| #201: | No First Class seat can match the comfort of 2 or 3 seats to yourself in coach. |
| #202: | Report from the air: The whole Northern Hemisphere is socked in. For best results, choose another hemisphere. |
| #203: | OXYMORON ALERT: The fine print on the bottom of the ad says, "Drink Responsibly." Yeah, like when has that ever happened? |
| #204: | Big Brother is watching us, with video cameras everywhere. Trouble is: humans have to monitor those cameras, so BB is still blind. |
| #205: | Flight attendant hands paper towels to passenger: "You can clean up that mess yourself. I am not your keeper." Bravo, I say! |
| #206: | Fruit is a plant's seed distribution system. Animals eat the fruit and sh*t the seeds.... So how do you explain the avocado? |
| #207: | Your choice: Buy "Duty Free" merchandise at a foreign airport and haul it home, or buy the same product for less at Costco. |
| #208: | The highest standard of honor is to be consistent with yourself. |
| #209: | A sociopath is incapable of empathizing with others. He may detect & exploit others' feelings, but he doesn't identify with them. |
| #210: | Famous sociopaths: Hitler, Saddam, Ted Bundy, Bernie Madoff. Many are in jail, but most are not. They live among us! |
| #211: | James Bond, if he existed, would probably be a sociopath. Licensed to kill, to consume the chicks. No conscience. That's why it's so easy. |
| #212: | "Puffery" is exaggerating the claims for a product without technically lying. The advertising industry is based on it! |
| #213: | The absence of lies should not be confused with honesty. |
| #214: | "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." (Via @linkibol) - #existentialism |
| #215: | I am a citizen of Walmartania. Born and raised here. I'm not always proud of it, but it's my country. |
| #216: | Just published a new blog report on Free Sleeping in Frankfurt, Germany. http://ow.ly/77YG - The camping is primo near the airport. |
| #217: | Call me conservative, but I still think they should be called "freedom fries." It's time we recognized our national cuisine. |
| #218: | Religion, like other addictions, is the enemy of self-responsibility. |
| #219: | All conspiracy theories are confounded by human politics, in that it's hard to get evil conspirators to agree on anything. |
| #220: | #followfriday - @Andy__Rooney I don't know if this is the "real" Andy Rooney, but it's irrelevant: He's got the A.R. shtick down pat! |
| #221: | Looking for a buyer for 10,000 pounds of none of your beeswax. Care to make an offer? |
| #222: | Photo Archive: My photos from the Obama Inauguration in Washington in January. http://roamingphotos.com/a?obama - in 3 albums |
| #223: | Congrats to the Northern Hemisphere for being rated the No. 1 hemisphere, May to October, 50,000 years in a row! |
| #224: | What you think our relationship is and what I think it is are usually two different things. |
| #225: | It amazes me how two people can have an animated conversation without a clue what each other is saying. |
| #226: | MRT @johnroderick Without the narrative talents Wilford Brimley, how would big corporations convey when they were "handcrafting" something? |
| #227: | I am always terrified of spelling "incompetent" wrong. ("incompetant?") It would be a brutal irony if I messed up. |
| #228: | I have revised the mission statement in my "Homeless by Choice" blog: http://freesleeping.blogspot.com - I'm just a dude.... |
| #229: | Modern audio-visual entertainment overloads the emotional system, making people numb and passive. My old essay: http://bit.ly/mztcx |
| #230: | The airport security level is ALWAYS orange. Yellow or green would promote complacency, while red would encourage panic, so orange it is. |
| #231: | After you have been off caffeine for a long time, Coca-Cola reveals its true flavor: Gross! |
| #232: | My new blog entry on budget travel: "Speaking the Local Language: Not Required" http://bit.ly/F3JMd - Just speak English, slowly, clearly. |
| #233: | Prediction: The airport alert level will go to Red only AFTER an attack has already occurred, to give the impression of gov't action. |
| #234: | Twitter gives you a chance to see what celebrities are really made of: fluff! |
| #235: | A redneck moment: Man and woman walking hand-in-hand into a discount cigarette store. So sweet! (Selma, North Carolina) |
| #236: | The most disgusting thing on the planet (my opinion): lipstick-stained cigarette butts. Choose one or the other, lady! |
| #237: | Photos du Jour: My album from a 24-hour visit to VENICE, ITALY in Sept. 07. http://roamingphotos.com/a?venice (More than enough time.) |
| #238: | Camping a field near the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. Only a thin layer of fabric saves me from sci-fi death by insects. (Kingsland) |
| #239: | Advertising Rule: All financial services ads in airports must feature Tiger Woods in a completely irrelevant golfing scenario. |
| #240: | I'd be a very poor motivational speaker. I'd just say: "You don't need me. You have to work it out for yourselves!" |
| #241: | Advertising is prostitution with words and images. |
| #242: | Nearly all advertising is for products you don't need, trying to manipulate you into thinking you do need them. |
| #243: | The only "good" advertising is the announcement of a product or service you needed anyway at a price or location you weren't expecting. |
| #244: | Florida is flatter than Kansas - only a few feet above sea level. The highest hills are trash landfills. |
| #245: | "Hubris" is the invincibility you feel after some success. Next, you take on more than you can handle and come crashing down. |
| #246: | While it isn't technically child abuse, raising a child in wealth and privilege can be just as crippling. |
| #247: | The ultimate con is Dasani - purified tap water from Coca-Cola. No flavor, no sugar, just pure, refreshing marketing bullshit. |
| #248: | Interesting that the British rejected Dasani (tap water) but Americans lap it up. The whole beverage industry is a con, so why not? |
| #249: | The beverage industry thrives because its markup is huge: 2 cents worth of ingredients become a $2 soft drink. No real food can beat that. |
| #250: | What, exactly, are "drinkability", "refreshment" and "thirst-quenching"? Aren't they really masks for alcohol and caffeine addiction? |
| #251: | What most people interpret as "thirst" is really a craving for caffeine. Your body doesn't need the liquid; your brain just wants the drug. |
| #252: | A Coca-Cola executive can say, "I never actually killed anyone." Yeah, but you were a parasite on society, stealing from the poor. |
| #253: | A Coke executive can live guilt free because guilt is distributed. He has no direct contact with the people he is exploiting. |
| #254: | The Holocaust and the soft drink industry operate on the same system of distributed responsibility, differing only in scale. |
| #255: | If we had a simple gauge in front of us showing body hydration levels (empty/full), thirst would not be so easy to manipulate. |
| #256: | Some of the best solutions to life's problems are unpublicized, because they wouldn't work if everybody did them. |
| #257: | The past is irrelevant except for what it teaches us about the future. |
| #258: | Poverty could be thought of as "enforced simplicity." If it forces people to become more efficient, it's not necessarily bad. |
| #259: | On the whole, technology doesn't really solve problems; it only redistributes them. |
| #260: | A buffet is the most existential form of dining. Even if you eat together, you must choose alone. |
| #261: | Have you noticed that when you eat a lot, you get hungry QUICKER? I just ate a big buffet, and three hours later I'm starved! |
| #262: | Sleep paralysis is the nightly disabling of motor muscles to prevent injury while dreaming. AKA incubus, alien abduction. |
| #263: | Never get angry. It is a universally destructive emotion. It eats you up inside while getting poor results outside. |
| #264: | Romantic advice comes in two flavors: "Trust your feelings" and "Trust no one." Can't there be a middle ground? |
| #265: | No prison is more secure than the one we create for ourselves. |
| #266: | Photos du Jour: My 2007 visit to LIDO BEACH in VENICE, ITALY, during a film festival. http://www.roamingphotos.com/a?lido - Tim Burton Day! |
| #267: | "Moderate consumption of cola drinks is completely safe," says British Soft Drinks Association, but http://bit.ly/lXWlD (BBC via @linkibol) |
| #268: | Cap'n Crunch can be a healthy part of a nutritious breakfast, according to the Cap'n's spokesperson. |
| #269: | Everyone has a philosophy of life. Even if they can't put it into words, it is guiding their actions. - #existentialism |
| #270: | “Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know.” -- Bertrand Russell (via @linkibol) |
| #271: | The essential element of any artistic medium is restriction. You are forced to condense your message into a small package. |
| #272: | The restriction on Twitter is 140 characters. On songs, it is 3-4 minutes. That's your message space. |
| #273: | When you break the restrictions of an artistic medium, the product goes to hell. You're just talking then. It's not art. |
| #274: | The true art of music lies in its creation, not its performance. |
| #275: | Going to see Cher in concert is essentially the same as watching a good Cher impersonator. Both are faking it. |
| #276: | You can't sing the same song over and over with real feeling. Only the first few times are genuine; it's acting after that. |
| #277: | Why do singer-songwriters perform at all? They need the money! Committed artists would be creating new material, not rehashing the old. |
| #278: | "Information consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention." http://bit.ly/rj2JK |
| #279: | "Information obesity" is the constant intake of new data and experiences before digesting what one has already consumed. |
| #280: | Information obesity results in passivity and shallowness of feeling. You do only the minimum required of you, little more. |
| #281: | My essay on data overload: "INVASION OF THE MIND PARASITES" http://bit.ly/IgsU4 (Kilroy Cafe #11) |
| #282: | To remain healthy in the modern world, you must restrict your information input to what you can reasonably process. |
| #283: | If you never get to the end of your To-Do list, then you have accumulated too many commitments. Some of them have to go! |
| #284: | It is noble to commit yourself to worthy causes, but not if it creates an obligation you cannot fulfill. |
| #285: | If you are committed beyond your resources and fail to reduce your obligations on your own, catastrophe will make the choices for you. |
| #286: | Photos du Jour: High school car wash I stumbled upon in Irvine, California in 2006. http://roamingphotos.com/a?carwash |
| #287: | I've just released a new original song, "BLOOD ON THE WINDSHIELD" http://bit.ly/196LYg Concerns a miscarriage of justice in Louisiana. |
| #288: | The cost of security is imprisonment. |
| #289: | The #1 risk of romantic commitment is that your mate becomes a perpetual child addicted to your protection. |
| #290: | Most forms of mutual protection become unequal over time, with one party giving far more than he is getting. |
| #291: | Given the choice, lonely is better than suffocated. |
| #292: | The choice of a romantic partner should never be made out of sympathy. |
| #293: | There are plenty of time travel devices to carry you forward in time with nothing to show for it. Just press the button and you're there! |
| #294: | Boredom is an attitude, not a real emotion. It reflects your own refusal to make creative use of the time available to you. |
| #295: | Cats and dogs have an amazing psychic ability. They can open doors by staring at them and whimpering. |
| #296: | My favorite song you've probably never heard: "Houdini's Box" by Jill Sobule http://bit.ly/hutQJ - Simple and haunting. |
| #297: | "It's not a bug; it's a feature." (old programmer saying) i.e. an apparent defect can turn out to be an advantage. |
| #298: | #1 best existential song: "Desperado" by the Eagles. Lyrics: http://bit.ly/yY6j6 |
| #299: | #2 best existential song: "Let It Be" by the Beatles. The philosophy can be misused, but still a powerful three words. |
| #300: | #3 best existential song: "The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel. Lyrics: http://bit.ly/1nsD9k One of many "emptiness" songs by Simon. |