Burnout Under Control

A rainy day, a lack of sleep, a lingering cold...

Any one of these could cause a person to lose their ambition, if only for a day. Imagine then, having all three at once, plus a lack of interesting subject matter besides. Hopefully, that gives you some idea of what Monday was like at my place.

No doubt it happens to many people, even as they are excitedly engaged in their life's work. Shadows of doubt, crises of faith, and my old companion worry have also been getting to me. Not any specific worry, just a generalised feeling of discontent that's easier to refer to as worry than anything else.

The cure for burnout is defiance. After all, burnout can suffer from burnout as easily as talent or ambition, and will often do so quicker, since it's made of the stuff. Faced with a seemingly insurmountable task (which I have set for myself), mourning what must be sacrificed in order to make it so, but also accustomed to following the path of least resistance, I have simply returned to my work determined to do it for me, and for my sake alone.

The decision to switch paths, to contend with one where there is more resistance in the belief that at the end of it there must be a greater reward was not an easy one. I did so expecting to come up against the occasional wall or bog or some other obstacle, even if the obstacle is the outer edge of my own talent and the yawning abyss beyond that.

These are the normal challenges in a writing life; our confessional society and beloved Internet make it easier for readers to know the unique efforts that go into what they're reading. But neither make it easier to deal with.

Which is all a very flowery way of saying I woke up, read four chapters of a book about Jack the Ripper, had a nap in which I was plagued not by nightmares as such but of my present fears made into archetypes, and when I awoke again with a start a couple of hours later I felt much better.

Lately I've been feeling more like a machine than a storyteller, and a spot of lucid dreaming seems to have proven the best solution.
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"Angst" by aniboom

I came across this the other night in my never-ending quest for the very best content I can find. I just loved the lyrical images and the depiction of angst.
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Trouble For Trouble?

New York state law prevents dogs from being buried in human cemeteries (and, presumably, vice versa); too bad for Trouble her owner held the law in such disregard.

Under the terms of Leona Helmsley's will, when her $12 million dog Trouble dies, she's to be interred next to her former captor - er, owner - in the grand mausoleum Helmsley built for herself and her husband in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

Trouble is now 8, so it'll be a few more years until this needs sorting out.
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The World's Most Powerful Women

Forbes magazine recently they released their list of the world's most powerful women (in their opinion). The top 30 are:

1. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
2. Wu Yi, Vice Premier of China
3. Ho Ching, CEO Temasek Holdings
4. Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State
5. Indra K. Nooyi, chief executive of PepsiCo
6. Sonia Gandhi, president of India's National Congress Party
7. Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of Anglo American
8. Patricia A. Woertz, chair of Archer Daniels Midland
9. Irene Rosenfeld, CEO Kraft Foods
10. Patricia Russo, chief executive of Alcatel-Lucent
11. Michèle Alliot-Marie, French Minister for the Interior and Overseas territories
12. Christine Lagarde, French Minister of Finance
13. Anne M. Mulcahy, CEO Xerox
14. Anne Lauvergeon, president of Areva
15. Mary Sammons, CEO Rite-Aid
16. Angela Braly, chief executive of WellPoint
17. Marjorie Scardino, CEO Pearson PLC
18. Wu Xiaoling, Deputy governor of the People's Bank of China
19. Brenda Barnes, president of Sara Lee Foods
20. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court Justice
21. Oprah Winfrey, chair of Harpo Productions
22. Margaret "Meg" Whitman, president of eBay
23. Elizabeth II, head of the Commonwealth of Nations
24. Melinda Gates, cochair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
25. Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. junior senator from New York
26. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives
27. Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile
28. Safra A. Catz, president/CFO of Oracle
29. Susan E. Arnold, president (global business units) for Procter & Gamble
30. Andrea Jung, CEO Avon

Agree? Disagree? Discuss...

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Dutch Royals In Wiki Scandal

When it was announced last week that WikiScanner, a software program that tracks updates to Wikipedia via IP addresses, had gone online I remembered wondering who exactly it might catch. Actually, for the sake of full disclosure, I was actually wondering whether or not I would get a blog post out of it. My own earliest list of potential culprits included the White House, Microsoft, and Donald Trump.

So while politicians and corporate stooges alike actually have been called out on their rewriting of certain pages, I would have never dreamt that a royal would fall into this trap. (Royalty, in case you hadn't already guessed, is my catnip.)

That's exactly what happened, though; Prince Johan Friso of Holland - second son of Queen Beatrix - and his wife Princess Mabel were busted doing a little tidying up of her past recently. In their own defense the Prince did say he was only trying to correct the public's erroneous impression of his wife: namely that she was once the gunmoll of a druglord, then lied to the Prime Minister about it so she could be a Princess.

To be fair, rather than blaming it on a press secretary, they did 'fess up to doing it themselves. Which has me thinking they must still be in contact with the Princess' ex-boyfriend*, because what were they smoking anyway? Royalty are trained to avoid scandal from birth; what, they can't send a secretary to an Internet cafe to make whatever edits they need? No, they do it themselves on a computer inside the Palace.

Still, at least they owned up when caught. Turns out both chivalry and responsibility (both presumed dead for years) are alive and kicking.

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*^{: They're not. He died in 1991. I just liked the joke so I left it in.}
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The Face Behind The Voice: Dee Bradley Baker

When asked to name the strangest cartoon character he's ever played, no doubt that of an East German skiier whose brain has been implanted into the body of a goldfish by the FBI so as to rig the 1980 Winter Olympics must rate pretty close to the top of the list. I know it would for me.

Happy Birthday Dee Bradley Baker, the voice of (among many many others) Klaus, on American Dad.
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StatWatch, Week 3: The Mimi Panzirer Effect

No single story has given me as many hits as that of Mimi Panzirer. Whether she's is a living angel or twice as bad as her babygramma matters not to me; I will be forever grateful to her for the traffic she brought to my site.

The former daughter-in-law of the late Leona Helmsley caused a nearly three-fold jump in hits on Wednesday and a nearly two-fold jump on Thursday, making Wednesday the busiest day on record for the Pop Culture Institute: 144 visits and 173 page views on that day alone. Thursday was none too shabby either: 90 visits and 100 page views when my average is still only 53 and 66.

Of course, hits are nice mainly because each one represents a potential reader, and it's the readers who matter most to me. Thanks to Mrs. Panzirer I even got a few of those. Discounting those regulars (whom I still love!), here is a select list of new readers:

Silver Spring, Maryland - :16
Goose Bay, Labrador - :21
Huntersville, North Carolina - 1:19
NYC - 2:25
San Francisco, California - 3:08
NYC - 4:01
Houston, Texas - 4:32
Portland, Maine - 5:46
Ottawa, Ontario - 8:54
Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania - 10:32
Kansas City, Missouri - 12:37
Calgary, Alberta - 13:57
Westbrook, Queensland - 18:55
Unknown US - 21:41
Ayer, Massachusetts - 21:46

Each one of these people came looking for Mimi Panzirer and yet all of them stayed because... Well, it's not my place to wonder why, and in lieu of comments, I may never know. Due entirely to the Mimi Panzirer Effect, though, I dohave a little better idea how to find, respond to, and follow trends in Google.
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Can It, Senator Hot Pants

I'm a ho...Er, I mean Idaho Senator Larry Craig says he's not gay. He claims that all that shuffling and note passing he was doing in the men's can was innocent and misinterpreted. Next he's going to say he invited only the guy to caucus with him, and was misunderstood due to lousy acoustics.

I have news for Senator Craig. I'm actually gay and nothing I've ever done in the men's can has ever been misconstrued by anybody. Where there's smoke, there's fire, and in this case, it's your pants. They are definitely on fire, Senator Hot Pants.

When will Republicans ever learn that GAY does not mean "wears a tight shirt and lisps"; GAY means "gimme more of the same, genital-wise, please". Frankly, I'm getting tired of repeating myself. For the fortieth time, gay is not a lifestyle, it's a predilection.

Your marriage does not make you straight, nor does your saying that you are. What does make you straight is... See if you can follow me... Not angling for furtive mansex in the men's can with cops. I mean, I may be gay, but that's just nasty.

Of course, the cop is a blonde. You may not know this about me, but I'm not partial to blondes. Well, only the women: you know, Marilyn, Diana, Pam -- Oh, sorry Senator. I know how you get when people start talking about women. Would you like a Tum's?
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Remembering... Buddy Hackett

True, Carson was a bit of a crypto-fascist. Nevertheless, he ran a good show. Here, then, from the late 80s (judging by the set) is Johnny himself with birthday boy Buddy Hackett.
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Marriage Equality Scores In... Iowa?

Kudos to Judge Robert Hanson for getting it right.

First he struck down the statewide ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional; then he ordered officials in Polk County to begin processing same-sex license applications. Theoretically, while the measure only applies to Polk County, Iowans from any part of the state could apply to be married there, and have the marriage be vaild in the rest.

Less than two hours later Gary Allan Seronko and Curtis Rethmeier were in the system. It'll take three days to process their application.

Republicans and the Religious, naturally, were incensed.

Which means Iowa is now poised to become a battleground state for marriage equality, and the heartland is about to get a whole heap more hate. Which I like, personally. The more hatred spewn by the foes of equality the more people see the kind of hatred queers live with every day.

Hatred: it's a good thing.
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Benazir Bhutto: She's Back, and This Time It's Personal

Allegations of corruption have always dogged Benazir Bhutto; given the corruption of those making them, if I were her I'd consider them to be compliments, rather than allegations.

Well, she's at it again, this time looking to topple Pervez Musharraf, whose grasp on power is weakening. Elections are planned for November 2007, and Musharraf may have to step down as head of the military if he wants to remain President.

Recent allegations made by Bhutto that elements in the Pakistani secret police or ISI are propping up Al-Qaeda and the Taliban will not play well in the West, even though Bhutto herself assisted the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan, because she thought they might stabilise the region. They might have, but their misogyny (much of it directed squarely at her) did not sit well with most of the rest of the world. We all know what happened next in Afghanistan.

One thing the mullahs of Pakistan fail to grasp is that Bhutto's word will go farther in Washington and London than theirs will. After all, she was legitimately elected - twice!; something Musharraf has never even done once. Not to mention that, as a Muslim woman - and a telegenic one at that - Bhutto could do more to repair the reputation of Islam in the West than a dozen men in uniforms.
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A Few Of My Favourite Things

Since I am unable to do my laundry - AGAIN! - because my neighbours are hideous self-involved fucks who put their clothes in the washer then go to Vegas for a few days or whatever (who knows with straight people), I am as usual indulging myself so as to not completely lose it. There are times when it's great to be an only child; no matter how mad I get, there's always a treat (or three) that'll make it better.

Well, one of my most favourite things of all time is checking out blogs of really hot guys who would never talk to me in person in a zillion years and then leaving comments. Whether A-Gay or Hot-Gay doesn't really matter, although obviously if they're both it's twice as great.

I like to imagine them thinking "what a funny comment" and then the expression on their face when they click through and see my profile picture. HiLARious! Obviously, the disappointed look on his poor, pretty punim is far more funny in person, but luckily a masochist with a good imagination doesn't need actual the face time to have fun.

Today's victim is a guy in the Castro named Moby. Cute guy, hot friends, seems to take himself with a grain of salt; thanks to Gavin for the heads up on him. I don't pretend to understand those Castro types, or have anything in common with them excepting a predilection for penis, so visiting them in their natural habitat is more like anthropology than mere surfing.

Plus, every comment I leave sows the seeds for a possible page view for me down the road, so it's win-win.
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Mandela Statue Unveiled

A larger-than-life statue of Nelson Mandela was unveiled today in London's Parliament Square.

After unveiling the 2.7 metre tall bronze, Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid tribute to the man, following which the man paid tribute to the country; during President Mandela's remarks, he shared his reminiscences of coming to London in 1962 with Oliver Tambo and their visit to the same square.

As usual, the quote of the day came from Tony Benn. "If Diana was the People's Princess," he said, "Then Nelson Mandela is President of the human race." Amen.

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RIP Richard Jewell

I don't remember what I was watching the evening of July 27th, 1996, but you can be damn sure it wasn't the Olympics. Anyway, I ended up missing what I was watching when news of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing was broadcast.

Within days the hero of the bombing, Richard Jewell (left), became the prime suspect. By this time I was riveted by the story, mainly because of this poor schlump of a man, living with his mother, working as a security guard, who had spotted the device and begun calmly clearing the area before it went off. In a low-key, soft-spoken way, he appeared various times on various shows and described what had happened; I just knew he couldn't have done it, even as others rushed to judgement.

The FBI, in their usual zeal to catch anyone - whether he did it or not - implicated Jewell in the heinous crime, which killed 2 and injured 111. Although never arrested he was put under surveillance and had his home searched. Neither turned up anything, naturally.

Of course, by the time Christian terrorist Eric Rudolph (right) was eventually apprehended, Richard Jewell had been fully exonerated; but even though the real bomber had been caught and Richard Jewell cleared in the most public way possible, I'll bet there are still people who think he's guilty.

Apparently Richard Jewell had kidney trouble related to diabetes. He was found dead at home today, aged 44.

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It's A Dog's Life

Trouble, the white Maltese belonging to the late Leona Helmsley, has nothing to sniff at today. It seems he was the principal beneficiary of the Queen of Mean's largesse.

The dog will inherit $12 million, and live with Helmsley's brother Alvin Rosenthal, who also made out none too shabby.

Two of Helmsley's Panzirer grandchildren - David and Walter - will inherit $5 million each (and another $5 million each in trust), so long as they visit their father's grave once a year. Two other grandchildren, Craig and Meegan, have been utterly disinherited "for reasons which are known to them".

Her chauffeur, Nicholas Celea, got $100,000; as predicted the proceeds from the sale of all her worldly goods, expected to fetch billions, will be funnelled into the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

One Bright Note: in my thorough, ongoing research into this matter, I have learned that Leona Helmsley paid out of pocket for repairs to burned black churches in the South, during a rash of such crimes in the late 90s. In fact, she'd donated as much as $35 million to various causes in recent years.
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Wherefore Art Thou, Mimi Panzirer?

Well, if Google is any indication (and I think it is), the most popular woman in the country this week is Mimi Panzirer.

I think by now we all know the basic story, but it bears repeating. When her son Jay Panzirer died Leona Helmsley sued her daughter-in-law Mimi for everything that had been his. Ms. Panzirer and her four children, Mrs. Helmsley's grandchildren incidentally, were rendered penniless.

There are no pictures of Mimi Panzirer on the Net, and believe me I've looked. Alas, the libraries in Vancouver are on strike, or I'd be down there now, looking for a photo from an old magazine. I'm beginning to feel like Leonard Nimoy; remember, he used to do that show, "In Search Of"? Well, I'm in search of Mimi Panzirer, except I don't have that groovy Spock voice, so if and when I find her I won't be able to do the narration like him.

Anyway, I'm just putting it out there, but it seems to me that if some news organisation or other wanted to make a ratings smash they should get an interview with Mimi Panzirer toute de suite. The world wants to know, Mrs. Panzirer, what really happened when Leona Helmsley came screeching out of the sky like a vulture with PMS and robbed you of your life.

And if, by some chance, you don't feel like sharing your story with one of the big guns - a Diane Sawyer or a Barbara Walters, say - you can always talk to me, Mimi Panzirer. Likewise, if you need a ghostwriter for your book, I work cheap; I also happen to have a black belt in adjectives. Or, if you prefer, just take a digital camera and take a photo of an existing photo and email it to me. I'd be ever so grateful.

Talk to us Mimi! The world wants to know!
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1153: A Year in Review

As lucky numbers go, I couldn't ask for a better one. As years that I'm determined to blog about, though, 1153 is barely better than 1111.

There was a change in the papacy, as Anastasius IV succeeded Eugene III to become the 168th Pope.

There was also a new king in Scotland; Malcolm IV followed his grandfather David I onto the Scottish throne.

To the south, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theobald of Bec, managed to reconcile King Stephen and Empress Mathilda, ending a period in British history known as The Anarchy with the Treaty of Winchester (which is also, somewhat anarchically, known as the Treaty of Westminster and the Treaty of Wallingford). Stephen's heir, Eustace, died in 1153, which cleared the way for Matilda's son Henry of Anjou, to succeed as Henry II, which he did the following year.

Considering what British Royals used to get up to - equipping armies, torching villages - makes the current lot seem kind of tame.

Also: Constantinople became the largest city in the world, a title previously held by Merv, in the Seljuk Empire (present-day Turkmenistan). Taira no Kiyomori assumed control of the Taira clan in Japan, Baldwin III assumed control of Jerusalem from his mother Melisende, and Islam was introduced in the Maldives.

Just so you don't think I'm one of those Anglophiles who's never heard of anything beyond Gravesend.
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A Personal Milestone

The day started as an interesting test - to see what blogging full time would feel like; lucky for me it feels bloody marvellous. It's a long time since I've so enjoyed being so busy for so long. In fact, it's going to be hard to go back to staring at walls and harassing the innocent for a living on Thursday afternoon.

Today, in just under twelve hours, I wrote 22 blog posts. Please be kind if it turns out there's a mistake in one; just leave a nice comment and I'll cheerfully correct the error. Think of it as an Easter egg hunt, only with spelling. Yum... Spelling. I'll be reviewing them all myself, but despite my output I am only just one person. I'll be very surprised if my clear morning eyes don't spot some mistake right away tomorrow. As for now, it feels like there's glue underneath my eyelids. Blepharitis, feh!

Of course, this now means I am not only caught up on a day-to-day basis but also ahead of my monthly quota. I will need to publish 9 posts a day to attain 2008 posts by New Year's Day. Of course, not all of these have to appear at this end of the blog; there is much to be done to prepare for the beginning of the year - only three months away! - and so the archive will be getting it's fair share of the next 855 posts. Not to worry, though; you don't have to go looking for them, they'll come around again just as inevitably as the calendar.

Traffic is growing - from an average of 20 visits a day three weeks ago I'm now averaging 30 visits a day. From the gathering crowd I'd like to single one lady out in particular and welcome her as a new regular reader: Hey Rhonda!

The next post is a milestone (number 1153), and in the next few days there'll be a major anniversary (the death of Diana), and a programming change as well. Now more than ever it's time to stay tuned!
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Burning Man Suffers From Premature Incineration

You know, it happens to all the festivals. You're getting older, things just don't work the way they used to...

A performance artist named Paul Addis who was attending the Burning Man Festival in Nevada has been arrested for setting the Burning Man ablaze four days early, and therefore pretty much killing everybody's buzz.

While I agree it was quite a performance, was it art?

On the plus side: Best. Mugshot. Ever. Plus, his friends will all be calling him the Burning Man now, so at least he has that to look forward to.

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No Faith In Faith-Based Schools

Regarding the recent faith-based schools initiative in Ontario I have just one thing to say: NO.

I admit that it's unfair to let the Catholics run their own school system, but not Jews, Hindus, or Muslims. In which case, the Catholic Schools should also be abolished; what moral right does the Catholic Church have to educate children after thirty years of revelations, anyway? The solution to the problem isn't more religious schools, it's less.

Faith-based schools represent just the beginning of an evangelical agenda aimed at creating a total theocracy in Canada. It is also a blatant attack on any attempts to create a cohesive society; keeping people of different ethnicities separate as children only fosters suspicion and ignorance in them as adults.

The separation of church and state is of the paramount importance. Religious intolerance has consistently impeded progress; sectarian strife routinely causes war, genocide, and terrorism. In the days ahead, our human species will encounter increasing hardships due to environmental degradation. Science, not dogma, is the cure.

Teach your children their religion at home, on your holy days, so they'll know where to leave it. Hold it in your heart, let it inform your life rather than dictate it, an' it harm none do what ye will...

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