I met Necrophagist!

OMG I'm so excited! Last night we saw the Summer Slaughter tour, which ruled. All the bands were amazing to see, except Ion Dissonance.

After the show, we went around the back of the Hawthorne Theatre. Quite a few metal heads, roadies, etc were wandering around. I really wanted to meet Necrophagist. So we meandered around the tour buses until I found a spot in front of their bus. A guy was standing there waiting as well, he says to us, "Yeah they are right there in the bus, see?" and he pointed to a small slit in the curtain where you could barely make out a guy's figure there. They started to come out of the bus and I immediately moved toward them. I got to meet all 3 of the main players in the band, especially and most awesome, meeting Mohammed the lead singer/guitarist. We asked him about his new guitar, the zyphos, we talked about how they will have a new album next year, as well as a new summer slaughter tour. We told him to use the Roseland next time, he said he would try to change venues, it will bigger next year anyway. It was so great to meet them, shake their hands, and tell them how amazing their music is. I was so excited and couldn't contain it. In fact, we were so excited we forgot to ask them so many questions we've had the last couple years while we've been obsessing over their music. But we did let them know its the second time we've seen them and that we drove 5 hours just because they were the head liners. THEN! I got my picture with him!! Woo hoo! In addition to that, they invited us to go to the bar with them. We were so tired and it was late, we had driven 5 hours and then stood in a concert hall at 90 degrees for 7 more hours. Sitting in bar sounded like crap to me. I would have loved to spend more time with Mohammed and ask him more questions, but I am not afraid to wait until next summer to talk to them again. They were totally approachable and completely open to answering any questions we had. Just amazing guys to meet and talk to. This has been one of the greatest experiences in my life. Thank you, Necrophagist, for being THE most BRUTAL band out there!

The strangest thing

Today I came to work. I got 3 messages in my voicemail inbox. One of them was from a woman in Ashland. She was asking about "the Ethernet". I called her back to explain that ethernet is a system for cabling in networks. We started having a conversation about what the difference between the internet and ethernet was. She said she was glad I could clear it up for her. I asked why this topic had come up and she said a boy on the internet was talking to her in a chat room, I assume, about this subject. I thought this very odd. She then asked if she could ask me another question. I said didn't mind. So she explained one of the most bizarre things I've ever heard. She asked me if there is a way to broadcast yourself on the internet. I said I knew of some way for outgoing broadcasting, things like radio stations, etc. She asked, "Can someone direct that signal toward someone else?" I said I didn't know. This woman hears voices all around her 24/7, in her home, in her car, in the super market. She swears that she's not crazy. She had her ears checked last fall and doesn't have any hearing problems. I asked her about her cable modem set up, whether she has a router. I explained that routers are on specific frequencies which match those of cordless phones, microwaves, etc. She said she had a wireless router. I thought this could be the culprit. But then she added that she can hear these voices in the car, as well. I'm thinking, wow, this woman sure is crazy. I told her to try to contact her phone company, Qwest, and see if they knew of a electronics diagnostic test she could have of her home. There must be someone around here that can check it out and see if maybe there are some rogue signals somehow berrating her with voices. She said she was glad I listened to her so long. WOW!! What a crazy phone call! A day in the life of the Computer Science office manager, lol!

My Celebrity Look-a-likes

Unbelievable High School decision over commencement ceremony

I am LIVID over this. A high school is refusing to give 5 students their diplomas because their families CHEERED FOR THEM at their Commencement ceremony!!!!!! WTF!!! This is so ridiculous! If you think this is as stupid as me, please email their principal and tell him what an idiot he is. Here's his email address: tchiles@galesburg205.org

Here's what I said to him:

"This is outrageous. You cannot deny diplomas from students over something this trivial. In addition, YOU CANNOT expect them to do community service when it was their families who did the dirty work to get them in trouble. This is unbelievable. If you want a quiet audience, you better televise your ceremony next year. Why don't you TURN UP THE VOLUME on the PA system?! OMG, this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life. You cannot ruin their high school experience doing something like this to them. This makes your school look incredibly bad. Your all over the news, I can't even believe that I'm seeing something like this. People died in their schools this year, and you care about something like this? Are you crazy? People like you shouldn't be administrators. All you do is make children's memories terrible for the rest of their lives.
Can you believe one of YOUR students said, ""You walk across the stage and then you can't get your diploma because of other people cheering for you. It was devastating, actually."
UNBELIEVABLE! This will go down in history as the STUPIDEST decision EVER MADE by a high school. Give them their diplomas. If you have any ounce of compassion in your body you will give them their diplomas that they rightfully earned through hard work and academia, NOT A GRADUATION CEREMONY!!!"

The Magic Flute

Here's our first entrance where we don't even sing. This is (from left to right) Jen, Me and Kate

Our first song! Tamino, be a man!

Now eat some food, and that Papageno has to shaddup!

OMG we are SoooOOooo cute!

No pretty lady don't kill yourself! (Suicide attempt #1)

No silly Papageno don't kill yourself! (Suicide attempt #2)

The Sun in it's radiance has vanquished, wait conquered, wait, what is it? (inside joke)














Now you can watch the opera on Google Video at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5688502567464486532&q=Rogue+Opera

Chinese writing '8,000 years old'

Chinese writing '8,000 years old'
Chinese archaeologists studying ancient rock carvings say they have evidence that modern Chinese script is thousands of years older than previously thought.
State media say researchers identified more than 2,000 pictorial symbols dating back 8,000 years, on cliff faces in the north-west of the country.
They say many of these symbols bear a strong resemblance to later forms of ancient Chinese characters.
Scholars had thought Chinese symbols came into use about 4,500 years ago.
The Damaidi carvings, first discovered in the 1980s, cover 15 sq km (5.8 square miles) and feature more than 8,000 individual figures including the sun, moon, stars, gods and scenes of hunting or grazing.
"We have found some symbols shaped like both pictures and characters," Li Xiangshi, a cliff carving expert at the North University of Nationalities in Ningxia Hui autonomous region, told Xinhua news agency.
"The pictographs are similar to the ancient hieroglyphs of Chinese characters and many can be identified as ancient characters."
Until the discovery, the earliest characters included 4,500-year-old inscriptions on pottery from Henan province in central China.

Obama is a bomb-a

Obama on the Table Posted by TOM BEVAN
My favorite exchange from the weekend shows came between George Stephanopoulos and Barack Obama:
Stephanopoulos: You've also said that with Social Security everything should be on the table.
Obama: Yes.
Stephanopoulos: Raising the retirement age?
Obama: Everything should be on the table.
Stephanopoulos: Raising payroll taxes?
Obama: Everything should be on the table....
Stephanopoulos: Partial privatization?
Obama: Privatization is not something I would consider.
To steal a famous line from The Princess Bride: "Senator Obama, you keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Pot 2.0

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The marijuana being sold across the United States is stronger than ever, which could explain a growing number of medical emergencies that involve the drug, government drug experts on Wednesday.
Analysis of seized samples of marijuana and hashish showed that more of the cannabis on the market is of the strongest grade, the White House and National Institute for Drug Abuse said.
They cited data from the University of Mississippi's Marijuana Potency Project showing the average levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in the products rose from 7 percent in 2003 to 8.5 percent in 2006.
The level had risen steadily from 3.5 percent in 1988.
Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, fears the problem is not being taken seriously because many adults remember the marijuana of their youth as harmless.
"It's really not the same type of marijuana," Volkow said in a telephone interview.
"This could explain why there has been an increase in the number of medical emergencies involving marijuana."
The pharmacy department at Mississippi has compiled data on 59,369 samples of cannabis, 1,225 hashish samples, and 443 hash oil samples confiscated since 1975. "The highest concentration of (THC) found in a cannabis (marijuana) sample is 33.12 percent from Oregon State Police," the report reads.
'This is pot 2.0'
Hashish and hash oil concentrations are far higher, as they consist of processed plant product.
"Researchers and treatment experts have argued for some time that today's more powerful marijuana has more harmful effects on users. This report underscores that we are no longer talking about the drug of the 1960s and 1970s -- this is Pot 2.0," John Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy, said in a statement.
Volkow said demand has driven growers to cultivate the stronger stuff. "It is the market," she said. "Like in the market you favor the best tomatoes. When people buy marijuana, they don't want a weak cigarette."
Volkow's institute has been studying the effects of cannabis, whose active ingredients are very similar to important brain chemicals called endogenous cannabinoids.
"It clearly is addictive," she said.
If children and adolescents use marijuana, it could affect their still-developing brains, she said.
The report said more than 60 percent of teens receiving treatment for drug abuse or dependence report marijuana as their primary drug of abuse.
"Although the overall number of young people using marijuana has declined in recent years, there is still reason for great concern, particularly since roughly 60 percent of first-time marijuana users are under 18 years old," Volkow said.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health 4.1 million Americans, or 1.7 percent of the population, report they use marijuana.

Vermont Senate calls for impeachment of Bush

MONTPELIER, Vermont (AP) -- Vermont senators voted Friday to call for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, saying their actions in Iraq and the U.S. "raise serious questions of constitutionality."
The non-binding resolution was approved 16-9 without debate -- all six Republicans in the chamber at the time and three Democrats voted against it. The resolution was the latest, symbolic, effort in the state to impeach Bush. In March, 40 towns in the state known for its liberal leaning voted in favor of similar, non-binding resolutions at their annual meetings. State lawmakers in Wisconsin and Washington have also pushed for similar resolutions.
The resolution says Bush and Cheney's actions in the U.S. and abroad, including in Iraq, "raise serious questions of constitutionality, statutory legality, and abuse of the public trust."
"I think it's going to have a tremendous political effect, a tremendous political effect on public discourse about what to do about this president," said James Leas, a vocal advocate of withdrawing troops from Iraq and impeaching Bush and Cheney.
Vermont lawmakers earlier voted to demand an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq in another non-binding resolution.
Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington has kept a similar resolution from reaching the floor in her chamber. She argued that an impeachment resolution would be partisan and divisive and that it would distract Washington from efforts to get the United States out of Iraq, which she says is more important.
In the Senate, Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie had opposed the resolution, but he was absent Friday. That left Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin in charge, and he immediately took up the measure.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/20/bush.impeachment.ap/index.html

Our rights as women are jeopardized again

(From Hillary Rodham Clinton's mailing list for her campaign.)
We already knew how important this election was for every American. Yesterday, the Supreme Court raised the stakes even higher.
The Court took a dramatic departure from decades of rulings that upheld a woman's right to choose and recognized the importance of women's health. Let's be clear: this allows the government to dictate to women what they can and cannot do about their own health.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg disagreed with this decision and warned, "This cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court -- and with increasing comprehension of its centrality to women's lives."
When the Senate debated the nominations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the Supreme Court, I spoke out on the Senate floor about the danger they posed to our constitutional liberties, including the right to choose. I urged my colleagues to reject them, and I voted against both of them. Yesterday, unfortunately, we saw the consequences of failing to stop their confirmations.
The decade of work that the far right has done to chip away at our rights was paid off in this Supreme Court decision. They worked hard to gain the presidency and the Senate so they could shape a Supreme Court that rewarded them by putting a narrow ideology above our constitutional rights. In their ruling, the conservative majority even used right-wing code language, referring to obstetricians as "abortion doctors."
There's one way we can respond: redouble our efforts to win the White House and more seats in the House and Senate. We need a president who understands that the best way to protect women's health and reduce the number of abortions is to expand access to family planning -- not to threaten doctors and patients. We need a Congress that will say no to rolling back the rights of women.
And here is my promise to you: As a senator, I will do everything I can to make sure women can protect their health, and when I am president, I will treat the health and well being of women and our constitutional rights once again as true American values.
I hope you'll pass this message along to your friends and talk with them about why this issue is important to you. I'll follow up with you soon with ways you can take direct action to protect our right to choose.

Sincerely,
Hillary Rodham Clinton