DCI 2006 Finals on ESPN2 - 9/5/06

This tuesday, you can see the 2006 Drum Corps International finals on ESPN2 at 8pm Eastern.

The Santa Clara Vanguard

Here is your chance to see some really amazing performances.

Even if you've never seen any Drum Corps, this will be a good watch. They produce it to be dramatic as well as interesting.

Check it out. It only comes around once a year. :)

Looking for other years of DCI shows or music? I might be able to help. Drop me a line.

Mattie Begins

This song is speaking to me today.

Counting Crows - Anna Begins (mp3 link)

This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and anna begins to change her mind
These seconds when Im shaking leave me shuddering
For days she says.
And Im not ready for this sort of thing
But Im not gonna break
And Im not going to worry about it anymore
Im not gonna bend. and Im not gonna break and
Im not gonna worry about it anymore


It's like I heard it today, for the first time after listening to it for years.

Friggin Microsoft Restart Crap...

I should be used to this nonsence by now.

"You have pressed the space bar. Please restart for this change to take effect."

/me rolls eyes.

Today, about 10 minutes after logging into my laptop at work, I got this notice:

Do you want to restart your computer now? Yes, or Yes?

Oh, you don't want to restart? Well, that's ok, but this window will stay on top of all of your other windows unti you click it.

Instead of "Restart now", it could say something like "Sucker. We've got you right where we want you."

What would happen if I didn't restart? Really....probably nothing. Give me a break Microlame.
/me counts down the days when he can switch to GNU/Linux at work.

MeeboMe....does it work? Round Two

Not sure why the last one broke.




Try this one.

My 30 seconds of first-sucker-woot-fame...

Disclaimer: There is nothing in this article to do with any actual fame. It's just silly. But if you want an autograph, please email me, and I'll get you an address where you can send a SASE.

For those of you who don't regularly visit woot.com, here is a brief summary.

They sell one product per day, until it's sold out. Usually electronics, computer hardware, kitchen gadgets, etc. Items range in prices from $5 to $3000 and shipping is always $5 no matter the size of the item.

The only exception to the one-day-one-deal rule is when woot.com hosts a "wootoff." During a wootoff, a new item is presented directly after the previous one sells out. A meter is shown to give an idea of how many of a particular item is left. Items usually last between a few minutes to a few hours during a wootoff. "Wooters" tend to lose sleep during these events.

I've been watching woot.com for new items for a while now, but have never "wooted" (bought something.) That changed during the last woot off, which ended last night. I bought a few items including a new hard drive and a few wireless xbox controllers for my OG Xbox.

Here is where my woot-fame comes in.

When the logitec wireless xbox controllers came up, I was ready. I had been waiting for just this item. My xbox controllers are starting to short out, and they are...(ahem)...I'm embarassed to say... wired.

Anyway, when the woot came up, I bought two. After I completed my purchase, I went to see how many others had bought right away. Here is the screenshot:




Notice: First Sucker: themdg. That's me. I wooted first. I'm a hero. I'm on the woot site forever! My posterity will know that I was the kinda of guy who didn't mess around. When I wooted, I WOOTED.

Or so I thought.

A few minutes later, the site was updated, and another wooter was given the illustrious title of "First Sucker." I guess he was .5 seconds or so before me, so it was fixed.

At least I got the screenshot! And I hope the wireless controllers come soon.

Monopoly skills prevalent in sister...game ends badly...

My Sister and I played a full game of 1-on-1 Monopoly Sunday. Below you will see the board a few minutes before the game ended.

Notice highlights of her holdings in BLUE
Notice highlights of my holdings in RED



Notice that she owns every property, has 13 hotels, numerous bills of all sizes, three houses, and a 5 year old on her side (see feet.)

Notice that I own only a "Get out of Jail Free" card.

Needless to say, I had little bargaining power when I needed to pay over $1000 in rent on my next move.

Where did I go wrong, you ask? I traded Boardwalk for 3 railroads. This may be a great strategy when playing with 3 or more players, but in 1-on-1 monopoly play, it's tantemount to monopocide.

We have plans to meet for a rematch this weekend, but this time with 3-5 players. THIS time the railroads WILL be key.

Stay tuned.

DCI to move to Indy - Finals on a semi-perminant stay

A big announcement today by DCI. They're moving their national headquarters to Indianapolis, IN. Even more interesting is the announcement that they will hold the DCI World Championships at the yet-to-be-completed Lucas Oil stadium in Indianapolis, IN each year (with one exception) from 2008 until 2011.

Here are some pertinant facts:

• Lucas Oil Stadium is replacing the RCA Dome stadium, home of a annual Regional Competitino and many Bands of America competitions.
  
• Lucas Oil Stadium will feature a retractable roof.
• Indianapolis, IN is within one day driving distance from 75% of the country.
• Historically, DCI World Championships were held in a different stadium each year or two.

My reactions? Mixed.

While this may be a good business move for DCI Corporation, I think this is a blow for DCI fans and participants. There is something of a feeling of ownership and nostalgia to world championships performer. The show they present the night of finals of a culmination of months (and sometimes years!) of effort. There is a notion of "leaving it on the field" meaning, giving your all to perform your best. "The Field" becomes holy ground. After the closing ceremonies of a DCI World Championship, people depart, knowing that it may be 10 years before another World Champtionships will be held there. For those 10 years, that field belongs to those participants. No longer.

I believe this will also hurt the PR value that DCI gets from hosting it's finals in cities all around the country. Ask people around you if they know what DCI (or Drum Corps is). Most don't. Holding finals in Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, California etc, is extemely beneficial in spreading the word. The hoosiers will be intimate with DCI, but it will remain in obsecurity for most of the rest of the country.

Individual Corps traveling routes will chang as a result of this as well. Because finals are in a different place nearly every year, the mix of shows that a corps attends during the months leading to finals varies. Will we see a settling of routes and shows around the country? Will there still be as many small-town shows available as there are today?

I can't help but feel a little like DCI has sold out here. It seems that the Indy Chamber of Commerce has DCI in it's hip pocket. It was remarked during the Press Conference that this event should generate $10,000,000 for Indianapolis tourism each year.

No need to anticipate an announcement that finals will be held somewhere near you any longer (unless of course you live in the midwest.)

I did think of one positive thing that might result from this announcement. The midwest lacks a bit of interest when it comes to Drum Corp, Marching Band and Colorguard. Maybe we'll see a few more corps pop up in the midwest.

I love Indiana having lived there for a few years, and I think this is a great thing for Indy. But, I'm not sure it's the best thing for DCI.

Read some FAQ's about this announcement at DCI.org

Blue Devils 2003 - Drum Exercise.

This is a pretty cool drum exercise by the 2003 Concord Blue Devils.

I also wanted to see if I could post videos to my weblog.

A blast from the past: EMCB Courtyard @ UofU...

I was looking for a picture for a friend today, and I ran across this picture online:



This is the courtyard of the EMCB building in the Engineering Department of the University of Utah. I hear that the place is changed now, but I assume this courtyard looks similar. It's hard to sum up a place like this. So much bitterness, and so much triumph all wrapped up into one place. I want to either bronze the place and put is on my mantle, or burn it to the ground and never look back. I can't decide, but I have matches and kerosine all set here.

This view is taken from a doorway on the second floor of this buildling. Since this doorway is close to the lab where we spent most of our time (lives!) back then, we spent countless hours standing in that spot taking a break, and talking ourselves out of nervous breakdowns.

The doors that you see in the left corner of that buildling are where we always emerged after every Computer Science test we ever had. All the cs kids would come out by those little trees, and talk about each problem in the test. I wanted to live in ignorant bliss for at least a few more house so I agressively avoided these conversations. I remember chating my post-test mantra "FBFW Mattie...it's over" or "For Better or For Worse, it's over." (Meaning the test.)

That was clearly the hardest thing I've ever done, but probably not the hardest thing I'll ever do. In that light, I kind of miss that place. But in any other light, I think it's good that I moved across the entire country, away from here.

/me lights match.

Kid in UT earns all 121 BSA Merit Badges...

deseretnews.com | Meritorious Scout earns 121 badges

Looks like this dude finished all 121 BSA meritbadges. I feel good if I get my kids to earn the required 21. It's a nice accomplishment. I wasn't surprised though, to see that he was homeschooled. Seems that in a homeschool environment (especially in Utah), meritbadges are often part of the curriculum. Required curriculum?

Now I wish my Jr. High and High School had offered Merit Badge Classes. Or do I?

Many parents of scouts place restrictions on their boys or use reward systems. "No dating until you get your eagle." "No drivers license until you get your eagle." "No eating until you get another 38 meritbadges done tonight." Ok, I made the last one up, but the first two are common. I've never agreed with that kind of motivation. A reward maybe, but not a threat.

Anyway, nice work Utah Homeschool kid. No matter what circumstance you're in, that's a big job, and it sounds like you did well. Be a scoutmaster when you're older. It's fun.

The lowdown on BGE's 72% rate increase...

72% rate increase. That sounds high to me. Really high.

I'm new to Maryland. In fact, I moved here during the exact time period that this new rate was supposed to take place. I never had a bill that wasn't part of the 72% rate increase. When I called to sign up, they have me option after option for making automatic payments, deferring payments, paying in home-grown produce etc etc. I told them to just bill me the whole amount, every month. No Shenanigans please.

A few weeks later, they changed their minds. Well, actually the Maryland legislature changed BGE's minds by passing a bill that limits BGE's rate increase to 15% for the next 11 months, and compelling all BGE users to enroll in a plan that postpones the remaining 57% of the rate increase. At the end of the 11 months, the rate will reflect the full 72% increase as well as a "recovery fee" to collect the 57% not collected over the past 11 month. BGE will collect this fee for 10 years.

How confusing is that? Ok, not really that confusing. But, I really hate the idea that I'll have a manditory loan from BGE. I called them today get more info. There is NO opt out option here. Everyone will pay the deferred rate no matter what. If you pay the FULL amount, they'll just hang on the difference as a credit on your account. At the end of the 11 months, if you've paid the FULL amount each month, you'll end up with a large credit. But still...they won't take it. You still pay the recovery fee over 10 years. Of course, if you cancel your service within those ten years, you pay the difference right away, in full.

Here is an example.

My bill this month:
Total Evergy Charges: $168.78
Deferred Rate Amount: $47.19
Total Due: $121.59

If I pay the $168.78, I'll end up with a 47.19 credit on my account that will last for 10 years. Over 11 months, that might come to about $550 that BGE will "hold" for me, over 10 years. The good news is...there is no extra fee included in the recovery fee. They're just charging me for the deferred rate amount, and nothing more.

So, looks like they have me over a barrel here. Either I let them have my $550 to invest and become rich from, or I take their manditory loan.

The only thing to do is to pay their $121.59, and put the rest in an investment account. At least I could earn 5 or 6 percent on that money that way.

One thing that still bothers me though, is the huge amount of the increase. I know it's part of a long past deregulation bill, but still. Am I to believe that the company has been unprofitable for all these years? No. They have not.

Check out this article about the rate increase:

A Deregulation Bill Comes Due

Scroll down about a quarter of the way. You'll see it. Here are the main points:

"This July 1, seven years after state lawmakers voted to deregulate the state power industry, customers of BGE will see a 72 percent hike in their electric bills, for an annual extra cost of $743 per household."

"Maryland energy consumers are having a hard time understanding why BGE needs all those extra dollars. Last year, BGE cleared a $150 million profit. BGE’s parent company, Constellation Energy, saw its profits soar an amazing 45 percent in last year's final quarter."

"With profit rates already so high, why did top execs at Constellation go ahead with a 72 percent rate hike sure to create a firestorm of ratepayer fury? The answer, charged an editorial last week in the Annapolis daily that serves the Maryland state capital, sits in the $11 billion merger with Florida Power & Light that Constellation executives spent last year negotiating."

"The merger with Florida Power & Light, still not final, will leave Constellation Energy CEO Mayo Shattuck and four other top company executives with $78 million in bonuses."


Like I said. Shenanigans. Shenanigans that I'm paying for.