03/31/03

This is the most brilliant and inspired weblog I've ever read.

03/29/03

Why I love the Internet #6,437: the "Trying to Help" piece quoted below that has been attributed to Dennis Miller is, in fact, no more than a simple urban legend. And oh yes, I confess, I was totally fooled too.

03/28/03

A good friend of mine pointed me to this excellent, comical, and astute piece by Dennis Miller about the current world situation in which we find ourselves. Oh, and remember Liberals, it is meant to be FUNNY.

Trying to Help - by Dennis Miller

All the rhetoric on whether or not we should go to war against Iraq has got my little brain spinning like a top. I enjoy reading opinions from both sides, but I've detected a hint of confusion from some of you. Maybe this can help.

As I was reading the paper recently, I was reminded of the best advice anyone ever gave me. He told me about the "KISS" method ("Keep It Simple, Stupid!"). So with this as a theme, I'd like to apply this theory for those who don't quite get it. My hope is that we can simplify things and recognize a few important facts.

Here are ten things to consider when voicing an opinion on this important issue:

(1) Between President Bush and Saddam Hussein... Hussein is the bad guy.

(2) If you have faith in the United Nations to do the right things, keep this in mind: the UN has Libya heading the Committee on Human Rights and Iraq heading the Global Disarmament Committee. Do your own math here.

(3) If you use a Google or Yahoo! search and type in "French Military Victories," don't be surprised if your computer panics at its inability to respond to your inquiry.

(4) If your only anti-war slogan is "No War For Oil," hire a pit bull lawyer and sue your school district for having allowed you to slip through the cracks and robbing you of the minimum education that any non-troglodyte deserves

(5) You can take this one to the bank: Saddam and bin Laden will NOT seek UN approval before they try to kill us.

(6) Despite common belief among some, Martin Sheen is NOT the President. He only plays one on TV.

(7) If you are anti war and even an outright "America Basher", to bin Laden you are still an "infidel" whom he wants dead.

(8) Be careful: if you believe in a "vast right-wing conspiracy," but not in the danger that Hussein poses, the only job you may be able to get is as an Ivy League college professor.

(9) Even multiculturalists who try to browbeat us into believing that all cultures are equally deserving of respect have trouble explaining the past 500 years of Islam.

(10) Whether you are for or against military action, our young men and women overseas are fighting to defend our right to speak out on these issues. They deserve our unreserved support.

03/24/03

OK, this is just soooooooooo wrong.

03/23/03

I'd never usually miss The Oscars, but this year I'm quite happy to say a big "fuck you" to the Academy. With the current world situation the last thing I want to see is some sycophantic celebrity wanking on about how "war is bad, m'kay". I'm looking forward to reading tomorrow how a bunch of selfish actors got up and talked about how the world is in such shitty shape, then went off to the post-Oscar parties to celebrate their own ego-trips.

No, shame on YOU Michael Moore. There are two reasons why Bowling for Columbine didn't deserve to win the best documentary Oscar. Here's one by filmmaker David T. Hardy, and here's the other from the Wall Street Journal.

03/20/03

My rant for the day: Protesting against the War in Iraq is all well and good if that's what floats your boat (bit late now anyway - get real people, it started yesterday), but today's anti-war protests in San Francisco have been an absolute fucking disgrace, to be perfectly frank. Going onto the streets and having your say is fine, nothing wrong with that, but blocking public transport, freeway off-ramps, and regular traffic when ordinary, civilized, decent, hard-working people are trying to get to work so they can earn a living in this disgustingly expensive area is totally abhorrent behavior. To me, it just sums up the worst excesses of the trendy liberal majority in San Francisco. Protest the war - fine - just remember there's a lot of other people out there who have to share the city and get on with their lives.

03/18/03

Kudos to my friend Bob for finally unleashing The Truck Driver's Gear Change Hall of Shame onto an unsuspecting world. What's it all about? Well, let's just say it musically documents the world's most unnecessary key changes, and is makes for highly entertaining reading/listening.

03/17/03

Wow. Life imitates The Onion (from January 2001).

03/15/03

I've made a page for my photos from my recent trip to London. Some of the pictures didn't come out too bad. There's the statutory tube escalator and platform shots of course - it's the law: if in London with Lomo-in-hand, you MUST shoot on the Underground. But in the end, no other photo sums up life in London than this one frankly. And here's some evidence that not everything I shoot is from the hip. I should be posting a few more photos soon I hope.

I think I've been placing too much emphasis on Lucky film. The last few rolls I've run through my Lomo (including all the ones in London) have been with regular Fuji 100, and I've been more than happy with the quality and results, especially when coupled with Long's processing as they use FujiFilm machines in their labs.

03/14/03

Today I have been inspired by some incredibly impressive photojournalistic work by Erik Refner.

03/12/03

Even the Butcher of Baghdad needs to vent.

03/11/03

I finally have my car back. It's nice and clean, and everything's been fixed, but being without my trusty ZX3 for a few weeks really made me realize that I rely on it way too much. Still, I'll probably take a long winding drive through the Bay Area hills this weekend anyway.

03/07/03

Strange how this could be read in a number of different ways...

Mannequins still always freak me out.

I'm obsessed with bears lately.

Yes, but is it art?

03/06/03

Today I returned back home from my trip to London. The United Airlines gate staff at Heathrow got me to take off my sneakers just in case I was shoe bomber #2, and then the cops brought around dogs to sniff everyone's hand luggage. I felt a little safer flying this time round than I probably ever have before, and both plane journeys were fairly empty passenger-wise.

I enjoyed being back in London, but I was surprised that it took me a few days to really settle there... being my true home town I expected to fall straight back into things, but I felt a little out-of-sorts at first because it has been almost two years since I've been back. But I had fun hanging out with my friends again, going to East End pubs, taking in a bit of culture, watching good old British telly with my folks, eating pie and mash, and generally trying to relax as much as possible. I even took a few photos.