Techno Robot Pudding

Say hello
Remain
Close to me
No good-bye suicide mystery

The rat
In your brain
Turns a wheel
Connected to your guts and
All your faults are in me
And all your faults in me

What would you say
If we lived on TV
Besides all the things they told you to
And all the things they told you to

We’re stuck
Inside our own machine
Apparitions

Say hello
Well is it strange
Where you are
Where you used to be kind of free
Are they laughing at you
Laughing at you

The rat
In your brain
Rules the world
From the comfort of your living room
Tell me are we leaving soon
The comfort of your living room
Tell me are we leaving soon

We’re stuck
Inside our own machine
Apparitions

We’re stuck
Inside our own machine
Apparitions

Matthew Good Band – Apparitions

see title.

now i can bitch about how stupid today’s teenagers are without being a hypocrite; but still being a loudmouth.

keep on rocking, world.

just got the Lone Gunmen series on DVD and remembered what a great show it was. thanks for cancelling it, idiots at Fox…

then again, it didn’t help that it’s pilot episode had a plot involving something dastardly happening in a large city; something identical to what happened several months later… gaping expression, indeed.

i’ve come to the conclusion that one of the reasons I enjoy Canadian rock so much is because it follows British rock somewhat. i’ve also recently purchased a book on the 90s Britpop phenomena, but haven’t the time to crack it open just yet.

over halfway through the semester and still no gauge of how things are. hooray. dance the dance of a thousand naps.

nothing otherwise interesting to report, except that you should read up.

in case you’re wondering, the title is regarding me. this is of course due to the probability that any coherant reader who regularly visits must experience periods of “wtf?” when checking out the variable scope of my scattered diatribes.

halloween means some of the most interesting television all year, in my opinion. it also mean Emeril’s halloween episode, which falls extremely short of the excellence he otherwise accomplishes in his “normal” show.

turning to other shows, we stumble upon Sci-Fi’s Ghost Hunters. by way of Mason Winfield’s excellent and well-informed site regarding the paranormal, I’ve encountered an article that somewhat debunks the hoopla surrounding the show. as Mr. Twietmeyer points out, this show visits sites under the preposition that supernatural phenomenoa will occur. although they may sometimes lead to hasty conclusions, the TAPS investigations still treat the sites with respect; and to their credit they often refrain from giving suspect evidence the benefit of the doubt. perhaps a push from network muscle causes some speculation from their evidence. even though the investigations lack some patience and planning, the format of the show is to blame and it still remains interesting. yes, i watch it.

now for a seasonal show. ABC family’s Scariest Places (On Earth) series takes families and shoves them in the midst of “haunted” locales. while a somewhat legit backstory is found for most of these sites, the methodology behind it all is hasty and sloppy. random family members are placed in rooms around the central location, given information on top of the backstory about what “happened” in said rooms, and expected to “investigate.” this basically leads to the most entertaining part of the show (aside from the somewhat credible historical backstories), which is some family members startling themselves and panicking like their lives are at stake.

here are the probable causes behind the “happenings” and what causes these people to panic:

1- predetermined notions: the families are sent to these locations to “investigate” paranormal phenomenoa. they arrive expecting something to happen. regardless of what’s real and what isn’t, something is always going to happen because they subconsciously want it to.

2- atmosphere and timing: they explore these regions during what many think to be “peak” hours for paranormal activity. in reality, paranormal activity can occur any time. in most statistical studies, nighttime activity is only 50-70% of the cases. not to mention, the families explore late at night. being daytime creatures, humans naturally fatigue at greater rates when they’d normally sleep; at night. this fatigue causes the mind to take a more active role in perception, creating visual or auditory events in some circumstances that do not exist. also, fear is often triggered by what is not seen. people are more likely to exaggerate when they’re tired. when they exaggerate, it plays to their fears and panic occurs.

3- they are legitamite: sometimes things just happen. the sites are sometimes actually good candidates for real activity because they have traumatic pasts. until something is disproven, it can always be real. however, what are the odds that a family can visit a location on a random night and have so much activity happen in an isolated period of time? very small, which brings us to number 4.

4- it’s rigged: a disclaimer at the end of the show’s credits states that some “effects” were added by producers. effects is a broad term which can mean visual effects (filters during editing, music) or on-site effects (noises, movements). since the odds play so well against number 3 being the case most of the time, something obviously has to be set up. and who in their right mind would want to conduct a legitamite paranormal on-site investigation of an area with personnel that are so inexperienced?

given all the skeptic criticism i’ve provided, i’d like to say that i’ve actually enjoyed several episodes of this show. for the uninformed who’d like a quick jolt of creepy, it’s actually a decent selection. if your family has some common sense, i would not hesitate to say “watch it together.” that being said, take the “evidence” presented with a grain of salt.

now for some reading. i’ve been reading a book by Jim Marrs about global conspiracies, secret societies and the like. it’s called Ruled By Secrecy. while it’s dismissed by many as a bunch of theories thrown into the mix and loosely tied together, some of the evidence seems viable to me. even if it’s not true, it’s an interesting read at the least, and that’s all i really bought it for anyways. you don’t have to subscribe to the thought put forth in the book, but you should at least be reasonable enough to spend the time to think about it. that’s all you can really ask for in any nonfiction reading.

after reading all this, you may think i’m a skeptic. you may think i’m the type of person who is trying to prove the nonexistence of God or that humans are alone in the universe. well, i disagree with both, being someone whose beliefs are similar to Deism and who thinks there must be life out there somewhere. i tend to believe many theories, so long as i cannot find logical evidence to disprove them. i also like to consider the odds of something being viable, but i only discount something when the odds are concrete rather than a raw opinion. to simplify: i’m 70% believer and 30% skeptic.

“all this about nothing? he really is nuts!”

amidst recommending music in various places, it appears i’ve forgotten some greats.

like The Pixies and Joy Division; two fantastic bands that have huge notoriety behind their names. both are responsible for the sound of new rock, and both have amazing albums with virtuosic talent in their respective catalogues.

also, some news for fans of the Catherine Wheel. woo!