Sunday, December 11, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Victorian Style Pickled Specimens
For the past several weeks I have been working on a collection of Victorian Style pickled specimens. Not content to merely sculpt known types of specimens, I have engaged my imagination and created the types of specimens that I would like to collect as a traveler. Sculpting things from my imagination allows me the luxury of having some truly unique specimens and also saves me from having to actually kill any actual animals. Please note that I did not add any fluids to "preserve" these specimens because I did not want algae and nastiness to form on the inside of the bottles.
The First Specimen that I created was a sort of unknown type of creature whose origin I imagined came from the Plateau of Leng from Lovecraftian lore.
The Second Specimen was originally supposed to be a hydro-cephalic fetus but as I worked on it my imagination led me to make him a sort of Elvish creature.
My next creation is what I call a Bulgarian Lamprey. This item is not based on any actual animal but I decided that something called a Bulgarian Lamprey would definitely sound exotic.
Finally, my last creation is what I call an insectopoid. This slightly Lovecraftian creation resembles an insect but has eight octopus style legs. This is possibly my favorite creation.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Dryer Lint or What to do When Kindling Fails
Dryer lint is the universally maligned material that seems to serve no purpose other than to annoy already annoyed laundry doers across the world. Most people would have little to do with dryer lint than to throw it away without a second thought as it seems to be the scapegoat of the laundry process.
The outdoorsman on the other hand sees dryer lint as a possible lifesaver when out in the wilds. The reason for this is the fact that dryer lint is an excellent catalyst for fire-building (and trust me a fire must be built). The reason for this lies in the fact that the lint is an extremely dry and loosely packed material. Which can be awfully difficult to come across in forests or mountains.
I can't possibly recount the amount of times that Lint has gotten me fire from otherwise damp wood and saved a camping trip or two from the prospect of not having the social lubricant of the outdoors....fire.
So if you are planning to go out on a tramp (as our New Zealander friends would call it) then make sure that you collect plenty of Dryer Lint and pack it away in a plastic bag or with your tinder box and be the star of your next adventure into the wild.
Amaze and Delight your friends with the miraculous powers of Dryer Lint!
The outdoorsman on the other hand sees dryer lint as a possible lifesaver when out in the wilds. The reason for this is the fact that dryer lint is an excellent catalyst for fire-building (and trust me a fire must be built). The reason for this lies in the fact that the lint is an extremely dry and loosely packed material. Which can be awfully difficult to come across in forests or mountains.
I can't possibly recount the amount of times that Lint has gotten me fire from otherwise damp wood and saved a camping trip or two from the prospect of not having the social lubricant of the outdoors....fire.
So if you are planning to go out on a tramp (as our New Zealander friends would call it) then make sure that you collect plenty of Dryer Lint and pack it away in a plastic bag or with your tinder box and be the star of your next adventure into the wild.
Amaze and Delight your friends with the miraculous powers of Dryer Lint!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Occupy Wallstreet?
The phenomena known as Occupy Wallstreet could be seen as a Liberal version of the Conservative movement known as the Tea Party but there is one major difference between the two in their current incarnations. The major difference lies in a major but often overlooked difference. This difference could be seen as "Order."
The Tea Parties have the advantage of being well organized and yes, funded by business interests. Rather than being a strength, the fact that the Tea Partiers are well organized, well dressed, and funded by business are a strength rather than a weakness. Human society, such as it is, is based on the concept of the Social Contract and whether you are a Monarchist, Libertarian, Conservative, Jeffersonian, Federalist, Liberal, or any other political stripe you understand that in order for organized society to exist, there must be some sort of social order and ORDER is the watchword.
This is the strength of the Tea Parties, they are organized whereas the Occupy Wallstreet movement is not and to their detriment. If the young left in this country wanted to make any real impact, they need to organize such as was demonstrated by the organized push to get Obama elected.
My true thoughts on this Occupy Wallstreet phenomena is that it will probably stay unorganized because the masses of people involved with it are mainly a group of mental castrates who believed the Disney Cartoon morality and social history that they were raised with.
Why should cultural norms be dictated by youth? The youth of this country are raised from a young age believing in idiotic dictums taught to them by the new religion of Television or popular movies. What the young are too naive to realize is that it is the very system that they are supposedly against are the ones informing their opinions!
The Occupy Wallstreet movement is precisely the movement that the elites want. So by being mentally castrated hippies who defecate on police cars, the youth of this country are playing directly into the hands of those whom they think that they are fighting.
True rebellion lies in individualism and "thinking outside of the box," but this phrase has been co opted by those in power and the mass herds of fashionable conformists will continue to believe that they have some control in their affairs while being played all along. While those of us who possess undefiled wisdom will continue to laugh our asses off at them and wink when they spout off with their duck-billed platitudes.
The Tea Parties have the advantage of being well organized and yes, funded by business interests. Rather than being a strength, the fact that the Tea Partiers are well organized, well dressed, and funded by business are a strength rather than a weakness. Human society, such as it is, is based on the concept of the Social Contract and whether you are a Monarchist, Libertarian, Conservative, Jeffersonian, Federalist, Liberal, or any other political stripe you understand that in order for organized society to exist, there must be some sort of social order and ORDER is the watchword.
This is the strength of the Tea Parties, they are organized whereas the Occupy Wallstreet movement is not and to their detriment. If the young left in this country wanted to make any real impact, they need to organize such as was demonstrated by the organized push to get Obama elected.
My true thoughts on this Occupy Wallstreet phenomena is that it will probably stay unorganized because the masses of people involved with it are mainly a group of mental castrates who believed the Disney Cartoon morality and social history that they were raised with.
Why should cultural norms be dictated by youth? The youth of this country are raised from a young age believing in idiotic dictums taught to them by the new religion of Television or popular movies. What the young are too naive to realize is that it is the very system that they are supposedly against are the ones informing their opinions!
The Occupy Wallstreet movement is precisely the movement that the elites want. So by being mentally castrated hippies who defecate on police cars, the youth of this country are playing directly into the hands of those whom they think that they are fighting.
True rebellion lies in individualism and "thinking outside of the box," but this phrase has been co opted by those in power and the mass herds of fashionable conformists will continue to believe that they have some control in their affairs while being played all along. While those of us who possess undefiled wisdom will continue to laugh our asses off at them and wink when they spout off with their duck-billed platitudes.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Modern Fascism is the Law in Westminster, SC
Moving to the small town of Westminster, I thought that I would escape the "Communist Utopia" of Clemson, South Carolina but I have found that I have landed straight in the middle of a 1930's Italy with laws being made to enforce a fundamentalist Christian notion of what society should be.
The moment which incited me to make the comparison of Westminster to Mussolini's Italy occurred tonight around 11:30pm. I was in the BP station in front of the Ingle's hoping to buy some beer and a broom handle was pushed through the door handles of the cooler case. This forced me to think, "Is it Sunday?" (another Fascist Law.) No, it wasn't Sunday, it was Friday night, surely a prime time for beer sales.
I walked over to the attendant and asked him why the cooler case was closed. He responded by saying it was city ordinance to close it at 11pm. every night. He further went on by explaining that before it was open until 12am but because of the rise of DUI's, the city council concluded that limiting alcohol sales to 11pm would help with that...........What?
Our City Council is more worried about making laws to limit the sale of beer to fix our morals than finding a way to lower the electricity cost which is ruining the economy of the town and dooming it to perpetual poverty. There are police in this town precisely to arrest people who break the laws. Does the town council really believe that limiting or restricting alcohol sales is going to diminish the instances of DUI's? Besides this they believe that they can circumvent the Constitution just so they can slip another idiotic law on the books.
The Constitution upholds the rights of the individual to make his or her own decisions regarding where and how they wish to do business and the B.P. was forced to take a loss in their business just so they could stay legal according to the town ordinances. Ordinances which betray the lack of Constitutional principles that this town is guilty of. This town is more interested in pandering to a fundamentalist interpretation of scripture and ramming down the rest of our throats than allowing the rest of us to live our lives according to our own vision.
Just for interest, the Bible does not condemn the consumption of alcohol and some of the most upstanding people (which includes Christians) that I have known consume alcohol in moderation just as I do.
If anyone desires to know where Fascism is entering our culture, it is through local ordinances like the aforementioned which often go unnoticed by the casual citizen in preference to what happens in Washington. It is people who think that everyone should live like them that is ruining the Constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom means tolerating lifestyles that you may not agree with and allowing people of diverse opinions to live as they see fit. If this paradigm does not shift, goodbye freedoms and hello police-state.
The moment which incited me to make the comparison of Westminster to Mussolini's Italy occurred tonight around 11:30pm. I was in the BP station in front of the Ingle's hoping to buy some beer and a broom handle was pushed through the door handles of the cooler case. This forced me to think, "Is it Sunday?" (another Fascist Law.) No, it wasn't Sunday, it was Friday night, surely a prime time for beer sales.
I walked over to the attendant and asked him why the cooler case was closed. He responded by saying it was city ordinance to close it at 11pm. every night. He further went on by explaining that before it was open until 12am but because of the rise of DUI's, the city council concluded that limiting alcohol sales to 11pm would help with that...........What?
Our City Council is more worried about making laws to limit the sale of beer to fix our morals than finding a way to lower the electricity cost which is ruining the economy of the town and dooming it to perpetual poverty. There are police in this town precisely to arrest people who break the laws. Does the town council really believe that limiting or restricting alcohol sales is going to diminish the instances of DUI's? Besides this they believe that they can circumvent the Constitution just so they can slip another idiotic law on the books.
The Constitution upholds the rights of the individual to make his or her own decisions regarding where and how they wish to do business and the B.P. was forced to take a loss in their business just so they could stay legal according to the town ordinances. Ordinances which betray the lack of Constitutional principles that this town is guilty of. This town is more interested in pandering to a fundamentalist interpretation of scripture and ramming down the rest of our throats than allowing the rest of us to live our lives according to our own vision.
Just for interest, the Bible does not condemn the consumption of alcohol and some of the most upstanding people (which includes Christians) that I have known consume alcohol in moderation just as I do.
If anyone desires to know where Fascism is entering our culture, it is through local ordinances like the aforementioned which often go unnoticed by the casual citizen in preference to what happens in Washington. It is people who think that everyone should live like them that is ruining the Constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom means tolerating lifestyles that you may not agree with and allowing people of diverse opinions to live as they see fit. If this paradigm does not shift, goodbye freedoms and hello police-state.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Why America IS the Dystopian Future That We Feared
If an individual is somewhat introspective and aware, he can't help but notice the pall that has fallen over America. This country has long been in the grips of a fall from grace, so to speak and one can't help but to notice it. More and more of our intelligent young people have fallen into drug and alcohol abuse or have dropped out of society.
Why is this? Why are our most intelligent young men and women fallen into these traps and not made something of their lives? Their are many opinions regarding this situation but there is simply only one answer and this answer can be found in the pages of "Atlas Shrugged."
If you haven't closed out of this window in disgust, you are more honest in your search for answers than most people are. Even if you disagree with Rand's diagnoses, you must be struck, however, with how closely her predictions came to our present situation. If you will allow me to, I will set about in describing how this is.
Like the opening of "Atlas Shrugged" we seem to be trapped in some terrible Film Noir nightmare. Everything seems to be steeped in perpetual darkness lit only by streetlamps through a heavy fog. Jobs that are satisfying are difficult to come by and many prognosticators are throwing different forms of the same answer at us, "You must learn to sacrifice" or "We have to live a less lavish life style" but the most damning thing is "Look at this lavish royal family, just wait and a Prince will carry you away."
The real problem is simply this, incompetence is rewarded and achievement is a sign of some character flaw. If you are like me, you have seen this truth day in and day out at your job and in social interactions. If a person is incompetent, they are rewarded. Jobs are used as a form of charity where job performance earns the inverse of what it should. Higher paying jobs are given to "people who need them" rather than people who have earned them. The same is true in social interactions. A person of culture and intelligence is considered an outsider while a person who is incredibly stupid or inept is loved and cared for in all situations.
Our culture has become one that rewards inferiority and stupidity. This is the reason for the fall of our country and the dystopian present that we find ourselves. So why should bright young people want to excel? Why wouldn't they want to kill off the brain cells which make them different and creative? The society that we find ourselves in does not reward excellence; it rewards mediocrity so it stands to reason that the best and brightest of our society not born into the upper echelons would want to butcher and deface themselves to make themselves appear to be like the rest of the sea of mediocrity that they find themselves in.
America is now a dystopia, congratulations ladies and gentlemen we have made it.
Why is this? Why are our most intelligent young men and women fallen into these traps and not made something of their lives? Their are many opinions regarding this situation but there is simply only one answer and this answer can be found in the pages of "Atlas Shrugged."
If you haven't closed out of this window in disgust, you are more honest in your search for answers than most people are. Even if you disagree with Rand's diagnoses, you must be struck, however, with how closely her predictions came to our present situation. If you will allow me to, I will set about in describing how this is.
Like the opening of "Atlas Shrugged" we seem to be trapped in some terrible Film Noir nightmare. Everything seems to be steeped in perpetual darkness lit only by streetlamps through a heavy fog. Jobs that are satisfying are difficult to come by and many prognosticators are throwing different forms of the same answer at us, "You must learn to sacrifice" or "We have to live a less lavish life style" but the most damning thing is "Look at this lavish royal family, just wait and a Prince will carry you away."
The real problem is simply this, incompetence is rewarded and achievement is a sign of some character flaw. If you are like me, you have seen this truth day in and day out at your job and in social interactions. If a person is incompetent, they are rewarded. Jobs are used as a form of charity where job performance earns the inverse of what it should. Higher paying jobs are given to "people who need them" rather than people who have earned them. The same is true in social interactions. A person of culture and intelligence is considered an outsider while a person who is incredibly stupid or inept is loved and cared for in all situations.
Our culture has become one that rewards inferiority and stupidity. This is the reason for the fall of our country and the dystopian present that we find ourselves. So why should bright young people want to excel? Why wouldn't they want to kill off the brain cells which make them different and creative? The society that we find ourselves in does not reward excellence; it rewards mediocrity so it stands to reason that the best and brightest of our society not born into the upper echelons would want to butcher and deface themselves to make themselves appear to be like the rest of the sea of mediocrity that they find themselves in.
America is now a dystopia, congratulations ladies and gentlemen we have made it.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
The Thing With Two Heads
I just finished watching the 1972 film, "The Thing With Two Heads." The trailer to which can be viewed here.
This film was an AIP release from Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson when that company began to move into making movies commonly referred to as Blaxploitation.
The movie itself is extremely creative and imaginative as many movies in the pre 2000's were. The basic premise is that a surgeon famous for transplants is dying and in order to save him, his head is transplanted onto a black man's body. The problem with that is that the famous white surgeon is a bigot. This is where the plot thickens and the comedic elements of the plot actually begin as the entire first act is played deadly seriously while the second act changes tone entirely and the film really kicks into fifth gear.
The Second Act is where all of the action and comedic effects are played up. One of the more memorable parts is the 30 min. long motorcycle chase where the thing with two heads and another doctor are being chased across Southern California by the police. IT is during this bike ride that the effect used for portraying two heads on one body begins to unravel as it is obvious that the actor (Ray Milland) is simply sitting behind the other actor (Rosey Grier) on the bike.
There are more comedic moments which this film would really have done well to play up but didn't. The ending of the film comes when the thing with two heads is snuck into surgery and the elderly bigot's head is removed and presumably left to die and Rosey Grier's character has his woman.
The Good:
This film has lots of faults and IMDB has it rated at a 3.3 out of 10 but this may not be a fair assessment. The idea itself may not be innovative, other movies featured two-headed people but the story is creative. The writers were trying to present something new and unusual and certainly to comment on race. The sparse bit of humor in the film was genuinely funny and I believe that if the movie relied a little more on humor than on action, we would have had a better product. One particular thing, that I liked personally was the fact that the film really had the "AIP feel" of films like the Dr. Phibes movies and the later Poe Cycle movies.
The Bad:
This film was really boring at points and relied way too much on the novelty of the premise to carry it through. After the first act, the story becomes amateur and really falls into cliched territory. The first and second act almost seem to be completely different movies. One is a science drama and the other becomes a action comedy. The worst offense that this movie makes is that it is really dull at points and that kills movies like this.
The Bottom Line:
I would check out this movie if you are into 70's exploitation and grind house films. If you are a casual viewer of movies or watch more movies from the 21st century than the 20th, do not pay any money to watch "The Thing With Two Heads."
Rating: 5/10
This film was an AIP release from Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson when that company began to move into making movies commonly referred to as Blaxploitation.
The movie itself is extremely creative and imaginative as many movies in the pre 2000's were. The basic premise is that a surgeon famous for transplants is dying and in order to save him, his head is transplanted onto a black man's body. The problem with that is that the famous white surgeon is a bigot. This is where the plot thickens and the comedic elements of the plot actually begin as the entire first act is played deadly seriously while the second act changes tone entirely and the film really kicks into fifth gear.
The Second Act is where all of the action and comedic effects are played up. One of the more memorable parts is the 30 min. long motorcycle chase where the thing with two heads and another doctor are being chased across Southern California by the police. IT is during this bike ride that the effect used for portraying two heads on one body begins to unravel as it is obvious that the actor (Ray Milland) is simply sitting behind the other actor (Rosey Grier) on the bike.
There are more comedic moments which this film would really have done well to play up but didn't. The ending of the film comes when the thing with two heads is snuck into surgery and the elderly bigot's head is removed and presumably left to die and Rosey Grier's character has his woman.
The Good:
This film has lots of faults and IMDB has it rated at a 3.3 out of 10 but this may not be a fair assessment. The idea itself may not be innovative, other movies featured two-headed people but the story is creative. The writers were trying to present something new and unusual and certainly to comment on race. The sparse bit of humor in the film was genuinely funny and I believe that if the movie relied a little more on humor than on action, we would have had a better product. One particular thing, that I liked personally was the fact that the film really had the "AIP feel" of films like the Dr. Phibes movies and the later Poe Cycle movies.
The Bad:
This film was really boring at points and relied way too much on the novelty of the premise to carry it through. After the first act, the story becomes amateur and really falls into cliched territory. The first and second act almost seem to be completely different movies. One is a science drama and the other becomes a action comedy. The worst offense that this movie makes is that it is really dull at points and that kills movies like this.
The Bottom Line:
I would check out this movie if you are into 70's exploitation and grind house films. If you are a casual viewer of movies or watch more movies from the 21st century than the 20th, do not pay any money to watch "The Thing With Two Heads."
Rating: 5/10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)