Oz - Season 1
Marc let me borrow the first three seasons of Oz on DVD. So far I’ve watched all of season one and the first 3 episodes of season 2. This show has got me hooked, similiar to the way the Sopranos did. It’s a pretty disturbing look at life in a maximum security prison. Granted, there is alot of violence in the show, but it’s alot more about the prisoner’s themself and God than the violence. HBO makes some pretty good shows. One of these days when I bite the bullet and get HDTV digital cable (and put this darn widescreen HDTV of mine to work), I’ll be able to see these shows when they air instead of having to wait for the DVD release.
I got a call from a client who left a message in the emergency box at work that they couldn’t access the server we colocate for them. Turns out I was having problems accessing some of our servers from home too. I drove down to work and gave the switch a kick in the ass and that fixed the problem. I really need to update the IOS on our main switch to the latest version as there have been quite a few updates since we bought it. Unfortunately Cisco likes to charge you thru the teeth for a SmartNet account which gives you full access to tech support and the latest software. I think we are going to have to bite the bullet and do this tho as a majority of our network infrastructure is running on Cisco equipment. If our main switch or firewall decides to crap out, we are screwed.
I’m taking some vacation days next week (Monday & Wednesday). We are closed Thursday & Friday so I’l get 8 days off only have to take 2 vacation days. I would be taking Tuesday off too but it’s our all staff meeting from 9am till 3pm. I plan on finishing sanding the knotty pine room at home and hopefully get it stained. I also want to pull up the carpet on the stairs leading down to the basement and lay down the flooring we have left over from the kitchen. Fun fun!
Got an email from Richard in Canada saying that he received the two sets of Kickman boards I sent him for repair. I was getting nervous as I sent them over two weeks ago and he just got them yesterday. Post office said it would only take 7-10 days. They arrived in good condition and he said he should be able to fix them both in no time. Can’t wait to get this Kickman cabaret up and running. I rebuilt the original MCR power supply so it’s ready to go. It’s a corny game but actually alot of fun. Last weekend I wired up a Jamma adapter for my two sets of Super Pac-Man boards to see if they worked or not (bought one untested and the other came from a Super Pac cab from the Kalamazoo warehouse). One works great and the other is giving me a RAM error. I’ve got the RAM on order and it should be here any day now. Once I get that one fixed, I’m gonna sell it since I don’t need two sets of Super Pac boards. Next board I need to wire up a Jamma adapter for is Frogger. That one is a little trickier as you need to wire up a volume pot for the sound but that shouldn’t be a problem.
Best show of the year
Yesterday Eric Snook, Sue & Eric Stanek, Ryan, Daintry & I left for Chicago around 1pm to visit the museum of Contemporary Art. 3 pieces of Clive Barker’s Abarat where on display. It was cool to see these oil paintings up close. After this we headed down towards the Aragon Ballroom, which is where we were going to see the Pixies that night. We stopped off at a biker bar/restaurant (the name escapes me right now) for a bite to eat before the show. The food was really damn good. Diana met us at the restaurant after we were done eating. We took the L and went to the Aragon Ballroom. There was a line around the building to get in. They were letting women in ahead of the men but the line was moving pretty fast.
Once we got in I purchased a t-shirt, a cap and got a voucher from DiscLive who was selling copies of the show on CD. After the show you would give them your voucher for a copy of the concert on two CD’s complete with a nice case. Each one was individually numbered and they were only making 1000 availalble. Apparently DiscLive is recording each of the Pixies shows and making them available for purchase after the show and on their website. What I wanna know is what kind of equipment they are using to press hundred’s of copies of the show minutes after the show is over! They gotta have a bunch of CD duplicating machines to pull this off. It’s a great idea and I’m suprised somebody didn’t start doing this years ago.
We saw Megan & Erin shortly after getting in. I also saw Mike Donk and chatted with him for a minute before making our way towards the stage. The opening band was already on. They sounded alot like MC5. After they were done we moved up closer to the stage, as did everybody else. Before too long the Pixies were on stage. They opened up with In Heaven and then went into Wave of Mutiliation (the UK surf mix). The show was amazing. It was great to finally see these guys live after listening to them for over 15 years. They played alot of great songs including Debaser, Gigantic, Tame, I Bleed, Velouria and ended the show with a 7.5 minute version of Vamos.
After the show we slowly made our way to the main floor. After a long wait, I picked up my copy of the show from DiscLive. After waiting in a long line to purchase tickets for the L, we headed back to the cars and drove home. Snook took us through Cabrini Green and showed us the church that was in Candyman. The place looks alot different than it did in the movie. Alot of money has been spent to make it a better neighborhood (high priced apartments, a new police station, etc). After a couple of Code Red’s, I was ready for the long drive home. We got back to GR at 4am. I skipped church as I was just too tired to get up at 9am. I ended up sleeping in until almost 1pm!
Thanks to Frank, Joey, David and Kim for a great show last night. When’s the new album coming?
Revenge of the Sith
Just finished watching the Revenge of the Sith trailer a couple of times in a row. All I can say is wow. Hearing Darth Sidious say “Rise” to Lord Vader gave me goosebumps!
You know where I’ll be at 12:01am on May 19th, 2005.
Hallow's eve party
Marie & I threw a Hallow’s eve party on Saturday. Check out the pictures here. I picked up a half barrel of Killians from Martha’s around 5pm and started drinking around 6pm. I think I drank about 25 cups of Killians over the course of 9 hours. Unfortunately not many people were drinking as there was still quite a bit left in the morning (no pony’s where available). The party started at 8pm but people didn’t start showing up until almost 10pm. Marie’s mom and dad made up some good food and deserts. It’s amazing how much they help us out. I can’t thank them enough. Marie’s mom was dressed up as a witch and had a good time sitting still in a chair scaring the shit out of people. It was pretty hilarious.
The party really picked up after 11pm. Jack brought his poker chips and table and we managed to work in a few hands of Texas Holdem. At one point the pool table room was full of people and I knew maybe one or two people in there. Friends of friends, some of who looked mildly familiar. There were some pretty interesting costumes. Marie even gave out awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd best costumes. I only remember that Hoo won first place for her 80’s chic costume. Josh Lieske came as Robert Smith from the Why Can’t I Be You video, complete with the bear suit. I was the only one to call it (if that doesn’t tell you how much of Cure fan I am, I don’t know what does).
Marie did a great job with the decorations. Most of them were from our Halloween wedding last year. I still can’t believe it’s been a year already! Boy how the time slips by. I can honestly say that our relationship is the best it’s ever been. I look forward to many more great years together.
We spent our anniversary at home. Missy & Dennis came over with Cody & Christian. Marie & Missy took the kids treak or treating in the neighborhood and Dennis and I worked on the half barrel of Killians while playing some pool. I popped in Dune for Steve as Carol dragged him over so she could sit out on the porch in her witches costume scaring the neighbor kids and hand out candy. I setup our 7 foot tall Frankenstein outside and it actually scared a couple of kids so bad that they wouldn&’t come to our house! Oh to be young again…