Ben Weasel has the nerve to criticize Hunter Thompson for "playing up the cartoonish aspects of his persona" while also claiming that his artistic output "went from medicore and lifeless, to slightly embarrassing, to painful..."

This, coming from a guy who intentionally placed a cartoon image of himself on nearly half of his recorded albums and has issued a handful of lifeless, less than mediocre, or just painful albums in his day. I brought up Ben's "obituary" to Paul who responded, "sometimes a persons harshest criticisms are their greatest insecurities." I think he nailed it right on the head.

I think that Pitchfork did a much better, and classier job. **

Speaking of hype, I am enjoying the hell out of Bloc Party's Silent Alarm. **

Happy Birthday to me. I'm 24. But I feel like 23 1/2. --

I feel guilty posting here above paul when it comes to speaking of Mr. Thompson. Everything I learned about the man came through Paul. But I loved everything about the man. Never ceased to make me smile. Never ceased to say something that didn't teach me how to live life a little bit different. HST gave me a hero in a time when there are no heroes. I am thankful to have lived in a time in which he did.

"I always felt like I was born in defeat. And I may have written everything I've written just to win back a victory. My life may be pure revenge."

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."

RIP.

hst uber alles



worst loss ive suffered.

When I arrived home last night there was a monster sized package on my doorstep. I knew instantly that it was my air purifier... and was instantly annoyed with the size of the thing. Now, I know that this site clearly labels the dimensions of the unit... but the image on that page as well as the very misleading images on this page led me to believe that I would be able to safely stow this sucker behind a chair or in an out of the way nook and have it invisibly whisp away all of the dust, allergies, and other bad stuff that's been keeping me up all night. Not even close! This thing is big enough to be a chair. I'm considering getting rid of my night stand and just using the Whispure to hold my overnight items... or maybe I'll even hock my computer desk and replace it with this breathing machine. However, there was a significant improvement in the air quality in my bedroom last night.. which despite it's ginormous appearance, is exactly what I bought it for. *

I was re-reading some of my older blogs last night and noticed that any sense of excitement or optimism in my words is completely gone these days. As much as this blog is nothing more than just a pot for my brain to puke in every once in awhile, reading last year's entries has very much confirmed how blah I feel about everything right now. It's been nine months since I graduated college and moved back home... and I still long for living the life I did before graduation every day. I would've figured that the amount of time to conceive, carry, and deliver a child would've been more than enough to accept my post-graduation predicament... but apparently, there have been some complications. I don't really have a solution... so empty whining will have to suffice for now. I'm banking on warm weather aiding my cause... and days off from work. Often. --

God Don't Make No Trash or Up Your Ass With Broken Glass. Five tracks from The Falcon, a band that is 1/2 Lawrence Arms, 1/4 Alkaline Trio, and 1/4 Anti-Flag. $6+ shipping for a short EP was kind of a bummer... but worth it considering it was virtually impossible to find on ye olde interweb. *

I'm still battling off the remnants of what has become the cold that won't go away. It's like two steps forward and one step back with this thing... and then every once in awhile 27 steps backwards. Winter's lame. Bring on the warmth and short sleeves. --

hay hay hay

ive been fishing for music in the lossless boneless section of newsgroups.

i finished that rushdie book and i have to say rushdie is one of my favorite writers. that book was great. especially at this point in time. i realize now that it may not be that the books i read are good at the time i read them, i just apply my current thought, et cetera.

but hay, end of world time

one

two

My research concludes that (drumroll) the ionic breeze is a waste of money. I read two separate Consumer Reports articles that tested it. The first time C.R. tested it for short-term effectiveness and found it basically worthless. Sharper Image, who makes it, responded and said their testing wasn't suited to their product. So Consumer Reports did another test on it and concluded the same thing.. it doesn't actually improve breathing conditions or remove anything harmful from the air. All it does is emit ozone, which essentially tricks people into thinking the air is cleaner because it smells different (and not always better). They essentially say that the whole "ionic" thing is just a fad, and that in most cases ends up taking dust from the air, doubling it in size with ion particles, which makes it heavy and fall to surfaces like beds, couches, carpets, etc.

They gave the highest rating to The Whispure filters from Whirlpool. I ordered the strongest one today for $299... significantly cheaper than the $500 Ionic Breeze.

All said, I paid $200 less for a product that an impartial consumer publication says works very well and I don't have to have a big noisy phallic thinga-ma-doo-hicky in the corner of my bedroom... so all is well in the world. *

I had band practice last night. That's right, you heard me correctly, band practice. It's been about 5 years in the making (no joke) but myself and two other individuals whom I couldn't imagine not being in a band with got together and played some rock-n-roll last night. I had a blast and I'm pretty sure they had a good time, too. It went well enough that it seems as if practice will become a weekly event.. and hopefully things like recording and playing shows happening not too far down the road. Get ready to be (pop) rocked. 1,2,3,4! --

Does anyone know anything about Ionic Air Purifiers? Or any kind of air purifiers at all? Having a basement "apartment" has taken a serious toll on my breathing... it's to the point now where I wake up more or less every night gasping for breath. On saturday I opened my blinds to let the sun shine through the windows and was astounded by how much dust I saw fluttering through the sunshine. For someone with allergies as terrible as mine, I figure investing a couple hundred bucks into one of these miracle machines is a no brainer. However, the Internet is a mysterious place sometimes and I haven't been able to find anything credible as evidence to pick up one machine over another. Consumer Reports wrote an article back in October 2003.. but I figure new products have come along since then...

Any ideas?

Ben Weasel offers up a fairly lengthy blog over at Weasel Manor today. It'd been awhile since I heard anything out of him that didn't have to do with his NHL sim league... and while the indication is that he will continue being sporadic with updates, I enjoyed a little bit of Weasel in my day. *

Although I have a new job... I don't quite have a new desk just yet. Seems as if the IT people are rather busy and haven't been able to set up my new git up, so to speak. So I've spent the past two days sitting at my old desk, surrounded by my former co-workers.. with absolutely nothing to do. I think I've read the entire internet. Twice. *

The sun is shining quite bright in New York today. Although the chill is still in the air, there is a definite spring like feeling to it. Now, I know it's too early for an early spring even by the earliest Punxatawny estimates, but it's refreshing to not feel like your eyeballs are going to freeze upon stepping outside.*

I'm working out again. And I'm sore. --