Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Tentative Details
At least among the band members, we have a selected a date from the three options presented to us. I won't reveal more details until they are finalized. We have rehearsal tonight at 6:30.
Two-Minute Hates
This article about the Supreme Court decision in favor of Hobby Lobby is interesting. It quotes another article by Megan McArdle. In *that* article, McArdle makes the suggestion "that the Left and the Right “misunderstood each other so profoundly — and continue to do so even after all the screaming.” I agree with the author of the first cited article when he writes, "That’s not even remotely true: I (and most of the rest of the Right) understood the Left’s position on the case from the beginning. I just rejected it, because it was stupid; simplistic; and frankly designed to produce Two-Minute Hates on cue."
There! That's the phrase for politics in America 2014: "Two-Minute Hates".
The article goes on to quote McArdle's article, which includes this text:
Still, Megan’s article is in itself of interest:
"…while the religious right views religion as a fundamental, and indeed essential, part of the human experience, the secular left views it as something more like a hobby, so for them it’s as if a major administrative rule was struck down because it unduly burdened model-train enthusiasts. That emotional disconnect makes it hard for the two sides to even debate; the emotional tenor quickly spirals into hysteria as one side says “Sacred!” and the other side says, essentially, “Seriously? Model trains?”"
And, if that's really true, if someone can put religion on the same pedestal, the same level, as a hobby, they do not understand faith in God.
There! That's the phrase for politics in America 2014: "Two-Minute Hates".
The article goes on to quote McArdle's article, which includes this text:
Still, Megan’s article is in itself of interest:
"…while the religious right views religion as a fundamental, and indeed essential, part of the human experience, the secular left views it as something more like a hobby, so for them it’s as if a major administrative rule was struck down because it unduly burdened model-train enthusiasts. That emotional disconnect makes it hard for the two sides to even debate; the emotional tenor quickly spirals into hysteria as one side says “Sacred!” and the other side says, essentially, “Seriously? Model trains?”"
And, if that's really true, if someone can put religion on the same pedestal, the same level, as a hobby, they do not understand faith in God.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Local Headlines
Though the specifics are not ironed out yet, there is a gig in the future for Uncle Rico the Band! When I can reveal more, I will.
Busy Week
I practiced drums for a long time last night, but didn't actually *play* drums the entire time I was in the den. Instead, there are some songs in the Uncle Rico list of songs that we are playing that are "failing" because I'm not able to play the pattern I need to play. I focused on "Johnny B. Goode" and "Two Princes." These tunes have very different feels.
First, "Two Princes" with its modern feel. Here's a drum lesson I watched to try to learn the opening fill.
But I really wanted to hear another drummer playing the "main" pattern of the tune. That's when I found this:
What's kind of funny is that the parts of the song that I have to really concentrate to play correctly are the same parts of the song that, in my opinion, he doesn't nail.
Moving on to "Johnny B Good", I found quite a few videos to watch.
This is simply a drummer playing the tune:
This is a very good cover of the tune:
This is NOT a very good cover of the tune:
If time permits, I plan to go through these two tunes again.
First, "Two Princes" with its modern feel. Here's a drum lesson I watched to try to learn the opening fill.
But I really wanted to hear another drummer playing the "main" pattern of the tune. That's when I found this:
What's kind of funny is that the parts of the song that I have to really concentrate to play correctly are the same parts of the song that, in my opinion, he doesn't nail.
Moving on to "Johnny B Good", I found quite a few videos to watch.
This is simply a drummer playing the tune:
This is a very good cover of the tune:
This is NOT a very good cover of the tune:
If time permits, I plan to go through these two tunes again.
The Rumors Swirl
I'm amused by the way the Internet puts news in front of numerous people quickly. The sequel to "The Avengers" is being filmed. There are all sorts of rumors about who is in the movie and who is not as well as plot details. This article reminded me of the dangers of trusting the Internet for every thing. The rumor was that Spider-Man was going to be in the movie and, as evidence, there's this photo:
But, unfortunately, the above picture was modified. Here's the original picture:
But, unfortunately, the above picture was modified. Here's the original picture:
Monday, July 7, 2014
Heaven
Without a doubt, the ad on Craigslist from the Minneapolis page will not exist at some point in the future so, in order to preserve the awesomeness of the item for sale, I've copied / pasted the text of the ad here:
Here's the deal: this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a combination of state-of-the-art technology combined with old-school media in the form of a truly massive CD collection.
First, the CD's. You are purchasing a painstakingly curated collection of pristine CD's that have been accumulated over a lifetime, going back to the very beginning. There are roughly 8,700 titles comprising over 11,000 actual discs (many multi-disc collections). Many, many rarities and one-offs. Except for a few hundred recent purchases, every single CD has been carefully stored in a padded, archival sleeve and ALL the original artwork has been preserved without any folding or cutting. Read more about these sleeves here: http://jewelsleeve.com. These CD's are in truly mint condition. Due to a limitation of my system I CANNOT provide a list sorted by genre (don't even ask) but a full artist/titlelisting is provided here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6gwow7kjin09dsq/FinalAlbums.txt Editor's note: this link doesn't work
Next, these sleeved discs will come with four custom-made oak chests that store the entire collection in a very small footprint. Attached is a pic showing the concept (pic 1), a pic of the actual CD's in a different chest (pic 2), and finally a pic of two of the actual chests themselves (you will get FOUR). These chests will come with upper cabinets for additional storage (shown). This is a link to the pics:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a2deurvsr8rz1x8/MyJewelChests.jpg Editor's note: this link doesn't work
But wait, there's more. About 98% of these discs have been ripped to four first-generation 2TB Sooloos servers. You will get these servers, a Sooloos Control One that only needs a new disk drive (easy to fix) and a Sooloos Source Five that seems to have a bad ethernet port (could probably be easily fixed by any hardware geek).
Finally, you will get several thousand extra blank Jewelsleeves so your collection can continue to grow.
The original value of everything offered here: 8,700 titles stored in sleeves, four custom oak storage chests with uppers, a complete Sooloos system, and extra sleeves, is over $160,000.
Offered for $50,000.
Friday, July 4, 2014
That Bitch Irony
Around 12:30 yesterday, I got an email from my manager that said that we could get an early start on our holiday weekend and leave at 2. Of course, that's about the time that an issue with work that had to be done came up. Basically, help text in HTML gets routed to a queue and the web application pulls the help text from that queue, except, for the help text I was concerned about, it displayed "null" instead. This turned into a "not my job" merry-go-round that I finally jumped off of at 2:45.
The ultimate issue that caused "null" instead of the help text was not my issue. I couldn't have fixed it.
I just checked a bit ago and the defect I had created for the issue was routed to Development and four hours after submitting it, the issue has been resolved. Yeah!
The ultimate issue that caused "null" instead of the help text was not my issue. I couldn't have fixed it.
I just checked a bit ago and the defect I had created for the issue was routed to Development and four hours after submitting it, the issue has been resolved. Yeah!
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Too Many Catholics
I am Catholic. I am fully indoctrinated (ooo - big word!) in the Catholic beliefs. I could list the reasons I feel this way but my point is to provide context about this idea, not list milestones in my life that coincide with my faith in God and Jesus Christ. Yes, I would say that when anyone proclaims negative ideas about the Catholic church, I feel hairs on the back of my neck raise up a bit. I am biased in the belief that Catholicism is the set of beliefs I attempt to use to direct my life choices. Am I always successful in that? Of course not - read any post on this blog where I have captured my mistakes and failings as a husband, father, and son as evidence.
That's the reaction I have when I consider the thesis that "there are "too many Catholics" on the United States Supreme Court." That thesis, put forth by the Huffington Post, a liberal website, is within an article which was written as a reaction to the Supreme Court ruling about Hobby Lobby. Had it not been for my daily newsletter from Red State leading me to their article http://www.redstate.com/2014/07/02/huffington-post-many-catholics-supreme-court/ which is a rebuttal to that Huffington Post article, I might have never conceived this idea.
All that said, here's a link to the article for your amusement.
One thing I really enjoy about politics is the way "everyone else" is wrong. Look at this set of comments from the above article:
David Willingham · Top Commenter · Works at Retired
I have no opinion on whether a catholic or 7 should be on the court, but I have a concern when the Churches argument is presented as justification for this decision, when all of us know that nearly everyone in the Catholic Church do not practice the Church's teaching on birth control.
Dorothy Madigan · Top Commenter · Works at Retired
Have you read the lawsuit? It's not about contraception, but about the four forms of contraception that Hobby Lobby objected to as abortifacients out of the 20 which were presented. They had no objection to the others. It wasn't about preventing conception, but about continuing life after conception.
Gerald Allen · Top Commenter · Works at Living with Parkinson's and fighting everyday.
Not real oppression if they made the Supreme Court bench. Sounds like this paper is the one that wants to oppress Catholics.
But then they are the liberal news and liberals just got handed 3 blocks to there God obama.
Lars Taylor · Top Commenter · UC Berkeley
You are delusional.
Ray McGaughey · Associate Research Scientist at I can't tell you that
Lars Taylor Like so many others. They live in a different world, somehow.
Scott Randall · Top Commenter
Gerald is not only delusional, he is very under educated; you can tell by his spelling and punctuation. He is typical of so called conservatives: knows hardly anything about history, and most of what he thinks he knows he is wrong about. That goes for political theory, economics and science. He gets all his information from FOX and Limpbaugh and truly believes opinion and ideology are worth more than facts and reality. He has been religiously indoctrinated to worship the rich and have nothing but contempt for everybody not as gullible as himself. Like I said, typical conservative religious republican.
It sounds to me like Scott Randall is the one that is delusional. Is there one fact in his response? No. Where does Gerald Allen state that "he gets all his information from FOX and Limbaugh"? How does he know that? He doesn't. There's no evidence whatsoever. And to conclude that Gerald Allen is "very under educated" because of his "spelling and punctuation" seems to be trying to discredit ideas by pointing out the delivery of the idea, not have a discussion about the idea. By the way, the last I knew "republican" when referring to a proper noun ("the Republican Party") in Scott Randall's reply should be capitalized. I guess I can tell Scott Randall is "very under educated" because he doesn't capitalize a proper noun.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Doggy Tired
I was exhausted last night after mowing the yard. I don't think it was especially hot or weather-related but I sat down on the couch and I could barely keep my eyes awake. Karen and Alex wanted to look at the spillway by the Coralville reservoir, but I stayed home. There was no way I would stay awake just riding in the van. Instead, I put the supper dishes away, put the dangerous junk down the upstairs bathroom tub, cleaned the tub, and with CDs ripping and "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" on the television, I folded the laundry. By the time 10:15ish hit, I was cashed out. I didn't even have the energy to comment upon the fact that liberals are in a serious tizzy about Hobby Lobby. There is a link to this article in that article that is interesting.
Even more interesting is to read another article by Jessica Valenti thesis about the other Supreme Court ruling. She leads off with this whopper of a "Abortion clinics are not safe places - anti-choicers have ensured that - and if women are going to be free from harassment, the fight must go on."
No.
No freaking no.
The reason why abortion clinics are not safe places is not because of "anti-choicers" at all. The reason they are not safe places is because when a woman enters that clinic, she is intent upon murdering a baby. Nowhere in the article does Valenti confront that fact. It is a fact. Who is talking about abortion with honesty? Who is thinking about the child that is feeling and breathing? In general, there is hypocrisy when a liberal gets into an uproar about owning guns and about guns killing people (not the person pulling the trigger) but in the same breath, a woman should have the right to choose if they want to kill their baby. How is that right? It's not right. It's wrong.
Even more interesting is to read another article by Jessica Valenti thesis about the other Supreme Court ruling. She leads off with this whopper of a "Abortion clinics are not safe places - anti-choicers have ensured that - and if women are going to be free from harassment, the fight must go on."
No.
No freaking no.
The reason why abortion clinics are not safe places is not because of "anti-choicers" at all. The reason they are not safe places is because when a woman enters that clinic, she is intent upon murdering a baby. Nowhere in the article does Valenti confront that fact. It is a fact. Who is talking about abortion with honesty? Who is thinking about the child that is feeling and breathing? In general, there is hypocrisy when a liberal gets into an uproar about owning guns and about guns killing people (not the person pulling the trigger) but in the same breath, a woman should have the right to choose if they want to kill their baby. How is that right? It's not right. It's wrong.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Two Sides of the Coin
People don't speak the same language when it comes to politics. The "We
are the United States of America and we stand together as one nation"
theme that came out of the horrific 9/11/2001 attacks is over. The great KISS song, on their underrated "Unmasked" release called "Two Sides of the Coin" summarizes this. For never before has Ace Frehley singing, "There's two sides of the coin to choose from" been more true in America. When I read the reactions from Republicans and Democrats to the Supreme Court ruling about Hobby Lobby, I wonder what people really think is going on in this world.
First, on the Conservative side, I read this: http://www.redstate.com/2014/06/30/hobby-lobby-decision-misleading-language-left/ which says, in part, this:
There is legal precedent for for-profit companies promoting religious values. So yes, Hobby Lobby is promoting religious values. That’s legal. And employees, if you don’t like it, don’t work there. No one is forcing you to work for Hobby Lobby. After all, it’s not like this was a secret – they are one of many Christian-owned companies who recognize the Sabbath and close on Sundays.
I went on to read this article: http://www.redstate.com/2014/06/30/white-house-understand-happened-hobby-lobby-case/
Based upon the two links above, I know where Republicans seem to be heading on this issue.
On the Democrat side of the aisle, I read this in my First Read from NBC News daily email:
Contraception as a Democratic wedge issue
Turning from the White House and Congress to yesterday's big Hobby Lobby decision at the Supreme Court, we observed that Democratic candidates seemed more excited to talk about the Hobby Lobby case than immigration. Of course, one of main reasons is that the Latino vote will only be a factor in one Senate contest THIS November: Colorado's. But women -- whether they live in Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan, or Oregon -- are going to be the key voting bloc this year, and Democrats see the Hobby Lobby case and contraception in general as wedge issues with female voters. Indeed, back in our March 2014 NBC/WSJ poll, 48% of men said that employers should be able to be exempt from covering birth control on religious grounds, while 46% of them said they should NOT be exempt. By comparison, nearly six-in-10 women -- 59% -- said employers should NOT be exempt, versus 35% who said they should. Overall in that NBC/WSJ poll, 53% of all respondents said employers should not be exempt, and 41% said they should be exempt. It was in 2012 that Democrats first started capitalizing on the politics of contraception, and they continued that in last year's gubernatorial contest in Virginia. If Democrats hold the Senate -- and we stress the word "IF" -- yesterday's court decision could end up being one of the more important turning points. The party has been looking for a reason to rationalize a focus on contraception during this campaign year, the Supreme Court's conservative majority gave it to them. Spend any time with your nose buried in crosstabs from today and 2010, and it is crystal clear this contraception issue has had a negative impact among women for the GOP.
Which leads me back to the first link and this text:
This is not an anti-woman ruling. It is anti-religious discrimination. Post-Hobby Lobby, women still have access to contraceptives. They still (unfortunately) have access to abortiofacient drugs. They can pay for them out of their own pockets. Companies have had, and thanks to this ruling, still DO have the ability to “practice what they preach” with respect to their religious beliefs. They are not forcing their religion down the throats of employees or customers. If the employees don’t like it, they can quit, and customers can go elsewhere. The irony of this is that the vast majority of Hobby Lobby’s customers are: women. If this ruling has a profound impact on women, the best thing that women can do is not shop there. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Then, to counter that, Rachel Maddow, my favorite liberal loon, used this misleading subject in the daily email I receive: The GOP's takes a risk celebrating contraception ruling. No one ever said, "Women, you can't have contraception." It doesn't say that!
First, on the Conservative side, I read this: http://www.redstate.com/2014/06/30/hobby-lobby-decision-misleading-language-left/ which says, in part, this:
There is legal precedent for for-profit companies promoting religious values. So yes, Hobby Lobby is promoting religious values. That’s legal. And employees, if you don’t like it, don’t work there. No one is forcing you to work for Hobby Lobby. After all, it’s not like this was a secret – they are one of many Christian-owned companies who recognize the Sabbath and close on Sundays.
I went on to read this article: http://www.redstate.com/2014/06/30/white-house-understand-happened-hobby-lobby-case/
Based upon the two links above, I know where Republicans seem to be heading on this issue.
On the Democrat side of the aisle, I read this in my First Read from NBC News daily email:
Contraception as a Democratic wedge issue
Turning from the White House and Congress to yesterday's big Hobby Lobby decision at the Supreme Court, we observed that Democratic candidates seemed more excited to talk about the Hobby Lobby case than immigration. Of course, one of main reasons is that the Latino vote will only be a factor in one Senate contest THIS November: Colorado's. But women -- whether they live in Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan, or Oregon -- are going to be the key voting bloc this year, and Democrats see the Hobby Lobby case and contraception in general as wedge issues with female voters. Indeed, back in our March 2014 NBC/WSJ poll, 48% of men said that employers should be able to be exempt from covering birth control on religious grounds, while 46% of them said they should NOT be exempt. By comparison, nearly six-in-10 women -- 59% -- said employers should NOT be exempt, versus 35% who said they should. Overall in that NBC/WSJ poll, 53% of all respondents said employers should not be exempt, and 41% said they should be exempt. It was in 2012 that Democrats first started capitalizing on the politics of contraception, and they continued that in last year's gubernatorial contest in Virginia. If Democrats hold the Senate -- and we stress the word "IF" -- yesterday's court decision could end up being one of the more important turning points. The party has been looking for a reason to rationalize a focus on contraception during this campaign year, the Supreme Court's conservative majority gave it to them. Spend any time with your nose buried in crosstabs from today and 2010, and it is crystal clear this contraception issue has had a negative impact among women for the GOP.
Which leads me back to the first link and this text:
This is not an anti-woman ruling. It is anti-religious discrimination. Post-Hobby Lobby, women still have access to contraceptives. They still (unfortunately) have access to abortiofacient drugs. They can pay for them out of their own pockets. Companies have had, and thanks to this ruling, still DO have the ability to “practice what they preach” with respect to their religious beliefs. They are not forcing their religion down the throats of employees or customers. If the employees don’t like it, they can quit, and customers can go elsewhere. The irony of this is that the vast majority of Hobby Lobby’s customers are: women. If this ruling has a profound impact on women, the best thing that women can do is not shop there. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Then, to counter that, Rachel Maddow, my favorite liberal loon, used this misleading subject in the daily email I receive: The GOP's takes a risk celebrating contraception ruling. No one ever said, "Women, you can't have contraception." It doesn't say that!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Not Fun
So, with Karen at work and Megan in Grinnell and Alex at home and me at work, this is not fun. The white circle indicates Iowa City.
And no, that's not what I wanted to write about in my 1700th post on this blog.
And no, that's not what I wanted to write about in my 1700th post on this blog.
Ringo is Lars and Lars is Ringo
"Avenged Sevenfold drummer Arin Ilejay has hailed his Metallica counterpart Lars Ulrich as "the Ringo of metal" - saying he's one of the most underrated musicians in the world." More often than not, I read about how he is "overrated" as a drummer, mainly because (gasp) he is human and (gasp) he may not play every song every time *perfectly* or to the standards of those who think all the band does is show up and play 3 hours and bitch about growing old.
Bandmix Ad I just Saw
This is the type of ad I would have liked to have seen in summer 1988, prior to starting college. Of course, none of the bands mentioned existed back then <smirk>
"Looking for a solid drummer with an awesome modern hard rock/alternative rock style. Strictly focusing on originals. Influences include, but aren't limited to (Incubus, STP, old school Staind / Limp Bizkit / Korn, Red, BB, etc.). For an idea of what we are about check out some of out stuff at [snip]. We are looking for someone with a good positive attitude and high energy stage presence . No drugs. No drama. Having a good voice is a plus, but having the drive to go out and do everything you can to succeed is a necessity. Our main goal is to be able to quit our jobs someday and play music full time, but we are only as strong as our weakest link. So with that in mind, sky is the limit."
"Looking for a solid drummer with an awesome modern hard rock/alternative rock style. Strictly focusing on originals. Influences include, but aren't limited to (Incubus, STP, old school Staind / Limp Bizkit / Korn, Red, BB, etc.). For an idea of what we are about check out some of out stuff at [snip]. We are looking for someone with a good positive attitude and high energy stage presence . No drugs. No drama. Having a good voice is a plus, but having the drive to go out and do everything you can to succeed is a necessity. Our main goal is to be able to quit our jobs someday and play music full time, but we are only as strong as our weakest link. So with that in mind, sky is the limit."
Blitzing the Inbox
Megan keeps getting emails from colleges that, apparently, want her to attend *their* college. Some of the techniques used by the college's Admissions department are well-thought out. One shows a graduation class on a raft and talks about their on-campus beach and a 97% graduation rate. I commend the college for creativity. Megan actually intends to attend UNI next year in pursuit of a degree in elementary education.
It is sometimes difficult for me, as a graduate of Mount Mercy College with a minor in Secondary Education, to encourage her. I still have that awful shitty student teaching experience taste in my mouth and even though it was during the fall of 1991 and so much has happened to me since then that has been positive in my life, I find myself suppressing an "all in" attitude. This is my issue and I need to get over it. I realize that teaching is in the blood as Mom was a teacher for 40 years and for many years, I wanted to fill the empty voids of young minds with grand ideas about literature and writing. Student teaching destroyed me in so many ways and, I guess, now that I consider myself rebuilt into a technical writer, I don't have the will to rip the wounds open that have mercifully healed over the last 23 years.
Again, though, this is my issue. I pray for Megan's success as a teacher and I believe she will do awesome.
It is sometimes difficult for me, as a graduate of Mount Mercy College with a minor in Secondary Education, to encourage her. I still have that awful shitty student teaching experience taste in my mouth and even though it was during the fall of 1991 and so much has happened to me since then that has been positive in my life, I find myself suppressing an "all in" attitude. This is my issue and I need to get over it. I realize that teaching is in the blood as Mom was a teacher for 40 years and for many years, I wanted to fill the empty voids of young minds with grand ideas about literature and writing. Student teaching destroyed me in so many ways and, I guess, now that I consider myself rebuilt into a technical writer, I don't have the will to rip the wounds open that have mercifully healed over the last 23 years.
Again, though, this is my issue. I pray for Megan's success as a teacher and I believe she will do awesome.
My Rights
Apparently, there's a movement emerging that places my right, as an American citizen to say what I want, in jeopardy. Why? Why can't people with opposing points of view come together and figure out their disagreement. We have to somehow find good within the hearts of our enemies, both at a global country to country basis as well as in the daily interactions in life. What kind of a sick earth would we have if we all just got along?
I Hunt, Therefore I Am
My absolute least favorite Metallica song is "Of Wolf and Man" on the Black album. I don't really like the groove, the lyrics, or the melody. It's just not a song I would choose as either their best or brightest piece of music. I have felt that way since I first heard the album in 1991. I don't mind that James Hetfield sings, "I hunt, therefore I am" in the lyrics but, apparently, there are a lot of people
that have a problem with it apparently.
Here's my take on it. I don't own a gun. I don't plan to own a gun. I realize that hunting is a passion of a lot of people. I realize that gun ownership is a right I enjoy as an American citizen. I appreciate that if I wanted to own a gun, I could. Simply, it's my choice to not own one.
That leads me to James Hetfield. I don't really care if he owns a gun, if he likes to shoot bears in the wilderness, if he likes to go to Russia on a hunting expedition, as he discussed in the "Some Kind of Monster" movie, or even if he narrates a television series about hunting bears. That's his passion outside of Metallica. All of the members of Metallica have passions outside of music. Drummer Lars Ulrich sold off a bunch of his paintings (also shown in the "Some Kind of Monster" movie). Guitarist Kirk Hammett likes scary movies. I admit to not knowing what bassist Robert Trujillo does for fun outside of Metallica, which is sad because he's been in Metallica now for a decade.
All that said, do I really believe James Hetfield should *only* focus on Metallica and have no other interests? Should he only pursue a hobby that I, a music fan, grant approval for him to do? That's insane. It is also the perspective I have when I read about the protests that came prior to Metallica's concert in England. Hetfield should follow his bliss and do what makes him happy.
that have a problem with it apparently.
Here's my take on it. I don't own a gun. I don't plan to own a gun. I realize that hunting is a passion of a lot of people. I realize that gun ownership is a right I enjoy as an American citizen. I appreciate that if I wanted to own a gun, I could. Simply, it's my choice to not own one.
That leads me to James Hetfield. I don't really care if he owns a gun, if he likes to shoot bears in the wilderness, if he likes to go to Russia on a hunting expedition, as he discussed in the "Some Kind of Monster" movie, or even if he narrates a television series about hunting bears. That's his passion outside of Metallica. All of the members of Metallica have passions outside of music. Drummer Lars Ulrich sold off a bunch of his paintings (also shown in the "Some Kind of Monster" movie). Guitarist Kirk Hammett likes scary movies. I admit to not knowing what bassist Robert Trujillo does for fun outside of Metallica, which is sad because he's been in Metallica now for a decade.
All that said, do I really believe James Hetfield should *only* focus on Metallica and have no other interests? Should he only pursue a hobby that I, a music fan, grant approval for him to do? That's insane. It is also the perspective I have when I read about the protests that came prior to Metallica's concert in England. Hetfield should follow his bliss and do what makes him happy.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Reconversion Update
Prior to shutting down the 3 devices that were used to rip CDs from Friday night until today (Sunday) at 1:10 PM, I ran a DIR command to get a count of the number of MP3s I created by ripping the CDs. The result of that DIR command is 2175 MP3s and 156 base folders. I made great progress but now it is time for me to shower.
Last Night
- Creeping Death
- For Whom the Bell Tolls
- Wherever I May Roam
- Sad but True
- Fade to Black
- Cyanide
- The Unforgiven
- The Memory Remains
- One
- Master of Puppets
- Nothing Else Matters
- Enter Sandman
- Whiskey in the Jar
- Seek & Destroy
Christ or Punch
As I mentioned previously, Five Finger Death Punch / Volbeat / HellYeah / Nothing More are playing a concert in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, September 20. I found out at supper last night, Karen asked about going to a Christian conference in Des Moines that same weekend. Oh. It's *that* weekend? Hmmm. Do I choose Christ or this?
Some Tunes from Metallica
I *really* want Metallica to tour North America after visually skimming through this recent show. They are tight and I love it! I also hope that when they do tour, it is at a point in life where I can take Megan and Alex to the show.
Missing You When I Look at You
We are taking Megan to Grinnell today. She leaves for Europe on Thursday morning and comes back Friday, July 18, 2014, at 9 PM. I hope she has a great trip and I hope she realizes how precious it is to be where she is during the trip. Father Page blessed her last night at 5:15 Mass.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Booking a Band
I am having a flashback to the era of my life from February 1992 through February 1995. It was during that time in my life where a lot of significant life events happened. In chronological order, and with several events left out for the sake of making a point:
And today, as I look around at the Facebook pages and websites of various bars that book bands in the Cedar Rapids / Iowa City corridor, I am sending out what basically amounts to a cover letter / resume combination. I am hoping that someone that receives my email watches the Uncle Rico video of "Ring of Fire," watches the videos of me playing drums on this blog, and concludes that they need to book us.
The truth is that it now seems we should have been looking into bookings almost as soon as I joined the band. One venue's next open Saturday night is Saturday, January 24, 2015. That's a long ways away! Another venue said to contact them in January because their 2014 calendar is booked. Another venue books bands 6 months at a time. I had been hoping for something before the end of the summer, but that doesn't seem realistic.
- in February 1992, I sent out my first cover letter and resume
- in April 1992, I graduated from Mount Mercy College,
- in June 1992, I proposed to Karen,
- in September 1992, I was hired at my first permanent full-time job at APAC, selling AD&D insurance
- in November 1992, I asked for a temporary leave from APAC to work a scoring position at ACT
- in January 1993, I stayed at ACT when they were awarded a contract to process federal financial aid applications.
- between January 1993 and January 1995, I applied for pretty much any job that was even remotely related to writing.
And today, as I look around at the Facebook pages and websites of various bars that book bands in the Cedar Rapids / Iowa City corridor, I am sending out what basically amounts to a cover letter / resume combination. I am hoping that someone that receives my email watches the Uncle Rico video of "Ring of Fire," watches the videos of me playing drums on this blog, and concludes that they need to book us.
The truth is that it now seems we should have been looking into bookings almost as soon as I joined the band. One venue's next open Saturday night is Saturday, January 24, 2015. That's a long ways away! Another venue said to contact them in January because their 2014 calendar is booked. Another venue books bands 6 months at a time. I had been hoping for something before the end of the summer, but that doesn't seem realistic.
Sweetness to the Ears
There's something about watching your son play drums that simply cannot be explained. The U of I drumline camp ended last night with a final concert. I recorded audio of it, with my phone, and Karen recorded some video. Alex played really well and I was happy to hear his instructors tell me he was a good kid. I think he's a good kid so it's sweetness to the ears when someone that has only known him for less than 7 days tells you that you have a good kid.
Another thing that is going on is that I have made considerable progress with the CD reconversion. On the Elkader PC, I've ripped 227 MP3s.
On the Toshiba laptop, I've ripped 173 MP3s.
On the work laptop, I've ripped 205 MP3s.
Doing the math, that's 605 MP3 files that have been added to the CD reconversion project. I'm working on Spindle #30 and "only" have Spindle #31 remaining of my spindles. Then I move on to the 200 CDs from Indy and the 990 CDs in the racks. I started ripping the CDs on the rack because the majority of those CDs are not CD-Rs so I don't have to do any manual work, like looking up artist and album information online because Windows Media Player is looking that up automatically and using the online database to fill in that information for me. I have 34 CDs remaining on Spindle #30 and three being ripped concurrently on the aforementioned devices.
I'm being summoned for breakfast.
Another thing that is going on is that I have made considerable progress with the CD reconversion. On the Elkader PC, I've ripped 227 MP3s.
On the Toshiba laptop, I've ripped 173 MP3s.
On the work laptop, I've ripped 205 MP3s.
Doing the math, that's 605 MP3 files that have been added to the CD reconversion project. I'm working on Spindle #30 and "only" have Spindle #31 remaining of my spindles. Then I move on to the 200 CDs from Indy and the 990 CDs in the racks. I started ripping the CDs on the rack because the majority of those CDs are not CD-Rs so I don't have to do any manual work, like looking up artist and album information online because Windows Media Player is looking that up automatically and using the online database to fill in that information for me. I have 34 CDs remaining on Spindle #30 and three being ripped concurrently on the aforementioned devices.
I'm being summoned for breakfast.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Convert all Tables to Text
Because I just spent (too much) time looking for this, I am hoping this blog post will be easier to find.
http://howto.wikispaces.umb.edu/Convert+all+tables+to+text
Sometimes you need to remove or convert tables in order to process your content in another tool. Word has no automatic "convert all tables to text" feature, so to avoid selecting and converting each table by hand, you'll need to use a macro like this. Simple paste the following code into a new macro (from Word 2007's Developer Tab, which you can enable in Word Options).
Sub AllTablestoText()
'
' AllTablestoText Macro
' Macro created by Jarosław Michalak
'
For Each aTable In ActiveDocument.Tables
aTable.ConvertToText wdSeparateByCommas, True
Next aTable
End Sub
Macro written by Jaroslaw Michalak from the ProZ Forums. He notes:
If you need another separator, you might replace the "wdSeparateByTabs" parameter with:
wdSeparateByDefaultListSeparator
wdSeparateByParagraphs
wdSeparateByCommas
or even put a custom separator:
aTable.ConvertToText "*", True
http://howto.wikispaces.umb.edu/Convert+all+tables+to+text
Sometimes you need to remove or convert tables in order to process your content in another tool. Word has no automatic "convert all tables to text" feature, so to avoid selecting and converting each table by hand, you'll need to use a macro like this. Simple paste the following code into a new macro (from Word 2007's Developer Tab, which you can enable in Word Options).
Sub AllTablestoText()
'
' AllTablestoText Macro
' Macro created by Jarosław Michalak
'
For Each aTable In ActiveDocument.Tables
aTable.ConvertToText wdSeparateByCommas, True
Next aTable
End Sub
Macro written by Jaroslaw Michalak from the ProZ Forums. He notes:
If you need another separator, you might replace the "wdSeparateByTabs" parameter with:
wdSeparateByDefaultListSeparator
wdSeparateByParagraphs
wdSeparateByCommas
or even put a custom separator:
aTable.ConvertToText "*", True
Missing Boy
Found!
There was a boy who had a "strict regimen and required to do 4,000 strides on an elliptical trainer without break", the boy had to pee or poo so he stopped. When the stepmother found out, she tattled on him. The boy was afraid how his father would react so he hid. And wasn't seen for 11 days.
There was a boy who had a "strict regimen and required to do 4,000 strides on an elliptical trainer without break", the boy had to pee or poo so he stopped. When the stepmother found out, she tattled on him. The boy was afraid how his father would react so he hid. And wasn't seen for 11 days.
Great Songs I'd love to Play in a Band
Control
Blurry
Lit
Adelitas Way
Crossfade
Otherwise
Skillet
Skillet
Three Days Grace
Shinedown
1
2
3
Tonic
Blurry
Lit
Adelitas Way
Crossfade
Otherwise
Skillet
Skillet
Three Days Grace
Shinedown
1
2
3
Tonic
Music Reconversion Status
As of Friday, June 20, 2014, my music count was
51844 File(s) 274,732,368,654 bytes
As of Friday, June 27, 2014, my music count is
52942 File(s) 279,323,192,282 bytes.
52942
- 51844
1098 added in a week.
51844 File(s) 274,732,368,654 bytes
As of Friday, June 27, 2014, my music count is
52942 File(s) 279,323,192,282 bytes.
52942
- 51844
1098 added in a week.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Slapping Fingers
The Supreme Court has declared that President Obama can no longer fill high-level vacancies with temporary appointments while Congress was out of town. He did this because the relationship between Congress and President Obama is a dysfunctional mess. Just yesterday, Speaker of the House John Boehner filed a lawsuit to sue President Obama. Do you really think they are going to get anything done?
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