Last Saturday I saw Justin's band Build at Richmond's. I left there around quarter-to-2. On the way home WBER lost its transmitter just as they started playing one of the test tracks ... one of the ones I liked -- Work It Out by Brassy, I think. It was kind of eerie with all the lightning and such, especially having just done my best Jesse Owens impression from Richmond Street to the parking garage on Scio trying not to get absolutely drenched. I guess it's the universe telling me, "Sharon was nice -- you should have planned to get in touch with her again," or "maybe you should pick a different radio station for a while," I can't tell exactly which.

On a strongly correlated related note, when I got home I noticed the heater in my bedroom was making a hissing noise. After turning it on and off a bit and with no change, I realized it was actually the clock radio tuned to WBER which was now just static. I couldn't get it to shut off. I guess it's the universe telling me, "you know, I think she kind of liked you too," or "it's about time you got a new clock radio," I can't tell exactly which.

Finally, You may have noticed the HomeCam image was stuck at 1:44 a.m. on April 8. That's the point at which a couple buffer amplifiers fried somewhere in the nether regions of the Ethernet in my house (the Nethernet?). The cable modem installer came by on Monday and swapped modems, but it turned out to be the LinkSys router. The only thing I can do until the new one comes in is to use the AirPort. I guess it's the universe telling me, "hello?!? would it have killed you to ask for her phone number," or "you should have bought a surge suppressor," I can't tell exactly which.

Now about this China thing. These are what I feel are the pertinent facts, given as quotations from a couple sources:

• "[James] Bamford [an author about to publish a semiauthorized history of the National Security Agency] says the danger in the air is from 'buzzing.' Coming within 50 feet of an aircraft to scare it off often leads to accidents." [Kampeas, Ron, Reconnaissance Missions Reconsidered, Friday April 6 6:47 PM ET, Associated Press.]
• "U.S. officials say the Chinese pilot whose F-8 collided with the U.S. plane was a 'cowboy' who took chances, and that other Chinese pilots have been overly aggressive, too. China says the U.S. plane caused the accident by striking the F-8." [Kampeas, Ron, Reconnaissance Missions Reconsidered, Friday April 6 6:47 PM ET, Associated Press.]
• "'In Japan, we apologize even before we know all the facts,' says Yukio Akatsuka, a Japanese cultural critic. 'To apologize and to ease people's feelings is normal ... even though it might not be the person's responsibility.'" [Prusher, Ilene R. (staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor), Sub Accident Apologies Not Translating Well to Japanese, WBUR 90.9 FM, Boston, MA.]
• "Officials laying out Beijing's demands use the Chinese word 'daoqian' [pronounced dow-CHEE-YEN] - a formal apology that means the speaker accepts blame. ... 'Daoqian' means literally 'I speak of my failure.' ... In this case, said [Perry] Link [a professor of Chinese at Princeton University], 'that word would imply that this flight was wrong, which would have direct implications for guarding the Chinese coast and relations over Taiwan.'" [MacDonald, Joe, China Wants Apology, Not Regret , Tuesday April 10 1:21 AM ET, Associated Press.]

So ... I figure the story goes like this: America has been spying on China in a somewhat bizarre, overt manner for years and the Chinese don't like it. Their reaction has been to send fighters to menace the spy planes, but not to use weapons to do so (i.e. go to war). One of the more daring pilots collided with the spy plane and crashed. The spy plane was damaged and needed to make an emergency landing inside China. There is a cultural footnote here -- it is customary in Eastern culture to "apologize first and resolve later" to defuse volatile situations (I didn't find a direct reference that this applies to China like it does in Japan, so I may be wrong there). China has exploited this situation by demading the United States admit the spy activity is wrong. Basically, China wants the United States to apologize and take blame in the sense that the collision and loss of life occurred because the spy plane was in the way -- had it not been there, nothing would have happened.

• Bridget Jones's Diary - Bridget Jones is a publisher who keeps a diary. This is the story of that diary.
• Josie and the Pussycats - Rachael Leigh Cook and Parker Posey? Could this be any closer to the fantasy universe I have constructed ... for ... my...self ... er ... I mean, I think Rachael has promise as an up and coming actress, and Parker continues to live up to her up-and-comer status, not to mention my admiration of the garage band phenomenon. Plus they have little kitty ears.
• Kingdom Come - When a relative that nobody likes dies, the rest of the family rejoices.
• Joe Dirt - Joe Dirt is, like, a total loser. This is a movie about such a loser.

• The Back Steps
• Glass: Memories of Water #25
• Arbor Vitae
• An W+B
• Surface Tension
• Flood at Lyon
• York Portrait: Chapter Two
• Goldfish Bowl
• Imaginary Light

• CRUNCHADELZ ROLL - consisting of spicy tuna, onion crunchies wrapped in delicious brie.
• SEVICHE ROLL - consisting of marinated flounder in Sushi Chef Nic's super secret blend of purple onions, cilantro and other goodies.
• LOBSTER DELIGHT ROLL - consisting of succulent lobster in a spicy mayonnaise with avocado and lemon rolled in orange tobiko eggs.

• Futurama: War Is the H-Word - Fry and Bender join the military, unaware that Earth is about to go to war; Leela serves under Zapp Brannigan.
• King of the Hill: Spin the Choice - Bobby refuses to celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving after learning about its history from John Redcorn.
• Simpsons: HOMR - Homer's intellectual curiosity blossoms after doctors remove a crayon wedged in his brain.
• Malcolm in the Middle: Therapy - Malcolm fakes a mental breakdown to avoid the silly costumes and folk
• Simpsons: Insane Clown Poppy - Bart meets a girl named Sophie who claims to be Krusty's illegitimate daughter.
• Malcolm in the Middle: The Grandparents - Lois' parents withdraw their offer of financial assistance after Hal and Lois spend their money on a refrigerator.