All the Other Stuff

Say "Hello" To The New Car

2009-02-27T18:41:00.005-07:00

After 8 years of trusty service, I have traded in the Subaru for a used '05 Accord. While I'm sad to see the Subaru leave, it was starting to show it's age and the combination of more frequent service visits and cabin noise drove me to getting a new car. The Honda is by far the nicest car I've ever owned and I'm glad that I could help the economy by taking out a smart loan which I will easily be able to pay off. I would have never been able to afford this car if I bought it new.

Jon Brion

2009-02-18T21:00:00.002-07:00

Today while listening to Sound Opinions, I heard an interview with Jon Brion from 2006. He's a producer (Kanye West, Fiona Apple), songwriter, and movie score composer (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Apparently, he performs every Friday night at Largo in Los Angeles. One of the things he does while performing is record a live tape loop of drums, then he adds a bass loop, and finally adds a guitar and singing (I take it he also does this with other instruments).

The following video starts with him doing a hilarious rendition of Tom Waits doing Radiohead's Creep. That's followed by one of these looped songs. The video is really poor quality, but you should be able to hear it just fine.

Valentines Day and Music

2009-02-14T20:37:00.004-07:00

It's Valentines Day and I'm sitting at home writing on my blog for the first time in more than a month drinking a Cuba Libre (Rum and Coke for the non-hispanics). Nora is in San Diego for the weekend going to gay bars with her Uncle and his boyfriend. I don't know if I have had a weirder Valentines Day (ok, I have, but I'm not going to get into that now).

I've recently joined a carpool with 3 other people, which is really great considering that we have a 1 hour commute each way and I usually have to drive only once a week. The unfortunate part is that they have completely different political/social views from me. Between their commentary about the effort to overturn Proposition 8 in California ("don't they just get it, being 'tolerant' of gays doesn't mean you accept gays") and having to leave my house at 5:15 AM, it's been a little tough continuing with the carpool. So far, the savings on gas and wear & tear on my car are winning out.

One thing that has made this carpool bearable is that I've started listening to the Sound Opinions music podcast. It's a once weekly hour-long podcast with two music critics from the Chicago area who talk about recent music news, interview artists and producers, review mainstream and obscure albums, and play a lot of good music. They have an archive of podcasts that goes back to 2005, which is great for me since I haven't really listened to much music since I started listening to NPR in 2001. I can't stand commercial radio and I don't have the patience to listen to college radio stations to find the good music. I've had plenty to listen to by combining the new shows with the archived shows, and have found some really great music to boot!

However, I don't always agree with the "Buy It, Burn It, Trash It" recommendations that Jim and Greg make when they review albums. I've bought a couple of duds which they were raving about (Neil Young's Living With War and Tim Fite's Fair Ain't Fair) which I wish I hadn't wasted my money on buying the whole album. After these mistakes, I've signed up for the Rhapsody music service and I can easily say this is the best move I've made all year. For $12.99 a month I get to listen to all the music that I want and gauge what I want to buy (The Loon by Tapes 'n Tapes) against what I think really stinks (Sunday at Devil Dirt by Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan).

Here are some of my favorite albums that I've found specifically through Sound Opinions:
The Loon by Tapes 'n Tapes
Finding Forever by Common
Steal My Horses and Run by Blackstrap
Remind Me In 3 Days by The Knux
Dear Science by TV on the Radio
In Rainbows by Radiohead
12 Angry Months by Local H
The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit
The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust by Saul Williams
This Gift by Sons and Daughters
St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley
Late Registration by Kanye West
Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo by Rivers Cuomo
Over the Counterculture by Tim Fite
Icky Thump by The White Stripes

Here are some of my favorite singles that I've found through Sound Opinions:
Black Stacey by Saul Williams
Effect and Cause by The White Stripes off of Icky Thump
The Modern Leper by Frightened Rabbit
You Really Got A Hold On Me* by She & Him
Jack Killed Mom by Jenny Lewis
Misunderstood by Common
I've Been Shot by Tim Fite
Dancing Choose by TV on the Radio
Can't Stop Partying by Rivers Cuomo
15 Step by Radiohead
The Iliad by Tapes 'n Tapes
The List by The Knux

*I don't like the album version of You Really Got A Hold On Me by She & Him. You've got to go to the archive of Show #142 on the Sound Opinions website. This recording sends chills down my spine every time I hear it.

What a Fun Show!

2009-01-09T13:21:00.003-07:00

We've been watching "Weeds" as rentals from Blockbuster over the past couple of years. Quick synopsis, suburban wife's husband suddenly dies and leaves no life insurance. She turns to dealing pot in order to keep up her suburban lifestyle. Mary-Louise Parker stars in the show with an excellent supporting cast including Kevin Nealon (who is hilarious as a crooked accountant/city council member/pothead).

We just got finished watching the 3rd season, and the following scene is my favorite from this season (the fist bump at the end is classic):

Books I've Read This Year

2008-12-29T21:41:00.006-07:00

I've been really bad with blogging at the end of this year. I'll blame it on trying to get a good grade on my master's degree class...yeah, that's it.

Here are most of the books that I've read this year:
Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest
Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell
Nimitz Class by Patrick Robinson (a real stinker)
Duma Key by Stephen King
A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle
Forever War by Joe Hadelman
A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear
Little Borther by Cory Doctorow
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow
Superpower: A Novel by David J. Schwartz
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
Forever Peace by Joe Hadelman
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi
Space Propulsion Analysis and Design, by R.W. Humble, et. al.
Space Mission Analysis and Design edited by James Wertz

The last two are sort of cheating because I had to read them for class and I didn't read them from cover to cover, but I did read a majority of them. I'm also anticipating that I'll finish Agent to the Stars by the end of the year. There may have been a couple that I missed, but I think that is a pretty good representation of what I read.

Alright! I'm averaging more than 1 book a month. Let's see if I can bring it up to 2 books a month next year. Of course, that will mean keeping better records.

Honest Scrap

2008-12-26T16:46:00.004-07:00

Julia tagged whoever reads her blog with the "Honest Scrap Award".

So, what does this award mean? It means – “leftovers, fragments, discarded material, and many times truth and honesty is discarded material, considered fragments and left over.” We tell it like it is and let the scraps fall where they may.

The honorees are to:
a) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!
b) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

1. I truly believe that I'm a moderate on most issues, but I know deep down inside that my viewpoints have got to be radical to other people, although I don't think that I would ever admit this to someone in person.

2. I can't stand most forms of remote communication. My least favorites, in order, are: (1) text messaging, (2) instant messaging, (3) talking on cell phones, and (4) talking on regular phones. However, I don't mind e-mail or blogs...don't ask me why, I'm just weird.

3. I like rap music, but I don't like it when the "n" word is prevalent in the lyrics. I don't mind a bunch of swearing, it's just the "n" word. I think it has to do with me accepting the fact that eventually my kids will be swearing (even if they don't do it in front of me) but I will never accept them using that word...ever.

4. The only thing that really keep me awake at night is if I start thinking about things that I've done in the past which I'm ashamed/embarrassed of. If I start thinking about one of these things it will typically take 2 or 3 hours before I can fall asleep.

5. For a period of 6 years beginning when I started in college, I made myself become an extrovert in order to make more friends. I'm back to being an introvert and am very happy for it.

6. While I'm very proud of my Puerto Rican heritage, I often wonder if I would have had the same opportunities in my life if my skin was darker or if I spoke with an accent.

7. If an e-mail says to forward the e-mail to everyone I know, I will never forward the e-mail. I consider it another form of spam and the e-mail will stop with me.

8. I have the worst memory with people's names and/or social situations. I wouldn't be able to remember who I met a couple of minutes ago, what I did last week, or what I said a year ago. Unless we really know each other very well, I will have a hard time remembering you if it's been a couple of years. I've been caught in many awkward situations because I didn't remember the name of someone who I should know.

9. I started playing rugby mostly to spite my mother who didn't let me play any contact sports while I was growing up. What a let down when all she did was say "oh really?" when I told her that I was playing rugby. On the up side, that was were I met my wife.

10. I can't read. OK, not really. But I think my own writing is atrocious. I feel sorry for all (2) of you who read this blog.

Per #7, I will not forward this to anyone. If you (a) actually read this blog, (b) have a blog of your own, (c) haven't already done this, and (d) actually want to do it, then tag, you are it.

Failing...

2008-10-24T09:29:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog for this performance by Gary Karr of Failing by Tom Johnson.

HNIC - Hockey Night in Colorado

2008-10-22T20:49:00.002-06:00

We recently changed our service from analog cable to satellite. One of the extra perks is that we get the NHL Network as a part of our package. I was already pretty psyched about this because there is almost zero hockey coverage on any of the major sports networks...instead they're covering something called the "World Series", whatever that is. Then I tuned in on a Saturday night and there were Canadiens on TV...and they knew stuff about hockey...and there was a double header of hockey on...and it was Hockey Night in Canada!

After a little research, it turns out that the NHL Network started including the full HNIC program in it's broadcast this year. I promptly added HNIC to our TiVo record list and declared to Nora that Saturday nights are officially Hockey Nights in Colorado. She kind of gave me a strange look, patted me on the head, and walked away.

By the way, I'm loving the NHL Network commercials featuring the confused head coach talking about hockey; they are hilarious. Here's a good example about Defense and Offense:

If you want to see more, this guy collected a whole bunch of them in one place.

Out of the Dark Ages of Music

2008-10-01T20:56:00.005-06:00

I recently purchased a Korg Chromatic tuner. Up until now, I have always used a tuning fork to tune my bass. Much to my surprise, it appears that I consistently tune and play my bass a quarter tone flat. At first I thought it must have been that I hadn't played the bass in a couple of days and it went flat in that time. So I tuned against the tuning fork and checked against the tuner again. Nope, I was flat. Then I checked the tuning fork to see if it was flat, nope, it was dead on.

Then I started playing. Every time I hit an open string things sounded just a little off. Checked the strings again and they were still in tune. It was me, I involuntarily kept adjusting to the tuning that I've been listening to myself play for years. I'm going to have to do some serious work on my intonation!

Amazing how much a little bit of technology can help your playing. Maybe I should also invest in a metronome...I've skirted along this long without one, but I think that can only really work when you are playing with an ensemble and can hear what the others are playing. I've found it quite difficult to get the pieces to sound right when I don't have a conductor to follow.

Incidentally, I'm now playing Marcello's Cello Sonata 2. It's a nice little piece of music which doesn't involve too much thumb position. Something nice to get me back into the playing habit again. I'm taking baby steps here, play something fun and easy to get my intonation back up to snuff. Maybe then I can try some more technically challenging pieces.

I just realized that I haven't ever posted a picture of my bass. I imagine that only Ryan (of my vast readership of 3 people) would be interested in seeing the pic since he owns a Samuel Shen as well. Accompanying the bass is Señor Frog the Humidifier. Colorado is so dry I basically have to keep him running all year long.

I Miss the Fall

2008-09-30T21:11:00.000-06:00

Today, Julia wrote about how the damp, gray weather puts her into not quite so friendly of a mood. I have to confess that I love just that type of weather. Now that I live in Colorado, we usually go straight from Summer to Winter with about 2 weeks of Fall. I love the nice long Fall seasons that you get out East, especially in upstate New York. It's something that I didn't realize until we moved out here.

I think it all started in 4th grade when I was stuck inside on one of those typical overcast, drizzly Rochester days. I had just gotten Bunnicula in our Scholastic order that week and figured that it would be a good day to read the book. I plopped down in my bean bag chair, wrapped myself in a blanket, and read for the whole day by the muffled light that was coming in from outside. It's one of my favorite childhood memories.

Later on, in junior high and high school, I really fell in love with the season while I was running cross country. There was something magical about running through the parks in Irondequoit during that time of year. Some of my best memories are of running through Seneca Park, Helmer Nature Center, and Durand Eastman Park with a light drizzle and the smell of woodsmoke in the air. Some other great parks in the area were Webster Park and Mendon Ponds Park. God, I forget how beautiful that area is.

I don't seem to understand...

2008-09-27T10:54:00.002-06:00

Watched the debate last night. Something that I don't think anybody who was watching last night was that McCain thinks that Obama doesn't seem to understand much of anything. After the first 20 or 30 minutes, he practically started every sentence with "Senator Obama doesn't seem to understand...".

What I don't understand is why Obama didn't specifically call McCain on it. Sure, he refuted a lot of false statements that McCain, but I think that it would have been a lot stronger if he used McCain's words against him. It would have been perfect when he went down the checklist of things McCain got wrong about Iraq...not knowing where the WMDS were located, being greeted as liberators, no history of violence between Shia and Sunni. Why not add something like "I don't think I'm the one who doesn't seem to understand..."?

Van Halen to Schmitt's Gay

2008-09-20T00:08:00.002-06:00

While I was flipping through the radio channels today, I happened on the opening of Van Halen's "Right Now". The first thing that popped in my head was Crystal Gravy, SNL's spoof of the Crystal Pepsi commercial. That then got me thinking about all the funny "commercials" that SNL did around the same time...my personal favorite being the Schmitt's Gay commercial. I'm not sure how long these SNL commercial links will be valid, but have a look at them while you can.

First, original Crystal Pepsi commercial:

Next, Crystal Gravy. Unfortunately, you'll have to follow the link since YouTube doesn't have it.

Finally, Schmitt's Gay:

Playing the Bass Again

2008-09-17T20:09:00.003-06:00

Nora has classes on Mondays and Wednesdays until about 8 PM. That translates to 3 hours alone with the kids until Nora gets home. We have a nice little schedule where we eat dinner together, play outside together, and then horror of all horrors, I get to practice the bass while the kids plunk away on the piano and/or bang on the mini-drums. This is actually the first time since we moved from Philly 3 years ago that I'm actually able to get some real playing in. It's probably not the most productive practice sessions...what with all the other "music" going on, frequent interruptions from fighting over instruments/toys, and handing my bow over so that the kids can bow while I finger out "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". But it's better than the absolute zero playing I've done over the past 3 years.

As an aside, Julia posted about her own practice sessions today. She mentioned that being a former Suzuki method student, she always tries to pick up a recording of the piece she is playing before practicing. I'm sad to say that this little tidbit was something that I didn't pick up on until about 2000 or 2001 when I was playing with the Main Line Symphony Orchestra. I started playing the bass in 4th grade, played throughout grade school, highschool, and college (I got about halfway through a performance 2nd major), and finally the MLSO after college.

This probably would have helped a lot while I was learning to play more difficult pieces, especially with the Bach Cello Suites which I thought were impossible to play on the bass. Edgar Meyer proved that wrong with this superb performance.

I don't know why it didn't click earlier; it seems so obvious of a thing to do now.

Answers: Lyrics by Fours

2008-09-17T20:09:00.000-06:00

1 - Breaking the Girl by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
I am a man
Cut from the know
Rarely do friends
Come and then go

2 - Hey Lover by LL Cool J
I've been watching you from afar
for as long as I can remember
You're all a real man can need
and ever ask for

3 - Final Hour by Lauryn Hill
I treat this like my thesis
Well written topic
Broken down into pieces
I introduce then produce

4 - Soma by Smashing Pumpkins
Nothing left to say
And all I've left to do
Is run away from you
And she led me up, down

5 - Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1) by Pink Floyd
Daddy's flown across the ocean
Leaving just a memory
Snapshot in the family album
Daddy what else did you leave for me?

6 - Te Conozco Bien by Marc Anthony
Siento pena,
pena porque te quise de veras
rabia porque te di
lo que nunca

7 - The Son Never Shines (On Closed Doors) by Flogging Molly
I saw her there from afar
Her hair grey charcoal
Takes a drag from her tar
I kissed her a smile

8 - Heaven Help by Lenny Kravitz
There comes a time to be free of the heart
I wanna be ready, ready to start
On a love journey, got places to go
Made up my mind and I've got to let you know

9 - Super Bon Bon by Sould Coughing
Move aside and let the man go through
Move aside and let the man go through
Move aside and let the man go through
Move aside and let the man go through

10 - Smile by Weezer
Open the door and let your love come down
Over the wall, you're spinning 'round and 'round
'Cause you wanted some love
I'll make it happen

11 - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson
Lovely is the feelin' now
Fever, temperatures risin' now
Power is the force, the vow
That makes it happen, it asks no questions why

12 - One Tin Soldier by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago,
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley far below

13 - Unforgiven by Metallica
New blood joins this earth
And quickly he's subdued
Through constant pained disgrace
The young boy learns their rules

14 - The Drinking Song by Moxy Fruvous
And the band played on
As the helicopters whirred
Drunk on the lawn in a nuclear dawn
My senses finally blurred

15 - Add It Up by Violent Femmes
Day after day
I will walk and I will play
But the day after today
I will stop and I will start

16 - The Nest by Sons And Daughters
Everything that happened here
Cannot happen when you're dead, she safely said
Worry when you wake tonight
Is it all in you head?

17 - Sin by Nine Inch Nails
You give me the reason
You give me control
I gave you my purity
My purity you stole

18 - Peace Train by 10,000 Maniacs
Now I've been happy lately,
thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be,
something good has begun

19 - Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
Hey where did we go,
Days when the rains came
Down in the hollow,
Playin' a new game

20 - Bron-Y-Aur Stomp by Led Zeppelin
Ah caught you smiling at me,
That's the way it should be,
Like a leaf is to a tree, so fine.
Ah all the good times we had

Lyrics by Fours

2008-08-20T22:19:00.002-06:00

Meme from Julia:

1. Put your mp3 player or music player on your computer on random.
2. Post the first four lines from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song (skip repeat artists).
3. Post and let everyone you know guess (in the comments!) what song and artist the lines come from.
4. Please play fair. Don’t be a dirty rotten cheater and Google the lyrics!

1.
I am a man
Cut from the know
Rarely do friends
Come and then go

2.
I've been watching you from afar
for as long as I can remember
You're all a real man can need
and ever ask for

3.
I treat this like my thesis
Well written topic
Broken down into pieces
I introduce then produce

4.
Nothing left to say
And all I've left to do
Is run away from you
And she led me up, down

5.
Daddy's flown across the ocean
Leaving just a memory
Snapshot in the family album
Daddy what else did you leave for me?

6.
Siento pena,
pena porque te quise de veras
rabia porque te di
lo que nunca

7.
I saw her there from afar
Her hair grey charcoal
Takes a drag from her tar
I kissed her a smile

8.
There comes a time to be free of the heart
I wanna be ready, ready to start
On a love journey, got places to go
Made up my mind and I've got to let you know

9.
Move aside and let the man go through
Move aside and let the man go through
Move aside and let the man go through
Move aside and let the man go through

10.
Open the door and let your love come down
Over the wall, you're spinning 'round and 'round
'Cause you wanted some love
I'll make it happen

11.
Lovely is the feelin' now
Fever, temperatures risin' now
Power is the force, the vow
That makes it happen, it asks no questions why

12.
Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago,
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley far below

13.
New blood joins this earth
And quickly he's subdued
Through constant pained disgrace
The young boy learns their rules

14.
And the band played on
As the helicopters whirred
Drunk on the lawn in a nuclear dawn
My senses finally blurred

15.
Day after day
I will walk and I will play
But the day after today
I will stop and I will start

16.
Everything that happened here
Cannot happen when you're dead, she safely said
Worry when you wake tonight
Is it all in you head?

17.
You give me the reason
You give me control
I gave you my purity
My purity you stole

18.
Now I've been happy lately,
thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be,
something good has begun

19.
Hey where did we go,
Days when the rains came
Down in the hollow,
Playin' a new game

20.
Ah caught you smiling at me,
That's the way it should be,
Like a leaf is to a tree, so fine.
Ah all the good times we had

Answers some time next week...

First Day Of School

2008-08-14T17:24:00.006-06:00

Today was Zoe's first day of kindergarten. Is it sad that I was really excited that she already has homework and that we started doing it as soon as she got home?

I Just Love Technology

2008-07-23T22:35:00.003-06:00

I love to listen to NPR on my way to work. I have an hour long commute, which would be OK if I could listen to NPR the whole way. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes into the commute, I go over a Monument Hill and suddenly I get competing signals from the other NPR station in Denver which broadcasts at the same exact frequency as my local station. It turns out that both stations have signals strong enough so that I have interference all the way up to work. Argh!

I've been filling up my time with some Podcasts and/or books on tape...these have been filling in pretty well...but I really want to hear the news in the morning. I've been stuck with this dilemma for a couple months...that is, until now.

Last month I installed Ubuntu Linux on my computer. The nice thing with Linux is that it comes with a whole bunch of extra programs that help you do what you really want to do. Today on my way home from work I had completely run out of things to listen to on the road. So, instead, I spent the whole time in complete silence thinking of what I could do to fix my situation.

At first I thought up an idea to connect an FM radio to the input jack on my sound card and then have my computer automatically record Morning Edition from 5 to 6 in the morning. Then I thought, "wait, you moron, KRCC provides an audio stream, see if you can record that instead". I did a little research, installed a couple of utilities, and voila, I can now record Morning Edition every weekday morning and have it ready to go on my iPod when I'm ready to leave.

There will be no procrastinating the next time my station holds a fund drive. This extra service that they provide is not cheap and it is allowing me to listen to one of my favorite shows.

The weather's always changing

2008-07-21T21:03:00.007-06:00

It's been really hot in Colorado Springs this past week. Just checked to see if it would be changing at all:

Oh boy! It's going to change by one degree on Thursday! I can't wait!

For your listening pleasure...

2008-07-19T00:10:00.002-06:00

Black Stacey by Saul Williams. I just love this song...smart lyrics, great beat, makes you think. What else do you want?

Bye Bye Boing Boing

2008-07-09T20:35:00.002-06:00

I had to do it. I had to remove Boing Boing off of my RSS feed list. Too many posts...too little time to read them...must remove from Google reader...

Tito's Visit

2008-07-09T20:29:00.003-06:00

Last month my nephew visited us for 10 days. We had a great time with him and we're pretty sure he had fun as well...he's now talking about coming out to take a look at colleges in Colorado!

Finally, here are some pictures from his trip.

Is this the new Big Brother?

2008-06-16T00:01:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure if I'm the only one thinking this, but is Google becoming the new Big Brother?

Why am I thinking this? Let's list off the "free" services Google provides:
Search Engine
Gmail
Google Maps
Google Earth
Google Documents
This Blog along with the rest of Blogger.com
Google Moon
Probably a lot more things that I don't know about, say...Google Laundry Service

One of the things that you'll notice when you sign up for Gmail is that it points to the Google Privacy Policy page in the terms of service. From what I understand, this page is the overarching Privacy Policy for most Google services. The statements that get my attention are the ones about the Log information and User communications. It basically says that they are storing a whole bunch of information about you including the e-mails you send. It just takes a slight shift in the culture at Google in order for these free services to change into more sinister data collection techniques.

The thing that really freaked me out was when I used Google Maps to put in an address and it came up with a high quality street view picture of the address I was searching. Holy crap! Someone from Google walked down that street and took a whole bunch of pictures...enough pictures so that you could go back and forth down the street and swivel the perspective. These guys are everywhere!

The one thing that is keeping me from completely jumping off the Google bandwagon is their sense of humor. At one point, if you zoomed in enough on Google Moon, it showed a whole bunch of swiss cheese. Unfortunately, they took that feature out. However, they still are offering jobs for working on the Google Moon Base, the Googlunaplex. Check them out here. While there are still people at Google which have this kind of sense of humor I'm OK with them keeping my information. However, once they get rid of that site, I'll know that the tide is turning and I'll have to cut all ties with Google. That will signal the change from the friendly big brother who keeps you out of trouble and will play catch with you to the mean big brother who will snitch on you for picking your nose.

Comments on Friending

2008-06-11T20:16:00.003-06:00

I'm finally getting around to the posts that I promised myself I would write when I got more time...

Over a month ago, Ryan wrote a post about how he's been getting a lot of friend requests on Facebook and Myspace lately. One thing that he notes is that he's gotten a couple from people he didn't expect. I'll have to say that I was probably one of them. He's a couple of years older than me, we didn't really hang out in high school; in fact I completely forgot that he played bass (which is obviously a huge part of his life). The thing was, when I saw his name linked with some of my friends, I said "what the hell, from what I remember, he's a nice guy and he plays the bass to boot, I'll friend him". I ended up doing that with a couple more people and before I knew it, I had people that I never thought would be friending me sending me requests. It gives me a nice warm fuzzy to be known. =)

Now, I'm not kidding myself. Many of the "friends" aren't traditional friends by any sense. For a large percentage, it's just of way of saying "Hi, I know you. I'll look at your pictures and see what you've been up to. You can contact me if you want, but no big deal if you don't." However, it's not always like that and I enjoy the random e-mails that I get from people who do more than friend me and read my blog.

High school for me, like Ryan, was not my favorite 4 years. While I don't ever remember being shoved into a locker, I do remember various incidents of people throwing/pushing me. The more memorable ones are:
- Pushed into the pond at the Helmer Nature Center (actually happened before H.S. but I'm still counting it)
- Thrown, repeatedly, into a pool
- Thrown into the bushes
- Pushed into a garbage can

In full fairness, I have to admit that all of these incidents with the exception of the pond involved horsing around with my friends and I gave as good as I got. However, I still remember that you pushed me into the pond Katie Coakley and Monica Williams, and I will never forgive you...just you wait...bwaa ha ha ha! Oh crap, how lame is it that I actually admitted that two girls pushed me into a pond. I'm going to go hide in a locker now.

By the way, Ryan, I own a Samuel Shen carved bass as well. I don't get to play as often as I like, but I love the rich sound that it makes when I'm playing competently.

Geeking Out

2008-06-07T21:22:00.002-06:00

Reason's why I'm particularly geeky at this very moment:
1. I'm writing on my blog on Saturday night
2. from the Ubuntu Linux OS on my computer
3. which I just installed today
4. and configured as a dual boot machine so that I can still play games on Windows
5. while wearing my glasses with only one temple
6. and having to look up "glasses" in Wikipedia to find out that the things that go from the front of the frame and hang over your ear are called "temples"
7. and writing an extremely long run-on sentence but writing it off as OK since the sentence is in list format
8. and thinking it's a good idea to link to Weird Al Yankovic's White and Nerdy YouTube video is good way to pay homage to this geeky post.

OK, I'm going to go have a beer now and see if that makes me any cooler.

Yo Soy Boricua

2008-05-22T21:18:00.005-06:00

Translation: I am Puerto Rican

My brother called me up a couple of weeks ago to tell me that he is engaged. Awesome! One nice perk is that they've decided to get married in Puerto Rico next June, so that means we'll have a reason to fly there next year.

I always get really psyched whenever I get a chance to go back to the island. It's where I was born and I've spent more than a few summers there while I was growing up. For me, it's a time when I get a chance to visit my relatives and get back to my roots.

One thing that always bugged me while I was growing up was that I never really felt Puerto Rican. The linchpins to my argument were (1) I barely spoke/understood Spanish and (2) I didn't necessarily look Puerto Rican. No matter how much my mother and sister tried to convince me, I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was different from other Puerto Ricans. The killer happened about 5 years ago was when my niece said to me "you're not Puerto Rican, you're too white to be Puerto Rican". I was dumbstruck, I couldn't say anything...she hit the nail on the head, it was the fear that I had lived with for all my life; stated out loud, in broad daylight in Durand Eastman park, in a 12-year-old's voice. I was too white to be Puerto Rican.

It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I finally resolved this dilemma. It was my brother's 40th birthday and I decided to fly down so that we could celebrate his birthday together. His favorite place to visit in Puerto Rico is a small town called Boqueron. Boqueron is on the South-West corner of the island, about as far away as you can get from San Juan. As we were driving to Boqueron, I kept hearing a song over and over again on the radio. At first I didn't like it, it was kind of slow and sounded a little sappy to me. I stated this opinion and all hell broke loose in the car. The song was Preciosa by Marc Anthony. This version of the song is basically the unofficial national anthem for Puerto Rico. My brother and sister spent the rest of the drive explaining to me the meaning of the song. As embarrassing as that was, it was one of the first times that someone actually spent some time to explain to me the finer points of my own culture. It's a car ride I'll never forget.

For the rest of the time in Boqueron, I kept hearing the song over and over again wherever I went, you could depend on hearing it at least 2 times a night when out at the bar. As I listened to the song more, I started to catch some more of the lyrics, and get a feeling of what the song meant to me. About halfway through the song, there is a distinct change in the tempo and the beat. I found out later that the original song was written in 1947 by Rafael Hernández and that this extra section at the end was an added update to the song. However, it's this part that spoke to me the most, here is a rough translation of the particular lyrics which really hit me:

Because it's now that I understand
that regardless of what happens
I will always be Puerto Rican
Because wherever I walk
Because I carry it in my blood
Because of my parent's heritage
And with pride I repeat
I love you Puerto Rico

I finally understood. It didn't matter that I hadn't lived in Puerto Rico for most of my life, it didn't matter that I looked white, it didn't matter that I spoke Spanish with an American accent, none of it mattered. There are parts of me that make me different from the people around me in suburbia: I am Puerto Rican and I always have been. The part that floored me was when I realized, specifically because these lyrics had been put into the song, other Puerto Ricans have the same doubts that I do about "feeling Puerto Rican". There are a lot of us who have moved off island, who don't speak Spanish well, whose friends may not even know that they are Puerto Rican. Finally, I'm not the only one.

It's been a couple of years since that epiphany. Whenever I start to get doubts about myself all I have to do is put on this song and sing along as loud as I can. I usually will do this 2 or 3 times in a row. My favorite part is singing the lines "Yo te quiero Puerto Rico". I can't wait to be able to go back and do this with other people.

Here is Preciosa, one of my favorite all-time songs:
Preciosa by Marc Anthony

By the way, part of "going back to my roots" is that I now go by the proper pronunciation of my name. It's Luis as in the name of the city "San Luis Obispo, CA" and not Louis as in "St. Louis".