I mentioned in the previous post that the global warming zealots want anyone with questions to “shut the hell up”.  Now, comes news from the Copenhagen climate conference that journalists who persist in asking inconvenient questions will be silenced with the help of armed U.N. thugs.

I guess there are worse fates than being forcibly silenced.  Here’s the reaction a commenter got when he questioned the faith (it is a religion you know) of an AGW true believer:

I have zero respect for you people and I hope you all contract cancer and die painful and slow deaths.

Well Jacob, that’s about the only way you’ll get me to shut up.

What is it you don’t want us to find out?

Alright, you have got to admit there is just something about a woman in uniform…

…even if it is a North Korean uniform.

It seems IE users have been have some issues accessing the blog.  I didn’t realize that until Kevin gave me a heads up over at Facebook.  I’ve been using Firefox as my browser lately and didn’t experience anything out of the norm.  But when I checked in on LTG at lunch today from work, it would not open properly.

I believe the issue was a video I tried to post last week.  It never would show, but somehow it messed something up.  I deleted the video and I’m here on IE, hence my supposition that the problem is resolved.

Please advise if that is not correct.

Apparently they have 237 reasons.

What type of man do they prefer?

Tall, deep voice, a “V” shaped torso.

Hmm, I still got two outta three.  My “V” (such as it was) is now an “O”.

France’s culture minister had this to say about the arrest of Roman Polanski:

Mr Mitterrand said the US’ behaviour, in seeking his extradition, was callous and “horrifying”.

And this is what Mitterrand said in a book he published several years ago:

In his 2005 book The Bad Life, he wrote: “I got into the habit of paying for boys,” saying his attraction to young male prostitutes was not dimmed despite knowing “the sordid details of this traffic”.

“All these rituals of the market for youths, the slave market excited me enormously… the abundance of very attractive and immediately available young boys put me in a state of desire.”

I thought it was pretty funny that Woody Allen was a Polanski supporter, but this…

Hat Tip: Althouse

C’mon Nancy, give us the truth…

Commenter Frank passed along this video.  Enjoy!

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I arrived safe and sound and am posting this update from a local PC bang.  Another first time experience in Korea.  It pretty much sucks as this computer is slower than molasses.  Ah well, it ain’t chillin’ my buzz.

Got a nice ocean view room for W40,000 at a local condotel.  Very comfortable.

Witnessed a beautiful full moon over the water tonight which was more than worth the price of admission.

Drove the long and winding road over Seraksan which was also a visual treat.

Traversed the fish market in Daepohang which was a bit different.  Got reminded after a late lunch that raw fish and me are not on good terms.

This is the off season here and the town is QUIET, QUIET, QUIET!  No worries, I’m just going to relax and enjoy the beach.

Purchased a nice new digital camera for the trip so upon my return I will post photos and commentary on my adventure.

Cheers!

Apparently, johnmccrarey.com was worth something to someone in Poland. As they have absconded with my domain name. Former readers now get some drug spam ad instead of the wit and witticism to which they became accustomed at Long Time Gone. Not!

Long story short: I like everyone else was redirected to the Tramadol spam when I logged onto LTG. I contacted my blog host (blogs-about.com) who said my domain no longer pointed to their server. They suggested I contact GoDaddy.com who was the domain servicer. I said I have no relationship with GoDaddy and I had purchased the domain through them. I was advised that blogs-about is just a broker and my domain had been purchased through GoDaddy. Ok, then.

So, I call GoDaddy and they need my customer number, which since I was never their customer I don’t have. After jumping through numerous hoops I was finally able to ascertain that my blog domain registration had expired and when I did not renew, it had been purchased by the aforementioned guy in Poland. And there was nothing GoDaddy could do to get it back. (well, I could use their domain purchase service and try to buy it back). Which I am still considering. What the hell is my name worth?

I was incensed and outraged and frustrated and disgusted and more. First, I recalled having paid for a 5 year registration of the domain, and that was four years ago. (Of course, four years later I have no way to document that). Second, I received no notice of the expiration or opportunity to renew. GoDaddy insists that I was sent several emails. I didn’t get them, although it is *possible* I treated them as spam since I didn’t heretofore know GoDaddy from Adam.

Whatever. I finally purchased mccrarey.com and no here is where my blog resides. It is like starting over as none of my former readers know how to find me (they were few, but loyal and I miss them). So, I will send an email to as many as I can locate and ask those who linked to me previously to update their links.

And I suppose life goes on.

What a freakin’ nightmare. Bottom line, someone stole my name (domain). It shouldn’t have taken as long as it did to resolve but sometimes life gets in the way. Anyway, I had to purchase a new domain so everyone who reads this blog or links to it still can’t find me. Which means I’m just talkin’ to myself right now.

Well, need to beat the bushes and get the word out. It’s like starting over…

It’s been a long time comin’ ( an I’ve been a Long Time Gone) but here I am.

Actually posting this from Washington, DC (well, technically Alexandria, Virginia) where I arrived after a 20 hour journey from Seoul yesterday. Have meetings here the next two days before spending the weekend in South Carolina with family. Back to Korea on Tuesday.

I can pretty much illustrate my overall existence these past few months with an incident that occurred in the early morning hours today. My secretary booked my hotel and it is a freaking smoke free facility. So, I wake up at 0400 (jet lag is a bitch), brew the in-room coffee, grab the USA Today newspaper and head outside for a morning smoke. Now, I am all suited up for my first big meeting with the brass from higher headquarters and I’m being careful not to do something stupid like spilling coffee on my new tailor-made pink dress shirt. Suddenly there is a “plop” sound and I feel something hit my arm and I’m thinking surely it is not starting to rain. No, some f’n bird scored a direct hit on my suit jacket. That was a shitty start to the day.

Anyway, just prior to flying here I had 12 days in the Philippines, and spent the last five sick. Still sick, but getting better day by day.

Not sure who still ventures into the barren waters of this blog, but I’m going to try and get back in the groove again. So check back occasionally. Or not.

“It is not in the world of ideas that life is lived. Life is lived for better or worse in life, and to a man in life, his life can be no more absurd than it can be the opposite of absurd, whatever that opposite may be.” Archibald MacLeish

This Weezer video is rockin’ the internet. I actually saw it a couple of weeks ago and never got around to posting it. But now that the blogfather Instapundit has linked it I can say with some certainty “you saw it here last!”

Anyway, it’s a pretty fun video and catchy tune even if you don’t like Weezer. And I can appreciate the sentiment:

It is funny what pops up in your email. Even funnier that perfect strangers happen upon my blog and find it somehow worthy of their attention. Hell, I am thrilled when someone takes the time to leave a comment. But sending a warm and thoughtful email actually inspired (guilted?) me into posting some new crap here. Here’s what Michael from Sarasota had to say:

hi John,

I wanted to write you a quick email. I have been periodically reading your blog over the last couple years. You have a really great way of bringing your experiences to life on the computer. I wanted to tell you though, that something odd has happened to me. Let me explain.

I am American. I left the U.S. and went on a year+ long journey around the world when I was 19-20. When I was done, I settled in Germany for 4 years. There I would meet my Japanese wife. Other great adventures ensued. in 2001 I returned to the US and I now live in Florida. Knowing this is important to understand the point I will now make.

On my journey and subsequent life in Germany I was quite a writer. I have books and books of handwritten journals. At one point I bought a typewriter and then it REALLY poured out of me. It was really something. All the way up until the completion of my life in Germany, I wrote a lot. Then, upon my return to the US, my writing stopped. I really felt like I didn’t have much to write anymore. Since I have been back in the US, I have made some attempts at writing but it is weird. I just don’t have much to write about.

Then I began to understand why. Living away from the US allowed me a great amount of anonymity. It allowed me an identity that was very well defined my my “foreiner” status. I was the guy from New York, or i was the tourist, etc. People regard Americans with a certain courtesy around the world, politics aside. I really liked that status. That special status made me feel like I really had a genuine story to tell, like Captain Ahab.

Now I live in Florida and life is great. It is warm, there are beaches, life is easy. The only problem is that I don’t have anything to write about because I have melted back into the sea of my countrymen. I hope that you enjoy your “gaijin” or “gwailo” status in Korea and reap the unique benifits it has to offer. Reading your blog really puts be back into my traveled life and brings that other dimension I have described here.

Just thought you’d like to know,

Michael

Thanks for that Michael. Your words reminded me that I am in fact having a great adventure, and it only stops being so when I allow myself to take things here for granted. So, I will try a little bit harder to make each day meaningful, even in the most simple or mundane things I might chance to encounter.

And who knows? Maybe I will even get off (or technically on) my lazy ass and write about them.

Thanks again for writing.

My laptop died. Well, it is not dead but it has alzheimers or something. It just shuts down with increasing regularity. It started happening a couple of months ago with things like YouTube videos, which I guess take a lot of computing power to run or something. Then it started happening with simple tasks like email. Well, it was three years old so I suppose that’s about all the useful life you can expect.

So yesterday I went to the PX and picked up a new machine. I bought a middlin’ HP desktop with a nice 19″ widescreen monitor. Set me back $700. I looked at a Toshiba laptop with the same memory as the desktop for about $150 more, but you know I can’t see myself lugging a laptop around much anyway. So I will wait till I can afford something top-of-the-line before I take the plunge on another laptop.

So, this computer is ok. It runs Vista which I have heard nothing good about. So far no problems though. The pain in the ass is that all my bookmarks, photos, etc. are on the old machine. Ah well, I think it has enough life where I can get my hard drive stuff salvaged and transferred to a new home.

On a positive note, I was able to load and play CIV IV. Got it for Christmas a couple of years ago but the laptop didn’t have the systems required to run it. Then the CD/ROM quit working so I couldn’t even play CIV III. So it was nice to get back into some gaming. CIV IV is quite a bit different than its predecessors, so it will take some getting used. But I spent most of the day yesterday getting a feel for it and I think I’m going to have another enjoyable pastime to fill in the gaps when I’m not throwing darts.

And there you have the latest fascinating episode of my so-called life.

Cheers!

…’cause I’m going down. Actually, I am already down. I mean my internet connection is down. Which is a real pain in the ass.

So I will see you when the problem is resolved. I think I have narrowed it down to a problem with my wireless router or my laptop.

Hasta la vista!

…but my darts were hot. But not hot enough. We lost to Eberhardt, but we went down swinging.
Hate to lose, but they are a good bunch of guys and we wish them well the rest of the way.

Wait till next year!

Nobody EVER accuses me of that for some reason. But for those of you who know one, try these tidbits to shut him up (or her as the case may be):

SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING?

“Stewardesses” is the longest word typed with only the left hand and
“lollipop” with your right. ?

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or
purple.

“Dreamt” is the only English word that ends in the letters “MT”.?

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears
never stop growing.

The sentence: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” uses every
letter of the alphabet.

The words ‘racecar,’ ‘kayak’ and ‘level’ are the same whether they are
read left to right or right to left (palindromes).

There are only four words in the English language which end in “dous”:
tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in
order: “abstemious” and “facetious”

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only
on one row of the keyboard.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.?

A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years.

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps They don’t appear until the child
reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full
moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would
never end because of the rate of reproduction.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person’s left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel
that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and
a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely
solid.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies’ room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

Now you know everything!??