Inspired by a disgruntled foreigner (foreigner =someone not from Wisconsin = ParaTed2k) and his less than stellar Milwaukeeexperience, I've decided to focus today's discussion on something important tothe pursuit of happiness, something near and dear to everyone (though you'llneed to forgive me for suggesting that this nearness and dearness is morepoignant for those of us who hail from Wisconsin). As if you did not know, I'm talking about beer. And not just beer. I'm talking about bad beer....
P4X: The Riddle I discovered the P4X riddle about two weeks ago, and breezed through the first 15 rooms before hitting my first snag. After 20, each room began to work me over, pretty thoroughly, too - like the puzzle was picking me up by my lapels and tossing me around my apartment. I'm currently working on Room 36. And, all spoken, there are 150 rooms to solve. Basically, the riddle functions like a maze across the www, and proceeding from room to room requires you to uncover theURL...
There was a tangent from Little-Whip's post, "Would You Join This Church?" that I'd like to rescue: the process of identification. Little-Whip wrote, As much as many hate to admit it, there's ahuge difference between the attitudes (and I'm speaking in generalterms here, the rule proves the exceptions) of American born blacks andothers who share their skin tone. England had slaves too, yet speak toa British Black man and he'll identify himself as a Brit, not an'African-British whatever.' ...
I was perusing the papers this morning while riding the T to the Commons . . . Reverend Wright . . . the Pentagon Message Machine . . . Bush 1.2 requesting another what-is-it-this-time $200 billion for let's-see-if-this-works Iraq strategery . . . Suddenly I was overwhelmed by nostalgia. I don't know where the wistful longing came from, but I missed the conservative Joe User blog-bumpers I used to read with dismay in years past. Squashed into my subway seat between one stinky...
Taboo Tenente's Ezine posts updates at a new location: Taboo Monkey Blue Blog: Writing on Writing Contact Taboo: tps101@gmail.com
Sometimes you get to a place in your life where all those assumptions--what is right, what is wrong--must be called into question. You leave your parents. You leave your home town. You learn something about a loved one that you didn't want to hear. The foundations of your life move farther and farther away, and now YOU must make your way forward, or not. You must find a way to do what is right. Or not. In your isolation, you are Untouchable. No one else shares responsibility with yo...
Why do we believe in innocence? Why do we believe in corruption? We talk about the innocence of childhood. We long for the simplicity of a sand castle, we believe in soap bubbles and fireflies and the purity of our youth. And when we deal with the adult complexities of taking responsibility for our actions and for the hurts and "crimes" of other people, we imagine the old times of our lives when we were removed from the tireless pain of "reality." The biblical account of the Fall from E...
A shallow breeze whispers through the night air along the foothills of the Serra de Sintra. John and I drink from a two-Euro bottle of full-blooded Ramisco wine, share a supper of cigarettes and pickles, and, under the raucous scrutiny of a small crowd, begin a second game of chess on the sidewalk outside of the train station. Meanwhile, João attempts to recruit a gathering of young squatters to break us in to the tunnels beneath the Monastery dos Capuchos. John and I eat with the shamel...
In Breckenridge, Colorado, while splashing in a hot tub with new college friends, I raised a spaghetti jar of Miller Genuine Draft and drank to my own health; meanwhile, my girlfriend was dying at a hospital in London. On Friday, April 8, 1994, some drunk smashed into Janna Sugar’s spine with his car (a car painted the dull black of shadows, a two-door, a Mercedes with those long blank license plates, a convertible—all details invented and perfected during the long years since the “accident”)...
I'm enjoying a five minute break from late semester work, and I thought I would bring this article to Joeuser's attention for my own enjoyment--the way I enjoy smash-up derbies and World's Strongest Man contests. I mean, there's nothing better than watching one weirdo confront another weirdo, is there? Or even better, how can you not enjoy the commentary--a weirdo doing his best to rationalize how one weirdo is confronting another? Here's a little article I found: one reactionary "axis o...
Per posting strategy of certain JoeUser ultra-right authors, I thought it might be educational to re-post a response I made to a specific form of Postmodern racism. I believe the original article in this series was posted by ModerateMan, with point and counterpoint provided by Little Whip and CityGuy, respectively, here: Link . Little Whip subsequently provided the enlightening article, "What It's like to Be White" here: Link . Before I quote my response, I find it necessary to c...
Good morning, everyone! I thought I might offer a brief history of the origins for the left-wing manual so graciously provided by ModerateMan (provided in his article "How to be a Good Liberal"-- Link ), as I noticed that there were no cited references. I hope MM will permit me to tack this on, in the spirit of textual authenticity. Before we get to the specific references, I should say that the entire book was actually a memo from KRove to GB.2. and was lifted from GB.2's desk before h...
Inspired by an artice by Mr. Frog: A lottery ticket costs $1 . . . though I don't know much about the multiplier thingie . . . do you need to go multiplier to win the big jackpot? All right, going with the $1 figure, :et's say that your odds are 1:187,000,000 and the jackpot is $300,000,000: 1) Without any other factors, you're getting about 1.6 to 1 pot odds for every ticket you buy; 2) However, if you take the cash option, how much do you get? A little over half, say $187,000...
I do not condone attacks on civilians. I do not support any work of terror. I grew up in a Jewish family in the last throws of assimilation. I have experienced mild suggestions of anti-semetism all my life, but never truly suffered for my religion. There. That's my background. With that said, no one--especially other pro-Israel sympathizers like myself--should ever forget that Israel was created and defended by Jewish terrorists--the Irgun, for example (shorthand for Irgun Tsvai Leu...
What is peaceful rebellion? Like Gandhi? Things do change that way, no question, but the system doesn't change. The perspective passed down from Hammurabi and an educated handful of drunken greeks remains in place. This system, it runs based on its own rules, not on some metaphysical conception of morality. It is an organism trying to survive. Go ahead and think that it is getting worse, more invasive, more corrupted, more inaccessible, more big brother. It doesn't matter. It's just ...