capt_wes_crusher: This is bullshit.

jointstereotype: Why the potty mouth?

capt_wes_crusher: Did you get the e-mail?

jointstereotype: What e-mail?

capt_wes_crusher: The one sent out to all SuperMegaNet customers this morning.

capt_wes_crusher: They're cutting off newsgroup access.

jointstereotype: Oh, yeah, I read something about that on Slashdot. Something about ISPs wanting to cut down on child porn.

capt_wes_crusher: They don't give a shit about cutting down on anything. If they did, they'd actually take the time to weed out the offending newsgroups and not just turn everyone's access off. This is just shitty politics, CEOs looking good in press release photos while the customers get shafted.

jointstereotype: Wow. Are you allowed to use the word "shitty" on the Internet?

capt_wes_crusher: I'm being serious here.

jointstereotype: Yeah, I know.

capt_wes_crusher: We should start a petition.

jointstereotype: Who uses newsgroups anymore? Who even knows what Usenet is?

capt_wes_crusher: Lots of people.

jointstereotype: Do you use Usenet?

capt_wes_crusher: Of course!

jointstereotype: Oddly enough, that doesn't surprise me. What for?

capt_wes_crusher: alt.music.asia-fanclub.

jointstereotype: So...you can't set up an Asia fan club at MySpace or Yahoo!?

capt_wes_crusher: MySpace members lack sophistication. We'd never get more than 16 friends there unless we were Sublime or The Used or some other crap-band.

jointstereotype: Have you tried?

capt_wes_crusher: Yeah. All we got were webcam sluts and Metallica leftovers asking, "Asia? You mean, like, the country?" For God's sake, the country?

jointstereotype: Could it be that Asia just isn't that good of a group?

capt_wes_crusher: How can you ask that? They were a supergroup—the first supergroup of the 1980s.

jointstereotype: And they lasted all of three years. I mean come on, Steve Howe called it quits after their second album. And then John Wetton left after Astra, and, seven years later, the only remaining member of the band, Geoff Downes, decided to get a new singer / bassist, guitarist, and drummer together for the Aqua album—and he had the gall to call it Asia!

capt_wes_crusher: Hey, Aqua was a good album.

jointstereotype: It was pure delusion. Aria only made things worse. You could taste the Def Leppard. And what was up with John Payne going uber-Christian on Aura?

capt_wes_crusher: Okay, I'll give you that on the Christian thing. But you can't tell me "Free" wasn't one of the most awesome tracks to come out of Asia, regardless of the lineup.

jointstereotype: "Free" was a fucking glorious song—by John Payne and Friends. Not Asia.

jointstereotype: Holy shit.

capt_wes_crusher: What?

jointstereotype: I can't believe I'm actually arguing the semantics of Asia with you.

capt_wes_crusher: You should totally check out alt.music.asia-fanclub before it's shut off. You'd like the tracks posted by Wetton Our Whistle: A John Wetton Tribute Band.

"Text Message" #2008-07-19 © 2008 Jesse Gordon