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!!!"