Ten Tentacles - So many arms, so little time.

Ganked from bluestarliz and revjim: The 10 ,9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 meme.

TEN FIRSTS

1. First Best Friend: Jimmy Becker.
2. First Pet: A shepherd/collie mix named Don Quixote.
3. First Piercing: My left ear, when I was 17. Now they’re both pierced a few times each.
4. First high school crush: Alexandra Olivieri.
5. First CD: I don’t remember. I remember my first LP: Kiss Detroit Rock City.
6. First Car: 1971 Ford Maverick.
7. First Love: Ann Marie.
8. First Stuffed Animal: A monkey I named George. My son has it now.
9. First Concert: Top Banana.
10. First Time Drunk: The first party of John’s I went to my Freshman year of high school.

NINE LASTS

1. Last Beverage: Diet Pepsi.
2. Last Vehicle Ride: Back to work from Wal-Mart at lunch.
3. Last Movie Seen: Memoirs of a Geisha, last night on DVD.
4. Last Phone Call: Corrie Ann, about when I’d be home.
5. Last CD Played: Mr. A-Z - Jason Mraz.
6. Last Bubble Bath: Err, I think the night I got back from Coaches College, or the day after that.
7. Last Time You Cried: Last night during the movie.
8. Last Kiss: This morning.
9. Last Concert attended: I think it was Shawn Colvin at the Coach House in San Diego.

EIGHT HAVE YOU EVERS

1. Have you ever dated one of your best friends? Yep.
2. Have you ever been arrested? Nope.
3. Have you ever skinny dipped? Yep.
4. Have you ever been on TV? Yes, a PSA about smoke alarms in high school.
5. Have you ever kissed someone and regretted it? Yep.
6. Have you ever had a sex dream about someone you know? Yeah, I think that’s pretty universal.
7. Have you ever been sent to the emergency room? Numerous times. Driven myself there too.
8. Have you ever been in a fist fight? Yep.

SEVEN THINGS YOU’RE WEARING

1. Dark blue sweater.
2. Blue jeans.
3. White T-shirt.
4. White boxer briefs.
5. Timex Indiglo Expedition wrist watch.
6. My work ID badge.
7. US Fencing lanyard.

SIX THINGS YOU’VE DONE TODAY

1. Driven to work.
2. Worked.
3. Bought Avatar: The Last Airbender Complete Book 1 boxed set.
4. Put Edmund Dantes into his new home on my desk.
5. More work.
6. This meme.

FIVE FAVORITE THINGS IN NO ORDER

1. Sport Fencing.
2. Almond Snickers.
3. Squish.
4. Friends.
5. Family.

FOUR PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO

1. Corrie Ann
2. Ann Marie
3. Keith
4. My mom

THREE CHOICES

1. Eat or Drink: Eat.
2. Blonde or Brunette: Both … at the same time … with a Redhead and an Asian girl. Wait. What was the question?
3. Pink or Black: Black.

TWO THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE

1. Visit Ireland.
2. Be done living.

ONE THING YOU REGRET

1. I try to live without those.

The more I see of Keith Olbermann, the more I like him. Here he comments on the President’s Rose Garden speech, last Friday, and his comment that it was “Unacceptable to think…”

The philosopher Voltaire once insisted to another author, “I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.” Since the nation’s birth, Mr. Bush, we have misquoted and even embellished that statement, but we have served ourselves well by subscribing to its essence. Oddly there are other words of Voltaire’s that are more pertinent, still, just now. “Think for yourselves,” he wrote, “And let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.” Apologize, sir, for even hinting at an America where a few have that privilege to think, and the rest of us wind up getting yelled at by the President. Anything else, Mr. Bush, is truly unacceptable.

Thanks, Cory, for pointing me towards this. Take the time, folks, Mr. Olbermann speaks volumes.

Looks like it’s Movie Link Monday, though this one is mostly a PSA as opposed to something fascinating or shocking. Still just as useful and entertaining, though. I mean, tomorrow is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. I though all of you might need a refresher course. Enjoy!

And, as if by some divine providence, to make up for the previously horrifying trailer, I get this one from Mr. Neil Gaiman. Guillermo Del Torro is a god. Seriously. I want to have his pudgy, bespectacled, bearded, Spanish babies. I seriously doubt a film like El Laberinto del Fauno will make it to theaters near me, but you can bet your sweet bippy that I’ll be the first in line for the DVD. Right after I get Mirrormask. Damn, I still need to buy Mirrormask. Crap! I should probably look up what bippies are too … and if there are salty or sour ones. I also think I really need to find the trade paperback for this, too:

I smell a trip to the comic book store in my future…

This trailer is actually sort of horrifying. Actually, there’s no actually about it; it is horrifying. The hypocrisy alone just hurts my teeth like nails on a chalkboard. The Neo-Con is winning, folks. I hope you’re all braced for the coming days of Finger Men and Black Lists.

Click Image for Larger Version

Sunday night at Barnes & Noble. After this we go to P.F. Chang’s. Yummo!

For the last couple of months, even before I went to Coaches College, I have been running. No, not from the law, sheesh; for exercise! My goal, starting at something like a fifteen minute mile, was to get down to a ten minute mile. Sure, it’s not like marathon speed, but then I’m not intent on running a marathon. I just wanted to be able to run three miles in a half hour. It’s been slow progress, with some setbacks due to pushing myself too hard (ie running every day, instead of giving my legs a break and running every other day), but I’ve been following this running plan and today I ran two miles in twenty minutes. That’s two ten minute miles one after the other; twenty minutes of running without stopping. It’s the half way point towards my goal.

It nearly killed me, I think. At one point, after I saw God, I think I actually felt a here-to-for unused portion of my lungs open up. Now, to all you runners out there, I’m sure that two miles in twenty minutes doesn’t sound like a big deal at all. To a guy who’s still about 40 lbs. over-weight and who quit smoking less than a year-and-a-half ago, though, it’s monumental.

When I was a Marine, I ran about a seven minute mile. I was in the best shape of my life, running every day with my unit, twenty years old, and invincible. Today, I sort of feel a little like that: fifteen years older and wiser and never you mind how much heavier, and I feel invincible. Bring me giants!

Ganked from savageseraph:

Way more guilty than innocent …

1. Dated outside your race? Guilty
2. Given a hickey? Guilty
3. Dated your best friend? Guilty
4. Sung in the shower? Guilty
5. Spit in someone’s drink? Innocent
6. Dumped someone? Guilty
7. Opened your Christmas presents early? Guilty
8. Lied to a friend? Guilty
9. Seen “The Goonies” more than 10 times? Innocent
10. Had more than five REAL bf/gfs? Guilty
11. Played a computer game for more than 5 hours? Guilty
12. Ran through the sprinklers? Guilty
13. Ate food that fell on the floor? Guilty
14. Went outside naked? Guilty
15. Flashed somebody? Guilty
16. Mooned somebody? Guilty
17. Been on stage? Guilty
18. Made someone cry? Guilty
19. Been in a parade? Guilty
20. Been in a school play? Guilty
21. Drank beer? Guilty
22. Gotten detention? Guilty
23. Broken into a house? Innocent
24. Gotten a tattoo? Guilty
25. Gotten piercings? Guilty
26. Cried so hard you threw up? Guilty
27. Gotten into a shouting match? Guilty
28. Been skinny dipping? Guilty
29. Spun yourself in circles to get dizzy on purpose? Guilty
30. Laughed so hard it hurt? Guilty
31. Tripped on your own feet? Guilty
32. Cried yourself to sleep? Guilty
33. Cried in public? Innocent
34. Thrown up in public? Guilty
35. Lied to your parents? Guilty
36. Skipped class? Guilty

A few days ago I made a post about fear and how it might be used to corrupt your common sense and subvert your reason. Thanks to my buddy Cory, I can now share with you a wonderful documentary that shows you the root of those fears; the seed of the false Destiny of the United States of America and the Islamic nations and the Myth of their religions.

• The Power of Nightmares (Part 1 of 3)
• The Power of Nightmares (Part 2 of 3)
• The Power of Nightmares (Part 3 of 3)

It’s three hours long, but it is so worth it. Watch it in pieces if you must, but take the time.

Gah, I live! The gods of the Internet have chosen to take my connection at home in the prime of its life and so I am, for all intents and purposes, incommunicado while in my house. The repair people won’t even be calling to schedule a time to come out and look at it for another two or three business days; ah the joys of living in the sticks.

Today, given the date, I would like to call your attention to a short, pithy yet profound article over at Wired. The picture bellow is culled from that very article, and I copy it here for posterity.

As we remember those who tragically lost their lives on this terrible day five years ago, let us not be blinded by fear. Let us not be lulled by our government and its propaganda machine today into thinking that we need to do the questionable things we are doing in order to be ‘safe‘. Let us not be conned into giving up one more freedom in the name of safety. I leave you with the words of V who, while a fictitious character, speaks poignantly on what sounds all too familiar. Read it as a warning.

Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine - the security, the familiar, the tranquility, repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, thereby those important events of the past usually associated with someone’s death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, a celebration of a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the annunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance, and depression. And where once you had the freedom to object, think, and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night I sought to end that silence. Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey, to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than four hundred years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you’ve seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot.

Do not be robbed of your common sense. Do not let your reason be corrupted. Mourn, certainly, but do no fear so much that you give away what our government claims to keep safe for you. Only you can keep it safe.

If you take nothing else away from this post I ask you to take these questions and ponder them. More than six times as many people have been killed by the flu in the United States as by Terrorism. Why then, do we not have a War on Disease? Why do we not have armies of people making sure that our flu vaccine shortages stop happening? Why do we not have units of doctors in every town making sure every one gets one?