Tomorrow Starts a New Year

Ok, it has been a while since we have posted anything on this blog. Justin went to school, I went back to working at Sacred Heart, and well, I guess we all got busy. But with a new year comes the resolve to pick things up, dust them off, and try them again. And that is what I am going to do here. With the start of a new year, I want to try and bring back blogging not just on this blog, but on others as well.

Tonight, I will be celebrating the New Year with close friends like Justin, Brian and of course Joy, along with others. It should be a great time, and next year should be awesome.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Settling In

I have to say, I am quite pleased with the situation here. I didnt love the idea of dorm living- but I love my neighborhood here. Brooklyn Heights is incredible. Can you beat this view?

Anyhow, everyone here has been really nice and welcoming, but I will say, I'm missing my friends and family in CT. Hopefully I get lots of visitors soon!

Seas of Change

Yesterday was bitter sweet as I said good-bye to Justin. Right now he is moving into his dorm room in the Bronx 3 days before his 26th birthday. Meanwhile, I am covered in dust as I move crap from one room to another to make way for Brian to make his grand entrance into this appartment. He has already dropped off some furniture that is still in the box yet has the ability to make three grown men struggle as we lift it through the front door. Maybe next time I will wear something on my feet.

I had an offer to go camping this weekend, but since there is so much that I need to get done here, I don't think that camping was the best thing for me to be doing. Now I am taking a break as I wait for Brian to return, the problem is I don't know when that will be.

Change is in the air

Well, today the change lingers in the air. In a few short days, Justin head back to school. It also means that he is moving out. After just 2 short years, our run as room mates is coming to an end. I am of course happy for him, but I will miss him greatly. Well, since he is moving out, I need someone to move in, and who better to replace Justin than his best friend Brian. Next week he will be moving in and at the same time he will be starting a new job, how wacky is that.

There is no change for me aside from the room mate thing... Wait, yes there is. I just got the official word about 30 minutes ago about my new job. That's right, after just under 6 months at Subway®, I am returning back to Sacred Heart. This time it will be as a Notebook Technician. Subway® doesn't even know about this yet. Well, tomorrow I will be handing in my resignation, and then they will know, muahahaha.

Also on the back to school front, Joy wenthroughoutht her grad schooorientationon today. Three more years of school for her before she can pay all of my bills.

Without change, we don't evolve, and what fun would that be?

About a Month Left

There is about a month left in the summer season. If I was still going to school, this is about the time where I start getting bored with summer and long for going back to school. Of course, once I'm back at school, I would be longing for it to be over. August is almost here, and that means it could get a lot hotter, and that just isn't any fun. You run the AC more, which runs up the gas bill.

However, I am looking at August knowing that my life will change at the end of the month. Now I won't be going anywhere, in fact I will continue to chug along. However, my living situation will under go a drastic change. At the end of August, Justin will be moving out and going back to school. Now I have had many room mates in my college life, and another in my post college years. But none of them have had the same impact on my life as Justin. During college room mates where just room mates, but Justin really has become one of my best friends. That's why when he leaves, I will miss him. Of course, it's not like I won't be able to visit him and such, but you get used to having certain people around.

To replace Justin when he moves out, I did a very short search, and chose his best friend. That's right, he is the third member of Blaq Coq, the Guy in F.A.G., and the man who says "Hit the road" like none other. Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Mr. Brian Gresko ::Crowd goes wild::

Living with Brian will be fun, and I am looking forward to it. Too bad we couldn't all just live in one giant house together... ::thought bubble forms:: That's it, we will buy a house and live together "Full House" style!

That Lethargic Feeling

I hate when you get that lethargic feeling.  You know, when you have been sitting in front of the computer all day, playing endless games of solitaire or mind sweeper (not because you don't have work to do, but because the work you have to do is just so boring)  and your contact with people has been limited.  And you enjoy because it allows you to slack off, but on the other hand, you get that feeling in your mouth like you haven't spoken to another human in 5 days.

That pretty much sums up how I feel right now.  The worst part is, that after a day like that, you don't want to talk to your friends when you get home, you just sit in front of another computer or the TV, and  zone out until it's  meal time, and then you maybe break out of what ever kind of funk that you are in, or it lasts until you lay down for bed only to realize that you aren't tired because you haven't done anything all day.

Internet At Work

Today, a global e-mail was sent out reminding everyone that the Internet at work was to not be used for personal Internet surfing.  Ha, I say to that, and I will tell you why.  First of all, I come from a background of working in a school with unregulated Internet usage except for file sharing sites.  It was the norm for anyone to search anything.  Now I have moved to the corporate world where not everyone has Internet access.  I first found a loop hole to get it, and once that loop hole was closed, I got it the legit way by being approved by the VP.

My reasoning for needing that access was sound, having a Mac, I need to get Apple updates for my computer.  Being the AV guy, I need to be able to look up equipment to purchase, and learn about new stuff that is coming out.  And since I have started working here, having the Internet access has helped out in almost every project that I have worked on.

Now I will admit, I don't always use it for business.  I check my bank account, I find new programs, and I read the news, etc.  In some people's eyes, this is very wrong.  In my eyes, I am taking care of personal business while my computer is rendering video like it is right now as I right this.  But I don't think that people should be afraid to use the Internet at work, and corporations that restrict it down to nothing are fools (except certain situations where there is a need for security).  A professor of mine once said that you can't expect people to do work all the time, and it's true.  He said that Monday morning and Friday afternoon are the least productive times, and instead of punishing people, let them relax.  Happy employees will be more productive when they are working than unhappy employees that just go through the paces.

To those that are in charged of these decisions I say this.  Give people access to the Internet (Restrict file sharing and porn sites to keep everyone from getting sued of course).  Continue to monitor, or at least keep logs of everyone so you know where they go during the day, but don't look at it.  The only time you should need this data is if a problem arises.  If you have an employee that is under performing, than check out what he is doing.  Perhaps that person needs to be restricted, or even let go because they can't balance their time.

All of this can be related to a method of child raising that my parents believe in.  You don't child proof the house, you house proof the child.  In other words, you don't put locks on all the doors and such so that the child can't get there, instead you teach the child not to go in that cabinet with the bleach.  If they break the rules, then you punish.  A child learns better when they have create the restrictions, not when you put a physical lock on a door for them.  The same thing is true with adults.  By restricting access, a person doesn't learn time management, they just play more solitaire on their PC, wasting time, when at least that time could be spent reading the news (or even industry news).

Rabid Dogs Movie Review

Rabid Dogs

Keith: Dude, that was a pretty good movie last night.  I mean, I'll be
honest, when you came home and said you wanted to watch a movie at
10:30, I was a little apprehensive.  I mean, I was getting ready to go
lay down in bed and read, after all, I was tired from playing b-ball.
But I made the mistake of starting to watch it, and that was my undoing.

My second surprise was when I found that I had to read.  I don't believe
you tricked me into watching a foreign film.  Although, I think forcing
myself to read actually kept me awake, since I was so tired.  Anyways,
my first impression of this film from 1974 was that it appeared to be a
low budget job.  Most of the shots where close ups, for example; when
the car sped through a red light, they did not show a long shot where
you could see all of the cars avoiding each other, rather they took many
close low angle shots of cars stopping with sound effects of screeching
tires and spliced it all together.  Also, it was a relatively small
cast.  Would you agree?

Justin: That one has been in my "movies to watch" queue for awhile. It
was recommended by a friend, who did not give me much background on the
movie. However, I had heard of Mario Bava, and that this movie was said
to be one of his best. So I didn't mind the subtitles. I find it to be
amazing how your brain connects the dots when you are reading the
subtitles, you translate it into the characters actually saying the
dialogue. Now, I am not going to lie- I am not much of a student of
film, and most film buffs would be disgusted by the number of classics I
have not seen. However ,I have been taking myself on a crash course
lately.

As someone not as in tune to the making of film, I took the close-ups at
certain times to be simply artistic expression, and the movie did not
feel overly cheap to me. Of course, it had a very small cast, and no
special effects, explosions, etc.

From what I read, this movie has been out of print for some time, and
was only recently reintroduced, spliced with a new opening, part of the
film that was lost. Now, I also have waiting at home Diabolik, one of
his other famous pieces. You up for the challenge?


Keith: Well, I don't think I meant to say that it was cheap, just that
it was a low budget film.  I actually have a big place in my heart for
low budget films.  Today, movies cost millions to make and don't have
half the story line as Rabid Dogs does.  I agree that close ups are very
artistic.  The sign of a true artist is when they can take few materials
and create a masterpiece.

I thought the acting was excellent in the movie.  The characters each
had a distinct personality.  And there is more I would like to say about
the acting, but at the same time, I feel that to describe some of it I
would have to give away some details  of the movie that may ruin the
experience for someone who might want to watch it.

Now as far as your challenge goes, I am up for watching Diabolik any
time.  And if we keep with this foreign film trend, I have a couple that
I will have to add to the mix.

Pink Floyd Co-Founder Syd Barrett Dies At 60

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger "Syd" Barrett died Friday (July 7) at the age of 60, reportedly due to complications from diabetes. The artist, who left Pink Floyd in the late 1960s after his mental health began to decline, spent the better part of the past 30 years living in seclusion with his mother in Cambridge, where he was born on Jan. 6, 1946.

"The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett’s death," the surviving members of Pink Floyd said in a statement. "Syd was the guiding light of the early band lineup and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."

Full Story

Bush Video 10 Years Ago!

Ok, this is crazy, but this shows that at one time Bush knew how to speak in actual sentance structure.

Without a car

Earlier this week, I posted about how Joy's car was in the shop.  Well, it's still there and I have been driving her to work all week.  I don't mind doing this, because I'm a nice guy, however it is 2 hours of driving everyday.  Today is a little different though.  Joy doesn't have to work the whole day, so she dropped me off at work and took my car... that's a little weird.

I am guy who is used to always having his car, I like to be the one to drive places, and I also like to have my keys on me.  I have all of my scan saver cards on my key chain, plus I have a USB memory stick on there.  Today, I have none of it, no car, no keys, no scan saver cards and no memory stick.  But there is an up side to all of this.

The first good thing about this is I am using less gas today, which we all like with prices the way they are these days.  And I mentioned to her that I needed an oil change, and well, she took care of that for me during the day, and even washed my car.  So when comes back with my car around 5 today, I will have a clean car, with new oil, and oh ya, Joy will be here too.

Where has our freedom gone?

I read this article today and wanted to share it with all of you. I think it is a sign of how our country is not focused on dealing with real issues. The idea that someone was arrested becuase he was wearing a shirt that promotes peace makes me sick to my stomach. Please, read it for yourself.

Busted for wearing a peace T-shirt; has this country gone completely insane?
By Mike Ferner
Online Journal Contributing Writer


Jul 5, 2006, 01:49


Friday afternoon, drinking a cup of coffee while sitting in the Jesse Brown V.A. Medical Center on Chicago's south side, a Veterans Administration cop walked up to me and said, "Okay, you've had your 15 minutes, it's time to go."

"Huh?" I asked intelligently, not quite sure what he was talking about.

"You can't be in here protesting," Officer Adkins said, pointing to my Veterans For Peace shirt.

"Well, I'm not protesting, I'm having a cup of coffee," I returned, thinking that logic would convince Adkins to go back to his earlier duties of guarding against serious terrorists.

Flipping his badge open, he said, "No, not with that shirt. You're protesting and you have to go."

Beginning to get his drift, I said firmly, "Not before I finish my coffee."

He insisted that I leave, but still not quite believing my ears, I tried one more approach to reason.

"Hey, listen. I'm a veteran. This is a V.A. facility. I'm sitting here not talking to anybody, having a cup of coffee. I'm not protesting and you can't kick me out."

"You'll either go or we'll arrest you," Adkins threatened.

"Well, you'll just have to arrest me," I said, wondering what strange land I was now living in.

You know the rest. Handcuffed, led away to the facility's security office, past people with surprised looks on their faces, read my rights, searched, and written up.

The officer who did the formalities, Eric Ousley, was professional in his duties. When I asked him if he was a vet, it turned out he had been a hospital corpsman in the Navy. We exchanged a couple sea stories. He uncuffed me early. And he allowed as to how he would only charge me with disorderly conduct, letting me go on charges of criminal trespass and weapons possession -- a pocket knife -- which he said would have to be destroyed (something I rather doubt since it was a nifty Swiss Army knife with not only a bottle opener, but a tweezers and a toothpick).

After informing me I could either pay the $275 fine on the citation or appear in court, Ousley escorted me off the premises, warning me if I returned with "that shirt" on, I'd be arrested and booked into jail.

I'm sure I could go back to officers Adkins' and Ousleys' fiefdom with a shirt that said, "Nuke all the hajis," or "Show us your tits," or any number of truly obscene things and no one would care. Just so it's not "that shirt" again.

And just for the record? I'm not paying the fine. I'll see Adkins and Ousley and Dubya's Director of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, if he wants to show up, in United States District Court on the appointed date. And if there's a Chicago area attorney who'd like to take the case, I'd really like to sue them -- from Dubya on down. I have to believe that this whole country has not yet gone insane, just the government. This kind of behavior can't be tolerated. It must be challenged.

I was at the Jesse Brown V.A. Medical Center because I'm participating in the Voices for Creative Nonviolence's 30-day, 320-mile "Walk for Justice," from Springfield to North Chicago, Illinois, to reclaim funding for the common good and away from war.
Mike Ferner served as a Navy corpsman during Vietnam War and is obviously a member of Veterans For Peace. He can be reached at: mike.ferner@sbcglobal.net.

Copyright © 1998-2006 Online Journal

Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" played on some Ukuleles

Someone posted this video on the intertent and I needed to share it with all of you. It is the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain playing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

Important Holiday

According to my desktop calendar, today is the birthday of Sylvester Graham, who lived from 1795-1851. He was a Kellogg-like fellow who promoted an abstemious lifestyle which rejected "sexual excess" and laziness, and encouraged cold baths, chastity, and a vegetarian diet. He stated that Languor, lassitude, feebleness of circulation, loss of appetite, indigestion, chilliness, headache, melancholy, epilepsy, weakness of the brain, loss of memory, and early death of offspring, along with about 30 other ailments were caused by sexual excesses between husband and wife.

 

In honor of this luminary and his special day, I am going to go home, take a cold bath, abstain from any "excess", and eat a dinner of his most notable contribution to society- the Graham Cracker. No doubt I'll wake up fit as a fiddle- so if you see me kicking up my heels, and think "He's Got Moxie!" That's probably why.

Car Broken? Don't go to Pep Boys.

This is a consumer warning, don't use Pep Boys for your auto repairs. If you are just going to pick up some supplies, that's fine, but as far as repairs go, here is a little story about a girl I know and her bad times with Pep Boys.

A couple weeks ago, a girl named Joy had her brakes done at Pep Boys for a good price and in a short amount of time. Sounds great so far. Two weeks later, her breaks are acting funny, making noises and such. She returns to Pep Boys, since she has a warranty on the breaks with them, to find out that something in her breaks broke. While the mechanic is under the car, he discovers that the guy who did the first brake job put the breaks on the WRONG WAY.

At this point Pep Boys fixes their mess up and discounts the new job, which took most of the day as Joy sat in the waiting room all day. Fast forward a couple of days. Joy is driving and her break light goes on. She doesn't show too much concern for it since her check engine light does this all the time. (However, if your break light does go on, you should pull over right away and check your break fluid). A couple days later driving from her parents house to mine she sees a puff of smoke behind her car on the road. Nothing is wrong yet. Nearing me house, breaking starts to become difficult. When pulling in front of my house she had to use the hand break to stop.

After checking the things out I saw the break fluid was all gone. We went and got more break fluid, put it in and tried it out only to have the fluid leak down the back tires. The next day Pep Boys toed the car back to the shop. On Monday they determined that there is a problem that they did not see the first time and they will be eating the cost of the entire job.

Things Pep Boys did right

• Discounted the cost on the second job


• Doing the newest job for free

However, what they did wrong was to not properly diagnose a break problem which could have killed Joy. A break job is not something that should be messed up, as it is life threatening. So please take my advice and don't go to Pep Boys for your car repairs (well, at least not the one in Bridgeport, CT).

TMBG @ Mohegan Sun

Ryan, Joy and I went to Mohegan Sun's Wolf Den to They Might Be Giants perform a free show. We almost didn't get in since they Wolf Den only has 360 seats, but we managed to be the last three people. I have some concert video on here, but since I had other video on my phone that i forgot about, I couldn't record too much.

Enjoy!

Slow day before holiday

I always hate these days. You walk around the office and know that most people's minds aren't on the meeting at 11, or the report that is due. No, they are thinking about picking up the volleyball net, getting propane for the grill, and checking the beer supply.

I, for one, won't actually be celebrating over the weekend. I am going to see They Might Be Giants tomorrow at Mohegan Sun, but that is all until the actual 4th of July. As it is, I will be going to work on the 3rd, which will be another wasted day. Half of the building will be empty, and who really wants to work for one day? Not me, I say that eveyone who does have to work on Monday should be able to go in wearing picnic clothes. Wear shorts and sandals, have fun!

Happy Friday before the 4th!

Ford backing out of Hybrids

From Wired.com

Ford Reverses on Hybrids
Topic: Hybrids
Buying an "American" hybrid in the future will be a bit more of a challenge as Ford says it was just kidding about its pledge to produce 250,000 hybrids per year.

Instead of ramping up production of hybrids, the company is going to focus on flex-fuel vehicles and will work with bio-fuels companies to increase the availability of ethanol, according to the Detroit News.

Critics say Ford keeps to promises about as well as Charlie Sheen, citing past pledges for increasing fuel efficiency that never came to be.

Ford isn't giving up on hybrids altogether, but the shift to ethanol is taking the easy way out since it doesn't require innovation. Add "Falsely Over-promising on Research and Development" to the list of disparaging acronyms.

Now the other day, I posted about NYC going Hybrid with their Taxis, and as Ryan had pointed out, they were Fords. Now if Ford is making less of these, how will other cities follow the lead of NYC. Instead Ford wants to go with Flex Fuels (e85). Well, that is still burning something, but it is better for the enviroment, the problem is the stations, there aren't that many stations. Look at this map. First you will notice that they aren't in every state, and second, you will notice that in the states where they are, there are not that many of them.

It seem to me that the US, Detroit based companies want to keep burning things, while it's the Japanse companies want to use their battaries. One thing to keep your eye on is this device, it's the H2N-Gen. It works with your car that you have now, and makes it's own Hydrogen on the spot to inject into your engine, increasing milage and cutting emissions almost completely.

Today's Song

I don't really have anything newsworthy to report on today, since I am chained to my desk, and actually quite busy today. But I am listening to my iPod here (shut up, I had one when they still looked like little lucite bricks), which I enjoy having at work because it allows me to listen to the tons of music I download when I go on a download spree and often forget about altogether. Because of that, sometimes I hear a song that is completely novel to me, and comes at an odd time when I am not expecting it to.

 

This happened recently with a Kiss song. Now, I've never been a big Kiss guy. I'm not anti-kiss, but I never got into their whole face painting, pyrotechnic, freakish tongue-having cult. I mean, Knights in the Service of Satan? I can't get behind that. But when someone lent me the greatest hits, I downloaded it to my playlist for later digestion, thinking, hey, maybe it is not all "I wanna rock and roll all nite."

 

So, last week I was in Manhattan, walking briskly, to catch a subway and get on my commuter train back to the 'burbs. Suddenly, I hear "New York Groove"- Don't expect it to change your life- it is a very basic, simple song- almost bordering on a disco tune, but at that moment, coming on my earphones at the very same tempo that I was walking, it brought a big smile to my face. It also had special significance for me, as I am making my return to the NY thing in September.

 

Google Checkout

Google has done it again. They have re-created a web tool and I can only imagine that they made it better. I am talking about the new Google Checkout. And it is just what the name suggests, a new way to buy things online. The idea is very much like that behind PayPal. You put your money in account, or connect your credit card to it and they give the money to the vendor. But with Google, I can only imagine that they have made it better and easier. And for AdSense Customers, there are cost savings for using the service on the vendor side of things. The details deal with numbers, and I am not going to share them here. All I will say is that chances are they will have better fees than PayPal, even though they said that they are not in competition.

Well it is Google, and I tend to like alot of what they do, chances are good that I will be trying this out in the near future. The program has been in testing for a year and they already have two major players signed up, Starbucks and Buy.com.

Good luck Google, you need... who am I kidding, Google doesn't need any luck, I need their luck.

Chuck Norris facts - by Chuck Norris himself

This is a great video. For anyone that has ever been sent to the site of Chuck Norris facts, here is the man himself reading the facts on TV.

Precipitation Rains on My Plans.

So, I wanted to play golf today. Nothing fancy, just a quick nine on a short course after work- a bit more facile than a standard course, a little more challenging than a par-3. And here in Connecticut, we are being inundated by a deluge of biblical proportions. Okay, maybe not of biblical proportions. Then again, if you were to fashion a container with the same proportions as a King James Bible, I would hazard a guess that you would be able to fill it with the amount of rain that has fallen, so maybe that statement was not as hyperbolic as I thought it was.

 

Anyway, the rain is enough to overwhelm the drainage system at the Orchards, and enough to ruin my plans. At least it is good for my cranberry farm.

Hybrid Taxis in NYC

I would like to give NYC some credit here. Treehugger is reporting that NYC will be getting more hybrids in their fleet of Taxis. This is a great idea. Most of Taxi driving in NYC is stop and go and that is when the Hybrid becomes benifical. Heck, they will barely even use any gas at all.

What i'm confused by is this picture below. It is great that they are getting hybrids, but why hybrid SUVs? Why not hybrid sedans? They MPG on a hybrid SUV is the same as on my Nissan Sentra. Well, at least it's a step in the right direction.



More infor about hybrid cars can be found at HybridCars.com. They have a listing of all current and up coming hybrids out there, plus stats.

Food

So, there is another blog that I once started, that would chronicle my food adventures, eating at good restaurants, making good meals, even discovering new holes in the wall. I'm not even going to link to it, because there is nothing there. I'm not sure there ever will be, since the time will come soon that my kitchen will once more be nothing more than a countertop and a fridgerwave. So, I'm going to start posting all of my food-related thoughts here instead, and close it for business. I mean, I would rather have a blog that I update daily than 4 that I never update.

I will certainly miss having cooking adventures like the below beer can chicken, or even grilling a thick rib eye like we did last night. I'm no expert, but some of my tips for a juicy steak on the grill:

• Olio. A couple dashes of olive oil will help your seasonings to stick evenly on the steak, and help in the searing process. Besides, the tiny bit you put on will be instantly turned to carbon when it hits the grill, so the additional calories are negligible.
• Season away. Don't be afraid to put a nice thick coat of pepper, chili powder, Coriander, Cumin etc on the steak. Other great seasonings include dry mustard, granulated garlic, and ginger. The only key is think about how they'll taste together- if you aren't sure. mix them up in a small bowl, taste, and then once you make your "rub" and are satisfied, apply.
• Hot Hot Hot. While cool smoke cooking is great for some applications, a juicy steak needs to hit a hot grill. If you have a gas grill, turn it up to preheat right before you put the steaks on. If you have a traditional grill, try and spare a piece of fat or some bacon drippings, and drop them on the coals so they flare right before you apply. Sear the steak for a few seconds, then on a gas grill, reduce heat to high.
• Butter. I know, it's not good for you. But if you are going to do it right, do it right. If you want to be healthy, make a turkey burger. Take a small pat of butter and mush it with fresh or dry parsley (or chives). Put a tiny pat on each steak- no need to drench it, just a little dollop. It is as much for garnish as for flavor, Do it just before serving, so the butter is about 2/3 melted when you get to the table.

Yeah, butter and olive oil. You wanna fight about it?

Subway® PR Video

Here is a Public Relations video that I made for Subway®. Not sure how long I will have this up for, since it is company video and all, but hey, it's free PR.

Funny Article

Someone from my old job sent this image around. It's a pretty funny news article. Read the whole thing, you won't be sorry.

Click on the image to make it bigger so you can read it.

Like Christmas but...

Not. So today, Apple  went down for about a half hour. Now as many have commented, when most e-commerce websites go down, there would be a riot. But Apple fan boys like myself know that when Apple's site goes down, it is like when a parent give a kid sedatives so he can put things under the tree. I mean, Santa Jobs can't be going around trying to fill stockings with thousands of greedy cursors swirling around all over the place blowin’ up his spot. Especially not those 3.1 holdouts with the trail of 1,000 ghost cursors. Now that is scary, like the first time you are playing Mario 1 and realize you can jump up on top of the screen, and be all walking in front of the score, and you are all like, I didn’t think that was a viable part of Mario’s reality, and now he is, waltzing right by his score. I wonder if he sees it?

 

Anyway, when that happens (and by it I mean the apple store going down, not Mario dancing all over his score Pee-Wee Herman style), we know to get all excited because some new kit is coming. Well, false alarm. No new macs, no new software, no nothin. Just updating the Nike pack to available from pre-order. Ooooooh... like that was worth jumping to the top of the internet usage stats for my company by feverishly reloading.

 

The next one better be good, Jobs.

I'm Lame...

I admit it, I'm lame. Why you might ask, well because the Apple store was down for like an hour today and I got all excited that something new was coming out. on Digg, we were all talking about it. But when the store came back up there was nothing, nadda, zip, zero, ziltch... So I'm going back to doing work since I am at work. Maybe I should stop checking the Apple store every single day.... nah!!!

Look, It's Subman

I get to have fun at my job. Here is a recent thing I did, I had to find when Subman appeared in the film "Raising Helen". Well, I found him, and here is the scene where he is in the background. If you don't see him the first time, don't worry, I slow down the video and highlight him.

Screw Abercrombie

So today, I came upon a catalogue, that puts abercrombie and fitch's half naked models to shame. These people are legitimately selling CLOTHING. That's right. Check out the catalog.

Edit by Keith: Warning, NOT WORK FRIENDLY!

Joy and Keith go Running

Beer Can Chicken

Watch as Keith and Justin cook a Beer Can Chicken. (This video was shot with Keith's cell phone)

"An Inonvenient Truth" reviewed by Roger Ebert

"In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but
here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not,
and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided
not to." - Roger Ebert

I have not yet seen this movie.  Mainly because it isn't playing everywhere yet.  But when it does, I will see it, because I do believe that it will be one of the most important things that I can do, or that any of us can do.   Just watching the trailer made me feel like I haven't done anything to fix the problem.  And even though some people have said that Al Gore is trying to scare us, well they are right.  He is trying to get us to react, to do something, to start the change.  It is often said that the truth hurts.  Well, once we get over the pain we can either ignore the pain or do something about it.  Are you going to let your arm bleed or are you going to wash it out and put a band-aid on it.

There are some great movies coming out this summer.  X-men III was one of them.  I know, because I saw it.  But I think we all need to take the time and watch this movie.  Don't do it for yourself, do it for your kids.

Wii for everyone

Ever since I heard about the Revolution, I have been hooked.  I have been reading everything that comes out about it.  And now I keep reading every post about it now that it is called the Wii.  What makes this so great? How can I support it before it even hits the stores?

First of all, I am a Nintendo Fan.  I have always loved the nintendos and i love their frame of mind.  And second of all, they are doing something with the Wii that is different.  They aren't going with better graphics like the Xbox 360, or the PS3.  They aren't charging an arm and a leg, and they aren't creating a system that will control everything.  They are making a gaming system that will be fun to play.  Something that everyone can play, and something that you won't mind your kids playing.  So even though I have told people about it before, here it is again, I am buying it as soon as it comes out!

Battery Causes Apple iBook To Go Up In Flames! Pics Included.

"I mean, it was five minutes and (the computer) was in flames," Cindy Brown said. "The computer burst into flames. It doesn't seem real that you would have a fire in a computer. We all could have died, and the house could have burned down."

This a crazy story about people not doing what they are supposed to. They put a laptop on the floor. Capeting can catch on fire? Yes, it can, especially when you put a hot computer on it. If these people had died, I would have nominated them for the Darwin Awards.

read more | digg story

My first wrestling match

Back in college, my friends started their own wrestling association. They then asked me to join since they only had 5 people. I gladly said yes, even though I didn't really watch wrestling at the time or even knew that many moves. In any case, I went ahead and joind the JHWA (J Hill Wresting Association) as Tech. This is my first match which was on a PPV night, Turkey Thrash '99, where I take on Old Dirty Tim (stupid name).

'Ben'

The last of my student films that I will be showcasing on here is my senior project. It won best screenwriting in the Spring of 2002 at Sacred Heart university. It's a comedy of sorts. Well, that's all I'm going to say. Enjoy, and leave comments.

In memory of Christopher Martin Bowley

Another school project that started out as a tribute video to a friend who passed away in college. It's a bit of a tear jerker, so have some tissues handy when watching this video.

Vidcast 1

It's our first vidcast. There is no reason for it.

Landfall

This is my first film I ever made for class back in the day. It's an abstract film about the word 'Landfall'

Sick Ticket's Last Show

This is Sick Ticket's Last show performed at Toad's Place

The Michaels first show

This is the first show of my new band, The Michaels

Google Video Test

Ok, This is a test to see if my video I uploaded on Google Video will embed itself in this post.

AAVR Episode for 2/28/06

Keith and Justin return together for this long overdue podcast.

Links for this podcast;
http://www.myspace.com/themichaelsband
www.apple.com

And I think that's it, enjoy.

New Apple Products are just OK

Today, Apple had a ‘Special Event’ to announce some new products.  The first thing is this iPod speaker thing, which does not excite me at all.  There have been several different iPod speakers that have come out from great brands such as Bose and JBL, and well, I guess Apple wanted to get in on it as well.  I still prefer to just hook my iPod up to my home stereo that I got for free, and has great sound.

 

The second item of today is really cool, but not ‘Special Event’ worthy if you ask me. They released a new Mac Mini, which is pretty cool.  Don’t me wrong, it is better than my mini, but again, this just does not meet the excitement level that I had for this event.  Then again, I’m still one of those people with the two color iPod.  What can I say?  It plays music and that’s all I really need.

 

SNES = Best System Ever

I found this article at XYZ Computing today, and it argues how the SNES is the best gaming system EVER (or at least until the Revolution comes out).  The author’s main points are that the SNES stayed true to its roots, the NES.  The SNES was also packaged better than other systems.  The PlayStation and xbox normally only come with one controller, and maybe a game, MAYBE!!!  The SNES came with TWO controllers and Super Mario World.  For these reasons, I agree.  Not to say that I don’t enjoy killing people in GTA III, but Nintendo will always have a warm spot in my heart, and I plan on pre-ordering the Revolution.  

You can read this guys article here.

 

 

It really gets you in the right posterior inferior frontal gyrus, doesn't it?

I have a little ammunition for all of you  like me who work in marketing and have ever had to argue with someone who contended that what we do (Marketing) is "not neuroscience". Researchers from UCLA did an in-depth study, measuring brain waves and reactions to commercials via functional magnetic resonance imagery.

 

The scientists compared levels of brain activity triggered by this year's troupe of commercials in a number of categories, from fear, to arousal, to empathy. Admittedly, this year was a pretty lame subject matter to study, but I found to be interesting, based on the overall volume of brain activity, which commercials were chosen as the winners.

 

a summary of the study

or, just the fun part

 

 

This is a test. I am going to see if I can post via email, since I cannot access this site from my office. Also, I wonder if I can make LINKS here. 

Welcome to Bobo

Ladies and gents, I would like to welcome our newest contributor to the AAVR blogging world. You may have heard his voice in one of our podcasts, and now he is here to let his thoughts run free with ours. So, welcome Bobo!

Now Bobo, to answer your question, and probably the question a lot of other people have, I will tell you what this is all about. Even though my most recent posts were about tech stuff, that does not mean we are all about tech. NO NO NO. This blog is about us. And it is about the crazy things we do. For one, I had actually wrote this long post about the BBQ place we went too recently, but the computer farted on me and I lost it. And since it took 20 minutes to write, I did not feel like writing that again. So that is what this is about. Like Sienfield, it is about nothing. And soon, we will be having more podcasts. They have really only been delayed because I am house sitting for the week, so I can't record with Justin right now. Oh well, soon enough.

New (better) voice recorder

I now have the Olympus DS-2, pictured to the left here. It is much better than the Sony which I have up on eBay right now. This is just a quick test to see it working. The included software works great for downloading the files and then just converting them into a format that I can then use in an audio editor. In my case, I use Audacity, and then convert into mp3. I hope that this will lead to the rebirth of quality podcasts.

PS3 = The Death of Sony

To some, the xbox 360 may seem expensive, but wait, there is another money hungry giant on the way. Rumors are going around about possible prices for the long overdue PS3 estimated to be upwards around $800 - $900. This is crazy! And even if it is just a rumor, it has been enough to make the public worry as Sony's stock has taken a major hit.

It seems that for a change, Microsoft did something smart by eating part of the price of the xbox 360. Nintendo has come out to announce that they will be keeping the price of their up coming Revolution under $300. Sony, you are coming too expensive too late.

Apple Event 2/28/06

Now this is not a tech blog, but we do love our technology. And for those that care, Justin and I are both Mac users. That's right, we are part of that group that gravitate to the little white boxes with half eaten fruit on them.

This of course means that we keep are ear to the ground, or the internet as it were, about interesting news regarding the Apple. Well, today Think Secret has announced that there is a special Apple event by invintation only on 2/28. Now, at Mac world there was some cool stuff, but we were still waiting for something really big to come out and maybe this is it. Or not and I just wasted your time and mine. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Hello World

I would like to introduce myself as the second voice of AAVR. I previously posted under the name "BBQDudes" another blog that we had, but I think it is important to have unique identities here in this shared blog. So I'll be weighing in now and then on how we don't post enough, current events and the like.

My new Sony Voice Recorder

This is my new toy. It's a Sony ICD-P110 and this podcast was recorded on it. I hope that you enjoy.

The Deserted Island scenario

Every once in a while someone pulls it out. 'If you were stuck on deserted island, what would you want with you?" usually people say what three albums or three books, or just three things period. Now historically, people give ridiculous answers. There was a recent commercial for Budweiser and the guy picked a life time supply of Bud (which is just gross) and two women. That is just impractical. I know, it was supposed to be a joke, but today I have given this some serious thought and here it is.

If I was stuck on an island, with no one else, and I could only have three things, this is what they would be and why.

1 - A Hatchet

It is a versatile tool. I can use it to cut wood. This wood can be used for shelter, fire, and other tools such as spears for hunting. The other side also acts like a hammer. Now I can have another tool with just one item.

2 - The Bible

I thought about this and decided I wanted a book. A book keeps you occupied for long periods of time. Now the Bible happens to be a rather long book. Part Historical Document, Part Religious, all together a long read. Not only will it occupy me for long periods of time. It will keep my brain active as I will be able to really take it all in.

3 - Pencil and Paper

Ok, I know that technically it's two items, but they are useless without each other. Hence, they get to both be in this. Having a lot of time when alone allows you to think a lot, and there is nothing worse than losing those thoughts. So now with pencil and paper, I will have a way to right down thoughts and also keep a full account of everything that happens to me. This is great for when someone finds my body one day with a day to day account of my struggles. Or, if I get rescued, I have a number one bet seller to make me some cash, since by then I would have been declared dead and all of my money would be in other people's pockets.


That's it. As of today, right now, those are the things I would want with me. Of course a nice tent, a year supply of MREs, and other survival gear would be awesome. And even better is to not get left on a deserted island.

First show using garage band

This is a test run using garage band. Now, if you in the past just downloaded the show off the site and listened, this may not work for you. It it is kinda forcing you to use iTunes or a product that will play m4a files. Now iTunes is free, so if you ddon't have it, go get it and use it to listen. I really hope that this new method works.

A new year, and maybe a new us?

Well, it's a new year, and perhaps it's time for us to treat this blog with more respect. I haven't actual discussed this with my partner in crime, but I'm sure that he would be down for it. Since it's a new year let me update everyone on the world of AAVR.

First off, I got engaged. Yes, she said 'yes'. Now, before you ask, there is no date or anything like that yet, but there is a ring around her finger.

Second, well, that really was the big news. But there may very well be a resurgence of the radio show, as both Justin and I have the new garageband for the Mac which has made podcasting super easy.

And this is me hoping that it works out.