The comentator just said “it’s not a lack of effort, it’s really just a lack of talent, right now.”

I’m a prick, and admittedly so, but that’s just mean. I hate Michigan almost as much as any *real* Penn Stater can, but those kids payed hard, and they payed well.

Nonetheless, I’m kinda’ glad that they won’t see a Bowl this year.

I’m so provincial…

not my usual posting, but…

what can i say? i’m feeling blue… and white…

Hail to those motherfuckers,
Hail to the those big cocksuckers,
Hail! Hail to Michigan,
The cesspool of the world!!!

Hail to those masturbators,
Hail to those fornicators,
Hail! Hail to Michigan
The cesspool of the world!!!

Hail to those flies and maggots
Hail to those whores and faggots
Hail! Hail to Michigan
The cesspool of the world!!!

Hail to those auto workers,
Hail to those circle jerkers,
Hail! Hail to Michigan
The cesspool of the world!!!

The Nittany Lions haven’t defeated the Wolverines in the game of football since my sophmore year at University Park. That was 1996. Twelve years later, does the losing streak end? I asked the Magic 8-Ball. Literally.

“Will Michigan’s winning streak against Penn State end today?”

“You may rely on it.”

the kind folks at moveon.org apparenly also enjoy my most favoritest holiday ever…

 Avast, me hearties!

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day to ye.

Have ye heard the scum thar bilge rat John McCain’s been slingin’ at me matey Barack? Bad news, ’tis. But a band o’ pirates ken surely blow the man down. Come ‘n’ raise a cup o’ grog this Sunday at “MoveOn for Obama” parties and we’ll call every MoveOn lubber in t’ swing states an’ tell ‘em how t’ help Obama this fortnight. Aye?

Prepare t’ board the Straight Talk Express an’ take no prisoners! Shiver me timbers an’ set yer sights here, smartly now:

What: Phone calling party to help Obama
Host: Rachel S—fellow MoveOn member
Where: Irvin & Garner (in State College)
When: Sunday, Sep. 21, 2008, at 5:00 PM

Tell ‘em Ahoy! an’ yer comin’ t’ help:

http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=73283&id=13927-1443209-Nu1_7ex&t=2

T’anks fer all ye do. Arrr!

–-Salty Cap’n Adam an’ me merry band

Some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open such terrifying vistas of reality, and our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light to the peace and safety of a new dark age.

–The Call of Cthulhu

The movie was awesome. Black and white, dated effects, and best of all, it wasn’t a talkie!

From Wikipedia:

Despite the long-standing conventional wisdom that this story was inherently “unfilmable,” the film garnered a mostly positive reception from genre reviewers. Paul di Filippo of Science Fiction Weekly went so far as to call it “the best HPL adaptation to date,” labeling the decision to adapt it as a silent film “a brilliant conceit.”

It’s time to warm up the old handbrake.

- Leo July 23 - August 22

After years of being an emotionless drone, you’ll finally break down and cry this week, instantly rusting your metal hinges and joints.

- Leo July 23 - August 22

Lately it seems like you can’t say anything without people getting hurt. Don’t be alarmed: You’re just a terrible hostage negotiator.

Allegheny Power is replacing a pole in my neighborhood, and I’ll lose power for most of Monday, Tuesday if it rains. This time it’s not my fault…

Heh-heh-heh. I said going down…

I guess there comes a point in every boy’s life when he starts to call himself a guy, and not a boy. Likewise, every guy eventually calls his life a man’s. Sooner or later, I think, every man comes to a larger realization. He looks around and realizes that he really is a man, all grown up, and not just a guy, or a dude pretending.

I suspect that this moment is generally one of tragedy and terror. Sometimes it is a circumstance originating outside himself, but usually it is one of his own making. Either way, it is a time of gross introspection, and a time of brutal clarity where his greatest mistake is laid bare.

Do you know the funniest thing about “one’s greatest mistake?” It is often one’s smallest mistake. It is frequently unavoidable, because it was so small as to be unseen. It is unavoidable because nobody could have ever known it full consequences until they eventually manifested themselves. In that brief time while it is spinning wildly out of control, many things could have been done to avert the disaster. Unfortunately, nobody could have known that they needed doing before those cataclysmic results are become fact.

Sometimes that initial bad decision is as simple as having a cup of coffee at the wrong time on the wrong day. Something that small can be fatal.

You can, as an adult, a real one, attempt to rectify the mistake, but said attempt may feel posthumous at best. The only question is whether to try is an act of true nobility, or if it is honestly pathetic.

I guess if you really believe, you can do little better than to hope for the best. Your belief in the outcome or your lack thereof are irrelevant.

Growing pains suck.

You may or may not have noticed a “brief” outage here at SuperRenaissanceMan.com. I don’t know if anyone but Glenn cared, but I apologize both to him and the world at large. My router blew up somewhere in the range of 3:30 am. Glenn was instrumental both in the purchase of a new router and the relocation of the server to a new location. He was kind enough to hold my hand and pat my head while I configured the router and a series of physical and virtual NICs. We’re back, baby.  We’re back.

If anyone received any bounced email from SRM.C, you may resend. For the moment at least, it appears that our new network service and equipment will be adequate to the task…

No.  Not that Steve. Not even a  Steve I’ve ever met before, to the best of my knowledge. Who can say for sure? I’m a drunk, a Leo, and a socialite. I forget meeting more people in a month than most people remember meeting all day…  Or is it the other way around?  *Drunk*

Anyway, I went to the Arts’ Fest, ’cause that’s what you do during the Arts’ Fest, and I found my favorite objet d’art. I’ve been stalking it for six years or so, and it is truly beautiful. I nearly get weepy when I look at it for too long. I’ve wanted to buy it ever since the first time I saw it.

What is it? Oh, right. You weren’t there stalking it with me. The artist calls it “paper collage.” I’ve also heard it described as a particular breed of decoupage. I usually describe it as a cross between an oil painting and a children’s pop-up book. The depicted scene is of a canal in Venice–no, not the one in California, and not the one in Florida. I mean the one in Italy–the original, the real Venice. There is a restaurant on the left, the canal flows back and to the right, and it’s got a sort of three-dee feel to it, with the boats standing out from the water, and the awnings standing out from the buildings. It’s fantastic, and I think I actually had dinner in that very restaurant several years ago.

As I said, I’ve wanted it for years. I’ve marveled that it hasn’t sold. I remember when it was listed at about $1700, and I’ve seen it drop in price, little by little, each year since then. I’ve always said that I couldn’t have it, since it cost over $1000.  This year, it dropped to $925. I looked at it for a while, and went to Zeno’s to think it over. I’ve repeated many times in my life, for many reasons, “Thank the gods for Zeno’s.” Add one more time, and add one more reason.

Enter Steve, an apparent regular with a lot of free time, and a helpfully meddlesome tendencies. Steve, upon hearing my description of the piece, and my dilemma over whether or not to throw that much money at it, suggested the haggle. Upon hearing that I have no talents with regards to the haggle, he went out to suggest a lower price to the artist, and then report back to me.

The good news is that he found she’d knock of a hundred dollars if you asked her nicely. He suggested that she might do better is you gushed over the piece. He didn’t, being much less impressed with it than I was. (I have fond memories of Venice. Very fond. Very memorable.) The bad news is that the reason she’d do that is because she has several hundred nearly identical pieces lying around, ready to ship. It hasn’t been sitting unloved and unwanted for years. It’s been mass produced.

Bugger, that.

Steve, you broke my heart, but you spared my wallet. I’m not thrilled with what way went the day, but I think I owe you a beer.