I picked up the Ray Charles CD "Genius Loves Company" at work today. Aside from selling coffee related stuff, Starbucks also picked up the Hear Music catalog and features selections for sale at their stores.

Ray's CD of duets was recoorded in the last year of his life, and features excellent collaborations with a variety of artists. I had heard selections in the stores and on WEHM, and so far my favorites were "Here We Go Again" with Norah Jones and "Crazy Love" with Van Morrison. After hearing the CD, I don't think there's a single song that I don't like on it. This CD comes highly recommended by me!!!

Finally...a quiet weekend to myself!!

I got some serious house work done though....the apartment needed it bad.
But more than that, I need some me time to rejuvenate. So, between errands and grocery shopping, I made a stop at Pier One (one of my favorite little spots). Picked up some candles for the apartment. The only downfall was that annoying Holiday music. I mean, damn, I'll be sick of this stuff BEFORE Thanksgiving this year....

I went over Beth's last night, and we happened to catch Austin City Limits on PBS. They had a great show, featuring The Polyphonic Spree (they're taking a while to grow on me, I still think they're WAY over the top) and Ozomatli (who we both loved.) I'd heard Ozomatli's (Who Discovered)America on WRNX before and loved their live version. They closed their portion of the progam with a Drum Circle Jam. Right up my alley!!!

I picked up a great CD when I was working in Albany yeaterday. "World Groove" on Putumayo World Music. Great tunes, and it came with a bonus CD, "Putumayo Groove Sampler" I love listening to new and different music from all over, so these 2 CD's are a great addition to my collection. If you like this kind of music, I definately suggest giving it a listen.

Is it me, or has everytone started with the Holiday decorations and music WAY early this year. Starbucks started with their Holiday blitz this week. If I hear "Sleigh Ride" one more time.......It's only Novenber 12, and I'm sick of it allready.

I finally had to get out the Winter jacket last night. Yikes. Leaving the house at 5:10 this morning it was 24 degrees. Every year, I start to dread mid to late November more and more. Welcome to the dark time of the year, folks.

If you're wondering where all the pictures on my blog went, don't worry, it's not you. The site that I use to host the pictures (and my RadioBlog) seems to be either slow to respond lately, or as of today- down!

Why don't we just drag this fucking Iraq thing on a little longer? Bush is such a weenie, he dosent have to guts to commit to any military action in Fallujah before the election. Instead of saying what he intends to do with Iraq, he builds up a smokescreen with the fucking Gay Marriage thing. Asshole.

Four More Years. Oh shit....
George W. Bush is not MY President....

Happy Halloween!!!!!

and to think that I almost forgot!!!!

Ahh, yes....I remembered to change my clocks back an hour. Did you? What did I do with my extra hour? I changed some of the links on my blog!!! I kind of like the quiet and solitude of an early Sunday morning anyway. Time to throw on a pot of coffee....

RED SOX 2004 WORLD SERIES CHAMPS

I just cant get the fucking smile off my face. And I want to gloat.
Not only did we come back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS vs the Yankees, but we went on to SWEEP THE SERIES!!!!!! Way to go BoSox!!!!!!!

I finally got around to getting one of my favorite movies on DVD Today, Stand By Me. Im my eyes, it's a timeless classic. Great character development, great acting, and great direction from one of my favorite directors, Rob Reiner. And of course, do I even need to mention Stephen King?? If you haven't seen this one in a while, definately do so again.

Lots of stuff going on lately. I haven't had the time or energy to blog lately. Great news in that the Red Sox defeated the Yankees to move on the the World Series in the first time since 1986. Delilah and I were rooting for opposing teams (for some reason, she's a Yankees fan). Now that the Red Sox are playing the Cardinals, Del has agreed to root for the Sox with me!! She's such a sweetie...

I bought the coolest bunch of stamps today....I just love clouds!!! Click on the image for a larger, interactive view of all the stamps.

Downtown Middletown suffered another great loss recently. Tom and I decidedc to go to dinner this evening at Mamoun's Falafel only to find out they have CLOSED. So now, to get my Mamoun's fix, I have to go to New Haven (or to Albany when I'm working there).

This is the second great loss in the last few months on Main street. One of my other favorite eateries in downtown Middletown, Ruby's Deli closed earlier this year. Rumour has it that both establishments fell victim to the same landlord refusing the renew their leases. Bastards!!!!!

RIP Mamoun's....

WHAT IS IT?

What is that thing that creates attraction between 2 people?? You know the feeling...you've got butterflies whenever you think about someone. And you're thinking about them all of the time!!! I guess it's what's called "that feeling." as in "Ive got that feeling again".

But WHAT IS IT?

Why does someone feel attraction to one person and not to someone else. They may be both equally nice, fun, attractive, or sexy. But still one person makes you all crazy and another does not. Is there some special psychic connection?? Igiess it's what people call "attraction."

This creates a conumdrum. You have to let one person know that while you still like them, you don't quite like them "that way." Hell, I've been on the recipient end of that enough. However, you want to tell this person without hurting them too badly. I've been hurt before...I know what it does to someones's heart and mind.

This is the first time in my 37 years on this planet that I've had this particular situation. 2 women who I have been dating both told me that they like me ALOT. Now, I have to tell someone how I feel. I just want to do it without hurting anyone.

I've gone crazy with the music downloads again. Over the past 3 nights, I've downloaded 94 MP3 files (that's only counting the ones I've kept!!). At this rate, I'm gonna have to get a bigger hard drive!!!!

I've gotten into trying to find some of the music that I was forced to play what I worked as a board op at "New 104" (pre radio 104 days) after I heard "Zombie" by the Cranberries again.....

I had a great rest of my Birthday weekend. Saturday night was the Blessed Beat drum circle, this time around a campfire at Pat and Ang's place in Waterbury. Played in a couple of great grooves, and pretty much got to hang out with friends (and a few others??).

Sunday, Michelle had a cookout at her house with a few of the people from Saturday night and assorted others. (Funny, I go from not seeing some of the BB people for months, and all the sudden it's 2 days in a row) I had a really good time, we played volleyball with an "imaginary net". (I still challenge you "girls" to a "Boy/Girl" rematch with a real net!!!). Michelle of course, out did her self on the food--not that I'm complaining...

OK, there was one downside of my weekend- being on call. I got called out 3 times on Saturday, and once Sunday morning. Not that I'll complain too loudly when the paycheck has all that overtime in it!!!!

Another year has come and gone. I'm another year older. Closing in on the old 4-0. I didn't really "do" anything for my birthday, I had Delilah overnight that evening-- which was awesome, cause there's no one else I'd want to spend my birthday with than my little girl :)

I guess there comes a time in your life where you are satisfied with the little things. I didn't need a huge celebration...

So, I quote the T-Heads:
"This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around!!!"

Another quiet night.  Phone hasn't rung all day.  Had to check to make sure that it hadn't been shut off.  Went grocery shopping.  Saved a shitload of money.  Feel like writing in sentance fragments.  Have no idea why.  Other people's weblogs are far more interesting.  Does this mean they are more interesting??  Ryan Seacrest is an ass.  That's all folks.

Ok....my life is boring.....I have relatively nothing I feel notable to post about these days.  It's all work work and more work....  Many of my friends from the drumming community are away at Starwood this week anyway (last year's website was way better).  Maybe I'll get there some year!!!

Ok, something of note:  The website Craigslist has finally reached Hartford.  Craigslist is a discussion board/classifieds/help wanted/personals site that started in San Francisco almost 10 years ago.    Or I guess you can call that an "online community".  I had been occasionally reading some of the zany posts there through links on The Black Table. The Hartford link had a "coming soon" next to it for a while.   Here's the text of the story that ran in the Record Journal.

My other recent favorite online community site, The Daily Column, has been down for almost 2 weeks while they get some sort of hosting problem straightened out.  To tell you the truth, I havent had much time to browse it lately anyway.

I spent Sunday afternoon doing some chores around the house..I actually washed the car-for the first time since I bought it. It was filthy, both inside and out. I broke out the new shop vac that I bought for work and tested it out. For a little 2 gallon machine, it's a powerhouse!!!

Cool thing- I fired up the stereo in the garage that Ben set up in there. Just for kicks, I tuned it to 92.9 to see if I could get WEHM in there--at first nothing. But I touched the little piece of wire that is acting as the FM antenna and it came in LOUD. I let go of the wire again- nothing. So I found an alligator clip lead and BINGO. I now have one of the coolest radio stations loud and clear RIGHT IN THE GARAGE. Now, if only I could get the stereo in the house to get it.....

So, I was able to wash the car and listen to the awesome good tunes they were playing.

Again, I haven't been posting much lately. I've been working alot, and it seems that I've been coming down with a cold or something this last week.

Delilah and I spend the 4th of July holiday together- we went to the Middletown fireworks together. She was funny, she was adding her "color commentary" throughout the whole display. The people sitting next to us thought it was really cute.

I also managed to catch another fireworks display tonight- this one in Groton-New London as part of Sailfest 2004. These fireworks were sponsored by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe--as they do every year. Lisa and I went over her friend's house which has a view of the monument at Fort Griswold--where they shot the fireworks over. Pretty cool and we didn't have to fight the traffic or worry about the parking. I hadn't seen a fireworks display here since 1998 or 99--with Jill and Delilah.

Of other note, I noticed that one of my favorite radio stations- WLNG in Long Island now is broadcasting on the net. Cool- and they provide a Winamp feed!!! They're the only radio station that I have ever heard to segue from Steve Miller's "Abacadabra" to "Walkin' After Midnite" from Patsy Cline. If you're down by the Eastern Connecticut shore or listening via the net, check them out!!

Emily and Ben threw another one of their parties last night. This time, we actually had a band playing in the garage. This wasn't just any thrown together at the last minute party band, it was an actual working band, Stanley Maxwell.

Those of you who go to shows in the Northeast may have actually hear them at one time or another, they're great! The lineup consists of Sax, Keys, Bass and Drums-- They blend jazz, rock and funk and make it a style all their own. They did this great downtempo instrumental version of Led Zep's "The Ocean" that was just sublime!!

Unfortunately they played a really short set, cause at around 10:15 the Middletown Police arrived and asked us to shut it down. I think there was only 1 party that I can remember here that the cops DIDN'T show up. But never this early!!!

This time we also had a fire in the new and improved fire pit out by the pond (thanks Ben for the improvements!) It started to rain around 12:30 or so, some people left, but many of us gathered by the fire and it was way cool! The canopy of trees, along with the warmth of the fire kept us warm and dry.

We gathered a few drums and did some chanting by the fire...Crazy, man!!! So this would be the second weekend in a row that I did campfire drumming....

Wow! I've been so busy that I havent even turned on a computer in 2 whole days! The Starbucks job is good, and I haven't been home before 7 much lately. Most of the days, I'm out the door before 8 AM, so it's been a few long days while I've been training. But all the people that I've met so far have been great (and really happy, but that's because we're all hopped up on coffee!!!)

This weekend is the Midsummer/Litha rutual and I'm still trying to memorize my lines...talk about last minute!!!! But i think I'll be ok, I've got most of them memorized....

I've added a new movie to one of my favorites. The other day at the library, I picked up Koyaanisqatsi. That's the first movie in the genre of non-narrative films like Baraka and Winged Migration (that have been mentioned here before). I had borrowed another movie in the Qatsi trilogy (Naqoyqatsi) a couple of months ago, but it didn't grab me the way this one did.

Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi word meaning "life out of balance" or (as the movie itself states, "a way of life which calls for another way of living") If you've seen and enjoyed Baraka, you'd love this one! The cinematographer, Ron Fricke also directed Baraka.

Delilah, after watching the first few minutes of Koyaanisqatsi with me the other night, said "When I grow up, I want to make movies like this one, Baraka and Winged Migration". She absolutely loves this kind of movie. What a kid I'm raising!!!

No, I haven't fell off the face of the Earth! I just haven't really felt like
blogging lately. Things are well! I got the Starbucks job. I start on Tuesday.
I'm looking forward to it, and aprehensive about it all at the same time...

It's going to be weird because I wont be spending nearly as much time with Delilah as I had been. That was the good part about being unemployed...time to move on though...the vacation's over!!!!!

The warm weather has finally arrived here. Time to break out the shorts!! Also it's nice seeing all the Wesleyan chickies showing some skin (I know, I'm bad!) The forecast is calling for warm, humid weather all week, along with the chance of those pesky thunderstorms.

Aside from a couple of interviews with Starbucks Coffee, things have been pretty quiet on the job front. I'm interviewing with them for a equipment maintenance position. They seem like a pretty great company to work for.... Wish me luck...this unemployment stuff really rots....(well, I am enjoying the slight vacation, though I know I really need to get back to work..)

When I signed into Blogger to write my blog yesterday, an offer to beta test Google's new Gmail service appeared. So, if you're on of my lucky few friends (ha ha) I'll likely send you a message from it just to see how it works....

I spent some time this weekend visiting Kim, and Saturday afternoon we went for a cruise around the Hidden Hills of Western Mass (after researching where we went for this blog entry, I found out that they call it that....)

The first place we visited was Knightville Dam, one of the US Army Corps of Engineers Flood control dams on the Westfield River. My dad had told me that we'd been picnicing there when we were kids. I distinctly remember driving past it on the way up to visit my Grandmother when we were kids. Seemed like a nice place to hang. We walked out on the almost 1/3 mile dam (and almost got blown away..the wind was so strong...)

The second little gem we discovered on our journey was Chesterfield Gorge. The gorge is a little upstream on the Westfield RIver from the dam, and I had no idea that there was such a great place tucked away here. The only unfortunate thing was that I hadn't taken my camera with me, because the water levels and the lighting was just perfect for some amazing pictures.

For more info on the Westfield River Watershed, check out these links:
Field Notes: The Westfield River Corridor
Westfield River Watershed Association

The news media have been flooded with reports about the rioting after the UCONN wins late last month. Personally, I think the rioters are pretty idiotic. I mean, what the hell were they thinking. I guess that's what happens when you mix young, stupid kids with a bunch of alcohol.....

Of course, our esteemed Connecticut State Police have been sworn to protect and serve..(and sometimes play a little Beer Pong??)

...and you wondered where I was going with this post????

NPR had a feature on Google on Morning Edition today. And you know how much I love Google. Hear the story, read about it, and many links are here.
Update- 4/14/04 9:00 PM
While listening to Morning Edition this morning (on the radio, can you believe it), they had another story of Internet Search Engines, and they mentioned that this hate site comes up near the top of the search list when you search on the word Jew. Google says that while they aren't anti-semetic, they will not block the item from coming up in the search. They offer this explanation. I think that though Google has been getting alot of grief about this, they're being fair and unbiased by allowing their search to index the entire web, good and bad. That's also the reason why I included the link to the site mentioned....

There's also a statement by the Anti-Defamation League on this topic as well.

I went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind yesterday. I thought it was really good movie!! Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet play two lovers in a bad relationship who decide to have their memories of each other erased by visiting a doctor who does that procedure. The movie does play around with time- it jumps forward and back in time. There are several other movies that I've seen that do the same thing, in particular Memento. I can see why some people don't like this movie though, it can be confusing if you're not into the whole messed-up time thing....but I thought it was good....

A review is here.
Another Review (this one mentions Memento)
Tons of Reviews

Delilah and I were watching Winged Migration this morning (the latest DVD I got from the club). It's a movie which follows the migratory patterns of birds around the globe. It's kind of in the same genre as Baraka, though this movie has limited narration (and I mean limited!) I was really amazed at the movie, but after I watched the "Making of" extra on the DVD, I realized the many of the shots were totally set up using birds that have been "imprinted" to follow humans (flying ultralights or moving vehicles). But it's still an amazing movie nonetheless.

On a related note, check out Operation Migration, a site about ultralight-led bird migration.

The lords of the local cable company (or not so local, as it's Comcast) finally disconnected the cable that I hadn't been paying for. I've been trying to occupy my mind with other things than watching television lately. This is a good thing, yes?? I have survived the world without cable TV before, I guess I can do it again. Delilah isn't too happy about it, but she doesn't have cable at mom's either, so I guess we will get used to it...

I think I really didn't watch that much TV, though. But lately, I've been vegging out more in the evenings with it, so I guess I can think of better things to do with my time. But if anyone out there wants to invite me over to watch American Chopper, Monster Garage and reruns of Third Watch, please let me know, ok??

So instead of watching TV, I have recently been listening to NPR online. It's great, cause you can catch up with their shows, without having to worry about when they are on the air (and they stream them with Windows Media Player, so I don't have to install that pesky RealAudio) My favorites so far:

Morning Edition
All Things Considered
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me
All Songs Considered

Last year (right around this time) Richie from The Daily Column burned me a copy of a disc of rock songs re-done as lounge music. They're done by a group called Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine. Anyway, I found this blog today that has a few MP3's of a few of his songs (some I have, some I don't). Check it out....(ooops, I messed u the URL on the first link, fixed it now!!)

Peep Central

Ok, ok. You know it's that time of year, cause the peeps are EVERYWHERE!
And now, the "Peeps Links List" :
Tracy and Mia's Peep-O-Rama
Peep Research
Peep Art
Peep Research at Staley Library
and last, but not least:
The Marshmallow Peeps Official Website
Happy peeping!!! Note:Sorry, the links weren't working, I fixed them....

I was watching Sunday Morning on CBS today, and they had a profile of Google. A company that started out renting a room in someone's house is now a multi-million dollar company. Now that's a success story if I ever heard one!! Did you know that the company actually serves free meals to their employees?? Wish I could land a job like that!! Or any job at this point for that matter...

While browsing around after watching the Google story, I found the blog of Evan Williams, the co-founder of Blogger (now owned by Google). I find it funny how his archive links don't work!!! I though if anyone knew how to blog, it would be this guy.


Another segment on Sunday Morning today was about the rise of "Turntabalism" (otherwise known to DJ's as "scratching") as a "new music artform". There's so much buzz about this that Berklee College of Music actually has corses devoted to it. Also in reading more about this story, I found out the vibraphonist Gary Burton (who I saw at Tanglewood years ago opening up for Miles Davis) is an Executive Vice President at Berklee. Cool stuff......

I was feeling like I was in a slump yesterday. Although all in all I had a great day. The weather was sort of nice, and Emily and I spent a while down by the pond talking about politics and life over a couple of beers. After that, thoug I had a little trouble getting motivated, and fell into a slump until I got motivated and went to see the Gatekeeper Band (less Mike and Colin) at a bar in East Hampton. Glad I went, it was a good time!!

Thanks to Leanna, we have a new link for you today- The Daily Misleader- a daily chronicle of Bush Administration distortion.

I actually made some money today- I actually got paid to drive from Deep River to Norwalk to deliver a package to a production house for JD from CU Next Tuesday. Hell, I got to drive and listen to the radio...not too bad. On the way down, I caught an interview on WPKN with Peter Schickele. At first I had no idea who he was, but the interview seemed interesting. I later found out that Peter is the mastermind maniac behind P.D.Q. Bach. I had heard of PDQ Bach years ago in High School. I remembered it being kinda weird and funny.

Tonight, I just kinda took it easy, and laid back because this was one of the odd Wednesdays that I didn't have Delilah overnight. I listened to some old vinyl and some radio stations online. I can finally get WPKN online since they switched to the Shoutcast stream, and I can get it with Winamp!!

And now listening to the "worlds longest legal ID" on WAMC. It's gotta go on for about 20 seconds..... Weird, they had an underwriting spot for a Mamoun's Falafel in ALBANY! Right on!

Time for another one of those "love-to-hate-em" Quizzes!:

You are the Low-Fidelity All-Star. You were born
with your cool, and it's totally natural. You
run the gamut from Hipster Supreme (only they
can ingest as much coffee as you) to the geeky
hipster (Mario Kart, anyone?).


What Kind of Hipster Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

The World Still says No!!!

On March 20, there will be a worldwide day of protests against our continued occupation of Iraq. Check out the United for Peace website for more information. For those of you who are planning on going to New York from this area, there's a "Peace Train" which will be leaving out of New Haven.

I have yet to touch on anything that's been happening in the broadcast world, especially the new fines that the FCC is levying on indecency. Those of you who know me, allready know that I'm a media nut. First off, It's not about Howard Stern ok!! It's about a knee-jerk reaction to showing a little tittie-slip. Or is it??

I'm sick of people telling me that Clear Channel fired Howard Stern. Get it through your skulls! Clear Channel dosen't employ Howard Stern! Howard was yanked off of 6 Clear Channel owned stations!! They don't want a repeat of the fines levied on them due to the slop that Bubba the Love Sponge was airing. Aparenty this backfired on then, because Friday they were fined $247,500 for allegations of indecency on the "Elliot in the Morning" show based in Washington, DC.

This kind of stuff has been going on for years. Howard's been on the air some 20 years, and he's been doing the same kind of toilet humor all along. Why is the FCC so interested in this all the sudden?? Is it due to it being an election year?? Or will the newest proposed rulemaking by the FCC not only include tougher penalties for indecency, but also provisions to stifle broadcasters speaking out against the government?? Is this just another underhanded attempt to chisel away more of our freedom of speech??

"The time has come for the commission to send a message that it is serious about enforcing the indecency laws of our country."- FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps.

And some people say that it's about protecting our children. Oh, please!! I don't understand why the government feels that they have to parent our children! There is such a thing as being an active parent and overseeing what your children watch. There is such a thing as an off button on any radio. If you know a program might discuss topics you don't want your children listening to, then don't listen to it. It's that simple!!!

Code Monkey

I'm making yet more changes here. Not only have I re-organized the links list, I'm also working on adding a hit counter and comment posting abilities as well. So, if things appear to be acting funky, shoot me an email, ok???

The hit counter code is making the site load unacceptably slow, so I'm just putting in the comments and trackback for now...

I heard this morning that Pete Rose finally got into the Hall of Fame. The World Wrestling Entertainment's Hall of Fame. Next thing you know, Hulk Hogan will be in the Baseball Hall of fame!!!! According to Vince McMahon, maybe the WWE's induction of Rose will prompt Major League Baseball to follow suit.

Just to point out- I'm not a wrestling fan.....so don't even go there! I'm just mentioning this because I think it's kinda funny.

I spent my Saturday morning at a seminar thrown by the Connecticut Broadcaster's Association. Today's topic was audio as it relates to radio and television. Pretty informative, I might add!! Not only did I get a chance to learn something, I got a chance to network with people in the broadcast industry (and hopefully get some contacts about jobs). I ran into a few people who I'd met during my years in the paging industry.

Oh, and free lunch, too!!!

I guess all in all it was worth it!

I finally broke down the other day and bought a copy of Baraka on DVD. I wasn't really planning on buying anything, but aside from mail order, it's a very hard DVD to find. I was browsing at Borders the other day, and what do I find misfiled?? So, I've been looking so long for that DVD, that I had to get it.

For those who don't know what Baraka is all about, check out the website The Spirit of Baraka. It's got to be one of the coolest non-dialogue based movies that I've ever seen!!! The entire movie is told through fantastic photography, location sounds and a great soundtrack. If you ever get a chance to see it on the big screen at an atr house, do so, it's great in 70MM!!

I was killing some time today before I had to pick up Delilah at school, and I was in Pier 1 Imports. I did a little browsing and got some cheap nick knack thingies for the bathroom (it really needed some color). As I was checking out, I noticed a "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" CD. I'm thinking, "What's Next??"

So, I said the the girl behind the counter, "You've got to be kidding me!!!" And she points to a little placard sitting next to the CD with one of the Queer Eye guys picture on it, and says "He's our new spokesman." I wonder how this marketing is going to work for them. Do they really want to say "Pier 1 is gay??" I mean, I find the stuff there pretty cool....Does this label every straight guy who walks into a Pier 1 gay??

I'm a very open person, and I have many friends who are gay and lesbian, but I don't know about how mass media is marketing being Gay as suddenly cool. They are perpetuating stereotypes and I think it's way too much. You can live your life how you want to and that dosen't bother me at all...

Just in case you're wondering, you can check out the CD at the NBC Store.

Here's another great news source that I found in an article the Ben forwarded to the Blessed Beat list:
OneWorld.Net. Look for it in the links list soon!!

Here's a bizarre and strange link for you today:

The International Association of People who Dine Over the Kitchen Sink

It seems like only yesterday, but it was over a year ago since Craig and I made our trip down to NYC to protest the war. I was thinking about it today, after finding a picture of Myshele, me and Craig on the net. Here we are- a year later, troups still in Iraq, and nothing has really changed. Hopefully with the upcoming election, something will happen. We can only hope!!!!


Myshele, me and Craig protesting the war.

Mike stopped by the other day- he had been telling me he had some records (yes, actual records) to give to me. I had a few for him as well,- a good chunk of Rod Stewart (I'm not a big fan) and Elvin Bishop that I somehow inherited through one of my many moves over the years.

Anyway- I got a good bunch from him as well-- let's see:
Crosby Stills Nash and Young- Deja Vu
Allman Brothers- Beginnings
The Band
Peter Tosh- Legalize It!
Steely Dan- Countdown to Ecstasy
Stevie Wonder- Songs in the Key of Life
Earth, Wind and Fire- Gratitude
ZZ Top- El Loco
Willie Nelson- Stardust
Patti Smith Group- Easter

I've got some listening to Do!!!

Computers Suck!

Last night, I decided to move the "fileserver" machine- (read: my old computer) underneath the table where the printer is and set the printer up on it as well. This was after I had turned off the new computer for the night. After shuffling around computers, cabling, furniture and peripherals, I decided to test out the printer. Turn the new machine back on.

What do you know? The new computer all the sudden had NO network support!! Ok, let me see. Check the cabling- OK. Reboot the router- ok. Still no network. Reinstall the 10/100 card- whoops! The computer no longer recognizes it! Switch to another card slot- No go!!. Back we go to the old 10 Base T card!

After fighting with the configuration, I still wasn't able to get the DHCP server in the router to work properly. No internet access either! Rebooted the router again- Success!!!!

So much for a totally 10/100 capable network!!!

I've added a link in the side bar to the EFF Blue Ribbon Campaign. The EFF is the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization I was involved with years ago (1992) when I first went on the net at college. So, check it out, ok???

Last night, I went out to Sully's Pub in Hartford for the Open Mic. I hadn't been to an open mic since I had been going to Rookies in Cromwell. That was like April last year!!

Anyway, Emily had stopped by and she suggested that I go last night. It was cool!! I'd never been to Sully's before, and there were some really good performances! Of note, Emily did this freeform experimental thing that was pretty intense. Another guy, Chuck Warda did a layered vocal effect on a Miles davis tune, and then ripped on the guitar as well.

It was a great time..those yof you who know me know that I love seeing live music, especially open mics when you never know what's gonna happen. Maybe sometime, I'll get up and do something...yeah, right!!!

Day three of playing with computers. I decided to swap out the Ethernet card (10 base-T) in the newer PC with a 10/100 Fast Ethernet Card so that the whole home network will be 10/100 throughout. While I was at it, I also swapped sound cards with the Soundblaster card from the old PC. The newer one didn't have the audio output that my speakers needed to get loud enough. Both hardware re-configurations went off without a hitch.

Well, I've managed to convert over all of the Email functions to the new PC, including the address book without a hitch!! I've got the My Documents folder arranged the way I like it, and even did the favorites in Internet explorer.

There's some software that I'm going to install in the new machine over the course of the next couple of days. So far things are migrating over rather smoothly. Maybe when I get done with this, I can actually discuss something else again, huh??

Oh, ok I got one for you so you're not disappointed-
A Guide to The Onion's Many, Many Knockoffs - this has many links to keep you occupied almost all day :)

I'm spending some time migrating all of the stuff from my old PC over to the new(er) one that Bill set me up with. So, I've got both PC's configured in a local network through the DSL router/switch. That definately makes transferring files that much faster!! Just when I thought I had my PC set up the way I wanted it!!!

I'd like to thank Bill for gifting me his older 800 MHz machine to me. I hadn't realized how painstakingly SLOW my old machine was until I got DSL, and now running this machine, it's pretty incredible. And it's got a newer version of Internet Explorer, so that I get the "better" blogger interface. I like that!!!

Well, it's off to export my old Outlook address book and mail folders from the old machine and put them in here!!! I hope this goes well!!!

Today, I'm taking Delilah to a program at the Russell Library in Middletown. They're having a family drumming event with Baba David Coleman. That should be fun. I met Baba once when Craig and I played down at Pete's event at his house last fall. Delilah is really looking forward to going...

I spent the whole night after putting Delilah to bed pretty much sitting here at the computer. Well, I did light up some candles and set up some "happy space." But at the computer I spent most of the time playing around with Winamp and creating playlists of the songs that I've got on the hard drive.

I've always had this dream of programming radio station, and I figured that I might as well create my playlists with that in mind. I think if you gave me over the music programming of 105.9, I'd show them what they're trying to do!!

At one point, the BIG playlist I have had something like 12+ hours of music on it!! After spending time in the "happy space," I created another, shorter playlist of songs that, well, would be best if played while kickin' back a couple of White Russians. Lebowski, anyone???

I happened to visit John's website today, and noticed there's a great picture of him, his daughter Sarah and Delilah from last year's Drums Around the World. Check it out, it's on the left side of the page. Click on image for a high-res version. (Ok, so the picture's here too, but check out his website anyway!!) PulseIntegration.com

Myshele had this great idea to start having "song circles", a chance for us to get together, and instead of focusing on all the bad aspects of the current state of the world, the Earth, and ourselves, we instead focus on the postiive ways we'd like it them to change. The spark for this idea came from her attendance at the Earth Activist Training Seminar last month.

So, at the last drum circle, Myshele, Ang and I all expressed interest in getting her vision off the ground in this area, all of us offered our homes on a rotating basis to host the song circles. We had the first one last night at Myshele's house. Even though only three of us made the first one, it was a good experience. I came home feeling very happy and positive.....

Ok, here's a random link for today-The Complete and Utter Idiot's Guide to Ordering Pizza. Just in case you forgot how to do it.

And another link- Earth Erotica Photography. Really amazing photography.

Thanks to The Daily Column for the links!!!

Ok, so I must be full of useless links this week!! I just found
The Black Table today, and I have to tell you, it's some of the funniest reading I've had in a long time....

You may have noticed (or maybe not) some new content on the left side margin of the page, including the humorous Sesame Street Terror Alert Level and a weather button... I guess the techie web-progammer geek in me refuses to die......

AT&T UPDATE

Today I contacted Covad, the company who supplies AT&T's DSL service and equipment. I put in a web-based Customer Support ticket with them. I'm hoping there's something they can do, since they are the ones who sent me the wrong information in their paperwork.

Maybe this issue will get resolved by them...if it dosen't, I'll have to take it to a higher authority. Even if that involves calling Dick Blumenthal, the CT Attourney General.

Big River

For a while, Danielle lived not far from the mighty Housatonic River as it flows through New Milford. We were talking about the river yesterday, and I searched for information on Google. I had known that the river had been polluted by GE up near it's headwaters in Pittsfield, MA. There were a handful of organizations whos' goals were saving the river and cleaning it up.

A couple links of note:
The Housatonic Valley Association
My Watershed.com- Connecticut

A few years ago, I spent some time hiking around one of the major tributaries of the Housatonic, the Shepaug River. I recall the awesome natural beauty of the area and wonder why some people abuse our natural resources. If you're interested in saving our rivers and nature in general, follow the links in the pages above and read on...

AT&T DSL's BILLING SUCKS

Well, I finally got a call back from AT&T regarding the rebate for my DSL modem. When they shipped me the installation kit, the paperwork included had incorrect dates for when I could send in my rebate form. When I went online the other day, I was told that I missed the deadline by 2 days. So, I called AT&T and asked to speak with a supervisor. They told me one would call back.

When I got the call back today, they told me there was "nothing they could do." Even after I threatened to cancel all of my services with them, they gave me the same response. At this point, I'm going to try to contact various agencies, including Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control and the Better Business Bureau of Connecticut.

This dosen't seem to be the first time that there have been issues with AT&T DSL service. I found a discussion forum that had many issues with both them, and Covad, the provider of their DSL services. Click here to view the forum.

Needless to say, I'm pissed...

I've been viewing this site for a while, being the photography buff that I am. Shutterline's Photo of the Day is a photo contest site (and you can submit photos yourself as well.) It's great seeing what other photographers around the world are doing...

And while I'm on the subject of entering your own photos and such, there's a soda company in Seattle, Jones Soda that allows you to submit pictures for use on their labels. I found out about Jones because they are now selling their products at Panera Bread

And that's what I've got today.....

Ok, So I'm out of work. So I have a little more time to browse the web.
So, all that said I give you yet another link....

Buzzflash.com. Tons of commentaries, discussions, and probably one of the best links list of news sources I've seen in a while (it's at the botton of the home page). Enjoy!

I found a couple of interesting links this morning that I got off the Blessed Beat list: here goes!

MyWay.com- a great news link site!

The Sierra Times- News, commentary and discussion.

While I'm at it, I might as well add another one that I haven't posted:

Salon.Com- great news and politics site

Looks like it's time to reorganize the links list again!!

this blogger powered by.....

Mmm...Coffee!!!!

Well, the job search continues. I have to tell you though, it is nice having a little more free time. I'm not too concerned right now, but I definately have to get a job before my severance runs out. That's a priority.

I've gone into money-saving mode, trying to eliminate expenses that I don't really need. First off was the storage space that I'd been renting in South Windsor for the past three years. It had gotten to almost $60 a month, and I really didn't need that.

Jack from the repeater came up Sunday and took the lawn equipment. I had been originally planning on selling the stuff, but it was costing me way too much to keep, so I gave it to him. Hopefully my good deed will come back to me someday :)

I had gone up to South Windsor again today to take the last few things, and turn in the keys. They didn't charge me rent for this month, so it worked out. After I decided to grab a little lunch and went to Panera Bread in Manchester. So, I decided to treat myself a little today....

I've been following this year's Presidental election a little closer. I mean if I'm gonna get out there and speak out against what's going on, I ought to at least KNOW the issues. I can't stand it when people are so up against everything and are protesting, and they don't even have any knowledge of the situation. So, I'm going to be informed....

Howard Dean made a total ass out of himself at the Iowa Caucus....there's been countless people making parodies of his now infamous "Yeah!" concession speech the other night.

I found this web page- deangoesnuts.com that has some hilarious MP3 files of a lot of the song remixes/parodies of it...Enjoy!!!!!

Well, alot had been going on lately. I've started looking high and low for a new job, so that when my severance runs out in April, I should be all set. I've also had to get a car on the road, since the company vehicle is going away. I bought a used Saturn yesterday, and it's currently sitting in the parking lot of Danielle's condo until I can get insurance and registration all set. I'll probably be able to get it on the road by Tuesday or Wednesday at the the latest.

So that's one thing I've got down! I've got the car. Now to focus on the new Job......

Well after a week of installing and reinstalling software, and numerous calls to AT&T tech support, my DSL service mysteriously started working yesterday. I was supposed to have received a call back from them last Wednesday, and I was going to raise some hell with them on Friday, but I was diverted by Delilah that evening.

So the computer was automatically configured to log in to the DSL service, and usually that failed, but yesterday afternoon, it just started working. Now, I realize just how SLOW this computer is. I'm gonna attempt to add some memory to it, I think that will help. That's all I can really do for now, as with my current situation, buying a new PC isn't in the cards...

For the last few months, fears of layoffs have been looming on the horizon where I work. We were told that 2 out of 5 people at our office were going to be let go. I was one of the top 3 if you looked at seniority and experience. I knew that I wasn't 100 percent safe though.

We were told late last month that the layoffs were to be implemented by the first week of February. Well, yesterday the regional manager visited and informed the unlucky 2 of their impending doom. I unfortunately, was one of them. I will be employed until Feb 6th, and then after 6 weeks of severance, will be on my own.

So, Ive been doing 2 things....
1) Looking for a car- I had the luxury of having a company vehicle the last 5 years...something that I've grown very accustomed to.
2) Searching for a job. That just is obvious, isn't it???