Friday, June 27, 2008

We Love You Beatles, Oh Yes We Do.......

I thank my parents for my taste in music. My mom gave me The Monkees, The Beatles, The British Invasion, and Motown. My dad gave me The Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, The Doors, and The Moody Blues.

When I was younger, and we didn't get cable, and VCR's were around but not in many homes (we hadn't gotten one yet, plus in those early days, rental stores didn't have the selection like they have now), the chance to catch a movie on TV (especially when cable wasn't available in your area) was a gem. It's too bad kids nowadays don't know the joy of The Wizard Of Oz coming on once a year.

Anyway, once during one of the PBS Beg-A-Thon's, they showed one of mom's favorite movies. I saw the look on her face when flipping through the TV Guide. She yells back to me "Hey - come watch a good movie with me!". I was less than 10 years old, and that usually meant it would be something I didn't like. But I was bored, and trotted out to the living room.

The movie was "Help!".

Mom delighted as she explained every reference I didn't understand. She talked about how much she loved The Beatles when she was in high school. She swooned over Ringo like she was still 16. In her old bedroom at her mom and dad's house, you could still see the mark on the wall where her Beatles poster had hung. Her one brother - ever the troublemaker - had come into her room and blacked out the eyes of The Fab Four with purple paint (leftover from painting her room). Mom's family was poor, so instead of getting another one, she was left to deal with her purple-eyed idols. That one evening turned me into the Beatles fan I am today.

When they had their first real resurgence in the mid 80's (by the time I had gotten to high school), I remember the airings of The Beatles Cartoons on MTV. I had taped some when I could catch them. They were cute - not the best cartoons or animation, and the voices were done by others, but the sing-alongs were fun, and they have immense kitsch value.

Flash forward to today. I own tons of Beatles cd's and stuff, but the cartoons eluded me. I found out they had lapsed into public domain, and scouted around for treasure. I turned up a killer set that were done on professional equipment off broadcast masters. They were expensive, but they were SO worth it.

Nothing cures the blues from a 60 hour, 7 day workweek where you are doing work you did once before because your company is in the midst of a system conversion like a rousing sing along and pure Beatles cheesy goodness!

Enjoy!

(sorry for the poor sound - both the ones posted have bad sound - and incidentally, this is my favorite Beatles song)

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

And The Beat Goes On

Rather than construct a long post reply, I've opted to make a new post in response to Nick, who is on the opposing side of the issue I mentioned yesterday. No yelling, no snark - just some intelligent commentary.

First thing's first. I know I'm older than Ben, and I'm 99.9999% sure I'm older than you - perhaps by a good bit. Yes, I have issue with Ben that goes beyone the Wikipedia incident. For I have, you see, what I call my Snark-O-Meter. It goes off when I am faced with things like smarminess, cockiness, smugness, and general condicending commentary. Ben's journal is rife with it.

I'm willing to play devil's advocate, and say that perhaps he doesn't realize that he comes across that way, but he does. And do a google search - plenty of people out there agree. Think that Javier is bad? Ever see the commentary that goes on over at Portal Of Evil's forums? Some of that stuff steps waaaay over the line, and makes even hardened BS slingers shudder in disgust.

So just because I need to say my piece, let me just cite some examples of what sets that meter off. This is good stuff - thousands of people have paid millions of dollars for this stuff:

1) The Protesting: I believe in protesting. It's at the core of our foundation as a country, and it's his right to do so. However, I do not listen to anyone who protests anonymously, or dresses up in silly costumes. I protested in my day, against all the things I believed in at the time: no nukes, animal testing and cruelty, Free Nelson Mandela, a woman's right to choose, make Martin Luther King Jr's birthday a national holiday, etc. I never dressed up in a silly costume. I never put on a mask, or hid my face. I never felt the need to learn tactics to fight or evade police - I was prepared to be arrested if need be, but I never fought with anyone or vandalized anything to get my point across, and I'm not saying Ben did, but those he hangs out with have, and in the real world, being there makes you a party to it. Speaking of which, be careful who you align yourself with in that regard. I was once a part of PETA and Greenpeace. When I would say that, people would just roll their eyes and no listen to anything I had to say because both groups take things too far in getting their point across. I have not given up my activism, but I align myself with more reputable groups. People will listen if you are aligned with people who present a rational and reasonable argument. For a good example of a fantastic blog written by a friend who works for improving her part of the country, I encourage you to read http://www.liprapslament-theline.blogspot.com. She's intelligent, and passionate, and heaven help anyone who gets in her way when she's rolling. Lastly, educate people about what you are fighting against. I don't think Ben has educated me at all as to why he feels the way he does on any of his protests. Instead, I get the impression that he thinks that any protest is a good protest, and that he often "tags along" without knowing all the facts.

So to recap:

I went to the protest wearing my silly mask be cause so and so did = Snark Alert
I went to protest against third world debt because it holds developing countries in involuntary servitude = I may or may not agree, but I will not Snark

2) Lappy, Compy, Big Mavica, et al: I just can't take anyone seriously who has pet names for inanimate objects, and I don't know anyone over the age of 17 that does. If he wants to write about it, fine, but don't be shocked if people over the age of 12 think it's silly, and say so.

So to recap:

I got out Big Mavica and uploaded the pictures to Lappy = Major Snark Alert

3) Unnecessary Commentary: let's start with the Hummer thing. For the record, I dislike Hummers too. Unless you're in the military, there's no reason that any private person needs to own one. However, I would NEVER say that because I didn't like it I was going to "run it off the road". Was that necessary? No. When speaking about a security guard in a news item he saw, Ben said "When questioned, he can't even cite what he's enforcing. Idiot. I hope his family is ashamed of him." Again, was that really necessary? No. The one where he makes the assumption about his sister's roommate's boyfriend when he'd only made one statement to him? Not necessary either. I find that before I hit the post button, I do better to re-read, and ask myself if some comments are really necessary to get my point across. If they're not, then they're gone.

So to recap:

Any of the above comments = the Snark is being written
I really hate Hummers - they're unnecessary for the average person = I agree
Get a load of the security guard - he's not well versed on regulations = He sure isn't
I met my sister's roomate's boyfriend - first impression wasn't much, and I hope the next meeting proves me wrong = That's happened to me too


4) Lack Of Respect: I blame some of this on the generation gap. To start, it ABSOLUTELY is disrespectful to mock the Iwo Jima landing. Good men gave up their lives so Ben and his friends can have the freedom run around and play like that. But just because they can, doesn't mean they should. I'd also bet that anyone who thought that was funny doesn't have any veterans in their family or close to them. The thing I found most insulting about that photo was that they were holding up their protest-du-jour flag in place of the American flag. Right there, they have cheapened the memory of the brave men that were honored in what they were mocking, and that's wrong. The same goes with showing the "road to hell is paved by Republicans" thing. You have an absolute right to your opinion in politics, as I have mine. I rarely discuss politics because it always gets ugly, no matter who is involved. I never said I thought Bush was a great man or doing a great job, but I don't need Ben essentially telling me I'm a moron for my beliefs, because they don't match his. That's incredibly disrespectful, and will cause my eyes to glaze over and stop comprehending anything afterward, thereby negating your position.

So to recap:

Republicans paved the road to hell = Get Bent 2: The Wrath Of Snark
I dislike Republicans because I disagree with...... = That's ok; I disagree with Democrats because........

And lastly,

5) The Double Standard: Ben deletes the Fail video because he doesn't like it or doesn't agree, but then it's brought up that the fail video was lame because it only says Fail and nothing else. If I were to post a video (although I never would becaue pimping yourself on Youtube is something I don't believe in), and someone posted the Fail video, I wouldn't delete it. I would challenge the person to tell me why. If they did, I'd suck it up because I put myself out there for everyone to see, and criticize. If they couldn't, then I'd fire back with a Fail video of my own. No double standard there. However getting rid of it, then taunting the person because they didn't say anything other than Fail is pretty much chucking rocks at glass houses.

No recap necessary here.

And as for the Wikipedia issue:

It's a non-issue at this point, and something I don't want to dredge up again, and before you say that we're being unreasonable by refusing to discuss it while you're trying to rectify it, let me explain as much as I am willing to.

As I said, I was part of a project. It involved a number of people. That project has been permanently killed. It's dead, gone, and not coming back. The website we had is gone, and the domain has lapsed, and is available for anyone that wants it. The forum we had where we dicussed our findings went with the domain. Any e-mails, etc, were done through accounts on that domain, and so they too are gone. The group has disbanded, and anything having to do with it would go back to the "owner" of the project, and I am no longer on speaking terms with him. Furthermore, I have no desire or need to be. By working on the project, I gave him permission to use my research, so should he want to pursue the project further it in the future, that is up to him.

So I will issue a personal thank you for the desire to rectify the situation (even years after the fact), because you at least were willing to try when others rebuffed us....repeatedly. The Wikipedia deal started the fire, but it's not what is keeping it burning. See the above noted items for the reason it keeps going all over the internet (not just at Javier's place).

And lastly, despite being Snark-Master-Extrordinare and a Habitual Line Stepper (:D), Javier is a great person. He's one of the best friends I have, and I'm better for knowing him. He's always eager to lend a hand or a shoulder, and has given me more pep talks and "get-a-grip" speeches than people I've known for 3 times as long. My husband says he's glad that I have him around and appreciates his friendship. But he, like me, is fiercely protective of his friends and family, and will fight when needed.

So that's my position, and like Forest Gump, that's all I have to say about that. I don't wish to debate this set of issues any further, and will not. Getting into a pissing match isn't what I want to do.

That being said, you're always more than welcome here, and intelligent commentary is always welcome on topics I bring up.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Problem With The World Today

Everyone thinks they are the most special person in the world. Sorry to break it to you, but you aren't. That's just the way it is. I don't think that way. I don't know many people my age who do.

So where is this coming from? A friend of mine is being attacked, and since I've fought for him, and the attackers are among the above mentioned group, I have a feeling they may come looking for me through my comments.

So since they don't like Javier's way of explaining things, maybe they'll listen to mine, and maybe it will finally sink in.

A number of years back, I was part of a project that had a website attached, where we would post our research for those interested in the topic. After awhile, we noticed that whole verbatim bits of our research were ending up on Wikipedia, without credit being given to any of us who did the research. We promptly contacted Wikipedia (and a number of subsequent times as well). Each time, we had someone spout out Wikipedia-speak at us, and essentially nothing was done. And our work continued to be copied (without credit) each time we updated. Some of our pictures were stolen too. We finally resorted to watermarking images and stating clearly that we did not support Creative Commons. It didn't work.

We finally traced back where this was coming from, and as usual, we were rebuffed. Only after a strongly worded letter from the person heading our project were we finally granted any type of credit, and it was just a link to our site, and a "see also". We were never credited for our work, as in "Info Courtesy Of".

We discovered that the person responsible for all or part of our issue had his own heavily advertised website. He started it when he was younger. I imagine it was cute then. Problem is, he's grown up now, but his website is still filled with the mundane details of his day to day existence.

Normally, we'd take a few pot-shots and let it go at that, but we discovered that this person liked to take lots of pot-shots of his own. He liked to pick at people he encountered during his day to day travels just because they didn't behave like he felt they should. He liked to fiercely pick at anyone who didn't follow his political views. He breaks laws and says it's ok, but then criticizes others for breaking laws. And my friend felt he was rife for send-up, so he started picking at his journal entries, and eventually moved it to a blog.

Before anyone says anything, Javier is protected by Falwell vs. Hustler Magazine. It states, in short, that public figures are subject to "ridicule" and such speech is protected by the first amendment. Do I think that sometimes Javier is harsher or more graphic than he needs to be? Yes. But does he often hit the nail on the head? Absolutely.

When I do post here, I fully understand that someone could take it and make fun of it. It happens, and I wouldn't scream about it. I can dish it, and I can take it. Problem is, the other person in question can't. He sends his friends to attack Javier, but you can't underestimate Javier. He's a fighter, and if you corner him, he'll come out swinging.

So if I ever post pictures of my refrigerator, or discuss oozing body sores, please smack me out of it. That's stuff that no one needs to know about - at least in my opinion. In other people's world, it's fair game.

So is it childish? Sure. But was stealing from us worse? I think so. I don't appreciate having my intellectual property stolen. If you steal my stereo, I can replace it, but stealing my intellectualy property and hard-worked research was just wrong. Not giving me credit was worse.

I'm not getting into what was stolen. The project is kaput. The website we had is gone. It seems no one is interested in what we were working on anymore, so it will die, but until this person stops flinging insults at someone just because of the car they drive, you can bet that someone will be flinging it back at him.

Just my two cents. And because I put it here, feel free to critique. It's your right to do so because it was my right to say it.