Saturday, June 27, 2009

Next up, my homestate will teach evolution!* - "Sex ed bill clears N.C. Senate :: WRAL.com."

Sex ed bill clears N.C. Senate :: WRAL.com:
"A bill requiring all school systems to offer comprehensive sex education cleared the state Senate Tuesday.

The bill passed with a vote of 25-21 and now returns to the House, where lawmakers there will work to concur with the Senate's changes to the version the House passed in April."

*You know, I was totally being a smartass, but then Google shows me this: Brunswick school board to consider creationism teaching | StarNewsOnline.com | Star News | Wilmington, NC:
"The Brunswick County school board is looking for a way for creationism to be taught in the classroom side by side with evolution."

The stupidity makes me weep, it does.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Heh.

Probably too much to hope this is real.

Thinking about things like this, lately.

TMUSCLE.com | Now Tell Me, Am I Lyin'?:
"...Most people think they have true friendships, but the facts usually don't support their belief. For instance, you might like a friend, maybe even feel that you give a shit about him, but if your give-a-shittedness isn't backed up by commitment of time, effort, or attention, it's nothing but overblown sentimentality; a façade.

...If that's the case—and it usually is—it's clear the relationship wasn't backed up by real caring. You were acquaintances and nothing more."

"Star Trek: Confusion" - A perfect storm of geekiness.

Old joke, new dynamic.

Overheard in New York | I'm Beginning to Worry You Won't Fit in with My Friends:
"Girl: Why do you fuck a sheep at the edge of a cliff? (waits) So the sheep pushes back.
Guy: I don't get it.
Girl: Do I have to explain sheep-fucking to you?!

--Prince & Mercer

Overheard by: Thiess"

Rick Steve's YouTube spiral.

Greece - first foreign country I visited, back in the day. Rhodes. Lush. First taste of alcohol, when the height of sophistication was Rum and Coke. Gyros. So much uzo one night I had a death hangover, where I could hear conversations the next building over. Topless beaches too. Like to see Athens, I think. Read entirely too much Greek mythology as a kid.


Baden-Baden puts Japanese onsens to shame.


"Easygoing Hedonism" - brilliant.

Training 367-8.

367 - 5 sets pullups
368 - 5 sets pushups, situps, squats - 1x10, 1x5 dislocates, facepulls

...wrestling is universal.

Makes more sense than anything I was ever taught.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Totally just felt that - Groovy.

The earth is a constantly shifting mass of molten lava, heat, radioactive decay, shakiness and destruction. Feel better?

Japan Meteorological Agency | Earthquake Information:
Issued at Occurred at Region Name Magnitude
23:08 JST 25 Jun 200923:04 JST 25 Jun 2009Oita-ken SeibuM4.6

I'd never read Steven Wells, but this makes me wish I'd had.

Warren Ellis » Steven Wells Is Dead:
"...And these are his last words:

...And of course all this bollocks is written by an idiot who has polished his image as an existentialist, atheist hard-man and anti-mope, forever sneering at the tribes who wallow in self-pity — the gothers, the emo kids, the Smiths fans — the whole 900-block-wide marching band composed entirely of the white male urban middle classes who are convinced that (as the most affluent and pampered human beings who have ever walked the planet) theirs is a story worth hearing. Blissfully unaware that they are but a few generations away from regular visits to the doctor who would wind parasitic worms from their beer bloated assholes using sticks.

You could blame this fallacy on poor education, cultural deterioration, or simple moral decline.

Me? I blame it on sunshine. I blame it on the moonlight. I blame it on the boogie."

Truth.

Schneier: Fix US airport security by making TSA more transparent - Boing Boing:
"Bruce Schneier has an extensive, must-read blog post up today about how to fix what's wrong with air security in America. The shortest version of what he recommends to the Obama administration: 'Establish accountability and transparency for airport screening.' And, in a second sentence: 'Airports are one of the places where Americans, and visitors to America, are most likely to interact with a law enforcement officer - and yet no one knows what rights travelers have or how to exercise those rights.'"

Unfreakingbelievable.

The Agitator » Blog Archive » Morning Links:
"Off-duty Chicago cop caught on video savagely beating a female bartender who refused to serve him sentenced to . . . probation."
It's either respond with the appropriately cynical "Of course, what else would you expect?" or devolve into an obscenity filled rant of gargantuan proportions.

I'm just going to go with the fucked up yet clever visual commentary on the abuse of authority and power.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Training 366.

5 sets pushups/squats, 1x10 dislocates/facepulls/shrugs, 1x25 neck nods/all directions, 20m light shadowboxing.

Given bad sleep, overdependence on caffeine, bone deep lethargy, the only time all seems right with the world is bouncing around shadowboxing the air. Go figure. I credit endorphins, god's special adrenaline/pain killer blend.

No sleep till America.

Apparently. Last two nights of weird dreams, restless sleep... makes for a bone deep tired sense of lethargy throughout the day. Subconscious twisting through the upcoming vacay back to the States, maybe. Couple nights of dreams where my mom shows up for one reason or another - never remember the whys or wherefores of dreams - discomfiting enough, regardless of the fact I'm not actually gonna see her... analysis, juxtapositions, sensitivity, thinking... shutting down the mind harder and harder.

Particularly vivid dreams last night of swimming... psuedo Aquaman fantasies? Traveling across the oceans to go back to the U.S.? Vaguest memories of racing someone in the ocean, and then throwing the race for conscious but no discernible reasons... who knows? Weirdness all around.

Meaning of Dreams about Swimming: Dream Interpretation Dictionary - Swimming:
"If you are swimming in your dream you are most likely swimming through the ' ocean' of your unconscious and through the ' sea ' of your emotions. The ease with which you are doing this activity will give you clues as to how well you are navigating through those very complex parts of yourself. Are you out of your depth or winning a race"
Dream symbolism and dream dictionary interpretation - the meaning of swimming in dream analysis:
"SWIMMING: Swimming in dreams can show that you have really changed or want to change in some way in your life. You are thinking strongly about emotional matters and making real attempts to improve your emotional situation. So look for ways in which you have been emotionally reflective."
* Swimming - (Dreams): Definition:
"Swimming can represent moving forward in your life or trying to achieve a goal (get somewhere in your life), or freedom from your usual limitations."
Swimming Dream interpretation - What does swimming in a dream mean?:
"Psychological Meaning: Expanses of water usually symbolises the unconscious. Dreaming of swimming shows how you trust the unconscious and are supported by it. You have confidence and are receptive to its creative power. If you dream of swimming underwater this may indicate that you have accepted and are at one with your unconscious. [Not fucking likely. - Rob] This union is even more apparent if you dream of being able to breathe underwater.

Mystical Meaning: Swimming strongly in clear water means you will achieve great success in love and business. The opposite applies if you struggle or the water is dirty."

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Only in Japan.

Actually pretty damn adorable.

Via How to get your kid ready for school in less than 5 minutes | Japan Probe

Training 365.

5 sets pullups/situps, 2x15 dislocates & facepulls, 1x max wrist curls/x, time hold.

Joe Rogan - Talking Monkeys in Space.

Hilarious comedy special. Worth watching...

On Spike TV, and also *cough* torrents *cough* around the interwebs.

Some clips.



The Internet Amuses Me.





Not your friends, not there to help, not on your side. - "Video: Arrested for asking a policeman for his badge number | Environment | guardian.co.uk"

UK cops are required by law to provide name/badge # when requested.

Video: Arrested for asking a policeman for his badge number | Environment | guardian.co.uk:
"The Guardian has obtained this police footage of Emily Apple and Val Swain being arrested by surveillance officers after asking for their badge numbers at the Kingsnorth climate camp last year. The two women speak to Paul Lewis about their arrest, imprisonment and official complaint"

Wow - "police claim "officers had a difficult time reading the addresses because of overcast skies.""

Hit & Run > And If There Hadn't Been Any Clouds, They Could Have Said the Sun Was in Their Eyes - Reason Magazine:
"An elderly Indianapolis couple is demanding an in-person apology after police raided their home while trying to serve a drug warrant for a house three doors down the block. According to a local TV news report, the numbers on both houses were "clearly marked," but police claim "officers had a difficult time reading the addresses because of overcast skies.""

Monday, June 22, 2009

Training 363-4.

363 - Rest/Free
364 - 5 sets pushups/squats, 20m kickboxing, 3x5 neck isometrics/all directions, 1x15 dislocates/facepulls

Sunday, June 21, 2009

I really AM a Vulcan.

In other news, Star Trek: Voyager is a far better show than I remember. Much to be said about watching a show from inception. Tuvok rocks, btw.

Voyager :: TrekCore:
"Chakotay: 'Can I ask you to be honest with me, Lieutenant?'
Tuvok: 'As a Vulcan, I am at all times honest, Commander.'
Chakotay: 'That's not exactly true. You lied to me when you passed yourself off as a Maquis to get on my crew.'
Tuvok: 'I was honest to my own convictions within the defined parameters of my mission.
Chakotay: You damned Vulcans and your defined parameters. That's easy for you.'
Tuvok: 'On the contrary. The demands on a Vulcan's character are extraordinarily difficult. Do not mistake composure for ease. How may I be honest with you today?'"

"Our minds love ease..."

"...we love to be on holiday, doing what we want when we want, with no sense of responsibility. We feel free with all options in our life possible. However, these options remain only potentialities, mere dreams, and without effort nothing in our lives changes. For real changes to occur we need to understand that commitment is not a limitation to freedom, but on the contrary an assertion of the freedom to choose the direction in which we want our lives to go."
- The Sivananda Companion to Meditation