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Demonstrating once again why it’s one of the funniest comics today, Foxtrot today takes a passing (and deserving) shot at James Frey, author of “A Million Little Pieces”.

Frey, who’s supposedly autobiographical book details his drug-fueled binge of violence and self-destruction cum salvation story, has come under some pretty severe criticism. While this isn’t normally a big deal, this book got an Oprah endorsement which guaranteed its meteoric success. Frey may have made up pretty much everything in the book, but that hasn’t stopped Oprah from standing by her cashcow endorsement.

Link to Foxtrot

Perhaps bordering on “too geeky”, but what the hell. Make your own.

[via DataWhat]

I made patychkys today (well, yesterday and today with the overnight marinating) based on the recipe from Mr. Anchovy (which I found via Garlicster). Wow! I used steak for mine since I didn’t feel like running out to buy a pork loin, but I’m sure picking one up next time out because these things are awesome.

Basically, you marinate 1″ cubes of pork, chicken, or beef in an insane amount of garlic (I used around 30 cloves) and beer or sherry (I used beer). Let them marinate overnight, skewer them, into an eggwash, coat in breadcrumbs, brown all sides lightly and then bake them at 350⁰ for an hour. Dead easy, but what a great snack. A new favorite around here.

I know I’ve posted on him way too much already, but this couldn’t go without comment. Jack Thompson, the same crusader who thinks that he’ll sue his way to infamy, has started a new tack; gamers are involved in a “masturbatory activity, meaning senseless self-stimulation”, but one that’s an affront to God. In a letter to MetalGearSolid.org’s, a forum where a gamer recently made his suicide threats reality, Jack decided that what really needed to be said at a time like this was “Sad, sad for all of you.” Only, he wasn’t expressing sympathy for the loss of a community member. No, he was sad that the gamer who had committed suicide had chosen a thing “not of God.” (See the whole letter here)

Yep, gamers are evil, and not in the selfish, shoulda-done-something better for an hour. Nope, they are actually Evil with a capital E because they decided to do something ungodly. Between insulting the entire board and the memory of an far-too-dead kid, Jack decides that now is the time to insinuate a little Jesus into the argument. The extended entry has a letter to Jack; it does contain some coarse language.

Dear Jack,

Fuck you. Fuck you and everything you stand for. Your fear mongering has reached a depth even God himself shouldn’t stand for. You have twisted your beliefs into something so other-worldly, it makes even your supporters whistle as they look elsewhere. You are what you hate, Jack, and you have become just like the stereotype you rail against: vengeful, impulsive, with pride bordering on hubris.

I have news for you. There are literally millions of us out there, gamers, that is. Millions. There’s one of you. You may have a few religious-pandering politicians in your pocket, but I won’t be voting for them again. Oh, wait, did you miss that part? That’s right, there are millions of us who vote. Vote (or, more appropriately, don’t vote) for the candidates you are soliciting. And we’re keeping score. (Like that tie in, Jack? There’s more coming.) We’re keeping score. And every November, as you piss more and more of us off, we’re turning out. We’re going to make sure your lapdog’s don’t get a second chance. Since we can’t vote you out (which is a crime in and of itself), we’ll take away the little power you do have.

Barring that (wait for it), we’re going to do whatever it takes to get you to stop practicing law. Some of us already have, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. I even heard a judge got sick of your grand-standing. Get ready for that to happen a lot more. My parents, the boomer generation, have starting to figure out that I’m pretty much able to run my own life. They talk to me about people like you. You know what I tell them Jack? Let’s just say it’s little bit nicer than “he’s a fucking idiot”, but not much, mostly because swearing should be reserved for appropriate times (see this letter as an example). And they listen to me because a) I’m a pretty smart guy and b) I’ve been gaming for about 20 years and they see that I’m not the stereotype you paint for everyone else.

I know this is a little long and too coherent for you, Jack (I’ve seen your postings), so I’ll wrap this up. But before I do, let me ask one thing. Knock off the God crap. We know how that works; we’ve seen it before. Sure, you’ll get a few groups to fall in with that line, always happens. But no one takes them seriously, except for the aforementioned pandering politicians. And you’re insulting those of us who do believe that God is a little more intelligent than to take a side on video games. God has more important things to worry about besides my score on Halo.

Wishing you a quick trip to obscurity,

Ryan

The beta for Feeddemon 2.0 is out. One word: folders.

Get it here.

A former job allowed me to play outside of my standard work responsibilities for a while, namely letting me dabble in some graphic design. I spent a little time drawing and a hell of a lot of time drafting before moving into corporate America, so I loved branching out into a little more design-oriented on someone else’s dime.

Part of the fringe benefits of the work was the non-work doors it opened, specifically for a friend of mine. His band was in desperate need of a website update so I volunteered (I’m not going to link there since I don’t do the website anymore.) In the design phases of the site, I sent the band a demo sheet of a grouping of logos for their group. I basically tore through a six-pack and a couple evenings, music blaring, singing off-tune to get a few designs to a presentable stage. Below is a thumb of the result; click for a larger version.

I was pretty attached to a couple designs, neither of which they chose. I didn’t mind the one they picked, but it wasn’t my first choice and I didn’t think it fit their image as well, but who am I, their manager? Anyway, I put this up for a) pride and b) feedback. I’m not a designer, which should be obvious from a few of these. But I like the process of trying to visualize information, whatever that information is. Their information was music, which makes it that much more difficult. I know I missed the message on this one, but I’m not sure how I could have captured it.

I also miss having a reason to draw. I know I don’t need a reason, but it sure helps motivate you to bust out the sketch pad or fire up Freehand/Illustrator/Photoshop. Is that a plea for work?

Will you please, please, update the Install Font dialog box. Whatever control you have decided to maintain in the naviagtion pane is straight out of Windows 3.1 and is frustrating as hell to use, especially if, say, the font you want to install is on your desktop.

Thanks,
ryan

For practically all my life I’ve had trouble going to sleep. I’m not an insomniac…I just think a lot. I’ll lie in bed thinking about what I want to do tomorrow or what I should have done today or how much I love eating cold pizza or how absurdly messy my desk is….you get the idea.

I think I know this person. The rest of the linked post talks about strategies and tips for getting around the racing mind.

Tips for getting to sleep faster & sleeping better [via Lifehacker]

Flame me if you want, but today’s iteration of breast feeding mom asked to stop (courtesy of the Ann Arbor YMCA and resident/member Kelly Fuks) pushed me over the edge.

This is what drives me bat-effin crazy about Ann Arbor. Repeat after me: You are not special. You are not entitled to do whatever strikes you as “OK” whenever you feel like it. You know, like whipping a teat out because junior is hungry. I’m not saying don’t feed the kid, but maybe you could, oh I don’t know, walk 100 yards to somewhere secluded and knock that task off your list.

Someone please explain to me the thought process that justifies just popping a nip out to suckle your kid at any random place. You hear this crap all the time: it happens at the mall, at amusement parks, at restaurants. Who the hell do you think you are? An incredibly huge majority of the population manages to care for their children, perhaps even breast-feeding their young, without calling the papers or TV news. How is it that people like Ms. Fuks can’t?

Sorry for your case, lady, but you don’t have my support. The Y can tell you that you can’t do it because the light is harmful for your breast skin for all I care; keep it in your shirt. Either that, or stop breeding.

I just stumbled onto something (which I’m sure is well-known, just not by me). If you hold down Shift, then mouse over a link in Firefox, the link text and URL appear in an enlarge tooltip-ish window. Very cool accessibility tool (for visually impairments, anyway).