I woke up after my class started at 9:15, and I slept till 12:30. It was kinda sad, but I needed it or something. I've stopped staying up for completley unreasonable amounts of time at night, thanks to last week. But one thing I stopped doing was eating well, or in general. Yesterday I ate two smaller meals, and that's it. I don't know why, but I just forget to eat, and I don't think that it is related to why I feel so tired or have not the most energy. But using last week as proof, I was much happier when I ate all my meals. It was so nice.
But I have a plan, at least for today. I'm going home after this class and making a couple sandwiches for my radio show and after that I will go home and eat and clean my room.
My room is a disater, just so you know. It's not exactly gross, just cluttered. And when I say cluttered, I mean half my bed is being used as a shelf. It feels strange, but comfortable sleeping next to a guitar, if you wanted to know.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
A collection of movies that I enjoy
So I was (actually, I am in the progress of) talking with lauren and meghan and we were (are) talking about favorite movies, and I was thinking about what my top 10 list would be. It would include a lot of movies, well, ten, but it would be varied. Like, here are some off the top of my head. Boondock saints, starship troopers, rounders, primer, naked gun series, brain donors, fight club, star wars, matrix, memento, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, garden state, monty python, and many, many more.
What I need is to rate all the movies I've ever seen. Same with music. And books too. Then I could have an actual top 10 list.
What I need is to rate all the movies I've ever seen. Same with music. And books too. Then I could have an actual top 10 list.
The growth on meghan's finger and how it hurts
I needed a blog topic to write about, well, I didn't need one, I just wanted one. And I went through my dilemma of "I can't write about subject because someone might read it and take it personally." I don't want to write something that singles one person out, or singles a group of people out for that matter. I just want to write. And what puts a halt to my writing is knowing that if I write, it will be about something that I don't want someone to see. Whether it is me being critical of an action, or just a commentary about an issue that people care about.
But n-e-ways, meghan said that i should write a blog about this thing on her finger, so that's what this was i guess.
But n-e-ways, meghan said that i should write a blog about this thing on her finger, so that's what this was i guess.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sometimes I'm sad, and sometimes I'm glad for the feeling.
If we never feel overwhelmed, we never get the chance to prove ourselves.
On the drive back to morris I got very overwhelmed, I have so much to do and so little time to do it. but then I took a semi-nap and when I woke up, we were at the outskirts of Morris and Caroline Smith was playing. And i saw that it was going to be okay. I was looking at all my problems and things I have to do as a whole and it was very overwhelming, so I looked at what I have to do over time and it all spread itself out. I have a presentation tomorrow, which having met with my partner and made the slides, I feel much better about. Tuesday I have another presentation and a calc exam. The presentation should be easy peasy. The exam will require studying but I'm hoping it won't be too bad. Having been going to classes since the last exam, I feel like I've been learning to material sufficiently to get a decent grade.
And that's basically my week. I have nothing else (that I remember at this point) due until finals week. I have a group assignment with Jake that will take a grip of time, I'm sure, but I'm also really excited about it. the project were taking on is to evolve art. I'll post some of the results after, or during, we get some cool stuff. I have a take home final in bioinformatics. Another exam in calc. And I think that's it. Well, I have to preform my vocal abilities infront of the main voice teacher, hopefully I can prove I've improved. I'd definitely say I have. If not in my ability, at least in my understanding of how to sing.
There is a lot of theory in how to sing that I didn't know. I always assumed I was decent, but as I learned, it's easy to say "I'm good" to yourself and have other people think "he's bad" at the same time. I just don't care as much, but I've learned to not assume that I'm as good as I thought. And not in a "I suck" way, but in a "how could I have been that good if I've improved this much?" I have a lot of practice this week and in my future to keep my vocal abilities up. I knew practice was important, but I, for some reason, forgot that the voice is just like playing an instrument. If you don't practice, you get worse.
But I'm happy with where I am and with what the next three weeks will have in store.
On the drive back to morris I got very overwhelmed, I have so much to do and so little time to do it. but then I took a semi-nap and when I woke up, we were at the outskirts of Morris and Caroline Smith was playing. And i saw that it was going to be okay. I was looking at all my problems and things I have to do as a whole and it was very overwhelming, so I looked at what I have to do over time and it all spread itself out. I have a presentation tomorrow, which having met with my partner and made the slides, I feel much better about. Tuesday I have another presentation and a calc exam. The presentation should be easy peasy. The exam will require studying but I'm hoping it won't be too bad. Having been going to classes since the last exam, I feel like I've been learning to material sufficiently to get a decent grade.
And that's basically my week. I have nothing else (that I remember at this point) due until finals week. I have a group assignment with Jake that will take a grip of time, I'm sure, but I'm also really excited about it. the project were taking on is to evolve art. I'll post some of the results after, or during, we get some cool stuff. I have a take home final in bioinformatics. Another exam in calc. And I think that's it. Well, I have to preform my vocal abilities infront of the main voice teacher, hopefully I can prove I've improved. I'd definitely say I have. If not in my ability, at least in my understanding of how to sing.
There is a lot of theory in how to sing that I didn't know. I always assumed I was decent, but as I learned, it's easy to say "I'm good" to yourself and have other people think "he's bad" at the same time. I just don't care as much, but I've learned to not assume that I'm as good as I thought. And not in a "I suck" way, but in a "how could I have been that good if I've improved this much?" I have a lot of practice this week and in my future to keep my vocal abilities up. I knew practice was important, but I, for some reason, forgot that the voice is just like playing an instrument. If you don't practice, you get worse.
But I'm happy with where I am and with what the next three weeks will have in store.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Why are the british so cool?
Yesterday I went to the Noah and the Whale concert at 7th Street entry with Meghan. It was awesome. The openers were Anni Rossi and Ferraby Lionheart. Anni was this short and very shy woman who stood on a suitcase with a microphone in it, played the viloa, and sang. She played for about 20 minutes, but they were a great 20 minutes. She had a way of playing that went from strumming, plucking, tapping, and using the bow. Her voice was also very kind of sporadic and cute.
Ferraby was next and had a pretty sweet band. the drummer was quite good at playing the same beat in as many ways as possible. Ferraby himself played guitar and sang and was good. He remarked at how we were all bouncing and having fun and clapping and he is used to just depressing people.
Then Noah and the Whale came on and just were amazing. They weren't the full band on the album, so no horns or female vocals, but I think they played their songs with an amazing amount of fullness. Fink, the head of the band was pretty amazing at taking the songs from the album and adding live twists and fills to the songs to make them even better. At one point he announced that they are done with their next album and they played songs off of it and they were great. The first one started off fairly normal, although definitely more electric and punky than normal for them. But then it got crazy, with Fink on his knees playing the guitar with an eletric toothbrush to create nonsense sounds that he looped and played over. Meanwhile the drums, bass, and violin are going beserkers and creating an amazing cacophony of sound. They played another song like that later in the show. Plus the crowd was great, with 7th street being so small, everyone was so into the music it was great.
I can't wait for the next album/live show I see.
Ferraby was next and had a pretty sweet band. the drummer was quite good at playing the same beat in as many ways as possible. Ferraby himself played guitar and sang and was good. He remarked at how we were all bouncing and having fun and clapping and he is used to just depressing people.
Then Noah and the Whale came on and just were amazing. They weren't the full band on the album, so no horns or female vocals, but I think they played their songs with an amazing amount of fullness. Fink, the head of the band was pretty amazing at taking the songs from the album and adding live twists and fills to the songs to make them even better. At one point he announced that they are done with their next album and they played songs off of it and they were great. The first one started off fairly normal, although definitely more electric and punky than normal for them. But then it got crazy, with Fink on his knees playing the guitar with an eletric toothbrush to create nonsense sounds that he looped and played over. Meanwhile the drums, bass, and violin are going beserkers and creating an amazing cacophony of sound. They played another song like that later in the show. Plus the crowd was great, with 7th street being so small, everyone was so into the music it was great.
I can't wait for the next album/live show I see.
Give this album your ears: week 2
Built to Spill - Ultimate Alternative Wavers
This album defines college rock for me. It takes what I like about other college rocks bands (Hockey night, menomena, pavement, and even the pixies to some extent) and put them into an awesome collection of songs. One of my favorite things about the album is that you can almost feel like you're watching them in a recording studio jamming. The all are restless to not be doing something, whether it's making funky noises or changing the tempo. Each song progressives as they play it, and I love that. They also have three guitarists. Like, I don't know what it is about bands that have multiple guitarist who change from rhythm to lead and back, but if they can do it fluidly, then I'm just really impressed.
Then the lyrics got to me after listening to it enough, with the main one i'd pay attention to is built to spill. It kinda just makes it okay to be the way you are: "this is how you'll always feel, it's no big deal." Then, the last song is a three part instrumental spanning a rockus nine and a half minutes.
This album defines college rock for me. It takes what I like about other college rocks bands (Hockey night, menomena, pavement, and even the pixies to some extent) and put them into an awesome collection of songs. One of my favorite things about the album is that you can almost feel like you're watching them in a recording studio jamming. The all are restless to not be doing something, whether it's making funky noises or changing the tempo. Each song progressives as they play it, and I love that. They also have three guitarists. Like, I don't know what it is about bands that have multiple guitarist who change from rhythm to lead and back, but if they can do it fluidly, then I'm just really impressed.
Then the lyrics got to me after listening to it enough, with the main one i'd pay attention to is built to spill. It kinda just makes it okay to be the way you are: "this is how you'll always feel, it's no big deal." Then, the last song is a three part instrumental spanning a rockus nine and a half minutes.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Everyone around here, everyone is so near.
Today was kind of strange, in a totally not strange way. I got up at one and walked to school at 2:40 and it was just beautiful out. It still is, but it was so nice out, I can't believe I slept in and missed part of such a hot day. I got to campus and people were just everywhere. All over the sidewalks, sitting on most every bench, and covering the mall's main grassy area. Everyone was with their group, but at the same time everyone was together. It's something you just have to know what I mean, and if you goto Morris, you just know. It's what makes us work when we're in the middle of nowhere. (Lots of double yous in that centence.)
And people were playing frisbee, reading, sunbathing, playing music, sleeping, and, like me, listening to music. I talked to Colin S. for a while about things, which I don't do enough for sure, especially since we're living together next year. But we talked about how Morris might actually be tolerable during the spring and summer seasons. The wind during the winter just makes things colder and more miserable, but on a day when it's 80 out, it makes it wonderful. It makes frisbee hard to play and fun to watch though. But I will be enjoying the city during those times and going back to Morris will be cold again, but that's okay. That's part of living here, and I like it.
I was thinking about how we put up with such miserableness for most of the year, and I think it's just what we do. I don't know why, but we just do it. I always thought it made us enjoy the good days and appreciate the warm days. I also think midwesterners are very good at keeping fronts. We do it to the cold weather so much, we start to do it to people too. There is a lyric from a best friends forever song that goes:
"I'm a good example of a Minnesotan. I'm fine, fine, fine, but I'm always overloaded. I hate to inconvenience anyone that's nice. So instead I sacrifice myself"
Does that not fit, at least a small part, how each of us is. I passed a friend today and said hi and he responded with "how are you?". I said good and we walked in our separate directions. I am good, but I would say the same thing if I wasn't either. I know, cause that's what I did. "How are you?" is not, in my opinion, the same as a hello or hi. It leaves me feeling bad if I don't ask them it back, but we're usually too far away at that point. If we look at is as a rhetorical question and not expecting a truthful answer, then it does fit I guess. But I feel that that is silly.
It makes me think about how much of our psychology is influenced by where we live. I'd say there is a connection with the cold climate and how we hid inside, from the cold and from people.
And people were playing frisbee, reading, sunbathing, playing music, sleeping, and, like me, listening to music. I talked to Colin S. for a while about things, which I don't do enough for sure, especially since we're living together next year. But we talked about how Morris might actually be tolerable during the spring and summer seasons. The wind during the winter just makes things colder and more miserable, but on a day when it's 80 out, it makes it wonderful. It makes frisbee hard to play and fun to watch though. But I will be enjoying the city during those times and going back to Morris will be cold again, but that's okay. That's part of living here, and I like it.
I was thinking about how we put up with such miserableness for most of the year, and I think it's just what we do. I don't know why, but we just do it. I always thought it made us enjoy the good days and appreciate the warm days. I also think midwesterners are very good at keeping fronts. We do it to the cold weather so much, we start to do it to people too. There is a lyric from a best friends forever song that goes:
"I'm a good example of a Minnesotan. I'm fine, fine, fine, but I'm always overloaded. I hate to inconvenience anyone that's nice. So instead I sacrifice myself"
Does that not fit, at least a small part, how each of us is. I passed a friend today and said hi and he responded with "how are you?". I said good and we walked in our separate directions. I am good, but I would say the same thing if I wasn't either. I know, cause that's what I did. "How are you?" is not, in my opinion, the same as a hello or hi. It leaves me feeling bad if I don't ask them it back, but we're usually too far away at that point. If we look at is as a rhetorical question and not expecting a truthful answer, then it does fit I guess. But I feel that that is silly.
It makes me think about how much of our psychology is influenced by where we live. I'd say there is a connection with the cold climate and how we hid inside, from the cold and from people.
So may the sunrise bring hope Where it once was forgotten.
Same thing as a facebook album I created. Meghan and I went to see the sunrise and found a cool spot outside of Starbuck.
Can nothing more be done?
Sometimes I feel like I have no ability to change things. I have accepted that I cannot change how life works the way it does, the way things fall into place and fit together. But this week has changed my current view of this idea. I feel empowered. I feel like I have an influence. I see no reason that the weather was amazing today for any other reason than because I was in a good mood. Did the weather make my mood good or did my mood change the weather?
If I take it as I am influenced by life and everything and anything, and I am the result of the total collisions of these things, then I am lost again. And that is what I usually get to after I feel happy. But this time something has changed.
Before, when I was happy, I would wait for something bad to happen in the most fitting and perfect way it could. And it always did, or I always saw it as such. Today, I was in control of how I got from one place to the next, and not the world. I chose to got outside and play frisbee, then leave to go shave, then to e-mail my homework to my teacher, and then to go into the HFA to practice my vocals, then to go to the radio station. These were my choices I feel. I felt the forks in the road that I could choose paths from, and I followed the path I followed. Instead of biking in straight lines to Coborns, I went through alleys and parking lots, I went where I wanted.
I know this is all very introspective and means more to me than I can easily explain, but I just wanted to say it anyways.
If I take it as I am influenced by life and everything and anything, and I am the result of the total collisions of these things, then I am lost again. And that is what I usually get to after I feel happy. But this time something has changed.
Before, when I was happy, I would wait for something bad to happen in the most fitting and perfect way it could. And it always did, or I always saw it as such. Today, I was in control of how I got from one place to the next, and not the world. I chose to got outside and play frisbee, then leave to go shave, then to e-mail my homework to my teacher, and then to go into the HFA to practice my vocals, then to go to the radio station. These were my choices I feel. I felt the forks in the road that I could choose paths from, and I followed the path I followed. Instead of biking in straight lines to Coborns, I went through alleys and parking lots, I went where I wanted.
I know this is all very introspective and means more to me than I can easily explain, but I just wanted to say it anyways.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Twenty Minute Post
Okay, so, here's the beef: I have had a floppy semester, ranging form doing homework and being on top of classes to really the complete opposite. But, there are only three weeks left. Three weeks. I have a lot of stuff to do, and so I kinda ran away from it all on thursday and I just kinda hid myself from school and was social(kinda). But I am going to be a food student the next three weeks. And I know I say that a lot, like every week if not every day, but this time i mean it. I need to to pass classes. And it won't be that hard with the right motivation, such as calling my parents, getting hugs, eating right and getting sleep. Today was wonderful. I got 8 hours of sleep and woke up at 8 and ate breakfast (3 bowls of captain crunch berries) and then went to class. Then I went grocery shopping and ate a sandwich and made an extra for later. Went to more class and then I worked on homework for 4.5 hours. Then I took a break and hung out with Lauren for a bit and went home. I was going to do work here, but windows, in the few weeks I've had it, was partially taken over by malware. Every time I opened a link from google it redirected me to spam. And it blocked common anti malware and spyware program's sites. Eventually safe mode let me down load combofix and that saved me. Anyways, I had a few hours of a break and it felt completely deserved. It was great.
And I've made a calendar for the week and it is all completely doable before the weekend when I'm going home for a concert. My parents will be visiting Jessica so I will miss them sadly, but they might take a trip up to Morris the next weekend. And that makes me extremely happy, I haven't seen them since spring break and I can feel it every time I talk to them. But even with planning everything out, I feel really good about this week. Like, really good. And if today was proof of my abilities, then the next few weeks should be a doable fo sho.
Hm, I have ten more minutes before it's 2 and I will goto sleep.
I went to a cloud cult concert on Thursday and it was amazing. I always knew of cloud cult and liked them for being local and making it big(ish), but I never really listened to their music. But after seeing them live, it's my main course right now. I just eat them up. Here's lyrics that played as I wrote that:
"I've had enough of hiding underneath my covers. I'm done with all that poop that brings me down, down, down. Don't bring me down, down, down.
I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I will laugh my way through the hurricanes and fire. That's why you don't wanna bring me down. That's why you don't wanna bring me down."
That's pretty motivating, and I guess that's why I found it now. But anyways, back to the show (5 minutes to go). The opener was caroline smith and the goodnight sleeps, another good local band. Then cloud cult sets up their stuff, and oh do they have stuff. 5 members playing cello, viola, guitar/vocals, bass/keyboard, drums. Plus there are two people painting during the show. Like, they just start painting and they sell the art at the end of the show. Brilliant. They were such a great show overall, with such great stage presence, making you feel involved for sure. I'd recommend listening to feel good ghosts, as that is what I'm getting the most out of at the moment.
But I probably won't be posting too much, as has been the case. I'm sorry, but I'll try to keep up occasional posts, there will be one or two this weekend, as I will be home and end up in a coffee shop somewhere.
But alas, my time is up. Night everybody!
And I've made a calendar for the week and it is all completely doable before the weekend when I'm going home for a concert. My parents will be visiting Jessica so I will miss them sadly, but they might take a trip up to Morris the next weekend. And that makes me extremely happy, I haven't seen them since spring break and I can feel it every time I talk to them. But even with planning everything out, I feel really good about this week. Like, really good. And if today was proof of my abilities, then the next few weeks should be a doable fo sho.
Hm, I have ten more minutes before it's 2 and I will goto sleep.
I went to a cloud cult concert on Thursday and it was amazing. I always knew of cloud cult and liked them for being local and making it big(ish), but I never really listened to their music. But after seeing them live, it's my main course right now. I just eat them up. Here's lyrics that played as I wrote that:
"I've had enough of hiding underneath my covers. I'm done with all that poop that brings me down, down, down. Don't bring me down, down, down.
I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I will laugh my way through the hurricanes and fire. That's why you don't wanna bring me down. That's why you don't wanna bring me down."
That's pretty motivating, and I guess that's why I found it now. But anyways, back to the show (5 minutes to go). The opener was caroline smith and the goodnight sleeps, another good local band. Then cloud cult sets up their stuff, and oh do they have stuff. 5 members playing cello, viola, guitar/vocals, bass/keyboard, drums. Plus there are two people painting during the show. Like, they just start painting and they sell the art at the end of the show. Brilliant. They were such a great show overall, with such great stage presence, making you feel involved for sure. I'd recommend listening to feel good ghosts, as that is what I'm getting the most out of at the moment.
But I probably won't be posting too much, as has been the case. I'm sorry, but I'll try to keep up occasional posts, there will be one or two this weekend, as I will be home and end up in a coffee shop somewhere.
But alas, my time is up. Night everybody!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Give this album your ears: week 1
In light of Meghan talking about wanting someone to make her a perfect mix for every week, I will (hopefully) be listing one album a week that I think fits the week. It may not fit your week, but I think it is worth giving it a true listen to.
So, to start it off, this week is In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel.
This album was written after Jeff Magnum read the diary of Anne Frank. It is a wonderful album for many reasons, but I think it fits this week because it is a very appreciative album.
I would go into more detail, but I don't want to put my interpretation over it before you listen to it. Feel free to comment about what you think, and I'll tell you what I think back. Also, if you don't have it, let me know and I'll try and get it to you somehow.
So, to start it off, this week is In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel.
This album was written after Jeff Magnum read the diary of Anne Frank. It is a wonderful album for many reasons, but I think it fits this week because it is a very appreciative album.
I would go into more detail, but I don't want to put my interpretation over it before you listen to it. Feel free to comment about what you think, and I'll tell you what I think back. Also, if you don't have it, let me know and I'll try and get it to you somehow.
Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracles, for me.
Motivation is something I am currently lacking in, maybe not motivation but whatever that "thing" is that I am missing, I'm missing it. There is a Panda Bear song that has the lyrics "take one day at a time, anything else you can leave behind. Only one thing at a time, everything else really hurts your mind." And that is what I feel like right now, I need to start small and focus on one thing at a time. And yesterday, when I was feeling that I couldn't even do one thing at a time, I panicked. I feel so overwhelmed sometimes and I just don't know what to do.
"It's kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and you say your name. And it gets to a point where none of it seems real. Well, sometimes I can do that, but I don't need an hour in front of a mirror. It happens very fast, and things start to slip away. And I just open my eyes, and I see nothing. And then I start to breathe really hard trying to see something, but I can't. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it scares me."
That's a quote from the perks of being a wallflower. I know it may not be everyone's favorite book in the world. But it's mine, and not because I'm reading it right now, but because of the connection I have with it. If you were me and you read it, it'd make sense. Yesterday was a day like in the quote, I just saw nothing. The thing is, the day was like that and then I read that passage and it all clicked and fell apart in one fell swoosh. The weight of the day and everything fell at once and I freaked out. Of course it was during Nick Champeau's guitar recital so I couldn't say anything and had to sit there and freak out on my own, but for some reason, his guitar playing was the perfect thing to panic to. I couldn't have imagined any better music or situation to panic to.
But the book has been doing this too me since I started it last week. It hits me in the heart like a train and just forces emotion out of me. A year or two ago, about the time I read it, the emotions were there, but they didn't come out. And now, it's not that I'm holding them in or forcing them or anything, they just flow so easily. I knew I loved the book when I first read it, but I don't think I knew why I did. And now I do and it is messing with me a lot. I feel like I should be used to this, things working out perfectly and all, but I have to admit I'm still surprised. This book couldn't have gotten back to me at a better time. And I couldn't have appreciated it as much at any other point in my life than I do right now. Maybe next time I read it it will connect differently, but right now, right at this point, this is what I need. And I feel like I'm lucky to have the people, the music, and the books that I need right now.
"It's kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and you say your name. And it gets to a point where none of it seems real. Well, sometimes I can do that, but I don't need an hour in front of a mirror. It happens very fast, and things start to slip away. And I just open my eyes, and I see nothing. And then I start to breathe really hard trying to see something, but I can't. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it scares me."
That's a quote from the perks of being a wallflower. I know it may not be everyone's favorite book in the world. But it's mine, and not because I'm reading it right now, but because of the connection I have with it. If you were me and you read it, it'd make sense. Yesterday was a day like in the quote, I just saw nothing. The thing is, the day was like that and then I read that passage and it all clicked and fell apart in one fell swoosh. The weight of the day and everything fell at once and I freaked out. Of course it was during Nick Champeau's guitar recital so I couldn't say anything and had to sit there and freak out on my own, but for some reason, his guitar playing was the perfect thing to panic to. I couldn't have imagined any better music or situation to panic to.
But the book has been doing this too me since I started it last week. It hits me in the heart like a train and just forces emotion out of me. A year or two ago, about the time I read it, the emotions were there, but they didn't come out. And now, it's not that I'm holding them in or forcing them or anything, they just flow so easily. I knew I loved the book when I first read it, but I don't think I knew why I did. And now I do and it is messing with me a lot. I feel like I should be used to this, things working out perfectly and all, but I have to admit I'm still surprised. This book couldn't have gotten back to me at a better time. And I couldn't have appreciated it as much at any other point in my life than I do right now. Maybe next time I read it it will connect differently, but right now, right at this point, this is what I need. And I feel like I'm lucky to have the people, the music, and the books that I need right now.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Standardization
I like standards. I like things to have a format, the type that makes things easier. What I'm talking about now is music. I have a lot of music and it is all somewhat organized. I went through it all with a program called easytag that rewrites all the file names and even the folder tree to a set way. But sometimes the ID tags of the files are missing or just goofy. I got new music and some of the album names wound up as the artist, rendering it useless to me basically.
And I had a conversation with Colin about quality difference and I started thinking about what format I want my music in. Right now it's all organized in mp3s because that's what easytag can read. So I went through with a script that finds all the m4a files and converts them to mp3. But this loses a lot of quality. Like, a lot.
The best option for quality and functionality is basically FLAC. It's a free codec that is lossless, so it's super high quality. Higher than you can probably hear. Problem is, file sizes are also large, and can be 3 times as large as their mp3 counterparts. This means 3 times less music when putting them on a portable device, which is sad. On my computer I don't notice because storage is so cheap, but on my 2gb mp3 player I definitely notice.
I also don't remember what quality I have been using for years to rip Cds, probably the fastest as it takes about 15-20 minutes to rip a CD in FLAC. That's just a long time to rip a CD I feel and I get most of my music from the KUMM station and time is limited to about 1.5 hours of ripping. That means I can only get about 4-5 Cds ripped during a show. But that is the only place I can get CDs of a lot of music for free. The internet is another option, as a lot of music torrents are in FLAC, but then I run into file name issues again and I get frusterated again.
So, the plan as of right now is just to rip the music I own into FLAC and try and get my favorites into FLAC and enjoy them.
And I had a conversation with Colin about quality difference and I started thinking about what format I want my music in. Right now it's all organized in mp3s because that's what easytag can read. So I went through with a script that finds all the m4a files and converts them to mp3. But this loses a lot of quality. Like, a lot.
The best option for quality and functionality is basically FLAC. It's a free codec that is lossless, so it's super high quality. Higher than you can probably hear. Problem is, file sizes are also large, and can be 3 times as large as their mp3 counterparts. This means 3 times less music when putting them on a portable device, which is sad. On my computer I don't notice because storage is so cheap, but on my 2gb mp3 player I definitely notice.
I also don't remember what quality I have been using for years to rip Cds, probably the fastest as it takes about 15-20 minutes to rip a CD in FLAC. That's just a long time to rip a CD I feel and I get most of my music from the KUMM station and time is limited to about 1.5 hours of ripping. That means I can only get about 4-5 Cds ripped during a show. But that is the only place I can get CDs of a lot of music for free. The internet is another option, as a lot of music torrents are in FLAC, but then I run into file name issues again and I get frusterated again.
So, the plan as of right now is just to rip the music I own into FLAC and try and get my favorites into FLAC and enjoy them.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Sitting here wishing on service pack 2...
So, it is complete. My new computer is done being put together. Now the hard part: software. Although the actual build hit the usual snags that I think are inherent to building something. Putting the CPU's heatsink on was interesting as it looks like it could fit somewhere on a car its so big. I only have installed XP so far as I wanted to install ubuntu afterwards, and am still debating what operating systems I will want on it.
I don't really know why I'm still awake either. I finished building it at about 8:30 and had XP on it running after open mic night at about 1. But it is now 5:30 and I am two offices up to date, lots of software updates, drivers and youtube videos later and it's 5:30. Wow.
Right now I'm listening to the decemberists and downloading service pack 2.
Open mic was great tonight. It didn't start off too strong, but picked up after about 3 acts. Then it got really good with a cover of MGMT's kids and a solo cover of Radiohead's fake plastic trees. Mixed with Gil's amazing crazy sax antics and the use of a children's size drumset it was just great.
I don't really know why I'm still awake either. I finished building it at about 8:30 and had XP on it running after open mic night at about 1. But it is now 5:30 and I am two offices up to date, lots of software updates, drivers and youtube videos later and it's 5:30. Wow.
Right now I'm listening to the decemberists and downloading service pack 2.
Open mic was great tonight. It didn't start off too strong, but picked up after about 3 acts. Then it got really good with a cover of MGMT's kids and a solo cover of Radiohead's fake plastic trees. Mixed with Gil's amazing crazy sax antics and the use of a children's size drumset it was just great.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Bathroom wall
Okay, so I just went to the bathroom and the wall above the urinal was tiled in a way that you could stare at one intersection of grout and all the others turned a darker shade of gray (grey?). So, when I get a house, I will totally make my bathroom walls in some sort of very subtle optical illusion. Just to let you know.
It's been a long time now.
I'm sorry bout the drought.
I'm all for writing more.
But I will try to satisfy
all the requests and your interests.
For you know I will show
you mean a lot and of you, forget I will not.
I'm all for writing more.
But I will try to satisfy
all the requests and your interests.
For you know I will show
you mean a lot and of you, forget I will not.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
ibrick
My ipod's right channel audio has gone. It was a sad day when it happened as it gave out over the span of a week. I felt it going as I knew the symptoms from my first mp3 player, my creative zen usb2.0. What I had to do was eventually re solder the connectors for the headphones. But I don't know how that will do with an iPod. I will be dissecting it this week though.
In leu of having my ipod, I am using my 2gb sansa clip, which is a surprisingly good for how small it is. But I am also in need of a large mp3 player for bringing all my music everywhere. So naturally I considered the ipod touches and although i am impressed with the functionality of being able to get the internet, I plan on buying a palm pre when it comes out and that would fill my wifi needs. So the next option is the newest generation of ipods, the classics. I like these a lot, as they have coverflow and a generally smarter interface, such as the ability to turn on shuffle with out going to the settings menu. Major downside to ipods are the branding. It's apple, and I don't like paying so much more for the brand. I get that with computers, your buying a lot more than the physical hardware, but for an mp3 player they have really all started to become similar and decently built. Other downside is lack of a radio. i still don't get the lack of the radio.
Then, on saturday i saw jake and chris at the common cup and sat down with them and talked about getting new tech and mp3 players and now I want something that doesn't exist. What it is is a music player that gets the music through a stream from a large music source.
----kay so I stopped here and it sat as a draft for a while------
Okay, so I just found this of digg: http://digg.com/d1oRSs
It's a (possibly) new zune that I'm guessing competes with the ipod touch. This is very exciting, because if microsoft doesn't screw this up, this could be great. If they really want to one up the touch, they would make it with everything apple doesn't like users to have, like more control. Figuring that more app stores are parting from apple and allowing in functions that users want, I can easily see microsoft taking this route to steal apple's users.
but if they have a functional music player that has wifi and the capability to have apps that have a good amount of control, wireless syncing to a server would be possible. Sandisk had a device that was paired with yahoo's old music service. It had the capability to connect to the yahoo servers and you could choose what you wanted to have on your device. you also could listen to radio and tag things and download them later. the current zune has this, but you have to buy the songs though the zune's marketplace. I'm just really excited for it and i will feel less bad about buying something later on when it might be released.
In leu of having my ipod, I am using my 2gb sansa clip, which is a surprisingly good for how small it is. But I am also in need of a large mp3 player for bringing all my music everywhere. So naturally I considered the ipod touches and although i am impressed with the functionality of being able to get the internet, I plan on buying a palm pre when it comes out and that would fill my wifi needs. So the next option is the newest generation of ipods, the classics. I like these a lot, as they have coverflow and a generally smarter interface, such as the ability to turn on shuffle with out going to the settings menu. Major downside to ipods are the branding. It's apple, and I don't like paying so much more for the brand. I get that with computers, your buying a lot more than the physical hardware, but for an mp3 player they have really all started to become similar and decently built. Other downside is lack of a radio. i still don't get the lack of the radio.
Then, on saturday i saw jake and chris at the common cup and sat down with them and talked about getting new tech and mp3 players and now I want something that doesn't exist. What it is is a music player that gets the music through a stream from a large music source.
----kay so I stopped here and it sat as a draft for a while------
Okay, so I just found this of digg: http://digg.com/d1oRSs
It's a (possibly) new zune that I'm guessing competes with the ipod touch. This is very exciting, because if microsoft doesn't screw this up, this could be great. If they really want to one up the touch, they would make it with everything apple doesn't like users to have, like more control. Figuring that more app stores are parting from apple and allowing in functions that users want, I can easily see microsoft taking this route to steal apple's users.
but if they have a functional music player that has wifi and the capability to have apps that have a good amount of control, wireless syncing to a server would be possible. Sandisk had a device that was paired with yahoo's old music service. It had the capability to connect to the yahoo servers and you could choose what you wanted to have on your device. you also could listen to radio and tag things and download them later. the current zune has this, but you have to buy the songs though the zune's marketplace. I'm just really excited for it and i will feel less bad about buying something later on when it might be released.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
How far we've come...
In 2002, I built my first computer. It was close to the top of the budget PCs you could make back then. It had an AMD CPU that ran at 1.5 GHz and a 64 MB GeForce4 MX graphics card. I believe I started it out with 60 GBs of hard drive space. With the 17" CRT monitor and 512 MB RAM the total was about $800.
Now it's 2009 and I'm looking at buying a new desktop. The thing that gets me is that for a total of about $650 I can buy a computer with the following:
CPU clocked at 2.5 with ability to over clock to 3 easily
640 GB hard drive
512 MB video card (this description doesn't do it justice)
4GB RAM
A motherboard with better built in audio than I bought for $60 to upgrade my old PC
And what might be my favorite and most apparent part, a 22" LCD monitor.
I already bought the monitor because I found a deal that made it $30 cheaper than the usual sale price. But I still can't believe how much things have advanced and how apparent it is when you look back 7 years. I think I'm going to buy the PC too. I made money from KUMM this year and I know that this PC will last me in the coming years and has great upgradeable options. Oh man.
Now it's 2009 and I'm looking at buying a new desktop. The thing that gets me is that for a total of about $650 I can buy a computer with the following:
CPU clocked at 2.5 with ability to over clock to 3 easily
640 GB hard drive
512 MB video card (this description doesn't do it justice)
4GB RAM
A motherboard with better built in audio than I bought for $60 to upgrade my old PC
And what might be my favorite and most apparent part, a 22" LCD monitor.
I already bought the monitor because I found a deal that made it $30 cheaper than the usual sale price. But I still can't believe how much things have advanced and how apparent it is when you look back 7 years. I think I'm going to buy the PC too. I made money from KUMM this year and I know that this PC will last me in the coming years and has great upgradeable options. Oh man.
Notebook find
Rolling ball pen
rolling on then
it stops
dried up
it rolls on again
Out of fuel
out of ink
I'm dried up
trying to think
rolling on then
it stops
dried up
it rolls on again
Out of fuel
out of ink
I'm dried up
trying to think
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