general warning about LJ phishing email

I got a pretty good-looking "LJ Support" email claiming my password had been changed and that my new one was attached. Since it was an obvious phish I went through the headers. They appear to have managed to bounce it off LJ's mail server somehow, although it originates at someone's cable modem.

In any case the "attachment" is the usual trojan horse in a zip file that will no doubt do something ugly to your Windows machine.

Don't touch it; it's evil.

Trout speaks

A friend's stories about the disturbing people he met working a remodeling job reminded me of one of the good Trout stories, which I'll try to recount in his voice the best I can:

Up by Castaic, framing. Boss drops me there and says this is your show, I'm going back to the office in L.A. So we pour concrete on rebar and chase bunnies with a scraper, frame, the whole deal. Boss calls me up and says "Bob, you're my right arm. I got this kid at Stanford, he needs to know the business up close. I'm sending him up there over summer to work for you." Oh okay, I see. This wasn't optional, and Bob gets to babysit.

Sure enough the kid arrives and he's right out of the dorm. Dad said to do whatever you wanted, sir. This kid is successful, smart, and halfway through a good education. You know, calculus and fine art and badminton. We have here a junior member of the ruling class. So I give him the tour, right. First stop is Larry. Son, this is Larry. As you see he's using the circular saw to cut the same size of wood! Over and over! You'll also see that Larry's eyes are like fucking pinwheels. He is spun, gone, totally out of his fucking skull on speed at all times. Larry is also on parole for various felonies. Larry doesn't play well with others. Do not talk to Larry.

Next let's wander over here and meet Andy. Andy is using a nail gun that can kill a dog. Andy is a wonderful guy except when he's been drinking. Today, Andy has been drinking since 8 this morning. That's typical for Andy. Do not talk to Andy or look at him so he knows it. In fact, do not look or talk at anyone here. This is the auxiliary version of prison, we have a rotating door to the lockup in the fucking foyer.

So I then I just hold up my hands. See these? These are slave hands. They've all been broken in five places, they're three quarters fucking callus. See your hands? Yes, very soft. I see no blemishes of any kind. There are no bullet holes or bits of bone sticking out or calluses that interfere with the natural flexion. You're going to want to keep them that way. Go ahead back to Stanford, or go tell Dad that Bob says you're needed in the office. You do not belong here.

I don't know what the fuck Daddy was thinking, quite seriously. Construction is just the joint. If you haven't got these hands already, you don't want them.

The first and only good thing I have to say about MBNA

I just called them up to dump my Apple Loan, which was worse than useless with an $1800 limit and 26.99% (!!!!) interest. I was prepared for a dismal encounter with a "win-back specialist". Last time I cancelled a credit card the rep was bullying and insulting and I had to be mean to her. After ten minutes of atrocious Christmas music I was in full Customer Service Cringe mode.

Surprise! Not only was the rep really nice and smart, but all he did was ask me why I was cancelling. When I said "Low limit and high interest" there was a short pause and then he said he'd cancel that for me, and send me written notice within five days.

Despite their predatory loans and ridiculous attempts to get me to write checks on that thing, etc.,, I have to say I'm pleased with their attitude when I left.

High quality kook

See my latest post in psychoceramics for the strange and wonderful life of Mikko Jack, Julie Andrews' forgotten firstborn son, Finnish royalty, and central figure in the deep and dangerous mysteries of the last century. He's also a stevedore.

I wish I could get hold of the 14-hour video he sent to Blake Edwards.

This is the best 1898 ever!

SEND A GUNBOAT!

IMDB Keyword Analyzer is FUN!

The IMDB Movie Keyword Analyzer is neat. You can start by looking at one keyword and then restrict it by others, so you end up with all the movies about vampires, butlers, and resurrection, etc. And of course you can add keywords yourself, so it's a tagging thing. Whee.

Catholics vs. Jews

Catholics vs. Jews, originally uploaded by brother james.

Via hepkitten. Per the photographer, he found it in the old Jewish ghetto in Venice, Italy.

Fun fact: The word "ghetto" comes from this particular one. It's one of a number of Venetian words that have become universal.