Michael Malice title

I was copying some particularly funny journal entries from The Great Punkin, and when I saw the error message below I thought she somehow caused it appear as a joke. I've done Word tech support before, but I've never seen anyone spell so bad as to break Word.

Very happily I rec'd today the first new Bangles CD in 14 years. Well, the m-fing record company has "copy control" technology implemented so that you cannot rip mp3s from it. The sharpie hack--filling in the edge of the disc with a marker--allowed me to get tracks 2-15, but track 1 still eludes me. It's times like this that make me doubt my Randian technophilia.

UPDATE: How to hack a copy control CD.
Musicmatch can handle tracks from #2 on if you outline the edge of the CD in black sharpie (the 'height' of the CD, not the top or bottom edge). This particular album had an autorun file attached, causing it to launch a player automatically when inserted into the CD. Open Musicmatch and let the CD autoplay. Hit pause on the CD's player, then hit back. This cues up the CD's player to track 1. Now you can have Musicmatch's recorder rip track 1.

Forgive me for the egotistical undertone but: I watched Dana Carvey on the Tonight Show last night for a moment, and he was actually still doing Ross Perot. Now, Perot hasn't generated a headline since 1996; it was if Leno had booked EMF and had them do 'Unbelievable.' Has Carvey become a huge hack, or was he always one? I had found him funny back when I thought Piers Anthony was a good writer, so clearly I didn't know what I was talking about. As opposed to now, ahem. Or is Carvey doing some meta Andy Kaufman imitation of a hack comedian, and no one appreciates the context?

Which reminds me: I saw a guy at Wendy's yesterday wearing a Members Only jacket in a non-ironic manner. *shudder*

Read two books recently. The first, the too-literally titled Gnostics and their Remains was a mind-numbing catalog of extant (19th century) gnostic artifacts, with very little on the remains of gnostic thought and religion.

I've seen The Sheltering Sky described as 'the birth of the cool' in literature. I loved the first half, the writing being very reminiscent of my hero Albert Camus (and I was very pleased to see Tennessee Williams make the same comparison in the intro...from beyond the grave!) But then the author does the unthinkable: he kills off his protagonist, leaving the secind half a complete silly mess.

E-mail of the Day

"I don't need to 'go to hell' when I'm with you...I feel like I'm already there.

See you Wednesday!"

I had lunch with Gary today...no big news that I can repeat, although things are looking very good. I asked him whether he would play the premiere should the film be made, and at first he refused for one parTicular reason. But he admitted that he probably would change his mind if the plot came to fruition. He also gave me a tape of an old documentary made of him back in '80. He's going to the Cleveland International Film Festival on Wed. and will read my baby on the trip. Yee-ha!

I'm at home surfing the web and thinking about my next 2 projects, and I don't care that on Saturday night I'm
at home
alone
in a room dimly lit
by a blue bulb
so you can feel drowned.

Completely over the 'I, Lucifer' thing. If you have something original to say, no one can steal it from you. No other author can pre-empt me, no matter how feted or British he is. I am Zuul.

Yes, I watched Ghostbusters tonight. Wicked.