We cleaned up previously accepted unethical actions; we ushered in bi-partisan Ethics Reform.

We also slowed the rate of government growth, we worked with the Legislature to save billions of dollars for the future, and I made no lobbyist friends with my hundreds of millions of dollars in budget vetoes… but living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow.

We took government out of the dairy business and put it back into private-sector hands – where it should be.

We provided unprecedented support for education initiatives, and with the right leadership, finally filled long-vacant public safety positions. We built a sub-Cabinet on Climate Change and took heat from Outside special interests for our biologically-sound wildlife management for abundance.

We broke ground on the new prison.

And we made common sense conservative choices to eliminate personal luxuries like the jet, the chef, the junkets… the entourage.

And the Lt. Governor and I said “no” to our pay raises.

bolding added for emphasis

So? What would you think of this person? I’d think fairly highly of this person. Do you?

The whole article is here.

The whole argument is that you’re denying life. Right-to-lifers say that life starts at conception. Anti-genetic filtering-ers essentially say that life starts before conception.

Ok, taking those two pieces of information and assuming them as truth for purposes of a thought experiment, riddle me this [batman]. How many counts of murder should we charge an assailant with who kills a person (man or woman)? If the victim is a man, how many sperm could be created by that man that, by Anti-genetic-filtering-ers standards, is already life? And if the victim is a woman, the same question for her eggs. Now, extend that one step further. If even a single sperm or egg matures and becomes a living, breathing, walking human, how many sperm/eggs will that human create? And so on. We quickly see that the assailant should be charged with essentially infinite counts of murder. (For those who are confused and believe that there is a finite number, look up the mathematical term “limit” in your nearest pre-calculus book.)

This is wholly ungainly. Sure, the assailant has committed murder either way, and will face the stiffest penalty of the jurisdiction.

I do agree that the view held by some segments of our population that looks at abortions like going to the dentist is horrifying, but I also see that, in certain cases (rape, terminal illness, etc.) the parent(s) should be allowed a choice – assuming they pass a proper psychological screening and such.

As for genetic filtering, I think that selecting out certain genes – cancer (if a gene can be found), crohns, huntingtons, etc. – would be beneficial not only to the child, but to the populace at large. Going so far as to selecting hair color, eye color, height, scholastic aptitude, …that’s a bit too Hitlerish for me.

———–

I got a fountain pen. A Pilot Plumix. It’s plastic and has a 1mm wide calligraphy-style nib. I’ve been looking for a cheap one since I got down here, and I finally found this one at Target for $6. I find that I like using it, so I may pony up for a more expensive (and less plastic) model soon. Mainly, I just want to use up the rest of this damned blue ink. I HATE blue ink. No idea why.

———–

Ran my first Tech Talk here at work. Thanks to Shompy-Joe (or 3-way-Joe…or has he graduated to 4- or even 5-way?) for holding Tech Talks while I was employed at Trisept. It went as well as I would have expected.

———–

In home theater news, my former 12-foot screen has (by space constraints) been replaced with a 20-inch screen. Dammit. The room we’re living in is only 13′x17′, and the 20″ is on my Dell computer monitor. Hate to say it, but I’d kill for a 32″ or 37″ lcd. I at least have surround sound – I bitched my analog-only Klipsch 5.1 computer speakers into being driven by my HT receiver. Man, I need a house. Man, I need to sell my house. Any takers?

———–

Pre-ordered the iPhone 3GS. Gonna give Melinda my 1st gen iPhone.

———–

I’ve switched to Safari 4 as my main Windows browser. Lightyears quicker than Firefox 3.whatever. Still using Firefox on my Mac tho – for some reason, the Google Reader keyboard shortcuts don’t work in Safari on the Mac, but they do in Windows. The only thing I wish I could find for Safari/Win is a proper ad blocking plugin. Ah well.

• The move happened pretty much as I said it would a few posts back. I got a 16′ Penske truck with a car trailer. The truck was as close to full as I was comfortable with, and there were still a few things left out for the movers to take. Overall, I’d say the Benadryl we gave Kona worked like a charm. It didn’t knock her out, but it did mellow her a bit. She stayed on the floor, between the seats of the truck for the whole drive. Here’s a pic of her passed out on the floor. Awwww.
• I want to SEVERELY MAIM (not kill…then they wouldn’t suffer like I did) whoever decided that the rental truck shouldn’t have cruise control. My right leg kept cramping up, and I’d have to use my left foot on the gas.
• We’re staying in a small (13′x17′) 1-room apartment that was built into half of a small barn. We’ve got a bathroom, a “kitchenette” that can only be called that cause it’s got a mini-fridge and a sink, and a single closet. Oh yeah, and 15′x20′ and 5′x10′ storage units (1 each) about 20 minutes away with all the rest of our earthly belongings. Except the condo. Which we still own & didn’t move. Anyone wanna buy it? Please?
• We figured out early on that we’d have to do some rearranging and significant purchasing of press-board Walmart shelving. I’ve gotten two shelving units, one to make part of my makeshift desk, and one tall unit for the kitchenette. Once we clear out some more boxes, we’ll probably get some more.
• My job is pretty neat, but that’s about all I can say about it. The commute isn’t the greatest (45min-1hr), and the hours are early. I usually get here about 6:45 am so I can get a parking spot, and I don’t leave till 4 pm. Somehow that reminds me that I NEED to make a phonecall today.

That’s it for now. I’ve got my Xbox 360 set up and playable, but I’ve downgraded from 12 feet (projector) to 20 inches (Dell LCD monitor). I needs a new tv.

1. Now till Tuesday Apr 14: PACK. Lord Jesus do we need to pack.
2. Wednesday: Pick up rental truck & car trailer, load up valuables/electronics/immediate-need stuff
3. Thursday: Me and Kona leave in rental truck; Melinda stays back to supervise movers packing efforts
4. Friday: Movers load everything left into their truck & leave. Melinda & her mom head to Appleton to do stuff, and I’ll finally arrive in Jacksonville
5. Saturday: I’ll unload the rental truck & my car, confirm the storage unit, and probably sleep a ton
6. Sunday: Melinda will climb on a plane in Milwaukee and fly down to Jax
7. Monday: First day of my new job

Jesus.

In other news, I think I’ve figured out a good app to write for OSX and the iPhone. Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait for iPhone development – I’ll need Core Data, which isn’t available until iPhone OS 3.0 comes out in June (hopefully). Ok, ok, I won’t *need* Core Data, but I’m too damn lazy to re-write Core Data stuff when all I need to do is wait a little bit.

I’m gonna dig into Overflow here for a bit – I’m also using Fresh, but I don’t know for how long.

I’ve tried all kinds of application launchers in OSX, and the only third-party solution I’ve liked is Quicksilver. Google it, it’s amazing. If you know what you want, Quicksilver is the quickest way to get it. If you don’t know what you want, you’re stuck digging through your Applications folder. Unless you have Overflow. By default, Overflow sits in your Dock. (For the record, I just typed “taskbar” by mistake. I hate Windows.) My problem is that I have almost too much in my dock already. I’ve also run the hack that makes hidden apps’ dock icons turn slightly transparent. When Overflow isn’t active, it’s technically hidden, so the icon fades. Yarr. So, up to the menu bar it goes, thanks to a built-in option. I also attached Option-Space as a show/hide hotkey (also a built-in option). Then I set about customizing its application lists.

By default, Overflow comes with two groups – Dock Applications and Dock Items. My “Dock Items” section was empty – probably because I only keep applications in my dock. The first group I added is called “Always On” – apps that are always running due to their inherent usefulness but don’t start automatically on boot for whatever reason (Quicksilver, Firefox, Mail, iCal, iTunes, Twitteriffic, Fresh, Address Book, and Skitch). After playing with Overflow a bit, I realized that I was an inadvertent genius in that each group name has an “Open All Items” option in its context menu. So, on boot, once Overflow comes up (auto-start, another built-in option), invoke, right-click on the “Always On” group name, and hit Open All Items. Wait a minute or so for everything to get going, and I’m set. Genius.

I then made groups for the various iLife apps, office apps (both iWork and M$ Office), “Geek” (0xED, BBEdit, Calculator+, iStumbler, Nocturne, RAIDar – for my NAS, Terminal, and WireShark), Developer (most major apps in the /Developer folder when you install Xcode), and Administration (AppZapper, Activity Monitor, Disk Inventory X, Keychain Access, Network Utility, Remote Desktop, System Preferences, System Profiler, Server Admin, and Workgroup Admin). I then realized that I had other apps that I wanted to run that didn’t really fall into those categories. That spawned the “Mostly On” group – 1Password, Cyberduck, Google Earth, Journler, VLC, and a few others. Once I got everything set up (took about 10 minutes to go through all my apps), I removed most apps from my dock – I’m now down to Finder, Dashboard, Quicksilver (it likes to die in Leopard…leaving it in the dock means it’s just a click away from relaunch), Time Machine, System Preferences, and Terminal. With the Recent Apps and Recent Downloads stacks and the Trash, I’m down to 9 items. Handy.

In other news, I’m flying down to Jacksonville, FL next Wednesday night through Saturday. Watch my tweets. I’ll probably forget, but you never know.

Go ahead and clean the poop out of your pants now…or rather not, as I don’t think this post is going to get any better.

A guy that I work with, a friend of mine, is what I’d call a “dirty, dirty liberal”. Actually, he’s pretty clean cut, but that’s about the only work-safe adjective structure I can put in front of the word “liberal” in that context. (And, if he’s reading this, he’s a real nice guy, and while I disagree with his political views almost entirely, he’s very well educated and I enjoy working with him.) Anyway, he said that Obama is getting more flack from Pelosi and other super-leftists than the conservatives. Pelosi called for a repeal of the Bush tax cuts immediately upon Obama’s swearing-in, and Obama has said “Now WAAAaaaaaAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaAAAAAaaaAAAAaaiiiiittt a minute!” (Sorry, had a show with the band last night and have had Shout running through my head.) Ok, cool. Leave the tax cuts and piss off liberals.

Obama also picked a pro-life, Prop 8 supporter to give the inauguration invocation. Bitchin.

Obama supports warrantless wiretapping. While I don’t like the idea of being spied upon, if even one terrorist attack is foiled because the right people’s phones got tapped quicker than would have been possible if a warrant was required, so be it. Big-brother the hell outta this country, as long as you keep my ass alive.

Finally, and the reason for this post, is a posting at one of my friend’s blogs that Obama authorized a missile strike on two small villages in Pakistan suspected of housing terrorist cells. So, wait, Obama, savior of tree-hugging, whitey-hating, peace-loving liberals said “kill!”?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here trying to explain why I’ve decided to have his love-child [shiver]. I still think he’s the lyingest lying liar who’s ever lied a lie (2nd quote in comment). And he’s a hypocrite. After banging the anti-lobbyist drum for nearly his entire campaign, he appointed one anyway. Don’t forget that whole tax-cut/hike floating limit…first it was $250k, then $200k, then $150k – soon it’ll be $10k and we’ll all be screwed.

Saying “Obama” following “president” makes my stomach churn. While he may be a dirty, dirty liberal, he’s pissing off other liberals. I won’t go as far as invoking “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, but Mr. Obama is making me smile at an alarming rate.

Anyway, enough with the ego masturbation…for now, anyway. Let’s go with a videogaming update.

Been playin the crap outta Fable 2. I’ve nearly maxed out my first character (only two spells left to get to the 5th star and a couple expressions to go), and he’s a badass. I cruised through the Knothole Island expansion, though after reading reviews of it, it sounds like nearly any half-developed character could. Whatever. I also started a second character, this time a girl. Let’s just say the game can’t hold a candle to DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball (1 or 2), but there is motion involved.

And with that, I realize that this country has just 16 minutes before the beginning of the end, and I’ve lost all enthusiasm to continue writing. Can I win the lottery and go buy an island yet?

I should add here that the band I run lights for, Left On Sunset, was playing a show at the Brookfield Sheraton hotel in their Grand Ballroom, a gig that, for the past 6 years, was played by the Boogie Men.

T-minus 11 seconds: brain went to naughty words and trying to gather all possible causes for the loss of an entire dimmer pack: (1) blew a breaker (2) blew a fuse in the dimmer pack (3) loose cable.  Then it was T-minus 10, and my plan for the countdown was shot out the window with four of my ten color cans being out.  I can’t remember what I did, but it was probably some sort of flashing junk to make it look acceptable.

More pre-midnight backstory: Melinda decided that (somewhat correctly, but not very conveniently) that I MUST make out with her AT midnight.  I explained at least three times that I had too many things to concentrate on (lights, fog, balloon drop, etc) to have time for that.  Did she listen?  No.  ‘Course not.  Also need to add that, at this show, I was forced to use THREE separate light boards – one for front lights, one for the back color cans, and one for all the moving lights.  The balloon drop: 20-odd feet long, about 2-3 feet in diameter, we figured about 250 balloons, and at least 4 hours to fill the balloons, load them into the net, and hang it from the ceiling.  Each end is zip-tied shut, and the bottom is stiched together with fishing line that can be pulled at the correct time (and not a SECOND before) to release the balloons.  The line wasn’t long enough, so we got another spool of fishing line to tie on and make it long enough to reach my post.  My instructions from the band were to NOT pull the balloons at midnight when they started playing Auld Lang Syne, or even when they started the next song, 99 Red Balloons.  Find the song, listen to it.  About a minute into the song, after the first breakdown, the song really kicks in and starts pumping.  THAT’s when I needed to release the balloons.  I spent 10 minutes at Jeff’s (the drummer) house going through that song specifically so I knew when to pull.

T-plus 2 seconds: walked over to Melinda (who was right behind me) yelled (cause it was already loud in there), “I just lost a third of my lights.  Happy New Year,” and kissed her.  Turned back to my work only to see FOUR PEOPLE HOLDING THE LINE FOR THE BALLOON DROP.  Once it was loaded, the only person allowed to touch it was me, and only when I was ready to pull.  I can’t count how many times I yelled at the top of my lungs at these drunk bastards (including one of the technical managers for the hotel) to NOT PULL THE F*#%ING LINE!  Meanwhile, the band was staring up at their end looking worried that it might drop too early.  I had other waitstaff and audience members behind me telling me to pull, and I had Melinda yelling at me that the band was motioning me to pull (which I found out later they weren’t).  I musta pissed off about 15 people in those few minutes, but I finally got them off my ass and away from the line.  As the band was finishing with Auld Lang Syne, I had to change the lights up a bit, but I was still holding the line that I had just gotten away from the horde.  The tech manager was still standing there, looking fairly pissed off, and I said/yelled, “HOLD THIS RIGHT F*#%ING HERE!  DON’T F*#%ING MOVE IT, DON’T F*#%ING PULL IT, DON’T LET ANYONE ELSE F*#%ING PULL IT!” and handed him the line.  He thankfully listened.  I fixed up the lights as best I could, then returned my attention to the line.  I grabbed it from him, pulled the line taut, and when the band hit the right note of 99 Red Balloons, I pulled.  Man, I pulled like there was no tomorrow.  The balloons dropped, and for a few scant seconds, everything slowed down.  It was amazing.  Literally over a hundred people crammed on the dance floor, arms up, cheering, getting covered in balloons.  To borrow a word from my friend Matt, it was absolutely stunning.  And just like that, the joy ended when that tech manager walked around behind the table with the look in his face that he was going to punch out a few of my teeth.  He didn’t, but he did leave me a few choice words of his own.  I turned back to my table and realized that in the process of pulling the line out, it knocked over a small plastic cup of champagne all over one of my light boards and Andy’s laptop that we’d been using to play music between sets.  Picked up the light board first, turned it over, shook it, and set it back down, still working, thank Jesus.  Picked up Andy’s laptop (a 2+ year old Macbook Pro I convinced him to buy) while holding the power button with my thumb to force it off while letting it drain.  I handed it to Melinda with instructions to take it somewhere and dry it off, then told one of the sound guys from Badger Sound to get me paper towels for my board and the table.

Side note: in reliving this to type this entry, I’ve become so re-furious I’m literally shaking.

He finally got back with the paper towels, and I dried off what I could.  Whatever the next song was (wasn’t paying attention), I ran up to the stage, pretty much knocking over anyone in my way, to diagnose my dead dimmer pack.  Thankfully, it was simple – power cord pulled out somehow.  Plugged it back in, and it fired right up.  Problem 1 solved.

Problem 2: all the people I pissed off, most importantly Melinda.  Never found the tech manager, but I did flag down the guy that hired LOS, Adam.  (Using his name because he was really cool about the whole night, and really liked the band and our production.)  I gave a somewhat-inebriated Adam the Cliff’s Notes version concerning the tech manager, and he said not to worry about it because it looked great and made all kinds of sense in how it was [eventually] executed.  That helped.  I didn’t (and still don’t) want to be the reason LOS isn’t invited back next year.  As for how angry at me Melinda was, we straightened that out as amicably as a married couple can.

Problem 3: Champagne-ified light board and laptop.  With the laptop off, there was no way to play music after the end of the third (and final) set, but thankfully the band left me a few CDs that they’ve used in the past.  Handed one to the sound guy with instructions.  3a solved.  With nothing else available, I spit-cleaned any sticky areas of the light board.  I don’t know if any liquid got inside (which I expect it did, around the buttons and sliders and stuff), but the board continued to work without issue the rest of the night.  3b solved-ish.  Andy’s laptop: all I can say is that I turned it off as quickly as possible.  This morning, he said he was able to turn it on and use it, so it might be alright.  I don’t think any liquid got to the keyboard area or onto the trackpad, so I think it’s just some sticky areas on the case and spots left on the screen and keyboard that he’ll need to clean up.  3c solved-ish as well.

When the show was completely done and over with, we (four band members + me) unanimously agreed that this was the best show ever for the band.  With confirmed attendance over 300 (still waiting on the exact numbers), it’s the largest crowd LOS has ever played to as the headlining band.  We had every age group in attendance represented on the dance floor, from 21 to 71 (and maybe older).  The guys played Shout (Bon Jovi style, without Bad Medicine tho) and Jump Around (with sequenced-in high-pitched screech), neither of which they’d played before to a crowd (maybe shout, but I don’t think so), and both completely owned the entire room.  It was beyond amazing.  Every single song was a hit, from Every Rose (has a Thorn) to Crazy Bitch, from Save a Horse to My Own Worst Enemy.

My right knee kills, my voice is screwed (probably from F-bombing so much), and my throat feels like 2-grit sandpaper (yes, two).  (To be fair, I’ve had a cold since Sunday night, so the drainage isn’t helping at all.)  I made over twice what the band usually pays me, they bought me a room package deal so I could just sleep at the hotel after the show, and I made another $15 from a drunk guy who wanted me to add a couple songs to the between-set music playlists.  Listening to the band talk today during cleanup, it’s obvious they have a ton more confidence now after last night’s show.

Here’s to hoping the rest of 2009 is better than the first 10 minutes.

…you know, I never did get any of that champagne.

11 pointless projects

10 vague objectives

9 ranting emails

8 mission statements

7 phones-a-ringing

6 endless meetings

fiiiiiiive buuuuudgeeeet cuuuuuuts

4 health problems

3 arbitrary deadlines

2 dirty looks

and a week of unpaid leave

shamelessly stolen from my Dilbert Christmas ornament.

So she could have IBS, or something completely else.  Food allergy is still on the table.  The only way to test for IBS or other is to do a GI biopsy.  Awesome.  Lemmie tell you what we’re not going to do right now: GI biopsies.  Why? Because it’s $87 just to walk in the damn door at the place.

Melinda and I are going tent camping this weekend.  A year back when this reservation was made for a spot at Devil’s Lake, Melinda assured me that she’d been tent camping before, so she knows what to do and stuff.  I have also been, as I was in the Boy Scouts for many years and have my share of eventful tent-camping memories (none of which involve hanky-panky with scout masters or other scouts).  I’ve set up tents, started fires, cooked over a campfire, etc.  While setting up the tent this weekend, Melinda was all about reading the instructions verbatim and stuff.  Me, not so much.  I glanced at it, but that was about it.  If you’ve set up one tent, you’ve set up every tent.  Put the poles together, slide them in the slots, stick them in the ground, add tent steaks where necessary.  After the third dumb question about setting the tent up, I asked her, “Have you ever set up a tent before?”  To which she replied, “No, but I have been tent camping though.”  “Um, ok.  Correction: you’ve slept in a tent, you haven’t been tent camping.  There’s a difference.”  So I guess what I’m saying is that this weekend is going to be awesome …something.

Here, I’ll say it.  I miss my truck.  A lot.  But I like my car.  I’ve joined Audizine (if that last link wasn’t clue enough), and it’s full of people with mostly common interests, and there are quite a few people on there in my area.  I missed the last meetup by about 3 days; hopefully I’ll be able to make it to the next one.

Oh yeah, after picking up Wii Fit, I had a Grande Soft Taco and a Cheesey Gordita Crunch at Taco Bell.  Healthy.

Well, bunk with that.  We’re trading both for a new one of these.  Engine is a 2.0L inline-4 with a turbo, spun through a 6-speed tiptronic auto tranny into Audi’s Quattro.  And yes, thank Jesus, it’s got paddle shifters.  Other bells & whistles included, of course.  It’s the only Avant (wagon) within 50 miles of me, and it just got unloaded on Friday.  It’s the first A4 Avant at this dealer all year, and we had a hold deposit on it the following day.  We’ll be completing the transaction on Saturday, after a Left On Sunset show.

Man, I’m gonna miss my truck.  Thanks, dad.

In other news, I love my new job.  w00t!  (’cept for those two days spent in Assembly…)

Week and a half off: I’m ready for you.

I’ve been thinking of doing a weekly comic using Comic Life.  Thoughts?

If I keep going, I’ll be writing spoilers.  I’ll finish by saying this is the first game in a very long time that I’ve beaten without aid of cheats, walkthroughs, or any help more than a cursory glance through the manual not on the easiest difficulty.  Awesome.

Apple updated iLife & iWork. iLife 08 brings a brand spankin’ new version of iMovie…but people are bitching that it’s too easy to use, so Apple is now allowing purchasers of iLife 08 to download iMovie 6 HD. I’ve only played with iPhoto, and its updates are pretty slick. The “event” idea is a good one, and the splitting/merging of events is really simple. If you don’t like “events”, just hit “Photos” in the left column, and it’s back to the old iPhoto view. iWork’s Pages & Keynote got expected updates, but new to the iWork package is Numbers – Apple’s fledgling spreadsheet app. It’s missing certain basic functionality, but it’s a very slick app. One of those apps for OSX that makes me wish I was back in school to use spreadsheets again.

I’ve gone back to my SLVR. Greg will be happy. I just got fed up with carrying the BlackBrickBerry around.

I just have to wait until the empty box shipped by Microsoft (step 1 in warranty replacement of a 360) to show up after a week of 3-day shipping.

Loh: roger. Now I just need to get (a) a Live Gold subscription and (b) an xbox that doesn’t scratch my discs. Yes, that was a wonderful thing to come home to.

Been reading these for the past week or so. Pretty good stuff, even if it is the dark side.

The worst part is that I’ve caught the R/C bug again. I’ve got an older Team Associated RC10B3, an HPI Micro RS4, and a Team Associated RC18MT. (…also a Kyosho Mini-Z and a few Zip Zaps…) I got the RC10B3 used from a friend in college. It was missing a few screws, didn’t have a body, the rear tires were bald, and didn’t have an ESC. It’s pretty fun to bash around with, but I can’t bash too hard…a few of the screws holding on the front bulkhead aren’t the right size. Team Associated has discontinued it in favor of the RC10B4, so parts for the B3 are almost non-existent. I’ve dumped the most money into the Micro RS4, but I can’t really run it anywhere because it’s an on-road car, and thusly needs a perfect surface to run on. I’ve got an eBay auction page all built up for it, but I haven’t posted it yet, cause I can’t bear to see it go. My most recent waste of money is the RC18MT. The MRS4 came as a kit, so I got the fun of building it. The RC18MT came RTR, so there was no joy of building. I’ve left it stock, because it’s fast as it is (top speed in the neighborhood of 20 mph), and can soak up plenty bumps. That said, I’d like to find somewhere around here to bash it, but there aren’t any purpose-built tracks that I’ve found within an hour drive.

I need to sell all of it. …except the RC18MT. That’s mine. It has pretty good runtime, and I can drive it anywhere. The B3 will probably get me about $50 simply for the electronics. The Mini-Z comes with a tackle box and all its original parts – I added aluminum rims, a 1-degree caster block, a ball differential, aluminum battery clips, and a carbon-fiber H-bar. That could go for $100-$150. The MRS4 will go for the most, since I’ve added quite a few parts to it, including a carbon-fiber main chassis, front aluminum dogbones, and I have 3 bodies for it, along with all the original parts (’cept for one broken plastic dogbone…hence the purchase of the aluminum ones) and original box. All three come with full radio equipment; just add batteries and tear it up.

On another note, EB Games/Gamestop is running a deal right now where if you trade in two used Wii games, you can either take the money or get one brand new Wii game. I traded 4 games and got Godfather and Rayman Raving Rabbids, plus 4 more DS games and got $29.02 on a gift card. It’s good through July 8. See the bottom of this page for deets.

In other news, I was able to score myself an invite to the private beta for Skitch. Those of you not on a Mac won’t give a rip, but Mac users may look at this and drool. I know I did. I used Skitch to get the above screenshot of the site…in about 4 seconds. No Command+Shift+3, open with [insert image editor of your choice], crop, resize, resave, open ftp client, upload. Just Command+Shift+5, drag across area, drag a corner to resize the window & image, name it, and click upload. Or, you can hit Command+Shift+7 and position Skitch over the area you want to capture, and hit the Snap button. Viola! Instant screenshot. Easy as pie. Mmmm…pie.

In other news, if you haven’t been following the gaming feeds, the Halo 3 beta was released the day after my previous post. Pretty awesome, but even after a week, it needs more maps and more people playing. That, and I need more friends on Xbox Live to play with.

omg iv bout f*****g crackdown for this beta and i cant even play it i wated 2 houres now for it to -blam!- out for fu*k sace what is going on

they’re early highschool and have mobile texting bills that are going to put their parents out on the street. Chill out, people, it will be fixed when it gets fixed. No amount of whining, bitching, or poor grammar and spelling will speed the process.

In an unrelated note, I bought an Xbox 360 with Gears of War and Crackdown.

I’m trying to figure out what to do with my tax money. I’ve got a few choices, but I can’t seem to decide. Of course I’m going to save the majority of it, but c’mon, how can I not buy some useless awesome gadget?

The list, in no particular order

1. Xbox 360. No games… *cough*
2. New computer. Ie. cpu, mobo, ram, case, power supply, & video card
3. EyeTV Hybrid & antenna
4. Couple more harddrives for my NAS
5. Lexus IS250 AWD with DVD Navigation

In other news, Melinda’s bird may be egg-bound. That means there’s an egg that needs to come out, but it’s stuck. It’s pretty much fatal if not operated on. Anyone have any coupons for kleenex?

edit: Kevin: hush.

edit 2: it was fatal.

In other news, I am, for some reason, interested in baseball this season. The Brewers (my home team) are 2-2 so far, but with last night’s showing, I doubt that first number will climb much. They lost

I just looked outside. It’s snowing. Hard. Like, dime- and penny-sized flakes. IT’S APRIL SEVENTH. *grumble grumble*
Right, the Brewers lost 9-3. The ‘crew got one in the 6th and the latter two in the 9th. Today’s game starts at noon, but I’m gonna hafta catch it on MLB’s Gameday online. Ah well. I could have gone to the game today for $5, but Melinda woulda been pissed. *sigh*. Some other day.

Gonna go downstairs and waste a couple hours in Oblivion. Weeeee

I got Shivering Isles and Puzzle Quest yesterday. Mini-reviews/commentary to come, but I will say this: they’re both forms of video gaming crack. Now, now, Jack, keep your pants on. Shivering Isles, and its parent game, Oblivion, are more video gaming weed. Not really addictive, but you enter another state of being while playing it. You get totally engrossed in the story. Puzzle Quest is crack. Pure and simple. I’m thinking about playing it right now. I want to play it right now.

…gotta go…

** paused to post on AVS Forum asking for DT-400 owners in/around Milwaukee **

Anywho, the picture is huge. Makes my 36″ look positively puny…which is ironic ’cause it weighs 216 pounds. Also, while searching Digg for a new TV torrent source, I happened upon ShareTV.org. In short, HD-ish quality on demand with no commercials. Not commercials to skip through, simply no commercials. And seven feet five inches diagonally across. Sweet monkey sandwich.

This brings me to another topic: cable tv. It sucks. Why do I have to pay for five channels I’ll watch and 68 (or more) I won’t? It’s absurd. Alright, I’d get FoodTV, Comedy Central, ESPN, ESPN2, Discovery, TLC, Speed, and Weather. Fine, I’d pay for eight channels I’d watch and 65 I wouldn’t. That’s it. Allow customers to pay a per-channel fee – hell, I’d even go for a graduated pricing scale – and a lot of people would come back to cable. At this point, my next purchase is one of these and one of these. Done. Between over-the-air HD and ShareTV.org, I’ll have plenty of media to view. Now to pick up a couple [more] of these.

Melinda and I will be moving within a week. Holy crap. Sweet. Crap. I’m all confused.

Full story

Vote Republican! It’s less taxing!

haha, so true. anywho, while(dessert){}; sleep(”6:00 AM”);