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.

My 2009 CD

01 - Grand Avenue - Place To Fall - 01 - Almost Gone
I found Grand Avenue from their track "She" which was on the movie Cashback. That prompted me to check out the rest of their work. This song is second only to the title track as my favorite Grand Avenue song.

02 - Metric - Fantasies - 02 - Sick Muse
I have no idea how this got on my iPod. I'm crediting Marianne, because I know she is a Metric fan. I really like this album, especially "Gold, Guns, Girls". But I couldn't include that song considering all of whom I am handing this CD out to.

03 - Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper - 04 - Games For Days
Clayton mentioned this band to me. I almost made 1/2 this CD from Julian Plenti.

04 - Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper - 09 - On The Esplanade
See?

05 - Muse - The Resistance - 08 - I Belong To You - Mon Cœur S'ouvre À Ta Voix
I feel obligated to include a Muse song solely due to how incredible "Absolution" was. This choice was easier than their last album, but they still have not reclaimed the greatness that was "Absolution". This song starts and ends very well, but they drift off in the middle. Are you guys trying to be "artistic"? I'd rather you go back to kicking ass.

06 - B.B. King - Greatest Hits - 15 - Playin' With My Friends (Robert Cray)
You guys need some good old electric blues. B.B. is the greatest living bluesman. And a duet with Robert Cray? Yes please.

07 - Tegan & Sara - Sainthood - 05 - Red Belt
I love Tegan & Sara, even though this album didn't have as many standouts as the last few albums. I hope they aren't slipping like Muse has.

08 - Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper - 01 - Only If You Run
See?! See what I mean? Thank you Clayton.

09 - Imogen Heap - Ellipse - 12 - Canvas
I love Imogen's voice, but this album doesn't grab me like "Speak For Yourself".

10 - Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue - 06 - When The Sun Rose Again
I can't believe how much William DuVall sounds like Layne Staley. The first couple of tracks sound like Layne was singing. There are many great tracks on this album. It's worth checking out.

11 - Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone - 11 - Snuff
I knew that Corey Taylor wasn't all metal from some of his other projects. I think it's cool that he brought some of that to this album. As a side note, "Psychosocial" from this album is on my list of all-time favorite hard rock songs.

12 - Azure Ray - Burn And Shiver - 08 - Your Weak Hands
Seems a bit odd mentioning Azure Ray after talking about "Psychosocial". But that's why they aren't even on the same CD. Marianne introduced me to Azure Ray with her CD last year. I went out and bought all of their albums and found this song to be my favorite.

13 - Azure Ray - Hold On Love - 03 - We Are Mice
This song is even better if you watch the video for it.

14 - Grand Avenue - She - 10 - She
This song closed out the movie "Cashback" and introduced me to Grand Evenue.

15 - Grand Avenue - Place To Fall - 10 - Place To Fall
My favorite Grand Avenue song. Try finding Grand Avenue through normal channels. It's almost impossible to find this album or She, even on Amazon.com or iTunes. I found some European music site that will sell these albums, but didn't buy them yet in hopes of finding a US option.

Computers

Everything is going real well with the computer right now. I've got lots of space and everything is fast. That means something horrible is about to happen to it.

You owe this man your life

An awesome report: http://digg.com/d316gcy
It's a shame that he probably lives in poverty. I think every American should send him $1.

Whip it real good

Today I had my first ever whip related incident. I was watching the season premiere of How I Met Your Mother, and due to the fact that they had a whip (and a Fedora, which I still do not have), I was compelled to grab my whip and mess around with it. I finally made a bruise on my hand and even drew blood. Hell yea, I'm manly.

Also, Honeyville farms makes a really crappy mint chocolate-milk mix. It tastes like someone put a few sticks of spearmint gum in hot water with a hint of chocolate. So, stick to Stephens.

And, to further prove that I'm better than you, your bread sucks compared to mine. The ingredients to my bred are: 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat, Water, Honey, Raisin Juice Concentrate, Salt, Yeast. That's right, 6 ingredients. OWND! Oh yeah, and it's freaking delicious. You can thank me after you thank the Prairie Grain Bread Co.

This is me whining

I just got off a 5 hour and 43 minute call. It was an issue that neither I nor my direct supervisor could resolve. I could be a bit cranky today, we'll see at Ulduar tonight (ToC25 is clear).

Scary news, bad cops

This story is about a horrible mistake by a police officer. The intended cover-up is what scares me the most. I still inherently trust police officers and would never expect to see something like this again. This was a rare case of two very bad cops.

But the coverage of this story really pisses me off. There are only 3 results for the family name that were related to this incident, and only 1 of those 3 results were made the first page of a Google search! Why is this not getting as much attention as the Henry Gates arrest? BTW, Obama still hasn't apologized to Sgt James Crowley. That pisses me off too.

Radio Shack?

I bought 2 power regulators from them yesterday, and the receipt is 20" long by 3.5" wide. I'm not complaining... I hate trees too!

The Onion even took them on.

Some really cool looking stop-motion videos.
http://vimeo.com/6686768
I particularly liked the starscapes.

Idiot Carter

Jimmy Carter is a bigot. His explanation of Representative Joe Wilson's outburst did not address if Carter believed that Wilson actually thought the president was lying or not. Carter's explanation effectively said that anyone who disagrees with the president is a racist. Doesn't a remark such as that make Carter just as ignorant as a racist?

To properly gage if Wilson honestly felt that the president was lying or not, you would have to be intimately familiar with Wilson's views on illegal immigrants and their access to federal social services. I highly doubt that Jimmy knows Joe well enough to ascertain his feelings on such a specific issue.

South Carolina's former Democratic Party chairman, Dick Harpootlian (who has known Joe for decades) doesn't even agree with the former president. He said: "I don't think Joe's outburst was caused by President Obama being African-American. I think it was caused by no filter being between his brain and his mouth."

Carter continued with: "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president." And Carter was instantly willing to group Rep. Wilson in with those dorks. Carter went on to say: "The president is not only the head of government, he is the head of state," ... "And no matter who he is or how much we disagree with his policies, the president should be treated with respect."

You sir, do not have my respect.

Audiobooks

Ok, these people need to get over themselves. How is it that they still charge anywhere from $30-50 for a single audiobook? And there is no discount when we buy it digitally? In that scenario, it's only costing them the storage and throughput costs, which is divided amongst all purchasers!

The cost of downloaded audiobooks should be closer to what a retail music CD costs ($10-15). And a retail CD-audiobook should cost no more than a deluxe edition DVD costs ($20-$25). How can we make this happen?

XKCD is my muse

This comic is more truth than I'd ever admit.

Moab pictures on InterFaceLift

I saw these and thought of you Jen:




You can find more on InterFaceLift.com Easily my favorite desktop wallpaper site.

I love Dropbox

How many programs release binaries for EACH major OS? Not enough. That's one reason I love Dropbox. You can download their client for Windows, Mac, and Linux! They give 2 GB of storage for free, and if you use that referral link, we each get an extra 250 MB (capped at 3 GB).

If you're looking for a free way to backup your photo or music collection and have less than 2 GB of data, use this. You can get 50 GB for $10 a month and 100 GB for $20 a month. If you need more than 100 GB, then you should look into getting a NAS or SAN box (ask me if you have NAS or SAN questions).

My hobby

When a co-worker is in a long and detailed discussion of some technical issue, send them a random nonsensical IM and listen to their train of thought derail.

The 7 second pause in conversation is the sweet sound of victory!

Also, don't use tanning beds

Sorry Jen:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090729/ap_on_he_me/eu_med_tanning_beds_cancer

Swing your arms

An interesting article on the energy cost of swinging your arms, or not, while you walk:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090728/sc_afp/sciencearmsoffbeat

While it may seem like a boring subject, I found it quite interesting. And it's a quick read.

The car audio/video features I'm waiting for

1. Large touchscreen LCD for Blu-Ray and other video playback as well as for GPS navigation.
2. Detachable faceplate that acts like a PMP.
3. Internal storage, most or all on the faceplate, at least a couple hundred GB, to store what it grabs from the network.
4. 802.11n and software for multiple OS' that allows for automatic synchronization when the unit is within range of it's home network.
5. GSM based cellular internet access.
6. Google maps and Google street-view.
7. Upgradeable firmware to support advances in audio and video codecs.

I love jambalaya

So I thought it would be nice to share the recipe that I use. WARNING: This recipe has been fully bachelorized and will not win any Cajun cooking contests. Bachelorization is the process of making food preparation faster and often requires fewer ingredients. My version is kind of a cross between Cajun and Creole jambalaya, sometime called "white jambalaya" since the protein spends less time cooking with the rice. This will feed 1-3 people.

1 cup white rice (You can use brown, but your jambalaya will shed it's bachelorized status due to the longer cooking time.)
2 cups water
1 pound sausage (Preferably Andouille, but good luck finding any locally. You can use chicken, shrimp, etc if you prefer.)
1/2 diced green bell pepper (I've tried a few different kinds, they are all about the same to me.)
Salt (Sea salt or plain iodine. You may want to avoid anything pre-spiced.)
Pepper (If you don't grind your own pepper, I hate you.)
Cayenne pepper

I don't use onions or celery because they tend to overpower the flavors that I like. Jambalaya devotees will think less of you for that. So if you use them, a half onion is more than enough. I was using about a quarter onion when I decided to stop buying them. And maybe 2 stalks of celery. I don't know, I never cared for it.

Cook the rice for 20 minutes, or however long your variant requires. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper right at the start. You will need to experiment with those seasonings in order to get it right. I haven't tried "minute rice" since I expect that it doesn't have enough time to absorb the flavors properly. Add the diced pepper when you have about 8 minutes left for the rice. This keeps the pepper from getting mushy and will retain it's taste.

Cook the sausage in a large skillet. Most sausage is pre-cooked and only needs to be heated, but I prefer to brown the cut ends. I add a bit of oil to help prevent sticking and burning since I cook on higher heat than necessary. I cook them on the cut ends, and spread them out so each piece is cooking at the same time (no stacking). Add salt, pepper, and cayenne if you prefer (I do).

Add the sausage to the rice before the rice is done cooking, at least 4 minutes and I don't know of a maximum time. Don't be afraid to let some of the oil get in the mix, but separating it is fine. That's it, you're done. Let it cool if you're a wimp. Eat it out of the saucepan if you're awesome.

An easier way to explain this is: Cook rice with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Dice up a half of a green bell pepper and add it when the rice has 8 minutes left. Add 1 pound of heated (browned) sausage giving it at least 4 minutes time with the rice (more time is better).

New Muse album in September

TuneLab posted the track listing yesterday. I hope it's better than Black Holes And Revelations. Absolution was so amazing that I had nearly impossible expectations for them to meet.