Yo yo yo...so, I figure with the scant posts of late, I'll just drop in to say hello to everyone. Working on my fourth week in Indy and many a good time has already been had. Nice to finally have something to do on a regular basis, and then there's the fact that Jeremiah's constantly trying to blow me...

I've been up to quite a bit of extracurricular activity during my stay in the big city, including: 4 straight weekends of golf (who woulda thunk, but daddy can fuck em up on the links), the MSI concert in Cincy, two nights clubbin downtown, two nights in Broad Ripple, a day on the boat with A-Bone followed by a good time at Taste of Bloomington (until I had to drive back to Indy at midnight), a brief visit to Chicaggy (sorry I didn't get ahold of you Hixx, but was only in for one night...Meat Beat Manifesto!!!), and culminating with last weekend in St. Louis, which was fucking wild.

Fourteen of us headed down to STL for a two night stay...which featured, a Cards game in the bleachers followed by the most unbelievable strip club I've ever experienced, then Saturday's Cards game in the centerfield suite...all drinks and food covered, which was real fucking nice...followed by a brief visit at the boat and a trip back to the strip club.

Jared, please tell me you've been to Hollywood...because it is truly fucking amazing. They claim to be the only multi-million dollar strip club in the Midwest...and it shows. This place is posh as fuck...four simultaneous strips, luxury lounging furniture, the nicest bathroom facilities I've ever seen (with TVs playing porn while you piss), and not a single under-4 star performer...mind-blowing!

So, yeah, it's been a nice month...which will be followed next month with a week in Florida. Ah, to live again and be out of Vintucky. Life is truly sweet...

But, on another note...having 14 HBOs, 10 Cinemaxs and 12 Showtimes, J-My and I force ourselves to watch something, anything each night Monday through Thursday...sometimes you lose (Club Dread...which was so fucking weak following Super Troopers, albeit with some mega fine ass...and Cabin Fever...laughable), and sometimes you win (The Salton Sea, which we watched tonight and is spectacular...you gotta check Val Kilms at his finest). So, yeah, seen a lot of movies lately that I would've never rented previously. And some new ones...as I caught Batman Begins among others...which is fucking awesome...no, seriously, you need to catch that shit NOW.

Recent listenings I suggest you listen to (all each artist's latest discs):
Queens of the Stone Age
Autolux
Death From Above 1979
Meat Beat Manifesto
Engineers

So, there you have it...just figured I'd drop a muhfuckin line yo. Lick my balls, all of you.
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That is if video games qualify as art. A while back, one of the Prox-girls at Paper-Thin Walls attempted to catalyze the infinite potential for clever tabloid headlines in l'affaire Michael Jackson that was up to that point lying dormant in pseudo-newsrooms worldwide. She came up with some pretty good ones I might add.

Julian at Notes from the Lounge reminisces about an awesome game that I remember feverishly playing in arcade form at my local mini-golf.

The resolution of the Michael Jackson trial has reminded me of the old (and surprisingly good) Sega Genesis game Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Browsing through a couple descriptions, though, I was reminded of an aspect of the game I'd forgotten about: The object in each level, you see, is to touch all the small children. (Thereby freeing them from captivity.)

A sophomore psych. major would have a field day with this, as would I imagine anyone who studies cultural iconography, whatever the hell that means.
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Ali and I are planning a Housewarming / Pre-Intonation Fest get-together for friends in a few weeks and would love to see all of you there. The details:

What: Gathering of Friends / Haters of Indie Rock
Where: Chicago, near intersection Ashland / Division streets
When: Friday, July 15, 9:00pm-ish

Those who have been paying attention would notice that this is the Friday before the start of Intonation Fest, so come up for the Friends, stay for the bands you love to hate.

Regardless of whether you plan to check out the fest ($15 for one day / $22 for both is all they ask... be a pal), you are welcome and encouraged to join-in. We'll be sending out an e-vite sometime this week.

That reminds me, I'm not sure I have current e-mail addresses for some of you (Byron, Satya, Ian inpartic). Drop me an e-mail or leave it in the comments so I can include you on the e-vite. mahicks @ gmail . com
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So I don't know if Ian has posted about this but how sweet would this be. It should be said AGAIN!! I want to go. And since I've never been to New Orleans what an even better time this could be. I mean NIN, Flaming Lips, Queens of the Stone Age, LCD, Digable Planets, Mindless Self Indulgence and Bravery so on. It's basically a combination between the Intonation Fest and Lollapalooza, but with really great bands headlining. Plus more to come. I mean anyone?? Anyone?? Come on, this has a guarateed freshness label all over it!!! If you can't get into any of the afore mentioned greatness, there will be an entire New Orleans music stage. We have to talk, October 29th and 30th.
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Sometimes people get a little crazy when it comes to ending long-term relationships. Sometimes that translates to completely absurd breakup letters. Sometimes those letters get posted on the Internet.

I thought some of you might find this funny since there is a very clear Cathedral High School / Indianapolis West Side / Wabash College connection. Any idea who these people might be?

Be sure to read her whacked-out letter in it's entirety. His priceless response follows.

Click here to download
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I've never actually seen the move Cannonball Run, but apparantly a group of people in Chicago are preparing there own Cannonball Run for this coming October. You're not going to believe how awesome this shit is.

First of all, teams make the 22 hour drive from Chicago to Las Vegas, leaving October 26th at 7pm and arriving in Vegas NO LATER then 2:30pm on October 28. Of course, this is a competition, and with any competition there are rules.

1. Teams of 2-5 people must purchase a car costing no more then $1000
- The car must be decorated with at least a racing number, though all modifications, decorations, paint jobs, etc are considered legal and encouraged.

2. Teams are required to complete a maximum of 10 challenges along the way. These challenges range from hilarious to flat-out stupid. The winner is the person who earns the most points. Challenges are are given a value based upon stupidity. The challeges will be annouced on October 1, but here is a list of some you might expect:

- Getting a stranger to pick up a poo dollar
- Streaking a random high school’s hallway during passing periods
- Picture of teammate floating in a raft in the Mississippi River
- Operating heavy industrial machinery in any town (farm tractor, bull dozer, etc)
- Get points for living animals that ride with you through arrival in Vegas (more exotic the animal the more points – squirrel, donkey, wild bore – you get the idea)

Cars will be destroyed in Vegas at the conclusion of the challenge. The winning team is expected to split an estimated $4,000 grad prize. Total costs are around $800 per person, which includes entrance fee, contribution for car purchase, car insurance, gas, hotel, flight home.

Anybody down to clown? Here are the dates to keep in mind:

Aug. 1 - deadline for registration
Aug. 15 - deadline to declare teams
Oct. 1 - Challenges Announced
Oct. 16 - Contestents Meeting
Oct 26 - Depart Chicago for Vegas
Oct. 28 - Arrive in Vegas

Click here to download a Word document with more details.
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Steve calls out for a new direction with this blog, a new theme, a new A vs. B approach to blogging. I'm not really sure what that means, but I have an idea that might lend itself.

I was thinking that we could drop the 1.21 Gigawatts title and instead give the blog all three of those traits with one foul swoop. I propose that this blog now pay tribute to one of the more modern classics of our time: Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, starring latino-sensation Antwoine Bandaras and Lou-C-Lou.

I propose that via this blog, we document semi-annual bra and p-hanty sales gun and bazooka battles, with occasional fisticuffs. We need action on this blog. Action that fuels inspiration along the lines of a film like Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever. Some of us will die if this plan is to succeed. I propose that the bloggers with the fewest total posts / words written die first. Fear not, you will die with style.

Of course this is just an idea to help motivate. I'm open to suggestions.
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As I mentioned earlier, I was putting together an op-ed on the recent medical marijuana Supreme Court decision. I had ghost-written a piece, intended to be lightly-edited and tagged with the name of the person who had argued the actual case on behalf of the users. In the end, Mr. Barnett decided to write his own piece, which is available here.

But I thought I'd post my original thing, because I think I did a decent job of boiling down a number of arcane subjects. It's kinda long (860 words, so proceed with caution). Keep in mind it's written from the POV of someone else.


The Right to Experiment
The recent medical marijuana case had everything to do with experimenting, and less than you think about drugs

A front page story in The Arizona Republic (“Court snuffs medicinal pot,” June 7) reported on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Gonzalez v. Raich, a case that on the surface appeared to be a judicial referendum on medicinal marijuana, as the title of the article casually infers. Rather, it was a case with implications that had little to do with states’ drug laws, and everything to do with a proper view of the relationship between the sovereignty of states and federal law – it was also a case that I argued before the court on behalf of the respondents Diane Monson and Angel Raich who were seeking relief from federal abrogration of states’ rights.

At the heart of this case was a fundamental understanding of how the U.S. Constitution enshrines the principle of federalism into the institutional framework of our government. Few (especially in Arizona) would likely take serious issue with the notion that a decentralized framework of democracy, one that places as much responsibility and decision-making authority at as local a level as possible is best. Because people at the state and local levels are most aware of their own unique circumstances and preferences, moreso than even the most attuned and sympathetic Congress, certain policy decisions should be securely fastened into the purview of state and local electorates, kept immune from federal interference and judgment.

It is with this in mind that the Constitution’s drafters, among the “limited and enumerated powers” to which they gave the federal government, clearly laid out in this case in the so-called (Interstate) Commerce Clause, when Congress may create and implement rules regulating and ultimately superceding those of the states.

An extensive literature exists debating various interpretations of what it means “To regulate commerce…among the several states” (Article I, section 8, clause 3). My own research on this topic, generously cited in Justice Thomas’s dissenting opinion, shows that wholly intrastate, noneconomic activity should certainly not be subject to federal regulation. It is also an interpretation to which the court showed deference in landmark decisions in U.S. v. Lopez (1995) and U.S. v. Morrison (2000).

That a wholly intrastate, noneconomic activity should be within the purview of the relevant state only, and not the federal government, goes to the heart of defining a federalist vision and ensuring its benefits. As Michael Greve of the American Enterprise Institute puts it, “Political institutions should be capable of adapting to changing economic circumstances and social values….A state-based process facilitates gradualism and, therefore, feedback and institutional learning.” This is why a strict prohibition on federal regulation beyond its defined borders is necessary, indeed elemental, for the flourishing of the multiple state democratic laboratories, to borrow from Justice Brandeis’s oft-repeated phrase. But whereas Brandeis calls this arrangement “one of the happy incidents of the federal system,” it is without doubt one of the vital conditions.

Put another way, Justice Thomas (who incidentally received the Goldwater Award in 1999 from my colleagues at the Goldwater Institute), in his dissenting opinion, writes “If Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything – and the Federal Government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers.” Later on he writes “Congress has encroached on States’ traditional police powers to define the criminal law and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens.” Regardless of whether Congress or the federal judiciary thinks some or another policy is a poor exercise of that responsibility, it is a responsibility that cannot be abrogated by the federal government.

And so it comes as no surprise that I admire Justice Thomas's opinion. His opinion, to me, means that, when it comes to enumerated federal powers, there is only one justice who is clearly willing to put the mandate of the Constitution above his or her own views of either policy or what would make a better constitution than the one enacted.

Justice O'Connor, an Arizona native, clearly put her longstanding judicial commitment to federalism above her expressed distaste for medical cannabis laws. Her dissenting opinion adopted our analysis in its entirety. She clearly got it—as did the two justices who joined her opinion—which means the entire court got it. In the end, the six in the majority completely understood our theory of the case, and simply disagreed. Chief Justice Rehnquist, also with ties to this state, joined the dissent where few thought he would.

It’s important to understand that the outcome of this case is not clearly a “win” for strict prohibitionists, and a “loss” for drug use advocates. Rather it’s a loss for those who consider state sovereignty and federalism a necessary and invaluable check on government’s encroachment on liberty. Migration, after all, is one of the most powerful referenda on the desirability of various policies. Without a firm commitment to the federalist principles outlined in the Constitution, laws are unwisely centralized and federalized, and states are no longer left to create environments that are ideal for the unique and varied interest of its own residents.

If the court “snuffed” anything, it wasn’t medicinal pot.
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The weekend, with all its inherently drama-inducing setups actually went off with little dilemma. I had the obligatory girlfriend's-best friend's-wedding in Des Moines this weekend, which meant, besides having to spend a weekend in Iowa, that I was the token "new guy" to the entire "friends forever" college clique. It was a little humiliating (like being on display), and otherwise not my preferred weekend activity, but I've always reveled in being the center of attention, even if that attention goes on in mumbles behind my back.

But the real stress of the weekend was the endless application process for my new apartment in Atlanta. Apparently, in a different life, I had rented an apartment (which incidentally is across the street from my current one) that decided to put some kind of "dispute" on my credit history. It hasn't come up since, but apparently the gated community types of "The Enclaves at Briarcliff" thought it risky to give me a place to stay because of it. Pshaw! In the end it came through.

I'm not really sure what the point of this post is. I guess it's a means of actualizing my move cross-country, now that I have an actual place to move into. I promise my next post will be more substantive.

By the way, with my June trip done, I can now look forward to my July trip -- to Chicago bitches!
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Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller has a criminal record trailing back 35 years, but has never been registered has a sex offender. He has only spent a total of 12 years in prison and during his time of freedom, authorities believe he has molested children as many as 36,000 times. Sorry Teddy. Records are made to be broken. How do authorities know this? Schwartzmiller apparently documented each of the 36,000 encounters in a catalog of notebooks. While this story alone blows my mind (as so many do these days), there is a quote from one of Schwartzmiller's former defense lawyers and friend, James Kevan, that made me crap myself. Here is a clip from the story:

When they first met, Schwartzmiller was coaching a youth football team. "I helped him coach," Kevan said. "The parents all thought he was great. No one suspected a thing."

In retrospect, there were signs something was wrong -- like the time he took the team to a game in Boise, and they "stopped in the desert to do a jock strap check."

In retrospect? Are you fuckin' serious? Retarded perhaps?

"So Dean, how was the drive to Boise?"

"Oh, this weather has just been so damn hot lately. The desert was cookin'! But our jock strap check pretty much went over without a hitch. All in all - good trip. Really can't complain."

"Hey, great. Glad to hear ya'll had fun. And I'll tell ya Dean, the team is just so thankful you're part of the squad. Without your jock strap expertise...well, I just don't where we would be."

"Wow. Thanks James. That really means a lot. Well James, I've gotta run. I've got some acid to smoke and a goat to bang back home."
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I'm back with another roundup of the least news from around the blogosphere. Here's what's happening...

Tom Cruise!!!
Paris Hilton!!!
Michael Jackson!!!
Lindsay Lohan!!!

No links necessary, we'll keep you updated as these stories develop! Wow, this blogging thing is hard work, but I'm getting the hang of it.
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Here's some stats on the number of posts we've all put up since starting this up back on the Fall of '03:

1.) Macky Olé: 248 posts, 35,802 words
2.) Saxdrop: 52 posts, 11,272 words
3.) Nowak-ak-ak-ak-ak: 38 posts, 4,677 words
4.) Processian: 33 posts, 3,732 words

The rest of you aren't included because you don't have your Blogger profiles turned on, which means I can't see your stats. Sorry 'bout ya.
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Oh man, I better get some toilet paper cause I just crapped my pants when I read about this. Rumor has it that PINK FLOYD is reuniting. Word has been circulating for weeks that all four members of the Floyd, including Roger Waters, will be playing at Live 8 this year, and that rumor has (supposedly) been confirmed by David Gilmour. Here's the statement (supposedly) released by Gilmour:

"Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world. It's crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of its GNP to the starving nations. Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if re-forming for this concert will help focus attention then it's got to be worthwhile."

Since my cheap, crappy Mac at work (don't worry giga-bitches, I love Mac too) won't let me post pics or links, here's a few sources for said info:

www.pinkfloyd.com/

http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/news/celebrity/sns-ap-britain-pink-floyd,0,2445989.story?coll=mmx-celebrity_heds

Hopefully this is true and a huge world-wide mega reunion tour will follow ... although I'm not keeping my hopes up.
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Seven months. Seven months is how long I waited until Tuesday's release of The Machinist. This little-seen, and even littler-distributed film came to no theater closer than Chicago upon its late October release. So, needless to say, I have been waiting a LONG time to pick this up.

A coctail consisting of 40% Fight Club, 30% Kafka surrealism, 20% Memento and 10% Jacob's Ladder...this movie's derivative, but with a style all its own. Good sheeot indeed.

And, you've got to see it for (future-Bruce Wayne, former-Patrick Bateman) Christian Bale's unbelievable role. One in which he not only plays the part to perfection, but also looks the part as well. He lost near 70 pounds for the movie, and truly looks like the walking dead...I mean, it's really pretty disgusting. All that for a movie that many people will never see. Screw Deniro's weight change for Raging Bull...Bale's shocking transformation for this character may be the most impressive I've ever seen...and, yes, I will definitely list Bale as one of the elite actors working today.

So, anyway, if you like dark, subcultural, intelligent flicks, check out The Machinist. Also, be sure to check out the new Batman with C Bale...and directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia). Should bring the darkness back into the Batman series.
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Here's your first monster critics' album this year; Get Behind Me Satan, the new album from The White Stripes is one hell of an artistic statement, and sure to be on or near the top of many year-end lists. Great art has a way of pushing away as many people as it attracts, and the Stripes have found a way to deny listeners the conveinence to remain indifferent. You will hear people dropping comparisons to the Stones' Exile on Main Street or the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, and it's hard not to. This disc is all over the place musically, with the most elaborate two-person arrangements imaginable.

In the past, it was the Stripes' conservative attachment to pentatonic blues riffs and howling vocals were raw and powerful, but that never struck me as being particularly significant. That unrefined sound is still present, but it speaks through pianos, mandolins, marimba and, of course, guitars. But wait, this isn't a record of folk songs like the Jack White from Cold Mountain or even the Jack White that dropped in on Loretta Lynn's country charmer (and left-field Grammy award winner for Best Country Album), Van Lear Rose, last year. This album rocks, jumps, lulls and bounces it's reach in so many directions that you would be just as likely to hear a DJ drop 32 bars of this disc in a club, as you would be to hear it on a creaky barstool in some hole-in-the-wall bar in Jackson, Mississippi.
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Here's a sample of the disc - check it out for yourself and then pick it up.

Click button at the bottom labeled "Kostenlos." On the next page click the link at the bottom that says "Ihr Download Link." After downloaded the the file, you will need to unzip it using Winzip or a similar program (many PCs will do this automatically). The password on the file is "tws."
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Or was I always one?? SO I've moved to "as Hix would put it" n'yah. It's pretty sweet apt. with a roof top balcony!! I'll be havin a house warming PARTY this Saturday, the I don't know the 10th or something. Everyone is invited, please come one and all from all over the country (if you must). I will be having a bar-b-q on the roof top balcony. 4015 N Troy Ave apartment # is 3, on the top. Give me a call on me cell to let me know if you will make it - 847-636-4212.

Shit, it's hard to remember dates when you don't work. That RIGHT folks, A-ron got "let go" from his job. And could not be HAPPIER. hehehe, as most of you know I hated it there, and have been wanting a new place to work for a while. Unfortunately wanting and doing for me was not always a 1 & 2 situation. Now I can spend 8 hours a day, at a coffee shop (unfortunately not the Dutch kind) actually looking for the job that I WANT and not will do. Plus all you working bitches, even that hippie Teddy, are gonna pay me while I do it. OH YA biz, I get me a mua'fu'in Unemployment Check bitches. Just call me a Mejicano wanna be. And I am going to enjoy this Chicago June weather. I have missed the sun for so long I enjoy it.



Anyway, if anyone has any ideas on my dream of International relations, business, finance. Really anything International that will pay me proppa. Hook a brotha up.

OWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!
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What a shitty way to end the season for Clint. A shoo-in for Rookie of the Year, as well as an All-Star role (the Rockies had already announced that he was their representative for the game) both down the proverbial drain. This is just about as surprising as the way he's played all season. Poop.

The Slippery Truth
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Yesterday judges deemed that the federal law prohibiting the growth and use of medicinal marijuana supersedes states' rights on the issue. Users (two-time losers?) are now open for prosecution. Here's an article.

Way to go government! Let's take medicine away from people who need it. NEWSFLASH: Meth! We might have a little problem there! Prioritize yourself!

Remember when the Republican party's lifeblood was small government, less federal control and greater rights for states? Man, those were the days. Whatever happened to that? Now we have all of these wonderful programs and policies like federal medical marijuana and gay marriage bans, no child left behind and tons of other *awesome* programs.
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Strange...I once hooked up with a girl who smelled like she was smuggling fish in her pants. I didn't realize I could press charges.

via http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8117876/?GT1=6657


"The species of fish was not immediately known..."

Enjoy
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Duane Freese, former editorial board member for USA Today, has an excellent article at Tech Central Station excoriating the printed tripe that is Morgan Spurlock's new book, which is beginning to make the talk show rounds. Spurlock, of "Super Size Me" fame has apparently just transcribed the self-righteous browbeating of his movie, but with more diatribe and less applicability.
A couple excerpts from Freese:

Spurlock, who is being sued by a company that gave him free rent in return for 25 percent of the profits from the film, says he hasn't even made $1 million from that $30 million. Most of that, he says, has gone to distribution and marketing -- another name for advertising, which he finds so reprehensible when done by food companies and other retailers.

Now he no doubt wouldn't consider that or advertising his book promoting crap, but he very well could on a basic premise -- crap in, crap out.

...In short, Spurlock's book is even crappier than his movie. It will please those who want to believe that corporations are evil incarnate, making the world fatter. Spurlock goes so far as to condone violence against McDonald's outlets in France and India at one point in the book.

...As for anyone with a scientific or economic background, if it doesn't prove indigestible, well, then it may make you laugh. Just don't eat it.

Amen Duane. You have to read the whole thing to understand the gratuitous use of the word "crap."

UPDATE: The June 2005 issue of Scientific American has a feature article presenting some skepticism of the "obesity epidemic." Interestingly, while the author points out that the oft-repeated notion that "obesity kills more than 300,000 Americans a year" has been largely discredited by university and government researchers (it originally came from a specious conclusion in a government study, later to be reviewed and dismissed by colleagues of the original authors), he fails to note that the figure was later revised by an extensive review panel down to the whopping total of 26,000 -- a full 0.009% of the population.

Whatever "obesity" is, an epidemic it is not.
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Dear 1.21 jiggle-watts,

One week ago, I was blissfully ignorant of this strange movement called blogging...

Blogging huh? It sounded like some science fiction morpheus-type computer shit where geeks argue whether chewbaca would beat spiderman in a cage match. Well, judging by the recent post debating the superiority of computer operating systems...I wasn't too far off.

Thus I have decided that it is by divine intervention that I am joining this blog. The Lord has sent me to provide you with inspiration...nay, redemption! The self proclaimed Steven A. Smith of 1.21.

Now that I have offended most of you, lets liven this thing up...bitches.


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Oh... my... god, y'guys. Will Ferrell was apparently outside my office building this morning, getting a tasty breakfast sandwich. I saw some movie trailers outside my building again yesterday, but I figured that it must have been that (sure-to-be) horrible Keanu / Sandra Bullock vehicle that was shooting out here a couple months ago.

When I saw Will throw out the opening pitch at the Cubs game a few weeks back, I had heard that he was in town filming. Word 'round the cubicles is that D-Hoffs was also cold chillin' with him. That leads me to believe that this is the movie they're probably shooting. I can't fathom why anyone would shoot on this block. Sure, it's close to Grant Park, but it's in the southeastern most point of "the loop" and there just isn't much down here except for old office buildings and El lines.

On another topic, I recently heard some one term the Wilson Brothers / Vince Vaughn / Will Ferrell team the Frat Pack. Clever. Going on the record, Old School sucked. Anchorman was sub-par. Dodgeball was nearly unbearable. What else has Vince Vaughn been in lately? That guy is starting to suck at levels that specially reserved for schlock-masters like Vin Diesel.

Speaking of Vin Diesel, this is easily the most awesome Diesel-powered website on the Internets. Keep hitting reload on your browser.
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