Thursday, December 31, 2009 - Thank you one and all for visiting the website over the past year. I'll be posting some stats soon. Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2010!
Monday, December 28, 2009 - Updated the Bookshelf page.
Sunday, December 27, 2009 - Finally weeded through the search keyword and phrase section of the website statistics, harvested the gems, and added a bunch of them to Search funnies. Enjoy!
Friday, December 25, 2009 -
Here's wishing you and yours a most joyous and special Christmas. Enjoy time with family and friends. Reminisce with and cherish loved ones.
Friday, December 11, 2009 - Ted Nugent tells it like it is!
A surfer from Bosnia and Herzegovina recently visited this site.
Friday, November 20, 2009 - Someone from Estonia recently visited and beamed in on a little story about Glenn Frey.
Monday, November 16, 2009 - Someone from Yemen recently visited the website. Hopefully they're not on some agency's hot list and red flags aren't popping up all over DC and the beltway!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - A minor celebration of sorts: A View From The Fringe has finally been visited by surfers from all 50 states! See the visitors page for the details.
Thanks, Paul!
Monday, November 9, 2009 - For whatever reason, someone in Kenya and Syria (of all places) recently visited the website.
Don't know where one, the other, or both of the countries even are on the globe; let alone anything else about them? Thank your Government School and Indoctrination System for getting rid of geography classes in your "local" schools. And then click the previous links, read, and learn.
Monday, October 26, 2009 - With all the Race Card play and finger pointing going on these days, even the most brash satirists have been avoiding something. Perhaps they're in fear of being bitch-slapped by the Politically Correct Police.
Back when G.W. Bush was in office, there were no boundaries on how he was mocked. None. But now with Obama, the rules of engagement have shifted due to his, ahem ... racial ambiguity.
Clearly it's time to put an end to the PC-tippytoe and venture out on the thin ice.
So without further ado, I now offer the following from the website's Fair is Fair department:
If it was fair to do this to our 43rd President, then it's fair for the 44th.
Friday, October 2, 2009 - Several months ago I requested permission from a former employer, the American Radio Relay League, to "reprint" some articles I had written for QST Magazine. Having not heard back from them, I've decided to say the heck with formalities and just make the articles available here.
Product review - Tejas RF Technology Backpacker II transceiver.
Product review - SG Smartuner antenna tuner.
Product review - Terlin Outbacker mobile antenna.
Article sidebar - Beacon Hunting From Northwest Connecticut.
Monday, September 28, 2009 - What the heck am I doing up at 4:37 A.M.? I'm tired, but just toss and turn in bed, so I'm up at the keyboard for a spell. I'm going to put a pot of coffee on, make some breakfast, and then try to cajole a smallmouth bass or three into striking a Rapala perch ...
Updated the Faves page.
More later ...
Sunday, September 20, 2009 - Although the official start of the fall season (the autumnal equinox) is two days away, the thermometer outside my humble abode read 39-degrees this morning at 7 A.M. Therefore, fall has commenced, at least in my world.
If it's September and the temperature drops below 40-degrees, it's fall. Period.
Friday, September 18, 2009 - I just returned from a week camping in the beautifully peaceful Adirondack State Park in upper state New York. Upon reflecting, it occurred to me that for over a week I didn't see the following things:
My Adirondack nirvana was short-lived, though, as tonight when waiting for a traffic light to change, I saw a slack-jawed jackhole walking down the sidewalk wearing his baseball cap backwards, one hand pressing a cellphone to his head, and the other hand adjusting his pants so just the right amount of undershorts were visible.
And I had all I could do to honor a Saturday work commitment and not high tail it up Route 8 north back to Inlet, NY.
Friday, August 14, 2009 - She's a "fan of disruptors" as long as it isn't her political party's agenda that's being disrupted: Pelosi the hypocrite.
And now even Camille Paglia says Pelosi "should immediately step down."
You don't have to make this stuff up, folks ...
Saturday, August 8, 2009 - Fear cult of personality.
Right click on image, save image, print many copies and post profusely.
Friday, August 7, 2009 - For your viewing pleasure ... We the People Stimulus Package.
Sunday, June 28, 2009 - Updates to the Visitors page include:
A recent visit by someone in Whitefish, MT, brings USA "visitor representation" up to one state shy of all 50 states! The holdout: Wyoming.
And someone from Kazakhstan, a country that wasn't a country the last time I was in a geography class, has visited this site.
Thursday, June 18, 2009 - There are a couple of essays nearing completion. Meanwhile you may peruse two new entries to Overheard: Urban, but not urbane, SUV and Another WTIC foible.
Just heard Michael Savage suggest listeners "seek fulfillment, not excitement." I like that.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - Updated the Visitors page reflecting a visit by a surfer from South Korea.
Thursday, May 14, 2009 - Added a repulsive discovery and a baseball related observation to the Overheard page. Updated the Visitors page reflecting recent visitations by surfers from Bahrain and Ecuador.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - Today is my mother's 83rd birthday. Happy birthday, Mom!
Now two unrelated items: one funny - one unfunny. Funny first ...
While jotting down some software update notes in my analog notebook, as a matter of habit each entry gets dated. So I dutifully wrote down "MAY 12, 19" and abruptly stopped. I scribbled out the "19" and corrected to "2009." Then I stared at the page and pondered what had just occurred. We're only months away from it being a decade since the millenium change, yet I had just started to write the date with numbers from the previous millenium.
This isn't an early into the new year SNAFU. This is something significantly more fucked up than that! And though I know this transient mental misfire or short circuit most probably isn't a symptom of the onslaught of Alzheimer's, it's a symptom of something. If any of you can offer some insight on this, I'd appreciate it.
Now for the unfunny
As mentioned on the Bookshelf page, I'm reading George Carlin's Napalm and Silly Putty. Funny on the surface, but on page nine, Carlin wrote "You know what we haven't had in quite a while? A really big fire in a crowded nightclub."
Napalm... bears a 2001 copyright. At 11:08 P.M. on Thursday night, February 20, 2003, a fire broke at The Station nightclub in West Warick, RI. Of the 100 people who died from that fire, one was a friend of mine.
As is the case with material from later in Carlin's career, some of his more edgy, flippant remarks are quirky and funny until there's a personal connection which deems such remarks very unfunny. Such is the case with just one, brief paragraph in Napalm...
Related website linkages from the Trifocal Rearview Mirror series: playing with fire section of February 25, 2003 edition and re-visitation rites section of March 4, 2003 edition.
Rest in peace, Tina.
Saturday, May 9, 2009 - Updated Bookshelf page.
Monday, April 20, 2009 - It's Patriots Day. If you don't know what Patriots Day is, then your high school's history department was derelict. For the love of freedom, click the link and enlighten yourself.
Yes, I'm still alive, though plagued with writer's constipation. I feel something moving, though.
To start things off, there are six new entries to the Search Funnies page.
More later - stay tuned!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 - Superficial changes at best for the moment. Three projects in the works, though. Stay tuned.
1) Changed website favicon. Look familiar?
2) Added link to Author page (aka "whois") providing selective alternate bio info.
3) Added Bookshelf for the mildly curious or hopelessly nosey.
Friday, March 20, 2009 - In lieu of a new chapter to the series Some Assembly Required or Expedition to Bug Lake, I've decided to make an offer to regular visitors who are interested in when the website has been updated.
My techie friends suggest RSS feeds, but until I can wrap my arms around such nonsense, I'm offering a digitally oldfangled approach: the classic mailing list. It's both easy for you and minimally labor intensive for me.
You're only two mouse clicks away from being signed up! Here's what you do:
Just click this Sign me up link. Your email client will open up with a fresh, pre-addressed email. Then just hit the "send" button and you're done!
I'll maintain the mailing list and send out a website update alert whenever new material hits the 'net.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - Chapter 8 of the Some Assembly Required series has been completed and uploaded! I trust you'll enjoy LAW OF THE LOBBY per counsel pro se.
I'm not sure which chapter is going to be next, but please stay tuned.
And thanks!
Monday, March 16, 2009 - Quick update: dredged up an addition to Overheard from some notes around Christmas time. It's still both odd and funny, though.
Perhaps more later tonight or tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - The move to this website's new domain and hosting should be complete! Barring any unforeseen configuration SNAFUs, everything should run smoothly.
If you've previously bookmarked this website, edit the bookmark to: http://alienjeff.net
If you haven't bookmarked this website, WHY THE %&$# NOT? Do it now. Avoid the rush.
All of this wouldn't have been possible without someone like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. That said, a huge thank you goes to my all knowing, all powerful, brainiac, über-geek nephew-in-law, Don, for providing space on his Linode VPS, DNS services, server administration, tutelage, and necessary whacks to my head.
Don, you're the man!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - If you've traversed here from a bookmark, less than brand new link, or recent Google or other search engine, you have been witness to my redirect page. An explanation is due.
For the better part of a week I've been unable to access my personal web space for updates and maintenance. On Sunday, I called Charter Communications' tech support, only to be led around and directed to jump through a plethora of stupid hoops. I'd been down this same road before about three months ago. Halfway through this Sunday Circus, I asked the representative, "Please connect me with a server technician." I was told I couldn't speak with a server technician, which infuriated me.
I jumped through a few more hoops, then defiantly dug in my heels and asked to be transferred to Tier Two Tech Support, terminology garnered from my previous nightmare with Charter. I was promptly asked to please wait and put on hold.
Mere seconds later a tech got on line. I explained my problem and he replied that the fault was theirs and with their servers. Unfortunately, there was no estimated time for a fix. Carefully measuring my words, I unloaded on this tech with my list of past nightmares. He agreed to my request for a phone call and email to let me know when their issues have been resolved.
As of 11 P.M. today, no call or email. Grrrrrr.
I had brief access today, but before I could do what I wanted to, access dropped and I was again left out in the cold. It took another call to tech support to have them reset my password. And this time it has held, or at least long enough to replace my index.html page with the redirect.
This page is now being served by a VPS (virtual personal server) which is part of the Linode network. A new domain name has been registered. As soon as domain configuration is complete, you'll be able to access this site using either www.alienjeff.net or alienjeff.net. I'll try to make this transition as easy and transparent as possible.
Thanks for letting me bitch.
Now that I can see light at the end of the tunnel, I can get back to work on a couple of updates to the website. Stay tuned!
Thursday, March 5, 2009 - As promised on Monday, Chapter 7 of the Some Assembly Required series has been completed and uploaded! I trust you will enjoy BAD DRONES must be punished.
Chapter 8 is in production. Stay tuned.
Hey, speaking of staying tuned ...
On a personal note, I feel so clean and free having not tuned into WTIC AM-1080 for over 48 hours. WSNG AM-610 now has my attention when the radio is on.
Monday, March 2, 2009 - Completed chapter 6 of the Some Assembly Required series! Check out If it's in stock, we've got it.
Chapter 7 is in production. Stay tuned and enjoy!
Saturday, February 28, 2009 - It's a sad day in the world of radio: Paul Harvey has passed away. Though I had the radio on tonight, WTIC-AM thumbed their nose at doing the right thing, per usual, and just ran with uninterrupted basketball coverage. That's not just sad -- it's pitiful.
So I heard the news from a friend via email:
"Sorry to be the bearer, but I figured you would want to know. Bob Steele and Paul Harvey were two voices that always put a smile in my heart (especially when Bob announced no-school)."
R.I.P. Paul Harvey.
Thursday, February 19, 2009 - Updated the Visitors pages to reflect a first time hit of the website by a surfer from Nepal.
Sunday, January 25, 2009 - At long last, after much promising and begging for patience, the first chapter of Some Assembly Required, entitled "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" is finally up on the site.
Please excuse that it's Chapter 5 when 1 through 4 haven't been completed. It's just the way it all came to pass. I'll do the fills as time and spirit move me. Enjoy, nevertheless ...
Thursday, January 22, 2009 - With the deluge of work over with for the moment, I've picked up a cold, which sucks. It's pretty much taken the wind out of my sails for now, so I'm not sure when anything substantive in the way of essays will be added here. Your patience is appreciated.
It was with much sadness that I stumbled across news of the passing of Patrick McGoohan. He was both the consummate actor yet akin to his character Number 6 in The Prisoner, he bucked the glorification of fame and its trappings, instead choosing to live a quiet, private and moderate lifestyle.
Rest in peace, Mr. McGoohan. And be seeing you ...
Monday, January 12, 2009 - Last week was very busy with a virtual flood of work after a terribly long drought. I'm not complaining! However, a chapter to SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED didn't get completed and uploaded, though significant progress towards that end was accomplished. Stay tuned.
Updated the Visitors pages to reflect a first time hit of the website by a surfer from Benin. Don't know where Benin is located? Click the link!
Friday, January 2, 2009 - Here's wishing you and yours a happy and healthy new year!
Added a whole slew of new entries to Search funnies.
More later? No promises, but I do have a number of other files all up on the text editor right how. Stay tuned.