Things are returning to normal...

I haven't done a blog on Yagi for a while... might as well. For those who don't know Yagi is my project/gaming computer. For those who don't care, just skip this entry and do something more important.
Over the weekend I upgraded Yagi's Hard Drive (with a little help from Chad). This was a much needed job considering I was using a 6 year old 40 GB drive. The new one is a 250GB SATA drive with a 16MB cache. The load times have improved greatly and the drive also sets Yagi up as a video editing system. This really is the last step before an overhaul (unless I'd like to set up a second drive on a RAID). The next upgrade will have to be a processor, motherboard, RAM, and video card all at once. I'm expecting to be able to do this around June this year. But with all the news of IBM/AMD and Intel's latest advancements I may need to wait a bit longer. Advancement is moving SO FAST!!! It's hard to choose a point to buy at. I pick a processor generation then within a few days a new mouth-watering improvement is announced.
Right now the Core 2 Duo looks best, but a Dual X2 system also seems tempting. However an AMD Quad Core may be worth waiting for. The Intel Quad is cool but it seems a bit pricey and First gen is never all it can be. Just look at my Athlon64 3200.

Interesting...

I'm feeling a surprising level of peace right now. I just looked out the window, and instead of thinking, "Oh man, I've got to brush off the car AGAIN!" I thought, "wow, that's looks really neat". The whole day has been like that. It's been a little weird.

But I noticed something again today, tell me if I'm wrong. It seems that the purpose of the media is to instill panic and fear. And when it's not doing that, it's trying to convince us we have no right to feel good. I mean really here, do we really need to know the latest thing that may or may not kill us? Do we really need to be convinced that tomorrow will be doomsday? Should we be convinced that the lessons of yesterday have no application to the future unless they have something to do with failure and/or misery?

It's good to know what is going on in the world, but there MUST be some good out there? I'd hate to think that the only diversion from the harsh world is sports and entertainment. That's another thing... why do we need entertainment news? Is celebrity all that important? Why should the morals of a sociey be implied by an elite controlled by the PR gods? People and Sports Illustrated... is there a difference?

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
Ecc. 12:13-24

Amen

So why did I post Super Grover?
For nostalgia mostly.
Grover was my favorite Sesame Street Character.
And Super Grover was as good as it got.
For those who have seen that Sesame Street Special thing at Metropolitan Muesium of Art
Well all I have to say is "Max" and you know what I'm talking about.
Ah childhood!

151st post

Life continues to get more interesting... I'm making breakthroughs on the family tree. Too much information sometimes. I was hoping to dig as far back as I could, but I've been caught by a story my great great grandma and grandpa. It's really interesting, I just wish I could flesh it out a little bit more. I love nothing more than a great story.
Other than that I'm feeling kinda stagnant. I want completely new challange, nothing to do with anything i've ever done before. Learning new video software is getting old.

Uh yeah, might as well keep it up!

Blah blah blah, not much to say, right now. Lady In The Water was a good movie. I will be buying it. I expect it to be in the 9.99 bin soon enough. It's nice to see a film maker making films for themselves and not some pre-determined demographic except the one that likes a good story.

Aonther good move I think everyone NEEDS to see. Secondhand Lions! I know it's got this "family friendly" rep, but seriously, this move is one of my top 5. Again it's a good story.

In the same catagory is Chocolat, this is another NEED to see movie. I just love the message, and the twist is one of those things that really hit me when I first saw it, and it still does. Actaully there about 4 or 5 twists in it, like any good story.

ANOTHER movie everyone needs to see is Saving Grace (the one made in 1984). It's old, it's imperfect, it's VERY hard to I find, but it could be considered one of the best "Christian" films ever made though it probably isn't considered Christian. And it is in my top 3 favorite movies. Again it's a good story. BTW I built a DVD of it if anyone wants to see it :)

more piles!

only 2 cups of coffee to get started today...wierd.

So, I've managed to get back to the posting on a somewhat daily basis. There isn't much more going on, this is the new year and as with all Januarys and Junes I have alot on my mind. Like how am I going to dig myself out of this hole? It's a common one. Specifically, when dealing with others. I wish I could get into the details of this issue, but it isn't exactly blog approriate.

On another semi-related topic: Sometimes I need to ask why I'm wired the way I am!
After nearly 25 years it still doesn't make any sense! That's why I was born when I was, if it was any earlier I'm certain natural selection would have kicked my ass.

HOLY SH**!

Over lunch today I decided to catch the feed of the Macworld Keynote. I was expecting appleTV, very cool device, it would look good with the Wii. Now there's meeting of the minds that I'd love to see. Anyway, then there was the iphone. I had my doubts, but I was converted instantly on the first photo. What Apple has made is the device of my dreams. Audio, Video, Internet, and phone all seamlessly integrated. Multi touch control, NO BUTTONS and a unified sexy design. I WANT one NOW! This is the reason I haven't bought an iPod yet! This is what I've been waiting for.

How's this for a title?

Okay so the title is a little cheesy, but I found it witty for a moment.

ANYWAY, I may be tapped for my first freelance After Effects job soon. Very exciting! And if it does come through it will be for a MAJOR company. Like, if I told you who it is, you would KNOW who it is. I'm sure all ya'll have shopped at one before. More on that as it develops. Apparently my name is beginning to float around Milwaukee, eep!

Later that morning...

Back before Christmas, I was given a little daily Sodoku calendar. Who knew it was going to be such good day starter! Coffee and a puzzle, it's a great way to start a morning! Aside from all that, I continue on my normal day. I even have a scheduled show for today! Big W007 there!

The weekend was okay, I spent most of Saturday working on "mask tweening" at Ridgewood. It's like doing chroma key by hand. It would be easier if I could do it on a Cintiq. Not that would be a dream, After Effects on a Cintiq!
It was kinda nice working @ Ridgewood again, I like that mac system a lot. Yuki has her share of issues (kinda high maintenance), but in the end she is still a stable system, capable of some amazing stuff in the right hands. I just need to get a new VCR in there so I could have a real-time monitor again. I'd also like to clean up the station a bit. make it a little less "Office" and a little more "Editing Suite". But that's all down the road... IKEA run anyone?

Hello!

Good morning ya'll!
Okay so I'm in a really good mood this morning, don't ask me why. I'm feeling a little bulletproof as well. It's a nice change from the typical recent morning. I'm still having the chain of memorable dreams, though tey are getting more or less normal. for the most part. I guess thats a good thing. Anywhodles, I hope this finds all of you well, and best wishes on your day today!

A weather post

Okay I know there's nothing new about this. But this spring in January thing is really getting on my nerves! I don't believe in Global Warming, that is too simple. However, I do believe we are experiencing Climate change. For the next few years I'm expecting a more moderate climate in this area. Or at least that's the way the past few years have been going. Remember 2006's cold summer? Basically, I think the difference between winter and summer may become less drastic. Give it 20-30 years and we should be back to "normal".
Global warming is scare tactic, it's too simplistic to say things are getting warmer in general. In reality, different climate zones are experiencing different things. I'm waiting for the day when the news people will start to report on this.
Do I support, going to non-gas and hybrid cars? Yes. But such changes should be driven by the market and quality innovation, not the government telling auto makers what to do. Though tax incentives on those purchaces are nice :) I think the demand for the uber SUV is becoming niche. As the quality of hybrid increase we will see demand low-emission/ no emission continue to grow.
Do I support clean air / clean water? Yes. But again, I don't want to see anything that will harm our economic system due to rushed, unreasonable, and irresponsible over-regulation. Or hypocritical international regulation from the UN.

stuff n junk

First things first, Chaucer ain't half bad, I've made is about a quarter of the way through in 2 sittings. Very entertaining, but like shakepeare it takes some time to get used to it, Usually about 20 lines or so. ANYWAY one of te highlight christmas gifts this year was from my sister. It was a collection of The X-Files episodes surrounding the Black Oil story line... one of my faves. It's good to see these again, oh to be a geek again! Of course I used one of my gift cards to get Firefly, great anytime DVDs. I also received Secondhand Lions, by far one of may favorite movies, period. Now there is only one more movie I REALLY want, Chocolat.
Oddly enough I haven't downloaded much music recently, maybe I'm just content with my collection as it stands right now. I've been listening to Jars of Clay, Nickel Creek and Gaelic Storm for the most part recently. Good stuff.

Of school and books

When it comes to fiction; I like old books! Well, by old I mean written before I was born. And the book I'm beginning to tackle fits that description, and then some. I read parts of it for school and I remember liking it alot. I also have to blame Mr. CS Lewis and George MacDonald for peaking my interest in poetry. Just reading Surprised by Joy, The Four Loves, Phantastes or Lilith will get you at least thinking about taking on classics like Beowulf. As great as that sounds I've decided on something a little lighter, The Canterbury Tales. The idea behind it was enough to get me hooked, and after reading the prologue I should have no problem finishing it by the end of January. For those who are wondering, I am using a modern translation... boo and hiss all you want I refuse to be distracted by endless foot notes. It is about the stories after all. I may just have to post my thoughts as I go, so good night ya'll!

Here it is in all it's glory 2007!!!!

I haven't blogged in a long time... at first it was the fact I thought I had nothing to say. Now I think it's just it's not organized enough to put together into words.

My head has been this swirling mess of thoughts for the last month, things I want to do, hobbies I want to take on, stuff I want to find out. True, life has been easy, but I can't remember a time when things seemed so wide open .

I've been reintroduced to old passions I thought were dead years ago. I've found that I'm still very much the same person I was 12 years ago just a few years older. I see that it is very easy to become self absorbed, you can see this by the sheer number of "I"s in this blog and this needs to be worked on.

There was a time that I thought I had no story. I used to disregard all the things that happened before I graduated High School. I felt what was there was broken beyond repair or use, but over the latter part of the last year I've learned that these broken pieces are the fundamental parts of who I am. And my walking, and sometimes running, from them did more harm than good. Maybe the fate of brokenness isn't to be put back together as it was, but rather be healed and put together as it should be, as it is. Always live in the present, for it is only place where we can experience eternity on earth.

Moving forward.