Boing Boing's heavily updated post regarding today's shooting in VA has tons of info including links to first-person accounts and pictures.

CNN is going nuts with the video shot by Jamal Albarghouti on his Nokia. Wolf Blitzer thought it necessary to find out that the guy who shot the video was from Palestine, you know, because that's relevant.

The press conference they just showed on CNN was like a feeding frenzy. I think I even heard the CNN cameraman scoff at some of the questions the rabid reporters were asking. Everyone is trying to find someone to blame.

Glenn Reynolds' solution: more guns. Gee Glenn, there's awful lot of “if's” in your arrangement. Yeah, if were all allowed to carry around samurai swords the incident may have been averted as well. Come on now, I can play the “what if” game all day.

Oh, and CNN.com, real subtle…

The story continues…

At Least 21 Dead in Virginia Tech Shooting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/us/16cnd-shooting.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Holy shit! Damn you rap music and GTA!!

Sea lion attacks teenage girl

A 13-year-old girl lost three teeth and had her jaw broken in an attack by a sea lion while she was surfing north of Perth yesterday.

Ella Murphy was being towed on a surfboard behind a boat near the fishing town of Lancelin, when the 300 kilogram animal launched at her, the Seven Network reports.

"The sea lion has come straight up at her on a collision course on the wave and leapt out of the water and grabbed her on the head in its mouth," witness Chris Thomas said.

A family friend pulled the girl to safety as the sea lion was returning for a second attack, the network reported.

Ella was in a stable condition last night after undergoing surgery at Princess Margaret Hospital.

When the sea lions start attacking, you know the world has gone completely mad.

5ive Random Wikis to expand your brain (of useless facts):

• Lesser Potoo – Only a 1HD creature, unlike the Greater Potoo that gets three attacks per round.

• Marijuana Party candidates, 2004 Canadian federal election – Hmm, I guess the potheads had something keeping them at home instead of getting out and voting.
• Clevo – Nerd, nerd, China, nerd.
• The Geese and the Ghost – The “lost” Genesis album (though not)
• King Midget – They've got a king!? Oh shit, I smell revolution. Though I bet it will be a short one, Zing!

I find it funny that throughout the week, when I have to wake up at around 6:30AM I can hardly roll out of bed. I hit snooze three or four times and then reluctantly amble to the shower. However on the weekends, when I can sleep in as long as I want, I have to fight to sleep past 7AM. I literally have to lie there make myself go back to sleep, and still only manage to wander in and out of sleep until 7:45AM. Then again, it's not good to get too much sleep anyway.

A Quote:
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
– Ernest Hemingway

Oh, so that explains it.

Google to buy DoubleClick for $3.1B – Google is dropping another wad on a company just a hair over a decade old. Okay, so I know some smart people both in business ideas and computer skills. We need to get together and form some little startup that Google can buy from us for a couple of billion dollars in a few years. Then we can all go someplace sunny and have drinks with little umbrellas in them. Sound like a good deal? Let's get on it.

One of the most problem plagued aircrafts ever, the V-22 Osprey is being deployed to Iraq. Kind of ironic if you ask me, which you didn't. If you ever wanted to use the phrase “hemorrhaging money,” now would be the time.

Time to go old school with….

Time to do stuff.

No. 2981

No. 2980

So I was reading the screenplay for Se7en by Andrew Kevin Walker and decided to check out the DVD box to see what kind of billing he got. What I found was this:

Find something odd? Probably not, because only my movie-related-OCD brain would care about this. However you can see that John C. McGinley (aka Dr. Perry Cox) gets his credit on the box. Why is this strange? HE'S IN THE MOVIE FOR ONE MINUTE AND HAS ABOUT TWO LINES! What the crap? Not only that, Kevin Spacey is nowhere to be found.

For all of you movie-philes out there, is there a reason for this? Considering Spacey's role in the move I can understand why they may have left him off of the cast list. However putting McGinley on the box, regardless of how cool the guy is seems a little ridiculous. I would think R. Lee Ermey would have billing over him, he's got way more screentime.

And I just wasted a few minutes of your life. I obviously have forgotten what Friday nights are all about.

p.s. Andrew Kevin Walker's credit comes third to last. So it is. I should have been an actor (not that I'm much of a writer or anything).

I went to the bank to get some cash for the weekend and after the withdrawal
I noticed I had exactly $666 dollars in my account, on Friday the 13th.

The withdrawal slip then burst into flames and I'm pretty sure I'll be a
goner by the end of the day.

That is of course if I believed in all of that superstitious mumbo-jumbo.
Just in case I went to Einstein and debited a veg-out sandwich. Hey, you
can't be too careful these days.

Full quote: If President Bush vetoes an Iraq war spending bill as promised, Congress quickly will provide the money without the withdrawal timeline the White House objects to because no lawmaker “wants to play chicken with our troops.”

They really are trying their hardest aren't they.

Via C & L

Celtx – a free, open source software tool for writing and formatting a screenplay to meet the screenplay submission standards set by the theater and film industries. And it doesn't just help you format a screenplay, it helps organize and entire production (not that I'd be doing that, but the option is there).

It's really free, and it's really awesome. Fuck you $230 Final Draft!

CBS pulls the plug on Imus.

Wow, if only our government worked this fast when a politician committed a wrong. Though I don't really feel like it was that much of a wrong.

CBS (and NBC) didn't drop Imus out of some great moral or ethical obligation, they let him go because advertisers pulled their dollars from his how. They let him stay so long because his show pulled in a lot of money from advertisers, even when he said dumb shit before. This time he just got caught being lame and white. Advertising runs the world, believe it.

Kurt Vonnegut Dies at the Age of 84

So long, and thanks for all the laughs.

…but sometimes it is still fun.

So this guy on YouTube calls me a moron because of some of the political videos I post. In particular he was incensed at the Glenn Beck/Keith Ellison video from ages ago.

From zodiacUSMC:

You totally twisted what Glen Beck was talking about with that Muslim Democrat. You know, how about this, instead of slamming conservative media like Glen Beck just because you hate America, why dont you focus on Rosie O'donnell and her sick views of our country and the Brits. You need to learn your facts before you start slamming. how 'bout you e-mail me back and we can have a real debate and I can promise you that I will shoot down every perverted thought you have about our country. Like I tell every other far left liberal….if you hate us, then leave.BTW…I was a Marine and served during Operation Enduring freedom…I'm a bit interested in what you have to say about that.

Re: smmfryguy:

First, why do people who support the war and George Bush always say those who don't hate America? That's a baseless assertion and makes no sense.

Second, what facts don't I know? Please, tell me.

Third, are you really equating Glenn Beck, a radio/TV host whose show is on a cable news channel, with Rosie O'Donnel, a comedian whose network show has nothing to do with news or politics? You're comparing apples and pork, so that statement doesn't fly either. I don't care what Rosie O'Donnel does or thinks, she doesn't hold sway over majority opinion or run the country.

Lastly, good for you for being a Marine. I hope that made you proud to serve your country, which I hope you did admirably. Disagreeing with a war doesn't mean you dislike those forced to participate in a war. You and your compatriots were merely instruments. You can respect instruments but you don't always like the band they are in or the music they are playing. Do you get that? Do you understand similes and metaphors.

Think for yourself man, stop letting right-wing blowhards and an administration that has lied to you and used you do your thinking.

Response from blowhard-McGee:

you are wrong…first off…Rosie o donnell has access to thousands of households and these housewives. more ppl watch her than Glen Beck…ppl will listen to her. So, you see, she does hold sway over a majority of ppl….Beck does not, atleast not as many as the millions that she does . and I'm sorry but did you serve?….nope……….so you aren't going to get away with calling me an instrument….you have no clue, thats like me saying that your girlfriend gave me good head…..how would I know I was never even in that position… “forced to participate in a war…are you fucking out of your mind???? FORCED….I speak for everyone I know…dont let the liberal media tell you that the majority want out….we all swore and oath to defendthis county against all enemies, foreign and domestic…we swore to defend her with our lives if need be…we all went over there willingly….so dont FUCKING tell me what I or WE as Marines thought….fucking forced my ass, you liberal ass wipe, you know shit…this was going to be a respectful debate until you had to throw up the phrase forced and instrument on a topic I know more about than your sorry ass….no one has lied to me…I am an independent thinker I am not a republican I am an independent consevative and I know how to make decisions…the Marines didn't fucking brainwash my ass either so go fuck yourself if you think that is the case. fucking forced……….you fucking retard…..you really struck a cord in me asshole. I love my country and would do it again if I could….FUCK YOU!

I shit you not, he actually wrote all of that, ellipses and all. I really love when people call you a moron while typing like a third-grader.

My second response:

Wow, why are you getting so upset if you know I am so wrong? Once again, you put words in my mouth. I never said you were brainwashed, but it sounds like you've got your own issues to work out in that regard.

So you swore an oath to defend the country against its “enemies,” but who decides who those enemies are? If your generals and masters told you to shoot at and kill a group of catholic priests or children because they were enemies, would you? That's a an extreme example but it seems necessary to make a point. Just because the adminstration says something, it doesn't make it true.

Once again though, you are making assumptions and assertions based on one video and all of the right-wing talking points that are trumpeted by pundits and the adminstration. Don't do that, it makes you look even more foolish.

I'm glad I “struck a chord with you,” it tells me that at least you're thinking. Oh, and I'm fairly certain you don't speak for everyone you know. They have voices and minds of their own and I'm sure they'd appreciate it if you didn't make them look as angry and disturbed as you.

For evidence of that, I suggest you watch a few movies:
The War Tapes
Iraq For Sale
Gunner Palace
Operation: Dreamland
The Ground Truth

I doubt you speak for some of the men and women featured in these movies.

Take care, and take a Valium or something, you seem a little tense.

He followed up with this killer:

I'll respond to you later, sorry for cussing at you but I am still upset with what you said and I will explain later. Now I have church and spend time with family.

Now dude, if you're trying to come off as a hard-ass don't end the discussion with, “…I'm taking the family to church.” The fact that the dude goes to church after spewing a bunch of hateful, moronic rhetoric is simply icing on the cake. This little exchange took place over the weekend and I have yet to hear back from zodiacUSMC [sic].

I love the Internets.

So, due to some clerical errors and classes only being offered during a single semester there is no possible way I can graduate at the end of this calendar year. That sucks. However, after pulling all of the strings available to me and cracking some skulls (and with a dash of begging), I was able to get the classes I want for Fall 2007. In a nutshell; Photojournalism, Metro Reporting, Editing, Magazine Publishing and Professional Writing. Three of the classes are M, Tu, W from 6PM-8:50PM, one is Tuesday/Thursday mornings, and one is online. This also means that I will only have two/three more classes to take in the Spring of '08 and turn in a portfolio and bing, done. Gee, and it will only have taken a decade.

Considering that in the fall I am going back to only working at night so (which will cut my income from 'wee!' to 'shit, ramen!'), this means I will have tons of pseudo free-time. Books that have long been collecting dust will be conquered, movies will be watched, pictures will be taken and much writing will be done both on and off the field. That's going to be a fun time.

Oh, and I'll be moving back to PSJ/Brevard County with my brother. You know what that means? Mom's cooking any night I want. Huzzah!

Google TiSP

Genius!

*not really

Yes I am a total dork.

Oh you'll keep waiting for something to happen, but it doesn't.

A few weeks ago I had this idea of doing a video podcast. I have an average daily commute of 30 minutes or so throughout the week, during which I have a lot of thoughts and daily ruminations. I figured why not, if LonelyGirl15 can do it then why not me? I recorded a few but realized they were clocking in at 30MB+ which is beyond the capacity of YouTube and/or PhotoBucket. I'd have to buy domain space in order to host the narcissistic vids, which I will do eventually.

If I can keep them under 10 minutes a piece I can use a free hosting service, which I may do. No one wants to listen to you for more than 10 minutes these days anyway, attention spans are alarmingly small.

And before you say it, yes I know it is vain. Sorry I can't help it, I love me and think I rule. It's just too bad no one seems to agree.

What? Do something!

I recorded this a few weeks back. The Gonzo talk sort of dates it, but I thought some bits were funny. (Yes I do realize that at one point I do in fact, kind of pick my nose. Hey, if you want reality TV you've got to accept it all fuckers.)

P.S. I realize that PhotoBucket uploads vids out of synch for some reason. Next time I'll use YouTube.

P.P.S. It's also an unofficial David Fincher evening. I'm watching The Game, Se7ev and Fight Club. I need to write a movie, I think I can.