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Superfreak

Stop. Hammer Blog.

What're you doing Friday?

From my friend Scott:

Have you got plans yet for Friday, March 3? You know you don't!

But now, my friends, you do. Because you'll be able to come see my band at its world premiere show.

The Roosevelt will be playing at DC's own Grog & Tankard on Wisconsin Ave. We'll be playing a set that starts around 8:45P and should last about 45 minutes, so you'll still have your whole Friday evening ahead of you. Or if you're a dork like me, you can probably make it home in time to catch BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

You can learn more about the band and hear some of our songs we've tracked already by clicking here. You can also sign up for our mailing list so can find out right away when we're doing things like debuting new songs, giving out free stuff, rolling out an EP. Plus, those emails are generally much, much wittier than this one.

WHO The Roosevelt, that band Remley plays in

WHAT World premiere show

WHERE The Grog & Tankard, 2408 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Washington DC

WHEN Friday, March 3, 2006 at 8:45P

It's a $7 cover (Yeah, yeah, I know, I know… we're not happy about it either). When you show up, make sure to tell the door guy that you're there to see The Roosevelt (it helps them keep a count so that they'll book us again sometime, which we will in turn use to argue for a lower cover charge because we can draw an actual crowd...)

This is good stuff – hand to heart. Think Wilco-meets-Death-Cab (if you don't know who that is, don't be alarmed. They're both harmless). All original works written by a guy who really knows his stuff named Jon Mosher, who is really remarkable. Some of you will also know our God-like guitarist, Sam Mitchell.

Please come out. It'll help to see a few familiar faces while we're up there bringing ROCK to the masses. If you can bring a friend, I'll buy you a shot. Feel free to forward the info along to anyone you want. Anyone who was left off, it was an accident.

So come on out and support your boy Remley. You'll be glad you did, I promise. And make sure to tell them, "I'm here to see The Roosevelt."

NOTE, by the way, how much this is just like a GOTV operation? Bring a friend? Make sure to get your vote counted? An early touch, followed by one early next week and one Friday AM? Is all of life just a giant campaign? I need a ruling on this...

Budgeting and organization

I'm the kind of person that when I try something, I'm all in. Except for in poker that is. For instance, when I stopped smoking in the past, I'd also start running and eating healthy. Now, I'm trying to get my finances in order, do (and stick to a budget) and get my organization skills (what I call the mess of information in my head) implemented or find new ones.

Personal Organization

I'm going to start using my Moleskine more, by using Jerry Brito's tabs hack. Right now, I'm using the poor man's Avery Write-On tabs, yeah that's right, you might know them better as just plain old post-its. And, not only are they the poor mans, Avery labels, they are the poor man's post-its that are Staples Brand. (See Getting Finances in Order below). I also swear by my little black pen.

I do need to re-read Getting Things Done by David Allen as well. I have the portable version of the flow charts from GTD that I downloaded from DIY Planner.

I've been using Remember the Milk as my primary hi-tech list keeper, as well as Mozilla Sunbird for Calendaring. Tangentially, Sunbird's development path is something that absolutely befuddles me.

Getting Finances in Order

Alrighty, so in the past, I've not really been paying much attention to money. This year however, it is one of my primary goals (starting in March apparently) to get all of my finances in order, and centralized. To that end, I've done some of the things that I need to do, and I am going to create a budget for the first time in my life. It is about time don't you think?

Also, I need to get this blog moved over to my new server, but that's all Ruby on Rails, and I don't know rails all that well, and I want to create a Typo template.

What else is on my plate? Studying for Open Water Scuba certification, getting all the details finalized for Chuq o de Mayo, and figuring out what to do with my latest domain purchase. I love lists.

I need a rommate

My roommate moved out, so I need a roommate or a new place to live. If you know anyone, let me know.

Otherwise, here is the craigslist posting.

Don't wear a seal hat to the zoo

This is too funny. Who wears a seal hat to the zoo, and then pops out of the water near the polar bear display?

Blur with a bottle of wine

This is Blur last night, looking at the bottle of 1998 Grand Vin from Argentina. I'd put the bottle there for a reference of size, but I think Blur wants some.

Funny computer joke

This is a joke that was forwarded from my sister. Enjoy!

A woman was helping her husband set up his computer, and at the appropriate point in the process, told him that he would now need to enter a password.

Something he will use to log on.

The husband was in a rather amorous mood and figured he would try for the shock effect to bring this to his wife's attention. So, when the computer asked him to enter his password, he made it plainly obvious to his wife that he was keying in.

P... E... N... I... S.

His wife fell off her chair laughing when the computer replied:

***PASSWORD REJECTED. NOT LONG ENOUGH***

Move your email to gmail

Not only is Gmail a great web-based email site, yesterday, they announced that they're going to have hosted email, so yes, your domain email can go directly to Google. This is only if you want to of course, and if you're not spooked by how Google reads all your email and then serves up ads related to them.

This is very similar to Microsoft Live, which already is offering this service. It's a battle between two tech giants. I'm interested to see who wins. My guess is that Gmail will win with the Firefox/Open Source/h4X0r world, and Microsoft will try to make everyone in the world use it. I'll guess that you'll probably have to use IE to get all the features of their Live offering.

Four Things

I done got tagged in a Four Things list! And away we go...

Four jobs I've had

1. Macintosh Technician (which meant cleaning mouse balls and monitors on macs), my first computer job at Carlson Library, University of Rochester.


2. Customer Service Clerk, P & C Supermarket


3. UNIX Systems Administrator, Bigfoot Interactive


4. Director of Internet Infrastructure, DNC

Four movies I can watch over and over

1. The Matrix


2. Happy Gilmore


3. Don't be a Menace to South Central While Drinking your Juice in the Hood


4. Office Space

Four places I've lived

1. Hornell, NY


2. Philadelphia, PA


3. Flushing, NY


4. Washington, DC

Four TV shows I love

1. 24


2. That 70s Show


3. The Family Guy


4. The Simpsons

Four places I've vacationed

1. Cheju, South Korea


2. Buenos Aires, Argentina


3. Playa del Carmen, Mexico


4. Curacao, Netherland Antilles

Four of my favorite dishes

1. Kalbi


2. Linguine and Clam Sauce


3. Grilled Lobster


4. Crabs

Four sites I visit daily

1. 43 Things


2. Fark


3. Gizmodo


4. Woot

Four places I would rather be right now

1. Skiing in Vermont


2. Snorkeling in Curacao


3. At Dr. Kelly's pond


4. Working in the John Kerry Whitehouse

Four bloggers I am tagging

1. Timothy Frost


2. Clay Johnson


3. Sab


4. Jenn King

Went skiing today

Today, I went skiing with my sister and her friend. Following the Noreaster that hit the DC area and East Coast this weekend, we headed up to Whitetail in Mercersburg, PA.

The roads were not too bad, but there were some ridiculous testaments to local area's governments and how snow removal can literally be worse than leaving the snow on the road. We saw a few cars on the side of the road, and some near accidents.

But, back to the skiing. We took a few runs down some black diamonds and due to all the new snow, there was a significant amount of snow on the slopes as well. Lots of snow means moguls. I'm not averse to moguls, but they require a LOT of fitness and practice. Also, they are not conducive to my style of skiing, carving huge turns and cruising.

I used to be pretty decent at moguls in high school, which is now I guess quite a while ago. I'm not nearly in the shape now that I was back then, but I'm working on it. Today, I took a few bump runs and had to take some breaks, but one particular run, I had a particularly good run. I was going at a good pace and having fun in full view of the lift chair. That's when it happened. I hit a small jump, and landed in a rut between two moguls. Right ski pops off. I then caught my left tip in the downslope mogul, and boom, left ski pops off. With no skis on my feet, I fly forward and face plant directly into the backside of the downslope mogul. Since there was all the snow that had fallen last night (all that snow had created them afterall), my face was driven directly into the fresh powder.

It was a great fall, one that I am pretty pround of since I laid like that for about 5 seconds laughing, and I got plenty of entertaining comments from the skiers on the lift.

I have now skied for every year since 1980, so this is my 26th season skiing.

My cell was stolen

On Friday, I was at the Lil Pub playing pool, and my cell phone was stolen. Here's how it happened.

A person that I've seen at the bar many times, Daniel Davis, came into the bar. He was his normal self up until shortly before I left. Shortly before he was going to leave, he began to act strangely, bumming and eventually stealing cigarettes from people, drinking other people's beers, and then just stealing people's beers. When I was getting ready to leave, I was looking for my phone. He was near it, so I asked him if he'd seen it. He said no. He then went into the bathroom. I grabbed a cell phone from another friend there, and called my cell. It rang in the bathroom. So I knocked on the door and told Daniel to give me back my phone.

When he opened the door, we had probably 8 people waiting for him. He said that he didn't have my phone, and the bartender searched him. While we were searching the bathroom, he slipped out of the bar. We eventually found the battery and battery cover in the tank of the toilet, but that's it.

I should have searched him myself, and I should have made sure that he didn't leave the bar. That is my fault, and proof that sometimes, you have to do things yourself if you want them done right.

So. Now I have to pay to replace a Blackberry, and I've been without a cell phone since Friday night.

I can't wait to see that m***** f***** again. I literally cannot wait.

Man Jailed for spiking soda...with antifreeze

Ok, So this isn't quite funny, but what was this guy thinking?

In an attempt to teach a co-worker a lesson, Keith Lamb poured antifreeze into a bottle of his own soda to "teach a lesson" to a co-worker who kept stealing his soda.

It was said Lamb added two inches of anti-freeze to a bottle which had an inch of cola left inside it.

The co-worker is now deaf and blind.

90 days

Today, February 9th, 2006 marks the 90 day mark until the beginning of Chuq o de Mayo 7. I just booked my flight. I'm going down from 5/11-5/17. A few of us are going down for the full time, but most people are going for the long weekend.

If you want to go, let me know, and I'll send you details of where we'll be, etc. Seriously. It'd be great to have as many people as we can down there.

Valentine's Poems

Forwarded from my sister. I don't know if it was an actual competition, and feel free to add your own in the comments. Enjoy!

These are entries to a Washington Post competition asking for a rhyme with the most romantic first line but the least romantic second line:

(1) Love may be beautiful, love may be bliss
But I only slept with you, because I was pissed.

(2) I thought that I could love no other
Until, that is, I met your brother.

(3) Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's
empty and so is your head.

(4) Of loving beauty you float with grace
If only you could hide your face.

(5) Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;
This describes everything you are not.
(6) I want to feel your sweet embrace
But don't take that paper bag off of your face.

(7) I love your smile, your face, and your eyes -
Gosh, I'm good at telling lies!

(8) My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you screwed up my life.

(9) I see your face when I am dreaming.
That's why I always wake up screaming.

(10) My love, you take my breath away.
What have you stepped in to smell this way?

No more political postings here

I've decided to post any political entries on a new site called: RunDNC. It was an idea given to me by a friend that is now in Hong Kong, that I went to college with. I lost touch with her for the longest time, and she'd moved from DC to Colorado shortly before I moved to DC. She found me on the internet, and now we're back in touch.

Good Stuff.

I did make a graphic for the site, and it's on the first post, but that was not very creative. So, I did go ahead and make this one, which is a little more my photoshop style.

I may move my past political postings there, or cross post them, but well, it's just another site to enjoy. If anyone else wants to post there, just let me know, and I'll give you an account.

Roach morphs into a wasp (think Aliens)

Most of us have heard about parasitic organisms, and their symbiotic relationships. Here is a case of Parasitism. It's actually quite worth the near sci-fi read. The Ampulex compressa wasp has reverse engineered the cockroach and makes it into a zombie. It injects the cockroach with some sort of venom that allows it to "steer" the roach back to the roach's burrow, and then has it's way with it. The picture on the left is the head of a wasp coming out of the roach after having fed on it's insides.

If you don't believe me, read the story.

The larva grows inside the roach, devouring the organs of its host, for about eight days. It is then ready to weave itself a cocoon--which it makes within the roach as well. After four more weeks, the wasp grows to an adult. It breaks out of its cocoon, and out of the roach as well. Seeing a full-grown wasp crawl out of a roach suddenly makes those Alien movies look pretty derivative.

Where do you get more of these wasps?

6 More Weeks of Winter

Today is Groundhog Day in the United States. In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, there is a groundhog named Phil. Today he saw his shadow, which means that there is to be 6 more weeks of winter.

My question is, this past January was the 5th warmest winter on record since sometime during the 1800s, when such records began being recorded. Is this a sign of global warming, the earth's rotation slowing, or something much larger? I hope these 6 weeks of winter bring snow to this area so that I can go skiing.

Chipotle and real time video

Yesterday, while perusing the poorly designed website of Chipotle, I noticed a few things.

1. The entire site is in flash, there is not skip introduction, there is no text version, etc.
2. There are videos. Click on Eat which is at 12:00 on the tortilla clock, and then on Live Action. Not only, can you see Chicken marinating, but you can also watch Avocados ripening. Seriously, it's in real time!
3. You have to register to order, and there is a default pickup time.
4. You can mouseover ingredients to get a description of what they are.

The site design is terrible and difficult to use. It's essentially a flash developer's personal project with no thought given to user base. What gives?

Well, at least the food is good.