Archives for January 2005

“ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A 50-foot Pacific wave temporarily disabled a “Semester at Sea” ship filled with hundreds of college students Wednesday, injuring two crew members as it broke windows and damaged the vessel’s controls, the Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard vessels and aircraft from Alaska and Hawaii were dispatched to help the 591-foot Explorer, about 650 miles south of the Aleutian Islands and about 1,600 miles from Honolulu.”

A 591-foot ship got smacked with a 50-foot wave. Wow. Nature continues to show us how tiny and insignificant we can be.

There are many people who struggle to find themselves. I would argue that most do. It is a topic that I feel like I am intimately acquainted with and something that many people blog about. One of my semi-regular stops is over at Shtreimel’s Place.

Shtreimel is a man caught in a quandary about his place in the world. And as I said before I think that is a common theme and one of the reasons that blogs hold so much interest to people. We seek answers and we seek people who share common experiences and challenges.

Today I wrote Shtreimel briefly about my past. I was once in love with a woman who became a BT. I remain convinced to this day that if I had done the same, if I had chosen to become religious too that she would have agreed to marry me.



I didn’t go down that path because I do not believe in making radical changes overnight. Personal change should be a process, a journey that you undertake. It should not be something that is done without careful thought or consideration. There are many risks that are involved in change but you must weigh your steps and measure the risk. You have to identify what risks you are willing to undertake and those that you are not willing to.

Life is a risk and as such you should not avoid them, but there is no sense in jumping into the flames to determine if the fire is hot. Life is a journey that you begin at birth, it never ends.



And no journey is without it’s shar e of challenges and that is ok and to be expected. A little adversity is good for building character and growth. Everyone should challenge themselves and try to extend their boundaries a little bit.

I haven’t any regrets about the life that I chose not to undertake. It wasn’t the right path for me. I may still become BT one day, or I may not. But I am going to take those steps on my schedule. Some journeys coincide with those of someone else and sometimes the paths diverge. The trick is to pay atttention to your own path and those of your loved ones so that you can focus on taking the trip together.

“BRZEZINKA, Poland – As candles flickered in the snowy, winter gloom, world leaders and Auschwitz survivors Thursday remembered victims of the Holocaust on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp.”

The sad thing to me is that we still haven’t learned our lesson.

“ WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fines of up to $500,000 per violation for indecent material aired on broadcast television and radio were unveiled by a top U.S. House of Representatives lawmaker on Tuesday, renewing a campaign to clean up broadcasting that failed last year.

Lawmakers and Federal Communications Commission (news – web sites) officials, both Democrats and Republicans, have been seeking the higher fines as a way to deter broadcasters after a rash of incidents, including nudity and profanity on television.

Rep. Fred Upton (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the House Commerce subcommittee that has jurisdiction over the issue, unveiled on Tuesday a bill to raise fines on broadcasters and entertainers to as much as $500,000 per violation.

It would also require the FCC (news – web sites) to consider revoking a station’s license after three violations.

Meanwhile, Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record), a Kansas Republican, plans to introduce a measure on Wednesday to boost fines to as much as $325,000 per violation and a $3 million maximum for continuing violations, according to spokesman Aaron Groote.”

I am always reassured by our government. We are at war, fighting terrorists, bad guys and the assholes who show naked breasts, blow jobs, anal sex, hard core fucking, gang bangs and those nasty schmucks who have the temerity to say shit, piss, cock, fuck, blah, blah, blah. My apologies to George Carlin.

And to anyone who I may have offended I offer this suggestion. Change the channel, turn off the radio/television, tune out. Be an adult. Why not worry about improving the education of our children. How about working on providing more affordable healthcare for the nation or engage in some other activity that is not such a clear example of mental masturbation.

This type of legislation is just offensive. Instead of teaching responsibility, instead of teaching accountability we legislate morality. Fight the taliban outside of the US while our inner Taliban sets up shop.

Long time readers (now that sounds funny, this is less than a year old) know that I am wont to post song lyrics or lists of what I have been listening to. This should help to explain the prior two posts.

I also spent time tonight listening to John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton, but it didn’t make sense to me to post the lyrics to those songs.

Within the last thirty minutes the following tunes have been on my stereo:

Rebel Yell- Billy Idol

Get It Started- Black Eyed Peas

Pictures of You- The Cure

I Will Find You- Clannad

Viva Las Vegas- Elvis Presley

Without Me- Eminem

This Is Radio Clash- The Clash

I Want to Be Sedated- The Ramones

Los Angeles- X

Lean on Me- Bill Withers

Time in a Bottle- Jim Croce

Real Wild Child- Iggy Pop

What would I do without music. Scream, beat the walls and torture the neighbors with my own singing. 😉

I want to break free

I want to break free

I want to break free from your lies

You're so self satisfied I don't need you

I've got to break free

God knows God knows I want to break free



I've fallen in love

I've fallen in love for the first time

And this time I know it's for real

I've fallen in love yeah

God knows God knows I've fallen in love



It's strange but it's true

I can't get over the way you love me like you do

But I have to be sure

When I walk out that door

Oh how I want to be free baby

Oh how I want to be free

Oh how I want to break free



But life still goes on

I can't get used to living without living without

Living without you by my side

I don't want to live alone hey

God knows got to make it on my own

So baby can't you see

I've got to break free



I've got to break free

I want to break free yeah



I want I want I want I want to break free....