Another Crushing Blow To All the Hopeless Romantics in New York!

(begin sarcasm) The healthcare system in this country is really tip top! (end sarcasm) Seems that for the past five years or so the hopeless romantics (convicted sex offenders and child predators) of New York State were able to get erectile-dysfunction drugs like Viagra through their Medicare benefits. In other words, they have enjoyed stronger and longer lasting erections at the expense of John and Jane Q. Taxpayer! Now this might not be limited to just New York State and might not be new news for some. I finally decided to say something now that Wacky Pataki and George Bush are getting involved in the cause...

For those who know me, I have a particular hatred and disgust for people who fall into the following categories:

1. Rapists - some experts say these crimes are more about power and less about the actual sex itself. Either way, I feel these assholes are just too cheap to pay for it like normal people! I mean why not try taking a girl out, getting to know her, treating her like a lady and spending some time and dough. Anyone who thinks sex is free must have been sleeping for the last couple hundred years. Even here are Long Island, where the cost of living is pretty high, sex is still readily affordable depending on where you shop. It can range from a few minutes for as little as $20 (not including cost of gas from all the driving in circles) to weeks even months and not knowing how much money it really cost you! But with any purchase no matter how great or small it is always buyer beware. Special note to date rapists, coming straight from my experience in nearly all types of sexual theatre, no means no. Code words and other communication aside, screaming NO has never meant anything but "get the fuck off of me!!!"

2. Spousal Abusers - I used to use the term "wife beaters" but because I own several and they now have documented cases of wives beating their husbands I use the term Spousal Abusers. Perhaps it's a bit more PC. One thing is for certain these people can be multidisciplinary fuck-ups since they could just as easily fall into category #1. Basically, this is a simple issue for me. One, no matter what kind of shit you might have seen growing up in your home or community, we are all born with a brain of our own and we are not doomed to repeat the ridiculous actions of others, period. And two, like category #1 regardless who is doing the abusing (man or woman) the law should be equally merciless for both. Both male and female offenders need a stiff boot in their ass. More often than not, men get something else up their ass in prison but women offenders may get off a bit light in this department.

3. Pedophiles - Again some experts say the causal components for these crimes are multifaceted although I look at this class of criminal with brutal simplicity. Similar to a dog that has attacked/killed a person it usually has to be put down because it now has the ability to do it again with even less provocation. I feel the same can be said for pedophiles. I just feel that once this line has been crossed there is no rehabilitation that can be done. It is not something that can be "un"-trained. There are some who disagree I am sure but until I am proven wrong I stand firm on my reasoning. More often than not, those who have offended tend to never truly assimilate back into normal society. The rare few are exceptions to the rule.

Many other sub-categories can be created from the three above but I like to keep things simple and digestable in my mind. Complexity sometimes clouds the mind from coming to reasonable conclusions that make sense in the real world. So I am glad to see that erectile-dysfunction drugs will no longer be administered to those who have been convicted of rape, molestation, etc. In my opinion, this matter should have been looked into sooner and with far more rigor instead of other issues like same sex marriage. I have no problem with same sex marriage and I am convinced God feels the same given the many other horrible things that exist in this world.

SYS

Check This Out If You Wanna Represent!

Being a bit of a fashion whore (not really) I am always on the prowl for new urban clothing ideas. I stumbled upon Neighborhoodies. What a cool name, huh? Not just a cool name, mind you, they have neat apparel offerings and gift ideas for anyone who loves his or her hometown (or just wants to create some conversation sparking outerwear). They have babywear and stuff for pets.

Oh yeah, they customize skivvies too (only for the femmes though)! The possibilities are endless, ladies. If I actually pulled the jeans off a shag and saw "East Setauket Bearded Clam" on them I would totally lose it! Laughing at a chicks skivvies I believe is a faux pas. But it wouldn't be the first time. :) Anyway, check them out!

SYS

Revenge of the Sith Rocked!

But some of the knobs who were in the theatre were annoying as hell! The crew and I attended the 10:30pm showing, so we made sure to arrive early to make sure we had a good selection of seats. No problems there. I prefer to be rather centered in the isle and not too close up to the screen which worked out great. One funny part (before the movie even started) was as soon as the coming attractions were over and the "Twentieth Century Fox" appeared everyone in the theatre erupted in applause. The crew and I were all looking at each other as if they added about a half-hour of coming attraction before Episode III. Fuckers!

I have to say Episode III is the best out of the first three episodes but many will realize that Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back still holds the crown as the greatest of them all! I found that while the story was good and a bit on the darker side (not too much of the whimsical, Disney aspect) in general the film seemed rushed. If the film had the same pace as let's say Episodes I or II then the film could have been easily three and a half hours long. Many of the crew agreed that Episode III tried to pack in a lot of story into the two plus hours making the action of the film relentless.

***SPOILER ALERT***

Yes, Mace Windu gets tricked up by Anakin and a down but not out Darth Sidious (emperor Palpatine) kills him. This didn't leave me all that upset because I felt that much of Samuel L. Jackson's dialogue was shite. He was much cooler in Episodes I and II. Also, Darth Sidious's power was more psychological than actual physical and I had to check myself a few times because I thought Mace was going to kill Sidious/Palpatine in the movie, even though he wasn't supposed to. It has been a while since I read the books so the cobb webs are there lingering in some places of memory.

Yes, Yoda gets down again and nearly ends Sidious's life. However, if I had to rewrite the story a bit I would have pinned Obi Wan against Sidious and Yoda against Anakin/Vader. Obi Wan's skills with the living force as well as with the light sabre at this point in the story line are more than enough to end Sidious. Yoda would have made easy work of Anakin/Vader because Vader's full dark powers were not yet fully released. But, of course, Obi Wan had to be the one to strike down Anakin/Vader because this would set-up the rematch in Episode IV: A New Hope. Speaking of Episode IV, I never really understood the trick that Obi Wan did when Vader seemingly cut him down with his light sabre, but with no body to be found. The way Vader acted in light of this seemed to reveal that he knew what Obi Wan really did (that is became one with the force without dying). Evidence of this can be seen in Episode III where Yoda tells Obi Wan that he has more training for him, in particular he will teach Obi Wan how to converse with Qui Gon Jinn who himself became one with the force as a result of his death by the hand of Darth Maul.

For all this stuff is fascinating and I could go on and on at length. But suffice to say that I was happy with the film and I am disappointed majorly that Lucas will not be making the final three Episodes VII, VIII and IX. Although another director and production crew could take the reigns, nothing is certain as of yet!

SYS

I'm a sucker for self discovery...

Thanks to Colleen for motivating me to find out what movie I would likely be in!


Fight Club!


What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

I have to say that the movie is pretty spot on, but after reading some of the text, I have some reservations. I wouldn't say I am a broken person, really. We've all had tragedies shape our personalities for better or worse but I would definitely disagree with being broken. I am pretty whole! But I definitely have a lot in common with Brad Pitt's character, making this a pretty cool Quizilla offering. Except I am not as scrawny as Pitt, and if I ran the fight club there wouldn't be too much of a club after a few weeks. Who would join a club where I, the president, look normal and all the member's faces are bandaged up and walking with limps? :)

I'll stick to being a full time lover, part time "put yo' ass in a sling" -er!

SYS

Something in the Paper Actually Made Me Feel Good!

Rarely do I read something in the paper that makes me feel better about the world around me. Most of the time I say to myself, "what the fuck is wrong with the gene pool?" (Or something equally as crass as that.) But yesterday I read something that actually made me feel a bit good. As if we are heading in the right direction as a people, society as a whole. It concerns the AMBER Alert System which is a nation wide network that posts alerts whenever a child is missing. When the service first startted I thought it was a great idea since, like most people, I was growing increasingly depressed to see more flyers in my mail with children's faces on them saying, "Have you seen this child?" I love my country but it is shit like this that still leaves a sour after taste.

An interesting column in USA Today...

...caught my attention because it said that AMBER (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alerts are now available on wireless service carriers like Verizon and Sprint. The logic behind this is that people with cell phones are the "mobile eyes and ears" of the country and seem to spread news around real quick. This is really cool because what better way to get the word out about a missing child than to have it hit those who are out and about and constantly on their cell phones, right? Alerts are tailored to the region you are in, so there is no worry that someone in New York will receive an alert about a missing child abducted in New Mexico. Plus, the service is FREE, so it doesn't cost you anything not even the charges for SMS messages that some carriers have. (Cool beans!) I for one will be signing up since Sprint (along with Verizon) is a sponsor of the Wireless AMBER Alerts. Pretty soon other carriers will be signing on and I think they should because time seems to be the determining factor for recovering a missing child. The USA Today column said that something like 70% of missing children are killed within the first three hours of being abducted! This just blows my mind and makes me feel even stronger about this cause. So get off your asses (well you know what I mean, LOL) people and point your browsers to the AMBER Alerts web site and sign up!!!

Chow Mein, baby!

So I guess I'm not that lazy after all. Went ahead and finished up the weed whacking and set up the outdoor dinette so that I could plop my ass in a chair, sip some tea and surf the web from underneath the rejuvenating sun! No new developments since my last post only to say I love this weather. Late spring/early summer is my most favorite time of the year. Fall is a close second as the air becomes crisp and the leaves begin to brown. Once summer heat gets too much that's when I either have to be inside in the air conditioning or out in the water swimming. Yep, today is a good day to be lazy. Getting up early is nice on a Monday so that you can get all the bullshit done early and then chill! Too bad this can't last much longer once I move.

SYS

Weather is finally coming around!

Maybe I should have chosen landscaping/landscape design as my profession? As soon as spring started to creep in, I couldn't wait to mow the grass, weed and otherwise get dirty in the yard. Or course, the more time I find myself spending outside the less time I find I am engaging in more sessile activities such as surfing and blogging. Hence, my rather sporatic entries as of late. But it's so hard to deny myself the sun and fresh air. Actually, I'm just fucking lazy! I could easily set up my notebook outside on the patio and when I take a break for some tea simply blog away. It's not like I have nothing to say, right??

But seriously...

...What is the deal with people and boats?! Everyone and their aunts are getting boats. I live on an island, true, but with the high prices of gas (why is LI 10% higher than anywhere else except Hawaii, ffs!?!) how are these people able to not only slip a boat but keep it fueled for the weekends? Pretty soon if these prices do not go down you will start seeing knobs being pulled over on the highways here for carting drums of fuel in their trucks. By law you cannot transport more than 10 gallons in a container I think. I've only had to transport gas for my lawnmower, so I am really not sure of this regulation cause I have never broken it. Usually, I can only quote for certain laws that I have personally broken.

As I am writing this I see that yet again this month SPICE WORLD is on cable. A horrible movie, indeed, but there's nothing wrong with seeing some built birds acting bad on screen. No matter how bad they are they are good, you know. My favorite spice bird? Hmm. To be honest, I would be like William's in "Enter the Dragon" and give all five of 'em a thorough fluctuation of diction (I love brit cockneys) and in the morning they'd be butt naked in my kitchen with their house shoes on fixing my egg whites and turkey breast! After a long night's overtime one needs a wholesome, well balanced breakfast. Hell yeah!

Now off to some yard work now that the sun is back out again. Besides, I'd like to catch that bird from around the corner on her jog. I like to holler at her as she goes bouncing by.

SYS

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I felt the big 3-0 creep up some more this past week. The 26th is rushin' in like the bulls in Pamplona for real and a week is turning into a blur. But I am happy to say that many nice developments have taken place. In general, the weather is getting better and better, although we had a wet time this past week, and I am feeling the Spring Fever a bit. I got my first minor sun burn from working in the yard (woohoo!) starting me on my way to many cycles of red-to-pale. This is all trivial really compared to what else has happened.

So why not do a little bulleted list thingy to keep track? Yes-yes! After all I am feeble-minded (LOL):

Next week I should be entering contract on my house - This is really awesome since I have been paying rent on my new place in Lincoln as of April 1st. I am really excited to get this sale finalized and to get moved in to my new apartment. And believe it or not, I am looking forward to driving out to Nebraska with Caesar! It should be a fun little two-day adventure.

Training has kicked into a higher gear - So far I see positive gains in both strength and muscular endurance. The most noted effects have been my vertical leap and serve speed during volleyball games. Not being much of a spiker before I am clearly able to drive the ball down now which is nice. But the real goal is to make myself more limber and improve my climbing ability, as well as look better. I know that might sound vain but it is the truth.

Dad and I are about finished with the upstairs - Another good thing this way I can concentrate on sorting and packing as the closing approaches. The one thing my attorney will have to negotiate on my behalf is perhaps a quicker closing. This way I am not stuck paying for more rent than I have to before I am actually moved in.

Lastly, I have to remove aspestos insulation in the basement - As per terms of the contract. Luckily, my dad knows a friend who does this and will be able to give me a good price for the removal. Other than that, the house is ready to go. So I shall keep my fingers crossed as the next few weeks approach. Hopefully, this will all go smoothly.

On a different note, I am beginning to realize how crazy selling a house can be. Certainly, buying a house is even crazier but thank heavens I am on the other side. You gain a true appreciation for things when you experience them first hand, that's for sure.

SYS

An Important Project Everyone Should See

Steadily over the past few months, I have become more of a consistant fan of the shows Screen Savers (now defunct) and Attack of the Show (Screen Savers v2.0) on the G4 network. Anything related to blogging catches my eye. Apparently, blogging has further morphed into vlogging or video blogging which is a logical progression in my mind with both picture blogging and audio blogging well within the mainstream. Well, vlogging is about to take another quantum leap with the IAM Project.

Tripp Millican creator of the IAM Project is developing a "point of view" video recording system using streaming video technology and head-mounted video hardware. What is cool about his software is the it has the ability to sense scene changes, light changes, etc. in order to pre-chop video segments taken from hours of recorded video automatically. In other words, a person can record their entire day (from waking up, to going to work and returning home, yadda yadda yadda) and the software will have automatically chopped the video into segments corresponding to changing events of that day. Your drive to work will be seperated from all other events in that days recorded video. This is way cool in my opinion!

Plus, all of the video is from the recorder's point of view meaning video images reflect in perspective what the recorder sees. Did I also mention this system is totally portable? Sweetness! The impact this software will have on many industries is staggering. The creator's goal is to have the software readily available for anyone to make use of. The project is still in development and you can follow this development through the IAM research blog. If only there would be hope of having this system complete and available for when I take my big trip (still being ironed out) in the Fall. Oh well. I think it is definitely worth the wait no matter how long it takes.

SYS

Geoblogging is cool shit!

I was watching Attack of the Show and heard about this:

Google Maps and Flickr have combined to provide a unique way for bloggers to contribute to the blogosphere through Geoblogging. Geoblogging is nothing new under the sun but I think this tool will make a somewhat boring part of the blog experience much cooler! First a brief word on Google Maps, how it became so powerful and why it seriously kicks everything elses ass.

Of course, those of us in the know when it comes to all things "Web" know that Google acquired Keyhole Corp. last year, the makers of the most powerful utility/service I have scene in a long time (and appropriately named) Keyhole. Keyhole uses 3D geography, aerial and satellite images and business information to allow users to create many cool flying and zoom effects from their location to any other locale in the world. All images are updated monthly and have remarkable resolutions, especially the street level urban aerial shots. Of course such detail will cost greatly. Beyond the artistic, Keyhole has corporate applications in land development, commercial agriculture and other industries.

So this explains how Google Maps got off the ground and why it is such a robust and powerful service. So what does this have to do with Google's free map service and Geoblogging? Well Flickr has a giant index of photos categorized by many keyword terms including location. So searching using the term 'Chicago' will bring you indexed photos of the city taken by Flickr users. Google Images produces similar results, again this is nothing new. But what is new is how Google Maps and Flickr have combined to raise the bar a bit for the free service making it even more useful.

Now users can bring up Google Maps that have special yellow balloons. These balloons signify an available "geo-tagged" Flickr image that is displayed with a mouse-over. So a city view will yield balloons for areas of interest, monuments, etc. Pretty sweet. But the coolest part is that any user can submit their own Flickr photos to Google Maps after adding some tagged information. Refer to the Geobloggers website (click on the title of this post) for more detailed information on how to do this. Basically, you can take a photo of your home, school, or place you like to hang out with friends, geo-tag it, submit it and it will be added to Google Map databases for that geographical area. So, if you submitted a photo of your house for example, a Google Map search for your hometown will contain a balloon which people can use to check out the photo of your house as well as the exact global coordinates (latitude and longitude). Now that's cool shit!!!

SYS