Ploafmaster General

I've been to France on five separate occasions.

Well, technically.

The first four times were actually only to the Charles de Gaulle airport on the way in and on the way out for two different trips to other European destinations (Italy and the Czech Republic). The fifth time is an extreme technicality in my mind since I was actually in the Caribbean - yeah, that's right. French Saint Martin is, politically, French soil.

I don't feel, however, as if I've ever been to France proper. Or at least Paris proper. This coming March I aim to change that.

Yesterday Valerie and I took what is for us a big next step: we purchased the Lonely Planet guide book for Paris. It's always exciting for me in these early stages, reading up on metro ticket prices, cheap places to eat, and exciting places to take a stroll where we might take in some of the essence of our destination. We already have a rough idea of when we'll go and where we'll stay. All that's left now is the giddy planning of what to see and do while we're there. God willing, this should be a very exciting trip, and I know I'll get increasingly jittery as I count down the next 7.5 months.

Those loyal half-dozen readers of mine may notice today that I have a new link in the side bar (unless you're pimpin' the RSS goodness).


Gentle Graffiti is the online presence for a little arts magazine published by my friend Stephanie DeSocio and her cohorts. The web site is updated with reasonable frequency and typically contains entries about photography, music, art exhibits, and the like. Quite fascinating, and a lot of it quite up my alley. I hope you feel the same way. Go check it out.

One of the funniest editorial cartoons I've seen in quite some time:

Just my luck. Scientists at Oxford may have discovered the gene that causes left-handedness, but it may also be responsible for an increased likelihood of going bonkers!

Okay, so the risk isn't actually that high, and more than this one gene is responsible for mental illness, but still - do we lefties really need more stigma? :-)

Giddy with excitement, Melvin grasped both handles and exclaimed, "Last one there is a..."

Looks like the viral campaign is kicking off for next summer's The Dark Knight; the quirky website now displays a flash box for the first teaser. Was that really Heath Ledger's voice as the joker?

Great googly moogly!

If you haven't heard of Simplify Media's software (named after the company), you should hit up their download page and grab the joint.

Got it now? Good. Well here's what it does...

Well a lot of folks may not be aware the iTunes allows you to share your music over a local area network. If you're at work, and several folks have iTunes, you can listen to each others' tunes. Pretty slick, eh? Well with Simplify Media's software running in the background, it allows you to share music across the entire internet. All you have to do is add your friends to your list, and then you can see each others' music as if you were on the same local area network.

Let that sink in for a moment...

Do you realize what this means? That means that if I'm in Paris and my buddy Patrick grabs the latest album from his fave underground indie hip-hopper, I can still listen to it as if it was on my own computer. Yeah, for real. The sound quality is excellent, but you can't actually save the tracks on your computer so it's not piracy. It's simply extending existing iTunes functionality.

Currently, the software only works with iTunes, but on both Windows and OS X. They're working on adding support for Winamp and Windows Media Player in the future, but considering the broad reach of iTunes, I'm sure plenty of you out there can use this.

Most folks who know me actually don't know that I was a hair's breadth from going to college for a creative major rather than something technical such as engineering (originally) or information systems (eventually). Well my illusion that engineering would be an easy route to working as an inventor led me along the tech route, leaves me occasionally pining for a crack at something more creative such as photography, film, and graphic design.

Today, my artistic inclinations got the best of me and I purchased a book on typography. Specifically, I purchased Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris' text, The Fundamentals of Typography:


I don't know whether this is a fantastic entry-level book or not, but it seems to cover a broad range of concepts. Explanations are often printed in such a way that illustrates the concept which I hope will prove as helpful as it appears.

So hear goes nothing...if I actually read through this book and still feel hungry for more, I'll probably dig into a book on color theory next.

Holy crap...crazy big props to my buddy Chris for pointing the way to this video:
http://www.factoryfilms.net/films/quicktimes/FuyijaMiyagi_AnkleInjury.mov

Thanks to Dan Cederholm, I just laughed my butt off (and was thoroughly amazed) because of this YouTube clip he linked to in a Twitter posting:
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwYxuV2dVzw&w=425&h=350])

Today I discovered on Apple's movie trailer site that a Beowulf film is debuting on November 16th. I don't know why this was the first thing that came to my mind, but instantly, I couldn't help but think, "Scott Baiowulf."

Oi. Last night I finally finished reading the last Harry Potter book to my wife. I was reading out loud from about 6:15 in the evening until 1:40 this morning - nearly 7.5 hours.

And this morning I pay the price for it :-)

However, now I can finally watch the news and surf the net more fully, my gentle paranoia about prematurely learning the ending no longer necessary. I can also contemplate the full magnitude of the ending, and glance approvingly or annoyed at countless reviews of the novel. Ultimately, though? I'm simply happy to be finished with what I believe was an excellent series in literature.

I snagged a new pair of sneaks last night, and I'm fairly pleased with them:


They're my first pair of Pumas, and they're totally comfortable. Here's hoping they hold out longer than my Medium's, which blew out on the right side of the right shoe a few weeks ago (much shorter than I expect shoes to last).

I think this speaks for itself:
http://update.videoegg.com/flash/proxy.swf?jsver=1.4

Oh wow...imagine my delight when visiting Apple's movie trailer page I discovered the trailer for Wes Anderson's next film, The Darjeeling Limited.

I've known this movie was coming for quite a while, but I nearly squealed with excitement when I saw the expected release date in late September this year.

This is definitely a film I plan on seeing on the big screen, as soon as humanly possible.

I've gotta shout a HUGE congratulations to my older brother, Tom, and his wife who have informed the family that they're expecting a baby!

As we understand it now, they're looking at an April due date, but I'm sure more details will emerge after a series of doctor's visits.

Anyway, Tom, I love ya, and I'm so happy for you that you're going to be a father.

Incredulous expression stretched across her face like a drum head, Clarissa shouted, "I can't believe..."

I'm pretty psyched...I have a killer weekend ahead of me.

Besides the fact that today is Friday, I'm looking forward to a number of events and activities.

One of my best friends is getting married this weekend, so:
1. Tonight is the rehearsal, followed by
2. The rehearsal dinner, which should be quite a blast. Then,
3. Tomorrow afternoon is the wedding itself, and I love weddings (and participating!). Finally,
4. The reception, tomorrow evening! Party Down! That should be loads of fun, and I'm really excited about seeing a lot of friends there as well. Some of us may even go out afterwards to Capital Ale House in Innsbrook afterwards if it's not too late :-)

As if that wasn't excellent enough, Valerie and I expect to take delivery of the final installment in the Harry Potter series tomorrow. Any moment not involved in Wedding festivities will be spent reading. Huzzah!

Wow, things are ramping up like crazy at work...

A good work buddy of mine who's been here the entire time I've been employed gave his two weeks yesterday. Thing is, this guy is the only one in the building who does what he does. This means that another co-worker and myself are spending the next two weeks intensely trying to get a handle on the exiting co-worker's daily duties...on top of our existing project work and regular tasks.

After he leaves, of course, it won't be much easier. It would take a year for this fella to divest all of his technical and institutional knowledge to us, so I anticipate the first few months after his departure to be full of stressful attempts to accomplish the day-to-day in addition to fixing anything that breaks.

I'm bracing myself...

Val recently decided that she'd like to be added to my YMCA membership, so we're going for the family plan. Thing is, Val gets home much later than I do on a given day, so we'll be going together in the morning.

Before work.

Arriving at the Y around 5:45.

AM.

Today was our first day of this...ahem..."unique" schedule, and I'm wiped out already. I'm sure I'll adjust...after all, it's for our health, right? :-)

Thanks to Fake Steve Jobs for pointing out this hilarious parody:
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y4dF3EGSCI&w=425&h=350])

It's been a little while since I've purchased any new music, but I do know of three discs on my radar that I'm dying to pick up.

The first is the long-time-coming second album from Kenna - the follow up to his amazing first effort, "New Sacred Cow." He crafts some pretty hot e-rock-tronica, and I'm champing at the bit to get my hands on "Make Sure They See My Face." You can hear some samples on his website.

Additionally, I realize now that with the release of "Prog" this year, I'm two albums behind on The Bad Plus' studio music catalog. I'd like to remedy that by picking up the jazz trio's 2005 effort, "Suspicious Activity?" as well as their latest CD. Naturally there are some excellent covers as is their tradition; I'm more interested, however, in their originals, especially considering the fantastic "And Here We Test Our Powers of Observation" and "Dirty Blonde" from 2004's release, "Give."

If I have time this afternoon I'll have to swing by Plan 9 music in Carytown, since I'm sure they're the only store in the area likely to stock such obscure musicians.

So tonight I started what I hope to be a bi-weekly meeting in my dining room. Only Patrick showed up, but it's my intention to have a recurring Developers' Working Session at my house.

The purpose of such meetings is to allow for a semi-formal situation and space where web developers and programmers can spend time working on their own pet projects. Almost like personal office hours. It's my feeling that the change of venue and context will encourage productivity while also allowing for some casual networking among some young professionals.

Next one's in two weeks (July 25th), so we'll see where it goes from here.

Couldn't resist:

They call me the Hiphopopotamus.
I got flows that glow like phosphorus, poppin' off of the top of this esophagus.
I'm not a water-dwelling mammal from Africa that's moved to the metropolis and been taught how to break dance.
Where did you get that preposterous hypothesis?
Did Steve tell you that?
What's he got to do with it?
What kinda of rapping name is "Steve"? Steve?

I've found myself quite into the musical comedy duo, Flight of the Conchords, lately. They recently landed themselves a show on HBO (as of last night with four episodes). While the television production is fairly funny, it appears mostly an attempt to rehash (so far) their songs in the context of a strange sitcom.

Where they really shine, in my mind, is on stage such as this performance of "Albi the Racist Dragon":
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-jVAHAuiS4&w=425&h=350]

Some of their stuff has some profanity and some lewdness, but on the whole these guys are funny because of genuine wit. Be sure to look for "The Hiphopopotamus vs. The Rhymenoceros" on YouTube as well.