alex_antonin: TST Antifascist (Default)
Writer question: what was the Los Angeles transit system like in 2005? I have a character who is lost in LA in 2005 and tries to ride the bus. Did they take cash back then like Portland buses still do? Did they have bus passes? She's from an alternate universe, only has money and/or bus passes for her universe, but I need to know how things were in LA back then, to figure out how effed she is.
alex_antonin: TST Antifascist (Default)
You wake up and you're the only person left on Earth, what is the first thing(s) you will do?

Once I was done being confused and searching for people, I'd find a ham radio set and a book on how to use the thing, and start sending out messages in case there were others. Probably try to contact the ISS, too, just in case.

Once I'd become convinced that I wasn't going to find anybody anytime soon, I'd take some time to mourn and cry. Probably at the same time, I'd start looking for car batteries and equipment to try to rig up something to keep my CPAP running once the power starts going out, and solar panels to charge the batteries, since I literally cannot sleep without my CPAP.

Having determined that everybody just vanished, I would hunt around the neighborhood for the nicest house to squat in because my apartment is so small, and I'm all alone now, so why not? Probably also scavenge stuff from businesses and people's houses as I go. I'd focus on jerky, canned meats, MRE's, and other non-perishables. But I'd also look for porn, books to read, etc.

Oh, and I would have to raid a few pharmacies for my meds. Luckily I don't have any meds I can't live without, so when they run out I'll be annoyed but it won't be a huge deal. About the only thing I'd really need a lot of for my remaining life is pain relievers, since I get a lot of headaches.

I think I would clear all the meat out of the nearby stores, cook or freeze or otherwise preserve what I can, and pile the rest of it in a dumpster, pour gasoline on it, and light it on fire so it doesn't rot and stink up the building, or attract predators. I'd do the same for houses I break into, as well.

Since this is Portland, in my house hunting I'd probably pick a house with a chicken coop. Chickens may be mean little bastards, but they're relatively easy to keep, being omnivores. It'd be a long term supply of protein, and I know how to preserve eggs without a fridge or freezer. I haven't done it before, but I remember the instructions. Oh and hopefully I could find a place that also has goats. Which I would keep mostly for meat. (I don't care for milk, and I don't know how to make cheese.) Also I would need some way to control all the Himalayan Blackberry patches that grow around here, as well as the English Ivy once the people aren't there anymore to keep it from going out of control like the invasive weed it is.

Assuming cats and dogs are still alive, I'd let all the cats out of the houses and pounds (except a few of them for pets) and leave the dogs inside because dogs scare me, and I'm gonna have problems with the coyotes soon enough as it is, without having to deal with feral dogs as well. Or... no, scratch that. I'd go to the pound, get the dog-catcher equipment, round up a bunch of dogs from houses, and put them in the kennel for meat later. Feed them some of the meat before it goes bad, then when I ran out of meat, I'd raid the stores for dog food. I'd also raid a pet store so that when I ran out of dog food, I could feed them guinea pigs and other small animals. I'd probably eat the rabbits myself.

I'd go to a sport's shop and see if I can get a bow and arrows, or crossbows and bolts. (I can't stand the noise of guns, and I don't trust them anyway.) It'd be a learning curve, but less so than a gun I think, and I already have a little experience with bow and arrow.

Actually I'd probably get guns and ammo too, but in that case I'd tie them to posts around my property in a great circle, and tie strings around the triggers. Then if any coyotes or feral dogs (some probably were being walked when people vanished) or other critters come too close, I pull the appropriate string and BANG! If it doesn't kill them, it scares them away.

Oh and I would only wear as much clothing as necessary. In warm months, I'd just run around in nothing but sandals and an umbrella, and I'd have a belt with knives, sporran pouches to store jerky and other food in, a water bottle hanging from the belt, and anything else I might need with me when I'm out and about.

I'd find the nearest plant nursery or store with plants in it, and use the seedlings to make a garden for veggies. In the mean time, though, I would make the several hour long walk to the nearest Asian market I know about and scavenge all their pickled vegetables and fruits. Even if they taste bad, I need my veggies, and pickled veggies last longer than fresh ones. Then I'd probably raid the library for books about how to pickle veggies.

I guess once all the seedlings ran out on the annual plants, I'd have to start trying to grow things from seeds. Not looking forward to that. I guess I could also add books about local edible wild plants to my library or book store raids.

TBH, I'm not in great shape, and some places I'd need to go are a long goddamn way away. I do know how to drive, but as others have pointed out, gasoline goes bad. Cars would be useful for a while, but for long term use I would scavenge an e-bike from one of the local stores, as well as a trailer for it. (Using the solar panels to charge it, of course.)

Oh I'd probably scavenge inside the adult shops, too, for vibrators and porn and maybe even sex dolls.

Hmm... if this really happened, I'd also have time and space to go dancing naked in the woods.

Anyway, back on track: I'd probably start going insane after a while, so I'd need some kind of hobby to delay that as long as possible. Probably go downtown with a couple of the dogs I spared from the stew pot, have them carry stuff for me as we went up to the top of one of the skyscrapers and then I'd use a DIY slingshot made of rubber tubing and start chucking large rocks as far as possible just for funsies, see if I could hit any of the nearby buildings. Or if the power was somehow still working, find a freight elevator and drive a car up there and set things up so the car(s) can just drift in neutral off the side of the building. And motorcycles, too.

Or, much simpler to do, I could drive to a military base, break in, scavenge the rocket launchers, and then set up a series of cars for target practice somewhere. Oooh! Better yet: drive to some small town and just completely obliterate it with the rocket launchers. Maybe even drive a tank there and start using it to bulldoze buildings and cars.

Wait, no, fuck that. Go big or go home! I could drive to Seattle and just completely destroy as much of the city as possible.

Eh, that's enough for now.
alex_antonin: Slytherin (Slytherin)


I was out walking home the other night in Portland, OR (where I live) and saw a bunch of stickers all over with this symbol. Anyone know what it is? Looks kinda like someone took the male and female symbols, turned them upside down, combined them, then added a couple crescent moons. There was no text, just this symbol.

A thought

Jan. 2nd, 2014 09:30 pm
alex_antonin: TST Antifascist (Default)
When pure cesium meets water, it goes BOOM. So I just had a thought: if you make a bullet of cesium, would it survive long enough to penetrate a person's body? And would it then go BOOM when it meets the water in their body?
alex_antonin: TST Antifascist (Default)
Anonymous asked: “Can you help me create an argument against the Flat Earth Society? Thanks!”

Me:

That’s a tough one. Robert Anton Wilson found that, if you’re looking for evidence that the earth is round, you’ll find it. But if you’re looking for evidence that it’s flat, you’ll find that as well. Hell, it goes further: if you’re looking for evidence that the surface of the earth is actually the inside surface of a concave hollow sphere in some giant cave, you’ll find it. So you can’t trust the human nervous system.

To be entirely honest, there’s no real proof - beyond a doubt - that the Earth is round. But here is some good evidence:

  • The shadow the earth casts on the moon is round.

  • If the earth were flat, we would be able to see, from a high enough mountain, the entire world. There would be no horizon.

  • Edited to add: There are pictures from space of the round earth.

  • Astronauts have reported that the earth appears round from orbit.

  • The “round earth” model works best for getting satellites and other stuff into orbit. With some models, like quantum physics, all the actual proof we have is the fact that the model works, and seems to contain no massive flaws. If there were any real flaws in quantum theory, there are many technologies that wouldn’t work at all or would have exploded horribly by now. The same goes for the round earth model: if there were a flaw in the round earth model, we would have found it by now, because gravity, orbital dynamics, and so on would work so differently if it were wrong, that we wouldn’t have Internet, or satellite TV, the ability to phone people across the planet, etc. A scientist could explain better the details of how things would be different if the earth really were flat, but that’s a good gist. And the theory that the earth is a concave hollow sphere is so absurd it makes flat earthers look reasonable. The gravity in a hollow sphere cancels itself out; if the earth were a hollow sphere, there would be no gravity: we would float away. (This, by the way, debunks the “hollow earth” theory as well. Even more so, because a hollow earth would have fallen apart billions of years ago.)

  • Keep in mind that the earth is not *perfectly* round.

  • Nature always takes the path of least resistance when it comes to anything. The mathematical models for how gravity, orbital dynamics, etc works tells us that the path of least resistance in planetary formation results in solid or semi-solid rock spheres, or in gaseous spheres. Only some great technological civilization, or a God, could make a flat earth happen in the real world. (And for most flat earthers, that’s all the evidence they need to support their theory.)

  • Ask them “if the earth is flat, how come nobody has fallen off the edge of the world yet? Or uploaded proof of the edge of the world on YouTube?” With the prevalence of cell phone cameras and so on, and the expanding coverage for data transfer on cell phones, if the world were flat then there would be video proof of it by now. The fact that there isn’t, is very telling.

  • If you want to see what life on a flat planet would be like, read the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.
I hope this answers your question. There may be other arguments, but those are all I can think of for now.
alex_antonin: TST Antifascist (Default)
Anonamousanomoly asked: "Greetings! I'm looking for somebody willing to answer a couple of questions about religion for a college class I'm taking. You seem to be involved or at least familiar with LaVeyan Satanism perhaps...? I'll actually be doing a presentation on it as well. I am trying to leave bias (on my part) out of the equation, and present it as intellectually as possible. My ideal is a sort of open-dialogue environment, and this is really by definition an interview. Whatever your answer, thanks for your time!"

Me: Well the best place to start is http://www.religioustolerance.org/satanism.htm and http://www.religioustolerance.org/satanis1.htm . Also http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/index.html . But yes, I’d be willing to answer some questions as a former LaVeyan Satanist. (Still a Satanist, just no longer a LaVeyan.) Read the links I’ve provided and that should give you a good start to find good questions to ask. But if you have more general questions, that’s cool too. We can either continue it here on Tumblr’s Asks, or you can email me at alexander.antonin (at) gmail (dot) com .

I'd better not get a bunch of spam because of this.
alex_antonin: TST Antifascist (Default)
I keep seeing people wearing clothes (t-shirts, hats mostly) saying "OBEY." WTF? And it's mostly young people, too. What a stupid message. The better message would be "DISOBEY."
alex_antonin: TST Antifascist (Default)
Okay, what the hell? Is it just this computer I'm on (at the library), or did Livejournal get rid of its Writer's Block completely? I mean yeah, I mocked just about every question they came up with, but it gave me an excuse to post. I'll be sad if it's gone for good.

EDIT: Okay, it's just this computer, apparently.
alex_antonin: TST Antifascist (Default)
Something came up in conversation earlier today, where a friend mentioned that she's heard some people espouse the belief that having a religious viewpoint is literally a mental illness. I don't agree myself; sure, there are a number of crazy religious people, and I think some religions (like most sects of Christianity) should be erased from the world because their worldviews promote insanity. But religion inherently an insanity? No. Anyway, what do you think?

Well, that didn't work, so you can vote here: http://polloftheday.livejournal.com/629905.html

And if you're on DW, and don't have an LJ... well, comment then.

Question

Dec. 28th, 2008 07:05 pm
alex_antonin: TST Antifascist (Default)
Does anyone out there have any ideas for things for me to write about? Anything they would like me to blog about?

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alex_antonin: TST Antifascist (Default)
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