Debbie asked me to specially thank everyone who got together to get her the birthday present of...? a trip to a spa in NYC? something like that IM not sure but she said she cant wait to go also everyone else who sent her greetings and stuff for her birthday

thanx again all of you for the nice remarks, a lot of these hotels have high speed connections which make computer life much easier... if only the goddamn windows would open, one weirdass aspect of this particular tour is the constant air conditioning, im freezing a lot of the time with occasional blasts of horrendous heat...
  i find myself sort of brain dead during the down time, haven't had the patience to read, i have been spending a lot of time in the world of grand theft auto 3, i can understand somewhat why various parents groups would mistakenly object to a game whose object is destruction and mayhem as one climbs the ladder of criminality while engaging in bloody high speed pursuits and shoot outs with the police... but as usual confusion reigns as video games, professional wrestling, M&M etc etc etc are given the rap as being the causes of things that they're really the result of
  im continually amazed at the difference between individual and mass intelligence, what everyone will put up with as it comes drooling and puking out of tv's and radios disguised as information and 'news'...this week and last debates about whether or not the media is merely stirring up fears in its approach to the supposed 'wave' of child abductions, is there really a rash of kidnappings or is it just sensational journalism...
i saw somebody make the point that although crime statistics have been steadily decreasing for the last ten years the reporting and focus on crime in the media has increased proportionately, the grinning chick reporter wonders dumbly why we cant focus on the 'good' things in the news, (presumably stories about flower gardens and cute kittens rather than death and violence) i cant tell if this is stupidity or just blatant hypocrisy... so STILL no one in all of this babble EVER EVER addresses the crux of the matter which is very simply peoples morbid fascinations and how they're dealt with...dont you think its about time people just could say " uh, yeah i like to watch car crashes, seeing death and destruction fascinates me, maybe it makes me feel more alive, gets my fear fed adrenaline going, im attracted to things that terrify me..." etc etc
  how long is this all going to be part of the 'big lie' that underlies american culture on so many levels... does anybody really fucking believe that they want to see the story about the guy who had his face removed so that they can gain deep insight into his courage or his wife's self sacrifice? that the reason for watching "best police pursuit crashes" is for getting driving tips?... i think i've raved along these lines previously but of course its business as usual, nothings changed, the line between entertainment and 'news' continues to erode, by 2004 i think most network news broadcasts will have soundtracks of sentimental music accompanying stories... all of this eats away subtly at the quality of life, things get a little bit dumber and false and no one seems to give a shit (when we were in the UK a few years back we went to a movie and were surprised to see regular product ads, commercials, running before the film, before even the trailers for other upcoming movies; "gee..." i naively said, "no one in america would stand for this!" hah! i've heard that cd's will eventually have audio advertisements on them)
  pretty soon we're gonna see the big gear up for the 9-11 anniversary which promises to be absolutely nauseating in its lack of dignity and level of exploitation...
   anyway if anyone has any tips on secret stuff in GRAND THEFT AUTO let me know, i still haven't been able to get off the first island... when does the tunnel open? when does the bridge get fixed?...

   what else? well i hope everyone understands about the autograph/photo deal, debbie and i frequently talk about how to deal with requests, she specially gets frustrated about having to turn down people who want there pic taken with her, all i can do is assure you that she wont decline for any kind of ego related reason, that generally its quite the opposite; that she feels unattractive, isn't made up, is preoccupied, or just feeling private
   thanks again...also dont hesitate to ask stuff, the postings here have all the info about the next record so as far as that goes just go over the older stuff ive written, i'm sure you all are smart maybe there's something that you'd like to know about that everyone else might think was interesting... send more pictures
      see you
          chris