Lurking Fear

I tend to visit a bunch of websites during my daily travels, as a matter of fact I probably tend to visit far too many. Often I am just perusing in sheer boredom looking for an interesting photo or fact that I can store in the back of brain for use during some duplicitous conversation about this or that. But I find my brief attention span and sometimes annoying interruptions force me to bookmark things in my favorites quite a bit. Now I suppose the intention I have is to go back and visit these sites again, as at the time they queued an interest or idea great enough to have me book mark them. But added to the fact of a bad memory and net slackerdom I tend to never ever go back and visit these once interesting sites. As a matter of fact I dont even actively use bookmarks, most of the sites I visit have decent enough domain names that I can actually recall them without having to initiate a click search, so I guess I shouldn’t bookmark them anyways….but enough going on. This week we will visit sites I have bookmarked, good or bad, explanation or not.

http://digg.com

This is some sort of user drivin link site. I have heard this net word around quite a bit along with some others that I cant seem to remember. Apparently users with the help of some sort of browser interface can ‘digg’ sites and this will add to that sites rating and get the site posted on the main digg website. It can be sorted by topics, and includes news, videos and all sorts of other net junk for you to look at. Apparently I thought a popular link site driven by the masses was a good idea…well hey I am writing about links after all.

http://www.tinylittledots.com

Hmm I am desperately trying to remember why this is bookmarked. I think this site was in relation to blogs or sites that I was linking up in the Tampa area. Heck I might have even mentioned it in a previous article, but at this point I am too lazy to go look. This is a blog style site with lots of links to other local tampa places both on and off the map. For some reason some of the links seem real familiar on this site, like tampa taxi shots. I don’t know whose site this is, but hey, nice work in linking up some ‘local goodness’.

http://thesecret.tv

Apparently for a few minutes on some day in the past I was interested in the ultimate secrets of life. Perhaps this was inspired by some horrifying davinci code conversation in a break room somewhere that hopefully I culled by just walking away. Well for $4.95 you can watch the full screen version of ‘the secret’. I don’t think I have watched it or I might be a millionaire or something by now, or maybe have become so enlightened that I am almost transparent and can float around. Well if you need guidance I highly suggest you bookmark ‘the secret’, don’t actually watch it, just bookmark it.

http://www.hivelocitynetworks.com/cardreaders.html

Wow this is utterly super amazing link. This is a bookmark for the POS-X xm90 credit card swipe reading machine, with USB or SERIAL capability. Nothing beats finding this kind of link in your bookmarks to just verify that you like to look at crap all day. Perhaps while I was getting bored with reading my manual on how to re-ink my old commodore dot matrix printer manual I decided to go perusing the joys of card readers Man this one just takes the cake. Now I am not saying you should actually visit this site, but If you have something that beats this on boredom you have to let me know.

Well the elections are finally over and we no longer have to listen to hour upon hour of mindless drivel spewing from the television, radio, and of course our friends. The typical election information is just so biased and obviously geared towards those who can afford to cover every last media outlet with flyers and lies it’s almost sickening. Not to mention the average American votes strictly on the information they get from these media outlets and never even bother to research what their candidate is actually about. Anyways I am just sick of it, and not stupid enough to go around gloating that the democrats won congress because we all know nothing is going to change anyways. In the hopes of raising some hackles I thought I would show a few websites ( some slightly dated ) that are bound to piss of the politicians and local CNN flunkies around your office, enjoy.

http://anarchism.ws/writers/anarcho/vote.html
So you thought you were left huh, well take a gander at this. A very in depth and well written documented article on the inherit reasons to organize and forget voting altogether. This is quite unheard of in almost all circles of American society, but really does voting ever change anything? I surely don’t think so. Make sure you read it entirely and get some juicy quotes from it so you can spout off around work or the bar how voting is a sham! Put some democrats and republicans right in there place when they tell you that you don’t have the right to complain.

http://www.dontvote.com/
If you must take part in the big sham, at least you should know what you are talking about and don’t just spew the mindless vomit the fox news feeds you. This website probably has some hidden agenda because it was put together by AARP. Despite that it does have a full database of who all the candidates are and the links to their websites. It is a good resource if you are looking to see what a candidate actually voted on and where he or she might vote in coming years now that the election is over.

http://www.velvetrevolution.us
While not being totally on the cutting edge of politics, this website does offer quite a few insights and compelling articles on important issues. Most are left leaning, but still have forward leaning progressive ( that’s the word of the year ) ideas for change. Get information on Iraq, media and election reform all in a fairly tight and concise blog style format. One of my favorite things about this site is the large amount of quality links on most of the pages, these can lead to some other great sites and some real good discussion topics when you have had to many shots of Jack.

http://freeplayer.livejournal.com/24122.html
I don’t normally like to link just a single article and would rather send you to a somewhat decent resource of material, but with this one I just couldn’t help it. Every wonder why you work? Or better yet why you shouldn’t work? I don’t care if you answered no to the previous questions, this article has the answers for you. Don’t spend another minute at work slaving away for the man. Do something, do anything, just don’t get a job and don’t work. Learn the reasons why your moocher friends are doing it today, or why that guy you dated last year never worked. This is true insight, enjoy.

http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm
This is a pretty cool reading website. You can get all the junk on all the major and minor registered political parties in the USA. Most people don’t even know these exist, but if you must vote ( in the future ), you should find a party that really supports your ideals and try to get away from this two party system. Some of these are also pretty crazy, throw that beer away and check out the old school prohibition party, maybe its for you!

You know the funny thing about vacation is that you always end up doing the same thing. Well in a different place of course. I am sitting around in Key West watching the people go by, enjoying a break from work and doing just what I said above, the same thing. I am trying to find a club to go to, having a drink, and trying my hardest not to laugh at every tourist that walks by. Most have some kind of funny hat on it seems, one of those cat in the hat types, or some form of apparel brandishing the Key West logo ( some kind of artsy swirl that you see as typical product branding these days ). Tourists also are usually shit faced drunk, red, and have a kind of bewildered look about them. Now lets not forget that I am basically a tourist too, but hey I’m from Tampa and the locals up and down the street here trying to hand a flyer about para-sailing to every person walking by don’t even bother trying to give me one. I guess that means that I don’t come off as a tourist huh? But to continue, here I am, sitting in a far off locale, and what am I doing? I am browsing the internet.

http://www.weirdamerica.com
This is a pretty cool website. Typical of the day with tons of streamed in videos and such all over in a blog like format. There is an interesting clip about weird America from Mark Mothersbaugh from art and Devo fame ( as well as countless other projects ). I might not be in touch with television but this sight might be related to a TV show of the same name that features art and interesting people from around the country, either way it’s an interesting site.

http://www.ochevidec.net
First off, this website is all in Russian (at least it looks Russian to me), but if you are used to the format of websites you can navigate it pretty well. This site features photography mainly focused on landscapes and odd formations of people and/or objects. This site is in blog format so scroll down to see the photos and select the next page link at the bottom to continue browsing. Oh and on the left are links to Russian brides if you are interested…

http://pixer.us
Well the Russian photo site made me want to tell you about this incredible site. Its simply an online photo editing tool. Ever been stuck somewhere (like in Key West) without photoshop and need to do some quick editing, well this site is the place. Now you can’t do incredibly in depth tool functions but all the basics are there, and best of all its free gosh darn it.

http://www.indemand.com/HSOD/beaversalon
This site is just wrong, but I like to visit it to get my aggressions out from time to time. Now I know this might be a strange question ladies, but do you wax your beaver? If not then you probably should start right away by visiting this site. In addition to waxing, it has helpful tips on dyeing you beaver, and taking a pair of clippers to it.

http://www.bifrost.com.au/hosting/gnomes
I love this site so much I try to contribute. Remember those cute little garden gnomes that grandma had? Well actually how could you forget them the damn things were evil and needed to be violated and destroyed in any manner possible. This site gives us just that, submitted photos of garden gnome destruction. Not for the feint of heart, this site will put an end to that cute little gnome fascination once and for all, beware its not for the squemish.

Tampa. You never know what you have until you are not around it for a week or so. Tampa is small, it has small venues, few shows, and it has minimal culture, but it does HAVE it, unlike Key West which is basically just a tourist hole. Now I can’t really say anything to bad about it, because hey I was there, but after walking the streets of Key West I see exactly what they have done to Ybor City. You see at the end of Duval Street in Key West (like 7th in Ybor) is a large dock for the cruise ships (port of Tampa). All the tourists get off and go swarming through the ‘old part of town’ looking for those great deals on vacation spot items and overpriced food and drink. Ybor has resisted somewhat as it still claims a few distinct independent shops and stuff, but this wont last for long with the constant assault of tourists. Key West a few years back ( before the ships ) had many distinct shops, but now its shop after shop of the same mindless t-shirts, coffee mugs, key lime candy, and metal signs. This is all well and good if you are in it for the tourist sales, but its kind of sad to see a cool area degrade into the typical cruise ship port city that you see from Cozumel to East coast resort towns. But never fear, Tampa Bay Area isn’t based around Ybor city, as a matter of fact there are tons of spots around town to find cool things, here are some good resources for you to check out.

http://seminoleheights.blogspot.com/
This is a typical blog style website with a great amount of resources devoted to the Seminole Heights area. Includes recent articles from magazines and newspapers about Seminole Heights, politics that might affect the area, and best of all a ton of links to places in and around Seminole Heights. Read through the archives, it’s a great place to get a feel for whats going on in this hip part of town. From art galleries, restaurants to small shops, Seminole Heights can keep you out of the tourist throng.

http://www.coffeestain.com/genres/punk/index.shtml
Looking for a punk band to go check out in the Tampa area, well Coffeestain.Com ( well known for its flame wars ) can provide it for you. An awesome list of bands A-Z in the Tampa area as well as links to their websites, show dates, messages and more. Its not all about Punk either, find all types of bands in the Tampa area, from metal to hip hop, you wont be disappointed.

http://www.hellotampa.com/Art/Index.Cfm
I haven’t had a change to really explore this site in great detail but I have noticed it has a lot of resources and has been coming up on Tampa searches quite a bit lately. A great layout, nice format, and it has an excellent listing of Tampa art and artists. The site also features other types of events, from concerts to real estate, another great way to find some fun stuff in Tampa.

http://tampaunderground.tribe.net
Of course its not all about myspace even though everyone thinks it is. Tribe.Net has a great resource for seeing what is really happening in Tampa’s non tourist darkside. From fire eating shows, reggae, art events, political group meetings, and just about everything in between. Signing up on tribe is easy and its more personal and event driven then myspace, check it out.

Bored at work? Well thank the gods for the Internet! There isn’t a more perfect tool for wasting your employer’s valuable time then the Internet. Whether it is idling away precious hours playing online Tetris or clicking your way through endless pages of Wikipedia, the Internet makes work just bearable. Now many people will say ‘Hey we work hard all day!’ Well this is awesome because it gives the rest of us more time to waste (and probably get paid more than the complainers) while still having the appearance that things are getting done at work. Still reading? Then I know you are bored, let me list a few of my favorite sites that are my daily haunts while dodging the boss.

Cockeyed.Com : If you haven’t visited this site yet, you must be a newb. Rob Cockerhams site is full of strange science experiments, travel journals, naughty food items, and one of my favorites, his incredible creations. These creations range from Devo hats, Jenga Costumes, to amazing spring powered Converse low tops that should get you into the NBA in no time. This site is massive; you can easily waste a few days reading all the content.

Disinfo.Com : Do you live on the edge? Are you a left wing Wiccan Anarchist Vegan Rasta Crusty-punk? Then perhaps this site is for you. Filled with a mix of underground stories, opposing political opinions, and the deep secrets of Aleister Crowley’s Thelemic magic, Disinfo is sure to please your counter culture spirit. It’s a vast site that can teach you how to make fake boarding passes (apparently a no-no) to the inherit problems of a misguided satanic ritual, and best of all you can do it all while eating your tofu.

Myspace.Com : How could I not mention this site in my first article, I mean come on now. What better way to waste the days then constantly checking your comments and inbox to see if some other slack-handed net junkie is reading about your oh so interesting life on your profile. If you are new to the site and have no friends don’t worry you will eventually get flooded with friend requests from crappy bands, horrible painters, and bad photographers all looking for that 10 second fix of someone actually listening or looking at their work. Oh my favorite parts of Myspace are the skinny pictures of known fat girls & guys. Now I am no skinny chicken, but I also don’t take pictures at the most bizarre angles to hide my chunk, get real people. I could go on, but hasn’t all this been said already?

Thepoke.Co.Uk : This is a great website! It has funny commentary and stories ranging from how the queen is suing her dentist to the touching article on male butch horses that are tired of prancing about and being associated with the feminine side of things. Perhaps you would enjoy the course on being a ‘riter’ stating ‘everyone’s got a shit book in them’. This is the Weekly World News mixed with Monty Python, there is no better way to spend the day.

Well that is it for me this time. Ill try and continue to give you the best sites I find to waste time and expand your mind. Hopefully you didn’t get busted while checking those out. Remember dress for success and keep your fingers on Alt-Tab.

It’s that time of year again. Time to rend (tear into other shoppers), to spend (green, man, green), and to send (gifts to others). While I am not for holiday traditions too much, I still love sitting back and watching “A Christmas Carol,” having a good dinner and opening some presents. I mean, who doesn’t like presents, right? But we all know the best part about the holidays – paid days off from work. Woohoo! I’m not going to waste much of your time this week ranting and raving. I want to get right into a good online and local list of places where you can find that strange or cool gift.

ThinkGeek.com Where would we be without the I.T. guy in our lives? This is a great place to find unique or odd gifts with a techie feel. From wooden desk catapults and “got root?” T-shirts, to Atari plug-and-play key chains, you are sure to find a cool pocket protector for your nerdy lover or your favorite geek from work.

Stupid.Com This place is a really cool novelty shop, sure to please the moron in your life. Gift him or her with grossest cooking tool in the world, fake tattoo sleeves made of nylon, or the dumbest “pooping” candy ever created.

HorrorMovies.Com One of the largest and best selections of online horror movies you can find. Freddy, Jason, LeatherFace and more, all rolled into one nice and easy-to-use Web site. Perfect to ‘take the heart’ of the one you love this holiday season.

CoolStuffCheap.com Know someone who’s always wanted a ’70s disco light? How about an emergency wind-up flashlight for when the world comes to an end? Can’t seem to find that NYC Taxi Cab medallion wall clock? Well, CoolStuffCheap.com is the site to visit – Yet another out-of-the-way place to find strange gifts, ranging from the mundane to the ridiculous.

Kiva.org Give the gift of a small loan to a person in a Third World country. Kiva enables people to finance entrepreneurs in developing areas. Your $25 can help fund someone’s small business and bolster a struggling economy. This site has a great concept, and it’s a great way to help. I highly recommend it.

Shop Locally!
I wouldn’t feel right this week without mentioning some Bay Area retailers you can frequent instead of the big chains. Many of these people and shops have put many years into Tampa to make it a better place. Give them a visit and find some of the coolest gifts around, while putting your holiday dollars in the right place.
Daddy Kool Records [music store; (727) 822-5665]
Daddy Zero [new and vintage gear; (813) 232-0371]
Eccentricities [clothing and accessories; (813) 254-8080]
Echo Antiques [antique items; (727) 898-3246]
Plato’s Closet [clothing and accessories; (813) 968-8383]
Sherry’s Yesterdaze [vintage clothing and accessories; (813) 231-2020]
Serendipity [artful gifts and cards; (813) 254-1535]
Sound Exchange [music store; (813) 978-9316]
Sound Idea Brandon [music store; (813) 653-2550]
Skate Park of Tampa [skate gear and shoes; (813) 621-6793]
Squaresville [vintage furniture and clothing; (813) 259-9944]
Vinyl Fever [music store; (813) 289-8399]
Wooden Nickel [head shop and novelties; (813) 971-9322]

The spirit of Christmas is in the air, and people are prancing about spending hard-earned dollars on shaving cream warmers and strange popcorn kits from Wal-Mart. But in the true spirit of Christmas, I wanted to present to you some of the more macabre yet totally engrossing sites I have found about serial killers … because nothing stirs your cocoa like a sprinkle of murder and mayhem, and nothing tops your Festivus pole like stories of true appalling gruesomeness. Perhaps I am a bit odd in the fact that I can spend all day reading about this sort of thing and it never fazes me. For some reason (perhaps the same reason there are so many TV shows about crime) I just cannot seem to get enough of it. Next time you’re in the holiday spirit, point a URL at one of these sites.

www.crimelibrary.com Excellent site, full of photos and various choices you can make for your flavor of the day. Pick “Women Who Kill,” or even peruse the “Thrill Killers” archive. This site features old and new stories, peeks into the criminal mind from forensic psychologists, and even has a “New Killers” section with updated daily news stories about murder and mayhem. Content is presented in a professional manner, very easy to navigate without too many advertisements popping up.

www.mayhem.net A truly horrendous site that looks as if it was created by a serial killer, or by Homer Simpson. Old skool webstyle with lots of moving pictures, music playing in the background and all those things you hate about the internet. But beneath that jumble in the “Crime Archives” link off of the main page is an excellent killer compendium. Take your pick of current criminals still hunting the streets, or read about the most feared killer: the cannibal. If you really want to get freaked out, head back to the main page and watch odd videos under the “Mr. Tamale” section.

www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz Smack in the middle of the serial killer list, this fun little site will ease the tension a bit and take your mind off things. While the URL is kind of long, it’s worth it. Do you think you can spot the difference between a serial killer and a computer coder? I am well versed in the image of death, and I did fairly badly.

www.skcentral.com This site is for the hardcore killer enthusiast. I don’t know why these people exist, but if you are, for some reason, an avid fan who wants to eat, drink, and think serial killers, then this site is for you. Community-based style site with forums, galleries, daily news updates and even serial killer art auctions. Get online and chat with your good buddies about the best slashing techniques, or perhaps what type of rope is the best. This site is almost spookier than the stories about real killers.

theredrumshop.com Ever wondered why you don’t have a T-shirt of Ted Bundy, or an excellent calendar of the most famous serial killers? Well, make your Christmas wish list here. While not nearly overwhelming in quantity of items, the site makes up for it with sheer oddness of merchandise. Maybe your girlfriend’s Jetta needs a Son of Sam sticker?

With the recent popularity of YouTube and other online film clip sites one has to wonder, is this really what underground cinema is about? Are true connoisseurs of the different and mundane stuck to thrash about in celluloid reels of puppy dogs and people punching each other in the face? I surely hope not. And while I do enjoy a giggle now and then from the antics of a fat kid dancing in his room or some retard singing about burger king, well my true taste lies in the underground cinema. By underground I don’t mean subway of course, I mean cinema that comes from the lower depths of the directors or producers soul. Sometimes it comes with a message, sometimes it is hard to watch, but in our hot topic plastic coated society of mall based weirdness, there still is an underground.

http://www.explodingcinema.org Guerilla based installations of projection. From drama to splatter, these guys setup film screenings in the unused spaces of the world. That abandoned building, the café where the food just isn’t quite right, or perhaps even someone’s basement. See no or low budget films that just have to be shown, and these are the guys to do it. Bring your gear if you got it, the group states they are ‘Democratic, and anyone can contribute’. If you have something that needs to be seen, visit their submissions page.

http://www.antimatter.ws The antimatter underground film festival is an film festival wishing to portray film and video as art. This year hosted in love British Columbia, Canada, and starting on December the 22nd, this film festival is a great way to have your work shown, or seek work in a non-competitive series. The site has an easy to use retro layout, and has a good area for directions or submissions. The statement from the website is, “Antimatter is the neutral ground designed to support the independent/individual voice regardless of the subversive or dangerous nature of its content, stylistic concerns or commercial viability.”

http://www.nickzedd.com The true heroe of underground film, if you don’t know Nick Zedd’s work then you need to go back to USF and drop your dreams of being that turtle necked film freak. This guy started a lot of what is still being done in no budget cinema today. He coined the endearing term ‘Cinema of Transgression’ to describe the mid 80′s film movement happening in New York, with such members as Richard Kern and Lydia Lunch ( to name a few ). Nick Zedd is a the next step in No Wave film making, taking he no budget genre to a level that matches the depravity of his era.

http://www.slaughteredvomitdolls.com I couldn’t rightfully take you to the chasm without showing you the abyss now could I? This is a truly terrifying, morbidly unique, and visually grotesque film. Slaughtered Vomit Dolls promises to be one of the worst or best films you have seen in a long time. Most will be too horrified to even view the trailer, but jeebus if you can get through that then you can see the depths of depravity film is capable of. Experience a whole new genre and break the molds of traditional film horror.