I've never been attracted to either one of them, but get them to kiss each other and suddenly I've got a case of the major hots... If only I could have both at once...

I have a problem. It started out when I was very young. To this date, I live in perpetual shame because of it. Tomorrow, as fate would have it, I will be forcibly reminded of this bane on my happiness...

You see, in all the Vampire movies I saw as a child, it was made very clear that vampires shun garlic. No ifs ands or buts, garlic is used always in those movies to keep the undead away... Well, to my undying shame (nice pun, huh?), I love garlic. Can't get enough of it.

Tomorrow, in a town called Stroudsburg which lies within my demesne, they will be having the Annual Garlic Festival... I will be smelling of garlic for a month, and will be ashamed every time I smell myself, but I will also be unbearably satisfied with all the garlic and garlic-flavored products I will stock up on. They should keep me entertained for a month or two...

See you all there!!!

Spent all day at a seminar. Very ugly people. Except for me, of course.

How far out in the boonies do I live? Let me give you an example from this morning. I drive out of my garage, and hit the State Highway that takes me out to the Interstate. I hadn't gone half a mile when Bigfoot leaps out at me. I was scared shitless. Scared that I didn't have a camera, I mean. Then I remembered I did and dove for the glove compartment, and pulled it out (the camera, not my pecker, I don't do big, hairy creatures [Sorry, E]). Once it crossed in front of me (I had slowed down and was almost at a standstill by then) I identified it as a bear. Pretty big one, too. I snapped a shot of it, and time will tell whether I got a good pic or not. I'll post it here if it works out... Gods, I love living in the boonies...

General Washington must have been pretty partial to dark meat... Only way to explain the inordinate number of (what's the politically correct term these days?), um, melanin-retentive folks here in the US with Washington as a surname... I'm going to have to hunt down a biography of the good general, and see if that's mentioned anywhere. Jefferson, I know about, but I don't recall any dirt on Washington...

I forgot to mention another striking object at the Crafts Festival on which I waxed so eloquent yesterday... There was a stand selling pottery. Not bad, but nothing out of the ordinary, either. The saleschick, on the other hand... Yum... Scruffy, gamine sort of kid, anywhere from 16 to 18 years old, marred only by an 'earring' stuck through the left side of her upper lip...

I found the website of the bronze (and brass) metalsmiths I mention at the end of the prior post. The pictures on their site really don't do justice to the actual pieces. They should get a better camera, photographer or all of the above. The name of the artist is HVQ BYRD Metalsmiths.

This weekend I went to the Pocono State Crafts Festival, an annual arts and crafts show highlighting Pennsylvania artists' work. There was some really incredible work on display, and for sale, of course. I was very glad I had decided to attend, on a whim.

As a bonus, the most incredible all white jazz band was jamming every now and then throughout the day. I stress the all white thing because they were so good, especially one old man playing the trumpet, that if I closed my eyes I could easily pretend I was listening to ole Satchmo and his boys, that's how good they were... The old guy played a mean trumpet, and broke off to sing in between. It brought a tear to me eye. I remained talking to him for a good half hour, in between sets. Learned he hailed from NJ. First good thing to come out of that state, as far as I know. The band is a local one going by the name of the Dixie Gents (local to where I live, the Poconos, just like Jubal Harshaw, sans his entourage, more's the pity), but the old geezer isn't part of it regularly, he told me he just jams with them sometimes. Replaying my memory of the event, it wasn't just his playing and crooning that were impressive, it was his whole attitude. He had a joie de vivre one rarely sees in old folks nowadays. I'm going to pay attention to when and where these guys play in the future, want to get me some more of that good, old-time jazz...

As I said before, there were many excellent pieces of arts and crafts available. I definitely need to see about getting myself a manor again, and filling it up in style, room by room, each with its own mood. A few artists stood out among this crowd, one of them producing extremely detailed dragon sculptures, some climbing out of books, others in different poses. A phenomenal one, with wings, about 4 or 5 feet long hanging on a wall I would have bought immediately, had I had that sort of money on me... Click on the link I provided and you can look through some pictures of what the guy had... The other artist, a very young girl by the name of Chenin Hollaway, had apprenticed with a native american artist for some time, although she wasn't of that ethnicity. Her work was incredible, too. Her brochures list http://www.from-these-hands.com/ as her website, but clicking on it I see that it's simply parked somewhere. I'm guessing she's building her website, so if anyone wants to see her work, you might want to bookmark that and check it, every now and then. Last but not least, some very good jewelry by Susan L. Hutton, no web site as far as I can tell. There was also a very good bronze worker, but I need to find his card in the scores of them I gathered. I'll post the info later.

Every now and then I get the urge to teach. It's like a disease. I feel it coming on again. Luckily, there's no one worthy around to teach, so it will acquiesce on its own, soon enough...

There was a time not so long ago when all I read was science fiction, and the odd good fantasy novel, like Tolkien. When I started out, I just read everything that came my way that fit in the SF category. After a time, I became very selective, and read only the good stuff. Heinlein. Pohl. Asimov. Herbert. Niven. Zelazny. Le Guin. May. Many more, too many to name here, but they're all great. All those guys (and a few gals) are either very long in the tooth, or pushing up daisies, so their production has dwindled. Always excepting Frank Herbert and J.R.R. Tolkien, who seem to have published more after their deaths than in their prime. For a while it seemed that every time Christopher Tolkien opened a drawer at home, out tumbled a hitherto unknown manuscript of his Dad's. The new people, with a couple of notable exceptions, are either not as good as the Masters of Old, or the genre has just been overused and there's not a whole lot of new things to say.

Hence, I've become a lot more eclectic in my choice of reading material. I'm reading a lot of history, a subject that has always been dear to my heart. A lot of scientific reading, too, and I wish I had more time to dedicate to learning and research. Every now and then, though, I'll read a mystery. You know, where a crime's been committed and someone spends the rest of the book tracking down the wrongdoer(s)? I just finished one of those, by the unusual name of Bangkok 8. Very good book. Lots of twists, a great setting, a logical story with pieces falling into place right at the end, and an inevitable ending, although most Western readers will probably be surprised by it, or like one reviewer in Amazon, consider it weak.

I have always wanted to visit Bangkok, too...

My employer's whole, nation-wide, corporate network is down for the count. No one's admitting it, but it's obviously worm/virus related. And to think we're supposed to be one of the best at managing other companies' networks and IT infrastructure...

Only the money keeps me here, but I may never get over the shame...

I hate to say I told you so... No, wait, I don't hate saying that at all... Anyway, this latest bombing should prove to anyone with at least two neurons to rub against each other that we're not wanted in Iraq.

Let's face it, first setting aside our wearisome hubris as a nation that because we do things a certain way then that's the only right way to do them, nobody likes another country coming in and saying how things should be done. No matter how good the intentions, and in this case, again let's face it, we never had any good intentions. We even lied regarding our motives. Well, not we, I didn't. It was Bush. But since he speaks for the minority who voted for him, and through some weird logic, for the rest of us, I have to say we. What would we do if Canada decided they knew how to do things better (ha!) than we did and occupied us (double ha!!!) in order to enforce their criteria? Think about it. Have you got an idea yet? It probably resembles what the Iraqis seem to be doing, right?

Now, is it worth it? Unless we pull out quickly, it's going to be Vietnam the Sequel. Wars of attrition are usually won by the side that doesn't give a damn. We have too much to lose. We are a people who morphed from God-fearing to Death-fearing at some point in the last 50 years or so. They are a people who thinks it's rather cool to blow themselves up so long as they take some of the enemy with them. We have the power to annihilate, but we don't dare use it because of public opinion. They, on the other hand, have a great number of totally worthless, but commited, idiots willing to be suicide bombers.

Can't we recall Bush instead of Davis? Maybe the Iraqis would be more frightened by Arnold than by the son of the man who was too chickenshit to oust Saddam in the first place, no?

This is awesome. I would've loved to have given these out every time I dumped a chick, like some sort of severance package!

My little ones called me from the other side of this half of the world yesterday afternoon, worried that I might be caught somewhere in the dark... Sweet little ones... Meanwhile, I was bemoaning and lamenting my fate at not being in one of the blackout areas, I so love the dark and the possibility of chaos...

And as usual, Bush had hilarious things to say about the whole thing, but I didn't write them down and have thus forgotten them. I hope they haven't been lost to posterity...

I am completely unable to make up my mind... What would be better for the general health of the country, to have an intelligent President who would actually take on a firm and rational leadership role in all affairs, domestic and foreign, but who would be rather dull, as most good statesmen tend to be? Or since laughter is the best medicine, are we better off with the Shrub, our esteemed Dubya? I'm blown away every time he opens his mouth. Did I not know him I would honestly think he does it for comedy effect.

Since I do value comedy very highly, but don't have the time to watch each and every soundbyte Dubya emits, it's a good thing that Jon Stewart, on the Daily Show, does such a good job of collecting and presenting the best of these... For those too poor to have Comedy Central, or whose local cable operator doesn't have it, the hotlink above has some video material available.

I'm teaching all the voices in my head to sing a cappella. Some of them are really extraordinary singers. Who would've thought?

Some aspects of my life, especially as regards interactions with my fellow humans, resemble, figuratively speaking, what probably happens when I inadvertently step on an anthill.

From the ants' point of view:

1. Those who survive find their lives disrupted for some time.
2. They must rebuild the shambles that's left of their once organized habitat.
3. Had they the intelligence, they'd probably invent complex reasons as to why I did what I did, and why it was deserved. (Religion!!!)

From my point of view:

1. Oops, did I step on something crunchy?

You know how companies do destructive testing on the products they make? They'll grab a laptop and subject it to extremes of temperature, acceleration, shocks and the like, all just to see how much it can take.

I do the same thing. Only to people. It's interesting, sometimes, to see what the end result looks like. I wonder if I can make a living out of just that?

An openly gay bishop.... That blew me away... I thought the mere fact that he'd gotten so high in the hierarchy meant he had to be gay. How can he be any more openly gay than that? Still, you gotta respect the guy. At least his bedmate is of legal age...

Iron Maiden at Madison Square Garden on 7/30/2003

Sorry for the delay...

This was one of the best concerts I've had the privilege of attending. Motorhead opened the show, and they did a spectacular job. A drum solo made me realize that they have one of the best drummers currently playing. I haven't followed Motorhead in ages, my bad.

DIO was the next act. I've never been all that much into DIO, myself. Nothing he/they did made me change my mind. Good, definitely, but not something I would have paid for on its own.

Now, Iron Maiden... They have definitely not mellowed with age. I made the mandatory joke on who the geek with the short hair filling in for Bruce was, but when he starts to sing, who the hell cares if he cut his hair short? They started out with The Number of the Beast, which I consider to be my song, you know? Followed by The Trooper, with Bruce waving a big union jack while he sang. Awesome. And then it just got better... Revelations... Hallowed Be Thy Name... 2 Minutes to Midnight... The Clansman... Fear of the Dark... Iron Maiden... And more... Many more... I didn't count songs, but they included most of my favorites, with the notable exception of Rime of the Ancient Mariner. They closed with Run for the Hills, where I lost what little voice I still had, screaming my lungs out. It cost me 60 bucks, give or take, to get in there. I'd have cheerfully paid ten times as much.

As an added bonus, they performed a track from their upcoming cd, which will be out in September. I didn't even know they were recording. The song was good. Not top 10 good, but it was up to my exacting standards.

Iron Maiden is definitely the best heavy metal band in the history of the genre. Their music, their show, their attitude. Bruce spent some time talking about the recording industry's beef with MP3 files and such. He explicitly said that if anyone in the audience was taping the concert, they should feel free to put the files on the 'net. That only the mediocre groups worried about losing sales to file swapping on the 'net. That Iron Maiden had never seen their sales dip for that or any other reason and the fans just kept buying it.

Why? Because they fucking rock, and I couldn't agree more. As even a poor white trash sort of girlfriend I used to have recognized, they are several orders of magnitude above the rest. Iron Maiden's lyrics actually make sense, and some of them are pretty intellectual. Who else would adapt a Coleridge poem to metal? I once sent her Rime of the Ancient Mariner and she wondered why other bands couldn't do something similar, bless her pathetic little heart...

I also got to hang out with my good buddy, Xusia, and his sidekick from South of the Border, plus a few locals. Good guys and gals, all of them. I need to get together with that crew more often.

I have to go now, but by and by, I'll post more on the concert...

IM Review... Coming soon....