I'm in NYC for the Linux on Wall Street trade show. Just hanging out in my room right now, about to go get dinner. Was supposed to have dinner with 2 different friends and both have cancelled out on me, damn them. So, about to go grab somehting to eat, then have setup from 9-12. Fun Fun.
April 2004 Archives
Watched a couple of movies this weekend.
On Friday, we watched Cold Creek Manor. The movie looked pretty good from the previews. In the end, it sucked. I'm not sure if I am so used to movies having more of a plot twist these days or what, but this one just didn't have much of a plot to begin with. Basically, they told you who was the bad guy at the beginning and well, it never changed. Boring movie.
Last night I finally got to watch Lost In Translation. This was very good. I thought I might not like it as it had mixed reviews, but in the end I really enjoyed it. I'm not terribly surprised that Japaneese people are unhappy about the view of them in this movie, but other than some bad stereotypes, this is a totally enjoyable movie. And after watching this, I have developed a total crush on Scarlett Johansson.
So, I have some old taxes that I still need to deal with. Got a couple of letters from the IRS and sent them some money, but I still owe them a bunch. As I have mentioned before, I'm no good at making phone calls where there is some possibility of conflict, so I have been putting this one off.
Well, I was PLEASENTLY surprised this morning when I went to do this. I called the number on the sheet and the computer asked me for my SSN. I pushed it in and got some options about what I needed to do. After that, I was asked by the computer if I wanted an extension or wanted to set up a payment plan. I selected payment plan and figured this is where they were going to send me to an operator. Nope! Next the computer asked me how much I wanted to pay each month. I pressed in an amount. Next, what day of each month would you like your payment to be due. Typed in the 22nd and continued. It then asked me to confirm what I had filled in. I did and it told me that a letter would be out to me in 10 days whether or not they accepted my plan.
How cool is that? Complete automation. I didn't even have to talk to a person. Sad to me now that I pushed this off for so long, I could have already been a few months in to a payment plan if I knew it was going to be this easy!
I'm currently riding on the LIRR to NYC for the Linux on Wall Street trade show. Been on Long Island since Friday afternoon, spending time with family and whatnot. Oh yeah, and getting all my hair chopped off.
One of the big thrills for me of going home is getting to eat Taco Bell. Yes, I know this stuff is horrible and probably horrible for me, but I love it. Back when I went to BU, there was a Taco Bell in the bottom of my dorm which I was a frequent visitor of. These days, there are none too close to either work or home, so I really never get to enjoy some Bell. Luckily, when I come down to NY, there is one just a few blocks away from my sister's place which I visit often.
CNN.com - Prince special on 5 channels at once - Apr 27, 2004
The MTV/VH1 family are all carrying it, I guess they worry you will switch to Pimp My Ride if they don't show it on all their channels. Will have to try and pick this up on TiVo when I get back to Boston.
Well, this blog is 2 years old today. Scares me that I have kept it up this long. Lots of randomness over time, hopefully I'll someday find something really good to write about :)
After a few years of threatening, I finally did it. Eleven years of having long hair, all gone. Check out the before and afters over on my moblog.
A group of kindergartners were trying very hard to become accustomed to the first grade. The biggest hurdle they faced was that the teacher insisted on NO baby talk!
"You need to use 'Big People' words," she was always reminding them.
She asked Chris what he had done over the weekend? "I went to visit my Nana."
"No, you went to visit your GRANDMOTHER. Use 'Big People' words!"
She then asked Mitchell what he had done "I took a ride on a choo-choo."
She said "No, you took a ride on a TRAIN. You must remember to use 'Big People' words."
She then asked little Alec what he had done? "I read a book," he replied.
"That's WONDERFUL!" the teacher said. "What book did you read?"
Alec thought real hard about it, then puffed out his chest with great pride, and said, "Winnie the SHIT."
Bruce Sterling mentioned on his blog that he will be doing some touring to promote his new book, The Zenith Angle. He will be coming to Boston on May 12th. Details are:
Boston, MA
Wednesday, May 12th @ 7:00 PM
Talk & Signing
Harvard Coop
1400 Massachusettes Ave., Harvard Sq.
Boston, MA 02238
Phone: (617) 499-2012
(now, maybe I am crazy, but the Harvard Square and Boston, MA parts don't go together real well in the address, but whatever).
Details for other locations he will be visiting are here.
Someone take care of me, I feel like crap.
RollingStone.com: News: Clear Channel Goes to Trial
In a legal setback for the world's largest concert promoter, Clear Channel Communications, a U.S. District Court judge granted a jury trial to a Denver competitor that accuses the company of "monopolistic and predatory practices."
That's music to my ears. I'm sick of Clear Channel. I've thoroughly enjoyed Howard Stern musing lately about getting all the small concert promoters together under his name to try and take back the concert industry from Clear Channel. Now this seems like another possible step in taking them apart.
Though the Bruins seemed in control for much of last night's game, they came out the losers. There were a TON of missed opportunities. I can't even think about how many times you saw the puck just sitting in front of the net waiting to be knocked in. It was very cool to be there. The fans were almost to the point of deafening at points, especially earlier in the game. Had the Bruins scored early, I am pretty sure the Fleet Center roof would have been blown off. Well, anyways, a great opportunity to see some playoff hockey, which I haven't seen on the pro level since 1993. Thanks to Jason for the ticket!
Last time TV had to change their schedule around, TiVo sent out a note and said, go fix your recordings and tell it to re-record things even though the DB said that they were already recorded. With one of the latest updates, it seems like TiVo has gotten smart. On Tuesday, 24 was pre-empted by the President. My TiVo still didn't have updated data and recorded away like it was really on. I remembered on Sunday that I needed to fix the TiVo to re-record the correct showing on Sunday. Well, I went in and TiVo had already set up to do just this! Very cool!
Well, if all goes well, it looks like I will be in San Francisco from the evening of May 23rd until the afternoon of May 31st. I will be working at BEA eWorld from Monday to Thursday and then will be free to have fun for the whole weekend (and a long weekend at that). Hopefully I will try and get together with some of the #joiito folks in SF together on Friday or Saturday. If you're in the area, leave a comment, so I can figure out who might want to get together.
The title is an inside joke kind of. It's something a friend from England yelled at a Bruins game a few years back. Well, the good news is, I just got the e-mail and I will be going to the Bruins game this evening! Woo!
The Red Sox just took the final game of the 4 game Patriots Day weekend series with the Yankees. That means three out of four. Very nice! And they even did it in come from behind fashion. Good to see the never say die attitude we all got very used to last year.
Now, LETS GO BRUINS!
but today looks like this:
Update: Even hotter!
It's a huge day for Boston sports today.
First, well, it's Marathon Monday, so there is the Boston Marathon. My money is on a Kenyan! (as is everyone else's)
Next, we have the Red Sox and Yankees playing their traditional morning game over at Fenway. Sox are looking to try and take 3 of 4 from the Evil Empire. Still a close game right now, but the Sox are down. As I type this, the Red Sox just got it back within a run!!!
Lastly, the Bruins are in a do or die game this evening. Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs. The B's haven't looked great the last couple of games, so hopefully they get the fire back and pull this one out tonight. Also, I may be going to this!
Will be a busy day of sports for any Bostonian.
Happy Patriots Day to all in Boston. Patriots day is another wonderful made up Boston holiday to give everyone the day off to go watch the Marathon :)
So, the record companies today all blame pirating and whatnot on decreased record sales. Well, how the hell they think they are going to make money off of someone like William Hung? He has less than no talent, seems to be oblivious to the fact that fact and is pretty much the laughing stock of the world right now. Do they really think this is going to be anything more than a flash in the pan? Do they think they are going to sell millions of records or crap like this? It just makes no sense to me.
You have to love Curt Shilling, he pitches 121 pitches and then gets pissed off when Francona come to take him out of the game.
Yet another tour this summer. KISS and Poison. Hits Great Woods on 7/16.
BBC NEWS | Technology | PCs 'infested' with spy programs
Article says the Earthlink is seeing an average of 28 spyware programs per PC. That's UGLY. And you were wondering why your PC was running so slow and money was slowing draining from your bank account (they have found tons of malicious spyware).
[via BoingBoing]
Velvet Revolver (aka Guns N' Pilots) hits Boston on 5/29, venue TBA (please be Avalon). (Dates at RollingStone.com)
Phish's Summer Festival (Aug ) seems to be being planned for Newport State Airport in Vermont according to RollingStone.com.
Also headed out on tour is Amfibian (Phish lyricist Tom Marshall's band). Only VA, VT and NY dates thus far. Check out their web site for more information.
Network World Fusion has an article entitled Windows Media on Linux and Unix? It says someone is about to come out with a player that will allow Windows Media to be played on Linux and Solaris. So what? I've been doing this for a LONG time using MPlayer. And now with MPlayer Plug-In, it works right in my browser too. Windows Media and Quicktime work no problem.
And even before all of this, I used Codeweavers' Crossover Plugin without a hitch to play Windows Media and Quicktime.
Update: Jason notices and responds to this post. Very disconcerting seeing your own name in your aggregator when you aren't expecting it.
Phish Summer Tour Dates have arrived! 11 shows thus far and 7 of them in the travel area. A weekend festival to be added and that should be easy to get to too.
Other interesting things found at the Phish site? Well, how's about the tour dates in RSS and iCal format? Oh yeah and the main news section in RSS. Excellent.
Nail in tire not patchable, more money in to this damn car. Argh.
Someone brought in Permission to Land by The Darkness for me to listen to today. Everyone knows the song they have out, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", it's even the background music on the Girl Next Door promos. Well, this album totally rocks. Most would probably disagree, but if you are in to hair metal (Poison, Warrant, Skid Row, etc) like I am, you will TOTALLY love this disc.
Can't sleep Sunday night. Fall asleep some time around 3.
Wake up, feeling amazingly refreshed, realize it's 9:30, not 7AM like the alarm was set for.
Check alarm, set for 7PM. Doh!
Shave (necessity due to client meeting), Shower. Nothing bad, amazingly enough.
Start getting dressed, button falls off shirt you were going to wear. Switch shirts and get out the door.
Get to car, ticket on car, nail sticking out of back tire.
Amazingly, get to work safely. Too much to do to get tire looked at. Argh. Hopefully it doesn't blow up on the way home.
CNN.com - Man bets all on roulette and wins
Though, it would have been better if he bet on a specific number.
And how can you resist the Sports Guy in Vegas? Especially with nuggests that end like this "And if that doesn't make sense to you ... well, you've never been to Vegas."
when people stop talking to you for no apparent reason?
Neil's new adventure made it in to The Patriot Ledger
News Askew RSS Feed Now Available
Finally! I've been waiting for this one for a long time. Of course, it isn't a full feed, but it's better than nothing. Kevin Smith news in my aggregator, woo! The feed is here.
Yes, I am alive, just been busy.
It's 7PM and its still sorta light out.
If you're wondering why you are late to everything today, it's because daylight savings started today :)
Wooooo! It's opening day for the Red Sox!!
is that I am going to miss seeing Joey in Boston tonight. Of course, they are going to a bar that is 10 mins walking distance from my house. My timing sucks.
I'm looking forward to some fun this evening. Heading up to Macnhester, NH to the Black Brimmer with some friends to see what I have dubbed Central Stu. My friends Central Basement who are currently without singer, are playing with Stu Sinclair taking up the vocals. Should be very interesting to see the synergy between the two. I guess this will also serve as a small peek in to what Central Basement may be once they get their new singer.
So, in my never-ending attempts to stop being a slacker and starting to get my life fully together, I need to find a doctor. I haven't seen a doctor in something like five years. I really would like to get a regular checkup, etc. Also, it would be nice if I had a doctor close by that I could go see if I am sick, like I have been the last few days. So, anyone have any suggestions for doctors in the South End/Back Bay area? Thanks!
So, April in Boston is starting on a cliche, as it's raining. Hopefully, the May flowers will start soon.
April means taxes need to get done. That's in the plan for this weekend. Figure for once, I will beat the rush.
April also means that it's the anniversary of this blog. It will hit 2 years late in the month. Funny how small beginnings have led to all this chatter.
April now means the end of the Car Saga series. Which means I need to spend the time to write it all up.
April 1 means it's April Fools. Things thus far include Howard Stern off the Air, Linux starts collective royalties for Linux, and Google is offering jobs on the moon.
