Rob’s blog of posts

My friend drives a space shuttle.

Heath, honey, if you get anywhere near an accent, please feel free to speak in it.

The rest of the flick looks cool from previews, but I still say Heath Ledger’s attempt at playing the Joker is shaping up to be the worst thing about it.

Not five minutes ago, I signed for a letter at my office. The courier was a reasonably okay-looking guy, in maybe his late fiftes, with glasses.

He gave me the paperwork, with the expected “print name here” and “sign name here” boxes. I did so, and he gave me the letter. Squinting at my writing on the paperwork, he asked, “Is that… Richard?”

“It’s Robert, thanks” I replied, idly looking over the letter.

He squinted at the card again, peering alternately over and through his glasses. “..Richard?”

I looked up. “Robert, actually.”

He squinted at the card again, with a look of utter incomprehension. “…Richard?”

I pointed to the tag outside the office door, with my name on it. “Robert. Rob, ert.” He knit his brows and looked at the paper again, but before he could say anything else I followed up with “Spelled r-o-b-e-r-t.”

He shrugged and walked away. I half expected him to say something like “okay, see you later Richard.”

This is still bugging me because I know my handwriting can’t that bad, at least where my own name is concerned… maybe I am Richard after all?

The whole Web2.0 social-network thing has never interested me much beyond my trusty old Livejournal.

I’m constantly this close to deleting my MySpace.

I killed my Flickr ages ago.

I mercilessly tease my friends who have Facebooks, Twitters, Last.fms, Friendsters, Xangas, Habbos, Orkuts, Cornjobs, Diphthongs, and whatever other flavors-of-the-moment come up.

However, sometimes something comes along that even I can’t let pass me by.

HoffSpace just may be one of those things.

Yes, I think I’m willing to sign up for a ride on actor/singer/can-has-cheesburgarer David Hasselhoff’s newest venture, a social network that is apparently woven through with threads of glorious windswept Hoff at every twist.

But it is probably dangerous to go alone. Anyone willing to join up along with me?

(Found via Rifftrax, bless ‘em.)

Last week I pulled the final plug on my former web-host, and obtained the services of my dear friend Mara’s web hosting company to host my sites from now on.

Well, just today I did something really stupid to one of my sites and needed a backup, and there she was in shining sysadmin armor ready to rescue my sad pathetic self from certain doom.

On the bright side, I now know what it’s like to be able to turn things over to an actually competent host.

On the dim side, I’ve made a stunning impression as the guy who more or less immediately broke his site incredibly soon after it was installed, and really shouldn’t be allowed to have nice things.

Need web stuff? Tell Hello World Web I sent you.

Over on wtf_stupid a discussion thread came up about how in certain regions of the US, any soft drink is called a “coke” regardless of brand or flavor.

I couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like if the genericized brand name thing extended to food. What if all food was by default called the name brand of one popular food item?

“Hey, I’m hungry. Let’s go get a Big Mac.”
“Okay, what kind of Big Mac do you want to eat?”
“I was thinking of getting pizza. Or maybe Chinese takeout Big Macs.”
“I’m vegan, can you make my Big Mac a garden salad?”
“Okay, but let’s get sushi too, it’s Dad’s favorite Big Mac.”
“And some pasta salad Big Macs for mom?”
“Sounds good! Now, what kind of Coke will we all be having with our Big Macs…?”
etc.

Who the fuck told him he was allowed to leave?

It’s not much of a tribute, but it’s the best I can do right now… here’s a reprint of Carlin’s “Filthy Words” bit, copied and pasted from the Supreme Court’s decision in 1978’s FCC vs Pacifica Foundation. I take particular comfort in the fact that the FCC transcribed and retyped this routine for the sake of that trial.

APPENDIX TO OPINION OF THE COURT

   The following is a verbatim transcript of "Filthy Words" prepared by
   the Federal Communications Commission.

   Aruba-du, ruba-tu, ruba-tu. I was thinking about the curse words and
   the swear words, the cuss words and the words that you can't say, that
   you're not supposed to say all the time, [']cause words or people into
   words want to hear your words. Some guys like to record your words and
   sell them back to you if they can, (laughter) listen in on the
   telephone, write down what words you say. A guy who used to be in
   Washington knew that his phone was tapped, used to answer, Fuck
   Hoover, yes, go ahead. (laughter) Okay, I was thinking one night about
   the words you couldn't say on the public, ah, airwaves, um, the ones
   you definitely wouldn't say, ever, [']cause I heard a lady say bitch
   one night on television, and it was cool like she was talking about,
   you know, ah, well, the bitch is the first one to notice that in the
   litter Johnie right (murmur) Right. And, uh, bastard you can say, and
   hell and damn so I have to figure out which ones you couldn't and ever
   and it came down to seven but the list is open to amendment, and in
   fact, has been changed, uh, by now, ha, a lot of people pointed things
   out to me, and I noticed some myself. The original seven words were,
   shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, mother-fucker, and tits. Those are
   the ones that will curve your spine, grow hair on your hands and
   (laughter) maybe, even bring us, God help us, peace without honor
   (laughter) um, and a bourbon. (laughter) And now the first thing that
   we noticed was that word fuck was really repeated in there because the
   word motherfucker is a compound word and it's another form of the word
   fuck. (laughter) You want to be a purist it doesn't really it can't be
   on the list of basic words. Also, cocksucker is a compound word and
   neither half of that is really dirty. The word the half sucker that's
   merely suggestive (laughter) and the word cock is a half-way dirty
   word, 50% dirty dirty half the time, depending on what you mean by it.
   (laughter) Uh, remember when you first heard it, like in 6th grade,
   you used to giggle. And the cock crowed three times, heh (laughter)
   the cock three times. It's in the Bible, cock in the Bible. (laughter)
   And the first time you heard about a cock-fight, remember What? Huh?
   naw. It ain't that, are you stupid? man. (laughter, clapping) It's
   chickens, you know, (laughter) Then you have the four letter words
   from the old Anglo-Saxon fame. Uh, shit and fuck. The word shit, uh,
   is an interesting kind of word in that the middle class has never
   really accepted it and approved it. They use it like, crazy but it's
   not really okay. It's still a rude, dirty, old kind of gushy word.
   (laughter) They don't like that, but they say it, like, they say it
   like, a lady now in a middle-class home, you'll hear most of the time
   she says it as an expletive, you know, it's out of her mouth before
   she knows. She says, Oh shit oh shit, (laughter) oh shit. If she drops
   something, Oh, the shit hurt the broccoli. Shit. Thank you. (footsteps
   fading away) (papers ruffling)

   Read it! (from audience)

   Shit! (laughter) I won the Grammy, man, for the comedy album. Isn't
   that groovy? (clapping, whistling) (murmur) That's true. Thank you.
   Thank you man. Yeah. (murmur) (continuous clapping) Thank you man.
   Thank you. Thank you very much, man. Thank, no, (end of continuous
   clapping) for that and for the Grammy, man, [']cause (laughter) that's
   based on people liking it man, yeh, that's ah, that's okay man.
   (laughter) Let's let that go, man. I got my Grammy. I can let my hair
   hang down now, shit. (laughter) Ha! So! Now the word shit is okay for
   the man. At work you can say it like crazy. Mostly figuratively, Get
   that shit out of here, will ya? I don't want to see that shit anymore.
   I can't cut that shit, buddy. I've had that shit up to here. I think
   you're full of shit myself. (laughter) He don't know shit from
   Shinola. (laughter) you know that? (laughter) Always wondered how the
   Shinola people felt about that (laughter) Hi, I'm the new man from
   Shinola. (laughter) Hi, how are ya? Nice to see ya. (laughter) How are
   ya? (laughter) Boy, I don't know whether to shit or wind my watch.
   (laughter) Guess, I'll shit on my watch. (laughter) Oh, the shit is
   going to hit de fan. (laughter) Built like a brick shit-house.
   (laughter) Up, he's up shit's creek. (laughter) He's had it.
   (laughter) He hit me, I'm sorry. (laughter) Hot shit, holy shit, tough
   shit, eat shit, (laughter) shit-eating grin. Uh, whoever thought of
   that was ill. (murmur laughter) He had a shit-eating grin! He had a
   what? (laughter) Shit on a stick. (laughter) Shit in a handbag. I
   always like that. He ain't worth shit in a handbag. (laughter) Shitty.
   He acted real shitty. (laughter) You know what I mean? (laughter) I
   got the money back, but a real shitty attitude. Heh, he had a
   shit-fit. (laughter) Wow! Shit-fit. Whew! Glad I wasn't there.
   (murmur, laughter) All the animals Bull shit, horse shit, cow shit,
   rat shit, bat shit. (laughter) First time I heard bat shit, I really
   came apart. A guy in Oklahoma, Boggs, said it, man. Aw! Bat shit.
   (laughter) Vera reminded me of that last night, ah (murmur). Snake
   shit, slicker than owl shit. (laughter) Get your shit together. Shit
   or get off the pot. (laughter) I got a shit-load full of them.
   (laughter) I got a shit-pot full, all right. Shit-head, shit-heel,
   shit in your heart, shit for brains, (laughter) shit-face, heh
   (laughter) I always try to think how that could have originated; the
   first guy that said that. Somebody got drunk and fell in some shit,
   you know. (laughter) Hey, I'm shit-face. (laughter) Shit-face, today.
   (laughter) Anyway, enough of that shit. (laughter) The big one, the
   word fuck that's the one that hangs them up the most. [']Cause in a
   lot of cases that's the very act that hangs them up the most. So, it's
   natural that the word would, uh, have the same effect. It's a great
   word, fuck, nice word, easy word, cute word, kind of. Easy word to
   say. One syllable, short u. (laughter) Fuck. (Murmur) You know, it's
   easy. Starts with a nice soft sound fuh ends with a kuh. Right?
   (laughter) A little something for everyone. Fuck (laughter) Good word.
   Kind of a proud word, too. Who are you? I am FUCK. (laughter) FUCK OF
   THE MOUNTAIN. (laughter) Tune in again next week to FUCK OF THE
   MOUNTAIN. (laughter) It's an interesting word too, [']cause it's got a
   double kind of a life personality dual, you know, whatever the right
   phrase is. It leads a double life, the word fuck. First of all, it
   means, sometimes, most of the time, fuck. What does it mean? It means
   to make love. Right? We're going to make love, yeh, we're going to
   fuck, yeh, we're going to fuck, yeh, we're going to make love.
   (laughter) we're really going to fuck, yeh, we're going to make love.
   Right? And it also means the beginning of life, it's the act that
   begins life, so there's the word hanging around with words like love,
   and life, and yet on the other hand, it's also a word that we really
   use to hurt each other with, man. It's a heavy. It's one that you have
   toward the end of the argument. (laughter) Right? (laughter) You
   finally can't make out. Oh, fuck you man. I said, fuck you. (laughter,
   murmur) Stupid fuck. (laughter) Fuck you and everybody that looks like
   you. (laughter) man. It would be nice to change the movies that we
   already have and substitute the word fuck for the word kill, wherever
   we could, and some of those movie cliches would change a little bit.
   Madfuckers still on the loose. Stop me before I fuck again. Fuck the
   ump, fuck the ump, fuck the ump, fuck the ump, fuck the ump. Easy on
   the clutch Bill, you'll fuck that engine again. (laughter) The other
   shit one was, I don't give a shit. Like it's worth something, you
   know? (laughter) I don't give a shit. Hey, well, I don't take no shit,
   (laughter) you know what I mean? You know why I don't take no shit?
   (laughter) [']Cause I don't give a shit. (laughter) If I give a shit,
   I would have to pack shit. (laughter) But I don't pack no shit cause I
   don't give a shit. (laughter) You wouldn't shit me, would you?
   (laughter) That's a joke when you're a kid with a worm looking out the
   bird's ass. You wouldn't shit me, would you? (laughter) It's an
   eight-year-old joke but a good one. (laughter) The additions to the
   list. I found three more words that had to be put on the list of words
   you could never say on television, and they were fart, turd and twat,
   those three. (laughter) Fart, we talked about, it's harmless It's like
   tits, it's a cutie word, no problem. Turd, you can't say but who wants
   to, you know? (laughter) The subject never comes up on the panel so
   I'm not worried about that one. Now the word twat is an interesting
   word. Twat! Yeh, right in the twat. (laughter) Twat is an interesting
   word because it's the only one I know of, the only slang word applying
   to the, a part of the sexual anatomy that doesn't have another meaning
   to it. Like, ah, snatch, box and pussy all have other meanings, man.
   Even in a Walt Disney movie, you can say, We're going to snatch that
   pussy and put him in a box and bring him on the airplane. (murmur,
   laughter) Everybody loves it. The twat stands alone, man, as it
   should. And two-way words. Ah, ass is okay providing you're riding
   into town on a religious feast day. (laughter) You can't say, up your
   ass. (laughter) You can say, stuff it! (murmur) There are certain
   things you can say its weird but you can just come so close. Before I
   cut, I, uh, want to, ah, thank you for listening to my words, man,
   fellow, uh space travelers. Thank you man for tonight and thank you
   also. (clapping whistling)

Fun fact: Nowadays, the studios at WBAI have large posters on the walls, reminding broadcasters in large bold type of the Seven Words You Must Not Say On the Air.

The cliffhanger of today’s Doctor Who made me go like this:

O_O

We’ve posted the full schedule of talks which will be featured at The Last HOPE.

The conference will feature an unprecedented 100 talks, squeezed into three tracks over three days. There will also be an unscheduled track, where anyone who shows up and claims a timeslot can speak about anything they wish, and various ongoing activities and presentations in other areas of the con space. I think it’s safe to say there will be a far broader and more eclectic spectrum of things to see and do at this hacker con than ever before.

Personally, I’m really excited to be a part of it as a staff member (planning and artwork,) as a speaker (with some of my pals from PLA scene,) and most of all as an attendee.

At the risk of sounding unforgivably cheesy, I’m just upset that it won’t be physically possible for me to attend more than a third of the presentations on that list.

Stan Winston has passed away.

Neal Holman, whom you might remember from such pinnacles of awesome as Silly Spider Monkey Fiasco, Frisky Dingo, and Sealab 2021, has a comic in an online competition which I think you’ll really dig.

Rather than try to explain it myself, I’ll let its synopsis do the talking:

Predictably, the legend of the giant monster turtle that eats little campers like so much candy comes true, ruining a perfectly good summer at Camp Thunderhawk. From the chaos, four counselors (Peter, Raj, Sarah K. and Sara G.) arise to lead their kids to safety and slay this rampaging jerk of a turtle, all while dealing with the epic rigors of summer love. And zits. And Warren Timmings, the crazy man from the woods. Did I mention there’s a crazy man from the woods? It’s a summer camp story. There’s a crazy man, his name is Warren, and he is most definitely from the woods. Love, Lust and a Giant Killer Turtle is our love note to summer camp, teenage romance and bad monster movies. It’s fun, it’s utterly ridiculous, and it’s terrifying, a comedic horror story told with real characters suffering real loss through absurd circumstances. In movie terms, think Shaun of the Dead as opposed to Scary Movie and its various offspring.

You can peruse Love, Lust, and a Giant Killer Turtle here on Zuda Comics. If you do indeed dig it, I encourage you to join up at that site and vote for it in the competition. If it wins, Zuda will give Neal and his co-conspirator Chad Hurd an ongoing series, and that can only end well for all of us.

Meeting tonight.

Sadly alt.coffee aka Hopscotch Cafe is finally gone for good. I wonder where we’ll end up now.

Back on May 14, Governor Paterson announced that New York must recognize same-sex marriages which have been performed in Massachusetts, Canada, and other places where it’s legal to do so.

Yesterday, a Christian lobbyist group announced they have sued the state to keep such a law off our books.

So, the Governor is now polling his constituents (that’s us) to gauge public support for his position. This means that if you call his office at 518-474-8390, you will be able to quicky voice whether or not you support the Governor’s position on same-sex marriage. You will only be asked for your 5-digit New York ZIP code.

More info in this post by Marriage Equality NY.