Keeping to my cheezy trend . . .

In 1996, Timothy Leary dies quietly in his sleep, thereby failing his intended mission of "suiciding live" on the Internet.

In 1990, Seinfeld premiered on NBC.

In 1962, Adolf Eichmann, Nazi leader, hanged as a war criminal in Israel.

And most notably, although quite some time ago -
In 1043, Lady Godiva rode naked through the market square in Coventry, England.

I totally agree (must be a copywriter thing, we can't help it.)

http://www.jeffgreenspan.com/blog/2006/05/electric-avenue.html

21 years ago today (in "rotten" history)

(Yeah, yeah, I do this too much.)

On May 29, 1985:

Two hours before kickoff of the European Cup Final, a riot breaks out in the stadium between supporters of Liverpool and Juventus at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. 39 soccer fans are killed and more than 350 injured-- the tragedy is recorded on live television.

No comment: random snap from my last trip home

It's the street signage for THE BEST 'hawt dawgs' without going to a ball game. (I think so anyway.)


Crif Dogs
113 St Marks Pl (btwn Ave A & 1st Ave)
NY NY 10009

Another classic from Joe Marsello - a fellow New Jerseyan in Brussels

"The world's bravest man"

Defeated

I don't like to 'journal' on my blog, you know "Dear Diary" dirges whatever but today 'the girl can't help it.'

After years of hoping-- it started when I had a G4 Titanium Powerbook, but Mr. Mac died one day. And now with my 'second hubby' that someone, anyone would distribute a patch to buck this firmware, region-blocked bullsh*t. But to no avail, today I found this:

"05-14-2006, 08:23 AM

No. The newest Matshita drive that can be made region free is the UJ-816. The UJ-825, UJ-835, UJ-845 and UJ-857 have no region free firmware. These drives are primarily used in Macs, and the two people who did patching for Matshita firmware have stopped.

Your best option is to buy a Pioneer K05 to replace it (with the exception of the UJ-857, which is smaller). The UJ-857 is used in the Macbook pro, leaving owners (like me) with absolutely no solution other than an external drive.

To cover the FAQ: No, VLC won't work, no Mac The Ripper won't work. Matshita drives won't return encrypted disc content unless a key for the disc has been requested successfully. To request the key, the computer has to ask for it in combination with the region code. For the key to be returned, the region code requested has to match the region code of both the disc and the drive."

That s*cks.

40 years ago today . . . in Belgium . . . my adopted home country . . .

It was May 22, 1967 . . .

322 Belgians are killed when fire swept through the second-largest department store in Brussels. Many of the victims leaped to their deaths, although most who landed on parked cars survived. The store, L'Innovation now known as INNO, had been having a sale on American goods. (I cringe, as I am an American.)

On Rue Neuve, you can find a plague that marks the desmise of the victims.

With all due respect, caveat emptor.

The Truth is out there . . .

. . . and you can listen to it on Levi's Truth Booth.

A cool idea? Yes. A new idea? No.
See The Apology Project an art project started in 1980 by Allan Bridge and ran until his untimely death in 1995.

"The act of confession and apology is itself a creative act: an attempt to find meaning in the restructuring of one’s experience into a moral tale. Only by finding a moral can one turn the page and move on."
~Allan Bridge

The Apology Line was featured on This American Life, Segment: Dial 'S' for Sorry in 2004.
(Sorry, OgilvyOne Singapore.)

While it's true that an apology is not the same as a confession, both re-actions are caused by remorse, although the latter may also be caused by a need to brag. That said, Levi's has decided to take this cool idea to the online level, therefore creating the ultimate 'truth' community on their website.

And I agree with Coolz0r that the message-leavers might 'ham it up' in lieu of a true confession, especially if they know that Levi's and the web-world is 'watching.' (That's fine if people need to get their "fifteen minutes" in this way.)

Read more on Coolz0r's blogpost: http://blog.coolz0r.com/2006/05/22/levis-truth-booth/
and on Adverblog.

(00)

HAVEaDAY.COM
"if you got one, use it wisely..."

No vaccination with 'abstain-nation'

Would someone please tell when we stopped recognizing one of the fundamental principles of forging The United States of America: 'the separation of church and state'?

Perhaps I should take a refresher course in U.S. history, but it was my understanding that the colonists did not want to be dictated to by a church or a religion. After 230 years of being a nation, it seems now the religious right [RR] have taken blatant control (vs. traditional religious inconspicuousness) over U.S. public health decisions.

It's becoming a societal and regular quagmire caused continually by the RR appealing to 'damnation without abstain(ation)' fearing folks in lieu of acknowledging concrete medical facts and health statistics. It's unfathomable that they [RR] don't support decisions of the medical community, who also have morals—they take an actual and legally binding oath—but who do not ballyhoo preposterous solutions. Isn't one of the canons of Christianity preserving life?
(I don't recall there being a 'complete and return' terms of agreement form required before 'practicing' from the bible. While that would be a direct violation to the separation of church and state, it seems necessary. Or maybe a big warning sign on the leatherized cover: Warning, contents may not be interpreted to address health issues.)

Or maybe the current U.S. government needs to give their new "business partners" some sign of social alignment:
Asia is projected to become one of the largest Christian populations in the world, on pace to eclipse Europe in the next 30 years. The US State Department estimates there could already be as many as 100 million Christians in China, even though the official tally of believers is below 50 million.
(src: ASIA TIMES, March 2, 2006)

Whatever is the case, I feel LIKE THIS about the current conundrum.

Here's a blog worth reading about the situation:
HPV Vaccine and the Religious Right

Quotation of the moment

Any idiot can face a crisis; it's this day to day living that wears you out. ~ Chekov

Gone to that eternal puppet show in the sky

Can it be 16 years since Jim Henson left our world?
His creation of enlightening, enchanting and innovative characters thrilled children and adults alike, and not only in The USA.
In an episode of The Office, a British comedy created by Ricky Gervais—an innovative comedy— a few of the characters suddenly burst into a happy-cacophony of: 'Bahnahnahnah, doot doot, doo doo doo, bahnahnahnah, doot doo doo doo, bahnahnahnah, doot doo, doo doo doo, doo doo doo, doo doo doo, doo doo doo, doo, doo, doot doot doot doo doo.'
And everyone knows it's from The Muppets Show!
We miss you Jim, but we will never forget you.



Read more about Jim Henson on Wikipedia

Like they do in the TV show Jeopardy

Question is: Why do you like to 'blog with the comments disabled?

"Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute."
~ Josh Billings

(This post is dedicated to my friend Peter "hear no evil" Forret of blog.forret.com)

Have a word (a day)

Today's word is "draconian."

FOUND ON DICTIONARY.COM:
dra · co' · ni · an
adj.

PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION: /drak-oh-nee-an/

DEFINITION:
1. Exceedingly harsh; very severe: a draconian legal code; draconian budget cuts; of or relating to Draco*** or his harsh code of laws; "Draconian measures"

***Draco: Athenian politician who codified the laws of Athens (c. 621). Lauded for its impartiality, his code was unpopular for its severity.

CONTEXTUAL USAGE:
"...The House [of Representatives] embraced a draconian immigration bill authored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., which included building a 700-mile border fence and making it a criminal offense to be in the United States without a valid visa -- or possibly even for a U.S. citizen to give them assistance."
~ San Francisco Chronicle

Scary Ad Council ad (a redundancy title production)

It's not the message but that is one scary pigface (and male form.)

WHAT is going on ?!

In April, a young man not quite 20 years old, was stabbed (and killed) for his mp3 player—allegedly an Apple iPod—during daylight hours, in the Central Station in Brussels, incidenctally filled with commuters who reacted when he collapsed from the fatal wound. The perpetrator (or killer) is a 16 year old male from Poland who has been caught. The recent twist on the case is that while the young man (who soon after the attack) fled to his homeland and has been captured, but because he is a minor, the Polish government will not extradite him to Belgium because they don't want/ or want to know if Belgium will try him in court as an adult. Does that mean he will only be dispatched to a reformatory? He KILLED someone for his tech toy. What the F***?!

Then today, a friend told me that quite recently an 18 year old man living in/or is from Antwerp, who is part of an extreme right wing political party, bought a rifle and went on a killing spree. He killed a young, North African woman, who at the time was minding a child and also—before authorities took him down—wounded a young, Turkish woman. Luckily the authorities now have him in custody.

I am from the New England region of The United States where gun crimes leading to the death of innocent people have become commonplace—a dismaying reality. Even more dismaying is realizing that I was naive to believe that the country I live in now has the same sort of horrifying crimes.

What's Going On
By: Marvin Gaye

Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today - Ya

Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Ah, what's going on

In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on
Right on

Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long [we have mp3 players, are from foreign lands, . . .]
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you what's going on - Uh
Right on baby
Right on baby

Rest in peace Old Blue Eyes

In 1998, Frank Sinatra took to the nightclub in the sky.

Frank, a Sagittarius (like me) was born on the same day as I, December 12th.

And this 'ditty' of his has a special place in my heart. (Lyrics here . . .)

In case you've missed any of his non-witticisms . . .

The following are all quotes by the one (and thank-god the only) George W. Bush:

"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country. "

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'."

"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future. "

"The future will be better tomorrow."

"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."

"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."

"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe We are a part of Europe."

"Public speaking is very easy."

"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."

"We a re ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur. "

"For NASA, space is still a high priority."

"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children. "

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."

"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."



“You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.”
George W. Bush during a 21 Feb 2001 speech to teachers and students of Townsend Elementary School in Townsend, TN.

Oh well, he is "The Decider"

More "Dubya" quotes can be found HERE. . .