Dr. Hofmann has left the box for good this time... the inventor of LSD died last week, and this article makes an admirable attempt at explaining what he'd unleashed. Having done a lot of acid in my life, I think his take is as good an encapsulation as you'll see. It's otherwise kind of frustrating trying to relate the experience to someone who's never taken it.
Yawp.
Originally published in the (London) Independent:
A Tribute To Albert Hofmann: My LSD Trip Down Memory Lane
by Tim Lott
Dr Albert Hofmann, who died last week, was the inventor of LSD. But he was not merely a chemist. He was a revolutionary.
Hofmann changed the way a whole generation looked at the world. This is the sort of statement that is customarily made about thinkers and scientists of the stature of, say, Marx or Einstein. But it is more directly and vividly true of Hofmann than any of these otherwise much more formidable intellectual titans. Freud theorised about the existence of the unconscious, but LSD made it an experiential reality, as tangible as touching stone or seeing light.
Hofmann’s discovery is still widely misunderstood. But those who have known its glory - and its agony - will also know that no one really comes back from the altered state of consciousness that LSD induces quite the same person that they were before. Like no other experience imaginable, it rips to pieces your understanding of what it is to be alive.
When you return from the unimaginable shore to which LSD takes you, putting those pieces back together can be a lifelong task. It can make you mad. But it can also make you understand that your life is not what you thought it was - that it is bigger, richer and, above all, stranger.
This epiphany-in-a-pill is an idea that makes us deeply uncomfortable for a raft of reasons - the lack of spiritual or moral effort involved in attaining the experience, the impossibility of explaining its effects to non-users, and the moral panic over its distribution and use in the 1960s and 1970s.
Nowadays, LSD has been quietly consigned to the medicine cabinet of history. It is no longer fashionable, nor widely available, nor especially potent. It has lost ground to gentler drugs such as MDMA or more violent narcotics such a crack, crystal meth and heroin. But it is in a different category from all these mind-altering substances, and ill deserves its lumping into the category of “recreational drugs: bad/harmful/dangerous”.
This isn’t to say it isn’t bad, harmful or dangerous. LSD can certainly be all those things. But LSD - like its natural counterparts mescaline or peyote - is not quite in the same category as any other mind-altering narcotic. It is potentially, I think, the only truly creative drug - that is, a drug which enables the mind to shake off the shackles of habit and conditioning and arrive at the heart of - for want of a better word - the human soul.
And it is the only “recreational” drug that has a real element of intellectual and cultural respectability, with thinkers and writers such as Aldous Huxley, Ken Kesey and Allen Ginsberg all affirming its uses, while the remarkable phenomenon we call “the Sixties” would not have happened at all without this psychoactive shamanic medicine.
Before I continue, I should make it clear that I am not a habitual or long-term user of the drug. I have taken it twice - both times when I was 15 years old. On one occasion, it gave me an experience of bliss, lasting some 12 hours, that lay far beyond words or images to express. On the other, I was cast into the darkest reaches of hopelessness and terror. I ended up running down my street naked, and being locked up in a police cell. It is not an exaggeration to say that these experiences, to this day, are always with me.
This will sound like hyperbole to anyone who hasn’t experienced the drug, so I will make an effort to explain what it was like, knowing that such an effort must fail. I wrote about it in my memoir, The Scent of Dried Roses. Here are two brief extracts:
“The tower blocks shine like mirrors and the blue of the sky seems to have concentrated and leaked out into the air, so that everything is soaked in aquamarine. There is a deep relentless and secret whirr within me, a dynamo that has been switched on to full power for the first time. I am so full of delight I want to leave my skin and melt.”
Then later:
“The panic begins to turn to unalloyed terror as I feel my very sense of self beginning to collapse into the swelling chaos of everything else… I am negated. I have gone completely mad, although everything is unmistakable, intensely real.”
The key fact of these accounts is that, whether in terror or bliss, “I am not seeing things that are not there. I am seeing things that are there…. The sensible world is merely a construction of my brain, and the brain is simply a filter that keeps unmanageable, too large information out.” LSD does not merely distort reality - it removes a filter on reality. And that is why it is such a profound experience.
I cannot in all conscience evangelise, or recommend to my children that they take it. I have suffered mental health problems much of my life - I doubt this fact is entirely unconnected with those very intense teenage mental epiphanies. But I cannot help but be grateful to have seen what I have seen, which is plainly and simply a religious vision, an a priori proof that there is more to the world than a dead material universe.
My personal experience aside, it fuelled decades of cultural experiment and output, much of it bad, but some of it good. (After Sir Paul McCartney claimed that “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” had nothing to do with LSD, I’m surprised the judge in his divorce case believed a word he uttered in court.) But the larger societal “effect” ‘ of LSD - be it in swirly-whirly graffiti, self-indulgent rock music, or tie-dye T-shirts - are a red herring, along with the appallingly dim-witted New Age movements it has left in its wake.
The art, culture and film that arose out of LSD did not have much worth - Zabriskie Point? Disraeli Gears? Journey to Ixtlan? and so on - but the fact that people took the intellectual experience of the drug seriously does speak volumes. There were even TV documentaries - one chaired by Malcolm Muggeridge - on which philosophers and academics were given the drug and filmed on camera. They spoke very highly of their experiences. LSD, they asserted, didn’t simply damage people; it changed them in ways that went beyond “good” or “bad”. This is its unique claim within the pharmacological lexicon.
Such a thing happening today is unimaginable. We live now in a world where all illegal drugs are lumped together as social evils. This represents a narrowing of our imaginations, a closing of our collective minds. Albert Hofmann’s discovery remains, I believe, of the greatest significance; and there are few mature adults - particular ones whose minds are limited by the environment in which they habitually exist - who would not benefit greatly from its prescription.
Gordon Brown would be a prime contender, I think. His dour materialism would disappear overnight. Boris Johnson has clearly had some already slipped to him in a cup of tea some time or other. But apart from him, the entire Tory and Labour front benches could do with at least one medically administered shot of acid.
That something which bio-chemically can open and even heal the mind (in some ways Prozac does something analogous though very different) is so violently proscribed speaks volumes of our times, when imagination and the spiritual itself are virtually taboo. Albert Hofmann’s great experiment was thus a failure. But one day, I still believe, both its therapeutic and philosophical uses will be rediscovered.
And one other thing. Old Albert lived to 102. What does that tell you about the therapeutic properties of lysergic acid diethylamide?
Monday, May 5, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
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:
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.
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.
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.
Friday, March 21, 2008
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...."
"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...."
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
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.
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.
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.
Wow... I don't even need to try making a gag out of this one.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
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.
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.
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!!!
As of this morning, I gots a niece!!! Anita, wife of my brother Peter, just popped. I'm so psyched! FUCK YEAH! YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH!!!
Monday, March 3, 2008
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
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
Thursday, January 17, 2008
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!
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!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
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
"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
Saturday, January 12, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
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).
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).
Monday, January 7, 2008
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.
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.
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.
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