R.I.P. Land of Confusion

One of my favorite online hangouts is no more. It got hijacked by a troll, and the founder/administrator, an awesome guy known as EasyEd, is very busy and not around enough to deal with such unpleasantness. He also threatened some of the members privately, including Ed. So we suggested Ed shut it down. As of today, it's gone.

This was a board that he started in the fall of 2004 for fans of J.R., aka Toxic Jock, after some similar incidents got other boards shut down. It wasn't entirely devoted to J.R. (there was only one J.R. forum), but we fans were the core group and became good cyberfriends -- in some cases, flesh and blood friends as well. And some of us stopped being J.R. fans but still enjoyed hanging out online with the people we met there.

I'll leave my link to it up for a few days so you can see the kind of idiot we were dealing with. All that's left are his threats to Ed, and Ed's reply. Fuckwad.

The good news is: I started a board to replace Land of Confusion, and after one week, we already have eight members, including our Ed. I'm keeping it on the DL so King Troll and other undesirables don't get wind of it, so I won't be linking to it from here. But if you want to check it out, get hold of me by e-mail, YIM or PM at Capital Gold, and I'll give you the URL. It's invitation only, but all you need to score an invitation is to be (a) interested and (b) not an asshole.

I hate being sick

I just get over a cold and now my tummy is turning on me -- literally. I puked this morning. I NEVER puke. I'm like Jerry Seinfeld, have gone years without it happening, even when I've been blind drunk.

Drinking lots of mint tea and keeping it down now, but I am exhausted. And missing an a cappella sing, dammit! This sucks. But there will be another in a few weeks. And this will pass, probably by tomorrow. It better!

Meanwhile, it's tea and the Lifetime Movie Network, or maybe the Pi-Hole. Zzzzz.....

I am a bug-eyed freak!

And proud of it, goddammit!

I am DONE with Toxic Jock -- who no longer deserves the protection of a pseudonym here. He is J.R. Gach of 93.7/94.5. I'll continue to protect the identity of his girlfriend, Marcia!Marcia!Marcia!

This man did enormous damage to me a couple of years ago with his line of bullshit. I've shared the story here and with many of you personally, so I'm not going to repeat it. But even after that, I remained one of his most loyal fans. Even when his shtick got old and dull -- talking about nothing but himself, his relationship with Marcia and all the money he makes and stuff he buys -- I kept listening. Even when he showed blatant disrespect for his fans by "disappearing" over the holidays -- had himself totally expunged from the station, the Web site, everything, only to spring his new time slot on us last week -- I kept listening.

Then June C. and I both posted in the Land of Confusion about how we were tired of hearing him talk about Marcia all the time. Long story short, we each got hate mail, me from her and June from him. According to them, we are pathetic no-life freaks and worse (according to her, I'm also borderline psychotic).

I never had a problem with being called one of the "freaks" (aka hardcore fans) on the air. OK, it stung a little back in the day when I was desperately trying to reforge a friendship with him, but that was a long time ago.

But dissing us on the air is no longer just harmless "shtick" when he's backing it up with e-mail. I tuned in briefly out of curiosity this morning and heard several references to "Saint Marcia" (which I'd called her in my post) and "bug-eyed freaks," which I know was aimed squarely at me. You'll understand if you've seen my very large eyes -- which, just for the record, he once called "magnificent."

Two years ago, I'd have been devastated. Now I'm laughing my ass off. For a couple of no-life pathetic losers who don't matter, we have inspired quite the reaction.

June and I aren't the only ones who are tired of J.R. He can call us names all he wants -- we aren't listening -- but he's in trouble if he doesn't face up to the fact that he's losing his fan base. Oh, wait, J.R. face reality? What am I thinking?

A Tale of Two Stinkin' Badges

Sometime during First Night I lost my work ID card -- a combination photo ID and swipe card to get into the building after hours and access security-protected entrances. I thought it might have fallen out of my coat pocket (where I'd put it after removing it from my scarf, where I usually wear it) while at the Parting Glass. I called there but they hadn't seen it.

So I report it lost, fill out the form, get the new (fugly) photo taken and am issued a replacement ID.

Within an hour I get a call at my desk. A nice lady FOUND my old card Saturday night in Saratoga. Near Spa Catholic, so it must have fallen out while I was digging my gloves out of my pocket post-Dixie Cats show.

Twilight Zone moment #1: She works at the school in Glens Falls where my good friend MMB used to be principal. TZ moment #2: She shares my first name. TZ moment #3: She managed to track me down at work even though the ID had the old, pre-merger, now-nonexistent company name.

I almost wish I hadn't gone ahead and gotten the new card, as I'll miss the old one; I had it for eight years, including three when I didn't even work there. But knowing the way the law works in the Twilight Zone, I might not have reconnected with Stinkin' Badge #1 if not for obtaining Stinkin' Badge #2.

Sing it with me: Dee DEE dee dee ....

Happy 2006!

I survived another New Year's Eve -- relatively sober, even. WB (I think I'm going to start calling him NiiceDuude here, because I can) and I went to First Night in Saratoga again. I wasn't all that psyched because it's cold and crowded, but it ended up being fun.

The good:

Nisky Dixie Cats
Annie and the Hedonists
Al and Kathy Bain
The Parting Glass was serving food and we grabbed dinner there. I hadn't eaten all day and pub grub always hits the spot!
The Glass was still serving when we returned around 10:30 p.m. We split a plate of nachos. Couldn't find the waiter for a second beer, but that's OK. I had beer at home that was already paid for!
Snow in the searchlights made them look all sparkly. Way cool!
Fireworks lighting up the snow
Cool oldies band at the Glass. Watching the dancin' fools. Bumming a smoke from one of them and having a nice chat.
Parking not as bad as some years.

The bad:
Acts we really wanted to see were on opposite ends of town.
Standing in line in the cold to get into Lena's
Hotel pub charging a $10 cover. We declined. If we're going to give a pub $10, that had better cover the first two beers!

The ugly:
Driving home in the worst of the snowstorm.

So obviously G > B&U combined.

Goodbye, 2005, hello 2006! Hope the new year brings good things to all of you who are reading this and all who are close to you.