Friday, February 12, 2010
Quiz Night Team Names
Beeroshima
Tequila Mockingbird
Team team team team team team team team team
And in First Place
My couch pulls out but I don't
Trivia Newton John: Let's Get Quizzical
The City Formerly Known as Port-au-Prince
Drinks are on the house
The Jackson Four
Pabst Schmear
Cervixalot
Define statutory
Touched by an Uncle
Pull out and quiz on my face
I mustache you a question
The Al Roker Death Cult Wind Ensemble
Ted Kennedy, 3 months sober
Sit On My Facebook
The Walking Talking Stephen Hawking
I Wish This Microphone Was A Penis
REO Teabaggin
Norfolk In Chance
My grandma doesn't wrestle, but you should see her box
Jesus loves you, he just isn't in love with you
Regular Sanchez
Pat Tillman and the Friendly Fires
Quiz-team Aguilera
winston churchill downs syndrome
Monday, January 4, 2010
Complicated Shoes
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Second World Peace
American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France, a few German fighter planes flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen. They did the same for wrecked American bombers on the ground, and those planes flew up backwards to join the formation.
The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. The bombers opened their bomb bay doors, exerted a miraculous magnetism which shrunk the fires, gathered them into cylindrical steel containers, and lifted the containers into the bellies of the planes. The containers were stored neatly in racks. […]
When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating day and night, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody again.
The American fliers turned in their uniforms, became high school kids. And Hitler turned into a baby. Billy Pilgrim supposed. That wasn’t in the movie. Billy was extrapolating. Everybody turned into a baby, and all humanity, without exception, conspired biologically to produce two perfect people named Adam and Eve, he supposed.
- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Outside in the Cold Distance, a Wild Cat Did Growl
All Along the Watchtower, as written by Bob Dylan and performed by Jimi Hendrix, may well be the greatest song of all time.
THE LYRICS
In contrast to Dylan's earllier work, “All Along The Watchtower” is spare and restrained. The song consists of only three verses, and no chorus. The language is simple. Yet the three verses are packed with meaning and drama.
“There must be some kind of way out of here,”
Said the joker to the thief.
The song by throwing us into the middle of a conversation, and begins with an urgent statement. We don’t know where the “here” is from which the speaker wants to escape, but we know he wants out. The sense of drama is immediate. We find out that the two people speaking are “the joker” and “the thief.” These are archetypal characters that have existed in one form or another for thousands of years. By identifying them in this way, Dylan invokes a sense of timelessness. Because these figures are broad archetypes, there is already a suggestion that this might be a parable of some sort, a story whose essence remains the same over many different times, places and characters.
The joker, or jester, can be seen in general to represent the artist: someone whose role is to amuse other members of the established order, but also to provoke them, to suggest alternate ways of looking at reality. And, of course, the joker and the thief are both outsiders of a sort, united in their separation from more ordered segments of society.
“There’s too much confusion,
I can’t get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine,
Plowmen dig my earth.
None of them along the line
Know what any of it is worth.”
The rest of the verse tells us why the joker wants to escape: there is too much confusion. But what is confused? Others are benefiting from his labors, and working for him to help produce the results. But neither understands the worth of their efforts. So the confusion is about values: what is valuable and what is not.
“No reason to get excited,”
The thief he kindly spoke.
“There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we’ve been through that,
And this is not our fate.
So let us not talk falsely now,
The hour is getting late.”
The second verse begins with the thief speaking “kindly” to the joker. This adverb lets us know that he is sympathetic and that he, perhaps, understands the worth of the joker and his efforts. The thief goes on to say that while there are those who think that life is “but a joke,” the thief and the joker know better, having lived through that. So while others may still be confused, these two are not. Since they understand the value of life, it is important for them to be truthful with one another. Then the last line of the verse brings us back from exposition to a sense of drama and movement, and impending action: “the hour is getting late.”
All along the watchtower,
Princes kept the view,
While all the women came and went —
Barefoot servants too.
Outside in the cold distance,
A wildcat did growl.
Two riders were approaching, and
The wind began to howl.
The beginning of this final verse suddenly shifts the scene, without at first giving us any sense of how this new setting connects to the first one. In contrast to the first two verses, which were full of conversation, this verse unfolds almost cinematically, full of visual imagery. This new scene is populated with princes, women, and barefoot servants, establishing a time and place in the past, although again using enduring, archetypal figures. These figures guarding their castle seem to represent established society, and the existing power structure. But what are they guarding against?
A wildcat growls from a distance, suggesting the savage, untamed power of nature lurking just beyond the well-ordered lights of the castle. Then we see the two riders approaching. Suddenly, in only four words, the first two verses are connected with the last. With a sort of cinematic establishing shot, but used at the end of the story rather than the beginning, we see the thief and the joker approaching the castle. We already know that they want to establish a different set of values, one based on the worth of human life. Their approach towards the guarded castle suggests an impending confrontation. And then the last line of the song strengthens this suggestion with imagery of a furious storm starting to build.
Note how this last verse has made physical the relationships suggested in the previous lines. The thief, joker and wildcat are all placed outside the castle, which is occupied by princes and servants. So we now have, in a very concrete sense, independent outsiders and a rigid power hierarchy.
In the space of a few verses, in a song so spare it could almost be missed as a throw-away, Dylan accomplishes much.
He summarizes his own life to date. Given his earlier efforts to make pointed fun of almost everything around him, and his near-fatal motorcycle crash that marked a turning point in his career, it is hard not to see the joker as Dylan himself. He has now learned that life is not a joke, and distinguishes between artists and outsiders who understand the seriousness of life, versus the businessmen and fans who treat his art as simply a marketable commodity.
Dylan identifies the primary issue of our time as one of values. Modern thinkers such as Ken Wilber, with his image of our contemporary “flatland,” in which everything is seen as neutral, and devoid of value, are brought to mind. In earlier songs Dylan talked tirelessly of modern figures misunderstanding the significance of issues such as war, freedom and poverty. Here Dylan stands back from these specific issues and reduces the confrontation to its essential element: human values against the established order.
Dylan propels his theme with a powerful dramatic structure. From a traditional dramatic viewpoint, almost nothing happens in this song: two riders talk to each other while approaching a castle. We’ve hardly got a decent first act, let alone a whole play. Yet by repeatedly hinting at the intensity of a coming confrontation, and by identifying the two opposing forces, Dylan keeps us on the edges of our seats, wondering what will happen next. The effect at the end is comparable to the conclusion of William Butler Yeats’ famous poem, “The Second Coming”: “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” In both cases, there is a perceptible chill creeping up the spine, as the poet leaves his reader to contemplate the inevitability and intensity of the coming confrontation, and its consequences.
THE MUSIC
Dylan’s original reading of the song is as spare and compact as his words, with the music adding little. Hendrix’ treatment is a whole different matter, though. The first element to note is how the music here parallels the dramatic structure of the song. Listen to the opening drums and guitars, as one example. The beat starts, intensifies, and then stops. As in the lyrics, the power is hinted at, but not unleashed. The music, like the words, points towards some future action, presents the tension, but does not resolve it. This device is repeated throughout the song, with Hendrix mostly holding back, repeatedly returning the song to its basically quiet pace.
The second element to note is Hendrix’ use of guitar to represent the confusion that the joker is experiencing. He uses bent notes, a wah-wah pedal, and other devices to represent a disorienting, almost inhuman sonic landscape.
The third musical element, and the one that really frames and defines the whole song, is Jimi’s repeated, gradually progressing ascents up the scale with blistering notes. The first time it appears, at the beginning of the first guitar break, between the first and second verses. Then at the end of the second, and longer, guitar break, between the second and third verses. And, finally, at the end of the song.
Jimi seems to be gradually reaching for a note that he only finally hits at the end of the song. And then when he gets there, he repeats it, over and over, making a high keening sound, representing not only the howling wind referred to in the last line, but that coming conflict that the song prepares us for. And the music ends on this note, as do the lyrics, without resolution, but clearly pointing forwards to some anticipated future act of liberation.
This is simply a brilliant collaboration between songwriter and musician, the accompaniment extending and reinforcing the meaning and drama of the lyrics.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
William D. McIntosh Highway
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Blind Melon - Walk
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Dylan
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Favorite Simpsons Lines
Monday, February 9, 2009
Computer Build Update: Component Specs
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
New PC Build
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Video Games and Me: A Retrospective
One on One: Dr. J vs Larry Bird
However, it was soon traded in for the Nintendo Entertainment System. I remember my Dad coming home with the Nintendo, it was a great day. It came with a controller, a light gun, and the cartridge with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. This was probably around 1987. It seemed like every kid had a Nintendo, and a fair amount of our lives revolved around it. We would discuss Nintendo games on the playground, then come home after school and watch The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and then play Nintendo as long as our parents would let us. The games I remember playing most were Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt (of course), Contra, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Super Mario Bros. 2, Maniac Mansion, Bart vs The Space Mutants, Dr. Mario, Bayou Billy, Bases Loaded, Double Dragon, and the pinnacle of the Nintendo, Super Mario Bros. 3. I'm probably forgetting some games. When we got the Game Genie, which gave cheat codes for all games, we feigned illness and stayed home from school to replay all our games with cheats enabled.
Nintendo Entertainment System
As the 90's began, so began a new Nintendo era with the release of the Super Nintendo. Prior to its release, kids brought copies of Nintendo Power magazine to school with mock-ups of what the Super Nintendo would look like. To say we were excited is an understatement. The Super Nintendo came with ultimate Mario game, Super Mario World, perhaps the best 2-D platformer ever. I played the shit out of that game, and though I haven't touched it in years, I could probably pick it up and play through start to finish and find all the secrets. The other games I remember playing most on the system were Mario Kart, Street Fighter II, Gradius III, Donkey Kong Country, and F-Zero. It seemed like Street Fighter II owned the videogame world for a while in both the arcade and home console. Who doesn't know how to throw a fireball with Ken or Ryu?
Super Nint ... I lost my train of thought
With the release of Mortal Kombat, and Nintendo's decision to tone down the blood and violence, we decided we needed to get the Sega Genesis. Sega had no such restrictions. I remember purchasing Mortal Kombat for the Genesis at The Warehouse one Sunday after church, and though I was young, I enjoyed the irony of leaving church to buy one of the most realistically violent games of the time. Sega also had Sonic the Hedgehog, which was much faster than any Nintendo games. We had many Sonic games for the Genesis, including the original, Sonic 2, Sonic 3, Sonic and Knuckles, and Sonic Spinball. NBA Jam was aonther Genesis favorite. But my favorite game for the system may have been Aladdin. Aladdin looked like a cartoon and had great side-scrolling game play.
Aladdin on the Genesis
As I got older, and started learning to use a computer, I grew away from the video game consoles. The computer was much more interesting, and through shareware many games were free. Duke Nukem and Lemmings were two early favorites. And I spent a great deal of time playing SimCity 2000. Then my whole video game world changed when I played DOOM. It was my first game in 3-D from a first person perspective, which made it quite visceral. The weapons were what made it awesome though, with the chainsaw, the shotgun, and the BFG. DOOM also had great sound effects and an intense score. Soon almost every game would be in 3-D, and many of them would be DOOM clones.
DOOM
I didn't play video games much in high school or college, though I recall playing the original Grand Theft Auto quite a bit in the dorms and the girls next door had a Nintendo, so we would occasionally bust out Contra. Mostly, however, I was into music and partying and didn't follow the video game trends.
I returned to the world of console gaming, when in my last few weeks of grad school I bought a used Xbox off some guy for cheap. He wanted to sell me all his games too, but I didn't want them. I bought the Xbox so my friend could mod it for use as a media center. The ability to play any movies or music on the home TV and sound system over the network from my computer was one of the greatest innovations ever. However, I soon learned the art of downloading Xbox games to the console's hard drive, and my devotion to gaming was reborn. With no costs associated with games, I tried all the top games. Halo and Project Gotham Racing were good, but two of my favorites didn't get talked about much; Psychonauts and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath. Stranger's Wrath has an old-west feel but on another planet, and many of the weapons are living creatures. In Psychonauts you play as a kid with psychological abilities, it's mostly a platformer, but each level takes place in someone's crazy head.
Xbox Media Center
I retuned to legitimate console gaming when one of my co-workers offered me the opportunity to buy the new Nintendo Wii at the midnight launch of the console. The Wii looked innovative and interesting with its entirely new control scheme. I had never been to the midnight launch of anything before and now that I was employed I could actually afford to buy a console at retail. So I bought the new Nintendo and it seemed that my video game life had come full circle as I excitedly hooked up the system.
The Wiimote
The game that came with the Wii, Wii Sports, was great and made excellent use of the new controller, however, no other games seemed use the controller as well. I soon grew bored with the Wii, playing it only when we had guests over, and then it was typically used solely for bowling or the occasional tennis game.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Gin
Fun Fact: A good Gin is dry, meaning that it lacks a sweet taste.
Jenever is the original Dutch style of Gin, which was distilled in a pot still from a malted grain mash (similar to that used for whisky) to an ethanol content of 50%. Since the distilling techniques were not well refined, the liquid was unpalatable thus herbs were added to mask the flavor. Jenever is still popular today in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Gin, as we know it, evolved from this Dutch Jenever. Gin was developed during the 17th century in the Netherlands, and was intended as a medication. It was sold to treat medical problems such as kidney ailments, lower back pain, stomach ailments, gallstones, and the gout. Gin soon made its way to England through various state conflicts.
When the Dutch Protestant William of Orange and his English wife Mary became co-rulers of England after the "Glorious Revolution" drove James II from the throne, he moved to discourage the importation of brandy from the Catholic winemaking countries by setting high tariffs. As a replacement, he promoted the production of grain spirits by abolishing taxes and licensing fees for the manufacture of local products, such as Gin. This created a market for poor-quality grain that was unfit for brewing beer, and thousands of Gin-shops started production. All this led to very inexpensive, widely available Gin. By the 1720s, it was estimated that a quarter of the households in London were used for the production or sale of Gin. Mass drunkenness became a serious problem, as depicted in William Hogarth's Gin Lane.
(William Hogarth's Gin Lane, 18th Century England)
Gin & Tonic & the British East India Company: In tropical British colonies, quinine was taken as a protection against malaria. The quinine was dissolved in carbonated water to form a tonic water that was extremely bitter. Gin was used to mask the bitter flavor of quinine.
Gin grew in popularity in the US with the advent of Prohibition in 1920. Whiskies were dominant at the time, but required some aging in oak casks, and bootleggers were not in a position to store and age illegal whiskey. Gin, however, did not require any aging, and was relatively easy to make by mixing raw alcohol with juniper berry extract and other flavorings and spices in a large container, such as a bathtub. These Gins were generally of poor quality and taste, a fact that gave rise to the popularity of cocktails in which the mixers served to disguise the taste of the base Gin. Repeal of Prohibition at the end of 1933 ended the production of bootleg Gin, but Gin remained a part of the American culture. Gin was the dominant white spirit in the US until the rise of Vodka in the 1960s.
The Martini: A cocktail made with Gin and dry white Vermouth, shaken with ice, and garnished with an olive. The ratio of Gin to vermouth started out at about 2 to 1, and it has been getting drier ever since. Ernest Hemingway liked to order a "Montgomery,” which was a martini mixed at a 15:1 gin-to-vermouth ratio (these supposedly being the odds Field Marshal Montgomery wanted to have before going into battle). Lyndon Johnson favored the "in-and-out martini,” in which the glass is poured with vermouth, emptied, and then filled with gin. Winston Churchill chose to forgo vermouth completely, saying that the perfect martini involved pouring a glass full of cold gin and looking at a bottle of vermouth. While General Patton suggested simply pointing the gin bottle in the general direction of Italy.
(Thanks to Wikipedia and Tastings.com)Friday, August 22, 2008
Home Theatre
Receiver: Technics SA-DX940 - Purchased from a pawnshop in Reno in 2001
Phonograph: Pro-Ject Audio Systems Debut III - Christmas gift in 2007
HD-DVR: Scientific Atlanta 8300HD - Cable provider Astound
Xbox: Modded with XBMC, 120 GB - Purchased used and modded by friend in 2004
Xbox 360: 20 GB - Purchased for Gears of War in 2007
Wii: Most played game by far is Bowling - Purchased at midnight launch in 2006
TV Top: Phillips 27PT6441/37, 27"- Birthday gift in 2005
TV Bottom: RCA G27373CP, 27" - Purchased from estate sale in 2004
R/L Speakers: Canton CT-220 - Birthday gift in 2001
Center Speaker: Yamaha - Birthday gift in 2006
Rear Speakers: Sony SS-SR350 - Purchased in 2006
Subwoofer: Klipsch - Purchased at Costco in 2006
PC: Windows XP Media Center, Home built, Parts purchased from Fry's in 2007
Remote Control: Logitech Harmony Xbox 360 Remote, Purchased from Amazon in 2008
TV Stand: Purchased at Good Guys going out of business clearance sale in 2006
(Click to embiggen.)
Thursday, July 24, 2008
But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride
Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: 'Is this real? Or is this just a ride?' And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and they say 'Hey! Don't worry, don't be afraid - ever - because... this is just a ride.' And we kill those people.
'Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride! Shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry; look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.'
It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that - ever notice that? - and we let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter, because... it's just a ride, and we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort. No worry. No job. No savings and money. Just a choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy bigger guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one.
Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, into a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defense each year and, instead, spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would do many times over - not one human being excluded - and we can explore space together, both inner and outer, forever. In peace. -Bill Hicks
Monday, July 7, 2008
An Album from Each Year of My Life
I tried to base my selctions on what I have listened to the most. I found the '90's to be easy picks. The '80's took some searching. The aughts seem a bit mediocre, except for Man Man of course.
1980 - Bob Marley and The Wailers: Uprising
1981 - The Rolling Stones: Tattoo You
1982 - Michael Jackson: Thriller
1983 - U2: War
1984 - Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A.
1985 - John Fogerty: Centerfield
1986 - Paul Simon: Graceland
1987 - U2: The Joshua Tree
1988 - Jane’s Addiction: Nothing’s Shocking
1989 - Neil Young: Freedom
1990 - The Black Crowes: Shake Your Money Maker
1991 - Guns N' Roses: Use Your Illusion II
1992 - Sublime: 40 Oz. to Freedom
1993 - Snoop Doggy Dogg: Doggystyle
1994 - Tom Petty: Wildflowers
1995 - Blind Melon: Soup
1996 - Tool: Ænima
1997 - Radiohead: OK Computer
1998 - Jay-Z: Vol. 2 . . . Hard Knock Life
1999 - Eminem: The Slim Shady LP
2000 - OutKast: Stankonia
2001 - The Coup: Party Music
2002 - Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
2003 - Mars Volta: De-Loused in the Comatorium
2004 - The Killers: Hot Fuss
2005 - System of a Down: Mezmerize
2006 - Man Man: Six Demon Bag
2007 - Lily Allen: Alright, Still
2008 - ??? So far I've listened to Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III twice, making it the album released this year that I have listened to most.
(This list is subject to change as my memories of year past slowly return to me.)