Crazy Ethan's House of Bargains

Mon, 12 Dec 2005 18:28:41 GMT

I've been "Tagged by default" by Tenshi :P

Yay, first time I got tagged for something!

The rules: if you get tagged, you must post an entry listing 5 "weird habits" that you possess. Then, you must pick 5 more people to tag, and list their names at the end of the entry. Leave a comment on their site, saying "you've been tagged" and tell them to read your journal for the rules.

1. I talk to myself when I'm thinking... a lot - especially a bad habit when playing go "hmm, crap that doesn't work. Time to count the score and see if I should resign..." :P

2. I'm a big fan of homemade / diy / personal stuff, but hardly ever take the time to make any myself (because of #3...)

3. I tend to be too perfectionist to enjoy the results of things I do by myself - this, combined with #2 is why I spent a year learning how to draw, then stopped. This is also why I rarely take photos just for the fun of it. I like doing craftsy stuff but always feel like I'm going to fuck it up so I tend to not.

4. I almost never finish video games.

5. I forget to eat meals when I'm engrossed in something else - I usually figure it out a few hours later though. (why does my head hurt so much?)

Tags:
spukolade
cryptorphc
kujiro
pudding_blob
flogg

er, let me know if one of you already did this and I missed it :P

holy shit, New Orleans

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 21:39:41 GMT

(16:11:34) Josh: im at a comcenter for this local relief organization
(16:11:56) Josh: its crazy, you been keeping up at all with the news about the shit going on around here?
(16:12:12) Marginal Warfare: not really, why, what's going on?
(16:12:55) Josh: Well the government is trying to keep the poor black population out of the city so they can "revitalize" new orleans
(16:13:00) Marginal Warfare: wtf
(16:13:38) Josh: they are actually going so far to weld window and doors shut with pieces of sheet metal
(16:13:53) Josh: to keep people out of the houses that are at least still standing

What the fuck?!!

I hadn't heard about any of this, either. I guess now that "the hurricane" is over, the media doesn't give a shit.

I like this phrase, "pleasure calculus"

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 19:28:28 GMT

is it truly as erotic as advertised?

21st U.S. Go Congress

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 19:51:16 GMT

Two things happened last week. This is about the happy one. Next post will be about the sad one.

So much cool stuff happened last week, it was awesome.

(Key for player's ranks for non-players: d == amateur dan level player, p == professional dan level player, k == amateur kyu level player (weaker than dan level). 1p is roughly equal to a strong 7d as far as playing skill goes, but the top amateur rank is 9d, so a 9d may be as strong as a 9p since the ranks are capped.)

(More go terms: komi == a number of points given to White to make up for the fact that Black has the first move.
tesuji == brilliant move or sequence of moves to accomplish a tactical aim.
moyo == large framework that has yet to become solid territory.
insei == professional go student. A person who studies and plays go every day with a group of other students to try to become a professional go player.
IGS and KGS == servers where you can play go on the internet.)

I didn't play in the U.S. Open, giving up my games there to help Chris Garlock record games at the top boards. I borrowed Shai Simonson's and Jeff Boscole's laptops at various times to simulcast the games on IGS (people in the hall were watching the top games on the closed-circuit TVs and rebroadcasting them on KGS as well). They're good people, although I have to say I greatly preferred using Shai's iBook G3 to Jeff's old broken Pentium 1. Can't discriminate against the Windows user too much though, at least he plays go. :P

Sophia and Tenshi, you should be jealous. One of the games I recorded was between two very hot young asian men (Lu Wang 8d and Takahiro Kitagawa 8d), and two more were between each of those and a Romanian guy with a sexy accent (Cornel Burzo 7d). Lu Wang (American, of Chinese descent) had his hair dyed red, and Takahiro Kitagawa (from Japan) had the most awesome haircut ever. Cornel just had the accent, but it was great. :P

Tuesday night, during the Ing match, we were watching the top board (Jie Li 9d vs Joey Hung 8d, I believe) on the closed-circuit TV when a late arrival came through the door. Myeong-wan Kim, a 7 dan professional from Korea (who looks like he's about 17 or 18 years old), walked in and immediately started commenting on the game. Somebody brought over a demo board and he began replaying the game and looking at variations. Things like "White should extend here now, Black must respond below and then... (20 move sequence in another corner) after this fight, there is a ladder breaker ready."

The Midnight Madness tournament went on all week, one round every night. I played in three rounds, winning two of them. The only downside to that was that I spent the night afterward hanging out with Chuck, Juan Pablo and Aria until 3 am or so then had to get up early to record in the Open. :)

Speaking of the Midnight Madness, Takahiro Kitagawa played every round and was undefeated in the Midnight Madness. He also won 5 out of 6 rounds in the U.S. Open, only losing to Xuefei Lin 1p. This guy is awesome. The Japanese don't hand out 8 dan amateur diplomas lightly. The only two ways to be awarded one are to win the Amateur Honinbo tournament, or the World Amateur Go Championship. He was insei at the Kansai Kiin from the time he was 12 until he was 18 (when the Kansai Kiin stops allowing kids to study there), then became insei at the Nihon Kiin for four more years, until he reached their age limit at 22. The Japanese professionals at the Congress treated him as though he were already a sensei, they basically consider him one of them. He will almost certainly pass the pro exam soon.

Wednesday was the "day-off", when people get to go on sightseeing tours of the area the Congress is in this year. I was one of the people who stuck around and played in the Diehard Tournament instead. :P
I took Chuck's advice and self-promoted to 3-dan, but I wasn't having a very good day. I lost all my games. Other sad news came this day, but you'll read about that in the next post.

My first game in the Diehard was quite amusing. I was paired against Horst, a 3 dan from Germany. I made a critical reading error early on in the game and spent the entire middle game trying to catch up. In the early endgame I noticed a tesuji to split a thread of stones reducing my moyo from his weak corner group. It would force him to defend one or the other. If he defends the reduction, the corner would die, and if he lives in the corner, I would no longer have a moyo, I would have territory with a lot of dead white stones in it. I play most of the way through the sequence, then right before cutting through I re-read and go "Oh, it doesn't work. That sucks." Then play elsewhere. Immediately his hand flashes a stone into place to protect the cut. I'm startled, then I re-read the sequence again. If I push through the cut one direction it doesn't work... if I push through the other way, it DOES work. I was so startled that I actually put my hand over my mouth and gasped audibly! I've never seen anybody do that in real life before, but I was so shocked by the situation that I actually did it. I looked at Horst, and we both cracked up laughing. We laughed for about four minutes solid (on MY clock time) then he said "it's good you can laugh. you will get stronger soon because you can laugh about it."

Thursday brought a surprise! After seeing Jie Li 9d play in the Ing Cup, Myeong-wan Kim 7p wanted to play him. Ron Snyder 7d acted as a go-between to arrange the match, and eventually the news was that there would be a no komi game between Jie Li and Myeong-wan Kim (apocryphal tale: Legend says that when Jie was offered a no komi game by the professional, he said "A teaching game is fine, but we'll see who the student is."). The game was broadcast on IGS and transmitted downstairs into one of the lecture halls, where Feng Yun 9p did the commentary. After two brutal ko fights in the mid-game, White ran out of ko threats. By this time both players were in byo-yomi, and we were all watching in the lecture hall, waiting breathlessly for the next move. Feng Yun's understated comment was "this is tough for White," and we watched and waited, and finally realized.. no next move was coming. Myeong-wan Kim had resigned the game.

Thursday also heralded the day that every single drink machine on the campus ran out of drinks. Even the automated coffee machine was out of mocha, french vanilla, cappucino and hot chocolate. You could only get Maxwell House Regular.

Thursday night I got to record the final game of the Redmond Cup. The Redmond Cup is a tournament involving only very strong young players. The final match was Zhaonian Chen 7d (aka darkmage 9d from KGS) vs. Richard Liang 7d. It was a great game. Zhaonian Chen won. After the game I asked if I could sit in while they reviewed it, as I had a couple of questions. Darkmage said "yeah, sure." When they got to one part of the opening I said "here, where Richard attaches on top, I was looking at this kosumi (diagonal move), it protects the cut as well..." I got the best response ever. Darkmage goes "woah woah woah, what are you, 2 dan? Where'd you learn that? 2 dans aren't supposed to know about moves like this!" XDDD

Saturday, the final day of the Congress. I beat Gus (a 14 year-old whose badge said 1 dan, but who people estimate is actually 4-dan strength) in a self-paired game. Gus is going to Korea to study as an insei for six months starting in two weeks. I wish I were ten years younger and going to Korea to study at the Hankuk-Kiwon. I wish him the best of luck. I'll be disappointed if he's not 7-dan when he gets back. :)

Sunday morning, I asked Juan Pablo if he wanted to get some breakfast with me at the coffee shop down the street and he said "sure, hang on, do you mind if I ask my parents too?" We checked with them and they said "well, we were about to head to the hotel and pack up, why don't you come along, we'll stop at IHOP and then drop you off at the airport since we're driving north to visit Vancouver anyway!"

So at the IHOP Juan Pablo 4d and I played a game... and I won! Juan Pablo beat Keith Arnold 5d in the U.S. Open, and then beat a 6d as well! Probably he was just having a really bad day while I was having a really good one, but I'm still really happy about that win. :)

So that's my story, from the 21st U.S. Go Congress in Tacoma, WA.

Go Congress

Fri, 05 Aug 2005 17:57:25 GMT

I'm getting ready to leave for ~1.6 weeks. I'm driving to Maryland tonight, where I'll stay with some friends of Chuck's for a few hours then they'll drop me off at BWI (so I don't have to pay for my car to be parked at the airport).

At the airport, I take a plane to Chicago, then another plane to Seattle.

Once there, I'll be immersed in go for a week. ^_^

Then back to Baltimore via Atlanta, then to Chuck's house for a couple of days to build him a Linux workstation.

Finally back to Richmond, probably Thursday.

You can get info about the 2005 U.S. Go Congress from the AGA's website at www.usgo.org.

It's hosted at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA 98447 - come visit me there if you're in the area!

this is sweet

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 14:42:40 GMT

Somebody has made a near real-life equivalent of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. ^^

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2005/07/30/etgadget30.xml&sSheet=/travel/2005/07/30/ixtrvhome.html

I want to be a reviewer/journalist/thingy!

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 22:59:07 GMT

Wow, stayed up 'til 3 am with Tenshi and Sophia watching Monty Python's Flying Circus. It was awesome, I haven't seen enough of that show (actually, the only one we watched that I remembered seeing before was the one with the Kami-kaze Scotsmen).

We should do it again sometime ^^

And/or Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu / Blade Runner / Cube over at my place in the giant fluffy bean bag of doom :P

just for Weev

Thu, 02 Jun 2005 17:47:42 GMT

Sparring before the attack on Naruto:

My New Clown Fighting Technique is Unstoppable!

Awesome article

Thu, 02 Jun 2005 17:41:47 GMT

I love Lawrence Lessig. I also love the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil (wish I had the money to travel).

Finally, the two are together at last!

Lessig visits the WSF

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 00:03:45 GMT

I decided it was time for a new icon that showed what I look like with the 'hawk.

I'm angry, grr!

Old cranky Japanese men rock

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 22:51:29 GMT

Interview with the ex-CEO of Nintendo:

I stood on my chair and put my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice, see, and said, in English, slowly and forming the words very carefully - "HEY, BALLMER, WHY DON'T YOU SUCK MY TINY YELLOW BALLS?"

Ninjas beat Pirates beat Robots beat Clowns

Tue, 07 Dec 2004 20:03:34 GMT

(15:39:04) Marginal Warfare: Remember the arse kicking circle. Ninja beats pirate beats robot beats clown beats ninja. Every seen a ninja fighting a clown? Now you know why
(15:39:24) Weev: clown beats ninja?
(15:39:25) Weev: since when?
(15:39:50) Weev: i refuse to believe this
(15:39:56) Marginal Warfare: since the Shimani clan's raid on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum Baily circus
(15:40:12) Marginal Warfare: the lions fed well that night
(15:40:30) Weev: lololol
(15:40:37) Weev: sorry ninja beats *
(15:40:46) Weev: srsly
(15:41:04) Marginal Warfare: live in your fantasy world if you must
(15:41:49) Weev: wtf do clowns have against wall runs, caltrops, ninja swords, insane stunts, acid spitting, ninja smoke, kawarimi, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu mastery?
(15:41:56) Weev: clown shoes?
(15:41:58) Weev: clown cars?
(15:42:05) Marginal Warfare: yes
(15:42:30) Weev: this is fucking lame man
(15:42:33) Marginal Warfare: hehe
(15:42:51) Weev: so you're telling me bozo could beat naruto
(15:43:01) Marginal Warfare: nah, bozo's dead
(15:43:07) Marginal Warfare: a robot got him
(15:43:23) Marginal Warfare: hmm, where do zombie clowns fit in the circle?
(15:43:23) Weev: what if he resurrected himself through forbidden clown magick
(15:44:15) Marginal Warfare: ok, sticking with the spirit of the question... yes
(15:44:21) Marginal Warfare: bozo beats naruto
(15:44:23) Weev: wtf
(15:44:26) Weev: naruto has kyubi
(15:44:28) Weev: and rasengan
(15:44:34) Weev: and kage bunshin
(15:44:44) Weev: and bozo has those buckets you throw the balls in
(15:44:50) Weev: this is srsly fucktarded
(15:44:56) Marginal Warfare: but naruto beats Cpt. Jack Sparrow, who beats Bozo
(15:45:15) Marginal Warfare: it's like rock paper scissors
(15:45:17) Weev: wait i thought it was robots who beat clowns?
(15:45:24) Marginal Warfare: pirates beat robots
(15:45:39) Weev: naruto would beat captain jack sparrow who would beat bender who would beat bozo?
(15:45:44) Marginal Warfare: yep
(15:45:50) Weev: no sorry
(15:45:53) Weev: naruto could take on all of them at once
(15:46:09) Marginal Warfare: naruto could beat bender too
(15:46:12) Marginal Warfare: just not bozo directly
(15:47:04) Weev: okay let's assume that ninjas have an inherent weakness to clowns
(15:47:12) Weev: naruto is still such a powerful ninja he could defeat all but the most powerful of clowns
(15:47:22) Weev: and let's face it, there are no powerful clowns
(15:47:30) Weev: they are all middleaged, balding pedophiles
(15:47:44) Weev: they have no abilities except for the inappropriate touching of children
(15:47:47) Marginal Warfare: hahaha
(15:48:13) Weev: therefore all ninjas beat all clowns until the day when clowns begin developing unstoppable clown fighting techniques
(15:48:23) Marginal Warfare: what about the one played by Tim Curry in that Stephen King movie?
(15:48:33) Weev: okay
(15:48:36) Weev: maybe him
(15:48:38) Weev: and john wayne gacy
(15:49:02) Weev: and the killer clowns from outer space
(15:49:12) Marginal Warfare: see?
(15:49:21) Weev: still
(15:49:27) Weev: that's a very small minority of powerful clowns
(15:49:36) Weev: vs a vast body of high-level ninjas
(15:50:12) Weev: and there's such a large number of ninjas that they could take the clowns out in groups
(15:50:33) Marginal Warfare: I didn't make the rules man, I'm just the messenger
(15:50:52) Weev: WHO THE FUCK MADE THE CLOWNS BEAT NINJAS RULE
(15:50:55) Weev: THIS RULE MAKES NO SENSE

mmmm, yogurt

Thu, 11 Nov 2004 15:15:26 GMT

Have I ever told you how much I love the flavor of yogurt that Stonyfield Farms calls "Organic Vanilla Truffle"? It's vanilla yogurt with a hefty amount of milk chocolate swirl running through it, and it's awesome.

In other news, I'm posting this using Drivel instead of the web interface - maybe it has some sort of automatic way to do those #cutid thingys so I won't have to atually learn stuff AND I can keep peoples' friend pages from exploding under the weight of my infrequent posts.

Well what do you know, that wasn't so hard.

Saturday's my birthday! I'm ancient!

Thu, 07 Oct 2004 02:08:48 GMT

I'm posting this from the Linux server that I'm working on for Chuck. It's a pretty nice system, RAID 1 and all. But that's not the reason I'm posting.

I lost my phone yesterday.

Maybe I'll find it lying around here sometime before I leave. Maybe not.

If you try to call me this weekend and I don't answer, I'm probably not ignoring you; I'm probably cursing fate.

Tue, 31 Aug 2004 01:38:48 GMT

The ceiling in my room just sprung a crack from one wall to the other over the windows. Water is pouring in. My bookcase got soaked and my beanbag is wet.

Suckage.

Cake is the Devil

Thu, 19 Aug 2004 08:16:05 GMT

A lot of people have been asking me recently about a certain away message I put up sometimes. I'll write everything about it here and then I won't have to go on a 40-minute monologue to them anymore; I can just point them to this page.

The lead singer of Cake is, in reality, Lucifer. My friend Dave and I deduced this by analyzing the lyrics to their songs. Surprisingly many, if not most, of Cake's songs are written about the relationship between God and the Devil. They are, without fail, also all from Satan's point of view. He appears to be a penitent Devil, wishing mainly to return to heaven. I will provide analysis below of the lyrics that are most representative of this theory. You will see that there are many of them, spreading over all of Cake's released albums.

I. Identity

Some songs provide little more than a simple proof of identity. These include "Jesus Wrote a Blank Check," "Opera Singer," "Sheep Go To Heaven," and "Long Line of Cars," with some almost jocular support from "Satan is My Motor."

Opera Singer:
"...Some people they call me monster
Some people they call me saint
My talent feeds my darker side
Yet no one will complain...

...I am an opera singer
I will sing when you're all dead
I sing the mountains crumbling apart
I sing what can't be said

I am an opera singer
I sing in foreign lands
Most people seem to know my name
Or at least know who I am"

Christians call him a monster, but Satanists worship him. His "talent" was instrumental in the Fall, because he thought himself enough of a hotshot to take on God. He will outlast any mortal, of course, singing when we're all dead and when the mountains turn to dust. Most people know who Lucifer is, but even if they don't know that name, of course they're aware of the figure Christians call the Devil.

Jesus Wrote a Blank Check:
"...But if I had to choose a number,
I'd want it to be number one.
I don't want to be number two..."

exemplary of the Sin of Pride, cause of the Fall from Heaven.

"...still I build my towers high
I watch them pierce the blue blue sky,
Oh still I wallow in the mire.
Still I burn this Earth in fire!"

Lucifer has dreams, of course, he "builds his towers high," attempting to rival Heaven if he can't reenter it. But in the end he still knows himself to "wallow in the mire" compared to his prior existence at the right hand of God. And he takes his anger out on the world, burning "this Earth in fire."

Sheep Go To Heaven:
"...the grave digger puts on the forceps,
The stonemason does all the work,
The barber can give you a haircut,
The carpenter can take you out to lunch.

But I just want to play on my pan-pipes.
I just want to drink me some wine.
As soon as you're born you start dying,
so you might as well have a good time.

Sheep go to Heaven,
Goats go to Hell..."

This song wasn't included at first because I didn't feel it provided enough evidence. This song is more in the nature of propaganda than a direct indication of the Devil's thoughts. The first four lines quoted above are all related to death. When you die, the grave digger digs your grave, the stonemason makes your tombstone, the barber makes you presentable in your casket, and "the carpenter," or Jesus, takes your soul. But the Devil feels that since this all happens eventually anyway you might as well eat, drink, and be merry. Artistic depictions of the Devil have often given him goat horns and hooves. The pan-pipes are another link, since Dionysian tendencies are hedonistic in nature and Christianity often views pleasure-seeking to be immoral. Sheep follow a shepherd, which Jesus is often styled as; "The Lord is my shepherd..." Goats are a different sort of animal, more stubborn and generally doing what pleases them.

Long Line of Cars:
"...this long line of cars
Is trying to get through.
And this long line of cars
Is all because of you...

...From the streets of Sacramento
To the freeways of L.A.
We've got to keep this fire burning
and accept a little gray.

So this long line of cars
Is trying to break free.
And this long line of cars
Is all because of me."

This song is actually about two different lines of cars, according to the lyrics. One line of cars is "trying to get through." This line of cars is "all because of you." In the second verse, the fires are kept burning, and the line of cars "is trying to break free." This second line of cars "is all because of me." Obviously the cars are a metaphor for souls en route to Heaven and Hell. The souls going to Heaven are eagerly awaiting their turn, "trying to get through." The souls destined for Hell are fearful, chaotic, "trying to break free."

Satan is My Motor:
"...My intentions are good,
And earnest, and true,
But under My hood,
Is internal combustion power.

Satan is my motor,
Hear my motor purr.
Satan is the only one
Who seems to understand."

His intentions are good (the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, after all), but his heart is filled with a fiery rage. And of course nobody understands his good intentions; they all blame him for things that aren't his fault (from his point of view).

II. The Fall

The next set of songs is about the Fall from Heaven and Lucifer's mindset at the time, hinting at what was going through his head when he rebelled. Examples that fall into this category are: "Guitar," "Mexico," and "Pretty Pink Ribbon"

Guitar:
"Well, the way you treat me,
Like the only,
Slightly brings me down,
A lot

I don't think that I'll
Ever be the same...

If I threw my guitar...Would I
Start to regret it,
Or would I smile,
And watch it slowly fall?"

Lucifer resents God's inattention to him, the most shining of his hosts. He believes himself to be on an even footing with God and wishes to rebel, by "throwing his guitar" and stirring up trouble. Obviously the fall of the guitar parallels the Fall from Heaven.

Mexico:
"...I was bright,
But she was much brighter.
I was high,
But she was the sky...

...But I said I want you,
And you don't believe me;
You said you want me,
But I've got my doubts."

Lucifer shines brightly, but still pales beside God. Jealousy and pride gnaw at him until he could no longer hear God's voice speaking love to him.

Pretty Pink Ribbon:
"Without the pretty pink ribbon
You'd end up just like me.
Without the pretty pink ribbon
You'd float down to the sea...

...Your muscles would bulge underground
Your demons would all be around.
Without the pretty pink ribbon
You'd end up just like me...

...Without the pretty pink ribbon
You would lift this steaming herd
You would kill all the sick ones
You would bury them deep in the earth..."

Satan feels that but for a stroke of fate, his place and God's could easily be exchanged. God would be underground with his demons, burying evil souls (sick members of the herd) "deep in the earth," the traditional location of hell.

III. The Penitent Devil

Cake has many songs that show Satan's softer side, as it were. He seems to truly regret his previous actions, and wishes he could turn from his path and return to Heaven. Some examples are "Mr. Mastodon Farm," "Hem of Your Garment," and "Where Would I Be?"

Mr. Mastodon Farm:
"You see birds fall from the window ledge above mine.
Then they flap their wings at the last second.
I can see their dead weight
Just dropping like stones,
Or small loaves of bread...

...Now due to a construct in my mind
That makes their falling and their flight
Symbolic of my entire existence,
It becomes important for me
To get up and see
Their last second curves toward flight.
It's almost as if my life will fall
Unless I see their ascent.

Mr. Mastodon Farm,
Mr. Mastodon Farm,
Cuts swatches out of all material."

The birds falling like stones or "small loaves of bread" (biblical reference) obviously bring up some bad memories for Mr. Meteorite Himself. The symbolism of watching them spread their wings and rise back to the sky must be heartbreaking for him. He desperately wants back into Heaven - he can't get the grandeur of the Throne out of his mind. This is his personal message to God, the titular subject of the song. Who else herded mastodons, and could be said to cut swatches out of all material?

Where Would I Be?
"I've been waiting for so long
I've been hoping your love's not gone...

...You have been cloudy, distant, dark
I'm thinking of Noah and the ark.

Where would I be without your love?
Where would I be without your arms around me?"

Lucifer has been hoping that he can be forgiven. He has been waiting a very long time for forgiveness, against the distant, personally felt enmity of God. His thinking of Noah and the Ark is very telling, for both the Biblical reference, and also for the story itself. The rainstorm was God's punishment, much like casting Lucifer down from Heaven was. But at the end of the storm was a raindow, a covenant from God that he would never be so harsh in his judgement again. Satan would reflect on this story and see hope that the end of his suffering might be at hand any day. And where is he really, without God's love?

Hem of Your Garment:
"I am intrinsically no good
I have a heart that's made of wood...

...I have no love but only goals;
How very empty is my soul.
It is a soul that feels no thrill,
A soul that could easily kill.
And I'm not fit to touch
The hem of your garment"

This is Satan at his most vulnerable. He is certainly penitent for his actions. He makes a form here almost like that of a Catholic presenting himself for the rite of confession. He talks about all the reasons why he is unworthy of being allowed back into Heaven, essentially throwing himself on the mercy of God. Satan feels unworthy to merely touch the hem of God's garment.

IV. The Angry Devil

The last set of songs by Cake are written in moments of anger. Whenever we are feeling sorrow because of a relationship with another person, there are times when the mood swings and we are brought to be angry with that person. These songs were written to express Satan's thoughts during the times when he feels most angry with God. Some of them are: "You Part the Waters," "Sad Songs," and "Friend is a Four Letter Word."

You Part the Waters:
"You part the waters,
The same ones that I'm drowning in.
You lead your casual slaughters,
And I'm the one who helps you win...

...You part the waters,
The same ones that I'm thirsty for.
You invite your friends to tea,
But when it's me you lock the door..."

Parting the waters is another Biblical reference, ensuring the listener knows that this song is addressed directly to God. The Crusades might be an example of a "casual slaughter" that Satan ultimately helped win (by corrupting the crusaders into raiding Constantinople and slaughtering the Knights Templar). Satan of course is locked out of Heaven, unable to take tea there.

Sad Songs:
"I'm writing a song all about you.
A true song as real as my tears.
But you've no need to fear it
Cause no one will hear it...

...I'll tell all about how you cheated.
I'd like for the whole world to hear.
I'd like to get even
With you cause you're leavin'...

...It's a good thing that I'm not a star.
You don't know how lucky you are.
Though my record may say it,
No one will play it.
Sad songs and waltzes aren't selling this year."

Lucifer has written many songs about God, as we have seen previously. He would like to write a song that shows why precisely he rebelled, what he thinks went wrong in his relationship with God, but he is "not a star," as we saw in the song "Mexico" earlier; he doesn't shine as brightly as God and cannot make his words heard as well, so there is no point in writing his sad song.

Friend is a Four Letter Word:
"To me, coming from you,
Friend is a four letter word.
End is the only part of the word
That I heard...

...When I go fishing for the words
I am wishing you would say to me,
I'm really only praying
That the words you'll soon be saying
Might betray the way you feel about me,

But to me, coming from you,
Friend is a four letter word. "

If Satan were to pray he would ask that he would hear a message of forgiveness. However, Satan thinks the relationship between him and God is well and truly over, and feels that the only thing he is able to hear is the word "End". Interestingly IHVH, the name of God, is four letters long. This may be another clue - going from working closely with God to being cast down for rebellion is a sad state of affairs.

V. Supporting Evidence

Trumpets:
Cake uses trumpets in a lot of songs. Brass instruments were banned from being played in churches early on, because their players were thought to be possessed by Lucifer. In several songs, including "Long Line of Cars," that express a duality of the two sides, the trumpets come in during the part that refers to Satan.

Ok, I hope you've enjoyed reading this. It's been floating around my head for a couple of years now, ever since a conversation I had with Dave one day. I'm glad it has finally been codified, and I'm glad to see how long it is even not including some of the songs we saw as evidence for the theory.

silly workplace

Tue, 22 Jun 2004 19:15:56 GMT

So they locked most of the sites I browse regularly out of the firewall, and since my traffic is getting processed by the firewall even work-related web browsing is EXTREMELY slow (stupid microsoft software).

Thanks to my friend Darren, I'm posting this via SSH tunnel to his home. Very nice, my AIM connection is now routed through the tunnel as well, and everything's cool.

If they shut off ssh access to the outside then fuck it, I quit :P

Go club night

Wed, 09 Jun 2004 11:11:12 GMT

Tuesdays the VCU go club meets; today there wasn't much of it meeting :P

It was me, Weev and the AI professor guy who is pretty good, but he left after playing Weev so I didn't get to play him. I gave Weev 9 stones and beat him, but he's getting better - he's a little too defensive, but not bad for not being able to read very well yet... not that I'm really qualified to say that; I'm always so embarassed about things I misread during my lessons with Mr. Yang - he's so awesome.

Not from the meeting, but I got a new camera and I'm messing about with taking pictures and I liked this one.

update

Mon, 07 Jun 2004 15:36:33 GMT

I may start posting here again soon ^^

ARRRRRRGGGGGHHH!!!

Mon, 25 Aug 2003 02:05:37 GMT

Oh my god I can't believe I missed it...

I thought it was saturday... ALL DAY...

I feel so stupid...

It's 10 pm now and people are probably still out marching... I don't know where... I told people I'd be there... I feel shitty.

happy weekend!

Thu, 10 Jul 2003 17:48:29 GMT

Yay, my weekend last week rocked! Bekah came up to visit me here in Richmond... She's sooo sweet, and makes me so happy!! :)

Apologies for the late update - I slack off from livejournal way too much :P

We went dancing (that reminds me, I need to download that Jamiroquai song...) and ate japanese food watched Battle Royale and hung out at the Village and did Food Not Bombs and midnight soccer.

She was hardcore on the soccer field - kicking guys all over the place and chasing the ball into traffic! I, on the other hand, received two debilitating facial injuries and bruised my shin really badly - I swear Sean's legs are made of steel.

She painted me too - she left the picture here for her to finish next time she comes up... oh, and she painted one of my nipples flesh color so it blended in with my chest :P

Saw Dave (a.k.a. Creepy Dave) at FNB, which was cool - he gave me his new phone number, so I've got a way to get in touch with him now. He was hanging out with a girl visiting him too, oddly enough :)

I've got to go now so the realtor people can show the house (they better not lock me out again... grrr), I'll be back later though.

fun stuff!

Tue, 17 Jun 2003 04:19:05 GMT

another anime convention last weekend - fun fun!

this one was really small, like half the size of Animazement. It was pretty fun anyway though!

met LOTS of cool people!! including... Greg Ayres!! He's a voice actor who does English dubs of anime, including... Son Goku from Saiyuki, who I cosplayed as at Animazement!! Cool guy, total punk rawker too. He would've come to FNB with me, but he had to stick around at the con for the closing ceremonies and crap.

I dipped out of the con a little early on Sunday so I could go eat with Food Not Bombs, then I went back and helped clean up. Got lots of mashed potatoes to take home with me :P

Also got invited to anarchist movie night at Jason (Guard)'s house every thursday next month - I'm already booked to do the DDR thing with Nick and Ny on thursdays, but maybe I can skip a couple weeks... these look really cool :)

This rawks

Tue, 10 Jun 2003 04:55:59 GMT

Chicken in the name of...

Pictures from the US Embassy in Amsterdam - apparently they were afraid of being mobbed after the war started, so they made a wall around the embassy with shipping crates! ^_^

Check out the pictures - the one that shows a bunch of punks and anarchists climbing the wall is awe inspiring... Screw the con this weekend (well, sunday afternoon anyway), I need to go to Food Not Bombs!

yummy!

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 05:02:58 GMT

I just got out of a shower using stolen hotel shampoo! I smell positively kleptomaniacal!

Last night in the apartment... ah, the memories... I like this place - it is a really kickass apartment. I don't understand at all why some people don't like it. Oh well, keeps it exclusive I guess! Or *kept*, I should say.

man, everybody else is going to bed... I suppose I should too, since I only got like 2 hours of sleep last night. For some reason I feel like staying up and talking more though. So I'm posting on here :)

Even though I really have very little to say...

*sigh* ok, maybe I will go to bed.

yay, I'm happy!

Sun, 25 May 2003 21:52:30 GMT

I'm home from Animazement... wow, what an interesting weekend.

I met some really cool people (hi, Tasuki and *especially* Nuriko!!!) and did cool stuff and hung around with cool people and in general had a very... cool... time. :)

a few highlights:

talking with Bekah all night and trying to stay awake by ourselves just outside the large crowd near Brendan's pyDDR setup

second time I've ever been in a hot tub!

realizing the pair of boxers I wore into the hot tub were the only pair I brought, then deciding to change into one of Katree's awesome cosplay costumes and going commando under a skirt while my underwear was drying in the room

ELEVATOR MADNESS (bow to the plant while Goku stands on the rail!)

I had like an hour of sleep on the way home while Rick was driving, and that was IT for the whole weekend. So now I'm winding down to crash spectacularly tonight, I'm sure... don't expect to see me up and about before noon tomorrow!