Not a long entry for this Memorial Day weekend. I encourage you to try and block out all the bullshit for a few moments and remember what this holiday is all about. Being a fan of poetry and occasionally referring to myself, however erroneously, as a poet, I read two works every Memorial and Veteran’s Day. The first poem invokes the patriotic spirit (true patriotism, not the jingoism that has become so trendy lately). The second poem, written by a soldier during WWI, reminds us that war is horrible and that real people pay dearly for our “leaders” decisions. It’s a little thing, the reading aloud of these poems, but it reminds me that we all owe a great debt of gratitude to our soldiers, past and present.

Yeah, right. If only they had the data to backup such a claim. Isn’t it amazing how the RIAA and the MPAA consistently claim that piracy is destroying their bottom lines, yet their profits continue to grow?

(more…)

There are some days where I cycle through emotional ranges in rapid spurts. This is not because of some chemical imabalance (that I’m aware of) but because of the news I read and the things I see. Today started out inauspiciously.

(more…)

Fate delivered a cruel blow to me last night. There I was, peacefully wandering about my new, favorite MUD, when I was startled by the sound of a muffled bang. Being a law abiding, gun owner, I knew that there was no way any of my handguns had gone off (as it was way too quiet a bang and the only handgun out of my safe was unloaded with the action open) and that something else must have “blowed up”. It was then that the thought struck me: “Dear God, the beer!” (more…)

Finally seeing the light of day is Paul Schrader’s “Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist”. This is the movie that was shelved by Morgan Creek after it had spent $35 million filming it with Schrader at the helm. This was the movie, based on what I’d read, that I wanted to see; a thought-provoking meditation on good, evil and the loss of faith. Instead, we got that abortion of a movie from Renny Harlin (because directing Cutthroat Island and Nightmare on Elm Street 4 truly leads one to believe that he’s got the chops to handle a movie that should have high-arcing intellectual and theological ruminations). While the reviews look to be mixed, favoring the negative (calling it pretentious, which always makes me wonder if the reviewer “got it”), I still look forward to seeing this movie. Some big name critics actualy gave it a pretty darn good review. Of course, it’s playing nowhere near me, so unless it gets wider distribution I’ll have to wait until the DVD release.

It’s amazing the kind of stuff that goes on behind closed doors. Regardless of your opinion of the PATRIOT Act (what a misnomer), there are some expansions being drawn up that will be considered by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in a closed door session on May 26th. You can check out a draft of the full bill over on the EFF. By the way, if you haven’t joined the EFF, I suggest you consider doing so.

Maybe you haven’t heard about the Hollywood and the FCC’s attempt to implement a Broadcast Flag on all future digital television devices. Here’s a good summary

(more…)

So here’s a little something I put together as part of my Poetry Lessons over at The Cult (membership required for the stuff where I participate).

(more…)

Yep, testing out the WordPress installation on this here blogging sub-site. Felt like I wanted to have a place where I could post non-Packingheat.com related stuff. Packingheat.com has become something of a dumpster for everything, whereas I think it should be focused purely on acerbic humor. A blog would serve well as a place to dump my ancillary thoughts, rants and writing. Especially effective if only a few people know the thing exists. Let’s see how this works.