Busy Work

During the pandemic I’ve continued to work the day job and I’ve launched a few new projects:

I also continue to maintain The East Village Magazine and Pure Pro Wrestling, which we recently redesigned. I’m working on a redesign for The East Village Magazine, which is rather long overdue.

Top Rope TV is a division of Pure Pro Wrestling that is gearing up to launch thousands of hours of video content for a subscription audience. Though it’s not nearly ready for launch, it’s online and ready for early registration.

Pure Pro Wrestling was more than ready for a redesign as the last iteration was built on the Wix website builder and had many, many thousands of lines of theme overburden, coupled with very slow server response times, and a high monthly cost for a basic and static site. The new design is more dynamic, lighter, more device independent and allows the non-technical staff manage their own content.

The Meridian Weekly is a woman-owned publication based in Ovid Michigan that has operated for over 30 years producing and delivering a newspaper that serves Clinton and Shiawassee counties. They really only wanted to be able to publish the .pdf version of their paper, but they are starting to publish articles and utilize social media to create new advertiser opportunities and reach beyond their physical limitations.

So, with some of these projects launched, I’m starting to see a pathway to being able to start new projects and take on more work in my off-work hours.

Sort By Controversial

  • There is an article, or rather, short story that I keep looking for and keep losing. Here’s “Sort By Controversial.” This fairly well explains the revolting developments of the last 3 years
  • Eh
  • “Moderate” is a conservative trying to look cooler
  • “You’ll have to have a press conference. They would like to interview you,” Prince point blank said, “I don’t do interviews.”
  • “GOOD POINT” – (fipi lele)
  • Facebook “When you’re here, you’re family” Part 2 (of 2,387,449)
  • GM wants you to have another Hummer, this time it’s electric
  • Jesus made you to laugh, so lighten up ffs.

Salad Days

  • Sleep – Holy Mountain [Full Album | 1992] is a nostalgic run up… This is much better
  • This dude has been posting the same dinner on Instagram for six freaking years (thx fipilele)
  • Byte, from the Vine people is out of beta and ready for regular schmucks. “good. because TikTok is a cancer” – Verge commenter
  • Here’s a Vox article which articulates what we mostly all already knew. They have literally obscured reality with dense fabric of complete chaos and bullshit.  “…democracy cannot function without a shared understanding of reality…”
  • Megavalanche Megacrash
  • The presidential assassination that no one talks about
  • So, you wanna be a SoundCloud rapper? Well, Pharrell Made Only $2,700 In Songwriter Royalties From 43 Million Plays Of ‘Happy’ On Pandora

This is a typical news brief. I did many hundreds of these over the years. Whatever I was reading, that I though was interesting, or that I picked up along my travels, I would capture and drop into a list for others.

Pure Pro Wrestling and paxtonland

Since October 2018, we’ve been on the road wrestling, training, and putting on shows. Dash has wrestled in front of thousands of fans, learned about the business of professional wrestling, and has performed at over 50 live shows.

Pure Pro Wrestling and it’s owner Joe Byrd (Xavier Justice) have become part of our extended family and most of the entire company as well.

We’ve been training kids for over 14 months now and our program has grown from six to nearly forty students. Some of the kids are definitely not going to be ever “picked for the team” and have long been ostracized from organized athletics programs. But, at Pure Pro Wrestling’s Jr Grapplers program, they are welcomed.

I’ve watched kids swell with confidence, enjoy the benefits of fellowship, improve in school, and live out their dreams in front of a live audience of hundreds of people. Some of them doing so well, that they are growing beyond our own hopes. Some of them, having disabilities, have finally found something that they can do and have been accepted into unquestioningly.

Professional wrestling, often dismissed, looked down upon, or even ridiculed, is one of the last pure forms of performing folk art around. The work they do, the love that wrestlers have for their craft, and the real risks they endure at each performance and practice are very real.

I think that a proper analog for this form of athletic art could be considered as “athletics theater.” In fact, there are many parallels with traditional live performing theater. There is plot, a written script, sets, costumes, a great amount of effort in setup, and the actual performance.

I couldn’t be happier with my wrestling family and I couldn’t be prouder of our entire organization. If you’re in Michigan, please come out and see our next show. You can buy tickets in the box below.

Meridian Weekly

We launched the Meridian Weekly website a couple of days ago. There were a number of difficult things to overcome, but it’s live. Also created facebook and twitter accounts for them to begin using.

The Weekly is published in Ovid Michigan by a small staff and is living proof that print not only isn’t dead, it lives in small and almost unnoticed segments in our society. It’s just not what we think that it is, or rather what our idea of it was.

Anyway, check them out, give them a follow. Support your local media content producers.

Gary E. Fletcher

Gary Fletcher

My friend Gary passed away. He was a great person and I was not a great friend. I will miss him.

He was one of the reasons that I started my career in computers. I met him at a computer club meeting at Mott Community College in Flint, MI. We spent a lot of time early on in the x86 days with early versions of DOS, Windows, and the first releases of Linux. He was among the most knowledgeable computer people that I have ever met.

He was a gifted systems engineer, software developer, and a great overall computing enthusiast. He embodied all that was fun about computing for the early era of home computing. He was an avid gamer, made original midi compositions, and published several freeware applications.

He supported himself, in small part, by providing technical support to his friends, family, co-workers, and small business. Mostly for a nominal fee. He did much more than he was compensated for.

He was a gifted chess player. I witnessed him win several tournaments, perform demonstration matches against 12 opponents simultaneously, and he developed software and hardware for computing chess applications. At the time of his death, he was a ranked grand master and seniors champion.

I’ll miss my friend Gary, whom I have many, many stories about and a great lot of love for.


2/29/20: Edit: Gary was very, very funny. When I think of something, I’ll drop back in here and write it up.

Here’s one:

Gary told of a health-related party, or some alternative medicine (likely a product promotional) gathering he was attending. The hostess asked him, “Gary have you ever had a high colonic?” Gary said he replied, “Oh no, I never drink.” To which the lady blinked wordlessly and wandered away.

Published
Categorized as Friends

News Briefs – Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me

Last space shuttle tank leaves New Orleans — by sea, not air — for its journey to L.A.

First this then that?

Titanic sinks in real-time – A 2 hour and 41 minute simulation. Fascinating.

I’m sorry

1906 San Francisco earthquake photos are captivating

The British Library has begun streaming more than 1,000 recordings made in India between 1912-1938.

On Vanishing – Alizheimers and it’s invisible caregivers

Waze is an awesome driving app that also lets hackers stalk you

There is a subreddit for anything

How the Myth of the “Irish slaves” Became a Favorite Meme of Racists Online

30 years after Chernobyl – Some of my friends would probably go mushroom hunting there… ffs.

Netflix remakes Watership Down – Wow.

Those who know me, know that I’m how happy that I am to report this.

News Briefs – “I can’t conform to your normal”

Tinker with a neural network

The Guardian’s breakdown of the Panama Papers

The Verge reviews the phone I was most anticipating this year, the HTC 10. I’m disappointed. On to the Google Nexus 6p, most likely, or wait for the Galaxy Note 6.

Remember that time Ted Cruz hated dildos?

What is voter suppression really about?

There’s a new 2+2 Buick convertible. The Cascade? Casandra Casaccaa? Quesadilla? Anyway it has all the appeal of a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire… *whomp wom*

Charity analysis of the 50 biggest US businesses claims Apple have $181bn held offshore, while General Electric has $119bn and Microsoft $108bn

Astronomers find a supersized black hole in a cosmic small town – It’s 17 billion times bigger than our sun

Well, it really is… we all are.

On my block. No one know what house, or who snitched

Millennials trash talking themselves

New, new Godzilla movie, Godzilla Resurgence.

3D printable digital sundial

News Briefs – Naked Schadenfreude

Mountains of Mouthiness – I’m crying laughing at this.

Texas Governor Orders Guard to Monitor US Military Exercises – “Hi, I’m athe paranoid delusional that you elected governor! Don’t question me!”

True schadenfreude is delicious

Somebody had a better idea than latitude and longitude or street addresses for communicating location to other people – Not.

Anti-gay rights republican turns out to be gay – I think there needs to be a “Wide Stance Republicans” party

Check out the PBS documentary, Last Days in Vietnam –  For a short time, PBS is streaming the film, here’s the site for more 

Classic films summarized by someone who has never seen them – Kind of great, in a not-so-great way.

The Avengers ’78! – Is kind of great in a super great way.

Nina Simone documentary with never-before seen material coming to Netflix

This ridiculous gym startup is trying to teach members how to pick up women – Bro

Two women are chased through a shopping mall by a cannibal. 1983.

How Safe Are Artificial Sweeteners, Really?

The naked corn paradox – Seth Godin

What happens when you give up sugar?

Microsoft can guess your age from a picture – Fairly well, I might add.

1997 Hunter S. Thompson –  On internet journalism, “Well, I don’t know. There is a line somewhere between democratizing journalism and every man a journalist. You can’t really believe what you read in the papers anyway, but there is at least some spectrum of reliability. Maybe it’s becoming like the TV talk shows or the tabloids where anything’s acceptable as long as it’s interesting.”

Hey, Yall gotta cigarette? (Trap Remix) – Is a small bit of awesome.

Mad Max Fury Road – final trailer – Kind of resembles a fever dream that I once had.

News Briefs – Stacked Up For Days

Baltimore’s dual identity explains unrest – So many parallels to Flint.

How Nepal’s earthquake was mapped in 48 hours – 2,182 digital volunteers, trawling 14,700 km2 worth of high resolution satellite imagery, identifying 3,128 damaged buildings.

Public Opinion Shifts in Favor of Gay Marriage – Among Republican ranks, those under 50 are mostly in favor.

An Anti-Creativity Checklist for 2015 – I think I’ve seen almost every most of these.

The brains behind the ‘Aha!’ moment – Something that has fascinated me my entire life. There are regular “Ah-ha” moments, they happen all the time. Then there are revelations, less common, but they should happen a few times in several years. Then there is the unicorn of enlightenment, “The Epiphany.” Which we’re lucky if we have one. Ever.

The Deadpan Genius of Buster Keaton – They had me at “The.”  I love it when the internets “discover” old things.

Smartphone Etiquette: When To Send Handwritten vs Digital Notes – I know of only a very few people who have the grace to write notes any longer.  They know who they are.

Nobody Famous anil dash on being famous while being not famous – I’ve had “not fame” flirt with me once or, twice. I understand this quite a bit.  Though, he’s been an “A-list” internets person for many years, I am fond of him 🙂

Dooce is done? Another old-school blogger goes back inside…  to write for themselves.

As Riots Follow Freddie Gray’s Death in Baltimore, Calls for Calm Ring Hollow – I’m playing “catch up” on this story. I’m trying not to drink the facebook Kool-Aid, but my first thought is “F— the police.”  I’m not wrong.

Miss Piggy to receive feminist award, which should end all debate on the subject

Your Password is Too Damn Short

This video reminds us that assholes will always be a renewable resource

Game of Fear: The Story Behind GamerGate – In case you missed this.

Tuna Company Charged Over Worker Cooked Alive With 6 Tons of Fish – Speechless. No pun available here.

State of emergency enacted in Baltimore; curfew starts – Most recent story on Baltimore.

News Briefs – The links keep on coming…

Jon Stewart: why I quit The Daily Show – I really don’t care for Jon Stewart, there are those that do, more the better for ya

Meet the New Wave of Chinese Designers – Assimilation will be total. I, for one, welcome our new fashion overlords.

Trapped Into Selling Magazines Door-to-Door – I’ve wondered for decades if this was some sort of scam and how it was engineered.

China home to largest Buddhist settlement in the world – 40,000 Buddhist monks and nuns. They can’t have TV, but they can have iPhones…

Scientists Target New Painkillers From Spider Venom – Not opiates…

E.U. vows to boost migrant search-and-rescue efforts and Why Libya is springboard for migrant exodus – BBC News – This will become a very large humanitarian issue, it already is.

FDA Ponders Putting Homeopathy To A Tougher Test – Finally, the FDA may start testing homeopathic medicines.

Please read this epic obituary of Vivian Nicholson – The “Spend, spend, spend” lady was an epic person, who had an amazing life, and owes nothing to anyone, least of all an explanation.

The First Apple Homepage (via Waxy.org: Links Miniblog) – I remember when it looked like this. Of course, there wasn’t anything anyone wanted to see, but they where there!

The new spam: interactive robo-calls from the cloud as cheap as e-mail – Prepare your anus, er… I meant blocked caller lists.

Marvelous DB – A User-Friendly Website Filled With Information About Almost Any Marvel Character and Comic Book.

News Briefs

Republicans push for a permanent aristocracy

A.A. Sponsor Turns in Evans Woman for Underage Party. This story keeps getting better as you read it: Attorney for Evans Party Mom Releases Statement

Candy Crush Saga: Man tears tendon in thumb from playing mobile game too much

If you are an Android user, go to Google.com type in “find my phone.” You may have to log in to be verified, but it’s a very new(ish) cool thing.

David Hasselhoff performs the Kung Fury theme

The Age of Hubble a (2015) Documentary about Space – [50:01] – An army of high-tech telescopes, led by Hubble in space, has delivered an unprecedented chain of discoveries about how galaxies took shape, how stars live and die, and how life arose. What are we learning about the universe and ourselves in this Age of Hubble?

(So, every few days, I like to put links to things that I read, see, or that you’ve linked in your world. I hope you enjoy, I’ll try to keep them going)