Ploafmaster General

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.

Alex King created yet another amazing plug-in for WordPress blogs - Twitter Tools. Now, whenever I post a blog entry a twitter post will automatically generate with a link to that post. Including this one.

Rock on.

So I noticed a funny little detail on my own Facebook profile page:




See that last line at the bottom? I'm gonna take a shot in the dark here and say that it's an accident. But it's pretty funny either way.

Yes, Facebook: I am online. Now.

I think if I knew I was going to die tomorrow, I'd eat this today:
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfbTO0GlONU&w=425&h=350])

So I couldn't help but notice that Helvetica is available in Excel on my Windows computer here at work. I decided I was going to try to have my entire spreadsheet use Helvetica, but to my dismay the program continued to display Arial in its stead.

I printed a test page, and at least the proper type was used there, but I'm still sorta miffed that Microsuck would force it's own crappy font on me even when I specifically selected a different one.

Gotta get sappy for a moment, because, well, I'm proud of my wife.

Valerie is a commercial interior designer - not a decorator - a real designer who uses drafting software, Photoshop, and other such tools.

Well last September my wife started studying for her professional certification exam - a two day horror of a test with three parts and more building code than most people know exist. She took this exam in the past few months, and finally received her results yesterday. She passed all three sections!!!

Now all she has to do is formally apply for certification in the state of Virginia, and she'll have the letters "CID" to tack on to her name.

Hooray for you, babe!

Earlier this week, Joshua Blankenship posted about Google Maps' ability to easily retrieve a link to the current map.

Today I discovered another feature that's pretty sweet:

In confirming the route/time for tomorrow's trip to New Jersey, I noticed some text at the top of the side bar, indicating that I could drag and drop the blue route line to modify the trip! This is fantastic if you know part of the route and want to optimize the directions to avoid certain roads, or to simplify the directions for somebody else (who may not care if it's 5 minutes slower - they just want fewer turns).

Pretty rockin', and a new reason for me to love Google Maps even more.

I have a tendency to wait until a fad blows over before I'll use a product at the epicenter of the trend, whether it be a Nalgene bottle or cargo shorts (but I'm still not using chipotle peppers in my cooking).

I can't say whether Sudoku has really "blown over" but it certainly doesn't seem to be the replacement for crossword puzzles that many people expected. I just recently decided, however, that I could use a good number game to get my brain grinding - and it seems that Sudoku serves that purpose. I've been crankin' through a series of puzzles of progressive difficulty using a little "gadget" on my Google home page. It's pretty fun for me, and I like figuring out the patterns and strategies to help me finish them faster.

Time heals all...

So it's crazy how much hype there is around the iPhone - and even the word, "hype" seems to be a buzzword around the media these days.

Of course Apple is advertising, but sheesh, it's certainly more the media building this launch up and doing most of Apple's advertising for them, gratis.

I think the word, "hype," however, is a but understating given the sheer saturation of iPhone stories this week. It feels more like a palpable mania. Every little nugget of details that releases sends the media in to a tizzy and Apple, Inc.'s stock price into wild fluctuations. Just wait until the first official reviews come out around 9 pm this evening...oof.

On Friday Valerie and I hope to head up to Northern Virginia that we might cut an hour and a half off of our Saturday trip up to New Jersey.

We'll be in Jersey (mostly) for several days, driving back down on Independence Day, and likely hanging out with our friend Rebecca in New York at some point. We'll also catch the incredible THIRD of July fireworks over the Navesink River in Red Bank with my Dad after a huge party for family and neighbors at his house. The fireworks, of course, are provided by the same guys who put on the show for NYC on the 4th, so it's always amazing.

As a reminder, here are some of the reasons why I'm pumped about hitting my home state, the Garden State:
1. The food. Naturally. Pizza, Italian ice, bagels, hard rolls - need I say more? Oh yeah - there are Dunkin' Donuts everywhere (I DO love Krispy Kreme, but other than their fresh hot glazed doughnuts, I still prefer DD for most anything else).
2. Proximity to the mighty Atlantic. I love the ocean, and having spent my formative years so close, I've still never recovered from moving further inland when I became a Southerner. My grandma's house, where I'll be staying, is six blocks from Sea Girt beach. Even walking along the board walk smelling the sea air is enough to make me feel like a contented child.
3. Old town charm. And I mean truly old town. Many of the towns where I hang out in Jersey were founded over three hundred years ago, and as a result, they've filled in slowly with quaint interesting buildings and layouts that weren't designed with cars in mind. Jersey may be packed with people, but at least it's not carpeted with subdivisions like Northern VA.

I think I'm also looking forward to some time off again (already?). A five-day weekend followed by a short week when I return to Richmond is just what I need to recharge my batteries.

Yes, I'm an Apple fan now.

No, I'm not getting a first generation iPhone.

I AM, however, planning on heading down to the Apple Store in Short Pump on Friday, 6/29, around 6 pm. I may even survey a few AT&T stores, just to get an idea of the mania. Word is, AT&T has hired loads of extra staff and security for the launch...we'll see what it's like down by the Short Pump Town Center mall, though - could be pretty chaotic :-)

Take that, Apple!

[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY&w=425&h=350])

My brother Mugs just received his first job offer today!

The crazy guy just graduated with a BA in English from Longwood University and after months of applications and interviews, has received a formal offer for an IT position!

I'm totally proud of him, and whether he takes this job or a different one, I'm glad he finally has a chance to get his foot in the door.

UPDATE:
Mugs took the offer. Way to go bro! Welcome to the inescapable world of the nerds!

Check it.

Here are some movies that are out or releasing this year that I'm planning to see, in no particular order:

Hot Fuzz (I loved Shaun of the Dead)
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Yes, really...I never saw the first one, but the Silver Surfer looks incredible)
Ocean's 13
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Ratatouille (Read Jason Kottke's insight)
Live Free of Die Hard (Sometimes you've just gotta see a souless action flick!)
Transformers
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (This one is a given. Holy CRAP I can't wait)
The Simpsons Movie
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Kingdom
Across the Universe (Yeah, it's a musical, I think...Yeah, I really want to see it)
I Am Legend
Be Kind Rewind (A new Gondry flick - with Jack Black!?!?)
American Gangster

Not exactly a short list :-)

I'm sure most of these will be relegated to Netflix, but I hope to catch at least a few of them on the big screen.

I'm a HUGE fan of the band Genesis.

Well, sort of. I'm a huge fan of the band Genesis when Peter Gabriel was the lead singer. I don't hate Phil Collins - I actually like his singing, and his drumming is incredible. I simply prefer the more "prog rock" style when Gabriel was singing lead (and Steve Hackett was still playing guitar).

I was obviously excited, then, when Mugs called me on the phone a short time ago to inform me about a Genesis reunion tour that's in progress - until I researched it a little bit. It turns out that Peter Gabriel couldn't join them because he's finishing up a new album (!)...but there's still hope, as there have been talks recently between the former band mates of touring with a full performance of 1974's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. HOLY CRAP. I think I'd pay $100 for a ticket to that show.

But until that materializes, I think I'll just have to listen to "Dancing With the Moonlight Knight" to satiate my need for that sweet classic (really classic) Genesis sound.

Oi - today for the first time (I think) I ate Thai food.

I met my buddy Patrick and many of his cohorts at Thai Diner in the West End of Richmond. I don't know if it's really authentic Thai food or some Americanized approximation, but I do know that I enjoyed item R14 on the menu - "Amazing Thai" (that's really what it's called!) with Pork, peanut sauce, vegetables (all of which I like, except for the mini corn), and white rice. I opted for "American Hot" as far as the spice level was concerned, and boy was it intense. The zing of those chilis lingered in my mouth long after I returned to the office. Perhaps next time I'll be daring enough to try the "Thai Hot."

Yesterday Steve Jobs made a HUGE announcement for Apple Inc. at his WWDC '07 keynote address: Apple's web browser, Safari, is now available for Windows. Well, a public beta version is, at least.

Apple is finishing up an upgrade to version 3.0, and decided to add a Windows version. Several people have expressed different potential reasons for such a move, but I ultimately think it's pretty sweet. One more browser available to the rest of the world should shake up the market quite a bit.

An interesting side note...Apple's website (and Jobs' keynote) indicated that the software would be available on Windows XP and Vista. At work, however, I'm stuck on Windows 2000, so it was with nervous excitement this morning that I attempted to install the beta on my workstation. Thank heavens - it works!

It's a little surreal seeing the Safari shortcut on my Windows desktop, and the UI looks so foreign on my computer that I'm a bit distracted. Of course, I typically use Firefox at work, and even on my Mac at home, so this is more to play around.

Here's hoping that another taste of Apple flavor on Windows machines will convince more folks to give Macs a second look.

Sufjan Stevens has the honor of opening up a tribute album to Joni Mitchell with her song "Free Man in Paris." I purchased this song on iTunes because it not only pays suitable homage to the original, but captures both the best of Sufjan's past musical efforts and a taste of what his future recordings have in store.

Tight orchestration (without quite going overboard), changing rhythms, and snappy vocal lines make for an entertaining and aurally enjoyable piece of music to complement the cranky lyrics.

Sufjan explained his understanding of the song and his ideas behind the remake on a page dedicated to the tribute album. There you can also listen to a healthy length clip of both Joni's original and Sufjan's version.

Man, I hate mowing the lawn. I always have - since I started at the age of ten on a yard in Bayville NJ that was more gravel than grass. Imagine being marginally taller than the mower handle itself while round pebbles and debris shoot from the back of the mower. You're trying to avoid damage to more than shins at that height.

It's somewhat ironic, then, that I purchased a house with such a monumentally large yard (for a city lot). I love having a plot of land big enough to run around, play horse shoes, or have a large get-together, but it certainly creates a conundrum; I have to mow this huge freakin' pile o' grass.

Up until recently, I've had to do this with a push mower. I've loathed this, of course, but what I've loathed more was my (otherwise wonderful) wife's reluctance to see why I wanted a ride-on. Every time friends and family came over for the first time, I had to endure the question, "Do you have a ride-on?" Well finally I do. Thanks to Mugs' move to a place without a yard, he's gifted me his lazy mower, and I aim to use it. The problem is, I think I need to get a new spark plug and battery. And removing that spark plug is going to take removing some other parts first...ugh...

So here's hoping I don't contract West Nile virus from the mosquitos which inhabit my currently over-grown yard, as I lie on my back beneath the front end of my newly acquired lawn-chopper trying desperately to extract a spark plug using my Leatherman.