Shul of Rock

I actually came across something useful and amusing in the Buffalo News. Of course it was a wire story. Anyway, the dreidel will rock, rock on!

Judas Priest

Hang on tight kids--this is a rough ride! While surfing one of my favorite blogs Veiled Conceit, I stumbled on an interesting theory. The VC blogger accuses John Roberts,the Supreme Court nominee, of being a Judas Priest fan and links to a video documentary that purportedly shows Roberts repping his fave metal band. I don't know if any of this true or just a weird coincidence. This film was made in 1986 in the Washington, DC area. It is a complete scream. The cheezy fashions and hair don'ts are priceless. If you grew up in the 80's, it's a must-see trip down memory lane. I attended an anonymous high school in Cheektowaga, NY and it was all for the heavy metal. God help you if you liked anything else. I dabbled in all kinds of music but was down with new wave by the end of my high school career. Anyway, two guys who I graduated with were hardcore Judas Priest fans. I thought of them and laughed after lead singer Rob Halford publicly acknowledged that he is gay. Something tells me they've renounced him. I applauded him. Mad props to my high school partner in crime and MR, heavy metal frootloop from the Southtowns!
John G. Roberts was born in Buffalo, NY. His father was employed as an executive by Bethlehem Steel and had the good sense to bolt before things got rough for the rank and file in the '70's.

Geography Lesson

One of my biggest complaints is that Americans (especially my fellow Bahfalonians) have little understanding of global issues. It's probably because they don't know where things are. I stumbled on this link and tested my knowledge of European geography. I got 28/45 correct or about 62% with an average error of 151 miles. I did this test in 8.5 minutes. Not the greatest score but the software isn't exactly forgiving. I had an itch on my mousing knuckle and accidentally put Germany in the wrong spot. Consequently, I lost points. Granted, after awhile it's a process of elimination but nonetheless it was eyeopening. I need to get down with some geography. It's a cool site that has lots of other games. Check it out.

2 @ Your Library

Locally, the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Board of Trustees unveiled its tentative closure/consolidation plan. No surprise considering the fiscal mess the County is in. For now, I'll address local media coverage of this issue.



I don't watch much local TV news. The reason being is that their coverage is so poor. Local print and radio isn't much better but at least I'm spared the visual hairspray and eyeshadow presentation from local himbos and bimbos. Nonetheless, WGRZ-TV provides aggressive coverage of Erie County's budget crisis. They've done some commendable work but they've gone overboard with their cheesy "redcoat brigade". A few months ago I was crossing the street on Delaware Ave. not far from the TV station. Outside stood several of their "investigative" reporters all decked out in these bright red coats with the lastest edition of their logo. They were getting ready for a "live shot" and the costumes seemed to say, "We wear red coats, we're working hard and we're guarding the taxpayers' rights." Whatever. Just report the bloody story instead of looking like you're ready for the Mickey Mouse club roll call. The other stupid move they've made is their "Taxpayers Weblog". Puh-leeeze, it's a bulletin board. Stop abusing terminology in an effort to make your station look technologically hip and to make your viewers/online visitors feel like they're cutting edge. It is a bulletin board not a blog. There is an inherent difference between the two. Here's the definition of a blog from Webopedia:

(n.) Short for Web log, a blog is a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.


Compare that to Webopedia's definition for a bulletin board system:

An electronic message center. Most bulletin boards serve specific interest groups. They allow you to dial in with a modem, review messages left by others, and leave your own message if you want...

After reviewing the "Taxpayer Weblog" link, which term do you think is correct? Multiple authors contribute to a space that serves a specific interest group--Erie County taxpayers. Smells like a bulletin board to me.

It's just a place for the ignorant peeps to vent. Check out this piece of retarded wisdom from Tony in Lakeview:

"Library closing a step in the right direction. The tax saving is great. If there is anyone in the within a certain distance of a library named for closing flag his tax record on the computer. Give them a exclusive access to that library and tax only them for that library."

Hey Tony, first off learn how to write. Secondly, "exclusive access" and "public library" are oxymoronic terms. Why don't you just send people to a bookstore? It's publicly available but unlike a public library, only those who can afford to buy items can leave with books, etc. Maybe students can prepare their school reports or study for exams in the aisles of Barnes and Noble.

Whatever happened to providing intellectual resources for the public good?

Are We Not Men?

T-I-V-O! Commerical saturation and the DVR's fastforward capabilities are making advertising agencies have strokes according to this article. How long will it be before someone messes with the technology so we're forced to sit through commericals?

The NHL has a tentative contract that needs ratificiation from both sides. That should happen next week. Then it'll be back to my regularly scheduled throwdowns on ice!

A Day at the Laundromat

Holy trailer park Batman! I had to go to the laundromat this morning. The dryer in my building is "broke" as the sign says. It's evident the property managers are English majors. Anyway...It's been that way for a few days. I could've used a machine in another building but to be honest with you, I'm tired of feeding "the man" my dough for lame ass tenant service. I really resent schlepping my stuff from building to building and paying for the privilege. So I hauled my styx to the laundromat, which is a 5 minute drive from my place. I live in a well-to-do lily white community so you can imagine what dregs of the universe hang at the 'mat. As I cased the joint, I spotted a trailer mom, complete with a tatoo on her calf. She was smoking outside and accompanied by her young daughter. Can anyone say "Brandine"?



I ventured inside and was greeted by a few scaggy eyed Kirk Van Houten types--you know the kind, single or divorced, sorry assed dudes who probably have alcohol, financial, and other sundried problems that you want nothing to do with. Of course I caught the eye of a least a couple of them despite my efforts to be aloof and disguise myself with sunglasses. The machines were the same price as the ones in my building but the capacity seemed a bit larger. Hmmm...I wonder if this was a misperception on my part or if I confirmed that the landlord is trying to make tenants do more loads for profitability's sake. I loaded the machines and bolted. There was no way I was parking my dupa there for the long haul as the atmosphere was rather demoralizing and depressing. The skeevy dudes didn't make things any better. On the upside, I didn't give extra money to my cheap ass landlords. Laundry is a built-in scam in this complex. Also, I saved a little scratch but not when you factor in the cost of gas.
Overall, this experience just solidifies my need to invest in some real estate so I can do my laundry with a sense of privacy/dignity and not worry about having enough quarters to take care of biz. You see, the management provides washers/dryers but no change machines. Assholes.

Cloggers

What can I say? Guilty on some counts and this dude is beyond funny...

London Calling...

I'm so sorry that Londoners are a part of the terrorism daisy chain. I'm sure some of this has to do with the fact that they're standing by this country in the quest for oil. As you know, I'm on vacation this week so I started off by checking the BBC's online feed. I was able to listen to a live press conference but not wanting to spend all day on the computer, I opted for local radio coverage. Rahspeck as Ali G would say, to WBFO, which stuck with the NPR feed until noon. WNED-AM gets big ups for airing the BBC World Service for a good part of the mid-day. WBEN-AM can suck it for sticking with Rush Limbaugh rather than interrupt his drivel with a network news feed. Since hasbeen pop stars who sleep with children weren't involved, then it couldn't be a real story. Anyway, what used to be a respected news source is nothing but FOX News Radio lite. I couldn't get over how uninformed the morning team seemed to be. A major international story goes down 2 hours prior to their shift and they were very lackadaisical about it.They relied on the network to cover them and prattled on about local bullshit that paled in comparison to today's events. Hence no hot linky for those bolsos del douche.
Here's my question--London is heavy on security candid cameras--where were they when this happened?
The U.S. Navy band played God Save the Queen outside of the British Embassy in Washington. That was only fitting.

Design of Dissent

I love vacation. You actually have time to rock out, take care of biz, and relax. I worked the TiVO (are we not men? T-I-V-O) last night and watched PBS's NOW. What a great show, even without Bill Moyers. David Brancaccio featured Milton Glaser and his Design of Dissent exhibit at the School of the Visual Arts in Chelsea. Unfortunately, this brilliant display of subversive advertising may have already closed. I hope not, it deserves to be seen. If you haven't seen this show, try to catch it online. Milton Glaser is a genius.
I can't believe the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would even try to deny PBS funding. Thankfully, pressure from the peeps put at least a temporary stop to that.

Time off

Photo courtesy of Mike Rite

I'm waiting for my floor to dry--I know, what a way to spend vacation--when I came across this blogged gem. A fun entry that I'm sure was adapted from e-mail about another locality. A lot of truisms in it, nonetheless. I loved the South Buffalo and Lexington Co-op Barbie descriptions.
Tom Cruise, he's so dreamy...bwahaahaaa!

Happy 4th of July!

While waiting for my water to boil for a righteous cup of joe, I read today's Dear Abby online. She discussed what should be done if a U.S. flag is no longer in good condition. As my girl scout cousin told me years ago, one is supposed to burn the flag if it is poor condition or if it has touched the ground. How ironic. The former is confirmed by the elaborate Ceremony for the Disposal of Unserviceable Flags conducted by the American Legion. Congress passed House Joint Resolution 10 which calls for an amendment to the Constitution authorizing Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the U.S. flag. Click here to see how your Congressman voted. Mine is a douchebag as he voted in favor of this bullshit. Congress can't get over the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Texas court decisions in 1989 and 1990 essentially saying that expessive 1st amendment behavior trumps State flag desecration laws.
In these oppressive times, our country needs first ammendment protections. A viewpoint may be unpopular but peoople should have the right to express themselves. Back in the day, myself and lefty pal Fry attended a College Music Journal conference and we had the privilege of meeting plaintiff Gregory Lee "Joey" Johnson from Texas v Johnson (1989). We congratulated him and shook his hand. Unbeknownst to me until now, famed civil rights attorney William Kunstler represented him--how cool was that? Anyway, on this Independence Day, I feel as American citizens we should be able to have an independent state of mind. Tomorrow, give your Senator a call and urge them not to cooperate with the redneck mentality and the threat it poses to the 1st amendment.

Happy Anniversary!

Yes, it's been one year since I've started writing this occasional blog. While it's not widely read, I know some of my peeps read it, shouts out to you! As a special treat, here's a link to Henry Rollins rant from a few months ago. He rightfully criticized the mainstream media because they cover infotainment but they don't cover things like oh, I don't know, the fact that we're still in Iraq after "Mission Accomplshed". Click on this link and choose "Pop Cult"