Well actually, I'm not going to berate anybody on their vote for mayor, although Helfer is clearly the better choice :) Definitely vote NO on Prop 1, for the love of all that is secular. Sheldon Silver and his cronies haven't learned how to properly run state government yet; the last thing he needs is more power.

I feel like absolute ass. I stayed home today (not like there is anything for me to do at work lately) so I went to vote, then went to Talking Leaves. You know, its amazing how many obscure art magazines with virtually no circulation they shelve there in the place of news magazines. I guess if I want to read something relevant to anything I'll have to trek to Borders. I did pick up the lastest issue of High Times though, because (a) I'm dying to smoke, and (b) I've wanted to pick up an issue for the longest time but I can' t exactly pick that up when I'm travelling and my co-worker is around.

The girl at the counter of Talking Leaves was like, "I swear I recognize you from somewhere!" Seriously, its not even a joking matter.... I get that ALL the freaking time. So she asked me, "What high school did you go to?" It turns out she is 3 or 4 years younger than me, and we both went to the same high school! Now this may not be terribly rare for you people who grew up in the Buffalo area, but for me this is a rare occurance. She was a cutie, too!

There is only one thing pulling me out of this apartment today - okay, maybe two.

I've heard of this thing before from NPR, and they were talking about it again today. You can read about it here -

If you haven't heard about this project, check it out. Its got to be one of the most interesting and important projects going on in America today. Essentially the idea is to bring in your relatives and record them - an oral history project. Have them talk about their lives; funny stories, sad stories, the whole gamut. This way, you have a recorded piece of your heritage that you can reflect on years later when those people have passed. Copies of these recorded conversations are then kept at the Library of Congress. I wish that I could have done this with my grandfather before he died, VERY badly. StoryCorps has recording booths in two locations around Manhattan, as well as two roaming trailers that travel the country to get people to come in and do this.

How I would love to prepare a list of questions to ask my grandmother, and get her to go record it all with me. I'd love to ask her questions about her relationship with my grandpa, her circumstances growing up, the type of jobs she did when she was young and recently married, what she was thinking when (e:jason) and I were born, her happiest moments, her proudest moments, mentionings about her sisters and brothers, her advice for my brother and I on how to deal with life as we go, and anything involving what she would like to do with herself now and in the future. Among other things!

My boss told me this morning that over the weekend a certain video game company is requesting our services! I will beg, borrow and/or steal to go to those audits.

(e:ajay) I think you actually didn't read who posted the rant - it was me. You may be actually talking about the commentary that (e:jason) left on my last post... you know, that stuff you couldn't respond to directly so you chose to ignore it?

Anyhow, in response - I read 4 newspapers a day and parts of others - if you are suggesting that Niman is a "black sheep" you couldn't be more wrong. The thrust of his horeshit commentary is just as prevelant in major print media - the only difference is that in major media they are professionals and Mike Niman isn't. What does that mean? Its the difference between what you say in polite company and what you say amongst your friends - its the wording. His crybaby antics are inspired by and parroted because of what you read in papers like the New York Times, Washington Post and Baltimore Sun. Maureen Dowd is just as radical and arrogant as Mike Niman is.

As far as my comment concerning "policing" what journalists write - stop changing the subject - we aren't talking about President Bush, we are talking about Mike Niman. What I'm getting from you is that journalists, in your opinion, should be able to write as irresponsibly and untruthfully as they want to. That is hilarious to me considering that what I'm talking about precisely is the reason why Rather got in trouble. His editors did little to no fact checking because they were so in love with a false story that it didn't matter if it was true or not. You are fucking absolutely right that journalists should be policed by their editors in order to adhere to a standard. To not do so is absolutely insane because what you end up with is a media that you can't trust because of their partisanship and arrogance. The Minnesota Star-Tribune got into trouble recently because of this exact problem, and when the facts came out they got a black eye. Only after intense pressure did they feel compelled to write a correction. After that fiasco, who is actually going to trust what they read in that paper now? Editors checking the journalists is extremely important because it provides something that the print media sorely lacks right now - INTEGRITY. Now, for fucks sake please, don't digress. Do you think that its important for journalists to have integrity in the eyes of the readership?

Anyhow, I find it interesting that you would bring the war stuff up, considering that my post that you are responding to had NOTHING TO DO with the war. I expect better. Try to stay on topic please. The only thing I might add to your digression, since I'm feeling charitable, is that a) Cheney liquidated his Halliburton assets in 2000, and b) if you are suggesting that the Oil for Food scandal was somehow the United States' fault that is the stupidest thing I've ever read. The most interesting thing out of the OFF scandal, by the way, is that Marc Rich (Clinton's boy that got pardoned) was found out to have been wheeling and dealing with Saddam Hussein directly during the embargo. Notch another one up for Slick Willy!

By the way, I voted for Clinton. The single worst decision I ever made as a registered voter. Well, no... maybe I regret Gore more. :)

I read Mike Niman's article in the Artvoice, essentially lighting up the communal religious organization known as 12 Tribes. I went ahead and did what Mike Niman DIDN'T do, which is engage these people in conversation today. Yes thats right - Mike Niman was given an opportunity to actually talk to 12 Tribes before publishing his article and he didn't. Why am I not surprised? The man has an irrational and innate hatred of anything related to the Bible, and the fact of the matter is that the other side of the story didn't matter to him. Only his prejudiced and halfwitted opinion article matter to him.

Want the truth? Different races live together in the local 12 Tribes commune. The organization consists of every race on Planet Earth, and there are multiple communes around the world. Wow, clearly they are white supremacists if they are best friends, live together and take care of each other. The organization is neither Christian or Jewish, but they live by the Bible in a peaceful and if anything, reclusive lifestyle. I'm completely outraged and incensed by Mike Niman right about now. I mean, don't get me wrong, his completely lopsided and irrational articles appear in Artvoice practically every week - the only thing that he suceeds in every week is displaying how much of a fringe lunatic he is. I've hated Mike Niman for a long, long time but this week is absolutely the pinnacle. If it doesn't scare you that this man is a college professor paid by the state, it should. DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU READ IN THAT ARTICLE.

Artvoice should be held responsible for publishing such utter garbage. Do you think you'll see an apology from Mike Niman anytime soon? Hell no - he's busy with his head in the sand and I personally guarantee that he is a chickenshit just like every other radical left wing writer in this country. Flip through the Artvoice this week - practically every response to Mike Niman's article lambbastes him and points out his obscure, poorly researched and small-minded predilection. He feels the need to defend himself by suggesting that because he's participated in Co-Op organizations for 25 years that he has the authority to speak on the subject? HORSESHIT. Not good enough for ANY publication in America let alone our shitty local pubs. Want the truth? Guys like him get away with this crap because they are completely unpoliced by their higher ups. I'm certainly not surprised that Jamie Moses let this one pass - he's just as much of an asshole as Mike Niman.

The media's spin on this, and its been like this from day one, is that somebody is guilty. Never mind the actual evidence or the actual law, somebody is going to be guilty. Hopefully it would be Rove (oops!) so now Scooter Libby was indicted (legal speak for accused with no way to defend himself) for charges generated from an e-mail that he wrote. Surely the press is disappointed and will find some way to tie this to President Bush... which is a strategy that will ultimately fail since when you actually look at the law nobody broke any laws. Thats right, nobody is going to jail and ultimately this is going to be another black eye on the Democrats. What we are seeing here is the culmination of Democratic lunacy that started after Nov. 4, 2004. What? President Bush was re-elected? IMPEACHMENT TIME.

The bottom line is that the law that this entire investigation was about 2 years ago isn't applicable. Patrick Fitzgerald is a saint, but Ken Starr was a witch hunter. Hypocrisy anyone? This entire fiasco is a big steaming pile of horseshit that was trumped up by a media that hates the right wing. The media was exposed during Rathergate, during Newsweekgate which was even worse since people actually died as a result of inaccurate and sensationalistic reporting. Completely and utterly inexcusable. Just an FYI, "covert" is different than "classified."

Honest to God, the most interesting commentary I've heard as a result of this mess is from a liberal - good ol' Lefty Lanny Davis - former special counsel to President Clinton. He is shaming the media for being accusatory, and essentially ignoring the actual evidence. At least there is one honest Democrat out there!

My brother and I decided that instead of returning our bottles and cans ourself, that we would just stack up everything on the curb next to the big blue CoBuffalo trash bins. Now keep in mind, this wasn't a small amount of bottles and cans. There were probably $25 worth of returnables there. So, how long did they last?

It took us longer to bring them out than the length of time it took for somebody to scoop them up. I heard someone yell, "HOLY SHIT!" then about 10 minutes later they were gone. (e:jason) wanted to take a picture of them, but they were gone before he could. Simply amazing. At least I scratched one chore off of my to-do list and somebody got some money. Try that in the 'burbs, suckers!

My brother and I were going to come to the party as a soldier/detainee combo but I think we're going to try something else. I might just come "as myself' since I"m plenty enough of a character as is.

My work buddy still can't get out of Miami so we had to cancel our trips this week. Woop! I still have to go into the office, though.

To answer the question (e:paul) posed - as far as the war ending is concerned, it will end although I'm not about to pretend to know how and when. My best guess is that everybody is going to be huggy and kissy when Islam itself decides that its not going to tolerate this militant fanatical wing ruining the reputation of a perfectly good religion. There isn't anything that us Westerners can do to change their minds, primarily because the source of their hatred is our ("our" meaning the Western world, not just the USA) culture and its influence around the world. We allow freedoms that their culture forbids to such an extent that they will line up to kill themselves if it means that they *might* stop us. This isn't about GWB for them. Its about creating and maintaining a worldwide Islamofascist state.

My work buddy, Julio lives in Miami. Unless you have some way of sheltering yourself from the outside world for a week at a time you know that a hurricane went through south Florida recently. So, I am getting ready to go to the airport, and Julio calls me -
"Maing, the airport is closed." OH SHIT!

I was on hold with SWA for 30 minutes, but I did get my flight switched just in time. Technically, my flight boards in half an hour and I'm sitting in my living room writing to you. This isn't so bad, but when I get stranded one day due to weather I am going to freak out. Anyhow, I have a free day in Buffalo! I've wanted to go to Sahara Grill and Caffe Aroma for a while now. Its early in the day, and my plan is just to do what I never get to do - cruise my 'hood on foot and relax. I'm going to try something for lunch that I've never had or would never think to have, then I am going to go to Caffe Aroma, order a mocha or a latte... and read the local propaganda while I listen to my newly procured Doves MP3s.

Laundry is my least favorite chore, and I have to do it when its raining. Why, oh why do I have to be lazy and wait until the last minute?

I went to the co-op to grab some food to cook, since this will be my last meal at home until Friday. I got some help on what to pick out from the very friendly and cute staff there! I like to cook... it does for me what playing musical instruments used to do for me. Well, I suppose playing guitar still does it for me, but for God's sake what is "IT" JOSH?!

"It" is that feeling where your mind is blank, and you are just enjoying doing what you are doing. Kind of like a timeless moment. You get lost in your own little world, and the only thing on your mind is working on your task bit by bit. Plus (well, for the most part anyhow) I usually dazzle people with my grilling skills, and it feels good to have something you make be appreciated... especially by friends. Anyhow I know that you men and ladies know what I mean because everybody has something like that in their lives. In my opinion these things are the best of things.

Otherwise, the weekend was a smashing success. Great fun was had downtown, and I usually hate Chippewa. 67 West is alright, mainly because of the eye candy.

Tomorrow I board a plane destined for Tulsa, OK. I spend two days in that part of the United States (I don't prejudge the places I visit but c'mon... you see, this thing I do doesn't always involve glamorous locales!) follwed by one day in Chicago, then I am home by dinnertime Friday night. I looked at the upcoming schedule... Los Angeles is once again coming up! Perfect timing.