Equilibrium

The Nethers: Kaleidoscope Pizza / Powell's City of Books / Buster's Barbecue / Horse Brass Pub / Movie Madness
EC-10: Avatar: The Last Airbender / Battlestar Galactica / Grey's Anatomy / Heroes / Metalocalypse / The Venture Bros. / George R. R. Martin / Arturo Pérez-Reverte
On the Gramophone: Gov't Mule / Kansas / Symphony X / Yes / Yoko Kanno

	Fri, Oct. 10th, 2008 05:51 pm

Where's my drool bucket?

Courtesy of

daemonwolf, I give you:

Chicken Fried Bacon

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

hungry

	Sun, Oct. 5th, 2008 11:14 am

Sunlit Mystery

My results upon taking the Mythological God Test, meme courtesy of

bluelang:

( I like this guy... )

	Sat, Oct. 4th, 2008 08:54 pm

DETHROLL

Someone took a metal version of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up performed by an unknown band and grafted it to assorted footage of Dethklok from Metalocalypse. As the title on the YouTube page says, it's the most brutal Rickroll ever:

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

exanimate

	Sat, Oct. 4th, 2008 08:40 pm

Poems x3, with a bonus track

In the past few days I've composed three more poems, available for view at

poetssociety: 1) What Is Rare, 2) Savory Sting, and 3) an untitled poem inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. (Poem 3 employs rhyme and meter, something I usually try to avoid. Poem 3 seemed to call for it, though.)

reginaclarejane wrote a lovely poem, the last stanza of which put this tidbit in my head:

Small enough to sleep
in the dimple on your cheek
large enough to hold you
to my shoulder when you weep

I suppose I could title it All Size Fits One. ^_^

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

flirty

	Wed, Oct. 1st, 2008 07:50 pm

Every Damned Election Cycle...

... it happens. Someone (multiple someones, generally) has to post a certain statement having to do with voting and complaining.

( WARNING: Politically-related Vitriol Under Here )

	Wed, Oct. 1st, 2008 06:55 pm

Take Two, They're Small

Two more poems: 1) Human World, and 2) Puzzling Piece, available for view at

poetssociety.

	Sat, Sep. 27th, 2008 07:34 pm

A Memory of Paul Newman

I was only 14 years old when I saw The Verdict. I think the film was playing at a sixplex out in White City, Oregon. The plex would've been very new. The Rogue Valley was transitioning from single-screen theaters to plexes at the time.

Looking back I can't help but think I must've been too young to understand what was going on watching the film, but my memory may be playing a trick on me. It may be I understood The Verdict better than I think I did, so far as plot was concerned. The memory I feel more confident of relates to the emotions associated with the last attempt of a lawyer wasted by alcohol and ambulance chasing to do real good and recover his honor as an officer of the court.

An actor, certainly one of Paul Newman's stature, may have many finest hours, but a character in a film only gets one. The character needs the actor to make it true. Frank Galvin was made true by Paul Newman.

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

melancholy

	Fri, Sep. 26th, 2008 08:28 am

A poem for the newly born

Yesterday evening I wrote on the fly a poem in response to the announcement by

wtimmins of the birth of twins. (I seem to be unable to help myself at this point.) The best wishes possible to Will, Amy, Madison and Joshua!

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

jubilant

	Wed, Sep. 24th, 2008 09:47 pm

How I might ask someone out...

Title: Courtship Ritual

I will invoke you,
speak your name and pour
a libation.
Wine will stain the marble and
trickle down the altar's steps.

I will set a flame,
char the lamb and lift
the smoke.
A savory aroma, sacrificial, will
rise to your seat on Olympos.

I will command the players,
call the chorus and raise
the voices.
A tragedy will play out upon
the floor of the amphitheater.

Dinner and a movie?

--
Crossposted to

poetssociety

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

quixotic

	Tue, Sep. 23rd, 2008 11:10 pm

The value of my friendship

What value do you place on
my friendship?

Is it in
what I would do:
squeeze your shoulder,
find our way,
take a bullet meant for you?

Is it in
what I would say:
the encouraging word,
a call to arms,
begging for your restraint?

Is it in
how I would listen:
your finest hour,
a deepening sorrow,
the quiet demand you make?

The value of my friendship has
nothing to do with me.
It's been in you
all along.
The value of my friendship consists
of the measure
of your heart's expanse, and
of how you made
room for one more.

--
Crossposted to

poetssociety

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

sleepy

	Mon, Sep. 22nd, 2008 08:18 pm

When In Rome...

I was about an hour into my workday when another poem fell into my head and out of my fingers. I got to a computer just in time to preserve a poem about Rome, posted this evening to

poetssociety.

[Addendum, 10:23PM, 22 Sept. 2008]
I've posted another poem, called Not Listening.

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

contemplative

	Sun, Sep. 21st, 2008 10:08 pm

Midlife Chrysalis

Yeah, I'll borrow my subject line from a title of an episode of The Venture Bros.

I know I've gone around the bend when I find I've joined a poetry community on LJ—

poetssociety—and am actively posting to it within minutes of the join. If I'm having a midlife crisis, (I turned 40 just under three months ago) I can at least take comfort in not finding myself behind the wheel of a sports car I can't afford, burning rubber circles in some unfortunate parking lot's asphalt.

Anyway, the signal-to-noise ratio in

poetssociety isn't the best, but I've read a fair number good bits within the last 50-or-so posts. I hope my attempts will turn out as signal rather than noise. Should you wish to subject yourself to what might be either halfway decent amateur poetry or needles to the eyes, the links are: 1) Unspoken Compliment, and 2) a poetic version of my post under the subject Passing Fancy.

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

creative

	Sun, Sep. 21st, 2008 02:58 pm

Naming Convention

In another fit of self-Romanizing, I will take on the Roman name Quintus Marcius Crispus. The praenomen and nomen are derived from Quintus Marcius Rex, the builder (or son of the builder depending on referential veracity) of the Aqua Marcia. The cognomen Crispus I chose because it resembles my given name and refers to the protagonist of a pair of novels by Guy Gavriel Kay. The cognomen is also ironic; it means 'curly hair.'

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

satisfied

	Sat, Sep. 20th, 2008 10:20 pm

Passing Fancy

Earlier this evening while driving I recalled another drive of several years ago, southbound on NW 21st Ave., headed toward Burnside in Portland. Another driver approached in the opposite lane, a woman in a newer model compact car, probably imported. As we drove past one another we locked eyes and both smiled. I can still see her face, perfectly framed by rich brown hair worn up, her red jacket, the joy and openness in her expression. She was, in that moment, the most beautiful woman in the world.

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

thoughtful

	Thu, Sep. 18th, 2008 05:31 pm

Spontaneous Human Photography

The meme goes like this:

take a picture of yourself right now.
don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair...just take a picture.
post that picture with NO editing.
post these instructions with your picture.

I think this'll be the first time anyone who hasn't seen me since last October (or since the last time I posted a picture of myself) will have seen me with my (now not so) new glasses. Yes, they're Potter-inspired (Sherman T. though, not Harry).

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

happy

	Sat, Aug. 9th, 2008 09:54 pm

Revenge of the Burma-Shave Signs

I won't go
to Myanmar
It's poorly named
and way
too far
Burma-Shave

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

silly

	Mon, Jul. 28th, 2008 09:40 pm

Thoughts on The Dark Knight, with extras

bryant got there first, but I find my general opinion of The Dark Knight follows his closely. I was thoroughly engaged by the film and enjoyed it very much, but didn't think it was the four star blowout others have made it out to be. My pal Kevin didn't like The Dark Knight nearly as much as I and thought it needed some editing to trim the play time. This is where our conversation got interesting. (The last paragraph of the section behind the cut contains spoilers, so though most of the following commentary is spoiler-light/free, be wary of the last paragraph if you press on and haven't yet seen the film.)

( Try passing a neutron star through a pasta die... )

	Fri, Apr. 18th, 2008 06:57 pm

From Onion News Network...

Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

silly

	Fri, Mar. 14th, 2008 01:00 pm

Coincidinfotainment

Courtesy of

amberley and

liralen, a link to an article about information overload, with the following quote:

For most of human history, there was little chance of overdosing on information, because any one day in the Olduvai Gorge was a lot like any other. Today, though, we can find in the course of a few hours online more information than our ancient ancestors could in their whole lives.
Just like the laser and the cat, technology is playing a trick on us. We are programmed for scarcity and can't dial back when something is abundant.

Coincidentally, last night I read the following passage from Richard Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker talking about the human capacity for assessing probabilities of highly improbable things:

Not only are our brains equipped by nature to assess risks of things in a short time; they are also equipped to assess risks of things happening to us personally, or to a narrow circle of people that we know. This is because our brains didn't evolve under conditions dominated by mass media. Mass reporting means that, if an improbable thing happens to anybody, anywhere in the world, we shall read about it in our newspapers or in the Guinness Book of Records. If an orator, anywhere in the world, publicly challenged the lightning to strike him if he lied, and it promptly did so, we should read about it and be duly impressed. But there are several billion people in the world to whom such a coincidence could happen, so the apparent coincidence is actually not as great as it seems. Our brains are probably equipped by nature to assess the risks of things happening to ourselves, or to a few hundred people in the small circle of villages within drum-range that our tribal ancestors could expect to hear news about. When we read in a newspaper about an amazing coincidence happening to somebody in Valparaiso or Virginia, we are more impressed by it than we should be. More impressed by a factor of perhaps a hundred million, if that is the ratio between the world population surveyed by our newspapers, and the tribal population about whom our evolved brains 'expect' to hear news.

Taken collectively, this probably also explains the combination of success and mind-warping capabilities of 24-hour news channels and talk radio.

	Fri, Nov. 30th, 2007 08:23 pm

o/~ He tried to kill me with a forklift... o/~

I can't show you the cool forklift safety video hosted by William Shatner I watched when taking a forklift safety class recently, but I can show you this crazy German forklift safety video, courtesy of

kenshardik:

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

amused

	Sat, Nov. 17th, 2007 08:50 am

Three Yelled Words

I was fairly enthusiastic about going to see Beowulf, right up until the point where I saw a TV commercial for the film featuring the CGI rotoscoped Ray Winstone yelling, "I AM BEOWULF!!!" into the (virtual) camera. I suppose I'd be less troubled by this were it not for 300, another effects-laden film featuring the full-body makeup and steroid-enhanced Gerard Butler yelling, "THIS IS SPARTA!!!" into the (real, this time) camera. At least, "I AM BEOWULF!!!" seems slightly less prone to the spoofing that will keep the exclamation around far past its sell-by date.

Sometimes parallel development sucks.

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

annoyed

	Wed, Nov. 7th, 2007 11:15 pm

Preposterous Journal Renaming Onslaught

Since LJ wouldn't let me rename my journal to an intermediate name like The Journal Formerly Known As Aikon, I just went straight at it and renamed my journal to

aquamarcia. So there you are. :)

I've been wanting to rename my journal for some time but have run into the classic obstacle of others already having taken usernames I would've liked to use. In particular, username campers have thwarted me on several occasions. I would like to have changed my journal's name to 'aramaki', but the name is already taken by someone who hasn't posted to their journal for 150+ weeks. LJ has a policy of never deleting abandoned journals, so I can't just convince support to get me that name, or some of the others I considered.

After about an hour of contemplation based on two simple criteria, I finally came up with something both cool and available. (The two criteria are: 1) the username must start with 'a', 2) the username must reflect an interest of mine. You'd think both those points would be easy to fulfill upon at the same time. Alas, you'd be thinking wrong.) My interest in Ancient Rome has been increasing over the last couple of years and while considering usernames referencing Ancient Rome it occurred to me to check into aqueducts. Of course, the username 'aqueduct' is taken, but the names of aqueducts don't seem to be. I looked at Wikipedia entries for some of the aqueducts and according to the site, the Aqua Marcia is providing Rome with water right now. Another page seems to support the Wikipedia reference, indicating the Aqua Marcia was restored in 1870. (Unfortunately, the 'more' link on that page doesn't go anywhere useful.) I also found a nifty reference which contains mentions of the opinions of Pliny and Vitruvius on the excellent quality of the water provided by the Aqua Marcia.

All that adds up to a pretty damn good new username. :)

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

happy

	Sun, Sep. 16th, 2007 12:45 am

Late Night Time Measurement Silliness

I have decided that for personal use I will henceforth declare the current epoch as having started from the founding of Rome, rather than the traditional birth of Christ thing people have been going with for so long. Employing the appropriate Latin phrase ab urbe condita (from the founding of the City [of Rome], an improved phrasing for the original anno urbis conditae, in the year of the founding of the City), this year is 2760 AUC, rather than the traditional AD 2007. (If, in the traditional parlance, Rome was founded in 753 BC, then adding 753 to AD year X will yield the year AUC.)

I won't go quite so far as to start using Roman numerals, though. :)

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

silly

	Wed, Sep. 5th, 2007 07:21 am

Hungry Like the Wolf

A meme based on A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, courtesy of

dirque -- What House do I belong to?

( Winter is coming. )

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

amused

	Thu, Aug. 23rd, 2007 07:02 pm

Freudian Terrorism

Heard on the local evening news: "The Transportation Security Administration will be conducting surprise inspections of airports in order to improve security issues related to the fight against tourism... uh, terrorism."

(Crossposted to

brainland)

	Sun, Jul. 22nd, 2007 07:31 pm

Venture Bros. Vintage Postcard

LJ Friends o' mine who enjoy The Venture Bros. are invited to look at a vintage postcard I made inspired by the show.

	Mon, Jun. 18th, 2007 11:59 am

Seek Out Prometheus

A meme hoarked from

5eh: My results after taking ( The Greek Mythology Personality Test )

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

awake
Stirring the Soul to Sense Offense: Symphony X - "The Odyssey" (in my head)

	Mon, Jun. 11th, 2007 02:43 pm

Surface Computing

Next Gen Star Trek's LCARS interface looks rather dated when compared with Microsoft's surface computing interface (Flash video courtesy of Popular Mechanics).

	Tue, Jun. 5th, 2007 08:48 pm

New Exalted Theme Song

I once asserted to a few friends of mine with whom I've played RPGs that the theme song for Exalted was obviously Belexes by Kansas, (from their self-titled debut album) though I can hardly imagine Livgren & Co. had Exalted in mind given they composed the song some 20 years before Exalted achieved existence.

The second edition of Exalted has been out for a bit, and sure enough a second edition theme song managed to come along. I've recently become a fan of a progressive metal band called Symphony X. The first track on their album The Odyssey is called Inferno (Unleash the Fire), and it's slopping over with unintended (I assume) Exalted references. It's also totally badass.

( Inferno (Unleash the Fire) lyrics )

And furthermore, check this YouTube vid of some guy playing the song on Guitar Hero II. I take it Inferno isn't one of the easier songs to pound out in that game.

Prozium Deficiency Diagnosis:

full

	Fri, Apr. 27th, 2007 10:41 pm

A cellular phone user interrupts Governor Tarkin, with predictable results.

In other news, what in hell is up with this lj-embed tag that automatically surrounds the embed code for videos when a post is committed? It screws up formatting and it seems there's no option to not use the tag.

Abandoned Prozium Factory