Capped a Picture

Check this out.

Yup. Vote for it or something, eh?

War with Mexico

I was trying to find a justification for a war with Mexico that McCain would use. Think I found it.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352378,00.html

I can honestly see McCain taking us to war with just about anyone.

Attention: This is a short post

Short post. Let’s work on conciseness here, eh?

Apartment: Got it
Project sim: presentation tomorrow. Almost done with everything
SureTrak practical: rocked it
Classes: done at noon Friday
Car: overloaded, more stuff being loaded in Thursday
Fridge: devoid of sustenance. Case of beer in there though.
Neck: was feeling sprained/strained, now better definitely sprained after the gym Wednesday morning.
Weight training: last class tomorrow (today) at 9:00am
Life: pretty darn good

Graduation Checklist

Again, mainly for me, but you might be interested. I can’t believe I only have one week of class and one exam left until I am done with college! That went so fast!

Major due dates:

• Pick up commencement tickets – Monday 8:30am-4:30pm sometime
• Suretrak lab practical for Planning/Scheduling – Tuesday 1:00pm
• Project Sim final 30m presentation – Wednesday 3:00pm
• Comm parking problem presentation – Wednesday or Friday 11:00am
• Project Sim design-bid package due – Friday 3:00pm
• Planning/Scheduling extra credit – Friday sometime?
• Stats final exam – Wednesday, April 30 5:30pm (Dow 641)
• Pick up cap and gown – Monday, April 28 8:00am
• Pick up extra commencement ticket for Jill – Friday, May 2 8:00am

There is a lot to do to get all of those items complete and ready for their due dates. I am heading out here in about an hour to get some more stuff done for project sim (the main killer this week). Not included in this list is the homework I have for stats.

Ryan Adams is a Crazy, Jacked Up Dude

I love Ryan Adams’ music. It’s great stuff, truly.

But that mind of his does spawn some interesting stuff. In 2006 he released about 18 albums worth of work in various genres including metal, punk and hip hop. Very trippy stuff. But also pretty good listening for halloweenheads. You can’t find it many places 100% legally, but it does float around the torrent world.

Here are his pseudonyms and a little description of the type of music. Hit the links to see the torrents.

DJ Reggie: DJ Reggie is one of Ryan Adams pseudonyms under which he records mostly rap & hip-hop songs. In 2006 he put 7 DJ Reggie records on his website:

A Reginald Gangsta
Hip-Hopbreaker
4:20/20
1980 x 1,000
Holla Dayz Inn
Snapz the Clown
East Side Story

Sad Dracula: Sad Dracula is some of Ryan’s neat rock stuff. Kinda interesting. Some has a 70’s rock vibe to it, kinda influenced by the Doors maybe? Of all the sub-bands, Sad Dracula is my favorite. If you like the harder RA, this is good for your ears.

Warren Peace: Some more rocking RA. I am a fan of Fire and Ice. Good stuff. Kinda like Enemy Fire, but with more rock.

Werewolph: Holy messed up. It’s superheavymetal/thrash. And I think the entire album can be played in under 3 minutes. Crossing Foggy Mtns is the best (most coherent) song, though there is a cover of Creed’s “Higher”.

The Shit: Haven’t heard any of this one, so can’t say how it is. But it should be an interesting listen. Albums released:

This Is Shit
…Hits The Fan
General Ulysses S. Hospital
Hillbilly Joel
Slef Portrait
Christmas Apocalypse (Part 2)
Holy Shit!
The Movie

_______________________________________________________________

So give them a listen. It’s interesting stuff, as I said, but it just makes you want to go out and buy Heartbreaker and Gold again. And then all of his other stuff.

Pro-crastinating

Heh, see what I did there with the word? Yeah, I thought so.

Been pretty productive today, out of necessity though. Not my favorite type of productivity (I prefer the self induced productivity) but it’s a good motivator.

Started out the morning late, as I was up late last night getting my stats project done. I say “my” project simply because there was no assistance from my teammates (save for a little from one of them) on this. I did the project. So I didn’t get to the stats class at 8am but rather got to the 1pm class.

Went to the undergrad expo to represent IME at our booth. Took roughly 100 pictures I believe. The enterprise just got a brand new Canon Rebel. Pretty spiffy! It uses CF cards though, which is a bit of a drawback, and might force me to go Nikon when I get my next camera (yes, it will be a DSLR!). Ganked a cookie or two from the refreshments booth as I left for stats class.

Stats class was stats class. After class, talked to the prof about a few issues I had with our data and what the remedy should be. It turned out to be an extra page worth of work in the already 9 page report. I got it done in the lab in about an hour.

Sidenote: there is a swarm of wasps living in the EERC 330 lab. Not good.

Had our project sim lab today where we went over a mock presentation for next week. Ours was rough, but then again weve been working on the actual content behind the presentation and not the presentation itself. I have some out-there ideas for marketing the fitness/rehab center we are designing , as our design is not very attractive. A few of my ideas:

• Highlight on the fact that the exam rooms are outfitted with full communication setups. including the Vista nursing system to allow for smooth integration between the center and local clinics and hospitals running the same system.
• Our exterior is bland. Very bland. To compensate for a lack of features (read windows), our front wall will feature a large, permanent mural created by community artists. This will be in the theme of similar murals on the Houghton riverwalk, but be more exercise-centric
• We will be using local materials, including using masonry units from Superior Block, just 3 miles from the site in Houghton.

It’s not that bad really. Just have to devote some time to it.

After project sim I came back and cooked two awesome bacon-swiss-BBQ-pickle loaded-herb infused burgers.

Watched The Office and Scrubs tonight. Decent episodes, both of them. Though tonight’s Office totally sets up for an amazing one next week.

Wrote up some financial analysis of a proposed construction project for my Sci Comm class report. Really easy stuff, just had to track the MTU financial reports down. They always seem to elude me when I really need them, and I can’t find them with regular search terms.

More posts soon.

Make a Change

Superchick
Song: Hero (Regeneration, Red Pill remix)

Little Mikey D was in the one class
Who everyday got brutally harassed
This went on for years
Until he decided that never again
Would he shed another tear
So he walked through the door
Grabbed the 44 out of his father’s dresser drawer
And said I can’t take life no more
And like that life can be lost
But this ain’t even about that
All of us just sat back
And watch it happen
Thinkin’ it’s not our responsibility
To solve a problem that isn’t even about me
This is our problem
This is just one of the daily scenarios
Which we choose to close our eyes
Instead of doing the right thing
If we make a choice
And be the voice
For those who won’t speak up for themselves
How may lives would be saved, changed, and rearranged
Now it’s our time to pick a side
So don’t keep walking by
Don’t wanna intervene
Cause you just wanna exist and never be seen
So let’s wake up
Change the world
Our time is now

First Round Knockout

OK, at this point, maybe 7th round knockout?

I am referring to this chest congestion that is knocking me on my knees. It’s not that it is the worst congestion I have ever had in and of itself, but rather the side symptoms that were gracious to show up make this bad. Lee has something similar, and went to the hospital where they told her it was some sort of viral thing (well, for the stomach bug, I’ll get to that)

Basically, everything is congested. Chest, head, eyes, nose (but not as much). On top of that I have what I consider a “dry” headache. The kind where moving or looking at something too fast causes you to feel like your brain is slapping your skull and the back of your eyes. “Wet” headaches, where the head is just swimming and pained, I have learned to take (they still suck). Follow that up with the upset stomach that comes and goes. Add in a few dizzy spells that had me collapse in my chair. And just for kicks, force me to go to a weight training class with all this or fail and not graduate. There is the past week for you.

It comes and goes. Yesterday didn’t fare too well. Today didn’t either. Tomorrow, well, we’ll see.

There’s some other stuff to talk about, but I truly feel it deserves a separate post that will take some stewing.

Sidenote: three weeks,  two days until graduation. Huzzah!

Project 86 at The MUB – 4/5/08

Here’s the Project 86 setlist from Saturday night. Pretty rock solid. Pictures can be found on my Flickr account.

THE SPY HUNTER	SONGS TO BURN YOUR BRIDGES BY
Illuminate	Rival Factions
Slaves to Liberty	Rival Factions
OBLIVION	SONGS TO BURN YOUR BRIDGES BY
Molotov	Rival Factions
The Hand, The Furnace, The Straight Face	And The Rest Will Follow
Evil (A Chorus of Resistance)	Rival Factions
Put Your Lips to the TV	Rival Factions
BREAKNECK SPEED	SONGS TO BURN YOUR BRIDGES BY
S.M.C.	Truthless Heroes
Sincerely, Ichobod	And The Rest Will Follow
Stein’s Theme	Drawing Black Lines

Minor Goals Pos-Graduation

My major goals are pretty well known. My minor goals might not be.

• Organize all 14 gigs of photos
• Learn to play harmonica
• Learn to play mandolin
• Record something weekly
• Learn to bake bread well
• Build an effect pedal or three
• Volunteer more often at Open Door
• Up my benchpress to 175lbs (at 125 now)
• Pullups and chinups: able to do 10+ each per set
• Release another Disillusionment album with Bakke
• Catch a trout (I have never caught a trout, but have caught other riverdwellers) and mount it on a plaque
• Catch a walleye
• Breed cichlids
• Get certified to drive at least one piece of heavy machinery (front end loader preferably)
• Build a nice piece of furniture