textfiles/messages/BACKWATER/bw870218.txt

1 If you are in need of help, you need but ask....
2 ************************ INSTALLED: 18 FEB 87 ***************************
3 Welcome to BWMS (BackWater Message System)  Mike Day System operator
4 ************************************************************
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6                     PLACED ON THIS SYSTEM.
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18 *************************************************************************
19 
20 Persons of imbecilic mentality divigate in parameters which cheurbic
21 entities approach with trepidation.
22 
23 ********************************************************************
24 
25 I can't believe it, it did get worse. Bleah! There was only about
26 15 minutes of story line that was of any value on Amerika last night
27 the rest should have been left laying on the cutting room floor.
28 I suspect that this will be the last of this sort of miniseries
29 that will be shown due to very poor ratings. If there hadn't been
30 so much hoopla built up about it beforehand it would have been an
31 utter flop. This one is going to hurt ABC a lot I suspect.
32 (I'm also a bit irritated with the artificial controversy that
33 ABC used to generate the needed free advertising and argumenting
34 about the merits of the thing to build public desire to see the
35 thing just to find out what it was all about. They *knew* they
36 had to do that or it would have been a complete disastor.)
37 ************************ CISTOP MIKEY *******************************
38 ===============================================================================
39 I have to claim "ignorance" with regard to AMERIKA.  I have steadfastly refused to watch or have anything to do with it.  
40 Sounding like th e "Old man of the Hills" is one of the things I seem to do best,
41  so here goes.  Some of you may remember the war years of the 40's, bu t I
42 suspect few of you remember that, while we were involved in a foul and bloody
43 
44 totally employed.  (Sorry about the typos.)  When the end of txe war came along
45 our leaders were faced with *MASSIVE* unemployment problems.  Fortunately, we
46 had Stalin to use as a boogy-man, a role he fit into with exhuberance.  So we
47 kept on building weapons and fomenting the need for them.  AConsidering the 
48 hislook back on there is little reason to doubt that they would react as they have 
49 to a build-up of arms by a potential enemy.  The Russian people, and probably
50 most of txe Russian leaders, want more c(I think I'll just cut that finger off!)  goods rather than guns, but txey can't
51 take a chance on us.  I can't blame them either.  After all, a country that 
52 sells weapons to Iran and information to Iraq, both faulty, can hardly be 
53 trustworthy.
54 RE 43
55 DE 43
56 LN 43
57 RE 43
58 war, we were
59 re 43
60 
61 T'is truly asorrowful when I attempt to sound intelligent but foul it up with
62 typographical errors!  Sorry>
63 
64 
65 RADIO FREE NEW YORK IS CONDUCTING A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM
66 Pasha wrapped the coat around his shoulders and stuck his arms into the
67 sleeves. He straightened the weighty jacket, and took a single last drink from
68 his glass. Watching a slim Canadian wipe the frost from his nostrils, he set
69 the drink down and put his left hand in the inner pocket of the coat. The
70 neutral feeling of his steel revolver distracted him long enough for the
71 addict to nearly leave the night club. Pasha raced after him as fast as
72 angling around the chairs and tables in the place would let him.
73 
        As soon as Pasha left the front door, the night wind found him and
74 pressed him inside. Dauntless, he ran down the sidewalk a way, with his hand
75 drawn into his coat, and tried to spot the addict again. No luck at all. He
76 wiped his eyes, and started down the street to his car.
77 
        A page from a newspaper was flying down the street. Steaming air rose
78 from ducts of which open up from the street, piped out of corporate high rises
79 lining the streets. A spark lit the opening of an alley down the street a bit
80 as a car drove past above the legal speed.
81 
        Pasha put his hands in his pockets again after rubbing them together.
82 It was cold and darkening outside. Wind blowing down the streets from the
83 riverfront dispelled any illusion of warmth at all. He hurried and his pace
84 grew to the point that he could hear his own footsteps. His car down this
85 street and over a pair of blocks. He planned to cross the span as soon as
86 possible.
87 
        As he passed the alley that the spark had lit for a second, he heard a
88 quiet sound. Not immediately sure of it, he turned and looked down the alley
89 in a silent pivot. His ear hurt then for a strange reason. Imagining a shot
90 might have caused the wound, he dodged in a split second into the alley and
91 behind a dumpster.
92 
        One hand on his ear and another grasping the revolver, he heard two
93 ricochets. Letting his hand down from the side of his head, and looking for
94 any blood, his newly freed hand tripped the safety on the gun.
95 
        A white shirt and black skirt came scrambling out from down the alley.
96 Silenced shots probed the alley, missing their mark. Wearing only bare feet,
97 she slipped and fell to the ground right in front of the dumpster. Reacting
98 with a fight instinct taught him in the National Police Force, Pasha leaned
99 around the dumpster enough to spot the car and the open door. He then fired
100 four times and pulled the girl to her feet by the arm.
101 
        She was not weak. Her arms were soft underneath the white cloth and
102 the fresh oil stains, but the two of them dashed off into a street and another
103 part of the town. It was a sprint for the protection of their own lives. Every
104 ounce of their panic was drained in the eight block run.
105 
        It occured to Pasha he had made his walk about a mile more difficult
106 in the run, when she managed to ask him his name. Her panting was soothed by
107 the passing seconds and soon she asked again, in a firmer tone. A deep and
108 accent in English that fit her cropped black hair and dark anglo skin. He did
109 not answer for several pantings, and then said his first name.
110 
        "My name," She formulated her words with the deliberation of a
111 diplomatic translater or a foreign student of English. "Is Natasha. I was
112 abducted by those men from the aeroport," Using a foreign name like Natasha
113 and the obsolete word for an airport made Pasha sure that she was not an
114 American at all. From the ruins of Europe, a war refugee?
115 
        "Why," His panting was slowly down and sounding more like sighs. "Why,
116 did they take you? Did they," How to ask her if she was being raped was a bit
117 more than Pasha wanted to try. She would notice his clenched eyebrows and that
118 would inform her he was having a tough time phrasing it. Aside from that, he
119 was out of breath.
120 
        "No. I am a courier, I presume they wanted my package. I got out of
121 the car and ran into the alley. Hiding did not work and they were shooting at
122 the trash when you turned into the alley." She noticed he was leaning against
123 a wall and his hands were hanging limply at his side. She also noticed his gun.
124 
        "Please, do not worry about the gun. I am an officer of the National
125 Police Force. It is a part of the job. Let me put it away." He slipped it into
126 an inner pocket of his overcoat. His hand out of the pocket, he checked his
127 watch and asked if she was alright.
128 
        "I am, but not the dress," He started to notice her clothes, and
129 perfume. Essence of flowers, he guessed, not knowing which one. Hiding in the
130 garbage had soiled the white shirt and stained her skirt, but she looked
131 alright anyway. Fashion was with the unkempt look that Winter.
132 
        Together, they went into a diner and ordered coffee.
133                     IN THE EVENT OF A REAL EMERGENCY WE WOULD ALL BE DEAD NOW
134 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PaPa Smurf
135 From the graveyard the blue person raises up and looks once again upon
136 the soil that he once walked upon.   Looking upon the gloomy scene, he
137 only winced and murmured one of his standby comments before sinking
138 once again to the cold ground...
139 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PaPa Smurf
140  
141  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * K * H * * * * * *
142   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  W  * * * * * *
143  
144    Bakin!  Never thought that face would show here again...  Ah well...  
145 Would like to wish Prometheus Hawthorne Jones a very happy 17th b.day.
146 May you fry as hard as I would like to...  And say 'hi' to Lady S....
147  
148  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * K * H * * * * * * *
149   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  W  * * * * * * *
150  
151 ARRRGGHHH! That "UNSS" commander would be busted back to private *so* fast. I
152 mean really, now. Aside from wasting fuel and exposing those valuable copters
153 (and pilots) to the risk of damage from the exiles (even if it is a slight risk).
154 He killed *some* of them and destroyed their homes. Then he turns around
155 and leaves?!?! DUMB! That is the *best* way of *creating* guerillas. Those
156 people don't have anything left to lose.
157 	I begin to agree with the people who said that Amerika's producers
158 should have had some consultants.
159 	After last night I refuse to consider it anything but a fantasy.
160 Unlike many, I don't consider it to be a right-wing paranoid fantasy. Aside
161 from the fact of the takeover, *everything* is incredibly optimistic. We 
162 would not be as free as is shown. They would not be as stupid as is shown.
163 Neither militarily, nor politically. 
164 	The exiles would be somewhere like dthe Dakotas, and the original
165 population would have been moved out. The 'border guards' would not let
166 people go. And as for that demonstration at the end of the parade... Care
167 to ask any Solidarity members about what would happen? Those troops that
168 had been in the parade would have just turned around and collected the old
169 veterans and the exiles. (This is assuming they wanted to be lenient, ie
170 MAJOR prison terms or Gulags. More likely, they'd just shoot)
171 ____02/18/87__________Leonard_JD 2446845.6394_________19:20:50_PST_________
172 ps when that exile pulled out the gun (rifle? shotgun?) he would have been
173 shot. Period. They would have done this *in spite* of the fact that he 
174 couldn't hurt the tank.
175 ___________________________________________________________________________
176 dhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdh
177 -.-./--.- .-/.-../.-.. ..../.-/--/... -../. -../.-/--/...
178 dhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdhdh
179 sp: -../.-/--/... ---> -../.-/...-/.
180 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
181 fingers; da meat is set. chek usual
182 place for da detales. if i'm late its
183 cuz dey wouldnt let me outta da murder
184 trial. reports of my demize are grately
185 exagerrated....            lefty
186 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
187 
188 WELP, here I am again boys gettin' 
189 rea-
190 Alright, alright, alright, alright...
191 I hear ya!  AND LADIES...as I was say-
192 ing getting ready to sing the blues!
193 Hey...!  Oh yeah, well you're all a 
194 bunch of rude drunks!!  
195 (to the bartender) *sigh* First my 
196 girlfriend leaves me for "the other 
197 woman".  Now I'm running a fever of 
198 102.  And just a few minates ago I find
199 out that they turned my ofavorite bar
200 N.S.I.C./ The Q into a restrant.  
201 Well at least I can still come here.
202 Why don't you give me 20 dubble 
203 a plate of Co-Tynol...'n' hold the  
204 P.C.B.'s
205 
206      :(
207 R
208 The (deatthly ill) Mad Lister
209 (take a look at the other drive Lefty)
210 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Milchlurk
211 
212 fingers: well, I did see someone shoot the brains out of someone who looked a
213          whole lot like you, but I did'nt have my contacts in, and I could have
214          been mistaken... ( by the way, good ol'theus' birthday isn't 'till
215          friday, and as for good ol'S...., well... ).     - james
216 
217 (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
218 
219 
220 To all of you who hookup here this time... 
221  From the famous Unknown Dictionary of
222 ANONYMOUSITY! 
223  
224   The definition for.....Is.....
225 DELETE
226 list
227 
228 ?
229 HELP 
230 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.............
231  I AM BEGINNING TO BELIEVE THAT THIS SO CALLED 'BACKWASH SYSTEM' IS EXACTLY THAT!
232 IT IS NOT EASY TO USE, AND, TO TELL  YOU THE TRUTH, THE CONTENTS THEREIN COULD BE
233 MUCH MORE INTERESTING THAN IT IS.
234                   It's really too bad that nobody can talk directly to one another or
235 anything like that.
236 
237 
238 ________________________________________________________________________________
239 FURTHERMORE.......I THINK THATTHE WHOLETHINGISACROCKOFROMANSPAGHETTI!!! 
240 
241 
242 IFYOUHAVEANYCOMMENTSTOTELLME<JUSTGIVEMEACALL(DATAONLY)AT%0#")'($#!ANDLEAVEYOUROPINION
243 ON THE E -MAIL CIRCUIT TO AALL>     IMAYRESPONDHERE>ANDIMAYNOT>BYE>>>>>>>> 
244               YOURSTRULY>>>>>GREYGHOST!!!
245 
246 
247 
248 ________________________________________________________________________________
249 
250 No matter how bad everyone thinks Amerika is, I believe that it is working
251 for ABC.  If you define working as generating controversey, which
252 generates interest, which generates revenues, which means success for
253 ABC.  Again, it can't be any worse than Red Dawn was (What an awful film)!
254 I haven't seen Amerika but I did follow the "controversy that it 
255 generated.  I don't think that ABC is responsible for creating false
256 controversey to provoke interest, which is not to say that they are against 
257 controversy as it does help their endeavors with respect to this show.  If
258 the controversy must be attributed to anybody, I would say that the print 
259 media, magazine and newspapers, are responsible for generating and
260 propogating the controversy.
261 
262 						Archangel
263 ____02/19/87__________________JD 2446846.7983_________23:09:36_PST_________
264 No Kidding. How are you supposed to exit Enter Mode?  Any suggestions?...GG
265 You type Control-C like everyone else does. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU COMPLAIN
266 
267 O\=<([V2V])>=/O
268  
269 As an American, I have met several Americans and can say with some confidence
270 Sorry about that mess I made.
271 Anyway, as I was saying, I think Amerika STINKS.  My idea of America is the 
272 spirit of the people.  And it is that spirit that would never allow forieng
273 occupation of American soil by any power, Russian or ?????.
274 If Americans get anything out of this sad series it should be to realize that
275 because of our freedom that this fantasy could never come to pass.
276 *(%_)*%_@))!@%*)!@#_)@%*(+_@~%*(@~_%*$+_#^*#$+&*#$^~@$+_^*#$+)&*(#$+_^*~@#$+_^*~+_#^*
277 As a computer-junkie, I like to have some noise in the background while I work. So
278 far, Amerika is providing a good amount of that noise. I have not missed a minute of
279 it yet, nor do I intend to. I want to see this thing through. The announcer set it up
280 perfectly last night. "Nothing can prepare you for the last four hours of... Amerika.
281 " Well, they gave away the dome getting blown apart. And I just know that Devin wasn'
282 t killed in that attack on the Ruskies. One thing about that attack. I now know where
283 some of those 2+ million soldiers went, along with a few sidearms. It reminded me a
284 bit of Red Dawn, with the anti-tank weapon and all. But what *exactly* is in store
285 for Amerika? Do we throw the Ruskies out? Would they really Nuke Seattle? (Bye bye
286 Seahawks.) Just how stupid are these TV Russians? I am looking forward to the last
287 four exciting hours of the series. Perhaps when it is all over, we can be a bit more
288 contemplative, and realize just what the intentions of this miniseries were? Did I
289 hear the word 'entertainment?'
290 %*)_@#_%@)*^)&@%*)_*&)*%&)_)&*#)&*@)& L'homme sans Parity *%*@_)%*_*!@_%*!@+%(!+(+)!$
291 PS to Leonard: Your figures regarding food and supplies are very misleading. Troops
292 today are better trained, better fed, in better shape, and better equipped than their
293 counterparts from previous wars. This 1-2 week supply figure is meaningless in war
294 time. Ask some Battle of the Bulge veterans? Or Ka-song (spelling?) survivors. An
295 army travels on its stomach but fights with its blood and guts. To quote the movie 
296 Patton - "Ya, his guts and our blood."
297 *^*#$_)^*)_*^#@^@)_^*@_^#^$)*@_^@$*@$_^@$_^*@_^*@$_^@_)^@_^*_^@$_^@_^@)_*@)_)_$&^*#$#
298 
299 HEADLINE OF THE WEEK - Investors discover condoms. The Oregonian, Tuesday,
300 Febuary 17th, 1987.
301 
302 WHO CARES?
303 (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)*)
304 ================================================================================
305 Well, if they'd discovered them a few years sooner maybe there wouldn't be so
306 many lawyers now!
307 You misunderstand !!
308 Condoms are lawyer rainhats.
309 ___________________________________________________________________________
310 L'homme: Fine. You use blood and guts. What are you going to do when the
311 (LESS THAN 1 WEEK!) supply of ammo runs out? Please note that many 
312 estimates say we only have enough ammo for a couple *days* of heavy fight-
313 ing. (It doesn't count if you can't get it to the troops!). 
314 Remember Patton.. you want to make the *other* "poor dumb bastard" die
315 for *his* country. This is difficult if you are using improvised weapons
316 and he isn't! 
317 Of course I'm talking about the Armed Forces. As I've mentioned in many
318 a previous posting, I'd *hate* to be an occupying army in the US. All
319 those unregistered guns, weapons collectors, survivalists, ex-radicals
320 that still have copies of the Anarchist's Cookbook and those wonderful
321 Chinese guerilla instruction manuals (I've got a couple of them, they are
322 very interesting!)..... we'd make the VC look like amateurs!
323 Then there's the matter of communications... we've got enough unregistered
324 comm gear in this country to make it impossible to cut us off from each
325 other. True, the CB gear can be jammed, but even it will operate "out
326 of band". What all the old (and new) surplus and ham gear can do is 
327 incredible. They can't jam all the frequencies, and they can't even
328 intercept some of the army surplus gear (hops between around 40 to ???
329 frequencies in a 'random' pattern. spends about .1 sec on any freq.)
330 	Short of using *area* nuclear bombardment they couldn't supress
331 us.
332 ____02/20/87__________Leonard_JD 2446847.7408_________21:47:01_PST_________
333 O\=<([V2V])>=/O
334 C:\procomm>arc x sysop
335 Extracting human: SYSOP
336 WARNING: Human SYSOP fails CRC check
337  
338 Fri 2-20-1987  23:31:16.20
339 C:\procomm>rem  kaos
340  
341 ++++++++ lurk tag ++++++++++++++ 21 Feb 87 @ 1:15am +++++++++++++++++ Milch
342 C:\procomm: hey, isn't kaos the radio station up at ol'evergreen state? - james
343 
344 *********************************************************************
345 Leonard: I tend to question the figure you state of only a few days worth
346 of ammo. Perhaps that figure might fit what is in normal distribution channels
347 because that is all the ammo the military needs for normal operations.
348 My experience while in the service was different. There are a number of
349 distribution networks through which supplies flow. There are also large
350 depos of arms and ammo spread through out the world. Also there are a 
351 number of manufactures who have there own stocks. And don't forget that
352 America is not the only country that makes and supplies arms. Where needed
353 we have and do buy from other countries. I would agree with you that there
354 is less supplies than there should be if we were to go fight an intense
355 war, but the amount of use is dependant upon far too many factors to
356 say how long the ammo would last. The make up of war machinery has changed
357 significantly from what it was say in WWI where the foot soldier and arms
358 were the major makeup of the fighting force. In later years that has
359 begun to change. War like other things grows and advances making use of
360 the latest in technology. The pike gave way to the long bow which gave
361 way to the rifle. With each step we rely less and less on cannon fodder
362 to do the actual fighting. More and more it becomes isolated as we push
363 buttons from afar and destroy tens and hundreds, even thousands of lives.
364 (This is conventional weapons we're talking here, not nuclear). 
365 War itself doesn't really change, it still is the result of one faction
366 striving to gain power over another. The are a number of reasons stated
367 for war, Everyone likes to have their own opinion why they exist. Religion,
368 money, idealogical beliefs (which is really the same as religion), 
369 insanity (war is insane, so that is a mute point), bigotry (see idealogical
370 beliefs/religous beliefs), control of land, money, and or people, and greed.
371 All of these are valid and truthful reasons for war, and they all boil
372 down to one thing, the desire to control people and things, to have the
373 satisfaction of knowing that you've converted/persuaded/forced others
374 to come around to your belief structure, or failing that bombed them out
375 of existance so that you don't have to live with them continuously
376 being there and reminding you that there is an alternate form of existance.
377 And what that all means is power. Power to control people and things.
378 Power to force or convince people to your way of thinking.
379 Power in itself is neither right nor wrong, it simply exists. It is a
380 part of life. We all use it to varying levels everyday. Some people
381 go to greater lengths than other to exercise that power. When you state
382 an opinion and argue it your are exercising that power. (Yes, that includes
383 even this writting, I am expressing my views in an attempt to convice
384 and/or reafirm in others who read this that my beliefs are correct.)
385 In that way by performing those activities and functions we struggle each
386 day to gain our position in the world. Loseing one battle, winning another.
387 We fight with many weapons, words both written and verbal, emotions, 
388 directed and misdirected activities. Some people have a more expansive 
389 desire for power than others. Some are happy with control of their own
390 immediate lives, while others have a need to expand their world to cover 
391 a larger portion of existance. This is what drives a leader to become 
392 what he is, a desire to control a larger portion of his universe, thus
393 insuring that his own immediate world will more closely conform to what
394 he desires. This is both good and bad. It is good, because it is what
395 drives us forward as a species. It is bad because it causes so much
396 pain and suffering. Athletes have a saying; no pain, no gain.
397 Our stuggles everyday of gaining control over our immidiate world, our
398 lives, our existance is what allows us to move foward. When we give up
399 that struggle we stagnate and lose our individualality and eventually
400 we die as an individual. That is why some people indulge in directing
401 change simply for the sake of change, it is a way to keep fwom stagnating.
402 If you can't control your immediate world to be the way you want it,
403 change it. At least you are moving and exercising your powers, and for 
404 some that is all that matters, a display of the power, that they can
405 change things. The change itself is unimportant, just that a change 
406 occured, that is the expression of power.
407 Gee, now I've forgotten what started this long winded entry....
408 Oh yeah, weapons and supplies. If there was constant and continuous
409 fighting going on 24hr's a day by all troops with no letup for even
410 a second, perhaps there would be only a weeks worth of supplies out
411 there, but that isn't at all realistic. Only a small percentage of 
412 troops actually fight in a war, and war is most definately not fought
413 on a continuous 24hr basis day in and day out without let up for even
414 a second. Like everything else it comes in spurts with lots of inbetween 
415 time of little activity other then fearing when the next fight will
416 start. As a soldier you spend most of your time trying to figure out
417 how to stay alive, and that does not include shooting a lot. Fire draws
418 fire, and that is not condusive to staying alive since the more bullets
419 that are flying around means a greater chance that one of them will 
420 find you. All that said, I would say there is more like one to two
421 months of supplies available, and that is enough to give time for new
422 supplies to be made and distributed. As for food. that is unimportant.
423 As long as there is a couple of days of food around there is no problem
424 Armies have never really have problems in that regard. When they need
425 food they just take it. In war time there is *never* proper supply lines
426 for food, but there is always food availale to be taken from the 
427 civilians which is how they survive. Weapons and arms usually tends to 
428 be less of a problem. The military tends to be a bit better in supplying
429 those, but then you go through a lot more food per weight than 
430 munitions suppies on a overall average.
431 ********************** CISTOP MIKEY ***********************************
432 P.S. I'm not counting bombs carried by war planes and such. That's a whole
433 different area. We're talking cannon fodder types here... **** CM *******
434 ____02/21/87__________________JD 2446848.4416_________14:35:59_PST_________
435      Sara used to be my best friend. I don't remember how we became friends, 
436 bably because one of our preschool teachers parked us with each other. I was a 
437 very obnoxious child, always sure that I knew and that I has to explain it to ev
438 eryone else. Sara wasn't like that - she preferred to stay by herself and meditat
439 te on everything she'd discovered. Her home life was fascinating to me. I'd ne
440 verseen a  seen a family without two parents or experienced catastrophic, static 
441 clutter. 
442      Like I said, I don't remember that much about preschool or kindergarten 
443 with Sara. She was part of the background. I was too enamored of Pauline, 
444 anyway. She had go-go boots.
445 
446 
447 EXIT
448 Here Here re: Amerika.
449                            Capt. Nemo.
450 %\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\
451 Cistop Mikey: You writing above was indeed a long winded entry! Your sentence
452 that acknowledged that was quite a surprise to read. Do you think you get a
453 wider point detailed, or just have troulbes staying on a point, or have you
454 never thought about it? What the hay?
455 %\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\   Quaternion   %\%\%\%\%\%\%\%\
456 
457 ******************************************************************************
458 I suppose you could look on it either way. I like to travel down side paths
459 to explore what makes the mainstream thought what it is. In that aspect it
460 gives me a greater understanding of how I got to where I am. It also helps
461 me to understand where I am headed. I'm not one to stick my head in the sand
462 and vegitate. But this habit of exploring and understanding the side thoughts
463 and tributaries can often look like I am wandering without purpose. I sometimes
464 wonder myself. Is this line of thought really needed? Have I gone far enough
465 down this track? Have I gone too far? I have to ask myself these questions
466 to find out myself. And many times I see that I have and switch gears to get
467 back onto the mainstream of thought. So is it just that I have troubles
468 staying to the point, or is it that I desire to display a wider point of view?
469 Or both, or neither? You decide. 
470 ******************************** CISTOP MIKEY ********************************
471 .-.-.-.24 days, 19.5 hours to go.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.Emu
472 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
473 LEFTY: DA DAME IS GONNA BE ON STARK 
474 STREET FROM 3:30 UNTIL JUST AFTER 5.
475 YOUSE KNOWS DA PLACE.        FINGERS
476 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
477 +++++++++++ E: A countdown?  Now, really. +++++ One of Milch's quiet moments.
478 ____02/23/87__________________JD 2446850.7240_________21:22:36_PST_________
479 O\=<([V2V])>=/O
480 ____02/24/87__________________JD 2446851.6016_________18:26:39_PST_________
481 
482 <<:****************************passin' through***************:>>
483 
484 :::::=====:::::=====
485 Zephlyrk.
486 :::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==Zephyr::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::
487 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
488 Two days later, I had discovered enough about All to leave.  Or so I thought.
489 "My problem, Yob, is that I must have more time than the one moment of
490 sunset in which to cast the dweomer.  At least a full second so I may do it
491 properly."
492 Yob smoked upon his pipe, thinking about it.  "You cannot go faster?"
493 I sighed.  "No, it is too risky if I rush it.  I am a master at transport
494 magicks, but I will not attempt less than a second.  I would become....lost."
495 "Are not you lost now?"
496 "I am lost, but not *gone*.  Let me rephrase.  I might cease to be."
497 "Become not?"  Yob thought about it.  "Better not to risk, as you say.
498 But I think needs you a stretching of sunset?"
499 "Exactly!  Just a little more time..."  I looked at my primitive preparations,
500 all done without benefit of magic or high technology.  If not for my Zelgar's
501 wand, I would have been bereft of any magical tools whatsoever.  The Travelbook
502 did me no good;  it took too long to use.  Just a second...
503 My attention snapped back to Yob as he spoke.
504 "My father's-brother's son who lives in the next valley has said to me that
505 sunset comes there a little later to their village; perhaps you could quickly
506 go there and complete your... spell?"
507 Later?  Oh!  Of course!
508 "Yob, do you know how fast the terminator travels across All?"
509 "Terminator?  Not sure of word.  Sounds like ending."
510 "In a way.  Er, how far away is your cousin's village, and how much later
511 is sunset there?"
512 "It is seven lans away, I think.  I'm not sure about time."
513 I was busily working out the rate...
514 "Yob?  Can you and your village do me one last favor, so I may return home?"
515 "Yes, Erhuman.  So is our way. You are part of the village."
516 "Can you help me build a catapult?"
517 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Milchar ++++++ 25 Feb 87 at 12:10am +++++++
518 1>The man walked about a wooden floor, drawing lines upon it with a piece ofbakc
519 ...........................................................................
520       Milchar my friend... thou art a brave man. Mayhap a bit foolish, but
521 nevertheless brave. To attempt a spell while hurtling thru the air! 
522 Madness. Or perhaps audacity?
523 ...........................the apprentice..................................
524 (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)()
525  
526 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
527 
528 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
529 A man paced back and forth across a wooden floor, marking
530 straight black lines upon it with a piece of chalk.  A
531 symbol began to take shape and very soon was complete.
532 The man walked around it, checking the lines to make sure
533 that they were solid and true.  When he was satisfied,
534 he started to chant little known words in an ancient tongue. 
535 The floor encompassed by the symbol began to waver and fade,
536 and when the chant was done it had disappeared.  Where the
537 floor had been, there was now a patch of green grass.  The
538 man walked to the center of the grass and brought his hands
539 together with a loud clap.
540      The room in which the man had been standing vanished,
541 replaced with a large grassy field.  Running through this
542 field was a small dirt path.  The man stepped onto this path
543 and followed it to its end.  He now stood beside a wooden
544 building with a tree growing beside it.  He went to the door
545 and stood for a moment, inhaling the fresh, clean air that
546 prevailed here.  He opened the door, entered the Inn, and
547 closed the door softly behind him.  After requesting a large
548 flagon of ice water, the Philosopher sat down at a small
549 table near the back of the room.  When his water arrived, he
550 sat drinking and trying to think of what it was that he
551 should remember but could not...
552 
553                    The Philosopher
554                  February 26th, 1987
555 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
556 
557 (* IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIIIIX (*) IXVIIIVIIVIVIVIIIIII *) 
558 
559 The old crone stirred in the shadows by the hearth, the
560 draft from the opened door briefly cold on her back. 
561 She glanced quickly at the man crossing the room, her
562 green eyes visible for only a moment.
563         "So, he's finally back."  Her thoughts were as
564 tired and weary as the body of her persona.  Of the
565 nine available to her, this was one of the hardest to
566 sustain for very long.  And it had been a long time--at
567 least three months.
568         Her eyes, hidden by scraggly locks of greasy,
569 white hair, watched him scan the room.  She knew that
570 even if he saw her in the dark corner, there would be
571 no recognition.  She was much changed from the woman he
572 had met when he was at the Inn last.  Only her eyes and
573 the color of her hair stayed the same, they never
574 altered in any of her forms; just as her personality
575 dominated and blended with the natural instincts of her
576 beast shapes.
577         The long wait was finally over.  So why didn't she
578 feel relieved?  By morning she should be able to leave
579 this body and take on one that wasn't so full of pain. 
580 Where was the sense of joy and deliverance she should
581 be feeling?  What was wrong?
582         All she needed was enough water to cover her
583 completely for the physical transformation.  During the
584 days of her wait she had found an ideal pond to serve
585 that purpose.
586         But first she needed to reassure herself that he
587 remembered his drunken promise--the one he had made to
588 the beautiful dancer on his last visit to the Inn.  The
589 promise that would save her life.
590         She got up slowly from her spot by the hearth and
591 approached his table.
592         "Tell your future from your past, Sire?" she
593 croaked.  The seated man looked up, startled out of his
594 musings by her voice.
595 
596 Green Eyes (02/26/87)
597 
598 (* IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIIIIX (*) IXVIIIVIIVIVIVIIIIII *)
599 
600 _______________________________________________________________________________
601 *(^)_#$^*$*)$*^)@#^)!*^_)#$&*_)#&*)#*&_%&()$_%%(*_%*)_*&$_)&*$)&+)#%&*$)$_&)*&_&
602 Mikey: I enjoyed your words. I think of many of the discussions on BW as similar to those we have in person at PCS,
603 etc. One subject leads to another, which leads to another, and so on. We each want to take the paths as we find
604 them, and often, we end up far from where we started? Is that bad? I don't think so. As long as all involved know
605 the path and can follow it, the journey is enjoyable. We start talking about a TV show. That leads us to talking about
606 the show's details. That leads on to troop logistics and ammunition supplies. That leads back to war, which follows
607 through to the history of war, and the causes of war. I followed what you were saying, and it was an interesting path
608 to follow. There are times and places for single subject, direct conversations. I would not enjoy the subject matter
609 turning to the use of stop-action photography in MTV video's if we started out trying to get a computer program 
610 defined. But when we are all free-lancing our discussion with anything related that comes to mind, the more far-out,
611 the better. I have come away from PC&S/PCS/BW/etc pizza parties dazzled by the array of conversations that took
612 place. Talking with friends, good old BS sessions that go into the night, Trivia contests, when I was _____ stories;
613 good old meat and potatoes get-together and gab times will always be dear to me. I learn from *all* of you, and I hope
614 you learn from me. We share our ideas, we listen to each other, I don't remember a time when anyone has ever expressed a
615 stepped-on attitude. Each person here has a unique history to draw from. That history is like a magic well. No matter
616 how much you take from it, the level never goes down. But in giving, receiving comes naturally, and the well fills.
617 I too have rambled a bit. To change the Almon Brother's song a bit - 'Lord I was born a ramblin' man.' But I enjoy
618 it, and I look forward to our next get-together, when we can all share the latest and greatest what's-happinings :-)
619 in our lives.
620 *%)_*%@_#)@_#%^*)_@*^@)^*@#_%&@#_%&*@ L'homme sans Parity *%^)%^*@)^*)_*~#!)~$*%)@#_)%*_)*#!_$^@^@^*$)$#^*^^$%^$
621 
622 Imagination is more important than knowledge
623 							Albert Einstein
624 A Dog is a Dog except when he is facing you.
625 Then he is Mr. Dog.
626 							Haitian Farmer
627 If all the cars in the United States were placed
628 end to end, it would probably be Labor Day weekend.
629 							Doug Larson

TOTAL NUMBER OF LINES = 629