Happy Birthday Rui!

Someone great turns 28!

Happy Birthday, Boobear! :*

Open Letter

I wrote this open letter in the diary section of Pam's House Blend. It's for Peter LaBarbera, who operates the Christian group Americans For Truth, though it could apply to any number of current Christian leaders (Evangelical, Catholic, Mormon, etc.)

Yes, perhaps it's a bit heavyhanded, but I'm a bit tired of this crap. I'm at the point where Stuart was (UK "Queer As Folk") when he blew up the mom's car. I just meant in mindset... not that I'm going to blow up a car. I just move electrons on monitors instead.

He's Hung Like A...

Saddam Hussein was executed early this morning (well, last night for some of us).

I'm still not really sure how I feel about it. Honestly, I worry that this is just opening a big Pandora's box. We're already seeing large numbers of people being killed in Iraq in protests and car bombings due to the incident. I know he was a bad man, but I think there were some other issues that hadn't quite been worked out yet, such as the trials involving the Kurds. I just feel this whole issue got rushed a little bit. I also worry about the PR situation America already has with the rest of the world, and how this is only going to make things worse.

I also wonder if we'll see the same for Bush, though I highly doubt it. He's not exactly spotless in this whole war situation. We've witnessed a laundry list of war crimes he's committed, and I think he'll get away with each and every one, never seeing any justice or accountability. Hell, I'll probably be detained and tortured very soon just for writing this. Such is life in the new Amurka.

Dr. Who, Reindeer, and Condoms

I watched the last two episodes of the season for Dr. Who tonight on the SciFi channel. It was actually much better than I thought it would be, and now I want to see all of the ones that build up to the climactic ending.

Tonight, Shane and I went to hand out condoms at the bar for work. We decided to make it more festive though, and dress Christmasy. Shane was an elf, and I was the hottest reindeer ever. i made brown cut-offs, wore a fur coat and hat, and had reindeer antlers. I also wore my Norwegian socks. Yeah, it was a little odd, but it was fun.

We handed out condoms at the bar, and then went around to neighboring bars. Neighboring bars aren't as nice, and people were rude. You'd have though we were handing out syphillis, instead of condoms. One guy told us he didn't want condoms because he was straight. Shane said he should use them, because Shane didn't want to pay for this guy's bastard children. Amen.

I'll try to get up a photo in the next few days, if I remember with all of the Christmas hullabaloo. I'll be headed to Salt Lake in the morning, and my nieces want to watch the first two seasons of Monarch of the Glen in three days. Phew!

BBC in the USA

I just read that the BBC will start to offer their tv shows for legal download using Azureus's Zudeo bittorrenting software. There was no mention of pricing, but it did say that the files will be protected, so can only be used through Zudeo.

Some of the shows it mentioned include Dr. Who, Little Britain, League of Gentlemen, and Red Dwarf, all in High Def. If they added Monarch of the Glen, I'd be a very happy boy.

I surfed over the Zudeo and looked around a bit. It looks like all the stuff available on there right now is just film-school type stuff, almost like a classy YouTube. This should be an interesting developement though, and I'm excited to see where things are headed.

Attn: Dartford Slapper

I was doing some research about STIs this afternoon at work when I came across the following information, which negates Charlie's "1500 calories in semen" theory. Sorry, love.

A typical ejaculation fills up about one teaspoon; the actual amount is determined by a man's age (younger men usually make more semen), when he last ejaculated, and how long he's aroused before ejaculating, among other factors. Contrary to what you've heard, semen is not loaded with calories. Each teaspoon of ejaculate has about 5 - 7 calories and some 200 - 500 million sperm.

Band Names

Occasionally I like to make up fake band names, in case I ever go to Paris and somebody asks me if I'm a rock star. Hey, it happened to Jeffrey on Project Runway, so it could totally happen to me. Anway, I was thinking I should start chronicling them somehow, and what better way than the blog? Here are two that I came up with this morning:

Chinchilla the Hun
Shaking Babies and Kissing Hands

Yeah, I know they're lame, but then again Panic at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, and My Chemical Romance are all currently popular bands.

You guys got any for me?

Christmas Cheer

The student union decided last week that food could only be purchased to the sounds of blasted crappy christmas music. It was so loud you couldn't even talk to people in the food court. So, being the antagonistic bastard I can be every now and then, and seeing as how I was bitchy from finals, I made sure to loudly voice my disdain. "Damn, this music doesn't make me feel very comfortable to be a Jew here at ISU!" I noticed it was only half as obnoxiously loud the next day.

Note: No, I'm not a Jew, despite the big nose and curly hair. I just despise having X-Mas shoved down my throat, like I'm Linda Lovelace in Deep Throat or something.

I'd Forgotten...

how good cold meat lover's Pizza Hut pizza can be. Thanks Mom, for bringing me the leftovers that Brit-brat and Rooster didn't eat.

PS - I may have turned them into Project Runway junkies during the weekend. Sorry.

Debauchery Debunked

I just got a phone call from my sister informing me that my planned weekend of high debauchery would now be altered. It looks as if I might have to spend some "quality time" with my nieces after some lovely Utah drama.

Apparently, the painter went apeshit and has demanded that my sister pay him an extra $17,000 by the end of the week, or he'd blow his brains out. Then my brother-in-law caught him outside the house around 11pm with a hoodie pulled over his face, near the master bedroom window. Then cops were called as the painter drove away. Then the car was back at 5:30am. Then deranged painter followed my brother-in-law to his office, and made veiled threats. Then a second police report was made, then a restraining order filed, then possibly security hired. *sigh* Just the phone call left me drained.

So, it looks like I'll be helping entertain the nieces while they're in Idaho for their safety. I'm just hoping nothing comes of this, but it really looks as if the painter owes somebody bad a lot of money. And I've seen Sopranos so I know what happens next.

Soy Is So Gay

This is probably one of the most unintentionally funny articles I've seen in a long time. Jim Rutz is claiming at WorldNetDaily that soy is making children gay. Here's a lovely quote:

Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products. (Most babies are bottle-fed during some part of their infancy, and one-fourth of them are getting soy milk!) Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is inborn because "I can't remember a time when I wasn't homosexual." No, homosexuality is always deviant. But now many of them can truthfully say that they can't remember a time when excess estrogen wasn't influencing them.

Ummm... I'm more interested in someone who can remember a time when excess estrogen wasn't influencing them. I'm pretty sure that's a more compelling story.

I'm amazed at the stupid logic that people go through in their minds. Here we have a pastor who buys organic food thinking he's some kind of authority on biochemistry. Impressive! Does this mean that because I went to Taco Bell for lunch that I'm an authority on Mexican domestic policy? Sure does, if I was in WND world!

hat tip: jimbo

Edit... D. F. A. Remix.... fressssshhhhhh......

That's a snippet from the DFA remix of Le Tigre's "Decepticon."

Rui's probably the only one that'll give two figs about this post, but I just discovered that DFA has released some Radio Mixes for download off the DFA Records site. This means you get some James Murphy/LCD Soundsystem and Tim Sweeny for free! Hooray! I still need to get the DFA Remixes Chapter Two album at some point in the future, but it'll have to wait for a bit.

I'm still downloading the Radio Mixes as I write this, so I can't give any reviews at this time. I'm still pretty stoked to throw it on the iPod though, since Christmas family time always necessitates iPod alone time. You can argue I should spend time with family. I can argue that it keeps me from lighting them on fire. What's a few hours with family compared to a few years in prison?

Size Matters?

I've been meaning to post about this story for days, but have been busy with getting ready for final exams and doing final projects. I about pissed myself laughing this afternoon when I realized the story's been on the BBC's top 5 most popular stories for four days now.

Condoms 'too big' for Indian men

Doctor Chander Puri, a specialist in reproductive health at the Indian Council of Medical Research, told the BBC there was an obvious need in India for custom-made condoms, as most of those currently on sale are too large.

The issue is serious because about one in every five times a condom is used in India it either falls off or tears, an extremely high failure rate.

Ol' Friends

I recently got back in touch with some friends I haven't had contact with in a while. It was my choice to be a silly git and not stay in contact, so part of me wonders how and why I made such a foolish decision.

Anyway, it was good to see that they welcomed me back with open arms and are really encouraging. It's something I need at this time.

Note: Too much of the UK version of Queer as Folk is making me use a lot of Brit-slang again. I'm sure listening to Lady Sovereign isn't helping any either.

Mobile Tumors

The BBC has a report about a Danish study claiming there is no link between mobile phone (cell phone) use and brain/neck tumors. Good news everyone, our annoying mobile phone habits aren't going to slowly kill us yet! Driving while talking is a whole other issue though, and yes, I'm guilty of this as well.

The researchers, from the Danish Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen, looked at data on people who had been using mobile phones from as far back as 1982.

More than 56,000 had been using a mobile phone for at least 10 years.

They found no evidence to suggest users had a higher risk of tumours in the brain, eye, or salivary gland, or leukaemia.

This does make me remember how paranoid Dimitris was about using his cell phone, and how he was convinced we were all going to get tumors. Don't worry Dimi, I'm sure we all will get some sort of cancerous tumors, but it's more likely to be from our iPods or some other technology now.

Presentation Redux

I was approached by a guy in the SU building this afternoon as I attempted to locate some lunch amongst the rubbish they usually display as edible goods. The guy had a serious look on his face, and he informed me that he had been in the class I gave the presentation in last week. He thanked me for speaking, but he stared way too long and much too intently for normal purposes. Yeah, I think he's a big ol' closet case.

Then, I found out he was sitting with the student group from my church that booted me out a few weeks ago. Apparently, he's really involved. I feel bad that I let it be known I'd recently been kicked out of my former church during the presentation, but then again, people should know that's what happens around here.

Anyway, I'm sure he'll have a "fun" few years in store for him. Too bad he couldn't just learn from my example now, and save himself many years of torment and inner turmoil.

Vietnam Saved My Grade

I never, ever, thought I would hear those words coming out of my mouth, but as of this morning, it's officially true.

I've been sweating bullets and peeing blood over my Visual Anthropology project I thought was due this Wednesday. I didn't know where I'd find the time or effort to finish the project on time, and I was worried this was really going to mess things up for me academically. I just can't be bothered with this project for some reason, even though I know it's really important. Definitely not good.

Today, I went to beg my professor for an extension, due to all the drama in my life the last few months. I'd heard that she's fairly lenient, but I was still really worried. Instead, I got to her office only to find out that she'd buggered off to Vietnam until the first of January, and that I have until the end of next week to finish the film. Thank gawd! Now, to just get my ass in gear and get this stupid thing done.

Hot Fuzz

The team behind the great romzomcom Shaun of the Dead have created a new film that will be coming out in a few months.

Hot Fuzz

Yeah, it's gonna be hawt. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are both in this one too. Hooray!