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How do you like my new backgrounds? Since I guess I'm back to updating semi-regularly, I'm going to do one of these for each entry. I give myself about 5-10 minutes to do one, nothing real taxing. Check the archive page as well. I was working to get the message short enough that if you hit F11 you'd see the whole image and there was no scroll bar before. But now I've got my old margin-extending .gif running transparent so I have more room. Even so, this post might go over.

After doing much research and asking many questions, I've learned alot in the last couple days about bicycles. There are rigids, front suspensions, full suspensions, cruisers, street bikes, comfort bikes, BMX bikes, etc. I've settled on a front suspension bike. It'll either be the Schwinn Frontier FS (the one on the right) for $310, the Specialized Hardrock A1 Sport FS for $360, or the Trek 4500 for $440. I've read many reviews from a great site. They SURE like that Specialized Hardrock! The reviews were particularly glowing for it. I did not know that there are bicycles which sell for $4000 to $12000 (lots of them in fact).

An introverted geek is one who stares at his own shoes when he's talking to you. An extroverted geek stares at your shoes when he's talking to you.

You've heard of a one bagger and a two bagger? A coyote is a a woman so homely and heinous that when you wake up next to her with your arm around her you'll gnaw your own arm off in order to get away without waking her up. Or something. Ha Ha.

OK here's the thing. I started listening to Charley Jones in the Summer of '96. He did "Charley Jones Overnight" from midnight to 4 am. It was a masterful show. It made working 3rd shift at PJs a JOY!! Wonderful show each and every hour.

But his talent couldn't stay hidden forever, and by mid '98 (God, has it been that long?) Charley was doing the 9 to noon show instead. It was still a good show, but much more serious, with more listeners but a much smaller broadcast area. More guests but ALOT less variety in the topics. On the Overnight, Charley had shows on Logical Objectivism, Computers, Books, Movies, Motorcycles, Music, Cars, Philosophy, Polls, OddTopics, and the infamous and exquisite quiz show every Friday morning. The 9 to noon show is centered around local, state, and national politics and whatever is making the news, and I always got a vague feeling that Charley no longer had carte blanche and that he sometimes resented not being able to do a less-than-serious hour sometimes. I've met Charley and I've listened to him more than anyone that I can think of. He's the human equivalent of an Encyclopedia. You really have no idea until you've heard him do an in-depth interview or attack some issue. I've said it before and I'll say it again. The three smartest men in the world whose work I've been exposed to are David Foster Wallace, Scott Miller, and Charley Jones.

For instance, tonight I was listening to Jim Bohannon. He just threw out this topic: sometime in the lifetimes of those in their 20s and 30s right now, it will become feasible to take vacations in space. Sure, it will cost several thousand dollars, much like a cruise, but well within reason for, say, a retired couple who've built a nice nest egg. Would you go?

So this generated some very interesting responses and some odd tangents. Some wanted to play golf on the moon, or soccer inside an orbiting arena, or space casino gambling... it eventually turned into a physics debate--would a soccer ball blow up if you aired it up on the moon? How would they get the dice to eventually settle on the table? What would par for the ninth hole be on the moon?

And that's how Charley's show used to go. There were regulars. There were topics that wouldn't necessarily change the world. I know he enjoyed it more. And he always touted the timeframe as being great for his family: work during the night, come home before the kids wake up, go to bed after they're off to school, wake up before they come home, leave for work after they're asleep again...

Well...

Apparently he's going BACK to the Overnight!! I had the radio on and was four fifths snoozing one night and they played the "Charley Jones Overnight" tune (not heard for years) and mentioned that Charley would be "returning to the audience and the show he loves". I thought it was some stupid dream. But tonight I heard a new ad with Charley saying it, so it's true. July 9th.

Was he demoted? Is he being replaced? Did they nab some free agent superstar talk show host, forcing Charley back down? Or has he really finally returned to the show he enjoys doing the most? I know which show I would rather be doing, but this almost has the taste of being fired and having to go back to work at your old McJob in shame. It's not a real good career move.

But then again, Charley doesn't seem that concerned with social position anyway. He does what he does. This gives me an excuse to stay up till 4 some nights, but it also means mornings at home will suck a little harder. On balance, I'll probably hear Charley less now, which sucks because the Overnight is priceless.

In other news...

Well, my brother certainly is moving up in the world. He's joined a newish clan headed up by none other than Dopefish (Dopey). Surebrec, Merlin, and oreca are members as well. So it's like the clan of the teenage PuF OTers, Lol!! I wish them well. I think they're strictly team CTF on TeamPlay. Never known Dopey to do anything but CTF.

Tonight I was on ever-lovin fire on UT. I've been playing a few minutes here and a few minutes there. Today I rediscovered how fun botmatches can be and how they can help you practice. Played a couple hours of Godlike bots and then went on Lo Grav. I went... Godlike!! 27 kills in a row... that's what I said. It took a long time. These were no ordinary players. Jaffo, DVDA, Virus, and the mighty Ghostwalker. I'm used to Killing Sprees, maybe an occasional Rampage against players this good. It just sort of happened. It was on DM-Vault. I had the ax for only about half of it. It was like slow motion. Surreal. "Killing Spree!!". Five minutes and about fifteen battles later: "Rampage!!" Another eight minutes and some bloody noses and fast footwork: "Dominating!!" Grab the shield belt as the platform falls out from under my feet, in desperation fire the xloc up out of the pit before death... a telefrag!! Play cat and mouse around a huge pillar, manage to catch GW with 3 rockets going the wrong way. Frag... Wicked shock combo right to the face of DVDA as he tries to xloc around my location, frag, jump on the quick grain elevator to escape his "Unholy Power" (Vengeance Relic). Time to dance with the enemy: flak primary at close range in a tight corridor. Jump, fire, dodge, jump, fire, duck, backflip, line em up fire, dodge, almost out of ammo, fire, missed again, then he hits the wall, fire, hot flak skates along the wall... frag! Jump across the main trapdoor room, plasma alt blazing, catch enemy in mid air going the other way, turn QUICK, frag!! "Unstoppable!!" Five long, hard, tense frags later, and I had that magical "GODLIKE!!!" Comments? "What kind of drugs are you on?", "Are you using an aimbot?", "Damn, dude, did you get a new Athlon 1.5 or something?", "Hey nep, you been playing this night and day lately?". And then: "Congratulations", and "Great game nepper". Relax. The last two frags came as one of the greatest games I've ever played came to a close with me firmly on top. Afterwards I headed to The Factory Team DM and didn't get any Godlikes but pretty much had my way with some of the better players there for a while.

It was one of the most satisfying and least frustrating UT sessions I've had in the last 6 months. EVERYthing I saw in my mind WORKED on my screen. I had moves I've done in my dreams and maybe in a bot match but never really managed to pull off perfectly online. It is truly frightening how much fun this game is when the keyboard and mouse dissappear and you are THERE, using your own body, and reacting instantly, and staying alive by your wits and your experience and smarts. I wish everybody could feel what it's like to have played the perfect game.

RX-7 will be running by tomorrow afternoon. Infiniti is sitting there in the shop with a big empty spot where an engine might go. The Lakers may have won back to back championships, but Shaq is the world's worst poseur rapper. This family in Hutchens, Texas kept their 8 year old daughter locked in a closet all her life, raped her nightly with blunt objects, never fed her (she is 24 pounds at age 8), beat her, never sent her to school, and basically treated her worse than you'd treat your worst enemy; I say they throw the book at them. Lock them up for a LONG LONG LONG time. Question #1 of "Are You a Liberal?": "What is your personal income level? Is it: A. Too much!!, B. Not enough money, but any more would make me evil, C. Whatever the government lets me keep, D. Money is a tool of the capitalistic overclass which etcetera etcetera blah blah blah, or E. I have no income. I've rejected money and illegally inhabit a national park." Result: if you thought this was a humor page, you're not a liberal... if you had a hard time picking the best answer because they all are so true, you're probably a liberal. Heehee. Hey have you heard the stink over AI? Get this: my sister and her fiance are building a three story house! Seven bedrooms or something. OK I need to take out the fake "damping" I dialed in to my bike, it's a little TOO stable and it's quite hard to turn at medium speed!! I almost highsided at about 30 mph. Anyone got an adjustable wrench?