I still have what I believe is the flu.  I’m glad I can’t give this sickness to the internets.  You SO don’t want what I’ve got.

Today is Friday the 25th of August!  It’s the last Friday of the month.  It’s Free for All Friday too.  So, basically, I open my blog up to all the Internets and anyone who wants to can log in and post something.  It’s pretty easy; and usually it’s pretty fun.  Or, at least, I think it is. 

Directions and login links in the extended entry

So I watching CNN this morning....like I do....and it was a story about Prince Harry (of Wales, right?) fighting in the Iraq War. At the end of the piece, the talking head said something about him being third in line for the British throne.  (Which I get, cause Dad’s 1st - William’s second, so Harry’s third.) What I Don’t get is how the British monarchy and British parliament work together? Who’s in charge?  Do they work together? Or is the British throne more now just a tittle, without any real power?  I’m a total noob - I barely know how the US gov’t works. :-) Help a sister out and school her.

Recent government action has dramatically increased the fees internet radio companies must pay to play the music you enjoy and threatens the future of internet radio. You can help, let your voice be heard.  Save Net Radio

On March 2, 2007 the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which oversees sound recording royalties paid by Internet radio services, increased Internet radio’s royalty burden between 300 and 1200 percent and thereby jeopardized the industry’s future. 

At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the CRB ignored the fact that Internet radio royalties were already double what satellite radio pays, and multiplied the royalties even further.  The 2005 royalty rate was 7/100 of a penny per song streamed; the 2010 rate will be 19/100 of a penny per song streamed.  And for small webcasters that were able to calculate royalties as a percentage of revenue in 2005 – that option was quashed by the CRB, so small webcasters’ royalties will grow exponentially!

Before this ruling was handed down, the vast majority of webcasters were barely making ends meet as Internet radio advertising revenue is just beginning to develop.  Without a doubt most Internet radio services will go bankrupt and cease webcasting if this royalty rate is not reversed by the Congress, and webcasters’ demise will mean a great loss of creative and diverse radio.  Surviving webcasters will need sweetheart licenses that major record labels will be only too happy to offer, so long as the webcaster permits the major label to control the programming and playlist.  Is that the Internet radio you care to hear? 

As you know, the wonderful diversity of Internet radio is enjoyed by tens of millions of Americans and provides promotional and royalty opportunities to independent labels and artists that are not available to them on broadcast radio.  What you may not know is that in just the last year Internet radio listening jumped dramatically, from 45 million listeners per month to 72 million listeners each month.  Internet radio is already popular and it is already benefiting thousands of artists who are finding new fans online every day.

Action must be taken to stop this faulty ruling from destroying the future of Internet radio that so many millions of listeners depend on each day.  Instead of relying on lawyers filing appeals in the CRB and the courts, the SaveNetRadio Coalition has been formed to represent every webcaster, every Net Radio listener, and every artist who enjoys and benefits from this medium.  Please join our fight for the preservation of Internet radio.

Ugg.  I’m just so ...i don’t even have the words.  I was downloading my pictures that I’d taken yesterday and all of sudden they just vanished.  Gone, Finito, Burp.  I guess what happened was the batteries died in the middle of the transfer.  Man.  Some of those photos are totally one of a kind.  And I’m just.....Grrr......about it.  I got 2 of the pics I’d taken yesterday, they’re both crap and TOTALLY not worth posting to the 365.  I’m trying to stay positive.

with 4 hours sleep, that’s not going so well.

I have an obsessive personality. Some days that’s a good thing. Other days - not so much. I wish I mad more power over this obsessiveness.  But I guess that’s the nature of obsession. You DON’T get to control it.  I at least I wish that I could direct it.  Direct it towards doing the things I need to - work & house stuff. Instead I spend an entire Saturday, and MOST of Sunday, working on a site that hardly anyone goes to anyway.  I’ve been working on http://www.thesaturdaymorningshow.net/ New design, a new post about the last show, and new archives. I’ve put up all the old shows, their themes, and the time. You can’t download those shows, but once I get the playlists up you could request a particular one that you wanted to hear.  I’ve been debating on how to set those up.  (I want them, even if no one else cares.) And I’ve been debating how to post those show.  (Should I edit out all the old station info? Or leave them like the are?) I think I’ve looked at a million themes. I still can’t make a firm decision.  I can’t even remember if I told you everything that I’d planned to in this post.  Don’t laugh. :-)

The list of things I want to do, the list of things I should do, and the list of things I need to do just keep growing.  It’s insane.  I’m insane. 

Merry 420 (Day)!! I had wanted to get up for the FIRST 420, but that didn’t quite happen.  I will be home and off of work for the 2nd 420 though, and I’m muchly looking forward to it! :-) I have to leave my apt in 6 minutes.  I can tell though. It’s going to be a BEAUTIFUL Day! :-) It can’t NOT be! It’s 420!  Pass the dutchie on left hand side yo!  (Don’t forget my show tomorrow is a Pro Marijuana legalization show, check it out. 9am Eastern. 2 hours music of music about pot and by pot smokers, and a whole mess of factual information thrown in. Mix in some comedy clips and movie clips and you might just get yourself a show! :-) Merry MERRY 420! P.S I DARE YOU TO COMMENT ON THIS ENTRY!

April 20 at 4:20 PM is the “pot-smokers’ holiday,” also variously described as the “hippie New Year,” “national smoke time,” “national pot-smoking day,” “the holiday,” “pot appreciation day,” “the ultimate session,” or “a day of tribute to the scene.” One enthusiastic smoker reported: “Every group has its holidays, and pot-smokers are no exception. April 20th is the day of worship observed by smokers around the world,” Another said: “It’s comforting to know that hundreds of thousands of other people are lighting up with me on 4/20. It’s about the community identity of marijuana-smokers.”

For marijuana-smokers, April 20 is especially imbued with emotional and spiritual meaning, because it produces an intense collective bonding among them. Smokers emphasized the special quality of the holiday: “We are talking about the day of celebration, the real time to get high, the grand master of all holidays-April twentieth.”

That statement also implies a sense of family within the pot-smoking culture. “Tokers are brothers and sisters, therefore more closely connected than any other association.” Another smoker expressed the anticipation and joy of the holiday: “At 4:19 PM, everyone suddenly got quiet and the countdown began. When the time turned to 4:20, it was like New Year’s. Everyone was cheering and shouting, jumping, hugging, and of course, smoking. It really was incredible. I felt connected not only to the people around me, but to everyone else in the world who was doing the same thing at that exact moment.”

While 4/20 celebrations give smokers a sense of worldwide community, they also reinforce old friendships, or create new ones at rallies. Friends travel long distances, even across the country, to party together. As a result, friendships are refreshed or “become stronger than ever.” And people who might be strangers in other settings are bonded through their common allegiance to marijuana. One smoker explained: “It is a time when you can approach people that you do not really know and indulge in pot-smoking with them. You develop friendships with people because of the activities on 4/20 and at 4:20.”

The sense of worldwide “we-ness” and the friendships established and renewed at 4/20 celebrations are due largely to the fact that April 20 is a public forum for the fight for legalization. A smoker explained: “It is an exercise in solidarity, all of the pot-smokers coming together to smoke and the police being utterly powerless to do anything about it. I think this is the most valid expression of 420, as it puts the recreational use of marijuana in full view of the public, which is perhaps the first step towards gaining legitimacy.” Others explained: “4/20 at 4:20 is a time to come together. To share one’s lifestyle with others who feel the same way. To come together and stand strong and proud for marijuana,” and “Personally, I feel it (April 20) to be a political statement. It is a good time to gather to show one’s support of legalization of marijuana.”

As a matter of efficient crowd control, police and university authorities generally tolerate the short-and seldom dangerous-yearly public statements by pot-smokers. One smoker said that not only is 4/20 a time to stand proud for marijuana, but also a day of tolerance: “It’s a day of tolerance and the authorities let us ‘hippies’ have our fun and smoke pot.” Another said in proud defiance: “Pronounced ‘four twenty,’ it is a day of police non-enforcement of drug laws in certain areas, and a day to celebrate a ritual that has survived thousands of years, only to be condemned by our American government… It’s one of the most liberating feelings to smoke pot in public and not be afraid of being caught.”

The experience of such a holiday provides pot-smokers with hope and inspiration- or with a vision of a future when they will be liberated from repressive antimarijuana laws.

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I missed posting yesterday. Not entirely sure how that happened. I had some car trouble yesterday, but now that I’ve gotten a new battery those problems are over. Still can’t roll down my drivers side window, AND it’s down even more than it was before - so let’s just hope it doesn’t rain today.

I am officially doing the Project 365. I posted a photo on the 17th, and one the 18th.  I’m thinking about changing up the default layout on this page, with a prominent placement of the last photo of that set. 

I’m not feeling really well today. I’ve had downstairs upsetness all day. I’ll spare you the details.  I’ve even had the usual meds to stop it, and it’s not working.  I’m hoping time will heal this “wound.”

Watching the attorney general on TV. He sure has issues remembering things. I’m not so sure someone with such holes in their memory should actually BE the Attorney General.  He remembers MAKING the decision, but doesn’t remember WHEN he made it. Uhm. Alberto, you shouldn’t drink so much of the BushCo Coolaide.  It might give you cancer.

I’ve gotten my show read for Saturday.  I’ve got the music all programed, and set up to play. Just have to figure out what info I want to sure in the breaks.  I get 3 min and 30 sec a break to talk about the legalization of Marijuana.  I plan to talk about Marijuana stats, and the history of it’s prohibition.  I’m hopin it’ll at least be interesting. I’ve got some good songs too.  I’ve got some really old songs about pot, and some really new ones. Some you will recognize, and some some you won’t. I just hope that you enjoy them! :-)

I am NOT looking forward to tomorrow. I’ve got to take a client to a after surgery dr’s visit that starts at 7:30 in the fucking AM. To take him to that, I have to leave my HOUSE at 6 fucking thirty in the am. SIX thirty.  That just hurts. It’s painful even to write, let alone think about doing.