Al Gore - Not A Robit No More
Al Gore. We've know you as:
Senator
Vice President
and Protector of the Space
Time Continuum
(
it's in the Constitution!)
But now you've out done yourself. You're fighting the invading army of
GLOBAL WARMING!!!
In
An Inconvenient Truth, Gore succinctly and meticulously lays out the ever growing threat of global warming. And he does this with a new found southern charm and an impassioned confidence.
Yes... I said charm, believe it or not.
His hard-nosed science is interspersed with self-deprecating humor, poking fun at the insular mindedness of the old guards and his own naïveté. All this with a hint of "Well, shucks. I'm from Teeeennn-es-eee" in his voice.
His awareness of the science is far deeper than the average person's. (Who'd have guess that the earth is a
nonlinear dynamic system? not I!) I'm grateful he's been able to do his homework. But for Zombie Jesus' sake, will you post your slides on the website! I could easily take contention with his presentation of data and his penchant for skimming over the complex messages of scientific work. But that is easily forgivable is the greater light of his noble pursuit.
And yes... it is noble. For once we may have a candidate that feels like he has to be running for president to change the way the world works and not to prove himself to daddy. Its certainly what the Dems have been dying for and something, I feel, America needs. He's embraced his own voice in this movie. I hope he doesn't suffer a bout of laryngitis.
This movie is a way for him to test the waters without getting too wet. And he has, as all heroes must, put the mission before himself; so even if he dies trying to pass the torch, he will die with no regrets. But with that said,
I think everyone should see this movie. We witness the transformation of a man as he unfolds his passion for serving humanity.
I only have two hopes for him. First, whoever kept him on message for this film is one of his trusted confidants through the campaign trail. As long as he doesn't have too many voices attempting to drown out his impassioned message, he stands the chance of making a lasting impact on the political, economic and technological world (
again).
Secondly, I hope he develops some more charisma. Even though he is charming, I felt his charm was scripted. If he develops a genuine willingness to play with his audience and dissenters (dissenters... no! There can be any of those! Can there?
Maybe.) he'll charm the methophorical pants off America. (And I hope we're wearing a lacy thong!) When his sense of charm finally spills over into his identity, he'll finally be charismatic. Maybe a year and a half is time enough to refine that quality.
But if we don't elect him (and not saying he's earned my vote, just my ear) we can always
romanticize over what could have been... or maybe elect his head in 3008!
(Psssttt... I hope this was a joy for all Futurama fans. I wish I had something with the news monster... AWWWW--- EFF IT! Here he is!)
Tool
Sorry,
Tool came out with a
new album. It sucks. Don't listen to it. Some how it's been eating up all my time. Apparently, I listened to Tool 82 times on Winamp last week. All other music has plummetted to the depths of Hades.... Speaking of which. I think you should read the myth about
Inanna's descent to the underworld where she meets and is shamed by her dark sister.
Pretty interesting stuff. Best of luck to you in your descent to the netherworld. Don't become a ghost. It's a boring life. You end up attaching yourselef to energies that are long gone. I'm bored.
Yearnings
Dear Maynard,
For years your words have challenged me, changed me and inspired me. Your latest have again effected me. Listening to these words have heavied my heart.
I know the burden you have chosen to carry is overwhelming. But I want you to know that even though no one can fight your battles for you that you are not alone on the battle field. These times may seem hopeless, but no that there is at least one other willing to fight along your side even in my naivete. The next few years will be difficult for all those battling for a new world; a better world. A world that only a few of imagined could exist. And as the old falls away to make room for the new I hope that a few of us can hold it together so the transistion hurts less.
My words, while never as eloquent or lovely as your own are the ones that came to my heart. I hope that your journey allows you to celebrate your peaks and your soul is strengthened in dark times. You have shared pain, hope and love all of which reminded me of my own. I wish you the best on your journey and hope to see you soon.
Mitesh
Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam...and a Blue Frog
Spam. Besides being
beloved by Vikings and Hawaiians of all shapes and sizes, it
clogs e-mail boxes. I hate it. You hate it.
But there's some people fighting back, like
BlueFrog. BlueFrog maintains a database of e-mail address that don't want to spammed. If a spammer gets a compaint from BlueFrog he goes to their database and compares his list to the BlueFrog database. Then he removes all the BlueFrog members from his list. Worried that he'll just add you to his list when he sees you in the BlueFrog database. Well, he can't see you. Ennnnnn-crypted. Want to know more? Here's a little more detailed account of
how BlueFrog actually works.
I started using BlueFrog when I stumbled across it about three weeks ago. They have a wonderful
Firefox plugin that monitors web based e-mail apps. And now a few spammers are pissed. Which is a good thing. I got a message in my mailbox saying "We know you use BlueFrog. If you keep on using it you will pay. You will get the bird flue and die!" And I was scared. I didn't want them to flood my e-mail with spam. So I went over to the BlueFrog Blog and check out what they had to say. Yeah, they had my e-mail address, but they didn't get it from BlueFrog.
So the next day I managed to receive 300 pieces of spam. Most of which gMail happily filed away into my Spam folder. And again, I was "Oh no. The world will end soon and all the will be covered with gooey ectoplasm. Run and hide! Run and hide!"
So I read the BlueSecurity blog that reassured the hysterical how BlueFrog works and I waited it out. The next day I was back to normal (and possibly below normal) spam levels. I think there'll be a few more spikes like this in the future. I think, like any battle, there'll be some risks and some rewards. It interesting to amongst the ranks and on the good side for once.
There's some
detailed accounts of the recent spammer attacks. But none more acc-U-rate than mein. So don't bother reading any of those.
I'm open to seeing if anyone else is fighting spam out there. Let me know.
