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Looking For Quacks In The Pavement

  • Past, Present, Future – Round Four

    I could have picked “life” or “death” as an appropriate seed idea this week, but I think I can go one better. And I’ll even put my answers in, this time.

    PAST – Music is just another of those deeply personal things that affects all of us in subtly different ways. One of the most powerful is the way it brings us back to an earlier time. Tell us about a song that takes you way, way back.

    (You know what takes me back to New York faster than anything? Those old Simon & Garfunkel standards. Pick one, any one, and suddenly I’m back in that cluttered bedroom holding the album sleeve in my hands and reading the lyrics.)

    PRESENT – How about giving us a quick glance at the music you’ve been listening to lately?

    (A few tracks from the first Linkin Park album, some Space Brothers, Kevin Gilbert and Toy Matinee, Midnight Oil, VAST, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, some random stuff from anime music videos and what-not. Not necessarily in that order.)

    FUTURE – Mega-palooza 2030 is coming, and all of your favorite musical artists are on the bill (even if some of them are actually holographic recreations). Name the headliner and a few supporting acts.

    (Genesis, including Phil, Peter, Steve and even Ray. Pink Floyd, including Sid and Roger, mainly because I’ve never been to a Floyd show. Kevin Gilbert in some capacity, any capacity. The Pet Shop Boys will be running the discoteque at the opposite end of the venue. Midnight Oil will open the show, because nobody gets you moving like the Oils.)

    You know the drill by now, I hope. Leave a comment with either your answers or a link to ’em, and if you link back to the PPF please use this address: http://greyduck.net/ppf/

    This one’s for Uncle George, and for all of the Kerezman clan, artists that we all are deep down inside.

  • If you have set yourself on fire, do not run

    Much captioning fun at the expense of “ready dot gov,” the lovely Homeland Insecurity website. Read and be amused.
    Internet Infidels – If you…

  • Thoughts on the burden of proof

    Thomas Jefferson, in an 1808 letter to one Daniel Salmon:

    We certainly are not to deny whatever we cannot account for. A thousand phenomena present themselves daily which we cannot explain, but where facts are suggested, bearing no analogy with the laws of nature as yet known to us, their verity needs proofs proportioned to their difficulty. A cautious mind will weigh well the opposition of the phenomenon to everything hitherto observed, the strength of the testimony by which it is supported, and the errors and misconceptions to which even our senses are liable.

    It’s a bit dense and archaic, but overall not a bad piece of writing that neatly describes how I feel about “unexplained phenomena.”

    Just a tidy bit of skepticism to start your day. You’re welcome.

  • Sarah’s Birthday

    All kinds of incredibly cool people have March birthdays. Take Sarah, for instance. Today’s hers. Go wish her a happy one, will ya?

  • Madly Liberated

    Okay, okay, I surrender. You may already have noticed that Mari introduced us to the Mad Liberation, and Lilith promptly followed suit. Three or four of you may even have wondered why I didn’t immediately put a copy here.

    Laziness, pure and simple. (Happy now?) Anyway, here’s the deal: In the comments or in an email if you’re shy (clickable linky goodness right below the duck logo, thanks) copy and paste the following, filling in the blanks as you see fit.

    I ____ Karel.
    Karel is ____.
    If I were alone in a room with Karel, I would _______.
    I think Karel should _____.
    Karel needs ______.
    I want to ____________ Karel.

    Ego gratification ahoy!

  • That’s neither a Wizard or a Quest

    Wendi and her dad have often spoken of the wonderful times they’ve had playing a game called “Wizard’s Quest.” Perhaps you’ve heard of it. I hadn’t. It’s a board game with complicated rules that takes a long time. This description could fit just about anything the Avalon Hill company ever produced, of course.

    On a whim I decided to Google for information about the game, to see if it had ever been computerized, that sort of thing. And in the process I learned two things.

    1) When you want to look for “Wizard’s Quest,” the game, be sure to include “Avalon Hill” in your search terms. Otherwise you’re likely to come across several tons of this kind of gods-forsaken crap:

    My description of your physical and spiritual existence is an eternal vision of my God (male) force blending with the Goddess in an androgynous and magical reunion. The two higher selves become one, each ruled by their own sovereign laws.

    Each obeys the laws of being and nurtures a free and spontaneous way to produce different music from the same source. Each an inspiration to each other, fusing into one with two bodies that create the synthesis of androgynous energy, to regenerate the magic of heaven.

    This wizard’s promise to his ultimate female muse is that he will find her again while traveling through his Spiritual worlds. This quest is his dream to play with her again in the lush gardens and forest groves of the magical planet, Gaia, and to co-create with brothers and sisters, the new Virgin paradigm of Who We Are.

    There are so many things wrong with that web page that I just can’t even decide where to start. Let’s move on, instead.

    2) Someone’s taken the time, apparently, to recreate “Wizard’s Quest” as a computer game. The fact that the screenshot is taken from Windows XP and the website is hosted on Geocities may or may not be offputting to you. I think I’m going to download it tomorrow and see how it looks. Think on it as a parting gift for the father-in-law who’s soon to be moving back to Arizona at long, long last.

    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go have some dessert, listen to some music and hit the sack.

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