Coast to Coast with Shahab - Update

I just got off the phone with Shahab, and he is currently in Rugby, North Dakota. In this small town (population 3000) they boast to be "The Geographic Center of North America."

He mentioned that he hasn't gotten a cell phone signal in about a week, but he's doing well. He also mentioned that he's missed New York City women... I'm sure they miss him too.

Dr. Michael Debarkey

As a long time supporter of life without watching television, I must say it's the easiest thing to do while eating alone. We recently cut our cable to help curb our financial woes. That type of action brings channels like PBS to the forefront. While I was eating last night, The News Hour w/Jim Lehrer ran a story about a 99 year old doctor named Michael Debarkey who died this past week. I was surprised to learn this man had spent 70 years in his field and performed over 60,000 heart surgeries on people including JFK & Stalin. One of his proteges they interviewed said no operation room in the world exists that doesn't have an instrument created by Dr. Michael Debarkey lying around. [article]

As American as... nevermind.

I'm sure you all heard, Budweiser is no longer an AMERICAN company. "Dey took 'er joooobs!" It was sold to Belgium's InBev for $52 billion — although Bud CEO, August Busch IV, had told the company's wholesale distributors months ago that a sale would "not happen on his watch." All it took was InBev to raise their price per share price to $70 (it was rejected at $65). Sellout.

InBev makes a lot of good beers, to their credit, including Stella Artois, Leffe, Hoegaarden, and Beck's (Stella is probably my favorite beer). InBev also comes from a country where their money is ACTUALLY WORTH SOMETHING.

Despite my best efforts, my employer refuses to pay me in Euros. The "Almighty Dollar" ain't what she used to be, remember that when filling up your gas tank... Oil has gotten more expensive worldwide, but prices have jumped twice as much in the U.S.A. compared to Europe due to the falling price of the dollar. Some economists expect a dollar rebound in late '08 or 2009. In the meantime, don't be shocked to see American treasures purchased by foreigners.

The Never Ending Story

Just stumbled across this as I was stumblin' through bobdylan.com. They're all very short, but be sure to go back to the beginning. And I found that episode 18 doesn't work.

Taming the Savage Adorable Beast

Ohh La La

Eric sent me a link to some pretty puttingthingsinplainsiteworthy news. The BBC is reporting that the Faces may be getting back together to tour. Let's just hope Ronnie Wood can keep his act together.

"Rabbit Ripper of the Ruhr"

It was reported in recent news that some asshole was going around chopping peoples feet off and chucking them in the Canadian waters. Perhaps in response to Canada's Foot Fetish Frenzy, Germany has issued it's own version of mysterious human sadism, the 'Rabbit Ripper' ('Bunny Beheader').

Seasonal Haiku

The spaniel charms a
growl as our paths cross up the
narrow, marble stairs.

The stench of mange, piss,
and decay mix as I greet
my aging neighbor.

It’s pitiful the
way he beats the dog and yells
“You stinking bastard,”

And even more how
he smiles; how the dog cowers
yet still trails behind.

Antichrist Svperstar

Earlier today I was writing a very long winded email to a friend about "what hip hop means to me." I touched on who I liked, who I didn't, etc. It got me to thinking, the only rap I really liked is from the 90's. The 90's was the last decade of the Music Store, pre-digital era, where it seemed people were more on the same page, many just listening to what MTV told us to like. A G-Funk era, if you will... And then I got to thinking about the complete opposite of rap (which wasn't hard to do). I started thinking of 90's ROCK bands. What were some of the albums to really splash those magazines like Rolling Stone and Guitar World, a big pop-culture album...

Not too long ago (thirty minutes ago) I just repurchased Marilyn Mason's Antichrist Superstar, and I'm listening to it now. Yes, it was an impulse buy, but I had some leftover iTune's gift certificate dough, so whatta I got to lose? It's been a while, you know, and I'm willing to go there. Anywho, this album is total horror music for your ears! "Tourniquet" is my choice-song, great opening guitar riff, amazingly terrifying music video complete with zombies, mutilation, and hasty nipple shaving. shivers... I must admit I do consider this a guilty pleasure. Rocking out like the stranged and esteemed Masonites, fans of Marilyn Manson, just comes natural to me.

The album is considered a concept album. In a three part storyline, an abused and apathetic person (represented by "The Worm") becomes an influential celebrity and finally transforms into the powerful "Disintegrator". In an issue of Kerrang! magazine edited by Manson, he stated that the album was a tribute to - and inspired by - the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Much of the album content is deliberately vague, allowing listeners to draw independent conclusions. [source]

I remember when I first heard of Marilyn Manson back in middle school, I was honestly terrified of him as a human being. His music seared images of demon-like creatures playing rock instruments loud and threatening, trying to scare... I didn't spend too much time listening to his music, but his videos did scare me, "He must be possessed by the devil!" Back in those days I had the Lord living in my heart and mind, so I feared The Reaper... "Lead me not into temptation." But given the taste of my personality, of course I secretly enjoyed the extremes of pop artists like Nine Inch Nails and Manson. Total characters, like Ziggy Stardust with evil powers. The best part about Antichrist Superstar is that its produced by Trent Reznor, the mastermind behind NIN; very dark, industrial, fuzzy guitars, screeching guitars, weaping guitars, whispers, screams, BIG SCREAMS, drums that sound like they're being beaten to death... a very dramatic piece of work...

I've been digging it, fucking rocks, dude (throws up "the sign of the beast"). I'll listen to it on my way to Hagerstown. I'm trying to make my Greyhound experience as terrifying as possible! I'm sure this album isn't for everybody, plenty people can't stand this shit. The winning Manson listener is either be a disenchanted teenager with raging hormones and a fondness for the goth, or an adult open-minded listener who appreciates the horror, dedication, and uniqueness of Manson's art, particularly Antichrist Superstar. Sorry folks, this ain't for the kiddies.

Real people over the last 30 days

I put a "site tracker" on this webpage about a month ago using GoStats.com just to see how many hits this site was getting and somewhat of an idea how popular it was. Today I got an email that reported:

Total counter state:

Hits: 2696
Hosts: 513
Visitors: 1102
Sessions: 1489

From the begining of the month:

Hits: 277
Hosts: 54
Visitors: 121
Sessions: 162

Last week:

Hits: 380
Hosts: 109
Visitors: 169
Sessions: 210

People from all over the world have stumbled on this site, many of them peeping for "racy miley cyrus photos." It appears the lazy summer days are also getting to the best of us. Just figured I'd share.

The Lucas Laws Lexicon, Vol 1.

In stride with Meriam-Webster Inc.’s addition of more than 100 new entries in their newest edition, I wanted to offer up some of my own new words in my first edition of the Lucas Laws Lexicon:

mijority n. pl. 1. A race majority in a particular state or region that is outnumbered by the collective minority races 2. The collective minority races in a particular state or region that outnumber the majority race. I ‘member everythang was fine and dandy here ‘till them damn mijorities started actin’ like it was there country too.

facespace n. A slang conjunction used for referring to the two popular social networking websites, Facebook & MySpace, all in one. Lisa, you’ve been on facespace uploading Medieval Times pictures for the past 4 hours. Don't you see no one cares about your knight boyfriend!

stockton v.t. To give or render help to; relieve; succor. (coined after the NBA’s all-time assist king, John Stockton – 15,806 career assists) Did you enjoy that man? Good. You owe me, because I told the stripper I would kill her and her boyfriend if she didn’t give you a free private dance….Stockton!...right?

A Quick Take, Dr. Phil vs Dr. No

So I just came back from dragging on a left handed cigarette, hurray, and Mr Obama is speaking from Fairfax, VA. I know this because he sent out a bulletin on Myspace to everyone on his friends list. And he's hitting on the economy, real specific proposals, speaking to a womans only audience, and he's getting fired up again like he was early in the primaries. Talking about keeping taxes low for middle and lower income folk, cutting taxes for small business owners, providing Universal Healthcare, getting women equal pay at the work place. He's telling these women that if they get out there and knock on some doors, get out the vote, then we can win this election, and these people are eating it up. He was with Hillary in New York last night raising money to help pay her debt off, they had a breakfast this morning with some female supporters, and his wife is in Missouri talking to middle aged white ladies.McCain is floundering and Obama's out there adding women to his movement. He already had blacks, young folk, Native Americans, Middle Easterners, and the "Starbucks crowd" as they call them. He just added Hispanics and Jews 3 weeks ago, and now he's adding in white women. And McCain's getting plastered for his top economic advisor, Phil Gramm, calling Americans a "nation of whiners". And John McCain just went on the television and said he wants to make the guy ambassador to Bellarus, which was a pathetic attempt at humor. Bellarus is where Chernobyl happened, it's still radioactively poisionous, weird sh!t grows there, it's like the end of the world. So then Obama comes out and does a Chris Rock style routine ragging on McCain comparing him to Dr. Phil (a retort to McCain calling him Dr. No), all a day after the Rev Jesse Jackson talked about castrating him....this stuff is great!

Psychodelic Mushrooms Are Good For You

That's what the internet told me... According to this Yahoo News article:

"I feel more centered in who I am and what I'm doing," said Osborn, now 66, of Providence, R.I. "I don't seem to have those self-doubts like I used to have. I feel much more grounded (and feel that) we are all connected."

That doesn't sound all bad, now, does it?

Fourteen months after taking the drug, 64 percent of the volunteers said they still felt at least a moderate increase in well-being or life satisfaction, in terms of things like feeling more creative, self-confident, flexible and optimistic. And 61 percent reported at least a moderate behavior change in what they considered positive ways.

I wonder if Malcom Ritter, AP Science Writer, tried the shrooms. What real journalist reporting on the subject wouldn't?

I wanted to share my project from last semester's computer graphics class. My professor assumed I gave little effort...UNTRUE! It was very frustrating for me to execute because of my poor computer skills. I was happy with the way it turned out and I thought it would make a cool album cover for a post-beatles mix.

One from my heart

Since I've been utterly not following the news, the times, or the society lately (this includes neglecting my weekly subscriptions to both sides of the fence, as well as any cnn, nyt, blah blah, spot checking), music has been the only thing occupying my time, fortunately. Which brings me to Francis Ford Coppola, who had some sort of hand in bringing together one of more intriguing husband and wife songwriting duo's.

One From The Heart was his follow up to my favorite movie of all time, Apocalypse Now. There's a soundtrack for One From The Heart, composed by Tom Waits. It's awesomely cheesy and interesting, as is the movie.

The Death of an Eyesore

How fitting is it that on the birth date of our country declaring "all men are created equal" that Jesse Helms has died. The man who once called the University of North Carolina "The university of Negros and communists" passed away today at the age of 86. Now I must admit I'm torn. Part of me feels for the passing of any person, but at the same time I'm quite thrilled that the son-of-a-bitch is dead. I love my state, but with Helms as our senior senator I was always a little embarrassed. He once ran against and ethnic candidate using the slogan "Vote for Helms-He's one of us", he opposed the MLK JR Day bill on the grounds that he "associated with communists" and was a philanderer, and there's of course the famous "Hands" ad which can be seen here. He was a racist and homophobic plain and simple but the worst incident of all might be this fun little story. Soon after the Senate vote on the Confederate flag insignia, Sen. Jesse Helms ran into Carol Mosely-Braun in a Capitol elevator. Helms turned to his friend, Sen. Orrin Hatch, and said, "Watch me make her cry. I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing 'Dixie' until she cries." He then proceeded to sing the song about "the good life" during slavery to Mosely-Braun.

I just wish Jesse wouldn't have died so soon. Something tells me he would've loved this November!

Drop the Sand or Jump Ship!

Pack your bags folks, 'cause we're turning 'round — heading back to the fork. No use in getting used to the cold, no use in chasing those "times." I say THANK YOU to the Smart Men who started this whole thing and NO to the 21st century — I will not be your BIG FAT FUCK! Hell, its my birthday too.

Did you know you can safely drink fresh piss? No go on the shit, though.

My Hometown

I'm proud of my hometown Hagerstown, Maryland. I feel safe. Why? Because we have front page news like this in our newspaper.

Shadowplay

So apparently some jackass got the smart idea to go and steal the gravestone of Ian Curtis. According to the BBC, 'at some point between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, thieves removed the stone from its perch at the Macclesfield Cemetery in Curtis' hometown of Macclesfield, England. Authorities currently have no leads as to the whereabouts of the stone, which bears the inscriptions "Ian Curtis 18 - 5 - 80" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart".'

So I figured I'd use this sad occasion as an opportunity to post Joy Division's first television appearance. Not sure if anyone else on here is a fan, but if so enjoy.

FAUX News

Does anybody else on here watch FOX news? I mean I could just stop my blog post at that point alone but seriously, has anybody else on here been watching this shit? Well whether you have or not I thought I'd take a moment to share with you some of the things I've 'learned' in the last two hours alone.

First off, questioning McCain's military service is out of bounds (got that General Clark?), but accusing John Kerry of shooting himself to earn a purple heart is okay. And what's the difference you may ask, well according to Andrea Tanteros and Ollie North, John Kerry criticized the Vietnam war when he got home, which makes him something between a traitor and the French candidate for president; where as John McCain still to this day supports the Vietnam war so therefore it's hands off.

Secondly, Barack Obama (or Barry as I like to call him), is a "phony" when it comes to his Christianity. Now I was already aware that only Republicans were alowed to be Christians, you know with Jesus being the former head of the Messopotamia faction of the GOP and all, but apparently Barry isn't allowed to propose any faith based initiatives because "Evangelicals smell a fake a mile away". Oh and the fact that Obama is an evangelical himself doesn't count because Christians "only vote on gay marriage and abortion". Apparently they've moved away from the peace and poverty platform that Jesus ran on, hell with a name like that it wouldn't surprise me if they deported him already.

Thirdly and fortunately finally, coal and gas are good for ours and the Earth's health because "those who have coal and oil are wealthy. And wealthy is healthy, healthy is wealthy" so says some man that looks like a glasses-less version of Eric Cantor (Cantor by the way might be the biggest jackass in all the GOP, and he's the congressman for Richmond, disgrace). And in a related point Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is something akin to a San Francisco Liberal (which in republican eyes puts him on the same level with the man who cancelled Touched By an Angel) because he said that coal and oil are "making us sick".

Well, that's all the 'learnin' for now folks. I hope you all now feel as misinformed as I do!