Resolve

This year I resolve not to write any more bad checks. Furthermore, I resolve to stop making resolutions. Actually, one promise I can make to myself is no more Judy Collins…at least for today. But can that lady sing! Like most great singers, it seems she went through a religious phase that isn’t all that appetizing. Still, her songs from the 60′s are goddam heart wrenching, they really are.

I figured out why I’ve been depressed this last week. Let’s just say it’s fun to be a girl. I feel like my boss, he doesn’t notice things…he was surprised that it was New Year’s Eve today…too busy to actually look at a calendar. I can’t say anything, the other day I wrote a check and almost wrote a date three days previous.

2004. So where’s my flying car? When I was little, I used to think that by the year 2000, we’d have flying cars and robot maids. Well, we have picture phones now. That’s weird. I bet the only people that use them are the wealthy and the porn industry. The idea of a picture phone is cool if you look good all the time. Actually, I walk around the house in a sparkly g-string with matching boob tassels. I’m also fond of walking around totally naked or sometimes just in red patent leather stilettos. I prefer to clean the house in my patent leather maid’s uniform and when I scrub that floor…whoops! OK, would you believe pajamas, a robe, and sandals? I look hot! I guess this is probably why picture phones should have on/off switches.

I think it’s probably already 2004 in some parts of the world. OK, so if the world were to end on New Year’s Eve, would it happen at midnight? I remember thinking about this on Y2k (what a joke). And if it happened at midnight, which midnight would it be? My time or New York’s? Would it like have to be midnight at the North Pole or in Jerusalem? Would the time zone depend on which God was destroying us? Could be Buddha, so then we’d be destroyed at midnight Tokyo time? Then again, it could be Godzilla, if we’re going to bring Japan into the picture. So if Godzilla wanted to end the world on New Year’s Eve, I guess he’d do it at midnight Tokyo time. I suppose if the world were going to end, it wouldn’t happen suddenly. If you believe in the end of the world, then you already know that the anti-christ has already been born. I heard he lives in South America. No, really. He’s probably a really nice guy with a family and then one day, he’s tending sheep in his yard and a bush catches fire. God tells him he’s the anti-christ and starts a life of crime, puts together a militia which then becomes a world army, he conquers Poland and various other parts of Europe and then finally destroys the planet with one giant blast! If this happens, could we then blame God? Or would this be a case of don’t blame the messenger?

William Shatner is coming out with a new album which is to feature Henry Rollins. How cool is that? Happy New Year everyone. This news of the new Shatner album assures that 2004 will be wonderful. Since I always say that and I always feel optimistic on this day, I won’t hold my breath. Hope you have a good night tonight. Be safe and keep your eyes open for Godzilla.

Beetlejuice Does the Nasty

Roaming around the net, as I often do, I came across some Beetlejuice websites. I clicked in an out of image galleries, mostly bored until I came upon the freakiest thing I’ve ever seen….Beetlejuice fanfiction. And not regarding the feature film, but the cartoon. If you recall, there was an afternoon Beetlejuice cartoon on many years ago. Who would have ever guessed that there were people out there, not only still into the cartoon, but those that write actual stories about the animated characters! I’d known about Buffy fanfic, Star Trek…hey, any show on television has fanfiction…and generally, it’s some of the lamest stuff you’ll ever read. First of all, who cares? In your mind, you think…hey, it would be cool if these two characters got together…but it’s all wishful thinking. To sit down and write out a story…well, some people really should use their powers for good, not evil.

If you know anything about fanfiction, you know that most of it’s pretty racy. Stories put characters into sexual scenarios…daring to tread where script writers fear. Or so they think. Perhaps the script writers simply have good taste and know what it means to have limitations.

An example of Beetlejuice fanfiction:

Finally he reached where her panties were. He reached under to feel her softness. She was already so moist. It made him want her more. He started to rub gently while watching, as she revealed her pleasure in her face. She couldn’t contain her voice as if it was taken over. Each movement from Beetlejuice’s fingertips revealed a new sound slipping from Lydia’s mouth. She tried to stifle her voice. She was enjoying this too much.

Ok. Do you understand that this is Beetlejuice and Lydia? Not Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton…but the cartoon characters! The cartoon characters. I rest my case. Help me, someone. Why do these things exist? Yes, I understand having an imagination. I understand wanting to express your creativity with the written word. I even understand wanting to see your favorite characters fall in love, have sex, and live happily ever after…going beyond the actual storyline…great. Oddly, the writers of fanfiction are highly devoted to their stories and are quite serious about them. I once emailed a Buffy fanfic author and asked her WHY. She was terribly defensive about the whole thing and explained that it’s something she does for fun. But does this not seem sort of twisted to you? Twisted in the way that, not only is most fanfiction poorly written, but it’s something these people take a great deal of pride in and treat with the utmost seriousness? Fine, write stories about Spock and Nurse Chapel, Buffy and Xander, Willow and Buffy…Kirk and Uhura…but Beetlejuice and Lydia? Cripes. I find the whole thing rather disturbing, actually.

Alright. Maybe I shouldn’t care. Actually I don’t. I might pass along this strange information to a friend or two…like the existence of the chocolate cookies “Fudge Packers” (it’s true, you can find them at the 99 Cents Store) – an oddity worth telling once or twice. The presence of fanfiction eludes me, however. Things like comics and graphic-novels are fine. I find that fanfiction on the net is just cheap. It’s juvenile, in a way. Sure, I don’t have to read it and I could avoid it all together, but somehow, it’s just always there. It’s inescapable if you like any sort of pop-culture. And maybe there really are some talented writers out there…just waiting to be discovered. No. They all suck. I simply think some people take their fandom to a dark place. A place that shouldn’t be delved into. Like people who draw tv characters fucking and then send them to the actors. It’s energy better spent elsewhere, I say. Oh well, do whatever you want…you fuckin’ freaks.

Insert Spooky Title Here

Today appears to be the first actual day of Autumn. Despite the continuation of wildfires in Southern California, that which is making national news, Autumn has cooled the air at last. This Summer was a bitch. Probably the longest and hottest we’ve had in a while. I’m just glad it’s over. I hope it really is. I’m ready.

Last night Internet Explorer started doing the wacky. Every time I opened it, it wanted to send an error report. I did everything I could, tried to repair, restarted, re-installed, nothing worked. I removed 41 instances of spyware from my system and that didn’t work. Finally I had to use a program called “Go Back” which reverts your computer to a previous state in time. It’s like a computer time machine. You pick a safe stage in the past and go back. In my case, I needed to go back to the time before I downloaded Shareaza. Anything I’ve saved, deleted, or moved in the last 2 days has gone back to where it was. A little extra work, but not the worst that could happen.

As for Shareaza, it sucks. I found one or two good songs that I was looking for, but it got to the point where I was frustrated enough to want to actually buy whole CD’s. Sheesh! It’s all about Kazaa.

Tomorrow is Halloween. The spookiest day of the year. As I’ve gotten older, I don’t really get all that excited about it anymore. I used to get this feeling every year around this time. The world felt different, better. It’s only been the last couple of years that I haven’t been excited about Halloween. I guess it’s because everyday is Halloween. Sorry for being cliche, but it is. Seems sort of sad how the normals dress up and take one day to be something they’re not…as if what they are isn’t good enough. It’s the one day where the normals dwell in darkness, take over the night and live out fantasies. Seems sort of pathetic. I like the shopping opportunities and the great films on TV, but otherwise, I’m just not all that into it anymore. And I used to love it! I would get excited months ahead of time just thinking about it. Oh well. There’s something missing now. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s like New Year’s Eve…I could care less about it. In fact, it’s a hassle for me living less than a block away from the Rose Parade route.

I was at Target yesterday browsing the costumes. I’m sure you’ve seen the Gothic Nights costumes? HaHa! The male costume is called “The Chancellor”. LOL – I started laughing right there in the aisle. The Chancellor. How funny. We live in a wacky world where normal people dress up as Goths or Punks on Halloween. Actually, come to think of it, it’s sort of gay.

And now I get back to work. I’m updating Dark Culture Radio today. See you cats later. The Chancellor…haha!!

Someone’s Looking for Me

I get an email anytime someone types in a missing URL, tries to access a forbidden area of the site or receives most any error. This helps me keep the site running smoothly and allows me to keep tabs on what’s going on. Most times, the errors are simply someone running into a missing page. I can, at this time, fix it, if I choose. Some sections of the site are under lock and key. Knowing which search engines spider the most is helpful. This morning, it seems someone was looking up pictures of me on Altavista’s image search. Someone in Amsterdam. I wonder who is was. Stalker? Fan? Pervert? Millionaire philanthropist wanting to donate money to Dark Culture Radio? Ex Boyfriend? Old friend? Who knows. Actually, now that I think about, Amsterdam has come up before, but I can’t think of when. Possibly another error of this sort. Oh. I should explain that the error resulted in Altavista’s image search bringing up an image of me that it currently located in a locked section of the site. It’s actually the same picture I’m using for the journal, but it’s what comes up when you type “Cinka” in the search box. Weird huh? Whomever you are, Amsterdam person. I swear, I know this has come up before and it’s been from Amsterdam. I should peruse the logs. My curiosity will lead me to thousands of IP addresses, each of which will need to be queried in a DNS look-up or something. Sounds like a lot of work. Maybe not thousands of IP address, but lots and lots. Now I’m really curious. I’ll check it out later today. Strangely enough, the search also brings up some odd pictures. Perhaps no one is looking for me and “Cinka” means something in another language that I’m not aware of. THE SEARCH