Mad At My Mad Stacks From Mad Stacks.......Yo

I just got an email from redbubble saying my shirt design "mad stacks" was flagged for violation and is being removed. I am trying to appeal it. If using a picture of Aaron Paul, who plays Jesse on Breaking Bad is a violation then I accept it. Begrudgingly.  But if one of the many copycats is trying to say that I stole their idea I'm gonna fight it. 

a quick google of "mad stacks yo" turns up a few versions of my idea.

But the thing is, there actually is a rip off of my design currently up on Bedbubble.(and other websites I'm sure) Also, the only thing they can cite me on as far as infringement is the likeness of Aaron Paul but there are many designs still up there that have Bryan Cranston and the other actors' faces on them. Just because my Mad Stacks design was making me 'mad stacks' someone actually noticed.  I'm all for following rules but I'm not for getting picked on for having a successful design. Especially when no one follows, or enforces those rules consistently.  

If you bought it from my redbubble store, thanks for supporting me and my work. For now, there's still several potentially bannable designs in my store that arent selling well enough to get anyone's attention. Buy some more so I can eek out some more stacks while they're under the radar. 

Hey Y'all we's all in the Tee Vee!

Breaking: A dumb ass hick on a show about dumb ass hicks said something dumb ass hicks say.  Shocking!

What is different about #duckdynasty from all of the other reality shows that make fun of idiots, is that it's main audience is comprised primarily of the same idiots they are making fun of. That's how dumb, dumb ass hicks are.  They should make a reality show about stupid  #murcans who watch that shit. 

A&E isn't laughing with you, they're laughing at you..  All the way to the bank 

Smart Watches...pffft!!

I keep hearing all this buzz about smart watches. Samsung's Galaxy Gear is the supposed new hope for a smartwatch that actually isn't lame.  Many companies have announced development of different designs and products over the years but they've all fizzled out. 

Just about every space or future sci-fi movie has some kind of wrist worn communication device.  As the Samsung commercial for the Galaxy Gear ^ reminds us, from StarTrek to Knight Rider they've all got some cool wrist watch that you can talk to or whatever. But here's the major problem with this idea... It's an old idea. Some of these fictional versions are concealing a communication device in a object that at the time was common for people to have.  It's an idea that was cool, when people actually still wore wristwatches. Watches are basically jewelry now.

Most people that are into new gadgets* have already put their Timex in the back of a drawer because *everyone carries a smartphone now.  Smartphones have replaced the wristwatch. It's a fact and there's nothing these tech giants can do about it.  Watches get in the way. A smartwatch will NEVER replace a 5.5" screen on a phablet.  It's just another thing to carry around.  Like ipods. They were cool until your phone could hold just as many mp3's and call people and go on the internet and play games. So, a watchphone is just gonna be another one of those things that are cool for a minute but then people realise they still have to keep their phone on them.  Just like tablets. Lets be honest, your ipad now stays at home for your kid to play with or for you to play scrabble while you sit on the couch. They are pretty much useless and cumbersome as a functional mobile device. Nothing more ridiculous than seeing people holding up a 10 inch ipad to take pictures at an event.

"Hey dumb ass, Down in front!"

So, what I'm saying is; No one wears a watch anymore. The screen is too small to enjoy. You already have a smartphone. No one is gonna really want or need this.

looking cool wearing Google Glass.

Google Glass is, in my opinion the path forward. Right now you'll look more stupid wearing Glass, than wearing a Galaxy Gear, but it's the real future of mobile tech.

 The way I see it, why do I need to wear a camera and a computer when I have one built into my skull already. Figure out how to access that shit and put it on the internet and you've got the real future of communication tech.

Brain implants here we come!

Getting Kelly Rippa'd

Created with my phone using Sketchbook Mobile and Snapdeed apps.

The Wonder Yearz

When I was in high school in the mid 90's when someone said 'in the 70's' it brought up a very distinct idea, nostalgia, pop culture and overall vibe.  To me a teen in the gay 90's it was just really old retro goofy 70's old people shit.

I just was thinking that to kids in high school right now the 90's is like their version of the 70's. My flannel shirts and metallica shirts are like bell bottoms and disco shirts to them. It's hard to think of Nirvana the same way as The BeeGees tho. There's a 70's disco guy halloween costume, but I cant ever see a grunge rocker halloween costume and have people get it.

The 90's did have a pretty distinct vibe all it's own but then I thought about the 80's vs the class of 2014's equivalent, the 2000's. Maybe it's because I'm getting old and I've lived through it as an adult, but I don't see much difference from 2004 and now.  It's all kind of a blur to me. But the weirdest part is thinking about teenagers looking back at 2001 like I did when I was in a teenager looking back at the 80's. 

circa 1993

circa 2003

Fuck I'm a geezer.  Get off my lawn you punks.

Halloween Time!

This was our first Halloween in Eureka. Here's some photos.

Bruce was a Polish Sausage for halloween. 

I carved this little guy for the guacamole. 

Barfamole anyone? 

The house decorations.  

My official pumpkin for the night. I had 2 more but this took like 2 hours. womp. 

Made the "family" costume. Lego people. 

The construction process. 

Laundry basket, chip & salsa party tray, poster board, spray paint, sharpie, window screen, masking tape, duct tape, cardboard tube, pringles cans, plastic food storage containers, hot glue. 

Costumes in action at a Halloween party. 

The BART Strike.

I've moved 300 miles north of any BART trains, but the Bay Area is my home and I keep up with this story because it's not just about BART being closed and angry commuters.  Since this latest BART strike I've noticed the way the news, friends and the geniuses on social media are all pissed off at BART workers and want blame them for all this. People are like "fuck the rich ass BART workers". 

...I started to wonder if there was some kind of deeper conservative conspiracy to bust the union. 

Read what Brian Copeland from KGO had to say. 

From Brian Copeland on KGO:
"According to an inside source I have, what ATU says is true. The Union had agreed to terms for pay and benefits and then management threw an oppressive 11th hour demand in because management wants a strike.
They know that the public will blame the union and then take away the union's right to strike. This is all about breaking the union. That's why they brought in Thomas Hock. It's what he does.
Not only is Hock paid 400k, he has an ownership stake in buses that will be used to transport commuters during a strike.
This stinks to high heaven and the public needs to know the truth."

I also feel like what hip-hop journalist Dave 'Davey D' Cook posted on Facebook fits right in with what I've been thinking about all this. 

Today BART is on Strike and in usual fare the media is shaping the debate to be BART workers who are 'well paid' vs riders who are struggling.. That's the narrative... Here's a few things to keep in mind..
1-The average wage ratio between CEO and workers around the world is 10-1, maybe 12-1 which is considered high.. In the US the average ratio is 319-1 and growing.. It's a simple equation of the rich get rich and poor get poorer.. That sets the condition for animosity to be directed at fellow workers who kick up dust to get better wages or for the average person to care very little if striking workers get replaced.. Why? because everyone is stressed out and living on the edge with little or no job security..

2-To those who feel BART workers get 'too much'.. what does that mean? They make more than you hence they shouldn't get what they feel they deserve? What wage would make it ok strike? 10k? 20k? 30k? 40k? Do we express similar concerns about high six figured executives who are not directly servicing you who have demanded they get paid or have raised fares on you to make sure they are well compensated?

I saw folks running around last month complaining that workers at fast food joints shouldn't be asking for 15 bucks an hour, that somehow they were greedy.. even as those places make billions a year..Whats an ok wage for 40 year old working at fast food joint when they can no longer get work? 10 an hour even as it is being shown one needs to be on public assistance to make ends meet at such a low salary?

I seen folks complaining about a BART strike not complain that Congress was getting wage increases while voting to cut wages and benefit packages to their underpaid staffers who do all the work, read the bills, make recommendations on votes etc.. Last week during the shutdown Congress voted to strip their staffers of benefits..Would they be greedy if they went on strike, or are we happy they don't have a union to protect them, thanks to Congress voting to prohibit that??

Far too many have been silent when there were calls to protest executives getting wage increases while fares were being raised, many declined to join those protests or do a people's strike..

3-The media narrative has been to interview people and paint a story of how the average commuter is inconvenienced by the 'evil BART workers' who are striking... Now corporate owned news outlets are running around with cameras in hand asking how you feel..Now they are expressing concern.. This is the same news outlet that went nowhere near an unemployment office, WIC lines or into your poor neighborhood to ask how you felt when the government was shut down for the past two weeks..

These are the same media outlets who never came around to ask how you were inconvenienced when BART fares went up last year, the year before and the year before that, when there were no BART strikes and executives were getting raises..

These same outlets were nowhere to be seen asking about your hardships when BART increased daily parking rates to go along with your increased fares.. Some parking lots charge 5 bucks a day in poor neighborhoods like West Oakland while remaining damn near free in rich neighborhoods... Lets talk about that..

4-Last BART strike I personally witnessed reporters running trying to egg on commuters to speak out against BART workers.. They had a rough go of it.. They were frustrated because while the BART strike was unnerving many poorer workers understood and didn't trip.. You wouldn't know that from the coverage..In one instance one of the reporters from KRON actually asked if they was anyone angry with BART workers..

This time around almost all the news outlets are doing coverage in affluent communities like Walnut Creek where parking is $1.50 a day vs $5 in West Oakland. I guess they are hoping to find commuters who will fit the 'Unions suck, Bart workers are greedy narrative'...

Make no mistake about what's going here.. The end game for BART executives is to break the union and limit workers rights..This is why the lead negotiator Tom Hock who makes 400k a year in tax payer money and not even a Bay Area resident went on vacation for two weeks in the middle of negotiations.

Last week in the 11th hour he bounced out-of-town to do a speaking gig in Southern Cali on 'how to negotiate a deal'.. He was brought in to bust up the union not work things out..Remember the money concerns were agreed upon by the union.. They agreed to the offer.... the sticking point was the Hock and his team inserting language that would prevent BART workers from striking.. That's called union busting..

Busting unions is not limited to BART, this has been going on all over the country.. We are seeing that where ever there are public sector unions which are comprised of people of color, then the attacks are all out to shut it down.. That ranges from the postal unions to public transit unions to teacher unions etc.. Let the media outlets cover that.. Let the media ask why so many POC are even in those unions and the long history and continued practice of discrimination in many private sectors.

Let's note the 'greedy workers shouldn't be striking' narrative has not been applied to screen writers, actor guild and even SAG/ AFTRA members which many news reporters covering the BART strike are a part, even when they did work slowdowns or went on strike while holding down million dollar salaries..

We seem to have given sports teams a pass, Hockey, Football, Basketball, Baseball etc.. all who have gone on strike in spite them making millions..More people attend the games than ever before, even with high-priced, tickets, high cable and TV bills and out of this world tax payer stadium costs, to watch the teams etc.. Folks didn't stop wearing their football jerseys talking about greedy players .. why? because they understand these owners make billions..

However last summer when concession workers who don't get benefits and barely and made 10 bucks an hour went on strike, we heard the 'workers are greedy narrative pop up..

All of us should be fighting to make sure workers of every stripe have job security, living wages and safe conditions on their jobs.. If the conditions at your workplace are lousy, no benefits, wack wages and a tyrannical bosses, you should be asking how can those conditions change..

Instead of getting upset about workers striking ask yourself why your boss is making you come to work vs telecommute, or allowing you flex time or making accommodations so you can park your car? Many employers have not made such moves..why? Because they have invested in a business culture and ethos that wants to bash on workers and keep them on edge as a way to get you to accept lower wages and messed up work conditions for fear of you losing your job..
2-To those who feel BART workers get 'too much'.. what does that mean? They make more than you hence they shouldn't get what they feel they deserve? What wage would make it ok strike? 10k? 20k? 30k? 40k? Do we express similar concerns about high six figured executives who are not directly servicing you who have demanded they get paid or have raised fares on you to make sure they are well compensated?
I saw folks running around last month complaining that workers at fast food joints shouldn't be asking for 15 bucks an hour, that somehow they were greedy.. even as those places make billions a year..Whats an ok wage for 40 year old working at fast food joint when they can no longer get work? 10 an hour even as it is being shown one needs to be on public assistance to make ends meet at such a low salary? 
I seen folks complaining about a BART strike not complain that Congress was getting wage increases while voting to cut wages and benefit packages to their underpaid staffers who do all the work, read the bills, make recommendations on votes etc.. Last week during the shutdown Congress voted to strip their staffers of benefits..Would they be greedy if they went on strike, or are we happy they don't have a union to protect them, thanks to Congress voting to prohibit that??
Far too many have been silent when there were calls to protest executives getting wage increases while fares were being raised, many declined to join those protests or do a people's strike..
3-The media narrative has been to interview people and paint a story of how the average commuter is inconvenienced by the 'evil BART workers' who are striking... Now corporate owned news outlets are running around with cameras in hand asking how you feel..Now they are expressing concern.. This is the same news outlet that went nowhere near an unemployment office, WIC lines or into your poor neighborhood to ask how you felt when the government was shut down for the past two weeks..
These are the same media outlets who never came around to ask how you were inconvenienced when BART fares went up last year, the year before and the year before that, when there were no BART strikes and executives were getting raises..
These same outlets were nowhere to be seen asking about your hardships when BART increased daily parking rates to go along with your increased fares.. Some parking lots charge 5 bucks a day in poor neighborhoods like West Oakland while remaining damn near free in rich neighborhoods... Lets talk about that..
4-Last BART strike I personally witnessed reporters running trying to egg on commuters to speak out against BART workers.. They had a rough go of it.. They were frustrated because while the BART strike was unnerving many poorer workers understood and didn't trip.. You wouldn't know that from the coverage..In one instance one of the reporters from KRON actually asked if they was anyone angry with BART workers..
This time around almost all the news outlets are doing coverage in affluent communities like Walnut Creek where parking is $1.50 a day vs $5 in West Oakland. I guess they are hoping to find commuters who will fit the 'Unions suck, Bart workers are greedy narrative'...
Make no mistake about what's going here.. The end game for BART executives is to break the union and limit workers rights..This is why the lead negotiator Tom Hock who makes 400k a year in tax payer money and not even a Bay Area resident went on vacation for two weeks in the middle of negotiations. 
Last week in the 11th hour he bounced out-of-town to do a speaking gig in Southern Cali on 'how to negotiate a deal'.. He was brought in to bust up the union not work things out..Remember the money concerns were agreed upon by the union.. They agreed to the offer.... the sticking point was the Hock and his team inserting language that would prevent BART workers from striking.. That's called union busting.. 
Busting unions is not limited to BART, this has been going on all over the country.. We are seeing that where ever there are public sector unions which are comprised of people of color, then the attacks are all out to shut it down.. That ranges from the postal unions to public transit unions to teacher unions etc.. Let the media outlets cover that.. Let the media ask why so many POC are even in those unions and the long history and continued practice of discrimination in many private sectors.
Let's note the 'greedy workers shouldn't be striking' narrative has not been applied to screen writers, actor guild and even SAG/ AFTRA members which many news reporters covering the BART strike are a part, even when they did work slowdowns or went on strike while holding down million dollar salaries..
We seem to have given sports teams a pass, Hockey, Football, Basketball, Baseball etc.. all who have gone on strike in spite them making millions..More people attend the games than ever before, even with high-priced, tickets, high cable and TV bills and out of this world tax payer stadium costs, to watch the teams etc.. Folks didn't stop wearing their football jerseys talking about greedy players .. why? because they understand these owners make billions..
However last summer when concession workers who don't get benefits and barely and made 10 bucks an hour went on strike, we heard the 'workers are greedy narrative pop up.. 
All of us should be fighting to make sure workers of every stripe have job security, living wages and safe conditions on their jobs.. If the conditions at your workplace are lousy, no benefits, wack wages and a tyrannical bosses, you should be asking how can those conditions change..
Instead of getting upset about workers striking ask yourself why your boss is making you come to work vs telecommute, or allowing you flex time or making accommodations so you can park your car? Many employers have not made such moves..why? Because they have invested in a business culture and ethos that wants to bash on workers and keep them on edge as a way to get you to accept lower wages and messed up work conditions for fear of you losing your job..

The sentiment I mentioned before "Fuck the rich ass BART workers"  echoed with "I know 100 people who will do that job for less than what they get paid".  That's exactly what the BART executives want.  They want the unions to go away so they can pay people shit wages and longer hours.  Conservatives and big business hate unions because it forces them to have a conscience, which isn't good for profits.   While it may be inconvenient for you the commuting average Joe, just remember what unions are and what they have done for you.  Ultimately, as far as I'm concerned the opposite of unions is slavery. 

TV Apps Still Suck

Who uses the social networking apps through their TV?  The interface is so bad on TV based apps I even hate using the Netflix app sometimes.  But with apps like Netflix, Youtube, Hulu and Pandora it's worth it because those apps seem like what smart TV's were created for.  Entertainment based apps that utilize your TV or Home Theater to watch video or audio content. Not post facebook statuses. 

Browsing through thumbnails is one thing but searching for a video, or anything that requires actual typing is just useless. This is why I can't imagine how anyone would use Facebook or Twitter on a television based UI.  Yet, companies keep including them as bloatware.  I suppose if for some reason you have an Internet connection but no computer or smartphone you can still keep up with Farmville.

TV apps in general just need to be way better than they have been.  Using a TV remote or play station controller does have its limitations but why does it seem like smart tv, game console and Blu Ray player apps feel like an afterthought by the designers?

Just Be Better

I keep hearing all this yap about SEO (search engine optimization). I always get clients asking me "how do I get to be the top of the google?"   How about, "don't suck, get popular and people will find you".  This is why I actually kind of like the way Google is supposedly doing it now. From what I understand it searches based on content rather than keywords.
  
When I was in a band that had just gotten signed to a record deal and was selling out all the local venues, the new bands we met would always ask "so, how did you get signed?"  the answer was the same as the SEO bs..   We practiced 4 days a week, we wrote a million songs, we played EVERY show we were offered, we had a consistent clean logo and appreciated every fan we had.  So these piece of shit upstarts that have nothing but spam to offer, driving the SEO marketing movement are just like those shitty bands who rehearse 3 days a month, haven't written a new song in 5 years, and complain that they aren't getting the attention they deserve asking me how we got signed. 

We just did what we did and were passionate about it. We never asked for, or "tried" to get anything.  Our marketing strategy was  to just be cool, be something people wanted to be involved in.  Which is how businesses should be able to be.  Concentrate on being a good company, have good branding and be passionate. Be something that people want to be a part of.  A "If you build it, they will come" sort of thing. 

Maybe I'm naive because I know nothing about marketing, business or "SEO" but I just think if you have something good, people will take notice. you dont need to fake search results with clever marketing code techniques. 

Sitting Here Trying Out This App

I'd tried the official Blogger mobile app in the past and it sucked balls. I found a third party app that worked ok but, while being kind of clunky it was way better than the one google gave us. I was looking through Google Apps and found this updated version so I'm trying it out. 

So far so good?

PYMHM - Cursed! Jan 2009

I'm sorry I have been slacking on Posts You Might Have Missed.  I've been busy looking for a job.

Here's a gem from a rare heat wave in early 2009.

Cursed! 

On my way home from Santa Cruz with my friends Steve and Chris, where this radness happened....
We were driving back over the Santa Cruz Mountains on Hwy 17 and we stopped at this funky little roadside store to go pee. Near the entrance I notice a restroom sign on a giant wooden bear statue outside but the arrow pointed towards the road. There's no one in the place so Steve goes into the back looking for someone to clarify what the sign means. Chris and I are milling around contemplating filling our pockets with salt water taffy when Steve comes out getting yelled at by this aggravated old man with a thick accent. He's like "I DON CARE YOU HAVE PEE!! YOU GO HOME, GO PEE!! BATHROOM OUTSIDE!! YOU FOLLOW SIGN!! FOLLOW SIGN!!" woah! that guy hates people! then he saw us in the store "WHAT YOU NEED? WHAAATT!!!!" aaahh! holy shit. 

So we go out side back to the sign that appears to tell us to pee in the road. We do as he said and "FOLLOW SIGN!!" to the dirt shoulder next to the highway, make our way around the freaky totem pole fence and see another sign pointing to a port-a-potty 5 feet from traffic. As I wait to use the facilities I notice some more signs posted on the totem fence and near the outhouse. What they said kind of caught me off guard. 

Holy shit these people are fucked! fires of hell? seventh generation? blind in one eye? For littering WTF?
This sign starts out normal then they get all fucking crazy again. DUDE!? I felt kind of weird after because I think i got a little pee on the floor. I hope nothing bad happens.
We've been cursed!

_______________________________________________________________________
Nothing earth shattering has happened so far, I mean, I'm unemployed that sucks but noone has gone blind or anything.

This place I later found out is called Casa Del 17. They may have gotten new owners since 2009, but back then, it was nuts.  Forget the Mystery Spot ^ beware of this place. ^

Wendy's Update

So I forgot to mention that a couple weeks ago I went back down to the bay area, and one of my stops was at the Wendy's Hamburgers on Alhambra Ave. in Martinez Ca.  Guess what I ordered?

remember this post from July?

I got to finally try the coveted Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger.  It was wonderful.  The only thing I didnt like was the lettuce. They used spinach/springmix salad as lettuce.  I prefer iceberg.

Here's mine.  I opted for the double patty 1/2lb version.  I kinda felt like shit the rest of the day but it was worth it.

I also got this as a gag gift to myself. 

It was more gag than anticipated. Tasted like someone poured used bacon grease into a bottle of expired cream soda.   Never buy this. unless you buy it just to laugh at it for a few minutes when you give it to someone.

In other news, in the location of the defunct Wendy's here in Eureka, they've started building a new something.  It's not clear what it's going to be yet but it does have a drive thru and the only thing they didn't tear down is the Wendy's sign shaped sign carcasses along the parking lot.  Maybe we'll get a new Wendy's I'll very rarely go to.

NY Finally Cracking Down on Fake Reviews.

Remember a while back when I posted this rant about the way Yelp filters it's reviews, then tries to extort businesses to make their reviews look better?  

Yelp's Review Filter

There was mention of Yelp's review filter on the news because some lady got sued for $750K.  I'd never heard of this filter in my time as a pretty regular yelper so I looked at my friends business page and saw that it was being rated on 3 reviews. Two of them were five star and one of them was a two star, bad review.  I could have sworn he had more reviews because he'd mentioned to me a while back that business was doing good and his yelp page was blowing up with good reviews from his customers. When I looked today it said rating based on 3 reviews.... read more

Or when I wrote this about companies like reputation.com saying they can get rid of the "malicous" reviews for your business?

Reputation.com?

I've been hearing radio commercials for a service called reputation.com.
They say they restore your online reputation by removing negative reviews about you or your business. They don't say negative i think they say fake or damaging but how can they tell what is a lie vs someone who was telling the truth about your shitty business? Seems like an easy way to buy your way out of having the dirty truth told about you. This pretty much renders sites like yelp useless. IMO, writing bad reviews when you have bad service is your constitutional right to protest. 

Well now I just read on NPR that New York in particular is finally cracking down on this bullshit.

No doubt most of you reading this post have looked at Yelp or Google+ Local to check the user reviews before you tried that fish store, bakery or even dentist. On occasion, you may have wondered if some of those reviews were too good to be true.
It turns out that some of them were.New York's attorney general revealed the results of a yearlong investigation into the business of fake reviews. Eric T. Schneiderman announced Monday that 19 companies that engaged in the practice will stop and pay fines between $2,500 and $100,000, for a total of more than $350,000 in penalties. ... In many cases, the agent was told that they would write fake positive reviews for a fee. read the full article

Meanwhile, despite the fact that Yelp says it welcomes the New York attorney general's crackdown on fake reviewers, it's still filtering out all the good reviews from your real customers because they signed up for Yelp just to give you a good review.  And who's to say these companies arent writing fake BAD reviews just to get you to use their services?  We already know that they have no problem writing fake reviews. 

Finally Finished FRINGE. (contains spoilers)

My dad, who's my authority on good sci-fi had been trying to get me to watch Fringe since it started like 5 years ago.  Given my current state of unemployment I decided to give it a go.  Seasons 1-4 of 5 were on Netflix so I started bingeing it a few months ago.  Bits and pieces here and there.  It's a really good show. I got through season 4 thinking it was the end, but then found out there's a season 5 which of course Netflix didn't have. They teased it last month by accident and I got to see like 4 episodes but then took it down after they realized it wasn't supposed to be out till last week.  So now that I'm finished with this my Dad's going to want me to get hooked on the sci-fi cult sensation Battlestar Galactica. It's always looked stupid to me but he swears its good.  

I just finished the last 3 episodes last night on my phone with headphones on in bed until 2am.  While I am thoroughly happy with the series and was highly entertained, I have to say I was disappointed with the ending. 


SPOILERS BELOW                                                              






Unless I'm remembering it wrong, The big plan was to take the kid through time to the scientists that invented the Observers so that they realise there are better ways to evolve humans and retain emotions so that the Observers are never created, to avoid the invasion. This creates a problem for me.  If the Observers never exist, not only is September not there to save peter from the lake but if you want to really get into it, he also isn't there to distract Walternate from realizing he was successful with the vaccine for peter. 

 So how does all this change the timeline of the lives of everyone on the show?  One thing is certain, Peter and Olivia never meet and have a daughter. Peter would most likely live out his normal timeline in the alternate universe where he was from.  Unless I'm missing something, I dont see how the Super Happy Ending they gave us is possible.  

From the moment Peter and Olivia have the conversation about getting Etta back all I could think of was the problem above.  I was writing an ending in my head where not only are they not reunited with Etta, but Peter dies in the lake and Olivia never meets him. I never considered the moment in the lab when Walternate gets distracted. But if you take into account the butterfly effect and all the things that the original 12 Observers intervened in to change time, who knows what would be different. As we learned from Lost, time travel is a bitch of a thing to write accurately. 

Not so Showy, Art Show (arts alive)

Well my art show wasn't really a show.  Here's the thing about this. Every first Saturday night of each month the city of Eureka has an event called "Arts Alive" where many of the businesses in the downtown/oldtown area stay open late, showcase artists and musicians for the night. The art usually stays up for the month until the next Arts Alive.  When I moved here and people we met found out I was an artist they all said "you should do Arts Alive!" As if all I had to do was ask.  I approached some of the   main places that looked like would fit my style of art and they all gave me the same line about being booked for a year and that they aren't accepting new artists...bla bla bla.  So I pretty much gave up on those clicky art snob fucks.

A few months later I saw a post on Craigslist looking for artists to show their work for Arts Alive.  So without any knowledge of which place it was, I immediately responded and did not hear back. I'd forgotten and given up on ever being in Arts Alive anytime in the near future.  But then.  A few weeks ago I got a reply.  A woman from the Adorni Center (no clue what that was) said they'd like to offer me a spot on their lobby walls for the September Arts Alive.  I was stoked.  I contacted her and saw the space which was some kind of community recreation center.  Later it was described to me by a local as an "old folks gym" which was basically what it was.  Slow paced Zumba classes and open gym type stuff.  Whatever tho, fucking Arts Alive!  I'm IN!  Suck it art snob fuckers!  I busted ass for a couple days and did like 4 new paintings.

Excitedly I told everyone I knew in the area and got the same basic reaction of "WTF is the Adorni Center?"  This wasn't looking so good.  I really tried to not get my hopes up for the big night but several people said they'd go check it out.

There was one big problem with my stuff being at the Adorni Center for Arts Alive though. It was all the way on the other side of town. A long walk from the main festivities of Arts Alive.  We tried to make the best of it. Met up with some locals we know who happened to live right in the heart of old town. We checked out the festivities and made our way...all the way down to where my art was being shown.

my art on the walls after I hung them. with lights.
(i'd have pics from that night but i left my phone at home. that's a whole other story)

the main wall in the lobby. they called the next day to ask me to bring more art for another wall (pictured above)

The event goes from 6 - 9:00 and we got to the Adorni Center around 8:00.  To my surprise the place was all dark and to anyone passing by, as far as you could tell it was closed. We checked the doors and they were unlocked so we went in.  There was one lone desk attendant looking at me like I was some drunk asshole who got lost and needed to use the bathroom.  I introduced myself and showed my friends my artwork in the dark lobby.  The attendant woman said a few people had been in and liked my art but said hardly anyone comes in for Arts Alive as most people don't know it even participates and that it's so far away from the epicenter of the event no one goes that far.  Great.  But she said they get a lot of people coming throughout the month who will see my work. Yay.

So, I'm in.. sort of. I made some good contacts that night for my art and my band, and met some really cool new people so it wasn't a total waste of time.  Here's my new pieces. I was going for an all Volkswagen Bus themed show but I needed to fill space so I put in a bunch of old stuff.

Photo Wednesday! (No camels)

Whats up September!  Here's a hump day photo fest. 

hung some new art for an art show. 

arting in the garden

new painting. 

photo for a painting i havent done yet. tweaked with #snapseed 

local landmark

foggy mornings here. 

crazy sunrises here.

we gots spiders too

won an art contest for tickets to see Cake! 

story of my life

scored some chairs to go with the table

moon action

cray sunsets too

my breaking bad wallpaper

culinary trip down memory lane. 

winning art piece

beach booty

faces in things

everything you like they discontinue. costco, if you're listening, bring back the gluten free cheese pizzas. 

unfortunately true.  honesty in journalism. 

hey whats up cat barf in the window. 

bones at the beach. 

escape artist. 

my adopted drums. I beat them as if it were my own.