Thursday, May 31, 2007

Paradise.

Thinking about it, other than the shootings and the crime this is a sort of paradise. Fritters in the morning, a dip in the lake for lunch, living up amongst the leaves. It is nice.

Home

So I get home last night and it's sweltering, there are people all over the streets, the poor and the Cubs night gamers, sirens and unmarked cars all over the place. All the comforts of home. Then at around midnight the power goes out in the neighborhood, so I stumble over the things I've brought back from Minneapolis in the dark and hop into bed and am nearly asleep when I hear a loud "bang" and then sirens sirens sirens. And of course when I wake up in the morning my network is all messed up. But damn it all, it's good to be home. If the feces and needle count isn't too high I'm going for a wade today.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

God Bless The Cannons

So the only thing keeping me in this town now is the disposition of my bed. Fortunately, Kevin Cannon has agreed to take the bed and a number of other sundries off of my hands. God bless the Cannons! I'll be able to head out tomorrow at a decent hour and have a nice leisurely drive home. To my wife I leave my second best bed.*

* This is not literal, and only barely literary.

Almost Done

It was a bittersweet cacophony last night with the Roe Family. I sat through the entire set and passed on my broom and board to Q. at the end of the night. A new broom player will appear at some point. Hopefully he can make good use of my gear. I will more than likely miss the Roe Family Singers. Even when the most proper care is taken attachments may form.



I am sitting outside good ol' Muddy Waters on Lyndale. There was a fritter donut sitting on the counter but it's all wrong, all wrong. The dough is hard and crumbly like a donut, there's much too much cinnamon. This is basically a cinnamon roll in the guise of a fritter. The coffee though is most agreeable.

Max was in town hanging out with Britt. Apparently his identity was stolen. We seem to agree that we should be a comic of our own, much like Kevin and Zander. Following model, I'll be the tall goofy one and he'll be the short mean one. In a reversal, I'll be goofy and say things about how business and corporations and wealth stratification are good things, but in a dopey way.

I am almost done clearing out the apartment. From craigslist things came, to craigslist they return. Let us ponder this lesson. Pondering... pondering...

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Wired

So I woke up this morning and did a little programming and then got the funny idea to convert my phone jacks into ethernet jacks. Much easier than I thought - the place has cat5 cable running through it, just needed to switch out the jacks.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Bah!

I went to Ritz camera looking for film but they knew not what film to sell me, and they only had one type of pack film. I need Mike to be back but unfortunately he'll be back as I'm leaving. And the kicker is Motorcoat has a land camera already, and his works with 667 film.

So Funny


Good lord the Cannon Un-Brothers have been on a roll. Visit their blog now! I wish every day were Monday other than the days when they publish Chapter 99 installments.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Donn the Road

So I took a drive yesterday to try out my road kit, get some cheap wisconsin cigarettes and gas, and take some photos. Some notes:

Clearance Tripod: Obviously on clearance for a reason. One of the clips broke on the extendo legs so I had to use my foot to keep it from sliding down. This'll need replacing. Also, using it as a monopod didn't work (I seem to sway from side to side). Additionally, it may be time to get a better camera.

Power Inverter: Super.

Archos 404: Also super, but the playlist needs to be pared down. Coupled with the power inverter I can survive those long stretches where there's no country music stations. Has a nasty habit of going into unresponsive mode. BUT there's enough room to use it as a supplemental hard drive, meaning one less other item to bring.

Drink Powder Packets: Super savings in both cost and weight over buying soda. Just fill a bottle with water at a rest area, drop in a packet of powder, and drink deliciousness. Wyler's and Crystal Light make my brain hurt, but the Propel packets are good as are the Hawaiian Punch packets.

Cup Shaped Ash Tray: Flicking your cigarette out the window while going 65 mph is really difficult. This little fellow means fewer burn holes in my shirt.

MacBook: Well, it sure did look cute. But you can't really work on it without an external monitor.

I think the key is going to be taking less on the road which will be easier as it gets warmer. Still need to get my fake beard and a nice beat up hat for buskering.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Someone Buy Me a T-Shirt

So since I've retired I've gained about 40 pounds, which means that my shirts don't fit any more. Or rather they leave nothing to the imagination and everything to pure, abject horror. So, if someone with some money would care to buy me a t-shirt I'd be much obliged. I want the one with the skull in a scuba mask so I can look like the kid from pvp online only underwater.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Hooray For Linux

So I took a spare machine over the weekend and installed CentOS. It's been a while since I've had a linux box but this thing is pretty solid - I'm using it as a file server, testing server, and jukebox. Using it as a jukebox is kind of a change since it actually takes effort now to skip a song or look for the right song.

Gene may be taking the dining room table off of my hands this weekend which will free up more space for my music and xbox'ing setup (the xbox somehow moved to the dining room while I wasn't looking). I'll be back in Minnesota next week probably for the last time for a long time. Goodbye Minnesota! Goodbye Roe Family Singers!

Also, if you get a chance go see the I Ching Quartet. They remind me of my very dear northern friends the Roe Family Singers but younger and if possible funnier.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Hurrah!

This morning there were two lumpy donuts waiting for me, in a bag, marked "lumpy donut". One didn't make it to the door, the other met its end shortly after. Thanks Kate! I also bought two day old pastries for my wanderings today.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Victory!

Kate has finally agreed to special order fritter donuts from Bennisons, with the agreement that if a donut goes uneaten it will go in the freezer and at the end of the week I'll buy the leftovers at full retail. The lumpy donut is by far my favorite. In its absence I eat either the coffee claw (airy pastry type) or the scone (crumbly biscuit genus) but these are only the extreme ends of the lumpy donut, which lands right in the sweet spot. I got a tip from a friend of Xxxxx's that the pumpkin donut from Bennisons is also very tasty, but I've not seen sight of that yet.

In the continuing story of folks heading to Seattle, Brooker-Weis are headed out to Portland this weekend and driving up to Seattle. If they were the type I'd have them pull a prank on Motorcoat but Mike'd look at me like I was nuts.

Monday, May 14, 2007

2%

So I'm driving home from the Empty Bottle and I see an S.U.V. with an American flag sticker on one of the rear side windows. Of course I get curious so I examine the rest of the car. The spare tire's cover has a picture of an eagle, staring dead ahead, bursting through an American flag talons fully extended. Sort of leaping at the car behind. So I'm wondering to myself what exactly is the message? Here's an eagle tearing apart an American flag. Did the owner of the car not get that?

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Pot Calls the Kettle Cookware

So I brought my spare capo back from Minneapolis and gave it to Xxxxx, who I've loaned a spare guitar to, and she asks if I'd mind if the guitar travels. So by travel she apparently means she's going to be moving out of her apartment (she has a roommate) and sleeping on other people's couches, which she's mostly doing now anyways. I questioned whether that was such a good idea but that's kind of hypocritical since I've done the same thing and may do the same thing again at some point. Wheeling about playing guitar and cello and writing songs and playing music? Kind of cool but still, I worry.

In other news, a couple of things I've been pitching in on during my retirement have launched or are near launch. I'm very pleased with all of them. That's a new feeling for me.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Sweet Home Chicago!

Just got off the road and finished unloading stuff after a brief trip up to Minneapolis - Jamey Erickson invited a bunch of graphics professionals (and me) to critique his class's final projects and, having never been invited to one of these I was honored to make the trek up to attend. The kids had a wide range of skill levels but they all handled themselves pretty well in terms of presenting and talking about their work. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to refrain from being overly critical, which is my natural tendency.

Needless to say, it is nice to be back amongst my tools and to have my napping couch at hand. Now to reintegrate my away gear into the office and get a couple of hours of work done!

Monday, May 07, 2007

Back in Minneapolis

Back in Minneapolis. It feels weird being here now and I think I know what the difference is - all my tools are now in Chicago, whereas before they were here. Home is where the tools are. All my monitors are back in Chicago, my printer, scanner, wacom tablet, etc. I packed really light this time as I anticipate it being a short trip and I'll be bringing some big items back with me (television, appliances, chrome shelves).

It's always a good visit stopping in at Big Time Attic. Zander and Kevin are always making SOMETHING entertaining. They're definitely in my heroes list. Something funny every few days, and their normal work which is sometimes funny too. Adam's in St. Louis, Gene's back in Chicago, Shad and Vinny are at Puny tending to the New Power Generation. It's funny how this little group has fared over the years.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Ywan...

Well, it's been quite the weekend. Good ol' Wirtzy came down from Minneapolis to play the hideout with his band Cap'n Yonder so I took a bit of time to show him and one of his bandmates around the hood. Had a sandwich at the cafe/deli, went to the lake and climbed on the rocks. It just so happened that Adam was playing the hideout on the same night as the Dirty Found show, which was totally, obnoxiously packed. Funny stuff though, definitely go if it comes to your town. And in the last bit of coincidence the ever talented Mary Nisi DJ'ed afterwards, although I was so pooped out by that point I went home.

Today me and Matt and Nick went to see Spider-Man 3. I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed the other movies, other than the Kirsten Dunst scenes. She may be a fine actress but in this series she's been cardboard. She was very good in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In the Spider-Man series she's not so good.

Tomorrow I'm heading back up to Minneapolis. A bunch of folks are critiquing some of Erickson's students' final projects, one of which I helped out some on. Plus I need to get my television and some udder stuff. If you don't know, I love you. Whoever you are reading this. It is true. Oh yes. Scout's honor. Cross my fingers.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Life and How To Live It

Well, it's been a long day but an exceedingly good one. Two very good naps, a bit of work, just finished a grapefruit, tickets to see Spider-Man 3 on Sunday. I'm apparently getting a credit on His/Hers, the HOT new EP from Zelienople - cello and gasp on the last track. I've been slowly increasing my number of productive hours each day and have apportioned a bit of time in the morning to guitarifying. No sense saying I'm unretiring or that I'm still retired. Just doing what I do.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Deviant Sex Act Fabricator



The boys at Aesthetic Apparatus have posted a Deviant Sex Act Fabricator. Funny stuff! Those guys have it figured out.