] RIP Brad. Hopefully you are sharing your sence of humour
] with some good spirits, on the other side.

Another site that CrankyMessiah used pays it's respects. There is a link here to a picture for those who wanted to know what he looked like.

FAZED - Slorum - CrankyMessiah Thread

check the "other news" blurb at the bottom of the page:

"The Congressional bonehead award goes to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) who, on a visit to JPL, asked if Mars Pathfinder had taken an image of the flag planted there in 1969 by Neil Armstrong! Quipped Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) to the Washington Times: "We just don't teach enough science." Worse, Jackson Lee, who represents Houston, is a member of the House Science Committee's space subcommittee. Perhaps some committee reassignments are in order..."

Congressional Bonehead Award

Hit Altavista at random to widen a search. They've got an interesting new feature. Search results are clustered by topic.

AltaVista Search: memestreams

New Life Lodge
Alumni Association
P.O. Box 430
Burns, TN 37029

To Whom It May Concern,

Please accept this donation offered in memory of our friend Brad Blines. Brad was a part of our online community, called MemeStreams. One of the features of this community is that it tracks the popularity of the posts members make to it. Out of some 800 members, there are only three people in the community who have a higher popularity score then Brad, and they are the people who created the software the community runs on. This fact should illustrate the significant impact that Brad has had on our lives. We owe many smiles and laughs to his posts and comments over the past year. His presence will be missed by all of us.

Sincerely,
Tom & Marie Cross

From Flyn23:

It is with an extraordinarily heavy heart that I post that my good friend, Brad Blines, died on Thursday morning of a heroin overdose. Folks on memestreams will know him as crankymessiah. People from the 'scene' in Nashville will remember him from the days of Dragon Park, countless concerts and shows, and Predators games.

Brad was one of the lights of my life. We shared the same giddy excitement over music, film, and creativity that few people can understand. We had that kind of brotherly relationship where you don't really have to say anything to hear the other person. I hope that I will be able to still hear his infectious laugh in my head for the rest of my life.

Goodbye my friend.

Brad Michael BLINES
Nashville, TN
Age 35
January 8, 2003
January 8, 2003. Survived by parents, Michael and Diana Blines; sister, Kristin (Richard) Vik; grandmothers, Bonnie (Lloyd) Holt, Ruth Allen; nephews, Ethan Richard Vik, Brennan Michael Vik. The funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. at Harpeth Hills Funeral Home with Bro. Doug Varnado officiating. Pallbearers will be Chris Scheele, Richard Vik, Michael Dodson, Rich Husband, Jim Folger, Ernie Simon. The Interment will follow at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the New Life Lodge. Visitation will be Friday 5-9 p.m. and Saturday 1 p.m. until service at HARPETH HILLS FUNERAL HOME, 9090 Hwy. 100, 615-646-9292

I am sad, and unhappy...

] Amid rising hopes for a high-tech turnaround, there's
] this sobering sign: Martin Pichinson -- a man who has
] buried nearly 150 failed startups since 1999 -- has
] swooped into Silicon Valley like a vulture lurking over a
] pack of wounded animals.

CNN.com - Liquidator: 6,500 tech firms among 'walking dead' - Jan. 7, 2004

] So if jobs are scarce and wages are flat, who's
] benefiting from the economy's expansion? The direct gains
] are going largely to corporate profits, which rose at an
] annual rate of more than 40 percent in the third quarter.
] Indirectly, that means that gains are going to
] stockholders, who are the ultimate owners of corporate
] profits. (That is, if the gains don't go to self-dealing
] executives, but let's save that topic for another day.)

Here's our so-called recovery. Paul Krugman is like smart or something. END My So-Called Life Reference.

Op-Ed Columnist: Our So-Called Boom

] FedEx Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire
] Kinko's, the business services retailer, for $2.4 billion
] in cash.

Holy @$*&(@^#*! And I thought the UPS Store deal was big!

FedEx to buy Kinko's for $2.4 B in cash - Dec. 30, 2003

] The United States does not lack - either now or in the
] foreseeable future - sufficient numbers of capable people
] who would like to work in IT," Ellis wrote.
]
] "But those people may not be willing to conclude that
] long-run demands for their services will be good enough
] to support IT as a sensible career choice."

Experts debate future of technology careers - billingsgazette.com

] Own A Piece of BellSouth History…

] Due to downward trends in payphone usage, BellSouth plans to
] discontinue providing services to its payphone location provider
] customers.
]
] In partnership with BellSouth Public Communications, the BellSouth
] Pioneer Volunteers are offering for sale original renovated and
] completely operational BellSouth payphones and coinbox doors.

No longer do you need a crowbar to have your own payphone..

BellSouth Renovated Payphone Sale