July 15, 2007
Random Weekend Nonsense
AWWWW Yeah! Don't call it a come back, cause I never wa...wait a second. I think I've done that one before. Forget that. (Wouldn't it have been easier to delete that whole sentence, rather than asking you to forget?)
Anyway, we were about 9 minutes away from the "Day The Music Died". Well, at least it is NOW. By the time I get this all polished and published, it will most assuredly be much, much later. 8 minutes now.
Remember a while back I referenced the Internet Radio Equality Act which was supposed to put the copyright royalty board back in realityland with the rest of us? Someone finally figured out raising royalty rates 1200% wasn't going to be realistic, or even collectible, from smaller webcasters. Which is good news in that internet radio (which is the absolute bomb-diggity when it comes to 'radio' music) will not go silent tonight, but still bad news in that the greedy radio people are still going to figure a way to get their $$$hare from webcasters. And that's too bad, because these webcasters are the ones filling the gaping void left by commercial radio by bringing new, original tunes to the peeps--and that, as Martha is fond of saying, "is a good thing".
This is by far the corniest thing I'll say all day, but music truly is the soundtrack of our lives. I don't recall where I first heard that, but going on the cheese factor alone, it must've been on the front of a Hallmark sympathy card or something similar. Corny as it sounds, try this exercise: imagine a milestone in your life. Maybe your fist kiss, the first time you drove a car or even graduation day. Now, think for just a second. I bet you can recall the exact song on the radio or even the one playing in your head at that precise moment. For me, this association effect is so pervasive (and I bet it is for you, too) that I can hear a song today and be magically transported back through time itself to they day when I first heard that song. Obviously, music is a major part of lives. Which is why it becomes so important to me to find some good, positive music that won't put old Wayne to sleep. And if a single one of you suggests Stryper, Bloodgood or Whiteheart, you are officially off the Christmas card list! Well, not really, but I will have to subtract 2 "cool points" and put you on probation. And all of this brings us right back 'round to internet radio. There are exactly two Christian stations in/around OKC and I am grateful they are there, but keep in mind the goal of commercial radio: get as many listeners as possible. Which means play as wide a variety as possible. This becomes even more paramount if you're in radio ministry. I've heard some good stuff, but by the same token I've heard twice as much that does not suit my musical fancy. Which is not to say that they are not good musicians and performers doing a great job of ministry through music. It is only to say that I am not "feeling the vibe" if you will. Last week, I ran across (you guessed it) an internet station which was playing the "good stuff". I've already compiled a list of bands which I'll be checking out based on their singles.
So, if you haven't called your rep's take a few and make that call, won't you? (If you don't, I'm giving Sally Struthers your home phone number and you can explain your excuse to her!) Even if your rep is in DC, you can usually contact their local office and you won't be dinged for a long-distance call. Just tell them that you would like their serious consideration in co-sponsoring the IREA and make sure the staffer forwards the message to the DC office.
Well that's all I gots for now, peeps, so mark your calendar. No, not because I posted twice in less than a week. You may mark July 15th, 2007 as the day Wayne quoted Martha Stewart! Join us later this week as I try to find a polite and positive way to illustrate how DOOMED we are in November, 2008. My stomach turns just thinking about it.
Anyway, we were about 9 minutes away from the "Day The Music Died". Well, at least it is NOW. By the time I get this all polished and published, it will most assuredly be much, much later. 8 minutes now.
Remember a while back I referenced the Internet Radio Equality Act which was supposed to put the copyright royalty board back in realityland with the rest of us? Someone finally figured out raising royalty rates 1200% wasn't going to be realistic, or even collectible, from smaller webcasters. Which is good news in that internet radio (which is the absolute bomb-diggity when it comes to 'radio' music) will not go silent tonight, but still bad news in that the greedy radio people are still going to figure a way to get their $$$hare from webcasters. And that's too bad, because these webcasters are the ones filling the gaping void left by commercial radio by bringing new, original tunes to the peeps--and that, as Martha is fond of saying, "is a good thing".
This is by far the corniest thing I'll say all day, but music truly is the soundtrack of our lives. I don't recall where I first heard that, but going on the cheese factor alone, it must've been on the front of a Hallmark sympathy card or something similar. Corny as it sounds, try this exercise: imagine a milestone in your life. Maybe your fist kiss, the first time you drove a car or even graduation day. Now, think for just a second. I bet you can recall the exact song on the radio or even the one playing in your head at that precise moment. For me, this association effect is so pervasive (and I bet it is for you, too) that I can hear a song today and be magically transported back through time itself to they day when I first heard that song. Obviously, music is a major part of lives. Which is why it becomes so important to me to find some good, positive music that won't put old Wayne to sleep. And if a single one of you suggests Stryper, Bloodgood or Whiteheart, you are officially off the Christmas card list! Well, not really, but I will have to subtract 2 "cool points" and put you on probation. And all of this brings us right back 'round to internet radio. There are exactly two Christian stations in/around OKC and I am grateful they are there, but keep in mind the goal of commercial radio: get as many listeners as possible. Which means play as wide a variety as possible. This becomes even more paramount if you're in radio ministry. I've heard some good stuff, but by the same token I've heard twice as much that does not suit my musical fancy. Which is not to say that they are not good musicians and performers doing a great job of ministry through music. It is only to say that I am not "feeling the vibe" if you will. Last week, I ran across (you guessed it) an internet station which was playing the "good stuff". I've already compiled a list of bands which I'll be checking out based on their singles.
So, if you haven't called your rep's take a few and make that call, won't you? (If you don't, I'm giving Sally Struthers your home phone number and you can explain your excuse to her!) Even if your rep is in DC, you can usually contact their local office and you won't be dinged for a long-distance call. Just tell them that you would like their serious consideration in co-sponsoring the IREA and make sure the staffer forwards the message to the DC office.
Well that's all I gots for now, peeps, so mark your calendar. No, not because I posted twice in less than a week. You may mark July 15th, 2007 as the day Wayne quoted Martha Stewart! Join us later this week as I try to find a polite and positive way to illustrate how DOOMED we are in November, 2008. My stomach turns just thinking about it.
Labels: Random Weekend Nonsense
// posted by wayne @ 7/15/2007 11:49:00 PM 
May 29, 2007
(Very Brief) Random Weekend Nonsense
Well that was a...weekend, anyway. Once again, I was on call for the holiday. Fortunately, no one called in sick this time.
Anyway, I put the smack-down on the general class test so as of some time last week, I am officially able to operate on the high-frequency (HF) bands. Which is why I did this whole ham thing in the first place. Now comes the fun part: picking a radio! I have pretty well decided which one I would like to get, but it's all a matter of saving. I intend on getting an very-high frequency/ultra-high frequency (VHF/UHF) mobile radio for the Honda first (hopefully in as little as two weeks, depending on how things go) then I'll start saving up for the HF rig. Then we put up an appropriate antenna across the roof or in the back yard and it's on! Sadly, VHF/UHF doesn't bounce around the ionosphere, so they are mainly only good for local communications (hence the desire for a long-distance capable HF radio) and even then most clubs put up a repeater to extend the range of mobile and hand-held radios. Last week I installed the antenna on the Honda and I must say it looks pretty sweet up there--in a very ham-geek kind of way.
As far as movies go, Employee Of The Month isn't bad if you are buying what Dane Cook is selling. I enjoyed it, but then again, I like painfully sophomoric, fart-joke movies from time to time. Also of interest, although not quite as good as I had hoped was Children of Men. It was shot in such a fashion as to keep you, the viewer, as much a part of the action as possible. The story was alright and I know there was supposed to be some deep, introspective and somber reflection on humanity as a whole in there, but I'm sure it was wasted on my public-school brain. Anyway, they're both worth a rent in my book, but I'm often easily amused.
Anyway, I put the smack-down on the general class test so as of some time last week, I am officially able to operate on the high-frequency (HF) bands. Which is why I did this whole ham thing in the first place. Now comes the fun part: picking a radio! I have pretty well decided which one I would like to get, but it's all a matter of saving. I intend on getting an very-high frequency/ultra-high frequency (VHF/UHF) mobile radio for the Honda first (hopefully in as little as two weeks, depending on how things go) then I'll start saving up for the HF rig. Then we put up an appropriate antenna across the roof or in the back yard and it's on! Sadly, VHF/UHF doesn't bounce around the ionosphere, so they are mainly only good for local communications (hence the desire for a long-distance capable HF radio) and even then most clubs put up a repeater to extend the range of mobile and hand-held radios. Last week I installed the antenna on the Honda and I must say it looks pretty sweet up there--in a very ham-geek kind of way.
As far as movies go, Employee Of The Month isn't bad if you are buying what Dane Cook is selling. I enjoyed it, but then again, I like painfully sophomoric, fart-joke movies from time to time. Also of interest, although not quite as good as I had hoped was Children of Men. It was shot in such a fashion as to keep you, the viewer, as much a part of the action as possible. The story was alright and I know there was supposed to be some deep, introspective and somber reflection on humanity as a whole in there, but I'm sure it was wasted on my public-school brain. Anyway, they're both worth a rent in my book, but I'm often easily amused.
Labels: Random Weekend Nonsense
// posted by wayne @ 5/29/2007 05:08:00 AM
March 11, 2007
The Glorious and Triumphant Return of Random Weekend Nonsense!
Once again, my friends, it is time for a (much overdue) installment of Random Weekend Nonsense!
Let's start with some movies, shall we? Let's talk about 300, for a minute or twelve. Some of you may know the original story. Some of you may even know the meaning of the catchy "Molon Labe!" battle cry given by the Spartans. Sadly, these are better than the actual movie. Now don't get me wrong, the movie is just fine for what it is, but it fails to exceed one's expectations. It was exactly what you would think from seeing the previews--nothing more and nothing less. The action scenes are indeed FILLED with action and the use of almost heavy-metal like music as a score for the battle scenes lends them a bit of added urgency and tension. But in the end, it's still all super gore-filled, body parts flying around, c.g. enhanced super slo-mo. The funniest part, and I know this was unintentional, was the love scene between Leonidas and Queen Gorgo. Of course, the entire thing was shot in ultra-sensual slo-mo (which differs only slightly from the gore-filled super slow-mo) which means that everything they did was exaggerated and more than a bit corny. If you can take my word for it, you should probably wait for this one to come out on video. Or wait until a friend brings it over. We also watched and The Departed and the The Black Dahlia this weekend. Only one of them is worth watching; can you guess which one? I'll give you a hint: Don't ever look directly at The Black Dahlia. Not as a dare, not even to see if it's really "that bad". Because it is. I promise. It practically smacks of Pearl Harbor (2001 version) for more than one reason. First off, both are trying to tell two separate and distinct stories at the same time and fail on both accounts. Second, they both have Josh Hartnett, but that may just be coincidence. TBD starts out like a cop story about the Dahlia murder. But then it becomes a very strange and twisted love triangle, just like Pearl Harbor, and in the end Josh Hartnett gets the other guy's girl. Just like Pearl Harbor. The most important thing they have in common is that you should not ever look directly at either one. Ever. Is that clear enough? Oh, and the final straw against TBD is that the screenplay is an entire fabrication built around the true murder of Elizabeth Short. Fittingly, both earned a low 5.X rating on the IMDB. It's a very good thing we didn't pay for that one. This leaves us with The Departed. SPOILER ALERT! WARNING: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET BUT PLAN TO, SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH. Which should have been called EVERYONE GETS SHOT. Actually, I liked it. It was good enough, in fact, that I can forgive that no-talent hack, Jack Nicholson, played a principle character. I know, I know--I'm the ONLY guy in America today that thinks Jeff Goldblum plays Jack Nicholson better than Jack Nicholson, but it's true. I find his performances to be lackluster in every respect, and he is always the exact same guy, no matter what role. Which is not good when one considers that all his roles can be likened to his performance in The Witches of Eastwick. Blech. Anyway, the rest of the cast is absolutely superb, especially Matt Damon and, dare I say it, Leo DiCaprio. I was beginning to wonder about old Leo after The Aviator, but it's nice to know it was the movie that was all stinky and not Leo. Mark Wahlberg is so convincing an ass that I truly wanted to smack him after only 5 minutes, and you get a nice little bonus in Ray Winstone's character: Mr. French. Excellent bit of casting on that one. The climax is a bit of a departure in that EVERYONE gets shot. The good guys, the bad guys--everyone. The story is solid and well written, and it is actually worth the price of rental.
Now, in other news, the .45 is essentially complete. I fired 100 rounds a few weekends back to test it and it worked maaahvelously. At first. Then I found that the flange on the recoil spring guide was banging around and galling the front of the slide rails, eventually getting itself wedged in there pretty solidly. Last weekend, I got in there and radiused the edges and gave them a proper polishing to eliminate that problem. I still need to test fire it again to make sure it's really fixed, so that may take a while but once it's done, it'll be time for parkerizing. And while we're on the topic of guns, I'm still awaiting the return of my Beretta parts from Tripp Research, Inc. You see, I never liked the look of those black parts against the Inox finish on that pistol. Since it was a used purchase, any REAL collector value is pretty much shot (pun intended) so I decided to have the black parts of that pistol, except the Novak sight, hard chromed. The other option, which is quite popular, is hand polishing those parts AFTER removing the black finish. That sounds like a great idea at first, but I've read on the Beretta bb that some guys have spent literally 3-4 hours on just the safety lever alone! Obviously that is one of the more complex parts to polish, but I figure if I spent 3-4 hours on it at $20 an hour (and I really think my leisure time is worth MORE than that) than that's a minimum of $60 for ONE PART, and I sent 10 parts to Tripp. They charge $6 per each small part! Six flippin' dollars! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which is the more cost effective way to make those parts shiny. But seriously, hard chrome is the way to go. It is by far more durable a surface treatment than polished carbon steel and it's corrosion resistance is the whatup by comparison. It should be the super-sweetness when I get the parts back. My only hope is that I'll still be able to remember how to re-install them!
Well that's all I have for now, so I'll leave you with this deep thought (not affiliated with Jack Handey) until next time: why do democrats (Carolyn McCarthy in particular) still believe that banning a rifle based on its appearance is going to have any effect at all on gun crime in America? Hmmm, I guess that's not really so deep after all, is it?
Let's start with some movies, shall we? Let's talk about 300, for a minute or twelve. Some of you may know the original story. Some of you may even know the meaning of the catchy "Molon Labe!" battle cry given by the Spartans. Sadly, these are better than the actual movie. Now don't get me wrong, the movie is just fine for what it is, but it fails to exceed one's expectations. It was exactly what you would think from seeing the previews--nothing more and nothing less. The action scenes are indeed FILLED with action and the use of almost heavy-metal like music as a score for the battle scenes lends them a bit of added urgency and tension. But in the end, it's still all super gore-filled, body parts flying around, c.g. enhanced super slo-mo. The funniest part, and I know this was unintentional, was the love scene between Leonidas and Queen Gorgo. Of course, the entire thing was shot in ultra-sensual slo-mo (which differs only slightly from the gore-filled super slow-mo) which means that everything they did was exaggerated and more than a bit corny. If you can take my word for it, you should probably wait for this one to come out on video. Or wait until a friend brings it over. We also watched and The Departed and the The Black Dahlia this weekend. Only one of them is worth watching; can you guess which one? I'll give you a hint: Don't ever look directly at The Black Dahlia. Not as a dare, not even to see if it's really "that bad". Because it is. I promise. It practically smacks of Pearl Harbor (2001 version) for more than one reason. First off, both are trying to tell two separate and distinct stories at the same time and fail on both accounts. Second, they both have Josh Hartnett, but that may just be coincidence. TBD starts out like a cop story about the Dahlia murder. But then it becomes a very strange and twisted love triangle, just like Pearl Harbor, and in the end Josh Hartnett gets the other guy's girl. Just like Pearl Harbor. The most important thing they have in common is that you should not ever look directly at either one. Ever. Is that clear enough? Oh, and the final straw against TBD is that the screenplay is an entire fabrication built around the true murder of Elizabeth Short. Fittingly, both earned a low 5.X rating on the IMDB. It's a very good thing we didn't pay for that one. This leaves us with The Departed. SPOILER ALERT! WARNING: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET BUT PLAN TO, SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH. Which should have been called EVERYONE GETS SHOT. Actually, I liked it. It was good enough, in fact, that I can forgive that no-talent hack, Jack Nicholson, played a principle character. I know, I know--I'm the ONLY guy in America today that thinks Jeff Goldblum plays Jack Nicholson better than Jack Nicholson, but it's true. I find his performances to be lackluster in every respect, and he is always the exact same guy, no matter what role. Which is not good when one considers that all his roles can be likened to his performance in The Witches of Eastwick. Blech. Anyway, the rest of the cast is absolutely superb, especially Matt Damon and, dare I say it, Leo DiCaprio. I was beginning to wonder about old Leo after The Aviator, but it's nice to know it was the movie that was all stinky and not Leo. Mark Wahlberg is so convincing an ass that I truly wanted to smack him after only 5 minutes, and you get a nice little bonus in Ray Winstone's character: Mr. French. Excellent bit of casting on that one. The climax is a bit of a departure in that EVERYONE gets shot. The good guys, the bad guys--everyone. The story is solid and well written, and it is actually worth the price of rental.
Now, in other news, the .45 is essentially complete. I fired 100 rounds a few weekends back to test it and it worked maaahvelously. At first. Then I found that the flange on the recoil spring guide was banging around and galling the front of the slide rails, eventually getting itself wedged in there pretty solidly. Last weekend, I got in there and radiused the edges and gave them a proper polishing to eliminate that problem. I still need to test fire it again to make sure it's really fixed, so that may take a while but once it's done, it'll be time for parkerizing. And while we're on the topic of guns, I'm still awaiting the return of my Beretta parts from Tripp Research, Inc. You see, I never liked the look of those black parts against the Inox finish on that pistol. Since it was a used purchase, any REAL collector value is pretty much shot (pun intended) so I decided to have the black parts of that pistol, except the Novak sight, hard chromed. The other option, which is quite popular, is hand polishing those parts AFTER removing the black finish. That sounds like a great idea at first, but I've read on the Beretta bb that some guys have spent literally 3-4 hours on just the safety lever alone! Obviously that is one of the more complex parts to polish, but I figure if I spent 3-4 hours on it at $20 an hour (and I really think my leisure time is worth MORE than that) than that's a minimum of $60 for ONE PART, and I sent 10 parts to Tripp. They charge $6 per each small part! Six flippin' dollars! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which is the more cost effective way to make those parts shiny. But seriously, hard chrome is the way to go. It is by far more durable a surface treatment than polished carbon steel and it's corrosion resistance is the whatup by comparison. It should be the super-sweetness when I get the parts back. My only hope is that I'll still be able to remember how to re-install them!
Well that's all I have for now, so I'll leave you with this deep thought (not affiliated with Jack Handey) until next time: why do democrats (Carolyn McCarthy in particular) still believe that banning a rifle based on its appearance is going to have any effect at all on gun crime in America? Hmmm, I guess that's not really so deep after all, is it?
Labels: Random Weekend Nonsense
// posted by wayne @ 3/11/2007 08:37:00 PM
