2 December 2002
There is a man
a certain man
and for the poor you may be sure
that he'll do all he can
who is this one?
[whose favorite son?]
just by his action has the traction
magnets on the run?
who likes to smoke?
enjoys a joke?
and wouldn't get a bit
upset if he were really broke?
with wealth and fame
he's still the same
I'll bet you five you're not alive
If you don't now his name
I had a long discussion with my parents and brother this evening after watching the Simpson's. I took a long long nap. I stayed up late last night.
5 December 2002
Blogger has not been publishing well lately.
Monday I went to the bank. I read a story about a canine gentleman in a post-technological future.
Tuesday I partitioned my hard drive and installed RedHat Linux 8.0. I haven't yet dialed up to the
Internet with it or gotten the soundcard working yet. I read a story about a future where ocean
level has risen appreciably, everywhere has drought and Indian reservations are being squatted upon
by white people. I also read The Size of Thoughts. I read a story in Spanish about a letter to God.
I did not go to a basketball game.
Wednesday I reformatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows to clean out the junk that had
accumulated over the last while. I also downloaded and installed Mozilla 1.2.1. For skinning I
recommend Pinball. I read more of The Size of Thoughts and a story in Spanish about a robbery,
a murder and a waiting room.
I also see that Nicholson Baker's The Fermata is being cinematized by Neil Gaiman. I absolutely must
see that.
I have also been blowing my nose a lot and watching Red Dwarf.
Sounds of 165 dB would cause a person's hair to catch fire.
6 December 2002
I watched the end of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and three Seinfeld episodes about the wink and
a funeral and a softball game and napkins and one Simpsons episode about Sideshow Bob's final
revenge. I got a haircut removing nearly two inches from the back and evening out the sides a bit.
I read a story in Spanish about an Uruguayan rancher who spent fifteen years in jail. I listened to
Tool and Weezer and Belle and Sebastian and the Strokes and Trembling Blue Stars. I sneezed and blew
my nose.
Fin.
This week’s diet, for daily consumption:
- (2) cups of coffee
- (8) cigarettes
- (2) glasses of champagne
- (1) ‘everything’ burrito
MoveOn.org
Democracy in Action.
7 December 2002
I got to level 20-something in Jardinains even though after reinstalling Windows the game sometime
just kills me or shuts down for no reason, not even an on-screen notification (I was used to that).
If you haven't completed a Christmas list yet, you need to go here. I also played MS Pinball. I got
the all-time longest hit on the latest version of Batting Practice last night. I read some of The
Size of Thoughts. I have started on the Lumber section. It is so far better than the card-catalog
section. I am going to the dentist. I am going somewhere else:
-----------------Trip to BEAUFORT, SC-------------------
12/12/02 02:45pm BTW-1307 * Depart IOWA CITY, IA
12/12/02 03:50pm BTW-1307 * Arrive DAVENPORT, IA
12/12/02 04:25pm BTW-1408 * Depart DAVENPORT, IA
12/13/02 12:35am BTW-1408 * Arrive INDIANAPOLIS, IN
12/13/02 01:00am GLI-0579 * Depart INDIANAPOLIS, IN
12/13/02 07:20pm GLI-0579 * Arrive SAVANNAH, GA
12/13/02 08:10pm GLI-1090 * Depart SAVANNAH, GA
12/13/02 09:05pm GLI-1090 * Arrive BEAUFORT, SC
I watched Pi and the Simpsons and played Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I listened to Sigur Ros
and Aberdeen.
Seinfeld yesterday feature softball uniforms that said, "Friends O' Clyde".
"Left-handed women are sitting pretty. Except, of course, for the left-handed woman who buttons
Barbara Streisand’s silk blouse every morning. Her life sucks."
8 December 2002
Today was the most action packed yet. There was a Carleton admissions event at the Iowa City Public
Library at which I saw no one of note. We watched an admissions video from 1999 and then there was a
panel of students. I was a student and Lacy Spraggins '06 was a student and Sarah Park '02 (?) was a
recent student. Sadly, Eric Smith did not make it and no one else large was there either. I got a
kickass Carleton Alum button there. I read Spin Magazine while at the library. Most of their 2002
wrapup was pretty good. They said the Strokes were the band of the year and the White Stripes
followed closely behind. That seems to be the general consensus as well. There were many other
interesting features. It was all very uplifting. I also got CDs by Stevie Wonder, Dan Hicks,
Carl Perkins and T Bone Burnett. Burnett has produced many fine albums including Counting Crows'
debut. He also put together the soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?. I checked out Evil Dead,
Hamlet and Ghost in the Shell in addition to the CDs.
I then picked up my Greyhound ticket for my upcoming sojourn to ice-ravaged South Carolina. Because
I got stuck in the left lane I went to Sycamore Mall on the east side of the City of Iowa City, Iowa
and made sure that there weren't any movies there I wanted to see. I then entered CD Warehouse.
It was there that I picked one cool item (a small black and white Interpol poster on the wall that
had come as an advertisement from Matador Records), one less-than-impressive sampler CD and one copy
of Southern Devils by the pride of Ft. Worth, Texas, Pimpadelic. I own it and it is mine and I have the whole CD. It is possibly the trashiest item I will ever own
in my entire life. I still haven't quite gotten over the gravity of the situation.
After that I traveled to Iowa Mennonite School where they were playing basketball as they have for
many years. Pekin played Lone Tree and they were as good as expected (read: not good). IMS got
stomped by Danville. They should still be a great team for the next three years and this is
Danville's last year of their current reign of terror.
After the game, at which I saw many varied acquaintances, I ate a caramel apple pie at Perkin's in
Iowa City with one current senior and two current juniors. It was unexpected and enjoyable, not
least because we rode in a 1987 Audi that had a seat heaters. And yes, the Perkin's had a massive
American flag. We neglected to steal it.
I also listened to Nirvana's Bleach and Trail of Dead in the car today. This reminds me that I
stated on Max's BB that my records of the year are Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights and
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's Source Tags and Codes and it is still so. I listened
to the bad sampler as well and it was, well, bad.
I did not much today. I received a pair of red and white snowman Christmas socks. I took a long nap. I watched the Simpsons which was just a rerun of the Halloween Special. I watched the second episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I played Jardinains. I ate carrots.
9 December 2002
In response to an email from one L Garrison, I am never ever online before 11:30 pm eastern and
usually not until 1:00 am. Then again, I'm not usually on AIM even when I am on the Internet.
10 December 2002
I went to the dentist today and received an interesting email today. That is all.
11 December 2002
The basketball game included some of the coldest shooting and harshest officiating I have seen in
some time. I sort of watched Ghost in the Shell. I am going to drink some water.
I watched an early Saved by the Bell and two episodes of NewsRadio. I went to stores and ate food
and went to more stores and then I came home. I did laundry. I watched the Spurs beat the Mavericks.
Tomorrow I am going to South Carolina.
21 December 2002
It was cloudy. I got on a Trailways bus at the Iowa City bus station and rode to Davenport. There I
waited until the bus left for Indianapolis. We watched Men in Black II, Space Cowboys and
The Phantom Menace. We made many stops including Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana and
Danville, Illinois. The next bus was a little late in Indianapolis. This bus made stops in
Cincinnati; Corbin, Kentucky and Knoxville where we had to get out and wait in the station.
We then went to Asheville, North Carolina; Greenville, South Carolina; and Augusta and Savannah,
Georgia. The bus was an hour late in Savannah where I ate a Hardee's Monster Burger and a vending
machine insisted that there was a bottle of something to be removed and therefore kept beeping the
entire time. I also had a Subway Cold Cut Trio sandwich in Kentucky and some Lime Green Tea Snapple
in Knoxville. I believe I purchased pepperoni pizza Combos and kippered jerky somewhere else along
the way. I got to Beaufort, South Carolina about 30.5 hours after leaving Iowa City. I slept for
about 10 minutes three or four times on the trip.
** All events hereafter include Brian Rumsey. **
I was then driven to the house of Robert & Lillian Johnson on St Helena Island. I watched the
Hornets beat the Lakers and part of Blow.
The next day was Saturday and I ate breakfast which was usually eggs, grits, bacon and/or sausage.
After that I went to the house of Emory Campbell. He took us on a tour of Hilton Head Island showing
us where the Gullah people live and other such things. I bought a "good-looking" checked suit jacket
at the Gullah Flea Market. We ate twice at Emory's house. We drove back to St Helena for the night
and the Johnson's had numerous people over to commemorate Brian's leaving and the first birthday of
their grandson, Traevion. Carson Palmer won the Heisman Trophy. I agreed with the choice. We ate
shrimp and rice with shrimp and fish and pizza and breadsticks and meatballs and there were drinks
as well. Someone brought a Playstation 2 with Arcade Classics (Ms Pac-Man, Galaxian, Pole Position
II, Druaga, Dig-Dug and Chemix). This was dominated by 2-year-old Tamaric. He especially enjoyed
looking at the virtual manuals and losing the same way over and over again at Pac-Man.
The next day we went to church which include a number of Hallelujah!s, Amens and random bursts of
"song" by the preacher. We had the heat on in the car because it was only 60 degrees. It was cold.
I went to the beach, where we spotted dolphins and palm trees, and the store where we bought 48 cans
and two bottles of Dr Chek. The 1981 Volkswagen Vanagon refused to start in the parking lot. I went
to a Christmas service with much singing. We got the Vanagon to a gas station.
On Monday, with much effort. We moved the van to behind the supermarket, to a lube shop and finally
to a mechanic. We ate at Mr Tata-Head where they served me an Idaho burger and chips and sweet tea,
iced. The mechanics estimate was too high. We bought the parts elsewhere and looked around for
someone to work on it. We tried to drive the van back but it was running very loudly and roughly.
We watched most of American Pie II.
On Tuesday we had the van towed to the house and someone fixed it. We ate at Gullah Grub where I was
served shrimp gumbo, potato salad, cornbread and swamp water. I toured the York Baily Museum at the
Penn Center.
On Wednesday we drove to Evansville, Indiana in only the Acura Vigor because the van never got
completely functional. It will be retrieved at a later time. We watched Andy Griffith and ate at
Huddle House.
On Thursday I got home.
On the way down I listened to White Light/White Heat and the Velvet Underground's third album,
Change by the Dismemberment Plan, Bob Dylan's Live at Albert Hall 1966, Interpol, Pavement's
Terror Twilight, Nirvana's In Utero, Pedro the Lion, Sleater-Kinney, Radiohead, Madonna by
Trail of Dead and Wilco. While there we mostly listened to Pimpadelic. On the way back we listened
to the Doors' Strange Days and Morrison Hotel, Bela Fleck, Eminem's Slim Shady and the
8 Mile soundtrack, Loaded by the Velvet Underground, the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street,
London Calling by the Clash, Mermaid Avenue, Sigur Rós, the Strokes, the Foo Fighters' One by One,
the Who, Trail of Dead and numerous mixes.
Thursday I also went to Iowa City where I took some pictures with Burn of ZSat. We went to his house
and we ate pizza and drank Dr Chek and watched Pleasantville.
Today I finished recording a MIDI song and went to the IMS basketball game where they beat Highland
61-49 due to an outstanding performance by Garrett Yoder who had previously been underperforming.
I saw numerous people there and went to Perkin's with the same people as last time I went to Perkin's
on December. They decided because one of them had recently turned 18 to sit in the smoking section
and smoke cigars. It was a brilliant idea.
I have listened to Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Velvet Underground and Nico, Foo Fighters and
The Colour and the Shape.
It has been 9 days since I posted.
I did some laundry today. I watched Memento and for some reason I liked it a lot more than the first
time. I made mp3s out of some songs from movies, most notably Elliott Smith's cover of the Beatles'
"Because" from American Beauty. I also downloaded a version of Pac-Man.
22 December 2002
System Clock is correct and does not require adjustment.
In Christmas news I received today books by Flannery O'Connor, William Shakespeare and Kevin Murphy
(formerly of Mystery Science Theater 3000). I also attended our church's Christmas program and went
to Iowa City with my family. Tomorrow we will go to Ohio for a week.
NAACP, a civil rights organisation, said that Mr Frist's voting record this year closely mirrors the
disgraced Mr Lott, and he has opposed sex education, affirmative action and legislation on hate crime.
26 December 2002
Joe Strummer 1952-2002.
The trip to Ohio was fine. I and my brother are staying with my aunt and uncle while my parents stay
across town with my mom's parents. My aunt and uncle decided to purchase a Gamecube for themselves
this Christmas, so we are working through Super Mario Sunshine. It builds and relies heavily on
Super Mario 64 and is pretty good. I have been reading A Year At The Movies by Kevin Murphy and it
is as satisfying as I thought it'd be. We went to my paternal grandparents' house for a while and had
Christmas today at my maternal grandparents. I got a satchel type of thing, a gift card, some money,
some miscellaneous stuff and a few items to be returned tomorrow before or after seeing The Two Towers I helped shovel the drive this morning as we received about 6 inches of snow last night. It is the
first real accumulation I have seen this winter.
"I was very, very lucky ... I just think, it's like you're asking someone who got hit by a meteor,
'I want to be hit by a meteor. How do I do it?' I don't know. I was walking in a field and the
meteor hit me." - Conan O'Brien in The Onion AV Club.
27 December 2002
Today I sallied forth with my brother in our uncle's CR-V to return gifts to Wal-Mart and Borders as
well as using gift cards. I selected The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Sigur Ros's
(), The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead and Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted: Luxe and Reduxe.
I also got a 40 of IBC and a bottle of Gatorade to round out my purchases at Wal-Mart. After dinner
we took our conversion van to see The Two Towers, which I enjoyed. It had normal second act aspects,
with the storylines coming to a head, no exciting beginnings or thrilling conclusions, but it was
satisfying all the same. I will be sad when at the end of Return of the King, I will have no more
Tolkien to look forward to in the theater at Christmastime. It is a very nice present.
I reformatted my grandmother's computer today and attempted to get it back into shape. It was a near
disaster. I discovered that Windows 95 now seems archaic. The system did not like to recognize its
'plug-and-play' hardware nor the drivers on the disks. It wouldn't even install Internet Explorer 5.5. The chair I was sitting in broke during the process, but it got finished. We went out to eat with my dad's family, with whom we shall have 'Christmas' tomorrow. My mom is also insane.
28 December 2002
My entire family is insane. I had a nice time at our reunion this afternoon eating and shooting hoops. The gift exchange was horrible as usual. The basketball game was atrocious but still a nice break from family gatherings. My entire family is insane.
29 December 2002
We sang some Christmas carols at the church we went to but they were only decent. We ate at Burger King and some at both grandparent's and other places. The Browns made the playoffs after an exciting afternoon of football by many teams. I lost at Euchre. We are leaving tomorrow at 9:30.
I am listening to my uncle's copy of Get The Knack, by The Knack, and I enjoy it way more than I expected.
31 December 2002
The trip today was a little slow but fine overall. I listened to my Singers' Practice CD and precious
little else. I got all my music together. Tomorrow I will pack and go to Iowa City and hopefully see
in the new year.
This is my last post from Wayland. I have everything spread out on my bed. I am washing clothes.
Hopefully I will have everything packed soon after dark. Iowa State got trashed in the Humanitarian
Bowl.