January 2008

Financially Responsible.

So I just got back from running errands: delivering Earl his lunch (he calls it a lunch kettle, I call it a lunch pail) of a sandwich, chips and other goodies and whatnot and then dashing off to the AT&T store to pick up a charger for his latest cell phone from work. (He didn’t know why he had all these extra chargers in his desk, so he chucked them. Turns out he chucked one too many). While I was out and about I stopped at Best Buy and couldn’t help but take a walk through the computer department. I enjoy drinking in the scent of geek.

I haven’t been paying much attention to PCs for quite a while. I’ve been quite content with my PowerBook and the other Macs strewn throughout the house. However, the PowerBook is starting to show it’s age and Earl’s Mac Mini setup is pushed to the limits nightly so I’m thinking we might need to do some computer upgrades soon. I’ve had my eye on an iMac for Earl and that clocks in around $1400 after all is said and done.

Looking through Best Buy I spotted an impressive Dell desktop computer. While not as sleek looking as a Mac, I have to admit that Dell is showing signs of “getting it”. With this particular computer we get triple the RAM, double the hard drive space, double the hard drive speed and double the video card RAM for $599. Throw in a 19-inch widescreen flat panel monitor and we are talking $894. The only drawback? It runs Windows Vista.

Now, while I’m primarily a Mac guy these days and I often preach about the beauty of all things Apple, I do have a soft spot for Windows as well. Most Mac fanboys are anti-Microsoft but I really don’t subscribe to that (unless I’m swearing at Windows for it’s latest WTF moment). Back when I was a baby geek I “grew up” with Windows having first run the software back with Windows/286 in 1988. I have Vista running on the lone PC in the house and it does what I need it to do very well. I support Windows on many of the computers throughout my family. It might be clunky at times but it’s functional and it’s comfortable.

I would absolutely love me some Mac but I find it hard to justify the price (especially as a struggling college student) when I can get three times the computer for half the price.

Earl and I will probably end up sticking it out with our current computing setup. However, if the winds blow the right way and money falls from the tree in the back yard, I can say that it would be much easier to justify buying this Dell computer over an iMac when I made my pitch to the big guy.

23 January 2008 by J.P. Geek 2

Back On Track.

So it’s official. Today I started up the Spring 2008 semester at school. As I remarked to Earl earlier today, I’ve officially made it through more college than I did the first time around back in 1986. The feeling is quite pleasant.

My schedule is not unpleasant, I only have classes four days this week with Wednesdays being my “run errands, clean the house, visit friends, do homework” day. This schedule coupled with my DJ gig and freelance sound engineer jobs should work out quite well. I’m excited about the challenge. I feel like I’m going to do well this semester, despite the tougher courses. Let’s check that again in a couple of weeks.

The first class I had today was Math 122, “Fundamentals of College Mathematics 2”. Translation: “Calculus”. I’ve never had calculus before. My head is already swimming in imaginary numbers but I think I’ll have a handle on it once I review my notes and do the suggested reading. The professor is the infamous Professor Frightful and his Cast of Blackboard Voices again. There are several students that went through his class with me last semester and like me, they had a knowing look on their face when our other classmates heard the voices for the first time. Another unexpected delight is taking the class with First Earl’s niece Nanette. We took a couple of classes together a year ago and helped each other out on a couple of projects. She’s good fun and the only female in the class. Since there’s only a few of us from last semester’s all male math class, there’s a whole bunch of new eye candy going on.

So now I’m sitting in the library building working on homework and catching up on blogs. This is my favorite spot to do school work, as I can see across the quad and the people walking back and forth in the snow. I snapped a photo with my iPhone.

22 January 2008 by J.P. College Kid. 2

Back On The Beat.

There’s an old saying about running around in circles or maybe that life is a cycle or something like that. I don’t remember the details. Perhaps I’m making it up. I don’t remember, but there is a point to be made and I’ve completely forgotten what it is.

That being said, I spent part of yesterday working out a deal with a local bar to become their Friday night DJ. So starting Friday I’ll be in the new booth at the old bar I worked at from 1992 until 2001 doing the DJ thing. If Earl and I are unavailable on a given Friday night, I’ll provide the music for the evening through modern technology (custom mixes on an iPod or flash drive).

Ain’t computers cool?

I’m excited about returning to the (virtual) turntables for a couple of reasons. First of all, it allows me get my hands on something that I enjoy doing very much. While I admit that I didn’t really enjoy that experience in a corporate venue (i.e. radio station management), I must say that I do enjoy spinning up music that packs a dance floor, prompting hunky guys to take off their shirt and sweat while they dance. I’m an equal opportunity sweat maker, if the girls want to do that they can as well (they usually don’t though).

Another reason for my return to the turntables is that it’s going to give us some much needed pocket cash. In today’s economic climate and financially driven world, cash is good.

When talking with the owner of the bar, we also discussed putting a bear night together for the first Saturday in March. Now this I find equally exciting. I’ll share more details when they are available.

I’m looking forward to the new little side job and to compliment my school work. I have another sound engineering gig in the works that I’m even more excited about so I’m feeling good about the path that lies ahead. I think it’s important to find your path in life, it makes the journey so much easier.

21 January 2008 by J.P. DJ 1

Good Audience.

Earl and I went to see “National Treasure 2” this evening. We both enjoyed the movie very much and will probably rent it on iTunes when it becomes available later this year.

There were a couple elements of this cinematic experience that I found pleasantly surprising. First of all, when the theatre showed the “please turn off your cell phones” message, several people surrounding us did just that. Let’s score one for technological common sense!

Secondly, the feature presentation was preceded by a good ol’ traditional Disney cartoon clip starring Goofy: “How To Hook Up Your Home Entertainment System”. What a delightfully modern take on the old Disney films that were common place when I was kid! I was not aware that this was included with the “National Treasure 2” experience. I hope that Disney follows suit with more of their movies.

A pleasant distraction from Nicolas Cage’s hairpiece is sidekick Riley, played by Justin Bartha. Here he is in a geeky hunky glory. He’s not my usual type but he has cub possibilities.

19 January 2008 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 1

Back To School Daze.

365 Days: Day 17.,
originally uploaded by iMachias.

Next Tuesday I start the next semester in my question for collegiate excellence. I am very excited about the slate of classes that lie ahead, even my final math course: Calculus with Professor Frightful and his cast of voices in the chalkboard.

So that I am fully prepared for school, I went and picked up my required books today. Last semester I was complaining about how one professor distributed handouts that were handwritten; today I discovered that one of my textbooks is completely handwritten!

Good thing I have such a hearty sense of humor.

17 January 2008 by J.P. Flickr 1

Plane Geek.

Airplanes have always fascinated me. So I watch ’em.

16 January 2008 by J.P. Geek Video. 2

m.

I grew up in farm country. For the first nine years of my life, I played in a yard that was surrounded on three sides by an electric fence. When we drove home from town, we would pass a silo that proudly proclaimed “M & M Farms”. We quizzed Mom as to why that was written on the silo and she told us that’s where M & M candies were born. The farm was actually owned by a married couple named Marshall & Mary, but I didn’t learn that until I was 25 (just kidding). Every time I grabbed a handful of M & Ms from Grandma Country’s three tiered candy dish, I would look at one of those candy coated drops of chocolate goodness in my hand and see the little “m” imprinted on it and revel in the fact that it wasn’t melting before my eyes. The little “m” seemed reassuring to me. It’d always be there until I ate it, that cute little “m”.

Now I see that Mars, Inc. is offering consumers the chance to have custom-printed slogans printed on the little candies for special occasions. I realise that they’ve been doing this for a couple of years, but it’s only recently that I’ve been seeing the ads plastered all over television. I was hoping that the fad of custom printed M & Ms had passed because to me though whole concept seems unnatural, like jokes printed on a Pringles chip or “Just Shoot Me” being considered “classic television”.

So today I feel motivated to buy a three-tiered candy dish and load it up with classic M & Ms. I’ll use them as a treat, gaze at the little “m” and revel in the fact that they melt in my mouth, not in my hand.

16 January 2008 by J.P. Food. Ponderings and Musings 2

Bachelor In Public.

Earl is out of town on business and I got bored around the house, so I opted to head to the local internet café, the dreaded Panera. It’s not that I don’t like Panera in general (I clarified their internet policy after the incident where anything “gay” was blocked), it’s this Panera that makes me a little crazy. As my current Twitter says:

This is the only Panera in the world where the customers are disappointed there’s no clown’s mouth to yell into.

I think this may be the only Panera that also discontinued the popular Crispani Pizza. What’s up with that?

I am catching up on reading and doing such things as making videos while sitting at the table here in the restaurant. After watching a podcast this afternoon on how to make better videos, I decided to give it a go. Hopefully the experience will look better, though they didn’t really give any tips on content.

It is somewhat weird having little to do this week. School doesn’t start until next Tuesday and the job ended last Thursday. I’m surprised that I’ve actually showered, shaved and brushed my teeth, though I didn’t brush my teeth until around 6:30 p.m. today, after the cat looked at me and made litter box burying motions with his paw.

Truth be known though, with Earl out of town I’m quite comfortable with celebrating my loner side. I think it’s good to exist in my own little world once in a while. I might live my life out loud here on the blog, but there are a few nooks and crannies in my psyche that I don’t share with anyone aside from with a select few. Once in a while it’s fun to amuse myself.

I’ll let you form your own image on that last statement.

###

I made a video just for the fun of it. I’m trying something new (a true geek always evolves) so to watch the video you’ll need Quicktime. I like the quality better.

15 January 2008 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept Video. 2

Updates.

365 Days: Day 15.
Originally uploaded by iMachias.

So today is *the* day that Mac geeks all over the world look forward to. Today was Steve Jobs’ yearly keynote speech at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Oh my goodness. Within ten minutes of the end of Steve’s presentation, my iPhone was updating its software (with a little help from me). iTunes and Quicktime quickly followed suit on the various computers around the house. The only update left is the AppleTV and that is coming out in a couple of weeks.

Earl is out of town on business tonight so I have plenty of time to play with the computers and do the geek thing all night long. I’m sure there’ll be a video to share soon as well.

15 January 2008 by J.P. Flickr Geek Macboy 0

Counterproductive Nutrition.

Back in 2001, when I was around 50 pounds heavier than I currently am and decided to do something about it, I took a sensible approach to eating healthy. I didn’t diet by making select foods off-limits, instead I counted calories with a reasonable daily limit, I took up cycling and I kept my fat grams per serving in the single digits. There was one other thing I did, and I know this going to sound kind of odd but I ate enough vegetables to make sure that my pooped floated in the toilet bowl after I did my business.

Earl hated that I checked, but I believe the way to healthy eating is to know your shit.

Through research and whatnot I found that cheese probably isn’t the best thing in the world to eat, especially if you’re losing weight. I’ve never been a huge cheese fan, though once in a while I like to eat a piece of sharp cheese with apple pie or in lieu of a fancy dessert when we’re dropping huge amounts of money on small amounts of food. However, I did deduce that eating cheese wasn’t very healthy and it did some funky things to one’s digestion.

Imagine my surprise today when I saw a new product from Kraft: cheese with Activia in it to help constipation. The yogurt companies have been throwing active bacteria cultures (branded Activia) into their product for years. Personally I can’t stomach the stuff since I feel like I’m eating something akin to a tapeworm but nevertheless the yogurt with ‘active cultures’ must be popular because it’s still easily found on the shelf at the grocery store. I can’t help but think that cheese with this stuff can’t be good for you. First of all, it must confuse the hell out of your body’s digestive system. I mean, think about it. You eat cheese. It stops you up like glue. And then all of the sudden the cheese starts eating it’s way from the inside out from your insides.

Now that’s more gross than checking out whether you’ve got sinkers or floaters in the toilet bowl.

Has the American diet become so whacked that we start throwing all sorts of additives into food to help our body recover from the crap we eat on a daily basis? Does anyone else find this approach to nutrition to be a little crazy? We have shaker fiber that can be mixed into anything to help things move along. We have innocent potato chips that cause explosive bowls because of the olestra used to make the stuff. And now we have cheese that has active cultures in it. What happened to just plain old moldy blue cheese?

I guess I long for the days when we knew what we were eating and it wasn’t modified to do something funky to our bodies to counteract what it was intended to do to our bodies.

14 January 2008 by J.P. Food. 2

January 2008

Financially Responsible.

Back On Track.

Back On The Beat.

Good Audience.

Back To School Daze.

Plane Geek.

m.

Bachelor In Public.

Updates.

Counterproductive Nutrition.

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