Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in CBreaker's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
6:12 pm	Drones The Houston PD is soon to start using unmanned aerial drones to scout the city. I'm glad to see that the reaction of the newscasters in the video openly shows their disgust at the idea (and especially at it being kept secret), and I can only hope it's reflective of popular response against encroachment by security agencies of all levels. Personally, I'm wondering when it will lead to targeted assassinations with "unfortunate" civilian casualties. I mean, Houston's got oil, right? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
6:13 pm	Meditations on the LHC Nothing in the known universe is quite as astounding as the insane comment threads in this article about the potential dangers of the Large Hadron Collider (from a legal perspective, of course). Really, just dig in, you'll love it. We've now proven ourselves to be the singularly most absurd organisms possible and thus are the indisputable pinnacle of evolution. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
1:26 am	Of Dolphins and Deadwood In what will perhaps expand our limited sense of the value of empathy, the consensus is that dolphins are intelligent individuals. I solidified that position after seeing their spontaneous social behavior. I doubt that this will affect most people out there beyond boosting some sales to sea world and a bit of publicity for The Cove, but I'm hopeful that we're opening the door to somewhat less lonely and arbitrary world. Personally, I'd like even more to go swimming with dolphins. In something a little more meaningless (well reflective and a continuation of the vast majority of my 2009 void), I've started off the year getting myself stuck hard on the sadly curtailed HBO series Deadwood. Vicious, deeply entangled, yet often meaningless relationships spin in a constant storm hovering over the eponymous gold-miner settlement, producing as much a thesis on human nature as an accurate portrayal of the "Wild West". Yeah, those words are a little too much on the side of hyperbole, but I can't recommend the shlife ow enough. Here's hoping that 2010 finds me with a backbone and a little more self-control. Here's also hoping I can just chill the fuck out a little bit for once in my life and just let the flow of life push me where it will. Really, so long as I don't waste another year wallowing, I'll be happy as hell. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 20th, 2009
10:26 pm	Best TV show ever! Invasion Earth and Beyond is the greatest idea in the history of television! It's a show about current trends in science in the style of a sports-ish call-in show hosted by a curmudgeony old man. The callers are barely audible and sound like they're from Bay Ridge - only adding to the mystique. channel MNN2 (56 for me) (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
12:35 am	Secret Girlfriend is probably the worst show ever made. It's just that simple. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
10:46 pm	Clarity of thought is a rare and valuable commodity, the hardest one to acquire and keep most of the time. As all objects of value are. We spend it frivolously on the whims of others and the actions we deem necessary for life, always wasted. Somehow it isn't recognized, out in the open, as the fuel of all life. Are we unaware? Is it ignored and thrown aside? Does suppression rule, collecting the energy? Do events intercede? Presumptions without experience are wrong. Agreements are the most powerful and most transient barriers. The only thing that's real is finite personal experience. Ideas of permanency are methods of control and justification (iteration and positive feedback loops always do the trick). The world only exists as it does because we all choose to believe it. Why isn't this obvious? Everything is possible. Our limits are so much further than we're led to believe. Let's have some fun, everyone. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
3:21 am	There is no shelter (Comment on this)
Friday, September 11th, 2009
11:50 am	Score one for the good guys Gordon Brown issued an apology on behalf of the British government to Alan Turing for his treatment during and after his prosecution for homosexuality. We can only imagine how much knowledge the world lost as a result of this injustice, but every step forward is a good one. (Comment on this)
Friday, August 21st, 2009
1:52 am	A couple of things I learned tonight First and foremost, after going to a screening of Plan 9 From Outer Space MST3K-ed, I now know tht the movie on its own is pretty much unwatchable and yet I still want to see more Ed Wood... I also want to watch the porn version: Plan 69 From Outer Space, which apparently uses most of the original screenplay. Also, this must be my favorite song now, because it's just so damn good. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 9th, 2009
2:43 am	I watched The Dark Knight again earlier this week and started mulling over some ideas I'd had about the third installment I'd like to see. For the record, I liked TDK, but the end sequence was crap the whole justifying of surveillance thing rubbed me the wrong way. Sooo... Penguin (played by Lawrence Fishburn - something about the Morpheus style with a business touch stands out for this character, but maybe with a derby or something): founder and CEO of a powerful international shipping company who creates a new headquarters in Gotham, using the city's continuous crime epidemic to fuel the large smuggling operation he's been running for years. Bruce quickly becomes friends with Pen, finding company with another powerful man with an inexplicable dark side despite the competition between their businesses. Batman, of course, gets in the way of Pen's activities and brute force doesn't seem to work, so he hires out a journalist/information broker/domestic terrorist Riddler (played by Michael C Hall, b/c it's a short step from Dexter and it's also interesting to see the character as a physical rival to Batman instead of a spindly shadow) to find out who Batman is in order to bring him down. He preys on employees of Wayne Industries (to kill two birds with one stone for his employer... not a bad line for the character, either) in order to draw out Batman into more public confrontations and compromising positions (blah blah blah, not sure what the details would be). How I'd want it to end and some of the filler details I'm not sure of, but I like the setup. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
1:51 am	PBS documentary about Alfred Kinsey, brought to you by Hugh Hefner ...in some sort of mad "homage to the legitimization of sex could be the future of porn" fugue state, good ol' Hugh signs a big check to public broadcasting? So did Hef volunteer, or did someone from PBS go and ask? Sorry, it's just hard for me to really connect Kinsey and Hefner in any serious way. On to the rest of night's "entertainment" - I finally saw the first Bay Transformers movie today. I'm not going to say that it's bad, so I'll just say that it might be the most unrewarding film I've ever watched and I'm glad I wasn't sober (have I mentioned that The Perfect Pint around the block has an amazing pot pie). I've never seen anything so blatantly pandering to its intended audience, using odd self-reference and unnecessary/unnatural "characterization" like a crutch or a Kochian "how'm I doin'?" every 5 minutes while disrupting the narrative. And hey, it's not like the movie depicts black people in an incredibly disrespectful way; it's trying to add a flavor of "reality" to a film lacking any kind of logical base, bent on alienating anyone not in their target demographic AND trying to depict black people in an incredibly disrespectful way. Why hasn't someone thought of this before? It's clearly a goldmine, considering the box office pull... oh... wait... OOOH, more Slamball! And Chelsea Lately and Is She Really Going Out With Him!! All ready and waiting to restore my faith in the value of humanity... maybe I'm taking this all a little too hard, but at the same time I probably shouldn't risk watching the sequel. (Comment on this)
Friday, July 17th, 2009
11:56 pm	Cronkite The most trusted man in America is dead. His image and his voice are a permanent part of our history, tied directly to the tumult of the most revolutionary decades in the life of our country, the narrator of the American story. He will forever be the reluctant messenger for the Kennedy assassination and the collective voice of amazement for our first walk on the moon. Legendary is the only word that aptly describes his career and presence; we'd be lucky to have someone even half as earnest and trustworthy telling us the way things are. I hope that Andy Rooney stays around for a little while longer... (Comment on this)
Friday, June 19th, 2009
12:09 pm	rerepost-ery magic I really like the photoblog This Isn't Happiness. It collects image ephemera from the web and reposts them in a simple, scrolling, single-viewing-ish format and, in my opinion, does a great job of being critical and honest about the modern world while at the same time allowing for a sense of joyful wonder. That said, there have been a lot more pinup shots in the past few weeks (maybe he's lonely?). [Note: the site's lack of solid linking is irritating. The DeNiro letter might shift around a bit to later pages.] Anyway, this found letter to "Mr. DeNiro" is the funniest, saddest thing I've seen in a long time. It really made my day, like the irony filters came off for just a bit. Current Music: Frankenstein - New York Dolls (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
2:15 pm	shocking isn't the word... Today clearly didn't get its full share of terrible, because here's the worst thing I've ever read. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, May 10th, 2009
9:18 pm	So on any other day, the new Star Trek would have clearly been the best film I'd seen. Nothing against the slick, drop-dead gorgeous newcomer (no, really, fucking amazing), but I've got to hand it to all those film buffs out there who swear by Metropolis - it is the real deal. Sure, the metaphors are heavy-handed and the animation looks like something out of adult swim, but there's such a clarity to the emotions involved and a driving pace that it's impossible not to get lost in it. This is the second black and white silent film in as many weeks to completely floor me; The Patsy, starring Hearst mistress Marion Davies is the sweetest, most charming movie I've seen in a long time. Marion's gushing over her clueless beau is as over the top as anything from silent film, but it's so hard not to be disarmed by how honest it feels. Sucks that she got such a bad rap from the studios later on in life (thank TCM for running the Marion Davies story back-to-back with the film). Go see Star Trek! Go watch Metropolis! Go Caps! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
1:09 pm	and now, Vermont (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
12:01 am	BSG Shit sandwich (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
6:44 pm	Stupid question I got a jury duty questionnaire in the mail a little while ago, but now I have no idea where it is. What am I supposed to do? (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 20th, 2009
12:51 am	I'm happy Conan is finally geting his chance at the big time with the Tonight Show but I'm still upset that Late Night is no longer going to be with Mr. O'Brein. I grew up with this show. I watched almost every day from 8th grade through 11th grade and have been hooked. I tune in whenever I can (though honestl, I haven't caught much in the last few years... busy busy busy, as my line goes), and am never disappointed. He shaped my sense of humor more than any other source and I'll miss his fully-free format. Good luck to you out west, sir! (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
3:38 pm	Jackson Frank is really amazing. Big, melancholy country-blues. Current Music: Jackson Frank - Tumble in the Wind (2 Comments |Comment on this)