A few people thought I was being unfeeling when I mentioned Aaliyah's death in a way that made it quite clear that I didn't really give a damn about it one way or the other. Let me quote from one of the emails I got (and I want to point out that I don't think poorly of this person, I'm just quoting them because they said what they wanted to more clearly than most):
"Most of the time I am in agreement with the things that you say on BME. This time I am not. Sadness about another humans passing for me has less to do with the circumstances in which it occurred and more to do with feeling that a young persons life was over too soon. I didn't know Aaliyah, and neither did many of her fans, but as a collective, as humans and individuals, isn't it really ok to to feel sad about her death? Or should we all just suck it up and not give a fuck about anyone?...
Maybe its the constant media coverage, or the fact that you feel that death isn't worth getting worked up over... ...eight people lost their lives and they were loved and appreciated while they were here, and respected when they were gone."
Let me point something out. Death is not uncommon, and 99.999% of the time, nobody cares. Millions of people die weekly. 34,000 children under five die of hunger related causes every day. Over three million people die a year from diarrhea — these are all avoidable deaths, making them far more tragic. Almost 75,000 people have died of AIDS in California alone. Add in Hepatitis and make it a world-wide number, and we're talking about a colossal plague.
These deaths are preventable, and almost no one cares. Almost no one mourns these deaths or does anything about it.
But when a young beautiful wealthy celebrity dies because they forced their pilot to overload their plane with their precious luggage, everyone is in tears. But when millions die in part because of the greed of Western culture, who cares, right? I've got a big TV and a sports car, why should I care? I've got my top-40 dance radio, and oh woe is me, the person of the moment isn't putting out any more music to sell me bubble gum with… Except of course for a few posthumus singles which will sell best of all.
In any case, I hope you understand that it's not death that I am mocking — it's the fact that outside of their friends and family, most people only care about celebrity deaths.
A small (150+ image update) is uploading now. There's some cool stuff in the free sections, including a horizontal tongue and some vertical lowbrets… But there's some really fun kooky stuff in BME/HARD — among other things, a couple enjoying themselves after a saline and pumping session, and a guy with a urethral reroute piercing using it to spray butane out of his urethra and turning his penis into a flamethrower!
Here are two censored and reduced teaser pictures… If you want to see the full sets at high resolution you have to be a BME/HARD member:
Wheeee! My birthday (September 29th) “afterparty” on the 30th will include the premiere of Star Trek Enterprise! There's not a lot I remember from my early childhood, but I do remember watching Star Trek with my family — one of the few pleasant full-family events I remember in fact… So I sure am looking forward to Enterprise!
For those of you who live under several rocks, sheltered from the glory of Star Trek, living under the illusion that Star Wars is sci-fi (sorry kids, it's a G-rated children's movie), here's a synopsis of what Enterprise is (from UPN):
“A pre-quel set early in the 22nd century — bridging the gap between today's world and that of the original “Star Trek” — Enterprise focuses on the history of the galactic upheaval that leads to the formation of The Federation. Through their struggles, humans, vulcans, and numerous others, together will learn to work and live in harmony. Compelling tales of team bravery and individual heroism are sure to answer countless questions for die-hard fans of the series and capture the imagination of newcomers to the “Star Trek” universe.”
If you still don't get it, this comes BEFORE tos. It's sort of a “first-contact” show as far as I can tell… As they say in Yello, ohhhh yeahhh.
PS. I will ignore all messages telling me to watch re-runs of Babylon 5 instead.
I have lots of real work to do today, but I keep fiddling with things I shouldn't… I need to do an image update, fix my truck, fix a couple little things on the Vette, help clean the back yard, and all sorts of things… But all I can think about is new swag:
