Have His Carcass
If you are really interested in purchasing human bones, I found The Bone Room some time ago. They don't seem to update their site terribly regularly, but they do have contact information.
"Monkeynomics" (So We're Not As Advanced As We Think...)
As a companion piece, NewScientist printed an article by Rowan Hooper expanding on the monkeynomics with advertising.
So, are we not as smart as we think we are, or do we simply succumb to our baser nature?
Holy Ancient Video Batman!
According to YouTube, this video has been up for 7 months, and either it wasn't tagged properly 7 months ago, or YouTube has been holding out on me because there's no way I would have missed this otherwise!
As you will see, it's in Swedish (my Swedish isn't that good, so I only get a word or two here and there, although I can get the gist -- any of you Swedes who are visiting my site, if you want to help me out with a translation I would be eternally grateful!) and the sound and visual quality are nearly total crap, but then the video was shot in 1993! So, yeah, this is some really old footage of Marduk and, unless I'm very much mistaken, a very young Jon Nödtveidt!
So, even if you don't understand even 1/4 of what is being said, watch it for the sheer joy of seeing a 20-year-old Morgan Håkansson show off!
Is It Friday Yet?
Without further ado...
Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) -- Katy Perry
Shut Your "Mayhole!"
According the The Local-Sweden, Alexander Alvina Chamberland, co-founder of the group Midsommarfitta (erm...that would be "Midsummer C*nt" in English), is trying to change the way Swedes celebrate the traditional Midsummer festival. Instead of dancing around a maypole, he wants people to dance around a vagina...Yes, that's right, a vagina. He sees the traditional maypole as a sexist phallic symbol. He also sees the tradition of girls picking flowers to place under their pillow in hopes of dreaming about their future man as "heteronormative and patriarchal." So, instead of dancing around a male symbol he wants people to dance around a female one...
Ugh...where to start, where to start...
First of all, as I mentioned at the beginning, the Midsummer festivities no longer hold the same meaning they once did, so to get all bent out of shape over dancing around a meaningless pole and having a bit of fun is just stupid.
Second, instead of elevating the male these yahoos want to elevate the female. Soooo, instead of forcing oppression by one group, you'd like to force oppression by another group. Yeah, okay, that makes sense...NOT. Look, any time you try to venerate one gender over the other you are, by turns, doing to the one group what you don't want to be done to the other. How is that really helping? I heartily disagree with feminism just as I heartily disagree with chauvinism; male is not better than female and female is not better than male; and by trying to venerate one over the other, that's what you are saying - that one is necessarily better than the other. Isn't that mentality what has caused so many problems in the past (or in certain areas of the world still causing problems)? We're all equal, get it?
Third, (this kind of goes back to what I said in point one) if the tradition is not to your taste then you have every right to celebrate it as you wish, and you can let people know that's how you're going to do it, that's fine, whatever; however, don't try to force your way on others by belittling or harassing them for doing it the way they want to. And yes, that's what I feel this guy is doing. It's all in the delivery.
And finally, he goes on to complain about how people often accuse feminists of having no sense of humor, "and then when we do, people complain that we're ridiculous." When all you seem to do is be on the offensive then yeah, you seem a bit humorless. But is this his way of saying that the Midsummerfitta is all a big joke? (Well, yeah, it is a joke...) That we shouldn't take it so seriously? Then why all the feminist rhetoric? Since we're speaking in sweeping generalizations here...feminists often accuse others of being anti-female if we don't readily support the feminist agenda, and that's just silly. Just because I don't support the feminist agenda doesn't mean I'm anti-female, I AM female for Pete's sake! So of course I'm not anti-female! What I am is anti-feminist/anti-chauvinist. I will not support any agenda that places one gender over the other, period, end of story.
Do I have a problem with this guy and his friends dancing around a vagina? No, I just think it's kind of stupid. But then, I think dancing around a pole is kind of stupid too. Do I have a problem with this guy and his friends trying to convince everyone and their dog to do it? Yes, I do. If you want to put up your little facebook page and "get the word out," fine, whatever, but don't go spewing your feminist claptrap in the news media in order to get your message across.
Visions Of Death: Kendrick
...And The Ocean Of Sorrow Is You...
Burden
I, once upon a timeCarried a burden inside
I sung a last goodbye
A broken rhyme I had underlined
There's an ocean of sorrow in you
A sorrow in me
I saw movement in their eyes
They said I no longer knew the way
I had given up the ghost
A passive mind submit to fear
And the wait for redemption at hand
Waiting to fail
Failing again
If death should take me now
Count my mistakes and let me through
Whisper in my ear
You've taken more than we've received
And the ocean of sorrow is you
Devi8
Free Stuff!
Here's one of my favorite Maiden songs to listen to while you download:
Du Gamla, Du Fria!
du tysta, du glädjerika sköna!
Jag hälsar dig, vänaste land uppå jord,
din sol, din himmel, dina ängder gröna,
din sol, din himmel, dina ängder gröna.
Du tronar på minnen från fornstora dar,
då ärat ditt namn flög över jorden.
Jag vet, att du är och du blir vad du var.
Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö i Norden!
Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö i Norden!
I Am Vengeance!
Let this be a lesson to you: always, but always, check out a company through the BBB and/or the Complaints Board. Heck, even a simple Google might bring up something that would deter you from getting involved with a crap company. Don't learn the hard way cuz it sucks.
So, yeah, I'm pissed off. But there's always one thing that helps me when I'm ready to spit nails (no pun intended): Naglfar! More than once I have listened to Sheol (and screamed along) in order to become de-pissed off. It rarely fails. So listen with me now as we all decompress...
But Of The Tree Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil, Thou Shalt Not Eat...
Those of you who know me, know that I am not a fan of Apple...in fact, I detest Apple and all it stands for. I have had nothing but trouble with it ever since I got my MacBook Pro from that stupid school. I get a headache whenever I try to look for compatible components for non-Apple product MP3 players (because, for some stupid reason, nobody seems to think people buy anything other than Apple iPods). When the iPad came out I strained my eyes rolling them so much. So, I took great pleasure in the South Park season premier when they ragged on Apple (and the Human Centipede) and I read every article that suggests the golden throne Jobs sits atop is really more of the porcelain variety.
So, I was interested to read two news items this morning that reveal to the world that Steve Jobs and his Apple cronies are big, fat liars. Ever since I got my laptop I've been told that there are no known Mac viruses...in fact, I was told exactly that by the guy at the Apple store when I raised the concern that my computer was acting as if it had a virus...So, imagine my interest when my buddy James tells me he's come across a Mac virus! What's this? I almost didn't believe him...or, I didn't believe him enough that I downloaded the offending software myself...because I had to see, I had to know! And lo and behold...! Just so you know, if you ever come across a font calling itself "Pastor of Muppets," don't download it! At least, not if you have a Mac...can't be sure if it works on a PC but after the pain I went through to get rid of it from my Mac, somebody else is going to have to test that one out! So yeah, it was "only" a Trojan, but still!
But then, a couple weeks ago when I installed new anti-virus software for my troubling Mac, the software informed me that I had over a dozen security threats! They were Trojans...my computer was littered with them. No, they weren't "viruses" but frankly, I couldn't care less about the differentiation between virus, Trojan, or even worm. They are all destructive in one way or another and they are all created by people who are trying to damage others. In other words, they're all bad. Period. End of story. So, while there may not be a Mac "virus," that doesn't matter because the other malware is bad enough and a Mac virus is no doubt in the works.
See, the reason that Apple products have thus far been largely spared the same fate as PC's is because, up until now, Apple has been a niche market, appealing only to people who don't know any better. But now, with the introduction of all of it's "i" products, Apple is going heavily mainstream...and now they're starting to feel the heat. With more and more people buying into the Apple flimflam the company is increasing its exposure to nasty people with nothing better to do than try to scam or otherwise harm people. By maintaining the attitude that Apple products are so well protected from security threats you don't need anti-virus software, you lull (some) people into a false sense of security, and that's when they become most vulnerable. It's only by virtue of my paranoia (and a previous experience with malicious software) that I have downloaded anti-virus software to my Mac...and clearly it wasn't a moment too soon!
The attitude at Apple is criminal and they should be held accountable for it. Certainly not in the way that hackers and creators of malicious software should be held accountable, but Apple should be held accountable for the security of their product.
So, what I'm trying to get across here is, if you own a Mac then be sure to get anti-virus software for it (yeah, it's not easy because so few companies make software for Mac...but it's not impossible). Don't be a fool and eat the Apple!