Sat Dec 25, 2004 - Favorite Albums of 2004

Pete's favorite albums released in 2004:

1. Oh My Girl - Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter
2. Perpetuum Mobile - Einsturzende Neubauten
3. The Real New Fall LP - The Fall
4. Real Gone - Tom Waits
5. The Dirty South - The Drive-by Truckers
6. With the Lights Out - Nirvana
7. The Tigers Have Spoken - Neko Case
8. That Moment of Silence Before a Disaster - Kuma

And here are my favorite albums that came out in previous years but which I didn't really discover until 2004:

1. Cock a Doodle Don't - Those Legendary Shack Shakers (2003)
2. Skinny Dip with Don Tiki - Don Tiki (2002)
3. Baja Sessions - Chris Isaak (1996)
4. I Dig Your Voodoo - Naughty Ones (1993)
5. Here Comes That Weird Chill - Mark Lanegan (2003)

Sun Nov 28, 2004 - Nightlife Photos Moved

Pete's Seattle Night Life photos have moved to here. (Warning: Many Night Life photos are rated R.)

Fri Nov 26, 2004 - The Beast and Betty Crocker

So I'm watching a documentary on Anton Lavey and his satanic black mass -- you know how you do around the holidays -- and as the camera is panning along his shelves full of macabre books and eerie objects, I recognize a couple ceramic skulls -- hey, those are the ones from Trader Vic's! So of course I rewind so I can take a photo to post on Tiki Central, and when I get a better look I can make out one book on the shelf -- The Better Crocker Cookbook.

If the eerie ambiance that Lavey would have liked wasn't already totally lost due to his pre-schooler halloween-costume cap and horns, it certainly was once I saw his satanic bookshelf holding Betty Crocker.

Fri Mar 19, 2004 - More Demon Monkeys than I had Anticipated

Who would have thought a search for "demon monkey" on eBay would have turned up not one but three items? I was actually just looking for one of these:

Fri Feb 13, 2004 - A Leap in Evolution

I love talk radio and only wish I had more time to devote to it. So I'm listening to "Coast to Coast" (the old Art Bell show) tonight and a woman calls in and explains that she was concerned because her 10-year-old son's head is larger than usual. She took him in to the doctor to have this diagnosed, and reports that the doctor discovered that the kid has a bigger than average brain -- something the mother has heard about occuring in other children in recent years and which she speculates is due to "one of those leaps in evolution."

What I find most interesting about this is not the comical implications about the woman's understanding of evolution (a problem sadly all too common in our high tech society), but rather the way she looks at the whole big head, big brain issue. First, the kid had a big head, which was a mystery that had to be solved. So she goes to the doctor, and apparently sees the doctor's observation that the kid has a big brain as the *explanation* for the big head mystery. Second there's the question of what she was thinking before she got the news from the doctor that her big-headed kid has a big-brain. Since this appears to have been a surprise, I can see how she would have been concerned for her child's health -- what with an average-sized brain rattling around in that outsized cranium.

BTW, the radio host responded by urging the woman to stay tuned, because his guest was going to explain how evolution was being run by extraterrestrials.

Sat Feb 7, 2004 - Arisaema Sikokianum

This year's NW Flower and Garden show would have been a big success for me if for no other reason than that I found some Arisaema Sikokianum:

But I also found some great jet black Calla lillies and some other nice stuff.

Fri Nov. 28, 2003 - Roy Orbison in Cling Film

You have to love the internet. Like this morning, when I wondered to myself, "I wonder where you could find a good collection of stories about wrapping Roy Orbison in cling film?" http://www.michaelkelly.fsnet.co.uk/karl.htm

Sun Nov. 23, 2003 - Creepy Happy Boy Mannequin

Okay, this could be the most unsettling thing I've found on eBay yet:

Thu Sep. 11, 2003 - Guilty Pleasures

This arrives tomorrow:

Mon Sep. 8, 2003 - Jeeziz!

Another great eBay find! I think this would be delightfully comforting for a small child's bedside:

Tue July 29, 2003 - Soviet Medical Care

Far be it from me to judge the quality of medical care in the mid 20th century Soviet Union, but according to the New York Review of Books, here was what happened doctors were called in after Stalin had a stroke:

"When they arrived, the doctors immediately applied eight leeches to the skin behind his ears, and gave him cold compresses and enemas of magnesium sulfate, glucose, and Vaseline."

Tue July 8, 2003 - eBay & Me

So I'm not very good on eBay -- whenever I've seen something I really, really want, I always get outbid. But the silver lining is that when you lose out on an item, ebay sends you a few other suggested items based on the tastes you've demonstrated in your bids. So after the last one itsuggested that I'd probably like this:

Tue July 8, 2003 - eBay & Me

If you haven't seen "The Star Wars Kid" and various modified versions, you must check them out. (Start at the top.) www.lizziegrubman.com/star_wars_kid.htm

May 12, 2003 - Security

On the dependable prank advice of my cousin Kevin, I ordered a fake security camera and installed it in our area at work. In reality the device is not a camera, but it has a motion detector, and moves back and forth with a flashing red light when someone walks past. "Installing" it amounted to sticking it to the frames holding up ceiling tiles with a bit of mounting tape.

By the time I arrived in the office Monday morning, the area was buzzing. Not only had they noticed the camera, they'd inspected the rest of the floor and wondered why our side was the only one with a camera. People are talking about it to each and others are talking about to more people on the phone. At the end of our regular Monday morning floor-wide meeting, the Senior Vice President asks if anyone has any questions. One of the guys from our area asked why we have a security camera and no other area on the floor does. The SVP says he doesn't know, and that it was inappropriate to install it without his knowledge, so feel free to cover the lens and see who shows up. After the meeting I circle around and inform the SVP of the gag, and he suggests various ways of extending it.

So I snag another fellow's business card and cover up the lens of the camera. I couldn't think of someone available who was able and willing to pretend to be from Security (as the SVP suggested) so we do the next best thing. I send my friend Chucke the e-mail addresses of everyone in the area, and Chucke forges an e-mail from Washington Mutual Security to all them, explaining how interfering with WaMu security equipment may result in various punishments including terminating employment. Upon reading this, the guys hastily pull off the card blocking the camera's view.

Finally, Ray, one of those who was particularly outraged, gets a big clue after forwarding the Security e-mail to the SVP. He prints out the entire header of the e-mail, and sees that the reply-to address is set to a yahoo group -- a dead giveaway. Ray bursts into the meeting I'm having with the developers, calls me a very bad name (based on a certain activity that people of my gender and orientation do not like to do), and throws the crumpled copy of the security mail at me.

To understand my sense of victory here you must understand my personal history. For someone else to have fooled the team, it would have been nice; but for someone with my long and deserved reputation as a liar, it was exceedlingly sweet.

Thu Apr. 10, 2003 - Unique Perspectives

I just saw a promo on for ABC News. The ad showed you footage of that Baghdad statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down and the narrator said, "No one brings you coverage of history like this."

No one, that is, except every other newscast in the world all broadcasting footage of the exact same event.

Fri Apr. 4, 2003 - Vampire Personals

Here is a quick sampling of personal ads from the Vampire Church site:

Hey everyone. My Name is J. I am 6 feet tall, 155 pounds, I have dark brown hair which I like to spike up, green eyes with a gold "starburst" in the middle, I am looking for a girl around Wilmington, Delaware who is more involved in this lifestyle and is willing to help me learn about this. I am 14 years old but very mature for my age. Feel free to email me whenevr you want. I check it often. I hope to hear back soon. Until then, be safe everyone!

hello my names rob im 23 live in andover m.a i have a blood fetish i dont have speical powers but i have a very wide imagination and open mind i have mortal magick power power of the earth my blood fetish started at age 9 if any one wants to contact me my screen name is XgoodtweedX

I'm a mix of christian/pagan religions and believe myself to be a psychic vampire. I'm 16, female, from New Hampshire, and heartbroken. I love poetry, video games, rock music, ect. To read poems of mine and see my picture, go to www.authorsden.com, click N under authors, and find Mistress Nataku. I love goth guys who have a sweet, romantic side to them and can understand my complex soul. My AIM screen name is Atotsugi.

I am a 20 year old psi/sang-vampiress in Maryland. I am tired of being alone. my life is so empty with out any other vampire around. I am open to all who embrace the dark gift, wether vampire or not. I need someone I can confide in and learn from. please anyone vampire/vampiress/donor/ or ones who admire vampires, I don't care where you are, what you look like, just as long as you are not a RPGer, please contact me before my loneliness drives me insane.

Fri Mar. 28, 2003 - Today's Funny

Chuck writes: I'm root on my linux box, but I can't find the directory where zillions of megabytes of old log files are stored. They would have the extension .log, and probably begin with ex*. How do I start at the root and search everywhere for files named ex*.log ?

Steve writes: find / -name "ex*.log" -print 2> /dev/null > output.txt

Charlimo writes: UNIX sucks. In Windows, we have a little dog that helps search for things.