Fun, Fun, Fun

Ah, turmoil - what would life be without it?

I have been trying to get a single computer up and going for going on three days now and I am completely over it. I am going to find out if I can slave this XP drive to the 98 computer just long enough to get the files I need off of it. This after I just got the old files I had been missing and complaining about for months now.

We will have some new stuff up for Halloween, just as promised, but I’m not sure what it will be, how much of it will be up in time, or what it will look like.

I am definitely going to get an entirely new computer this or next week. I simply can’t not do it. I’m losing far more time and money playing with these damned things every 2-3 weeks for 3-4 days at a time than I am saving by fucking with these old bits and parts.

I am actually going to do what I can ASAP and then I’m going to take some pretty drastic measures to make sure I will always have at least one good back up, Linux, XP, 98 - I don’t care a whit, so long as it runs the programs I use and need.

Where Even to Begin?

Okay, this is one for the books. It’s so... odd that I can’t even begin to get into it just yet.

It started with looking into a computer, then led to pulling out an old one to see if there was anything I could scrounge from it to fix the first one. Then it turned out the old one had a problem I had dealt with before, so I figured I would just swap out the hard drive in my computer (which is already screwed) into the new one... and it all went downhill from there - quickly.

Needless to say, I’m HOPING my hard drive still works, but I had to pull out the old 98 box standby to work on - which is what I’m using right now. Which is even weirder because it quit working sometime back and hasn’t worked at all until just tonight.

Long, long, long story I just can’t get into right now because I am simply too, too tired and flummoxed to even think about.

Even though I got this far with it.

Just need sleep. More tomorrow.

The OddBlog

Tonight, I am working almost solely on The Weirding so that maybe (hopefully) the new features and content can be published by next Wednesday (Halloween). The Halloween-themed splash page is up for now and will remain up for a few weeks (even after Halloween, unless I am lucky enough to get some time to put together a Thanksgiving-themed bit.

Well them switch to the Christmas theme sometime in November or early December and then back to the normal design sometime in January.

We have scrapped the "magazine" bit in favor of just adding new content whenever we can.

It is important to note that the site is updated with new content nearly everyday, by way of new blog entries and the like. I know some people don't seem to comprehend that, but seeing as how they take up time and effort just like design, we hope you will take some time to check them out as often as you like.

The OddBlog is going to get back to our paranormal roots more and more in the coming weeks, starting with several rundowns on "classic" accounts and stories, along with a lot of philosophical discussion on these subjects and ideas.

In the meantime, I am going to try and figure out what in the world hoses the template the other day and fix that, too.

As I mentioned, if I can't do anything with any of it through trial-and-error, I may break down and attempt to design my own templates from scratch. That's going to be a major undertaking (especially since the new Blogger system is not fully documented and may not prove much help), but nothing is definite yet.

Again, thanks for reading and we hope to hear more from you in coming weeks!

Best Not to Say It Pt. 2 - James Watson and the Origin of Species

James Watson, Nobel Laureate, has resigned his post at the American-based Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, amidst allegations that he suggested African descendants were less intelligent than Europeans.

Okay, here's the thing about that:

If scientists truly wish to further this idea of Evolution -- an idea even Darwin himself rejected at the time of his death -- in opposition to any sort of higher power's involvement (I think all of us outside the Southern Baptist sect can agree that "Divine Creation" as set forth in the Bible is unacceptable as our true origin) as the only "logical" solution as to how we modern humans came to be, then we have to accept, largely (according to what Science claims to know now), that we naturally evolved from some kind of ape-like stock.

Africans bear large, wide noses -- not unlike a certain, closely-related, genus often forwarded as our most likely "cousin" on the Evolutionary chart. They possess sloped foreheads, prominent lips, coarse hair, and dark skin. Apes, monkeys, gorillas, chimps -- all indigenous to Africa.

But wait! Before you go all "Jena 6" on me, let me add a little more information, just so you know I am truly not being "racist" (as to how such a thing could even exist in such a discussion is beyond me, though I have to admit, it is not an Americanism):

The gorilla was said not to have existed and those who claimed to have seen it were ridiculed - in fact, it drove more than one notable scientist out of science altogether (and most likely mad) - until it was "discovered" in @1908. Darwin's Origin of Species was first published in, or around, 1860 (though he had been working on it for a long time prior to that date - at least a decade or more - and another scientist had actually "scooped" him).

When the British Colonists "invaded" Africa under the reign of Queen Victoria, they pitied the Africans and sought to "educate" and "modernize" them in what has come to be known as "White Guilt." A truly misguided effort which actually bore all the earmarks of a sincere attempt at goodwill, but regrettable, nonetheless.

What Watson was actually suggesting, insofar as I discerned, was that Africans could very well be the "Missing Link" so often discussed in Evolutionary theory.

It's just too bad he was working in America when he dared postulate on such a "radical" idea.

America has yet to learn that it cannot have its cake and eat it, too; just can't have it both ways, no matter how hard it tries - no matter how it rails against God, life, and reality - America has set itself up for failure and continues to tell everyone who gets in its way that they "got what they deserve," yet refuses to accept its own fate.

America cannot live up to its own "standards" because no one can, and until America not only understands that but actually owns it, all we Americans are as oppressed as the rest of the huddled masses we are spending our tax dollars "protecting."

I, for one, would like to applaud Dr. James Watson for his integrity and initiative! Perhaps he is wrong - who knows yet? - but at least one scientist had the balls to stand up for the actual process of Getting On With It and said what needs to be said:

Life is ugly and messy and we cannot change that, no matter how hard we try.

A (Possible) Retraction

Yesterday (or maybe the day before - the electricity went off last night and stayed off for a long time and I was right in the middle of putting an entry together when it happened, so I got off-track), I was pretty hard on the American media for reporting - sketchily - on supposed arsons in the California area.

You have to understand, as I feel certain many who are interested in the subjects we cover here do, that the media - and particularly the American media - are just as corrupt as the Decatur County, TN legal system (and that's damnably corrupt!) and they literally ignore stories which are truly newsworthy in favor of lurid and scandalous rumors whenever possible. It's all a ratings game to them and I smelled a rat(ings booster).

But FNC - and I generally consider FNC's actual news coverage to be fairly accurate (though I freely admit their op/ed shows can get downright creepy in their rhetoric) - is reporting today that California police have made several arrests of possible arsons, and even managed to kill one.

I'm pretty sure the one that was killed was in or near L.A. Just... putting that out there.

Now, we here to The Weirding are completely unlike any other "media outlet" you have ever encountered in that we freely admit when we are wrong. And not in some buried, little sidebar somewhere on page 98.

At this point and time, though nothing has been confirmed, it does appear that at least some of the California wildfires may very well have been the result of arson and we are sorry to hear that is the case.

But we were wrong (we think) and we wanted you to know!

The OddBlog: where honesty comes to die.

UPDATE:  Links were changed and re-routed, entire posts found to have been removed relating to the corruption stemming from Decatur County, TN. - 2018

Formatting Problems

Well, I have to apologize guys. I didn't do anything to this damned template to make it suddenly expand past your window and I don't know why in the hell it has suddenly decided to do that.

As you may know, Weird Ink suddenly developed a similar problem when I changed one URL in the template a week or two back. The URL was no longer than the one I changed it from; the URL did not change the size of the link; I do not know why that changed the template so dramatically. I have spent days - weeks, really (off and on) - working on it without luck.

Before I go through all that here, I am simply going to keep posting until the current entries are scrolled off the page and see if anything changes. If it is still looking like this by then, I will actually get into Blogger and handcode new templates for both Weird Ink and The OddBlog.

I can do better than this shit, anyway.

But that's not the point: Blogger uses a load of proprietary "widget" codes and crazy shit, and if you screw them up even the tiniest little bit, the entire blog will be screwed. So, in general, it really just isn't worth messing with. But it seems I no longer have a choice.

Still, I'm going to try just scrolling the current posts off the homepage. If it goes back to normal after that, I can hunt down the offending post and work from there.

Again, sorry.

Ghost Hunters 10-24-07

Obviously, Sci-Fi is showing Ghost Hunters episodes out of order. They have a habit of doing that with shows, really. Not just Sci-Fi, either; BBCA did it with Hex (at least the first season) and it actually worked better, from what I understand.

But last night's episode (and this post would have been up last night, had the electricity not been knocked out throughout the entire county until about 12:30 last night!) was definitely supposed to have been one of the early ones of the season.

First of all, neither investigation turned up anything. Secondly, Donna and Brian were there. Thirdly, Tango was still billed as "Investigator-in-Training." It was an alright episode, all told, but not that good, and I wonder why they chose to hang onto it until now. Even more, I wonder why they chose to show it one week before the annual Live Halloween Special?! You'd think they'd want to show an episode where something really happens to whet viewers' appetites!

Ah well. You know I, and all the other hardcore fans, will be there for the live special, regardless, so maybe they just didn't give it much thought. I don't know.

Wildfires in the Media

The California wildfires are still burning. News reports are indicating that this is the biggest evacuation in California's history and the largest in the US since Hurricane Katrina. Nearly 1 million people have been evacuated. Over 1500 homes and structures have been destroyed. Many people lost everything - their homes, their pets, their memories, their possessions. At least five people have lost their lives. And the fires are still burning.

Now reports are coming in that witnesses claim to have seen a white man setting at least one fire before getting back into his car.

Maybe it is just the Human Condition which makes us search for someone to blame when situations we cannot control occur. Obviously these fires had some source - they started somehow, somewhere - but does that mean that someone started them? Fires start spontaneously all the time and much of the United States has been gripped by one of the worst droughts in nearly a century.

Many of these fires start spontaneously when decomposing matter is left in the sun. A chemical change occurs within these piles and they slowly begin to smoke. When this smoke reaches its way to the fresher dead material at the top - material that isn't wettened and corroded by the natural process of decomposition - and the smoke hits fresh air, it bursts into flame. This happens all the time in haystacks and could very well happen in the middle of all that forest and brush they have there.

Of course, this is nothing more than speculation and I am not qualified in any field; I'm just telling you what I know. And admonishing you as to the media's wild speculations.

This is obviously a huge story and our hearts and prayers go out to everyone who has been affected by this event, as well as their friends and families, but the media has made this more than just a "major" story - they haven't reported on anything else in three days! And now they are putting out nebulous stories about "white men" in "cars" who are jetting about the California countryside, "setting spot fires." By the time they admit that these stories are insubstantial and have absolutely no bearing on the matter, the damage will have been done.

And the US media, like the US government, like US corporations, never, ever take responsibility for their actions!

REPENT! REPENT!

Some pretty wild weather here I thought I would mention, seeing as how the past year or few have been marked by such.

Where I live, we just went through one of the worst droughts in something like 100 years. It broke a week or so back with spectacular thunderstorms and 46 tornadoes which literally encircled the terrible county in which I live.

FNC reported that New Orleans has received 8-9" of rain and has closed the City Hall, canceled school, and is taking other measures. More rain is expected tonight and tornado- and hurricane-force winds are expected in the area.

While slightly above them and below me, Atlanta, GA is saying that millions could lose water within 3 months! Their reservoir is so far below the normal level that the governor has declared a state of emergency and has asked for federal help.

MEANWHILE (elsewhere), tornadic winds are pushing wildfires across the great state of California with the number of houses and structures lost expected to hit the thousands! At least two landmarks have already been engulfed and the fires may possibly reach the sea...

Wild, wild weather phenomena or the end of the world?

REPENT, BITCHES!

I, er, ah sorry...

Depressing Results for Cancer Patients

More confusing results when it comes to the effect emotions and emotional states play in health coming from - where else? - the United States, where pharmaceutical companies reign supreme and drug-therapy is the end-all, be-all of medical science.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania followed the progression of more than 1000 cancer victims and found that a positive outlook on their condition appeared to have no medical result as to whether or not the disease progressed or regressed. Some cancer specialists called the results "reassuring," as cancer patients are often expected to deal with their affliction valiantly, even when they do not feel like doing so. Others noted that a positive outlook helps survivors get back to a normal life sooner, which often does play an important role in their condition and recovery.

To be honest, I have often wondered about the effects of "positive thinking," because I have tried to adopt a positive outlook in the face of adversity and only rarely (if ever) found it helpful. In fact, I have generally found it more emotionally-draining than just being the negative whiner that I naturally am! But I have tempered my personal outlook on such things by the fact that I am a doom-and-gloom kind of cat by nature, and maintaining a positive attitude is not only hard for me but I often find myself wavering; in other words, I can never be too sure just how optimistic I am.

But the US is so well-known for being swayed by Big Business (it's true, it's damn true!) and the pharmaceutical companies are forever pushing dope on everyone for everything, I just do not know how much the results of this research can be trusted. The report does not say who funded the research nor for how long the research was undertaken.

Do I sound cynical? That has no bearing on my opinion of these "findings."

Did Neanderthals Speak?

New research has scientists theorizing that Neanderthals may have been capable of complex speech as are we. They say that the primitive human ancestor possessed the FOXP2 gene, linked to speech.

My question though is whether or not the Neanderthal possessed the physical components needed for this type of communication. I know that many animals, whether or not they possess this gene, are said to be smart enough to communicate in various ways (including some kind of speech - squeals, cries, etc.) but lack the physical abilities to actually communicate in complex ways. Especially since it is noted that many animals do possess this gene, from mice to orangutans.

However, the Neanderthal had a FOXP2 gene very similar to that of modern humans, which is slightly different from those other species and genus (geni?) possess.

Scientists made this discovery after they secured nuclear DNA from a well-preserved Neanderthal skeleton recently found in Spain.

Today's Agenda

I posted today's agenda over to Rated-B, in case you are interested. I also discussed some on sponsored posting (more on the drawbacks and work involved, as opposed to any sort of defense of it). In case you aren't so interested, the rundown on the whole thing is that I am probably going to be spending more time over there today than anywhere else because it's Monday and it's a big press release and entertainment news day.

I am also going to work on some content for The Weirding, as this is the big week. You'll notice some major changes there throughout the week, along with some new content. Depending on how much time I spend on everything, it may be a whole, whole lot of new content, or it may just be a little bit. Either way it goes, new content is on the way and a lot of it will be revealed between now and Christmas.

This fucking legal imbroglio really set me back, robbing me of my time and gnawing at my sanity and concentration.

Regardless, I simply refuse to push myself to the point of burn-out because I have already done that too many times to count, and then I have to take a break from everything for at least a week or so and it takes forever to get back into the swing of things; it just isn't worth it. I'd rather things were slow across the board for a week or two than completely dead.

Anyway, we'll be bringing you at least a few things here today, at least one or two posts over to Weird Ink, most likely several over to Rated-B, and hopefully we'll get some more content up on the site by tonight.

Thanks for reading and let us know what you think!

A Promise (No, Really! I Mean It This Time!)

You know, I noticed a while back that I have gotten into a nasty habit of a 1:1 ratio on sponsored and unsponsored posts and I really never meant to do that. In general, I prefer at least 2-3 non-sponsored posts between ads, but seeing as how I am often on a deadline, that just can't always be done here.

As I've said before, worthwhile news on the paranormal and other subjects I cover here just don't happen on a consistent basis, so I can't always depend on that. And even though I have been pressed for time lately anyway with switching hosts and trying to get new content online, as well as the other blogs, I know (and completely agree) that I need to get busier here and start finding some decent stuff to get out to you on a more regular basis.

So while I have said this far more often than I would like (especially lately), I really am trying to get to where I can focus more on The OddBlog and Weird Ink. Of course, I'm not the major media outlets, so I can't just make the news up!

The Set-Up, The Sting, The Rub

I was watching a news story on Headline News earlier, where the police had put together yet another "sting" operation in which they left the keys in an unlocked car with a camera. They traced the thieves and busted them, etc., but it got me to thinking about just how ineffective this method of crime-"fighting" really is.

Obviously the idea is to provide a deterrent to the criminals but does it really work? I mean, anyone brazen enough to become a car thief is most likely something of a professional criminal and jail is just part of their job -- they're prepared for the possibility, at the very least. The same goes for chronic drug-users and addicts; a short stint in jail is not going to dissuade them from using drugs once they get out -- in fact, in all cases, going to jail may very well provide these criminals with new contacts and opportunities!

I am not offering any real viable alternatives here, but I loathe the fact that current law enforcement approaches are so singularly focused on these set-ups, as opposed to crime solving and prevention.

As in the case of modern medical-thinking, you make money treating the problem, not curing it.

Going Green

*This is a Sponsored Post*

We often talk about ecologically-friendly topics and support them as much as we can. I have always cared about the environment and while I do not pretend to do everything I can or should to those ends, I have made changes in my life and lifestyle that were not hard concessions to make in order to be more eco-friendly.

GreenandMore.com is an eco-friendly site that offers just about everything ecologically-friendly you can think of. They have environmental products, news, a blog with great tips and ideas, instructions on how to go solar and save energy (among other things), and much, much more. This is really a wonderland of eco-friendly information!

And it isn't just information about what the company does or ideas they have - they include information from the EPA and US Dept. of Energy, among others. You can get a truly useful overview of "going green" right here.

Further, with the coupon code, GREEN10, you can save an extra 10% on your introductory order until December 31^st, 2007! What better way to start the new year than by taking your first "green steps" and what better gift for Christmas to give your friends and family and get them started on a more eco-friendly lifestyle?

Take a moment to check it out, learn more about what products are available, as well as what you can do to be more eco-friendly.

The Colombian in the Iron Mask

I chose to relate this particular story because it touched me on several levels. Maybe it's because of my own personal outrage at the legal system where I live and the way I have been railroaded, maybe it's because I just finished reading Disco Bloodbath, where the author spent no small amount of time pointing out the apathy of the legal system in New York City, and maybe it's because the whole thing just outraged me on a personal level, but I really liked this story:

Luis Miguel Aldana of Bogota, Columbia, has sewn his mouth shut and locked himself in an iron mask to protest the deplorable financial conditions he is facing and the lack of governmental support for him, his family, and others like him. He is living in a neighbor's house where he has shackled his arms and legs to the bed, as the door to his house was locked against him. He says he chose to buy his children shoes rather than pay two months' rent.

While reports indicate Colombia has recently experienced a surge in economic growth, the unemployment rate has remained a high 10.6%. Aldana is hoping his protest will incite the government to provide him with a loan, as well as bring attention to his and his family's plight.

We wish him the best.

10-21-07

We had an outage in the area most of Friday, so I managed to get a wee bit drunk and spent all day Saturday on the couch, reading a book (Disco Bloodbath, reviewed on Weird Ink). In the meantime, I got behind on some deadlines here, so I will definitely be working today.

It kind of works out because I said I was going to start taking Saturdays off anyway. I was getting ten times more done that way than when I was pushing myself like mad every, single day.

While I couldn't get online Friday, I did manage to get some more pages for the site together. I am still waiting on some things and can't get to some of the old files from the old site that I want to fix-up and move to the new one. I need a CD cleaner kit and hopefully that will fix things.

Anyway, I am going to try and take a short nap until the store opens so I can walk down there and grab some cigs.

Elephants Even Smarter Than Once Thought?

Researchers working with African Elephants have released a report indicating that the animals can differentiate between threatening people and non-threatening people by the color and scent of their clothes.

The elephants showed an obvious aversion to red cloth, traditionally worn by the Masaai tribe, who prove their virility by spearing the creatures; they showed no aversion to white clothes, traditionally worn by the Kamba tribe, an agrarian group.

The researchers noted that the elephants abilities may prove to exceed even those of chimps. The only caveat to these findings that I noticed was that one of the researchers said they were looking for these results going into the experiment.

Mexican Cannibal Arrested

A man alleged by police to be a cannibal was arrested in Mexico City.

Jose Luis Calva reportedly told Mexican police he was an aspiring horror novelist and poet who was working on a novel entitled Cannibal Instinct. He also admitted to police that he was a fan of Sir Anthony Hopkins, who portrayed a cannibal in several related horror flicks (though I have absolutely no idea what that has to do with anything - a perfect example of the kind of grasping-at-straws tactics cops love to use in order to bolster their cases).

Circumstantial, anecdotal evidence aside, police claimed to have found a female torso in a cabinet, a leg in the refrigerator, and bones in a cereal box. Calva's girlfriend, a 30-year old mother of two, was reported missing some days back by her family.

Cops are now looking into two other disappearances, including Calva's former girlfriend and a prostitute. Chunks of meat in a frying pan on his stove are being tested to discover if they are human.

The Speakeasy

Okay, The Speakeasy got a nice little facelift this evening while Blogger was doing maintenance. There are still a lot of tweaks to come as I am still learning this new package and everything, but I really dig the look and I think you will too.

Please check it out, sign up and have a look around, and start posting! Hopefully once the new content is up there will be something site-specific to discuss, but in the meantime, feel free to discuss any- and every- thing you like!

Science-Fiction vs. Science-Fantasy

Another one of those items that could fit on at least two of the blogs, I decided to put it here and not on The Rundown because it is really more of a philosophical-type discussion and The Rundown generally deals with more straightforward entertainment.

There are two divisions of science-fiction literature that purists make: science-fiction and science-fantasy. The difference is really very simple: science-fiction includes subjects and situations which theoretically could happen, where science-fantasy deals with things which are considered largely impossible and will never happen.

Of course, the division is somewhat nebulous and many readers fail to lend the whole discussion much credence. Most fans tend to divide their sci-fi into "hard" and "soft" categories, with "hard" correlating to our given definition of science-fiction, and "soft" being science-fantasy.

But these labels are pretty misleading, since such fantastic space operas as Star Trek are often considered "hard" sci-fi simply because they go to such lengths to give "plausible" explanations for their sci-fi gadgetry and other-worldly themes. The Cyberpunk sub-genre is definitively "hard" sci-fi, while the Sci-Fi Channel hit series, Flash Gordon (and its many incarnations outside of the new series), is definitively "soft." Or is it?

Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, the "grandfathers" of sci-fi, both wrote several stories detailing various "fantastic" ideas which inspired actual scientists to go out and attempt the very things they'd read about as children. To these ends, science-fantasy became science-fiction on its way to becoming science fact.

It's an interesting discussion and I would love to hear what anyone else has to say on the matter, whether here or in The Humidor.

Rare Wild South China Tiger Spotted

A farmer in the Shaanxi province in China handed officials pictures he took earlier this month of a single South China Tiger. The subspecies is extremely rare; experts think there may be as few as 30-40 living in the wild and many feared that the handful existing in captivity might have been the last.

It is thought that there were as many as 4000 South China Tigers in the 1950s, but the Chinese leader, Mao Zedong, labeled them a "pest" and ordered an extinction campaign. The last known sighting of the tiger in the wild was in 1964.

Three other subspecies of tiger have gone extinct since 1940: the Bali, Java, and Caspian.

10-17-07

I told you I would get to this stuff I've been sitting on for a while today and I will. I just wanted to take a moment to inform you that I got The Wording tricked-out somewhat and invite you to check it out and let me know what you think!

Like I say there, the color scheme doesn't match anything else on the site and I need to find the colors in the CSS files in order to change them. I will definitely be messing with this today and tomorrow, but I am going to get you some good stories first.

Odd Agenda 10-16-07

Hey guys. Sorry I haven't gotten to you in a day or two. I am going to be posting a few news items today, in fact. It's early, early morning here (3:15, to be exact) and I just wanted to say hello and let you know I'm still around.

I have been doing research on law and where to get some help, as well as looking for a place to move. It's so sad and painful the way things have turned out, but when I called the probation officer today to ask him how the whole thing works, he got snippy with me because I filed the appeal and told me he didn't think I could drop it. I don't know if I can or not, but since I was only given 10 days (you usually have 30 days to appeal criminal convictions and three of those 10 days were weekend/holiday, so I have yet to actually speak to a criminal lawyer!), I had to go ahead and file it just in case. They have railroaded me at every turn and I feel my back is to the wall, so I'm pulling out the big guns and contacting any and everyone I can think of concerning my situation.

I also posted a whole, whole lot over to Rated-B. I was working under a deadline, but I also had a lot of press releases and some entertainment news. I actually have quite a few pieces to get to here and I was happy about that. It's been a kind of snappy news week for Science and Weird News, so now that all The Rated-B stuff is done, I have a busy day or two here and I'll make sure to get to it today.

I am also trying to get a lot of content up on The Weirding this month. We first launched last Halloween and I love the holidays, so I am going to do themes for both Halloween and Christmas and introduce a bunch of content over these next several months. But I'm having to divide my time between all these projects, so please be patient!

Anyway, I am going to try and sleep a little and I'll bbl!

Welcome to The OddBlog!

I've noticed a surge of new visitors recently and I'd like to welcome everyone and thank you all for your comments - I hope to hear more from you in the coming weeks! But I wanted to post this really quickly to let you all know a little bit about The OddBlog:

This is actually a new version of an old blog. I won't post the link to that one because the site which hosted it (it's still there) screwed me out of a bunch of money, which is the reason I moved it to my own domain. Since moving it though, I haven't had the chance to be as active here as I was on the old one, largely because I didn't have The Weirding back then, so I had much more time to blog about things. However, I am trying harder now to divide my time between all of the projects, so I hope to have more solid content up soon.

I recently posted about how you have to go into the sidebar and click on the Archives to see the older posts. That entry explains why (Blogger doesn't have a workaround or code to fix this and I haven't had the time to figure one out on my own yet) and give an apology.

Yesterday, I got up the Sitewide Disclosure Policy, which basically explains that some of the posts are sponsored. I have been working on getting more content on The Weirding, which has taken some time away from all the blogs. The local law enforcement of Decatur County, TN, led by Chief Kenny Fox, have been harassing the shit out of me for months now - going on two years, actually - and falsely arrested me on August 11^th. The entire thing is a complete setup, orchestrated by Chief Kenny Fox, who has personally made such threats as, "You better watch out or you might wind-up floating in the river," and the like, including forwarding rumors about my sexuality, relationships with others, and religious beliefs and practices, and the assistant DA, Adam Jowers, and presiding judge, Ricky Woods (both of Decatur County, TN) changed documents, dates, times, addresses, names - the whole nine - and purposely withheld evidence that would clear me, just so they could unlawfully convict me of a crime that never occurred and hopefully avoid a civil suit. They also ignored solid evidence given in my defense, refused me proper legal counsel, and worse - now they claim to have no transcript or recording of the hearing! But I have a bad feeling that they will suddenly "find" one if they need to (though that may work in my favor, since they blatantly perjured themselves and ignored the evidence and testimony I put forth). I have been fighting this since that time, especially because I was held for 7 days without bond on a 12-hour charge, and the charges against me have been changed four times. So I am also looking to move ASAP.

This has obviously kept me from being able to do my job.

Obviously I am upset because these people are harassing and persecuting me, but I also want to draw attention to this because Decatur County, TN is trying to get a college and I am here to tell everyone that will listen, you do not want your children going to college in this county! People have been picketing outside the new courthouse for months to get these assholes out of office and to have them investigated and it hasn't happened yet, so they obviously have some pull somewhere. Every person I have talked to has said they are dirty, mean, and downright corrupt, but they are all so afraid of getting "jammed-up" by the corrupt Decatur County, TN legal "system" lies and underhanded tactics that they are afraid to get involved.

We decent, honest citizens of Decatur County, TN truly need some kind of help, but we do not know where to turn and we are afraid to get a bunch of stuff stirred-up because, as everyone I've talked to has said, "they just do what they want to up here" (referring to the Decatur County, TN police, DAs, and judges).

We recently had to change hosts and the old forums were lost. I got The Speakeasy back up and going last week, even though it is not customized and tweaked-out the way I want it just yet. The Humidor is where we discuss things relating to or dealing with The OddBlog, though leaving Comments is just as easy and just as much fun. Please join us there and/or leave your comments here!

The Weirding has several blogs on many diverse topics and subjects and we invite you to check them all out and join us at every one! And again, welcome to The OddBlog and thanks again for reading and commenting! Hope to hear more from you!

Alien Telescope Array Now Online

Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, funded the ATA, or Alien Telescope Array - an extremely powerful telescope which will scan the stars for signs of life - and it was turned on for the first time yesterday (October 11^th, 2007).

Run by the SETI Institute and the Radio Astronomy Laboratory from the University of California, Berkeley, US, experts hope the ATA may discover signs of intelligent life amongst the billions of stars it will scan. The ATA is one of the largest telescopes of its kind every built and it will scan a portion of the sky 17 times larger than the Very Large Array in Mexico.

The ATA was built using a mass-produced dish and off-the-shelf components. Some are calling it revolutionary in design. Only 42 dishes have been installed so far; when finished, the ATA will contain 350 dishes. The array's components will work in unison to take a single snapshot of huge areas of the skies. The first images from the ATA are radio maps of the Andromeda Galaxy and the Triangulum Galaxy.

Mr. Allen gave $25 million to SETI and they are looking for investors to grant the $25 million more needed to complete the project.

Change is Frightening

I seriously want to get into customizing the hell out of this place and getting it just... killer. But after the... whatever happened over to Weird Ink, I'm honestly afraid to until I figure that one out. In case you don't know, I changed one thing in the main section and suddenly, the sidebar disappeared and was found all the way down at the bottom of the page! I have spent several days, so far, trying all sorts of things to fix it, but have had no luck so far. It has me a bit gun-shy about messing with this one.

Still, I am going to try a few things because this whole place has just kind of languished since I started it and it's beginning to aggravate me. The old OddBlog was kickin' - it still gets an asswad of hits, in fact! And even though I had more time back then and didn't have the site, I really am tired of saying I'm going to spend more time here, then not doing a damned thing.

So if everything is completely fucked-up tomorrow, you'll know I tried to change the template... :c/

Navigation Tips

I got that "published with errors" bit on the last post for some reason, but the connection has been wonky most of today, so it probably has something to do with that.

Anyway, that's not why I'm writing. I'm writing because I wanted to point-out how you can access earlier posts through the archives in the sidebar. For no good reason, Blogger blogs not hosted on BlogSpot do not have the "Older Posts" and "Newer Posts" buttons at the end of the pages, and there's no code/widget for installing them. Since I found several posts concerning this across the boards and through Google, it's possible that Blogger will one day fix this, but there's no way to know.

Technically, there has to be some way I could personally code something as a workaround, but I have a feeling it would be far more trouble than it's worth. If I had some help with the site, it might be worth it to at least attempt, but seeing as how I'm the only one who does that stuff, I simply don't have the time to mess with it right now.

I am going to try and work on The Speakeasy at least a little tonight and throughout the week, but I do have some personal stuff to deal with. For one thing, the car won't start and absolutely no one has any idea why. It doesn't make any sort of noise and it doesn't act like anything anyone's seen before; the best anyone can come up with is that there may be some kind of short in a cable going to or from the starter or something. Obviously, I'm no mechanic.

But there has been a dearth of good paranormal news lately and I am champing at the bit to get something up here, so I'm going to devote tomorrow to finding some new stuff and/or go through some of the books to find some good accounts to report on. I miss some good ol' paranormal patter to chat about.

Legendary Changes

Sometimes, it's hard to keep the blogs separated; there are a lot of issues, topics, and events that could fit on several of them and a handful that fit perfectly well on just about all of them. I often find myself wrestling over exactly which blog to post a certain entry on.

I discussed the book I am presently reading over to The Rundown a while back and intend to give a more replete review there once I am finished. I mentioned that I had first read it back in highschool and was absolutely blown away, so when I discovered that, over the years, I had collected the other two books in the trilogy without realizing it, I went on eBay and bought a new copy of Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold! And I am loving it!

But that's not what this post is about:

Two of the main supporting characters (which may sound like a misnomer, but isn't) are kobolds. Now, those of you familiar with any flavor of Dungeons & Dragons probably know the creatures, but the rest of you probably do not.  In D&D, they are basically nothing, little critters (even though there was a fantastic article in Dragon magazine some years back in defense of the kobold, rife with fantastic tactical ideas) -- the equivalent of the Snotling from the Games Workshop's more true-to-legend Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play (WFRP) -- but in Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold!, kobolds are a vicious, powerful breed of fighters.

This got me to thinking -- so much so that I was distracted from my reading -- about how legends are changed in their retelling.  Now, Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold! is a fictitious work which not only doesn't hold to "fixed" legends and so forth, but actively seeks to redefine some of them in order to stand apart from the pack and be its own animal -- but that doesn't change the fact that the overall concept of the kobold was firmly set by the pop-culture phenomena known as D&D, and the players of that classic RPG are obviously the target audience for such a work.

Tolkien reinvented several legendary creatures in his works, and his changes have now become part of the "revised" legends surrounding those fantasy beasts.  For example, trolls don't turn to stone in the sunlight according to the original legends from which Tolkien drew.  The words "elves" and "dwarves" were invented by Tolkien; the proper plurality of these words are "elfs" and "dwarfs."  These may seem like minor changes -- irrelevant to anyone but nerds and pedants, like myself -- but the fact is that these changes were embraced by the general populace.  So much so that they have become the new standard, and made recapturing the original versions of these legends more difficult.

You are unlikely to read or hear anyone refer to the plural of "elf" as "elfs;" Tolkien's work completely changed the legend of the Fey Folk forevermore.  And this happens on a somewhat regular basis.

Just, you know, just thinking.  Just... putting it out there.

Reasonable Excuses

I was going to take today off but, as I mentioned over to The Rundown, I had a bit of an automotive mishap yesterday when my car wouldn't start for no reason at all. Thus, I spent all day yesterday trying to figure out why my car would not start and was unable to do shit here, on the other blogs, or even on the site itself...

I have some cool odd shit to get to you, as well as get back to some of the classic reports from the annals o' the Unexplained, but since I'm a day behind and all, I can't promise when that is going to happen.

I know I've been slacking-off something fierce here lately, but with everything that's been going IRL, there just isn't much I can say or do. I hate to keep making excuses, but I firmly believe there's a difference between an excuse and a reason and the reason I haven't been able to do more lately is because of all the stuff I've had to away from the computer.

Hopefully next week will get us back to our regular schedule.

Ghost Hunters "Premiere"

I know I mentioned one of the new episodes from this "season"'s Ghost Hunters the other day - a damn good one, too - but I wanted to kind of do a "Review" of some sorts. Problem is, Ghost Hunters doesn't really follow the normal TV formula, does it?

I mean, a general season consists of 13 episodes with an option for what they call "the back nine," meaning you could end up with 22 episodes which comprises the entire season. Now and again, some shows will have "bonus" episodes making their season as many as 25 episodes (this used to be more common but is actually very rare nowadays). Ghost Hunters basically runs two seasons a year: a summer and fall season. This means they have two seasons of 13 episodes, which results in a full season, plus some extras.

And there's nothing really different between the shows. I mean there's no big deal about a season premiere or finale; the shows developed their blueprint about midway through the second season: the cases are carefully divided into 30 minute segments for syndication purposes (30-minute Ghost Hunters episodes will be shown, whether on Sci-Fi or in syndication on other networks) and there is no variation. Further, since they basically show half the season in the summer and the other half during the fall season, "season" premiere is a bit of a misnomer.

All in all, there isn't much to say about premieres or finales when it comes to Ghost Hunters. I will, however, make a special post concerning the live Halloween special.

Opine, Opine!

So what does everyone think of the new look? I'm still playing around with everything, but only one person has responded and she said she really liked it. I think it's a little drab, personally, but I can't really tell. You know what they say about artists judging their own work...

While I do have an entire site to consider, I don't mind if The OddBlog stands apart from the rest of The Weirding. After all, it really is its own beast, if you will. But I do want it to look good and yet still kind of fit with the rest of the site, overall. I can handle all of this, but I would love a few opinions - and wouldn't mind any suggestions!

I tried working on Weird Ink yesterday and somehow wound-up with the sidebar down at the bottom of the page... still haven't figured that one out yet. But the point is that I am working on these things and I would love to hear what everyone thinks!

There Is No Jean

Wow! Did you see tonight's Ghost Hunters?

The first half, they seem to have caught a full-bodied apparition at The Presidio, but it also kind of looks like a shadow, which even the Ghost Hunters admitted. Still, at least one of the images is really good - it appears to be away from the wall. Both instances clearly show a human form moving in a human manner, but they are inconclusive.

The second half of the program was the money, though:

They investigated a place called Lullabye Lane in California. It is a family-owned baby furniture store or some such and even the employees are said to be distant family members. The proprietors complained of hearing voices and claimed to have seen some instances of poltergeist activity - specifically, a chair that turned on its own and supposedly pushed itself up under the desk.

The family thought the spirit(s) may have been that of a former employee by the name of Jean.

But the amazing thing was the EVPs they caught. They were some of the clearest I've heard in a long time, as Jason mentioned. They were really creepy, gravelly voices and the one that really stood apart was, "There is no Jean"!!! It was kind of frightening, but exciting because it was so direct a response.

Another great EVP sounded like it said, "Please just leave us alone." They were of such a high quality, so clear and obviously in contact - responding directly to the Ghost Hunters - that this was one of the better episodes I've seen in quite some time now.

What do you think of Kris, the new girl? She's a little hottie, no? Her exceptional good looks aside, she is also coming along quite nicely. She's very good at research, though I wonder how much of what she says on camera is actually fed to her or set-up. Not that she didn't do the research, I just mean, for example, tonight she gave a rundown of the Presidio's history that was so specific I mused that she either just read about it before she got in the car or she had written it down and memorized it right before they rolled tape. Not that that is exactly "scripted" reality TV - it isn't - I just mean that, you know, it was a little too complete and specific for her to not have just done the research.

Really good episode.

Decatur County, TN - Avoid At All Costs!

If you follow the other blogs, you have already heard about this and you may be sick and tired of hearing about it, but after what I've been through - the way these cats have lied, manipulated, and blatantly, brazenly ignored the legal system and the law in general - I feel the need to spread the word as far and wide as possible so as to, if not avoid more of the same, at least (hopefully) minimize my losses.

In Decatur County, TN, the local law enforcement, attorneys, and judges have decided to throw law and legal proceedings out the window and just do whatever the fuck they want to. If you surf over to The Rundown, you can get a better idea of what I'm talking about and, if you're anything like me, it should offend you to no end! I am not just upset over this because it happened to me, as you know if you are a regular Rundown reader; I loathe the offhanded insouciance with which so many disregard the law in order to "teach [someone] a lesson" and so forth. And the frequency with which this is done nowadays is appalling.

I am just asking that regular readers be aware of my online activity and, if you notice a significant lull (I don't post here every single day like I do over to The Rundown, for reasons I've discussed before), please start asking around. I'd say to call someone, but I don't know who you should call - working on figuring that out now, in fact - but if enough people at least start discussing this issue and raising questions if and when (should) something like this occurs again, there is at least a minimal chance that it will reach someone, somewhere who has the authority to do or say something to curb this sort of behavior!

Thanks.