~ while engaging in a derive through chevoit hills last night, members of the angry red planet came upon a heap of garbage which included a rather large television set. although all associates of the angry red planet have been weened from this glass teat, the thrill of the hunt inspired them to carry the set back to the office, where it was discovered to be in perfect working order. so, for the first time in 3 years, there is a television in the offices of the angry red planet. i will still spend the mornings reading proust, of course, but there has been some talk around the break room of searching through the neighborhood’s garbage for a vcr. the one-eyed monster rears its head…

~ the angry red planet just received its invitation to the ‘te gusta?’ exhibition, which features ian lynam of migraine fame, along with kinya hamada and eric mast, in the show promises ‘web animations, paintings, and stuffed animal craziness’. the show runs 2 june-27 june at space1026, philadelphia. assorted websites on the invitation:
   space1026.com
   mumbleboy.com
   milkyelephant.com

~ the angry red planet extends the wish of a happy 42nd birthday to the artist now known as prince. join us in our celebrations on napster.

~ finally available is the second of the angry red planet scene reports; the photo journal of the auto tours can seen here, and some of the highlights are still readable in last week’s log.

~ i don’t know if it is the ‘right’ thing to do, but i just placed my first order to kozmo.com; i have not received it yet, but i suppose it should be here within minutes. i usually try to oppose these more capitalist aspects of the so-called ‘network culture’, but i am too weak to pass up the sale price for the newest billy bragg [w] effort.

~ i haven’t been very inspired with the transcription of the tales of this summer’s second cross-country drive. but i have managed to sift out a key moment from each state though which we passed, except for the hour we spent in pennsylvania.
   new york: four minutes into the bus ride from the airport to downtown, i realize that i never want to see albany again, though my decision is almost swayed after i get the chance, while waiting for the trailways bus to phoenicia, to visit the glorious empire state plaza [w].
   ohio: i pull off the interstate and head to the cleveland’s waterfront. i wake the passenger to announce that we have arrived at i.m.pei’s rock and roll hall of fame [w]; she looks up and asks why we stopped at this monstrosity. i drive away without stopping.
   indiana: sorry.
   illinois: ‘sneaking’ into chicago’s field museum allows a view of sue [w], the most complete fossilized skeleton of tyrannosaurus rex ever found by humans.
   iowa: from the looks of the capitol building, des moines must have the impression that iowa is a grand empire over which it is lorded. the view from the highway dissuades us from a closer look; we save our time for lincoln, nebraska.
   nebraska: during a furious hailstorm on i-70, the s-10 runs out of gas after we pass three exits and two towns with no fuel stations.
   wyoming: why the the song ‘america, the beautiful’ was written… (no nationalism intended).
   colorado: after visiting the quarry at dinosaur national monument [w], we walk out to the s-10 to take the tour deeper into the park. when we get to the truck, we notice that there is river of coolant flowing from the engine. it is a bitter disappointment to only spend 30 minutes at the park we drove for four days to see, but the water pump is apparently broken, and there is not going to be anyone ready to fix it at 5.30pm on the friday before memorial day weekend. so, we load the bed of the truck with jugs of ‘lowtox’ and water, and push forth into the utah desert.
   utah: everyone drives down the mountainside from the ashley national forest [w]like they are on crank, while i can’t coax the s-10 over 60mph while going downhill.
   nevada: new york, new york.
   california: i hate everything between san bernadino and the 5. if there is another auto route from the east coast to los angeles, i’d like to know.

~ when i was in kindergarten, 20 years ago, it was always a big deal when someone didn’t show up for class. since we would do anything we could to convince our parents and teachers that we should be excused from school that day. so, one morning in kindergarten, we all noticed that a particular classmate did not show up; we spent the morning gossiping about what she could be doing, but by the time the afternoon buses came to take us home, we forgot all about her. when she didn’t show the next morning, though, we all knew that something was up. seeing this, both of our classes were called together by the teachers and told what had befallen her to cause her absences.
   she had been late for the school bus one morning, and was running down the street to catch it. she apparently slipped or fell in her haste, and soiled her dress in the georgia mud. knowing how vicious kindergarteners can be, she quickly decided not show show up in dirty clothes which could bring an afternoon of taunts. so, she turned and ran back towards her house to change. as she ran around the bus, however, she was unseen by the driver of an oncoming car, who was then unable to prevent his car from hitting her.
   so, she was killed before reaching her 6th birthday, which also happened to be my 6th birthday.
   so, maybe i shouldn’t spend that birthday today by grousing over the mechanic who claims my car can’t be repaired, or my rent which is higher than the amount in my credit union account and was due yesterday, or the neighbor who is apparently spending the summer learning creed songs on his new electric guitar, or what a mistake it was paying for ‘mission:impossible-2’, or a freaking 56k connection, or a serious lack of serious work to do.