the sound of one foot tapping

friday mix tape

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:33:34 GMT

We recently had to buy a new (to us) car, as my sporty little '96 Saturn coupe finally bit the dust. The radio in our new (to us) car doesn't have a cassette player, no headphone plug-in either, so for now there's no option to play the iPod in that car.

It's absolutely criminal.

There is a CD player, however, so I decided (just for fun) to start putting together CD-length playlists in iTunes to hearken back to the good old days of not that many years ago when your best non-person road trip friend was a good collection of tunes on a giant handful of CDs.

And thus, voila, was born my Mix Tape project. It works like this:

I made a folder in iTunes called Mix Tape, which will be filled with static (non-Smart) playlists of recently-played songs taken from my main DaveRadio (very Smart) playlist. Each playlist in the Mix Tape folder will be roughly sixty minutes of music randomly selected from whatever's played on DaveRadio in the last five days; perfect for burning to CD.

To ensure a total lack of duplicates on any of my Mix Tape playlists, I use a separate (also Smart) playlist that pulls no more than sixty minutes of music from those recently-played tracks, screening out any songs already on any playlist in the Mix Tape folder. The results have been ... interesting. Though, since my DaveRadio playlist is a very eclectic mix of various kinds of music I enjoy for a variety of reasons, it's actually a good sampling of how my regular daily iPod listening tends to go.

I meant to share the first two Mix Tape collections this morning, but completely forgot, so ... here they are!

oh eight oh eight one five side a
God Is a DJ - P!nk (Try This)
Let It Go - Def Leppard (High 'n' Dry)
Caterpillar (The Crystal Method Remix) - DJ Keoki (Caterpillar [Single])
Greed - Godsmack (Awake)
Excess (feat. Alanis Morissette & Stephanie McKay) - Tricky (Blowback)
Technologic (Radio Edit) - Daft Punk (Musique, Vol. 1 (1993 - 2005))
Hold On, Hold On - Neko Case (Fox Confessor Brings the Flood)
One Way Street - Aerosmith (Pandora's Box [Disc 1])
Enough - Gravity Kills (Gravity Kills)
What Makes the Monkey Dance - Chuck Prophet (No Other Love)
Jamay - Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra (Radio Espantoso (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Volume 7))
Porch - Pearl Jam (Ten)
Ntr/Mssion - Linkin Park (Reanimation)
Oh Well - Snake River Conspiracy (5-Song Sampler from the album)
Not Now John - Pink Floyd (The Final Cut)

oh eight oh eight one five side b
Stellar - Incubus (Make Yourself)
Halo - Depeche Mode (Violator)
Towards The Within - Dead Can Dance (Into The Labyrinth)
She's My Pusher - The Crystal Method (Vegas)
Buona Sera - Louis Prima & Keely Smith (Bella Luna)
Welcome To Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag - White Zombie (La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1)
Little Amsterdam - Tori Amos (Boys For Pele)
Awake - Godsmack (Awake)
Deep - Pearl Jam (Ten)
Amado Mio - Pink Martini (Ciao Amore)
Rock Is Dead - Marilyn Manson (Mechanical Animals)
Eye of a Needle - Art Of Noise (In Visible Silence)

Now it's off to Bonefish Grill for some delicious Bang Bang! Shrimp, then back here to (finally!) watch the Transformers movie.

Oh, Friday - how I've missed you :)

and remember, kids:

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:49:34 GMT

If God is a DJ,
Life is a Dance Floor,
Love is the Rhythm,
You are the Music

( you get what you're given )

( it's all how you use it )

( get your ass on the dance floor )

yayday

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:04:37 GMT

It's Yayday! For those of you not in the know, Yayday is a Friday that's also a Payday. Yay!

ps, if I had a ~~nickel~~ dollar for every time we were served dire warnings that a Storm of Do0m is about to descend upon the greater DC area, only to find it transformed the next morning into something much less inconvenient (and not nearly as work-close-y), I wouldn't have to be getting ready right now to go to the job I hoped I might have a day off from today.

today

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 14:42:13 GMT

Finally went and downloaded GIMP for Windows. While I'm pretty familiar with Photoshop, I hadn't ever tried GIMP before. It installed very quickly and it took me less than five minutes to figure out how to Do Stuff. I've been meaning to do it for ages, and now I have a good photo editor ... so yay!

Also: while Event Horizon isn't really a great movie, it's a fun one to have running while Doing Other Stuff. I borrowed it from friends a while back and just hadn't found the time to watch it.

( ah, the 90s )

interesting

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:49:02 GMT

Colorado's Stanley Hotel, inspiration for Stephen King's novel The Shining, runs Kubrick's R-rated theatrical version of The Shining followed by the TV miniseries The Shining in a continuous loop on Channel 60 of the hotel's TV service.

There's also something called The Shining Ball, scheduled for October 27th, starting at 6:00 pm "until the knife stroke of MIDNIGHT" - spo0ky!

friday first twenty

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:10:00 GMT

I've been doing a lot of work on my playlists lately, and have recently been successfully tempted (too many times) to pick up new music on iTunes. DaveRadio, however, is shaping up better, faster, stronger so that will be nice for next weekend.

Dig Your Own Hole - The Chemical Brothers (Dig Your Own Hole)
Isle of Love - Martin Denny (The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny)
Soldier Blue - The Cult (Sonic Temple)
FEMA - Capitol Steps (Springtime For Liberals)
Monkey on My Back - Aerosmith (Pump (Remastered))
On The Road Again - Aerosmith (Pandora's Box (Disc 1))
Alive - Andy Hunter (Life)
Change - Blind Melon (Blind Melon)
Homework - The Dust Brothers (Fight Club - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! - Enigma (Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!)
Tall Cool One - Robert Plant (Now And Zen)
Killer - Seal (Killer)
I've Got a Theory / Bunnies / If We're Together - Various (Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Once More, With Feeling)
Nasty Boys - Janet Jackson (Control)
Straight to My Heart - Sting (... Nothing Like The Sun)
Y? (Danny's Vocal Mix) - Kiwi Dreams (Can Your Pussy Do The Dog? - Mix This Pussy 2)
Feels Like The First Time - Foreigner (Records)
Undenied - Portishead (Portishead)
Roads - Portishead (Dummy)
Down At Antone's - The Fabulous Thunderbirds (Tuff Enuff)

ps, Underworld: Evolution is, um ... not as good as the first one.

zomg

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 14:16:13 GMT

There's a StarCraft board game!

Well, not just yet. But soon ...

two things:

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 00:31:19 GMT

a) CNN asks "[I]s Bush a lame duck among bloggers?"

b) Amazon has revived the CDNow brand as a CD subscription service, similar to the Columbia House music club.

mini update

Wed, 30 May 2007 15:15:38 GMT

I'm alive! Or, at least, reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I've been even busier than usual lately, mostly catching up on a project that got out of hand here at work. Not much otherwise of any real interest going on lately, mainly just the normal routine. I've been doing a lot of work with my various iTunes playlists, and am very excited that iTunes Plus is finally launching. Come to me, my high-bitrate, no-DRM lovelies ...

I've been playing a lot of Spiderman 3 on XBox lately. It's mainly an exercise in button-mashing, but once you get the hang of web-swinging you can just ignore the random crimes going on around you and clear your head with a tour through the greater New York area. I need to get back on the ball with prep time for the D&D game, and of course my minis collection is overflowing the area set aside to hold it and is badly in need of re-organization.

Lizz Winstead, co-creator of The Daily Show and co-founder of Air America Radio, will be appearing at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse this weekend. I'll be there tomorrow night representing Drinking Liberally Arlington, so if you're free and end up out there tomorrow make sure to look me up.

Also, if you (like me) are pissed off at the Democrats in Congress for supporting a funding bill for Bush's Folly (aka the Occupation of Iraq) that includes no meaningful (or even optional, sneer) benchmarks, guidelines, or timetables, then this MoveOn.org Political Action may be up your alley.

Here's my (hand-written, no less!) note to Senator Reid:

Dear Senator Reid,

This teabag is a reminder that sending Bush funding for the war in Iraq with absolutely no restrictions or oversight on the use of those funds is weak tea indeed.

Please stop supporting Bush's monumental foreign policy blunder. Democrats were elected to put the brakes on the Bush administration and end this unjust war!

Oversight is long overdue and, sadly, it seems Congress has forgotten that an overwhelming majority of the American people opposes this administration's reckless foreign policy in Iraq.

End the war! Bring the troops home!

Sincerely,

( me )

we has a code one alert

Thu, 03 May 2007 01:31:33 GMT

Thanks to tolkiencub, I found LOLTrek. If you're into lolcat pics, like the folks over at I Can Has Cheezburger, I think you'll like it.

Bonus points if you've seen the episode; there's a cool twist in there somewhere.

because ubel_josh said so

Wed, 02 May 2007 14:19:45 GMT

I'd like to know 33 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, never liked each other, or if we already know everything about each other.

1. Can you cook?

2. What was your dream growing up?

3. What talent do you wish you had?

4. Favorite place?

5. Favorite vegetable?

6. What was the last book you read?

7. What zodiac sign are you?

8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?

9. Worst Habit?

10. Do we know each other outside of LJ?

11. What is your favorite sport?

12. Negative or Optimistic attitude?

13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?

14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?

15. Tell me one weird fact about you:

16. Do you have any pets?

17. Do you know how to do The Macerana?

18. What time is it where you are now?

19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?

20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?

21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?

22. What color eyes do you have?

23. Ever been arrested?

24. Bottle or Draft?

25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?

26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?

27. What's your favorite bar to hang at?

28. Do you believe in ghosts?

29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?

30. Do you swear a lot?

31. Biggest pet peeve?

32. In one word, how would you describe yourself?

33. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

In other news, I am still alive! Things are pretty much ordinary with me - get up, drink coffee, eat cereal, go to work, come home, do various and sundry things, go to bed, repeat as necessary.

Last night's D&D session went really well. We started the Scourge of the Howling Horde adventure last night, which was fun. The party completed the first encounter (after a random encounter with a marauding ankheg), and next session they'll head into the town of Barrow's Edge to suss out what to do next.

I've been exploring Microsoft OneNote (which came with my new laptop) and I think organizing my session notes in OneNote notebooks is going to be a huge help. I always end up with random scraps of paper fluttering every which way, getting lost under books and dice and pencils and such, so hopefully this will help me run games better.

And now - Wednesday! I'm behind on some things at work (of course), and am making a ~~super~~ near-human effort to get caught up.

wow

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:35:29 GMT

I picked up my Amazon order today and eagerly tore open the packaging to get my hot little hands on Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason. At first (several months ago), I was irked to find that you can't buy it on iTunes, but since I'm now (re)ripping my CDs at twice the bit rate most songs on iTunes are offered, it all turned out for the best.

I used to listen to this album all the time when I was in the Navy, mainly when I'd go out driving the highways and byways of the greater Virginia Beach area. As much as I truly hated being in the Navy, I got really lucky and had a great group of friends to spend most of my time with. This album is a big memory of that time for me, and while I can't remember when my previous copy was sacrificed on the altar of used CD sales, hearing it now through my earbuds is an experience in memory-related time displacement.

( feels like more than a lifetime )

I think this one will be getting a lot of play over the next several months. Oh, yes.

birthday wishes

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 14:39:51 GMT

It's a veritable cornucopia today! Many Happy Returns to jeffla, uspinmeround, childeofthesun, corwynj, and
lilbear73. Hope you all enjoy your special day ;)

duh!

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:36:50 GMT

I totally forgot to post this yesterday:

Happy (Belated) Birthday, hypofixx! I hope you had a good one :)

attention tolkien fans:

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:05:02 GMT

( tolkiencub, I'm looking at you )

Salon | Lord of the ruins

J.R.R. Tolkien's son Christopher spent more than 30 years piecing together fragments his father left behind. Now readers can learn what happened 6,000 years before Bilbo Baggins found the One Ring.

many happy returns

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 21:36:15 GMT

Happy Birthday, cubdrummer! Hope you have (or have had) a great day :)

many happy returns

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:40:04 GMT

Happy Birthday wishes to signbear! Hope you have a good one - do something nice for (or to!) yourself today ;)

friday!

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 10:30:09 GMT

What an off-kilter week it's been. I haven't slept very well the last couple of nights, and was up this morning at 4am. Never did manage to get back to sleep, but did spend the time relaxing in various ways, so that's a plus.

( sort of )

Probably will go in to work early this morning, so I can leave early today and get a jump on the weekend. And That's a Good Thing!

Earlier this week I discovered the White House comment line, and have been calling to let Bush know how I feel about the job he's been doing. Also been following up with Senators Warner (R) and Webb (D) this week on the Senate's version of the Iraq legislation which a) does fund the war and support the troops, thank you very much, including funding for non-combat-related veteran stuff like health care, and b) was passed this week. Now the only one not funding the troops is Bush, if he continues to squawk about vetoing the bill. I called the White House yesterday and left a message for Bush that he can drop the act about decrying legislative pork in this bill, considering that during the last six years he never met a bill loaded with Republican pork he didn't like.

Now, without further ado, the reason we're all here:

= Friday First Twenty =
Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! - Enigma (Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!)
Mellowship Slinky In B Major - Red Hot Chili Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Magik)
Thunder Kiss '65 - White Zombie (La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1)
Good Beat - Deee-Lite (World Clique)
Walking In My Shoes (Extended 12" Mix) - Depeche Mode (Walking In My Shoes [Single])
High Roller - The Crystal Method (Vegas)
The Trick Is To Keep Breathing - Garbage (Version 2.0)
Let Me Be Your Fantasy - Baby D (Best Of Techno Volume 4)
Warp Asylum - White Zombie (La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1)
Two Worlds - Phil Collins (Disney's Tarzan)
This Is Your Life - En Vogue (Funky Divas)
Consider Me Gone - Sting (The Dream Of The Blue Turtles)
Blue Monday - New Order (International - The Best of New Order)
Hypnotising (Fashionista 2k2 Mix) - Kid Creme (Hypnotising (single))
Power Of Two - Indigo Girls (Swamp Ophelia)
1,000 oceans - Tori Amos (to venus and back - venus orbiting)
Jatt Ho Giya Sharabee - Panjabi MC (Beware)
Emmeleia - Dead Can Dance (Into The Labyrinth)
When I Change Your Mind - Cherry Poppin' Daddies (Zoot Suit Riot)
I Do Not Want This - Nine Inch Nails (The Downward Spiral)

Happy Friday!

two weird

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:20:01 GMT

a) I decided to spend a little more time tonight ripping CDs into iTunes, and since I'm staying off the computer otherwise during the ripping (to keep the audio tracks free of popping, cracking, and skipping) I'm flipping randomly through The Watcher's Guide (Vol I) and skimming Anthony Head's entry. As it turns out, his brother sang the part of Judas in the original cast recording of Jesus Christ, Superstar, which just happens to be sitting in arm's reach on top of the newly-sorted pile of CDs here on the floor near the computer. Sure enough, I flip open the booklet inside the CD case, and there it is, "Judas Iscariot . . . . Murray Head"

b) I'm ripping this double CD, Empathy for the Devil by The Electric Hellfire Club (a birthday present from chile_sauce and lilbear73 lo these many years ago) and the computer insists that Disc 2 is, in reality, Sounds of Thunder by the Sea by Gentle Persuasion. And it's playing at, like, double speed in iTunes, which makes it sound even weirder than it probably does just all on its own.

milestone

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 03:15:45 GMT

I just saw my first Yeah Yeah Yeahs video, also the first time I've heard their music. beatnikside would be so proud!

two things

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:33:24 GMT

1) If you're a fan of Tanya Huff's "Blood [Something]" contemporary fantasy series, you might want to check out the pilot for the new TV series Blood Ties, currently available for (free!) download at the iTunes Music Store. I'm about halfway through reading the first book in the following series, Smoke and Shadows, which is pretty good so far.

2) = Friday First Twenty=

Little Bitty - The Doobie Brothers (Live At Wolf Trap)
Hold On - Yes (90125)
Traces (Light & Weight) - Enigma (The Screen Behind The Mirror)
Caligula - Macy Gray (On How Life Is)
Greed - Godsmack (Awake)
Principles Of Lust [(A) Sadeness, (B) Find Love, (C) Sadeness (Reprise)] - Enigma (MCMXC A.D.)
Filthy/Gorgeous - Scissor Sisters (Scissor Sisters)
Daisy - Stone Temple Pilots (Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop)
First Down - Fatboy Slim (Better Living Through Chemistry)
Vapor Trail - The Crystal Method (Vegas)
Oceans - Pearl Jam (Ten)
I Am I - Queensrÿche (Promised Land)
No Aphrodisiac - The Whitlams (Eternal Nightcap)
Soldier Blue - The Cult (Sonic Temple)
Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1) - Pink Floyd (The Wall)
Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen (Queen Greatest Hits)
Bigger? Propellerheads (Decksandrumsandrockandroll)
King Porter Stomp (Benny Goodman Version) - Big Band Sounds (Big Band Sounds - Swing Era of 1930-1936)
Lady Stardust - David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust)
Frozen - Madonna (Ray Of Light)

ps, dear ~~stupid [expletive deleted]~~ princess sparklypants who just had to get dropped off at the curb at the Metro station this morning, making all of us waiting behind you miss the train that you managed to catch: I hope you fall down an escalator today.

arghy blarghy

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:12:16 GMT

Woke up at 4:00 this morning with a bad headache, but thankfully was able to get back to sleep before 5:00 after a nice, hot bath and the restorative powers of extra strength Excedrin.

Gah, Metro was awful this morning. Yay, snow; boo, the way snow disrupts everything. I already told work if the snow continues getting worse throughout the day I'm likely to head home a bit early.

At least DaveRadio was good on the way in to work! That helped get me through all of the train crowdings, unloadings, and delays this morning. I've made it just about halfway through all the CDs I am planning to pull into iTunes, which is nice. I think one more marathon weekend will get me all caught up, then it's just a matter of rating all the new stuff and listening to everything to make sure there are no errors in the imported music.

And now: Wednesday! I need to get caught up on writing project documentation for work; my to-do list started out so organized last week, but I haven't has as much success getting items crossed off as I'd planned. Hopefully I can make some good progress today and tomorrow so Friday won't be a flurry of frantic activity.

the verdict is in

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:24:48 GMT

Libby found guilty on four counts. Merry Fitzmas!

two things

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:48:54 GMT

1) The World Famous Random Kitten Generator!

2) = Friday First Twenty =
Fortress Around Your Heart - Sting (The Dream Of The Blue Turtles)
New Sensation - INXS (Kick)
PIMPF - Depeche Mode (Strangelove UK CD EP)
Screaming In Digital - Queensrÿche (Rage For Order)
Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers (You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin')
Why Should You Come When I Call? - Counting Crows (Hard Candy)
Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas (Leftoverture)
Personal Jesus (7" Version) - Depeche Mode (Personal Jesus)
Thrust! - White Zombie (La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1)
The Wind Cries Mary - Jimi Hendrix Experience (Are You Experienced?)
On Through The Night - Def Leppard (High 'N' Dry)
Waiting for the Worms - Pink Floyd (The Wall)
One Step Closer - Linkin Park (Hybrid Theory)
Over The Hills and Far Away - Led Zeppelin (Houses Of The Holy)
Slave To The Grind - Skid Row (Slave To The Grind)
Privilege - Incubus (Make Yourself)
Let It Roll - Train (Drops of Jupiter)
Dear Mr. President (Featuring Indigo Girls) - P!nk featuring Indigo Girls (I'm Not Dead)
Beautiful Day - U2 (All That You Can't Leave Behind)
Swim - Madonna (Ray Of Light)

( happy friday! )

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 12:34:57 GMT

rabbit, rabbit!