Say the word, and be like me....

Some time ago, I was asked by a good friend to create an essential Beatles playlist. I thought about it for a few days and decided that the only way for me to do a fair job is to actually listen to each song. Below is the result.

I'm basing these on the US cd's, which are actually made from the British LP's. So, the included tracks may be different than those included on the American LP's.

Please pardon the images. I'm linking them straight from Amazon.com, so some have sales pitches on them.

Album: Please Please Me
- Twist and Shout

Album: With the Beatles
- It won't be long
- All my lovin

Album: A Hard Days Night
- If I fell
- And I love her
- Tell me why

Album: Beatles for sale
- Baby's in black
- Rock and Roll music
- I'll follow the sun
- Mr Moonlight

Album: Help!
- You've got to hide your love away
- Ticket to ride
- It's only love

Album: Rubber Soul
- In my life
- Norwegian Wood
- Girl

Album: Revolver
- Elenor Rigby
- I'm only sleeping
- She said, She said
- Good day Sunshine
- And your bird can sing

Album: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
- Fixing a hole
- Lovely Rita
- A Day in the Life

Album: Magical Mystery Tour
- I am the Walrus
- Your Mother Should Know
- Baby You're a Rich Man

Album: The Beatles (The White Album)
- Dear Prudence
- Oh bla di, Oh bla da
- While my guitar gently weeps
- Happiness is a warm gun
- Blackbird
- Rocky Racoon
- I will
- Julia
- Sexy Sadie
- Helter Skelter
- Cry baby cry


Album: Yellow Submarine
- All Together Now
- Hey Bulldog








Album: Abbey Road
- Come Together
- Something
- Because
- You Never Give me Your Money
- She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
- Her Majesty






Album: Let It Be
- Two Of Us
- Across The Universe
- I Me Mine
- I've Got A Feeling

Others:
These are some tracks that didn't appear on the albums above for one reason or another, but are still included in my favorites
- Lady Madonna
- Don't Let Me Down
- Free As a Bird

In addition, the new album entitled "Love" (2006) is fantastic. It's a cool mix of a lot of their songs. Not to mention all the Anthology and outtake Cd's etc. But those mostly don't belong in this list.

#104: I once had a girl, or should I say she once had me.

The following post takes place between 10:55 and 11:15 pm on Jan 31...

If you like 24, you'll like these Jokes. If you don't like 24, Jack Bauer probably knows, and your coordinates are being uploaded to his PDA at this very moment. Props to Tyler for passing along the jokes.

• Jack Bauer's favorite color is severe terror alert red. His second favorite color is violet, but just because it sounds like violent.
• When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer hates lemonade.
• The quickest way to a man's heart is through Jack Bauer's gun.
• You can lead a horse to water. Jack Bauer can make him drink.
• Jack Bauer's family threw him a surprise birthday party when he was a child. Once.
• If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.
• 1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.
• If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Myers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.
• Upon hearing that he was played by Keifer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.
• Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.
• Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
• Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.
• Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
• Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
• Jack Bauer can get McDonald's breakfast after 10:30.
• Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.
• People with amnesia still remember Jack Bauer.
• Jack Bauer helped U2 find what they were looking for. (That one is for you Cami)
• Jack Bauer would have gotten the ring to Mordor in 24 hours.
• If you know something Jack Bauer doesn't, chances are you don't have any fingers left.
• If Jack and MacGyver were locked in a room together, Jack would make a bomb out of MacGyver and get out.

Three words: Watch your back.

I don't even know what they're singing about.....

So, I setup a slide show for KC's birthday party. I used some Hawaiian music for the soundtrack. One of the songs has wedged it's way into my soul forever. I love it...it takes me to a different state of mind, relaxing me. It's by "Hui Ohana" and is called "Sweet Lei Mokihana".

You can listen to it here.

It's part of this balanced weblog post.

#103. Once I engineered a slideshow for my Brother in law, and the music from it changed my life.

The Gully of Doooooomommm...

Edit: I went back this morning and took this picture. Hard to believe that this peaceful road would be the scene of so much chaos and carfusion. (end edit)

So, it's almost February and we finally have our first snow! We've been enjoying such warm weather here in Maryland lately. Actually, I haven't been enjoying it. It should be cold in the Winter where it's supposed to be cold. And no, I don't think so-called Global Warming has anything to do with it.

Anyway...so it's snowing cats and dogs today, and started to "stick" after a few hours. So, the melty part turned into ice, with snow on top. I had some home teaching to do, and against my better judgement, I went for it. My little rear-wheel-drive pickup truck did great in the show...if you like sliding all over and doing donuts, which I do.

I made it only a few miles from my house when I realized the trip was folly. I found myself at the top of a hill, on the far side of a small gully. I saw the road getting hilly, so I called the whole thing off. Now...how to get home.

I was at the top of the gully which was pretty steep, and pretty long, planning my attack. I realized a van had been sitting there for a while. I walked over and talked to the driver. Sure enough, she was STUCK! I pushed, and joked and put her at ease, and coached her on how to get out of the gully after she was back on the road. She made it out.

I tried, but got stuck at the bottom. While I was thinking of how in the world I'd get out, a few cars tried, but got about as far as I did. So, as they spun their tires, I jumped out and pushed! They slowly...slowly inched up the hill as I pushed.

This story is getting too long. I'll sum up.

More people came, and more people got stuck. Some ran into trees, and eventually everyone either gave up, or made it out. I was able to kind of rock my truck up and back until I was (again) on the far side of the gully. I got all the speed I could and went for it! I baaarely made it over the top of the other side. Phew!

The whole thing took about 45 minutes, and was actually quite enjoyable.

102: I helped several people out of a gully, and did some donuts in my truck, all in one night.

100 things...

My sister posted a weblog entry that contained "100 things" about herself. It's fun to read, and and I thought it would be a nice challenge for me to try it. If it sounds like bragging, it probably is. It's really just therapy for me. I feel like this like a pop-up video version of my life. It's pop-up mattio.

I'm not sure I even know 100 things about myself...so if you find any errors here please submit them to our fact-checking department, and they'll respond with in 1-2 business days.

So, here we go.

1. I've spent exactly 45 minutes in New York City.
   
2. I've been addicted to listening to books on tape/cd/ipod since I was a young teenager when my dad would bring them home from work. I listen to about 1 a week. I think my first book on tape was The Pelican Brief, by John Grisham.
   
3. I'm 6' tall exactly.
   
4. I put sea-salt in the water I drink.
5. I rarely call my son Jackson by the same name twice in a row. Substitutions include variations of Jackerson, Jackinson, McBlackson, Blackie, Dude, My Man, Your Majesty, Sir, Doogle, and anything ending in "ster".
   
6. I carry a man bag (a purse).
7. I have to talk myself into going to bed every night. I'd rather stay up.
8. I try to talk to at LEAST one of my siblings on the phone every week.
9. I talk to one my parents on the phone almost daily, and always look forward to it.
   
10. I don't watch any reality TV shows. Ever.
    
11. I have a "poison list" of so-caled "celebrities" that I will not tolerate. If they come on TV, I rub my hands over my ears and say "lalalalalala". I turn over magazines at the store. I leave stores. I close web browsers. All to avoid people on the list.
    
12. I love taking pictures. I feel proud when other people use my pictures.
13. I miss Kansas.
14. My wife knows all the girls I previously dated.
    
15. I was the first "Mr. Viking" at Pleasant Grove High School. But I was a band nerd who would not normally get nominated. We had to campaign a little to get people to vote to nominate me. In the end, it was me against a bunch of football players. The next year, a football player won. The school recognizes him as the first Mr. Viking.
    
16. I burned my hand pretty bad just now on some super hot water at work. I have ice on it and am typing with one hand.
17. Studying Computer Science at the UofU was the hardest thing I've ever done.
18. I click on those links on the internet that say "Click here to get (whatever) for free." and I get those things for free. So far: Ipod, and Digital SLR Camera.
19. My best friend was in a coma for 3 months.
20. I don't feel comfortable when my internet connection is down.
    
21. I can read, walk, and listen to music at the same time. I perfected it while in college, walking between classes, and to the parking lot.
    
22. I will never own a new car. It's a life-goal.
    
23. In High School, I was the only boy on the schools Winterguard.
    
24. I recently saw Rod Stewart at the Superfresh (the local supermarket.)
25. I feel lucky to be in touch and have good relationships with my brother and each of my five sisters.
    
26. I love camping in cold cold weather.
    
27. I polish and wax my car 2-4 times a year.
28. I never missed a day writing in my journal between the ages of 15 and 22. That includes over 1000 pages I wrote while on a 2 year LDS mission. I'm a huge nerd.
    
29. I adore the public library.
30. Once when I was a kid, I was riding my bicycle when the front tire came off. I crashed badly, but no stitches were necessary. I found the front tire about 1/2 mile down the street. (It was a long straight road.)
31. I was the band Drum Major in high school.
32. In 4th grade, a man came to our class, and disected a calf in our classroom. It was amazing.
    
33. My all-time favorite job was working for Peck Construction. Rack me.
    
34. I love buying cords and cables of any type.
35. I collect and use drawstring bags. Any size or type. They're the best.
36. My crew in College went by the name "Team Bitterness." We used it when we had team projects to do, and it stuck. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Travie and I were and are still on the same brain frequency and can often talk without talking. We call it 'cahoots'.
    
37. My favorite city in the world is Elkhart, Indiana. A blue collar town in Northern Indiana. A few miles from the University of Notre Dame.
38. I love to read. I mostly find myself reading Science Fiction. I read a lot of Orson Scott Card, but I also love Dick Frances and Raymond Chandler.
    
39. My favorite film genre is Film Noir, of which my favorite film is "The Big Sleep." (1946)
    
40. I cry in movies. A lot. This one always gets me, no matter what:

    How many bullets are left, Chino? Enough for you, and you? All of you. You all killed him! And my brother, and Riff. Not with bullets and guns - with hate. Well, I can kill too because now I have hate! How many can I kill, Chino? How many and still have one bullet left for me?

41. I put a modchip in my xbox, and use it for a media center. It was a graduation gift from my wife. I'm terrible at video games.
    
42. I also play racquetball.
43. I (still) have a hard time concentrating on things. I get distracted easily, and procrastinate too much.
    
44. I'll celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary this year.
    
45. I've only ever purchased one audio cassette. It was a gift for a girlfriend which I bought in Hollywood, CA. Harry Connick Jr's Blue Light, Red Light.
46. I marched in a Drum and Bugle Corps in 1994. The Maruaders. We went to the World Championships. I was awarded Rookie of the Year for my Corps. The next year, they folded. My wife also marched in a Drum Corps. The Santa Clara Vanguard.
    
47. Since I've been married, I've been to a Disney themepark 6 times.
    
48. I turn on and off my bedside lamp with "The Clapper."
49. I consider myself to be a loyal person. I have friends I'd do anything for.
50. I have an incredibly hard time hearing any type of criticism. I need to get over it.
    
51. I have an Eagle Scout award.
    
52. I once sprained my ankle badly at the top of a 10 mile mountain trail. I hopped the whole way down.
    
53. I try to make people feel good about themselves.
    
54. I have two footlocker trunks full of Beatles paraphernalia that I've collected over the years including over 60 posters, all of which used to hang in my bedroom at the same time.
    
55. I used to get in fights a lot in Junior High. I once was knocked unconscious during gym class. I suffered a mild concussion.
    
56. I can spin almost anything on my finger. Especially flat objects like books, plates, or small tables.
    
57. I have 200 firecrackers in the glove compartment of my truck.
58. I allegedly snore if I'm not sleeping on my side.
    
59. During one particularly bad month as a teen, I wrecked both my parents cars.
    
60. I used to skip school a lot in High School. Many time to go Skiing.
    
61. I enjoy talking to random people I meet. I had a 15 minute conversation with a guy from Nepal in Aldi the other day.
    
62. When I was young..maybe 10 or 12, I shot the window of a tractor out with my BB Gun. I ran to my house and watched as the construction workers came back from their lunch break. I was scared, but went and told them what I had done. They sent us a bill for $40, which my Dad paid, and I worked off.
    
63. My favorite candy is Necco's.
    
64. One of my fondest and most vivid childhood memories is of watching Star Trek (Kirk) with my dad, while eating dried bananas.
    
65. I think that Global Warming is a scam.
66. Nothing drive me crazy more than people parking their cars where there is no parking spot.
    
67. I met my wife at a Band Camp in Normal, Ill. She was 16, I was 17.
68. I tend not to worry about things I have no control over. I like to think that I can roll with the punches pretty well.
69. If I could eat cold cereal for every meal and stay healthy, I would.
    
70. I love stopping at road-side attractions. Worlds Largest anything is always worth stopping for. Always.
    
71. I tap my fingers as if I was playing a trumpet when I'm nervous.
    
72. My favorite Television Show is M*A*S*H. I'd like to have Hawkeye over for dinner.
    
73. I stumble on my words around people I'm intimidated by. I usually try for a mildly sarcastic joke, and it fails miserably.
    
74. I struggle with self esteem, but I can distract myself from it pretty easily by looking at the bright side of SOMEthing.
75. Once when I was a teenager, a friend of mine and I each told our moms we were staying the night at the others house. When we realized what we had done, and wanting to avoid the confrontation, we broke into (read: found the hidden key for) another friends house (they were on vacation) and spent the night there.
    
76. I make a mean Cinnamon roll.
    
77. I can't stand being startled or scared. Instead of being scared, I get instantly mad and defensive. I'm working on it.
78. When I drink a 8oz can of soda, I like to put it in the freezer for 40 minutes before drinking. After doing this, the soda ices up nicely.
    
79. I have a really hard time saying the word 'sausage'.
80. When we owned a house with a pool in Kansas, I did some research and found out how to replace almost all the store-bought chemicals with household ones. The main ingredients were bleach and baking soda. Doing this brought my pool chemicals bill down from about $50/month to about $5/month. That's what I call sticking it to the man.
81. My favorite way to write software is wearing a hoodie, big headphones on with the hood up. It puts me in the zone.
    
82. I was thoroughly disappointed with book the 13th of 'A series of unfortunate events'. I'm trying to recover from the let down. It may take years.
    
83. I love buying things at the Costcos. I wish they sold everything I ever needed to buy.
    
84. I am a Mormon boy.
85. I have an old computer in my house that runs this website, as well as 21 others.
    
86. I think that my wrists are to small, and often wear thick leather bracelets to help with that.
    
87. I took piano lessons for several years when I was young and can still play many songs and hymns. I was eavesdropping on the phone call between my mom and my piano teacher when they decided I should quit. I had to hide my excitement and pretend not to know when my mom delivered the news.
88. Speaking of piano, I once tape recorded my practicing for 20 minutes and played it back twice more to cover my 1 hour practice requirement.
    
89. I've seen my cars speedometer at 100mph.
90. Aside from a cracked collar bone that I sustained during birth, I've never broken any bones.
    
91. I liked the latest Star Wars movie.
92. I don't like it when people put food into my mouth for me.
    
93. I wish I could be a Scoutmaster for the rest of my life. I'm not a scoutmaster now.
94. I secretly like listening to country music, but only female artists. Male country singers give me the heebe jeebies.
    
95. I enjoy crappy sci-fi television.
96. I usually root for the underdog.
97. I don't agree with the death penalty, in any form, ever.
98. I think Spongebob Squarepants is hilarious.
99. I met a woman in the parking lot of the mall recently, and sold her a PlayStation3. It was sketchy.
    
100. I try to always park as far away from any other car as possible.
     
101. (Bonus). I think Chuck Norris jokes are also hilarious.
     

Man oh mango. That was intense.
xo, Mattie

Server downtime tonight...

Edit: Back up! The network re-do was a success. Huzzah.

My site (and everyone else's site hosted on it) will be down tonight for a good while. I'm re-doing the networking at home. No one panic. It'll be back up tomorrow at the latest.

The Christmases: A photo journography

Ladies and Gentlemen... In the center ring.... Presenting: The Christmases!!! In their Seasonal Journography....

The following are photos from our Christmas break from Life, the Universe and Everything. Presented in no particular order.


My roof is waaay up there. I hung some lights, to keep up with the Jonses. In my neighborhood, we're only allowed to use white colored lights. Boring. But that's the country-club mentality of the East for you. Rules, rules, rules.

Jackson, or Jacksons head rather. Watching some teev, waiting for Christmas to get here.


Dude, at this first Basketball game. His team is called "The Rockers."


My dudes and me at work. We got in on the PS3 craze. A bit silly, but we made a few bucks.


We saw family a lot. This is my sister and her man during a fun gingerbread house making party.



My other local sister, and her fam at the Temple. A fun night.


Kevins car asplode....


The Christmas card I sent to my scout boys.


We played with Magnetix at work.


The Temple looked great. The workers and volunteers there did an awesome jorb on the lights.


My sister and her man again. They were Joseph and Mary in this awesome live-action nativity scene at the Temple. We called it KCmatronics.


Me and my love at the temple. Isn't she pretty?


A nice shot of the temple at night.


The boy, celebrating the toyness of Christmas morning.


My Sister and her cute son. He calls me "Mattoo Matt."


My dude putting out the cookies, milk and pennies (his addition) for Santa. He's saying "Cheese" in the style of Wallace (from Wallace and Gromit).



His majesty, with the toys.



My little break-dancer, trying to do the worm. Wearing the Jammies grandma sent him. This is Christmas eve.



The cousins and their finished G-Bread housen.


It was a nice holiday. Of course, my dude got sick with Bronchitis (so what's new!?) This week he had surgery to have this adenoid removed which is supposed to help. With the break and the surgery, we've had a ton of time to hang out and play games and laugh. It's been a nice healing time, and a successful holiday! Huzzah!

I'm a cliche...

New Years is the worst.

I hate going to the Gym. But I hate get/being fat even more. So...here I go.

Wish me luck.

If I'm not back in 90 minutes, call the police.

What is wrong with people?

I swear. Sometimes, I'm afraid to leave my house, or even to get out of bed.

Check this out. This link is the home page for information on a class action lawsuit against Nintendo. They're saying that the remotes that come with the new Nintendo Wii video game consoles are defective. Why? Because they come with a wrist strap that sometimes breaks when you swing the controller to hard. To use their words: "the wrist strap broke and caused the remote to leave the user’s hand."

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, check out www.wiihaveaproblem.com.
It shows some of the results of the breaking wrist straps. Broken TV's, dislocated knees, bruised heads, and damaged furniture are just some of the things you find there.

This leads me to my original question. What is wrong with people?

In this age of entitlement in which we live, when anything (read: ANYthing) goes wrong in our lives, we place the blame on whoever has the most money. "What? You threw you video game controller across the room? No problem, we'll sue the manufacturer and make millions!"

"What? You broke into someones house, and cut yourself on the glass from their window? We'll sue the owners."

"What? You drove your car into a river and then couldn't get the door open, and you almost died? We'll sue the car manufacturer, the city who runs the river, and the water cycle."

Give me a break. This law firm is a step below an ambulance chaser and should be laughed at by any judge that hears their case. And their clients?! Anyone that is participating in this lawsuit should be banned from playing video games ever again.

Take responsibility for your own actions. They're YOUR actions. Yours alone.

/me throws hands up and storms out.

Why Lead Trumpets aren't invited Christmas Caroling

Anyone who knows me pretty well knows that I am into Drum Corps in almost any form.

I ran across this recording a few years ago, and enjoy it every Christmas season.

This is the reason that lead trumpets (or lead sopranos) aren't invited Christmas Caroling. If you've ever been in a Drum Corps or College Marching Band, or even a zealous High School band, you'll know why this is funny. I think it's funny on it's own merits though.

Have a listen.

Part 2:

An open letter to lead trumpets/sops:

Hey Guys:

We know you can play high. We've all heard your lip trills and note bends that you were "practicing". We know that your chops are second to none. We allll wish we could be just like you. (/me rolls eyes.)

We, your adoring fans, want you to remember just two things. 1) There is more to music than being the highest, fastest, loudest, most obnoxious. 2) If everyone is special, no one is special.

So look around...and save the pomp for your solo, where it can be truly appreciated. (No sarcasm this time...we DO appreciate your skills...just at the right time. )

Sincerely,
Second and Third Trumpets, and the rest of the planet.

Gingerbread Village

Today we had a little family get together and decorated gingerbread housen.

It was totally fun complete, and the houses looked really cool. The kids (and KaCerton) added some great designs.

Check them out, in all their glory:


From right to left:
12 Oaks, by Jackson and Mom.
The White House, by Emily and KC.
Tatooine, by Jefferson, Cami and Jake.


An architect (or canditect as we call them here), hard at work.



"You mean this is ALL edible!?"

Is another Christmas tradition born? Only time will tell...dun dun dunnnnn...

Pettebone Farm - V 2

Thanks to everyone who gave advise about my photos, on and off-line. I took it from a wider angle from the fence, lowered the ISO setting to get more color depth, and did some more post-processing. I had to wait a few days to get the weather right, but a few shoots later I came up with one that I thought was an improvement.



I'd like to get this picture right, so please...any comments or suggestions are welcome! I'll take them positive, negative, neutral, straight up, round about, rhyming or even in the style of Dr. Seuss.

More from this shoot here.

This picture is only worth about 20 words. Can you help?

So, I've been shooting with a new camera. A Canon Rebel XT. It's quite an upgrade from the Fuji S5000, which I loved. (I put about 15000 photos on the Fuji.)

I'm working on a shot of a local farm. I can't seem to capture the same sense of easy-going comfort that I get when I view it from the road. Below are my first two attempts.

I need feedback! Please give me any criticism you can about this photo. Anything, really. Tell me what you like and don't like about it's composition, the subjects, the lighting, the developing, etc. I thought it would be a good exercise for me to get a picture really right...and since it's close, I can go back often to re-shoot. You can see a color version of the picture here.

See my notes on the first two tries below.


I took this one at about 4:00pm in November. So, the shadows are long, and there isn't much contrast due to the sun. My wife suggested (and I agree) that I get it when the barn isn't so drab and one-colored.

More from this shoot can be found here.



This is the next day, about 1pm. More sunlight on everything makes for better shadows etc. But it loses some of the mystique it has in the first. Right?

More from this shoot can be found here. A slightly different angle, which I like, is here.

Any ideas anyone?

"What's Red Dolphin?"

So, lately, my blog title has been "The Red Dolphin." What is that?

I've never actually seen a red dolphin. I have seen a dolphin though, and I'm not just talking about on TV. No. I've seen a dolphin in the flesh (scales?) and my own naked eyeballs. Ok, so it was at Sea World. But I also saw some in the Bahamas, but it cost about $150 to swim around with them. Who has the kind of money after getting to the Bahamas?! Not me, man.

No, "The Red Dolphin" isn't a real swimming mammal. Here is the story. It's short, but cute.

We were in Target a few weeks back, buying a few things. We like to cruise their clearance stuff (look for the red tags) as they sometimes have some good deals on stuff we need. In particular, they had their dollar section stuff marked down to $.25. Nice. (I love when they have draw-string-bags there...any size.) So, we had about $12 worth of target-stuff in the cart.

At checkout, all the prices were coming up wrong. The total bill ended up being over $60! The girl apologized and was very nice, but told us we had to go talk to customer service. Next thing we know, lots of people are going over there. Turns out they had a computer problem and all the prices were wrong. It took them a few minutes, but they sorted our stuff out correctly. As I waited in the line though, I watched people leaving the store and thought to myself. "They all just overpaid on all that junk. "

In the car, we were talking about it, and I said.. "Man, everyone is getting ripped off in there." Jack promptly asked "Dad, what's Red Dolphin?" After asking him to explain what he meant, he said: "You said everyone was getting red dolphin there." Haha. So there you have it. The mystery of the red dolphin.

All joking and sea creatures aside...you have to watch these retailers. Wal-Mart is the worst!! Every time we shop there, something shows up with the wrong price (in the stores favor, or course.) I really think they do it on purpose. Once, we were buying 6 things. 5(!) of them came up several dollars over the price on the shelf. Our choice was to either buy them at the crappy price, or go back and double check. Please. So, we just left everything there and bought the one thing. I really...really hate shopping there. I try to write prices down when I can, and check them as they are beeped.

You gotta watch out, or you'll get Red Dolphin there too!

You only get one shot...

Authors Note: It's been a few months since I wrote this, and I feel I should clarify a few things. I don't hate sports. I like them. My son is in Basketball and he loves it. I even act as the assistant coach! (As if I was qualified.) I love what Sports do for kids, unity, work-ethics, etc. I love to see family members coming together for sporting events. We have huge parties at my house for the Olympics, etc. My own personal version of sports is Drum Corps. We watch the DCI (dci.org) scores and seasons like many people watch sporting leagues.

What irks me is the praise that society puts on the sporting figures. Someone is talented with a ball, and so we pay them tens of millions of dollars a year as well as let them tell us how to vote? Thank you, no. (And yes, it's US paying them. Hundreds of dollars for one ticket to some pro football games. Rediculous.)

So, I should have followed up my question: "what are they good for...absolutely nothing?" With: "Heck no...they're great!! (in moderation.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sports. Uungh. What are they good for?...Absolutely Nothing?

Sports in our country serve as a false idol that people pray to, curse and trust in for happiness and guidance.

At some point in a child's life though, sports are nothing more than throwing a ball around for some simple fun. A bit later in the child's life, they start to like the challenge and competition that sports offer. At SOME point, this healthy appeal turns into fanaticism, which leads to obsession, which leads to overpriced season tickets and sports "heroes" making salaries enough to end world hunger. What's a father supposed to do? Catch 22.

For now though, my man likes to toss the ball, and run around. And I'm ok with that. We have an unfinished basement with lots of headroom and cement floors. He's been using a shelf for a "basket" to practice basketball. Today, we decided to build a proper hoop. We used a bucket, marker, jigsaw, drill, boondoggle and a few grabber screws. 30 minutes later, he was shooting baskets that actually went through! The boondoggle net that he designed provides a satisfying "swish" sound. It's good for him, and we enjoyed making it together.

He joined a basketball team this week. Coach Mitch is awesome, and the kids really like it. May the fun-ness of sports stay fun for a long...long time.

The Ubuntu 6.10 grub menu.lst file and you...

Did you recently upgrade your Ubuntu install to 6.10 (Edgy)?

If yes: After you upgraded, was your dual-boot windows option mysteriously missing from the grub boot list?

If yes: Did you fix it?

If no: Do the following.

Log into your Ubuntu system and add (as root) the following to your /boot/grub/menu.list file, at the bottom, then reboot:

title  Microsoft Windows
root  (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

Read more about this fix here.

This fixed mine. Phew.

Egg Salad Reunion...

I was recently reminded of the goodness that is Egg Salad Sandwiches.


I've been eating them for lunch a bit lately, and have been enjoying it very muchlalalalalaaaa.

I suggest you try it out. Here are some tips:

• Do not use too much mayonaise. Use just enough to hold the egg together.
• Do not smash the egg to finely. Chunks of egg make for a good texture.
• Be generous with salt and pepper.
• Experiment. Following Vigs lead today, I put spicy chips on my sandwich today. It was excellent!
• Remember that hard-boiled eggs take some time to make. Make a bunch, and keep them in the fridge for later use.
  

Enjoy.

Cool app and a new home for themdg's photos

The images found on themdg now have a new home. I use this machine for my file server as well as my web server. As a result, all of my photos can be found here. I used to add some of my photos to my Galleryas I took them, but it was getting too crowded. I had 4 or 5 thousand pictures in the gallery. It was so full in there that no one was looking at them. So, I removed them all, and started over on the gallery.

I decided to have two galleries. One that held my most favorite photos, and a little description of the picture. This would be my "Photo Gallery." The other would be a dynamic listing of all the pictures I've ever taken. That was the tricky part, actually. Finding some software that would do this, without messing up my photo repository. Since this is my file server, the photos are my master copy. I didn't want to mess them up with inline caches and scripts all over.

After a few weeks, I found one that works perfectly. Weatimages lives in the root of my photo directories, and creates one directory seperate from the other, to store it's caches. My photo directories remain untouched. It provides a dynamic, yet still cached listing of all my photos.

My Weatimages listing:


I also started over with the gallery, and am only putting my best pictures there.

Have a look:

Woot-off tonight at woot.com

POST WOOT-OFF EDIT:

I watched the woot-off closely for most of the nearly 48 hours it lasted.

I did buy a few thing, and it was fun to watch. But after a while, it started to get depressing. The users on Woot.com started to seem emotionally spent and were acting so disrespectful for each other and to woot.com. I felt like I was in the orphanage in Oliver...everyone out for himself, begging for food and taking advantage of others whenever possible.

The environment degraded fun to hostile...and that's when I started to check out. Maybe it was too long. Maybe people care too much about the rediculous "Bag of Crap." I mean, it would be fun to get one...but people get rediculously MAAAAAD when they don't...or when others do. Please. It's nothing.

I'm cured from woot.com obsession.


---------------------------------------------


There will be a woot-off tonight (10/11/2006). I can fell it. Check woot.com at Midnight CST.

This, from their newsletter today:

"OK, we're gonna let you go now, because we've got lots of product to write about before Thursday. Thanks for reading this far - hope you got plenty of sleep last night..."

Fun times.

Tongs and You're Welcome: A Fun Reunion

We had a good time at our little reunion. It was well attended and food was plentiful.




Here you'll find pictures of:

Jeff and Chelesta and kids
Fred and Julie
John and Liz
Josh and Kid
Matt

We talked and joked for a few hours, and kept the kids busy with Glow Sticks, trampoline and movies.

I can't speak for everyone, but this was an excellent and soul-satisfying reunion for me.

Thanks everyone who came, and to those who couldn't for responding.

The "manly" way to fix things...

What do these two things have in common:

A ceiling fan

My Scooter

Give up? I'll tell you. These are two things that I have recently disassembled to find out why they wouldn't start. In other words, I took them apart so I could fix them.

But that's not anything new. That happens all the time. Most things need some taking apart for a repair. So, that's not what really makes these similar.

But this is: The On Switch

First...the fan. We've just moved to MD, and have rented a cool little townhouse. After moving in, I noticed that the master bedroom ceiling fan didn't work. I have strong tendancy to perspire in all temperatures and all situations and I enjoy the breeze from a fan such as this one.

I removed the cover and replaced the switch. I also took the chance to examine all the other parts (as if I knew what I was looking at.) After all my work, nothing. Fan still didn't work.

The next day my wife calls and says "Guess what I'm watching? (what?) The ceiling fan...spinning like crazy. There was a seperate fan switch on the wall, behind the shade.

Ok. Lesson learned, right? Occoms Razor and all that. No. Not even close.

Now, the scooter. Thursday, after a rather embarassing incident that I'd rather not talk about, (but that involves my throttle, a womans VW Golf, and my scooter being on the ground), my scooter wouldn't start!

I arranged a ride home, put the scooter in my truck and brought it home. The next day, I removed a few parts to get to the engine. Nothing seemed wrong. So, I removed a few more parts to get to more of the engine. Still nothing. Finally, I removed most of the body. See picture below:

After cleaning everything and replacing the spark plug, I gave up for the day. I posted my dilemma to a newsgroup. The answer came pretty quickly. "Try the kill switch" they said. "Pffffpt," I thought, as I walked out to try it.

Sure enough...the Switch was set to "Not Run" instead of "Run." Turned it back on and Rrrruuunnndddnnndndndndd..she started right up. The Black Pearl rides again!

Why didn't I think of turning it on?

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.