Once More, With Feeling

Assuredly, that's the Skinniest Leather Tie I've Ever Seen!

2007-11-28T11:48:00.000-05:00

Okay, so once again I have fallen into that rut where I don't end up updating when I want to. There have been a lot of things I've had on my mind that I wanted to bring up here, for anyone who was interested, but alas. That has not happened.

Briefly, I had the wonderful opportunity of going home for almost a full week for Thanksgiving. As my mother kindly reminded me, it was the first time I've seen my parents in 13 weeks. I suppose that is a fairly long time. It was nice being home...I had wanted to work on my senior project, but extended family that I haven't seen in years were in town/staying with us, so not very much of that happened. You can read more detailed accounts of my break in my Journal of Extreme Emotions, though.

I seem to keep on rediscovering the fact that tv on the interweb is one of the greatest creations ever. I was FINALLY able to watch full episodes of Weeds, and I ended up watching the entire first season in a two day period [so really, maybe THAT's why i didn't get anything done on my senior project...]. I mean, i've always been interested in seeing the show, and it DEFINITELY didn't let me down. It was even more funny than I thought it would be [and also...they're only half hour episodes. for some reason i was under the impression it was an hour-long show]. AND they use AMAZING music which is always fantastic. It was...episode 8 i want to say...where ALL of the music was by The Mountain Goats. That excited me severely.

[I somewhat-recently saw them live at The Mad Hatter in Covington, Kentucky (it's an old converted 'gentlemen's club' if you must know...and it shows. it seems somewhat reminiscent of an X-Rated Bowling Alley). The following picture is courtesy of Kathee without her permission from her sketchbook documenting the entire concert in all its glory.

The concert ended with us talking to The Mountain Goats Bass player, Peter Peter Hughes [click for free downloads of some of his solo stuff, straight from the artist himself!], who I think we all kind of fell in Love with quite a bit. he was very attractive, and has amazing taste in vests. The opening band, the Bowerbirds, also had someone crush worthy. Mark, the violinist and sometimes drum player. He was very attractive and smarmy. couldn't ask for anything more. maybe quote of the night? "We're not here for a history lesson!"]

Anyway, Weeds uses some really awesome music. I'm excited to start season 2 when they have the guest artists perform the theme song.

Also during break I saw Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I don't really pay too much attention to critics, but my brother had said that something he saw didn't give it very good reviews. I'm going to have to disagree severely. Granted, the storyline itself isn't anything too exciting or intense or brilliant. But Dustin Hoffman + Jason Bateman + Natalie Portman + Zach Mills made for a fantastic troupe of actors to watch. The movie was a LOT more funny than I thought it was going to be, and it had some incredibly clever writing. There were also a lot of references to other cultural happenings such as little indie bands and Monty Python and things of that nature, which was really exciting to pick up on, and made for some really funny moments if you DO pick up on them. It's also one of those movies that it pays to really pay attention to what is going on in individual frames of the movie. There is some fantastically humorous events that just happen in passing in the background of a lot of the scenes that really add a lot to the movie. So all in all- I really liked this movie, mostly just because of the fact that it was so incredibly entertaining. There's nothing all that deep or particularly amazing about it- it's just really fun to watch. So that's my two cents. howdy do.

and now, doing a transitional piece, is the rather svelte Jay Brannan of Shortbus acting fame and "Soda Shop" singing fame doing a duet with Terra Naomi in London.

I say transitional because now we move onto a whole lot of gay. okay, maybe just a little gay. From The Visible Vote 08 on LogoOnline.com:

GOP Candidates Put to the Gay Question

By: Jennifer Vanasco

When I first heard that Wednesday’s CNN/YouTube Republican debate will include at least one gay question, I was skeptical.

I thought - Well, whatever someone asks, we know the answers already. No gay marriage, no gays in the military, no, no, no, etc., etc., etc.

But then I learned what the question was.

Lynn Michaels, whose son Ryan Skipper was killed because he was gay, will ask the candidates how they will foster a climate of understanding and respect for gay and transgendered people.

It’s a good question And I wish they would answer honestly. Because really, Republican candidates, how DO you foster of culture and respect when you are against any laws that would make GLBTs equal in the eyes of the government - and therefore equal in the eyes of ordinary Americans?

I'm very interested to see what the results of this will be, and I hope that it receives more than just some kind of obligatory lip service. Also from the world o' gay-

College: Pet Insurance Yes, Gay Partner Insurance No
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

(Palm Beach, Florida) After rejecting a proposal earlier this year to provide health benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of its employees Palm Beach Community College has decided to offer workers insurance for their pets.

Anyone who works for the college would be able to enroll in the pet insurance plan, through Veterinary Pet Insurance. It would cost employees between $22 and $28 per month for dogs and $15 to $18 per month for cats.

The plan will come into effect on January 8.

LGBT civil rights group the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council called the decision an outrage coming just months after the college's Board of Trustees deadlocked on domestic partner benefits.

"While many pet owners consider their dogs and cats part of their families, there is a basic disconnect when an employer will insure an employee's pet but not an employee's partner," Deidre Newton, a PBCC alumnus who is now vice president of the human rights council, told the Sun-Sentinel.

Last August a proposal to provide domestic partner benefits died when the trustees deadlocked in a 2-2 vote.

Partner benefits would not cost the college any additional money. It pays only the premiums for employees. Under the current scheme workers pay the added premium for spouses or children. The domestic partner proposal would have mirrored that - making gay and lesbian employees responsible for paying the added premium costs.

When the board deadlocked the trustees asked staff to collect more information on the potential impact of the benefits and another vote is expected in 2008 to add the benefits the following year.

Still the human rights council says taking up pet insurance now was highly insensitive.

"The only distinction I can see is one covers human beings in committed relationships, and the other covers animals in committed relationships," said council president Rand Hoch.

A majority of the nation’s largest corporations, and a growing number of universities and colleges provide health insurance for domestic partners of employees.

This makes me really kind of sad. I mean, I love pets and all, but I think that people are pretty important too. This brings to mind that whole argument some people seem to have that allowing gay marriage is going to lead to legalized beastiality and animal-people weddings. Something that I will never understand. And I'm not even going to get into that. Surprisingly enough, Miami University has a decent partner-benefits policy from what I understand, which I really appreciate. The school was even sued by that one loser of a representative that we have saying that the policies went against the constitution. That also seemed incredibly ridiculous, and thankfully the Ohio Supreme Court thought so too. Some of those details might be a little off.

QOTD: Another quote from Tom, my boss [and it's from a long time ago]:

"You guys are going to wish you had hardhats...Tom is fucking crazy today!"

Third person AND swears. ahluvit.

And now, those mp3s!

Jam Eater Blues [Live] - The Mountain Goats
Living Room - Tegan and Sara
Leading Man - The Long Goodbye [Michael Cera's Band!]

kthanksbye
brandon.m.c.

Sweet Nut Sampler!

2007-10-29T20:19:00.000-04:00

ooooooooooh my gosh. here it is folks. the return of me and my blogging. let us just see how this goes [even though *really* I should be working on furthering the lit review of my sr. proj]

First up. Gay Worms! Gworms? Gwar might not like that very much, though.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Altering a gene in the brain of female worms changed their sexual orientation, U.S. researchers said on Thursday, making female worms attracted to other females.

The study reinforces the notion that sexual orientation is hard-wired in the brain, said Erik Jorgensen, scientific director of the Brain Institute at the University of Utah.

"They look like girls, but act and think like boys," Utah researcher Jamie White, who worked on the study published in the journal Current Biology, said in a statement.

Researchers in Jorgensen's lab switched on a gene in female worms that makes the body develop male structures, but they only activated the gene in the brain.

As a result, the female worms still had female bodies, but they behaved like males.

"It suggests sexual behavior is encoded in our genes" and not caused by extra nerve cells specific to males or females, Jorgensen said in a telephone interview.

Animals such as nematodes, fruit flies and mice share many of the same genes as humans and are often used as models to understand human genetics.

But Jorgensen said the study is not likely to resolve the burning question about the genesis of sexual orientation in humans. "A human's brain is much more complex than a worm's brain," he said.

Many scientists think a host of factors such as genetics, hormones and environment may play a role in determining sexual orientation in humans, but this has not been proven.

Jorgensen said the study is interesting because it suggests rather than being caused by extra, sex-specific nerve cells, attraction behaviors are part of the same brain circuit.

The finding was part of a study looking at areas in the worms' brains involved in sexual attraction.

LIVE IN DIRT, EAT GERMS

Nematodes, or C. elegans, are tiny worms about one millimeter long that live in the dirt, chomping bacteria. They have no eyes and rely on smell for navigation and propagation.

There are few males, only one in 500, so most of these female nematodes are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female sexual organs. This gives the female worms the ability to fertilize their own eggs and produce offspring in the absence of a male.

"For the most part they are females," Jorgensen said. "It's really hard to tell that they are hermaphrodites, but they do make these few sperm."

When they do mate with males, female worms produce 1,200 progeny, compared with just 200 when they produce their own sperm.

The researchers were trying to understand the underpinnings of sexual attraction in the male nematodes.

They reasoned it could arise from four extra smell-related nerve cells found only in male worm brains, from four core nerves found in both males and females or from a mix of both.

When they systematically neutralized the male-only neurons, mature male worms still responded to the females.

The findings imply nerve cells common to both male and female worms are central to sexual attraction and sexual orientation.

"They have genes for both male behavior and female behavior in them," Jorgensen said. "It suggests the brain determines behavior."

The study expands on prior studies suggesting a genetic component to sexual orientation.

"This is one more observation. We've seen this in flies and in mice," he said. "The difference is we know what cells are involved."

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Well, duh. I think most members of the GLBTQ community would be able to tell you that there was a genetic component to it. Why would anyone choose something that causes much stress and discrimination? It was a silly argument to begin with. [O! This reminds me. Even though I have no invested interest in this particular movie, and haven't even seen it yet, I'm quite excited about it and feel the need to hawk it- For the Bible Tells Me So- check it! Site|Trailer] I won't lie though, and say that I feel this has potentially disastrous consequences as well if, as I believe they probably hope to do, scientists begin working on some sort of genetic therapy treatment in which they tamper with peoples sexuality. So maybe people actually will have the option to decide to become a big ol' homo! Or, more likely...for gays to have the option of going straight. I don't know. It just seems like a very messy thing to be tampering with. Sometimes I think science just needs to let things go. I suppose it wouldn't even be an issue though if people could just learn to accept people for who they are and move on with their own lives.

And now for a word on the wise use of military forces:

BERLIN (Reuters) - Twenty German soldiers were deployed on Friday to help recapture around 17,000 minks on the run.

The animals had been let out from a mink farm into the eastern German countryside by unknown perpetrators, according to police in Stendal, 55 miles west of Berlin.

Local officials and mink farm employees also spent the day trying to trap the animals at large.

"So many minks escaped, I have no idea how many they'll catch," police spokesman Joachim Albrecht said.

Authorities suspect the minks -- small mammals whose fur is used for making expensive coats and accessories -- had been let out by animal rights activists, he said.

Okay. So Miami University has recently [well, as of this school year] started getting the Dayton Daily News in addition to the plethora of Cincinnati and National newspapers. And for this, I am so glad, because it gave me the opportunity to see this wonderful act of juxtaposition in action:

Okay. So let me summarize this for you. One the left we have britney spears in another one of her fantastically dramatic legal debacles. On the right we have her mother announcing her autobiography featuring child-rearing advice and how to turn children into stars. Being published by a publisher of Christian books, nonetheless. I don't even think commentary is really necessary. This is a crazy world we live in, folks.

Today's QUOTE OF THE DAY also doubles as words of wisdom. It's a good good day. Although it's also cheating. since it was said on saturday, and not today.
STEVE: Things probably aren't normal if you're finding them in meteorites.

And with that...

I will leave you some music. one new, one old.

My Favourite Book - Stars [I really love what i've heard of their new album so far. and this song is so hopeful. something that i wouldn't be opposed to having more of. And their tours are now Carbon neutral - yAy environmentalism!]
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) - Arcade Fire [inspired by the fact that i'm watching Chuck and he/[his character?] has great taste in music]

on the note of music...have any of you heard of the band The Cave Singers? I'm thinking I should recommend them to my dad. He likes hearing about new music when it's something that he'll actually listen to, but he definitely has his heart set on people like Van Morrison and old school classic folk rocker type people. And i feel like The Cave Singers have a James Taylor-esque quality about them- or am i way off base? I think maybe he would like them.

peace&puppyciao
br@nd0n

Currently Watching: Chuck

The Return of the Fig Newton

2007-10-28T10:48:00.000-04:00

Well Folks. What is there to be said at a time like this? It has been over a year since the last time I posted, and let us all admit, the last couple of posts have been less than stellar.

The theory of this blog was originally for me to have a forum for more worldly exploits and writing and share my own maybe slightly sarcastic nature with YOU, my general reading audience. I got lazy though and decided to become really good at procrastinating, letting school become rather overwhelming at times. This is still the case. Maybe even moreso now because I am currently in the midsts of writing a research dissertation [it has a working title of: Disempowerment through Ecotourism: Increasing Civic Discourse with Indigineous People and the Ramifications for Ecotourism Management. It's main purpose is going to be ways in which to increase community engagement between indiginous cultures and ecotourism companies in the hopes of more win-win situations for everyone. It will also be including a brief history of ecotourism and the environmental impacts associated with all of this. Is that too far off the main point? maybe. I don't even know any more. I love my thesis so much I wish I wasn't the one writing it, because really, will I be able to do it justice? Only time can tell]

Back to the point though. I am looking to return. I wish to once more make my comments on ridiculous news stories, share my thoughts and feelings on worldly issues, and possibly even share with the good folks out there some of my latest music/movie/book finds which will, I'm sure, have a rather 'indie' slant. We'll see where all of this goes. But it seemed silly during that brief time period in which I was just copying my day-to-day rant entries from LiveJournal to here.

So look forward to the change back, and hopefully this might actually go somewhere again.

And because he seems to be so relevant in life as of late, I present to you some Jens Lekman:
Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo
The Opposite of Hallelujah

puppyciao&loverlyautumnweather
br@nd0n

Listening to: Nick Drake [Album: Five Leaves Left]

haha...you have to have sex with chickens

2006-06-14T13:53:00.000-04:00

it's been a really long time since i've updated, and once again this is going to be a fairly atypical update. i don't really have anything too excited to report.
/
or do i?
/
i'm just going to copy and paste from my other journals the random stuff that 'hasn't' been happening.
/

as it becomes disgustingly obvious, I never use livejournal. being home and having time + easily accessible internet, i decided to take a gander. i'm so confused. there are so many buttons and links, i don't even know what is going on anymore. craziness.

and i think i can tell everyone that i feel really happy. and that is amazing.

and i feel like i'm pretty much running the office. a summer job shouldn't be so effing stressful. this is seriously beyond the redonkle now. why am i so invested in it?

but i am happy. and there is lots of hope.

and i have sorely missed my cats.

i'm taking my mom + dad out to see "Cars" for their bday/fathers day (respectively). damn i love my parents so much sometimes. had a real breakfast this morning with my mother. and it was delicious. and we didn't even fight.

i'm also sporting a faux hawk. and probably the coolest sunglasses i have ever owned.

OHIO: While walking, you think to yourself "Damn, this is the most rancid smell I ever have smelled." Then you take another couple of steps and just as you think it can't get any worse, it begins to smell twice as bad.

oh well, at least i get to live on a beach. that's pretty effing sweet if i say so myself.

i think what i feel most like is an 8 year old trapped in the body of a rather ancient woman who has taken on the appearance of a rather strapping young fellow.

/
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the new regina spektor is pretty much everything you would expect it to be. and maybe more. she is just such an incredibly beautiful person both inside and out. I do hope she comes back from her european tour and decides to do some shows here that i might be able to see. she just seems to embue love and everything to do with love. and she's on conan o'brien tonight. i think you all need to see it. i can't wait to see her.

got out of work like an hour early yesterday. it was pretty sweet too...i was rebellious. i pretty much just walked and left, saying my good bye and not looking back. i just couldn't sit in that office anymore. i really hate the night shift i guess. and i have to do it again tonight. ew. but i have conan to look forward to.

i am very content with life right now. and it is such a great feeling.

there are some people that i do however miss a little too much. western love has been lacking, and all the joys that come with it. at the same time I've been meeting some damn awesome people thatare so reminiscent of what i have left behind, that it makes the transitions so much easier. i also miss my cats. damn they're cute. i have this weird urge of missing the renaissance festival too.

i had two bowls of cinnamon life this morning. i'm such a pig.

and i made a complete arse out of myself this morning as well, but I'm over it now.

ps. i'm going to be seeing Monty Python's Spamalot. Seriously. Can I even begin to describe to you how effing excited I am? I'm pretty sure I can't.

/
/

i suppose there's been stuff going on. you just don't know all of it. sorry this hasn't been more fulfilling. internet access doesn't exactly come easily to these parts. and it's inconvenient. and rather boring. and not comfortable.
/
i'm so excited to be reading again. i've read about 5 books already this summer and it has been fantastic. i love it. and i'm in love with it.
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good things are happening.
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my bday is coming up and i don't know what to ask for. my parents offered an expense paid vacation to someplace like chicago with a friend or two. and as amazing and perfect as that would be, i feel i should be working on getting more practical stuff. i'm in debt and have a lot of expenses coming my way. but damn i need a vacation.
/
can i just begin to even describe how taken advantage of i am at work? seriously. i do SO DAMN much in that office, and i hardly get compensated. their idea of compensation is a free giant cookie. that's cool i guess, but it's hardly compensation. i mean, seriously. i've been training most of the new people coming in her and i do all the duties that a blue tag (level higher supervisorial type position) does without getting the pay and benefits. it's a little upsetting, but maybe it will be changing. i AM glad however for the fact that my supervisor's love me and are willing to trust so much with me. that IS rewarding. but not enough.
/
it's so nice outside. it's silly for me to be sitting her typing to you.

Drag....Again...

2006-04-21T01:48:00.000-04:00

As previously stated, this is Spring Fling week on the love that is Western Campus at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Today, Thursday, marked "Identity Crisis Day" in which you switch "identities" with another person...friend, acquaintance, professor, staff member...whatever. Hilary had the swell idea of us switching identities because apparently we don't get enough of each other. I think it's just because she really wanted to wear my duck tie. But then again...who doesn't? Of course I had to agree. It's bad taste to go against your facebook wife. (ok. so i lie. i was really happy about the idea. and deer Lord how i love her pants. the shirt, as cool as it is...was rather tight however haha) I'm not going to lie...I got more than a handful of stares on my journeys in and around campus. Today was quite the day of errands too...good timing. Went to econ with Katie, afterwards we went ALL throughout uptown on various errands (even so far as going to Ace Hardware), coming back to the package center and back on down to Peabody. Funny thing is...I don't think I ever felt so confident. It was a strange feeling knowing that I was pretty dern ridiculous and not really caring at all what other people were thinking. And I was really happy, and much more outgoing. Maybe some of Hilary actually was rubbing off on me. Afterwards, there was a bonfire in Pfeffer Park for us Westerner's and our Spring Flinging. And damn Hilary makes a good me. Especially with the beanie...she looked like quite the boy haha. Basically, this all comes down the fact that I was, technically, in drag. oh goodie. and it's not even the first time. some of you might remember Rocky Horror from last semester. And then there was always the time when it all began way back in ninth grade english with ms. garden when I was Juliet and Jessica was Romeo. those were really good days. but apparantly corruptionary.

tomorrow is the twin party and the band festival happening at presser. for FREE. it should be good stuff. and a good excuse to see some of hilary's friends from home again. i do love them so.

saturday I'm ushering (read as getting to see for free) the A.R. Rahman concert in Dayton. It should be pretty cool. I'm sad about (most likely) missing the Western formal...but it will happen again, and there was the charter day ball earlier this year that was a lot of fun, not to mention my closest group of friends doesn't seem too enthusiastic about it, so I think I have my priorities straight here. It should be cool I'm thinking.

The Dresden Dolls were on Jimmy Kimmel last night. Not gonna lie...I might have been a tad bit disappointed. Only a tad though.

Things with Western are still oot and aboot. and scary. really scary. i don't like this at all. how can a place so chock-full of true, deep, Love be such an easy target?

i dont really understand.

saddened by the returning of mona's pants,
brandon

PS There's nothing lucky about a bunny with no feet.

Currently Listening to: An assortment of Nellie McKay as well as The Dresden Dolls (naturally)

Love is in the Art

2006-04-18T17:22:00.000-04:00

A couple of updates:

It's my brothers birthday! Happy Birthday Jason!
Sunday, Easter, I had a revelation while in church. A message from God perhaps? Maybe. Shiree, funny enough, got the same message. We had a really nice talk about it, and it's very very fitting that we both get the same thing. it deals with the romantic realm.
Sunday, Easter, I was lucky enough to spend it with Hilary's family and friends. As always, Mrs. Stevens made oodles and oodles of very yummy food. I missed being with my own family, but it was a good alternative.
More stuff with the Western stuff is happening. There are some articles in the Miami Student coming out. Front Page Story HERE and Editorial HERE
Western College's Spring Fling Started yesterday. Oh! The Excitement! Yesterday was the kickoff with the pancake dinner and start of the Kill Game where people are assigned other people that you hunt down with water guns. it's fun. Today is Get Wet Day on the McKee Beach (complete with water balloons, slip 'n' slides, etc). Wednesday = Movie outside in Ernst Nature Theater day. Thursday is identity crisis day- switch personalities/clothes with someone else. Friday is the twin party. saturday is Western Games! Three-legged race, shore to slimey shore canoe race in the swan pond, and the Box Game (only the best game ever, or so they say). Western's pretty sweet. and it's love.
THIS FRIDAY! 5 Bands playing for FREE at Presser Hall at Miami! FANTATIC bands. It starts at 7pm. Be there!

Open, O' Coloured World

Delhi Drive

Yale

Orange Lazarus

New Zion Haste

In other music news, the long anticipated Dresden Dolls album “Yes, Virginia…” was officially released today. I got it from my mailbox yesterday. It is a vast understatement to say that it is a thing of beauty. There are thirty original art pieces in the booklet and then there is of course the album itself. If you were just planning on downloading the album, I highly shun you, and you are missing out on an amazing experience from actually owning this amazing piece of art (although you can legally listen to the entire album on MySpace. PS I highly recommend the music video for "Sing" - check it out on MySpace...just scroll down the page a lot. It quite literally brings tears to my eyes). Below is the article from which the album name was derived. I really like it.

Dear Editor- I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, If you see it in The Sun, it's so. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? - Virginia O'Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus? Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

(Printed as is, from the New York Sun, 1897)

Have a great Spring Fling, and enjoy the weather. All my creative juices are being sweated out of my body.

Currently Listening to: The Dresden Dolls - "Yes, Virginia..."

PS The Dresden Dolls will be appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday, April 19th on your local ABC. Check it out! Also on Wednesday, Alias will be starting up again for its last season. I miss the good ol' days. That used to be such a fantastic show.

Covered Tools (IMPORTANT!)

2006-04-13T15:22:00.000-04:00

[UPDATED: April 19, 2006]

Stuff with the Western College has [literally] blown up within the last 24 hours, and things are a little crazy. I'm not even quite sure how to formulate all of these thoughts. Since the Public Open Forum with the President and Provost last week, things have been all quiet on the Western front. And then...then I don't know what happened. Things have gone buck nutty. I woke up this morning to check my email to find [literally] dozens of outraged emails from fellow westerners. And I must say...looking through all this stuff...I'm rather ashamed of being associated with Miami University, as I feel others should be as well. Why are not more students and community members concerned with what has been going on???? Are the people of this community even more numb to life than I ever thought before? (and i didn't think that was possible) GET UPSET PEOPLE!!!!!

I guess I'm actually delaying relating everything that has happened within the last 24 hours because I'm still trying to make sense of it all myself. There's a lot to take in. On the positive note...we're getting PRESS COVERAGE!! And the one's that are not completely unbiased, are on the side of the students, and I personally find that very encouraging. Current links to relevant articles in:

The Oxford Press: More Time | More Time [Again] | Opinion Pt 1 | Opinion Pt 2
The Columbus Dispatch
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ALL Major Ohio Papers soon to follow! And the NYTimes has been contacted as well. There is a small chance there might even be something in the US News and World Report coming up soon
But then, of course, there is everything in the Miami Student and The Amusement which isn't even worth linking to and is downright disgusting with articles that [for the most part] lack any kind of actual reporting and play only upon stereotypes and personal opinions [such as 'Miami Should Sell Western to Wal-Mart']

I HIGHLY recommend that you spend the time to read these articles. The rest of the information would probably just be better to direct you to our Wiki Page (wiki.wcp.muohio.edu - Spread the Word! It's updated constantly!) Of special interest is some of the new stuff that has come from THIS

Basically...a short summary of things that have happened. We (along with University Senate) are completely incensed at how everyone in this process has been completely ignored and not even ALLOWED to have a part of any of this. Students have had NO PART until we [almost literally] bust down their doors demanding some kind of representation and to have our voice be heard. Which since then have been "giving in to our demands" but only as a lip service...they make it pretty obvious they're not really listening a whole heck of a lot. The big thing that we (along with University Senate) have asked for is more time. Senate approved the bill that was proposed, the President on the other hand seems to be of the mind to ignore what his colleagues have suggested. Only time will tell though...apparantly his decision will be made today or tomorrow. The tension. You can cut it with a knife. Maybe even a spoon. A grapefruit spoon? I can only hope that if President Garland completely deisregards what his colleagues have approved that there will be great consequences (especially considering the whole Harvard fiasco).

More recently is stuff concerning Dr. Carolyn Haynes...a [supposedly] "new" figure to the scene. I'm not really sure where to get started with all of this, but I am going to try my hardest to remain composed and civil. Here's the scoop...recently, Dr. Haynes (the head of the Honors College here at Miami) held a meeting with the honors students to talk about what has been happening with all of this stuff (since it effects them as much as us, and they REALLY don't seem to have any clue as to what has been going on). Since Western kids are obviously smart, there were quite a few Western kids at the honors meeting and Dr. Haynes told what we have since found out has been a complete lie to everyone at the meeting. She had said at one point that she knew very little about what was going on because she had only "one brief 45 minute meeting" with the President and Provost. Within the last 24 hours, it has been found out she was told to lie to everyone. She has actually been in cahoots with the President and Provost on this whole thing for the LAST 2 YEARS and has been integral in the many documents that have come from the Provost's office [Herbst wrote on March 17: "Carolyn, Thanks for your message. In my report, you may recognize some of your text (unattributed). I hope that is all right. Best, JH".

In response on March 20, Haynes wrote: "Of course Jeff! We are a team."] In fact, she is the one who wrote the Provost's report. Everything in the Provost's report came directly from a presentation that Hayne's has given. An interesting quote from Provost Jeffrey Herbst:

"Dr. Garland and I had already agreed that the new Honors College would be headed by a dean. I forgot to put this in the draft report. I apologize to you if this is a rather roundabout way of saying that I would like to change your status. I am not sure when this changeover would occur (probably not next year) and it might require some kind of search (sorry to be vague)."

There is so much deceit, deception, lies, cheating, roundabout MUCK that just makes me sick. I understand that they have their opinions that all of this has probably been in the best interest of the Honor's students, so maybe cannot be contrived as a conspiracy or whatever, but come on people! This is completely disgusting and I cannot believe that money that has been hard earned is going to support such people. I hope they are completely ashamed of themselves in all of this deceit and that just action will be taken.

I just don't understand how the people who shape MY education can pull such moves and fail to realize the drastic consequences and unfairness of all of their actions. I am completely disgusted.

In other news, this past weekend came and went. I went to Columbus for CD101 day and that was pretty darn amazing. Rock Kills Kid (Very good and this weeks free song from iTunes), Bril (not very good at all), Nine Black Alps (a good band from England) [Videos: 1 | 2 ], The Sun (from Columbus, rather fun and enjoyable), The Dresden Dolls (obviously the whole reason why I went) [Videos: 1 | 2 | 3 ], and Ok Go [Videos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4a/4b ] (the supposed headliner, but I would say over half the place cleared out after the Dresden Dolls. but they were good in any case, and I enjoyed seeing them. They even did a scene from Les Miserables. That was pretty fantastic). I have a lot of pics and video coverage from the concert available. The pics haven't made it to flickr yet [UPDATE: Yes! They Have!], and only one video is up so far (the sound isn't the greatest, and I tried to show a ridiculous "mosh pit" thing going on, and unsuccesfully, but you get the general picture)...but the rest should be up [somewhat] soon. [UPDATE: And Now it is!! All videos are up, including Ok Go performing "The Confrontation" from Les Miserables. Check out my video's HERE. Thanks]

This weekend is Easter. Woot? I wish I could somehow go home, I would like to see my family and be there with them. I miss my family and my grandparents (and their cooking!). Who knows what will happen this weekend.

The weather has been ridiculously nice all of a sudden...it kind of came out of nowhere if you ask me. But I won't complain. It has just made me realize that I should probably have a pair of sandals. I hate wearing shoes. Especially when it's warm out.

I'm ushering some shows coming up, so that should be cool (read as get in for free!). This weekend for The Good Person of Setzuan which I've helped build the set for and everything, and that it should be cool to see the fruition of all that work. Next weekend I will be going to Dayton to usher an A.R. Rahman show called Wake Up! He has personally asked for Western Students to usher his show because he was so impressed by us when he came last semester (so that's pretty cool). He's the most famous composer in Bollywood (who knows how many times larger than hollywood), the composer of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Bombay Dreams, the new Lord of the Rings musical, many MANY movies (including Spike Lee's Inside Man and Andrew Niccol's God of War) and he has been signed on for the 2008 Olympics. That should be pretty cool I would imagine.

I miss reading for fun. And feeling unstressed. So many things going on. And I'm starting to feel kind of empty inside. That's no good at all.

Before I start another rant...

Peace, Pillows, and Fairness to All,
brandon michael

Currently Watching: The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Elephants and Midgets [IMPORTANT!!]

2006-03-26T02:05:00.000-05:00

[UPDATED: March 28, 2006]

Pre-P.S. Due to the length and importance of this blog, I probably won't be writing any new entries for some time. But as new information becomes available, I will most likely be adding to this entry, so please be on the lookout for such happenings. And on to the regularly scheduled programming...

Friday night, it was Lindsey Manilla’s 20th birthday. There was a party. Not any party. The kind of party you get to call a Rootbeer Kegger dance party down in the ol’ ‘Nati. It was a fantastic time. Especially when we brought out the games. Apples to Apples is a new co-favorite game. Lindsey, may I just reiterate how glad I am that you decided to push your way forth from that bleeding placenta. I spent the night in a nook. There was only a small semblance of a cranny. It was probably the most amazing sleeping arrangement ever and I should have taken pictures. It was a loverly nook that makes me want to live with Lindsey forever.

Thursday I was at the hub from before 8 in the morning until 5:30 at night minus the time from 1230-145 when I went to my econ class. I didn’t eat. I didn’t pee. I vocalized my life away trying to save Western. We got 1300 signatures on our petition. Not too shabby I suppose. But this is only the beginning. And the frank ol’ meanness of fellow students is unsettling. I’m getting more into all of this later though…it’s essentially what this entire post is about, I’m just trying to recall some of the other events that have been happening lately.

Thursday night, after the exhausting time at the hub, a group of us got all dressed up fancy-like and had dinner in the 1809 room. Good times. Me and Shiree split from the group to go to the Remnants/Misfitz concert. It was excellent. I was thinking about western stuff the whole time though and that made it a little harder to enjoy. Benny was wearing a tie that I own. Good times. Shiree is a loverly date.

I feel there were other things that have been going on, but they all seem so inconsequential and unimportant with all these other happenings going on, so lets get to it.

So, this whole Western thing has really been a source of much upsettedness, frustrations, and just general depression and anger. There are so many fallacies and just general rumors that seem to be circulating both from a student perspective and an administrative one. Maybe it’s somewhat expectant to hear students spread such things, but the administration? I find that absolutely disgusting and unprofessional. There is no reason why students paying $120k+ should be subject to such treatment. And our fellow students…what is wrong with you? We are humans just like the rest of you. We passed the same admittance tests and procedures as you. We are members of this (fine?) institution like the rest of you. Why so much hate? Why is there this ridiculous amount of passion against this random group of students who happen to have a different major than you? That has got to be one of the most ridiculous set of criteria to dislike someone as I have ever heard. And because we are a small fraction of the population, we can be bullied and singled out. And the fact that the administration is really actually fueling all of this distrust and pack of lies…completely disgusting. The truth needs to get out there. I know this silly little blog isn’t going to reach very many people (and certainly nobody with any kind of power or probably any other random Miami kid whose undecided on the issue and who would most benefit from such a thing), but if anything, maybe it will make me feel slightly better and have a little more hope.

The Claim (Administrative Based): The Western College program is ungodly expensive (2-3 times as much!) and it’s not fair that it costs the university so much money when so many other poor little programs throughout the university are so poor and are no burden whatsoever upon the university.

The Facts: The cost per student (or FTE) goes something like this:
The Average cost of a Miami Student to the University: $3430/Semester
The cost of a western Student: $5210/Semester
The cost of a Botany student: $5270/Semester
The cost of an engineering student: $27,930/Semester

As much as the provost would like to tell everyone that we cost twice (and sometimes three) times as much as anybody else on campus, that statement is obviously false. We are only about 50% more, and there are many other programs that cost more than us, some cost SIGNIFICANTLY more than us. Another irony in the whole thing, the engineering college is fairly small as well, so it seems silly that we would be the target of all of this. Not to mention that western is incredibly unique to Ohio, while there are so many better qualified engineering schools in Ohio and the Midwest in general than the Miami program.

There is also more to these figures. They do not include outside administrative costs. The western college program has almost no costs because of this…we have one dean, two assistant deans, and in terms of building maintenance, all our classes are combined in two buildings, one of which houses mostly other departments classes (such as English, science, and education). The college of arts and sciences on the other hand racks up HUGE costs in all of the administrative costs that go into running such an extensive school.

NEW Updated Information (3/26/2006):

From the 2005-2006 General Fund Budget (Oxford Campus ONLY):

TOTAL Oxford Campus General Fund Budget: $394,293,742

School of Interdisciplinary Studies portion of that general budget: $2,095,991 (this $2 million goes toward instruction and administration and that is all)

$2,095,991 of $394,293,742 equals .53% of the general fund budget for the Oxford Campus. Western College students comprise 1.3% of the student body.

To say that Western costs 2-3 times as much is completely absurd and not something the administration should be able to get away with saying.

The Claim (Administrative Based): The Western College Program is insular and doesn’t integrate with the rest of the campus, and really doesn’t add anything to the Miami Community whatsoever.

The Facts:

In a recent survey of just 35 random Western students, over 100 Miami organizations were represented. There is no doubt that we are active throughout campus.

The Living-Learning community which is so widely used across Miami’s campus was founded in the Western program, and shows great success in its hoped goals.

Western also adds prestige…but that’s another claim that needs to be recognized separately.

Western students are represented in all other departments. Just like everyone else, we take our BMZ classes and our psych classes and our business classes etc etc.

A 1995 award of $1.7 million by the National Science Foundation, in cooperation with the National Science Teachers Association, has supported creation of Dragonfly, an online and print journal of science discovery that publishes writings by both practicing scientists and elementary school children. This project links faculty committed to writing, computer-assisted learning, and discovery science in a publishing venture that grew out of undergraduate team-teaching in the Western College Program. The organization facilitates interdisciplinary teaching online to about 600 teachers online and takes about a hundred teachers and Miami students abroad to countries like Namibia and Thailand for experiential instruction each year.

The idea of the Senior Capstone was created in the Western Program which adds to the prestige of the students coming out of Miami.

The Claim (Mostly Student based): Western has no academic credibility. They just sit over there coloring- they like to “free-load” off the rest of the students at Miami.

The Facts: Where to even begin?

President Garland himself can be quoted as saying that Western College consistently has the highest marks as a department in terms of high school GPA, ACT/SAT scores, and in their essays.

80% of Western Students continue on to graduate school, the highest proportion of any department in the University. This structure and the prevailing seminar format of classes, a core ideal at Western, is similar in grad school so Western graduates can be particularly avid in such environments right from the start.

As stated before…the senior capstone was created at Western, but no program has nearly the extensive requirements that Western expects of all its students. The senior western project includes a minimum of an 80 page report (usually closer to 100 pages), extensive research, a literary review, and close advising over multiple years in preparation. Making it through this process is anything but a walk in the park. The administration has also commended the efforts of all graduating western majors in the completion of this rigorous process that they say goes above and beyond what anyone could expect of them.

College Review publications like Barron's have cited ("Miami's strongest programs, those of the very liberal-arts-oriented School of Interdisciplinary Studies and the real-world Richard T Farmer School of Business Administration, represent both extremes of academia" --“Barron's Best Buys in College Education” Eighth Edition by Lucia Solorzano. P.447) it along with the Farmer School as one of Miami's strongest programs. Another book, by Frank Ha, called "America's Top 229 Universities" (available in multiple languages such as Chinese) gives credit to the Western Program as a source of great academic achievement at Miami.

A comparative study of Western students in their first year clearly shows Western achievement.

Western Student Awards received per Year: Awards List (starting 1999)

Despite only making up 1.3% of the total Miami Student body, graduating Western College Program seniors make up 25% of the awards administered by the university. Western students also make up 10% of the honors college. It seems key from these disproportionate numbers that Western needs to stay intact in order to attract such high level students to the university that otherwise wouldn’t be here.
Procter and Gamble has been quoted as saying that the percentage of the people whom they higher who actually have business degrees is very very low. Most of the people they are looking for and hiring now are people with strong Liberal Arts/Interdisciplinary backgrounds. This is a continuing trend that has exploded in the business world and strengthens the argument that such programs need to stick around.

The Claim (Sadly, only mostly student claims. This includes campus tour guides): Over there is just where all the pot-smoking tree-hugger hippies live.

The Facts: Cool, lets resort to downright name-calling. I find it doubtful that the percentage of pot smokers is any different at Western than anywhere else. Yes, maybe some of us are ‘tree-huggers.’ Lets also consider that Western College houses the majors of Environmental Studies and Environmental Science. Just because someone has different political ideals doesn’t make them wrong or stupid or anything else. It seems silly that on a college campus of all places, where progressive thought is supposed to be encouraged and nurtured, you can be segregated from the rest of a campus because your programs percentage of students who identify themselves as liberal is slightly higher than the campus average. There are certainly more than just a couple conservatives over here…so what’s the big deal? You’re in college paying thousands of dollars…add learning to have an open mind to your list of educational experiences. It will prove to be invaluable.

The Claim (Administrative): This has been a transparent process. We have asked for student involvement.

The Facts: Any one with any sense of anything could be able to see instantly that students have been no part of this whatsoever. They are able to make this claim of student representation because a year ago an External Review Committee sat down with three randomly selected students for a period of two hours to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the program. It seems highly inappropriate for an administration to completely dissolve a program that would effect hundreds of students currently, previously, and thousands in the future on the opinion of what three people were able to say in a period of two hours. This process didn’t became transparent to the students of Western until March 6th of this year, when the deadline for decision was the end of April. A month and a half the students would have. And THIS is the main concern. Why won’t the administration allow for student input? Is there NO concern for the education of the students who are putting a ridiculous sum of money into the institution? Isn’t it fair to just step back from the corporate world for just a couple minutes to realize that education is on the line here? I realize the need to be business-savvy in running a university, but is there no weight at all put upon the importance of the education factor? If rather than being sneaky and having apparently life-changing decision making processes behind closed doors with a select few hired committees, why couldn’t the administration just said hey, we’re making some changes, this is what we want our end result to be…what can we do to get to this end goal? If this were the case Western would have been more than happy to be collaborative with the administration in making these changes and making sure it was satisfactory for everyone.

And now, the outside resources:
1) In 2004, Western was under review and asked to submit a strategic plan for change as part of a process that every department goes through with no implication that it was for the cause of possible complete revamping and dissolution of the program. Western embraced this and got really excited about having the chance to make reforms to our program. As a community we sat down and held discussions about changes we would like to see and how to develop them and we came up with a significant 70 pg report by Western faculty which, except one point, was largely ignored by both subsequent University Publications. It was released in January but was recently erroneously quoted in the Miami Student as being non-existent ("Western also doesn't have a strategic plan"--the quote was outdated).

Contains changes to raise FTE (faculty output) numbers to mitigate the cost per student now that it is evident this is needed (pg 26).

Is consistent with established academic Interdisciplinary methodologies because it was developed with professors in this field.

It makes significant changes to the structure of Western cutting across the program--All parties acknowledge that the program is ripe for interesting changes.

The report: 2006 and Future Strategic Plan (pdf)
2) WCP External Review (pdf) - These faculty from other colleges published from their experiences after a three day visit in January 2005.

"Our most important conclusion is that the Western College Program has much to offer its students, the university and higher education as a whole and that it should be valued, preserved, nurtured and developed. It has successfully addressed a number of critical challenges facing US education over the past thirty years, creating a coherent set of programs that is quite rare." (pg 1)

3) Provost Site

Winkler Report This report was released from a private committee the Wednesday before Spring Break (March 6) to Western College members but kept off limits to requesting faculty generally throughout the university for several more weeks. Though reasonable & due communication process was claimed on this committee, the Dean of Western Bill Gracie was not given any updates or correspondence on the contents of the report until the final release. It was originally stipulated that he would be the sole outlet for the closed committee.

One crucial criticism that was made here was that the other Interdisciplinary Departments at Miami (Interactive Media Studies, Women Studies, International Studies, etc) were invited in front of the Winkler committee and did not want to slide their program into the existing School of Interdisciplinary studies.

There were suspicious happenings here though: four of the nine interdisciplinary programs were initially invited and then disinvited from the proceedings, leaving only five departments from Arts and Science to unanimously disagree.

Herbst Report Provost Jeff Herbst's report on Western taking into account the Winkler report, personal appreciations, and (allegedly) the 2006 Strategic Plan. It becomes plainly obvious that he really didn't go over the strategic plan we worked on for him though. He covers his ground by slightly mentioning it, but by name only. None of the proposals we actually worked on were commented on or mentioned, so it seems rather likely that all of our work was thrown out the window. We're disrespecting the other students in all of this? That is absurd. We are the ones being disrespected.

This release was timed such that six students had to skip their spring break, remaining in Oxford, in order to meet with Herbst and have any say in the report.

As Western Students, We take deep offense at the condemning language in several parts of this report. It is unfoundedly severe. Specifically Section III implies fundamental flaws in Western College without providing any concrete backing. It also ignores the high quality students which demonstrably rise from Western.

A Resolution to Maintain the Core Values of the WCP (pdf) - ASG Resolution passed March 21 supporting and reaffirming Western student's voice and recommending 25% student involvement in any planning committee which has so far largely been left out.

I have taken up a lot of your time, but I hope that you have all taken the time to go through all of this and made an honest effort to make any kind of sense out of everything. It is clear that a democratic process has not been followed and that the past, present, and future of Western is seriously being wronged. And for what reason? I’m still not entirely sure. It’s really seeming like more of a personal attack than anything else. Once again, thank you for going through all of this hearing a simple Western student’s point of view and taking the time to learn some of the real facts.

If you would like to help, send an email to President Garland (president@muohio.edu) and Provost Herbst (herbstj@muohio.edu) and let them know that you don’t appreciate ignoring the democratic process, and that this vital, rich, and beautiful community deserves to stay and allowed to grow. This hits close to home. This IS my home. This is my family. Never before have I been so passionate about anything or had so much pride in anything. We are an amazing and unique community that should be allowed to flourish. This is our education and should be treated as such.

Of course, if all else fails, we still have our elephant, midgets sheathed in plastic, and a beaver. And where is Helen Peabody in all this? We told her that she was relieved of her haunting duties in order to give her time for more planning on her part. We can use all the help we can get. She was busy fishing at the time.

Currently Listening to: Regina Spektor's "Soviet Kitsch" (Umm...yeah. I think it's love)

PS. Some very happy news...the CD101 concert is happening again. And soon. And I'm going! I wish someone owed me money. The Sun!! Ok Go!!!!! THE DRESDEN DOLLS!!!!!!!! (along with Bril, Rock Kills Kid, and Nine Black Alps) How can you not get excited?!? It's going to be a dance party for the ages. I really wish someone owed me money. And lots of it. How about President Garland? I kinda feel like maybe he owes me some money.

PPS. My obsession has officially reached obsession level, finally. Two nights ago I actually had a dream about the Dresden Doll. I was reading their blog, and they mentioned my name specifically. That's all there was to it, but I woke up feeling very very happy. I do comment on all her blog entries afterall, and she did give me a hug all on her own. Maybe there's something to it.

Buttercup

2006-03-02T13:53:00.000-05:00

Today:

Sasha Cohen was on Ellen (maybe a little short and disappointing, but it was Sasha Cohen nonetheless)
Made a complete arse out of myself by being the awkward person that I am and I love it and feel good about it and am rather hopeful.
My parents have bribed me with food, and I love it. Today I received two packages...one with Paczki (apple and raspberry nonetheless), and fudge. Oh some very delicious fudge from Frankenmuth. Black forest and Turtle variety (probably only my favorites).
The weather is rather nice outside...really windy...but nice.
My pool game is getting better (I think)
My fridge is full of delicious food
I got more than 7 hours of sleep last night
The weekend is coming up
Swing Dancing Saturday night!!
I like shy people
Feeling confident (despite the fact I'm doomed to be wearing my glasses for an unknown length of time that I'm sure is going to be longer than I would like. I haven't been out in public in my glasses since coming to college...it feels kinda weird.)
One test down, one to go
The weekend is coming up and my fridge is full of delicious food and I am awkward.

It's a good day.

Currently Listening to: "Simple Things" by Zero 7

Prostitutes, Jesus, and Billy Joel

2006-03-01T19:26:00.000-05:00

So last night was excitingly uneventful. Or maybe it's the other way around. Slightly disappointing maybe is actually the best way of putting that. At roughly 1am I changed into my hoodie and sneakers and decided to go for a little jog around Western while listening to some rather spectacular music from my oh-so-aptly named "Dancing Happiness" Playlist on my overly stuffed iPod. In the middle of the jog I decided to stop for a couple rounds of pool to try to get my game back to par, and I did fairly well and did a couple of rather impressive shots if I do say so myself. Maybe it's just the pressure of the game thats got me. Oh well. With a little more practice maybe the "pressure" won't be so devastating on my game and I might actually be semi-decent rather than the previous embarrassing performances. Anywho...

2 happy things of the week (and they're really really shallow):

Felicity Huffman was on Ellen DeGeneres' show today - seriously, my heart was overwhelmed. Probably 2 of my most favorite female celebs...altogether as one happy family.
On a very related note, tomorrow Sasha Cohen will be on Ellen. The newest person to whom I must bestow a smile and a slight uplifting of the heart towards.

Sad, but true. And now, for the real reason for this post...it was something that Hilary got really really excited about and she ended up writing a short entry in her journal about it, so I decided to copy and steal it. So the following are all of Hilary's thoughts and words, I just thought it would really be worth sharing it with more people, because I think it's fantastic, as most things Hilary does are.

Matthew makes such a big point of saying that the line of David has whores in it. Jesus=related to prostitutes(Tamar, Rahab). and the ungodly rulers of Israel (Jehoshaphat, Asa). The very first chapter in the very first book of the new testament. that's what was important first. that Jesus was irreversably connected to harlots and corrupt politicians. it's supposed to be obvious, but it gets lost in all those "begat"s.

Isn't that loverly? I love my Hilary dearly. And I finished the third Lemony Snicket book last night.

Mustard and Pork Chops,
Brandon Michael

PS. Today is the first day of March...happy getting closer to spring day! Also also...yesterday was PACZKI DAY!!!! It's not celebrated in this part of Ohio sadly enough, but my mom is supposedly sending some my way so that I may have a slightly late celebration of this fantastic Polish Fat Tuesday. I really love being Polish. And days like this can really make me miss home sometimes.

Currently Listening to: Whatever incredibly annoying thing my roommate has decided to put on while I "try to get my work done" is on in the background. Seriously...what is this crap?

Vagina's and Pineapple

2006-02-24T00:32:00.000-05:00

Sasha Cohen- I Love you. And I want to take you home. And this part of the blog is going to be a random slideshow dedicated to her. I just think that she is pretty much the essence of "cute" and "adorable" in every way imaginable. She just seems like an incredibly sweet and kind person, and she appears to be chock full of personality. A very colorful, vivacious person. She had an amazing short program in figure skating in the 2006 Torino Olympics and ended up finishing figure skating with a silver medal under her belt after the disappointing long program. Frankly...I'm surprised she did so well considering her last performance. But I am proud of her, and I really hope to see her skate again at the next olympics. I don't entirely know what it is...but I just think she is the most amazing person I have ever watched skate. She just seems incredibly beautiful and artistic and aesthetically pleasing in everything she does on the ice. She truly captivates all of my attention when she skates. It was nice to see her awarded as such. Sasha...I look forward to seeing you skate again. And keep on smiling. I think she kind of reminds me of Audrey Tautou...maybe thats a part of it. I dunno. I just want to take you home.
In other news, today I went on my second date of the week with my beautiful and amazing wife Hilary to see The Vagina Monologues, directed by our very own Sally Harrison-Pepper who I had the great pleasure of having as my prof. last semester for my feminist theater class. I also had quite a few friends who were in it which is always fun to see. It also helps that it was on the first floor of Peabody, where I happen to live in good ol' Leonard Theater. Everyone seriously did an amazing job and I'm very glad that I was able to see it, and that the proceeds go to a great charity. I recommend that if you haven't seen it...to go do so. Truly an amazing piece and worthy of all the acclaim it has received. It was actually quite a bit funnier than I thought it was going to be. Always a plus in my books, especially since it still retained the power that's so mandatory in making it a success.

My Human Nature paper isn't due until monday now. This excites me. Especialy since I already started it. Kind of. It looks like I'll be having all weekend to work on it though...nothing seems to be happening this weekend. I'm a little sad/bitter about that. But that's ok. I'll get over it. The last couple of weekends have been really fun, so that's cool.

I feel like there were other things I was wanting to say when I started this off. I guess I just got really sidetracked by the beauty that is Sasha Cohen. Sigh. lol.

At this point...I guess it is toodles for now.

Peace and Pillows
brandon michael

Listening to: A Happy medley with the likes of the beatles, white stripes, mighty mighty bosstones, big bad voodoo daddy, old canes, and modest mouse.

Waste of Time

2006-02-23T01:17:00.000-05:00

This is entirely an unconventional post.

I did some silly survey-ing on my MySpace blog...you can get to it HERE.

Some Updates:

I found my list of crazy Cedar Point occurances. I do hope to update you all on that when I have time
This past weekend was a long one and not too shabby. Was 173% lazy on friday and saturday, sunday went to Hilary's to spend the night and share in board game night, fantastic food, the most comfortable bed I have ever experienced in my life, and just general goodness.
Tonight saw "How I Learned to Drive" in Studio 88 at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) and the cast did an amazing job. I helped make the set :-D And the loverly, beautiful, talented Shiree Campbell was absolutely amazing in it and I am very proud of her. It's a rather disturbing/awkward play. And very good. Different.
I rather enjoy my job. I get really dirty, sweaty, and smelly. And I love it. And the people are fantastic. It's not a lot...but enough for cell phone bill and a movie once in a while or whatever.
School is incredibly stressful and it causes me to upset myself.
In terms of relationships...I just don't know. I get really hopeful...and maybe too easily. No, definitely too easily. But I'm also very cautious. Usually. Currently, I am rather fine being single and all...but sometimes it would be nice to have that extra glow in my life. I am patient now though. And I have quite the abundance of love in my life as it is.
I'm starting to act upon my spirituality, and I've been rather enjoying it. Hilary has been a major influence, I won't lie. I think it's fantastic though.
Tomorrow I'm seeing The Vagina Monologues being staged right here in Peabody Hall on Leonard Theater. I have a lot of friends in it. I'm rather excited. It's my second date of the week with Hilary, my amazing wife whom I am very much in love with. I wish.
Last night I sat in my room and cried for hours. And I'm pretty sure there wasn't much of a reason.
I am completely and totally infatuated and in love with the Olympics. And Sasha Cohen. I want to take her home. People say I'm weird because I think the Olympics are incredibly romantic. So criterion for a date would be for them to not think this all that weird lol.
I feel like a balanced life is not present or happening whatsoever. And that sucks.
Overall, this has been an amazing year and I have been exceptionally happy.
I'm scared of being too hopeful about something that may only end up disappointing me. I so badly want to be right, though.
This coming monday is the birthday edition of our radio show. You should listen. A User's Guide to Sherpa's. http://www.redhawkradio.com 8-9pm EST. Click on "Listen In"
Money is a very stressful thing.
I feel really behind.
I feel like I'm lacking motivation.
I'm most likely working at Cedar Point this summer again. Janna better be coming back, as well. I hope I can figure out a way of getting some sort of internet connection so I can write to people.
I really really really miss Marvin. My car. He's beautiful. And would come in so handy. And make everyone's lives so much easier. Especially this weekend.
I hope something comes out of this weekend. I hope it might happen. Once again...too much hope.
I wish I could go to bed at reasonable times.
I want my room to be cozy. I almost hate every second I am in it. And I don't want that. Current suggestions to maybe help next year: Curtains on window, curtains over closet opening, a loveseat for next year (the couch seems maybe a bit too long), some really nice rugs/carpets, a hutch for my desk seems borderline mandatory. I DEFINITELY need to change the whole storage/shelving thing. Badly. hardcore style.
I really really love music. I wish I could see concerts more regularly.
I wish less things in life were so complicated.
I wish emotions didn't always have to be so complicated.
I wish the Republican party wasn't so powerful. The Supreme Court stuff is downright scary. Don't they know they need to make things more moderate? I realize you want power, but that's not good for the country. And you should be smart enough to realize that. We need equal authority. The whole congress thing. Senate thing. Too much power. And it's downright scary.
I'm going to continue on with this rant for as long as I can sustain it...the state of the government truly scares me. I have actually cried about it. I have yelled about it. I feel like so many people don't seem to understand things that seem so clear to me. But thats why there's difference of opinions. I'm not even really a hardcore democrat or anything. The whole system is messed up, in my opinion. And nobody wants to change it. And now they wouldn't be able to even if they wanted to. Too much power to republicans. Republicans aren't the only moral people. Democrats are religious moral people as well. They're just able to recognize that religion isn't supposed to play such a horrific hand over the power of the government. So you don't like gay people? That's fine. I can (kinda) understand that I guess. It scares you. You are unfamilar. You have had an odd experience. Whatever. But it is completely utterly ridiculous to say that two people who love each other and are willing to devote themselves to one another should be denied any other person in the same situation. Don't call it marriage..thats fine. That's a religious thing. There's no reason for government to not recognize a union of two people who are together however. And ruin the sanctity of marriage? What does that mean nowadays anymore? Because I'm sure all the taboo crap involving celebrities and whatnot has done so much to save the sanctity of marriage. This country is at a 50% divorce rate. That's ridiculous. Marriage obviously doesn't mean so much to people anymore. And it's actually more likely for gay people to stay together. And why not? Think of all the crap that has to be gone through in order to get to that point. It's something that is taken much more seriously and sacred within the gay community. And if you want to think about it in shallow terms...marriages are one of the most lucrative businesses out there. It brings millions of dollars into the economy each year. Let more people get married. Bring in more money.
If two people get married, they're gonna want to marry animals. To this I say...what the fuck? Nobody is asking to get married to their pet goat. A human being isn't on the same level as an animal when it comes to something like marriage. A goat can't consent to a marriage. A goat can't come and visit you at the hospital when you're in a life-threatening situation. And currently, neither can your spouse. Unless they happen to be of a different gender. You lucky sons of a gun you. Allowing two people to get the same benefits has nothing to do with superiority or whatever it is people like to argue. It's just about equality. it's just about getting what heterosexuals have been able to enjoy for centuries. Marriage shouldn't be a heterosexual privilage...it should be able to be enjoyed by any two loving people who want to be able to.
Newly acquired is the gay adoption thing. This I can understand concern maybe a little bit more. Obviously, completely disallowing it is dumb. But aren't there tests to check for stable homes anyway? If two people can provide a stable, loving environment and is able to deal well with the pressures, then those kids deserve to have a home. How could you deny a child a home and force him to live in subpar foster or orphanages when there are perfectly willing/capable/loving homes available? And don't even say the child will become gay. I'm going to go way down the maturity ladder and say, flat out. You are dumb. Obviously, straight parents dont produce straight kids 100% of the time. And unless you are under some kind of severe psychological stress, nobody just "chooses to be gay" for the fun of it. It's not fun. It's hard. It's complicated. It hurts. It's a way of life you've just got to deal with like anything else.
Why the hell can't people just be open minded and try to learn something and accept something that has no negative impact? Allowing gays to marry will have no affect on you whatsoever. At least no negative effect. Except maybe they reserve the banquet hall for the time you wanted.
Brinkman came to Miami a while ago, and a path to the Supreme Court may be in Miami's future. Brinkman is threatening to sue Miami University because it allows for same-sex domestic partners to receive benefits, which goes against the newly approved Issue One in the state of Ohio. I hope to everything holy and not that Miami doesn't become a wimp and just rollover and give up. It doesn't seem to be showing any signs of that, and the rally against Brinkman seemed pretty strong. If this goes through...it m ight go straight to the supreme court I would think. In a more normal world, this would probably be pretty fantastic. But at this rate, if we have 9 hardcore conservatives serving in the court, I suppose we're pretty screwed.
These thoughts are abrupt and not completley thought out. Sorry if there's any kind of disconjunction.
I really like making up words.
Happy Birthday Karen! Happy Birthday Chris!
I think it's time to end this silly post.

Listening to: Veggie Tales!

Apple Tree

2006-02-15T16:52:00.000-05:00

I think it is safe to say, that as of yet, this has been, by far, the most life-changing year of my life. I feel almost like I have been renewed as a person and that maybe, just maybe, things will start falling together as they should. I have been inexplicably happy these past several weeks with bad days happening less and less. Things don't bother me quite as much as they used to and I seem to be finding joy in the little things now, like I used to when I was little, and I've just been much better about staying in tune with what I want and need out of life and am actually being proactive about making sure this stuff happens.

I feel that everyone should read the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I'm definitely going to be looking to read his other books. It was recommended to me by Hilary and she's right in saying that it can definitely be life changing. Reading this book certainly hasn't been the reason why I've been so happy this year and whatnot, but it's a good way of coming into some realizations, especially when coupled with the fantastic therapy that is "Danger Group." I've been able to go twice, while Hilary had a car available unto her, and that was pretty sweet. But now we don't really have a way of getting there anymore and that can be rather unfortunate. Anyway, here is a good quote that I rather enjoy from his chapter titled "Alone: Fifty-Three Years in Space" (it does hold much true afterall, and I can relate):

"I was in Love once. I think Love is a bit of heaven. When I was in Love I thought about that girl so much I felt like I was going to die and it was beautiful, and she loved me too, or at least she said she did, and we were not about ourselves, we were about each other, and that is what I mean when I say being in Love is a bit of heaven. When I was in Love I hardly thought of myself; I thought of her and how beautiful she looked and whether or not she was cold and how I could make her laugh. It was wonderful because I forgot my problems. I owned her problems instead, and her problems seemed romantic and beautiful. When I was in love there was somebody in the world who was more important than me, and that, given all that happened at the fall of man, is a miracle, like something God forgot to curse."

That, my friends, is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard and it really touches me. As does the fact that Hilary got me a Happy Book. It's a fantastic concept and beautiful because she made it.

This week is rather stressful and probably one of the worst so far this semester, and yet it's still not all around a very bad week, so I find that pretty fantastic. This stupid Western Class "What is Human Nature" is going to kill me. Stick spoons in my eyes and toothpicks through my alveolus while slowly being force-fed llama excrement and sour cream.

I don't really like sour cream.

Also...You all should be listening to my radio show.

**A User's Guide to Sherpa's**
Mondays @ 8pm EST
www.redhawkradio.com (new and improved!)
or
Cable Channel 63 if you're lucky enough to live on Miami's Campus in Oxford, OH
(picture coming soon...hopefully)

And with that, I don't think I have much else to say. I probably actually do, but it must not be all that important.

Many Smiles,
Brandon Michael

Listening to: My "Almost Ultimate" Mix feat. songs by The Decemberists, Shout Out Louds, Muppets, They Might be Giants, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and much much more happiness.

Flying Cupids

2006-02-14T09:05:00.000-05:00

It has been an insanely long time since I've updated my ol' friend here and for that, many apologies. Currently I don't really have a whole lot of time for an extended update. But I think it's worth it to be cliche and say

Happy Valentine's Day :-D

So I'm not really a huge fan of the holiday, but it's just another day, right? Actually, I can't even say that anymore...I used to not like the holiday, but there's no reason to anymore I realize. Even with being single and all (as I'm apt to be) there's no reason to be bitter. I have so many people in my life who I love and feel loved in return, it matters not. I can not extend enough thanks to the many wonderful people in my life who continue to allow me to shed my Love upon them. A big thank you to all of you.

It doesn't help that this has been a fantastic morning. Yes, it's only 9am and this has been a fantastic morning. When Hilary is right, she is right. I woke up unreasonably early this morning so that I may have the pleasures of having a morning meal commonly known as breakfast uptown with the loverly Kimi Young (who I do not see nearly enough), the beautiful and talented Karen Gotter (whose birthday is fast approaching), and, naturally, Hilary, for whom I am so incredibly thankful for this year. It was a fantastic breakfast and it really did help to brighten the day and just make life seem truly beautiful. So woot for that.

Things have been fantastic this semester. Maybe that's why I haven't been updating. I tend to update when I'm feeling down it seems. And I would love to share all this happiness with you, but today probably isn't the day. At least not now. I should be getting ready for a long day of classes and all that jazz. Tuesday's aren't usually the shortest of days. Much to do.

I have come across the list of crazy people/occurances that happened over this summer at Cedar Point, so hopefully sometime I can get that up. What else is stewing in the books? More movie reviews, maybe some music reviews, and a summary of some of the great happiness happening this semester.

Miami University's Tri-Annual Charter Day Ball was this weekend and it was absolutely fantastic. Pics are up on my flickr site [site|Charter Day Ball]. Not a lot of pics were taken (we were too busy dancing! My calves still hurt...) but you can at least get an idea. I was sporting a stylish suit straight from the '40's, a '60's stretchy red polyester shirt, and a faux hawk, courtesy of Hilary. Everyone looked absolutely amazing and gorgeous. What a fantastic night.

Ok, for real...I should be getting ready for class. Maybe we can have a good chit-chat later.

Many Smiles
Brandon Michael

Casting On

2005-12-21T14:40:00.000-05:00

It is good to be home. I have been home for five days and have essentially done nothing. Mr. Jay was kind enough to drive me back from school and he henceforth spent two nights at my house putting up with my crazy parents asking silly things like they are apt to do. Saturday we went to the Detroit Zoo which was pretty bitterly cold, yet still nice and relaxing. The animals for the most part, weren't on exhibit. But those that were, were fairly active and fun to watch. One case in point is the polar bear exhibit. They had a cub last year and she was rather active when we visited. You can see some video footage I took of her HERE. Listen to the kids...they're pretty funny. We then met my parents at the wonderously delicious and always packed "Alibi" in Rochester...probably one of my very favorite restaurants at home. Their French Onion Soup is truly worthy of killing someone over.

Monday night I met up with Brian and his friend Nicole in Royal Oak, which is now apparently my second home considering that in a four day period since saturday I had been there three times. It was great meeting Nicole and being able to see Brian. We ate at Pronto! which was rather delicious as always. Also as always, a great amount of time was spent at Barnes & Noble. I think it's possible I might have fallen in love there as well haha. But that can be a story for another day.

Today I lunched with my grandparents at Olga's Kitchen since that is right by their condo and it was rather good. I had their Spinach Pie and a bowl of their delicious White Chicken Chili or whatever it's called. It is really rather quite good.

And the rest of my break I have really done nothing but see movies and the like. And now, because nothing else has happened and I have nothing else to recount, I might talk about said movies. But not too much. I personally hate reviews and the like, so that's not really what this is. Just a short recounting.

The Ice Harvest (Currently in Theaters) - Starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Platt, Randy Quaid, Connie Nielsen - Saw this Saturday night with Jay. It was rather delightful. John Cusack and Oliver Platt were especially swell in their performances in this movie. The movie is rather "Fargo"-esque in that it takes place in the cold and is a rather dark-comedy about crime and the things that can go wrong. This movie is rather centered around Christmas so it can be a nice holiday movie. Not really something to bring the kids to though. There are some really good lines and it was worth seeing.

The Muppet Movie (1979) - Starring Frank Oz and Jim Henson with special guest appearances by the likes of Steve Martin, Mel Brooks, Milton Berle, Bob Hope and many others. It's the Muppets, and a classic, and I'm not sure what else there is to say about it. I sadly hadn't seen it before so it was long overdue. I needs to be much educated in the ways of the muppets, but I am getting there. (Random Sidenote: Go HERE if you happen to listen to my radio show, enjoy the muppets, enjoy liquid refreshments, or are unfortunate enough to be of the human race. It's rather mandatory) So yeah...it's basically the journey of how the muppets met kind of and it is naturally filled with the wonderful classic muppet humor we have come to know and love. It is a must see, naturally.

Muppets from Space (1999) - Starring Frank Oz, Brian Henson, Jeffrey Tambor, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Bill Barretta - A story focused around the very lovable Gonzo the Whatever. Basically, it's his whatever-ness that gets him is a huff as he tries to figure out where he comes from and the like. It is, of course, filled with that loverly muppet humor that we have come to learn to love and adore. I remember when this movie had come out I had no interest in seeing it, but I guess I also didn't realize how beautiful the muppets were at that time. I was not disappointed with this movie, and even though it comes after the passing of Jim Henson, it is a rather fantastic movie and is written very well. I once again will recommend this movie to any muppet fan. It's better than it seems, in my opinion.

Brokeback Mountain (Currently in Theaters) - Starring Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Randy Quaid, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams - I saw this with John in Royal Oak last night. A much hyped up fairly independent film from director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). It was rather disappointing though, and I have heard from others that it wasn't as good as they were hoping. It was still pretty good though, don't get my wrong, but it seems much more hyped up than what it was worth. I think that it is worth seeing, but it is rather slow moving and to tell you the truth, not a whole lot happens. I found myself being bored for parts of it, but I do appreciate the story quite a bit and I'm glad at the splash that it appears to be having with the public. Both Jake and Heath do a great job acting I feel. So take it for what you will, maybe slightly disappointing, but a good story and great acting. Just slightly slow moving.

Empire Records (1995) - Starring Anthony LaPaglia, Rory Cochrane, Johnny Whitworth, Robin Tunney, Renee Zellweger, Liv Tyler, Ethan Embry, Coyote Shivers, Maxwell Caulfield - I will say that I am quite disappointed nobody has told me to see this before. Maybe it was assumed that I already had, a fairly safe assumption, considering it has quite a few things that I love, Renee Zellweger among them. I have the Remix Special Fan Edition, and now I am just that. A fan. A big one. It's like a (slightly) updated Breakfast Club and just fantastic on so many levels. Great music, great story lines, and superb acting. Maybe it's a little cliche and slightly predictable, but the way they get you there is worth it. This seriously has to be one of the great movies of my generation and I am so glad it was $7 at Best Buy which tempted me to pick it up. Ok, so maybe "great" over does it, it's certainly no Amelie or something like that, but as a cultural-identity piece in a teenage struggle, it is perfect. I think that's all I can say about that. This is such a great movie, and now one of my favorites. Kudos.

PS. Movies I still want to see that I haven't seen and need someone to go with to see them (in no particular order):

Chronicles of Narnia
King Kong (I think I'm going with my family though...)
Syriana
The Producers
The Squid and the Whale
TransAmerica
Walk the Line
The Family Stone (Yeah, this is sad, but true. I shouldn't admit to wanting to see this)
Memoirs of A Geisha
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
Capote

And that's about all I can think of right now...

It seems feasible that I won't be updating again until after Christmas, so I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season and all that jazz.

Peace, Pillows, and many warm Candles,
Brandon Michael

Currently Listening to: Misc. Tegan and Sara, and also Belle & Sebastian - "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant" and some misc.

PPS. "Step Into my Office, Baby" by Belle and Sebastian has to be one of the greatest songs ever. The end.

Moo Cows and Oink Oinks

2005-12-01T19:29:00.000-05:00

And on this day, the first of December in the year of 2005, much happiness has entered the aura of Brandon. I wake up on this fine day to fairly bright and cheery morning and while watching the outside world on my Thursday morning of laziness awaiting Ellen DeGeneres' arrival on the tube, it begins to snow. A snow of big white fluffy flakes that is the essence of all snows everywhere. The first REAL snow of the season before it gets all nasty and grody and dirty and just filled with the happy fluffiness one comes to love in snow. After the day pauses for this delightful moment, I realize Ellen is about to start, so I rush my Cherry Poptart to the microwave for it's heated pastry goodness and turn on the tellie tube. Lo and behold, Ellen is on as I was expecting. Being still in my pajazma's of cuddly goodness, I grab my fuzzy blanket and snuggle in on the couch for an hour of Ellen and PopTart goodness. And goodness it was. The next little while passes without much cause as I lazily waste away the time until my first class starts at noon thirty in the basement of where I live in the glorious Peabody Hall. My Medicine and Ethics class. Normally, it is an interesting class, but the class period goes on without much direction and it seems to center around endless debates. Today, the entire class seemed to be in quite the odd mood as was I, and it being towards the end of the year, it was an odd mood of goodness, and overall a very interesting class period. Some of which I will recount for you.

Medicine and Ethics, WCP 231: Let me get my notes out for a little better recounting of the incident. Un memento por favor.

...

Here they are. The entire class period centered around Death and Grief, and I must say, it was highly entertaining and quite happy. Funny how that works. Oh, before continuing. On Monday, we are holding a memorial service in Kumler Chapel for all those people that we have studied this year who have passed on. It's at 11am for roughly an hour and various people will be doing various creative-type things to express ourselves on such a subject. It should be nice, and I'm actually kind of looking forward to it if that doesn't sound too weird and disturbing.

Anyhoosiers, back to the class period of this day. Death and Grief. We began by doing a creative activity, in which she (being my prof Muriel- PS- a Segue...A cool thing about Western. ALL of the professors want and expect you to be quite casual and call them by first names and stuff. I think that's cool. Not many people with Doctorates are ok with that.) Anyway she wanted us to create a metaphor for these two concepts. Creativity certainly is not my forte (And for Hilary's sake, the bunny I painted as a little kid doesn't count lol). I was pretty pleased with myself though. I suppose they're incredibly cliche. But I'm ok with that. And here they are. Death: The last leaf on the trees of Autumn falls to the ground and gives way to new life. So maybe the wording needs to be redone, it seems kind of awkward but we didn't have a lot of time here people. Grief: The tumultuous waves of the sea crash against one another until received calmly at the shore. (PS: We put these one overheads (do those even still exist? I haven't seen them since like junior year of high school!) and this is always nice for those of us lucky enough to be left-handed- it's a bad picture, but trust when I say there is overhead marker EVERYwhere)

Some other interesting metaphor's that had been brought up from the idea of grief was drying off with a wet towel and a scream in the darkness. It was a really interesting conversation that developed because it turned out that a lot of people had very similar ideas behind their metaphors. The idea of death usually had something to do with some kind of change and a type of closure. It was looked upon as a good thing for the most part, and a very natural process. Grief on the other hand had lots of negative connotations and usually revolved around processes that served no real purpose or didn't accomplish anything and as an unnatural process. I never really realized how unanimous it was that death was seen as a relatively good thing...It's the grief that's really the culprit. Interesting I thought, kind of put things in perspective more. This led to a discussion of the many different types of funerals and such which I never really thought about either. There are your standard religious centered funerals, but then you also have jazz funerals which are fairly popular, those that decide they want to do the preparing and burying type activities themselves, and wakes among others. Jazz funerals seem pretty cool...The body is accompanied by slowish jazz music, it's buried, then the music breaks off into celebratory happiness. Some families feel comforted by doing the dressing and stuff themselves when preparing the body and it makes sense that it would be much better upon the grieving process. I was personally very attracted to the idea of the wake, and I think it is what I would like to have done. It's pretty much, putting it simply, a party at the dead guy's house. It's a celebration of the person's life and a way of keeping the body company between death and being put to rest. I would like to think that people could be happy upon my passing and that there would be enough people around who cared that an awesome party could be commenced in my honor. Who wants all that sadness in their memory? Obviously people are allowed to have their nice quiet moments of reflection and whatever, but overall, I think people should enjoy some wining and dining and some rock & roll. That is what I want.

Random segue: I really heart Ellen DeGeneres. Her little part in the new satellite radio commercials makes me laugh. Quite heartily. Especially her comment about wanting to be Amish. Oh Randomitity. I heart thee.

Back to the events of the day...Medicine and ethics ended, I bundled up, tuned into my iPod and trudged across campus in the wintery goodness to my BMZ (Botany, Microbiology, Zoology) class. Which is hell, to say the least. I hate that class with a passion. It's boring and just blah. It doesn't make me feel like the smartest person in the world. There are three different prof's that kind of teach their own specialties. One of them is a guy who I really dislike with quite a passion if nothing else just because he annoys me to no end (although, he did play "They Might be Giants" one day in class and that did bring some bliss and if it was anyone else would have scored some massive points) and the other professor doesn't speak english. He was nice enough and cool, but I couldn't understand anything he ever said and that made it quite difficult. The third professor however I really like. Her quiz's are quite difficult because she likes to make them fill in the blank without a handly little word bank and I'm sorry...but I don't remember silly terms that easily when they're long complicated words I never use. Anywho, I really like her. And she is filled with randomitity. And now, some Quotes: (I think a lot of the humor comes from how she stated the following, but on their own still rather funny in their random way)

Turning around from the board, she was talking about how, as odd and unbelievable and some people seem to think it is, people are animals as well. Which she followed by: "Think about a giraffe driving a car. *long pause* That's CRAZY!" It was really quite funny.
A couple slides later, in a slide that had random different types of animals, we were discussing what makes an animal an animal. One of the pictures was a cat. "This is Edgar. As you can see, he's very well-fed. *long pause* Sigh, my first born!"
In talking about cell division and mitonic cleavage: "I know, it's a time in your life when you've got a lot going on with cleavage." At this point, I think I fell in love.
In talking about different types of animals, there are those that are "less sophisticated" and have one opening for both the mouth and anus. Then, we discuss "more advanced" animals that have the separate openings for the mouth and anus, to which this was added to such creatures: "Now with Christmas and all that mistletoe, Phew. Wouldn't want the mouth-anus guys."

I came back, did some more chilaxing, working out, showering, and then a loverly evening commenced with my friend Laura. We wanted to go bowling, but they didnt have open bowling going on, so we decided to get some food. I needed to go to the devil that is known as Wal-Mart to pick up some boring generic yarn for a class project and some cool yarn for my own indulgence. There's a Subway inside so we ate there. It apparently only employs people with serious malfunctions. They were quite incompetent. But anywho, I had a nice half sub and some yummy soup. Despite the incompetence. While driving back, we went through Uptown Oxford and it was just so pleasant in the fluffy snow and bright glowing gorgeous Christmas lights that decorated the town. We decided to stop at Starbucks and man what an awesome decision. Apparently, Starbucks is amazing. They were giving away FREE Peppermint Mochas. We were not aware of this originally, but it was quite the wonderful discovery. I went in there and asked for the Grande Peppermint Mocha (I decided to be adventerous. I normally get the peppermint hot chocolate during the time of holiday greetings) and the cashier stated, "Well, if you get the Tall, it's free." How could I pass this up? And it was crazy delicious. And Free. As we exited the establishment de Free Coffee Goodness, Christmas Carols Commenced and we entered the fluffy snow goodness once more with hot peppermint mocha in hands, keeping them warm.

All of this, has definitely led to happiness. And now...it can only go up. Tomorrow will be the loverly choraliers concert and I can see the talent of many of my friends. It will then be followed by a weekend which can only be pure bliss, I'm sure.

Then a week of hell. Damn. But I'll worry about that later.

For now, I am happy.

Peace, Cherries, and Oodles of Noodles,
Brandon

Currently Listening to: Squirrel Nut Zippers - "Hot"

Chance of Meatballs

2005-11-30T17:15:00.000-05:00

Well Hello and Good Evening.
I don't really have much to report, I just wanted to direct your attention to this. It's a PDF file (Get Adobe Acrobat Reader for free HERE) that was published by the Human Rights Campaign that goes through and rates different companies upon their kindliness. Some things were certainly surprising going through it. Meijer is one of the lowest rated stores in all of the categories (and we all know how much I Love Meijer) and some how disgustingly enough Wal-Mart got a fairly decent score. Also, Abercrombie & Fitch/Hollister recieved relatively low scores. That's pretty damn odd considering...lol. That's ok...I refuse to shop there anyway. In related news, Miami University of Ohio is currently undergoing some legalities because State (Ohio) Representative Thomas Brinkman, Jr. has decided to sue the university "alleging that Miami's domestic partner benefit program violates Article XV, Section 11 of the Ohio Constitution (the "Marriage Amendment"). The lawsuit asks the Butler County Court of Common Pleas to enjoin the University from continuing to provide domestic partnership benefits. " How are people like this elected? This is dispicable, and I hope he is ashamed of himself and realizes what a horrible thing he is doing. Why shouldn't people with slightly different (and in NO way harmful to others) views be kept from recieving their benefits? Argh. People make me sick sometimes.

Christmas is going to be a little odd this year I think. We don't really have any decorations up because of our new furry friends that enjoy ransacking the house and anything/everything in it. Hopefuly by next year they'll be a little less curious about everything. They are too lovable to get angry with though. It will be held at my Aunt Jan's this year, and once again Christmas Eve will be at my household instead of my grandparents. I suppose this shall do. It will kind of be stinky without all of the decorations though. Our house is normally so pretty with all of the Christmas decorations. My mom is going to make all the food she was originally intending to make for Thanksgiving, so that's good.

I expanded on my "Uncle Ben's Ready Rice" adventure today. Last time I had tried Roasted Chicken and it was quite good, but left a somewhat rank odor in the microwave. Today I tried the Spanish Rice and it was both even more delicious and less odorific. I am so glad I have discovered this wonderful feat in food. This stuff is amazing and will hopefully be fulfilling all of my long overdue rice desires for some time to come.

Sadly, "A User's Guide to Argyle" did not air this week, but if any of you are concerned, it will be airing next week, and that could possibly be our last show of the semester. Maybe we'll do one Final's Week...we're not sure yet. We'll have to see how it goes. OH! Speaking of which...I apparently only have one final on final's week, and it happens to be 7:30AM on Tuesday, which means, I mayhaps have the opportunity of being home for a slightly extended time period. Getting a ride will be pretty difficult though, considering it's so early in the week. Mayhaps my parents will be ok with driving me since it's like in the middle of the week. I would rather not be here for a bunch of days longer than I have to be. But we shall see. I won't worry about that now. Haha. Of course I will, but it's certainly not the most cumbersome of my worries currently. Exams are coming and going, and this loverly semester is drawing to a close. Sadness. I was spoiled this semester in my schedule, and next year will most likely not bring a whole lot of happiness haha. But once again, I must try not to focus on that now and just get through my final exams. Oh, and going back to how this paragraph started before majorly tangenting, next semester me and Hilary are pretty confident we'll be able to get a 2-Hour show next semester. I sure hope so, I think that would be fun.

And now I think I'm done...
Until next time...
Peace and Pillows.
-Brandon Michael

Currently Watching: The Dresden Dolls Live at The Paradise (Basically, an orgasm for all my eyes, ears, and soul)

Pineapples and Fish Stix

2005-11-26T23:07:00.000-05:00

November 22nd, 2005 a little after 6pm has been marked as the time I was able to officially start my Thanksgiving holiday from Miami University of Ohio as my wonderful ride, Emily, came to pick me up and we started on our fairly long trek home. She picked me up from Peabody Hall on Western College, me with my laptop, backpack, laundry bag, and duffel bag in hand. So, there's no room for my stuff in the trunk of your little silver Jetta, eh? That's ok, I'll just throw it in the back with me. She was also driving another friend of hers. David I want to say his name was. Or was it Matt? Damn, I can't even remember. It's probably neither of those. In any case, they were incredibly nice people and I had a pretty good time driving back...I felt really comfortable which is always a plus. I even dozed off every now and again. I almost felt rude about it, but I hadn't slept the night before, so I guess in a dark car it's somewhat to be expected, right? Somehow, Emily was able to perform miracles and we were at her house in Novi in pretty much exactly four hours from when we left. In Toledo I had told my dad that he should leave the house so he could be there when we got there. Perfect I say, perfect! He arrived less than three minutes before us. Am I good or what? Yeah, just say that I am. That was pretty much the conclusion of that night. I got back to my house a little after 11pm and I just unpacked and did all that kind of jazz around the house.

At this point, my mom had already gone to bed and had locked up the cats in the basement. I decided to take a gander and take a lookesy. I had, afterall, never met our newest member of the family, Izzy his name is, and I hadn't really had all that much exposure to Tiger either, so we had a short little bonding experience. I'm not going to lie...I wasn't immediately taken by Izzy. He smells, the poor cat. He has some kind of stomach worm and it has made him bloated and he farts a lot. Farty Marty he has been affectionately coined. Tiger was, of course, the regal and amazing cat that I had remembered from our brief meeting over the summer. He truly is a great cat and incredibly gorgeous to top it all off. And he can even be quite playful. He doesn't seem to like Izzy very much, which is kinda sad considering that's actually the only reason we had gotten Izzy. Tiger needed some company while everyone was away from the house now that my mom has started working again. He was getting kind of lonely apparently, so my mom bought him a friend. Tigers likes to hiss at Izzy whenever he walks by though. Anyway, this was my tuesday and I then decided going to bed wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Wednesday:...
I'm trying to remember. What happened on Wednesday? Ah, yes. I drove over to my grandparents (from my mom's side) at noon to meet up with them, my mom, and my awesomely awesome uncle from Washington (State, duh) and we had lunch together. It was really nice seeing my uncle and grandparents again...it has been quite a while. And come to think of it, this was actually my first time seeing my mom since I got home as well. Quite the reunion of goodness. Lunch was good and we talked a lot, naturally. About nothing overly exciting that I can remember. It was really nice to be able to drive again too. Man I miss it. And Marvin is so good to me, I hope he doesn't feel sad and lonely. What a great car he is.
After lunch, we drove my grandparents back and kidnapped my Uncle Bob so that he could come back to our place and show us some pics from his trip to the Swiss Alps. He's big on skiing. While my mom was driving him back to our house, I took a small detour to FINALLY get my pics finished from the Dresden Dolls Concert so that I can finish up my poster and stopped at the movie theater in Chesterfield to pick up tickets for RENT. Surprisingly enough, my uncle wanted to come with us. How cool! and surprising. I got back and joined my mom, Uncle Bob, and Tiger in the photo tour of Switzerland. Good times.
I'm not going to lie...I certainly wasn't disappointed with RENT. And surprisingly enough, my uncle loved it. It doesn't seem like his kind of a thing. But that's cool. I don't really want to get to into it, but I'm definitely ok with seeing it again if there's anybody that wants to see it. I think that having the original cast (for the most part) was helpful in keeping the integrity of the show, but it certainly wasn't entirely there, which is slightly disappointing. They "dumbed" it down a little it seems to make it PG-13, the pace seemed a little fast, seeing as there is next to no dialogue in the movie, and some of the characters seemed to have changed a little bit. I've never seen the stage version, so I guess I really don't have all that much right to be critical in comparing them, but just from what I know and being very familiar with the music, it seems like the characters have changed a little bit. Mimi seems to have gained a lot more importance to the movie and Angel seemed to have lost quite a bit of importance. He really is kind of like the glue that held the whole group together and who really taught everyone what Love really was, and that wasn't really conveyed in the movie I thought. But yes, it was an excellent movie and I would be ok with seeing it again.
After getting back from the movie, I hung out with Meghan and it was more than loverly being able to finally see her. We had some good times with the Food Network, Scrabble, and a run to Caribou and Target. Good times, good times. I suggest not leaving your keys in your car haha. Going to Target made me not be able to wait until I have a place I can spend money on and get cool random decorations and stuff. That's kind of sad now that I think about it. Why does stuff have to cost money? We should enter the barter system with leaves and grass or something. And I had a new drink for me at Caribou...Turtle something or other. It was muy delicious. I even got a Bavarian Cream pastry thing with it. Man that was good. I heart Caribou and feel that they should be more abundant in Ohio. It was a good day.

Thursday:
Obviously, the day of giving thanks. As per tradition (and I'm a big fan of tradition) I woke up at nine to scuttle downstairs in my PJ's, robe and slippers to plop in front of the tv for a little rendition of "America's Thanksgiving Parade" in good ol' Detroit, Michigan on local NBC. Good times indeed. Actually, maybe not so much. The parade wasn't all that exciting this year. Really, quite atrocious to be honest. It was boring, there were a lot of commercials, and nothing cool happened. There's usually some celebrities and such, this year we had Ryan Cabrerra. WTF? All he did was complain about the cold. So go back to LA you twit. The Briefcase Men, obviously pretty much the coolest act at the Detroit Parade every year, became sell-outs this year. Instead of briefcases, they were using "White Castle Crave Cases." Are you frickin' kidding me? This was probably one of the saddest and most disturbing things I've seen in a long time. What is going on? Sometimes, I really hate America and just the human race in general. Why does everyone have to be such a sell-out and be so concerned with money and whatnot? Do the right thing once in a while. Be true to yourself and what you stand for. Why is that so hard to ask?That's pretty much when the whole traditional thing stopped this year. I'm a big fan of doing things according to tradition and whatnot and having some intimate time with family but that's not really what happened this year for various reasons.

After the parade we went over to my brothers ridiculously nice apartment to watch the football game. This was a joke on its own. If anybody else watched the Lions game, I feel the need to apologize. Seriously, WTF? I mean, I know we're bad, but I think they just added a whole new level to the meaning of the word. Although, it was entertaining in its own right in that the Lions were great at just randomly falling down for no apparent reason. Like, the Falcons would catch the ball, and as they were running there was nobody to tackle them because all of the Lions were just sprawled all over the ground. WTF indeed. Oh well, we have the Red Wings and Pistons, so I can be happy with that. The Lions were really quite pathetic though and it made me more than a little sad. And they were just pretty boring to watch on top of it all. They could have at least lost in some kind of style. I decided to derive my entertainment from my brothers cat, Bosco, who really is quite the entertaining cat. He enjoys climbing up your chest and just staring at you in the face. He also gets great pleasure from milk rings. Good times. He was swell at entertaining himself...and me.
After my brothers we went to my grandparents where we met up with them, my uncle from Washington, and then my other uncle and his family who live in Wisconsin. Because nobody was willing to cook for all of these people, we went to Filipa's for dinner which is rather unfortunate, but the food was amazingly delicious, so I suppose it wasn't all that bad. I had this pineapple glazed ham thing with French Onion soup and scalloped potatoes. Quite delicious indeed. I don't normally like potatoes, but apparently of the scalloped variety I quite enjoy. Good to know. Because it was my grandma's birthday the following day, we had a little celebration with that at the restaurant. The manager had actually gone out and bought a cake for us to bring out to my grandma once the meal was over with. It was quite delicious and rather lemony. I enjoyed it. After this celebration we went back to my grandparents for some of her DELICIOUS homemade desserts. Man is she a good cook. I miss her food over at school. But yeah...pies and cakes galore. Woot woot!

Friday was a day filled with yet more family goodness. I went to my grandparents on my dad's side where we met up with my Uncle Mark, Aunt Diane, and my cousin Amber who I hardly ever get to see. We're getting so old. She's all grown up and will be student teaching after this semester is done with and will hence graduate in the spring. Ridiculous. It was cool seeing them again, it really is far too long between seeing them, I really enjoy their company. My grandma made her delicious White Spaghetti. It's truly orgasmic. The day was filled with good conversation and yummy food. Can't ask for much more. After this I went and saw the new Harry Potter with my mom. I must say, I think this was the best Harry Potter movie yet. I really liked the direction of it, some of the transitions were really cool and I just think that overall it was pretty cool. I was surprised that John Williams was no longer doing the music for it, that seems kinda weird. Maybe he couldn't be dark enough or something. Or was just sick to death of doing it. That could make sense as well. After this went to my other grandparents again for some more homemade desserts and family visiting time.

Since then, I really haven't done a whole lot. I had a six hour phone conversation lol. That has definitely never happened in my life. The phone usually gets to me way before that. I walked around a little bit outside. Bought some wintery "pajazma" pants. That's exciting.

I must say though, that I am really starting to fall in love with my new cats. Tiger is of course gorgeous and intelligent and everything you could hope for. Izzy...is really quite lovable. Yes, he smells. Yes, he could never make it as a show cat. But he's endearing. His eyes are too close together, his head is way too small for his body, his tail is absurdly long, and his hind legs are much longer than his front legs, so he always looks like he's walking downhill. Poor cat lol. He's mostly black and has two white toes and some random white sploches across his belly. Silly kitty. He certainly still acts like a kitten, but he's not really kitten sized anymore. He's intrigued by everything and always wants to play. He's especially obsessed with anything that has any kind of resemblace to string. I wonder why that is. He also has a bad habit of jumping from our upstairs railing onto the stairs below. Without you actually seeing this, I can only say that it is incredibly not safe nor a very koscher thing to do. Silly Izzy.

This has been way too long and has taken me way too long to write. I leave tomorrow in the afternoon to head back to school for what will hopefully be an enjoyable rest of the semester. How come things can't ever just be perfect for a while? There's always the massive downside to everything and that can be kind of annoying. Oh well. This has been a great break, very relaxing, filled with food goodness, and will hopefully give me something to be hopeful and happy about in the near future. I'm not going to lie, I'm starting to lose patience.

Peace and Pillows,
Brandon Michael

PS Sorry for the long breaks between updates...it saddens me much more than you, don't worry. Maybe this will change soon. I can only hope.

Listening to: Misc. songs by The Decemberists

The 10/24 Edition of A User's Guide to Argyle

2005-10-26T00:27:00.000-04:00

A small break from the weekend post because I don't have that kind of patience right now to recap everything, I will instead do this week's "A USER'S GUIDE TO ARGYLE" summary (Remember...Monday nights. At 8pm (EST). www.redhawkradio.com (click on listen in)).

So this week's show got off to a semi-rocky start. As we started the show, we randomly had the first song already playing so when we went to play it, it was almost done. Nice and smooth. We tried playing another song from the cd, but it wasn't very good. Ah well. It happens in this business ;-) lol. Also, Gorbachev, the past president of the Soviet Union, was on campus giving a lecture (news article HERE), so I can't imagine any Miami University students were listening. My parents were apparently listening as usual though, and it's possible we had somebody from Panama listen in. She had emailed me through my photo site, Flickr, when she had come across a picture I had taken of the studio and mentioned I had a radio show. So that would be exciting...you know you're moving up in the world when you have an international audience!

OH! By the way...almost all of the shows have been recorded...so take that for what you will. Last weeks wasn't, but other than that we have some form of recording of the previous shows. I personally find that exciting, mayhaps you'ld be able to score a copy if you would like ;-)

Anyhoosiers, back to the show...
Word of the Day: Obsequious
It was badly underused. Sadness.

Now on to the stories...we begin with the real Canard (a corpse theme in a pre-halloween mood. Speaking of which...we have a show ON Halloween! Get excited, foo!):

TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - A motorcyclist with a helmet-wearing corpse strapped to his back crashed in this Mexican city on the U.S. border on Friday and fled on foot, setting off a police murder hunt.

The unidentified driver was trying to ride with the body through the center of Tijuana, south of San Diego, California., when he lost control rounding a curve.

He fled the scene, leaving the dead passenger on the curb. Police said the corpse, which had head injuries and bore strangulation marks, had died at least six hours earlier.

"When the police arrived they took the helmet off the corpse, believing at first that he had died in the crash," said Francisco Castro, a spokesman for the Baja California state police's homicide division.

"But he had adhesive tape stuck to his face, a knife wound to his forehead, and showed signs of strangulation," he added.

Castro said the dead man had wraps of methamphetamine in his pocket and an unkempt appearance, which led investigators to believe the killing was drug related.

"We think the killer was trying to take the body to a more deserted area to dispose of it," he said.

That's rather disturbing. And now onto Story Numero Dos which is just plain sad...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian authorities have apologized to the family of an elderly man who was given a parking ticket while he lay dead in his car in a suburban shopping center.

The 71-year-old man, known to be seriously ill, went missing nine days ago and his body was found in his car in a shopping mall car park in a Melbourne suburb, police said.

A parking ticket had been placed on the car the day before his body was found.

"It's just tragic. It must be just so sad for the family and we extend our sincere sympathies to them," local mayor Paul Denham told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Friday.

"The circumstances surrounding the location of this poor fellow must make it all the harder for the family. It is simply a case of the parking officer not noticing."

Just odd. Story Numero Tres is quite a bit lighter...

BERLIN (Reuters) - The world's tallest -- and smelliest -- flower has bloomed, reaching a height of 2.94 metres, 18 centimetres more than the previous record for the species, the Stuttgart botanical garden said Friday.

The Titan Arum, or Amorphophallus Titanum, nicknamed "corpse flower" because of its putrid stench, blooms rarely and briefly.

Garden staff have nicknamed the purple flower "Diva" and are charting its life on their web site, www.wilhelma.de.

But those keen for a glimpse, or a whiff, in person must be quick: just 24 hours after the 11 year-old plant produced its first flower, the bloom began to wilt Friday.

The Titan Arum was discovered in 1878 in its sole indigenous habitat, the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and grows in cultivation in only a handful of places around the world.

Its scent has been likened to rotting fish or animal flesh.

"The smell is crucial to its survival in its natural habitat because it attracts pollinating carrion beetles and flesh flies," said botanist Franziska Lo-Kockel.

Lo-Kockel brought the bulb of the plant, weighing some 40 kilograms, from the University of Frankfurt to the Stuttgart gardens 11 years ago.

Yay for smelly flowers! This next one is just plain interesting...

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Archeologists have uncovered the remains of the oldest mummy ever found in Peru's capital, Lima -- a high-ranking official of the Huari tribe who lived about 1,300 years ago, researchers said on Wednesday.

The headless mummy was found in September in Lima's Huaca Pucllana ceremonial complex after studies and exploration at the site.

"He was decapitated and belongs to the Huari culture that invaded Lima," said archeologist Isabel Flores, director of the Huaca Pucllana museum, adding the Huaris predated the Incas, who dominated South America from Colombia to Chile until being toppled by Spanish conquerors in the 1530s.

"Judging by the clothes he is wearing, we're talking about a senior official who was buried wrapped in cloth and tied with rope made of vegetal fiber," Flores added.

The Huaris, a warrior society that conquered Peru's central Andes and coastal regions between 600 and 1000 A.D, were known for their high-quality textiles and pottery styles.

They were supplanted by Ichmas, who Flores said were likely responsible for decapitating the Huari official well after he was buried in an attempt to erase all vestiges of a tribe that dominated them for years.

"It was an act of rebellion against the Huaris. Without doubt, this gives us valuable information about ancient inhabitants of what is now Peru's capital," she added.

The mummy, which was found surrounded by tunics and food such as corn and beans, is not well preserved because of the humidity of Peru's coast. Its dried skin and bones are badly chipped and many of its ligaments are visible.

Peru has made some striking mummy discoveries in recent years. In February last year, two 700-year-old mummies were found in southern Peru by construction workers under a school. Thousands of Inca mummies were found at an ancient cemetery under a shantytown near Lima in 2002.

So that's exciting. And finally, the last Real Canard of the day...

BHOPAL, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of Indians flocked to a village in the central state of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday to see if an astrologer who forecast his own death would die as predicted.

Kunjilal Malviya, 75, who lives in Sehara village, about 125 miles south of state capital Bhopal, was meditating in his house after announcing he would die on Thursday.

His family fears his forecast will come true.

"We are afraid of his prediction coming true because all his predictions till date have been correct," his son Anirudh said by phone.

"My father had predicted the death of my grandfather 15 years ago and it came true exactly like he calculated."

Television footage showed relatives and friends seated around Malviya, singing religious songs and reading Hindu texts.

Policemen have been posted near his house to prevent the astrologer from killing himself, authorities said.

The "Argyle Around the World" segment went back to our roots as we traveled once again to Argyle, Texas, but this time to focus in on what appears to be a very successful school district.

The Argyle Independent School District (or Argyle ISD) centered in Argyle Texas, which was the season premiere of Argyle Around the World, this school district is worthy of mention. It consists of one elementary called Hilltop, a middle school, and a high school. In 2004, the high school received an exemplary rating (one of only 15 in the state), the middle school received recognized, and the elementary school also achieved an exemplary. Class of 2003 was first graduating class and all years since then have had 100% graduation rate. High School was 2004 UIL State Academic Champion. 2003, 2004, 2005 Texas Math and Science Coaches Association Champion. The Argyle High School Band is the current Class 2A State Marching Band Champion, the middle school’s band is the current State Honor Band. The High School’s One Act play was the district championship this school year. Their school mascot is the Eagle. The library contains 9700 books, 350 Videos, and 65 current periodical subscriptions. Cafeteria prices at the elementary school is $2 for students and $2.50 for adults, Robin McWhorter is the principal. Salary increase for every year you work up to 26 years. A teacher with no experience with a Masters degree will make $38,700 the first year working. Without a master’s degree, $37,200.

That's basically the mangled mess of a summary I read on the air. You can go to their actual site HERE.

So this has been fairly long. Lots of Canardage. Soon (hopefully!) I will be updating you all on the fabulousness of this past weekend and maybe some other such things. I do believe I should be going now...

Happy thoughts and yummy dreams!
~Brandon Michael

Listening to: My Music library on Shuffle...ecclectic to say the least.

A Temporary Post

2005-10-24T12:04:00.000-04:00

This is just going to be a temporary post until I have the time/patience to write a real one and go into the actual details. But needless to say, angels did sing on high this weekend... :-)

Oh sweet jesus how I was not disappointed. I am so behind in updating, I can not apologize enough, but the last two weeks I have been rediculously unable to do anything because of a certain suck known as school. But I think things will be calm again for a while...so woot. Hopefully the upcoming updates will not be a disappointment!

Much happiness is found in the picture above. I made out like a frickin' bandit!

Ciao and Happiness...
Brandon Michael

EDIT: I know there are some of you out there who could quite possibly be expecting a post from this redonkulous summer, and I have been planning on working on it now that I am getting my life back this week, although I appear to have misplaced all the notes I had taken so as not to forget a lot of the key points, so the search for those is going to continue, and hopefully before Christmas the summer post will be here.

The Virgin Run

2005-09-21T18:28:00.000-04:00

Greetings!
I'm not going to lie, I enjoy the picture in my previous post so much I didn't really want to update just so I can have that picture permanently at the top of the screen, but alas, an update is due. I promised to talk about my show, and that is what shall be done. First off, a huge thank you to all of you who listened, or had the intention of listening, it means a lot, and I hope that you don't regret it. I personally had tons of fun and I feel it went really really well, so I cannot wait until next week. It is absolutely unbelievable just how quickly that hour went by...the show was over just as I was getting into the groove of it. But alas. Such things happen. Apparently alas is the word of the day.
As A reminder:A USER'S GUIDE TO ARGYLE
MONDAYS @ 8pm
WWW.REDHAWKRADIO.COM
It's INVESTIGAMAZING! So be there...or miss out on some cool stuff...

Anyhoosier, about 7 mins before the show ended Hilary had the audacity to remember that it just so happened to be Talk Like a Pirate Day (only the coolest day of the year) and we had wasted nearly the entire show without talking like a pirate. We were really missing out, so we had to shove a lot of pirate talk into those 7 minutos. But all is good in the land of Argyle. Speaking of which...this weeks score:
Argyle: 3
Miami Butts: 137

Argyle, you really need to get moving on this. Power to the argyle. PS. If anybody wants to get me some argyle...I shall be...really nice to you. Or something. I don't know haha. But it would definitely be appreciated.

So the music we played was rocking, I had fun talking, and me and Hilary were going a little buck nutty. It was definitely good times filled with interpretive dances and much laughage. Yay for giggles.

And on to the news, or as we say in the land of Argyle, Canard:

Sri Lanka- The Sri Lankan cabinet has decided to reduce the age of consent for sexual encounters from 16 to 13. Why? you might ask. Well it's obvious, isn't it? Cabinet spokesperson Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said the action has been taken due to rising numbers of men arrested for sexual relations with girls below the age of 16.

Isn't this essentially saying too many people are getting arrested for murdering people, so lets legalize it? A little redonkulous if you ask me. Silly silly Sri Lanka, you're such a pushover when it comes to criminals.

A Czech town has built a 10,000-euro (12,000 dollar) bridge to protect a handful of squirrels from a busy road, without knowing if they will use it.

The seven-metre (23-foot) high cable bridge attached to two trees spans a road that divides a large park in the town of Sokolov in the west of the country, near the German border.

"We think this construction is unique in the world. I myself witnessed two dead squirrels on the road in the space of two months and I felt we had to do something," Sokolov mayor Karel Jakobec told AFP Thursday.

At the moment the park is home to just three squirrels.

"The idea is that instead of going down trees and crossing the road to get to the other side of the park the squirrels will go up and across. But we don't know yet if it will work," he added.

Most of the 290,000 koruna (9,920 euro) cost was met from a grant by Czech brewer Staropramen as one of 10 grants it awarded for ecological projects in the country. The remaining 40,000 koruna was funded by the town council.

"We have already arranged for two more pairs of squirrels to be brought from an animal rescue centre and we are hoping that the squirrel population in the park will now grow," added Jakobec.

Squirrels are a protected species in the Czech Republic.

I personally feel there are probably much better uses for that money. But alas (ha! you thought I forgot!) I suppose that's just me.

In other news, I received one of the coolest emails of my life today. It's from a radio station in Boston that are going to be having the Dresden Dolls on their show and they sent me a personal email saying that they wanted my input (due to the fact that I "shamelessly promote" them, direct quote)[Set to air October 6th here]. So that was pretty awesome. And be sure that I am going to respond, let them know how badly I am in love with them, and the fact that they should come on my radio show haha. Obviously they will not be doing such a thing, but how investigamazing would it be if they did? It would make my millennium like you wouldn't believe. So yeah...I get to add input to a show with the Dresden Dolls. My lovers. They just don't know it yet. Speaking of which...they will be in Columbus in less than a month. Me and Laura shall be going, at this point I don't care anymore. I have to see them when an opportunity like this arises...the details can be worked out later. I shall be buying three tickets, with the hopes the third one will be used. I love them to no end and I HAVE to take advantage of them being here. Maybe it is no coincidence that I just happened to be wearing their shirt today too. Woot.

Well, I really need to be off to Rocky Horror rehearsal, so alas, I send this to the wind and may it find its way to your computer screen.

Yes, I had quite a bit more I have to say, but I am late. Late for a very important date. With a bunch of transvestites. Yay rocky horror!

Listening to: Garden State Soundtrack, cliche maybe, but man it's so beautiful good and wholesome and full of that sweet sweet love.

A User's Guide to Argyle Part Deux

2005-09-18T20:54:00.000-04:00

So really, this is just more of the same. I am stealing this completely and word for word right from Hilary's Xanga, and I do hope you can forgive me, but I love it so much. So very very much.

If you have any dignity and self respect at all you will tune in to The User's Guide to Argyle on Monday nights at 8 here.

There is a lot more I can say, but I shan't now. The "Current Events" section of our program is referred to as The Real Canard...much of what I say there is going to end up being posted here since it's the kind of stuff that I used to post here. I'll try to post that up on tuesday or wednesday hopefully, maybe along with other highlights of the show.

Continue you with your life...peace & pillows, and Happy Listening :)

Listening to: FAMILY GUY IS ON!!!

PS. Quite possibly my favorite picture of me...EVER. Oh wait, that one baby pic of me is really really investigamazing...haha.

A User's Guide to Argyle

2005-09-12T23:02:00.000-04:00

I Got my Radio Show!! You must listen in...all of you!

A USER'S GUIDE TO ARGYLE
AIRING MONDAYS FROM 8PM TO 9PM
HTTP://WWW.REDHAWKRADIO.COM - Click on "Listen In"
HOSTED BY: YOURS TRULY & HILARY STEVENS

You can listen in anywhere in the world through the worldwide web. You are also free to call in (I believe) as well as make requests/talk to us through AIM using the screenname wmsrdj.

Well, for now I will leave this as my entry, and let the happiness soak in. Hopefully sometime fairly soon I shall have a more "real" entry. Happy listening :)

Listening to: Blessid Union of Souls

...And there was Much Rejoicing...

2005-09-11T02:35:00.000-04:00

Yay.

So I am back. Kind of. I don't mean to make any promises early in the game, but I am very excited about coming back to this blog. I did not have internet access over the summer, so I was not able to update, but I am going to try to stay up to speed now, as well as update you in all the happenings of the summer. The last couple of days I have just been trying to fix up some of the little things that seemed to have gone wrong with my blog, like the lack of pictures. As you scan through the old entries you will see that a lot of them just have a placeholder picture where a really cool picture used to be, and I do apologize for the ugliness. I may just end up getting rid of those altogether. I have been doing my best to go back and replace as many pictures as possible, however it seems that a lot of them have been lost. That silly picture hosting site decided that over the summer it would be fun to delete all of my pictures apparently. This means that I will now more than likely be using by trusty ol' Flickr site to store my blog images which will kind of get in the way of the loverly photostream I have been developing, but I suppose it is another way of letting people know that my blog has been updated occassionaly. It would be spectacular if you could move the photos in the stream, or maybe even mark them as private yet still be able to link to them, but alas, 'tis not the case.

I also had started a little thing where I was posting the stories (with pictures of the illustrations) that I had written as just a wee little one. Those have been lost from my computer, so as of now only that one remains. However, I believe I would like to continue this, so maybe over Christmas Break I shall try to get all of those stories on my computer again so the fun may continue.

So it is late and this isn't anything exciting, so I do apologize. But soon, hopefully very soon, you will begin to see stuff popping up here again. For now however, may you have very yummy dreams and delicious days.

Listening To: Tommy ~ The Who

Do YOU Know?

2005-04-07T03:11:00.000-04:00

Oh My! I do apologize my dear ladies and jellybeans. It has been almost a month since I have updated this and that is uncalled for. I realize that now. Not that it matters...I'm pretty sure I probably lost most of my readers in this time anyway. There is a lot I need to touch on, so bear with me...hopefully sometime soon I can get back to my normal blogging practices.

As a warning, this blog isn't going to contain any fun news stories or, more importantly, any sex-related stories. Sorry about that as well. The title of this blog, and the initial reason for writing this blog is at the end, and I think it is very interesting, so maybe you shall too- I suggest you get on that. There are some things about Spring Break I would like to bring up, and maybe a little more if I feel like it...

So Spring Break. It was a couple weeks ago and quite the roller coaster ride. But we don't need to hear about that. I guess the easiest way to go about this is with some good ol' fashioned chronological-ness.

Saturday evening was very exciting. My high school, Utica Eisenhower of Shelby Twp, MI was the first high school in the country to put on the Elton John/Tim Rice Musical Aida. It will also be the last show in Eisenhower's "Little Theater" as construction on the new bond-approved theater wing starts underway fairly soon, if it hasn't already. All I can say is, "WOW!" They did an amazing job, and I know that Mrs. DeWulf has to be proud (man I miss her!). Briefly, this is probably one of the more powerful love stories ever told, and to see it come to life at my high schools theater, knowing it was the last show on that stage, as well as the first high school in the country to produce it, makes me swell with pride. In days gone by, I was the sound crew head for the theater department, and some of my best high school memories and most fun friends definitely come from those experiences. Anywho, the story in a nutshell is this: The story begins in an art museum in the Egyptian art exhibit, and then the art comes to life as the story of the art unfolds. Aida, an Ethiopian princess, is captured into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh, whose daughter, the princess Amneris, Radames is soon to marry. After the problems are "solved" (although not in the happiest of ways), the audience returns to the art museum from the beginning, with an absolutely amazing ending that will make your heart leap. I am still in shock over what a fantastic performance everybody put on, and I can't express enough how proud I am. It is very obvious that they put lots of money and time into making this the wonderful production that it was. And where did all this talent come from? There were so many new faces to the theater this time around, and at times they sounded just as good as the professional's on the CD. So good job to all of you out there, and it was great seeing some of my old high school friends again, I only wish I could have spent more time with a lot of you. Congratulations on such a successful performance! See all of my Aida photos here and preview the music on Amazon here.

So my Spring Break was full of Musical goodness. The following Tuesday I went down to Downtown Detroit to the Masonic Temple to see The Phantom of the Opera with a great group of people...it was mucho fun. The evening wouldn't have been complete without me getting massively lost and being stuck down so many one-way streets it made my head spin...thankfully I made it out without a scratch. After that lovely beginning, I somehow managed to make it to John's house where I met many of his friends and we piled into a big ol' van and carefully tread our way across Mexicantown into the depths of Greektown, where we ate a delicious restaurant Cyprus Taverna. We then made it to the Masonic Temple in enough time to let us have time to frolic in the basement and be mesmerized by a disco ball. The Phantom of the Opera is the first musical that my parents had taken me to as a little tyke and I don't really remember it that much, and I must say, I was really taken back by the show. This touring cast was absolutely amazing when it came down to the acting and singing- I was thoroughly impressed. If you don't know the story, I would recommend the movie that came out not all that long ago. I feel they could have chosen a better singer for the part of the phantom (apparently he has no prior singing experience, only acting) and the whole part where they go into his childhood was kind of annoying and certainly not necessary. Overall though, it was a very good movie, and who doesn't like Minnie Driver? She was fantabulous in the movie. So yeah...I recommend the movie, and if you ever have a chance to see Phantom in the theater, it is a MUST. I feel that what really makes this show what it is, is the staging. Much like The Lion King. But I digress. There is LOTS of cool staging effects that happen, from when they go down to the Phantom's lair and they have the freakishly accurate portrayal of the boat gliding over the water with all the hundreds of candles, to the magic disappearing acts, to the times when they switch between the front of the stage and behind the stage views. It's all very cool. Live theater is so much more exciting than just seeing a movie, I really think more people should go see these amazing shows. This also happened to be Nia's Birthday. Happy Birthday Nia! I'm so glad I got to spend this time with everyone and get to know you a little better...I had tons of fun.

And that's a good transition into the next point- Birthday Goodness! This Spring Break also seemed to be filled with QUITE the birthdays. Sunday, March 13th, was my dad's 50th Birthday. What an old fart. 50! That's just crazy go nuts ;) Anyway,

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY DAD!

It also happened to be Bill's 21st Birthday on Saturday, March 19th. Craziness! In one week three birthday's, and two of them are big milestone ones. I only wish there was more I could have done for these very special people...

Now to what I really wanted to write about, and at this point, I guess I should be pretty brief. While watching TV the Monday of spring break, it came to my attention that What the #$*! Do We Know!? was coming out on Tuesday. I had been wanting to see this movie since I saw an advertisement for it during a visit to the Royal Oak Main Art Theater one summer's day, so I was determined to rent it before the end of my break, and I'm glad I did. It's definitely a movie you have to be awake for and one that you are in the mood to watch. It's basically about quantum physics and trying to explain different theories about why we are here and some very interesting theories. One scene talked about only being able to see what you believe, in a way. The example they gave talked about when Columbus' ships sailed to the America's, the Native American's couldn't see the ships because such things were incomprehensible. They were able to see the ripples in the water, but they could not see the ships. The village Shaman sat outside for a couple days peering into the distance, until finally he was able to see the ships. So that begs the question, what are we missing, and what can actually be believed? Another scene really hit me hard. I found it absolutely incredible, and I wish there was a good way for me to explain it- the movie shows it very very well. It revolves around the work and theories of Dr. Masaru Emoto who does a lot of scientific research involving water. He has titled his work appropriately enough "Messages from Water." Go here for a good summary of his work that includes some pictures.

To save the painstakingness of pressing on a link, the brief summary is this: Water can be found in crystalline form, and like the saying goes, every snowflake is unique, which is determined by what they "experience." There are two experiments of Dr. Masaru Emoto's the movie focused on. The first is of the Fujiwara Dam. He looked at the water in crystal form and it was fairly chaotic. He then had a monk bless the same water, and looked at the crystalline form again, and it was in a beautiful snowflake-like shape. He then did something similar with distilled water. He had many bottles of distilled water which all had the same crystalline structure. He then took all of the bottles except one and put a different label on each one with sayings such as "I love you," (pictured above, left) "Thank You," and "You Make me Sick, I will Kill You" (pictured above, right). After many hours he examined the crystal structure again. The normal unlabeled distilled water remain unchanged, the other bottles all had their own unique structure. The positive messages all formed beautiful snowflake-like crystals, while the negative messages formed very chaotic and disturbed structures. Combine this with the fact that a majority of our bodies our made of water, and that really makes you think. As the movie says, "If those feelings can do that to water, what can they do to our bodies?"

So I have kept you long enough, and if you have actually made it through this, thank you and I hope you enjoyed. Coming Next Entry: Music, Music, Music Galore...

Currently Listening to: Welcome Interstate Managers Album ~ Fountains of Wayne; Yourself or Someone Like You Album~ Matchbox Twenty; The Alternative to Love Album ~ Brendan Benson; Miscellaneous Guster - Yeah...I've been writing this a long time...

"Buy Her an Ice Cream for Me"

2005-03-13T21:57:00.000-05:00

Ok, no real update. I just came upon this "local" story from NBC Local 4 and thought it was loverly and worth sharing. Enjoy my deers.

A 1-year-old Belleville girl may have helped save the life of a St. Clair County man, Local 4 reported.

Olivia Luke was visiting her great-grandmother in Florida last week when she accidentally bumped a panic alarm inside the home.

Jim Maple was sleeping at his home in the 9600 block of Nook Road in Clay Township, Mich., when police came to his door in response to a call that a panic alarm was set off at that address.

One officer detected the odor of natural gas as he approached the door of the home, the station reported.

Maple informed officers that he had no alarm inside the home, but officers were able to convince him to get out while authorities inspected for a possible gas leak.

The fire department was called to the home, along with a building inspector. The gas company, which later arrived at the scene, detected a leak coming from a gas fireplace, filling the home with dangerous fumes, the station reported.

Confused about the alarm, Maple contacted the previous owners of the home in Florida, who had taken the alarm out of the home when moving, the station reported.

The previous owners told Maple that their granddaughter, Olivia, had accidentally pushed the panic alarm. Police said because the alarm company had not updated the previous owners' address, the signal appeared to be coming from Maple's home.

Maple said he's planning to award his rescuer on her second birthday at the end of this month, the station reported.

"Give that little girl a kiss and buy her an ice cream for me," he said.

You can buy me some ice cream. I'm all for it.

EDIT: Found this story and thought it was too good to pass up. I mean, seriously.

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) - A teenager has agreed to admit to three counts of disturbing the peace after anonymously sending semen-frosted brownies to a fellow student. The recipient shared the treat with two other teens, police said.

They said the 17-year-old Coeur d'Alene High School student was upset after a prank in which the other student put peanut butter in his cheese sandwich days before. He told a school resource officer that "he hated peanut butter and it made him more mad than he could explain," according to the police report.

The teen later told School Resource Officer Jeff Walther that he got the idea of putting his semen on the brownies from the movie "National Lampoon's Van Wilder," in which characters send pastries filled with dog semen to a fraternity house.

The student was arrested and booked into a juvenile detention center. He has since been released on a judge's order that he has no contact with the students who ate the brownies.

The youth is to be sentenced on April 4 on the three misdemeanor counts, which are each punishable by up to 90 days in detention, prosecutors said.

The victims' parents were notified and the children were tested for anything that could have been transmitted through the body fluid, although Panhandle Health spokeswoman Susan Cuff said the chance of the students' health being affected would be "extremely remote."

School Superintendent Harry Amend declined comment on any school discipline against the teenager.

Mm mm mmm...that's how I like my special brownies.

Ugh...College Kids

2005-03-11T20:36:00.000-05:00

Thursday, March 10, 2005 marked Green Beer Day at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The history, as stated on the "official" website has this to say...

Green Beer Day's origins are about as clouded as your brain after too many green-dyed draft beers. Many have speculated that this tradition was begun at Miami shortly after World War II. A Miami Student article, dated march 8, 1946, discusses the grain crisis that gripped the country and resulted in a shortage of grain for use in beer production. The article states nothing of a green beer celebration. It does however point out that Mac and Joe's did not have beer to sell...at that time it was not yet a bar. So, we are left to ponder again the origin of this day of green-tinged revelry.Since at least 1952, green-dyed draft beer has been a tradition around St. Patrick's Day in Oxford. We know because another Miami Student article dated March 14, 1952 says that the day was celebrated by Oxford restaurants selling "traditional dark green beer" on March 17. This is the first known source to state its celebration, but this still does not pinpoint the origin of its specific celebration by Miami students. March 14 was a Friday and March 17 was a Monday. The Thursday before Spring Break is the key to its mystery. While most of the country is drinking a dark pint of Guiness or a Harp with a few drops of food coloring on March 17, Miami students are usually cooking under the Sun's UV rays, engaging in hooking-up, and generally enjoying the popular Spring Break destinations.

Green Beer Day is perhaps one of the most hated and revered unofficial holidays in higher education today. It is celebrated on the Thursday before St. Patrick's Day (March 17) every year. Nearly every bar in Oxford opens its doors at 5:30am (the earliest time alcohol sales are allowed in Ohio) and green beer and green Jell-O shots begin their transition from tap and cup to an eager students' belly. Students wear shirts made up to commemorate the event and it
has a Mardi Gras-like atmosphere complete with beads.Most people theorize that this is done because Miami University nearly always places the Spring Break holiday during the real St. Patrick's Day. Students who were upset at never being able to enjoy a St. Patty's Day at school moved its celebration back a few days thinking the University was planning to prevent a day of drinking. Indeed, the University dislikes Green Beer Day immensely, taking out full page
advertisements in the Miami Student and High Street Journal in recent years stating their position that Green Beer Day "promotes damaging, dangerous, and irresponsible alcohol consumption" and "interferes with the educational objectives of the University." However, the more Miami University discourages Green Beer Day, the stronger students are to maintaining it as a tradition.

The article also says that typically on this day there are less arrests and medical transports than an average friday and saturday night. From what I was hearing that day, I think I might have to disagree. It seems to me that sirens were going by quite frequently. Apparently that's just me.

The Cincinnati Enquirer says...

OXFORD - A Miami University student was critically injured Thursday when his car collided with a train, which pushed the car nearly 500 feet.
David D. Brown, 20, of Wilmington, was driving west on Chestnut Avenue about 5:09 a.m. when he tried to drive over railroad tracks, said Oxford police Sgt. Jim Squance. A northbound CSX freight train headed to Indianapolis couldn't stop in time, he said.
The train slammed into the driver's side front door, pushing the car 454 feet to the Main Street crossing, where the vehicle came to a stop after hitting a nearby parked car, he said.
There were no safety gates at the crossing but there were working flashing lights at the time of the crash, Squance said.
Brown was flown by helicopter to University Hospital, where he was in critical condition.
Oxford police expect test results back today to determine if Brown was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, but officials said the incident was not connected to Green Beer Day festivities. The annual day-long drinking fest that unofficially kicks off Miami's spring
break, began at 5:30 a.m.
Miami University officials discourage Green Beer Day, saying it promotes binge drinking.

Sigh. Why can college kids be so dumb sometimes. This seriously has to be one of the dumbest things people can do. I just don't understand sometimes. Let's hope David Brown will be ok.

Lemon Meringue Porkchops

2005-03-10T17:55:00.000-05:00

Because I am awesome like that, sometimes in my spare time I like to plan out my funeral. Why, you might ask? I personally feel why not is a more appropriate question. Ok, so maybe I don't actually plan my funeral, but it's something that I at times think about. Not that I'm obsessed with my death or anything, but one of my biggest fears is dying alone, so every now and then I would just like to think that there are people out there who would make an honest effort to pay their respects if I were to pass away. Anywho, you sometimes see in movies and stuff big stinks made about what songs are going to be played at their funerals and stuff, but that's not of the things I've really thought about. Ok...so maybe I have. But it's not anything I've gotten anywhere with.

LONDON (Reuters) - Robbie Williams has topped the UK funeral music chart, leaving Mozart trailing in his wake, according to a survey Thursday.

Williams' "Angels" was the record most Britons would like played at their funeral, with Mozart's "Requiem" coming in at five in digital broadcaster Music Choice's poll of top 10 British funeral songs.

Frank Sinatra's "My Way" was second, just ahead of Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."

The rest of Europe favored a more soft rock approach.

Queen's "The Show Must Go On" topped the European chart, with Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" in second and third place.

Over 45,000 music fans from across Europe were polled, with 20,000 Britons taking part.

I can honestly say that having a Monty Python song at my funeral, even one possibly as appropriate as "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (from The Life of Brian) has never crossed my mind. And I love Monty Python. Something more to think about I suppose. Personally I feel a little saddened that it's the third most popular song at funerals...oh well, I guess it's good for people to have a sense of humor about it.

In other news, we bring you some food for thought:

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Adult film company New Frontier Media has something new for cell phones: ring moans.

Wireless content company Brickhouse Mobile on Tuesday said that under an agreement with New Frontier it would begin offering ring tones for mobile phone users featuring porn stars making groaning and moaning noises from the suggestive to the positively tantalizing.

The company said it would also begin offering sexually explicit "wallpaper" for cell phone screens and adult videos for download on mobile phones under its brand The Erotic Network, the television subsidiary of New Frontier Media Inc.

Brickhouse and New Frontier signed their five-year deal in January but did not disclose full terms of the program until Tuesday. Users will be able to buy individual items or take a monthly subscription.

The two sides said they would also work together on age-verification schemes to ensure that minors were not purchasing inappropriate content. Much of the more explicit content will be available internationally at first.

Oh my. Sign me up.

Peace and Pillows.

Mmmm....cake...

2005-03-08T16:37:00.000-05:00

This is a joyous day, a joyous day indeed. Twenty years ago on this fine day, the eighth of March, Aaron Doss was gracious enough to grace us with his presence. How thankful we should be :)

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Unfortunately for me, this isn't all that joyous of a day...I think it's just one of those days where you wake up on the wrong side of the day: Woke up after less than four hours of sleep (which has been very common the last two weeks), stubbed my foot hardcore style, wandered out into the snow with much much less than adequete clothing (yea for button pants and a t-shirt lol), went to english class far less than adequetly prepared (although got my paper back with a much better than expected grade, and also was offered to help with a project for the universities english department, so thats fun), then took a shower in which the bathroom could definitely be described as trashed, and I then proceeded to bang my elbow against a boiling hot pipe. Good times. The rest of the day hasn't gotten much better. Although my EAS midterm which I was sure I couldn't have gotten higher than a D I ended up with a B+...that was mildly exciting. So maybe I don't get as upset with bad grades as I used to, but it's good to know I can still get excited about good grades.

Well, all my friends I was talking to have left me for a nap. Why oh why can't I nap? *sad face inserted here*

I was going to end it there, but there's not much left to do, so I might as well make this update a little more worth your effort in getting here...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man who went on holiday left his stereo and
lights on so that his pet hamster would not feel lonely in the empty apartment,
a police spokesman said on Monday after breaking into it over fears the man may
have died.
The spokesman for police in Bremen said police broke open the door
after being alerted by neighbors that loud music was playing non-stop for five
days and the lights were left on. No one answered the door when they knocked,
police said.
"There was a fear the occupant might have been disabled or
dead," a police spokesman said. "All we found was a pet hamster. The occupant
was away on holiday. A friend of his arrived and said he left the music on so
the hamster wouldn't feel lonely."
The spokesman said the friend of the
occupant, who is still on holiday and not reachable, told police she visited
every few days to feed the golden hamster food and provide water. She promised
to turn the music down and come by more often.

Thats a pretty dern lucky hamster...how nice to be so loved.

KAMPALA (Reuters) - In an effort to boost morale among Uganda's ill-paid
and often corrupt police force, the government has rewarded two officers who
declined bribes and fought off robbers trying to steal exam papers.
Education
Minister Namirembe Bitamazire gave the two constables 500,000 shillings (about
$300) for standing up to the thieves, who targeted a store holding secondary
school papers in central Luweero district, newspapers reported Wednesday.
The
state-owned New Vision said the four robbers first tried to bribe the policemen
guarding the store, but when that failed produced weapons and tried to steal the
tests at gunpoint.
The policemen arrested one of the robbers at the scene and
the others fled -- but were later arrested.
"These officers showed a high
caliber of integrity. They refused a bribe and stood up to the thieves," an
official from the Uganda National Examination Board told the New
Vision.
Uganda's police force is poorly paid, and junior officers often
demand bribes to overlook minor traffic offences.
The robbery attempt took
place in November, days before students were due to sit their exams, the paper
said, and the policemen received their reward Tuesday.

I'm tired. Enjoy the time my kittens.

A Quick Update to Please the Masses

2005-02-23T13:26:00.000-05:00

I don't have a computer, and I probably won't for quite a long time, so I can't really update with fun stuff too often anymore. In case anybody is following along still though, however, I need to let everyone know that in my possesion are two tickets to see The Dresden Dolls, Ash, The Bravery, and The Black Keys in Columbus on April 9th at the PromoWest Pavilion. The excitement....it overwhelming. If ANYthing happens to make this not happen...hell WILL break loose. Hot damn I'm excited. Like, really really really excited. I haven't really heard of anything from The Black Keys, but Ash and The Bravery are played a lot on WOXY Radio and they have some music on their websites, and I really really like them as well, so this should be an awesome concert. AAAAADJSHJKHFD:JKFHSKSAHSA. I'm happy. Woot woot.

Also also coming up in the workings of the arts...mother's day weekend I am possibly seeing the musical Hairspray and in the summer... WICKED! AH! Even more excitement, and to top it all off, I get to see Wicked in Chicago, with the lovely Meghan and Mrs. McAfee. God our poor parents in that car...

P.S.

2005-02-17T23:07:00.000-05:00

Much to my happiness and surprise, as I was looking up on Amazon to see how much the Bettie Serveert CD was, I was pleasantly greeted by the world premiere trailer of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That's right, the real trailer. Not that groovy teaser they've had out for so long. Apparently everybody already knew this though, including my mother who failed to tell me. I feel betrayed. It doesn't matter though, I got to see the trailer. The excitement abounds...not to mention they're releasing the movie a week earlier than originally scheduled.
Also, a lovely email came my way with incredibly exciting news. At least it better be exciting news. April 8. A saturday. The Dresden Dolls. THE Dresden Dolls are coming to Columbus. Columbus. On a saturday. The Dresden Dolls. Man. If I can't find someone willing to do that drive, I will be an unhappy person. There seem to be a lot of people from the area though, and it's a weekend so I can't imagine it will be that hard. Oh man. Can you tell I'm excited? There was something else, but I got a little carried away by The Dresden Dolls and I forgot.

Have a nice night, and yummy dreams
Brandon M Cirillo

In the Background: Family Guy, and now Murphy Brown

Where art Thee?

2005-02-17T12:12:00.000-05:00

I sincerely miss my computer. Whatever devil has been instilled upon thee, please exorcise yourself immediately. Having to find times to make trips back and forth to this pooey lab is getting really obnoxious, especially when all I want is to see what's on tv or to upload a couple of pics or something along those lines. But this isn't something I need to rant about here. I was hoping to make some changes and whatnot to my blogger and some other things, but I just don't feel comfortable making them at a lab. Call me crazy. Although, I am going to have lots and lots of free time in the coming week, so I might just have to get over that and work on it at the lab anyway. Probably not though.

I can say that Ohio weather is almost as crazy as Michigan weather. On tuesday I got the pleasant surprise to be able to stand at the bus stop at 7:30 in the morning and I had no coat or anything and I was very very cold. When I got back to my dorm after my class, I chilled around for a bit, and then needed to head back for my full day of classes, on this particular day not getting back to my dorm until a couple minutes before 8pm. I grabbed my winter jacket remember how cold I was standing there at the bus stop and then I was shocked once stepping out that front door to be greeted by near-70 degree weather and perfect sunshine. Oy. I felt quite silly walking around for the remainder of the day with my big heavy winter jacket. Today, as I stepped outside and was again shocked, this time by the frigidness, I started thinking about the weather as only natural to a Michigan-born person, and approximately one minute into my thoughts it started snowing. Not hard, and not long, but for the time it took me to think about the sunshine and spring-feverness of a couple days ago, it was snowing. Oy vey indeed.

With the second semester now half over, WMSR is more or less getting started up once more. For a brief glimpse in time I was able to be excited about the possibility of having a show this semester, but it looks like that is more than likely not going to happen anymore. Oh well, the thought was fun while it lasted. Hopefully next year things will turn out differently. The main reason for bringing up WMSR though is to say that with this, and once the real meetings start happening, I will once again be able to post some reviews of new CD's coming out. Get excited, I sure am. Actually, I'm more excited about the possibility of getting more fun stickers to decorate my trunk with...in the mean time, I am having a muy bueno time listening to WOXY radio and without my computer and all the godful music that was on it (that is once again lost) WOXY is really how I have been filling my music quota. Too bad I can't play them on my radio in the room. So look for those to come.

I don't normally use this as a "journal" but more as something to amuse myself with, but maybe by adding some personal stuff my "audience" can get to understand me a little better. This entry is already pretty long, but I really don't have anything better to do, and I'm thinking since you're here, you don't either.
For one, I am very upset about losing all those stories of mine that I copied onto my computer from when I was a little kid. Those stories were awesome and I literally spent all of Winter Break transposing them onto my computer. Along with the actual stories, the pictures I took of them are lost as well. Pooey. One good thing to come of this however, maybe when I get back home and I am subject to a working computer, I can do the stories properly and take a picture of all the pictures I took. That might be a little much though.
A lot of stuff has been happening recently. Good stuff, mostly I think. As long as I don't think about this coming weekend too much...
So stuff with next year has really come hard and fast. I have slowly been thinking about changing my major, and with this changing my academic division, and in this particular case, more or less changing the entire environment to which I will be going to school. That was an awkward sentence...I do apologize. Along with this, there are mandatory living arrangements necessary, and fortunately for me, I managed to set up a random meeting with the new advisor the day before the housing assignment (unfortunately, almost a week after the housing lottery though). Good timing on my part, or else I might really have been in trouble. My room next year will be 330 Peabody Hall located on Western Campus. (I took a picture of the outside that I would love to post here, but seeing as I'm not in my room, I don't have my computer or uploading supplies right now. From the linked picture though, I believe my room is somewhere in or near the middle. I can't remember now...). That's right, I'm going to be a Western Major now...what a switch. Right now the plan is majoring in Environmental Science with an Entrepreneurship minor. My mom is quite nervous about the switch from engineering to a more philosophical degree. There goes my rich and exuberant lifestyle! Ah well, at least now I think I will be happier. As long as I get to travel. Going back to my room, it's pretty darn big, and Peabody Hall is really really nice. And close to Alexander Dining Hall (part of Clawson Residence Hall). And and a duck pond. The excitement abounds. It's further away from the nature walks though and all my reflection spots, but I think I will be able to deal. I'm looking forward to it.
Also, I'm quite certain I shall be joining the swim club next year. I think I really need to. And I mean need. Swimming has had a huge impact on much of my life and I really miss it. Last friday as I was swimming my laps and getting more and more buff by the second (so I exaggerate a little...) they were setting up the adjoining pool with the starting blocks and timing pads and testing all the starting equipment and whatnot. It really made me realize how much I missed the pure adrenaline rush that happens that moment you are standing on the blocks right before you hear the buzzer go off. It's an amazing feeling. The pure thrill that happens as a result of coming in first, especially when you are the underdog, or maybe you didn't get the best place, but you still drop time and end up with a new amazing best time...it's truly magnificent. I have been pretty hard pressed to find info about the swim club, but I do have a contact name and I guess that's all I really need, right? It appears to be an intercollegiate team as well...I don't know how I feel about that. It might not be quite the confidence booster I am hoping it could be. I might end up finding out I'm the worst person there. Oh well, it will still be fun, and it's something I work really hard at once the mindset is there, so I am looking forward to it. Also as I was swimming and I was thinking about my times, all those great meets, the Big Boy runs after relay meets, and all the great people I have been able to meet, I realized that despite the fact that it was such a humongous part of my life, it wasn't something that anyone else really opened up to. My parents were the only ones that came to my meets. I don't want to complain about that or anything, I love my parents, and I can't thank them enough for all the support and encouragement and excitement that they had for this, but looking back it's pretty saddening. I don't want to say that they don't count because there were a lot of kids whose parent's didn't go, but it's almost like they were "supposed" to go. The friends that would end up going were swimmers, not like anything's wrong with that, but it's almost back to the "they're supposed to go" thing, not that that's true, but, well...I can't convey exactly what I'm saying. Don't worry, I'm not taking advantage of them though. It just seems like there were so many other special people in my life, friends and significant others, and they never came to any of my meets. I didn't care at the time, I guess I still don't really, but it's kind of odd that something so incredibly huge in my life couldn't be shared with them as well. Like I said, I really don't care, it was just something I began to think about. Maybe if I join the club here that could change. We will see I guess.

After a night of much-too-little sleep, it isn't surprising that today didn't have the best start. It was only confirmed as a bad day when I got all prepared for my daily watching of the Ellen DeGeneres Show and it was rudely aborted for a presidential news conference. I decided to do my civic duty and actually watch it...well, I tried to at least, and I got through most of it. I really don't understand that man sometimes though. He can say the oddest things and I hope I'm not the only one who notices. The point of the news conference was to announce Negroponte as the new U.S. Intelligence Chief or "Spy" as the world is now calling him. Of course, very little time was actually spent on this. It soon got to talks about the Middle East and other such things that are to be expected. I was a little confused though...is the middle east a part of the United States? The last I checked, there were fifty states plus a very small number of commonwealths such as Puerto Rico...last time I checked the entire Middle East wasn't a part of this. But the way President Bush talked about Syria and the surrounding countries, and his plans for action, you would think we were in the midst of a civil war. Personally, I find a lot of this just downright and scary and uncalled for. That's just my lowly opinion though. So yes, the interuption of Ellen to hear that we now have a chief spy and are in the midst of some type of civil war which I shall never understand, has meant that the day has been all downhill.

Last night I saw Eric Idle on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart though, and I must say that was pretty darn exciting. What funny men.

So this has become insanely long and not all that entertaining, so I shall leave you to your time well spent. Not before this, however...

MADRID (Reuters) - Two Kenyan boys whose penises were cut off to be sold
for making anti-AIDS potions have had them reconstructed in Spain, the doctor
treating them said.
...
"They had attacked them to cut off their penises to sell ... for making a
type of potion which according to a local belief cures AIDS," Read
More...

Peace and Pillows...

Brandon M Cirillo

Happy Paczki Day!!

2005-02-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

So I have a lot to say and really not all that much time to say it...I need to be heading off to my Art History class in a few minutes and this is my second time trying to post something. I haven't really been updating lately and I do apologize, my computer has been being far less than kosher and decided to become the devil incarnate. Aka, I hate my computer and it has decided to fritz out and not work. Ever. Apparently technology hates me, and since I love it oh so very much, I wish it would stop.

There really is a lot of stuff I wanted to update on though, so you'll have to look for that maybe later today if I can bear myself to come back to the stinky silent lab again...it's really not a very pleasant experience. It's way too eerily quiet and I always feel like I'm being watched and monitored. Not a whole lot of freedom as to what I can do. Not to mention these computers aren't all that great to begin with. Enough of my ranting...

I just wanted to drop a quick post to say HAPPY PACZKI DAY to all those people out there who are lucky enough to be able to celebrate it. Apparently Ohio-ians do not believe that this is a worthy enough holiday to celebrate...my aorta shall bleed on you. I was able to celebrate by watching the Ellen DeGeneres Show Mardi Gras Special and I'm hoping later I will be able to stop by Kroger and hope and pray to everything holy and not that they might by chance have some wonderful Paczki's. I am looking forward to being disappointed. Sometimes I really miss being home. Especially lately, but that's for completely unrelated reasons...

Wishing you a happy day and peaceful pillows,
-Brandon M Cirillo

A Goddess Nominee

2005-01-31T21:36:00.000-05:00

So this is really cheesy...I just needed to go somewhere where I could be distracted from buying the new Bettie Serveert Album...or any of her albums for that matter. A popular play lately on the beauty that is WOXY radio is the song Attagirl by Bettie Serveert and I must say that I have fallen madly in love. I find it amazing. My first instinct was to go to Amazon and order her CD, and I figured impulse buying when you are an in-debt college student isn't always the smartest thing in the world, so I decided to distract myself with this. And I am sitting here talking about it. Guess I'm not all that distracted. I guess I need to hear more of their stuff, but at this point that song alone is making buying the CD seem worth it, and besides, it had a five star review at Amazon, it seems like they are usually fairly accurate in my books as well.
UGH! I just checked her website and on Feb 11 she will be playing in Detroit at St. Andrews...I don't even believe it. Sometimes I really miss being home. ST ANDREWS TOO! Ugh...concerts there have never been anything but amazing. Then on Feb 12 she's going to be in Chicago. Those are the closest locales. If I had a car I would definitely go to one of them. But I don't. Nor do I know anyone crazy enough down here who would even consider taking me lol. It's going to be like the Dresden Dolls experience all over again. Yes, I'm still bitter about missing them when they were in St. Louis/Chicago.

So I do apologize for making this into a rant. Just wanted to share ;)

2nd Posting of the Day

2005-01-27T19:20:00.000-05:00

So I already posted today, but I thought this was too good to pass up. Seriously, read this article. It's pretty creepy. That is all, class dismissed.

Compliments?

2005-01-27T14:30:00.000-05:00

It has come to my attention that nobody reads this. But that's ok, it amuses me anyway :)
Moving along...
So anyone who knows me, even a little, can tell you I'm not all that attractive, erm, I mean, that I don't have the highest self-esteem in the world and don't take compliments very well. I don't know exactly what this stems from, but as a rule of thumb, if you compliment me in some spoken way, you're probably lying. Now, I can at least realize maybe this isn't exactly always true and there are exceptions - there are those rare times I can take a compliment gracefully. But for the most part, I don't. If I do, then either I probably know you pretty well or you're a complete stranger. And if it's because of the former, you've had to fight with me about it, most likely for months.
What was my point?
While walking out of my dorm this morning preparing to cross the ice rink that is Cook Field, two girls walked by going in the opposite direction (towards the dorm for you slow folks). One says to the other (no, this isn't the start of a bad joke. Ok, well not intentionally anyway) "He was kind of cute" to which the other replies "...yeah..."
The weird thing is, I have always wanted to be one of those people that gets complimented by a casual passerby, it just always seemed like that would be a good feeling. Yet I found this oddly deflating. It wasn't supposed to happen like this! What do you mean "kind of" and "...yeah..."?? Where's the enthusiasm, people?! A normal person would feel good and mayhaps slightly big-headed if even for a second about this. I feel compelled to complain on the world wide web. Maybe I'm just an insatiable ignorant man-whore. If anything, it's a new title to introduce myself by.

Peace and Pillows, Brandon M. Cirillo

Listening to: System of a Down - Steal this Album! Album

Chicken Livers

2005-01-26T16:57:00.000-05:00

It has come to my attention that between this and my "depression journal" at livejournal, a lot of my titles have food names, more likely than not having absolutely no relevance whatsoever to anything. Well this time it's different. In CHM 142 today, professor Schlueter decided to give a demonstration of the effect of enzymes...in this case, the effect of the enzymes found in ground chicken livers ("this stuff is GROSS!") on dissolving hydrogen peroxide in water. I wish I could give you a sound clip or something because something about it was just really funny. After putting the hydrogen peroxide/water mixture in a cup he said something along the lines of "See, look, you can't even see it really doing anything. It's boring. Let's look at it." So we did. Then he proceeded to add the ground chicken livers ("this stuff is GROSS!") and it foamed. A lot. It definitely spilled out of the cup and started making quite the mess. "Uh oh....well, I wasn't exactly prepared for that to happen."
Maybe you had to be there.

LONDON (Reuters) - BBC chiefs ruled Wednesday that a comedy show called "TV's Greatest Moments" should not have shown a clip of narcolepsy sufferers falling asleep at a help-group meeting.

The footage, which had originally formed part of a serious documentary into sleep disorder problems, was greeted with uproarious laughter by the audience when it appeared on the prime-time "2002 Greatest TV Moments" show.

The Narcolepsy Association UK (UKAN), which represents people who are prone to sleep disorder attacks, said the clip lampooned the condition, and encouraged the public to ridicule and humiliate sufferers.

The clip had initially been considered acceptable by the BBC's head of program complaints but a committee of five BBC governors later supported UKAN and ruled it was inappropriate to show the footage out of context.

"The audience of 2002 Greatest TV Moments knew nothing about the condition or the effect it had on sufferers' lives. Because the clip had been presented out of its original context, the audience had reacted to it with laughter," the committee said.

However it rejected UKAN's complaints about two other BBC programs on the subject, "Living Nightmare" and "Nap Attack" which had included the offending clip, saying they had been factual and informative.

I guess I just liked this article because it reminds me of "Rat Race" and Rowan Atkinson's character. And now for the required tantalization...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Four Sacramento, California firefighters who admitted to having sex while on duty have been suspended pending an investigation, a spokesman for the city's fire department said on Tuesday.

The three men, including a captain, admitted to having sex with a fourth firefighter, a woman, while on duty. Superiors put all four on administrative leave on Monday, marking the second recent sex scandal to hit the sleepy state capital's fire department.

"The four individuals have admitted to having sex in the firehouse," said Captain Niko King, a spokesman for the department. "They even conspired to keep it secret by putting one person on watch so they wouldn't get caught."

The firefighters face disciplinary action ranging from time off without pay to dismissal, said King, noting officials took quick action as rumors of on-duty sex circulated through the department.

The probe follows an investigation after city firefighters attended a local porn-star costume ball last July. The department began that probe, its largest internal investigation ever, after a woman who does not work for the department said she had been sexually assaulted by a firefighter in a department fire truck.

Those dirty firefighters. There's been a lot of that going around, hasn't there? You just can't trust a person who lugs around big hoses for a living. It must also be noted that a google image search of "firemen" reveals more than a couple revealing photos...
PS The caption of the photo reads "NO FIRE! Only a naughty little monkey."...I thought it was appropriate.

Also in the news, Google has just released a beta video service that I suggest checking out if only for shits and giggles...I think it's pretty darn nifty. I can't wait for it to become full-fledged. Read more about it here or directly from Google here

Listening to: Simon and Garfunkel - Bookends Album (It's really what inspired me to make this blog...I wanted everyone to know that I am listening to the godliness beauty that is S&G)

"He was the best, a star and a gentleman"

2005-01-24T15:55:00.002-05:00

Johnny Carson: October 23, 1925 - January 23, 2005

Yesterday, Sunday January 23, 2005 was a very sad day indeed. Johnny Carson, the king of late night television, died at the age of 79. He is said to have died peacefully in the morning, surrounded by his family. He died of complications from emphysema. He reigned as the late night king for thirty years entertaining America night after night, where his show was the jumping ground for many of today's successful comedians and provided many laughs with the animal antics that frequented the Tonight Show.

''When he reads the paper in the morning, he can think of five jokes right off the bat that he wishes he had an outlet for,'' Peter Lassally, one of Carson's former producers, said last week.

He would send a joke occasionally to Letterman, who lost the battle for ''Tonight'' but remained a Carson friend. Some bits made it into Letterman's monologue.

''Johnny gets a big kick out of that,'' Lassally said. Read More...

He will be missed.

To lighten things up a little, click here to read an exclusive article written by the amazingly fantastical Lemony Snicket.

Listening to: Silence...how boring

EDIT: I stupidly forgot to mention that the quote that is the title of this post was one given by David Letterman when he was talking about Johnnie Carson.

The DaVinci Code

2005-01-22T13:32:00.000-05:00

So this book, The Da Vinci Code, has swept the country, and the world. Not surprisingly, it is going to be turned into a movie which is scheduled to be released May 19 of 2006. I think things like this are a huge gamble. Naturally, they are going to be huge box office hits just because of the pre-determined popularity, but will they be done well? For instance, there has been the massive sweep of Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series. Personally, I feel the Harry Potter movies were crap compared to the books and left out way too many elements that even effected some of the themes and lessons trying to be conveyed. Lord of the Rings, although obviously stuff had to be cut out because of length, I feel the main points and such were still there and they were quite amazing cinematic events. Without reading the book I guess I can't say a whole lot about The Da Vinci Code (although it is on my list of things to hopefully read this summer), I must say this article made me quite excited about the movie. I think it definitely seems like maybe this could be an uber-high-quality film. We shall see though, shan't we?

Listening to: Crazy people outside my window

Eng 112

2005-01-21T12:06:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note that I forgot to mention in both of my posts yesterday...my english 112 class has an assignment involving starting a blog, so I now have two of these hum dingers. The other one can be found here. I don't know how exciting it will be, because I'm not entirely sure what it entails yet, but there it is. Peace and love.

Wimps

2005-01-20T22:20:00.000-05:00

Who would've thunk that there would be such a big change going from Michigan to Ohio? I think people here really think they are in the deep south sometimes. There is two, maybe two and a half inches of snow on the ground. Not in the streets, not on the sidewalks, just on the regular ground area. It's not particularly extra cold. A HUGE number of school districts are closed. Tomorrow. Yea...tomorrow. Ohio, I shall never understand thee. I can't imagine EVER getting off school under such circumstances. There needed to be at least a foot of snow for there to even be a chance of getting off school, coupled with absolutely horrible temperatures, and the roads need to be solid ice. Then, more likely than not, we'll still have school. I can't imagine a year when it didn't happen that we would be on the bus and it would get stuck in a tremendous snow drift and need to be pulled out by a tow truck 45 mins later or that we would be stuck on ice and go zooming through red lights at intersections and almost be killed. That was all fine and dandy. Senior year when we were allowed to drive to school...now that was scary. We weren't protected by the overly large metal twinkie. No, I was out there in my little purple people eater/lilacer with little protection. And NEVER EVER EVER was school cancelled the night before...Dr. Sergeant canceling school the night before?? She would to have had to of been on crack...or ex...or something (yes, I am fully aware of the awkwardness of that sentence). Silly silly ohio-ans. You're not in the south. You should know about snow by now. And that's my beef. What's for dinner?

Listening to: My new-found love, WOXY radio

Word of the Day: Freedom

2005-01-20T15:21:00.000-05:00

There is so much to say, and I just know I'm going to be screwing at least something up.

First off, I am a tad bit disappointed at the turn out of my story, I was hoping people would like such wonderful work by an eight year old, but oh well, maybe next time. Yes, that's right. I am going to continue posting those stories. I just think they're fun.

Nextly, the President of the United States was inaugurated today. I was able to watch about the last thirty minutes while waiting at Shriver between my engineering and art history class. I just feel like I am continually disappointed. I can't say that John Kerry would make a better president, but I really do feel like he would be the lesser of two evils. Yea, I know, but I really feel like President Bush can be just downright evil in certain aspects, and that is hard to respect sometimes. I don't want to get into this too much, because afterall, what do I know? But I just found some of what he said as pretty strange. From the bit that I say, I could probably split what he was saying into two different categories. Hypocritical bull shit, and filler bull shit. These aren't by any means direct quotes or anything (psh...are you kidding? I'm not that dedicated), but here it is. He seemed to talk lots and lots and lots about freedom, and along with that equality and getting rid of racism. I'm sorry, but some of the things that he wants passed and what he approves of so highly can be considered pretty darn racist. He says wants to protect minorities, but a lot of his actions go against this. He said that everyone should be allowed to exercise their rights, now if that doesn't go against almost everything he's done in office, I don't know what does. And then there was the other b.s. The times when he would sit there and stare out at the crowd, his cue that he was expecting people to clap for him so they would. But when you take a second to think about what you just heard him say leading to these claps, I found myself asking, WTF, mate? He didn't actually say anything. He threw a bunch of fancy words together and said something that had some kind of impressive value, but didn't actually say anything. Way to go.

Bush, who begins his second term with the lowest approval rating of a returning president since Richard Nixon, said in his inaugural address, "We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes, and I will strive in good faith to heal them." Read More...

Because I can, and I've deprived you long enough, more news to fill that "drive"

MILAN (Reuters) - He shouldn't be hard to spot.

Police are searching for a pistol-wielding robber who stole female leather bondage gear and an inflatable sex doll from an erotica store in Milan Wednesday.

The clerk at the "Night Shop" speculated that the kinky crook might have been unsatisfied with the payout of his hold-up, which only yielded him about 60 euros ($78).

"There was just a little cash," the clerk, who declined to be named, told Reuters by telephone.

"Then he took some stuff ... an inflatable doll and a leather outfit for a woman," he said.

At least he has the decency to dress his doll while parading her down the street.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Antwerp will dim the bright new lights along the Belgian port city's waterfront after prostitutes complained they were putting off potential clients.

"We had some remarks from the prostitutes that there was too much light, both for them and the clients," city council spokesman Jorn Verbeeck said. "We are investigating the possibility of lowering the light there."

Prostitutes complained to city and police officials that the lights installed in December did not give them enough privacy and hurt business, he said.

The port, which tolerates prostitutes in a select few streets near the waterfront, will next week test an electric system to dim the lights, Verbeeck said.

If the test gets the thumbs-up from the city's sex workers, the system will be rolled out across the red light district.

I don't even know where to begin with this one. It's good to know that political spending can be determined by sex workers.

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil, one of the Latin American countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic, will hand out a record 11 million condoms to prevent the spread of the disease during its erotically charged Carnival festival when casual sex rises.

With the pre-Lenten celebrations two weeks away, the "Dress Yourself" campaign is to remind revelers a condom should be part of their outfit, no matter how little they wear to parades and parties renowned for semi-nude, hip-thrusting dancers.

Millions of Brazilians and foreigners flock to cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Recife for the Feb. 4 to Feb. 9 festival. Crammed streets and close contact in tropical heat intensifies sexual relations, health authorities said.

The safe-sex campaign hits Brazilian television screens next week showing grinning celebrities waving condoms as they dance to popular Carnival samba tune, "What will you wear?"

Brazil's AIDS program uses free distribution of condoms and a cocktail of free drugs to prevent the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which causes the disease.

Brazil, a country of 180 million people, uses around 1.2 billion condoms a year. The government wants to boost that number to 3 billion by 2008 through free distribution and manufacture of cheaper domestic products.

You can expect my absence the first two weeks of February.

So I have droned on and on long enough and filled you with enough articles to tickle your fancy. Until next time, eat some ice cream. It's mmm mmm good.

Listening to: The President's Inauguration coverage on CNN...why must they insist on making such silly comments?

P.S. hehe...they were just playing the theme from Monty Python's Flying Circus at the inauguration, granted it's a Sousa song, but I still find it funny.

Story 1: Radar and Me

2005-01-14T13:02:00.000-05:00

Hello Bloggers! I had said earlier that I would put up some of the stories that I wrote when I was little, and in no particular order, here is one of them, and really the one that stuck out in my mind the most. For the most part, I have left in grammatical errors and stuff like that, just for the fun of it and I wouldn't want to misquote (despite it being my own work...). So huzzah, huzzah- I bring you story number one: Radar and Me.
P.S. If I was really cool I would have actually tried to make this into the book and taken a picture of all the pictures I drew and place them accordingly, and now I'm actually a little sad that I didn't do that, but I no longer have the book seeing as I am no longer home, so for now I only have the two pictures that I took while at home. Maybe if there's any interest I can revise this post with all the pictures once I go home again. I hope you enjoy, and if you don't, too bad...I was a little kid and I loved writing, cut me some slack ;)

Radar and Me
By: Brandon Cirillo, age 8

Once upon a time there was a boy named Johnny. He was interested in space. When he got up on Saturday at 8:00 he asked his mom if he could go to the library when he was done doing his chores. Okay, but you have to promise to be home at 5:00. Okay Mom, Johnny said. When Johnny got to the library he asked the librarian if they had the book called All About Space. It sounds familiar, the librarian said. Why dont you look it up?

Johnny found the book and started looking through it. When he got to the page where it talked about how people launched rockets he suddenly felt dizzy. Whats happening? Then all of a sudden he on a launchpad inside the book!

Come on boy, he heard a man say. Hurry up, get in. Its going to launch soon. Cool! said Johnny, Im going to see the stars. By the way, said the man whats your name? Johnny. Whats your name? Harry, said the man. Why did you choose me and what am I supposed to do anyway? said Johnny. Youre supposed to look closely at the stars and planets and write a report about them. Johnny suddenly heard and felt a rumble. They were in space! Johnny, Harry said, the captain wants to see you. Where is the captain? asked Johnny. Ill show you said Harry.

When Johnny arrived the captain said, Johnny I want you to fly this spaceship while I go to a meeting. But I dont know how said Johnny. Then Ill teach you. said the captain. When Johnny took over the spaceship he fell asleep! The captain felt that something was wrong when the spaceship started bouncing. When he opened the control room door boy was he surprised when he saw that Johnny was asleep! When he looked out the window he saw that they were going to crash into Saturn!
Luckily no one was hurt. When the crew got off they couldnt find Johnny because he landed on the ring of Saturn!

Johnny noticed that the crew and the spaceship had landed on the main part of Saturn. When Johnny started walking he heard a whistle sound. Then he saw some bushes with horns. The horns started moving. When he walked closer to the bushes he heard a yelp. What is that? asked Johnny. Its me, said a voice from the bush. Then a blue, four eyed, alien came out of the bush. The alien asked Johnny where he came from. Johnny answered Earth, of course. I mean how did you get here? Well, said Johnny I was in a spaceship and it crashed. The rest of my crew is on the main part of the planet. You see I fell out of the spaceship and I landed here. The alien, whose name was Radar, asked Johnny if he would help him get rid of the bad aliens who were destroying Saturn and planning to take over Earth.

So how do you get rid of these aliens? asked Johnny. I dont exactly know, said Radar. These aliens are well protected and mean. But I have special powers which may help us. Do you know where their spaceship is? No I dont answered Radar. Then well keep on walking, said Johnny. Finally they found a golden spaceship.

Whenever they heard a noise they hid behind a bush. There are so many guards here! Johnny said. How are we going to get in? I dont know, answered Radar. There has to be some way in, Johnny said. There, right there. Where? See that space over there? Nobodys guarding it. Come on, lets go, Johnny said. Well fly, said Radar. So Johnny climbed on Radars back and they flew to the spaceship. Then Radar remembered something. I do know how to defeat them! How? asked Johnny. Theres a machine inside and if something or someone stands on it they disappear! Great! said Johnny.

The door to get inside was locked and guards were heading towards them! Here! said Johnny pointing to a key. Johnny picked it up and unlocked the door. When both of them got in they locked the door behind them and took the key. They started walking through a long hallway. There were at least ten doors. Which door should we go in? Johnny asked. Lets go in that one, Radar said pointing to the last one on the left. Suddenly Radar made himself shrink.

Johnny opened the door a tiny bit and Radar walked in. After Radar took two steps he ran back out. Whats wrong? Th-th-th-theres a spa-a-ce c-c-cat in there, Radar said in a shakey voice. Then lets try a different door, Johnny suggested. Well, all right said Radar, as long as theres no space cat. So Radar went in another door. This is the right one, come on, he called back. But theyll see me. said Johnny.

Dont worry, said Radar, Ill shrink you. All right, said Johnny. So Radar shrunk Johnny and he entered the room. Where is the machine? Johnny asked. Over there, said Radar. Oh, I see it. But we have a problem. What? asked Radar. Since were both small we wont be able to push the aliens on the machine. But if we grow bigger then theyll see us. You have a point, said Radar. After thinking for a few minutes Radar said, I have a plan. I can freeze them for only ten seconds which will give you time to pull the lever. Its very easy because its loose. Then Ill get bigger and will push the aliens on the machine. All right. Said Johnny. They both did what they were supposed to do.

It worked! The aliens were gone. Suddenly they heard a rumbling sound.
Who dares to kill my workers. They heard a deep voice say. The door came crashing open. They saw a huge robot standing at the door.

Johnny whispered to Radar, How are we supposed to get rid of him? You can distract him and when hes close to the machine I will push him on. Then you can pull the lever, suggested Radar. Great idea! said Johnny. So they did that and the robot disappeared. After they got out of the golden spaceship Radar flew Johnny to the main part of the planet so he could find his crew. When they arrived, Johnny asked Why didnt you fly me here when we met? Radar answered, I picked you for my mission because you are the only one who believes in aliens. Oh. I see. Well theres my crew. I guess its time to go.

Bye Johnny. Thanks for helping me get rid of the aliens. Johnny climbed aboard his spaceship which was repaired. They started for home and Johnny felt dizzy. He soon found himself back in the library. Johnny walked back to his house. He was an hour late. He and his mom had a long conversation.

P.P.S. That's right, I got an A+ on this crazy piece of work lol.
P.P.P.S. Each of the breaks between lines is where I had started a new page which equals a new illustration, just in case some of the spacing probably doesn't make sense.

Listening to: Incubus - Morning View Album

Grey Poupon

2005-01-12T13:40:00.000-05:00

So for old times sake, I'm going to take a little stroll down memory lane and bring this blog back up to where it was previously. That's right...sex, sex, sweaty fun, and sex. Oh, so maybe not. I should apologize though, I have been more concerned with what I wanted recently that I forgot to deliver what the public really wants. And, well, its already been determined what they want...
P.S. Hold on to your horsies...this is kind of long, but I figured since it has been a while, maybe you peeps wouldn't mind all that much. Back to your regularly scheduled programming...
P.P.S. Oh wait, before continuing, the picture just happens to be of Ellen DeGeneres winning the People's Choice Award for Favorite Daytime talk show...I would have to concur. How I love that woman of mine. Now let's continue with the regularly scheduled programming...

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Oklahoma highway users wishing to call the state about electronic payment passes were mistakenly directed to a sex hotline.
Oklahoma Transportation Authority spokeswoman Brigette Berglan said the state's turnpike authority had made an error in a letter sent to 41,000 people. One digit was wrong in the telephone number for callers seeking advice on how to deal with toll gate payments.

Instead, they found themselves calling a sex line where they could speak with "exciting people," such as lonely housewives, students and fantasy girls for $2.99 a minute.

"We're not that exciting here at the authority. We prefer to think of ourselves as helpful," Berglan said.
Those who received the incorrect notice were sent a postcard with the correct number.

You have to admire Berglan's sense of honesty,"we're not that exciting here..." I hope her boyfriend/husband/girlfriend/eighth cousin fifteen times removed/any combination thereof didn't hear her say that.*

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German brothel owner has been so moved by the plight of survivors from Asia's tsunami disaster that she is donating part of her takings from clients.
"It's not every day you can make a charitable gesture by going to a brothel," said Mercedes Mueller, who is giving five euros ($6.60) of the 39-euro ($51) entrance charge clients pay.

"It's so terrible what happened there and I wanted to do something," said Mueller, who owns the Happy FKK Club in the western city of Dortmund.

Mueller said clients, prostitutes and the public had all responded with great enthusiasm to her gesture, and that about 1,300 euros ($1,700) had been raised so far.
"We have as much of a right to raise money as any other business," she said. "We all have a heart too. I hope it will serve as an example to others."

Oh, don't worry, I already did the math. That's roughly 258 people...er, clients. Must be a slow month.

LONDON (Reuters) - A Conservative party association in the small Welsh town of Delyn is trying to buy back its Web site domain name after it was taken over by pornographers.
The site once promoted the activities of the local Conservative association, offering news about area councilors and useful contact numbers.

Now users are confronted with offers to buy hardcore movies featuring group, lesbian and anal sex, as well a raft of explicit images of naked women.

A spokesman for Welsh Conservatives -- who stressed he had not seen the offending site -- said the problem arose when the Delyn conservatives took on a new Internet address but forgot to renew their ownership of the old name, which was subsequently snapped up by a pornographer.

"It was brought to our attention by a student from Oxford University who was logging onto the site to do some research," he added.

The association is hoping to buy the domain name back and in the meantime all links from Conservative party Web sites to the hard-core Delyn site have been erased.
Delyn is a Labour dominated constituency, which up until 1992 was held by Conservatives.

Now what I wonder about is what exactly did this political party name their site that it needed to be "snapped up by a pornographer" so quickly. As dearly as I like the man, it would be fun to see Clinton involved with this...just for shits and giggles.

Listening to: The Remnants - American Idle Album (an incredibly funny, talented, and fun Miami University men's singing group)

*I have no knowledge whatsoever of this Ms. Brigette Berglan and am not trying to imply anything whatsoever...wouldn't that be fun though?

The Tail needs to be Found

2005-01-10T14:23:00.000-05:00

Another semester has started, this will be my second one here at Miami University, and if things went anything like last semester, it shall probably be my last one here at Miami. I can only hope that things will get better though...I was feeling very hopeful right before coming back, but now that I'm here it really doesn't feel like anything is going to be changing. Also being back here, it doesn't feel like I ever left. Break wasn't entirely fulfilling. It definitely had its fun moments, but overall, it wasn't at all what I was hoping it to be. I guess you could say there was a lot that needed to be done, and not very much of it was accomplished. Sigh. Let's hope this semester is better. I just need to be powerfully motivated again hardcore style.

So I did the driving back to school and we got here incredibly quickly...I easily cut an hour off the normal drive. A 6am wake up call followed by 4.5 hours of driving made for a very tired Brandon, and upon arrival and after my parents had left to go back home, naturally, I realized that I had forgotten my pillow and one of my CD's in my mom's car. Oh deer. At least I didn't forget anything vital...I don't think.

I must also say I don't entirely approve of this get-here-in-the-afternoon-and-have-a-new-semester-of-classes-the-next-day thing. It's not really working for me. I really think a little bit of readjustment and organizational time would have done splendidly.

Yes, I am quite a bit bitter about a lot of aspects of my winter break still. Compared to the rest of the world, I'm sure I have little to complain about, after all I did get to spend time with my closest friend, but, there were quite a few things I am just feeling bitter about and I can't really help that. I do apologize.

Listening to: A CD consisting of my high school's instrumental music program and show choir ...good times, good times hehe

A Short Sigh

2005-01-05T16:04:00.000-05:00

So I do realize that this blog has seemingly gone into hibernation for the winter months, but I promise you that I have actually been spending quite a bit of time on this. I must truly apologize for the complete lack of sex and news though, there has been a hiatus from such things after all. I have been working behind the scenes seeing movies to review and working on re-typing all my old stories and taking pictures and such things so that this can now also seemingly become a place of nostalgia on my own behalf of my childhood.

Michigan is quite silly I must admit, but I enjoy it more than I thought I did. There are so many quirky things about Michigan that I never really realized until really actually moving away. Yes, it is true that I have traveled quite extensively, but that is still quite different from actually living somewhere else, despite the fact it is only one state over. Michiganders are pretty crazy. What really brought this up though is the weather. Every year, without fail, you will hear starting around Thanksgiving, "Why can't it just snow for Christmas and all be melted by New Years?" or something along that effect. Naturally, this has never happened. There has been the Christmas where there was no snow and then the day after snowed non-stop until the day after New Years, and then there has been all the Christmas' where it will start snowing in November and not stop until March, either way, there has always been lots and lots of snow around this time of year and New Years has always been miserable weather-wise. Well, Michigan with it's infinitely improbably weather system of intermingling sunburn and frostbite into any given week has performed a miracle. That's right. There was snow for Christmas. The following day it melted, remained incredibly warm for over a week, and now, today, January the Fifth, is our first real snow of the season/year. Well...except for all the snow we got at Thanksgiving, but we can try to forget about that. Granted, it was only about two inches and grass was still slightly poking out its little stemmy heads, but there has been a little bit of snow nonetheless. Michigan, you never cease to amaze me.

So I promise I am working on getting my stories on my computer, pictures of my lovely works, and another article massively filled with massive movie reviews. Whew.

I think soon I need to get in some snow-frolicking. Time to bring out the snowpants.
Listening to: Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue album

Welcome to 2005

2005-01-01T18:33:00.000-05:00

I realize I haven't updated in a while, but that's because I have been working on a post which will have to be quite long to accommodate everything that it will need to cover with any kind of semi-decent fashion. And truthfully, I just haven't been in the mood to deal with that lately. So look forward to that post. Also, while being home I have had the joy and luck to find my old stories I wrote when I was just a wee one attending elementary school and thoroughly enjoyed writing (so much so I always told people I was going to be an author when I grew up) and I do believe that in the spirit of giving, I should not horde them to myself, but rather occasionally post one of those stories randomly here. You should definitely look forward to that...they are high quality lol. Maybe I'll even post some of the pictures we were forced to include with them. But only if you're really really lucky.

It was New Years Eve yesterday. Woot? This was MY year (you know...the whole class of 2004 thing and whatnot) and now it is over. I think maybe that's a good thing...looking back one year ago my life was dramatically different in so many different ways, and it wasn't always fun. Of course, if the rest of this year is anything like how it started or how this previous year has ended, then this one also needs to hurry up and pass me by. But I digress. Happy 2005. May it bring you truth, light, happiness, and the thing to make it all happen, love.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

2004-12-23T14:52:00.000-05:00

This would be the opportune time to have a digital camera and take a picture. But naturally, none such exists. But I digress. This is just a quick note to say that it snowed. A lot. (See, and this would be the point where I show you all a lovely picture of the backyard or something). While outside shoveling for two hours, one question was continually haunting me. What evolutionary adaptation is it to have a runny nose while outside in the cold? It doesn't make my nose any warmer, I just end up with frozen nose excrement on my upper lip. As sexy as that can possibly be, it's not really a desired outcome on my part. And yet, time and time again, without fail, everytime it is cold I (and assumingly most people as normal as me) will come down with a runny nose while exposed to the elements. I personally do not find this helpful in the least.

On a sidenote, the snow was still light and fluffy, so not really that big of a pain to shovel. Waste your pity on someone else who decides to procrastinate until the point where the snow weighs 8.67 tons.

Good day, and if I do not see you before then, Merry Christmakuhwanzaa.

Currently listening to: The Best of Ten Years ~ Peter Paul & Mary

Sleeping Squirrels

2004-12-22T19:04:00.000-05:00

This just makes me laugh...silly monkeys

A portrait of President George W. Bush using monkeys to form his image that was banished from a New York art show last week amid charges of censorship was projected on a giant billboard in Manhattan on December 21, 2004. 'Bush Monkeys,' a small acrylic on canvas by Chris Savido, created the stir last week at the Chelsea Market public space, leading the market's managers to close down the 60-piece show. The image is seen on an electronic billboard near the entrance to New York's Holland Tunnel, December 22. Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters

And now, in the Christmas (or rather, insert your holiday here) spirit of giving , I give you TWO sex related stories, mostly to make up for the lack of one last time...

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Six pistol-toting Brazilian men appeared to have more than cash on their minds when they robbed a drug store in Rio de Janeiro.
"They specifically demanded that we give them anti-impotence drugs. These drugs and the money was what interested them," Ailton de Souza, the drugstore manager, told Reuters on Tuesday.

On Sunday night, the robbers opened the vault with a blow torch and fled with an equivalent of about $7,000 in cash and checks, as well as more than 100 boxes containing 400 pills worth about $2,600 -- enough for a two-month sex marathon for each of the six robbers.

"They were pretty indiscriminate about the brands," the manager said, explaining that the men took packages of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.
The drugs, used to treat erectile dysfunction, are sold prescription-free in most Brazilian pharmacies.

"Sex marathon?" They wish... they don't know the first thing when it comes to a sex marathon, I mean, not like I know or anything...and moving onto story number two-

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 145-year-old German maker of toy trains is giving its adult customers a chance to have a one-track mind.
The miniature train company Marklin is packing a condom alongside a blue freight car emblazoned with the name of Blausiegel, a German condom maker.

Marklin, a Goppingen, Germany-based company that was the first to introduce toy track with its train sets in 1891, produces trains that often carry the names of real companies to emulate actual rail cars. Collectors' editions with less Freudian implications have been sold along with liquor advertised on the cars.

The toy freight car, which comes packaged with a "Billy Boy" condom is available in HO scale, or 1/87th of the actual size of a freight train, just under 4 inches long, and Z scale, which is 1/220th of the size of a real train.

Ralph Israel, partner of Manhattan Train & Hobby store in New York, said he sold two of the models, both to men, the first day they were put in the glass cases in his hobby shop. They are not being marketed to appear under the Christmas tree as gifts for children.
The toy train and the condom, which retail for $35, are packaged in a sleek brushed-metal container the size of a cigar box. The packaging offers no instructions on running the miniature train but does have illustrated instructions on using the condom.

Won't little Billy be surprised when he opens this and tries operating the train...or is it "train?"

Currently Listening to: International Superhits! by Green Day

I Wanna be a Spaceman!

2004-12-21T01:38:00.000-05:00

Mmmm...space...

The rings of Saturn are part of a young and evolving system, according to the latest observations that suggest a snowball fight is going on around the giant planet.
Portions of the rings, which are predominantly made of ice, may be only 10 to 100 million years old, which is a brief period of time compared to the four and a half billion-year-old solar system.

Data from the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (UVIS) on the Cassini space probe show fluctuations in the amount of neutral gas surrounding the planet. In one instance, oxygen levels increased by about 50 percent in a region around the outermost E ring. Scientists aren't sure what's going on. Read More...

I love space stuff. It's so big. Think about it. It's mind boggling. It's very possible you can disagree with this, but you're the one who chose to read this...but there is something else out there. There has to be. I can't imagine being the only "intelligent" life-form in this crazy infinite blackness. It's just so...big. Where does it end, and what can it mean? Eh, that's not my job to figure out. Lets all be thankful for that.

So there is no sex in this posting, sorry to disappoint all you fellow horndogs out there, but there is a related story here about the big NASA kahuna himself. Lets all take pity. Or not.

Currently listening to: My incessant thoughts

Bells Will be Ringing

2004-12-19T16:02:00.000-05:00

So it is holiday time. The time where every one seems to have some denominational or non-denominational celebration. It is a time of year where there is something magical in the air, or so they say. I guess I can't actually say that though, as much as I would like, because I actually can feel the magic in the air...it's just getting blown on nothing, that's all. It's not that I don't have anybody, there are many people I have in my life who I love dearly, but things are just different now. It's a very interesting chapter of life, one that brings much intermittency and inbetween-ness. I miss being the little kid surrounded by a fort of presents. I miss not having worries. I miss the feeling of not having that pining feeling. But then again, it is better to have lost a love, than to have never loved at all...or so they say. I hope you're not pitying me, though...pity those that don't have anybody. It can be a cruel world out there, one which I am hesitant to experience. I sometimes enjoyed the shelteredness I can lead. I do admit it can also be annoying though. One more thing...I miss the selflessness. I think I have been growing into a more selfish habit...I'm not going to lie. I am a little upset that this Christmas is having to undergo such huge adjustments to make room for the many changes in people's lives.

Feeling nostalgic is pointless. On to the juicy stuff...

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Feel like you need to turn your life around? Then a new apartment building in the Brazilian city of Curitiba could be for you.
Each floor in the 11-story building can revolve independently 360 degrees to the left or to the right.

"This is the only building in the world in which each apartment can spin individually," said Joao Carlos Peters, marketing director at the Moro construction company.

The project took 10 years to complete and the suites, which each occupy an entire floor of the circular building, went on sale on Thursday for $300,000.

"This is really a work of art because this was based on an entirely new concept of living," Peters said.

Spinning in the high-tech building is activated by voice commands. It takes an hour for each 3,000-square-foot (300-square-meter) apartment to complete one rotation.
"You can't have it spin any faster because you need the turning to be subtle," Peters said.

And as previously mentioned, we must keep up with the latest news in sex to keep you so very interested.

1) Mentality of abstinence
2) Peeping Toms = No-No

Currently Listening to: Miscellaneous "Placebo"

Chicken Stew

2004-12-14T13:13:00.000-05:00

So I feel as though I'm back on track with my loverly blogger, as well as with my life. Things are starting to fall together once more and the stress is quickly leaving as exams are finishing up my first semester of real schooling. I'll be going home this weekend, and I shall have no worries...I can't even imagine what that is going to feel like. On to the important stuff...

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian town is setting donkeys to work mowing the grass on the side of its highways in an effort to save money and reduce pollution.
Fed up with paying some 100,000 euros ($132,800) a year to cut the grass on its out-of-town roads with tractor-mowers, the local government of Treviso, near Venice, said on Tuesday it had bought six donkeys to do the work instead.

"This purchase will allow us to save cash as well as launch an experimental ecological project," said local government chief Luca Zaia, who paid just over 2,000 euros for the six animals.
Motorists need not fear running down the donkeys -- they will only be allowed to munch the grass in roadside areas that are fenced off from traffic.

See...now that's just plain fun. Unless of course you happen to be the one unlucky motorist who does run down a donkey...that could get messy.

And of course, there has to be some mention of sex or nobody will bother coming here anymore.

"Slither slither slither slither went the tongue," one of his winning sentences begins.

"But the hand that was what she tried to concentrate on, the hand, since it has the entire terrain of her torso to explore and not just the otorhinolaryngological caverns -- oh God, it was not just at the border where the flesh of the breast joins the pectoral sheath of the chest -- no, the hand was cupping her entire right -- Now!" Read more about the British prize for GREAT, I mean, bad sex in fiction...

Now this is very high quality stuff. I know I'm excited.

I Remember Now...

2004-12-11T01:27:00.000-05:00

...there was a real purpose to this blog...and I had left it behind!

My original intention was to use this more as a review type site, and lately is has definitely become more of an odd news/story time site. But I'm okay with that, I like it - and plus, I warned you that the idea would quickly stray. So moving on to business...

In the world of cinematography, the three-year wait to see Amelie has been fulfilled. Finally, is what I have to say to that. I must say this has got to be one of the best movies I have seen. It is foreign, it has subtitles, it is funny, it has fun music, it is just a tad sappy, it makes you feel good. It really doesn't get much better than that, folks. The movie just has a certain energy that sucks you in right from the get-go (what an odd phrase...). The cinematography is just plain fun and the acting is quite sensational. And a big kudos to the writers. Man, I feel like I'm giving a commercial or something, but obviously I cannot say enough good things about this movie. It is wonderful, a true cinematic amazement. The story was very well thought out, and here is my odd little description of that: It has a shallow shell, but can be looked at very deeply. That's right. When looked at, it seems like a pretty standard story line, but so much is done with it, it is truly astounding. I would recommend this movie to anyone. The fact that I would be willing to watch it multiple times also says a lot, I feel. In fact, I really want to watch it again right now, less than two hours later. Good story with just the right amount of quirk. I'm a personal fan of quirk...

Traveling now into the land of rock and roll, the latest two CD reviews for WMSR are in. It has been a long drawn out process, for whatever reason it took me a really long time to get to the CD's, but it was well worth the wait. Both groups were incredibly high quality.
The first group I reviewed was man on earth (that's right, no caps), and they were quite good. The only complaint I really have is that they are lacking slightly in the creativity department. They seem fairly run of the mill and don't have an overly unique sound...lucky for them, their sound works incredibly well. They sound very good and I would recommend them if you like the current rock-type music playing out there now. The lyrics seem well thought out and you can tell that they are incredibly passionate about the music they play. I gave them an 8/10.
The second CD I had the pleasure of reviewing was a 4-song sampler by terra naomi (hmm, another no caps-er...). I must say I found her to be an amazing artist. By looking at her website she just seems like a really cool person on top of it all. She seems like a Jewel/Elton John kind of singer...very lyrical, and beautifully done, with a light sprinkling of rock and roll. Her songs are a tad bit slower, but they work really really well. I thoroughly enjoyed her CD and one that I would definitely recommend, and wouldn't mind owning myself. She seems to have led an interesting life, and has a fun way of writing about it, so that kind of makes me like her music a little more too...a little unfair, perhaps, but a good personality can go a long way. I gave her 9/10. Kudos Terra...you have received my highest score to date! You get a gold star in my books.

PS I have realized tonight that my lifelong calling includes dressing as a garden gnome for Halloween...or maybe just randomly. It doesn't really matter, does it? I mean...look how cool they are.

A Short Delay

2004-12-10T13:55:00.000-05:00

So I must apologize for this rather long absence, and you should all be very sad...quite sad indeed. I had a very interesting line of news stories all lined up specifically for this purpose and they were lost when my computer decided to be less than koscher.

PS Here's a shout out to all those celebrating Chanukah.

And todays featured country would be Africa...er...continent...

Wangari Muta Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, was honoured Friday for her efforts to help women, clean up the environment and battle corruption.

Maathai urged the world "to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder."

She was given a gold medal and a diploma that accompanies the $1.5 million US prize.

"As the first African woman to receive this prize, I receive it on behalf of Kenya, and Africa, and all the people of the world," she said at the presentation ceremony in Oslo. Read On...

Also coming from Africa we have Houdini...

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Relieved conservationists have recaptured a young hippopotamus that spent almost 10 months on the run near Cape Town after fleeing a nature reserve where it was being bullied by an older dominant male.
The hippo, known affectionately as Hugo or Houdini, escaped from the Rondevlei Nature Reserve through a broken fence in February, and was caught on Thursday after a dramatic 3-1/2 hour chase through waterways and reeds during which six tranquilliser darts were fired into his hide.

"At one stage there were two of us on the animal's back but it just kept on going," the greatly relieved Rondevlei manager, Dalton Gibbs, told Reuters on Friday. Conservationists might have had to shoot Hugo if he had not been caught, he said.

The young hippo will now be moved to an Eastern Cape private reserve, about 1,000 km (620 miles) east of Cape Town, where he will form the nucleus of a new herd.

In Urgent news, a worldwide crisis that people NEED to be aware of...

The study speculated that laptop use may be a factor in the 15 to 20 per cent of couples who experience fertility problems each year. Chestnuts Roasting on an Open FireWire...

No Glove, No Love

2004-11-30T02:07:00.000-05:00

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's first known piece of printed pornography, described as the "quintessence of debauchery," is expected to reach up to 35,000 pounds ($65,040) when it is auctioned next month.

"Sodom," penned in the mid-1670s, has been attributed to John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester and is described by auction house Sotheby's as a "closet drama rather than for the stage" with pornography "in almost every line."

"We believe this is the first printed pornography in English literature, a unique copy of the quintessence of debauchery," Peter Beal, Sotheby's book specialist said.

"It is one of the most notorious publications in literature and makes most pornography written 300 years later seem tame."

The book centers on the decision made by a lustful King to "set the nation free" by allowing "buggary" to be "used thro' all the land" and then details the dire consequences.

The book, the only surviving copy, will be auctioned on December 16.

Just in time for Christmas...

In related news- Check this out

America's Thanksgiving Parade

2004-11-25T13:15:00.000-05:00

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Argh, it's a little before nine and I just have to get out of bed to see America's Thanksgiving Parade. Anybody who knows me will know that I am all about the traditions. As exhausted as I may be, I crawl out of bed, slip on my slippers, throw on my bathrobe and grab my ever-so-wonderful fleece Miami blanket compliments of Meghan. I clamber down the stairs and low and behold, the TV is already set to Channel 4 WDIV. Woot.

Carmen Harlan and Devin Scillian once again are hosting the parade for the tenth year. What troopers! Maybe I'm just biased, but I must say that I enjoy America's Thanksgiving Parade [Small Article] much more than some corporate sponsored "Macy's Parade"... but like I said, maybe I'm just biased.

It is lovely to be cuddled on the loveseat with my blanket, robe, hot chocolate and cereal watching the parade, just waiting for all my favorite acts to go up. I must say that this years coverage was a little less than ideal. There were quite a few screw-ups and there seemed to be so many commercials that it actually caused me to miss quite a few of the floats. Oh well...it's all about the tradition in my mind, and all that really counts.

There were some lovely highlights though, as usual, that must be brought up, as well as some Fun Facts for Friends. A little history...America's Thanksgiving Parade has been in Detroit since 1924 and since then have been enjoyed by people all over the world, minus a two-year hiatus during World War Two. There is now a live-stream feed on Channel 4's site (see above) so that people all over the world can watch the parade. That's just plain exciting. Also, the first half of the parade is always newscast nationally, so that's exciting as well. But you peeps would have the unfortunate-ness to miss Santa Class receive the key to the hearts of all children in the Detroit area. Be sad. On a side-note, I'm pretty sure we actually get the same Santa every year since he has a very distinct voice. Woot. It must be the real one then. Darn impostors.

Continuing on...

Eisenhower Senior High School (proud graduate 2004) marched in the parade, and as an added plus was in it during the nationally televised portion, so that was pretty neato. In other news, however, the broadcasting of said band was awful. According to them, the high school has only been open for nine years, with the marching band in existence for seven, and this is only the second appearance in the parade. Folks, this is not true. Not true even a little.

Also at the parade was Ashlee Simpson. Now isn't that exciting. She couldn't handle the cold. Speaking of which, after the unfortunate weather yesterday, it was quite nice for the parade today. Very very blue skies with temps in the upper 20's/low 30's. Chilly, yes. But it was nice and sunny. One of these times, I'll actually go down and see the parade with a special someone I can keep warm as we huddle under our blanket sipping our hot chocolate.

There was of course the annual favorites as well. The Radio City Rockettes performed two of their featured hits, the Fred Hill Briefcase Drill Team was there (always a favorite-absolutely HI-larious, and apparently they don't have a website, so to see them, check out the parade next year!), and the many many floats I have grown so fond of over the years. This year the new float was "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" which was really neat. It was the longest float to ever be in the parade and part of it was a dancing hall type doo-hickey where a dance troop was performing. It brought back the good memories of when I was little and in this particular play...I was the dashing and charming Prince Brand-X. Good times with nostalgia. Speaking of nostalgia, a big float in the parade is the Rainbow Fish and every year I remember reading that book as a little kid. It's a high quality classic book for all youngsters everywhere.

I didn't catch what the new Skillman Foundation Float was...but that's pretty cool. The Skillman Foundation is dedicated to helping kids, and every year there is a contest for a kid's drawing to be turned into a float for the rest of the parade's run. It's good to see the parade growing. Another random fun fact...America's Thanksgiving Parade hands out the second-largest number of beads in a parade after the Mardi Gras parade. That's special.

Well my family is coming over in a bit (including some extended members) so as fun as this has been, I must be getting ready to greet the little rascals.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all have fun getting stuffed. I truly do feel so much sympathy for those that cannot be with their family during this special time. I don't know what I would do without my loved ones.

Welcome Home

2004-11-24T20:33:00.000-05:00

As holiday travelers made their way across Michigan on Wednesday to their Thanksgiving destinations, rain turned to sleet, and snow forecast to blanket parts of the state began falling. Read On...

That's right folks. That's the welcome I get to Michigan after a not-as-grueling-as-it-should-have-been trip back to my loverly home I have not seen in three months. It's good to be back. Silly Michigan...

Announcing: Frankenstein

2004-11-23T21:09:00.000-05:00

Thomas DeMarse, a University of Florida professor of biomedical engineering, has grown a live brain that can... Read On

I find that fascinating, if not a bit creepy...

Also,

An ingredient found in cocoa beans was nearly a third more effective than cough medicine in stopping persistent coughs... Read On

Yayzorz for chocolate!

Gnomes: Just the Right Height

2004-11-19T13:13:00.000-05:00

BERLIN (Reuters)- Thieves have stolen scantily clad garden gnomes from a gnome peepshow in an eastern German amusement park, park manager Frank Ullrich said on Thursday.

"The gnomes display naked body parts -- the same ones you'd expect to see in a human peep show," Ullrich said of his missing stars.

The adults-only attraction at Dwarf-Park Trusetal, where visitors peep through keyholes to see the saucy German miniatures in compromising poses, was smashed open early on Thursday morning.

Ullrich said he feared the gnomes would not be traced.

"I doubt they're standing in someone's garden, they'll have to have been hidden inside."

I think this article really speaks for itself.

Tech Update or Lets Try this Again...

2004-11-14T20:46:00.000-05:00

The Washington Post Reports:

Google engineers must have breathed a sigh of relief Thursday when rival Microsoft Corp. rolled out a new search engine that proved glitchy and failed to wow reviewers.

The mighty software maker quickly solved the technical problems that briefly served up "temporarily unavailable" messages instead of search results. It's unclear, however, how the company will address the missing "wow" factor.
[...]
While both sites do fine on many queries, our comparison of roughly two dozen search phrases gave the edge to Google at least two out of three times.

I salute you, Google!

The Washington Post Reports:

Internet Explorer, you're fired.
That should have been said a long time ago. After Microsoft cemented a monopoly of the Web-browser market, it let Internet Explorer go stale, parceling out ho-hum updates that neglected vulnerabilities routinely exploited by hostile Web sites.
[...]
And yet people found reasons to stick with IE -- alternative browsers cost money, were too slow, too complicated, or didn't work with enough Web sites.

No More.
[...]
Your plug-ins, bookmarks, browsing history and even cookies should transfer over; you can then pick up in Firefox exactly where you left off in IE.
I think anybody using Internet Explorer should switch to Firefox today. Seriously. Even if you've loaded every IE security update, Firefox will give you a faster, more useful view of the Web. If you haven't -- or if you use a pre-XP version of Windows ineligible for Service Pack 2's security fixes -- it would be lunacy to stick with IE.

In the first two days of releasing the new version 1.0, there were over 2 million downloads...I was one of them, eager to upgrade my older firefox to the even more wonderfully delicious firefox. For those of you still with IE...join the revolution!

Can I get a Wut Wut?

2004-11-13T00:51:00.000-05:00

Because of my involvement with WMSR, the student run radio organization here on the campus of Miami University (that's in Oxford, Ohio you douche's)... Anywho, back from that tangent, I am on the music staff and as such I get to review new CD's...fun times, I know you are jealous. Unfortunately for me, however, so far I have only had the pleasure of listening to one pair of said CD's (although I do have two in my care right now...). I would like to use this "blog" as a way of bringing some of these lesser known bands into the limelight of the millions and millions of people who are sure to see this.

Before I delve into the wonders of my WMSR CD's, I would really really really like to shamelessly promote The Dresden Dolls. I canNOT express enough how lovely they are. Abso-frickin' AHmazing. So incredibly uber nice. They give my soul an orgasm...multiple times. They are like a combination of punk and goth and cabaret type music. Its just a man (Brian) and a lady (Amanda) on their drum and keyboard (respectively), with Amanda doing the singing. It's very very cool. I suggest checking them out. They're nearby in concert this weekend and I would have given almost anything to see them, but alas. 'Tis not going to happen and that makes me sad.

I also feel the need to bring to attention the band Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. I did not get the pleasure of seeing them firsthand, but I have heard them, and for a band I guess thats pretty important. I suggest looking at the website...but they are basically a family (complete with young kids) who play fun music and have this slideshow show thing going on to their music. It sounded pretty cool...and their music was a quirky weird that is very good. I would like to see them...

Back to WMSR...I had the pleasure of reviewing a band called Supernal and another called These Enzymes.

Supernal was very very good and I had given them a 7.5/10 rating. I am not usually one for halves, but I was really debating between 7 and 8, so I did what any normal person would and I went against everything I stand for. They claim to be inspired by Foo Fighters and Incubus, and are like a female singer version of a combination of both. An important fact to mention would be the name of the CD...which is Rhymes with Eternal. Clever, I know.

These Enzymes I thought was lacking. I was looking forward to listening to them because they are a side project of All-American Rejects and Neil Rubenstein of Taking Back Sunday...but it was pretty bad, I thought. It was super super heavy, much moreso than I really care for, and there wasn't much singing involved...only lots of screaming. I did not really care for it all that much. Since I had already done it, I decided to give them a 2.5/10. That was a little rediculous, I now see, it was probably more like a 4 or so, but I was just very disappointed by the promises that they made.

So now you see. I will use this for reviews of some fun bands, some not-so-fun bands, movies perhaps...we shall see. I will probably also try to get some fun news stories or perhaps even relevant/important new stories on here as well. That is my plan at least.

Until next time, this must be Adieu
~Brandon

Welcome aka How Eeyore Lost His Tail

2004-11-12T16:13:00.000-05:00

Howdy, and welcome to my blog. That's right...I said blog. Given the seriousness of the situation, I feel that I shall not be using this as a source of ranting, complaining, chewing, or any combination thereof, as it relates to anything in my personal life...give or take a little. Unless of course it relates to the topic of the time. I have a plan for this blog, though I feel that it will more than likely quickly divert from such. My personal rantings (for any crazy mofo's actually interested) are found at LiveJournal. That's what it is for anyway, right?

So anywho, I am welcoming myself to this lovely community on what I hope is a long and fun-filled journey. As a disclaimer, I am aware of the lack of creativity on my part, so don't be coming here looking for wit! My plan consists of perhaps some review type posts and maybe even highly biased opinion type posts (who doesn't like a good shuffle?).

I believe that is all.

As I ride into the sunset on my llama,
Brandon