Pitch Dark Bar Opens for Blind Dates
This actually sounds like a really cool idea.

You know how I said you should go see the LGB in yesterday's blog entry? Kinda difficult since the show I listed was for August 31. The next show you can actually catch is Sat., Sept. 24 at Montrose Beach, for a Lou Gehrig's Disease benefit.

A site about fat bikers. Just because.

Find a good mechanic in your area code. (Tangent: I should learn to be a mechanic. What's more useful than that. Perhaps non-reversing mirrors.)

Some woman wrote a book about the Skull and Bones society, yes the same one they made a lame movie about. The real thing sounds a lot more interesting.

My mom flew to Korea today, because my great-grandmother is fading pretty fast. She's 95. I kind of feel like maybe I should have gone, but they're not sure when my great-grandmother will pass on, and I didn't want to be in Korea for 3 weeks, like my mom. So I stayed here. But I still have this unsettled feeling in my gut, saying I should be over there. I could have made a little money teaching English at an academy my uncle runs, seen my relatives, gotten more good food than is healthy for me.

The Leah Galyean Band
Check out my friends' band, live if you're living in Chicagoland. They'll be at Uncommon Ground on August 31.

CrashBonsai
Sent in by alert reader Mike Herman.

I don't have a lot to blog about because I was looking for Groundskeeper Willie sound clips. And I'm not sorry. I rented and watched Gosford Park tonight, too. It's a good period film with all the necessary British accents, ground-under servants, and perfect countryside settings. Robert Altman gets a lot of flak from people, but I think it's just backlash because he's famous, and everyone wants to work with him.

What are the carnies talking about? Maybe about who would win in a cagematch between you, Clinton, and George Bush.

See if your favorite webpage is accessible in China, which reportedly has been blocking websites, including Google. This blog is accessible in China, if you were wondering.

The Robot Group _Mechanical Pit Bull
You sort of wonder why someone would build something to deliberately kick his/her own ass. How would such a person do on the Densa quiz?

Discover where American politicians are buried. What you do there when you find them is your own business.

What the heck is this?

People are always talking about being “real” all the time. I assume that this denotes some sort of honesty that they demand of themselves, and implicitly demand of others. What’s sort of ironic about that is that nobody wants it “real”: being “real” can be just as disingenuous of a front as anything else. Let’s face it, nobody wants complete total honesty, 100% of the time. What we want is the tactful, appropriate response. We want as much as we can handle at the time, no more, no less, and we want to be told by someone we trust, someone who’s integrity is pure. Being “real” gives too much wiggle room for idiots like Eminem, who claim their art is some sort of stark self-honesty that people cannot handle. Which is true, we don’t want to handle it. We don’t want to hear about it. If you’re going to share something with everyone, then shouldn’t there be some sort of value toward the public good in it? I can divulge all the contents of my soul, but if it’s not for some common widespread betterment, then perhaps I should narrow down my spectrum of intimacy. Intimacy is just that: intimate. It means that something is shared by few people, because only a few can get emotionally close enough to handle that sort of absolute soul-bearing that lots of us wish to do. It’s why people struggle with loneliness, they have no one to share with. They just want someone to talk to without any fear of being ridiculed.

I'm very sleepy. Is anyone listening to some good music? I'm in a rut and need something new. Comment some suggestions if you're feeling generous.