Smoke gets in your eyes... nose and throat!

If you live in Los Angeles right now, that is. Have you been watching the news? Then you probably have heard about the Southern California wildfires that have burned up 350 homes so far. If you live in LA, you probably can smell the fires in the form of smoke and ash that is clearly smellable in the air. In fact, my eyes are starting to sting as I type this. I think it might be time to head to the beach to take advantage of some wireless Internet and some fresher air.

Check out the pics below to see what things look like as of right now (12:32 PT):


Despite the stereotypes, LA's sky is usually a clear blue thing that makes us all glad (or bored) to live here. But look at the houses in the distance. See that haze? Look above the trees near the center of the pic - see that brown/gray haze? That's not there, normally.

Here's a closer shot of the sky and houses up the street:


You can see the brown/gray haze that we're seeing more of. Just so you know, the fires are about an hour's drive away. Luckily, the fire doesn't have a driver's license.

Of course - we don't have it half as bad as the folks in San Bernadino. There's a good chunk of flame-resistent city between where I am and San Bernadino, where the fires are. Here are some more dramatic pics to give you an idea of what people over there are facing, complements of MyWay.Com and the AP:


That's a guy in Moorpark watering down a neighbor's roof as the fire licks his neighborhood. 10/26/03


Another resident of Moorpark, CA waters down her yard as the flames approach. 10/26/03

And here's the pic that headlined DrudgeReport.Com as I typed up this blog entry:


Well, we don't get snow, tornadoes or hurricanes, but we do get wildfires and the odd earthquake...

Keep your fingers crossed for us, folks!

Drowning!!

I'm so busy!! ARG!

Back in LACA!

Well, we spent 8 hours in the car yesterday (with me behind the wheel) to get us from Cedar City, Utah, to LA, California. We would have gotten back to Westwood earlier, but we got back into LA just in time for rush-hour traffic.

Of course, now the fun part for TheFiancee begins! She gets to unpack all of her stuff. And meanwhile, I get to catch up on the work I didn't do while I was in Utah. Yaaay!

Ugh...

Almost done in Utah...

Well, the final performance of Little Shop went pretty well - everyone did a great last show and got a huge standing "O". So, that's pretty cool. That was last night. After, TheFiancee and I hung out with some of the cast and crew and then made our way to her apartment to crash early, since the original plan was to get up around 7am (!!) to meet up with her folks (who had come in to see the final show) for a bit of breakkie. But I had a truly rotten night of sleep, tossed and turned, despite the fact that I was very tired.

Woke up this morning at 6:50am and told TheFiancee I just wasn't going to make it to breakfast at all and she left and then went directly to what they call in the business "strike". That's where they tear all the sets down. I crashed and didn't wake up until she came back around 12:30pm for lunch! Then, she took me to this terrible wings place called "Wingers" - really bad wings there - don't try them. Then I just went home and fell back asleep!

I have no idea what my problem was. I woke up again around 3, I think, and messed around on the computer. Finally got the urge to be productive, so I'm doing this blog entry. I would spend some more time on the site, but I have to clean the kitchen and sweep the porch. Since we're packing up and leaving tomorrow, the place has to be spotless. Yippeeeeee...

Anyway, more when we're back in LACA. Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

BACK in Utah...

Greetings from 6000 feet above sea-level! I'm back in Utah, seeing TheFiancee's last performance in Little Shop of Horrors here at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and then I'm helping her clean and pack up her apartment here and I'm bringing her home!!

YIPPEEE!

Of course, the minute I set foot off the tiny plane I flew in on, I knew I was back in Utah. My eyes dried up instantly as did my nostrils (sp?). I'm sucking down water left and right and I can't wait to get in the car and drive home... That's how I KNOW I'm in Utah... it is a beautiful place, but I'm just a sea-level kind of guy, I guess. I like moisture in my air.

I'm kooky that way.

Anyway, I did bring PLENTY of work to do, so it's not like this is a nice vacation or anything. I've got a decent sized copy writing gig to do and my film to edit, so really, I'll be quite busy. I do hope to sneak in an update or two on TheNewsBlog. Got PLENTY to write about there, but I'm too tired to bother with it now...

Damn, thin-ass atmosphere up here has got me feeling vaguely tipsy all the time... or maybe that's just TheFiancee...

(Awwwwwww!)

Vomit.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a good weekend. Check out the forum and POST!

Wanna convert your videos to 3D?

This is just because I'm a nerdy guy at heart and wanted to share this with anyone curious if this can be done.

So, I go to a movie at the big 3-D film fest that was held at the Egyptian last month and it was awesome. But after seeing Gog in 3-D, I get curious, I wondered if there is an app or filter that will convert regular video clips into Anaglyph (red & blue) 3-D...

Well, weeks later, I'm taking a few days off from paid work and I do a web search. Lo and behold it exists. So, here are a few key phrases to make the search easier for other geeks. like me:

Convert video clips to 3D Anaglyph

make your own 3D movies

red and blue movies on your PC

3D video on your PC

Okay, hopefully that will do it. And here's a link to the site that offers the app that converts regular 2D video to 3D Anaglyph:

http://www3.zero.ad.jp/esuto/stvmkr/indexe.htm

So, follow that link to DL software that will (with a little tweaking on your end) allow you to convert 2D videos into 3D Anaglyph FUN!!

KILL BILL Vol. 1 (2003)

Entertaining? Not really. But if you're a Tarantino fan, you'll probably love it.
Technically any good? Don't get me started... Read my bigger review...
How did I feel as the credits rolled? Frustrated. Just why do so many people think this guy is brilliant?
Final Rating? DNS (Unless you're a Tarantino fan, in which case, see it. You'll pee your pants with glee over it, I'm sure...)

PRAISE BE UNTO THE DIGITAL GODS!

They have blessed me and I am able to now say that TheForum@ThePete.Com WORKS!

Well, mostly...

There are still some odd little buggy-wugs, but as long as nobody tries anything fancy, I think it'll be okay. But I could use all the help I can get in breaking the thing - I'd rather have it mess up now than in a few weeks or months when it's got a stack of posts on it....

So, PLEASE, go give it a whirl! You'll have to register, but you know me, I'm not going to sell your email or spam you or anything...

Anyway, back to WORK!

Needing money sucks!

Once again, THIS is Bizarro World!

Well, Arnold won and by such a landslide, I think it proves my little theory that the people of California wanted some real friggin' choices during the last governor's race in the state. I mean, come on, of COURSE we voted for Gray Davis! He was up against a business man under investigation for fraud!

Hm, evil I know, or evil I don't know?

The point is, we had no real choice in the last election. The recall had very little to do with "circumventing democracy" because "democracy" had already been circumvented by the players involved using Microsoft-esque tacticts to give us only crappy choices. And you know the game of politics is SO much fun when the players phone it in... like Davis and Simon did back in '02.

But in reference to the title of this blog entry, I do believe this is true. After all, to more than half of the people who voted, Arnold seemed like the right guy to go with. That's a chief characteristic of Bizarro World. Things that make no sense abstractly, make perfect sense inside your head.

We are in so much trouble...

PRESIDENT ARNOLD?

This is Bizarro World, it could happen. And it will happen if Republican Senator from Utah Orrin Hatch has his way. See, since July, Hatch has been shoving through the Senate a resolution that would allow any naturalized citizen who has lived in the US for twenty years to run for president. Currently, the US Constitution says that if you were not born in the US, you cannot run for the highest office in the US. According to an article at the Utne Reader web site, Arnold has been living in the US since 1968.

And just in case you're thinking that resolution could never pass with the 3/4 majority it needs, take a look at some of the other things that the USGov has said "OK!" to in the past couple years:

1) Forgoing a proper election that allows Congress to determine the winner of a disputed election (as the Constitution requires), the USGov allowed the Supreme Court, where just five people are required to determine the outcome of any case, to name the next President of the United States. (And relax, this isn't about who won or lost, it's how the game was played!)

2) The Patriot Act, which most Democrat law makers claim they didn't even have time to read before they voted "YES" on it.

3) The Iraq Attack, called by some Operation Iraqi Freedom, this sequel to the 1991 Box Office success, Desert Storm, essentially featured a bunch of no-name generals waging war against a sovereign member of the United Nations that had not attacked any US interests, leveled any threats, and was technically protected by the United Nations Charter. This action put the USGov in violation of International Law and alienated most of the rest of the planet.

Kind of makes a President with a foreign accent sound like no big deal, huh?

... be afraid... be very afraid!

Read the short article at the Utne Reader about the resolution that Orrin Hatch is trying to get passed in Washington.

GOOD GOD, IF YOU LIVE IN CA DON'T VOTE FOR ARNOLD!

READ THE HEADLINE OF THIS BLOG ENTRY AGAIN AND AGAIN!!!

DON'T
VOTE
ARNOLD!

I don't mind the world knowing exactly what I will do today:

YES on the RECALL
Bustamante for Governor!

I would have voted for Arianna Huffington because she's pretty much outside the system, but she dropped out. (The bitch!!) So, it's Bustamante to the rescue (hopefully). See, my whole problem was that Davis was a fool to take advice on the California energy "crisis" from two guys who were in the back pocket of the guys effectively causing this "crisis". It's been proven in a court of law that the private energy providers of California lied to Davis and the people of California, claiming that there was a power shortage, when there wasn't. During said "crisis", Davis turned to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for advice. He took that advice and did business with those liars. (What does that say about "W" and Cheney?) Davis was a fool - a blind man with sunglasses on at night walking through a blizzard would have seen that Bush/Cheney would spout nothing pro-big-energy-company advice. Davis needs to be fired and his Lt. Governor should take over.

I think this is a reasonable thing. If a public servant who was elected to office screws up, shouldn't there be a way to punish him without having to wait to vote him out? I'd like a job where I could screw up and not have to pay for it for two years. In Davis' case, the Republicans paid him back for doing business with the California Energy Liars by providing him with lousy competition for the Governor's mansion. So, essentially, we had no choice but to vote him back into office.

THAT wasn't democracy, that was another case of monopoly. Like Microsoft having no real competition.

Anyway, the only thing that has backfired here, IMHO, is Arnold running. While I admire his quick apologies, I don't trust him because he's a Republican. Also, he's apparently been a part of some shady dealings with fellow Republican and recall funder, Daryl Issa. I've got an article floating around my hard drive that details how Arnold joined up with Issa to help discredit Davis. Not a difficult task, but it apparently breaks a law... I'll post more on this in TheNewsBlog in the next few days.

And in case you don't know me and think I'm just some lame liberal/democrat - SORRY, HANS, WRONG GUESS! I'm an independent - tried and true. I don't believe that our founding fathers wanted the US to have a party system and clearly it's a thoroughly screwed up system. Like I said, I wanted to vote Arianna, but noooo, she had to listen to the polls! Well, of COURSE she won't get enough votes, NOW!!

OK, enough out of me, I'm going to go vote now...

Oh yeah - one last thing:

VOTE NO ON 54!

Prop 54 outlaws the asking of race questions on questionaires and forms used by the state. This would effectively abolish affirmative action. It's pretty obviously a racist prop put forward by white guys in suits... NEVER TRUST THOSE GUYS!!

OK, I'm outta here! (Finally!)

TAMALA 2010 (2002)

Entertaining? Holy crap, was it ever! This anime will baffle and entertain you! In that order!
Technically any good? Well, this is definitely an experimental animated movie - it's truly crazy, so it doesn't have to work like a traditional movie. However, I think it does satisfy for the most part.
How did I feel as the credits rolled? Fired up - it was such a bizarre film to watch - it's not really anime, but it is Japanese, but it's just not like anything... it's just weird... but in a really great way...
Final Rating? SIYL (It's very trippy and doesn't make a whole lot of traditional sense - but SEE IT! It's great.)

Ever want to just do nothing?

I've been working my ass off for the past week - non-stop work for other people since early last week. No real breaks, no real fun. I guess I did have some fun over the weekend, but it was only a few hours Friday night. But right now, as much as I'd like to do some serious work in updates to the site and other stuff (like WRITING and EDITING), I'm just not in the mood to do anything but sit and do nothing.

Which is really sad, since my clean laundry has been sitting in my laundry baskets for almost a week, desperately needing to be folded... oh well!

UPDATE: All right, well, I got restless so I added a new woman to TheBeauty and a new Ballpoint Adventures strip. I'd do a new Otis, but my old 98 laptop is screwed right now which means, no scanner since Canon didn't bother to write XP drivers for their cheapy scanners. THANKS, CANON, YOU BASTARDS!

Did I mention I'm a little cranky? :)

UPDATE #2:

GOT THE SCANNER WORKING! YESSS!!!

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(click to enlarge me)

No, really... it's working!! HONEST!