Okay guys, I finally started my epic Final Fantasy 7 fan fiction. I hope you enjoy the first chapter. The basic idea is that cloud wants to start a band. The idea is I guess that I’ll compose the music that’s referenced in the story. Anyway, Ross, I guess this puts the ball in your court. Enjoy. There’s some shredding at the end of the track.

Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters or any aspect of Final Fantasy VII

In the rainy season in Midgar Cloud clutched the battered note to his chest. He could still vividly recall the night at Gold Saucer when he had received it. Normally, he wouldn’t have wanted to have his fortune told, but Reeve insisted.

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Donald Pleasence at 3:06 – what???

I’d like to welcome Zach to Sacramento, after his epic car journey across the country.  Who would have thought that 40-50% of the Roaring Shark community would ever live in Sacramento or work for UC Davis?  Weird…

Mark, Ross, and Dave – consider yourselves welcome to drop by for a surfing lesson, a glass of locally grown wine, a trip to In ‘n’ Out Burger, an extended car trip through nasty traffic, an unexpected race to outrun an approaching wildfire, or something else suitably “laid back.”

Zach seems to be doing well: his love of tacos will serve him well out here.

Hey guys i’m in sunny California now. Had an awesome dinner with Rob and Kelly last night to celebrate my arrival. Not much to say. Feeling pretty amped up today but at the same time strangely missing being on the road. Mark will remember Dave Hunter, a UR guy who quit his PhD program to drive big rigs for a living. Honestly can say that I now appreciate some of the appeal. The punishing nature of the first two days driving had a karmic payoff in the last two days. In particular the 2nd half of Nebraska and the entirety of Wyoming were pretty spectacular. I got into this really good groove of waking up and getting on the road about an hour before dawn. The roads were pretty much my own for the first couple hours of driving each day. I’d leave the radio off until the sun came up and just enjoy the early morning half-light. Finally got the camera charged on the night of the 2nd day, so here’s some pictures from the 3rd and 4th days of the trip.

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sorry mark no shredding.

new chromeo, “Night by Night,”:

old school – Zapp & Roger’s “Computer Love,”:

hey guys. you should be happy you didn’t come on the trip. pretty brutal so far. driving not so tough, but at night i feel totally fried, and dream about roads. dave, i thought of you as i drove through chicago – but i think mark told me you were at your parents’ place right now anyway. right now in kearny, NE, home of the UNK Lopers. approximately 2.2 days left of driving left. summary so far is that ohio never ends, iowa is hillier than advertised, and nebraska as boring as you thought it could be. woohoo. as i mentioned earlier, i ended up torpedoing my idea to go to rocky mtn national park. can’t stomach adding another day to the trip, and on top of that the park just had a snowstorm and is projected to have below-freezing temperatures. considering i dressed/packed for california (all my winter stuff is currently taking up space in rob’s house), let me just say NO THANKS, SNOW.

Anyway, I hope zach is doing all right on his cross country trip. (Don’t go to the dunes man!)

Also, this guy rocks.

i don’t know how actors do this stuff without bursting out laughing or something. i’m pretty into whazzat kangaroo.

Allow me to set the mood…[dims lights]

You’re going on hour 5 of a coffee and mozzarella cheese fueled youtube bender. Nothing seems more inviting then the warm comfort your bedsheets, but for whatever reason you can’t help scrolling through the ‘related videos’ list hoping to find the most related video. Then you reach that sad point where you are just trying to remember every song you ever liked at one time and haven’t heard in a while.

It’s important to note that the video doesn’t really get started until about 0:50. 1:15, are those “cynical eyes”?