Finally, a new post.

Went to Ocean City, NJ last week.

Here is a link to the flickr account

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9029367@N02/

favorite Indie Rock Bands

# death cab for cutie

# the decemeberists

# cut copy

# sufjan stevens

# lemon jelly

# the postal service

The "U" rocks on XM channel 43

the dogs are eating tomato plants

fav dcfc song for the now "Photobooth"

Say Yes to Michigan

thanks for the directions. Though I negelected to check construction updates. For your reference last 5 miles of M-14 to Plymouth down to one lane. Also I-696 is one lane between Dequindre and Mound.

Still, no problemo as it was Saturday and traffic was light.

The wedding was cool a Quaker wedding held under a Maple tree. Never done the Quaker thing but was nice. My friend's Mom is from Iraq so after ceremony we signed wedding certifcate that was half written in Arabic. He had a bunch of relatives there who spoke Arabic. There was some ululating at the ceremony.


Back to the hotel for beers and to shoot some pool. Dropped some old school beats.

Sunday morning I-94 down to I-75, exit Jefferson. Brief foray into downtown area past Compuware HQ. Up Woodward and noticed a huge crowd of people. Tigers game is gearing up. Up Woodward a little further past B Karmanos breast cancer center. Drive-by through Brush Park which I recognized from the ruins of Detroit Website (ha! ha!) But alas, redevelopment is going on. People rehabbing homes in Brush Park, new townhomes next to Comerica Park.

Wind our way back to I-94 somehow, not well marked route. Back on I-94 over the River Rouge past two sets of blue bridges that had strange geometry.

Alas back home in Indiana.

a movieScript ending

A song by Death Cab for Cutie

Whenever i come back, the air on railroad is making the same sounds.
And the shop fronts on holly are dirty words (asterisks in for the vowels).
We peered through the windows... new bottoms on barstools but the people remain the same, with prices inflating.

As if saved from the gallows.
There's a bellow of buzzers and the people stop working and they're all so excited.

Passing through unconscious states.
When i awoke i was on the highway.

With your hand on my shoulders, a meaningless movement... a moviescript ending,
And the patrons are leaving, leaving.

Now we all know the words were true in the sappiest songs (yes, yes).
I'll put them to bed, but they won't sleep, they're just shuffling the sheets, they toss and turn,
(you can't begin to get it back).

Passing through unconscious states.
When i awoke i was on
The onset of a later stage... the headlights are beacons on the highway.

I heard this poem mentioned by Robert McNamara in a documentary about him that was done by Errol Morris.

The movie is called
"The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara "

I think it's a good poem.

The Palace

by Rudyard Kipling

When I was a King and a Mason, a Master Proven and skilled,

I cleared me ground for a Palace, such as a King should build.

I decreed and dug down to my levels; presently, under the silt,

I came on the wreck of a Palace, such as a King had built.



There was no worth in the fashion; there was no wit in the plan;

Hither and thither, aimless, the ruined footings ran.

Masonry, brute, mishandled, but carven on every stone,

"After me cometh a Builder; tell him I, too, have known."



Swift to my use in my trenches, where my well-planned groundworks grew,

I tumbled his quoins and his ashlars, and cut and rest them anew.

Lime I milled of his marbles; burned it, slaked it, and spread;

Taking and leaving at pleasure the gifts of the humble dead.


Yet I despised not nor gloried, yet, as we wrenched them apart,

I read in the razed foundation the heart of that Builder's heart.

As he has risen and pleaded, so did I understand

The form of the dream he had followed in the face of the thing he had planned



When I was a King and a Mason, in the open noon of my pride,

They sent me a Word from the Darkness; they whispered and called me aside.

They said, "The end is forbidden." They said, "Thy use is fulfilled.

Thy Palace shall stand as that other's, the spoil of a King who shall build."



I called my men from my trenches, my quarries, my wharves, and my sheers;

All I had wrought I abandoned to the faith of the faithless years.

Only I cut on the timber; only I carved on the stone:

"After me cometh a Builder; tell him I, too, have known."

XM radio rox, rox, roc

I am enjoying the XM radio

just a few things

Roger McGuinn of the Byrds had a really cool special on XM - 50 the Loft

Also XM - 43 , XMU is INCREDIBLE

Indie rock music, all the time

two songs I will jot down before I forget

U U by Cut Copy . also known as Track 8 according to Amazon
album is called "Bright Like Neon Love"

Also heard today on XMU is

The Clientele "Since Kay Got Over Me"

I can't find these songs on iTunes, what am I to do?

evil lurks nextdoor!

so Mary H next door wishes to pick a fight with me over fallen tree branches in her driveway.

But I will not take the bait.

Last Monday a storm blew through our area. Tree limbs were fell everywhere.

I went outside to clean up the mess and Mary H comes our of her house to read me the riot act.

I haven't heard her voice in over 5 years:

"Those are your branches, they fell from your trees, our trees don't have any dead branches, those are your branches".

She repeats:

"Those are your branches, they fell from your trees, our trees don't have any dead branches, those are your branches".

The woman is psychotic. She's also looking for a good fight. I said nothing to her, nothing.

What a disappointment I must be, I'm no fun to play with, I won't join the battle on her terms.

I just picked up the branches, stuffed them in the trash and walked away.

Four doors down

so soon another post.

The house four doors down sold a few months ago but no one has moved in.

I'm not sure what is going on, someone is mowing the lawn down there but I never see any lights on.

I thought I saw a moving van pull up there a few weeks ago but I could have been wrong.

I'm quite familiar with the property because Rex always takes his poops on the driveway or in the yard right next to the drive. I'm not sure what the attraction is but if he's going to go, he will do his business there.

last update was May 16, 2006

I'm getting behind here. or maybe I don;t have much to say

what has happened in the past month?

# the puppy Sabriah continues to grow and grow, she now gets as much food as Mr Rex.

# Don Tarr and his wife found a puppy out on the street and took him in, his name is Carl.

# Omar and Theresa are getting married a week from Saturday and Mary and I are driving up to Michigan for the wedding.

# I talked to Mark D last night and he and his wife will also be going to the wedding in the Detroit area.

# To stick with the Michigan theme I've been listening to Sufjan Stevens's album "Michigan, the Great Lake State"

# We are going to see my Mom this weekend, I might put the XM radio in the Matrix so we can listen to it on the drive over.

# I am currently reading "Reading Lolita in Teheran", the next book on-deck is "The Genius Factory". I haven't acquired a copy yet but I think it takes precedence over the Truman biography. And the James Adams bio and "Wheels of the World" by Douglas Brinkley.

here are the lyrics from "Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream "
from Sufjan Stevens "Illinois" LP.

I cried myself to sleep last night

And the ghost of Carl, he approached my window
I was hypnotized, I was asked
To improvise
On the attitude, the regret
Of a thousand centuries of death


Even with the heart of terror and the superstitious wearer
I am riding all alone
I am writing all alone

Even in my best condition, counting all the superstition
I am riding all alone
I am running all alone

And we laughed at the beatitudes of a thousand lines
We were asked at the attitudes
They reminded us of death

Even with the rest belated, everything is antiquated
Are you writing from the heart?
Are you writing from the heart?

Even in his heart the Devil has to know the water level
Are you writing from the heart?
Are you writing from the heart?

And I cried myself to sleep last night
For the Earth, and materials, they may sound just right to me

Even with the rest belated, everything is antiquated
Are you writing from the heart?
Are you writing from the heart?

Even in his heart the Devil has to know the water level
Are you writing from the heart?
Are you writing from the heart?

Desert Island Challenge

You get to take with you one of each of the following:

album: "Illinois" by Sufjan Stevens
book: "Blackboard Jungle" by Evan Brown
film: "Taxi Driver"
complete television series: Six feet Under

this "Illinois" album by Mr Stevens has blown my mind.

Track 3: "Come On! Feel The Illinoise!: Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition/Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream "

The Sandburg part is incredible, I've never heard anything like it. The work of a musical genius and I do not throw out the term "genius" gratitously.

Track 4: "John Wayne Gacy, Jr. "

This song will send a chill down your spine. On Saturday morning I got my XM radio working and the first song I hear on my XM was "John Wayne Gacy, Jr. ". Oh my. I immediately ran downstairs to my Itunes and downloaded the whole "Illinois" album.

Needless to say, I'm hooked.

We were in Columbus this weekend for Easter.

We went to Hoge Church, I hadn't been there in about six years. It was OK though the service seemed to drag a bit.

We saw "Little Shop of Horrors" at the Ohio Theatre.

Also driving back I was able to check out the Spiceland Kame complex just west of the New Castle exit on I-70. The roadside Geology of Indiana is a pretty neat book. I just have to remember to take it along on other trips around the state.

The house the Boaks used to live in sold last week. I believe the inspection is today. It took about eight months for the house to sell.

I drove up to Westfield, IN this morning to go on a bike ride with CIBA.

http://www.cibaride.org/

The weather conditions were less than ideal and I had to deal with a steady headwind of 20-30 mph as I headed up SpringMill road.

Somehow I made it through the 15 mile loop with a bad bike but I got it done.

After about every 10 cranks the chain would lose its tension and my pedalling would snap until I cranked to the next round.

Still it was enjoyable outing and I plan on buying a new bike having ridden the current one into the ground.

This past Friday I got to see a taping of "Indiana Week in Review" on WFYI. My wife arranged for me to meet with Jim Shella and the panelists. It was cool, I had not been in a TV studio for a long time and all the personalities were very cordial. They did the whole show in one take.

Here is the link to the show.

http://www.wfyi.org/indianaWeekInReview.asp

Jeopardy

I signed up for the Jeopardy audition in Indianapolis this morning.

I don't know if I qualify as I last took the test around April 20th and you have to wait a full year to be tested again.

I figured it doesn't hurt to register and if the auditions are too soon and fall before April 20th I'm just out of luck.

Also installed SQL*2005 at work today so I am trying to get that up and running.

We saw Donald Davis at St Luke's Sunday afternoon. It was a good performance. He told a story about "people who tune and people who play."

new puppy is here

Sabriah is here. She's doing well except for some bouts of diarrhea.

We bought a Scion Xa about two weeks ago after the Saturn broke down.

It's a nice car and I can plug my ITunes Shuffle right into the car and play it over the stereo.

I'm almost done with reading "Annals of the Former World". It's in four parts:

Basin and Range -- done

In Suspect Terrain -- done

Rising from the Plains -- done

Assembling California -- in progress

Strange Daze

Tonight on the TeeVee they had a report of a swinger's club in Broad Ripple.
It's right in my 'hood not far from the defunct Saturn
What was funny is the interviews of two local businessmen who wanted the club shut down.

The first guy was from the Import Station where I'd been taking my Saturn to get fixed for the past 3 years. Before that he was fixing my Toyota Tercel. The owner objected to the beer bottles being strewn about the area.

The second interview was with the guy who sold me my kitchen flooring and bedroom carpet. He said he was a "good Christian man" and objected to the club in the vicinity.

Very strange, two back to back interviews with people I knew but when they showed the actual "business" in question I could not recognize the address. I've walked my dog down that street about 200 times in the past year but I drew a blank.

Defunct Saturn Update: I got a call from someone in Gary, IN and they told me they would come to pick up the car tomorrow around 9.

Stay tuned........

Four for Friday

Q1 - Pictures: When was the last time someone took a picture of you, and what were you doing? If you can't remember, then when was the last time you took a picture, and what was it of?


I can't remember my last picture and I don't care too. The last time I took pictures, I was getting my CamCorder up and running and uploading the movie to the PC. It's just 60 seconds of me filming my basement as I sing along to an acoustic version of "405" by Death Cab for Cutie.


Q2 - Vice President Cheney: Texas authorities have already cleared U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney of any wrongdoing over last weekend's incident in which he shot, i.e., “peppered pretty well,” a 73-year-old hunting companion in the face. Do you feel the White House and Mr. Chaney himself have acted appropriately in their handling of the incident?


No comment. I'm a C-Span/political junkie but I like to think of myself as an observer. My Dad had an opinion about everything and would debate any topic to the break of dawn.


Q3 - Real Estate: Do you feel real estate agents' commissions are justified?


Sure why not? If you don't like the commissions go to HomeYeah.com or just do a plain old FSBO. It's how the agents make their money. It's like asking if you think that food servers tips are justified.


Q4 - Best Friends: Who was your first bestest friend, and, are you still friends with them? If you're not in touch with your first best friend, do you keep in touch with anyone you knew--aside from family--when you were between the ages of five and ten?


Scott Miller in Niagara Falls back in 1973 - 1975. I moved to Ohio in 1975 and only saw him a few times after that. I saw him last in 1983 when I was 16 and found I had little in common with him. I haven't seen him since. No I have not kept in touch with anyone outside of family who I knew before I was 10.

Death of a Saturn

Tuesday night I'm heading up a major artery from downtown when I notice my car is losing power. The bucket is 13 years old and has 141,000 miles on it so I knew it wasn't going to be around much longer. My only question was if I could get it home.

Apparently not. As I hit each cross street I felt the energy being sapped out of the mobile. 38th street... 42nd street... 49th ... 52nd and then the car dies. I managed to get it off to a side street and was pushed to the curb my some helpful bystanders. The car remains there (I think) 3 days later.

I went out and bought a new car not wanting to mess with any repairs as I have done enough of that for the past 3 years.

Good to the last drop....

me! me! me! me!

4 things meme or is it 4 things me!me!me!me!me!me!me!me! (we all love to talk aboutourselves)

Four Things Meme

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:

1. Web/Database Programmer in Indianapolis,IN
2. Bartender/Waiter/Cook at PJ's Pub at 3333 N Charles St in Balto,MD
3. Waiter/Chambermaid at the Hotel Schweizerhof in Grindelwald, Switzerland
4. Funeral Home worker in Columbus Ohio.

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:

1. Godfather II
2. Cool Hand Luke
3. Taxi Driver
4. Deliverance

FOUR CITIES YOU'VE LIVED IN:

1. Indianapolis,IN
2. Niagara Falls, NY
3. St Moritz, Switzerland
4. Baltimore, MD

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:

1. Washington Journal - C.Span
2. Six Feet Under
3. Rockford Files
4. Blind Date

FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION:

1. Van, Turkey
2. Rheboth Beach, Delaware
3. Red Lodge, Montana
4. Zermatt, Switzerland

FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY:

1. en.wikipedia.org
2. www.yahoo.com
3. www.informit.com
4. Itunes store

FOUR OF YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE RESTAURANTS:

1. Ho Sai Gai (Chinese restaraunt in Columbus, long gone but first ethnic restaraunt I ever went to)
2. Hotel Jura (Dornach, Switzerland.... it's where my grandparents took me)
3. Sal's Pizza (Larchmont, NY)
4. Some Guys Pizza (Indianapolis, IN)

FOUR OF YOUR FAVOURITE FOODS:

1. noodles and butter
2. buffalo chicken wings
3. gipfelis (swiss croissants)
4. general tso's chicken

FOUR SCHOOLS YOU'VE ATTENDED: (all in Columbus, OH)

1. Westgate Elementary
2. Mohawk Junior High School
3. Columbus Alternative High School
4. The Ohio State University

FOUR THINGS YOU FIND YOURSELF SAYING A LOT:

1. at some point...
2. just go to Wikipedia
3. death cab for cutie rocks
4. biscuit

FOUR PLACES YOU'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:

1. Arizona
2. Switzerland
3. NY, NY
4. Miles City, Montana

Pile on many more layers ....

I cannot stop the Frey bashing today, but I think I'm on to something.

Here is the NYT book review of "million little pieces of ..."


Step 13: Write a book

I haven't even finished it yet but I came upon this.

the film director Gus Van Sant has likened Frey's voice to those of Dave Eggers and David Foster Wallace

Whoa! David Foster Wallace, that literate titan who wrote perhaps the most tedious book ever: "The Broom of the System". I only got through the first 80 pages but I must say he was trying really hard to convince the reader about how clever he is.

Also we have Dave Eggers another 21st century wonder who either fictionalizes truth, or truth-a-lizes fiction. I can't remember which.

If Mr Frey follows in the line of these two greats it's no wonder he's a bestseller.

Of course if I could only channel some of my "Page-rage" into finishing my half written story I too could become one of the "greats". just joking, really...

In another news we are working on putting new lights in our kitchen. We had some friends over helping and we finally got the ceiling fan after much effort. I don't know why we had trouble getting it right but he had to build it and tear it down again before getting it installed.