Joe Phoenix > this isn't hello kitty?

I began to watch the unfolding drama with great interest.  It had moved from being just another angry pod-pilot ranting about the injustice in the world to something far more intriguing and it soon became apparent that Grand Commander Joe Phoenix had a serious issue with authority that was not his own.  For the dirt and nitty gritty I would point folk to http://zedrikcayne.blogspot.com/2009/09/so-new-brand-of-stupid-has-appeared-on.html.  I'll give you a second if you wish to go and read it.  There's about a month's worth of stuff before I get involved, so I'll forgive you for wanting to skip through to the good parts, but this is the start so its worth reading.

Ready?  Ok.
Meanwhile I was starting to get together some stuff in case something fun went off.  I half expected it to all die down after a few days, but incase it didn't, I stockpiled what little I had brought from low-sec into a hangar at Perimeter, one jump from the trading hub system of Jita.  Jita is an arabian bazaar, an irish cattlemarket, the Roman Forum and David Koresh's Waco compound all rolled into one.  If you can buy something, chances are it may have passed through there at some point in time.  I don't really care for the place, it makes the simu-scanners on my pod act up as the ship's computer tries to update the movements of up to two thousand ships coming and going, plus drones, errant cargo canisters and debris, but its where you go when you need to go shopping so I popped by to pick up some Navy-grade torpedoes and a few bombs.

After shopping, I took a few days out to watch things develop in the comm channel and swing by to see Rabbit, who was doing very well for himself, he and his compatriots were working their way up the security ladder and had a fairly respectable defense fleet as well as a number of contacts throughout Caldari space.  I hung around with him, telling him and his corporation about the Joe Phoenix situation and getting it together to make my own resupply network.  Those who know me will be very suprised at the amount of work I put into this really but to be honest there were many days when I was far too wasted to actually launch my ship or extract it from between asteroids and so its a bit of a blur.  Suffice to say, around half-past October I woke up , and checked the logs half-expecting the Joe Show to have come to an end with more of a fizzle than a bang.  How wrong I was.

http://zedrikcayne.blogspot.com/2009/10/joe-showthe-smack-talk-edition.html

I know I know its just a chatlog.  But the sheer amount of idiocity and smack issuing forth from Grand Commander Joseth Pheonix' mouth was simply unbelieveable.  As unlike me as it was, I knew I couldn't wait any longer.  Something had to be done.  Immeadiately I jumped out of bed, stood on the jagged edges of a torn open beer can, screamed and passed out.

When I awoke, I stemmed the bleeding and hobbled to the Neo-Comm and signed in.  As I was flicking switches and closing breakers to bring PT Boat 13 to life I began to pen a request for formal membership of IEEE.   I was already very impressed with Mr Cayne's attitude and his willingness to confront head-on the entropic powers which were slowly destroying the society I had come to enjoy leeching off.  If people like Joe Phoenix were allowed to prosper, then who knows what would happen.  A universe full of madmen hell-bent on bringing "peace" to the galaxy through a mix of insulting smack and incredibly bone-headed business plans?  That was not the universe I intended to abuse myself in, no Sir!  I immeadiately applied for an IEEE Junior Investigator's LicenceTM (I already had the little silver badge, it came free in a box of Sweeky Weets).

Three-ton servos whined as they loaded each Caldari Navy kinetic torpedo into the launch tubes, the ship shuddered as the engines flared brightly and I got nekkid and squeezed into my pod, connecting the tubes correctly as per the diagram on the side wall.  Last time, I got the feed-tube and the waste-tube mixed up and didn't notice for two days and I had no wish to repeat that unfortunate circumstance!  Once I was ready, I disengaged the cloak and set a course for IEEE headquarters in Balle.  The communication with Mr Cayne had come back.

"Congratulations Mr McCandless, you have been provisionally accepted as a Junior IEEE Investigator, please dock at our offices at Balle to sign the paper work and receive your FREE pen and stationary set!"

I was so excited, I mangled my landing gear on a chunk of Veldspar............