Picture Postcard Kinda Life...

My month down in the Sunshine State with my padres is now coming to a close. I actually came down here with a few goals, to finish the script I'm working on, get some reading done, and various things that I wanted to take pictures of. Well the first one I've made precious little progress on because when I got down here a new goal became to keep my mother happy. I think I underestimated how time consuming it would be to keep a woman who spends most of her time cooped up inside the house and can make picking up some dry-cleaning and going to the grocery store an event that takes up most of the day. Well that's the excuse I'm going with for why I haven't gotten my first goal done. I guess I'll go with that same excuse for why I haven't read as much as I should have (since I'm not counting reading random crap on the internet reading). The third goal (well set of goals really) I've been moderately successful at. Among the things I wanted a picture of are a gator, a dolphin, a manatee, the neighborhood peacock affectionatley name percy, and lightning. I have gotten a photo of each although several of those animals I got shots of thanks to seaworld so I dunno if it counts. Getting the gator shot was a rather unnerving one (that was actually in "the wild") even though I was a good twenty yards away from him. The lightning shots I got were less than spectacular, although I did take a few movies which I might go back through to find some good lightning shots. Among other great shots I got were some spectacular sunsets and cloud formations, varous fishes, a rainbow during a thunderstorm, and a mist enshrouded Cocoa Beach pier. All in all I'd say I've got some great shots (mainly due to the sheer quantity of shots I got, thanks for the extra memory card Eric, I have yet to fill it), and I can't wait to share them with everyone, hopefully one day soon my brilliant webhost/master/savior will get that feature in place until then I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

Thanks moms and pops for a great month in Florida, it was recharging as always. In other news there was another goal I was able to accomplish, getting a tan, I am now a sexy beast and ready to go out to the races this weekend. Oh and next weekend (not the coming weekend) my big bro is throwing me a big party formerly of the surprise variety, so let me know if you want to come on out. Until then, no worries.

Well just an Update on Fox "News". They've dropped their suit against Al Franken after a federal judge refused to grant an injunction against the satirist. Fox responded that they felt it was time to return Al Franken to obscurity. Obscurity? I think a lot more people know the "I'm good enough, smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me!" sketch from SNL, most recently featuring my buddy Al Gore, than could name even one Fox news commentator or analyst. Hey what do I know though? Anyways, I will do a real post eventually...I think I've lost my ability to ramble about nothing in particular, nah, that can't be it.

And the hits keep on rolling

Just a few funny items from the news (conservatives are a neverending source of hilarity to me). First, John Ashcroft, the President's chief of secret police is going on a "campaign style" tour to "clarify" the provisions of the patriot act. He is convieniently targeting key swing states for the upcoming presidential election, in the hopes of decreasing the effect of criticism from Democrats during the election. Now I'm no political expert, but is John Ashcroft, probably the scariest politician since the days of Nixon, the person you really want to send in before an election. Personally I think seeing Ashcroft would make me even less likely (if that's possible) to vote for Little Bush.

The other item is about everyone's favorite cable "news" network FOX News. Apparently they've recently filed suit against Satirist Al Franken for using "Fair and Balanced", FOX's deluded tagline, in the title of his latest book. In response Paul Newman is filing his own suit against The US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The column is here, and its pretty hilarious. Why didn't Paul Newman run for Governor of Cali?

Finally got word from Durham (UK not NC) yesterday. I can move in September 27th and got my first choice for dorm. I guess that means I should book a flight and get my passport/visa...hmmmm, yeah it'll get done I promise. I'm real excited but that date seems strangely close. Hard to believe I'll be over in Merry old England in near bouts a month.

Now while I may have previously said some things in support of Arnie as a politician...I hope that he doesn't win. If he does I think it will probably interfere with the making of this, the next Conan movie...possibly featuring The Rock as Conan's son. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Well not much to say today but, while thinking fondly of days gone by in old 3234Q I decided to tune into the "Screensavers" this evening on TechTV and was introduced to This Link which I found interesting. Its about an effort by these people to get copyright laws changed to allow for file sharing and still let artists get money for their work. The idea is pretty similar to what was done with piano rolls and cable tv in the past and makes a lot more sense than blowing up computers (you gotta love old Orrin Hatch, just another sterling example of why the Republican Party will lead us to the downfall of our civilization), shutting down the internet, prosecuting 1 in 6 Americans as felons, or giving the government large amounts of discretion to hack the computers of citizens law abiding and otherwise. I mean it makes a lot more sense for people to pay by the song instead of the albumn...then maybe artists will be forced to make every song good instead of 1 or 2 singles and an albumn thats otherwise crap (there are notable exceptions of course...like the Foo Fighters, JT, and Queens of the Stoneage to name a few). I mean I don't buy many albumns but I'd probably pay a buck or two for certain songs. Well that's my tirade for today, liberty and Justice League for all.

Corrections

Well apparently I got my child stars confused in the Cali Governor's race. Matty Mo is not running its actually Gary Coleman. In my opinion Matty Mo is the far superior candidate... I mean the laugh says it all. In other news, Jeff Gordon is a whiney loser, I was somewhat indifferent/leaning towards disliking him before this weekend. However when he decided that its acceptable for him as the princess of nascar to continue blocking drivers even though he ran out of gas at the BEGINING of the last lap, then complain when someone runs into him...yeah that makes a WHOLE lot of sense there pretty in pink. Am I the only one that's bothered by tomatoes being included in a "Caesar" salad...um, tomatoes weren't discovered by Europeans till they started colonizing the Americas people, there's no way Caesar could have had them in his salad (thank burger king for that last rant), and yes I did take latin. As far as other corrections, um theres probably spelling/gramatical ones, how about you find them and pretend they're fixed.

Kindergarten Politician

Well, after scowering the local new last night I could find no word of a tornado, which leads me to believe that perhaps it was more likely a waterspout we saw yesterday (which I would still think would be newsworthy, at least local newsworthy, then again I guess if it didn't kill anybody, commit adultery, have anything to do with terrorists/the Saddam Regime or star in the movie Gigli it can't be shown on the news right now). Regardless it?s still pretty awesome.

As for my title today, obviously I'm referring to the other way one can get on the news...be one of those wacky California Governor's race candidates. Last night Arnie announced he's in and I didn't want to use the "Running Man" tagline that all the new agencies seem to love, and since all people complain about is his lack of experience I figured this movie reference worked well also. Personally my favorite Arnie movie is probably a tie between Commando (co-starring a young Alyssa Milano) and Terminator 2 (with a pre-drugs Eddie Furlong, amazing we still talk about this guy when all he's really done is this Pet Cemetery 2 and date Paris Hilton), with honorable mentions to the first Conan and T3. Well I don't really have a whole lot of commentary on the "Politics" of the Cali. Governor's race (surprised?) however, I think its funny that the new agencies are painting this as a "Wacky" race because it includes Larry Flynt, Emmanuel Lewis, and Gallagher and now Arnold. Hello...it's California, the biggest industry there is entertainment, why are we surprised that these are the people that want to run, its like saying a North Carolina race is "Wacky" because textile and tobacco execs want to run, or a Florida race is "Wacky" because personal injury lawyers and retirees are running; its what those places have a lot of and more importantly those are the people who have money. Now what makes Matty Mo's opinions or leadership anymore wacky than some other rich/famous individual...the fact that he was on "Different Strokes"? Personally I'd probably vote for Arnold, Matty Mo, or Gallagher before I voted for Jessie Helms, Rush Limbaugh, or pretty much any current prominent politician with a Rev. before their name. But if those are the candidates that people want to vote for...well that's democracy folks.

On a final note, if Arnold does get elected and go on to run for President as "Demolition Man" would seem to suggest, (yes after a constitutional amendment) would the Terminator really need the secret service. I mean, you'd have to be crazy to try and attack the guy...you gotta figure the people that would try are already a little crazy so I'm sure there'd be part of them that would worry that if they did try and kill him, they would find he had a metallic endo-skeleton and that he would come after them with half his face missing and a cybernetic red eye exposed...man that would be awesome, if only I were a resident of California. Well...I guess I'll be the first to say it then Schwarzenegger/Flynt in 2008, Kicking Ass and Taking Pictures.

Momma and the Tornado

The second full day in Florida proved to be rather interesting. After a quiet morning around the house mother and I decided to venture out and run a few errands, the Florida obligatory afternoon storm having just passed. Well as we proceeded down the road, almost to our destination my mother breaks our comfortable car silence with, "Oooh...is that one of those funnel things?" Following the direction of her finger I realized she meant a tornado. Of course I responded, "Why yes mother, I believe that is a tornado, or maybe just a water spout." As off to our left was a very nicely formed black funnel cloud. Now, while I did get an "A" in meteorology this summer, I must confess that I was at a bit of a loss for what to do. Now I was pretty confident that this was a tornado as its coloration was a bit too dark to be a waterspout. Surveying the surroundings it seemed that no one else was particularly concerned about the funnel cloud (including the constable that had pulled up beside me), so mother was rather keen to proceed on and pick up her prescription from the doctor...well the tornado was pretty far off and moving in the opposite direction so I rather reluctantly agreed and proceeded with caution. Once she had her prescription she was then eager to proceed on to Wallyworld, located off in the direction of our friend the funnel cloud which we had now lost sight of. Now I like to think I'm a pretty courageous individual however actually following in the direction of a possible tornado, I mean I may be a little bit stupid but I'm not crazy. And while I do enjoy a good trip to Wallyworld, it seems to me the only place worse to be during a tornado is a trailer park. I informed mother that while she may have lived a good long life, I was still looking forward to one.

Well that was the end of our tornado adventure, as we never did catch site of it again. However, since we had bypassed the trip to Wallyworld, I compromised by taking her to the pharmacy to get her newly acquired prescription filled. Well on the way back to the house with it I notice something rather amusing out of the corner of my eye. Now if you know my mother you know she is prone to some slightly amusing to absolutely hilarious quirky behavior (also keep in mind that she is a 4'10" English lady, just because it adds to the hilarity of any "my mom" story). As I was making my turn at a light I saw that mother had opened the bag for her new smack, and after briefly studying the label on the bottle had proceeded to crack it open (even though she didn't have a drink). Well, I have to admit, I was rather intrigued as to why she need to open it if she wasn't able to take it at that moment, as I think anyone naturally would, especially when it comes to momma Gilligan. Well as I watch her she took the bottle, put it to her nose and sniffed (not even wafting). Well, I couldn't take it anymore; I crossed over from being a silent observer to an active participant.
Dan: Mom...why did you smell that?
Momma G (rather embarrassed): Well, I wanted to see if it would hurt me.
Dan: You looked like a little animal or something.
Momma G: Well...I didn't think you were looking.

Lessons for the Day:
1. Always keep your camera with you in case you see a tornado.
2. Don't go to Wallyworld during a tornado.
3. When in doubt of how to deal with an emergency, look for a cop, they have radios.
4. If you are worried about drug quality...try smelling it.

Goodbye to Rallewood

Yesterday was my deadline. Deadlines are my lifeblood as I am a highly skilled procrastinator and without deadlines I would never get anything done (and I actually do get everything done that needs doing). This deadline was a little different though; it was my deadline to move. It would have been very easy to spend the rest of my summer in Raleigh not doing a whole lot but reading, dicking around on the computer, and going out to see people on occasion. However I decided I should go ahead and move down to Florida for a bit. Spend some time with the folks, maybe do some pre-reading, get some passports, enjoy the sun, and begin the mass migration of the incredible amounts of JUNK that I have accumulated down to my parents house where it will reside while I am studying in the Old Country.

It was strangely quiet when I was leaving Raleigh. Even sitting in traffic on New Bern Ave. with my windows down (because I have yet to get my A/C looked at). I'll be back but it won't be the same, I won't live there anymore, I'll be visiting. As at sat at lunch with my brother that realization struck me and it seemed an odd one, what would it mean to no longer be a resident of the city of oaks? For all my talk about needing to get out of that city and the country I was more than a little sad when it finally came to it. I mean, this is the place where I have almost all of my memories for better and worse. Where I've made all my friends and where the vast majority of them still reside. Every school I ever attended is there. There's a street there where I first rode my bike without training wheels, there's a porch where I first met my dog, and there's a field where I first kissed a girl. Most every seminal moment I've had in my life up to this point happened in that city, now I'm gone. Well good bye Raleigh, good bye friends, can't wait to see you again, maybe one day I'll return for good (but perhaps not for a while I'm afraid).