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Oops! Randy again sez "Hi!" from R.I.



That's RI as in T-ri, folks... (sorry!)

Well, it looks like my first message bombed because of the Word document I 
attached... I'll tri (getting the theme, here?) again.

Hi, everyone! Hope you're all well and having a great time... Sorry I didn't 
come through with the posters this year... my Mac's motherboard has been out for 
several weeks - that's why I'm writing from the office. Don't blame the poor 
Mac; it's my non-air-conditioned third-floor apartment.

I'm feeling good, though still sore and recovering from being mugged last week 
(ask Debbie.) No permanent damage, but I'm left with greater empathy for the 
plight of minority police detainees, political prisoners, torture victims, and 
battered women and children. Not a bad outcome, all in all. A little cheap 
advice: never pull over for unmarked police cars; drive to a police station or 
well-lit public area; the real police will never hold it against you.

I'll be seeing Todd a week from today (Sunday the 25th) in New Haven (eewww!) so 
I'm not totally without a Todd fix. Though not there in the flesh, I'm with you 
in spirit...

In the good news department, I've got a little you-heard-it-here-first 
announcement... starting this week, my website's URL - 

http://www.worldpeace.com/hidden/agenda/

will be truncated to the much classier

www.worldpeace.com

courtesy of the friendly folks at IDS, my service provider. Shortly afterwards, 
my site will be splitting into two main branches; the self-serving "RandyLand" 
will continue as it does now, and a new, more altruistic wing will be added, 
which I'm calling

"The WorldPeace Project" (why not aim high?)

It will have two main features: a well-organized index of global links to 
worthwhile peace/non-violence-oriented resources, and a gallery of various 
contributors' art, music, prose, poetry, etc. all related to the central theme.

Just my way of paying off a few karma points - I think I've been running in the 
red for a while.

The last part of this letter is a document that will go up on the site 
explaining its origins; it's what didn't make it through Roger's mail engine as 
an attachment before.

But enough about me! It's Todd's day. 

Once again, my best wishes to everyone - wish I was there - maybe next year. At 
least I can promise to come through with the posters next time around... 

Hey, I'll go one better. I had already started work when my computer crapped 
out... the idea uses the Hindu notion of chakras and was looking extremely cool; 
why don't I complete it to keep the series going, and ask poor Debbie to mail 
'em out to the attendees? Better late than never... give me a month or so, and 
this'll burn off a little more of that karma... ;-)

peace, love, grins, and a new Todd album soon...

Randy


...............

Just what is The WorldPeace Project?

It all began when I decided to register a unique domain name for my absurdly 
self-promotional website, RandyLand. 

The appallingly egocentric nature of said site left even yours truly gasping to 
come up with something less narcissistic than the all-too-obvious 
www.randyland.com.

Hoping that the URL could become something of a meme, easily remembered and 
passed from person to person, I searched for a hook; something that would turn 
attention away from me and toward the collective Us. 

"World peace" is a concept dear to just about everyone, and seemed guaranteed to 
evoke a smile from people of good will (arms manufacturers, terrorists, and 
certain fictional aliens being notable exceptions.) Besides, it had a nice 
global rrring to it.

Fortunately, since there wasn't much of a demand for world peace, I had no 
trouble registering it as a domain name; it was there for the taking. Try doing 
that with "mouthwash" or just about anything else you can acquire with a credit 
card.

Well. There I was, gleeful in the knowledge that unless Procter & Gamble 
suddenly marketed some new spritz called "WorldPeace UltraFresh!" and sued for 
trademark infringement, I was www.worldpeace.com for life; wasn't I the clever 
lad.

After a while (not very long, either) my conscience started to bother me.

"You've been graced with this remarkable resource," it said, "and you're not 
doing a damned thing with it but printing up natty little red buttons with your 
web address on them."

But they're very nice buttons, I protested; people actually put them on when I 
give them one.

"Oh, bother the bloody buttons," sputtered my conscience, "why aren't you using 
the address to contribute something worthwhile to the cause?"

Why not, indeed. 

I had no defense; my conscience had (for once) clearly gotten the better of me, 
and I was left with no choice but to roll up my sleeves and crunch out some 
HTML.

Thus was born The WorldPeace Project: an infinitesimal, but (one hopes) not 
entirely unworthwhile contribution to a Cause we can all believe in.