Neon Indian Show

Well, just got back from my first neon indian show. Brown moment alert: i was asked to leave before i even got in.

there was some promoter in the city that was sponsoring and it was only $1 to get in, as long as you took two seconds to rsvp online. which i did! good deals like this are hard to find. the way i look at these deals is that even if i don't get to see the whole show, who gives a shit. couldn't get r to come out with me, so i was headed solo. my plan was to hang out for a bit, catch the better part of the show, drink a beer or two, and then take off.

i've been to hell today, i spell it dmv. anyone that's been there knows precisely what i mean. only NY, has a worse thing: you don't get your actual id that day; it comes two weeks later. and that it doesn't matter if you brought everything they tell you to but leave your ss card at home - 1 hour round trip right there to go get that guy.

back in hell, i waited in three lines; they took my picture and they confiscated my super-expired ohio dl (this weekend would mark the 6 mos. mark, meaning i'd have to do all the tests over, so i had no choice).and i left with this note card that has my address, DOB, and the NY state seal logo. was told i'll get my new license in two weeks.

(there's a whole side story here about the day at work. worse nightmare if you're in web dev: server was completely down this morning, while i was out, took until 11 to get it back. then, right before i was about to leave, it tanked again. no direct com with the system admin made for an ugly situation that will now certainly continue into next week as we scramble to find a new hosting service.)

and so i had no photo id with me tonight. just this note card that has my address, DOB, and the NY state seal logo. the bouncer wasn't gonna let me in, but the promoter said: "go ahead and let him in. but don't give him a drink bracelet since he doesn't have a photo id".

so whatever, i can't have a drink. already had a good buzz at that point, so if i can't have a drink, so be it.

then:
the promoter decided to be a dick: "since the promotion is for those 21 and up that can drink, and we can't give you a bracelet, i gotta charge you the door price of $15." really. because my expired license was confiscated and i don't have my OU id on me? Yep. That's what the web site said, the promoter reminded me. A Photo ID. Sorry bub. I started to question this but knew it was going nowhere. And just lost all interest in the show.

Pissed, and on my own, I said fuck the show and headed home, where the neon indian is free and brooklyn lager is $1.75 a bottle. and no rascals!!

Japan 2010: The Laptop Incident

Man, I've been quiet on here. Haven't mentioned a peep about my trip to Japan yet, which was totally sweet. Got so absorbed with taking everything in while I was over there I never found the time to write about it. Then! I got back, and had the worst case of RCS (Reverse Culture Shock) I've ever had - clearly, the trip was too short, and it made me depressed to be back here again. Didn't help that I bought this Beatles CD that is all music box songs - even more sad!

Ahhhhh....

Well, I'm better now. Back in to the groove here, and plowing through 2010 with more steam in the boiler than a pressure cooker left on high. The goal: Find a new job that puts my programming skills back to the forefront. The current one just ain't cutting it and I need something more. Put my brain to work again, because currently I'm turning into a zombie.

So next up: Let's talk about Japan. It was a great trip, so many stories to tell! I'll start this off with the story of Andrew's laptop aka The Laptop Incident.

Before leaving for Japan, Andrew asked me to pick him up a new laptop. No problem. Except that the week I tried to go shopping was the week of CES in Vegas, where all the new models are unveiled and all the sellers are clearing their shelves for the new ones: slim pickin's. After about my 4th trip to different places, I settled on a nice Vaio laptop, which had the best rankings for laptops in its class. (Despite most of Sony's stuff being crappy, my Vaio laptop, Marlow, has held up well for me for the past 2 and half years). It came in a nice box, and so I put the nice box in a nice bag.

Our flight to Japan was a straight shot from JFK to Narita. For us, that means hopping on the L train two blocks away, switching it up to the super ghetto A, then the AirTran to the airport. And so we set out around 8:15 in the morning: two huge suitcases and the laptop bag. Reiko's bag in particular was a huge pain in the ass as its wheels only move one way, and that's the wrong way, and there's no easy grip handle to pull the thing, so I basically ended up doing a combination of a lift-pull-skate and straddling myself over the top of it while walking to get it to move.

That suitcase was quickly deemed that Japan would be its final destination. I hope it burns in a large garbage heap.

At the L train station: hundreds of people. Five times the normal amount. Which made sense: due to a police incident down the line, trains were running only every 15~ 20 minutes, as opposed to the normal 3-4 minutes during rush hour. It took a while, but the train finally came. More pains in the ass as large ass suitcases, one of them which didn't really roll, were not designed for the morning commute. Fortunately, we were headed opposite of the city, so it wasn't so bad.

We boarded the train. My mind was a blur from the people, the excitement, the Japan.

We took off. We're moving now. Reiko took a seat and I stood with the luggage.

Then, it dawned on me: I was no longer in possession of the laptop bag. Nor was Reiko.

Somewhere between our apartment and the train, the laptop went missing. A brand new, in-box laptop. Which I bought! AND IT WAS LOST IN BUSHWICK.

I ran out of the train at the Myrtle / Wyckoff stop (2 stops from our place) and told Reiko to wait for me at Broadway Junction aka poverty ghetto central. Poor Reiko. Still not sure where to go or what to do, I figured I'd hop on the opposite, city bound train, go back to start and figure it out from there.

And then I realized: oh yeah, trains aren't running normal today. You have no choice. Better get running.

I don't think I've ever had a more panicked run. Or such an unexpected cold-start sprint. Which was not easy as I was not really in any shape to run with my massive coat and a backpack loaded to the gills. But I didn't have a choice. Time was running out - I wasn't going to miss my flight - and I just HAD to find that laptop.

Sprinting from a cold start: I highly don't recommend it. The massive shot of adrenaline in my system gave me quite a boost but after about 4 or 5 blocks I was already choking. The rest of the way back home (13 blocks) was a combo of run a block or two, catch my breath, rinse and repeat. Though most of the run was also a blur, I remember running past police at one point that I was just sure were going to come and stop me, ask me what was going on. But they didn't.

During my run, I was able to trace my steps: I knew where the package was left. It was on the front stoop of our apartment. Out in the open. I had set it to the side to help Reiko with her luggage. And completely forgot it there. So at least it was not in a station or anything, where it surely would be long gone.

I rounded the corner, and it was there. Untouched. Though: the shady fat guy two doors down was already eyeing it. I didn't say anything, just ran and swooped it up, then ran back to the subway station.

Inside, I fell apart. I tore off my jacket and long sleeves and took a knee. My heart was pounding, my lungs were on fire and I could taste blood in my mouth. I was coughing up massive amounts of gooey phlegm. I had just punished the shit out of my body and put it to its limits. But whatever, I had the lap top back.

Eventually, the train came, and I met Reiko at ghetto central. We had to wait three A trains for the right one that goes to the airport, but made it with plenty of time. Reiko was rightfully pissed at me for making her wait and I felt pretty bad about it. But soon that would all be behind us, as we were about to hop on the big bird. To Japan.

Save States and Emulators

Man. Got to Jefferson station this morning to fire up my DS to continue my progress on the 4th dungeon in Ages. Save state was gone. Fuck, I hadn't saved in a long time, but at least had something in there. Also gone or otherwise corrupt (save game started a new game for me). So back to the start I went. 8 hours or so gone to ... the Ages. Oy vey! Fortunately you can throttle the speed by holding L, so for times you need to move over X number of screens, you can get there really quickly, as well as speed up the time warping animations, dialogs, etc. BUT STILL.

New Camera!! Meet Herman.

Leveled up my camera arsenal today 10 fold - invested in a Canon Rebel TSi (i believe its the Kiss X3 as the blokes in Japan call 'em) with an 18-135mm piece of glass w/ Image Stabilization. First foray into the fine world of DSLR's for me... can't wait to start getting the good shots now.

Dates are locked in for the big bird now: 1/15 to 1/31. Proceed with the filling of the dates therein. So far, it's Mr. Fuji (yes, r not the t) for the first leg, then Tokyo (early week of the 17th), Nagoya, followed by a romparound in Hokkaido (Otaru? Sapporo? getting naked in the hot springs in a glacier???), then back to Nagoya, with some Mie adventures. Perhaps a trip to the Kansai region? Well, they do have good food there and I like their accent. Nani nonndennen! (what are you drinking!?)

I gotta get back to work though. Burning the midnight oil to reduce the workload tomorrow, which I'm doing from home. Then, Settler's of Catan and *gasp* NEW YEAR'S!

And really, you can't find a finer subject than Conan on HD TV as a subject, right? whoo boy.

Windy

Cold and windy today. Would not want to be in a tall building, nosirree. 24F in a brick building is enough for me. Which begs the question: how high can you get?

Blizzard Kicks off Winter

Old man winter wasted no time at all over the weekend. We had another Nor'easter roll in, which basically dumps a crap ton of snow in a fairly short amount of time. It's been chilly here the past week so sticking to the ground was no problem. Snow started late Saturday afternoon while we were in the city, and by the time we left for a party that evening it had grown to five inches or more. I even broke out my snow pants to wear to the party - zzzhuupp zhzhzuupp zzhuuppp zzhuupp all the way there, which luckily was only a few blocks away. Blizzard continued throughout the party and into the night, and the snow continued to pile away.

Here's a clip I put together from before and after the party:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhlHMl4Lzss

By morning, the snow had stopped, netting us around 8 to 12 inches, with snow drifts up to 3 feet, depending on how the wind blew. And everyone was playing the move the snow game, which is much tougher when you've got nowhere to go with it. Walked around in it for a bit and it was an awesome site. Snow felt like corn starch, all eee eee eee eee. I love how the snow mutes the city.

Music of 2009

End of the line... of the "ought" years. Twenty-ought-nine sounded awesome. So Goodbye, ought-nine: what will we call this decade? The big teens

Out of interest to see how full of shit Pitchfork is, I've taken the time to go through their list of the top 100 tracks of this year. No Scumbag Blues = fail, yet some of their so-called indie glory = total yawn. No JEFF the brotherhood either. And of course they wouldn't know about Bikes... yet.

That's not to say there wasn't good stuff. Of course there was. Most of it I hadn't heard, so I compiled my takeaway here. Ahem.

I've tried to denote songs of the year for given categories where applicable.



98. Future of the Left "Arming Eritrea". Love me some crunchy vacuum cleaner guitar. Lyrics reminded me of the Maxass rant Onion-O: "Eric, get off the roof!"

91. HEALTH "Die Slow". Sheet metal rock. Incidentally, I caught the tail end of their live set but didn't really care.

85. Wavves "No Hope Kids". Loser rock. I like writing songs like this and then drinking some more.

84. Junior Boys "Parallel Lines". Spark it up brutha, and let's head out to Long Island. I like the snare sound a lot, sounds a lot like the Konami snare from old NES games. There's some cool synth bursts here as well.

71. A Sunny Day in Glasgow "Close Chorus" Good use of texture.

68. Röyksopp [ft. Robyn] "The Girl and the Robot" Dance song of the year I've never heard at a club because I don't follow that scene?

61. Atlas Sound [ft. Lætitia Sadier] "Quick Canal" Atmosphere runner-up award.

58. Fever Ray "If I Had a Heart" Darkest song of the year. Alien chick vocals. And a sweet video.

56. John Talabot "Sunshine" Now we're getting to some serious beats. Love the tribal rhythms. Bit crusher curtain flusher.

54. Joker & Ginz "Purple City" Fat rubbery synth lines. Kinda like the Satanic Turd demo from Fruity Loops 3.

53. The xx "Islands" Late night bar music. Last call, then find your shoes.



50. Matias Aguayo "Rollerskate" Inspiring. Want to build a scary castle with legos now.

49. Yo La Tengo "Here to Fall" - Drums. Sound. Great.

42. The Big Pink "Velvet" - Computer beats



35. Micachu and the Shapes "Golden Phone" - was this the sound of nonsense in 2009? if so, very tastefully done. love the keyboard browness and the 8-bit tone banks. Skid marks at the end. Now don't forget to wipe.

27. Four Tet "Love Cry" - Need to pick this up on vinyl. This is the kind of music designed for record players, sending radio transmissions, and building a secret door to a hidden room.

19. Joker "Digidesign" - 8-bit synth rubber bee rolls. And the "doing~!" spoon-like hits spread throughout? win. and the synth part that sounds like "No no no no no no no no!". Brilliant.

16. The xx "Crystalised" - another groove for late night chilled pears.

13. Neon Indian "Deadbeat Summer" - brown beat of the year?

10. Washed Out "Feel It All Around" - pull down your pants song of the year.

And there you have it. None of their top labeled tracks seemed to do it for me.