Twenty Seconds Of Ad Hate
Dear no cost credit report people, I've heard your (expletive) songs about selling seafood and driving a crappy car too many (expletive) times. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut the expletive up!
And note - I will never, never ever use your service since you have worn down my LAST nerve with those gotdam ads!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
New On The Blogroll
M.J. Perry's "Carpe Diem" blog. Excellent economics. The site comes to me courtesy of Lycurgus whose recommendations seem to pan out pretty well. Read. Learn. I would be an autodidact if I worked a little harder at it.
A particular case in point, with all the yammering about the subprime lending "crisis" (it's not a crisis - it's a problem certainly but given it's fractional percentage of the market, it is not a crisis), and all the massive writedowns that financial institutions have taken, would you imagine that every major U.S. bank was profitable last year. The press is lying to you. That's the beauty of the blogosphere.
M.J. Perry's "Carpe Diem" blog. Excellent economics. The site comes to me courtesy of Lycurgus whose recommendations seem to pan out pretty well. Read. Learn. I would be an autodidact if I worked a little harder at it.
A particular case in point, with all the yammering about the subprime lending "crisis" (it's not a crisis - it's a problem certainly but given it's fractional percentage of the market, it is not a crisis), and all the massive writedowns that financial institutions have taken, would you imagine that every major U.S. bank was profitable last year. The press is lying to you. That's the beauty of the blogosphere.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Vote For My Lolcat
OK. It's not a cat. It's a frog. Show me the love - go vote it up. Tell your friends. Force them to vote it up. I don't ask for much. Pretend I'm Dr. Evil and throw me a frickin' bone here.
OK. It's not a cat. It's a frog. Show me the love - go vote it up. Tell your friends. Force them to vote it up. I don't ask for much. Pretend I'm Dr. Evil and throw me a frickin' bone here.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Hiatus
No posts until the Sunday music embed. I've got a lot on my slate and dealing with it is taking the gumption I would otherwise put into the biting wit and deep thoughts of blog posting. And the sarcasm. Did I mention the sarcasm?
A couple of notes until I return: I talked with a (and I'm not being sarcastic here) very nice customer service rep at Verizon to inquire about their FIOS service which is available in my 'hood. As it turns out, I can actually save a few (not many but a few) dollars with the special offers and bundled service that they offer in FIOS. That would be faster internet, better television signal and all the same phone features. 15 days to cancel should I decide I don't like it. A two-year price lock in. Free installation and one extra special discount which is what brings my cost down to just below what I'm paying now. Deal. (ptew! shake)
Newspaper. I'm going to try the Washington Times electronic version instead of home delivery of the paper. It's cheaper. I don't have to toddle out in the cold or heat to collect it. I won't have to deal with the read paper (bundling and recycling that is). As long as I can print out the X-word puzzle (and sometimes the sudoku), I think it'll work much better for me. I'm just so ecologically conscious! Oh look - sarcasm's back.
No posts until the Sunday music embed. I've got a lot on my slate and dealing with it is taking the gumption I would otherwise put into the biting wit and deep thoughts of blog posting. And the sarcasm. Did I mention the sarcasm?
A couple of notes until I return: I talked with a (and I'm not being sarcastic here) very nice customer service rep at Verizon to inquire about their FIOS service which is available in my 'hood. As it turns out, I can actually save a few (not many but a few) dollars with the special offers and bundled service that they offer in FIOS. That would be faster internet, better television signal and all the same phone features. 15 days to cancel should I decide I don't like it. A two-year price lock in. Free installation and one extra special discount which is what brings my cost down to just below what I'm paying now. Deal. (ptew! shake)
Newspaper. I'm going to try the Washington Times electronic version instead of home delivery of the paper. It's cheaper. I don't have to toddle out in the cold or heat to collect it. I won't have to deal with the read paper (bundling and recycling that is). As long as I can print out the X-word puzzle (and sometimes the sudoku), I think it'll work much better for me. I'm just so ecologically conscious! Oh look - sarcasm's back.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Fred's Out
Damn. Just Damn. There's not a real conservative left in the race. This is the first time someone I've wanted to vote for was not the candidate and it leaves me pissed off at the GOP. Well, I can support Mitt Romney even if he's not my first choice.
The GOP really, I mean really needs a new Reaganite revolution.
Damn. Just Damn. There's not a real conservative left in the race. This is the first time someone I've wanted to vote for was not the candidate and it leaves me pissed off at the GOP. Well, I can support Mitt Romney even if he's not my first choice.
The GOP really, I mean really needs a new Reaganite revolution.
Resolutions Continuing
I now weigh on both the counterbalance scale and the flat scale every three days. They diverge by roughly (today exactly) five pounds with the flat scale being five to the good. I started charting the lighter weight even though I was recording both the weights in my Day-Timer™. This is not exactly being self honest so I added new columns and am charting both.
My guess is that as I back down from the tropospheric weights the two measures will converge to a point where the flat scale will register within a pound, roughly, of the counterbalance scale. At that point, I may sell the counterbalance scale and just keep the smaller, more easily stored scale. But that day's a long way away.
The good news is that on the counterbalance I am half a pound away from my monthly goal already. If I could knock off half again as much by month's end, I'd be pleased. It could be considered a jump on next (short) month but I'm going to try for my monthly goal whatever the loss in the prior month was.
I now weigh on both the counterbalance scale and the flat scale every three days. They diverge by roughly (today exactly) five pounds with the flat scale being five to the good. I started charting the lighter weight even though I was recording both the weights in my Day-Timer™. This is not exactly being self honest so I added new columns and am charting both.
My guess is that as I back down from the tropospheric weights the two measures will converge to a point where the flat scale will register within a pound, roughly, of the counterbalance scale. At that point, I may sell the counterbalance scale and just keep the smaller, more easily stored scale. But that day's a long way away.
The good news is that on the counterbalance I am half a pound away from my monthly goal already. If I could knock off half again as much by month's end, I'd be pleased. It could be considered a jump on next (short) month but I'm going to try for my monthly goal whatever the loss in the prior month was.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Just Linkage
Here is a page of pics that scream for lolcatting. There are cats and pugs and hedgehogs and birds and cows and monkeys and .... I think there's even a pangolin. Take a look and tell me that you don't have at least two dozen captions running through your mind. There's a big load of cute over there.
Here is a page of pics that scream for lolcatting. There are cats and pugs and hedgehogs and birds and cows and monkeys and .... I think there's even a pangolin. Take a look and tell me that you don't have at least two dozen captions running through your mind. There's a big load of cute over there.
Sunday Music Embed
Brought to you from those halcyon days of 1981, Aussie Two-Hit Wonder Billy Field with one of those two: "Bad Habits." I heard this on NHK radio when I was teaching in Japan and have loved the unusual singing voice, the horn charts and the wonderful lyrics. Strangely, I always thought of Bobby Short when I heard that voice. To see that the singer is a geeky white guy is a little disconcerting. But the song's still great. Enjoy.
Brought to you from those halcyon days of 1981, Aussie Two-Hit Wonder Billy Field with one of those two: "Bad Habits." I heard this on NHK radio when I was teaching in Japan and have loved the unusual singing voice, the horn charts and the wonderful lyrics. Strangely, I always thought of Bobby Short when I heard that voice. To see that the singer is a geeky white guy is a little disconcerting. But the song's still great. Enjoy.
OK, This Made Me Laugh
After Mr. and Mrs. Fenton retired, Mrs. Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, Mr. Fenton was like most men - he found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunately, Mrs. Fenton was like most women, and loved to browse. One day Mrs. Fenton received the following letter from her local Wal-Mart.
Dear Mrs. Fenton,
Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.
1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.
2 . July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.
4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, "Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away."
5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.
6. September 14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a carpeted area.
7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them
in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.
8. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"
9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.
10. November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the " Mission Impossible" theme.
12. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his "Madonna look" by using different sizes of funnels.
13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled "PICK ME! PICK ME!"
14. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed "OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN !"
And last, but not least
15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!"
Regards,
Wal-Mart
After Mr. and Mrs. Fenton retired, Mrs. Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, Mr. Fenton was like most men - he found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunately, Mrs. Fenton was like most women, and loved to browse. One day Mrs. Fenton received the following letter from her local Wal-Mart.
Dear Mrs. Fenton,
Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.
1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.
2 . July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.
4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, "Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away."
5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.
6. September 14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a carpeted area.
7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them
in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.
8. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"
9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.
10. November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the " Mission Impossible" theme.
12. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his "Madonna look" by using different sizes of funnels.
13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled "PICK ME! PICK ME!"
14. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed "OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN !"
And last, but not least
15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!"
Regards,
Wal-Mart
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Update On The Netflixery
I had the distinct displeasure of wacthing "Evan Almighty" last night. Oh my aching deity. What a horrible, horrible movie. It is the biggest steaming pile of beef by-product I have seen in years. I am simultaneously drawn toward deconstructing just how vilely awful it is and repulsed by even thinking about it. And I have to come down on the side of the latter. But please, please for the love of God Montresor! do not watch this crapfest.
I had the distinct displeasure of wacthing "Evan Almighty" last night. Oh my aching deity. What a horrible, horrible movie. It is the biggest steaming pile of beef by-product I have seen in years. I am simultaneously drawn toward deconstructing just how vilely awful it is and repulsed by even thinking about it. And I have to come down on the side of the latter. But please, please for the love of God Montresor! do not watch this crapfest.
Friday, January 18, 2008
A Whole Slew Of New From PRS
It's NAMM Guitar show time and the brilliant luthiers at Paul Reed Smith have brought forth a good dozen new models. Of course a lot of the "new" is working up existing models in new configurations and woods. F'rinstance, there is the SE Custom SemiHollow with "soapbar" pickups (please don't ask me to explain the nuances of different pickups - I have an idea of what's behind a pickup but can't tell you what effect the differences make). If I were adding to the collection, I'd probably get an SE Custom SH - the SE line is less expensive and as a light guitar to carry around, the Custom SH is a fine looking gitbox. I find the arc-shaped sound hole to be way cool.
On the other hand, I've never been much of a fan of the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece - big, clunky, heavy and not very pretty. But the PRS style trem will only work on a solid piece of wood making his hollowbodied guitars, up to now, trem-less. The new model is the SCJ Thinline which has a Bigsby. The name. I'm sure, comes from the Single Cut configuration with the J probably as a "jazz" designation - I could compeltely see George Benson playing one of these. And it has the Bigsby which, given that a PRS trem couldn't be mounted on it, is OK by me. In fact, I'd buy one of these were I pooping cash (only 300 are in production which will put a price premium on these like nobody's business!)
I won't go into agonizing detail on all of these beauties since my rhapsodizing would grow more than a little boring. Yet a couple of things are worth noting. First, there's a new style of birds fret-board inlay. Click on one of the PRS links above and select the Santana MD ("Multi Dimensional") from the list. It's a bit hard to see but the birds are outlines in gold. Looks gorgeous. Oh, and this represents the return of a Santana-named model to the non-SE lineup (note the rounded "belly" of the guitar's body, the midline inlay, the fairly symmetrical "horns" and the non-standard shape of the headstock).
Secondly (well, thirdly I guess), a korina wood model of the McCarty line. Damn fine looking in natural methinks. My understanding is that korina is a superior tonewood and is reasonably light as well. I'll be reading the "Birds and Moons" forum for tone reports on that one.
If you have a few minutes and appreciate guitarfleisch, click on one of the links above and look over the additions to the lineup. A thing of beauty is a yadda, yadda. Take a look, eh?
It's NAMM Guitar show time and the brilliant luthiers at Paul Reed Smith have brought forth a good dozen new models. Of course a lot of the "new" is working up existing models in new configurations and woods. F'rinstance, there is the SE Custom SemiHollow with "soapbar" pickups (please don't ask me to explain the nuances of different pickups - I have an idea of what's behind a pickup but can't tell you what effect the differences make). If I were adding to the collection, I'd probably get an SE Custom SH - the SE line is less expensive and as a light guitar to carry around, the Custom SH is a fine looking gitbox. I find the arc-shaped sound hole to be way cool.
On the other hand, I've never been much of a fan of the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece - big, clunky, heavy and not very pretty. But the PRS style trem will only work on a solid piece of wood making his hollowbodied guitars, up to now, trem-less. The new model is the SCJ Thinline which has a Bigsby. The name. I'm sure, comes from the Single Cut configuration with the J probably as a "jazz" designation - I could compeltely see George Benson playing one of these. And it has the Bigsby which, given that a PRS trem couldn't be mounted on it, is OK by me. In fact, I'd buy one of these were I pooping cash (only 300 are in production which will put a price premium on these like nobody's business!)
I won't go into agonizing detail on all of these beauties since my rhapsodizing would grow more than a little boring. Yet a couple of things are worth noting. First, there's a new style of birds fret-board inlay. Click on one of the PRS links above and select the Santana MD ("Multi Dimensional") from the list. It's a bit hard to see but the birds are outlines in gold. Looks gorgeous. Oh, and this represents the return of a Santana-named model to the non-SE lineup (note the rounded "belly" of the guitar's body, the midline inlay, the fairly symmetrical "horns" and the non-standard shape of the headstock).
Secondly (well, thirdly I guess), a korina wood model of the McCarty line. Damn fine looking in natural methinks. My understanding is that korina is a superior tonewood and is reasonably light as well. I'll be reading the "Birds and Moons" forum for tone reports on that one.
If you have a few minutes and appreciate guitarfleisch, click on one of the links above and look over the additions to the lineup. A thing of beauty is a yadda, yadda. Take a look, eh?
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Recent Netflixery
(singing) One of these is not like the other...
Evan Almighty and Resident Evil: Extinction.
Yet there is a bit of a common thread. Go figure.
(singing) One of these is not like the other...
Evan Almighty and Resident Evil: Extinction.
Yet there is a bit of a common thread. Go figure.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Wallace Stevens Never Wrote About A Green Guitar
And he never knew anything about a Paul Reed Smith. Trolling eBay i came upon this lovely piece of work: a 2007 513 in "Midori Green." That's in quotes because "midori" mean green so the color is called "green green." There are a couple of things about this beauty that stand out. First, I think the color is fantastic even though I've tended to favor figured maple tops over opaque finishes. Secondly, the 513 (five single-coil pickup grouped into a humbucking configurations at the neck and bridge locations and a single in between which yields 13 distinct tonal variations) is just an insanely versatile guitar. The lead guitarist on the "American Idol" band plays a 513 if you've watched and seen it. In fact, the particular version he plays is exactly the same as mine: Matteo blue flame maple finish with a Brazilian rosewood (AKA "crackwood") neck.
The listing I link to is one of the new models which has a mahogany neck which does change the sound somewhat - I'm told by my friend the Guitar Nazi who has an ear vastly superior to mine. But the mahogany-necked 513s are not quite as spendy as the crackwood versions so there's something to say for that. And some have even said they prefer the sound of the newer models.
I look at that Midori and get all gooey in the guitar love centers of my brain. And the BIN of $2,900 is really not bad. Also, there's a link embedded in the eBay listing to a uToob demonstration of the 513. It's worth following.
UPDATE: BY way of comparison, a Brazzy 513 is on the 'Bay for a bit shy of $5K. Since PRS is now only putting Brazilian rosewood necks on its Private Stock (i.e. custom-built) models, the price premium for crackwood is going to do nothing but go up. I'm glad I got mine fer sher, fer sher.
And he never knew anything about a Paul Reed Smith. Trolling eBay i came upon this lovely piece of work: a 2007 513 in "Midori Green." That's in quotes because "midori" mean green so the color is called "green green." There are a couple of things about this beauty that stand out. First, I think the color is fantastic even though I've tended to favor figured maple tops over opaque finishes. Secondly, the 513 (five single-coil pickup grouped into a humbucking configurations at the neck and bridge locations and a single in between which yields 13 distinct tonal variations) is just an insanely versatile guitar. The lead guitarist on the "American Idol" band plays a 513 if you've watched and seen it. In fact, the particular version he plays is exactly the same as mine: Matteo blue flame maple finish with a Brazilian rosewood (AKA "crackwood") neck.
The listing I link to is one of the new models which has a mahogany neck which does change the sound somewhat - I'm told by my friend the Guitar Nazi who has an ear vastly superior to mine. But the mahogany-necked 513s are not quite as spendy as the crackwood versions so there's something to say for that. And some have even said they prefer the sound of the newer models.
I look at that Midori and get all gooey in the guitar love centers of my brain. And the BIN of $2,900 is really not bad. Also, there's a link embedded in the eBay listing to a uToob demonstration of the 513. It's worth following.
UPDATE: BY way of comparison, a Brazzy 513 is on the 'Bay for a bit shy of $5K. Since PRS is now only putting Brazilian rosewood necks on its Private Stock (i.e. custom-built) models, the price premium for crackwood is going to do nothing but go up. I'm glad I got mine fer sher, fer sher.
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