My 2010 CD

Throughout the year I think of artists that I want on my next CD. I keep a list of those artists on my phone. The method that I use to narrow down tracks is to listen through an album quickly, usually the first 30 seconds of each song, and then I will skip around that song to make sure I'm remembering all of the significant parts. From that, I can usually get an album down to 2-4 tracks that I scrutinize very closely. This year was more difficult. My first pass through some of these albums only eliminated two to four songs. Stupid redbook (CD audio) allows only 80 minutes of audio (I wish DVD-Audio had caught on a decade ago). So I had a lot of work to do this year. Once I have a tracklist that fits on a standard CD, I then sort the songs so they "flow". We can't have Godsmack right after Russian Red for instance. That step only takes a few minutes, after which I listen to the entire mix one last time.

It's really a fun process. I try to include songs that I love and songs that I think you will love. Sometimes I will drop a song that I really like because I don't think the intended audience will like it. Other times I will keep those songs in the hope that you people will grow. You're welcome. Sometimes I omit an artist or album because it was released to close to the end of the year, and my mix doesn't have room for them. The new Azure Ray and Blonde Redhead albums fell into this category this year.

Here is a breakdown of the tracks, with my track #, the artist, original album name, original album track #, and song title:

01 - Blonde Redhead - 23 - 01 - 23
I Found Kazu Makino this year from a list of the hottest female musicians. And isn't that the reason we listen to music? OK, even the manliest parts of my personality has to make sure you know that I don't listen to music because I find the singer attractive. It's all about the voice and overall composition, which this album does perfectly.
02 - Blonde Redhead - 23 - 03 - The Dress
The lyrics for this song drew me to it. It's not often that a song with this tone reveals that the singer is not in love.
03 - Blonde Redhead - 23 - 06 - Silently
Either "The Dress" or this track count as my favorite songs on this album.
04 - Blonde Redhead - 23 - 07 - Publisher
Every track that I cut from this CD was painful, but I wanted to include both Kazu and the brothers singing.
05 - Blonde Redhead - 23 - 08 - Heroine
Blonde Redhead has a new album out that I will include on next years CD. I cannot recommend Blonde Redhead highly enough. If you don't purchase this album, I hate you. HATE!

06 - Russian Red - I Love Your Glasses - 01 - Cigarettes
Thanks KaRyn! I love Lourdes Hernández' voice.
07 - Russian Red - I Love Your Glasses - 07 - Kiss My Elbow
The emotion she conveys here is why it beat out other tracks on the album. That is one thing that a good musician can do, no matter what the genre, to win me over. This is why I enjoy "Azure Ray" as much as "Bury Your Dead".
08 - Russian Red - I Love Your Glasses - 09 - Walls Are Tired
This album is very similar to Mazzy Star (sorry KaRyn), in that it's easy to listen to and perfect to put on as I wind down for bed.

09 - The Raveonettes - In And Out Of Control - 03 - Last Dance
The album us about 80% perfect, with only 1 real "miss". I won't hate you if you don't buy it, but I will think less of you. Loser.
10 - The Raveonettes - In And Out Of Control - 05 - Heart Of Stone
I discovered this band when I stumbled on the awesome video for "Heart Of Stone". It's an animated steampunk story that's fun to watch. Look it up.

11 - Stars - The Five Ghosts - 03 - I Died So I Could Haunt You
Thanks Marianne! I wanted to add about 3 more songs from this album, but added them late, and no longer had room. Plus, I suspected that she or Clayton may have those tracks on their CD.

12 - Stone Sour - Audio Secrecy - 10 - Miracles
Thanks Ryan! Ryan highly requested that I buy this, and I'm glad that I complied. This album was another that took a lot of time to decide what to cut. It too was added late, so no room was left for a proper representation.

13 - Blue October - Foiled - 08 - Overweight
Thanks Lisa! Yeah I'm about 4 years late with this album. At about 3:30 he goes into a verse of gratitude that I love.
14 - Blue October - Foiled - 09 - X-Amount Of Words
This track had a great beat, like a good club track.
15 - Blue October - Foiled - 10 - Drilled A Wire Through My Cheek
You may like or hate this song, I love it. The beat during each verse is methodical and interesting, while the chorus is powerful and loud. The lyrics may be confusing at first, but it's not as nefarious as it may first seem to be.

16 - Godsmack - The Oracle - 05 - What If
I've only had this for a few days, so I'm not yet familiar enough with it to write much. Godsmack made many appearances on my workout mix (something I should post later on), so they kinda had to be on here.

17 - Rush - Caravan - 02 - BU2B
You all know I love Rush. This is one of the singles from the EP for their next album that I am eagerly awaiting.

18 - The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album) - 02 - Dear Prudence
"The sun is out, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you." Lines like that are one of the reasons The Beatles are the first masters of Rock and Roll.
19 - The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album) - 07 - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Hands down my favorite Beatles song. Although there are many close behind.

If you've been watching the music scene for the last year or so, you may have seen some of the hype about re-releasing classic records in monaural. The Beatles are a perfect example of the mono mastering being superior to the stereo. The band would put a lot of time into the mono mastering, but would rarely assist with the stereo mastering because they didn't like the sound. And a lot of albums that came out in the 60's are done very poorly. Some examples have 100% stereo separation of individual instruments! But the kids liked hearing different sounds coming from each speaker, so it sold well due to the novelty. It's the equivalent of modern day DRC (dynamic range compression) found on many 90's and later CD's. Because of this, I've included two of my favorite mono tracks. These are ripped from the monaural CD's taken from the original mono master (not down-mixed stereo), ripped with EAC to FLAC, and then from FLAC to redbook (CD audio). Put on a good set of headphones and see if you can notice the difference.

I like this lady

Another blog for the three of you that sometimes read this:
TheHotLibrarian
She is probably as funny as HyperboleAndAHalf. You are welcome.

Update for Sept 2010

Dad and I painted the car, and it looks very good now. There's some spots that I'd like to re-shoot, but it is worlds better than it was just a month ago.

Dad is renting shop space and starting his own business, TRH Racing. I'm spending some time there helping him. We build high performance engines for hot rods and race cars.

I am still looking for a job in IT, but it's not going well. I've re-written my resume more times than I can count. I make a slightly modified version for nearly every job application.

Other than that, everything is about the same. I have another character in WoW at max level, bringing the total to 12. Patch 4.0 launched last Tuesday, and it's a lot of work. They changed a lot, which means I have to re-learn how to play all those characters now. There is also a lot of gear changes to do. I haven't even done half of my characters yet. It's been a busy few weeks.

The Colbert Report

I was looking up media for Lisa Hannigan, and came across this interview and song on the Colbert Report. Her voice was a little bit off, but still did a great job on "I Don't Know".

And in the related links I saw that Rush interviewed and played as well in 2008. This is what I get for not watching TV. It was an excellent interview, but he missed the one question that I would have asked: "Niel, how is your last name pronounced?" Just so you know, I am fully aware of how to pronounce Niel's name (rhymes with "ear"). I just want a more recent example than the obscure interview or concert sound bite.

Something for the 3 of you that read my blog...

This lady is hilarious. And her sense of humor really aligns with the type of humor that we all like:
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

I'm funny when I copy Brian Regan

In WoW, you can queue up for dungeons with random people. Almost every time, these will be people that you have never met before. So for kicks, when we are done and right before I leave, I type "take luck".

I have no idea if anyone else gets it, because I leave almost immediately after that.

Blizzard is on the ball

They just launched the "Remote Auction House". For an extra $3 a month, you can manage your WoW auctions from anywhere in the world.

On an unrelated note, companies on the Asian Pacific rim just experienced a 90% productivity drop.

The Office

I finally watched "The Office Special", which completed the British series that spawned the American version that most of us know so well.

I'm still undecided which version I like better, the UK or the US version. I think that I like Dwight better than Garreth, but just by a small margin.

If you like the US version, you should really check out the British original.

Netflix is awesome.

An Linux article for Windows users

Seven things that are easier to do in Ubuntu (Linux) than in Windows.

If you haven't tried Linux in the last year, you really should try Ubuntu. It's free, the entire installation and setup is graphical and guided (backup your music and pictures first), and you can do anything in it that you can do in Windows.

I have only come across one thing that I can do in Windows that I cannot do in Linux. And that is binding a push-to-talk button in Ventrilo for use when Ventrilo is not the foreground application. If you don't have that same need, then you can probably use Linux as easily as Windows.

A few things to keep in mind if you do try Linux. Your computer will not slow down after a few months of use. Every Linux application you install will be free. You can run Windows applications in Linux just fine. Windows applications may still charge you, but most Windows applications have a free Linux equivalent.

Permanent Waves

Work had me seriously depressed today. About 20 times more than normal. I can usually shake it off about 5 steps out of the door, but today was different.

So I resorted to my best and oldest trick, I put Rush on the iPod and everything was better again. Today was the 1980 classic "Permanent Waves". I don't know which song changed my mood, probably because I was too distracted. But it was track 4, Entre Nous, where I took note of how completely my mood had changed.

This is why Rush is, and will probably always be, my favorite band.

Memento

Just watched Memento for the first time. Wow! So good that I don't mind being a decade behind everyone else. And Joe Pantoliano was made for the role of Teddy. I always hated him in the Matrix.

Odds are, you will lose

"Gambling is a tax on people who are bad at math" - Anonymous (If you can find who originally said this, post a reply)

I just watched a TV show where the mother was outraged that her daoughter's boyfriend was in a band. It made me think that people who buy lottery tickets lose all credibility when they complain that their daughter's boyfriend's band will never 'make it'.

Our 16th president

"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves." - Abraham Lincoln

Colorado says "NI" to the FDA

"Stem cells are like the carbon-fiber of nature. You can make anything from them." - Adam

That's me being all prophetic. But seriously, a company in Colorado is fixing busted people with stem cells.

I would have gone the Steve Austin way, but their method is cool too.

I hate lamp

Get me this instead.

I love lamp

If anyone is looking for a gift for my birthday, get me a cheap desk lamp. My current lamp is ghetto-tarded.

The carbon footprint of pets

Those of you that know me, know that I don't give a lot of credence to the phrase "carbon footprint". But I do love it when science finds things that might upset tree-huggers. Since many eco-freaks are also pet lovers, I want them to know that their furry loved ones may offset their shiny new hybrid. In reality, I want to tell them this to their face. Because few things are as awesome as telling someone that they are wrong. It's even better when they are self-righteous about the topic.

So if you know someone that weeps for the environment and owns pets, please, introduce them to me before they read this article!

Here is the complete article at the Vancouver Sun. And since I don't know how long they will have the article on their site, here is the complete text for that article:

Polluting pets: the devastating impact of man's best friend
By Isabelle Toussaint, AFPDecember 26, 2009

PARIS – Man's best friend could be one of the environment's worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle.

But the revelation in the book "Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living" by New Zealanders Robert and Brenda Vale has angered pet owners who feel they are being singled out as troublemakers.

The Vales, specialists in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington, analysed popular brands of pet food and calculated that a medium-sized dog eats around 164 kilos (360 pounds) of meat and 95 kilos of cereal a year.

Combine the land required to generate its food and a "medium" sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares (2.07 acres) -- around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4x4 driving 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) a year, including energy to build the car.

To confirm the results, the New Scientist magazine asked John Barrett at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, Britain, to calculate eco-pawprints based on his own data. The results were essentially the same.

"Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat," Barrett said.

Other animals aren't much better for the environment, the Vales say.

Cats have an eco-footprint of about 0.15 hectares, slightly less than driving a Volkswagen Golf for a year, while two hamsters equates to a plasma television and even the humble goldfish burns energy equivalent to two mobile telephones.

But Reha Huttin, president of France's 30 Million Friends animal rights foundation says the human impact of eliminating pets would be equally devastating.

"Pets are anti-depressants, they help us cope with stress, they are good for the elderly," Huttin told AFP.

"Everyone should work out their own environmental impact. I should be allowed to say that I walk instead of using my car and that I don't eat meat, so why shouldn't I be allowed to have a little cat to alleviate my loneliness?"

Sylvie Comont, proud owner of seven cats and two dogs -- the environmental equivalent of a small fleet of cars -- says defiantly, "Our animals give us so much that I don't feel like a polluter at all.

"I think the love we have for our animals and what they contribute to our lives outweighs the environmental considerations.

"I don't want a life without animals," she told AFP.

And pets' environmental impact is not limited to their carbon footprint, as cats and dogs devastate wildlife, spread disease and pollute waterways, the Vales say.

With a total 7.7 million cats in Britain, more than 188 million wild animals are hunted, killed and eaten by feline predators per year, or an average 25 birds, mammals and frogs per cat, according to figures in the New Scientist.

Likewise, dogs decrease biodiversity in areas they are walked, while their faeces cause high bacterial levels in rivers and streams, making the water unsafe to drink, starving waterways of oxygen and killing aquatic life.

And cat poo can be even more toxic than doggy doo -- owners who flush their litter down the toilet ultimately infect sea otters and other animals with toxoplasma gondii, which causes a killer brain disease.

But despite the apocalyptic visions of domesticated animals' environmental impact, solutions exist, including reducing pets' protein-rich meat intake.

"If pussy is scoffing 'Fancy Feast' -- or some other food made from choice cuts of meat -- then the relative impact is likely to be high," said Robert Vale.

"If, on the other hand, the cat is fed on fish heads and other leftovers from the fishmonger, the impact will be lower."

Other potential positive steps include avoiding walking your dog in wildlife-rich areas and keeping your cat indoors at night when it has a particular thirst for other, smaller animals' blood.

As with buying a car, humans are also encouraged to take the environmental impact of their future possession/companion into account.

But the best way of compensating for that paw or clawprint is to make sure your animal is dual purpose, the Vales urge. Get a hen, which offsets its impact by laying edible eggs, or a rabbit, prepared to make the ultimate environmental sacrifice by ending up on the dinner table.

"Rabbits are good, provided you eat them," said Robert Vale.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Pshaw

Also, if you saw this title and didn't read the entire post, I have no respect for your intellect.

Bill O'Reilly vs. John Stewart

I finally watched Bill O'Reilly's interview with John Stewart. I really feel that both sides achieved NOTHING. There was a slim chance that something productive would come of this. Both of them had valid arguments, but neither got their point across. The WMD card goes to Bill. The race card goes to John (lighting the white house menorah).

I think each of them equally expressed their point, and each stood strong for their party... and both failed.

Maybe it's time to come to a compromise. Obama is an idiot. Nobody can dispute the fact that he pressed for a health care reform in the middle of the greatest economic crisis in the last 30 years (research the Carter administration). FIX THE F&#*ING ECONOMY YOU &*$^@ING IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How anyone cannot see this as an attempt to erect a shrine to Obama, is beyond my comprehension. A 2,000 ft Obama-sphinx would have been less conspicuous.

I love Legos

But I hate how screwed up the world we live in has become: 4th grade boy faces suspension due to a Lego gun.

And not a life-sized gun made from Legos, but a toy gun held by a 1.5" tall Lego action figure.

Dollhouse is so good

Enver Gjokaj, as Victor, is absolutely AMAZING in Dollhouse season 2 episodes 5 and 6! He is imprinted with Topher's brain and runs the LA dollhouse while Topher is OOTO (the only person Topher (Fran Kranz) trusts is himself). Enver did such a good job that I thought Fran was doing voiceovers. And his mannerisms are spot on.

Episodes 5 and 6 are also the first episodes that include Summer Glau. That is right! Summer and Eliza in the SAME SHOW! I think about 3/4 of the Firefly cast has made it into a dollhouse episode. I suspect that Joss Whedon may have been imprinted with my mind. If Josie Maran makes an appearance, then I will be certain of it!

Also, the show has already been canceled.