Lair Update

So, a while ago I mentioned getting a new computer, and I've had it now for quite a while. But I also had made a deal with myself, that before I installed it, I MUST clean my room properly, for the first time in eight years. Seriously - eight years. Someone once said - and since then, many have repeated it - that the cleanliness or order of your home is reflective of your psyche. This could not be more true for me. Here's a "before picture" of a small part of my room:



People who have seen my place have said "Well, ha ha, as long as you know where everything is...." No, I would have no idea where anything was, that was a big part of the fucking problem! And yet, I've been unable to get the place clean and ordered for eight years. Such has been the state of my state.

Still, as Quentin Crisp once said:

There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse.

Of course, I should give you an "after picture" of the same scene in my room, but it wouldn't look very impressive, particularly since it never got to be perfectly clean (though the rest of my room did), and it's now concealed by tons of cardboard boxes from my new computer (I've been keeping them ready in case I need to send anything back, which has come true for my speaker system).

But here's the new beast, at last:



The case reminds me of a Cylon. The case's model is the NZXT Zero Aluminum, which I must say: don't get. It was actually a replacement for my desired case, by ThermalTake, and I wish I'd waited for it (it was back-ordered, and the thing was taking so long already... d'oh). This rig is from www.CyberPowerpc.com btw, and while I can tell you they'll give you great bang for your buck, they take forever to do stuff, and their technical support is ABYSMAL.

Quote of the Duh

Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that her comments that the United States could “totally obliterate” Iran if it made a nuclear attack on Israel had been an attempt to return the United States to Cold War style deterrence.

Does this mean we get more wars-by-proxy and a new Red Scare too? Or I guess it would be a Brown Scare? And hey, a further buildup of arms, and supplying the same to all the pawns?

"Woot!" yelps the war industry, as it slaps on a "Hillary '08" button.

New Buttons (and buttons for sale, yawp)

As usual, it's been way too long - a month and a day - since last I posted. I've had my ups, downs, sides to sides, and wibbly-wobblies. But enough about me, here's the recent additions to my buttons designs. The actual buttons are only 1.25" diameter; I really do need to get the 2" machine.







The last one - Edgar Rice Burroughs - is the same color as/and is replacing my Asimov button, below. I'm gonna come up with a new design for the margins of my sci-fi heroes' buttons (Asimov, JG Ballard, Philip K, Heinlein, etc.). As if you care.

Anyway, I'm hoping to set up a more pro page for this, but as of now I'm selling these things for $1 (postage included) to anyone in the US, and uh, more I guess for anyone overseas. If you want anything, check my buttons photo album for designs, and email me at phobrek@gmail.com - w/a mailing address, etc. Note that my buttons are all only 1.25" in diameter.

Oh! A disclaimer: if anyone has any issue with copyright of any images used, please let me know at the same address, and I'll respond, and probably cease and desist. No biggie.

Quote of the Duh

From the article on a woman killed by a manta ray that leaped out of the water into a boat:

"It's just as freakish of an accident as I have heard," said Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "The chances of this occurring are so remote that most of us are completely astonished that this happened."

Operative words being "most of us." Meaning there was at least one guy that said "Well yeah, I coulda told you this was going to happen sooner or later...."

My two year old nephew Aalam is already a frickin' rock star.

Status: FU

Order timestamp: 3/2/2008 3:28:33 PM (PST)
Shipping method: Fedex Ground
Order total: $1,886.45
Status: Order received

Status: Order received
Status: Order received
Status: Order received
Status: Order received
Status: Order received

GAHHHH gimme my computer! Every time I check - like every 4 or 5 minutes - all I gets is "Order received." FOKK.

Edit/add... I just called 'em and learned it will be shipped out this Friday or at the latest, Monday. Grumble grumble okay.

Buttonses

While the bunch of my button designs can be viewed in my album, here's my newest ones. The actual buttons are only 1.25" btw, although in time I want to get a 2" button press as well.





While these are all fabulous writers of yore, I'm also going to make ones of plenty of other favorite figures, such as Einsten, Nikolai Tesla, Orson Welles, favorite (dead) musicians (often composers) that you won't otherwise see on a button, like Aram Khachaturian, Edward MacDowell, etc.

And I'm going to make different background designs... recycling the one I've been using gets old.

Quote of the Duh

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." - Geraldine Ferraro

Wow... I don't even need to try making a gag out of this one.

I forgot to add: my new niece is named Jameela Sophia Sulski. Niiice.

Buttonses

So, with the aid of my trusty button-maker I bought a couple months ago, I've been making... you guessed it! Buttons! I've made quite a few thus far, but here's my two favorites:





I've uploaded the other designs I've made at http://picasaweb.google.com/phobrek/Buttonses. Eventually I plan to sell such things (cheap), although I'll need to make (fairly) original designs so as to respect others' ownership of images, etc. (such as the Gygax painting here).

I'm working on a bunch of designs for favorite authors, like: Anais Nin, Henry Miller, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert E. Howard, Isaac Asimov, JRR Tolkein, CS Lewis, Robert Heinlein, Philip K Dick, JG Ballard, etc.

He done ascended....

While this news below - fuck yeah! - dwarfs this completely, I imagine most readers of this blog (all three of you) know that E. Gary Gygax died yesterday. I'll have more to say on this great man in the near future, and I was surprised to see that I felt more about him than I thought I would.

It's odd... I wouldn't have been surprised if Gygax had actually died long ago, and I'd just never heard about it. I can't say that I'll "miss" him, since I never followed his life and doings, really. Instead, however, I've suddenly felt a great, thankful acknowledgment of what he had done, and how powerful he affected my life, as well as the lives of countless others. In terms of role-playing games, and so many games that in some way have an ancient, distant distant or relationship to them, his impact has been massive.

This is corny, but I'll say it anyway:

Gygax has found the Amulet of Yendor, and ascended to godhood.

I'm such a geek. And proud of it.

YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH!!!

WOOWOOWOOWOOWOOWOOWOOYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH!!!

As of this morning, I gots a niece!!! Anita, wife of my brother Peter, just popped. I'm so psyched! FUCK YEAH! YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH!!!

L33t

So, uh, it's been over a month and a half since I last posted, although there was a good reason, which I'll get into later (I mean, in the next day or so, not in another month, etc.).

But I'm too excited not to share this awesome news. Thanks to a loan from my godlike brother John, we just ordered me a new computer. The obsolete machine I've been using for the last 8+ years is a (refurbished, even) Dell Dimension 4550 and an even older monitor. Since then, I've come to hate Dell for their craptacular outsourced customer service (whereas it was excellent in my first years w/them) and have recently learned more about their inferior parts (although I guess they make top-notch laptops).

So after much research, I'm now getting the following!



CyberPower Infinity 8800 Pro SE

• CPU: (Quad-Core) Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz 1066FSB 8MB L2 Cache 64-bit
• CASE: Thermaltake Bach VX Mid-Tower 420W Case with Side Window
• FAN: Thermaltake MaxOrb Enthusiast CPU Cooling Fan (Slient & Overclock Proof w/ Highest Efficiency Cooling)
• MOTHERBOARD: (QX9650 Support) Asus P5N-D nForce 750i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
• MEMORY: 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
• VIDEO: EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 1GB 16X PCI Express
• HDD: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive
• HDD2: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive
• CD: 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
• CD2: 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
• MONITOR: ViewSonic VX2235WM ClearMotiv 22" TFT Active Matrix LCD Display (5MS) 1680x1050
• NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
• POWERSUPPLY: Xion SuperNova 800 Watts Power Supplies Quad SLI Ready
• SOUND: Creative Labs SB Audigy SE
• SPEAKERS: Creative Labs Inspire P7800 7.1 Surround Subwoofer Speaker System (BLACK COLOR)
• OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)
• FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
• MOUSE: Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse (BLACK COLOR)
• SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS 24/7 LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
• FREE ACCESSORY: CYBERPOWER WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM BONUS Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini STM900803OTA3E1-RK 80GB 5400 RPM External Hard Drive
• FREEBIE_VC2: FREE! Poker Set
• FREEBIE_CU1: FREE! CyberPower Multi-Purpose Carrying Briefcase ($19.99 Value)
• FREEBIE_CU2: FREE! Cyberpower Unleash The Power T-Shirt/Rag

Woot. It should arrive in about a week.

"I'm so excited I could plotz!" - Hawkeye, MASH

Stamps. WTF else, bitch?

So, my stamps from stamps.com came... they is teh best!



My next will be this design I just done made. Years and years ago there was a pretty prolific petition going on to get the USPS to issue a stamp commemorating HP Lovecraft. It never happened, so, take that, postal bitches!

Quote of the Day

In the "you just can't make this shit up" department:

"You cannot expect people to believe in the promise of a better future when they are jailed for peacefully petitioning their government. And you cannot stand up a modern, confident nation when you do not allow people to voice their legitimate criticisms."
- G W Bush

Housemate Wanted!

Hey all, one of my roomies is moving out at the end of this month. He needed to be closer to school... WTF. An hour+ each way is no big deal! Traitor.

Anyway, we need a housemate. If you or someone you know wants a place in a vegetarian household in Worcester, Massachusetts, send 'em my way. Hell, if you simply know someone in the Worcester area, tell them to pass this "must-see" offer along to all their friends.

The blurb follows:



Wanted: Housemate (Vegetarian only!)

When: February 1st, 2008

Where: Avalon Place, 6 blocks in from Elm Park & Highland St.
Very central, w/in walking distance to everything

What: Large 1st floor apt: 4 bedrooms, 2 large common rooms, kitchen
Big attractive house built in the 1830s

Who: We 3 housemates are ages 28 to a YOUNG (I’ll have you know) 40

Price: $385/month includes heat; internet/electricity is cheap.

Niceties:
- The room up for grabs is particularly nifty
- Use of free laundry machines
- Lots of storage space available
- Pets OK. Pets are great!

Call Phobrek at 508-755-8732, or email phobrek@gmail.com!

Location: if you’re not familiar with this area, know that:
- The stretch of nearby Highland St. has decent restaurants, bars, cafe, and many fun shops, making it one of Worcester’s few lively, popular areas.
- A supermarket is w/in walking distance near the lovely Elm Park, and across the park is (appropriately) Park Ave., with more restaurants, shops, and fun.
- Highland Street goes downtown and becomes Route 9, giving quick highway access; Park Ave is a main street which crosses the city: when you’re getting to places in or out of Worcester, this is an ideal location.

John loves Barack

I just watched CNN's clip of John Kerry stumping in South Carolina for Barack Obama, giving his endorsement in an emphatic and lively manner. If only the dumbass had had this kind of fire four years ago! Once Obama took the stage and thanked Kerry, he went on to espouse the former candidate's virtues, and so again I had to wonder, what if someone stumped for him in that dramatic, charismatic way Obama has about him? Obama defended Kerry better than he had when he was running back in '04. Well, I guess anyone defending Kerry back then would have done a better job, seeing as how the weakling just rolled over and died, not even trying to de-bunk the blatant smear attacks against him.

I honestly have no real preference at this point, when it comes to Hillary, Obama, and Edwards. I just want one of them to run and beat whatever sacrificial turkey the GOP offers us; any of them will be a big step forward. And once in there, I want whoever it is to appoint the mighty mouse DK (Dennis Kucinich) to a cabinet position. Get this fantastic guy into a place where he can do some good, because he's brilliant and would be great for the country. And this way we can also keep his wife in the spotlight (cough... okay, I mentioned DK, so by law I have to make note of his hot wife).

Abolish the Electoral College!

Supposedly, this month, Senator Dianne Feinstein is to lead the charge against abolishing the electoral college. In the past, what attempts have been made seem to have gotten nowhere fast. And, sadly, evolving our antiquated method of electing the "leader of the free world" has never been an issue of public interest. Which is rather ridiculous, seeing as how Gore won the general election in 2000, but lost the college's tally (although of course, had all things been fair, he'd have won Florida, etc.). I just have this slight feeling in my gut that things might have gone differently these past seven years had Gore been at the helm. Call me crazy.

I'll be resurrecting and revising my old article "Inequality of votes in presidential elections under the Electoral College system" soon enough and posting my plea anew soon enough. How to get it read, well, that's always a problem.

In Air America's first days, I actually got to talk to Al Franken for a bit regarding the (then-) upcoming 2004 election. I took the position that none of the existing problems (let alone the unjust EC system) would be fixed by that November; somehow he thought to the contrary. All I can say is... IN YOUR FACE, FRANKEN! And while I love Feinstein and hope for the best, I just can't imagine her getting the support she needs. Maybe I'm wrong. I'd definitely be happy if we could at least first address the torrent of inadequacies and "dirty tricks" abounding in our previous federal elections.

All yr liberties belongz 2 us

Just finished watching a great British documentary from late last year called Taking Liberties. Definitely worth watching, regardless of what country you're watching it from. And of course, lots of the last years of Britain's descent into madness is tied at the hips with ours here in the U.S.

A favorite part was Riz MC's video for The Post-9/11 Blues. Riz was actually one of the actors in the re-enactment segments in another great flick, Road to Guantanamo Bay. Ironically, he was recently detained shortly after attending a film festival featuring it, and thus was subjected to detention, abuse, threats, etc.

Anyway, check out the video and song; it kicks arse. And definitely catch Taking Liberties and Road to Guantanamo.

I see dead people's stamps

In the last three days I've been much the philately geek. Bidding tiny amounts for interesting stuff on eBay (I'm a total cheapskate, which is necessary because of my barren bank account), and getting a couple fun things in the mail. One package I got was an old, unopened bag of "mission stamps." Also called "charity stamps," I learned that these are bunches of stamps that are gathered by and/or for religious groups (hence the term mission) which are then sold to stamp addicts for charity. How odd... I can't imagine it turning much of a profit. But, the benefit to a stamp collector is that these are grab bags which are supposedly unsorted and unpicked by anyone, meaning you might get some rare stuff amongst the many commons. But at this point I'm not really capable of telling one from the other, since my DVD stamp guide hasn't arrived in the mail yet. This company Scott has a corner on the stamps market, and they release new catalogs every year, which feature not only a price guide for the stamps, but pictures of every fucking stamp ever. They're six massive phone book sized tomes per year, costing like $300. Crazy. The DVD I found was substantially cheaper.

But I've figured that the best way to get more interesting, older stamps would be to grab other people's collections... those of dead people. I've been looking for a while to see if any estate sales were in the area (yard sales are pretty rare in the winter), and last week I found one. It was on Friday and my friend Dave (also a hunter of bargains) got there about quarter to nine in the morning. It was a riot. People started lining up in the cold (well, we didn't, but most did) waiting for the doors to open, and at exactly 9 AM, in rushed about two dozen people, in the space of a minute. When we got in, it was like vultures ripping away at the previous owner's carcass! I immediately looked at the table of ephemera (my word of the week, meaning anything that's printed that isn't a book or magazine, basically), but only found a couple of old envelopes with stamps on them. In the end, I bought those and a small stack of neat looking (unused) envelopes for $2, and Dave got a big pot for $1. I'm sure we could have found this or that if we searched through everything, but meh! Screw it. But now I'm keeping my eye out for similar sales.

I should also give out a general plea here... if you get stamps from other countries occasionally, feel free to save and send 'em to me! I'm still trying to figure out what kind I really want to collect. For now I'm just getting a general mass of the things together (I should really get a stamp book), but eventually I'll pick a couple things in particular. I think I'd like to get a lot of French stamps (they actually put art reproductions on their stamps), and if there are many, stamps depicting mythological material, and legends, folklore, etc.

And to combine the two... well, these aren't French stamps, but it's a French painter, and his paintings have made it onto some commemorative stamps, which I've now ordered. It's my all-time favorite artist, William-Adolphe Bouguereau!