nerdcore { This is Hallow's End...

I play an undead, a Forsaken in World of Warcraft. The origins of the Forsaken trace back to the plague released upon Lordaeron by the Lich King, Ner'zhul. This plague created the Scourge, undead minions bound to the will of the Lich King and meant to destroy humankind (and elf-kind) and convert them to the will of the Lich King. The greatest champion (and who would merge with Ner'zhul to be the new Lich King) was the Death Knight Arthas. When Arthas sacked the High Elf homeland, he took their greatest general Sylvanas Windrunner and made her a Banshee queen. She served the Lich King and slaughtered in his name until circumstances allowed her to suddenly regain her will. She gathered those others of the Scourge who were newly awakened to a kind of cursed freedom and took the ruins of Lordaeron City as their home and capital. This became the Undercity, this is Pernox's home. Blizzard released a great video illustrating this story:



Every year, the Forsaken celebrate their independence from the Lich King in a holiday called Hallow's End. Undercity and Brill (a town outside the Undercity) host many activities and experiences. The world of Azeroth is also plagued by the spirit of a relentless and restless paladin, known as the Headless Horseman, he wreaks havoc upon the towns and resides deep within the Scarlet Monastery. This video illustrates Hallow's End and the Headless Horseman.


Hallow's End - Undercity and Brill

politics { President-o-tron 9000

So from now until the election, I'm gonna fire up the President-o-tron 9000 and have it randomly spew out who will win, cuz really at this point it almost doesn't matter.

I fired it up and it gave me this result...

A turd in a hat

Hmmm...I can't tell if needs further debugging or if its dead on...

music { Bubbles and Water...

Over the weekend a reader named 'nse' sent me a link to the english translation and video of the Alizee song 'J'en ai marre'...its crazy as hell.

She's still hot though...

quiz { What Kind of Liberal Are You?

Saw this quiz linked on Norwegianity's site. You can take the quiz here.

My results:

My Liberal Identity:

You are an Eco-Avenger, also known as an environmentalist or tree hugger. You believe in saving the planet from the clutches of air-fouling, oil-drilling, earth-raping conservative fossil fools.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

Interesting. If our environmental concerns were not so dire, my natural tendency would be much more likely to be Reality-Based Intellectualists.

holidays { Halloween

Halloween, know as Samhain by some, Hallow's End in Azeroth.

In this world or the virtual it is my favorite holiday. I look forward to it every year. Nerdwife and I used to host costume parties. That changed when we came to Rochester. This town does not celebrate Halloween. No haunted houses, not haunted hay rides, no scary movie showings or special events. I don't know what the issue is with this place. The mall every year around this time puts up Christmas crap and only pays token nods to Halloween and Thanksgiving. Which is odd, from a capitalist perspective, Halloween is, or was, the #2 holiday where people spend money. I suppose that is now Valentines's Day if you go by the local mall, which puts up Valentine's stuff the day after Xmas it seems.

Luckily some grad students we know throw a party, though this year there they won't be. Last year I was the ghost of Albert Einstein. This year I was going to be Professor Moody, but couldn't get the stuff together in time.

Why Halloween? I dunno, I've always liked the scary stories of ghosts and ghouls. Stories like the Headless Horseman and The Raven. I liked dressing up in costume and trick or treating...back when you could still do it after dark before the panicked parents brigade and their over protectiveness took the country by storm. No one trick or treats after dark anymore, well at least not down here.

In St. Paul Nerdwife and I would always stay home and dress up a little and watch scary movies with a big bowl of candy and wait for the children. We lived in a part that was not considered safe, so we only usually had the little girl from across the street, but it was a time when we could connect at least with one of our neighbors.

My elementary school used to hold giant Halloween parties for grades K-6. The gym was turned into a haunted house. There spooky story sessions, costumes of course, and candy...lots and lots of candy.

High School Halloween was when...uh...nevermind...moving on, no need to incriminate myself with tales of certain types of paper and certain projectiles of a certain kind. Lets just say...if teenagers come to your door asking for candy, give it to them and don't be stingy.

Our biggest and most successful Halloween party that Nerdwife and I hosted, as Count and Countess D'Ghoule will always have a warm spot in my heart. Here is the recipe for the chili we made:

Evil Recipes

Wretched chili:
Seasoning mix: Other ingredients:
1 tb + 2 tsp salt
1 1\2 c. toasted cornmeal
3 tsp cayenne
3 tb vegetable oil
3 tsp cumin
6 cloves garlic
3 tsp onion powder (optional)
4 c chopped onions
3 tsp oregano
3 lb. lean beef chuck
3 tsp white pepper
2 tb coarsely ch fresh jalapenos
3 tsp thyme
2 tb ch. fresh Hungarian wax peppers
2 tsp cinnamon
4 c beef stock
2 tsp nutmeg
1 large red bell pepper, ch
1 tsp ground coriander
1 large yellow bell pepper, ch
2 tsp black pepper
1 large orange bell pepper, ch
2 tsp paprika
2- 28 oz cans plum tomatoes in juice
2 coarsely ground dried guajillo peppers
3 1\2 c pinto beans
4 coarsely ground dried super chilies
Fresh basil to taste
Fresh cilantro to taste



Combine seasoning mix. Toast cornmeal in a 6-8 inch skillet over high heat, stirring frequently, until it turns light brown. Set aside, Heat oil in a large pot, and add 2 c onions and all of the garlic. Brown for 5 minutes. Add 1\2 the seasoning mix, the fresh jalapeno and wax peppers, and meat. Cook until meat is lightly browned. Add cornmeal and 1 1/2 c stock, then vigorously stir and scrape pan bottom. Add remaining broth, bell peppers, and onions. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and bean, bring to boil, and reduce heat. Cook until well thickened and meat very tender, 2-3 hours. Add basil and cilantro, if desired. Serves an insane number.

Vegetarian: omit meat; use vegetable broth in place of beef broth.

casual_friday2 { Because I can

'Dumb Animals', Handsome Furs

casual_friday { Its getting colder

'Tropical Iceland', Fiery Furnaces

in memoriam { Remembering Paul

Paul David Wellstone (1944-2002)




Paul and Sheila died 5 years ago today. Minnesota is diminished by his absence.

television { A Little Signal in the Noise

For what it is worth, Pushing Daisies on Wednesday nights is a delightful stylized fantasy, a rare reason to turn on my tele these days. You can watch all the episodes online free here.

my_day { Word

life { Friendships

Indecision

environment { Jebus!

The North Pacific Gyre aka the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

musings { The Farm Life...?

I've lived and grown in many different settings, city, rural, farm. I've always felt farmer's have a thankless job. Its hard work. Little pay. You do get to see the fruit of your labors (hopefully, if the season/harvest/herd does well). But it doesn't give you magical insight into life. Although you do get to see the circle of life in all its messy, shit-soaked, and painful glory, especially if you're on a dairy farm and its birthing season. God I'll never forget that smell. One thing that has especially bugged me is why everyone thinks the Midwest, places like Kansas know anything about anything beyond the rest of the country? I'm not alone, I found this article.

excerpt:

The rural life, specifically, the agricultural industry, is a massive, important part of our nation's economic well-being. And yes, yes, I've read Kunstler's Long Emergency, and I know that one catastrophic afternoon in the near future, I will rue the day my grandfather gave up the sod to become a cop in the New World. For some people the rural life is an incredibly rewarding way of life. They should be very proud of the fact they have held on to this great tradition of commerce and, one might argue service, in the face of corporate farming. But that life is not holy, it does not bless one with special insight into the intent of the Framers of the goddam Consitution or what America "should" be like. Have I lost some sort of sacred connection with the land? Maybe. But the last time I checked, the land was dirt, same dirt as the rest of the world, and several generations of my family went broke farming other people's dirt, interrupted only when easily annoyed Englishmenwould occassionally show up and burn all their shit down. Pardon me for enjoying my goddam latte.

Now unlike the author, I lived a part of my life on a farm, a dairy farm to be exact. My father had a life long dream of owning a farm and being a farmer and he made his dream come true. The only insights that way of life gives you is how unfair things can actually be, how fucked the American economy is in regards to the, what they call 'owner/operator' which used to be called the 'family farm'. All this, at least it seemed to me didn't give mystical insight, but it gave a deft sense of practicality. You do what works. You don't do what doesn't, pretty simple. You also see directly how your actions have consequences. Don't rake the hay after its been cut and rained on? It goes moldy and useless. Choose not to clean out the barn regularly? You see a spike in the bacteria count of your milk and consequently a drop in value and price you are paid for it, and if its too bad, they will make you dump it.

Oh and my father is no longer a farmer. He gave up that dream a few years ago. Its not a life that is kind to you as you get older.
I agree with the author fully. Middle America has not been a good gauge for anything since perhaps the 1940s when most of the country were still farmers.

And Hollywood is not in touch with anything, most especially reality. Though for the last few years I feel the same can be said about Washington D.C.

music { Radiohead's new album

Radiohead has broken away from traditional music pricing and has made available on their site, their new album. The cost? You choose. Yes, you heard me correctly, you choose. Any amount. They did this because they feel fans will pay a fair rate for their product.

I purchased my download today at #0.50 per song, or #5 total (~$10, cheaper than a CD) to support them, and to support this out of the box, not the traditional model of music pricing.

I try to buy from the artist when possible, since the artist, along with the consumer (with the exception of shit artists like Brittney Spears who would not be anything without the music industry) get screwed the most by the music industry and its attack dog the RIAA.

politics { The Gutless and the Gullible (pick up)

Picked up this reading from EvilBobby and thought it warranted a repeating of this Daily Kos article.

Excerpt:

What these politicians fail to realize is that the attacks will come no matter what. No matter which vote is cast, no matter how tightly one embraces this war or how far away from the party they run, the attacks will always come. Because the only thing that matters to the Republicans during election time is that there is a "D" after their opponent's name.

It is that "D" which ensures the inevitable flow of lies. It is that "D"--no matter how faded--which is blood in the water for the campaign sharks. Voting against Feingold-Reid did not and will not save the gutless from these attacks. Voting for telecom immunity will not make the Republicans suddenly raise their hands and admit that Democrat X is "really strong on terror!" In compromising then to try and avoid these attacks, Democrats are only compromising their principles.

And something specific to Tim Walz...who I feel has betrayed us as an elected official in our district, who was elected to help bring change, to protect our basic freedoms and rights (from both terrorists and an overzealous Executive Branch) and who so far, in my opinion has failed.

It is, to be blunt, a lack of a brain and not lack of a spine, which typifies this group. As an extreme example, take Representative Baird, who is enamored with the war. Take the Democrats who voted for the atrocious FISA bill because they genuinely believed it was the right thing to do.

In this category falls every Democrat who takes any word uttered by this administration at face value. Tht includes those idiots who voted for FISA because they were told of al Qaeda was going to strike Congress before September 11th. That includes the naive who think that a sternly worded letter will actually get more than a chuckle out of this administration. That includes the suckers who think putting administration officials under oath isn't necessary.

The gullible are those who fail to appreciate the extent of the damage done to this country by the Republican Party. They are the ones who earnestly reach out to Republicans with open hand and are blind to the knives hovering over their backs.

These Democrats, more than the gutless ones, are the ones hindering progress. They prattle on in Capitol Hill as if the Republican Party weren't controlled by neocons and the radical right. They trust those who have evidenced through their wars and through their words that they should not be trusted. And they, in all their dense glory, believe that they are doing what is in the best interest of this nation.

God help us all.

But ultimately the article was a hopeful one, and very realistic. We, as those who choose to align with the Democratic Party, will have a lot of work and fights ahead of us, both within and without.

Our task, as I see it over the next year, is two-fold. We must continue to call for courage on the part of the gutless, and we must continue trying to wake the gullible. We do so by joining with those in Congress, with the Russ Feingolds in the Senate and the Barbara Lees in the House, to show the gutless and gullible the error of their ways.

It's not an easy task. To be frank, I'm not sure if it's even a possible task. But I will never hold back from writing a letter or making a call because I think it may be futile, and neither should you. Because as impossible as true change may seem, inaction solidifies failure's fate.

energy { 2007 Nobel Conference (redux)

The webcasts of the energy conference talks at Gustavus are finally up.

books { What's in Dumbledore's Closet?

An interesting twist.

activism { Panty Power

Saw this on omninerd:

Panty Raid Activism
from OmniNerd News by gnifyus

When diplomacy fails in Burma, it’s time to break out the radical activist weaponry, namely: The Women’s Panty. In response to the recent crackdown on monks, The “Panties for Peace Campaign” has found its way to Chiang Mai Thailand where they are sending women’s underwear to the men of Burmese embassies around the world. They are hoping to play on the superstitious beliefs held widely by junta generals that any contact with women’s undergarments (clean or dirty) can reduce their strength. So far activists claim that hundreds of the dangerous undergarments have been sent around the world with 140 pairs sent to the Geneva embassy alone.

The message on the activists' website reads: "This is your chance to use your Panty Power to take away the power from the SPDC. You can post, deliver or fling your panties at the closest Burmese Embassy any day from today. Send early, send often."

So remember to fling early and fling often.

poem { Fury of October

I sit and sip
I sit and think
I see the sky turn dark and gray
the wind blows from all around
the season has changed
and so have I
on the invisible current come a smell
wetness and darkness and the promise of hell
the world goes on, oblivious
the day of the rose is over
the twilight of winter is rising
the falling leaf brings a warning
the cold stab in the air, a longing

casual_friday { Nothing this week

Since Allthingsspring has been doing the week of music, nothing for casual Friday this week. Enjoy the past week in music.

On a side note its a good thing they make me turn off my bazooka before the movie starts.