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Zobar's Journal

zobar
My Podcast Link

10/04/2006 13:35 #37382

i am a genius
Category: fightin' the power
I admit it. It's true. It's tough to be humble when you're this God-damned brilliant.

Next time you get a parking ticket -

chill out. It's not a stupid waste of your time and money - it's a $32 permit to park anywhere you want within the city limits. Pay the ticket online. There will be a $2 surcharge, but think of it as an investment. When you pay online, you get to keep the ticket and the obnoxious orange envelope, which you can then stick under your own windshield the next time you park illegally, thus saving Buffalo's Finest the trouble.

You're welcome. And, as with any free legal advice, don't try this at home.

- Z

ingrid - 03/07/07 20:01
Can I just say that parking tickets suck. And, those stupid bastards will ticket you again. I had two tickets on my car w/in a 12 hours period! UGH..
jason - 10/05/06 12:30
Excellent tip. Who knows why I haven't thought of it before.
lilho - 10/04/06 14:13
coming from someone who gives half their salary to the city, in parking tickets, you are a fucking genius. wow.

09/30/2006 10:07 #37381

channel 420?
Category: tv
I had an idea that ended up morphing into what can only be described as The Stoner Channel. It is a high-concept TV channel that is not for stoners per se, but rather for anyone who has totally given up any pretense of looking for entertainment and instead would be satisfied with only stimulation.

I got an AIM from (e:dragonlady7) one day while I was at work; she had taken some heinous cold medicine and it was getting on top of her. I directed her to a couple episodes of Krentz and the Hand of Shame and another one called Ptikobj . Her response was something like, "That shit is freeky."

When I was at college, I was awakened very early one Saturday morning when I heard my roommates laughing their asses off downstairs. I came downstairs, still half asleep, and, well- this was the first time I had actually seen an episode of Teletubbies. Technically we were all stone cold sober, but at 7am that shit is way freeky.

Also on the list:

The Turkish Star Wars (e:zobar,108)
Pink Panther cartoons
Fantasia
Hatten Är Din
Teen Girl Squad

It would end up being heavy on cartoons, so it would really cater to anyone whose attention span is shot [cf: children]. With a complete story arc [if you could call it that] expressed in under five minutes, and a new disconnected thought every 45 seconds, it's just not about thinking. Except when we take a whole afternoon to bring you: curling tournaments!

We would strive to keep overt drug references to a minimum. Cheech & Chong is out. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is in, but only because it is an extremely well-made movie from an extremely well-made book, and also, that shit is freeky.

OK, I gotta get back to work. My project is going pretty well, so mos def we'll be at the housewarming party.

- Z
mrmike - 10/03/06 16:30
Sounds like an exercise we had to do at a workshop a few months ago. Each group had to introduce a new concept for cable television. We came up with sports porn or "SPRN" figuring there is an audience there even if Disney didn't want to invest.
museumchick - 10/03/06 09:14
I definitely think your 420 channel sounds better than some of the stuff that's out there now!
jenks - 09/30/06 13:50
I love teen girl squad. All of homestar, for that matter.

I saw crocodile hunter at about 7am once after a night of drinking and just thought 'holy shit! This is crazy!'

then about a year later saw it again- I'd had no idea it was a real show. I was like 'oh my god it's that fucking crazy alligator show! I thought I imagined that shit!"

09/28/2006 22:53 #37380

the gulag archipelago
Category: work
I have not posted in a while, because I have sequestered myself in the attic until I finish writing a new backend for our calendar database. This may strike you as a weird thing to do, but the attic is comfortable this time of year, quiet, and relatively clean. I have weird mannerisms when I am deep in thought, and when I am in the attic nobody says anything when I pace around the room, pulling my hair and chewing my beard. I have put in fifty hours this week [well, starting Friday after work] and I am thrilled to be able to concentrate so completely. I am making excellent progress. I have assured both Management and (e:dragonlady7) that the overtime will become a vacation in the not too distant future.

I have also promised Management that I will return Monday with my shield or upon it; this does not bode well for my attendance at the housewarming party. The question is not whether I will be there -- I will -- but when.

- Z
kookcity2000 - 10/03/06 21:15
That was an intense book. (Gulag Archipelago)
I had to put it down last summer. I'm just getting back to finish it up latley.
carolinian - 09/29/06 21:36
I like to stand up in front of my computer and gaze at it from a distance further than where I was sitting a moment ago. As weird as it must look to coworks, doing this helps me get "the bigger picture".
paul - 09/28/06 23:34
I understand the weirdness of the programming moment very well. That is why I have virtually no furniture in my office. I provides space for pacing. I would like to add a fainting couch though for when ity gets overhwelming, lol.

09/21/2006 23:44 #37379

the gospel of judas
Category: music
is founded on an interesting idea: without Judas, there'd be no betrayal, no passion and death, and no resurrection, and without that - there's not a whole lot of Christianity either. (WIKIPEDIA - Gospel of Judas) Don't think about it too much, it'll blow your mind.

The point being, I've become a bit of a closeted Bob Dylan fan lately, so I went out and bought the 'official' Royal Albert Hall concert recording (WIKIPEDIA - The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert). A watershed moment in rock music, &c., &c., of course, and I never realized that Bob Dylan could rock this hard. But if my man over here had not shouted "Judas!" at precisely the moment he did - symbolizing whatever it was he was symbolizing - and had he not been caught on tape - would anybody care about Bob Dylan's 1966 world tour?

Eh, don't worry about it. This is the most genuinely spiteful and venomous recording I have ever heard and I cannot stop listening to it.

Speaking of spite and venom, I have been feeling curmudgeonly lately. Why, just this evening I saw some lacrosse mom park her exceedingly large passenger vehicle in front of a fire hydrant on my street. Well technically she was endangering the lives of residents and a grandstand full of kids, but sometimes you gotta rephrase things in terms people actually care about. So I left a polite little note:

Deep thought of the day:
If I fire-bombed your car,
they would have to tow it
before they put it out.
Have a nice day.



OK, so I don't know what is involved in fire-bombing a car, but the point is that the school year is young and I want to discourage bad behavior in the pups before it becomes habitual. Also, I was amused by the imagery of a flaming car getting towed down the street so that they can get to the fire hydrant to put it out. I am an asshole, but I swear I use my powers for good and not for evil.

- Z

_______________
New journal music: Bob Dylan, "Like a Rolling Stone," from the "Royal Albert Hall" concert. Play it fucking loud.

iriesara - 09/22/06 17:57
I absolutely LOVE Dylan....yes the world would've totally noticed, and actually did before that....at the Newport Jazz Festival is when he first publically plugged in, I believe....I love the "play it fucking loud" part....also, his response to being called Judas was "You're a liar"....also classic.....
On a site note, if you haven't seed the Martin Scorsese documentary "No Direction Home", you should.....Also the documentary from a long time ago, "Don't Look Back" is very good, and also shows that show you speak of.
mrmike - 09/22/06 11:30
Great choice, I like how Dylan actually tells the Band that. I think people would have cared about the tour. The Judas comment was almost an afterthought. Given the hubbub at Newport about the electric set, all the serious Dylan heads were watching everything at that point. Given what followed, the Judas guy seriously needed to chill. It's a great record, almost punk in its defiance.

09/19/2006 11:11 #37378

avast ye scurvy scum
Category: work
Ohhh, so this is what I'm doing wrong. Good news for some, but less so for me: it looks like I'm stuck here for the forseeable future. I'll put off my existential crisis until at least this evening. [Like, how am I even a web developer? Clerical error...] I wonder how many Mac engineering jobs there are in Buffalo that don't involve working for (e:carolinian) 's manic boss.

Also, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day.

- Z
jenks - 09/19/06 16:27
oh crap, you're totally right! It's today! :::link:::
For some reason I thought it was in, like, March.
carolinian - 09/19/06 12:25
You laugh.

The last year I was at state, the student government president who talked like a pirate. His entire career. He didn't have a platform, he had a "plank", and he gave as many speeches as he reasonably could in pirate talk and was decked out in garb at nearly every meeting.

:::link:::


ladycroft - 09/19/06 11:50
no, no, no! talk like/be like a pirate day is friday! i'm doing a pirate themed event at canisius! argh!