The One Year Thread Redux

[GUNNER]

The Bourne flicks were some great movies....

 

Ok, parents came over Monday for dinner as they do every week and we had Waffles as we do every Monday. The kids love them and so do the rest of us. My sister got me a kick ass EIII movie poster. It's 2 sided. So now I need to figure out how to mount it, probably have it done professionally, then hang it up.

 

Watched a little of the Miss USA. A girl we have known for 7 or 8 years that was in our young life group was the Washington babe. But she didn't make the top 15 so you don't see much of her. She is a great girl and a hottie to boot.

 

Are any of the new SW games any good. I'm more of a FPS guy.

[edlib]

Nitro... It sounds shady to me... But even if it's truly legit this has to be in the interest of marketers and advertisers, and I try not to do anything that helps them out even more.

 

Also: If it is legit, then why hasn't it taken place before? I can't believe nobody ever thought of it before now.

 

4/11/05

 

Half day at work. Had serious trouble getting started in the morning... I was in severe slow-motion mode. I wish I had managed to get out earlier as my commute in took place at the same time as the Sox opening-day crowd. Yahoo.

 

I mostly read after work, as there is never anything worth watching on TV on Monday nights.

I'm about halfway though the new King book I bought the other day already.

 

I wish now that I had managed to get to sleep a little earlier last night. Tired again this morning, but tonight I have to work late. I have to try to get in by noon for a meeting. I hate when things like this get booked on my late nights.

 

Sigh...

[Rogue15]

arghhhhhgghghg i decide to check my bank to see if my tax return came.....NOPE. well **** you too uncle sam!

 

called the temp agency to see if my check was in, well, apparantly i misheard the person (which is why i called to be sure), and i have to wait until thursday to pick it up. juuuuuuuuuuuust greaaaaaat.

 

I need money NOW dammit.

 

i woke up too early...went to bed at like 3:30, woke up at 8 cause people were being noisy before leaving for work, went back to bed and woke up again at 10. it's a little chilly out.

 

haven't heard from my army friend in a while, so i guess that's off? o well. I'm feeling depressed cause I'm sick of living at home. here's one of the reasons... my mom calls me like at 10 (reason why i woke up really) and tells me to bring my old computer upstairs cause she's throwing it out since it's just laying around collecting dust. what the ****. i've got at least 3 things in that computer i'd like to re-use...the cdrw drive, the $70 soundcard i bought for it, and possibly the harddrive. I'd also like to keep the keyboard and mouse, as well as the monitor. I'd like to use those for testing my skills at building a new computer. (which she would have a problem with cause her and my dad would say 'what's wrong with teh one you got?!' )

 

so yeah, right now i'm kinda contemplating my life. **** it. i'm going out for a 2 mile run. that should make me want to not go to work.

 

edit: this just in:

 

eh went on a 1 mile run cause i decided to go use my audio/video gift card...got home, decided to make some clam chowder for lunch, left the dog out...when i left the dog in...my finger slammed in the door, resulting in an uncontrollable angry reaction, resulting in a shattered window on the door. cut my hand pretty good, i swore pretty loud even though it didn't hurt (was pissed cause now i'm gonna get bitched out by my dad) anyways i look and there's blood all over my hand, i looked away so i didn't pass out, ran it under some water, and applied a dressing to it. it's better now. afterwards, i cleaned up the glass, decided to kick the rest of the glass out, which was relieving. anyways, i'm out there picking up all the glass, and am mad and swearing like a sailor, and then a stupid yellow jacket lands on me, which makes me swear really loud, just glad i didn't get stung.

 

after i cleaned up all the glass and cleared the door, i eat some food decide to watch tv, and nothing is on BUT COMMERCIALS!!!1 YAYS!

 

so i finished eating and decided to take the dog with me to go purchase the cd player. was a nice drive there, the dog behaved. I ended up buying an Alpine cd player, plus the installation, getting it put in on saturday at 12. so got something to look foreward to there. too bad the tax made me go over the card's limit, so now i owe $39 on saturday. YAY. o well i'm not complaining, i'm so sick of listening to commercials when i'm driving.

 

I wrote a note about the door for my dad to see when he gets home (i'm hoping he gets home when i'm gone....but unlikely =\ )

[edlib]

4/12/05

 

Went in for the meeting, which took all of about 5 minutes. Spent half the day at work sitting around waiting for the setup for the show to start.

 

Everything went well. The show was OK, not the most exciting I've ever seen, but it was a small setup and it ended right on time, so it was a good one in my opinion.

 

Spent half the night reading more of the new King book. It's getting really good, and I don't want to put it down,... but I was up to about 2:30am with it, and now I'm paying the price.

 

It's getting a little weird too (which is cool!)... for example: 2 of the characters are in Maine, on thier way to meet an author named Stephen King. Kinda bizarre. I've never seen an author work themselves as a character into a fictional story... but for some reason it really works. The whole "Dark Tower" series is about crossing between parallel universes and alternate realities anyway, so it's not that jarring a situation as it might seem on the surface.

 

Still; it's a pretty ballsy move.

[Keyan Farlander]

What if they...really DO know about me in Fantasia...?

[edlib]

4/13/05

 

Dumb day at work.

 

Spent almost my entire time there fighting with the laptop we have by the mixing console trying to get XP to see and switch between 2 wireless networks, with absolutely no success.

 

IT recently upgraded the laptop from Win 2000 to XP. The only reason they did this is because they altered the wireless network in the college, and there was no easy way to get 2000 to connect.

 

However, our PA system EQ is all digital, and controlled by a wireless tablet PC, which also has to connect to the analyzing software on the laptop, so we have our own wireless network running at the sme time.

 

Before they changed the network security this was easy. Now it is damn near impossible.

 

However: while I was there struggling and cursing at this thing, somebody showed up and started wiring a network switch in about 20 or so feet from the board. We didn't ask for this, and the guy setting it up didn't know what it was there for, but there it was.

 

So I stoppped fighting it, we got a long CAT 5 cable, and now the laptop is wired into the school network, and wireless to our system network, and now both work at the same time, and I'm left wondering why I wasted my entire day with this silliness.

 

Finished reading the King book. Really wild ending. Now I have to wait a couple of months for the final installment to hit paperback. That's gonna be a long wait.

 

I didn't intend to read through quite it as fast as I did, but my internet was down last night for some reason, and there wasn't anything on TV I wanted to see.

[Keyan Farlander]

Yeah, I hate it when my Internet and TV are down and I'm forced to read

[Rogue15]

Thursday, 14 April 2005

 

I woke up at 9 am EXACTLY this morning. why? i don't know. i wasn't forced awake, I went to bed at 2:30, so i only got 6.5 hours? kinda weird...anyways, i showered, picked up my check, cashed it-all within an hour. While i was at the mall, i decided to pick up a 12" figure..gonna start collecting them as they are more fun to display. I got General Grievous. I want to get the Clone Trooper and Anakin, they are $20 each...

 

after leaving the mall, I went to the gas station to put some of my money in the tank. the price is still high, but not as high as it was. $2.09 a gallon. I miss when i couldn't drive, and it was only like $1.19.....i bet they rig the pump so you're not even getting what you pay for.

 

whe i got home, i decided to go for a 2 mile run...i made it pretty far before i decided to rest, then sprinted like force-speed from 1 stop sign to the next, to see how my lungs would handle it. NOT BAD. i'm not coughing. so that's a plus. I took about 3 rests during the run. I can definetely improve, i know that. When I got home, I put the trash and recycles out. Not sure what to do with all the broken glass....I don't want to get sued for someone getting cut on it, speaking of cut-i'm definetely going to get a scar from that incident on tuesday.

 

Anyways...I'm so glad it's nice out. not a rain cloud in sight.

[edlib]

Originally posted by Keyan Farlander

Yeah, I hate it when my Internet and TV are down and I'm forced to read

Wise guy.

 

Actually, I had hoped to read only a chapter or 2 a night on this one to stretch it out so I didn't have to wait as long between books, since the next one will most likely be out in about a month or 2 in paperback, if they follow the schedule the hardcover releases followed.

 

But once I started I couldn't put it down, and now I'm forced to wait... and find somthing else to read in the meantime...

 

Well, I could always get it in hardcover... but since I have all 6 of the others in paperback it would look kinda weird on my bookshelf. And I don't want to go back and buy the others in hardcover.

 

I prefer paperbacks to hardcovers anyway... always have. Lighter (which becomes really important when you have to move them all) and easier to store as they tend to be smaller.

[Keyan Farlander]

I like hardcovers better, but I agree - I hate having a series mixed. In fact, a couple of months ago I tracked down a new hardcover Heir to the Empire so it would match my harcover Dark Force Rising and The Last Command. Bit slow on that one wasn't I?

[Rogue15]

I've been wanting to get a few galaxies related things...=\ i'm prolly gonna preorder Rage of the Wookiees just for the free B.A.R.C. speeder bike...(it's prolly like the Flash Speeder that only people that preordered it get, and cannot be traded/sold) uhm....I also want

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0761542221/qid=1113498382/sr=8-7/ref=pd_csp_7/002-2144081-4376837?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

 

I suck at reading. I get into a book, then quit right in the middle.

[GUNNER]

Originally posted by edlib

and find somthing else to read in the meantime...

 

 

I was told Playboy has some good articles.

[Nitro]

I've spent the past 4 days cleaning up our jam shop... You never realize how dirty a place is until you have to clean it.

[Rogue15]

woke up at exactly 9 am again. pretty cool, only getting 6.5 hours of sleep instead of the insane 8+.

 

I went to blockbuster and am currently renting Mr 3000 and Ocean's 12. Haven't watched either yet.

 

Also doing my laundry. I called the bank, and my tax return came. all $260. so i'm happy.

 

payed some bills...and just preordered Rage of the Wookiees Galaxies Expansion. Too bad it's only a 'digital download' so i don't get a box or anything...i'll probably repurchase it at a later date just for the box and manual and stuffs. (thinking of waiting and then getting a 3 pack which includes An Empire Divided, Jump to Lightspeed, and Rage of the Wookiees) it said I'll get a Varactyl mount, which will be cool as I haven't had a creature mount in the game yet. I can't wait to get one of these:

 

 

 

I'm gonna be gone for a week or 2 in the beginning of June, I'm going to go camping (well..staying in a cabin cause my parents can't handle tents anymore..) for a few days with my family, then me and my dad are going Canada with a friend for a week to go fishing. XD Haven't been to Canada since I was like...8, and that was just on the way to belaire, michigan from NY. It should be fun...I'll probably lose my job for being absent that long, but oh well. I'll find something else, or be given another assignment.

 

good times.

[edlib]

Originally posted by GUNNER

I was told Playboy has some good articles.

Playboy has articles?!?? Huh... who knew? And after all this time you think I woulda noticed... Maybe I should try flipping through it with both hands sometime...

 

 

4/14/05

 

Another easy night, for the most part.

 

A bunch of guitar students. All of them were pretty good. A couple of them were pretty damn loud, though.

 

Show ended early, too... but I didn't get home any earlier than normal: I got stuck in after-Sox-game rush-hour.

 

Fenway Park is the very next station along, going outbound. Had to wait at the subway station a good long while while car after car went through, packed to the gills, before one pulled in that I might actually be able to get on.

 

Always a fun time.

 

4/15/05

 

Wasted the day, despite all my best efforts to the contrary.

 

I tried to make the day productive, but I failed at every attempt, until I just gave up, watched a lot of TV, and then went to bed without accomplishing anything of note.

 

4/16/05

 

Another easy night at work. Ira Glass, the NPR radio host came and did a spoken word monologue-type show. One guy at a desk with a mic and a CD player. Piece o' cake. I almost didn't even have to be there.

 

I wish they were all this easy...

[Rogue15]

16 April 2005

I got cd player put in car. while i was waiting, i walked to barnes & nobles to look at some star wars books....got a little spoiled by looking at the ROTS visual dictionary....not too spoiled though, let's just say i know more about General Grievous...XD I also looked at a star wars art book, showing various pics from comics. After barnes & nobles I went to Circuit City to browse, almost picked up Clone Wars Season One, but decided to wait. Then I headed to Wies' just to look around and pass time, found a 'win an R2-D2 cooler' so i put my name and address and phone number....i better win. then i got called, and went back to the place got my car and drove home.

 

The CD player is really nice. it plays mp3s as well, which is GREAT!!!!! the speakers sound SO MUCH BETTER NOW. i wasn't aware i had such a good sound system in my car...

 

uh...last night i got a full house pizza pepperoni and pineapple, and a 2 liter mountain dew and watched Mr 3000 and Ocean's 12. both were boring, imo. just like....blah. I ate 3/4 of the pizza and drank the whole 2 liters. This morning i step on the scale and i lost 3 pounds. *eats more pizza*

 

Played on Test Center in Galaxies....set up a Zabrak named Drael on it. XD I can't wait until May 5 now. The Combat Upgrade is AMAZING!!!!! It's going to be even more fun roleplaying Kioet Csuhen (my main trando rp character, weak version seen in my sig pic lol).

 

Today I need to go get gas and MAYBE help out with groceries...since the fridge is empty.

[Nitro]

Pictures from last night's jam in the shop with the Ammon Republican Army!

 

Sweet sweet irony... A "No Smoking" in a small room full of smokers.

 

 

Our bassist relaxes during the last blues jam of the night.

 

 

This one got snapped off as I rolled into a solo during Whole Lotta Rosie. Notice the rare partially obscured drummer (drummerus obscurus)and not-so-rare bassist that thinks he's posing for a bad 80's metal album cover (bassus showboatus). The black wire in front of me is what connects our custom-made room mic ($10 Wal-Mart Special computer boom mic hanging from the ceiling) to our recording station (6 year old laptop running an outdated version of Cool Edit Pro)

 

 

Me looking back at our drummer's impending male pattern baldness at some point during You Really Got Me Going.

 

 

This was supposed to be the "album cover" shot of the night, but our drummer decided to hide behind me and we didn't realize it until I downloaded the pictures to my pc when I got home.

 

In case you're wondering about the red on the last two shots, the lights in our shop are all red except for one overhead that we only turn on when we're luggin' gear in or out... The batteries in the digicam started getting low as the night went on, so I turned off the flash, and we got some rather nifty-looking redlight shots

 

Missing last night was our one-legged lead guitarist.

[edlib]

Looks like you guys rawk!

 

Cool Edit Pro is a cool program, even if outdated.

 

I miss my days of jamming in cramped garages and basements.

Gotta get back to something like that soon...

 

 

 

P.S. -- I thought you said you cleaned up in there!

 

 

[Nitro]

Originally posted by edlib

P.S. -- I thought you said you cleaned up in there!

 

We did... There used to be a picnic table in there in front of that desk with all the bottles on it. Getting that out of there nearly doubled the space we had to work with. Doesn't seem nearly as cramped anymore, and we could probably live in there if we had to... At least for a few days.

 

Upon moving the tracks from the laptop to my good pc (with a more current version of Cool Edit Pro), I discovered that all the recordings have an incredibly omnipresent 60-cycle hum, which I'm assuming is because, in my infinate wisdom, didn't bother flipping the polarity switch on my amp after I first noticed it, since it wasn't *too* bad. You could hardly notice it when actually there, but it just dominates the recordings if I try and bring up the low end to EQ the track from it's current annoyingly tinny computer mic'd sound.

 

You don't happen to know how to cut out just one specific frequency with CEP, do you, ed?

[edlib]

I haven't used CEP in a couple of years, but I seem to remember that it had a really good built in hum/noise eliminator plug-in.

 

Try this article: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug02/articles/pcmusician0802.asp

 

And this one: http://www.auburn.edu/student_info/search_truth/audio/audiomake/noise.html

 

Hope that helps.

 

Removing one specific frequency with EQ is difficult, since almost every sound has harmonics up the scale as well, so even if you manage to reduce the 60-cycle hum, you will still hear tones at 120, 240, 480, and so on, although not as loud as the original. If you do attempt EQ, be sure you go with the parametric EQ, as the graphic EQ is too much of a blunt instrument for this kind of work.

If you try this route make the "Q" (frequency bandwith) as tight as possible for each band of EQ you use, as to not make everything else sound funky.

 

Also; You can always set a noise gate to shut when you are not playing to make the hum disappear, which will then be covered and masked by the sound of the band when you are playing.

 

 

A combination of all the above (noise reduction, surgical EQ'ing, and careful noise-gating) might be able to convince folks that you recorded it in much better conditions than you did.

 

Be sure you save a copy of the original, un-altered file somewhere though, before you start altering the wave-file... just in case you go way overboard with something, as I almost always do.

 

4/17/05

 

Went out to eat with my mom and my aunt (the one recently widowed.) Nice day, but I just wasn't in the best of spirits since my cat had decided to wake me up before 6:00am (after only getting to bed at 2:30am,) and I never managed to get back to sleep that morning. I was pretty cranky, to say the least. By dinner-time I was pretty out of it... and after eating I crashed big-time and had to get home to get a nap.

 

Woke up again to watch the Simpsons. I actually tried to watch a little of that new Pam Anderson sitcom, but after about 20 seconds I couldn't believe how hackneyed the writing was, and had to totally abandon that idea.

 

I'm probably better off...

[Wildstar]

Pretty just got back from an uncle's funeral. The uncle was on my mother's side, the relatives on which I don't see as often as the relatives on my father's side, so it was a good change. I promised the widowed aunt I'd call her when I could, so I hope she's still @ the phone number I remember her at.

[Zargon]

everythingis pretty damned metiocre right now in Zarg-land.

 

AutoX this weekend: neither of my cars were up to the challenge, so I co drove a friends on my race tires, and we were completely outgunned in our class and promplty placed at teh back of teh field, got a nice sunburn too..

 

Cars in general: No more bites on selling my car, and teh struts blew completely this week. The 'race car' needs a fuel pump and clutch master cyinder to be happy it tells me, thats 130 bucks in parts alone, let alone the time to replace them.

 

school: bad grades, not getting better enough, I *might* not graduate, that would be terrible.

 

jobs: no lines on good FT jobs if I graduate which leaves me at home past august in my nice PT job, but still at home, not working FT

 

hobbies: I love playing airsoft, but cannot afford a nice gun so I play runner, which is fun but tiring

 

gf: didnt get into her first choice med school and is very upset, so her father who I don't get along with is in town for most of this week, yay for me.

[Nitro]

WOO HOO!!!

 

 

I sold that paintball marker... Didn't get as much as I could've but I'm in a good mood for other reasons...

 

I got called by NavCanada!!! I write my entrance exam in June, and if I pass, I'm on my way to a well-paid career as an air traffic controller. $110,000 a year? Yes please!

[edlib]

We all expect a cut for supporting you this long.

 

4/18/05

 

Had the day off of work. Patriots Day... one of those kinda strange holidays where I always have the day off but nobody else seems to. In practical terms it really make sense for the school to be closed though: the Boston Marathon route pretty much cuts the campus in two, and makes travel impossible for blocks in any direction.

 

Started on my spring cleaning. Did a lot of vacuuming and picking up of clutter, but didn't get a tenth as far along as I had really wanted to.

 

Assembled the rug steamer that I bought last year... finally. I thought I might get to try it out,... but never got around to it.

 

Dragged out all the fans I use to keep by attic bedroom livable in the time between running heat and blasting the air conditioning. They were really dirty, so I opened them all up and cleaned them out as best I could. No need to be blowing more dust around than I already do.

 

The day was so nice that I kept thinking, "Hey! It's my day off! I should be out enjoying the nice weather while it's here!" But I also kept thinking, "This might be the last chance I have to tackle this list of chores for weeks! If you miss this chance you will have to live in this squalor for a couple more months! How do you like them cookies?!??"

 

I went with the chores, although now I'm regretting it. I barely made any kind of dent, and missed a chance to get some sun, fresh air and excercise... which are exactly the things that I seem to lack most in the rest of my life with my whacky, late-night work schedule.

 

Perhaps I should hire a cleaning service so that will be a choice I won't be forced to make in the future... Nahhh... I couldn't do it. I'd feel too weird about it. Besides... I'm too cheap to pay someone to do something that I could and should do myself but am just to lazy to get around to doing it.

 

I mean: other than my lawn... which I'm already paying people to come and take care of.

[Rogue15]

yesterday i turned in my time slip, picked up some gatorade and bread at the grocery store since the fridge kinda ran empty, then I ran 2 miles. I think i'm getting better at breathing while I run, as I don't get the coughs when I'm cooling down, and my chest doesn't hurt. It's nice out again today, so I'll probably take the dog for a 2 mile walk. Someone interviewed for my position I think, so I may have to start looking for another job soon. Hopefully not til the end of may.