By the way, those plastic green water bucket tree stands? -- collapsable, and nothing says Bunuellian Christmas better than an evergreen toppling on santa's elves as they're giftwrapping. Tim-bur. Resurrect it, redecorate it and tie it to a picture hook on the wall. It is beautiful again, even more so away from the radiator.

This wake a week pattern has got to break. Richard Pretzer, Deceased as of December 18th, 2002.

Christmas trees that are identified as Frazier Firs are very traditional looking. In fact, they have that artificial tree look, but they are real. Put 7-Up in the stand. They'll drink it up. Oh to have a clipped tree, seperated from its undergrowth, vicegripped into a plastic green platform. It smells great and gives the apartment that home feeling. It's right next to the iron curlicued morrocan daybed. Now all we need is the HO train set circling the little town at the base, and a glowing embered fireplace.

Rosebud.

Finally, a new post to put into the past the CD burner problem. However, this post is a followup to a post of the past regarding "two in one through the subway turnstyle." I think it was Abbey Hoffman in Steal This Book who first suggested it and I referred to it as common practice by John and Sally in the novel, The Resurrection.

Maki is 8 months pregnant. She went with her husband together through the turnstyles, and, as it was their second offense, they were HANDCUFFED AND TAKEN TO PRISON. Members of the New York City Police Department kept her safely off the streets and in jail for over three hours. Her husband was in jail for nearly 24 hours. Dear Members of the New York City Police Department, does it help jaywalkers to run over them for crossing the street against a red light?

My 8/19/2001 post includes, deep within it, my two-in-one-turnstyle experience.

(Aha. Note that Blogger's archive does not work for me, nor for you, perhaps. I have a michaeldouglas.blogspot mirror site at http://www.cinemavii.com/MichaelDouglas.htm.)

Here's the rest of the CeQuadrat CD maker correspondence.

Subj: RE: CeQuadrat
Date:10/30/2002 2:29:11 PM Eastern Standard Time
From:Kathie.Upton@roxio.com
To:Dizozza600@cs.com
Peter,
With the problem you are describing you will need to contact Windows Media. I am sorry but the CeQuadrat can not help you.
Good Luck

Subj: Re: CeQuadrat
Date: 10/30/2002 3:08:13 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Dizozza600
To: Kathie.Upton@roxio.com
Dear Ms. Upton, Please, you can help me if you can tell the computer my pre-installed program is OK. Windows Media Player is not doing shutting down my CeQuadrat program unless you told them to do it. Someone in your programming area came up with this unregistered shutdown device. Peter Dizozza

Subj: RE: CeQuadrat
Date: 10/31/2002 8:02:58 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Kathie.Upton@roxio.com
To: Dizozza600@cs.com
I am sorry this is not something I can do for you. If you need technical support for the version of software you will need to pay for support. It is a $35.00 per incident charge. When calling in we will get your information and arrange for a call back. Please call 408-934-7283, for the support on this software. You could also check the web site for your product at http://www.cequadrat.de/english/support/top5.php3 , this site has all the updates along with trouble shooting tips. I am sorry but I do not have any knowledge about this product. Again your best resource for the assistant you are asking for would come from Windows Medias Player.

Subj: Re: CeQuadrat
Date: 10/31/2002 10:08:13 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Dizozza600
To: Kathie.Upton@roxio.com
Someone at your office must know what I am talking about. Please ask. Peter

RE: CeQuadrat Date:10/31/2002
10:38:55 AM Eastern Standard Time
From:Kathie.Upton@roxio.com
To:Dizozza600@cs.com
NO I do not have anyone I can ask. I am sorry I can not assist you. I have given you your support options. Sorry.

Subj: Re: CeQuadrat
Date: 10/31/2002 11:12:35 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Dizozza600
To: Kathie.Upton@roxio.com
Oops, sorry. Roxio is responsible for the identification of an unregistered version of CeQuadrat's CD burning software on an old computer that came with the software. Congratulations on a piracy device that also causes planned obsolesence. How silly of me to think I have a right to software that came preinstalled on my computer. Either someone there knows what I'm writing about or I am not really corresponding with anyone at Roxio. Some support.

Ah, I see this is the blogger where I referred to the CD burning capabilities lost upon downloading windows media player beta 9x.

Here's today's correspondence from Roxio, the microsoft media player affiliated company which coincidentally bought the German cd burning program, CeQuadrat, which compaq included on my machine back in 1999.

"Thank you for your letter, my name is Kathie and I have been assigned to provide you with the information you need to get help with the issues you addressed in your letter.

"When CeQuadrant is preloaded the support that you may be entitled to on complimentary bases would come directly from the company that furnished you with the software. In your case the support would come from Compaq. There phone number is 800-652-6672.

"You can also go to http://www.cequadrat.de/english/support/top5.php3 , this has all updates that are available for the software along with trouble shooting tips. This is a free update.

"If you would like to speak to one of our Technicians it would be at a $35.00 per incident charge and we would have to arrange for a call back. To speak to Technical Support you will need to call 408-934-7283.

"Again I want to thank you for taking the time to write us.

"Best regards,

"Kathie Upton
Customer Service Representative
roxio
The Digital Media Company
6900 Wedgwood Road Suite 200
Maple Grove, MN 55311 USA
Customer Service: 408-946-4949
Fax: 763-494-7303
kathie.upton@roxio.com
www.roxio.com
NASDAQ:"ROXI"
Featuring the Best-Selling CD-Recording Software in the World"

I wrote back as follows:

Dear Kathie,

Thank you for your response!

You actually may be able to help me from where you are because I downloaded Windows Media Player 9 Beta and that notified you, meaning Roxio, of the existence on my computer of the old CeQuadrat software. My compaq computer is over three years old and I suppose it is to your software's credit that it continues to run well and usefully. I just need your permission, now, to run it. Please provide the information I need to assure my computer that it is OK to run the program. Please send my computer something (the way it obviously sent something to you through the media player and then you sent something back to it) to let my computer know that I have the software legally and that it doesn't have to arrest itself or me as a result of my purchase of a computer.

I hope that this proiblem I am having is not the result of roxio/CeQuadrats dissatisfaction with compaq, in that you feel they have not fairly compensated you for including your software in their computer. In that case I don't know what to do. I will notify them of your position and how it affects their customers.

Sincerely,

Peter Dizozza

I'm typing in the words of Beck Hansen which appear on my Visor.
"I don't want to be in a situation like some of these musicians who might as well not have a front door -- anybody can walk in and see everything. I'm about making art and music and performing. I'm not a big believer in the everything's-on-the-table philosphy. I don't understand these people who overexpose themselves. What kind of a life is that?" uh.

"I'm about making art and music and performing" is a good reminder for one's life purpose. Is it in answer to the question, Who are you? No, it answers, "What are you about?" About face!

Right now, my life is about playing piano and teaching everyone their singing parts for Salad Days!

This is while other things go on about me.

By the way, I lost all CD burner capabilities by downloading Windows Media Player Beta 9x...

And why doesn't timewarnercable carry the UN channel (78 in Manhattan)?