Vitriol

Vitriol

© 2001 by Andersen Silva (6-29-01)

Last updated 6-28-2022  


Fame (fame) makes a man think things over...

Well, I had a brush with small-time fame. After entering the Sexiest Geek Alive contest on a whim about six weeks ago, I promptly forgot about it. I mean, I never thought I actually had a chance... Then, three weeks ago, I realized that a significant number of visitors to my site were coming from the contest site, and so I learned that I was in the running for the May online contest, the winner of which would go to San Jose with the other online and pageant winners for the finals. I was suddenly contacted by a writer with the Newark Star-Ledger, one of New Jersey's largest newspapers, who was putting together a story on the contest and the entrants from Jersey, and he informed me that, according to his sources, I stood a very good chance of going to the finals! I was flabbergasted, needless to say. We spoke for a while on the phone, and he sent a photographer to my workplace the next day. Everything seemed to be going really well, though I learned a few days later that I had not won the online contest after all and was therefore out of the race. Nonetheless, the writer told me the article would be printed the following Monday. Well, Monday came, and no article.  :\  Upon inquiry, I was informed that the paper's editorial staff had decided to pull the article, since none of the Jersey entrants were going to the finals after all. So, that was that. "I coulda been a contender..."

For how many more months am I going to have to write about the violence in the Middle East, and in Macedonia, and in Chechnya? Despite my sympathies for many of the parties involved in these situations, it's shameful that so many people need die because two sides are unwilling to enter into tough, painful negotiations. And if every movement, every organization, every people that feels it's being wronged decides to take up arms against its perceived oppressors... well, need I remind my fellow Americans of Tim McVeigh? Yes, the United States was forged by colonists beating back a bloated and tyrannical empire, but I bet many of the Bolsheviks considered their goals in forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to be as lofty and liberating. If every group that claims unjust treatment at the hands of its federal government secedes, we will be faced with a world of a thousand nations, and it will be even more difficult for the world body to agree on anything than it is now. And no, that doesn't mean I'm a member of the Illuminati... ;)

Speaking of the People of the Light, I've seen "Tomb Raider" twice in the past five days. I wasn't expecting to see it the second time, but I'd enjoyed it enough the first time to have no problems watching it again.

I'm ecstatic that the Serbian government pushed Milosevic into the hands of the war crimes tribunal before the procedure got tangled up in red tape, which was sure to happen had they delayed a single day. However, I hope this doesn't result in the collapse of Yugoslavia's reformist government, or even of the Yugoslav federation. There are obviously still a lot of Slobo's cronies in both Serbia and Montenegro, and there are a great many people who are convinced that the tribunal is anti-Serb. Kostunica needs to hold his people and his nation together now, as does Trajkovski in Macedonia, or the Balkans could explode far more severely than in the past.

Two executions in a week. The United States under the leadership of President Dubya is obviously determined to show the rest of the world how Neanderthally tough we are. Why must America continue to flaunt its brutal stance in the face of civilization? And then Congress gets pissy that the U.S. has lost its seat on the United Nations' human rights commission. Communist China still executes its citizens, too...

WARNING: rant ahead. When the hell are you people going to learn how to use (or not use) apostrophes?!? I've raged against misspellings in the past (and believe me, there's still a lot of them around, too), but lately I'm seeing more and more apostrophes where they have no business being. A plural word does not need an apostrophe, unless you're trying to show possession; i.e., "We've got car's for sale" is incorrect, but "All the cars' steering wheels had been torn off" is fine. I'm getting increasingly annoyed with the pathetic state of literacy in this country. It's definitely a symptom of darker days ahead...

One last comment before I depart for sandier pastures (namely, Ocean City, Maryland): Systems Administrator Appreciation Day is coming, on Friday, July 27th. Gifts are not necessary, but appreciation would be such a nice change of pace...  ;) - A


April 2004 - The real final Vitriol, Howard Stern, Dubya, etc.
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March 2004 - Dining out with my baby, Virtual PC, and the end of Vitriol... or is it?
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February 2004 - Two weeks between jobs, three new songs, grabbing Panther by the tail
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January 2004 - Ice skating with Gina, sushi at my sister's wedding, war-riding, the pink slip
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December 2003 - Moving pains, goin' places with Gina, Christmas bells
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November 2003 - The looong month of October, finding an apartment, Ozzy's gone
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October 2003 - I'm in love with her and I feel fine, Boston, the Dalai Lama, apartment for rent?
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September 2003 - Andy, happy? it could happen!, taking time off from work, Ringo Starr, "Discworld," the blackout
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August 2003 - (W)here (M)ight (D)ose WMDs be?, gay marriages and the people who fear them, '80s metal bands, Computer Man to the rescue, Philadelphia freedom
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July 2003 - Boondocks.net is back!, rudeness on public transportation and elsewhere, "Hole in the Wall"
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June 2003 - Science fiction movies, where is Boondocks.net?, still no weapons of misconstruction...
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May 2003 - How 'bout them weapons of mass distraction, huh?, Def Leppard, Michael Palin, another Silva, wireless networking, and a damned good raspberry margarita
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April 2003 - They're still French fries, dammit!, a new guitar for Andy, music-music-music
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March 2003 - The buildup for, and the protesting against, war
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February 2003 - The destruction of the Columbia, the National Day of Poetry Against the War, hard and soft atheism, Pete Townshend, and the gift shop
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January 2003 - Christmas loot, "Swingin'," more war talk
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December 2002 - The year in review, moving again?!?, moving world leaders around, too
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November 2002 - "Scarlet's Walk" and Tori's penguin, jackasses, and killing in the name of...
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October 2002 - Boston, Aimee Mann, and Palpatine/Bush
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September 2002 - George Darius Bush and George Xerxes Bush
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August 2002 - Movin' out of Paisan-town, and far away from the Regal Beagle
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July 2002 - Church and state: you gotta keep 'em separated, Dubya still doesn't want to play nice with the rest of the world, John Entwistle's gone
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June 2002 - Movin' on from town to town, Dave Barry and the Rock Bottom Remainders
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May 2002 - Science fiction movies everywhere!, jail time for virus creators, Dubya finally learns to pronounce 'occupation,' Andy gets a promotion?!?
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April 2002 - Terrorism on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, people who don't interact with me or the Web site, "For Dana" to be released on a compilation CD
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March 2002 - Chip implants, the children of God and the followers of Christ commit murder in His name, ultranationalism American style
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February 2002 - Dubya says, "These pretzels are making me- ack!" Sharon continues playing Napoleon, and... the return of Foogar?
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January 2002 - Rob Zombie, Ozzy Osbourne, and other Christmas-related items, stealin' cars, karaoke!
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December 2001 - George meets his sweet lord, terrorists EVERYwhere!, Tomb Raider II finished finally, and the Segway, finally!
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November 2001 - Anthrax (the band), WSOU rocks - but for how much longer? and a minute of silence?
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October 2001 - Osama bin Laden and anthrax and the women who love them
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September 2001 - Five days after the 9/11 attacks
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September 2001 - Governments and armies and the assholes who love them, more misspellings, and a large lack of feedback
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August 2001 - Dubya's isolationism, the Macedonians and Albanians search for peace the Israeli/Palestinian way, 2004 Olympics in Beijing
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July 2001 - Not the Sexiest Geek Alive, war (what is it good for?), murdering citizens American-style
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June 2001 - A dead hitchhiker, the Taliban, and an independent Senator Jeffords
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May 2001 - Joey Ramone's dead, and "Joey Ramone's Dead"
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April 2001 - Brazil (not the Terry Gilliam film), Dubya and carbon dioxide, Yugoslavia begins coming to its senses, Israel and the Palestinians still haven't come to theirs...
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March 2001 - New look for the Web site, upcoming vacation in Brazil!, the pig-headed Taliban, "Hannibal"
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February 2001 - Tomb Raider II, Dubya plays with his new toys, nature plays with El Salvador and India, and the inevitable Chechnya and Israel/Palestinians references
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January 2001 - Snow, a new year/decade/century/millennium, screen resolutions
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December 2000 - The iBook, "The X-Files," the Grinch, the pathetic turn of events in the U.S. elections...
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November 2000 - Got the iBook! the Village Parade, trouble still brewin' in the Mideast, the upcoming U.S. elections...
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October 2000 - Andy turns 30, the Middle East, the anniversary of the invasion of Chechnya...
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September 2000 - A random act of kindness, Great Adventure, new music, new iBooks?
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August 2000 - Palestine and the Israelis, Milosevic, Speight, and breaking the speed of light!
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July 2000 - Israel & the Palestinians, the missile defense shield, and (who'da thunk it?) Chechnya
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June 2000 - Um, Chechnya again, gun-totin' Charlton Heston, misspellings, and xenophobes
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May 2000 - Communism on the last May Day of the twentieth century, and Andy's life ("Don't talk to me about life...")
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April 2000 - Hold on, it's more Chechnya rantin', and an appeal on behalf of a friend caught behind red tape
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March 2000 - Hey, hey, Pinochet, Russia and China won't go away, "The X-Files," the American presidential race, and a prelude to vacation
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February 2000 - Again with the Chechens, and Elián, Pinochet, mp3.com vs. the recording industry, and snow
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January 2000 - Made it through January 1st, Syria and Israel, public transportation, and, er, Chechnya
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December 1999 - Indonesia comes apart, Chechnya (no shit), Seattle's burning, 'n Happy Xmas
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November 1999 - Halloween, my bad knee, Russians? in Chechnya?!? Buchanan and the Reform Party, NIN
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October 1999 - Hurricane on the East Coast, earthquakes in Taiwan, Turkey, and Greece, and Apple Computers
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September 1999 - I'm not getting you down, am I? I'd hate to think I was getting you down...

- - - the Dark Ages (reprise) - - -

April 1999 - the return of Vitriol, Kosovo, a foreshadowing of the Russian invasion of Chechnya (!), and Libya

- - - the Dark Ages - - -

September-November 1995 - the Underground Press Conference, a co-worker bites the dust, Rabin really bites the dust, Remington Bond, Win95, and the Sex Pistols
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August 1995 - the death penalty, the V-chip and violence in pop culture, and "TV Nation"
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June 1995 - Oklahoma City, 'zines, "The X-Files" and "V.R.5"
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March 1995 - I'm sick!, the space program (ha), alt.zines, "Star Trek" and "Voyager"
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February 1995 - the very first Vitriol! Newt Gingrich, political correctness, media overkill, Howard Stern, the Apple goon squad?
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Last updated 6-28-2022