Today I pulled off a five-minute mile while running around the island. Let’s call it a virtual mile since even in my prime running days back in the Nineties, living in Hyde Park, six and a half minutes was the best I could really do.
Sep. 5, 2009 Update: I pushed my luck today and broke the five-minute mile barrier and succeeded in “running” 4.103 miles in 20 minutes which equal to running around the island two and a half times.
I got back on the Wii Fit wagon shortly after our vacation ended because I regained some of the weight I lost…and I still can’t shake it due to the stress of life lately. Don’t worry, once Snow Leopard becomes a more routine product, I think I can work my way down to the low 220s or else the new jeans I bought in June were a bust.
Anyway, I scored a free iPhone application called Lose It to keep track of my caloric intake but it also gives you credit for exercise. So this led to a search on the Internet for a some numbers. I found this site which has a link and guide to the official Wii Fit Calorie Counter site. Why not just have the latter? Unless one reads Japanese pretty well, it would be wiser to read the author’s explanation on which buttons to press.
I was watching the Nintendo channel last week as I do every Monday on our Wii and saw this (video above). Now I don’t have any buyer’s remorse regarding the decision to go with Rock Band because GH’s guitar peripherals suck, especially on World Tour (aka GH4). However, I’m a tad jealous over this franchise providing unlockable avatars of real rock stars, namely Shirley Manson of Garbage. Then GH’s owners/developers (Activision and Neversoft) once again demonstrate their ability to hit the lowest common denominator by also having avatars of Carlos Santana, Matthew Bellamy (of Muse), Johnny Cash and Kurt Cobain. Must be their desire to attract aging hippies, hipsters and ghouls into playing because the past mediocre song choices weren’t cutting it. They’re getting closer because this is better than dueling against Slash and Tom Morello as if it were Super Smash Brothers.
After all the fuss regarding the Beatles’ Rock Band game dies down, I hope Harmonix and EA raise the bar by making some major refinements to their franchise. My immediate suggestions would be more cities to tour, more clothing/accessory choices and a way to define your band’s sound, thus preventing Shampoo Planet (my band) from having to perform Norm Greenbaum, Linkin Park and Mastadon. If RB does add avatars, they better be people who are still alive and fit the game’s spirit.
Photo from statesman.com
Elvis Costello and his current back-up band the Sugar Canes came to Austin last night to perform his latest release Secret, Profane & Sugarcane: a series of Americana-type numbers with a couple co-written by Loretta Lynn and T-Bone Burnett. The show was a birthday present for my friend and frequent concert buddy Mark. I knew he was a huge fan who has followed Elvis through the years so it was a safe gamble buying the tickets over the Summer to surprise him. UT’s Bass Hall being the perfect venue made the gift closer to perfect. Bass is often the concert hall for touring musicals, Opera/Classical artists, plays and other performances needing solid acoustics. I wanted to go as well because Elvis has been influential on so much material I love: Squeeze, everything but the girl, Duran Duran, Danko Jones, Eurythmics, Nick Lowe and the list goes on if you search this entry courtesy of allmusic.com.
The Sugar Canes were an interesting combination of musicians playing the following instruments: mandolin, upright double bass, violin, accordion, guitars and a dobro. No drums! These guys were pretty talented to operate without the standard tool for keeping the time and beat in modern Pop/Rock.
Obviously the hits were played with this arrangements: “Alison,” “Indoor Fireworks,” “Every Day I Write the Book,” “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes,” and “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding.” Those were the ones I recognized, Mark would know more. Elvis led them through a couple impressive covers: The Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” (I’m used to Lyle Lovett’s version) and the Rolling Stones’ “Happy.” Between numbers he told anecdotes about performing with Johnny Cash and June Carter on the BBC, his two sons staying at the hotel while dad works, advice his father gave him (a successful band leader in the UK) and working with Loretta Lynn. My opinion of him was pretty high already due to his body of work and partnerships. The showmanship just elevated him to a greater status in my mind. I think he might have been conscious of the ticket price too, he did three encores and these weren’t the obligatory two songs apiece, they were more along the lines of miniature sets.
Near the end he sprung a couple surprises on the audience. A guest appearance of Austin’s Patti Griffin (she’s famous in Folk/Americana/NPR circles) and closing with Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” which was appropriate. Even when I discovered his music as a teenager, I always felt he was a UK version of Lubbock’s favorite son.
School kicked off last week for the majority of Austin’s kids and teens. Man, that one snuck up on me like it did 30 years ago. I guess my brother and me foolishly thought Summer break would never end or we figured we had another week like we used to have in Champaign-Urbana.
It was no big deal though, by then we were pretty well adjusted to our new lives in Springfield; new friends Eric, Chet, Chris and Jeff readily come to mind; Mom and Dad let us ride our bikes to Washington Park with minimal permission; and we really enjoyed going to White Oaks mall because we hardly went to Champaign’s Market Place. We had fully recovered from the trauma of the move earlier that year.
The major event I will always remember was seeing The Muppet Movie on Dad’s birthday. Being a child during the Seventies, I was very familiar with the Muppets through Sesame Street, their syndicated show on channel 17 and brief appearance on SNL. We have the DVD and it still holds up despite some elements being very dated with contemporary audiences. The number of cameos in it would be an impossible task today because money has become more important than story telling. It went on to catapult Jim Henson and Frank Oz to a greater status, especially the latter in his directing career: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Little Shop of Horrors and (sadly) Bowfinger. I just realized I named all of the Oz movies with Steve Martin, must be from me listening to Martin’s new banjo-music CD. I think Muppet was also the first movie I sat through the closing credits on too.
The other memory of the Summer winding down was the day before school resumed. Our parents took us bowling (another leisure-time activity altered by computers and technology). Being kids we didn’t know it was a last-day-of-Summer celebration. I figured Mom and Dad were being nice, not high-fiving each other behind my back. While leaving the alley, someone spotted a flyer for a Saturday-morning kid league. How we cajoled the parents for several days only to regret it a couple months later because it transformed into an obligation that lasted until Spring. It was like attending a mandatory gym class, thus the school week went from five days to five and a half!
Meanwhile (in the background), the fallout from the Iranian revolution was starting to take hold in the US and this would affect my family indirectly as it intensified the first recession I was consciously aware of.
When we picked up our mail Friday morning, Somara opened this weird envelope addressed to me from an auditor. We thought, “Great, what crock of BS will this be? Yet another company wanting to buy our timeshare? What?” It was some weird letter from some group claiming I have $624 owed to me from another organization which sounded like a charity. Anyway, if I filled out the form, provided a copy of my driver’s license, something with my Social Security Number on it and an old bill proving I did reside at my former address circa 1996-7, the helpful group would file the claim on my behalf. The catch was that these “helpers” take 10 percent of the dough for their assistance.
Firstly, I smelled a rat. It read like an identity-theft scam. Secondly, why would a charity owe me, especially such a large amount and during a time I barely gave anything.
I turned over the investigation to Somara. As I am the Finance Minister of the Maggi Republic, Somara is the SEC Chairman, thanks to her research skills via the Internet. She figured it out in an hour at work too after she quizzed me about my whereabouts from 1996-7 which wasn’t anything new; nothing about my past is a secret to her, even the vomit in my pocket incident from 1986.
I called the hotline for the Comptroller’s office to see if my dogeared SSN card would do and would my claim be accepted without any paperwork showing I lived at the apartment in question: I had a PO Box then and I only keep my taxes as far back as seven years as per the audit rules. The nice lady said yes to the first and if the state needed more information on the second, it would be requested in writing. Due to my name being very rare and having a Texas DL since 1995, the odds favored me collecting the money. I mentioned the gold digger letter. She said those people can’t help and not to use them. Seems like this has been going around.
Overall, I’m stoked over any substantial monetary gain because every dime helps toward paying off Sallie Mae, buying a new car or a trip to Las Vegas. I may not receive it for 60 to 90 days but so what, it’s gravy as this point. What I’m happier about is the amount being a 33 percent refund for the crap I was put through from 1996-2000. I can only hope the money was taken from the collection agency. My “case officer” was a d-bag out of Houston who was often pushy, hostile and rude on the phone, including the day I called to make sure the debt had been paid in full.
What a great story to kick off my new MacBook’s inaugural post! I can only hope the rest of you had a great final weekend of Summer.
Yesterday was the debut of the new Mac OS and for the first time in years, I really looked forward to it. Being in technical support for well over 14 years, new things tend to mean new headaches for everybody involved. It’s a natural reaction with most humans because we all get accustomed and complacent with tools we’re comfortable with and understand. Not so with Snow Leopard, aka Mac OS X 10.6. I had the opportunity to receive more hands-on experience by being a beta tester. The exposure for me and my co-workers was a very positive thing; by giving us advanced exposure, we had our concerns and perceptions addressed well before it shipped. I’m confident we helped make it better too.
If you have an Intel-based Mac, I highly recommend moving forward with it. In the past, I usually waited a month or two before upgrading my own personal equipment. Not out of fear or bad news but from the annoyance which came with the shift: Do I have a back up? How long will I be offline? Which third-party stuff I paid for will be incompatible? The list goes on. Time Machine being integral in 10.5 makes this less of a hassle and some of the more “intelligent” (machines aren’t intelligent as humans are) software disables suspect plug-ins or applications. My current MacBook performs noticeably better under it.
I won’t know how much of an improvement Snow Leopard will provide though, it’s getting replaced tonight with my new MacBook, an aluminum unibody! The current 13″ model is now called a Pro because it received some modifications: FireWire 800 port, faster processor and a longer battery life immediately come to mind. I managed to score the previous model from Apple’s clearance section on store.apple.com at an awesome price, close to what I paid two years ago on this plastic one. My sixth portable Mac arrived yesterday but I had to make all the critical preparations before I deploy it, namely buying a new orange-colored case to protect it, finding Bugs Bunny stickers to tag it and a different video-out adapter. I can’t wait to work with the LED-backed display! The video-out chip set can drive a larger external display yet I’m content with the 23″ Viewsonics Somara and I scored in June. We haven’t be able to use them courtesy of Operation: Alexandria delays. Fear not, we’re close.
Meanwhile, Jose committed to buying my fifth portable. I won’t be tacky by posting our agreed price. I will only say that a few people missed out on a great price and if you bought a PC instead, I wish you luck with the upcoming Windows 7. May it not be as frustrating as Vista was.
Stay tuned for pictures of Bugs Bunny IV, it’s not VI because my first portable (a PowerBook 140) was called Lester Stvee and my second (5300c, the New York Mets of Macs) was Trent Walker.
It’s pretty cool to see Patrick Warburton participating in the fray of PCs versus Macs. He has a great voice and uses it to great comical effect. The reference about Brock was from The Venture Brothers for those unfamiliar with the show. See, if Patrick were the Brock character, he would have put the hurt on PC and Mac for getting jilted by the lady. Nobody would die yet I think the bruises may be serious lookin’.
Of course the blogosphere (more like blowhardosphere) whined about the ad being another demonstration of Apple being smug and then all the usual nonsense of Mac viruses, etc. Hey, Apple can’t help it if Microsoft went with the guy on Senifeld who wasn’t as funny.
My cool, comic-book drawing friend gets to celebrate his birthday. Hopefully it will be with his son Chance and all his local friends. I need to drop him a line of greater length than an e-mail of me hob-nobbing with Spinal Tap. Since he’s an artist, Somara and I have proposed bringing him down to Austin for Staple (or is it Staples, like the office-supply store).
As always, if you know my friend, drop him a line or check out his site!
Hmmm. It took this long to get here? I was checking the 2300 story and it’s posted in early December. Even I figured I would hit 2500 by now based upon how much I drop at Waterloo Records. No bother, it’s always a thrill to go there.
I didn’t get to see my friend Chip but I did run into Angie, the nice lady I killed several hours at the DMV with, she was buy helping a gentleman who came all the way from Italy to get some tunes. Meanwhile, Chip had some Thomas Dolby remasters on hold for me and Mark which incidentally lands the honor of being CD number 2400, The Singular Thomas Dolby released this year in Europe. I don’t think there will be US pressings of his material. How I wish he would release something new. The crowd really loved the original tune he did in 2006, something about “your karma hit my dogma.”
On to 2500 and by then, we should have the majority of it on shelves in the newly remodeled Alexandria in my house.
My belated birthday present from Somara! She completed the art work around the previous Wednesday or Friday but I had to wait for the paint to dry. Then I wore them to breakfast because several young people would recognize the characters: Muno (the red one) and Brobee (the green one)! Now all I need is a T-shirt of Plex to match.
The monsters are organized into bins by alphabetical order.
Contrary to the lack of recent posts, Operation: Alexandria is progressing forward. Just not at the blazing pace it once had when we started in the Spring. Illness, vacation and housesitting have gotten in the way. Besides, the photographs of Somara’s end won’t look very different because most of her changes are in boxes. Mine? I’m 85 percent done and much of what I can do now depends upon her. Next week, Somara flies out to Florida for a brief vacation to see the Wicked Witch of the East (my sister-in-law) so this puts Week #24 into the toilet.
Still the progression is there and I wanted to show off a picture of something I did achieve earlier in the month yet forgot to post. I finally organized all my D&D miniatures, except for the ones on loan to the other DMs. I estimate having over 2000 of the damned things, most of them being boring/redundant creatures WOTC seems to randomly stick in those boxes at $15/piece; how many wolves or dire badgers do you really need versus gnolls, ogres or kobolds? It took some endurance and numerous Sundays on a timer. Now when a friend comes over needing to borrow some skeletons or whatnot, I can point him (I have yet to meet a female DM) to the bins.
Other goal posts? We can see the floor in Somara’s former office. I think she cleared a corner too. When the weather cools off, around October in Austin, we may be able to start tearing out the carpeting and take the class on laying down the bamboo flooring before the buying frenzy at Ikea to get those Billys Somara has her eye on. I also need to empty a bookshelf in our bedroom for a detour caused by my growing Chucks collection.
Don’t loose faith. Alexandria is a project we will finish. I have to give progress reports to my anxiety doctor and Somara loves books so a library will be a dream come true. We won’t allow ourselves to have a big-screen TV until this is done neither.
This year has been pretty awesome, especially in light of it being the 25th anniversary of This is Spinal Tap. Earlier I got to see the primary three members unplugged and unwigged in Dallas, now I met the keyboardist from the legendary Smell the Glove tour the movie “documented.” Getting to see David was an accident too. All Summer I had been bugging my co-workers into going to the Alamo Ritz’s Quote-along/Sing-along event. I had never been to one but if I was going to check it out, this well-loved comedy would be the best initiation. Despite all my efforts, Jeff was the only one who could make it when the last opportunity arose.
So we headed down Thursday evening in Jeff’s bitchin’ blue Mustang. The night was off to a great start when we scored a free parking spot near Red River. Then in the lobby, everyone was given a free inflatable guitar to jam with during Nigel’s solos. As we settled into our seats, the Alamo played videos of bands to get the crowd into the right mindset (AC/DC, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden). Then Jeff said how the theater flew in David Kaffinetti. I replied with puzzlement saying there’s nothing special in this show. We missed the one two weeks earlier which had a live cover band. There it was on his iPhone’s Web browser. My response was “Sweet! We will have now met 80 percent of Spinal Tap!”
The rules of the Quote-along/Sing-along were pretty simple.
The hosts then held a quick jamming contest between three brave volunteers before introducing David. As soon as he set foot on the stage, he immediately transformed into Viv and led the crowd through the first verse of “Big Bottom.” He was available for the Q&A after the movie.
How was the experience? Pretty cool I think I’ll twist Jeff’s arm into attending an Eighties Metal theme or another movie we both dig. It wasn’t as obnoxious or as rude as I thought it would be. The quoting parts only occur during key lines: “These go to 11,” “There’s a fine line between clever and stupid,” and (of course) “Have a good time, all the time;” not during the entire movie. Jeff’s a good sport too which helps when playing Rock Band or Guitar Hero.
What did I learn from the Q&A?
Jeff and I got autographs plus some personal face time. He was a pleasure to talk to. David really enjoys meeting people who love the movie and he told me he didn’t know about its delayed success until the early Nineties.
How that expression is so not applicable in Austin during the Summer. Bobcat Goldthwait said it pretty well on the radio, the city of Austin should hand out jars of Gold Bond to all arrivals at the airport.
Anyway, the point is I’m alright contrary to what some may have thought according to FaceBook. I didn’t intend to get such a worried reaction about my health from a couple friends.
Since our vacation back in July, I have been having intermittent chest pain, mainly around the heart region. Stress brings it on and I’m sure caffeine doesn’t help. However, I wasn’t too concerned because I wasn’t collapsing, experiencing a shortness of breath or sweating profusely after any exertion. The pain spreading through my left arm did lead to a little panic. Yesterday, there was a very sharp spike of this while proctoring a class. At the suggestion of a co-worker and Somara, I got in a low-level emergency visit with Austin Regional Clinic (the same place which charged $180 to confirm what I already knew with my cold in June).
After Somara and me had permission to take the remainder of Friday off from work, we made it a bit early for my appointment. I invited Somara along in case it was serious; then she could start making the phone calls to set up arrangements, etc. Being punctual didn’t matter much, I practically had a short nap waiting the 30 extra minutes to see the doctor. In her defense, it was predominantly good news. She agreed it wasn’t a cardiac issue or disease. Based upon my exercising, lack of flop sweat, scaling back the marbled meat (beef. lamb and pork) and no signs of fluid in my lungs, I most likely am duking it out with a bout of costochondritis (aka Tietze’s syndrome).
The remedy? Some over-the-counter pain medication and occasionally puffing up my chest like the on villain from Big Trouble in Little China. It better work, otherwise I’ll be entertaining my co-workers imitating a rooster.
Another fun, creative piece commissioned by Somara’s benefactors. This time for their baby shower. Most of the geek/nerd faction at the party were amused to see a baby Cthulhu cake topper. One person mistook the “girl” in the carriage to be Dr. Zoidberg. I could see that due to the color.
As for the cake itself. It was a delicious double-layer delight with raspberry and pudding filling. I think I’m still wearing a couple slices on my waist.
The doe eyes and bow just makes it easier to be the first to be eaten!
