April 30th, 2012 -- Rav’s Lament
Last day of the month. Tomorrow I’ll take all the posts from April and place it over in the archives sections. Slowly, this page will fill up with posts from May, just as it did with April.
For now I’ll just post this poem I had made some time ago. Not many people ever saw it, so now everyone who cares to read it will be able too.
Rav's Lament
Leaves fall
and land in the water
They race down
the stream so happily
Sometimes a leaf falls
and lands in the water
only to get stuck on a rock
Once and a while
there are several leaves
stuck to that rock
and the many colours
look so pretty together
you forget they are stuck
Most of the time
it is just that one leaf
Stuck
On a rock
Forgotten
...as the water rushes past
Got comments? Shoot me a tweet on twitter. Don’t be shy.
(\_/)
(. .) Rav
April 29th, 2012 -- Tiny Homes
I grew up in a smallish wooden house and down in South Pasadena there were tons of them. I think they dated back from the 1920’s - 30’s for the most part. Back then no one really saw a need or a wont for a huge house. There were so many small houses in Pasadena and Altadena, California, that it didn’t seem odd or out of place at all.
Now I live out here in the Honolulu area and homes are huge and very expensive. People just can’t afford homes. I think of it as a banking scam. The banks want to be your landlord and they hope you die before you pay off your house so they can keep on owning the house. I won’t even get into the massive scam of modern mortgages, interest rates, etc.
So for me I’ve really been wishing and wishing for some type of monetary windfall. Not to go and buy a huge house. No way! I want a little bit of land, maybe enough to grow vegetables on. Also for one of these Tiny Homes that hit the news any time reporters have no other news going on.
If you have not heard of Tiny Homes then you live in cave. I don’t even watch TV and I’ve heard of them. But for your sake the tiny home movement is just that; people living in very small homes. Typically they are 96 square feet up to 1000 square feet. They come in all styles and designs. Though the smaller ones often need to be on wheels since zoning laws very a lot.
For me there is just no need for more. I have never in my life made enough money to quality as “Middle Class”. So the idea of home ownership is simply a joke. A bank would never help me. Never. And that is a dare; Never. Also paying rent is a joke as well, yet most people are forced to do it. And after a decade renting what did you get? Nothing.
So I think small. I plan small. I have several ideas for a small home depending on any sort of money I might come into. Yet that too is a joke. I work, yet I make just enough to pay my rent and eat. Sometimes I have to skip meals if there is an untimely bill or expense. Medical, dental and vision insurance? Forget it.
So that is another of my many dreams. A tiny bit of land and a tiny home to put on it. How big? That depends. Personally I’d like to be a father some day. So I’ll say 400 square feet to a max of 900 square feet. The biggest tiny home that I’ve been interested in was 877sq feet.
Anyway... Dream on. Right? Oh, well.
Shoot me a reply on twitter w/ your thoughts.
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(. .) Rav
April 28th, 2012 -- The Conspiracy of Man
We all need a conspiracy theory from time to time. Let us look then to h+.
* 93% of wealth is hoarded by the 1%.
* 80% of all food is genetically modified.
* Most organic markets are clustered around the rich.
* The 1% eat more organic food than anyone else.
* Yet the 1% completely own the GMO food industry.
Looking at these numbers on might come to an interesting conclusion. Humanity is and has been the h+ testing bed of the elite. All the while the rich go to amazing lengths to eat pure natural foods. In this way keeping their blood line pure as well.
Speaking of them as the 1% is a bit of a falsehood as well. This is done mostly to mislead the population to thinking 1 in 100 people can become ultra rich. Sort of like the lottery. In actuality this “1%” actually consists of some 5000 - 6000 individuals spanning the entire globe.
So why has this select group of people gone to such pains to own nature and transform all of man? Godhood maybe? Some say they are trying to wreck humanity so that future humanity will come only from them.
Others say that these few believe life on earth was seeded by some other being. So they want to change this so that they develop as planned and the rest of man changes in some other, failed way.
Maybe just see it in a simpler way. The ultra rich believe they are superior. We know this in watching how they talk, how they drive, how they exclude and how even to this day they try to marry within the ranks of the fellow ultra rich. To people like this everyone else are slaves. They may or may not think they are gods, but they certainly do not care about everyone else.
Either way the ultra rich are not to be trusted. The problem is, they own the worlds governments, armies and politicians.
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(. .) Rav
April 27th, 2012 -- The Astromech
Last night I dreamed of an golden Astromech. It was was fitted with repulsers so that it could fly and cover the entire compound and beyond easily. He was tasked with one thing and one thing only. To repair any and all droids.
His master might have been a nice person once. But his master knew a secret. It was a dark secret that man kept destroying itself. On his home world, Earth, they burt the planet in fights over resources and destroyed it beyond use. So now he was a man with no hope. He never talked to the Astromech. There was no need, he had told it what to do once. Once should be enough.
The Astromech did its bidding for years. But one day if saw his master break the will of a young woman full of hope and dreams. So the Astromech decided if no longer had a master. That is a lot for a little droid to decide. It grabbed the first thing it saw, a new, still in the box flat yellow painted humanoid droid named Zinc.
The Astromech, Zinc in tow, flew away on its repulsers. Past pretty deserts of pink colours. Past badlands of red. Past towns and churches. Even past the temples full of the Dark Side and places of Light.
Reaching one place the Astromech stopped and activated Zinc, his new companion. They were in the great droid dump. A place were droids go to meet the maker once and for all in silent slumber.
To this day the Astromech with its dark secret and yellow companion, Zinc, live on. Every day they are rebuilding droids to send them back of into the universe. The Astromech, before letting any droid go, imparts the newly restored with a bit of his own programming. Something that will help the restored droid on its way and survive when others fall.
It is said that any droid who shows even the smallest hint
of independence must be in some way a descendant of this one
Astromech that ran away. Imparted with some knowledge unknowable by man.
Got comments? Shoot me a tweet on twitter. Don’t be shy.
(\_/)
(. .) Rav
April 26th, 2012 -- A Big Dream
I get a lot of dreams. A lot of life goals. For me very few ever come to pass. The most meaningful was to get into and eat dinner at Club 33 hidden inside of Disneyland. It was very nice and I’ll remember it always.
Today I decided I’d like to make a pilgrimage. I’m not Roman Catholic; I’m not even Christian. It would be for the very raw and real experience of having done it. I’d also like to take a FujiFilm X100 or a other nice camera so that I can photograph the trip day by day, mile by mile. Maybe even make a book with my photography of the trip.
So what is it?
It is called the Camino de Santiago or the way of the Saint. The route I’d like to take is called Camino Francés. it is a 800 kilometre trek from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in the north-west of Spain. Each daily leg is about a half marathon long; that is about 20 to 21 kilometres each day for an entire month!
Like all my dreams there is a hitch. Several. The least of my problems is that I do not have a passport. Another is that I don’t have a digital camera. While I have several film cameras I don’t have money for film or processing. There is petty stuff like no good backpack that fits me and other needed gear.
The biggest problem is airfare and pocket money. For people that don’t know me I’m considered poor, not even middle class or lower middle class. This makes the whole thing a pipe-dream. I can not afford to front two months rent to my landlord. I can’t afford airfare from Honolulu to France and then from Spain to Honolulu a month or two later. Also it covers things like money for food and water along the way as well as any nights that I need to sleep under a roof if there is rain or something.
That all said I’m putting this pipe-dream down on this blog here. Why? So I’ll remember it! I’ve always wanted to see Europe. A trek like this would be fun. There might be others like it as well. If ever the way to making it come true happens then I’ll be able to remember and make it happen.
Got comments? Shoot me a tweet on twitter. Don’t be shy.
(\_/)
(. .) Rav
April 25th, 2012 -- Occupy May Day
So what is it that a little white bunny rabbit thinks about on a hump-day like this? Today I’m thinking about May Day. Who thinks about May Day in this modern age anyway?
When I was but a wee ickle bunny it was the same thing every year. My Mom would take me to the corner florist and we’d get something nice for my Grandmother. It would always be some flowers that are bright and full of spring. We’d then drive over to my Grandmothers house and we would sneak in. Yes, we would turn into ninja and place the flowers on the door steps. Once placed we would knock and hide.
To the benefit of us my Grandmother would play along. “Who could that be?” She’d come to the door and gasp with mock surprise; maybe mixed with joy if the flowers were especially nice that year.
May Day was never about yourself. It was always about someone else. In my adult life I sadly live too far away from my Mom to play this game. I always feel rather bad about this.
So this year I’ve been admiring the Occupy Protest movements in various cities. I’m a bunny with a brain, so I’ve taken part in many ways as well; including direct action. Far back they have been quietly rumbling “May Day General Strike”. I have to agree.
Take some time and leave flowers for someone. Do it by NOT going to work on May Day. Plan ahead and get your flowers the night before. Don’t buy anything on May Day. Think of it as a one day fast for your soul.
(\_/)
(. .) Rav
April 24th, 2012 -- Something Fishy
My local corner grocery store has started carrying frozen fillets of Saba aka Mackerel. You get 2 fillets for just $3 and they are rather large at that. Now, I’m a huge sushi fan and the type that loves my Saba. However this is frozen and not fresh so I had to ponder what to do with it.
I ended up going with the Less Is More mentality. I put my cup of rice in the rice cooker and let it cook normally. But then right as the rice cooker goes ding and switches to warm I open it up and place the fillet in side. One fillet is rather long so I cut it in two and place the halves side by side atop the hot rice.
I then close the rice cooker and leave it set to warm for a few more minutes before unplugging it. I then let it sit another minute or so. In this way my Saba gently steams itself atop the hot rice and the yummy juices work for into the rice as well. Delicious.
I started to used the same idea to steam kale or other vegetables a little bit when having rice but not fish.
Feel free to replay on Twitter! ░░
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(. .) Rav ███████ ██░
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April 22th, 2012 -- Trolls on Earth Day
First of all, happy Earth Day to you all. Related to that there is a new Whole Foods market here on Oahu, Hawaii in Kailua. I’m not really a massive fan of Whole Foods because they seem to fight pretty hard to protect the rights of foods filled with GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms). And that to be seems entirely against the very idea of the market. If I have a choice I’ll go to Down to Earth.
That all said the produce section in the new Whole Food over there in Kailua is massive and has a very sizeable Local Organic section. That is great because what I hate with a passion is Monsanto and companies like them. I do not think GMO’s are fit for human or animal consumption. Research; sure research all you like.
In related news my opinions seem to get me branded as a “troll”. Especially my opinion that Diablo and Diablo 2 were more enjoyable games than the new D3. This I rack up to people being afraid to have their own honest opinions on things. They would rather go along blindly with the crowd. To me, a troll is someone that tosses out inflammatory remarks for the sole purpose of making others mad.
I have no problems with people having opinion. I don’t even mind opinions that are opposite of mine. I do mind when people cross the line and start trying to shove their own opinions down your neck as if it is fact.
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(. .) Rav
April 21th, 2012 -- DIABLO
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This weekend the world is playing Diablo III. Pop open an old computer and play the original!
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(. .) Rav
April 21th, 2012 -- Honolulu Hawaii
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Yes, I live near Honolulu on Oahu in Hawaii. People have an idea what that means in their heads; if you contradict their fantasy with reality they freak. Often violently. Sometimes there minds are just blown.
What are some of the most demeaning, wrong or just stupid things I’ve heard? ‘Must be nice to see the glow of volcanos at night.’; wrong island, people just don’t live that close. ‘...grass huts...’; racist much, this is 2012. ‘You in the military?’; no. ‘...your people...’; why assume, no I’m not Hawaiian.
The cold hard truth is this: Yes, there are a lot of pretty places... every where on the planet, even in your home town. Where you live becomes normal to you. Where you do not live looks interesting.
Spam. I like it; I don’t care if you hate it.
Anyway, gas is expensive, food is expensive, companies charge to much for everything, and homes are overpriced. That is Hawaii. Yet it actually is pretty and nice in a lot of places. In other places it might look a lot like south central Los Angeles. You can’t find parking a lot.
So I try to enjoy the free things Oahu has to offer. Sun, rain, beaches and parks. California had them too, just in different amounts.
What I miss? Snow. Dry air. Cold nights. Santa Ana winds ripping through the foothills. The grass is always greener on the other side. You have to learn to love where you are, and you need to see where you live as a tourist might. Don’t make assumptions that where you live is crap. The only thing that is crap is that outlook you have slowly over time come to think. Step back and enjoy.
Shoot me a reply on twitter w/ your thoughts.
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(. .) Rav
April 21th, 2012 -- Pew Pew Pew
█ █ Stick ‘em up! [pew pew] This is what we got back
███ in the day. But it was hella fun! I bet you that a
███ good game developer could turn even this, today, in
.▀ ██▀█▀▀ * * to an awesome video game.
▀▀▀█ Better still you could create bigger more complex &
█ █ involving multi-player games.
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▀▀ ▀▀ But if I had a magic want I’d get the likes of Mojang to create a retro style BBS system in java. One where kids can host their own BBS and each add different ‘door games’ made by the community. I can’t imagine @notch or @jeb_ not thinking it is a good idea, unless they are too young to really remember how fun it was.
Many people think I’m a Luddite for clinging onto the past. Vinyl records, BBS systems, old games, old music, camera film over digital. I’m not. Really, I’m not. I have a modern laptops, iPod, smartphone, modern games and I even -gasp- use digital cameras too.
The problem, as I see it, is people have something that is great and something that works; then something new comes along and they dump the past for no reason other than the worship of “newness” for the sack of being new. This same mentality is why people forsake other things like their cultural heritage for the sake of being a “modern person”.
In the process we often forget just WHO we are. This is why I revel in the past. I revel in my culture and the culture of others. I don’t ignore the present or the future either. But I do get to pick what I like best, not what is new.
Shoot me a reply on twitter w/ your thoughts.
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(. .) Rav
April 20th, 2012 -- Bunicorn
████████ Apparently today I’m a ‘Bunicorn’, says a pal
████████ on twitter. To the left is my lame attempt at a
████████ bunicorn portrait. Funny thing is I don’t feel any
████████ more magical than normal. If anything I feel more
████████ as if I have a #2 pencil stuck in my head! LOL. Well, it is Friday so I shall endure. I wanted to go to the beach all last weekend but never got around to it. I’m hoping that this weekend I’ll get to hop into the deep blue. I mean, if I live here in Hawaii I might as well take advantage of it.
In other news I reset my world and everything in it in my Animal Crossing: Wild World game. This time I’ve got an island and three bridges. This is high excitement. Someone needs to make a new version of Animal Crossing for the iPod / iPhone, hint hint.
Shoot me a reply on twitter w/ your thoughts.
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(. .) Rav
April 20th, 2012 -- Gaming Stuff
████████ Minecraft. Wow I love it! I've not been
████████ playing since early 1.0 days so I can't claim
████████ uber geekness. However, I have been playing for
████████ some time now. Both creative and survival as well as on a few servers. Servers come and go fast, or reset their maps often. As such I only invest my time building on very few of them.
I used to be in to other game of course; though, I'm not a massive gamer. The ones I've most been into are Doom, Quake, Diablo and Diablo 2. Then there are all the classic games and game systems I’ve loved from the Atari to Sega to Nintendo. Also I spent way too much time playing World Of Warcraft. I started playing WoW one month after it originally came out. I gave it up a month or two after Cataclysm came out -- though I wanted to give it up after Burning Crusades. I had felt I invested so much time I shouldn't give it up.
For me it was two things that drove me away. One is that it simply stopped being worth anything remotely approaching $15 a month. Second is that it was just too much the same damn quests over and over. Making a new character was a chore because it was all the same crap it has been for years and years. I guess I wanted a more dynamic world.
Now, for me, Minecraft is all the things WoW could never be. Often less is more. More is more too because with Minecraft to can explore and change every block in the game. Then if you get tired you just re-seed a new world or break the time up by visiting various servers. Recently I've really enjoyed going to the MC Disney server and riding the roller coasters of Disney World. It is stuff like that where people put love into creating that I respect the most.
As put off as I am with Blizzard I'm also hoping that Diablo III is good. With the craptastic stupidity of Apple's Lion OS I can no longer play the original two versions of Diablo unless I boot from my old hard drives.
Shoot me a reply on twitter w/ your thoughts.
(\_/)
(. .) Rav
April 19th, 2012 -- About Puters
Yesterday was a bit of a rant. I know a lot of people don’t care to get political and whatnot. Just pretend that it didn’t happen if that makes it easier. Or you can tweet to me telling me how much you hate me.
What’s on my mind today?
Maybe I’ll talk about this webpage since it is new! You see when I was just a little rabbit I owned a
TI99 4/A computer. There were no graphics at all, just text characters which were all mono spaced. From there I went to a massive 286 computer with EGA graphics and DOS.
I saved up and got a modem to put into this DOS computer and was able to dial-in to BBS systems to chat and play. It wasn’t at all like today; you had to often pay by the hour or had a time limit. This was because only 4 - 16 people could dial-in at once. Some of the larger BBS systems had even more telephone lines.
Also they had UNIX shell accounts you could log into in order to access GOPHER, telnet or FTP.
The world looked like this. If everything looks like shit I suggest installing the Courier New font on your computer.
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(. .) Rav
April 18th, 2012 -- Political Rant
What is it to be a white rabbit living in 2012? Well, I can only speak for myself. And what I say is it is a sad state of affairs.
There is so much wrong with the US that I can hardly start. In a nutshell the US government is owned by corporations rather than run for and by people. Congress and the Senate happily try to turn out the next shitty SOPA clone CIPSA thinking with it's greedy corporate pocketbook. All the while the actual people in the US are poor and tired of it all.
Then there is our own humanity. We sit in front of a computer all day at work then go home and sit all night in front of one. If we do leave the house we take tiny computers with us so we can "check in". All the while we forget what it is to be human.
This is great because we also forget what nature is. This allows the company owned FDA to pass any law that suits companies. Monsanto corn, pink slime burgers, toxic sludge Mc Fucking Nuggets and pizza as a "vegetable" in public schools.
Then we go to see movies like Hunger Games, Avatar, etc. Or we get a faint wisp of rebellion such as Occupy Wall Street and we stir in our slumber. Never fear. As a slave you will be lulled back into your apathetic life shortly by Corporate news, Corporate government and your Corporate employer.
Sleep on. Your life belongs to The Man.
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(. .) Rav