From: chinagreenelvis@gmail.com   
      
   It's occurred to me many times over the years that I don't actually know any   
   of you all that well, despite our countless interactions, arguments, and   
   debates.   
      
   There aren't many of us left here in this derelict newsgroup, but those of us   
   who are still around persevere for good reason. This place is important to us.   
   Pink Floyd is important to us.   
      
   I understand if the rest of you don't chime in, but in hoping that you do,   
   I'll start.   
      
   -----   
      
   My name is Eric. I became a dedicated Floyd fan somewhere around 2003 when I   
   discovered torrents for the first time, and realized it was possible to obtain   
   entire discographies. For whatever reason, Pink Floyd was my first collection.   
   I'd heard their    
   songs on the radio for my entire life, but that's about as far as it went.   
      
   I can remember lying in bed that year, one of a handful of times in my life   
   I've had the flu, and listening, arbitrarily, to (I think) Momentary Lapse of   
   Reason and Dark Side of the Moon.   
      
   Funny thing is that torrent had a live version of the last track of DSOTM, so   
   for a long time I didn't know that the album's track wasn't live. When I   
   finally corrected it by buying the album and ripping it, my brain expected the   
   live version - for a    
   while. Eventually, I got over that.   
      
   Around 2004, I got an opportunity to partake in a mushroom experience with my   
   best friends. I specifically brought my copy of DSOTM with me and a CD   
   walkman. At a certain point during the party, everything became overwhelming,   
   so I curled up behind a    
   couch and put on the music and a pair of headphones.   
      
   I've done shrooms plenty of times since then, but I've never experienced what   
   I went through that night again. Purple, glowing spirals - like a Winamp   
   visualization - gyrating, pulsing, moving. I saw them as clear as day.   
   "Closed-eye visuals", they're    
   called, apparently. Haven't had the pleasure since.   
      
   One like spoke to me like nothing else ever had. All you touch and all you see   
   is all your life will ever be. Thank you, Roger.   
      
   I'm not really anyone special, although I used to think that one day I was   
   going to be. I did a lot of theater in high school and figured I'd run off to   
   Hollywood and be a film star. Life got in the way, somehow, and I just petered   
   on as anyone would.   
      
   I draw caricatures for a living, at parties. Wedding receptions, company   
   picnics, that sort of thing. Maybe that's why I think of people as cartoons.   
      
   I spend a lot of my time working on video projects. I like to think of myself   
   as a filmmaker. Maybe I still have a window for fame. I don't want to be   
   famous, though. I just want people to like my shit.   
      
   I have four major goals on my to-do list:   
      
   1. Make a feature-length film.   
   2. Write a novel.   
   3. Publish a graphic novel.   
   4. Have a major role in a movie or a stage play.   
      
   Number four I can live without. It's the first three I really want.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)