Sunday, 27 March 2005
Culture of Life
A little perspective:
Posted by flow Frazao on March 27, 2005 at 07:33 PM in America | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Saturday, 26 March 2005
Going, Going...
We got our plane tickets yesterday! We'll be leaving Melbourne and flying into Bangkok on April 14, where we'll spend a few days organizing an apartment for the month of May (while we take the CELTA course). When we get that sorted we'll take off for a tropical island somewhere and relax for a few weeks. Then it's Bangkok until the end of May.
After the course we'll travel around Southeast Asia for about six weeks. Like anywhere else, the region is in a state of constant change. When I was there in 2002 you could walk down the streets of major Laotian cities and people would come running out of their houses to check out the white guy. That's probably not the case now, but I'm sure there are still pockets where tourists are the exception rather than the norm. Obviously, this is where we want to be.
We'll leave SE Asia on July 10 and fly to Osaka, Japan where we'll hang out for a week before going to LA for my family reunion in Laguna Beach. After that I have no idea where we'll go, and I wouldn't want it any other way.
The past few months in Australia have been important. Spending time with Fiona's family has shown me a part of my wife that I would otherwise have never understood, and our relationship is deeper and stronger because of it. But it's definitely time to move on. For me, the worst thing in the world is stagnation. Too much time in one place with nothing to do makes Jeremy a dull boy.
I can't wait to be travelling again. There is no way to describe the feeling of standing in a marketplace and being attacked by a barrage of foreign sounds, colors, and people. It inspires a level of existence that causes every molecule of your body vibrate with excitement, and now that I've felt it plain old Brownian motion simply will not do. I need the full-on rush that comes with sitting on an overcrowded bus with somebody's chicken squawking between your legs as you go careening across the countryside.
I can just smell it now...
Posted by flow Frazao on March 26, 2005 at 08:30 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Schapelle Corby - Can I Get A Witness?
 |
After weeks of navigating a complex terrain of international treaties and agreements, the Indonesian and Australian government appear to have worked out a way to allow the prisoner to speak on Corby's behalf:
A request is expected to be made, maybe when Corby's trial resumes in Bali today. If the trial is adjourned for another week, Victorian police have indicated they could escort the prisoner to Indonesia.
The prisoner will claim Corby was the unwitting victim of an interstate marijuana smuggling ring. Her lawyers say the evidence is crucial to her defence.
If found guilty of smuggling four kilograms of cannabis into Bali's Denpasar airport last October, the 27-year-old beauty therapist could face the death penalty.
This case is garnering a lot of attention in Australia. Travelling abroad is an integral part of this culture, and people are terrified to think that this young girl could easily have been their daughter, sister, or friend. Imagine getting off a plane in a foreign country and opening your luggage in front of the customs officer only to find a huge bag of drugs. What a nightmare.
Another point that has people horrified at Corby's plight is the fact that she faces the death penalty. The vast majority of Australians consider it to be a barbaric and inhuman practice. I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with Aussies who are amazed that the US still kills it's prisoners. They react to capital punishment the way Americans might react to, say, female circumsicion.
The general consensus, therefore, seems to be that the Indonesian judicial system should be allowed to take it's course. Hopefully Corby will be found not guilty in the end and everything will be OK. However, should the courts sentence her to death there will be massive outrage, especially after the incredible amount of foreign aid Australia has sent to Indonesia (tsunami, Bali bombing, etc.)
Posted by flow Frazao on March 26, 2005 at 07:09 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 24 March 2005
A Lesson In Smoove-ology
1976: I am born at around 8:30 AM on August 9th, 1976. Other 20th century notable events recorded on this day:
- 1945 - An atomic bomb nicknamed "Fat Man", with an energy of 22,000 tons of TNT, is dropped on the city of Nagasaki, Japan at 11:02 AM (local time). An estimated 60,000-80,000 are killed and more than 60,000 are injured.
- 1963 - Whitney Houston is born.
- 1969 - Members of a cult led by Charles Manson murder five people.
- 1974 - Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office.
- 1995 - Jerry Garcia dies.
1977: A year of growth and introspection.
1978: I learn to read.
1979: In the coed nursery school bathroom a girl walks up behind me and asks how come I can stand up when I pee. She tries it. Hilarity ensues.
1980: My brother is born. My parents ask me what his name should be and for some reason I say "Matthew". It sticks.
1981: I start Kindergarten and my teacher, Mrs. Vince, has a massive heart attack and dies right in front of me. Being five, I start laughing as soon as she hits the ground. I now recognize this as my introduction to the joys of schadenfreude.
1982: Michael Jackson moonwalks into my life. Everything else pales in comparison.
1983: I stop doing work in second grade. Instead I sit at my desk and space out for weeks. Ms. Pomeranz moves me into the corner and puts an enormous cardboard box around me, effectively making me The Dunce. Four years later the same thing happens to my brother.
1984: I am cast as the Mayor of the Munchkin City in the class play.
1985: Mrs. Blachinski tells me I need to get a haircut because I look like a girl. Michelle Fradette, who I have a massive crush on, overhears and I go home to cry from embarrassment.
1986: Legend of Zelda is the best game ever.
1987: Miraculously, Michelle Fradette becomes my girlfriend. We go on a date (with my parents and brother) to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Afterwards we go to Friendly’s for ice cream and I sing “Great Green Globs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts” to her as she scoops out the final spoonfuls of hot fudge. Michelle spends the next 10 minutes throwing up in the bushes outside while my Mom rubs her back. She goes home to cry from embarrassment.
1988: I go to middle school and become a geek.
1989: I grow a mullet and become a bigger geek.
1990: During the lunch period of my first day of high school, a senior “follies” me and makes me pick my nose and eat it in front of a table full of the most popular senior girls. I tell myself things can only get better from here.
1991: I get a signed permission slip from my Mom to participate in a walk-out in protest of the Gulf War.
1992: I get a real girlfriend and get laid. I also steal a universal remote control and get arrested.
1993: “Are you going to college?”
"I don’t know. I guess."
“You’re going to college.”
“OK.”
1994: I get accepted to Hofstra University in January and spend the rest of my high school career cutting class with one of the hottest girls in school. She shows me the bruises where her boyfriend hits her and I tell her she deserves better. She doesn’t believe me.
1995: The lost year.
1996: I wake up to find myself on triple probation with the University for a wide variety of offences. Surprisingly, I also discover that I am really good with computers. Somehow they just make sense to me. Philosophy remains my favourite subject, but I’m not fucked up enough to think I’ll be able to pay off a $20,000 loan with a philosophy degree. I declare a major in Computer Science and buy a bong.
1997: I party every night and pass every class. Life is great.
1998: Fuck New Jersey.
1999: I go to DC to work with a good friend who owns a software company. I learn the meaning of “right place, right time”.
2000: After earning almost $80,000 I pay my taxes to find less than $300 in my checking account. I wonder where all my money went, and then I look at my DVD collection: Independence Day and Dave Matthews Live? I decide to make some changes.
2001: I eat tuna out of the can every day for a year and quit my job. I go to Portugal for the first time with my family, walk across Spain, get molested by a Buddhist monk, and meet my future wife on a tropical island in Thailand. I am weightless.
2002: I return home after 10 months to learn my Mom has been diagnosed with MS. I get married and do 1000 push-ups in under an hour.
2003: I discover fresh garlic. I always used to use the jarred stuff or that powdered crap, but neither compares to the real deal. The only thing that’s kind of a drag is peeling the individual cloves. I make a mental note to design a garlic clove extraction contraption and win a Nobel Prize.
2004: After paying off my student loans, Fiona and I quit our shitty desk jobs and take off.
2005: In progress.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 24, 2005 at 10:07 PM in Me | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I Don't Know English
Fiona and I have decided to take a CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) certification course in Bangkok. It's a monthlong class and we'll be living in Siam Square - right in the middle of the city - for the duration.
The certification itself is administered by The University of Cambridge, which externally assesses each course. What's more, all successful graduates receive a certificate issued by Cambridge so I will soon be a Cambridge alumni. I will still treat you all the same when I return home, but I will secretly think of you as my intellectual inferiors.
That is, of course, assuming I graduate. Judging by the application test, that is not a safe assumption. Due to said test, I have recently come to the realization that I do not know English. And neither, I suspect, do you.
For example, can you tell me what's wrong with the following sentence? And, saying "it's the wrong verb tense" is not enough. Why is it the wrong verb tense and what should it be?
The answer is that the sentence should be “I understand spoken Thai…” The error is that a non-continuous verb is being used in the present continuous tense.
After about 30 minutes of internet research, I finally figured out that with most verbs this would not be a problem. For instance, it is correct to say both “I speak Thai” and “I am speaking Thai”. Continuous verbs (of which “to speak” is one) are usually physical actions which you can see somebody doing. “I am speaking” is in what is known as the continuous tense and it refers to an ongoing action you can see me doing.
However, “to understand” is what is known as a “non-continuous verb”. These verbs are usually things you cannot see somebody doing. Some examples are “to want”, “to love”, “to cost”, “to fear”. Apparently, we use the present tense to describe current conditions for “to understand” because non-continuous verbs cannot be used in the present continuous tense.
News to me.
The test was filled with this stuff. What's the difference between slim and thin? Gone/been? How about many/much/a lot? Why can't you say "My cousin said me the food is good in Bangkok?"
I never really gave it much thought, but English is a really fucked up language. Sentences like "I bought a 32 cent stamp and sent the letter in a scented envelope" are the naked human pyramids of verbal communication. How anyone can learn English as a second language is beyond me. Not to mention teaching it. How that's even possible I'm curious to find out.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 24, 2005 at 07:27 PM in TEFL | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Jurassic Park IV: The Prequel
From the Life Will Find A Way Department:
Posted by flow Frazao on March 24, 2005 at 06:40 PM in Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, 22 March 2005
Yahoo! News - Teen Arrested for Taking Acropolis Marble
I didn't know you could get arrested for this:
I wonder how many zillions of people have taken tiny pieces of the Acropolis with them when they left. I'm not proud of it, but I couldn't resist the temptation. I'm usually pretty conscientious about that sort of thing, but there's something about that place that causes the urge to be especially strong.
It sucks to be made an example of, and I'm no Oracle but I predict that girl is going to have one shitty vacation.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 22, 2005 at 02:13 PM in World News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, 21 March 2005
Looking Forward
The airshow is over. I'm glad I did it - I learned a lot about planes and more importantly I learned that I absolutely do NOT want to be a professional photographer. Watching those clowns crowd together at the edge of the media pit elbowing each other out of the way was pathetic. I can't imagine there's much joy left in photography when you have to scratch and claw just to get a shot of an F-16.
Fiona's also done with work, so we're trying to figure out exactly what our next move will be. We're looking at leaving Geelong around the 13th of April or so and heading up to Sydney for a week. After that it's on to Southeast Asia where we'll take a TEFL certification class in Phuket, Thailand. That'll give us around two and a half months in SE Asia before we have to be in LA for my family reunion in July.
Originally I was planning on doing a dive at the Great Barrier Reef, but I don't think it's going to happen this time around. One reason is that it would wind up costing around $1000 when you factor in plane fare up to Cairns and back, and another is that I don't think I'd appreciate it properly. The truth is, I've been in Australia for almost four months now and I'm ready to leave. If I'm going to do something like dive the greatest reef in the world, I want to be able to appreciate it fully - I don't want to spend my time itching to get it over with.
We're going to buy our plane tickets today, so in a few hours I'll have a much better idea of what's going on. It's pretty exciting - today we'll make a decision that will affect the next four months (at least). Will we fly into Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, or somewhere else? Exciting stuff.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 21, 2005 at 05:00 PM in Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Those Were The Days
Posted by flow Frazao on March 21, 2005 at 04:45 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Saturday, 19 March 2005
All Patients on Life Support Are Equal
Some Are Less Equal Than Others
Not to mention a different color:
Houston Chronicle
Baby dies after hospital removes breathing tube
March 16, 2005
Of course, being born in Texas didn't help, either:
(Via Wild Sects and No More Mister Nice Blog)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
ABC News
DeLay Says He's Not Giving Up Schiavo Fight
March 19, 2005
Entire post stolen from Billmon.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 19, 2005 at 05:14 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Friday, 18 March 2005
I Read The News Today (Oh Boy)
- Turns out one of Colonel Sanders' secret herbs and spices is a cancer-causing shoe polish dye.
- George Lucas admits Star Wars Episode III is "Titanic In Space". Thanks a lot for ruining one of the best parts of my childhood, asshole.
- Scientists create black hole in lab. What could possibly go wrong?
Posted by flow Frazao on March 18, 2005 at 02:55 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 17 March 2005
The Schapelle Corby Saga
The headlines today - New Evidence Makes Corby Cry:
"I can't even talk. I feel numb," beauty therapy student Schapelle Corby said from a Denpasar cell, tears streaming down her face.
But Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty yesterday said the new evidence was "hearsay on hearsay".
The new evidence was produced on Wednesday by Gold Coast businessman Ron Bakir, who said that a prisoner in a Brisbane jail had told her lawyers in a sworn statement that he overheard a conversation between other prisoners about drugs having been mistakenly planted in Corby's bag."
On the evening news last night were numerous shots of the 27 year old girl sitting in front of a judge with tears streaming down her face. All I can think about when I see her is "holy shit that could be Fiona."
Corby's lawyers have requested a one-week adjournment so they can bring the prisoner from Australia to testify on Corby's behalf. The judge, however, has yet to decide whether he will even admit the evidence.
One thing that's interesting about this case is the total lack of support Corby has gotten from the Australian government. Her defence team is being funded by a guy named Ron Bakir, who founded the "Mad Ron's" chain of mobile phone stores 10 years ago. I hate to think what would've happened to her if this guy hadn't stepped up to the plate.
BTW - "beauty therapist" is Australian for somebody who works in a day spa. See also "waste management artisan" (garbageman), "lipid submergement technician" (fry cooker), and "software engineer" (web surfer).
Posted by flow Frazao on March 17, 2005 at 07:31 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (269) | TrackBack
Avalon Airshow
A couple shots from today's airshow:
An F-111 taking off. The thrust on this airplane is equal to twice the power of the entire starting lineup of the Indianapolis 500. It almost makes you shit your pants (but not quite).
The logo of the New Zealand Air Force. It is quite possibly the least intimidating insignia known to man. This may be part of the reason why New Zealand has yet to conquer Australia.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 17, 2005 at 07:11 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Crunch Time
Well, ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we're finally there:
Oil is at a record high, and we're currently pumping it out of the ground as fast as possible. Since demand for it continues to increase, then it's pretty safe to assume that prices will rise steadily as well.
Which, as Atrios points out, is not to say we're running out of oil. We're not. There's plenty of that sweet sweet black gold to keep up sated for years. However, it does mean that we may have reached a point where the market will seek other means to fill the demand for energy. As crude prices increase, alternative energy will appear more and more attractive.
Remember - it wasn't a bunch of laws or a worldwide shortage of ponies that made the horsedrawn carriage obsolete. It was simple market forces (which also explain the 17 percent decrease in US Hummer sales in 2004).
Posted by flow Frazao on March 17, 2005 at 06:32 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Say It Loud (I'm Mac and I'm Proud)
I'm pleased to announce that a Google search for "fuck windows" lists this post as number 1 out of 1,140,000.
Could I be any more awesome? I submit that I could not.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 17, 2005 at 02:24 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 16 March 2005
Australian Media
The first time I came to Australia was December 2002. I was here for about six weeks, and it was an interesting time (for me at least) because I was able to compare and contrast the Aussie media with the American media.
At the time, the American media was in full-on "Gulf War Part Deux" mode. Every time you turned on the television you were reminded that war was imminent. When I came to Australia, however, it was a different story. The news programs here were more oriented more toward information and less toward hysterically babbling talking heads. It was a welcome change of pace.
However, in the past two years it seems that the Australian media has undgergone a lot of change. They seem to have adopted the American methodology of having three stories in heavy rotation supplemented by a smattering of "infotainment" news (Michael Jackson, the Oscars, etc).
True to form, there are currently three stories which are dominating every news outlet. One, the issue of pedophilia, has been a constant since my arrival in December 2004. Australia is currently VERY concerned with child molesters; so much so that they've taken to passing laws forbidding people from taking pictures of children at the beach. Parents are being chastised by lifeguards for taking pictures of their own children playing in the water. It's crazy, but that's what media-fueled hysteria does to people, I guess.
The second is Prince Charles' wedding/Prince of Denmark wedding. This is now tapering off, and I suspect it will be replaced within the next week or so.
The third story has been building for the past 6 months or so. It involves a 27 year old woman named Schapelle Corby who was accused of attempting to smuggle 4.1 kg of marijuana into Densapar, Bali last October:
Shocked, at times tearful, Corby said she had never seen the marijuana before. She insisted it must have been inserted in her luggage during transit. So any video images showing the boogie board bag's size and shape while it was in Corby's care were important. Her defence lawyers asked for them. But the closed circuit TV at the Brisbane Qantas check-in was experiencing problems and any images recorded that morning were wiped 25 days later.
If convicted, Corby will face the death penalty.
There are more than a few holes in the Indonesian prosecutor's case. Why would anyone risk a death sentence smuggling marijuana from Australia to Bali, where it will sell for much less than they could get in Australia? This is not only the biggest marijuana importation into Bali intercepted by customs. It is the only one.
 Schapelle Leigh Corby with her lawyer |
Corby contends that she is an innocent victim of an Australian smuggling ring. She believes that the drugs were placed in her luggage by baggage handlers in Brisbane and were meant to be removed when her bags were transferred in Sydney. For some reason that didn't happen and she was left holding the bag (literally) when she arrived in Denpasar.
This case has generated an outpouring of public sympathy in Australia. Because travelling is such an integral part of Aussie culture, people are quick to recognize that what is happining to Corby could easily happen to anyone.
Corby goes before a tribunal of judges today with what the defence claims is new evidence that could potentially clear her name. I'll keep you posted.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 16, 2005 at 04:03 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Anyone For Irony?
A top Catholic Cardinal had this to say about best-selling book The DaVinci Code:
Posted by flow Frazao on March 16, 2005 at 06:05 AM in Religion | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Avalon Airshow
For the past three months, Fiona has been working for Airshows Down Under. She got the job through a temp agency, and somehow she's managed to snag me a sweet volunteer position. I'm one of the two official Media Escorts for the Avalon Airshow. Basically, my job is to stand beside the photographer's circle and ensure that only people with Media passes enter the inner sanctum, which is literally right next to the runway.
Apparently, this is the biggest airshow in the southern hemisphere. They've got all kinds of planes - F-15s, F-16s, F18s, F-111s, C-17s, Blackhawks, and so on, and when those jets take off it's a hell of a thing. When the planes go hurtling down the runway you can feel their power. It's beyond loud - the force practically liquifies your bowels. It really appeals to the 9 year old boy in me.
I read an article a few days ago that was talking about the ecological effect of the airshow. The scientists (or whoever did the study) was surprised to find that the noise wasn't much of a problem. The biggest impact the planes have made is not from the roar of the engines, but from the intimidating shape of the planes.
It seems that all types of animals from wombats to eagles recognize the hawklike appearance of the planes as a dire threat. I believe it. When those fighter jets turn in toward the crowd they cut a figure that is scary as hell. It's almost like your brain responds on a reptilian level and your only thought is "That thing is about to fuck me up."
Of course, this isn't the Baghdad Airshow. Only the bogans will be getting fucked up, and it'll be by VB and not the Mother Of All Bombs (BTW - nobody drinks Foster's here).
From what I can tell airshows are all about triple rolls and the easy-looking-but-supposedly-very-difficult Four Point Turn. At least, that's what the announcers are always yammering on about. But between you and I it's nothing more than an excuse for grown up men to play with grown up GI Joe toys. They've got everything - tanks, planes, helicopters - even an ill-timed "Wall of Fire" that has yet to go off within five minutes of when it's supposed to. Yesterday it went off in the middle of a glider's flight. The announcer was like "And now, ladies and gentlemen, witness the glorious spectacle of silent flight." Two minutes later 40 massive explosions went off and sent up a 1,000 foot wall of flame.
At any rate, it gets me out of the house and I get to go check out some stuff I've never seen before. Tomorrow is the last trade day before the airshow is open to the public, so I'm sure things will get much more interesting when the Australian Nascar contingency comes out to play.
The awesome spectacle of silent flight.
(click below for a complete list of planes in the show)
MILITARY
AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE
RAAF
FA-18 Hornet 3
Hawk 3
F-111 3
PC9-A 2
AP3-C 2
C-130J 2
Caribou 2
Roulettes 6?
Sopwith Pup 1
Winjeel 1?
CT-4A 1
RAN
Seasprite 2
Sea King 1
Seahawk 2
Squirrel 3
ARMY
Bell 206B-1 4
UH-1 Iroquois 2
UH 70-A Blackhawk 4
CH-47 Chinook 2
ARH Tiger 1
---------------------------------------------
ROYAL AIR FORCE
Nimrod 1
------------------------------------------------
ROYAL NEW ZEALAND AIR FORCE
Boeing 757 1
-----------------------------------------------
REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE AIR FORCE
Super Puma 2
---------------------------------------------------
US MILITARY
F-15 3
F-16 3
C17A 1
KC-10 1
KC-135 1
B-52 2?
----------------------------------------------------------------
CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT
Aerochutes 4
Sea Fury 1
Grumman Avenger 1
Boomerang 1
Curtiss J4 Jenny 1
DC-3 2?
DH Drover 1
Edge 540 1
Edge Airtourer 160 1
Wilga 1
Super Constellation 1
Catalina 1
C-47 1
P-40 Kittyhawk 1
Wirraway 1
Mustang 3
Nieuport 1
Airvans 5?
Pitts S1S 1
Beech Debonair 1
Harvards 4
(Southern Knights)
Storch 1
DH 82 Tiger Moths 3
US PAID PERFORMERS
Powered hang glider
Dan Buchanan
Quicksilver MXL11 Ultralight
Bob Essell & daughter wing walking
Self-launching sailplane
Steve Coan
Stearman
Eddie Andreini & wing walker
Posted by flow Frazao on March 16, 2005 at 05:49 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Is This A Problem In Australia?
I just saw a commercial on TV about torturing cats. A firefighter in full uniform was sitting in front of a fire truck holding a cat. He said something along the lines of:
He's right kids. It's those yappy little dogs that need torturing. Now get to it.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 16, 2005 at 05:05 AM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 10 March 2005
I Waste Time So You Don't Have To
- 10x10 / 100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time / by Jonathan J. Harris.
10x10™ ('ten by ten') is an interactive exploration of the words and pictures that define the time. The result is an often moving, sometimes shocking, occasionally frivolous, but always fitting snapshot of our world. Every hour, 10x10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time. Over the course of days, months, and years, 10x10 leaves a trail of these hourly statements which, stitched together side by side, form a continuous patchwork tapestry of human life.
- The most brilliant web comic ever invented. The best part is that there's something to offend everyone, so laff it up you pansyassed liberal bitches.
Oh, and if there are any self-important software engineering types reading this then go read Q.A. Confidential. This guy knows exactly what's up with the Revolutionary Tech Industry of Tomorrowland.
- Here's a gallery of albinos.
- And finally, this is my contribution to humanity for today - a link to VolunteerMatch.com:
VolunteerMatch can connect your good intentions with nonprofit organizations that can use your help. Civic, social, educational, governmental, religious, and political groups list their needs on the site to create a vast database of volunteering activities around the U.S. Just enter your ZIP code to search for volunteer opportunities in your neighborhood. You can sort the results by date, distance, duration, or newness to find the right activity for you.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 10, 2005 at 05:45 AM in Weird Earls | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
This Is So Insane I Can't Even Think Of A Caption
Carey McWilliams, right, who is legally blind, and his wife, Tori, are photographed at their home in Fargo, N.D., Friday, Feb. 25, 2005, in front of the target he used to pass his weapons test. (AP Photo/Alyssa Hurst).
Posted by flow Frazao on March 10, 2005 at 01:50 AM in Photos | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 09 March 2005
Ultima Ratio Regum
Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.
"I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said.
Unidentified White House official
Quoted by Ron Suskind in the New York Times Magazine
October 17, 2004
Posted by flow Frazao on March 9, 2005 at 03:08 PM in Iraq | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
And Now A Picture of Mike Tyson Eating
thanks to matt for the tip
Posted by flow Frazao on March 9, 2005 at 03:03 PM in Photos | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, 08 March 2005
A Royal Visit
The big news in Australia for the past week or so has been the visit from the Royal Family. Being an American I don't give a crap about these things, but this particular visit has been pretty funny.
 Mary & Fredrick |
Who cares about the Danish Royal Family, you might ask. Well, nobody actually. Except for the Danish up until a few years ago. But then Prince Frederik came to Australia and happened to meet a smokin-hot Tasmanian girl named Mary. After a year or two of what I can only imagine were some pretty impressive dates they got engaged, and a few months ago they tied the knot.
Now they're cavorting around Australia looking all happy and rich and drop-dead gorgeous. Everywhere they go there are throngs of people waiting to see them and yell nice things at them, and they do cool stuff like race yachts against each other (and Mary kicks Fred's ass). Australians love them:
This week she out-rated the Oscars on television and, significantly, she has eased more notes from the wallets of Sydney's wealthy than even Diana, Princess of Wales, did at the height of her fame.
Ticket sales for Mary's charity functions in Sydney will edge towards $2 million.
When Bill Clinton came to dinner in Sydney, he drew 50 journalists - last night, Princess Mary netted 130.
Prince Charles, soon to marry longtime booty-call Camilla Parker-Bowles, has not been quite so well received. The other day I heard a DJ crack this joke on the radio:
A: One is a shining member of the Danish Royal Family. The other is just a Great Dane.
Poor Charles can't buy a break. Every time he steps off a plane or out of a car there are news cameras there and that's about it. The comparison between the two Royal Families has been, shall we say, striking.
And then yesterday Charlie went over to New Zealand to try his luck and was promptly greeted by a young girl with her bazongas out. I'm sure he was thrilled, until he read what was written across her tits:
The topless protester's slogan reads:
'Get your colonist shame off my breasts'.
Photo: Reuters
Why England's colonist shame would be scrawled across this chick's jugs I do not know. But it's clear she wants no part of it, and by extension, no part of Prince Charles.
I look forward to seeing her reaction to Princess Mary, though.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 8, 2005 at 06:59 PM in Australia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Might Be Dead??
What gave it away? Was it the not eating for ten years? Or maybe it was the not breathing?
Police found the body of Kyujiro Kanaoka lying on a futon bed at the family's home in Itami city in Hyogo prefecture in western Japan, said a prefectural police spokesman, who declined to be identified.
Kanaoka's three elderly children, all in their 70s or older, told police they thought their father was still alive but that one of them recently had consulted a relative about the possibility that he might be dead, the spokesman said.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 8, 2005 at 04:46 PM in Random News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, 07 March 2005
You Can Check Out Any Time You Like
Been a while since the last update. Sometimes I get sick of writing and I find that taking a break for a few days (or weeks) helps. After over 750 posts and God knows how many words, I'm surprised I'm not completely sick of this altogether. But when there's news like this everyday, how can I possibly stay away from the computer?
It's like a landslide of macabre wrapped in an deluge of irony and presented with a gleefully dark bow.
But I digress. The point of this post is not to tickle you with horrible news of today, but rather to urge you to go remind yourself of the horrifyingly, um, horrifying news of yesterday.
A few days ago we saw Hotel Rwanda. You need to go watch this movie. It is incredible. It captures the slide of a civilized country into total anarchy better than any I've ever seen. Those of you who have seen The Killing Fields will remember the feeling of "Holy shit I know where this is going, and it's not gonna be pretty."
If you do decide to see it, may I suggest a little thought experiment? As you watch the film try to imagine that instead of "Tutsi" tribe and "Hutu" tribe imagine the characters are talking about "Janjaweed" and "Fur" tribes. Also, pretend it's not set in Rwanda, but rather a different African country called the Sudan. And finally, imagine it's not set in 1994. It's happening now. All over again:
"The police came at night and said, 'Do you want to make us like Iraq? Do you want to bring foreign troops here?' " she said in southern Darfur's Kalma camp, home to some of the estimated two million people displaced by two years of civil warfare in Darfur.
"The rapes never stop; sometimes there are more, sometimes less," she said, accusing militiamen known as the Janjaweed of the crime. "Now the Janjaweed babies are being born, and the girls are throwing them down latrines."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged the Security Council to take immediate steps to stop the Darfur war, which has killed at least 70,000 people since March 2004.
Posted by flow Frazao on March 7, 2005 at 04:37 PM in Film | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack