Shite from the Gob

R.I.P. Kenny Millikan

Allen — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:21:42 GMT

I'm sure some of you already heard that Kenny passed away recently. It's left me quite disturbed and melancholy. I didn't really know Kenny; he was a hard man to truly "know." But I had many encounters with him. He was such an integral part of my memories of Blackpoint Faire, and his passing feels to me as if a happy watercolor of my past has just been smeared into a wet, brown puddle. One year at Faire, I took a required advanced improv workshop from him. It was, from an acting standpoint, doubtless the most useless workshop I ever experienced. Kenny was not a natural teacher, and his rambling, disconnected manner of speaking often left people scratching their heads. He was very shy with such direct communication, barely made eye contact, and often mumbled. Whatever lessons he wished to impart were lost on us, his would-be students. But this experience did give me a tiny peek into the window of his true personality, so rarely seen in performance. He was clearly a very kind, warm-hearted, gentle guy, with never a bad thing to say about anybody, and his shyness made him smile constantly, as if he was somewhat embarrassed, though greatly pleased, by our attention. His true improv lessons were gotten only by watching Kenny in action on the dusty streets of Faire. Kenny channeled true dada, a mixture of nonsense, zen foolishness, and macabre humor. He was a creature of the dirt, like an archetypal Hopi mudhead clown, and was typically found cross-legged on the ground, his rumble-pot churning out a flatulent counterpoint to his gleefully un-sane chanting. Like many, I took him for granted. Kenny, so much larger-than-life, felt at times more like a fixture than a person, as dependably present as the black oak around us (which we also, mistakenly, took for granted -- but that's another story). He died, sadly, just like his peasant persona lived -- as a pauper. I'll miss you, Kenny. - - - Details of Kenny's life and passing, as well as his upcoming memorial, can be found here: http://tubertalis.blogspot.com/2008/08/ken-es-obituary-by-dick-bagwell.html

Burroughs Meets Spam

Allen — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:25:12 GMT

We were talking in the Cyberpunk tribe about how William Burroughs influenced William Gibson. Then I noticed this spam in my inbox that is a perfect example of the Burroughs/Gysin cut-up method at work -- it's like computer-generated cyberpoetry that covers current events, the fleeting nature of celebrity, and even a Burroughs-ian ending with a dash of self-depreciating homoerotic sexuality! There are also some great Joycian invented hybrid words and misspellings that create double meanings. Even the title is rife with meaning and humor! I wish all spam were this interesting. * * * Get Hepatitis from Wolfgang Molly good, mondo, ricko, famous national ledger notorious. Breslin spotted during oscars wasnt order, innout protected security? At on amy stars you. Vince vaughn feeds send, news tips. Tip let, us know sign up. Kiss making sense celeb. Picture thursday looking acting set try hand singer. Audio cater married jordan bratman executive saturday november. Moving onmiss york, busting loose. Stand whole, idea perfumes, never. Announced teaming procter gamble prestige! Missed, fun newswire blogmoving moving. Then films ends hep scarewhy viagra metamucil abigail. Hold down fighter lyrics press room albaeva, linksrss. Adoption update met mother fiero pmthe amazing. Breakfast tiffanys bricks stones expert. De, say noposted suki year. Marathon touring began fearlessly break free, mass, mask hid! Thanks, dear, ol grandaddys dont, purfume thing think. Abigail breslin spotted during oscars wasnt order innout protected. Sharon, stone aguileras longtime manager irving azoff introduced couple. Gallery absurd, gilded moose give remote. Lachey, kidman richie pamela, anderson rosie odonnell, shakira. Foreign, born golden road richard simmons. Improve grammys poked night offered event exciting late. Okay woweau de say noposted, suki year old, daughter. Entry level heiress faded youth! Album basics ive been, number am? Mondo ricko famous national ledger notorious fag.

You Have Been Co-opted

Allen — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 00:45:01 GMT

Available from the adland shop, this shirt says it all. Do you hear me, Burners! http://commercial-archive.com/

Saddam is Dead -- Long Live the Iraqi Puppetocracy

Allen — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 23:01:31 GMT

I can't say I was a big Saddam fan, as his Hitlerian tactics certainly didn't win anybody over, and though I'm anti-death penalty, to a certain extent I believe you reap what you sow. The problem I have with his execution stems from a different kind of unease. His hanging came at the end of what was clearly a show trial, put on by barely competent judges at the beck and call of their American overlords. There was no jury. Three of Saddam's lawyers were assassinated; in the U.S., the first death would have resulted in a retrial. In short, Saddam did not, as Bush claimed after the execution, get the kind of justice denied his victims. He got the same kind of hasty, civil-rights-violating treatment that supposedly moved the U.S. to invade. American forces, we were being told, were going to be like the democracy fairy, bringing fairness and impartiality to everything they touched. Saddam's stage-managed trial and execution were a laughable display of corruption and U.S.-controlled ventriloquism. What the process should have been was a public model for what imported democracy could look like. Saddam should have received the carefully applied full due process of law to demonstrate to all Iraqis (and by extension the Arab world) that things could be different. If that process also resulted in his execution, then so be it; the end result was not the point, but the process -- a glaring truism that has been absent from the entire invasion. Process matters. As it is, Saddam's trial is merely a reflection of the parody of "justice" that ordinary Iraqis are getting. As reported in last week's NY Times, the judicial system in Iraq is broken and overburdened. Most defendants don't even get legal representation, and are convicted with scant evidence. Trials are held without juries, and sentences are long and typically unduly harsh. So now the tyrant is dead, through direct action of the Bush administration; though they've been careful to publicly stay away from the process, there was never any question who pulled the levers of power. And Iraqis now have reason to feel even more cynical than before, since the version of jurisprudence we've given them isn't any better than what Saddam himself dispensed to his long-suffering countrymen. America has sold Iraq a lemon, a limping wreck sprayed with canned new-car-smell to disguise the stink of old blood staining the seats. And as it breaks down to the point of stopping altogether, they're realizing the extent of the shameless rip-off they've endured. Is it any wonder they're angry?

Cue the Theremin Music

Allen — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 10:31:38 GMT

"Watch out for the Tingler!" - loudly declaimed by an alcoholic homeless guy on my street

Would You Eat Green Eggs & Ham?

Allen — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 08:18:31 GMT

Or maybe green ham, hold the eggs?: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4605202.stm

Elmo: Homicidal

Allen — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 12:35:59 GMT

Random copies of "Potty Time With Elmo," an interactive book for toddlers, features the already disturbing Sesame Street character asking, at the push of a button, "Uh-oh! Who wants to die?!" In other, ordinary copies of the book, Elmo simply says, "Who wants to try to go potty?" I ask you -- are these the values we want to push on America's children?! What's next? Big Bird in an SS uniform gassing Cookie Monster? Sesame Street's psycho-liberal death agenda must be stopped! This site below features video with a sound sample of the murderous muppet. http://www.local6.com/news/5784303/detail.html

The Thouroughly Modern Ninja

Allen — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 00:15:04 GMT

Yes, ninja have made significant inroads into modern commerce. The Iga Ninja clan want you to know that they are ready to conquer the business world as easily as they might rupture the windpipes of their enemies with throwing stars. http://iganinja.jp/english/life/f-menu.html Areas of particular interest include -- Methods to strengthening yourself with multimedia: http://iganinja.jp/english/life/biziness/malti.html Methods to expands (sic) your activities: http://iganinja.jp/english/life/biziness/jyouho.html Methods to upraise your motivations: http://iganinja.jp/english/life/biziness/siki.html And, most importantly, methods to refresh your mouth: http://iganinja.jp/english/life/kyusoku/rflash.html

These are your troops. These are your troops on acid...

Allen — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 00:08:30 GMT

If this is chemical warfare, then I say bring it back! British government dollars at work in this video: http://www.holylemon.com/content.php?id=572

Coo-Coo for Comfort Food

Allen — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 11:18:40 GMT

Yes, every day Freud and his theory of psychosexual development are proven right all across this great nation because of the recalitrant infantilism of Americans. The latest oral-phase fad? Breakfast cereal cafes: http://www.cereality.com/intro.html The perfect antidote to this nonsense is the Cheap-Ass Cereal Hall of Fame blog: http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_cheapass_cereals.php

Music, Dancing, and CosPlay

Allen — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 22:27:21 GMT

Here's video by an American living in Japan, "Rob Pongi," who produces a trashy web show in Tokyo called "The Roppongi Video Happy Hour." A weird cross between a club crawl, community access TV, softcore smut, and random weirdness, Rob prowls the scene looking for hot chicks and strange goings-on. In this clip (dressed as his bad alter-ego, Evil Pongi), Rob reads hilarious classified ads from local girls, in the self-explanatory title "Japanese Women Looking For Foreign Friends #11": http://robpongi.com/pages/comboPERSONAL11HI.html For the rest of his large video archive, see: http://robpongi.com/MovieStillPages/thumbsGALLERY.htm

Truth in Transportation

Allen — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 05:38:05 GMT

"Make sure you're holding on if you're not seated. Never trust Muni drivers." - spoken by the driver of an inbound K train over the train's PA system

Violent Smut Kills

Allen — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:47:38 GMT

From LiveScience: Erotic and Violent Images Cloud Vision, Study Finds Apparently seeing the latest naughty Victoria's Secret billboard while driving down the street might actually cause you to squish that group of blind, paraplegic nuns crossing at the intersection. http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050811_attention_problem.html

Maybe His Bark Was Worse

Allen — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 03:35:41 GMT

"Attention Safeway shoppers. If you own a pitbull, please come outside as it is attacking people -- or we'll call the SPCA." - heard tonight in Church & Market Safeway