I got a lot of great loot this Christmas (and on my birthday, conveniently nearby), particularly in the area of media input. So I thought I'd share the delightful choices I now have with you, for your delight as well. Not a one of these should be missed, I assure you.

Music:

• Hem's Funnel Cloud


• Sparklehorse's Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain


• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Mustt Mustt

Movies:

• Swades: We the People


• Bride and Prejudice


• Gattaca


• An Inconvenient Truth

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering: I am not, in fact, some sort of N.R.I. (Non-Resident Indian) living in America, even though half of these things are of Indian origin... they're just cool.

...I'm getting better.

It's just... It's almost Christmas; in fact, it's The Darkest Night of the Year, the Winter Solstice. How depressing. And you want me to write more? Sheesh. You're so pushy!

Okay, here's a couple things for you:

1. You should play Kingdom of Loathing. It's too fun. They call Christmas "Crimbo".


2. I will have some new technical content here soon... In fact, I've been working on some Exchange and Windows Mobile stuff at work lately which I think you'll be interested in. (You techies, at least.)

I'm gonna go crawl back in my hole now, but I'll write later.

More unusual email subject lines from the inbox that are strange and funny and almost tempting enough to open them, but somehow you just know a computer selected the words...

And my toes fell off.

Oh. I didn't know that could happen.

And don't miss this stinker:

then it probably is fish

I would suggest, if there's any doubt: don't eat it!

Yup, it's Election Day here in the States, and we're all wondering what time tonight FOX News will announce that George Bush was voted in for another 2 years (even though, once again, we didn't vote for him). Heh.

But seriously... If you live in Maine, it is important to vote today, at the very least to vote down this stupid idea of The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (a/k/a TABOR). While I agree that Maine's tax burden is ridiculous at times, this idea is even moreso and will do little to solve it while doing a lot to mess up our great state. For some entertaining education ("edutainment"?), see this little Flash site called Reckless Tax Reform.

And don't forget to vote today.

I love Leekspin.com. I really do.

I'm appreciating it right now. Over and over and over again. Really.

Heh... we, uh, had a rather abrupt disappearance from the web and transition to the new host recently. But surprise! We're there now, with a whole new look, and more. (And, well, in some places, a little less—for example, I've temporary disabled the Photo Gallery.) But now that I'm on the new server, there's much more room to play, so it's gonna be fun. Stick with me, and hang on for the ride!

Congrats to our dear friend Becca, who's releasing her first EP today with a seedy release party. Or at least that's what it sounds like when you say it out loud.

Okay, so actually, it should be very wholesome and nutritious, and if you live in Greater Portland (or even Lesser Portland, for that matter) you should check it out. Bring a bowl for some soup and a cup for some cider, if you will.

I've traveled by airplane a lot in the 5 years since "9/11" (y'know, the September 11th). And through that time I've watched the Transportation Security Administration steadily turn the hassles of air travel into an all-out nightmare. From rude questions to stinky feet to clothes falling off to luggage upturned and belongings tossed, I've just about had enough.

For one, I still don't believe we've had any significant improvement in safety, especially when compared with air travel abroad. What's the difference then in Europe, the Middle East, etc.? For one example, I can get through most American airports' metal detectors with my metal-buckled belt on; but every time I've forgotten to remove it when traveling abroad, I set off the alarm and the culprit is the buckle. And then the security employees that are scanning me there can tell a hawk from a handgun, or a belt from a bullet. I have yet to meet a TSA representative that could tell me the time, let alone what the explosives that they're searching so hard for might look like.

I think that's the problem: the TSA employees are underpaid, untrained, uh... well, I was about to say "monkeys". But that might be a compliment! I mean, no offense—if you live near a major airport and need unskilled minimum-wage labor, by all means contact the TSA ("Be the provocation of millions!"). But what I'm now proposing is that we, the nation's travelers, may be better served if we replace the current TSA representatives (starting with the management) with other primates. Like monkeys.

As the Ethiopian Airlines 767-300 prepared to take off, leaving Addis Ababa for Rome and then Washington D.C. the next morning, I quietly hummed along to the muszak, until I realized the words of the song which was mercifully playing in an elevator-instrumental only: "Take... these broken wings... and learn to fly again, learn to live so free." Whoops! Not exactly the best selection for nervous airline passengers.

Of course, since you're reading this, you know that the wings of my plane were not broken (as far as I know), and I did make it home safely and happily. And, well, I'm glad I went, and I'm glad to be home again.

As Ainsley mentioned in the previous post, I was in Rwanda and Burundi (D.R. Congo was too unstable right after the elections, so we nixed those plans) for about two and a half weeks. A rather short visit, but we were there for much longer several years ago and so I was quite at home seeing so many dear friends again.

And yes, you remember correctly that that part of Central Africa was where the genocide took place about 12 years ago now, and continues to have conflict to this day. That's exactly why I was there. As these are nations with largely Christian population (whatever that may mean—often, like in America—it may mean only that a family attended a church when the kids were young), I believe that the Christians should be the first to reconcile with their brothers and enemies—Hutus and Tutsis both. (Let me state that when I speak of a Christian, I hope you are able to hear that as less of a President-Bush-alienate-or-kill-everyone-you-disagree-with type and more of the type that Jesus exemplified. I'd like to think I'm one of the latter and have little in common with the former. Please talk with me sometime if you don't understand the difference!)

Remember Toto? (The 80s band, not Dorothy's canine friend...) Toto's tribute to "Africa" ranks as one of the top songs I shamelessly sing the wrong words to. Turns out the chorus to "Africa" goes like this (not about "masquerading down in Africa," after all!):

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

But onto the point of this post...a little update on my sweetie, Ewall.