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Sunday, June 29th, 2008
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11:58 pm - Misc.
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I haven't updated for a bit, so here's a few things.
1. We have a new roof. We WANTED all kinds of other interesting stuff, like tearing our upstairs apart and putting it back together. But it turns out we needed a new roof. Not sexy. Useful, but not sexy.
2. I have an oboe. Someone traded it to me for some lessons, so I decided to go play the oboe in the East Lansing Kiwanis band. Do I actually know how to play the oboe? No.
For the record, oboe fingerings are insane.
3. Now that the format wars are over, we bought a PS3. Blu-Ray is shiny. GTA4 is a fun game.
4. DDR pads should last longer than one month past the warranty.
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, June 14th, 2008
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10:32 am - Ultra Condensed Movies.
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| Friday, June 13th, 2008
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2:10 pm - Becasue I never saw an iTunes meme I didn't like...
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Ganked from ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) drdingbat
1. Open your iTunes/MP3 player.
2. Set it to shuffle.
3. Provide the opening lyrics of the first 20 songs it plays (no cheating to make your playlist seem cooler!)
4. Have people guess the songs and the artists.
This should be interesting. With drdingbat's, even songs I knew fairly well I didn't always get, because getting a song from just the first line is HARD. Add to the fact that my iPod is often a festival of obscurity... well, we'll see:
1. "I lost an island, in the Ocean."
2. "Hey let's do the twist - talkin' 'bout the Domino twist"
3. "Paid the cost to be the boss"
4. "Pretty little girl, she shines"
5. "Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong."
6. "My man don't love me - he treats me oh so mean."
7. "Dancing - I'm having so much love" dejablack
8. "When I joined this firm, as a brash young man" theatricaltoy
9. "You fell down the stairs into my arms" drdingbat
10. "Well I'd rather be alone, than be with you"
11. "She would never say where she came from" mdsteele
12. "I was standing in my window - I saw a poor boy walkin' in the rain."
13. "Lovers divided, get coincided"
14. "Spent some lonely days and sleepless nights, waiting for you girl to hold me tight."
15. "I'm talkin' 'bout the midnight rambler" theatricaltoy
16. "Louie, Louie, Oh, me gotta go." (Too easy)
17. "One day I looked up and there you were, like a silver question, looking for an answer."
18. "Well you're the grand one - have you noticed?"(1/2 by drdingbat)
19. "She moves like she don't care - smooth as silk, cool as air."
20. "That girl thinks that she's so fine, that soon she'll have my mind"
(Skipping about 30 instrumentals in the process)
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(10 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, June 7th, 2008
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12:10 am - It occurs to me...
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Do you think the ACTUAL finance minister of Nigeria has given up on sending email, because no one ever answers him?
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
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8:31 pm - Tonight's Trader Joe Recipe..
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is the following:
1 boneless chicken breast
1 tablespoon (or more) green peppercorns
1 can Trader Joe's (or other) artichoke hearts, drained
1 jar Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce
1 8 oz package paneer (I don't think Trader Joes has this)
Sesame oil
Cube the chicken.
Crush the peppercorns, and use them and some salt to season the chicken bits
Sautee the chicken bits in some oil. When they're cooked on all sides, add the paneer.
(If the paneer is frozen, like mine was, cook for a bit. If it's pre-fried, and NOT
frozen, jump right to the next step)
Add artichokes and sauce, simmer until heated through, and the chicken is completely
done.
Serve over saffron rice.
Win!
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, May 16th, 2008
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11:20 pm - I wanna be your dog
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So thepouncer pointed out that the Smoking Gun has a whole page of various artists' tour requirements for the local venue. Including this one, for Iggy Pop, which is just about the funnies goddamned thing ever.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, April 24th, 2008
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6:42 pm - That's not a REAL fake guitar!
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So, Leigh and I have found a new Fun Thing To Do(tm).
We have Rock Band. That's fun.
Two nights ago, we got out Rock Band, and Leigh's actual electric bass. One of us played just bass on the game, and the other tried to follow along with the actual bass.
That was fun. It's like playing a fake, fake bass. Only realer.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
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6:37 pm - The Pinker Tones
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| Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
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5:43 pm - I'm a sucker for an iTunes Meme!
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Yoinked from from dejablack
• Put your media player of choice on shuffle.
• List the first fifteen songs that come up (skipping titles like "Fugue in D Minor") and add "in my pants" to the end.
• Bold the ones that actually made you LOL
1. Mood Indigo In My Pants (Duke Ellington)
2. The House of Marcus Lycus In My Pants (Sondheim)
3. The House on Stork's Legs In My Pants (Mussorgsky)
4. Cheating, Lying Stealing In My Pants (David Lang)
5. Why Phillis In My Pants (Dave Brubeck)
6. I Like Chinese In My Pants (Monty Python)
7. All For Love In My Pants (Nancy Wilson)
8. Wild Sunshine In My Pants (Spit Fire)
9. The Red Light District In My Pants (Dirty Dozen Brass Band)
10. My Baby Portable Player Sound In My Pants (Pizzicato Five)
11. A Different Point of View In My Pants (Pet Shop Boys)
12. I Wanna Be Like You In My Pants (Pizzicato Five)
13. Argument In My Pants ("Chess" Original Score)
14. Smack Dab In The Middle In My Pants (The Garrett Sahm Taylor Band)
15. Atom Bomb In My Pants (Fluke)
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
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7:14 am - A week of musical awesomeness..
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I did a lot of cool music this week:
Thursday: Anthony Di Mare played at MSU. He's a phenomenal pianist, and a specialist in contemporary art music, i.e. "classical" music by people who aren't dead yet. The featured piece on the recital was a work called "De Profundis" which is based on a letter by Oscar Wilde, written while he was in prison for being gay. It's a really haunting work, that in addition to being screaming difficult to play, also involves the pianist reading excerpts from the letter, singing, shouting, and using the piano as a percussion instrument.
The next day, Leigh and I ferried him around to his various engagements at MSU. He's a really nice guy, and we had some interesting conversations about music and other stuff. In the afternoon he gave a master class, which is where musicians from the school come up and play, and then he offers advice. The frustrating thing was that with an expert on late 20th century music present, the most recent piece a student offered was written in 1926.
Friday: "Candide," given by the MSU Opera program. I love this opera. The overture is a classical radio staple, and I still enjoy it every time I hear it. The music is fabulous, the lyrics are witty, and the book.... well, the music is fabulous, and there's a lot of it. It's by Leonard Bernstein, after all. Amusing thing: they had projected supertitles so you could know what the singers were saying in English... but the opera is IN English.
Saturday: "Chicago," given by the CWRU Footlighters. Well, I wasn't able to find a single other Footlighters alum who could make it to the show with me. And you know what? It was still worth it. That group has really come a long way; the show was stellar. And I'm just stunned that they've not only survived, but flourished, given the utter lack of any actual assistance from faculty or staff. There's something impressive about watching a fully realized musical with lights, costumes, choreography, orchestra, sets, etc, and realizing that this was done entirely by college students with a billion other things to do.
It's also a little surreal to introduce yourself to a sophomore you've never met before, and have them go, "Oh, YOU'RE Dan A*t? I've heard of you!" That's what I get for taking forever to just go away, I suppose.
This Coming Saturday: Here is an accurate, yet misleading statement: One of my arrangements is going to be played at a Pittsburgh Symphony concert this weekend. Cool, huh? Just one minor correction: It's being played in the lobby. But that's still awesome. The Shenandoah Conservatory Wind Ensemble will be playing my arrangement of Eric Ewazen's "...down a river of time" before the PSO concert, and Leigh and I will be there to hear it.
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(10 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, March 22nd, 2008
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2:05 pm - Overthinking it
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I wish to point out an entertaining pop-culture deconstructionist blog by some friends of mine.
No, that's NOT a contradiction in terms.
Read their analysis of the most mismatched fights in cinema history, and I'm sure you'll agree:
www.overthinkingit.com
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, March 13th, 2008
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10:00 pm - Bruce Campbell
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I just saw the more or less premiere of his new movie, "My Name Is Bruce" at the East Lansing Film Festival. Hosted by Bruce Campbell, who then took questions.
Who wants to touch me?
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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5:37 pm - Best Recipe Ever...
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| Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
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10:00 pm - Chicago!
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Hey Footlighters! Remember I mentioned about going to see "Chicago"? Well, they've got the "reservations" link working on the Footlighters web page here so if you're serious about going, go reserve your tickets.
Oh, and they claim to be doing reserved seating, so ask to sit near me.
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
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3:50 pm - iTunes Meme!
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I loves me my iTunes memes, I does.
Ganked from dejablack (Who, amazingly, I have exactly 10 more songs than)
How Many Songs Total: 10,279
How Many Hours Or Days Of Music: 32.5 days
Most Recently Played: "Two Bits" : Alison Cameron (Bang on a Can Live)
Most Played: "The Origin of Love" : John Cameron Mitchell - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
(due to practicing to play in a production of the show)
Most Recently Added: "Six Variations on 'Au bond d'une fontaine'" : Mozart
Sort By Song Title
First Song: "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" : Ella Fitzgerald
Last Song: 99 Luftballons : Nina
Sort By Time
Shortest Song: "It's Been Emotional (film dialog)" : Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
(Shortest song that is actually a song: "Who's Knocking on the Wall?" : TMBG)
Longest Song: Don Quixote, Op. 35 : Richard Strauss
Sort By Album
First Album: ABBA-esque : Erasure
Last Album: 80's Pop Explosion
First song that comes up on Shuffle: It's a Funky Groove : Funky Disco Groove
Search the following and state how many songs come up:
Death: - 51
Life: - 138
Love: - 314
Hate: – 15 (10 of which are "Pretty Hate Machine")
You: - 595
Sex: – 48 (half of which are divided between The Sex Pistols, and "Essex", by Allison Moyet)
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
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6:50 am - Happy Mardi Gras!
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| Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
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3:33 pm - Happy Groundhog Day!
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I remember borrowing my friend Raj's Ford LTD in college to go see that movie with an actual girl. God, what a boat. The car, not the girl. The girl was cute.
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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11:25 am - Happy Groundhog Day!
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I remember borrowing my friend Raj's Ford LTD in college to go see that movie with an actual girl. God, what a boat. The car, not the girl. The girl was cute.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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11:23 am - Happy Groundhog Day!
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I remember borrowing my friend Raj's Ford LTD in college to go see that movie with an actual girl. God, what a boat. The car, not the girl. The girl was cute.
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
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10:42 pm - Soundtrack meme
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Ganked from ianmcin
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every entry, type the song that's playing (optional: link to amazon mp3 previews)
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you’re cool
( Results Below Cut )
Some of these work better than others.
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(comment on this)
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