'Tis the season for pagan folk metal

Work pix from Friday

These are from my regular cycle 4, which I did Friday, and which centers on the area of Cincinnati and Zarzamora. I've always thought a sign advertising colon therapy with an "info tube" was funny.

And from the other side of the same route, someone has just discovered Gloria Gainer Gaynor.

Some fantastic Deep One art

By Bryan Wynia.  A very high level of realism in these, in my opinion.

Tonight

We had our Halloween festival at church tonight, and they put on a pretty good spook house.  I went through it with my daughter because they wouldn't let kids go through it unaccompanied.  But as I told her, they don't scare me or even spook me.  They just irritate me because I don't like loud noises and the strobe lights make me feel sick.

A 20-something girl behind us freaked out and went back about 1/3 through.  My son (who is 10) went through with another adult and said it was scary.  My daughter (who is 12) said it wasn't scary.  She laughed most of the time, which is what I was doing.  After we came out, I heard her tell a friend of hers:  "I don't scream.  I either laugh or stab."*  G-d I feel sorry for any future boyfriend(s) of hers.

I still think they need something at least a little Lovecraftian in it.  Maybe next year I'll see if I can come up with a Cthulhu mask.  I think it would work okay for "the thing that crawls out of the well."



*Can I get that on a t-shirt?

In R'lyeh...

Squishables squish you.

Via The Texian Partisan via email.

Insert evil laughter here

Click to enlarge.  Well, I was one of the drones who filled out this survey, and believe me, I was not instrumental in having your w4t3r company selected as a top place to work.  I didn't say anything really bad about it, but I didn't say anything very good, either.

Anyhow, I already had my two original floating holidays scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, so I just scheduled the new one for Wednesday.  So I have a long 5-day weekend coming up, followed by a super-short 2-day work week.

And even though I've been telling them for months that they need to let me train more people on certain cycle 5 & 6 routes, they haven't.  Which means when that 6 comes up next week, it's going to be a major clusterf*** because guess who's the only person there who knows the route.

I was snickering sardonically about it all day today.

James Branch Cabell could tell you

I don't know if this is now considered obsolete usage, or if it's just one of those things where so many people kept getting it wrong that everyone now thinks it's right.  I hear this usage on the radio often and it always bugs me.

"He strolled down the street in a leisurely manner."

"He strolled down the street leisurely."

The first is correct.  The second is not.  It should be, "He strolled down the street leisurelily."  Whenever I hear someone speak this way, it makes me wince as if I'd heard a flat note in a song.

If anyone wants to correct me on this, you better be a super hard-core English nerd with some serious academic credentials if you expect to change my mind.

And two months later, he was gone

Via San Antonio Remembers:

1913
Ambrose Bierce, American author, is visiting San Antonio before starting a trip through Mexico. Bierce said he may make the Mexico tour by horseback.

Somebody find out where he stayed. He's sure to be haunting it.

Popcorn!

My son is a Webelos and it's popcorn season.  I just want to give my legions of readers the opportunity to help support his scouting activities.  He's just a little short of his $600 goal and our local area has been pretty much exhausted as far as sales possibilites.

Even if you don't want any popcorn, you can also use this to support our military.  Just click on the "military donation" button and your donation will be used to send popcorn to our troops.

Thanks!

Click here

I know true horror when I see it

And here it is.

Graphical adaptation of "Cool Air"

Originally published in Eerie magazine in 1975, created by Berni Wrightson.  H.P. Lovecraft's "Cool Air."

link

Of interest to Ghost in the Shell fans

NSFW.  No actual nekkididity, but still I'm sure it's NSFW.

link

Murder ballads

Farce the Music has posted another collection of parody album covers, one of which is something I have actually thought about.

Although I don't think Alfred E. Neumann could really handle it, the one about "Murder Ballads of the Appalachians" is something that someone should really do.

I have specifically wondered how hard it would be to research, track down and create my own collection of folk, bluegrass and old-time country songs about murder.  There seems especially to be a recurring theme of the singer having killed a woman (usually his girlfriend), for example "Knoxville Girl."*  Unfortunately that's the only one I can think of right now off the top of my head, but I know there are others.  There's even a Wikipedia entry on it.



*Read those lyrics and then feel free to think:  WTF?

I didn't make this one

see more Very Demotivational

But I really like it so I'm going to post it.

Another stolen metal item: the manhole cover

In my nightmares, and possibly in some future story, this is where vampires hide out during the day when they get caught too far from shelter.

This is an open storm drain--because someone stole the manhole cover.  I saw two of these in one day last week.  You can expect to see this more and more in the coming years because the more easily stolen meter box lids won't be around to steal anymore.

The most popular chord progression in pop music

I was already conscious of this.  You might want to not watch this video if you choose to remain a more passive music listener, because after this you'll probably at least smirk quietly in recognition any time you hear a song like this.

The chord progression in question is I-V-vi-IV, that is, Do-Mi-So to So-Ti-Re to La-Do-Mi to Fa-La-Do and back again.  The upper case Roman numerals indicate a major chord, the lower case a minor chord.

I've had a sort of sub-genre of songs like this in my head for a long time.  Yes, sometimes I'm listening to a song and I think, "Oh, this is one of those one-five-six-four songs."  Almost as popular is a very similar progression, I-vi-IV-V.

Anyway, this video is a great demonstration of what seems to be an extremely popular, if not the most popular chord progression in pop music.

Forgot one

To this I would add:  people who hold up the line for 10 minutes trying to decide which lottery tickets to waste their money on when all I want to do is buy a frikkin' Mr. Pibb.

Whatever "this" is

I had mandatory OT today due to the periodic double-billing cycle, and found this sign near the corner of Lubbock and S. Flores.  I have no idea to what they are referring.

You can thank me later

History of the typewriter recited by Michael Winslow from SansGil—Gil Cocker on Vimeo.

Background info here.

Okay then

And no digging for fish bait, either.

The plumber knows

Peanut butter

At Sunset Station.  Don't ask me to explain.  I only record and report.

I am a quiet person

And as such, I would very much like it if everyone else would read this: 6 Misleading Assumptions You Make About Quiet People.

One common definition of the introvert/extrovert divide is that extroverts gain energy from being around people, whereas introverts spend energy when hanging around people. So parties make introverts tired, even if they like everyone there and are having a good time.

I cannot overemphasize how true this statement is.

Most of you who read this blog have never met me in person.  Those of you who have know that once I become familiar with you and find we have common interests, I can be quite talkative.  But I can handle other people only in small doses; being in a group with many people is very wearying for me.  I think it's because I want to see and hear so much that I become tired through excessive perceiving.

So if you ever see me sitting quietly, watching and listening to everything that is going on around me but saying nothing, I just want you to know it doesn't mean I hate you.  It doesn't mean I'm socially crippled and want desperately to join in.

It only means I am measuring up your weaknesses. Heh.  Just kidding.

Another 'nomicon'

I don't think I have yet mentioned another interesting site I subscribed to recently:  Propnomicon.  And with a name like that, how could I not subscribe to it?  A blog about incredibly cool things to want.  For example, this reproduction of a G'harne star-stone.

Funny and true

The Circle of Loathe at Dork Tower.  We're only three steps away from hippies again, no matter how you look at it.

Did not get selected for jury duty

I was so far down the queue that they never even got to me. I just sat there all day until they told me to go home.

Hornady ZMAX ammo

Hornady® Zombie Max ammunition make DEAD PERMANENT!
Disclaimer: Hornady® Zombie Max ammunition is NOT a toy (IT IS LIVE AMMUNITION), but is intended only to be used on ZOMBIES, also known as the living dead, undead, etc. No human being, plant, animal, vegetable or mineral should ever be shot with Hornady® Zombie Max ammunition. Again, we repeat, Hornady® Zombie Max ammunition is for use on ZOMBIES ONLY, and that’s not a nickname, phrase or cute way of referring to anybody, place or thing. When we say Zombies, we mean ZOMBIES!

At Midsouth Shooters. Video ad at the link.

Weekend update

This past Thursday, at my place of employment, everyone there had to gather in the conference room to watch an instructional video on harassment of various kinds. Before the video ran, the boss told us that a lot of it was going to seem funny, but it was really serious.

Apparently the desk drone who picked out this video had no sense of humor, and when they began showing it to the employees and everyone started laughing, they realized they had picked the wrong video. But by then they had already bought the rights to show it, and it was too late. Or something.

It was funny enough to be on a comedy skit show, if there were any comedy skit shows left that were still funny. My personal favorite part was when some white guy started ragging on an Arabic-looking guy for liking camel racing over baseball. Now I'm going to be asking everyone if they've seen any good camel races lately.

After it was over and we were standing in line waiting for our assignments, I told some of my co-workers, "I guess I shouldn't tell the joke about the Jew, the Mexican and the Iraqi who took a dumb blonde to a gay bar."

Netflix finally got--a couple of weeks ago--ST:DS9 available for streaming, and I have been watching and enjoying it. I didn't follow it well when it was on, only starting to watch it toward the end, so there are a lot of shows I have never seen before. In my opinion, this is the best of all the latter-day ST iterations. The characters are much more multi-faceted and internally conflicted, and there is a lot of humor in it, especially between Quark and Odo. I also like how it shows that a lot of peoples outside of the beloved Federation don't have a very high opinion of the Federation and sometimes even have outright contempt and/or hostility toward it--often somewhat justified.

I received a notice from my internet service this past week that all customers are being bumped one tier up in their service level, although the monthly fee will remain the same. To me, this means that my speed has doubled, and I actually noticed it before I received the official notice. I haven't had any problems streaming videos for a couple of weeks now. I don't know why they did this.

I have been considering trying an audio blog (I don't want to go so far as to call it a podcast). To my knowledge, Blogger doesn't allow any audio uploads. However, Tumblr does, and I created an account over there to play around with some time ago, just to see how it works. I'm still working out technical details on actually creating an audio blog. So far it looks like editing one will take a lot of time, and that's after actually recording it. Or I might just create an audio-only "video" to upload to my YouTube channel. We'll see.

Heino!

Chances are, if you seen many lists of odd album covers, you've seen this one. I must say that this cover art has always been strangely compelling--or perhaps compellingly strange--to me. For one thing, I thought the dude was a woman.

Interesting article at Mental Floss about The True Stories Behind 10 Bad Album Covers. Good ol' Heinz Georg Kramm is the last, but certainly not the least, on the list. He's wildly famous and popular with 50 million albums sales to his credit. And he's still performing today.

The funny lumberjack. Or maybe the happy lumberjack. One of those.

What smells like blue?

Saturday my daughter told me something like this: "My stupid science teacher put macaroni and popcorn into the microwave at the same time, and it caught fire. We had to evacuate the building."

I didn't believe her. It sounded too ridiculous.

She just showed me the letter that was sent home with her from school. "Due to an incident involving a microwave on Friday the school was evacuated as a precaution. At no time were any students in actual danger."

So...apparently putting macaroni and popcorn into a microwave at the same time is almost as bad as popping Jiffy Pop in a microwave.

Also, her science teacher apparently can't use a microwave without setting off the fire alarms. Figures.

Rain report

We had right at 2 inches for the whole weekend at my house. Some people I know reported that they'd had around 3.

Stealing metal

Here's an article about some people who stole a 50-foot long steel bridge in Pennsylvania.

Metal thievery has been an increasing problem for a long time now, but it's reaching critical levels, and by that I mean levels at which the municipalities are no longer going to be able to just keep replacing stolen metal items, because they just can't afford it.

If you're ever walking around the city for some reason, look around you at the water meter covers. The vast majority--residential meters--have small metal plates & lids. They stopped buying these a few years ago and started replacing them with plastic lids that aren't worth stealing. But around businesses and wherever irrigation systems are in place, you will see larger meters that use what we call #1 and #2 lids. Both are rectangular; the #1 lids are the smaller of the two.

Your water company has reached a critical point at which it can no longer replace these stolen lids. It's just too expensive, and as soon as one gets replaced, it almost immediately gets stolen. The problem is that there is no plastic lid of a #2 size that can stand up to being driven over, which is often what happens with these meters because they're in driveways, parking lots, streets, etc. So you are going to see more and more sidewalk-sized barricades popping up everywhere--right on top of where someone stole a lid. They're only made from plastic and aren't worth stealing.

There will be no more metal meter lids in S.A. The thieves have literally stolen themselves out of business. If you have a rectangular meter lid on your property, I recommend taking matters into your own hands and welding a chain to one end of it--and welding the other end of the chain to the inside of the box--so it can still be opened but not as easily stolen. Because when it's stolen, it won't be replaced.

Also, no more writing "the" as "teh." It's not funny. It's just stupid.

The 5 Most Overused Jokes on the Internet.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. Most of these...uh..."jokes" just make the writer look like an idiot. They ceased to be funny years ago and really you people should just get the **** over it learn to be more original anyway.

More work and stuff

Got drizzled on for a few hours this morning, then the sun came out and it became miserably steamy and humid.

Customer Service Week is over and done with for another year, thank G-d. What a stupid, pointless, insulting waste of time. I did get a free meal out of it, but I had to take it to go, which from what I saw and heard is what everyone did because they worked us so hard no one wanted to stay around and "relax."

I also saw and heard that one of the main organizers was pretty p.o.ed that we didn't all sit down together and have a meal like one big happy family. Apparently she thought we should have all stopped working at noon, come in to eat, then gone back out and finished afterwards. Only a true fat-assed office worker could think like that. So I'm glad she was unhappy. I wish they'd discontinue this b.s. tradition and leave us all the h*** alone.

One of my surprise "treats" was to find they'd snuck a Coke Zero into my truck overnight. A freakin' Coke Zero. WTH? Not only that, but it was only a 7.5 ounce can. A) I don't like Coke. B) I don't like diet drinks. C) 7.5 oz is barely enough for me to even notice I've swallowed something. Also, that stuff doesn't have caffeine, right? Why would I even bother drinking a soft drink with no caffeine in it?

And now I have jury duty coming up. This is the first time I've been summoned in about 20 years. Before that, I received 3 summons' within about 18 months, and one thing or another happened so I didn't get on the jury.

1st time: The guy who was going to trial opted to be tried before the judge only and forego the jury.

2nd time: I was in school and they let me go because of that.

3rd time: I got the summons, then about a week later got a follow-up de-summons, that is, a letter from the judge saying my services were no longer requested. All three of these were during 1990-91, or maybe 91-92, I'm not sure.

Lemons

Amusing but erroneous

The kid is drawing an Elder sign. That's the not the kind of thing he'd do if he were worshiping Cthulhu. So...either this kid has Randolph Carter-level resistance to insanity and is hitting the Big Guy with an eldritch magic sucker punch, or someone goofed when they were making this graphic.

Classic rock haiku #8

Oh, what can it mean
to a daydream believer--
a homecoming queen?

It's...The Example Show!

Work and stuff

This week is "Customer Service Week" at my place of employment, which means that we are expected to act like one big happy family and play stupid games every morning instead of just going out and doing our jobs and getting the **** out of there as soon as possible.

Of course this means they've been working us extra hard. We're supposed to do around 600 meters per day, more or less, depending on what kind of route we have. Friday I did 685, Monday I spent all day in the Dominion (could only read about 580 meters, because it's the Dominion), today I did 711.

I find the whole "Customer Service Week" crap pointless and insulting. I'm hoping that the extra work will put us far enough ahead that we still get a free meal on Friday afternoon. That's what happened last year, anyway. The year before that, I got such a bad assignment that by the time I finished there wasn't anything left of the brisket but gristle and fat.

I finished up building my big favorites list finally, except for all the "various artists" collections and the jazz directory. So I took a break and tonight am getting around to listening to some of the new stuff I've been downloading free, mostly samplers from Amazon. Here's one that I found quite interesting.

Jewish holiday music. Some of the tracks are just standard pop fare, but I think it's worth downloading just for something different. I would recommend skipping track 13 because it's rap--English rap, unfortunately. If it had been Hebrew rap...well I've never heard any but I think it would be pretty cool. Anyway, some favorites on this one, especially track 3 which is sung in Hebrew.

Also worth checking out--one which I downloaded just today, is...

It's probably not what you think it is. Especially of note from this collection is a group called Lilium Aeris, who specialize in ancient music played on period instruments (harp and recorder!). If you have a thing for ancient/medieval music, look them up on YouTube. I haven't heard the whole thing yet (total playing time 63 minutes), but I'm liking it all so far.

Egad!

Who knew the Roadrunner was really a Terminator all this time?


But seriously, a roadrunner constructed from welded-together railroad spikes in someone's front yard in Helotes.

I think I'll have to watch this one

"San Antonio's most feared murderer." Quote from Netflix. Filmed in San Antonio and Lytle(?!). Estimated budget: $300.

Serial Rabbit 3: Splitting Hares.