Zune and very Zune

things have been a little stressful at the job lately and i have been a jerk an making excuses about why i have not posted lately. so here are the updates:

my dad had open heart surgery: triple bypass and a heart valve replacement. the surgery, i am told, was grueling but extremely successful. he was sent home after a little over a week and is apparently doing fine. those of you who know my mother will understand that, while i was genuinely concerned about the welfare of my father, it was her health that i was really worried about. my father, as my brother so eloquently put, is as hard as nails. my mother on the other hand, well... let’s just say tofu would be an over statement when thinking of her fortitude... or maybe i’m wrong... i mean she did survive cancer and all so maybe i am mistaken. still all seems to be kosher in the old homestead right now so there.

i had a prior post all planned (the contents of which are mostly described below) when i found out about his condition and thus failed to post: so here’s the skinny...

through a series of completely random events, i have now become the owner of a Microsoft Zune; bg’s mythical ‘i-pod killer’ and i must say that, whilst i do, as always have some gripes, i am very happy with this nice little media player. there are some definitely well-thought out features that i have become quite attached to as well as something’s that really get my goat. am not gonna waste time with a review here as there are ample on the net. although i admit that most of them being skewed towards the negative puzzles me a little, i guess, i know the MS haters and Apple fanboys are gonna diss the player so i am not that surprised. i like it though, the sound quality is great, the larger screen quality is very impressive, the customization is excellent and the software is simple enough to use. the wifi is a nice feature but i think that it is being stifled by MS themselves. where’s my wireless syncing? my wireless streaming? my wireless downloading? i mean come on... we know the hardware is there to accomplish these tasks (802.11x compliant)... so what happened? sacrificed to the gods of DRM? i don’t know. maybe EMI announcing that they are allowing itunes users to purchase DRM-free content (at a small preimum) and MS stating that they are working with vendors to remove some more from their marketplace, maybe i'll see these features yet.

still a pretty sweet player.

also, Vincent is a short film by tim burton, his first, i believe. anyway it is being re-released together with The Nightmare Before Christmas in stereoscopic 3d in october. i really like this film so here it is:

have a great easter y’all

~m

29

happy birthday to me

Ahoy There Matey

to say that digital media piracy has really come into itself in the last few years, to me, would be as understated as calling Noah's flood a "light drizzle"

as hollywood tries in vain to save us from the evils of the like of those at The Pirate Bay, it is invariably spelling its own destruction.

this is a topic that is quite close to my heart so i was thrilled when i read this article in Vanity Fair that a friend fowarded to me.

it is a slightly long read, but definately worth it.

Take Me Away

by lifehouse:

first time i heard this... not bad.

A Dark Congregation

i just installed windows vista.

it is pretty awesome. lots o cool interface crap and all. took a while to get it to run the way i like though. but it is doing great now.

love Aero. in case you haven't seen it you gotta check this shit out.

most of you know the situation Bridget and i are in now. those of you whom i haven't told in person have alluded to the knowledge of it anyway. so i'll leave it at that for now.

should be an interesting few weeks ahead.

oh, by the way check out the band "the hush sound" and their album "like vines"

Hazard Pay

saying that the weather has been alittle harsh lately would probably qualify as the understatement of the season.

saying that the weather has been alittle harsh lately in anywhere Erie or the surrounding 'snow belt' areas would probably get you stabbed.

we have around 3 feet of (permafrost) snow on the ground. last night we got about a foot. i was up to shovel my driveway this morning at around 4:45 a.m.

i didn't even get into work until around 8:45 and just the drive in should qualify me for some hazard pay.

out for now...

~m

Lots and Lots

a bunch of stuff has gone down since i last posted here.

my dad had a double heart attack. he's out of the red for now but it is more than likely that he'll have to have a bypass.

also another event has come to light but i am not at liberty to discuss it just yet.

i know i promised updates. i'll try real hard to make it up.

out for now

~m

Family

i know you can't choose you family....

that is why i KNOW how lucky i am that they have not disowned me (yes, yes i know that they still have time. thanks.).

anyways check out my cousins Diana and Chris's blogs if you get sometime (in the all-new "BlogRoll" section of the sidebar! now with 30% more sodium!)

NEW UPDATES! COMING DAILY!!!

sorry for the lack to posts. you can blame me/my job/the fact that i haven't had time to do anything lately other than work/get ready for the trip.

speaking of which...

most of you may already know that we are on our way to Malaysia for the holidays... so i decided that it would be fun to photoblog the whole trip!

anywho... check the site for dailies!

11:25pm

i know that, in the grand scheme of things ... this really isn't late... but what can i say? i'm getting old. plus i have been in the office from like 7 am to about an hour and a half ago. long day to say the least.

it has been suggested that i clarify the reason for the name of this blog, i figured it was kinda self explanatory so i let it go... maybe i should have been more explicit. so for all my racially and pop-culturally deficient readers (yes, all 2 of you...) "life, the universe and..." is an homage to the late Douglas Adams's literary masterpiece "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"

as for the Chindian part, well being of Chinese – Indian decent, Chindian is a colloquialism that one becomes aware of at quite a young age.

so there. going to sleep now... have another 18hr day ahead.

stupid unfair having to work so hard for money.... lousy work... (or as Homer so eloquently once put it... “I can’t take his money, I cant print my own money, I have to work for money...., why don’t I just lay down in the corner and die!)

~m

A Little Pre "Fa La La La La...."

great weekend. period.

though quite a contradiction in terms, we actually got a lot of stuff done over the weekend and still managed to kick back and relax...

the holidays are coming so Bridget and i decided that since we are not going to be here this Christmas that we would do most, if not all, of our holiday decorating this weekend. truth be told, we actually did quite a lot.

we got all the lights up, placed and trimmed the tree and even cleaned a little. oh, and get this: our fireplace got delivered! it is just such a nice touch!

less than 4 weeks to out trip and we are really getting excited about this... i’m not really sure why but this trip seems to feel a little more special.

hope you all are getting as excited as i am about the upcoming holidays!

Things that make you go hmmm

someone said something really hurtful to me today. and it really bothered me. i’m not going into the details but i believe it can be summed up to me be being an arrogant, stereotypical american. concordantly, the verbiage “so Bush” was used to illustrate my actions.

this really hurt me.

i think it did for several reasons. firstly, this is the second time this person publicly belittled my actions, pointing out my glaring ignorance and other shortcomings for all to see. i didn’t think that was the way you pointed out the mistakes, if you believe them to be, of people you care about. if a child does something stupid, do you yell and scream at him in front of everyone, publicly humiliating him or do you pull him aside and reprimand him privately explaining the error of his ways?

secondly and i think maybe more importantly it hurt me because of who he is. i have always looked up to this person, his strength of character, choice of career and educational aspirations have always inspired me. i have always tried to emulate these things in my own life but have never quite measured up. i spent a lot of my childhood with my grandparents, he was the apple of their eyes, and though he wasn’t the oldest, most of his siblings often went to him for advice. how could i not see him as the definitive role model. so to have this person say this kinda stuff really does bother me.

additionally what if he is right? did i deserve this public chastisement? have i become this stereotypical, arrogant, empty, ignorant, childish jackass? am i really bothered, not by how he said what he said, but by the truth of what he said?

because of who he is, i would be inclined to believe him to be right but i don’t know. i'll need to think about this.

lots o’ other stuff going on. really can't bring myself to write at this point.

Snow Day

i have been living in the united states for about seven years now. that means that i have been driving in the united states for about six years now.

yesterday was the first time since being here that i was actually afraid that i might die whilst driving.

alright, i understand that the first real snow fall of the season is usually quite taxing on most people because it is the first time in a while that you have to remember/renew you winter driving skills. yesterday’s storm was something else completely. firstly, Bridget and i were driving separately so all the way home i was soo worried about her getting home safely.

secondly, it was whiteout conditions for a good third of my way home. for those of you who have not had the distinctive privilege of experiencing  “whiteout” conditions... well try driving with white paint on you windshield... there you go...

still i can’t complain... i do love this time of the year....

in other news:

if last (work) week was likened to cranial blunt-trauma, then this week can be likened to a mild beating by, oh i don’t know.... lets say the local school yard bullies. things have settled down a little and it is stable enough now that i can actually get home at a time that affords me the opportunity to actually see my wife. that’s nice. we may even take in a movie this weekend (The Prestige with Christian Bale and Wolverine).

only about six more skull-drudging weeks of work before Bridget and i embark on our highly-anticipated trip to Malaysia... and brother you better believe that we are counting the days (43 as of this posting)..... i'll have the laptop with me so hopefully i'll get to post more when i’m on vacation...

out for now...

~m

3D Video!!! Finally!!!

now bring on the 3D porn!

Tired now... must sleep....

wow what a few weeks this has been. work has been like being in a slave farm or at bootcamp or something (not that i have ever experiences either of the aforementioned allegorical situations… but i believe my experience to be … well at least comparable. at the very least. am i being overly ostentatious? pretentious maybe? perhaps).

Bridget and i will be at a really promising halloween party tonight. we both helped decorate the venue a little, and Dave, the host and his wife Joyce really get into the whole halloween thing so i am excited too. it is kind of an ‘office party’ actually but there will be spouses in attendance and of course there will graciously be made available a healthy dose of everyone’s favorite social lubricant.

sunday will bring with it the other party that we will be attending this halloween. we will be having a very civilized, southern themed dinner at the home of some good friends. and more like than not, some prodigious quantities of alcohol. premium quality, lest there be any confusion.

after sunday’s party comes something else that i have been yearning for, for some time now: a little bit of absolutely nothing. period. it seems like lately both Bridget and i have been so preoccupied with everything extra curricular, it is just gotten to be ludicrous . everyone needs to have some time to spend with someone you love and not do anything.

absolutely nothing.

just being there… or maybe playing a little 1-on-1 tekken on the ps2.

anyway… i really don’t feel like ranting right now (i know, i know: it is too late. you are all firgging hilarious. hah ha ha.), these last few weeks have really take it out of me. but i am making a conscious effort to keep this baby updated. so there.  

also, i did take some cool pictures of the setup of dave’s basement all festooned ala ‘night of the living dead’ or ‘tales from the crypt’  or something. i’ll throw up a link after i post them.

out for now

The Dilbert Blog: Good News Day

please please please read this:The Dilbert Blog: Good News Day.

sorry for not being here the last couple of days... i should have some time to sit down and write tonight.

A Homecoming... of sorts.

this last weekend was edinboro's homecoming ...  and in spite of the annual drunken stupor, amidst the hedonism that was abound... bridget and i decided that we'd have a nice, quiet weekend
 
... and we did, so much so that we were even the recipients of a pleasant surprise... some old friends from ol'centennial hall dropped in to visit their old alma mater and were nice enough to pay us a visit.
 
but that was sunday... saturday we avoided the town , with dyed-in-the-wool tenacity, as much as humanly possible... bridget actually, got to go up to the outlets have some time with her mom, i was in erie helping prepare for what promises to be one (of two that we will be attending) kick ass halloween party .... but that is another story for another post... back to our guests...
 
it really was nice to see missy, mervi and cecil again. man ... so much has changed since we were all college students.... that was some fun times and i would be lying if i said that i didn't miss that life. martini's in mark's room, red deaths' and wop-me-downs at the boro, watching a legally blind ken kick frat-boy ass at pool in the keg..., breakfast philosophy with keiser in the caf, making everclear punch and watching 'black-sxploitation' movies with rummer... killer uno and risk tournaments in the lounge.... and of course there was the simpsons... every night man... just like, no, it was religion.
 
and so much more.
 
lest we get distracted, let me reiterate: i miss that life, truly i do, but given the chance to relive it i would invariable, but politely decline. i love my life and where i am; being all too aware that i am (to steal a quote from a soon to be released game) On the Rain-Slick Precipice of ... Adulthood.
 
anyway, in passing miss had made mention of this little post of mine from last fall and too of her enraged reply... truth be told i do remember reading it and had good intent to comment on it. alas this too was swept along the wayside in my usual languor, and while i have been quoted as saying that is not better late than never, i believe that is does deserve, at the very least a redaction or even an addendum ... of sorts:

there are those friends, friendships that get, for lack of a better word, adjourn. those relationships that, due to inescapable circumstances get put to stasis. theses relationships are still special though, because just like a maple in spring that buds all over to the point that you almost forget it was bare just a few months ago, these friendships seem to pick up almost exactly where you left off, almost like there was not divide between then and now. almost...

i neglected to mention these friendships in my aforelinked rant and for that i apologies. whether it changes the message or the core emotion i was trying to get across with my harangues.... well i'll leave that to you.

i have rambled on enough for today.

~m  

Spending some quality time with Pandora

wow... what a week this has been... i have probably had one of the most rigorous work weeks i have ever had... ever...

tgif baby, seriously...

anyway i don’t really know how this has gone on without me hearing about it for so long! it is absolutely one of the most wickedest internet radio stations/concepts/ideas i have ever seen... it is called pandora and is from the same guys that did came up with the music genome project... here is that wiki. basically it is billed as a “a music listening and discovery service” and truth be told... i actually did discover some interesting stuff.

anyhoo... i am having an absolute ball with this thing... here is the first station that i created. check it out... if you don’t like it... just create your own...

have a good weekend yall.

~m

Welcome to The Black Parade

i have only just started listening to my chemical romance... not a bad band.

this is from their upcoming album the black parade. quite good really... i may actually pick this one up when it comes out later this month.

~m

Of Roto-tillers, Antiquing and a Standing Rib Roast

this weekend was a blast... Bridget’s parents were up to visit and it was just great! she and i made chicken with 40 cloves for dinner on friday and then we all sat down in the newly finished room and just killed a couple bottles of good wine...

Jim and i actually got a lot done on the house on saturday ... and i have to say that using a roto-tiller is probably one of the most manly or ‘guy’ kinda things that one can do with out breaking the law... that bloody bugger just tore right through everything....

that evening we had a perfectly cooked standing rib roast, done in our RonCo™ (the ‘set it and forget it’ guy) rotisserie... couple that with a couple bottles of some really nice 2003 Bordeaux... ah... the good life

sunday was all about the antiquing in Meadville, lots to see but most of it was really overpriced.

hope you had a similarly good weekend...

~m