Month: August 2007

The Rovers still rove

August 28, 2007 · 1 Comment ·

Some good news from NASA regarding the Mars Rovers.

I still find it amazing that those rovers were only supposed to be on the surface of Mars for 90 sols (Martian Days). They’ve now been up for 1,271 sols, or 14.1 times longer than they were supposed to be active.

Those rovers are a testament to engineering at its very best. It is nice to see that it still exists somewhere in the U.S. and NASA still pulls it off.

What I can’t imagine is the excess data being sent by the rovers. They had their hands full with 90 sols of info, now they’ve got much more than that. While the Viking landers may have found life, the rovers Opportunity and Spirit may help us get a much more focused picture of what that life on Mars actually happens to be.

So kudos to NASA and Steve Squyres on the re-starting of the rovers. For a while there I thought all was lost but it isn’t.

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Now playing: Jack Johnson – Better Together
via FoxyTunes

TMI Tuesday Again

August 28, 2007 · Leave a comment ·

1. What is the best relationship advice you’ve ever received?
To be the romantic that I am. Sometimes I lose sight of that.

2. How many people have you dated at once? At once?
I had about three friends with benefits relationships going on at once. All knew about the others so it was cool.

3. What made your worst kiss so bad? Someone who doesn’t know how to use their tongue. Sheesh!

4. Can a relationship last if the sex is bad? The sex is still awesome and toe curling after nearly fifteen years. But I think our relationship would continue if the sex were to go bad.

5. What one thing would you like your partner to do every time you have sex with them? Kiss me. Which happens 95% of the time anyway. I don’t like being treated like a slab of meat ya know.

Bonus (as in optional): What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? That would be my problem, I tend to attract females because people mistake my friendliness for flirtiness. This doesn’t necessarily work on the male of the species though which is all the more tragic.

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Now playing: Eric Roberson – Please Don’t Leave Me
via FoxyTunes

Corporate Fraud and Greed – End it Now!

August 26, 2007August 26, 2007 · 1 Comment ·

Rolling Stone has a very interesting article on the excesses of fraud and waste in the Iraq war.

What is happening to the United States is that corporations are looting the federal government. Grover Norquist eat your heart out, your fondest desire might actually be coming true but the consequences will be very bad for everyone. For corporations should never be in the business of providing government services. We’re seeing that push here in Rhode Island, our Republican governor who is also a Bush supporter wants to privatize just 1,000 state jobs. That’s the camel poking its nose into the tent.

How did corporations get so bold? It’s simple, under a fictional legal theory, little more than a comment inserted by a clerk who was paid by the Southern Pacific Railroad, corporations are under the mistaken notion that they have the same rights and privileges as a real person. They should have no such thing, for if they did not they wouldn’t be able to throw money to congress via PAC’s and other vehicles for corporate malfeasance like no bid contracts.

I interviewed with one firm mentioned in the article, Custer-Battles. First, I knew about the shell companies and had alarm bells ringing like crazy in my head. They had advertised the job as full time but when I had gotten to the car after the interview Battles calls and asks if I’d do contracting. I told him to kiss my ass. Turns out my alarm bells over Custer-Battles were correct but get this, even though they had a judgment against them, it was overturned by a Bush friendly jurist at the appellate level. How’s that for disgusting, I know they’re dirty, everyone knows but the courts that are supposed to protect us instead protect corporations that are defrauding the government and therefore the taxpayer for billions.

Consider the $544 Billion dollars spent in Iraq so far. Had we not gone there that $544 Billion might have helped victims of Katrina and maybe, just maybe, we could have a single payer health system in the United States.

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until it happens. We MUST change the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to specifically EXCLUDE corporations from the rights derived by that amendment.

How to do that is the conundrum. We cannot depend on our representatives since every single one of them has been bought and paid for many times over.

We’ve all seen how that works. We now have bankruptcy law that benefits the creditors rather than the debtors. We also have corporations like Verizon et al trying their damnedest to kill net neutrality, or the RIAA who won’t adapt to the times, instead they prefer to litigate their way through. Those are just three examples but I’m sure you can think of more, like maybe the oil and gas companies who reap obscene profits while we pay dearly at the pump. Just keep thinking about all the little ways corporations try to screw you and you should be getting very upset. Good, that’s precisely the kind of thing that moves our society forward.

We must lift ourselves into the fray and create a true opposition party that is funded by the people, and not by corporate interests. We have to start locally because constitutional amendments require ratification by the states, so start there and move onward. Howard Dean hit on this briefly when he had several million people chipping in $25 here and there to elect him as the Democratic President. It has to be grassroots and it will take time, I can only hope that it takes as short a time as possible to stop this craziness once and for all.

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Now playing: Earth Wind & Fire – Sun Goddess (Live)
via FoxyTunes

IT Crowd Series 2 Episode 1 is up!

August 26, 2007 · 1 Comment ·

Quick, watch it before YouTube pulls it. This one is titled “The Work Outing” and if you catch the play on words, you get it.

This has more gay content than you can shake a stick at.

An interesting little inquisition

August 24, 2007August 24, 2007 · 1 Comment ·

*What side of the heart do you draw first? The left side.

*Can you dive without plugging your nose? Yes I can. Grew up with a pool so it is a skill I’ll never lose.

*What color is your phone? Silver

*Who would you want to be tied to for 24 hours? George W. Bush so I could beat the son of a bitch senseless the entire time.

*Where are you right now? In the office with the computer in my lap.

*How do you feel about carrots? I love carrots! Raw, cooked, braised with maple syrup. I mean they’re sugary enough, but the maple syrup just puts it over the edge.

*How many chairs at the dining room table? Four

*Who is the best Spice Girl? You mean there IS a best Spice Girl? I couldn’t even begin to evaluate such skanks.

*Do you know what time it is? 21:50EDT at the sound of the tone. Beeep!

*What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator? Climb out the hatch and then up to the next nearest floor. Funny strory: The old Providence Police HQ had these really creaky old elevators. Anyone who knew anything stayed off the elevators on Fridays because if you got stuck in there nobody was coming to get you out until Monday morning.

*What’s your favorite kind of gum? Orange Bubblicious. I kid you not, this stuff is awesome.

*T or F: All is fair in love and war? Isn’t a damned thing fair about either. But I think the meaning is quite different in that statement.

*Do you use words that you don’t know the meaning to? No I don’t, but I do use words that send people running for their dictionary.

*Do you like to sleep? I do value a good nights sleep but as I get older that seems to happen less often than I’d like.

*Do you know which US states don’t use Daylight Savings? I know Arizona for sure, is Indiana the other one?

*Do you know the song Sugar We’re Goin’ Down? Doesn’t ring a bell at all.

*Do you want a bright yellow ’06 mustang? That and a good police radio jammer along with a good stretch of open highway. Yes I’m a speed junkie.

*What’s something you’ve always wanted? To own an entire city block.

*Do you wear a lot of black? No I don’t. I used to but now I have a lot of blue things.

*Describe your hair. Dirty blonde going grey but curly (The gel holds it in a wave). Then of course there’s my pelt.

*Are you an adult? When I chose to be so, I can be an adult. Otherwise I can be just as childish as the rest of them.

*Who is/are your best friends? Mike, he’s the kind of friend that would be sitting next to me in the jail cell.

*Do you have a tan? Just a little bit on my arms and face.

*Are you a television addict? Used to be, now I’m a net addict. Just replaced one vice with another much to the chagrin of my cable company.

*Do you enjoy spending time with your mom? I would were she still alive.

*Are you a sugar freak? Yes I am. Thankfully I live in a place where I can indulge myself and I’m not talking about cheap sugar either.

*What is your favorite movie? Spies Like Us

*What’s your sign? Sagittarius and I exhibit all the classic traits associated with it.

*Where do you wish you were right now? Mars. Seriously I’d love to travel in space.

*Who did you copy this from? Uncle Polt’s Purple Palace.

*How do you know them? He’s a fellow gay guy who also has the same birthday as me.

*Would you have sex with them? Under the right circumstances, but I love Keyron far too much to stray like that.

*What brand of shirt are you wearing? A Claybrooke button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

*Have you ever smoked anything? Marijuana when I was a kid, from the age of 13 to 19. I only smoked from a bong but I’d really like to try vaporizing it.

On Food

August 24, 2007August 24, 2007 · Leave a comment ·

So recently I found out that a local vendor, Costantino’s Venda Ravioli also grinds meat fresh on premises. A pound of lean ground sirloin is $4 whereas at the supermarket a pound of 80/20 is over $5 and the meat is of questionable character to begin with. The thing is, the meat has been in the fridge for a couple days and it’s still red. Do that with a supermarket pack and it’s brown by the second day.

When it comes to food local vendors are the absolute best. There’s Spezia, which specializes in gluten free recipes but also has a selection of meats that is very good, not to mention that the speck is fantastic.

Then of course for sweet stuff, nothing can beat Nancy’s Fancies Cakes! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this woman knows the purpose of cake and that is to be a vehicle for frosting.

I like the fact that my money supports local vendors.

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Now playing: Thievery Corporation – Heaven’s Gonna Burn Your Eyes
via FoxyTunes

Another TMI Tuesday I’ll have fun with #97

August 22, 2007August 22, 2007 · Leave a comment ·

Every now and then I’m moved to answer all the questions in a TMI Tuesday quiz. So here’s this weeks installment.

1. What’s the deal with blue balls?

Never had them myself but when I was a teen a friend of mine did. He wasn’t getting any action and hadn’t figured out that his right hand could be his best friend. The rest of us were either playing with each other or using or hands to have a little fun. So we NEVER had blue balls.

2. What is the hottest vehicular sex scene in a movie?

Shows you how few movies I actually watch that have vehicular sex. I cannot for the life of me think of one instance. Now if we’re talking about porn, that seems to be a recurring theme.

3. Strap-on? yes, no, give, receive?

Why would I need to strap one on when I already have a fully functional unit? Definitely give though.

4. What is the average penis length?

Didn’t Kinsey cover this, I believe it was a range from 5 to 6 inches. That seems about right.

5. How do you stimulate his prostate? Guys, do you like it?

Egad, how could I skip this one. Anyhow since I have an inkling about the anatomy of the male of the species, just stick the old finger up the hershey highway and bend it a little. You’ll feel the prostate bulging against the rectal wall. I’ve never had it done to me so I can’t say whether I like it or not.

Bonus (as in optional): Confession Tuesday… tell me a secret!

I have nothing to confess since I’m a rabid atheist. When you live your life in the open you don’t tend to have many secrets.

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Now playing: Earth Wind & Fire – Boogie Wonderland
via FoxyTunes

Taking you back

August 18, 2007 · Leave a comment ·

The year was 1977. Peter Brown dropped “Do you Wanna Get Funky With Me” on the scene. Nice piece, take a listen:

Peter Brown – Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me

[via FoxyTunes / Peter Brown]

Now what’s more interesting is the first time I heard it. I was 13 years old at the time and I had a VW AM/FM car stereo hooked up to two 6V batteries and two speaker. The radio itself was frankensteined, since the tuner had been shot I replaced it with a PLL unit (Phase Locked Loop) and made my own tuner for it. Yes, I was a geek even then.

But that little radio getup served me well. Got me laid at 13 so you can’t say it’s all bad. I was, how shall we put this, a promiscuous teen. But always careful.

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Now playing: Thievery Corporation – All That We Perceive
via FoxyTunes

Book Preview – Armistead Maupin’s “Michael Tolliver Lives”

August 18, 2007 · 1 Comment ·

Here we are in 2005 and Michael Tolliver is a 55 years old and HIV positive. But it’s not all doom and gloom.

He finds love again with someone twenty years younger than himself. I too know a bit about younger, though the span in our case is only eight years. I can just imagine what a twenty year span would be.

We get to re-meet several characters from the original four books, but we do find out that one is dead and another main character dies in this book of emphysema, a blue bloater if you will. And another of the more main characters suffers a heart attack and then goes into a coma.

I don’t want to give away too much more but the book is an easy read. I managed to pick it up at the library at noon and had finished reading it by 8:30PM. I’m a voracious reader but it’s a definite weekend fare. Speaking of which, check out Library Elf. Very cool service, it’s how I knew my book request was at my library.

More info on the book:
Author: Maupin, Armistead.
Title: Michael Tolliver lives / Armistead Maupin.
Publication info. New York : Harper Collins Publishers, c2007.
Edition 1st ed.
Description 277 p.
Subject City and town life — California — San Francisco — Fiction.
San Francisco (Calif.) — Fiction.
ISBN 9780060761356 (alk. paper)
0060761350 (alk. paper)

Or forget all that and just buy it on Amazon.

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Now playing: Earth, Wind & Fire & The Emotions – Love’s Holiday
via FoxyTunes

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