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It's been a bad couple of weeks for America. Last week we lost the 40th president, Ronald Reagan, and today we have lost a musical genius, one of the best piano players of the past 50 years, Ray Charles. He broke racial barriers and brought a new respect for blues music to a generation that normally would have overlooked it. It is truly a shame that he passed just as I had just begun to truly appreciate his work. I leave you with a quote from 'Brother Ray'. "Music's been around a long time, and there's going to be music long after Ray Charles is dead. I just want to make my mark, leave something musically good behind. If it's a big record, that's the frosting on the cake, but music's the main meal." written 6/10/04 at 11:46PM Eastern Time Today we have experienced the passing of a champion of the American dream, a representative of the greatest nation on the face of the earth, a faithful believer in the concept of democracy. Today we mourn the loss of former president Ronald Reagan. "When people tell me I became president on January 20, 1981, I feel I have to correct them. You don't become president of the United States. You are given temporary custody of an institution called the presidency, which belongs to our people." — Ronald Reagan Aug. 15, 1988 written 6/05/04 at 11:30PM Eastern Time Oh sob. Oh cry. Oh whine. ComCast has sucked the last cable technology oasis dry. TechTV as we have so affectionately know it is no more. We now have G4TechTV, a pathetic excuse of a technology channel. 99% of the programming involves video games, with only one of the previous gems, "The Screen Savers", remaining. Leo left TSS a while back, so even that is not even half as good (no offense to the rest of the crew, they have just as much in it as Leo did, but his wit and charisma added something not easily replaced). "Call for Help" and "TechLive" are gone now, so Leo's completely off the air now. If nothing can last forever, someone, please tell Star Trek. written 6/01/04 at 8:29PM Eastern Time I found this the other night. I think someone needs to go back to band class. 
Here's the screenshot... 
and here's the closeup. Isn't that a clarinet? written 5/23/04 at 4:31PM Eastern Time Why in the WORLD do West Virginians have to look so idiotic in every national news market. I know everyone has heard about this Iraqi abuse photo scandal, and most everyone knows that girl (Pfc. Lynndie England) giving the "thumbs up" in front of a naked prisoner is a West Virginian. CNN aired footage today of England's family responding to the accusations against Lynndie, and again these pitiful rednecks put another nail in the Appalachian stereotype coffin. England's mother said that her daughter did not pose in these pictures at her will, but was rather COMMANDED BY A HIGHER RANKING OFFICER!!! The girl was smiling. Anyone who saw that photo would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was her own action, not one imposed on her by someone else. This is nothing but a case of ignorant young adults looking for a good time and finding that good time in the abuse of another human being. England's sister went as far to say that Lynndie did not even do what the picture shows her doing. She insisted that England had been more or less framed by the picture, and was only smiling at her friend that was taking the picture. These people make my head hurt. written 5/08/04 at 2:50PM Eastern Time Wow, it's been a long time since I've written. I must be regressing to my old ways. Oh well. Hey, alots happened since we've last, er, talked. I've been to Busch Gardens with my jazz band, and I've been to Cleveland. I saw the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, definately cool, and bought some great CDs. I have new editions to the WbMztr Zack Essential Albums list, more on that later. Anyway, I thought I'd just share some pics with ya from my Cleveland trip. 
"Moby" and "Gwen" signs featured in the "South Side" video. 
"Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" sign outside. 
Sign detailing why Cleveland is the birthplace of Rock and Roll. (click to enlarge) 
Tribute guitars painted by artists. John Lennon "Imagine" guitar is in the middle. 
Oh, don't mind that. That's just the RIAA sucking the creativity of Rock. written 4/30/04 at 8:58PM Eastern Time Alright, there was this rumour going around back in the seventies that this up-and-coming band called Klaatu were really the Beatles in disguise. Granted, some of their music does sound like the Fab Four in the Magical Mystery Tour or Sgt. Pepper's era, but the songwriting (compared to the unstoppable Lennon/McCartney team) sucks. How in the world could someone say these guys were the Beatles? The vocals hardly ever even resemble any of the Beatle's voices. One would think the press would describe them as Beatles-inspired, but to say that Klaatu, however good they are, are actually the boys from Liverpool is downright blasphemy. The CD's alright, I'll give it that, not the worst I've ever heard, but it is nowhere near Sgt. Pepper's or Rubber Soul. written 3/28/04 at 2:23PM Eastern Time Aw man, WebMonkey's closing down. My electro-Alma Mater of web design has been dropped by Lycos. This website was by far the best resource for web design tutorials, even superior to my own HTML Tutorial. Rest in peace, dear WebMonkey. written 3/18/04 at 9:39PM Eastern Time Ugh. My hands all bandaged up and I have to practice tonight. Just my luck. Today at vocational school (I take drafting), I was leaning on some glass that covered our desk-embedded computer moniters (uber-ergonomic if my legs could fit under the desk), and my hand went through the glass. At first I didn't think I was cut, but then I saw what I thought was a little knick, but turned out to be more of a gash. I had glass in there too, which made it even more fun. I hate the sight of blood (even my own), but I hate to not know whats going on, so I was getting a little freaked out. It's all good now, though, except for the dizziness from blood loss. (lol.) It's always good to find humor in stuph. written 3/08/04 at 3:56PM Eastern Time YEAH!!! George Harrison is getting inducted into the Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame! "What?" you say? Aren't the Beatles already in there? Well, yes, but this year he's being recognized as a solo artist. I recommend the Concert for George DVD and his "All Things Must Pass" CD to understand more about Mr. Harrison. Prince, ZZ Top, and Bob Seger are also being inducted, but Georgie is by far the best of the 2004 inductees. written 3/02/04 at 9:55PM Eastern Time I am truly and utterly perplexed. My jazz band brought on a new guitarist for a performance coming up in April. He's pretty young, eighth grade (I think), he has a high-pitched voice, he's kind of a pansy, and he's an only child. Not that any of this would have mattered if he would've impressed me from the get-go with his musicianship, which he didn't, by the way. Anyway, what really disturbed me about this new-hire is that, when asked about what kind of music he listens to, his response was (and I quote) "Nothing, really." I almost fell out of my chair. "What?!? Nothing at ALL?!?" That's what I thought about saying, but, due to my dumbfoundment, my tounge was suddenly made out of concrete. All I managed was a frightened whimper. Once I had regained my composure I asked the inevitable, "What did you say? Nothing?" My fears were comfirmed. How can this be? How can you be a musician and not listen to music? How can you be a musician and not know the music of the Stones, Miles Davis, Carole King, James Brown, or any of the other aural gems that the knowlegable have been enjoying for ages. Is this where the future of music is heading? Are people who have no idea about music going to run the music business (I know, I know, you're gonna say "they already do", aren't you?)? Even those in the business who seem to have no idea about music have at least HEARD of Miles! It chills me to the bones to know that there are so-called musicians out there like high-pitch boy. written 2/19/03 at 7:13PM Eastern Time One movie I am excited about this year is Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ". With an R-rating for its brutal imagry (the process of Christ's crucifixion is filmed with undaunting detail), this film may not seem a likely candidate for a Christian backing. Contreversey has even been raised saying that the film is "anti-semitist" because it accuses the Jews of killing Jesus. These people are obviously not very knowlegable about Christianity, as the sacrifice of Jesus was absolutely essential in God's plan, and without the Jews initiation of Christ's death, there would be no Christianity. I believe this film can be compared to "The Greatest Story Ever Told". This will definately change the way some people feel about what they've taken for granted for years, Christ's great gift of salvation. written 2/10/04 at 7:52PM Eastern Time New albums to add to the WbMztr Zack Essential Albums list! The only reason they didn't appear on the list the first time around, is, well, I didn't own them then. The first on the list of new additions is Buffalo Springfield Again by Buffalo Springfield. Why do I like it? Just go buy it, you'll understand. I mean, come'on, it has the pre-Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young David Crosby and Neil Young. It's gotta be good! The second edition is My Aim is True by Elvis Costello. This was his first album, before the songwriting duo with Paul McCartney, and before he brought "the Attrations" in as his backing band. The music on this album is reminiscent of early Rock'n'Roll (think Buddy Holly). With music ranging from mellow ("Alison") to modern ("Angry") to just pseudo-soulful ("Welcome to the Working Week"), this is just a great album. The third and final new addition to the WbMztr Zack Essential Album List is Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan. This made tremendous waves in the music scene when Dylan released it, and is still quite revolutionary today. Bobby's unconventional songwriting style make one think while listening. Not something widely accomplished by today's musicians. Good stuph through and through. written 2/05/04 at 7:55PM Eastern Time Good news for those of us that still believe in freedom, part of the infamous, ever-blurry-lined Patriot Act was attacked by Congress this week. This action comes after the bill was allegedly used to convict a, get this, strip club owner who wanted local officials to make laws that kept patrons from touching dancers a little less strict. I wasn't aware that strip clubs could harbor a threat to national security. (Not that I'm advocating the patronage of strip clubs, of course. I'm a democrat, but I'm not liberal by any means. Ah, the southern enigma.) The Bush administration apparently shares my view about strip clubs, as Ashcroft is now saying that "W" will veto anything Congress gives him that has to do with the scaling back of the Patriot Act. The Bush administration doesn't share my views about the rights of citizens, which have been constantly infringed by the Patriot Act. In my eyes, this act that was originally made to protect us from "evil" is now being used to give the powers-that-be the right to do anything to anyone they want. This country is becoming less democratic and free every day. It's sad. written 1/29/04 at 10:36PM Eastern Time Just thought of something:
Twins seperated at birth? You be the judge. written 1/24/04 at 1:17AM Eastern Time I have something against "greatest hits" collections. Though they do often serve as introductions to an artist's works (I have discovered many artists this way), these compilations will often overshadow the artist's other works in the eyes of the young uninformed public. This has been the case in my generation. Probably the best example is the Beatles "1" CD. This CD contains some of their greatest songs, but now the Beatles are pigeon-holed to those songs by people my age who haven't heard of Abbey Road or Rubber Soul. This "revelation", if you will, came to me today as I was having a discussion about the recent Rolling Stone "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. When I told the individual that I was talking to that the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ranked first, this individual gave me the most baffled look I have ever recieved and asked me how Rolling Stone could put the Beatles over Elvis. I went on to explain that this was a list of greatest albums, and asked him to name one great album that Elvis made. He was unable to produce an answer, but suggested that a greatest hits compilation would suffice. This was my eureka moment. I liken "greatest hits" compilations to taking an author's best chapters from their best-selling books and stuffing all those chapters into one book. Obviously a story line would not be created, but one would definately get the premise of the author's style. The same applies to compilations. More than likely, though, if you only read a chapter of a book and enjoy it, you would go out and buy the book and read the entire thing. Alot of times with music, however, this is not the case. Listeners will enjoy the artist's greatest hits, but will not persue their work further. This is why people need to be introduced to albums, not songs. written 01/08/04 at 9:51PM Eastern Time First post of '04, WOO HOO! I suppose the old adage is true, "You don't miss the water till the well runs dry." I have often taken my computer's sound for granted, and now when it doesn't work (I have no idea why it doesn't I've been working on it for hours), I suddenly realized how much I like it. GRRR!!!! I can't stand it!!!! Anyway, how good was Santa to ya? He did me pretty well. I got a wireless keyboard and a wireless (optical) mouse (YAY!), as well as some neon undercarriage lights for my car, a cold air intake, and some ca$h, among other things. School's out on break, so I've been livin' like it's summer. I stay up till about four, sleep till 2, lather, rinse, repeat. Break's almost over though (sigh). Oh, I almost forgot, the blog is comin' up on its one year anniversary here on 20m. We'll have to do some fancy shmancy color scheme change for that. Oh yeah, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! written 01/02/04 at 3:33AM Eastern Time In honor of the movie High Fidelity I have decided to do a top five list of essential albums for pop/rock music fans. All five albums get the WbMztr Zack stamp of approval, and should be grabbed frantically upon your next visit to your local record store. Please don't download the albums from an illegal source or steal them. If you want to stoop this low, you don't deserve these albums. written 12/19/03 at 4:35PM Eastern Time I'm really gettting tired of these reality shows, but MTV's latest, "Rich Girls", really takes the proverbial cake. The daughter of Tommy Hilfiger, Ally Hilfiger, and the heiress to a luggage fortune, Jaime Gleicher, have been given a show to support their meager (note the sarcasm here) incomes. Now rich people will have an outlet to express the hardships of having too much money. I just can't feeling sorry for them (sarcasm ends here). I hate the show. If anyone has ever wondered why rich people have the stigma they do, they need to watch "Rich Girls". The biggest problem they encounter in the course of a day is whether to have the salmon or the shrimp. Oh, what I really love is when they try to cover up the fact that they are heartless, bimbo-zombies by pretending to care about the "poor". On last episode I watched (it will always be the "last episode I watched", I have better things to do with my time), the girls went out to some ritzy restuarant and when the waiter came to take away their half-eaten orderve of oysters they suggested that they left-overs be donated to the poor. What idiots. The dumbfounded waiter replies that he'll "try to find them a home". How do stupid people get to be so wealthy? Oh yeah, that's right, they are BORN INTO IT! That's the thing I like about famous musicians, hardly any of them came from wealthy families. Musicians have to work for their bling (unless of course they are given recording contracts through a reality show, yeah, Clay Aiken, I'm talkin' to you). There's got to be more satisfaction in earning your millions by playing nightclubs and paying your dues than earning your millions by being born (Paris, I'm thinkin' of you). written 12/04/03 at 4:51PM Eastern Time Happy Black Friday! I hope none of you get mauled by old ladies over that new "Hokey-Pokey Elmo". I'm goin' to Circuit City, all CDs are $9.99. Oh yeah, baby, I love the Christmas season. Oh, in case you were wondering, I chucked the WbMztr Photo idea. This site was designed to be a low-bandwidth site, a site that would load quickly. Eventually, with the photo gallery, I would run out of space on my server. They don't call this service "20m" for nothin. 20 megs don't get ya too much these days. In addition to the storage concerns, the pics were throwin' off my site design. Yes, I know, I'm picky. written 11/28/03 at 12:00PM Eastern Time Proof that we are in the end-times: Cash, Credit, or Chip Implant? I saw this story on The Screen Savers and decided to check out the website the story was from. A pretty reliable source, CNet's News.com says that people can now get implants in their arms and use these implants in place of credit cards. This, as any well-studied Christian would know, could be the beginning of the prophesied "Mark of the Beast", and the end of currency. This, according to the book of Revelation (the last book in the Bible written by the last living original disciple, John), is a part of "Tribulation", which will usher in the Apocalypse, or the end of the world. I am no theologian, but I believe that this is indeed another sign of the end-times. Let's hope this technology doesn't catch on very fast. written 11/25/03 at 11:55PM Eastern Time As many of you have heard, there was massive flooding here in West Virginia. Students have had to stay overnight in their schools (my school district containing one of those schools) and many families have lost everything. It's quite sad. I am extremely upset with the school boards, though. The administration knew how bad the flooding would get, (after all, it just flooded the week before) and yet these money-hungry capitalists kept school children, ranging from kindergardeners to seniors in high school, in their schools overnight. Had they released them two hours earlier, everyone would have made it home. As said before, it's quite sad. I live in the home of the idiots. I believe the school superintedent should be thrown out of office. He has no regard for the safety of the students under his control, he instead worries about what he can do to fill his pocketbook. I am severly dissappointed in this man that was appointed to fight for the students BEST INTRESTS! I do not believe that keeping students in school while the baseball field behind the school is flooding is in the students best intrests. This is exactly why we West Virginians have the stigma of being idiot country people who chew tobacco and date our cousins. Thank you Mr. Superintendent, thank you. written 11/20/03 at 10:19PM Eastern Time Notice anything different about the homepage? That's right, pictures! I decided that instead of having some crappy little paragraph about me I should show off some of my artwork. (Yes, I made that.) I got this idea from the famous techno producer Moby, who has drawings and stuff up on his blog. And hey, if you like rants and raves, his blog is a goldmine. Oh, his albums ain't too bad either. "18", his latest, is great chillin' music. I also enjoyed "Play", which featured the song "South Side", the duet with Gwen Stefani. Both albums are essentials for any music lover. written 11/14/03 at 11:34PM Eastern Time Well, this is boring. Half, yes half, of the power is out here at school and I'm stuck in the bandroom. There's nothing to do. I'd rather go to class. Well, we just got the announcement to go to first block, so, bye. written 11/05/03 at 8:30AM Eastern Time Hey, guess where I am. In a Holiday Inn in Huntington, WV! The room came with a computer and a LAN to connect to the internet. This is cool. I hope more hotels begin to do this. However, there is the ever-present threat of privacy invasion. I mean, the person who was here before didn't log off of their AIM account (yes, computer has AIM on it) and I could see his or her entire buddy list, and if I wanted to, I could have changed her buddy icon, profile, anything. Being the good Samaritan that I am, however, I simply logged this person out of their AIM session. I'm sure if someone looked hard enough, however, much could be revealed about this rooms previous tennants. Checking the history, it seems that someone who stayed here likes wrestling. There are WWE pages, Goldberg pages, and paged dedicated to the Rock all in the history. It's amazing what you can find out about someone by seeing what they've been up to on the internet. written 11/01/03 at 1:00AM Eastern Time WHEW!!! Today I am a happy man. Apple I-Tunes, the foremost legitamate music downloading service has been released for the PC! I've tried using other legit service like BuyMusic.com, but found them too constrictive. The great thing about I-Tunes is that you don't even need a browser to order, it's a self-contained service. As we speak I am downloading the next wave of music distribution. HOORAY!!! (I took a screen shot of the Apple website to document this day in musical history.) 
written 10/16/03 at 7:21PM Eastern Time Under most circumstances, I support file sharing. The RIAA is evil folks. Though file sharing is copyright infringement, the Recording Industry Association of America has no right to take 12-year-old girls and 81-year-old college professors to court over something as miniscule as the new Brittany Spears single (though I doubt that the 81-year-old man was downloading that). However, something that I heard at school the other day makes me question the ethics behind file sharing. I overheard a guy talking about how he was going to buy the AC/DC album Back in Black, but upon reading the back he decided against it, having downloaded almost all of the songs anyway. It is this kind of file sharer that needs to get their pants sued off. File sharing is destroying the art of the album. I'm positive that Angus and the gang didn't intend for their songs to be chopped apart and listened to in alphabetical order. Artists struggle for countless hours (real artists anyway) deciding which songs will fit best in their work, and they even obsess over the order the songs go in. I mean, c'mon, would the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band have been the same if they had changed the order of the songs? Absolutely not. A day in the Life was meant to go last, just as With a Little Help from my Friends was meant to go second, just as the reprise to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band was meant to go second to last. Chopping an album apart is just like changing the words to a song. You just don't get the full message. In addition to that, an album isn't just twelve songs on a disc. The artwork, liner notes, packaging, and even the disc itself is part of the whole experience. Would the Let it Be album have been the same minus the four mugshots of the Beatles on the front? Absolutely not! (In case you are wondering, I am using the Beatles as an example because they have created some of the undisputably great albums of all time.) Kids, I know that it is easier to dowload all the musical goodies from Kazaa, I've done it myself. But when our downloading gets in the way of an artist's vision, it is our duty as music-lovers to drop the $15 and buy it the way they had intended. Obviously, this does not apply to any of the N'SYNC of Brittany Spears bubblegum catastropies, so go willy-nilly at these. They're all rich anyway. Of course, the music is crap, but, you know, some people are in to that sort of thing. Peace. written 9/24/03 at 6:23PM Eastern Time Here we are. Two years later. Two years since America's loss of innocence. Two years since the horrendous acts of terrorism that rocked all of our worlds. You know what makes me mad? At school today a moment of silence was the only commemorative effort that was made? Have we forgotten what happened two years ago? Two years ago we worried ourselves to sleep, and questioned everything about our lives. A moment of silence alone will not suffice. Oh ye wicked generation. written 9/11/03 at 11:00PM Eastern Time Time for site maintenance. Call it "late summer cleaning". I put more posts in the archive, and added a questbook. I'm sure you are all thrilled. Oh yeah, I got my drivers liscence Monday. written 8/17/03 at 2:25PM Eastern Time I hate spam (notice "spam" is not capitalized, which means I am not referring to the food product). It clutters my inbox, wastes my time, and causes legitamate messages to get bumped. ARRRGH! What's even worse is that today i got spam on my ANSWERING MACHINE!!! This telemarketer, upon hearing the beep I assume, launched a message that sounded just like a spam message one would recieve in an email. "Honey, here's the number for that weight loss pill we saw on TV. I just stepped off the scales and I've lost 20 pounds!" Wow, that could get some guys into trouble with the hunnies. I really need to get on that do-not-call list. written 8/04/03 at 3:25PM Eastern Time Hip-hop gets a bum, er, rap. Just like rock 'n' roll took heat from conservatives back in the '50s, hip-hop and rap are now the main target of conservatives. However, I believe the stigma hip-hop and rap has recieved is unfairly placed. For example, I will refer to the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas. Their latest single, "Where is the Love" is more or less a Beatles-esque message clothed in super drums, phat samples, funky strings, and thick basslines. How harmful is a message about peace and love? written 7/22/03 at 11:15PM Eastern Time Ever been to a NOPI car show? For those of you that are not up on the sport compact car scene, NOPI is an organization that hosts cars shows and drag events that any regular Joe can enter. I went to the one in Bristol last weekend, and it was awesome. Bikini contests, DJ sets, burnout contests, tricked out cars, bikini contests, free posters, bikini contests, booth girls, bikini contests, man it was awesome! Did I mention the bikini contests? Oh, man, nothings cuter that a hot car chick in a tanktop, without a boyfriend, at a drag strip. Ohhhh yeah.... written 7/20/03 at 11:34PM Eastern Time Now, I usually wouldn't put typical teenager "look at this list of funny things I found" crap on my page, but this particular piece of "look at this list of funny things I found" crap is an extremely funny "look at this list of funny things I found" piece of crap. Okay, here goes: Real Excuses for Missing School (with their original spellings) - My son is under a doctor's care and should not take P.E. today. Please execute him. - Please excuse Lisa for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot. - Dear School: Please excuse John being absent on Jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and also 33. - Please excuse Gloria from Jim today. She is administrating. - Please excuse Roland from P.E. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip - John has been absent because he had two teeth taken out of his face. - Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt in the growing part. - Megan could not come to school today becasue she has been bothered by very close veins. - Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side. - Please excuse Ray Friday from school. He has very loose vowels. - Please excuse Jimmy for being. It was his father's fault. - Please excuse Jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgot to get the Sunday paper off the porch, and when we found it Monday, we thought it was Sunday. - Sally won't be in school a week from Friday. We have to attend her funeral. - My daughter was absent yesterday becasue she was tired. She spent a weekend with the Marines. - Please excuse Jason from being absent yesterday. He had a cold and could not breed well. - Please excuse little Jimmy for not being in school yesterday. His father is gone and I could not het him ready because I was in bed with the doctor. This list appeared in my local newspaper back in May, and I have been meaning to put it up for some time. Peace and love! written 7/10/03 at 3:10AM Eastern Time Gay marriage is wrong people. It is an abomination against God to be gay. Period. America is on a non-stop bullet train to eminent destruction. Think about it. Was it just coincedence that it takes a MAN AND A WOMAN to make a child. Seregate mothers were not in the plan people. I can't believe the immortality of American society. written 7/01/03 at 2:00AM Eastern Time This victory was long overdue. For 12 years it has evaded me. It has tormented me day and night. Countless hours have been spent just trying to capture a miniscule portion of victory. Now, my day has come. I have beaten Super Mario Bros. for the NES! I have tried to beat that thing since I got it when I was three. Yes! written 6/30/03 at 2:16AM Eastern Time Being out of school is really really great. However, some things do get kind of weird over the summer. One such thing is, I always forget what the date is. Another thing is, I GET TO SLEEP! No all-nighters doing science homework. The only all-nighters pulled now are ones in front of a TV watching Tom Green, eating Sourcream-and-Onion chips and drinking Diet Pepsi. Ah, the good life. Ah, summer. You know what will be bad about going to school next year? Alot of my friends will be gone. I hang out with alot of people at least one year ahead of me. Well, I do have friends that are in my grade. I don't know, I guess its where I've always been the older sibling, and I kind of want to be the "little brother" someone never had. Self-psycho-analysis is fun. written 6/27/03 at 3:31AM Eastern Time Hey there! Here in the Eastern Time Zone its Friday the thirtheenth. Ooooh. I'm not really that superstitious. I walk under ladders, break mirrors frequently, and make conscious efforts to cross black cats. And look, nothing has happened to me yet. I can't keep a girlfriend, I end up with the worst teachers in school, and it seems my tongue is always tied at the worst possible time. Nope, no bad luck here! Okay, so I'm in denial. Big deal. written 6/13/03 at 2:38PM Eastern Time LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! WOOHOO! Summertime! YEAH! It actually should have been out on the 30th of May, but the snow days extended the year. Oh, well, SCHOOL'S OUT!!! written 6/06/03 at 8:06AM Eastern Time I'm watching "American Juniors". Apparently network execs will do anything for ratings, including damaging the psyches of preteens. Sad. I have a personal problem with this show as well. With the adult version, I can laugh at the misfortune of musically declined folks. I can't do this with "Juniors". I feel guilty. I want to make fun of them. I want to make fun of them so much I forget who I am making fun of, but I can't. That sucks. Stupid conscience. Stupid morals. No, I like my conscience and morals, I just wish I didn't feel so stinkin' guilty. written 6/03/03 at 9:15PM Eastern Time I'm watching Court TV right now, I'm watching the trial of a Sissonville, WV teenager who is suing her school system for not letting her start an "anarchy club". Okay, here's the contradiction. An anarchy is a group of people going against organized rule, often any organized rule. What is a club? It is an organized group of people. Clubs usually have "rulers", as in club presidents, secretaries, vice-presidents, and treasurers. Contradiction anyone? She wants a club against administration so she wants to start an administration. Huh? written 5/23/03 at 5:01PM Eastern Time Whew! I just saw the Matrix for the first time. I don't mean the sequel, I mean the original. That movie is cool. Extremely cool. It doesn't have to be back to Blockbuster 'til next Sunday, so I think I'll watch it oh, seventy more times. Well, I'll talk to you later. Hey, watch out for Agent Smith... written 5/18/03 at 3:48PM Eastern Time Man, it was raining hard a second ago. I guess we're getting some of the harsh weather others have been plagued with. So what has happened in the past month for me? Well, I played in the All County Concert Thursday, got a B in my computer class (I'm still wondering how that happened.), created a plot for world domination, etc. I actually haven't had time to do that much aside from school work. School sucks. It's getting toward the end of the year, and the teachers are shoving crap loads of work down our windpipes. You know, that would be unpleasant, having crap shoved down your windpipes. Oh, have you heard of "Longhorn"? "Longhorn" is Microsoft's next big OS, which includes Digital Rights Management. What is Digital Rights Management you ask? DRM is the thing that gives Big Brother Microsoft the ability to prevent, restrict, or possibly delete unlawfully obtained media from your PC. This may even apply to legally obtained media such as songs from CD we, the consumers, have bought. My prediction, this will be the downfall of Microsoft, leading to Apple's mainstream popularity, and Linx being accepted by a wider audience. Why does society keep taking steps to become the George Orwell novel of "1984"? When will the "Fahrenheit 451" book banishment begin? Both books are essential reads for anyone wanting to see where the human race is going. written 5/10/03 at 4:07PM Eastern Time What? where did the links go? Aghhhh!!! Actually, I retired the posts from February, March, and April to the Archives. So if you're getting in an old-skool mood, you can just click on the Archives link for your one stop shop of rants and raves. I just got done cutting the grass. That's boring work. I'm tired. written 4/19/03 at 7:48PM Eastern Time IRAQI LIBERATION!!! In case you've been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, there is dancing in the streets of Baghdad. Sadam's dictatorship is crumbling and the Iraqi people have rebeled. Since a picture says a thousand words... 
Reuters And these are the people who said they would die for Sadam? If this is loyalty, I'd rather have my people hate me. written 4/09/03 at 9:54PM Eastern Time No April fools joke, Jessica Lynch is safe! She's the West Virginian POW captured by Iraqi forces in March. She is a 19-year-old from Palestine West Virginia (no realtion to the ant-Israel country found in the Middle East.) Whoa. written 4/01/03 at 8:28PM Eastern Time Hey there neighbor. So much has happened since I last talked to you. We're at war now. The United States has launched its air and ground war against Iraq. I used to be against this action before we declared war, and though I am still not for killing innocent human beings, I feel it is my duty as an American to back my country in its actions. Oh, have you heard about the Dixie Chicks? How one statement caused people to burn or smash their CDs? You probably know my feelings on this. It is wrong. They have the freedom as Americans to agree or disagree with anything they choose. Anyone who wants to censor their views should not call themselves Americans. By being against someone who exposes their views on any subject, you are not fully in tune with what our nation is based upon. Well, enough of that. Oh, I got a perfect score (400) on my Social Studies report. I found out sometime around Thursday. I haven't even told my mom. My church is in revival this week. For those of you unfamiliar, a revival is a week or longer with church services every night. I think I'm going to tape a service and post it here in MP3 format. The preaching is grade A. The guys name is Audie Murphy, a black dude. The man has an anointing. Well, I gotta go. written 3/22/00 at 6:14PM Eastern Time Hello there cool people! What's been hapnin in your life? Personally, I rediscovered my love of the Beatles. Yes John, Paul, George, and Ringo have a revamped admiration in my eyes. It all started when I downloaded "Strawberry Fields". My jaw dropped. John and Paul's songwriting skills are still unsurpassed. Oh, and we cannot leave out Mr. Harrison. I mean, "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Something", who but the Rickenbacker-toting mop top could pen such works? I have yet to buy the White Album, but that will definately be my next CD purchase. Either that or Rubber Soul. Who cares, they are both works of art. I'm thinking of starting a tape label myself. For those of you who don't know, a tape label is a lo-fi version of a record label. The indie rock scene is the one that leans toward tape labels, but I think mine will contain some electronic music. Since there are no true musicians in my area (besides myself, of course) I think I will have a hard time signing artists. I'll probably be my only client. The sale of the albums will not be a problem, however. Kids in these parts LOVE music. It has something to do with out cultural upbringing. Then again, music is a huge part of every culture. written 3/10/03 at 8:22PM Eastern Time Young people my age do not really understand music as I do. They go for the looks or the lifestyle of the artist,and do not focus on the artist's musical achievements. Such a case is with Elton John. Kids snub his musical achievements just because he is gay. I in no way condone the gay lifestyle. In my opinion it is an abomination against God Almighty. But when artist that deserve credit for what they do don't get that credit because they are gay, I am totally against this. This is censorship, but it is censorship initiated in the first person perspective. You cannnot pidgeon-hole yourself. You miss so much when you do that.I just thought I'd share that. written 3/01/03 at 3:11PM Eastern Time For some reason I just can't update my blogs more often. What is up with that? Anyway, I was sitting here in computer class and decided it was time to update. I've got an A in all my classes. (I'm sure you all care.) I'm listening to the Beach Boys right now. I got a new piano teacher. Life is exciting. Really. Okay, that was sarcasm. written 2/21/03 at 9:44AM Eastern Time I apologize for the short post that was added earlier today. As I said, it was written during 1st block and I had ten people breathing down my neck. I did get a new piano teacher. This guy is more jazz oriented, and that's what I need right now. I've outgrown normal piano lessons. I've gone through 3 piano teachers already. One moved, one was just plain evil, and one was just plain goofy. Mac seems like the best piano teacher for me. The guy is a great organist and a great pianist. Well I gotta go. Peace out. written 2/21/03 at 6:23PM Eastern Time A new day, a new blog. As my faithful readers would know, I have had a blog for some time now. The problem was, it hardly ever got updated. Now with this new location I'll be able to update with less hassle. The new semester has started, and life is good. I no longer have to put up with an evil, bloodsucking math teacher, and I no longer have to put up with a trippin' French teacher. Ah, the beauty of it all. For once, I can have an evening with NO HOMEWORK!!! This past week has been especially good. The snow is really comin down here in West Virginia, and we've had two snow days this week. Free time has been in abundance. Lots of other things have been happening as well. I am writing this on a new computer with Windows XP. That was the big Chritmas present of the year. No laptop for me now! I do not have any desire for one! I trashed the idea of the ROM site. It wasn't practical, too high maintenance. Sorry for all you Nintendo freaks (my peeps) out there. written 1/18/03 at 4:54PM Eastern Time Are you seeing a pattern? I only have time to write in this thing once a month. Sucks, donut? I just got finished with my latest site, the Ashford Tourism Guide, an extended version of a school project I did. check it out at ashfordtourism.20m.com. Nice site, if I do say so myself. The other day, I revisited an old site I made about two or three months ago, mysteriouspenguin.20m.com. I took screenshots of different websites and altered them to my evil whims. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Whims!!!!!! Sheer genius. I never did finish that ROM site, simply because I CAN'T FIND ANY SNES ROMS!!!!!!!!!! Help me, please. Send me some SNES roms. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I downloaded this awesome program called "CoffeCup Firestarter". This is a knock-off of Macromedia Flash (I got Firestarter because I didn't have the $500 to get Flash. I've got the free version of Firestarter (it puts a watermark on your animations), but it's only $50 bucks to register (no watermark). I don't mind the mark, because it's only a little link at the bottom of the animation. I used this program on my new site, and may be using it on the old standards, like The HTML Tutorial or My Homepage. I'm looking at getting a laptop to take my web design and/or music recording with me on the go, and so I can write to you more than once a month. I'm thinkin' (since I'm a old-schooler and I'm low on cash) about gettin a 486 with Windows 3.1. To add the crap that I can't get on the Windows 3.1, I'll do it on the desktop here, and put it on with a floppy. I'm a man with a plan. Later. written 10/17/02 at 3:14PM Eastern Time It's been almost a month since l last wrote in this humble blog, but nothing has changed. School still sucks, and math is still hard. Teachers are still dumb, and homework is still long. Life is mundane until June. I guess I'd better settle in, its gonna be a bumpy ride. School is also one of the reasons I haven't wrote to you in a month. I haven't had time to get on the net in two weeks. I HATE SCHOOL!!! Peace out. written 9/22/02 at 12:34PM Eastern Time Alas my blog readers, I have started back to the horrible punishment henceforth refered to as... school. Yeah, I know it sucks. I'm not a freshman now, thank you Lord. I got a computer class starting in January, which will be cool. Unfortunatley, its a beginners computer class, so I'll have to sit through some boring lectures about what a hard drive is. Also, I'll have to sit through a half-hour explanation of how to double click on an icon. Man, if you don't know this crap already, just leave. Go live under a rock somewhere in the Sehera desert. You'd be better off. GET WITH THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY!!! I'm still workin on my ROM site, and its just about done. If any of my faithful readers out there have any SNES roms, not emulators, ROMs, mail them to me at pray37@hotmail.com. Thanks guys. Talk to ya at a later date. PEACE! written 8/31/02 at 9:15AM Eastern Time Hey, It's been a month but I'm back! (Yeah!) Since I last updated my blog I have started band camp (ugh) and went to Myrtle Beach (YAY!). The school got a new sound system, a new toy for me (he he.). I have completely recovered from my surgery. I have been eating solid foods for about three weeks and a half now. I'm glad that's done. School starts next monday. Where has summer gone? Now its back to the old grind. Oh, I bought a new CD the other day. Its the new one by James Taylor, "October Road". Great CD. I got a sunroof, spoiler, muffler, and tailpipe put on my baby. No, not my girlfriend. My car. I'm workin on a video game site now. This one will take a while. I'll let you know when it's up. Peace. written 8/20/02 at 9:38PM Eastern Time Whew! What a day! I put a new interface up on my website, tweaked Genna's website, ate pudding, and went to Bible School. Whew! Oh well, I guess there is no rest for the weary. My teeth are feeling better. I think I'll be able to eat solid foods in a couple of days. I'm a fast healer. Band camp starts in two days. Ugh. Oh, did I say ugh? I meant ARRRRRGGGGGHHHH! No where else but in band camp can you stand in the blazing sun for eight hours, while being bitten by mosquitos with a blood lust, losing all the water you have ever accumulated in your body, being fed crappy stuff they call "food", and blowing your lungs out through an exaggerated straw. And, if you're as lucky as me you can lug around heavy objects, do oddjobs WITHOUT BEING PAID A DIME, and still be expected to know your music frontwards, backwards, upside down, inside out, in a nuculear wasteland, in an Antartic winter, while polar bears are nipping at your toenails. Don't believe the movies! Band camp SUCKS! Oh yea, Genna started computer camp this week. I remember when I went to computer camp those three long years ago. What's really great is that this year I've finally got a mole inside the Junior High's iron fortress to do my evil bidding!!! Muhahahahahahahahaha! Just kidding. But, let it be known throughout the land, HIGH SCHOOL RULES! written 7/29/02 at 11:14PM Eastern Time Wew! I just finished todays work on Gennas site. It's looking good. I think it looks better than my personal website. I gotta work on mine. I didn't get to go to church today, I'm still on the mend from the wisdom teeth thing. Gosh that whole thing sucked. It was painful. Oh well, it had to be done sooner or later. Well I gotta go take a shower. Peace out yo. written 7/28/02 at 3:16PM Eastern Time
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