenda... check. Wind up puking 10 hours after your last drink because snot+slight hangover+splenda'd tea OBVIOUSLY = stomach hate.
I'm trying to think of other things that could have caused that, but so far naught. I felt immediately better afterward, I drank a ton of water and the headache continued to fade and go away, I don't have a fever, and nothing smelled remotely of anything I drank the night before.
I already knew splenda gives me the feeling of having been dried out a bit, thus causing me to drink more tea, but I didn't think my body would rebel to the degree that it had.
So I'll have to just go back to weaning myself off of sweetener altogether, as experimenting like this is time consuming, and I like my throat lining.
Yay depression. I should tell them I'm filling their asshole quota. Because of me, everyone else there gets to be a lot more pleasant. That's a great idea. I need business cards. Get me to a kinkos. That'll totally keep me from getting fired. Easy identification and stationary always saves jobs. I need more lung capacity than that of a gnat-testicle. I bought ice! Okay, gods? I've spent some cash for today, you fucksticks. Thank you so fucking much, now leave me alone. It was in my wallet just breeding and growing ass funk. It totally counts. Fuck benadryl. Fuck it in the goat ass. Fuck it. Fucccccckkkkk it. No really, I want to see that. You know, you can absorb some things through your ass-lining, like alcohol and medicine, how bout through your boo-jimmy? Any ladies want to come over and help do science with a bottle of Jim Beam? I can't participate (see above re: lung capacity), but I can film it. Science requires documentation. Yes, my spank sessions are now called Science, and I go for RIGOR, baby. So we rub you with lobster (if you're allergic) then shove the benadryl bottle on in there, wait 15 minutes, and if the swelling goes down, we have a new sex toy incentive. If it doesn't go down, don't worry, I can do a tracheotomy. I've got pens. Don't question me, I'm a scientist. Henry Rollins does standup like a motherfucker. It's like some hellacious good shit stories. Hilarious. My fucking fan is falling apart. Piece. By. Piece. Fuck you fan. Hang in there. HANG IN THERE, MAN! I BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DOOOOOO IIIIIITTTT. Rereading Hunter S. Thompson before/after/during listening to Henry Rollins rant is pretty much like eating fine chocolate to me. I'm pretty sure this shit adds calories.
I'm dreaming of and planning for purchasing a motorcycle sometime either this fall or next year, unless I decide to go for a house instead. Here's notes of what I'm looking for, let me know if I should consider something else.
Want: Street speed/gearing/600cc+. Track bikes and supersport bikes are great for track day, but the gearing/power give them all their power at the top end. I need more balance. Not as much low as a dirt bike, though. It also needs engine power while still being economical, which means the sub-1k cc class.
Street seating/peg position. This is imaginatively termed a "standard" type of bike. If you ride a dirt bike, you're riding in the position close to what I want. I want little weight on my wrists, my feet mostly under me, legs at closer to a 90 degree angle rather than a 45, but certainly not a 130 degree that a cruiser would give me.
Mild touring. This normally would mean wider steering rather than clip-ons, a soft saddle, a nice aftermarket for cases/bags/racks, a 4+ gallon tank, and the two above.
Fuel injection. It's finally becoming common, and there's a reason for it.
Low Price. This is making the look difficult. I'm not willing to pay more than $7,500 for a motorcycle new, and want to pay significantly less used. Some bikes I'm looking at are only available new because the popularity of them is making them a rare find right now, but I think that will change when I actually start looking (off-season is the only time to buy).
Used. I don't want to eat the first few months of plummeting resale if I can avoid it. It has to be 2005 or newer with 7,000 miles or less.
I started out looking at:
-- Triumph Bonneville t100 or "New classic" variants. Discounted because the gearing and power of the machines is so low that it's nothing more than a city cruiser. I can't take those out on the highway in Texas, where 80mph can sometimes be the MINIMUM speed. Pushing 100mph at top end just isn't enough. I'm tired of owning and riding bikes that I have to nearly redline to get passing performance out of. Granted, the first was a KLR 250 (hahaha) and the second an aging and broken R100GS with a bad cylinder, and I'll still want to test ride one to make sure I'm right, but I don't see the Triumph new-classics as my ride.
-- Harley Davidson Sportster 887 Finding a stock Sportster that's not the "low" or "custom" variant is hard. Finding it without the loud pipes already put on is harder. Paying $7500 for a new one with 6k miles on it is hardest of all. The Harleys retain value, that's for certain. That Harley would get me where I need to go, also certain. That Harley would have a network of parts support and aftermarket the likes of which Honda/Suzuki/Kawasaki can only dream about. The price, however, can get high. The couple I've sat on with stock saddles feel too stiff. The ones you find used already have loud pipes in 99% of the cases, because that's what a Harley MUST HAVE, according to Harley people. Combine that with a dodgy reception I get from most Harley places, the 3.3gal peanut tank, and it all starts to look less like a good buy and more of a goodbye.
Considering: -+ Suzuki V-Strom 650 These type of bikes are being called 'all-rounders' in some circles. What started with BMWs and track racing is coming into mainstream, finally. What it is is basically take a street engine, put it on a larger chassis with dirt-style suspension travel, and give it gearing somewhere in the middle. It's not a racer, it's not a dirt-bike, it's something that tries to straddle the line. The V-Stroms are very well reviewed, wildly popular, and an established line that doesn't seem to be ending with 2010, so the aftermarket is there and will be updated at least one more year.
-+ Suzuki SV650 The SV650 is sold as an 'entry level sport bike', which means it's usually softer, easier, and a little more street than track oriented. Unfortunately, the SV650 was replaced with the Gladius this year, and the SV650S has the pegs too high, the bars too low and narrow, and the body lean too far forward for my tastes. The Gladius may come used when I start actually buying, but as it's the new model on the block, it's got it's own flaws and improvements to make.
-+ Kawasaki ER-6N/F (ER-6F is aka Ninja 650) Supposedly these are the same bike, one's equipped with a fairing, the other is 'naked'. I've not sat on both yet, but the Ninja 650 has a good seat and bar reach. There's also plenty of after-market for it, though bags are a bit of a 'yeah, this fits the Ninja's, too' option. The naked bike is cheaper, but the gauge layout makes me favor the faired. I have to test ride to choose.
-+ Kawasaki Versys Kawasaki's answer to the V-Strom, a new model from 2007-8, I believe. Reviews say the gearing is too short. I can't tell yet, though.
Modifiers: -- Kawasaki does not allow test rides at all except on certain days or on used models. Since none of the models I've looked at are available used where I looked, it hurts Kawasaki's case. This is compounded by Suzuki dealers saying they'll ready theirs up and let me take them out with only an hour or so of warning.
I'm still watching cycle-trader and various dealerships. Plenty of time to change opinions, especially since I've shifted as far as I have as much as I have.
“Hey FYI if you have my Gmail address and your doing stuff just send me links and try to ___ and engage me and all that it is appreciated I don't responds too much a lot but I do read everything that sounds and it does push my mind it does push my buttons I may not respond immediately I may not respond like it so I guess expected but you know they being read it is it is helpful so by all means keep pushing keep sending keep you know thinking and I remember that ok. Thanks.”
And by fun, I mean completely fucking retarded denial-sailing dicks.
I shouldn't have to feel like a dick for not wanting to get in any kind of financial obligation to or deal with someone who turns into an abusive crotch-monkey every time he has a few too many, which seems to be becoming DAILY, again. I'll gladly spend an extra $600 over the next two years to not be dependent upon that.
*sigh*
OF COURSE I know you're a dick, man! You're pretty much an older ME! And I KNOW how I get when I drink! This isn't higher fucking math! This is simple observation! WHY CAN YOU NOT SEE THIS!?
Soooo time to distance self from the family a bit... again.
I had some kind of spiritual thing last night that amounted to "I'm not leading your lazy asses anywhere, find your own fucking route, quit asking everyone around you for signs and guidance, and get off my fucking lawn."
I'm glad that so many people who got pissed off during various presidential elections that they moved to Canada, because now I have less people to filter out who constantly bitch about moving to Canada because their monkey didn't win the pointless popularity contest. Just a note: If you think 'moving to Canada' is an acceptable answer to a fucking election, shoot yourself. The overall policies that move forward regardless of the elections? The continued ruination and breakdown of the various government systems that you love and depend on, on both the local and national level? The realization that you want what a majority of your countrymen don't? Sure, I can see that as a reason to go expatriate. It's still an extremist, attention-whoring action that shirks mild unpleasantness rather than an actual persecution, but hey go right ahead and pretend you have an actual need to do that.
But now I'm pissed off, because more and more Canada appears to be becoming just as monkey-fuck retarded as the United States, UK, and in many regards, particularly when it comes to intellectual property, ownership rights, media rights and responsibilities, and war. I'm beginning to blame the large amount of ignorant people who run off to Canada at the earliest opportunity, yet continue to perpetuate American values. To them I say "THANKS FOR RUINING IT FOR THE REST OF US, ASSHOLES." So now if/when the chips do come down and the DHS/FBI goons come crashing through doors of 'dissidents' that AREN'T busy fucking children (cultists, please note the difference), the people who actually have to run now have to go through Mexico and head for Brazil or other Latin America countries. I suspect that would not go well for anyone, given the politics of the region and the fact that they actually HAVE problems, as opposed to our DEVELOPING or perceived problems, such as major drug trafficking (really major), guerrilla warfare/tactics, the continued expansionism being interfered with by major corporations (think the late 1800's in the jungle with modern weapons).
So running isn't much of an option, as always. Looking outward it appears that the problems we hope to escape would be mere inconveniences to someone from another nation. That's not some "rah rah yay us" jingoism, it's just a statement of "everyone has problems, yours look bigger because you're closer to them".
That having been expressed, the famed 'turnaround' that we were supposed to be getting under Obama seems to be falling short in many regards. Mainly the war in Iraq and it's handling, handling of the banks and multinationals, and now the policies over ownership and property rights, particularly in regards to digital media. USA, Canada and the EU attempt to kill treaty to protect blind people's access to written material as shown on Boing Boing. Obama Administration upholds current wiretapping practices Per the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Obama Administration attempts to block release of torture photographs. 'Why?' to all of these. The answer is because the President is not the power in Washington, and hasn't been since the inception of the office. Putting a charismatic and driven person in the spot certainly gives the office more usefulness than not, but it still depends solely on the input from a system already in place, supported by officials, lobbyists, reports, and spin that isn't elected by us, which does not have our best interests at heart. Science, however, gives us neon glowing monkeys, so it's still the future.
When you decide to clean your little electric fat-reducing grill, have a tip from me. Plug it in, warm it up, wipe the worst grease bits off with a damp paper towel or 10. Just don't do it when you're not wearing a shirt, because you'll lose a goddamned nipple. Seriously, the nipple done fell off and is gone. It only communicates to me through pain and fear. I think the cat ate it. An Englishman reviews sex toys... I can't say anymore than that. Trust me, it's enough.
“It's the same thing with Wrench vehicles they should point that out as well. If you went to Mercio(?) Alto you you shouldn't be driving the thing. They shouldn't let you have it because you're gonna drive it 55mi an hour so you can could show it off to your friends and say hey look here what I got for the next 5 minutes I got a Mercio(?) Alto I don't know how to fucking shift the damn thing for shit but hey whatever right. It's a status symbol, no it's fucking not. It's a super star and if you had any balls you would drive that thing into a god damn tree at a 180mi an hour. Why refer to simple fucking experience of it. You know if I had a fucking sports car like that I would pay every speeding ticket with a fucking smile. I would show up they would have me on file at the at the courts and they would know know me by name and they would say how are you paying this, this week oh well I'm just paying with the card. Oh yeah right ok well good to see ya, see you next week. Alright and then they may have told me well we're gonna have to take away your license. I'd say ok, well gimme one more shot and then I would take a care of that and I would drive that fucking thing off the edge of the freeway at 180mi an hour. Why because I would want to fucking fly in the thing. Alright if you keep fucking pushing to drive the damn car don't buy the damn car but you yourself a fucking Volvo. Buy yourself a fucking Ford and fucking live with it. Alright thank you. Thank you.”
... I keep losing something in the auto-transcription. I'm pleased that it managed to catch all 11 'fuck's, though.
Okay okay, some people buy sports cars just so they can have them and keep them and drive them to shows or around the block once a month. Fine. They're excused from my hate. I consider them wasteful and more than a little worthless, but hey, their money. People that buy the car and drive it to work or something asinine? They get maced and have it taken away to be given to some kid who saw "Days of Thunder" and snorted an 8-ball. No, the billiard ball.
That's why I didn't buy a Kawasaki... whatever that was when I had the chance (I think it was a YZ? Something other than the Ninja, but still sporty to hell), because I'd kill myself on it inside of a year. That or I'd pay a few extra thousand (or however much) for a private track membership and probably STILL kill myself there.
I've become convinced Jeremy Clarkson is American. Sure, born in Britain, lives in Britain, etc., but read some of the man's writings. Watch his performances. More importantly, watch him tell fellow Britons that their insistence on clinging to tradition is 'rubbish'. That was the nail in the coffin for me. He's some kind of American-British transplant/hybrid/artificially-inseminated-sleeper-spy/cyborg... thing. And he's a bit Republican... sort of. Thankfully, he's got enough depth that he's one of those people who would probably realize he's not exclusively one or the other.
I finished pretty much nothing I wanted to get done today. Sure, I got plenty started or progressed upon, but it only highlights the unfinished bits, and the snails pace it was achieved at nettled me. I guess that's an achievement in and of itself. If you must fail, fail spectacularly. It's the two impulses conflicting.... Day off, day of rest. Day off, must get EVERYTHING ELSE DONE before going back to work. In the end all I got was tired and a funky sleep schedule.
My couch is the most comfortable sleeping couch I've ever had. Considering I've had only two couches now, that's not saying much, though I'm also counting the couches my parents have owned when I lived there. After I moved out they purchased some blue, overplushy, mickey-mouse-looking microfiber love seat, so I'm counting that too. But this couch? I lay down on it with the laptop to get some typing done and wake up 2 hours later with my hand still on the keypad. The laptop, like a pissed-off lover, had put itself to sleep and was blinking a light at me in recrimination. I didn't care, though. I love my couch, I love sleeping on my couch.
The Gears of War team Epic Games brought us Unreal Tournament 3, which joins Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars in a short series of games I have bought on Name Alone without bothering to look at reviews, screenshots, or anything else. This method of choosing games is somewhat unsatisfactory at times, but there is no other better method I can find, as game review companies have all got some kind of golden dildo up their collective asses from the game companies, and the 'man on the street' forum reviews are either peppered by plants, or proof that with a sufficiently large internet you can find several someones who think X is the Best Game Ever, and they will have nothing better to do than talk it up and gloss over the crap bits. Depending on Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation to point out good games is an arduous and time-intensive task, as he often reviews console games, and more often whatever he does review turns out to work better as a foil for his wit than as any sort of playable means of entertainment in and of itself. So, Gears of War the Unreal Mod Years was bought.
I don't know who at Epic Games is in charge of character modeling, but they seem to believe that roided up NFL linebackers and the cheerleaders that fawn over them are the warriors of the future, and that they'll be covered in shiny, attention grabbing and sniper-fire-drawing armor of questionable utility. I don't worry, though, because the sheer size of my characters neck and the huge serious scowl he wears will deter all but the most hardened 20 year olds from screwing with him, as he is king of the frat. Combine with his ability to carry weapons the size of a Ford Fiesta (with about the same lethality in many cases), and you can start to see where the game is going. Weapons, armor, and some maps are very in keeping with the Unreal universe, and the game designers tried to shoe-horn in some serious plot in between capture the flag and team deathmatch battles, resulting in hilarious explanations as to why small teams of people and eventually aliens playing capture the flag and not actually dying is actually winning battles and wars. Vehicles are added and completely superfluous in many cases, possessing the inability to alter the environment in any way and railed in by the map designers, they only come into their own in the multiplayer levels. In fact, everything in the story mode can and should be skipped for the multiplayer mode, especially if you know how to play Unreal Tournament already. It's Unreal Tournament with thicker, slower people and semi-effective vehicles. If you want that, buy it. If you want depth of story, believable characters, a sense of accomplishment, and something to enjoy playing yourself, look elsewhere. Pick up a book, because I haven't found a video game yet that really does it too well. Even the Half Life series which would win an Oscar if they had a video game category has to be qualified as having a good story and characterization 'for a video game'. Of course, I play first person shooters, so asking for a lot of Shakespearean dialogue and depth of plot is asking entirely too much when most of the time my solution for 'plot angst' is to kill the person talking and defile their corpse, which Half Life didn't let me do in the slightest. Bastards. But at least here I can still enjoy flying a Redeemer missile into a crowd of just-spawned enemies and hitting the little 'make go boom' button. Gordon Freeman is hard pressed to compete with that, some days.
I'm going to sleep again. Maybe this time I'll make it to the bed.
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the_paco's journal
That-A-Way
