Rodrigo Y Gabriela

Wow!
I just discovered them and...wow!

See what I mean?

Textbook Blues

I went down to the office today. Pre-planning at the college doesn't start until the 19th, but I wanted to check in. I especially wanted to double-check that the new text book for our Computer Concepts course was in. It wasn't and probably won't be in the campus bookstores until the 21st.

So much for getting a jump on planning!

Listening To

Astral Weeks by Van Morrison.

Van Morrison has been a favorite of mine since the middle 60's when he was singing Brown Eyed Girl and Gloria. In the late 60's and early 70's he produced some of the best songs ever! Astral Weeks was his first sole album and the beginning of a string of great work. I think substance abuse (drugs/alcohol) derailed Morrison in the early 70's, but he seems to have overcome those problems as he continues to produce music today. Sometimes great music.

Astral Weeks has songs like Cypress Avenue, Madame George, Ballerina as well as the title song. This is perfect album to listen to when you need to mellow out, or get stoned...on life and music, not artificially. :)

Walking!

I've been doing the "10,000" steps a day thing for the last 3 months. Yes, I've lost some weight, but to be honest, I lost more in the 3 months before I started exercising. :)

Most days, I do three miles either on the road or on a treadmill. That gives me 6,000+ steps right there. I can get another 1 to 2 thousand just walking around the house before I go to bed. The rest I get from just moving around.

When I get back to teaching later this month I'm going to have a problem keeping up this pace. My schedule is going to keep me at work until about 9 pm three nights a week. I'll have time during the day to get in the steps, but if I do the *work* while at work, I'll also sweat like a pig. That's going to be a problem.

Well, we'll see...

Watching

The Last Detective, Series 2 staring Peter Davison


Dangerous Dave is "the last detective" his governor would assign to a case, but Dangerous always seems to solve the cases he is on. Sometimes those cases are minor ones, like a string of break ins at local businesses or a missing man dying of cancer, but sometimes those simple cases uncover murder...and Dangerous always gets his man, or woman. This isn't a "shoot 'em up" series, it's as quiet and thoughtful as you can find. I highly recommend it!

Listening To

Good Times by Edie Brickell.

This is from Edie's Picture Perfect Morning album. You might remember it from the music video that was included with an earlier version of MS Windows.

I've been a fan of Edie's thoughtful lyrics since her early days with The New Bohemians. Mrs. Paul Simon, Edie, seems to take several years off at a time between albums and tours, but she and The Bohemians reunited for an album and a tour last year.

New Blogs

Yes, blogs might be "ancient" technology now. They are, what, five years old? But conservative old me has just gotten interested in them. I started the Kid Chaos blog earlier this year to hold general comments about any old subject. I planned to start a couple of others to cover "specialty" areas that interest me...specifically, programming and role playing games. Well, I've finally gotten around to creating them.

The first new blog is called Programming 101. In there I will write about computer programming and technology. I will offer up some programming tips I've run across over the years. I'm sure I'll be posting on various languages: C, C++, C#, Java...etc. My advice, ideas, tips won't always be traditionally or conventionally correct...all I can say is In My Opinion and let it go at that.

The second new blog is called RPG Fever. I'm not entirely sure what I'll be posting in there, other than it will be about role playing games. I want a place to write about Traveller, D&D, and 4th Edition (which isn't really D&D IMO). I want a place where I can post ideas for various game systems: a really, really, simple fantasy rpg (SimpleD20); a fantasy rpg based on a 2d6 mechanic (Wanderers); and various mods I've made (and continue to make) to Traveller. It will also be a place where I can post links I've found to other people's websites and blogs.

I'm sure my postings will be sporadic, but I think I'll have fun. Maybe if you choose to follow along with me you'll be able to share in...even add to...the fun.

Just Another Day

Listening to: Sister Lost Soul by Alejandro Escovedo.

This is from his Real Animal album. Alejandro is the brother of Pete Escovedo (drummer for Santana) and uncle of the infamous Shelia E. Alejandro has been bouncing around the music scene since the 60's, but never hit it big. This song, however, I really like.

I can't say I was enthused about the rest of Real Animal, though.

Thinking about: Sixth Sense Technology as demoed by Dr. Pattie Mae.

I thought MicroSoft's Surface was cool, but that pales in comparison to this! I really think this will be the break through technology of 2010 or 2011. Imagine being about to project information from the internet onto any surface and manipulate it. Imagine walking up to a stranger and having information about him projected onto his shirt, or whispered in your ear. Imagine getting real-time reviews of books just by picking them up. This is going to be hands-free IPhone, IPod, Surface, your new Digital Personal Assistant! Of course, I will still want my Dynabook. :)

Reading Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh.

Having exhausted Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie, I've started on Ngaio Marsh. Enter a Murderer is the second book of the Inspector Alleyn series. I finished the first book, A Man Lay Dead, a few weeks ago...it wasn't great, but it was Marsh's first effort and has been universally rated as her worst. It is with this second book that she begins to "hit her stride."

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