Illinois Gov Blo Spins Wheels

On Monday, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich announced he's signing legislation making Illinois the only state in the nation to prohibit the sale or rental of violent or sexually explicit video games to minors - This according to Tuesday's Chicago Tribune. All the usual and expected bases are covered in the article - Retail associations filing suits immediately; Quotes from experts about censorship; Quotes from experts about impact to children; Quotes about government letting parents raise their children. While the article does not indicate how the legislation defines "violent or sexually explicit content", it indicates that the law contains these definitions.


-Trib quotes: "Other cities and states have attempted similar legislation, only to have courts strike it down as unnecessarily restrictive of free speech." Attorney Katherine Fallow for several merchant associations: "We don't believe any of these laws can be constitutional, which is what every court that has addressed this issue has said."

-The state is confident in the constitutionality of the law for many reasons, including the solid definition of the content in question.

-Gov. Blog says he got the idea for the law last year when he found out about JFK Reloaded, which is, I believe, a game ONLY available for download on the web and has never been available at retail/rental.

-The Gov's office cites the standard University study that shows frequent players demonstrate increased aggressive thoughts, feelings and behaviors and decreased helping behaviors. Sounds like lots of normal teens to me. Plus, according to Fallow, every case has brought up this sort of point, and every court has rejected it as insufficient to warrant the free speech restriction. It seems we always get the university study references in these proposals. Where are the incredible, jaw-dropping statistics supporting the need for legislation? Where are the increased state-wide teen car-jackings and president assasinations? Where's the evidence that children need saving? Let children be children and let the parents parent.

The link (click the title) is to a 2003 article about a court decision concerning a similar law proposed in Indianapolis. It was struck down. I predict that's the destiny of the Illinois law as well.

My Bachelor Week

I leave in half an hour to pick Lori up at Midway. She's been out east with Brave Combo for the last 10 days. I probably won't see her much today either, though. They played Johnny D's in Somerville, MA last night. I'm betting the show ended around 2am and they probably finished loading out by 3am. From there it was straight to Logan to return the rental cars and wait for everybody's flights. Her's took off a couple of minutes ago. It's like the kids coming back from camp - she'll be tired and stinky.

Saw Murderball yesterday - great film. It's about quadripalegic rugby players and specifically the U.S. quad rugby team and the time leading to the 2004 Paralympic games in Athens. Saw The Triplets of Belleville last week. Also very cool. When this came out a couple of years ago, I had it pegged for more of a kid's film. And I haven't payed attention to movie ratings in years. Anyway, it's inventive, sweet, unpredictable, and mostly visuals, music and sound effects. Very little dialogue. I rented Ghost In The Shell and still have that one. Maybe watch it while Lori's sleeping.

Saw Les Claypool on Friday night. Got about what I expected, but not really my cup of tea. Everyone was competent, but it was more jammy funk than I care for. The instrument line-up was great - bass, saxamaphone, xylophone, sitar and drums. Xylophone player moved to percussion from time to time and the sitar player moved to uke. Another sax player came in, too. The guy on xylophone was great - I can only think to describe his playing style (at times) like a heavy metal drummer playing the instrument - violent, fast, hard! It rocked!

I sat next to Bob Sirott at Mr. Beef for lunch on Friday. Lori's never interested when I relate these encounters. After all, "people on TV have to eat lunch, too." And I'm never one to bother them - hey, eat lunch in peace. I mean, she tells me when she talks to Matt Groening's assistant.

I ate at the Golden Nugget yesterday and when I was paying, the cashier asked if I was on 'XRT. She said I sounded like one of the DJs. Then, I was very conscious of what my voice sounded like when I replied. Argh! I just realized should have said 'yes' - maybe she would have given me a discount.

Been checking out lots of new music this week. Well, some just new to me, anyway. Some of it I'm really diggin'. Here goes:

Brand New Sin - Good, straight-forward hard rock - somewhere between AC/DC and Pantera.
The 69 Eyes - Gothy hard rock. Think late The Damned or Monster Magnet with a synth.
Kasabian - Rocking dance music. Not as hard as NIN and not as goofy at Electric Six.
Shout Out Louds - Pop/Rock. Haven't figured out a good way to describe them, but check out the Howl Howl Gaff Gaff disc - great stuff.

I also dragged out a lot of Talking Heads and Lyle Lovett this week. And Garbage. I never really paid much attention to these guys before, but I checked BeautifulGarbage out of the Library and really like it.

Hey, bowling starts in 5 weeks! Time to leave for the airport. Maybe I should bring Febreeze?

Elsie's Secret

Maribou and lace must be less expensive than cotton or hemp. Click the title for a story on functional contraptions made for the moo cows.

I'll bet that cows have been saying for centuries that they'd feel better about themselves if they just had some sexy lingerie.

Access to the video's a pain, but the slide show gives you several good shots.

Happy Paul Ruebens' Day!

Sorry I didn't get you a card! Click the title for all the necessary information. If you're in San Francisco today, don't forget to check out at least 1 of the 3 events organized to celebrate many aspects of the life and work of the man who is Pee Wee. As the website states: Paul Ruebens' Day "is a playful and naughty tribute to the unique work of actor Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman), as well as a public spectacle supporting sexual expression" So we're celebrating Paul Ruebens, but making our own public statement, too. And I'll bet we do it whether Ruebens likes it or not.

So, sorry Paul if you're trying to move the career along, we're gonna keep reminding people of the bits of your background you might want the public to be getting over by now.

I did like the snappy wording in this quote though: "we are not afraid or embarrassed by the pleasure we get from both Paul Reubens' work and masturbation. We want to bring those good feelings and child-like delight out of the shadows, into full view, back in the hands of the people."

Pac-Man gets stoned

One of the studipest sales I've ever seen. As the ad states: "Re-live the '80s with this icon of fun." Click the title. I'd hoped to have more clever things to say, but I'm laughing too hard.

A reason to visit Delaware besides to visit a screen door factory

Click the title and check out a recent brew from the Dogfish Head brewery in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

In fact, Sam Calagione, of the brewery, has a new brew coming soon. It'll be sold as Chateau Jiahu and was developed from residues found in China from 9,000 years ago. That brew used rice, honey, and grape and hawthorn fruits. Wonder if it goes well with nachos?

Cars and Birds

The title's a link for a UK Ford commercial - car with a special feature allowing it to react and remain poop-free when a bird gets too close. Click the title to get there. I love it.

The commercial reminds me of when we first got one of our current cars, 2000 or 2001. I don't remember which car we had that day, but we went up to Summerfest for the day. Found a great place to park downtown on the street, not in a garage. Must have been a Sunday, because we didn't have to feed the meter and we could leave it there all day. Cool - a freebie!

Anyway, it was right next to this large tree. In fact, the tree extended out over the parking space - over the car's hood.

We came back about 12 hours later to a hood nearly completely covered in gifts from the birds. Didn't know exactly how to react! I wanted to be angry and upset for my new car had been so harshly initiated, but it just looked so funny, with the white splotches only on the front of the car - There was barely anything on the windshield.

Went through the car wash quite early the next day, as I recall.

Microscopic Hooks For Bad Fish

Click on the title for a link to a London Times story about a device - more on the controversy surrounding the device, actually. The device is made for a woman to wear and, in the event of her being a victim of rape, the device attaches to her attacker's penis with microscopic hooks. The attacker will not be able to remove the device without medical assistance. I have no clever comment, just fascinated with the story, both the device and the debate.

Our Litigious Planet

Russian woman sues NASA over recent events. Click the title for the story. Forget ambulance chasing, the future's in space probe chasing.

Music and Motorcyles - My Fourth So Far

Busy weekend so far. After work on Friday, I went to FitzGerald's Great American Music Festival to see Brave Combo, Dallas Wayne, Jon Dee Graham, Ian McLagen, and Anders Osborne. They were all great.

Stopped by Pete and Sarah's on the way, just to say 'hi' and maybe park the bike in front of their house. (Turned out I found great parking right next to the club.) Anyway, as often as we're in that area, I've been scoping out different places to eat - we seem to have slipped into a rut as far as that goes. One of my missions is a place with good Gelato and Pete came through for me. He got a recommendation from a friend for a place called Freddy's in Cicero.

So, before the concert, I rode over to Freddy's and enjoyed a nice pizza slice, sitting outside and reading my book. Freddy's is a neighborhood corner Italian grocery with some hot food available and maybe 7 flavors of gelato. After my slice, I tried some Oreo gelato - yummy. Thanks, Pete!

When Lori got to the club, she hadn't eaten and wanted to grab something. She was happy with walking next door to Di Nico's - pizza's just so-so, but you got a lot and it's cheap. We enjoyed the quiet time away from the music festival, until the girl's baseball team came in. We left Di Nico's shortly after for the relative calm of the music festival.

On Saturday morning, my plan was to hop on the bike and end up on Sunday evening in Rock Island, IL for the Brave Combo show downtown - fireworks over the Mississippi and everything! I left at 11:20am - an hour and twenty later than I intended. I love trips with no itinerary!

I got off of I-88 right before the Quad Cities and took the local roads through Galesburg and over to Monmouth. (6 to 150 to 34 if you're scoring at home).

The ride on 150 was particularly nice. Once I got past some construction, it's a little 2-lane road, with some hills and a few twists and turns. Nothing challenging, but pretty after the interstate.

I didn't notice much change to Monmouth since the last time I was there, probably over 10 years ago. It actually seemed a little more depressed this time. I bought gas and a snack and called Lori. The band was playing in Ottumwa, IA - a private gig at a family reunion. Apparently, the public was invited after 9pm. Plus, she and the band were staying at a Days Inn, so I didn't have to get a hotel room, so I decided to make my way to Ottumwa. Straight west on 34 and you're in Ottumwa. Heck, I didn't even need to make a turn!

I stopped in Burlington (home of the Bees!) and wanted to go to the advertised casino there. I saw signs (casino parking that-a-way), but couldn't find the casino. The visitor information center, which was right next to the casino parking sign, was closed and the workers setting up for what looked like a wedding reception in the same building as the visitor info center said they didn't know where it was. What a curious place...Back on the road.

Dinner in Fairfield, IA followed. I stopped for gas and asked the clerk that I wanted to have dinner and was there a place in town she recommended? She said she hadn't eaten in Fairfield, but knew there were a couple of restaurants on the square and one on the edge of town called Kokomos. On that great advice, I ate at Kokomos and had a disappointing meal. "Open-faced turkey sandwich" was really 4 giant slabs of turkey on top of 1 slice of white bread with salty gravy and bland veggies. Of course, within a mile of leaving Kokomos, I passed 3 better looking restaurants, all with packed parking lots. The third was a barbequed rib place. It smelled great as I passed with a belly full of processed turkey and a curse muffled by my helmet.

Ottumwa reminded me a little of Appleton. Nice old town, right on the river. Ottumwa has a few hills, lots of trees, and a dam that looked very pretty right at sunset. The hotel was nice for a nap. The reunion was a bust. No one was dancing, so the host told the band to quit at 9. I arrived at 9 to hear the final song.

The next morning, the weather report showed severe thunderstorms throughout IA, due into the Quad Cities by evening. The next day they continued to IL and Chicago. The rain could be accompanied by high winds and hail, too. So after considering the alternatives, I decided to just go home that day. I left at 9:50 - greeted on the road by a super-strong headwind. Aside from a couple of hours in pouring rain one time, this was easily the most miserable I've ever been on a motorcycle. My helmet's visor kept getting blown up at least once every mile or so. As I headed north on 63, the sky ahead to the northwest kept getting darker and darker and the darkness kept moving eastward till it was directly in front of me. Finally, I got to I-80 and headed east. After about an hour, it was still merely windy - no longer dark as night.

Had a great buffet lunch at the World's Largest Truckstop at exit 284, just northwest of the Quad Cities. Really good cream of potato soup - creamy, bacony goodness.

Anyway, then I continued home. The weather got better. The wind died down. Took I-39 north to Rockford, then 20 to 23 to 176 to 45 to 120. The ride ended just as pleasantly as it had begun.

Best place stopped just for a break - Illinois welcome center on I-80 EB. Great view, clean bathroom, air conditioning, friendly people, travelers with actual picnic baskets. Worst place stopped just for a break - DeKalb oasis on I-88. Crabby people, crowded mini-mart, closed restaurant, construction, fresh tar. All-in-all a good trip. 730 miles, one hotel room, 2 sit-down meals.

Al's Lock & Safe does amazing work

The link I found (click title) is more about the media attention than the story, but the story comes through loud and clear. Seems that Arthur Richardson accidently swallowed his friend's truck key. (A "couple of beers" preceeded this event). Luckily, Al's Lock & Safe was on the case.

Karnak says: July, Sheep Urine, The Simpsons

Rip. Blow. Turn card around. "What 3 entirely unrelated topics are in this post?" (The only gag I can think of is that at one time they're all hot, but it's not very funny. Or "Name 2 warm things and something that's cool.", but I don't much like that one either.) On with the show:

Hey, Happy July, all! Enjoy the weekend and don't get blowed up by fireworks.

I know you up to date gamers may scoff at my raiding the bargain bins or being years behind the times, but nonetheless, I picked up the PC version of The Simpsons Hit & Run game a couple of weeks ago. This thing has been a ton of fun so far. Mr. Blue has delivered on speed and looks, too.

Click on the title for a link to a story about a new, very important use for sheep urine. Not sure what PETA thinks about this, but any organization named People Eating Tasty Animals probably doesn't care.