text: [Themes: Collegiate, Slice of life, college]
  
  > Examine tv
  This is that indispensable staple of modern civilization, the television set. Even you admit to watching an hour or two a day. The television is currently on and blaring loud noise into the room.
  There is a power cord behind the television.
  
  "Reaction formation, rationalization, projection, reaction formation!" John recites desperately.
  
  > turn off the tv
  Unfortunately, this is one of those models of televisions which can only be turned off by remote control.
  
  John squirms in his seat, trying to concentrate.
  
  > Info
  An Interactive Cramming
  
  "Kissing the Buddha's Feet" was an entry in the Second Annual Interactive Fiction Competition. It placed fifth overall in a field of 27 entries, and later won two XYZZY awards (Best Individual NPC and Best NPCs). Version 1.1 is essentially the same as the game that was submitted to the competition, except for a few bug fixes and cosmetic changes; these changes are outlined in the file bugfix.txt which should have come with the game package.
  
  This game is freeware (though not public domain), and may be freely played, copied, and distributed provided that you:
  
  1) Don't sell it for a profit. You may charge a fee to cover the cost of any media you distribute the game on but no more.
  2) Don't modify the game.
  
  I appreciate any comments, criticism, and bug reports you send me.
  You can reach me by e-mail at leonlin@uclink.berkeley.edu. This address should be valid at least until the end of 1997.
  
  Thanks, and enjoy the game!
  
  Thanks to Kevin Wilson for his advice and help.
  
  Thanks also to this competition's Internet Beta-Testing team, particularly Michael Kinyon, who helped me find bugs and other annoying oddities in my game I probably would have never discovered on my own. And many thanks to those who wrote to me after the competition to inform about bugs they had discovered.
  
  Many thanks as well to the many people who wrote reviews and comments about this game, as well as my previous game, "The One That Got Away"--such criticism has helped me improve and grow as an author of interactive fiction. Thanks also to all of the people whose votes in the 1996 Interactive Fiction Competition and the XYZZY Awards helped this game receive the recognition that it did.
  
  And finally, thanks to my parents, who have given me their love and support. This game wouldn't have been possible without them.
  
  > pull the cord
  You try to unplug the power cord. However, rats have chewed through its insulation, exposing the underlying wire. When you touch the cord, you experience a painful but otherwise harmless electric shock. Cursing, you make a strategic retreat to the paisley couch.
  
  John squirms in his seat, trying to concentrate.
  
  > look under the couch
  There's nothing under your paisley couch. As it should be.
  
  John tries to write some notes on a piece of paper, messes up, and, in a fit of frustration, crumples up the paper and throws it to the floor.
  
  You hear a violent gust of wind blow into John's bedroom, causing the door to slam closed. John, startled by the noise, looks around confusedly. "Um, could you go in my room and close my window, please?" he asks you.
  
  > go east
  and the bathroom. Your bedroom is to the south, behind an open door, while John's room is to the north, beyond a closed door. The bathroom can be reached by going east through an open door.
  
  You hear a knock on the front door. You rush to the living room, knowing that trouble has arrived, but are too late! The door flies open with a crash!
  
  There is an explosion of confetti around you, and a paper noisemaker licks impudently at your face. When the paper clears, you see standing at the door John's four troublesome friends, Alice, Bob, Carl, and Evan! "Hi-yah, John!" greets Alice, their leader. "Looks like we're not too late for the party!" She doffs her conical party hat and strides over to John's desk. "Say, is that a psychology book you're studying? Really hitting the books now, are ya?" She grins as she puts down some snacks and a radio blaring obnoxious music, and parks herself and Carl on the floor. Evan immediately goes to you and starts speaking about trivia, and Bob wanders around drunkenly.
  
  It's going to be an even longer night than you imagined...
  
  > go to the north
  You can't leave your apartment now! Not when you still have to keep an eye on John!
  
  John wails to you, "Could you help quiz me? Please?"
  
  Carl takes out a candy bar, strips the cellophane off of it, crumples it into a neat, compact ball, and tosses it absent-mindedly in the direction of the bedrooms.
  
  Alice breaks out a pack of cards and plays a hand of hearts with Carl.
  
  Bob, thinking that he's walking in a straight line, toes a path more akin to the outline of a Picasso painting than anything else.
  
  Going into deep financial detail, Evan gives a discourse on the rise and fall of Infocom, Inc. He also mentions how much he liked that little robot Floyd.
  
  > go east
  You see a piece of cellophane here.
  
  You hear a loud and raucous argument in the living room about the rules for Monopoly.
  
  You hear a sharp BUMP! followed by a plaintive, "Who pud this wall here *hic*."
  
  Evan follows you into the short hall.
  
  > get the cellophane
  Taken.
  
  Going into deep financial detail, Evan gives a discourse on the rise and fall of Infocom, Inc. He also mentions how much he liked that little robot Floyd.
  
  > go to the north
  You'll have to open John's bedroom door first.
  
  The sound of crumpling cellophane, grating your ears, comes in from the direction of the living room.
  
  Going into deep financial detail, Evan gives a discourse on the rise and fall of Infocom, Inc. He also mentions how much he liked that little robot Floyd.
  
  > open door
  Opened.
  
  You hear lots of drunken singing from somewhere else in the apartment.
  
  Going into deep financial detail, Evan gives a discourse on the rise and fall of Infocom, Inc. He also mentions how much he liked that little robot Floyd.
  
  > go north
  his stuff, though for the most part you don't take advantage of this. Like your room, John's room has a bed, dresser, desk, and an open closet door to the east. Unlike your room, it is quite disorganized, to say the least. Sheets are spread all over the room and clothes, as well as less-speakable debris, are strewn about, giving the room a ripe, musty odor not unlike rotting fruit in an ancient tomb; broken plastic models litter the scarred desk. Set in the north wall is an open window to the outside world. There is a (fortunately) open door to the south.
  You see a wastebasket here. The wastebasket seems to contain a
  blue wrapper.
  
  You hear a sharp BUMP! followed by a plaintive, "Who pud this wall here *hic*."
  
  Evan follows you into John's bedroom.
  
  > Close window
  You slide the window shut, only to discover that there is a round, baseball-sized hole in the middle of the window which is admitting a large amount of wind into the room.
  
  The sound of a tremendous belch rocks the apartment.
  
  "You know," says Evan philosophically, "in Taiwan, they have this phrase that describes desperate students who have to make a supreme last-minute effort to study for exams. They're said to be 'kissing the Buddha's feet.'" He looks pleased at having known that piece of trivia.
  
  > Examine wrapper
  This looks like a wrapper for some sort of box. It's pastel blue, with a paisley pattern tastefully silkscreened on. A small gold seal, mostly intact, has the logo for "Dee's Chocolates" on it.
  
  You hear a loud and raucous argument in the living room about the rules for mah jongg.
  
  Evan gives a short speech about what's wrong with the nation's foreign policy and how he would change things.
  
  > get the wrapper
  Taken.
  
  The sound of a tremendous belch rocks the apartment.
  
  Evan speculates about the recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
  
  > put the wrappr on the window
  "Ah, 'wrappr', now that's an interesting word," says Evan. "Let me tell you about its etymology..."
  
  > put the wrapper on the window
  Looks like that won't fit in the hole.
  
  Evan talks about the impact of the longbow on the Hundred Years' War.
  
  > examine the desk
  The decrepit state of John's desk bespeaks both a ripe old age as well as years of misuse; its surface bears many jagged scars and scorch marks. Otherwise, the desk looks surprising clean (for a possession of John's), mainly because most of the junk that normally occupies its surface has been swept onto the floor or into the closet. There is a single drawer on the desk, which is closed. On the desk you see some broken plastic models; besides that, you see a handheld electronic trivia game.
  
  From the direction of the living room, you hear Alice trying to sing "Send in the Clowns" along with the radio, and doing it badly.
  
  Going into deep financial detail, Evan gives a discourse on the rise and fall of Infocom, Inc. He also mentions how much he liked that little robot Floyd.
  
  > kill Evan
  What do you want to attack him with?
  
  > get the game
  Taken.
  
  You hear a loud and raucous argument in the living room about the rules for mah jongg.
  
  You hear a sharp BUMP! followed by a plaintive, "Who pud this wall here *hic*."
  
  Evan wonders what the world would be like if it were love, not money, that made the world go round.
  
  > look at game
  Small, orange, and plastic, this electronic game was given to John for his birthday. John, having a limited attention span at best, quickly abandoned this gift before he could get through its alleged "20,000 Questions!" The case sports an LCD screen and a small speaker. There are also four buttons, colored red, yellow, green, and blue, lined up vertically to the left of the screen, next to where the possible answers to the game's questions will be displayed. The game is currently off.
  
  The sound of crumpling cellophane, grating your ears, comes in from the direction of the living room.
  
  "I believe," says Evan, "that a philosopher once said, 'You can only win so many battles before you lose the war.'"
  
  > give the game to Evan
  Evan looks excitedly at the game you're giving him. "Why-y-y, that's a '20,000 Questions' trivia game! It's the fourth edition! A rarity! I've always wanted to play that!" He fumbles clumsily at the game, which he turns on and starts playing eagerly.
  
  You hear a loud and raucous argument in the living room about the rules for chess.
  
  A violent gust of wind flies in through the hole in the window, causing the bedroom door to slam closed with a loud "BANG!"
  
  You hear a loud "Pin pon!" come from the game. Evan grins maniacally.
  
  > go east
  This is John's closet. There are no skeletons hiding here, but considering the amount of dust and dirty clothes around, you would hardly be surprised if one of the undead were lurking around in this dimly lit space. The one exit is a door to the west, which is open. You see a catcher's mitt here.
  
  The sound of crumpling cellophane, grating your ears, comes in from the direction of the living room.
  
  The sound of a tremendous belch rocks the apartment.
  
  Evan follows you into John's closet, still playing the game.
  
  > get the mitt
  Taken.
  
  From the direction of the living room, you hear Alice trying to sing some heavy metal song along with the radio, and doing it badly.
  
  The sound of a tremendous belch rocks the apartment.
  
  You hear a loud "Pin pon!" come from the game. Evan grins maniacally.
  
  > Go west
  You see a wastebasket here.
  
  You hear a loud and raucous argument in the living room about the rules for canasta.
  
  The sound of a tremendous belch rocks the apartment.
  
  Evan follows you into John's bedroom, still playing the game.
  
  > put the mitt in hole
  Looks like that won't fit in the hole.
  
  You hear a loud "Pin pon!" come from the game. Evan grins maniacally.
  
  > get the sheet
  Even if it *were* your job to pick up after John, you wouldn't want to touch these sheets.
  
  The sound of a tremendous belch rocks the apartment.