Best Holiday Wishes!

I hope that all of my readers have a very happy and special winter holiday season, no matter how you're spending it.

Personally I will be celebrating Christmas with my wife and my family. This doesn't necessarily mean that I'm a Christian (see Episode 6 for my take on Christianity), but I don't think that Christmas is just for Christians anymore. I can't see myself giving up this yearly tradition anytime soon.

So here's to you, my friends and readers. Have a merry holiday season, and if you dont' celebrate holidays then just enjoy your weekend.

-Joe

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Kava Root

I hate to admit this but I was watching Geraldo Rivera's tv show the other night and he had a segment about this "dangerous" new drink called Kava that is being served in some bars. It is labeled as dangerous because if you drink it, it will give you a euphoric feeling. That doesn't sound very dangerous to me.... It is a very old drink used in rituals made by crushing up the dried roots of the Kava plant or tree that grows on many south pacific islands. The kava extract is then mixed with water and it's ready to drink. Apparently it tastes like mud, but that makes sense since it is a root.

So why are the authorities upset over this drink? Some people think that it can potentially cause liver damage but it's been around for centuries. There are no complaints from the islanders who drink it. This leads me to believe that the only bad thing about it, in the eyes of the authorities, is that it makes people feel good. I heard that a person has been charged with a DUI after drinking this in California. But there is NO ALCHOHOL in this all-natural beverage! How can a person be charged for this? It's like pulling someone over for drinking tea and getting a caffeine buzz.
Maybe the authorities are just looking after our health and that's why they want to limit kava and its consumption. Then again... cigarettes and alcohol are worse for a person than Kava but those are legal. WTF is going on here? This drink is foreign and scary to the american heads of power because it comes from another culture, enhances creativity and makes people happy. Remind you of anything else? Seems like this is a common stance for the right-wing powers that be: "if we don't understand it or accept it then it must be bad, outlaw it". Bullshit.
I've decided to try out kava. I will seek out a kava bar in Chicago and try it there but I've also ordered a bottle of ground kava root in capsule form. It says it has many medicinal properties. I'll let you know what I think after I've tried it. It's probably worth buying before they outlaw it.

-Joe

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In Memorium...

Today my Samsung SGH-x497 cell phone was stolen. It happened sometime between 8am and 9am. I know that somebody has it because they made 3 calls with it before I cancelled my phone service (I checked out my phone service provider's website to see my phone activity and the numbers were listed). At 9:19 the thief called a Cingular Wireless customer with the number 773-206-1776 and talked for 16 minutes. Then the thief called that number again at 9:38 and talked for 38 minutes. At 10:16 they called the number 773-416-3714 and talked for 2 minutes. These are both Chicago numbers.

So... that sucks. I bought this stupid little phone holster and either someone took it from my holster as I was on the train (the train was really crowded and I didn't have a seat) or else the phone fell from the holster as I was walking to school. If I did drop it, the theif has quick fingers because I doubled back as soon as I noticed it was gone and I didn't see it anywhere on the sidewalk. Too bad. I think I'll call the numbers and harrass the people but I doubt that I would get my phone back anyway.

-Joe

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End of Fall 2005 Semester

The end of my school semester is only a week away. I've finished shooting for my final photography projects (for the most part) which means that I'll have a lot to show all of you. So far I did show a little sneak peek of a few shots and I got some nice feedback from Unleaded Logic (episode 4), Cassie (rising vocal talent) and Gem (international podcast superstar). It was very nice of you 3 to comment on my pictures. I always like hearing from you.

I'm thinking that since my final projects are both meant to be a series that I'll make another Quicktime slideshow of both of them(which are fairly similar) and post those up for everyone to see. After school lets out on Dec. 16th I'll be a free man for a while which means more time to post on the blog, and make more podcasts. I picked up a book on podcasting today and it really pissed me off. It must have been written by a bunch of lawyers or something. It pretty much spells out all the things you can't do on podcasts, including using licensed music without paying royalties. I think that's really stupid because although I may play music on my podcast (and it's not like my show is even about music really) I'm not using the music to make money or exploiting the artists. What a bunch of hooey. :-( Thank god this podcast is so "underground" or else I may be sued. More to come soon.

-Joe

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Photo Finals

Perhaps you, my beloved readers, have noticed my absence recently. I've not made a new podcast or posted anything new recently. My excuse? The end of the fall 2005 semester is coming to a close at my school and I've been working really hard to catch up on all the work I slacked off on during the semester. I'm also shooting pictures for 2 different photo projects. This project is difficult but rewarding. I'm shooting in a style I've never really tried before. The subject matter is different and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I believe the results so far are pretty good too. I want to gab about specifics on how I did these shots because some are really cool, BUT I'm going to wait until I can talk about it in a podcast. I would rather speak about the pictures than type about them. Too much finger movement. Here are 3 pictures that I shot last night and printed today.





-Joe
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