That's right, I'm making like Led Zeppelin and headed west!

I'll be in San Francisco, Los Angeles and points in between until next month! Wooo! Reunited with my lands and my peoples!

I can't update this blog from the road, but I can update What The Hell Am I Doing Here? (the annex) from my laptop. So, check there for the rest of February- I expect there'll be photos and stories and ghod knows what else. See you there and then back here on March 2nd!

What The Hell Am I Doing Here? (the annex)

BTW, this coming Monday is my birthday .......

1:38:12 AM     leave/read comments []

In Soviet Estonia, meat grinds YOU!!!!

How do you say "soylent green" in Estonian?. Xeni Jardin:

I think we've blogged the archive of Soviet-era Estonian TV ads from which this 30-second nightmare originates, but I can't find the post. Regardless, the Web often drags in old things that become new again. The vintage TV ad that greets you on the other side of this link may cause brain scarification.

Link, and mirror, spotted on Steven F's blog. (via Wiley Wiggins). [Boing Boing]

10:24:48 PM    

YIKES!!!

Tales of strangeness from Asia!

Palau-Ants (Palau Horizon). SINGAPORE ANTS CHEWING UP PALAU

Destructive Singapore ants have found their way to Palau,
eating holes in clothing and damaging electrical wiring
at the home of Francis Meyar in Ngerbeched. According to Dr.
Joel Miles, chief of Terrestrial Unit of the Office of Environmental
Response and Coordination, the bugs are small, brownish-red ants.
Miles said the typical problems caused by the ants are making holes in
clothing, making nests in electrical switches and outlets, making nests in
electronic equipment such as boom boxes, television sets, clocks and
others and getting into food. They have also been known to bite
people while they are sleeping.

[Nippon Goro Goro]

My solution- cane the ants!

Sounds like my grandparents' old house-

Japan-Collapse [Mainichi Shimbun]

A Tokyo apartment floor collapses from the weight of old magazines.


[Nippon Goro Goro]

4:17:11 PM    

My pal Andy posted an awesome photo he snapped of genius guitarist Nels Cline, who is currently touring the world with Wilco.

Tune in to Late Night With Conan O'Brien tonight to catch Wilco and Nels doin' their thing. (repeat)

And be sure to catch Nels on the COVER of the new Guitar Player magazine! WOOO!

Great photos, Andy!

12:59:57 PM     leave/read comments []

My pal, Jason Errett, on the rise of Christian Fundamentalists in the U.S.:

I hate it when stuff like this happens. What we have is essentially one of America's great strengths, that of religious tolerance, being used against us. Because we're a tolerant nation, no one has stood up and said "Look... you people are absolutely fucking crazy. You cannot hasten the return of your saviour by destroying the world. Even if you read the bible cover to cover and take the stance that it's all literally true, that's a ridiculous conclusion to draw from it."

And so they grow, and grow, and grow. Throughout human history, the prize of immortality has been highly valued and used to drive all sorts of crazy enterprises. Whether you're talking Ponce De Leon and the fountain of youth, or Hitler and his reich that would last a thousand years, people who seek power have often sought the ultimate power of immortality. I think this whole end-times nonsense is driven by this quest, and that's what makes it powerful. These people don't want to have to rely on faith, they want the end to come, complete with trumpets and the return of Christ, so that they can be sure salvation and immortality exists. They're screechingly desperate to pull this off while they're alive so that they can go directly to heaven in the flesh, with no need to go through that scary and uncertain death thing.

That's really what it boils down to. So, what we have is a bunch of nutjobs who believe in what started as a really fringe Christian idea, who have siezed upon it becuase it offers a chance at finding proof of salvation and immortality. Their desire to pull this off is driven by the old basic fear of death. This is one of the strongest fears mankind knows, and so the motivation it offers is one of the strongest urges around. It's strong enough to overpower reason, common sense, basic ethics, and simple decency. It's strong enough to propel people to destroy the world. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being strong enough to drive some terrified mush-brained idiot, like the one we've got in the oval office, to nuke half the planet thinking that if this doesn't bring Jesus back, nothng will.

10:33:01 AM