My cousin is a bit intimidated by the thought of people reading what I type here. He's looking at this as I write.

I'm safely ensconced at my Aunt and Uncle's for the weekend, up here in Oregon. We get to celebrate my Grandmother's birthday this weekend and then classes start next Tuesday. Whee.

Okay, inner geek confession time...

I've been a big fan of The Cure since high school. They were one of those bands that someone lent me a tape of and I rapidly found myself in tune with the step of the music. Disintegration is still probably my favorite album of theirs, right up there with Wish. Now, the problem was the last Cure album was released in February of 2000. I remember, because I wrote a review of it for The Daily Nebraskan. In fact, if you go digging through the archives you can probably find it. But at that time, Robert Smith (leader/founder of The Cure) said that he was done with the music biz. He was sick of 20something kids telling him how to make music. Of course, I tended not to give it too much weight at the time. If I had a nickel for everytime the Cure has "broken up," I could go out and get lunch. But then 2001 rolled around and there was virtually no word. A greatest hits album came out with a bonus disc of them playing EVERY SINGLE ONE of the greatest hits acoustically (which was the BEST promo thing I've ever gotten). They'd played a few concerts here and there, but it seemed like Robert Smith just might have been serious. 2002 rolled around and I was starting to forget about them. Well, I just hit their web page because I was updating my LaunchCast radio station and wanted to see if there was any news from them, and holy shit, there's been a lot! So, they did a couple of nights where they played three of their albums straight and that's been made into a DVD that's apparently out and for sale. Very cool. But here's what's really got my attention...

The Cure left Elektra/Sire (who was their label basically since the beginning) and are going to this little tiny outfit called iam records, where they have total and complete freedom. And on top of that they're going back into the studio to record a new album. The Cure are, in fact, still together, but telling the major labels to fuck off, that they're going to do it their way. And you know what? That's just fine with me. Go back to making music you want, guys, I'll keep listening and buying it.

Thought I'd do a little catch up.

I've been up to the usual exploring bit, with Wednesday spent traveling by train for 14 hours. I saw most of northe eastern Switzerland that way, and it was very nice. Today, we're up in the mountain apartment, and watching the thunderstorms roll by the mountains. Lovely.

The most annoying thing about this whole trip is the fact that I absolutely can not get regular water to drink. All people drink around here is sparkling mineral water, and I can't stand the stuff. I mean, I'll drink it, because I need the water, but it just tastes odd to me...

I've been having vivid dreams though. I wonder if that's a side effect of sparkling water...

Monday it's off to southern Switzerland to visit my godbrother Cliff. Not to be mistaken for the Cliff on this blog. They are completely different. COMPLETELY. Trust me on this.

Anyway, off to weather watch. ^^

JOKE OF THE DAY

I have a few..... lets see if these work...

http://www.officeadvocates.com/clientart/liz/optimism%5b1%5d.jpg
http://www.officeadvocates.com/clientart/liz/boysrunfaster1.jpg
(I can't get blogger to make these show up, even if I click the little F*#King button... so you will have to copy and paste into your browser. Sorry!)

Below is an actual letter sent to a bank. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times.


Dear Sir:

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check, with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it.

I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire salary, an arrangement which, I admit, has only been in place for eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $50 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank. My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded faceless entity which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person.

My mortgage and loan repayments will, therefore and hereafter, no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offence under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope.

Please find attached an Application for Authorized Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, I will issue your employee a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits, but again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Let me level the playing field even further. Press buttons as follows:
1.- To make an appointment to see me.
2.- To query a missing payment.
3.- To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4.- To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5. -To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
6.- To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7.- To leave a message on my computer; password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated at a later date to the Authorized Contact.
8.- To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1

New comic online over at curbwatcher. This one was done entirely with a drawing tablet in Photoshop 7. A little sketch-like, but a good first ever effort nonetheless. Though you should find out what Settlers of Catan is first. And heaven help you should you decide to play it...

Well, it's nothing permanent, but I now have 30 days worth of contract work. It'll keep me fed and alive for a bit. And it should look pretty good on a resume. Sorry for not posting more here as of late. Been... inside my head a bit.

JOKE OF THE DAY

A priest and a rabbi are sitting next to each other on an airplane. After a while the priest turns to the rabbi and asks, "Is it still a requirement of your faith that you not eat pork?" The rabbi responds, "Yes, that is still one of our beliefs." The priest then asks, "Have you ever eaten pork?" To which the rabbi replies, "Yes, on one occasion I did succumb to temptation, and tasted a ham sandwich." The priest nodded in understanding and went on with his reading. A while later, the rabbi spoke up and asked the priest, "Father, is it still a requirement of your church that you remain celibate?" The priest replied, "Yes, that is still very much a part of our faith." The rabbi then asked him, "Father, have you ever fallen to the temptations of the flesh?" The priest replied, "Yes, rabbi, on one occasion I was weak, and broke with my faith." The rabbi nodded understandingly. He was silent for about five minutes, and then he said, "Beats the hell out of a ham sandwich, doesn't it?"

Thank you, thank you... I'm here all week.

Indeed I do plan on sharing them. However, as Cliff is the other half of this duo, he has them right now and will be coming up with the next set of changes to them. Until then however, here is a link to one of them, the song "More Screwin' Around".

Enjoy.

© 2003, Keith Posehn and Clifford Hicks, All Rights Reserved

So, Keith, did you plan on maybe, oh, I don't know, sharing the LINKS to said songs, so that we, the general listening public, (with the exception of deaf people) may marvel at your amazing audio talents?

I am completely and totally terrified right now.

Bloody hell. After driving back from L.A., I decide to sit down and work on some music in Reason. And 2 hours later, I have 2 WHOLE SONGS. And they're good too. Nyahaha.

Wow, one year. And what a coincidence, I'm once again out of the country, just like I was when we started this thing. ^^

*reads down* Dude, Dave, I'm the one who's supposed to be blowing things up around here... stop that! ^^

So, in the further adventures of "Erin in Switzerland", I've so far climbed up a small mountain, bobsleded down another, and been the main course for dozens of mosquitos. I was hoping to avoid the various joys of mosquitos on this particular trip, but alas, I am not so fortunate.

Seriously though, I've been having a blast so far. I really did bobsled yesterday, at a place a little south of Hühlin, where I am currently. We basically get onto these little carts with wheels and brakes, get pulled up the large hill, and then go careening down a metal half pipe, that turns and corkscrews. I broke the speed record for that thing, hitting 50kph, when the people said the fastest they'd heard of was 45kph. For those too lazy to do the math, I went about 32mph. That was fun. My co-pilot Sandra certainly enjoyed it. ^^

Also walked around the village of Rhinesfeld yesterday morning, which was quite fun. We went through the old center of the town, where the buildings were at least a couple hundred years old. It was very beautiful. The Rhine River runs through the town, and the other side of the river is Germany. We popped over there last night for Chinese food. ^^ Contemplate the weirdness of that sentence.

The one thing I'm feeling a lot while I've been here is a sense that I'm returning to my childhood. I spent two years growing up in Holland, a little north of here, and its very different from the U.S. Walking around here has been a trip down memory lane, and a sheer joy to be back.

There are plenty more adventures to come. And I really need to get off this keyboard. It's set up differently from our keyboards, so I'm spending half my time searching for puctuation, and the other half is spent correcting my typing of z's for y's. Pain in the ass, I tell zou.

Send e-mail! I hate not being able to talk to people, so tell me what I'm missing! ^^

Anyway, we're off to an old Roman ruin in a bit, so I'll sign off.

If ANYONE reading this has Cliff's phone # please send it to me via E-mail (or tell the man to call me...he should have my # I would hope). My main PCs motherboard just fried (like smoke, and poping resistors, ya know....FUN stuff). SO now I'm rather unable to access my massive database of phone #s I keep on my main PC. So now...this is about 3 months now I think since my last HD bit the dust I think? Yup...right on schedule...I get to RMA a piece of hardware EVERY 3 months. Kinda wish I'd a done it sooner since the system wouldn't boot if I tried to use the mobos onboard GeForce 2mx it wouldn't even stay on for more than 2 seconds. Thank GOD for my newly aquired 1.13 ghz Dell Laptop though :D

dkermit007@hotmail.com

w00t! One year old! So I guess that means I should post something, like, poignant or something. 'Cept I can't, because I've had a glass of cabernet sauvignon, and two glasses of mead, compliments Electronic Arts.

We just got back from the dinner over at the UX:O event, and while they didn't really show us much, from what I've seen, I'm highly impressed. Take the stylistic look of WoW, combine the actual GOOD graphics of FFXI, and the depth of UO, and that's what I've gathered. Apparently this is kind of a combination mmorpg/actual game in the Ultima series. There's supposedly a pretty cool single player game, though I don't really know anything about it. The two characters I saw looked pretty sweet, though. We'll see, tomorrow.

But wow...one year. Jeebus. I can't wait to see the new site design. Take care, all!

I didn't want to talk about it early, but right now, it looks like I have to...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY US!

That's right, The Touched is officially one year old today. All of the craziness, wackiness and zany antics you've come to expect from us have been going on for a full year as of today. I started the site a year ago with Greg, Liz, Erin and Dave, and since then we've added Christy, Sherrie and Keith. And the site's only going to continue to grow, I hope.

With that in mind, we're also going to be going through a redesign. I was hoping to have the new site launched today, but it's just not possible for right now. Dave is busy putting together a new look based on my input and we're going to pass it over to Keith who's going to work his mojo on it, and hopefully it'll result in a badass new look from us. Not sure how long before we'll have that up, but we are working on it.

Anyhow, that's enough about the site, let's talk about me, because no one ever does.

So I'm in something of a quandry about a bunch of things right now, and my head feels like it wants to explode. There's several choices I need to make and each choice has a billion and one reprecussions behind it. How do I get myself into things like this?

Ugghhh...why the hell does everything I've been trieing to get outa my head and onto paper suddenly come out after looking at an image I've looked at for weeks but just finally looked at half an hour ago in passing that just got everything going? Ugghhh...such is my process somehow...ugghhh...gota keep it intresting SOMEHOW I guess.

Ok...shoulda said this the first time but a deal here is the constringents of what is a "deal" atm:

1.) This is a for a college student with finite funds from parents so $700 or less (like with some mondo rebates/price cuts...Dell had em all the time up till May but haven't seen any since then).

2.) Price can be higher if it includes a GOOD digital camera (up to $1000 at that point).

3.) A good digital camera on sale would be good too, but I can generaly spot those pretty eaisily just workin on the laptop atm.

4.) If the deal originates from http://slickdeals.net/ or http://www.techbargains.com/ I've probably seen it allready since they are my homepages for IE and Mozilla.

5.) If you can find a kick booty Mac for $700 or less somehow hell I'd be intrested myself probably. =P

JOKE OF THE DAY

A pompous minister was seated next to a cowboy on a flight to Oklahoma. After the plane was airborne, drink orders were taken. The cowboy asked fora whiskey and soda, which was brought and placed before him. The flight attendant then asked the minister if he would like a drink. He replied in disgust, "I'd rather be savagely raped by a brazen whore than let liquor touch my lips."The cowboy then handed his drink back to the attendant and said, "I didn't know we had a choice."


I know you have missed them... so maybe I will start back up again.

Okay, so now I type more. ^^

First things first, I'm trying to get used to the fact that the 'y' on the keyboard is where the 'z' usually is, and vice versa, so if you see a 'z' where a 'y' should be, there zou go.

Second, I've spent the entire day, mostly relaxing and getting used the the time change, and it has been nothing short of spectacular. It's been a bit warm, but not bad, and it's absolutely beautiful here, so I have no problems with the heat. We're having barbeque tonight, with traditional Swiss foods, and between that, and the regular amounts of walking and excerise, I should hopefully stay somewhere around the same size pants. ^^

The flights were awful, as usual. I don't mean awful, as in a terrible, bouncy flight. I mean terrible in that it was 10 hours, in the same small chair in the same uncomfortable position, with the same bad food. I mean, 6 hours, I can deal, but 10 is pushing it. My butt was numb after about 4 hours in that bloody chair, and the rest of the trip just sucked. Münich was nice, the small amount of it I saw from the terminal, and my arrival in Zurich was equally nice. The rest of the trip is going to be wonderful.

I think that's about it for now. Talk to you again soon. ^^

I'm here, I'm alive, and I'm awake, and it's beautiful.

More later, when I have time to type. ^^

Welps...I have been officialy charged with findeing someone a laptop deal...anyone know of any? =P

In three hours, I leave for the airport.

If all goes well, the next message I post will be from Switzerland. Neutral territory, peeps. Fun times.

Behave while I'm gone. ^^

*poofs*

Roger Ebert cracks me up... he does a Q&A all the time. Check this one...

"Q. There is a time-space conundrum in "S.W.A.T." It goes something like this:

1. In the universe that the film "S.W.A.T." inhabits, the original 1970s TV show clearly did exist. After all, there is one scene where the characters begin to sing the theme song and there is another moment where someone is seen watching an old rerun on a television.

2. However, the characters played by Sam Jackson (Hondo), Colin Farrell (Jim Street) and the guy who gets shot when the evil cops snag the swarthy Dr. Evil wannabe (T.J.) are all characters from the original show. To further confuse matters, Steve Forrest, who played Hondo on the show, pops up at the end of the film driving the "S.W.A.T." truck carrying our heroes to their next adventure.

I can accept one or the other but it seems to me that by trying to mix up the two universes--the "real" world and the world of the show--the filmmakers are violating all the laws of physics that we learned from Einstein or the Jean-Claude Van Damme epic "Timecop." By letting the worlds overlap, they have caused a rift in the time-space continuum.

Peter Sobczynski, Chicago


A. Your warning came just in time. The Griffith Observatory has spotted a gigantic space-time rift in the Andromeda galaxy, where stars are rearranging themselves into the shape of a gigantic brown bunny."


This is why he's one of the best critics around...

Holy mother of forking god!!! Shit just hit the fawking fan man...you guys are in for a HELL of a treat...Good LORD!!!

I must make note for Christy to be there next time Cliff & the rest the gang play...they can stop off at a certain place and it should give you a good deal of backstory if ya do so care ;)

OK, so I don't get Silent Hill 3. But it's kind of like opening to a random page in "The return of the King" without ever knowing what a hobbit might be (yes, I realize that I, the one who kept saying things like "day 43 we ran" during the Two Towers just made a LOTR reference). I know I'm not a gamer. And I am OK with it.

And I'm typing from my new laptop. Woo hoo! Now all I need is an external mouse. I keep reaching for one that doesn't exist.

To anyone who wants to get me the coolest birthday/Christmas/whatever present... One of my favorite Transmet pages is on sale...

I hate not having $115 handy... I'd frame that sumbitch and put it on my wall in a heartbeat...

This little post is for "Me", the sole person to make a comment (so far) on the most recent Story Time! --

Thanks for reading it! And no worries about writing too much in the comment box, I always enjoy someone giving feedback about these little 10 minute bursts of inspiration that I randomly spew out into the ether. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know you liked it.

Christy has tried to understand the Silent Hill craze... but I think all she got out of it last night was bordeom. Poor Christy. =0( Perhaps she will know the greatness which is Silent Hill.

Truly, I think you have to be the one behind the controller to get TOTALLY scared. Although some of the sounds make chills go up my spine. Those sound guys are awesome..

Heh...why shoot em when you can club em with a good ol rusty pipe I say...well...as long as they arent the big basturds the size of conehead =P

I dunno why Greg's laughing at me... he's the one who needed to go to the bathroom unexpectedly in the middle of playing Silent Hill 3. He also kept trying to hand me the controller and pass on his turn. We all, however, have decided that running from monsters is much more sensible than shooting them. They take way too many bullets to go down. Running works excellent well.

My God, I finally have my head above water and am somewhat relaxed. This is good. Yesterday I went boating on the river with some friends, generally caused trouble and have furthered my addiction to Haibane Renmei. Now, I'm working on the Real Life Store, then going to the office to install the new network switch and finish setting up the server. A bit hectic.

Classes start on the 3rd, with Japanese 2A, MIS 131 and Marketing being the critical courses. I'm also leaving my present place of employment at the end of the month, so I'm looking forward to being my own boss again.

And now, because no one asked for it: Story Time!


What can I say?

One moment, I'm sitting there, minding my own business, another I'm not. I look around, and everything is different. The street is cobblestone, the buildings are some European/Japanese cross architecture, and the people...bloody hell, the people.

They're all...uhm...well, they're not like me any longer. Not by a long shot. One woman goes past, with long pointed ears. I swear she's an elf. Another woman is incredibly tall, almost 6'4" -- she looks almost like a supermodel. Scratch that, better than a supermodel, but supermodels generally dont carry huge swords with them down the street. There's another and I swear she's got scales in that copper skin, they gleam and shift as she moves.

I don't know what to make of it.

I'm starting to attract attention now, and I'm not sure if it is the kind I want. Eyes start darting in my direction at first, then focus more intently. Finally, some of them start outright staring. Then it hits me, none of them are human. I'm in the minority, here, being eyed like a peace of meat. I feel panic rising in my throat, threatening to overwhelm me completely. One starts toward me, quickly, reaching as if she was desperate, and in the moment of final clarity, I meet her eyes. They're full of sadness, longing and a deep, vicious pain. As if their entire world were desperately reaching out, trying to hold on. I suddenly realize that she has thrown something to me, a small trinket attached to a chain. I reach up, catch it, and suddenly, its all gone.

I look around, I'm back at the bus stop. No wierd square. No throngs eyeing me. The street is empty.

I look at the trinket, now firmly in my grasp, and I hear something. Just a single note; a high, beautiful note, forever singing, guiding me back to its owner.


End.

©, 2003, Keith Posehn, All Rights Reserved.

We managed to drag Cliff over to our apartment last night, with specific instructions to bring Silent Hill 3. Then we turned out all the lights, closed the blinds, and turned the stereo way up so we could feel the bass. Jesus, that game is freaky. And we only just finished the first area and a half.

Then Christy came by and hung out, even though she came by somewhere around 11:30. I crashed soon thereafter, so I didn't see when she left. Cliff, on the other hand, crashed on the guest bed. *points and laughs*

*waves his copy of Silent Hill 3 in front of Greg taunting him since he hasn't been here in so long* so =P

I unlike Cliff though can bring myself to play the game...allbeit I'm a bit of a bitch at the moment and try to ONLY play it during the daylight hours, but also haveing to juggle Silent Hill 3 and Xenosaga (picked it up the same day) is one HELL of a task.

Look at it this way though Cliff...they don't even give you a few minutes to deal with the atmosphere before throwing crazy shit at ya this time around. *proceeds to hold all other comments till Cliff finally stops bein a panzy ass and plays* ;)

Cliff, you go to hell! You go to hell and you die! I want Silent Hill 3 SO FUCKING BAD. Damned house. Taking all my money.

Wuss. ^^

And not because I can do better, but because this is one of the few times I can say it. ^^

Oh, and welcome back Greg. ^^

We can have entire conversations this way, in front of everyone. How novel...

I'd like to point out that I *own*Silent Hill 3, but can't bring myself to play it, since I live by myself... even the friggin' soundtrack is spooky...

Oh, and I hearby encourage you to post more, Mr. Dean! *grin*

Yeah, I just figured out how to post again. And, you know... I have all this free time. Why let it go to waste? Most of my day has been spent ripping CD's to the iPod, and I even got TWO comics done. Yeah... I'm bored.

Good God, Greg?

Is that you?

*faints dead away*

Considering it costs $3500 to get your name on the ballot, and we need $3600 by the end of the month, it seems to me it would make more sense to remain non-governory until such time as we are filthy, stinking rich.

As for the whole recall goes, I'm all for it. Gray Davis is a snake, plain and simple. He played the whole election like it was his personal game, by paying for ads for Bill Simon. He knew flat out that Dick Reardon had a chance, and Bill Simon didn't, so he backed ads for Simon, to pick his opponent. And most voters are so goddamned stupid that they don't bother to pay attention to the people they're voting for ANYWAY. HOW can a man with an approval rating in the 20's have been voted governer? It doesn't make any sense, other than that he's a spectacular fuck-up. I would rather have The Terminator as Governor than Gray Davis, the Gubernatron 2000. Hell, I'd rather have Ben Affleck as the Shark from Jaws as Governor.

Oh... and hi there. Long time no see. How's it going? :)

Well I would be governor if it means I can get some money right away! Greg and I found a house to rent... but we have to pay first and last. So thats about $2,650 plus we have to pay a penalty fee to the apartment landlords of another $1,050. All has to be due at the first of the month. Greg and I only make about $3200 a month.... so I am not really sure how we will pull it off. But if we can, you all know what that means! HOUSE WARMING PARTY! So lets make Liz governor!

I call no take-backs. We elected Davis into office, and it's our burden to bear. The "just kidding" thing goes against every moral people try to teach the innocent children. Which leads Cliff to ask the question "Can we impeach a governor?" At least with impeachment he doesn't have the chance to get back into office.

Although this Liz for governor thing sounds kinda interesting. Not that I've been asked to sign anything. *sigh* I'm always the last to know.

Okay, now it's just getting silly...

Ahnold I can understand... Gary Coleman?

Larry Flynt?

Who's next, Ted Koppel? Monica Lewinsky? Kato Kalin?

Ugh...

Well lets get 65 signatures and $3500 together then to get the "Liz" on the ballot!!! It's all it takes to get on the ballot people!!!

Liz is much better than Ahnold running for Governor. Liz should be governer. Liz should be Queen!!!

Liz, you may be entertaining, but this is even funnier...

The Terminator is running for Governor of California.

We'll show those Minnesotans that we know REAL crazy here in California. Wrestler?! FEH! We're considering voting the man who brought us "Junior" and "Twins" for running the state! Sure, he was Conan, and sure he was The Terminator... but remember, somehow he thought doing Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin would be cool...

Oh dear lord...

Liz is the most wonderful girl
She brings color and life to my world
She's pretty and smart,
Draws really great art,
And is so fabulous it makes my head whirl!

^_^

I have pleaded with you. I have offered you my first born! Why won't you people talk about ME?!?!

Just to annouce it, and so I'm not typing it out over and over again:

A last minute decision, due to discussion with friends and family, has lead to the purchase of a round trip ticket to Switzerland. I depart August 18th, and return the 9th of September.

The best part about the ticket? It was free. Frequent flier miles are gooooood. ^^ The second best part about the ticket purchase was the fact that the lady I was speaking with found a departing flight with no problem... but she couldn't find me a flight home. "I can get you there, honey, but I can't get you home!" I cracked up.

In other news, I got a stereo for my car, to replace the CD player that got stolen last week. It's a nifty little thing, and sounds much better than the old setup. I just wish the first guys I talked to at Frys were... I dunno... helpful. They didn't tell me anything, and they did all the paperwork wrong. I ended up having to go back and find someone else to help me, and with his help, ended up buying a completely different system.

Really, I've worked retail, is it that hard to be helpful? Really? I mean, I know customers are a bitch sometimes, but usually, if your nice to them, they're nice to you, and it all works out in the end. Even when they were demanding, I was always nice, and ended up getting raises because of it. And I learned a hell of a lot of patience. This is also a good thing to have in life. So all you retail workers, try being a nice, helpful human being occasionally. I guarentee you won't die of it.

I need a shower...

Forking'a man...why the hell do I always choose to play Silent Hill (1, 2, and soon to be 3) and now "The Thing" at frigging Midnight? I can at least now say theres a 4th game that creeps me the hell out (no Resident Evil's are not creepy, scary, nuthing...your a wimp if they even gave you goosebumps)...but why...why am I dumb enough to play them at the WORST time to play them? Me thinks I'm a bit masochistic :D

It's pouring rain outside. This doesn't happen here in the summer.

I am now wondering what the actual month is, and whether I've been fooled for all this time into thinking it was actual this strange season called 'Summer'.

I'm in the wrong business. I should be scamming people from Nigeria too!

"Dear Confidant,

I came across your mail address while searching for
a reliable and competent person that would help me
handle an urgent transaction, which requires honesty
and confidentiality.

I am Dr. Kunle Thomas, the Accountant-General of
Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) in
the Ministry of Arts & Culture. My Corporation was
given the mandate to manage the events of the 2002,
Miss World Beauty Pageant originally scheduled to
take place in Nigeria on the 7th of December 2002.

You may be aware of the fact that the beauty pageant
was shifted to London following a violent protest by
some religious fundamentalists in the cities of
Kaduna and Abuja where the events would have taken
place in Nigeria.

Earlier before this development, my Corporation was
given a colossal amount of money by the Federal
Government of Nigeria for the purchase of equipments
to developed some tourist centres in the country. We
were also given a separate amount of money to disburse as loan to
Five-Star Hotels that requires
the renovations in the cities of Port Harcourt,
Calabar and Abuja

I and my colleagues over inflated the contracts to
the tune of U.S.$32 million, which is now in a
suspense Account with a commercial bank, marked “FOR
FOREIGN CONTRACTORS ONLY”. We want you to stand as
Beneficiary/Contractor that supplied some of the
equipments. This is necessary because as civil
servants, we are not allowed to operate foreign
accounts. Out of the funds, SIXTEEN MILLION U.S.
DOLLARS ($16m) will be transferred as first batch.
When this is honestly and successfully done, the
remain part follows:

I have mapped out 20% for you for your assistance,
70% will be for me and my colleagues while the
remaining 10% will be set aside for any expense
incurred by anybody in the course of this
transaction.

You are required to send the following immediately,
to facilitate the transfer of the funds.

1 Full name & Address.

2 Telephone/Fax No(s) and mobile if any.


I await your urgent response.

Yours faithfully,

Kunle Thomas."

Are there people out there who still fall for scams like this?

In case you're curious, here's all about the Nigerian scams...