Now I’ve looked in the mirror and the worlds getting clearer

By the time you read this, I'll be 32, happy birthday to me :)

Unfortunately its going to be during a work day, and even worse than that it will be on a 'meeting' day AND a product release day. So no lazy day for me. The challenge will be to find time to do my ritual listening to "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" straight through. Since its 90 minutes, that isn't very easy during a work day. I'll probably have to wait for Gavin to go to bed and listen while Pam watches 'Big Brother'. Or I'll camp out in an empty conference room and not tell anyone where I am.

We had visits from Gavin at 2am and 5am last night. He wasn't hard to put back in bed, I'm thinking he's just randomly waking up, and since he's up, he figures he should come to our room. At least he isn't going downstairs and setting off the alarm. At least not yet. I'm slowly getting accustomed to getting up earlier in the morning. I've never been an early bird, I much prefer staying up later. Gavin isn't giving me much of a choice these days though, so I'm adjusting.

Finally saw the Bourne Identity tonight, good flick. I'll be interested to see how they tie in the sequel. My neighbors invited me to a guy's afternoon out to see the 3rd one this weekend, so I need to catch up :)

Speaking of our neighbors, we had a block party over the weekend which went pretty well. We tried it in a row of back yards instead of the cul-de-sac for a change. It worked pretty well though lighting was an issue as the night went on, but we managed. The kids all had a great time grazing on junk food and running every which way. We had some friends in from out of town, and we also had M&K (w/ C&T) join us giving a nice sized contingent.

You know I'm tired when I'm congratulating myself on spelling 'contingent' correctly on the first try, go me.

On a random side note, I've been amazed at how much the latest Tori Amos and Charlotte Martin albums have been sticking with me. After months, they're still on my current favorite listening play list. Cardboard Ladders, The Dance, Redeemed, Digital Ghost, Secret Spell, Girl Disappearing, Dragon and Programmable Soda seem to be destined to be long time favorites of mine.

I know that no one took me up on my call to buy the "Playing the Angel" album by Depeche Mode (yes, I checked when I was over at your house, deal). But give those tracks a try.

And so as the clock is soon to toll midnight on another year of my survival, I shall sign off with this

And all we have is who we are
And where we been got us this far
So let me go

Would you say if I was wasting my time

OK, so there's going to be a "Sex and the City" movie. Why? I was a large fan of the series, but what possible movie could you make of it? The episodes were nice and bite sized, and considering they put everyone in a happy place at the end of the series, the launching point is going to be quite ridiculous. Notice that no one has made a Friends movie, there's a reason.

Speaking of Friends, we've started watching the old episodes on DVD again. I still find them quite amusing after all these years, even some of the crappy episodes in season 3 are better than some stuff out there. I know a lot of people focused on Jennifer Aniston, but Courtney Cox & Matthew Perry were really the heart of the show, and the work they've done outside of the show shows that (Dirt is awesome, and I loved Perry in Studio 60).

Gavin has started coming in to visit us when he wakes up in the morning. Its all nice and cute, but at some point in time I'm going to want that half hour of sleep back. Especially with the week of work I've had where I've been going in early and working late.

I've also started planning a new computer purchase. I've had my current one for 3 years now and its getting to the point where I should hand it off to Pam and get a new one. Pam gets the hand me downs because she primarily uses it for email, reading big brother blogs, and occasionally playing The Sims. I'm looking forward to handing it down as much to reduce the noise in the room (her current one is LOUD) as much as getting a shiny new toy. However putting together the pieces for a new box is much more complicated these days, 3 years ago I had 3 choices of motherboard chipsets. For those non computer people, its the big circuit board in your computer where all your components plug into. Now there are like 9. Plus the options of computer cases, they're just now and explosion of different brands and types. Do I use water cooling, or conventional fans? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Researching all this to get it right borders on obsession, but thats because I want my computers to last 6 years (3 for me, 3 for Pam). So far I've been pretty successful. Amusingly, each time I do this, I end up with a price tag of $1,100 - $1,200. Its looking like it will be the same this time.

Why do I build my own instead of getting something from Dell? Dell appears cheap, but you do make tradeoffs. They might give you a good graphics card but you'll get a crappy motherboard. You can upgrade a graphics card, upgrading a motherboard that's made specifically for a Dell box can be a major pain. IBM, Dell, Micron all seem to skimp on the motherboard, networking, & I/O, and those are the heart of a machine. Now if you're like my wife, you'll never notice. But for someone like me who pretty much abuses any piece of hardware put in front of him, quality components are a must. Usually I can put together a box that gets close to the price of a Dell but your components will be better quality. And with quality your box can last quite a while, Pam's box is 6 years old, but beyond the noise by the fans it still works great for what she needs. And upgrade for her just means she'll be able to play the Sims at a higher resolution :)

So I'm waiting to see if the rumor of a processor price drop happens in July and I'll do the buy. At which point I won't have to think about this stuff for another 3 years.

Tired of the computer talk yet? I bet you're wishing I would start taking about Genesis again right about now :)

Need more water if this gets much hotter

OK, so I've been slacking in my blogging. It isn't that I haven't had anything to write about, its just after work, playing with the kid, and entertaining the wife its hard to get the drive to do this. However I do feel slightly guilty since A & P are in England and don't get to hear much of what's going on with us, so I will try to do better.

Anyway.....

Gavin's entering the phase of development known as the 'fish stage'. Kids these days have a huge advantage since they sell float vests now. Gavin's taking full advantage of it and doggy paddling away. At his age I was doing constructive drowning. Thankfully he doesn't seem to have any fear of going underwater anymore in the pool. However he still refuses to dunk his head in the tub, go figure. Thank god for the pool, something for him to do in this summer heat that he loves and tires him out for a good nap :) I don't know how

People are loving his new haircut, its weird seeing him without the curls though. Its like its changed him from a toddler to a little boy.

On another note, I did get those Genesis surround sound DVDs, and they are incredible. Its like I'm hearing the albums for the first time. The use of the surround speakers really lets the subtle parts come out. There are parts of the music I'd never heard before and I've been listening to these albums for over a decade. Surprisingly, Gavin enjoys them as well. He likes running to the individual speakers and listening to what's coming out of them and usually saying 'cool!'. The cutest thing was when he grabbed the speaker and started singing into it like a microphone during "Behind the Lines". The Duke album is our current favorite though Trick of the Tail comes a close second. When I have him to myself on Tuesday nights, we usually end the night with "Duke's Travels" before going to bed. Corrupt them early...

My fencing hobby is going quite well, I've found that the Epee is really clicking for me (for those of you who don't know what an Epee is, just ask next time your over, its really quite clear when you hold one the difference between that and a foil, you just can't explain it in text). However, one should never ignore the basics so I had our instructor give me a foil lesson the other day since I wasn't feeling quite right with that weapon anymore. I make a point of mentioning this lesson because I did almost all of it (30 mins) blindfolded. Yes, you read right. We had a rough start as he would thump my opponent's chest to let me know where to point my weapon, and I had to explain to him that being deaf in one year, I can't tell the direction of sound. However we got that worked out and down to business. Now, he didn't blindfold me to have me access my latent Jedi skills (would have been cool though), the whole point is to develop the tactile sensation of your opponent's blade on yours. If its coming straight down the blade you want to one type of parry, if it leaves, you'll do something else. Its MUCH harder than it sounds. It does give you another way of anticipating an opponent though, not just by sight, but by feel as well. Cool stuff. There is a tournament coming up, I missed the last one because Gavin was just born, I might try this one though for the hell of it. Honestly just for the hell of it, the tourney will be Foil. I'm decent at it, but I stand almost no chance in winning unless I'm having a REALLY good day.

Well that was enough material for 3 separate posts condensed into one single random one, I really do need to post more.....

The hurt doesnt show; but the pain still grows

OK, so the last ceiling fan is up, finally. Though no attic work as I was replacing the crappy contractor fan, it was still a pain. Ironically, this was the one I really needed a 2nd person for, and yet this one I do by myself. For those who have not seen our bedroom, it has a vaulted ceiling, and the fan is on a slant. Which meant I was really high up on a ladder trying to bring a heavy fan down (held in one arm while I quickly unscrewed wire caps), and putting a heavier one up.

Of course in the middle of trying to take the fan down piece by piece, there is an emergency at work (by the way, 29 releases on the same day is NOT going to go well, no matter what testing says). So I hastily attempt to reassemble it and get on the problem. Only to find that I've completely unbalanced it and the light isn't working now. After taking care of the problem, I was left with the fact that while I had attempted aborting this task today, I now have no choice but to proceed. Fearing another call from work, I said screw taking it down piece by piece and just brought the whole thing down as described above in parenthesis, which you probably skipped reading.

With only one false start after that however (one must put the coverings over the wires and drop rod BEFORE one wires it up), we had success. You'd think that after hanging 3 of them so far, THIS one would go smoothly. Well you'd think unless you knew me, then you'd just expect the opposite.

On the Gavin front, we stole the toddler bed from Pam's parents and put it in his room to get him used to it before moving him to it. Gavin had none of that however and immediately wanted to take a nap in it. Probably the first (and last) time he has been eager to take a nap. 2 nights later he probably doesn't realize he still has a crib. Though this sudden transition was unexpected, it was far from unwelcome. Though I had to instruct him not to bounce in this bed, though in return, he may bounce in Mommy & Daddy's bed (this is true). Frankly, our bed is pretty big and Gavin probably won't fall off of it. When I was growing up I always resented the no bounce rule, so I feel I should give him something. Sort of a very delayed rebellion.

However he's taken this to the next level apparently as today he was showing off for C by jumping from the bed to the floor. I greatly admired his technique, distance, and the fact he did NOT take a step on the landing. Then I put him in the corner and told him never to do it again. So if he's anything like me, my grandkids will be jumping from the bed to a specially made floor. That's progress.

And yes, I do realize that the song referenced for this is puny due to the subject matter, and all I can say is no one is perfect, and puns run in the family, so its not COMPLETELY my fault.

Crazy skies all wild above me now

I'll make you google that title to understand it, I'm in that kind of mood.

Anyway, we're back from our vacation, hence the lack of posting. To be quite honest we've been back close to 2 weeks now, I've just been very lazy. That and the fact that apparently I can't leave work for a week without things going nuts.

But first off, the cruise. It was fun, food was good, but I have discovered some rules.

1) Always leave yourself 2 hours after your excursion to make it back to the ship
2) Always assume your excursion will come back 2 hours later than stated
3) 30 SPF does nothing for you while snorkeling
4) It especially does nothing for you when you do your second snorkeling dive.
5) Only do one excursion a day
6) The cruise ship knows nothing about the excursions its selling you, especially about things like how long it takes to get there, and how long the event actually is.
7) Use my wife to book all your excursions (pam@pmmtravel.com)
8) The entertainment staff love their jobs, I mean REALLY love their jobs, or they are REALLY high.
9) Tenders suck, if you can, book a trip with the least amount of tenders to go ashore as possible.
10) If you go into the shops in multiple ports, you are not crazy, they are actually selling the same stuff with different names for the most part.
11) Fresh pineapple is much better.
12) If you're going to pay extra for the fancy dinner, don't eat. At all, I mean the whole trip up to that point.
13) Go to the piano bar early, as the night goes on the guests will start buying the player shots. He'll still do good, but after 3 shots, there is a limit to how good.
14) Towel animals are cute for about 5 minutes, then they're just in the way.

Those rules aside, the cruise was quite nice. I even got to play some volleyball, which I miss. However you can't play volleyball for any community area unless you have a team. Getting 6 people is hard. Especially since you should have 8 in case someone doesn't show.

If you get the chance to do a dolphin encounter, I highly recommend it. It was a lot of fun, and hey, dolphins are cool. Pam enjoyed the stingrays which I don't understand at all, frankly I'm not wild about being in the water with an animal with the word 'string' in the name. Bad things are bound to happen.

Its late, so I'll stop there for now and catch up on other stuff later on.

Can you tell me where my country lies?

said the unifaun to his true love's eyes.
"It lies with me!" cried the Queen of Maybe
- for her merchandise, he traded in his prize.

"Paper late!" cried a voice in the crowd.
"Old man dies!" The note he left was signed 'Old Father Thames'
- it seems he's drowned;
selling england by the pound.

Sorry, I can't start that lyric without singing the whole thing in my head, so I might as well write it down. In fact, those lyrics are probably a major catalyst in my love of music. I can still remember sitting on the couch listening to my new tape on my parent's stereo. On the start of this day I didn't know that Peter Gabriel had also been a lead singer of Genesis. I had been listening religiously to Invisible Touch, and with my meager funds I had picked up a second album based on the interesting picture on the cover. Those lyrics opened the album, and turned me from a Genesis fan into a fanatic.

I bring this up for a reason. Those who know me know that I am the cheap Scotsman. My wife constantly teases me about my hesitation about buying anything over $50. I've put off my new computer purchase for months (and more months to come), and I haven't picked up a new game since 2006.

However, even though I own all the albums, and 2 box sets, I will not hesitate on June 12th in heading over to Best Buy and slapping down over $200 the new Genesis 1976-1982 surround sound mix box set.
Reviewed at http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/musicreviews/2285/genesis-in-surround.html

The fact the reviews of the surround sound mix were very good was the final nail in the coffin.

For all my frugality, I do have very little willpower when it comes to hardback books and music. Especially for my favorite bands.

Now, there's something I want to point out about my favorite top 3 bands vs what is out there today.
Between 1974-2007 Rush had 17 albums
Between 1990-2007 Tori Amos had 9 albums
Between 1969-1997 Genesis had 16 albums

That averages to an album (I didn't count live albums) under every 2 years. If you look at the early years of Rush & Genesis you'll see sometimes they did an album every year, or twice a year. Compare that with today where new artists won't see their second album until after 2 years, usually 3. You have to wonder if the ability to continuously craft your music back then really helped these bands grow. They could gradually evolve their sound over time. In fact, if you listen to the albums from their beginning days to current day you can see the connections. As opposed to today where an artist's second albums is usually a glaring contrast to their first.

With today's technology, you'd think producing more music more often would be easier. However the industry seems to want to space these things out, and I think its a reason people are dissatisfied with the recording studios in general. They seem to want to gamble on each release being a huge hit instead of growing an artist. Especially with their love of the 'single'.

While I despair over the possibility of the potential loss of the album in today's digital age, I hope it means that artists get to push their work out more often, and get better at honing their craft.

The cleanest I've been

Well, after over 3 years of faithful service, our faithful companion started showing signs of its age. Stuttering, stumbling, and falling. I am speaking of that most reliable of servants, our Tivo. For all our research, we found only one way to save it. Wipe it clean and start over. All the favorites, preferences, and knowledge its accumulated throughout the year, all gone. No longer will it find episodes of "Family Guy"wherever it may show and bring it to me. At least, not for a while.

Its amusing that after a certain amount of time our computers and computer like devices need to be cleared out and restarted. Even in a virtual world, we can't clean up after ourselves.

Driven up and down in circles

So I spoiled my son a bit and bought him a little three-wheeled scooter. We fitted him with a helmet (which he will slap while on his head going "knock-knock"), and pads and turned him loose on the streets. And by streets, I mean my driveway and the adjoining sidewalk. He's getting off to a decent start though sometimes he will end up kicking the wheel by accident. We definitely need to keep the knee pads up as he's already scraping them up.

I mention the padding because with that padding came some fingerless gloves that we did not put him in. However he discovered the gloves and insisted on wearing on them. At this point he went around stating "Gavin Cooking!".

Speaking of driving, gas prices have gone up again. This of course leads to my chortling at SUVs, and reading in the paper about how catastrophic it is. This irritates me. Not the chortling, I quite enjoy that. Here's the deal, the U.S. can handle $3 dollars a gallon. SUVs are still selling quite well, and while hybrids are well publicized, they're still a drop in the bucket in production. The economy will adjust. And don't get me started on that one day boycott of gas. You'll just buy it the next day, you know, I know it, they know it, stop kidding yourself. Useless public gestures just irritate me. Its just for people going "Look at me! Look at me!".

I'll give you a second to see the irony of that last statement.

Back to Gavin, he walked his first dog today. Well, he started walking the dog, it ended up with the dog walking him. He never let go of the leash though, he was determined to get it done. It was quite adorable.

We can act like we come from out of this world

Gavin and I have a secret, when mommy's away, we dance. Though his version of dancing usually evolves into spinning, it still looks a lot better than mine. Hence we do it while mommy is gone. Otherwise there will never be a brother or sister for Gavin (not that we're currently trying, but still). It is just that bad, but we have fun. However I need to make sure not to choose "Steam" by Peter Gabriel since its so long, dancing around with a 2 year old can take its toll.

Speaking of music I had a great day on May 1st. Having a new Tori Amos, Chantal Kreviazuk, and Rush album come out on the same day is almost too much. But not quite. Now I was a little worried about the new Rush album. Their last album, Vapor Trails, was not one of my favorites. However, I am pleased to say their new outing is quite good. In fact, all of them are very well done. My current favorite is Tori's new outing, she can fully pack a 74 minute CD with no fluff again and again.

On a very bad segue, what the hell was up with this season's Amazing Race? For an "all-star" season all the legs were poorly planned, and generally very weak. The worst was the season finale where all the teams went through multiple tough tasks, only to have that not matter because everyone was going to be on the same flight anyway. You'd think they would have learned from the season Chip & Kim won after doing terribly on all the tasks leading up to the final flight. Here's a hint, on the final leg, do the flight, THEN do all the tasks.

Bull in a China Shop

So we were on our walk on Sunday, for the first time we went sans stroller. Gavin was doing pretty well and we stopped by the park at the top of the hill for some serious sliding. To our dismay, we found that someone had been there recently, with some spray paint.

Now, realistically the slides still work, but its just irritating. If people want to paint so bad, I have some rooms in my house you can work on. I can understand being bored, but what situation are you in where your thought process goes to paint and a toddler's playground?

On a happier note, this year's hockey playoffs have not disappointed. Its been high-energy, close games most of the way through. There's even been some double overtimes. And if there's anything I like better than playoff hockey, its overtime playoff hockey. I'm watching San Jose vs. Detriot now, and San Jose just took the lead. Which is a good thing. People who know me know I'm not the largest fan of San Jose, but I absolutely hate the Detriot Red Wings. No sport can truly be enjoyed if you don't have an enemy, and Detroit & New Jersey are mine. No offense to the cities of course, all I have to say is I'm a Blues & Penguins fan and they'll understand :)

Its been about 2 months since Pam stopped working. All in all I think its been a good thing, Gavin is happier, Pam is happier (though still very busy), and so I'm happier. Gavin's conversation skills have also jumped dramatically since she's started staying at home. Plus it means I get Gavin blowing kisses out the window at me when I leave for work, and who doesn't want that?

Now, to be clear, I don't have any problems with my wife working. I'm not quite that old fashioned. However her last job was such soul-sucking hell (my words, not hers), life is just better because of it. Frankly I'd like it better if she got a nice worthwhile high paying job so I could stay home instead. I'd make a good stay at home Dad. Except for the cooking. Pam doesn't cook because we're an old fashioned family, she cooks for the sake of her health and taste buds. You should never, EVER give me spices without explicit instructions. I'll take something that just needs a pinch for 2 gallons of food, and slather it over everything. Its just the way I think. I can follow a recipe, but don't ask me to be creative. Your stomach will not thank you.

Like an angel with clip-on wings

Well the rains have finally stopped for now, and we actually have some warm weather again. This leads to the yearly awakening of my cul-de-sac. Its amazing how for months we don't see our neighbors, but as soon as it gets warm again we pick up where we left off. And yes, I realize I mangled that last sentence structure. Hockey playoffs are on (AWSOME SAVE! Vancouver vs Dallas 3rd period 10:04 left), so I'm slightly distracted. Deal.

Anyway, where was I...cul-de-sac, neighbors like hibernating bears, got it. The real nice thing about living in a cul-de-sac is its a natural place for kids to play and neighbors to meet. Gavin is finally old enough to actually interact a bit with the other kids. He especially enjoys the trampoline. Its one of those large ones with the mesh cage, which makes it safe for bouncing toddlers. Gavin's balance has improved greatly as he can actually keep his feet and keep bouncing in the ripples the other kids cause. He's learning to time his own bouncing to take advantage of the the bigger kids springs. His major accomplishment came today as he managed to launch himself from one end of the trampoline to the other (about 10 feet). As he went through the air he shouted with a grin, "I FLY!". The look on his face was so precious, I couldn't stop laughing.

We have had the good luck to have a very good set of neighbors. They're all friendly, good people. Though if you're an outsider speeding through the neighborhood, you wouldn't guess that the two enforcers in your face are actually sweet people (that poor pizza guy :) ). Our neighbors are a big reason we stayed in our house after the 2nd break in.

J.T.'s son has just gotten old enough to be introduced to the lawn mower, and he's currently "in training". Now as a rule I mow my own lawn since I don't like paying professionals what I can easily do myself. However, I have always been a fan of supporting the work of an neighborhood kid (since I used to do that myself). So I look forward to hiring him to mow my lawn. J.T. and I have realized that with the distribution of ages of kids in our cul-de-sac, we'll soon be set mowing wise for years to come. I believe lounging on lawn chairs and drinks were mentioned...

As an ending note, some tips on interacting with my cul-de-sac
1) People walking by are invited to say hi and introduce themselves. We don't bite, not even the kids.
2) Do not drive and circle the cul-de-sac then leave, that irritates us.
3) Don't do it fast, that infuriates us.
4) We do NOT have an entrance to Vago Park. Go to Dorsett & Fee Fee and head north. There will be a turn to your right a couple blocks down the road.
5) For those soliciting, beware the attack neighbor.

Breaking out through the silence

We've reached the point where Gavin is starting talking in sentences, small sentences, but sentences nonetheless. Which means that conversations are beginning to happen, and more of his personality begins to emerge. My favorite conversation lately was...

Gavin: C'mon daddy, floor

Me: Daddy needs to go upstairs

Gavin: Daddy, floor please

Me: Daddy needs to order pizza

Gavin: Bye bye daddy!

Me: I'm not leaving, I'm ordering pizza

Gavin: Pizza! Bye bye daddy! Pizza!

As you can guess, my son likes his pizza, even more than playing with me apparently. I don't blame him, I like pizza better than playing with me too. Wait, that came out wrong...

Anyway...

The singing has also begun, his new one is "Happy Day", the single will be released next year, or whenever he adds more than two words to the song, whatever comes first.

Nonetheless, the meeting of the minds has begun (and with me, not so far to go). However, with all my powers of communication with the young ones, I will never master the mental telepathy that goes on between toddlers. So many times I've watched Gavin and another child exchange a look, and suddenly they laugh, or go in the same direction, or play a game. Even with strangers, he can make that connection. It seems a shame that as he improves his speech, he'll lose that. But the conversations that I get to hear between them are funny enough to be worth it.

My favorite was a conversation between him and C discussing if a light was off, or if it was broke. Note I said discuss, they never once raised their voices. They just simply discussed it for 10 minutes. What can beat that?

The first cut is the deepest

Those that know me are aware that I have always been adverse to paying someone else to do something I can do myself. Whether it be mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, installing ceiling fans (hey, I didn't say I did it FAST, just that I could do it), etc. However, I am seriously thinking of putting that on hold for the month of April when it comes to mowing the lawn.

Every year its the same, the first warmth comes in with a host of rain, which makes the grass grow at an alarming rate. But yet the rain still comes, which leads me to take that one time it is not raining, and get out there and mow. Note that I didn't say the ground was still dry. Which means I'm out there restarting the clogged mower every couple of minutes, and bagging ever swath or so. It didn't help that for the first mow I had my father chuckling at me through the back porch window. Those of you who believe parents should be supportive in every situation should stay away from my family. They've had their knocks and they're enjoying watching others go through the same pain.

Not that I'm much different....

Nonetheless, just did the second mow and its still freaking wet. So I'd like to pay someone to mow my lawn for April next year. But you can't do that, you have to sign up for the whole year. So I'll be out there next April swearing loudly at the lawn mower. Only 11 more years until Gavin can mow, hee hee.

Now I could stop there, but I haven't thought up a lyric for the title yet. That's what I think is the main thing that slows me down in posting. Because I'm so freaking perfectionist about it. But I started this post about MOWING THE LAWN. Last I checked, there wasn't much music written with that in mind, so I have to either 1) Make the start of this post lead into a greater point, or 2) Do something abstract.

I could go ironic with something from Heavenly Day by Patty Griffin for humor effect, but that doesn't work when I've already shown I'm having problems with the title. Its too much of a cop out. Of course, there is a line, "Tomorrow may rain with sorrow" which works nicely but then you google the title of the song and go what the hell? All the other titles not only work as lyrics, but as the song titles themselves somewhat.

And yes, I am stalling, I can run through lyrics in my head while I type, I've very weird like that. Multitasking is a normal operation for me, which usually drives my wife a little crazy as I'm sometimes doing work while watching Lost with her. And by the way, I just got it. But you knew that since its now there at the top of the post.

So that leads to the question, did I know the title all along and just rambled for the hell of it, or to mess with your mind a bit? The time of the post should answer that question.

Colour Moving And Still

A quick note, my in-laws have recently gone out of the country for close to a year. Since we won't have too much contact, so I'm feeling a bit pressured to update this blog a little more than I do currently so they know what the heck is going on here. Maybe more posts will make them smaller for once?

Gavin's Year 2 DVD is shipped! For those of you who don't know, I take all the pictures and movies that I've taken from birthday to birthday and compile a 25 min or so movie. I pop on some of the cute full movie clips that I've taken, and I ship them out to the friends and family who care about this sort of thing.

For 25 minutes worth of material, it is a freaking lot of work. Every image needs to have its moving crops set, I have to go through hours of video to find 10-15 second segments to use, and I have to score it. OK, lets be honest, you know and I know I love the scoring part, but it is still quite a bit of work.

To top it off, apparently something happened with the WMV movie file codec or something because the movie I did for Year 1 is now stuttering. That annoyed me, so I went back and using this new tool I bought, I redid the whole thing.

Speaking of tools, I used Microsoft's Photo Story 3 last year, which works pretty good for those of you who want to automate most of this. It takes up to 300 pictures, automatically sets moving crops, and allows you to add a soundtrack. However, as much as a helping hand it was, it didn't really do as nice as job as I would have liked. So I picked up the Sony Vegas studio this year, and while it doesn't automate the stuff for you, it does allow you to do some really nice things. Its weird when you view something you did just a year ago, and were proud of, and want to just rip it apart. Progress is like that. At least I got it finished on time this year.

I'm beginning to believe Gavin is invincible. He seems to be able to bounce off of ANYTHING. Falling off of things seems to be his new favorite sport. Whether it be his bike, the couch, our bed, etc, he eventually will purposely fall off and giggle the whole time.

I wish I could do that :)

I have my little pleasures, this wall being one of these

To put it plainly, the last couple of months at work have been rough, I won't go into details (see first blog post), but its been a tiring time. There is light at the end of the tunnel, just need to make it a couple more weeks.

When times get tough, there are certain things that I usually turn too:
Tori Amos (who the title quote is attributed to). Her music usually isn't what you'd expect to pick someone up, but I just find listening to artistry very soothing and energizing. If Scarlet's Walk isn't in your collection, it should be.

Cuddling with my wife while Gavin is playing. I highly recommend it as good therapy, but get your own wife and kid, I don't share.

Daily Show / Colbert Report - You need to laugh.

Playing with my video editing tools - I accomplish SOMETHING, and it looks neat, at least I think so.

Fencing - Swords are fun.

Speaking of which, I had an 'old' moment when I was wearing my Tori Amos t-shirt at fencing, and one of the 14 year old girls asked "Who's that?". I mean, she's still making albums, touring and selling out concerts. So what the hell? I shouldn't be having these moments for another decade or so...

As I'm growing older I also notice that I do other fun things less, video games, playing hockey (not at all lately), and going to movies. Part of growing up (somewhat) I guess.

As a closing thought, hockey playoffs are coming soon. You should watch, there is no sport on earth like playoff hockey. For those like me in St. Louis who do not have a team going to the playoffs, I urge you to cheer for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They are an incredibly fun team to watch, and you can count on the fact that as soon as the playoffs start, I'll be watching them any way I can. Go Pens!

Driving away from the wreck of the day

A couple of random thoughts, as if I ever put anything else up here

1) I'm very tired, losing people on your team sucks. Especially when you've got to pick up the slack. I can do the work of two people (seriously), but 3 or 4 starts to get on me. While my multitasking skills have increased (I honestly have a project up on each monitor and I work on the one which is not building or running tests, and sometimes another project in the background). It gets a little harried. Also, today I was interrupted so much it took me 4 hours to do a 15 minute piece of code. To be honest, I don't mind the interruptions that much because its part of my job, and I like helping my developers. And frankly, I'm supposed to be doing less project coding and do more long term stuff. But STILL, I think about taking a day off just to get work done. If I could find ANYONE decent I'd bring them in, but after 2 months, still no one.

2) Gavin just rocks. For some reason he has not inherited the tantrum side of my family (yet). His temper tantrums last about a minute and a half. The kids in my family would be good for 3 hours. Because if we wanted something, damnit, we were going to fight for it. Not sure if this is a good thing for Gavin long term, but I appreciate it for now. That and now that he has "Thank You" firmly under his belt he's charming people left and right. And let's be honest, parents love it when their kid can charm people. We pretend it has something to do with us.

3) The Pittsburgh Penguins are the best puck movers in the NHL. Watching those games is like watching art being created. If they fix those defensive breakdowns, they're going far in the playoffs. Watch a game on Versus if you get a chance.

4) I seriously am going to shoot the next person/columnist/pundit that complains about CEO salaries and golden parachutes. I'll use dull bullets for people who say they should give the money back to the company. If you got offered that much money, and money for being fired, would you take it? Of course you would. You wouldn't say that's immoral or anything, you'd take the money and skip all the way to the bank. Do they deserve it? It doesn't matter! Someone offered it, someone took it. Its not like these CEOs held guns to these guys' heads. Do I think they're ridiculous sums of mone?. Hell yes, but that's the fault of the board, not the CEO. Business isn't charity, its business. We're all here to make as much money as we can and then retire and drink lots of cherry cokes (or your beverage of choice). If you are a stockholder in one of these companies, complain to the board, don't take it out on the CEO. Lucky bastards that they are.

5) I can't do short posts, I've tried, but I can't. Perhaps if I posted more regularly, but see item #1.

6) Go see Casino Royale. Now.

7) Some music awards (some of these are 2005 albums I found in 2006, deal).
Best Music: Charlotte Martin - Stromata.
Best Lyrics: Anna Nalick - Wreck of the Day
Best New Discovery (for me): David Gray
Biggest Surprise (Good) : Elton John - The Captain And The Kid
Biggest Surprise (Bad): Barnaked Ladies - Barenaked Ladies Are Me
Best Complete Album: Depeche Mode - Playing The Angel.
Worst Complete Album: The Killers - Sam's Town
Best Guilty Pleasure: Erasure - Nightbird

And seriously, why don't you own the good albums on that list yet?

8) When Genesis tickets go on sale in the U.S., I'd appreciate if you'd wait until I make my purchase before you buy. I'll post and let you know when I'm good.

9) Save for retirement/kid's college early. I'd like to personally thank the 23 year old version of myself who started that investment. I was pretty nervous about doing it back then, and I'd like to let him know that everything is OK. When you can actually start seeing pieces of your retirement falling into place, its a good thing. Even if you're 31 and not planning to stop working anytime soon.

10) Why in the age of multiple LCD monitors, does Dell not have a docking station for their laptops with 2 DVI outputs? VGA output to a LCD monitor just doesn't look good.

11) My first viewing of American Idol yesterday (seriously, I don't watch it) while Gavin was having playtime at a neighbors makes me wonder what is so good about waiting in line forever to get embarrassed on national TV? Is being on TV THAT good? WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY? If you're famous you can't get away with anything, I like to have the option to get away with things. Therefore I have no desire to be famous. I think this is a rational opinion. However in the democracy of ideas, apparently I am wrong. What shocks me is that people don't KNOW how bad they are, and that Simon doesn't rip into these guys more after all the bad auditions amazes me. Listen, there is this thing called a tape recorder. Sing into it, now play it back. If you need to, play any published artist. Compare the two. It should be pretty damn apparent. Now, way back when, I had a good voice. In my little pond, I was pretty good. However, not even then, immature as I was, would I think for a SECOND that I could succeed on this show. This is why Amazing Race is the closest I get to reality TV.

12) (wow, 12? WTF?) My wife's computer is loud, I am very tired (see #1), I'm going to bed.

All I Want Is A Couple Days Off

Well this is my last day of work for the calendar year, and by all rights I should have left by now. It can be bloody inconvenient to be a professional, grumble. The fact that MS windows seems to take forever to determine if a network directory exists or not is just one of my delays today.

I've fallen way behind in album reviews, simply because its freaking hard to do. Describing an album isn't so bad, but trying to write something for each track can be tricky. I usually end up deleting most of what I write simply because it gets too much. People just aren't interested in phrase by phrase analysis of a track, so I try to give the feel in a sentence or two. Which in some cases just seems so shallow. Nonetheless, I shall soldier on. It seems SOME people are reading this from time to time (though I haven't been as good with the updates).

So what to do this holiday break? Usually when I have a vacation I end up painting a room, which is a possibility. Or if the weather seems nice I might finally get around to replacing all the outside lights since the bulbs have burnt out, and replacing them is a pain. I seriously want to know who thought putting a small screwdriver into a black hole on black paint and completely taking the damn thing apart just to change the bulb was a good idea. Add to the fact that bugs do seem to wiggle in there through small cracks, then die, then their guts rust out said post. We're going with an open bottom. Appologies for all those who walked up to my porch after the ice storm in the dark. I wasn't being inconsiderate, the lights just don't work.

But frankly, the first thing I'm going to do is sleep, and lots of it :)

Stromata

Charlotte Martin - Stromata

For those of you not acquainted with Charlotte Martin, I highly recommend you start listening to her stuff. She is not your typical artist that you hear on the airwaves. Her previous official album release On Your Shore has been a favorite album of mine for a while, and I've eaten up her intermediate EP releases on the way.

This album marks a departure, as it is more rhythmic whereas her last album was very melodic. A risky move as albums of that nature tend to fall flat after the first song or two. I can happily tell you this is not the case here.

The album never bores you or gets trapped in one sound, at time you don't feel like you are listening to a pop album as you are a piece of art. An additional note, the mixing on this is superb, those of you with good sound systems will get a extra bonus as the songs sound incredible on a good system.

The songs:
Stromata - The opening defines the album very well, there multiple rhythms and harmonies intertwining here giving the impression of chaos, yet holds together very well.
Rating: 4

Cut The Cord - Continuing with the rhythmic theme, this percussive piece has a Stomp feel to it with the drums. Minimal instrumentation, mostly drums and voice, but it works very well.
Rating: 4

Drip - Very appropriately named as the piano and synth create a very fluid watery sound. Like the music the vocals just continuously flow through the versus until it hits the chorus. You might have problems singing along, but you'll definitely enjoy the listen.
Rating: 4

Little Universe - A quick rhythm chant piece, very minimalist.
Rating: 3

Civilized - High tempo, angry sounding track. Heavy piano driving the beat. Very metered vocals.
Rating: 3

A Hopeless Attempt - The toy piano sound gives a innocent, yet sorrowful sound to this track. A sweet, beautiful piece.
Rating: 3

Four Walls - This actually appeared first on her Veins EP. Very driving rhythm that catches you and keeps hold for the whole song. Expect to hear this one on the radio at some point in time. My son likes to dance to this song :)
Rating: 4

Inch - Leaves the rhythmic pieces for a flowing, reflective, melodic piece. Fans of her first album will feel right at home with this one.
Rating: 3

Keep Me In Your Pocket - Snappy piece with dueling vocals and plucky piano which has a nice charming effect.
Rating: 3

Pills - Fun little novelty piece about......Pills. Mostly piano with other instrumental effects at times.
Rating: 3

Just Before Dawn - A surprising operatic track, this acts as kind of a palette cleanser before hitting the bottom of the record. You probably won't listen to this song on its own, but as part of the album it does its job very well. You can be impressed with how well she sings this.
Rating: 3

Cardboard Ladders - A completely melodic piece that has a haunting, echoing feel to it. Its just simply beautiful. The last 2 1/2 mins will really hit you.
Rating: 5

The Dance - The culmination of the rhythmic feel of this whole album. Full of imagery with a simple yet perfectly crafted melody with builds up to a great climax.
Rating: 5

Redeemed - If you need to expose Charlotte Martin to someone, this is the song to use. It perfectly blends the rhythmic & melodic areas of past in present into a beautiful piece that has an incredibly full sound even though there are a minimum of instruments. The vocals & backing on this piece are perfect. If I could improve one place, it would be adding more of an explosion in the drums in the bridge section. But otherwise, this is almost the perfect song.
Rating: 5

Though some people might read this review and cherry pick the 5's from iTunes, I HIGHLY recommend buying the whole album. Its pieced together so well that it deserves to be listened to as a whole. Everything just builds up to the ending 3 songs that wrap up the album so perfectly. Buy this album today, and make sure to pick up copies for your friends.

Album Rating: 4

Sam's Town

Sam's Town - The Killers

I never like it when reviewers spend the whole time comparing an album to the previous and base their review on that, so I'll be looking at this as a fresh album. By the way, that isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. I will make some comparisons, but I'll save them until the end.

It seems the goal of this album was to create a more gritty sound in the way of rock albums from the 80's. Vocals are very loose, especially the backing on some songs. Surprisingly, the album has sort of a broadway musical type feel to it at times. Over all it feels very gray and rough.

By the way, when I mean loose vocals its when the singer's voice doesn't stay tight on a note, but breaks and wavers very noticably. In this album it isn't because the singer is not very good, but because he's doing it on purpose to create a type of sound.

Loose backing vocals means that the backing vocals aren't in sync exactly with the lead (and will do some wavering as well). A chorus type sound.

The songs:
Sam's Town - The opener definatly has that sort of musical feel to it as mentioned above, then transitions into a more synth pop briefly then enters a standard rock pattern then back and forth. It ends with that musical type feel again with the entrance of the first loose backing chorus vocals which will be a theme in future tracks.

The song's structure is not predictable, and is pretty creative, which are things I like.
Rating: 4

Enterlude - Quick musical number to enter into the body of the album. A good solid melody.
Rating: 4

When You Were Young - I guess this would be considered the 2nd opener, however it isn't nearly as strong. Some reviewers have stated that this album tries to recreate Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run, which has slight merit, but is a grevious overstatement. This song is why. While somewhat catchy, it does seem like a carbon copy of that sound, and it just doesn't work today.
Rating: 3

Bling (Confession of a King) - A synth pop/rock piece who's vocals are tight in the beginning, yet become very loose with a desperate sound in the chorus then stay loose from that point on. It tries to have a driving rythym but doesn't succeed. It tries to emote, but falls short of drawing the listener in. This track becomes forgettable quickly with its almost monotone sound.
Rating: 2

For Reasons Unknown - Starts off with a classic sounding guitar rock riff which leads the listener to expect an explosion that never happens. It stays true to a classic rock sound, yet brings nothing to distinguish itself.
Rating: 2

Read My Mind - A mix of 80's synth pop with that Born To Run sound. The vocals are overly loose on here to the point of being slightly annoying. If he tightened control over his voice here this song probably wouldn't be too bad. Except again, this seems like something we've heard before. The entry to each chorus and the bridge are actually pretty good, I wish the rest of the song lived up to those pieces of potential.
Rating: 2

Uncle Jonny - Solid bass rock line driving the song. The loose vocals actually WORK in this song. A solid rock song.
Rating: 3

Bones - This is a really fun poppish song that I real like. It has a mix of classic pop and ska. Unlike previous tracks this one is pretty exiting and you'll probably ending up tapping your foot along with it.
Rating: 4

My List - This song feels like its in a musical sung by a bunch of upset people in a bar. Not saying that's bad, but that's the image that comes to mind. This tune actually sticks with you.
Rating: 3

The River Is Wild - Another Born To Run sounding piece, however this actually improves on the sound and brings something new to the table. While it feels familiar, its pretty exciting and fun to listen to. The verses are very quick paced and you'll find yourself dancing along with them.
Rating: 3

Why Do I Keep Counting - Currently my favorite track on the album. This definatly feels like it belongs in a musical somewhere. The vocals are suddenly tight again, and it really helps make this track shine. The loose chorus
Rating: 4

Exitlude - Repeat of the enterlude theme, but fleshed out until a full song. Again, the musical chorus sound appears. Catchy ending.
Rating: 4

In the end they were trying to recreate a classic rock sound, yet didn't learn any lessons from those past albums. This is strange considering the song "All The Things I've Done" from Hot Fuss was a poster child about how to revive a classic rock and roll song in the modern era, and stands as one of my all time favorite songs.

What's interesting, is the album is pretty weak starting out, but gets better as time goes on. However, fans of Hot Fuss will need some patience to enjoy this album, and in fact may be turned off completely.

I can appreciate what they were trying to do, but for the most part it just didn't make it, mostly because they didn't use some of their strengths. They have a great singer, yet its hard to tell on this album. Part of the joy of Hot Fuss was the treatment of the singer as an instrument like on the song "Everything Will Be All Right". The song structures on Sam's Town were more creative than Hot Fuss for the most part, yet didn't bring in anything interesting in the music to back it up for a lot of the songs. I'm hoping their 3rd attempt will bring in the lessons learned from both these albums. However, while Hot Fuss was a stand out album, Sam's Town simply seems run of the mill.

Rating: 3

Life In Slow Motion

Life In Slow Motion - David Gray

Not a brand new album, it was relased in 2005, but a recent aquisition after hearing the title song, "Life In Slow Motion" on ER this year. I'd heard of this guy before, but never got around to hearing his stuff. I'm now kicking myself about that.

Its a very folksy sounding album with a mix of upbeat and somber pieces. In some cases you could visualize the singer with a guitar in a bar and band (say Mississippi Nights), and in other places you'd think of a concert hall with an orchestra backing him up. The songs feel very introspective and the music is full of visuals. You'll also find yourself singing a long with a lot of the tracks on here, always a good sign.

A note on the production values before going into the songs, this is one of the cleanest sounding albums I've ever heard. Every part comes through very clearly, and the lyrics easy to hear without dominating the music. For someone who's half deaf, I highly appreciate an album that's mixed like that.

On with the songs, note that I'm rating on a 5 scale.

Alibi - Very somber opener. A song full of sorrow and regret. The orchestral backing here is subtle yet powerful. Slowly swells into a sound that will propel you into the rest of the album. Rainy day song.
Rating : 4

The One I Love - After the somber beginning, we get a nice toe tapper sing along. A bright feeling song that I like to put in when driving away from work.
Rating : 4

Lately - Slower folksy piece, very easy to sing with though. Another introspective rainy day song.
Rating : 3

Nos Da Cariad - Driving rythym with excellent poetry.
Rating: 3

Slow Motion - This song is very simple, yet very beautiful. I find myself listening to it again and again. Proof that you don't always have to have a lot of lyrics to have a great song.
Rating: 5

From Here You Can See the Sea - Folksy guitar piece. Another good piece of poetry yet this didn't grab me too much.
Rating: 2

Ain't No Love - Another beautiful piece, it feels of sweet sorrow.
Rating: 4

Hospital Food - After so much slow introspective pieces, we have a nice refreshing almost pop like piece. You'll like singing along with this in your car.
Rating: 5

Now and Always - Starts slow with driving drum beat and piano, builds to a dramatic climax. Feels like this should be the end of the album the way it is set up. But think of it as a fake ending as the next song finishes the album nicely.
Rating: 4

Disappearing World - This a great way to wrap up the album nicely, has that introspective feeling that has been tying the album, mixes soft sweetness with a rocking bridge. You'll sing along.
Rating: 4

Everybody's Leaving Town (bonus) - If you buy the album off iTunes you'll get this track. Don't let that influence your decision though. While it has a nice classic sound to it, this track is pretty forgettable.
Rating: 2

I know I usually buy CDs instead of buying albums on iTunes, but this CD does come with some copy protection which might get in the way of getting it on your iPod. So be careful there.

In the end I found this a great album that has been seeing a lot of play time from me. Its great for a fall or rainy day, I suggest picking this up as a full album rather than cherry picking songs.

Album Rating: 4