The life and times of an ex²-pat Yank.

The bad computer

2010-07-14T10:10:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone... So, for today's task at work, I'm having to completely wipe my work computer's hard drive, and reimage the entire bloody computer. This will take me pretty much all of today and tomorrow to do.

Gah.

For some reason, I was unable to install Adobe CS5 on the damn thing. So, I'm currently writing a disk image of my current 'bad' computer before I wipe the drive and start from scratch.

This doesn't make one happy, let me tell you.

On another note, I'm really enjoying my new iPhone 4. All of the 'reception' and 'dropped call' things that seem to be plaguing other users are not happening to me. My only complaint, is that the supposed 'amazing battery life' thing is completely not true. This battery lasts just about the same amount of time as my first iPhone 1.0. So... Not too cool there... But other than that... It's a great fun toy and tool.

My Lady has her iPad too... She's really getting into the ease of use, and the awesome mobility of it. Yay.

That's the 'Apple-geekery' of the day.

I hope you, my fine readers, are having a better day than I... Signing off.

1st Vlog from my iPhone

2010-07-05T14:40:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I've made a quick video with my new iPhone 4. I also used the nifty iMovie for iPhone app on the phone to stitch a couple of things together. This is mainly a test, but thought it would be fun.

What a week!

2010-05-22T00:49:00.002-05:00

Well, I promised to try to keep up with this old blog of mine, so here I am again.

Weird thing, is that I'm doing this post from my iPhone, so if there are glaring errors in the text, I plead iPhone typo.
This week was a really long, and fairly arduous one. Lots of work, tonnes of organising, and heaps of meetings. I'm not sure if I can say that I enjoyed it, especially as I spent both Monday and Tuesday sick at home on the couch, and then Wednesday and Thursday just trying to get caught up. (I failed at that task, by the way.)

However, this week I also saw my student workers really take charge, and make things work. I don't know if I can even explain the caliber of the students that go to my little Libral Arts College... They are, of course all intelligent, but... It's their drive to not only succeed, but also to help all of their fellow students to ALSO excel, which is a hallmark of their character.

None of my students' will EVER know about this place that I go to, and I'll never let them know about it.... But I feel compelled to write a special thank you to them regardless. I couldn't do my job without the 12 students that work for and with ne in supporting all things 'media' and technological at my Little Liberal Arts College.

Besides that, I'm afraid I don't have a tonne to share tonight. I'm beat, and typing on an iPhone isn't nearly as easy as all the Apple ads make it out to be.

Be well all my friends in cyberspace. I'm off to bed in 'meatspace' and deserve it. Ciao!

-- Tuckmac

It's been a long time

2010-05-16T13:15:00.003-05:00

I've not been writing a blog for over a year now. It's a bit sad that I didn't feel the need to write anything here since February 2009. And, so... Now you're wondering what has changed in my life to make me finally pay attention to my blogger-site and has given me the gumption to post something.

Well, I'll tell you... It's this whole 'Facebook Privacy Thing.' Specifically This Article from the NY Times.

I started blogging back in the old days... You know, the days when scores of people were posting long and occasionally well or badly written screes on the web, for the entire web to see.

I met many friends in cyber-space that way, these friends are still people that I follow, whether it be on their blogs (which I'm impressed that they still maintain) or their Tweets, or their Facebook pages. Some of whom I've actually finally met via "Meat-Space" and actually now know what they look like.

Back in these old days, we all had our cyber-psuedonyms. I was Tuckmac (still am on this blog) and we'd link to each other's cyber-psuedonyms, and even if we knew the REAL name of the person on the other side of their 'web-name' we wouldn't ever utter it. Now, it so came to happen that more and more people got onto the whole "Blogging Thing" and they didn't know, or follow these older rules. I became quite angry with some people who are friends (and they still are, no hard feelings) who would link to this blog with my REAL NAME. GAH! There were many years there where I was quite bold in my political statements, and used the anonymity of this blog as a cathartic vehicle of my out-pouring soul. I was outed. Many who read this know who I am, and for some of you, I wouldn't have preferred that.

(You know who you are FBI guy that follows this blog).

That being said, I can hack it. I have dealt with the fact that the World Wide Web has changed, and that there's nothing private anymore.

But, see... That's the thing. I USED to be private on the 'Open-Web' that the article above was talking about. No one saw anything about me that I didn't carefully vet myself. I was anonymous on the web for a LONG time... I liked that.

Facebook was meant to be private. I put stuff up on Facebook that I didn't mind sharing with people that I KNEW, but wouldn't generally be interested in sharing with the average Joe off the street. The changes that Facebook has made to their privacy settings is upsetting. And I'm really tired of people giving me the: "Hey it's the web, anything you post is open to everyone" argument.

When I post 'questionable' things, I do so via secret accounts, with made up e-mails, and no last names. When I post stuff on Facebook, my name is automatically attached to it. Now, if my friends see that I am bitching about a co-worker, then it's okay... But if that co-worker (whom I'm not a friend with on Facebook) can see that post... It's an issue.

So... I've wiped my Facebook account to as 'private' as it seems to let you get it. I'm not leaving Facebook. It's an amazing thing to be able to stay in close contact with my friends over the pond, and to keep up with all that happens in my friend's worlds.

I will tweet. I will Facebook... But. It's going to change a bit. If I have anything questionable to say, I'll probably post it here. I have a certain amount of anonymity here, and I know that no one from work, aside from my Lady know who I am... And won't find me, without some sort of weird 'luck' due to Google. That's the way it's going to have to be.

But, I've missed this a bit, so perhaps it's not a bad thing. Hmm...

Well, I'm off to enjoy my day.

-Tuckmac

Darn, I want this t-shirt

2009-02-27T13:46:00.001-06:00

Busted Tees are a bit overpriced considering what they are...

That being said, however... They have some of the best t-shirt designs on the web.

I want this one.

--Tuckmac

Well, it's been an interesting few weeks

2009-02-07T11:23:00.003-06:00

Since my last post, where I admit I was less than enthusiastic about our new President, things have been occuring which frankly, bears out my opinions.

President Obama has done a few good things... Dealing with Gitmo, terrorist defendants, the environment, and other 'liberal' ideals.

However, during this stimulus-package debate, President Obama has been less than stellar.

In holding to his 'bipartisan' goals of governing, I've seen a so called 'trimmed down' stimulus package that will not do ANYTHING to actually help our economy.

Gail Collins from the New York Times, wrote something 'pithy' that actually does sum up what is going on in her column today titled: Tough Times at Obama, Inc. An exerpt:

"I dropped out of school for a semester to campaign for Barack Obama. And now I’m asking myself whether I spent four months living with my aunt and going door to door in Dayton, Ohio, just so we could have a stimulus plan written by a bunch of moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats in the Senate."

Yes... Ms. Collins, exactly... People expected Obama to be this transformative presence in the new American Government, and he may actually BE such a thing... But no true Republican will be happy, and certainly no true Liberal Democrat will be happy.

In the stimulous package bill currently blundering through the US senate, my OWN democratic Senator from Minnesota Amy Klobuchar voted for a REPUBLICAN amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that stated “None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project.”

Okay... Highway beautification? Yeah, we can do without that sort of thing right now in our tough times. And casinos and gambling establishments? Fuck them. But... Everything else????

Parks? Museums? Theatres? Art Centers? We don't NEED these things anymore?

Minnesota has been losing its small theatre companies, dance is suffering, arts organisations are tumbling... And now the Feds have decided that none of these things are important either.

May I just say that I fucking HATE living in America at times like these... Corporate ass-wipes who put us into this failing economy in the FIRST place are getting huge stimulus cheques from the US government and $18 Billion of this money went for BONUS cheques to the CEOs of these companies. Aren't bonuses meant to be perks for GOOD work?

All of that is fine... But the arts are not.

When people can not afford to go out to dinner... A FREE museum or art gallery can be the only thing for a family to be able to go out and DO. The cultural side of life can be the only thing that will help people be able to DEAL with their problems, but... No... Culture is the FIRST thing to lose it's funding. But we'll give money to giant polluting corporations that DO NOT use the money to STIMULATE anything... No... They use it for fun company trips to the Virgin Islands, and for big bonuses for it's owners.

America... Get WITH it. Fuck the Republicans in congress and pass a REAL stimulus bill that will actually STIMULATE the economy! Money for the poor... Money for non-profits, money for small-business... Money for cities and municipalities who will help people that actually NEED it.

The Republicans continue to 'cut taxes.' F That. RAISE them. The CEOs that just got $18 billion in money from our government? Take it back through taxes... Tax the richest 10 percent in America 50% of their incomes. Tax them on bonuses... Tax them on property ownership... Tax the fucking rich, and give it to the REST of society that actually need it.

There IS no middle class anymore. Without a middle class, there is social unrest. (Just look at the history of Europe during the 19th Century. When there is no buffer of people between the REALLY rich and the VERY poor... The poor get angry. The poor get violent... And the country suffers.

--Tuckmac

Today, I got me a new President.

2009-01-20T17:43:00.004-06:00

Mr. Barak Hussein Obama was sworn in today as my nation's president. I have to admit to having mixed feelings about today.

For the past week, everything... News, radio, other people... Have been speaking about January 20th, as though it was the day of the second coming of Christ.

People were crying, when they were talking about it. I mean... Crying. Wow.

I know that the election, and now swearing in of the 44th president, a Black Man, is a momentous and exciting occasion for my county. And I believe that people reacted differently to this man, depending on their own backgrounds, and ages, and creeds.

My reaction: Um... It's about TIME we elected a minority to the White House, I mean... Come on! Can't we move onward, past all this race crap?

But again... That's just my reaction. My mother was raised in a time of segregated schools, water fountains, and Blacks having to ride in the back of the bus. I was raised, where my first 'serious girlfriend' was African-American, and frankly... No one blinked. I certainly did not think that I was 'breaking rules' by thinking a beautiful girl was beautiful, now was I?

I understand, how someone of my mother's experiences, would react to President Obama in a different way than I would. Therefore... All people who have been annoying me the past couple of weeks... If you're in the "But a minority is finally in the highest office of the land" crowd... You are okay, I can hack it.

To the people who have been overly giddy... Due to the fact that a smart guy is replacing a horrificly STOOPID guy in the White House... Um... Okay. I sort of understand this too. Look, I admit that I am so happy I'm goofy, that Bush is finally out of the American Presidency. Really. I think that he has been the worst president we've had in my country for the past 100 years or so.

But, BUT... The idea that Barak Obama is going to be able to do all the things that he says he wants to do? Nah... Come one, folks. There's this big thing called a Congress. Every single one of the bastids is owned by major corporations, and those corporations control the votes. Doesn't matter if the Senator or Representative is a Republican or a Democrat, any real policy change that Obama tries to put through will be gutted/disallowed/ignored, you have it. Nothing is going to change.

Look, we may get rid of Gitmo. That's great. We may actually be able to get out of Iraq in a year or so... Also great. But universal healthcare? Forget it. Education upgrades? Forget it. Science funding? Phfa... All that's going to happen is that the rich are going to get richer... The poor are going to get poorer.... The middle-class is going to get poorer... And our environment is going to get worse.

Nothing is going to change that. As long as greed is the foundation of this great nation of ours... It will continue to lurch to the 'Right' in social issues, moral issues, tax policies, and fiscal irresponsibility.

Our county has perhaps eight years, where we'll have a decent man in the White House, who really won't be able to do much... And then our country, 'cause we've proved ourselves to be rather stupid... Will vote in Sarah Palin, or some OTHER doofus like Bushie was, to be the figure-head for the military-industrial complex... And it will all get much worse again.

Eight years of a reprieve, where things will only get sort of worse... Then Eight to 12 more years of Republican's destroying our Earth, our rights and our country.

Yeah... Congratulations Mr. Obama. I'm happy you're here. However, I'm a realist enough to know that you being here doesn't mean much beyond a nice fact that you're Black, and it's freaking about freaking time.

--Tuckmac

I just can't seem to do it... Dammit.

2008-12-19T17:22:00.002-06:00

Okay, so it's been a month. Here I am... Checking other blogs, thinking, "Damn, why won't they post something?" And I'm MORE than guilty of non-blogging than they are.

And I don't really have an excuse. I promised myself about two months ago, to start doing the 'blogging' thing again. I've been really missing the whole 'writing one's thoughts down' experience that the whole 'blog' culture helps to force one to do. And I just seem incapable.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Right... Here goes again...

It's been cold, here, in Minnesota for about the past month. And most Minnesotan's are immune to a winter. I mean, we'll kvetch about it being cold and snowy, but really... We tend to complain about our humid and hot summers too. It's just something that we do, we talk about the weather, and 'how, well... Jeez, you know, it could be worse.' Oh, yeah... You betcha, it's been worse here before.

Here's the sitch: I've been regaling My Lady with tales of the dire "Minnesota Winter" for almost six years, now. But, since moving back to the country, and living through our now third winter in Minnesota... She hasn't been terribly impressed with the true horrors of an ACTUAL cold Minnesota winter. Whether that's due to Climate Change, or what... I'm not sure. But it's been positively balmy during the past few winters. An occasional cold week, or something... Perhaps a particularly heavy snow storm, but nothing truly monumental.

Well, that's changed this year. It's freaking AWFUL right now, in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. The winter has truly hearkened back to my childhood days of freakishly low wind-chill, and what seems to be a constant stream of low-pressure systems bringing just enough snow every two days to make driving a true horror.

We've survived, in the past four weeks:
Six mini-snow storms. Not leaving enough (about 2-4 inches 5-10cm) at a time, to do much.
Temps from -14°F to 20°F (-25°C to -7°C) with wind-chills MUCH lower. At times, when one figures in the wind-chill, it's 'felt like' -40°F (-40°C - Yes, the temperature scales get close together at freakishly low temperatures).

And we had a light dusting of snow this morning... With warnings of yet another storm coming tomorrow.

I can't even tell you how un-impressed I am with the weather this month. It's absolutely fridgid, and I can't say that I'm immune to this weather, anymore than My Lady, even though I've grown up here. This is cold even to a Minnesotan. And none of us are happy. It's one thing to have a week of arctic cold, heck... We're used to at least two of those events a winter... But to have it REMAIN this cold... For a whole month? No fair. Not fair at all.

All this has done, really... Is make My Lady and I more and more homesick for Britain. Tis the season to be homesick for England/Scotland... And we already have been a bit down about not being able to even VISIT this year... But when you factor in the weather, it makes Britain seem to be paradise.

Och weel... We miss 'home' but we're stuck here. Obviously, we'll make the best of a bad (cold) situation, and battle onward...

Missing all our friends back in the UK...

--Tuckmac

Cheese Sandwich time, November...

2008-11-19T14:33:00.003-06:00

Hi folks,

Well, I was making a concerted effort to actually start blogging again, and once again... It's been weeks.

Well, since the day of Obama-vomit (also known as the day after celebrating the win of our candidate... Whoo-BOY the hangovers...) My Lady and I have been very busy. She had a show go up this past Saturday at The Soap Factory, and she needed several elements from me (as her work chronicler) so that took some time. Well, okay... LOTS of time. (Note: depending on when you read this, you may need to go HERE and click on Minimal Manimal, to see the show in question.)

Work's been a bit crazy this particular term. We continue to 'scale-up' the services at work for the campus, and we're not actually getting more employee hours. What this means, is that Tuckmac and the rest of the crew get slammed every hour we're there. I have TOO many projects going on my PERSONAL computer, let alone the student-run lab computers, and I'm trying to stay on top of everything, and generally failing. But... As per a normal educational-based job... We have time to catch up once the term is over, and the students and faculty piss off for Holiday.

Can't wait.

My Lady and I made a deal to hit a weekly music session at our favourite pub, Merlins Rest, and have failed in our promise. Our lives are just a bit too weird lately. HOWEVER... Now that her show is up, I am thinking that we may actually get the time to start going back to the session... And I can't wait.

Part of the weirdness and busy lifestyle that I've been attempting to maintain comes from the change in my work hours. During the term-time, to try to accomodate the students on campus, is that my boss and I have started doing four 12-hour days a week (and thus having one extra day off a week, mine are Wednesday's) I hear what you're thinking... Jeez... Tuckmac has a whole extra day off... He's swimming in free-time. Well, no... Actually... That is NOT the way it works. You'd be surprised how busy a Wednesday can be, when one tries to cram everything into that day... Errand running, grocery shopping, doctors appointments... Etc/ ad nauseum. So, the days are long, the day off is nice, but crazy, and Tuckmac is zonkered.

Now that the term is almost over, this will be my last Wednesday off for a while. I'm actually rather looking forward to getting home at 6:00pm instead of at 8:30pm though... It'll be nice, even though I'll be back to five days a week.

My Lady continues to work too hard, and do too much. My darling workaholic is currently at a staff meeting at the Soap, and she's also working a shift tonight at the pub. No rest for my weary kitten.

Um... Finally, I threw my back out last Friday. It was dire. I'm finally starting to feel a bit better, but there were five days there, where every inhale of my breath HURT. It sucked.

So... Yeah. That's about it. Work... Work... Work... Play? What the heck is that? More work... Work some more... Ohh... Sleep. Work... Work... Gah.

My life is really boring, which is why I tend to avoid the "Cheese Sandwich" type blog entries. So. Now that I've bored all you poor little pullets, I'm going to call it a day.

Hang on, folks... The world just may be getting better. We'll see.

Oh, my dear sweetest one...

2008-10-30T16:47:00.002-05:00

I've had a crush on Isabella Rossellini pretty much since I was 13. I always thought she was glorious, and sexy, and brilliant... (More adjectives, ad nauseum)

Anyhoo... I came across this 'Short' today, and well...

I think it's all been ruined.

Damn.

Have a good one, all...

Ramblings...

2008-10-29T22:37:00.003-05:00

Is Any other American that is really sick of the bloody election crap?

I am.

Look. I get a THOUSAND e-mails a day. It's my own fault, I mean... Joining MoveOn back in the day when it was all about Clinton diddling an intern... I never stopped my 'membership' and I really probably should have. Suddenly I'm getting e-mails from Barak Obama, ACLU, and the DNC (Democratic National Committee) The problem of course, is that they all send the SAME bloody e-mail. And several of them have more than one of my e-mail addresses... How did THAT happen? So what happens, is I get eight e-mails across my accounts, and they're all about the same!

Gah.

I want to be left alone!

I'm voting a straight DFL ticket. I am. I'll tell everyone on the internet. Yes... Tuckmac is voting for the Dems.

Duh.

Now let's move onward. I am NOT going to cold-call voters for the Dems... I'm not going to give an already 'rich' campaign any more money... I'm not going to go door to door and stump for the Dems.

I just AM one. I will vote. Leave me alone. I'll be doing my civic duty on the fourth of November, and that's all I am going to do.

Okay...

Other than that... Um... (See, I said 'ramblings' so that should mean that I'll have more than one thing to ramble about...)

Nope. I just wanted to vent about being bothered daily by the damn electioneers...

Oh... I remember... Anyone else having a similar nightmare to me?

McCain wins... The Dems go after the Republican's for voter fraud, by like the 2000 and 2004 election, the Dems kinda just do it proforma, and drop it after three days. In January, McCain is at the swearing in, and has a massive heart attack. Sarah Palin is then, in a few days, confirmed as the next President of the United States of America.

She decides to, at the same time, redecorate the Oval Office in shades of mauve and fuchsia and touches of dead animals like stuffed moose-heads and a polar bear on a stand, oh, and nuke Iran.

Russia then nukes the USA due to a treaty with Iran, we all die in horrible hell-fires of atomic warfare... And some dude in Paraguay looks up from his TV dinner and says: "Well, there went the neighbourhood."

Yeah.

Not a happy nightmare. But it keeps coming back!

I know that most have probably seen this, but...

2008-10-16T17:10:00.003-05:00

(Image by Reuters)

I mean, it just doesn't get any better than that.

--Tuckmac

Every now and again, you see a photo that sums it all up.

2008-10-13T17:14:00.002-05:00

Thanks to: Daily Kos

Wow. Six months. That is a record for me.

2008-10-08T20:55:00.002-05:00

Funny... I last posted in May of 2008. Today it's the 8th of October. That's not cool.

I know that no one will actually SEE this post, as you're all not checking here anymore. And I'm not sure why I'm writing.

Why DIDN'T I write?

Well... I'm living in the States now, and as you all know, the election is on. It's been on forEVER.

I have lost all hope for my country. Most of my friends... Most of the bloggers I still read... Most everyone has hope.

I don't.

McCain is going to win. Why? 'Cause our country is seriously screwed up. And I just haven't had the gumption to write about things. Yes... I'm still a howling liberal. Yes... I will vote for Obama.

But... You know... I keep getting e-mails from the Obama folks, and the MoveOn folks, and the DNC folks (Democratic National Party folks for my Brit friends) and... They keep asking if I will get out and stump for Obama. Make calls... Stand outside places handing out literature... Etc.

I can't.

Although I am voting for Mr. Obama, I don't like him. I don't support his centrist ideals. He's just another 'Clintonesque' fake-Democrat that is running for office.

Doesn't anyone else remember what being LIBERAL means? Obama's all about tax-cuts... We should be RAISING taxes... Our bridges are falling down... Our roads are crumbling... People are starving in the "Leading Economy in the World" (although that's rapidly going to shite)...

I'll vote for the guy, 'cause he's a SHIT load better than the Republican alternative, but... Really. Obama is easily as Republican as Ford was... It's just that the entire electorate in America both R and D are now EXTREMELY conservative... And there's nothing out there on the radar to fix it.

Damn. I love my country, but... To Paraphrase Ghandi:

"I love America, but it's full of Americans."

--Tuckmac

Gah... Two weeks... What is he THINKING?

2008-05-24T11:18:00.002-05:00

Hello fine readers, Tuckmac here, feeling a bit sheepish. I have been making a real effort to write here at LEAST once a week. And here I am, two full weeks, fourteen days, finally making a new entry.

I give the same reason many other's do. Work. It's been kicking my tail lately. And when I'm not doing my job, I'm trying desperately to pick up the ragged threads of my own art career, and get out and make photographs.

And when I'm not doing THAT, I'm cleaning house, or shopping, or taking the dog to the vet, or any other daily fluff that seems to suck so much time out of one's life.

And when I'm not doing THAT, I'm working with My Lady on our collaboration for her 24 hour performance and media event in July, LINK. (Full disclosure, it's HER piece, of which I am a minor-player, but... I'm keeping up with her as much as I can.)

So, yeah... My plate is a bit full, at the mo'. Does that mean that I still don't have a social life? Well, no... Not necessarily. My Lady and I have been able to hit a few art openings, attend some good live music events, and are able to hang out with friends quite a bit. Don't think that we're some weird shut-ins that never see the light of day, or the neon-lights of the night. It's just that other things (like blogging) tend to get shunted down the list a bit.

All this being said. My Lady is happy, busy, and occasionally frustrated. I'm happy, busy and flustered. But we're hanging in there. It would be nice to see a light at the end of a tunnel, but it's not approaching too soon. On top of all of this OTHER malarkey, we're also in the process of applying for her PERMANENT residency in the U.S. (She's been 'provisional' for two years now) So, that's more going though paperwork... Photographs, and talking to people about writing letters of support. "Yes, Tuckmac and His Lady ARE actually living together as husband and wife... Blah, blah... Blah."

So.

That's it in a nut shell. Hopefully our family and friends that read this blog will have their impatience assuaged by this short missive... And I promise.... I'm still occasionally collecting links from across the inter-web, and will try to assemble a "Linky Day Wednesday" soon.

Smiles from across the pond, or in your back-garden...

-- Tuckmac

Why didn't Tuckmac sleep on Wednesday night.

2008-05-09T13:43:00.004-05:00

A scary thing happened around 1:00am in the morning VERY early Thursday.

I smelled something 'burning' when I had taken my puppy for his walk. But, you know... It smelled like someone had burned food. When living in an apartment building, you get used to stuff like that.

Then, about 5 minutes later, one of our neighbours knocked on our door, asking if we had burned anything... As we hadn't, we said no... He went away.

Soon, however, we heard what sounded like a clock-radio alarm. You know... Do Dah... Do Dah... But it wasn't particularly loud, so we didn't really think much of it. Then... I heard a noise out our door, and opened it to see this:

For the record... Everything is now fine. My neighbour's door is still broken... And I'm fairly certain his flat still stinks, but... He's fine. His apartment is fine. OUR apartment is fine... And we all got off on a scare-only basis.

However, I have a couple of issues...

One: His alarm went off, and it didn't sound like an alarm... And wouldn't the apartments on BOTH sides of his perhaps have their alarms go off too? But no...

And Two: There are no fire-alarm triggers in the hallway... What happened, was that our other neighbour that eventually called the fire department... Was told to evacuate the building. He ran up and down every hall in our building, and there's no 'general alarm' anywhere to be found.

Isn't this a bit spooky? I mean, the scary thing about apartments, is that you and I and all our families have done something stupid in our kitchens. Now imagine living in a building with about 55 different flats... That's 55 to 110 people.... All of whom are more than able to be as silly as I have been in the past...

That's bad odds.

Damn. I may not sleep again!

It's a video day, what can I say...

2008-05-06T18:49:00.003-05:00

Came across this brilliant little video on Facebook today... For my American readers, you may have no idea who Boris Johnson is... But, he's the new mayor of London (Jesus wept) and there's nothing we can do about it. However, you should have an idea of the guy, so here:

Gah...

--Tuckmac

Jeez... A bit MORE 'Big Brother' please?

2008-05-06T09:12:00.003-05:00

I mean... WOW. CCTV everywhere and NOW the dreaded...

DATABASE!!!!

You are in the matrix.... And there's no escape!

Suddenly it all makes sense.

2008-04-20T16:38:00.003-05:00

My Lady and I were out doing a bit of instrument-string shopping in St. Paul, when she noticed this sign:

And it all became clear... Starbucks and a Sweatshop... Or Starbuck's IS a sweatshop?

You decide!

--Tuckmac

You have GOT to be kidding me!

2008-04-14T15:06:00.004-05:00

Just read this: Link.

I wanted to throw up.

I mean... Not as much as I did when THIS idiot was re-elected.

But...

Man.

Oh, a bit of cheese sarnie for you...

We just got back from Duluth. It was fab!

Good times!

Well... The Berlusconi thing has sort of ruined my mood a bit... But...

Och weel! I'm off!

--Tuckmac

Oh fer cryin' out loud...

2008-04-01T14:32:00.000-05:00

Full disclosure... I'm an Obama supporter. My reasons are many and varied, and I don't have time to go through my own reasons for supporting his candidacy.

What's driving me a bit nuts today is the "Feminist" angle that many prominent and respectable women are taking, this philosophy that is driving them toward supporting Hillary Clinton for president.

It's 'cause she's a woman.

That's it. I swear, some of these older feminist ladies would vote for Eva Peron, if she were alive and running.

This article,by Doug Grow, cheesed me off today. Amy Klobuchar (DFL MN), and superdelegate has decided to throw her support behind Sen. Obama for president. She's made this decision, and now... The other female superdelegates are pissy, 'cause she's violated some sort of "feminist-code" or something.

A quote from the article:

State Rep. Phyllis Kahn, a DFLer from Minneapolis, is a pioneer for women in a number of fields. A Clinton supporter, she thinks that perhaps younger women, such as Klobuchar, don't understand how hard it was for women to break down barriers.

Oh fer...

Here's my take on why the whole feminist argument is bunk, okay... Women today are still hitting glass ceilings. I get that... Women today are still not working at the same percentage as men, when one looks at pretty much every job out there. But......... Isn't the idea of supporting a woman for president, simply because she IS a woman, just a bit out of step from the feminist idea? Isn't feminism about 'equality' and how women are just the same (I'll say better, generally) than men? Shouldn't women who consider themselves to be feminist, support whomever is BEST for a job, rather than supporting someone due to the sex of that person. Is the idea that WOMEN take over from men, or that all of us live in actual equality?

Barack Obama is the best candidate. Hillary Clinton is NOT the best candidate. Can we perhaps all agree that her having a uterus doesn't actually change those two facts?

Probably not, but... Darn. I wish it could happen.

-- Tuckmac

Blog Against Theocracy 2008!

2008-03-23T12:24:00.004-05:00

Greetings fine readers! Well, another year's gone by, and as I've done the past few years, I'm joining the 'blogswarm' against Theocracy in America.

Questions arise, and as I do every year, I say... No, I'm not an atheist. No, I'm not anti-religion. No, I'm not a militant against Christianity, a la Richard Dawkins...

So, why do I write in support of First Freedom First every year? I mean, come on... No one is REALLY trying to break the American tradition of the "Separation of Church and State," ARE THEY???

I don't know... Readers, you tell me...

In our current election cycle, there were rumors abounding about Barack Obama being a Muslim, and when everyone had debunked that one... They started picking on his Christian pastor being anti-American.... Blah, blah... F-ing' blah!

What do these recent allegations have to do with Barack Obama being a candidate? Why couldn't a person who is non-religious run for President in America? Because Americans would go ape-shit, that's why.

If you are not a Christian in this country, do NOT run for office. I mean... You're pretty much screwed. I feel quite honoured, that the first Muslim elected to Congress is from my home. But Mr. Ellison got a shed-load of abuse as he was running for his seat.

Why aren't more of my fellow Americans appalled? What does your 'faith' (which is one heck of a fuzzy concept anyway) have to do with your abilities to represent the people in America?

Most of us have jobs, right? Okay, so when you interviewed for your job, were you asked to which religion you followed? When you go into a shop on the main-drag of your town, do the people in the shop ask you what religion you are before selling you something? When you pay your credit card bill, do you have to check a box marked "Christian" or do they just take your money without worrying about your beliefs?

Of course not. Generally, American people are not persecuted according to whichever faith they belong.

Unless you are running for office.

There is a major disconnect in our society folks. A scary and frightening one. Where most of our society in America embraces freedom of religon, our leaders, the ones that control our country are all self-proclaimed religious nut jobs.

Are they actually? No.... But they have to at least PRETEND to be Über-religious, or they won't have a chance of being elected.

I could never run for office, and that angers me. I'm a smart guy, I have a Master's degree... I work at a great institution that has been known for churning out politicians... But... I don't attend church services, so... I'm not 'Christian' enough to be a politician in America.

This is a frightening trend that should be checked and stopped. We have to stand up all together as a free and right society, and support candidates that DON'T say they've been 'Born Again' 'cause damn it, most of us were born right the first time.

Religious freedom in America will end, if we keep sending nut-jobs to our houses of power. The more Muslims we send, Hindus, Secularists, and quiet Christians.... The better.

Oh, I forgot... Happy Easter. Or... As one of my friends back in Britain said: "Happy Zombie Jesus Day".

(I can only write that piece of blasphemy right now, 'cause we HAVE religious freedom. Can you imagine a place where we don't have the right to have a little fun with religion? I can't.)

--Tuckmac

Montanans can sometimes make me smile.

2008-03-08T17:05:00.004-06:00

I don't really talk about it much, but I went to Montana State University in Bozeman, MT for just under two years. Yeah... I lasted that long.

Don't get me wrong, Montana is a beautiful place. It truly is "Big Sky Country" where you swear to the gods that the heavens just cannot be that big and awe inspiring. As for Montanans themselves, the people are by and large, polite and respectful folks. There are also a shed-load of howling bigots, but I'm not going to talk about the type that drove me from the state... No, I'm going to actually wax positive about our weird big state, out West.

See... The first time I came across the sort of libertarian-slant of the Montanan, was when the "Federally mandated interstate highway speed limit" was in effect. See... In the old days of the '80's and '90's, all the freeways in the country had to be capped at 55 mph. If a state didn't do that, the marvellous federal government would cut their road-funding, and the state would be forced to pay for all their OWN roads. (Oh the terror! I'm not being facetious, that would be a REALLY horrible thing. I mean, the Fed HELPS pay for Minnesotan roads, and look what happened to our 35W bridge over the Mississippi!) Anyhoo, Montana said, okay... And made a nice slow speed limit. But, instead of charging you huge fines for speeding... The cops would charge you a $5.00 'gas-wastage fee'. (Okay, I think it was called an 'environmental impact fee' or something) I kid you not... They'd pull you over for going 75 mph in a 55 mph zone, write you a ticket. You'd give them $5.00, and they'd give you a receipt.

Awesome concept, hmm?

(This happened to me, so I know it's true. There was a lot of talk about it being an urban - 'er rural - myth... But NOPE. True.)

Anyhoo, when the Fed stopped making road-funding to the states dependent on standardised speed limits, Montana raised the speed limit to... Guess..... As fast as was safe.

That's it.

Just don't drive so you ain't safe, and the cops won't bug you. Now... That left it up for a bit of interpretation, but generally if you were on a straight-away, and there was 100 miles of nothin' around you... Heck, you could go 110mph, and it almost felt like flying.

This post isn't about Montana and its speed limits. No, it's about the "Real ID Act" that the Department of Homeland inSecurity is trying to pass. It says that someday, in the near or far or sometime-future, every State has to abide by a Federally mandated 'safe ID' program.

What's cheesed off the Montanan folks, is really something that should cheese off MOST people, see:

To get a "real ID" one must report to a government office with a birth certificate. That's just about it. Not a picture ID, not fingerprint data. No. Just a birth certificate. Of course, since every state, heck, County
, has a different birth certificate, you don't think that it'd be pretty easy to slide in a FAKE birth certificate?

Hell... Easy and cheep as chips to do... Give me a few minutes on my computer, and a decent printer, and I could whip up a fake in a few minutes... I mean, I'm a graphic designer, I know. But KIDS could do this stuff now on their home computer systems. And what, terrorists don't have laptops with Word and an ink-jet in their possession? Please.

I digress... The whole thing is quite silly. It ALSO smacks of 'Big Brother' and all sorts of negative connotations surround this program. I know Britain is also going through a few problems with their National ID plans. I mean, people... Doesn't this whole "ID" thing just sort of smack of Nazism/Communism? I'm not exaggerating, it's like "I neeed to zee your PApars!" (Hard to fake a German accent with text, but you get the point.)

Well, Montana's Gov. Brian Schweitzer, was interviewed on National Public Radio back in January, and damn if he didn't symbolise the "libertarian-leave us alone" attitude of that huge state!

What a guy. I mean... How often do you hear a politician say, "Blah, blah, blah..?"

-- Tuckmac

Fun personal conversation...

2008-02-27T12:57:00.002-06:00

Two nights ago, My Lady decided that she would like to cook. This is a rare, and usually wonderful treat for me... Anyhoo... Her experiment was, um... Not quite as brilliant a success as she had hoped...

Tuckmac, sitting on the sofa after dinner, turns to His Lady, "Well, at least I didn't have to cook dinner tonight."

Her wry reply, "Yeah, but you had to eat it."

--T

Every now and again...

2008-02-26T09:26:00.003-06:00

The Onion just makes my day.........

Diebold Leaks Election Results

I'm just not sure how 'un-true' this story really is, to be completely honest....

--T

Sometimes you can't help it.

2008-02-14T23:00:00.002-06:00

One of the top Justices in the U.S. Supreme Court is a cunt

2008-02-12T22:08:00.003-06:00

Okay, I realise that that title is REALLY going to surprise a number of Yanks, and quite a few of my British readers as well... But... I think I'm fully within my rights to classify Justice Antonin Scalia as a cunt.

Why?

Oh, I don't know... 'Cause he condones, nay ENDORSES torture.

"I suppose it's the same thing about so-called torture. Is it really so easy to determine that smacking someone in the face to determine where he has hidden the bomb that is about to blow up Los Angeles is prohibited in the Constitution?" he asked.

"It would be absurd to say you couldn't do that. And once you acknowledge that, we're into a different game" Scalia said. "How close does the threat have to be? And how severe can the infliction of pain be?" link

Yeah... Um...

Mr Scalia... Yeah... MISTER. You do NOT deserve to call yourself a Justice any more... And frankly, if I should EVER come before you and your court, please understand that me calling you "your Honour" will NEVER F-ING HAPPEN!

I find it really quite amazing, that ME as a lapsed-Catholic can say UNequivocally that there is NO BLOODY REASON TO TORTURE ANYONE FOR ANY BLOODY REASON WHAT SO BLOODY EVER!!!!

If a person has killed my mother, and is holding my wife hostage, and my dog... And all of my family... I will NOT bloody torture that person.

If I am being killed slowly from slow drips of hydrochloric acid and all I have to do is "waterboard" a so called terrorist and the pain would stop...

I would NOT BLOODY WELL DO IT!

Do you F-ING understand you f-ing cunt?!?!??!?!?!?!?

Torture is fucking torture. That's all it is. It's been proven that information gained under duress is 73% Un-bloody-reliable... And here YOU bloody well are... Talking about how it would be 'absurd' to NOT torture the person?

Are you bloody well F-ing in-f-ing-sane????????

Mr. Scalia... If there's a bomb in Los Angeles, or Minneapolis, and you torture someone to get the information as to where the bomb is... And you save hundreds of thousand of lives, and ooops... The 'terrorist' suffers from water-boarding or 'smacks in the face' well... Frankly...

No.

It's not bloody worth it.

We've dragged ourselves down to THEIR bloody level. We've turned ourselves into THEM.

We've lost our moral values.

We've lost what MAKES us who we are.

We've died.

You've killed us.

You've destroyed everything that makes us who we are.

You have KILLED us as good moral people.

You are a cunt, sir.

A f-ing bloody cunt.

-- T

It's time for some cheese-sandwich

2008-02-09T19:00:00.000-06:00

In addition to a brief 'catch up' in Tuckmac's life, I'll also throw a few links up, hmm? Kill two blogs with one entry, so to say.

Okay...

It's cold. Let me preface my entry with the fact that it's BLOODY cold. There are polar bears outside my window saying, "Holy crap. It's damn cold out here."

Supposedly, this is the last really cold snap of the year. Well, I should bloody-well hope so.

(If you haven't noticed, Minnesotans tend to start kvetching more about the winter once we've hit mid-February. The Winters in Minnesota are long, and it gets tiring.)

Today was so cold (with really frigid wind-chills) that I honestly lost my breath... I tried to inhale, but some weird autonomic-response mechanism in my brain WOULDN'T LET ME. It was spooky. And cold. But I digress.

It's been a busy week at work, culminating in 'Trustee Day Friday' yesterday. That's right... The "All High and Mighty Gods" of the place I work for, rained down upon us. It's rather strange, really... To see folks that generally are the 'ruling elite' of the College start running around like chickens with their heads cut off... Getting ready to show the "Trustees" just how wonderful the place is doing... Och weel... As far as I can tell... Most of us (including the Dean's office, and the President's office) are going a marvellous job, and so... Yeah. But it's still a bit tense.

My Lady has been working her tail off the past couple of weeks we've been back from Britain. And yeah... Work from the gallery has been up there, but... Man... She just became the Assistant Manager at the Best Pub in Minneapolis and thus has been working really hard to make the pub work even better than it does. If you know Fiona, you'll know that she's unable to do anything but throw 100% of herself towards a project. It's a gift of hers that she's not ONLY able to do so (thus looking really good) but somehow enjoys doing so.

Yeah... That's about it for the catch-up. We work... We sleep... We walk our fuzzy-headed dog... And that's the sum total of our lives.

There's more to life than that. But for the moment, we're not able to go 'there' yet. But we will eventually.

Um... Yeah. So... I thought I'd also do a "linky-day Wednesday" for all of you, especially since it's been a while. Some of these links have made their way around the "inter-tubes" for a while, I'm sure... But I'm also FAIRLY sure that I haven't linked to them yet. It's actually getting hard to remember what I've linked to in my 'special posts' and what I have YET to link to... So... I want to throw out a brief... "I'm sorry I'm a git" if I double-link to something. Now, that being said... On with Linky Day Wednesday (Saturday edition):

This is a serious 'brief' from what I'm assuming is an academic paper. Yeah, sounds a bit dry, but... This person also goes further than I've seen OTHERS go when it comes to explaining the way men and women THINK through their speech patterns. It was a fun read. I should say right here and now... I'm not like the 'men' in this article. But then... I'm a bit weird.
I have to 'geek out' occasionally... I know that most of you don't do Mac, nor do you 'do Leopard' but... If you DO, check out this Link, if you don't... Do not bother.
My Lady turned me on to this web-video from JibJab, but all my readers deserve to see this too, if they haven't already. It's funny. Sad. True. But funny.
Quick on-line joke... But as My Lady and I just returned from one HECK of a lot of airline-travel time... It was apropos.
Okay... Silly flash game thing, but... Squishing beans was strangely satisfying.
Last one for this entry... And it's a serious one. Sorry... Don't mean to end all 'serious' on you... But after returning home from across the pond... And because of some of the conversations I had with folks over there... I had to put up this screed by a writer who is able to capture my feelings better than I am able to personally write them. I'm here, folks... And no... I'm not pissing off YET.

Well... That's it for this week... Stay tuned...

I'm not going anywhere...

-- Tuckmac

Happy Pancake Day!

2008-02-05T09:54:00.000-06:00

It's Pancake Day back in the UK.

I want a pancake.

But I didn't get one.

Poo.

By the way... Sugar and lemon juice on pancakes is surprisingly good. Mmmmmm...

-- Tuckmac

Boy... This is a bit of a slapdown...

2008-01-31T11:07:00.000-06:00

Just read this on Reuters:

Graduates Ambitious and Demanding

I'm really glad I'm not of "Generation Y" although they did say my generation was cynical.

Cynical? Me?

-- Tuckmac

Well... Britain. Holiday of fun and exhaustion

2008-01-30T17:14:00.000-06:00

I'm happy to be back on blogger, and writing a blog. Really. I am. I'm not just saying that.

Okay... I'm back from the U.K. and feeling a bit tired. It was a fabulous holiday. We saw tonnes of friends and family, and My Lady and I enjoyed ourselves very much.

But... Let me just give you a brief itinerary:

Leave Tuesday night Jan 15th for britain
Arrive 9:00am GMT, spend day with friend Lucy, spend evening with Abi, Rick and Chris and stay over at their flat
Spend Thursday in London, get on evening train to Guildford to see friends Anastasia, Lucy, Toby, and meet Pete (great guy) Anastasia's new beau
Stay night in Guildford, awake with slight hangover. Goof off in Guildford. Toby shows up late, we all stay in... Much enjoyment, 6am go to bed. Yep.
Wake up around 1:00pm. Go to lunch, hop train for Hemel Hempstead to see father-in-law, Roger
Dinner out with Roger, bed at reasonable time
Spend day with Roger in London, Fiona goes out to see friend Lucy P. in London
Back to Hemel, dinner by Roger, reasonable bed time.
Wake up, hop train to Canterbury from Hemel (through London), arrive Canterbury around 2:00pm on Monday, see little Sarah, Sandra P, and walk to KIAD bar to see who else is around... Run into Trish, say hi... She calls Ben McKee, he calls everyone... Go out with Ben and have great evening in Canterbury... We LOVE Coffee and Cork.
Spend most of day walking around Canterbury, have a great time... But... It's back to London. Arrive latish, at Abi, Rick and Chris' flat, stay for night
Wake up BLOODY early (5:00am) to get the darn tube to Heathrow. Sit at Heathrow for two hours PAST when our flight was meant to ARRIVE in Newcastle... Finally leave, get to Newcastle, pick up hire-car, and drive to Blythe to see Fiona's grandparents. Nice dinner, nice talk... Fiona goes to bed, and Ken and Win give me an interview. I think I passed (right Ken?) went to bed.
Spent nice day with Grandparents, after a nice lay-in, went out to Fiona's Uncle and Aunt's house for dinner... Liz, amazing meal... Thanks... Went back to Fiona's grand parent's house... Bed at 'reasonable' hour
Got up fairly early (not as early as hoped) to get on road for Scotland... Had to do 'errands' before arriving at Fiona's parent's house... Got to Selkirk, bought me a feileadh mhor, and Fiona a 'mini-kilt' so she can be all sexy in our own tartan... Drove up to the Glenkinchie Distillery in Pencaitland, Scotland. Took the tour, made some photos, and then... Drank and bought some whisky. Finally done, we drove back down to St. Boswells, home to Fiona and her family.
Had a nice evening out with the in-laws, and spent time with the family. It was really quite nice.
Went to bed a bit late, awoke on Saturday, to spend most of day with family. Went up to Edinburgh, for a fun day of underground tours, and went out to dinner in Dalkeith. Returned home, and Fiona proceeded to go through all the stuff we left in her parent's loft. Boxed up stuff to ship home to the States, drank a bit more whisky, went to bed.
Woke up for Fiona's brother's Birthday on Sunday (happy b-day again Sam) a bit earlier than would have wanted due to an attention-addicted dog. (Yes, I still love the big galumph). Had a nice lunch with Fiona's family (grandparents came up from England for the day), and headed back down to Newcastle to return the hire-car, and get a flight back to London.
Landed in London around 10:00pm, had to get from Heathrow up to Bethnal Green, long trip, arrived latish to Abi, Rick and Chris' flat. Sorry guys...
Woke up, had the day to ourselves, and our friend Lexie and her beau Charles came up from Canterbury to London. We all went out, had one HECK of a pub crawl thoroughout central London... Went back to the Bethnal Flat, and crashed. Gah... Did we crash.
Woke up with probably the worst hang-over of my life on Tuesday. Had to catch a plane in the morning, so had to work through it... Made it to London-gatwick on-time. Caught the flight... And...
Arrived to the coldest night/day of the year in Minnesota. Gah.

So... There you go... The entire trip, in a few bullet-points. Needless to say, it was amazing, fun, torturous, and wonderful.

We miss it already, and it's going to be another year before we can return.

We love you all, back in Britain, and thank you... Obviously, individual grovelling-thank you's are on the way soon.

Smiles and kittens, everyone. To my MN friends... I'll let you in on the pictures when I see you!

-- Tuckmac

Linky Day Wednesday - Saturday edition

2007-12-22T17:04:00.000-06:00

It's that time again, the time when Tuckmac brings you cute, strange, disturbing, or just bizarre links from around the Intertubes.

Okay, I am pretty sure this's been around for AGES, but... I'm also fairly sure I've never linked to it before. I do love the bloke/bird that came up with this, though... Tom the cat.
Okay, Tuckmac gets a wee bit political here. Lately, there's been a large, well... Let's actually be true here, a BOAT-LOAD of younger progressive liberal-type kids in their twenties, supporting Ron Paul, the c*nt. Now, I just have to say that the guy is NOT a good thing for America. The last thing our country needs is to go from a bloody Fundamentalist-Rightist-Boob-Republican to a Protectivist-FarRightist-Nazi-Sneaky-Libertarian. And, luckily, there's a good Left-leaning blogger out there that did the 10 reasons that folks should NOT support Ron Paul.
Phew... Glad I got that political stuff off my chest. Okay, next up is a doozy. You want gross? You want camp? You want a shoot-em-up bad guys, good guys, all getting it IN THE FACE? Then you want Machine Girl
I adore Hugh Laurie. Adore him. And thus, when I discovered that the doctor on T.V., known as House, is Hugh Laurie... Well, I started to watch the show in earnest. Now, I'll admit, I had seen the show a few times, and I had liked it, but... Not enough to really call myself a fan, or anything. My Lady and I were watching the show, and she's all: "That's Hugh Laurie", and I look at the guy, and think... Man, she's slipped. Hugh Laurie's an English bloke, and he's a comedian, and the guy playing the role of House, looks nothing.... Like... Wait a MINUTE?!?!?!?!?!??! Okay, story over... Yes, I think it's weird that Hugh Laurie does such a good job on an American TV show... But he does. Anyhoo... Here's the funny... I actually SAW the episode you'll see in the link, and thought... Jeez could they repeat this phrase any bloody more? And then six months or so later, I found This Site and realised that I was not the only fan that thought the script writers worked themselves into a bit of a repetitive plot.
Are you right or left brained? Want to take a non-scientific, and thus flawed, ridiculous on-line test to find out a vague approximation of the truth? Of course you do.
Finally, a simple joke that I'm sure most of my British readers will get a particular kick out of... My Yankee readers, well... You'll like IT too.

Well, fine readers... That's it for today's Linky Day Wednesday, Saturday edition. Have a Happy Holiday, 'k?

-- Tuckmac

Edit (About 10 minutes after finishing this post, I realised I didn't throw up the results of MY silly unscientific on-line test. Sorry.

--T

Edit: 18:59 CST
Fiona's just taken the "Right or Left Brained" On-line exam... Here's her results, as per HER request...

-T

We're stayin' put!

2007-12-20T21:23:00.000-06:00

Great news was had by all this evening...

My Lady and I have been fretting for almost three weeks now, about our future living arrangements. See, if you didn't know, we live in a subsidised "artist" rental. Part of the "subsidisation" is that there's an income cap. You can't make MORE than that cap, and stay in the flats.

Well... That's not entirely true. After six months, you could win the lottery, or do really well in the art world... Like, um... Diablo Cody (Writer of the amazing film Juno that I spoke about a few posts ago...) and suddenly hit it extremely BIG, and yet... Still be allowed to stay in the flat.

Well... We are hedging around the cap... I'm doing pretty well, but not STELLAR in the money department, and My Lady... Well, she's still working at the 'odd gallery' as a Manager of the Volunteer Programs, but... Um... Yeah, like we don't get paid THAT much.

But... It was close. Too close.

So... Here we were, sweating... Wondering if we were going to get chucked out of our home, come January 31st, or... If we'd be staying. To add to the worry, our trip back home to Britain is Jan 15 - Jan 30th, so... It was going to be really interesting there, trying to find a place to live, and move in the next two and a half weeks.

Well...

We're fine. I came home to a letter tucked into our doorway, saying that, and I quote:

"We have completed your recertification paperwork, and lease, and need you to come and sign the final documents!"

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!

So... I've signed the lease... We're waiting on My Lady (who happens to be working tonight) to sign her bits, and... We're good for another year.

Man... I can't beGIN to describe the relief.

Needless to say... I've had a few celebratory drinks... Hic.

Smiles to all our well wishers... Your vibes helped.

Thanks,
Tuckmac

Winter CAN be beautiful

2007-12-19T14:48:00.001-06:00

I awoke today to a wonderful 'Winter Wonderland.'

It was foggy last night. And also below freezing... So...

You guessed it. (Or perhaps you didn't)

Hoar Frost!

I made about 20 pictures with my iPhone. These two were the only decent ones. Damn iPhone crap-camera...

Pine Tree, with frosting...

Maple Leaves, bright edges.

I'm off to do some Hi8 to DVD dubbing... Have a nice one folks.

-- Tucker

Just a quickie...

2007-12-18T15:41:00.001-06:00

First, let me kick this one off with a SERIOUS recommendation...

Go see JUNO! It's the best film I've seen this year... Heck... The best I've seen in a LONG time... Well over a year.... I can't gush enough. It's actually THAT good.

My Lady thinks it's going to be the "Seminal Movie" of this generation. You know... Sort of like MY Seminal Movie was The Breakfast Club.

Anyhoo... It was that great.

Other than that... Um... Yeah. Well.

I'm at work. And I really should be working, instead of posting a gushing post about a bloody film. So.

Bye for now.

-- Tuckmac

You know those days, where everything seems a bit off?

2007-12-15T17:01:00.000-06:00

ɔɐɯʞɔnʇ --

.sʎɐp ǝsoɥʇ ɟo ǝuo buıʌɐɥ ɯ,ı

Linky Day Wednesday (Saturday Edition)

2007-12-08T11:30:00.000-06:00

It's been a bit of a long week, but not a 'bad' week, regardless. I'm in a fairly good mood, although I have barely seen My Lady all week, outside of visiting her at the The best pub in Minneapolis, which is also where My Lady works.

Anyhoo... I thought I'd throw up a quick "Linky Day Wednesday" today, as I've been fairly remiss in my 'amusing link' posts, as of late.

So... Without further ado the list:

Today's post was actually seeded by this particular find on-line today: Prince Phillip's 15 best quotes. You see... My British readers will probably know of Prince Phillip's verbal gaffes, but I'm not sure about my Yankee readers... Yes... There is someone as miserable as OUR president at opening mouth, and inserting foot.
I'm not sure if this is a 'real' thing, or if someone photoshopped it. However, it is rather amusing, and as I'm all about my amusing finds, I post it here: Google has opinions. Tee hee....
This next link, is a group of photos that 'wax political' so that I do not have to do so myself. Thanks street-artists!
There's times when the human race actually makes me feel less depressed about our current lives. Usually, it's when a whole bunch of folks get together to help push a trapped beached whale back into the ocean, or other examples of human altruism. (Small caveat: I tend to believe that a whale that 'beaches' itself is trying to commit suicide, and that by pushing the poor bugger back into the water, we're making the whale think to itself: "I'm such a failure, I can't even KILL myself properly." But I digress...) Back to the actual link... A bear got freaked out, and the photos tell the story.
This is for any math-geeks out there... No, this cartoon would never happen in real life. You are doomed to be alone. Unless you get a job programming for Google. In which case you'll be so rich, at least a few really shallow women may actually pursue you. Don't hold your breath though.
And finally, a really cool 'art type' on-line program that pulls photos randomly from Flickr, and creates an automated-infinite 'film' that feels pretty avant-garde. I was quite impressed. Depending on the imagery it pulls, it can be sexy, or silly, or just plain weird. Hope you like it.

Well... That's it for the day. I have to go start being the proper house-husband, and do the laundry, dishes, and make the bed.

Have a great weekend, readers.

-- Tuckmac

Friday, and I'm in an IHOP.

2007-12-07T10:47:00.000-06:00

Greetings readers, from the title of the entry, I'm sure you've realised that I'm in an IHOP. That's "International House of Pancakes" to my out-country readers... When my Lady first arrived in the States, she saw the IHOP sign, and was flabbergasted. She had seen one of these places in an American film, once upon a time, and thought that it was 'pretend.'

Well... Nope. It's real. The pancakes are horrible. They are 'international' only in that they serve crepes as well as American-style pancakes. Well, 'crepes' is too nice a word for the gunky-doughy mess that they serve here. The food leaves quite a bit to be desired, and I'm not feeling that well, after finishing my breaky.

Why am I here then??? That's a very good question. It's certainly not for the haute cuisine.

My car is being serviced at the garage. The closest place to sit an drink coffee (and have free-wifi) is IHOP. End of explanation. I'm currently sitting across from the famed Mall of America, and surrounded by an entire passle of tourists from all over America. It's perhaps not the "INTERNATIONAL" House of Pancakes, but at least in this case, it's definitely the NATIONAL House of Pancakes.

I'm still in shock, that people come from all over my country, and the world, for that matter, to go to the Mall.

I mean...

Have a life, much?

Gah.

Anyhoo...

It's been really cold here, in Minnesota. We're having unseasonably cold temps, and quite a bit of snow. I can't say that I'm enjoying it all that much, at the mo'. It's -13°C (8°F) right now, but unlike the UK... It's rather sunny. That's the only thing that Minnesota winter has over Europe. It may be fridgid, and frightfully dire when it comes to the temperatures. However, the sun DOES shine at least half the time. Not that it warms one up very much, but at least we don't suffer from S.A.D. here.

Speaking of depression... I had a musing on my way home on Wednesday this week.

I was driving down University Ave, from N.E. Minneapolis to St. Paul. In the far distance, I caught a view of the Witches Hat Tower in Prospect Park. (Strangely enough, the photo that appears in that Wikipedia article is just about the view I had, except it was dark when I saw it... But I digress)

Anyhoo... I saw the tower in the distance. It was illuminated simply by the 'typical' city light-pollution. Clouds were moving slowly behind it, and the wind was whistling through my leaky window-seal on my car door.

I almost had to pull over. I was gripped by this feeling of pure aesthetic bliss. I'm not exaggerating... It was a realisation of a crystal clear moment of beauty.

And I thought to myself, as I recovered... Wow, I think I understand depression now. I think that what depression actually is, is the inability to SEE something like that and SEE the beauty. See the absolute 'rightness' that is the world, and one's life, at JUST such a moment. Depression, is a closing off. A place of darkness, where one has lost the ability to see the light.

And I realised also, that no matter how crazy my life is. No matter that I may be chucked out of my flat due to making TOO much money (which yes, I find ironic), no matter that money will always be a problem, or that I'm not finding enough time to make my artwork... Or that due to our busy schedules, My Lady and I rarely see each other...

No matter what...

I can still see the beauty.

I'll be okay.

Smiles, folks...

-- Tucker

What in the name off all things holy???

2007-12-03T14:05:00.000-06:00

Folks, have you noticed that the Turner Prize just keeps getting more and more ridiculous? I mean...

Mark Wallinger?!?!?!?!?!?

I may as well just quit being an artist now. Obviously the art world has finally hit rock bottom.

Jaysus, Mary and Jumpin' Joe Hossefat!

-- Tuckmac

Edit: 3:05 CST-
My Lady has just sent me an e-mail saying how great this is.

Oops... And here I was making fun of the bear-suit wearing weirdo.

Och weel... Different strokes for different folks.

--T

Longish Linky Day Wednesday

2007-11-25T15:42:00.000-06:00

I know it's been an on and off sort of thing, but I really wanted to throw up a few links I've run across lately. Some are fun. Some are disturbing. But, hey. That's life.

I was reading some internet comics, and came across This one. The only weird thing, is... Um... I'm the conspiracy theorist. I've actually said to someone, "You don't actually believe we've landed on the moon?" Hmm...
Okay, now that I've certified that I'm a bit strange... I'm going to put up a link that many may have seen in different postings, but... Darn, if some aren't funny. Capturing that special moment. To be honest, Henri Cartier-Bresson said that photograhy was, "finding that definitive moment." I'm fairly certain, that if he were able to see the above link... He'd be turning in his grave. Och weel...
I need to get 'vaguely' political here... I came across this article on the BBC: Blair feared faith 'nutter' label. I found myself thinking, "Now WONDER Blair and Bushie got on so well... They're BOTH freaking nutters! Folks... At least Tony 'hid' his affliction... My prez thinks that God is talking to him all the time... I guess Bushie's god wants to kill as many Iraqi civilians, and put as many American's on the street, as they can, due to foreclosures... Nice god, hmm?
Back to amusing... You have to see the WHOLE thing... 'Cause there's two really funny bits in this... And the best bit is right at the end... Hee hee...
And finally... Someone has answered the eternal question: Just what is EMO anyway?

Right... That's the linky-day stuff.

Just 'cause I'm sure some of you are a bit concerned about me, after my last vaguely depressing post.

No. We still don't know if we're going to be able to stay in our flat. I'll let you all know as soon as I do. As to the happy thoughts that folks sent to me and My Lady... Thank you. It's nice to have some good energy pointing at us every now and again...

Well... I'm going to get going.

Have a great week.

Tuckmac

Nostalgia...

2007-11-21T01:25:00.000-06:00

I'm extremely depressed today.

Sorry to bring you all down... But there it is.

I'm just rather miserable today. I've been miserable for a while.

The happy thing, is that I'm heading 'home' to Britain in January. I'm sincerely hoping that my mood improves during/after that trip.

It's strange, really... I am really enjoying my work lately... I'm moving up the 'ranks' as it were... I'm on important committees, and I'm forging a place for myself.

My Lady is also doing very well... And, to be honest... That's half the problem.

See... We're living in an amazing place that's 'subsidised' by the 'state' for artists. And... We're supposedly making too much money to stay.

Yeah... I'm serious... Although we live completely cheque to cheque... And I am doing all I can to finangle our finances....

We're still perhaps 'too rich' to stay here.

All My Lady and I ever wanted, was to live in an artist's community, and we ARE living in one now... But we stand a very strong chance of being chucked out, due to our comibined salaries...

And I keep thinking about Britain.

I can't help it.

My Lady is actually the only person keeping us here in the 'States' which may actually surprise her family. Yeah... I'm dying to get back to England. I completely admit it... I like my work, I'm enjoying our lifestyle, but... I really miss Britain.

Sorry, Yanks... But... I really felt more in 'touch' whilst living in England.

I don't know... Look... Can everyone that reads this send 'happy strong thoughts' or 'prayers' towards us staying in our flat for at LEAST one more year? It would really help...

Thanks....

And I promise to explain stuff in more depth later... But the Replacements just came on on my iTunes, and I'm going to sit and enjoy them for now...

Winces....

Tuckmac

I hate Minivans... Alot...

2007-11-15T23:01:00.000-06:00

Yeah,

Okay.... Video time:

Have a good 'un...

-- T

Uff Da... Where've you been???

2007-11-04T14:28:00.000-06:00

I've been remiss in posting. I have a question for my fellow 'tech-working' bloggers...

How in the million names of the gods do you work on a computer all day, and then spend other 'outside of work' quality time, sitting on a bloody computer and writing a blog?

Och weel...

It's Sunday. I'm sitting at Merlins. I came in around 11:00am, and sat down for an AMAZING breakfast. That's right... They're doing breakfasts now too! Just on the weekend, but hey... Nothing like coming down to the pub after Mass (if you're Catholic) or just on the morning... Filling up on decent coffee, and truly 'out of this world' pub-fare breakies...

(Here's the secret... The landlord (owner) of Merlins, made a deal with a local butcher. He's getting true cuts (rashers) of bacon in the British fashion, as well as his own recipe bangers... Great fresh ingredients abound... Five types of cheese... Baked-fresh on-location Irish Soda Bread... I could keep going, but I won't...

JUST COME! If you live in the Twin-Cities, or even in the region... Get your tail over to Merlins (On E. Lake, and 36th Ave. Minneapolis) for breakfast. 9am-2pm Sat and Sun.

Okay... Enough shameless plugging...

Quick “Quizzy” thing I found over at Big Daddy Malcontent’s Blog:

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

I’d suggest you all take it, and see where YOU stand. Me being a “Reality Based Intellectualist” shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Silly Fact found on the Web:
The combination “ough” can be pronounced in nine different
ways. The following sentence contains them all “A rough-coated,
dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.”

Smiles,
Tuckmac

Tuckmac's first conference....

2007-10-28T14:57:00.000-05:00

I admit that it's taken me a while to post about the conference I attended on Oct. 18th through the 22nd. But, as in many cases (and I'm sure a number of my readers could back me up on this) I spent a very busy week back at work, trying to catch up with everything I missed whilst away.

I had a pretty good time... And my co-worker and I made a few photos, and I'll post them up here as a way to explain the trip a bit. So... Tuckmac's First Conference through Photography:

Lew and I spent time on our iPhones getting in touch with family back in the Twin Cities (St. Paul/Minneapolis). Our Delta (piece of crap airline) flight had been so late, we missed our connecting flight to Gainesville from Atlanta. We had to take a taxicab from Jacksonville to Gainesville. (About 83 miles too long a ride.)

When not in a session learning about Classroom Presentations or Educational Media, we spent a bit of time in the hotel bar. It was a sports bar, and right next to the University of Florida's campus. Meaning everything was "Gators" everywhere. (Gators would be the mascot for the UofF teams)

There were bugs

Although most dressed pretty 'office-casual', I decided to go for being just 'me.' Therefore, I was the only member of the conference to wear a band t-shirt... I waited all day for someone to ask me about the The Bastard Fairies, and eventually someone finally did do so. By the way... The Bastard Fairies are AMAZING!

We toured the University of Florida's Technology stuff, and although having a bit of fun with a Wendy's sign

We were unable to find coffee, which prompted this next photo:

Sad, in front of the CLOSED Starbucks Coffee... That's right, the whole campus seemed closed on Saturday.

We saw Gators

Took a boat tour with Captain Fred (funny guy, hokey tour)

Drank heavily... (Yes, that whole cup is filled with whiskey. Um... She said 'whoops' and poured it to the top. The awesome bartender (Dana, by the way) said 'whoops' twice more that night. I was pretty far gone by the end of it.

We saw butterflys, and they liked Nicks head

And this guy's hand

And fruit 'rotting fruit' I may add...

But they were really beautiful. This was all in at the Natural History Museum in Gainesville. They release hundreds of butterflies a DAY in this screened-in jungle.

And after more interminable meetings about technology. (Which I admit were interesting, and rather edifying...)

Gate 3 of 3, gates... At the Gainesville regional Airport

After yet another hour-over-where-we-were-supposed-to-be-waiting... We were seated in the only row on the airplane without a window.

And here we're finally on our way back to Minnesota.

So... There you go. There's a brief journey through my last weekend. I'll update with more interesting news later, but after typing all that code into my blog post editor, I'm tired of typing.

See ya laters!
--Tuckmac

At a conference

2007-10-20T08:28:00.002-05:00

Hi readers, I've not posted for a while, due to my present location.

I'm in Gainesville, Florida for a conference about educational media. Boy is this great. My first work-related conference.

In freaking Florida.

It's hot and humid, and I'm told there's gonna be Gators! How exciting is that?

Anyhoo...

As I'm limited to my iPhone, and it's not really THAT easy to type on the damn thing, this is all you get till I'm back.

Many stories to come, so keep your eyes open till Wednesday.

Smiles,

Tuckmac

Okay... News. Good news.

2007-10-15T21:30:00.000-05:00

I want to apologise to family and friends for this rather abrupt notice...

But...

My Lady and I just bought tickets (it's 3:30am BST, 9:30pm in Minnesota) to Britain.

Yeah... I know that a week and a half ago, I penned, er well, typed, a rather dire notice that flights were TOO expensive, and there didn't seem to be any way for us to come over (go over) to Britain this coming January.

Well... The flights just dropped from $870.00 USD a person to $633.00 USD a person.

We didn't want to take a chance that this was a blip... So... We bought them.

(Of course, I'm a cynical bastid, and so I'm thinking they'll hit $350.00 in a few weeks, but... Och weel)

So.

We're coming home. We'll be landing at London, Gatwick at 9:15am on my Birthday, Jan. 16th. (Nice Birthday prezzie, hmm???) And we'll be hanging out across the pond till the 29th of January.

Now's the time, friends... Start planning...

(Say, um... Anyone that doesn't mind a couple of friends kipping on your sofa a few days???)

Anyhoo... More news to follow, I'm sure.

-- T

Boy am I in a mood...

2007-10-14T17:58:00.000-05:00

The post where Tuckmac discusses his weird emotional makeup, and the occasional fallout that results.

Tuckmac in a funk...

I'm in a mood today. A really rotten mood. I'm not certain where, why, or how I became pissy today, and I'm just really hoping I can break out of it soon.

I can honestly say it wasn't the circumstances of the day. I mean... I was doing house-work sort of stuff, but generally I get in a good mood due to that sort of task. I was able to get all the laundry done, iron, and even hand-wash a favourite jumper.

My Lady assisted with all sorts of things... Dishes, dog-walking and she even made bread. (Which smells delightful, and is seriously hampering my ability to concentrate, due to the wonderous smells that are created during such an occasion.)

And yet... I'm pissy. I mean REALLY out of control... Everything sets me off... Everything. The dog itching his ear has earned him a rant from yours truly... My Lady standing too close to my ironing board... ME. Just me, taking too long in the shower today made me angry at myself!

Gah.

All of this is also not due to lack of sleep. I was able to get a full eight hours of sleep last night, which is, to be quite honest, unprecedented in the last three months.

We went out to the pub last night, which in general is a reason for celebration for me, which most of you may know.

We saw lots of artwork this weekend, which again is a cause of celebratory feelings.

We made lots of artwork this weekend as well... Working on My Lady's latest project Twen: Flegling Woman of Mass Distraction this weekend. And may I say that with a model like My Lady, and a photographer like myself... Well, we make beautiful work together.

But, yeah. Still, a very bad mood.

Well... I don't know. Perhaps once this coming week is finished, I'll feel a whole heck of a lot better... See.. I'm going on a trip to Gainsville, Florida for a convention on Thursday. This is my FIRST work-related convention, um... Ever. And I'm rather looking forward to it. I'm thinking I'll learn a lot, and maybe even teach a little. You can't go far wrong there. Of course, the down-shot to all of this, is that the convention is in Florida. Which I know, to my British readers, is like... America.

(Aside, the sentence above is a joke. It's referring to the fact that when an American runs into a Brit back in England, generally they'll hit you with the fact that, "Yes, of course, I've been to America. I've been to Orlando, Florida." When you nicely ask them if they'd ever been anywhere else than that... They usually give you a strange look, as though all they'd ever need to SEE in the States is that one freaking place in Florida with Disney World. Gah. I've never really tried to explain to Brits why I'm not really sure if they should be allowed to say that they've "BEEN TO AMERICA" by simply visiting one horrifically small and shite place in my country. I've tried to give them the example of me saying... "Well of course I've been to England... I've been to Hull." But they still don't seem to get it. Och weel...)

I'm sure that I'll survive.

And now that I've bored all of my fine readers with this rather HORRIFIC piece of doggerel... I'll let you get on with all of your lives...

Thanks for reading.

-- Tuckmac

Just another Linky Day Wednesday

2007-10-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm actually writing this on a Tuesday, not on a Wednesday. I have two things to say to you 'kvetchers' out there... One: You're probably reading this on Wednesday or even later, 'cause it's late Tuesday. And Two: Since when have I followed the whole "links on Wednesday" thing anyway?

Okay... That being typed, here we go!

Thank goodness for Flash Photography!
I'm not saying that my time at work is filled with meetings where THIS would be handy, but... It's really rather apt for just about anywhere isn't it?
Okay, it's from a Russian site, and frankly, the 'advertising' leaves a bit to be desired, or... It doesn't leave much to be desired... It sorta depends on you. Anyhoo... Here's pictures of some of the best low-light 'light drawings' I've seen!
Does anyone else see this woman:
and just think... Zoe????
Some photos are APT aren't they?
To heck with MySpace, here's my NEW social-web spot... Bugger OFF!
It's old, but it's something that I admit I wouldn't be completely against... California withdraws from Union. I mean... How great would that be???
Some are fake. Some are real. All are disturbing.
This last one is for my friend Gene (who sadly has no web-presence)... I spent four YEARS trying to find this somewhere, and darned if I didn't finally just 'stumble' upon it... The Gashlycrumb Tinies

Well... There you have it... Strange esoteric stuff... From the mind of Tuckmac.

-- T

Final installment

2007-10-06T22:01:00.000-05:00

One last entry about the 'Nerdiness catagory' that was started by these two and me.

Okay, so My Lady just took the Nerd Test 2.0, and frankly... I'm appalled. I knew my wife was a bit more of a geek than I, however... I didn't really realise just to what extent.

(Just kidding Lovey)

But.... She did it. She posted it. And I'm linking to it.

Okay... Sorry to bore all my actual readers with our fun.

Smiles,
Tuckmac

Speaking of which... Sexy test (found thorough the same place as the nerd one...

Yes, I am sexy.

-- T

After discovering I'm not a geek, I prove...

2007-10-06T16:36:00.000-05:00

I actually am a huge geek, by admitting to a weakness...

Last night, My Lady and I went out at 11:00pm to a movie. You know, one of those 'late night' flicks where they show a wildly popular/cult picture on the screen?

We went to see Serenity, on the anniversary of the release, at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis.

It was organised by The Minnesota Browncoats, and it was meant to raise money for VEAP, Minneapolis.

Okay... Now that the links are done... Let me just say that both My Lady and I are horribly addicted to the darn Movie and the original series that spawned the film, Firefly.

My Lady and I watched a few episodes in Britain, whilst living there... She hated it. I'm not kidding.... She really, really hated the show.

When our friend Brett gave us the entire series on DVD to borrow, um... Well... Let's just say she changed her mind. (She admitted later that she couldn't understand a word the characters were saying in the show, and so she didn't really get it. After living in the States for almost two years, she's able to handle the 'Western lexicon" a bit better.)

We watched the whole series in about two days... Then I went out the same Sunday we finished the show, to go buy the film. You know, we had to 'finish' the story.

Anyhoo... We went out to the film last night with Brett and his friend, and we had a wonderful time. There was a costume contest (and frankly... It was a bit silly, and dodgy, and well... I wish I had gone in costume. Yes, that's how geeky I get about this.) and all sorts of people who know when to laugh, how hard to laugh, and enjoy LAUGHING during the whole film.

Anyhoo... If you haven't seen the film... Go see it/go rent it/go buy it.

It's great fun.

Okay.... That's enough 'geeking out' for one day.

Smiles,
Tuckmac

Rather silly, really... But...

2007-10-03T10:29:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm pretty sure I've done the 'Nerd Test' before. However, I didn't feel like looking through my archives to find the original. Especially, as I seem to remember the 'quiz' 'burping' or something, and so I got a 0% Nerd Score back then. Now... I'm not a 'raging geek' by any means, however, I DO have a little spaz inside me. My friend N8, kicked it off... And then my other friend Drew upped the ante by finding the "Nerd Test 2.0" on-line.

I thought... Heck, I may as well take the '2.0' test, and see just what kind of nerd I actually am.

Following is my score:

I'm feeling vaguely confident about being an Über Cool NON-Nerd.

Heh! Take that! I may work in an I.T. department, but I'm far from being a geek.

;-)

-- Tuckmac

Ever get that weird 'fuzz' around everything you see?

2007-10-01T14:08:00.000-05:00

I was up extremely late last night.

Extremely.

And I'm at work today... I made it in on time (I was actually the first person in the office today) and I walked the dog before I left, showered, had coffee... Everything.

But even though I've done all the 'normal' things that one is supposed to do in the morning, including getting to work on time, I'm feeling really, um... Off.

Everything's a bit fuzzy. There's kinda nifty aura-like shiny things, surrounding people that I see. I'm not sure if my lack of sleep has made me psychic and able to see auras, or if my eyes have just gone completely wiggy. I'd like to think the former, as it sounds so much more 'cool' than just having some left-over eye-smutz obscuring my vision.

Och weel...

Folks... Do not get into extended discussions with your partner at 1:00am, when one must be awake by 5:00am. Not that you all didn't already know that, but... Yeah.

And um... Yeah.

Flights are shite, you know that? We spent hours last night attempting to find affordable flights to Britain for January. I mean... Eight-hundred bucks PER PERSON round-trip to England in January?

Please! Who wants to go there in the winter... I say this as a Minnesotan, who's quite used to having really horrible winters... But... Going to Britain in January, is much like a Floridian going to Minnesota in January... It's just a rather daft thing to do. Hence, My Lady and I going then you see... No one should want to go... So the flights should be really cheap... And yet...

$800.00 PLUS per Person...

Gah.

The search for cheapness continues.

We're really giving it a college-try folks... Hold on... No firm dates yet.

But we'll get there.

-- Tuckmac

Seventeen thousand years later...

2007-09-23T22:08:00.000-05:00

I just wrote an entire post.

I read it.

It sucked.

I erased it.

Now you're reading the result.

Damn is it nuts lately.

I'll keep trying, you keep checking here... 'Kay?

Smiles,
Tuckmac

I got one!

2007-09-16T13:55:00.000-05:00

That's right... I bought an iPhone!

I'm happy. It's beautiful. My work paid 3/4 of the price! (which, of course, is why I was able to buy it)

In other news... I cut my hand open last night at about 2:00am, washing the dishes, on a broken glass. And have had it stitched up today. It hurts, and I'm only able to type with my left hand, thus explaining why this entry is so bloody short.

More later.

--Tuckmac

Okay... MoveOn.org is a pain...

2007-09-07T13:04:00.000-05:00

However, occasionally MoveOn.org finds a juicy bit of satire, which I find the need to co-opt.

I hope you like this video:

Muahahahahahahaha!

--T

Hypocrisy

2007-09-04T21:19:00.000-05:00

I wanted to get it right, so I looked it up on my Mac's 'Dictionary' thinggummy...

hypocrisy: noun (pl. -sies) the practice of claiming to have moral standars or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.

Yeah... Hypocrisy. That seems to be something that, although our press in the States will sort of 'hint around,' they just seem to completely avoid coming right out and saying it.

The 'Moral Majority,' 'Christian Right,' Republican officials just bloody well FLOAT in it.

Just Google: Republican Hypocrisy and see what comes up!

Other's have written more, and better about this subject that I am able to do, however...

I just want to kvetch a bit, okay?

When are all the dippy folk in "Amr-ca" (sorry, bad approximation of how Bushie says his own country's nick-name) going to just sit back and fucking THINK?!?!?!?!

I mean... It seems like just about once or twice a month, there's another one... "Gay Marriage is bad... It destroys the American Family..." He was found in the Washington D.C. Madam's little black book... Or Craig... Diddling gay men in my own international airport was all about "Christian Values" and "Gay's destroying American Families" and what happens?

Yeah.

Nothing.

Some dippy fuck-wad of a congressman from Idaho (by the way, it's not even worth visiting the place... There's a few nice views to be found, but no real civilisation, nor actual reason to go there) who's been spouting off about the evils of the "homosexuals" gets caught actually BEING one of them... And...

Nothing.

He resigns, and that's it. Nothing...

I mean... There's a few Republican's that originally supported the war in Iraq, and since then have come around to reality, and said, "Hold on... It's a quagmire. The Iraqi's aren't doing anything, our kids are being killed over there, and just hold on... Bush lied about intelligence."

So... They voted to pull the troops out... (Only four members in the House of Reps did this by the way) and instead of other American's saying... "Jeez... You know... They just may be right..." We instead get a, "disloyal, wrong, not speaking for American's" etc... Etc... Etc...

YEAH THEY BLOODY WELL ARE, YOU STUPID ASSHATS!!! They're NOT disloyal... They're speaking the bloody TRUTH!

The fact that we all know they're lying about their original standpoint, and never really bought the whole "yellow cake uranium, Saddam is evil" sorts of things, and yet originally supported the war anyway... Well... Now that they're coming around to reality... They're being attacked... NOT by their constituents, no... But by their 'Party' on the National level. See... If a congress-person or senator actually does what we, the VOTERS, ask them to do... The parties go freaking CRAZY, and try to replace them with sheep that will continue to follow the party-line.

The party-line which seems to think Gays are evil, yet diddling little boys in the congressional offices are just fine.

(Yeah, that happened, but I didn't bother to find the link... Sorry, I'm in mid-rant, and that takes too long... I'm sure if you really wanted to find the news, look up something like "congressional interns, congressman, fucking little boys" or something like that, you'll see the story...)

I digress.

Look... I'm a Liberal. Everyone that reads this blog knows that. I loathe the Republicans. I loathe Conservatives... I LOATHE rich fucking asshole hypocrites that don't want to be taxed, but still assume the bridges our scrimping and saving crippled goverment builds, will stay below their cars, and not dump them in the Mississippi River...

The difference between a Liberal and a fucking Conservative, is the "NIMBY" factor... Tax OTHERS, use OTHER money, kill OTHER people... Just leave me alone sort of complete BULL SHITE pisses me the FUCK off.

MAN!

I can't believe what our world has come to, in today's day and age.

Can YOU folks? How long are we going to be willing to let the corporations own our representatives in government? How long are we going to let adulterers and paedophiles run our country?

If you are a Republican you are one of two things.

1. You're very rich, and don't get what the regular human lives thorough. You go to church, and learn to "help the poor" and "love everyone" but you do the opposite, 'cause it's uncomfortable for you to admit that everyone... EVERYONE deserves to live the life that YOU fucking well have... And the only reason they DON'T is 'cause you and your buddies have done every freaking thing you can to destroy them, and to keep them away from your freaking country club....

or the second:
2. You're an idiot. You believe everything you hear. You believe that gays are evil 'cause some fuckwad sheep-herder 2000-plus years ago had an issue with the shepherd on the other hill and his boy-friend... Had delusions of grandeur, and said that he was speaking for some un-attainable and all knowing god...

Either way... You're a bloody waste of space, and as soon as all the poor people (you know... The 93% of the Earth) finally figure out how much better their lives would be WITHOUT your fucking presence on Earth....

Well...

Don't say you weren't warned.

And, hey... Before you're thinking that I'm calling for a revolution where we wipe your kind off the face of the Earth... Realise that I will be joining you in the pyre, due to my education and life-style.

Yeah. That's right. I'll be dead TOO 'cause of you... 'Cause when the revolution happens, they're going to destroy EVERYone that is better off then them... That's what EVERYONE in America is, you know... Better off than pretty much everyone else on the bloody planet.

Damn... Thanks for killing me and my wife. Bastards.

--T

Moira Doyle for Congress

2007-08-26T11:19:00.000-05:00

I want to take this opportunity to plug my favourite candidate for congress in '08, Moira Doyle. She's brash, she's bold, she has no idea how to run a congress... But she's bought and paid for by the Big-Oil, and Yahoo-Iraq folks! Who better to take us into the next decade????

I say, NO ONE!

Vote for Moira! Give her money! Save us from the terrorists!

If you don't give money to Moria Doyle's Campaign... The terrorists' WIN!

--Tuckmac

Ramblings...

2007-08-21T19:59:00.000-05:00

The Asshat's in town tonight. Raising money for our OWN asshat, Normie Coleman. GAH!

Traffic's a bear tonight. Thanks Dick-head.

Anyhoo...

One of my "blogger-circle friends" is dealing with homesickness. See, he's been away from the States, studying in Wales (of all places) for a year now.

I should say that Chris is a tonne more popular than I am. He's actually a real columnist and such. In fact, his Latest Column is out right now. And strangely enough... It deals with 'missing' home.

Normally, I'd respond to him directly, but... Actually, as the strange feelings that he's dealing with are quite universal, and also emotions that I've personally felt in much the same circumstances as he and his Child-Bride are feeling... Well...

(Okay, I've got nothing better to write about at the mo', so I'm stealing an idea... And butchering the English language, rather than tickling the keyboard with the smooth writing-style of a true writer. I hope, by giving him tonnes of links, he'll forgive me.)

It generally IS the 'year anniversary' of being far away from home, that one really gets it in the gut. I'm serious. The course I was taking in England had quite a few "International Students" on the program. The 'year' was the worst of the homesickness. And it's funny... I discovered there's two 'types' of reactions once that particular anniversary is past: One, you get over it, and begin to really feel as though your CURRENT place is your home; two, you never really do, and you begin the 'count-down' to returning to your former homeland.

I (luckily) found myself to be in the former group of ex-pats. After that first year in Canterbury, I discovered that I slowly began to 'fit in' in England. It's like, you pass some sort of exam after making it a full year. The 'natives' get used to you... The guy in the corner shop starts calling you by name. Nine of the 22 pubs you frequent have bar-staff that call you by name AND know what you're going to have when you darken their door... The homeless folk selling The Big Issue, knowing that: "Naw, he always buys from Shane, and doesn't need another one." Etc...

My former house-mate was one of the latter. She couldn't wait to get back to the States. She complained constantly about the small refrigerators in Britain, the Page 3 Girls in the Sun, the fact that the temps never seemed to get above 21° C (70° F) even in the middle of Summer... Constant rain... I could go on, but you get the idea.

I don't know, but for some reason, after a year, I became British. I embraced my new culture, I dealt with the fact that I always had to shop once a day for dinner, as my frig wouldn't hold very much food, and that it would allow produce to rot within three days even though it was meant to be a refrigerator... I started looking at the 'Page 3 Girls' with my lesbian friend and bartender Sarah, and discussing their, ahem, attributes. I gloried in the cooler Summers, as Minnesota has horrific heat and humidity throughout the season.

I don't know, I just really fell in love with England.

So, right now... You're all thinking... "Man, Tuckmac is lucky, he really enjoyed his last 14 months in Britain." or something like that. Well... You're right. I did have one hell of a good time my last months in England. However, there's dangers to 'becoming one' with a different place and culture. That danger is 'reverse-homesickness.'

I'm not pulling your leg... I've been back in the States for approaching two years now... And...

I'm homesick for Canterbury.

Dreadfully so.

Every day I think about 'home' in England. I think of all the friends I've left behind... I think about what they're doing, what they're thinking... Where they're living (as most of them have left Canterbury, and moved elsewhere).

My Lady and I are agreed to moving BACK to Britain in four more years... We're planning for it, and doing everything in our power to get skills and experience that we think will help us to find work in England... We're chaffing at the U.S. Government... the U.S. Heath-system (or lack thereof) we're chomping at the bit of time... Just waiting, sweetly and impatiently waiting for the time when we can return HOME to Britain.

So...

Yeah...

Chris... You have yet to discover which 'type' of ex-pat you're going to be. I have a feeling you're going to fall into my type... Becoming one with the place you're in, and not being the same ever again.

It's a sweet sort of pain, that you take on becoming British... But... It IS sweet. And you'll be an amazing person the rest of your life, not that you already aren't so...

Hang in there. It gets better, or it doesn't. Man... Does that suck, or what?

To my friends and family in Britain... Please!!!! Don't forget me! I'm coming home soon.

Smiles,
T

Linky Day Wednesday, again, wrong day:

2007-08-16T19:20:00.000-05:00

I was going to post a "Linky Day Wednesday" yesterday on the actual Wednesday, but I got busy. Sorry. But here I am THIS week... All set to blow your minds, or at least not anger you too much, I hope.

This one is mainly for My Lady, but I know others who will enjoy it's unique marvellousness. It's a bit hard to 'credit' this image, but I'll do my best.... OBEY, from Photobucket user khereva. Cheers for it. I laughed.
Okay, a pithy graffiti artist is probably on the top of the list of folks that cheese off the police. Great Graffiti
He calls it the "Worst Album Covers Ever?" with a 'question mark' in it??? YEAH they're the worst covers ever. But truly, they're a collection of SOME of the worst Album Covers Ever!
F Minus is a wonderful cartoon. Here's a good one. Muahahahaha.
Okay, really... The best one is the last one. IMHO. Things you don't see everyday
Okay, okay... Another "SPAARRRRTTTTAAAAAAAAA" joke. But it was original, so... Yeah. This is Sparta

Well, that's it for today. Have a great night!

-- Tuckmac

Cheney, the two-faced bastid...

2007-08-15T13:11:00.000-05:00

Every now and again, I receive a 'fund-raising' message from MoveOn.org. They send something highly inflamitory, you know, to get one's juices up... Then ask you for money. Now, folks... I'm all about being involved in the political process. I espouse the need for an informed and educated electorate. But... I'm not going to spend my money on this stuff. I think there's too much money floating around in politics as it is!

That being said... Today I got an e-mail from the MoveOn folks, and DARN if I didn't wish I had a bit of cash. Check this shit out:

Now, the thing that gets me, is how calm and cool and well ordered Cheney's argument is about why the first Georgie Bushie didn't go into Iraq, after "Desert Storm."

Everything this man said the second time around is a blatant LIE, and we actually have PROOF!

I love YouTube.

Just 'cause it's cheeky to not put the "fund-raising" link on my blog for MoveOn, I will do so... But don't feel as though you HAVE to click it, 'cause hell... Again, I'M not giving any money to 'em. Money Link

I hate my government at the moment. I really do. 523 days left of the current 'asshat' in the Whitehouse, folks... And it seems so far away, yet. Damn.

See ya soon!

-- Tuckmac

Physically ill, but... Really great mood!

2007-08-13T11:31:00.000-05:00

"Whoa," you say... "How can you be feeling like crap, and yet be in such a glorious mood, Tuckmac?"

I say this:

Karl Rove, Bush's Brain, to his detractors; 'The Architect", as Bushy calls him, has resigned.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. I mean... Why? Why did Rove decide to quit right now? I'm really curious. Is there something that we, as Americans, don't actualy KNOW yet, that will be really scandalous? I hope so... I really do.

Also, now that he's no longer working (or not after August 31st, rather) Congress will be able to subpoena the bastid, and when he uses "Executive Privilege" to try to get out of it... They can get him with "Contempt of Congress" charges. See... When he's actually IN the office of the 'Man' then he's completely safe. However, Congress could (technically) get on him, once he leaves employment.

Of course... The law is fuzzy, and lord knows with our "current" limp-dick Democratic Congress that nothing will actually happen.

But it's fun to dream.

It's sorta like buying a lottery ticket when the PowerBall gets up over 100million. You KNOW you're not going to win it. I mean, the chances are SO slim... But... You still buy one, and then have really nice dreams that night before the drawing, just thinking about how wonderful it would be to win it.

Anyhoo... Yeah. I'm happy the fugger is out of office.

As to me being ill... Let's just say that it's a recurring complaint, and although it's not as often as my Lady's monthly-visitor... Well... This is a heck of a lot more painful and embarassing.

We'll just leave it there. I'm going to sit here doubled over, and try not to cry.

Smiles and Kittens...

-- Tuckmac

I heard it, but I didn't believe it.

2007-08-10T11:18:00.000-05:00

Okay, so... I'm really really fucking pissed OFF right now.

Why? 'Cause of this:

What is this?

This is the voting roll-call for the VERY controversial extension of wiretapping anyone Bushie WANTS to wiretap. That's what this is. Yeah... See... This whole "Patriot Act" thing was being fought and over-turned by the courts... Spying on citizens USED to be illegal if the cops/gov/Feebs didn't have a warrant. And to get one of those things, well... You sort of had to prove that the person in question merited being watched. You know... Dodgy deals in the banks... Money transfers to parts unknown (like... Oh... Iran, or something)... Actual STUFF that the Government thought that you may be doing. And it worked. The Feds would go before a judge, say, "We have reason to believe that this person is a terror-supporter, and we'd like a warrant to wiretap them, to see if they are bad-guys or not." The judge would look at the evidence, and make a decision... Yeah, go ahead, or... No, you don't have the right to do it. Now... We all know that the judges probably just rubber-stamped these requests without really reviewing the evidence of "evil-do-ing" but... You know... There was still a bit of oversight.

Congress... MY congress... MY SENATOR, Amy Klobuchar, ran on anti-Iraq War, anti-Patriot Act, the DEMOCRATIC Senator from Minnesota... VOTED YEA to support extending the powers of our already corrupt administration... To give the shit-hole Whitehouse the power to wiretap and spy on any American WITHOUT burden of proof!

What sort of bloody country IS this ANYWAY????? I thought we believed in freedom and rights of the citizens and people in our country.

Obviously not. The "Rule by Fear" government has TRULY taken complete and total control of my country.

I'm actually beginning to get scared, here folks. I mean... I've been apprehensive, but... Now I'm honestly afraid.

I wrote back in 2004 (damn, can't find the link) that the "Jack Booted thugs were going to come to your door and kick it in, and take you away with a bag on your head" in response to my stupid country-folk voting in Bushie the second time.

I was angry.

I exaggerated.

But now...

Was I REALLY exaggerating? Was I actually just using hyperbole in my writing? Is it true? Are we heading towards the day that soldiers, dressed in black, kick in Tuckmac's door, and 'extraordinary rendition' me to Syria?

Man... This is bloody-well horrible.

And I have one thing to say to YOU Ms. Amy Klobuchar... FUCK YOU you FUCKING TRAITOR TO YOUR CONSTITUENTS! I thought you had a back bone. But now I see it was just BUSHIE'S ERECT DICK SHOVED UP YOUR ASS HOLDING YOU UPRIGHT!

-- Tuckmac

Linky Day Wednesday, a day late...

2007-08-09T22:16:00.000-05:00

Okay, I admit that it's not actually a 'day' late... More like four weeks. Sorry. I'm really making the attempt, y'all have to admit!

I've found a few interesting places to view, and I hope my wonderful readers agree!

Just the title... "11 Curiously Ironic Pictures" made me want to look... And, be honest... You do too. Irony
Following the "ironic" theme... Ten Reasons 'Gay Marriage' is Un-American. Yeah... Guess which side of the aisle I'm on...
There's been a thousand (that would be 'hyperbole') examples of 'Sand Art' floating around the 'tubes' as it were... And this isn't necessarily the 'best' example of 'Sand Art,' no... It's just yet 'another' example of a really interesting type of performance art... Just Imagine
A rather brilliant ad for EuroStar, Bear-skin hats exposed
And finally (this time around)... Google summed up my feelings of "America's 'IT' girl" rather well.

I hope you enjoyed today's "Linky Day" and I hope to 'see' you soon.

Smiles,
T

In thinking about terrorism...

2007-08-08T10:22:00.000-05:00

Last week, when Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to visit Pres. Georgie-pordgy Bushie, he sparked some commentary because he reffered to terrorism as criminal.

"It is our shared task to expose terrorism for what it is -- not a cause but a crime. A crime against humanity," Brown wrote in The Post.

(source CNN)

Mr. Brown is trying desperately to show the President in the States the error of his ways.

In today's New York Times on-line, WESLEY K. CLARK (former supreme commander of NATO) and KAL RAUSTIALA (Law Professor and head of the Burkle Center) wrote a very well thought-out piece explaining WHY making a "terrorist" a 'soldier' instead of a criminal is the WRONG thing to do: Why Terrorists Aren't Soldiers.

The idea that we're fighting some overwhelming force, is not only frightening, but wrong-headed. We're fighting criminals. Granted, well funded and well organised, but still just criminals. And frankly, NOT as organised as our own Organised Crime figures, the Mafia.

We can not continue to let the Bush Administration blur the lines between lawful "Soldiers" or even UN-lawful combatants. They are criminals. They do not deserve the right to call themselves soldiers. They are worse than scum. Giving them the rights and kudos of actually 'fighting as soldiers of Allah' is giving them WAY too much credit.

As Mr. Brown said... We're in a generational fight against criminals. As we have been since the Western Culture began. We need to focus our strength and energy towards combating these criminals in more ways than militarily. We must fight them financially, mindfully, and intelligently.

Thank you Mr. Clark. Thank you Mr. Brown. Perhaps with leaders such as yourselves coming forward in this struggle... The continued bumbling of the Bush Administration will not lead the West into the dusty pages of history just yet.

-- Tuckmac

35W Bridge in Minneapolis

2007-08-02T12:24:00.000-05:00

Hi readers, well as far as we can tell, everyone that we know is okay. No news is good news in a tragedy like this.

Once My Lady and I discovered that we were both okay (as we weren't together) we started trying to get a hold of all of our friends and family. My Lady also works at the Soap Factory and her connection to that place is why I was freaked out.

Thanks to Google Maps I was able to recreate her route. She had just ridden underneath the bridge that collapsed at 6:05pm, 'cause she had to get home to walk our dog. If she hadn't needed to let him out to do his business, she may have been under that bridge when the incident occurred! Memnon may have saved her life, in his own "potty" way.

click to enlarge

My Lady's spent most of today trying to get a hold of her volunteers from the Soap Factory, and making sure that they're all okay too. Most of us ride our bikes, and most of us go under the 35W bridge every day. We're actually a bit confused as to how we're going to get to the Soap from now on!

For those whom have written, and called us... Thanks for your kind thoughts. We're all hoping and praying that everyone we know is alright, and we're also thinking of the families that have lost loved-ones in this horrible tragedy.

Peace,
Tuckmac

We're Okay.

2007-08-01T20:17:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone... I'm sure that many of you have heard (since it made the BBC only a half an hour after it happened)...

A major bridge collapsed in Minneapolis.

NEWS

Fiona and myself are fine. As are most of the people we know that live in the Twin Cities.

At the moment, it's still a bit chaotic. We've been spending some time trying to get a hold of friends and family, and we're assuming that we'll hear soon, if someone is hurt.

But this is about me. Fiona is fine. My mother is fine. Our friends seem to be fine.

We're still waiting to hear from others.

Say a prayer/peaceful thoughts... To the families of the injured and missing.

-- Tuckmac

Finally we can rid the world of evil

2007-07-31T16:29:00.000-05:00

We all know what the nuns used to call the "hand of the devil" or LEFT handed folk... Don't we?

Well... They finally found the gene that may cause "Left-handedness." (Article from the BBC)

I love this one:

"The Oxford University-led team believe carrying the gene may also slightly raise the risk of developing psychotic mental illness such as schizophrenia."

See???? Lefty's really ARE infected by the Devil!

Note: I am being sarcastic. If you don't know me, you may think that I'm being serious. That would be wrong. I am NOT being serious. Okay? I'm not. Thank you for your understanding of irony. Or at least... You're attempt at understanding irony.

My uncle was a Lefty. The nuns tried to 'change him...' It was all a bit strange, that. Anyhoo... They don't do that anymore. At least I hope not. I'm not actually sure that they don't still try to 'change' a Lefty into a 'Righty' in today's age... I mean... How many kids actually still have nuns teaching them? By the time I was in High School... (A long time ago) I only had two nuns as teachers. Everyone else there was a lay-person-type-Catholic School teacher. Even when I recently taught at a Catholic high school, there was a nun. But only one still teaching.

It's really sad, actually. I mean... Kids today just don't have the fun of the ruler on the knuckles, or the rules about black-patent leather shoes... ('cause they reflect UP) or my personal favourite, told to me by my mother (a life-long Catholic school girl) that girls should never say the word 'guts' to a boy, 'cause it would make him think she was a dirty-nasty type of harlot.

(After hearing this, my mother supposedly went up to one of her brother's friends, and said, "Guts, guts, guts, guts, guts... Well... Am I a loose woman?" To which the friend replied: "Um, no. Uh... What?")

((This was back in the mid 60's, and I'm fairly certain the friend was a bit 'altered' as it were...))

Back to the story... Obviously, since they found the gene, entire generations of nuns in heaven are singing the praises of scientists on Earth, for discovering the "Satan Gene" and now we can screen against it, and make sure no more children are infected by the Devil.

Great news, huh?

-- Tuckmac

You ever want to vomit?

2007-07-30T10:21:00.000-05:00

Sometimes reading the news is really depressing... Like this particular article in the BBC:

Retailer in the U.S. to sell 'faith-based' toys.

Why, as the western world becomes more secular, does the U.S. seem to get more and more spooky and fundamentalist?

It's so weird, as our 'enemies' are fundamentalist, that we keep circling the drain of religion as well. Wouldn't it behoove us to set ourselves apart from the screaming barbarity of fundamentalism, and settle into a comfortable, quiet, less 'in your face', sort of religious personality?

Wouldn't it?

Gah.

--T

Hmm... Been a while, no?

2007-07-29T13:47:00.000-05:00

I've been spending a bit of time catching up on my friend's, and other's blogs.

{time has passed. About four hours}

Okay, so I was going to talk about how long it's been since I've written, or since my fellow friendly-bloggers have written.

I planned on a long drawn out 'cheese-sandwich' blog.

I hoped to catch everyone up with all the Ex²-pat news from St. Paul, Minnesota.

But.

I got busy. And I have to get going now. So there's nothing here.

I'm sorry.

Basically, to sum it all up... I haven't written, 'cause I've been really freakishly busy. And on the one day I thought I had time to write here, I found out that I do NOT have the time to do so.

Therefore, I'm signing off without really saying much of anything...

But I miss ya all!

Smiles,
Tuckmac

A weird tale...

2007-07-10T13:55:00.001-05:00

As I've been really serious lately, and I HATE always being serious, I have this story... But first, a quote/teaser...

"When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind,'' Couch told the Bend Bulletin.

Okay, are you ready now? Great! Here's the story.

Enjoy!
--Tuckmac

Edit: 07/17/07 - I just found out the link was broken. It's fixed now.

Okay, I know I'm a bit lapsed...

2007-07-05T11:22:00.000-05:00

But...

I just came across this article, and thought to myself: Man, this guy really IS the Nazi Pope.

I guess, I'm all for bringing back the Latin Mass in the Catholic Church. But, can't we sort of, I don't know... Update the 'politics' of the Tridentine Mass? I don't think you should go around 'Jew Bashing' during a regular Sunday Mass, whether it's in the local language or in Latin.

Nazi.... Nazi.........

This guy is a freak!

-- Tuckmac

A really nice editorial

2007-07-03T14:33:00.000-05:00

If you don't read it, you should start doing so. Especially if you're from the U.S.

"What is it," you ask?

The International Herald Tribune.

It's an international newspaper, started by the "New York Herald" to be a paper run from Paris. Through several years, buyouts and trades, the paper is now owned by the same company that owns the New York Times, but it retains it's individuality and verve.

The NY Times is a wonderful paper. However, for a truly 'global' perspective, there can be no better 'English-language' paper than the International Herald Tribune (IHT).

Okay, 'nough preamble... On with my commentary:

Today there was a fabulous editorial in the IHT... The British Way. This editorial was so biting against the United States, well... I just had to link to it, and draw you're attention to it's more salient points.

"Yet even though British authorities had fortune on their side, their rapid and coordinated response still offers an example of how a liberal democracy can work to prevent and punish terrorism - without operating outside the law or sacrificing individual liberties."

It's the key: "without operating outside the law" bit that really resonates with me.

I mean, Scooter likes being outside the law and stuff, right? Yeah, I couldn't let the Scooter Libby/ Bush's butt-buddy, thing go without ONE snarky comment. However, many folks are writing better screeds against Bush than I. So... I'll keep on with my other topic.

The editorial in the IHT didn't let Britain off the hook when it comes to 'vaguely dodgy actions' in it's 28 day without charge law...

"The British approach is not without its questionable features. Under a controversial legal change instituted after the 2005 bombings, police may hold a terrorist suspect for 28 days without issuing an indictment."

Oh... 28 whole days? Just how many years have the folks been held at Gitmo? FOUR PLUS YEARS??!?!?!?!?!!??

Anyhoo... The article does a wonderful job of summing up Britains "Liberal Democracy", it's toughness on Terror, whilst still KEEPING it's rights, responsibilties and freedoms, that America seems to have abandoned. The editorial mentions how a 'populous is being frightened with visions of the apocalypse' which immediately makes me think of Fox News for some reason...

I don't know.

People keep asking me why My Lady and I want to return to live in Britain. And it's hard, you know? I'm NOT anti-American. I love my country. I love the landscape, most of the people, and the fact that I can live in a really big flat and own my own car. But my country has turned against ME, not the other way around. I spent almost three years living in Europe, and during that time I also defended (rightly) my country against nay-sayers. I will continue (in the future) to defend my country against all comers. However, it's my COUNTRY that is making it hard to continue to do so.

The U.S. is a wonderful place for rich people. It's a grand place for elites. It's a super place for folks from families that have lived here for over a hundred years.

Is it so great for immigrants, poor people, workers, caretakers?

No. Not really. Not anymore.

I keep hoping that the climate of fear and terror doesn't destroy my country. However, it is.

Not 'cause crazy asshats are blowing stuff up, in my country. No. It's because my country has decided that in order to keep the Islamist Terrorists from 'winning' it must fight against them using THEIR methods: Torture, law-breaking and attacking the innocent.

Nice.

I'm going to go sob now. Ta.

-- Tuckmac

Blog Against Theocracy - Returns

2007-07-01T12:19:00.000-05:00

As before, I've decided to take this opportunity to join the 'blogswarm' against Theocracy found in my country.

Okay, after that brief preamble, I would LOVE to introduce this post with a brief remembrance of my childhood.

I went to Public School (State School to my Brit friends) for grade-school, and transferred to a Catholic parochial school for high school (a-levels/highers).

The thing that really stands out to me, looking back on those 13 years of my life, is the strange dichotomy that I experienced in dealing with religion, and religious identity.

Whilst attending grade school, we were forced to start every day with the "Pledge of Allegiance" and quite often a 'patriotic song' of some sort, you know: "Star Spangled Banner" or "God Bless America" or "America the Beautiful" or any other number of rather dripping with angst type tunes.

The Pledge (as we called it) is spoken thusly:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America; and to the republic, for which it stands: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

And you know what? It's scary, as I was able to reproduce that, without resorting to 'Google'.

Anyhoo.... You'll notice that little "under God" bit, which was added LATE (1954) to basically set us apart from the "Godless Communists" with whom we were then participating in the Cold War.

(My goodness, where's Tuckmac going with this)

I'm getting there, I'm getting there...

The phrase in question, "under God" caused a bit of a sticky wicket, actually... You see, there were two kids in my class in grade school, who didn't stand to give the Pledge. Wow! Were they weird! I mean... Who is so 'anti-American' and blatantly communistic? (Notice that I'm older, and this was 'pre-evil-doer' land... The Commies were the bad guys, not Middle-eastern Muslims.) But I digress...

One kid, it turned out, had parents who were atheists. The other kid was of some religious sect that didn't allow one to use God's name in conjunction with a pledge of a "State" or something like that.

Now, (yeah, here's where I get down to it), these two kids fit in just fine in school. They were allowed (after parental notice to the school) to not participate in the Pledge of Allegiance. And, you know what? No one really cared. I mean, they both got a bit of 'ribbing' and we never actually knew why they didn't have to do the "Pledge" but... All in all, kids just don't care.

I find it rather disturbing that one can't Pledge Allegiance to the Flag of America without believing in a monotheistic god.

Next point:

All the way through grade-school, I was inundated with religion. Oh, it was creepy. It crept into discussions, it showed up in our school choir's concerts... It was weird, looking back, just how much the Christian religion was wrapped into the school system.

Strangely enough, it was in my Catholic high school, were I realised that State and Church are separated for a REASON in America, and how that's a very important right to not only the 'secular' folk, but also to the Church's community itself. And I discovered this in, rightly enough, Church History class.

See there was a big hullabaloo when JFK was running for President of the U.S. Why? 'Cause he was Catholic. "Oh my goodness," said the WASP majority in Washington D.C., "The Pope is going to run America from behind the President's chair!"

In the famous line from Ghostbusters, "Dogs and cats, living together, it'll be mass hysteria!"

Well, obviously the Pope didn't run anything during J.F.K.'s term.

'Cause the Pope is religious. The President is not supposed to let his/her beliefs interfere with his/her Job.

Until, of course, lately. (Anti-choice, anti-stem-cell research, taxes going towards church programs, etc...) Thanks Bushie.

Man, I have GOT to finish this point... Um... Read read read, change that, move this... Keep it together Tuckmac... Get to the point...

Oh yeah...

Church History class...

The leaders of Europe were controlled from Rome for a long time in history. However, forgotten, is the days when Frankish Kings in present day France controlled the POPE. Forgotten is the day that the Holy Roman Emperor controlled Catholicism. Forgotten was the schism of Eastern and Western Catholics... Forgotten is the...

You get the point. The fact was and IS still, that Politics and Religion make a mess of ones country. At times the State has controlled the Church, and vice versa. And in ALL of that time, there were religious wars, 'witch' burnings, torture, Inquisition, et al...

Not a good time to be a person trying to eke out a substandard existence in bad soil.

America's Founding Fathers KNEW history. They supported a framework of separation between the Church and the State, and set the stage for the first TRUE democracy of the modern era.

Allowing the last 20 years of politicians to try to change that, is wrong.

Write a blog. Write your congress-person and senator. Hell, write to the White House!

Make sure our politicians know that WE THE PEOPLE of the United States of America:

"Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to this republic, for which it stands: ONE nation, under many gods, one god, or none, INDIVISIBLE (regardless of creed/race/colour) for liberty and justice for all.

And that is what America, and the WEST should be about.

We can't let the ~~commies~~ terrorists win!

-- Tuckmac

Please view First Freedom First for more information on this rather important topic. Cheers!

Just a quickie...

2007-06-25T14:02:00.000-05:00

Due to my love of Star Trek, and my hatred of Windoze...

I only come across something so perfect every once or twice a decade:

Have a great one, folks...

-- Tuckmac

It's approaching!!!

2007-06-24T12:51:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday... It's (as My Lady and are are calling it) GORDON BROWN DAY!

We're leading it off today (Sunday) as GORDON BROWN LABOUR DAY... In which we dance around the flat wearing red, and doing the 'Happy Dance'

On Wednesday, Bushie's attack poodle steps down, and Gordon Brown takes over as the Prime Minister of Britain.

We're pretty chuffed.

We're going to have tea and cake on Wednesday. And hope you'll all join us in the cyber world doing the same!

Smiles and Kittens.

-- Tuckmac

P.S. Only 575 days and 23 hours remaining till The Evil-doer is out of office!

A great 'off the cuff' rant....

2007-06-24T02:09:00.000-05:00

... Against Conservatives...

If you don't read it... You should. The Aristocrats is all about Liberal's having a good time... I found the site due to member: Blue Gal and, although I'm not an 'avid' reader... It's a place I check out once a week, and I suggest to all my readers, to do so as well...

I read this post, and chuckled. No, actually... I howled. This was SO much the same sort of conversation I have with my own family, that I was just tickled:

here's a portion of an email exchange with a 'conservative' friend/family member:

...and I have to admit knowing how nuts you go over my conservative political position makes me snicker.

I hate to deprive anyone of a snicker but your "conservative political position" does not make me nuts. other things that don't make me nuts: the shapes of clouds and the color of your shirt.
...'conservative' has evolved to be the most flexible word in any language, what's black today is tomorrow white. 'conservative' means smaller government that gets bigger every day, it means increased individual freedom under strict governmental control, it means firm respect for the Constitution while ignoring what it says, it means no foreign entanglements unless Republicans want to, and it means love for the rule of law, unless it gets in the way. it's a silly putty word whose definition is rightly, 'whatever gets us the power and money that we want right now'. for the last 6+ years the CPP has pretty much boiled down to whatever the Cheney/Bush corporate clan has wanted(with, just lately, the wonderfully delicious exception of immigration policy) and you will eventually discover that you have been used like a $3 whore. my job is to help lead you to that discovery sooner; to lessen your embarrassment. you're welcome.

I mean... Sandy Underpants... You're my hero!

It really explains the 'other half' as it were... Thank you! So go check out the The Aristocrats And while you're at it check out: Blue Gal, and... Um... Just READ stuff... Get in the know! For crying out loud!

-- Tuckmac

Whoa... Tuckmac's an arsehole.

2007-06-21T16:16:00.000-05:00

Okay... This is both an apology to parents everywhere, and hopefully a bit of a clarification of what I 'meant' to say, rather than the paranoid and delusional rantings that came across in my last post.

First... I have to stop generalising. I tend to do that a bit too much, and even the TITLE of my last post was, well... Really wrong.

Parents... In general... Are marvellous and self-sacrificing people. You take a little piece of you, and your loved ones and turn it into a miracle. You then do everything in your power to raise and nurture this little being into well-rounded and happy little humans. To the parents that do this... (my Mother, My mother-in-law, several co-workers, etc...) I humbly give you thanks. And also, here it is again... Ask for your forgiveness of my hasty words.

Now, I will be honest, and say that I don't understand how you can do that.

I think a big reason I am so freaky about children, is that I know that I was an 'oopsie' child. My whole life, and the life of many children I know are 'oopsies'. The parents didn't lovingly get together and make a baby on purpose... No... They had one heck of a fun night, and found out a month later that they were going to be parents.

This is different than many. I know a few parents that deliberately chose to have children, and quite often, say... 90% of the time, those children turn out to be great. But those parents are ALSO the type that limit television usage, watch what their children are doing on the internet, and frankly are 'involved' in their children's lives.

(I'm hoping those parents that fit that persuasion of child-rearing see themselves in this, and also that they know that I know that that's what they do. 'Cause I do.)

Now us 'oopsie' children aren't as lucky. About 20% of us turn out okay, 'cause the parents who weren't PLANNING on being parents do the same things that the 'planned parents' do. T.V. is curtailed, internet is controlled, spend time with their kids... Etc...

I say US 'cause my Mum was pretty intense about my upbringing, and thus I'm not running about shooting at people. Anyhoo...

The parents who are a 'very' small proportion of parents out there are a specific sub-group of both Yuppie parents who never see their kids because work comes before family, and very poor parents who can't watch their kids, 'cause they work too much to feed 'em.

(VERY small part of those groups, 'cause just 'cause you're poor in my Mum's case or Yuppie in some of my cousin's case, doesn't mean you can't be a tremendous parent. It's just harder.)

Like My Lady said in her comment (In the last post, please read the comments, or this groveling will make very little sense): My Nanny State point, was the particular rant that I began upon. I hate that society (and this isn't just parents) but society as a whole seems to be embarked on a state-sponsored crèche, where society and schools do the work which the parents USED to do. And it isn't just kids, either... It's society trying to curtail what their OWN CULTURE is creating in response to the culture. Why is there more violence on T.V.? Because there's so much violence in the real world, frankly. This gets played out in various genres, and places... Art, Theatre, Movies, Videogames, et al... The fact is, our culture is sick. A sick culture turns out more sickness. I DO believe that participating in culture is a personal choice. If one doesn't want to see violence, or let their children see violence... Turn off the telly. This is really what my previous rant was supposed to be about, but...

I didn't get that point across personally, 'cause other things got in my way. And frankly, the reason I don't piss people off TOO much, is 'cause I usually sit down to write a blog, whilst being in a good 'writing' sort of mood. I wasn't. And that was a bad idea. In the past week, I had had five different parents ask me 'what was taking so long, and why don't you have kids with your wife yet' and I let that get under my skin unconsciously, and frankly... I think a tonne of my wrong-headed rant was due to that societal pressure. I shouldn't have let that creep into my OTHER rant. This isn't an excuse, by the way... It's just what happened. I'm still wrong.

I ask for every parent that read my post, and became rightfully angry at me, to please forgive my hasty and unordered and just plain WRONG rant.

Thank you.

-- Tuckmac

Parents: F-bloody OFF!

2007-06-19T14:50:00.000-05:00

Okay... Rant time...

I just came across THIS freaking story in the Star Tribune, and I'm just...

AARRGH!

What IS it about society that seems to have so many issues taking responsibility for one's own choices/children/homes and networks? Hmm??? Why is it up to the government and industry to control what people see/hear/think and learn?

Why do parents feel that 'sex and violence' in the media is all the media's problem, instead of sitting back and just thinking for a bloody minute...

It's your kid. You CONTROL them. You have the ultimate and first-responder's charge for your child.

Stop using the bloody telly as a babysitter and start paying attention to the porn your kid is finding on-line.

DO use a V-chip in your telly. They are installed in MOST of the bloody boxes-o-braindeath lately.

DO use pop-up blockers and 'safe-search' in your browsers.

If you don't know what these bloody things are... THEN LEARN! You're KIDS know what it is, so should you!

Stop expecting the rest of our society to take care of your kids that you're obviously too USELESS to do yourself! If you can't take care of your own children maybe you shouldn't have had sex in the first bloody place!

You know, there's quite a few of us OTHER folk out here that do NOT have children, nor do we want any, because we know how much work they are. We're not willing to give up our careers or our happiness to raise a kid.

You DID. You decided to get bloody-preggers and you birthed a child upon this dirty war-infested rock. Now DEAL with it. Get with the program... Learn about technology, and take some bloody responsibility.

Jaysus!

-- Tuckmac

Linky Day Wednesday and a Cheese Sandwich!

2007-06-13T21:23:00.000-05:00

Greetings readers... Welcome to another fun day of links and cheese all for your amusement, or chagrin... Depending.

First the Cheese...

Well, after my excitement of finally becoming full-time at L.O.L.A.U., I've now settled into the rather horrific fact that I won't see my first 'full-time' paycheque until August 1st. Oh... The fun of only being paid once a month. But... After August, things will be quite nice at the Tuckmac household. We'll survive till then... Right?

My Lady had her first real shift at Her new job last night. She told me today that she had a wonderful time, and that the staff are actually NICE to her, which after her LAST pub job, is amazing! So, we're chuffed. I went out there last night. No, not to torment her on her first night... But to enjoy the great Music! I talked to a couple of Morris Dancers and I'm seriously considering 'going out for the team' as it were. Yeah, I know it may seem silly to you lot, but I think it'd be fun to dance around like a poof with hankies. (Just kidding Morris Dancers)

I got back to the flat around 11:30pm, and I was thinking I was all wonderful (as I must wake up at 6:00am to get to work on time) but then I went outside for a 'final smoke' and ran into a whole bunch of community members (a.k.a. C.A.L. Residents, and ended up being awake till around 2:00am.

Doh!

So I was a bit slow today at work, but nothing major.

Anyhoo... It's the 'Alumni Reunion Weekend' at work, starting on Friday, and I get to pretty much LIVE at L.O.L.A.U. for the weekend... Doing event set-ups and videotaping of sundry meetings/fun things. I'm sure the reunion weekend is really GREAT for an alum of L.O.L.A.U... But for us 'employees' it's rather nightmarish. Och weel... At least it turns out, I don't have to do Sunday. Thank the gods.

Our flat is ONCE AGAIN a shambles, this time, due to the construction company not 'caulking the joints' of our shared walls. That's right... The reason we can hear everything our neighbours are doing, is 'cause, well... There's basically HOLES all along the top and bottom of the 'shared walls.'

So... We had to move everything we own into the middle of the flat.

We have a LOT of stuff. Gah.

So... The flat is horrific, and we're vaguely cheesed off about the whole thing. Well... I suppose it'll be nice to not hear our neighbours' every word. But the horror... Ach.

Okay... That's enough Cheese... Time for the Linky Day to begin:

I'm not showing my wife this particular video (although she reads my blog, so I'm screwed... But...) It's a rather amusing take on it... And it really takes the piss out of blokes, so... I thought it was apropos. How to be a perfect girl friend.
This Sign is at OUR coffee shop, I swear! I think it's rather cute.
My Lady LOVES zombies, so... this is for her.
A GREAT flash comic that I came across... It's aimed 'mainly' at my Yank readers, although I'm sure my Brit readers will also chuckle: Immigration
I've seen a number of the 'Bush Speech' edits in my day, and I'm sure you, fine reader, have too. However, I thought... Ehh. What the heck, though ANOTHER one up here, go on Tuckmac, it's not like you haven't totally alienated everyone already... So... here
I'm not sure if folks outside the States know of the vague, um... 'slant' found in Fox News but... I thought this joke would pass cultural barriers.
Okay, I'm probably going to hell for posting this, but... I'm really only linking to it. Do NOT go HERE if you're a fundamentalist Christian.
Speaking of Fundamentalist Christians... And Bushie... Here's an actual graph of the U.S. economy since 1990. YOU decide.
Okay, last one... Vintage Ads. Ladies... I wouldn't use Lysol as a feminine hygiene product NOW-A-DAYS! Gah!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the rambling today... Thanks for all the great 'congrats' you folks have given me the past two weeks... I love ya!

Smiles,
Tuckmac

Well, it's finally official - GOOD NEWS!

2007-06-05T09:41:00.000-05:00

I've been unable to post about it ('cause it was rather un-official), till now, but I have wonderful news!

I've been working at the L.O.L.A.U. for about 10 months now, and the job THUS far has been wonderful and fun, and educational and well... Just fab. However, it's been only part-time.

I received yesterday, a letter extending my contract through June 2008. Full-time. For scads more money!

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!

I'm like, a real adult, with like... A real adult's job, with like a real adult's PAY-CHEQUE, for the first time in my 34 years of life. I'm just giddy.

My Lady is still very happy at her job as the Volunteer Coordinator at the The Soap Factory, and like I mentioned in an earlier post... She's FINISHED at the "icky" Irish 'theme" Pub, and is now working at a GREAT pub, mentioned in my earlier post as well.

So... We're both pretty happy, and joyful.

On top of ALL of that... I'm having a good time doing some video-editing for the The Soap, My Lady and I are both playing more music... And all seems to be going nicely.

I'm going to enjoy this week, as long as the Karma doesn't slap me in the face!

Hope you're all well, readers... I know I am.

Smiles and Kittens,
Tuckmac

Damnation!

2007-06-02T16:10:00.000-05:00

So, I spent about an hour and a half wandering the web, as I do every week, in order to bring you, my readers, another 'Linky Day Wednesday' post.

I don't know what happened, as I bookmarked like normal, and put them all in the right place on my browser, and...

I just began to write this post, was going to grab the first link, and...

Nothin'.

I've been saving about 13 links in the past two hours, and they didn't stick!

Bloody-HELLLLLL!

Well...

Um.

Yeah.

Crap.

Since my laptop is about 15 minutes from running out of battery, and I don't have the time to go look for any of the links I had located, I guess I'll do a bit of plugging.

Tuckmac's life, and times lately:

Best Art Gallery in the Twin Cities: The Soap Factory
Best Pub in the Twin Cities: Merlin's Rest
Best Coffee Shop in the Twin Cities: A Fine Grind

Yep... That's it. But... Those are also the places that I've spent the MOST time in the past week, yes, including my flat. Sad? Yes.

Have a good weekend.

-- Tuckmac

Prejudice rears its ugly head.

2007-05-31T18:38:00.000-05:00

I wasn't going to write about this stuff, as it's deeply personal, and I'm not sure that I should disseminate it over the 'tubes' as it were.

However, I'm also pretty cheesed about it, and I would like input from my fellow bloggers about it.

After that rather vague preamble, let me begin:

My Lady has been suffering, what I would consider BLATANT prejudice at her 'part-time' bar job. I'm fairly freaked out that this sort of thing is still happening. I mean... I realise that there's a tonne of prejudice based on race and religion in my country, and I find it appalling. However, the fact that the prejudice against My Lady is both racial and religious, and the fact that she's a sweet little Church of Scotland/British Bird is why I'm freaked about it.

I'm not going to mention the place. That's not what this post is about. But I'll say a few words about it. It's an 'Irish theme bar' sort of thing (That's fairly safe to say, as there's about 20 of the places in the Twin Cites of St.Paul and Minneapolis, and unless you know us really well, you probably don't know which one it is.

Anyhoo... She received The talking to early last week. She's been told that she's "not working out" and that "she's just not fast enough" for the team. Now, the issue is that she is a WONDERFUL waitress, and even during the "talking to" she was told that for customer service she was perhaps the best on staff. However, she's "still not fitting in" in the bar. Most of the issues that were brought up during the 'talking to' were based on a few different shifts, and this is where the prejudice sneaks in...

When she was hired at this place that is staffed by 'mainly' American folk, she was hired by an actual "Irish" manager (not Irish-American, actually born in Ireland, Irish). This manager thought My Lady was Scottish, and figured that a Scot was close enough to an Irish-bird that the Yankee custom wouldn't really notice. (By the way, it's not a prerequisite that one be Irish at an Irish bar, it's just a good way to make Yank-customers happy.) The issues began, when it was discovered that My Lady was born in Newcastle. England. She wasn't Scottish, she was English in Scots-clothing. All of a sudden... The actual "Irish" staff at the place started doing stuff. Scheduling her for shifts she would ask for off, and NOT scheduling her for any other days. The Irish bar-staff would "forget drinks" for her. The (get this) Ecuadorian cook (who was FRIENDS with My Lady) started not making her food orders (which was even worse than the Irish people, as the Irish treat HIM like crap, so I'm not sure where his 'turncoat' nature began).

Anyhoo... You get the idea. During her 'talking to' she was excoriated by the manager for being 'slow' by not getting the food out fast enough, or getting the drinks out fast enough.

Get the idea?

Yeah.

So... What it really LOOKS like to me, is that they've been doing their best to sabotage her. She was told during the 'talking to' that she'd get a week to improve, or she'd be let go.

My Lady turned in her two-weeks notice today.

I guess where I'm going with this, is... What the? I mean, really! What the hell is going on, that Irish folk would be so rude and awful and frankly EVIL to my wife? We have Irish friends, one of My Lady's attendants during the wedding was Irish, he's one of our best friends, and... Well... I just don't get it.

I'd love to do this post, and then tell everyone the name of this horrible place, but I'm not going to... You're all welcome to e-mail me at: expat.squared[at]gmail.com, and I'll tell you, if you want to know... But...

Anyhoo...

I'm glad she's getting out of that place... And...

She's already got another job lined up.

Okay... I'm sort of feeling better now. I just had to get this off my chest.

Anyone out there that are as sickened as I am?

-- Tuckmac

Sunday before Memorial Day

2007-05-27T21:51:00.000-05:00

Greetings friends, it's the day before Memorial Day, in the States, and I suppose we should all reflect on the importance of our troops, and the sacrifices they've made for freedom and democracy...

...In a country whose government could give a RATS ARSE about them!

Sorry. I just get a little 'twitchy' when we approach one of those 'support the troops' days... You know... Memorial Day, V-day, Veteran's day... Fourth of July.

Like many 'bleeding-heart Liberals' I'm accused of NOT supporting the troops, and of being a 'loser' and a 'traitor to the nation' for asking (begging, praying and hoping) our troops to be brought out of the morass that is Iraq.

And what gets really upsetting, is that I actually do support the troops. The fact that I think the commander and chief of our troops is a big fucking arse-hole, doesn't mean that I don't support the men and women fighting in an unjust war, because of lies and proclamations of doom by liars and self-important fuck-budgies.

Our troops don't have a choice. They signed up for it. They're stuck there. Until we can get them the heck OUT of there... We have to support them.

It's NOT going to be another Vietnam folks. Yes... I'm old enough to remember the way the Vet's were treated. It was appalling, blaming the good men and women for something that our government did. I never, will never, and HAVE never thought that the troops were evil, or didn't deserve our respect and yes... Admiration, for their sacrifice and strength in the face of untold misery and pain and horror.

Don't forget our troops. Praise them. Fight for them.

Get them HOME.

Thanks veterans and current soldiers.

-- Tuckmac

You guessed it...

2007-05-23T17:13:00.000-05:00

Linky Day Wednesday, episode four thousand, fifty seven and a half, is about to begin.

It's about time! NEWS... Hugh Laurie gets an OBE. See... I love him. As a 'guy' sorta thing, but I truly do just adore this guy. The fact that a comedian/actor from England can pull off a drug-addicted, anti-social, ASS-hat on a drama on American telly??? He deserves a knighthood, not just an OBE. But... I'll let it go.
There's nothing like ramdomly-captioned Victorian and Edwardian illustrations, is there? Daze of our Lives
Okay... A rather bizarre website that allows you to "destroy" the web with various destructive methods, including, but not limited to: dog poop, nuclear bombs, flies, or dinosaurs. Netdisaster is fun to use with the Big House or other appropriate websites. Enjoy!
Scott Pakin invented a wonderful Complaint Letter Generator that made me want to lie on my back like a small puppy, and let him scratch my belly. I don't think he'd be up for that, but I know I would be hee hee...
I'm not sure if this is an actual office party, or if this person just has lots of friends that look vaguely 'hip-yuppy-emo' or something, but... I enjoyed this little video quite a bit.

As to my own life? It's too boring to blog about, hence all the 'linky day wednesday's' lately. I'm not 'bored' myself. It's just not necessarily interesting to the larger world that I get up, go to work, come home and go to bed every day. So... Once something else comes up, I'll jump right up on this.

Till then...

Ta!
-Tuckmacc

Guess what time it is...

2007-05-16T20:34:00.000-05:00

Yeah, well, it's a Wednesday, and it's a 'linky' day, so, you guessed it: Linky Day Wednesday, ON Wednesday no less.

Wow.

One of the more amazing Flash Videos I have ever seen is found HERE. I was very impressed with this guy's abilities. Obviously, stuff like this has been done before, but... Wow.
Emily, this one in particular is ALL for you. Cowabduction.com. I mean, the name says it all, no?
A great pisstake against my fellow country folk. Britain for Americans. I have a feeling my Brit readers will enjoy this type of humour more than my American friends, but... You will all hopefully embrace the funny.
Another great Flash animation, this one created to the tune of Radiohead's "Creep" song. Creep
9 Things I learned from Stock Photos is a section in a rather bitter computer-guy's website. He's got a weird, yet vaguely humourous look at the world.
I've seen similar 'maps' of American World View sorts of things, but here's another amusing one.
Entire books online? Yes. And what's the first one I 'can't put down'? Thus Spake Zarathustra. Ah... Nietzsche. Actually, I was kidding about 'not being able to put it down.' I've never actually made it through this book. But it's still rather nifty that you can read it online.

Well, readers... That's it for today. Have a great one.

-- Tuckmac

Glorious Thursday!

2007-05-10T09:27:00.000-05:00

Today I awoke to bright sunlight, birds chirping outside my window, semi-trucks barrelling down University Ave, and the marvellous news that Tony "poodle-boy" Blair has said he's stepping down.

What a GLORIOUS day!

In an emotional speech, Mr Blair said he had been prime minister for 10 years which was "long enough" for the country and himself.

Yeah... No freaking kidding!

Well... One Warmonger down. Just one to go.

Impeachment anyone???

-- Tuckmac

Linky Day Wednesday, on a Sunday

2007-05-06T18:49:00.000-05:00

As I'm feeling particularly uninspired lately with my blog, and exhausted from a long week... It's time for another "Linky Day Wednesday" to occur, albeit on a Sunday evening.

Och weel. Hope you enjoy.

The Pop Culture Translator. Ozzy's bit, is probably the best, as he 'stumps' the translator.
Mac vs. PC the SOUTHPARK version. I had to chuckle.
I'm sure my more "tech savvy" readers like Ick, or N8 or Mesh have already seen this site, so... This is for the rest of you! The Bleeding Obvious from "computer stupidity". I laughed, I cried... It was better than Cats, I want to see it again, and again, and again...
Okay, this one is more random, but I still smiled... Punctuation with Ze Frank I'm not sure if his 'joke' was funnier than his slight speech impediment. Oh... I'm going to get sh*t for saying that, aren't I? Darn.
And strangely enough, I found an illustration that perfectly describes my last three weeks of existence. And from what I can tell, it's a student project from somewhere. Funny though. If not a bit sad. Just that it was so me you know? Or maybe you don't. Perhaps I'm only rambling...

Well... Hope you enjoyed at least a few of those. Have a good one, folks....

-- Tuckmac

The preponderance of "Social Networking" sites.

2007-05-01T22:16:00.000-05:00

It's weird, but the past few weeks, I've been barraged with the "Social Network Site" thing. Here, Here, and now a friend has also brought up "Facebook" in a comment, strangley enough, located in my MySpace account.

It all started with MySpace for me. See... I've been blogging for a LONG time, but there's many people who weren't as into the "web" as myself in those days... And up and comes a site called MySpace, which started out as a musician's social-networking site, but opened itself up to mainly 13 year-olds with skin conditions. But I digress...

As many of my friends from Britain, and elsewhere, were not 'bloggers' but rather, MySpacers... I joined MySpace to 'keep in touch.'

Then something weird happened. I was sent a 'hi-5' by one of my Brit contacts... Gah... Okay... I'll join that one too.

Then another person Tagged Me and so... Again... I go off and "sign up" for that. I've never been Friendstered as if that is a word, but I'm sure it's not long before I am.

Anyhoo... What I'm getting at is this:

I don't WANT to join anymore damn "social sites!"

I mean, it's getting ridiculous! If I keep this up, signing into fifteen "social sites" a day to keep up with all the disparate people I know... I'll lose my actual social life, and it's pretty sorry as it is!

I realise that MySpace and Facebook are the big ones, now a days... But I'm also conflicted.

I work at a college/university. Do I sign up under THAT school (as many of my students wish for me to do) or do I sign up under my gradschool in England? Or do I go back in time to the three, (count them) THREE undergraduate universities I attended?

Why can't all you people PICK ONE, and let's ALL bloody well go THERE, and quit with all the bloody different LINKS?????????????

I love you all...

-- Tuckmac

"Act of Union"

2007-05-01T11:42:00.000-05:00

The day one half of my ancestry took over the other half, 300 years ago.

Yep... The "Act of Union" of England and Scotland. Wow.

There was a test on the BBC, and I got:Yep... I challenge everyone to do better than I. Even my Brit friends. This was a very difficult test.

Take it Here

I'm off... Meeting up with My Lady to go buy a bicycle. Yay.

Edit: 10:29pm, Tuesday night, May 1st

We got one!

-- Tuckmac

Oil Prices vs. Petrol Prices

2007-04-30T22:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, I have a bit of an 'international' issue that is effecting me directly.

And it angers me.

Okay, so... Six or Seven months ago, I was paying $2.80 - $3.00 a gallon of gasoline.

The price of oil was around $80.00 a barrel.

Today I spent $2.89 per gallon of gasoline.

The price of oil is at $65.91. (source)

Huh?

I mean... What the?

Does anyone else wonder?

Gah. Working 50 miles away from where one lives, with NO form of public transportation for me to use instead... Sucks.

-- Tucker

Ho-Hum...

2007-04-27T11:24:00.000-05:00

Well, the House and Senate have agreed, and have sent an Iraq-War funding bill to the President for his veto, not signature.

There's been a heck of a lot of info about this affair, and much writing has been written by respectable journalists, and bloggers that are much more accomplished than I.

But, as a contrary bastid, I thought I'd throw up a couple of thoughts.

First... What an asshat. Who? Well, who do you think I'm talking about? The President of the United States... Threatening a veto, and saying the congress is all about politics.

Okay.

Asshat.

Second... What asshats! Who? The congress. For passing a bill that basically slapped Georgie across the face.

Okay.

Asshats.

Third... Perhaps once all this wrangling is finished, and the posturing is done... We can all get together and do something about this war. You know... Benchmarks.

What are those?

Look, the Pres and his advisors and most of the Republican ass-lickers in Congress have stated the truth for once, (which, yes, surprises me as well) that if we set DEADLINES for troop withdrawal, then the 'bad-guys' will just wait till we're gone and then take over Iraq. Now... This is true.

I personally say that we shouldn't WAIT for them to "Wait for us." I think we should just give'em the keys to the Iraqi border, and tell 'em... "Iraq doesn't want us. They obviously want you to go in and kill all of them, have a good time." But I digress...

Obviously, MOST of the American people do not want us to just hand over Iraq to the bad-guys. MANY of us don't actually care any more... But there's still a majority of folks that do. Fine.

That brings me back to "Benchmarks."

The argument the Dems keep using, is that if we don't FORCE the Iraqi's to take over their own defense, then they never will. This is probably true. The Iraqi's are having WAY too much fun beating the hell out of each other and our troops, and then BLAMING our troops.

If we say we're going to leave starting this summer. That won't work.

If we say we're staying as long as you so X then Y then Z, okay. If they DON'T do X then Y then Z, then we leave. We tell them this: "We'll stay if you do these things. If you don't accomplish "X" by August, then we'll pull all of our troops out of the Kurdish area. If you don't then do X and Y, we'll pull all of our troops out of the surrounding countryside. If you THEN don't do X, Y AND Z by December... We'll pull out of Baghdad.

See... It's still giving 'em options... It's clear. It's easy... And then it's all in THEIR hands! If everything goes tits up... Our government can safely say... We did all we could, they just didn't care about their own country enough.

I think it would work. Hopefully... After this round of 'political infighting' in Washington... And after Bush proves his "manhood" by vetoing the bill... They'll get together, and start getting some bloody SANITY involved in this horrible war.

-- Tuckmac

Can this guy get ANY dumber?

2007-04-23T19:56:00.000-05:00

Okay, I have to complain about my President again, and I'm sure my readers will understand.

Here's a quote from the Shrub in Today's New York Times:

President Bush said today that the Congressional testimony of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales last week, roundly panned by members of both parties, “in a way increased my confidence in his ability to do the job.”

Err...

I listened to the testimony that Mr. Gonzales gave before congress... I've never heard more, "Ums, I don't remembers or I don't knows" in my entire life! Today the Pres said something like, My friend Alberto didn't break any laws, so I don't see why I shouldn't keep 'im on the job.

Mr. Shrubbery... The reason you shouldn't keep the guy on the job, is that even if he didn't break the law... The manager of the Department of Justice for the United States of America is either lying through his teeth, under oath to Congress... Or he's simply the biggest GOOMBA in the world, and cannot manage the Department of Justice.

That's why he should be removed Mr. Shrubbery... If he's SO stupid and worthless that he didn't know what his staff was DOING in the Department, he's obviously not cut out for the job!

Duh!

I mean... If the support of his "good buddy" Alberto doesn't prove that the government is run by a bunch of useless buggers... I don't know what else WOULD be proof enough.

Jaysus-Cluny-Frog!

Gah.

Okay... I'm off... I have to deal with the ramifications of the moronic leadership.

-- Tucker

Well... Lot's o' excitement!

2007-04-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

My Lady and I have been VERY busy... It's the Saint Paul Art Crawl this weekend. And My Lady and I are participating in this event.

That's right... If you live in the Twin Cities Metro Area, you should stop by. I'm not about to give the "internet" my address, so... If you want to come you could e-mail me at:

expat.squared "at" gmail.com (replacing the space quote at unquote space with a @ symbol)

I'll 'vet' you, make sure you're not crazy, then tell you where I live. We'd love to have folks come through during the "Crawl."

Our flat's been turned into a mini gallery. It's funny... Friday night (last night) was the first night of the crawl, and we kept having people walk in, and say... "Okay, where's the art?"

My Lady and I began rolling our eyes, after we had heard that twice. I also started counting... We had 22 people come through... Five of 'em asked where the art was.

Five.

Gah.

What do they MEAN where's the art??? The art is everywhere. My Lady and I are having to climb over furniture to get to bed, however, as we've put most of the flat's contents into the bedroom.

It's a bit tight.

But the REST of the flat actually DOES look a bit like a gallery. I'll be posting pictures tomorow... Well... Maybe later today. We'll see.

As to what we've got happening, artwise...

Video is being projected onto a big screen in the living room - My Lady's performance from last October.

Drawings on the hallway wall - Drawings of the "Women of Mass Distraction" a collection of ladies that MY Lady is basing her NEWEST performance upon. It's going to be good! Chapter one, (or the first performance of many) is occuring TONIGHT at our flat around 6:30pm! Whoo-hoo... We'll be videotaping it, for posterity.

And there's the representation of "The Iraqi Quagmire" on the floor, concept: My Lady and created by: US. It's pretty freaking cool. It's the one piece of art that really gets people to respond, and it's been in a good way! Wow.

Finally, there's MY big piece. How big? Four by Four by Eight FEET big - That's right... 128 CUBIC Feet of artwork by YOURS truly! I made a rather large installation for my photography.

(We're not sure what we're going to DO with the damn thing, once the crawl's over... Hmm... Anyone got a truck?)

But that's what's been happening.

Besides that... I've FINALLY been forced to switch to the "New Blogger." I actually TRIED to do so before, but it wouldn't let me. It's strange... I had given up on it entirely, and then it decides to 'force' me to change. What the? Och weeel... I'm on it now. I'm still not sure about it. It's hurt a whole bunch of my CSS and html that I had... It says that certain "tags aren't allowed" or some such bollocks. WELL... HOW AM I MEANT TO KEEP MY BLOG LOOKING GOOD????

Piss.

Anyhoo... I'm off... Tonnes to do, before the crawl starts again today at 2pm.

Smiles,
T

Thanks Megan...

2007-04-14T11:34:00.000-05:00

I admit that I've (due to circumstances beyond my control) become a bit of a "MySpace Whore." Why is this? Well, frankly, it's because I have many friends that do not know a tonne about web-publishing in the form of blogs/journals/websites, and thus... They use MySpace.

That's fine. I'm on there, I don't spend too much time, but I check my "messages" and my "bulletins" and what have you...

Anyhoo, I heard about a funny "Google Maps" thing before, but my friend Megan actually put the directions up on a MySpace bulletin, and so I tried it.

Basically... Go to Google Maps and hit the "Get Directions" tab in the menu-bar.

Type New York, New York to Paris, France. And scroll down to number #23 of the directions:

Here's the pics:

Sorry, but that's just great!

Have a great weekend, My Lady and I are fairly nuts, due to the upcomming St. Paul Art Crawl that's happening next weekend.

If you're in the Cities, stop by.

Smiles,
Tuckmac

Open letter to Normie Coleman.

2007-04-09T21:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, the world knows I'm a bleeding-heart Liberal. Well, I admit to getting all sorts of e-mail's from various and sundry left-leaning places.

Anyhoo... I received an e-mail from the Minnesota Dem/Farm/Labor party, and it was one of those "Click here to send a petition" things.

Okay, fine... If you're really that silly, click here, and YOU can also sign the petition. Anyhoo...

You know how they always give you a 'pre-written' letter that's obviously been written by a strange lawyer guy/gal that works for the organisation in question? Then, occasionally, they give you space to "add your own comment" thing?

Well... I enjoy those. I add stuff. Here, below, is what I wrote for this particular petition being sent to my Senator:

Well... I'm off for the evening. Ta!

-- Tuckmac

Blog Against Theocracy #2 - Tuckmac

2007-04-07T02:27:00.000-05:00

It's the hypocrisy of it...

Honestly, I am just sort of annoyed by the whole thing.

I realise that our country has always been "Christian," like most of Europe, due to our founders. However... I just can't get over this issue.

Certain "Right-wing Bloggers" have taken the piss out of us "Liberal-godless-heathens" over the blogswarm against theocracy. Saying that this is all about 'stopping god-fearing Christians from showing their faith in public' or some such crap. (I'm not actually 'linking' to the guy, as I don't want his stats to raise any further than they probably are due to his equally annoying readership.)

Their argument is that all we're interested in doing is 'removing their right' of professing their faith in a public context.

The 'hypocrisy' of which I began my post today, is that I live in the Twin Cities, where we've recently been faced with the "Six Imams" that were kicked off an American Airline's flight for praying at the airline gate, and acting a bit strange on the plane. (They were also detained, and are now suing the airline and passengers responsible for their treatment).

Now... The "blogger" that I 'did not link to" above, kvetched about the right of "True Christian's to be themselves in public" and frankly... He probably would have been the FIRST person to raise "hell" about Muslims praying in an airport.

See... It's the 'unfairness' of it all.

If "Christians" are allowed to be "Christian" in public... Shouldn't Muslim's ALSO be able to be "Muslim" in public?

Is it fair that America's "Wall Street" closes down on 'Good Friday' when it doesn't close down during Ramadan?

See... That's the deal.

If we TRULY want to have religious freedom in the United States... Then, frankly, we must STOP having "Christian" holidays, if we do NOT have Muslim holidays, or Jewish holidays, or Hindu holidays OFF the same as we do for the Christians.

Wouldn't it be SO much better to just "chuck the whole thing" entirely, and STOP with the whole "religious" holiday entirely?

Again... Religion in the home... NO overt religion in public... And our country would be SO MUCH better...

-- Tuckmac

Blog Against Theocracy #1 - Tuckmac

2007-04-06T11:29:00.000-05:00

To start off the weekend, I tried to find an apporpriate quotation, or something that would encompass my writings this weekend. I was unable to find one to sum up the entire weekend, however, I found one that does have some resonance to today.

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

The Quotations Page

It seems as though the United States has been going through a rather frightening period lately. I'm sure it's normal, as the current occupant of the Whitehouse is a bit of a conservative, and a definite Christian.

This weekend, bloggers from all over America are going to be writing about religion. And already, there's been a few right-wingers that are trying desperately to twist what this blogswarm is about, and make all of us seem to be godless-communist Pinkos, or something. And I do want to, in the interest of full disclosure, come right out and say that I'm not particularly religious. I'm one of those annoying Liberals, raised a good little Catholic boy, in Catholic schools. I was baptised, confirmed and actually thought of myself as a pretty good Catholic.

I fell away from the church. And you know what's really funny about it. It's not 'cause I felt that God was not real. On the contrary... I was a very DEVOUT Catholic. I left my particular church, because they stopped CALLING it a church, and began calling it a "Community." You see... The marvellous fathers there, thought that they were scaring away too many Yuppies by calling it a church, and decided that a "community" would draw all the "Easter Catholics" (and their wallets) to the church more often. They ended the practice of kneeling. They took away the bell that symbolised the magic and mystery of the Eucharist... Basically, my priests (and most of their friends) made my "Catholic Church" and others in our country... Well... "Catholic Lite" or something.

God to me is too much of a mystery... Is TOO powerful to not approach with a certain sense of awe and mysticism.

The one place that used to "house" the mysticism was a building specifically made for worship, a church/mosque/synagogue/temple. And people from all over our country, regardless of their particular persuasion, spent an inordinent amount of 'weekend' time in their worship-building.

Then they'd go home, have dinner with their families, go to sleep... And then wake up and go to work on Monday.

Religion and 'normal' life were intertwined only so far as to give us something to do on a sabaath, or what-have-you. Now-a-days... Religion seems to be creeping more and more into our "regular" work/live weekdays, and I'm fairly certain that this is causing more problems than it's helping. In my Last Blog I linked to an article about the push to change religious rights in the workplace. And instead of doing something intelligent, like... I don't know... BANNING overt religious expression, they're trying to not only allow it, but PUSH it further.

What I think, and what MOST people SHOULD think, is that your religious belief is your right. Your 'cramming' your belief's down my throat is NOT your right. As more and more Muslim-people immigrate to America, there's more and more overt Islamic thought seeping into our daily lives... (In Minneapolis at the moment, there's issues with Somali cab-drivers not driving passengers from the airport 'cause they're carrying alcoholic beverages with them).

Instead of firing the cab drivers, they're attempting to change the law to ALLOW this behavior. Christians are getting more up in arms every day, and shouting their beliefs from the rooftops because of this crap happening... And what does our government do? They try to push MORE religious craps through the legislature.

Folks... It's time that we stopped allowing ANYONE'S religion to effect others.
What you do in the privacy of your own home/worship building is your own business.

Don't tell me that I can't get drunk on a Sunday, or that I can't buy pork-products at a Target, 'cause you can't "touch them" or something.

If all of us, Muslim/Christian/Jewish/Hindu/Buddhist or whatEVER you are pull back a bit, agree to disagree, and quiet the heck down... Perhaps our country will again return to a bucolic state of calm.

-- Tuckmac

I know it's a bit early but...

2007-04-02T11:22:00.000-05:00

I'm awaiting the upcoming weekend's "Blogswarm" with bated breath.

Tengrain of Mock, Paper, Scissors - logo design

However, something came to light today on Public Radio, and... I have a really quick comment.

Congress considers changes to religion in the workplace.

ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

--T

Linky Day Wednesday, on a Saturday.

2007-03-31T13:43:00.000-05:00

Greetings folks, as I'm a bit busy again today, I thought I'd throw up a really quick, like post thing.

Yeah.

First off though... My Lady and I had a great time last night, though... Seeing the Blue Man Group last night. My mother got the tickets somehow, and gave them to us to use. Ah, bless... Anyhoo... I had a really fun time, My Lady less so, 'cause she's British, and they don't find them as fun as Yanks do. Don't ask me why. But she still enjoyed herself, just not as much as I. It was great to have a Friday night together. And guess what... We have TONIGHT together as well! The pub's been giving her a break this weekend, and we're going to try to take advantage of it.

Okay, on with the links!

A great article today, by the Luddite, If You Build It, Don't Be So Sure They Will Come. Favourite line of Tuck's? "Be quick for the sake of losers like me who actually love the Sturm und Drang of city life. For losers like me who will tolerate the occasional urine-scented alley just to never have to encounter the dull, drilled uniformity of perfectly manicured lawns. The longer you wannabe suburbanites hang around town, the more you pollute the grittiness those of us in the loser community would like to preserve." -- Tony Long
Thank GODS for the French, I was getting a bit nervous that ultra-skinny anorexic models were SOON to be a thing of the past! Oh, no... Not in France! We can't have normal women wearing their clothes on the runway... It wouldn't be FRAWNNNCH...
And finally... An article that really cheesed both My Lady, and myself off... Chocolate Jesus Exhibit Cancelled. I mean... Shite... What the? Now we're destroying FREE SPEECH in the name of God? When is this insanity going to end? Honestly... Which leads me to...

A reminder...

Tengrain of Mock, Paper, Scissors - logo design

Blog Against Theocracy Blogswarm... Coming soon! Join in! I am!

There... Off to do the day.

-- Tuckmac

Okay... Two parter...

2007-03-29T18:30:00.000-05:00

I have two very important things to 'speak' about today... One's sort of an advert for an upcoming "Blogswarm".* You'll notice a new poster-link thing in my sidebar about it, but I thought I'd throw up a quick MAIN posting about it. I learned of this upcoming blogswarm from Blue Gal and she and others are the ringleaders I suppose you could say.

The idea, is to blog against theocracy (Church and State diddling each-other in the back room, whilst no one is looking... Or, actually... Whilst EVERYone is looking) during the "Easter Weekend" of April 6-8th, 2007. I'm sure all of my Yankee readers have noticed a certain um... "swing" in Christian-based lobbying of our government, lately. And for my Brit readers... You all have been making fun of how "religious" the Yanks are for a while now.

Click on the image, to learn more.

Tengrain of Mock, Paper, Scissors - logo design

I'll be partaking of this little bit o' fun, m'self.

End plug...

What I really needed to talk about today, was a rather scary statistic that I heard on Talk of the Nation, on Nat'l Public Radio yesterday... It was a quick blub, but basically...

Only 19% of people polled in an unofficial poll done by a reporter in New York, knew about the Alberto Gonzales US Attorney General Office's latest oops, in the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys.

And many of those 19% of unofficial polled folks didn't actually care!

I was appalled.

Many of the interviewed people, didn't even know... WHO ALBERTO GONZALES IS!!!!!!

Um.

I know from living in Britain, that the Brits have a very low expectation when it comes to the idea of an informed citizenry of the United States of America. It took two years of me living in Canterbury, to disabuse my friendly Brits of the fact that I was an idiot. They sort of just assumed I was, 'cause I was a Yank. I spent quite a bit of time convincing Brits that most Americans weren't stupid, or uninformed, or useless.

And, well... I was wrong. Obviously Americans ARE uninformed, useless, ignorant people, wandering through life completely oblivious to the destruction of the planet happening around them.

Lovely.

Well... Sorry Brits. I steered you wrong! And to those Yankees that read my blog, and well... THE NEWS occasionally... Obviously you do not fit into this category of being ignorant. However... You are a VERY small minority.

Scary, innit?

Gah.

-- Tuckmac

*I made the link, 'cause it was a term that I personally hadn't really heard/used/thought of before. But I sort of figured it out by the context, and hey... I found that great link.