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| ...Cold snap and rain headed for North Texas late this weekend and early next week... "A strong cold front will move into North Texas on Sunday. Showers and thunderstorms will precede and accompany the front...with prolonged chances of cold rain after its passage." "There is a chance of freezing rain Tuesday morning along and northwest of a line from Cisco to Sherman/Denison. At this time...it appears temperatures will only briefly dip to or below freezing. As such...little ice accumulation is expected. However...there is still some uncertainty about surfacetemperatures and how the rain may affect morning lows Tuesday." Two finals Monday, one Tuesday, one Wednesday, one Thursday. Essay due Monday, freezing rain Tuesday, rehearsals for this year's annual choir christmas production Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. All of these are going forcefully down the toilet once I find out when services are for my grandfather. I thankfully have a good rapport with all of my professors. So I imagine they'll be accomidating in allowing me to reschedule a final here and there for later in the week. And if they aren't? Well then Kung Fu Docta will most definitery come find them, because I'm quite apathetic about these exams as it stands. I should seriously make a Kung Fu Docta video game. That would be amazing! Revel one: ribrary. All of the ribrarians have come down with a book worm. You must help Kung Fu Docta rerieve them of their plight, with kung fu! Wah-tah! I need to stop posting in such random bursts, or starbursts as a Raynbo might say. Instead I think I shall leave you all to what is turning out to be a beautiful texas Friday, and be on my merry way. | | |
| As promised, here is last year's Reverend BigDawg Christmas CD. I also wanted to thank everyone for their words of encouragement. I can't begin to tell you all how much that means to me. Henry Warren Patterson passed away last night around 11:00 Central Standard Time. from what our family in Louisiana has told us, he went peacefully and was in no pain. None of us expected this would come so soon, but we knew it was only a matter of time. And we'd much rather he not have to spend his last hours on this Earth in discomfort and agony. If nothing else, we can take solace in knowing that his suffering is finally at an end and that he is now in a much better place. Class-is-a-calling, so I must be off. But I wanted to post that brief update (if Steve hasn't done so already.) | | |
| Bah! It has been too long since I've updated you guys on the happenings of John. To redeem myself for my lack of writing, I should be force-fed pounds upon pounds of creamy wonderful chocolate-like things! For the most part though much of what has befallen this Clower has been school-related anyway, and I don't want to bore you guys with that. Suffice it to say sixty pages of papers, an exam, and a presentation all compressed into an eight-day period make for some very stressful Johns. Anyhow, I quite literally have two hours of downtime and no compelling reason to work on anything of consequence, so an update is what you all are stuck with now! M'woo ha ha ha ha ha. Work on this year's Reverend BigDawg CD has finally begun as of last weekend. completion of the opening track is taking a bit longer than I would like, but the expositioning tracks are always the most difficult to nail down. The mid to later tracks have in part been recorded, and those that haven't usually feed off one another anyway, which makes them very easy to put together. For those who missed last year's CD, I'll post a link to it later this evening. Well ok, I could post one now, but it wouldn't go anywhere really until the necessary file is uploaded. On a much more serious note: For those who are the praying type, Paw-Paw (AKA our grandfather on our mom's side of the family) has taken a turn for the worse. Our mom is flying down this weekend, and the doctors have said that it could be a matter of months or weeks or...less at this point. Right now he is sedated and will be in the hospital for a good long while. And hopefully we can make it down there before things get even worse. Of course I want my grandfather to magicly come out of this ordeal the man he was several years ago. I want to know that every morning I'm down there, he'll be up at 4:00 with a pot of coffee and a good anecdote. I want him to feel as if he still has a purpose in this world, because it's been very hard for him since he retired a couple of years ago. I think that for all of us, the thought of losing our independence to the point where we have to be looked after and cared for on a nearly round-the-clock basis is perhaps one of the most frightening prospects we can imagine. Couple that with cancer, heart problems, blood clots, among other things, and it's the nightmare my grandfather has had to deal with off and on for the last two or three years. I want this to miraculously go away and for the past to be the future, but that's looking very unlikely right now, and at this point I'm just glad to know he isn't in any pain. Several times this and last week he has been up for fifty hours straight, my aunts and uncle and grandmother have been watching him round the clock, and it's just been a very hard time for everyone. Because of classes and projects, Steve and myself have not really dealt with any of this aside from emotional updates from our mom. But we both know this will all change very very soon as we are planning to head down to Lafayette on the twenty-first. So if you guys could keep him in your thoughts and prayers, Steve and I would greatly appreciate it. I also wanted to thank everyone who directly or indirectly has contributed to my show over the past few weeks. I promise I'm not writing this as a cheap plug. To prove it, I'm not giving any dates, times, or links. But the feedback I get from you guys and the interaction that goes on has been a God-send to me. Scholastically and emotionally this has been a trying time, and, while the scholastic bit will be over in a week or so, unfortunately the emotional aspect has only just begun. But when I'm doing my stupid little show, for three magical hours, all of that drama and stress melts away. I can't thank you all enough for that. And if there is ever anything I can do for any of you, regardless if you tune in or what not, I am always more than happy to be of service. Wow. I honestly didn't intend for this to be a serious heart-felt entry, but sometimes when you start writing you just have to let the words take over. And due to a lack of food since last night, a slight headache is trying to set in. With luck I can beat it senseless with a pointed stick until 9 or so when I can get some food in my system. This week has most certainly been a long one. I had made a vow to try and drop to eleven stones and ten before the end of next week, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to resist making a stiff drink or two tomorrow. With that I think it's time for me to post this motha motha and start packing up this laptop. have a safe and splendid weekend, everyone. | | |
| Over the course of the last few months, it's become quite clear to the Clower that Mondays through Wednesdays seem to be my only real productive days of the week. Logically this results in me taking a break from cramming dozens of Supreme Court cases in my brain to write an entry for all you's guys. Isn't that swell? Well? This past weekend was spent doing nothing productive whatsoever. On Saturday I filled in for both Derek and Andre and hosted what I like to call KJMCFM and the Louis CoverBox. Combined with my co-host duties on Blart Radio, I was live for eight hours or so, which, when compared to some of my marathon broadcasts, pales in comparison (as far as length goes.) But I enjoyed myself immensely, and if only I could get paid for online broadcasting, I'd have my career set. There's just something about being able to pass on your experiences to a given multitude all at once. I know that musicians feel something similar when they create music and convert the little melodies in their head to tangible notes and chords. But broadcasting can provide all of that in realtime, and it's much much easier to do, which is wonderful for me, as my musical skills are somewhat limited. Speaking of musicianism, The Big Chill Second Generation is playing next Saturday night at 7:00 in Cedar Hill. I'm really not sure exactly what we're playing for, but it's at some rather swanky complex. We're doing this as a favor to a friend of our drummer's. We won't get paid or anything, but it's exposure, and I've been needing to brush up on my vocal work for some time now anyway. For any local people reading this, either Steve or myself will post an address at some point. But with this weekend being Homecoming for the University of North Texas, somehow I doubt anyone will be making any kind of concerted effort to drive down for the show. Lately Steve and i have been proverbially poked on multiple fronts regarding this years' Reverend BigDawg Christmas CD. Now I must confess that there haven't been any tracks laid down as of yet, but we literally have a dozen ideas all nicely mapped out. Unfortunately the formula for the production involves a bit of procrastination. I tried writing out a script one year, and it just didn't work. Luckily we have so many random recordings already on-hand that I know they could serve as puzzle pieces to some of the key tracks this year. But regardless of the finished product, the "I just found twenty cents on the floor" clip from one of my shows last month will find its way onto the CD one way or another. And since the Kung Fu Docta character has really taken off, he'll probably have a bigger role this year, too, also. As far as spoilers go, that is all you will hear from Steve or myself until we debut a track or two next month once Thanksgiving has passed. Tonight at 7:00 I've been asked to speak at a sorority on behalf of the ODA, which I'm hoping could qualify as an excused absence from the first half of my night class. Somehow I doubt it will, but I'll probably let the professor know in advance just so I don't get on her bad side. That would be a scary scary place. Kung Fu Docta no rike! I suppose I should get back to work, but before I do, I have to plug tomorrow's edition of The John Zone. For those who don't remember there was an old children's oriented station here in the states in the mid 1990's called Radio AAHS. It was quite literally the precursor to radio Disney. But unlike Disney, there was a real variety of music and personality on the network. It was probably the most diverse terrestrial radio station I've ever come across. But anyhows, in their prime, they released a ten-track compilation every month in a subscription which included their short-lived magazine, and I just happened to track down a few of these discs last week. So far only one has arrived, but there are several gems on it which I shall play. Hopefully at least one more can flop into my mailbox either today or tomorrow so there can be even more randomness. I owe Radio AAHS for a lot of things. They introduced me to Scatman John. They played tracks off of the Ren and Stimpy and Animaniacs CD's I didn't know existed back then, and for inspiring me to make stupid home recordings of myself as a DJ which led to my interest in webcasting when I growed up. Since this was a kids' oriented station, the format involved many different contests all over the place. It was very enticing and promoted a lot of interaction with its listeners, myself included. I don't know if I'll have enough time, but Steve and I have three or four tapes that we made between 1994 and 1996 of this station in all its random glory, and there are many recordings of us calling in to various shows. The quality is probably disgustingly bad, but if I can find a good isolation, I'll try to line it in and play it tomorrow night. failing that, I still have another bit of incrimination I know I can have ready in time for the broadcast. I'm sure one day I'll look back and regret playing these little clips from my days of yor, but for now I have no problem with archived humiliation. So tune in to this link with your media player of choice and laugh at my shamelessness. You can hear my bizarre ramblings every Tuesday from 6 to 9PM Eastern Daylight Time, 5 to 8PM Central daylight Time, 2 to 5PM Alaska Standard Time, 11AM to 2PM Samoa Standard Time, and on Wednesdays from 11AM to 2PM New Zealand daylight Time and noon to 3PM Line Island Time. Ah the joys of the Internet!!! Dah, just as I think I've reached a stopping point I've thought of something else to write about! Why can't I have this problem when I write term papers? But the weather this week has been nothing short of amazing. At 9:00 this morning I left the house in fifty-degree weather with a light rain falling and a northerly breeze of fifteen miles per hour. I haven't felt temperatures this cool in at least seven months. Knowing Texas weather patterns, I'm sure we'll be back in the eighties soon enough, but for once it's looking like fall is here to stay. Yes yes yes! Cold cold cold! Ok this has by far been one of my longest entries ever, and I apologize for that. but in my defense, I haven't written a real entry in some time now, so I think I've earned this. What? You disagree? Well then, uhmm, hmm. Good for you. | | |
| All in all the first day back has been alright. I was in store for one Reverend BigDawg of a shock when RJ walked up to me in my 10:00 French class. Aside from a few chance encounters at his sister's wedding and perhaps one more at our church, I hadn't really seen the guy on any kind of regular basis since before he and Genevieve were married some, dah!, nearly two years ago! Has it really been that long? John feels old now! Where'sh my falsh teefth? My classes with Doctors Ditslear and Sahliyeh on the American legal system and Middle Eastern politics respectively seem as if they'll be alright. Nothing I can't handle as long as I don't fall too far behind. of course I've been known to do this very thing, so we'll see how that goes. Last night I had my constitutional law class with Kimi King, whom Michele recommended. Well, she recommended her a few years back, but I imagine said recommendation still stands. Anyhow, it was apparent very very quickly that hers will be my most trying class this semester. I could technically drop if it got too intense, but then, in order to graduate in May, I would have to take four poli-sci courses in the spring as opposed to three. And there are two grad history courses offered by Dr. Fuhrmann and Dr. Stern next semester which I already kind of have my eye on taking. So I'll be a man and stick it out. (Rips off shirt in stereotypical action star fashion in Bluebottle voice). Speaking of Stern, I have her Renaissance class later today, along with Stockdale's Modern Middle East history class with Shawn and Molly. It's so wonderful to have classes with people you know, you know? Who knows. Then I have a doctors' appointment at 2:30 and of course my weekly John Zone at 5:00. Then I shall pass out and all will be right with the world. Ok that's enough from John for a little while. Au revoir, mes moutons. | | |
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