June 2007

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Happy BIrthday in short order

Years on earth: 31.
Time I was born: No idea.
Number of nice notes, texts, emails: <25
Nicest moment: Cardinals world series win.
Number of times I threw up: <3
Things consumed (in order)
1 tiramisu.
1 glass of dewar's scotch.
1 pint of Stone IPA
1 pint of Stella Artois
1 glass of Booker's bourbon.
1 pint of Newcastle
1 Glass of Oban Irish whiskey
1 pint of Newcastle
1 Carne Asada Steak (15" by 7" huge- topped with green salsa) consumed in it's entirety.
1 Potato
4 Forkfulls of rice.
3 Forkfulls of green salad.
1 Piece of Birthday cake (ladyfingers, chocolate cream, and caramel from Omonia bakery)
1 paper cup full of goldfish pretzels
1 philly cheesesteak
1 Doctor Brown's Cherry Soda
1 Dos Equis Beer (consumed while watching bottom of the ninth inning)
1 Glass of Jack Daniels
1 pint of Sam Adams
1 piece of Birthday Cake
Age I was during last Cardinals world series win: 7
Age I was during last Cardinals World Series loss: 29.
Did they lose the world series on your birthday? Yes.
Were they swept? Yes.
Did you watch any of the games in their entirety? No.
Can all ESPN baseball analysts suck my balls?  Yes.

Thanks, everyone.  Especially deedee.  So nice.

Obit

Two deaths in two weeks.  Both inarguably tangential.  First one was a friend of a friend, who died at his own hand.  I was not shocked and felt tangible guilt at my own surprise.  My friend was not shocked either.  Not exactly.  Words run sort of dry here.
The other one surprised me.  An acquaintance from high school.  Two people from my high school class have died now and neither are one's I would have actively chosen.  And please believe me, there are a quantity of people I would have chosen.  A group of maybe five or seven folks who's obituary would bring an involuntary curl to my lips. 
I worked sixteen hours today on three hours sleep.  I wrote this about Mark today.

-As a child I feared death-
-Not the the severance so much
As the walk in to the foyer of the Sweet By and By-
-The swept marble, the music, the incomparable
Hors d'ourves-
-And no one to talk to
-Not really-
-Grant parents I didn't know, family members
Who observed me on earth scarcely observing
Their passing-
-Now awkwardly inquiring about how I left things-
-How will you fill your days without pain to avoid?-
-Nor am I able to throng at Hepburn or Moses
Or the Alton Giant-
-You were so great at Tiffany's-
--In Egypt-
---At being tall-
-Heaven and Hell are indistinguishable in the Sweet By and By
-Without tolerably familiar, unfamiliar company.
-We'll stake out a couple of wingback chairs-
Between the bar and the band.
-And smoke-
-Like Everybody does in Heaven.
-And this time you'll talk and I'll listen-
-About punk rock music and airplanes-
-Heredity and how we'll do things next time-
-So they tell me you had a son?---

Meet Saparmurat Niyazov, President for Life of Turkmenistan!

Presidential decreesTurkmen1

As President-for-Life of Turkmenistan, he has issued many unconventional decrees, such as:

  • In March 2004, dismissing 15,000 public health workers in wide-ranging cuts that particularly targeted nurses, midwives, school health visitors and orderlies[5]
  • In April 2004, urging young people not to get gold tooth caps or gold teeth, suggesting instead that they chew on bones to preserve their teeth[6]
  • In February 2005, ordering the closure of all hospitals outside Ashgabat, saying that if people were ill, they could come to the capital; also ordering the closure of all rural libraries of Turkmenistan, saying that ordinary Turkmen do not read books anyway[7]
  • In November 2005, ordering that physicians swear an oath to him instead of the Hippocratic Oath[6]
  • In December 2005, banning video games, stating that they were too violent for young Turkmen to play
  • In January 2006, Russian media reported he had ordered to stop paying pensions to 1/3 (more than 100,000) of the country's elderly people, cutting pensions to another 200,000, and ordering to pay the pensions received in the past two years back to the State. This has supposedly resulted in a huge number of deaths of old people, who may have had their pension (ranging from US$10 to US$90) as the only source of money. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan strongly denied [8] these allegations, accusing the media outlets of spreading "deliberately perverted" information on the issue.Turkmen2
  • In September 2006, the Telegraph reported that Turkmenbashi had issued a new pay scale for Turkmen teachers, which was to come into effect in October of that year. Until then, teachers who wished to avoid being put on the lowest grade of pay or even sacked, would have to write a newspaper article praising Turkmenbashi and have it published in one of the two newspapers of the country.
  • In October 2006 Turkmenistan will set free 10056 prisoners, including 253 foreign nationals from 11 countries on Night of Omnipotence. Niyazov said: "Let this humane act on the part of the state serve strengthening truly moral values of the Turkmen society. Let the entire world know that there has never been a place for evil and violence on the blessed Turkmen soil"[citation needed]

Blogacide!

This came in from superstar blogger k8 this morning:

To: kaferrig@aol.com
Subject: well, i think i just broke your blog
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 1:11 AM

all i did was post a comment... now suddenly it won't appear. ack.
meanwhile, you know adam kruvand?? weird.

So I posted on her blog:

Hey
Why did you destroy my blog?
I care about you.
K

--

Posted by Anonymous to rants & ramblings at 10/18/2006 10:48:10 AM

which merited the response


To:

kaferrig@aol.com
Subject: Re: [rants & ramblings] 10/18/2006 10:48:10 AM
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:20 AM

all i did was comment!  i'm a little freaked out, actually. you know us web types get a little twitchy when the inexplicable occurs...

So I'm posting all of this to try to kick start my blog again.
Wish me luck.

 

Sucks to Meisma, Sucks to Your Ass Mar

Distressing.  It's absolutely distressing to me that you can now find this blog by googling my name.  Because unlike diamonds, the internet is fucking forever.  I went to a wedding weekend with my lovely (and beautiful) (also talented) girlfriend and her family.  I was sick- the only way that I get sick these days- where your eyeballs feel like water balloons filled to the point of bursting with sand, and your throat is sore, and you feel like someone is doing Hitchcock style camera tricks with your perspective at all times. We were in church and I realized that someone is going to have to start putting together E-Funerals for people.  Because the internet is more than likely going to be around for a long time after we're dead.  (Unless people sign my petition to take the internet down so that we can finally get a little work done around here). 
E-Funerals.  Consider the prospect.  This actually came off of the notion of do you have to remove your MySpace page if you die- what happens to the pages of dead myspacers?  There must be a roster of them somewhere. 
All of whom will have loved ones who will want internet funerals. 
I'm not suggesting an actual service.  I'm talking about a page.  A series of pages.  A spread of Flash Driven, Hypertexted, sensitively planned, video embedded... I'm talking about $1599.99.  Less if you are recommended by one of our preferred funeral homes. 
People- and I know you're out there- you want to work from home- you want to put your artistic integrity and well-above-average taste to work.  Well this is our job of the future. 
What we offer

  • Four Gigagbytes of whatever best represents the departed.  For example, if you lost your high school son who happened to be an excellent basketball player, we can put up every highlight of his entire career, based on your videos.  Happy to do it for you.  Now he's hitting jumpshots long after the entire NBA is composed of Greeks and Africans.
  • Not one song.  Every song s/he enjoyed in her entire life.  His entire I-tunes playlist randomized for whenever someone logs in.  If you want certain members of the bereaved greeted by certain songs, just give us their IP address. 

Other people might give a one song photo montage, we will take every photo every taken of the deceased and create six different photo montages-

  1. the "Tender" A series of baby and childhood pictures done to Unforgettable by Nat King Cole
  2. The "Renegade" The departed young and angry photos, including bad hair cuts and bodily injuries which is done to Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf
  3. The "Spiritual" Pictures of the recently deceased outdoors, smiling strangely, or overexposed all of which is done to "What if God is One of Us" by Joan Osbourne.
  4. The "Gangsta" Photos which involve people of color or strongly urban themes all accompanied by Ice Cube's "Nothin' but a G Thang"
  5. (optional) The "Til Death Do Us Part" Photos of the beloved with their special someone.  This is all accompanied by either "I can't Help Falling In Love with You" by Elvis or "I will Always Love You" by the Cure (Age appropriate).
  6. The "Braggin' Board"  A series of photos that celebrate accomplishments or photos of the departed with celebrities accompanied by Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It"

Of course that's not all.  We have a sign in book which we will allow guests to sign in and leave testimonials for the bereaved which we guarantee to check ever week for vandalism.  We also pledge that each week there will be at least one new signature in the book, even if it has to be staff generated so that you will know that your beloved has not been forgotten.

And of course we offer special services.  Obviously these are more expensive.

Live web cam feeds from the grave site.  For a one time fee of four hundred dollars and then fifty dollars a month after that we will create install a web cam at the foot of the grave that looks up directly at the marker and allows you a moment alone with the loved one.  Where ever you are.
Admittedly expensive, but so much cheaper than travelling.

If you allow us fifteen minutes alone with the body at the wake, we can utilize our green screen technology and create all new adventures for the deceased.  This is of course a subscription service- costing 200 dollars a month, but each month you will receive in your inbox an entirely new adventure featuring the peacefully resting deceased.  Some favorites have included, "Tossed on the Ocean" or "My Trip to Egypt."

There are a couple of you reading this that are feeling me here.  You know that though this all seems wrong, it gets at something that will undoubtedly be much much bigger than Eggo waffles.  Eggo waffles began by someone simply saying- these freezers aren't going anywhere, we should create waffles that can utilize their properties of preservation.  Same goes here.  The internet is something we are now stuck with. 
K8.  Blake.  You arty people with computer skills- let's do this.  We could start with mine.  We could create a really loving memory of me, an outstanding web page that allows me to mist up over my dead self, and then we begin to hunt up some business.
Now that is of course, the less than savory part of our business because really what we would be doing would be combing through the obits for college grads who died before they hit 38.  That's our chief market.  Cut off in their prime.  Preferably without wives or children, because we want people who's parents really worry that they are going to go more or less unmourned in this world.  This would be my job.  You give me the product, I drum up the business, and in two years we sell the whole works and never work again in our lives.
Who's in?

Childhood Favorites

Groverthis one has got to be my all time favorite children's book.  I didn't include Dr. Seuss books because I feel like any children's books that are given to college grads don't really count.  This book is called "The Monster at the End of this Book". Click the link if you want to read it.  I think it deals with feels of powerlessness, and at really touches on my apoplexy at the madness of human behavior.  Copyright 1971.
Harry_the_dirty_dog_1

"Harry was a white dog with black spots who liked everything, except getting a bath."
If you are not familiar with the story of Harry the Dirty Dog, I think you're missing out.  Though I have no idea what the ultimate moral of Harry the Dirty Dog is I know that I totally dug this story.  I also love dogs.  I was also one of the filthiest children in history.  But check out the artwork- just a lovely old story and some seriously militant brainwashing in the dogs are better than cats pathology that I adopted as a child.
Copyright 1956.


Are_you_my_mother_1
HOLY SHIT.  It is hard to imagine a scarier children's book than this next title.  Again, the details are obviously fuzzy, but Are You My Mother is about a bird who falls out of his nest and goes from animal to animal desperately pleading "ARE YOU MY MOTHER????" Seriously, honestly, from the bottom of my heart, I can't imagine a more frightening scenario than the one presented by this book.  When I was four years old, I got lost at hillbilly theme park SILVER DOLLAR CITY.  I was seperated from my family for four hours and I could be heard to mutter "Are you ...my mother?"
Copyright 1960.

Mike_mulligan This book was also a favorite.  (Does anyone else remember only having like five books to choose from as a child?  I think there were five books- but then recently I was enjoying bedtime at my older brother's house and there was a bookshelf full of books, only five of which had shown any signs of wear at all- the others may never have been opened.  So perhaps I had more books than I was willing to read- but the favorites list here is pretty complete.)  The notion of having a friendly steam shovel, a fucking steam shovel as your friend, too cool as little boy.  I still remember a play ground which had a shovel that you could sit on and operate with levers.  That was so bad ass that it had a fifteen minute line you had to wait in.  But to have one that would be your friend?  fuggetaboutit.  Copyright 1939.  This means my parents more than likely read this book and passed it on to us.  Now it is a video game.  My birthday's coming up.  Don't feel weird about sending it along.
Ping PING.  Ping was a duck.  I have reason to believe he was a Chinese duck. I know that there was a certain fetishization about BDSM, the last duck on to the chinese boat would receive a slap across the ass.  And the story is how insolent Ping flouts his master's rules and has an adventure, becomes seperated from his unit, and courts the ass reddening.  For a nerdy allegorical overview of this book and it's relationship to some nerdy computer thing, click here.  I couldn't read it, but I know that some of my readers get paid good money to be able to grin at things like this.  This book is copyright 1931.  So its very likely that my parents read this as well. 

Any of you guys read these?  Which ones did you like?