Soft Shadows of a Shaded Sun

Gore's Nobel Price, I mean Prize

2007-10-13T16:30:00.000-05:00

I feel like I should address the Nobel Peace Prize going to former VP of the US, Al Gore. He earned it, and we now have him to thank for raising global warming awareness, but as my title suggests, it's at a price. As written in my Oct 11 post, the film an inconvenient truth has some exaggerations. This is our price, to stretch the truth for a greater good, in telling people something important. I suppose in order to get people to listen you have to speak in hyperbole sometimes. Truth has a price, just as action has a price. I hope that the balance of truth and awareness isn't skewed any further from here on out.

By the way, I'm glad this UK judge's assessment came out before the award, otherwise it'd look like spiteful slander.

Anjie, someone beat you to it you altruistic song of a gun you

2007-10-11T02:38:00.001-05:00

Gore to start polar bear swim classes.

2007-10-11T00:24:00.002-05:00

A politician stretched the facts! Satan exclaims "Ice-skating officially commences on the former lake of fire."

Well it appears that Al Gore's inconvenient truths are really just inconvenient poorly made conclusions, as a judge in the UK gives a ruling on whether the film should be shown to 11-14 year-olds. It just so happens that 9 errors were found in his ruling about global warming and man's effect on temperature change. A sample of the errors found:

1) The global sea-level is not going to raise 20 feet "in the near future" rather "but only after, and over, millennia".

2) The four polar bears that were found dead drowned in a storm, "not because they could find ice" ::snicker::

3) Global warming didn't cause Lake Chad to dry up, "It is apparently considered to be far more likely to result from other factors, such as population increase and over-grazing, and regional climate variability.”

Goddamn Trolls

2006-08-05T14:28:00.000-05:00

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=18589 for the video
BOULDER, Colo. -- A man who acted as a modern-day bridge troll faces charges in Boulder after he and his companion allegedly got into a confrontation with an off-duty sheriff's deputy.According to a police report obtained by 7NEWS, Robert Hibbs, 19, was arrested Friday in a park near Foothills Highway and Colorado Avenue after demanding money and attacking the deputy. Police said that Hibbs insisted he was a troll and owned the bridge the deputy was trying to cross.Witnesses told police that Hibbs and Bradley Boville, 19, were demanding $1 from joggers and bikers who attempted to cross the bridge.

The off-duty deputy, who was not identified, told police the confrontation with Hibbs started after the man hit his bike with a broken golf club when he forced his way past without paying. The two became involved in an altercation and Hibbs hit the deputy with a golf club, the police report stated. The deputy said he took the golf club away from Hibbs and struck him in an attempt to defend himself.Boville, who was with Hibbs, reportedly told police that they had consumed LSD and that Hibbs was having a bad trip.Police said they confiscated a large marijuana joint rolled in $1 bills at the scene and then searched Boville's apartment and recovered drugs and drug paraphernalia.Hibbs was arrested for investigation of menacing and possession of a controlled substance, according to police. Boville was arrested for investigation of possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.

A horse is a pig that don't fly strait

2006-07-28T21:53:00.000-05:00

The only sure things in life are death and taxes.

I'll let that sink in. I hate this quote, but its true. But I don't hate the fact that there are so many uncertain things in life, just that the such a true proverb has so much to do with nothing, er something.

I saw Wednesday by J. Hilliard tonight, and it made me think. I wish I had a convenient Frenchman following me around outside singing songs about my failures when ever I left the front door! (Sarcasm!)

Some species of ants are extreme in their dependence upon other ant species. For example, the ant Tuleutomyrmex schneidere spends almost its entire life riding on the backs of host ant species. They seem to contribute nothing to the hosts, but are tolerated and even fed. SlavemakerFormica subintegra, for example) steal brood from other colonies and return the brood to develop and serve the Slavemaker colony. The slaves are absolutely dependent in that if they don't work, they don't get fed. Other ants work together as with the Crematogaster limata parabioticaMonacis debilis. These ants have their nests close together and share the same foraging trails. Camponotus has also been seen giving food to the Monacis workers.

A secret so far

2006-07-28T21:51:00.000-05:00

Has anyone heard what they're building on the North East corner of 75 and Springcreek? They're building a BPP, thats right its a Beer Pong Palace! I've only seen these places in Tennessee, Kentucky, Western West Virginia, and Ann Arbor Michigan. So its supposed to just be a parlor of sorts where conditions and futures of warehouses keeping all the unsold copies of Harry Potter books can be discussed and administered in a setting that offers a cool musty ambiance that lets you relive all the good times by playing your favorite covers of those wonderful French-monkey-dancing-to-an-accordion-solos that we all know and love. The stuffed badgers, wolverines, hombers that decorate the walls give it that candle-in-skull darkness and an eeriness that any quaint and sinister abode should have. The lovely sandbag thrones and concrete couches make an inviting and sensible place to plot your scheme whether it is as complex as releasing rapidly reproducing locusts into the countrys farmland, or as simple as giving strong hallucinogens to children in candy form. Yes all your plans to spread chaos can be sewn together right here just like the lampshade you made out of human skin!

Myspace Stuff

2006-07-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

There has been a few bulletins going around about banning the group "fuck the troops". :::Sigh::: look at the people in this group if you ever feel a sharp knife of boredom turning in your head. They're either disturbed, screaming for attention, Marxists/socialists, anarchists, what have you. They really haven't got a clue, or they just want to be part of some kind of revolution.

I agree, what right do they have to say about people who have done so much for them, and continue to. Even the actual marine in the group is a member, what does that say about it, a lack of seriousness in some of the members? Maybe, but not for the most part. The group is sort of your only slice of America that survived in the 60's from the Vietnam War. The troops were also hated back then, but it was a MUCH larger portion of America that hated them. These days people can be against the war but very strongly support the troops at the same time. Maybe its because everything is so much more connected and globalized than it was back then, and people just know too many service members. Or maybe people just woke up and understood.

My point about this group is they do have a right to exist. The internet has different goods and evils coming out of it every day. There is a website where clicking a link triggers a donation of a cups worth of food for the needy. On the other hand terrorist use the internet to stay in touch with cells all over the world. So you can hate what comes out of technology but you can't ever turn it back. Its either the dark ages or everything. But back to the point. One of America's great attributes during its founding was people's right to assemble. Like minded individuals can come together and oppose or support whatever they want. Its just another institution of our country that keeps the playing field level.

So being a veteran I have fought for what I believe in, and those who have come before me have protected our rights to do such things. So here's what these morons have forgot: the people that give them the right to say what they say are the ones they hate. Its a paradox, and big-surprise, none of the half-wits in the group have figured it out yet. So let them choose what they want to preach and be a part of, it is their right as free Americans. And that right has been upheld for the last 230 years by those who serve. And those who serve will continue to protect those rights, even if a faction of losers haven't quite seen the big picture yet. I've already signed the petition and so should you if you believe in it. It is just as much your right to dissent as it is theirs.

why tool is great

2006-07-28T21:49:00.000-05:00

hi....
you seem smart. could you explain to me why tool is so great?
i've been told they are, but no one can explain why.
that makes me think it's complete crap.
i like a perfect circle though, so that must be because of James Iha...
no one knows the words to any tool songs either.
my ex boyfriend told me it wasn't what he said but how he said it. but my ex was stupid too.

is there an answer here is it a mystery best left in ruin?
--------------Response--------------------------------

Thats an interesting question that I've asked myself before. But the best answer to a question is always... yup you guessed it, another question. Why is any band good? Maybe the question needs to be fine-tuned. What do I like about them in particular, it has to be that I've never heard a band sound like them, ever. That is besides the point, I think just because you can't classify a sound DOES NOT make it great (remember that christmas album with cats meowing?). Tool has a sound that sort of makes you feel like your plugged into a nuclear reactor because it energizes you with the anticipation of the oncoming onslaught that is there music. But what if you've never heard them before, well you should, and its un-American to say you haven't :). So in conclusion, I think the Why is Tool so great question is a bit flawed because it's difficult to answer that for any band. Why Metallica great, because I like to head-bang, why is Brittney Spears great, because I enjoy something that is always playing 'somewhere'. So all of these questions have huge groundings in opinions, because ultimately they all are just opinions. As much as I would like it to be a fact, published in an almanac, I will never read: Tool is great, fact. Hope that either answers your question, or leaves you exponentially more confused.

There, oh my ex-gf always asked me too, but she never liked them because you can't dance to them.

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson

2006-04-04T16:16:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a guy. Just saw him speak at UTD today. Talk about an amazing story. This guy's ancestor was a slave who went on to become a city councilman in Waco for two terms, in the 1860's. Its enough heritage to inspire anyone! He is now the first African-American Justice, and Chief Justice in the Texas Supreme Court. I didn't know law could be so much fun!

I forgot, I've had a birthday since whenever

2006-02-27T20:18:00.000-06:00

Cayster Folster

Layne, stop trying to dance with me! (Dustin is on the left)

This picture pretty much sums up my reason for being on Earth.

What you know 'bout purple stuff?

Elysia is not a crook

Red team go, blue team go!

Ray and Alexis

So much character in these characters

Clink!

See nothing up the sleeve

Ch-Ch-Changes

2006-02-27T19:48:00.000-06:00

So many changes have occurred since last post. At least I know what I'm doing after college now. Makes me happy to know. Now I have something to focus on, other than just completing college. Wish I was done with work, how ironic, after being offered a damn good paying job. Other offerings are going to waste too due to all these changes of plans. 3/5 went back to Iraq, hope they all come back as well as doing something they always do, GET SOME!! Oh yeah, ever since my stereo was jacked outta my car, I've been F'ing singing, what the hell!

I'm going to find a vegan to feed to a bear one day, so he or she can know what it feels like to be a part of the food chain

I get stupified!

2006-02-27T19:45:00.000-06:00

I forgot, some people also not mentioned came to the party.

With his PosseSo then I was like, Conan, handle this shit.And Bowie's all
The End...

MLK

2006-01-16T00:00:00.000-06:00

Its officially Martin Luther King Jr. Day, this is what he had to say about Jazz.

"God has brought many things out of oppression. He has endowed his creatures with the capacity to create - and from this capacity has flowed the sweet songs of sorrow and joy that have allowed man to cope with his environment and many different situations.

Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life's difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music.

Modern Jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.

It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians. Long before the modern essayists and scholars wrote of "racial identity" as a problem for a multi-racial world, musicians were returning to their roots to affirm that which was stirring within their souls.

Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down. And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith. In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these."

HR-57

2006-01-15T23:18:00.000-06:00

The Name of this Post stands for House Resolution 57. In case you avoid reading House Resolutions put forward by the U.S. Congress I'll sum it up for you. Jazz is good. What a concept, the government really hitting the nail on the head on this one. Sure they've been right before, but not on this magnitude.

Consequently HR-57 is the name of Jazz club that my bro is a member of up in D.C. It is also 'bring your own wine'. So after a messy, yet tasty Ethiopean dinner, we enjoyed some outstanding music even a congressman could enjoy.

Introduced by the Honorable John Conyers Jr.

Whereas, jazz has achieved preeminence throughout the world as an indigenous American music and art form, bringing to this country and the world a uniquely American musical synthesis and culture through the African-American experience and
1. makes evident to the world an outstanding artistic model of individual expression and democratic cooperation within the creative process, thus fulfilling the highest ideals and aspirations of our republic,
2. is a unifying force, bridging cultural, religious, ethnic and age differences in our diverse society,
3. is a true music of the people, finding its inspiration in the cultures and most personal experiences of the diverse peoples that constitute our Nation,
4. has evolved into a multifaceted art form which continues to birth and nurture new stylistic idioms and cultural fusions,
5. has had an historic, pervasive and continuing influence on other genres of music both here and abroad, and
6. has become a true international language adopted by musicians around the world as a music best able to express contemporary realities from a personal perspective;
Whereas, this great American musical art form has not yet been properly recognized nor accorded the institutional status commensurate with its value and importance;
Whereas, it is important for the youth of America to recognize and understand jazz as a significant part of their cultural and intellectual heritage;
Whereas, in as much as there exists no effective national infrastructure to support and preserve jazz;
Whereas, documentation and archival support required by such a great art form has yet to be systematically applied to the jazz field; and
Whereas, it is now in the best interest of the national welfare and all of our citizens to preserve and celebrate this unique art form;
Now, therefore be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), that it is the sense of the Congress that jazz is hereby designated as a rare and valuable national American treasure to which we should devote our attention, support and resources to make certain it is preserved, understood and promulgated.

Passed by the House of Representatives September 23, 1987 Passed by the Senate December 4, 1987

Pictures of D.C.

2006-01-15T22:52:00.000-06:00

Jan 4

2006-01-08T22:25:00.000-06:00

Ran around DFW a few times with my constantly changing departure gate. C4, C22, then C3. Did not forget to say hi to Sergio first. Had a $7 airport Killian's Irish Red with the Cowboy's Skybox. Finally found the most updated gate and departed. Sat next to a mathematician of some sort on the way to D.C. Ronald Reagan National airport is a beautiful airport.Jonathan picked up me up and we went strait to this place (don't remember the name). Business cards plastered the walls and ceilings, some looking old enough to be my grandfather if it were possible. Then went to eat Tempura at this place. Though the staff was really friendly, I still suspect they were not ethnically Japanese. Walked around in the cold until we came to this place, and watched the UT game. The bar-tender still remembered our names at the end of the night, incredible. I was a lone Texas fan, in a land of haterz.

Free paper cup of Champagne

2006-01-01T20:52:00.000-06:00

Yup, thats what you get when you party hard by ringing in the new years at Bennigan's. Super night. Ended up drinking something resembling beer called Steel Reserve. It comes from Fort Worth so you know its good. Layne was drinking a 40 oz. out of a paper bag.

TLaC

2005-12-30T00:17:00.000-06:00

Booze, Fun, Thirsty Thursdays. $2 Fat Tires, and Tall. Got slammed and fed for under $10, what a cheap date. Make it happen. Unfortunately I know why they call him Turtle. Listening to lots of Romani music. Accordions and accents in my head. What do you do do you do do, with your troubled friends?

Who pulled the plug?

2005-12-27T15:39:00.000-06:00

Wowsers, I don't think I've played with distortion on my guitar for about a year now. What the hell is happening to me? That is crazy, That is crazy, That is Crazy. Seems like what I play now needs whatever the mix of bluegrass and Persian riffs would need.

Wal-mart = Zombie-Mart
Have you ever been driving around at 2:00 AM in the morning and seen a score of what you thought were the living dead? I have. I was driving around really late last night and saw 3 people dressed in something I could only describe to be 'carlish' moving across the street into a wal-mart parking lot. I thought about it for a minute, "hey! no such thing as zombies" then realized that they were merely human. It got me thinking, people go to wal-mart in just about anything at night, hell on a Monday morning. At night they are craving something, brain? No. Just regular stuff you need, but while they're after it they have somewhat zombish (word?) movements, facial expressions, nasal sounds, and/or I.Q.'s. No I'm just kidding, they are sort of in a hurry, so I guess their movements aren't similar.

People say we're crazy for the crazy things we do...

2005-12-26T16:07:00.000-06:00

Awesome memory from the Marine Corps:
Me and Espinoza decided to go get some hamburgers one day, but we decided to use a role-player car. The only car left was a stick-shift, and neither of us were totally capable of driving one. So we agreed on teaching each other how to drive a car with manual transmission. There in lies the paradox. Its ok though, we used a role-player car, an early 80's Toyota (Tercel?) hatchback to practice. We stripped the hell out of that car that day taking turns learning. Moral of the Story - Get someone who knows how to drive a stick to show you. I think Sgt Burton came out because he could hear what we were doing to the car, he could barely hold himself up from the wild laughter, "it looks like you put hydros on it" he said.

Did my deed for Islam this year by putting my brother's Q'ran on the highest bookshelf in the house.

Mega-Structure

2005-12-25T11:30:00.000-06:00

Missed my plane again. Should have remembered my luggage, it helps when you bring it to the airport. Consequently an Earthquake happened just then, someone told me that I was in luck, "get under the Mega-Structure". The Earth shook violently until the entire world was destroyed, but me and who ever was under this huge skinny cylinder at a 45 degree angle (angel?) were saved. She looked at me and I looked at her. We had work to do.

Walking down the road saw some marines police calling. Ended up at an Army barracks, and discussed foot-lockers. Then they had a react drill, I wasn't allowed to come. :(

Apparently I don't sit down enough. Blame it on the USMC. I can seriously stand for hours and hours and hours. Work tomorrow, as usual. It's the busiest time of the year there. Can't wait for more than 1 day off at a time. Won't come for another week or two. About the same time I'll be up north - added bonus, getting to squeeze off a few rounds out of Tom's .45.

1 fish dish a week slowed older (65-years and older) people's rate of cognitive decline by 10%, that is the equivalent to being 3 years younger and sharper, say Rush University (Chicago) researchers.Source: Time (Dec. 26, 2005)

Wacky Music

Rusted

2005-12-23T16:19:00.000-06:00

Walking through a run down city. Sort of like a really dangerous part of 19th century meets an uncomfortable stranger's backyard, but with horribly designed streets and buildings. Finally ended up in one of those one-classroom schools where everyone, regardless of age, learns the same thing at the same time. Left and went around the back, found cows grazing and unrelenting heat. Sun just beating down on a dilapidated shed made of wood. The wood making a smell that told you: its hot outside. Dead grass from the heat clung to my shoe and pants as I walk through it. Vulcanized tires becoming as solid as rock. No breeze. Reminds me of a game called Fallout in which you are playing an adventurer in a desolate wasteland populated by the remaining discharge of humanity's nuclear wad.

Here's and interesting piece of important human history.

Pop-eye the Sailor Man once said: "I yam who I yam"
Jesus said a few Epochs before: "I am who I am" Exodus 3:14

Funny sounding words when said a few times
Serpent, LeClerk

New York City's a place you don't need a car, till this week. You'll need that and about 3 other people to ride with you, because they won't let you downtown otherwise. Hell of an HOV lane. At work someone actually used their private jet to go from Long Island, NY to Teterbourgh, NJ. Apparently it is very difficult to get off the island with public transportation down. Find me Snake Plissken, Escape from New York! I bet somewhere a Texan is kissing his truck on the bumper.

When skynet became aware...

2005-12-23T00:06:00.000-06:00

Cheers.