OK, this is just a quick mini-update from a Kinko's in Albuquerque, NM. It's beautiful here! I've been writing daily posts about our trip on my handspring and I'll post them all at once as soon as I'm up and running in our new place, hopefully within a week or so. So far we've been on the road for 4 days and we've driven through Virginia, Tennessee (where we saw Graceland!), Arkansas (my new least favorite state), Oklahoma, Texas (just through the panhandle) and now we're here in New Mexico. We're making great time, finding some decent radio stations, eating pretty good food, staying in decent hotels and for the most part ignoring the war as best we can. I found out tonight about 3 Pittsburgh screenings of Washington Interns Gone Bad in early April and I'll get that info updated on the site as soon as I can. I hope I don't have to do it from another Kinko's.

OK, our home computers have been packed (minus my damn monitor) and I'm in my old office to print out directions for the first leg of our trip, DC to Abingdon, VA. Then it's from Abingdon to Memphis (with a stop to pay our respects to the King, of course), then to Arkansas, Amarillo, OK City, a few stops in AZ including a few hours at the Grand Canyon, and then straight to sunny CA where we'll need to find an apartment ASAP. As I've said, I'll try to blog from the road, but no promises. Pictures will be up when we're settled. Signing off for now. J.

Well, I just destroyed my fucking monitor with windex and now the brightnes/contrast controls are permanently displayed across the bottom of my screen, set at low contrast and unable to adjust it or exit from it. So this will probably be my last entry before we move. I'll probably unplug the cable modem in a little bit and pack up the computer which will pretty much be the last thing to go. And I guess I'll just toss this damn monitor in the dumpster on the way out. I so do not need to be spending money on s monitor right now. It was a great viewsonic and I was really needing to upgrade my system, but now that's not going to happen any time soon. This blows.

Worst President Ever! Less than 24 hours into the war and Bush is trying to use it to ram his agenda through congress. I don't know how I still get surprised at just how bad this guy really is.

San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center for all the news on the San Francisco shutdown. Their server is getting slammed so it might be a little slow for you.

Our soon-to-be home city is virtually shut down by anti-war protests! I wish we could be there right now.

This is what I hate about living in DC during times of trouble. We were woken up by lots of sirens this morning, more than the usual that run up and down 16th St at any given hour. Getting up to look out the window we saw a bunch of fire trucks and police cars through the rainy mist at a building across the street. Having just woken up and being worried about this war, our first thought was that it was somehow related, but as we watched, it was just a routine false alarm. I hate this shit. I remember one morning shortly after 9/11 when we woke up to very loud sirens and the most beautiful orange sunrise which we of course thought in our panic was the sky being on fire and the impending apoclypse. The state of the world is in the hands of a nasty Wlittle fratboy who thinks he's Clint Eastwood. Not exactly a comfortable state to be in. Have I mentioned lately how much I'm looking forward to being 3000 miles away from the giant target that he has turned Washington into?

This had better be a parody! (link via metafilter)

I can't believe I'm moving across the country in a couple of days. I'm going to try really hard to blog throughout the move and there will definitely be pictures and video, but I can't promise anything. Our apartment is full of boxes, utilities have been cancelled, everything but the TV and computers packed. The idea of driving through Tennesee, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona during the start of this war is looming.

Fun with referers: Not only am I currently the first site to come up in a search for dixie chicks controversey on yahoo, I'm the first one for pepper production porno on Italian Google.

Just when you thought Antonin Scalia couldn't be a bigger fascist, read all about how he requests ban on broadcast media at a talk. I know, that doesn't sound all that bad, but what I didn't mention was that the talk is for his acceptance of a free speech award. (link via metafilter)

Today was very productive in getting closer to being ready to blow out of town. We still don't have an apartment in San Fran, but we needed a mailing address there, so we got that nailed downwhich involved getting forms notarized which we did at a dry cleaner in Cleveland Park. I think we told every cabbie and store clerk we talked to that we're moving to California in a couple of days. I'm finally getting to the point where the idea of this whole move is feeling less scary and more like an adventure. Of course, all this war shit is really setting an ugly overtone to our big adventure across the country. Watching the news is really making me angry right now. I have never been so embarased to be American. We are officially a rogue nation now. I dread the idea of the potential repurcussions.

As if things weren't fucked up enough with Bush's unilateral war looming, some tobacco farmer has driven a tractor into a pond by the Vietnam War Memorial and has been in a standoff with the cops since yesterday afternoon. I am so glad to be getting the hell out of this city right now.

More on the Dixie Chicks and the ignorant redneck country music industry.

Last night's showing was great! I got to see a lot of people who I haven't seen for a while, from an old canvassing buddy to one of the musicians from the soundtrack who has been hard to get hold of to my old boss from the DNC. We had some real Washington interns in the audience as well as some republican lobbyists in the audience, but no protestors. I gloated a bit on indymedia and thanked Vickie and company for stirring up such controversey and helping us pack the house. The Black Cat are a total joy to work with and some of the nicest people and I think that having showings there every now and then would be a good possibility. So today is going to be busy with move-related stuff. We need to take care of getting a new PO box in San Fran, buy more packing materials, get some finances in order and run around like crazy people. My hangover is almost gone now so we'll be getting started soon.

And the indymedia drama continues as Vickie goes postal on Chuck-0. I'm holding back the urge to tell her to go knit me a sweater in my best Eric Cartman voice. To put things into context, here are the imc editorial transcripts, but the original article seems to have been completely deleted rather than hidden. Update: the original post is back up. I think the site was having some database backend issues.

Great search results! Q: Hey Jeeves, What do interns in Washington do? A: they go bad.

The battle over Washington Interns Gone Bad has heated up on DC Indymedia. Now people are threatening to protest the showing! How cool is that? Kevin Smith had to take on all of Catholicism before anyone protested him. All I did was have some satire misunderstood and the knee jerk PC Police are all over it. Though I'm a bit disappointed that my first protest is from the left rather than the right. But these people are so left that they've looped back to the right. It should make for a fun showing tonight!

An American woman was killed by a bulldozer in occupied Palestine today. Here's the compassionate conservative response. (link via metafilter)

More drama on indymedia... this Vickie person hates my movie, but it seems most people in the activist community are quite fed up with her and all her bitching (PC Police got something to say about that?) is helping us greatly!

Do people really expect the country music industry not to act like a bunch of rightwing rednecks? Does it come as any surprise that the Dixie Chicks get pulled from air after bashing Bush, or about the woman who got fired from her job for privately responding to Charlie Daniels' stupid jingoist letter that has been plastered all over the internet by every dumb rightwingnut online? Bravo to these people for being the voices of reason in an industry full of dittoheads.

More protest photos

More photos and a personal account from the Peace March in Washington, DC, March 15, 2003

Elvert Xavier Barnes' protest photos: faces, signs

Matt Bradley's protest photos: crowds, cops, signs and surveilance. more

Brian Long's photos from today's protest: Anti-war Demonstrators vs. Motorcycle Cop, kids, crowds & signs, and the Statue of Liberty

Photos from today's Anti-war Protest

I just got back from the big anti-war march around the White House and it was great! My mom, stepdad, sister and brother-in-law-to-be are in town to see us before we move, so my mom was very psyched to march against the war as this is her first one since Vietnam. It was very moving to be there with my family! My mom took a zillion pictures and imediately bought a batch of Women for Peace buttons and a t-shirt. I got to yell at the pathetic showing of a dozen or so freepers who had their usual obnoxious counter protest which is always fun. They're such a smarmy bunch of cheap suits and mulleted rednecks with the usual mean spirited signs telling us to move back to Cuba and calling us traitors. It looked like it was a really good turnout, a solid hundred thousand anti war protestors to 10-20 warmongers. I'll try to post some links to pictures and reports from the blogosphere as they start coming in. This just in: a breakaway anarchist march stormed the World Bank and did their best to trash the place, spraypainting and knocking over statues.

Funny shit: The Dubya War Glossary (link via freakgirl)

See the anti-war ad that MTV is refusing to air. Now more than ever, the lyrics to the Dead Kennedys MTV Get of the Air ring true: "And so it was Our beloved corporate gods Claimed they created rock video Allowing it to sink as low in one year As commercial TV has in 25 "It's the new frontier," they say It's wide open, anything can happen But you've got a lot of nerve To call yourself a pioneer When you're too god-damn conservative To take real chances."

Any film geeks need a fun way to waste some time, try this game. Warning: higly adictive! (link via Missy)

Message Board Mayhem over the Beastie Boys' protest song. Nothing riles up the rightwingnuts like a celebrity who dares question the policies of their beloved "president!" And nothing puts a smile on my face like seeing one of my favorite bands piss off a bunch of rightwingnuts!

The Besties are not the only ones recording new songs to protest Bush's war. Salon has a sampler with free downloads. I've heard that Country Joe has some updated lyrics to the Fixin to Die Rag. You know... "And it's 1, 2, 3 what are we fighting for? Don't ask me I don't give a damn. Next stop is Vietnam. And it's 5, 6, 7 open up the pearly gates. Ain't no time to wonder why. Whoopie! We're all gonna die!"

Message board mayhem over the whole "Freedom Fries" fisaco. Most people are talking about how ridiculous it is, but there are a few dittoheads spouting off their usual dittohead nonsense, and one nameless independent filmmaker who is splashing the URL for a certain film all over the place.

More free MP3's today, this one is from the Beastie Boys, and it's their new anti-war song, In a World Gone Mad (link via metafilter)

Students for an Orwellian Society is here to keep our country safe! Because 2003 is 19 years too late.

Free MP3 from The Notwist thanks to Salon.

And while I'm ranting and raving about how lame the whole PC movement is, when republicans emulate the worst that the left has to offer, they achieve new and exciting levels of suckage! (link via metafilter)

The PC battle over the Washington Interns Gone Bad mudflap girls logo continues on the dc indymedia site and it's gotten kind of funny. This Vickie person is one of those humorless activist types who give the rest of us a bad name. She reminds me of the "womynists" in PCU, so in her honor, here are some of my favorite quotes from an excellent movie that poked fun at the ridiculousnes of the whole PC craze. (and be sure to check out the indymedia link above for my further rantings on the topic)... Football Player: What's up babes? Viveka Davis as Womynist #1: Pack up your rape culture and take a hike! Football Player: You want a brewdog? Womynist #1: We're not interested in your penis! Maddie Corman as Womynist #2: Wait, wait, I think he's offering us a beer. um... yes... we... would... like... a... beer. Football Player: Okay! (To fellow jocks) Hey! Gimme a beer! Gimme a beer!" Womynist #1: It's like, if you're nice to them, they bring you things? Womynist #2: Exactly. Womynist #2: You went out with a white male? Sarah Trigger (I) as Samantha: I was a freshman! Womynist #1: Fresh-PERSON! Please!" Droz:You know she's right. It's true, the majority of students are so cravingly PC that they wouldn't know a good time if it was sitting on their face, BUT there is one thing that will always unite us and them...they're young. They may not realize it yet--they've got the same raging hormones, the same self-destructive desire to get boldly trashed and wildly out of control--look out that window! That's not a protest, that is a cry for help. They're begging us, please have a party! FEED US DRINKS GET US LAID!! AHHHHHHH!!! That movie was such the perfect thing at just the right time. I remember being in college in the 90s and the editor of my campus newspaper practically getting lynched for running a cartoon that made fun of racists by showing how ridiculous racial slurs were. No fucking senses of humor! No understanding of basic satire and parody! I'm so glad that the PC movement as a whole has died except for the few lone holdouts who need to trash other people's work on indymedia.

Fun with referrers! This blog got a hit from somebody searching for "Rick Santorum is an Idiot." While there was no actual use of that full quote, you could say that I certainly do not disagree. And there are lots of great links on that search page to back that statement up.

Last night was Marisa's birthday party at Cafe Japone, and it was a sushi eating, sake drinking, kareoke singing good time. All the girls from the 942 house (and Joanne) got up and sang Destiny's Child, Marisa belted out a bunch on her own (some Madonna, some Guns 'n' Roses, even I Want Your Sex with Jill), the whole group of us did You Give Love a Bad Name, and the whole entire bar did Livin' On a Prayer. Karen did some great duets, but I can't seem to remember what songs. I also got to do Ring of Fire and Jill and I busted out the oldschool Michael Jackson on Rock With You. Oh yeah, and one group from our table couldn't resist busting out some Great White and they did Once Bitten Twice Shy. The Kareoke Congressman, Mike Honda of Silicon Valley, was there belting out Moon River and I Can't Help Falling in Love With You. We were going to have the whole table sing Africa by Toto, but despite Zoe's many requests for it, it never came up for us and we had to split. It was a good time and I think Marisa had a great birthday. I'm going to really miss that whole gang when we move.

What a great thing it was to take the bus down to work this morning and seeing these posters wheatpasted up and down 16th St. The one at my bus stop coming home from work, somebody had pasted a sticker over top that said "this poster paid for by Saddam Hussein," with the Saddam part crossed out and written underneath "volunteer peace activists." Somebody also had pointed an arrow at the sticker and wrote "this sticker paid for by Texaco."