Monday, September 29, 2008

Hawks

Last afternoon, i spotted 9 hawks flying a giant figure "8" above the cedars trees. A good omen? One can hope.

I don't write poetry, but it's nice to see it.

Ever Get The Feeling You Were Being Watched?



This is either a picture of the Steeds of the RingWraiths awaiting their Dark Evil Lords, or the two clowns waiting for their breakfast in Yamhill. Damn right it's cold..

Aloha!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Zen Roshi Stan Lee

Once, i removed my eyes from my terminal...having felt like i lost my way, i went in search of Zen Roshi Stan Lee




An old pine tree preaches wisdom/And a wild bird is crying out truth.






Before enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water; after enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water.






First there is a mountain,/Then there is no mountain,/Then there is.



At once, i achieved Satori- if only for an instant, and thanked Zen Roshi Stan Lee. I returned to my terminal to contemplate the lesson.

Cat in Yamhill Reacts to Android Announcement

Tasha wonders about the long term effects of Google's Android/T-Mobile announcement.



Via Engadget

Via Walt Mossberg

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Bitching and Moaning on the Internet

1: There is no Starbucks in Yamhill proper

2: It would seem the Oatcakes i was so fond of in the land of 808 are only found in 808!

3: Number 2 was disclosed to me by a barrista/rock god in the 901 state.

4: There will be no item #5. I have turned off the whine sign, you are free to roam about the InterNets...

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Yamhill Stars.

i have a soft spot for things that deal with Astronomy or Cosmology. Please note that Hawaii is at  21 degrees N Lat. while  Yamhill is at 45 deg N Lat. Needless to say i  was  surprised the first time  i tried  to get my bearings at night. Finding Ursa Major was a challenge. Yes, smart guys. i know where North is... that many degrees of arc is significant, it sends the message that i'm not in Kansas anymore...and by Kansas I mean Mililani or Ewa Beach.

The Pros? light pollution out here is non-existent. You really can see the milky way quite easily. The cons? Southern stars that an 808 state person would expect aren't there. We won't even discuss the temperatures.

Messier objects? Yes. Jacket? Yes. Coyotes? Yes.

Sky full of stars ?

 

Yes.

Sunday Steppe Singing

See it? The horses, the steppe?


Saturday, September 13, 2008

By Mooonlight

Dinner by moonlight in Yamhill

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Computers

Computers are to Music as Guitars are to...

Wait. Strike that. Nothing like guitars, at all. 

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Your New Guitar

Yes, Your new guitar. A Thing of beauty. Blacker than the blackest black, times infinity.



Pictured Left to right: Toki Wartooth, Doctor Rockzo, William Murderface, Tommy Blacha, your new guitar, Skwisgaar Skwigelf,Nathan Explosion, Pickles the Drummer, Charles Foster Ofdensen, Thor Von Clemson, Brednon Small. Now get cracking on those diatonic sextuplet richter scales in attack mode!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

My Birthday, My Precious...

How i spent my birthday yesterday:

Unbeknownst to me, a group of my friends from Hawaii have been living in the cedar trees for the last week.

At the predetermined time, the clandestine group sprang into action. Like Ninjas, or an Elite Swiss Alpine Counterterrorism unit, they descended from the trees. Maybe they were Elite Half Swiss, Half Marshmallow tree Ninjas? Each one these shadow warriors were clad in camouflage, bearing a Hawaiian state flag on their backpacks and a lit sparkler on their heads. Their "Little Mermaid" balaclavas were meant to conceal their identities and intimidate the squirrels.

The last of the Swiss Alpine Ski Team Ninjas brought a blue tarp and a cooler down from the largest of the trees.

All of the ninjas bore with them white styrofoam boxes from Keneke's, filled with foods from an exotic and far away land. (Don't spill the fruit punch, Ninja 6..)

As we consumed 42 pounds of poke', the "main" present was revealed. My daughter had secretly and illegally driven a pristine example of 1989 Ferrari 348 TS, VIN ZFFFAXMNIN09061966, and had parked it next to the Barn of Doom*, then covered it . How did the young lady hide it so well? It turns out the car cover was made by clever Elven hands on a magical loom, in the lands of Auendueill't'ylam'mithr'andirl'e'e'n. This car "cloak" made the vehicle visible only to the Elvish eyes (and the kid, duh) and not the eyes of man. My daughter uncovered the car, and there it was ...pink with a red leather interior, carefully decorated in the traditional "Hello Kitty" racing livery. The car stereo, of course, had the obligatory ABBA/Meshuggah/Maiden/TedNugent/Bach/SlackKey/Polka/Raga mix.

The odometer read 9066 Miles. The Tank was full...


Ok. It didn't quite happen like that.

M brought me a cake, a card, and a refreshing adult beverage. Thank you to all the well wishers! Please call me with your ninja outfit size, thanks.

Aloha!

*no footnote, you knew that right ?

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Clarificiation For First Post:09/06/08

In case you're wondering the topic of the first post for today:

0b101010=0x2A=

0b11111011000 - 0b11110101110

In other words, 09/06/1966

What Difference A Year Makes...

Today we discuss time:

If you told me when i was nineteen that i would be typing for a living...i would have politely asked you to leave.

If you had told me a year before last that i would be taking a cruise in a little red sports car around the island... i would be thinking that you're pretty high.

If you had told me last year that i would sell everything and leave Hawaii forever... i would have asked who your pharmacist was.

The point, you may ask?

We're not allowed to see into the future, no matter how hard we try.

The surprises (trials? tribulations ? Book of Job? ) are what make life interesting, frustrating, sad, happy, and worth living. I'm looking forward to what comes next, believe it or not. See you at Trask Mountain Outpost. You can buy the beer, i'll buy the martinis...

Cheers.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Tiny Zpools of Goodness

Dell has released the Inspiron Mini 9, a teeny tiny, itsy bitsy, sub-notebook computer running on the Intel Atom platform. The tiny computers are available with 4, 8, or 16 GB SSD drives. Screen res 1024x 600 and it weighs in 2+ Lbs.

Preloaded with Ubuntu Linux $349

Upgrade to Windows Xp ( Hey that's on the Dell site, don't fucking yell at me...) $399.

Libretto 2008? Sure you betcha! Who amongst you will be the first brave soul to run Solaris or OpenSolaris on the aforementioned mighty mites? Who amongst you will birth tiny zpools onto the world? Perhaps someone will hack another SSD into the miniscule case and run a veritable orgy of ZFS filesystems? Perhaps someone, some brave pathfinder, will find a way to run Windows Me, or even NT Workstation 4.0?  The mind reels!



Apple MacBooks  because this is what you want... i'm seriously..




Thursday, September 4, 2008

Guitar Repair Blog

I love guitars. And you should too; to read about the adventures, hijinxs, loves lost, wood dust, fret crowning and neck resets from a plucky band of luthiers and techs go here:

Daily Guitar Repair

Vegas Shred

Please go here and give "ADD" a listen. Brutally Brutal Brutality, in the language of guitar:

Adrian English

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The Visitors. Book III, verses 23.186^16 to 24

Behold, a white chariot hath borne strangers to our land from the West, but they are known to us...for they are former and current people of the lands from the deep water known as the eight hundred and eight.

And lo, they have brought forth tales of their travels; tidings from the land of the eight hundred and eight, from the distant lands of Cut Bank, Montana, and tales from the lands of Gresham. Our hearts were made happy, and there was much rejoicing.

And we made haste and ventured forth into Yamhill, to Lago De Chapala did we venture to...

There was much feasting, and people did partake of the roast beast, and of the chips and salsa did they partake thereof...

And there was libation and more bounty of the earth, to celebrate the visitors...

And when the feasting was done, we hath shewn them all of Yamhill, from the T&E to Trask Mountain Outpost.

And we ventured forth into Trask Mountain outpost, there was much dessert, beer and coffee..

There was much wonder at the spoils of the hunt which covereth the walls of the outpost, for we did gaze upon the hides of beasts, and the heads thereof. Sitting at the hearth did we look upon them.

And we boarded the white chariot and hath shewn them the rest of Yamhill; from the grain elevator to the hay fields..


We did bid our farewells that night to our vistors, hoping they would return with news of shelter for 3 thousand.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Summer. Part the Third, Version RCV6.4a

And Lo, the yamhillites and mcminvillites toiled and labored in the field, their brows covered with sweat and the dust of the fields thereof. AND the Yamhillites cried out" The heat, it oppresses us. It maketh our days long and our toil filled with misery!" The Mcminvilleites responded in kind, "behold the light of the season brings us a bounty of dried leaves and twigs, will our vineyards survive ? O Yamhillites, canst thou provide us shelter? Wilt thou bring a change in season?"


You know what? Now its cold again. "And the hoodie was pulled from its long sleep in storage, and it was good"

It was Labor day yesterday, wasn't it? Behold, a Summer Song.