HW: Hawkfest 2003

[M Holmes]

Henderson Keith writes:

PXR1: yeah, strange to put them on at the same time as Hawkwind.
Someone would have to be very pointedly annoyed at Hawkwind to go and
see a cover band 50 yards away while they were playing.  Did this also
mean that the PXR1 guys missed the Hawkwiwnd gig?

> P.P.P.S.  OFF-topic wandering: Can anybody explain the logic behind
> the alphabet-shuffling of the CA guv'ner ballot, and how it makes it
> more 'fair' if they randomi(s/z)e it beforehand (rather than just ABC...)?
> Doesn't it just *change* who gets the 5% boost at the top of the list
> rather than eliminate the bias?

I'm a little more cynical perhaps but I suspect that the thinking was
that Gray Davis might poll few enough votes that if a Mr. AAAAArdvark
consistently got the Lazy Bonus then Davis might be out just by dint of
that. Varying the ballots helps prevent this.

> What, were they afraid that candidates were
> going to start changing their legal names to "Joe Aardvark" or "AAA Heating
> and Cooling"?  Maybe I'm stupid, but I would have thought that printing
> an equal number of ballots with *each* of the candidates listed at the top
> would have made the most sense.  Although now with 6000 candidates (or
> whatever it is) for one stupid election, the printing costs would start
> to get extreme, now wouldn't they?

Indeed. Note though that however much this election is going to cost the
taxpayers, it's going to be trivial compared to the costs of the
California bonds downrating due to the fiscal mess, and the ultimate
costs of the screwed up elecktrickery deregulation (you can't fix what
someone charges and leave open-ended what their suppliers charge them
without there being a very obvious failure mode) will probably dwarf
even that.

> Anyway, in this crazy world where
> people are looking to organized religions (of all things) to figure out
> whether it's 'OK' or not to be homosexual

If 100 years I fully expect whatever rump is left of christianity to be
heatedly arguing about whether an android can be a Bishop. If their
arguments weren't so pointless, I'd join just for the recreation of 'em.

>  Oh yeah, and how
> 'bout that Marsrise at Hawkfest?  Just wait until the upcoming New Moon.
> Almost close enough to have HF'04 there, yeah?




Waves of red sand cover the lakes
but Hawkfest Four's on Mars
Album covers make the same mistakes
but Hawkfest Four's on Mars
And everyone here is gonna eat hash cakes
But Hawfest Four's on Mars

It's on Mars.

Layers of smoke in the atmosphere have made the tent to hot to bear
There might be some dessert soon but Arthur left and took the spoon

Hawkfest Four's on Mars
It's on Mars

They're gigging for dreams on the red sand
We've got our tickets and shades in our left hand
They're gigging for dreams
We're looking at lights

We've got Crum on jamming and wine afterwards
And thunderstorms on Sunday
We've got our pipes and the stars

And Hawkfest Four's on Mars