Month: June 2004

Well, so far it’s been a very cold and wet week here. Not that I mind, mind you; we need the water and I like it cool. Right now it’s an almost exact duplicate of being in the mountains of Washington state outside with the pine smells and perpetual drizzle. Well, that and it looks like I’m living in a Led Zeppelin album cover. 🙂

Here’s a shot from my deck at the ridge to the south:

I’ve also gotten a chance now to play around with some of the new features in “Tiger”, the new Macintosh OS version, and it pretty much blows everything I’ve used out of the water.

The new system-wide search features, “spotlight”, definitely work as advertised and having RSS and Atom services built into Safari (the web browser) is really nice.

What will be the best part of “Tiger” will be what programmers do with all of the changes under the hood – CoreImage and CoreVideo will really turn things up a notch.

Well, I’m going to get back to work now. Have a great day out there folks…

Fleetwood Mac – Crystal

Not much to update really, just been working my tail off… Which is rather impressive considering the length of my tail.

Let’s see here. Larry and Vivian will be gone for about two months starting next week and during that time it will be my job to make sure everything stays show-ready around here.

Oh, because I’ve been spending 16 or so hours a day in front of the computer for the last few weeks I’ve developed a minor DVT problem (deep vein thrombosis) which has me keeping my leg elevated while sitting in front of the computer and taking long walks of a day. So far I don’t think it’s anything to worry about and I’ve done everything a doctor would tell me to do, so I should be ok… This too shall pass. 🙂

Well, I have to run, but I leave you with a photo taken at the latest Apple World Wide Developer conference:

Pink Floyd – High Hopes

Well, ol Burt Rutan (and his parrot) pulled it off!

As of this morning the world has seen its first civilian astronaut and the US has the world’s first public spaceport.

Private space travel is now a reality!

The Alan Parsons Project – So Far Away

Just a quick update.

Aryntha and Rai were up here for the weekend and of course we had to go out, drive around, and take pictures of things…

This photo is from on top of a mountain that we Honda’d to just east of Glenwood Springs… Yes, we were after another tower called “Storm King”, but it has eluded us for the moment. We finally met a location that beat the hill climbing powers of the Honda.

Anyways, this is looking south east across the valley from where we finally stopped…

I’ll post more about this weekend’s adventures later…

Ian Anderson – Griminelli’s Lament

Well, a good night’s sleep and a couple cups of coffee and I’m right as rain again. How long this lasts in light of what I have to do today has yet to be seen though.

Today I get to wrestle with yet another PC… Larry bought a new Compaq last week with the idea that he can convert his old video tapes to DVD with it…

This should be fun… I’ll be spending a few hundred hours explaining to Larry that the PC “just doesn’t do that” or the ever popular “well, you just have to reboot Windows that often.”

sigh…

I’ll probably wind up doing all of the transfers on my Mac at night and leading him to believe his PC is “all that”… See, if I volunteer to do it Mac-wise Larry starts in on a tirade about how the Mac is a toy and to do real work requires a PC.

Yeah, ok, whatever…

It’s amazing how used to it you get over time. I got used to having to perform registry magic to install hardware, I learned to except that you simply had to reboot the machine once a day for some random reason, that when the OS crashed you lost everything… And now that I don’t have to do that anymore having to deal with it still for other people really frustrates me.

The real bonus of the last few weeks is Norton: Larry installed Norton’s “internet security” on his laptop a while back in a vain attempt to patch a few of the holes in the OS. Well, since the restore from his backups anything Norton will neither run, nor install. I’ve exhausted everything I know (remember I have years of schooling in PC and windows here), run though everything on Norton’s web site (did you know that the windows-norton combination is so bad they have created utilities to remove things?) and finally called tech support who, after two days, simply said “reinstall the OS”… Like that is a common answer.

Yay windows.

Anywho, I’m off to fix a pot of chili and then get back to fighting a bad collection of hardware and software in some odd semblance of a job.

Take it easy out there…

Ian Anderson – Eurology

It’s been a few days between updates here. With wrestling with Larry’s PC laptop (pure fucking 6-hour-a-day hell) and being completely submerged in SQL and PHP coding I’ve barely had time to do anything outside of my appointed functions…

I’m sick to death of technology… Been doing this crap for far too long.

There’s also the fact that I’m tired of being broke. Larry is a nice guy and all, but I’m once again doing heaps of work for the promise of “lots of money” later. Everyone seems to do that these days: Work your ass off now and make them rich and they *might* remember you later when they’re driving around in their new Ferarri Enzo… Yep, that’s happened to me: Not only did I make the company “go”, but I was a key component to selling the company and was listed as an asset in the paperwork. I got $60k, ‘ol Sam made millions and had the gaul to show off his new Ferarri while I was driving a broke-ass Ford Taurus.

Same thing happened at a computer store I helped start: Matthew and I were limping these old broke-ass VW beetles around town while Mark bought a new 944 and a Landcruiser, and Alan went and paid cash for a 740il. When they each bought their second houses and Matthew and I were still scraping by in apartments and trailers is when I decided it was time to move on.

You know, if I stop and think about it I’ve made no less than a dozen millionaires in the last ten years…

Meanwhile I’ve got $5 and half a tank of gas in another broke-ass car.

I wish I knew what it was I’m doing wrong… Wait, I know what I’m doing wrong; I’m too nice and people these days prey on that. Even folks I know are subject to this…

It’s ok though, it doesn’t bother me and that I guess is the root of the issue. I’ll just keep doing what I do and the world will just keep sucking me dry.

At least I’m predictable.

Maybe I should just snap and get it over with; be like everyone else – Look out for number one and fuck any one who gets in my way. There’s a certain part of me that thinks that would be grand, but I keep him under pretty tight control.

Naw. That’d be tantamount to loosing in the bigger picture. Yes, it’s easy to be rich if you’re a complete ass; but you truly “win” the game if you can get to the other side of the board while improving the lives of those around you.

If you get out of this life while making just one other person’s life a little easier, that’s good. Of course you’ll die under a viaduct in a cardboard box, but I guess the ends justify the means.

And with those cheery thoughts I think I’ll head for bed so I can be up early and finish up the online store for Larry and make “lots of money”.

‘night all…

The Alan Parsons Project – Ammonia Avenue

Ok latching down the cans didn’t work. It’s time to use a little evolution here on my part and put the cans in the garage.

Most folks around here would just call animal control and have the bear executed because it’s “dangerous”… Really. It’s just a black bear cub and while I realize it won’t be a cub forever, you have to be *really* stupid to get attacked by a black bear, in which case I chalk it up to darwinism.

Black bears are browsers and next to skunks, the most laid back wild animal out there… Seriously, if they thought you wouldn’t freak out they’d come in, grab a slice of pizza, and curl up on the couch to watch TV.

Anyways, at about 5 am this morning I got woken up again by Brother Bear doing bear things in my driveway. He’s already learned that when I hit him with the flashlight it’s time to blaze and in that, this is a game to him. He also doesn’t make a huge mess, preferring to rip up the bags while they’re still in the can to get to some ham sandwich or leftover chicken.

So, once I get the boiler running again and get some hot water making, I’ll go out, pick up the bag, grab the paper, and move the garbage cans inside the garage… Knowing my luck Brother Bear will just open my car and use the garage door opener. 🙂

The Alan Parsons Project – In the Real World

I’m sure you’ve seen me mention the wildlife up here in the mountains and how it’s a continual effort to keep the outdoors, outdoors…

First some background: I sleep with the big sliding door to my deck open at night because I like it cool and it gets down around 50-60 at night here.

Last night at about 3:30 in the morning I was awakened by a loud crash out in the driveway. Grabbing my ever-present and insanely bright flashlight I went out on my deck to find this black bear cub rummaging around in our freshly toppled trash. Well with the light and a few harsh words he thought better of sticking around and moseyed off for about fifteen minutes. Just as I got back to sleep I heard the sound of a few glass bottles rolling down the slope of the driveway and got up again to find Brother Bear in the garbage again.

This time I got angry with the little fella (little… He probably weighs as much as I do) and told him flat out that he really didn’t want me to come down there and mess up his fuzzy-wuzzy little world.

Ok, so he left again and stayed gone this time.

So, now that I’m up I have no choice but to stay that way and set about down in the basement fixing the ever-borked boiler… Which is a tale for some other time.

So, this evening I’m sitting here writing php code for a web site when another crash happens in the driveway… Brother Bear is back.

I run Brother Bear off, again, and he stays gone telling by the sounds of the neighborhood dogs. So, while I’m putting my shoes on to go clean up I hear more trash rustling… I figure the bear is back…

I’m wrong, it’s a lanky grey coyote. So I run him off too and latch the cans down.

We’ll see how it goes tonight, but chances are this is just the first volley in the war of me versus the critters. 🙂

If it comes down to it I’ll just move the trash-cans into the garage till our friday morning pickup.

Genesis – Silver Rainbow

Well, it was a very slow weekend. Saturday I spent most of the day futzing around on the computer which resulted in my fixing the line in the screen… Loose connections suck.

Sunday I did a little hiking up in Dark Territory just to get out into the world for a while. The nice thing about going for long walks in the mountains stems from the down side to taking long walks in the mountains: mountains. To get anywhere you have to do a few miles on a sunny, tree covered stair climber as it’s all *up* from just about anywhere. But this also tends to keep the teeming masses at bay allowing one to be at peace for as long as they deem necessary.

Sunday night I spent a few hours playing around with “Shadowbane” and eventually going from level 1 with this new Minotaur Warrior I rolled up to about level 40… Man, I guess I’ve really figured this game out. The nice thing about Shadowbane is that it’s about 80% player versus player so once you get into the 40-50 area, it’s not about figuring out the games monster AI, but about figuring out how to keep your group alive when a group of seven other players decides to try and kill ya.

Fortunately Minotaurs are unbelievably powerful warriors. With over 4000 hit points at level 40, and full plate, it takes a group of PKers (player killers) about 3 minutes to even get my attention and by then the rest of the guild has got there… It’s awe inspiring to see a 73rd level druid get pissed off in this game.

So, anyways, that’s about it for the news of note from here in Vail Colorado. Have a most excellent day out there.

Apoptygma Berzerk – Kathy’s Song

I up and decided to go see the latest “Harry Potter” movie this afternoon. It was good, but not as good as the first two in my opinion. My observations follow.

First off the scene cuts were horrible… About a dozen too many keyhole wipes for anyones good.

I gather that this was a new director; well I suggest they bring back the old one. Sure, there was a decided sense of menace in the third installment with all of the dark scenes and erie sets, but it didn’t manage to even come close to the second movie.

I also disliked the rather disjointed flow of the film. Things that should have had far more screen time were glossed over and things that should have been a passing note were done in far too much depth…

There were also many, many loose ends in the film; such as Harry’s vision of the glowing buck on the far side of the pond which turns out to be him? Huh? If you’re not going to explain it, don’t show it… The first rule of screenwriting.

But enough gripes about the movie, one might think it sucks by my review so far.

It doesn’t suck, but it’s not as good as the first two either.

Some high points of the movie include the hippogryph, “Buckbeak”, which was very well done right down to taking a very horse-like dump as he’s being introduced to the audience. The animators for him must have really done their homework of raptor wings as they did a very good job there as well.

The dementors are well done too, but you can tell the animators are using Buckbeak to beta the bodies for the centaurs and whatnot that figure highly in the next few stories by the level of detail used.

The new Dumbledorf does a very good job too, though he’s considerably more animated and mobile in comparison to the old Head Master. He’s just as puzzling and obviously more than he seems though.

Well, that about does it for my review of “The Prisoner of Azkaban”. All in all it’s worth the $10.

Tabache – Cregg’s Pipes Set

Well, it promises to be a slow and relaxed weekend. Aryntha and Rai will be out of town, Lyon will be doing his clinicals Saturday and attending a scene function Saturday night along with another member of the gaming group. So we’ve collectively decided to skip this weekend as a group…

I’ll hang out here in the hills and try to get my creativity in gear to do some art and writing.

Let’s see, it’s looking like the Mac version of EverQuest might not be dying after all. The fellow who runs EQMac managed to get ahold of a head honcho there at SOE and has been invited to the “summit meeting” regarding the goings on of the game.

I don’t know why I really care as I routinely only get about ten minutes a week to do anything on the computer that isn’t work related… I checked my total time playing since I bought the game back in March and my 9th level druid has a whopping five hours of played time on him… Ehe…

That makes me wonder if paying the $12.95 a month is really worth it.

In other news I got screwed by my bank out in Virginia… Wachovia. As one would expect of the money grubbing bastards, as soon as I’m 2000 miles away and unable to just run down the street and verbally berate them, they start messing with me: I had $50 deposited into the account for some ad work I did, in cash mind you, last friday morning. The web site showed the counter deposit Friday afternoon, and I bought gas and whatnot over the weekend which totaled far less than the money I had in the bank.

Tuesday I check and see a $30 charge for “Unavailable Funds” which dropped the account into the negatives. I get on the phone with them and discover that while the web site showed the deposit, they didn’t actually get around to crediting me for the CASH deposit till Monday.

Sigh.

Ok, I get another $40 put into the account to cover the charges Tuesday. Well yesterday I check again and see ANOTHER $30 charge labeled as “Overdraft Charge” which has, again, dropped me into the negatives. I get on the phone again, and find out that they hit me with the first $30 before Monday which sucked up all my available funds, so the gas I bought Saturday was an overdraft. Well they waited till Thursday to hit me with that $30 charge.

Zeze just dropped another $30 in cash into the account this morning and I just cut up the damn bank card. Monday, when they get around to crediting the CASH I’m canceling the account.

Other than that, nothing of merit to report from here in the thin air. Take it easy out there.

BT – Firewater

Well, Chateau D’Isaster is officially up for sale. The day before yesterday the appraiser was here, and yesterday the realtor was here to get everything signed.

Larry and Vivian have decided to sell the place and get something a bit smaller in either California or Nevada. This lets me move back down to the flatlands where everyone I know lives. 🙂

So if anyone out there is looking for a 6500 square foot, seven bedroom, seven and a half bathroom, 8 car garage, monster of a house between the skiing meccas of Vail and Beaver Creek, it’s going for a steal at $1.1 million.

Well, that’s the update. I have to get back to work.

Take it easy folks…

The Moody Blues – In The Beginning