Latest Update: August 1, 2001 by Ben Marcus

10:21 PT WEDNESDAY AUGUST 1, 2001 PASTRY SHOP, SMITHERS.

ODOMETER
TRIP METER

MONEY
Cornish pastie and coffee: $3.00

I like Smithers. These are nice people living in a good place. There are more young people and a lot more girls than Sequim. And there are lots of European tourists moving through, for some reason. I showed the Montana photo to some guys from the Netherlands last night and told them to go to Montana. There also were some Swiss people in the park last night. They ended up sleeping in the kitchen because it rained most of the night.

It rained, but the ground isn't wet or muddy. Not sure how that works.

So I'm finishing this then I'll go to the Internet CafÚ and get the latest good news/bad news. If the actual trip is half the cliff-hanger the preparation has been, it's going to be good drama.

11:06 PT WEDNESDAY AUGUST 1, 2001 THE INTERNET CAFE, SMITHERS

And amid all the confusion and bad new, a Ray of Light from Jack McCoy.

(Since I'm in British Columbia, I though a bit of log-rolling wouldn't hurt, eh? By Golly?)

In a message dated Wed, 1 Aug 2001 6:29:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Jack McCoy jackmccoy@bigpond.com> writes:

Dude, Hope all is going swell for you and yours. Latest SJ story on TOW is fanfuckingtastic. Great great greater. Your Tao theme was very very cool.

I TOOK A CHANCE AND IT WORKED. THAT ALL STARTED WITH ONE THOUGHT: 'TOW SURFING SOMETIMES LOOKS IMPOSSIBLE, LIKE THOSE WIRE-AIDED FIGHTS IN CROUCHIGN TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.

THAT BLEW UP INTO THE WHOLE TAO THEME, AND HOLY SHIT DID IT WORK.

I GO BACK AND READ THAT AND THINK, 'SHIT, THIS GUY IS SMART." AND I WROTE IT.

WEIRD.

REALLY PROUD OF THAT ONE.

Just wanted to tell you a job well worth reading. I can't wait to write my book and spill the beans on a couple of those knuckleheads but till then you the best.

WHICH KNUCKLEHEADS? LAIRD? CLUES?

WATCHED THE FIRST ANNUAL VIDEO AWARDS THE OTHER NIGHT, WITH GLIMPSES OF THE FIRST BILLABONG CHALLENGE.

YOU'RE AN ARTIST, YOU KNOW.

What's with Pez giving you a rev in the liner notes. that was a bit weird.

IT'S HARD TO CLAIM ME THESE DAYS. I AM SO HATED IN SO MANY PLACES.

IT'S NOT COOL TO SUPPORT ME.

I CAN TAKE IT. HE ALSO CALLED ME A GENIUS. THAT'S FINE.

IT WAS FINE. I NAILED THAT ARTICLE. THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW, PEOPLE WILL BE READING THAT. IT'S A FOUNDATION ARTICLE. HISTORY. BEST TO GET IT DOWN NOW, WHEN IT'S FRESH.

Oh yeah, one more thing....go take a trip to some where warm and sunny, put on a pair of boardies and go surfing. You'll groove on and on and on and on......

WELL, I'M GOING TO RUSSIA. WE'RE GOING TO ATTEMPT THE TURNAGAIN ARM TIDAL BORE IN ALASKA, THEN FLY TO KAMCHATKA TO HELICOPTER SURF ONE OF THE LAST TRUE WILDERNESSES.

I HOPE IT ALL COMES TOGETHER.

NEED A PHOTOG. WANT TO GO?

THIS THING DESERVES A CINEMATOGRAPHER

Love your work. Aloha Mac

I AM HONORED. JUST GLAD SOMEONE OUT THERE UNDERSTOOD IT. I BARELY DO.

I HAVE A SCREENPLAY ABOUT SHARKS I'D LIKE TO SEND YOU. I NEED SOME BLANKS FILLED IN AND YOU MIGHT JUST BE THE GUY. THIS THING IS MUCH MORE VIABLE THAN THE SURFING ONE. PEOPLE LOVE SHARKS AND IT'S GOING TO TAKE A HOT-SHIT WATER CINEMATOGRAPHER.

LET ME KNOW. IT'S MUCH SHORTER THAN THE SURFING SCREENPLAY

And as I was hyping, I mean typing all that logrolling in, I got into a funny IM session with Steve Hawk.

Yes, I deigned to speak with him.

[Editors note (yes, there is an editor at Sacklunch, though spelling and punctuation are not high on his list of duties): The shockingly pleasant IM message between Steve Hawk and Ben Marcus (which Ben included here and intended to run, but which I have removed for reasons that will soon be explained) was a premium example of how civil Ben Marcus can be. That said, it was brought to my attention by Mr. Hawk in e-mail sent to two different address and a voice message left on the Sacklunch phone that the IM which Ben was planning on running here (in it's entirety) contained Top Secret Regis Philbin information relating to Mr. Hawk's famous brother's appearance on the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire program. As much as I would like to ruin the show for everyone, let's just say, check your local listing during the week of September 10 for the celebrity edition of the show in which Brother Tony has a shot at sitting in the chair across from Regis. You will not want to miss it. That said, I apologize to Ben in advance for removing the offending passage and for the record I hope I am not becoming a "back-stabbing rat bastard."]