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Its Almost Time

Kickin Up Dust by Robert Walter’s Super Heavy Organ
[audio:http://ia310129.us.archive.org/2/items/rwsho2005-08-19.flac/rwsho2005-08-19d2/rwsho05-08-19d2t01_64kb.mp3]

I’m selling the ~$400 of stock I have tomorrow, so I can get that money by the time I’ll need it. That money should put me at almost exactly $2000 to spend on a bus, which should be plenty. I’m planning on picking up a early 90s bus with around 120k miles on it, somewhere between 36 and 40 feet long. In a perfect world, I would have bought this bus. But the timing wasn’t right, the price ended up higher than I wanted it to, and it was in Montana. A bus that fits my needs will come around, I just hope I don’t need to wait too long.

My dad was trying to persuade me to buy something smaller, so I could use it as a day-to-day vehicle. He encouraged me to look at box trucks, step vans (UPS-like vans), or even just fullsize vans. I get where he is coming from, but I really am looking for a dedicated roadtrip machine. I’ll still use it as a day-to-day vehicle, in spite of the impracticality of it, because it is so incredibly novel. Even though I have no intention of buying notabus, I took a look at what else eBay had to offer me.

I wasn’t too impressed by any of the vehicles my dad suggested to me, but I’m glad I looked around, because I found eBay Motor’s Emergency and Fire Trucks section. Yes, you can buy fire trucks. They’re actually quite reasonably priced. I am a happier person now that I know that I can buy a fire truck on a whim. But what is really interesting about this section is that I discovered ambulances. They’re perfect for live-in vehicles. I’m not talking about ambulances that are just significantly modified vans, but the ambulances that have a massive box for a back-section.

They are tall enough for me to stand in, they already have a bed, electrical setup, air conditioning, and they have access to the cab. They’re also decently cheap (<$5k for a decent one). I would love to buy one, but I figure at most six people could stay in one, and that would be tight as hell. I figure I’ll buy one after I’m done touring with lots of people. An ambulance is perfect for a solo trip, or a trip with four or fewer people. You don’t need a special license to drive them, and overall they seem to be pretty comfortable living. I’m watching this one. Again, not intention of buying, but I’m going to keep it in mind, for future plans.

MT vs WP

So I’ve been playing around on the server here the last day or so. If
any pages have been down or not working, that’s probably why. I was
playing around with MovableType, and then with WordPress MU. Neither
really did what I had wanted, so I’m back to plain old multiple
installs of WP.

I’m Legend

I’d like to draw special attention to this song, because it is a bus song. And its great.

Well Oiled Machine by Hot Buttered Rum
[audio:http://www.archive.org/download/HBRSB2005-02-05.flac16/HBRSB2005-02-05d01t08_64kb.mp3]

So I’m home for winter break, and saw I am Legend. It is “ok, alright.” It could have been much better. I think Will Smith proves himself as an actor, since for much of the movie, he is the only person we see. And the story is great, I would love to read the book. But the presentation and movie overall fall flat. I’d be curious to see deleted scenes when the DVD comes out. I would hope that since there was only one actor, they filmed as much as they could, and then whittled it down afterwards.
Which is why I blame the producers for this movie being subpar. I think they shot a lot of footage, and then chopped it down to an hour and a half. I think at two hours, the story could have been told better, and it would have been a great movie.
I’m willing to bet test audiences thought that version (or a longer version) was too long, and tedious. And its true that a longer movie wouldn’t appeal as broad as it does in its current form, but I think it would have been worth it. As it is, I am Legend is nothing remarkable, but I’m looking forward to the DVD.

I smell pretty

Rollin’ 99 by Blue Turtle Seduction
[audio:http://www.archive.org/download/bts2006-05-15.bts2006-05-15.flac16/bts2006-05-15.flac16/bts2006-05-15d1t05_64kb.mp3]

So I got a new stick of deodorant, because my old stick was running low. I just started using it today, and its funny. For a while, I thought one of the girls down the hall had a scented candle, or was wearing particularly strong perfume. But no, it was me.
I smell very pretty. I’m still not used to it. :-/

Whoops, its Late

Embarrassed by Prayer by Bombay Laughing Club
[audio:http://www.archive.org/download/pm004/06-Embarrased_By_Prayer.mp3]

Whoops, I went over my bandwidth. I had planned on downloading as much as I possibly could the day before I left, so I wouldn’t have to care about the restrictions over break. But I went over by 62 MB…oh well. Guess I’ll need to find something to do for the next few days, now that my internet is worthless.

Also, its around 4am, and there are still a lot of people up. I guess its because of finals. This really isn’t anything new for me, but most folks in our hall don’t see these hours. I’m just using the lack of morning classes as an excuse to stay up even later. No complaints here. That’s not true, I have one: I become much more creative at night, but I can rarely get my ideas out fast enough to save them. And that’s provided I’m even trying to save them. I might be lying down, thinking “that’s really cool…” and do absolutely nothing about it. But tonight, for example, I tried to write some of my musings about the suburbs down. I was lying down, and started thinking, and liked where it was going, but as soon as I got up to try and write it all down, I had lost the mindset. Not sure how I’ll ever remedy that.

Still Crunch Time…but…

Shakedown Street by The Grateful Dead
[audio:http://www.archive.org/download/gd87-03-30.nak.braverman.10922.sbeok.shnf/gd87-03-30d1t01_64kb.mp3]

So I’m right in the middle of crunch time, but I feel great. It is currently 0330ish, and I just finished a paper for my 0930 class, where I will have to take notes on what is going to be on the final. After that, I have to come back to my room and study for two tests I’ll be taking at 1400. Yesterday I was up until 0400 or so writing a paper for my Anthro class, before that I was working on Philosophy. And next week I have finals. But for some reason, none of that has phased me.

On Tuesday, after one philosophy class and before another, I was listening to a Grateful Dead concert (specifically, this one) and I started feeling really good. When I left to go to philosophy, I had Shakedown Street stuck in my head, and I guess that kept me feeling good. When I got back, I listened to some more good music, and I really haven’t stopped since. Maybe the music is to blame. Maybe I don’t care about school and haven’t noticed yet. Maybe I’m just happy. I don’t much care – I’ll take it.

The General

A long while ago on TCM or some similar classic movie channel I saw The General with Buster Keaton. It is an absolutely incredible movie, and I just found out it is in the public domain. So enjoy.

Crunch Time

I hate crunch time. Those last couple weeks of a semester where all that work that the teachers didn’t assign or you didn’t do come knockin. Plus, right after that come finals, which are always fun. I’m putting off a 4-6 page paper right now. I don’t have much incentive to do it, because once I finish that, I get to work on another for a different subject. Not much point to this post, since I’m going to end up doing all of those things and having no fun, but I just felt like complaining for a second. That’s why I tagged this post ‘blog’.