OK let's try this again. Damn Windows decided to lock fold its legs shut yesterday when I was entering my text, it was unrecoverable.

Why does that show Roswell rock so hard? Oh yah, Buffy is dead, btw.

Well, it was a fun weekend. I saw two nights of CosuardStockFest, one night of basketball at the bar and riding afterwards.

Little Grizzly played, Onepiece played, Legendary Crystal Chandelier played, half of Chomsky played, Fluoroscopic Kid played... LG was really good, really clean and energetic songs. Oncepiece (Jesse) sounded the strongest I've heard them be yet, LCC had magical sound which transformed that small bar with the small PA into a musical hall. Fluoroscopic Kid created soundscapes that evoked whole environments and paintings in my mind. Chomsky (Seansky) was impromptu but very entertaining and from where I sat with my earplugs sounded very tight (but loose, if that makes sense).

Second night, Frame-Set played, Proem (yay!) played, Pleasant Grove played, and of course the DeathRay Davies played. PG had some sound problems but "Mountain", "Solid System", and their requested cover of "Motor Away" were worth it. Proem actually stared at his screen this time. DeathRay Davies were pretty good until, get this, the neighbors of Mable Peabody's Hairstylist and Chainsaw Repair called the cops and complained about the loudness... so the owner came over and warned the band to "turn it down". After the second such warning, Bill the drummer decided he'd had enough, and I can't say I blame him. Things kind of wound down after that as DRD played a few songs with a skeleton crew, but it was basically over.

Anyways, lots of great music and for part of the time, not half-bad sound. I've decided that smokey bars and clubs will now be places to wear my ripped crappy jeans rather than my unripped semi-presentable jeans. The smell...

Sunday was two basketball games at Hooters (what else, best seat in the city). I got my tax refund direct deposited Friday so I actually ordered food, yay! You know, they actually have really really good food compared to like Applebee's or Chili's or that ilk. Anyways, good games, Sixers and Bucks advanced to the conference finals.

Afterwards, we went and messed around on the GS. Break-in is over, baby! I showed my friend how to launch the bike quickly and powershift. The GS is cool, but it has problems I feel need fixing, like the carburetion and the front suspension.

PuF went to a dedicated server, it's so freaking fast now, I could get spoiled.

I need a job again. Oh yah, Saturday morning was my last day of work. There are some things I'll miss from the job... driving around in somebody else's van (which, once I learned to utilize the transmission correctly and kick the brakes, really could deliver some at least satisfying performance around twisty roads), enjoying the sun, driving out in the country on winding roads, talking to interesting people, watching the Simpsons and reading on the clock, listening to CDs with the windows open, etc. Pity I couldn't go full time or something.

News, news. Firestone and Ford have "split up". Ford must now replace 13 million tires for free. Does anyone else think that's going to cost about a billion dollars? Anyways, Firestone guys come on and say that there's a design flaw in the Explorer!! Well, duh, it's way too tall, the suspension wallows like a hammock, the tire sidewalls are enormous, the tread patterns suck, the center of gravity is somewhere above the roofline of my car, there is zero feedback from the massively-over-powered steering, the brakes are mush, etc.

It's looking ever so likely that driving while operating a cellphone will be banned. Bravo, I say. You people don't know how to multitask and you're a menace to everyone else on the road when you don't pay attention (I know, I had to pull over many times when the dispatchers at work would call me while I was on the road) to what you're doing. Non-alcohol-related accidents aren't caused by excessive speed per se, IMO, they're caused by excessive speed for THAT vehicle (for instance, an Explorer or 15 passenger van) and inattentiveness along with poor REAL driving skills. Most people simply don't know how to drive when it comes to evasive maneuvers and such.

I found a usenet (Google) group for North Texas motorcycle owners.

You know what makes me sad? If you go on vacation for a week, and while you're gone a thief breaks into your house and while carrying your TV out hurts himself, you can be sued by that thief; you're liable.

It got down to 44� last night. I went riding on my barely functional bicycle and wished I had a helmet halfway through.

I got my grades. I got an A, a B and a B. One of the Bs was surprising (was expecting a C) and the other was a tad dissappointing (was hoping for an A).

So they're putting up these signs at intersections around D/FW now. They're "High Speed Police Chase in Progress" signs. They alert innocent drivers that some overweight police cruiser is likely to come barrelling through the intersection at 90 mph any second. Not only that, but by operating a switch in each car, an officer can cause the signs to light and also give him the right of way through all intersections with lights. I foresee abuse...

A Denton county man was fed up with the city not bothering to fill in the potholes he and other neighbors had complained about for months. So he decided to fill them himself. He did a fine job which everyone appreciated, now the city is suing him for it.

Imagine this line up next year on the Wizards: Shane Battier (#1 draft pick), Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and Chris Webber.

So I watched the Tom Brokaw thing on bikes, thought it was going to be about sportbikes, but they didn't even get one mention. Instead it was about all the RUBs (Rich Urban Bikers) with incomes over 80 grand in their late 40s to mid 50s buying 800 pound Hardleys as a "first bike" and dying. Sure, the bikes have no performance and can barely top 90 mph (my father's little 250 single can outperform most Hardleys), but 800 pounds and no riding experience and they corner like a milk truck... Hardleys have become the ultimate status symbol among lame wannabe-rebel men... in contrast to someone like, say, my Uncle, who has put over 250,000 miles on two wheels, has been riding since he was 10, makes several long trips a year, rides a superior Japanese cruiser, and knows exactly how to handle his machine. They had this guy on there talking about why he likes riding, and he mentioned the power (lol, on a Hardley Dyna Glide??) and the riding position (oh yah, like this really looks comfortable with the legs splayed way out in front, the arms hanging way up there, the whole body in the wind, and all the weight on the spine, eh?). It was kind of weird that they didn't even acknowledge that sportbikes exist, given the ability of some to accelerate from 60 mph to 150 mph faster than some Hardleys can accelerate from 60 mph to 80 mph.

Cycle Center of Denton is hiring...

E3 has happened, but without Daily Radar to bring it home, there wasn't much to see.

Damn it, I'm trying to find this thing I heard about a while back, something like "50 things you must do to save the Earth". It included really whacked things like "disconnect your electricity", "ditch your car", "grow your own vegetables", and "vote for maximum wage laws" (!!!) Somebody read it on the radio, it was hilarious, but I'm having trouble locating it now.

Okay, you think those sportbike clubs where 20 riders get together to ride are big? The guy who runs the 454 site recently participated in a parade/rally in Australia with, get this, 4200 other riders!! See it here and be sure and click on the third picture down.

Oh, and California? FUCK OFF!! Texas is not responsible for your problems, you war-ped feeble-minded lamers did it to yourselves, now fix it yourself! I refer to, among other things, the ad hominem anti-Texas rally organized by the CA governorship last week.

Did I mention I tried out UltraHLE? Yah, Mario64 runs nearly flawlessly at a good 35 fps at 1024X768 with full anti-aliasing. So does Zelda. The reason I'm not playing? I don't have the controller for it. An MS Sidewinder pad, as bad as it is for Superbike 2001, is even more miserable for Mario. But my oh my what sharp amazing, beautiful, vibrant graphics!!

Finally, a picture of Sapphire Nights (I think), finally revealed to PuF (I think). She's so great. Rides a motorcycle! Writes poetry! Has her own poetry website! Libertarian! Not a golddigger! Plays UT! Uses Harley-Quinn as her avatar! Doesn't smoke! Has purple hair yet is not some sort of dysfunctional ultra-liberal! Works in the IT field!

Next time, on kevynwight.diaryland:

�more stuff about my upcoming decisions and what I want out of life

�a beautiful 454 for sale in Dallas with under 4000 miles! (doh!)

�FZ1 pics

�a list of things I'm going to buy when I get some money

�a link to an interview with a CS cheater

�more on the Supreme Court decision and the insurance law

Stay tuned...