"We all wonder where we came from. We all have an idea about where we're going. But what's the idea? Where do we come from?"

For those who can answer this without resorting to religion, your opinion counts.

If you're going nowhere, where are you going?

You can't go nowhere. Nowhere is where you are. Sorry. It's not up to me.

It's me against art. Art is kicking my ass. I say, "Fuck you art, what have I got to do with you, what have you got to do with me? I mean, really! C'mon! Lay it on me ... man!

We all wonder where we came from. We all have an idea about where we're going. But what's the idea? Where do we come from?

I respect Primo Levi who didn't succumb to attrition (?), but killed himself instead?

Check out gravy.blogpsot.com.

Curiosity burns holes in hearts.

Russian Nesting Dolls

The end of The Trial of Philmore Gray is a Russian nesting doll.

Now

I am a devout atheist.

If you thought Orwell was funny ...

The Trial of Philmore Gray

is here...

now...

whether you like it or not!

So deal with it.

The Trial of Philmore Gray is a tragicomic socio-political psychodrama.

But in a good way. Plus it's also a love story, sort of.

Either you like it, or you're an idiot. Not a hard choice. So sit back and enjoy the Trial. Philmore: agrees communism is very very bad, but is careful to emphasize that does not mean he thinks capitalism is very very good. Or even very good. Or even good. And he proves it, though he never tries to.

But did he rob Paradise Plates? And is he hallucinating about Nineteen-Eighty Four?

First we let terrorists into the U.S. so they could bring down planes--now it's our geese.

Fishing in the Maldives

It's not me, but...

"Mike" caught this fish right before I would have.

I think I have finally figured out why it's difficult to write.

For me.

Because I immerse myself in the word and world. Hard to do that when in a full-time job, because that world (the writing world) doesn't jive with my workaday world. It's like method-acting. You assume the character without reserve. Are the character.

Footage

The video doesn't really show anyone in a favourable light. But technically, not that I know anything about technique, it looks good. It's well done. I mean, maybe I'm wrong about that. But to me at least it's good. The camera movement is effective, which doesn't really say anything...

WireTap

Chakratastic

Josh lies his way into a new job at a yoga magazine but is worried that he's soon going to be downward facing the unemployment line.

The Hangover

David Rakoff claims that alcohol makes him so charming that he even gets drunk before job interviews.

House Sitting

Howard takes his responsibilities as a house sitter to a whole new level.

The Devil

In honour of Halloween, Jonathan Goldstein has a conversation with... the Devil.

Heaven and Hell

Jonathan speaks with his old college chum, Irwin, about life as an ice cream man.

One of a Kind

Jonathan tells the story of his mother’s penchant for returning purchases to the store – no matter how many years ago she bought them. Next, Jonathan and Gregor exchange duelling phone messages. The bone of contention: whose mother has made life more unbearable?

The Penguin Goes A Courtin'

Two of literature's great unbrella travellers-- The Penguin and Mary Poppins-- have dinner together in Merry Old England. But will their shared passion for umbrellas be enough to set the sparks flying? There's only one way to find out.

The Rejection Line

Listen in as a lonely hopeful finds out the girl he met at a bar and liked gave him the number for The Rejection Line…a service designed to tell him she never wants to see him again.

Soul Mates

Goldstein tries to make amends with an old girlfriend, enlisting the help of Louie the Brooklyn Florist to transcribe some romantic French poetry.

Emergency Measures

In this Full Episode, Goldstein takes it to the streets. Leaving the comfort of his studio walls is a rare venture, but Howard needs the kind of help that can't be dished out over a telephone line. Plus, a frantic phone call from a high school bathroom stall: will Goldstein be able to help his nephew out of a canadian history jam? Listen to find out.

Rabbit Food

A man tells an innocuous lie to cover up his penchant for eating rabbit pellets. Next thing he knows, he's lost his job, his girlfriend, and the police are kicking in his door.

The Secret History of Famous Friends

The death of a family pet escalates into a series of volatile messages that threaten to destroy Bedrock's most famous friendship, in the true life story of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.

WireTap

Jonathan Goldstein's Wiretap

Download Directly

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Midapril

"All governments are conspiracies."

"Transparent conspiracy."

"English will never admit it. But the Americans (the government) admit it, but they're not doing anything to make it better. They're not trying to cool it out, they're trying to make it worse."

"But it's obviously up to you."

Eugenics is a problem for a lot of people. They think if you have a choice, that's a bad thing. But the thing to realize is that there will always be people who will choose not to have a choice. You don't lose anything by giving people a choice.

Wal*Mart

Actual screen shot.


see more pwn and owned pictures

Pain vs. Discomfort

I prefer pain.

Welcome to the Idiocracy. Idiocy. Idiocratic. Idiosyncratic. Idiotic. Idiopoly. Idiom. Idiometre. Idiofuck. Idioblow. Idiot. Idiocentric. Idiocrapulous. Idiodipitous.

An excerpt from the tragicomic novel The Trial of Philmore Gray by Martin Dobrovodsky. "Animated" by Martin Dobrovodsky.


The following borrowed words are for experimental purposes only:

................................... ........................................ ................
........................................ ........................................ .
........................................ ................................
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sexy hot videos bikini hilary duff haley duff bikini 50 cent afi airline tickets akon al4a amazon amazon.com angelina jolie anime aol.com asian ask ask jeeves ask.com babes baby names barnes and noble bcs bed bath and beyond best buy beyonce bikini booty breaking news breast breasts briana banks britany spears britney britney crotch britney no panties britney paris britney spears britney spears crotch britney spears exposed britney spears flash britney spears flashing britney spears no panties britney spears panties britney spears photo britney spears photos britney spears pics britney spears pictures britney spears underwear brittany spears brooke burke candice michelle carmen electra carol of the bells carrie underwood cars cartoons catholic churches cats celebrity sedu hairstyles cheat codes cheerleader chris brown christina aguilera christmas christmas lights christmas music christmas songs christmas tree christmas wallpaper ciara circuit city city maps cleavage costco craigs list craigslist dane cook dictionary disturbed dog dogpile dogs dogs for sale driving directions ebay ebay.com ebony eminem eminem superman emma watson emoticons for msn eragon espn eva green eva longoria evanescence fall out boy family guy fergalicious fergie first name meanings flight simulator free games free music downloads free online games free search funny funny videos game cheats for ps2 games games play gift baskets gift ideas girl girls google google earth google.com gospel music lyrics green day gwen stefani hannah montana harry potter hi high school musical hilary duff hinder home depot home video hot hotmail hotmail.com how to save a life ipod ipod nano irreplaceable janet jackson jenna jenna jameson jennifer aniston jennifer aniston sedu hairstyles jennifer lopez jennifer lopez sedu hairstyles jenny mccarthy jessica alba jessica simpson jewelry jim jones jingle bell rock jojo jokes jordan capri justin timberlake kate beckinsale katie price kelly blue book kids kmart korn laptops lil wayne limewire lindsay lohan lingerie linkin park lips of an angel love lowes ls magazine ludacris lyrics lyrics music mad world manga map quest mapquest maps mariah carey mature meaning of names metallica models movies mp3 players msn msn.com music music lyrics my chemical romance my space myspace myspace layouts myspace login myspace.com naruto nfl jerseys nickelback nintendo wii nudism nudist nudists obituaries one night in paris online games overstock.com pam anderson pamela anderson panic at the disco panties pantyhose paris hilton pc game cheats people search pink play game play games play the game lyrics playstaion2 cheats playstation game cheats playstation2 game cheats poetry pokemon pornotube ps 2 game cheats ps2 cheats codes psp pthc radio stations raven riley rihanna ringtones road map runescape salaries sams club santa search engine search engines sears sedu beauty tips sedu hair styles shakira shannon elizabeth slipknot smack that snow solia hair styling song lyrics south park southwest airlines spears staples stocking stuffers system of a down tara reid target target.com tenacious d tera patrick terrier test text messages the game thong thongs three days grace tony hawk topless torrie wilson toys r us trish stratus triviabucks vida guerra walk it out walmart walmart.com we fly high we live together weather webkinz wedding speech weird al weird al yankovic white and nerdy white pages wicked weasel wii wikipedia wind it up women wwe

Category: Comedy

Tags:

trial novel literary funny book government conspiracy paranoid read animation kafka orwell comedy absurd play hot girls

Joaquin

The thing about Joaquin

I think people could accept it if it wasn't hip-hop. Maybe psychedelic drug music, then it would be okay. But maybe hip-hop is drug music. Is if you take drugs. Rap is mostly sober fighting killing shit stuff. That's not Joaquin.

Or is it?

The Trial of Philmore Gray

The Trial of Philmore Gray is a tragicomic socio-political psychodrama. It is also a novel. While there is a plot, of sorts, and the novel may seem to be plot driven, it does not slavishly pursue the plot at the expense of the characters, i.e., it is not dependent on plot. The Trial is, in short, character driven. Some readers may find the ending, well, different. The ending is unexpected, not because it's an unexpected ending, but because it veers, or seems to veer, from the "story-line" as presented, or seemingly presented, to that point. You've finished 9/10ths of the novel and things are wrapping up, or at least one dimension of the novel has wrapped up, and you start to envision how the rest of the novel, the other (or another) dimension of the novel, will resolve itself. But The Trial of Philmore Gray pulls you away from any expectations you might develop in terms of where this other dimension of the novel is going. If the reader can envision how the novel ends, can in a sense write the ending in his or her mind, then there isn't a point anymore, from the writer's perspective, to write that ending. All the flash is gone. It also, it is argued, doesn't make sense for the reader to want that ending any longer, since it's already happened in the reader's mind to at least some degree. The Trial of Philmore Gray, therefore, abrogates or castrates the ending, in terms of what's expected, and lets the eunuch that is the philosophical/social underbelly or backdrop of the novel run off. The dimension of the story that includes the "love interest" and the apparent nemesis falls away, because there is no point in pursuing an elucidation of events that have already been elucidated. Because the writer doesn't have to waste time and space writing about the already imagined ending, and the reader doesn't have to read it, the writer is free to develop the "hidden" or less apparent dimensions of the story, which, once developed or elucidated, highlight an otherwise muted aspect of the novel, rendering an entirely other reading of the novel, i.e., a reading of the emasculated dimension. The reader is forced to reflect on the purpose or point of the novel and see that he or she has, in one sense, missed the point all along, that the real story is this highlighted by the unforeseen direction of the ending, which, it turns out, is not so much an ending as a beginning, so that the reader almost impulsively begins reading the novel again in pursuit of this newly realized thread of the novel (think Hegel) to discover the kernels of the budding underbelly as it plays itself out throughout the novel.

Newer

Cat climbs wall...

Bird watches...

Soy beans expire...

Cat retires...

Clouds like giant airships hulk across the sky...

New

He turned a corner, and the corner turned with him, and he ran down a tunnel, a tube, in the direction, with discretion, he was...

Going in.

Betty the Pie Baker of Beansville.

Has a sister called Shelley, Shell.

She's a hollow shell. A shell of a human being. Fragile. Empty.

Betty bakes pies 24/7, has cornered the pie market, driven everyone else out. Her pies aren't good, not quality pies, but people buy them because they're cheap, way below the market standard.

Shelley imagines killing her sister, to salvage her and her boyfriend Rick's position in the community. Halloween is in a couple of nights.

WireTap - "Be Prepared" as a Call to Arms

Jonathan Goldstein and 11-year-old daughter Arizona go camping
(starts around 30:13).

Jonathan Goldstein

"Web 3.0 - The Future Is Yesterday"

(This video is public domain)

Haven't we had enough of monarchy in this country already?

Honestly!



Talk about lazy. What do spiders do? They literally just hang around, all the time. Even their food comes to them.

Although, if you made something as intricate and wild and beautiful* as a spider's web, I'd say you'd earned the right to piss away the rest of your life, too. Like say if we only got The Scream--that's a lifetime's worth of work right there.

Same with a spider's web.

--------------
* ... the word "beautiful."

Red Dragon(fly)


Blue-winged Dragonfly


Grasshopper


Waiting for food...

Delivering food...

FEARFUL THRONG FLEES FEATHERED FURY

Orb Sign

In the background sits a decommissioned generating station.

Generating Station

The decommissioned station.

This is a new, operational generating station, which sits beside the decommissioned station.

ON CIVIL LIBERTIES

...AND THEN Civille Liberties disappeared.

Who knew taking photos of "generating stations" was illegal? I didn't. Do now.

Or is it?

According to my curt introduction to the law, it states that it is illegal for any person to photograph a decommissioned or operative "generating station". Apparently I was in contravention of the law when I went for a much needed bicycle ride in East End Toronto.

[Hearn Generating Station] happens to lie between my place and Cherry Beach. It's on the way. It's not as if I was searching the place out.

While taking photos of a decommissioned generating station, I thought I heard the words, "Hey, no taking pictures!" It was said in such a way as to preclude doubt about the speaker's intention to inflict violence if the opinion was disputed.

Really though, I couldn't believe that those were the words I heard - in anger or otherwise.

And yet, when the voice shouted "Hey!" again, there was no question as to his anger. I saw a pot-bellied bearded man in the distance, by a trailer. Up came his crony, who had a long way to walk - I was that far away from them. He had to walk through hulking debris apparently from the decommissioned station.

And a fenced off area containing canisters. Of what? I don't know.

I had my camera put away long before the lackey was in front of me. He questioned me.

He had on cool sunglasses, befitting someone who wanted to appear tough. Also his hat was on backwards, there was a bandanna, and a studded wristband, of all things. Ironically, he looked like a Sandanista, but really he was just a Fashionista. I appreciated the effort, and I was even somewhat convinced. But the wristband really pushed the whole look over the edge.

But there it was.

"Hey, didn't you hear him?" He meant the bearded fat guy, who I would have to admit, I was afraid of. This guy, however, even with the wristband, didn't scare me. The "state of the nation" was the scariest thought that crossed my mind. I thought: "Surely it's not illegal to take photos on a beautiful day, while on public property, of public (?) property."

But it is.

I explained I was just taking down information. I.e., taking photos of their sign advertising OrbSecurityInc.com. Which I was. I asked him if he was with Orb Security, as though I'd been looking for them ... him.

"You see the badge," he said. Not as a question.

Yes, this was Orb Security. I was a little cowed.

"Whaddaya doing?" he said. Like he had any right to ask. That was when I said I was "taking down your information."

He mentioned the law about taking photos of generating stations. Since there was the law, I couldn't really say I wasn't in contravention of it. I was. It was obvious. So the letter of it - yes, guilty as charged. But not the spirit. I understood the spirit, which was my advantage in this situation.

I told him I had no idea. Of course I know "ignorance of the law does not mitigating circumstances make." I asked him when the law had been enacted. He said since September 11. I asked, "Right since that day?"

He said, "Oh no, about a month later."

"Oh," I said. And thought, How full of shit do you have to be before you stop stinking?

He had his arms crossed. There might have been a tattoo. Likely was.

I reiterated, "Oh well, I had know idea."

He tried the logic on me: "Can't have people taking pictures of entrance and exit points."

"Ah, the lay of the land," I said. "No, can't have that."

He told me to "take care" - and off I went.

In the Beginning

He knocked, though there was no need to. It was a gesture, an exercise in formality.

"I have a form. I just wanted to make sure: Is it filled out correctly?"

"You know about the shake up."

I didn't understand her.

Shake up?

"Oh yeah! I'm not sure it was of his own volition..." I said. "How long was he there?"

"Fifteen years?"

"Do you know L--? They were walking down the hall, after I quit, and G-- says he's gonna hire an assassin. L-- says, 'You'll be missed.'

"I hoped she meant by the assassin."

Still spring.

I live in the outskirts. Though I can probably get a pass. I will. I think.



Sometimes to find something the best place to start is to stop looking for it.

Spring 08

Internet

Land of the Tardises (Tardi?), or, CheckPoint

So much depends on light.

Winter 08

Street

Backyard

CN Tower from Tommy Thompson Park

Richard L. Hearn Generating Station? (Tommy Thompson Park)

Construction Waste - Tommy Thompson Park

Lagoon? (Tommy Thompson Park)

Remember when...

Clock Tower Sandwich

I spend a lot of time procrastinating, trying to convince myself that what I'm doing will pay off in the end, that it's all part of the process. But it's always just procrastinating.

Or is it just Newton's 10 percent inspiration, 90 percent perspiration?

Ouellet, religion, vatican.

The Golden Compass.

It's an Order of Men.

Organization. Once the fulcrum of power, but still has a role to play.

The bar.

The future of the novel:

The novel will be interactive. There will be sidebars, extrapolations, definitions, comments, lists of references, pictures, web addresses.

And the like.

You can choose to read a tidbit of a character's past -- or not.

The page will look like a web page.

Pulling excerpts from my novel requires rum.

* * *

My thievery at least wasn't premeditated. I was trying to get somewhere, hopping through backyards, came across a bike.

I got on it, and got home faster. That's all.

I have that bike still. Or most of it: frame, handlebars, wheels, pedals.

The other parts come from other bikes.

Toronto from floor 27, looking north-west

"Couldn't hurt to see a doctor."

"Unless they operate on you."

Human(e) Efficiency

"You're right there. You're going to have to deal with it."

"You can get it, too."

"I didn't say I couldn't. All I'm saying is, you could get it easier."

"Easier than what?"

"Easier than I could get it."

On the Troubles with Money

Efficiency is a good thing--until you tie it to money. Then more money equals greater efficiency, the argument goes. Which isn't always true.

You just can't measure efficiency that way. Sorry.

Better to consider human impact.

That's right: people.

Put people into the equation and see what happens. See what comes out. If you make people the focal point, you end up with a negative result.

As it stands.

Put people into the equation.

Two and a Half Oil Paintings

Moonlight on Water

Moonlight on Water with Lighthouse on Rocky Outcrop

Colour Wheel

wine

The only time there is good wine at my place is when someone brings it.

flowers, bugs, bike and stairs

Blue

















And burgundy

Absurd?

Tiger Fly

What is the goal of late capitalism? Stated and unstated. Capitalism requires continuous growth. But there are limits built into the system; it's a closed system. The atmosphere can hold only so much carbon dioxide before it becomes supersaturated and toxic to humans.

Late capitalism grows by taking from the poor.

Capitalism makes more and more people more and more poor. The rich become richer; the richest are still the richest. Impoverishment. Manufactured dependency. Subservience. They take more and more from more and more.

Some say it would be best for humankind if money were gathered in a few hands -- that the survival of the human race depends on it. The people who are able to manipulate the system in favour of their needs and wants are the most able custodians of the human race. Hey, if they can get all that money, they must be doing something right. They have a compass. It may not be moral, but they at least can navigate us into the future.

We are on a Judgment Day course. Things are going to hell, no question. How we know this may be the cause or it may be the result, it doesn't really matter. What's important is that it's happening at all, and to realize the reason, the most plausible outcome.

Oligarchy

More and more money in fewer and fewer hands is evidence of an impending collapse. Resources are scarce. There are too many people. Take what you can and make for the proverbial hills -- even if those hills are other planets. If we only rescue 1/6th of the population, that's plenty. Late capitalism, or exclusive capitalism, excludes 5/6ths of the world's population -- or about 5 billion people. The 5 billion are throwaways, a sacrifice, the price paid...

(For more, and better, info on this and other pressing issues, see a discussion by none other than David Suzuki and Stephen Lewis on CBC Radio. For an intro clip, click here.)

Bee

G + J

Gerald and Joe

Joseph wants to get the job done. The junkyard belongs to "so-and-so's so-and-so's so-and-so."

To Gerald this is a good enough answer. He wants the job done too.

They go in and take hubcaps, doubt whether there's even a legal issue to worry about. Are trying to convince each other there's no legal issue.

WWIII

In a recent Time article you'll find the following words grouped pretty well as I show them:

"The massive 'surge' of U.S. and Iraqi troops in and around Baghdad has made the Iraqi capital safer . . . but terrorist groups have stepped up attacks elsewhere."

One of those "elsewheres" is "northern Iraq, which had enjoyed a long spell of peace before the start of the 'surge.'"

Is it possible this was not foreseen--that terrorism would increase outside Baghdad?

I doubt it.

So it has to be asked: How does the U.S. Administration benefit from the surge?

August? Mid? 2007?

Modern art at Tommy Thompson Park?

Safe cemetery, which at least is better than an unsafe cemetery.

Bottles

Flowers