John McWho?

Did anyone have any idea that John McCain was in Sugar Grove (IL) tonight for an Oberweis fund-raiser?
Well he was.
I had no idea until I got the invite about a half-hour beforehand. I still haven't seen anything in the media. I'm just amazed that the (default) Republican nominee could head into Illinois and no one seems to care or notice.

Huh.

What The Flickr?

I threw up a handful of random photos up on my Flickr page. This should serve as a warning to everyone that booze and photography make strange bedfellows, indeed.

Garmin Electra

The Girl just gave me a Garmin Nüvi on the expressed condition that I never make her navigate anywhere ever again. This last trip back from DC I had a chance to road-test it. I gotta say, it's pretty fucking sweet.
I've made that trip about 20 times, so I didn't really need the map function, but I was all about was the statistics function. I became obsessed with raising my "overall average" and keeping the "time stopped" to a minimum.
My obsessing allowed the time to fly by and I made the trip in record time - 10 hours and 45 minutes. From the start (leaving DC at 10AM), the device called the estimated time of arrival as 7:48 (central time) - I thought the thing was fucking nuts. I've never made the trip in less than 11 hours and 15 minutes, but the Garmin called it within 3 minutes from the get-go. How, I have no idea.
My proudest accomplishment was keeping my stopped time down to 22 minutes - That includes time stopped at traffic signals, in traffic, and fuel/bathroom breaks (3 each). Impressive.

I can't wait to take it out and test the map function.
Cartography rulz!
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Here's the Garmin breakdown of the DC to Illinois trip:
745.3 miles
Total Trip Time: 10 hrs. 45 min.
Moving Time: 10 hrs. 24min.
Time Stopped: 21 min. 46 sec.
Max Speed: 85.9 mph
Moving Average: 71.7 mph
Overall Average 69.3 mph

Heading Home

I've gotten everything wrapped-up here in DC, and am driving back to Illinois this morning so that I miss the ice storm tomorrow.

Here I come.

Steve Kazmierczak

The Chicago Tribune hasn't "released" the name of the NIU shooter, but if you follow the leads in THIS article, THIS has to be the guy.
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HERE'S something else I dug up.
Weird.
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I think I may have found the guy's Live Journal page. By searching his UIUC alias (sans "2"), I found this (skazmie.livejournal.com/).
I really wouldn't paste that link if I were you - The page seemes really wiggy, my SpyBot and StopScript programs started going nuts when I checked it out, which led to the Blue Screen of Death. It might just be Vista being Vista, but I don't trust it.
All you need to know is that the user name is "steve... kaz. ..." & it's titled "Emo-Sexual Blog".
Seriously.

Update: It looks like this one was a false-positive. Sorry, Emo-Sexual Blog - Keep on keeping on.
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Clarification:
I went to school in DeKalb and still have a bunch of friends back there (some who work for the university), but I never knew the shooter (nor would I want to).
I just put together some clues that were being floated by various media sources early this morning. I cannot vouch for the validity of any of the aforementioned sites or any sites mentioned in the comment field.
I just happened to be awake at 3AM, did a few simple web searches, and posted what I found - That's it.

Nothing Says "Valentines Day" Like Logistics

I finally got everything wrapped-up back here in DC. Now I'm just waiting for the weather to clear (and this damned head-cold to dissipate) before driving the 12 hours back to Illinois.

I'm thinking that'll happen either Saturday or Sunday.

The Liar's Answers To All Tech Questions

I just had to make up a list of simple answers to any and all comp-tech questions for first-time computer owner, Mr. Drinky Joe.
Here it is:

A) Yeah, It'll do that.

B) Make sure that it's plugged in/turned on.

C) If it looks like it's gonna catch fire, carefully unplug it and place it on the front lawn.

D) If the computer gains self-awareness, under no circumstance should you allow it to compete with you for the love of a woman, instigate a thermonuclear war with the U.S.S.R., or establish a sentient machine army to overthrow the human race.

E) For any other scenario, just ask anyone else under the age of 65 who's sober and/or "Jeeves".

That just about covers it.

Voting For Winners Is For Losers

Part of my timing in going back to DC when I did was so that I could vote in the Maryland primary today. It didn't help that less than 12 hours after I landed at BWI my preferred candidate dropped out of the race.
The golden lining: I got to vote with my heart rather than my brain.
I'm officially a proud Ron Paul voter. Granted, he's a total nut-job, but he's my kind of total nut-job. I fucking love the nut-jobs. Keep in mind that I'm possibly the only registered Republican who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 and 2004 - both times out of spite.
Back in 2000 I was crushed that we got Bush II instead of Powell or McCain, and I sure as shit wasn't gonna cast a vote that would make PMRC Tipper the first lady.
In 2004 I was fed-up with G-Dub and appalled at the ineptitude of the Kerry campaign. I voted for Ralph just to egg him on.

This year I really liked Romney. I felt that he alone had the wherewithal to clean up the huge fucking mess that Georgie the second has left this nation in. I wasn't thrilled at his pandering to the right-wing (not that it did him a bit of good), but was convinced that he'd go back into Massachusetts Governor mode just in time for the general election.
Rev. God-boy Huckster blew that all to hell - Just like those twisters blew the hell out of the Super-Tuesday states he carried.
Holy shit; God is a Mormon - Who knew?

Anyway... I sorta like McCain, but I think that he's the wrong guy at the wrong time for the nation. I have a load of respect for Hillary, but I'm not excited by any means. And don't even get me started on Obama unless you get a six-pack in me and sign a release-waiver.
I hear that Nader's planning on running again this year - He just might get my "fuck you" vote for the 3rd presidential election in a row.

That should be good for a laugh.

February

Holy shit! I haven't posted a damned thing yet this month.
I totally suck.

Here's the deal: I'm taking a hiatus from running around northern Illinois and am back in DC for a week to change Drinky Joe's litter and wrap-up some other loose ends.
I plan on driving back to Chicago sometime either Friday or Saturday (weather permitting), then I'll get back to trying to find gainful employment and a place to live.
Until then; bottoms up.

Limited Time Offal

In the new Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode, Three sirens move into the old ATHF house and Carl tries to make nice with the new neighbors.

...oh, and the sirens are Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, and John Kruk.
Awesome.

You can watch the whole episode HERE (in 2 parts).
This episode will be up until Friday or Saturday, and then the link will expire - So, Hurry.

Tivo Alert

For those of you fortunate enough to possess a DVR, listen up. Tomorrow during the day, TCM is gonna be a freaking jackpot of awesome. All day long they're gonna be playing a bunch of great old B-Horror films, including the superb lost classic, Spider Baby, featuring a teenage Sid Haig decked out in a Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit.

Here's the schedule:

6:45am - The Terror (1963)
A lost soldier discovers a mysterious beauty haunting a half-deserted castle.
Cast: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight. Dir: Roger Corman. C-79 mins

8:15am - Horror Castle (1963)
A Holocaust survivor tortures women in the dungeons of an ancient castle.
Cast: Rosanna Podesta, Georges Riviere, Christopher Lee. Dir: Antonio Margheriti. C-84 mins

9:45am - The Castle of the Living Dead (1964)
A traveling circus entertains a medieval count who uses them in his bizarre experiments.
Cast: Christopher Lee, Gaia Germani, Donald Sutherland. Dir: Luciano Rici, Lorenzo Sabatini. BW-90 mins

11:30am - The Haunting (1963)
A team of psychic investigators moves into a haunted house that destroys all who live there.
Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn. Dir: Robert Wise. BW-112 mins

1:30pm - Children Of The Damned (1964)
Space invaders impregnate six women with super-powered offspring.
Cast: Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, Barbara Ferris. Dir: Anton Leader. BW-90 mins

3:00pm - Spider Baby (1968)
Greedy relatives try to repossess the decaying mansion of an inbred Southern family.
Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr., Quinn K. Redeker, Sid Haig. Dir: Jack Hill. BW-84 mins

4:30pm - Die! Die! My Darling! (1965)
A religious fanatic imprisons her late son's sinful fiancee.
Cast: Tallulah Bankhead, Stefanie Powers, Donald Sutherland. Dir: Silvio Narizzano. C-96 mins,

6:15pm - Eye Of The Devil (1967)
A French nobleman deserts his wife because of an ancient family secret.
Cast: David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Donald Pleasence. Dir: J. Lee Thompson. BW-96 mins
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How friggin' awesome is that? For those of you not in the know; TCM is offered on most basic cable packages and shows uncut films without commercial breaks - It's probably my favorite basic-cable channel. You should totally check it out.

Fuck, if you don't have a DVR, just pop in a VHS tape and hit record on SLP as you're leaving for work. If you don't have basic cable, you're shit outta luck.

P.S. Tallulah Bankhead.

The Wrath of the Monarch Foundry

Today I found an abandoned foundry out by my parents' place and got some great industrial decay photos.
They're up on my Flickr page now if you want to check 'em out.

Smoking Update

It's been over two weeks since I started my smoking experiment; here's the breakdown:

I went a full week without smoking (as planned) and then decided that I didn't want to quit, but really wanted to cut down drastically on my smoking.
Before this, I'd smoke about 30 to 40 cigarettes every day. I decided that I'd like to get that down to 5 to 10 every day.
In the 9 days since I've started back up I've smoked two packs (40 cigarettes).
Within that time span, I've been out drinking 4 of those nights and attended the Chili Solstice (smokin' galore). I think that's pretty damned good.

I'll be happy if I can keep this up and keep the smoking trips outdoors to a minimum. Plus, It'll be nice if I don't feel compelled to cut out what I'm doing for a needed nicotine fix.
I think that this is the best of both the worlds.

Now I just have to find a connection for fine smokeables outside of Illinois that aren't those damned Safety Cigarettes.

Almost an Asian Arert

Lately, I've been all about the music of Shiina Ringo. Plus, she has some of the coolest fucking videos - hands down.

Check 'em out:










She totally gets an L&E Walrus of Approval:

inDCent Exposure

Hey DC Peoples,

If any of you are still checking out this blog, I'll be back in the District for the weekend of the 8th. I'm gonna stick around until Tuesday to vote in the Maryland primary, then I'm gonna drive my Jeep back to Illinois for the last time.

Make a note of it.

Consolidation Means Consumer Freedom

Um... Nope.

I'm freaking pissed. I just went to book a flight back to DC for the weekend, and I found out that the stage had been dramatically altered.
I used to fly ATA constantly. They had retarded-cheap rates running between Chicago Midway (MDW) and Washington National (DCA) . You could get one-way tickets for under $70 bucks with a few weeks notice - last-minute rates barely broke the $100 mark. I fucking loved it.
ATA just drastically cut its routes and sold off most of the company to Southwest. Effective November 1st they cut out of DCA entirely.
This freakin' blows - DCA is the only DC airport with subway service, now the flight from Chicago to DCA that used to cost me $68 now is gonna run me $187 (the chepest one-way non-stop rate I could find).
Whaaaa?!?!
I could take a flight with a 5 hour lay-over in Detroit (the non-stop runs about an hour and a half), or fly to Dulles (IAD) or Baltimore (BWI) for around a hundred bucks, but I don't wanna do that.
I guess that I'm gonna have to fly from fucking O'Hare into BWI or IAD and then drop $50 on a cab ride back to DC.

Suck it, free market.

Squared Off @ Otto's This Friday

Ms. Kathy T. Great (of ePissy fame) has a boyfriend.
His name is Ryan.
He's dreamy.
He has a band called Squared Off.
His band is totally playing Otto's in DeKalb this Friday.

Come out and show Ryan some love.

These guys have been around since the 7DA days, and put on one hell of a show. I'm definitely gonna be out for this one.
See you there.

Sicko-or-How I Accidentally Stopped Smoking

I've been dead-sick since Tuesday and have been absolutely fucking miserable.
Here's the funny thing: In my sickness I think that I accidentally stopped smoking. It's been 3 full days since I had a smoke and I'm not even vaguely interested in lighting one up.
That fucking sucks. I like smoking and had no inclination to quit.

This sort of thing has happened before. Back in college I used to quit smoking for weeks at a time just to annoy my roommate who was always trying to quit (unsuccessfully). It was just another test of will, and once I'd met my goal I'd always go right back to smoking, because it was something that I enjoyed.
Now I'm not so sure that it's worth it. I'm gonna give it one full week (1-16-08, 12PM) and then decide what I'm doing on the nicotine front.
Here's my pro/con list on whether it's worth it to quit:

Pro: By quitting smoking, I can personally deprive inner-city children of vitally needed provisions and services funded by state tobacco taxes, and everyone knows how much I detest underprivileged children.

Con: Non-smokers (for the most part) are smug, self-satisfied, holier-than-thou twats.
What made me special is that I was all of those things and smoked.

Pro: It's fucking cold outside.

Con: By quitting right after the IL smoking ban passes, I feel like I'm surrendering to the will of the nanny-state. Welcome to the "No Fun" future, kids.

Pro: With the $40 or so I'm saving each week on cigarettes, I can finally afford to take up shooting smack.

Con: As anyone who has watched me play a video game or prepare food knows, I have a very mild case of Tourette's - Smoking helps me keep it in check.
By ceasing to smoke, I run the risk of going from a mere "spazz-wad" to "king-uber-spazz".

Pro: Now I'll get my full sense of smell back just in time for my daily commute on Chicago public transit. Lucky me.

Con: Managing to stop smoking before I turn 35 greatly increases my life expectancy, thus leaving me vulnerable to unscrupulous individuals willing to exploit my nonagenarian dementia for their own greedy ends.

Flickrama

I just got around to posting up about 30 pics from Williamsburg (Virginia) and Prairie Du Chien (Wisconsin) up to my Flickr site.

Enjoy.

Because a Rooftop Snowdrift Took Out my Satelite Internet Connection Last Week