12.12.03
Posted in Music at 10:47 am by Leopoldo
My recent breakup with my girlfriend of a year Sara has left me in a melancholy and depressed state. I do not always present my emotions so this feeling may not be readily visible in my appearance but I recently realized it is quite apparent in my choice of music. In addition to the very beautiful Lakme Flower Duet, iTunes on my PC is also showing a high play count for “Why Worry” from the Dire Straits album Brothers in Arms (the song “So Far Away” from the same album was my theme song during the relationship), for pretty much all of The Trinity Session by Cowboy Junkies and for a number of tracks from Dahlia’s two albums. From the first album Emotion Cycles I have rediscovered the song Marcella Behind Liquid Blue Eyes, from the latest there is a track that I had ignored when I first bought the CD but since has become a favorite of mine: Ghost Chair
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Posted in Music at 10:45 am by Leopoldo
I originally ignored this track on the latest Dahlia CD, but was recently moved to transcribe the lyrics.
Ghost Chair
From Vase[S] by Dahlia
Please move through me
I need to feel your energy
Existing between realities
Needing you to notice me
I’m trying to outlive my memories
I sometimes push through the ramparts with anger and pain
I want you to see me and still want to stay
Be firm with your guidance but don’t talk down to me
I can take what you’re giving when it’s given for free
I don’t need to be told that I need to be calm
I’ve been hearing that voice since I was six years old
I am strong, I am present, I am gifted and sane
I am trying to live on a much higher plane
When you come home I’ll be there waiting
I’ll be waiting there, sitting in my favorite chair
Please honor me
By living your life passionately
Remember me on all-hollows eve
Light a candle with tangerines
Know that I am wearing my favorite clothes
Know that I am smiling; know that you’re not alone
Hear whispering to you as you go to sleep
Feel me stroking back your hair when you have bad dreams
Forget the times when you felt bad I didn’t understand
Forget the things we said when we were angry or mad
Know that I am proud of you, know that I loved
Every single thing about you you think is all-wrong
You are strong, you are patient, you’re funny and bright
Get through this loneliness by living your life
But know and forever that I listen
Know that I waited for you
I’ll be there waiting
I’ll be there waiting
I’ll be there waiting
I’ll be there waiting
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12.09.03
Posted in Geekdom at 3:22 pm by Leopoldo
Have you seen this drive?
Problem: You work for a mega-corporation where digital monitoring of employee activity is not only accepted, but also expected. You know your boss has been spying on you because he showed you a report of exactly what web sites you visited from work over a month long period broken down by category. He knows enough to read a URL breakdown but does not understand that multiple hits to an online radio station (launch.yahoo.com in this case) does not actually mean that you have been wasting time online while at work (instead it means that I listen to music you I work). Under a disaster-recovery plan you have been categorized as ‘Mission Critical’, which among other things means that your PC has to be backed up to a corporate server every night. You have a few personal files on the hard drive of your work PC, nothing risky or embarrassing but given the atmosphere still files you would rather not be read by your boss, get put into a corporate drive, or generally be available to other people. What do you do?
Solution: I bought a 256 MB USB flash drive. The solution seemed pretty near perfect to me, I moved all my files to the keychain drive and would pop it in my pocket whenever I left work. I could easily disconnect the drive when I stepped away from my computer and mount it on my home PC or home Mac with no problem. I had all my important word documents, excel files, lists, I even kept a couple of my favorite albums in MP3 format and would use it to ferry new music to and from work. The only problem was that the thick plastic device did not fit on my keychain and I did not have a connecting chain to attach it with. It was all quite great until last weekend.
I have a vague memory of wanting to take the drive out of my coat pocket so I would not loose it in Seattle over Thanksgiving weekend. I may have intentionally put it somewhere safe, but two weeks later I still have not found it and have no idea where ’somewhere safe’ might be. It most likely dropped out of my pocket when I took my coat off at some restaurant or someone’s house, if it is somewhere in my house I figure I would have run across it by now, but I have not. Oh sure, I have backups of all the files but the backups are at best four weeks old and some of the files were ones I updated weekly or even daily (such as a list of movies I watch and need to review for GeekRoar.com or a list of movies that look interesting and I would like to watch). I have not started working off the backups in hopes the original files would be found but instead have kept notes in my palm on what updates I need to make Today I feel defeated and think it’s time to go back to the backups.
What to do about the original problem though? A floppy disk? Sure they damage easily and only hold 1MB of data, but on the other hand they are a full 3.5 inches wide and harder to misplace. I would like to read and write files to my file server at home, but I don’t have a clean way to move the files back and forth (SMB file mounts are not possible across the firewall, I move some files via Z-Modem transfers over SSH but that is cumbersome). Heck, I may drop another $60 and try for the USB keychain solution again… only this time I will have to attach the little pocket device to something larger… like a rescue light that starts flashing if not moved in a day. Hmmm… wonder if anyone sells a device that broadcasts GPS coordinates.
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12.05.03
Posted in Geekdom at 11:20 am by Leopoldo
The inevitable introduction of a DVD format that can handle High Definition resolutions seems to be heating up with two competing formats. A short article at broadcastengineering.com states that the DVD Forum has approved HD DVDs:
HD DVDs will be able to record five times the amount of information of current DVDs. Today’s DVD technology allows recording of about two hours of conventional analog TV programming while the new format can record more than two hours of digital TV programming.
The competing Blu-Ray format discs can store more than three hours of digital programming. However, Toshiba and NEC argued that their format can be priced about 20 percent lower than a comparable Blu-ray disc because the assembly lines for current DVDs can be adapted to make HD-DVD discs. That cannot be done with Blu-ray discs.
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12.02.03
Posted in Music at 2:19 pm by Leopoldo
I often wake up with a song playing though my head (a leftover bit of soundtrack from a dream?). Every so often one of these bits gets stuck in whatever piece of my brain is charged with playing background music. For the last two weeks it has been the Flower Duet from the opera Lakme. I am generally happy when the soundtrack to my life is that beautiful. I have been listening to the track incessantly for days now and still do not tire of it. If you are not familiar with the bit you can listen to a bit of it on this Amazon.com page. Be warned though, this is addictive music.
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