Monthly Archives: August 2010

Back Roads and Banjo Music Tour

The great pilgrimage has begun.

The Husbear and I are on our way to New Orleans for Southern Decadence. Where we spend a week spending money in a city that, 5 years after Katrina, still needs assistance in many places.

We’re taking the long, leisurely drive from where we live in NW Arkansas to the Big Easy, via the scenic route. We should really call it the “Back Roads and Banjo Music Tour”. I will admit: the scenery off the beaten path is nice. But I wouldn’t care to break down anywhere out here.

We drove about 9 hours today, which put us in Alexandria, Louisiana for the night.

Tomorrow, we’ll be getting up and heading down to the Lake Charles area, where some of the Husbear’s family is from, and then we’ll drive across over to NOLA following the coastline as we can.

And I leave you with this picture the Husbear took of me tonight. He was attempting to be sneaky.

Until next time...
Erik

Pardon My Dust…

Something went horrifically wrong with the custom theme I have been using on my site since I first created my blog back in the long ago.

As a result, I’m using the default WordPress theme until I can get it fixed.

Which probably won’t be for a few weeks.

UPDATE, around 1 AM: Well lookey there… I found a backup! Yeah, I’m back to my old self now. Although I do need to update this blasted thing.

Until next time...
Erik

Dear Publishers

Magazine Publishers:
Why should I pay more than the cover price for an electronic copy of your mag? You just don’t get it, do you? And how about giving me the option to switch from paper to electrons?

Even if you just publish straight to ebook/pdf, you still have all the money you made from selling those ads that take up a good third of the magazine.

Or better, you can insert ads into the magazines electronically based on location of the reader for premium money from the advertisers.

As of 08/19, one magazine, PEOPLE, seems to somewhat understand:

PEOPLE magazine is now available for iPad. The application is free to download, but each issue is a $3.99 in-app purchase. However, if you are a subscriber to the print version of PEOPLE, you get the iPad version for free! Unfortunately, there is not a subscription model in place with the app. So subscribing to strictly the iPad version is not an option.

Unfortunately I don’t subscribe to PEOPLE iTunes link]. But I do subscribe to several other magazines.

Book Publishers:
How about letting me trade in the paper books I have already purchased for an electronic version? Without having to purchase the book again in electronic form.

To all you publishers:
Follow a set standard. No matter how much I like what you publish, I WILL NOT buy a specialty reader just to read your content.

Okay, I’m done bitching. For the moment.

Until next time...
Erik

Another Damn Meme: 28 Questions Meme

1. Was your dad named after anyone?
Yes. His father, as was his father before him, and his before that, and repeat for a few generations. Luckily for me, my father broke with tradition. Having the first name of “Warren” would not have been pleasant. So I got his middle name instead. (And no, I never use his name as a security question online.)

2. What do you think is the minimal age to get married?
I really don’t know. People mature at such different rates. But I do think it should be mandatory that you live with that person first for at least 6 months prior.

3. What’s the longest time that you’ve been involved with the same person?
The Husbear: 13 years, 1 month, 19 days.

4. What actor/actress do you consider hot at the moment?
Zak Spears. See my last post.

5. What is your favorite album by a band?
Several favorites stood out in my head (from the likes of The B-52’s “Bouncing Off the Satellites” and “Good Stuff”, Green Day’s “American Idiot”, Information Society’s “Hack” and “Don’t Be Afraid”, and INXS’ “Welcome To Wherever You Are”), but I thought I’d mention a total one-off for me. It’s an album by a band that isn’t even a favorite band of mine. Especially since they only had 2 albums (although the second is really just a re-cut and re-order of the first with some additional songs). It’s the self titled album by the band “World Entertainment War“. I remember buying it back in my college days because I liked the album artwork. Funny how that happens. The album as a whole, when listened to from the beginning to the end, is incredible.

6. What is your favorite album by an individual artist?
Again, several favorites stood out in my head (Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill”, Sting’s “The Soul Cages”, and Joan Osborne’s “Relish”). But let me mention another album that isn’t really be an artist I’d consider a favorite. Kind of. It’s the first solo album from Big Kenny (of Big & Rich) called “Live a Little”. Incredibly well-written and well-performed. And it’s not country music.

7. What is something that you’d rather be a bit dirty?
My martinis?

8. What was the last TV show that you watched?
As in on my television? Or just a TV show by any method of viewing? I watched a “Star Trek: Deep Space 9” episode or 2 last night on my computer before I went to bed.

9. How many people have you met from the blogosphere? Who are they?
I’ve probably met a lot of people who blog and didn’t know it. However, people I’m consciously aware of as having blogs (on my blogroll) and meeting: Ted at Dead Robot, Michel at Sharkboy, Sandy at Banal Chew/Casita Klatsch, Gary at Gary’s Blog, Mark at Zeitzeuge, Sorted at sorted lives, Robyn at My Journey is just beginning, Matt at Mathias N Oz, and Mike at Mike Says. Hopefully I didn’t leave anyone off the list, but it’s entirely possible. My memory is lacking these days.

10. What’s your philosophy on life?
“No point stressing out. One day you’ll be dead and none of this shit will matter.”

11. Do you think prescription drugs are over prescribed?
Yes. But not nearly enough of them to me.

12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
Who am I to know your best interest? But a secret is a secret.

13. What is your favorite memory in the last year?
The Husbear grinning. I don’t know why he was grinning or about what. But I happened to see him grinning and felt all fuzzy-happy-content mentally.

14. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
Refrigerated Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
For some odd reason, no one ever seems to peg me as being a Gemini.

16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the ‘world peace etc’ malarkey) – what are they?
1) That extraterrestrials will land on Earth and announce they were looking for their prankster buddy they dropped off near Jerusalem about 2000 years ago.
2) That the story line of “Idiocracy” wasn’t coming true.
3) That extraterrestrials will land on Earth and announce that unless the world becomes a post scarcity society (where there is no poverty and no hunger, the pursuit of money is not a driving force, and society is based around self-improvement and collectively improving the human race) within 20 years, they will destroy Earth in order to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

17. Who would you want to get together with and make a cake?
Since you said cake, I’m going to just say “Ace of Cakes” Duff Goldman. Tasty, sugary hotness.

18. Which country is your spiritual home?
I have no spirit. Team or otherwise.

19. What is your big weakness?
Straight guys that are hot.

20. Do you think you’re a good person?
If I answer “yes”, does that mean I’m conceded?

21. What was your best/favorite subject at school?
I barely remember school anymore, aside from the people and a few experiences. But I always loved my art classes. I probably should have paid more attention to that at a young age.

22. Describe your accent:
I don’t have an accent. You do.

23. If you could change anything about yourself, would you?
Who wouldn’t?

24. What do you wear to sleep?
My skin.

25. What is your favorite casual outfit to wear?
Underwear, Shorts, a T-shirt, short socks, and my Chucks.

26. Do you use cigarettes or alcohol?
I feed cigarette butts to the roaches. I figure if that doesn’t kill them, nothing will. And what is this alcohol of which you speak?

27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together? (If you have no idea, just say something crazy, it’ll entertain me!)
If you only had one day to live, why in Big Bertha’s name would you want to spend it with me?

28. Rate the memes that you play generally. Use any scale or just in order.
They’re typically used as brain dead filler that gives my reading audience little trivial bits of information about me. So I rate them all as AWESOME! Except maybe that one….

Until next time...
Erik

Mac Daddy or Zak Daddy?

I stumbled upon this picture today:


lick to embiggen

Holy cow! Khristofor Rossianov (a.k.a. Zak Spears) is all grown up!

I should say that I have the hots for Zak Spears now that he’s got the whole “daddy” look going on.

Here’s what Zak looked like way back in the old days.

I never was really a fan back then. Just wasn’t “my type”. But now? Well all I can say is “Helloooooo Nurse!”

And then I found the next picture.

Which makes me wonder… what do you think he’s about to say?


lick to embiggen

I think he’s about to ask what the fastest route is to my tattoo studio. So he can get that scary weight-lifting Winnie the Pooh tattoo on his butt covered:

I would be willing to do it for trade…. 😉

And now you probably know more about me than you really wanted to know.

Until next time...
Erik