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like nature films in tenth grade biology class
Thursday, January 17 2002
This morning I went through the ordeal of moving Vodkatea.com to its new home on Bathtubgirl's new streaming server. There was something terribly wrong with the way the name server was working, but somehow I managed to get it functioning all the same, no thanks to the "wizards" and "help" screens, I might add. One thing I've noticed about Windows® technology is that, while the surface details are often designed to be intuitive, the moment you need to achieve anything fundamental, it's all hidden in a disorganized jumble somewhere behind an "advanced" button.
Back in late December when I was driving to Maryland on the New Jersey turnpike, I received a $5 bill as change and it came stamped with a message saying "See where I've been, Track where I go next! www.wheresgeorge.com." I just entered the bill's serial number, L28019146G, into the website's tracking form and learned that, when last placed in the database, the year was 1999 and the bill was in Dayton, Ohio. In two years, how many wallets, how many hands did it pass through, and yet no one was curious enough to go to that website? Does this indicate shallowness in the extent to which the web has penetrated into the American consciousness?
In the evening, Art Winer came over to hang out and drink beers. He and I also listened to a tape recording of Dan Re!tman made at the Cat and the Cream (an early coffee house in Oberlin, Ohio) sometime back in the late 1980s. On the tape, Dan can be heard performing a number of a capella tunes such as Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" in a wavering, uncertain quasi-falsetto, the sort not usually captured for posterity. (It should be emphasized that I was the one who forced Art to listen to this tape, since he is one of the few people I know who actually has met Dan.) The tape had arrived recently in the mail after spending the last decade or more in the custody of Dane Petersen (an Oberlin student who was once investigated by the FBI for burning an American flag back when the law against such acts had yet to be ruled unconstitutional).
Shortly after Art showed up, Gretchen arrived with Park Slope Anna. Anna had contributed her car to the effort of helping Gretchen pick up her new cello-shaped chest of drawers from the antique store. The cello looked unexpectedly good in the dining room, though we still don't know where to put it. We photographed it and even made a brief stop-action animation.
Edna inspects the new cello drawers.
The new cello drawers.
A close-up of that painting on the wall. Click for a bigger version.
Behold, it's alive!
Later we watched Animal Planet with the sound off (and music playing on the stereo). It's a much better show without the annoying cutesy-wutesy commentary, but still it can be a little hard to take when there are girls around to exclaim "Awwww!" every time something cute happens, just like watching nature films in tenth grade biology class.
After Art left, we were watching famous Olympic athletes on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. What a bunch of numbskulls! Most of them couldn't answer a single question more complex than "What are the colors of piano keys?" without reaching for a fucking lifeline or polling the audience.
[REDACTED]
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