It's almost over

Hopefully when the clock rolls over I will be fast asleep. I don't care about new years eve and never will. I am happy to say it's been a good year. My family and friends are happy(I think) and seem to be healthy. I went to my first NASCAR race in Bristol ,Tenn. Or maybe it was a republican get together. I was a little suspicious when the head of the NRA spoke and got the crowd all fired up. Screaming about if it wasn't for the NRA "only terrorist and holdlums would have guns". Remember during the movie The Graduate when the old man tells Dustin Hoffmans character the future is plastics? NO NO NO the future is NASCAR merchandise, never have I seen such a collection of crap.....if you can put a sticker on it, they will buy it.

Sirius

I was having trouble with my Sirius system. To much static.For a few days I thought I might give it up. Well tried going back to the factory settings and presto. Clear signal. I love the thing. Have listened to mostly news stuff, but the 80s music is hard to pass up.

Merry Christmas

I made out like a bandit tonight...Sirius radio, 60gig video ipod and my family is happy and healthy..To AA I love you and hope you and your parents are well.

Driving into Arlington,VA

I just wanted to post a picture. This was a still from my Vidster camcorder. I like the way the sunset gets the top of the trees.

Good grief Charlie Brown

Listening to this hour of radio was a great trip down memory lane. The makers of this Christmas classic discuss what went into making it.

I like this podcast

Dan O'Leary has a podcast. Who doesn't, well me for one. hotelcoffee.blogspot.com is where you can reach/hear him. He is a pilot for Horizon Air and does most of his podcasts from hotels on the road or airstrip.

Geekville

Welcome to the basement of the science building.I have no idea what these people are talking about but I was sucked in by their enthusiasm . Virtual Kojo.

South Africa hang on...

South Africa were able to hold off the Australians in Perth for the First Test. Jacques Rudolph played the way Allan Border did so many times for his Australian team.

Guns N' Roses

Ever think of what happened to Axl Rose? Working hard on his next album. Studio360.org has a story on what he has been up to.

Cleaning Meth labs.....

On NPR's Weekend Edition- Saturday KUOW's Patricia Murphy talks to a women who owns a company that cleans up meth labs.

Sachin Shines

Sachin Tendulkar's 35th Test Century is now the world record. Sunil Gavaskar had held that spot for 22 years.

Tech Tuesday....All About Digital Audio

Everything, well almost everything you wanted to know about digital audio but were afraid to ask.
Kojo Nnamdi and guests discuss the many options available.

Outstanding Docuementary

"How do you eat pizza with your elbows"? To find out the answer to that question watch Murderball a really well done docuementary.

Deuce Bigalow Part Deux

This movie was incrediably immature highly offensive and I loved every moment. The movie didn't get an R rating for no reason. Those who are easily offended stay clear, but for those looking for a cheap laugh this is a good rental.

Depeche Mode in Fairfax

AA went to the Patriot Center to see her favorite band...AHHHH...it's Martin Gore isn't he dreamy!!!!!Her thoughts not mine.

Ed Smith's Cricket Book

I just finished On and Off the Field. I enjoyed the book a great deal. His preseason trip to India for practice showed me someone who was looking to improve his game in a serious manner. After the elation of being selected to play for England his lack of runs soon has him talking about what stands in his way of being selected into the touring side to Sri Lanka. Having not been selected his discription of trying to push throught to the end of the season is very well written...unlike what I have done here.

Tech Tuesday

Both the Diane Rehm and Kojo Nnamdi show were tech focused today. First Diane had Dan Burstein author of the book Blog. Next Kojo had the Computer Guys on for thier monthly appearence.

First Snow

We got our first real snow today...everything will be cancelled tomorrow except for work.

DM in AC

AA and I just got back from Atlantic City after seeing Depeche Mode at the Borgatta. It was great fun. Left Fairfax,VA at 2pm and returned 13 hours later at 5am. A long but very fun day.

Great Video Book

I picked up the book The Complete Digital Video Guide today. I went to Book's A Million and thankfully didn't get their hard sell on the member card. I went to the store in Mclean,VA. There is this older lady who really lays the sales pitch on thick. The author of the book is Bob Brandon.

West Indies go down...

Besides Lara's history making innings not much they can take away from this tour.Losing the series 3-0.

Cricket....Cola

It looked promising.However the green tea kick really didn't go down well.

Brian Lara

November 26 Adelaide Oval,He whipped the ball off his stumps and became the leading run maker in test cricket.

Random acts of nudity

I love British graphics magazines.Issue 77 of Computer Arts Projects has two pictures of topless women. I can see next months letters section already "how dare you show such filth in"...shut up. Or the always suspect "what if my child".I am so tired of hearing about kids being exposed to this and that. I don't think a naked photo is going to damage anyone. Nor do I think it exploits anyone.

Control of the Internet

Should the US control the internet? On Kojo Nnambi's show today the talk was of the US role in the control of the Internet. I enjoyed the discussion. The second hour was open phones.

Painting

This is a painting I finished yesterday. The red is more of an orange but my Vidster doesn't do the color all that well. But I do love the thing.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!!!!!!!

Cricket books in Virginia

When I went to McKay's used books and CDs I wasn't thinking about cricket books. I went through the art section found a nice Rolf Harris book. Walked over to the sports section and was very happy and suprised to find books on cricket . McKay's is located in Manasas Virginia which isn't the first place you think of when you think cricket. Anyway I am happy to have bought two books. Play the game:Cricket by Ian Morrison and the really good The Handbook of Cricket by Keith Andrew.

Great WAMU FM Day

Today was a really good day to listen to 88.5 WAMU FM. First Diane Rehm had graphic novelist Charles Burns was on discussing his book Black Hole. I almost bailed out on the interview as the two of them got off to a rough start. I'm glad I didn't because it really turned out to be a good interview. After Diane Kojo Nnamdi talked with mountaineer Arlene Blum about her journey from biochemist to scaling the world tallest peaks.

Christmas Coffee

Dunkin Donuts is getting an early jump on the holiday season. That said I do like the design.

Right thinking Republican

Arizona Senator John McCain joins Diane Rehm to talk about his book.

Pakistan take First Test

England fell short by 22 runs.This series unlike Australia vs West Indies has some entertainment value.

Sir Ridley Scott

Kurt Andersen host of Studio360 interviews Director Ridley Scott.

Cell Phone Bandit Caught!!!!

After knocking over some banks in Northern Virginia a suspect is caught. Candice Martinez would stay on her cell phone as she handed bank teller's notes demanding money.

Tasty Soda

These Boylan soda's are sometimes hard to find. But well worth the search.

Expand your mind

On Science Friday host Ira Flatow talked to MIT's Neil Gershenfeld about bringing manufacturing down to a personel level. Now I "got" about 10% of what they were talking about. Very interesting stuff.

Cheerleaders gone wild

These two Cheerleaders seem to have lived out a Penthouse Forum story. Not that I would know how those short stories are written.

I backed a winner!!!!!

Tim Kaine(D) defeated Jerry Kilgore(R) for the Govenors office tonight. I am happy. I voted for Kaine but really it was a vote against Bush who showed up yesterday to lend Kilgore support. With friends like that. Anyway not a bad night, even AA voted for him and she is a card carrying member of the evil empire...just kidding some of my best friends are Republican.

Master at work

Walter Murch has three Oscars to his name. So if any of you are interested in film editing you might want to listen to this fine interview with Michele Norris from NPR's All Things Considered.

Do you like Phil Collins?

This is one of my all time favorite CD's. Sure I know it might not be so cool to admit this but I'm comfortable enough with myself to say I both like this record and many of Mr Collins albums. And at $4.49 from the used CD store not a bad purchase I might say.

Out with the old

I finally got a new cell phone. The old one had the worst reception. I hope this is an improvement.

West Indies Going Going...

The Windies are at this moment getting thrashed by Australia. They have fallen so far I don't know if they will ever come back to anything like their former selves. I don't know if other sports have taken the best athletes away from the game.

Technology is cool

Thanks to AA's ability behind the keyboard I can enjoy the greatest sport around. She really is a great girl.

Lake Fairfax Cricket Ground

It's my day off so after stopping at Borders in Fairfax I went to Lake Fairfax to play cricket. Not really play but practice with myself. I set up my Vidster camcorder and taped myself bowling. There was a cop in the parking lot and I'm sure he was getting the mace ready for me.Looking at the video my action wasn't to bad but my control was hideous. Just like most sporting activities you want to be able to control your actions. The picture is a still from the camcorder.

Compuer Guys

It's the first tuesday of the month. The guys make their regular monthly appearence on Kojos show. Also on tuesdays NBCs great show My Name is Earl.

Booooooooooo

Happy Halloween everyone. This is AA's favorite holiday. Play dress up for adults. They say 3 Billion is now spent on this day. I painted my face and tried to entertain the kids that came by the house.

Cricket Books Arrive!!!

Their here! My order from Amazon UK via Germany is here. They are in great shape and I can't wait to read them. The invoice was in German. Amazon I guess has a distribution center or would that be centre in Germany.

England in Pakistan

The English cricket team are in Pakistan for a Three Test Series and Five ODI's that is One Day Internationals for you none cricket speakers.Andrew Miller is covering the tour for Cricinfo with a diary style column. I have enjoyed his entries.

Cricket on US TV

The AZN Network shows two cricket shows on the east coast sunday mornings. At 6:00am there is the ICC Cricket show and at 6:30am there is Cricket Classics. I sent them a note saying how happy I was about it but never heard back from them.

British Mags...

I bought a special edition Green Day magazine today published by Metal Hammer. British publications are so far ahead of US publishing as far as I am concerned.Everything from the paper to the writing is better. Their graphics magazines are the best as well. The step by step thing sometimes assumes that the reader might be more up to speed then the average user but I guess you need to get on with it in such a venue. On Tuesdays Kojo Nnamdi show game designer Sid Meier was the guest. I think it might be worth your listen.

Rosa Parks

A great American past away last night. Rosa Parks will be remembered as a woman who had enough of being treated as a second class citizen and got the United States heading towards being the kind of place we all claim it is. We have a long way to go and might never get there but she was someone I feel proud to have called an American hero.

Sick day...

Went into work and didn't even pucnch in before going home. Slept till 3pm got up watched one of my cricket DVDs and that was pretty much it for the day.

Comic Art

The artwork shown is from illustrator Ashley Wood. Taken from issue 12 of Metal Gear Solid published by idwpublishing. Mom and I drove Nola and Tony to National...sorry Regan National Airport this morning. They are on their way to Las Vegas via Dallas. I hope they had a good time in Virginia.

Vidster Video...

I bought a Mattel Vidster camcorder and recieved it friday. It is pretty simple to use and the quality isn't to bad for $50. I will try and upload video soon. I started reading Hillman Curtis' new book Creating Short Films for the Web and have really enjoyed the first few pages. Curtis made a name for himself in the mid 90s with his use of Flash software. Creating motion graphics that actually worked over dial up connections.

Mom's house.....

Went to Moms for dinner Tony cooked steaks. They were very good. I'm a bit affraid of grilling steaks for some reason. I was bidding for a camcorder on ebay but didn't win. The bootleg DVD I bought yesterday is pretty good quality. I purshesed one around a year ago that was total crap. Very pixelated. You get what you pay for I guess.

Bootleg Cricket DVD

I bought an home made DVD from a middle east shop in Arlington, VA today. For all I know the FBI we be at my front door saying how I contributed to Al Qaeda with it's purchase.
AA went to the U2 concert tonight. I told her to buy a Powerball ticket tonight, the jackpot is $340 million.

Compuer Guys:Special Edition

The Computer Guys who normally show up on the first tuesday of the month made a special appearence today. On for WAMU's Membership Campaign they had some ipod information as well as a plug for rocketboom.com a vlog site. I just went there and can't see the big deal but you might enjoy it.

Australia win

Australia beat the World XI. Don't really know how others feel but I didn't have much emotion invested in these games. Ordered four cricket books from Amazon Uk last night. With the exchange rate I'm looking at some expensive pulp. I would like to fly to London and spend a few days going to second hand book stores.

Family Guy

Rented Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story from Potomac Video at the Twinbrooke shopping center today. I give the movie 4/10. The show works best in it's 30min format if you ask me. Australia seem to be taking care of the World XI in Sydney.

Microcenter

Went to Microcenter with AA after work and bought a USB cable. Why would I buy a USB cable you ask...No one is reading this. I read an article in res magazine on how to turn the CVS one time use camcorder into a use it as much as you want camcorder. So I am going to try it. Oh yah if you're lucky enough to own a Mac there is this very cool software(plasq.com) that can turn your photos and stories into comics.

Aust vs World XI

The test match between Australia and the World XI has started in Sydney. Listening online. Got home late after doing inventory.

AA's Big day.....!!!

30 years ago the world became a better place....I hope she is happy. Happy Birthday!

Mom's house.....

AA got to meet Nola and Tony tonight. She had a good time. We are going over there for a BBQ sometime next week.

Columbus Day

Wish I could say I had a really interesting day but that was not the case. Same old thing. Mom, Nola and Tony went into DC and had a good time. Sunday we went to Best Buy and Tony found what he was looking for, so that was good news.

Air and Space.....

Went to the new National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly Va. It was worth the $12 for parking.

Rain..........

The rain we didn't recieve for the past two months is going to arrive over the weekend. The LL Bean jacket I bought years ago came in handy today.

First email post...working?

I want to see if this really works.

Driving to DC......

Had to drive into Washington DC today to pick up some friends from Union Station. Nola and Tony Pope are friends of my Mom from Australia. We havn't seen them since 1991. They look great and have been on some world wide adventure. I got lost somewhere on the George Washington pkwy and almost drove into oncoming traffic. But I'm still here for what that's worth. Also took another day off from work and don't feel the least bit guilty.

Aust win,Wash car..Borders

Australia beat the World XI infront of a very small crowd. The stadium can hold 51,000 and only around 10,000 showed. Washed my car today(MrClean:See picture) ) and in the shade thought I did a good job. However I drove to Dunkin Donuts for coffee and saw the in the sunlight I missed a couple of spots. Stopped at Borders a got a few more books. they are starting to back up on the taxi way waiting to be read.

Australia v World XI

Australia won the toss and have elected to bat. I don't know if the public are all that crazy about this match. Listening online at the moment. First ball, one run. Well I'm not going to do a ball by ball thing.

Kojo show again

The first tuesday of every month brings the Computer Guys to the studio. Two local (Washington DC) computer experts. I enjoy the show, however they sometimes stray from the help format into their own inside jokes.

Books, Radio....

Bought two book's today to help me not look so incompetent online. I hope it works. The Kojo Nnambi show had their monthly show Sporting Views which is worth a listen. It's about sports but without all the chest thumping.

Ren Fest!!!

Went to the Maryland Renaisance festival today with AA along with Alex and Emily.
Bought a nice pottery bowl for Mom. I have four photos of the trip.