Monday, March 31, 2003

CD: Frank Sinatra, "The Very Good Years"

Now my entire family is hooked on Subway subs. Today I had my fourth in a week. That's right! The delicious taste of Subway subs has come home. A new franchise opened up near my house ("near" is like six miles away over here) and my father decided to check it out. Now he can't get enough, and has already filled enough Sub Club cards to get a free sub and then some! Woo! Sometimes when my family is eating them at home people will just randomly say things like "I really like their choice of bread; it's great that they make it right in the store" and "it doesn't bog you down like regular subs; it fills you up without making you full!" as if they were that Jerod guy or something. So here's the deal, Subway: put us in your commercials as The Subway Family, watch your sales go through the roof, and then give us free subs for the rest of our days! Rock over London, rock on Chicago, Subway: eat fresh! Whee!

Sunday, March 30, 2003

CD: Coldplay, "A Rush Of Blood To The Head"

I do wonder how many people in the news departments of America realize that something like "Operation: Iraqi Freedom" proves by its own name that its portrayal by the United States Government is propaganda at the very least. I don't know about you, but when the people of a nation really want to be liberated, shouldn't they do it themselves? Heck, even the French knew that. So why can't the Iraqis? Are they lazy? Or maybe it's something worse: they don't want to overtake Saddam Hussein. And if I may compare Iraq to the American and French Revolutions (and even the Bolshevik Revolution), when those countries were "liberated" they Stopped being controlled by foreign powers, not the opposite. Why should the United States do something that a people should earn for themselves? Bah!

Saturday, March 29, 2003

CD: White Stripes, "White Stripes"

Bork. Borken ze bork? Papa oom pow pow, shimmy shimmy ya. De do do do, de da da da. Ooh la la, be bop a loola. Aloha oye. Hibbity Jibbity. Deyyyo. Dey ey ey o. Ooh ahh oh. Seebeegeebees. Oompa loompa doompity doo. Jibberwocky flim-flam. Wowie zowie. Eee-aye eee-aye oh. Schwing. Do do do-DO do do do-DO do DO do-do doot do do-do. Emm aye ess ess aye ess ess aye pee pee aye. Elememopy. Oh wee oh, we ohh-oh. I ran out of ideas for posts months ago. Why are you still reading?

Q: What is your idea of a perfect date?

A: "I'd have to say April 25th....Because it's not too hot, not too cold. All you need is a light jacket!" --"Miss Congeniality"

Friday, March 28, 2003

CD: The Donnas, "Spend The Night"

Whilst bowling this night, I happened perchance to partake of a faulty bowling ball returning machine. For some reason the balls would not come back from the magical chute in the ground! So I've been thinking about it, and just what goes on begind those pins, anyway? I know Fred Flintstone had a pterydactyl (sp?) putting his day's work in, putting up carved-rock pins and making funny little comments, but what about today? And how do you keep score in a bowling game? How does 10 times 10 equal 100? One thing has never changed, and it is the definition of the bowling experience: Shoes. I'm going to call Calvin Klein and suggest a bowling clothes line--the untucked, shiny, button shirts, sure, but the multi-colored, pseudo-leather shoes are the epitome of retro fashion! It's like stepping your feet into 1978. If you could only wear them to interviews...

Thursday, March 27, 2003

CD: Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On?"

What IS going on? For the fourth time in three weeks I have gotten lost at the University of Buffalo. Seeing how I've gone there sporadically for the past two years now for research purposes, wouldn't I know my way around by now? NOOOOO! What's up with that? The other day I drove around the campus, deftly maneuvering the I-290, the Millersport Highway, Niagara Falls Boulevard and some wierd private access road to make a beautiful circle ten miles in diameter. I wanted to go in a straight line! Argh! Today I had to be at a class in half an hour, and of course I drove out of a completely different exit that I went into and got lost, and late. How is that possible if I take the same road I came IN campus with and end up OUT of campus two streets away? And why haven't I bought a compass after all this time? Bork!!

Wednesday, March 26, 2003

CD: Guided By Voices, "Isolation Drills"

There is a bookcase in my room that is about six feet high...in parts. We found it one Christmas when the neighbors across the street threw it out. Covered with ice, we brought it upstairs. The wood is all bent up now, and it is probably getting worse because now it is loaded with a couple hundred books I don't read and another couple hundred records I don't listen to, not to mention the yearbooks I am ashamed to look at placed next to the stereo I can barely reach. Yet there it all sits. It's a monolith of furniture and an archives depository all at once. Now that it is full, what do I do with it? Should I go find more garbage as an add-on? should I buy Real bookshelves? Wait for an earthquake and see what's left? Good thing I don't really care.

Tuesday, March 25, 2003

CD: Weezer, "Weezer" [2001]

If I don't turn off the television, I end up watching the war for eight hours, and that just can't be healthy. The satellite dish gives me about eight differnet channels to watch...I got ABC, NBC, CBS, ITV, BBC, CBC, NWI, CNBC, CNN, CNNFN, MSNBC, KMFDM, LMNOP, and, of course, NWA. All I know is that you can get those nasty pictures on Al-Jazeera's website even without reading Arabic, that the "War Desk" on CNNFN has my laptop on it, and that first night where they were blowing stuff up like crazy? THAT was fun, admit it! I do wonder how much less news I'd have to watch if the US and Iraq could stop using all that rhetoric about how victory is inevitable, and our soldiers are brave and courageous, bork bork bork. Maybe from eight hours to seven.

Monday, March 24, 2003

CD: Moby, "Play"

I recently bought a cell phone. That means you have to write to all of your friends and give them your new number, which they will easily forget the first couple of times they need to call you. That's not a problem. The most disappointing thing in my situation, however--and this was pointed out to me by one of the friends I wrote to--was that my E-mail was sent out to nine people. Nine. Sad, huh? I pay $35 dollars a month so I can talk to nine people. Four of them live in my house. Or is it more depressing when one of them writes back and makes fun of you for only writing to nine people? Or that he just got a cell phone, too, and will probably only call three or four people with it? Or that it's 11:20 on a Monday morning and I still haven't gotten out of bed? Alas.

Sunday, March 23, 2003

CD: Pavement, "Slanted And Enchanted" (deluxe)

It is 12:10 AM. What a great day this March 23rd has been! Definitely in the top 1000 of good days. What did I do today? Oh, gee...let me think. Well, I was reading this newspaper, as I am wont to do sometimes, and it was really interesting! Yeah! But then I thought to myself, "Hey, I wonder if I have any E-mail to check." So about halfway through the day, at about 12:05 AM, I checked my E-mail! I didn't have any! Wow! I wonder if I'll ever get any more. I guess only time will tell, huh? Already a mystery. Then I decided that since it was a new day, I would add to my weblog. I was listening to my Pavement album the night before, so I started of my new post with the title of the album I had played. Coincidence? No, silly! Then I started writing my weblog. It was about 12:10 in the morning by then. Well, what a day! I better get some rest. Toodles for now!

Saturday, March 22, 2003

CD: Rage Against The Machine, "Rage Against The Machine"

Spring Break has been a wash. Compared to previous Spring Breaks, where I was out of town and on vacation, I have done some homework. So this is a 100% increase. Yet, thirty minutes isn't exactly going to help me out like I'd hoped. On one hand, I did go bowling last night. It was much more enjoyable than, say, a study of 17th century Dutch economics. I really don't know how to fully articulate what I'm saying, because I was out all night and didn't get any sleep, but it's too bad I didn't get any papers done. I'll just have to blame the war or something. That darned Saddam! Why couldn't he be like that nice Timothy McVeigh boy and be easier to catch?! Hmm, I probably shouldn't have said that...like that. Wait, what did I just say? I better get some sleep...it's a good reason for not starting more homework, too...

Thursday, March 20, 2003

CD: various, "Negros Blues And Hollers"

Most every night, my father sits on the couch once he gets home and doesn't get up. He eventually falls asleep on the couch, snoring and keeping me awake. Then I have to close my bedroom door and since the heater is in my room, the building goes cold while my room gets to be about 90 degrees, so I have to keep a window cracked open in the middle of winter. So last night I put my foot down. Well, my butt. I got home first, grabbed my laptop, the remote and a book. I laid on that couch for several hours before he got home. He sat on one end of the couch and started nodding off, except for the couple of times he would turn his head, slowly open his eyes and see if I was still there. You could see the disappointment in him. A couple of times he would mumble something about "Well I guess I should go to bed soon..." right before he would glance at me. At about 1:30 he finally capitulated and went to his bedroom for good. I had won the night. I told my sister what I did and we celebrated for several seconds. Then I told her I was tired out too from all my squatting and I went to bed. The end.

Edited by: TomServo0 at: 3/20/03 2:45:36 am

Wednesday, March 19, 2003

CD: Fiona Apple, "When The Pawn..."

This war thing is taking forever. Just think, if they do reenactments of it in 2203, it will involve sitting in the desert for 3 months, doing nothing. It'll be pretty boring, that's for sure. And then one of the troop reenactors will pull out a laptop computer and press a button, something will blow up, and the battle will be over. Not that I want anyone to die in this war, or that I want this war at all, but come on already. it really has been twelve years since this thing has started. I almost like Bush for being impatient. Saddam Hussein is like that one kid in elementary school that was so annoying that you wanted to pop him one but he never got caught doing anything wrong. He would make fun of you and then hide behind a tree in the playground or stand next to the teacher so you couldn't rough him up. Still, if you ignored him he would go away after a while...

Edited by: TomServo0 at: 3/19/03 2:34:36 pm

Tuesday, March 18, 2003

CD: Talib Kweli, "Quality"

My theory is has been tried and tested, and still true: If there is no specific reason to get together, as my friends and I did the other night, we will somehow end up at Denny's. That doesn't mean we specifically want to go to Denny's. What used to be a fun outing has turned into a tradition and then an out and out regrettable situation. Last night I decided that since I was driving, we were just going to drive down one road until someone decided what we were going to do next. We got halfway to driving off of the Niagara Falls when I had to give up and turn around. It's a shame when your posse physically GOES to several places says "NO! We must go do Denny's." But you know what? They have darn good sandwiches and pies and I barely care anymore. Moons Over My Hammy for everyone! I had a great time. Free refills!

Monday, March 17, 2003

CD: James Brown, "Say It Live And Loud: Live In Dallas 08.26.68"

Someone mentioned that it's going to look really bad when the United States declares war on Iraq and the world press comes to get our reaction, and everyone is drunk and dancing in the streets with party hats and floats because it's St. Patrick's Day. They're going to have a field day with us. I never really liked this holiday because I don't drink and don't like drunks, but since green is my favorite color I guess it's passable as a celebration. Interesting, though, that we're starting a war to combat terrorism (or whatever they call it) around a day celebrating the Irish, who would be World Terrorist Enemy #1 if it weren't for that whole Arab-Israeli thing. How many people have died from Irish terrorist acts? Nomatter. All we know over here in the states was that there was some sort of famine and what do you know, everyone in the Fire Department has a name that starts with "O'." Also, Lucky Charms is the best kids' cereal ever.

Sunday, March 16, 2003

CD: Taleb Kwali, "Quality"

Yesterday I went to downtown Buffalo, which was interesting because it was actually nice out for once and people were taking walks, looking around at the city like they just came out of their bomb shelters. It was Saturday, so no one had much of a reason to be there. We were just surprised the sun was shining and stuff wasn't falling from the sky. On the windows of the abandonned Burger King was a sign that said "Fat, Ugly Italian Male looking for Nice Girl with a Sense of Humor, 878-xxxx." That was kind of funny. The subway was half-filled with people that didn't want to look at each other. I was the most handsome person there. I rode the subway down to its last stop at South Campus and the floor was really slippery, probably from the moisture with the weather and everything melting. Dangerous.

Saturday, March 15, 2003

CD: White Stripes, "De Stijl"

Some months ago I made what could be called the Mother Of All Mix Albums, or MOAMA, for some foreign guys at work. Tonight I pulled it out and copied to my laptop and dude, this is fun! Now I technically have my own portable MP3 player! Whee! And it's already loaded with 200 of my favorite songs. The best part is that I forgot what songs I put on the thing so I get a pleasant surprise every three minutes or so. Now I recall the three days it took for me to put the MOAMA together; how I fussed over song selection, how I tried to be eclectic (no band appears more than once) while still fitting everything in. Finally my hard work, though relatively still useless, is paying off. AND, as an added bonus, WinAmp is automatically fading in between tracks. Fantastic.

Friday, March 14, 2003

CD: Pearl Jam, "Riot Act"

The best part about my winter trip to Europe may not be the actual vacation but the ability to refer to it in conversation later. Watching the news today they showed the Chancellor of Germany giving a speech to the legislature, and DUDE I was IN THAT BUILDING! Cool! Somewhere I learned that Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen's favorite tourist attraction in Rome is the Spanish Steps, and I was ON those steps! Whenever they talk about the Eiffel Tower, the EU headquarters in Belgium, the Vatican's plea for peace in the Middle East...I was there, making me an EXPERT compared to all y'all who are only TALKING about the stuff! So they want to rename French Fries "Freedom Fries" because they think the French are snooty, self-centered anti-Americans? Well guess what? I was actually IN FRANCE and they ARE snooty, self-centered anti-Americans. How about those pommes, Jacques?

Thursday, March 13, 2003

CD: "Langley Schools Music Project"

Spring Break. Wooooooooo. There are no girls going wild here in farm country, nor do I see Fat Joe getting ready to perform. Even the upcoming St. Patrick's Day holiday fails to pique the interest of our Germanic neighbors. What to do then? Well, it seems that my academic adversaries, or "professors," have all designed that I must write them a 15-20 page paper. So instead of warm beaches and cold water (The ocean's always cold no matter where you are, isn't that such a disappointment?) I will get to visit cold libraries and search for old books. Maybe I'll even stop procrastinating long enough to write something down. My Beach House will consist of a bunch of bundled-up, grandfatherly dudes trying to look up totally rad geneology records! Party on!

Wednesday, March 12, 2003

CD: Green Day, "Warning"

I found this during my research and I though it was interesting. Some things never change . . . .

from "Republican Advocate" by D. C. Miller. Batavia, NY Fri. Evening 18 August 1826 VOL. 15, NO. 758
Pg. 3 col.1

<<“He who is not for us is against us.”—This is an old and trite saying—and whatever may be the hazard in any laudable untertaking, rendered necessary by the nature and state of things, the whimperings of nerveless friendship, doling out its fears of cousequences, is lost upon him whose purposes are as just as unchangeable; and could such friends duly estimate things, whey would consider their advice, as it really is—worthless. Armed with justice, none but cowards fear consequences. What are scoffs, threats and persecution to him who is bent upon purposes good? Simply stimulants to action, calling forth powers that put at defiance the demons of mischief.”<<

Tuesday, March 11, 2003

CD: Wesley Willis, "Daren Hacker"

Most of this was from an E-mail I just sent to Ed:

Guess who Joe and I saw last night? That's right, the one and only WESLEY WILLIS. The jam was a knockout! The singer rocked like a Magikiss! The show was supposed to be at Mohawk Place but because of all that Great White stuff the fire marshall had them move it to the Continental. It was the best show I've seen him do by far. He was on a Harmony Joy Ride for sure! He did the hits of course--"Rock and Roll McDonald's," "Cut the Mullet,"--but he unveiled some other stuff like "Michael Jackson," which may be his best song yet (just look up the lyrics), "Osama bin Laden," and the encore, "My Demon is the Devil's Son." They even sounded like different songs this time! He's gotten a lot better. Now he pauses right after he says "Rock Over London, Rock On [Buffalo New York]" so people can cheer before he does his slogan and the ends fade out. It was a success! There were about 100 people at the show! Suddenly, it was over. Just plain awesome.

I would also like to add that the toilets at the Continental are human rights catastrophies. I think there should also be a Toilet Marshall that goes around to bars and clubs to see if they're deadly or not. They're just accidents waiting to have already happened.
CD: Jimmy Eat World, "Bleed American"

I remember a long time ago (months!) I wrote a post about how Saddam Hussein released almost all the prisoners in his jails in Iraq. And I sarcastically commented that it must be this Great Coincidence that American troops were coming over to fight his country, and he needed troops for his army--hey, here are some, and they're big fans of yours, Hussein! Well now I'm wondering if they're actually in the Iraqi guard. If they are or they aren't, aren't they bored? Come to think of it, what are the Iraqi people doing right now? It's not like they can make any big plans..."Yo Abdul, you wanna help me move?" "Sure, Mohammed, but you sure you want to right now, what with the war and all?" "Oh yeah, I forgot. They might blow our houses up. Maybe later then?" Or maybe, "Yo Abdullina, would you like to come to my bachelorette party?" "Sure, Mohammedina, but you sure you want to get married right now, what with the war and all?" "Oh yeah, I forgot. They might kill my husband in a firefight and my future children could die of starvation. Maybe later then?" All I know for sure is that if I were living there right now, I'd be in the basement trying to get through Ulysseys.

Monday, March 10, 2003

CD: Oasis, "Be Here Now"

Uuuuugh. I knew it wouldn't work. So I got to the library at about 4 yesterday, vowing not to leave until I finished my five-page paper, which is due tonight. after about six hours, I had competed ONE PAGE. That's right, somehow I was able to sit in one place and only write ONE PAGE of a book review. How horrible is that? Right now I'm wasting my time on this thing (which is going much faster, by the way) but I think I've figured it out: years of all-nighters and last-minute writing make me unable to function as a regular student unless there is a pressing deadline upon me. I bet that by the end of the afternoon this paper will be done quickly simply because it has to be. The words will magically appear on the page--almost like its their destiny--but for now they will not come. No matter, I must sign off and forge ahead. But first...breakfast...

Sunday, March 09, 2003

CD: Natalie Imbruglia, "White Lillies Island"

Today I fully intend to spend all day at the library and I just know it will never work. It never does. I tell myself I will work all day long but I end up goofing off for a couple of hours and then going back home. This time I have a five-page paper to write and I refuse to leave until I do...if I do leave, it's thirty miles to home so I have an extra incentive to stay. Nevertheless, I was supposed to be there a couple of hours ago and I just got out of bed. Now I'm writing this stupid weblog which means I will waste even more time before I even eat breakfast. When I first started writing these log things it was to practice answering those "About Me" essays on job applications, but now I see it's my new excuse to procrastinate. Once again I have ruined my academic career.

Saturday, March 08, 2003

CD: Natalie Imbruglia, "Left Of The Middle"

I just saw the High School Play version of the movie Footloose, and I must say I expected looser feet. It was very unprofessional. But for some reason all I could think about during the play was the inevitable war in Iraq. So the hero of the story--the guy that just wanted to dance, dance, dance!--and his friends became the anti-war protesters, and the evil minister became George Bush, and the minister kept pushing for war because of some accident with his father in the last war--probably the assassination attempt--and he was all cantankerous and wouldn't listen to anybody, and then the hero got up in front of everybody and said "blessed are the peacemakers" but all the old people voted for war anyway...and George Bush really couldn't sing but he still got some applause because he seemed like a nice kid that tried really hard. I still don't know what to name my daydream: Trooploose? Obtoose? Oh well.

Friday, March 07, 2003

CD: Missy Elliot, "Under Construction"

Today, a first: I taught an elementary school class. Six, actually. Through this I found out something amazing: children are transfixed upon a television. It doesn't even have to be showing anything. A blank, blue screen will suffice; the children will love it. Today I played videos for all six of these classes. From Kindergarden through grade six, the kids just sat there quietly. It was amazing. Best classes I've ever had. I noticed that there are four levels of television understanding with kids:

Grade 5+6: Cool, it's video time. We don't have to do anything.
Grade 4+3: A movie! This is funny stuff!
Grade 2+1: Wow, a dancing elephant!
Kindergarden: [mouths agape. no comprehension until the songs come in]

Thursday, March 06, 2003

CD: John Coltrane, "The Very Best Of John Coltrane"

I forgot how to read. After all these years, I forgot how to sound out words, read phonetically, stay on one line at a time. In college I developed the ability to read two or three lines at a time to better skim the material so I could spend my time more wisely not doing the dishes for my dorm. Reading the newspaper too often has made me skip whole paragraphs in a quick search for important quotes and concise summaries. So now, whenever I want to read a real book--or even a long New Yorker article--it's darn near impossible. I lose my place, I turn the page halfway through reading the one before it, and sometimes stop and say to myself "I don't know what I just read. I didn't remember a single word." It's been difficult, but with a few hours of practice every night I've tried to regain my reading abilities. Sure, every page of my graduate textbooks are a challenge, but so was inventing the light bulb and we're glad someone did that! So to conclude, reading is worth it. But you don't have to take MY word for it....

Wednesday, March 05, 2003

CD: Weezer, "Maladroit"

In Buffalo, the transition from winter to spring has been more schizophrenic than usual. Usually there's no spring anyway, but this year we just might give it a try. So this past week or two we have experienced temperatures of zero or below, then had temperatures in the 40s, then back to zero again. Today it was up and started raining, but now it is down and snowing again. As in city government, the weather can't make up its mind, either. Perhaps hail tonight? Maybe more snazzy snow. Nobody knows; we can't predict a thing. And in this town it doesn't really matter either way, because nobody will do anything differently with their day until a yard of the stuff hits the ground; one reason (and only one?) why living here is better than in Florida.

Tuesday, March 04, 2003

CD: Lenny Kravitz, "Greatest Hits"

Ooh, those crazy French. They remind me of this kid named Keith I used to go to school with that everyone wanted to beat up on the playground. He wasn't really evil or anything, just a dork. Even if he said things you agreed with, you still wanted to beat him up. So that's France to me. Sure, I'm not too fond about this upcoming war either, and I would probably vote against it if I were France, too. But it's the delivery, I guess. That, and every time someone threatened to beat up Keith--which happened often, by the way--he would run away like a little girl. And that is 100% France. I wonder what Keith is up to right now...probably pretending not to know English, and selling bottles of Coca-Cola for $4.50 a pop, and having national holidays whenever I happen to visit so I'll never get to see the Mona Lisa. Jerks.

Monday, March 03, 2003

CD: Beastie Boys, "Hello Nasty"

I had the chance to answer a few questions about Americans' view of a war in Iraq for a student paper in Brazil, so I thought I'd post my answers here as well:


Do you think that it is really important to USA win the war?

If the USA actually does start a war, yes. By "winning" we mean the USA would have to take Saddam Hussein out of power permanently. Many Americans believe we should have taken Hussein in the last war, when we had the chance. Personally, I do not think this is a war we have to fight. If we do not fight a war we will probably be no worse because of it. The only problem is that our country has made threats to Iraq for so long, if we do not back our words with our weapons we will look foolish to the world. President Bush put us in a bad position: if we are for him, we look like a bully, but if we stop the war from happening, we may make America look even worse.

"Veja", the most important magazine in Brazil (like Newsweek) is showing in the front page: "Bush makes the world furious". How do you fell about that?

I am against the war myself, so I can understand if the world is "furious." "Worried" might be a good word, too, because violence may spread in the Middle East. Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, however, America feels different from other countries. There is now the belief that much of the world hates us anyway, even if there were no war, because we are a rich, powerful nation. If you ask people that are for a war, they will say that the world simply does not understand that we have special responsibilities as a superpower nation, and that by taking out Hussein (even without UN support) we will be helping the rest of the world and not hurting it. Americans have all seen the protests from around the world on television, and some of the biggest protests were right here in places like Washington, D.C. and New York City. Americans have been very accepting of anti-war activists, though some of our leaders do not say it. The only backlash I have seen against the "furious" parts of the world has been towards France. Many Americans think France owes us for saving them from Hitler, and are only trying to gain politically from not agreeing with us. We also find it ironic that some of the nations that accuse us of starting a war for oil (France, Germany, and Russia) also have some of the most money invested in oil contracts with Iraq.

Are you nervous about the consequences that this war can bring to your economy? What do you think about the Iraq population? Are you afraid of terrorist attacks after the war?

The war has already hurt our economy. Petroleum prices are rising sharply now, and though oil companies blame the situations in Iraq and Venezuela for the cost, we believe they are just trying to make greater profits. The stock market is down, and consumer confidence is at a ten-year low. The war will make the economy worse still. As for the Iraqi population, Americans genuinely believe that Saddam Hussein is evil and is a greater threat to Iraqis than America could ever be. We have heard horror stories of torture and mass killings by Hussein for years now. Some of us think that the UN sanctions against Iraq killed many thousands of people, too. It seems that the only way for the sanctions to be lifted is to get rid of Saddam Hussein. Though I do not think war is necessary right now, it seems the only way anyone will ever remove him and restore Iraq will be by force.

I do not know what Brazilians learn about American society, but it seems that Americans are split between two ideas about terrorism. One feeling is that we should be very afraid for future terrorist attacks, should always be prepared, and should be willing to send the military around the world to prevent terrorism from striking again. The government has even created a color-coded Terror Alert System. Starting at this year's hajj in Mecca, the alert was at High Alert until yesterday. If you watched the news on television, there was a symbol on the screen saying "TERROR ALERT ORANGE: HIGH."

The second group of people is a bit more pessimistic. They think terrorism will happen again, yes, but what can we really do? We will be as prepared as we can be no matter what occurs. That group of people think the government is using terrorism to scare people into believing that policies like a war in Iraq are necessary, even when it was Osama bin Laden, not Saddam Hussein, that attacked the USA. They also think that President Bush is not giving the public evidence that there is any reason to be afraid, but by starting a war in Iraq, they will only make more people hate the USA and create more future terrorists. I am in this second group. The government recently recommended that citizens buy duct tape, plastic bags, bottled water, and other items in case a terrorist strikes. Only a few people in the first group thought the items would be useful. In the 1950s, the government said we could protect ourselves from nuclear radiation by hiding under a table. It will take much more than that to convince Americans--and the rest of the world--that we are using our common sense in 2003.

Sunday, March 02, 2003

CD: Missy Elliot, “Under Construction”

Ooh, those sneaky church people. So the church started looking for new ushers, and my mother got it into her head that she knew I wanted to be one, if that makes any sense. After the sermon I was walking down the hall when one guy goes “Hey, your mother was looking for you; she’s just down the hall over there.” I went in the direction he pointed, and as I got there another guy goes, “You came! Great!” Huh? “The usher meeting is right in here; it will only take a few minutes.” I’ve been captured! And of course when I got in the room a third guy asked me if my mother “finally persuaded me to join.” All I could do was reply, “I really don’t know what I’m doing!” We all had a good laugh.


Edited by: TomServo0 at: 3/4/03 1:18:44 pm

Saturday, March 01, 2003

CD: Velvet Underground & Nico, “The Velvet Underground & Nico”

In my freshman year of college I had a roommate named Micah who, besides dancing with himself and playing classical guitar covers of Dave Matthews songs, pretended his computers were his girlfriends and even named them. I laughed at him then. Alas, I was so very wrong to do so. With my new laptop I have given in. Her name is Ashley. Why, you may ask, is she—um, it—named Ashley? Could it be the black, ashen color of the laptop? Could it stand for “A Superbly Helpful Laptop for Educating Yourself”? Or could it be because actress Ashley Judd is just plain amazing? All I know is that it’s hard getting by without her. Well, I’ve got the other computer, but let’s keep that on the D.L.


Edited by: TomServo0 at: 3/2/03 2:36:54 pm