Please vote YES on Measure R and Proposition 1A.

I never had a real need for a laptop, because in undergrad I relied on the trusty notepad and paper for taking notes. Having recently thrown all my old notepads away a couple of years ago, I thought I should get a laptop for grad school -- the notebook or 3-ring binder really was an obsolete piece of student technology.

Since my primary purpose was to take notes and use the internet for surfing and emailing, I did not need something large or powerful. (I already have a Pentium D at home that is way more than adequate for games, video editing, and media playback.)

The slew of "netbooks" out there seemed daunting until I picked one a couple months ago that is working quite well for me.

Check out Jeff's Bachelor Party pics here.

Flickr set is here.

What a fantastic day.

Ate at Johnnie's Pastrami, marveled at Venice Beach, ate more delicious food at Porky's BBQ, and then got blown away by Nine Inch Nails at The Forum. Check out the setlist and another crappy cellphone pic.

Once again, no one is going far enough with cell phone restrictions. Recently a congressman introduced the HANG UP Act, which would ban cell phone use on planes over 30,000 feet. This proposed law does not even come close to protecting everyone from everyone else.

We have to have these extreme measures, because look over there in Europe: those liberal people are doing the opposite! Imagine the consequences of having to listen to loud talking on a quiet plane flight!

So I am proposing a new law (similar to the old one) that would curtail cell phone usage in other places.

First though, let's make airplanes a better place to relax and conduct business.

I now know what it is like to have something die in my hands. One second I was holding it close to my face, the next second it was still sharp but lifeless.

I now know what it is like to suffer through Fusion Instant Death Syndrome.

After being postponed in 2004 and 2006, the California High-Speed Rail proposal is now officially on the November ballot as Proposition 1. It will pass a $10 billion bond, which is enough to fund the state's portion of construction costs from LA to SF.

Imagine traveling over 400 miles in 2.5 hours for about 50 bucks! That's better than smelling shit on the 5, or having a plane's cargo section get blown away, or having some old lady die in a lavatory.

Vote YES on PROP 1

...Hope You Find Your Monthly-Build-Paradise.

It is the end of an era and the beginning of the Summer of Joe Part Deux. Later in one month will be the commencement of another era.

To keep your interest, I've updated some pics, so be sure to take a look.

Sadly, lawmakers did not heed my advice, and thus the politically-motivated "hands-free" law is in effect.

Terrible.

Thanks, politicians, for making such a dumb law to gather brownie points from the herd who reach for the most yellow paper they can find.

In November there will an important bond measure that will finally allocate money towards the California High Speed Rail from LA/SD to SF/Sacramento.

CAHSR redid their website recently, with an excellent map showing real cost and time savings for the average Californian. The Times also ran an article about potential right-of-way problems with Union Pacific.

In this day and age of airlines screwing us with baggage fees and flying slow to save money, we need to get this bond passed in November!

Wow

The Slip is out now at nin.com.

During another sleepless night I had a wonderful idea: get my GED. Did I graduate from high school? Of course! Do I have an undergraduate university degree? Yup!

Unfortunately I cannot take it because of the two abovementioned things. What is interesting is that I found a spelling error right on the main page. Click through to see the evidence (as of 4/28/2008).

Update: They fixed it.

There are only a few music albums that begin like a lightning bolt to the dome and continue through like a 100 yard pass to the endzone.

You pop in the CD/tape/record/press-play-on-the-album-on-your-mp3-player and that first track rocks you so hard you want to eat dirt.

Well maybe not exactly dirt, but you feel like putting your fist through the nearest parking meter or stray dog because that first song rocks so much.

You're blown away.

Your teeth and asshole clench up.

Your eyes squint and your lips twist into some weird but badass frown that lets everyone around you know that you're a badass because you're listening to a badass first song.

Last week there were some very informative open houses to discuss the alignment in Phase 2 of Metro's Expo Line. It will basically follow the ROW up until about 20th in Santa Monica, but then it can go down the center of either Olympic or Colorado.

Depending on the choice, the terminus will be at the Sears building or on 2nd/4th/Colorado. Regardless it is exciting to see this kind of future heading towards us. (Also the USC/Trousdale Phase I station will be built -- yay for USC SPPD.)

Be sure to view the PowerPoint presentation on the BuildExpo site.

• take them for walks to intimidate small children and animals.
• rough-house with them
• teach them mixed martial arts.
• and so much more!

Well it took exactly 13 months, but it finally happened. My Xbox 360 got RROD'd. I was only watching some recorded TV when it froze. After restarting it made a strange noise and froze again during that startup screen. And again a third time. And again a fourth time. Then on the fifth, she breathed her last breath.

At least I finally made it to Captain (Skill Level 10) on Halo....

With all the election hoopla that came with full force the past few weeks, it is time to recognize the best choice for this nation. Sadly few are ready for this man and what he stands for. Maybe sixty years from now, a man like Dennis Kucinich will gather enough votes to change how we view ourselves as a nation. And hopefully by that time, this archaic two-party presidential system will have mutated to something more truly democratic.

Well, it's nice to dream.

By accident I happened to stumble upon the MySpace page of an imposter. I cannot believe it. I did not think someone would actually try to copy me. He has the exact same name as me, but lives in Colorado and is a year younger than me. There might be some distant relation, but that would still be weird. He does like Tool, Family Guy, and drinking, which is scary because obviously I do too.

Bottom line, I was here first. Some might be tricked by this Hottie Hunter or Cyber Psychosis (some goth/industrial electronic band), but do not be fooled. Here are some important ways to distinguish the Real Joe Walcek with the Fake Joe Walcek.

There will be a bunch of public meetings to evaluate possible alignments and means of extending mass transit to the Westside. February 5 is the one in Westwood.

What is interesting is that the maps shows possible Crenshaw corridor lines connecting directly to Wilshire. Let's hope the Purple Line gets extended all the way to the Expo terminus in Santa Monica, plus the extension from Hollywood Highland.

A championship bowl game in January probably will not happen in a year, but I am ready to see some marked improvement ten months from now.

Also, I predict a Bruin victory over UNC in the March championship game, 73-71.