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Sunday, October 18th, 2009
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8:23 pm - New Computer
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My current computer is 4 years old. It still works just fine, and I've kept up with upgrading the things I can upgrade, but it's been long enough that little things aren't working like they ought to any more.
Plus, four years is a long time. I am developing computer lust. Add to that the fact that my piano will be paid off in two weeks and my car will be paid off in two months, and it's time for a new one.
This time I'm chucking Dell overboard and building my own, and here's what I have so far:
Processor: Intel Core i5-750 ($200)
Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D ($150)
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 5850 1GB ($260)
Hard Disk: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 ($80)
Memory: 4 GB (2x2GB) Crucial Ballistix Dual Channel Kit ($70)
Cooling: Cooler Master HC 212 ($30)
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit ($109 for OEM version via Vista upgrade coupon)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 922 ($100)
Power Supply: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W ($100)
Drives: LG Black Blu-Ray Burner ($180)
Total: $1279
I'd love to hear some thoughts on this rig from the techie folks. 'twill be used for gaming and general productivity stuff. (Obviously the gaming is driving the selections.) Any suggestions/additions/deletions?
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| Saturday, October 17th, 2009
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10:15 am - We love you, Nico
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We're just about to take Nico to the vet to be euthanized. This is about the hardest goddamned thing we've ever had to do.
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| Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
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11:15 pm - More inexplicable Finnish music...
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Pretty good rapping for a non-native English speaker.
Hell, if you check out their website, it's better written than 90% of AMERICAN websites. (not that that takes much)
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| Monday, August 24th, 2009
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11:26 am - Bouncy Finnish Pop! Yay!
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| Friday, August 21st, 2009
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6:00 am - Ergh...
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We're home safe.
I stayed up until 10:30 last night, but my stupid body still got me up at 5:30. It may be 1:30 in St. Petersburgh, but I think I'm going to be royally jet lagged for a few days.
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| Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
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2:04 pm - Almost done..
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St. Petersburg is something else entirely. Perhaps it's the different alphabet, or the fact that the architecture is spectacular and crumbling simultaneously, or the subconscious awareness that the country doesn't have a functioning rule of law, but the city is amazing and scary and wonderful all at once.
The Hermitage museum is like nowhere else I've ever been. I've been to the Prado and the Louvre, which also contain collections far too vast to see in a single lifetime (let alone one day), but with the Hermitage, the museum itself is also the exhibit. Parts of it are staggeringly opulent, and others are frighteningly decayed. Raphaels are displayed next to open windows. Every room has a dozens of works of art, and usually at least one that makes you stop and say "I've seen THAT one before." The crowds are dizzying.
It's actually a good metaphor for the whole city; squalid and extravagant, crowded and introverted, busy and mysterious all at once.
Tomorrow we finish up in Russia, take the train back to Finland, sleep in the Helsinki airport overnight, and home again Thursday!
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| Sunday, August 16th, 2009
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10:54 am - Now I've heard everything...
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Today's the last day of the conference - Leigh gives her presentation this afternoon. Last night I went to a concert of Finnish military jazz bands.
The first band was a traditional big band, I think.. I only actually heard part of the sound check.
The second band was a very direct homage to the Gil Evans - Miles Davis collaborations. Flute, tuba, French horn, that sort of thing. Very well done.
Then there was the third band. I don't know where to begin to describe them. Musically, they were a Blues Brothers-esque horn based electric blues/rock type band. As part of their introduction, they played the "Gimmie Some Lovin" ostinato in the rhythm while the horns played "Finlandia" over it.
Pause a moment and picture that.
Did I mention they all looked about nineteen? Their first two numbers involved the lead singer belting out a couple of what I assume are pop numbers (in English) and culminated in him doing a standing back flip. If an American military band sang some of those lyrics, they'd be court-martialed.
Then the main lead singer came out. He was tall and bald and older than anyone else there.
He belted out "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and "Play that Funky Music," and "A Change is Gonna Come." It was surreal as hell.
Here is blurry cellphone video of the concert that someone else posted: Word Up
Oh, and the previous four days of sightseeing in Jyväskyä were very nice too.
Off to St. Petersburg!
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| Thursday, August 13th, 2009
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10:24 am - Hello from Jyväskylä!
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Another quick update, as I'm at a public terminal. Finnish keyboards don't shift keys around, but they move the "enter" to the right to make room for ä,ö, and å keys.
Helsinki is a very different feel from Stockholm. It's not as outrageously beautful, but it also feels a little more "real". We visited the Suomenlina (sp?), an island fortress in the harbor, as well as the monument to Jean Sibelius. (and lots of other stuff) The cruise from Stockholm to Helsinki was also quite amusing, as it turned out to be what the locals refer to as a "booze cruise". Still, cheaper and prettier than flying.
We are now in Jyväskylä (See? Those extra keys come in handy!) for Leigh's conference. I'm wandering around the city. It seems small but interesting thus far; it's only our first day here.
Oh, and today is our 4th wedding anniversary. Rating thus far? A+... would marry again.
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| Saturday, August 8th, 2009
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5:00 pm - Stockholm is wonderful.
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Hey folks, just a quick update to keep my chronology in order later. This is the end of our second day in Stockholm, and it's just a wonderful city. We're staying on a boat that used to be Barbara Hutton's yacht, and is now a semi-snooty hotel.
The first day here we just sort of bonked around the city and tried to survive the jet lag, but we did catch a very nice organ recital in the royal chapel. Today we went and saw the Vassa, which is a 350 year old galleon which was preserved in Stockholm harbor for centuries. We also went to the modern art museum, which had, among other things, a famous goat with a tire on it.
And for dinner I had reindeer.
Tomorrow night, we are off to Finland!
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| Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
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4:28 pm - Publication!
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I've just had an article accepted for publication in The Instrumentalist, which is a big deal in the "professional bando" set! They want pictures and a biography and everything. The article is titled "Rehearsal Etiquette for the Conductor," and is about treating your band with respect during rehearsals.
Unlike a university position, I don't have a publication requirement, so this doesn't help directly with tenure, but it sure can't hurt!
In other news, the wife and I leave for Finland, Sweeden, and Russia tomorrow. Which will rock.
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| Thursday, July 9th, 2009
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8:56 pm - Hello Cleveland!
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Say, Cleveland persons... I'm thinking about driving down this weekend to play with the Italian Band on Sunday. Anyone want to get together for dinner and or bridge on Saturday? It doesn't HAVE to be bridge, but I'm jonesin' for a fix.
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| Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
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12:13 am - Only one thing taste like bacon...
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...and that's BACON!
This evening, I went to a bacon tasting. I can die happy.
And based on the amount of sodium I just ingested, I probably will.
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| Thursday, June 25th, 2009
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9:30 am - Tractors. Just.. Tractors
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Last night I played a really dreadful gig. The Lansing Concert Band Big Band played our annual tent gig for the Lions' Club in Williamston. Usually, a fun evening. Last night, just the other side of the fence?
A Tractor Pull. No, really. From before we got there until after we left, enormous very loud tractors. Try playing "Moonlight Serenade" over that.
They weren't even musical tractors, like the one I posted two or three entries ago.
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| Friday, June 19th, 2009
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4:53 pm - Erdös Numbers
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Having never even HEARD of an Erdös number before today's xkcd, I am pleased to report that I have an Erdös number of no more than 7.
Update: If you count this video and community theater productions, (A HUGE stretch, I am aware) then I have a Bacon number of 2. This would mean that I have an Erdös-Bacon Number of 9.
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| Saturday, June 6th, 2009
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3:15 pm - National Zoo Pictures
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Here are some pictures from our trip to the zoo. As I indicate in the comments, "The Blurry Ducklings" would be a great name for a band. So would "Otter Parade".
Zoo Pictures
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9:36 am - Concerto for blues band and tractor...
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I'll post cute animal pictures from the National Zoo soon, but first this:
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| Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
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9:37 am - Bawlmer Part 2 - A Film Geek is Sad
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The second night of our trip to DC, we went to the Senator theater in Baltimore. The Senator is a 30s vintage, art deco movie theater. It has one screen, seats 800, and has beautiful WPA murals in the lobby. They serve real butter on the popcorn.
Needless to say, it's in serious financial straits, which is why I wanted to go one last time.
However, my experience there gave me some insight into WHY they may be in serious financial straits.
The film was "Yellow Submarine". They had a HUGE poster draped over the front of the theater for the movie. However, as it turns out, they did not actually have a film print of the movie itself. According to the volunteer (!) working the concession stand, "Oh we searched on the internet, and we couldn't find the distributor, so that means it's public domain."
No. No it does not. The only thing farther from the public domain than the Beatles is Disney.
So they screened... wait for it... a DVD. On the GINORMOUS screen of this beautiful old movie theater, they projected a 420 line standard def DVD. It looked awful. If the whole point of saving a theater like the Senator is to remind folks of what the movie going experience SHOULD be, you do NOT show DVDs.
If you can't find a print of the movie you want to show, you show some other movie. Apparently, the rights to Yellow Submarine are somewhat tangled, and it's difficult to get prints. Fine. Pick something else.
The lobby was also full of tables; the theater is trying to raise cash by selling various memorabilia, t-shirts, etc. They are also selling 35 mm trailers at 20 bucks a pop, which makes no sense, as the things are pretty much given away by the studios, and nobody has a 35 mm projector to show them. What makes even less sense is that they are also selling individual reels of 35mm movies for $30 each. Who would pay $30 for 1/6 of a movie that they can't even show?
Not to mention that selling 35mm movies is illegal, as they are technically still property of the studio that owns them. eBay will insta-cancel listings for 35mm prints.
It's very sad. I want the Senator to survive, but what's the point if they aren't going to show film?
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| Sunday, May 31st, 2009
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8:18 pm - Our Bawlmer Trip.
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I've been meaning to post about our trip last weekend to Bawlmer (Baltimore, for you non-residents). I figure I'll do it in small drips.
The first night we went and saw a really interesting play called "Souvenir". Go catch it if you get a chance. It's a semi-fictionalized account of an actual society matron in the 30s and 40s who was absolutely convinced she had a brilliant singing voice. But didn't.
Her records and recitals were exceedingly popular, but only for the train wreck factor. (Think Johnathan and Darlene Edwards) But the play also raises a good point. Those of us who do perform music on a regular basis have to wonder: is that me? Am I fooling myself?
The lead character was absolutely dedicated to her art. The music in her head was flawless, and the tragedy was that not only couldn't she realize it, she didn't know that she couldn't.
In fact, moving beyond music... all of us have wondered at one time, "What if I'm not as good as I think I am?" Or worse.. haven't.
Judy Kaye was brilliant in the lead. Highly recommended.
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| Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
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12:44 am - Statistics question
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I know someone on here knows statistics. Help me out:
Say I draw 38 balls randomly from an infinite supply.
There are 18 possible colors of balls.
What are the odds that among the 38 balls I have drawn, I have a minimum of one each of 6 particular colors?
In other words, if we number the colors 1-18, what is the likelihood that I have at least one of colors 1-6?
And what color is the white bear?
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| Saturday, May 9th, 2009
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7:11 pm - Oh won't you tell us 'bout those rabbits, George?
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I am diggin' this song. There's no official video, but here's a youtube link just for the music:
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