Ken vs. the City

Sisters graduated: 1
Family seen: 4

Old friends met: 15
Old friends missed: 10
New friends made: 6

Notable events:
seeing my sister graduate, walking barefoot on the lawn, running in the morning and smelling nature, seeing 2 Wisconsin Air National Guard F-16s take off from the Dane County Airport, going to Woodlands Church on Sunday, driving to Milwaukee to see old friends

Food items consumed:
1 grilled bratwurst; 1 home made pretzel; 2 ButterBurgers & 1 frozen custard from Culver’s; 2 glasses of Leinenkugel’s; 1 glass of Spotted Cow; 1 beer-battered walleye sandwich; 1 Honey BBQ Burger from Buffalo Wild Wings; 1 small piece of grilled sirloin; 1 bottle of Point Vanilla Cream soda; 1 small portion of Waldorf salad

Cities visited;
Plover, Stevens Point, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac

Funny YouTube videos discovered:

In this strangely disturbing piece of performance art in Chicago, anyone can log on to the internet and shoot Bilal with a paintball gun, even in the middle of the night. The robotic paintball gun is controlled through Bilal’s website. Users can also chat with him and watch him on a webcam.

The idea of shooting anyone with anything non-stop for 45 days is pretty creepy. I enjoy the game of paintball. It’s a team sport with strategy and an objective. But shooting Bilal is like kicking a puppy. I should also note that he’s ignoring basic paintball safety by not wearing a mask.

Bilal is living in the installation, entitled “Domestic Tension”, 24/7 for 45 days. The website is accessible from all over the world, and lists the IP addresses of the ten most recent people to log on and shoot him. For obvious reasons, it’s a pretty intense place to live. Some of Bilal’s own family members have been killed in Iraq, and he’s doing a very interesting job of illustrating what it’s like to live in the midst of constant danger.