ha

Dear Slugs,

I'm back.

love,
zach-0

!!?!

I FUCKIN' HATE IT WHEN SOMEONE CANCELS SOMETHING AND FUCKIN' FORGETS TO TELL ME!!!

Commentary-to-Go

I'm going to keep hammering this home because it's the only way to get anything done...

I've been talking with Aaron about this podcasting idea I've been brewing on, and apparently he has access to an audio/video studio. A STUDIO! That's useful.

So the idea I'm working on is a semi-long series of audio and video podcasts (audio because some people prefer to listen to a radio-like show as they are driving, walking, jogging, and so forth; video because video is interesting and sometimes you just can't convey a message quite right without the picture - and I'm sure James would get a kick of video).

The subject matters I'm playing with are rather obvious, things that spawn conversation. It doesn't have to always be about one particular topic, but a semi-directed topic of choice per podcast would be a better idea overall.

So... I think I really just need to know, for the moment, who'd be interested?

I know, I know, it probably sounds lame or (insert random excuse), but it could be fun. Bradbury, you are in town for a few weeks, or relatively close-to-town, it'd give you a chance to voice some opinions, and from the past, we know you like that.

Hell, we all do.

Jimmy, get your fuckin' computer working and start being online again damnit!

Joe... sorry... jOe, you're in Graham and probably unable to drive on up here... but you have a webcam as we've all been fortunate enough to see... I'm looking into ways of recording video conferencing through my MacBook Pro, so you could conceivably give join us, and give us an update on graham and redneck culture.

Just kiddin' jOe. Don't eat me.

Just kiddin' about that too jOe. (Besides, I'm workin' to make you a star. You can be the next TroubledGirl15, or whatever the hell YouTube girl that was.)

James, you long-haired hippy fucker... well, really I just wanted to use the phrase "long-haired hippy fucker" even though it does not apply in any real-world, conceivable way. But James, you occasionally bitch to me about these sorts of things (creative outlets, expression, blah-blah-blah), so here you go. Run with it. Or hobble with it. (I'm not sure of your health situation currently.)

And finally, if we do that camping idea that I've also been formulating, we could video-podcast that as well. I've got a full series-of-tubes worth of space, so I can host it.

Posts from the Streets

About ten minutes ago, I felt bored out of my mind and I was going to
post something about this fucking huge, giant-ass fly that I thought I
had killed earlier in the day and yet had somehow come back to life
and started crawling around my floor.

But then this guy got on my bus and I found him a little more
entertaining. He stumbled on the bus, seemingly dazed and confused,
(probably drunk) and after slurringly asking the bus driver to be
allowed on the bus (I couldn't quite catch his excuse), he proceeded
to ask someone for a quarter.

He just said, "Man..... ...... I'm tired", as the smell of cheap
alcohol wafted out of his maw and toward my airspace.

It looks like I'm listening to music right now, otherwise he probably
would have asked me for a quarter as well.

Four-W: Jeff

Following Bradbury's suggestion, since it seemed like a simple and useful one... a little update about the last few years...

Where to start...

So, left college, getting the all-important Bachelor's Degree (of Science, in Psychology). Was it worth it? Yes. Did I learn a lot? Yes. Did I learn a lot in the field I was studying? Meh.

I did come away with the probably rather obvious conclusion that college is not for everyone, but it was most definitely for me. I also wish I could have stayed a few extra years, most likely because I have found that I thrive in education-filled environments. I'm planning on graduate school (the college that comes after college), which sounds even more like for me. (Think of an environment where knowledge not only comes from what has been learned in the past, but what is discussed in committee or think tanks or in concert with each other. James once mentioned a kind of learning like this...)

Since college, I have entered the workforce, now finding myself working at the Veterans Hospital in Seattle. It has its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, there is nothing spectacular to it, and when I leave, it won't be a sad occurrence (though not because it was a terrible place).

And that, is that, for the some of you who do not know what has been going on.

---

Now onto the more current matters of the day. I invested about a hundred dollars in the ability to do a wide-variety of "web" things, i.e. podcasting, graphics, photography, and the such. That might sound stupid or foolish, but I have found that until you put up the money, you are reluctant to carry out creative, hobbyist, endeavors.

So, now I definitely need to push on this podcast idea. Bradbury, James, Jimmy, Mike, Aaron, jOe, or anyone else who remotely reads any of this... ideas on a podcast? I know I've been mentioning this much lately (possibly ad nausea), but I'm intrigued by the possibilities of what amounts to "new-age HAM radio broadcasting".

Ideas for a theme include movie reviews, music reviews, reviews about reviews, "How much I hate Michael Bay and here's why:", or some other miscellaneous topic. The best part is, we don't all need to necessarily be in the same place to do it. (Also kind of a sad reality, since we lose out on face-to-face time, but whatever...). So, seriously, get back to me on this.

DO IT. DO IT NOW!

OKAY, NOT NOW...

NOW!

A Few Little Things...

A quick few updates before I go to bed...

I've added a few links to various board-member's personal sites, as you'll see on the side. There's Bradbury's and Rigney's sites... and I think NOT mud's site as well.

And I've also added a link to the comic that I made, and subsequent comics to come:
James-2-James.

More issues will appear there later. Also, when I figure more of this out, I will be able to post future podcasts, as that's a plan I'm working on. James, i will likely need your help, and Aaron's too.

And now... I'm going to bed.

Hello Five Dollar Footlong

Fuckin' yummy man. Anything five dollars and a foot long is worth it.

I've been thinking, camping soon anyone?

Oh, hello there.

Slugs, eh?

...

It's been a while, since these parts have seen the kind of action they've seen lately. But, uh, it seems most of what's been happening (or, at least, what I catch in the email updates I get) has been talking about the old board.

Ok, wow. Nostalgia. Awesome.


Anyway, I'd like to go on record as saying it doesn't fucking matter why the old board withered away.

Aside from that, it's been a long, um, half-decade since I've seen many of the old folks.

How about a post from everyone with a little four-w action (where, what, why, how) about your life? I'll go first:

---

I found my way to Pilchuck Glass School in 2003, and it worked, so I went back in 2004. Learned a shit-tonne, made a lot of strong, life-long friendships, and didn't get to go back.

For the next two years, I spent my free time in Eugene, working in the Eugene Glass School and University of Oregon hot shops with my good friend Jason Harris, among many others.

In the fall of 2006, our merry band of glass junkies started trickling out to Maui, where Jason and longtime friend Bobby Smith had been assembling a world-class glassblowing studio. April, July and December of 2007 saw me on the island, helping put together a few last details and make a fair amount of interesting glass art.

April 2 of this year, I quit the school system, packed what little shit I need (eight boxes and two suitcases), and got on a plane to my new, tropical home: Haiku, Maui.

In the past two months, I've learned much about life, glass, culture and myself. I've grown a great deal personally, and (here comes that word) as an artist.

Tomorrow, I get on a plane to return to the damn-it's-cold northwest.


Oh, and I've been relating little bits of life and such over at my little website, BAMFglass.com

There are pictures. Most are blurry and/or out of focus.


The purpose of my return, though, is a little more ...merry. Da Factory (my actual home, as it seems) is throwing a wee little party, to honor Ken Kesey, the Merry Pranksters and Furthur. Furthur will be there, as will a lot of original and second-generation Pranksters. Da Factory's team (which includes me) will be making an over-the-top glass sculpture.

More info is on my site, and on Da Factory's homepage

Anybody with an appreciation for Kesey, the Pranksters, the "psychedelic" counter-culture or the "psychedelic experience" should plan on attending.

---

There you have it. Not too hard, for author or readers. I was considering hyperlinking it all wiki-style (like the press release), but you all know how to use google.

Cup Cakin' It

There is nothing better, work-related, than when someone retires or
leaves because there is always free food. Like the awesome free
cupcake you see here.

Yes, it is fuckin' delicious.

(note: I suppose the actual best thing that could happen at work would
be having sex with the bosses hot college daughter in the conference
room. But that cupcake makes a close second.)

??!?

Chrissie has left a new comment on your post "Indescriminate Caring":

This makes me want to look all of y'all up on facebook.

One hopes, one hopes strongly, that this is either 1) sarcasm or 2) satire.

I don't think it's sarcasm... cause... I'm not that lucky. And I don't think it qualifies as satire.

'Could have been worse. It could have been MySpace.

...

Otherly... Aaron, if you are reading this: are you still putting on shows? If so, when, where? And, in considering this podcast idea I mentioned to you before... would it suck if I asked you if you could provide some sort of intro-music to such a thing? Again, all very preliminary, but something I want to seriously look into.

To others: Podcast? Thoughts? We bitch all the time, why not force that on others in an audible-context?

Rebuttal on Commenting

James (Not Mud) Wrote:

oh yeah fuckers "nobody left comments so my post wasn't read and nobody liked it" - wasn't my fault that every "slug" was self-depreciative.

And "the board stays on the board" is an archaic thought system. Try hanging out with young 20 year olds sometime, thats all they talk about is INTERNET INTERNET INTERNET.

Hmmm.

Since Facebook is a worthless scrapheap - didn't you say you were trying to convert the board-history to a Word Press system?

Maybe I should just spruce up the ol blogspot board. hmm.

In regards to the commenting system being a factor in killing of the board, it isn't that not gaining comments stopped people from posting. I really don't think that played a factor at all. It was that people have short attention spans (though many of the board members had slightly larger attention spans). Thus, when someone comes on the board, they typically look only at the posts. They may look at the comments if they are board, or more likely if they are the ones that posted. The casual reader won't.

Some of the best/most interesting posts of the past took place prior to the comment system. Granted many posts were also one line "you're an idiot" type posts... but others were back-and-forths that had high-entertainment value. Those kinds of back-and-forths now get buried in a comment system, and the only indication that there was a commentary is a small digit indicator at the bottom of a post in a small font.

An early set of posts between you (James) and Jimmy went back and forth on the subject of winners being the deciders/writers of history and crimes against humanity (started here and ending here, with posts in between.

If you had started that post post-commenting system, the various back and forth would have been lost to the comment system, and the casual reader would have never bothered with it. (There are ways around that with the newer blog type formats, but that's a discussion for another time.)

As for the other stuff... I actually did migrate this over to Word Press... then I realized that by doing so, all of the past posts show up as if they came from me. That's a problem, so until I figure out how to fix that, this will have to stay with blogspot. I thought about starting a new board altogether, but there's a thing in marketing/advertising called "Brand Recognition"... it's why Sony keeps recycling the used Walkman brand, instead of coming up with something new.

And the problem is that people have no outside connections these days... it's all-or-none with the internet... there are mini-movements to change this, such as dedicated social-network sites, (i.e. Flickr) that are geared toward a social network specific to a common goal/idea/activity like photography (again, Flickr) or paintball. I'd go out on a limb and say that our board was a sort-of precursor to that idea, in that it was a "social network" dedicated to hating the idiocy of our contemporary environments and occasionally getting together to wallow in that.

I felt long-winded today.

Indescriminate Caring

So I've been reading over the old posts of the past - partly because I have nothing better to do at times, partly over the previously posted nostalgia, and partly because I'm working on a few projects (of which some of you know about, some of you don't, and many more in both categories don't care).

Something I noticed in reading all of those posts (and I'm only in December of 2000), there seems to be this undercurrent that people actually cared about what each other posted about and cared about what was going on in each other's lives outside of the internet...

And everyone seemed to genuinely care.

This is different from the kind of caring that seems obligatory in the age of Facebook. The idea that you have to say, "Aw... I hope you get well," on someone's Facebook Wall, so that others can acknowledge that you do "care".

Pre-Facebook, early-blog days, you get the sense that people cared and were interested beyond the superficial. And you could almost tell that because no one ever really said, "aww, I hope you get well..." type crap. Rather, expletives and insults were hurled at each other, but in ways that subtly belied the true intent, which was often, "good to know you are still alive."

Something else that seems interesting, is that I have had multiple conversations with people since the birth of MySpace and Facebook, the Cthulhu's of the depths of the Internet, about people getting pissed at each other on such sites. It at first would remind me of the back-and-forth animosities of the board... until you remembered that often that was left "on the board". And people knew that.

People don't know that now.

Is it because people who use Facebook are of the casual-user stock... the ones who came late to the burgeoning Internet? Whereas those of us from the board had used the Internet before, and understood some of the fundamentals... like, digital conversation is fun, and connective, but not end-all-be-all?

It's interesting from the sociological-psychological perspective, to understand the inter-dynamics of modern day human interaction (especially since at one point or other, I will be going back to grad school, likely to study child psychology, and I'll likely have to deal with the 3rd generation of children to grow up in "an increasingly interconnected world".)

Oh, and something else I have casually noticed which lends credence to an argument I remember having with James years ago: the implementation of the comments-system was the slow death knell to the board. Suck on that James!

Wii!

Because many have requested this from me:

Wii Console: 4299-0178-9998-6595
Mario Kart Wii license: 2105-9143-6631
Super Smash Bros Brawl: 4682-8140-3095

There you have it.

Amorphous

First I thought it was a woman.
Then I thought it was a man.
Then I realized that it was the amorphous personification of my
nightmares and deepest fears.

Lines...

Nothing special today... Except "Beardy" being in front of me while I
wait for movies from Scarecrow.

My Suspicions Have Been Aroused...

I saw an article in the Seattle Times today:
Boy who hopped flights caught again at Sea-Tac

It's apparently about a boy named Semaj that doesn't like living in Lakewood (or Tacoma basically, for those unfamiliar) who keeps trying to escape back to Dallas, TX.

I can't blame the boy. I've lived in Lakewood, and other parts of Tacoma... (and Roy... [shudders]) and now when someone talks of going to that area, I want to gouge my eyes out with a butter knife.

But Texas? I've lived there too... it's not much better.

But I'm digressing... that's not what I wanted to mention today. What I wanted to mention was what I noticed in the article. Namely... the boy's name.

Now, the newspaper CLAIMS that this person is a 10 year old boy named Semaj... but just look at that name. It looks fake. I'm sorry, but it does. In fact, take a look at it again... and then flip it around... and you get:

Semaj = James

Coincidence.
Fuck no.

I think James is posing as a ten year old boy trying to hop flights to go down to Texas. For what reason?

I don't know... but I bet it's something deviant. Just look at that face:


I am DEVIANT!

some thing funny

check these out
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/350391
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/351128
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/354960

Elevators Make Friends

Setting: Elevator in Bellevue
DT, Jimmy, Bonnie, Myself

One woman enters, thinks elevator is going up when in fact it goes
down. Pushes button. Her friend says, "no that's going down."

The friend pushes the button again, still not convinced. Then pushes
it again.

Friend finally convinces her that it is, in fact, going down. Both
leave elevator.

Elevator doors start to close.

DT: I fuckin' hate dykes!

Elevator doors continue to close, slowly.

Enraged "dyke" yells: Fuck you cocksucker!!!

Door closes, screaming continued.

Hahahahhahaaa. Ahhhh DT...

Alleged Baby-Daddy Jimmy

Well its allegedly. I think it happened sometime while he was in the
Air Force. He doesn't talk about the child much.

I think something might be wrong with it. He seems almost embarrassed
when I ask him about it.

Dear god

Jimmy had a kid boy I have been out of the loop