Mikey is left scratching his head:

Conservatives Bob Barr, Dick Armey to Join ACLU as Consultants

Random Notes:

An oil tanker that's sinking off the Northwest Coast of Spain is threatening to cause about twice the damage of the Exxon Valdez.

The duo of Liza Minelli and David Gest freak me out more than Michael Jackson. These are all odd folks in their own right, but I think with Gest and Minelli working together, it pushes them atop the others.

I've come up with a story for a short story contest due in early December, and this is the first sentence: "The last song I ever heard alive was Sister Sledge "We are family." Quite a few possibilities with that one, and it seems a little more interesting than the other idea I had, a war between a small kid and a Canadian Goose.

This may just be the funniest thing I've seen in a while. From the Daily Show on Comedy Central, about Koko the "talking" Gorilla:

"A variety of musical styles, from rap to lullabies, are featured on the album, although Koko's plans for a 25 minute prog-rock epic about her dreams of climbing real trees in Africa were scrapped by her handlers."

Read more.

Suspension of Disbelief

We have Spider-Man playing on the TV at the store, and one things amazes me. Not flying through the air on a small strand of web, mind you, but being able to fly up and down fifth avenue, over all sorts of bridges, and then being able to aim yourself into a small window. I mean , here you are, doing zero to five blocks in 5 seconds, but you can stop on a dime, and hurl yourself into a small window of your choosing. I mean, that's some wicked aim.

It kind of reminds me of when I was a little dude of 6 or 7. I was a big Superman fan, and I was convinced I could fly. I'd jump off the sofa, jump off the bed, set up mattresses at the end of hall and jump over chairs, all in an effort to fly. Silly little youngster! Then the "Greatest American Hero" came out and they had a brilliant idea. You take three steps and jump, and there you are. Seemed perfectly logical to me! So there I'd go, three steps, jump -- crap -- three steps, jump -- crap.

Thankfully I never broke any bones. I don't know exactly when I stopped believing I could fly, and over the years I have developed a healthy respect for gravity. But here's Spidey, swinging himself all over the place. Looks like fun.

Notes on a Sunday:

It's days like these when I'd love to go to New York for the day (not for a useless interview though). It's kinda cloudy and just a little chilly -- I'd say moody. I'd like to go to NY sometime before the holidays so i can see the all the decorations and wander around aimlessly.

I worked at the store last evening, like I do every Saturday. But unlike usual, gossip and complaints were slinging. And it was mean! I felt like going up to them and saying "Hi, I'm leaving now. Feel free to talk about me." But I suppose that's self-absorbed. I wonder if they do talk about me, what do they say? How I'd love to be a fly on the wall; hear the vitriol.

I'd like to set up a writing group with people I work with. I think it would be fun and it would get me to write.

Now I have to make the world safe for consumerism.

One of the nice things of working where i work is getting free music. I managed to get my hands n Badly Drawn Boy's "Hour of the Bewilderbeast" and a Simon & Garfunkel live concert from 1967. Good stuff. Also, David Gray has come out with a new CD, so I'm eager to have a listen to that.

I've had this memory in my head for the last few days: standing on a bridge in the mountains, looking down at the stream below. The bridge overlooks Lake Geneva in Switzerland, with the lights of Lausanne far off in the distance and France on the other side of the lake. I don't know why this image has popped into my head two years after the fact, but i believe it somehow relates to people i had worked with here in New Jersey at that time and how they relate to my life now. I'm not really sure how ... People just move in and out of your life so quickly; odd that the things and friendships you find important at one point aren't that important down the road. I guess it's pretty much like everything else; some things stick with you, or to you, and others fall by the wayside. Such is life.

Who knows. I may just be remembering a nice walk.

I should stop now, cuz i feel myself slipping into pretentiousness.

Well, there you have it. Most of the election results are in, and republicans are in control of the House and Senate.

I feel ill. I can't even begin to comprehend what kind of havoc will ensue over the next two years. I have a feeling people will realize the true extent of this over the next two years. Weak strategizing on the part of the party, people not going to the polls, apathy, etc. Wait until the gov. has taken away some piece of legislation or done a peice of legislation you find stupid. You reap what you sew. Or don't sew.

I'll bet you that you'll think this is rather disturbing.

The key is creating a realm in computing where each bit of communication — an e-mail, an online purchase, a check of a database, the reading of a document — can be achieved only by interacting with secured, uniquely identified hardware through "trusted agents."

Each agent would enforce policies set by senders, recipients, copyright holders or a combination that would decide how the content can be used.

See? I told you it was disturbing!

I came upon a revelation during my drive home from Punch-Drunk Love -- actually quite a decent little movie. Can also be called "Adam Sandler beats shit up." Happy Gilmore's got range!

Back to the revelation. I was listening to a Madonna song in the car, and I enjoyed it. "Open Your Heart" isn't that bad of a pop song. If you knew me, you'd find this admission amazing and unbelievable. But it's true. Can't be certain that I'll feel the same about the song tomorrow (I hope to bloody hell not), but we'll see. I dislike Madonna almost as much as I dislike Canadian Geese, and yet I was able to admit that I enjoyed one of her songs.

About raising sheep in Switzerland. my sister informs me that people eat sheep too...so I've decided to raise and train a troupe of circus performing squirrel monkees.

It may be a bit chilly, but it's awful nice out today. Plus nothing seems to have blown up today. I think I'm gonna spend as much time as i can outside. Or at least the vicinity of outside.

I'm listening to REM "Eponymous" CD. I've had the cassette for 10 years or so. Kinda weird...you don't play things for what seems like years and then you feel compelled to pop it in the CD player.