Darth Vader-Fish

Remember, 720p.


New life: Bengali Cardinal.
I liked 'Ben' but, having just seen the first three episodes of Star Wars (as in, ever), la muñeca likes 'Darth Vader' because it has black. She also claims to hear the storm trooper theme when she sees it...but I don't think it's that evil.
Maybe we can compromise on 'Darth Bender'?
Probably not. She tends to get her way.

I love quilts.

No really, I do.

I also love Sunday afternoon guitar sessions.
And this moogerfooger.

What the flux?

It's been awhile.

Here's an awesome thing explained by someone passionate about it:


It's weird how little I deal with buckets and how often I deal with buckets...
The moog cluster flux should be arriving on my doorstep this week. Fuck yeah.

Google, you run YouTube right? Forget about the Blogger (which you also run) post interface and retain the 'Play in HD' option when embedding a video...
Douche bags.

Portio

More Portal-related videos up in here. You love it.


Portal was a game changer.
Mario was a game changer first.

Pristine Marine

Here are some more artifacts of an expensive hobby, snapped by my life partner.

New coral:


Flash and Shrump:




Listening to
Crosses

Watching
The Hannibal Lector movies. Red Dragon & Silence of the Lambs are available to stream on Netflix. Hannibal, my favorite, you have to find elsewhere.

Playing
The Witcher 2
Portal 2 Co-op

Portal Short

I thought this was well done.


Inspired by one of my favorite video games, Portal.
You really have to play these games to understand how epic the story and game play mechanics are.
Good job on the score, Mike Zarin.

Rloveution

Dad loves this.

Sorry for the quality. Stupid viacom, trying to protect their copyrights...
I'm almost to the point of abandoning voting altogether so as not to encourage the ass clowns, but I can get on board with most of what this guy is about.
Especially in the drab light of his regurgitating company.

Politik is good sometimes.
The daily show is good all the time.

We The Living...Monsters

Pissed off artists are bad at math.

Imagine how ugly the pigs would be if they knew it was a 60% hike.

Let's pull together and provide some relief.

Netflix Relief Fund with Jason Alexander from Jason Alexander

Lastly - shut up about the recession and your loyalty. If a $6 increase in your monthly entertainment budget is what breaks the bank, you should probably rethink your priorities. There's little room for loyalty in economics. People go where the value is to them. They don't pay more for less out of corporate "loyalty".

seeing sound

Guy draws wave forms on film's sound track for percussive sounds.
I feel lazy.

Living Room Aquatica

La muñeca took some shots of the tank.
Long time readers will remember this was a gift from her at the end of 2009.
I did the transfer from the dead old tank in early 2010, so that puts this setup at about a year and a half old.

One or two tragedies along the way, but mostly, it's thriving.
Got some new coral (as of yet, unidentified species...anyone?).
It's bright yellow. "Highlighter coral" for now.

Click on the shots for high-res versions.

Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Shrump):


As it would in the ocean, Shrump sets up cleaning stations for fish to come by and rid themselves of parasites.
Shrump likes to clean your finger too. Seriously, just drop it in there. Instincts are powerful.


Yellow Watchmen Goby (Spot):


Spot is usually more of a perching fish, but ventures out sometimes.
Swim? Meh, this rock is comfy...
Retreating to the man cave is my move too.


Firefish Goby (Flash):


Flash is fast and hard to capture on film without blur.
He has very nice colors though...and it would appear, a gut.

Analog Slob

Some new studio additions and swap outs over here in slobland.
Most noteworthy:
Moog (pronounced like "rogue", not like, um, "boob") Little Phatty Analog Synthesizer.

It's a monophonic synth (only outputs one note at a time), but that's okay because it is awesome.
Not awesome like that bird pooped on the car next to you and missed your recently washed car...
We're talking awesome like the cool side of the pillow in summer, glowing red tide sand, lover giving you a hug when you had a bad day, Los Altos Taqueria burrito (!) kind of awesome.
What's not awesome is that I'm not really a keyboard player...so, there's that.
But I pretend, kind of.



All parts (yes, even the drums) were made with the little phatty synth.
For percussion, I spent some time programming some white noise and filter envelopes (harhar|snort|har) for the high hat and snare sounds and some deep sine tones for the bass kick.
Then I assigned each of these samples to specific keys and BOOSH, I can tap out a drum beat.

The bass and high lead sounds were presets on the synth, I only changed the modulation slightly.
So again, I've posted some unfinished, unmixed, unmastered tracks.
But I learned some things. Progress is fun.



Netflix stream picks:
"Moog" - Awesome documentary on Robert Moog (founder of the synthesizer).
"Arrested Development" - So. Good.
"Example Short" - Just search for "example" and stream one of them. That's where I work, in Los Gatos. That guy moonwalking? Oh, yeah, he was a hired professional.

High res benefits

Celebrated 3 years of happiness with mi muñeca on April...the other day, I don't remember.
Just kidding.
Every time I tried to measure her ring finger, she woke up. So I couldn't surprise her with a...Chinese finger trap.
Instead I picked up a Nikon digital SLR camera. She's been talking about getting one and learning photography since forever (3+ years, anyway).
Since her iPod touch snaps are generally very cool, I figured she has an eye for this thing and it should be nurtured.
Maybe I was being subconsciously selfish, but I think I was right...

Attendance


Flash


Spot

They forgot to draw my glasses, but Soid didn't.

Part 2. Soid didn't like that the authors forgot my glasses.
Or that she wasn't part of my life flashing before my eyes.


Fixed. Thanks doll.

They forgot to draw my glasses

I have to admit I copped this from Casey's blog.
It's me more than I am though so I had to share here.

Fishy life

Remember, select 720p. It's HD or no D up in here.


After consulting the birthday boy, I've learned the little white spots everywhere are snail eggs.
Sea snails can change sex depending on the needs of their population.
As there are only two of this species, odds are the need is there.
Baby snails will get eaten by the fish, hermits, and skunk cleaner shrimp though, so I don't expect to be up in the middle of the night changing...water.

Honest Money

If you know me at all, you know I love burritos.
Taquerias make burritos that are incomparable to Chipotle burritos.
It'd be like comparing gourmet Italian pasta to the pasta bread bowls you can order from Pizza Hut delivery. Except a bit different, because Chipotle burritos are actually quite tasty.

Normally, I order the chicken burrito with guacamole.
They've always written 'CG' on my burrito foil.
I know now that this designates 'chicken' and 'guacamole' to the cashier.
I never really put the two together before.
I figured they just thought I was a 'cool guy'.
Which, obviously, I am.
I was hurt for about 20 seconds tonight when the burrito foil only read 'C'.

I thought, I am wearing a pink shirt, maybe he just thinks I'm cool, but girly-ish.
Oh well.
Then the cashier said, "Chicken burrito, chips or drink, $6.66 please."
Perplexing how she knew the total before she attained if I wanted some chips or a beverage...but that didn't concern me. What concerned me was the price.
I pay attention to what I pay. And $6.66 was unfamiliar...

It all came crashing down.
I'm not a "cool guy", I just happen to love chicken and guacamole.
I tried to mask my pain with humor:
"Actually, I ordered guacamole, too...and I don't want my total to be associated with Satan."
She laughed, presented me with the higher total, and asked, "Do you really believe in that stuff?"
I handed her my credit card and replied, "I don't really know, but I believe in being honest."

As I returned to my car (since only schmucks dine in, Casey), a dollar bill scurried into my path with the breeze. I picked it up, made sure the serial number had no sequences of '666', and pocketed it.

Thanks God.

Be honest. It pays in the end...when people drop cash.

Tank Update

iPhone. Not the iPod touch.

Happy three years to Scoid.
Remember to select 720p.

Here's to a happy, healthy, fish tank.


..and clean dishes.

Feeling like you belong

Enjoying the new job thus far.
Conference/meeting rooms are all named after movies or TV shows.
The restrooms near my office have screen prints of two of the Planet of the Apes characters on the doors, but I found myself in another wing today and discovered other facilities...

I liked these more:

Men's room.


Women's room.

Apologies for the blurred picture of Marge. It was rushed.
It's only my first full week and I felt that snapping a picture of the ladies' room door was a bit risky.
It's certainly a different corporate culture from what I'm used to, but I think if an employee happened to exit the restroom just as I was taking a picture of the door inside of her bathroom, I might be reprimanded.
Maybe. I haven't gone through that part of orientation yet.

And, near the copy machine:


It's nice to be around people as silly as me and have the company endorse it.

Synergy

I love dogs. And skating.
Combine the two for...


Tail grab!
Harharharharsnort.

You know your country is impoverished when...

Based on the number of views, you may have seen this video already.
Oh well. It's still funny.



Gotta love the spy music.

Guitar Appreciation

I appreciate guitars.
It seems guitars also appreciate.

This is from my order history on Musician's Friend:


My sister will remember me waiting anxiously for UPS to deliver this guitar.
I opened it up in the hallway with the grin of a kid on Christmas morning.
I was in college, had no credit card (only a VISA check-card), and no credit. I had to argue with my bank to increase the transaction limit of my check-card temporarily and then call Musician's Friend to "Run it now! Run it now!"
It was a big deal for me.

My buddy Steve (I didn't know him at the time) purchased the same guitar (with the Montego Black finish, not Sunburst...because he lacks taste) and he recently told me our guitars are worth significantly more than what we paid for them.

From Musician's Friend this morning:


Note: when we purchases them in 2004, they came with an iPod Shuffle (the first generation - they looked like USB thumb drives).

I'm not a mathemagician, but $500 is like, 1.5% increase or something!
Hell yes!

Portal 2 Ads Deliver

Ads for the sequel to Portal are awesome.
Saw this one around Valentine's day this year, but I didn't share. I will do that now...


"Women love diamonds for their wide range of industrial applications."
That killed me.

That's 65% more bullet, per bullet

April 19th. Get ready.

Post lunch meeting battles

In this corner, measuring in at about one square inch, we have, the hardened, TERIYAKI SAUCE!!!

And in this corner, an impulse buy from the Target checkout line, touting to remove stains instantly, TIDE TO GO!!!

LLLLLET'S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLLE!!!!

Frugality works

I gave up cable a while ago and watched streaming video quality improve over time, but little was done to deliver high quality surround sound audio.
When I heard Netflix streams HD video encoded with 5.1 Dolby surround sound through the PS3, I was pretty excited. I have one of those.
I took the plunge on the free one month trial and have thoroughly enjoyed my subscription.
However, I am also a cheap bastard. $7.99/month is fair, but almost eight bucks more per month than what I was spending...what to do...
I thought back to my college days, that time when I was smart ("S-M-R-T, I mean...").
I loved In-n-Out cheeseburgers, but eating out became expensive and hard to justify with an on campus meal plan.
When I heard employees get free meals with each shift, I put in my application.
Bam. Free cheeseburgers and a job wearing a paper hat.
Store #69 baby.

Back to the point...free Netflix subscription for employees?
Bam. New job for slobscot.
Thanks to friends and family who've had to listen to me talk of little else while interviewing.

Ideas are born in the clouds

Bioshock Infinite will not be set under water because of this doodle from a developer at 2K Irrational game studios.

Libya has no bearing on filling up this tank

New coral up in the left quadrant.
Also get a closeup of the pulsating xenia coral.
It might look like it's just going with the flow of the water, but each polyp actually pulses in a pumping kind of motion, similar to your hand if you were to hold your palm face up and touch your thumb to your fingers (assuming all you monkeys have opposable thumbs - I don't think my readership has expanded to the non-evolved, yet).

Remember to select 720p


As is often the case, some hitch hikers (as they're called in the hobby) were living on the rock that came attached to my new coral. Not sure of the exact species, but at least two small bristle starfish (I think that's what they are, someone else got a picture) came along with the coral.
Bonus!

Reading
How Would You Move Mount Fuji?
The Master and Margarita

Hearing
Glassjaw - Coloring Book EP
The xx - xx
Dropkick Murphys - Going Out in Style

Viewing
Dexter
The Office (BBC version)

Warming the cold

Sometimes, life is good.



That is all.

Sometimes I do what I wanna

What could be a better follow up to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (courtesy of the princess) than a glass of Bushmills and some guitar?

Warning: Volume increases near the end of Jam 2 as I switch from the BOSS DS-1 to the EH Big Muff Pi.


Boring videos, I know, but placement decisions had more to do with audio than video action.
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the mic on the iPod touch.

Friday Tank Update

The Yellow Watchman Goby generally perches smugly on rocks or sand, balancing on its ventral fin, perpetually frowning, until some food floats or crawls on by.
Lately, as it has become more acclimated to my tank (and much healthier than it was at the fish store, I might add*), it will venture out into the Fire Goby's domain.
The Fire Goby flicks its dorsal fin to show local dominance, but since I've found both fish in the filter chambers**, it's unclear who is dominating whom...
Remember to select 720p, I don't know why YouTube changed it up so HD isn't retained.


You can see that just swimming in place is much more of an effort for the Watchman Goby.
They are really built for perching.

*Why is that said? "I might add" always follows something that was, in fact, added.
You're in the conversation, you're not conversing about how you might converse if you weren't presently conversing.
English is fucking weird, I might add.

**These are chambers behind the wall of the tank, housing active carbon, sponges, the pump, and the water heater. If a fish is back here, it was usually chased to the surface and jumped out. It is a bitch to get them back into the main tank.

Vocoder Win

You've Seen the Butcher is probably my favorite track from Diamond Eyes.
Sol Invicto (members of Cypress Hill and Deftones) remix it below.
Purchasing the remix benefits Deftones bassist Chi Cheng who is in recovery from a car crash in 2008.


Not sure about the 80's drum down, but I love the vocoder on the chorus.

Uh oh...

I like dogs...but on live TV, you have to be careful.
You think they filmed Air Bud in one take?


That's...that's not exactly what we would have expected...
Me neither, Art...me neither, but maybe because we haven't spent enough time abused and in a cage...

Enginerd

There's a fine missing line between engineer and nerd.

Exhibit [A-Z]:

The truth is though, that Alex (left) is a better snowboarder than I am, which says...very little actually, but it doesn't change that fact that he's good.

He can also write a story that extracts the saltwater from your eyes.

And don't let Mike's glasses fool you. He's more athletic than the dumb jock you've loved to hate all your life and can speak intelligently on nearly anything, breaking the stereotype of the socially dysfunctional nerd that can't hold a conversation.

So really, the only things that can be said for certain about nerds:

• They're taking over the world.
• They sit in the (quite comfortable) position of consistently underestimated.
• Their talents are eclectic.
• They will always bypass the bull shit on television to play any game involving dungeons, dragons, and fairies.

Babe Alert

Did you know that the 'B' in IBM stands for 'Babe'?
Because it doesn't.
Unless mi muñeca worked on the article published in their technical library:


I'm brimming with pride. It's rare for me to brim. But right now, I am brimming.

Reunion, Reef, and...Furries?

It was almost a year since I saw one of my best friends since 2nd grade.
We had a reunion of sorts this weekend, complete with burritos, bourbon, NBA Jam, and...furries...
Leaving the bottomless mimosas, we walked over to the AMC movie theater. The Green Hornet was the best choice, but it wasn't playing for another 40 minutes or so. We decided to continue our walk through downtown San Jose.

Coming up to the park, we were bombarded by herds of bipedal animals:


Adequately buzzed, we figured...what the hell, suck it Seth Rogen.

They all stayed in pretty good character.

No, they didn't creepily hit on little boys. I mean to say they didn't speak much, kind of like theme park mascots.

Justin really warmed up to them.

A day late Google search told us this was a convention for...people that...like to dress up...as furry animals...

Punnily named "Further Confusion", we were quite confused by it.

But also entertained.

Sunday, after waiting out the hangover, I went to the fish store and got some new life, a Yellow Watchman Goby and Pulsing Xenia coral.

Here's a video.

Yup, as an added bonus (since this was uploaded directly from the iPod touch with original audio), you get to hear the Mrs. and I discuss the location of our salsa in the fridge...

Omnivorous sharks

Probably somewhere at some time, a shark missed a baby seal and bit into a giant maple leaf.
If not, there's always tonight.


They did just score...

That's Alex, he's Canadian. He's not only mad about that (in Canada, milk comes in bags), he's also upset that the Sharks scored.

Alex would later call me inconsistent because I cheered whenever anyone scored.
The first two and the last three letters are correct, but the middle part does differ...

Indifferent. The answer was indifferent.

I don't remember the final score, I think the Sharks were up by 4 or something.

Koi Pond Strikes Again

Received this text from my buddy Case on the weekend:
"roommate tried to pick up the dogs massive dump but was too gross & he threw up. in the koi pond. FML"

Yeah, in case you're new here, Casey has a koi pond in his back yard.


Maybe if I look through at an angle, he won't see me watching him vomit...

Like somebody blowing ear into your muscle

About to head to the gym and call it a week. It's a great feeling.
Just ask Arnold Swortsaginger. I bet he knows.



Wait, what?
Dude! Stop saying it!

Gotta blue moon in your eye

I was playing ping pong the other day and started laughing uncontrollably thinking of this scene from the Sopranos:


It's out of context if you don't watch the show, but if you have seen this episode, you know what's up.
Paule (the smug guy with the mayonnaise on his face) is one of those tragic figures that's such a likable idiot, just thinking of some of his expressions or his dialog makes me laugh.
The Sopranos is one of my favorite shows because of the varied topics they present.
Sure, the characters are often deplorable, but you can't help but relate to them and grow to like them here and there.
It's great how the writers show how simultaneously genius and idiotic crime can be, especially when it's successful.

Bad Rabbits on Deftones

Bad Rabbits performing a cover of Deftones' track Sextape off their latest record, Diamond Eyes.



No, that's not Pau Gasol on guitar.