Month: March 2018

Shade And Tree Innards At Top Of Stair For The Glory Of Everyone’s DDR

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

The car, I’m guessing, is the remains of a Trabant. Anyone remember the Trabant? Oh I remember them well. In fact, sexual relations in one was as good as when I did it for the third time in a 1972 Beetle–and it was 1980. My stepfather was furious the next day as he drove that Beetle to work on account his car was kaputt. When he came home he interrogated me about the foot prints on the ceiling. He had measured them, you know. He had deduced that they could only be the footprints of a young female and he knew that I came home that night from a evening with a lady-friend. He even added that my lady-friend was probably experiencing some abnormal on wear on the large ball of both her feet. Wearing too many high heels, that one, he said. And so. I suppose the Trabant in the pic, including the innards of a broken tree on the Rhine, leda me down that stairwell to have a peek. Should have left it.

Rant on.

-T

The True Face Of Greed Will Joyously Burn The Whole Thing Down Then Party Hearty

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

the madness gun

What can one say about the ugliness and the hate and the true-face of today’s new & improved pseudo-bourgeoisie of #Americant? On that note, let’s get it on about guns. Keep in mind, dear worst-reader, there is one thing that the shooters of Columbine, Sandy Hook, Charleston Church and Parkland have in common–other than their weapons and drugged-up mindlessness. They are an example of what has become of the middle class, i.e. the greatest believers in the mystery and sorcery of The Dream. They are the $hitbags reared by the worst part of a society that has obviously run amok–and is still going. And since these a$$holes (the American middle-class) have fallen head over heels for what FauxNewz/Limbaugh&Co spews into the public domain, which has distorted reality for these people so much, they all now have to rely on pharmaceuticals that emulate illicit drugs in order to function at the most basic level. These shootings are the result of at least two generations of collective DYSFUNCTION run amok. In other words, this is what happens to a middle class that systematically gives in to consuming to survive and gloating at neighbours with spite and greed and let’s not forget wars-of-choice, bailing out Wall Street, globalisation, Walmart>Amazon, etc., etc. And speaking of siloed-wealth mixed with pure riff-raff stupidity… Did you hear that after the Parkland FL shitbag’s mother died, he was scheduled to receive an inheritance of over $800k dollars? In fact, once the news broke and the greed gills of #Americant started to get a whiff of his windfall, he’s now awash in so much fan mail that the dumb-downed prison administrators probably think they’ve got a pop-star in their midst. But that’s not the worst of it, dear worst-reader. No. Instead I thought it appropriate to have a worst-word or three about how #Americant’s oldest gunmaker can go into bankruptcy during another post-shoot-em-up buying frenzy. Oh wait! Are you saying that kids from Parkland and their rallies are having a (positive) effect on the senseless killing that is part of senseless life in my beloved (and missed) #Americant? F-no! But lawsuits galore might be having an effect on something else. And that something has nothing to do with Parkland. No. Indeed. As #Americant’s oldest gunmaker recently announced, it’s going into bankruptcy. And why? That’s right, dear worst-reader, it’s not going into bankruptcy because, well, the worst of the worst, the ugly-ness of it all, the greed mongers galore–not unlike that spoiled rotten little shit-kid in the playground sandbox–will, instead of losing (anything), burn the whole fcuking house down. That’s how bankruptcy works these days. Remington is filing for bankruptcy to protect what it can from what will most likely be the loss of a civil case filed against it because it manufactured and marketed its AR-15 so well that Sandy Hook had to happen. Is this good news? It might be good news for what’s left of #Americant that can still function without pharmaceuticals. But for worst-writer, who is obviously a bit less optimistic, this is even more worst-news–for a country that is out-of-control with greed, gluttony and sloth.

Rant on.

-T

Links that motivated this post:

Finding Blue

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

The pic I want to comment on is the one with Yogi Bear. I was pumping gas into my rental car a few weeks back and what I thought was a dead screen suddenly came alive and Yogi wanted to sell me something and I thought: the scavenging scrapers of the rotten innards of the barrel of #Americant has no pause in facilitating college grads in the name of edumacation and yet this is all they can come up with? Indeed. The reason there is so much failure in this world, the reason everything is so WORST, is because this is all that’s left in order to maintain the historical wealth of old people who’ve never achieved in their lives–they’ve only inherited from other old people–and someone has to pay for that. Or maybe not. Whatever, baby.

Consume to survive.

Rant on.

-T

Kudos To The Best Of The Worst

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

three dollar bill apple logo (low res)

One of the world’s most greedy corporate CEOs (I mean, come on worst-reader, it is all about greed and not achievement or merit or the like, right?) has found a moment to put a few degrees between what he represents (über-greed) and what the worst of the worst represents (stupid-greed). Pretty much from day one worst-writer has claimed that Facebook is just bad bad bad. I also call it internet for stupid people. Anytime you see a bunch of consumer dunces giggling over their phones while connected to the past or other family dunces, eyebrows should be raised with bloody splinters in them. Of course, what can one do when the consume-to-survive world has so few choices regarding meaning in this worst-life? If anything, Facebook should be proof of how empty the western world of consumption has become–and who and what has brought us to this point. Yet all is grand in galore-ville and you’ve elected a comb-over as president. On the other hand, this world deserves the likes of Facebook. I mean, seriously. If stupid begets stupid, welcome to consumption galore. Here’s a ticket to your Colloseum–which was erected and used as part of the fall of the Roman Empire. Make sure you LIKE all the people you’re connected with who are as equally stupid as you as lions eat you. Go figure.

Rant on.

-T

Link that motivated this post:

Pseudo-Review: The Shape Of Water Not Unlike My Desire Of The Her Of All Fish

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

shape of water

Returned from The Homeland last Monday. It was a horrible trip. It was horrible because, of the two weeks I was there, after doing some yard work for my Mom, I contracted a pretty bad skin ailment from poison ivy. In fact, as I worst-write this, two weeks after returning, I’m still itching. (But it is getting better.)

I arrived Sunday late afternoon in The Homeland (can you believe there is a govt. agency called that) and drove three hours south along the Atlantic coast till I reached my widowed mother. As usual she was glad to see me. As usual I was glad to see her. But more important I was glad to provide her with a bit of companionship. My mother is not only getting old but after the death of her husband a few years back, she’s now quite the lonely soul. After an evening’s nightcap and a few shared thoughts on our lives spanning an ocean, my first night of sleep in my mother’s house was preoccupied with a damn film I had seen on LH426 to PHL only few hours earlier.

Say what you will, dear worst-reader, about movies shown on the limited space of tiny flat screens on the back of airline seats. And, like audio and music, I’ve learned to cope with all things cheap when it comes to consuming media. Put another way, I don’t mind if I’m seeing or hearing a piece of art that was meant for the big screen on a krappy little screen, including krappy audio. I’ve learned up to this point in life that in the arts, especially the art of story telling, presentation can take a back seat–if and when it must. In this case, the film “The Shape of Water” got my full attention during the flight and thereafter–even while shown on a really krappy screen. In fact, I couldn’t help but preoccupy my mind with the movie while battling the discomforts afforded us all as we travel in/with an industry run by college grad automatons who obviously can’t manage their way out of wet paper bags–which is more proof why not only the airline industry but #Americant is in a perpetual state of bankruptcy. But then again, that’s why I almost never fly US carriers. Go figure.

That’s right, dear worst-reader. The airline industry… Or better put: the human cattle transport industry hasn’t changed in the quarter century I’ve been using it to cross the Atlantic while living as a miserable expat. So when a two hour film can captivate me and take my mind away from $hitty service, $hitty seats, rattling fuselages and stinking compatriots stuck in the same coach-class hell, I’m all for it. And that’s the ticket of these friendly skies, ain’t it?

The Shape of Water is the best film I’ve seen in years. It’s also the first film I’ve seen in years that I think deserves an Oscar–which it won a few days before my trip. In fact, like so many others and just like with so many things that were once about achievement in the arts, this was the first film in a while I thought even deserved to be up for any kind of formal recognition. That’s how bad movies have become in this age of breaking billion dollar box office records with perverted sci-fi and action genre krapp galore! And if I put some effort into it, the only winner of an Oscar that comes to my worst-mind in the last twenty years is Charlize Theron for the film Monster. Now. Monster, the movie, actually sucked. But Theron’s acting was f’n brilliant.

A little side pseudo-review. Although I focused my mind mostly on having seen The Shape of Water, I did skip through Charlize Theron’s Atomic Blonde while my flight was on final approach to PHL. What a $hitty, unoriginal, boring movie. No different than James Bond, Jason Bourne, Austin Powers, etc. OYG. Hollywood can’t get it’s mojo back even when regurgitating a film albeit with a hot blonde in the fighting lead. Oh well.

Back to one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

Considering what Hollywood has done to movies in my life time, I think that movie making needs to be (finally) turned back over to creative people again. That’s right, dear worst-reader. I am assuming that movie making once belonged to creative people. What has brought Hollywood to where it is today, I won’t attempt to worst-write about here. It’s just that, well, Guillermo del Toro has to be the most creative person in Hollywood in decades. Seriously. Did you see Pan’s Labyrinth? If not, see it now. Unless, of course, you’re anti-creativity and stuck on stupid comic book characters with capes and masks and platitudes. Anyhoo. Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water is piece of work that makes the likes of Spielberg, Cameroon, and whatever blockbuster action move director you can name, look like what they are: $hit! My hat is off and I bow deeply to creativity and Guillermo del Toro for this film.

That said, spoiler alert.

  1. The Shape of Water has its problems. The fish-man, for example. I dug out an old DVD of Hellboy the other night to compare fish-men. It is uncanny how the two fish-men are the same. Did Guillermo del Toro borrow the actor, the character, the costume? If so, does that detract from Guillermo del Toro’s story? Fcuk no.
  2. I knew at the beginning of The Shape of Water and the introduction of the female lead that those marks on her neck would end up being gills. To me that was the weakest part of the film and something I wish could have been expanded on. But forgivable.
  3. The moment where the archetypal #Americant conservative patriarch who is scared of his own shadow and is given sex by his submissive wife after she pulls her tit out as an offering when the kids finally go to school doesn’t work for me. It’s not how #Americant and its transaction-wives function in their relations. Trust me. I’m #Americant. I know what I’m talking about. Instead. I would have preferred Guillermo del Toro done the scene with the wife whipping out her Saturday night special but only after dipping it in her grab-them-by-the-pu$$y first and then teasing his lips and nose with it. For whatever reason, Guillermo del Toro decided to provide a more human and feminine form of what it is that makes the transaction of marriage sacred in a/the land of free-to-be-stupid. But then again, when it comes to marriage transactions, #eurowasteland ain’t no better. But I digress.

There are so many small issues I have with this film, I’ll not worst-write them all here. Reason? No need to. The movie is just good. Real good. And that’s all that matters. Instead, I’ll go back to my expat cubby-hole and continue the expat dream of living a life like any screwed-up archetypal patriarch should live. Alone and only available to fantasise about how things could be if only a God could be found in a swamp in South America that could/should save us all from ourselves.

Rant on.

-T

Bill Clinton The Gold Digger, Hillary His Grab ‘Em By The #Trump And May Stormy Daniels Or Pre-Lawsuit Gawker Save Us All

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

americas stock price.jpg

Subtitle: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Gawker’s Peter Thiel and #Trump’s comb-over should suck each other till there’s nothing left of all.

Disclaimer: This post is NSFW because of some harsh language. Good luck with that and sorry if I offended you before this warning. (Not!)

You know, dear worst-reader, you should ask me. (Pause.) In fact, everyone should ask me. (Short pause.) I mean, obviously, it’s gonna take longer than I may have (on this earth) to get to where I’m alluding, but eventually someone should realise: Hey! We should have asked worst-writer about this!

Worst-reader: But what should we ask, dear worst-writer?

Of all the bull$hit going on with Facebook right now and some right-wing bat$hit company called Cambridge Analytica that managed to take advantage of a bunch of really, really stupid people that should never have been allowed on the Interwebnets in the first place–which is only reason for a Facebook–one very important issue is not being discussed. That issue is nothing more than… What’s left of the tech boom brainiacs and worthwhile automatons that made #Americant great again. I mean. Is it me or do only the $hitheads remain (in Silicon Valley and elsewhere) and they are all scrapping the walls of the rotting barrel till there’s no tomorrow? In other words:

Mark Zuckerberg is a moron. Whaaaaa? Don’t believe me? Ok. Hold a sec.

If, according to his stock price and/or bank account, Zuckerberg is a success in what’s left of the new economy that has been decimated by the old economy post Dotcom boom, boy are we (you) fcuked. I know that’s probably not a very difficult assertion to deal with right now–on account #Americant is really, really full of morons considering President Stupid’s election–so let me just throw this out there to get things moving.

  1. How much money was made by Cambridge Analytica as it sold data that it dubiously acquired from naive Facebook?
  2. Is it possible that Cambridge Analytica is liable for what it did with said data?
  3. Should Peter Thiel suck his mother’s cock or Mark Zuckerberg’s–or finally put his $hit money to some worthwhile use?

Indeed. There are types of money, aren’t there?

With that in mind, I’m once again perturbed how the press is dealing with all the bull$hit STILL coming out of the 2016 election. I mean, Facebook this or Facebook that…? Now Facebook is connected to a $hitbag company named Cambridge Analytica that wants personal information in order to manipulate elections. Whaaaaaa!

I don’t know about you, dear worst-reader. How much more stupid can you take? (Obviously you can take a lot more.) Whether it’s Russia hacking everything, #Trump colluding with jerk-offs to get dirt on Hillary or, God forbid, Hillary’s Benghazi and emails… Nomatter what happens the thing that need be discussed, isn’t being discussed. Oh wait. Pause. Stormy Daniel’s 60 Minute interview is on the Interwebnets.

Worst-reader: But what should be discussed, dear worst-writer?

Well, that’s an easy one. Most of my beloved #Americants problems could begin to be solved toot-sweet if all republicans are given the boot. That would mean that a super majority congress of Democrats–all of which should eventually be replaced with even lefter Dems–should run the $hitshow for at least three presidential elections. During that time, #Americants can reboot the Republican Party, replacing all republicans with candidates that reject religion in government, respect Row v Wade and require gun control that somehow–and this is a doozy–only put guns in the hands of people that can pass a literacy and cooking test given by nine woman, five of which are married and the rest are either single, lesbian or certified Harley mechanic(s). Or something like that.

But I’m off subject (again).

The thing(s) that should be discussed. For real, this time.

The thing that should be discussed is if companies like Facebook, Über, Amazon, etc., should be held to a higher level of scrutiny due to the sensitive nature of personal information that they all are gathering about their users–because users are so f’n stupid. That is, either these personal-data companies should be watched and regulated or there needs to be a law guaranteeing that personal information, no matter what platform has it, always belongs to the person (that created it). Put another way. Anything that I put on the internet, a comment, a blog post, a rant, or even activating a “like” button, etc., etc., belongs to me. Only I determine the use of that information. But perhaps I’m going too far. I mean, come on dear worst-reader. Can you actually imagine a moment in time where a law is made that protects an individual above a corporation?

We back in medieval times, don’t you know.

More that should be discussed.

And now lets move on to Peter Thiel being a useless, filthy rich schwanzlutscher-mutterficker who deserves as much ridicule as moron Mark Zuckerberg–or President Stupid. I mean, come on. Is it me or are all the slime-ball rich jerkoffs coming out of their holes at this point in fail-upwards #Americant? Who are these people anyway? Well, I’ll tell ya. These men deserve ridicule? They deserve it so much I wish it would make them go away–far away. They are obviously rich-stupid-fcuks who never gave much thought what do with their money other than waste it, make more of it, use people with it, screw some one, screw everyone! If you don’t recall, dear worst-reader, here’s a recap of Peter Thiel.

Peter Thiel is the mutterficker who, out of spite, put a really, really $hitty website out of bidness. Seriously. In fact, he didn’t just put it out of bidness. He now actually owns it. And don’t get me wrong, dear worst-reader. I have no sympathy for Gawker. I don’t care that Gawker existed and I especially don’t care that Gawker’s now gone (or owned by Thiel). What I care about is what got rid of Gawker. I care about the fact that this world somehow produces the likes of Peter Thiel who can spend a hundred million dollars out of spite to get rid of a bunch of jerk-offs that published $hit he didn’t like. Talk about gay-on-gay bitch-fighting! Thiel’s actions—and this coincides with Zuckerberg’s actions—prove that if anyone deserves to be $hit on with words, these guys do–including President Stupid. Look what these a$$holes do with their money. And that’s why it’s called: #Americant.

Btw, there’s more to discuss.

Mark Zuckerberg sold hundreds of millions of dollars in stock last week. Just look at a chart of the stock price of Facebook in February and March of 2018 and how it obviously correlates with the krapp revealed about his company and how it was involved in an election. Of course, as usual, all of this is convoluted with the idear that Zuckerberg and his wife are selling stock to finance their charity. Yea, right. Which begs the question. Insider trading anyone? Come on!

This probably isn’t worth discussing but what the hell. A bit more on Thiel.

Some years ago Hulk Hogan was on the verge of losing a defamation lawsuit that he couldn’t afford to finance because a “friend” of his made a sex tape of him getting a sympathy fcuk from said friends wife. That tape was accidentally aired by Gawker. Peter Thiel, an angry gay man that was outed by another angry gay man (at Gawker) stepped in and gave Hogan’s lawyers $100m and Hogan won the case. What a constructive use of money, eh! (Sarcasm off.)

What kind of human being is Peter Thiel or Mark Zuckerberg? Thank goodness most rational thinking people know what kind of human being President Stupid is (unless, of course, you fail to grasp the intimacy of a comb-over). If a guy like Thiel can turn personal spite into such a weapon because words were used that he didn’t like, can he also not do something worthwhile with (his) money? And can’t Mark Zuckerberg just continue connecting people that want to hook up or, what the hell, connect people who can’t grow out of high school?

Let me cut to the chase.

Is there no one out there that could do the same with their money to sue the pants of Facebook for how it abused so many more people than Hulk Hogan’s sympathy fcuk sextape and thereby, perhaps, save #Americant democracy? I mean, Facebook dished out a Krapp load of personal information to a company that then sold it to politicians who thought they could use it, take advantage of it, and make some political gain. At the least, they got their #Trump, i.e. President Stupid. Man, all this $hit that’s going on is so overwhelming (or at least should be) that it’s not even worth discussing what politician it helped or hindered. On the other hand, Facebook users click “ok” every day allowing themselves to become a product—while they think they are hooking up with regressive high schoolers that are otherwise too stupid to use the Interwebnets.

What the hell am I worst-writing about? This Krapp is happening in the Polit-buro united mistakes of #Americant. Of course it is. It’s what is deserved. It was has been earned generation after greed generation.

Rant on.

-T

Links that motivated this post:

Pseudo Review: Audio On The Cheap, Refurbised Used Speakers, Raspberry Pi HifiBerry Galore And Happy As A Pig In…

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

First pseudo-review of this sort of stuff here.

Been fiddling around with audio for a few years now. About a decade ago, well into my forties, I made the mistake of purchasing a surround sound system. It was some ginormous thirty-pound, seven channel, only God knows how to setup system and after a few years the only thing I got out of it was hate. I hated having to run some fancy automated sound test with a microphone to set up the speakers. Once setup I never had the feeling that the super fancy microphone that came with it even did the right job. I hated the crossover between the speakers and the amp, especially when it came to the seven-hundred watt subwoofer that I had attached to it. And don’t get me started on the hate I have for audio encoding whether multichannel, DTS, Dolby, HD, blah, blah, blah. All in all, I was glad to finally get rid of that thing, practically giving it away after only three people bid on it. The one thing I did get out of dealing with that krapp for a few years: I love stereo. I missed plain old fashion music coming out of two speakers. Indeed. Listening to great audio doesn’t have to be a big deal–and it doesn’t have to be expensive either.

Although there was a bit of a struggle for a short while regarding whether or not my future listening needs would be analog or digital, I quickly came to realise that I didn’t care about either. The only thing I was sure about was that I no longer wanted multi-channel and I don’t want to use headphones. That’s right. There’s only one other type of sound I hate more than multi-channel sound. I hate listening to music through headphones. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that headphone don’t sound great. I’ve heard them here or there. Some of them are mind-blowing. It’s just that the immediate connection between ear and source has always bothered me. There’s just something wrong with having my ear-drums so close to the source. I mean, when I’m at a concert I don’t put my ear up to the stage or even the amps. But there’s no reason to nitpick. I get it why some Das Volk love headphones. As far as I’m concerned, more power to y’all!

Btw, when I say analog or digital I’m referring mostly to amplification and media storage. With that in mind, I did side with the digital world even though I discarded my ageing CD player when I got rid of my multi-channel AV system. I consider myself digital because, well, I’m not getting a vinyl player or going back to cassettes anytime soon. And so… As long as I can rip CDs or download purchased music, I have no need for physical or analog media. (Wow. I hope I’ve gotten that right!) On the other hand, I haven’t bought any new music in years. Seriously. In the last five or so years, I think I’ve purchased three albums on Amazon. Otherwise, my music collection is basically ripped new, used, traded CDs from when I was young. The music is served with Plex and sometimes (my wife) iTunes.

Almost a speaker review.

This worst-post, i.e. this pseudo-review, is supposed to be about having purchased a set of Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Andrew Jones speakers–but it’s also about having achieved my dream audio system… ON THE F’N CHEAP. According to the Interwebnets, the BS22’s are some of the best speakers you can buy for the least amount of money. And the Interwebnets ain’t wrong! The only problem with these speakers is they are not for sale in Europe. And I didn’t want to have them sent to The Old Country thereby taxing the heck out of ’em. After all these years of living in Germania and having to deal with import taxes, customs, etc, I never order anything from abroad anymore. It’s just a hassle galore, don’t you know. Since I frequently travel to The Homeland…

Full stop. Can you believe the US has a government agency named Homeland? I mean, Orwell anyone?

After reading about these speakers and their specs, measurments, etc., I thought I could easily transport them back to The Old Country on a return flight. And guess what? It was easy-peesy to do just that. I made sure I traveled with the largest suitcase I own, though, because these speakers are a bit bigger than I thought–especially when you first see the box they are delivered in. But after opening them, giving them a feel and hug, I realised discarding the original packaging and getting them in my luggage wrapped in the cushion of my dirty underwear and rotting socks, they should be fine. In fact, other than a very slight dent in the fake wood vinyl covering on one of the speaker’s edges that is barely noticeable, they made it without a scratch. Needless to say I was tickled to hear them for the first time when I got back to my expat home. That’s right, dear worst-reader. I had no way to test them in the US. But hey. For a set of refurbished speakers from you-know-who online, what the hell.

Speakers in use by worst-writer.

  • B&W 305 towers – I’ve had them for about ten years. Althoug I probably should, I can’t get rid of them. In the right room with a decent amp and when properly placed in front of me while I sit in a comfy chair with cup of tea, they are magnificant low-cost, entry-way audiophile speakers. I think I paid €250 for them used. Until I get the right room for them, they’re mostly in the basement and unused due to wife-approval issues.
  • Bose Companion 20 – Although I’m not a fan of most of Bose’s stuff on account of their arbitrary (i.e., Apple-like) product over-pricing, I got these powered speakers as a gift a long time ago. They really are very good if/when connected via audio-jack to a laptop and used on a desk–or used as ersatz TV speakers.
  • Audioengine P4 – I bought them via you-know-who warehouse deal at almost half-price which saved me from having to get a sound-bar or using the Bose speakers to replace krappy TV speakers. They are powered with a SMSL Q5 Pro mini amp and a standard, old fashion audio-jack from the TV to the amp, which lets my wife control volume using the TV’s remote. The TV gets audio via HDMI from a second Raspberry PI (model 3) w/ RasPlex and/or an AppleTV(3). These are fantastic speakers–but NOT worth their full retail price!

The Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers are cheap. I paid $90 for them plus tax. For that kind of money they are twice as good as the Audioengine P4’s and are a tick better than my ageing B&W 305s towers. I even have the feeling that the little Pioneers are better at bass than the much taller, beefier B&Ws that have six inch woofers. But then again, I’m not a bass fan.

As you can see in the pic above, the BS22’s are attached to a TEAC A-H01 amp. The amp drives the speakers beautifully no matter what the source. In my case I use either USB (PC), fibre-optic (Apple TV) or analog cinch (Pi). Which brings me to the other magic of this low cost audio system. Although the TEAC does have a USB DAC and I can easly attache my MacBook to it, my main audio delivery system is a Raspberry Pi (model 2 B) and a HifiBerry DAC+Pro with analog cinch cables streaming via Ethernet from a Plex server.

I stream music from a Plex server in my basement via ethernet. After sorting out the power needs of the Pi–problem solved with a dedicated 5v 3amp micro USB power source–these new speakers have given me a feeling of closer for this system. Although I have plans of fiddling more with HifiBerry’s and cheap Class-T amps in the future, this setup in my work room (also my main listening room) is now my audio galore dream come true.

Total cost of work-room audio system dream come true for a small office or bedroom.

  • TEAC A-H01: €300 (warehouse deal; no longer available)
  • BS22 speakers: €100 (warehouse deal; available cheaper in the US if/when on sale)
  • Raspberry Pi 2 B: €60 (including micro-SD card, dedicated micro USB power, steel case)
  • Hifiberry Dac+Pro: €45
  • Cables: €50
  • Plex Media Server, RasPlex client: free!

And so… Listen closely to Miles’ lips on that trumpet.

Rant on.

-T

As The God’s Of Your Mind Play Fiddle Diddle Widdle

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

Even if we assume the existence of a God who, as Homer says, pours out from his urns his good and evil gifts, I am amazed at the pious who insult their God by failing to see that as this world is run there is a field of circumstance that is not commensurate with God’s providence and that God must have so intended it.

-Thornton Wilder, The Ides of March

How I Subverted The Sedition Act (Of 1918) Or Re-Read Chris Hedges’ “American Fascists”

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

American_Fascists

Thoughts after first read of this book here.

Obviously I’ve subverted nothing. I mean, come on. How can worst-writer, leader of the uselesseater union of the world and advocate for forced early retirement (as long as the women-folk and their feminism pay for it), subvert anything? Unless, of course, subversion is defined by how one throws stale German Brötchen against an unfurnished wall in order to measure the velocity of freshness. But all über-seriousness aside.

There has been another exuberant display of bat$hittery in my beloved #Americant. The display, for whatever worst-reason, made me re-read Chris Hedges’ book. The exuberance? A nineteen year old pre-perpetual man-child, i.e. a teenager with an AR-15, is yet another example of growing up in consume-to-survive meaninglessness run amok. Never before has born-to-die been so obvious. It’s what #Americant provides. Nothing. Nothingness. Nothing else. And then death by an almost cult following of the act of killing. Considering future perspectives of so many man-children and their trigger fingers, the new measurement of achievement in their useless lives corresponds to under-achievement. Which raises this question: what’s it like to live in a cult-of-death run by Haves so spiteful towards Have-Nots? Or. Put another way. The only way a man in #americant can find meaning is if he subjects himself in a slave-like manner to the whims of both biology and greed. Biology and greed, if you don’t know, are the main ingredients of mindlessness and/or WWE-TV.

Enter Religion.

When I refer to a nineteen year old, I’m obviously referring to the latest mass shooter in my beloved #Americant. As usual, the dumbed-down voting populace of the united mistakes of #americant will be no better informed about WHY these types of killings take place so it really means little to go beyond there being a nineteen year old with a military-grade weapon who can run around like all deplorables should. I, for one, am still asking questions about what the hell happened at the last mass shooting in Las Vegas. Not many answers there. And so. We’re all deeply ill-informed about HOW-WHY these things happen. Yet we are overwhelming informed about AR-15s and the fatness of Kim Kardashian (she is so disgusting looking I’m worst-surprised I could type her name). Btw, it’s never about how one can buy an AR-15 or gluttonous ammunition or extended magazines, etc. Nea. It is about something else. Go figure. But I digress.

“The decline of America is described as the result of the decline of male prowess.” -Chris Hedges, American Fascist

I guess I decided to re-read American Fascist because, well, criticism of the political right is the only way I know how to deal with this stuff. Indeed. After every mass shooting I blame republicans because of how they’ve perverted conservatism. I mean, I hated conservatism back in the day of W. Buckley. But at least Buckley & Co. weren’t totally bat$hit. Of course, without Buckley & Co. there wouldn’t have been Dubya & Co. and now President Stupid Comb-Over. Also. I don’t blame republicans because they’re the easiest to blame–especially when it comes to the free-for-all of mass shootings. I blame then because they are sore winners of the worst type. And when I say “winner” I mean winning in the race to the bottom. Congratulations, suckers.

Religion loves all.

For those stuck in the world of #americant bothsiderism, i.e. blaming both the Democrats and Republicans as equals for #americant’s ills, there is no rational discourse. These are the people who would like to be republican but are unable at a minimal level to see through all the craze. I suppose bothersiderists have speck of rational thought left–I’ll give them that. Yet, when I question bothsiderists I’m invariably faced with the issue of religion. Specifically the perversion of religion–which is best exemplified in my beloved (and missed) #americant through eyes of utter terror and fear and an ice-cream cone filled with pistachio banana chocolate and briefly named Daisy by the child carrying it. With that in mind, three things seem to intertwine in my worst-writer brain when I search for the blame.

  • Money
  • Power
  • Religion

Pretty simple list, eh? Keep in mind that the above list is not in any particular order. Also, obviously, the other side of the political spectrum lusts after the elements in the list, too. The difference, though, is that in my lifetime taking each one to new, higher levels via über-greed is the result of so much complacency or, as I like to put it: consume-to-survive. Of course, in the context of this post, the only item from the list that is truly relevant, and that which drove me to re-read this book, is religion. Not unlike the radicalised issue of abortion (or forcing women to be subjects of wannabe men-Gods), these people are not different than a mob with torches trying to hunt down a monster they don’t understand and will kill everything to get to it.

And so.

The man-boy that shot-up the school, killing seventeen of his peers, obviously wasn’t near money or power. But he was very and most certainly near religion. Now, I’m not saying that he was religious. I have no clue if he was or not. It’s just that when you don’t have money or power (or even if you do) then all that’s left for you is belief, faith, blind-will. To me, these mass shootings are all intertwined with the three elements listed above as utilised by men-boys who govern. When considering all the hate I feel for right wing politics, religion is the one that gets under my gander the most and it should not be given a free-pass just because someone saw a painting of a bloodied Jesus standing with a slit-throat lamb.

“Fundamentalism is the religion of those at once seduced and betrayed by the promise that we human beings can comprehend and control our world. Bitterly disappointed by the politics of rationalised bureaucracies, the limitations of science, and the perversions of industrialisation, fundamentalists seek to reject the modern world, while nevertheless holding onto these habits of mind: clarity, certitude, and control” -Karen McCarthy (as quoted in American Fascist by Chris Hedges.)

I’m betting that the WHY of these shootings is being systematically suppressed because the powers-that-be know full well that if words gets out about the true state of affairs of a once great nation that has so many mass shootings there will be mayhem of an apocalyptic scale never seen before–but wished for by religious $hitbags. Just read the last chapter of the New Testament. The difference to Biblical apocalypse, though, will be that the rich will finally have to pay. That is, Money and Power are tolerating Religion right now because the latter provides a brilliant filter, screen, airport security check–for the masses of Deplorables #Americant has become. For you see, dear worst-reader, by controlling the story, the narrative of a world where EVERYTHINGISWRONG, you control the meek, i.e. Deplorables.

“Since life has a way of not respecting these artificial lines, since ambiguity, inconsistency and irrationality are part of human existence, the only way believers can push forward is to pretend that these troubling aspects of our internal and external reality do not exist. They create a parallel reality, one that allows them to escape from reality-based world into world of their own creation.” -Chris Hedges, American Fascist

When you live a life of EVERYTHINGISWRONG where do you turn when the guns start slinging? Money. Power. Religion. You pay your money. You subject yourself to power. You fall for the Deity standing above you with his shinny halo and birch leather seat and a cock the size of your best mind. He tells you to contribute to his church and you do so. You reach in your wallet, digging into the forest within and you find a small toy out of your childhood that reminded of how things once were. How simple they were. Of a time when ice-cream didn’t feel so bad after it was consumed and excreted. The world you’ve created in your hiding place isn’t enough so you go deeper. Your wallet is big enough, it is empty enough. The green forest now brown within is a lost place and when you go to the next window to ask for direction you meet another salesman who tells you your credit cards aren’t full yet. So you switch from your wallet to your credit card. The forest within isn’t as greedy but it is as blinding. And the next methamphetamines fix is good.

“The hierarchy fears romantic love. Love, especially eroticism, in its most passionate, romantic form, threatens the iron control of the church leader. In Freudian terms, romantic love allows the id or the “it,” to be unleashed in a drive to satisfy uncontrollable passions. Restrain and self-control over these desires and passions are disarmed by romantic love.”. -Chris Hedges

I know it make no sense to go in this direction, but one thing that really struck me from my first reading of this book was Chris Hedges POV of love. Through out the book he refers to the act of love as an extension of God but also of people. He writes about how his father was accepting of gays and how homosexuality is not something to fear. I got the feeling that true love is embedded in Hedges’ religion as means of acceptance and tolerance. What a nice thing, eh! Indeed. Love. The way it should be treated/used/accepted. Of course, if one spent any time at all with deplorables, one also knows the vehemence against gays or even a wrong look at one’s wife. The insecurity of sexuality is rampant among conservatives. It’s as though Biblical fig leaves have become brain cells. And so. Perhaps there is a fourth element, sexual repression, that should join Money, Power, Religion. But for now I’ll leave it out.

Rant on.

-T

Links:
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedition_Act_of_1918

What Happens When You Cross Dorian Gray With The Devil Wears Prada? Worst-Writer’s Thoughts On Emma Tennant’s Faustine.

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

IMG_3859

The only problem worst-writer has with this wonderfully imaginative novel about The Feminine is how, if it were a quilt, it would be sewn together with a single thread. That thread, unfortunately, is the opposite of The Feminine. I suppose, if pushed to answer what that opposite (thread) is, I’d have to say this book is not exactly about women. Ironically–or not, very few men play a role in this book, except, of course, the antagonist–who only appears at the very end. In other words, this might just be a book about questioning womanhood post ca. the 1950s. But don’t quote me on that. Wait. Hold a sec.

Women and The Feminine are two different things. Right?

According to her Wiki post, Emma Tennant uses magic and mystery in her work. I was disappointed how neither really played a roll in this book. Even though Tennant brilliantly integrates the Faustian bargain into the story, instead it is really written with a quilt in mind. And that is rather confusing to me. Feminising Faust just doesn’t seem like a worthwhile endeavour–even though Tennant writes with excellent craftsmanship. I’m saddened to say that this story tries to deliver something but in the end all there is–is all that’s ever been: predestined, self-perpetuating social norms and gender roles that so many have embraced since Biblical apples galore. Nor is this book very entertaining. And that’s why I love it and plan to hold it dear for the foreseeable future.

Indeed. The feminisation of Faust. Is that enough for a book of this sort? A chick selling her soul to the devil, in and of itself, could be a huge mystery–or even a great piece of magic. Yet there is only reference to a beauty farm that manages to change a grandmother into a rival for her daughter’s lover. Then there’s a TV repair shop with back room. Like so many other places where women choose to go in their world of wanton patriarchy, we get nothing from Tennant about it–or darkened backrooms. It is here that the author tears clear from magic and mystery and instead goes off on a soap-opera-like tangent–which is probably best palatable to the author’s taste. But then again, if asked whether or not she’s a feminist, this book would make me answer: she is not.

On the other hand, if, like me, you’re the least bit curious what goes on in the mind of a woman (and you’re a man) that has nothing to do with the act of procreation or porn-like good-fucking, this book might be for you. Also. I can’t help but feel that faith (or is it destiny) had this book waiting for me at exactly this moment in (my) life. The reason for that has something to do with the #MeToo movement, Harvey W., and desexualising everything to the point of it being so uninteresting that it’s interesting (again). But I digress.

The writing in this book is brilliant. That can’t be said enough. It is truly a work of art chiseled out of a raw piece of… dare I say… feminine granite. It also reminds me of a combination of Oscar Wild’s Dorian Gray and the film The Devil Wears Prada (or M. Streep in that movie). Even though it takes Tennant almost two-thirds of the book to get to the point she’s trying to make (about feminism), the thing that kept me reading it wasn’t what she was writing about but how she writes it. There is much to learn from Emma Tennant.

Rant (and read) on.

-T

Is You Afeared Yet?

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment
reality winner or reality show from hell screenshot.jpg
Screenshot from around 4:30am

Was up around 3am and walking around my little apartment angry and spiteful at the snow that had fallen during the night. This has been a hell winter, dear worst-reader. And speakng of hell. As indicated in the pic above, there is a certain irony to living in hell. Especially when that hell stems from what is supposed to be a bright city on a hill. Indeed. How far will my beloved (and missed) #americant fall before realising the race to the bottom of the abyss has no bottom? Oh wait. Why/how does realising anything actually mean anything–in the race to the abysmal bottom? But I digress.

Welcome to #americant where a girl named Reality has a match on Wikipedia with the bat$hitery of exactlly that which makes her story either compelling or frightening. I mean. Seriously. When I searched for Reality’s wiki page, a link to a wiki category of “reality show winners” accompanied it. What better example is there of why and how everything is so f’d up these days, eh dear worst-reader? In other worst-words: Welcome to your reality TV nightmare come true. Or. How is it that when state secrets are revealed the state-owned news covers them day-in and day-out and yet Reality is never mentioned as its source? I’m worst-writing about all the news covering #Trump’s collusion with Russia to win the previous presidential election (by losing the popular vote). Thank goodness for news via the Interwebnets. Yea, baby. Reality in your face is like that wanted cumshot that tells you: oh thank goodness! At least I’m not gonna get knocked-up by this guy.

(Where that last sentence came from is a mystery to even worst-writer! But let’s go with it.)

So here’s worst-writer’s question: Reality Winner is supposed to be more of a threat to Make America The Greatest than, say, a general that leaked secrets to his mistress (Patreaus)? The most shocking thing about #Americant government institutions trying to prove their worth (the over-reach of arresting Reality Winner and treating her in this way) is how they all seem to be swinging (as in bats) at balls that ain’t never been pitched. Seriously. It’s like playing baseball without the balls. And what’s worse: #americants are watching the game, watching the commercials that go with the game, buying the merchandise from the game, etc., etc. The thing that Reality Winner was supposed to have leaked has been part of the daily newz cycle since #Trump grabbed you-know-what. Doesn’t that kinda make her a hero?

Just try to imagine all the government officials, all those automatons, who have been, through out their automaton “careers”, smacking at little ants with both shoes in their hands since the day they graduated with degrees in How-To-Be-Stupid. And people like David Patraeus, or even President Stupid’s children, waddle around with their grimmy hands full of secrets (as in getting security clearance). While all that’s going on, Reatliy Winner has been locked up in a dungeon at the united mistakes politburo. Of course, the biggest question is this: when will the government and its automatons come get you? The way things are going, it’s just a matter of time before Reality sinks in.

Or maybe not. Now go buy something.

Rant on.

-T

Links that motivated this post:

Another Night Of Not Finding You-Know-Who Or How I Beat It Before Turning Sixty One Last Time

~ Tom ~ 1 Comment

Ok. Obviously there are better things to be done on a Friday night before flying to my beloved homeland Sunday morning. The only question that remains is: what the hell to do Saturday night? In the mean time, here another fabulous quote as I re-read a book.

“When individuals are finally emasculated and alone, bereft of the help of competing collectives, they cannot defend their rights or question the abuses of their overlords. When there is no other place to turn for help other than the world of miracles and magic, mediated by those who grow rich off those who suffer, when reality to an ideology becomes a litmus test for individual worth, tyranny follows.”

-Chris Hedges, American Fascists – The Christian Right And The War On America.

Rant on.

-T