Derek Coward's Noise

New Blog

2009-03-24T16:43:00.001-07:00

This was my first blog and while I neglected it more often than not, it was a good blog and served me well. However, it occurred to me that I was an idiot for not using one of my own domains to host my main blog.

So I have decided to get rid of my self inflicted idiocy and move my blog to http://www.kafraco.com/blog. I have tried to mimic the same basic look with the new site, but I know that it is different and since I have more control, there will be more features. I'm not exactly sure what new features, but there will be some.

So this blog will just sit dormant while the other one gets all of the good new content. Well, new content.

Maybe It's Just Me

2009-03-04T06:05:00.000-08:00

I have a friend with an ex in prison, three children between the ages of 14 and 10 (I'm never quite sure the exact ages), a history of very dubious choices and a very sweet (but extremely malleable) personality. This friend and her children used to stop by the house five or six days out of the week. I saw them more than my daughters who live with their mother or my own siblings and their families.

Then all of a sudden they stopped coming around. And I mean sudden. One week we saw them six straight days, then we saw them once in two weeks. Weird, but expected once she received her income tax return.

What wasn't expected was that she started dating someone whose sole attribute was described as "he's wearing an ankle bracelet and she doesn't even know what he was in for."

Granted I don't know what most women look for in a man, but I would think that 'Has an electronic tether on his ankle' would NOT rank very high on the list of desired attributes.

I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that I know how this story is going to end.

I Love Money 2

2009-02-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

My 13 year old niece is visiting as I write this blog post and she is watching TV in the living room. As I was walking back from the kitchen, I glanced at what she is watching. It looked like some sort of game show with women in bikinis jumping into a pool of mud for some reason. I shook my head and kept going.

I shouted back down the hall and asked her what she was watching. Apparently it is a show called 'I Love Money 2' and airs on VH1.

Here is a clip of the show:

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Am I the only one who remembers when VH1 was the mature music television channel, unlike MTV, who only showed hair metal and hip hop videos?

Was this rude?

2009-02-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

Telemarketer: Hello Derek, I'm calling from All-State Insurance and we have discounts in your area...

Derek: Hold on, is this about the job application I put in with you guys?

Telemarketer: Um, no...

Derek: I have nothing to say to you then. Goodbye.

[Click]

Noise I Never Made, Part Two

2009-01-27T08:34:00.000-08:00

The second batch of notes were from the time just before Episode 100, where I was revisiting my original concept for Deliberate Noise. The original concept was scrapped due to a long running time. Episode 100 was almost three hours long. I didn't mind doing something like that as a one-off, but doing a weekly show like that would have been relationship/familial bond suicide.

The ideas that I never used were:
Anime Noise (which would have taken a look at the first episode of Gatchaman and I would have discussed some of the differences between Gatchaman and Battle Of The Planets/G-Force)

Where Are They Now Noise (which would have taken a look at some of the pop culture figures from the past and gave an update of what they were doing now. If I recall correctly, it would have been a joke like "Clara Peller, the Where's The Beef lady. She's dead")

Social Network Noise (the note next to it was "find the top social networks or new ones and keep track of what they are doing". This one has possibilities, but not for me right now)

Ubuntu Noise (which would have been a look at the Ubuntu operating system and its community)
MMA Noise (which would have been a look at the next big MMA card that was coming out at that time, I cannot remember what it is now)

TV Noise (still haven't done it yet even though it has its own forum)

Noise I Never Made, Part One

2009-01-27T08:08:00.001-08:00

As I was going through some papers, I found two lists of show ideas. One was from the planning stages of my podcast. These notes predate the Deliberate Noise 0 show.

The ideas that I never used were:
TV Noise - I was going to talk about the pilots that were floating around the internet and I would have taken a look at the upcoming Fall TV season, but I just couldn't summon up enough motivation to do it once I started Comic Book Noise. For a while I put some TV industry news in the news section of Movie Noise, but I eventually got rid of that segment and have never gone back to the idea of a TV podcast.

Video Game Noise - I wanted to do this with my younger brother, but he quit following the video game scene as hardcore as he once did around this time. He started dating more and sold most of his games and systems. He let his gaming magazine subscriptions lapse and didn't sound like he was all that interested in doing it.

DVD Releases Noise - This was just going to be me going over what was coming out each week. It would have been similar to what Aaron Macom does with SciFiDig, only not as entertaining. This was one of the first ideas I dropped.

Music Noise - This would have been a sort of news show about what was going on in mainstream/Big Label music and not a show where I played mainstream/Big Label music. I was assembling the first show notes when I realized that I didn't care about what was going on.

All of the other original ideas saw the light of day in one form or another. Comics Noise became Comic Book Noise, Movie Noise is still going on, Story Noise morphed into Mosai Noise, Tech Noise had one subpar episode that was released as Deliberate Noise: Tech Edition before being dropped forever

No Good Affiliate Marketing Podcasts?

2009-01-14T06:14:00.001-08:00

I was listening to an episode of Good Clean Fun where Michael Butler was talking about attending the Affiliate Marketing Summit. He gave a brief synopsis of what he thought affiliate marketing was and unlike a lot of other people, he made it sound semi-interesting. I know that a lot of people think that the dual worlds of affiliate marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) are pretty interesting, but a lot of times the people who talk about it make it seem like they are trying to sell a used car filled with a miracle cure-all that can make it rain. Not everybody, but enough for me to keep away from that whole scene.

He piqued my interest enough to make me do a search in iTunes for ‘affiliate marketing’ to see what kind of podcasts were out there. While I know that the iTunes Store is not the best place when it comes to wanting to find anything but the most mainstream media type of podcast, it just seems to me that a lot of those marketing types would want to attach themselves to the current 800 pound gorilla.

It therefore came as a bit of a surprise to me that out of the first ten podcasts that I took a look at, I only found ONE affiliate marketing podcast that had an episode released in 2009, three had a last release date in 2008 (including one from “the greatest affiliate marketer on the planet!”), two in 2007 (and one of these was a teaser clip for a weekly podcast that still has not materialized), two in 2006, one in 2005 and one that was completely blank, which makes me wonder why it was even in the system at all.

Unfortunately for me, the one affiliate marketing podcast that I found and is still active is an interview podcast. As a general rule I don’t listen to interview podcasts. If the interviewer is someone I would otherwise listen to (like Dave Slusher, Michael Butler or some of my comic book podcasting friends) or if the interviewee is worked into a real conversation (like the interviews on Keith and The Girl), then I will happily make an exception.

In the case of affiliate marketing/SEO, it seems to me that the main reason to talk anyone about those subjects is because they are an expert of some sort. In that case, I would rather hear that expert on their own podcast (or whatever form of new media they gravitate towards) than to hear them talk to someone else about the subject. Since most interview podcasts exist to have a new guest on every episode, I find that I usually do not make a connection with the host. Without that connection, listening to a bunch of random people talking about a subject I know nothing about doesn’t sound very appealing to me.

If anyone knows about an affiliate marketing podcast* that is pretty good, please leave a comment.

* If you know any good ones for SEO, let me know as well. I didn’t look for one so I don’t know if I would find a similar situation to the affiliate marketing ones.

Skype Ridiculousness

2009-01-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

I know I should keep away from Skype after the frustration of this past summer, but they have refunded a considerable amount of my money in the form of Skype Credit. However, the only thing you can do with Skype Credit is spend it on Skype stuff. And I'm not talking about some of the cool stuff in their store, like webcams or microphones, which could come in handy.

Nope, you can only buy online numbers and voice mail (which is a very handy combination if you have podcasts and want to have voice mail lines that don't go through Seattle) or you can get stuff from their Personalize section, which is ringtones and other frivolous stuff that is aimed at people other than myself.

So I came up with the idea of giving Skype Gift Certificates so that other people can buy voice mail and online numbers. That's about as altruistic as I get. Unfortunately, Skype no longer sells gift certificates. Apparently they are working to resolve the problem, but they don't actually say what the problem is.

There is speculation that in early 2008 a lot of people who had bought Gift Certificate couldn't redeem them because they had already been redeemed. There is further unconfirmed speculation that Skype suffered a security breach and some information was taken, including a bunch of voucher numbers.

Skype Customer Support recommends that buy vouchers from stores (which would defeat the purpose of me wanting to get rid of my current Skype Credit balance); OR I can sign up for their Skype for Business service, add other people to the Business Control Panel and do everything that I want to do from there (buy online numbers and voice mail or just transfer Skype Credit to them).

Unfortunately, I cannot transfer from my person account to the collective account. I would have to buy more Skype Credit and allocate it that way. Which of course, doesn't allow me to get rid of my current Skype Credit balance.

I can understand why they have this precaution in place because there would be nothing to stop a Skype terrorist from taking over an account, setting up the Business Control Panel and allocating a bunch of stuff to his cohorts. I understand that, but that doesn't mean that it isn't frustrating, especially since it appears as though the bad guys have no problem with accessing Skype security. Speculatively.

Murphy's Law

2008-12-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

Contrary to popular belief, Murphy’s Law states: If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone can do it.

I just thought you’d like to know.

Resignation Letters and Final Episodes

2008-12-15T06:11:00.001-08:00

Ever since I joined the real work force (I had a sometime job at 13 and a part time all through high school and I don't really count them), I always carried an undated, but signed resignation letter in my wallet. I can't remember why I started, but it was always something very basic "To Whom It May Concern, effective immediately, I hereby terminate my employment with [personalized for the company]. Thank you, Derek Coward"

This wasn't because I went into the situation thinking that it wasn't going to work out or that the companies I worked for were somehow morally bankrupt and would ask me to do something that I would find reprehensible. I carried them just in case I ever needed to make a dramatic exit.

However, I only recently found out that you don't get Unemployment if you quit a job. Needless to say, I won't be carrying them anymore.

Instead, I have been working on final podcast episodes. I think I have the script written in my mind.

INTRO THEME

Me: Welcome to [Podcast Name Here]. I'm your host Derek Coward. [Podcast Name Here] can be found at [Podcast Website Here] and you can send feedback to [Podcast Email Here]. {long pause, maybe a deep sigh}

Eh, I'm done.

EXIT THEME

Not that I am thinking about quitting any time soon, but like I said I want to be ready in case I need to make a dramatic exit.

Relatively busy day

2008-12-14T20:12:00.001-08:00

I have been working on freelance reporting project and the latest proof has been sent to my customer's customer for review. I don't expect to hear back from them for a few days so I have been working on some personal/network stuff.

Today I posted the latest episode of the BoxxOnline Punk Rock Show. Actually I threw together a playlist, recorded a show, wrote the shownotes, updated the site and uploaded the show today.

I also used a free domain registration from my hosting service to get http://www.dcnoisepodcast.com. While I was thinking about it, I also grabbed http://www.thereaderfeed.com.

So most of my evening has been sent setting up Wordpress 2.7 for those two sites. Neither of them are at the level that I want them to be, but they look pretty good for the first day.

Mentally, I have also been working on the next episode of Movie Noise (which should encompass looks at four movies with a common theme) and the next two Book Review Noise episodes (The Coffin Dancer and The Empty Chair, both by Jeffrey Deaver, then I think I am going to lay off of his books for a while). I also have started thinking about the next fourteen episodes of Mosai Noise (which should end The Blackout storyline and I'll go to shorter more self contained stories) and a science opera podiobook that I have been thinking about.

I also have recording to do tomorrow with Angie and reading to do for my upcoming Queen and Country ReaderFeed series.

I think that if I hadn't been smacked upside the head with writer's block for the past few months, then I would have been this productive since my unemployment started.

Still, there is this nagging little voice in the back of my head telling me that I could be doing more.

For No Real Reason...

2008-11-29T07:32:00.000-08:00

Rank of Hands

In order of Strength and Probability of Being Dealt

Straight Poker with Nothing Wild

Royal Flush (Highest ranking straight flush made up of Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten, in the same suit.) 1 in 650000

Straight Flush (Five cards of the same suit in numerical order) 1 in 65000

Four Of A Kind (Four cards of the same numerical value) 1 in 4000

Full House (Three of a kind and two of a kind) 1 in 700

Flush (Five cards of the same suit not in sequence) 1 in 500

Straight (Five cards in sequence with mixed suits) 1 in 250

Three of a kind (Three cards of the same numerical value) 1 in 50

Two Pair (Two sets of cards of the same numerical value) 1 in 20

One Pair (Two cards of the same numerical value) 1 in 2 1/3

No Pair Hands (Highest card held wins)

I Voted

2008-11-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

I voted and I found myself overcome with emotion. I didn't think that the simple act of filling in a circle would affect me as much as it did. If you haven't voted and still have time to vote, then by all means, do so. If you haven't voted and it is too late, then I think you may have missed out on a very singular experience that you will never be able to take part in again.

Like I do every year, I will be watching the election results very attentively. I just hope that all of the people who started paying attention to politics this year will continue to keep an eye on what is going on. A lot of issues were brought up in the past election cycle and for them to be ignored because people are no longer paying attention would be a waste of all of the hope and desire for change that both campaigns brought this year.

Forget Bradley, worry about The Blanchard Effect

2008-10-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

I am not worried so much about The Bradley Effect as I am The Blanchard Effect. The Bradley Effect posits that an election can be lost despite a large margin due to silent racism. However, despite what some people might think, there is nothing that can be done about that. Those who want to vote based on skin color are going to do so no matter what.

In Michigan, we had a pretty popular governor named Jim Blanchard who was going up against John Engler. All of the polls said it was going to be a cakewalk for Blanchard. So a lot of people (myself included) didn't even bother going to vote in that election because it was in the bag. The result was John Engler being voted into office, which was a horrible thing to happen to a lot of the people of Michigan. And he was elected because people against him were complacent and sat at home.

If Barack Obama were to lose because of racism then that would just prove that America is not ready for a black president. And as I said there is nothing that can be done about that. If he were to lose because people decided to stay at home that day, then that would be worse to me because that would mean that he didn't HAVE to lose.

The Real October Surprise: Hubris and Short-Term Thinking

2008-10-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have been expecting a Republican October Surprise, supposedly that time right before the General Election where the Republican Party goes into their bag of dirty tricks and pull out something that will severely damage the Presidential campaign of Barack Obama.

The only October surprise that I am seeing is coming from both "sides" of the political spectrum and that is a combination of hubris and short term thinking. [I realize that there are more than two sides to our current political landscape, but let's face it, in the grand scheme of things only two of them count. Whether you want to label them "liberals/Democrats/Obama Supporters" or "conservative/Republican/McCain Supporters", you know what I am referring to, so playing with semantics will only get you ignored and possibly mocked.] There is a sense of hubris so strong coming from the Obama side of things that even he had to come out and warn against it.

They need to realize that the Bradley Effect is not something that can be taken lightly. There seems to still be a deep racial animosity towards Blacks in this country. The fact that one could very likely be in charge of the country is not something that will sit well with a certain subset of people, regardless of what they say in public. They don't see the uplifting of one person, they see the uplifting of an entire race at the detriment to their own.

This is, of course, ridiculous because like a lot of black people that I know, I don't expect to automatically get a job on November 5 if Barack Obama gets elected. I don't expect to get 40 acres and a mule or the monetary equivalent. I don't expect to get invited to the White House (yes, it will still be called The White House) for a BYOB BBQ celebration, complete with chicken, watermelon, malt liquor and Kool-Aid. And above all, I don't expect to get Universal Healthcare or an education system that will automatically improve (I fell for that okey-doke in the past).

On the other side, I hear a lot of angry McCain supporters who have already thrown in the towel and are looking for someone to blame. This week's "Benedict Arnold" is Colin Powell who went against party lines to throw his way-too overinflated support behind the other guy. I have two comments on the Powell endorsement: 1) Isn't going against the wishes of your party this year's definition of a maverick, and if so, then why all of the lamentations and rending of garments? and 2) Despite how the relationship ended, wasn't Colin Powell a part of the same Bush Administration who did a number on McCain back in 2000? Everything that I have heard about Bush/McCain, is that those two guys really don't like each other. Is it really beyond all imagination that Powell would take the bullet for his old boss once again to do something that he might not have otherwise have done?

People need to realize that whether their side wins or loses in November, this country needs EVERYONE to come together to fix some of the problems that we have. A lot of people are acting like they want to just go back to their arms-filled compound and wait for the coming End of Days. Or worse, they are going to exercise their own version of non-violent protest and just not help. Not sabotage any efforts, but just not help. Sometimes the only thing worse than a guy who doesn't show up to work is one who does but does nothing all day but complain about how he doesn't want to be there.

Both sides need to get other themselves and realize that there is life after November 4. Chances are, you will not agree with everything that the winning side says and does, but act as if your side is the only side with any clue as to what they are doing is the epitome of hubris, it is short term thinking, and it is wrong.

I need some Steve McQueen help

2008-10-20T18:11:00.000-07:00

I was on the 11 O'Clock Comics forum in the political talk thread. Patti was sitting next to me looking at the screen. She looked at the screen and saw this avatar for one of the other posters:

This is the conversation that followed:

Patti: Who's that guy?

Me: What guy?

Patti (pointing to the screen): That guy. Who is he?

Me: That's Steve McQueen.

Patti: Who?

Me: What? You've never heard of Steve McQueen?

Patti: No, who is he?

Me (long pause as I struggled to wrap my mind around the fact there is someone I know who has no idea who Steve McQueen is): The original Blob, Bullitt...

Patti: What's Bullitt?

Me (long pause as I struggled to wrap my mind around the fact there is someone I know who has no idea what Bullitt is): What?

Patti: Don't give me that look. I don't know comic book stuff.

Me: The Great Escape, The Getaway, The Magnificent Seven.

Patti: Why does that sound familiar? I've heard of that.

Me: He's one of the last real fucking men in Hollywood.

Patti: You could have just said he was an actor.

Help me out. Which Steve McQueen movies (besides the ones I have listed) should I show her?

As If I Needed An Excuse

2008-10-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was picking Stephen up from school. He's in the morning kindergarten class and has to be picked up by 11:55 or else I catch hell for it. Not by his mother or the school, but by him. The kid is a little too smart for my own good.

Anyway, I was running late and was rushing to the front of the school where the kids were. One of his classmates was walking with her mother back to their car. The mother looked at me, smiled and in a very cheery voice asked "Hi, are you Olivia's grandfather?"

I gave her the patented Derek Coward stone face and said "No, I'm Stephen's father" and kept walking. In my head I was thinking "What the fuck? Do I look old enough to be Olivia's grandfather?"

Then it occurred to me. "Uh, probably. Because YOU ARE A GRANDFATHER!!!"

It was too late to tell her that there was no offense taken because she was hurried up to her car, probably a little embarrassed. And Stephen was waiting for me. In fact the first words out of his mouth were "You're late again." [Even though I wasn't the last parent/grandparent there, but if he has to wait even a second, then I'm late.]

This whole post was just an excuse to post this picture:

The Bad Mouth

2008-10-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

I'm still looking for a job, but something really weird is happening. Someone will get a copy of my resume. I am posted on Monster.com, Michigan Talent Bank and I have been sending it out at least twenty times a week to various job listings that I see. I have been getting a pretty good response with employers checking it out on the sites.

A few weeks ago, things really started to look up. I started getting calls from prospective employers and had a few phone interviews. Things would go great and at the end of the call I would be asked to send an updated version of the resume, usually with salary requirements and references.

This is where things would get weird. I send the updated resume with a cover letter tailored specifically for the recruiter and the job. Then, nothing. No follow up at all. With one contract house I even had a sit down face to face with their recruiter, who helped me update my resume. After I left his office, I heard nothing back from him. With another, I sent the resume for a specific job and never heard back. I sent a follow up email asking about opportunities with other customers. She responded that the first customer was still reviewing resumes (after two weeks), but she would keep me in mind. Since then, nothing.

Back in 2001, I found out that my last employer at the time would stonewall people calling for references. The only thing my boss (who I worked with directly for five years) would tell them was "All I can say is that he worked here from 1996 to 2001." That's not exactly putting the bad mouth on someone, but if I was considering hiring somebody and I heard that, then they would be taken off my shortlist.

Anyway, I wonder if someone is putting the bad mouth on me. I keep in contact with three of the four people i have listed as references, so I doubt if it is any of them, but I am thinking that I should send the next resume without that fourth person and see what the results are.

BTW, I hate being unemployed. It makes me paranoid.

Changing Eating Habits

2008-09-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

I think I made a mistake by letting Patti know that I am trying to change my eating habits. Whenever I tell her that I am trying to eat healthier, it seems like she goes out of her way to shove the sickest most fat laden delicious pieces of garbage in front of me. I'm not saying that she is intentionally trying to sabotage me, but it just seems that way at times.

This morning I had to take her to drop her car off at the car dealership and on the way back she asked if I wanted to stop at McDonald's for some breakfast. Normally I would have said yes, but my stomach has been gurgling all morning long so I want to avoid my own intentional sabotage. I passed and after dropping her off at work I came home to make my own breakfast.

10 seedless grapes
2/3 Kroger brand Granola cereal without milk
Water

I realize that this isn't a balanced breakfast and probably doesn't correspond with any real diet plan out there, but I like it. I wish I had a scale so that I can keep track of what my progress is, but I am of the opinion that following a set metric like that is counter productive. I will know that I am doing it right when I can see the results in the mirror.

Amy Winehouse and Billie Holiday

2008-09-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

I have an account over at blip.fm, which has been described as Twitter for music. I like it, but then again I like most music services that introduce me to music that other people like and not necessarily the music that some program director somewhere likes or some company in cahoots with the music industry is trying to sell me. To me, this is the flaw of last.fm's radio stations and Apple's new Genius feature in the latest version of iTunes.

One of the songs that I have heard is the demo version of a song by Amy Winehouse called 'Love Is A Losing Game.' Like a lot of people I have only heard a couple of Amy Winehouse songs and I am more familiar with her rather obvious self destruction that some people seem to relish in documenting on a weekly (if not almost daily) basis. Her voice in the song is powerful but flawed, filled with a tragic beauty that I would have caught even if I had no idea who was singing.

It reminds me so much of the later days of Billie Holiday that it is eerie. There are other recent singers who have been compared to Lady Day. Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux and Diana Krall immediately come to mind, but none of them have this sense of tragic inevitability in their voices that Winehouse brings.

Here is a clip of Billie Holiday and Lester Young singing the song 'Fine and Mellow' that I was thinking of when I heard 'Love Is A Losing Game.'

It would be really easy to just say "Poor girl, I hope somebody helps her", but I really think that we are seeing the last chapters of her story and while she may have some people around her who want to help her get better and stronger, I think that there are just as many (if no more) people around her who want to see her fail and fall. There is a lot bigger potential for making money off of the tragedy of Amy Winehouse's life if she isn't around to get better. Expect several tabloid shows to cover her death for weeks if not months with a lot tongue clucking and fake headshaking accompanied with the phrase "so young" being thrown around a lot.

A few posthumous albums later and Amy Winehouse will be forgotten as anything more than a punchline to jokes that will never make it on late night talk shows. Unfortunately for her, she will never gain the pop culture longevity of Billie Holiday, even though there will be a lot of similarities between them.

Top Search Query terms

2008-09-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the top Search Query terms according to Google Webmaster tools for some of the show websites in the Deliberate Noise Network:

Noiseboxx.com - mouth cancer

BoxxOnline - toxic virgin

Comic Book Noise - i want to write my name in water

Deliberate Noise - arm amputee

DerekCoward.com - i was morriseys drummer

Weird, huh?

Good News On The Horizon?

2008-09-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

As you may remember, I am unemployed. The afternoon of the day I was laid off, gas prices started their recent decline. Being the self-centrist that I am, I have decided that the decline is due to the fact that I have nowhere to go that will use up copious amounts of gasoline (like a job, for instance).

Allegedly gas prices are going back up. Could it be that one of the 100 or so resumes I have sent out has landed on the desk of someone who will offer me gainful employment? Or is it just my ego running amok again?

We shall see.

How Do We Know That The World Wasn't Destroyed?

2008-09-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

The Large Hadron Collider is a particle smashing machine that is supposed to help scientists understand (or be able to prove) the so-called "Big Bang Theory", which in turn "could revamp modern physics and unlock secrets about the universe and its origins". That’s the upside. A lot of critics of the project thought that the LHC "could create tiny black holes of intense gravity that could suck in the whole planet". That would be the downside.

Apparently the thing was turned on and the world wasn’t sucked into itself, so they are going to go on to the next part of the project. I don’t understand any of it because I never had a single Physics class in my entire life. That’s part of the perks of being in the Business tract in high school, if Emmett Brown destroys the world, you wouldn’t know about it until it happened.

However, I’m not a total dolt and I like to think that I think deep thoughts at times. So my question is this: How do we know that the world wasn’t destroyed? If you think of reality as an organic thing, then it would have curative properties of its own. Something like the destruction of a world (or possibly the entire universe) could self-correct instantaneously and we wouldn’t know about it.

And what if there really are an infinite number of alternate realities that spin off of even the most minute of differences. For example, when I first started this post I called it the ’Large Hardon Accelerator" before correcting myself, but if I had typed it right the first time, then that would be a different reality. All of my current timeline leading up to the moment and leading out of that moment is the same, except for that one ten second span of time.

If the LHC (or LHA, if you prefer) were to destroy the world and theoretically the universe, then we wouldn’t know about it because it didn’t happen in this reality. I know there is no way to prove that something of that magnitude (or minitude), but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Just because our understanding of physics says one thing that doesn’t mean that something else isn’t possible (and by our understanding, I mean someone else’s understanding).

The first of many hard days

2008-09-02T05:11:00.000-07:00

Stephen’s first day of kindergarten and first day riding the bus with his sister. I want to warn him that the world is a cruel place for someone like him. He is handsome at five years old. Not just cute, but handsome. He is smart. At the Open House at his school, the other parents were marvelling at the fact that he is reading already. And not just words, but pretty complex sentences. And not just reading them, but understanding them.

He also has an almost cavalier disregard for other people when there is something he wants. Combine that with a pretty bad and sudden temper and you have a recipe for potential disaster.

I want to tell him that he is different from the other kids and because of that they are going to dislike him. Enough will like him because the kid is just so charismatic, but there will always be that one kid who will find how to push his buttons and set him off.

I want to tell him that there will be times of extreme and utter boredom in a classroom filled with people who can’t keep up with him. I was there and while my parents knew, they also knew that there was nothing they would be able to do about it.

I want to warn him about a bunch of things, but I know that I can’t because I don’t want him to be afraid of life. There are a lot of areas where he is like me and I can foresee a lot of the misery that I went through being his future, but I know that if someone (especially my dad) told me what life was going to me like I would have disregarded them and wouldn’t have changed a bit. As stubborn as he is, I can see him doing the same thing.

I know that this is going to be a hard day for me. The first of many, but there’s nothing that I can do about it.

Two observations

2008-08-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

1) I think that I have been cast as the Morton Downey Jr of comic book podcasting. I have more people sending me emails that they love the rants that I do than ones telling me that they like or dislike my opinions. I'm not sure how I feel about my opinions, likes and dislikes being distilled into schtick.

2) I want some grits, but I hate making them for some reason.