8 in 90

Along the same lines of the previous video, here are 8 months of Buckley's life in 90 seconds.

My Day Yesterday

I came across a cool blog post where a guy recorded movie clips throughout the day and edited down to a 90 sec movie with no added soundtrack. He posted it on flickr and created a group for others to do the same. I thought it was cool so I tried it out a few saturdays ago.

Kazookeylele

Must find out where to get a kazookeylele.

Yo

This was on the front page of Tumblr this morning. This kid's got some skills.

The Pull

This last weekend I was at The Pull, which is a 111 year old tradition at my college. This year was pretty wild as the Odd Year team won in a pretty definitive way. Pull's usually 3 hrs long and at the end of the Pull they measure to see which side has taken more rope. Well this year the sophomore team won in 67 mins. It was quite the sight. I was one of the lucky one's that got to coach a team, that was pretty special. The others I coached with make an effort to attend every year and most of us haven't missed one yet. This year was the 10th anniversary of my team winning the Pull, so it was pretty special for me to see this team win in such a legendary way. Every year I look forward to this weekend. It's a chance for us to get together and remember the good times we had when we had the responsibility of passing on this great tradition to the next generation. I'm sure we will continue on with this tradition for as long as possible, so if you're ever in at the Pull look for me on the banks of the Black River.

What goes around

I have a lot of blogs that I follow in my reader. A lot of these people read each other's blog. The problem with that is that when one person finds/posts something cool within the week just about everyone else has posted it on their blog. I don't really have a problem with that because I post cool things I come across as well so I can't blame them. This particular video though has been posted numerous times recently and it's a little more than annoying but what can you do? The only reason I'm posting this is to show the follow up video that Victor Estrada posted about David Crowder Band's response. David Crowder Band is my favorite worship band, and if you've ever heard any our worship sets you know he influences us a lot. Anyway roll the tape:






And Crowder:

pups

Buckley's pretty good about going to bed, she only had problems the first two nights we got her. Had I seen this earlier I might have tried different tactics.

Randy Pausch 7/25/08

Prof Randy Pausch died today. He was the Carnegie Mellon professor whose last lecture I blogged about earlier. He lost his battle to pancreatic cancer. He was a great man who inspired many people with the way he led his life. Take some time to keep his family and friends in prayer.

macbook woes

My macbook is in perfect working order again. While the problem wasn't a huge deal it was quite the ordeal to get it back to normal. It took 3 visits to the apple store in 2 weeks. The problem was that red light you see in the picture above. That light is coming from the headphone jack. When that light is on the speakers on the macbook don't work and the only way to hear anything is to plug in headphones. When it first started out everything would be fine until I plugged in headphones, then when I took them out the light would come on. After a while the red light was on all the time, so the speakers didn't work at all. A quick search on the internet showed that this was problem that many were having but the responses varied from a logic board problem to just something hooking on the headphone jack. The easy fix was to plug the headphone in and pull it out a few times. I tried that - it didn't work. Finally decided to make an appoitntment. They told me to try that, the headphone jack trick. I was not very pleased with that "fix" but I tried it anyway, was never able to get it to work. So I went in again, this time they decided to keep it a few days and switch out the logic board - which is a pain but it worked. The only bad thing is that when I got the computer back the speaker issue was fixed, but now the bluetooth didn't work. In I went again, they dissassembled it and messed with the connections and now it is working again. I'm glad apple is able to take care of all these problems and its just a minor inconvinience, but I thought they were supposed to be a superior product that shouldn't have so many problems. I'm just waiting to see what else can go wrong.

Buck Buck Buckuck

Buckley got a haircut a few weeks ago here's a picture of the short haired Buckster and below a long hair.  She also graduated from puppy class.

9nineteen

So a long time ago I bought a website for our wedding. Included in the package was another domain name that I never did anything with. Recently I decided to put it to good use, so head over to 9nineteen sometime. There you will find my Tumblr site - which is a mini blog. I'll still update this blog although obviously it has been very infrequent lateley, but the way Tumblr is set up it's much easier to post little things that I come across on my everyday interwebbing. I've also set it up so that the feeds from this blog and my music blog go there as well, so you can just check there if you want.

Buckley

Two weeks ago we got ourselves a puppy. We've been wanting one for a while but never had the timing right. We finally decided to go for it and got a Soft Coated Wheaten.  Wheatens average around 35 lbs when fully grown, they don't shed, love people and they like the water.  Should make for a good pet.

After a couple of days of wrestling with name ideas - we even resorted to our own whiteboard session - we named her Buckley after Jeff Buckley (also like the dog in The Royal Tannenbaums) Elizabeth brought the name to the table and we both liked it so we went with it. So far Buckley's been a great pup, she is learning quickly although she can be stubborn at times. We are all getting adjusted to our new lives together but I think she fits right in.

old milwaukee

Last weekend Elizabeth had a baby shower to attend in Milwaukee, so I thought I'd tag along and explore a little around Milwaukee's downtown.  I met John McDonald for lunch and we hung out a few hours around there.  John brought along his 7 month old daughter so I could meet her.  We had a good time catching up.  Unfortunately Elizabeth had the good camera at the shower, I had an old camera but it didn't have any batteries.  I did venture to go buy some batteries but when I got some the camera didn't work, so I don't any pictures of our visit.  We did take some when Elizabeth came back to pick me up though.  Anyway we had a nice saturday there and truly enjoyed the Milwaukee lakefront area.

The Last Lecture

My last few years of high school I received lots of mail from Carnegie Mellon University, I didn't know anything about that school so I didn't bother to take a look at it. Had I seen this video back then I would have definitely given them a serious look.

They have a series called the Last Lecture, this particular lecture was given last year by Dr. Randy Pausch, and it was indeed his final lecture as he has terminal cancer. I remember seeing a lot of news coverage when the lecture took place but I had never listened to it, it truly is a great lecture.
Do yourself a favor and watch/listen to the whole thing sometime, I'll also post a summarized version below.

Get Your Tickets?

Photo @ hrtmnstrfr


I ordered my tickets to Lollapalooza a few weeks ago, and I'm pretty excited for this year's lineup. Of course the headliners are a big draw - Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Wilco but I'm also looking forward to a whole lot of other bands, here are some highlights for me : Raconteurs, Black Keys, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, G Love, The National, John Butler Trio, Battles, Rouge Wave, Mason Jennings, The Whigs, and Manchester Orchestra. Should be a great weekend, let me know if you're in.

Last weekend I gathered up all my trusty Nalgene bottles and put them away for good.  There's been a lot of coverage about those bottles and the cancer causing BPA from which they are made.  The news came out several months ago, and I didn't deem it necessary to stop using them, figuring it was just another health scare.  The reports have intensified these last few weeks and seems we've been getting a lot of news agencies trying to use our bottle collection process as a backdrop for their news reports.  Anyway last week I read that Nalgene was pulling all those bottles from the shelves of retailers nationwide.  I took that to be a pretty good sign I shouldn't use them anymore.  They are making new BPA-free bottles so look out for those, of course you can also use the old school milky-white Nalgene bottles or pick up a cool Sigg bottle, like the ones in front here.  

Nalgene and other Lexan bottles have been a staple of our generation, kind of sad to see their demise.

caLI

Last weekend, Dave and Jackie visited us from California. We took a few days off work and hung out with them doing touristy things, my in-laws joined us for most of the weekend as well. Elizabeth did a good job recapping the weekend, so check it out there , just thought I'd add some other pictures.
The first night out we ended up at a private party room, which used to be a law library, here I am catching up on my favorite torts.
Spent the next day being all touristy, here we are on the architectural boat tour.
Ended up at Wrigley watching the Cubs open a can on the Pirates (sorry Dan)

The Breakdown

Our car broke down this week, just a couple faulty sensors, nothing huge, it was all covered under warranty, so it wasn't a huge deal. This was our first time dealing with the Mazda dealer since we bought our car there and I must say it was a pleasant experience. They don't give out courtesy cars there though, what they do is send you next door to the Enterprise Rent A Car and set you up there. They gave me a Chevy Equinox and I was impressed with it, it's a sweet ride. It's supposed to be a smaller suv but it felt pretty big to me, anyway if it wasn't an suv I'd consider it for my next purchase, regardless it has made me reconsider Chevy cars and GM in general I guess. I wonder if the Mazda dealer thinks about things like that when they send me to the rental company to test drive other cars.

New Computer

A few weeks ago our computer died. I spent a couple of days trying to decide whether to get another desktop computer or a laptop. I decided to go with a laptop for its versatility even though I don't have a job where I would need one and most of its use would be at home anyway. I figured with being involved with the Communications and Arts Committee at church and worship leading it could be useful to have a laptop. Still getting adjusted to the new operating system and trying to figure out how to load some open source programs I use a lot on it. It hasn't been as simple as those commercials make it out to be, but I'm not complaining.

A letter from God to Man

I just heard this song, pretty cool go listen to it, it's a poem read over a remixed Radiohead song, here are the lyrics:

Letter from God to Man (Scroobius Pip)

Hey there.
How's it going?
Long
Time
No
See.
I know I haven't been around much but it didn't seem like you wanted me to be.

the last time I sent down a message, you nailed it to a cross.
So I figured I'd just leave you to it and be your own boss.

But I've been keeping an eye on you, I have. And it's amazing how you've grown.
All your technological advances and the problems you've overthrown.

All the beautiful art you've created with such grace and such finesse.
But I must admit there are a few things that, I'm afraid, Have impressed me less.

So I'm writing to apologise for all the horrors committed in my name.
Although it was never what I intended I feel I should take my share of the blame.

A lot of the good I tried to do was corrupted when organised religion got into full swing.
What I thought were quite clear messages were taken to unusual extremes.

My teachings were taken out of context to meet the agenda of others.
Interpretations were taken in many different ways and hidden meanings 'discovered.'

Religion became a tool for the weak to control the strong.
With all these new morals and ethics survival of the fittest was gone.

No longer could the biggest man simply take what ever he needed,
Because damnation was the price if certain rules were not heeded.

Some of the deeds committed in my name just make me wonder where I went wrong.
Back at the start when I 'created' all of this, the foundations seemed so strong.

See all the elements wee already here long before I began.
I just kind of put them all together. I didn't really think out a long term plan.

I made the sun an appropriate distance and laid the starts across the sky,
So you could navigate this globe or simply experience a sunrise.

I covered the earth with plants and fruits, some for sustenance and some for beauty.
And made the sun shine and clouds rain so that maintenance wasn't your duty.

I tried to give each creature its own attributes. But without making them enveloped.
I gave you all space to grow and, in your own way, space to develop.

I didn't know that such development would cause rifts and jealousy.
Cause you to war against each other and leave marks on this planet indelibly.

You see, I wasn't the creator, more the curator of nature.
And I want to set things straight with homosexuals right now; I DON'T hate ya.

I was a simple being that happened to be the first to yield such powers.
But I just laid the ground. It was you that built the towers.

It was you that invented bombs and fear that comes with them.
It was you that invented money, and corrupt economic systems.

You invented terms like 'just wars' and terms like 'friendly fire,'
And it was you that didn't know when to stop digging deeper and when to stop building higher.

It was you that exhausted the resources I carefully laid out on this earth,
And it was you that even saw these problems coming but accredited them little worth.

It was you that used my teachings for your own personal gain
And it was you that committed such tragedies, even if they were in my name.

So i apologise for any mistakes I made and for when my words were misconstrued,
But this apology is to Mother Nature because I created you.