Yes, I'm still here...

That Buffalo Blogger takes a quiz. Why not, I don't have anything real to post right now.

1 :: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:

"Hold down the Shift key and type B. Finale adds a B to the chord"

2 :: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?

Darth Vader.

3 :: What is the last thing you watched on DVD? On actual TV?

On DVD: Monty Python's Flying Circus: You're No Fun Anymore
On actual TV: Excluding work, and watching a bit of news at home, Arrested Development.

4 :: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what time it is:

12:36 p.m.

5 :: Now look at the clock; what is the actual time?

12:40 p.m.

6 :: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

The furnace just kicked in

7 :: When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

About 2:45 this morning, coming home from a poker game.

8 :: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?

I am going to assume that "this website" refers to where I found this quiz, so the answer would be the the website that you are looking at now.

9 :: What are you wearing?

Nothing. No, wait, I mean a white t-shirt, jeans, and socks.

10 :: Did you dream last night?

I'm sure I did, although I don't remember any of it. The last dream I remember was Wednesday night. I was working on a film with John Woo and Jackie Chan. We were shooting along Minnehaha Creek.

11 :: When did you last laugh?

I chuckled this morning while watching Monty Python, but I laughed out loud quite a bit last night at the poker game.

12 :: What is on the walls of the room you are in?

Yellow vapor barrier.

13 :: Seen anything weird lately?

About a month or so ago on my way to work, I saw a strange trail down the center of the street (the street had not yet been plowed, and as it was three in the morning, I was the fist to drive in the fresh snow). After about two blocks, I came upon some sort of animal dragging a dead squirrel. The animal looked somewhat ferret-like, but I couldn't tell for sure what it was. It would stop to look at me, but refused to move out of my way, until I honked my horn, when it ran into someone's yard, still dragging the squirrel.

14 :: What do you think of this quiz?

Not usually my thing, but what the hell.

15 :: What is the last film you saw?

In the theater: Secret Window. I was disappointed. I saw the ending about twenty minutes into the movie, and hoped I was wrong, but I wasn't. Depp and Turturro were superb however.

At home: The Day the Earth Stood Still

16 :: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?

That is tough. I think it would be a Honda 599. One can never have too many motorcycles.

17 :: Tell me something about you that I don't know:

Hmmm... Lets see, Holy cow! Look over there, what is THAT!?

18 :: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

Annihilate religious radicals.

19 :: Do you like to dance?

If I've been drinking, and the music is good.

20 :: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nutcase or someone who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?

What Jaq said: Both, which is what really scares me.

21a :: Imagine your first child is a girl; what do you call her?

I can't remember what Krista told me to think.

21b :: Imagine your first child is a boy; what do you call him?

See 21a

22 :: Would you ever consider living abroad?

Yes, but like Jaq, for limited periods of time. There are many places I would like to live for short stints if I didn't have to worry about income.

Seriously though, what about Teen Wolf Too?

This week the folks at The Onion AV Club interview Jason Bateman, the star of Arrested Development. If you aren't watching this show, you should be. It is the best new show out there, or at least the best new show that I am watching. OK, it is the only new show that I am watching, but it is really, really good. What I would like to know, about which Mr. Bateman was not queried, is why we were not better warned by Fox that we NEEDED to watch on Wednesday of last week. The new episode that aired on Wednesday was the set-up for the episode this past Sunday. Now, Fox may have mentioned that Wednesday's episode was new, but if they did, I missed it, and in turn the new episode.

Power to the People! But what if the People are idiots?

Well, it is on its way. The push to amend the Minnesota Constitution to LIMIT civil rights cleared its first hurdle yesterday. Well, it was hardly a hurdle. The bill passed 88-42 in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Hopefully it will encounter more resistance in the Senate. If it gets through the Senate, hopefully the people of Minnesota will have the wisdom not to amend the Constitution to limit rights. Though I don't see much hope there. Pat had a great post in the issue of gay marriage about three weeks ago (Uh, Pat? Are you still with us?). His post pretty much sums up my position on the whole matter.

I do not believe that your sexuality is a choice.

I do not believe it is a sin.

I do not believe that it will diminish the meaning of "Marriage." Anyway, who cares? Well apparently quite few people. Many of those opposed claim that they do not want to see the definition of what a marriage is to change. Most are liars. The truth is that they do not want to see ANY legal status for gay couples.

The legal ramifications are, in my view, the most important aspect of the whole issue. There is now a custody case in Minneapolis involving a lesbian couple. Well former couple. While some of the problems in this case do not seem as though they would be helped by the legalization of gay marriage (attitudes of the Chinese government, and the legal guardian changing her mind about seeking parental status for her partner), it isn't hard to imagine a scenario where legal gay marriage would help simplify things.

So lets just legalize civil unions for gays and give these civil unions all the legal rights of married heterosexual couples. Oh right, separate but equal. Many gay couples want the "marriage" designation. What to do, what to do...

Here is what to do:

Remove "marriage" from the whole debate. The prevailing argument is that "the Bible defines" marriage as the union of one man and one woman. OK, so that makes marriage a religious issue. Separation of church and state right? Aaron's new deal: The government will recognize civil unions. Gay, straight, doesn't matter. As far as the government is concerned it is a civil union. You want to get married in a church? Fine. Get married in a church, call it a marriage, call it a culpaloo, call it whatever the hell you and your church want to call it. As far as Government is concerned it is a civil union. That moves the entire "definition of marriage" thing away from government. Let the churches deal with it.

Broadcast? Who needs it?

I see via that Buffalo Blogger that Lynn Sislo is annoyed with the way that Fox is airing the current season of 24, (in addition to an apparent drop in the quality of scripts). Jaquandor has a good point about the complications of stretching 24 episodes over 32 weeks. Fox doesn't have much choice but to air them with a few extended breaks here and there (unlike poor Futurama which they royally screwed). Reruns are not an option with 24, so Fox is probably doing the best they can. But I have a better way! The proper way to watch 24 is the way Krista and I do it. DO NOT watch when it airs on TV. Wait for the DVDs to become available, and place them all at the top of your Netflix rental queue. We plowed through the first two seasons in about two weeks apiece. We averaged two episodes a day. With no commercials that comes to about an hour and twenty minutes. One problem is forcing yourself to turn off the DVD player, and not moving right on to the next episode, and wasting your entire day. Also be careful to ignore the promos for the current season while watching The Simpsons. "WHAT! NINA IS A BAD GUY?!?!?!?"

Netflix rentals make up the majority of our viewing, other than Sunday nights on Fox and That 70s Show (which is suffering this year). We started out with all of the original Avengers, moved on to Star Trek TOS, the first season of 24, the Spielberg SF Channel mini series Taken, the second 24, and now we are starting on Monty Python's Flying Circus (Which Krista doesn't find nearly as amusing as I do) and Star Trek TNG.

Adventures in Cooking

If Scott is planning any more experiments in the kitchen this week, I hope for his sake that he is not a Pisces.

May The Force Be With You...

Speaking of Sean, I see that he (and in turn I) totally scooped Wired (no link to the Wired bit, it isn't on the website yet) on "Obi-Shawn" Crosby and His H-Wing. Also check out the rest of Road Squadron, it's just so geeky-cool.

Cutting Through the Crap

The Buffalo Blogger was wondering when a comment turns into a post on your own weblog. Well, you are reading one.

On his Buffalo Blog he points to a post from Steven Den Beste offering solutions to spam and web ads that can slow down that vital browsing that you are doing. SDB's browsing solution seems like a lot of work to me. At home I use Safari, and I never have troubles with pages pausing during loading (I do have this problem at work however using IE). Safari also has a great pop-up blocker. I am not sure how it compares with EarthLink's (which is in use by the Buffalo Blogger) or other such tools. It allows pop-ups to which you navigate, but blocks those that pop up or under when loading the page. I do not seem to notice it blocking anything it shouldn't, but maybe I am, and just don't notice... Safari also has built-in spell check (and it works better than the spell check that blogger has built in) which is a great asset for dolt's like me. I don't like to get into the whole Mac vs. PC thing, but Safari is one great argument (albeit a small one) in Apple's favor. To be fair, I haven't used any of the alternative browsers on PC, such as Opera or Mozilla etc.

As far as spam goes, I almost never get it at home. Not sure if RoadRunner has blocking software or not. I do get a shitload at work. Most of it is blocked, though I still have to delete it (which can be interesting, when you get to see that you have gotten an average of 100 spams a day) but ten to twenty still manage to get through daily. The most frequent one these days encourages me to become a man of the cloth, which I first saw via Sean awhile back.

Indecision

Well, since Christmas, I've been trying to decide what to buy with the cash I was given as gifts from various people. I am stuck between a point and shoot digital camera (I still need to save a bit more for the one I want) and a nice ukulele.

I have been leaning towards the digital camera. I want something small and portable that I can take with me wherever I go. It will not replace my SLR on trips or when I am feeling artistic (I love the options my wide angle and telephoto lenses give me), but it would be great for those times when you just need a camera and don't have the SLR because it just isn't practical.

But now the uke has started gaining ground again. On his Buffalo Blog, that Buffalo Blogger points out this post from John Scalzi asking which songs should be uked. That in turn led me to this, and this, and this. Here is a complete list.

Welcome and Right On!

To your left you will notice two new additions to my blogroll. The first is a good friend from college, and bad-ass-bassist, Mark. Mark and I spent a fair amount of time together back at the day, between Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, and just hanging out. We have been out of touch for too long a time, and I was pleased the other day when I found out that a mysterious e-mail was in fact from Mark.

The second is Mix-Master-Dorf (aka Patrick Mixdorf). I'm not sure if I am the first to refer to Pat with this moniker, but I am taking credit for it. I know Pat from a few meetings via mutual friends, tall tales, and numerous e-mail threads. His is a brand-spanking-new weblog.

Both of these fine individuals responded to the list of 100 albums I noted below, and both shared my viewpoint, and expressed it in a much better fashion than I. Mark's response is here, and I think Pat attempted a response in the comments at the bottom of the list, but I do not see it there, so I will add it at the end of this post.

What really bugged me about the list, which I completely neglected to note in my previous post, was the hypocrisy. He claims to impart upon us his infinite wisdom of why these albums are undeserving. In doing so he takes on the roll of the music critics he reviles. He is a music snob. His reason for disliking so many of these albums is that they, in his opinion, don't live up to the hype that other music snobs attach to them. I hope my response did not come across as so much music snobbery, as me offering my opinion. Many, many people that I hold in very high regard often exhibit what I consider questionable taste in music. But that's OK.

Here is the Response of Mix-Master-Dorf.

Like the music critics you claim to revile, your self-righteous and patently self-gratifying attempt at telling people what music they should enjoy comes across as mean spirited and most importantly misses the point of music altogether.

The best albums and music have a visceral appeal. An unbiased opinion (if such a thing is even possible) may show those albums to be crap, but if it floats your boat, who cares.

Like great literature, some albums ought to be listened to because they played a significant role in the development of music. Anyone whose ever read (or tried to read) Ulysses by Joyce knows that great literature can be incomprehensible crap. The same may hold true for Coltrane and Davis, but that doesn't mean it's not worth a listen.

If you own them because you think you must, you're an idiot, but if you bought them out of a sense of exploration or personal growth, good for you. Maybe they weren't what you expected, but you're better for having tried.

But your honor...

Um...

24 Reasons You are Wrong

Here is a list of 100 albums some guy thinks you should remove from your collection immediately. Many he listed are from artists it is in fashion to hate or be sick of. I agree with a few of his choices, disagree with many, and am not familiar enough with others to make a judgment. Some of the commenters really take offense. While the list doesn't get to me like some of them, I felt compelled to offer my rebuttal. Here are a few of the more obvious reasons he is wrong. Thanks to Sean for the link (I think).

U2- The Joshua Tree. Well, I agree that Bono is much too self righteous, but The Edge is too cool for school. And this is not a bad or even over-rated album. Leave it right where it is.

Nirvana- Nevermind. Over-rated? Yes. But still a good album. If you don't already own it, don't sweat it, but if you got it, keep it.

The Beatles- Let it be. Screw you pal. It seems to be cool to hate this album. I disagree heartily. The "Naked" release is better, but even the Spectorized version gets five stars from me.

Miles Davis- Bitches Brew. I don't own this album, but I have heard it on a few occasions (but not for quite some time). While not high on my list of to buys, he is overreacting.

Pearl Jam- Vs. Not their best (if you only buy one Pearl Jam, buy Yield) but still a good album.

Beck- Midnight Vultures. Are you kidding me? "Christina Aguilera of the indie set." Sure, except for the fact that Mr. Hansen is a fucking musical genius.

The Who- Tommy. I hope my sister is sitting down while reading this.

Beastie Boys- Paul's Boutique. Often hailed as their best. I prefer Check Your Head, but still a great album.

Red Hot Chili Peppers- Blood Sugar Sex Magik. A band that is cool to hate. You probably don't need more than one RHCP CD in your collection, but this is a good album.

White Stripes- White Blood Cells. Wrong answer. This is a great album, five stars. But I see from this entry I see that this list was compiled back in '02. I guess he was right about closing the book on Jack and Meg though, that Elephant disk went nowhere...

Dave Brubeck- Time Out. If this guy wants to get rid of his copy, buy it from him. It is a masterpiece.

John Coltrane- Giant Steps. What the ftuyhjnokmhg,jk... Sorry I fainted there for a minute. If this guy doesn't have the ability to appreciate anything more complex than big band music it isn't your problem. Buy this album.

Morrissey- All recordings. I don't own any, but I know some people that this will piss off, so I put it in here.

Jane's Addiction- Nothing's Shocking. Blah blah blah... Another band that it is cool to hate. I am starting to wonder exactly who the poseur is here.

Tori Amos- Under the Pink. Wrong. Another five star album.

Green Day- Dookie. Yet another band that is cool to hate. Someone said this album was analogous to a can of Pringles. One tasty pop song stacked on another. They were right. Dookie is a stack of great thee-minute pop songs. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Sarah McLauchlan- Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, Surfacing. He's right about keeping one, wrong about it making a difference. Remember that "Building a Mystery" song? That was on Surfacing. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is the keeper.

U2- War. No! No! No!

The Beatles- Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart's Club Band. While I tend to think that this one is a bit over-hyped in its importance, it is still one of the best.

Grateful Dead- All Recordings. Now, I'm by no means a deadhead, but they did make worthy contributions to music.

Bob Marley and The Wailers- Legend. Well, he said it himself. It is a fine album. It's not my fault his friends played it into the ground.

Sublime- Sublime. Again, very good album. And again, not my problem he has bad non-musical associations with it.

Beastie Boys- Check Your Head, Ill Communication. Check Your Head is great, and Ill Communication is very good. Keep 'em.

The Doors- The Best of The Doors. WRONG!

Water, water everywhere... Well at least there used to be.

NASA announced today that they have enough evidence to conclude that water was once abundant at the Opportunity landing site. While this was a big and important announcement, it is hardly a sunrise. This is exactly what scientists have long suspected, and what the rovers were sent to confirm. The evidence comes in the form of a rock that exhibits layers of sediment containing salt, and other minerals indicative of a body of water that has evaporated. What is important about this discovery is that it tells NASA where to look for signs of life in future missions.

Starship Stacy and the Vector Kings

Here are a few photos from the gig. I guess that was over two months ago, but here they are anyway. Thanks to Jon Murphy for providing them.

Dan and me, laughing about something. What, I'll never tell.


Krista gets sooooo excited when she plays.


No more laughing!


Krista finally proves that she can do two things at once.

Ah, that's the stuff...

Hello is anyone still here? The past couple of weeks have been wearing me down a bit. This is due, I think, to quite a bit of overtime, along with other work related frustrations, lack of sleep (what sleep I have had has been less than restful), lack of exercise etc. etc. etc. All of this has led to me spending my waking hours in a daze. And not a good daze. A large part of my problem may have been cabin fever, and that my friends may be at an end. I can smell it.

This weekend Krista and I managed to all but finish up the electrical work in our kitchen, so I feel like I actually accomplished something, which helps. We pulled out the grill for the first time this year, and cooked-up some tasty burgers. I started up the bikes yesterday to blow out the cobwebs, and that helped improve my mood immensely. Today I couldn't resist, and logged about 15 miles. Hopefully this all signals an end to the funk I've been in. Tomorrow I hope to get back into my regular exercise routine. What a difference one weekend can make.

Rattlesnake Rhumba!

You know all those goofy names for groups of animals? Well, now you do (thanks to Sean via Language Hat). I issue a challenge to any of my readers who happen to be poets, to create a poem using as may of these as possible. Now.

Mark your calendars and buy some mylar.

On June 8 of this year Venus will make a rare transit of the Sun. The end of this transit will be visable across most of the central and eastern US. If you miss it you will have to wait eight years, and then you will have to travel to Japan, or taking a swim in the middle of the pacific. After that, it's another 105 years. I am hoping to get some good photos that I will provide to you free of charge. Lucky you.

Ladies and Genelmen, The Beatles!

It was forty years ago tonight that The Beatles made their American television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. 73 million (a bout 2/5 of the US population) tuned in to watch the Fab Four offer outstanding performances of five songs. The Albert and David Maysles documentary of The Beatles first visit to the US was re-released last week with additional footage, mostly screaming fans I've been told (I have not purchased this one yet). Also available is a two disk set containing all four Ed Sullivan episodes, in their entirety, on which The Beatles appeared. Any Beatle fan should seriously consider this purchase. In addition to the Beatles performances it offers a glimpse of what the American public was watching in 1964. It leaves me wondering "that's entertainment?" It goes to show that the current pant load on television is nothing new. There are some things on the disks beyond the Fab Four that make it worth it. Including the American Television debut of Davy Jones (yes, of the Monkees) with the Broadway cast of Oliver, Cab Calloway, and the commercials.

Money Money Money Money

This started out as a comment on a certain Buffalo Blog, but..

Jaquandor is annoyed with a school supplying all students with PDAs.

I, like Jaq, have no objection to spending lots of money on education. Lots of it, but when things like this come up, I shake my head. There were some schools here in the Twin Cities that complained that there was no money to buy flags for the classrooms. The solution? Why, point a camera at a flag, and broadcast it via the schools closed circuit television system. This equipment was very new. Far better than what I worked on in college, and some of it better than what I currently use at work. I would grant the possibility that the equipment was purchased before the budget woes, but this district has been complaining about funding and class sizes for a while, even before our state budget crunch. Now, I don't object to the students learning video production, but it is not essential to education. It should certainly be a lower priority than hiring, or retaining an additional teacher.

Wasteful spending really gets me, especially from organizations that are constantly complaining about funding. Our local public broadcasting stations are another example. I am in support for continued funding for public broadcasting, but I will NOT contribute to their fundraising. Salaries for the workers (some at least) are outrageous. Union employees, in a position similar to the one I hold, earn nearly double what I do. I don't know this as a firm fact, but I do have it from a very reliable source. Capital expenditures are also an issue. All state of the art, all the time. Equipment must be replaced at some point, but the use it or lose it budget system in schools and other government facilities has to go away.

That is all, I think...

Tenor Madness

I see now that my man Sonny Rollins received the John Coltrane Lifetime Achievement Award during last night's Grammys. Rollins is one of my favorite jazz musicians. As jazz saxophonists go, imho, he is second only to Coltrane. If you are interested in checking out some of this cat's work, I recommend Saxophone Colossus, Tenor Madness (featuring John Coltrane), and Sonny Meets Hawk, where Rollins teams up with another jazz sax great Coleman Hawkins. I own a limited edition print of the photo above. It sits matted at the frame store awaiting the frame I want to come in stock.

And the award goes to...

Well, I didn't watch the Grammys last night. I haven't even looked over the list of the winners, and I really don't care who won. I did scan through the tapes of the show at work this morning for the performances, and there were some very good ones. The show started off with the Beyonce and the worlds funkiest Jehovah's Witnesses. Prince is a truly amazing musician and performer. He may be one of the top ten guitarists in popular music. Dave Matthews, Sting, and Vince Gill did a wonderful rendition of "I Saw Her Standing There" in honor of the Beatles President's Award. Other notables were the White Stripes, Outkast, and Foo Fighters with Chick Corea.

I can't watch the Grammys anymore. Have not been able to for a while. I get too angry. As the night goes on and the awards are handed out to the wrong nominees, or the deserving performer isn't even nominated, my blood starts to boil. I get acid reflux. I start yelling at the television. Maybe if they cut out the awards... I would even suffer through the Justin Timberlakes and Celine Dions to catch the great performances.