on my ride home tonight i saw something interesting. road rage at its best. fortunately, no one was hurt, but it provided some entertaining moments (for me at least).
at one point in my ride, a car was behind me and flashed their highbeams at me. i didn't think much of it as i had cars to my left, right and in front of me so there wasn't anywhere i could go, so i just ignored it. that is until i was in the left center lane, there is a car in the left lane, and he gets highbeamed by the same car. rather than ignore it, he slammed on his brakes. which got the highbeam guy to back off.
for a moment. he sped back up and so did highbeam which again flashed his highbeams and again, the guy slams on his brakes and slows the entire lane down to much less than it was. i had to laugh, but i was glad no one got into an accident.
then when i was at the supermarket, one of the kids who packs the bags correctly identified the eyeball on my shirt as The Residents. he thought they were pretty cool, but had never heard anything by them.
at least there is some recognition, even if people have no idea what it is they have an idea of.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
swiped from TK, who swiped it from...who swiped it from...and because i feel like wasting some time because i really don't have anything else to do: Post the first sentence from the first post from every month of 2006.
January: another day, another year, so let's start off with some odd factoids courtesy of the BBC (whatta ya know...the link is still good!)
February: sunday night headliners?
March: i'm watching 24 right now (the following happens between 5pm and 6pm) and they are looking for (well, just killed) a terrorist in the basement of a hospital and i was reminded of something i think of from time to time.
April: work continues to be busy.
May: not like many people care who read this, but i thought this was funny.
June: damn
July: i thought that i, like everyone else in this world (at least those who live under the umbrella of human rights), had the right to be bored.
August: it's hot hot hot out there.
September: Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was killed today by a sting ray.
October: T-Minus 24 Days
November: whoa.
December: TK told me this a while back so i was excited then, but seeing this has me excited now.
Friday, December 22, 2006
on a Tool board, someone posted a link to the following article (Most Americans have had premarital sex, added below because it will be lost shortly by yahoo)
someone then posted the following:
dude, premarital sex is awesome. there's nothing like laying pipe knowing that every time you do it, an angel loses its wings.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
here's the article for posterity
Most Americans have had premarital sex
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
Tue Dec 19, 6:44 PM ET
NEW YORK - More than nine out of 10 Americans, men and women alike, have had premarital sex, according to a new study. The high rates extend even to women born in the 1940s, challenging perceptions that people were more chaste in the past.
"This is reality-check research," said the study's author, Lawrence Finer. "Premarital sex is normal behavior for the vast majority of Americans, and has been for decades."
Finer is a research director at the Guttmacher Institute, a private New York-based think tank that studies sexual and reproductive issues and which disagrees with government-funded programs that rely primarily on abstinence-only teachings. The study, released Tuesday, appears in the new issue of Public Health Reports.
The study, examining how sexual behavior before marriage has changed over time, was based on interviews conducted with more than 38,000 people — about 33,000 of them women — in 1982, 1988, 1995 and 2002 for the federal National Survey of Family Growth. According to Finer's analysis, 99 percent of the respondents had had sex by age 44, and 95 percent had done so before marriage.
Even among a subgroup of those who abstained from sex until at least age 20, four-fifths had had premarital sex by age 44, the study found.
Finer said the likelihood of Americans having sex before marriage has remained stable since the 1950s, though people now wait longer to get married and thus are sexually active as singles for extensive periods.
The study found women virtually as likely as men to engage in premarital sex, even those born decades ago. Among women born between 1950 and 1978, at least 91 percent had had premarital sex by age 30, he said, while among those born in the 1940s, 88 percent had done so by age 44.
"The data clearly show that the majority of older teens and adults have already had sex before marriage, which calls into question the federal government's funding of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs for 12- to 29-year-olds," Finer said.
Under the Bush administration, such programs have received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.
"It would be more effective," Finer said, "to provide young people with the skills and information they need to be safe once they become sexually active — which nearly everyone eventually will."
Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, defended the abstinence-only approach for teenagers.
"One of its values is to help young people delay the onset of sexual activity," he said. "The longer one delays, the fewer lifetime sex partners they have, and the less the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease."
He insisted there was no federal mission against premarital sex among adults.
"Absolutely not," Horn said. "The Bush administration does not believe the government should be regulating or stigmatizing the behavior of adults."
Horn said he found the high percentages of premarital sex cited in the study to be plausible, and expressed hope that society would not look askance at the small minority that chooses to remain abstinent before marriage.
However, Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, a conservative group which strongly supports abstinence-only education, said she was skeptical of the findings.
"Any time I see numbers that high, I'm a little suspicious," she said. "The numbers are too pat."
Leslee Unruh, who runs a South Dakota-based organization promoting abstinence-only education, contended that increasing numbers of young people were open to remaining chaste until marriage.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
and it's official. at least as of tomorrow afternoon. no longer shall i be desktop & infrastructure specialist molius, but you shall now refer to me as network administrator molius (with all rights and respect that is befitting my new title).
Read More......and to add insult to injury, there's an accident right AFTER the exit i use to get on to the highway.
YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!
and to hell with the good thing now. now i'm just pissed at the 10 FUCKING IDIOTS who don't know how to drive.
MERRY FUCKING X-MAS YOU STUPID FUCKING DRIVERS!
oh goody...
i turn on the news and the top story is:
8 CAR PILE UP
where i'm going to have to drive. it's now backed up for some 10-15 miles they say, and i get on around mile 11 from the accident.
you FUCKERS.
WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?
enjoy your merry fucking christmas you 8 FUCKING IDIOTS!
in other news, M bought me this for x-mas. thank you M.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
i've been asked more questions this morning than i have on many previous sunday mornings. struck me as odd, as usually the only words i speak pertain to my bag choice (paper, plastic or none) when i get my paper, and the dunkin' order (may i help you, would you like anything else, which today was asked twice, usually just once)
but on my way into get the paper, someone stopped and asked me if i knew when the liquor store was opening. (i believe state law says noon on sundays, but could be earlier as this is the holiday season) so i told him noon, he thanked me and off we went in separate directions. but i was wondering why he would ask me what time the liquor store opened, particularly as i was clearly headed towards the supermarket. and what made me look like an authority for when the liquor store was going to open? i dunno. stuck me funny.
then when i got home, KO asked me if i had heard any mice in my apartment. no mice, i did in my last apartment, but that was in part a house in need of updating, living in the woods, and it being a basement apartment. accoring to batlady, there were more cats in the neighborhood, there was less of a mouse problem, but there were less cats to help control the population. apparently, one of the ladies that lived here before i did had a gerbil, and for whatever reason one day let it roam around the apartment. only it found some way down into the basement where it lived for a little while and has since presumably died (stuck in the walls). KO was looking at one of the holes in the walls (the basement is finished, but has access to various cleanout traps) and saw what looked to be more recent rodent droppings. so he thought he'd ask. (i'm thinking greybelly seed snatcher.)
he also asked me about the hot water - the old hot water heater had a fatal leak, so he replaced it a few months ago. told him not a problem, and i've had hot water. the only time i ever ran out of hot water was usually on weekends when KO would do laundry, i'd do my dishes and then expect to take a hot shower. (i figured out shower then dishes to avoid that.) but post-install, things have been fine. plus the new tank is 10gal bigger and has a faster recharge. very nice for those days when i want to take an extra long hot shower. now i don't feel so bad.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
thank you.
Music pioneer Ahmet Ertegun dies at 83
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer
NEW YORK - Ahmet Ertegun, who helped define American music as the founder of Atlantic Records, a label that popularized the gritty R&B of Ray Charles, the classic soul of Aretha Franklin and the British rock of the Rolling Stones, died Tuesday at 83, his spokesman said.
Ertegun remained connected to the music scene until his last days — it was at an Oct. 29 concert by the Rolling Stones at the Beacon Theatre in New York where Ertegun fell, suffered a head injury and was hospitalized. He later slipped into a coma.
"He was in a coma and expired today with his family at his bedside," said Dr. Howard A. Riina, Ertegun's neurosurgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Ertegun will be buried in a private ceremony in his native Turkey, said Bob Kaus, a spokesman for Ertegun and Atlantic Records. A memorial service will be conducted in New York after New Year's.
Ertegun, a Turkish ambassador's son, started collecting records for fun, but would later became one of the music industry's most powerful figures with Atlantic, which he founded in 1947.
The label first made its name with rhythm and blues by Charles and Big Joe Turner, but later diversified, making Franklin the Queen of Soul as well as carrying the banner of British rock (with the Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin) and American pop (with Sonny and Cher, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and others).
Today, the company, part of Warner Music Group, is the home to artists including Kid Rock, James Blunt, T.I., and Missy Elliott.
Ertegun's love of music began with jazz, back when he and his late brother Nesuhi (an esteemed producer of such jazz acts as Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman) used to hang around with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington in the clubs of Washington, D.C.
"My father was a diplomat who was ambassador to Switzerland, France and England before he became ambassador to the United States, and we lived in all those countries and we always had music in the house, and a lot of it was a kind of popular music, and we heard a lot of jazz," Ertegun recalled in an interview with The Associated Press. "By the time we came to Washington, we were collecting records and we amassed a collection of some 25,000 blues and jazz records."
Ertegun parlayed his love of music into a career when he founded Atlantic with partner Herb Abramson and a $10,000 loan. When the label first started, it made its name with blues- edged recordings by acts such as Ruth Brown.
Despite his privileged background, which included attending prep school and socializing with Washington's elite, Ertegun was able to mix with all kinds of people — an attribute that made him not just a marketer of black music, but a part of it, said Jerry Wexler.
"The transition between these two worlds is one of Ahmet's most distinguishing characteristics," Wexler said.
Black music was the backbone of the label for years — it was Atlantic, under Wexler's production genius, that helped make Franklin the top black female singer of her day.
"We had some pop music — we had Bobby Darin ... and we developed other pop artists such as Sonny and Cher and Bette Midler and so on," said Ertegun. "But we had been most effective that set a style as purveyors of African-American music. And we were the kings of that until the arrival of Motown Records, which was long after we started."
But once music tastes changed, Ertegun switched gears and helped bring on the British invasion in the '60s.
"If Atlantic had restricted itself to R&B music, I have no doubt that it would be extinct today," Wexler said.
Instead, it became even bigger.
In later years, Ertegun signed Midler, Roberta Flack and ABBA. He had a gift for being able to pick out what would be a commercial smash, said the late producer Arif Mardin, who remembered one session where he was working with the Bee Gees on an album — but was unsure of what he had produced.
"Then Ahmet came and listened to it, and said, `You've got hits here, you've got dance hits,'" Mardin once told the AP. "I was involved in such a way that I didn't see the forest for the trees. ... He was like the steadying influence."
One strength of the company was Ertegun's close relationships with many of the artists — relationships that continued even after they left his label. Midler still called for advice, and he visited Franklin's home when he dropped into Detroit.
His friendships extended to the younger generation, too, including Kid Rock and Lil' Kim.
Besides his love of music, Ertegun was also known for his love of art, and socializing. It was not uncommon to find him at a party with his wife, Mica, hanging out until all hours with friends.
Although he was slowed by triple-bypass surgery in 2001, he still went into his office almost daily to listen for his next hit.
Finding those hits were among the most wonderful moments in his life, he said.
"I've been in the studio when you go through a track and you run down a track and you know even before the singer starts singing, you know the track is swinging ... you know you have a multimillion-seller hit — and what you're working on suddenly has magic," he said. "That's the biggest."
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
heeheehee...
TK told me this a while back so i was excited then, but seeing this has me excited now.
i figured out the other day that when it comes to music, the music that i like is generally linked to one song. that one song opens my eyes to them and from that point on, i'm a fan. (and as i'm sure M would attest, it's all downhill from there.) but for me, what blew my mind for The Residents, was High Horses. 20 minutes of carousel music that when listened to thru headphones is just mindblowing (for me at least). only it isn't always the cheerful happy music, only twisted as only the mighty eyeballed ones can. fucking beautiful.
so, some insight to my musical tastes and why.
the first time i heard this transition from a calm, beautiful, relaxing moment into the chaos that erupts when everyone crashes into the opening chords of Kashmir, i had chills run up my spine. i can count the number of times on my hand, that this transition didn't send chills up my spine. they started doing this in 1977, and did it in 1979 and 1980 and each time, chills. from there, it was all downhill.
when i bought Ænima, it was after seeing A Perfect Circle open for Nine Inch Nails. i hadn't realized just how much Tool i had heard on the radio (Stinkfist, Eulogy, Sober, Prison Sex, Opiate) because i had always liked what i heard. but listening to Ænima, i realized it was good and then came Hooker. 4 1/2 minutes of venom, bile, hatred, and mocking. i loved it. Undertow and Opiate followed and i discovered what i had been missing. random trivia: when i bought my current vee-hick-le, Ænima was the first cd i listened to in it. while on the test drive.
back in the day when MTV actually showed videos (or at least more than they do currently, i suppose it was a semi-tranisitional period for them), they showed the video for Comfy Numb off Delicate Sound of Thunder and something about it drew me in. i've since heard umpteen versions which are vastly superior, but this version always holds a special place as the song that woke me up to Pink Floyd. i had a copy of Collection of Dance Songs, but it never hooked me (outside of the Dr. Who theme in One of These Days), but post-Comfy Numb, i listened to Collection with different ears and realized just how good it is.
well, here are 4 bands and some pathetic attempt at explaining why i love them. other bands/songs include:
Thursday, November 30, 2006
arg...
i hate when i want to look something up and i promptly forget what it was. at least i remembered that i wanted to try and find Flight of the Bumblebee. it's actually harder than i thought. i can find some mp3s, but not all of them are loud enuff, or simple enuff (looking for a good piano version if possible). i've figured out how to put ringtones on my phone, and after several years of not having it, i want Flight of the Bumblebee on my phone. right now, i'd be willing to guess that not that many people have the opening bars of Kashmir on their phones, let alone a live version of Kashmir. or something by The Residents. heh. what else can i put on it...
but before i sat down just now, i wanted to look something up, and now i can't remember what it was. must not have been that important. but of course now it's going to bug me. need to do my dishes, took out the trash, will do some cleaning, those i remember. but this i forget. whatever this is.
damn.
Monday, November 27, 2006
this should be shown in all schools. not like i ever had any desire to rot the insides of my nose, but this video certainly gives me a good reason to pass on ever becoming a cocaine addict. Read More......
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
figures. i've been fighting this all morning.
and for some odd reason, it started throbbing when PA called me this morning...
Friday, November 17, 2006
today was a long frakking day. shortly after the phone circuit issue was resolved, the movers managed to set off the fire alarm which required us to vacate the building. and when that happened, le grande fromage showed up to see how things were going. fortunately, he didn't stay long. i was able to get most of the phones working, but there are some issues that have to be dealt with on monday, but at least they can wait for the moment.
had dinner with DB, PA and LG which was nice. the politics here are different than they are in my office, which tends to be more entertaining.
the highlight of my day was a little kid from the neighboring daycare saying "look, he's got an eyeball on his shirt!"
me thinks it's bedtime.
well that was exciting.
i'm over here in the new office, pretty much bored at the moment. the data side of the network is working just fine, but it's looking as tho the voice side hasn't been configured yet. so the work i need to do on the phones has to wait until that is set, but as i was milling about, PA came flying up and asked me to call 911 - someone had fallen (and she was able to get up).
she managed to trip on the rug and took a spill, and ultimately she was ok, but reception is pretty crappy here so i'm trying to talk to 911 (my first call to my best recollection) and i'm not 100% sure about the address, but they were able to get out here. but for a few moments, it was pretty much chaotic.
so a few minutes later, WPD, WFD and an ambulance show up and check out KD. it took some convincing, but she opted to goto the hospital room just to make sure all was ok. she was a little shakey, had a scrape on the bridge of her nose almost between her eyes (no gushing). so off she went, but not before she warned me to be careful not to trip on the carpet (which is what happened to her). i've caught myself a few times in the office, but not had a problem here yet, but it provided 15 mins worth of excitement. and now i guess lunch is on its way over.
i've set up speakers so i'm happy. i wonder if we'll get a desk/table in here soon.
and since i started writing this, KD has returned and she says she's ok. so that's good news.
wow...i've never really cared for Geraldo Rivera, but fox here just showed a clip with an interview they held with him regarding the murder diary of OJ and he said it was "disgusting" and that OJ was "a pig". he also said that he was ashamed of fox (his employer) for actually showing this 2 part interview.
so for a brief moment, i have a tiny shred of respect for him.
aaaaaaaaaand it's gone.
NOW with linky goodness
Monday, November 13, 2006
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....
every once in a while, something will pop up on tv that catches you by suprise, and tonights Prison Break provided the suprise.
after beating bellick and stealing the money, geary gets a penthouse suite where he hires some 'escorts'. when they cut back to him talking with the escorts, one of them says "you want a cleveland WHAT?"
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Genius You scored 84 CSIQ! |
Ok, admit it, you cheated! If you didnt, you most likely are over 40, Majored in History, and/or are a History nut. Seriously, the chances of most people knowing this much is pretty damn low. |
My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The American Common Sense IQ Test written by wentnutz on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test |
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
this sucks
i'm unhappy about this one. so to you liquor stores, and big business (not in their best interest obviously) and you police groups who are rejecting it because it would mean you would have to WORK harder, i'm just going to say this.
go fuck yourself.
do you honestly believe that a supermarket can give you an informed description of a wine? do you honestly believe that a supermarket is going to line its shelves with $30+ bottles of wine? do you honestly believe that a wine consumer such as myself is going to goto the supermarket (or kwik-ee mart) to buy a nice bottle of wine for someone?
fuck no. they will sell the inexpensive bottles of wine. nothing fancy. stuff that you get for the party you are going to throw. wine you don't care about if the bottle isn't finished. and if i want learn about a wine, or ask what would go good with {insert meal choice here}, i'm NOT going to the supermarket to ask them. i'll go to a liquor store and ASK someone there. and most likely, the liquor store WILL get my money, not the supermarket.
i can understand it more if it was beer and wine (or just beer) because lots of people buy the crappy beers (bud, coors, etc). i can see liquor stores losing money over that. but wine? give me a fucking break.
so, again, go fuck yourself.
i'm just glad my supermarket has a FULL liqour license, so i can buy beer, wine and vodka at the same time.
this needs to be shared.
TK sent this vid link (may contain NSFW ads, didn't when i just looked, but just in case, i'll offer the warning, so click at home or close your office door) the other day, and i figure i needed to share it.
normally i won't copy M's reply, but i figure she makes an excellent point:
and they wonder why america's kids are turning out they way they are... just look who they have for role models
to which i replied:
no kidding.
lesson 1: how to shotgun a beer
lesson 2: fun with tasers
lesson 3: how to shotgun a beer while being tasered
now why are jimmy and susie such misfits?
enjoy. watch the fucktard assclowns and when YOU wonder why kids these days are so fucked up, just remember to re-watch this vid.
way to go america! Read More......
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
heh...how the times change
while waiting for things to start, i caught the CBS election update (yes, i did my civic duty after work) and after the last presidential election, they changed their wording in the current results.
rather than saying that someone has won, it was "CBS estimates that {insert person} has won"
NPR was talking about this a bit tonight as well about how the media used to hire companies to run exit polls (none at my polling station) and how there were leaks and blogs were spreading exit poll information, but this year, exit polls were being closely guarded and only just beginning to come out (5pm).
NPR also said that they were not using exit polls, but instead results as reported by AP and their own analysts. so we shall see.
and just how much was spent on this years elections? last number i heard was $1.4 BILLION. so much for the little guy getting into politics to try and make a change. i'm all in favor of that election reform thing. i say give candidates a $5 million ceiling, and if you spend a penny more, you automatically lose the election. spend the money any way you like, but all competitors get the same amount of money.
now, for small scale elections (mayor, etc), no need to give them that high a number, but for the large scale elections (governor, senator) go to the $5M. presidential election, $25M total. they get the exception, but the moment they spend a penny more than the $25M, the candidate in question has to pay a $500k fine per $1 over. no appeals. all receipts are kept and anything that does not add up properly results in an automatic $50k fine per discprepancy.
unfortunately, this is just an idea i have, plus there are countless issues that need to be addressed, but at least you get an idea of what pretends to rattle around in this head of mine. and this is prolly the most political blog entry i've done in a while. won't be ones this political for a while most likely.
Monday, November 06, 2006
i hate playing insomniac molius. i have no fucking clue what it is that is keeping me up right now, but whatever it is, it isn't making me tired.
i'm sposed to be heading to work in a few hours. and i was sposed to be asleep a few hours ago too. that's the whole concept of a "Good Nights Sleep". i even went to bed early which may have been my fault. i stayed up to watch the end of the Pats game (they lost to the Colts, a team i feel if they are going to lose to, is a good team to lose to. Colts = quality team.)
but when i tried to goto bed afterwards (i didn't watch the very end), just laying in bed with the light turned off didn't do anything. and that was around 1130. some near 3 hours ago. usually, even on bad nights, i'd manage to fall asleep by now, but right now i'm pretty much baffled. i can't think of anything that should be keeping me up. work is busy, but nothing overly stressful. i had friday off so it's not like that stress should have carried over. relationships are pretty much on an even keel. don't have any bills to pay. some car repairs to do, but nothing that hasn't already waited a few months. and it's even a short work week for me.
so, here i am sitting and typing trying to see if this will tire me out or not, but i somehow doubt it. and it's not like i spent a stressful day today either. if anything, i spent several hours trying to see if i could get something to work. it didn't, but it isn't anything that would cause undo stress. and this is the first time i've thought about it since 9pm or so when i stopped working on it.
i don't need to remember to bring lunch to work, i have one. the coffee stuff i need is in the car already. i'm out of soda, but i have juice to go with lunch. i just don't get it.
oh, there was one thing that i can think of that might have contributed. for some reason, even tho i was warm under my covers, my feet were really cold, which always makes it hard for me to fall asleep, but they warmed up after a little while. i don't know. maybe the 2 yawns i've just (make that 3 now) mean i can goto bed.
i should adjust my alarm a little.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
whoa.
i love aliens, but this just screams NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERD!
(where's ogre when you need him?)
Monday, October 30, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Saturday, October 28, 2006
stupid cold, windy and rainy days. that's the one thing that seems to affect my DSL connection because a few minutes ago, but now it seems to be back. and then it's going to go away. and come back. and go away. and come back. and go away.
alllll day.
good thing i have other plans, but it's really irritating and there isn't much i can do about it.
there are how many Petronas Towers? cuz that's how many days are left before i can get my new phone. still not soon enuff...
Friday, October 27, 2006
so close...yet so far away.
(yes, i know the lyrics have no relation to my little countdown. but it's one of my favorite songs so the title fits)
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha...
just for THIS POLITICAL AD, i have to say this:
VOTE FOR RON KIND!
(it's 4.3mb, so it takes a little while to load, but it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth the wait. maybe voting season can be more entertaining than i thought.)
thanks O&A
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
i've got three words for you -
YOU FUCKING LIAR!
here's the full interview. it's at the 3:00 minute (exactly) when he lies to us american idiots people
(thanks crandall)
1 week...that's all there is until i get my cellphone satisfaction. well, not really because to be TRULY satisfied, i'd heave my current piece of shit across the parking lot and watch it shatter into pieces.
so allow me to update:
1 week until i no longer need to use this piece of shit LG calls a cellphone.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
i have to agree with much of this blog entry. that certainly has been typical of my experiences when going to wallyworld or target. there's a link in there that has someone comparing prices of 20 items in both stores, and wallyworld does a little better, but for most of the stuff, i'm willing to pay the extra premium at target for a more enjoyable shopping experience. wallyworld has this way of making me feel dirty when i leave the store.
Read More......Saturday, October 21, 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
by request, in Flemish:
10 Dagen
hope i got it right. i'm not that linguistically endowed, so i'm guessing it is pronounced slightly differently than when spoken in Dutch.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
this conflicts me
i'm all in favor of sharing Tool with little kids, and this is an interesting way of doing that. however, it's TOOL. but the idea of filling the kid with Baby Maynard is too amusing to ignore. but this goes against everything i believe that is Tool.
at least there are sound samples. and the idea of Baby Maynard really is hard to ignore. who wouldn't want this man influencing your children? (fixed, sorry folks -mol)
and speaking of the man, Puscifer has risen. go have a listen. quite a few suprises. like a song that typifies the Led Zeppelin experience. (even if MJK does come in a few beats too early)
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Monday, October 16, 2006
music stores
here's an interesting look inside the music store industry written by one of the co-founders of Newbury Comics.
i've known for a while that the brick & mortal (talk about your freudian slip...mortar is what i meant) stores were under increasing pressure to increase sales. and you see that with Newbury Comics where when i moved out here 8 years ago (fuck that's a long time...) there was much less emphasis on DVDs or toys, but those are far more common in the stores now.
i still believe that the RIAA is wrong about the "decline in sales" that they talk about. yes, there is a decline in sales on SINGLES. you know those CD5's you'd get? for the old timers, a 7" 45rpm record that needed a plastic insert? that's what has been on the decline over the last few years. actual CD sales are pretty steady these days (tho when they were first flying this flag, it was on the increase). sure file sharing (Napster, Bearshare, and the like) helped create the decline in sales of SINGLES, but like most people, i used those services to see if i liked something and if i did, i'd buy the CD. that pretty much still holds true, which is why CD sales aren't as affected by this leveling off. what's affecting these retailers is the overhead. 50,000 sq/ft is fucking HUGE. and i think that's where Newbury Comics is managing to keep pace with the larger chains, because they have smaller spaces, carry a more specialized stock, and have lower prices. is it any wonder that it cost you $18 for a CD at a store in the mall? i'm sure mall rent ain't cheap. nevermind Newbury Street.
i'm digressing. i'm still sad that they closed the store near where i live now, but i understand why. i'm sure that when i entered the Black Period of my life, my income that they had grown to depend on vanished, so they were forced to close the store. i still like going to their stores, and i figure i've been to at least 2/3 of them, and bought at least something at most of those. these days i don't go as often, but more because a lot of what i want i either have, have replaced, or are no longer interested in. plus there's this impending purchase in the next year that's going to pretty much kill any real chance of spending money at their stores.
anyways, i spose i should copy the thing in here because it will eventually go away. so here it is in case the link dies as links are wont to do. it's a good read anyways, and it's a pretty funny tale about them and Tower Records.
A Message From Mike
Thoughts on Tower Records and Virgin Records Closing
The end of '06 is truly the end of an era for music retailing in New England. Whatever one's view is of brick and mortar retailing, napster, ipods, wal-mart, target, best buy, customer service, or even if you just have fond memories, the landscape will never be the same.
VIRGIN
Virgin Records has announced the closing of their massive backbay store on November 4th. This was somewhat expected, but not so soon. The store never really resonated with mainstream music customers, the way the original backbay Tower store did in the same location, many years ago. Virgin is an awesome brand. Richard Branson is one of the few folks I really, really look up to in retail. I have a picture of him and I on my office wall....
I remember visiting one of the original Virgin Megastores on Oxford Street in London in 1979-1980. The had a separate comic book room! They sold shrunk wrapped T-shirts, they had poster displays, they even had a snack bar. But most importantly they had a MASSIVE assortment of LP's. Huge racks as you walked in, with HUNDREDS of the same title in a rack. Branson knew how to make a statement. Truly impressive. Newbury Comics followed in Virgin's steps in a small way.
But times have changed. It's very hard for any entity to pay Newbury Street rents for 50,000 square feet of mainly just CD's and DVD's. So Virgin is closing in Boston. And with that closing goes dozens and dozens of jobs. Jobs of people who are passionate about music and film. The web isn't up to full speed yet, so there will be a large practical loss of accessibility of a lot of culture for a time...
TOWER
I first spoke with Russ Solomon, Tower Record's founder, when I was writing an editorial piece in Boston Rock Magazine in the early 80's. The New York Village Tower had just opened and had set the record world abuzz with it's massive assortment. Outside of London, nobody had ever seen anything like it!
Russ was charming and wise. A true visionary, who took a record rack in the back of his father's store all the way to a global brand. He was listed in Forbes Magazine as one of the richest people in America. He always has a sharp sparkle in his eye, and is a keen listener and observer. Has a completely understated "hippie" type class about him. We KNEW Tower was coming to Boston soon. And they came.
The day Tower opened in Backbay, our sales in Harvard Square dropped 25%. But Newbury Street instantly became THE place to shop for music. So we did okay. Tower brought excitement and media attention to specialty music retailing. They embraced media more than computers. We always respected the Tower folks and had a lot of fun competing against each other. We used to leaflet the hell out of 'em with coupons. They finally put up a sign that said "we accept all competitors coupons". Since their pricing was always a bit higher, they could get away with it.
But then one day we got this great idea to offer $5 off all CLASSICAL CD's. We only had a few bins of them at the time. They had a whole floor! About 3 weeks later we received a shipment from them that was a box full of THOUSANDS of our classical coupons, with a note that said "you win". They took the coupon signs down. When we renovated and expanded the store, they sent us some pizzas. Truly great people at Tower! The lifer's loved the company. And the company tried its best to take care of 'em. Kinda like Newbury....
The BANKRUPTCY
Tower's 2nd Bankruptcy is a complete disaster for the music retail industry. The ENTIRE chain is liquidating. That's insane! Unfortunately the high bidder at the bankruptcy auction was a liquidation company. So EVERY store is closing. Usually in a bankruptcy, some of the best stores are saved, or at least rolled into a competitor. Apparently not this time. Another company in auctioning off the real estate/leases so it is unlikely anyone will be able to put anything resembling the chain back together again. The toll will be very heavy on their staff, small labels, small distributors, and musicians who could always count on Tower to be open to their records. Tower always had its flaws, but this truly sucks. It's a bad outcome for way too many.
NEWBURY COMICS
We are still doing okay, but things remain challenging for us. Our sales continue to decline modestly. The closures of key competitors will not give us too much of a lift. The loss of small labels will hurt us. The mass merchants like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target are the ones who are taking away the most business. When HMV left Harvard Square, we barely felt it. Radio still largely sucks. We have gotten a lot more aggressive with our suppliers, and they have largely been very, very supportive of us. We have reduced shelf prices on about 3,000 titles in the past 3 months, and will be reducing prices on another 2-3,000 more CD's and DVD's as we continue to negotiate better trading terms with record labels and studios.
If you want to see specialty music retail survive, please continue to shop us!
cheers, mike dreese
co-founder - newbury comics
p.s. any comments can be directed to mike@newburycomics.com
(please do not reply to the address this was sent from, as i won't get it)
i know the feeling
i woke up this morning and Opie (of Opie and Anthony) was lamenting his experience yesterday at the Jets game (played Miami). he admitted that he naively believed that getting there a little over an hour before kickoff would be a good idea. he hadn't expected it to take over an hour after paying his $15 to actually park (lot Y) and then get shuttled back to the stadium. then when leaving, it was even worse and what should have taken 15 minutes to get back to NYC, took over 2 hours. all i could think about when listening to this was when TK and i saw Tool on 9/29.
we got there a little before 8pm (figuring we'd be able to see some of the opening act, Isis) only to take more than 30 mins to park in a mud filled parking lot in bumblefuck. (we still wonder if we were parking in the next town over)
then LEAVING, took us more time than it took to enjoy the entire concert, so it was nearly 130am (show ended at 11pm) when we FINALLY got out of that parking lot. and what did we learn? paying $35 for VIP parking isn't such a bad idea.
a comment that was echoed to Opie a few times before they went to break.
and yes Opie, i (and TK) know your pain.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Friday, October 13, 2006
pain in my ass
i'm taking a quick break to write this out because i need to. i'm trying to find out if a server we have that is currently in tower form factor can be converted into a rack mounted server.
actually, 2 of them, so i googled the first and within a minute or so, i was looking at the dell page that had the information i was looking for on that server (PowerEdge 1800 tower).
when i tried to look for the information on a different model (PowerEdge 800) i was drawing blank. google found a site in the UK that has a solution, but it seems to be a 3rd party option, so i figured i'd look at dell's site (again) to see if i could find it. i've spent the last 15 minutes trying to navigate the site trying to find where ACCESSORIES are.
dell used to have a semi-navigatable site. but now, it's a fucking mess. usually, if you do a search on the product you are looking for accessories for, it will pull up the actual product page. so i tried searching for the server specically. it returned some 7000+ results. and the first thing on the list, FUCKING SPEAKERS.
explain to me how the fuck SPEAKERS are at the top of the list when i'm searching for a SERVER.
finally, after getting annoyed and clicking and getting more annoyed and more clicking, i managed to trip over something that may start nudging me in the right direction.
we'll see in a moment, but right now, i don't like dell.
i want a site where i can enter a product, and the top link on the list is the actual product page to what i'm searching for. if i'm searching for a Dell PowerEdge 800, i want the first link (or in the top 5) to be for the product page of a Dell PowerEdge 800. NOT FUCKING SPEAKERS!
i'm not sure how my searching for a server is related to speakers, but whoever is in their marketing department that decided that the top 100 links are products that they are trying to sell and not the actual product infomation i'm looking for is a good idea, deserves to have a broken and splintered baseball bat shoved so far up their ass they are picking the crap out of their teeth with it.
what a bunch of fucking assclowns.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
ok, this is just plain cool.
if that doesn't work, click here. (watch the volume, this is pretty loud)
here's a word for you
bowdlerized
i had no idea what it was, so i looked it up.
and to keep you people from freaking out about how i'm making you click the link, here you go.
bowd·ler·ize
tr.v. bowd·ler·ized, bowd·ler·iz·ing, bowd·ler·iz·es
- To expurgate (a book, for example) prudishly.
- To modify, as by shortening or simplifying or by skewing the content in a certain manner.
it's BOWED-ler-eyes, but the funky pronounciation characters didn't want to copy, so here it is.
here's what prompted my search for the word. (look at the alternate title) Read More......
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Monday, October 09, 2006
Sunday, October 08, 2006
T-Minus 22 days
here we go 10/30 here we go!
*clap*clap*
here we go 10/30 here we go!
*clap*clap*
Saturday, October 07, 2006
why does this not suprise me?
and so i don't get arrested may i remind you DICK that the following
Article I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (source: my local Library of Congress)
(found via jwz) Read More......
Friday, October 06, 2006
Saturday, September 30, 2006
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST IT'S COLD!
what a way to greet us. and yes, maynard, it was pretty fucking cold last night. TK and i had a really good time last night seeing Tool at Great Woods. 5 years and 8 days ago, i saw Tool for the first time there and it was an experience, and last night was even better. so bear with me as i try and spew thoughts and details out.
the good:
suprisingly well behaved crowd, Tool, no rain, Tool, discovering going in from the south is a better approach, Tool.
the bad:
parking, traffic, parking, mud, parking, the cold, parking, the fucking talkers behind us during Wings For Marie (Pts 1&2), and did i say parking?
TK and i spent nearly 3 hours in that fucking parking lot. 45 mins getting in, and then just over 2 HOURS to get out. so, we missed the opening act Isis, which i wanted to see at least some of. never heard/seen them before so i was curious. i figured once we got there, it wouldn't take so long to park, but we were dead wrong. they parked us in the middle of fucking bumblefuck. the farthest, back corner of the parking lot they could (lot 13). where it wasn't paved. and had mud. which some inexperienced girl in a black 2000 ford explorer sport managed to spin onto the passenger side of TK's car. had i known we were going 4 wheeling, i would have driven, but what the FUCK. not to mention, lighting was non-existant so as we were walking to/from, we were hoping that we wouldn't step in a mud puddle. fucking nuts. as we were driving in, we saw that Premier Parking was $35 and laughed at that idea. by the time we got to where we were parking, we both agreed that we were idiots not to do it. (that is right off the entrance, paved and would have had us on the road in far less time) it was most certainly a scam, but for $35, it would have saved us a ton of sitting. waiting. twiddling our thumbs. so we spent more time the parking lot than the entire duration of the concert.
the concert:
we had pretty good seats all told. i thought we were going to be under the pavillion, but we were a few rows back from it. oh well, but we still had a pretty decent view of the stage which was cool because they actually projected stuff onto the stage itself (it was white and we laughed at the stage guy dusting the stage with his booties on). no real backdrops, and 2 screens on either side with projections (that was also projected onto the stage)
so, at 908pm, house lights dumped and we enjoy the following:
Intro Bass Drone
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST IT'S COLD!
Stinkfist
The Pot
Forty Six & 2
Jambi
Schism
Lost Keys
Rosetta Stoned
Wings for Marie (Part 1)
10,000 Days (Wings Pt. 2)
break
Lateralus
Vicarious
Aenema
one hell of a set. it is their current standard set, so no suprises for me in what they played, but hearing it and experiencing it are two very different things. MJK's vox were pretty good which very few missed words, no breaks in his voice (he was sick 2 weeks ago, and has recovered well). Danny is a fucking madman on the drums. Justin (looking a lot like Jesus) was great. Adam was Adam - didn't move a whole lot, but what comes out of his guitar is incredible.
i'm pretty much out of words, but this was the best Tool concert i've seen (of the 4, so that doesn't mean much). i love all 4 shows for different reasons, but this one was really good. can't wait til they come back again. i plan to be there.
thank you Tool. Read More......
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
on the ride home today, i was listening to the Zeppelin Box Set (cd2), and while waiting for traffic to move, i happened to see a black dog taking a walk with his owner. the song playing?
Black Dog
i smiled and laughed.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
random journal hopping
talk about rose tinted glasses
no wonder the rest of the world thinks we're fat, bloated, uninformed, fucking idiots.
the things you see sometimes
i'll see if i can't find a shot of the ad, but i was just watching House, and Dockers has a commercial that ends with a shot of a road, and a pier extending out onto (what should presumably be) San Francisco Bay, with a nice shot of the Golden Gate bridge.
the only problem with the shot is this:
i walked that stretch of road when M&i were in San Francisco. i recognize the palm trees, and that stretch of road with the trolley car (not one that goes up and down the hills). it's actually along the piers between Pier 39 (w/all the famous seals) and the Embarcadero. (~1/3 of the way up from Embarcadero. actually, thinking about it, i may have actually stepped on some of those stone blocks...)
and to make things worse, when you are looking out that way, you don't see the Golden Gate bridge. you see the Bay Bridge going towards Oakland.
plus, there isn't a pier that juts out into San Francisco Bay like the one in the ad. at least not from the shot that they are using.
i thought commercials were supposed to be truthful. how disappointing.
all hail the home of the mighty eyeballed ones
Monday, September 25, 2006
best. drummer. ever.
R.I.P. Bonzo Read More......
Monday, September 18, 2006
just because you can...
doesn't mean you SHOULD.
someone (looks like it is over in Japan) decided that they would see if they could generate enuff power to cook meat using 30 USB connections. well, duh....
usb ports have a low voltage of ~4v (nevermind the wattage) so 4v x 30 = ~120v.
that should be enuff to power a small george foreman grill. and that's just my electrical idiocy thinking here. (i make no pretense that i know much about electricity, watts, amps, volts, etc, but i can manage basic math.)
so rather than spend money on 6 5-port USB cards and associated cables (which aren't that cheap), i'd rather break down and buy a george foreman grill. a device i have decided i do not need, nor plan on purchasing any time soon.
you can view the stupidity here
Sunday, September 17, 2006
heh...
fark was asking what some of the weirdest things people have found on Google Earth were, and someone posted a picture of this. (central Britain, south of Great Houghton, west of Hull) like another farker, i didn't think it was real, but he looked it up and there it was. so i looked it up and here it is.
pretty farking funny.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
what a waste of 1's and 0's
i like The Doors. but if i were to put together a list of their 10 greatest songs, i'm not sure all of these would have made the list. and looking at the list, i think Mr. Andrew Perry (author of the article) took the cheap way out, because ALL of these songs are the ones that everyone knows. it's a cop-out if you ask me. and all of these are on The Best of The Doors. i wonder what album he listened to for this list.
so here's the list, click the link above for his explanation of why he thinks these are 10 of the greatest.
Break on Through (To the Other Side)
The Doors, 1967
Light My Fire
The Doors, 1967
The End
The Doors, 1967
People Are Strange
Strange Days, 1967
Hello, I Love You
Waiting For The Sun, 1968
Five to One
Waiting For The Sun, 1968
Touch Me
The Soft Parade, 1969
Roadhouse Blues
Morrison Hotel, 1970
LA Woman
LA Woman, 1971
Riders on the Storm
LA Woman, 1971
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
here we are five years later.
and is it really any better? i started regular blogging just over 5 years ago, immediately prior to the events of nine-eleven. much like i did in 2002, i'm refusing to watch the news today, as the media seems to enjoy this beating of a dead (and now rotted) horse that is nine-eleven.
the only real serious reference i will make about the events is what i'm copying below. i wrote this in my hotel room in atlanta on 9/12 (day after), but rather than forget to post it tomorrow, i'll just post it today. it's been a while since i re-read it, and just now was the 3rd or 4th time since i wrote it. so with nothing else to say, here's what i wrote on 9/12/2001.
fucking insane
below you'll find something that i wrote, and i can't really bring myself to read it again.
like most people in the states, and i presume a good chunk of the world, i am in shock over what happened this morning/yesterday morning.
i commented to some of the friends here, that our parents generation will remember where they were when JFK was shot, our generation will rememeber where they were when the world trade centers exploded.
i had walked into the CNN tower in atlanta to goto dunkin donuts to get breakfast. i managed to order breakfast w/o to much problem, but i could not help but shake the image on the montiors of the world trade center in a huge plume of smoke.
the first thing i tried to do was call jj, but failed in that, so i called my mother, who was a native new yorker. the first words out of my mouth where something along the lines of:
hi mom. it's me. turn on the tv NOW. a plane just crashed into the world trade center.
while i was talking to her on my phone, i saw the explosion of the second plane. my initial reaction was that was some unburned fuel or something from the first plane. the showed immediately afterwards the wider angle shot that showed plane #2 crashing thru the other tower. i'm not one for swearing in front of ones parents, esp my mother, but i swore four times while i was on the phone with her.
the shock of what happened cannot be described. i am sure that other people have posted their thougts and feelings, but for me, i was genuinely spooked. i'm not someone who spooks easily. i'll jump if starteled, sure. but spooked, not me.
this spooked me.
around 930 (eastern time) i headed towards the booth. i needed to get away from this tragedy. i called my girlfriend, and made it to the booth.
it wasn't long before the rumors of a 3rd plane hitting the pentagon started flying. and they weren't rumors.
what scared me, is i have a very dear friend who works very close to the pentagon, and i knew that if he wasn't at work, he would be driving by around the time the 3rd plane hit.
by this point, i was terrified. never in my life have i ever, EVER been terrified. and i was. i tried calling his cell, i tried calling his home, and i could not (understandably) get ahold of him. it wasn't until we were walking back to the hotel after the show closed at 2pm, that i got ahold of him. i spoke with him for no more than 5 mins, but it was some of the most relieving 5 mintues in my life.
he had heard and felt the explosion, and raced to the top of the building he works on, called his wife and said the following:
i'm coming home.
i think those three words were some of the sweetest words i have ever heard.
i knew that i did not know anyone in any of the crashes, but i knew that a very close friend was way to fucking close to one of the crashes.
hearing him answer the phone, and take a moment to figure out who was calling meant the world to me. he was safe. his family (most importanly) was safe. and if i need to stay in atlanta, i have a place to stay. he has family here, so if i should need it, i just have to call him.
that feels good, but knowing that he was safe, and his family was safe meant a great deal.
i'm not a praying man, but when he asked me to pray (knowing my beliefs), i said i would, and i have. i honestly have. i prayed for him, his family, my friends and those who have suffered a loss in this mess.
my heart goes out to anyone who is directly affected by this. except the families of the terrorists who committed these incredible acts. to them, i shame. and to those who actually comitted these acts, i condemn your souls, or whatever you believed in to hell. i believe that there is some sort of hell, and i hope beyond hopes, that hell was able to construct something more than fitting in a very short moment of time.
i do not believe in a "God" per se, but i believe that there is something. and i genuinely hope, that whatever may be out there, tortures your damned soul for eternity.
you are a coward.
you are a shit.
you are NOTHING.
you do not deserve ANYTHING.
all you deserve is torment, torture, and whatever hell it is you believe in.
i am really fucking exhausted. time for bed.
the following is what i started write this morning, but never finished. i felt that i need to post this as it contains the feelings i felt at the time. this was written prior to the collapse of the world trade center.
ok. now i'm spooked.
i get to the cnn tower to have bfast, and the first thing i see on the tvs is the world trade center, in smoke with the words 'a plane has crashed into the world trade center'.
i'm not one for getting spooked. sure, if something startles me, i'll jump, but i don't spook very easily.
that just freaked me out. (plane #1)
so, i call jj to tell her to turn on the news, but get her answering machine, so i call my mother (NYC native)
the first words out of my mouth are:
hi mom, it's me. turn on the news now. a plane crashed into the world trade center.
so we are talking about it, she gets CBS turned on (CNN has an ABC feed) and while we are talking, they have a close up on the tower and then you see another massive explosion. i thought it was just more fuel from the plane going off.
i was wrong.
(pardon the following pun, as it isn't)
dead wrong.
they zoom back and show a second plane go flying into the tower.
NOW i'm spooked.
they replay it several times, and i'm still getting chills thinking about it.
but that isn't the end of it. JT was talking to someone who said that one of the planes flew out of boston.
so, how has my day been you ask? pretty fucking scary. a national landmark has a plane crash into it (one that i have been up). a national landmark has a SECOND plane
Current Mood: angry, hurt, spiteful, & more
Saturday, September 09, 2006
boy oh boy, was Black Moon Rising a QUALITY movie. i would like to thank the Speed Channel for airing this high quality movie. not only was it entertaining, but they showed trailers for 2 other high quality movies.
the first was Viva Knievel!
what a winner that looks like.
the second was for Freejack, yet another wonderful movie. the best part? when alex (emilio) is walking down some alley or something and the music in the background is Ministry's Thieves. best part in the whole movie.
nitwit
according to the clock on my laptop, it's 735am. i should still be asleep, but thanks to the holiday we call 'labor day' and a nitwit, i'm up.
i'm not annoyed at the garbage men for picking the trash up on a morning when i'd rather be sleeping, i'm used to it so i'm generally pretty good at falling back asleep. like most areas i've lived, if there is a holiday, trash gets bumped a day, and friday is our usual day. so a few times a year, garbage is picked up on saturday. it's worse in the summer because i'll have a window open (my problem this morning), but then they go away and i'll doze off.
this morning however, they came a little later than usual (45-60 mins later) and just as i was dozing back into blissful slumber, my phone rings. so i groggily reach for it and make a vain attempt at recognizing the caller, but as i'm also on call this weekend, if someone else in the department calls me, it might be their number.
so i answer it only to have someone ask me if linda is here. so in a very groggy voice, i reply, no, wrong number. he did at least say he was sorry. and i spend the next 10 mins trying to fall back asleep. didn't happen and rather than try and force myself to go back to sleep, i am now up.
tired.
groggy.
and annoyed. this will pass, but for the moment, i'm annoyed.
the only saving grace is that the pager didn't go off at some ungodly hour. i should be mostly safe for the rest of the day now. mostly.
(points to someone who picks up that modified reference. now i'm less annoyed.)
Thursday, September 07, 2006
at last...
after taking the last month to reread Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune, i am now prepared to read Hunters of Dune.
Read More......Tuesday, September 05, 2006
feeling better
lotsa sleep and some lazy laundry seems to have helped, so i'm not feeling as shitty as i was. unfortuately, it appears that M caught my bug so she's starting to feel how i did the other day. and she's overseas on business so she can't call into work sick. sorry dear :-(
Read More......fucking sickness
i'm not quite sure what it is, but at least in part i'm feeling a little better. this weekend i seem to have contracted some bug that reminded me that i really can get sick from time to time. saturday/sunday were nothing more than a little tickle and the occasional cough, but by sunday, i was becoming congested.
yesterday was pretty miserable all in all. fortunately i have stuff to help with the congestion and pressure, but for much of the afternoon i was out of it. and now this morning, i'm up early, and my throat is scratchy because i've been coughing up a pretty storm.
whee.
Monday, September 04, 2006
no more croc hunter.
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was killed today by a sting ray.
the offical statement is here
Media statement – 4 September 2006
Steve Irwin
At 11am today, the 4th September 2006, Steve Irwin was fatally wounded by a stingray barb to his heart whilst filming a sequence on Batt Reef off Port Douglas for his daughter’s new TV series. Emergency services were called from Cairns Rescue Base and met Croc One, Steve’s rescue vessel at Low Isle on the Great Barrier Reef. The Croc One crew performed constant CPR during the thirty minute dash to Low Isle, but the medical staff pronounced Steve dead at approx. 12 noon.
His producer and closest friend, John Stainton said on Croc One today, "The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest Dads on the planet. He died doing what he loves best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. Crocs Rule!"
looks like word is getting out. a few minutes ago i could hit his site with the official statement, but not any longer. Read More......
Thursday, August 31, 2006
today's driving lesson(s)
well, i spose 2 really. yesterday on my way into the office after spending some time in one of our other offices, there was a guy in a BMW in the right lane (the slow lane folks, speed lane is on the left) and he went flying by me (i was going ~70mph) and then he started making some quick (and risky) lane changes just so he could keep going way to fast for traffic and he winds in the left lane (that's the speed lane) only to wing his way back and go diving into an exit (on the right). i hadn't slowed down and you know what? i was ~7 seconds behind him.
i really have to wonder if those 7 seconds are really that valuable. he certainly thought so, but it was a shame that the cops that will sit there during the morning commute weren't there at that time.
and today's lesson is:
don't cut off a dump truck.
on the way home today, traffic was pretty heavy (nothing new) but moving and behind me for a while was a dump truck. i reached a spot where things were a little more open so i sped up a bit (only to slow back down a few moments later) which opened up a bit of a gap between the dump truck and my car. all of a sudden, i hear a truck horn sound and i see a livery car pulling in front of the dump truck. unfortunately, when this guy did his lane shift, he didn't wait an extra moment to give a little more room so he basically cut the truck off.
d'oh!
as it happened, the right lane (the slow lane) cleared and the next thing i saw in my rear view mirror was the dump truck come flying up and then cut the livery car off. ouch. it was close, but funny how the livery car all of a sudden started leaving space between him and the dump truck.
and now for something completely different
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
late night funny
i haven't watched letterman much but last night i saw a little bit that he did that was titled "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches". it showed 3 from 3 presidents.
in order:
- Franklin D. Roosevelt: "All we have to fear, is fear itself"
- John F. Kennedy: "Ask not, what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
- George W. Bush: "I think I saw a guy spittin' in a can"
and some video humor for you.
Daily Show: President Bush debates Governor Bush Read More......
Saturday, August 26, 2006
long frakking day
start: 620am
in office: 820am
end: 1010pm
the good news is we are pretty much done. for the most part. there are still some things to do, but the bulk of the stuff we needed to get done has been completed.
hopefully we can get things pretty well wrapped up tomorrow before the acid test on monday.
Friday, August 25, 2006
and so it begins...
GA just came out and asked if it was ok to start migrating data from old servers to our new ones in preparation of the active directory upgrade that is just about to happen. i just saluted and off he went back to the server room to kick things off. and so begins a new chapter in the IS department here.
the last 30 mins or so were kind of restful. things are quiet enuff at this time of day that i semi-dozed off. heeheehee.
and in preparation for tomorrow, i have a nice 19" dell LCD monitor on my desk. it's purty. and i can't keep it says DH. but i can use it this weekend to watch Pinky and The Brain which was supplied to me by my younger westward sibling. (anyone interested in getting me Animaniacs is welcome to)
but basically all i need to do is be here. DH wants an IS presence while GA & co. do their voodoo so i get to sit here for most of the day tomorrow, so i'll watch Pinky, read more of Chapterhouse: Dune. and i also need to start sifting thru the 400+ pictures M&i took on our left coast adventure the other week. so that is my plan for tomorrow. i'm hopeful that we'll be able to get everything done tomorrow, but as they didn't touch the new exchange box today (GA said they might be able to start building it during downtime this afternoon), i have the feeling that won't be done until tomorrow with the full upgrade done until sunday. that sucks as it kills my entire weekend. oh well. the price i have to pay to get the title. at least they are doing all the work, so if something gets fucked up (they swear it won't), it's their fault and not mine. i'm kinda glad that i'm not doing the hands on migration. it's a lot of work. fortunately they have done this a few times, so they have some sense of what to look out for. it's really only a few servers that are going to be truly affected, and the rest should just fall into place.
i'll try and put together some sort of summary of our west coast adventures as well, but we had a really good time in both PDX and SFO, so as trips go, it was really good. never been to either place, and we liked both. flights between BOS and LAS sucked, but the shorter flights were a little better, well, flying into PDX from LAS was rough, but more because we were tired of flying by that point.
anyways, i'll try to write something up, and maybe a few pictures as well. more later, maybe.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Sunday, August 20, 2006
depressing?
what the fuck does that mean? WGBX 44 (pbs) is showing Austrailian Pink Floyd (very cool of them, heard, but hadn't seen them yet) and some nitwit during the pledge break (it's that time of the year) called it 'depressing' that Dark Side of the Moon came out in 1973.
how in the holy fuck is that depressing? the fact that we continue to listen to it 33 years later proves that it is one of the classic albums of all time. 740+ weeks on the billboard chart, millions of copies sold, the fact that 1 in 14 people under the age of 50 own a copy (according to the wiki DSotM entry) is depressing? i love the album (but prefer Wish You Were Here or Animals) and enjoy listening to the umpteen versions of it i have. live (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1994), studio, Pink Floyd, The Machine, Roger Waters, quadrophonic, whatever. it is just a classic, and one of my favorite ways to listen to it is the quad mix. kill the lights. plug in the DVD, close my eyes and turn it up.
how is that depressing? it's 45 minutes of refresh and recharge.
depressing.
you fucktard assclown.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
can't sleep...clowns will eat me
can't sleep...clowns will eat me
can't sleep...clowns will eat me
can't sleep...clowns will eat me
can't sleep...clowns will eat me
can't sleep...clowns will eat me
Thursday, August 17, 2006
we're home. had a great time on the left coast. tired as hell. details will emerge over time. lotsa pix taken.
Read More......Saturday, August 05, 2006
hee hee hee...
found this on JWZ's blog so credit goes to him for amusing me.
those wacky victorians. who knew obituaries could be so humorous. JWZ as pulled some of the early entertaining ones, so look there if you want a taste of what is posted. some are certainly boring, but i'll give a taste here.
Thursday, May 12, 1887
A terrible accident occurred in the rolling mill of the Hubbard Iron company, at Hubbard,, Ohio, shortly after 2 o'clock on the morning of the 6th. Engineer Griffith Phillipps, aged 29 years in passing around the ore crusher oiling the bearings, was caught in the wheels and dragged into the crusher. He was mangled out of all semblance of humanity, the flesh adhering to the clogs. He leaves a wife and 3 children.
Friday, August 04, 2006
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...
one of my favorite foods is the simple avocado. unfortunately, i don't know many uses for it outside of guacamole, salads, sandwiches and sushi (a little toro, some avocado, spicy mayo, make it maki and roll in tobiko and you have one of my all time favorite sushi rolls, but i digress).
so i'm watching Good Eats and they are doing a show on avocados and did you know, that the word 'avocado' is a bastardized pronounciation of the Aztec word 'ahuacatl'?
and guess what that means.
TESTICLE!
hahahahahahahahaha...
it's fun being childish sometimes.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
i'd be in jail for this one...
one of the things kids do is break off branches from trees, and i've broken off plenty in my youth, but in this world that is going 1984 on us, this is fucking insane.
Children arrested, DNA tested, interrogated and locked up... for playing in a tree
By KHUSHWANT SACHDAVE, Daily Mail 22:27pm 23rd July 2006
To the 12-year-old friends planning to build themselves a den, the cherry tree seemed an inviting source of material.
But the afternoon adventure turned into a frightening ordeal for Sam Cannon, Amy Higgins and Katy Smith after they climbed into the 20ft tree - then found themselves hauled into a police station and locked in cells for up to two hours.
Their shoes were removed and mugshots, DNA samples and mouth swabs were taken.
Officers told the children they had been seen damaging the tree which is in a wooded area of public land near their homes.
Questioned by police, the scared friends admitted they had broken some loose branches because they had wanted to build a tree house, but said they did not realise what they had done was wrong.
Officers considered charging the children with criminal damage but eventually decided a reprimand - the equivalent of a caution for juveniles - was sufficient.
Although the reprimand does not amount to court action and the children do not have a
criminal record, their details will be kept on file for up to five years.
The parents of the children, who all live in Halesowen, West Midlands, say they are angry with police for treating their children as hardened criminals and accused officers of over-reacting.
The three, who have never been in trouble with the police before, were described as well-behaved and placid by their parents.
Amy's mother, Jacqueline, said
her daughter was left so traumatised by the police action last month she refused to sleep in her bed for a week.
Miss Higgins, 37, an office manager, added: 'Amy was scared bucketloads to be locked up in a cell knowing murderers and rapists have been sat in the same cells. The police action was completely unbalanced. These were children playing in a tree.
'The information taken by the police will be held on record for five years and Amy is worried it could affect her going to college or university.'
Sam's father, Nicholas, 52, said: 'The children did not deserve to be treated in the way they were. A simple ticking-off by officers would have been sufficient.
'The children didn't realise they were doing anything wrong, they didn't deliberately set out to damage the tree.
'Sam's eyes were swollen and red when they let him out of the cell as he had been crying. He is a placid child and has never been in trouble before.
'When I got the phone call from the police to say Sam was in custody I thought he'd done something-like steal something from a shop. I couldn't believe it when he said all he had done was break some loose branches off a tree.
'To detain them, DNA them and treat them that way was simply cruel and an over-reaction by the police. Generations of children have played in that tree and my son and his friends won't be the first to have thought of building a tree den.'
Mr Cannon, who said Sam had difficulty sleeping shortly after the incident, has written to the police to complain about the action taken.
Superintendent Stuart Johnson, operations manager at Halesowen police station, said: 'I support the actions of my officers who responded to complaints from the public about "kids destroying" an ornamental cherry tree by stripping every branch from it, in an area where there have been reports of anti-social behaviour.
'A boy and two girls were arrested and received a police reprimand for their behaviour.
'West Midlands Police deals robustly with anti-social behaviour. By targeting what may seem relatively low-level crime we aim to prevent it developing into more serious matters.'
Rod Morgan, chairman of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, said the police action appeared to be unnecessary.
'It's my opinion that too many children are being criminalised for behaviour that could be dealt with informally by ticking them off and speaking to their parents.'
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
hey buster...
it's hot hot hot out there.
it's pretty sad when they tell you that the night time temp is expected to be 80 and humid. yuck. long live my a/c and 3 cheers for it being COLD and DEHUMIDIFYING.
and today wasn't the worst of it, the worst is yet to come. my little forecastfox buddy is telling me that it will be 101 tomorrow. and humid. so the heat index will be pushing 109/110. it's gonna suck. yay uncle dunkie (secure site???). it sucked when i left work and the confines of climate control. i opened the door to outside and it was like hitting a brick wall. a sensation i was able to feel again when i left the supermarket.
i thought i might try seeing if i could put together some sort of duct system to move some of the cold air from my a/c into the living room, but after giving it a little thought, i thought better of the idea. it might help a little, but it wouldn't work as well as i'd like, and by the time i got it working the way i'd like, i could buy a 2nd small a/c. so here i sit with a fan blowing on me which is helping. i may move into my bedroom which would make things nicer. at least it's looking like this weekend will be nice.
edit: damn...i should have saved this article. now i don't remember what it was for...
damn...he caught himself
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
my landlords are fucking cool.
they really are. a part of me will be sad when i have to move out, but i really do like my landlords. LO invited me (and M) to KO's 40th suprise birthday party, and much fun was had by all.
KO figured something was going on, but he didn't know what exactly was going on and that was good. plus it was good that i didn't actually feel like a 3rd wheel. usually, i do, but this time i was able to chat with people which was fun.
so, happy b-day KO. 40. the big 4-0. i have a few years, but you seem to be taking it in stride.
and right now, i have more alcohol in my blood than blood, so i'm pleased that i'm able to actually type. *laugh*
i'm gonna take a quick shower. and then watch farscape.
i just wish they would figure out this concept of airing episodes in order. last week was near the end of season 3 and now they air the near the end of season 2.
what the fuck people....
Friday, July 28, 2006
about fricking time...
i have FINALLY been able to witness a major thunderstorm. my first of the season. i think there may have been a few that passed thru during the night, but pretty much from the time i fall asleep until dawn, i'm absolutely dead to the world so if the end of the world comes while i'm asleep, i'll just pass away in the night.
but it was quite nice to actually be able to enjoy it. it started out a little slow with lotsa rain and then it let up, but then everything started getting heavier again and i was enjoying it. the only thing that would have been more enjoyable was if there was some way i could be in the middle of a field where i don't get electrocuted. but for nearly an hour, we had a nice set of rumbles, flashes, a few fire engines, and a few really good cracks. i even managed to see a few really nice lightning bolts, the nicest was in a shape of a T and Y overlayed. flashed several times, followed by corresponding cracks. it was loverly.
i did see a few other nice bolts, but that was the nicest.
now if only we'd get these more often...and it wouldn't knock out my dsl.
Monday, July 24, 2006
and in unrelated news tom...
pictures of the infamous molius have now surfaced with vacationing members of the of the 501st on their Duck Tour of Boston. these are some of the only known pictures of this elusive and some thought, mythical molius. where will he surface next? we don't know. back to you tom.
thank you diane for that completely pointless story.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
hooray monkey suit!
JJ & i were able to find me a monkey suit at kohls so i'm pleased. the pants need to be tailored, but i think it will do just fine. they were also doing a buy the jacket, get the pants for free, but when i went to pay, it didn't come up as that, so i explained that the sign said so. she had to call, but it gave her a chance to ask several times if i wanted to open a kohl's charge and save 10% on this purchase. i appreciate that they have to ask, but lady, saying 'no thanks, not interested' 5 times might actually mean that i NOT interested. so she then asked as she rang it in whether it was a gift with bonus or a price correction. i'd say it was a price correction. but she seemed inclined to go with the gift w/bonus, but decided that maybe we were right and it was a price correction. nitwit. the other thing that bugged me slightly was she stuffed my newly aquired SUIT pants into a plastic bag, much like a crappy bagger at a supermarket. excuse me, i don't want them wrinkled. well, any more wrinkled than they already are. i know i need to get them tailored and cleaned, but still, sheesh.
so after we left the store, we paused so i could hang my pants on the hanger. (which decided to fall off the hanger when i got home, but that's ok) so i have my monkey suit. the nice thing was i tried it on and JJ and i both decided that if it fit, then you must acquit...err buy it. it was what i was willing to pay and the "free" pants were helpful. so once i had it, we were both like 'ok, now what?'. we didn't think i'd luck out this quickly. so we drove around, visited uncle dunkie for liquid refreshment and then played some putt putt. strangely, i'm a much better putt putt player when i play one handed. go figure. we had fun, so that's all that mattered. there were 2 little kids that were flying thru, not quite understanding that golf (be it regular or putt putt) is meants to be played at its own pace. but we did wonder if there was a speed putt putt. maybe that could be an olympic sport.
hooray beer!
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