In the Ashtray

Last Night Debate Night

2008-10-03T09:22:00.000-05:00

I watched the V.P. debates last night and am very happy with the way Joe Biden answered the questions put to him by Gwen. There is no doubt in my mind that Joe Biden is ready to be President if the need may arise. I know now that Sarah Palin is not.

I look at the Vice President in this way. Right after the planes hit the Trade Centers and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, Bush was in the sky on a plane unable to be reached. It was V.P. Cheney who was in the Situation Bunker making the decisions to or not to take down the other commercial planes in the air with fighter jets. Is Biden and Palin both ready to make that decision if the need may arise again? I don't think Palin is.

I admit that I have supported Barack since the start of his campaign. But I was unsure about Joe Biden. He shot some harsh zingers at Obama during the primaries,i.e. Unfit for Duty, etc., and it has been hard to let them go. The Joe Biden I saw last nigh was a passionate Obama supporter that has a grasp on foreign policy. All I saw in Gov. Palin was a candidate who can memorize a script, although not very well. After all she was a wanna-be-journalist at one time.

But I do give Palin credit on one point. She knows how to manipulate and I fear her style may be effective. Anytime she is backed into a corner with a hard question, she turns on that charm and with a wink and a smile she confuses the listener by talking in circles. Biden gets passionate and goes for the facts.

But this is America, and we don't like facts or being confronted with hard truths during political debates. It comes down to style. This is Palins strong suit, and Biden just comes across as to political and boring.

So in the end I give Obama/Biden 2 points for command of issues, McCain/ Palin 2 points on style, call it a draw and move on.

The next debates are on Tuesday night, OBAMA vs. McCAIN!

If Only...

2008-10-02T22:43:00.001-05:00

This photo from Chris Cunnane.

Evening Chem-trails over Illinios Suburbia.

2008-10-02T01:59:00.000-05:00

Evening Chem-trails over Illinios Suburbia.

How to get people to read MY blog?

2008-10-02T01:53:00.003-05:00

Add Interesting Photos. This creates an audience because we are all very visual creatures. Look at that strange cloud formation. Wierd huh?

New Question for Readers

2008-10-01T14:28:00.002-05:00

Here is a story I read in a Q AND A chatroom:

I was getting out of the backseat of a two seater car, when my foot got caught on the seatbelt and I fell face first into the cold hard pavement below.

Everyone was laughing at me. I had not yet had a chance to react, so I laid there motionless, like I was dead. Then everyone started to panic.

So I got up and scolded them all for their insensitivity and didn't speak to any of them for the rest of the night.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The question is this:

Do you think as a society we have started getting overly sensitive about minor things? Why?

One Month With BiPolar

2008-10-01T11:42:00.003-05:00

So it is officially One month since I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. Let me tell you how I got here. After the last drunken episode with Mom, the one that sent me hitchhiking my way to Appleton, the one that led to the tearful call home for her to pick me up when I got stuck in the storm of the year about half way to Eau Claire, I decided to try and make some changes in my life. Not the kind of manic change I make usually, but a well thought out productive one. I sat down alone and wrote down my main issues that hold me down. Next I decided on some steps to take to address each issue. I won't tell you the issues, they are a bit to personal, but I will tell you the steps I am taking to solve them. Here they are:

1. Seek Therapy. I did that and I am still doing that. That's what led to my diagnosis.

2. Quit drinking. Nuff Said.

3. Enroll in tech school. One decision made during one manic phase that I regret the most was dropping out of Stout. I am enrolled in their Computer Specialist program, ad it will be a tuff 2 years, but as long as I stay healthy and with it, I think I can do it.

4. Take at least one full day to make a major decision. Discuss it with friends and family, and then the next day decide. One thing about people with Bipolar is that they make terrible and risky decisions during the manic highs, such as buy expensive items like cars, or in my case jumping a Greyhound and traveling across the country with out any means. This can all take place on a whim in a matter of minutes.

So armed with with these rules, and my daily dose of Abilify, things are looking up. The lows are not as low and, well, I haven't had a high yet. I'll keep you updated on how things progress. And thanks for reading. Joey.

My Late Night Radio

2008-09-30T14:41:00.000-05:00

I have always thought it would be cool to own my very own radio station. I spent much of my teen years riding around in my best buddies '78 T-Bird, trying to tune in A.M. stations, looking for the best Classic rock tunes. One that sticks out clearly in my mind is WACO I believe out of Cleveland. Best mix of 50s and 60s rock and pop rock money can buy. At least for a 16 yr. old, growing up in rural Wisconsin. Since than my tastes in music, and everything else has expanded, but it is true. Something's never change. I still cherish my roots, lovin' that old pop rock. Recently I had a dream that I owned a radio Station. It was a simple tower on top of a Record shop. I worked in the shop by day, and by night I spun records. If you ask me, that's as close to paradise a man can get.

10 Guilty Pleasures

2008-09-30T14:12:00.001-05:00

10 of my guilty pleasures, in no particular order than the one in which I thought of them.
♦ Eating potato chips in bed
♦ Using my sheet as a napkin
♦ Watching t.v. with mute on, while listening to records
♦ Using up something in one day that was supposed to last me awhile (i.e. cigarettes, said bag of chips, bubble bath)
♦ identity theft
♦ eating sandwiches with more than one kind of meat on them
♦ digg it
♦ Neil Diamond
♦ cracking my wrists
♦ lying to strangers about my guilty pleasures
Your turn. Share your guilty pleasures with the world.

Robots To Teach Kids

2007-07-09T15:54:00.000-05:00

Educators in Britain are now using a robot named KASPAR (Kinesics and Synchronisation in Personal Assistant Robotics), to teach children with autism human social skills. The robot costs $4.33 million, and can smile and stimulate surprise and sadness. They hope that KASPAR will encourage social interaction among the students.

My question is this: How will a robot that simulates human emotions teach autistic children how to socialise, when real people who naturally have the ability to stimulate surprise and sadness cannot?

Perhaps the answer lies in the nature of the disease. People with autism are generally emotionless, and are obsessed with repetition. Sounds like a robot to me.

Review of Bryan Ferry "Dylanesque"

2007-07-05T17:31:00.000-05:00

Usually I am about Bryan Ferry, and Roxy Music is one of my top bands of all time. I also like Ferry's solo work. "These foolish Things" is probably my favorite of his solo albums, and the best track off of that album is the cover of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall". Next to The Byrds' "All I Really Want To Do", it's the most awesome Dylan cover ever. Oh, I forgot "All Along The Watchtower" by Hendrix.

The way Bryan Ferry sings "A Hard Rain's" is so biting, and the way he enunciates each syllable of each word makes the track feel haunting and suave at the same time. The hallmark of a great Ferry vocal. With ALL of that said, he has completely missed the mark on his new album "Dylanesque". It sucks in the worst way. Instead of being rough and mournful as he was on "These Foolish Things", "Dylanesque" is slicked-out, synthisized, and all meaning of Dylans lyrics are buffed away. Almost every track sounds like a power-ballad, and I H-A-T-E power ballads.

So things look pretty hairy for Bryan Ferry. He's not the cool, dinner jacket wearing crooner anymore. I think he is just catering to the image, instead of creating the image, something he used to do so well. He has lost all of his edge in his old age.

I give "Dylanesque" 1/2 a burned out butt.

Monday Mash-up

2007-07-02T17:37:00.000-05:00

Time for In The Ashtray's Monday Mash-up...

Ahh...Rose Pipette, sooo cool...

Johann, Torri, and Justin named All-Stars...

...Submitted for your approval... http://youtube.com/watch?v=W9QmJSvVlF0

My daughter Carissa goofing for the camera this last weekend...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8cip0jbZWzY

...Dick "Fucking" Cheney is so creepy...

...and finally evidence that America truely has only one political party...

...the elites...Don't they look chummy?

Comic by Christopher Jam

2007-06-29T18:16:00.000-05:00

This is a comic that I really enjoyed. I thought that it might be appropriate to blog it on In The Ashtray.

http://jamcomics.com/

Fucking Spice Girls to Reunite

2007-06-29T09:59:00.000-05:00

The Spice Girls have recently announced they will be reuniting for a so-called "farewell" tour. Date as yet unknown. The girls, and their record company Virgin Records, seem blissfully unaware that the rest of the world happily said it's goodbyes to the group 6 years ago. With the popularity of female led IndiePop groups like The Pipettes (see picture below), Tilly and the Wall, Camera Obscura and others, a Spice Girls reunion has lost any relevancy it may have once held. They aren't even useful for tossing one off anymore.

So in light of this recent news, I have came to 3 conclusions. Let me know if you agree.

1. Virgin Records, and the rest of the "industry"labels, are completely out of touch with the audience, and have been for the last 40 years.

2. Simon Fuller is the false prophet of the Anti-Christ as foretold in the Bible.

3. The Spice Girls are gobby, fat (except for anorexic Posh), money loving, washed up transvestite looking "wannabes".

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02182007/news/worldnews/spice_girls_reunion_due_worldnews_christine_field.htm

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/thepipettes/index.html

Atlas V Spy Rocket

2007-06-27T14:32:00.000-05:00

The Atlas V Spy rocket launched out of Cape Canaveral on June 15, with two top-secret spy satellites believed to be used to track ships at sea. Aviation Week & Space Technology reports that the secret spacecraft are two satellites intended to track ships moving at sea, including those that might hint at terrorist activities or Chinese or Iranian naval tactics. They are being launched for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The rocket's launch came during the same week as the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first Atlas, a fleet of space launchers that began as intercontinental ballistic missiles. As a spy satellite it left a "?" smoke trail (third photo) which seems a bit applicable.

The Persistent Impulsive

2007-06-26T23:25:00.000-05:00

June 21, 2007

Goddammit I hate smoking.
why do i put a drug in my body that i don't have a physical need for?
i'm not addicted to the nicotine
the first time i quit it was a piece of cake
i think smoking is purely an impulse action for me
one that shortens my life
why do that for an impulse.

i find myself acting impulsively a lot lately.
backing out on Anna,
drinking til i puke on Grandmas car,
making leap decisions,
lying.
i see my life-so-far and regret a lot.
i see a pattern in it too.
a spiral pattern of acting on negative impulses
and then retreating into the comfort of familiar settings.
one step forward, two steps back.

i started smoking again during college after getting high with Howie.
i had an impulse to have one and i bummed one.
i did the same thing when i was lonely there, and crawled back to chantelle.

all these years of acting on impulse hasn't got me anywhere but
back to where i started.

perhaps its time for a change.
maybe i should look at the big picture.
take a worldview, instead of looking for a quick fix
and then digging myself back out of the rubble

-As soon as he typed the words he knew that it was shit. It was corny and pointless. Only Joe could over analyze a private journal. Looking at the screen brought back those feelings and he felt it cover him like a wet electric blanket. He lit a cigarette and hit save.
It was shit for other reasons too. Smoking wasn't what was on his mind. It was Grandma King, and how it would kill her if his true feelings toward her were known. He should have gotten that off his chest.
The bootlicker had recently kicked him out of their house, the one she paid the mortgage on. He had lied to her about quitting his new job and went back home to the farmland of Wisconsin and the North woods. Anything not to have to confront that drunkard. They had both had enough of each other.
His big mistake was giving her ammo with which to bitch. The next time he saw the woman he'd tell her what to do with the goddamn job.
Just then, nothing happened, as usual. He sat alone in his mothers basement, in her bed, smoking her cigarettes.

-Anita didn't press him on why he was there, although her house was a bed short. Where the hell was he going to sleep? She remembered what it was like having him around, but he gave his assurances that he was only there for a few days. He promised he would stay out of her hair.
The next day he approached her in the living room and said that he was looking for a job in Rice Lake and that he'd be around awhile longer. Anita wondered at that moment if this would be the last time she would ever speak to her son.

My God, It's Incredible

2007-06-26T16:02:00.000-05:00

A reclamation plant storing chemical waste exploded in Eau Claire WI., sending flames 30 feet into the air within half an hour. I guess the employees initially tried to put the fire out themselves using extinguishers. What dedication. After this failed to work, the fire department was called in and they tried to put the fire out.

At some point during the fire, they heard two loud bangs and they pulled out thinking that some chemicals were igniting. Sure enough, a short time later some chemical tanks which stored petroleum and paint solvents exploded sending flames and fire balls 400 feet into the air.

Apparently, the fire was so hot that people a quarter of a mile away said that they could feel it. Needless to say, the fire department decided to let the fire burn itself out.

One quote: "I was out on the road a ways from the fire, and it was so hot I had to move," Sheriff Ron Cramer said.

"That was a good idea," I say.

Another quote: "This is the biggest fire I've ever seen," Marilyn Zmuda said. "Oh my God, it's incredible."

Another report said that an ember from the explosion started a car fire at Eau Claire Ford.

"It's not a good day," WRR President and CEO Jim Hager said.

In light of this report I'd like to remind everybody to use proper safety precautions when dealing with flammable chemicals, and to ALWAYS put your cigarettes out In The Ashtray.

Blair to be Middle East Envoy

2007-06-26T11:09:00.000-05:00

This is a bad, bad idea.

This is my first blog, and I will be adding more later. Thank you for finding it. I named it "In the Ashtray" because "The Ashtray" was unavaliable, and I have been smoking alot lately and I'm starting to look like a smelly cigarette butt.

A bit about the author:
ModJoey is a college dropout.
He pretends to be an artist/musician.
He enjoys listening to prerecorded music, and collects old vinyl rock records.
He can be seen in the films, The Pusher and 4:20.
He is a founding member of the rock group Hikikomori.