Frank Arrington Then until Now

"Vocalize your thoughts Conspirasteve".. Frank Arrington circa 1993.

These words have rang eternal in my skull since the day they were uttered from Frank that August afternoon, We were sitting  at Captain Ankeny's on standby, drinking beer.( yes dear readers, we were on the clock)  discussing the difference in philosophies of Locke and Descartes. Empiricism Vs. Rationalism.. I was having trouble explaining my positions when he released those four words.Four words of devastation. Since that moment on, I have strived to achieve the dream of actually realizing that goal. It changed the way i approached music, art, and relationships in general. So simple a request, so profound the demand..

This is the way in which Frank would affect people in his life. He would  simply asking devastating questions about our own private existentialism. We would scoff, try to move on, try to forget, Yet like truth of any kind,  it   persists. Until I or you have exhausted all excuses f or not confronting the obvious truths about ourselves, our intentions, our stances on various positions and to be honest our worthiness to be his friend.
Of these challenges, to make me think about myself as it relates to the whole of the world and to others in my life, was unique to him. No other friend has challenged me as hard, while simultaneously drinking me under the table.

 Frank, I have missed you in my life since you moved away. You were a better friend than I. You would call me hopped up on "wine" sitting in your cabin in the woods, trying hard not to emulate Sam L Jackson's character from Black Snake Moan. (I'm pretty sure it was moonshine) Thank you for laughing when i let you know my racially insensitive comparison. I figured it was OK since you have been calling me a peasant since day one. I would be too busy to talk and i am so sorry. /I missed you the day you left my house last winter to get on  that airplane back to Chicago., We all did and do, now and forever.

I among many, am blessed to have known the The doctor/thespian/jazz critic/philosopher/bike messenger/punk rocker/drinking buddy and best friend known as Frank Arrington Thank you for being in my life Frank. I'm a better man because of you.

If you are where we all hope you are, please smack whitey and Mike Douglas in the face for me, BEFORE giving them a hug....

RIP buddy.

Mystery of theToilet Bowl Revealed

I would like to offer congratulations to our brilliant, yet humble and possibly drunk readership.  Because once more, left clicking onto our verbose and bravado filled blog has filled yours truly with joy and left our enemies dismayed. But enough I say. Enough! It is time to dispense with our much maligned soliloquy for the serious business of science!

While I, Conspirasteve, have been preoccupied with other endeavours, including, but not limited to: Extreme pogo sticking, heckling body surfers and yelling at concrete. A little known "clique" in the Conspirasteve Nation have been "tirelessly" investigating the above title. I have been informed that these experiments were conducted in a controlled environment, possibly a clean room, most likely a hotel room and a bathroom. Rumors of single malt scotch impeding the progress is being investigated. None the less! Our internal auditing is of no consequence to you, our patient yet highly stylistic readership. The time for truth or consequence is upon us!

While stationed in our previous headquarters in the Northern hemisphere (herein referred to as PHQ), there was some debate amongst various factions of the Conspirasteve Nation regarding which direction the toilet bowl would "swirl". Now that we are ensconced in the new and marginally improved HQ, located in the Southern hemisphere (herein known as the HQ.New Style), we are ready to put it to the test.

While the author of this esteemed blog has at times taken some extreme positions on various issues TRUTH will not be, and shall not be a position in which we shall "opine". There are some absolutes in this world, my insouciant yet heavily burdened readers! These are "body surfing bad, tacos good" type scenarios which are immutable. With these positions in mind, and without further ado, we at last present the findings of of the Conpirasteve Nation's "Mystery of the Toilet Bowl Revealed" findings:

 Yes indeed, the toilet bowl swirls in the clockwise rotation here in the HQ New Style as apposed to the PHQ's standard counterclockwise swirl!!! 

With these findings, we here at Conpirasteve Nation, deeply buried within the Bunker of Truth(tm), do heap congratulations upon EZ E's mom for correctly predicting the outcome of our months long experiment! To borrow from the local patwa: Good on ya mate.

Up next! :  In-laws and out-laws, a case study in duality.