Circadian Shift

Hmmm, now having vented my spleen quite fully over the spamming antics of Mike Furir (apologies for the excessive profanity -- I've been overdue for a good spleen-vent), I got to thinking about last summer's blogosphere debacle with Quick Boys Moving and Storage.

Sure enough, a Google search on "Quick Boys Movers" still puts Accordion Guy's and Boing Boing's posts ahead of the Quick Boys site itself on the results list.

Interestingly, I started noticing several weeks ago that Quick Boys started advertising on HaloScan, who provide free commenting and trackback services for bloggers. I wonder how that's working out for them.

Some asshole named Mike Furir has been posting comment spam here on le blog for the last few days. Thankfully, the comment filters installed by my lovely and talented blog-host Mr. GAK have ensured that said spam finds its way to the junk bin and does not besmirch your eyes, my dear readers. (All six of you.)

A quick Google confirmed that I'm not the only one getting hit by this shitsmear named Mike Furir. (Hey, that rhymed.) Here are a few other posts on the topic:

• Quixtar Blog: Die Mike Furir
• Jake Ludington: Mike Furir Sucks
• Miss Zoot: I'll join the ranks in wanting Mr. Mike Furir to Die a slow, painful, and hopefully humiliating death.
• It's a Soul Thing: Sock it to me baby!

So, Mike Furir, how's your Google-juice now, ya stupid moron?

• audiography: Theme: Keyboards -- New Wave goodies, all featuring (surprise) keyboards
• Mars Needs Guitars: In My Dream I Was Nowhere -- songs with "dream" in the title, heavy on the shoegazing

It's a double-size mood board this week. ("N", I hope you're happy.) Click on the board below to view it in full 800x600 pixel glory (launches in a pop-up).

I'm not really sure what I did this week. Went to work. Went out to dinner a couple times. Went for a long walk yesterday.

I did buy a new CD, the album Everything Ecstatic by Four Tet. As the title might suggest, the album features light-hearted, sample-happy electronica and makes for fun listening.

Thanks to Bleep for providing the hella-neat widget shown above (the songs will play in 30-second slices; re-click the play button continue the tune). Unfortunately, they're not selling the MP3s to Canadian customers, hence my need to get a hard copy (thank you, CD-Replay on Bloor St., for offering it for cheaper than elsewhere).

I previously included the track "Smile Around the Face" in my 'Abstraction and Reverie' mix (still available for the time being on Rapidshare (scroll, click, wait, type)), or you can download the tune for free from Amazon (192 kbps, free registration required) or Insound (160 kbps, no registration, plus some older Four Tet tunes). You can also hear several of the tunes as part of a live set in Melbourne, currently available for free on Four Tet's website.

(BTW, all images on the board this week are courtesy of stock.xchng.)

• The lost art of napping
  "Studies link naps to increased alertness, accuracy, and productivity, according to Zorba Paster, M.D., author of 'The Longevity Code'." (via geekent.com)
  (tags: meta squishy)
• The 20 Most Important Tools Ever
  "No. 9: Eyeglasses"
  (tags: meta tech misc)

...then I would be able to thought-beam "Please shut the hell up and go away" as clearly and unambiguously as possible.

• Mutiny at the Cafe
  "Four employees, sick of slave wage labour and an ungrateful boss, up and left. Walked out, en masse, in the ultimate act of defiance against corporate middle management."
  (tags: meta biz squishy)
• Doctor, Please Reattach My ... - How long can you wait before sewing a severed body part back on?
  "A severed finger can survive for at least 12 hours in a warm environment and up to a couple of days if refrigerated. Some reports indicate that body parts can survive for as many as four days before being reattached."
  (tags: meta misc)
• 'Born Slippy was a greyhound we bet on'
  Underworld, The Buzzcocks, New Order, and others talk about the inspirations behind some well-known hits (thanks, waydownhere.net)
  (tags: music)
• Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers
  "...humans, unlike primates, 'can get stressed simply with thought, turning on the same stress response as does the zebra.' And when that stress response is turned on chronically, 'We get sick.'" (thanks, tbit.nu)
  (tags: meta squishy)
• MP3 Insider: The truth about your battery life
  playing copy-protected music on your portable music device will drain the battery faster (because of the extra processing power needed to decrypt the files) than playing regular MP3s
  (tags: tech music audio)
• Las Vegas Slot Machines vs. Electronic Voting Machines
  which one would you trust more?
  (tags: meta tech)

All this past week, silence is a rhythm too has been posting late 70s / early 80s musical goodies, in celebration of the release of Simon Reynolds' book Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-84.

Magazine, Monsoon, Simple Minds, The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire -- if this is the stuff you love, you better get over there ASAP and download away.

Time. Time. Time.

Every once in a while, the sickness kicks in a little more severely than usual.

"In 1985, physician Larry Dossey, in his book Space, Time & Medicine, coined the term "time sickness" to describe the illnesses that nag us because we believe we're in the race of our lives against a ticking clock."
(from the article "Slow down your life", by Martha Coventry)

Seems like there a multitude of things that one can, might, should, must devote one's attention and energy to. Sometimes the choices are easy. Get up. Go to work. Meet a deadline. Sometimes the choices are not so easy, or are all too easy to avoid. Read a book. Clean the apartment. Phone a friend. Go back to bed.

And then the day passes, and you wonder where all the time has gone.

But it's not just time-sickness on an acute scale -- measured in hours, days, and weeks -- but on a chronic one. Months, years -- even a decade -- of choices now bears scrutiny and lament. Mistakes are becoming harder to recover from, because, well, time is running out.

What to do? What to do...

"Where I am, I don't know, I'll never know, in the silence you don't know, you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on."
Samuel Beckett, The Unnamable (1959)

P.S. It's now been one year since I put my first weekly mood board online. You can view all the boards as a slideshow and see how time has passed.

• My Eyeball Just Fell Out of Its Socket - What should I do?
  reading this should help you sleep better at night ;)
  (tags: meta squishy misc)
• Maximizing your ROI at Pizza Hut
  get your money's worth from that trip to the salad bar
  (tags: misc)
• Buff and Brainy: Exercising the body can benefit the mind
  part one of a two-part series on lifestyle and brain fitness
  (tags: meta squishy)
• Eat Smart: Foods may affect the brain as well as the body
  part two of a two-part series on lifestyle and brain fitness
  (tags: meta squishy)
• STFU
  nobody wants to hear your singing at the office -- really (Flash, 404kb)
  (tags: visuals misc)

It's been a very difficult week.

I think I've been managing the situation fairly well, but it's been, uh, "challenging". (Addendum 15 March 2005: The matter has been resolved to my satisfaction. Hallelujah.)

Here are a couple resources on playing nicely with others and dealing with sticky interpersonal situations:

• Crucial Skills -- the "Free Stuff" section includes a weekly newsletter, various self tests, plus other resources
• Belding Skills Development -- the newly renamed "Winning at Work" newsletter (formerly known as "Hints from Hell") has plenty of tips on dealing with that pain-in-the-ass boss/employee/co-worker/customer in your life

In other workplace-related news, the inventor of the cubicle regrets his creation as a terrible mistake.

The weekly mood board for 05 March 2006 will not appear, as I'm completely and utterly lacking in inspiration.

I'm not in the mood for doing a mood board.

Back in a while.

It's 6pm on a Saturday and you're standing in the canned goods aisle of the supermarket, trying not to panic.

Something's wrong. You think you got lost.

You look in your handbasket, and you see:

• 4 Lean Cuisine
• 1 loaf of bread
• deli meat and pre-sliced cheese
• 2 tins of smoked mussels

These are not your groceries. There must be some mistake.

What the hell happened?

What. The. Hell. Happened?

You missed something. You slipped up somewhere.

Shit.

But you can't put it all back. It's much too late for that.

Checkout time.

This is your sandwich. Now eat it.

• Punk Rock Comes to Canada
  archival CBC audio and video from 1977; includes an interview with Iggy Pop
  (tags: music)
• Irritations: Obnoxious pleonasms
  people who use phrases like "PIN number" deserve to be smacked upside the head
  (tags: meta)