Life of a Lounge Lizard

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at this very moment...
2008-05-17 16:32:00
it is raining cats and dogs outside my window here in bangkok, thailand. the time is about 9:33pm at night. from my seat near my bed, I am writing this post while listening to the petter patter of the rain.so, what is going on through my mind, you ask?nothing much. just sort of sitting back and relaxing through it all. physically, I feel ok. no back ache. I feel somewhat hungry.the next thing on my agenda tonight is to cook dinner. and then, play games while watching tv until I get sleepy.oops! just heard the sound of thunder outside. yes, it is raining cats and dogs, people.gotta go.
More About: Moment

the lobby was fun tonight.
2008-05-16 23:13:00
well, after 8 days away from the lobby, I was finally able to make it back for a visit tonight. and would you believe it? I found out that there are a number of lounge lizards back in town.roll call - kaito, the big kahuna, the silver surfer, norman rockwell, DocD, long time jessie, rawhide, general patton, the guru, jacques cousteau, the handsome man, patrick o'brien, the bookkeeper, myoung-ho, timberwolf, nintendo, colonel sanders, sweetheart, candle, snow white...not an all time record for a gathering of lounge lizards. but big enough to call it a posse.I was most surprised to see the silver surfer back so soon. he left thailand about 2 months ago, and was planning on coming back in october. but alas, there he was last night back in the thick of things.kaito was in rare form. he noticed I was yawning a lot, so, he treated me to a cup of hot coffee. another standup lounge lizard.well, that's it for now. time to get some sleep.
More About: Tonight

things are falling into place.
2008-05-16 04:17:00
it's funny how things seem to fall in place at times. I was planning on taking my backup notebook on this the trip to china. I never thought about the possibility that the wifi on it would not work once I got to china until last night.while updating and improving the security on my router by updating the router firmware, turning on wpa-psk security, hidden ssid, and implementing the mac address filtering features, I discovered that my old notebook was only able to access wep level security. imagine that.and this all came about a week before departure because of a thought put in my mind by - the watcher.yes. things are falling into place.fixing my old notebook required a driver update. but get this, the driver was not easy to find. it took me about 2 hours to find it via a wifi forum. the company making the old wifi card is gone. merged with some other company.hmmm?.. maybe I should just bring my newer notebook with me to avoid all this BS. and at the same time sell my old ...
More About: Place , Things

the city of vallejo, california going bankrupt!?!!
2008-05-15 07:50:00
it may seems odd to my readers why I even bother to comment about a place so far away from bangkok, thailand. as it were, in another life, this city was in my neighborhood. so, yes, it concerns me somewhat.nobody wants to see places where they have lived going to pot.so, what have I got to say about the place and their bankruptcy proceedings?..I just reviewed all their financial statements (everything is on the internet), and anybody with half a brain could see - the problem is in a nutshell - they are paying their police officers and their firemen TOO MUCH MONEY!!the base salary for a police officer in vallejo is about 120,000 dollars a year.the average salary for a police officer in the nation is about 44,000 dollars a year.the solution to the budget problems - LOWER the salaries.jesus! EVEN a backseat driver with half a brain like me can figure that out.SO, the big question IS - why can't the people in vallejo, california figure that out? OR maybe, they know. but they are too in...
More About: California , City , Vallejo , Bankrupt

it's raining everyday now.
2008-05-15 06:11:00
the way the rain comes and goes nowadays here in bangkok, you would think it was august already. sort of nice in a way because my electricity bills are much less because it is not as hot as is normally the case at this time of the year.last night, I didn't make it to the lobby as I had hoped. what was suppose to be a 2 hour nap turned out to be a 6 hour thing. then, there was the rain outside. yeah. too much hassle.I ended up spending the night learning how to configure my router to allow only certain mac addresses to access the internet via my wireless connection.the watcher got me thinking about it during a discussion we had while waiting to process our visas at the chinese embassy. the guy is full of ideas. in a way, he reminds me of da brain...if you are curious why I call him the watcher, check out this link..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watche r_(comics)naturally, a lot of testing was necessary to make sure everything worked like it is suppose to. fun stuff - at least to me.it...
More About: Raining

success at last!
2008-05-14 11:01:00
yesterday, I had a little chat with the watcher. we were both sort of thinking that we won't be able to go to china later this month. but as of this morning, those thoughts have all disappeared. yes, I think we can safely say - mission accomplished.we pulled out all the stops to ensure that we wouldn't be denied the visas. the watcher received a fax from the hotel in china late last night. and with our copies of the airplane tickets, we went to work.the plan was to get to the chinese embassy early. ..I was there at 8am. they open at 9am. there was already maybe 5 people in line then. as the minutes crept up towards 9am, another 60 odd individuals joined us in line. when the gate opened at about 2 minutes to 9, it turned out to be a mad dash up the stairs to the immediate door way to the office that issued out the visas. I pushed the button on the machine that issued the line numbers. I got number 10. not bad I thought. when the watcher arrived 5 minutes later, he got ...
More About: Success

is it just me???
2008-05-13 08:32:00
it seems like there are a lot more natural disasters happening around the world. more so than what is usually the norm. first we had a string of tornados in the states, then, the cyclone in burma, and now the earthquake in china. what gives???am I the only one noticing this series of events??? something to think about...anyway, so, this morning, I made another trip to the chinese embassy. got there at around 8am. they open at 9am. there was maybe 3 others besides me in line already. of course, we all got to talking. they asked me quote, "did you get your airplane ticket yet?" I replied, "yes". "how about your hotel reservation?", they all asked. I replied, "no, not yet." the next thing you know, the 3 of them started telling me you will just be wasting your time in line if you don't already have your hotel reservation.now, you can just imagine what is going through my mind at about this time. I'm thinking to myself... do I want to waste my time standing in line behind these 3 know...

reflecting on life.
2008-05-12 06:55:00
I woke up today with high hopes of getting 2 things done. 1) do my 90 day notice at thai immigration, and 2) get my visa for china. I got the 90 day notice. but I couldn't get the visa for china. so, I have to go back tomorrow and try.so, what happened that caused me to not do these 2 things today, you ask?just one of those days, I guess. both places were jammed packed with people. the china embassy was absolutely a madhouse. it took me about an hour to get my 90 day notice at the thai immigration which is fast if you know what I mean. but that china embassy is something else right now. I think it is because of the olympics. but whatever the reason.... people, if you want to get your visa for china, you had better not get there after 10am because the lines are that big. they won't issue out numbers anymore after 10am. I know - I tried. the place opens at 9am and closes at 11:30am. tomorrow, I plan on getting there at 8:30am. my guess is there will be a line there eve...
More About: Life

I believe in global warming.
2008-05-11 20:50:00
well, didn't go to the lobby tonight. opting to rest so that I have energy to wake up early to complete the tasks that I couldn't do last friday. get visa for china, and report 90 days at thai immigration.it's about 2am right now, monday morning. read email from the sarge, and vito. errol flynn was nice enough to treat me to a beer for my birthday. what a guy.just now, I went out on my balcony to check out the weather. it's like a cool spring day in san francisco. in the 10 years that I have lived here in bangkok, I have never experienced cool temperatures in may.yes, I believe in global warming.I'm not sure if I will do anything "special" tomorrow. but tonight, it will be the lobby again. and I think I will go drink a beer at rainbow 4. haven't done that in a while.life is great. life is grand. in thailand.
More About: Global Warming , Global

inflation???
2008-05-09 04:05:00
since I had some chores to do today, I didn't go to the lobby last night. nor did I go to sleep yet. yeah. I normally go to sleep around 5 or 6am every morning. but since I had to go do some visa stuff at the chinese embassy and the thai immigration, I stayed up. I thought to myself - today was the best day to get things done...as it turns out, it was the wrong day. you see, when I got to the thai immigration office, it was closed for some holiday. a wasted morning, and I still haven't gone to sleep yet. ugh!while riding the bus back to my place, I said to myself, I have to do something to make up for this wasted morning. so, I decided to go shop for some groceries. get this, prices for almost everything has sky rocketed. I couldn't believe my eyes. stuff that would have cost me about 160 baht last week burned a hole in my wallet to the tune of 230 baht!!!!yeah. I know you big spenders in the states are probably saying that this is no big deal. and yes, if you compar...
More About: Inflation

in hibernation.
2008-05-08 08:05:00
my middle name must be "bear" because I didn't want to do anything for the past 3 days. last night, I DID manage to go out to the lobby late. but that was it for the last 3 days.the lobby was pretty empty when I got there. a few lounge lizards trickled in and out over the course of a few hours. first there was the barber, the bookkeeper, then, timberwolf, and general patton.the surprise of the night was - the handsome man, and patrick o'brien are back in town again. the last time either of them were here was about 3 months ago. I got word that da brain is coming back next month.harrison ford is still in pattaya. yai ming is here from singapore. he comes here so often I don't look at him as being a visitor anymore.while the lobby was slow, the parking lot was in full swing. (guys, the parking lot is back to normal.) it was a packed house. and I loved it. saw craig constantine there. he seems to be coming everyday now. bumped into myoung ho. he told me he thinks the s...
More About: Hibernation

back at the looobby.
2008-05-04 04:33:00
went to the lobby last night. I seem to be averaging a trip over there once every 3 days now. still somewhat slow. but had fun shooting the breeze with everybody. mostly ex-pat crowd.roll call... timberwolf, dutch callahan, the barber, general patton, craig constantine, eddie murphy, the tattoo man, candle, sweetheart, lady puu.mike jagger just came back from pattaya. but was too tired to hang out with me last night. the weather was nice.other than go to the lobby, I did 2 loads of laundry, and stocked up my frig for another 4 days. the china trip is coming up soon. so, I have to get serious about getting my visa for china soon. like within a week. oh. that reminds me. I have to also do a 90 day notice for thailand before may 11. maybe I'll do both visa chores on the same day.received email from tom cruise, sarge, super glenn, david letterman, and ronald trump.on the agenda today.. I was thinking of seeing a movie, and then, maybe check out siam paragon mall. do some...
More About: Back

iron man
2008-05-01 02:30:00
I saw that ironman movie yesterday. and man, I have to tell you, it was cool. I love movies based on marvel comics. this has got to be one of the best renditions so far. if you like special effects, you have got to catch this movie.the movie was the highlight of my day. before seening the movie, I had dinner with harrison ford over at this new japanese restaurant located in the central world mall. another hour of window shopping, and then, I went to see the movie.after the movie, I just went home and did my normal routine.no lobby.
More About: Iron Man , Iron

augusto - where are you?
2008-04-30 02:18:00
I finally got my butt out of bed, and went over to david letterman's place last night. picked up the other 5 episodes of heroes - season 2 that I didn't see. yes sir, I will definitely be watching some heroes later on today.after leaving david letterman's place, I went over to the lobby, and hung out there for a few hours. the first lounge lizard that came by to chat a bit was the dude. he tells me he is going to china soon for a visit. the next lounge lizard that comes by was chevy chase. it is his last day. going back to the states tomorrow. an hour passes before I see timberwolf, the barber, and dutch callahan. we get into this discussion about that crazy guy in austria who had 6 kids with his captive daughter. timberwolf mentions that hitler was also born in austria which was a bit of info that I was not aware of.other lounge lizards that I caught a glimpse of later include snow white, and candle.it was pretty much a slow night for the lobby. I went home early becau...

sino-american relations.
2008-04-29 01:08:00
I've been keeping strange hours these past 2 days. didn't go out at all. just stayed home. it seems I would sleep 4 hours and then get up for 4 hours. not sure what is up with me. but I don't feel physically sick. so, I am not too concerned. perhaps it is a minor phase in my life. looking in the mirror, my face is unshaven, and my hair is a mess. the thought goes through my mind - is this how howard hughes was like when he became a hermit?anyway, besides the sleeping on and off, I followed my regular routine of playing computer games, watching tv, and surfing the net.my only intellectual endeavor was to research the topic - sino-american relations - on the internet. I was curious as to how america got to the point where they developed a trade debt with mainland china of over a trillion dollars. found several interesting articles explaining the history, and one particular article that reflects my own feelings about the current state of affairs exactly.enjoy!http://en.wikipedia.org...
More About: American , Relations

it's saturday night, folks...
2008-04-26 23:44:00
AND it is not raining. didn't do anything in the daytime except play universe at war, surf the net, and watch tv. come 8pm, I got up, showered, had myself a small meal consisting of padkapow gai over rice, and phat seeyou moo. and then, it was off to the loooobby.the lobby was slow to begin with. there were only 2 lounge lizards lounging in the soft seats as I entered the lobby. the barber and zorba the greek. later on, mike jagger, and hawaiian bob joined us. and much later, I got a surprise visit from chevy chase, and julio igelsius who just got into town from brazil. julio told me the flight from brazil to bangkok took him 36 hours.after resting for a bit, we all decided to go out into the parking to check out the scene there. saw craig constantine, and general patton. first time I saw craig constantine wearing glasses. I left the scene to go home at around 3am. not really tired. so, I did some late night shopping at the all-night shopping mall. stocked up my frig....
More About: Night , Saturday

strange weather for this time of year.
2008-04-24 21:25:00
get this. today, we had yet another day of rain. strange weather patterns. normally, in april the weather gets hot. and you have sunny skies all the time. instead, we have been getting rain everyday. usually, this sort of weather occurs in june, july, august or september. so, what is up, you ask? I don't know. maybe it is happening because of global warming???as you might have guessed, I didn't go out tonight. I hate getting wet. and it definitely puts a damper on the night scene.so, there I was at home once again for another night twiddling my thumbs, watching tv, and surfing the web.I wonder what all the other lounge lizards are doing?guess I'll get some early sleep tonight. perhaps wake up early and go to the gym.hello kitty called me up a few times tonight. I wonder what she wants? for some reason, I don't think it would work out. hello kitty, and bangkokbuddy? naaa. no magic there.
More About: Weather , Time , Strange , Year

my 2 cents on free trade.
2008-04-24 11:26:00
the mind is a muscle. if you don't exercise it, it gets weaker. towards the goal of exercising my mind, I decided to tackle the debate on free trade - is it good or bad?in an attempt to understand the issues involved, I must have read like 30+ articles on the subject that I found via a google search.I understand the idea behind free trade. that trade in itself has been proven to reduce poverty around the world. (?) that free trade maximizes efficiency of markets.many interesting reads... check out the following info on free trade.http://www.pollingreport.com/trade. htmhttp://rwor.org/a/v21/1030-039/1033/ch ina.htmthe lasting impression that I got from all the readings is - nobody really knows if free trade is good or bad. so many examples of behavior contradictory to the policy can be found which go against what should have happened.in the 1990's malaysia implemented currency controls which later were found to have prevented the country from entering a depression like period that ...
More About: Cents , Free , Trade , Free Trade

another day of rain..
2008-04-24 00:53:00
it rained again today. thunder and lighting even. as you can imagine, I didn't want to venture out when it was wet. so, I stayed home all day. viewed all 5 episodes of heroes - season 2 that I borrowed from david letterman. played some more universe at war. had some corn flakes with milk for breaksfast. some chicken rice porridge for lunch. and stir fried chinese brocolli over rice for dinner.since I didn't want to spend too much time today twiddling my thumbs or stare at the ceiling, I decided to do some update research on the status of solar power. still working on it. but let me give you this one interesting link to ponder over...http://www.stirlingenergy.com/the day went quick as it is about 5am right now. later today, it remains to be seen what I will do. content that I am with just lounging at home. my rations are adequate for another few days. will I get the urge later tonight to venture out of this abode of mine? to make the journey over to the lobby to partake in some peo...
More About: Rain

it rained today in the big mango.
2008-04-22 22:55:00
woke up around 3pm. didn't feel up to going out. so, I just laid there in bed for like 2 hours just staring at the ceiling. while laying there doing nothing, I thought about that tv series - heroes. and remembered david letterman's offer of lending me 5 episodes of season 2. this single thought was what got me to get up. after a quick phone call to david letterman to confirm the offer was still good, I got up and showered. the time was around 5pm. we agreed to meet at 10pm so that I could pick up the cds. 10pm was still about 5 hours away. so, guess what I did?played universe at war for a few hours. had a bowl of cereal, a banana, and a cup of coffee for my "late" breakfast.at 9pm, I took off to meet up with david. got there early. checked out his place. NICE. we traded notes about some things while he got me the cds for season 2 of heroes. and then that was it. we said our goodbyes. and I went over to the big T for a look see. the place was packed. no seats. ...
More About: Mango , Today

shooting the breeze in the loooobby.
2008-04-21 23:00:00
got so caught up with playing universe at war, I almost didn't make it to the lobby tonight. as it were, I got there at around midnight.it was an above average scene. and mostly because of the lounge lizards that were present for roll call. let's see now. over in the back were timberwolf, dutch callahan, bronson. up front were singapore jimmy, captain kirk, the guru, and the dude. topics that we discussed include the genocide that occurred in indonesia back in the 60's. and this one lounge lizard's way to deal with supporting his thai family. ever consider opening up a small ranch/farm in thailand? imagine having some cows, some land for growing rice, and a fish pond for raising fish to pay the bills? wish I knew this option a long time ago as I remember another lounge lizard who was trying to figure out a way out of having to provide his thai family with an allowance every month. he would have appreciated this info very much - for sure.anyway, after all the talking, ...
More About: Breeze , Shooting

a whole day of "universe at war".
2008-04-21 15:00:00
am I a gamer? in my eyes I am. but I haven't yet migrated to online status. will I ever? ..probably not. playing computer games on my pc is very different from playing with another opponent over the internet. if I were to go the route of an online gamer, my guess is - the lobby would be ancient history for me. and of course, as we all know - that could never be.yesterday, I pretty much spent ALL day playing - universe at war. I finished EZ mode for all the different alien races in the - small campaign scenario. now, I am playing in medium mode in - small campaign scenario. there are 5 different campaign scenarios. and there are 3 different modes - EZ, medium, difficult. AND there are 3 alien races. each of the 5 campaigns consists of at least 50 battles.you can imagine how long it would take to finish the game if you played all the different combinations.personally, I think I will just finish 2 campaign scenarios under EZ and medium mode before moving on to another gam...
More About: Universe , Universe at War

new spot in the parking lot.
2008-04-20 04:38:00
I got up early yesterday to hang out with harrison ford at the mbk mall. had my usual khao moon gai with a bowl of soup at the food court. then, went to this thai coffee shop next to starbucks to eat my dessert. after the meal and coffee, we spent like 3 hours roaming around the mbk mall, and the siam paragon mall. at around 8pm, we separated and went our separate ways. I went home and took a power nap.come 10pm thereabouts, I got up and went to the parking lot. stood around looking at people for a while. since nothing seem to be going on, I walked around a little. noticed the guru standing up against the wall, and joined him in his usual location. standing against the wall really took a load off my feet, and I felt myself full of energy. somehow, got into these political debates with the guru. and before you know it, the time showed 1am. the guru reminds me a little of captain kirk. our opinions are like on the opposite sides of the spectrum.I went home tired but happy....
More About: Parking , Spot

dirk bonapare is going home.
2008-04-17 22:45:00
I finally made it back to the lobby. good thing I did. dirk bonapare told me he is leaving tomorrow. was fortunate enough to see him off. it's been about 4 days now since I last ventured over to my second home. a number of things have changed for the better it seems.a lot of new talent. PLUS the parking lot scene was back to normal. yea!!!!I met a new guy tonight. let's all welcome jesse james to the lobby folks. jesse tells me he is living here now. has been here for about 4 months already. and is looking at it as an indefinite stay.lizards out and about still below average. one of the regulars hanging out with me says it is probably because it is low season. guess so.anyway, lounging about tonight I saw timberwolf, the analog man, the matador, handsome chris, general patton, myoung-ho, sad-face, and candle. slim pickens for sure.changing the subject...remember that pineapple that da brain gave me last week? well, I finally ate it. it was sweet like I expected. but funny thing is...
More About: Home

rambling thoughts - the pineapple.
2008-04-17 04:36:00
it's about 10am in the morning. am I awake? no, not really. but for some reason I woke up even though I only had like 5 hours of sleep. is it old age? who knows...over to the left of me is this pineapple that da brain gave me before he left. it's been like a week now. and I still haven't eaten it yet because it hasn't ripen yet.pineapples take a long time to get ripe, it seems.so, do you know when a pineapple is considered ripe? ..one of the lounge lizards in told me the secret. the guy with no name told me. he didn't want me to give him a nickname on my blog. so, I will call him mr. no name.mr. no name told me that a pineapple is ready to eat when you are able to pluck out one of it's leaves on the top of the pineapple easily. can't wait. the pineapple is slowly turning from a green color to it's current half orange, half green color. it's getting there.this guy, mr. no name, knows his fruits and vegetables. not only did he tell me how to determine when a pi...
More About: Pineapple , Rambling , Thoughts

day 4 - songkran?
2008-04-17 00:09:00
after thinking about it a little, I decided to stay indoors one more day. you never know, there might be some diehard wannabes who just don't know when to stop with the water wars.as it were, no big deal. I am starting to really get into "universe at war". as soon as I woke up, it was UAW, and that was the way it was - for the WHOLE DAY.I took a break for food of course. and then there was the 2 loads of laundry. some correspondence from david letterman, the sarge, and DQ. last but not least, somebody came over to buy my old lcd 17 inch monitor. that craigslist is really something else. ..it works.tomorrow or rather tonight (since it is about 5am right now), I will be sure to make it over to the looooobby. yes, it will be good to check out the scene once again after being away for so long.the loooobby, and the PARking lot.

day 3 - songkran.
2008-04-16 00:01:00
I just read in the local bangkokpost newspaper. quote, "official songkran celebrations will start to wind down."http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking _news/breakingnews.php?id=127117april 13-15. that's it. hopefully no more water wars out in the streets. does that mean I can now venture out back to the lobby tonight? it's wednesday, you know - april 16. my frig is stocked up with enough food for another few days. but the yearning to go out is starting to get to me. hibernation is for the bears.well, we'll see... later today, I think I'll do a short walk around the neighborhood and see what the verdict is. I'm not too concerned with the little kids running around with water. ..it's the BIG kids that cause all the trouble with their 50 gallon barrels of water sitting in the back of their pickup trucks that scare me.yea! yea! YEA!!!!!so, what did I do last night, you ask?in a word, nothing.got a note from david letterman. a phone call from crusher gomez. and an email from the sarge....

day 2 - songkran
2008-04-14 01:43:00
have you ever met children who would watch the same movie, cartoon, etc. over and over again? I knew this one kid who watched star wars like over 50 times. and when he told me of the feat, he was beaming with pride. it used to always amazed me how some people could get so addicted to something - until today.you see, it is about 7am in the morning right now. I just finished watching another 12 episodes of heroes. I started watching them at 10pm last night. and just finished up no more than an hour ago. I saw all 24 episodes of the 1st season of heroes in less than 2 days.I truly know now how people can get caught up with those tv shows.get this. AND NOW.. I want to see what they already have for the 2nd season. I like the heroes tv series.anyway, so, what else happened to me yesterday, you ask?well, let me see... after my last post, I went back to sleep and woke up at around 5pm. between 5pm and 10pm, I did the internet for a couple of hours, watched that movie - ghostri...

day 1 - songkran.
2008-04-13 08:01:00
the first day of songkran went pretty quickly for me. to start with, I woke up at around 3pm in the afternoon. watched some tv. and then, did my routine search of the net for like 2 hours. after the net, I thought to myself. maybe it is time to treat myself to the new computer game - universe at war. the installation part of the game took me an hour since I had to download this huge 28 mb patch off the internet. but once that was completed, I had fun learning how to play the game. I played the game for like 2 hours before taking a break to my dinner of morning glory over rice. followed by some doughnuts. and a cup of coffee.I had 5 doughnuts and they were suppose to last me a few days. but as it turns out they didn't even last an hour.after dinner, I decided to start watching the 1st season of heroes that I borrowed from the watcher. I got to tell you. watching the stuff was addicting. orignally, the plan was for me to watch one dvd each day. but I ended up watching ...

songkran is tomorrow!
2008-04-11 21:22:00
today was a day of preparations. since tomorrow is the start of the thai holiday, this was the last day to stock up on provisions, and prepare myself for hibernation mode. some of you are probably wondering why I am not immersing myself into this holiday that is noted for a week of water fights. where adults and kids alike go around making everything and everybody wet. to put it bluntly - ..why in the fuck don't you enjoy it, bro?..the answer, ..the reasonlong ago, I DID enjoy the festivaties. but after seriously getting sick a few times after being drenched in water, I decided this holiday was not for me. how serious did I get sick, you ask? how does getting laid up in bed for at least a week sound to you? I have my suspicions that the water some people spray you with is tainted. frankly, you would think that the water in itself shouldn't be a problem. but I hate to say this, I believe there are some really sick people out there.I read in the local newspapers here that ...
More About: Tomorrow