kevincure.com

February 24, 2002

My mum just called. I guess her car (the Outback) got pummelled when a guy ran a red light at 6th and Chambers. I think she said she’s not hurt, but the police are going there now. This is bad news in more ways than just the accident. My mum doesn’t deal with things like this very well. She freaks out easily, heh. And certainly I can understand freakin’ out after your car has been clobbered, but in many situations, it only makes it worse. More news as events warrant. In the meantime, and also on the subject of cars…I saw the funniest car ever earlier this week. Have you ever seen those cars that are wicked pimped out but are total hoopties? This young Mexican guy (though by no means am I insinuating that pimped-out hoopties are solely a product of the good people of the Hispanic world) had this car that makes an ‘81 VW Rabbit look like a new ‘Cedes. Nonetheless he had shiny gold rims on every tire and was bumping his very-distorted bass so loud that the car was bouncing up and down like cars in an old Dr. Dre video. He was even working the one hand on the steering wheel thing. Quite funny, heh.

I think that only Byerly could appreciate this advertisement. It’s a magazine clipping from the Atari classic “Burgertime”. “Your job is to climb up the ladders and assemble an order of giant hamburgers. But you’ve got to do it fast, because you’re being chased by killer hot dogs, sour pickles and a very nasty fried egg.” The Atari is great, heh. I finally got around to playing Sonic Adventure on my Dreamcast. Great game. I was curious about how they would make Sonic work in 3D without becoming a Mario64 clone, but they pulled it off. This game feels exactly like what a 3D sonic should feel like. Sweetness.

A guy from Princeton bought me lunch at Mona Lisa today, which was cool. I’ve never been there - heh, I even told the guy that I’m more of an “Olive Garden type-of-guy” when he asked if I’d been there before. They guy was cool, though. He was like 30 and swore like a sailor, which was quite unlike what I was expecting. I was thinking I would meet more of the “fake English accent” type guys. I get to go to LA on Thursday at last. Yay, college interviews! Traveling rocks, heh. By the way, this guy (he was from Albany, NY) said he could tell my voice that I was from the East Coast. Do I have an accent? I didn’t think so, but makes ya think.

I was thinking, “Hmm, I wonder how much people know me?” Like, we all have stories, and I know that I’ve *told* most of these stories; I’m just not sure who I’ve told them to. So here’s the list, with answers below. Give yourself a check for every item if you know why it relates to me. If I don’t know you personally and you manage to get most of these answers right, that’s pretty scary, heh.

So how’d you do? Here’s the answers: 1) This was my last name until I was 7. Betcha didn’t know that one. 2) He’s my second cousin. He was drafted straight out of high school to the Atlanta Braves and pitched in the World Series before he blew out his arm. 3) I went on a date here last summer. Word. 4) My favorite soda in the world. You have to go outside the US to get it, though, or go to a bodega. 5) My bud from middle school. He got arrested for arson the year after I moved out here, heh. The kid was totally nuts, but he was a damn good artist and was really good at building stuff too. Lots of potential. 6) We met the South girls at these, because of Byerly and Adrian. 7) It’s Andrew. I hope you atleast got this one right. 8) The best resorts in the world. I’ve been to three of them (Punta Cana in 2nd grade, Huatulco in 7th grade and Sonora Bay in 10th grade). I want to go back as soon as possible (or work there for a summer). 9) I was born in Dorchester. It’s a ghetto in Boston. Does that make me a dawg? 10) Colin Powell’s my hero. He’s also very much like me politically, if you were curious where I stood on some issue (and I know you all are). 11) The final question in the National Geography Bee in 7th grade for the state of Massachusetts asked where the Khmer are from. The answer was Cambodia. I didn’t know this at the time. 12) I got a high school letter in 8th grade, because I played for Greenfield High School on the tennis team (they’re about Marist-sized). We got 2nd in District. Heh, I was #5 on the GHS ladder and haven’t been that high on CHS until this year. 13) Cure is my tennis nickname/rap name. 14) Crazy was my nickname in 8th grade hoops, because I would pummel kids going for rebounds. Eric and Chatty would say that’s nothing changed, heh. 15) Qb:tm was my internet magazine from July ‘98-October ‘99. I had 1200 readers each issue from every continent and writers from places like Guam, the Phillipines, China, Italy and Sweden.

I only count you as a friend if you knew at least a couple of those, heh. If you knew more than 5, you probably know me pretty well.

Update on my mum: So, of course, she was a bit overhysterical. Turns out a 67-year old guy ran the light and hit the front of her car only. There’s no bumper now and a bit of crunchage, but other than that, it’s fine. No one hurt either, so no worries.

I reffed seven games in a row on Saturday. Eegad. That’s quite a workout, eh? It’s fun, though, except for the occasional coach or angry parent. I don’t get it. In 2nd and 3rd grade b-ball, we don’t even keep score. I mean, literally. Not on paper, not anywhere. But coaches still complain about me not making calls when the other team fouls. Buddy, the one and only point of 2nd grade hoops is to teach skills. It doesn’t matter who wins, because there is no winner. So, one would think that the coaches would be upset at *their own kids* when *they* foul, not the other team, since it’s their job to teach the kids skills? I’ve only heard one parent or coach tell his kid not to foul, even when I wasn’t calling it.

But it turns out that poor sportsmanship isn’t just for Y ball. The Russians and Koreans are getting PO’ed because they think they’re being unfairly judged at the Olympics. Forget that it was the Russians who colluded with the French to scam the pairs ice skating. Forget that Apalo Ono, the American, was DQ’ed from a race for the exact same thing that the Korean was DQ’ed for. “There had to be a reason why the Russians aren’t winning as many medals as we should be.” Jiminy. You guys *lost*, end story. Honestly, when 2nd graders are bad sports, it’s annoying. When whole countries are, it’s a damn shame.

Tyler doesn’t needa be a poor sport, though, cuz he won the DDR Tourney up at Putter’s last week. He got 1st on accuracy and 2nd in style. Pretty sweet. Him and Trav need to go to some of the Portland tourneys and find out how good the people are up there.

I think America has a self-esteem problem. We think our actions overseas are portrayed as *worse* than they actually are. A pendulum swinging too much to the other side, perhaps. For instance, in the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada, in 1983, we launched a military invasion to depose an undemocratic dictator. Now, many hippie types would say, “I can’t believe this! Why are we getting involved there? Let them run their own country. Forcing our ideas down their throats, sheesh!” Unforunately, the facts ain’t that. In Grenada now, every October 25th, they have a holiday dedicated to thanking the United States. No joke. In fact, Americans are idolized there. We’re seen as saving the country from a Noreaga-style dictatorship. See? Foreign intervention isn’t all that bad.

Which segues nicely into my next topic: America is the world’s third happiest nation. Denmark and Australia are the only ones who rate themselves happier. And apparently, the correlation works out that while people feel relationships are the most important for happiness, material goods in comparison with others around you are actually the most important factor. Greed is more important than love, says the data, heh. My personal opinion is that balance is most important. While I think I’d rather be a bum with good friends than a rich man with none, having the material goods I want *and* good relationships would be better than either alone.

And finally, the subject of sadness. I can’t figure out why, but there is a lot of sadness among our South buds. Why? I don’t mean anyone in particular, but the vast majority of South girls have, at some point or another, mentioned that they’re not very satisfied with life right now, or depressed at times. I never would have guessed this, especially with some of the girls. I’m curious as to what’s driving this, because among the only group of people I know as well, my Churchill buds, the amount of depression is far far lower. It’s not poverty, because the South girls are, as a whole, richer than my Churchill friends (I think I’m among the most well-off of my Churchill friends, and my family’s income is right at the 50th percentile nationally). I don’t think it’s family situation either, because many more of my South friends parents are still married (TJ, Byerly, Chatty and Eric are the only people I can think of quickly whose parents *aren’t* divorced). They’re smarter and better-looking than my C-hill boys, on the whole. What’s the correlation, if there is one? Is it just that teenage girls are more likely to be sad than teenage guys? I dunno.

Oh, one more thing. Oregon schools are in very serious trouble, in case you didn’t know. In the last 10 years, at NEHS, the student:teacher ratio has gone from 19 kids per teacher to 26 per teacher, and it’s gonna shoot up again next year. What is the legislature thinking? Compound degrading schools with a 9.1% state unemployment rate, no major industry prospects for the future, a divided legislature and a mediocre college system, and I’m quite worried about Oregon’s future. Radical change is needed and needed quickly.

MP3 Prime Cut: “Youth of the Nation” by POD
Best youth anthem since, well, Silverchair’s “Anthem of the Year 2000″. Really cool stadium sound with the echoes and all that. When the kids sing at the end, it gives me a chill in the spine, heh. Great song. “Boom”, the new POD single, is pretty hot too. Big, hard, guitar-driven music that reminds me of Saliva.MP3 Prime Cut Extra: “Tudunn Tudunn Tudunn” by Funkmaster Flex ft/ Noreaga
This has an addictive “Dun-dun-dundundunda-dun” chorus. Cool raps. “All my brothers be starvin’ and waitin’, take our masks off like Jason”. I’m feelin’ the French pop song by Alizee, called “Moi Lolita”. A song from an mp3.com group, some cool sex anthem rap on “Tease Me” by As U Wysh Entertainment. “If you want some, call me when you need me. Bring your girl too, hit it on the three way. Wanna get down, don’t want it if it’s easy. Take your shirt off, lift your skirt, c’mon and tease me.” “Amber” by 311 is a nice chilled-out song from the new 311 album. A cool breakbeat that sounds sorta like the instrumental Freestylers tracks is “Lock It Down” by Digital Assassins. Roni Size’s “Idi Banashapan”, from The Fast and the Furious soundtrack, has a deadly, deep bassline. Also from Fast and the Furious is “Watch Your Back” by Benny Cassette, a thumping rap track with a “Watch your back!” chant on the chorus. The last track I’m feeling from that movie is “Cali Diseaz” by Shade Sheist featuring Nate Dogg, an old-skool, relaxed rap cut that sounds like it should be on an old Dre album.

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