Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way, I can go on with my post.
I visited Dana this weekend and finally got to see the special edition Star Wars. I even picked up a "Darth Vader's Lightsaber" so I can beat the hell out of Paul with his "Luke Skywalker Lightsaber" across the hall. This past weekend was one of the best I've had in a long time. Everything went smoothly, I ate good food, and I generally just got a chance to relax. I also found out that Randy is coming back into town next week for a few weeks. Apparently the research project he's on got pushed back, so he's taking off after setup is finished (more or less). Considering that he's not in Alpha, he has taught me more than almost anyone else about what it means to be a brother to someone.
I'll tell you...I love my brothers and we have a great deal of solidarity right now, but there is some anger over the rush meeting refrain of "I just have a bad feeling about this person." Some of the brothers think are acting like someone has to have done something specific to you for you to not want them in the fraternity. Its not enough to feel that you don't like the person enough to want to call them a brother; you now must have a personal grievance with them. If you're going to truly call someone a brother, I feel that putting up with someone just because they haven't insulted you or been rude to you when you really don't like them is bullshit. I disagree strongly with the brother who has the "feelings" but at the same time, I think he's absolutely right in refusing to be bullied into backing down. Even under the pseudonyms, I don't feel I can justify giving more details than that. Suffice to say that there are some people who are gung-ho about one or two rushees who aren't real pleased about having their parade rained on. I want one of these individuals in the fraternity too, but I sure as hell don't want to force somebody else to call them a brother if they don't feel that way. Alright...off of the soapbox now. (here is my favorite depiction of brother-brother conflict...Starman duking it out with the ghost of his brother...yeah, yeah, I know...I'm a troll)
We still haven't heard from Rick Munoz. Granted, he may be sending me e-mail out the wazoo and I just haven't checked that account since I got back from vacation. But you'd think that if he was reading, he'd at least...wait. I've just been told that he's been sick lately. Hey Rick, hope you're feeling okay. I know that a couple of us were worried about you. Take care of yourself. And V-Chip...one post doesn't cut it. Are you just sitting back and watching the discussion area like some sick, voyeuristic wierdo, or are you up to something sneaky....??
I picked up the 311 album, along with a disc by that guy Joe Zawinul that I posted about a few weeks ago. This one is a lot more in line with what I had expected from the first one. 2 electric pianos, 2 upright basses, a flute, a trumpet, a soprano sax, and a shitload of percussionists. Zawinul does a piece that he wrote for Miles Davis ("In a Silent Way"). The best stuff is in the two tracks that are longer than 10 minutes. Good, quality, early 70s fusion, avant-garde type stuff that nobody ever really went for. Oh well. The 311 has some stuff that I really like on it, along with some crap that all runs together. My cousin recommended them to me (yes, the cousin I posted about over winter break). He's been listening to them since they were a local band to him. Definitely more up his alley, but it makes for some good variety in my listening.
Well, I had to go back and add this last paragraph on because I cut my post short without any kind of conclusion...that was awfully fuckin' dumb of me, now wasn't it. Of course all of my friends are going to give me a load of crap like "oh Bill, doing something dumb isn't that out of the ordinary for you" or "its what we expected" or "no change there." Well all of you can bite my ass...I beat you to it. My mind was elsewhere (namely on the work that I should actually be doing right now). So get the hell out of here. Go back to work or something...I'm supposed to be slacking, but you have no excuse.
It's all my fault,
Bill
bxmar1@maila.wm.edu
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