I shall be in California for at least another year. Most likely.

got through Walter Burkert’s Greek Religion today…or rather, the parts that specifically deal with my dissertation. I’d read it about a year ago, and knew it was going to be exceedingly useful (even if he has some wacked out ideas about all ritual action and sacrifice operating to calm communal guilt for society…and he’s one of the main proponents of a theory which I find laughable, that of the scapegoat complex first dilineated by Rene Girard)…and I got about 11 pages of notes/quotes for the diss.

Very useful. But I know when I should stop working, and that’s when I can’t type well anymore, my fingers start tripping over themselves. So I halted, and am planning on chilling the rest of the day in my 90 degree apartment.

It was required of me to help this country. The government entered a sacred trust with me, it said “Son, we need you to do this for us. We need your specific help.”

My response, like any good citizen, was to say “Ok, buddy.” Uncle Sam himself beamed at me as I took hold of the means with which to help the country in these dark times. He gave me a check for $300 and told me to stimulate the economy.

So I did. I took that money, and as the state of California and the owners/operators of Ebay took witness, I probably single handedly saved this economy. I bought me another arcade machine. It is a mid-90s case, probably with Street Fighter Alpha in there, set up in JAMMA interface.

But, fellow Americans, you must know that this decision was not undertaken on a whim, or lightly. I thought long and hard about how best to benefit this great country of ours. Ought I to buy flat screen monitors to help me increase my productivity? I say thee nay! For such things come from China. How could I help the industry and economy of our society with such a purchase?

But lo, some may say, by buying an arcade machine, I was still helping China. To that I say only one word: Poppycock. This arcade machine was purchased new some decade and a half ago, when our economy was strong. By buying used, and locally, I am helping an honest American merchant by increasing his purchasing power and while benefitting my growing collection of arcade machines.

By gum, sir, this is how a true American operates!

And I am nothing if not a patriotic son of this great nation.

about SPF policies and websites.

And that if necessary, I can bring up Aesop’s Fables as a aspect of myth for my dissertation.

The two obviously aren’t related, but such is the life of Froyd©!

in the morning. There’s nothing quite like it. Esp. when the coffee maker is over on the counter.

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned how enjoyable it is at times to work from home.

annoys me.

Amen, Mr. T, Amen.

of anything new/different has gone on lately…so I’ll give you a quick run down of the last few movies I’ve watched:

Juno…pretty good, actually. Quite a bit of the witty dialogue.

Resident Evil 3: Extinction…man, I wish that title signalled the end of the series, but it doesn’t. Zombies? Check. Clones? Check. Psychic Powers? Check. Honestly, psychic powers? Doesn’t get much more asinine folks.

Dragonlance: This was painful to watch, and I only rented it. Think back to early 80s TV, with the cheap animation, now couple that style with early 90’s 3D draconians. Now take out all the good parts of the book, add a dash of Keifer Sutherland as Raistlin’s voice, and you can guess what you’ve got: a steaming pile that should be flushed down the toilet.

I am Legend: The book was perhaps, just a quick figure off the top of my head, 5 billion times better. Don’t get me wrong, this was an ok flick, just the book was better…by a lot.

In the Name of the King: Disappointing. I say that because the movie was actually so-so, and mostly watchable. I was expecting Dungeons and Dragons bad, but it never reached that level of abyssmal characterization, plotting, and inanity. It came close a couple of times (hey we’re going to swing you onto the cliff, so you can get in the castle…really? swing? you’re a mage with all the powers of magic, and you’re making this guy swing…with rope? Jerrrrrrk alleeerrrrrrrt)

I think that does it for now. I may have a more substantive post tomorrow. I may be moving into a house with a few other guys in the near future if all goes according to plan, but we’ll see. We need to sit down and hammer out the details before anything happens. I still plan on ruling the world, and now instead of saying the usual farewell on the phone, you may be lucky enough to hear me instead say “death to our enemies!”

Don’t count on it though…unless you’re special.

look, I’m not against partying and drinking, but at least give me a legitimate reason. Mexicans beating a bunch of dirty frenchmen isn’t even a reason. I mean, who HASN’T beaten a bunch of dirty frenchmen?

one two, one two, and through and through the vorpal blade went snicker snack!

Finally. Suburban Tribe been one of my favorite webcomics for some time, plot and character driven, rather than random one shots. I liked it so much that I didn’t remove it from the sidebar when it was discontinued, just because the archives should be looked through for new people.

And now it’s back, so ’s all good. I highly suggest you check it out and perhaps digg it. I totally digg it. It should consider itself dugg. Someone should create a game called digg-dugg where an internet user travels around the internet dirt and finds sites (animals) that they can either drop rocks on the sites if they’re bad, or use a digg to pump a site up.

That’s already been done? Curses.

this is how I spend ‘em:

Got about 8 pages for my next chapter done. It’s pretty sweet.

great taste or less filling?

A cannibal and a cook were having a meal. “Man I hate my Mother-in-law,” the cannibal said. “Well, at least eat your vegetables,” said the cook.

Why did the cannibal eat the tightrope walker? He wanted a balanced meal.

A cannibal ate a clown, but complained it tasted funny.

Why won’t cannibals eat divorced women?
They’re very bitter.

Two cannibals meet one day. The first cannibal says, “You know, I just can’t seem to get a tender Missionary. I’ve baked them, I’ve roasted them, I’ve stewed them, I’ve barbecued them, I’ve tried every sort of marinade. I just can’t seem to get them tender.”

The second cannibal asks, “What kind of Missionary do you use?”

The other replied, “You know, the ones that hang out at that place at the bend of the river. They have those brown cloaks with a rope around the waist and they’re sort of bald on top with a funny ring of hair on their heads.”

“Ah, ha!” the second cannibal replies. “No wonder … those are FRIARS!”

Now if THAT title doesn’t get the bizarre hits from google, I don’t know what will.

Anyway, there’s this article about the sexist ads in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. The gist of it is that Sweden isn’t going to ban sexist advertising, unlike Norway and Denmark.

Same ol’ Same ol’ Boring boring. It’s standard newspeak and lawyerese about fines, laws, complaints, etc. etc. Until you come to my most favorite quote of all time from ANY article on BBC’s news sites so far. It’s from a Ms. Olving, head of Norway’s Kreativt Forum:

Naked people are wonderful, of course, but they have to be relevant to the product…

It’s really quotes like that which make reading the news so worthwhile. Blahblahblah…Naked people are wonderful…blahblahblah. Genius.

and then she goes on to say:

We’re not that puritan that you can’t have naked bodies. But it has to be done in the right way, with charm and passion.

I don’t know why, but I crack up each time I read these quotes in context.