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[24 May 2010|11:39am] |
The latest Doctor Who was just OK. Better than the usual RTD wankfests. There was no sense of danger or urgency, though, and I don't think I particularly care for the new Silurian makeup. Keeping them looking more alien (like the original look) would have made the stakes more interesting, as it's more difficult to relate to something that looks completely alien. That would make the "live in peace" proposition more challenging and interesting.
The best part of the episode, and the reason I feel I must comment on it, is one moment with The Doctor, where Ambrose (isn't that a guy's name?!) has put several weapons in a truck in preparation for defending themselves. The Doctor's response is to tell her to put them away, then smile. That particular smile was more menacing than any single moment accomplished by David Tennant, and few viewers seem to have taken notice. It is incredibly subtle, but it's the smile of a predator, as if he were saying "if you screw up my plans, I will devour you whole". Absolutely brilliant.
Thankfully there are few people who are complaining about Matt Smith. Despite numerous weak scripts this season (still better than RTD's, but not especially GOOD either), Smith's portrayal is easily one of the best. Admittedly, I like them all (even Colin Baker, despite hating his horribly-written episodes), but there's a remarkable subtlety to Smith's performance that allows certain actions to simply work in ways that they didn't with many of his predecessors. As I said, Tennant NEVER managed to be this menacing, and he tried often.
I do hope that the scripts improve, though, and that the general weakness of them all thus far will be rectified with a well-thought finale that ties them all together.
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| NYARGH! |
[20 May 2010|11:22am] |
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My brain feels like an engine that just won't turn over. It's another one of those annoying days where I just can't get myself motivated. I hate that. Start, brain! START!
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| Family, Distance, and Related Thoughts |
[07 Mar 2010|08:11pm] |
My Aunt Nora is fading. She had surgery for some kind of brain cancer, and the continual chemo treatments have apparently taken their toll. Facebook posts from my Dad have kind of implied that she doesn't have much longer.
It's interesting that I've had more discussion with my father's family recently because of this than I have in many years. I've never been close with any of them, but it still pains me that, once again, I'm unable to visit before one of them passes (missed out on the last days of both of my father's parents). I've regained some contact from this, but I wish the circumstances were different.
I wish my wife could have met Nora. Given what little I know of my father's family, and especially Nora (the adopted hell-raiser who had her first child at 14), I'm sure my wife would have gotten a real kick out of them. There's no question that it's more my father's side of me that my wife is attracted to. Maybe that missing part of my life is also part of what attracts me to my wife. Our relationship definitely reminds me of what little I saw of my father's parents (turbulent, but very loving and lost without each other).
I sent a long message to one of my cousins that I've never met in person. One of the things I commented on was how I found it strange that of the three photos I have in my office, two are from my wedding, and one is one of the last photos taken of my grandparents together while my grandmother was still healthy (she smoked 2 packs of Pall Malls a day, and died of lung cancer in her 60's, big surprise). It's also curious that in one of the wedding photos next to my desk, the smile on my face looks almost exactly like the one I saw of my grandfather from their engagement announcement.
I hate that I'm so distant, emotionally and geographically, from all of my family. Facebook is helping me keep in touch to a degree, but it also helps hit home just how far apart I am from them all. Seeing my other cousins (from my mom's side, who I actually visited with regularly when I was growing up) prepare for their own weddings (which I cannot attend thanks to finances), and seeing how close they are with each other, really kicks me in the gut. I miss them, though I never had much in common with them. I envy them more than anything. I love my job, I love my wife, I love my pets, and I love my home, but I miss my family. And that includes especially my very tight-knit group of friends from back in New York that I always felt closer with than my own family. I hate that I have so little time at home because of how much time I have to spend at work in order to keep my job alive, and I hate that my wife is now passed out on the couch with me in my office writing all of this. We have so little time together, and too much of that is spent in frustration with the difficulty of our situations.
I hope someone tells my Aunt Nora that she's in my thoughts before that no longer means anything to her, much like I wish I had met my wife's grandmother when she still had all of her wits. I hope my wife's plans for work and education for the next few months all pan out and lead her to a path where she feels satisfied with her life again. I hope my mother's health and life improve again and that somehow she and my wife will get along some day. I hope my job holds stable and improves in proportion to all the effort I've put into it at the expense of everything else in my life. And I hope all of this leads to me being able to have more meaningful contact with my family and friends again. It's well past time for the fortunes of my loved ones to improve again. I so badly want them all to be happy, and so badly want to see them all again.
Please god, whoever or whatever you may be, grant my Aunt Nora peace and freedom from pain. Grant the rest of my family and friends meaningful, full, and successful lives. And please help me achieve the same, so that I might see them all again soon.
It's been a tough few years. It's time for things to turn around and get better again.
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| Evening! Of! Awesome! |
[15 Dec 2009|12:29am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 ecstatic |
] |
The day mostly went by pretty normally. Decent day at work, but nothing special.
On my way home, I stopped off at the crappy Food Lion to pick up some milk and beer. I also discovered that they now carry my El Yucateca habanero sauce! Awesome!
Immediately after leaving there, I swung by Dominos to pick up a pizza since I was feeling lazy. Turned out that they're running a pick-up special with a large 1-topping pie for $5.99 Awesome! And the guy at the counter remembered me and after I gave him a buck tip (I saved a lot on the pie, may as well give some back to the guy who remembered me), was just generally very cool to me. Awesome again!
When I got home, two things were waiting in the mail for me: a Christmas package from my ex-step-grandma with a couple of cute and odd things but also a jar of her awesome pear preserves, and also a package from a fellow Head-Fi.org member who sent me some opamps to try in my iBasso D1 DAC/amp before I took the plunge to send him money for them unheard. Double awesome, with an extra load of awesome from how good the opamps have made my amp sound! I will be sending him money tomorrow, and it will be WELL worth the cost. It's like a new amp, at a fraction of the cost!
Next up, I got an email confirmation about an inexpensive set of headphones being shipped to me. It's either a mistake, since I've never looked at them before and certainly didn't order them, or I won them in my attempt to win an amplifier from the same website by writing a review on the site. I sent a message to get some more info from the site, but if I won them, I'll probably give them to the wife (after testing them out and posting a review on the site, of course, heheh!). Possible Awesome! [EDIT: Yep, this was the third place prize for the contest I entered by writing a review on their site. Sweet! Weird that I got shipment confirmation without ANY notification of having won. Hah!]
Lastly, I caught the season (and decade) finales of two of my favorite shows tonight: Venture Brothers and Dexter. Both qualify for a resounding "HOLY F*CKING AWESOME!!". Both shows had me with my jaw agape pretty much the whole time. As I watched Dexter, I knew SOMETHING was coming, but I definitely didn't expect THAT. The implications of what it could mean for Dexter going forward have the mind churning like crazy! And needless to say, John Lithgow was fantastic, and Jennifer Carpenter really got to shine this season, which has been marvelous. Venture Brothers, meanwhile, sees the long overdue (but ultimately perfectly timed) return of Brock Sampson, and complete and total nerd-overloaded bad-assery from Henchman "Two-Ton" 21, AND his fantastic hallucination of 24. Good GOD that was pure greatness!
Overall, a totally awesome evening. Only would have been better if my wife were here to share it, though I doubt she would have appreciated anything other than the Dexter (which she will be floored by when I show it to her during my visit over Christmas and New Years). Looking forward to THAT. :)
Too bad it's over and it's time for bed. Time to call the wife and say goodnight. I hate to wake her up, but I'm sure she'll appreciate hearing from me. She always seems to. :)
(PS: one bit of belated AWESOME, is that my boss bought me a new battery for my laptop last week. Today is my first time using it unplugged. I'm currently about 45 minutes unplugged, and the battery is at 75%. Sweetness! At last, blogging from the couch is possible! Rawk!)
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| Good timing on my CVS run... |
[08 Oct 2009|02:53pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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amused |
] |
The band Everclear is currently eating at one of the outside tables at The Big Easy, a cajun-esque resturant next door to my office. I noticed them on my way to get cough drops for my sore throat. Hah!
And now one of my coworkers is blaring an Everclear song over the PA outside. LOL!
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| District 9 |
[04 Oct 2009|09:46pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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ecstatic |
] |
HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY F*CKING SHIT!
My heart is racing! Oh my freakin' god! That was f*cking fantastic! Holy shit!
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| And Now For Polar Opposite Friday! |
[18 Sep 2009|09:18am] |
| [ |
mood |
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 optimistic |
] |
Today has started out wonderfully, and promises to continue the trend through the evening.
Woke up on time, got my necessary extra chores done in record time, had very little traffic on the way in to the office, and the weather is simply cool and slightly cloudy, as opposed to gloomy and dark like yesterday. I also managed to get into the office earlier than normal (even after all the extra stuff I did this morning), was the first one in, and marveled at the set-up going on in front of my office (our entire block is blocked off) for some special event tonight, including live music. I guess I know what I'm doing tonight! Sweet!
The added extra bonus that I think really put me in a good mood though was my submission to a food craving on my way in this morning. One of my favorite breakfast treats is to get tuna salad on a toasted everything bagel. I always enjoy that (provided there's no pickle relish in it, which I hate), but today's treat had one of the best bagels I've had in a LONG time. Nice and crusty, just like the best places in NY. This is like winning a special prize. Rarely does a food craving turn out to be PERFECT, but this was. So yeah, Soho Bakery in Wake Forest, NC is officially Full of Awesome again.
I'm sad that the wife won't be here for the thing tonight, but this should give me some much-needed bonding opportunity with some of my coworkers that I don't normally hang out with, assuming they stick around. I don't expect to stay late, but I'm all for live music that can be appreciated with inexpensive beer (I can pick up a case and drink in the office, rather than having to buy from the restaurant next door). Plus, it's extra good for my company, as we'll get extra attention for our promotion (http://raleighdeaddrop.com/), and hopefully more business. It'd certainly help if we're here. Sweet!
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| Bye-Bye Audiophilia |
[17 Jul 2009|10:18am] |
| [ |
mood |
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 sad |
] |
So I've nearly come full circle with my audiophile addiction. I've sold off my first pair of good headphones, my first headphone amp, my most expensive DAC, and now my first and favorite DAC. It's sad to be getting rid of these things. We need the money, though, and I'm still going back and forth on selling my last piece: a portable DAC/amp combo. My iRiver H120 isn't going anywhere, though: it's too useful for too many things, and with all the paint flaking off, I doubt I could sell it for much anyway.
Gotta find the time this weekend to start ebaying off DVDs. Ungh.
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| Full of Awesome! |
[30 Jun 2009|04:36pm] |
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mood |
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amused |
] |
Pepper isn't QUITE this hyper, but she has her moments. :)
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| AV Ponderings |
[25 Jun 2009|03:13pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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 contemplative |
] |
So far, I have sold my first headphone amp, my first pair of "good" headphones, and today my most recent audiophile purchase, the Monica 3 DAC. Since I've discovered how well my iPhone works with my older Future Sonics EM3 earphones, and how inconvenient it has become at the new office to carry the extra clutter of my audiophile gear from the parking garage, I'm considering selling off my Future Sonics Atrio, iBasso D1, and my Monica 2 DAC as well. It's unpleasant to think about completely giving up on a hobby, but priorities change, and I need the damn money.
Meanwhile, I also noticed information about the Mvix Ultio on Engadget today. This is tempting as a replacement for my Xbox with XBMC, DVD player, and Linkstation HG NAS. Even WITH 1.5TB of storage, it's barely over $300. It could handle all of the file formats I use for video and audio, the wife and I could both access all of our music and videos from one place, we could have less equipment in the living room (which I know my wife would LOVE), I wouldn't have to do my torrenting on a laptop, and it has both standard definition outputs for my current TV and can handle high-def for when I eventually get there. It's a possibility. I do wonder if it's worth waiting to see what the Boxee hardware turns out like, but the price and utility of the Ultio is nice. And given that there's an extra external DVD drive that was left behind at my new office by the people who used to be here, that would work nicely as well. Worth considering. Eventually.
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| Quickies |
[28 May 2009|10:41am] |
1) Finally started watching "Pushing Daisies". Brilliant show. The vibe is very much reminiscent of Amelie. Utter shame it got canceled. Highest recommendation.
2) Hoping to do a Seismic Radio show tonight (http://www.seismicradio.com). It's been months, possibly even a full year by now. I've been missing it badly. Here's hoping I can get the software working.
3) Work, work, work.
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| Dammit! |
[19 May 2009|12:09pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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 grumpy |
] |
Had my iPhone less than a month, and already I have to replace it. The Wifi stopped working within the past week or so. I can no longer connect to either my home or work wireless routers. The home router used to work great, and the new work router is a damn Apple router that should have NO problem at all. As it stands, I'm rarely able to detect the local routers, even when STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO THEM, and on the rare instance that I CAN log in, the connection and listing for that router vanishes altogether. Dammit!
Apparently this has been happening for a lot of people, especially since the 2.2.1 firmware came out. Apparently 2.2.1 de-throttles the wifi chip so that it runs at full speed (which I guess it didn't previously), which causes heat issues and ultimately failure. I really haven't done that much with the wifi, certainly not enough that it should have burned it out. I've tried everything suggested online, and even used the company's iPhone Developer status to legally download and install 3.0 beta 5, but that didn't help either (and, in fact, seems to have slowed the phone down). *sigh*
Thankfully I have to receipt, so I should be able to exchange it without problems. It's just more time out of my already jam-packed days. Time for a trip to the mall. Ungh.
Meanwhile, the rest of my office-mates have gone on a field trip to downtown Raleigh to look at what is very likely going to be our new office. I don't care enough about what it's looks like: looked nice enough from looking in the window when I was there before. I just REALLY don't look forward to the commute, and am still concerned about whether or not the increased exposure will really help that much with sales. Here's hoping...
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| HAH! |
[12 May 2009|04:44pm] |
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| Snippets |
[07 May 2009|09:32am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
thoughtful |
] |
I planned to make longer posts about the following subjects, but I just don't have the time. So here's some quickies:
1) I became an iPhone owner on Friday, the last person in my office to make the switch. Company bought the device for me, but I'm still paying my own wireless bill (which stays about the same as it was with my Blackberry). Less than 24 hours after receiving the iPhone, I had already Jailbroken it (allowing me to run 3rd-party apps not available in the iTunes App Store, as well as extra tweaks like tethering). The iPhone truly is an incredible piece of technology. I'm eager to see what else I can do with it. We have a Mac Mini in the office now (the purpose of our Apple Store trip was to get the Mac Mini, and my iPhone was an unexpected bonus), so my company may start doing a little iPhone development now as well. We'll see what time allows.
2) My company may be moving to downtown Raleigh in mid to late June. It's still unknown, as price negotiations are still underway. When I say downtown, though, I REALLY mean downtown: Fayetteville St. only runs for about 6 blocks, with one end stopping at the capital building. The office is right on that street, ground level.
I have very mixed feelings about this potential move, though. I'm concerned about the extra cost of rent, electric, etc. I'm dreading the idea of up to an extra hour added to my commute EACH WAY (would be carpooling with my boss/former housemate who is about 20 minutes from my house, and downtown Raleigh is another hour or so from there, especially in commuter traffic). And while being smack in the business section of downtown Raleigh is excellent for visibility, I'm apprehensive about whether the increased cost for increased exposure really will translate into increased sales. It's not my call, though. I hope it turns out for the best, but I'm definitely concerned.
3) Saw the new Star Trek movie at a free preview showing last night. Best Trek film since First Contact (faint praise since Insurrection and Nemesis were horrible), and actually a very enjoyable, loving reboot. Don't over-analyze it, and it's a fun night out at the movies. Annoying non-Trekkie movie/TV buffs like myself (or ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) eventhewaves) can also amuse themselves by playing Spot The Familiar Actor (see if you recognize them before the credits). Trekkies can thrill to the Trek in-jokes and references and homage and Leonard F*cking Nimoy, while Trekkers (the REALLY die-hard nerds) might tear this thing apart with needless nitpicking. I was successful in turning off most of my typically critical thought processes, and only had to struggle with the idea of a giant canyon in the middle of Iowa since I grew up there. The silly time travel stuff didn't bother me. Heh. Fun movie, worth catching.
4) Wife started a new job today. Her excitement level isn't what I'd hoped it would be, due to a misunderstanding with the commuter who told her she was supposed to start yesterday, when the company wasn't expecting her until today. Hopefully the job will prove to be worthwhile and she'll manage to find some enthusiasm for it. We can certainly use the money, no question, but I'd REALLY like it if she actually enjoyed the job too. I do prefer it when my wife comes home happy instead of emotionally drained. Keep your fingers crossed!
5) I'm going to ANOTHER Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup playoff game tomorrow! I got to go to one last week(?) as well, which was a blast. Looking forward to this one as well. Go Canes! >:)
6) Found downloads for TWO more audiophile copies of The Beatles' White Album, this time two different vinyl needle-drops of a German Direct Metal Mastered version. Both versions are different from each other (the Dr. Ebbetts version has a lusher low-end and improved depth but brighter highs, while the Mirror Spock version has a more even frequency balance but is less faithful to the vinyl), but both also beat the 2008 update of the Dr. Ebbetts MFSL rip. Sheesh! My OCD collector tendencies are making this tough on my hard drive space. Hah.
Time for work. Fun.
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| Good God, Bunnies Amuse Me So Much |
[27 Apr 2009|02:42pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 bouncy |
] |
LOL! Bunsplosion for your desktop! Awesome!
I need to let Pepper out of her cage ASAP tonight. She only got minimal play time this weekend, and only then because she escaped while my wife was trying to pet her. *cackle* Bratty Bunneh.
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| I killed a baby bunny. |
[04 Apr 2009|12:48pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 depressed |
] |
I was out weeding in front of our house this morning. The section under my bedroom window was overgrown with weeds, so I was trudging through ripping them up. I ripped up one clump and exposed this little grayish ball, and recoiled at the thought of it being either an aggressive or dead animal. Instead, it turned out to be a baby bunny, very much alive, hiding in a dense weed patch that must have been a bunny smorgasbord. After cooing at it and saying "don't worry, sweetie, I'm not going to eat you!", I tried to pick it up and it jumped out of reach. I then grabbed another handful of weeds and chucked them onto the lawn, then when I looked back the bunny was gone. I weeded some more, but didn't see where it went. I assumed it ran far away from the spot, as I couldn't find it in any of the weeds I was pulling up.
So I started mowing. I went over the patch of thick grass that I hadn't pulled up, and *thump*. I was utterly horrified and heartbroken. It was definitely the bunny, as I saw parts of it. My one consolation is that it was quick.
Considering how much of a ridiculous rabbit fan I am, you can imagine how incredibly upsetting this is for me right now. Downright devastating. I remember thinking briefly when I tried to touch it that maybe it would make a nice friend for Pepper. That maybe the universe, God, mother nature, whatever term you want to use, was giving me a gift to help make for a happier home. I always view the presence of rabbits as a good omen, and the fact that I probably could have caught this little baby and given it a home seemed even more like a gift. But I was careless, and didn't search hard enough for it, and I killed the poor thing. I really hate myself at this moment.
It's strange, though, how LJ keeps throwing messages at me saying "Ooops! Looks like Frank's nibbling on the wires!", since the thought occurred to me to name the baby bunny "Francis" post mortem.
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