the devils are back in first place, the eagles lost, and everything is right in the world...

"Last week, TMQ noted new evidence that suggests the first stars formed far earlier than previously supposed, and thus planets (made from material expelled by exploding supernovas) might have formed far earlier than previously supposed. Now consider this recent finding by astronomers at the University of California at San Diego. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has an internal magnetic field that aids in forming the kind of stars that are like our sun: stable and burning for very long periods at about the same luminosity. Stable, very-long-lived stars are necessary to support the evolution of life, at least carbon-based life. For various techno-reasons, it has been assumed that galaxies such as the Milky Way are relative latecomers -- the early galaxies that formed in the aftermath of the Big Bang would have lacked magnetic fields. Galaxies like ours, the assumption went, would not have developed until the cosmos was 5 to 10 billion years old, and thus life as we know it could not have happened before then.

Instead, by inspecting very distant (and thus ancient) galaxies, the UCSD researchers found evidence of strong galactic magnetic fields tracing nearly back to the conjectured moment of creation. This suggests the conditions for life could have arisen far earlier in the evolution of the universe than previously thought. What if thinking beings at least somewhat like us evolved eons ago? Where are they now? Every time instruments improve, or new discoveries are made, astronomers find more indication the cosmos is bigger, older, more energetic and more amenable to life than had been supposed. The cosmic enterprise seems grander every day. Who can say what our ultimate role in it might be?"

kanye west should stop trying to sing

even through the distortion on the mic you can hear him struggling...usually that covers it up

this is disgusting

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/WallStreet/story?id=6285739&page=1

it's not just that they spent roughly $60,000 between the three of them to get to and from DC...which is completely unnecessary when they could obviously take a normal flight(god forbid they have to share a plane with the "common people" that they probably laid off at some point in time) but this really irks me:

"Ford CEO Mulally's corporate jet is a perk included for both he and his wife as part of his employment contract along with a $28 million salary last year. Mulally actually lives in Seattle, not Detroit. The company jet takes him home and back on weekends.

Mulally made his case Tuesday before the committee saying he's cut expenses, laid-off workers and closed 17 plants.

"We have also reduced our work force by 51,000 employees in the past three years," Mulally said."

REALLY???

I wonder how many of those employees' jobs he could have saved if he just, oh i don't know, maybe MOVED TO DETROIT!

Let's say he only uses the plane to go back and forth from Seattle once a week and the average cost of the flight is $20,000...that would mean he spends $1,040,000 each year just on his commute! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?!?!????

And then he has the balls to go to congress and say that by cutting jobs and closing factories that he's earned the right to get a piece of the bailout? Even as he still uses the jet to go back home every week?

Congress will be doing an incredible disservice to America if they approve giving $25 billion to these assholes who continue to 'drive' (get it?) their companies into the ground. they just need to let them fail....then perhaps business men will learn how to run a company and keep it afloat...learning the lessons from AIG, GM, Ford, Freddie Mac, etc.

If the government continues to bail them out (with no conditions, mind you) then why would they bother to change their ways? Daddy Government will come to their rescue and save them when they fail!

every once in a while, a fly makes its way into the house. i'm pretty sure it gets in either through the cracks between the a/c and the window or through the mail slot in the front door. either way, it's usually only one or wo at a time.

until today...

somehow, there are about 30 flies that have been buzzing around all day. I got annoyed at one flying by my head all morning when i looked at the window and realized the 'one' i thought was flying around was actually probably 10.

so i got to killing them. every time i kill one, five more fly by. i have no idea where they're coming from!

i think i'm finally down to the final one, but again, i can't seem to figure out what's going on. The house is clean, trash was taken out last night, and there is no food out anywhere.

wtf?

i'm quite baffled as to why people automatically assume that opening up more domestic drilling programs will significantly reduce the price of gas.

if we had a nationalized oil company that only dealt in drilling and supplying the US, it would make sense to me, but we don't. all of the oil that comes out of the US ground will get sold to exxon/bp/shell and it will go into the global supply where China, India, and the other large countries will buy it all up. Sure there will be increased supply, but will it make that much of a difference? Will we get oil 'at cost' like countries like Venezuela or Saudi Arabia(who have a nationalized oil company)? They are paying $.19 and $.91 per gallon of gas respectively "as benefits to the national citizens" because THEY OWN THEIR OIL! The US will not.

And even if the bans are lifted, who's to say the oil companies will immediately start drilling and accumulating the oil. How is that more beneficial to them? Wouldn't they want to keep the supply down so that they can continue to to rake in the record profits? I can see the land being opened up to drilling only to have the oil companies drag their feet and wait DECADES until they actually drill in it. They already have 30 million acres of land that they aren't even using!

Also, John McCain blaming Barack Obama for the increases in gas prices is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Well no, i take that back....just about everything that comes out of McCain's mouth is pretty ridiculous.

I love reading all these articles and some of the comments about oil going up to $142 per barrel today.

whay are people so surprised?

there's a week to go until July 4...don't we all remember the guy from Morgan Stanley predicting prices will be $150 by the 4th? Of course they need to meet that prediction. Prices jumped a record increase the day of and after the announcement. How can anyone believe that 'supply and demand' is the reason for these increases and that it's not the speculators that are driving up the prices and lining their pockets? Someone sneezes in Nigeria and prices go up. Israel performed drills showing that they could attack(they didn't actually do it...just ran a drill) Iran if necessary....prices go up.

Supply and demand? Where are all the numbers that show there is more demand for the oil that is being supplied? Why isn't the government asking for those numbers and proof that it's actually the case?

The chief of OPEC even said that the price increases have nothing to do with supply. They apparently have "plenty of oil" to satisfy the world's needs.

i'm out in california for a few weeks. yay.

here's the first indoor show i've completely designed and arranged myself.

i'm fairly proud of it

part 1
parts 2 & 3

first show's tomorrow

what kind of an end was that???

a lot's been going on...doesn't mean i'm going to write an entry about it anytime soon though...

if you like electronic music you need to check out "venetian snares". the album Rossz Csillag Alatt Született is freaking amazing. who woulda thought something this cool could come out of canada

i bought a ticket to go see Rage Against the Machine, Wu-Tang, Cypress Hill and a bunch of others in July. I can't fucking wait!

That's all for now...i'll write again in another couple of months

technology sucks...

why the fuck did my personal PC decide to shit out on me this morning? after running completely fine the majority of time i had it, a random file went corrupt and now windows won't start. what the fuck!

3 hours later i still can't get it to start up. fucking cockbag.

anyway, so the work i needed to get done this morning before i left didn't get done, so i'm scrounging around to try and get it done before i get on the plane...doesn't look like that's gonna happen.

at least i've got my laptop up and running again. only problem is, i lost a couple thousand of emails from october until today, so i'm pretty much fucked in that aspect until i get back from cali. hope nothing inportant got lost.

time to board.

this weather is so messed up....

saturday i was outside in a t-shirt and perfectly comfortable in the sunlight. today...only 4 days later i walk outside and snow is falling...not a lot but still.

mother nature, could you please just pick one? be warm and stay warm or be cold and stay cold. this every other day shit is really getting out of control

i've never really closely listened to The Beatles until very recently. I've always been aware of their music and knew the lyrics to a few of their songs, but i never actually dug in and really listened to the music. i'm diggin it.

i'm also listening to a lot of James Brown...again, great stuff.

that's all

i need to find a fireplace and turn on some slow jazz...open up a bottle of Shiraz...that always makes me feel like it's christmas. damn it i wish i had a fireplace

if you haven't been to gnarls barkley's website, i highly recommend it...it's a really neat site with some very pleasant reads.

if you go into the tour section there's a "blog" called "From the Desk of A.B. Vidal, Chief Executive of St. Elsewhere". There's such an amazing amount of creativity in these posts.

here's a sample:

Posted on 09.26.06
9:00 AM. To the surprise of many Elsewherians, our nation-state awakens to find that last week’s pummeling rains are pummeling no longer. The sun is clearly visible. Although there is the hint of an oncoming chill, the air is quite hospitable. After a week of homebound passivity, St. Elsewhere gets out and celebrates.

10:30 AM. A woman buys an object. After she examines it, she decides she no longer wants it, and suffers what economists know as “buyer’s remorse.” She finds an acquaintance that desires the object, and tenders it as a gift. The acquaintance saves some money, and the woman gains some gratification.

12:00 PM. Lunch.

2:30 PM. For the first time in our history, a box kite soars over St. Elsewhere. I never imagined one of those things could actually fly, but I see it myself, and it is a glorious thing.

5:00 PM. A relationship ends. Although there is pain on both sides, no permanent damage is done, and both parties will no doubt triumph over their sorrow.

8:30 PM. Final fireworks display of the season.

10:00 PM. Musicians play their instruments. Those who play at high volume are sufficiently inspired, and entertain anyone within earshot. Those who are insufficiently inspired keep their volume sufficiently low. No noise complaints are filed.

11:30 PM. A large amount of ale is consumed, but it results in no harm to property or bystanders. 11:44 PM. A child has her first nightmare. The special effects are spectacular.

All in all, a splendid day. My congratulations to everyone. Not every day can be at once so peaceful and productive, but we will retain what we learned, we will cherish what we remember, and we will triumph over the bad weather our future undoubtedly holds. Fear ye not.

Yours Most Sincerely,
A.B. Vidal


i particularly liked the part about the child having the nightmare.

because i have nothing better to do with my time...

Step 1: Put your iTunes or equivalent on random.
Step 2: Post the first line or so from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing. (I left out the jazz songs that came up and had no lyrics...sorry)
Step 3: Italicize the songs when someone guesses correctly.
Step 4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is sad and you should feel ashamed, cheater.

1. deep, deeper than the stain of twisted guilt that hungers for the laceration of the negligence
2. Raw I'ma give it to ya, with no trivia
3. OWWW, when I'm in the sky, I'm too far away. Gotta kick in to feel it
4. You was fooling me once before But I tell you there's no fooling me twice no more
5. Hey you, Hey you I'm right here. Conscience fading, Can't get through
6. workin' like a robot. I'm plugged into the groove. Cuttin' through the static trackin' anything that moves.
7. yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
8. There are days I wanna leave LA I wanna break out the maze Escape the dark haze these days
9. I hope that you're the one. If not, you are the prototype
10. Sometimes,Sometimes I get so lonely, lonely, lonely I feel all by myself up here
11. Between mars and jupiter theres a gap for another planet Now way back yeah Maybe a mad man just blew the shit out of it
12. Home... a silence between glares that stutters words misleading
13. I've been workin' this graveshift and I ain't made shit. I wish I could buy me a spaceship and fly past the sky
14. Call me the serial rhyme killer, Mic-cord strangling, mangling, tangling, you in the web nigga
15. They dont eat, dont sleep They dont feed, they dont seethe. Bare their gums when they moan and squeak, Lick the dirt off a larger ones feet
16. Life, a losing battle Existence I abhor. Lives, condemned by sins of those who lived before
17. You dont need your name in bright lights You're a rock star
18. still i wonder how you are, and what became of all of this
19. No man abandon his post. A gatecrasher has called us to arms. Take up your torch.
20. I'm not feeling alright today, I'm not feeling that great, I'm not catching on fire today Love has started to fade
21. She dont like the way she smiles. He dont like the way she smiles
22. The drugs they say make us feel so hollow. We love in vain narcissistic and so shallow
23. Though Ive tried before to tell her Of the feelings I have for her in my heart
24. You're such an inspiration for the ways that I'll never ever choose to be
25. Because mutiny on the bounty's what were all about I'm gonna board your ship and turn it on out
26. goddamn! this time it's real, it's a love that I feel.
27. Yeah Shorty I know what you need, I got everything you need. I promise I aint gonna hold out either. I'ma give it all to you baby. Its on, bust it
28. Red wine and sleeping pills help me get back to your arms
29. Close the door, put out the light. No, they wont be home tonight. The snow falls hard and dont you know? The winds of thor are blowing cold.
30. I be walkin God like a dog, my narrative fearless. My word war returns to burn like baldwin home in paris

comment your guesses!

one of these days i'll write a real entry...

i don't really feel like it though. i've been lazy in just about every aspect of my life....and i don't really know why. the things i need to do get done, but with much procrastination.

i just want to sleep a lot. ironically, i'm not tires at the moment, so i'll probably be up for a while...

maybe i'll start putting together a sketch for the opener for indoor...

these are my kids minus the pit (from the giants stadium show this past saturday)



it took me literally all night to turn the drums shiny, but it was totally worth it when they took the covers off.

show is done being learned....time to get good....

should be pretty easy with these guys....only somewhat difficult task will be teaching the parts and drill to the new bass 5, but he handled it well last night...

i lost at madden last night for the first time since i got the game.

my overall record is 70-1-1

so disappointing...