C0rk.W0rd

You and your silly blog...

And the top searched word of the year is… BLOG. That’s right, Webster’s released its list of the 10 most referenced words, and topping that list is “blog”. This comes as little surprise to blog and tech savvy individuals like myself, as the blogging community saw greatly enhanced media attention during the recent Presidential election. As a result, or perhaps a consequence, I find myself increasingly fascinated by the idea of professional blogging. Now if I could only get MS Word to stop throwing squiggly red lines under any and all variations of the word blog, I’d be all set. Actually, I could turn it off, but I want to see MS do it itself.

Speaking of Microsoft, the MSN Network has launched its own blog service known as MSN Spaces. This is more than likely a response to the competitive power of Google that bought and currently operates its popular Blogger service. Forgive my skepticism, but I just don’t see Microsoft being any kind of gateway to the free exchange of ideas, and the expression of opinions. The total integration model the MS uses really limits its appeal. Attaching essential apps like Outlook Express to MSN Messenger, then linking that to MSN Hotmail, and that to MSN Spaces, all coordinated by the notoriously annoying MSN .NET Passport system is bound to work…right?

6 GMail Accounts Up For Grabs

It's that time again... time to comment for your FREE GMail Account. No gimmicks, no competitions - Just leave a comment (preferably something entertaining/creative - you can even leave a comment on a different post - just ask for GMail) with your name and e-mail address and if you're one of the first 6, you'll receive a GMail account.

Click Here to Read More About GMail - The Triangle

Bloggin' - The Triangle Blog Article

Click for Link to The Triangle Article

As debate grows over whether technology and innovation are pulling people together or pushing them apart, an Internet sub-culture has been growing rapidly, demonstrative of the world’s increasing love affair with computers. I refer to blogging culture. For the uninitiated, blogging is the act of publishing a personal or professional online journal commonly referred to as a blog --- short of WeB log.

During the 90’s, those ambitious enough to build personal web pages using HTML or a handy WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor produced what are commonly referred to as vanity pages. These were essentially static sites detailing ones existence and providing links and commentary regarding things of immense personal interest. Typically such sites included flashy graphics, infuriating design decisions and inane, stolen, and/or repetitive childish content.

I published one such site in the mid 90’s describing my fascination with The Smashing Pumpkins and Beavis and Butthead – make any comment you want, you watched it too. These were the sites you found lurking around Geocities, or various ISP user web space areas.

My shrine to 90’s alternative MTV culture went the way of the dodo many years back when I unsubscribed from CompuServe and discovered some more adult tastes, but you can still find many similar sites alive and well across the web, though they are being rapidly replaced by the new millennium’s answer to the vanity page --- The Blog.

Rather than simply uploading images of their pets, vanity page operators began to publish regular text based updates detailing their everyday lives, much like a standard personal journal. Services specializing in the design and management of these online journals began to emerge, and have become popular among Internet junkies in all walks of life --- www.livejournal.com, www.blogger.com, www.sixapart.com.

Many consider blogs a significant improvement from vanity pages. One of the great things about the simplification of Internet publishing thanks to blogging is that it has allowed the less technically inclined individual to operate their own Internet publishing space. Wherein may lie the biggest caveat of blogging, that anyone is capable of doing it. Thankfully, the design controls provided by most blogging services make it difficult to create anything as seizure inducing as vanity pages littered with animated graphics and fantastically complex backgrounds.

Survey a few blog communities, and it will become quite apparent that many blogs were conceived in the wee hours of the morning as a means of whining about a breakup or as passive method of narrating ones high school born teen angst. Hormones + HTML … recipe for text based banality.

Many blogs, especially those described above, are of little to no interest to the average internet user. However, as blog numbers grow, many publishers are becoming increasingly topical. While some blogs focus on politics, others discuss the latest tech gadgets, headlines, social movements, fashion trends, et cetera. If you can think of it, there is probably someone out there who has blogged about it.

Several celebrities both A list (www.jeffbridges.com) and wash-ups (www.wilwheaton.com), Academics (www.lessig.org/blog), and politicians, have also found a niche in the blogging world. And where would the Internet be if we didn’t have a few adult film stars getting in on the action? (Sorry I’m not listing any URLs for that one, you’ll have to track them down yourself)

Last year, Google took the initiative to purchase one of the original Internet blogging services – Blogger.com. Analysts praised Google’s move, and see a promising future for blogging. For the business folk, blogging represents an interesting new means of getting inside the mind of the consumer. One of the methods Google uses to select and rank the news stories listed on Google news (news.google.com) is by comparing news article topics to subjects being discussed by bloggers.

Others are more concerned with the cultural implications of the phenomenon. While there are exceptions to the rule, the majority of blogs are personal in nature and sometimes contain incriminating information. What exactly is the fascination with writing about ones everyday thoughts and actions, and publishing the text on the web for the world to read? Allow me to speculate…

Ego Trippin’ – My thoughts and opinions are too significant to be limited to those lucky enough to experience my physical company. The world must have the opportunity to discover and learn from my profound existence through my blog. – I do not think this is the motivation of most bloggers, though many consider the act of blogging to be an exercise in self promotion and a demonstration of self interest.

Therapy – Whether they realize it or not, I believe most bloggers blog in an effort to vent and cope with daily frustrations. Like with the standard personal/private journals kept throughout the ages, blogs are the modern means of putting things in perspective by writing it all down, or in this case, typing it all in.

The Artist – The blog is a struggling writer’s dream. A personal environment not subject to the harsh judgments of editors and literary critics where one can create and experiment. – Many have blogged as fictitious characters that exist only in the writer’s mind, and digitally on the web. Comedy Central recently purchased the rights to a character created by a blogger and had plans to develop it into a new animated television program.

The utility of blog have extended beyond personal gratification. Blogs have recently become a trend in the business world. Executives at fortune 500 companies have looked to blogging as a means of developing a rapport with employees as well as investors. Blog entries have also been showing up in the news, as news media venues relay the opinions of what they call “professional” bloggers who are, for all intents and purposes, operating their own news service, with a personal spin.

I cannot answer most of the questions raised by this article regarding the significance of blogging in the Internet world. I can, however, in the spirit of blogging, offer my own opinion on the matter…

Despite suggestions to the contrary, I do not think that blogs are polluting the Internet environment with any more junk than was already present. While I’m not really interested in the exploits of a fifteen year old goth girl hell bent of meeting Johnny Depp before the whole world folds in on itself in a tremendous blaze of counter-culture fueled anarchy, I’m still not interested in yet another herbal penis enlarging pill – at least the disillusioned teen isn’t e-mailing me daily.

For many I think blogs are a necessary escape, though are taken a little too seriously by some, while for others this fascinating new outlet gets the creative juices flowing at a time when creativity seems to be reserved for an exploited by those in marketing departments. My blogs covers newsworthy topics and events, and does its best to avoid discussion of life events, and it attracts its own respectable amount of visitors daily who both support and criticize my spin on the events of the world.

Monstrosity or masterpiece, blogs are here to stay. Those not inclined to write are now able to publish picture based blogs called moblogs often employing a cell phone based camera to document their existence visually (www.textamerica.com). Consider checking out a few blogs and perhaps elect to make your own contribution to the seemingly endless flow in information and opinion making its way to the web daily.

C0rk The Political Poet

I thought I would give you all an advanced warning of a new feature I am going to be bringing to c0rk.blogs.com... But first, let us touch on a little back story so that you all know where I am coming from with this…

I am currently finishing up my work in a class entitled ‘Visions in Writing’ --- the corny name aside, the activities and assignments for the class are actually very enjoyable. One of the major portions of our term work is the writing of 250 haiku. That’s right 250. Our professor, Dr. Riggs, a man to whom I grant infinite respect, has for many years, in an effort to prevent writers block, written 3 haiku a day. Over time he became a little more ambitious, and now writes a sonnet each morning. In an effort to keep all the students in his class writing, we’re required to submit 250 haiku at the end of the term.

The emphasis in this case is placed on quantity versus quality, and I’ve been developing my own brand of lack luster haiku over the last several weeks. I’ve come to embrace this exercise and figure that I can become a little more comfortable with sharing my work by publishing a few haiku each day, HERE on c0rk.blogs.com --- So basically, you can expect some poetry in here real soon. Some will be posts onto themselves, and others will be left as an afterthought at the tail end of other posts.

In case you’re not familiar with the haiku form, here is a brief explanation…

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry. The challenge is to be able to express vivid ideas in a very limited amount of characters --- Writing haiku in Japanese demands that your entire poem include only 17 Japanese characters. This is commonly regarded as 17 syllables in English. In the common English Haiku form (which I will be using) the syllables occur in a definite pattern of 5-7-5.

Line1 --- 5 Syllables
Line2 --- 7 Syllables
Line3 --- 5 Syllables

Typically, haiku stick to the topic of nature, but you’ll all notice my departure from this standard.

Please keep in mind that the haiku I produce are not designed to be brilliant poetic works, but simple exercises in form and general writing practice. Though your criticism is always welcome, I encourage you to regard these as what they are --- a chance for you to laugh, think, or otherwise be entertained. Enjoy~!

We eat ham and jam and spam a lot!

Over the years I have done a pretty good job managing the amount of SPAM that irrupts into my InBox each day. To be honest there are only about 3-4 people (or entities) that SPAM me with any regularity, and with filters in place, they’re pretty much non-issues. However, I have in recent weeks been receiving what I would describe as comment SPAM in my blog. They tend to be in the form of links that point to various pornographic Internet locales. I’ve been doing my best to police these too, and now that TypePad has developed comment spamming procedures I have even less to worry about…

The bulk of my amusement however stems from a legitimate commenter who appears to have mistaken my blog for a message board / discussion forum / chat room. Rather than trying to combat this confused individual, I’ve allowed them to run amok in my most highly commented/viewed post to date. Recently other visitors have become disenchanted with the nature of this persons remarks, and elected to discontinue their activity on c0rk.blogs.com --- an unfortunate side effect to be sure, but something that only leads our cocksure little commenter (sharday - who apparently works for the department of labor, and is dumb enough to leave their work e-mail on the site) to talk with him or herself, which just puts me in hysterics. --- enriching lives.

Read The Comments Here

So Busy

I've been so damn busy lately that I didn't take notice to tha fact that C0rk.W0rd rounded 20,000 on its hit counter. Thank you to all who contributed. With any luck I will be able to publish more content as I try to get my life under control.

*huff* *huff* *huff* ... What A Weekend

This was an interesting weekend to say the least. Friday and Saturday nights were both spent at the Main Street Pub, but it was Saturday afternoon that held the most peculiarity...

After a few cups of coffee in the morning, my dad brought in the mail and tossed a folded mailer in front of me. Enclose within was a check for $13.98 which was my portion of the RIAA settlement over a class action price-fixing case (see prior post for additional details). Check in hand, I typed out a post regarding the letter/check for this blog. While doing so, I heard a banging coming from the laundry dryer. I opened to inspect, and discovered my cell phone. Though looking "physically" pretty clean, the internals were shot. For those of you keeping track, this is the second cell phone I put through the laundry. The first was my old Nokia which after I dried out and installed a new battery, fired right up and worked fine until my contract was up for renewal, and I could secure a new phone. Nevertheless, this dead yet 'clean' cell phone problem needed to be dealt with...

I have insurance on my phone, since it is a semi-pricy camera model manufacuter by Sony Ericsson. I think it was voted "Phone-Of-The-Year" by someone in 2003. Phoning the insurance company was pretty simple and painless. The girl on the other end was knowledgable and swift with a nice sense of humor about the whole thing. She said my phone would be ready for pick-up at the Cingular location I had requested. Before leaving the house however, I decided to finish up my post regarding the RIAA check, and drop a line to SlashDot, thinking they might be interested...

...I got a new phone...Same as the old phone…

... I returned home and checked my TypePad site stats. This blog had over 5000 hits in less than 2 hours Saturday night. It turns out SlashDot had picked up my submitted article. I had been foolish enough to include links to my blog-article, and it wasn't long before hits were coming in to the tune of 20-25 a min. Though I would normally revel in the popularity, I seemed to have underestimated the appeal of my own article. All SlashDot submissions are reviewed before posting, and I thought it extremely unlikely that my submission would be selected. Before I knew it ... the main page of SlashDot has a big header titled "One Man's Check From the RIAA" submitted by c0rk.

SlashDot.jpg">

I should have foreseen this onslaught and taken steps prior to the SlashDot publication to reduce the size of this site, as not to exceed my bandwidth quota on TypePad. Needless to say I didn't... but luckily I discovered the slew of visitors soon enough to thwart additional attempt to link to this site. I republished the image and the post referenced, effectively breaking all the SlashDot links to C0rk.Blogs.com. This knocked hits down under 1000 an hour and eventually below 100. SlashDot readers would have to edit the URL manually to gain access to the site, and the re-named article. Luckily MOST weren't that dedicated. The next step was to distribute the bandwidth. I made all the images on the mainpage reference external image storage locations so that the bandwidth being used was not entirely TypePad's. By late Saturday night, hits were hovering between the upper double-digits and 100 per hour. By Sunday afternoon I was down to between 10-20 an hour, and it eventually came down to 5-15 per hour. My normal hit-rate is between 5-10 an hour, but the average has remained elevated because refferring address information shows that many SlashDot readers are deciding to repost corrected links in their own blogs and self run message boards/forums.

What about the bandwidth? Did you go over? ...

Contrary to the opinion of many SlashDot commenters, I did not exceed my bandwidth quota, nor have I incurred any monetary penalties. Though this did result in the highest month of bandwidth usage by my TypePad account since I purchased the service in August 2003, I have not yet exceeded my quota, nor does TypePad/SixAppart have a billing policy regarding bandwidth overuse. (Meaning: I'm not certain I would have been billed had I gone over because although there are quota's listed by TypePad, there is no documentation regarding how to purchase more, or how you will be billed in the event of an excess.) TypePad is a very recent (August 2003) startup of the SixApart Company known for developing the popular Blogging Software MovableType. The lack of a bandwidth policy is more than likely due to the infancy of TypePad, though hardly cause to disgrace SixApart. TypePad and SixApart are both remarkable products for which the company has received numerous accolades. I'm proud to have been such an early adopter (I'm invoice #58) of the service, and relieved that I was able to thwart the events of this weekend to avoid putting anyone in a difficult position.

Now that all of that is dealt with, all my regular readers can brace themselves for more standard reading in the coming days.

Last One... For Now

1. IF YOU COULD BUILD A HOUSE ANYWHERE WHERE WOULD IT BE?
Probably on the mountain in Vail, CO. Though there are a number of places I would like to own a residence

2. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING?
A pair of jeans is always a comfortable fit

3. FAVORITE PHYSICAL FEATURE OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Favorite?... Well, I'm definitely not a tit man. They're nice don't get me wrong, but I've never been one to pass any form of judgment based on them. Eyes are always a key element, and I've recently discovered that a healthy palate can do wonders for a woman's appeal. So I guess that makes me an Eye/teeth person, though I have been known to sneak a peek at a butt or two.

4. THE LAST CD THAT YOU BOUGHT?
Do downloads from iTunes count?... I guess not... ummm... I bought David Bowie's Reality CD @ BestBuy for a whopping $16.99, though I still prefer Heathen.

5. WHERE’S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE?
Anywhere but here.

6. WHERE’S YOUR LEAST FAVORITE PLACE TO BE?
In deep shit.

7. WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE MASSAGED?
Massaged?... the neck and upper shoulders... but don't waste my time if you suck at it.

8. WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT, STRONG IN MIND OR STRONG IN BODY?
mind

9. WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE IN THE MORNING?
Take a shower, brush my teeth etc.... why ... what do you do ?

10. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE?
The wok is the key to any good meal, though I do really like the Martin Yan Ginsu Knife my dad bought me a few years back... :::chop:::chop:::chop:::

11. WHAT MAKES YOU REALLY ANGRY?
People who get MAD literal about religious texts. People who have not time for reality. People who bomb abortion clinics. Missionaries. George W. Bush. People who think anything or everything is absolute. Death, particularly the unnecessary and unjust kind. Religious Fundamentalists. Whomever keeps Dr. Phil on the air. The DJ at the Pub on Saturday nights. People who concede nothing. People responsible for impressing upon anyone a moral code that places restrictions on what I consider basic human nature, curiosity, behavior, and desire.

12. IF YOU COULD PLAY ANY INSTRUMENT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
The piano would be nice, but let’s face it; you don't need to know how to play ANY instrument these days to be labeled "musically talented"

13. FAVORITE COLORS?
Black

14.Which do YOU PREFER, SPORTS CAR OR SUV?
I'll take the Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV that gets 600mi per tank

15. DO YOU BELIEVE IN AFTERLIFE?
no

16. FAVORITE CHILDREN’S BOOKS?
Never read any Harry Potter... and I can't remember much else back that far

17. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON?
Winter... it's cold and I like it that way. I also enjoy the skiing afforded by the cold winter precipitation some might call SNOW.

18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Telepathy

19. IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO, WHAT IS IT?
I don't ... and I'm really not into the whole permanent thing... plus I don't want to get old and watch it droop… Nevermind the fact that I have bad taste and would probably select something truly awful.

20. CAN YOU JUGGLE?
tried, couldn't , stopped trying

21. THE ONE PERSON FROM YOUR PAST YOU WISH YOU COULD GO BACK AND TALK TO there aren't many people from MY past that I couldn't go back and talk to... so I guess I desire nothing in this regard. I said what I had to say to all those who have passed.

22. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DAY?
February 29th? --- it stays away most of the time and doesn't bother me a whole lot

23. WHAT’S IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR?
Jumper Cables, a Broken Printer, a Laundry Basket, a Plank of wood, a Disco Ball, and Dick Cheney

24. WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SUSHI OR A HAMBURGER?
I'm allergic to many kinds of seafood therefore I pick Hamburger

25. FROM THE PEOPLE YOU WILL EMAIL THIS TO, WHO’S MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?
I'm not really e-mailing... I'm posting... Blog posting...as for my answer... BORED PEOPLE!

26. WHO’S LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
People who can't afford to take a break from life

27. WHO DID YOU RECEIVE THIS FROM?
Andrew demanded my compliance

28. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CARTOON
Family Guy, Simpsons, Space Ghost, Duckman, South Park (does that count... its construction paper)... ugh... that's all I can think of right now

29. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW?
Intuit Track-It 6.0 - Administrators Guide and trying to finish Preacher

30. WHAT WERE YOU FOR HALLOWEEN?
A Priest

31. IF YOU COULD BE ANY ANIMAL, WHAT WOULD YOU BE, AND WHY?
An un-neutered dog... sleep all day, get backrups... and every now and then my owners would find me a bitch to shag. They'd also have to be generous on the table scraps.

Here We Go Again w/ the Surveys

For some reason, it is the season of surveys... everyone must be bored... expect another soon...

#O01 - Who was the last person you met off the internet --- Maria (technically) I suppose... though having mutual acquaintances can speed things along ;)
#O02 - What is the longest you've gone without sleep --- Something like 72 hours, maybe?
#O03 - When was the last time you had cookies and milk --- Wow, I don't really know... probably the last time there were Oreos in my house... and THAT has been a while
#O04 - What is your favorite cereal --- Honey Bunches of Oats and 'Cream of Rice'
#O05 - One thing you did as a child that got you into trouble --- In 3rd grade, I knocked a kid's head back against a brick wall... not hard... but enough to get me sent to the principle... however the behavior of said kid during the proceeding years in the school system would substantiate my 'heinous' act
#O06 - When was the last time you were spanked --- Wow, over 10 years ago. That time before kids could hire their own lawyers.
#O07 - Can you burp on command? --- yes
#O08 - Last time you had a burp that rated high on the burp scale --- never had a whole heap of talent that way
#O09 - If you were to get plastic surgery on just one part of your body, which would it be --- I don't know. Any suggestions?
#O10 - What's your favorite sexual position --- each one has its time and place
#O11 - If you could be one of the seven dwarfs, which would you be --- grumpy
#O12 - What would be your one regret if were to be struck by lightning and die right now --- controlling my spending habits in the hopes of a more secure financial future
#O13 - What is your favorite commercial --- The promo for Chapelle Show where he does Rick James.... SLAP!!
#O14 - Do you like Faygo --- What the hell is Faygo?... (after internet research) --- I don't drink soda, especially not trendy designer soda
#O15 - Who do you love --- myself
#O16 - Who did you last go camping with --- BSA (Boy Scouts of America) - Summer 1999 or 2000?
#O17 - Ever met anyone famous? --- I'm pretty sure I met Joe Pesci in a hot tub in Colorado, but he claimed to be a spokesperson for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
#O18 - Who is your favorite Batman --- Michael Keaton
#O19 - What was your favorite childhood cartoon --- Muppet Babies, HE-MAN, Ghostbusters, Thundercats, Ducktails, Ren & Stimpy, Beavis & Butthead, and Exo-Squad (Ok, maybe some of them weren't quite childhood)
#O20 - Have you ever slept in a car --- Yes, Boy Scout Trip Raystown, PA (the result of a flooded tent)
#O21 - Ever laid down in the tall grass and had sex --- no
#O22 - What kind of undies do you prefer --- on me?... boxers
#O23 - Last place you went on a road trip to --- road trip?... Does VERMONT count?... it's 6 hours ... but I drive it all at once
#O24 - Favorite Michael Jackson song (and don't lie) --- Bille Jean? maybe?
#O25 - Who was the first person you kissed --- I can’t remember if it was the Emma – “Chaz will kill me if I don’t do this” incident, or the Sara – “oops I missed your mouth, lets go for the ear” debacle. Regardless, both were disastrous… I should have taken the hint. Either way I'm sure I will catch some form of *shit* for this answer.
#O27 - Infinity, Caddy, Mercedes or BMW --- Infinity
#O28 - Favorite SNL skit --- The Continental comes to mind
#O29 - What was the last thing you wished for --- that this damn term session would speed the fuck up
#O30 - How expensive were the last pair of shoes you bought --- $79 - Gore-Tex Hiking Boots from LL Bean
#O31 - Name one thing you've purchased and never used --- Pocket PC
#O32 - Quote a movie --- so many to choose from: "I'm talking about drawing a line in the fucking sand dude, ... ACROSS THIS LINE YOU DO NOT... and by the way, dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature... Asian American, please"
#O33 - Favorite PJ's --- boxers
#O34 - Have you ever gotten a fortune from a fortune cookie and kept it --- no
#O35 - If so, what did it say --- N/A
#O36 - Favorite candy bar --- Skor
#O37 - Have you ever traveled outside the USA --- Canada, Jamaica, and (soon) Ireland
#O38 - What's a weird thing that you collect --- Pens
#O39 - Name an embarrassing moment --- Congratulating "Ms. Moser" for having conceived only to find out she had a miscarriage.
#O40 - Who's the funniest person you know --- prolly Andrew, though I have an odd sense of what is funny
#O41 - Who's the meanest? --- possibly me ... but with the BEST intentions
#O42 - Is it possible to have more than one best friend --- who is picking favorites?
#O43 - What is your favorite picture of yourself --- charcoal artist rendering
#O44 - Do you think you're a good person --- better than most
#O45 - Do you think others do --- a few probably do
#O46 - What's the worst pick up line you've heard --- "I just want you to know that as long as I have a face, You'll always have a place to pee."
#O47 - Who was the last person you were mad at --- myself
#O48 - Do you like it if someone bites you --- yea
#O49 - What's the worst medicine you've ever had --- that shit Raja gave me to make me less nauseous
#O50 - Who's your favorite comedian --- Carlin, Izzard, Jon Stewart, Bill Hicks, Lewis Black, Sam Kinison, 80's Eddie Murphy.

Because I'm Too Defensive NOT to...

There has recently been some unpleasantness finding its way into the pages of this website... and for once it’s not from me. This post is addressed to the gentlemen from Kutztown University who has abused the commenting portion of this blog in order to label me an "inconsiderate prick" a "racist" and {gasp} a "white person". Some of my loyal readers may be confused about what kind of entry I must have made to elicit such harsh an inaccurate language. The post in question is located HERE... and was written regarding my displeasure concerning the Barsky Morning Show's removal from 96.5 FM as indicated by the station's radical format change. I suggest your read that first, before considering the comments made below.

To date, the gentleman in question has placed two colorful comments at the tail end of my post. Because of time constraints, I only have time to address 1 of them now. The other will be addressed in a later post. I will be pasting the text of HIS comment, and then my rebuttal so that you can reference the two easily. I feel that this will most accurately showcase the gentleman's pathetic grammar skills which though voiced in a casual venue seem to lack real understanding of how to form a clear and coherent thought, along with his convoluted logic. Lines from his comment are featured in bold, while my responses appear in plaintext. Here we go...

First of all Corks, you are entitled to your opinion, but to say that R&B and Hip Hop is garbage. Who the hell are you.

First, let me compliment you on starting things off with a bang. I didn't have to get more than four words in to realize that you were pretty inept - allow me to clear a little something up for you. The " 's " at the tail end of C0rk is there to express my ownership of this WeBLOG. You see, that's what we educated folk like to call possessive. You go on to... or wait... no... you don't really go on... You say that I am entitled to my opinion, which is a noble, but you never complete the sentence, or an entire thought. Read it again. Does it make sense to you? <-- You'll also notice that I used a "?" question mark at the end of that last sentence. It indicates for the reader that I am in fact asking a question. Despite this disregard, I will answer your question anyway in short concise sentences you might be able to understand. I am c0rk. I have a WeBLOG. I like writing down my opinions to which I am entitled in said WeBLOG. I, C0rk, do not like Rap and R&B music.

This year that so called trash you are referring to has taken over tha Grammies this year. So if that music is what you say it is then explain that?

You really should read-back everything you write. If you had, you may have caught the fact that it is understood that the Grammys you're referring to are the ones that were distributed this year per your inclusion of "this year" at the beginning of what I think is a sentence. There is really no need to repeat them at the end. You show a little gusto in the next portion, essentially 'calling me at' to justify my claims since R&B has "taken over" the Grammy’s. The problem is that this is a imperative sentence which does not require a question mark at the end. A question mark would make it interrogative, and it wouldn't appear that you're asking a question.

There were 104 Grammys handed out at last years Grammy awards (this year’s haven’t occurred yet. They're on February 8th btw). Of those 104 only 13 were awarded to Rap and R&B artists, the same amount granted in every other genre of music. I'm not sure how you meant "taking over", but the stats are certainly not indicative of your claim. On a personal note, I never really looked to awards shows to tell me what I should listen to. My ears tend to tell me all I need to know about the sound going into them. That is what I base my opinion on, not who the politically fueled Grammy Academy says is award worthy this year.

You can't because you are an inconsiderate prick with nothing else better to do than talk about a radio station(which by the way I happen to love now that they have switched and seen the light) and diss a genre of music that has history.

I think I’ve made my point in regards to this gentleman’s command of the English language, so at this point I will focus primary on picking apart his argument which is a lot like shooting fish in a barrel…

The problem here is that you’ve now reverted to childish name-calling, show that it is YOU and not I who is intolerant when it comes to other peoples opinions. As you can see above, my being an apparent prick takes nothing away from my ability to prove you inaccurate. I’ve read my previous entry back a few times, and at no point did I discuss the synthesis of rap and R&B, nor did I indicate that there was any lack of history.

R&B is a form of Jazz you asshole and jazz is a classic. Rock is a form of disco you asshole and that is a classic.

Every incarnation of music has been inspired by sounds from generations prior. I would be willing to take your JAZZ point even farther in saying that all modern sound owes a credit to jazz. I’m not really sure where the reference to disco music fits in though. There is plenty of what many consider to be ROCK music prior to the advent of DISCO during the 70’s. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin… are any of these ringing a bell? Your point there is more than just a little weak, so much so that I can take little pride in pointing in out. I’m glad there are some more pathetic and outrageous moments ahead.

Before you start slandering music do your research.

Perhaps you didn’t get the memo. This is a personal WeBLOG that acts as a personal opinion sounding board. At no point do I claim that my opinions are facts, nor are they empirical laws provable on a home etch-a-sketch. Because the content of this site is purely opinion related, I’m not required to do my research to express my opinion, am I? Now, if I was attempting to prove that Rap and R&B is garbage, well then your argument might hold some water. Unfortunately, I’m not, and you look like a fool because you failed to take this into consideration.

I have nothing else more to say because people like you make me sick, thats whats wrong with society today. 

If only a white middle class 20 year old man’s opinion of Rap and R&B music embodied even one ounce of what is wrong with society. I think the problem with society is it is full of too many intellectually challenged individuals who start running their mouth before engaging their brain (assuming they have one).

And philly only had 1 urban station back in the late 80's early 90's. now they have 3 and you people wanna bitch?

I see we’ve made the switch from Rap and R&B to “urban”… I’ve never heard its described as that, but maybe that has something to do with the fact that I tend to dislike the sound of the music, and therefore avoid any stations or environments on which or in which it might be playing. I live in suburbia and must contend that the sound of Rap and R&B is alive and well here, so in that way “urban” is a terrible misnomer, and at the very least an unfair stereotype.

Capitalize the letters at the beginning of every sentence; I think that was covered for only about 30 seconds in the first grade because it’s pretty much common sense. If you missed it then, you’ve only had quite a few years of reading to pickup on the pattern.

You also seem to have missed the bulk of my gripe with 96.5 FM. I could care less about the format of the radio station, and even less about how many are available to the Philadelphia radio market. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I don’t listen to Rap and R&B. Why should I pay any attention to where music that I don’t like is being played? It’s the same reason I don’t buy Rap albums or pay much attention to the genre in general. I’m sure there is a lack of 80’s albums on your shelf, and that’s just fine. The bottom line is still my dismay over the removal of The Barsky Morning Show, and not my distaste for Rap and R&B music.

Fuck you and I mean that with all my heart. I bet you are a white person(you are a racist)

Your whole heart being added in on this one really clinches your utterly dimwitted argument. I might want my girlfriend to fuck me with all her heart, but certainly not you. Now that I mention it, that kind of thing may even be enhanced when done to the tune of David Bowie, Issac Hayes, or the late Barry White. Well what do you know, I DO listen to some R&B, just not that crap on 96.5 FM… ho hum… talk about taking things WAAAY out of context.

Friend, I think it is your final line which really puts the icing on the cake. It exposes your argument for what it really is --- a misdirected effort to silence the musical opinion of someone you KNOW to be white purely on the basis of his BEING white. Although I take great pleasure in busting your bubble over and over again, I’m afraid you did it to yourself on this one. Prior to this statement I was willing to forgive your comments, as stupid as they may have been, as just another detractor taking life just a little too seriously. Discovering me as racist is something I’m certain you’re very proud of, and I would congratulate you if your statements reflected my true nature, but they do not. Let me be crystal clear on this one. YOU are a racist. The logic implied in your statement alone indicates that regardless of our disagreements about music, you have deduced me as a racist purely on the grounds of my being born white. I feel bad that your penchant for jumping to such radically inaccurate conclusions will only serve to disgrace your character in the future.