GameSpot has a pretty good featured section on buying gifts this year with options about platforms, target age groups, various levels of interest - which might need to be taken with a grain of salt or two. While I don’t plan on buying Karaoke Revolution Vol 3 or Need for Speed Underground 2 for my folks they seem to think I would. It’s supposed to be updated in real time as prices and ratings change though so hopefully it’ll get better.

Also, if you care, a group led by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (who I’m guessing aren’t talking about fiscal responsibility) have come up with a list of this years most offensive games. They also criticize the ESRB as being too vague in their ratings and stores not enforcing the ratings system universally.

I wonder what these people would find to complain about if the game companies actually agreed with them and stopped making sex and violence freely available to their twelve year olds?

And for the younger kids there’s a website run by the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media (who I’d like to note don’t have a religious agenda or an arbitrary ratings system but encourage parents actively reviewing material with their kids instead of just relying on other people to tell them what is and isn’t ok for their own children) that reviews cdroms and interactive dvds as well as audio and video for our little budding technophiles out there.

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
() on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 at 20:51:06
—————————————————————————

email:
name: Taylor
comments: What a foul, filthy, trashy, blog. Get a life and stop seeking attention.
send: send
—————————————————————————

My Reply:

Hi. Fuck you and the minute you wasted sending this email.

PS. get a set of balls and use a real email address the next time you decide to say shit like that on someone’s site.

we might end up eating more turkey than we would have if Cody hadn’t had to work and we’d made one for ourselves.

Yesterday was very nice and quiet which is usually our thanksgiving goal anyway. We don’t buy into the Pilgrims meeting peacefully with Native Americans story, we just like to use it as a day for our little family: Cody, me, our dog, cats, hedgehog, and Jocelyn when she doesn’t have other plans.

Cody woke up early at three pm. We got dressed and went to a Furr’s cafeteria that had advertised a holiday buffet all day. We were worried it was going to be crowded. But it was far less crowded than last Saturday when Jocelyn wanted spicy food and I was still needing to eat bland food after the week of nausea. Yesterday we got pretty much every starchy food they were offering: Yams, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, stuffing, and rolls; a few somewhat healthy if not cooked in two pounds of butter vegetables too, the obligatory wafer-thin slices of turkey, and PIE. It was nice and we had enough time to relax and take our time. There was a little confusion with getting the coffee for dessert but otherwise it went very smoothly.

Then we came home and Cody played EQ for an hour or so until he had to go to work and I took a bath and reread an Aunt Dimity book. Some cousins who live near us dropped by Cody’s office to leave leftovers from the big fam dinner down in Los Lunas. Cody says they’re not as good because they weren’t made by his mom but I’m sure they’re fine.

Which is ok because today we’re going down to Cody’s parents house where his mom is cooking a small version of her thanksgiving spread. A sort of combo thanksgiving and Cody’s birthday (which is tomorrow) deal. And we really should do at least one holiday-like thing with his parents because we’ll be in Bham for xmas this year while Cody’s brother and his wife and kids are staying in San Diego. The parents can’t go to San Diego because Cody’s grandfather has been ill. There’s no shortage of support system family members in Los Lunas so they’ll be fine. Families are complicated aren’t they?

For the most part I’m happy to get out of the house and we’ll take Winter so she can play with Cody’s brother’s dog, who lives in his parents’ backyard and pretty much never gets attention any other time. Yes it’s very sad but I’ve learned my lesson from the other pet they did this with. Trust me. It’s better for me to just stay out of it and bring Winter to come play with him when we visit.

Right now I’m just focusing on getting myself centered just in case Cody’s dad decides to discuss politics, war, or jesus. Or they decide to say a big prayer before dinner. Always making a big deal out of the fact that we don’t have to pray with them if we don’t want to -which is worse than just shutting up and praying while letting us use it as a moment of meditation. I really wish Cody had never said anything to them about our feelings about religion. In my case my belief in the divine is a lot more complicated than they’ll ever be able to understand - all they know is I don’t love little baby jesus the way they do.

You love this person so you love the people that created him and helped him grow up to be the man he is. You do your best to be nice to them because not doing so is only more upsetting for him - he’s usually upset enough about these people he cares about so much being ignorant bigots you don’t need to point it out. But it’s very hard to be polite to them while still being true to yourself. My solution has usually been to just get a song stuck in my head and sing it to myself in there the whole time. Just appreciate that while we might not agree on a lot of things they love me for loving their son and would do whatever they could to help us. And try not to complain too much on the way home.

Now, a recipe!

I don’t make exact recipes (and rarely follow others exactly either) but this is a nice one I made after our first thanksgiving together. It’s surprisingly tasty no matter how you chose to flavor the bird. The measurements are far from gospel (like me!) just try to hit the same proportions.

You’ll need about:

Oddly enough I find shredding poultry meat therapeutic. (I also liked to be the bud deseeder and shredder in my um, “experimental” days.)

Just remove all the cartilage and bone and shred the meat to small bits a little big bigger than the size of shredded cheese. If you like your chicken salad a bit chunkier by all means do it your own way.

Put meat in a mixing bowl blend with corn or celery.

Sprinkle the cilantro on top and roughly blend it in with a fork. I do this first because I think the first mixing bruises the herb in such a way to make the flavors come out better. Sort of “introduces” it to the meat
Add enough mayonnaise to moisten and fold into the turkey. Add more if you think it’s too hard to mix.

About the chile powder: I use a nice red chile powder from Chimayo bought from a Native American street vendor walking around a coffee and magazine shop off Canyon Road in Santa Fe after a morning class had been canceled. I was sitting outside and it had just started to snow.

While your chile powder can be far less romantic I recommend the “spicy” as opposed to the “sweet” kind. We’re talking actual chiles here not sweet red pepper. If you have a wimpy tongue just don’t add as much. But it’s the spice that goes nicely with the tang of the lime and the cool zing of the cilantro. And that’s what makes this dish.

Add some lime juice and sprinkle some of the chile powder on top. Blend until even. Add more lime juice and chile powder. Blend. Repeat until it’s the smell, taste, and consistency you like.

Sprinkle the rest of the cilantro on top and toss one last time.

Spread on bread, put a scoop on top of greens, or just eat with a fork it’s all quite tasty.

No. But aren’t you glad I’m not talking about politics or turkey. (Please note my absolute restraint from making the obvious joke here)

In my pollyanna moments (they happen) I like to espouse the beauty of just ignoring those mean nasty star ratings (and the rators who rate them) and focusing on the Blogmarks. They’re the opposite of the Do Not View list and are basically a bookmark for pages you enjoyed and want to visit again. You can also see who has Blogmarked you which, I think, is a much better indicator of what people really think about your site. What’s interesting is you’re limited to only 25 Do Not View listings but can have unlimited Blogmarks - italicized nevermore.

I don’t think this is because the creators at Blog Explosion, or BlEx, thanks to Luka, are trying to eliminate weblog negativity in our times. No, they have prurient interest in you seeing as many blogs and banners as possible. If, say, the I (heart) Zell Miller page feels that it’s being added to so many Do Not View lists they won’t bother buying credits (which we’re all doing now just admit it) and there’s one less customer for BlEx. And it’s all about the volume of customers and the advertising dollars that follow them, we all know that.

My last post about Blog Explosion was admittedly vitriolic. Who doesn’t have their moments of sheer rage when they see something that truly offends them to the core? Some take issue with Janet Jackson’s metal-clad nipple or some random wife in a towel running around a football locker room or whatever that scandale du jour was which I’ve been pretty much ignoring. Others take offense at the pain and violence going on during the actual football game. I take issue with fetus imagery while web surfing. (No offense to proud new parents with sonograms intended) So sue me.

As the one critical commenter said, and I’m paraphrasing (or really just writing it in a much better way): “You liberals are all alike,” does anyone else think of Seth from Cold Comfort Farm when people say things like that? “It’s all about faldelals,” had to do it, “and free speech and press until something offends your precious sensibilities then you want it taken off the airwaves. Why don’t you heed your own advice and just change the channel?”

Actually, you’re quite wrong. It’s not like I was saying that the fcc should ban all fetal imagery without ten thousand disclaimer messages unless it’s shown after ten o’clock. I had every intention of changing the channel I just wanted the option to never have to watch that channel again. And without being able to add that banner to my Do Not View list odds are good I’ll have to see that channel again sometime.

But I’m off in tangent-land again. The actual intention of this post has been to talk about a major positive aspect of BlEx: meeting so many new people. Now while I’m limited to only twenty-five Do Not Views, at the moment I have seventy-five Blogmarks. I’ve already shared a few of them but I’ve been wishing for a way to share my Blogmarks with everyone. So today I created a special Blogroll just for weblogs I found on BlEx and enjoyed enough to want more than thirty seconds of my time with them.

The opinions vary, as do the design and writing skills, and locations, age, and life experiences. To me the variety of voices is the great aspect of looking at personal pages on the web. While I enjoy hearing different stories I still reserve the right to not have to hear Og the neanderthal spout the latest Savage Nation rhetoric and posting uninspired references to Clinton’s presidential library sharing a trailer with a sex toy store, ending every post with the “Four more years” chant. But those don’t really qualify as much of a variety to me anyway.

Anyway, look in the extended entry and enjoy.

Also, since I can’t seem to stop yammering about this subject I’m going to create its very own category.
(more…)

Art

Beautiful pinhole photos of camera obscura cityscapes

Also the winners of the 2004 College Photographer of the Year - a great variety of subjects in several categories

Had some fun with photos of phunq using the surprisingly easy Dooce effect in PhotoImpact (the “Bougie” Photoshop)

Literature

The Wasp Factory in a text file. A few sites included it in their “Best books of the 20th Century” lists.

(How) To Kill A Mockingbird aka Boo Radley: Space Pirate Robots prepare to cringe if you love the book like I do. Funny but not unlike having someone pee on photos of your childhood pet.

Oxymoronica

Music

Feeling mellow? Go listen to Kestrel’s Radio Blog. It’s a particularly wistful and melodic collection right now.

Getting frustrated dealing with fun family holiday bullshit? Then make your own angry punk songs with The Dirty Punk Fuckin’ Anarchy Machine

Tech

Skinning gmail - I have several invitations if anyone needs one just leave a comment with your email address.

BotSpot

WOW vs EQII

Sid Meier’s Pirates hasn’t been discussed by game people nearly enough dammit. Talk about a dark horse.

Etc

American Family Association invites us to order their instructional video on how to not be gay

What to buy your child for xmas if you want him to become the next Amish Norman Bates prototype

‘Crats from the South say “Well, Fuck you too”

Did you know there’s an unspoken quota of cutesy pet photos amongst pet-owning webloggers? Yeah, I know, mock me all you like but look at that face! Only a few of us know that she has the reincarnated soul of Marie Antoinette. Except now she just says “Hey, you got any more of that tuna cake?”

God that was a bad joke. Anyway today there are some new photos of Melon with a non-cheapo camera! UPS had just dropped it off and she was bugging me for attention so I thought I’d try it out. There are a few of Phunq in his bed on my desk as well. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for Cody’s birthday present it’s really very nice.

go see the rest in the photo journal

This is the surprise I found when I was searching the studio on Sunday.

———

This week’s theme: Purple Pain - a 1995 Prince cover album by Swedish (some of them punk) bands that’s no longer in print

right-click and save-as or you’ll definitely be feelin some purple pain, buddy

Refused - Let’s Go Crazy (definitely my favorite of the bunch)
(buy used album)

Souls - Take Me With You
(buy used album)

Fireside - The Beautiful Ones
(buy used album)

Randy - Computer Blue
(buy used album)

Fly - Darling Nikki
(buy used album)

Starmarket - When Doves Cry
(buy used album)

Girlsmen - I would die 4 u
(buy used album)

Stonefunkers - Baby I’m a Star
(buy used album)

Teddybears - Purple Rain
(buy used album)

So I’m doing my surf thing. I’ve given up rating weblogs or looking at my own ratings entirely. I’ve been a good little blog exploder only saying something when I had something nice to say and quietly adding sites that said things I found offensive to my “do not view” list while trying to add the sites I do enjoy to my blogmarks page. And really making an effort to visit and maybe even say hello to the sites that have me blogmarked. I’m genuinely flattered that some of you have enjoyed my site enough to come back. So I hope this doesn’t offend you too much. But it must be said.

I just hit my maximum of 25 sites on my “do not view” list and came to an interesting snap decision: I would rather be subjected to obvious sales ploys and pyramid schemes than read one more pro-war pro-bush anti-everything I was raised to believe america to be weblog. I shocked myself but there it is.

Right now I just wish I could add banners to my “do not view” list because I’m staring at one with a fucking FETUS on the top of my BE browser tab.

Folks, if I wanted to watch partially mature human lifeforms suck their thumbs I’d watch our prez on the news mkay?

And Pro Life Blogs dot com? Fuck You. Not in a nice fun way but in a big nasty mean painful way that leaves scars like in the uterus of a woman who had to have a back alley abortion. You and your stupid banner suck.

The fact that there are enough people like you who feel the need to band together in their extreme insecurity of their god’s love to the point where they feel they have to earn it by becoming crusaders against women’s control of their own bodies bothers me enough. That there are enough weblog authors who buy this bullshit to form a group of possibly more than two (I’m sure as shit not going to give your site any additional hits to find out) is just unspeakably sad to me. But to have to face your nasty ugly fetus imagery while trying to digest my dinner makes me unbelievably angry.

Not towards the women who have to face one of the most difficult decisions they’ll ever have to make in their lives as your horrid little design intends - but towards YOU.

Fuck you, fuck your fetus imagery, and fuck the stupid cheap ass standard windows fonts you used on your stupid fucking banner.

Sleepbot Environmental Broadcast is a streaming audio service that plays a variety of relaxing “sleepworthy” sounds 24-7. There’s even a reference tone of the loudest it will ever be so you can set your speakers accordingly.

Look what I got in the mail today from Torrid

and this
and this
and a pink cardigan with black ruffles on clearance for ten dollars that’s sold out now.

I feel pretty oh so pretty. I feel pretty and bonita and mighty mighty girly for buying so much pink stuff.