Book Recommendation: Heaven's Forgotten
9 years ago
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Swinin' and Dinin'
Recently, the WHO upgraded the swine flu outbreak to a level 4 pandemic; this means that the disease has achieved sustained human-to-human transmission and is in the pre-pandemic stage. The particular strain of swine flu we're dealing with is a very new strain of the H1N1 virus - thus, very few people have immunity provided to them by the antibodies designed to fight off other strains.
It's theorized that the current strain is the result of a superinfection, a process by which cells are infected by multiple viral strains of influenza. The genetic mixing results in a virus that has the potential to spread between several different species, and has the added danger of being completely unrecognized by the antibodies developed to fight other types of flu. The strains recognized by (some of) our bodies include the H1N1 subtype that caused the 1918 pandemic, which is currently endemic in the population.
So what to do now? I'm certainly no expert when it comes to epidemiology or disease control, but there is no reason to panic. There's no reason to be unduly worried at this point; it's still early in the development cycle of the pandemic. In the coming weeks, one of several things could happen. The disease may not have the potential to spread effectively and efficiently between humans. If the rate of infection is less than one new host per host, the disease would die off fairly quickly. However, if this strain of H1N1 is able to spread effectively throughout the population, the World Health Organization will undoubtedly upgrade it to a level 5 pandemic; this is a sort of pre-pandemic level, an epidemic. Once epidemics begin to pop up across the globe, it's upgraded to a level 6, the highest designation with which to classify a disease.
Anyway, if you're running low on cough syrup or ibuprofen, it might be a good time to go pick some up. Honestly, though, I don't truly believe there's any cause to run out and empty the shelves of your local grocery store of canned goods and hoard bottled water. That time might come soon - full blown pandemics can necessitate governmental acts as serious as full blown quarantines, which can shut down entire towns and cities potentially. We're peering over the side of the cliff, and hopefully we won't lose our footing.
It's theorized that the current strain is the result of a superinfection, a process by which cells are infected by multiple viral strains of influenza. The genetic mixing results in a virus that has the potential to spread between several different species, and has the added danger of being completely unrecognized by the antibodies developed to fight other types of flu. The strains recognized by (some of) our bodies include the H1N1 subtype that caused the 1918 pandemic, which is currently endemic in the population.
So what to do now? I'm certainly no expert when it comes to epidemiology or disease control, but there is no reason to panic. There's no reason to be unduly worried at this point; it's still early in the development cycle of the pandemic. In the coming weeks, one of several things could happen. The disease may not have the potential to spread effectively and efficiently between humans. If the rate of infection is less than one new host per host, the disease would die off fairly quickly. However, if this strain of H1N1 is able to spread effectively throughout the population, the World Health Organization will undoubtedly upgrade it to a level 5 pandemic; this is a sort of pre-pandemic level, an epidemic. Once epidemics begin to pop up across the globe, it's upgraded to a level 6, the highest designation with which to classify a disease.
Anyway, if you're running low on cough syrup or ibuprofen, it might be a good time to go pick some up. Honestly, though, I don't truly believe there's any cause to run out and empty the shelves of your local grocery store of canned goods and hoard bottled water. That time might come soon - full blown pandemics can necessitate governmental acts as serious as full blown quarantines, which can shut down entire towns and cities potentially. We're peering over the side of the cliff, and hopefully we won't lose our footing.
Switchin' It Up
It's been rumored for awhile, but today made it official. Senator Arlen Specter has announced that he will be running under the Democratic ticket in next year's election.
Specter was facing a rough primary against Pat Toomey, who Specter had been trailing in polling for the past few months. Specter was poised to lose his re-election campaign before election day even arrived, so this is a potential game saver for the longtime senator. Pennsylvania has become increasing Democratic politically over the past few years, as evidenced by the landslide defeat of incumbent Senator (and all around completely awful person) Rick Santorum in 2006.
Specter has long been one of the three moderate Republicans in the Senate, and frequently votes on the Democratic side of many issues, including positions on the Iraq War and social issues such as abortion, so the move is largely symbolic in contexts outside of his re-election campaign. Regardless, this means that when Al Franken is seated for the Minnesota Junior Senator seat, the Democrats will enjoy a supermajority in the Senate; as long as the conservative/moderate democrats stay in line, the time of Republican obstructionism will be over.
Here is the full story.
Before he didn't have a ghost of a chance! Hopefully he won't be haunted by his Republican past! Specter's move seems to be a bit transparent! His party switch might be the BOOn he needed for the next election.
Specter was facing a rough primary against Pat Toomey, who Specter had been trailing in polling for the past few months. Specter was poised to lose his re-election campaign before election day even arrived, so this is a potential game saver for the longtime senator. Pennsylvania has become increasing Democratic politically over the past few years, as evidenced by the landslide defeat of incumbent Senator (and all around completely awful person) Rick Santorum in 2006.
Specter has long been one of the three moderate Republicans in the Senate, and frequently votes on the Democratic side of many issues, including positions on the Iraq War and social issues such as abortion, so the move is largely symbolic in contexts outside of his re-election campaign. Regardless, this means that when Al Franken is seated for the Minnesota Junior Senator seat, the Democrats will enjoy a supermajority in the Senate; as long as the conservative/moderate democrats stay in line, the time of Republican obstructionism will be over.
Here is the full story.
Before he didn't have a ghost of a chance! Hopefully he won't be haunted by his Republican past! Specter's move seems to be a bit transparent! His party switch might be the BOOn he needed for the next election.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Onion Minute
Then there followed approximately one minute of all of the justices proclaiming that they were the law.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Catch Up
So I've been lazy, and have been delaying my posting about my adventure last weekend. Bate your breath no more, dear readers!
Anyway, I made a sojourn down to Andy's newish place down in Lexington Park, MD. Here is roughly the route I took, though it seemed to take a lot less time than Google thinks it would. I left about an hour after I woke up last Saturday, and arrived at about five or so. Just in time to watch some horrid SciFi movies with Andy, it seemed!
The drive was fairly nice, including some bridges and the awesome Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. YOU GO UNDER THE WATER. It's incredible. Andy and I hung out and watched some random things on Saturday night, got some pizza and it was all-around good to catch up. The next day was the main event, though, as we made the quick jaunt into Washington, DC, a place that I've incidentally never been to.
We drove around looking for a space for a bit, and we found one where I wouldn't have to parallel park, or rather I did, but the space was gigantic. No plugging the meter necessary thanks to the virtues of Easter Sunday. I knew that holiday would be good for something.
First we took a spin around the National Mall, checking out the sights a bit and figuring out what is where. Really, I've seen all these monuments on television, but spatially I had no real clue at where they were in relation to one another save for what I've seen in Forest Gump. Anyway:
Me looking like a jerk in front of the United States Capitol building.
More Capitol Building pictures.
The Washington Monument was pretty imposing, mostly because you could see it from everywhere around the Mall and beyond. I ended up taking a lot of pictures of it just because of this.
Some jerk with a soda bottle is in the way.
If you've never seen the Washington Monument in person, it's gigantic.
Anyway, I made a sojourn down to Andy's newish place down in Lexington Park, MD. Here is roughly the route I took, though it seemed to take a lot less time than Google thinks it would. I left about an hour after I woke up last Saturday, and arrived at about five or so. Just in time to watch some horrid SciFi movies with Andy, it seemed!
The drive was fairly nice, including some bridges and the awesome Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. YOU GO UNDER THE WATER. It's incredible. Andy and I hung out and watched some random things on Saturday night, got some pizza and it was all-around good to catch up. The next day was the main event, though, as we made the quick jaunt into Washington, DC, a place that I've incidentally never been to.
We drove around looking for a space for a bit, and we found one where I wouldn't have to parallel park, or rather I did, but the space was gigantic. No plugging the meter necessary thanks to the virtues of Easter Sunday. I knew that holiday would be good for something.
First we took a spin around the National Mall, checking out the sights a bit and figuring out what is where. Really, I've seen all these monuments on television, but spatially I had no real clue at where they were in relation to one another save for what I've seen in Forest Gump. Anyway:
Me looking like a jerk in front of the United States Capitol building.
More Capitol Building pictures.The Washington Monument was pretty imposing, mostly because you could see it from everywhere around the Mall and beyond. I ended up taking a lot of pictures of it just because of this.
Some jerk with a soda bottle is in the way.
If you've never seen the Washington Monument in person, it's gigantic.I felt lazy, so we didn't go all the way down to see old Honest Abe, but we did walk through the FDR and Jefferson monuments. The former was extremely interesting, laid out from his first to third term with iconic imagery in order, though Andy and I walked it backwards.
Jefferson Monument. LOOK OUT FOR THAT SUPER MUTANT!
Big J.
FDR chillaxin' in his wheelchair with his dog, Fala.
Some poor dudes in the Depression. Wah wah, I haven't eaten in eight days.
Awesome monks sitting in front of the waterfall in the FDR memorial. I hope it's not weird that I thought they looked so awesome that I wanted a picture.
Jefferson Monument. LOOK OUT FOR THAT SUPER MUTANT!
Big J.
FDR chillaxin' in his wheelchair with his dog, Fala.
Some poor dudes in the Depression. Wah wah, I haven't eaten in eight days.
Awesome monks sitting in front of the waterfall in the FDR memorial. I hope it's not weird that I thought they looked so awesome that I wanted a picture.And I took some odds and ends pictures just walking around. I don't know what all of them are, but I'll venture a guess at the very least.
Some house that's some color.
Some secret code carved into stone, no doubt.
WATER!
An eagle that just won a boxing match.
RED.
Some house that's some color.
Some secret code carved into stone, no doubt.
WATER!
An eagle that just won a boxing match.
RED.Friday, April 17, 2009
Tea Party Wrap Up
So what have we learned from all this tax day tea party business? Surely there's something that can be gleaned from the concept and its execution. I've read a lot on the subject, and there are a few important points to take away.
Times are difficult for everyone, especially the working class right now, especially the blue-collar workers who are losing jobs simply because of lack of work to do. Less factories are being built by corporations, less construction is going on. Economic difficulties breed uncertainty, and uncertainty leads inexorably to fear. Change can also cause the same reaction, and can amplify the fears of those losing their jobs. A shift away from eight years of neoconservatism, complete with several politicians who sprouted from the "good old years" of Reagan to what people fear is a far more liberal administration is a big change.
When the aforementioned change is poorly understood by those who fear it, said change becomes a menace. There are fundamental misunderstandings in this country about how taxes work - myths have become reality, and reality has sometimes become myth. This stems from the fact that there appear to be two main forces that make up the Republican Party - the wealthy who oppose tax hikes on the rich because of self interest, and the lower- to middle-middle class workers with conservative values in both economic and social settings. Obviously, as with any political grouping, there are a myriad of reasons why they fall here on the spectrum.
A fair chunk of both of these groups are single-issue voters, choosing one or two social issues to focus on like a laser (see: gay rights and/or abortion). The wealthy group are obvious proponents of the conservative philosophy simply because they have more to gain the more regressive a tax is. The tea parties were not made up of corporate executives or rich bankers, nor were the protesters largely protesting social issues. So who were they?
I hypothesize that the protests consisted mainly of middle-aged, white, lower-middle class workers. They appear to be working against their own interests, but this is where the fundamental flaw in understanding begins. Liberalism, over the past three decades, has become the ideology of meddling. Liberals take your money, they want to control your health care, they want to tell you how to raise your children, they want to take away your guns. Conservatism has become an ideology that promotes freedom, with free markets and the "freedom" to be as successful as your hard work denotes.
The problem here is that this freedom allows the people who have money to regulate themselves and everyone who doesn't have money. It's completely factual that in 1970, the average CEO made approximately thirty times what the average worker made. In 2005, this figure passed one hundred and ten times. The philosophy of the free market deems this okay, that it will self-correct - the flaw in this thinking is that income inequality is self-perpetuating in our current political system. Access to education, health care, and job opportunities tend to follow indicators such as household income, which in turn lead to a higher income later in life.
The reason why these beliefs are held in common among the tea party protesters is one outlined earlier - fear. The fear of not having a job tomorrow, the fear of loss of one's self-sufficiency, and the fear of things they don't comprehend. I honestly don't believe that many of those lauded as leaders in the Republican Party believe in what they tell those who follow them. It's fairly manipulative, but it's working. Socialism is something that will bring said leaders closer to their working class foot soldiers, so they proclaim that it's been tried, doesn't and can't work. They use the fear of losing control to twist issues like health care and child-rearing to their advantage; if somebody who is not you decides you can't see the doctor today, what control do you have left? If you can't have high powered weaponry in your home, you lose control over who you allow into your comfort zone and who you do not.
Blame is a powerful thing. Confused people use their own prejudices to determine who to point the finger at, their own usual suspects. The complexity of the current economic crisis illustrates this point well. I've had discussions with coworkers about who exactly is to blame; in reality, at least in my perception, the blame should be spread among several actors. The Congress of the late nineties failed to act (actually, they did act, but unanimously in the wrong direction), loan-seekers failed to do enough research on their own buying power, and mortgage lenders most certainly took part in predatory lending. My coworkers, however, cite a piece of legislation I couldn't quite find that disallowed the ability to refuse a loan if the recipient was a minority. This seems to be a complete misunderstanding of how the wall fell down in the first place, considering mortgage lenders were desperate to obtain any loan, whether it would default or not, in order to pass the buck along to the banks and get their commission.
The best description of the groupings this past Wednesday that I've heard today was that they are simply a cargo cult. The perceive effectiveness in left-wing protests and emulate them superficially without the underlying effort to back it up. What could possibly be the end result? Workers movements live and die by the concerted efforts and solidarity of the middle class against the wealthy to gather and unionize, to fight for their rights and against income disparity. With half of the nation's workers turned against the other half, the point is drowned and smothered before it even gets its feet off the ground.
Times are difficult for everyone, especially the working class right now, especially the blue-collar workers who are losing jobs simply because of lack of work to do. Less factories are being built by corporations, less construction is going on. Economic difficulties breed uncertainty, and uncertainty leads inexorably to fear. Change can also cause the same reaction, and can amplify the fears of those losing their jobs. A shift away from eight years of neoconservatism, complete with several politicians who sprouted from the "good old years" of Reagan to what people fear is a far more liberal administration is a big change.
When the aforementioned change is poorly understood by those who fear it, said change becomes a menace. There are fundamental misunderstandings in this country about how taxes work - myths have become reality, and reality has sometimes become myth. This stems from the fact that there appear to be two main forces that make up the Republican Party - the wealthy who oppose tax hikes on the rich because of self interest, and the lower- to middle-middle class workers with conservative values in both economic and social settings. Obviously, as with any political grouping, there are a myriad of reasons why they fall here on the spectrum.
A fair chunk of both of these groups are single-issue voters, choosing one or two social issues to focus on like a laser (see: gay rights and/or abortion). The wealthy group are obvious proponents of the conservative philosophy simply because they have more to gain the more regressive a tax is. The tea parties were not made up of corporate executives or rich bankers, nor were the protesters largely protesting social issues. So who were they?
I hypothesize that the protests consisted mainly of middle-aged, white, lower-middle class workers. They appear to be working against their own interests, but this is where the fundamental flaw in understanding begins. Liberalism, over the past three decades, has become the ideology of meddling. Liberals take your money, they want to control your health care, they want to tell you how to raise your children, they want to take away your guns. Conservatism has become an ideology that promotes freedom, with free markets and the "freedom" to be as successful as your hard work denotes.
The problem here is that this freedom allows the people who have money to regulate themselves and everyone who doesn't have money. It's completely factual that in 1970, the average CEO made approximately thirty times what the average worker made. In 2005, this figure passed one hundred and ten times. The philosophy of the free market deems this okay, that it will self-correct - the flaw in this thinking is that income inequality is self-perpetuating in our current political system. Access to education, health care, and job opportunities tend to follow indicators such as household income, which in turn lead to a higher income later in life.
The reason why these beliefs are held in common among the tea party protesters is one outlined earlier - fear. The fear of not having a job tomorrow, the fear of loss of one's self-sufficiency, and the fear of things they don't comprehend. I honestly don't believe that many of those lauded as leaders in the Republican Party believe in what they tell those who follow them. It's fairly manipulative, but it's working. Socialism is something that will bring said leaders closer to their working class foot soldiers, so they proclaim that it's been tried, doesn't and can't work. They use the fear of losing control to twist issues like health care and child-rearing to their advantage; if somebody who is not you decides you can't see the doctor today, what control do you have left? If you can't have high powered weaponry in your home, you lose control over who you allow into your comfort zone and who you do not.
Blame is a powerful thing. Confused people use their own prejudices to determine who to point the finger at, their own usual suspects. The complexity of the current economic crisis illustrates this point well. I've had discussions with coworkers about who exactly is to blame; in reality, at least in my perception, the blame should be spread among several actors. The Congress of the late nineties failed to act (actually, they did act, but unanimously in the wrong direction), loan-seekers failed to do enough research on their own buying power, and mortgage lenders most certainly took part in predatory lending. My coworkers, however, cite a piece of legislation I couldn't quite find that disallowed the ability to refuse a loan if the recipient was a minority. This seems to be a complete misunderstanding of how the wall fell down in the first place, considering mortgage lenders were desperate to obtain any loan, whether it would default or not, in order to pass the buck along to the banks and get their commission.
The best description of the groupings this past Wednesday that I've heard today was that they are simply a cargo cult. The perceive effectiveness in left-wing protests and emulate them superficially without the underlying effort to back it up. What could possibly be the end result? Workers movements live and die by the concerted efforts and solidarity of the middle class against the wealthy to gather and unionize, to fight for their rights and against income disparity. With half of the nation's workers turned against the other half, the point is drowned and smothered before it even gets its feet off the ground.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Schedule for Week Ending 4/26
Probably gonna end up being a very light week, considering I've really got nothing to do except observe testing. Plus, I'm taking three days off.
Monday - 14:30 to 21:00 (6.5 hours + 3 hours comp = 9.5 hours)
Tuesday - 09:00 to 11:00 and 14:30 to 19:00 (16 hours)
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - OFF
Friday - OFF
Saturday - OFF
Sunday - OFF
REVISED 4/20
Should give me plenty of time to hang out with my family when they're here. Yay.
Monday - 14:30 to 21:00 (6.5 hours + 3 hours comp = 9.5 hours)
Tuesday - 09:00 to 11:00 and 14:30 to 19:00 (16 hours)
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - OFF
Friday - OFF
Saturday - OFF
Sunday - OFF
REVISED 4/20
Should give me plenty of time to hang out with my family when they're here. Yay.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tea Time
So it's that great American holiday today, Tax Day! And with it this year comes conservative protests, gatherings of people who literally have no idea why they're protesting.
Honestly, the funniest thing about today so far hasn't really been the crazy signs (there have been a lot of really "good" ones), but the people simply asking the protesters exactly what message they're trying to put out. A lot of them ramble about socialism and how "their children's futures" are being stolen from them. They seem to vaguely know it's about taxation, but when asked about specifics they come up short. I think this is mainly due to the fact that this "grassroots" movement is anything but.
Some other highlights of the coverage today was a bullhorn-touting leader asking if the crowd really believed that Obama was lowering taxes on the majority of tax-paying Americans, to which they replied with an emphatic "NO!!!" I suppose I shouldn't have expected facts to interfere with such things. Myths like this and the "a majority of Americans pay no taxes" are really boggling to me.
Oh, by the way, it's been less than a hundred days since Obama took office, and Texas apparently wants to secede already. Also, Crooks and Liars has some great stuff today, see this. Seriously. Click it. It's incredible.
Finally, somebody threw a box of tea bags over the fence and onto the White House lawn. It's currently in lockdown mode.
OBJECTIVISTS Fffffffffffffffffffff
Honestly, the funniest thing about today so far hasn't really been the crazy signs (there have been a lot of really "good" ones), but the people simply asking the protesters exactly what message they're trying to put out. A lot of them ramble about socialism and how "their children's futures" are being stolen from them. They seem to vaguely know it's about taxation, but when asked about specifics they come up short. I think this is mainly due to the fact that this "grassroots" movement is anything but.
Some other highlights of the coverage today was a bullhorn-touting leader asking if the crowd really believed that Obama was lowering taxes on the majority of tax-paying Americans, to which they replied with an emphatic "NO!!!" I suppose I shouldn't have expected facts to interfere with such things. Myths like this and the "a majority of Americans pay no taxes" are really boggling to me.
Oh, by the way, it's been less than a hundred days since Obama took office, and Texas apparently wants to secede already. Also, Crooks and Liars has some great stuff today, see this. Seriously. Click it. It's incredible.
Finally, somebody threw a box of tea bags over the fence and onto the White House lawn. It's currently in lockdown mode.
OBJECTIVISTS FffffffffffffffffffffEDIT: Oh my god. David Schuster, you are the best person forever.
Lollipop
I know I should be putting more content into these posts, but grah! MORE MUSIC VIDEOS.
I heard this like a year ago on Kevin Smith's podcast and it's been in my head since. I never saw this video until now though and it's great. You should watch it, too.
YO MIKA!
I heard this like a year ago on Kevin Smith's podcast and it's been in my head since. I never saw this video until now though and it's great. You should watch it, too.
YO MIKA!
Don't Sell Me Short
Don't sell me short
You've been wrong too long
And don't brush me off
Just because I don't belong
Pass me on by
Ignore my cry
Forget me when I die
Just don't sell me short
Not while I'm still alive.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Teabaggin' the White House
So tomorrow is the fabled day, with the Tea Parties planned. I'm excited to see this disaster and wish I had the free time or the inclination to go to one of them just to see the results. Protest is all well and good, and I encourage it, but the way American history has been fetishized disgusts me just a little.
The Boston Tea Party was an act that helped spark the American Revolution. A British act placed a tax on the tea, and the so-called Sons of Liberty decided that it was unfair to levy a tax without giving elected representation to those under the tax. This is where the famous "no taxation without representation" line comes from. Essentially, the same type of situation is also true in Washington DC at current, but that's a different matter. The equivalence is of course living in a state with no direct representation in the national legislature today.
Anyway, I'm afraid I don't see the equivalency between this historic act and the protests of today. Everyone who resides in a state within the US is given representation under the federal government via their own senators and district representatives. If you want to go out and march with signs and yell a lot about how you own a lot of purestrain gold and hate socialism, go do it. If you need to find a historical context to make yourself feel more righteous or patriotic about it, maybe you should rethink your motives in the first place.
Perhaps the best part is the fact that people think that by just not paying their taxes they're going to make a difference. You can break the law, but you get to deal with the consequences, too.
As a side note, I really, really want an ACORN hoodie or t-shirt. I'd love to walk around in one after the insanity surrounding them in some people's heads, as if they're some kind of secret service militant group or something.
The Boston Tea Party was an act that helped spark the American Revolution. A British act placed a tax on the tea, and the so-called Sons of Liberty decided that it was unfair to levy a tax without giving elected representation to those under the tax. This is where the famous "no taxation without representation" line comes from. Essentially, the same type of situation is also true in Washington DC at current, but that's a different matter. The equivalence is of course living in a state with no direct representation in the national legislature today.
Anyway, I'm afraid I don't see the equivalency between this historic act and the protests of today. Everyone who resides in a state within the US is given representation under the federal government via their own senators and district representatives. If you want to go out and march with signs and yell a lot about how you own a lot of purestrain gold and hate socialism, go do it. If you need to find a historical context to make yourself feel more righteous or patriotic about it, maybe you should rethink your motives in the first place.
Perhaps the best part is the fact that people think that by just not paying their taxes they're going to make a difference. You can break the law, but you get to deal with the consequences, too.
As a side note, I really, really want an ACORN hoodie or t-shirt. I'd love to walk around in one after the insanity surrounding them in some people's heads, as if they're some kind of secret service militant group or something.
probably the best troll would just be a big sign with "Do You Even Know Why You're Here?" written on it
Blogvalanche
So, I have some confessions to make. I've been seriously skimping on my blogging commitment. There are several reasons for this, but I'm going to do my best to nip them all in the bud by posting more. Gasp.
Anyway, it was an eventful weekend. I'll break it up into more posts because I can, so I'll start with the Friday night. Most of my testing for the week was axed, I found out on Thursday, so I ended up saying 'screw it' and taking the rest of the weekend off. I took ten hours of PTO, including a holiday float day and two hours of comp time I had just sitting around.
I worked fairly late into Friday morning and ended up leaving around four, heading to bed, and waking up at about two in the afternoon. I woke up and drove into Philadelphia, parked, and headed to a random coffee joint to meet Claire. Soon enough, and after learning an important lesson about purses not needing chairs of their own, we were off to get something to eat.
Claire had a coupon for a restaurant, but before we could get there we spotted a place called Tapas y Vinos which we decided to try out. After walking in the wrong door (and plodding over some rocks), we sat down and started looking at the menu. I was overwhelmed, but pleasantly so, and let Claire make the calls as to what we got. The shrimp and shirred egg topping was delicious, and after splitting up the check we high-tailed it to the concert.
Eventually we found a place to park on the street, and I had the sneaking suspicion that the spot wasn't all that perfect - there was a hydrant a couple yards behind me, but I figured it'd be okay. We got there just in time to see the (mediocre) opening band, Crooked Fingers. They were pretty run-of-the-mill as far as opening acts go, something akin to the TOMAHAWK band that opened for Tool, but not that bad.
Then the main event! Neko Case and her band came onstage. The performance wasn't as epic as some of the other events I've been at, but it made up for that and more by being far more intimate a venue. The tickets weren't outstanding, but the small size of the theater (the Keswick in Glenside, PA by the way) made it easy to see the stage from wherever. I was surprised at the set list she sang, since it contained a lot of Fox Confessor Brings the Flood stuff that I have listened to (and liked) a lot more than her newer stuff. Among my favorite renditions were "Maybe Sparrow" and "Teenage Feeling," the latter being a song I wasn't all that fond of until I saw it performed live.
Accompanying Neko and her band was a movie screen behind them playing videos for each of the songs they played. Of particular note was a few very bucolic video scenes, including one that had me transfixed featuring a plane skirting some clouds over the pure blue sky. Also of note was the little quips that the titular singer and her backup exchanged over the course of the concert, including a mention of a "suit made of sleeping back parts" and some kind of potato-chip-delivery-system somehow involving a vacuum. Of course, the encore is always obligatory, and they ended up playing a half a dozen additional songs. Once the concert closed, Claire was half asleep and ready to head home, so I dropped her off and walked into my apartment at a little before midnight.
I talked a bit to some folks after getting home and made the spur-of-the-moment decision that I'd be going on an adventure the next day. More on that later!
Anyway, it was an eventful weekend. I'll break it up into more posts because I can, so I'll start with the Friday night. Most of my testing for the week was axed, I found out on Thursday, so I ended up saying 'screw it' and taking the rest of the weekend off. I took ten hours of PTO, including a holiday float day and two hours of comp time I had just sitting around.
I worked fairly late into Friday morning and ended up leaving around four, heading to bed, and waking up at about two in the afternoon. I woke up and drove into Philadelphia, parked, and headed to a random coffee joint to meet Claire. Soon enough, and after learning an important lesson about purses not needing chairs of their own, we were off to get something to eat.
Claire had a coupon for a restaurant, but before we could get there we spotted a place called Tapas y Vinos which we decided to try out. After walking in the wrong door (and plodding over some rocks), we sat down and started looking at the menu. I was overwhelmed, but pleasantly so, and let Claire make the calls as to what we got. The shrimp and shirred egg topping was delicious, and after splitting up the check we high-tailed it to the concert.
Eventually we found a place to park on the street, and I had the sneaking suspicion that the spot wasn't all that perfect - there was a hydrant a couple yards behind me, but I figured it'd be okay. We got there just in time to see the (mediocre) opening band, Crooked Fingers. They were pretty run-of-the-mill as far as opening acts go, something akin to the TOMAHAWK band that opened for Tool, but not that bad.
Then the main event! Neko Case and her band came onstage. The performance wasn't as epic as some of the other events I've been at, but it made up for that and more by being far more intimate a venue. The tickets weren't outstanding, but the small size of the theater (the Keswick in Glenside, PA by the way) made it easy to see the stage from wherever. I was surprised at the set list she sang, since it contained a lot of Fox Confessor Brings the Flood stuff that I have listened to (and liked) a lot more than her newer stuff. Among my favorite renditions were "Maybe Sparrow" and "Teenage Feeling," the latter being a song I wasn't all that fond of until I saw it performed live.
Accompanying Neko and her band was a movie screen behind them playing videos for each of the songs they played. Of particular note was a few very bucolic video scenes, including one that had me transfixed featuring a plane skirting some clouds over the pure blue sky. Also of note was the little quips that the titular singer and her backup exchanged over the course of the concert, including a mention of a "suit made of sleeping back parts" and some kind of potato-chip-delivery-system somehow involving a vacuum. Of course, the encore is always obligatory, and they ended up playing a half a dozen additional songs. Once the concert closed, Claire was half asleep and ready to head home, so I dropped her off and walked into my apartment at a little before midnight.
I talked a bit to some folks after getting home and made the spur-of-the-moment decision that I'd be going on an adventure the next day. More on that later!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Things I Remember
- I remember a shock site failing to scare some friends of mine due to the sluggishness of a school computer.
- I remember a stupid conversation with Andrew about being a jerk at the mall before he fell asleep and I used his computer to meet somebody new named Delilah.
- I remember peaking at 130 wpm on the Keyboarding II typing test in high school.
- I remember our trebuchet, and transporting it with a rickety trailer from Andy's house. On the ramp off of Circle Drive onto the highway, it nearly fell over and we had to stop to tie it back down.
- I remember being deliriously tired at Eric Dean's house and playing Axis and Allies in his living room after the sun rose. It was the one I didn't like as much, the Japan-included "classic" edition.
- I remember seeing a random car crash right outside our dorm in freshman year. A little pop and that was it. Less bravado than I'd always expected.
- I remember Mario pajama pants that were a Christmas gift that I received in the following summer. I thought I'd never use them, but I use them all the time in the winter. Thanks, Amanda.
- I remember driving home from work at Best Buy one night after a downpour and turning into the right turn lane only to have my car begin to float. It was flooded, but continued to work... for another two weeks or so. It finally went kaput when I was driving home on the morning after a small party with work people. It threw a rod through the engine block.
- I remember picking all the M&Ms out of the cookies at school and eating them first. This was because I always liked the rest of the cookie the most.
- I remember the ritual of getting Chipotle and arriving at Andrew's apartment to watch American Gladiators and Heroes.
- I remember racing to Valentino's every day for lunch, and Tom's propensity to eat double the amount everyone else ate.
- I remember wishing I could have gone out in John's canoe when the park flooded rather than being stuck at work. Scott was almost stranded on a stray island, I'm told.
- I remember walking to Andy, Tony, and Matt's apartment during freshman year when Andrew wasn't around and I was bored. On my way one time I saw a girl who I had a crush on from Physics class in Coffman Union, but decided better of it.
- I remember seeing the setup in the aforementioned Tony/Matt/Andy apartment and wondering exactly what the three of them did aside from sitting at the computers. There wasn't much room for much else.
- I remember being amazed with myself for testing into UMTYMP in the sixth grade, an accelerated math program, but quit after the first year ate up all the free time I would have used having fun.
- I remember being very confused by the Science Classroom Building; there are two different entrances for different sets of rooms.
- I remember crossing the Washington Avenue bridge and listening for "ghosts" with Andrew and Leigh, the latter not able to take our impromptu spiritual investigation seriously.
- I remember my job in the dorm - sitting in a computer lab ten hours a week. At least $90/wk was enough for me to have spending money. More valuably for myself and my friends was my ability to print for free at all hours.
- I remember playing Monopoly and Yahtzee with Chelsea and the way she pronounced "mortgage" and "kitty" in her British accent.
- I remember my father being laid off when I was young, and how forlorn he was some days when he was searching for a new job.
- I remember staying up late some semesters because I had no class until late into the afternoon. The only things that were on were Survivorman and How It's Made marathons on the Science Channel.
- Speaking of Les Stroud, I remember seeing his "urban disaster survival" special on the Science Channel. Of specific note was how he threw an object into the glass of a vending machine to obtain food. Believe me, it looked incredibly awkward.
- I remember my first night of living alone.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Decoration
It's about time something interesting went in the dining room.
More to come once I clean up around here. More boxes for the box graveyard!
EDIT: Here's some more pictures after cleaning up the living room a little. Still need to vacuum, but it's looking quite spiffy so far.
A special friend on the television. Still kind of cluttered with wires, but looks okay now.
New end table to the left of the couch. The lamp is still naked because I bought the wrong kind of harp for the shade. Oh no!
I bought some 3M sticky hook deals so that I'd have a place to hang my coat. Previously I'd toss it wherever I felt like.
More to come once I clean up around here. More boxes for the box graveyard!
EDIT: Here's some more pictures after cleaning up the living room a little. Still need to vacuum, but it's looking quite spiffy so far.
A special friend on the television. Still kind of cluttered with wires, but looks okay now.
New end table to the left of the couch. The lamp is still naked because I bought the wrong kind of harp for the shade. Oh no!
I bought some 3M sticky hook deals so that I'd have a place to hang my coat. Previously I'd toss it wherever I felt like.UPDATE: April 7
A little more shopping that I intended to do yielded some more cool stuff. Figured I'd append it to the post rather than keep posting about the same subject.
Lateralus Art Disk
Bowie album I made into a clock. ARTSY.
The wall. I'm not sure if I want to rearrange stuff - would they look better right up next to one another, perhaps?
A little more shopping that I intended to do yielded some more cool stuff. Figured I'd append it to the post rather than keep posting about the same subject.
Lateralus Art Disk
Bowie album I made into a clock. ARTSY.
The wall. I'm not sure if I want to rearrange stuff - would they look better right up next to one another, perhaps?Content?
It's 5:30AM and I'm suddenly enamored at the possibility of purchasing new furniture tomorrow.
Yes, that's right. A week or so ago I procured an of Montreal LP and desired something to play it on. Now, this led to needing something to actually put a turntable on, so I looked at end tables. What I planned to do was to buy some sticky dealies to mount the record sleeve to the wall all artsy-like.
One thing leads to another, and I come up with a fantastic vision for my currently-empty dining room. Music theme! It can have the CD/LP player in the corner, a few LP sleeves hung on the wall in a vertical line, maybe even a framed piece of art or two that's music themed. It might cost a bit, but it's worth it to finally get something in that room. Later in the month I plan to purchase a nice solid dining room table that hopefully I can also get some use out of.
So I'll compile a few things I'll need to buy:
In the meantime, though, Thursday I went down to Voorhees to pay rent and re-up my lease for another year, so I guess I'm here until at least June of 2010! That's not a bad thing, though, since my apartment is more than acceptable and generally a good place to live.
Yes, that's right. A week or so ago I procured an of Montreal LP and desired something to play it on. Now, this led to needing something to actually put a turntable on, so I looked at end tables. What I planned to do was to buy some sticky dealies to mount the record sleeve to the wall all artsy-like.
One thing leads to another, and I come up with a fantastic vision for my currently-empty dining room. Music theme! It can have the CD/LP player in the corner, a few LP sleeves hung on the wall in a vertical line, maybe even a framed piece of art or two that's music themed. It might cost a bit, but it's worth it to finally get something in that room. Later in the month I plan to purchase a nice solid dining room table that hopefully I can also get some use out of.
So I'll compile a few things I'll need to buy:
- Stick wall-mount thingies to secure the LP sleeve I already have to the wall and for future endeavors to that effect.
- The LP/CD player itself, which is a pretty good chunk of change, but it'd be nice to have a way to play my music in the dining/living room area, including LPs I buy.
- An end table or two, one for the actual purpose of providing a table for my couch, the other for a stand for said player.
- A lamp for the end table next to the couch.
In the meantime, though, Thursday I went down to Voorhees to pay rent and re-up my lease for another year, so I guess I'm here until at least June of 2010! That's not a bad thing, though, since my apartment is more than acceptable and generally a good place to live.
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