BunkBlog

Twice this week, the local radio station (one of those execrable Best of the 80s 90s and Today mutants) has played a song which is a cover of some 80s song that I never seem to remember until I get into work to write it down. This is one of those reasons why I wish I could bring my Clie to work in the secure facility – it has a voice recorder for these things.

Anyway, it sounds to me like Lisa Loeb is singing, and it’s a song from Erasure or some band from that era. Something that would have been on KROQ in 1986, for those that are from that particular milieu. Any help?

“Somebody has to do something, and it’s just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us.” – Jerry Garcia

Friday Five!

1. How many houses/apartments have you live in throughout your life? I’m going to say 23, but that includes barracks rooms (minus a couple that I was in for only a couple weeks) and I’m not 100% sure of the places I lived before 1976.
2. Which was your favorite and why? The house in Sierra Vista. It was large and comfy and had a nice backyard for Alex to run around in.
3. Do you find moving more exciting or stressful? Stressful
4. What’s more important, location or price? You can’t separate them, because the price for a house in a nice neighborhood may be worth more than the same house in a poor neighborhood.
5. What features does your dream house have? A library, a separate playroom for the boy, big kitchen with lots of cupboards and counters, big backyard, spare bedroom.

I think it would be hard to find a less clued-in politician than Tom Watson. He uses the phrase “l33t hax0rs” on his site, and he’s a British Member of Parliament. Yeah, very authentic. He won’t harsh your buzz, if you drop him a line on the Interwebnet, though. Ouch, brain hurts.

Thanks to BoingBoing.

These two articles show the schizophrenia in the music industry: Linkin Park is #1 and Radiohead bitches about piracy.

Having looked at the alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 newsgroups lately, I noticed that the Linkin Park album (Meteora) was pirated long ago and posted about 10 times in the past 3 weeks. The Radiohead album (Hail to the Thief) was also pirated a while ago and has been posted a few times (not as much as Meteora though). Now, Linkin Park is #1 even after being pirated and copied weeks earlier, yet Radiohead thinks the piracy is going to hurt them somehow? Going back in time, the last two Radiohead albums were extensively pirated, yet debuted in the top two spots on the Billboard charts. So, where exactly was the damage?

‘TIME-TRAVELER’ BUSTED FOR INSIDER TRADING – That’s right, the fella went from $800 to $350,000,000 in two weeks, so the feds busted him for suspicion of insider trading. He spent four hours regaling them with his confession – as a time traveler.
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Think it’s subversive enough?

Over at the Andy Social Emporium, I’ve added a new design: What Would Guevara Do? I figured the What Would Chthulhu Do? design kind of bombed, so I’d get more political. Enjoy.

Halliburton awarded Iraqi firefighting contract – I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence that VP Cheney used to work there.

Something that Gringo may find especially interesting: Mixed Feelings: San Diego / Tijuana, a documentary on PBS. The site says it airs “March 26th” but then all the reviews are from last year, so maybe it’s not news after all. Wish they’d put a year on there somewhere.

Time says it better than I could: Shame on You, Mr. Moore! Shame on You!

It’s not so much the message as the delivery, if you want to sway anyone to your point of view. Sure, plenty of people cheer Michael Moore’s antics. Those people already agreed with him. If he intended to influence anyone who was ambivalent, he just added some fuel to the “anti-war protestors are nuts” fire. It’s too bad, because you could make a pretty solid guess that most of the members of the audience agreed with him, just based on the stunned silence that greeted him. Scared of blacklists, much?

Futurama is on DVD. I can totally get behind owning the complete Futurama series, oh, yeah…

This gadget to translate between dogs and humans sounds suspiciously like the toy I got in a Happy Meal the other day.

Arab League ‘salutes Iraqis’ yet sends no military support of any kind. With friends like these…

UN to ask for help in Iraq – Iraqi people need food, medicine, clothing, and all the other things we take for granted. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is goingt to ask for up to 2 billion USD to help alleviate the suffering in Iraq. If we, as Americans, want to be consistent and honest about the motivations for invading Iraq, we should be the most generous in donating to the various Non-Governmental Organizations (Red Cross and others) which will assist in that region.
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How many people actually believe that the current conflict is really all about oil? How many believe that it’s all about human rights? How many believe that it’s all about wounded pride? How many believe that it’s because we know where Saddam is and we can’t find Bin Laden so we have to shoot someone?
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I don’t know why Michael Moore is a prick, but he is. I even agree with many of his views. But, a documentary filmmaker is not an expert on civics and international relations, no matter how much he yells.

And, fictition is not a word.

I know how the military will react to the POW issues in Iraq – greater resolve, less mercy, more firepower.

How does the average civilian feel though? Will the faces of our servicemembers, scared and confused on international television, make them more sure that war is just, or will it make them waver? I can see it either way. If you see these men, who are obviously out of their depth as POWs, who have recently watched their compatriots executed in the streets, who know that Iraq cares not one whit for the Geneva Convention, do you (as a viewer at home) feel that we really are doing the right thing? Does it make it more clear who is the bad guy and who is the good guy? Or, does it make you queasy and make you want to give in to any demands Iraq may make, just to get our soldiers back safely?

I’m sure this piece will amuse Buff quite a bit, but it certainly does illustrate one of the things I’ve been repeating quite a bit lately. That is, “get informed before shooting off your mouth.”

I have no doubt that the human shield volunteers were earnest in their desire to stop an unjust war. They just didn’t bother to find out whether the Iraqis wanted to be liberated or not. It increasingly sounds like they do.

the friday five

1. If you had the chance to meet someone you’ve never met, past or present, who would it be? Isaac Asimov
2. If you had to live in a different centurey, past or future, which would it be? Let’s say 22nd, so I’ll not be too lost.
3. If you had to move anywhere else on Earth, where would it be? Rosarito, Baja California Norte
4. If you had to be a fictional character, who would it be? Trent Castanaveras
5. If you had to live with someone else’s face as your own for the rest of your life, whose would it be? John Cusack