I absolutely nailed my history presentation today -- not bad for a couple hours of work. I even made a pretty handout to distract listeners from what I had to say, but didn't need to make use of that particular emergency device. This weeekend, I'll write some more of my paper, transcribe some more Ewazen, review my pedagogy presentation, and add to my string quartet.

I'll also finish up my final counterpoint project. It's going to be titled "Deck the Halls with Lamb of God". I had some more interesting commentary to post this evening, but I'm feeling pretty tired, so I think I'll sacrifice an interesting update today for a productive day tomorrow.

"I think you've got to be a kid, or something better than an undergrad." - professor, on people capable of reading the Harry Potter series

I received my first spam on my urizone.net e-mail account today. It's interesting because I haven't used this account online at all, and the version on this web site is encoded to protect from web-crawlers. Spam has gotten to the point where I get about seventy spam e-mails every weekend. I have a header checker installed that lets me delete them directly from the server without downloading, but I haven't taken the next step, which is to install a Bayesian filter that learns what spam looks like and filters it automatically.

I'm having fun with this new digital camera, and I've made some more cat movies for kicks:

If I ever get around to actually making decent movies, I'll look into compressing these into a smaller format.

It has come to my attention that my list of Christmas gifts was not manly enough. Well, you see, I already bought all the manly presents for myself (including a backhoe), so those on the list are merely to balance out my imposing testosterony presence. That is all.

I wasn't kidding on Monday when I said that I listen to the XM Holiday stations all the time. Thanksgiving was a happy day since the stations turned on for the first time. XM has not one, but five different stations piping holiday music for the next month, one for pops, one for traditional music, one for classical music, one for country music, and one for weird and/or novelty tunes (like It's Christmas at Ground Zero). I could listen to this repetitive garbage all day long and not get tired of it (perhaps with the exception of the Country Christmas station). One alarming trend I've noticed on the pops channel though is the introduction of modern rock stars doing Christmas tunes instead of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and the gang.

Don't get me wrong -- Harry Connick Jr. can belt out some catchy Christmas tunes, but the world does not need Michael Bolton, Whitney Houston, Barenaked Ladies, and Bruce Springsteen warbling through poor arrangements. I realize that they're probably inching towards bankruptcy and their holiday album is all that's supporting their cocaine habits, but I could sing a better Jingle Bells than they can. People who like Christmas tunes have simple tastes -- all you need are the standards, any music written before 1960, set in cute arrangements of winds and synthesizers, possibly with a boys' choir or some augmented sixth chords thrown in for fun. Generally when Bruce Springsteen comes on, I chastise him (because he can hear me via the satellite), and then change to one of my normal stations. I can't stand that guy's voice. Now all we need is the lead singer of Nickelback forcibly vomiting his consonants through an eggnog-induced haze of Deck of the Halls and we'll definitely be in the Christmas spirit. Seriously, they should mute his videos and dub someone better over top of him. Or he and Springsteen could do a duet and cancel each other out like standing waves of unfortunate taste.

There's a new episode of LOST on tonight. The title is What Kate Did, so I'm presuming that they'll finally reveal What Kate Did, or alternately just string us along with yet another worthless flashback (see also, Charlie is a Copier Salesman, or Jack is Sort of Married, Part II of III). Knowing ABC, they will swap it out at the last minute with the broadcast premiere of What Dreams May Come, starring Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr. as a father and son who cannot act but think they're dramatic.

They should just tell us what Kate did then kill her off at the end of the episode, because let's face it -- Kate is hot but her acting is not. Next week another plane full of beautiful people can crash and the cycle of utopian life will continue.

Yesterday's search terms:
muppet news flash, squirrel inflatable, girls of the gap, truffle shuffle wmv, garfield and friends rap lyrics, asian baylee's porn

63 Months Down

It's the end of the month again -- time to go through your fridge to throw out that carton of milk that pours like albino ketchup and time to send in your URI! Zone subscription fees (make checks payable to Booty LTD). Traditionally, end of the month posts have been throwaway posts, since they immediately get tossed into the monthly archives and no one reads them anyhow.

Time continues to pass at an extortionist's rate and all of you continue to get old (not me though, since Asians don't age). This marks the end of sixty-three months of daily updates which means that next month will be a perfect square (but take it from me -- it's hip to be a square). I'm constantly amazed that I have gone from the typical product of a public school who struggles to fill a single page for an essay on Oedipus Rex to someone that has no problem sputtering out words that play act a convincing attempt at legible prose. This scientifically proves that public school English classes can succeed, even when every third day is a movie day with the racy scenes fast-forwarded. It amazes me even more that I've gone this long and done a fairly decent job of not repeating myself. Alternately, I repeat myself every fifth month, but none of my readers has the attention span to realize that they've already read something a year ago.

In the spirit of cross-pollination, I thought I would mention some of the blogs that I try to make time for every day. I won't mention Kim or Mike's because they already get so much exposure here that they should be paying ME for the advertising (make checks payable to Amber and Her Amazing Friends). All of these blogs can be reached from the Bloglog on the left sidebar.

Sam and Rob: Collectively, these two update their blogs once a year, but their usefulness as bandwagon buddies is inestimable, since they like to perpetuate my tags without actually being tagged. Sam is Kim's friend and Rob was a member of the Parkwood Graveyard Posse at FSU.

Mark Connor has been writing his blog for almost eight months now, with topics ranging the gamut from trips to Bulgaria to politics to musical musings as a composer and music theory professor. Mark was also in the Parkwood Graveyard Posse at FSU.

Marty is a composer and professor, although he didn't get to FSU until after I left which makes him a baby composer. He writes about all the old ladies in the nursing home that hit on him during rehearsals.

CC is my fake Spaniard friend, living in Spain while her husband works for Exxon building a giant floating gas tank which they will then row to North Korea for detonation. I may have North Korea mixed up with Italy but the end result will be the same. She likes to write about her trips through Europe and her experiences as a jobless expatriate in a singsong style that would make a great childrens' book.

Brianne is another European exile, except that her Canadian background means that not much has changed! She writes of her travels in Europe, Canada, and the States, and sometimes discusses those super-size violins that moan a lot.

John is Brianne's Canadian partner in crime, and should never update his blog ever again, since he's got a great picture in the top post now. John talks of his antics as a lawyer and all the fun things to do in a toque.

Heather of Dooce is the most mainstream blog I read, and perfectly captures the humourous tone I enjoy. She writes about her dog, her daughter, and her life as a non-Mormon in Utah whose family completely supports itself on blogging, while taking great photographs every day. I can no longer read Dooce at work because the new million dollar spyware web filter they installed has flagged it as PORN. Oh no!

Chad is a TV writer who used to be a TV casting director. I used to read his blog for the stories from the set of Alias, but he continues to be entertaining even after the death of Alias. Chad runs marathons, watches lots of shows, and has some great narratives of casting in his archives. He's also the creator of 12 of 12.

Kristin is a mother in Calgary who writes of family life and blogging and the daily minutia of life and relationships. She also lives in a haunted house, which is always fun to read about .

I read This Fish out of habit. It's mostly about life in New York or girly relationshipy stuff, but then what would you expect from a blog that lives in iVillage, "The Daily Destination for Women"? Occasionally there's a funny post that makes me come on back.

Azrael is an American teaching English to Japanese students. His entries are much more graphic than the other blogs on my list, but he provides a very interesting perspective on an alien culture.

Do you have favourite blogs you think I might enjoy? Do share!

Happy Birthday Chris Moorhouse!

Friday Fragments

only twenty-seven shopping days until the day after the day after Christmas

♠ Metrobus advertisements are out of control now, especially the environmentally safe buses that supposedly run cleaner than others -- they're wrapped in a technicolor outer shell with flowers and jungles like someone mated a caterpillar with a box of crayon.

♠ You know those vans with advertisements and directional arrows emblazoned across the sides that just sit on the edge of the parking lot to entice drive-by customers? A few days ago, someone had backed the Dunkin' Donuts van into its spot, which made the giant arrow point at Chik-fila instead of Dunkin' Donuts.

♠ Later that same day, I saw an arrow-van for the Cigar Connection sitting in the parking lot of Costco. Apparently Mr. Arrow-Van-Guy needed to make a bulk run. When I am old and have more money than I know what to do with, I'll make an arrow-van that says "FREE BEER THIS WAY", and just drive it around the city all day long to see how many people will follow.

♠ Q: What do customers shout when their barber is taking haircut requests? A: FREE BEARD!

♠ I cannot grow a beard, which also means I will not grow a mustache. Mustaches look pretty sleazy without a full face of hair. Everyone I've ever met with just a mustache has either been a redneck or possible sex offender.

♠ This weekend, a group of five of us are heading to the National Theatre to see Avenue Q during its brief two-week run in D.C. This is the musical that gave us such classics as "The Internet is for Porn" and "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist". It should be fun!

♠ I also need to check in on the cats, Lake and Titan, on Saturday. Evidently the boarding costs at Chateauri are spiralling out of control so they aren't going to come over and harass Booty this time around. Instead, they'll stay home, throw a party, use catnip out of a hookah, and clean everything up before I stop in to check on them.

♠ Happy Birthday to Chris Moorhouse! Have a great weekend!

Weekend Wrap-up

What was intended to be a four-day weekend for me, actually turned into something closer to a two and a half day weekend. On Thanksgiving Day, we went to the home of those I now call "in-laws", accompanied by a nine-pound turkey and two packets of instant mashed potatoes. Our plan for Friday was to stay home and do nothing, but this was aborted when a server at work went down (not unlike a slutty edition of Applebee's). I spent the rest of the evening dealing with that, although the day was partially saved by having Velveeta Shells and Cheese for dinner and getting Rebecca hooked on The 4400.

Saturday was a home-y day, during which we bought two lamps for the living room and learned that no stores in the area carry kitchen curtains that aren't blazingly ugly. There were fewer people out shopping than I expected, and we were in and out in a couple hours. In the evening, we attended the post-wedding party of some of Rebecca's work friends (who had gotten married in the Dominican Republic), with sushi, shrimp, and dinner catering provided by Maggiano's.

To close out the weekend, we created a productivity limit function on Sunday, starting high with raking, car cleaning, and thank you notes in the morning, and gradually approaching infinite laziness with TV and pizza and waffle fries in the evening.

We also rearranged the living room at some point, but I cannot recall the day that we did that, so I'm blaming it on elves or Booty.

Time-lapsed Blogography Day

BU in the days before blogs

Fifteen years ago, on November 30, 1995, I was a senior at T.C. Williams High School. I had a Calculus exam in Mr. Kokonis' class during 5th period which was interrupted by a fire drill, but otherwise the day was rather dull. After school, I was playing around in a very early edition of Finale (before they started versioning them with years and trying to convince me that music notation in 2007 was radically different from music notation in 2006 and worth $150) and wrote the first bars of what would eventually become the jazz band chart, Neckbone. This chart was performed at least four times, putting it ahead of most of the fare found in an Undergraduate Composers' Forum.

Eleven years ago, on November 30, 1999, I had my usual Shultz dining hall lunch of macaroni and cheese, pizza, nachos and cheese, with a side of bacon and a glass of lemonade while mostly enjoying the company of Liz, Doobie, Kelley, Shac, and Jason Chrisley. It was my fourth year at Virginia Tech, which meant it was time for the first of Kelley's innumerable recitals -- I was responsible for the poop-quality recital poster as well as page-turning for the accompanist. After the recital, we all went to Philip's -- he was blessed with our company quite frequently, being the only friend who had an off-campus townhouse within walking distance.

Nine years ago, on November 30, 2001, I was in my first year of grad school at Florida State (pre-Booty). In the morning, I gave my presentation on Hauptmann's Conception of Rhythm and Meter to a forcefully enthralled History of Music Theory classroom. The gist of Hauptmann's work was simple: A perfect fifth "sort of" cuts an octave in half, and a perfect fith can "sort of" be cut in half by a major third, so hundreds of pages of musical numerology facts can kind of be derived from these rigid rules in a mostly mathematical manner (as long as you are comfortable assuming that 3 is a happy number and 2 is the numeric equivalent to "sad"). After lunch, a critical mass of composers ended up in the ampitheatre where we usually congregated (probably because it was too nice a day to be inside pretending to compose, which is what composers usually do), and someone had the bright idea of taking the new composition professor, Dr. Wingate, out for happy hour. I tagged along, thinking it would a good way to broaden my composer horizons and learn a few things, but it ultimately turned into complaining hour about the music theory department, not unlike any given night at Mike's apartment.

Memory Day: Ten Years Ago...

Ten years ago today was November 30, 2001. On this day in history, I completed work on my final project for my 16th Century Modal Counterpoint class, taught by the inexorable Dr. Evan Jones. Modal Counterpoint is one of the many completely useless skills that I generally omit from my resum? -- this skillset also includes an encyclopedic knowledge of the General MIDI patch numbers, troubleshooting repaint problems in Java Swing, and dancing "The Burro".

For my assignment, I used "Deck the Halls" as my melodic line, coupled with the Technical font for maximum impact:

Deck the Halls with Lamb of God (1:13 MP3)

I also turned in a paper and did a presentation in History of Music Theory class. Here is the stunning conclusion from that paper:

At this point in the treatise, Hauptmann has managed to fit all aspects of harmony and meter into Hegelian dialectics. This in itself would be a feat, but Hauptmann's goal is to show that the whole of music is subject to higher law, not just the individual aspects that make up music. To this end, he closes his treatise with a section on metrical harmony (equivalently labeled harmonic meter), which reapplies dialectics at a more abstract level. At this level, harmony and meter represent the unity and duality stages, and the combination of the two creates a restored unity. With metrical harmony, Hauptmann is able to explain harmonic phenomena that are dependent on metrical placement, such as suspensions, seventh chords, syncopation, and strong beat dissonances.

Moritz Hauptmann succeeded in explaining music within the bounds of Hegelian dialectics, although some of his postulations are of questionable accuracy and merit. While some explanations make sense in the context of practical music, others are purely conceptual and without musical significance (such as the continuing connections between the triad and rhythm). As shown in his tangled description of four-timed meter, Hauptmann often had difficulty fitting music into neat categories, and sometimes seemed to explain his way around a problem, rather than through it. Other times, he temporarily contradicts an earlier theory in hopes of providing better reasoning for later ones. Although these problems prevent his treatise from having a significant theoretical influence in modern practice, Die Natur der Harmonik und der Metrik, is still important for its historical perspective and its suggestion that all aspects of music are connected at a higher abstract level.

Here is the translation for the non-academics:

This treatise was a waste of my time.

Accountability Day

Three years ago, I made a list of 30 Things I Want To Do and theorized that I would get around to doing three of them. How have I done?

• Learn to play the violin: FAILURE
• Resume my self-studies of jazz piano: FAILURE
• Add song info to 13 years worth of MP3s: SUCCESS
• Compose a new band piece: FAILURE
• Learn how to use Photoshop CS4 in a structured, non-ad-hoc way: FAILURE
• Take some random interest online classes through the free, yet poorly implemented, Skillsoft program at work: SUCCESS
• Learn to program with Google Web Toolkit: FAILURE
• Learn to program in Ruby: FAILURE
• Write more reviews on Yelp: FAILURE
• Review burgers with Rebecca: FAILURE
• Learn enough to pass as a Database Administrator: FAILURE
• Create maps for Half-Life 2: FAILURE
• Learn video editing: FAILURE
• Redo the cabinets and appliances in the kitchen: SUCCESS
• Organize the closets: SUCCESS
• Start an herb garden for cooking: FAILURE
• Eradicate the creepy olive-sized spiders in the shed: FAILURE
• Permanently mount my over-the-air HD antenna: SUCCESS
• Hang out with more people in the vicinity who don't require a thirty minute drive to reach: SUCCESS
• Host the sixth annual Month of Thanksgivings: SUCCESS, then FAILURE
• Create new photo albums for all the unsorted pre-digital pictures scattered about: SUCCESS
• Volunteer for something: FAILURE
• Exercise at least three times a week: SUCCESS
• Cook more: SUCCESS
• Eat more disgusting foods, like fruits and vegetables: PYRRHIC VICTORY
• Exercise Booty more: FAILURE
• Learn Spanish: EL FAILURE
• Relearn French: LE FAILURE
• Work on the Paravia Wiki: FAILURE
• Write more Interactive Fiction.: FAILURE

Summary: BU meets or exceeds expectations by over 300%!

End-of-the-Month Highlights Day

New photos have been added to the Life, 2015 album.

• Events
  • Had a birthday dinner for Annie at Bar Taco on 11/2.
  
  
  • Had our first power outage in years on 11/4, with a minor aftershock power outage the next morning. Ate Subway instead of Asian fusion pork chops.
  
  
  • Hiked at Raven Rocks and did a brewery circuit in Purcellville on 11/14.
  
  
  • Had early Thanksgiving with the Ahlbins on 11/21.
  
  
  • Had on-time Thanksgiving with the parents on 11/26.
  
  
  • Went hiking at Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship on 11/27, followed by Crooked Run and a Los Tios dinner.
  
  
  • Closed out the long weekend with pizza at Mellow Mushroom on 11/29.


• Projects
  • Installed blackout curtains in the living room.
  
  
  • Worked on a proposal all month that entailed rush hour trips to the Springfield office.
  
  
  • Took a week off for Thanksgiving but did not actually use any leave, thanks to said proposal.


• Consumerism
  • Enjoyed seasons of The 100 and You're the Worst. Currently, and unexpectedly, enjoying Jessica Jones on Netflix.
  
  
  • Playing Elder Scrolls Online (a level 40 and a level 12 toon) when not proposal writing.
  
  
  • No noteworthy new books or music this month.

November's Final Grade: C+, Rainy and busy with work.

End-of-the-Month Highlights Day

New photos have been added to the Life, 2016 album.

• Events
  • Did an all-day coding exercise to interview for my new job on F 11/4.
  
  
  • Did my annual fall cleaning on S 11/5, then tried to get takeout from Pattaya Thai, only to learn that they had closed (probably for being too slow to fill orders). Ate food from Thai Thai instead.
  
  
  • Had dinner at Jackson's on S 11/6 to celebrate the end of Rebecca's weekend-long PT class, then bought stupid trinkets at Paper Source, which is the weirdest store ever to have employees work on commission.
  
  
  • Rebecca taught her first real yoga class at Sportrock on M 11/7.
  
  
  • I accepted an offer to work at a new company on the same day that Trump was elected President. T 11/8 CONSPIRACY THEORY.
  
  
  • Joined Rebecca and her friends in a practice yoga session on F 11/11.
  
  
  • Did raking #1 of 3 and destroyed the tomato plants for the winter on S 11/12, then had dinner with Michelle at Chuy's.
  
  
  • Had a book club where we discussed the first half of a sci-fi book called Hyperion on S 11/13.
  
  
  • Had 6 adults, 1 teen, and 4 kids over for Friendsgiving #1 of 1 on S 11/19.
  
  
  • Had my last day at work on M 11/21.
  
  
  • Had Thanksgiving with both sets of parents on H 11/24.
  
  
  • Spent Thanksgiving weekend taking care of Rebecca with a sore throat, then caught said sore throat.
  
  
  • Installed a cat door in the basement on S 11/26 while Rebecca visited her family in Hagerstown.
  
  
  • Started my new job on M 11/28.


• Projects
  • Printed out scores and parts for One for Rosie, and Bubba's Fried Chicken Stand, both of which Peebs wants to try playing with his high school jazz band.
  
  
  • Crash coursed through the latest Java EE specifications which apparently don't suck like they did in 2006 anymore.


• Consumerism
  • Still loving Overwatch (Level 412 with 421 hours and a 50.5% win ratio). Got Rise of the Tomb Raider and will eventually get around to enjoying it too.
  
  
  • Enjoyed watching seasons of Silicon Valley and Lovesick, and currently enjoying The 100, Season Three.

November's Final Grade: B, Lots of changes in the works, but too soon to judge their effects.

End-of-the-Month Highlights Day

New photos have been added to the Life, 2018 album. Google Photos sucks.

• Events
  • Maia and I met up with Michael and Sachin at Mellow Mushroom for Happy Hour on H 11/1.
  
  
  • Went back to Deer Haven in Edinburg, VA with Car and Ben F 11/2 - M 11/5. Followed up with a family dinner at Cafesano on M 11/5.
  
  
  • Voted for liberty on T 11/6.
  
  
  • Visited my parents with Maia while Rebecca went to an all-day symposium on F 11/9.
  
  
  • Did some raking and had a family dinner at Red Robin on S 11/10. Rebecca taught anatomy to advanced yoga teacher trainees.
  
  
  • Had our first snow event with about 2 inches on H 11/15.
  
  
  • Went to Fredericksburg for lunch with Catherine at Eileen's on F 11/16. Spent the night at Anna and Ben's and came home on S 11/17.
  
  
  • Went to Taylorstown for Thanksgiving with the Whitmers on H 11/22.
  
  
  • Put up the Christmas tree on F 11/23 and discovered that we have mice in the crawlspace.
  
  
  • De-moused the crawlspace on S 11/24, then went to the Smiths for Thanksgiving leftovers and Game Night (Jackbox).
  
  
  • Took a family walk around Old Town Herndon and had dinner at Mediterranean Breeze on S 11/25.
  
  
  • Maia visited her Uri grandparents on H 11/29.


• Projects
  • Refurbished my decrepit treadmill (and de-soldered the annoyingly loud beeper from its circuit board), in hopes of many more years of moderate jogging to stave off bacon-based heart attacks.
  
  
  • Went on a light pollution war against blue LEDs in my home office with electrical tape.


• Consumerism
  • Got a massive and massively quiet new fridge on M 11/26.
  
  
  • Finally beat Zelda: Breath of the Wild and reinstalled Fallout 4.
  
  
  • Enjoyed the new Muse album, Simulation Theory, this month.
  
  
  • Enjoying a slow rewatch of Person of Interest as well as Patriot, Season Two and Silicon Valley, Season Four.
  
  

November's Final Grade: B, Solid, fun month in spite of the lackluster weather.

End-of-the-Month Highlights Day

New photos have been added to the Life, 2020 album.

• Events
  • Unseasonably warm visit to the Uri grandparents on S 11/7.
  
  
  • Rebecca started teaching anatomy to prospective yoga teachers again on S 11/8.
  
  
  • Went to the doctor on M 11/9.
  
  
  • Rebecca and Maia went to the zoo with her parents on T 11/10.
  
  
  • Visit with the Uri grandparents on M 11/16.
  
  
  • Accelerated the launch of Christmas by putting up the tree on F 11/20 (and then slowly decorating it over the next two weeks).
  
  
  • Nuclear family Thanksgiving of 3 on H 11/26.
  
  
  • Visit from the Uri grandparents on F 11/27 over a leaky ceiling pipe.
  
  
  • Firepit s'mores with the Smiths on F 11/27.


• Projects
  • Continued on Puzzle Boat 7, currently stalled at 142 puzzles solved out of 145.


• Consumerism
  • Enjoyed listening to Postmodern Jukebox and Cosmo Sheldrake this month.
  
  
  • No new TV shows, movies, or games of note this month.

November's Final Grade: C, Could have been better.

End-of-the-Month Highlights Day

New photos have been added to the Life, 2022 album.

• Events
  • Rebecca taught Yoga Anatomy at Easy Day on S 11/5. Date Night at Old Ox Brewery in the evening.
  
  
  • Voted on T 11/8.
  
  
  • Maia went to my parents for the weekend, F 11/11 - S 11/13.
  
  
  • Rebecca and Ian went on a hike with Marc at Riverbend Park on S 11/12. Dinner at Ford's Fish Shack.
  
  
  • Went to the HOA meeting on W 11/16 and was voted up to Vice President.
  
  
  • Mike (of Mike and Chompy) stopped in for a brief visit with us and Kathy before flying home on F 11/18.
  
  
  • Rebecca taught Yoga Anatomy at Easy Day on S 11/19 while the rest of us went to my parents' house for a visit.
  
  
  • Had to miss Friendsgiving at Tammy's house because Maia had a cold, so we had my parents over for early Thanksgiving dinner instead on S 11/20.
  
  
  • Thanksgiving in Taylorstown with the Whitmer clan on H 11/24.
  
  
  • Dinner with Tammy & Patrick (Siam Spice) on F 11/25.
  
  
  • Celebrated Char's birthday at the Goodwin House on S 11/26.
  
  
  • Started the multi-day process of Christmas decorating on S 11/27.
  
  
  • Family dinner at Cafesano on T 11/29.


• Projects
  • Practiced coding in preparation for Advent of Code. Never did get around to getting Kotlin to a fluent state.


• Consumerism
  • Studiously playing Overwatch 2.
  
  
  • Watched several decent shows, but no big standouts.
  
  
  • No new music or books this month.
  
  

November's Final Grade: A-, Still pleasant, but less warmth.