Memorial day, new content, and meat...lotsa meat..

Yep, It's that time again. The annual Cookout of the crew. This year we're probably looking at a few more folks than last year, meaning we'll probably end up spending $150 on dead animal parts to roast(after soaking them in various forms of alcohol). Juan is still on Leave after getting back from Iraqistan at the beginning of the month, so he drove up from NC to hang out for the weekend. Tomorrow morning I go shopping for food, I gotta hook up with Chavo and Neal about noon/1PMish so we can go to the butcher for steaks, and then hit up the grocery store for some ground meat and kielbasa. Tomorrow is also the first day the beer from homebrew day will be ready to open after it's 2 weeks of bottle fermentation. After getting a bit of a taste on bottle day, I cannot wait to crack open one of the IPA's we made, it's gonna be exceptional!

Content wise I changed the track selection on the radio a bit to more accurately reflect my winamp playlist at the moment, and added some of the projects I've finished to the art section. The Death/Famine/War images are part of a contest I never had the guts to officially enter (deadline was the 22nd) involving non-traditional representations of the 4 horsemen. I plan on finishing up the series sometime this week.

Something new on the site, and it SOUNDS good!....


Yep, We're Wired for sound now. On the mainpage, if you havn't found it already, there is a new link named "Webradio". Well, during one of my random trips through the internet I discovered a site that allowed you do download a small piece of software that re-encodes MP3 Files as Shockwave Flash component files, and uses a PHP Interface to allow them to be played back through a web browser (I <3 my hosting company, considering thier hosting me for free for 3 years, I assumed they wouldn't be providing PHP support, but they are)

So now, every few weeks, in addition to updating all the other fun stuff on my site, I'll toss up a few new samples of what's in my Winamp playlist for your listening pleasure :)

He pulls off Mainstream art, how DOES he do it?!..

By him, I mean Quentin Tarantino. After seeing Kill Bill 2 the other day, all I can say is this: QT is one of the greatest creative minds of our day, and no other director is capable of taking something so much like an indie art film and making it into a huge smash success.

QT's use of odd camera angles, light, absence of light, color, lack thereof, and camera tricks reminiscent of old Japanese B movie samurai flicks make for one of the most enjoyable theater experiences I have had in years. His script almost comes off as Shakespearian prose as you listen to it, and the soundtrack blends elements of music that have never before been intermixed.

When Kill Bill 2 comes out on DVD, I know I'll be scoring a copy of it, and I plan to watch Volume 1 and 2 back to back, and I encourage everyone to do the same. I'll be the best 4+ hours of your week, I assure you.

I think maybe the various viruses that were running rampant last week have started to die down. We've slowed up at work recently and have gotten back into upgrades/repair instead of removal/cleaning. yay!

The unseasonably warm spring is prompting early preparation of the swimming pool this year, so I get to go drudge out leaves and other misc. junk today after a quick job call, but, I am looking forward to getting some sun poolside this summer so I don't look like a basement dwelling uberpale dweed :)

And so Kat has something to do during finals :D

Books, Movies and CD's. I Like all forms of media!

No really, I do. And tonight's 1am rambling is going to hit on a few of em.

First off, Books. Despite the fact that Johnny loves to shower me with stacks of reading material, I rarely have the time to look through them. In fact, the last book I read was January-ish...Until last night that is. For a week now, Dan Brown's "The Davinci Code" has been sitting on my desk, begging to be looked at, and last night at 8PM, I indulged it. First off, let me say that I am not a catholic. I was raised in a family that figured it couldn't hurt for the early years of my life, but then allowed me to find my own doctrine. Thankfully, I did, because anyone who's catholic beliefs are not firmly and permanently anchored in Vatican soil is going to be rethinking a lot of things. The Code is a phenomenal book, and while a work of fiction (and a great mystery at that) so much of it is based in fact it's scary. I actually went looking at various thinks mentioned in the book, and they actually exist. Definitely a must read.


Next step, Movies. WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE TELL ME KILL BILL WAS AMAZING! You bastards! I just saw volume 1 this weekend, on DVD and it was probably the best movie I have seen in years, barring LoTR. QT is a genius, and there is no denying that. Everyone should see Kill Bill for the sheer artistic qualities is has. You will find no other mainstream movie that looks and feels as meticulously planed and produced as this film, and I look forward to seeing Volume 2 sometime soon.

Lastly, CD's. I finally made good on my promise to send an EQ friend of years some quality music. There were alot of reasons for delay, but mostly I was lazy and kept forgetting (for a year and a half). Upon arriving at the UPS place, I got to deal with someone so horribly inept it was scary. First, they shove the discs into a paper envelope, prompting me to remind them that plastic disc's with delicate foil data layers need to have something like BUBBLEWRAP around them to prevent HP from receiving small, hard confetti. After we get the disc's wrapped up nice, and get the envelope all sealed, they ask me for the shipping address. I provide them with a nice, typed out shipping address form, and the slightly stupid clerk promptly misspelled my name (After 2 misspellings, I said the hell with it. Sevra is fine with me). Also, for those shipping with UPS, when speaking to the clerk, it is important to assume they do NOT know which state is which my looking at it's abbreviation. It took me, an US Map, and a manager to confirm for this poor girl that MO is Missouri, not Montana. I finally make it to checkout, and they incorrectly scan the shipping barcode instead of the checkout barcode, and the incorrect cost of $3485.00 pops up on the screen. I said "Ma'am, no offence, but for $3400 I'll drive to Missouri and hand him the damn things". It was promptly adjusted to the correct, single digit price.

Bill Brasky, The man, The Myth!



Bill Brasky invented the eyebrow.

Bill Brasky sells crack for Board Plus.

Bill Brasky once arm-wrestled Chairman Mao.

Bill Brasky eats all of his meals with sporks.

Bill Brasky gathers nuts when the weather turns colder.

Bill Brasky uses his forehead as a flyswatter.

Bill Brasky has successfully faked his own death 17 times.

Jammy Jam was a tribute to Bill Brasky.

Brasky eats corndogs by the dozen, including the sticks.

Bill Brasky brushes his teeth with a juniper branch attached to a Carnot engine.

Goro from Mortal Kombat was modeled after Brasky's birthmark.

Bill Brasky isn't tall. I mean, not like John Stamos tall.

Bill Brasky ran a flashy campaign and forced his way into the unsuspecting student government of James K. Polk Middle School.

Brasky was the lead programmer for Dig Dug.

One year, for Halloween, Brasky rounded up all the squirrels in the neighborhood, dressed them up like Louie Anderson, and trained them to run his haunted House.

The beginning of the Real Season is determined the first weekend in November, when Bill Brasky emerges and may or may not be frightened by his shadow.

Bill Brasky is retarded. And that makes his accomplishments significantly more impressive.

Bill Braskys 21st birthday party ended with the invasion of Granada and the invention of the ribbed condom.


Brasky was born by C-section, which he administered himself.


You can get a good look at Brasky's ass by sticking your head up there, but wouldn't you rather take Cobra Commander's word for it?

Bill Brasky speaks with a faint Pig-Latin accent.

Bill Brasky once gave himself a 3 quart enema with Everclear just to stop the runs.

Bill Brasky has only needed tiolet paper once.

Bill Brasky is a ten-foot-tall, two-ton son of a bitch who could eat a hammer and take a shotgun blast standing!

I know Bill Brasky! That son of a bitch beats baby seals...with other baby seals!

"Bill Brasky is a son of a bitch!"

"Bill Brasky is the father of every kid in this town!"

"Bill Brasky once showed me a video of him making love to my wife, and it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw!"

"One time I was with Brasky in the back of a pickup truck, along with a live deer. Brasky goes up to the deer and says, 'I'm Bill Brasky! SAY IT!' Then he manipulates the deer's lips in such a way as to make it say, 'Billbrasky' ... It wasn't exactly like it, but it was pretty good for a deer!'"

"He'd eat a homeless person if you dared him!"

"His poop is used as currency in Argentina."

"He sweats Gatorade"

"He once breast-fed a flamingo back to health."

"He hated Mexicans! And he was half Mexican! .......And he hated irony!"

"I once saw him scissor kick Angela Landsbury."

"He sheds his skin once a year."

"He makes brooms somewhere in Georgia."

"He did 3 tours in 'Nam...... I was in Corpus Christi on business a month ago. I had this eight foot tall Asian waiter, which made me curious. I asked him his name. Sure enough it's Ho Tran Brasky!"

"I once saw him eat a whole live chicken."

"His favorite movie is 'One on One' with Robby Benson."

"He sleeps eight hours a night! ........ well, he was pretty normal when it came to that."

"Bill Brasky was a two ton man-mountain who could palm a medicine ball!"

"Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky took me out to go get a drink with him? We go off looking for a bar and we can't find one. Finally Brasky takes me to a vacant lot and says, 'Here we are.' We sat there for a year and a half and sure enough someone constructs a bar around us. The day they opened we ordered a shot, drank it, and then burned the place to the ground. Brasky yelled over the roar of the flames, 'Always leave things the way you found em!'"

"Bill Brasky had a four day heart attack...a day for each chamber. At the autopsy, they said his heart looked like a basketball filled with riccotta cheese."

"He once punched a hole in a cow just to see who was coming up the road."

"He taught me how to make love to a woman, and how to scold a child."

"They found $60 in change in his stomach."

"He did all the makeup on the 'Planet of the Apes' movie."

"He grew a 3rd arm and kept it in a vault."

"Brasky drank a full glass of liquid LSD with his eggs. Then he slept for 8 months straight. When he woke he rubbed his eyes and said, 'All in all, I prefer gin.'"

"They say Gene Roddenbery got the idea for Star Trek from listening to Brasky talk in his sleep."

"He date raped David Bowie."

"He once inhaled a seagull."

"The Pope told him it was ok to have a mistress."

"It was the sight of Brasky's naked body that drove Brian Wilson insane."

"He once had sex with a cigarette machine."

"He killed Wolfman Jack with a trident."

"He uses the Shroud of Turin as a golf towel."

"He once ate the Bible while water skiing."

"He drives an ice cream truck covered in human skulls."

"He sired a baseball team.. an orchestra if you count the bastards!"

"You know, he would shoot whiskey into his neck with a syringe!"

"He has dandruff the size of mice!"

"He jogged with a fridge on his back!"

"Bill Brasky was a 10 foot monster who slept with all our wives! And punched us all in the face! And we loved him for it!"

"His first name is Bill! ....... I'm drunk."

"He's a ten foot tall beastman who showers in vodka and feeds his baby shrimp scampi."

"He orchestrated the merger between Unicef and Smith & Wessen."

"He went public with his own buttocks and made $7 million."

"Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky went hunting? Brasky decides he's going to hunt down all four of the Banana Splits. He stalks and kills every one of them with a machette. They all begged for their lives...except Fleagle."

"We once had a bachelor party for Brasky. He ate the entire cake before we could tell him there was a stripper in it."

"Brasky once hosted the Grammys and gave every award to Corey Hart."

"He has a toenail on the end of his penis."

"Brasky once got his wife pregnant and gave birth to a delicious 16 ounce steak. The after birth was sauteed mushrooms."

"Brasky's family crest is a picture of a baracudda eating Neil Armstrong."

"Brasky ranked 18th in the AP College Football Pool."

"Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky was in a production of, 'The King & I?' On opening night, Brasky chloroforms the entire cast and slowly eats them in front of the audience for two hours. The production got pretty good reviews."

"He breastfeeds John Madden."

"Brasky named the group Sha-Na-Na. They did NOT want to be called that."

"If you drop a phonograph needle on Brasky's nipple, it plays the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds.'"

"They use Brasky's foreskin as a tarp when it rains at Yankee stadium."

"Brasky directed that commercial where the women play basketball in high heels."

"All the 'Yes' album covers are Brasky family photos."

"He wears a live rattlesnake as a condom."

"Did I ever tell you about the time he taught his son how to drive? He did it by entering him in the Indy 500. The kid wrecked and died. Brasky said it would've happened sometime."

"Brasky's semen can form into a liquid human - like the guy from 'Terminator 2'"

"Brasky still believes in Santa Claus, and he wants to put him in porno films."

"He thinks then iron man is gay."

"He framed Roger Rabbit."

"The character of Johnny Appleseed was based on Brasky - except for the apple tree planting and not raping men."

"He gave a handjob to a manta ray."

How is everyone? Good? Great! Lets bring you up to speed on the last few days, shall we?

Birthday! Who's you ask? Why mine of course, silly. My family, being the generous giving people they are, got me the phenomenal gift of a Wacom Graphire3 Tablet, giving me the ability to sketch directly to the computer instead of having to rely on my aging scanner and the fickle nature of pen & Paper. I am so horribly addicted to my tablet now. I can't imagine how I ever settled for using the mouse while using PSP.

Bear! No, not beer, Bear. Recently sightings of a large Black Bear have been confirmed by police just 5 minutes out of my home town. The bear has reportedly been roaming the wooded areas of liberty/girard, Ohio. Why is this relevant? Well:
1) Bears are not native to the suburbs of Youngstown.
2) I live very close to this area, and I think it's kinda nifty.
3) the best reason yet. Johnny (who lives in Girard) is 2 of the sightings :) Apparently, his back yard is like the cool place to hang out if your a bear (it probably wants our beer, NO DEAL BEAR, NO DEAL!

Movies! I'd recommend waiting until the cheap seats to go see Van Helsing if you have not seen it yet. If you don't want a nice little Van Helsing spoiler, then you may as well just stop reading here.



Still with me? Good. Now, as much as I like Hugh Jackman, and as much as I would love to give any movie with Kate Beckinsdale in it an awesome review, alas, I cannot in this case.

VH is a plotless wonder. VH himself (Jackman) is a cross between his Wolverine character, James Bond, and Stephen King's Gunslinger, and contains very little original material at all in my opinion. Beckinsdale's character is no less predictable and 2 dimensional, but she looks damn good doing it ;)

I have a feeling, that when the writers sat down to make this movie, their goal was to cram as many classic monsters into the film as possible, and make them all part of some big conspiracy. Here's the quick and dirty:

Dr. Jekyl/Hyde makes a guest cameo for about 3 minutes, then dies. Not relevant to the storyline.
Dr. Frankenstien creates his monster, but does so while working for Count dracula. Dracula reveals some horrible plan involving the monster, and Dr. F freaks out and he and the monster escape, only to be killed by angry villagers.
One year later, VH is sent to Transylvania by the church to assist the last surviving member of an ancient family that's been fighting dracula for centuries. The last member of this family is, of course, a beautiful princess. Prepare for massive amounts of sexual innuendo (so much so, at one point in the movie Chavo leaned over and said "dude, it's like it's a bad porn...")
The actor playing Dracula was bad enough to have me stifling fits of laughter in the theater, anyways, big D has an evil plot that will be carried out by a hoard of evil oompa loompa things, Igor, and a few werewolves. The key to this plan is the miraculously still alive Frankenstien monster, who is befriended by VH.

The entire film is just a series of somewhat amusing slapstick and action sequences that tie together some great special effect scenes and classic creature appearences. I'm not even going to go into the horribly penned version of the dracula creation story, or how Van Helsing is tied to it. The movie hints at profound connections, but never delivers. I'm also not going to spend the time to tell the ending, which sadly, is anticlimactic at best.

Bottom line: Worth $1.50 at the cheap seats, YES. Worth full admission? Not if I had to do it over.

Ok people, listen up. If your just joining us, then you need to hear this, if you've been around a while, then you need a refresher.

"I know your lazy, but come on, there is NO excuse to be running around the internet with outdated or no anti virus protection. If your one of these people that is doing this, you make the internet a dangerous place for everyone. Your like an Ebola infected rhesus monkey with a cut finger allowed to make sandwiches at subway without gloves. 90% of all the virus transmission on the web is YOUR fault, because you don't know you even HAVE a virus. Remedy that NOW. Anti-Vir. Anti Vir is a top rate, high power anti virus program, and it's free. You have no excuses now. AND RUN YOUR WINDOWS UPDATE FOR GOD SAKES!"

so there you have it. I said that back in march, and obviosly noone listened to me, because now we have the bug huge W32.Sasser.worm thing spreading like Mark's mom in a windstorm. When big virus outbreaks happen, that means I have to actually do work when I go to work. This does not make me a happy camper, no siree bob. so, here I am again, being nice and posting links to all the things you SHOULD already have or be using. Anti-Vir, Windows Update (Microsoft), Mozilla Firefox, and a decent Firewall

As I've said a few times, today was National Homebrew day, where brewers the country over get together, have a good time, drink heavily and make some beer :) the 6th installment of the Youngstown "Pump House Brew Crew" branch of this nationwide celebration was a blast.

The festivities officially started this morning at 7am when Mr. O (my personal brew sensei) scared away a bum that was sleeping on the tables outside the B&O restraunt that was our host this year. I showed up at 10AM and jumped right in, starting off a 5 Gal. shared batch of Blind Faith, a nice little IPA that we had chosen to brew for the event. Mr. O started up a 10 Gal. batch of Rye beer. By noon, my partners in crime and a good number of others had shown up and things were in full swing. As usual, Ken had the first boil-over of the day, and followed it up with some burnt malt and a second boil-over (I boiled mine over at least once, so it's OK ;) ).

A plethora of food was on hand this year, and even more beer to wash it down, the highlights being a nice clean Helles, Mr. O's mud red ale and pilsner, Spud's Oatmeal stout, some 24 Yr. old mead, and a dortmunder. About mid afternoon, Neal decided to give brewing a try and got broken in with an Irish Stout kit we had on hand, and as a testement to how easy it is to brew, I'm confident that it will turn out excellent despite the mysterious bag of ingredient that showed up after we had already locked it away in a fermenter ;)

As of 6:00Pm, the total for the day was 285 Gallons of beer brewed on site for the occasion, but with some extra fermenters and hardware turning up, and some people willing to keep brewing I'm positive the total is going to break 300 Gallons this year! The draw to the festivities this year were pronounced, as people started to pull in off of the street to find out what was going on (everyone that pulled in stayed a while :D must have been the 20 or so kegs of free homebrew we brought) I am also positive that sunburn hurts ;)