got free tickets from the radio station to see method man last night. the four opening acts kind of lagged but he was great. it's always cool when you get to see a performer who just owns the stage. the $5 beers were the only sad spot of the night.
this morning nick send me this link to an article about the new music service that's going into trials in new york. the idea is you after the show you pay $10 to download a recording of the show you just saw onto a memory stick. i really hope this takes off.
once upon a time, i bought a bike at a thrift store in reno. it was a 20 inch kids biked named the pretty lady. it cost five dollars. the pretty lady went to burning man with me then returned to reno to live in the katherinehouse's shed. last christmas charles drove it and it's cousin the turbocycle up to portland for me. about two weeks ago my mechanic billy spaceman helped me put together a bastardized track wheel for it. "don't pedal it backwards", he told me, "this is either one of the stupidest or one of the most dangerous projects i've ever been a part of, i can't make up my mind". oh it was a thing to behold. i loved it so. the day after it was finished, i left it locked up out front of krista's building. along came some evil little bmx fuckers and stole my bastardized track wheel for the tire. the left behind a sad, sad lady. sooner or later i'll get another wheel together and the pretty lady will ride track once again.
okay enough of that tone. the side effect of the theft is that i'm doing a story on bike theft for my news radio class. i've interviewed the campus public safety office's director of operations and some random cyclists. i think it's going to come together really well. more news to follow.
school started about 3 weeks ago. this quarter (i keep starting to say semester) has been a lot better than the last. i scraped out of the last one with a C+, a D and an incomplete. i'm putting it in persepective, everyone always tells me that the second year is the hardest motivation wise. i've been way more on top of things this time around. believe it or not: taking notes and doing the homework makes it easier. now i know what your saying "but andrew, you made it through highschool without taking notes or doing the homework!" it's true but, as they always say, this aint highschool.
the good news is that i was picked by the honors college for an internship slot in washington dc next winter. that means i'll have to find an internship, i really want to work with josh marshall of talking points memo but i don't know how that'll pan out.
my fun class this semester is radio news. psu has a college radio station that's trying to start a news show so they turned it into a class. by the end of the semester i'll have two stories done. i think my first one will be on bike theft, it should pretty much write itself i've got questions all i need is to get ahold of one of the minidisc recorders so i can get my interviews.
in other (non radio) news: i'm still trying to fit too much stuff into one tiny studio. i ordered a bike rack from amazon.com to try to at least get the bikes off the floor.
bush's capitulation to all of sharon's demands is just sickening. i don't know what to say. i'll just point you toward billmon's comments.
criticalviewer has a 30 second summary of the press conference bush gave last night. it's eerily similar to what he actually said drop all his clichés. two funny non-answers:
Q: You have said we'd be greeted as liberators, that Iraqi oil would pay for the war and that we'd find WMD in Iraq. Why were you so wrong on all of these counts?
A: September 11th. Threat. Saddam, threat. Intelligence told me so. I told UN to act but they didn't so I did. Saddam could have made WMD. Danger. Oil? It wasn't destroyed and its flowing. Iraqi's are happy...the silent majority supports us...Iraqi's are happy.
Q: Several thousand FBI agents wrote you today begging you to not split up law enforcement and counterterrorism but you said today you might. Will you?
A: Lets talk. The war will be long. Our enemy is ruthless. It will be long. We should learn from mistakes. A free middle east will be hopeful. Free. Freedom. Freedom. Freedom. Freedom. We are a great power. We feed North Korea, we fight AIDS in Africa. I am leading and making the world a better place. We'll stay the course. Stay the course. Soldiers are dying in Iraq for freedom.
i came across a new blog today. after reading the first entry i was convinced that krista was living some sort of a double life, the sense of humor was so close. i've added it to my blog roll. go check it out. you'll be cracking up. to help motivate you i'm going to shamelessly copy and paste one of my favorite bits:
1. There is no such thing as one beer. Well, maybe there is, if you are out with your parents for Indian food or something. But other than that, one beer does not exist.
2. Two beers. Two beers is what you say you had when you are LYING. "I only had two beers." Right. Of course you did. Liar.
3. Then we come to the paragon of righteousness, the guardian of your untroubled deep-REM sleep, Mr. Thirdbeer. Mr. Thirdbeer is a truly good citizen. With Mr. Thirdbeer you feel safe and protected. You have a proper little buzz on, but you can go home right now, have a nice conversation with your roommates, watch a little TV, drink a little water just for the hell of it, and climb into bed like the safe, sane, healthy, non-problem-drinker that you are. (Note: this is where I was at last night. Yay for me, all sensible on a Tuesday.)
4. Did you know that Mr. Thirdbeer has an evil twin? Not many people do. His name is Prince Plastered the Fourth. Welcoming this dark prince into your evening greatly increases the chances that you will hear the words "LAST CALL," and then you will be all making like David Byrne: "Well? How did I get here?"
5. Why? Because Prince Plastered the Fourth, being royalty, never travels alone. He has many courtiers and hangers-on, like Footman Fifthbeer and Little Lord Cuervo Shot.
if you're interested in reading how bad the occupation has been go read "bremer has destroyed my country"
boy, i'm not really into posting on the website. i managed to avoid any mention of my spring break trip to death valley with krista. i'll say simply that it was fun.
my dad came and went. we got to eat some really good food. it was nice getting to see him. i love oregon (in the summer) but do miss the friends and family in reno. and speaking of reno friends: dan has also come and gone. it's been good.