Sunday, November 30, 2003
Ocean City, Maryland
If you ask why we came to Maryland. Here is the reason... We haven't been to Maryland before. Nor have I seen the ocean since my youth (1991)
Ocean City, Maryland
Watching Looney Tunes, bad movies and the Weather Channel on mute with the iPod providing aural entertainment.
The pool is open until midnight. We tried to go in the Atlantic Ocean but it was fucking freezing. It's a warm 40 degrees Farenheight here and only 28 degrees at home. WOO HOOOOO
Going onto the balcony now. I have to stop Rita from screaming into the darkness of the horizon. We aren't exactly the only people at the Holiday Inn in this resort town in December, but at times it feels like it.
Rita says the guy below us just blew his nose off the balcony. Good thing we're on the top floor.
The pool is open until midnight. We tried to go in the Atlantic Ocean but it was fucking freezing. It's a warm 40 degrees Farenheight here and only 28 degrees at home. WOO HOOOOO
Going onto the balcony now. I have to stop Rita from screaming into the darkness of the horizon. We aren't exactly the only people at the Holiday Inn in this resort town in December, but at times it feels like it.
Rita says the guy below us just blew his nose off the balcony. Good thing we're on the top floor.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
[Sunday Morning - Just Woke Up]
We are outside of Philadelphia, PA in a Friendly's restaurant. It's reminding me of Eric Ming saying "These are not friendly people." while at another Friendly's in Ohio after seing Radiohead on my birthday.
Rita is ordering water and coffee and layghing at how they pronounce it when they repeat her order.
Traveling to see music is fun, exhausting and sometimes tense as the road makes friends fight over stupid things as you get tired.
We are half done. It is also our day off. No concert tonight. Phil Lesh does play Philadelphia tonioght. He's here for 5 nights. Phil in Philly.. sounds fun but we will be elsewhere.
Phish last night was incredible. They brought out Tom Marshall during Makisupa Policeman (Keyword was "hempstead" a town on Long Island, NY.) Tom wrote Makisupa Policeman and they told us it was the first song they played together as a band. Tom wrote a lot of their other songs too, he's been friends with Trey since the 7th grade or so.
They jammed out a killer Buffalo Bill, David Bowie and I CALLED A CORRECT OPENER of Twist. I always love hearing that one. Anything with audience participation is a fun at a show. Druing Twist you say "Woooo" at a specific point, it's fun to hear how messed up the crowd is with how off tempo the "wooo" is.
Philadelphia was the better show for me thus far. In New York City we were in nosebleed seats and if you stood up the light show was blocked by an overhead balcony. In Philly we were actually on the main floor.
We are off now to Maryland driving thru Delaware to get there. Never been to those two states before. I don't have a folder with those states listed and no maps or hotel info. We are charting into unknown territory now.
We are outside of Philadelphia, PA in a Friendly's restaurant. It's reminding me of Eric Ming saying "These are not friendly people." while at another Friendly's in Ohio after seing Radiohead on my birthday.
Rita is ordering water and coffee and layghing at how they pronounce it when they repeat her order.
Traveling to see music is fun, exhausting and sometimes tense as the road makes friends fight over stupid things as you get tired.
We are half done. It is also our day off. No concert tonight. Phil Lesh does play Philadelphia tonioght. He's here for 5 nights. Phil in Philly.. sounds fun but we will be elsewhere.
Phish last night was incredible. They brought out Tom Marshall during Makisupa Policeman (Keyword was "hempstead" a town on Long Island, NY.) Tom wrote Makisupa Policeman and they told us it was the first song they played together as a band. Tom wrote a lot of their other songs too, he's been friends with Trey since the 7th grade or so.
They jammed out a killer Buffalo Bill, David Bowie and I CALLED A CORRECT OPENER of Twist. I always love hearing that one. Anything with audience participation is a fun at a show. Druing Twist you say "Woooo" at a specific point, it's fun to hear how messed up the crowd is with how off tempo the "wooo" is.
Philadelphia was the better show for me thus far. In New York City we were in nosebleed seats and if you stood up the light show was blocked by an overhead balcony. In Philly we were actually on the main floor.
We are off now to Maryland driving thru Delaware to get there. Never been to those two states before. I don't have a folder with those states listed and no maps or hotel info. We are charting into unknown territory now.
Friday, November 28, 2003
NY - Long Island
Woke up in New Jersey, and we decided to get outta there. New Jersey is dirty.
We didn't see much in the way of sightseeing. We saw the ass-end of The Statue of Liberty from Liberty Park in New Jersey last night. Today we wanted to see it from the Manhattan side but alas it was very very very foggy today. You couldn't see the tops of the skyscrapers, everything just went up into the clouds.
I can't find our hotel so we're at a kinko's and i'm getting new maps. I hope we make it to the show. LOL
more on this story as it develops.
We didn't see much in the way of sightseeing. We saw the ass-end of The Statue of Liberty from Liberty Park in New Jersey last night. Today we wanted to see it from the Manhattan side but alas it was very very very foggy today. You couldn't see the tops of the skyscrapers, everything just went up into the clouds.
I can't find our hotel so we're at a kinko's and i'm getting new maps. I hope we make it to the show. LOL
more on this story as it develops.
New York City, New York
I am already sick of driving in New York City. I bought an "I LOVE NY" keychain and it broke before we got to New Jersey. Whatever!!! It's 50 mph winds right now so we are avoiding all bridges!!!
Here I am on a dock we stopped for a quick pic and RAN straight back to the car.
Phish played a sweet Down With Disease, Mike's Song and Weekapaug. We missed the first 2 songs but those 3 are in my top 10 so I'm happy.
Here I am on a dock we stopped for a quick pic and RAN straight back to the car.
Phish played a sweet Down With Disease, Mike's Song and Weekapaug. We missed the first 2 songs but those 3 are in my top 10 so I'm happy.
Thursday, November 27, 2003
North Bergen, New Jersey (Across the water from New York City)
How do you know time spent is worth it??? knowing disaster looms & still putting every moment in its place. Attentive of the energies and souls you connect with on your journey to death.
worry of not being able to relate to others is pointless. times of evolved self discovery will lead you to understandin gthat you are NOT ALONE. you are NOT IMPORTANT. the cosmos looks upon you as a SPECK OF DUST but yet you REMAIN IN CONTROL.
most people walk around with a dazed sense of reality. stuck in moments of confused contentment they may never evolve or understand your soul's vantage point.
do not settle for content. do not refuse another soul. make the most of the time offered, even if that means pain from its loss. let disaster give you its best shot, pick yourself up and live how you want the moment to be.
worry of not being able to relate to others is pointless. times of evolved self discovery will lead you to understandin gthat you are NOT ALONE. you are NOT IMPORTANT. the cosmos looks upon you as a SPECK OF DUST but yet you REMAIN IN CONTROL.
most people walk around with a dazed sense of reality. stuck in moments of confused contentment they may never evolve or understand your soul's vantage point.
do not settle for content. do not refuse another soul. make the most of the time offered, even if that means pain from its loss. let disaster give you its best shot, pick yourself up and live how you want the moment to be.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
the sun
I drove into the sun going west at sundown driving from Detroit to Grand Rapids to pick up Rita. Tomorrow morning I will be traveling East toward New York City.
i am not sure where or IF we will sleep tonight. its 12 hours to NYC.
as rita and i are about to venture on a journey into the cold cosmic reality that is the road we must be prepared for anything.
pack the ipod, we must have tunes.
i am not sure where or IF we will sleep tonight. its 12 hours to NYC.
as rita and i are about to venture on a journey into the cold cosmic reality that is the road we must be prepared for anything.
pack the ipod, we must have tunes.
Monday, November 24, 2003
yikes
one of our competitors went out of business. this may sound like a reason to rejoice but it makes me scared.
Saturday, November 22, 2003
erich's mom passed...
the funeral (or as they call it "homegoing") today was basically a celebration of the family.. on what some would have considered a sad day of mourning, it was truly a family getting closer together.. thanks for the caring voicemail!!
it was weird at first so see this family in pain make an exciting day out of something that some would view as a horrible tragedy but it really opens your eyes to see that to make the most of the moment you need to include others in who you are and spend time doing things from simple game playing to filling needs others require of you..
points of importance:
1) people spending time with each other become a part of each other's souls and minds. when they are gone, all people carrying those bits and pieces need to stay in contact to make the missing soulbits become whole again.
2) a gathering of individuals after a death should be treated as a celebration for the moments of the life that it was.
it was weird at first so see this family in pain make an exciting day out of something that some would view as a horrible tragedy but it really opens your eyes to see that to make the most of the moment you need to include others in who you are and spend time doing things from simple game playing to filling needs others require of you..
points of importance:
1) people spending time with each other become a part of each other's souls and minds. when they are gone, all people carrying those bits and pieces need to stay in contact to make the missing soulbits become whole again.
2) a gathering of individuals after a death should be treated as a celebration for the moments of the life that it was.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
2nd best apartment review i've seen
The apartments and building are in good condition, and most of the residents are friendly and polite. Yes, there are street walkers outside. This is DETROIT, there are street walkers everywhere.
Sunday, November 16, 2003
Road Trip Preparation 1
The first part of preparing for a road trip is getting together the music.
The music will 'drive' you across the miles so it is the music you must attend to first.
I've had some playlists in the making for weeks.
Tomorrow I plan to take my car to the dealership to get it checked out. We will go over Road Trip Preparation 2: Automobile maintainence at a later time.
The music will 'drive' you across the miles so it is the music you must attend to first.
I've had some playlists in the making for weeks.
Tomorrow I plan to take my car to the dealership to get it checked out. We will go over Road Trip Preparation 2: Automobile maintainence at a later time.
Saturday, November 15, 2003
the weekend
Its Saturday. I've come into work for a few hours to keep Chris Wirth company while he animates. Keeping these artist types upbeat is simple once you get it down:
1) Good Music
2) Decent Food
3) Engaging Conversation
4) Alcohol
1) Good Music
2) Decent Food
3) Engaging Conversation
4) Alcohol
Friday, November 14, 2003
don't say tezro or i will get sleepy
Well, Phase 1 of the upgrade is complete. We now run 6 suites on the new SGI Tezro. My sleep schedule is totally messed up now.
I got 11 hours of overtime today.
Things went smooth except for 1 computer which is now not being upgraded until mid-December.
The coming weeks I will probably be the one running the Backdraft, which is an I/O for the Flames, Smokes and Inferno. The Backdraft has a 10 Terrabyte storage capacity. How cool is that? How many MP3s is that? A LOT!
I am so tired, I hope work will let me take the day off, otherwise I might go in at noon. I am going to beg for the day off tho.. hopefully we're not too busy.
GOOD NIGHT.. its 5am
I got 11 hours of overtime today.
Things went smooth except for 1 computer which is now not being upgraded until mid-December.
The coming weeks I will probably be the one running the Backdraft, which is an I/O for the Flames, Smokes and Inferno. The Backdraft has a 10 Terrabyte storage capacity. How cool is that? How many MP3s is that? A LOT!
I am so tired, I hope work will let me take the day off, otherwise I might go in at noon. I am going to beg for the day off tho.. hopefully we're not too busy.
GOOD NIGHT.. its 5am
Monday, November 10, 2003
black out the window, it's party time
"black out the window, it's party time.
you know how i love stormy weather, so lets all play suicide"
That is the opening line of the Twilight Singers "Blackberry Belle" album. It's way more Whigs than New Orleans, tonight live performance will be a fun time for sure. Plus all the kids from West Michigan are coming out so that makes me positive tonight will be unforgetable. (even if I can't spell it.)
you know how i love stormy weather, so lets all play suicide"
That is the opening line of the Twilight Singers "Blackberry Belle" album. It's way more Whigs than New Orleans, tonight live performance will be a fun time for sure. Plus all the kids from West Michigan are coming out so that makes me positive tonight will be unforgetable. (even if I can't spell it.)
Sunday, November 09, 2003
day off!
today i had a day off. I spent it sleeping until 2pm, listening to music and soon I will see Matrix 3 at the IMAX.
Saturday night I got to go out to kick off my 3 day long 'Last Chance To Hang Out Until February' as I am pretty much going to spend the next few months within the same four walls at work that my 3 day social life's last chance needs to count for a lot.
Working part of the weekend may sound like it sucks, but for me it was fun because I not only got to tell 2 animators and 1 editor I work under at Universal Images what to do, but on Friday night I also got to tell my boss what to do.
Saturday:
On location at the Wirth farm shooting footage of firemen
Dan: Matt. Go grab that foamcore and get it out of my shot.
Simecek: OK!
Friday:
Setting up an SGI Tezro on Smoke 1, swapping out the old CPUs keyboard and mouse.
Dan: Chris, pull these wires up there.
Laport: OK!
Last night I went to an art show installation off Michigan Ave in Detroit. It got raided. There was no rave. There was no drugs. Just artwork. (I must admit I did see boobs.)
Saturday night I got to go out to kick off my 3 day long 'Last Chance To Hang Out Until February' as I am pretty much going to spend the next few months within the same four walls at work that my 3 day social life's last chance needs to count for a lot.
Working part of the weekend may sound like it sucks, but for me it was fun because I not only got to tell 2 animators and 1 editor I work under at Universal Images what to do, but on Friday night I also got to tell my boss what to do.
Saturday:
On location at the Wirth farm shooting footage of firemen
Dan: Matt. Go grab that foamcore and get it out of my shot.
Simecek: OK!
Friday:
Setting up an SGI Tezro on Smoke 1, swapping out the old CPUs keyboard and mouse.
Dan: Chris, pull these wires up there.
Laport: OK!
Last night I went to an art show installation off Michigan Ave in Detroit. It got raided. There was no rave. There was no drugs. Just artwork. (I must admit I did see boobs.)
Friday, November 07, 2003
anotherlatenight
spent 14 hours at work today. got to setup the first of the many new SGI computers. The boss had me do the input/output tests on the Smoke editing computer. I hope it doesn't take him too long to realize I should be sitting in that seat full time...
i curse sir walter raleigh, he was such a stupid git...
i am so tired.
my eyes can barely squint through the reality that I am still awake and working.
in about a month a 15 hour shift will be like cake to me, but I have been so tired lately that all I can think about when I am not working is (a) sleeping (b) being in my bed comfortable listening to my iPod or (c) all of the above.
I got into some new music this week: Shea Seger - The May Street Project is excellent. And of course the new Twilight Singers disc - Blackberry Belle is fucking excellent. Go buy both of them... NOW.
I also have been playing the Hulk game on Xbox. It rules. You smash. Fuck the humans, if they get in your way you can pick them up and throw them at each other. You can punch through steel walls, you can jump and catch helicopters. It rules. Go buy it now.
my eyes can barely squint through the reality that I am still awake and working.
in about a month a 15 hour shift will be like cake to me, but I have been so tired lately that all I can think about when I am not working is (a) sleeping (b) being in my bed comfortable listening to my iPod or (c) all of the above.
I got into some new music this week: Shea Seger - The May Street Project is excellent. And of course the new Twilight Singers disc - Blackberry Belle is fucking excellent. Go buy both of them... NOW.
I also have been playing the Hulk game on Xbox. It rules. You smash. Fuck the humans, if they get in your way you can pick them up and throw them at each other. You can punch through steel walls, you can jump and catch helicopters. It rules. Go buy it now.
Thursday, November 06, 2003
what fun!
just got home from seeing Glen Phillips with Amanda. We had a ton of fun. The night started off late because she took a 20 minute power nap before we got together that ended up being a 1hr 20 min power nap thus we actually went out for dinner at 8:30 and ended up at the show about 20 minutes before Glen hit the stage.. i setup to record between sets when my DAT recorder said it was down to 1 bar of battery. It was fully charged when i left the house.. well that 1 bar lasted 1 hour and 16 minutes so thats how long I have recorded of Glens set. Missed some really great stuff for the encore but generally I am very happy I hope it sounds half as good on tape as it did in the room.. What a great night!
Sunday, November 02, 2003
I STARTED THE FLOOD.
YESTERDAY:
DAN: GIVE ME A LIST OF MUSICIANS OR SONGS TO ADD TO A RITA PLAYLIST FOR THE ROAD TRIP.
TODAY:
DAN: DOES IT MATTER WHERE YOU SPEND THANKSGIVING?
RITA: NOPE
DAN: MY AFRO IS NOW BIGGER THAN EVER!
RITA: DON'T TURN BLACK ON ME NOW
DAN: TELL ME SOME MUSIC TO BRING. HURRY UP YOU ARE MESSIN UP THE TIME TABLE ALREADY! LOL
RITA:
GREEN JELLY
JANES ADDICTION
MOIST BOYS
WEEN
DAN:DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT LOL MEANS? YOU TECHNOLOGICAL QUAKER!
RITA: LAUGH OUT LOUD YOU CHEESE WEINER HEAD
RITA:
WILCO
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
SEX PISTOLS
CIBO MATTO
BECK
ANY PUNK MUSIC
ANI DEFRANCO
ALLISON KRAUSS
BILLY BRAGG
INSERT WEEKS TXT MESSAGES OF MUSICIANS HERE
Saturday, November 01, 2003
its the beginning of a new age (it took me a long time to finally get into the velvet underground.)
i lied in the title, its not so much a new age as it is a new month.
i've been anti-social, depressed, stressed, and a little undressed lately.
but this will be a good month. lots of things happening.november brings me music. glen phillips. twilight singers. phish's 20th anniversary 4 nights of magic.
lets all hope for my sanity that the ipod voice recorder accessory arrives before the 9 hour drive to New York City. Actually, it may be a 13 hour drive, as I must first drive to Grand Rapids to pick up Rita. This trip might just break the 70k mile on the odometer of the Focii. Most people that own a Focus have used about 40k. Lets hear it for the open road. I better start working on my new drive playlist now.
To all those i have lost contact with. It's going to get worse. february looks like a month i can talk to or see people again. they've moved the auto show video due dates UP.. now its all due the 4th of January. looks like i might miss the flaming lips on new years eve. we may not get ANY time off in Dec/Jan... time will tell.
i've been anti-social, depressed, stressed, and a little undressed lately.
but this will be a good month. lots of things happening.november brings me music. glen phillips. twilight singers. phish's 20th anniversary 4 nights of magic.
lets all hope for my sanity that the ipod voice recorder accessory arrives before the 9 hour drive to New York City. Actually, it may be a 13 hour drive, as I must first drive to Grand Rapids to pick up Rita. This trip might just break the 70k mile on the odometer of the Focii. Most people that own a Focus have used about 40k. Lets hear it for the open road. I better start working on my new drive playlist now.
To all those i have lost contact with. It's going to get worse. february looks like a month i can talk to or see people again. they've moved the auto show video due dates UP.. now its all due the 4th of January. looks like i might miss the flaming lips on new years eve. we may not get ANY time off in Dec/Jan... time will tell.
