Random Notes

Andy and Laura.

I'm at my parents' house this weekend, and I went with my sister to take the kids trick-or-treating. Mom and Dad bought a ton of candy to give away, but they didn't really need it because Sylvester is where all the local kids go; they block the back street to vehicle traffic and give kids unfettered access to about forty sugar distritubtion centers disguised as homes.



There were hundreds of kids and their parents walking up one sidewalk and down the other. My job was to shoot some photos and help ride herd over Laura, Andy and Emma. My fee was a mini Baby Ruth candybar fished from Emma's haul when the evening was over.



Laura took her role as princess to heart, and her most common royal decree was that she should "take the lead" in the walk from house to house. Andy fell into the Buzz Lightyear role by constantly trying to zoom ahead. Emma... well, she was more of an "(I Don't) Care Bear"; she'd usually go about halfway across someone's yard and turn back without getting any candy from them if Laura and Andy passed her on their way back.



My sister April said when they got home she'd let them go through and choose the best candy to keep so the rest could be left out for "The Halloween Fairy," who would take it to "poor unfortunate children who don't have Halloween." Having three small children binge on sugar is frightening, but the calm when they crash? Wonderful.

Laura and Andy dressed as a Princess and Buzz Lightyear. Naturally, they got candy from Mom before we left for Sylvester.
Emma, shown above sitting on April's lap, didn't like being a Care Bear at first. At right, the kids hit the rectory at one of the churches.

I didn't write a column this week. I had a newspaper design seminar -- "Design on a Shoestring" -- in Charleston yesterday and it sort of slipped my mind. Instead, why not go over and read Paul Krugman's column and bask in the realization that election season is almost over and George W. Bush is about to get his walking papers.

It's Not Just Al Qaqaa



Just in case, the right is already explaining away President Bush's defeat: it's all the fault of the "liberal media," particularly The New York Times, which, so the conspiracy theory goes, deliberately timed its report on the looted Al Qaqaa explosives - a report all the more dastardly because it was true - for the week before the election.



It's remarkable that the right-wingers who dominate cable news and talk radio are still complaining about a liberal stranglehold over the media. But, that absurdity aside, they're missing a crucial point: Al Qaqaa is hardly the only tale of incompetence and mendacity to break to the surface in the last few days. Here's a quick look at some of the others...

Ummmmmmm... no comment.

I joined a new linkshell today after Quieren got one of the members to travel to Windurst to give me the pearl. He was also going to add Gravely and Kristofer, but neither of them were on. I could've logged out and switched over to K's character, but I'll leave that for him. Mostly I ran around killing crawlers, fishing, and taking sexually suggestive screenshots.



It's strange being in a linkshell with a lot of people. They're constantly chatting and helping each other. It's a very different vibe from RainbowCarnage, which has only three or four regulars who almost never see each other.

In an amazing reversal, President Bush says he favors civil unions for gay people.



Fuck you, Mr. President. I say again, fuck you.



You have four years of gay-baiting politics under your belt, and you didn't spell out your "revelation" during any of the debates over your proposed constitutional amendment because you knew it would alienate your conservative base. You want to reach out to us now? You have a change of heart on the eve of the election?



Fuck you, Mr. President. I say again, fuck you.



You're like a wife beater who turns up with flowers on her birthday and expects everything to be right again. You want to be forgiven so you won't see what a miserable shit you've been every time you look in a mirror or notice the bruises. You've had plenty of opportunities to get it right and you've failed. Try again with some poor bitch who doesn't know you the way we do, one who hasn't seen your record.



Fuck you.

It's so cute! (Click to enlarge.)

Wooooo-hooooooooo! I can ride chocobos now. It cost a paltry 140 gil to rent one and ride it all the way from Jeuno to Selbina. I didn't have to worry about getting attacked by tigers or goblins or anything. Sweet!



I teamed up with a taru ranger named Evnon for the second part of the trip. He was traveling to Windurst to start his quest to become a summoner. We were slaughtering crawlers all the way to the city.



I bought a scroll of Thunder, now that I can use the spell. I fished awhile and kept casting enchancing spells -- Protect, Barstonra, Aquaveil, etc. -- in order to raise that particular skill. Not a bad day.

A Walking Tree lurks in Jugner Forest.

A giant attacks the party in Quifum.

What I love most about Final Fantasy XI is the way it appeals to my sense of wonder and love of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Running around Vana'diel is as close as I can get to being a hobbit in Middle Earth.



Now that I have my Black Mage and White Mage skills leveled up to twenty, I decided it was finally time I traveled to Jeuno to get my Chocobo license. Quieren arranged an escort for me. I met Nile in the port city of Selbina, and the two of us set off through Jugner Forest. It's very dense, with lots of trees and low-hanging branches which reduce visibility. Tigers lurk inside to attack unwary visitors, and Nile dispatched three of them before we cleared the forest.



The most surreal moment came as we were walking along a ravine. Nile pointed and said "A Walking Tree. I'd love to take out one of those." I looked, and saw it standing almost motionless to blend with the surrounding flora. It moved out of range and we headed off.



Jeuno is an amazing city. It's built on four levels reaching high into the clouds. The upper level is an amazing garden, while shops and residences are clustered below. Jeuno is a powerful city because it stands at the center of Vana'diel's trade routes. It also has control of airships and uses the leverage the technology gives it in maintaining the fragile peace. It reminds me of the Spacing Guild in Frank Herbert's Dune novels.



I found the Chocobo stables near the entrance. One of the giant birds is ill, and I have to nurse it back to health. When that's finished, I'll be given a Chocobo license and will be able to rent them from stables all across the land. They're faster than running on my tiny taru legs, and I don't have to worry about being attacked by monsters when I'm in the saddle.



At one point I wandered out into Rolanberry Fields to check out the local monsters. I soon found they were too strong to face alone and used my Warp spell. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten to set my home point in the city and found myself back in Jugner Forest! Another group of mages being led by a high-level Warrior was passing by, and I joined them for the return trip.



Quifum Island, where most Level 20 players go to gain experience, is connected directly to Jeuno via a tunnel. A party quickly invited me, so I helped them fight clippers for an hour or so. Our party was attacked twice by the giants who roam the area, and we were forced to flee each time to a nearby tower.

I failed to fall into a burning ring of fire.

War comes to West Sarutabaruta.

Due to mechanical difficulties, I'm not going to Mom and Dad's house this weekend like I'd planned. Naturally, I'll spend a lot of time playing the game.



A group of players recruited me to fight the dragon in Giddeous this afternoon. It seems there's a giant eyeball to worry about, so my job was to keep the dragon asleep while they dispatched the eye. Unfortunately, I didn't have "Sleep." Chianakitty and Marakas pitched in some gil to help me buy the scroll, and we set out.



We ran through Giddeous, which is the home of the Yagudo birdmen. We were okay at first, but then five or six of them decided they wanted to taste taru meat and attacked me. I had no idea I was being chased until the first one struck. They were easily taken out -- my panic was completely unwarranted -- and we made our way to the glowing seal which marks the entrance to the dragon's lair.



Unfortunately, Marakas and I were unable to enter. Neither of us were doing that particular mission, so the way was closed to us. I stood outside while the others went in and quickly killed the dragon. They didn't need me after all, but I'll be farming to repay the gil I owe the others.



Marakas and I had a Monty Python and the Holy Grail moment when I decided I'd stand on the seal and waylay adventurers. "If the dragon you would see, you must answer me these questions three," I said.



"What is your quest?" I asked.



"What is your favorite color?" Marakas chimed in.



"What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" I asked.



"African or European?" Marakas asked.



"I don't know," I said, and then started screaming before we cracked up.



Kristofer came over for awhile and played as Demone. He was killing giant bees and Yagudo near the West Sarutabaruta outpost when about 20 players turned up. They were doing some kind of garrison mission, and fought wave after wave of Yagudo. These weren't the weak birdmen from Giddeous, either; they were strong as hell.



It was wild seeing an army at work. Every time I think I've exhausted the wonders of this game, they throw in something like this. It's just amazing to me.

I wasn't able to leave it alone (and had nothing else bugging me), so this week's column is about Mary Cheney. With no small degree of discomfort, I discovered Ellen Goodman's column was running along almost exactly the same lines. It's the sort of situation which makes you painfully aware of the possible threat of someone yelling "plagarism!" when your back is turned. I used her stem cell column (scheduled for Monday) instead.



I should've written about this last week and avoided the hassle. Hindsight, etc.

There's something about Mary Cheney



By Terry L. Estep



I've been fascinated by the hit John Kerry has taken over his final-debate comments concerning Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter Mary.



Asking President Bush to explain the thought process behind his effort to permanently bar gay Americans from civil marriage, moderator Bob Shieffer asked "Do you believe homosexuality is a choice?"



"I don't know," Bush said. He then mumbled some half-hearted words about treating everyone with respect before sailing his ship into the calmer political waters of traditional marriage and the need to "protect" it from those scurvy dog activist judges. Not from gay people, of course. In the Bush political lexicon, the word "gay" doesn't exist. He always frames the argument as a fight against "activist judges" so he won't have to admit he's seeking to deny equal rights to a minority group.



[ Continue to column... ]

Demone and Rojamasru... Get your mind out of the gutter.

This was Final Fantasy XI weekend.



Kristofer created his character Friday night and spent Saturday evening running around outside Windurst. He bought some news spells and armor before taking on new monsters in the field. Gravely jumped on for a little while, which led to the game screenshot I took while Kristofer was in the bathroom.



"You perv," he said when saw it.



I spent all day Sunday in Valkurm Dunes. And I mean all day. I didn't plan to, but the experience points were flowing like wine. I managed to take my White Mage from Level 17 to 20, and now I get to spend the next week or two farming until I can afford better armor.



One guy in our party, a Warrior named Treg, was nice. He knew what he was doing, and we shared several private messages about the impulsiveness of the group. There's a fine balancing act involved in leveling up -- you can tackle Incredibly Tough monsters which give you 150-200xp and drain my magic reserves so that we have to rest a long time between fights, or you can fight less impressive monsters for 50-100 experience points over and over with little downtime. Treg and I favor the latter method.



He complimented me on my gaming and said I was a good White Mage, which made me feel very good. I never know how effective I am, so that kind of feedback is always appreciated.

Kristofer's Demone is a hot mithra chick.

I joked the other day I'd have to create a character for Kristofer and ensnare him into the Final Fantasy XI addiction. I didn't realize he'd already been thinking about it. An extra character is only $1/month, so I let him put one together this evening.



Naturally, he went straight for the Mithra. What is it about straight guys that they love running around as slinky catwomen? It's like being in touch with your inner transvestite, and doubly fun because people will flirt with you without knowing if you're a guy or a gal behind the keyboard.



I sat on the bed and guided him through the game's interface. It's maddening at first -- during an early fight he jumped up from the chair in frustration and said "You do it!" -- but he quickly got the hang of it. He ran around Windurst's gates, killing Tiny Mandragoras and Bumblebees, slowly raising his character. Over the course of the evening he befriended two other players and briefly teamed up with them for monster-killing action.



He's playing as a black mage, and he likes it for the same reason I do: You deal out large amounts of damage and you don't have to get close to the monster. He put some of his swag up for auction, so the next time he plays he can buy some new weapons and spells. Keeping spells current is a mage's prime task. You can gimp out on armor, but never your spells.



His interest in the game surprised me, and that he enjoyed it once he started surprised me even more. He said he's thinking about getting a new computer, and it would be so badass if we could run around killing monsters together and recruit Gravely.



"A taru, a mithra and a galka walk into a bar, and the bartenders says 'What is this, some kind of joke?'"



I created a signature for use in the Quetzalcoatl Daily News forums. The picture of Gravely's character was too good not to use. (Forgive me, Cris!)

Salon.com has a nice commentary piece about why the Cheney reaction (and the media's coverage of it) annoys the piss out of the gay community. Surf over and get the free day pass to read the entire thing.

One of the happiest days of my life came when one of the old ladies at my mom's Catholic bridge club mentioned what a nice young husband I'd make. My mother, in her 60s by then, laughed it off. "I don't think that's going to happen," she said. "He's gay."



I was stunned when I heard the story. It had taken her years to get to that point. And it meant everything to me. She didn't care what the bridge ladies thought. She cared more about me.



I doubt very much that Mary Cheney gives a rat's ass if some church lady in Idaho knows she's gay. But her mother cringing at the church lady knowing -- that's gotta hurt like hell.

If I hadn't already written this week's column on Wednesday, I'd probably be sounding off about the Cheney family's fake "indignation."



I was cracking up listening to The Randi Rhodes Show on Air America, because she was talking about it and started doing Lynn's voice, saying "All that deprogramming work down the tubes because Kerry said she was born that way! Bad man! Very bad man!" Ha!

Be wary, dear voters, of stem cell cheerleaders and defenders



By Terry L. Estep



I'm trying my best to remember, but I can only think of two times in the past four years when I've looked at George W. Bush's actions as president and felt true respect.



The most recent came when he sought to revitalize NASA by spelling out a clear agenda for space exploration. I believe humanity's long-term survival depends on freeing our fate from this single planet in a vast and indifferent universe. If Bush could buck up the engineers with clear goals and a fiscally responsible plan to help make it happen, I was behind him.



The other time came when he addressed the nation to announce his decision to limit federal funding on embryonic stem cell research to existing stem cell lines. I did not agree with his decision, but his speech made it clear how he arrived at his conclusion. I respected him for his candor, something that has been sorely lacking from his administration ever since.



[ Continue to column... ]

Normally it would be mean-spirited to name a drinking game after a recovering alcoholic, but can't fault me for creating this one because it will never require you to touch alcohol.



Take a drink when:



+ Lynn and Dick Cheney call Rick Santorum a "bad man" for comparing homosexuality to sex with dogs.



+ Lynn and Dick Cheney call Alan Keyes a "bad man" for calling their daughter a sinner and a selfish hedonist.



+ Lynn and Dick Cheney call George W. Bush a "bad man" for wanting to strip their daughter of her civil rights.



+ Lynn and Dick Cheney admonish Republicans publicly for use of gay-baiting in their campaigns. (Take three drinks)



+ Lynn and Dick Cheney agree homosexuality is not a choice.



+ Lynn and Dick Cheney stop acting as though they're ashamed of their lesbian daughter.



+ Lynn and Dick Cheney stop crying crocodile tears because Kerry made a statement of acceptance and compassion for their daughter.



As I said, you'll probably never have to take a drink during this game. Even your children can join the game! At least until the election is over and the Cheneys can admit publicly they were more worried about keeping their jobs than defending their daughter's "honor." I'm still pissed off about this. We didn't hear anything from Lynn and Dick when the GOP mailed out flyers to West Virginians about the evils of homosexuality, did we?



Andrew Sullivan is all over this one, and good for him.

And I fail to see how Kerry's remark could be understood in any conceivable way as gay-baiting. It never occurred to me when I heard it. It does not occur to me now. You know what is based in gay-baiting? Implicitly, clearly, shamelessly: the Bush-Cheney campaign. The GOP has a nutty candidate in Illinois who called Mary Cheney a "selfish hedonist" - but Dick Cheney wasn't an "angry dad," then. Lynne Cheney didn't call that "tawdry." So Bush runs the most anti-gay national campaign ever and it's his opponent who gets tarred as a homophobe! Brilliant, even by Rove's standards. And when it comes to gay-baiting, there are few as practised as Rove. The sheer nerve of these hypocrites never ceases to amaze.

I mean, I could understand this manufactured outrage if Kerry had said "Mary was born that way because Lynn has a poisoned womb," but that didn't happen.

As Chuck pointed out in the comments, Lynne Cheny has her panties in a bunch because Kerry said her daughter was born gay and doesn't deserve to face discrimination because being gay is not a choice.



Let me see if I get this straight (no pun intended): Lynn Cheney can't be bothered to respond when Alan Keyes calls Mary a sinner and a selfish hedonist, but Kerry is a bad man for saying her daughter deserves to be treated with respect? Doesn't that sound just the slightest bit hypocritical and fucked-up? I guess she's living in a fantasy bubble where anything a Republican says is right and anything a Democrat says is wrong.



It's the height of folly for Lynn to claim Kerry violated her family's privacy when Mary has been out of the closet and using her position in the gay community to campaign for her father for years. There's no privacy there to violate, unless Lynn is holding on to some bizarre idea that Mary chose to be that way and they're ashamed of her.



I give props to Elizabeth Edwards for pointing that out, too.

I'm thrilled Thomas Friedman is back to writing his column for the New York Times. He wrote a book called The Lexus and the Olive Tree which was a very handy guide for understanding market globalization; he's very pro-market and won't win any points from people who recoil from that sort of thing, but he's great at showing how the trend works.



His latest column (registration required) is a good one, and it sums up exactly how I feel about the climate of fear in the United States and Bush's role in it.

Addicted to 9/11



I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I hear the president and vice president slamming John Kerry for saying that he hopes America can eventually get back to a place where "terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance." The idea that President Bush and Mr. Cheney would declare such a statement to be proof that Mr. Kerry is unfit to lead actually says more about them than Mr. Kerry. Excuse me, I don't know about you, but I dream of going back to the days when terrorism was just a nuisance in our lives.



If I have a choice, I prefer not to live the rest of my life with the difference between a good day and bad day being whether Homeland Security tells me it is "code red" or "code orange" outside. To get inside the Washington office of the International Monetary Fund the other day, I had to show my ID, wait for an escort and fill out a one-page form about myself and my visit. I told my host: "Look, I don't want a loan. I just want an interview." Somewhere along the way we've gone over the top and lost our balance.

Hey, it turns out Christopher Reeve was an atheist. I'd never heard of the Celebrity Atheists site before; it's sort of fascinating.



My beloved Amanda Donohoe from Lair of the White Worm is in there, too.

Donohoe is probably best known for playing C.J., the bisexual lawyer, on the TV drama L.A. Law. In the horror film, Lair of the White Worm, Donohoe played a reincarnated pagan priestess who belonged to a snake-worshipping cult stamped out by the early Christians. A controversial scene in the film required Donohoe's character to spit venom on a crucifix. When a reporter from Interview magazine asked her about the scene, Donohoe replied, "I'm an atheist, so it was actually a joy. Spitting on Christ was a great deal of fun. I can't embrace a male god who has persecuted female sexuality throughout the ages. And that persecution still goes on today all over the world."

Okay, the debate is pretty sedate for the moment. Furious George seems to be reigning it in as best he can, but there's still time for his dials to move into the red.



The moderator asked President Bush if he thought homosexuality was a choice. Bush said "I don't know" and then launched into his spiel about how he's "protecting" marriage. Not once did he say anything about gay people. He didn't use the word "gay" or "lesbian." He didn't say a single word to affirm the dignity of gay and lesbian Americans.



Kerry, on the other hand, said he didn't believe being gay was a choice. He talked about the struggle gay people often go through just to be themselves. He gets extra points just by being willing to say "gay" and "lesbian." And he made it clear we're worthy of equality and protection. Kerry believes marriage is between a man and woman, but at least he doesn't want to leave us out in the cold.



I wish Bush would get the stick out of his ass and stop treating us like we're a dirty secret.

Gravely's Rojamasru is a big S.O.B., isn't he?

Cris jumped into Final Fantasy XI and we were able to hang out for an hour or so. His character is named Rojamasru. He's playing a huge hulking Galka warrior -- I somehow knew he wouldn't be able to resist the big bear-like guys -- and I didn't have to do much to keep him healed. He doesn't take nearly as much damage as I did when I was starting out.



It's funny to think I never get a chance to see Gravely in real life, but now I could virtually bump into him on an almost-daily basis. It's handy. I set him up to join the RainbowCarnage Linkshell, and I'm sure Rimare answered some of his questions when I logged out to watch the debate. Kristofer sat on my bed and watched me show Cris the ropes.



There's a lot of information for him to absorb right now, but he said he's getting into it. He's got a 30-day free trial to decide, at any rate.

Okay, now I've heard everything: an argument for allowing gay marriage because it would prevent polygamy. This is too cool for words. Check it out.

Tuesday a group called Tapestry Against Polygamy which helps in the prosecution of polygamists, said that the proposed amendment would actually give people who practice it a legal loophole to avoid going to court....



Polygamists usually only get marriage certificates for their first marriage, any additional marriage is considered a domestic union. The state then prosecutes claiming that the domestic unions are de facto marriages and therefore polygamy.



Prunty said that if the proposed amendment passes polygamists would have a constitutional argument. Since the state could not recognize those domestic unions as marriages it could not prosecute them under laws disavowing multiple marriages.

I make Spiny Spipi my bitch.

I said yesterday I wanted the Mist Silk Cape, so after Kristofer went home I logged into the game and started wandering around East Sarutabaruta in search of the Notorious Monster known as Spiny Spipi. I've never hunted an NM before, so I didn't know how long it takes them to spawn or if a lot of other people would be lurking around with the same idea.



I was slaughtering every crawler I found and trying to complete a stack of silk thread. I don't think I'd been at it more than fifteen minutes when I found Spipi. When I checked his strength, it said "Impossible to Gague," which I thought meant it would kill me in one hit.



Nope. Not even close.



I easily dispatched the monster and got a silk thread and the Mist Silk Cape! On my first try! How cool is that? The cape sells for $35k at the Auction House, but I'm keeping it.



Far more exciting is the news that my friend Cris has taken the plunge and purchased Final Fantasy XI. I can't wait to escort him around Vana'diel. This is going to be cool. I bought a World Pass so he can play on the Quetzalcoatl server... which is pretty much the server for Glenville State College grads at this point.

Drogaroga's Spine arcs across the canyon.

I was exploring a little to prepare for Windurst Mission 2.2, and wandered into a completely new area called The Meriphataud Mountains. Like Tahrongi Canyon, it's a barren region of sandy rock.



I was chatting with Rimare as I was running around the area, and I saw something called "Drogaroga's Spine" stretching from one side of the map to the other. I decided I had to see it, so I started running north and dodging the Goblin Butchers and Hill Lizards which dotted the landscape.



Holy... crap...



I don't know what kind of creature Drogaroga was, but its spine stretches all the way across the landscape. It's immense. Just when you think you've exhausted the game's wonders, something like this is thrown in to make you feel very very small.



On a side note, I was killing Crawlers and farming their silk when I nuked one another player wanted. I hadn't seen the other guy coming and apologized for taking his target. "It's okay," he told me. "I just got an item from a monster which sells for thirty thousand at the auction house."



It turns out there is a Notorious Monster (an uber-version of a regular monster) named Spiny Spipi who spawns in that part of East Sarutabaruta. It looks like a regular crawler, but it's tougher. If the player is very lucky, Spipi drops a Mist Silk Cape when it dies. Players will camp out for hours and wait for Notorious Monsters to spawn, and I think taking out Spiny Spipi is going to be my goal for the next week. I want that cape!

Kristofer sent me a link to Landover Baptist's plans for their Halloween Hell House: John Kerry's Horrifying Agenda for America. I love this site. The blasphemy drips like honey, and I'm ready to die from the sweetness.



Speaking of death, I'm bummed to hear Christopher Reeve died. I've made my share of tasteless Reeve jokes over the past few years ("Thanks... *gasp* ...for... *gasp* ...this... *gasp* ...honor... *gasp*"), but he was still my Superman. Tom Welling is gorgeous to look at, but he'll never be the Superman Reeve was.



Welling kicks Dean Cain's ass, though.



One of my favorite Onion articles was the one about Christopher Reeve being placed atop the Washington Monument as a symbol of "brave cripples" or something like that. All these people are standing around marveling at him, and the entire time he's saying "Please let me down. It's cold and I miss my family."

News of the book's blank pages disturbs the mages in Windurst.

I died twice in pursuit of my goal, but I managed to complete Windurst Mission 2.1. Instead of trying to put together a party, I did my best to slip through the Maze of Shakrami without getting killed by the goblins. I almost made it, but a large scorpion spawned behind me and slaughtered me. A helpful mage was passing by, took pity, and revived me. With the mage's help, I found the Lapis Coral, warped back to Windurst, and finished it up.



Feriz has come back to the game after a month-long absence. We chatted a bit while I was running around fighting crawlers. I have three plants in my garden, and once they're harvested I'm going to San D'oria for awhile, I think.



I've finally figured out the bazaar system, so I can now carry around items to sell to other players. It's funny to be running along and get a message like "Thus-and-such examines your merchandise," usually quickly followed by "Thus-and-such leaves your bazaar." It's easy to camp my character in front of the auction house while I'm at work and let people buy stuff while I'm away.

This week's column is the possible start of an annual ritual address to the gay community. John Kerry doesn't always thrill me on gay rights issues, but he beats Bush by a long shot. He voted against DOMA and would like to see us have at least civil unions (marriage-by-proxy, basically).

Come out and vote wherever you are



By TERRY L. ESTEP



This has been a fascinating year for the gay community.

We've seen great strides in achieving equality. The United States Supreme Court overturned antiquated sodomy laws that remained on the books to allow states to selectively prosecute gays and turn them into criminals for being themselves in the privacy of their own homes.



The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled the state's proposed civil unions law created an inferior institution that would stigmatize an entire class of people by denying them equal access to civil marriage. That state is now the only one in the United States where gay couples may legally wed. Canada and Spain are on their way to granting full marriage rights to their gay citizens.

I have taken down the "Random Notes" archives. As someone pointed out, there are things in there which could jump out and bite people on the ass in their careers. I don't mind taking them down -- I've been contemplating doing this for months, but never had a compelling reason.



However, I still have the complete archives on disc and will happily provide a CD-ROM to anyone who requests one.

This outfit is very popular with Vana'diel's anglers.

The price of one stack of silk thread in the Windurst Auction House has jumped from 9000 gil to 11,000. I'm not complaining about receiving an extra 2k for my hard work. I've been running around East and West Sarutabaruta for the past few days, fighting every crawler I see.



I used the money to buy a Fisherman's Tunic, a nice blue outfit which boosts your fishing skill. There are four pieces of fisherman's gear in all, and I now own two of them. Windurst is home to the FIsherman's Guild, and any bridge or dock is likely to have at least a few fishermen making cast after cast. The anglers are thick as locusts in Port Windurst. It's a wonder the dock doesn't break under their combined weight.



Improving your fishing skill is a slow process, and I finally reached Level 3 last night while waiting for the VP debate to begin. I have to reach Level 5 before I'm no longer considered an amateur. Fishing is a good way to make money in this game.



Birkhimer has discovered the joys of hunting elementals. He's already made 200,000 gil. It's such a great idea I wish I were doing it. Unfortunately, my mage is not physically strong and would probably die a quick death. This reinforces my urge to start training as a Thief or Red Mage, both of which have more natural melee ability.

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield has died.



That sucks. And now I'm sure we can look forward to a slew of editorial cartoons about him finally getting respect at the gates of heaven.



Syndicated astrologer Joyce Jillson also keeled over.



Who will celebrity death #3 be?



Update: Kristofer points out I forgot about Janet Leigh going to the great shower scene in the sky.

I was getting ready for work this morning and heard one of the talking heads at FOX working out the strategies for tonight's Cheney-Edwards debate. He said the Dems didn't want this to turn into callow young Skywalker (Edwards) going toe-to-toe with wise old Yoda (Cheney). What they needed was Darth Vader (Cheney) vs. Luke Skywalker the Jedi Knight.



"You watch a lot of Star Wars," the host laughed.



I mentioned this to Kristofer, and all day he was joking Cheney could always halt the debate by strangling Edwards from across the table.



"I find your lack of faith disturbing," Cheney would rasp. Pinch.



Darth Vader turned up at tonight's debate, and it wasn't the strong Darth Vader striding onto Leia's ship at the beginning of A New Hope. This was the grizzled, crusty old white man Darth Vader preparing to die at the end of Return of the Jedi.



This debate was closer -- almost a draw -- compared to last week's Bush-Kerry slaughter, but not by much. In terms of presentation, Cheney seemed to have the upper hand. He got off some good zingers at Kerry's expense and did his best to make Edwards look like an inexperienced idiot, but unfortunately for Cheney he didn't seem to have his heart in it. None of his punches really landed, and I'm sure he was wishing he could wave his hand at the moderator and say "You don't need to ask about domestic issues."



Like Bush, Cheney seemed to resent having his judgment questioned. He lolled there on stage like a lizard basking on a rock. Edwards repeatedly jabbed at their administration's credibility gap. When he pointed out the United States was taking 90% of the coalition casualities in Iraq, Cheney countered that Iraqi deaths put the number at 50%. That's a great answer. "A lot of Iraqis are dying, too" is right up there with "Don't forget Poland." Edwards rightly pointed out Iraq is not part of the coalition.



But Cheney's showing only works if the debate was held in a universe were fact checkers do not exist. He had the gall to say "I never said Saddam Hussein and 9/11 were connected." Ding-ding-ding-ding! We have a liar! "I never met Edwards before tonight." Ding-ding-ding-ding! Your pants are on fire, Darth.



I don't think this debate was a slam dunk for Kerry-Edwards, but it sure as hell wasn't the blowout people predicted for Cheney. Edwards was too on-point, affable, and ready to stick up for his boss.



To hear Cheney tell it, Bush doesn't even exist. I think the only time he mentioned Bush was when the gay marriage question came up. Cheney said he'd leave it to the states, but that the president sets policy and he supports the president. Nice of him to remember the president is there, even though Cheney lied about Massachusetts. The court didn't order the legislature to change the constitution to allow same-sex marriages. The court said there was nothing in Massachusett's constitution to prevent same-sex marriages. A small difference to anyone who's paying attention.



Sweet.

Bob Herbert has an excellent column explaining Bush's performance during Thursday night's debate against John Kerry.

There undoubtedly were many reasons for Mr. Bush's lackluster effort. But I think there was one factor, above all, that undermined the president in last week's debate, and will continue to plague him throughout the campaign. And that was his problematic relationship with reality.



Mr. Bush is a man who will frequently tell you -- and may even believe -- that up is down, or square is round, when logic and all the available evidence say otherwise. During the debate, this was most clearly displayed when, in response to a question about the war in Iraq, Mr. Bush told the moderator, Jim Lehrer, "The enemy attacked us, Jim, and I have a solemn duty to protect the American people, to do everything I can to protect us."



Moments later Senator Kerry clarified, for the audience and the president, just who had attacked the United States. "Saddam Hussein didn't attack us," said Mr. Kerry. "Osama bin Laden attacked us. Al Qaeda attacked us."

I keep track of who's naughty and who's nice on my PDA.

One feature of Final Fantasy XI which should not be overlooked is the blacklist. If someone is being abusive or stupid or exhibits any number of gaming sins, adding their name to your blacklist means you will never hear from them again. Anything that player says to you will forever fall on deaf ears.



I came very close to using it yesterday.



I decided to hop the ferry to Selbina for an afternoon of fighting in the Valkurm Dunes. My excursions to the Maze of Shakrami have been interesting, but haven't given me much in the way of experience points. I reached the dunes early in the morning, and the majority of players running around were Japanese. I'm not skilled in the use of FFXI's Auto Translate function, but I managed to keep it together when party leadership was transferred to me.



I joined three parties over the course of the day, and a Warrior named Baron was in two of them. I knew we weren't get along as soon as I saw his macros. They're handy shortcuts, and it's always nice when the warrior remembers to include a line to tell the party when he's going to use Provoke on a monster, but his line was "Silly faggot, dicks are for chicks." It provoked me, and I told him his macro was infantile and offensive. Baron pulled a pugil into the fight when I wasn't ready, so he and most of the party was wiped out. He left the party because his home point was all the way out in San D'oria. One of the other party members said he'd done the same thing earlier.



Flash forward to the evening, after I'd taken a break to read more Dark Tower and watch the final episode of Jeremiah. I ended up playing beside Baron again. I thought about telling the party leader, Wraithe, to make sure Baron set his home point near where we were fighting, but I didn't bother. Baron was just as annoying as ever, wanting to pull monsters even though it wasn't his job. We'd just finished a tough fight and I was trying to recover my MP when Baron pulled a goblin. I couldn't heal, and Wraithe was killed.



"What the hell just happened?" Wraithe asked, and we explained. Wraithe booted Baron out of the party after raking him over the coals.



"Bitches," was all Baron had to say before running off.



I'll never party with Baron again. He's a jackass.

Business Week blasts Bush's performance during the debate with Kerry.

But in Coral Gables, Fla., last night, Bush looked -- at least for the first half of the debate -- like Elmer Befuddled, a commander-in-chief not in command.



Perhaps what was so unnerving was that Bush found himself in a foreign-policy debate with a seasoned politician who was espousing the same sort of measured, internationalist approach to a dangerous world that was the hallmark of his father's Presidency. Debating the security and future of the nation on live national television isn't easy -- but debating your Dad is downright scary.

Now that the Republicans are conceding Bush lost, they're trying to find someone to blame. Try looking at the podium on the right side of the screen. Bush is so insulated from reality that he's not used to being challenged. Maybe if the GOP would stop hand-picking his audiences so he's not always being treated like a pampered poodle king, he'd do better. I mean, this is the guy we have dealing with other nations? That should scare you if it hasn't already.

This week's column is about Banned Books Week, which is always a lot of fun. It's amazing to see some of the books which make the list.

It's never too late to read a banned book



By TERRY L. ESTEP



Banned Books Week, which draws to a close Saturday, is always a special time.

For over 20 years the last week of September has been a celebration of books which have been challenged or removed from schools and libraries across the nation.



Sometimes the challenges come from religious parents who wish to keep children from points of view they find morally objectionable. Sometimes they come from adults who wish to keep information about sexuality or death from children whom they believe are too young to learn about such things. Sometimes they come from politically-correct stormtroopers seeking to stifle singly negative portrayals of a minority. Sometimes they come from minorities fighting unflattering stereotypes. The common denominator in the challenges is the struggle against the power of an idea.



[ Continue to column... ]

If I'd had time, I would've written a column reaction to last night's presidential debate, because I'm still buzzed about it. Foreign policy is the one area where Bush is perceived as strong, and he floundered around and constantly had to check his crib sheet. He was playing defense all night, and he wasn't doing it very well... but at least he didn't forget Poland.



Andrew Sullivan was equally struck by Bush's performance.

Watching Bush last night, I saw a president who sometimes didn't seem in control of his job, a man who couldn't and didn't defend the conduct of the war except to say that it was "hard work," who seemed defensive, tired, and occasionally rattled. He had some strong points; and I agree with him on the basic matter of whether we should have gone to war. But the argument that we might be better changing horses in the middle of a troubled river gained traction last night.