wednesday night / a site for sore eyes
choose one:
a few recent posts;
links to embarassing things;
rss was for robots.
June 1, 2007
a bold new direction
apparently june is when i make music.
this is my first not to contain any loops, and was actually written by playing my keyboard. i'm pretty happy with the result, although it might need some sort of extended mix.
June 5, 2007
a busy summer
June 5, 2007
that was easy
- Democratic presidential candidates discuss religion at evangelical forum
- Clinton: "I'm not sure I would have gotten through" marital strife without faith
- "I sin every single day," says Edwards. "We are all sinners"
- Obama says there is a risk in viewing the world as good versus evil
-- cnn.com
well, i know who i'm voting for!
June 7, 2007
the world's most powerful alarm clock
since i was up a little later than usual last night watching the hockey game after seeing a show with joe, i was hoping to sleep in just a little bit. it was not meant to be.
i guess i was at some conference or something, in a small group with joe and maybe a friend or two from high school. nat or someone wanted us to each give some small talk, so joe started up. his was of course about beagle. i didn't really pay attention.
soon, i was up, and was supposed to talk about writing modules and drivers for hula. of course, i hadn't prepared at all, so i just kind of started rambling. apparently we were a little behind schedule, so people started trickling in in anticipation of the next talk.
a couple of girls asked for my name; they were apparently seeking autographs. i had assumed they wanted nat's or miguel's, but apparently it was ben kahn's that they were after.
people couldn't hear well, so i had to speak up, and i started talking about why security is important when writing services such as imap etc. when i looked down at my left hand and noticed i was missing most of my ring, middle, and index fingers. i vaguely remembered some sort of incident with a knife, but this was still a disturbing discovery. i then realized, i will never be able to learn how to play guitar now, and this thought was so disturbing that i woke myself up, and immediately counted the fingers on each hand.
as i went to type this, i got a panic from os x. i can tell this is going to be an awesome day.
June 8, 2007
maybe it's time for a vacation
last night on my way in to the stills show at the door the guy asked for id. he looked at it, looked at me, and said, "what am i supposed to do with this?" i looked down, and apparently i had given him my novell security card. it doesn't even have a picture on it.
June 9, 2007
a rude awakening
there's nothing like relaxedly waking up on a serene saturday morning, with the robins singing, loading up cnn, and reading, "BUSH MEETS POPE FOR TALKS ON IRAQ."
i am so excited for the rest of today, i can hardly contain myself.
June 9, 2007
in even stupider news...
In an online announcement Wednesday afternoon, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler called the online outcry a "probably unprecedented display of passion in support of a prime time television series" and said CBS has ordered seven more episodes of the show for mid-season.
-- c|net
i'm tempted to start up a campaign to send the cbs execs copies of my new book, "No Means No: An Unforgiving Guide to Efficient Parenting."
on the other hand, i can almost hear the fall ads now... "if you enjoy sending unsolicited legumes through the post, you'll love our new tuesday night lineup!"
June 11, 2007
WE DID IT!!!
this is a pretty boring one, but it's monday.
the most exciting (new) feature out of wwdc is the death of desktop icons! i am so excited that soon everyone else in the world will be able to enjoy the clutter-free desktop i've mandated on my machines since... well, since i found the "disable icons" in xp. hang in there, linux users! i'm sure patches for nautilus and friends will be available in a few months to turn off desktop icons.
this morning i was forced into using google docs for work, and since it doesn't work with safari i decided to give the fresh camino 1.5 a spin. it was my original browser of choice on the mac, and it has progressed nicely since then. here is my favorite feature, browsing without that lame toolbar:
sadly, it has my least favorite firefox bug: the iChain hang of death. i mean, it's bad enough i'm logging into groupwise webmail, but then i have to have a timeout to really think about what i'm doing?
i also don't care for its next/prev tab keybindings, but the keyboard properties syspref thing lets me easily work around that. and i wish the autocomplete on the location bar didn't force me to hit the down key before selecting the first hit...
but then safari 3 beta came out and well well it works with google docs.
ok.
June 12, 2007
kudos
so, yes, i was a little surprised by safari for windows, but not much. when i was working on hula, at least a year ago, they were already working on webkit for windows. that they could do this in an open project for a year, without overwhelming speculation deserves some credit. but as to why are they really releasing safari for windows? the new york times makes it pretty obvious:
Under the agreement, the Google search page is the default home page when a user first installs Firefox, and is the default in the search bar. In the last two years, the deal has brought in more than $100 million. (Google has a similar placement with Apple's Safari.)
well, that and the fact that 5% market share doesn't get you much webmaster street cred these days.
i hope this extra competition ends up improving browsers for everyone. way back when, the first thing i was hoping for when mozilla was originally open sourced was tabbed browsing (not that i did anything about it, though). firefox's recentish success has now lifted everyone's boat; even the web browser on my heart rate monitor now supports tabs. and i also hope this makes my friends over at the company even more excited about what they're doing.
ok i need to go get more yogurts and wash some socks, because these are the things that successful twenty-eight year-olds do on a beautiful spring evening.
June 15, 2007
i coulda meant it if you let me
it's been a while since i've done a play:
me, while waiting for the voxtrot show, walks into a record shop in central. there is a clerk at the counter. clerk: hey, i gotta check your bag. me: what? clerk: i gotta hold on to your bag. me: (sorta questioningly) nnnnnnoooooo...... clerk: (kind of surprised) umm, ok. then you can't shop here. me: ok. (exits through front door)
i'm thinking of stopping by there with my bag every time i go through central from now on. i mean, honestly, why should i trust someone with laptop who doesn't trust me with their records? and there i was looking forward to having another place to buy records. stupid store for jerks.
June 16, 2007
the night i saw paul van dyk
well, yes, that would have been last night. he spun a marathon set - literally, it was about as long as it took me to run the marathon last year - and well, it wasn't life changing or anything, but it beats another friday night spent crying into your economist. i could definitely see myself trying to go to more shows of this nature, although it does bother me a little when they don't even talk about djs as artists - apparently they are relegated to an even more insulting "talent" label. but at least PvD has a couple of keyboards on stage, and plays them with his music, which is kind of cool yes.
tonight, for a change of pace (and to rest up for tomorrow's run), i planned to read the economist while feel good lost spins on the phonograph. i ended up taking a brief detour through wikipedia, which led me to check on iTunes for KC Accidental's albums, and well they have them. god bless the money vacuum.
i feel like my life is a little more complete now that i have these - my musical wardrobe is getting very respectable - but man i'm going to get sucked into checking out do say make think, whom i saw back in november in providence. they bored me nearly to tears.
anyway, being able to get stuff from itms that you really really really really really can't get anywhere else restores my faith in humanity.
some upcoming albums i am looking forward to with extreme abandon:
a good year.
also, red sox fans are jerks.
June 17, 2007
the kindness of strangers
maybe once out of every two or three times i go to south station, someone walks up and asks me for bus or train fare. this happened again on thursday, and since i'm a little stupid i gave the guy $10. i figure, if he wants it bad enough to ask someone for it, he could probably put it to better use than i can. it's just like taxes. oh and i was pretty sure i could outrun him if i needed to.
today is a 20 mile run day, and well, it's pretty hot. i haven't been bringing water with me, because, well, i meantion already that i'm stupid. anyway there's a park at miles 9 and 11, and on the return trip i got some water there. but a few miles later, when i turn onto comm ave, it's all in the sun, and i really could have used some more. there was an older man working in his yard, so i walked over to him and asked if i could please maybe have a glass of water or something.
he said he was in the middle of, umm, some yardwork.
i said thanks anyway and trotted off.
stupid newton and its city for jerks!
and btb you should go buy like, three or four copies of this album (for the iTMS set) because it really really is that good.
oh and there was this little girl at whole foods yesterday in a cbgb shirt and it was pretty cute.
ok i need to go lie down until everything stops hurting.
June 18, 2007
an early morning portmanteau
corp*ri*ot*ic
adjective
having or expressing devotion to and vigorous support for one's
employer : the wave of relief and corpriotic euphoria that followed
the vice-president's clearing of any wrongdoing in the back-dated
stock-options scandal.
June 18, 2007
what could've been
last night i went to see the apostle of hustle. well, like an idiot i didn't look into anything about their opening band, and of course it's a side project of the two guys from stars, and i now have nothing but regrets.
June 21, 2007
i'm really going to hear it for this one
"I just want the people caught and brought to justice," another sister, Elizabeth Morales, said. "I want them to feel the same pain that they caused my brother."
-- cnn.com: texas woman learns nothing from experience
i'm just thankful that i'm not the person who has to break it to her that other people's suffering isn't going to bring her brother back.
June 22, 2007
powerpray
it all started last week when i got a new laptop bag.
during red sox season, it can be pretty inconvenient to ride the t with a big backpack. so, instead of selling out and moving to cambridge, i invested in the previously mentioned bag. i figured it'd also be less sweaty if i walked home over the bridge, too.
anyway, this morning when i packed for my trip i forgot to move my ipod cable back to my backpack. i just figure, life is more fun without checklists. so, when i arrived at work only to find my cube had no power (i've moved into a new cube for the... third time this fiscal year?), i figured it was a good time to go get a cable at the apple store.
so, i walk over there and there are a bunch of people standing outside best buy. once inside, the lights are off at starbucks, which seems weird. in fact, the lights are off at every store on the right hand side, including the apple store. i guess that explains the people milling around outside best buy, too. fortunately, radio shack came through again! hooray.
June 22, 2007
let this be a lesson to myself
I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN. I WILL PRINT MY BOARDING PASS AT HOME WHEN FLYING AIRTRAN.
oh. my. god. i never thought i would have to be physically restrained from attacking a woman in a wheelchair. twice.
but i mean honestly. if one of the checkout machines is broken, MOVE THE PERSON IN THE WHEELCHAIR WHO IS BLOCKING THE WORKING MACHINES IN FRONT OF THE BROKEN ONE. i don't even know.
and then between the boarding pass place and security, there was an atm which i decided to stop at. when i then got to security, who was there in front of me? my good friends the golden girls. so, they make the one in the wheelchair walk through the metal detector. she can barely stand up, let alone walk three feet, so the guy working the machine reaches out his hand to help her get through.
of course, he's wearing some huge watch, and it sets off the machine. i'm pretty sure no jury would have convicted me.
i don't know what i would do without the soothing escape of my ipod.
June 23, 2007
the rock capital of the universe. also good milkshakes.
this afternoon i went out for lunch with my mom and sister to tommy's, a must-visit every time i go home. a little while after we sat down, five guys (dressed in mostly black, and a little too fasionably for cleveland heights) sat down at a table near us; obviously a band (the grog shop is down the street). i kind of wanted to go ask them who they were, but it would be kind of awkward if it were like the shins or arcade fire or some other band i hate.
so, when i got home, i checked the grog shop's page to see who was playing that night, and, well it was the stills, whom i just saw maybe one, two weeks ago? i would have gone to see them again, but i went to a movie instead.
June 25, 2007
the roller coaster capital of the universe. also weird milkshakes.
long-time readers may recall a certain entry from 2000. that infamous day has finally been avenged.
phil picked me up this morning, and we had a mostly eventless drive over to cedar point (wow, their slogan really is "the roller coaster capital of the world"). the highlight was riding next to a NS train for a few minutes.
we arrived at the stroke of 10 am, and recalling my years of doing disney as a child, i suggested we head for the back of the park. we made it about half way before we happened up a virtually line-less mantis. we rode it three times before a nearly five-minute wait forced us to move on to the mean streak. that area in the lower right is for queueing; note that it's empty.
we continued through the park, finally giving in a riding a couple with long lines so we could get them out of the way. my only regret was disaster transport; never again shall i ride it. i think phil might regret ordering a milkshake for lunch: they do it up right by topping it off with another four or five ounces of whipped cream. another moment in my life i wish we did our own webcomic.
with our coaster total hitting about 25 trips already, we decided to determine the age old question: which is the best seat for riding the magnum? a serious scientific query of this nature required a serious investigation, and we committed ourselves to the arduous task of riding in every row (all 18 of them!) before closing.
we had it down to an art form: before the loading area, the train stops for a minute until the next train is on its way. this is a great time to release your seatbelt, so that when the bar comes up you can jump out and lead everyone out and around to get on the next trip asap. it was a beautiful thing to witness.
unfortunately, it was about 9:59 and we had two rows left, so we decided to skip the 2nd last row and go in the waaaay back for our last trip of the night. and wouldn't you know it, my worst fear was finally realized: the train stopped on the way up.
fortunately riding 41 rollercoasters in one day is an excellent cure for acrophobia, and so i could sit back and enjoy an extra minute or two on the coaster. in the dark.
the verdict? the first row in the last car is definitely the way to go.
we found that the first row in any car had a really smooth ride, while the last row was really rough and would send you bouncing around a lot. this is pretty fun usually, when you have to wait 45+ minutes for each ride. but, when riding every five or ten minutes, your thighs will become all shades of blues and purples.
anyway, at $0.81 per ride (40% of the cost of riding the T!), it was certainly a decent value, too. although i guess technically i should count airfare to get back to ohio...
June 26, 2007
a close call
i stayed at phil's family's house last night, to save my mom a trip to the airport. that made this morning's run exciting. you see, phil suggested i take my phone in case i got lost. this was certainly a reasonable idea, but none of us anticipated that me sweating would cause all of the buttons to be all wonky. fortunately, turning it off for a couple of hours seems to have fixed it, and i won't have to get an iPhone after all. phew.
June 27, 2007
of salesmen
tonight i went with my friends phil and blizzard to see rush! it was in mansfield, and amazingly it took us twice as long as google thought for us to get there.
i suppose it must be said that i'm not much of fan of any of their new material.. you know, stuff after moving pictures. and that, oh, about 20% of their studio albums i own don't even have neil peart on drums. so, given that they played what felt like every song from their new album twice, it was not the best show i've seen. but hey at least it didn't rain!
June 28, 2007
a different experience
so, tonight was that wilco show. i was actually pretty excited to see low as well, and they did not disappoint. although i bet they were disappointed; there were only like 12 people there when they started up.
wilco was good too; while their guitarist is basically amazing, as long as they don't get too country, i've mellowed out enough to enjoy quite a bit of their stuff. however, i hadn't listened to any of their four or five albums before YHF, so i was a bit lost at times when their most ardent fans were at their most ecstatic. nonetheless, it was surely better than sitting home and watching the last dregs of rev. sorkin's studio city soil our airwaves for one final night.
June 29, 2007
not a day too soon
i am so glad it is finally friday. i am completely exhausted. and out of clean clothes. and food.
seven passed
five.mp3