Geezer Rock

Mom and I stayed up way past our bedtime last night to enjoy some good Rock-n-Roll music. We were at the luna bar in RO. The band was Fifty Amp Fuse. The photo is the band with Chris Chelios.







http://www.fiftyampfuse.com/



It was a blast. The place was filled with people in our age group and we danced to many of the songs. I managed to lip sync to most of them and only sang out loud a couple of times.



We ended the night dancing to Stairway to Heaven. It is probably the most overplayed rock song ever, but it was still a thrill to dance to it with my sweetie.



My ears were ringing after we left and Mom had to push the Honda out of the snow while I rocked the car using the clutch.



I'm sure this will be a night to remember. The only thing missing was the opportunity to embarass my boys by having you there to see us dance. We will invite you next time.

No Job For Sean

Remember how i mentioned my wanting to be an academic orientation mentor this spring? well it turns out that i wont be able to do that because they do not want me to come back and interview which was the second step of the process. nor will i be working Safari in the fall. im not rly mad about it, both things mean i will have a longer a summer which is fine by me. it also means i need to find a new way of making at least some money this summer. any ideas??

thesis

I told you guys about this on MLK day, right after House, and you seemed vaguely interested. You can keep track of the project here:

mine
http://noisyeducation.blogspot.com/

ronen's
http://ronenspeak.blogspot.com/

Mom, have you had a chance to look for those materials about music education in your Catholic school?

New Router for Home Network

I went out and bought a new router today and spent most of the afternoon playing with the setup.

This was fun for me. I learned stuff and now I have a faster Internet connection. When Brendan or Sean visit the settings should be the same but the connection will be faster.

The new technology was pretty easy to get up and running. However, I still needed to get into the detailed configuration to configure it exactly the way I wanted.

The new router is a D-Link Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router - purchased at Circuit City for 10% off since they are going out of business.

Previous NetGear router was from a Staples contest that Brendan won several years ago.

The pricture on the left shows the speed of the old NetGear router.

This photo is the new D-Link router

This is over 5 times faster (your mileage may vary).

Both speeds are now the maximum for the connection from WOW.

Hot Tub

Jeff and I went to Splash Universe in Dundee for the day. I think we were the only adults there without children in tow. Jeff played Dad, sitting on the bench reading his Discover magazine while I played in the water. Mostly I sat in the hot tub. What a great afternoon! This is the first time I have felt warm since October. When I win the lottery a hot tub is the second thing I am going to buy (after the Mustang).

Its A Small World

Its a small world up here at CMU. After lacrosse practice last night, I now know 2 former Troy Sting players who are friends with Jake Harlick. One is my roommate and the other is on the lacrosse team. I know more people up here who played for the Sting then I did when I lived in Royal Oak! In a similar vain, I also ran into a former teammate of mine and I think Brendan's as well. His last name is Shepard and I can't remember his first name but I played with him my first year of midget with coach Bisoni. It really is a small world

funniest man ever

Watched the BEST episode of You Bet Your Life last night. A comedian and longtime friend of Groucho was on and his partner was a 19 year-old blonde dancer. What's amazing about Groucho is his economy. He doesn't have to say anything, he doesn't really have to do anything except look at the camera/ audience, and somehow it's still riotously funny. Here's a pretty tame exchange from the interview section:
"How exactly does one obtain a figure like this, Chelsie?"
"Oh, I don't know. I guess, sports and good eating habits."
"And what constitutes good eating habits these days?"
"Oh, well, for breakfast I have liver and yogurt-"
"Liver and yogurt? It's hard enough to get out of bed and look at the morning paper but liver and yogurt?"

Later, another friend was invited on stage and as he lit his cigar he said something curtly to Groucho before motioning to the blonde, "So, liver and yogurt, eh?" Throughout the question portion of the show he would routinely distract himself from the questions by ogling that girl.

When was the last time such shameless misogyny and cigar consumption on prime time network television was so funny?

Inauguration Hoopla

We rarely have times when we know history is going to happen. Usually, we don't find out something is historic or important until after the event. Tomorrow is different. History will be made tomorrow and we all can watch. After tomorrow, people will be asking each other "What was it like for you when you heard Barack Obama take the oath of office?" It's definitely on the order of "Where were you when you heard Kennedy was killed?" or "Where were you when the shuttle exploded?" I get to say I was at work, trying to schedule my break for noon so I could watch it live, instead of tape delayed. Not very dramatic, I admit. Somehow it seems important to see this at the moment it happens, to be part of the event in some small way, to feel the connection between all the millions of people worldwide sharing in this event. This moment will be an paradigm shift; there was a time before the first African-American president and the time after. There are no more what-ifs in this matter. It has happened. But, of course, that begs the question, "Where do we go from here?"

First blogging, now MP3ing

I finally have an MP3 player. I have one song on it so far. The Beatles: "A Hard Day's Night". Maybe today I will put another song on it. I don't want to overdue it, though.

Nosecream

Nosecream.Nosecream.Nosecream. Grows on you.
I once saw a parody trailer for this movie but it was done as if it were a horror film (maybe too true for some people). The best line was: What's WRONG with the children?

Great Film

I'm upset that Negativland got to this before I could. Ronen showed it to a few friends and me last night and after a few viewings we were saying "nosecream" to each other the way one might say "rosebud."



peri and her family are going to dc for the inauguration and it took most of my willpower to not join them.

Yippee!

Okay, I am still not able to post comments, so I have to my Yippees!! on the blog site. I am thrilled with the news about graduating. One down, two to go.

this just in

I'm totally graduating.

TV on the Road

I am so spoiled by my home entertainment system.

The Holiday Inn Express in Wabash, IN is nice enough but ...

I was watching the Red Wings on Tuesday night on Versus. Instead of being happy I could see my team while I was out of town, I was mad a the poor camera work and production quality from the network. I want FSN-Detroit.

No DVR in the hotel so I can't rewind or pause ...

Turner Classic Movies is commercial free so I pick that channel expecting some old Bogart movie in B&W. Imagine my chagrin when I find the beginning of The Big Chill. I enjoyed the movie as always but, what does that say about me? One of my favorite movies now qualifies as a golden oldie on TCM.

And now for the rest of the family

I talked to both of my sisters this weekend. Brother-in-law Joe didn't quite recognize me when I called Aunt Mary Kay. Guess it has been a while. The Veselkas are fine. Mary Kay and Joe are retired and are leaving for Florida on the 20th for 2 months. Apparently they took their money out of the stock market well before it started to tank, so they are doing all right. Michael is giving flying lessns in Carbondale, Joey will finish nursing schoool this spring, Danny is still in the basement, and Jeffrey is working in Mountain Home Arkansas. Mary Kay did not give more details than that. Mary Kay has discovered daytime TV. They had to buy a 47-inch HD TV to feed her new addiction to the Financial News Network. Ann is also doing well. No shortage of work at the welfare department, it seems. Vanessa loves working at the library. She is in charge of the teen room, and has a blast, even with the seventh adn eighth graders, who we all know are barely human.

Who's in the driver's seat?

Well, since you don't tell me what is going on in any relationship until it is after the fact, I tend to make up my own theories. I was just wondering who is in the driver's seat when you are not in the car. Just a fair musing.

Crazy Traffic

It's a good thing we have this otherwise i would have to wait a couple weeks to share with u the rather interesting drive cassie and i had on the way to school. it started when we got to 696 and where the Star Southfield is. i think its like northwestern highway or something like that. anyway, we hit stop and go traffic. the odd thing was that ppl were going the wrong way on an entrance ramp to try and get off the highway. apparently at Orchard Lake road there was an accident or something that caused 696 to b shut down in both directions. cassie and i start to freak out a little and be like "what the hell is going on?" we turn on 950 am just in time to catch the weather and traffic on the 8's. at that exact moment the lady goes 696 has just been re-opened and he we start cruising again. she continues to warn drivers going east bound that some ppl have turned around and are heading the wrong direction to try and get off the highway. she warns the drivers to be careful and watch out for these idiots and no sooner had the words left her mouth then she goes "and there it is, we have an accident on east bound 696". oh, and when we were in the little pocket of stop and go we had to use the shoulder to go around a car that was stalled in the middle of the lane. all of which begs the question, How stupid are Michigan drivers???

Sean

Sean tells me he will blog more when he is at school as a way to keep in touch. He didn't feel the need to blog while home because any nuggets of information he wanted to impart to us he could do right away. So goes his thinking, anyway. Devon is still resisting, but that is his nature. He has to find a reason of his own to blog; we can't make him do it (or anything else for that matter).
Sean left for Central today. His girlfriend (I get to call her that now) is doing the driving. How symbolic that is, I don't know. The house is already quieter, and neater. Today, Devon and a buddy from school are cooking a French dinner for us as part of French class. I told him no snails. We do have Tums on hand.
I liked your pix from your room.

Remember Watching this a Lot?

Barbie now has a collector's edition doll from Hitchcock's The Birds. From the website: From the doll’s classic ensemble to the perfectly painted expression to the accompanying black birds, every aspect captures the film’s infamous appeal.

More here:
http://www.barbiecollector.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=L9633



I'm encouraged that Sean is now listed as an author, we need to start posting a bit more, I think. I'm trying to make this a habit.

Off Campus Decorative Norms

After living a room painted "asparagus green" for two years its hard to let that color out of my life. As an accent I think it works pretty well: as you enter from the outside you immediately notice my green screen (very artfully stored, imho) and your eye is drawn across my pillow and over to my window sill.

Guiding people through my room with color, everything is an art project.

























The next challenge becomes how to photograph this space. It's too big and too cluttered for a single shot. Maybe a short film, panning from one green to the next is the way to go.

Still need to work on getting images organized up here. I had some basic html skillz when I still had a myspace, but no more.

Priority or are they phasing you out now that graduation is in sight?

Back to School Blues

For years now I've been getting the worst nights of sleep ever the night before school starts and this year was no exception. Historically bad, couldn't fall asleep until 5am. Luckily my first class isn't until 11 these days, it's good to be a senior.

Monday:
-PAT 422, Timbral Ear Training. 11-12.30
-PAT 462, Digital Sound Synthesis. 3.30-5
Tuesday:
-PAT 442, Music and Media. 3.30-5
Wednesday:
-PAT 422, Timbral Ear Training. 11-12.30
-PAT 462, Digital Sound Synthesis. 3.30-5
Thursday:
-PAT 442, Music and Media. 3.30-5

no class Friday because, again, it's good to be a senior.

I also have meetings with my faculty advisor every week or so to make sure I'm on my game with my thesis. More on that later.

The best part is that this is my work schedule:
Monday: 5-close
Tuesday: 10-3
Thursday: 10-3
Saturday: 5-close

24hrs, only two night shifts. It took a few years but I finally got some kind of priority.

Experimental Music in the News (well NPR anyway)

OMG -
There are actually other people out there that make music with the same instruments and tools that Brendan uses.

Who knew???

There was a story about this group just now on NPR - All Things Considered. - The radio story focused on Bonnie Jones and the festival in D.C.

http://www.dc-soniccircuits.org/news/
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=184464489

One musician mentioned that this was his passion but his day job was at the Pentagon. LOL

Secret to Life

I made brownies yesterday. Yes, the good brownies. The caramel chocolate chip brownies. I have decided that these brownies are the answer to life's questions.
What should I do with my life? Make brownies.
Want to make people happy? Bake brownies.
How do you mend a broken heart? With brownies.
I think I should have the brownie recipe etched on my tombstone, because that is probably the one question people will have after I'm gone: How did she make those brownies?

Done told 'em

Okay, I tried to post a comment on the previous blog I made, but it told me to please choose a profile, but I couldn't find a profile to choose.??
Anyway, I told Sean and Devon to get going with this, but they are dragging their feet. I think they think I want to use this blog as a meanas to spy on them. The opposite is true. I could spy on them with their Facebook/Myspace pages. What I am looking for is a way to keep in touch with what everyone is thinking in a positive way.

Visit

I am off work on Sunday. I work Monday and Tuesday 8-4.
I'll go you one better than "Bridge on the River Kwai". There is a doumentary on the REAL bridge which has very little in common with the movie version (big surprise).
What is the protocol on comments? Is it best to comment on a comment or do a new blog like I did?