half-assed remorse with sincerest apologies

i'm moving...

2006-02-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

as most of you know, i cannot use blogger from work now. to combat this, i've started a new, but probably temporary page on wordpress, so please direct all traffic there.

i have secured the rights to brandonpennington.com so ultimately that's where things will end up, i just have to get more time and advice on what it is exactly i'm going to do there.

that is all.

"what are you wearing?...are you standing next to a window?"

2006-02-08T20:08:00.000-08:00

i hate to charade pictures in lieu of an actual post, but lately it's only when i see these pictures that i am reminded to blog.

call it my way of saving the world from yet another email forward.

i think the whole world should see these; to me, it's one of the greatest examples of islam being opposed to democracy.

if this is offensive, then i think that's all the better. Christianity is openly mocked on basic cable [South Park is an excellent example] and there's no violent rage across the world. some newspaper in Denmark or where ever prints some political cartoons and murder and rampage is justified. and, to add insult to injury, the President can do nothing but apologize to the Arab world for something his country had no part of, and scold Europe for exercising free speech--ironic when you think about why the United States was founded and why most people originally migrated here.

so, here's my big question: is George W. Bush serious about bring democracy to the Arabs? if so, how is apologizing for free speech helping him do that?

and once again, a picture of moi.

and a picture of my new girlfriend [and ciavarro's sister]

and i still want one of these...

guy who actually thought the seahawks were gonna win {}undiscovered modeling talent who was recently asked what she was wearing and if she'd stand by a window {} funniest thing you're going to read all day

here i am...

2006-01-27T18:47:00.000-08:00

in other news...

richard ashcroft has a new album out, and the preview reveals that there are a few choice selections to be had from it.

also, these guys [liam] recently performed "the drugs don't work" with richard when he forgot the order of the song.

the next three pictures i really don't have a solid reaction to, just thought they should be shared.

and just because you've all been wondering, this is what brett's been up to:
http://blog.myspace.com/aaron4eva

and, last of all, here's an obsurdly large picture of me...

for no reason at all.

ahh....saturday.

2006-01-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

the day of vaccuming. dusting. washing clothes; throwing dirty t-shirts at cole.

benjamin bryce and myself will be watching football for the majority of the day, i think mateo will be there too, but, with that guy you never can tell. offically, i think he'll be there pending some girlfriend emergency.

i would go for a run today [i've been much healthier as of late] but ben and i found this place on the upper part of cantrell that serves fat tire beer by the pitcher...needless to say, we enjoyed this excessively.

-kirk, i've got news. call me.

-anybody, call and give predictions on today's games. [that is, if you happen to have mine or ben's number...if not, post in comments.]

from the comfort of your living room, tell me are we leaving soon?

2006-01-12T22:27:00.000-08:00

usually, i'm not one for cliche` song lyrics as (a la j go) blog titles, but i just got in a coma and that song is really sticking out. even more cliche` is that i actually am in the comfort of my living room and am thinking of leaving very soon.

there's a mutemath [check out songs progress and control] concert on 2006jan19 in dallas, and even though i spent too much on Christmas and just the season in general, i very much want to go and am very seriously thinking of going and sleeping in my jeep to save money. plus, i'm thinking this will be a nice ramp-up to the coldplayer show dallas is hosting on 2006feb26, my 26th birthday.

here's a big cheers to brett for coming home for a while and making the dank, disgusting place we a little brighter. mccscormacks, ny we shall. [rule #72: no excuses, play like a champion.]

kirk, i'll see you late feb-march-ish. whenev. i understand. work shit out: it's all good. BTW [by-the-way] i'm all out of leine's...i had a taste for it that just couldn't be satisfied, so i killed the final three just to watch them die. i saved one for display purposes, but i must tell you, at this rate, it will not last long.

also, there has been no word from fashion island. [after all my hard work.]

2006-01-05T13:35:00.000-08:00

2006-01-05T13:28:00.000-08:00

here's to...

2006-01-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

the bloglander of the week:

GRACIE.

she sent me a couple of Christmas presents and i am throughly enjoying them...

although, i'm probably enjoying one more than the other [the book is still proudly displayed on my coffee table], the "our lady peace" is rocked on a daily basis.

much love T.

*also*
here's the most disgusting thing i've seen all day.

this brings shame to all chuck's everywhere.
speaking of chuck's, where are you?

i had something else clever to say,

2005-12-28T09:11:00.000-08:00

but after a recent phone conversation, and overhearing a conversation in the hallway, i've forgotten this bit of wit and will now goto the gym and think of motorcycles and long motorcycle trips.

__what-a-day-to-be-at-work__

emo mike, be leary of a random podcast call soon.

you too ben.

DEAR CATASTROPE WAITRESS,

2005-12-28T05:34:00.000-08:00

i've absolutely encountered the most soul-less, evil thing thing ever. here it is.

in other news...

there are no new pictures in my email. this is both a good and a bad thing.

and i'm bringing peace and understanding to fashion island.

this is a terrible picture of me, but a great picture of the bike.

and also, this is the most rad thing ever.

There's been a lot of talk....

2005-12-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

about who has the best beers, and which regions of North America are more prone to foster great beer taste.

so, once and for all, i will conduct an offical beer sampling.

email me for contest rules and submission guide lines.
november_fahrenheit@lycos.com .

mikevs.mike******the LECK blog lives******C.I.A.

dude...

2005-12-19T06:36:00.000-08:00

the other day i was Christmas-ing in best buy with ben, just playing call of duty 2 for the new x-box 360, when strangely i was drawn to look over my shoulder.

i say "strangely" because there was no real tangible cause for me to look in this direction,

something "willed" me.

so, while i was slaying Nazi germans

[ironic if you buy into the Canadian concept that i'm the new Nazi, the Nazi 5.1, because of my service in Iraq.]

and virtually practicing my skills of "international murdering"

[because once again, that's what i am, an internationally murdering Nazi]

there was a large plasma screen TV with

richard ashcroft

and

the coldplayers

playing "bittersweet symphony". this is simply my favorite song ever and
as far as things in my little world go, this is tops. this is almost as big as the verve getting back together, which, will probably never happen. damn that nick mccabe.

all of this was nearly enough for me to forget about that fucking guy 'gunsforsale' on matt's site complaining that he's "so sick of American war Vet's being called hero's when really they're just international murderers" and then went on to compare us to Nazi's...the whole thing just makes me sick. when you say "war hero" to me, i think of the dead. i think of the guys who never got married, never had kids, never rode a motorcycle, never had their 20th birthday and are being called Nazi's.

so, here's blanket statement for the whole world: if you actively compare the United States to Nazi Germany you're the same as a suicide bomber...completely negative and self-deluded. you help nothing. you speculate borrowed ideas in attempt at punditry, which you think prognosticates truth, but you accomplish little more than spreading defeatism. you breed the same kind of hate that the bombers do.

in your mind, prison's in eastern Europe where torture may or may not have happened, you imagine them to be concentration camps. i've seen the comments out there; in the same paragraph where you compare George Bush to Hitler for visiting Boy Scouts [which every American President has done since the 50's] you make vague and acidic references to the prisoner of war camps as "American concentration camps".

i'm sick of this shit. the Iraq war has it's problems, they're all right out in the open for everyone to see, and i'm not defending it. i fought in it and i'm telling you, in my best, most formulated, thought out opinion, our reasons for going weren't valid. we should have never gone in without the rest of world backing us. BUT. you're either part of the problem or part of the solution. that kind of negativity doesn't help anything. it doesn't even make you look smart, or more informed than everyone else. it clearly defines you as part of the problem.

you can disagree with Bush and the war all you want to, i know i do, but the only way you can help is to be truly informed and quit buying into sensationalistic bullshit. that goes for both sides. if you want to help, quit watching so much reality TV and actually do some research. quit bandwagoning. get involved, write your elected officals.

do something besides bitching, pointing fingers, name-calling.

from the lou...

2005-12-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

yep, helping the allbright move his stuff from st. louis to little rock this weekend. thus far, the driving hasn't been bad, i'm just not looking forward to the drive back with a full load of ben's crap. oh well, call it the joys of being ben's only friend with a job and reliable transportation.

but, we're staying with his mother (as we always do) and right now, she's remodeling her bathroom, which contains the house's one and only shower. thankfully, grandma lives down the road. so, come shower time, i hop in my jeep run down to grandma's.

guess what grandma has in her shower?...

an illustrated guide to the self breast exam.

that's right, posted right behind the shampoo, on the rack hanging from the shower nozzle, there's a little pamphlet style cartoon lady feeling up both breasts, making small little circles around her nipples, lifting each breast for weight, checking for lumps...

it's amazing to me how none of this was even the slightest bit sexual. it just couldn't be; there were way too many constant reminders that i was in ben's grandma's shower... V05 silver, extra body, all the strange lufas, the weird shower mat, the 18 different curtains you had to pass through just to get in the shower; the odd feeling that potpouri was always in a 5 foot proximity...

as a matter of fact, i think i have to sum the whole thing up as a bad experience. i really can't tell though, it just certainly wasn't positive...

i guess the thing the i just dont' want to talk about is, the inevitable mental picture of his grandma, standing right where i was, performing her own self breast exam. you really just couldn't look at the picture without it eventually turning into his grandma...

now, if you'll excuse me, i'm going to go throw myself off a bridge.

on the upside, mike and chad now have masterbatory fodder for the next year.

and chuck no...whatever it is your thinking, the answer is no.

2005-12-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

dude, it might snow today. we never get snow this early.

-brett [from middle california a.k.a. oregon south] call me.

-ben, you still haven't given me some very important paperwork.

-ciavarro, keep your drinking skills sharp; cause when you face me, you're gonna have to cash in a few miracles just to get an honorable mention here in the south.

-pitt and the outlaw, congrats.

-gracie, whatev. you're mad at boys.

-sunshine, when is your Q&A day?

-leck, how ya been? haven't spoken to you in a while.

-steve smooth, ditto above.

-gwen, yeah, i know--school sucks--just try to get through it.

-susan natalie, why do you want to be an actress? vanity?

-chuck, you're one of the funniest people alive. i hope i'm never your enemy.

-Apoc/mike, we should have a beer and talk about writing.

-mikey[closet emo], you never did give me some info about Nintendo emulators, i'd really like to get a hold of one. also, start dating girls.

-matt good, thanks for the music. beautiful midnight was one of about ten cd's i had for the most part of the war. sort of like a "if-you-were-ever-stranded-on-a-desert-island" scenerio; i could only bring a limited amount of stuff.

2005-12-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

[insert comment here]

last day of november

2005-11-30T13:52:00.000-08:00

here's a little of what i've been doing this month.

It was only after 5 hours of driving that I met Sarah-joon. You see, when I get like this, I always go for a drive, and not of your Sunday afternoon vareity. More like, police report, missing persons kind of a drive. This time I ended up in St. Louis; it was Saturday, and somehow I got it into my head that I could catch a Cards game. Sarah-joon was all mascara and blue eye shadow at the gas station where her parent’s BMW had stopped working. Raven-haired, crystal blue-eyed, slightly confused, terrified, and totally intoxicating; she was the reason I pulled into the gas station, having a half tank left.

Lets just say, for a moment, that I couldn’t make eye contact with her when she first spoke to me. Had that been the case, it would’ve only been to watch her speak. To watch her full, bee-stung lips release the question, “…do you have a cell phone?” Then, of course, had I not been able to stare directly back at her, I would have missed her eyes: as big as silver dollars, but unsure of me, captivating in the fearful way they analyzed me, and unknowingly looked right through me. I was instantly obsessed with her.

Sarah-joon was 20, but in the most 17ish of all ways. I told her she wasn’t nearly cynical enough to be 20, which was a lie, a baiting lie that I used to get her to talk more about herself at dinner, no more than an hour after I’d met her. She said she was 20, and believe me she was plenty cynical, and when the waiter came around to ask what we wanted, she said she wanted a beer, heiniken, and her fake ID said she was twenty-five.

I said I’d have the same, myself being newly 21 and the two and a half day stubble on my face making me look 25. I wanted to smoke a cigerette but I wasn’t sure if she smoked--she was just out. What self respecting 20 year old with a fake ID that said 25 wouldn’t smoke?
I asked her what she was doing here, where she was from, even though as a red-blooded man I’d done a completely worthless full inspection of the car, and seen her Michigan plates. With each question she squirmed, got a little more distant, but then realized she was giving herself away and would look at me dead on, smiling slightly, daring me to question her lies. She said she was in college, had come home for the weekend. I think she was a runaway. Not a serious one though. Just leaving long enough to see who’d notice.

I told her that I was here for a Cardinals game but really just came for the drive; I’d been in a mood as of late and couldn’t cope otherwise. And there, in that resturant, a pizzeria with the circle style booths, she leaned into me, one hand grabbing the lapel of my brown leather jacket, the other touching my face, and kissed me. I don’t know why it happened, and really, I question the events of my life up to this point had it not happened, but, maybe in between bites of our chicken salads with Italian dressing, or in one of those classic hand brushing moments while simultaneously reaching for napkins that are so thematic in 80’s movies that just seemed to keep happening to us, we realized that not only did we both love Coldplay and Jack Kerouac, that both of us were reveling in these same moments, and everything was wonderful and new. Despite everything, I was still jealous that once, she’d met Chuck Palahniuk at the airport.

At this point, I thought again of the road. How on the drive up here, the grey sky and the light rain on my windshield made me worry if my worn tires would hold the road if I sped. I thought about how my windshield wipers were stuck on the medium setting and worked too well or not well enough. I thought about how much I was sick of college, and how my writing classes didn’t seem to be going so well. I thought about how much I missed my Mother. Sarah-joon had excused herself to use the restroom, she walked fast and awkwardly, her motor skills just taking into effect the four Heinekens she’d drank, but still with a grace that made her misunderstood to most and provocatively perfect to me.

I slinked back in our circle booth, taking a long drag off my camel light, head cocked to the side, sort of smiling, sort of smirking, wondering how I’d come to be so happy in a day that started off in such way, I didn‘t feel anything.

She came back from the restroom with a patience restored in her walk, smiling coyly. I immediately made eye contact with her, couldn’t help but to, she was already staring at me, analyzing me. Sarah-joon, in her remarkable doubt, would later admit that she half-way expected me not to be there when she came back. I could agree with that reasoning. Every curious moment of seamless bliss I’d come across before always had a biting way of being everything but. No matter what, though, you never stopped looking for them. Somewhere inside, all that cynicsm had a way of softening for these perfect and regrettable moments, which, are probably the purest, most decent ways of being a hypocrite.

more random photos, less meaningless things to talk about...

2005-11-29T20:12:00.000-08:00

sorry about not posting as much blogland...november is always a weird month for me. all my energies are usually tied up.

i just can't believe it's almost over.

here's to next year.

flesh and blog...

2005-11-29T15:49:00.000-08:00

{afk} ...sorry, still away.

so, everyone, catch me up. what's the latest?

what's the highest bid for ben's phone number?...
has ciavarro insulted anyone lately?...
is pitt taller yet?...
is mike dating yet?...

brett, called you earlier, give me a shout back.
kirk liljestrom, where the hell are you?

finding yourself on google...

2005-11-21T06:23:00.000-08:00

ever wonder who you might have been?...

try typing your first and last name into a google search, and then, be a little weirded out by the similarities...

introducing, brandon pennington from Harrisonburg Va, "I am Brandon Pennington (23) a.k.a 'B.' I play the Guitar and Cowbell" eyes like sunday

stereostatic
Brandon Pennington is 25.78 years old and has been a member of Threadless since Jan 25 2005 and has scored 493 submissions, giving an average score of 2.2049. that just happens to be my exact age.

brandon pennington the english teacher from Brunswick, MD. i'm an english major.
also, the image from his webpage is on a calender i just bought.

another brandon pennington in the english department, this one goes to shepard college (where ever that is)

this is what brandon pennington looks like

Brandon Pennington (left), 7, watches as Nathan Spencer, 7, both from Rudolph, looses his hat while playing on a fence at the Wood County Fairgrounds in Bowling Green, Ohio. 8/2/04

one of us anyway...

and finally,

me...just on ben's page

fire-ball-whiskey{{{{{{{{{{rocker of the old-school nintendo}}}}}}}}}}}}}guy who's gonna sell you my shorts

what i've been missing...

2005-11-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

so yeah, i'm really missing home at this point...
madison realizes this so she sends me pictures, i'm sure you all saw the halloween pics on ben's site... i just love it when madison dresses up really sexy and goes to a bunch parties when i'm a 1000 miles away, there's really nothing more comforting... anyways, here she is pictured with some of the world's shortest people, mary and alyce

now, the occation that they're all celebrating here is this chick's birthday, brittany . i think she's twenty now.

anyways, i should be home a week from today, the 13th i believe, but on my way i'll probably be stopping in chicago to see one of my buddies...

i promise to have loads of pictures.

cheers.

chuck's latest*****sunshine*******what else i'm missing

(insert title here)

2005-11-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

really?...wow...

boring...completely

2005-10-31T10:17:00.000-08:00

i just started a second class that lasts roughly the next two weeks. while very informative, it's completely boring (see title)...

this eludes to what?...i've been day dreaming again. generally speaking, there are only a couple of things i tend to focus on, when i 'm not really focusing i guess...this morning it wasn't boobs. well, for most of the time. what lingers on into my lunch break are my thoughts of...

....????....

(sorry, i said boobs, lost my train of thought)

yes, motorcycles.

of course, none of this will sit well with madison, she doesn't like the one i have now,

but, i did say i was dreaming, right?

who is this guy?....

2005-10-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

who is this you might ask?....

he's an employee of the federal government.
guess what his job is:

1. Counter-Intelligence agent with the DIA, specializing in anti-Taliban operations?

2. Delta Force?

3. Navy SEALS instructor?

4. FBI interogator?

5. Instructor of governmental administration?

now, the million dollar question...

just by looking at him, which of these is his real name?...

1. Tank Steadman

2. Jesse "the body" Ventura

3. Mrs. Chad Ciavarro

4. Tyrone Neatly

5. Donald Warnke

also of interest,

i just completed my first course in wisconsin.

and i still miss home.

isabel winezcek\\\\\\\\\M&M\\\\\\\\\\captain canada

an update from wis-CAN-sin...

2005-10-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

blogland--what is up. sorry about the leave of absence, sort of had to get my bearings before i could get into a routine. for starters, what the hell is going on out in the world right now?...don't even get me started on iraq,

i don't think there is anything new to say there. but, when it comes to the White House, i.e. the Bush administration, are there any suprized faces when it comes to the Dick Cheney allegations?

and of course, he won't go down for it. since the beginning, i've been wondering who will be the fall guy, and of course, they've found one. and, most certainly, i don't buy it. sure, Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff might have been the one to actaully leak the info, but come on, without him knowing about it? Dick Cheney? the devil's right hand man? the only thing that surprizes me here is the hierarchy of the White House... i always figured Cheney was the ultimate evil around there, but if he's being pulled into all this, it must mean somebody wants the spotlight off Karl Rove.

in other news, i wanna go home.

bens******lilmadi*******seth

agrestic development

2005-10-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

right now, i'm really diggin' this show weeds. i'm not really into the whole counter-culture scene, so i'm not a closet pot smoker or anything, (see closet pole smokers), the show just has great writing. i really don't watch much tv, but i'm a big fan of these sitcoms HBO and Showtime have been putting out since the success of the soprano's--liked that show too.
Plus, i'm damn attracted to mary-louise parker.

what brings all this to mind is that this morning, (because of excessive late night drinking and internet game playing), i was wicked, wicked tired. like, went to bed at two half drunk and got up at six tired. back when i was 19, this was fine. this was commonplace...if you weren't keeping these hours, there was something wrong with you. nowadays, when i do this i wake up and realize everything that is wrong with me--like not being 19 anymore.

going to a matt good show*******these guys bought ben and me beer*******tel est la vie

dude, whatev...

2005-10-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

so, this is my last week in Arkansas for a while. Gotta goto Wisconsin for about a month.

from here

to here

thing is, while i'm there, i'm gonna do something i've only done once before....

i'm going to canada.

except this time, i'm gonna try to goto ontario. probably around thunder bay, seems to be the closest.

maybe i'll go, i'm actually not sure how serious i am about it. i might just stay in wisconsin, or goto chicago...minnesota does have the mall of america.

God. can't miss that.

awake but not aliveIIIIIIIjillanneIIIIIIIIle l'un qui n'écrit jamais

how safe are the skies?

2005-10-10T08:15:00.000-07:00

my buddy is an air traffic controller, so he's always sending me this stuff.

serious FAA mismanagement is putting passenger safety at> risk. Go to the Fly Us Safe Campaign web page at> http://www.natca.net/flyussafe and learn more about these> critical issues and then take action! Call your Senator, toll> free at 1-877-FLY-US-SAFE and use our email facility to contact> your representatives in Washington.>> You can take action on this alert via the web at:> http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/flyussafe/8b33is4f76iexk?>> Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.> http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/flyussafe/forward/8b33is4f76iexk?>> We encourage you to take action by October 28, 2005>> Fly Us Safe Campaign>> INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:> If you have access to a web browser, you can take action on this> alert by going to the following URL:>> http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/flyussafe/8b33is4f76iexk?>> Your letter will be addressed and sent to:> Your Congressperson> Your Senators>> ----THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT IN YOUR NAME----> Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],>> America's air traffic controllers are dedicated men and women> who have one single priority: safety in the skies.>> But recently, the FAA has been jeopardizing the safety,> efficiency and integrity of America's aviation system. I'm> writing to ask you to help put an end to this mismanagement and> safeguard the future of America's air traffic control.>> First, the FAA must adequately staff the air traffic control> system. Though air traffic is increasing to record high levels,> there are already 1,000 fewer air traffic controllers than there> were two years ago. That means fewer controllers guiding more> planes, and that's not safe.>> Second, the FAA must immediately commit to modernizing air> traffic control facilities. From surface radar to global> positioning systems, the FAA has cut or delayed many programs> that are vital to passenger safety. That has to stop, and> modernization needs to start.>> Third, the FAA has to stop attacking its own workforce. The> agency recently wasted taxpayer dollars by conducting a 22 city> press tour to attack the men and women who run America's air> traffic control. The FAA also appears intent on using Congress> to unilaterally impose contract terms at its discretion. This is> not true collective bargaining and will create an environment of> mistrust and hostility.>> We rely on our elected officials to take leadership positions on> critical issues like safety in the skies. I call on you to send> a message to the FAA today: stop jeopardizing America's aviation> system.

2005-10-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

all things considered, here's what i don't understand:
racism is still a horribly powerful institution in the US, right? so why aren't jesse jackson (and his son) and louis farrakhan doing anything to help?...perpetuating hate and fear are the white man tactics, remember?

i think racism is dead and dying. i think it is too often confused with cultural distinctions. i think that jackson and farrakhan are really gifted with the ability to create "reverse" racism.

why is it, if myself and my black co-workers make an observation, crack a joke about the tightness of cowboy pants, the gayness of popmusic, or rant about Bush (we're all government employees--irony) it's perfectly fine. but, if myself and a couple of white co-workers make similar comments about sagging pants or gold teeth, or my above comments about black politicans, we are the very definition of racists. i would argue that both groups are just making cultural distinctions. neither are being racist, directly or in essence.

income taxes aren't legal//mon vrai nom est tonya//l'un qui désire le sexe avec les hommes

what are these guys thinking...

2005-10-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

Imam Intikab Habib-
the new Muslim chaplain hired by none other than the New York Fire Department:

An imam slated to be sworn in Friday as the second Muslim chaplain in Fire Department history said he questioned whether 19 hijackers were responsible for the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and suggested a broader conspiracy may have brought down the Twin Towers and killed more than 2,700 people.
In a telephone interview Thursday, Imam Intikab Habib, 30, a native of Guyana who studied Islam in Saudi Arabia, said he doubted the United States government's official story blaming 19 hijackers associated with al-Quaida and Osama bin Laden.

"I as an individual don't know who did the attacks," said Habib, 30, a soft-spoken man who immigrated to New York in July 2000 after spending six years in Saudi Arabia getting a degree in Islamic theology and law. "There are so many conflicting reports about it. I don't believe it was 19 ... hijackers who did those attacks."

Asked to elaborate on his reasons for doubting that story, he talked about video and news reports widely disseminated in the Muslim community.

"I've heard professionals say that nowhere ever in history did a steel building come down with fire alone," he said. "It takes two or three weeks to demolish a building like that. But it was pulled down in a couple of hours. Was it 19 hijackers who brought it down, or was it a conspiracy?

Via Bloomberg News:

Imam Who Doubts 9/11 Story Quits as NYC Fire Chaplain, NY1 Says 2005-09-30 11:27 (New York)
By William Goldschlag

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- A Muslim cleric who was to be sworn in as a New York Fire Department chaplain today resigned following a newspaper interview in which he said he doubted official accounts that 19 terrorist hijackers carried out the Sept. 11 attacks, the cable news station NY1 reported.

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said Imam Intikab Habib, 30, had resigned. Habin told NY1 that leaving the post was the best thing for the department, the report said. Habib, 30, a Guyanese who studied theology in Saudi Arabia and taught at a New Jersey Islamic school, suggested that a
broader conspiracy may have brought down the World Trade Center, according to a Newsday interview published today. He said there were ``so many conflicting reports'' that he questioned whether hijackers associated with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist group were responsible, Newsday said.

fine, this guy is entitled to his opinion. personally, i think the conspiracy theory holds as much weight as the Saddam theory.

-next-

this guy.

here's some of his poetry.

somebody blew up America
Who know why Five Israelis was filming the explosion
And cracking they sides at the notion?
Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed
Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Tower
To stay at home that day,
Why did Sharon stay away?

he elaborates,

implying that white Americans are worse than the September 11 terrorists because they "tried to waste the Black nation," "invented AIDS," "stole Puerto Rico," and "tried to poison Fidel Castro."

great work, i think. and apparently so did a lot of other people, you know, since he's

Amiri Baraka, the poet laureate of New Jersey from 2002 to 2004.

here's a famous quote of his:

"I don't see anything wrong with hating white people," Baraka bragged at the time to a U.S. News and World Report writer after one of his Harlem street performances in 1965 involved a black valet murdering white victims.

guess there's nothing wrong with me wanting to kick his teeth in either.

look who just gave the NRA credibility//el flaco//el que desea a chicos

it's much too beautiful

2005-09-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

outside for me to be as upset as i am. why did gas prices shoot up over 30cents over night? if there is such an oil crisis, why are the oil companies reporting triple profits?....

chuck and grace....your moment of zen....

2005-09-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

pictures of ben.

very soon i'll post pics from the trip, a la coldplay and the freeways of texas.

just some random pictures from my life...

2005-09-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

dude, buddy...chello.

2005-09-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

i will, for the first time in fiscal year 2005, see the coldplayers

this saturday night.

this makes me positively electric--i'm 12, and it's offically Christmas morning.

Coldplay just happens to be my favorite working band; the verve split up, and richard ashcroft will never cater to the states...

another one of my fav's that i missed in dallas about a year ago, the doves, would love to see them sometime.

anyways, ben and his little brother joel will are attending the show with my kid brother and me. so, with all these different blogs, i'm sure there'll be plenty of picture posting.

catch you all sometime in the near future when there are no relief centers, college hours, and full-time girlfriends to beguile my blogdom.

cheers.

chadly//pitty//do something

the girlfriend post

2005-08-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

well, here we are

the happy couple.

for some reason, this little girl sticks by me, even with all the grief i cause her.
there's always the chance of me leaving, again; work as it is keeps me away half the year anyway.

but, we fit. we work at things, which more or less just equates to her understanding. this didn't come so easy, and there are occastional relapses into petty arguments, which is ironic, because no arguments are petty, they're just about petty things.

i miss her right now, she's in minnesota; her brother's a golfer and qualified for the national long drive championship--that means family trip, which to her means shopping trip. i'm loving that those are still on her dad's dime and not mine.

this will probably be the only weekend post i'll ever do--i usually only blog at work, so this kinda feels like work to me; plus, what the hell am i supposed to do at work on monday now?

but maybe, since i've taken precious time outta my sunday, she'll get off my case about not talking about her more now that i've dedicated this whole post to her. hell, maybe she'll actually comment instead just reading them. who knows, never can tell with this one.

love you madi.

chad, how was the "stag" party?...

chuck, where the hell were you friday?

a blog for blogging's sake...

2005-08-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

i committed myself to this thing, and dispite my

dis trac tions,

i'm gonna be better about posting.

the problem is, i'm always worried about posting something of substance, or atleast being witty and not alarmingly sarcastic; as of late, i'm really struggling with this...

in this lady's page, i couldn't help but point out that Captain Collins

of the recent space shuttle mission had fantastically horrible hair, in the mist of this lady's praise and admiration of her fellow woman's accomplishment. And, included in all this brew-haha was her claims that it's time for a woman President, the implication being that we men have screwed it up, and, the quick-fix remedy for all is that America needs ovaries, not balls to calm its woes.

Yes blogland, i'm gonna stop you right there, cause i know where you're headed with that.

i am not oposed to a woman Commander in Chief...as long as it's not

Hill ary Clin ton,

she sucks.
she's probably the worst thing ever to happen to the women's rights movement. she's a power-hungry, corupt, liar (see above links: i google searched "hillary clinton 911 families" and got 58,000 hits, of which, the first ten pages were calling her out for not attending funerals, etc...)

laura bush isn't so great, and condelezza rice is just an affirmative action hire, who also happens to be embedded in the oil game.

i just think it's time for a good President, forget about gender.

we need a decent foreign policy, some real world economics, (for instance, deciding if the jobs our consumerism create are for us or central america), and someone, male or female, to sit in the White House and not kill us for the sake of globalization and the securing of resources.

pitt, i know you got something to say about all this.

hey lookit, ben's back.

the verbal tip

2005-08-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

So,

the old lady and i have been together 8 months yesterday, August 1st,
(despite this little 3 week break we had in july; long story, but it starts and ends with a lot of i told you so's) and it is our custom that on the 1st of each month we celebrate this accomplishment.

(accomplishment: someone putting up with me for whole months at a time.)

anyway...

we goto PF Chang's without a reservation and are actually seated immediately. This comes as a big surprize to me, because i'm walking in the place with the expectation that, at the very least, we're getting the typical 30min go-spend-money in the bar wait that seems to just be automatic anywhere i go these days. don't get me wrong, i'm a booze hound, but even more than that i'm the guy that just can't stand paying 7 bucks for vodka tonics or 4 and a half for a coors light. And before you say it, before anyone of you out there in blogland go into how much more expensive drinks are where you live, lemme just stop you there.

i don't care.

this just means i'd have more to complain about if i lived where you do.
i guess you can thank the poor ole south for one thing...being poor; keeping the cost of living down--yes, booze is included in that.

this doesn't mean i never have the $100 bar tabs and don't get floored on margarita night at Senior Tequilla's...my God, i certainly have, just ask Ben how much money we
individually spent when we first got back from Iraq. it's shameful.

but no, we went right to a table. this pleased me.

And, in-between the lettuce wraps just not living up to their name (who wraps lettuce?...honestly) and incidents with the chopsticks and chicken eggplant (really, i'm fine today, there was just a short period of time when i wasn't sure if i'd breathe again) it was a good time had by all.

what was more impressive than the instant seating was the service--i actually got a good waiter. never need a refill, etc...

i mentioned eariler that i'm a resident of the south, which, by no trick of the republican number system, is very poor. because of this, nobody tips well. therefore, nobody serves well. it's nothing to goto a chili's or friday's on a weekday to very uncrowded restaurant and not get your food for atleast a half hour.

so, i just told this guy, "thanks man, you've been a great waiter" and he just gets this look on his face, like i just told him his cat died...(see cat story; tractor ciavarro)

i couldn't figure it out. he walks off, carring the plates, forks, and those damn chop sticks...

and it hits me, like JT on Bernard Hopkins in the first round.

he thinks i gave him the verbal tip. you know the one. if you've ever served or have friends that do, they'll tell you this is when an old man says "you've done a great job, son" and lets loose a shiny nickel when he gladhands you.

in the serving industry it's the kiss of death.

about ten minutes later, he comes back (i think he was waiting for us to leave) to see if we need some more coffee, we didn't, but i pay out with him and tell him to keep the change. he gets the most relieved look, and i say to him:

"you thought you got the verbal tip, didn't you?"

he responded:

"yeah, i was really worried there for a minute"

we had a big laugh about it, and he went on to say that he had been in the back talking about to the rest of the waiting staff. apparently it had really happen to one of them over the weekend.

that just sucks.

this is something that i had to teach my dad as of late...

my dad is totally the guy that, on a 47.00 check, leaves only the change off a 50,
or even better,
uses the card and stratches out the tip line and drops a couple of singles on the table. Then, proceeds to look the guy right in the eye and asks him:

"could i have a to-go cup?"

unscrupulous.

but hey,

aleast he's not getting radation headaches.
(see jeremy guest post; "banana box")

1

2005-07-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

ummm...yeah.

under construction.