I can go on and on about 2005, but it was really a great year for me personally.

I took almost 3000 photographs of the New York City area, and had my work in a gallery showing in Manhattan and a published book (soon to be released). I learned so much about how to “see” not just how to look at stuff.

I found my religion. Not that I lost it, but I was ignoring it. Not anymore. It has meant the world to me and has changed the way I look at many things.

I found my political mind. I’m not the conservative right winger I always thought I was. In fact, on many issues, I’m downright liberal. I guess right-leaning libertarian is probably more where I would fit on the compass.

Most of all, though, I had one major accomplishment that I am proud to finally share with all of you.

As of 4:16pm, my first novel, Blogosfear, is now on sale!

That’s right, folks. The moment some of you have been waiting months for is finally here, and you can now purchase my book at Lulu.com. They are 100% legitimate, and you can rest assured that handing over your credit card number to them will not result in them stealing it or anything else.

On first glance you might notice there is no hardcover version of the book. That is by choice. I felt that in order to reasonably produce the hardcover book, I would have to charge a bit more than I wanted to for it, and I’m not about ripping people off. Therefore, there will only be a softcover version. The ISBN is on the back cover, and this edition, although it says it’s the second on Lulu.com, is the first published edition of the book.

I appreciate your support greatly, and would only ask that if you can, please promote the book (even if it’s only one post on your site or a mention in your sidebar) and review it on lulu.com. The more sales and reviews I get, the more people are going to notice it.

Thanks again, and have a Happy and Healthy 2006. You all mean a lot to me, and I wouldn’t be able to do this sort of thing without your support.

I am eternally indebted to all of you.

Technorati Tags: new years, 2005, 2006, book, blogosfear, novel

Hamachi is an excellent piece of free VPN software. In this tutorial, you can learn how to run it as a service in Windows as opposed to an application. A must-have for Hamachi users.

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LOS ANGELES - Who’s afraid of a couple of gay cowboys? Not moviegoers, who helped “Brokeback Mountain” post the highest per-screen average over the film-flush holiday weekend.

The Ang Lee film, which follows the 20-year forbidden romance between two roughneck ranch hands, earned $13,599 per theater, compared with $9,305 for weekend winner “King Kong” and $8,225 for “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

The big question is whether “Brokeback” can maintain its momentum as it moves from selected cities, where audiences are receptive to the subject matter, to suburbs far and wide, where that might not be the case.

Early numbers — and early awards buzz — establish the picture’s staying power, industry insiders say. “Brokeback” earned a leading seven Golden Globe nominations.

Yawn yawn yawn yawn yawn. I swear, someone’s going to need to put a towel on the floor under these idiots so when they keep panting and drooling over the movie, it won’t flood the floor.

I thought this movie was supposed to be a huge risk. Can we finally put that stupidity to bed now?

Okay, I’ve wanted to put this together for a LONG time, so here it is. My first ever end-of-year Fucko List.

What is a fucko list and how does one get on it?

Well, it’s quite simple, actually. The fucko list is reserved for those who piss me off, annoy me, or deserve to be paraded in front of a crowd and mocked for their fuckoness. Fuckos generally know who they are and don’t care, thus making them arrogant fuckos.

Now that we’ve defined what a fucko is, let’s get started on the list!

Fucko Number 10: Jason Matthews of Flickrcast.com
There is no better example of a fucko than Jason Matthews at Flickrcast.com. Without rehashing the whole story, check out this post. He epitomizes what’s wrong with the american left at this juncture, and why no matter how wrongheaded they generally are, the american right will always be gaining. I imagine his podcast could be more boring, I just don’t see how. Just be careful not to tell them so, or they’ll ban you.

Fucko Number 9: CNN
For putting Cindy Sheehan as the number 3 story in importance on American Morning this morning while putting the death of one of the greatest men ever to walk the face of the earth, Pope John Paul II at number 4. Cindy Sheehan’s actions have meant nothing at all, except a media circus around her (just look at the throngs of people who weren’t at her book signing recently), while Pope John Paul II affected the lives of just about every person in the world, including but not limited to the 1 billion catholics in the world. Nice job, CNN. Maybe you can shove a camera up her ass just so you don’t have to search for where you need to kiss in the future.

Fucko Number 8: Home Depot
There’s no reason for Home Depot to not be on this list. Not that Lowe’s is much better, but frankly any store with the volume of customers that HD has and only opens one or two registers on a busy night (read: any night really) belongs on the fucko list just for that alone, but if you add in the useless aisle folks and the disorganization of the store, Home Depot inc. will be a fixture on the fucko list for years to come!

Fucko Number 7: The RIAA
While I’m all for protecting the intellectual property rights of owners, the RIAA is trying desperately to turn every filesharer into a criminal and suing people for thousands of times more than the albums they supposedly stole are worth.

Fucko Number 6: Howard Stern and Sirius
1. For beating his dead-horse show to death for 10 years after it stopped being funny.
2. For paying $500m for a washed up hack of a radio host who admitted on his show to doing subpar radio for 10 years in a time when others made a name for themselves under the same FCC rules.
3. For constantly playing the “I’m oppressed” card.
4. For whining about not getting his “tapes” from when he was on the Infinity payroll (hoo hoo).
5. For making his first Sirius hire Bubba the Love Sponge, after saying two years ago that he didn’t even want to be in a business that had a guy in it named Bubba the Love Sponge. Hypocritical at the least. Hoo hoo.

Fucko Number 5: Sony.
For putting rootkits on purchasers of CD’s and making it nearly impossible to safely remove. Is there any better reason for being on the fucko list? I think not. You could also make a case that Sony’s repeated blocking of people who make homebrew apps for the PSP would qualify them for the fucko list. I think they should be there just on principle. Screw you, Sony. You’re a great corporate fucko.

Fucko Number 4: Best Buy.
After numerous bad experiences there, and because of numerous stories read around the web, Best Buy has moved from one of my favorite stores to a store with a firm foothold on the fucko list. Don’t bother with local shops either, when it comes to electronics, because most of them are 10 times as shifty as BB or Circuit City anyway. Check out the products in person at stores, but buy them online somewhere else.

Fucko Number 3: Mark Frauenfelder and Xeni Jardin.
Two of the most vacuous hate-filled douchebags ever to write on the internet. Hell, Xeni is so damned annoying that there are plugins for Firefox that will eliminate her empty-headed ranting from the site so you don’t have to read it. If you’re into christian-bashing left-wing propaganda, belly up to their screeds because they sure have a lot to say.

Fucko Number 2: Roger Toussaint.
For crippling New York City with an illegal strike during Christmas season and in 24 degree weather, you deserve a special place on the Fucko list. I’m sure the millions of people who have been told to “use the machine” when they ask a less-than-helpful token booth clerk a question really appreciate you when you bitch about being underpaid. Please.

Fucko Number 1: Unnamed but anyone who knows knows who it is.
It was no secret how upset the Terri Schiavo case made me, and I burned a lot of bridges over it. I have since apologized for the treatment I gave many of my friends at the time, but in reality, I don’t talk to pretty much any of them anymore. That’s fine with me. Frankly, I learned a lot about people who call themselves your “friend” anyway.

So during this whole parade, certain “friends” of mine saw fit to mock those who sought to protect Terri from being murdered by her husband under the guise of being “humane.” In fact, one of the conversations two “friends” had was posted to one of their sites, and was commented on by every other “friend.” The mockery in that one post was incredible, and it prompted me to write my own corresponding post letting out a lot of dirty laundry from those who were mocking me.

I was told by one of the people whose dirty laundry I aired out that the conversation wasn’t about me, and I was arrogant for thinking it was. That in itself became a source of mockery for the same “friends” and they beat that horse to death with one of them even telling me that he felt “raped” by my comments. I eventually backed off, and after Terri died, issued a blanket apology specifically naming the folks and apologizing for what I said.

Well, Fucko Number 1 got his hands on that apology and sent me an e-mail. In the e-mail, he said the following:

I accept your apology. On my part: I really believed what I wrote on the first day and I still do. On the second day that quote wasn’t just about you but yah, you fell under the big blanket generalization. The shouting letters and the acerbic tone didn’t help much in my driving whatever point I thought I had. I apologize for the disdain that was directed in your direction. (As I said in ******’s old site, it wasn’t *just* about you.)

Excuse me? I did fall under that assault after being ridiculed for thinking I did? Amazing that after all the nasty public remarks, and even after my public apology, the only place this explanation appeared was in my private e-mail.

For this reason, and for the original comment, this person is worthy of the Fucko list in a profound way to the point where when I read that e-mail, I actually had the idea for creating my own fucko list.

That is 2005’s fucko list. If you have any people you’d like to add to the list, feel free to leave them in the comments. In fact, why not make a fucko list of your own? It’s very cathartic!

(Thanks to Opie and Anthony for the idea of a Fucko list)

Technorati Tags: Xeni Jardin, Mark Frauenfelder, Sony, Home Depot, Best Buy, Howard Stern, Sirius, Roger Toussaint, RIAA, Jason Matthews, fucko, fuckos, fucko list

Is there really a more vacuous hole than Xeni Jardin?

I hardly think so.

Technorati Tags: Xeni Jardin

Nintendo Wins Handheld Gaming Market

When it comes to handheld gaming, the story is much different. Sony’s overpriced PSP continues to lag, as a steady stream of warmed-over PS2 games port over. Nintendo, using a double-barreled attack that features the fashionable Gameboy Micro and the quirky but innovative DS, will continue to win over the market. Riding a wave of great content, including Mario & Luigi, Mario Kart DS, and Animal Crossing, Nintendo will remain on top as 2006 comes to a close.

The PSP is a major disappointment in so many ways. I’m sure Sony never expected to be getting its ass handed to it by an upgraded Gameboy. The difference between the DS and the PSP?

Games dude. Games games games.

Nintendo has ‘em, Sony isn’t even close. I’d say this prediction is a no-brainer.

Technorati Tags: DS, PSP, Nintendo, Sony

Michael Vale, best known for portraying the baker in the Dunkin Donuts commercials died of complications from diabetes. He was 83 years old.

His iconic character, Fred the Baker, will be remembered by millions for his portrayal of a hapless baker at Dunkin’ Donuts who just couldn’t get any sleep because, as the commercial said, the donuts were fresh and it was always time to make a new batch, and the catchphrase, “Time to make the donuts.”

Vale also played Sam Breakstone in the original commercials for Breakstone’s butter and dairy products. In those commercials he played the less loveable cranky tyrant who wanted his butter and cottage cheese to be made to his exacting specifications.

Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Donuts said in a statement that Vale’s character “became a beloved American icon that permeated our culture and touched millions with his sense of humor and humble nature.”

Rest in Peace, Mr. Vale.

Technorati Tags: Michael Vale, Vale, Dunkin’ Donuts, Donuts, Breakstone’s, Sam Breakstone

Pounding his chest and speaking in his typically incoherent way, Roger Toussaint proudly announced that the Transit Workers Union had basically accepted the contract offered by the MTA before they went on an illegal strike paralyzing the city for three days.

The details of the new agreement are as follows:

1. It will be a 37 month deal that will end on January 15, 2009, preventing Toussaint and his thugs (black, white, and otherwise) from walking off the job and crippling the city during the Christmas season.

2. As proposed before the strike, the 24% pay raise for workers (8% each year for three years) will be 3%, 4%, and 3.5% each year for three years; a total of 10.5% over three years, which is what the MTA was offering before the union went on their illegal strike.

3. In exchange for the MTA dropping its 6% pension contribution requirement for new hires, the union agreed to pay 1.5% of their salary toward their pension and health benefits, meaning that the average TWU membber making $55k with overtime (base pay is $47k) will pay a whopping $775 a year for health and pension benefits. This will save the MTA $32m per year.

4. Most members will be fined approximately $1000 each for their illegal work stoppage. The union will not get a bonus from the MTA to offset the fines from the strike, as they had requested at the bargaining table.

5. The MTA will provide better health care services to workers who move outside of the New York Metro area. No details were given on this point.

6. The MTA will not raise the retirement age from 55 to 62, and will not be lowered to a full pension (half-pay) at age 50 like they had originally demanded.

7. Workers will get Martin Luther King Jr. day off as a paid holiday. It’s touching to see that the MTA realizes how important it is for every black person to individually mourn his loss by taking a day off from work (kinda cool how his birthday always comes on a Monday, huh?)

8. Disciplinary actions will be handled by an outside consultant because of complaints from workers that they were disciplined too often for job performance, lateness, absence, etc.

So in review, the TWU ended up with basically the contract they walked over last week. Lots of thuggery, and an inconvenience financially to most of the working-class folks in the city ended up with the TWU achieving a contract that could’ve easily been negotiated at the bargaining table instead of the illegal picket line.

If this doesn’t wake the union up to the uselessness of the head thug, Roger Toussaint, nothing will. 6 days of pay for these people lost and this is what they walked away with. Anyone have any numbers on what Mr. Toussaint lost during the strike?

Something tells me it isn’t six days of pay.

Technorati Tags: Roger Toussaint, Transit Workers Union, MTA, strike, illegal, TWU, Martin Luther King Jr.

I’ve been playing a lot with Premiere Pro lately (I’m sure that comes as a major surprise to you). Today the mission was playing around with the titler and razor tools…

Yahoo News stoking the fire on the non-story that won’t go away:

NEW YORK - Four days after the city’s transit strike ended, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was still coming under fire for his use of the word “thuggishly” to describe the actions of the leaders of a union that is mostly minority.

“Michael Bloomberg, don’t be nasty and mean,” attorney Norman Siegel said Monday, standing on the steps of City Hall. “Be positive. Together, we can improve race relations in New York.”

The civil rights attorney noted that more than 70 percent of the Transport Workers Union’s 33,000 members are “of color.” And while he didn’t believe Bloomberg’s use of the word was in itself racist, Siegel said, “The perception out there is that it is racist. And the reaction has enormous racial overtones.”

Bloomberg used the word Dec. 20 during a briefing on the first day of the three-day strike that forced millions of riders to spend extra hours commuting. The mayor complained that union leaders had “thuggishly turned their backs on New York City and disgraced the noble concept of public service.”

Some criticized him for using the word, saying it was racist in the context of a mostly minority union. A Bloomberg spokesman said it was wrong to bring race into the situation.

Using the word thugs is now racist. Apparently, you can only be a thug if you’re black. You know, kinda like a nigger. I mean, nigger and thug mean the same thing, right?

Sometimes I wonder how we’re ever going to advance as a society when we can’t even say a word.

thug: Pronunciation Key (thg) n.

1. A cutthroat or ruffian; a hoodlum.
2. also Thug One of a band of professional assassins formerly active in northern India who worshiped Kali and offered their victims to her.

Funny how there’s no mention of the term, “derogatory slang for black people.”

Honestly, I think people are just dying to find something to pin on the mayor at this point. Since they can’t pin the “doesn’t care about black neighborhoods” thing on him, and they can’t pin the elitist rich man tag on him, they’ll just try to pin the racist thing on him because he dared use the word thug to describe the workers who walked off the job stranding 7 million commuters.

Oddly enough, black people, who seem so offended by the word thug, have embraced the word as their own, much in the same way they’ve embraced the word nigger, however co-opting a word doesn’t change its definition to exclusively mean “you.” Italians have been called “thugs” for years. So were the early Irish arrivals in New York City (way back in the oldern days when Irish Catholics were considered the scum of the earth), the Chinese gangs that run Chinatown, and even folks like the Latin Kings and their ilk.

“Thug” is not a replacement term for the word “nigger,” and is not a racist word.

Besides, I can think of some much more colorful words for the folks who walked:

scumbags
assholes
douchebags
cocksuckers
scumbags
motherfuckers
punks
bitches
hoes
morons
fuckers
assbags
asscunts
cowards
dumbasses

and the list goes on…

…And for the record, none of that is meant in a racially derogatory way.

Technorati Tags: Michael Bloomberg, thug, Norman Siegel, race, nigger, scumbags, assholes, douchebags, cocksuckers, scumbags, motherfuckers, punks, bitches, hoes, morons, fuckers, assbags, asscunts, cowards, dumbasses, twu, toussaint, strike, nyc

Well-known actor, Vincent Schiavelli died this afternoon at his home in Italy of lung cancer.

For me, my favorite role of his was as the eccentric ghost in the subways and Patrick Swayze’s mentor in the movie “Ghost.” His line, “Get off my train!” was a constant source of amusement for my wife and I, and he was always an enjoyable guy to watch on screen; playing with an amazing uncanniness the creepy ghoulish guy.

Today, Hollywood is truly one star darker.

Rest in peace, Vincent. You were one of my favorites and you will be sorely missed.

I shot these guys coming home one night. I love the way they defy gravity and turn the train car into a stage. Really amazing stuff..

Not necessarily safe for the little ones, but not vulgar either.

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The story about Mao’s little red book and the student who was visited for checking it out?

BS.

Check it out here.

Never let it be said I’m above printing a retraction.

Although, the fact that it was so easily believable really does say a lot about the state of the world we live in, I think.

So today is one of those rare occasions where Christmas and Chanukah come on the same day. I just wanted to take a minute to wish every single one of you who read a Merry Christmas and a Happy Chanukah.

Not a Happy “Holiday.”

It’s not Happy Holidays dammit.

Spend time with your family, the most important part of your life. You only get one so treat them well!

Here’s a little something to cheer you up. A juggler.

Who doesn’t love jugglers?

In case you’ve never ridden on the NYC subway:

I know… Lots of “Youtube” stuff lately…

(You’ve got to listen to the words, though. It really is fricking funny.)

NY Newsday:

Asked if there should be amnesty from fines for striking workers or their union, Pataki, mentioned as a presidential candidate, said: “Certainly not from my standpoint. The penalties and the fines under the Taylor Law are automatic. They cannot be waived, they will not be waived.”

He ended his press conference on an upbeat note with reporters and wished New Yorkers happy holidays “in the greatest city in the world.”

Good. Throw the book at the inconsiderate illegal strikers and send the message. When you break the law, you will be punished.

Severely.

Period.

Sorry you can’t strike, but you know that when you become a city worker. It’s just the way it is. Don’t like it? Work for someone else.

Technorati Tags: NY, New York, transit strike, strike, pataki, taylor law, punishment

An undeniable discrepancy…

Not burning evenly

I don’t get it. If I’m offended by black people, I’m a racist. If I’m offended by gays, I’m a homophobe. If I think of women as less than equals, then I’m a sexist, but if I’m offended by a Judeo/Christian celebration, then I’m exercising my “First Amendment” rights?

How does that work?

— John Hession, Redmond

Ask any lib, and they’ll tell you it works just fine…

Via RNS