It occurred to me the other day that I have never bothered to learn to read greek script. I am sure that it is no longer considered an expectation that educated readers will be able to read greek or latin but I have always wanted to. So I googled up some webpages and found some interesting hits and found that I memorized the basics very easily.

Next step: Pronunciation. *screeeeeech* *needle across record sound*

Well, that is an interesting problem. Between the various flavors of pronunciation [about halfway down that page]

• Erasmus
• Reconstructed Attic
• New Testament
• Modern

Does anyone have a preference?  My tendency would be to learn all four just because I can. 

Current Mood: curious

This was from scottsch on a mailing list elsewhere in the ether....

About exaltron
exaltron is an objectivist MC and improvisational musicborg currently headquartered in the East Village, NYC. Armed with guitar, trumpet, laptop and microphone, he creates huge electro hip-hop walls of sound over which he espouses the virtues of reason, technology and freedom. His lyrics span the gamut from inspired silliness to mind-bending complexity all the while maintaining a flow at one with the beat that supports it.

In his own words:

as I strive so I reap the rewards
Lilliputians try to tether but I cut the cords
with the sword of the righteous I fight this injustice
suckers of all stripes bow down when I bust this
germicide on a worldwide level
layin waste with the bass and the treble
lead-belly beats pushin decibals
and on the spreadsheets we're movin decimals

20,000 Volts

Make sure to click the "lyrics" link under the audio controls. LOL

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: 20000 Volts

A Florida TV station tested if they could just walk into a police station and get a form to file a complaint on an officer. I am sure that the results will not surprise many on my friends list:

http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_033170755.html

Current Mood: grumpy

You have to love google and the fact that other people are as curious as I am:

From here a nice batch of fresh Lorem Ipsum for your Sunday morning pleasure:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Phasellus eleifend lacus nec ligula. Nunc dignissim felis vel orci. Morbi ultricies nisi non nulla. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Suspendisse velit. Vestibulum aliquet nunc in massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Etiam lacus. Nam eget dolor. Curabitur a urna a nibh egestas consectetuer. Donec sodales, diam nec consequat commodo, magna velit bibendum nisl, in pellentesque libero dolor at justo. Cras mollis hendrerit orci. Etiam tristique purus id sapien euismod pellentesque. Morbi cursus faucibus turpis. Duis lorem eros, volutpat eget, condimentum a, ullamcorper sed, diam. Curabitur non massa. Phasellus mattis, sem eget suscipit luctus, nisl pede sagittis orci, vitae bibendum nibh sapien sed nisi. Duis ante orci, mattis a, scelerisque in, nonummy vitae, sem.

In sit amet nisi eu ipsum suscipit sollicitudin. Pellentesque rutrum pede eget urna. Mauris nec tortor. Nam neque urna, volutpat nec, dictum sed, interdum nec, nulla. Integer eleifend nisl quis turpis. Sed posuere semper lorem. Integer consectetuer mi eu tellus. Mauris aliquam, felis ac rutrum ultricies, eros nulla euismod lectus, sed porttitor lorem purus quis felis. Fusce ut leo. Maecenas ultricies ultrices nunc.

So.

From a link in 's journal, I can see why it took TOC until 1/30/2006 to tell me that I wasn't going to be on the program. I was bumped by Linda Abrams' presentation and they didn't have the good grace to edit the fucking html correctly. Nice, very nice. I am going to save it off on my personal domain for all eternity so that when they inevitably fix it [they will fix it won't they?] I can still laugh about it.

And, for the record, I hate Berton Braley. Linda, I like--both as a performer and a person. She does a great job presenting him--or as great as anyone can working with that material. But sweet-christ-on-crutches I hate Braley's poetry. So being bumped for Braley is insult to injury.

Though I have to say in disagreement with and that the program looks better than I was expecting. Perhaps I will make the effort to go after all. That is, if I don't decide to take my daughter to Camp Indecon.

Current Mood: somewhat amused
Current Music: David Bowie -- Width of A Circle

So, I wasn't picked-up for a presentation at TOC this year. I am not particularly surprised as I have always felt like a third-string player---even though my presentations are almost universally ranked very high by conference participants. If TOC can get someone that lives closer and has anything to say that seems more philosophical, they are going to go there first.

I have been hearing all manner of scuttle-butt about the conference. Both Brandens are slated to go and Linz Perigo is dropping out because of it [and TOC's unwillingness to pay attention to PARC]. Can any of you that have posted about their plans post a link to your relevant comment? Thanks.

Also, since the ARI OCon is in Boston this year, I might just go over there instead. It is local so I would only have to pay for conference fees. And given my general boredom at the last couple of Summer Seminar's presentation I don't know that I am willing to pay to go and pay to fly to LA. I would, of course, miss the friends and relationships built up over these 10 years. Perhaps visiting the "dark side" could be good for me.

Current Mood: cold
Current Music: Peter Gabriel -- Rhythm of the Heat

So I am guessing that the psychotherapy that I have been undergoing is having an effect. I had a dream a couple of nights ago in which my penis fell off in my hand as I went to use the toilet.

[No, I am not joking...]

[Yes, it is a peculiar first post after so long....]

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: XTC -- Cynical Days

On the 12th day of the Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival, my
potential-acquaintance-abuse-survivor gave to me:

Twelve males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming,

Eleven pipers piping (plus the 18-member pit orchestra made up of members in
good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in their union
contract even though they will not be asked to play a note...);

Ten melanin-deprived testosterone-poisoned scions of the patriarchal ruling
class system leaping;

Nine persons engaged in rythmic self-expression,

Eight economically disadvantaged but still virginal Gyno-Americans stealing
milk products from enslaved Bovine-Americans;

Seven endangered swans swimming on federally protected wetlands;

Six enslaved fowl-Americans producing stolen nonhuman animal products;

Five golden symbols of culturally sanctioned enforced domestic
incarceration;

(Note: after a member of the Animal Liberation Front threatened to throw red
paint at my computer, the calling birds, French hens and partridge have been
reintroduced to their native habitat. To avoid further animal-American
enslavement, the remaining gift package has been revised).

Four hours of recorded whale songs,

Three deconstructionist poets;

Two Sierra Club calendars printed on recycled processed tree carcasses;

And a spotted owl activist chained to an old-growth pear tree.

Current Mood: amused

So Karen and I finally got our retired-racer greyhound. It might be presumed that since I gave up my cats to live with Karen [she had severe allergies to them], that I used to sneer at anyone that preferred dogs to cats and since I now have happily entered into cohabitation with a *dog* of all god-forsaken creatures, my corruption is fully completed. But no, dear reader, the truth of the matter is that greyhounds are the most cat-like of all dogs. OK, so I am a bit corrupted.

If you want some cute doggie pictures of Argus you can follow the linx. My civility has slipped but I at least won't force them upon your monitor unchosen.

One...
Two...
Three...
Four...

I suppose I have to make an Argus icon, now....

Current Mood: Ready for a walk...

Hmmm... Missed this guy's work, too. Never heard of him. Or any of his books Our Culture: What's Left of It or Life At The Bottom: The Worldview That Makes Up the Underclass for example, but I have added them to my various lists.

From Diana Hsieh's blog, here is a link to an interesting interview from FrontPageMagazine.

Obligatory Snippet 1:

FP: It's hard to know where to start Dr. Dalrymple, as your essays evoke so many profound themes.

I guess we can begin with your observations on the root causes of many of our social ills. You discuss how in your practise as a doctor you have confronted a growing pathology in our culture within which there is an assumption that “one’s state of mind, or one’s mood, is or should be independent of the way one lives one’s life.” You connect this to people confusing unhappiness with depression. Can you talk a bit about this?

Dalrymple: I have noticed the disappearance of the word 'unhappy' from common usage, and its replacement by the word 'depressed.' While unhappiness is a state of mind that is clearly the result of the circumstances of one's life, whether self-inflicted or inflicted by circumstances beyond one's control, or a mixture of both, depression is an illness that is the doctor's responsibility to cure. This is so, however one happens to be leading one's life. And the doctor, enjoined to pass no judgement that could be interpreted as moral on his patients, has no option but to play along with this deception. The result is the gross over-prescription of medication, without any reduction in unhappiness.

As you put it, there is a complete disconnection between one's state of mind and the way one lives. Moreover, one does not have a right to the pursuit of happiness, one has a right to happiness itself.

I decided, as a matter of experience, that these attitudes are very destructive and - not surprisingly - lead to a lot of misery about which a mere doctor can do nothing, at least without making judgements.

Obligatory Snippet 2:

FP: You make the shrewd observation of how political correctness engenders evil because of “the violence that it does to people’s souls by forcing them to say or imply what they do not believe, but must not question.” Can you talk about this a bit?

Dalrymple: Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.

Current Music: XTC -- King For A Day