Pilot's Log

(Monday) I was walking a shopping mall in Knoxville with Mum when we came to the area where a certain internationally-known retailer of women's undergarments and related apparel was located. As we approached another woman, wearing a t-shirt with the name of one of their set of shops walked going the other direction and I had a science-fiction moment.

Remember the scene in MINORITY REPORT when Tom Cruise's character is in the clothier and the store knows him on sight? Well, I had a more insidious concept then and there. What if subliminal devices outside a store were rigged so if you looked at somebody you saw them wearing an advertisement for that store? Of course, the other person might not be aware of being in the advertising business. With THAT thought I checked and made sure I was still wearing a USF shirt!

The night after, I had a may-or-may-not-be-related dream that in my mail, I got a little pamphlet that an Artificial Intelligence had generated. What it had done was trace my entire existance that it could find in public records and over the Internet, and with that data had made a syllogistic examination of who I was. There was a lot on information that was new to me and it all made sense.

I have this weird feeling that some companies already have this capability to so microscopify a person's reality with such accuracy, but are keeping the technology a secret. Governments would not have it, or else they'd be rounding up all the world's terrorists and criminals with it at the forefront of their efforts.

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My sister bought me this t-shirt from her trip to New Orleans over the weekend. If you can't tell, the design is a sternwheeler riverboat flanked by a pair of Dixieland musicians.

I don't look too hot these days, do I?

FP

The above graphic (the official military symbol for a detonation of a weapon of mass destruction) plus the slogan Strikes Like Thunderball.

Lee Dungarees; Taken at downtown Morristown near the Farmers' Market.

...This post would have never been written.

There was a Writer's Block question a few days ago, about the remade Battlestar Galactica, which I've only seen part of one episode of, when NBC aired it back in its first season.

RTN is perpetually showing the original series on Saturday nights, and this past Saturday they showed the first episode I had seen--the first from the actual series (I had to miss the pilot's broadcast due to something else on another channel that had priority). Part One of the two-parter in which they find Planet Kobol.

I forgot how much I loved the scenes with John Colicos as Baltar and the Cylon minion Lucifer (for whom I find conflicting information as to who played him). I had nothing against the Colonials. But Baltar was a strangely admirable villain. It was my first encounter with moral ambiguity--and I liked it.

The only piece of merchandising I had of the series at the time it aired was a t-shirt with a Cylon Centurion transfer.

I know this is a weird piece of nostalgia but this is one of those instances when I don't mind looking at the difference between what was and what might have been.

Hey.

Did a job fair in Knoxville around noontime. Only found one company that I thought I could work for. More on that later.

Because of the weather, I had to stay indoors a lot in town today. At West Town Mall, I was walking around and this teenage girl came right at me, her camera phone trained on me. She paid more attention to her phone and her friend on the other side than she did to me...treating me as if I had just arrived from another planet. Didn't say "Hi". Didn't tell me why she thought I was interesting. After the fact I realized it must have been the Caribbean Soul seaplane shirt I was wearing. But really, that behavior was incredibly rude and frightful. If there are pictures now (or video) on Facebook or Myspace (or YouTube) of an aghast-looking guy in a hunter-camouflage cap, a blue raincoat, a seaplane t-shirt and black trousers, then that man is me and if you find HER let me know so I can scold her properly.

My brother is moving this weekend (from his rented house to the house of a friend's) so I have to scrounge boxes for him. The manager of a store is letting me come over Thursday night to pick up as many as Moonshine can carry.

My mother just "sold" another book. Cricket's Moon will follow That Special Someone in publication. More details as they become available.

Found a great source for those Pirates game cards I want. Now all I need is the money to BUY them.

FP

( Pilot Error )

I received a pair of University of South Florida t-shirts from my Aunt and Uncle overday, and got Hell's Angels from the Columbia House DVD Club.

As for the video above/under the cut, I don't really remember it from when it was a hit in 1983. I guess the stations we listened to back then didn't have it on their playlists. But just the same, it's a shoo-in for the Hackett Continuum image soundtrack.

FP

PS: Producers Are Money-Grubbing Scum.

Okay...

Shopping with bro Dana:

* Went in a leather store that was closing. Almost had a run in with a security guard when I showed Dana the gloves I already had...guard saw me put my own gloves back in my bomber jacket pocket and I had to explain to him that I wasn't shoplifting.

I told Dana that the only way that a leather store can guarantee a sale from me was if they had a Fifty Mission Crush. Then I had to explain what one is.

* Got two pair of slacks at a Proffitt's that was also closing. Tried on a blazer...didn't have money for one, and it was too big anyway. Stores around here don't stock stuff for shrimps like myself.

* Met one of Dana's buddies when he paid one of his bills. I won't say which friend or which bill. That's Dana's business.

* Dana showed me his favorite T-shirt store, and was disappointed that they had sold out of Big Lebowski shirts.

* Between a couple Dollar Generals in Asheville and a few more here in Tennessee, I'm down to needing only three G-Gundam DVDs and four Gundam Wing TV disks. But now I'm going back (TN-location stores, of course) to look for Argentosoma DVDs, as it was a short series and it looks intriguing.

* Dana trounced me at the arcade, but he usually does that.

* In Best Buy, I pointed out to Dana some of the DVDs that were on the household wishlist at Columbia House. He approved my taste and vowed to borrow some of the content once we got it. (Perhaps this week I'll have it on the blog. Gives me an excuse to alphabetize it.) I was very surprised to see Rock & Rule on DVD. Reviews say that the soundtrack was remastered--I certainly hope so! The broadcast and VHS cuts sounded like crud.

* Dinner was partaken at Little Venice, a nice little place. Meat-lovers' pizza and garlic toast. Dana won a gift certificate from a radio station trivia contest.

* While we were at my sister's house, we hashed details of coming events--and then came upon a matter that Lynn called "the Steven effect"...but on further review, I'm dubbing "Steve-pattern baldness". This is the unexplained loss of hair on the lower shins. Both myself and Lynn's fiancee Steve L. suffer from this affliction.

* We also talked about various pratfalls that occurred to various members of the family, but to mention them further would force me to break my New Year's Resolution about exercizing more absolution in my life. Everybody, you are forgiven, and I am actively forgetting for your sake. You know who you are.

* I showed bro, sis and soon to be Brother my blog. Nuff said there.

* Got back to the house too late to catch Criminal Minds. Well, they'll rerun it in April.

* * *

After further review, I realized that ABC already has somebody who could easily replace Dick Clark as host to future New Year's Eve shows. He's already eternally youthful...more youthful than he deserves to be. He's been with ABC for a good long time, has a show with ABC now, and got his big break hosting a TV dance show. And he'd probably have a blast doing the show too.

John Stamos.

C'mon...you know it's the logical choice.

* * *

Will soon be correcting the "galley" for Mom's e-book release of her first book, BUILDING PASSION. I guess this will keep me busy for a while.

FP