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Tuesday, November 29, 2005

The BIG Red Button.

This Aardvark is uncertain. I do not know which is the greater annoyance: the anti-Christmas lobby with their incessant whining about their minority rights, or the Chick tract-ors who cry pagan-this, and heathen-that, and demonic-the other regarding things Yuletide.

As to the anti-Christmas Lobbyists: Become 51% of the population, then we'll talk.
Besides, you don't HAVE to go to the C-word Parade, or to any of the parties, and you SURELY don't have to accept any C*******s presents.
Have your own grey parade. Have parties. Don't forget the Cold Oatmeal Dip. MMMMMM!
Grey gooey goodness!

"Christian" freakazoids: I don't see Paul, et al, worrying that demons are gonna jump into Christians because they walk by a pagan temple. Besides, Believers aren't worshiping Saturn or whomever. They are honoring Jesus. Say it. Jeeee-SUS. Not Saturn.
Paul DID write *ahem* NOT to judge another because of a feast day.
Besides, you folks with steeples on your church buildings, the case *can* be made that you are honoring The Erect Penis. I won't EVEN get into obelisks.

EVERYONE: Stop whining, and have a merry Christmas, a cunning Kwanzaa, a hot Hannukah, a stunning Saturnalia, a cool Yule, it really doesn't matter, 'cos y'know what?
Jesus is STILL Lord.

Oh, the Big Red Button? Just a little shirt idea we are producing.
A big red button on the shirt front.

... that says "OFFEND ME!".

Saturday, November 26, 2005

A probing question

Vox and Nate deal with a sticky wicket today.
Alien intervention in human affairs. No, not like the puppeteers in
Larry Niven's Known Space stories, but like the worst in online websites on abductions.

Now, I have my OWN take on alien/Terran social intercourse.
They are scared of us, well and truly terrified.

The Ascended Alien Masters, Gidney and Cloyd, who speak to me telepathically in the voices of Phil Silvers and Arnold Stang, have informed me of this. Here's the skinny:

In all the cosmos, the image of the clown has an accepted meaning. Doesn't matter where you go in the universe, it's all the same. The Clown's phiz signifies one thing only.

Ultimate Evil Incarnate.

No horns and pitchforks, no squid faces; the image of whiteface, fright wig, painted smile, and A Single Tear will send the most stalwart Pleiadian diving under the covers of his mercury bed. We're talkin' serious scared, here. Pinhead's a wuss. BOZO reruns propagating through the aether at lightspeed, that'll set the heart crosswise in ye, if you are from Omicron Persei 8. Everywhere, everywhere, parental units and crechemasters all warn "Emmett Kelly will get you if you don't watch out!".

Everywhere, that is, but on Earth.

We put clowns on the walls of our nurseries and daycares. Our babies have clowns on their jammies. Have you checked your pediatrician's waiting room walls?

We raise our children under the image of a Cosmic Satan, and WE think it's all good fun.
I wouldn't want to visit us, either. Unless I was a psycho, or a wormbaby with something to prove.

"You cut donuts in the rings of Saturn? HAH! -snaps tentacle- I probed an Earthling in Pascagoula!"

"You didn't...GET OUT!"

"I did so, just ask Klarven...he was there!"

Earth just gets the crazies and delinquents. Serves us right.

Friday, November 25, 2005

This is HI-larious!

Back in April, I did a blog entry on Multi-level marketing (MLM).


Go there, and check out the comments.
Also, it wouldn't hurt to browse the archives.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

On the disappointment of Abundance.

Oh, Boy, a liberal downer post for Thanksgiving Day!

NO.

The Dread Dormomoo and I went on a date a few days ago, to our favorite Japanese restaurant, Mikawa, in Huntsville. On the way, we Talked.
No, not a "If I DIE, will you get married again?" thing.
Substance.


I learned a lesson a few years ago. As followers of this blog know, I am a fan of the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation series "SUPERCAR" from the late 50's. Back in 2002, Johnny Lightning brought out a diecast SUPERCAR toy as part of a "Hollywood on Wheels" collection. I ordered several sets to carry in my store, to eBay, and...to HAVE! (Cue Looney Toons sting)
Chirren, it was like waiting for Christmas; the anticipation, the tension, the...waiting.



Finally, they arrived!
With trembling hands I opened the boxes. There, THERE, was my prize, after 40 years of waiting: I held SUPERCAR in my hands.
The thrill was palpable, electric, other adjective as needed.



Then it wasn't.

It's NEAT and all, but...
it did not , ngaaaah, feed my spirit, as it were.
I had a thing; a new thing, a different thing.
But just a thing.
There was little joy to be had in it.



The disappointment of abundance. I had my Desire, but as with creepy Amnon, the thrill did not last.



Maybe Spock was right. The Having is not as pleasing as the Wanting.
With thankfulness, the Having is not a problem. The Rich Man in the parable was not labeled a fool for Having; his lack of thankfulness and his greed in "tearing down his barns to build bigger barns" proved to be his undoing. (Why not just build an extra barn?)


Let's be thankful for what we have. When we are able to have more, be thankful for that.
"Godliness with contentment is great gain."



I wanted to share this bit I wrote to the Supercar Black_Rock_1 Yahoo group. It kind of fits here, too!

I want to wish each and all a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving Day.


BR1 is high on my "I'm thankful for..." list.
(Why? It's JUST a group about a KID'S show!)
You all are a fun bunch, and are bringers of joy-even Fred!


You stick together, all for one, one for all, share concern over troubled members, or those in peril. You hold the door open and say "After you." where eBay auctions are concerned.
Polite, caring, not self-absorbed, talented...


You would think one could learn something from a kid's show.


All this, and you put up with my bloviating homilies, too.
Thanks, guys and gals. Whether you are celebrating a holiday or not, or gnoshing on turkey, hot dogs, or steak and kidney pud': Happy Thanksgiving!


Here endeth the lesson.

Monday, November 14, 2005

The Dread Dormomoo hath spoken!

She was watching Cavuto , and Michael Newdow was fulminating about how "In God We Trust" should be removed from our coinage.

Sez she: "
'In God We Trust' is only on one side...you have one side for atheists, and the other side for theists."

So where is the problem?


You need to read this.

And look at the purty pitchers.
The OCD angle of Blogging

First, thank you to Madison, WI! 45 minutes of crawling through the archives. WOW!

I've been off all weekend- no comments from the peanut gallery- as NERV, our workhorse logic (computer for you non Murray Leinster fans) at home was sickly. Up and running, now WOO HOOO!

I think that, in the barbaric NewSpeak of pop-psych, I have an addictive personality. I have given up 85% of talk radio, because I had built up fifteen years worth of rage. It was making me to be a not-nice person. (That was written precisely the way I meant it.) Three Monkey Limbaugh is insufferable anymore, and just NO FUN. Hannity I couldn't listen to at all. He is just so, so...EMPTY. Vacuous. Vapid. How can you, on the basis of merely saying "hello" on the phone, determine that one is a "Great American"? It's like proclaiming that I am a good Christian on the basis that I didn't cuss you out. Local talk tends to be empty. Very tapioca.
Boortz can be fun, but he just gets on my nerves on the "homosexual marriage" bit.

GO FAIR TAX!!!!

Now, these guys out of Birmingham are not only talkin', they're doin' summat about it!
Dee can be a bit on the root-canal end of things sometimes.

Blogging is becoming much the same. I have my little circle that I check out, and comment on, and wait, and check to see if someone commented on my comment, and then respond to their comment, or angst and feel unloved if no-one comments on my comment.
This can take hours out of your day, especially if the issue is an Important One, a Subject of Moment.

Nuts.

There's always Lileks.
He makes me wish that I lived in Minneapolis / St. Paul.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005


Ian the Confusticated had this on his blog, and I couldn't resist. Folks who know the warm and cuddly Aardvark will now dissolve into helpless and incontinent laughter...


Your Birthdate: February 25

You excel at anything difficult or high tech.
In other words, you're a total (brilliant) geek.
It's difficult for you to find people worth spending time with.
Which is probably why you'll take over the world with your evil robots!

Your strength: Your unfailing logic

Your weakness: Loving machines more than people

Your power color: Tan

Your power symbol: Pi

Your power month: July

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Thanks to Ian McLeod the Confusticated, I now have a working site meter.
Come now, the world to me!
(Sounds like a BAD Ray Bradbury ripoff!)

Actually, it is heartening to see the hits from around the world.
OH! There's another one!
C'mon, make a comment. Don't be shy.
Hat tip to the Voxters out there.


I have another question. How popular is audio blogging amongst the Stellar Few who pop in here?
I've been a screenprinting squeegie-jockey for fifteen years, now. (Our biz is Aardvark Screenprinting.) We are getting an auto press, which will vastly increase our productivity, and decrease my hands-on neededness. (Neologisms R' Us)


What to do with my time? Talk radio...we have quite a market here. Ours are the electromagnetic loins that birthed Sean Hannity into the world.
(Did I just make an argument for talkshow abortions?)

So, does ANYONE really listen to audio blogs, or web radio shows?
See, here is a blog that QUESTIONS, a blogateer with no pretensions of knowitallitude.
This is an encore presentation from the beginning, just to give a bit of the less-than-angsty flavor of this blog.

Yes, I love the internet. Since 1996, and 14.4 modems, I have loved the 'net; back when every URL was a new discovery, and each web search unearthed untold treasures, and HTML was as mystical as speaking in tongues. Journey with me now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, before searches for "dominion theology" yielded sites full of people in odd black costumes, when search engines were egalitarian, unsullied by ranking for dollars. Back, way, way back when surfing the Web....was FUN!

Now, I'm just tired. Weary of searches yielding what someone pays them to yield, drive-by home page hijackings and the endless parade
of scum and villainy, where one MUST be cautious. Tired of email filled with offers to enlarge my penis {not necessary}, enlarge my breasts (I could make money with a webcam, but no...), enlarge my social circle (not wanted), and subject lines that read like a pentecostal on crack.

Thank God for blogs. Now I can navigate an endless river of whines, rants, jackleg punditry, bad spelling and self- absorption. And that's just MINE...But seriously, folks, you're a great audience, and an even BETTER entertainer.
I enjoy the wit and insight which shines like gold dust in a riverbed. Fellow bloggers, I raise a toast in salute. Well played!

Monday, November 07, 2005

OK, I have a problem for all my reader to consider.

I believe in forgiveness. I practise it with regularity. I am the recipient of more than I deserve.

Someone betrayed me, and seriously injured a kinsman, in ways not immediately evident, but nonetheless real and lasting. The betrayer has repented, and I have forgiven this person. I do not wish to see him roasting over a lake of burning sulphur. I do not wish to kill him, and I do not wish to do...things...to him with electrical wiring.

I do not speak of "betrayal" and "injury" lightly.

On the OTHER hand, I have zero interest in having anything to do with him. At all. Ever again.

My thinking is, if a dog bites me, but the next time I see him, he wags his tail, I am disinclined to pet him.

The person wants to get together, y'know, remember the good times.
I don't want to remember anything at all, because it just leads to pain.
I don't like pain.
I've had enough from this person.

So, is it self-protection, or self-contradiction; hypocrisy, if you will.
I have few moral ambiguities in my life.
They make me uncomfortable.
Feel free to comment. I know you're out there.
SiteMeter says so!

Sunday, November 06, 2005

We have been doing an overview of Islam in the religions and cults class I am teaching.
After reading about Islam and its history, Riatsila opined over lunch:
"Islam is the drunk, freeloading uncle of religions."

I was amused.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Disney animation woes


"The studio argues the decision was necessary because of the disappointing performance of such recent traditional animation projects as Treasure Planet and Home On The Range and because of the staggering success of CG projects such as Toy Story and from rival studios Shrek and Ice Age."
Jamie Portman
The Ottawa Citizen


Hmmm...the answer to the argument is: though you traditionally animate crap, it is still crap.

Disney's insistence on departing from its historic templates to indulge in politically correct, culturally with-it storytelling is largely to blame for the current problems.

A computer is a tool, as is a pen. I have seen Fred's traditional animation, as well as his CG work. I like both. The issue, then, is not HOW you bounce the photons off of our retinas. The issue is STORY.

My favorite TV series I had as a child was a Sci Fi marionette show called Supercar. There is a small but rabid cadre of fans to be found here.

Let's face it. Though Supercar's visual artistry is less than perfect, the characters we know and love so well endure because of the story, the writing. (Take a bow, Messrs. Woodhouse) More recently, Kez Wilson and Michael Wolfe have collaborated on a graphic novel approach. Rather than treat us to gargoylesque pictures, with bulging eyes and craggy chins (grant me my polemic, here) Kez chose to "pretty up" the characters in his excellent comic art. This did not decrease our enjoyment of them (I thought he said he was a conservative?!), because they BEHAVED like Mike and crew, sans wires. Ditto Michael's work with the current serialised story on BlackRock1. Heck, we don't need puppets or pictures at all any more. We SEE them performing in the Theatre of the Mind.

The upshot: Disney should come up with better stories, period.
(Or at least STEAL better stories, as they did with Lion King -Kimba the White Lion, and Atlantis -another anime, Nadia, Secret of Blue Water.)
T.Hee did amazing animation with sponges and art erasers. Story is all. Animation is the vehicle. Yugo or Mercedes. You'll still get there.


Tuesday, November 01, 2005

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:
7
Mind:
6.6
Body:
6.4
Spirit:
8
Friends/Family:
6.6
Love:
9.1
Finance:
7.9
Take the Rate My Life Quiz