Over the next week or so updating may be sparse to non-existent. I'll be on vacation, so that's the reason, in case you care. I'll try to post a few updates to let you know how I'm doing, but if I'm having too much fun or I get too lazy, then don't expect crap from me until I get back.
Today is also the last day of work for Kristin at Hiawatha Homes. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that she was just starting and we were getting her all settled in. Now, tonight, we'll pack all of her things back up to move her back to St. Cloud. I'll be taking her back tomorrow so tonight will be a long, and probably somewhat sad, night of packing.
I hate to sound clichéd, but there really isn't any other way to express how I feel except to say that time truly does move along too fast, especially in the summer time. There's a feeling of finality attached to moving Kristin back and I just can't shake it. I tell myself I'll be going to visit her during the semester and that there are plenty of days of summer left and that I have vacation coming up, but no matter what I try to tell myself, I still feel like something is dying.
It's not just this summer that I feel this way either. I've always had this underlying feeling of dread and sadness when summer would come to an end. I'm guessing it started back in middle school when I dreaded going back to school. Since I wasn't that popular and was often made fun of, going back to school was something akin to a death sentence for me. During the summer I could avoid all the people I hated while still getting to do things with the few friends I had. My homework was replaced with farm chores, which I enjoyed much, much more than schoolwork.
My summer would fly past as I enjoyed every single day doing whatever my heart desired when I had spare time. I didn't have any real responsibilities or a care in the world for what was going on outside of my little world. With school, though, I would then have responsibilities again and my world would have to encompass other students, teachers, sports, and just getting by in a hostile environment. Who would choose school over the carefree lifestyle of summer break? I sure wouldn't.
As I moved further along, when I was in high school I started to have more responsibilities during the summer and I also became somewhat popular so I liked being in school. Summer break would mean that I didn't get to see people as much as I did during school so you'd think that I would instead start to dread summer break. Oddly, though, I didn't. I was still filled with that sense of depression as summers would come to a close.
While in college I thought I understood why I felt this way. Every time I had to move back to college I knew that another year had passed. I was no longer in the same position as the year before. Instead of simply being happy that I was back in an environment that I loved, I would feel disheartened knowing that I was one more year closer to it all being over.
Right before my senior year of college, as summer came to a close, I was especially filled with sadness. I knew it was my last year of college and I knew that once the year started it would be over before my mind would even register it starting. I was right. I often sit here at my desk, or lie in my bed, or stare off into the sky thinking about how much I miss college and how I know that it probably was one of the most enjoyable times of my life.
So here I am once again, confronted with summer's close. With no worries about going to school again, I'd hoped that I wouldn't feel as sad as years before, but deep down I knew that once again my heart would be heavy with the changing of the season.
Friday, August 06, 2004
Thursday, August 05, 2004
321 Studios Close Their Doors
There's definitely a few things that need talking about today. The first is that 321 Studios has shut their doors. This is really too bad because I love their software and they have been out there fighting the good fight for fair use. The product that brought them fame was DVDXCOPY. This piece of software allowed a user to copy a dvd to a dvd-r or dvd-rw. I owned a copy of this piece of software.
I also have a netflix account which I enjoy. Some days, however, I just won't be in the mood to watch the movies I have checked out from netflix and instead want to watch something in my queue. When this happens, I usually just copy the movie I have onto a dvd-rw, send it back, and wait for the next movie to come. I'll later watch the movie I have on the dvd-rw and then write over it the next time I'm in a situation such as this where my tastes don't match what I have on hand to watch.
I use DVDXCOPY to copy my the netflix dvd's to my temporary dvd-rw's. I'm not exactly sure if what I'm doing is 100% legal, but it doesn't seem like something terrible. I'm still only watching the movies once and I'm writing over them once I've watched them, so it's not like I'm keeping some permanent copy of them, but I'm sure the MPAA would disagree. Who knows, though, as the MPAA has been more reasonable than, say, the RIAA, which is basically the most evil group on the planet outside of some cult of baby killers in Montana.
I've also used DVDXCOPY for other backing up purposes that seem to be within the boundaries of fair use. I guess I'm just sick of groups with lots of money taking away our rights because they can. They can afford the lawyers to take down companies they don't like, or companies that are doing something that they don't necessarily want done with their product. It's crap like this that has moved me away from actually purchasing dvd's to only renting them.
The bright side of this, for the moment, is that there is still at least DVD Shrink to use for backing up dvd's. It's just too bad that a company that took a strong stand for fair use has become a casualty of the media industry's quest for ever growing profits and regulations.
On a more interesting topic, I wish that packages sent via fedex and UPS had passports associated with them. Wouldn't it be cool to have stamps from each of the stops that your package makes? I think it would, especially with the way that most of my packages are sent to me.
When I ordered my new motherboard and processor, I chose to have them shipped via fedex. When I checked its status to see where it was (it'll be delivered today), I was somewhat amazed at how they chose to ship it. It originated in California, got shipped to another station in Cali (probably where an airport is), and then arrived in St. Paul, MN. Now you'd think that since I live in MN, only about an hour and a half from downtown St. Paul, they'd ship it to me from there. No, that's not what they did. Instead they drove it down to Mason City, Iowa. Right now it is out for delivery from Mason City. In their stupidity they shipped the package from a city somewhat close to me to another state from which it would be delivered to me. No wonder they charge so much for shipping.
This has also happened with UPS. My monthly comic orders arrive via UPS. They always start in Indiana, make a stop in Illinois, end up at St. Paul, then head down to Albert Lea, MN, and then get delivered to my door. One time, however, it was decided that at the St. Paul stop my package should be rerouted through Billings, Montana on it's way to Albert Lea. WTF? I guess they must have wanted to do some sight-seeing on the way to my house.
These are only two of the odd screw-ups I've noticed. There's been a few others as well. That's why I would love to have stickers or stamps or whatever from every stop a package makes on it. I could have a competition and see which of my packages has to go through the most stops to get to me, or see which one goes the furthest off of the most direct course to my place. It would be fun! So if you're reading UPS or Fedex, let's start making packages have passports!
I also have a netflix account which I enjoy. Some days, however, I just won't be in the mood to watch the movies I have checked out from netflix and instead want to watch something in my queue. When this happens, I usually just copy the movie I have onto a dvd-rw, send it back, and wait for the next movie to come. I'll later watch the movie I have on the dvd-rw and then write over it the next time I'm in a situation such as this where my tastes don't match what I have on hand to watch.
I use DVDXCOPY to copy my the netflix dvd's to my temporary dvd-rw's. I'm not exactly sure if what I'm doing is 100% legal, but it doesn't seem like something terrible. I'm still only watching the movies once and I'm writing over them once I've watched them, so it's not like I'm keeping some permanent copy of them, but I'm sure the MPAA would disagree. Who knows, though, as the MPAA has been more reasonable than, say, the RIAA, which is basically the most evil group on the planet outside of some cult of baby killers in Montana.
I've also used DVDXCOPY for other backing up purposes that seem to be within the boundaries of fair use. I guess I'm just sick of groups with lots of money taking away our rights because they can. They can afford the lawyers to take down companies they don't like, or companies that are doing something that they don't necessarily want done with their product. It's crap like this that has moved me away from actually purchasing dvd's to only renting them.
The bright side of this, for the moment, is that there is still at least DVD Shrink to use for backing up dvd's. It's just too bad that a company that took a strong stand for fair use has become a casualty of the media industry's quest for ever growing profits and regulations.
On a more interesting topic, I wish that packages sent via fedex and UPS had passports associated with them. Wouldn't it be cool to have stamps from each of the stops that your package makes? I think it would, especially with the way that most of my packages are sent to me.
When I ordered my new motherboard and processor, I chose to have them shipped via fedex. When I checked its status to see where it was (it'll be delivered today), I was somewhat amazed at how they chose to ship it. It originated in California, got shipped to another station in Cali (probably where an airport is), and then arrived in St. Paul, MN. Now you'd think that since I live in MN, only about an hour and a half from downtown St. Paul, they'd ship it to me from there. No, that's not what they did. Instead they drove it down to Mason City, Iowa. Right now it is out for delivery from Mason City. In their stupidity they shipped the package from a city somewhat close to me to another state from which it would be delivered to me. No wonder they charge so much for shipping.
This has also happened with UPS. My monthly comic orders arrive via UPS. They always start in Indiana, make a stop in Illinois, end up at St. Paul, then head down to Albert Lea, MN, and then get delivered to my door. One time, however, it was decided that at the St. Paul stop my package should be rerouted through Billings, Montana on it's way to Albert Lea. WTF? I guess they must have wanted to do some sight-seeing on the way to my house.
These are only two of the odd screw-ups I've noticed. There's been a few others as well. That's why I would love to have stickers or stamps or whatever from every stop a package makes on it. I could have a competition and see which of my packages has to go through the most stops to get to me, or see which one goes the furthest off of the most direct course to my place. It would be fun! So if you're reading UPS or Fedex, let's start making packages have passports!
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
A Whole Lot of Nuts
This morning I was lucky enough to work on our bin some more. Now that we had the roof and top ring put together it was time to put the rest of the rings on. Yesterday my dad and uncles put together 5 rings and today we had to get the last 5 on. In the four and a half hours I put in this morning we put up 3 so there was only 2 left to do this afternoon.
You wouldn't think that it would take very long to put some big metal sheets together in a circle and bolt them together, but it does. Not so much because it's hard work, but instead because of the sheer amount of tedium that goes into putting in the millions of bolts into the rings. Let's do some math and see how many bolts actually go into this bin.
There are 11 rings, each having 12 sections. Bolting each section to the next in the top three rings, it takes 23 bolts at each seam. On every other section, it takes 46 bolts per seam. To bolt each ring together, it takes 25 bolts per sheet. Let's total up just how many bolts are in the rings.
Top three rings: 12 x 3 x (25 + 23) = 1,728
Bottom eight rings: 12 x 8 x (46 + 23) = 6,624
Subtract out 2/3's of the top rings top bolts
(you only use every third hole): 1,728 - (1/3 * (12 * 25)) = 1,629
Total for all eleven rings: 8,253
That's over 8,000 sets of nuts & bolts that have to be put into the ring seams by hand and then tightened via rattle wrench. Now this isn't even including all of the roof bolts! Since I worked on only 3 rings this morning, I only had to deal with around 2,000 nuts (I was responsible for putting most of the nuts on the bolts). That's what I call tedious. As tedious as it was, though, the help was needed. We had six guys working and each was doing something. We were all either putting in nuts & bolts, tightening them, moving metal sheets, caulking, or moving jacks.
It's quite fun, actually, to go through the process of putting up another bin. It's very gratifying to be part of the creation of one gigantic piece of circular sheet metal! I highly suggest you all run out to your local farm now and request to help construct something!
You wouldn't think that it would take very long to put some big metal sheets together in a circle and bolt them together, but it does. Not so much because it's hard work, but instead because of the sheer amount of tedium that goes into putting in the millions of bolts into the rings. Let's do some math and see how many bolts actually go into this bin.
There are 11 rings, each having 12 sections. Bolting each section to the next in the top three rings, it takes 23 bolts at each seam. On every other section, it takes 46 bolts per seam. To bolt each ring together, it takes 25 bolts per sheet. Let's total up just how many bolts are in the rings.
Top three rings: 12 x 3 x (25 + 23) = 1,728
Bottom eight rings: 12 x 8 x (46 + 23) = 6,624
Subtract out 2/3's of the top rings top bolts
(you only use every third hole): 1,728 - (1/3 * (12 * 25)) = 1,629
Total for all eleven rings: 8,253
That's over 8,000 sets of nuts & bolts that have to be put into the ring seams by hand and then tightened via rattle wrench. Now this isn't even including all of the roof bolts! Since I worked on only 3 rings this morning, I only had to deal with around 2,000 nuts (I was responsible for putting most of the nuts on the bolts). That's what I call tedious. As tedious as it was, though, the help was needed. We had six guys working and each was doing something. We were all either putting in nuts & bolts, tightening them, moving metal sheets, caulking, or moving jacks.
It's quite fun, actually, to go through the process of putting up another bin. It's very gratifying to be part of the creation of one gigantic piece of circular sheet metal! I highly suggest you all run out to your local farm now and request to help construct something!
Monday, August 02, 2004
Monday and Some Movies
This weekend Kristin and myself went to see The Village. It seems like everyone beside us disliked this movie. I don't really understand why, though.
I don't really want to ruin the movie for anyone so I'll try to discuss it spoiler free. Anyhow, one of the biggest complaints is that the twist in this movie is not nearly as neat or interesting as M. Night Shyamalan's other films. First, I must note that I thought the Sixth Sense sucked, Unbreakable was good, and Signs was only watchable. With The VIllage, I think M. Night has created his best film yet.
First, there is not just one big twist in this film--there are two. The first happens a little over halfway through the film and I did not see it coming at all (and anyone that claims they could is obviously lying). Let's just say this twist involves something happening to Joaquin Phoenix that you would not expect.
The second twist, which seems to piss most people off, is extremely interesting if you ask me. It makes the movie believable, much more so than any of his other films, and made me feel a connection with the movie and the motives of the elders in the village. As opposed to using dead people, aliens, and superheroes for his "twist", M. Night instead grounds this story into not using something phenomenal to explain his surprise twist.
For anyone who didn't like this movie, I don't know why you didn't. Was it boring? I didn't think so. It had much more character interaction and less introspection than in any of his previous films. Was the twist not good enough? I thought they were both interesting and made sense. Was the acting bad? Not at all. Weaver, Hurt, Phoenix, Brody, and Howard were all phenomenal. I just don't get it. This was a good movie, but I think that the cool thing to do right now is knock M. Night Shyamalan, so that's what most critics are doing, and the majority of moviegoers, being the sheep they are, simply parrot the critics panning this movie. I say, however, that it was a wonderful movie that I highly recommend.
Another movie I recently saw that I enjoyed immensely was House of Sand and Fog. This was a masterpiece of a tragedy. I empathized with all of the characters and there was no real villain or hero. Each character was a mix of good and evil. They wanted to help others. They wanted to help themselves. They wanted to do the right thing. They wanted to benefit themselves. There was no right decision that any of the characters could make, and because of this each character's world slowly unravels. Watching their lives unravel over the course of 2 hours was enough to bring tears to my eyes. The world is not always a pretty place. This movie shows that, and it does it well.
Another movie I saw early last week was Runaway Jury. This movie was a perfect example of a great cast making a completely unbelievable movie fun to watch. Gene Hackman was great as the villain and Cusack, as much as I detest him in most movies, was pretty good. I'm pretty sure that this was the first John Grisham movie that I've actually enjoyed. For the most part I find all of his movies pretty boring.
With that, I'll bring Monday Movie Talk to a close. See you next time I watch some movies worth talking about!
I don't really want to ruin the movie for anyone so I'll try to discuss it spoiler free. Anyhow, one of the biggest complaints is that the twist in this movie is not nearly as neat or interesting as M. Night Shyamalan's other films. First, I must note that I thought the Sixth Sense sucked, Unbreakable was good, and Signs was only watchable. With The VIllage, I think M. Night has created his best film yet.
First, there is not just one big twist in this film--there are two. The first happens a little over halfway through the film and I did not see it coming at all (and anyone that claims they could is obviously lying). Let's just say this twist involves something happening to Joaquin Phoenix that you would not expect.
The second twist, which seems to piss most people off, is extremely interesting if you ask me. It makes the movie believable, much more so than any of his other films, and made me feel a connection with the movie and the motives of the elders in the village. As opposed to using dead people, aliens, and superheroes for his "twist", M. Night instead grounds this story into not using something phenomenal to explain his surprise twist.
For anyone who didn't like this movie, I don't know why you didn't. Was it boring? I didn't think so. It had much more character interaction and less introspection than in any of his previous films. Was the twist not good enough? I thought they were both interesting and made sense. Was the acting bad? Not at all. Weaver, Hurt, Phoenix, Brody, and Howard were all phenomenal. I just don't get it. This was a good movie, but I think that the cool thing to do right now is knock M. Night Shyamalan, so that's what most critics are doing, and the majority of moviegoers, being the sheep they are, simply parrot the critics panning this movie. I say, however, that it was a wonderful movie that I highly recommend.
Another movie I recently saw that I enjoyed immensely was House of Sand and Fog. This was a masterpiece of a tragedy. I empathized with all of the characters and there was no real villain or hero. Each character was a mix of good and evil. They wanted to help others. They wanted to help themselves. They wanted to do the right thing. They wanted to benefit themselves. There was no right decision that any of the characters could make, and because of this each character's world slowly unravels. Watching their lives unravel over the course of 2 hours was enough to bring tears to my eyes. The world is not always a pretty place. This movie shows that, and it does it well.
Another movie I saw early last week was Runaway Jury. This movie was a perfect example of a great cast making a completely unbelievable movie fun to watch. Gene Hackman was great as the villain and Cusack, as much as I detest him in most movies, was pretty good. I'm pretty sure that this was the first John Grisham movie that I've actually enjoyed. For the most part I find all of his movies pretty boring.
With that, I'll bring Monday Movie Talk to a close. See you next time I watch some movies worth talking about!
Friday, July 30, 2004
Thoughts About Being Married While in College
I've been so busy with other things and writing about other things, I completely forgot about the wedding that Kristin and I went to two weekends ago. This was a wedding for one of her college friends, so there was a bunch of SJU and CSB people there, which was nice because weddings where you don't know anyone tend to suck. What I find most interesting about the couple getting married is that the bride will only be a junior in college. Can you imagine going through your last two years of college being married? I sure can't.
Being married will mean you have to miss out on a lot of things. Now I'm not talking about getting drunk and making out with the freshmeat... err, freshmen, but lots of other little details. You wouldn't be living on campus, which would be a big thing for me. The bride, Vanessa, will be living with her new husband in a town about 15 minutes from college. I couldn't imagine going to college and being outside of the atmosphere that comes with it. Hell, I miss the college atmosphere like you wouldn't believe right now and I'm not even in college. I think part of that may come from Rochester being a very boring town, but I digress.
I had so many interesting nights where, if I wasn't living on campus, they wouldn't have happened. I'd be sitting in my room playing video games or doing homework and someone from the apartment down the hall would come over and just hang out or convince you to go do something stupid. Or I might have been reading and someone would call wanting to order Gary's Pizza and watch a movie across campus. Or I'd be walking to Sexton, SJU's quasi-student commons, only to meet some people walking home and we'd decide to go play some DDR for a while. These things that happen by chance wouldn't happen if I were living way off campus. Sure, people could still call me to go do things, but it would have to be scheduled because I would then have to drive into campus from where I was living to do anything. I'm sure after a little bit of time, my friends would probably just give up. The college atmosphere is about spontaneity, not planning (that's what this supposed real world I'm in is supposed to be for).
The other thing that I wouldn't enjoy was not having something to look forward to after you finished college. Of course, you could say that having a kid or buying a house or doing a multitude of other things could be looked forward to, but my mind doesn't really operate that way. I've always had this notion that the event that comes after college is marriage. Don't ask me why I feel this way, but without that to look forward to, my outlook on post-college life would have been much more bleak.
I can also imagine that people would, ever so slightly, treat you a little bit differently. There would be a stigma attached to you if you were married and in college (and the average college age). People would think you rushed in, you didn't think it through, you were too impulsive, or that it wouldn't work out. I wouldn't want to have those things thought about me.
Marriage, to me is always something that just happens after college. Yes, I know that I'm done with college. I'll get around to it eventually. Just give me some time :-)
Being married will mean you have to miss out on a lot of things. Now I'm not talking about getting drunk and making out with the freshmeat... err, freshmen, but lots of other little details. You wouldn't be living on campus, which would be a big thing for me. The bride, Vanessa, will be living with her new husband in a town about 15 minutes from college. I couldn't imagine going to college and being outside of the atmosphere that comes with it. Hell, I miss the college atmosphere like you wouldn't believe right now and I'm not even in college. I think part of that may come from Rochester being a very boring town, but I digress.
I had so many interesting nights where, if I wasn't living on campus, they wouldn't have happened. I'd be sitting in my room playing video games or doing homework and someone from the apartment down the hall would come over and just hang out or convince you to go do something stupid. Or I might have been reading and someone would call wanting to order Gary's Pizza and watch a movie across campus. Or I'd be walking to Sexton, SJU's quasi-student commons, only to meet some people walking home and we'd decide to go play some DDR for a while. These things that happen by chance wouldn't happen if I were living way off campus. Sure, people could still call me to go do things, but it would have to be scheduled because I would then have to drive into campus from where I was living to do anything. I'm sure after a little bit of time, my friends would probably just give up. The college atmosphere is about spontaneity, not planning (that's what this supposed real world I'm in is supposed to be for).
The other thing that I wouldn't enjoy was not having something to look forward to after you finished college. Of course, you could say that having a kid or buying a house or doing a multitude of other things could be looked forward to, but my mind doesn't really operate that way. I've always had this notion that the event that comes after college is marriage. Don't ask me why I feel this way, but without that to look forward to, my outlook on post-college life would have been much more bleak.
I can also imagine that people would, ever so slightly, treat you a little bit differently. There would be a stigma attached to you if you were married and in college (and the average college age). People would think you rushed in, you didn't think it through, you were too impulsive, or that it wouldn't work out. I wouldn't want to have those things thought about me.
Marriage, to me is always something that just happens after college. Yes, I know that I'm done with college. I'll get around to it eventually. Just give me some time :-)
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Warped Tour 2004 Part 2
Yesterday you got read my bitching about the things that sucked about this year's Warped Tour, but today you get to hear about the actual bands (applaud here). I think that this year I saw more bands than any other time I'd been at Warped. I'm pretty sure the reason for this is that I actually got in on time and the thing didn't get rained out at the end. One of these two things had happened each of the previous 3 years. I'm not going to promise that the order in which I talk about the bands is the order I saw them, but I'll try to stick close to how it happened. My memory is going in my old age. Now, onward!
Upon entering the Metrodome's parking lot, the first thing on the agenda was getting the band schedules. This didn't work out so well since there was a throng of people in front of the schedule. I just caught when the first band I wanted to see was at and then figured I'd write down the rest later when so many people weren't around.
The first band I saw was A.D.D., or as they're sometimes called, Another Damn Disappointment. I've never listened to them in the past but they were on before FATA so I gave them a chance, but to me they actually weren't that good. Kristin thought they were all right, but I wasn't a fan.
Anyhow, next up was one of the bands that I was stoked to see--From Autumn to Ashes. Unfortunately they were the first band on their stage so they had a bunch of technical problems while they played. Halfway through their set, however, things got fixed. Their brand of melodic metalcore was just what I needed to start my day. I loved every minute of their set and could have spent the entire day listening to them.
After FATA, it was off to the Smartpunk stage to see Underminded, but before they came on we caught Small Town Born. They were pretty generic pop-punk and neither Kristin or myself were very impressed. One small note, the lead singer of this band is one of the most feminine men that I have seen in a long time.
Underminded was another great band to watch. Aaron from Decoymusic has been hyping them up like crazy so I was interested in seeing them. I didn't expect a lot, but I was pleasantly surprised by their great metalcore set. There was no melody from these guys, just screaming, grinding metal. Good stuff even if Kristin didn't dig it all that much. Oh, and during their set there was a crazy guy dressed in pink doing a bunch of hardcore dancing. It was interesting but most of the crowd was just weirded out by him.
Next on the list was Simple Plan. Kristin likes these guys. I've never had a big problem with them like most of the people that usually go to Warped do. They played all their radio hits and crowd favorites. I'm pretty sure it was the exact same set as last year, minus their usual Bad Religion cover (because Bad Religion was playing at this year's Warped). They weren't too interesting, but they seemed to be having fun.
After Simple Plan came on Coheed and Cambria. I am not a huge fan of theirs but I enjoy their cd well enough. The reason I have a hard time getting into these guys is that their vocals are extremely high pitched. Live, they sounded like a mix of Rush, Styx, and modern rock. For the most part they were pretty uninteresting, but their last song was unbelievable. It was about 10 minutes long and encompassed jazz, ska, punk, reggae, and a few other genres. If it wouldn't have been for that I would have written these guys off as simply boring.
Before walking around to some of the merch tents we caught a little of Lars Fredrickson and the Bastards. They're the "punk" punks of this tour. Their music was standard punk in the vein of Lagwagon or Bad Religion. I wasn't too impressed, but they weren't terrible.
We also caught some of Atmosphere while walking around and I was unimpressed by them as well. Too much talking about shooting people in the faces and crap like that. Honestly, we aren't 12 years old anymore. Stop trying to be so "bad ass". Talking about shooting people or "fucking people up" doesn't make you cool, it just makes you sound stupid.
After taking a break we prepared for the onslaught of main stage bands that would take up the rest of our day, leaving us with no down time, we went over to see NOFX. I've never been a huge NOFX fan, and their set didn't make me one either. This is the first time I'd seen them live and they were good, but they did too much screwing around that it didn't seem like they cared much about playing for the crowd. They had some funny anti-Bush tunes, though, which made their set somewhat interesting.
Bear with me for a quick aside here. The majority of the bands, and the main vibe of this year's tour, was very anti-Bush and anti-government. At least half of the bands that I saw had something to say about our current president, and none of it was good. I'm not saying that this is bad, but I didn't come to hear about different bands' political standings, I just wanted them to play music for me. I skipped Anti-Flag just for this reason (and because I think they're one of the worst bands around). So, yeah, I think there was a little too much political posturing for my tastes this year.
Now, back to the bands. After NOFX was Sugarcult. I've always had a soft spot for these guys, even if they are extremely poppy. They know how to write catchy hooks and can pull off their very melodic form of pop-punk in concert quite well. Most of their set consisted of songs from their major label debut instead of their newest cd, which is actually good because their new cd is not nearly as good as their last. Even if you don't usually care for pop-punk, I would recommend seeing these guys because they are very good at what they do and can easily make their songs stick in your head all day long.
Once Sugarcult was done, I needed to get some more water so I only managed to catch part of Taking Back Sunday's set. From what I saw, I didn't miss much. I watched them play about three songs and they seemed somewhat sloppy in how they played and they definitely lacked the punch that their cds have.
Once I got some water, I made it back in time to catch Yellowcard. They put on a great set of bouncing, fast-paced, violin laden punk songs. Of course they played mostly their well known songs, like "Ocean Ave.", but unlike the other bands who only play their singles and hits, I didn't mind because they played so tightly. Most of their songs were very true to how they are on cd, which is always a plus for me. I hate it when bands end up sounding like crap in comparison to their cds.
After Yellowcard another one of the bands that I really wanted to see was up--Story of the Year. They were great--energetic, bouncing all over the stage, and playing their hearts out. They slowed it down for a little bit to play "Anthem", but before it and after it, there was nothing but mosh-inducing screamo. Great band, great set.
Next up was Bad Religion. I am not a huge fan so we caught part of their set, which was ok, and then also caught most of Over It's set. I like Over It and their infectious form of pop-punk, but the stage they were on had the bass overpowering everything else so they sounded somewhat muddled. As it was, though, they were a decent band to see.
As the day was coming to a close, the last two bands were New Found Glory and Flogging Molly. New Found Glory played in the same manner they have every other year on this tour--crappily. They never manage to sound nearly as good as their cds, especially in the vocal department. Also, they didn't really play anything outside of their hit songs, all of which I'd be fine never hearing again. I think Kristin enjoyed them, so that's a plus. I, on the other hand, still think they're a terrible live band.
Lastly, but certainly not least, was Flogging Molly. Two words: Freakin' Awesome! Really, they were worth the $30 ticket price themselves. Every time I see them, they have so much energy, play so tightly, and manage to get the crowd moving like crazy. It's unbelievable how well their form of Irish-pub-square-dancing-hobbitish-punk music comes off as so good. The talent in this band also abounds. Managing to have your standard guitar/drums/bass/vocals setup accented by an acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo, tin whistle, and accordion and not sound like crap is quite an accomplishment in itself.
Since Flogging Molly was also the last band to play, they were asked to play an extended set for us since the Minneapolis stop has gotten screwed up in the past few years (see my previous post). We ended up then getting to listen to Flogging Molly play for about 50 minutes instead of 30, which was more than fine by me.
So, in the end this year's Warped Tour was another fun outing. Some of the bands sucked, some were awesome, but most fell somewhere in between. I would have liked to have seen a little more diversity, but I can't really complain too much for only it only costing $30. If Warped is stopping by your town, take a day and go. It's well worth it.
Upon entering the Metrodome's parking lot, the first thing on the agenda was getting the band schedules. This didn't work out so well since there was a throng of people in front of the schedule. I just caught when the first band I wanted to see was at and then figured I'd write down the rest later when so many people weren't around.
The first band I saw was A.D.D., or as they're sometimes called, Another Damn Disappointment. I've never listened to them in the past but they were on before FATA so I gave them a chance, but to me they actually weren't that good. Kristin thought they were all right, but I wasn't a fan.
Anyhow, next up was one of the bands that I was stoked to see--From Autumn to Ashes. Unfortunately they were the first band on their stage so they had a bunch of technical problems while they played. Halfway through their set, however, things got fixed. Their brand of melodic metalcore was just what I needed to start my day. I loved every minute of their set and could have spent the entire day listening to them.
After FATA, it was off to the Smartpunk stage to see Underminded, but before they came on we caught Small Town Born. They were pretty generic pop-punk and neither Kristin or myself were very impressed. One small note, the lead singer of this band is one of the most feminine men that I have seen in a long time.
Underminded was another great band to watch. Aaron from Decoymusic has been hyping them up like crazy so I was interested in seeing them. I didn't expect a lot, but I was pleasantly surprised by their great metalcore set. There was no melody from these guys, just screaming, grinding metal. Good stuff even if Kristin didn't dig it all that much. Oh, and during their set there was a crazy guy dressed in pink doing a bunch of hardcore dancing. It was interesting but most of the crowd was just weirded out by him.
Next on the list was Simple Plan. Kristin likes these guys. I've never had a big problem with them like most of the people that usually go to Warped do. They played all their radio hits and crowd favorites. I'm pretty sure it was the exact same set as last year, minus their usual Bad Religion cover (because Bad Religion was playing at this year's Warped). They weren't too interesting, but they seemed to be having fun.
After Simple Plan came on Coheed and Cambria. I am not a huge fan of theirs but I enjoy their cd well enough. The reason I have a hard time getting into these guys is that their vocals are extremely high pitched. Live, they sounded like a mix of Rush, Styx, and modern rock. For the most part they were pretty uninteresting, but their last song was unbelievable. It was about 10 minutes long and encompassed jazz, ska, punk, reggae, and a few other genres. If it wouldn't have been for that I would have written these guys off as simply boring.
Before walking around to some of the merch tents we caught a little of Lars Fredrickson and the Bastards. They're the "punk" punks of this tour. Their music was standard punk in the vein of Lagwagon or Bad Religion. I wasn't too impressed, but they weren't terrible.
We also caught some of Atmosphere while walking around and I was unimpressed by them as well. Too much talking about shooting people in the faces and crap like that. Honestly, we aren't 12 years old anymore. Stop trying to be so "bad ass". Talking about shooting people or "fucking people up" doesn't make you cool, it just makes you sound stupid.
After taking a break we prepared for the onslaught of main stage bands that would take up the rest of our day, leaving us with no down time, we went over to see NOFX. I've never been a huge NOFX fan, and their set didn't make me one either. This is the first time I'd seen them live and they were good, but they did too much screwing around that it didn't seem like they cared much about playing for the crowd. They had some funny anti-Bush tunes, though, which made their set somewhat interesting.
Bear with me for a quick aside here. The majority of the bands, and the main vibe of this year's tour, was very anti-Bush and anti-government. At least half of the bands that I saw had something to say about our current president, and none of it was good. I'm not saying that this is bad, but I didn't come to hear about different bands' political standings, I just wanted them to play music for me. I skipped Anti-Flag just for this reason (and because I think they're one of the worst bands around). So, yeah, I think there was a little too much political posturing for my tastes this year.
Now, back to the bands. After NOFX was Sugarcult. I've always had a soft spot for these guys, even if they are extremely poppy. They know how to write catchy hooks and can pull off their very melodic form of pop-punk in concert quite well. Most of their set consisted of songs from their major label debut instead of their newest cd, which is actually good because their new cd is not nearly as good as their last. Even if you don't usually care for pop-punk, I would recommend seeing these guys because they are very good at what they do and can easily make their songs stick in your head all day long.
Once Sugarcult was done, I needed to get some more water so I only managed to catch part of Taking Back Sunday's set. From what I saw, I didn't miss much. I watched them play about three songs and they seemed somewhat sloppy in how they played and they definitely lacked the punch that their cds have.
Once I got some water, I made it back in time to catch Yellowcard. They put on a great set of bouncing, fast-paced, violin laden punk songs. Of course they played mostly their well known songs, like "Ocean Ave.", but unlike the other bands who only play their singles and hits, I didn't mind because they played so tightly. Most of their songs were very true to how they are on cd, which is always a plus for me. I hate it when bands end up sounding like crap in comparison to their cds.
After Yellowcard another one of the bands that I really wanted to see was up--Story of the Year. They were great--energetic, bouncing all over the stage, and playing their hearts out. They slowed it down for a little bit to play "Anthem", but before it and after it, there was nothing but mosh-inducing screamo. Great band, great set.
Next up was Bad Religion. I am not a huge fan so we caught part of their set, which was ok, and then also caught most of Over It's set. I like Over It and their infectious form of pop-punk, but the stage they were on had the bass overpowering everything else so they sounded somewhat muddled. As it was, though, they were a decent band to see.
As the day was coming to a close, the last two bands were New Found Glory and Flogging Molly. New Found Glory played in the same manner they have every other year on this tour--crappily. They never manage to sound nearly as good as their cds, especially in the vocal department. Also, they didn't really play anything outside of their hit songs, all of which I'd be fine never hearing again. I think Kristin enjoyed them, so that's a plus. I, on the other hand, still think they're a terrible live band.
Lastly, but certainly not least, was Flogging Molly. Two words: Freakin' Awesome! Really, they were worth the $30 ticket price themselves. Every time I see them, they have so much energy, play so tightly, and manage to get the crowd moving like crazy. It's unbelievable how well their form of Irish-pub-square-dancing-hobbitish-punk music comes off as so good. The talent in this band also abounds. Managing to have your standard guitar/drums/bass/vocals setup accented by an acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo, tin whistle, and accordion and not sound like crap is quite an accomplishment in itself.
Since Flogging Molly was also the last band to play, they were asked to play an extended set for us since the Minneapolis stop has gotten screwed up in the past few years (see my previous post). We ended up then getting to listen to Flogging Molly play for about 50 minutes instead of 30, which was more than fine by me.
So, in the end this year's Warped Tour was another fun outing. Some of the bands sucked, some were awesome, but most fell somewhere in between. I would have liked to have seen a little more diversity, but I can't really complain too much for only it only costing $30. If Warped is stopping by your town, take a day and go. It's well worth it.
Monday, July 26, 2004
Warped Tour 2004 Part 1
Vans Warped Tour, a staple event of my summer for the last 4 years. Each has been a wonderful adventure and an audible pleasure. This year was no different. Oddly, though, this year didn't seem quite as good as the last, and I believe there are two main reasons for this. First, the venue was organized quite crappily and second, there was definitely a lack of variety in the bands that performed.
The Warped Tour was held in the parking lot of the Metrodome this year, as opposed to being at Floate Rite Park in Wisconsin or at some lame-ass park in the middle of the cities. This was supposed to be the site of Warped a couple of years ago, but it was changed about a week beforehand to the aforementioned lame-ass park.
When Warped was at the lame-ass park two years ago, the stages were spaced out nicely and there was plenty of open room. It was this way when it was in Wisconsin as well. The only thing that sucked about lame-ass park, MN is that there were four single-file gates to let everyone in through. Needless to say, it took forever for everyone to get in. I waited in line almost 3 hours myself.
Before we went this year, I thought that the Metrodome parking lot would be a crappy venue and I was proven right as the day went on. Simply put, the parking lot was way too small to house all of the stages and tents that come with the Warped crew. People were shoulder to shoulder everywhere, not just at the stages themselves. It was terrible. Just traversing from one stage to another was an exercise in pushing through people. What helped to make it even worse was that they put a bunch of the tents up only a little ways out from the stage so there was a very narrow lane for everyone wanting to see the bands, buy merch, meets bands, and move between stages to use.
Another thing that was pretty subpar this year was the technical aspects of the stages, namely the techs not getting the sound working right on a few of the stages. Come on, it's not like we're the start of the tour. Setting up the stages and equipment should be a breeze at this point. One stage had only the bands monitors working so only the crowd directly around them could here. Another stage had the bass overpowering everything else. Yet another stage had the sound muddled. The first two stages eventually fixed their problems, but the stage with the muddled sound, which was also one of the main stages, stayed that way the entire day. It was very frustrating to listen to some bands I really wanted to hear only to have it sound like the sound was being pumped through a 10 foot thick mattress before it got to my ears.
Lastly on my annoyances list is the way people there dressed. Do people not look at themselves in the mirror before they leave the house? I cannot even begin to count the number of overweight (and some just plain FAT) girls that were wearing tube tops or bikinis or other such inappropriate dress. To compound that, most of these girls were probably not even old enough to drive yet. I know if I was a parent, there would be no way in hell that my daughter would leave the house in shorts only slightly larger than her underwear and a bikini top only large enough to cover the mosquito bites that pass for her breasts. Parents, I'm telling you right now--regulate what your daughter wears out in public!!!
I can understand where it gets hot out and you want to be cool, but it wasn't that terrible out. I was tempted at times to go talk to some of the more extreme girls who were either severely underclothed or severely overweight (and wearing little in the realm of clothing).
"Excuse me miss. Can you tell me what your favorite band here is?"
"Sure. I really, really love Simple Plan and New Found Glory. In fact, I even held up my cell phone during both of their sets so that I could record my favorite songs to my voice mail and listen to them later. They're SO punk. Anyways, I really like Simply Plan."
"That's cool. You know, since you like them so much, I think you should show them your support by going to buy one of their shirts right now. Make sure it's a little big because it might shrink in the wash, but don't wait to wear it. Put it on right away! You'll be the coolest girl in your clique."
"Good idea, Mr. Dressed in Actual Clothing. I was getting kind of cold wearing next to nothing. You're smart."
"Thank you. Now go buy that shirt."
Lastly, like I said before, the only other gripe I really had was the lack of variety in music. The last few years have had bands from all kinds of different genres represented, but this year the majority of the bands were your standard pop-punk fare with a few screamo bands tossed in. There was hardly any hardcore, one rap group, a couple metal bands, and not really any off the wall bands. The main stages were the worst as most all of the bands on them shared basically the same sound. I guess I just wanted a little more variety to choose from, but what was there wasn't too bad.
Now tomorrow, since I've managed to get all the ranting out of my system, I'll actually talk a little about the bands I saw. There were quite a few decent ones, a few really good ones, and a bunch of alright ones. Thank God there was no Andrew WK this year...
The Warped Tour was held in the parking lot of the Metrodome this year, as opposed to being at Floate Rite Park in Wisconsin or at some lame-ass park in the middle of the cities. This was supposed to be the site of Warped a couple of years ago, but it was changed about a week beforehand to the aforementioned lame-ass park.
When Warped was at the lame-ass park two years ago, the stages were spaced out nicely and there was plenty of open room. It was this way when it was in Wisconsin as well. The only thing that sucked about lame-ass park, MN is that there were four single-file gates to let everyone in through. Needless to say, it took forever for everyone to get in. I waited in line almost 3 hours myself.
Before we went this year, I thought that the Metrodome parking lot would be a crappy venue and I was proven right as the day went on. Simply put, the parking lot was way too small to house all of the stages and tents that come with the Warped crew. People were shoulder to shoulder everywhere, not just at the stages themselves. It was terrible. Just traversing from one stage to another was an exercise in pushing through people. What helped to make it even worse was that they put a bunch of the tents up only a little ways out from the stage so there was a very narrow lane for everyone wanting to see the bands, buy merch, meets bands, and move between stages to use.
Another thing that was pretty subpar this year was the technical aspects of the stages, namely the techs not getting the sound working right on a few of the stages. Come on, it's not like we're the start of the tour. Setting up the stages and equipment should be a breeze at this point. One stage had only the bands monitors working so only the crowd directly around them could here. Another stage had the bass overpowering everything else. Yet another stage had the sound muddled. The first two stages eventually fixed their problems, but the stage with the muddled sound, which was also one of the main stages, stayed that way the entire day. It was very frustrating to listen to some bands I really wanted to hear only to have it sound like the sound was being pumped through a 10 foot thick mattress before it got to my ears.
Lastly on my annoyances list is the way people there dressed. Do people not look at themselves in the mirror before they leave the house? I cannot even begin to count the number of overweight (and some just plain FAT) girls that were wearing tube tops or bikinis or other such inappropriate dress. To compound that, most of these girls were probably not even old enough to drive yet. I know if I was a parent, there would be no way in hell that my daughter would leave the house in shorts only slightly larger than her underwear and a bikini top only large enough to cover the mosquito bites that pass for her breasts. Parents, I'm telling you right now--regulate what your daughter wears out in public!!!
I can understand where it gets hot out and you want to be cool, but it wasn't that terrible out. I was tempted at times to go talk to some of the more extreme girls who were either severely underclothed or severely overweight (and wearing little in the realm of clothing).
"Excuse me miss. Can you tell me what your favorite band here is?"
"Sure. I really, really love Simple Plan and New Found Glory. In fact, I even held up my cell phone during both of their sets so that I could record my favorite songs to my voice mail and listen to them later. They're SO punk. Anyways, I really like Simply Plan."
"That's cool. You know, since you like them so much, I think you should show them your support by going to buy one of their shirts right now. Make sure it's a little big because it might shrink in the wash, but don't wait to wear it. Put it on right away! You'll be the coolest girl in your clique."
"Good idea, Mr. Dressed in Actual Clothing. I was getting kind of cold wearing next to nothing. You're smart."
"Thank you. Now go buy that shirt."
Lastly, like I said before, the only other gripe I really had was the lack of variety in music. The last few years have had bands from all kinds of different genres represented, but this year the majority of the bands were your standard pop-punk fare with a few screamo bands tossed in. There was hardly any hardcore, one rap group, a couple metal bands, and not really any off the wall bands. The main stages were the worst as most all of the bands on them shared basically the same sound. I guess I just wanted a little more variety to choose from, but what was there wasn't too bad.
Now tomorrow, since I've managed to get all the ranting out of my system, I'll actually talk a little about the bands I saw. There were quite a few decent ones, a few really good ones, and a bunch of alright ones. Thank God there was no Andrew WK this year...
Friday, July 23, 2004
Concrete Play Time!
Wednesday was a day filled with fun outdoor activities, mainly waiting for cement trucks, praying more things won't break, and playing around with concrete. No, I wasn't just goofing around with some Tonka trucks in the sand box, but instead I was helping out in pouring the concrete foundation for a new grain bin to be put up on the family farm.
We did this last year or the year before (I'm not sure which, my memory is fading fast in my ripe, old age) and it went pretty smoothly, although we ended up a little short with the concrete so we had to drop some big rocks into the poured cement to get it up to the proper height. Anyhow, I was expecting it to take a couple of hours, much like last time, but what did happen wasn't quite what anyone had planned.
To assist in pouring the cement this year, we also hired a pumper truck. The cement trucks would dump their load into this truck and the pumper would guide the cement to the area we wanted it. This is a heck of a lot better then simply having a cement truck dump its load on the edge of where we're pouring and then all of us having to scoop the cement to the far edges.
We were supposed to start pouring the cement at 1:30 pm, but the first of the cement trucks (we had four coming) didn't get there until almost 3. They didn't think they'd have to come because it was raining... in Spring Valley. That's where they are based out of so they must have just thought that since it was raining there it must be raining everywhere. Idiots. We told them it was fine where we were so they got on their way.
When they finally arrived, everything went pretty smoothly, for the first three trucks worth of cement. We poured the outside just fine and half of the surface with the first three trucks, while the fourth would finish off the entire slab.
We were handling the cement pretty good and it was going to be finished wonderfully in no time. At least it would have if the fourth truck hadn't blow a tire on the way to the farm, and it had to blow the tire about a mile away from where we were. So, what were we going to do? With the sun beating down, the temperature rising, and the breeze nonexistent, the cement was hardening up pretty quickly.
The cement slab was only half done. If the cement didn't get there quickly, we would have a crack down the middle of the slab and where the slab met the concrete on the edges. Over time, if that happened, the bin on top of the slab would push the two sides down and the foundation would split. Not good. Especially since we were going to be having 35,000 bushels of corn sitting on top of this slab.
The company providing the cement was going to send a truck to fix the tire on the cement truck, but they were probably an hour off. That was getting to be too long. In order to try to get the truck here as fast as possible so we could get the cement in and bonded to what was already down, we sent some guys down to try to do what they could to help the truck along.
What they did was chain up the axle that the bad tire was on so that the rim and tire didn't drag on the ground. This allowed the cement truck to get moving again, but at a very slow pace. Thank goodness there was only a mile to go to get to the farm. When the cement truck was about 500 yards, maybe less even, the repair truck shows up and decides to do the dumbest thing--fix the tire right then and there.
Why couldn't they wait until we got the truck in our yard so we could unload the concrete? Why? Sure the tire needs to get changed, but it could wait another few minutes. Instead it took them another half an hour to change that tire and then they got into our yard and started pouring.
To help the new cement bond to the already poured cement (which was pretty firm at this point), we used a vibration tool that helped to integrate the old with the new. We also had to pour the cement fast so we could do the finishing on the surface before the concrete go too hard. For this reason, we were all really busy and no one got a chance to snap some pictures with my camera of us working on this load of concrete.
Once we finished off the platform for the bin, we had some concrete left over that we used to put in a small walkway for one of our shops. That went pretty well and we managed to get all of the concrete poured, worked with, and finished by about 8 pm. Thanks to all of the things that could go wrong (including a grain cart breaking in our pea field, which we had to deal with as well while we were pouring the cement) a job that should have taken a couple of hours took about 6 and a half.
*Sigh* It was a long, warm, frustrating day, but it managed to turn out all right in the end... we hope.
We did this last year or the year before (I'm not sure which, my memory is fading fast in my ripe, old age) and it went pretty smoothly, although we ended up a little short with the concrete so we had to drop some big rocks into the poured cement to get it up to the proper height. Anyhow, I was expecting it to take a couple of hours, much like last time, but what did happen wasn't quite what anyone had planned.
To assist in pouring the cement this year, we also hired a pumper truck. The cement trucks would dump their load into this truck and the pumper would guide the cement to the area we wanted it. This is a heck of a lot better then simply having a cement truck dump its load on the edge of where we're pouring and then all of us having to scoop the cement to the far edges.
We were supposed to start pouring the cement at 1:30 pm, but the first of the cement trucks (we had four coming) didn't get there until almost 3. They didn't think they'd have to come because it was raining... in Spring Valley. That's where they are based out of so they must have just thought that since it was raining there it must be raining everywhere. Idiots. We told them it was fine where we were so they got on their way.
When they finally arrived, everything went pretty smoothly, for the first three trucks worth of cement. We poured the outside just fine and half of the surface with the first three trucks, while the fourth would finish off the entire slab.
We were handling the cement pretty good and it was going to be finished wonderfully in no time. At least it would have if the fourth truck hadn't blow a tire on the way to the farm, and it had to blow the tire about a mile away from where we were. So, what were we going to do? With the sun beating down, the temperature rising, and the breeze nonexistent, the cement was hardening up pretty quickly.
The cement slab was only half done. If the cement didn't get there quickly, we would have a crack down the middle of the slab and where the slab met the concrete on the edges. Over time, if that happened, the bin on top of the slab would push the two sides down and the foundation would split. Not good. Especially since we were going to be having 35,000 bushels of corn sitting on top of this slab.
The company providing the cement was going to send a truck to fix the tire on the cement truck, but they were probably an hour off. That was getting to be too long. In order to try to get the truck here as fast as possible so we could get the cement in and bonded to what was already down, we sent some guys down to try to do what they could to help the truck along.
What they did was chain up the axle that the bad tire was on so that the rim and tire didn't drag on the ground. This allowed the cement truck to get moving again, but at a very slow pace. Thank goodness there was only a mile to go to get to the farm. When the cement truck was about 500 yards, maybe less even, the repair truck shows up and decides to do the dumbest thing--fix the tire right then and there.
Why couldn't they wait until we got the truck in our yard so we could unload the concrete? Why? Sure the tire needs to get changed, but it could wait another few minutes. Instead it took them another half an hour to change that tire and then they got into our yard and started pouring.
To help the new cement bond to the already poured cement (which was pretty firm at this point), we used a vibration tool that helped to integrate the old with the new. We also had to pour the cement fast so we could do the finishing on the surface before the concrete go too hard. For this reason, we were all really busy and no one got a chance to snap some pictures with my camera of us working on this load of concrete.
Once we finished off the platform for the bin, we had some concrete left over that we used to put in a small walkway for one of our shops. That went pretty well and we managed to get all of the concrete poured, worked with, and finished by about 8 pm. Thanks to all of the things that could go wrong (including a grain cart breaking in our pea field, which we had to deal with as well while we were pouring the cement) a job that should have taken a couple of hours took about 6 and a half.
*Sigh* It was a long, warm, frustrating day, but it managed to turn out all right in the end... we hope.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Thinking About Vacation
Everyone takes a vacation to somewhere during the summer. It's just a given. When summer gets here, you take some time off and go somewhere. This is especially true for Minnesotans because, well, it's the only nice time of the year. From October to April the weather is usually cold, wet, overcast, and dreary. However, when May hits you get a nice stretch of about 5 months where you can actually enjoy the outdoors without having to wear multiple layers of clothes. During this time, we Minnesotans get the urge to move around and go somewhere. My family is no different.
On Monday we tried to figure out what we're going to do about vacation this year. We have reservations at a camping resort we are members of for August 9th through the 15th. Unfortunately, this is a really bad time for vacation this year. It would have been nice to go earlier, but my mom couldn't get off of work any other week than the one she did. It might not be possible for Kristin, Randy, or myself to go this year.
Kristin has to be back in St. Cloud by the 11th so someone has to take her. That's right in the middle of our vacation, and it's obvious that I would have to be the one to take her home. I really wish that it would work out for us both to go on vacation, but it's looking somewhat bleak. I could take her home early and then go on vacation, but it would be really nice if she would come with.
Randy, on the other hand, doesn't really have an excuse for missing vacation--he just doesn't want to be out there that long. He might come out there for the beginning of vacation and then leave early. Woot. That's real awesome. (note sarcasm) It just seems so weird coming from him because he used to give me hell if I ever even thought of missing a family outing, activity, or holiday. Now when the tables are turned he doesn't seem to care. I wouldn't mind him missing vacation if he had to work or had college orientation or something like that, but just not wanting to go because you'd rather do something else is a pretty lame excuse.
So what's going to happen for our vacation this year? Will it just be my parents and Ryan going? Will Randy go at all? Maybe for a little bit? Will Kristin and myself get to go with? I don't know, but we really have to get this crap figured out soon.
While thinking about our vacation plans, I had an odd thought dawn on me. When you're on vacation, you always dread the day you'll have to go back home and return to the grind. You don't want vacation to end and you sure as heck don't want to go back to work, but you know that it is inevitable so you just try to deal with it. One day it'll just happen and you'll have to go back to work.
It seems that most people feel the same way about death. You know that it's coming and there is nothing you can do about it so you just deal with it. So what if our time here is only a vacation from some other terrible place that we don't want to return to? Maybe it doesn't even have to be a terrible place, as some people don't mind their jobs, but it could just be a place that's not nearly as enjoyable as the vacation that is our life.
The reason I am thinking this way is that my feeling of dread when the end of a vacation approaches is pretty much the same feeling I have when I think about death. Coincidence? More than likely, but the thought that maybe this is as good as it gets is sort of disconcerting. This would, however, help to explain my extreme fear of death. Why would I want this vacation on earth to end?
On Monday we tried to figure out what we're going to do about vacation this year. We have reservations at a camping resort we are members of for August 9th through the 15th. Unfortunately, this is a really bad time for vacation this year. It would have been nice to go earlier, but my mom couldn't get off of work any other week than the one she did. It might not be possible for Kristin, Randy, or myself to go this year.
Kristin has to be back in St. Cloud by the 11th so someone has to take her. That's right in the middle of our vacation, and it's obvious that I would have to be the one to take her home. I really wish that it would work out for us both to go on vacation, but it's looking somewhat bleak. I could take her home early and then go on vacation, but it would be really nice if she would come with.
Randy, on the other hand, doesn't really have an excuse for missing vacation--he just doesn't want to be out there that long. He might come out there for the beginning of vacation and then leave early. Woot. That's real awesome. (note sarcasm) It just seems so weird coming from him because he used to give me hell if I ever even thought of missing a family outing, activity, or holiday. Now when the tables are turned he doesn't seem to care. I wouldn't mind him missing vacation if he had to work or had college orientation or something like that, but just not wanting to go because you'd rather do something else is a pretty lame excuse.
So what's going to happen for our vacation this year? Will it just be my parents and Ryan going? Will Randy go at all? Maybe for a little bit? Will Kristin and myself get to go with? I don't know, but we really have to get this crap figured out soon.
While thinking about our vacation plans, I had an odd thought dawn on me. When you're on vacation, you always dread the day you'll have to go back home and return to the grind. You don't want vacation to end and you sure as heck don't want to go back to work, but you know that it is inevitable so you just try to deal with it. One day it'll just happen and you'll have to go back to work.
It seems that most people feel the same way about death. You know that it's coming and there is nothing you can do about it so you just deal with it. So what if our time here is only a vacation from some other terrible place that we don't want to return to? Maybe it doesn't even have to be a terrible place, as some people don't mind their jobs, but it could just be a place that's not nearly as enjoyable as the vacation that is our life.
The reason I am thinking this way is that my feeling of dread when the end of a vacation approaches is pretty much the same feeling I have when I think about death. Coincidence? More than likely, but the thought that maybe this is as good as it gets is sort of disconcerting. This would, however, help to explain my extreme fear of death. Why would I want this vacation on earth to end?
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Aww, Poop
Anyone who has a cat knows that their crap smells something fierce. Their poop is easily the most rancid of any animal in existence. If you've never smelt cat dookie, then just take my word for it, it's nasty. With that in mind, I have a wonderful little story to tell you.
Two nights ago I was getting myself ready for bed, snuggling myself under my covers, and preparing for a peaceful night of rest. Like many other nights, the family dog, Karma, was spending the night in my bed. She usually snuggles up right beside me at the small of my back, sometimes trying to steal the entire bed (which is quite a feat for such a small dog). I turned out the lights and proceeded to fall asleep.
Later on in the night, at about 4:30 am to be a little more precise, I wake up for some odd reason. As I wake up, I feel fur on my left arm. Reaching over to it with my right arm, I feel that it's our little kitten, Stitch. I think to myself, "Aww... how cute. The kitten came in to sleep with me tonight." About five seconds later another thought went racing through my head, "What is that rancid smell?"
As the fumes hit my nostrils for a second time, I knew what I was smelling--cat poo poo. Considering that I hate the smell of cat crap, I rolled over to turn on my lights. As I rolled over, I felt something mush onto the back of my boxers. Sure enough, when I turned on the lights and looked at my bed and boxers, there was the cat dung--smack dab in the middle of my freakin' bed.
After I realized I had cat crap on my boxers, I quick changed out of them, threw the kitten to the floor, ripped my bed apart, grabbed my sheets and kitten, and headed up stairs. The sheets were thrown in the laundry and the kitten was thrown in the litter box.
Once I got back down to my room, I thought the whole ordeal was over. Oh, how I was wrong. I had forgotten that cat crap possesses the ability to let its smell fester for hours wherever it has been. I don't know how long the cat dung was sitting on my bed, but it was long enough so that the smell had entrenched itself in my room. About fifteen minutes and half a can of air freshener later, I had managed to mask the cat crap smell from my room.
By the time I had done all of this, I was no longer that tired and I was a little disconcerted by the fact that my cat crapped on my bed. Did I do something to the poor thing? Maybe I rolled on him during the night and he got pissed off so he let some doo doo fly on my sheets. Maybe I didn't feed him enough that night. Maybe I've given the cat some crazy psychosis from making it repeatedly jump into the floor as it tries to pounce on my foot. I don't really know. All I know is it crapped on my bed and I wasn't happy.
I finally saw a movie that didn't utterly suck yesterday! I was wondering if I was going to go through the entire summer without seeing one decent flick. I was a little tepid going into I, Robot, but it managed to be a decent movie. It was far from being a truly great film, but the special effects, moderately involved story, and fine acting performances made it a respectable film. I was disappointed that pretty much the only thing this movie shared in common with the Asimov stories was the movie name and the three laws of robotics, but even so the movie was watchable.
On the video game front, Kristin and I *finished* Brute Force yesterday. I tentatively say "finished" because I think we found a bug that doesn't allow us to beat the last level. We've followed tutorials, walkthroughs, and faqs to the letter and still one part of the mission we cannot complete.
Basically, you have to get the shield down that are protecting the end boss so you can kill him. We have destroyed the shield generators and flipped all the damn switches we're supposed to, but no matter what we do the shields are still up around the end boss. I figure that we somehow did something so that our save file got wonky and now it won't let us beat the final level. Considering the story kind of sucked anyways, we just consider the game finished for all intents and purposes.
Now that we have that game beat, Kristin picked up Prince of Persia to play while I continue playing Breakdown. When we want to do some co-op play, we're going to start Hunter: Redeemer. Hooray for video games!
Two nights ago I was getting myself ready for bed, snuggling myself under my covers, and preparing for a peaceful night of rest. Like many other nights, the family dog, Karma, was spending the night in my bed. She usually snuggles up right beside me at the small of my back, sometimes trying to steal the entire bed (which is quite a feat for such a small dog). I turned out the lights and proceeded to fall asleep.
Later on in the night, at about 4:30 am to be a little more precise, I wake up for some odd reason. As I wake up, I feel fur on my left arm. Reaching over to it with my right arm, I feel that it's our little kitten, Stitch. I think to myself, "Aww... how cute. The kitten came in to sleep with me tonight." About five seconds later another thought went racing through my head, "What is that rancid smell?"
As the fumes hit my nostrils for a second time, I knew what I was smelling--cat poo poo. Considering that I hate the smell of cat crap, I rolled over to turn on my lights. As I rolled over, I felt something mush onto the back of my boxers. Sure enough, when I turned on the lights and looked at my bed and boxers, there was the cat dung--smack dab in the middle of my freakin' bed.
After I realized I had cat crap on my boxers, I quick changed out of them, threw the kitten to the floor, ripped my bed apart, grabbed my sheets and kitten, and headed up stairs. The sheets were thrown in the laundry and the kitten was thrown in the litter box.
Once I got back down to my room, I thought the whole ordeal was over. Oh, how I was wrong. I had forgotten that cat crap possesses the ability to let its smell fester for hours wherever it has been. I don't know how long the cat dung was sitting on my bed, but it was long enough so that the smell had entrenched itself in my room. About fifteen minutes and half a can of air freshener later, I had managed to mask the cat crap smell from my room.
By the time I had done all of this, I was no longer that tired and I was a little disconcerted by the fact that my cat crapped on my bed. Did I do something to the poor thing? Maybe I rolled on him during the night and he got pissed off so he let some doo doo fly on my sheets. Maybe I didn't feed him enough that night. Maybe I've given the cat some crazy psychosis from making it repeatedly jump into the floor as it tries to pounce on my foot. I don't really know. All I know is it crapped on my bed and I wasn't happy.
I finally saw a movie that didn't utterly suck yesterday! I was wondering if I was going to go through the entire summer without seeing one decent flick. I was a little tepid going into I, Robot, but it managed to be a decent movie. It was far from being a truly great film, but the special effects, moderately involved story, and fine acting performances made it a respectable film. I was disappointed that pretty much the only thing this movie shared in common with the Asimov stories was the movie name and the three laws of robotics, but even so the movie was watchable.
On the video game front, Kristin and I *finished* Brute Force yesterday. I tentatively say "finished" because I think we found a bug that doesn't allow us to beat the last level. We've followed tutorials, walkthroughs, and faqs to the letter and still one part of the mission we cannot complete.
Basically, you have to get the shield down that are protecting the end boss so you can kill him. We have destroyed the shield generators and flipped all the damn switches we're supposed to, but no matter what we do the shields are still up around the end boss. I figure that we somehow did something so that our save file got wonky and now it won't let us beat the final level. Considering the story kind of sucked anyways, we just consider the game finished for all intents and purposes.
Now that we have that game beat, Kristin picked up Prince of Persia to play while I continue playing Breakdown. When we want to do some co-op play, we're going to start Hunter: Redeemer. Hooray for video games!
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