you know, i don't mind the border people doing all kinds of inane checks into my history. in the end, they might not like my politics, and it might harm my employment opportunities (if it hasn't already, and i'm sure it has), but i don't expect that to be a serious limit on anything i actually want to do in life. i don't find surveillance to be particularly bothersome, not even at a deep level. i dunno, call me a political voyeur or something...

...but the reference requirements are really quite onerous. if you don't know anybody with a passport, you need to find four people that aren't family and have known you for more than two years and they have to vouch that the information you provide (which is mundane shit like address and work history) is valid.

i couldn't even find one person that's known me for two years well enough to verify that.

nor is it really useful in any kind of...well, anything. security wise, references are stupid. i've been through this argument with employers. do you expect me to give you a bad reference? really, what the process is doing is determining if the applicant has the social skills to build personal friendships or not. that's at least arguably valid in an employment situation. it's of almost no value in a passport situation.

all of this is so that i can walk over a bridge to see a concert, maybe have a few beers. to spend money in the local economy, if you want to phrase it like that.

i'm good at 'splainin'. i can run off odsp documents, write an essay. i'm sure i'll convince them.

...but the whole process is really quite stupid, regardless of the angle it's being approached from.

demo #10: mellon collie & the infintesimal wing

i wish i took the time to clean this up a little more, but i don't think i thought i'd be sitting here 17 years later talking about it...

so, i'm trained as a blues guitarist. everybody knows that the way to prove you're a real blues guitarist is to do a cover of little wing. that's just how it is.

however, i kind of felt a generational disconnect. i mean, i love hendrix and everything; that's kind of obvious, if you listen. i just felt little wing needed a bit of a punk rock update, and i thought it might be neat to merge it with a more contemporary piece - the opening track on the smashing pumpkins' double disc opus.

so, that's what this is. mellon collie and the infinitesimal wing.....

recorded in nov, 1996. remastered on oct 15, 2013.

RE: out of ideas for the shower

From:  the initial landlord
To: "'Jessica Murray'" <death.to.koalas@gmail.com>

I will come by and we will figure out how/ when we will get this done.

Please be patient, I will have to go and look where I can buy another shower that will fit just in case when we pull it out it gets destroyed.