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So, when the network people fail to provide me with appropriate internet access, I have to try and find things to do with my time. I've spent an awful amount of time playing Magic : The Gathering. I've almost gotten as hardcore about it as I did back in the old high school days when we spent the five or ten minutes before Biology frantically trying to summon creatures and create something of an imaginary bloodbath. My friend Joe says the owner and the kids down at The Realm (Our town's obligatory M:TG, D&D, RPG shop) make fun of us because we only come in to buy the commons in his enormous boxes of cards. Now, I may not be King Cool or anything, but these same people were arguing the other day about Darth Vadar's fighting prowess in the middle of a Yu-Gi-Oh game. I'm having a difficult time feeling insulted.

Tuesday, Elvira Kurt did a free show at the university center. Well, I call it free because I didn't pay anything, but I assume the university forked over something to get her. Even though a comedian's college tour is usually different from his or her television specials, she did an amazing job of blending the school humor with her usual material. I laughed until my kidneys were sore, which was a much needed break from my typical evenings of worrying over school work and starving to death.

Oh, and I got her autograph afterward TAKE THAT, SUCKERS!

Well, friends, it's time for me to end this as I see my tales of merriment and mirth are being overwhelmed by thoughts of depression and hunger. So, until after the next round of internet disconnection, I bid you goodbye. Or, as our Soviet friends would say, *@ F&4*">4b!

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down
Livin' in the hopeless hungry side of town
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime
But is there because he's a victim of the times

I wear the black for those who've never read
Or listened to the words that Jesus said
About the road to happiness through love and charity
Why you'd think he's talking straight to you and me

Well we're doin' mighty fine I do suppose
In our streak of lightning cars and fancy clothes
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back
Up front there oughta be a man in black

I wear it for the sick and lonely old
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold
I wear the black in morning for the lives that could have been
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men

And I wear it for the thousands who have died
Believin' that the Lord was on their side
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died
Believin' that we all were on their side

Well there's things that never will be right I know
And things need changin' everywhere you go
But till we start to make a move to make a few things right
You'll never see me wear a suit of white

Oh I'd love to wear a rainbow every day
And tell the world that everything's okay
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
Till things're brighter I'm the man in black

--"Man In Black," Johnny Cash

Driving through Indiana was not only not a burden, it was probably one of the better drives I've been on. The landscape looked the same, sure, and most of the same traffic laws still applied, but it was still whole new territory. I was farther north and farther west than I've ever been before. I saw signs and places and people that were interesting. Did you know you can have a vasectomy reversed? I didn't. [NOTE: That image at the top of the web page is the exact road sign they have along I-74. I don't know where those pictures of babies came from]. Did you know that James Joyce sells semi-trucks? I didn't, but I came up with this clever little ad for them whilst driving:

"Portrait of the Trucker As A Young Man"

ONCE upon a highway and a very good highway it was there was a hobo coming down along the road and this hobo that was down along the road met a nicens little driver named Bulldog Pete. . . .

His manager told him that story: his manager looked at him through a bullet-proof glass: he had a greasy face.

He was Bulldog Pete. The hobo came down the road where the Waffle House was: they sold pork chops.

O, the wild rose air freshener
On the little green peas.

He sang that song. That was his song.

O, the green A.V.I. cab signals

When you wet the cab, first it is warm then it gets cold. His hobo was used to it. He had the queer smell.

His hobo had a nicer smell than his manager. He talked about the government a lot. He danced:

Tralala lala, Tralala tralaladdy, Tralala lala, Tralala lala.

Buy A Truck

As I neared Peoria, I got to watch the sunset over the Interstate. I'd never really considered it an important piece of knowledge that the sun sets in the west until I stopped to realize that's exactly the direction I'd be driving. Let me name drop here for a second and tell you that I was listening to "The Richest Man In Babylon" by Thievery Corporation as Sol dropped below the horizon, and it turned out to be a most excellent combination. I'd call it life-changing, but change frightens me.

I know I've spent a lot of time talking about the drive and not so much time talking about the show, but considering drive-time hours (D.T.H) totalled 15 and show-time hours (S.T.H) totalled about 5, it was the first part that came to mind when I considered this update. Well, as you can expect me to say, the show was very much amazing. Kudante's set was even better than the last time I saw him play, and featured some very cool new stuff from his newest CD (which I would have bought there had it not meant going hungry this evening). There was also a really mellow band called Hanzous playing, but I only managed to catch their last song. Then, there was a guy named Justin McGrath who did some really awesome ambient music while they showed this video of what looked like the Grand Canyon area on the projector. It was most relaxing. Finally, The Flashbulb played, and part of me wonders if he's slightly insane. I didn't get an in-depth look at his set-up, but one way or another he ran a bass guitar through his equipment and used it to trigger the synthesized sounds. It was sort of like hearing a funk bassist in the 30th Century (After we've endured years of oppression at the hands of despotic alien overlords).

Overall, it was an excellent time, and I wish there was more of this type of music community closer by. That sounded kind of pretentious. Did that come across as pretentious? I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying.

Hey! It's time for a new segment in h.y.p.o.t.h.a.l.a.m.u.s.i.n.g. where we discuss recent postings to the GuestBook!

Q: A friend of mine is looking for the original composer of Popcorn. Why: He wants to kill that person. Why again: the song has been stuck in his head for many years...
A: Your friend would be looking for Gershon Kingsley, who will be turning 80 years old on October 28. You wouldn't think he'd be too hard to take, but you can't trust a moog man. They're a crafty lot.

Q: what's the state of your popcorn research? got this? popcorn by Richi M on Fluid Records, 2000, sweden. mello-trancey song starting "bah bah bah baba babah..." a guy with a phoney name making stupid music.. well, that's how i love it!
A: I didn't have that, actually, but that sounds like the one I have. I leave the investigation open for further study, but - for the time being - I think I'm going to go ahead and relabel my MP3 to fit this new information. I'm not sure Richi M is the culprit, but he seems a lot more reasonable than Kraftwerk. Millions of thanks go to Mr. Nick Otin for helping advance this just crusade!

I won't go into the details, because - quite frankly - I'm just too tired to care anymore.

Yesterday, however, I received an e-mail from the CS Department informing me that my class had been cancelled due to lack of enrollment, and urged me to sign up for the only remaining spot at 11 MWF as this would be the last semester they would be teaching C++. Apparantly, they're transitioning to Java. There are pros and cons for doing that, but the largest and most irritating con is that they're trying to do it while I'm trying to get a degree.

Reluctantly, I moved Russian to 12. This means I won't get to eat lunch until after 1. Those who know me well know how important food is to me. I'd lose all my fat without it. But, this does mean that my first class isn't until 10, which gives me plenty of time to sleep. Those who know me well know I'd give up food to get more sleep. Hence, I found the change ended in my favor.

It ended in my favor until I tried to complete the final step.

I had to drop my non-existant computer science class and sign up for the real one. It seemed to be a simple task. I click the drop-box next to the class, selected "Drop," and clicked the button that said "Submit Changes."

Much to my disappointment, the class did not drop. Instead, I received a message saying that the class was not available. Well, obviously the class wasn't available. It didn't exist. That's why I wanted it off my schedule. But you can't argue with a computer. They're dogmatic and arrogant. Imagine arguing with me about your schedule. That's what I felt like I was doing, and I think I may have cracked the top of my desk in the "anger management" process.

"Well," says I, "I guess I could just go ahead and sign up for the real class and just take the other out of the schedule later."

But you already know that didn't work. I wouldn't have written this story unless I was thoroughly screwed over by the man. My total course hours (Including the three fake ones from the non-existant computer science class) add up to 17. I'm not allowed to go over 19. When I tried to add the real CS class, that put me at 20, and the computer said no. No, you can not go over 19 hours, even if I count the fake ones.

So, here I am with a CS class that doesn't exist, can't be dropped, and prevents me from adding a real class to my schedule. I lovesss the system.

...

The quote was taken from an article on Techfocus. It was also taken out of context.

In response, Techfocus management editor Bill Royle has issued a statement to inform the public that computers on the RIAA and MPAA networks will now be blocked from accessing Techfocus. From the full article on Techfocus:

This decision was made based on three elements:

1. The RIAA chose to use our article with Fred Von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, quoting him out of context in a manner which could lead readers of their materials to believe that we supported their efforts. This could not be further from the truth.

2. The RIAA chose to violate our reprint policy, which states: "In terms of reprinting our reviews and features, you must obtain prior permission before reprinting them." While the RIAA can use the material legally under 'fair use,' they should have contacted us before distributing some of our content world-wide. We appreciated the mention in the Washington Post, but as we said above, we did not appreciate our work being taken out of context.

3. The RIAA is choosing to devote their resources to target individuals, rather than devoting their resources to creating a feasible distribution method (see iTunes). We will not allow this website to be used as a resource with which they could utilize user statements or comments against them. While this has not happened, we are pre-emptively moving to avoid this.