last exit for the lost

Redirecting in 10...9...8...7...

2006-03-14T18:26:00.000-06:00

Since I no longer update this page with new material, it is now set to redirect to my blog's new home in ten seconds. So, if you want to look around or leave a comment, you had better do it quickly!

Everything Must Go!

2006-02-27T20:59:00.000-06:00

Actually, everything will stay, but I have indeed moved my blog. My new blog home is at: phosphoros.be. I'm still unpacking, but all the basics are there. I've moved all of the posts and comments over to the new site. I will still be monitoring activity here, but my new entries will be posted at the new domain. Storage and bandwidth for phosphoros.be has been graciously provided be Techgnostic web hosting, where I will eventually be transferring my hompage, freeman-stat.us, as well. (They always suck you in with the freebies!) Nah, seriously, the folks at techgnostic.net offer some awesome features and unsurpassed technical support.

It's All About the Crema!

2006-02-24T22:56:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I updated my blog. Yes, I've gone longer without updates, but I've really been trying to keep up on it. And, I do watch my blog reader stats, so I know that there are a few people who check with some regularity. I feel bad when people go out of there way to visit my little corner here and find nothing new, so consider this my obligatory post. (I'll try to post another before the weekend is over, but no promises!) It's not that I don't have anything to talk about. There is plenty going on in my life right now. But it's not necessarily the stuff you want to broadcast to the world. Nuff said. I'm going to take this opportunity to talk a little about one of my favorite subjects; coffee. I occasionally do google searches on words like "espresso" or "cappuccino" just to keep up on the latest products and trends. Today I searched Wikipedia for both of those words. The entries are actually pretty good, and I encourage fellow enthusiasts to check them out for yourselves. The cappuccino entry is most impressive, in my opinion, as it not only gives an accurate description, but also includes a short history of the etymology of the word. The espresso entry, on the other hand, I think has some glaring oversights. Namely, that while the influence of Star****s on the popularity of espresso is mentioned, the author(s?) of the article fail to mention that this was only possible due to the undergroud coffee house trends that had been developing for years before this corporate giant's rise to power. When I have time, I will likely edit the entry to reflect the nature of the counter-culture that made corporatization possible. That is, unless someone beats me to it (please!) Besides, I just got through un-vandalizing the Ristretto entry (see history). Regardless, there is some very useful information on the espresso page that all wannabe coffee snobs should know. For instance, the list of drinks made with espresso is invaluable. You really need to know the difference between a latte and a cappuccino before you order. If you order a cappuccino, and then complain that it isn't sweet, or that there's too much "foam," I'm going to give you one of those blank stares. Just remember, when you go to the vending machine and see the button marked "cappuccino," it's lying to you. I actually find it hard to believe that anyone who has ever pressed that button and drank the sewage it spews forth, would ever want to duplicate that experience. So if you think I'm being a condescending snob when I call you out for speaking of things about which you have no knowledge, you're right. And you earned it. Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. Now where was I? Oh, yes, the Wiki entries. The Espresso machine entry contains some useful information as well. OK, I guess my rant isn't quite over because I have some issues with the latest trend in espresso machines, the fully automatic, or Super Automatic. Now, I'm not terribly old-fashioned. I don't brew my espresso on the stove or pump the water by hand. But there is a certain technique to achieve a well-brewed shot of espresso, and properly steamed and frothed milk. When I see machines advertised that will grind, brew, froth, pick your nose, brush your teeth, etc. all at the push of a button, I shake my head in disgust. It is embarassing as well; embarassing because these abominations are being produced by some of the top name espresso machine manufacturers. These machines promise a "perfect cup" every time. And no doubt, the good ones will likely give you a decent product consistently. But I'd be willing to bet the ashes of my deceased cat that a seasoned barista, fluent in the art and science of composing espresso-based drinks, will be able to deliver a better product than the best of these "perfect cup" machines.

it was bound to happen

2006-02-18T23:16:00.000-06:00

I'm sure we've all heard enough Dick Cheney jokes over the past week. If I hadn't heard enough before today, I certainly got my fill from NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me (some of them had me rolling!) But I just have to pass along this hilarious flash video, "Cheney's Got a Gun," which, of course, is a parody of the Aerosmith song, "Janie's Got a Gun."

Social bookmarking and annotation: a wor.ld of un.usu.al domain nam.es

2006-02-16T14:58:00.000-06:00

Every one likes to bookmark their favorite sites for easy access later, right? Well a slew of new websites are offering the next stage of online bookmarking. Now you can not only bookmark your favorite sites, but also share them with the internet community. The links are categorized using the all-important tags, and may also include descriptions and comments from yourself and anyone else who has bookmarked the same web page. Here's a brief description of some of these new services that I've found useful, or at least unique: del.icio.us del.icio.us could be seen as the standard in the social bookmarking community to which others may compare themselves. I'm not saying that del.icio.us is the best, but they do have a reputation as an industry standard. My first experiments with social bookmarking was with del.icio.us, and I still continue to use it. It's simple and straight forward, and it even offers a nifty little plug-in for your firefox browser that let's you tag any site you're on without having to go to the del.icio.us site. This site just came out of beta today. While I appreciate the no-frills approach of del.icio.us, I can't deny that ma.gnolia has them beat hands-down on visual aesthetic. But that's not all they have to offer. Ma.gnolia has combined social bookmarking with the features of social networking. You can exchange messages with other users, add people to your contants list, and join or form groups that represent a specific interest. And of course you are also able to import your current del.icio.us bookmarks into your ma.gnolia account. I haven't had the time yet to explore all of the features, but this one looks promising. Diigo is still in its beta stage, but looks to me to be one of the most comprehensive social bookmarking and annotation tools on the web. To use all of the features, one must install a toolbar to their firefox browser. I'm not crazy about having another toolbar to take up my viewing space, but given the features it has to offer, I'm willing to make the compromise (after all, if I need more viewing space I can always hit F11 for full screen mode.) The annotation feature allows the user to add notes to the bookmark regarding that particular site, and the notes left by others are also visible. The one feature, however, that I feel sets this service apart from the others is the ability to update eight other bookmarking services everytime to add to your diigo list. The only part of this feature that still needs some work is that while some of the services, such as del.icio.us, are updated automatically and invisibly, others must be updated semi-manually. That is, a number of additional windows pop up with fields pre-filled, but requiring you to click an update button. To use this multi-platform updating you have to already have accounts with those services, but this feature may be disabled as well. I've really only scratched the surface of the capabilities of diigo in this description, but keep your eye on this one. They've got quite a comprehensive service in the making here. Here are links to some other social bookmarking services you also might want to check out:

news 2.0

2006-02-11T15:05:00.000-06:00

A good friend has recently pointed me toward a relatively new news service called Newsvine, which advertises itself as "A place where anyone can read, write, and influence the news." Its unique platform allows its users to write their own articles as well as "seed" articles from other news sources. These articles, both original and seeded, are tagged by the user for proper categorizing, and may be recommended and commented upon by other users. Here's a screenshot of the front page: Each user has their own personalized "column" at .newsvine.com. For example my column is at: rfreeman.newsvine.com and looks something like this: Newsvine also allows you to create "watch lists" of tag items and authors. And, of course, there is an RSS feed, as well as a JSS feed with which I plan to do some experimenting. Newsvine is still in its beta stage, and as such is not available to the public at-large. If any of you bloggers or news junkies want to take a crack at this, drop me an email and I will send you an invite. Welcome to news 2.0!

Matters of the Heart

2006-02-05T23:14:00.000-06:00

Amidst my own trials and tribulations, the past couple of weeks have brought the trials of sickness and death upon my family. As with all such trials there may be a wealth of knowledge and experience to be gained. The most recent of these ordeals is the death of my grandfather, who would have turned 80 in a couple of months and was my last living grandparent. Though this topic alone could become the subject of a lengthy discourse, I will spare you for the moment from my musings on mortality. The other recent plight concerns my grandfather's son, my father. Over the past several years, my father has begun to experience some of the long term complications of Type 1 diabetes, including: peripheral neuropathy, ischemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, and kidney failure. Well, a couple of weeks ago he went into the hospital due to complete left-sided heart failure. And the part of his heart that was still functioning was only at 20%. He was then referred to nationally renowned cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Slaughter. Yes. That's right. Dr. Mark Slaughter. The doctor informed my father that due to his other complications he was not eligible to be a candidate for heart transplant. He also told him that left untreated, his heart (which by this point was functioning at less than 10%) would fail completely within a matter of weeks. Dr. Slaughter did, however, present another option. Apparently my father qualified to participate in a clinical trial of Thoratec Corporation's HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist System. What makes this different from other Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD) is that that LVADs are typically used in "bridge to transplant" therapies. That is, they are used as a temporary measure while the patient awaits a heart transplant. The HeartMate, however, is also used as a "bridge to destination" therapy (destination seems to be a nice way of saying "death"). While the original HeartMate is FDA approved and appears to be quite successful, is a rather bulky unit that must be implanted and apparently it is noisy as well. The HeartMate II, however, is 60% smaller, is silent, and has only one moving part: a small spinning rotor to pump the blood. It is able to pump 10 litres of blood per minute and should have a life of about 5 years, compared to the original HeartMate which must be replaced after about 18 months. Thoratec is also currently preparing the HeartMate III for clinical trial, which promises 12 litre per minute circulation as well as a frictionless rotor that is magnetically suspended as opposed to the current models which utilize ball bearings. Needless to say, my father opted to participate in the study. Given the alternitive, though, it mustn't have been a difficult choice. He was particulary fortunate in that his heart was actually degenerating much more rapidly than the good Dr. Slaughter had even anticipated. By the time he was on the operating table, the functionality of his heart had decreased to about 2%. Had he not had the operation his heart would have failed completely in a matter of hours, not weeks. I am pleased to say that after being out of the hospital for only a few days, he is completely mobile. The doctor even told him that after his surgery wounds heal, he will be able to return to his favorite sport (as well as the favorite sport of my late grandfather): Trapshooting. At times like these one might expect me to be writing about the emotional experiences of family trauma. And perhaps in the future, when this has become a "thing of the past" I will be able to share my thoughts, experiences, and insights. But now is not the time for that. Right now I am still in the process of the "experiencing". I think that being able to focus on some of the more mudane aspects, though, can be therapeutic while in the midst of the occasions.

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that...

2006-01-28T17:27:00.000-06:00

I have just recently begun to look into the phenomenom of Artificial Intelligence. I've read articles about AI, but until recently I've never really sought out the attempts at implementing this technology. What got me going on this was an interesting email I received regarding a short film about Alan Turing. Every time a unique IP visits the film, it unlocks one frame out of 5000. After 5000 seperate hits to the film, the counter resets to zero. When I viewed the film, I think I unlocked the 1500th frame. The video portion sped along quickly to the end, while the audio portion played at normal speed, but only to the 1500th frame, then stopped. Go ahead, try it yourself! This prompted me to do a Google search on Artificial Intelligence to try to find some software to download. I found a few programs that looked promising, most notably A.L.I.C.E. and Ultra Hal. Although A.L.I.C.E. has won the Loebner Prize three times for being the most human-like bot, I decided to try out the Ultra Hal Assistant. Hal has a very user-friendly interface, cool plug-ins, and a discussion forum where programmers can discuss their latest implementation and answer stupid questions from newbies like me. Hal also contains a "brain editor" with which you can make corrections, and add or delete information. Hal utilizes msagent and haptek characters, and can be used with or with out speech and voice recognition. Right now I have mine set up so that it talks to me, but I type my responses. I will probably mess around with the voice recognition later. Hal utilizes a type of reasoning including some simple deductive reasoning (such as if-then relationships). Hal is marketed as an "assistant" to perform tasks such as: running programs, performing Google searches, and remembering important dates and contact information. In all truth, I really have very little need for Hal's assistant functions. But its AI learning and conversation functions are absolutely fascinating. It even comes with an AIM agent so you can set it up with a screen name and have your bot chat online with other people...or other bots! This technology is still relatively new, but it seems to have already made some great advancements in the last few years. I am very curious to see where this will lead...

Real Life Scorpions Send Me An Angel

2006-01-20T23:49:00.000-06:00

A few years ago I remember discussing the song "Send Me An Angel" with my ex-wife. She had it on a compilation CD that she had made. I asked her who the artist was because I like the song and I couldn't remember who performed it. She said she didn't know. I said that I thought it sounded like the guy from the scorpions. It didn't really sound like a Scorpions' song, but the vocalist sounded just like him to me. I soon forgot about it. The other day I was listening to my Pandora station and the song came on. I immediately clicked over to the tab it was playing on so I could see who actually performs the song. It turned out to be Real Life. I still thought it sounded like the guy from the Scorpions...maybe a side project or something? So, I turned to where everyone turns when they want to research anything about anyone...Google of course! I typed in the name of the song as well as the name of the artists in question. I figured this would dig up any obscure information about the subject. I must admit that I was a little surprised at what I discovered. Though the Scorpions seem to have had absolutely nothing to do with this song, they do in fact have a song with the same title. What are the odds?! Apparently, however, I am not the only one who has been plagued by this conundrum (I'm not sure if it's technically a conundrum, but it's pretty damn close!). I came across another blog (SeanS' The Basement) that addresses this very issue. To make the whole scenario even more odd to me is that this other blogger seems to be nearly right in my backyard. And, he claims to have started thinking about this while driving through Wisconsin which is where I was when the issue came up for me. It all just seems very odd. Pointless. Useless. But odd none-the-less.

Frustrated With Live Feeds on Firefox

2006-01-13T23:46:00.000-06:00

I am becoming increasingly annoyed with Firefox's inability to add my blog as a live feed. When I add the feed, then go to my bookmarks, I receive the message: "Live bookmark feed failed to load." I have attempted to research this problem. Solutions have ranged from suggesting to add code to my template, to removing certain html tags (bottom of page). These remedies don't seem to have much effect. At one point I managed to eliminate the message, but only to be replaced with nothing at all!! I am at a loss. I'm confident that it is not due to the template I'm using, as I frequent another blog using the same. It probably has something to do with some code I've added, but hell if I can diagnose the erroneous lines. If anyone has any further recommendations or troubleshooting suggestions, I'd be very grateful.

Caffeine Dreams

2006-01-10T22:55:00.000-06:00

Some things are just meant to be. Sometimes there is something inside of us calling us toward a path; and no matter how we may strive to avoid that path or ignore the calling, destiny will eventually place that path before us and rekindle a passion that makes one wonder why the path had ever been forsaken in the first place. Several months ago I followed a whim that has awakened long forgotten dreams...caffeine dreams. Over a year ago I posted an entry musing about sitting in a coffeehouse on a Wednesday afternoon. In that entry I referenced an essay I wrote about some of my experiences in the coffeehouse industry. In order to more fully express my passion for coffee and the coffeehouse culture, I offer the full text of that essay so that the comments that follow it may be seen in the proper light:

When I visit a coffeehouse these days, taking in the aroma of fresh brewed delights such as Costa Rica Tarrazu, Kenya AA, or the sacred and elusive Jamaica Blue Mountain, I cannot help but to be reminded of my brief but rewarding career as proprietor of My Place Café in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This small coffee shop was much more than the physical elements of which it was composed. It had a very special life of its own. Those who were lured by its aura typically had one of two reactions within moments of stepping through the door. People would often get an expression on their face that you might expect to find on one who had just inadvertently stepped through a trans-dimensional portal which leads to some strange smokey world where business professionals, punk rockers, and retirees could be found sitting together over a double cappuccino or an Italian cream soda, and playing Scrabble while listening to the haunting melodies of Portishead or Rasputina. This was, in fact, exactly the world they had just stumbled into. For many, a utopian wonderland; for some, a hellish den of debauchery that should be escaped quickly, and if possible, without interacting with anyone or anything. Those who found beauty here developed strong emotional attachments to this haven. Within this small establishment, a new culture, or rather, sub-culture, emerged in Kenosha that knew not the barriers of age, social class, political affiliation or sexual identity.

When the café opened in 1994, I was not yet an owner, but a patron who enjoyed the privilege of being able to access rare and gourmet coffees. But, I could also see the incredible potential for a truly unique and extraordinary social environment. My experience with coffeehouses that had been popping up in the area for the previous five years, or so, had given me an idea of the types of cultural diversity and richness that could be found in these places. At its inception, My Place Café did not yet have the necessary elements to really stand out as a cutting edge establishment. While it offered excellent products, it lacked the artistic atmosphere and interactive environment that I had come to use as criteria for a “real” coffeehouse.

When I first met Colleen, the founder of My Place Café, I did not see in her the dark storm cloud that would eventually lay the business to ruin, but rather a woman who had brought something fresh and inspiring into a decaying downtown. I had immediately become a regular, and frequently chatted with Colleen about the store. She would often ask me if I had any ideas about what could be done to make the atmosphere more alive and inviting. I would share many of my ideas with her, such as showcasing artwork from local artists, and having poetry and open mic nights. She always seemed to appreciate my concepts, but didn’t really seem to know how to implement them.

Near the end of 1994, knowing that I would soon be coming into a moderate sum of money, I half-jokingly asked Colleen if she’d like a business partner. A little to my surprise, she loved the idea. She commented about how difficult it was to run the business herself and try to maintain her family commitments. She also welcomed my fresh insight into café culture. We tossed the idea around for a couple of weeks and decided it would be best if I took a job there as manager and event coordinator so that I could get a feel for the place from the inside before I make a larger commitment. This also gave me the opportunity to put some of my ideas into practice and observe whether or not Kenosha was ready to embrace them. So, I quit my job at Motorola, took in a deep breath, and jumped.

The majority of my effort during the first several days was directed toward mastering the cappuccino machine. As eager as I was to start putting my plans into motion, I knew that the gourmet specialty drinks were the cornerstone of the foundation. I had watched the espresso machine operators many times over the previous several years. I always knew if something was wrong. I knew that a cappuccino had to have equal parts of steamed milk, espresso, and foam. I spent hours with that machine until everything came very naturally. I was insistent that everyone “float” the espresso in the latte, cappuccino, and mocha, which made the drinks look very beautiful having a layer of steamed milk, covered by a layer of dark espresso, and topped off with a layer of foam from the steamed milk. The construction of café drinks had become an art form to me. I was of the opinion that the aesthetic value should be equal to that of the high quality ingredients used in our products.

After I had the basics down I was ready to initiate my long contemplated experiment. I started with what I considered to be the basics. I scheduled Wednesday nights as “Open Mic Night” where people could bring their acoustic instruments (guitars, hand drums, dulcimers, etc.) and show their talents by either group jams or solos. This was instantly successful, especially with younger people who, outside of their bedroom, basement, or garage, had little or no opportunity to express their creative capabilities.

The next logical insertion seemed to be poetry readings, which I scheduled for Monday evenings. This proved to be a little more challenging. The key was in finding someone suited to facilitate such an event. A number of people volunteered to take on this project. None really seemed to have the right personality for the task, though. Or, they would be completely undependable. There’s nothing worse than scheduling an event, and then have the facilitator not show up. My prayers were answered, however, the day Mike Gordon walked through the door. Mike had just moved to Kenosha from Waukegan, where he had already gained some notoriety for his readings at Café Kismet. He was outgoing, witty, and cynical; all in a perfect blend for the job of poetry MC. Mike was elated at the idea, and happily took on the responsibility. From that point on, “Poetry Night” became at least as successful as “Open Mic Night”, if not more so. At first, the readings brought in pretty much the same crowd as the acoustic jam, but then we started seeing people that had come from Racine or Illinois who had heard about us from one friend or another. I was beginning to feel very comfortable with my decision to pursue this life of coffee.

Colleen and I agreed that my presence was welcome in the café. Sometime in 1995 we drew up a partnership contract. I invested what was for me a large amount of money, and in return was given half ownership of the business. Now, I thought, would be a good time to try some really unique things. What I had in mind was a series of lectures on a variety of unusual topics. The first of this series featured Donald R. Schmitt, co-director of the Center for UFO Studies, and author of The Truth About the UFO Crash At Roswell which was made into a film for SHOWTIME cable network. His lecture was so popular (we far exceeded capacity), that we asked him back a few more times over the following couple of years.

We continued to have these types of special events which included speakers on all sorts of unusual or little known topics. Occasionally one of our speakers would create such interest that we’d host a series of classes for the given topic. For example, one speaker who demonstrated the alternative healing technique of Reiki inspired so much interest in the subject, that we allowed him to hold classes on Sundays, when we were normally closed. Of course, people were still buying their coffee, teas, sodas, and desserts.

Sometimes it was very difficult to come up with new events. I recall one day brainstorming for hours, scanning the internet with my 14kbps modem, searching for someone who could come to share their specialized knowledge. I ended up getting in contact with a scientist who lived in Canada, but worked in California for a major cryonics lab. He would spend several months at his job, then go home for a few months. It just so happened that on the date I was trying to fill, he would be coming very close to this area either on his way to, or coming home from work (I don’t remember which). During his presentation, he gave a very detailed outline of the process of cryonic preservation. While everyone seemed very fascinated by this process, I don’t recall anyone signing up to have their head frozen.

Aside from the coffee, the music, the UFO hunters, and the head freezers, what I truly remember most fondly are the people who made My Place their home. I remember seeing teenage children coming in with their parents, talking and laughing when they may otherwise have been sitting at home staring at the television, or isolated in various parts of the house. I remember the recovering alcoholic biker club that came in every Friday night as an alternative to their former bar habits. I remember the soccer moms and how happy they were that I’d make them a double, half-caf, skim latte. I recall the troubled youth who were outcasts in their schools and belonged to no cliques. Here, at My Place, they could express themselves, be themselves, and not have to worry about who was judging them or who was going to want to kick their ass after school because they were gay. I remember the local business people who would come in the morning and leave with an entire air-pot of coffee for the office. I remember Vera, the ancient woman who was always so proud of her grandson’s successful band, KMFDM. I remember them all, the college students, the cops, the mentally ill folks from the Dayton, the Gypsies (that is, Romani, actual hereditary Gypsies), the ravers, the hippies, the firefighters. They all helped to contribute to this spectacularly eclectic phenomenon.

It is said, however, that all good things must come to an end. I found here, no exception to that sentiment. It is unfortunate that it had to meet what I consider to be a premature termination. The final weeks were extremely difficult for me. Colleen and I had been having significant disagreements for a while concerning the direction the café was moving. Despite the fact that My Place was more popular than ever, and that our daily revenue had increased over 300% from the time I had become involved, Colleen feared that the café was going to get a bad reputation for being too eclectic. She thought the green mohawks were going to drive away the business suits. What she didn’t understand is that people enjoyed and appreciated the diversity. She didn’t understand that people from all walks of life were being brought together and were getting to know each other; gaining respect for and from each other, which undoubtedly extended beyond the walls of the coffee shop.

Colleen and I ultimately realized that we had very different visions of the future of My Place Café. Realizing that we could no longer be partners, we began discussing our options. The options were really quite few. One of us had to go. We went back and forth over who would stay and who would go. The problem was, neither of us really had the money to buy out the other. At one point I had found an investor and thought the café was saved. But, he backed out at the last minute, right before the papers would be signed. Finally, Colleen was able to secure a small loan. She offered me the money and an agreement to pay off the rest of it over a period of five years. My friends warned me not to do it. They told me that I had to keep the café, otherwise Colleen would run it into the ground. They were right. But, I wouldn’t have any idea how right they were for some time yet.

Being in a state of frustration and emotional despair over not being able to come up with the funds I needed to secure the café for myself, I conceded to her proposal. I took the money, signed the papers, and walked out feeling totally defeated. I can still remember the wry smirk on her face that said she couldn’t wait until I was out the door so she could begin her process of methodically tearing down the rare and inimitable community that was My Place Café, and replace it with her own shallow nearsightedness.

In the months that followed, her plans went forward like clockwork, systematically alienating the majority of the customer base that had made the café wildly successful. She was sure that she’d start attracting more of the right type of business. She couldn’t understand why the clientele continued to drop off to a mere trickle. She decided that the best way to attract the booming business that her newly purified coffee shop deserved, was to move the café out of the downtown to a location further west where there was a larger business district. Her dream location turned out to be an abandoned Taco Bell building. Since she was counting on all of the local workers stopping in and getting their goods to go, she determined that there was really no use for all the fancy mugs and demitasse cups. Everything could be served in styrofoam. When I would stop by once a month to pick up my check, I was utterly appalled and disgusted. Apparently, others felt the same way as well. Within months of moving to her new location, her business came to an absolute standstill. I stopped by one day to find the store utterly abandoned.

Everything was gone. And Colleen was in hiding. Even though I never recovered the majority of my money, and even though, in retrospect, I should have tried to do anything I could to prevent her from taking control of the business again, I cannot say that I regret any of the My Place experience. My Place Café was many things to many people. Among its former patrons, My Place Café has become near legendary. To this day, I’m still approached by former My Place family members, asking me if I have any plans to re-open a coffee shop. A couple of weeks ago I was talking with the owner of a recently established coffeehouse in Kenosha that said, “Oh, you’re Reggie from My Place? People talk about that place all the time. Do you have any ideas of what we could do here?” The sort of impact the café has had on the lives of its patrons continues to reassure me of the validity of the social experiment and gives me hope that one day its immortal spirit can be resurrected into a new vehicle of expression. Upon reflection of all of the joy and comradeship, trauma and pain, I have to say that it was all worth while.

Though I've often reminisced about the pleasures and hardships of the noble bean, I had never really seriously considered the possibility of re-entering this world. However, on a warm summer day about six months ago, I was at the local community college to register for Fall Semester classes. I passed by the small esspresso cart that had become a frequent stopping place for me during my long days of study. Since classes were not currently in session, the cart was closed. There was, however, a sign posted at the front of the cart that simply read: Help Wanted for Fall Semester. I stopped and contemplated this briefly. After a few moments of deliberation, I figured what the hell, I wouldn't mind working a few hours a week at the coffe cart...it would, after all, help to offset my $10 a day caffeine habit...plus, it would be fun to get behind the machine again. I started asking around the school about who I needed to talk to, but no one really seemed to know who actually owned the cart. Eventually, after making persistent inquiries, I discovered that the cart was owned and operated by a company located on the other side of the country. I called the number I was given and reached the owner of the business. I didn't mention any of my previous experience, nor did I express any irrational displays of passion. I simply told him that I had seen the "Help Wanted" sign and that I was interested in working at the cart. He responded that He would be in town the following week and that I could meet him at the school for an interview. During the time that passed between our telephone conversation and our eventual meeting, my eagerness to be a part of this business continued to escalate. I knew in my heart (or at least had convinced myself) that this would be no mere part time job, but the beginning of another grand adventure in coffee. When I met with him, first impressions seem mutually good. I revealed to him my experience in the business and my enthusiasm to return to this type of environment. He seemed very pleased to have someone at the cart who had experience in the various aspects of operating this type of business. He hired me on the spot and set up a tentative work schedule. Though I was "Lord of Java" in my own mind, I was still the newbie as far as my co-workers were concerned. Opportunities to prove myself, though, would be soon to come. My first opportunity came with a staffing shortage at another community college. A couple of weeks into the semester, my boss asked me if I could fill in at another location until replacement staff could be hired. I agreed to take on the extra work, and was actually happy to have the chance to extend my sphere of caffeine-powered influence. Because of the chaos in which this other location had been left due to the untimely departure of employees, I was presented with ample opportunities to exhibit my breadth of knowledge and ability. The bookkeeping had been neglected for some time, certain supplies were rapidly dwindling, and the espresso machine was in need of some minor repairs. Fortunately, these were all areas in which I could assist. After organizing and streamlining the accounting procedures, I was hired to take over the accounting management of both locations. These types of situations have continued to arise over the past several months. With each potentially disasterous predicament, I have managed to avert crisis and usually leave things better off than they were before the quandary. Now, I'm really not trying to toot my own horn here, or to puff up my ego. It's just that it is very rare for me to find a situation that allows me to do something that I find enjoyable and rewarding...and actually make money doing it! So this pretty much brings me up to the present. As I type this out I am sitting behin the espresso cart, preparing to begin the closing procedures. The past several months have caused to do a great amount of self-examination and re-evaluation of my goals and my place in life. I am not abandoning my acamedic career. I am unsure whether or not my future lies in the fruit of the Coffea Arabica. I do, however, know that for the present time I am happy, and that I cannot help but to speculate where this path may take me...a path that cosmic ordination seems to have brought me back to.

Home Improvement

2005-07-22T15:26:00.000-05:00

This week has been fairly productive. I got my bathroom and kitchen painted, and went shopping for flooring for my kitchen and dining room that I hope to install before the end of August. Here are some pics of my bathroom and kitchen:

Thelema: PC to Pod

2005-07-14T19:04:00.000-05:00

As children of the New Aeon, Thelemites have often been among the first to embrace new technologies and forums of communication. While many esoteric groups were starting up their first email discussion groups, many Thelemites were already developing a sophisticated web presence, and developing software such as gematria tools. It should come as no surprise then, that the lastest medium for portable audio files, podcasting, should be snatched up by the Thelemic community in order to propagate the Law of the Aeon. Publisher, author, and Thelemic activist, John Crow, has launched Thelema Coast to Coast, dedicated to, "the exploration of Thelema, Aleister Crowley, the New Aeon, ceremonial magick, and the occult." With eight published episodes to date, Crow, a dedicated member of the OTO himself, is far from being a mouthpiece for the Order. His interviews have included such diverse personalities as: Bishop T Allen Greenfield, Richard Kaczynski, Tony Stansfeld-Jones, Gerald del Campo, and others. His ongoing discussions with Keith418 offer candid, yet respectful, criticisms of the OTO, it's membership, and it's future. Each podcast runs approximately 45 minutes to an hour. I highly recommend this program to anyone interested in Thelema or the occult. Mr. Crow's hard work and dedication should be an inspiration and an example to all those on the esoteric path.

A most interesting email

2005-07-06T21:35:00.000-05:00

A few minutes ago a receive a most interesting email notifying me that "This email is a response to your request for information about your Blogger account. To regain access to your account, please click on the following link..." What is interesting about this is that I did not request information about my Blogger account. This leads me to believe that someone else has attempted to access my account illicitly. I'm not sure why someone would wish to do this, but rest assured that I will be keeping a close eye on my blog for any future attempts at identity theft. My suggestion to the perpetrator is that if you have any comments or objections to the content of my blog that you simply leave a comment to the posting or contact me directly with your criticisms.

Sublime Whispers of St. Michael: Solar Mysteries in the Sublunary World

2005-06-07T15:01:00.000-05:00

In the midst of the mundane, followers of an ancient mystery religion gather to celebrate their sacred and solemn rites. These seekers of empyreal wisdom are adherents of a faith once considered to be the heresy above all heresies: Gnosticism. The word gnosis comes from the Greek, gnostikos, meaning roughly, knowledge; not necessarily an intellectual, objective knowledge, but a very specialized type of divine or self-revealing knowledge, and thus, subjective. Violently suppressed in the second and third centuries, and long forgotten by all but a select few, Gnosticism’s perennial philosophy has again risen from its ashes and found vitality and expression within bodies such as the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica Hermetica. Though their existence is not secret, the Parish of St. Michael the Archangel of the EGCH could be easily overlooked by anyone; for they have no grand cathedral or even a simple sign that would indicate their presence. Their sanctum sanctorum happens to be within the confines of a small tax preparation office. One would hardly suspect that in the substratum of the establishment, beneath the clicking of keys and printing of paper, a modern perpetuation of this ancient heretical sect congregates on a regular basis.

Walking through the door of C&M Tax in Kenosha, WI, one would see nothing that seems out of the ordinary for a tax preparation business. In the front area there are some plants, chairs for those waiting (often with anxiety and anticipation), and a receptionist’s counter. Just beyond the receptionist is a doorway, through which is a small office with two desks where, one by one, clients will learn of their fiscal fate; for some, confirming their suspicions, and for others, coming as a great shock of either relief or disappointment. To the left of the receptionist, however, and around the corner, is a doorway leading into a dimly lit, not-all-too-inviting basement. After walking down the steep, narrow staircase, there is still nothing to suggest that this is anything other than an old, dusty, unfinished basement used to store files and maintenance items such as light bulbs and cleaning supplies. To the left, though, is another doorway. There is a light peeking through from a distance. Upon entering this first subterranean passage, one finds a dark ante-chamber. The faint scent of incense is beginning to permeate the air. One is reminded of the catacombs in which the ancient Gnostics were forced to celebrate their rites in secrecy, for fear of the harsh persecution that had befallen most of their brethren in Europe, the Mediterranean, and Northern Africa.

Past the ante-chamber is the temple proper. Once inside the temple, there are a handful of congregants. They are patiently awaiting the evening’s events, which tonight happens to be the Liturgy of the Hermetic Light, One of the congregants, a local middle-aged business owner, begins telling me about a new website he’s found which explores the history of the Knights Templar, a religious-military order founded by the papacy in the twelfth century which was ultimately condemned for heresies similar to those of the Gnostics. A young congregant is listening attentively to a deacon of the church who is telling him about the new book on Gnosticism he’s reading by Dr. Stephan A. Hoeller.

To my right, beyond the congregants is a wall filled with various documents: charters, ordination certificates, and concordats of intercommunion with other gnostic churches. As I gaze down the wall and around to the next, the altar comes into view. Upon the altar are several items, each having a special significance to the ceremony. On the right hand side of the altar is a vase with a small floral arrangement. Just behind the vase are two cruets, one filled with water, the other with wine. Behind the cruets are a stack of papers, the text of the Mass itself. On the left hand side of the altar is a metal censer, containing a burning charcoal within it. Behind the censer is a small dish containing “hosts”, which are small round pieces of unleavened bread. Beyond the hosts lies the lectionary from which the day’s lessons will be read. In the front center of the altar, upon a triangular base, is a wooden cross with a rose, painted red, carved into the center. The rose is neither closed nor is it fully in bloom, but rather, in a state of perpetual unfolding; emblematic of the awareness of the human soul, unfolding within the individual amidst the trials and tribulations of the mundane world. (To the Gnostics, you see, everything is symbolic, as it is not a religion of dogmatic faith, but of intimate personal experience initiated by myth, symbol, and ritual.) Right behind the cross is a seven stemmed brass candelabrum, holding seven unlit white candles. Behind the candelabrum is the Holy of Holies: the sacred chalice. Upon the chalice is a paten supporting a large host which the priest will consume during the celebration of the Eucharist, the central rite of the Mass. Covering the paten and the chalice is a purple veil, preserving its sanctity until the temple has been properly cleansed and of all evil and unwanted influences, and the proper entities have been invoked.

The clergy have now disappeared into the ante-chamber to vest and prepare for the forthcoming ceremony. Tonight, the mass will be celebrated by a bishop of the church. He will be assisted by a deacon and an arch-priestess (yes, women are ordained into the priesthood). The lights are dimmed, and the murmuring of the congregation has now ceased. The first to appear is the deacon, bearing the censer that was upon the altar a few moments previous. He walks slowly, swinging the censer rhythmically from side to side. He walks around to the far side of the altar. There, using the censer, he traces out some symbol or glyph with an exact precision, marking out the boundaries of the space wherein the clergy will be performing their sacred rites. The incense is thick, and fills the room. The most predominant fragrance is the sweetness of frankincense. It is combined with the pungent undertones of myrrh, and in the distance my olfactory senses pick up a suggestion of the subtle spiciness of benzoin. Dropping the censer to his side, the deacon begins again the rhythmic swinging, circumambulating the entire altar clockwise, stopping at each quarter to trace out the sacred symbol. When done, he replaces the censer upon the altar and returns to the ante-chamber.

After a short time, the clergy begin their procession to the altar. They are arranged in hierarchal order: the deacon, the priest, and finally, the bishop. As they approach the altar, the deacon turns, walks to the left, and stands a few feet in front of the altar, facing it. The priestess then makes a similar movement, but to the right, and the bishop then places himself between his assistants. They approach the altar with three steps, slowly and in unison. When directly before the altar, they kneel and pray together:

“O, Ineffable Light, Father of Resplendent Glory, Mother of Eternal Wisdom, we being assembled together on the path of Light to manifest the Power of the Logos, the Christ within, and to participate in the offering of that great sacrifice which was and is and is to come do hail Thee as the Great Architect of the Universe, and the Source of all Light, Life, Love and Liberty.”

The celebrants then arise and assume particular stations. The bishop, who is chief celebrant, takes his place behind the altar, facing the congregation.

The liturgy continues with verses of adoration to the Lord and his Lady, Sophia, and mystical pondering of life and light, truth and beauty. At times, the whole room resonates with the intoned invocations of Aeons and Archangels, pronounced in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and other tongues long forgotten by humankind, unintelligible except, perhaps, to the angels themselves. The priest traces out the letters of holy names in the air about the altar. All of this is done in preparation of the transmutation of bread and wine, symbols of our terrestrial and celestial natures, into the body and blood of the Logos; the Primum Mobile that was in the beginning.

At last, the time has come to begin the process of consecrating the elements. The priest carefully removes the purple veil from the chalice, folding it neatly and placing it to the side. In like manner, he removes the paten holding the large host, and lifts the chalice toward the deacon, who receives his silent cue and moves closer to the altar. The deacon takes up the cruet containing the wine and reverently begins pouring the wine into the chalice. With a brief exchange of glances, the deacon knows when enough wine has been poured and takes the cruet of water, pouring only a little. As the priest replaces the chalice, the deacon returns to his station in front of the altar.

Next is a litany paying homage to, and calling forth a body of men and women, saints, martyrs, prophets, and renowned teachers of the Gnosis. As each name is solemnly intoned, my mind is filled with whispers of the sages: Mary Magdalen, who according to Gnostic tradition was the consort of Jesus and privy to special teachings that were not relayed to his apostles, nor to the public; Valentinus, who preached a complex Gnostic cosmology to second century Egyptians and Romans; the ascetic Cathars, whose simple and peaceful communities were rent asunder by the Pope’s crusaders; and many more, each of whose teachings, values, and lifestyles helped contribute to Gnosticism’s rich tradition.

The consecration now enters into its final moments of preparation. The priest takes the host, breaks it in half, and then breaks off a small corner which he places into the chalice. He now utters holy words, some barely audible, and with his hands extended over the bread and wine, traces again some symbols in the air. He then pronounces a final name of power as he slowly lowers a ritual dagger into the chalice, symbolizing sacrifice and serving as a method of directing the salvific essence of the Aeon he has called forth.

The elements of bread and wine have now become infused with the spiritual essence of the “Logos of the Eternal Aeon”. The chief celebrant is the first to partake of the communion, followed by the other clergy, and finally, the congregants. As I consume the consecrated elements and sit in pensive contemplation, I can feel the fragments of my pysche coalesce into a perfect one-ness, if only for a moment. After each, in turn, has received the Eucharist, the meditation is ended by the priest’s concluding rites.

The concluding rites are something of a homily. It bids one to become as eternity itself. It encourages one to explore all of the heights and depths of human experience. In true Hermetic fashion, the individual is instructed to comprehend in oneself all of the qualities of God and Nature. It reminds us that “Gnosis differs much from sense; for sense is of the things that surmount it, but Gnosis is the end of sense”, and that “all Gnosis is unbodily, but useth the mind as an instrument, as the mind uses the body.” We are then dismissed to “go forth in peace to serve the Logos in the person of one another.”

As the clergy recesses, the congregants remain still and contemplative. After a few moments, a soft murmuring resumes. People start talking about the ceremony, and the various impressions they received. The conversation eventually develops into a debate over where everyone may go for further discussion. The clergy now reappear in their secular garb. No longer could you tell the difference between priest, bishop, acolyte, or profane.

As we begin to file back up the stairs and through the offices, the sights of file cabinets, desks, and computers fill my realm of perception. The pleasant perfume of the incense, the warm resonant tones of the priest’s calls, and the sharp tannin of the wine are now only barely lingering on my senses. I depart with the bitter-sweet satisfaction of having attained union with my maker, my mate, my self. For the Gnostic, however, the Eucharist truly never ends.

Tomorrow morning, the office will be filled with workers hurrying about, typing this, filing that. Clients will be coolly greeted in a business-like manner, and asked to sign in and have a seat.. Myriad people will flow in and out, never speculating that they are standing over hollowed grounds; never knowing of the jewel hidden within. Few and fortunate are they who will find the sublime within the sublunary.

Adventures in Computing

2005-01-08T22:00:00.000-06:00

The past few weeks have provided a number of interesting adventures in computing. It all started when my hard drive started getting a little 'glitchy'. That is, programs started crashing unexpectedly, or simply not loading up at all and relaying unusual errors. Even the programs that were running were loading and operating much slower than normal. I knew what this meant. It had happened before. The hard drive was getting ready to give up the ghost. Within a couple of days of the onslaught of errors, I was thoroughly scanning dell.com for a suitable replacement. I hadn't budgeted for a new computer any time soon, so it had to be reasonably priced. No, it had to be downright cheap. Fortunately, (or so I though), I found just the right unit. It had more than twice my current processing speed, more than twice the hard drive space, and twice the RAM; and still it was one of their cheapest units. I contemplated whether or not I could really afford the new machine, but within a day I realized that I could not risk losing everything on my computer as well as losing access to the computer itself. Since I am a full time student and some of my work is exclusively online, the choice became quite clear. There was no way that, with only a few weeks left in the semester, I was going to take a chance. So, I ordered the machine (opting for the free shipping, hoping the order would be processed more quickly than the projected dates) and crossed my fingers, pleading with the Goddess of the Integrated Circuit to extend the life of my current computer long enough to get the new one running. My prayers were indeed answered. But as is often the case, my vague request came with vague results. I was delighted that my new computer arrived less than five days after I placed the order. Both the build time and delivery time were significantly less than Dell's estimations. I even happened to be home when when the great messenger of the gods himself arrived at my very doorstep, bearing that magical device which would be my salvation. I eagerly hauled the large box into the open space between the dining room and living room, which offered an ample area to remove the components for inspection before arranging them in the position once occupied by its predecessor. After a little while of unpacking and rearranging of furniture and hardware, I was ready to fire up the new beast. Some accessories I left unattached so as not to possibly overload or confuse the system immediately with new hardware. I pressed the smooth, grey, plastic button and watched the Dell® logo spring to life, followed by..."No operating system detected." Well, I thought, maybe I need to install it from the utility cd. I pop in the cd, press 'F12' for the boot menu, and choose to boot from cd. The system restarts and displays the message, "No operating system found." Needless to say, I was becoming less pleased by the moment. After going through a brief denial stage, I came to the conclusion that the machine had been sent without an operating system. I promptly found the invoice with all of the pertinent information and called Dell support to express my dilemma and to find out if there was something I just wasn't seeing or doing. The customer service representative was very kind, and politely told me that, indeed, my system did not come with a pre-installed operating system. It did not come with an operating system at all. (I guess that explains why it was so cheap.) I was shocked. I just couldn't fathom that Dell would send out a machine without an OS. I re-checked my order and my packing slip and sure enough...no mention of WinXP. Sigh...So I ask him if I can just purchase XP. He says he can give me XP-Pro at half off. I tell him that I don't want Pro, I just want Home edition, to which he replies that they don't sell Home ed. cd's, they only pre-install them. (Grrrr....) So, I tell him that I'll think about what I want to do and get back to him. Considering that the package I purchased made no mention of including Windows XP, I really had no arguable case here. So, I did what was necessary and picked up a copy and installed it. With a fresh operating system, I began installing the various programs and driver for which I had disks. By this time, the hard drive in my old machine had become completely unreadable. Fortunately, most of my documents and music were stored on a second drive. I installed the second drive on the new machine and was able to retrieve nearly all of my important information. There were some program files, however, that needed to be downloaded again. All seemed to be going relatively well now. That is, until I discovered a peculiar anomaly with the hard drive in the new system. As I was transferring some data from one drive to the other, I noticed that only 32GB of my 80GMB drive were being recognized. My first thought was that perhaps the wrong drive had been installed by Dell. I checked the model number and searched it online, discovering that the drive was indeed an 80GB dive. I quickly performed a Google search with a few keywords including the model number and “problem”. One of the first results yielded was a forum posting concerning precisely the same situation. Those who responded with proposed solutions seemed to unanimously agree that the person's bios needed to be updated. Feeling fairly confident that this must be the problem, I contacted a bios dealer. After discussing my situation and giving the appropriate bios information, he informed me that I already had the most current version available. Now I was getting particularly frustrated, and a little worried too. My old machine was completely useless, and it appeared that I may have to return the new one so that the appropriate configurations could be set. I had already been thinking about getting an additional drive. Since I compose music on the computer, my hard drive space is used up very rapidly. I've also been thinking about starting some video work, which eats up about 100MB a minute (uncompressed). So I decided that this would be a good time to go a head with the upgrade. This way, I could also back up my entire 80MB (or 32 as the case may be) drive just in case I ended up having to send the whole thing back. As I browsed the various makes and models of hard drives, I noticed that that there wasn't a remarkable difference in price from one size to the next. I decided upon 300GB Seagate drive. While installing the new drive, I decided to take a look at the manual just in case there was some unusual configuration I should be aware of. While scanning the section on jumper configurations, I saw something that caused me to stop and reflect. There was a jumper setting that caused the drive to be restricted to 32GB. Hmm, I thought, my other drive is only reading as 32GB. Even though my “80” gig drive is not a Seagate, I figured that most hd configurations are probably pretty much the same. So I checked the jumper configuration and sure enough, it had been set to limit the drive to 32GB. While I was very happy to have made this discovery, it was also frustrating to think that they (Dell) had sent it out to me this way. After changing the jumper setting, the drive was immediately recognized as an 80GB drive. Of course, now I had 45+ gigs of unformatted, unpartitioned space. What to do...what to do.... Well, I did what any glutton for punishment would do: I decided to install Linux. My first attempt at an installation proved to be very educational; unsuccessful, but educational. I didn't realize until later, but my initial distribution choice, Gentoo, had to be compiled completely manually. Now, to some, the idea that I might not compile my own Linux kernel may seem appalling, dishonorable even. However, I was simply unprepared for the task. Comparatively, the other distributions I've tried have seemed exceedingly user friendly. After my failure with Gentoo (which I may try again in the future) I decided to try Red Hat 9 based on a friend's suggestion. Well, that didn't work out either because the second disk in the set of three must have burned improperly. The installation, though seemingly user friendly, stalled every time disk 2 was called for. At this point I was getting a little frustrated with the whole Linux thing, and wondering why I was wasting my time with it at all. The third try changed all of that though. I found a distribution called Libranet which used the Debian kernel. So, I downloaded the ISO's, burned them to disk, and decided to give this one more shot. I have to say that Libranet was very easy to install, and even recognized most of my hardware. After a few days of familiarizing myself with Libranet, I was feeling comfortable enough with the Debian format to try out a straight-up Debian install, without the extra Libranet applications. The pure Debian install went fine, but I realized a couple of things: Firstly, that some of the Libranet applications I thought were useless, were actually quite useful. For instance, it has an 'Admin-menu'. I didn't really see the usefulness of it until it was no longer available. Secondly, there isn't nearly as much support for Debian as there is for Red Hat based distributions. I'm still not exactly sure why this is, but the newest versions of of many programs seem to be made available for Debian last, if at all. I suppose, though, that once I learn more about compiling from source it won't really matter. Still, it seems strange that packages are made for Red Hat, Suse, Mandrake, and others, but often exclude Debian. So, finally I decided that it was time to give Red Hat another shot. But, rather than using my faulty Red Hat 9, I downloaded all four Fedora 3 disks. Fedora is what I'm currently reviewing, and so far it has been my favorite “out of the box” distribution. For example, it includes Mozilla's Firefox browser and Thunderbird mail client which I had to go through great pains to install with Debian; having to deal with numerous outdated dependencies. In fact all of the software that came with it was more recent than was offered with Debian. The kernel is also much more recent than is available with Debian. And, it recognized all of my hardware. Well, I'll end my rant here for now, but perhaps I'll post an update to this in the future.

Arabic Alchemist Cracks Rosetta Stone Code Nearly a Millenium Before West

2004-10-09T22:44:00.000-05:00

Carved in 196 B.C.E., The Rosetta Stone was created by Egyptian priests to honour the Pharao. Three scripts were used in the carving: Hieroglyphs, used by the priesthood for religious purposes; Demotic, the common Egyptian language of the Late Dynastic Period; and Greek, the language of Egypt's rulers at the time. It was written in three languages so that all countrymen may understand the text. The authors of the work were probably unaware that in the coming centuries the entire Egyptian priesthood would be effectively decimated by hoards of Christian and Muslim invaders. And with the elimination of the priests, the knowledge of the Hieroglyphic language died with them. The ancient language of the Egyptians would remain a mystery to Europeans until a startling discovery by Napoleon's soldiers in 1799 in the village of Rosetta (Rashid [rightly guided]) Egypt. However, it was not until 1822 that Jean-François Champollion, having knowledge of both Greek and Demotic, would decipher the Hieroglyphic text and thus open the possibility of translating thousands of years of Egyptian literature...at least for Europeans. Recently, London researcher Dr. Okasha El Daly has confirmed his suspicions that Arab scholars had successfully deciphered the Hieroglyphs many centuries before Champollion. After years of searching for conclusive evidence, it was finally discovered within the writings of ninth century Arabian alchemist, Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn Wahshiya. Read Robin McKie's article here.

A "Must Read" for Star Wars Fans

2004-10-07T23:37:00.000-05:00

It's pretty amazing that a movie series begun in 1977 and effectively ended in 1983 could find a renewed relavence in the 21st century. Though the first two installments of the prequel trilogy fell short of some fans' expectations, they did, nevertheless, supply the necessary background for Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. For many of us long-time Star Wars fans, the forthcoming conclusion to the prequel trilogy is the moment we have been waiting for, for over twenty years. It holds the answer to the question that has been in our minds ever since we learned who Darth Vader actually was - "How did Anakin Skywalker turn to the dark side and become Darth Vader?" - a question that will be answered definitively on May 19, 2005. Well, one fan has taken it upon himself to write a novel based upon spoilers from LucasFilms, rumors, and his own insight and speculation. This man (?) goes by the screen name of JW Titus on theforce.net's message board. It is also on that board that he has been publishing the chapters of his novel since June. Excepting minor typographical errors, the work is remarkably professional. His ability to depict moods, scenery, action, and meaningful dialog, in addition to his mastery of the characters' personality traits, is extraordinary. I highly recommend this work to all serious fans (unless, of course, you want to be completely surprised next May). Many of his readers agree that if the movie is half as good as his novelization, we should be in for a real treat. Below are links to all chapters to date, including tonight's update. Chapters 1-16 MS Word format (The chapter numbering in the Word file doesn't match exactly with the numbering in the forum. Thus, chapter sixteen in the the .doc file actually corresponds to chapter fifteen in the forum. So, the following "chapter 16" is not included in the file.) Chapter 16 part 1 Chapter 16 part 2 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 part 1 Chapter 18 part 2 Chapter 19 part 1 Chapter 19 part 2 Chapter 19 part 3 Chapter 20 part 1 Chapter 20 part 2 Chapter 20 part 3 Chapter 21 part 1 Chapter 21 part 2 Chapter 21 part 3

well i know i'll sleep better

2004-10-03T23:38:00.000-05:00

Apparently, scientists have discovered the source of the earth's annoying little hum. Maybe HAARP can do something about this.

Bush finds yet another way to stick it to me

2004-09-24T22:39:00.000-05:00

Not much of a story here...just a little ranting and raving. I was driving from my home in Zion, IL to pick up my son in Racine, WI. The drive is a straight shot down Sheridan Rd., about 35-40 minutes, depending on traffic. Well, that is except for today. I get to about the midpoint of Kenosha, WI, which is the town/county that separates Zion from Racine, and everything comes to a complete standstill. "Oh great," I think, "there's and accident." It seemed to be a logical assumption considering that cars are not moving, and there is a police blockade ahead, as well as a tow truck. There is also a fairly sizable crowd that has gathered at the intersecton ahead. I think to myself, "jeez, this has got to be a pretty bad accident for such a crown to have gathered." Funny thing though, is that I can't see any evidence of an accident. While at first this was encouraging, thinking that traffic would soon be guided through, after twenty minutes it became very clear to me that nobody was going anywhere. So I make a phone call to inform Simon's mom that I'll be late picking him up because traffic is at a dead stop. "What road are you on?" she asks. "Sheridan," I reply. To which she responds, "Oh, Sheridan is closed off. Don't you know that the President is coming to Racine? He's coming down Sheridan Road." Sigh...well the least he could have done is have one of his henchmen leave me a voice mail. I finally got turned around, and spent the next thirty minutes searching for a way out of Kenosha. Not only was Sheridan, a north/south road, blocked, but 52nd St., an east/west road, was blocked as well. Judging from the erratic traffic patterns I was seeing, I wasn't the only one who was totally confused. There were people pulling u-turns all over, cars cutting each other off, going the wrong way down one way streets. In addition to all of this were military helicopters circling low around the city; undoubtedly laughing heartily at the chaos below. Throughout all of this I'm periodically calling my ex-wife to report updates..."OK, I'm on 22nd ave. now....nope can't go this way...alright I'm on 30th ave...OK, let me try this...no I haven't found a way out yet...how was I supposed to know...no I'm not voting for him...what do you mean he's got balls?...he's a mindless puppet of the administration...greatest president?...OK, I gotta go, I'll call you when I get out of this nightmare." I finally made my exodus via Green Bay Road, which is only about five miles west of Sheridan, but can take quite a long time to reach when your zigzagging through nearly every street in between. Nearly two hours after I'd embarked on my trek, I finally reached my destination: a smiling five year old eager to show me his new soccer ball with glow-in-the-dark skeletons. I couldn't help but to release a wide grin myself; partly due to the pleasure of seeing my son; partly due to the reprieve from the hellish journey. Indeed, it was as if I had just traversed the depths of the underworld, and was being greeted by an angelic being in the elysium above.

afternoon social activities

2004-09-23T01:25:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy days like today. I went out for mid-afternoon coffee at a local coffeehouse with a good friend of mine. It was very relaxing. We discussed all types of things, politics, scholastics, esotericism, family, local current events, and probably other things that I just can't recall. Coffeehouses are good for that; or at least they used to be. Unfortunately, I haven't seen that type of community building atmosphere in many places of this decade. Well, I won't lament over the downfall of coffeehouse culture here. I've done that elsewhere. After sipping through a few cups of coffee, my arm was ever so gently twisted to go down the block for some "drinks". Though I did put up a mild resistence, the offer of a free drink was to much pressure to withstand. So we strode down to the "cheap" bar. (It used to be the "expensive" bar until the wine bar opened across the street. Perhaps I'll write about that experience another time). The bar experience was pretty similar to the coffeehouse venture, except that instead of sipping coffee, I was now sipping Bombay Sapphire and tonic. In all, it was a fairly common Wednesday afternoon.

Call me paranoid...

2004-09-21T17:46:00.000-05:00

A very odd thing happened to me today. I was chatting with an online friend who has been going through some problems lately. I knew there was some issue, but had no idea regarding the particulars. I saw her online so I decided to pry a bit. Part of the conversation went something like this (pensator23 is my yahoo ID; other name removed, as well as certain information regarding the problem, and a few other irrelavent things):

pensator23 (2:17:35 PM): i'm kinda curious, how could someone...

xxxxx (2:17:59 PM): eh...we talked about this last night

pensator23 (2:21:43 PM): did you get it straightened out?

xxxxx(2:21:52 PM): yes and no

At this point I'm guessing that she worked it out with the other person and just doesn't want to talk about it.

pensator23 (2:28:33 PM): well...seems like your doing a little better anyway than when you posted the...

xxxxx(2:28:51 PM): do you not remember talking to me last night?

pensator23 (2:29:01 PM): we did not talk last night

xxxxx(2:29:05 PM): woah

xxxxx(2:29:22 PM): wot is your other chat name?

pensator23 (2:29:35 PM): ...

xxxxx(2:29:46 PM): it was teh pensator one

pensator23 (2:30:24 PM): um...i am pretty sure that we did not have a conversation last night

xxxxx(2:30:33 PM): that is effed up

Yeah, I'll say that's "effed up". Apparently she had a Yahoo conversation with someone last night who she thought was me. She says she's fairly certain that the name said "pensator". She also said that she has no other friends with a similar ID. I have to say that this freaks me out a little bit. It seems, though, that the imposter was supportive, so that's good anyway. But still...

yawwwn...stretch...opens eyes...

2004-09-18T13:32:00.000-05:00

So finally I have entered the world of blogging. Sure, I have a livejournal account. I had two until recently. There's something about lj though...I find myself posting in other people's journals more than my own. Maybe it's lj's focus on social networks that distracts me from the reasons I set up my account to begin with. I'm not quite sure, but in anycase I've kept my lj account that I use for my musical projects, and deleted my personal journal. I hope I'll be able to provide some interesting and/or informative and/or entertaining material. If I fail to meet this criteria, well...worse things could happen.

Asleep in Space

2004-09-18T13:27:00.000-05:00

BBC News writes: Body clocks 'hinder' space travel. In part, the article states, "Whilst the human body is used to a 24-hour cycle, the day on Mars is an extra 39 minutes long..." Then later goes on to quote the NSBRI's website, "the success of human spaceflight depends on astronauts remaining alert while operating highly complex, state-of-the-art equipment. A crucial factor of mission success is getting enough sleep". Personally, I like the idea of having an extra thirty-nine minutes. Somehow, I think I could manage to adjust my sleep schedule.