Fiction
Various works of fiction.
Lauretti Announces Support for CEP
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 21:04Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, who reportedly has been considering a run for Governor in Connecticut has now come out in support of CEP. “People have been complaining about the CEP, claiming that it limits amounts that people contribute, has complicated filing requirements and prohibits state contractors from contributing,” Lauretti has reportedly said. “However, with a Contractor’s Election Program, there is no limit to what people can contribute. There are no filing requirements; in fact any public acknowledgement of receiving funds from contractors is strongly discouraged, and state contractors are encouraged to participate.”
When asked if he thought participating in the Contractor’s Election Program instead of the Citizen’s Election Program might land him in hot water, Lauretti reportedly said, “As long as I can turn up the jets, and sit back and relax and enjoy a good cigar, I wouldn’t mind being in hot water.” Shelton developer James Botti supported the Lauretti’s plans, but former Governor John Rowland was not available for comments on whether or not he would be advising the Lauretti campaign.
NOTE: The preceding fictionalized statements are intended as political satire to illustrate points about the need for clean elections in Connecticut.
Words and Music
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 07/12/2009 - 06:31In a couple hours, we will be in the car on our way to Cape Cod. We spent yesterday packing, and doing all the odds and ends that need to be handled before we could leave. The house sitter will arrive soon to make sure the pets are properly cared for.
Unfortunately, the local libraries were all closed, so Kim had to resort to a local bookstore for her beach reading material. She didn’t get a chance to check out any books on tape, so I made my own.
Librivox is a site where volunteers read books in the public domain and save them as MP3 files. You can download a great variety of books. The first download I tried was Buster Bear by Thorton Burgess. I burnt it to a CD-RW using Microsoft Media Player. It plays in some audio devices, but not in the car. I then downloaded Anne of Green Gables. I used Roxio to burn the first few chapters and wrote it on a CD-R disk. This one played nicely in our car, so I burnt the remaining nine CDs. Kim labeled them for us, so for the cost of ten CD-R disks, we have Anne of Green Gables on CD. We will probably listen to this during a bit of the drive to the Cape.
For my reading, I received an electronic copy of the novel The Silent Serian by Miranda Hynes. This is Miranda’s second novel. It is a young adult fantasy novel and a great read. I read the first four chapters immediately, and will try to finish it when I have more computer time. I’m also trying to spread the word about it, so please, digg the book, share it on Facebook and other sites, and be sure to go out and buy a copy yourself.
I have also been listening to the musicians selected to be in the Emerging Artists Showcase at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. I’ve downloaded some of the songs and may try to burn a CD for the road trip. I wanted to get a review up by now, but it will probably have to wait until I am back from Cape Cod.
However, as I started searching out the emerging artists and looking at their websites, I found a link to most of them on SonicBids. Each one that I’ve checked has an Electronic Press Kit where you can listen to, and in some cases download some of their music. I’ve now listened to songs by everyone who is supposed to be performing and I need to organize my notes into something readable.
Soon, we will hit the road listening to a great collection of words and music, and I’ll try to get some posts from Cape Cod up when I get some time.
Doc Wiley
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 04/22/2008 - 10:54I originally set up Orient Lodge to be ‘A literary outpost on the Internet’; a place where I would post not only commentary and news, but also fiction and poetry. Over the years, I haven’t written as much fiction or poetry as I would like. Yet last night, a story came to me, which I’ve written down this morning. All the standard disclaimers apply. This is a first draft. It is loosely based on real experiences I’ve had, but it is a work of fiction and any resemblance to real people is coincidental.
Way Off The Bus
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 07/04/2007 - 11:07Recently, Zack Exley wrote an entry at Huffington Post entitled Time to Get Off the Bus. It is about the joint venture between NewAssignment.net and Huffington Post to get more citizen journalists covering the 2008 Presidential election.
Zack was also a cofounder of the New Organizing Institute which is doing a training in Washington DC right now. As part of the training, teams were formed to promote different fictional characters running for President. So, in the spirit of Off the Bus, I’m going to go way off the bus and present my fictional coverage of the campaigns.
The first candidate that I heard from was Lisa Simpson. Lisa’s supporters have a Facebook group up and can be reached at info@lisa2008.com. I’ve received several emails from the campaign urging me to spread the word. In the latest WOTB polls shows Lisa getting about 28% of the vote and running in second place. I learned about this from a friend on a regional blogging list.
The second candidate that I heard from was Stewie Griffen. I have not been able to find contact information or a Facebook group for Stewie. However, they are up on MySpace. Their website is taking advantage of some nice Blue State Digital features, and it isn’t a surprise that I heard about it from Clay Johnson. Unfortunately, they are going nowhere in the WOTB polling, showing up at 5th place with a whopping 1%.
Mr. Burns 2008 campaign was the third that I heard about. A friend of mine whom I know from a mailing list about the 2008 Presidential election contacted me about Mr. Burns campaign. Their Facebook group can be found here. In WOTB polling, they are currently in 3rd place with 21% of the vote.
The most recent campaign to catch my attention is Maggie for America. I found Maggie’s campaign when I stopped by at Rosalyn Lemieux’s page on Facebook. Maggie’s Facebook group is here. Rosalyn is the executive director of New Organizing Institute and having her in your Facebook group counts for a lot. It isn’t surprising that Maggie is leading in the WOTB poll with 36% of the vote.
Through more searching I’ve also found a campaign site for Krusty the Klown. Again, Roz links to his campaign on Facebook. Krusty is running fourth with 14% of the vote.
The blog that seems to be capturing most of the action on this campaign is the NOI Blog. I am picking up rumors that Homer Simpson, and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon are running. Yet details of their campaigns have remained elusive.
As of the deadline for this article, none of the campaigns have responded to inquiries about their positions, schedules or the food that they are eating on the road. Time and interest permitting, a followup will be posted.
The Archetypal Angst of Nick Collision – Episode 236
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 11/30/2004 - 23:21When we last met saw our hero, he was sitting in front of his computer. As a matter of fact, just about anytime we see our hero, he is sitting in front of his computer. He had just been kicked off of an IRC channel because of a nick collision. “Nick Collision”, Nick thought. What a wonderful pseudonym for a super hacker.
Meanwhile off in another part of cyberspace, Nick struck up a discussion about angst. He had posted to a blog, talking about ‘Teen Angst’, but the Spam Filter wouldn’t allow the word ‘Teen’, so he had to change his message to ‘Adolescent Angst’.
One person commented, “It's taken me more than 40 years to learn that none of my personal feelings aren't universal.”
