Major ramble incoming. My mind operates in at least 3 dimensions, and putting stuff on paper - linear - is damned near impossible for me, so I apologize in advance. Take each separate thought, and launch it into its own coordinate in space. Then look at the whole as one - like its own little galaxy of thoughts. The band, Devo, was ahead of its time name-wise. Named after the theory that humans were de-evolving, I'd call it close to prophetic except for the fact that I don't really beli...

Time for explanation of a sort. I've been ranting more often than not, lately, and I've probably given some people the wrong impression. I am not as ranty in real life as I may sound here. Some, yes, but I am also full of good will, tolerance, compassion, and a great deal of empathy...empathy to a painful degree, which is likely the source of my rants when I indulge them. I came here, not to participate in a competition, but to have a place to let go. It is my catharsis. My visions. ...

I've posted more articles in the last few days than I've posted in a year...no earthly idea why. Here's today's drek. About a year ago, I was doing a late night gig - somewhere around here - and it *seemed* to me that it was close to where I live, so I invoked my right as a unit leader to drive my car there leaving the job of taking all our gear back to the bandroom to my subordinates. I really should have gone with them because I got really really really lost. It took me about 3 hour...

When I got to Naples 2 years and a few months ago, one of the first persons I met was a guy I'll just call MH. I'm just calling him that, because what I'm about to describe is illegal, and I don't want to dime him out for his service. MH deserves a blog entry all his own. He's a thinker - very astute. He's absolutely hilarious...a wit faster than greased lightning and sharper than a razor. But perhaps I'll save that for another time. MH and I became friends immediately, and he told me...

Jason Hanna...I don't know if you'll ever see this, but here is your tribute, buddy. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Kort, my real name is Steve, and for the past year I have had the honor to run what is possibly the most successful rock band in the history of Navy music, because yes, though it seems odd to many, being a musician in the US Navy is actually a job - it's my job, and it's Jason Hanna's job. I first met Jason while stationed in Newport, Rhode Island. He's a trumpet player, spe...

So my friend Jason, and I, are enjoying a nice cafe this afternoon after a long day of me running him around. He's leaving soon, and so there are a lot of things he has to take care of. The heat was unbearable, and my "beater" has no air, so we were happy to be relaxing a bit. Now imagine this if you will. It's a cafe with all the little tables and cute little chairs that sit outside. And it's on a fairly major street that has two lanes in each direction. It didn't phase us much when ...

It's a good thing I petitioned my proprietario , a.k.a. landlord, last year to put air conditioners in the house where we live in Casal di Principe, Italy - an area that's what you might call a suburb of Naples, though suberbia generally evokes an image of something quite different from where I live. The first summer we spent here, we had no air, and it gets quite hot. So we'd open all the doors, and turn on some fans, wear light (or no) clothing, and try not to move too much. Attempting ...

Oh those crazy Cat addicts. They're up to it again. You know...the Cat-holics, though I've seen it written without the hyphen a lot. Catholics. Anyway.... Let's talk Divine Inspiration for a moment. Supposedly the Pope is divinely inspired to bring the word of God to the non-popes of the world. (That's you and me) And since he (she? LMAO - NOT!) has "Papal Infallibility," it should be fairly fool proof. If you're not sure what that is, let me, between fits of giggles, fill you in....

This blog ends with a positive kudo to a great company, so please read it all I've noticed a trend in the money making industry in the last - oh - 10 years or so. It's not so much a trend as it is a method of making money. It goes like this. Promise the world with a money back guarantee (for whatever crap you're selling) and then challenge the consumer to jump through all the right hoops to actually get their money back. It's a war of attrition that adds up to big dollars. Most fo...

il·lit·er·a·cy /ɪˈlɪtərəsi/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[i-lit-er-uh-see] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun, plural -cies for 3. 1. a lack of ability to read and write. 2. the state of being illiterate; lack of any or enough education. 3. a mistake in writing or speaking, felt to be characteristic of an illiterate or semiliterate person: a letter that was full of illiteracies. So semiliterate is a word according to dictiona...

BSG 75, for those who aren't hip to this groove, is the call letters for the Battlestar Galactica. For two years, people have been needling me about watching this new series, and I've hemmed and hawed. Because I saw the original Battlestar Galactica in the late 70s, and while it was entertaining as a kid, it's not something I'd watch as an adult. But, eventually I relented and watched the remake Battlestar Galactica pilot miniseries, and holy excrement! This show has substance. In fact...

Not everyone is into online relationships, and by that, I just mean people making friends online - not the romantic kind. I was told once by an ex-wife "Those people aren't real." Today, I'm pretty sure my tears are very real. I've played World of Warcraft since it has been out. I tend to be a "soloer" - someone who just likes to get in and play against the game, yet have other people to talk to while doing so. I admit this makes for what is effectively a 15$ a month chat room. I gu...

Joe User is not a world in a rational sense. It is a world in a metaphorical sense. A metaphor is an illustration. You can not function consciously in an illustration. Your conscious that comes to JU is of the REAL world. But some of you have said things recently that indicate to me that you have deluded yourselves into believing that JU is a world that has your individual consciousnesses *in* it. I'm not sure why - perhaps the real world brings you pain (well it does in some form for...