September 19, 2015

Prophetic: Videodrome, "Soon all of us will have special names"

O'Blivion was not the name I was born with. That's my television name. Soon all of us will have special names, names designed to cause the cathode ray tube to resonate.

And here we all are, visible to others on the LCD successor to the CRT, and mostly posting behind "special names", Babel-17 for example.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Videodrome

September 11, 2015

The schedule: "There’s no point in acting surprised about it." and "Beware of the Leopard"

"... been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for 50 of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now."

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy

"But Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office for the last nine months."

"Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them, yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them, had you? I mean, like actually telling anybody or anything."

"But the plans were on display ..."

"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."

"That's the display department."

"With a flashlight."

"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."

"So had the stairs."

"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"

"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'."

http://www.planetclaire.org/quotes/hitchhikers/

August 12, 2015

We're looking at how Sanders is trending with people who are exposed to the campaign's message

In defense of the pollsters I'll say that their models aren't designed to account for the specific type of phenomenon that the Sanders campaign represents. Their models are based mostly around the depressing predictability of how voters react in the Skinner box environment of large, extremely well funded, elections.

It would be dishonest for pollsters to use a new methodology. Though I'll be interested to see if Nate Silver is open about this if asked. I understand his livelihood is based on the uncannily good models he uses, but he is a scientist and should be honest about the limitations of prediction.

There are some importantly unusual features to the Sanders campaign. The degree of how important they are, and the number of them, is what is going to show the limits to the utility of the models Silver uses.

Ask Silver if his models could have predicted the surge of Ross Perot in 92. And Perot was seriously lacking in several attributes that Sanders has in spades. Sanders has the record for championing people that the Perot campaign merely gave a nod to. Sanders has decades of experience with the legislative process. Sanders has decades of support for important civil rights causes under his belt. Sanders has decades of campaigning and politicking in unpleasant circumstances and environments behind him.

Though the main point of superiority is that Sanders is running on the most evolved version of the Democratic Party platform I've yet to see. Because Sanders has chosen not to take big donations from monied interests, he and his campaign could craft a platform that would have the utmost appeal to members of the Democratic party (and the nation as a whole).

Silver should consider the Perot phenomenon, look at how the Sanders campaign is greatly superior to it, and conclude he needs to come up with something more specific to this campaign. He might make just such an announcement if Sanders does a notch better than even the already revised upwards forecasts for the earliest contests and/or later very significant polling.

P.S. Only now did I really think about how Perot was up against a Clinton and a Bush. The huge difference her obviously is that Senator Sanders is competing in the Democratic primary, and not against Bush and Clinton at the same time. He doesn't get the spoiler vote though he does appeal to those who aren't happy with our system.

July 26, 2015

"Racism and Science Fiction" by Samuel R. Delany

Btw, he prefers "Chip Delaney". And first off, his wikipedia article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_R._Delany

Now, the article.

http://www.nyrsf.com/racism-and-science-fiction-.html

"Racism and Science Fiction"
by Samuel R. Delany

From NYRSF Issue 120, August 1998. "Racism in SF" first appeared in volume form
in Darkmatter, edited by Sheree R. Thomas, Warner Books: New York, 2000.
Posted by Permission of Samuel R. Delany. Copyright © 1998 by Samuel R. Delany.

Given how important language is to Mr. Delaney, and the great care and labor he put into this piece, I don't dare to post an excerpt. Read it all, and be all the richer for it.

July 15, 2015

Obligatory link to the song (and a link to make you smile)

Here's Season One of the very funny Canadian TV show, Corner Gas. It's soothing and hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD0DFE83FBB597D89

Season Two!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-M1YaIZEwpB_IpbQaYsK7oc-MM7jMCl9

Three!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0364714D26BD2B3C

4!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL675CA5094156413F

Cinq!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAC0A7E14CE1A67C8

sètte!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL511F1260E709C3E0

The Movie! (watch that last)



What a great advertisement for Canada, other than Wullerton* :spit:, lol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner_Gas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner_Gas#Wullerton_rivalry

The residents of Dog River have a pathological dislike of the residents of Wullerton, a neighboring town, to the point that they spit on the ground whenever the rival town is mentioned (they are so used to it they sometimes do not realize it when they spit, and that the local newspaper will print &quot SPIT)" after printing the town's name)

July 24, 2014

The Ross Sisters - Solid Potato Salad (epic)

"in the 1940s the term "solid" was a young hipster's term for "excellent" or something to that effect."

http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/s/solidpotatosalad.shtml

It's the groovy movie salad Jack!

Please K&R if you want others to see this!

June 23, 2014

The Stop Smoking video library of Joel Spitzer (bookmark it for a friend)

The Stop Smoking video library of Joel Spitzer

I'd be remiss if I didn't also include Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking (the video).

June 22, 2014

Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking (the video)

Edit: 7/09/2014 The video link in this post is now "Private"/broken. Please use the other links/videos.

If you are currently a smoker, you're assured it's ok to light up while watching the movie, or reading the book.

If you want to stop, commit to that, and then watch this video and be done with smoking. I watched it several times, and I was reading the books, but after deciding this made perfect sense and that I wanted I stop, I just stopped and it was a beautiful thing. If you can't promise yourself that you'll stop, watch it anyway. I watched it several times as I firmed my resolve and took the plunge.

I posted some other info here.

I also read that it worked for Pink

I was looking at Carr's Wikipedia page and I noticed that. After googling I saw this.

The 'Blow Me (One Last Kiss)' superstar told Shape magazine that she was smoking a pack per day by just 13-years-old so it was a tough addiction to let go of, but she found support in a book that proved very effective for her:

"I quit when I got pregnant by reading Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking. That really worked for me. (And now) Willow makes me not want to (smoke). And besides, unlike before, cigarettes smell repulsive to me."

June 5, 2013

Two years free thanks to Allen Carr's system

http://www.wikihow.com/Quit-Smoking-by-Using-an-Allen-Carr-Book

I quit smoking on April 4, 2011.

I used Allen Carr's "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking".

Border's had a nice compilation of some of the best quotes from that book in a nice pocket sized paperback that I carry around and which was very helpful and inspirational.

Great free videos that were also helpful here.

Lol, I quickly figured out that I'd feel at a loss when walking past the spot I'd stash my cigarettes when at home. I'd have a cup of coffee in my hand and feel like I was forgetting something.

I've had several nightmares about smoking. Supposedly this is ok/"a good thing".

Dreams of smoking 2.38mb 7.10mb UTube 2.92mb 06:28 11/10/06









https://www.youtube.com/joelspitz#p/u/41/Dvkxt_GMG-0

Allen Carr’s 7 Tips To Stay Quit

Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking

If you follow these simple instructions, you cannot fail.

1 Make a solemn vow that you will never, ever, smoke, chew or suck anything that contains
nicotine, and stick to your vow.

2 Get this clear in your mind: there is absolutely nothing to give up. By that I don't mean simply that
you will be better off as a non-smoker (you've known that all your life); nor do I mean that although
there is no rational reason why you smoke, you must get some form of pleasure or crutch from it or
you wouldn't do it. What I mean is, there is no genuine pleasure or crutch in smoking. It is just an
illusion, like banging your head against a wall to make it pleasant when you stop,

3 There is no such thing as a confirmed smoker. You are just one of the millions who have fallen for
this subtle trap. Like millions of other ex-smokers who once thought they couldn't escape, you have
escaped,

4 If at any time in your life you were to weigh up the pros and cons of smoking, the conclusion would
always be, a dozen times over, 'Stop doing it. You are a fool.' Nothing will ever change that. It always
has been that way, and it always will be. Having made what you know to be the correct decision, don't
ever torture yourself by doubting it.

5 Don't try not to think about smoking or worry that you are thinking about it constantly. But
whenever you do think about it –whether it be today, tomorrow or the rest of your life think,
'YIPPEE! I'M ANON-SMOKER!'

6 DO NOT use any form of substitute.
DO NOT keep your own cigarettes.
DO NOT avoid other smokers.
DO NOT change your lifestyle in any way purely because you've stopped smoking.
If you follow the above instructions, you will soon experience the moment of revelation. But:

7 Don't wait for that moment to come. Just get on with your life. Enjoy the highs and cope with the
lows. You will find that in no time at all the moment will arrive.

http://allencarr.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Carrs-Easyway-Stop-Smoking/dp/0615482155