FreeThinker

I realize I'm an Okie, so I'm probably not qualified to comment on much of anything, plus I know they had some ice, too, but for Pete's sake, if you can't drive on two inches of snow, maybe someone should take away your driver's licence.

Paul- Someone needs to spank you for that comment!

Friday afternoon's GMail disruption should be a wake-up call to each of us for how vulnerable we as individuals and as a society are to disruptions of Internet services. I firmly believe that the most dangerous terrorist threat is not suicide bombers or crashing planes into buildings, but teenagers in the Ukraine or China, or wherever else we've had problems originate, shutting down vast swaths of the Internet and watching as the world grinds to a halt. Here is an interesting article from Salon which humorously discusses yesterday's reaction, but I seriously think we need to worry-- a lot.

On this day thirty years ago, January 24, 1984, Apple introduced the first "computer for the rest of us." 128k of ram, no hard drive, and a 3.5 inch floppy with 512k. And we were impressed! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/24/mac-30_n_4658597.html AND, here is the most iconic commercial of all time, Ridley Scott's Super Bowl commercial introducing the Macintosh to the world.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/24/gmail-down_n_4660890.html I'm glad I wasn't crazy. One person tweeted "First to tie the GMail outage to Justin Bieber wins a prize." Another tweeted, "Hello Yahoo!" Yet another commented on the entire news media being dependent on GMail. Perhaps they should consider a back-up? Would the entire world's economy come crashing down if Google suddenly went down?

GMail IS down right now. I've checked two Internet monitoring sites and both report significant disruptions to GMail service, though I have been unable to find reports on news sites or any comments from Google. Time 1937 GMT Friday.

As of 1900 GMT, (1PM CT US) I am unable to connect to my GMail account and have been unable to for about half-an-hour. Is anyone else experiencing this or have the Internet gods decided to pee on my parade?

Sadly, maturity has not been kind to young Ellar. http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3944404480/tt1065073?ref_=tt_pv_md_1

When I lived in Austin Texas during the early nineties, Richard Linklater was considered a local hero. An independent film-maker and a founder of the Austin Film Society, he, more than anyone else, is responsible for Austin being a center of independent filmmakling. Among his works are Slacker, in which Austin is as much a star as the actors, and Dazed and Confused, also filmed in Austin and surrounding towns. He's an innovator in filmmaking and very creative. His most recent work, which premiered this month at the Sundance Film Festival, is Boyhood, in which he amazingly took a fictional family and followed them over twelve years. Literally. He sighed actors as the family and for twelve years, brought those actors back to film a few days in their lives each year. The twelve year project had only thirty-eight days of actual shooting and we see the actors age as they actually did, not with make-up and not with changing actors as the story progresses. I would love to see this film, though it probably will appear only at art house theaters. http://www.salon.com/2014/01/21/sundance_richard_linklaters_dazzling_12_year_family_epic/

Actually, I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular here, except myself after two people who aren't members here read the first six chapters of the sequel to Wicked Boys and accused me of what the article discusses. I've been put in my place. However, I thought it was an interesting article and might generate some discussion.

This is from an article on Salon.com entitled The Joy of Literary Destruction. I strongly recommend it. http://www.salon.com/2014/01/19/the_joy_of_literary_destruction_writers_who_broke_all_the_rules/

Hmm. Yes. Well.. One of the reasons I detested the numerous Star Trek reunion movies was the schlocky, smarmy, crap put in the movies to satisfy all the Trekies. The jokes, the sentimental junk made them almost intolerable to watch. Unfortunately, the first thirty minutes of the first episode of Season Three of Sherlock seemed like the equivalent of a Star Trek reunion flick. The amount of humor also seemed drastically unlike the previous episodes. His behavior was out of character. I was very disappointed.

The new season of Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock returns tonight at 10PM, ET, PT, 9PM CT on PBS! Did he really kill himself? Of course, we know he didn't because the producers cheated and showed him at the end of the previous season finale watching Watson at his grave. Still... I love this version of the Holmes canon. Very clever. http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jan/19/sherlock-sherlockians-gather-bbc-series

Don't hold your breath for reality coming to Okieland anytime soon. The Taliban Republicans here are just a few steps away from making women wear veils over their faces and cutting off the hands of thieves. I make jokes about my state, but the truth is the Republicans in Oklahoma are as conservative as you can get in the US. Governor Mary Fallin, one of the most conservative Governors in the nation, apparently isn't conservative enough for the Tea Baggers and radical right-wingers and she will have to face a Tea Party challenge from the nut she defeated for the GOP nomination four years ago, Randy Brogdan, who famously declared in 2010 that if the Tea Party doesn't get its way through ballots, it should consider turning to bullets. Yee-haw. And, what's frightening is that is how most Oklahomans think. If the ban on same-sex marriage is successfully ruled unconstitutional after winding its way through the courts, you WILL see the Oklahoma state government defy the Federal government on this issue. And these Confederates will never, ever, back down on this issue.

Tonight!!! The season begins on PBS!!!!

I know we all love Libera and there probably isn't a thing I could say about them that hasn't already been posted here on the board, but I have found, as I grow older, that I cry far more easily now than I used to and a song that never fails to literally bring tears to my eyes is this work from Libera's "Free" album. All of their music is beautiful, but this one has a more contemporary feel and beat to it that I find very appealing and different from their other songs. Along with "I Vow to Thee, My Country," this is my favorite of their songs. I wanted to share it with you.

I would nominate several zip codes in Austin, as well. A progressive city with fantastic music, a laid-back attitude, and amazing food, trapped in one of the most regressive states in the country. I miss living in Austin. I have friends in Seattle, Portland OR and Burlington VT who sing the praises of those cities as well when it comes to communities that are gay-friendly and progressive.

Chicago's Boystown has been voted the best gayborhood in the world by the readers of Out Traveler, beating out The Mission in San Fancisco, Boystown in Hollywood, and areas in Madrid and Barcelona. A slideshow at the bottom of this article lists the most gay friendly zip codes in the US. 1. 94114 The Castro in SF 2. 92264 Palm Springs, CA 3. 02657 Provincetown, MA 4. 92262 Palms Springs, CA again 5. 33305 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 6. 90069 West Hollywood, CA 7. 94131 Noe Valley, SF, CA 8. 75219 Oak Lawn, Dallas, TX (I want some of what they were smoking when they came up with THIS choice) 9. 19971 Rehobeth Beach, DE 10. 48069 Pleasant Ridge, Detroit MI I nominate just about any zip code in Oklahoma as the most gay-unfriendly in America! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/02/boystown-chicago-best-gay_n_4533208.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay%20Voices

I am hoping these people are joking. Dear God, if you really exist, please tell me they are joking! However, if they are serious, considering that half of Republicans believe in angels and more than half don't believe in evolution, how much do you want to bet these Tweeters vote Republican? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/30/america-2014-years-old_n_4520508.html

This is a clip from The Newsroom. Is this liberal or is it just brilliant writing telling the truth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=74r1VuLMWXc

Just giving you a hard time, since I haven't been able to give anyone else a hard time since sometime in nineties. :-) I've been watching too many old episodes of Queer as Folk. I'm starting to sound like Emmett. Actually, I think Jed Bartlet compromised too often, rather like another recent liberal icon who's proven to be a disappointment. I go further left the older I get.

Oh, my God! Did I actually read the term "liberal crap" in a Cole Parker post? Dear God, I think Miss Parker is channeling her inner Sarah Palin! I am not well! Snap! Snap!

I was half-watching a rerun of Frasier today, which I think was one of the best written sit-coms of all time, and smiled at a scene between Frasier and his boss at the radio station. He was being his usual pompous self and spouting off a long, convoluted sentence and found himself lost about three-fourths of the way through it. Being guilty of often writing run-on sentences, I had to smile at his boss's comment. It's not screamingly funny, but it made me smile. "Isn't it sad when bad things happen to good sentences?" I should put that quote on my desktop.

Ooops. I mentioned the campaign, but that doesn;t come into the story until chapter 7. I gave my own spoiler!