WTF

Wowza.

ok, today i was:

2 hours late for work.

Why?

Flat tire + I lost my cell phone = f*ck

But, i just had a double cheeseburger for lunch
so things are looking up...

Baby On Board - The Highway 17 Jackass Weekend Edition

So i really had no plans for weekend jackass updates. I figured that the work week brought out the worst in drivers and that on the weekend’s, the tourist traffic would just be slow and sloppy... boy was i wrong. Today’s winner is our first female entry to the asshat hall of fame and she wins by a landslide. Notice the traffic in the photo, barely moving right? So it therefore must be of such importance that this driver get in front of us that she cuts between the front of our car and black VW Rabbit in the right lane. The only thing that keeps her from smashing into the side of our vehicle is the quick braking skill of our driver. Now before everyone gets their panties in a bundle, let me say that i know this kind of abrupt lane change is par for the course on 17, but what made this move particularly awesome was that as she so deftly cut us off and nearly caused a pile up, her little baby slept quietly in its car seat on the rear bench. Nice one Mom!! If we hadn’t hit the brakes, she would have driven her rear door (the one right next to the baby) directly into our front right bumper. Protective maternal instincts my ass! What’s next, a return to smoking in the car with the windows rolled up? Lady in the Honda Civic; you are a Jackass.

Superspectral (Cabana Remix) -*- The Tao Of Groove -*- Elemental Chill: Vol. 1 Fire

I am rich, therefore, I Jackass...

I am rich, therefore, I Jackass...



You know what is awesome about being rich? Not giving a fuck if you plow into people that are going zero miles per hour while you are going 75. Today’s jackass just got his new Mercedes (judging by the paper tags that looked like they were printer on an inkjet printer) and couldn’t wait to try opening it up on Highway 17 at 5 p.m. on a Friday. So when this guys nearly slams into the white truck in front him what does he do? He earns the jackass of the day award by honking madly at the white truck stopped in the bumper to bumper gridlock. Asshat? Yes.

The Highway 17 Daily Jackass

Welcome to the first installment of The Highway 17 Daily Jackass blog! Pretty sweet. So what is this Highway 17, and what are these jackasses doing that rates them blogworthy? Well, Hwy 17 is a dangerous stretch of asphalt that goes over the hill between Santa Cruz and San Jose. It’s curvy, slick, poorly maintained, and also the only effective way to get from the Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay area to the Silicon Valley. That means everyday thousands of people make the commute over our dear 17, and let me tell you, it’s a first-class view into why people generally cannot be left to their own devices. That being said, let’s get on with it shall we?

Today’s jackass had the good sense to nearly run over a motorcyclist, twice. In California, motorcycles can cut between the lanes and continue on through stalled or slow traffic. This means that as a car driver, one must be always on the look out for our two-wheeled comrades. Today’s jackass was not on the lookout and nearly knocked a guy off his bike. This happens; but what happened next is what got this guy the inaugural crown. This asshat proceeds to start a honk-fest with the cycler and then tail gates the motorcycle for almost a mile alternating between accelerating and slamming on his breaks as traffic crawled along. This of course caused all other traffic to slow even more as no one wanted any piece of this crazy town action. Great going jackass!!

Private Eyes, are watching you

LA's spy-in-the-sky drone sparks privacy concerns
By John Hiscock Los Angeles
Published: 20 June 2006

"A helicopter can be seen and heard and one can make behaviour choices based on that," said Beth Givens of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. "Do we really want to live in a society where our backyard barbecues will be open to police scrutiny?"

Police say the concerns are unwarranted because everybody is already under surveillance.

"You shouldn't be worried about being spied on by your government," said Commander Heal. "These days you can't go anywhere without a camera watching you, whether you're in a grocery store or walking down the street."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1090864.ece

Try going a day without a cell phone, it sucks.

Why pay for college?

Why pay for college?

For those of you that always dreamed of going to a college whose name is sweatshirt worthy but could never afford the tuition nor pass the entrance requirements, the internet is here to once again save the day. Both the University of California Berkeley and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offer course materials on the web. I can't stress how cool this is, especially for someone like me who never really had the typically college experience. And lets face it, you can't beat the price... Of course, you can't get a degree through these programs, but you can actually learn something, and if Alan Ross' lecture introducing students to his PolySci 179 class is any indication, you are also in for a good time. So download a lecture or scope up some reading material and knock the dust off the old noodle, you'll be glad ya did.

Bill Gates to leave Microsoft... sort of....

News at 11

Free FM?

The daily commute is not the most wonderful thing in the world. For those of us in the Bay Area, it's made profoundly worse by the utter lack of redeeming programming in the world of free radio (I guess you get what you pay for huh?). But for a brief moment, there was a shining beacon of hope on the horizon that held the promise of good times while navigating the gridlock. 106.9 Free Fm had a pretty sweet line-up for a little minute earlier this year. Adam Carolla on morning, Darian O'Toole on lunch duty, Penn Jillette mid afternoon, John London doing the evening drive time and Tom Leykis on nights. Pretty solid line up for an FM Talk radio station. But alas, it was not to last.

Within the span of one month, both John London and Darien O'Toole were unceremoniously fired and any remains of their time at the station were wiped from the annoying 106.9FreeFm website. I guess the brain trust over there at Free FM figured that since no one was listening, (judging by the lack of ads and overabundance of station ID's) that no one would noticed two major radio personalities had left the building. Sure John London offered (on the air) to pay someone $5,000 to kill Penn Jillette, and sure Darian O'Toole fell asleep (passed out) while her show was live, but is that really any reason to fire someone? Hell no! That's great fodder for news stories (read: free advertising) and it also shows that these jocks had some gumption; unlike the FUPA farmers that have come and gone in attempts to fill these glaringly vacant time slots in the now months that have passed since London and O'Toole got the boot. Wait for it, I'm reloading. Key the music, and give me a double, let's talk about the evening drive time slot and the parade of ass hats that Free FM has opened the mic to recently. First up, Johnny Wendell.

Someone please just kill me now. I couldn't even make it out of the parking lot before completely turning my radio off and shaking with disgust. This man's voice is like a wasabi enema with a gerbil chaser. I'll give the guy credit for knowing a good deal of music history, but talk about killing me with the cool guy radio voice... Thankfully Wendell didn't last long and in his absence, the Free FM PD Ken Kohl has been giving genius lessons by airing the radio equivalent of When Harry met Lloyd to fill the drive time slot. Welcome to the Bay Area Scott & Casey, enjoy the stay, because judging by your record so far, it won't be for long. If yesterday's studio invasion by train wreck and former child star Danny Bonaduce is any indication, Scott & Casey could be out before the weekend. But since we're on the subject, let's take a moment to explore just how much I loathe these two So-Cal born and inbreed imbeciles.

First off, one of my pet peeves with talk radio is when the host is practically begging people to call in and chat. It's talk radio, people get it, they understand how it works, just give us the phone number every now and again and stop panhandling calls from your glassy eyed audience. Here's a news flash, if you two dildos had anything worthwhile or even slightly redeeming to share with the Bay Area, the phone would be ringing off the hook. Instead, we get inane discussion about topics that are loosely (at best) tied to the top news stories of the day. My most recent favorite was the contemplation of the Supreme Courts ruling that death row inmates may challenge the legality of the lethal injection... oh where oh where is my sweet, misogynistic, politically incorrect, decidedly offensive John London and his Inferno radio crew? Sure Mr. London is rude, out dated, sexist, and just plain offensive, but at least he has an IQ that is demonstrably above 80 points (which Scott & Casey barely achieve with their IQ's combined). Listening to Scott & Casey get their verbose on about the best way to execute death row inmates led me to the conclusion that we should just get inmates to kill themselves by pumping Scott & Casey into the prisons 24 hours a day until said prisons are empty (save the deaf who would be spared). This should only take about a week, two at worst. I only wish I was a celebrity so I could challenge these asshats to a charity boxing match. I'd take both of them at the same time and wipe the floor with their circular logic and limited mental abilities. Well enough of this jibber-jabber, I need to download the podcast of this mornings Adam Carolla show so I can continue the frontal lobe atrophy that has set in ever since Howard left "free radio..."

Westly goes down in the 12th...

So the primary is over, Steve Westly lost and now the California Democratic party is stuck with the limp noodle that is Phil Angelides. Nice going California Dems; I'll be the one reminding you to shut your traps as we drudge through four more years of the Governator. Do I like Phil? No. And let me count the ways.

First off, the man has no class. Zero. This is a man that paid or approved payment to have a staffer dress up as "The Fat Cat"



and follow the Westly Bus Tour around the state. The Fat Cat and his unbathed (and marginally employed) man servant



were at almost every event. How many of you humble Dems out there can afford to take two weeks off work and at current gas prices, drive up and down the state, three cities a day including hotel rooms, without some major funding?

These are the actions of a man who is scared. These are the actions of a man who has no vision, no plan, no class, no soul, nothing save his personal "chit" system of every slight and favor owed him over his long and stunningly unspectacular political career. On a more behind the scenes note, his campaign staffers had the gall to "friend" all the Westly campaign friends on MySpace the day after the election. I think Phil should understand this "chit" --- "denied." I can't help but think that in the general this November, third party candidates (as well as Arnold) are going to see a surprising upsurge in votes as moderate Dems search for an Anything But Angelides alternative. I have only one word for all of this; awesome.