Mage Against the Machine

This is a video clip of the footage I took of the Web Executive Seminar held at the National Press Club hosted by my company Forum One. It was actually a pretty good event. Gave me some pretty good insights into how journalists use the web. I didn't know how popular Google alerts were with journalists.

I can't help think of the alleged 'ancient Chinese curse' cited by J.F. Kennedy, "May you live in interesting times!" We indeed live in interesting and horrific times. September 11, 2001 will perhaps stand as the seminal historical moment of my life. The world certainly changed it's aspect to me on that day. I will never forget driving into work down George Washington Parkway and seeing a plume of thick black smoke issuing from the Pentagon and mobilized military personnel with assault rifles covering Washington National Airport. My first thought was that there had been a military coup, it was terrifying. I turned on the radio and the first thing I heard was "America is under attack!". Hearing those words was like being smacked in the face. I remember being completely disorientated; I simply could not conceive that this country could be under attack!

I will NEVER forget that morning, or hearing that first one tower of the WTC had collapsed and then the other. Seeing the devastation of the Pentagon burning, that only minutes before had received a direct hit from a weaponized commercial aircraft was something I could never have imagined I would ever experience. To be that close to such brutal and callous sacrifice of human life continues to bother me; even after five years. The horror of it is still very fresh. So fresh that I still can't bring myself to watch the TV footage of the attack, and the idea of watching a motion picture such as 'United 93' or 'World Trade Center' seems repugnant to me. How could anyone who lost family and friends in the attacks watch either of those films? It is far too soon for this to be made into a Hollywood story.

The prospect of the world entering a new Dark Age does not seem quite such the alarmist fantasy as it once did.

I got my flight and hotel reservations booked for my trip to LA next month, just need to sort out the car rental situation. The main purpose of the trip is to attend the three day intensive annual Pentjak Silat Serak training camp with Victor De Thouars. I'm a remote student of Pak Vic, in the instructor training program and it's a requirement for me to travel to the Pusat (headquarters) in LA at least once every 12 months, and so this will be both an opportunity to meet other students and instructors from around the country/world as well as a great training event. ( Read more... )

So I finally made it through the move back to G'burg. Thanks to my awesome friends who came out to help! I had planned to feed everyone by cooking burgers on the charcoal grill that I had bought, but had not had time to assemble. As it turned out you needed an engineering degree just to assemble the damn thing, which Shane almost managed to accomplish except for the small matter of one of the key parts not being machined properly. Plan B was to order some food for delivery. That might have worked if I we could have found a place that was still open after 10.30pm! Finally Ginger came to our rescue and brought us a bucket of KFC chicken and sides all the way up from Arlington. Good grief! Thanks GinGin.

Although G'burg is somewhat in the boonies (though nothing like being in WV) it does have a 24hr Dennies; now that would have been useful information for me to have recalled. I am enjoying the semi-rural environment however. Last night as I was taking Odin for a walk out back I came face-to-face with a couple of deer: a stag and his doe. They looked at me for a second and then scampered off into the woods. That made me feel happier about being out here.

The house needs a lot of work doing to it, but it's comfortable and I have a lot of space to work with, which I like. I am going to make the large finished basement into a training area for Kali Silat and JKD training. It is going to be ok living up here, though the gas prices are making the 5 days a week commute quite pricey! I will have to try and persuade my company to let me telecommute a couple of days a week; at the very least let me do one day. I tried that before but PMs never respected my telecommute day and would always commit me to client meetings; making it a lost cause. Sigh.

I am the Lover who has sinned against Love.
Eros is a mighty and vengeful god.
I am struck down and yield
before the bitterest curse of Man:

to love and be denied love's embrace

I have doubted you... mea culpa,
I have scorned you... mea culpa,
I have reviled you... mea culpa,
I have defiled you... mea culpa,
I have ravished you... mea culpa,
I have tricked you... mea culpa,
I have shamed you... mea culpa,
I have feigned you... mea culpa,

mea culpa,
mea culpa,
mea maxima culpa.

Now, my heart is rent in twain,
like the veils of a fallen temple.
I have sinned against Love and
Love is not mocked.

Is there is no mercy;
no final appeal?
Who would defend
a self-condemned man?

Ok, so I have rented a truck for this Saturday and have been boxing up my stuff this week so that it will be easy to transport. So here is the itinerary.

Saturday 29th July

Arlington, VA
10.00am - start loading the truck

Gaithersburg, MD
2.00pm - unload the truck

As soon as we are all unloaded we'll start partying! I'd like to have two shifts so that nobody has to help both with loading AND unloading. Just let me know if and when you can make it to help out. THANK YOU!!

A Brief History of Disembodied Dog Heads

I must concur with the author of this article when he says: "I might as well say upfront that I'm against the removal and reanimation of heads, even for scientific or culinary purposes." And yet... come on... it would be cool pull out at parties... admit it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14002908/

Anyone who grew up with fantasies of "doing it" with Orion slave-girls in zero-G will be disappointed to know that sex without gravity is likely to be beset with difficulties and would have to be carefully choreographed to avoid the most humilating 'awkward fumblings'. The potential effects of weightlessness on the male member is simply horrifying.

Last night I started viewing the raw footage that I took at the "Come as you Were" party. I had never seen any of this before! It was a very emotional experience because there were some really awesome Bagel moments, including him 'persuading' Sean to snort pixy sticks! I need to do some editing, but I am happy that I managed to capture some film of Bagel at play. I am not willing for this time of my life to be over - I'm afraid that I'm going to have to dig my heels in on this one.

equalinvain - Hugs, kisses, party-poppers, bottle-rockets, balloons, silly paper hats!!! My imaginery friend sends birthday hugs too :-)

I'm going to be moving back to my house in Gaithersburg at the end of the month (weekend of the 29th) and will need some help moving my stuff. If there is enough of us we can get everything moved very quickly with nobody having to break much of a sweat. Then we can PARTY!

I'll have plenty of wine and beer and will either fire up a grill or order a bunch of pizza. I will feed and intoxicate everyone who comes out to help. Those who come just to party without actually helping with the move will be poked with sticks and possibly beaten about the head and torso with rubber chickens. If you come to help with the move, yet would actually prefer to be beaten with rubber chickens, this too can be arranged by special request (please provide 24hrs notice so we can procure enough chickens).

The memorial service for Bagel was very healing. It was good to be around our friends and there was so much love, it was quite overwhelming. There was so much that I wanted to say about my friend and so little time to say it. I wanted to speak more about his loyalty to his friends, how you knew at core that Bagel always had your back if you needed it. He inspired the same loyalty in us all, such that if he had called on my help at any time I would not have refused it if it was in my power to help. As Bagel would say, "friends help you move, best friends help you move bodies".
( Read more... )

I drove into work this morning to find that several blocks around the office have been marked off for emergency no parking. I usually park in the office parking lot and if there isn't a spot I pretty much park in the same spot a block around back. Today, I couldn't park in my usual spot.

As I'm leaving work for the day I suddenly realize that I have absolutely no idea where the hell I parked earlier in the morning. I walk several blocks around the office in the rain looking for my car! After about 10 minutes of this and frantically trying to retrace my steps I start to worry that maybe it had been towed, that I had inadvertently parked in a no parking zone, then I started speculating that I might have left it unlocked it and maybe it had been stolen.

I realized not only did I not know where I had parked my car but I couldn't recall the number of my tags. So I started freaking out that my car had been stolen and I would be reporting it to the cops like this...

"Err.. well actually no I don't quite recall my registration plate officer. The car is a silver Ford Focus, that much is certain... after that it's a little hazy. I know it starts with the letters JUB and there's an 8 in there somewhere which I hope will be helpful during your investigation. What? Where EXACTLY was it when I last saw it? Well, it was somewhere in Delray I couldn't really say like the exact spot it was parked... or what particular street. No, I really wouldn't want to hazard a guess as to the general vicinity either - your guess would be as good as mine, but I don't think I had too far to walk to the office if that helps any."

No, I wasn't looking forward to filing a police report like that. After combing several blocks of back streets I finally walked to the front of the building and there was my car parked on the main street. I totally don't remember parking out front, it seemed pretty improbable that I would even find a space out there. Now come on who does that? How the hell am I able to function? I need a handler or something to keep me from completely spacing out.

It's funny because only the other day I was telling Ginger that the only feature I missed about my old car was the remote control 'panic' button which was often the only way I could locate my car. With my new car I actually have to make a point of remembering where I park. Since my thoughts have been so distracted with grief and loss I completely failed to take a note. I feel like I'm losing my mind, but really I'm not sure I've ever had a really tight grip on it to begin with. My mind simply wanders off on it's own like a little kid in an amusement park.

I'm incorrigible... totally beyond corrigement.

http://www.rememberingbagel.com/

Please let other friends and family know about Bagel's online memorial at the address above. Feel free to start uploading your photos of Bagel, writing condolences and sharing memories. We will be keeping the site updated with the latest details about the celebration of life memorial services and other things that are being done in Bagel's honor.

Also, don't forget that Dana is coordinating the building of a scrapbook of photos etc. to be given to Loki. Also if you are looking to lend a hand with the arrangements so if you can help out please post a message in the 'Offers of help' thread on the memorial site (http://www.rememberingbagel.com/remember/read.php?11,771)

Thanks!

I spoke with Bagel's sister Lisa this morning to get his family's blessing for us to put up a memorial website in Bagel's honor. I know a few other people are pulling some stuff together to go online so please contact me to coordinate this effort. I plan to work on this tomorrow and hopefully have a site up by the end of the day.

Please note that Bagel's friends at the Virginia Renaissance Faire have posted a very beautiful tribute to Bagel on their homepage: http://www.varf.org/

The website will be at http://www.rememberingbagel.com/

You will be able to post condolences, share your precious Bagel moments and also share and browse photos.

I also have about 3 hours of raw video footage of the 'Come as you were' Party at the house in DC that I'm hoping has some decent footage of Bagel at play.

To coordinate on ideas and input on the website contact me at nyk.ashlin (at) gmail.com.

Blessings all.

Nyk

Just when I thought my heart could be broken no more I am proven horribly wrong. My beloved friend Bagel (David Baker) has been cruelly stolen from us in a traffic accident early this morning. Bagel and I shared the house at 11th street in DC and was my partner is crime; throwing the Freaks On Friday parties. When I first met him he told me his philosophy was 'embrace your apathy', but he was anything but apathetic. He would go out of his way to help his friends, and he didn't miss any opportunity to live life as it should be lived with intensity and the highest and most refined spirit of fun, joy and playfulness.

I can't even begin to express the depth of my sorrow right now and how much I will miss this wonderful and beautiful soul who was my friend Bagel. I wish I could be more eloquent because he deserves the very best from me, but I can't find the words that can express the sadness and loss ... I just can't. My heart is breaking.

Cheers Bagel! I toast you with... well you know our toast my friend... Until we meet again and unleash our mischief once more upon the world.

I've been invited to a couple of 666 parties tonight. I'm going to try and make one of them after my class tonight, but it will not be a late night for me since it is a week night.

I have been recently informed that my LJ blog is boring.

The reason I have not been writing much lately is because I have been busy training and as part of my martial arts training I have been keeping class notes via a Blogger blog and so I feel a little disinclined to keep up two regular blogs. For what it's worth my class notes are at:

http://kaliwarrior.blogspot.com/

Although, this is publically available it's not really intended for public consumption other than perhaps for my instructors and possibly other of my fellow martial artists. It's mainly there for my own reference.

I'll try to keep this LJ going, though time is a precious commodity these days. It's much easier leaving wisecracks on other people's blogs :-)

BlogShares: Carodej the Sybarite & LiveJournal

An interesting online fantasy stock market game. Looks like valuations are based in part on links-in, probably number of comments etc. Possibly a cool way for organizations that use blogs to measure their impact.

The Prison Industrial Complex

In a nationwide implementation of the notorious Georgia chain-gangs the US legacy of slavery continues despite the 13th amendment of the US constitution: since that amendment allows for 'involuntary servitude' in connection to a punishment for a crime. As the US has privatized it's prison industries there is a strong industrial incentive to lobby for longer sentencing and increased use of prison sentencing as a way of maintaining a captive workforce as well as controlling 'disposable populations'. So if you should ever get bored and start to wonder why 25% of the world's prison population (a staggering 2 Million people) is in the US, is predominantly black or hispanic and poor, there is no need to look further for an explanation. A very elegant form of slavery utilizing a loophole in the 13th amendment.

Some day we may all be employees of Unicor.