Love & Unity

Going through old photos and found this again. I miss this sidewalk, it always brought things into perspective when we're all so used to seeing profanity, hate, or penises carved into the concrete. Good to see some positive vandalism for once. This was from the ISU campus, it was on the DEAD CENTER of campus. I used to go out of my way to walk by it.

w00t

Some of you may have read about 'w00t' being named word of the year. It was all over yesterday's news. Today's news, however, reflected the backlash of this appointment. Here's a sampling article. There's more like this. The arguments include everything from 'it won't last' to its 'lack of a meaning.' Its a pretty hot topic.
For those who don't know, 'w00t' comes from LAN-based computer games, namely first person shooters. It basically means 'yes!' or 'i just did something very cool.' Its always spelled lowercase and with zeros, never O's.
Here's how I feel. First, the fact that people say it doesn't have staying power. w00t really came about ~2002 and has been around ever since. Its not a new word, that'd be a better argument. But its already proven it has staying power. Second, its 'lack of a meaning.' Just because most people don't use it and have never heard of it and therefore don't know how to use it doesn't mean it doesn't have a meaning. Hell, last year's word was "Truthiness." One coulmnist went so far as to say truthiness, "captured the profound epistemological uncertainty of our time." Just because you're starting to realize that you're on the downhill side of the generation gap doesn't mean you can berate my generation's words. All you know is that Colbert is cool and you heard that you were supposed to like that word. It'll be gone and irrelevant in a few years. w00t is here to stay so you old-timers might as well install a good FPS, join a clan, make up a good handle (such as Caboose or Sir Deimos), brush up on your melee skills and start Pwnng n00bs. Then, and only then, will you be 1337. Here's a reference in case you're old.

The Iron Butterfly re-emerges

Anyone who's ever strummed a guitar knows that yesterday was a big deal. The band that started Heavy Metal played their first show in almost 15 years last night, amid rumors and doubts. They'd had a shaky performance in 1985 and few of them have done several side projects but no full-blown reunions worth a damn. Last night they showed that even with an average age of 61, they can still rock as only they can.
Last night, for one night, LED ZEPPELIN was alive again. And of course, loud as hell. No great clips yet, and no solid plans for a second show, so here's the best I can offer.