Scotto's Wall Scrawls

Happy first day of Spring!!

 

Egg-dying went well... the white spots denote 4 eggs that cracked, and the ones TM took home for herself and MO. Adam took one - he'll be giving it to a girl at school - and he certainly enjoyed the fajitas that BHK made. Larry and Chris (and mostly Adam and Tina, too) spent the bulk of the visit glued to the tube while BHK and I did the majority of coloring. My faves are the family eggs (there's a Scotto, BHK, Pye and Newt in the mix) as well as a couple of oddballs - speckeld ones and hot pink / green... both of which are more vibrant than this photo shows. more in depth pictures later, possibly.

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GP's got me interested in Encounter Critical. It's by S. John Ross, an added bonus (I dig the mechanics of Risus, though I've never played it.)

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twitterwise, I'm on the Orange Team. icons when in civilian duds, and on team business.

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How could I choose another color?

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I really want the cell phone legislation banning use of a handset while driving in Maryland to pass. The beltway is rough enough without people crimping necks and not looking at the road. Whatever happened to the idea of pulling over to talk?

I'd love to see some sort of magic technology that blocks non-emergency cell phone use in the driver's side of a car while the wheels are moving.

Same goes for the front-seat DVD players, and audio systems that go louder than a range of safely hearing what's going on outside of the vehicle, as far as I'm concerned. Color me a fascist, but I don't need anyone being more distracted than they already are... If I could find a way to implement a breathalyser / urine tester for safe driving, I'd probably do that, too. And bumper-transponders that forbid tailgating based on the speed of the vehicles in question.

Heck, just use my magical wishing ring to stop all accidents - one of my characters, miniMAX first developed his size-changing abilities by trying to develop desolidity tech for vehicles... they never crash into one another!

After all those years, I still want a hyper-intelligent 4-inch tall talking ape to be my lab partner in fighting crime and solving the world's ills... or clean, safe teleportation technology. Or a magic wishing ring that can put people in protective bubbles, and heal them when they're hurt.

Thoughts about this is coming from the fact that I'm having trouble feeling a lot of sympathy for TM's uncle.... he apparently tried to kill himself by driving his car into oncoming traffic. Seriously... I understand being in pain and lashing out, but there are *PEOPLE* driving and acting as passengers in the other cars! If you want to off yourself, I have no problem with that... but leave everyone else out of it.

I feel bad for TM, though - she's been dealing with his nonsense for a long time, and right before this happened, she blew him off via the phone, and her other family did the same. I don't know all the details, but I hope that once he's out of the hospital he gets worthwhile treatment, and a maximum sentence for attempted suicide / attempted vehicular homicide / assault with a deadly weapon(car). I know his head is full of bad wiring, but I'm finding it very hard to forgive his behavior, no matter how sick he is. I just have to understand that he's not in his right mind, and hope that he is removed from driving and doing anything that can hurt anyone else until he is sufficiently repaired.

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50 things I've done meme continues with item 38. I...

38. 'have written 9200 journal entries prior to this one, the vast majority of them posted publicly to the world. Some entries are only a line or two long, others are entire short stories, continued across a few posts, because each entry only holds a maximum of 65,535 bytes. (That's about 16,000 4-letter words.) The journal will be 8 years old in just under two months.

39.'has owned scottobear.com since 1998... that was 10 years ago, March 12. It will need to be renewed again before March 11, 2013. I've got some time to scrape up the money to do so... it's pretty dang cheap. My website's look has changed a few times over the years, as has the content under the hood... it is quite due for a fresh coat of paint, and a revisit to the links contained inside. I started my first website with ol' geocities in 94-ish, back when it was free, and before it was owned by yahoo. that arcane url is lost to me, maybe forever? Who knows if I can dig it up form the web sometime? either way, it was migrated to scottobear.com about 4 years later, and has remained there ever since.

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From assorted sources (vchip, mgk, time) - a photo series of rival Kenyan tribes fighting for land with bows and arrows.

Look closely. This is Kenya, specifically a hill overlooking the Olmelil Valley, where Maasai warriors are clashing with members of the Kalenjin tribe on a regular basis. The tribal violence is a depressing comment on a country that only a year ago was promoted as a stable democracy in volatile West Africa. TIME has an interesting photo journal of the battles.

“We were using swords but they were not effective,” says Sylvester, 24, slashing a knife in the air. “In a day we can make between 80 and 100 [arrows],” he adds, refusing to give his last name out of fear. Community members pool money together to buy the necessary tools in secret; the arrows are then distributed within the neighborhood. Local leaders know about the arrow factories, but police forces do not.

"Victims with arrows, sometimes poisoned, lodged in their heads and chests have become increasingly common", say officials in Rift Valley hospitals.

"We cannot know the time of day when they (Kalenjins) will come. If they catch you off guard, you're dead," says Samuel, 25, holding a bundle of ready arrows.

Kalenjin elders train their boys how to use bows and arrows from an early age, the Kikuyu men say. But Kikuyus have had to learn quickly to fight back with the same tools. Several secret workshops employing 50 workers churn out bows and arrows for munition. "We have no other choice for now," he says.

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1 year ago - first full day at the calvert gig, bhk and I go shopping for work clothes, grownup table talk, spam attractive entry

2 years ago - rebis picture, deaf language, chacarron, math, phallic removal, open source, fake cigs as meds, prisoner comic book

3 years ago - Brady Kids welcome the equinox, shamrock shake, cosmic truth, mp3s,experimental gameplay, get your tasty hot sweet potatoes in Japanese,teen kidnappers, good advice, invisible mermaid airfare

4 years ago - openoffice, Visited w Dan, open door poll, people of worth

5 years ago - Al gore, Blue's clues, Cranky Finn

6 years ago - Spring!, Socks, overturned issues, Linda let go from FMM, LJ directory, cool picture link

7 years ago - walkies, 2 chris-sites, both have long since been left dormant, lj broken

24 generations =16,777,216 ancestors. I guess I won't be taking my family tree that far!

I'm drinking way too much soda pop and coffee type stuff. Maybe it's time to go on a Soda Sabbatical.

Crazy early morning wake up today... I had trouble getting out of bed again... it's too comfy cozy under the covers with the kitties and BHK.

Dear Fox news. You've confirmed my thoughts about you again and again, but this is totally ridiculous. (via ecto - warning, justifiably foul language in the text) - Fox news making a claim that Fred Rogers was evil. Not as a joke, or ironically. Fox news should recognise evil... it sees it in the mirror every day. Reporting like that is beyond just evil.. they live in a world of lies and madness.

From the link -

It’s a disgusting, vile little piece and it’s very likely that you won’t be able to get through all of it. To summarize. Fox News’ argument for Mr. Rogers being “evil” goes like this: he told two entire generations of children that they were “special just the way they are.” Then, in what can only be described as a despicable lie, the Fox News anchors claim that that’s precisely where Mr. Rogers left off. He never taught children anything except to merely exist in a static state of selfish self-entitlement. And that’s why my entire generation is comprised entirely of rapists, murderers, welfare recipients and drug addicts.

There are a lot of reasons to be offended by this, but the biggest reason is that Fred Rogers was the kindest, most inspiring and most loving man to have lived in the last 100 years. His love for children and his passion for their education and well-being were absolute and unhypocritical. Watch this clip from Mr. Rogers’ testimony to the US Senate in 1969 to increase funding for PBS. If you disagree with Mr. Rogers politically, that’s okay, but there is no mistaking the sincerity of his passion for child development.

In other news, millions of years ago there were human-sized penguins.

Giant penguins. Is there anything not awesome about the phrase "giant penguins"?


1 year ago - defective materials, algo march 2, control freak, McCain on Lieberman, Michigan fairy doors, random flickr

2 years ago - Kev day, pictures of train station/toys/etc, mr moonlight

3 years ago - mind flayer doodle, travel plans, blue ink, Warriors...., phone posts

4 years ago - odd dreams, Gary hart, pizza box solar oven, hunting for Bambi hoax, walnut walks with a belly dancer

5 years ago - CHiPs, Spreading rumors

6 years ago - Music Mystery Solved, exegesis, evil news, Earhart's wreck perhaps found, I discover Google image search, sea creature poll, why poop is brown

7 years ago - Scheduled Departure time set in stone, something at Archie McPhee no longer there, sitcom nudity-logic

So, what did I think of V?

Well, on ts own it was entertaining enough. they could've cut some fat and added some meat... but it was acceptable when not viewed next to the source material. Hardly a masterpiece, but not a dud, either. Six of ten. Better than average, but not much.

As an adaptation, it missed the boat. I feel that it added a few elements, but Moore was right to ask his name off of the film. Despite over a decade and a half lag between reading and watching, the discrepancies were pretty glaring (especially the last third of the film).

That's all I really have to say about the movie off the top of my head.

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As for revolution, I have my doubts about folks in a first-world country standing up en masse against a country's armed forces. Too many of us live within an "acceptable range of comfort", and as long as we can eat, sleep, have orgasms and watch TV under a climate-controlled roof.... most of us won't fight the system for fear of losing those things. We're too comfortable, too complacent, and too selfish to look at the bigger picture for the most part. Many of us speak out about issues. A few of us throw money or time into pet projects, but things don't really change. There won't be a revolution, because most of us won't be bothered to act until it is too late. Bread and Circuses, and all that.

example - less than a third of the USA's population is happy with the competencies of our president and staff... but he'll keep his job until the term expires. Laziness of at least 66% of the population is my only guess. What's worse is that I figure the next guy will be merely "almost as bad" or "well, he's better than what we had before". Mediocrity is the best we can hope for, it seems. I can be considered a cynic by some, but I'm not going to give up and just assume everyone who runs for office just sucks. We just have to change the rewards system... make it worthwhile to work in the interests of everyone, not just folks with money. If anyone works that out, let me know.

I'm no better than most... if it came down to it, I'm not laying down in front of a tank. If a revolution ever comes, I'm taking the cat and heading offsite.

Speaking of my dislike of authority figures abusing power at the cost of my liberty - I've had my living space invaded twice, and had a gun held to my head both times, by people who supposedly are there to serve and protect.

They serve and protect me by putting my life at risk, and invading my home.

To this day, there's a piece of my hindbrain that wants to kill every single one of those cops who pointed a gun at me because a non-violent junkie who shares my last name tried to steal a boat worth less than $5000. It tells me that they don't mind putting me in danger if it means they have the drop on a bad guy who is actively running away... or me, a person that answered the door politely, and met all of their requests. If you've never been held at gunpoint, I'm not sure I can explain what it's like to think that you could die at any moment - a sneeze, a twitch, some guy had an argument with his wife, whatever.

People make mistakes at work. I'm positive that I make a couple every day. I might even make a mistake someday that could (through my lack of getting to the person in time) contribute to the death of a child. But... I don't have a procedure in place that involves at least five gunmen to put an innocent in harm's way "just to be safe". Things need to change, but odds are that they won't. see above. Additionally, I suspect that most cops are like most politicians - start off trying to do some good. Unfortunately, to be a successful cop, you either have to be a jerk, have infinite patience with other jerks, or both. Unfortunately, to be a jerk is the path of least resistance.

I think that I'm a good person, and that my existence makes the world a little bit better place to be. I help others wherever I can. I try to do work that's constructive, to educate, and to be caring. I wonder how many people sit down, and reflect on their lives? It seems like most people coast most of the time.



Newt Sez - enough of that ramble.

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Regarding Walkabout-

I went back to Boca on walkabout on my second attempt to find uberbastard's buddy's comic store, Boca Comics.

I found it.



Sadly, despite the sign and website saying it's open... it's changing over to new management. And was closed. No Comic books for Scotto that day! That's ok... I have plenty at home.



Nonplussed, I walked to a park I used to hang out in back when I lived in Boca, years ago. The hurricanes or city ordinances cleared a lot of the trees. While roaming around, I spotted some goodies on a bench - A Nancy Drew book older than me (Publish date inside said 1966), and an adult bible study guide. Random Scotto factoid - I've read all of the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift and Nancy Drew mysteries published before 1980.



A backyard shot with colored carp. I *just* missed a huge soft shell turtle that lives in the lake, too. He was sunning himself by the bridge, but slid into the water and swam away before I could get in position.



I think I'll visit the tree zoo next weekend... and hopefully, I'll have a nicer camera by then, too. I'm due for a little techno-treat. I hope the weather holds out for a few more weeks.

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Minor good deed, cleaned up the bus stop of all litter while waiting for the bus to arrive. I should remember to keep a grocery bag on me, in case of overfull trash cans.

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Ah, Nertz. Monday meeting! Until later, dear journal!

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1 year ago - Easter, Deadbolt, Danny recap, K, piccies, personality test, heard from everway gamers, kitties video, walking octopus, waterbus,

2 years ago - Procrastination, Henchman, search warrants/LA, booger eaters, vacuum cleaners, Brian Blessed, heroclix, zombie pinups

3 years ago - jkg, TAG, souls, Bahá'í, soul & body, leaving FMM

4 years ago - dream, dented the door with my mitt, sleepy and grumpy, how I sleep w/newt, small hands=rude, army men, Dan Bfast, lab grown meat, dali museum, secret fun spot, 2 dead celebs

5 years ago - lj bump, baby newt pic, one ring, mush, thebot, palm art, John Denver

Raisin cinnamon swirl oatmeal is yummy! It is indeed a tasty way to start the day. (I do confess, I made 2 packets) ... 1/5 of my calories of the day, give or take.

I'm shopping for a good multi-vitamin. I'm guessing Walgreen’s or Eckerd’s will have one, but I'm going to research it a bit. (Anyone reading want to offer a recommendation?)

Two hundred years ago, the human race got, on average, 30cm taller. Now, on average, the human race is obese. A researcher from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine claims that the obesity pandemic is a new fundamental shift in the shape of human bodies, brought on by the same kinds of technological changes that made us taller.

"Pandemic" obesity was the result of an abundance of high-energy, aggressively marketed foods, and sedentary lifestyles induced by television and computers, said Professor Prentice.

I forgot to mention on Friday... People at work are telling me how to mourn. "Drive with your lights on. Wear Black, Wear Red White and Blue"... etc etc etc.

I imagine your heart's in the right place, but stop, ok? I don't need to hear "Scotto wore green and khaki on the big day! Is he supporting terrorists? Does he hate America? "

No. I'm just not making it a friggin' Saint Patrick's Day, or the Fourth of July. I don' t dress up for December 7, or Memorial Day, either. I'll wear what's in my closet and clean that day, and hopefully it'll match.

I save colors for festive holidays. Halloween... Christmas... Valentines Day. You'll see me in costume dress then, or at least colors. I do feel bad about the tragedy of lost life and our lost security... but I'm not going to buy a "Memorial black armband" to wear on Sept 11 every year from now on. Come on...I'm not going to not make this a hallmark moment. I hope that I just have a few office busybodies, and that this isn't a national annoyance.

On a lighter note - Forget the sheep jokes. Scottish men are taking to a new form of kinkiness: sex with traffic cones. Yes, these nubile, rubber beauties with their come-hither looks and wanton, orange attire are all the rage in Scotland for a midday shag.

With that, I'm off to work. Until later, dear journal.

No nightgown under my clothes, by gum. ;)

The socially retarded, the chronically clueless, and the impolite.

you know I love 'em.

The only thing that can help someone like that is a well-trained staff of retard handlers and a toy duck that squirts chocolate when you squeeze it.

If you don't like it in the US... and you currently live here, here's another freedom open to you.

Leave. Hit the fricking road. Take a bite of a reality sandwich. See what life is like elsewhere.

Go Live in China for a year, see how wonderful life is there. Go to Afghanistan, and tell them you're an American, and see how well you get by telling them that you renounce our ways. Heck, spend some time in Germany or England, and try to get ahold of some of the "wrong" kind of literature.

I celebrate your freedom to an opinion, though I may deplore your ignorance and willful stupidity. I'd appreciate it if you thought before you started bitching about the way things are here. Vote, gather a petition, organize peaceably. If you have a problem, you can write your congressman, your local newspaper. Lay out exactly what your problems are, find folks of a similar mind, and do something about it.

Seriously. If you have a problem with the way things are here, at least you can make a difference. For such a young country, I think we've on the whole done a lot more good than bad. I think we've contributed far more positively than negatively to culture, society, technology and medicine than any other country on the planet for the last 200 years. This place is still a land of innovation and exceptional tolerance, especially compared to the entirety of the globe.

US life is probably some of the highest quality of life you can find, and that's coming from someone who's been homeless. There are problems with every system, but I feel that the one we have in place now is the best available. With the help of my nation and her citizens, I'm able to eat, sleep indoors, in a bed, love who I choose, travel freely, buy whatever books I like, work at a competitive wage, and help folks that don't have it so well to get back on their feet.

Tell me that you think we deserve most of the hate that we get, because of the country we live in... well... I'm sorry, but you're a fucking idiot.

Wow... that last entry was really negative. I've since removed it form the role players community, but I'm keeping it here, for personal reference.

Let me say... I do like to game, and the majority of folks I've gamed with haven't fallen into the irritating/weirdo categories prior. There are a lot of perfectly sane, grounded, friendly and clean folks that don't dress up like Dracula all the time that like to get together and play.

But... there's one person in every crowd... Sometimes I wonder what 'one in every crowd' role I fill. I think it depends on the crowd. Depending on said crowd, I become the designated-

Asexual Older Brother/Crying Shoulder... Heck.. for a time (and to some folks still) I'm of that persona here.

Hippie - See above

Voice of Reason - *snort-laugh*... Oh, man..

Tech Reference Guide - Usually by folks with *no* computer knowledge.

Trivia Reference Guide - I do know a lot of weirdo stuff. Feel free to ask me anything about Zeppelins, World War One, Comic Books or Primate Psychology

Babysitter (I like this gig.. one I haven't had in a while. "Scotto! I was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner, and have a pile of fun playing candyland or reading a story to kids who love you to death?" Heck... that just rocks)

The Constitution admittedly has a few defects and blemishes, but it still seems a hell of a lot better than the system we have now.

The courts apply all criminal laws in this nation in a mild, rational and humane manner, if the defendant is rich.

The philosopher Carlin's three major types of public nuisances -- the stupid, the crazy and those just plain full of shit -- have changed proportions in my mind as I grow older. I used to attribute almost everything awful to stupidity and looniness, but now I more and more suspect the major problem is that so many people are full of shit. In fact, every time I see a man on TV wearing a suit and tie, I suspect he is full of shit, and if he has a flag hanging beside him I am almost sure of it. If I turn the sound on -- I usually do my dial surfing with the mute on -- it almost always appears that my guess was right. Those men usually are full of shit, especially the ones with the US flag behind them. They all seem to come from the State Department, too.