02.15.17

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. set near the Baldwin House in the Monrovia Arboretum

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Phlogiston at 10:25 am by George Smith

Went to the Arboretum in Monrovia on Monday with a friend. It was sunny and we were surprised to find a crew builing a set for Marvel’s Agent’s of S.H.I.E.L.D on the lawn near the old Baldwin House. (Place where “The plane, the plane, Boss!” was shot for Fantasy Island decades ago.) S.H.I.E.L.D. was there for two days, Monday being for set building.

No sign of Colsen, May or Daisy.

12.30.16

The Brief But Amusing life of Ultimate Mentor, Artificial Intelligence

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Phlogiston at 1:32 pm by George Smith

Outline — to be pitched to Amazon/Hulu/Hollywood/Netflix

Episode 1: In which ULTOR, standing for Ultimate Mentor, a secret government artificial intelligence development project, goes operational. The President is given the opportunity to ask the first big question.

Episode 2 of Ultimate Mentor, A.I.: The President: “How do I end inequality & division in America?”

Episode 3 of Ultimate Mentor, A.I.: ULTOR: “Give Americans money to leave for better places. Pay better places to host.”

Episode 4 of Ultimate Mentor, A.I.: All transcripts classified. ULTOR code lobotomized and sold to Uber and Google to drive cars.

12.28.16

Bogner La Grange: “A how-how-how” in a box

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Phlogiston, Rock 'n' Roll, Sludge in the Seventies at 3:46 pm by George Smith

Small pleasures.

Yeah, and I do do ZZ Top. Binders Full of Women is a humorous rip of something off early LP ZZ.

12.03.16

The Blues Have Got Me By the Throat

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Made in China, Phlogiston, Sludge in the Seventies at 12:52 pm by George Smith

Consider it a 15-minute radio show.

Photographic proof of why she lost: At home cavorting with suck-up multi-millionaire classic rock celebrities. Left to right: Jimmy Buffett, Jon Bon Jovi, HRC, Sir Paul McCartney.




Featuring the inimical Blind Poison Castorseed.

11.06.16

Trivial question

Posted in Phlogiston at 10:19 am by George Smith

Why is all the spam pushing hockey jerseys?

11.01.16

The Water Cooler Union of Concerned Computer Scientists

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Cyberterrorism, Phlogiston at 11:30 am by George Smith

“[A] small, tightly knit community of computer scientists who pursue such work—some at cybersecurity firms, some in academia, some with close ties to three-letter federal agencies—is also spurred by a sense of shared idealism and considers itself the benevolent posse that chases off the rogues and rogue states that try to purloin sensitive data and infect the internet with their bugs,” it reads at Slate.

Important stuff! “A Union of Concerned Nerds” are about to explain how they almost discovered Donald J. Trump was in league with Russia!

“We wanted to help defend both campaigns, because we wanted to preserve the integrity of the election,??? explained one of the academicians who, naturally, wished to remain anonymous.

One of the defenders of election integrity, nicknamed Tea Leaves (BTW, Tea Leaves is Cockney slang for “thieves,” which I lernt from watching The Limey)

They soon began “scrutinizing” a computer in Moscow, from a bank, that was connecting with Donald J. Trump’s domain “in a strange way.” Strange ways on the internet…

The information and data was passed on to a man named Vixie. There was “no higher authority” when it came to this kind of thing.

The transmissions of the suspicious computer in Moscow were deemed indeed very suspicious.

“The data has got the right kind of fuzz growing on it,??? according to Vixie, as told to the reporter. It’s the interpacket gap, the spacing between the conversations, the total volume.”

Growing fuzz. Interpacket gap.

What could be going on? Influence peddling and other skullduggeries yet to be determined, but suspiciously, very suspiciously, tied to events in the election cycle, like the days between two debates!

You could read it here. Or just go to the NY Times and skip the jargon and fog of cyberwar:

F.B.I. officials spent weeks examining computer data showing an odd stream of activity to a Trump Organization server and Alfa Bank. Computer logs obtained by The New York Times show that two servers at Alfa Bank sent more than 2,700 “look-up??? messages — a first step for one system’s computers to talk to another — to a Trump-connected server beginning in the spring. But the F.B.I. ultimately concluded that there could be an innocuous explanation, like a marketing email or spam, for the computer contacts.

“Agents scrutinized advisers close to Donald J. Trump, looked for financial connections with Russian financial figures, searched for those involved in hacking the computers of Democrats, and even chased a lead — which they ultimately came to doubt — about a possible secret channel of email communication from the Trump Organization to a Russian bank,” reads a sentence from the top of the story.

Oh well. With a week to go democracy still needs saving. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.


Listen for the “hee’s” and sinister theme invoking the terror of cyberwar near the end.

10.26.16

Orwell Cat

Posted in Decline and Fall, Phlogiston at 12:53 pm by George Smith

From the novel of dystopia USA, Big Fuzzer is Watching You: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Get Bumble Bee tuna.”

10.15.16

Out and about in Pasadena

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Phlogiston at 12:19 pm by George Smith

Lunch from The Slaw Dogs on N. Lake in Pasadena.

“The Traditional,” a quarter-pound chili dog with cheese and onions. Filling, one was all I needed. The dog has a good snap to it, too. The chili is also just the right consistency. You can eat the dog by hand without the topping glopping all over.

I love chili dogs and I’m not fussy. The Slaw Dogs’ passes muster — A.

09.14.16

Hot rock track from Old White Coot

Posted in Phlogiston, Rock 'n' Roll, WhiteManistan at 12:27 pm by George Smith

Download and collect ’em all.


Or listen to LP while it’s built.

08.31.16

Old White Coot (continued)

Posted in Culture of Lickspittle, Phlogiston, Rock 'n' Roll at 12:38 pm by George Smith

I’m pre-empting all the false-Americana music slated for release this fall. It’s another tune from “Old White Coot,” presented by the Cootenanny Company. The chorus alone is bound to raise smiles of recognition all over America.

And while you may have heard it, it’s never been made available for download to your gadget.

It’s pure electric folk blues, hmespun BDSM Americana, a tale of basement action.

“I’m wild about the women, keeping me from my peace at night/I got to keep ’em tied up, so they don’t start a fight.”

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