i just took the slashdot "do you like our new design" survey. here are my essay question answers:

7. What one thing would you most like to change about Slashdot's layout?
i'd move every element up, down or over 2 pixels. why? because i have nothing else to offer.

8. What do you feel is missing from the new look and feel of Slashdot?
cowbell, maybe. clippy? where's clippy? how about some animated gifs of that little guy with a shovel digging? i always like that... oh and the mailbox with the flappy door. maybe the slashdot logo as one of those java applet water effects. get with the times slashdot!

9. What do you find unnecessary on Slashdot?
the letter q. stop using it.

10. Anything else you'd like us to know?
i like cereal and chocolate milk. oh and potatoes!

sometimes i just shouldn't be allowed to participate.

for any of my regular readers (/waves to all three of you) you probably know i fancy the band samiam (pronounced: "sam i am"). about three or so years ago they went on "hiatus." anyone who's remotely interested in music knows that "hiatus" is usually latin for "broke up but don't want to actually use those two words."

when i heard samiam went on "hiatus" i was quite sad. they've been one of my favorite bands since 1989 (when they were called isocracy on lookout! records - yes, the same label that, unfortunately, also put out the first green day rubish - but i won't hold that against them, they put out the original samiam 7" which is just a stunning piece of work). in fact, i've interviewed them on a number of ocassions... including having them put a song out to me in detroit when they discovered i was in the crowd (this was in 1992).

this morning i just checked their site (i had been listening to their old music on my ipod at the gym last night), just to see if anything is going on with the band and discover that they have a new record coming out! holy crap! they weren't lying! they really were on hiatus.

i made my way over to their myspace page and purevolume page, and listened to the new tracks (the record comes out on the 26th) and i was just completely knocked off my feet.

this is one of those rare bands that seems to make music just for me. i mean, its like they sat around their space discussing "so, we know dave likes this kind of thing, maybe should go with that? everyone agree?"

samiam, in the nearly 17 years of their existence hasn't lost a single step. this band never suffered the "sophomore release syndrome" (soar happens to be one of their best records they've ever recorded) and when they signed to atlantic records during the initial green day buzz they managed to record a record that was pure samiam, no compromises, it again, one of their finest efforts, clumsy has some of their best song writing ("stepson" will just leave you weeping like a child by the time it climaxes).

their last few releases prior to their actual hiatus were "showing maturity" in that the song writing was still spot on, but also exhibited that these guys have been around the block a few million times and the songs reflected more maturity, more complexity but never lacked that "samiam" spirit (which is hard to describe, and only those who were into the whole east-bay thing since the late 80's can really catch on to).

this new record, whatever's got you down promises to pick up where they left off, but with more conviction and well, the songs just had that long lost friend reappearing at your door just to say hello.

if you aren't into samiam, but like emotional, almost pop, but not quite, hook-laden, post-east-bay-punk with a real earthy fully grounded sound with self deprecating, funny and honest introspective lyrics, then they just might be the band for you.

under the threat of being terminated for cause by our esteemed ellem, i have put up the first batch of DYPG (Do You Play Guitar?) entries.

Use this journal entry to comment, and please do comment. or not.

i'm still waiting on a few, and will hopefully get solemn's recorded within the next 48 hours or so (when she feels up to it - she's got a lot on her plate).

so, go on over. take a listen. have fun. you'll find a good diverse mix of styles and genres.

UPDATE: like a total idiot, i left out talinom's entry. i have now added it and its good to go.

alrighty, i've gotten some good submissions. still waiting for rk (are you in my good man?)

i set up a little website and have it all stubbed out. i do NOT have the mp3s linked up in that i want to make sure all of the submissions are in before i do that.

yeah, i got this domain name because i needed a place to put crap that doesn't fit in with my other projects (diysearch, skyflyingby) so i decided to play off of the song that i wrote where my moniker comes from (there was a line in the song that went "blinder than before." clever eh?)

anyway, if anyone else wants to submit something, do it before the end of the day tomorrow, okay? thanks :)

the rules? no rules really... just make it original (do try)... and guitar, bass, banjo, you get the idea, are welcome. i don't care how you record it, this isn't a contest.

I know its an old joke but damnit, it is still damn funny. so, if you've got the funny points, please give. only pennies a day can help save this comment.

i haven't been listening to much music lately, in fact i haven't been *playing* much music lately (i did, however, have something ready for [DYPG], which i'll mix down probably tonight, and get it uploaded, then i'll make a quick widdle html page for everyone's entry, you included zed).

anyway, aside from just being completely sick and tired of the music i have crammed on to my ipod, i just haven't been much in the mood. too much going on, stress, work, bla bla bla... to really care much about music lately.

but, alas, i have started to care a little more, and was listening to latterman (no, you probably haven't heard of them, the only person i would guess that has, would be our friendly neighborhood fellow obscure music fan, a one janeowit)

on their record "no matter where we go" they have a song that has one of the best titles evar found in a recording (and is quite a good song to boot):

" video games and fantasy novels are fucking cool "

which is followed by an almost equally brilliant title, "zombies are pissed."

okay, this pointless journal has now come to a full and complete stop.

just a little notice... SolemnDragon is going to be a bit quiet during the weekdays now. here work place has decided to come down pretty hard on surfing and she doesn't want to make trouble by posting on slashdot. also, she'll be checking her gmail when she gets home, so if you send her mails during the day, don't expect a response till the evening at the earliest.

alright, i've been getting a decent response. i've got a few from talinom, stb and rg (thanks guys!), but i've been wack-crazy busy with teh day job. i've uploaded the one's i have to my server, but i don't have a url quite yet (meaning, i just need to move the files to one of the web sites).

i still have to record mine, i thought i had something, but i didn't like it and lost the pro tools session for it (oops). solemn may also be recording a thing as well (if she can be coaxed into it).

just as a reminder, what this is all about. if you play guitar (do you play guitar, dypg, get it?) and can record yourself playing said instrument, performing something *original* then send it to me. oh yeah, this also includes bass -- so for the bassists out there, send stuff too. i guess this also includes banjo, steel guitar, sitar, mandolin or hell, the cigar box and rubber bands.

at the end of the week (like into next week) i'm a make a web page, with links, and credits, so we can all enjoy the talented (in the 6/4/5/12-string) types around here.

so what say you? are you game?
 

so solemn and i went out to grab a quick iced (decaf) mocha (please) and then dashed over to the store. we get home and find this sleeping on our sofa.

many of you have heard us speak about her magesty the bibbitt, few have actually seen her, but now, we are proud to introduce her to you in all her furry majesty.

i must admit, occassionally our "to-do" lists can be, well, lets just say, odd, from time to time. yesterday's list had things like "start laundry," "clean kitchen," "go to grocery" but it also had "buy car."

so, having that in mind, we trecked over to brookline (just across the river [yes trmj and buffer, we waved]) and hit the cooper-mini dealership (which also happens to be a porsche dealership). we talked to the porsche guy, who then was gracious (because we let him know we'd be back in about a year's time to pay him a visit -- also showed solemn the 911 up-close -- it met with her approval) and then we went down to the mini showroom (which was on the 2nd floor, porsche is on the 3rd). let me say how strikingly different the environments are. the porsche showroom is quiet, barely a soul up there... while the mini showroom, well we step off the elevator and are greeted with excited children running about and much louder music playing. yowza.

well, it quieted down once we were ushered into the manager's office (who was about our age, female and broke the typical "car salesman" mold which was also nice). after some discussion over features and options, solemn and ordered a 2006 mini with some nice options (cold weather package, the premium package) and got the black (of course).

in 6 or so weeks, we will take delivery of our fresh new '06 mini. yay.

its not a porsche. this much is true. and i am trying to tell myself that the next car will be a porsche again (*sigh*), but i have to say that if i can't have a porsche then this little car will be a suitable substitute. its pretty, we got it in the 5-speed manual (have to learn to do that again, but i learned in my dad's 1984 porsche 944 [that was a beautiful car]). but its a lot like riding bike, you never really forgot.

besides, it'll be good training so when we do get the next porsche (911 btw -- a new one) we'll be fully trained up.

so, yeah production # 6614171 we'll be ours :)

talinom had an interesting journal entry and it got me a thinkin.

do you play guitar? if you do, i want to hear you play. record yourself playing. i don't care how. i'm going to do the same. i'll leave out the "rest of the band" and just record some guitar.

post your mp3 somewhere, or you can email them to me, and i'll post them on my server. i'll then do a je with links to each of them.

nah, this isn't a contest, that'd be fucking stupid... i just think it would be interesting to compile this sort of thing... heh kind of a twisted "foto-con" thing.

so, remember. just guitar. the six strings. acoustic, electric, mic'd, direct, whatever.

on friday the solemn and i decided to play hooky and go to the new england aquarium. i like aquariums, i like fishes and turtles and penguins (they have lots of rescued penguins there) and sharks. in fact, don't know if i ever told any of you, but when i was a kid, while everyone was wishing they were a doctor or a lawyer or a fireman, i was dreaming of being an oceanographer, studying sharks. i read everything i could that our school library had on sharks.

anyway, i digress. we headed out to the aquarium around noon-time, taking the T (which is a nice way to get there in that it has its own stop, but in reality... you could walk there from state street, or haymarket or just about anywhere downtown, yeah its boston! everything is within walking distance).

before we made our way in it was decided that dippin' dots would be a good idea (they are not dragon poison). a couple small orders of chocolate and a few minutes relaxing on the side deck looking out over the harbor, we nearly flash-freezed our innards with the liquid-nitrogen frozen ice cream treats. yum! i forgot how yummy that stuff is. yay for freezing science!

after that it was time to go into the aquarium. instead of just buying tickets, we decided we'd become members. oh yes, membership does indeed have its privileges (buffer? trmj? anytime you guys want to get in free, just let us know. you also have a standing invitation to the science museum to which we are also members - so when you guys want to see science, whether soaking wet science or everything-else science, just let us know).

well, the new england aquarium is really nice. they had a special exhibit of jelly fish, which was unusually beautiful. next up were the penguins (tuxette: we got you a thing). they were being fed. the volunteer feeders are very cool... they don't just try to jam a fish into the bird's mouth, they communicate and socialize with the birds as well. they were rescued from a south african oil spill in 2000 (the birds, not the volunteer feeders), and seem to be quite content and happy here in boston. there's also an "exposed" veternary exam room with an interactive touch-screen computer so you can see who's being treated and for what. there were a few bibbets who needed some help and they were getting it. it was sweet :)

by this time solemn was getting quite tired (we didn't bring the chair, but now we know we can get a loaner right there at the aquarium). so we just went to the top of the spiraling display of all the various large fish and sea turtles they have. solemn got some good pictures with her camera phone (those razr's have a pretty decent camera) - we'll most likely post them in a few days.

so, that was our friday. we spent about 2 or so hours. it was quite a lot of fun. we'll be doing it again, of course. next time i want to see the sharks. i've been to the national aquarium in baltimore a few dozen times (in that it was only 10 minutes from my house), and this one was as good as that one, and in some aspects better.

the rest of friday was spent resting then marching over to harvard square to get haircuts.

so there.
 

ever wanted to be a star in the Web 2.0 universe? well, here's your chance.

my quick shot at the big time. what a glorious use of technology!

the site might be under the digg effect right now, but if you want to get an idea, here's the one i did... saved it off and posted it in my blog. what a waste of time.

there was a story posted for subscribers (in the mysterious future) about the demise of gnustep. well, i don't use their software and because i am a mac os x user have just a passing knowledge of the project, but i found the story odd. the summary basically said that they called it quits because they couldn't compete with apple/cocoa on intel. how strange. i mean, a claim like that is just weird.

so, i decided to check into it. i went to the home page and found no "public announcement."

odd.

okay, maybe its burried somewhere, no news updates (seeing as though that would be pretty big news for a project). nope, not burried, next i thought "okay, i'm just not getting it" so i poked around some more. i found they had a project wiki. so, i went there. huh, nothing there.

a little bit mroe digging and noticed that the wiki keeps a page of developer blogs. i went and checked each one of them... no announcment. nothing. zero.

now i figured the story was a fake. so, i emailed the slashdot "daddypants" account with basically all of this information, and closed it with a "you're welcome."

i mean, the story summary had a single link to the gnustep.org front page. the "editor" (that would be taco) didn't even bother to click on it!!! or, more like he did, saw that it wasn't a 404 and thought "oh well, good enough for me." the "editor" didn't even bother to do, well, any editing!

i know its old hat to jab at the "editors" of this site, but when it gets down to the fact that they will just post *anything* without even the most rudementary fact-checking (you know, the thing the new republic is so very good at)... it just makes you wonder, what the fuck?

i wouldn't even have written about this, but it just frustrated me that these "editors" would be so cavalier with how stories get queued up.

*sigh*

sometimes new england can make you question your sanity, with regards to the weather. what does buffer-overflowed say? something about biblical-like weather conditions.

but, there are times, like today, where the weather is absolutely perfect. its warm, in the upper 70's, not a drop of humidity to be had and just a few white puffy clouds casually slipping across a deep blue perfect sky.

instead of going from my therapy session to the T, i instead decided to walk to harvard square. its about a mile and a half walk, takes about 20 minutes to do it, if you are keeping a normal walking gate. aside from it being a nice day, the route to harvard is just, well, its charming. you basically just head out on mass. ave. and go west. that takes you through central square then you walk through that interesting mixture of business and residential neighborhoods punctuated by record stores, the odd old irish bars, tea houses and whatever else is there to end up in the uber high-rent district of mount auburn st. with the high end furniture shops, design studios, law firms and the private spas and what-have-you.

before you know it, you are in havard square. how to describe harvard square to someone who has yet to see it. well. its old. its not a square. it, like the rest of cambridge, is a strange and interesting mix of high-end boutique shops and homeless people and mix in the street musicians on nearly every corner with a collection of goth kids and rich/bored house wives.

i stopped in at one of the two (three?) starbucks and got an iced decaf mocha, and headed over to the charles hotel. that's where i pick up the shuttle bus to the arsenal (the office complex where i work). i always dread this one driver, she is a middle-aged puerto rican who firmly believes that the shuttle bus is actually a ferarri, and the tight cramped roads of cambridge are actually a street race course through monte carlo. the best advice i could give you is to just stare at the floor, or like me, take out your handheld and play solitare. the less you pay attention to what is going on during the "ride" the better.

but that's okay. today she made record time, probably shaving off a few seconds from her best.

ever ridden in a real ferarri before? i have. i've also ridden in a lamborghini. interesting experience, that.

but yes, today is perfect weather. we only have a short time before fall starts and then its a break-neck pace, headlong into a new england winter. i don't mind winter here though. i really don't. i thought i'd be crazy moving up here from baltimore, which lets face it, doesn't have much of what you could call "winter." but boston is different than any place i know in the winter. winter is not a time to sequester yourself. people do things. i think a large part of that is because of the rather exceptional public transport we have (yes, we may complain about the T and grumble about using it, but in reality, it frees us from being home-bound when it snows). winter in boston is cold, snowy and windy. but it wasn't like what i remember winters to be in upstate ny, where you were locked into your house, for the most part, from december till april.

oh well. i'm just having one of those wistful mornings. i really should make myself useful.