The Death of Reading?

I remember back in the day when the first Harry Potter book came out. I was amazed to see so many kids reading. They weren't playing video games nor were they watching TV they were reading. I was amazed. I haven't read any of the books myself and probably never will. I'm not a big fantasy genre fan. I prefer history, techno-thrillers and just about anything involving submarines. Any way I digress...

I've heard rumors that the beloved Harry could possibly meet his untimely demise in the last installment though it would seem unlikely to me given the fact that there are still a few movies left to be made. I just wonder that if Harry does end up ten feet under what will that do to the millions of kids and adults who only read Harry Potter books?

I could imagine all of J.K.'s myrmidons turning on her and storming her estate with pitchforks and torches. Imagine a bunch of LARPers, pre-teens and adults in business suits marching across the moors to exact the same brand of justice that Harry received at the hands of some nefarious evil. More than likely if Harry dies, he may well slip in the shower on his Hogwarts soap on a rope. It's soap on a ROPE Harry. You wear it around your neck so you don't drop it. It does make washing your feet kinda difficult though.

More than likely they'll bitch and moan on forums an blogs then just stop reading all together.

I see the death of Harry as the death of literacy. We've had good run. Farewell.

I Have a New Addiction

It's been awhile since I got totally cracked out on a video game.

My new time killer dujour is called Sensible Soccer 2006. It's easy-peasy to play. There are essentially only two buttons you use: Pass and Shoot. The cool thing is after you hold down the shoot button for power you can apply all kinds of English to the ball and score some pretty killer goals. Nothing like pegging the upper left hand corner from 35 yards out. The sprint button is useful for knocking opposing players off the ball as well. You can play an entire game in about 15 minutes too.

There are tons of options for playing leagues an tournaments. Right now I'm in the middle of a 40 game season playing as Newcastle. I lost my first two games then tied two and heave been undefeated since.

There are patches you can download to make the play a little more realistic. I'll probably get those when I finish my first season. You have to win tourneys and leagues to unlock different balls, pitches and playing conditions. The game is a total hoot.

Even if you are not a big soccer fan, this is fun to play. I haven't played any of the EA FIFA games but I hear Sensible Soccer is much easier to play. Even thought the play is kind of arcade like the players seem to behave with real "soccer intelligence."

I am having much fun with this one.

Hog got Balls!

Take a look at the motorcycle on the left. I know the pic is kinds grainy but my cell phone camera kinda sucks. Either that or I don't have the settings adjusted properly. Anyway, the bike on the left has a pair of gonads hanging down off the back. Not sure if they belong to the driver or the rider. The driver was a guy but the rider was a rather burly looking lass. So who knows.

What is this supposed to mean. I got balls? My bike has balls? I like balls? Kinda disturbing the things people try to say with their "things" on their stuff.

The Pre-Re-Mix CD Avaialble Soon

In the near future I'll be releasing a "hand made" edition of the Pre-Re-Mix CD. I say handmade because I will be printing and assembling all materials myself. Plus I will be hand numbering and signing each one as well. It's already mastered and I am currently working on the artwork for the cover as time allows.

It will contain all my old tracks that were on the old mp3.com site as well as my school projects from my college days. It will be a very limited release of 50-100 CDs. I haven't decided yet. So once it's gone... It's gone. I'm not planning on pursuing any online distribution for this release at this time. I will probably make some of the tracks available for download on my site. The idea is to get something out there and start working on more new material.

I'll keep everyone posted through the usual channels. Keep Listening!

Barry Bonds at 754

I don't care for Barry Bonds. He's a jerk form I've seen and read about him. I know he's close to closing in on Hank Aaron's home run record.

When I was a kid, my parents let me stay up "extra" so I could watch hand break the record. Even though it's a vague memory at this point, I still have what I think I saw in my head. I don't want that memory erased by some performance enhancing drug using butt head ruining that for me.

Will I watch the historic occasion? I have this to say: "Hell no." Hank Aaron said he wouldn't be there wherever there might be. I hate to see a record tarnished with an asterisk. But that is what is going to happen. It will say: "Barry Bonds 7xx Home Runs*". So sad for the game of baseball.

Here's my solution: All the pitchers in the league band together after Bonds reaches 754 and walk him every time he is at bat. No matter what the score or the situation is. Better yet hit him with a pitch. Maybe it will force him into an early retirement. Give him 754 bruises to go with his home runs. Sounds mean, I know. But he's a real a-hole so why not.

Death by Dance

People, I wish I could say I'm making this stuff up. Apparently a man has died from a Dance-Off. His 1 upsmanship included the move he could only do once: DEATH. Don't believe me? Read about it here. I wonder if it started "West Side Story" style then progressed to the "Beat It" gang fight/dance then ended with this dude doing his Death Dance? On his tombstone: "Top that, Bee-Atch."

Spare a Square and Save the World?

Leave it to the "un" educated celeb set to solve the world's problems. Sheryl Crow has spent the better part of a bio-diesel-hippie-powered bus trip trying to solve the faux problem of global warming. She proposes the use one square of TP when you go to the "office".  Read about it here.

C'mon. I use two for a booger. I'll double over 4 or 5 times that many to avoid a "tear in the void" that results in a stinky chocolate hand. And what about those pesky clingers? Half a roll at best.

How would that law be enforced? Honesty policy? Some freakazoid watching you pinch a loaf from some hidden TP Nazi super secret yet biodegradable alarmist cam? Ooo. I know. An actual government appointed "watcher of the waste" that hands out squares based on the severity of the load. They would be required to use their best judgment. Knowing my luck, my "fecal police" would leave me hanging with a case of the crusties for the rest of the day.