December 1998

Entry... 12/5/98 2:11pm

Hello faithful readers. It's Saturday. Been a fairly busy week here, but everything is cool. The new PA rack system is working out very well. I was able to have the gear plugged in and turned on in a record few minutes. I also changed how I run the effects loop thorugh the system, and I think I am getting a much better sound. Tonight is the Dave Matthews concert. That shoud be fun. I suppose I should report more on that after it happens, rather than before.

I took a little time out this morning and played my guitar and wrote a new song. I'll put the words up here for you, if you want to read them. I guess I should sit down and actually record a few of these songs down, just me and my guitar, and post the .wav files or .ra files here. That might be kinda fun. Just something simple.

Entry... 12/5/98 2:11pm

Couldn't take any more of the Sunday night football game. What a absolute laugh. 341 offensive yards to 14 offensive yards in the first half alone. So, here I am. I watched a couple documentaries on REM tonight. That stuff is great, and very well done. On Saturday I wrote a poem in like a minute, so I decided that I would publish it up here today. Wanna see it? Click here for Spot.

So, I did say that I report on the Dave Matthews concert. Ok, here goes: Dave plays Gibson acoustic thin line guitars (you can just picture me in the guitar store now, trying one out, can't you?) The sound was a bit muddy, but I will blame that on my seats. They sold out the entire arena, including behind the stage, and I was on the side. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones opened up and did a nice set, and Bela sat in for most of the Dave Matthews set. He is, after featured in a big way on the new album. I found the length of the show to be good, the light show passable, and the music entertaining. The band took longer than normal breaks between songs tuning and adjusting then I would have liked to see, and the biggest problem of the night was the crowd. Pretty awful, I would say. The average age had to have something to do with it - I'd say it was 17. Lots of pushing and running around, talking when there shouldn't have been talking, and too many people trying to sit in seats that were not theirs, just so that they could sit by their friends, and to hell with the people who had spent 30 bucks for their seat. Even when security asked them to move they gave major attitude back, and kept returning. I guess this world owes these people something. They certainly think so. (Rant mode off? Ok...)

Entry... 12/8/98 10:42am

18 years ago today, John Lennon was taken from us. I wonder what the world would be like today if he was still around. Would he have gotten a haircut? Would he have done commercial endorsements? Would he have been able to keep them from using his music to sell tennis shoes? Would he have told Julian he sucked out loud before the record made it to the stores? Better yet, would he have burned those tapes of "Free as a Bird?" Why do I think of these things?

You are missed, John

35 years ago today. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" made its broadcast debut. Remember, back then, when there were only 2 other things on Television to chose from?

Entry... 12/10/98 12:48am

Well, I had intended to write up a little opinion of the new NYPD Blue episodes tonight, and react a bit to the exit of Jimmy Smits and the introduction of... Rick (sans the Y) Shroeder...but I goofed up and the VCR did not capture last nights show for me. I had to content myself with an episode of 'Just Shoot Me' and 'News Radio.' I will keep my eye open for episode #2: "Czeck Bounce" and perhaps I will see it.

Too Cool, Department: I downloaded a bunch of old arcade games today. The killer thing is that they run on my Palm Pilot. Now I can play Space Invaders, or Galaxia, or BrickOut or Minesweeper anywhere I want to. No more boring moments in bus stations! My coworker downloaded a Tricorder simulator. Total geekdom achieved! He can point it at someone and it'll scan with pretty noises and then say "No Intelligent Life Found" or "Composition: 99% Coffee, 1% Water" I think I need new batteries already.

Entry... 12/10/98 4:18pm

Hey hey... added a new page underneath links. Somewhat akin the phone music page and the java script games, it's actually a local link to a bunch of great "De"motivational posters someone mailed to me. I have one of them set to my background here at work. Awesome stuff. You can jump to it here

Desk pop can count: 45

Entry... 12/10/98 6:30am

Well it's Church night. Trying a new place tonight. I am promised air hockey and good beer. We'll see. Terrible traffic jam on Washington Avenue Extension today at 6pm.. and I don't know why. All of a sudden, when we hit Fuller, it was free every way. Perhaps the Thruway was backed up. No cops, nothing. Weird.

So, I had a real ball watching South Park last night. The references to all those awful Christmas movies... The ending I felt was a bit weak and smarmy but hey - aren't all Christmas movie endings weak and smarmy? I got the biggest laugh from the Mr. Hanky/Grinch combination. Ms. Cindy-Lou Poo! Wooooo boy!

Entry... 12/11/98 4:14pm

Slow day at work today. We had a ball murdering a laptop computer (aka full frontal lobotomy!), writing emails, and adding some stuff to the web page. My coworker and I have been coming up with "Attitudes" (instead of the more Christlike beattitudes) which reflect our mood on a given day. I will be popping them onto the page as I see fit. I have a collection to start with and have put one on the front page. The other one is hidden on a sub page somewhere.

I visited a site today, and while the content is somewhere way off in left field (tread with CARE!) she has this Ode to her ex-boyfriends which is awesome! I added a link to it off my links page. Look for Melody's page

Entry... 12/14/98 4:12pm

Hey there. Had a nice long weekend over here. Today I added a new feature to the front page of this site. Remember I was talking about those "Attitudes" that we've been coming up with? Well, now instead o fme having to do any maintenance (typically lazy) and change them myself, I set up a randomizer that will flip between them every time the page is refreshed.

Denver Broncos lose! And you would think they would have lost to a good team. Ha ha! 49ers play tonight. Catch you there, football fans!

Desk pop can count: 47

Entry... 12/21/98 1:10pm

Ahhhh.... glorious vacation days stretch before me. You can't beat time off before the holidays. Of course, you all know that I am really getting a lot accomplished (right!). I am vertical for the first time today, having spent the morning in bed reading. The current tome is Tom Robbin's 'Another Roadside Attraction,' and I gotta tell you that I am identifying completely with one of the main characters in the book, Marx Marvelous. Even how (and why) he came by his name fits. He is, like me, a cancer. I could swear Robbins was inside my head. Perhaps he, too, is a cancer.

I neglected to add to the desk pop can count on Friday. I hope you will forgive me. Desk pop can count: 48

I suppose I really should say something about the last week. The facists, I suppose, have made their precious little points. Welcome to the new America. I am looking forward to a government run by non-sinners. Aren't you? With all this partisan bickering consuming our nation, I will not be surprised to see alternative parties coming to power in the coming years, perhaps as soon as the next general election. I think we are all a little poorer today. Oh, and words to the wise: Irregardless of the most basic points of law, irregardless of the most basic legal protections, you may still find yourself burned on something immaterial. So watch your back. I suppose I can sum up the craziness in country with an actual quote from an actual Congressman (R): "An indictment is as good as a conviction."

Nuff said.

Entry... 12/22/98 4:46am

Nights like this are bad. The insomnia takes me over, and there's nothing I can do. I can feel the tiredness in my body, but my mind won't stop racing. Sure, the sleeplessness doesn't help, and the winds tonight make it harder. So many images flash through my mind, I just want to pay attention to them. The storms of my youth when I lived in Ohio. Tornados ripping roofs off houses. First kiss. Swimming in an above ground pool in the rain. The crayons and glue of early crafts. Getting lost. Freeze tag. Ridiculous rhymes. Even more ridiculous clothing. School dances. A neighbors unused trailer the perfect hideout. Dry, sweaty, hay-laden days. The wind is still whistling around the house, sounding like a freight train passing just 3 feet away. The cold seems to stab right into my bones. Even visions of angels are fringed with some darkness. Lurking just outside...waiting. Cold eyes. Hunger. Fear. I have no happy ending for this story, no nicely wrapped bow adorned finish. It's just me and the night again.

So, where are those visions of sugarplums?

Entry... 12/23/98 12:04pm

Very quiet here today. Feels like a Sunday morning, except there isn't any football. I wrote a new poem this morning. So new, in fact, my hair is still wet. Check out The Usual Fantasy here.

Entry... 12/24/98 11:30pm

The calm before the storm. It's time to for last minute details. Have a glass of wine and make some cheesecake and potatos for the feast tomorrow. I was assigned to wrap some presents my housemate bought for his nephews, as I have the steadier hand. It's a cold, cloudless night and the moon is 1/3 and brilliant. The stars are out and styling. Took a long drive tonight out to Glen, New York, and saw a lot of houses decorated for Christmas. When I got home, there was a message from my Daughter on the machine. She sounded so excited and happy. It's a thrill to be 11 on Christmas and I'm glad I'm a part of it, even though from a distance. It was nice to hear her say "I love you."

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Entry... 12/31/98 2:30am

Well, here we are...the final day of 1998. I really am resisting the urge to talk about the year in any detail. Perhaps I am hoping it will just go away. Across the board, I don't think 1998 treated the world very kindly and I really don't think 1999 is going to try to better the hurt of 1998. It's quite possible the 1999 will instead keep it pouring on.

I added two new pages of Halloween pictures (finally got around to doing them) off the Photo Gallery page. And I scanned in a whole mess of family pictures, both new and old, that I just decided will go on a family picture page. You can find that link off the photo gallery, as well.

Happy New Year!