Written on 7:24 PM by Jack B.
| You Are a Traveler Soul |
You're a thrill seeker who loves to be active and on the move
You love to wander: between places, ideas, and people.
A good communicator, you're a nonconformist and interested in the world.
You are an explorer, a good storyteller, and a true dreamer.
Because you're always on the move, you can be a bit fickle.
It's difficult for you to make personal commitments.
Don't be so quick to ignore emotional issues and problems.
You're much more intuitive and psychic than you think.
Souls you are most compatible with: Retrospective Soul and Dreaming Soul |
Written on 7:18 PM by Jack B.
| Erotic Thriller |
You've made your own rules in life - and sometimes that catches up with you.
Winding a web of deceit comes naturally, and no one really knows the true you.
Your best movie matches: Swimming Pool, Unfaithful, The Crush |
Written on 4:09 PM by Jack B.
Those who remember this post will remember I am soon (*crosses fingers*) to be an uncle for the first time. Right now my sister is around 20 weeks (baby due in June) and it's a going to be...A GIRL! I was going to wait till I got the new ultra-sounds to post before I said it on the blog but why waste good news (which is so hard to come by these days as it is). I'll post the pics as soon as I get them.
If there's any good news to come out of this its that the name "Dyson" is out (although, truth to tell, I was getting used to it). My sister and her husband were so expecting a boy that they really didn't think of any girl-ish names. I'm trying to make the case for "Jacqueline" as a name but I don't think I'm getting any traction on that. My sister thought about the name "Madison" (which is the name of a Manhattan street, for heaven's sake!) but then discarded it because too many girls were named "Madison" these days and she didn't want to follow any fads. It seems she's got at least a little common sense, thank goodness.
Kudos to Carmel who said it "looks like a girl" in the comments box of that earlier post. If I smoked, I'd light a cigar in your honor! Personally I think all babies (even unborn ones), whether male or female, tend to look alike.
Written on 10:31 AM by Jack B.
Nothing gotten done
Kept putting it off and off
Laziness still lives
Written on 1:57 PM by Jack B.
Well, school has started again. As Year 2 of my Graduate career begins I have some hard decisions ahead to make ahead of me. By the end of this semester I’ll have to figure out what the subject of my Master’s Thesis will be, by the end of NEXT semester I’ll have to decide if I want to pursue my Ph.D. or not (and if I’m not going to teach, there’s little need for a Ph.D.) .
Then there’s all the assorted small (but no less important) decisions one has to make in the time in between. All this planning ahead, of course, conflicts with my goal of not thinking too far ahead and just taking it one day at a time. I never imagined I’d get this far - or do what I’m doing. At this rate I shall soon join the ranks of the rank and file overeducated degree-laden unemployed and unemployable intellectuals...and GOD knows, we have too many of them in this country already as it is.
But, hey, what can you do?
Written on 4:36 PM by Jack B.
Though on my off days I do look a little like him. This was me just earlier this week. Why am I wearing sunglasses indoors? Because I had poked my eye out and was in serious pain. Not only could I just barely see, but my right eye looked like it had been used as a punching bag - all red, swollen and sealed shut. So, basically for two days straight I wore shades both indoors and out, so nobody would notice. I actually think this is a pretty good picture of me (not that many exist) since you can't even tell it IS me. The co-worker who took the picture said jokingly that it looked like someone from the FBI had just been lurking in the background (this being cropped from a much larger picture). It doesn't look nearly as good in color as it does in black and white.
Written on 4:25 PM by Jack B.
Written on 12:00 PM by Jack B.
Written on 4:40 PM by Jack B.
Number of fingers it took to poke my eye out = 1
Number of hours of work I missed because of said eye = 4
Number of hours sleep it took me before I stopped squinting = 18
Number of dollars I paid to the doctor to tell me to “do nothing” and it’ll heal itself = 50
Proof I’m a self-destructive idiot whose brain cells often fall asleep at the wheel = Priceless
Written on 8:11 AM by Jack B.
Poked myself in eye
Swollen shut, can't see a thing
I'm an idiot
Had to squint to move
It hurt like a thousand knives
Better overnight
Written on 8:10 AM by Jack B.
Written on 8:23 AM by Jack B.
Back to daily grind
"Work, work, work" says the Boss Man
Can't wait to clock out
Written on 11:50 AM by Jack B.
NOTHING
SEE #1
SEE #2
SEE #3
SEE #4
SEE #5
SEE #6
SEE #7
SEE #8
SEE #9
Hmm...seems I managed to get quite a lot accomplished, didn't I?
Written on 11:25 AM by Jack B.
Just off the top of my head I'm going to say:
Carolina over Seattle
Pittsburgh over Denver
EDITED AFTER THE GAMES: WELL, ONE OUT OF TWO WASN'T BAD - GO STEELERS!
Written on 9:37 AM by Jack B.
I'm asking myself why I ever became a writer, and the internalized Joey D. voice is saying, "Because you have no other marketable skill"
Written on 11:11 AM by Jack B.
Written on 11:02 AM by Jack B.
Buried fathoms deep
Lying beneath lies long told
Chasm between us
Written on 5:22 AM by Jack B.
Written on 12:46 AM by Jack B.
Waste a few hours
Doing laundry - but make sure
You bring enough soap
Written on 11:41 PM by Jack B.
Written on 8:31 AM by Jack B.
A King born today
Not a ruler but prophet
Lost before his time
It was in his Dream
How we can live together
Character, NOT race
We’ve come a long way
Coming together as one
Dream’s not complete yet
Written on 2:22 AM by Jack B.
The main problem I seem to have in photos is an inability to smile, I just can't show my teeth, it doesn't come out right, and it doesn't feel right, so it always looks like I have a perpetually smirked closed mouth in pictures which of course doesn't quite look right either.
Written on 2:18 AM by Jack B.
The month's half over
What exactly have I done?
Hard to remember
Written on 7:38 PM by Jack B.
Or at least I don't think they do...
Both
Carmel at Winterr's words and
Jonathan at Ancient and Future Catholic Musings have posted about a site called
MyHeritage where you can upload a photo of yourself (or someone else) and see who the closest celebrity look-alike is (and not just recent celebrities either). It's actually very interesting and a great way to waste time - mostly because you get different results depending on different pictures of yourself. For instance I uploaded three separate
recent pictures of myself (all taken in the same time span) and got the following results...
The results of Picture 1 of me said that I most looked like the 19th Century figure Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, an anthropologist and a eugenicist (yikes!)
The results of Picture 2 of me said I looked most like actor Nicholas Cage
The results of Picture 3 of me said I looked most like this picture of a young St.Therese of Lisieux (which is flattering but slightly creepy)
Now I can't look like all three can I? Unless of course anyone thinks there's a certain resemblance between all these faces. Personally I don't see it. maybe it's all in the shape of the head? Or the eyebrows?
Written on 7:35 PM by Jack B.
Friday the thirteenth
Got through day without a hitch
I must be lucky
Written on 11:41 AM by Jack B.
You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gone have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you
- Paul McCartney
Yep, it's that time of the year again. The anniversary of my birth. I can't believe I'm as old as I am now. I've been thinking its time to get this book. It's funny, when I was a kid I couldn't wait to be older, couldn't wait to reach my next birthday, the sooner I did, the sooner I would be an "adult".
Now I dread reaching my next birthday, dread reaching the end of another year, dread getting older. What I wouldn't give now to be 18 again, or 21 or, heck, even 25 again. But that's not going to happen. And I'm left thinking of what I've accomplished with my life to this point - not much as far as I can tell. Certainly not as much I dreamed of when I was young. Still, I've got a lot to be thankful for as well. I still have all my hair (so far), my health (so far), my family (so far), a roof over my head (oh, you get the point). Many others don't even have that much.
Yet...when my cousin called from North Carolina and my sister called from her job in Manhattan (and if you knew her, you'd know how rare an occurrence that is) to wish me a Happy Birthday, my most prevailing emotion was annoyance. When once I couldn't wait for my birthday - now I can't wait for it to be over. I guess I just don't want to be reminded I'm getting older, that the time I have left on this mortal coil is getting shorter, that the list of things I haven't done is getting longer and meanwhile each year seems to go by faster and faster.
Oh, well. Enough of this maudlin tripe, let us think of today as a super-day, a time to celebrate, to to party like it's 1999 (again), yeah, that's it: it's Peanut Butter Jelly Time! And one can never have enough of that.
Written on 8:12 AM by Jack B.
Natal Day today
Starting to feel really old
Stopped counting my age
Written on 10:14 AM by Jack B.
Written on 4:38 PM by Jack B.
Written on 12:57 PM by Jack B.
Do not think too hard
Pondering the ways of men
Won't be here that long
Written on 1:11 PM by Jack B.
Here's an imprint of my face (that only vaguely looks like me, since a lot of facial features disappear when you manipulate an image) that I've tinted and replicated 9 times - kinda of like the Andy Warhol portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor (among others).
Call it me trying to do Pop Art.
Written on 12:42 AM by Jack B.
Written on 12:00 AM by Jack B.
Written on 11:53 PM by Jack B.
JACK'S TELEPHONE NUMBER...
Blonde Caller: "Can you give me the telephone number for Jack?"
Operator: "I'm sorry, I don't understand. Who are you talking about."
Blonde Caller: "On page 1 section 5, of the user guide it clearly states that I need to unplug the fax machine from the AC wall socket and telephone Jack before cleaning. Now, can you give me the number for Jack?"
Hat tip to my Mom who passed this joke to me
Written on 4:07 PM by Jack B.
Today would have been Elvis Presley's 71st Birthday
Written on 1:57 PM by Jack B.
And by the best shows I mean:
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA on the Sci-Fi Channel at 10pm EST tonight
and 
FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST on The Cartoon Network at 12am EST on Sunday
If you know these shows, I don't need to say any more but if you don't - WATCH THEM. If you can't, buy the DVDs. It's worth the money. One (
Battlestar Galactica) is a remake of show from 25 years ago than in LESS than two seasons is already as good as the original
Star Trek or
Babylon 5 or any other sci-fi show. It's probably the best written show on TV right now.
The other (
Fullmetal Alchemist) is probably the greatest anime (Japanese animation) TV show ever created and centers around 2 teenage brothers in an world where alchemy is a science and there are some lines you can never cross (like trying to bring your dead mother back to life). The series only has a run of 51 (of which just over 30 have been shown in the US) half-hour episodes total, but I dare anyone who can name an American TV series on any of the big networks that deal with so many issues - family, love, death, war, science, religion, redemption, good and evil, the meaning of having a soul, the meaning of taking a life, the meaning of accepting death, the meaning of NOT accepting fate and more. Not bad for a cartoon, huh?
Don't take my word on it though - watch them both.
Written on 6:06 AM by Jack B.
Written on 6:01 AM by Jack B.
My Spanish needs help
I'm rusty beyond measure
Really should practice
Written on 6:11 PM by Jack B.
My sister thinks it looks like a boy but I'm not sure (they don't know what it is yet). They're getting really crazy with names. I suggested they name it after me but they just ignored me. :(
Right now we call him/her "Dyson" because that's the name my brother-in-law wants (whether it be a girl or boy). Both my sister and her husband love going to Atlantic City and they got married in Las Vegas, so if they named the kid "Dyson", the child's nickname will be "Dice". Have you heard anything so insane? They name the poor boy/girl that and he/she will get their butt kicked in school every day.
Other options they're thinking about is giving the baby a name whose initials will come out to be M.G.M. - to mark the hotel they were staying in Vegas when they got married (the MGM Grand). That too sounds insane - but no one listens to me.
Written on 5:31 PM by Jack B.
If this had come from American and European politicians I wouldn't be surprised..but from the Aussies?
The story: Council bans Australian flag
Excerpt:
The New South Wales Government has urged a Sydney beachside council to rethink its decision not to fly the Australian flag over the iconic Bondi Pavilion amid suggestions the move was inspired by racial tensions.But Waverley Council's deputy mayor said Premier Morris Iemma didn't understand the facts and accused Liberal councillors of hijacking the issue for political gain.
Mr Iemma today urged the council to reconsider its 6-5 vote against flying the flag over the heritage-listed building. "Our flag is a symbol of national unity and the council decision is just ridiculous, they want to reconsider it and reconsider immediately," he said. "There's no excuse for anyone else to be saying 'Well, because of the incidents, the riots of two weeks ago we're not going to fly the Australian flag'. That is just ridiculous."
Exactly. Ridiculous is just the right word.
Waverley deputy mayor George Newhouse, who was among councillors who rejected the flag proposal, said it had nothing to do with racial tensions. "We already fly the flag at Bondi, we proudly fly the flag at Bondi and this decision has absolutely nothing to do with racism or Cronulla. It has everything to do with practical common sense," Mr Newhouse said.
"The Pavilion is a heritage-listed building and it will cost thousands of dollars to perform a heritage study and then erect the poles, which don't exist."
What a lame excuse!
And apparently they did because it might offend Muslims after all the racial violence that had broken out - and apparently the decision DID offend Muslims and the idea that they demand the flag of THEIR country could not be flown.
From another report:
Founder of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, Keysar Trad, said decisions made on behalf of the Muslim community with no consultation caused only further division. "To suggest in the slightest Muslims would be offended at the sight of the Australian flag is naive," Mr Trad said. "Many Muslims call Australia home and they are just as happy to see the flag flying high as any other Australians."
In other words - these politicians are morons.
Of course there's been a backlash. Here are two editorials:
The Daily Telegraph:
Waverley Council's Green mayor Mora Main and her Labor coalition members have successfully ensured that the beachside suburb's local governors are the latest byword for abject idiocy.Because of the council's inane ban on flying the national flag from the council-controlled Bondi Pavilion, and the weaselly attempts by Ms Mora and her Labor deputy, George Newhouse, to justify their ridiculous decision by claims of cost, heritage concerns and the possibility of stirring racist sentiments, the council has made itself a national laughing stock.
Ms Mora, who initially said the decision not to fly the flag was based on some politically correct humbug about the sensitivities of minority groups involved in the Cronulla brouhaha – though she first rejected the national flag last March, nine months before Cronulla erupted, now says the decision was always based solely on financial and heritage considerations. The heritage concern was always a furphy, photographs of the pavilion under the flag taken throughout the last century abound. As for the cost claim, local Federal MP Malcolm Turnbull and Liberal councillor Joy Clayton, graciously offered to fund the flag and flagpole, but now Premier Morris Iemma, sniffing a major backlash, has said the State Government will pay for flags, flagpoles, bolts, and if necessary, a man to hoist the flag daily.
Ms Mora had said she wanted to meet the premier, Mr Turnbull, anyone, in fact who might care to meet her. However, no one wanted to meet her, everyone just wanted to see the flag flying in its proper place of honour above Australia's most famous beach. And so it will, again. No thanks to the Waverley Council, again.
And here's one from theTownsville Bulletin:
THE beaches of Bondi seem a long way from downtown Townsville but that did not stop the debate over whether or not to fly an Australian flag over the historic beach pavilion from striking a chord in the North.Not surprisingly, and quite rightly, Townsville people saw the decision not to fly the flag for what it was - political correctness gone completely loopy. It was clear evidence that the racial violence on our beaches in the lead-up to Christmas has authorities in a spin.
Indeed, they, like the rest of us, are still in a state of shock over the scenes being played out on Australian streets. It is understandable that authorities do not have all the answers to what is obviously a deep-seated problem and nobody really expects them to come up with a solution overnight, but running scared is not the way to deal with it.
To disguise our national identity in fear of offending someone is not the answer. And to hide our symbol of national unity, a flag which generations have fought and died to protect, is unforgivable. It is hatred, not the sight of an Australian flag, that incites racial violence and to stop proudly flying it is a sign our elected representatives are devoid of better ideas.
Right-O! And now it seems that the politicians are back-peddling quickly:
Flag may fly again, says councilFirst they feared inciting racial violence, then they said it was the cost and possible damage fitting a flag pole would cause to a heritage building.But after a day of public pillory from critics, including Prime Minister John Howard and New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma, Sydney's Waverley Council conceded defeat yesterday. It will now consider overturning its controversial decision to ban flying the Australian flag at Bondi Pavilion. Before imposing the ban, the council recently rejected an offer from Federal MP Malcolm Turnbull to pay for an Australian and Aboriginal flag. One councillor turned the offer down amid of fears it may incite further racial tension.
Deputy Mayor George Newhouse claimed the major concern was the impact on the heritage-listed building. But The Daily Telegraph has uncovered a photograph, taken in the 1930s, showing two flags once flew over the pavilion. Waverley Mayor Mora Main admitted yesterday the council would now have a rethink. "I have called on the Premier and Mr Turnbull to meet with me to discuss the appropriateness of putting flags on the pavilion and also how it can be funded," she said. "It's great to hear this discussion about the flags and I look forward to hearing everyone's ideas when we consult with the community." Ms Main and fellow Green, George Copeland, had led a group of Labor councillors, including Mr Newhouse, Peter Moscatt, John Wakefield and Ingrid Strewe, who wanted to ban the flag from the pavilion, sparking outrage. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said there was no reason the Australian flag should be prohibited. Mr Iemma, who last week presented a new flag to the Brighton-le-Sands RSL Club after its symbol was burnt during the December 11 race riots, said: "Our flag is a symbol of national unity and the council decision is just ridiculous. They want to reconsider it immediately." Three national flags flew at Bondi beach yesterday - above the Bondi Bathers Club, the North Bondi Surf Club and the North Bondi RSL. What idiots! I'm surprised these politicians haven't been laughed out of town already.
Written on 5:17 PM by Jack B.
When I first purchased the Dell computer I'm typing on I had contemplated buying an Apple Mac but decided not to because of the cost. More and more I'm regretting that - in the long run I probably would have saved some cash.
Especially with this news....Windows PCs face ‘huge’ virus threat
Yep, that Bill Gates is just about the biggest huckster in the world...basically making billions forcing his subpar product down our throats.
Written on 12:18 AM by Jack B.
It's all over now
The Times Square ball has dropped down
The New Year is here
Been two thousand six
Years of The Lord have gone by
Not much remarked on
Drank too much champagne
Woke up with a hangover
What was I doing?
Slept throughout the first
Head ached like a son of a ---
That's why I don't drink
Life goes on next day
Back to the normal routine
Boring, but sober
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