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Blog - August 2004 |
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This page stores my blog entries from August 2004. The entries are dated August 9, August 12, August 19, August 24, and August 28.
Blog File Size Analysis / Short Thoughts on Doom III / Current Thoughts for a New Computer / Coming Soon: Dave and His Amazingly Fun Weekend Monday, August 9, 2004 I did a little look around at my past months of blogging. Last month's blog file measures in at 30k. Since I started working full time at the end of April, the amount of writing I've done has dropped considerably:
(Click on the Image for a Larger View) From June to July, that's nearly a 28% drop. That marks the largest percentage drop since the 22% drop between January and February of this year. Since March, the reduction in volume of writing runs at almost 50%. Needless to say, having a full-time job (and a full-time girlfriend <waves at Pam>) has certainly put a crimp on my time and the amount of time I have to think about things to write about. In theory, one may exhaust all possible subjects one might discuss given enough time. I feel I'm far from that point, though. ***** Doom III marks one of my next computer games to get. My expected cost? Around $2000. I do have a computer, complete
with Ati Radeon 9600 Pro video card and an Athlon XP 2500+ Barton processor. Those appear to be sufficient for
decent playing experiences. The problem is that I'm running Windows 98SE on this rig. It also doesn't run quite
right, with some hitches with Norton AntiVirus and other functions. So, my goal in the next year or so is to save
up for a new computer that will run Doom III wonderfully (and Windows XP, depending on the flavor of Windows available
at the time of purchase). ***** For the fun of it, if I were to piece together a computer with my current knowledge (which, honestly, is a little behind on current technology), I'd probably select the following:
Those parts alone will run $1412.56 to $1576.32. That doesn't include a case, power supply, or the possible need of another monitor, set of speakers, or a KVM switch. ***** Next time, I shall tell ye of the weekend before last and the fun I had in that action-packed weekend. SEE Dave run from work, to casino, to concert, to party, all in one night. SEE Dave run the next day to friend's house for MERP, shots, and a short, yet very nauseous night. SEE Dave bound over to Pam's for dinner while still feeling the effects of the previous night of drinking. All shall be revealed to you in the next installment.
Prologue / Judas Priest and Slayer: a Review / Brief Memory of the D.R.I. Concert / My Very Busy Judas Priest-Slayer Weekend / Next Time: Van Halen Review Thursday, August 12, 2004 My concert reviews fall entirely too late in the manner of things. Fortunately, I write this on the day after the second concert in three weeks. So, without further ado... ***** On July 30, I saw Judas Priest and Slayer, with both line-ups reunited (with only Judas Priest being sold with that label; Dave Lombardo sat behind the skins for Slayer). I arrived at the venue at 7pm, 30 minutes early. Surprisingly, I found myself being directed to a fairly distant parking area with all of the closer segments full. The usual people hung out around their cars, stereos blasting some band or another, with other hosting tailgate parties complete with barbecues. Previous concerts (namely, the Warped Tour last year) usually found security "cracking down" on barbecues, but that never works. It's like trying to prevent punkers from moshing during a D.R.I. concert (more on that below). I passed by the merchandise booth, marveling at the rather expensive prices for shirts ($30+) and other wares that left me feeling indifferent about getting anything. Heading straight for the bathroom, I got ready to get to my seat for the event. Pam heard some Judas Priest from the "Metal Works '73 - '93" 2CD set I have, and she felt a little jealous about not going with me. She feared the possibility of sitting on her own, which I could understand. When I got to my seat, and observing throughout the concert, I found myself to be without neighbor on either of the seats next to me. Slayer started things off right at the 7:30 start time. Once they came on, that answered my question as to whether there'd be an opening act before the metal behemoths took the stage. They tore through an hour of their "hits" (with the fans, since Slayer songs rarely hit the mainstream airwaves). I watched Lombardo much of the time, seeing how he played and, for some time, wondering if he'd even break a sweat. He hammered through several songs nearly effortlessly. Having their first three albums plus the "Undisputed Attitude" albums only and being familiar with "Seasons in the Abyss", I recognized several of their songs and drew complete blanks on some of their newer material. They rocked the night and wonderfully set the stage for Judas Priest. Actually, some stagehands set the stage, but that's just another technicality. I enjoyed watching them set up the walkways and stairs for Priest. While dragging one set of stairs into position, the stagehands nearly knocked one of their own off the stage. I briefly befriended a woman who sat nearby, and we laughed at this occurrence. This woman and I chit-chatted about music, opinions about upcoming concerts at the venue (advertising Nickelback at a Judas Priest/Slayer concert? Come on!), and other fun stuff. Eventually, Judas Priest surfaced, starting their set with the duo of "The Hellion / Electric Eye". Rob Halford emerged from the pupil at the center of the giant eye on the backdrop, completely clad in metal-studded leather. He strutted around during all of the songs, hitting the high notes as if he were back in the recording studios for the original recordings. They marched through their hits, with the befriended woman and I singing along. One encore featured Rob riding out on his Harley, leading into "Hell Bent For Leather." A slower song mentioned something about a "full moon", which proved appropriate given the full moon present that night. The cameramen used this excellently for the big video screens, immediately showing the moon and superimposing the guitarists over the image with the moon above them. By 10:30pm, Judas Priest finished. So many cool things occurred in a rather short amount of time (for a concert). I briefly said goodbye to the woman I met and made my way to the car, contemplating my plans for the rest of the night. Normally, after a concert, I simply plan on getting home safely. But with such an early end time, I had plenty of time for other possibilities (more below). ***** A couple to a few years ago, I went to see D.R.I. in concert at some sort of trucker-ish bar in town. When the band started playing, the usual people started a mosh pit. They used what little room they could, including avoiding the rather large metal support pole that stood in the middle of the floor. A couple of security guys tried to stop the moshing, but to no avail. Eventually, someone announced over the intercom to settle down, finishing with, "why don't we just have fun, ok?" Kurt Brecht, D.R.I.'s lead singer, piped in with, "well, we're having fun, so what's the problem?" Or something like that. ***** The day of the Judas Priest / Slayer concert proved to be an unusually busy day, starting off a rather busy weekend. After work, I headed over to a local casino to get something to eat. From 5:30 to 6:30, I ate a little bit from Gordito Burrito and headed off to the venue. I ventured to this venue many times before, but I had never attempted to drive there through the particular highway near my place of employment. This highway goes through two small-ish towns, but many lights break up the continuity of speed through said towns, making travel through them a bit slow. I made it to the concert with plenty of time and enjoyed that through to its finale at 10:30pm. Some co-workers held a party starting at 9pm, and I realized I had plenty of time to get there and still hang with them for a while. I drove straight there, arriving at around 11:15pm. I watched people dance and do silly things in their drunken states. A co-worker and I made snide and silly remarks about things while checking out her plans for her house. I danced a bit, eventually leaving around 1am to get home. On Saturday, I met up with friends for MERP and booze to celebrate a birthday. We played a bit, got something to eat, and drank to our heart's content. Unfortunately, I didn't drink to my stomach's content. My fun eventually found itself in the bathroom and removed the offending material from play. Some sleep, followed by some water and crackers, and no hangover ensued. I crawled home Sunday, eventually hobbling over to Pam's for a simple dinner. We rented "Hellboy", but we never really got to watch it together due to time constraints. I never had a weekend that busy before, and I don't know if I will again. Certainly, I won't have that kind of drinking again. ***** So, the account of the Judas Priest / Slayer concert has been presented. For next time, I shall make an account of my second major concert event in three weeks: Van Halen. Huzzah!
Major Concert #2: Van Halen - The Good / Van Halen - The Ugly / Ponderings on Styrofoam Cups / My Music Rut: Vague Thoughts Thursday, August 19, 2004
Van Halen put on an excellent set. They covered everything from "You Really Got Me", "Panama", "Somebody Get Me a Doctor", and "Unchained" to songs like "Dreams", "Runaround", "Right Now", and "Best of Both Worlds". Sammy Hagar sounded top-notch with his own stuff and earlier Van Halen hits. Each member put on a solo, with Sammy singing a little bit and playing an acoustic guitar and Eddie blistering through a great solo that proved to be the highlight of the concert. Sammy signed autographs throughout the concert, wearing whatever fans tossed onto the stage. At one point, he had a banner wrapped around his waist, a Hawaiian shirt on, and a t-shirt over his head. His own shirt said, "Fuck Milk; Got Pot?", to which he wrote, "Yes, I do." During Michael Anthony's solo, he pulled a small bottle of Jack Daniels from his Jack Daniels-shaped bass. Someone backstage helped him out and brought him a 750mL (or 1.5L; I couldn't tell) bottle. Seeing this concert rejuvinated my love for Van Halen and created an enjoyment for the "Van Hagar" era of Van Halen as well. Back in 1995, I loathed "Right Now"; that night at Arco Arena, I sang along with it, excitedly pointing Pam to the screen that showed an updated video for the song. I watched with anxiety, listening to each note and tone that Eddie produced with his guitar. Each song, whether old or new, showed exactly why Van Halen is still a rock and roll giant. ***** As normal, a concert never flows perfectly. My experience with the Van Halen concert had some serious flaws, though not all were due to the band itself. I spent that concert with Pam and her co-workers. Hands-down, her co-workers, in general, were the worst group with which to see a concert. Moving around all the time, going in and out to the bathroom constantly. Talking as loud as possible while Eddie Van Halen plays his solo. These people must have thought they were attending some sort of garage band party or something. The band, at times, didn't exactly do much for themselves, either. Michael Anthony's attempt at a bass solo sucked. With his Jack Daniels-shaped bass, he slid around the stage, banging the bass around. A lot of fuzzy noise resulted in this "performance". The only cool part was the aforementioned slug of JD at the end (and the end itself). Alex Van Halen's drum solo wasn't too bad, but it could have been better. Despite these elements, I still enjoyed the concert. I don't know whether I would subject anyone else to Pam's co-workers, but hopefully, in future events, only the good co-workers will be around. ***** Styrofoam cups create so much turmoil in certain sects. Most people will complain about their lack of biodegradability in landfills, suggesting the use of mugs and other similar containers. As people cry out in concern over animals choking on pieces of these cups and subdivisions built on top of landfills grow styrofoam boulders, the main concern at work is ... ... on what end should a stack of cups sit? A stack of styrofoam cups can either sit such that they all sit right-side up, or they can sit with the opening of the cups on the table. Whenever I replenish the cups at work, I set them so that they are all upside-down. To me, this allows for easier extraction of a cup and keeps the cup's interior sanitary and free from dust, coffee, or whatever might be tossed or left on it. On a few occasions, I've seen an opened pack of cups sitting out with all the cups right-side up. For some reason, I get a little irritated and confused as to why one would prefer such a thing. Even moreso, I wonder why such a thing would be important. Nearly like whether you position the toilet paper so that the paper exits the roll over the top or back behind the roll, it's one of those minor preferences that gains heightened importance when it conflicts with one's preferences and habits. ***** Before Van Halen, the music-listening part of my life felt vacant. Usually, I feel a sense of need of a particular realm of music (metal, punk, etc.). With no cassette or CD player in my car, I'm stuck with the bottom-scrapings also known as the radio. I had my fill of popular R & B and Hip Hop with nowhere to turn. Then, Van Halen happened. Since then, I've been in a mood for '80s hard rock. Van Halen and Motley Crue certainly fit the bill, and I have both at work. Iced Earth's Alive in Athens 3CD set hits home as well. I'll have to acquire more Van Halen and Motley Crue sometime soon. As to the thrash metal side, I don't know how I'll quench that need. More Iced Earth might help. Or, I may need to explore further into the reaches of metal. Maybe Arch Enemy, Bloodbath, or possibly another Opeth CD might help. I haven't been through such a rut with music before, but at least I found a way out of it.
Husband: The Fantasy Killer / Slayer's Evil is Fun / Advertising for Oglers / Upcoming Fun Tuesday, August 24, 2004 I never truly pondered the power of the word "husband." For those of us who operate on normal, healthy means, hearing the phrase, "my husband" from any hot woman should certainly be a good deterrant from pursuit. Granted, it may not prevent lusty fantasies, but I guess I'm someone who, generally, prefers to not waste time on fantasies that won't come into fruition. And, yes, Pam is very happy about that. ***** Back in high school, I grew a strong love for Slayer. They had a powerful, distinct sound that captured my attention with every song. Their early albums had significant artwork and lyrics surrounding dark and "satanic" imagery. For a while, this deeply concerned me. Had I truly began to follow down the dark path of hell and damnation? After a few brief seconds, I laughed at the ridiculousness of such a notion and went on my merry way. Nowadays, churches despise them. Fans get blamed for things they didn't do for merely listening to the band or the band gets blamed for things completely out of their control (one link for the West Memphis Three and on a film about the case, and one on a lawsuit against Slayer itself; all links for informational purposes only and not meant to be authoritative). People fear things they don't understand, and a band like Slayer who writes such lyrics can certainly be misunderstood. Once I thought long enough about Slayer, I realized that they're just a bunch of guys playing and having fun, and I simply couldn't take their lyrics with any seriousness. Does Slayer deal with "evil" concepts? Of course! But if you take them too seriously, you completely miss the point. Allegedly, "Satan" hates it when people laugh at him. I guess it must be a mockery thing. That's how I see things when I listen to things like Slayer, even though I don't generally believe in a Greater Evil like Christians do. I find the lyrics humorous rather than threatening. When beginning to write this bit, I started with the thought that the people who despised Slayer were the actual ones who perpetuated the idea that they were evil. I don't think anything could be farther from the truth, actually. I don't think the band itself tries too hard with it, though I don't think what they do for marketing is very serious. ***** While at Pam's house, the conversation veered towards thongs and popular dress patterns. Naturally, as a warm-blooded male, I found no problems with thongs on women. Granted, some women just shouldn't be wearing them; you "gotta pack much back" to truly look good in a thong. The objection focused on the fact that one could routinely tell if a girl is wearing one by its visibility above the pants' waistline. I guess, on many occasions, this could be undesirable as well. This includes if the girl of note was underage, formless (see previous comment on "packing much back"), or dating your father. As her mother noted on despising seeing them at all, my mind focused on a more realistic solution: advertising. The trick with providing advertising on that little triangle of cloth on the back of a thong is finding companies that would hit the target audience but would also be something a girl would want to wear. One can figure that the target audience would predominately be male. I'd say it'd be around 75% male, with the other 25% containing women and disgusted parents. Baseball would work pretty well. Imagine a thong with a simple "Go River Cats" or "Go Yankees" on the back. Food would work as well. "Eat at Strings!" or a simple Domino's Pizza logo would work rather nicely. While I doubt that this great idea will catch on, one can always hope. ***** Pam and I shall have a rather busy schedule ahead of us in the next couple of weekends or so. This coming weekend will feature the season's home finale of the Sacramento River Cats. From there, the River Cats will go on the road for the remainder of the season. We'll have a pair of great seats that'll give us access to some nice possibilities for lunch that day. My pursuit of Mike Rose's autograph has ended. Frankly, I gave up, since he seems hell-bent on avoiding fans outside of pre-arranged signings at auto malls. Neither showing up before the game, after the game, or writing to him have helped. I do have a sheet he signed many years ago, and that alone satisfies me. I may, though, get the team set of baseball cards for 2003. I bought the 2004 set last time. Labor Day weekend fast approaches, and we shall be significantly busy. Pam and I may get Prince tickets if we're lucky, and that'll occupy our Friday night completely. I have never seen Prince in concert, and I've heard that this tour is his best yet. Frankly, I am not a huge Prince fan, but I do love what he has done and what I've heard. Sometime during that weekend, Pam and I will go to the Greek Food Festival. We went last year and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Sadly, I have not found Mythos Lager anywhere in the Sacramento area, so I will have to try that this year. Pam will insist that I have more ouzo, which I'll certainly resist with as little might as possible. Also sometime that weekend we plan on going to the State Fair. We also did that last year. This year, we plan to go in order to see Los Lonely Boys, though that plan might change depending on our desires. We may also pay a trip to the Wine Garden for a little bit of tasting. We also plan on getting another picture taken as well. Other events coming in the near-ish future:
We have intentions to bound off to San Francisco in the near-ish future as well. We haven't talked about when, but I imagine it won't be long now.
Memories of Circle K / Hot Room: A Remedy? / Weird Car Radio Issues / Doo-Wop Dave Wins! / A Short Word for Beau Saturday, August 28, 2004 While driving home, I heard an ad on the radio that mentioned Circle K. I don't remember the commercial, but in hearing the store name, my first thought queried, "Are there still Circle K stores open?" (There are several in town, apparently). Eventually, that line of thought brought me down memory lane. For those who have no idea, Circle K is a small convenience store carrying such things as oil, coffee and small snacks, and other things like that. It doesn't hold too much of any one thing, but it holds a lot more than the typical gas station. When I attended grade school, we had a Circle K right next to the school. We rarely went there, and we certainly weren't allowed to walk there on our own (without expressed written permission from our parents, that is). Our P.E. coach would, on rare occasions, make trips over there. One of the coolest draws of Circle K, besides the large sodas, was its huge selection of candy. Gobstoppers. Now-and-Laters. Jawbreakers. Nerds. Gummi Bears and Worms. Jolly Ranchers. We had so many wonderful temptations with those and many others. Sadly, that store closed and became a laundromat. I never set foot in the store during all six years I went to school near it. That store gained mythical proportions throughout the years, and I bet I'd be a bit disappointed if I were to set foot in one. Granted, with that selection of candy, I may brave that chance. ***** Many nights during the week, I spend some time on my computer and/or talk to Pam on the phone. With the room closed up for much of the night, it grows uncomfortably warm, making it rather difficult to sleep well at night. My computer and monitor produce a lot of heat when on, and I know I produce a lot myself. Somehow, I need to find a way to minimize this issue. ***** I think my car is possessed. A week or so ago, I got into my car to move it out of the driveway, eventually getting to work. When I started my car, the radio was off. This seemed strange because I never turn it off unless I had someone do repairs on it. I haven't had anything done on that car in weeks, so that wasn't the problem. I pushed the power button in and thought nothing of it. After a bit, I thought about pushing the power button and then push it in again. Well, when I pushed it the first time, it turned off. On the second time, it would come on, but the button wouldn't stay in (on). It seemed like the clip/switch that held in the power button wouldn't hold, leaving me to sit with no radio. Since I didn't want to have to hold the button in all the time, I drove to work and back a couple of days with no radio. During those two days, I barely noticed the lack of radio. I found myself left alone to my thoughts, thinking about the day's work, the way people drive, and any other topic that came to mind. I did vocal exercises and sang various songs that I knew by heart. I found that, by doing these vocal exercises, I could hit more of the range than I could before. In many ways, I rather enjoyed myself. When hopping into my car to head back home from work, I tried pushing the power button on a whim. After holding it in for a bit and then releasing, it suddenly stayed on. It's been on ever since. Generally, I need the radio to discover new music and possibilities. I like staying in touch with popular music, since, on rare occasions, a new band comes along that actually plays good music. I have my guilty pleasures (and not-at-all-guilty pleasures; e.g. hip-hop) that I need to stay on top of as well. In general, though, I probably wouldn't miss the radio if I lost it again. I would gain so much like the aforementioned activities. Whenever I get a new car, I'll most definitely have a CD player in it, rendering the radio a nearly-pointless addition. ***** At work, we had a dress-up competition with the theme of the 1950s. People will dress up and participate in an election for the best-dressed or best representation of the theme. We do this thing on occasion and have a lot of fun with it. Gradually, I became a regular participant and decided to go "all-out" for this one. So, with greased-back hair, cigarette pack made up to look like a Lucky Strike pack, Zippo, black shoes with white socks, jeans with cuffs rolled up, and white undershirt, I marched into work putting people to shame (including ones with no hair to slick back). Not too many people participated, but that just showed how hard it was to find things to wear for this. I received an undershirt from Pam's parents, a cigarette box and two cigarettes from a work friend, and bought a bottle of Dippity-Do mousse to use in my hair. I won! In the previous competition, I placed second, but I got to the top this time around. Sadly, there are no pictures of me in-costume, but I will, eventually, post pictures of the Lucky Strike box I made for the dress-up. ***** To end this entry, I wanted to give a word to Beau Beresford's family for their loss. Apparently Beau died August 25 in San Jose. The funeral notice appeared in today's paper, but it listed no cause of death. A quick search of past issues of the Bee showed no news items related to him. Even though I really didn't know him well at all during my days at Jesuit, it's still sad to see when someone you recognize has passed away. Assuming my memory serves me well, I'll remember Beau as being the sole person to volunteer to organize our 5-Year Reunion. Even though I probably won't ever attend a high school reunion, it's a shame that the 5-Year Reunion never got off the ground, since it would have been the last time he could have seen the whole class (in theory) together again. So long, Beau. Enjoy yourself, wherever you are. |
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