Stupidest thing I’ve seen this week
Current mood: sick

Living in Central PA enables you to see a lot of interesting or weird things:
- There was the guy in Tyrone who decorated the outer perimeter of his yard with cow skulls and had season-appropriate decorations for them.  Christmas was especially funny.  The guy even made it to CBS Sunday Morning.
- There’s a haunted house about 5 blocks away from mine.  They also have a couple of good beers on tap.  Not necessarily weird, but hey, who HASN’T wanted to go ghost hunting with a good buzz?
- Gravity Hills - ’nuff said.

There’s even a book called "Weird Pennsyvania" that shows this state’s anomallies.  I got it for Christmas and I read it in one night.

However, I saw something to day that boggled the mind.  My mind, at any rate.  My cough-syrup, italian-food-for-breakfast, sinus infection-riddled mind...Ever seen these?

7:31 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

You Big Dummy!!!

Greetings, my TCP/IP True-Believers!

Check out this video

I made it for a research project we'll be performing soon.  Let me know what you think of it!

It's a Windows Media streaming file.  If you can't view it, let me know.

James

11:23 AM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

In case you’re wondering about the "status"
Current mood: accomplished

I wrapped up production on the "Jim Donovan's Rhythmic Foundation DVD last November, right before Jo and I got married.  It was a lot of fun doing the whole soup-to-nuts production and DVD production.  Believe me, I learned a lot.  Jim is a great guy to work with, and I'm looking forward to the next DVD (stay tuned).

I'm sure that Jo was glad to get the kitchen table back for eating instead of seeing arrays of hard drives, mice, coffee cups, beer bottles, a carburetor from an '88 Honda Accord, an angry goose, and the remains of what could be described as a cross between a squirrel and a month-old PB&J.  She is also glad that I moved production to the basement (which is near the beer and washing machine).

In any case, check out the DVD, either through Amazon or via Jim Donovan's MySpace page.  His myspace page has some sample videos on it.

5:38 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Whoo-hoo! Beach!
Current mood: busy

I'm currently down in North Myrtle Beach, SC, for the ASCUE conference, giving presentations, networking, and doing some accounting.  This is my 3rd year here and I've seen some really cool presentations and get to give two of them.  Jo accompanied me again and is having a wonderrful time.

Did I also mention it's about a 5 minute walk to the Atlantic?  The water is great and the weather will hold until Thursday, which happens to be our departure date.

So, sorry if I don't back to emails.  There's a conference and a beach calling me.

-James

6:33 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

The beer fridge – R.I.P
Current mood: busy

First off, I wish a happy belated Mother's Day to those of you who are mothers or who will be soon.

Who likes cold beer and frozen meats?  Jo and I certainly do!

Saturday was a working kind of day…We cleaned the house for mother's day; we planned out what we'd make for brunch on mother's day; I worked on a presentation for Thursday.

What goes better with cleaning and PowerPoints than beer?  I defy you to find something better (or at least legal).

Well, I noticed the beer wasn't quite as cold as I like it.  Not numb-your-teeth cold, but somewhere in the 40 degree range is ideal for me.  This beer was a tad on the warm side.  No matter, I wanted a beer and the PowerPoint and cleaning weren't going to do themselves.  That need overrode the warmth.

Of course, after all that work, we got hungry.  "Let's make Swedish meatballs!"  OK, I say.  Jo goes downstairs to the beer fridge to get some frozen meat of some kind.. 

Let me explain the beer fridge to you:  It was a Montgomery Ward fridge that is older than either Jo or me.   In fact my parents bought for their first house.  It has seen several moves from me, including a 3^rd- floor move into a frat house.  I sponge-painted it an amusing shade of green and put stickers and a demon (fraternity mascot) eating a turkey leg on it.  Every girlfriend I have had has hated it or preferred not to look at it directly.

So, with a new house and the beer room, I need a beer fridge; hence, the green, ugly beer fridge in the basement.  Jo didn't have to look at it, unless she decided to get something out of the freezer.  The freezer worked as extra storage and thus earned its keep. 

Except on Saturday, when the compressor more or less shit the bed.  We now had an emergency with the food in the freezer melting and beer skunking.  Off to one of the 3 big-box stores in the area!

Within 12 hours, we had a new one.  Didn't pay a whole lot for it, it serves the need.  Even had it delivered on Mother's Day.  It's white.  It has a light so I don't have to go groping in the dark for a brew.  I may paint it after a while.  It keeps the beer cold and the chicken frozen.

I guess that's all I can ask for…

5:26 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Beer and Weather
Current mood: dorky

Those of you that have known me for a while knew I worked at AccuWeather for 6 months.  I drew maps for newspapers and TV weather shots.  You could say I like weather.  I asked for a weather station for Christmas (and got it).  I have many books about weather which are dog-earred and have coffee cup stains on them.

You also know I like beer.  Stouts, lambics, IPAs all find good homes in my stomach and toilet bowl.

You may wonder where I'm going with this...Weather and beer?  What's the connection?  Playing drinking games with cold front lines?

(Note to self:  Patent drinking game involving weather.)

Well, for those of us in central PA (Pennsyltucky), we're to get some precipitation this weekend and Monday.  Forecast models range from showing rain and some flooding, all the way to 36" of snow (That's almost 1 meter for you metric types)!  The confluence of water vapor, temperatures, and 500 mBar could make for a perfect snowstorm in this area.  You Hollidaysburg alumni from 1994 may recall the 2 weeks we had off in April 1994.  It's the same type of storm.

Personally, I like snow.  I like it anytime.  Jo and I had a snowball fight, in July, in 95 degree temps at Crater Lake, Oregon.  Believe me, snow is a good thing.

But not on April 15th.  This shit is getting old.

Anyway, I'm thinking:  Someone pissed some weather deities off.  So, what did people do in the past?  Made sacrifices to appease the deities.

One things people have sacrificed across cultures is beer.  I put forth that, this weekend, we make beer sacrifices in order that the weather for this weekend across the country is decent and doesn't require shoveling.

I've found a couple of cultural/historical reasons for it:

- In Norse culture, beer and mead was sacrificed to the storm gods prior to a journey to ensure good weather.  
- In May of 1996, the customary chang (fermented Nepalese beer) steinhoist undertaken by every Everest expedition at the Rongbuk monastery was
passed up.  The result?  A bunch of dead  mountaineers due to a freak storm on the mountain and a halfway-decent book by Jon Krakauer.

I hope whereever the weekend takes you, the weather is good, or at least drivable.  I know I'll be doing my part at various "temples."  Will you?

4:22 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Catharsis and Happiness
Current mood: chipper

A couple of things:

First, I'm learning the ins and outs of a Mac...Again.  This seems to happen every 6 years.  Not a bad thing, as the OS seems to radically change about every 6 years.  So, with the help of some friends on  our IT staff, I have a Mac in my lap.  Good for both jobs...

Second, I've finished my taxes.  Once again, I get something back form the feds, but then have to give it back to the locals.  Eh, easy come, easy go.  I probably would have taken it and bought some good beer with it.

Third, I've said it before, but I promise I'll write more.  Things have been busy at work and with the new home.  However things are looking up...

For one, I'm going to see...in concert...The Police.  Jo is going, so it'll pop her concert cherry.  We're both pretty charged about seeing them.

Another thing is work is getting better.  Not easier, but better.  I'm finding a different approach to dealing w/ stress at work, along with not taking it home.

I like the winter, but it's time for spring.  I had a cigar, read the paper, and some wine on the back porch/deck/outdoor area...To test it for parties and what not.  It passed the test, and Jo and I had dinner out there.

And now for some help from my Internet audience:

It seems that Jo's ex has been bugging her at work.  I think it is time for him to grow up and move on.  It has been 2 years.  I need some creative ways to fuck with him.  Nothing *too* illegal...Let's think "humiliating."  There is a good chance he's reading my profile and blog, so I'll add, in the words of one of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut:

5:45 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Ceee-Ripes, Man!

Upon posting the last blog, I realized it had been almost a month between postings.

Sorry about that. Really. Not the "I'm sorry I gave those young'uns a hard time a your party by making them show me ID" -kind, but the "wow, I need to write more"-kinda of shit.

It would probably help if I wasn't buzzed, but fie on that convention.

Anyway, I promise I'll write more...Hell, I have a wedding to deal with; that should be good for a novel or two.

-James

7:07 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Oro de Calabeza is a bad thing...

The best part about parties is finishing of the leftovers: Left over cheese, leftover crackers, leftover booze.

I tell you what, I've had a fun night! I finished the gin, wine, and 3 beers...All of which were a glass a piece. So, buzzed, but not fucked up enough to not write something.

I was even able to finish some paperwork from work (don't worry: I'll proofread it in the morning) and finish a web sudoku puzzle in 6 minutes! Granted, it was on easy, but hey, let me bask in the glory!

Mike Shannon was nice enough to bring some good beer from Michigan. That's what I'm finishing now.

To all you hopping on the intarweb and reading this while having a beer, I raise my glass to you!

-James

6:59 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

House goodness
Current mood: tired

Whoo hoo! I've joined the growing fraternity of people who "own" houses! However, the pledge period for this is 30 years, give or take, and the binge drinking is done on your own damn time.

As soon as I get home when there is some daylight, I'll get some pics and post them.

We're both beat from unpacking and putting stuff together. I'm pretty much walking around with a set of screwdrivers in my pockets, on the lookout for things to fix, modify or remove.

The good news is that there is a beer room and the fridge is operational. Bad news is there is a maze of boxes to get to said fridge, and if you're not careful, a minotaur will get you. Or a cat. If the latter, give it cheese and a pat on the head.

Many thanks go out to Chuck & Amanda, Mike, Kent, Jerky, my mom, and Marzoni's for making the recovery from moving easier.

6:44 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment