The Beast is Back in Business!

 In lieu of an actual blog post, here are the lyrics to the Bad Religion song “Kyoto Now!”

It’s a matter of prescience
No, not the science fiction kind
It’s all about ignorance,
and greed, and miracles for the blind
the media parading, disjointed politics
founded on petrochemical plunder
and we’re its hostages

If you stand to reason
you’re in the game
the rules might be elusive
but our pieces are the same
and you know if one goes down we all go down as well
the balance is precarious as anyone can tell
this world’s going to hell

Don’t allow
this mythologic hopeful monster to exact its price
Kyoto now!
We can’t do nothing and think someone else will make it right

You might not think it matters now
But what if you are wrong
You might not think there’s any wisdom in a fucked up punk rock song
But the way it is
cannot persist for long
a brutal sun is rising on a sick horizon

It’s in the way
we live our lives
exactly like the double-edge of a cold familiar knife
and supremacy weighs heavy on the day
it’s never really what you own but what you threw away
and how much did you pay?

In your dreams
You saw a steady state a bounty for eternity
Silent screams
but now the wisdom that sustains us is in full retreat
Don’t allow
this mythologic hopeful monster isn’t worth the risk
Kyoto now!
We can’t have vision for the future if it can’t be fixed
Alien
We need a fresh and new religion to run our lives
Hand in hand
the arid torpor of inaction will be our demise

Oh, Kyoto now!

What’s happening with Bob? That is the point of this blog after all, far more than are vaguely (or less vaguely) political ramblings. Well, Alison’s still crazy and taking up far too much of my time, my car is still down, and I am once again on the outs with WSU financial aid. Consequently, I’ve decided to cut my course-load to 5 transferrable credit-hours at Columbia Basin College and am sort-of half-assedly looking for a job.

I’ve been playing Supreme Commander on GPGnet lately. As of now, I have a 7 and 7 record in ranked 1v1 games. That’s sure to change whenever I get around to playing more. If you see me on Halcyon, I’ll be JediBear, naturally.

Other than that…not much. Actually pretty quiet lately. *sigh*

I thought of this a few week ago and thought I’d share and then — didn’t.

Two of the key things you’ll hear Republican officials prating about are “Common Sense” and “Personal Responsibility.” I’ve always wondered about this, because they’ve always seemed singularly insensible and irresponsible to me (not that the other party doesn’t have its moments,) but I’ve finally figured out what they mean.

“Common Sense” in this case isn’t the battery of knowledge that each one of us believes everyone ought to have at their command. Rather, it’s the belief that one posesses this battery of knowledge, and that therefore every decision they make is sound. This, of course, is nonsense, but it explains how Rep. Doc Hastings can claim to bring Common Sense to Congress.

“Personal Responsibility” in this case is the absence of social responsibility. If society is responsible for nothing, then the person is responsible for everything. Thus why this concept gets brought out every time someone mentions something society ought to take responsibility for.

So “Common Sense” isn’t like sense, and “Personal Responsibility” means not doing their jobs. That might be why I don’t usually vote for these people.

So the Holidays happened. Aside of a long visit from my presently out-of-towner brother and some inconvenient store closures, I barely noticed. I find it ironic that the woman who saved Christmas for me some eight years ago has now become my personal grinch. If you beg enough, I might tell you that story.

I got: nearly nothing, aside of a lot of Supreme Commander played, some meals out, a fine time with family and friends, and (in spite of it all) very very depressed. Not quite leaping-out-a-window-in-Pullman depressed, but as close to there as I’ve ever been since. Luckily there were no high places at hand.

3 Margaritas, the ineptly named restaraunt/lounge where we’ve been doing regular karaoke has really gone downhill. The karaoke is great, the food is pretty good, the service is straight crap. About the worst I’ve ever had. After the last time, I was wishing negative tips were permissable.

Which means I’m looking for a new regular karaoke show. That’s too bad, as I was just getting used to this one.

I did get a pair of my “Christmas Set” done before Christmas:

The Night Santa Went Crazy

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer

Christmas at Ground Zero

Jesus He Knows Me.

The last one is odd, being neither a Christmas song per se nor a novelty song (which the rest are.) I chose it to put the Christ back in Christmas in as contrary a way as I could manage. 

I need a T-Shirt that reads “Axial Tilt is the Reason For the Season.” That’s officially on my Christmas List for next year.

New Years came and went nearly without comment, and the Beast is still down, though getting closer to finished.

Part of why I’ve not been blogging comes down to being so depressed. Part is because I’ve got so much material crammed into my head that the congestion is blocking the flow off entirely. Hopefully I’ll get to mucking out those depths in the next few days.